Secondary Characters Speak Out: Quartz and Opal

It’s that time of the month again…when Quartz, deceased dwarf from Fairest, hijacks my Forbidden Cauldron and Facebook Author Page to run off his mouth. (groans)

He doesn’t have his own blog yet, Paula, but he has his own File in my Blogs folder. You had to encourage him…(rueful grin)

Quartz: Yes, it’s my time of the month, since scribblers are stingy, particularly mine. Won’t let me have my own blog, won’t let me post more than once a month-

Opal: Quit bellyaching and get on with it. 

Quartz: Speaking of secondary characters, here’s my younger brother, Opal-

Opal: I open the door in Chapter 3. I considered slamming it in Oriana’s face. 

Quartz: Go ahead and gloat, you’ve got one of the few speaking parts. You’d think you were the elder brother, not me. 

Opal: I am the elder brother. I had to become that, once you left me to look after all of our brothers. 

Quartz: That wasn’t my choice!

Opal: It’s been a century. Do you know how much we suffered after we lost you? Only now I find you’re here on our writer’s blog, complaining about your lousy existence. 

Quartz: I’m still dead!

Opal: That didn’t stop you from speaking out! Why didn’t you come see Garnet or any of the rest of us?

Quartz: It’s a fourth wall thing. Right now, we’re on it. In actual storytime, I’m still dead. You ought to know that. We’ve done the fourth wall before. 

Opal: Right.

Quartz: You didn’t complain during previous posts about me being a blog ghost. Why now? 

Opal: This is Secondary Characters Speak Out, right? You encourage us to complain!

Quartz: (looking a bit flustered) Right. 

Opal: I’m the Eldest Brother. I have to be stoic around our younger siblings. 

Quartz: Right…

Opal: It’s only now I’ve got a chance to speak to you, brother to brother without the younglings present. You think you’ve got it rough? You have no idea. Do you have any notion how little of Garnet’s beard is left? Barely a few patches have grown back since we lost you!

Quartz: (now looking a little guilty) He misses me that much?

Opal: And her. 

Quartz: And her. Blanche, the closes thing I have to a daughter. This is why I’m so angry at what happened. (regaining his former indignation)

Briar: (offstage) Ugh…I hate that name.

Opal: Briar. She’s prefers Briar. I’d tell you the rest of the story, only I’d be spoilering things. 

Quartz: (glowers) See? You got to see her happy ending. You even got to visit her in the castle!

Opal: Spoilers. Shut up, brother. You’re ruining it for the readers who haven’t finished Fairest. 

Quartz: *I* didn’t get to finish Fairest! I was finished off! 

Opal: Were you? You seem pretty lively to me!

Quartz: Only because I refused to shut up and accept the secondary part that scribbler gave me!

Opal: Is your secondary part really so awful? You said something to our girl which healed her ailing heart. 

Quartz: That was only in a magic mirror flashback…who’s spoilering things now?

Opal: Only a magic mirror flashback…is that all that moment was?

Quartz: (nose turns red) All right, I’m glad I helped her. Only I ended up ruining her life without a chance to explain anything! 

Opal: What was there to explain? You’re an old dwarf with an old heart, that’s all. Shock killed you. 

Quartz: I’m not that old! There should be more to it! Which that scribbler might figure out if she’d only take the time to write it!

Opal: About that. How come you’re the only one of the seven of us who gets a story out of the scribbler? Poor you. 

Quartz: (blustering a bit) Now see here…I’m the oldest. Look at what happened to me. I’m the blemish on the romance’s happily ever after. I should be fixed. 

Opal: Poor, martyred you. If you do get your own story, you won’t be a secondary character any more. 

Quartz: Well…

Opal: If that happens, I’m taking over Secondary Characters Speak Out. 

Quartz: (bristles) Look, you-

Opal: Look, all of you. Is there anything you liked about your role as a secondary character in your story? I loved visiting the castle and seeing Briar happy in mine.

Quartz: It’s not your blog, yet, you little-

Opal: Even if Harold stepped on my toes while we danced. 

Quartz: There you go, spoilering the story again!