⇨ THE EPILOGUE

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 61
Where: The Carnival
What: After all the rescues team return, it will be matter of tending to the wounded and getting the hell out of dodge. The Ringmaster can handle the fleeing part, but someone will need to look after those in the medical tent. Or, maybe, you just want to show up and ask what the hell happened.
Warnings: Some messed up consequences of faerie fuckery.

IN REPAIR↴ As the minutes tick past, all four rescue groups will eventually return. Everyone in the carnival is encouraged to help out, ensuring that the rescues and victims both are taken care of after the fact. You can tag in here as rescuers taking care of business around the carnival, victims recovering, or other workers checking in to see what's going on. This log is for general aftermath threads, made by anyone.

Comments

[periphrasing]

"Engaging with Earth culture makes it easier to engage with Earth-lings," Peridot replies, dragging a hand down her face. She sounds world weary. Gems don't age, and yet, somehow, this conversation is aging her.

[stompadour]

Jasper rolls her eyes irritably. "So what, you just do everything their way now?"

[periphrasing]

The engineer levels the most exasperated, withering stare imaginable. She looks dead inside. And suddenly she is giving up. Now she has her head bowed, face resting in both hands. This is just--

"Oh my stars. Why are you so FRUSTRATING?" Peridot says in a small voice, muffled by her hands. Good work Jasper! You've broken her!

[stompadour]

Jasper scowls down at her. "What, because I don't agree with you that the only way to not get myself shattered in this place is to start using Earth slang and wearing," she gestures irritably at Peridot's pants with one of the feet on the ends of her arms, "whatever those are so that they'll think I'm one of them?"

[periphrasing]

"It's not about changing everything about yourself or wearing pants just to fit in," Peridot whines desperately. "It's about learning as much as you can about EVERYTHING you can!"

She's kind of aware that she's seriously barking up the wrong tree here, but, it's hard to just drop this?

[stompadour]

"But you did change everything about yourself," says Jasper, prodding a foot in her direction in a way that suggests that she would be pointing accusingly if she had fingers on there right now.

[periphrasing]

That's a weird accusation, and an angle she's never really considered before now. Peridot pauses, tilting her head thoughtfully.

"I didn't change because I wanted to fit in," she says pensively, almost more like she's talking to herself than to Jasper. "I changed because... It just sort of happened naturally. By broadening my horizons I discovered all kinds of new things that I found out I was genuinely interested in."

[stompadour]

Jasper pulls a face as Peridot speaks. To her this just feels like proof that this has happened because Peridot is somehow innately defective: not suited for her ordained role, possessed of some inner weakness that has caused an idea like broadening her horizons, which holds no appeal for Jasper herself, to feel compelling.

"... I'm not like you, Peridot," she says. "And I don't need to be. When I've finished my time here, Pink Diamond will be restored, and I'll be able to go back to serving her. I don't need anything else."

Never mind, of course, what she just tried to fight the fae for...

[periphrasing]

"Pink Diamond?" Peridot says a little incredulously. Goddamn, she thought she'd heard the last of that when Blue left! "I thought your contract was to pay the Ringmaster back for saving you from that stupid Prince, not to restore her."

[stompadour]

"After that," says Jasper, frowning. "If Blue Diamond doesn't come back, I'm going to work for it instead. Those were her orders."

[periphrasing]

Looks like they're still going to have to come up with some sort of 'Pink Diamond being alive' based contingency plan after all. Great.

Peridot makes a noncommittal noise, frowning judgmentally at the other gem. There's something else that Jasper said that she still wants to follow up on.

"Whatever. If Pink Diamond is really the only thing that you need, then maybe you should stop acting so obsessed over Lapis all the time, then," she sneers.

[stompadour]

Jasper straightens up in surprised indignation.

"That -- I --" She scowls massively. "That's different!"

[periphrasing]

"Oh yeah?" Peridot just sneers right back, like the horrible little turd she is.

[stompadour]

"Yes," Jasper snaps, flustered. "When Pink Diamond is restored I won't even think about Lapis any more."

[periphrasing]

The sneer disappears, replaced by a confused little frown.

"So... Wait. Are you using Lapis as some kind of temporary Pink Diamond replacement or something, then?"

[stompadour]

"What? No, that's completely different--!" She breaks off with a huff. "What's it to you, anyway?"

[periphrasing]

"Um, Lapis is my BEST FRIEND?" Like, DUH? JASPER? "That's 'what it is' to me! I don't know what you want with her, or why you keep bothering her! You act like you're entitled to her and you're NOT!"

[stompadour]

Jasper bristles in absolute fury. Straightening up as she glowers down at Peridot, she snarls, "I've left her alone all this time because of your orders, Supervisor. I got captured -- got cracked -- trying to get her out of the hands of these fae because no one else was doing it -- is that what you call bothering her??"

[periphrasing]

Jasper you have feet for hands right now. It kind of undercuts your intimidation factor pretty significantly

"I think you mean, 'no one else was doing it' fast enough for your tastes," Peridot snaps, jabbing a claw at her. "I'm the one who had to show up and get BOTH of your sorry butts out of there! I warned you to stay back, and what did you do!? You got impatient and charged in there anyway!"

[stompadour]

"And I was supposed to just trust that a traitor like you was going to get to it eventually?"

I'm using this icon so much in this thread

[periphrasing]

"Um, YEAH!?" Excessive emphasis put on the 'yeah', to make it absolutely clear that she thinks Jasper is a fucking moron. "You think just because I'm a traitor to Homeworld, that means I'd make rescuing Lapis less of a priority!? I was out there in that stupid library looking for her too when I heard that message on the radio! It just wasn't logically sound to attack when you did! You acted like a complete CLOD, you jeopardized the whole entire group, and you could have gotten the whole lot of us KILLED!"

[stompadour]

Jasper straightens up in indignation.

"I said I know that was a mistake," she snaps. "That's not even the point, the point is if you'd betray your own Diamond then how am I supposed to know what your twisted priorities are?"

[periphrasing]

"My priorities are to my friends," she counters, pointing back at herself with a thumb. "Gaaah, I don't understand your logic! Lapis is a traitor to HER diamond too, you know! And you FUSED with her! TWICE now!"

[stompadour]

"I know she's a traitor," spits Jasper incredulously. "Do you think I trust her??"

[periphrasing]

"Enough to fuse with her, apparently, yes," Peridot mutters, glancing away.