just gotta ignite the light and let it shine

[whattaprick]

Who: Everyone who's stupid enough to show up for this, because legal drinking ages are for people from a different century/planet.
When: Afternoon/Evening, Day 30
Where: Lakeshore
What: Local Carnival workers get wasted and set off fireworks by the lake.
Warnings: Carnival shenanigans, ie. booze, drugs, and people getting set on fire probably. Put any tag-specific warnings in your headers!

So, Wismuth happened.

Lambert's pretty willing to bet a good chunk of the Carnival is pretty happy to act like Wismuth didn't happen, but he also doesn't really care about what sorrows people are drowning or not tonight: he knows he needed this drink, and after he'd slept off the immediate exhaustion that came with running around Wismuth for nearly two weeks with the power of Creation more or less constantly burning through him, he's ready to something, anything to feel like himself again.

Fast-forward to the lakeshore. There's a huge bonfire going, a box of assorted fireworks that's been 'liberated' from wherever the hell engineering keeps their supplies, and probably a crate of wine that's going to disappear sooner rather than later. Anything else, someone's going to have to bring themselves.

[ ooc: This is a mingle log! Bring your own entertainment, food, questionable substances etc. ]

Comments

[starseedling]

"Amethyst!" he says back, in a way that is both genuinely excited but also like he's been caught red-handed with something. Lion lifts his head long enough to give Amethyst a weary look, before yawning loudly and flopping down again.

"Yeah! That's... pretty weird, huh," he says, losing steam as quickly as he gains it. "I don't know if it was... evil? Well. Maybe a little I guess..."

This is so hard to talk about.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst awkwardly rubs the back of her neck, glancing over at the lake with a little grimace. "I dunno... It was for sure more evil than usual."

[starseedling]

He can't argue that part. He feels like he needs to give some kind of explanation, like he needs to justify his behaviour. It's not easy.

"It just... made it seem like nothing was worth anything anymore," he says, reluctantly. "I'm... sorry for dragging you into that stuff."

[drrdrrdrr]

"... Eh," she says, shrugging lopsidedly. "I woulda felt pretty crummy if I couldn't help you out. Even if it was helping you out with trashing grocery stores 'n stuff."

Of course, she really wishes she could have actually helped, but...

[starseedling]

Steven accepts that, leaning his head on his knees. It didn't seem like anyone could do much to help him until later on. He hadn't been on that side of a brainwashing situation before.

"I just kinda thought that if I could bring over all my friends to my side... we could at least have some fun before it was over." His face falls just thinking about it. "It was nice having you around even if it was really dumb."

[drrdrrdrr]

There's a moment's pause; then Amethyst sits down next to him, curling her tail loosely around her feet.

"Yeah." She pushes some of her hair out of her face -- and then lets it fall back, and sighs. "It's weird, it was just... so easy to not care about stuff. Like, it was -- easier. You know?"

[starseedling]

"Yeah."

He knows that must have been a weird feeling for Amethyst, considering how she'd tried to live like that sometimes in real life. He knows she'd never use that reasoning to hurt someone intentionally, but... he can definitely relate, having experienced it.

"I was really happy about it at first. I was so stressed out, it seemed like it would be better. But... The longer it went, the more angry and sad I felt. I guess I'm not very good at that, either."

[drrdrrdrr]

"... Aw, dude," says Amethyst, nudging his shoulder with hers and giving him a just slightly awkward lopsided smile. "It's 'cause you're just too much of a good guy to be a good bad guy."

[starseedling]

Steven smiles a little back at her, and it's actually pretty genuine. It's a nice thing for her to say, and even just the sentiment is enough to bolster him a little, coming from her.

"I guess it's not as fun when it's real, instead of wrestling," he says, a bit more lightly.

[drrdrrdrr]

"Heh, yeah," says Amethyst, and reaches over to muss his hair -- only to find that she has to reach up a little bit more than she's used to in order to do that. She looks at him with mock indignation. "What the heck, dude, did you get taller than me?"

[starseedling]

Steven is just laughing softly in response to the hair-mussing when he question catches him off guard. He blinks, and then looks at her, and her hand, and the way it's angled, and...

"I thought my pants fit weird!" he says, sounding shocked. He stretches out his legs, showing how his pants are sitting further up his leg than normal. "Oh no. I meant to quit doing the growth stuff, but maybe I didn't go back to the right size after all..."

He's phrasing this as a bad thing, somehow.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst is already getting to her feet, and pulling Steven with her so she can see how tall he is against her. He isn't actually taller than her, but he's... probably about the same height she is, now, instead of a little shorter? END OF AN ERA. "Whoah. I guess you just... grew some more again? You used to do that all the time."

[starseedling]

It's actually been about seven years since Steven gained any significant height, so he'd almost forgotten what it was like. The last time he'd experienced it, it had been forced and difficult and ended up terribly. Yet, he isn't straining at all right now, to the point he didn't even notice he was different.

"Wait... do you mean you think it's real? Like real, actual growing?" That's novel as fuck, if it's true.

[drrdrrdrr]

"Well, you're not doing it on purpose, right?" She leans to the side, as if seeing him from a different angle will give her a greater insight on this matter. "I guess it's gotta be, huh? It's not that weird, dude, you totally did it all the time for years."

[starseedling]

He thinks about it for a moment, and then shakes his head.

"No way... when I did it before, it was so exhausting... this time I didn't even notice it was different!" He blushes a little, rubbing his hair. "I didn't think I did that anymore!"

It's been something he's been wondering about for a while, and finding out it just happened without him realizing it... well, that's how normal growth works most of the time, doesn't it?

[drrdrrdrr]

"Yeah, I kinda thought you must be done," muses Amethyst, squinting at his hairline, which is, novelly, roughly in the same area as hers now. "Maybe it just took a break or something? I did always think it was kinda weird for you to be smaller than your dad and your mom if you're kinda like a fusion of them..."

[starseedling]

"Yeah, usually a fusion is like... bigger than the two of them combined! I hope I don't get that big... it'd be kind of hard to get through doors."

He laughs, though, so this apparently isn't a major concern at the moment. He he really does have to weigh the pros and cons of being a giant.

[drrdrrdrr]

Amethyst grins at him. "If you're big enough, you don't need to fit through doors, you can just smash 'em."