Can we see a bit of Bill and Ford interactions(when they're not fused), not only between them, but with the orthers around them
Hm... I believe I have exactly what you're looking for! Here's a little preview I think you'll enjoy~
Ford growled something under his breath, brow heavily furrowed as he flicked through the various readings that glimmered on the ship’s screen. Stan stood back, arms crossed against his chest, worry a tangible ball in his stomach. Glancing around the cockpit, he was honestly surprised to see just how many gems their Hessonite had allowed Ford to lead on the mission - a dozen Jasper of various types, two Topaz guards, a Peridot that Ford appeared to be quite familiar with, a duo of Lapis Lazuli, an entire ship crew made up of Nephrites, even a Sapphire and her four Ruby guards!
“They’re down there,” Ford muttered, glaring at the readouts. “But they’re using the local fauna to mask their exact location, cowards that they are.” He turned, eyeing his assembled squadron of gems. “We’ll split into two search parties. I’ll lead one, St- Sunstone will lead the other.” Suddenly confronted with the gaze of every gem on the ship, the gem felt his eyes widen. He wanted to question Ford - why was his twin suddenly trusting him with this? After all that time apart, surely he’d want at least a Jasper to lead over him!
But he was smart enough not to question his superior in front of others, so merely nodded his head once.
“Good. We’ll split down the middle, half with me, half with Sunstone. F, can I trust you to keep the comms open and running?” Ford turned to the Peridot, who gave him a soft, knowing look.
“Ya’ll know me better than that,” the green gem chuckled.
“I do,” Ford’s face relaxed into a smile for the first time since Stan had joined the mission. “Alright! Everyone be ready, we land in five!”
“Ford,” Stan hissed as he quickly approached his brother, taking his arm and tugging them away from where the other gems were preparing for landing. “Why are you putting me in charge of any of this?”
“Because,” Ford huffed with a fond, exasperated smile, laying a firm hand on Stan’s shoulder. “No matter how far apart we are, no matter how long it’s been since we’ve laid eyes on one another… You’ll always be the one I trust most in the galaxy, Stan.” Ford couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him as he watched Stan’s lower lip wobble, the Sunstone obviously trying to hold back the emotions welling up inside him. “You’ll always be my twin, no matter what happens.”
Stan nodded silently, unsure that he could speak without bursting into tears. Straightening his shoulders, he gave Ford a determined smile before turning and heading to join his landing party.
“You know, he’s kinda cute.”
Ford turned to glare at his friend, though neither could keep the laughter to themselves for long. He punched the Peridot lightly on the arm, knowing that a certain Cinnabar awaited his return to Homeworld. “Focus, F,” Ford huffed. “Sooner we get this done, sooner we can get you back home and finishing that project you refuse to tell me about.”
“Not my fault you don’t rank high enough for it,” the man grinned. “Though once we catch these Off-Colors, I’m sure Yellow Diamond herself will be calling you up to praise you!”
“Yeah, right,” Ford scoffed, though the flush that adorned his cheeks spoke of glee at the mere idea of it.
“Sir,” a Nephrite saluted as she stepped before the two conversing gems. “We’re about to make landfall. I suggest you take your seats.”
“Thank you, Nephrite, we’ll do just that,” Ford glanced at his friend, who nodded in agreement. “Time to go take these rebels down.”
Bill Cipher wasn’t a rebel. He’d made that perfectly clear numerous times over his centuries of life - he’d never directly attacked a gem colony or outpost, took deliberate action to make sure he didn’t come in contact with Homeworld, and had even built his own ship from the ground up so they could get away from any planet the Diamonds deemed theirs.
The absolute only time he clashed with Diamond forces was if they attacked first.
Of course, he counted violence against Off-Colors in general as an attack against him and his kind, so there was that.
But really, he’d done nothing to deserve the Diamonds continuously sending all manner of gems out to capture and/or shatter him! Sure, he threw wild parties and tended to go on raging benders and maybe there was a little planetary destruction left in his wake… Okay, yeah, he could see why they did it, but that didn’t make it fair! After all, he was just one tiny Pyrite with a handful of other Off-Colors Homeworld didn’t even want! What made him so important?!
He knew why, of course, but that didn’t mean he liked to think about it.
The triangular gem glanced up from where he’d been pacing a hole in the ground to see Pyronica waving him over, the pink Vesuvianite looking serious.
“What’s up?” Bill asked as he floated over, looking down at the map 8-Ball had laid out for them. The Nephrite shook his head as he pointed to a particular clearing not too far from their current location.
“If I know them, they’ll land here. It’s the safest spot on this side of the planet and there’s no local inhabitants in the area,” he muttered in annoyance. “I’m still running diagnostics on the ship, so we can’t escape that way.”
“We’re sitting here waiting to be slaughtered,” Kryptos hissed, the Cannizzarite glaring out at the jungle surrounding them.
“Let ‘em come, we’ll take them out!” Teeth, a deformed Amethyst, laughed merrily. “There’s nothing I can’t bite through!”
“No, we need to be careful about this,” Bill grumbled as he narrowed his eye at the map. “Hectorgon, Pyronica, Xanthar, you’re with me for this. Keyhole, Teeth, you stay here and guard 8-Ball and the ship. The rest of you, follow 8-Ball’s instructions, do everything to get the Fearamid up and running again!”
Nods from his friends (family) assured him of their understanding, and with that, he turned and set off towards the landing spot, his chosen gems following after him.
“Pyronica, you and Xanthar focus on leading some of those gems north - I want them as far away from our landing site as possible. Hec, you’re with me, we’re going to split their leader from their group - they should be easy pickings after that,” Bill ordered, eye narrowing as they hurried through the jungle. “And Pyronica,” he stopped short, hand landing on the shoulder of his most trusted companion. From her look, she knew what he was going to say.
“I’ll make sure everyone gets off planet, Bill,” she murmured. It was the same promise she always made whenever they were in situations like this. Bill was powerful, yes, but he was never certain that he would make it back after drawing the leader of the group away. Some day, a gem more powerful than him would appear - and he never wanted his friends to stick around waiting for him should that happen.
Eye tilting up in a fond smile, Bill released his gentle hold and they were immediately off again, racing against time.
