Punishments

YEA-OUCH

Rutile had not been happy… Well none of the gems were particularly happy with Lars at the moment. He had put his life at risk, to get them on the ship, and had been injured with his 'foolish' plan. The gem that had been taking care of him, had been furious with him, but had been nice enough at first.

Rutile had knelt down next to the out-of breath boy, and laid his head in her lap, while he panted and heaved for air to get back into his lungs. She had massaged his scalp, running her fingers through his hair, while Rhodonite had begun to inspect his back. Rhodonite lifted his shirt slightly, and saw the nasty purple bruise forming there.

Lars had stiffened slightly under the fusion's touch when she had accidentally brushed against it. Rhodonite had immediately stopped, and settled for rubbing the boy's arm. None of them liked the sight of him being hurt, even Padparadscha had put her anger away to inspect her friend.

"Give the... Lars... some space." Fluorite's wistful tone sounded through the ship, made Rhodonite pick Padparadscha up, and carry her to the computers. Rutile kept rubbing Lars' head waiting for him to catch his breath.

Even though he enjoyed Rutile rubbing his head, Lars wished he could have just fallen asleep and not deal with the confrontation. Instead, he caught his breath, Rutile helped him to his feet, and then moved him to an area as far away from the others as possible. She had a grasp on his arm, that felt like she was using super-human strength. When they reached the small area, Rutile had quickly turned the boy to his side, and landed five smacks to his bottom before turning him around to face her.

That had hurt! Not as bad as the punch from earlier, but in a different way. The way, Rutile's eyes were full of worry, and disappointment. It made Lars' stomach twist in an angry state. Her mouth was in a firm line, and she was tapping her foot, like a mother expecting an excuse for her child's actions.

"Do you have-"

"Any idea how-"

"Worried we were!" Her voice had risen in pitch at the end. She wasn't just mad. She was furious with him. Lars had been looking at her, but now… now he wanted to look anywhere, but her expecting gaze.

"You could have been killed."

"And we would have no idea."

"My little gemling… dead-"

"Because you thought that was okay." Lars couldn't help but let a tear trickle down his cheek. He had only wanted to help, and now that he had his actions pointed out to him. All because Rutile was worried about him.

"I'm sorry," his voice cracked, and tears were openly falling now. A slim finger, touched the bottom of his chin, and made Lars look into his caretaker's eyes. Both sets had worry, and disappointment clear as day in them.

"I know you're sorry."

"But you scared everyone here."

"We would have been devastated."

"All because you had to be a hero." Lars couldn't take it anymore. He was openly sobbing now. He was positive that they were angry, and would drop him off on the nearest planet.

Rutile took one look at the crying boy, and wrapped her arms around him. She was careful to avoid the bruise on his back, as she rubbed his head. She could feel the tears running down the split of her neck, but she didn't want to give in. Rutile hates seeing the little boy upset, but he needs to learn his lesson. Plus, her lecture had worked, he was repentant, and was in need of some TLC.

Lars felt like a baby in the gem's embrace, but loved every second of it. He felt safe, and cared for. He only hoped that she forgave him. Those worries, however, soon melted away, as his sobs turned into hiccups, which slowly turned into light snores.

Her little gemling had fallen asleep, and Rutile brought him to Fluorite. She knew the elderly gem would happily let him nap on her, and give the twin gem some time to figure out a course of action. Rutile knew that Rhodonite would be able to help her plot a course to land and take her mind off recent events. Although, it looked like she had her hands full with the little sapphire. Padparadscha was throwing a full-blown tantrum.

"He was stupid, and got himself hurt!," she stomped her foot out of anger. " WE SHOULD IGNORE HIM FOR DOING SUCH A STUPID THING.'' Paddy doesn't understand why Rhodonite doesn't see the obvious punishment for the stupid boy. He did the stupidest thing… i could have lost my best friend over some stupid plan…

Rhodonite was trying her best to stay calm. The little sapphire was starting to get on her nerves...

"Rutile is handling his punishment. He'll have a time-out when he wakes up. Though you may end up joining him." Rhodonite could tell, by the way the little sapphire stood up straighter, that the threat of a time-out seemed to work. The gemling let out a few mumbles before shuffling off to the little gem's grandmother, and snuggled against the caterpillar.

Pinching her nose, the two gem fusion, joined Rutile at the computer terminal. They had a near silent conversation debating on which planets were safe nearby, and which ones would be the best to land on in case of an emergency. They were silent afterwards, trying to relearn the different computer systems, and how to use them.

Meanwhile, Lars had woken in Fluorite's gentle hold, and was chided to go speak with his caretaker. That had made the boy blush slightly, but did as he was told. When he got closer, Rutile and Rhodonite turned in their seats, having been interrupted, when they heard the shuffling of footsteps. Rutile then beckoned the downtrodden boy to follow her to their previous meeting area. Lars felt his nerves light up with worry.

"Now, I want you-"

"to stand here in-"

"time-out while you-"

"think about what-"

"could have-"

"been different." Lars showed his understanding, by a slow nod, and doing as he was told. Rutile stood near him, and counted to five. She knew it was only a matter of time before he threw a fit.

1

2

3

"Can I please stop?" His voice had a bit of a whine to it, and he started to bounce on his feet. When he didn't hear a response immediately, Lars snuck a peak to see where the maternal gem was. She gave him a pointed glare, and he continued with the demeaning punishment.

When five minutes had passed, and Rutile didn't make any indication that the punishment was over, Lars tried his luck once more. When he snuck a peak over his shoulder, his head didn't get to far before he felt a firm smack to his bottom. With a small yelp, Lars decided not to push his luck anymore.

Rutile's patience was growing thin, when Lars had tried to break the limits of his punishment a second time, she came to the conclusion if he did it again, they would be having a different punishment, that would be similar to the one before his nap.

"You may-"

"Stop now." Her tone was gentle, but it still had an undercurrent of firmness to it. Lars spun around happily, his legs felt like jelly, and he was dying of boredom. It felt like he had stared at a dusty wall for eternity. Where as the twin gem knew that it had only been for ten minutes.

"I really am sorry" it was a whisper, that held all his insecurities, and was begging for her forgiveness. With practiced ease, Lars was in another embrace. This one felt different though. It was lighter? It made the butterfly swarm, flutter throughout his stomach tenfold. Happiness was blossoming through him, and making his heart swim with emotions he hadn't felt from a family member since he was a child.

Why was this gem alien thing able to bring this emotion out so easily? Whatever reason it was, it would be a mystery, because Lars felt the gem give his messy mop of pink hair a kiss, and heard her mumble soft reassurances in his ear. He felt like he was melting into the embrace, and couldn't help but mutter something that he hoped no one else could hear.

Rutile had been cradling the small human in her hold. She loved the sensation of holding her little gemling in her arms. It helped confirm that she was doing something correctly, and solidified that he was safe. She started to mumble comforting things into the boy's ear, and was hoping that he would feel better about his mistakes. Rutile felt guilty yelling at him. He certainly deserved it, but that didn't make her feel better. She just wished he would learn his lesson, and they could get to Earth safely, without any more trouble.

Her line of hopeful thinking was cut off, however, when she heard the boy mumble something under his breath. It made both sets eyes grow wide, and made her gem flutter with an unknown happiness. Though by the way he nuzzled into the gem's neck, she would let him believe that she didn't hear his small mumble. When the boy had let out a contempt sigh against the gem's body, she slowly broke the hug, and had him meet her eyes.

"Why don't you try to rest-"

"A little more with Fluorite?" The way the boy's eyes seemed to battle with staying open, only reinforced that he should go to sleep soon. An internal struggle must have occured within the boy, before he kissed the gem on one cheek of each head, and rushed over to the elderly gem.

Rutile watched with a large grin, as the grandmotherly gem hoisted the boy onto her stomach, and had him sleep next to Padparadscha. Rutile walked with a giddy skip to her step, as she approached the computer terminal to access the star map. She was humming under her breath, earning a questioning glance from her sister.

"What's got you in such high spirits?" The hint of amusement was clear as day, in the fusion's voice.

"Quite a few things Rhody."

"Escaping Homeworld."

"Being closer to Earth." Rutile smiled warmly towards the fusion. She had plenty to be happy about, but right now she could keep one aspect of it a secret. Lars had mumbled something that would brighten up the next several days for her. He may have done it accidentally or subconsciously, but it didn't matter to Rutile. All that mattered was that Lars said I love you.