//------------------------------// // Track 10: Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? // Story: Heavy Rock // by CoffeeMinion //------------------------------// ~ \m/ ~ Want to talk. Please come back to the house. Talking with dad Need to talk. Yes When are you coming back to the house? Maud give it a rest or ill shove this phone where the sun dont shine Why would you put your own phone there? YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN It was just a weird thing to say. IM COMING BACK I’m down in the basement. Please keep your phone to yourself. MAUD I WILL END YOU ~ \m/ ~ Wood creaked underfoot as Limestone tromped down the stairs to their home’s basement. She squinted in the dim light that filtered down from around the corner to the kitchen upstairs. “Maud?” she called into the darkness. “I’m in the workshop,” came a muffled voice from deeper in the basement. Limestone worked her way down the central hallway until she came to a turn and another short hallway. At the end of that one, she saw light leaking from around the frame of a closed door. She walked over to it and knocked. “Maud, come on. What are you doing down here?” The doorknob turned, and Maud pulled the door open. She stood before Limestone in a comfortable shirt and jammy pants. “Thank you for coming,” Maud said, stepping aside and waving Limestone into the room. Though it had never been drywalled, it was swept clean, and it had several tables filled with various heavy tools and equipment such as a pair of drill presses mounted next to each other. There was also a table off to the side that had a desk chair next to it, several small drawers full of tools, and a heavy fluorescent light hanging above. A number of tools and small stones were laid out on the table. Limestone walked over to it, then looked back at Maud. “I still find it soothing to do small-scale stone cutting and gemological work from time to time,” Maud said. She walked over and picked up a tiny but breathtaking blue-and-white striped stone. “Have a look at this lace agate I’ve been working on today.” “It’s good.” Limestone frowned at Maud. “But we’re not here to talk about rocks.” Maud gave her a flat look. She stayed quiet, forcing Limestone to make the first move. Limestone sighed. “Fine. Okay, listen, I don’t think this is such a good idea, having me date Flash and tell you about it. It’s pretty clear that you have feelings that are going to get stepped on if we keep going like this.” Maud looked down. “What did Sunset say about telling him about the lyrics?” “She told me I should tell him, so I told him. And he didn’t care.” “He…” Maud blinked. “Not at all?” Limestone shrugged. “He said you were a really good writer. I dunno, I didn’t think he’d be so cool about it either, but he seemed glad I was telling him even when I did.” “I see.” Maud looked at the project table. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do this.” “Nobody made you.” Limestone sighed. “I know I wasn’t sure about this at first, but now I like him. And I’m pretty sure he likes me too.” “Mom and Pinkie put your flowers in a vase up in your room.” Limestone blushed. “Maud, what am I supposed to do here? I don’t want to hurt you; I really don’t. But now I actually like him. How do I reconcile those two things?” Maud shrugged. “You have to choose what matters more to you.” “No. I don’t want to choose between you guys, Maud. Because I love you, but I also want to give this dating thing a chance, I guess.” “I understand,” Maud said. “But bear in mind that what this situation does is force us to compete.” “Except it isn’t much of a competition, is it? He went out with me, and he wants to do it again.” Maud’s facial expression stayed frozen but her eyes spoke volumes about her inner turmoil. “It does seem like you hold all the proverbial cards here.” Limestone pointed at her. “Say what you want now that you see how it’s going, but just remember, you’re the one who put me up to this. I could’ve just flipped him off and walked away!” “That’s certainly true,” Maud said. “I suppose I forfeited my right to complain when I orchestrated this whole situation to begin with. My biggest mistake was failing to anticipate that it would go so well.” She paused. “I’m sorry that I bet against you actually being able to start a relationship with Flash.” “Look, it’s all right,” Limestone said. “I mean… it’s not all right. It’s…” She looked down at the table and picked up the lace agate. “Okay, bear with me on this, but I bet it took years for this to form under the pressure of the earth, right? And even when you dug it out, it probably didn’t look like this; you had to spend hours cutting and polishing it.” Maud gave her a slight smile. “So you do listen when I talk about geology.” Limestone pursed her lips. “Sometimes. But it's kind of like us kids, right? You know the kind of pressure we grew up under. I think Pinkie’s gonna do all right for herself, but the rest of us need polishing.” “I… suppose.” “Well, you spent years getting polished by your time in a real school, even if you didn’t always like it. And now you're working on the next step with your whole geology thing. It’s like… you already know where you’re going with your life, and you’re on your way there. That’s a whole lot better than I’ve been doing.” Maud’s expression became even flatter than usual. “Limestone, you’re stretching this metaphor to its breaking point.” “Yeah, well, I ain’t done yet. Look, I know that dating isn’t everything, but it’s giving me new kinds of thoughts about my future. Stuff you’ve already figured out, y’know? Like I’m actually thinking more about what I really want to do instead of just doing the same things I’ve been doing for years.” She paused, and shrugged. “I guess I feel like my gemstone’s finally getting polished here. That’s a good thing, metaphorically speaking.” Maud blushed. “Saying you and Flash are polishing each other’s rocks could carry other kinds of metaphorical significance.” Limestone sighed. “Come on, Maud. Fight me if you’re gonna, but don’t snipe at me.” Maud looked at the ground. “You’ve made an argument that I can hardly refute, much as part of me still wants to.” She paused. “I suppose it would make sense, then, to establish new parameters for us regarding Flash.” Limestone narrowed her eyes. “Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that I’m not gonna like where you’re going with this?” Maud gave her the faint hint of a smile. “I’ll keep letting you and Flash use my lyrics for your music. I’ll even write you more. But if this is having the benefits that you describe, then I would like to see you continue to get serious with him. Really serious.” “I don’t know, Maud. If you’re already this upset about him bringing me flowers, I don’t want to see what you’d do if he sticks his tongue down my throat.” Maud gagged slightly. “I don’t mean ‘serious’ like rushing physical intimacy for the sake of letting me watch your relationship unfold from a distance. That would be disturbing.” “Thank you, I was worried for a minute there.” “What I mean is that I want you to actually figure out what you want to do with your life, and see what he says about that too.” Limestone frowned. “Dad pretty much said the same thing.” Maud blinked. “You know, he has some good advice, and he’s surprisingly good to talk with aboutー” “Please let that sentence end where it just did.” The sisters looked at each other in silence for a few moments. Then Limestone stretched her right hand out. “All right, I’ll get serious with Flash and see where things go.” Maud shook her hand, then blushed again. “You may be right; perhaps that isn’t the best way of saying it.” Limestone growled in reply, but let the issue drop.