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Juleka warps onto the temple Warp Pad, and she flinches when Marin calls out to her
“Juleka! Where have you been?” He walks over to her
“Uh, looking for Max... For a few days straight...” She sighs “Marin, I know I might have... disappointed... all of you. I know Marcthaniel is very upset with me, but I'm going to prove to him that he can trust me again.”
At that, Marcthaniel walks in through the front door. Juleka walks over to him “Marcthaniel. I was just looking for Max. He’s bound to be somewhere, right? Any new ideas?...”
Marcthaniel says nothing, and walks past him “... I'm sorry...”
She looks down. Marcthaniel stops walking, and Luka’s voice is heard from outside, as he walks in through the front door.
“Who wants to go on a road trip?” Everyone glares at him, all looking unhappy “Umm... Is this a bad time?”
Marcthaniel gives him a faint smile “No. Please continue.”
“Well, I gotta drive over to Bordeaux. I met a guy on an internet message board who's selling some high-quality guitar strings.” He explains “I just gotta meet him, and pick em' up.” He turns to Marin “Think you'd like to stay at a motel with your favorite dad?”
Marin looks suspicious “I don't know if you're my favorite...”
Luka chuckles, “Come here!” Marin jumps into his arms”
“I can't wait to get room service!”
“You're thinking of a hotel, we're going to a motel. It'll have a pool and free ice, and it's right next to The Best Diner in the World!” He smiles
Marcthaniel speaks up “I'm coming too.”
Juleka looks surprised “What?“
Marin gasps “Even better!”
Marcthaniel nods “Yeah. It’ll be fun.”
Luka shrugs his shoulders “Well in that case... road trip!”
Marin cheers “ROAD TRIP!”
Marcthaniel gives a thumbs up “Road trip.”
“Oh. Okay.” Juleka says “I'll make sure Rose and Alix know that...” Marcthaniel walks past her out the door. “... Okay... Bye.”
Later that evening, Luka drives Marin and Marcthaniel out of Paris in his car through the night. Marin is fast asleep, Luka is tired, and Marcthaniel is wide awake, seemingly unrest.
At a motel in Bordeaux. Luka arrives at the motel and parks his car outside.
“Another great thing about motels:” He opens the room door “You can drive right up to your door!”
Marin gasps in awe as they look at an ordinary motel room. “I'm gonna swim in the pool, order a movie, get free ice! It's gonna be great!” He starts jumping on a bed. Luka laughs “Not before we check for bed bugs, it isn't!”
Marcthaniel enters the room, carrying their luggage and groaning
Luka's cellphone then lights up “Oh! That's my cue.” He turns to Marcthaniel, sitting on the bed, hands on his knees twitching “Hey, do you mind holding down the fort until I get back?” Marcthaniel gives a thumbs-up
“Great. If I'm not back in an hour, call the police.”
Marin gives Luka the thumbs up, “Okay!” Luka leaves the room, and he starts jumping on the bed “Bounce with Marcthaniel!” When he doesn’t join, Marin stops and picks up a brochure “O-or we could look at brochures.”
While he reads, Marcthaniel groans and starts talking to himself
“Calm down.”
“I don't feel like forgiving Juleka!”
“You don't understand, we must.”
Marcthaniel grabs his shoulders, “If you're not going to listen then you can just... go!” then splits apart, separating into Marc and Nathaniel, who scream as they fall to the floor
Marc places a hand on Nathaniel’s shoulder, “We must move past this, Nath.”
“She lied to us so we'd form Sodalite!” He yelled, “She tricked us; don't you feel used?!”
Marin becomes excited when he sees the two gems “Nath! Marc! I uh-“
“You're choosing to take it personally,” Marc tells Nathaniel, making the red-haired gem jump to his feet and yell
“It's FUSION, Marc! What's more personal to us than FUSION?!?!”
Marin becomes uncomfortable. Marc tried to calm Nathaniel down
“I know, you're still upset.”
Nathaniel rolls his eyes “Oh, so it's just me?” Marc crosses his arms
“Of course not. Can't you see I'm completely engulfed with rage?” His face remains neutral
“Well, it doesn't feel like it.” Nathaniel starts tapping his foot impatiently. Marc gets up off the floor
“The sooner we forgive Juleka,” He sits on the bed “the better it will be for us all.” Nathaniel is fuming at his boyfriend’s response to the situation
“You're... not... as above this... as you... think you are!” He mutters angrily to himself and paces around his room, getting angrier
“Yes, I am.”
Marc sighs “You can't stay angry with her forever.”
Nathaniel turns and points at him “Wanna bet?”
Marc shrugs, “Why not?” Then smirks “I don’t mind a challenge.”
Nathaniel scowls “You... can't even... Argh!” Having nothing left to say, he storms out of the room and slams the door behind him, Marc with a very awkward Marin
“Nice to... see you again?”
“Nice to see you, too, Marin.”
Later. Marin, in his bathing suit, exits the room, towel in hand, and walks towards the pool. There, he sees Nathaniel pacing around on the poolside angrily. He tries to start a conversation
“Hey, Nath! You wanna swim in the pool?” He asks
“It's fusion, Marin!” He yelled, then continues pacing “It's like Marc doesn't even care! And we're supposed to be the bigger Gem about this.” He throws his hands up in the air, shouting “We're ALLLLLLWAYS!- the bigger Gem! Well, not this time! Not—about—this!”
Marin sets his towel down “Come on, w-why don't you cool down in the pool? Hup!” He cannonballs into the pool, splashing Nathaniel
“I don't need to "cool down"!” He mutters
“Come on, Nathaniel! The water's niiice~!” He starts doing backstrokes
Nathaniel, a little hesitant, sighs before jumping into the water. He sinks to the bottom of the pool and continues pacing “Why does he always act like I'm being ridiculous? Just because he wants to pretend like he doesn't have feelings? Oh yeah! I don't have any feelings...” His words are muffled by the water
“... Uhh, Nath?” Marin climbs out of the pool and wraps his towel around him “Uhh... I'm gonna go back to the room.”
Marin leaves the pool, as Nathaniel continues to rant underwater. He then returns back into the motel room and begins sweating.
Marin removes his towel and starts wiping the sweat off of him “Phew.” He turns to Marc, just sitting on the bed “Marc?”
“Yeah, Marin?” He answers
“Are you doin' okay?”
“I'm... fine.” Marc looks away as he says this
Marin just nods “Okay... Why’s it so hot in here?” He wipes more sweat off of his forehead
“I just prefer the heat.” He falls back on the bed “So I put the thermostat on high.”
“Okay...” Marin gets in his bed, then picks up the remote “Wanna watch TV together?”
Marc just shrugs “Sure.”
Marin switches to a channel and continues the wipe the sweat off of him with the towel, as Marc just continues to lie on the bed, not at all affected by the heat
“... Hey, Marc?”
“Yeah?”
“Maybe you should talk to Nathaniel?” Marin suggests. Marc sighs
“Even if I do, Nath won't listen.” He says. Marin frowns “We can't stay mad at Juleka forever, and he can't stay mad at me forever, and then he'll come back and see that I'm right.”
Marin doesn’t look convinced “Are you sure?”
Marc nods “This always happens.” He sits up “Nathaniel's just letting his emotions get out of hand.”
“Not you though?”
“No...” He gets off the bed, “It’s not hot enough.” then he walks into the bathroom and starts running hot water from the sink and shower. Not being able to handle the heat anymore, Marin walks outside and shuts the door
“Bordeaux.” He mutters. Headlights shine on him, as Luka’s car pulls over and parks outside the room
“Hey, Marin, I brought dinner!” He holds up a pizza box
Marin smiles, glad to see a friendly face “Hey Dad, how'd it go?”
“Well, he wasn't an ax-murderer, so that was good.” He laughs “What are you doing outside in your bathing suit? And where's Marcthaniel?”
Luka peeks in the room and sees Marc sitting on the bed, surrounded by the steam. He turns to face Luka. “What?”
Luka quickly closes the door “Oh boy... Where's the other one?”
Marin folds his arms “He’s pacing around in the pool.” He and Luka sit on the hood of the car
“Something pretty serious must be going on if it made Marcthaniel split up.” He sighs, then turns to Marin with a smile “But hey! We can still have a good time!” He opens the pizza box, revealing a square pizza. Marin is officially done
“SQUARE PIZZA?! What's wrong with this crazy state?!”
Luke ruffles his son’s hair “Kid, there will come a time in your life when you learn to accept all pizza.” He holds the pizza box up to Marin, and he hesitantly takes a slice
“Why can't Marc and Nathaniel just... make up?” He asks
“Sometimes people that love each other can hurt each other's feelings without meaning to.” Lula explains “We should just give them some space.”
“But I think they'd work it out if they'd just talk to each other!” Marin argues
“Everything will be better in the morning. We'll all go to The Best Diner in the World, where we'll eat the best breakfast in the world.”
Marin begins to look convinced “You think that'll help?”
Luka nods “Nothing like a little breakfast to bring people together.” He nudges Marin, making him smile.
“You really are my favorite dad.”
Luka takes a pizza slice “I knew this pizza would put me over the top...”
The next morning at The Best Diner in the World. Luka, Marin, Nathaniel, and Marx are sitting at a table. Marin is playing with a spoon, Luka is whistling awkwardly while typing something on his phone, Nathaniel leans on the table, facing away from Marc and angrily tapping a finger, while Marc is sitting patiently and quietly. A waitress then brings four breakfast plates.
“Thank you.” Luka says
Marin smiles at the waitress “Thanks!”
Nathaniel stares blankly at the breakfast plate in front of him, with eggs, bacon, and a strawberry arranged into smiling faces. Luka looks confused, “What's the matter? Not hungry?”
“Gems don't need to eat, Dad.” Marin explains
“Well, Marcthaniel likes to eat sometimes-“
Nathaniel slams his fist on the table “Well Marcthaniel’s not here!” He throws himself against the booth seat, crossing his arms, wiggling his foot impatiently. Luka and Marin awkwardly begin to eat
“... Heh, this really is "The Best Diner in the World".” Luka says
Nathaniel starts to shake the table impatiently. Marc rolls his eyes, “You're shaking the table.” Nathaniel slams his fist on the table and continues shaking it.
“Hah, I'M kinda surprised you felt anything at all, to be honest!” He yelled, Marc remains calm
“I didn't need to feel, I just saw.”
“EVERYTHING IS JUST SO... CRYSTAL. CLEAR. TO. YOU. ISN'T IT?!” Nathaniel begins to shake the table violently, causing Marin and Luka to frantically lift their plates off the table
Marc leans to Marin and Luka “This will pass. He'll eventually just burn himself out.” Nathaniel stops shaking the table and turns to Marc
“THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK!” He yells, then summons his gauntlet “I AM AN ETERNAL FLAME, RAINBOW!!!!” He smashes the table with his gauntlet, causing it to flip over and everything to spill off it. He begins to argue with Marc “You don't know me!”
“How could I possibly not know you, we always fuse—“
“Look at you! Awww-haw-haw.”
“We always fuse. Look at you. Look at what you're going on about...”
“YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW YOURSELF! HAH!”
As Marc and Nathaniel argue, Marin sees one of the breakfasts has turned into a frown. He then starts tearing up in dismay. Luka smiles nervously at him
“Hey, it's okay bud. We can still save this. Why don't we just bag them up to go, and-“ Marin drops his plate onto the floor, Marc and Nathaniel immediately stop arguing, and storms outside with tears in his eyes “Aww jeez...”
Marc and Nathaniel look at each other and chase after Marin outside
“Marin!” He turns to them, angry
“I was so happy when Marcthaniel said he was gonna come on this trip with me and Dad! Home's been awful! Here's been awful!” Marc and Nathaniel look at each other, worried looks on their faces
“I thought you wanted to have a fun time but, everyone's been acting awful too! It-It just came with us! I don't understand! Is it... is it me?” He looks down in disappointment
Nathaniel shakes his head “No! Marin, it's all us!”
“But we made him feel... like it was his fault.” Marc says, “I-I just thought that we should just wait this out, and everything would be solved... As if it doesn't matter how you feel right now...” He starts to cry “No wonder you think I don't care!”
“Marc?... No, no no no no no no no! This is all my fault! I-I didn't want to look for a solution, I-I just wanted to be mad!” Nathaniel holds his hand “Y-You're right! You're always right! I was being stupid!” Marc yanks his hand back
“I don't think you're stupid!...”
“... I'm... sorry...” He brushes Marc’s hair to the side and cups his face in his hands
“Do you honestly think I'm not upset about what happened? I was just... trying to do the right thing...” Nathaniel wipes his tears away
“I know...” Marc sighs and holds his hand against his cheek. Nathaniel starts smiling “You know what's nice about being split up?” Marc looks concerned “I get to look at you.” Nathaniel grins, and Marc pushes him away, laughing
“Be serious!” Nathaniel hugs him
“There’s my pretty Rainbow!” He laughs mischievously, making Marc blush. He shushes Nathaniel
“Shh! You're embarrassing me in front of Marin!”
Marin looks away, embarrassed. Nathaniel and Marc continue laughing and giggling, as Nathaniel throws Marc into the air, catches him, and kisses him on the cheek and neck. Marin blushes covers his eyes, lays on the ground, and sighs. Luka walks up to him
“Well, I paid for breakfast... And the damage to the booth... Anywho, I think I'm all vacationed out. Ready to call it a day?”
Marin takes a breath as if he is going to say something, when he is interrupted by Marc and Nathaniel fusing
“Not before we get our free ice.” Marcthaniel says
Marin smiles “Marcthaniel!”
Back at the Beach House, Marin, and Luka enter the house, holding bags of ice. Juleka, looking sad, is talking to Alix and Rose
“I just don't know why I keep-“ Alix waves to Marin and Luka. Juleka notices them
“Oh! Uh- You look like you all had fun.”
Marin nods “Yeah! It all worked out!” Marcthaniel walks in. Juleka approaches him, “Marcthaniel, how are you?”
Marcthaniel holds up his hand “Not now.” then walks away
“... He’a speaking to me again... Kind of.” She looks down
Luka sets the bag of ice down “That really was a great trip.”
“Can we go back?” Marin asks, excitedly
Luka ruffles his hair “Maybe one day...” But, not to that diner!... Oh boy...”