0+1=2

0=1

Gossips bounced off of the walls of the school the moment it was revealed that two new gems would be joining them. Sensei had broken the news yesterday, and it only took the gems one night to bring out all of the creativity in the recesses of their minds to construct the wildest conclusions as to who the new gem might be.

"Hey, hey, did you hear?"

"They say the new kid might be a diamond!"

"Whaaat?! How many more diamonds are we gonna get?"

"Another one joins the 10 trio then?"

"No, you idiots! They're twins! The new kids!"

"Twins?!"

Topaz's jaw hung open when Bluzo broke the news. Such is a rumor ridden game of telephone, the news just doesn't reach the other person's ears right. The others in the group also reacted in surprise.

"Twins?" Peridot echoed.

"Twins..." Sphene parroted.

"Yes! Twins!" Guys okay we get it it's twins. The new kids are twins we can stop repeating the word now goddammit.

"TWINS?!!" Fuck. The information finally registered in the empty space in Topaz's noggin where a brain should normally be.

Frankly, all Bluzo did was stir the gossip into another direction instead, albeit now it's at least a little closer to the truth. Which was an improvement, in a way. News spread like wildfire that they'd be having twins for the first time in forever, and holy shit since when had the gems been this creative, if you guys could channel that much of your creativity into sculpting the juiciest gossips then you can do the same for all the essay competitions Sensei hosted.

The day came when Sensei had finally finished chiseling and sculpting the new gems into what his idea of perfect was.

He'd come out of the infirmary then, new gems in tow, a firm hand holding one of the twins'. His other arm was just hanging by his side, with the twins already holding each other's unoccupied hands. Jade was still trying to process the fact that they'd be having twins (um, no, not that way), standing there gaping in asinine foolishness, so much that Euclase had to gently tug them out of the way.

The morning announcement started and everyone crowded and gathered all around Sensei and the twins.

"Everyone. I want you to meet them - they are Rutile, and they will be joining us as part of the school. I hope you will be kind to them," he said. One of the twins hid behind the other's back, or more specifically... It was the twin with the messy, tousled hair that looked like it so desperately needed a good combing (Red Beryl was already gnashing their teeth) that was cowering behind the twin with the neat, slicked hair.

"Um, what about the other one?" asked Jade, pointing at... at the twins, actually. Sensei hadn't specified who was who.

"..." Okay, well, looks like he wouldn't be doing that anytime soon.

Eventually, the neat twin came to be known as 'Rutile', and the messy twin as 'the other one'. No one really knew which twin they were dealing with, considering they had little to no differences, save for their different hairstyles. Maybe their personality too, but who's to say they couldn't have switched whenever they pleased?

Okay wait actually now that I think about it their personalities are pretty different.

Rutile was always the more logical and calm one, burying their face in books and being a well behaved child in every definition of the word. Lapis always enjoyed their company whenever the younger gem would come and stop by at the library, picking out books to read by the shelves with Lapis looking over their shoulder every five minutes or so.