[ENTRANCEWAY] IC CONTACT

[slapfight]

 

You've reached Peridot, leader of the Crystal Gems. I can't get to your call right now, but you can leave a message, and if I'm not too busy being a great savior and all-around wonderful gem, I'll get back to you.

[pause]

...Is that all I do? When does it- [BEEP]

Comments

[sslillappy]

[Fortunately, Peridot cannot see or hear M'Lapis laughing at her.]

What would you have done if you got orders to be a little nicer and have more free will?

[slapfight]

Oh that's easy. I would've believed that being ordered to have free will is illogical and that it was a trick of some sort. A true test of my loyalty.

[And the second she finishes scribbling that and looks it over, she.... realizes where she went wrong here. SHE PLAYED HERSELF...]

[sslillappy]

[l a w l]

Yeah, see, definitely not worth checking on her. It's like if every other killjoy fused their killjoy-ness together to make the ultimate mega giant killjoy.

[slapfight]

[there's a lot of snickering on this side of the mirror.]

Which is funny because she probably finds fusion deplorable!

[ISN'T GEM RACISM FUNNY...] Anyway, I'm glad you're still taking the time to talk to me... even if I think Real Lapis would still find it upsetting, even though we're not technically enemies anymore.

[sslillappy]

[Just as Peridot couldn't see how much she was being laughed at, so too it is that she cannot see the laughter die down. She probably has no idea just how much that killed the mood, and that's okay, really. M'Lapis rolls with her punches. It's not like that wasn't always there, and she's gotten far enough to say something about it, hasn't she?]

You're not hurting her by talking to me. You're not hurting anyone. This has nothing to do with her.

[slapfight]

[Well, that's... blatantly untrue.]

It's... complicated. I don't want her to think she's being replaced. I, personally, think that there's nothing wrong with being friends with both of you, but... It is kind of a sensitive subject.

But you have absolutely nothing to worry about. It doesn't affect you any.

[sslillappy]

Even before I came along, she was never the only Lapis Lazuli in the universe.
Aren't I basically just one more Homeworld refugee, in the end?

[slapfight]

Well... Yes. But she doesn't really warm up to other refugees easily, in general. You should have seen how she was with me.

...Which, yes, I did use her information and brought her back to Earth, and that ended badly for her, but that's not the point!!

[sslillappy]

She doesn't have to like me. She's not the one I'm talking to, and I don't plan to start anything, so you don't have to worry about that.
But she doesn't need to personally approve every friend of yours either. You're your own gem and you can talk to whoever you want.
So just relax a bit, okay?

[slapfight]

[That does give her pause. And she cants her head at the mirror like a confused dog. This was, after all, a big deal that she and Lapis had worked on, though it had mostly been about Peridot's unwavering belief and needing to not hide her feelings about Lapis, for good or for ill. The fact that Peridot needed things that belonged solely to her had never really come up, though it was at the root of the problem.

What she scribbles next is a bit more hesitant. There's a process here, and it's extremely slow going for both her and Lapis, especially when you consider Peridot's rigid stance on fixing problems and, for all her arrogance and being self-involved, not directing it inwards.]

Thank you... For telling me that. I forget sometimes.

[sslillappy]

[GRANTED, M'Lapis doesn't ACTUALLY care about, like, keeping that stupid relationship healthy, just the impact on herself.

Granted, she knows exactly "how she was with me." She knows far more than her share about those two. There's a lot going on there. They're not her memories, and that is unquestionably true because if it really had been her in them, things would have gone very, very differently. So M'Lapis has a bit of an outsider perspective and an insider one mixed together. Actually, she knows far less about in-Wonderland developments. She generally doesn't get a good look at those. Well, anyway.]

I know.
And I want you to know you'll never have to be like that with me.
Got it?

[slapfight]

[Mirror Lapis- accidental therapist against her better judgment.]

I appreciate it.

And I'm glad things are going to be safer over there. And that you aren't following someone just as awful and petty as the Diamonds can be. You deserve to be free, too.

[sslillappy]

It means a lot to hear you say that.
Well, see you say it.
I could hear it if you said it out loud for me, I guess.

[slapfight]

Oh I could do that.

[Peridot clears her throat.]

You deserve to be free too.

[She said to her reflection in the mirror. It's fine. This is normal Peridot behavior.]

[sslillappy]

[yes good]

You really are sweet, you know.
It's too bad I can't return the favor!

[slapfight]

Perhaps the White Queen will be a little more lax about Mirror crossing rules.

[sslillappy]

[M'Lapis does wonder sometimes if Peridot understands just what she's saying, with things like this. Surely not, she can't possibly; but it's nice to think she does, and pleasing to act like she does.]

She does seem to want good relations, so I guess she could be.
Maybe she'd be open to it if she knew there were Reals like you who'd like to have me over!

[slapfight]

I am an extremely capable leader and being a leader means being skilled with diplomacy. I'm sure I could convince her.

[She is neither of those things. This is fine.

It does not occur to her that Mirrors crossing over means Real things have to go over to the Mirror side... mostly because in her experience that isn't a hard and fast rule that can't be exploited or changed.]

[sslillappy]

[That's true, even in M'Lapis's personal experiences there have been exceptions to the rule more often than not. And does it even count as a rule in that case? It's still how she thinks of things herself, though, the ostensible natural order. Maybe that's culture clash.]

Maybe she should, like, put up a suggestion box.
There are an awful lot of you guys to think about, you know? And a lot of Mirrors who unfortunately aren't me.

[slapfight]

Unfortunately...

[Peridot sighs.]

I should probably go. I've been here for awhile and people are starting to take notice, which doesn't bother me, but Steven says I shouldn't yell at them.

And it's much harder to resist when they're being stupid.

[sslillappy]

I understand.
I'm just glad I got to hear from you again.
After all, you deserve to be free too.

[slapfight]

[so much blushing over here.]

Thanks.

[and with that last scribble, she darts off.]