slapfight | [ENTRANCEWAY] IC CONTACT

[This is starting to spiral downwards into something Peridot isn't sure she likes. Admittedly, some of that sounds like Amethyst's tactics, but from her, they always sound sincere... From M'Lapis, it's weirder. Maybe it's because Lapis's face and vocal tics naturally lend themselves to deadpan humor, and so this kind of talk just sounds like sardonic viciousness with a saccharine candy coating.

Either way, it's not comfortable. She flusters a bit, for a different reason this time. Surprise, the egocentric little brat doesn't respond to negging.] I'm not desperate.

Please. You're so ready to drop everything, forget everything, just to be with me. And, again, that makes total sense. I'm better than anything else you have.

[She hops off the table again, actually. So there is a line! That's interesting! There are always more things she would have liked to be able to do, but this is going to feel good.]

But you've gotta be fair here. What's in it for me?

I was being nice. [Peridot stammers a bit and it's hard to tell whether she's angry or just so flummoxed she can't speak.]

Wait. What do you mean what's in it for you? That's not how this works!

[She would know. Part of her redemption arc™ was learning that.]

[What, of course that's how it works. People are friends because they want friends, so everyone gets something out of it and it's a fair exchange. It's just a problem when someone's not getting what they want anymore, is all.]

Peridot... look, I really didn't want to have to be the one to explain this. [Yeah right.] But, you know, they say that if you're bored you're boring. It's you. The problem is you.

[The quarters are still close, and M'Lapis points, putting her finger right in Peridot's face. She's affecting a bit of ruefulness, as if she really did regret having to give this harsh but fair honest concrit, and even that is shaky. Beneath it is only sunny and cheerful as ever, like she's helpfully explaining something Peridot will have to agree with.]

You've gotten boring. The thing is, I'm better than anything else in your life right now, but you, by definition, aren't. And it's not like I don't appreciate the offer and all, but this isn't about you and it never has been. You're fun once in a while, but I didn't come over just to see you. I don't need you!

[She recoils like she's been slapped and the finger in her face feels like a weapon and she ends up reacting as such, cowering just a bit as she's assaulted with this information. It's not true! She's the great and lovable Peridot! Any time she's around is a gift to those who get to spend time with her! That's how it's always been.

But... if that's true then why hasn't the real Lapis bridged the weird gap between them? Is she grateful that she's pulled back? Is she finally free of her incessant hovering?

That thought is quickly overwritten by the very real situation at hand, however, which is someone right in this moment does not like her. And that is terrifying. It opens too many doors.

Is she, Peridot, not inherently loved by all?

Maybe this is not the lesson she should be taking from this, but it sure is the one that she's become fixated on. Her cowering reaches a point where she can either curl into a fetal ball and wail or she can snap back and, in the end, Peridot's ego always wins. She will not stand here and just take this defamation of her character.

She plants both feet on the ground, clenches her fists at her side, and after a moment of incoherent growling, finally snaps.]

Fine! Then go hang out with someone else. And good luck finding anyone in this place who's as interesting and wonderful and lovable as me, the great Peridot. You'll be back. Heh. [She crosses her arms over her chest and tries to sneer, but it's more of a grimace. She's shaking now and not all of it is anger. Anger is just what she decided on between a buffet of other feelings. Anger has always served her well.

Except where it doesn't.] Maybe I'm the one who's better than anything you've got going on. You just don't want to admit it. [And to punctuate this maturely, she sticks her tongue out.] Nyeh.

[Oh wow. Maybe pissing Peridot off really was a goal. M'Lapis continues smiling pleasantly, because the more Peridot loses control, the more that must mean she has it. There is no way this tantrum can get under her skin when she got there first, and she can't possibly lose a fight because she decides whether or not to have one. She meets the outburst with nothing more than a dismissive eyeroll.]

Okay, you're really being melodramatic about this. I know it's tough to hear, but it's not fair to get mad at me for your own shortcomings. Sooner or later, you're going to have to accept that there's a ton you don't understand. You've never been as smart as you think you are, Peridot.

[So damn reasonable. Not a low blow at all.]

But I'll let you cool off a bit. Don't worry too much, all right? I'm not going to hold this against you.

[The pointing finger jabs forth anew, and Peridot's visor fogs up. While she's occupied with that M'Lapis traipses off, the hint of a giggle trailing down the hall as she disappears.]

[Peridot's hair actively frays at the edges even more than it normally does, like her form has actually decided to alter itself purely based on mood. She is either going to explode or drop into a fetal ball and there's no telling which.

Unfortunately, her visor fogs up before she can make that decision and she ends up flailing about trying to unfog it (did she remove it? did a car horn distract us from ever seeing her remove it? we just don't know). By the time she manages to see again, M'Lapis is walking away giggling.

Well. Stars. She can't let her get the last word.] MAYBE YOU SHOULD... HRGH...

[Oh there's the frustrated screaming and foot stomping.] Stupid... [And incoherent grumbling continues.

And scene.]

[Is it?

Maybe so. Peridot is awfully worked up, perhaps ready any moment to stomp off somewhere else to fume or whatever, and it would after all be impossible to stop her. There's nobody here to call out to her or reach a hand after her. There's no good way to get her attention. After all that drama, it must be very easy to miss something as small as words appearing on that same mirror again. So maybe Act One really was the end of it.

That would be a shame, though. For one thing, it's a little unfair to forget the other party who's been involved here. And, given a say in the matter, Peridot surely would want to notice, despite her mood. The writing is in a familiar hand, although across the glass it comes out backwards, a mistake no Mirror would make.]

?todireP

[Fortunately, Peridot has not moved on, because she's too paralyzed with rage to do anything more than stomp around in a circle and finding new and inventive ways to use the word "clod." Apparently it can be used as everything but an adjective, but she's working around to that one. Cloddingly has potential.

It's either coincidence or just a feeling of unease like someone's watching her that makes her turn back to the mirror. Truth being told, she did forget that for M'Lapis to be here, Lapis would have to be on the other side.]

Lapis?! [Said out loud. She climbs back up onto the end table she'd unceremoniously vacated by falling when M'Lapis crawled out of the mirror like so much Ring Waif. She retrieves her marker and scrawls a screed against M'Lapis.]

YOUR MIRROR TRICKED ME. I HAVE NEVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE MET A WORSE CLOD THAN THAT CLODDY CLOD...

[Honestly she's gonna be writing "clod" for awhile until she's stopped. That mirror can only hold so much.]

[You know, Mirror Side must keep so many writing supplies stocked next to mirrors. Does anyone ever think about that?! I mean, it's not actually important in this case, because Lapis would presumably be fine with whatever her Mirror had been using. Or, you know, whatever it is that's going on over there. Peridot can't see. Perhaps Lapis, too, is upset; it wouldn't show if she was, and this medium inflicts a certain measured quality regardless. Or maybe despite her situation she's playing the calm one in response to Peridot's distress, patiently waiting out the tantrum by choice and not just necessity.

There is a hesitation after Peridot finishes ranting. The writing on the other side finds some remaining blank space and proceeds more slowly, carefully, and correctly; it seems she noticed the translation problem and is attempting to write backwards for Peridot's benefit.]

I can h

[The h comes out reversed. That lasted absolutely no time at all. Man, whatever. Lapis gives up on that and goes back to writing normally-for-her and everyone will just live with it. The player, however, will not continue typing backwards because that's an even bigger pain OOC than it is for the characters, and we're not here to make life hard for ourselves. Peridot can adapt to it, anyway.]

I can hear you.

[She's still seething and feeling vulnerable and self-involved, so while she ought to ask if Lapis is okay- she's not, she is trapped behind a mirror. There is no okay for that, but it is arguably a problem with a solution since M'Lapis will get booted out at midnight anyway. Doesn't help Lapis now, but Peridot's getting better at balancing her wants and needs with providing for the wants and needs of others.

It's her timing that is always off.

Well, at least they're having a conversation instead of the bare minimum of social interaction meant to keep things light and breezy and not focusing on the tragedy of their existence as of the dream side.]

Lapis. Am I boring?

That's the last thing you are. You're not anything like she said.

[The briefest of pauses, barely needed.]

I'm sorry

You don't have to be sorry. [Wait. Oh- oh stars. Peridot winces.]

Did you hear all of that?

I think so.
~~I should~~

[There's some visibly serious trouble figuring out how to proceed from those two words, a couple false starts; eventually they just get erased.]

Are you okay?

I'm not the one stuck behind a mirror while that stupid clod runs around like she owns the place. [She's grumbling which says she's definitely not fine, but it could be worse.] I just wasn't expecting that. I should have known better. Mirrors can't be trusted.

You couldn't have expected that. [...]
Nobody would have expected that.

Edited (eh) 2019-09-02 00:07 (UTC)

Nobody could have expected her to go completely insane out of nowhere? [...Yeah, that tracks. She huffs a long, exasperated sigh.]

I wish I could just drag you back and put her back where she belongs, but it doesn't work like that.

[She pulls her knees up to her chin.]

[Okay, let's step back for a moment and talk about Lapis after all, who was minding her own goddamn business like half an hour ago and now all this. Even if Peridot can only hope to speculate, there are certainly some things we know about her. The depth of what she's doing right now could never be lost on her; no, she's found herself back in a familiar space again. The one where she's watching but not present, not quite real, limited, voiceless, separated from life by a space that is an impassible barrier.

The thing is, though, she's had this done to her before and she's done this to herself before, and even if there's not much logic behind it, this one feels like both. Because she already was pulling away, wasn't she? Ever since that dreamland hit her with the feelings she has no idea how to handle. She's not present now, but it feels like she should have been more there all along. It feels like she should have said something long before M'Lapis used her voiceto tear Peridot down, like she could have done something that would have been protection against her. She doesn't know how and she doesn't know what else to do, but there has to be something missing, and it must be her.

For the most part, that isn't really true. Lapis can't actually stop her Mirror from doing whatever through sheer force of will, and in any case, a little awkwardness around the barn-room is hardly the worst thing this relationship has been through. But hey, considering the circumstances, she could be doing a lot worse than that level of irrationality. Anyway, that's why the 'I'm sorry' wasn't entirely about M'Lapis, and it's why this isn't either.]

I miss you.

[Peridot's kneejerk inability to interpret nuance when presented it suddenly almost has her saying "you've been gone for less than ten minutes" until it hits her that this isn't even about the fact that they're separated by a pane of glass and another dimension. There was a pain of glass between them for a month, both of them curled up and sorting (or not sorting) their feelings to try and see what was the dream and what was the reality.

Peridot still doesn't have much of an answer, but she does know that she misses Lapis and hates the stupid wall between them and now it's literal. Tentatively, she lifts her hand and then places it on the mirror.]

I miss you, too. I didn't mean to pull back. I just... Needed to sort through the data. I didn't want to hurt you because what if what I felt wasn't real? What if none of it was real?

[It wasn't happening at home. Lapis left her and even if she comes back- thanks Bismuth- that doesn't change that it happened and she has no idea where they stand anymore outside of this space. So logically if she's not thinking like this back on Earth, then the problem is Wonderland.

And if the problem is Wonderland, then can they trust anything?

But that's an excuse. There are plenty of things Peridot knows are real.] We're friends. That's real. We should be doing this together, not letting Wonderland keep us apart again.

Edited 2019-09-03 21:04 (UTC)

[After a moment, an outline begins to appear around Peridot's hand. Only more Lapis-sized, of course. It's like someone's about to draw a turkey. Let's hope that's the non-dominant hand, because she only has so many and in another moment there's gonna be more writing.]

Do you remember when you told me that moving forward is about wanting things?
I guess I'm still not very good at it.

Edited (I guess really I should just go ahead and) 2019-09-04 15:54 (UTC)

I mean I do enough wanting for both of us... Heh. [The laugh is half-hearted, weak and probably meant to just fill space.] I just want everything, because I'm not used to having anything.

[She drops her hand and thuds her head against the mirror like she can phase through it with just the power of her gem. Even such a light tap against her gem sends little needles of warning pain throughout her body and she shudders.] But right now I just want you... [she pauses, swallows, realizes a heavy implication in those words, and jerks her head back, turning blue around the cheeks. She ends up stammering.] ...To be here. With me. So we can deal with this properly and stop turning out backs on it. Ugh! We were getting so good at this communication thing.

[The writing comes in halting bursts of individual urgency.]

No, I do want something
and I didn't know how to handle it
and there are always things I don't tell you
but none of that is as important as
I just want to be there too.

[There are other things she could say. Maybe she would have if she were speaking. Maybe being stripped down to her essentials like this is for the best. Or is that not communicating? But this really is what matters, in the end.]

There's things I don't tell you too...

[And admittedly that was why she left wasn't it? Because she didn't express how she felt until it was too late.] But that's just because I don't really understand them, myself.

[She hits the mirror with a tiny fist and since she is as weak as a kitten sans powers, all it does is hurt her knuckles. Also breaking a mirror won't make Lapis just emerge.] This would be so much easier if you weren't in a mirror!

You're telling me.

[No matter what, snark WILL make it through.]

There's
no way to stop this from happening
is there?

Negative. The Mirror Side is lawless now without a matriarch. Maybe I can coax my Mirror into crossing over. At least then you wouldn't be alone.

[Smash cut to Mirror Peridot Tina Belcher groaning and rocking back and forth in a fetal position.]

Edited 2019-09-07 22:50 (UTC)

[ENTRANCEWAY] IC CONTACT

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