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waterwings) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
beachcity2015-03-19 07:22 pm
waterwings) wrote in beachcity2015-03-19 07:22 pm
Entry tags:
like no other you can't be replaced | open
[It's late at night when you see her. The fog is thick rolling over the boardwalk and the moon shining up in the sky casts an eerie glow over the storefronts giving Beach City a haunted aesthetic this late at night. The rumors have started to spread now that a ghostly presence is wandering the boardwalk at night and anyone hanging around at this hour may actually be lucky - or unlucky - enough to run into her.
Literally, seeing that she isn't a ghost at all but a person. Yet seeing her in the fog on her own under the moonlight may give anyone enough fodder to be inclined to believe in such things.
The question is though, if she isn't a ghost then who is she?]
Literally, seeing that she isn't a ghost at all but a person. Yet seeing her in the fog on her own under the moonlight may give anyone enough fodder to be inclined to believe in such things.
The question is though, if she isn't a ghost then who is she?]
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But... Steven has been insisting that they investigate the presence. They've been out every other day, but with no luck. Pearl has decided it's because IT'S NOT REAL, but has gone out past Steven's bedtime to satisfy him.
And indeed, Pearl catches a figure's silhouette. Of course, it could just be a teenaged human, brooding around the moody thicket of fog cast over the boardwalk. All the same, the second that Pearl notices Lapis, she darts behind a wares booth. On the graceful tips of her toes, Pearl carefully navigates around the grid of the stands, outside of the walk itself, trying to get a clearer vantage. There's no need to terrorize an angsty young human, after all...]
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Earlier she had watched from a distance a few humans playing games at some of the stands and now she was curious enough to go poking around one of the water gun game stands. All of the toys had been put away, but she was more interested in the water guns.
That is until she gets the feeling of being watched. Lapis looks back, uncertain all of a sudden even when she can't see anyone through the fog.]
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Pearl, ready to graciously impart a stern lecture, appears from between the stand Lapis is at and the stand beside it—Lapis is looking behind her, but Pearl appears in front of her. Looking surprised, Pearl lifts her hands a little.]
Oh. Lapis.
[Ordinarily, this might be more of a shocking revelation—but the truth is that Pearl had found Lapis months ago, washed up near one of Rose's many sanctuaries on the shore. It had taken quite a bit of insisting reaching out to convince Lapis to be rehabilitated—it was hard to convince her it wouldn't involve any sort of confinement, or to assure her that she wouldn't be betrayed.
But she seemed to be slowly easing into the simple way of Beach City. Honestly, the city was so simple that the lack of stress was honestly soothing for...well, people who weren't Pearl. And for now, nothing dangerous was going on. Everyone knew that wouldn't last forever, though. Curiously, Pearl bends at the waist, observing Lapis with confusion.]
...What are you doing? Do you find these shabby human contraptions interesting?
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I'm, ah... [She glances down to the toy gun and carefully bends down to pick it back up.] I- I think they're fine. I mean they look fun, right? [Carefully setting the gun back on the stand.] Anyways, I'm just- walking. [Yes that doesn't sound strange.] There's nothing wrong with that, is there?
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I suppose not, [she says carefully, cupping her chin with her fingers in consideration.] I certainly can't fault you for wanting to stretch your legs after everything you've gone through, but you're also confusing the humans.
[Pearl wracks her brain, trying to think of something productive. In matters like these, she feels embarrassingly under-qualified, sometimes... But she also has deep faith in herself! She got Lapis as far as coming to the temple at all, didn't she?
So, experimentally, she ventures:] Y-you know! If you want to experience the wonders of Earth, there are... more interesting things to see! Especially at night.
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Really? Like what? [Her eyes are wide with wonder and genuinely interested now, trusting Pearl to be more knowledgeable about what fun things there are to have here. Why wouldn't she?]
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Well— [She pauses, considering, a set of dainty fingers resting at her chin as she glances off to the side. She smiles, looking back at Lapis.] What interests you personally? It's the most productive to start from a good point of reference!
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[That's the question isn't it? Lapis looks confused, holding herself as she looks out towards the ocean in thought.] The sea is... beautiful. [She remembers being down at the bottom with the brightly colored coral and ocean life swimming past them. It was nothing like what she had on Homeworld and that... was exciting just a little.] I like to listen to people and watch them sometimes during the day. Beyond that... I'm not sure.
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But if he's being theoretical, he thinks he can safely assume that Garnet already knows he's outside and they'll work out all that stuff in the morning. Or if something super dangerous happens, they'll work it out after they're done working out the super dangerous... something. Steven isn't too worried about it, frankly. What's another 1000 years without TV? It's all hypothetical theoretical junk that happens in the vague future.
A mysterious boardwalk haunting is happening now, like a ghost tourist with really bad exploring hours. Everyone's been talking about it: Ronaldo, Lars and Sadie, the mail guy, the Frymans, his dad, him... maybe Onion. Onion's at least been standing near the boardwalk more often, and Steven's had to make some assumptions going from there. The Gems seem pretty sure that it's a lot of nothing, or at least nothing that they should worry about, but something about it just doesn't sit right with him. It's not like he's forgotten what was behind the last spooky haunting he saw happen. If there's a mysterious gem buried under the boardwalk that needs to be kept safe, that's totally Crystal Gem business.
He doesn't think he was gonna get a lot of sleep tonight anyway. Not that has a lot to do with his going out or anything.
It is late when he finally sees a silhouette cut through the fog on the other side of the street, unexpected enough to give him a jolt of fresh energy. With the energy comes excitement, the tiniest rush of triumph, because he was right and everyone else was right, and there's something walking around town in the middle of the night. And even if it's a real ghost that has nothing to do with gems at all, it's still happening. Steven being Steven, he concludes that the best plan is to start walking towards it, take a deep breath and shout at it to ask what it wants on the boardwalk. Because if it's looking for a prize or a soft pretzel or something, there are way better times to come back for them.
And then he gets a few steps closer, and she catches the barest edge of a street light, and it feels like he didn't take a deep breath at all. Lapis has been out of the ocean and unfused for a while, they've known that, just like he's known she hasn't really wanted to see him after everything that happened.
(He thinks about it sometimes- looks down at the beach and feels like the grooves her fusion's fingers dragged into the sand are still there, filled up with different sand. Not really gone or washed away. Just covered up. When he thinks about it, he can't blame her for not wanting to see him after everything that happened. Even if she's apparently been around Beach City long enough to make people think the boardwalk's haunted.)
Steven takes another step forward. ]
... Lapis?
[ Please don't let it turn out that he fell asleep before he even left and this is all a dream. ]
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It isn't as bad as it was when she had first washed up on that beach some months ago and she could thankfully note the small changes that were in motion as she started to explore parts of this world - or at least just this city. She had yet to feel comfortable enough to leave this vicinity if only because she feared the return of Jasper and Steven's safety without her here... as silly as it was.
And yet despite her hesitance to leave for Steven she couldn't bring herself to face him after all this time. After their last conversation she still felt shame and guilt for having brought this terrible fate down on someone she might have considered a friend if she didn't burn that chance long ago. She didn't feel deserving to see him again and run the risk of ruining things for him again.
So while out during one of her nightly 'hauntings' she didn't expect to be approached, of all people, by Steven. She freezes under the lamp light, eyes wide and heart coming to a painful halt. For a long moment the words don't come to her and she's stuck staring at him without an idea of what to say or do. Her hands twist in the fabric of her skirt.]
[Finally, a whisper:] Steven.
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The first is that his expression morphs to include a very broad smile. Because there are definitely a few moments where the most prominent thought in his mind is that it is Lapis, she's really here, and he's happy to see her again in one piece.
The second is that that smile runs into a bit of a stumbling block and drops a little, because he has no idea what to say to her yet, exactly. He never asks follow-up questions, and he never stops to think about what he's going to say to a gem he might see in the future that might actually hate him and never want to see him again.
And finally, after the smile falters, he briefly hitches another back up in its place. If his eyes are a little too bright and he sniffles, well. Well nothing, the facts are what they are. ]
I- I'm glad you're okay. [ Pearl said she was, or was that bare-minimum not corrupted or broken, not chained up at the bottom of the ocean version of okay, but there are some things that are easier to believe by seeing. ] If I knew you were around, I would've looked for you sooner.
[ For better or for worse. The problem with having big mistakes to make up for is that he's not sure he even could make up for them. ]
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Her hands twist together in front of her. She is shamed, unable to communicate to him just how sorry she is for everything she's done to him. It isn't fair to him.]
I haven't been ready to see anyone yet. [Anyone meaning Steven. She glances away.] ... I'm sorry, Steven.
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He swallows against the lump in his throat. ]
And I'm the one who should be saying sorry. Peridot knew I was here because I talked to her, even though I wasn't supposed to. You tried to keep me safe and you just ended up in jail. I... I said I'd come back for you on the ship and then I didn't! [ Maybe if he'd gotten her out, things would have turned out differently. Even if that weren't true, she was still his friend. And as her friend, he let her down.
She must have felt like she was all alone. ]
I messed everything up.
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[She can't look at him then and chooses to look down at the wooden planks that line the boardwalk. Her hands shake.] I was foolish to even try to go back home... I should have known everything would have been different, but I... I wanted it so badly...
[She lets her hands fall to her sides, shoulders slumping.] You did nothing wrong, Steven... I'm the one who brought Homeworld here. I- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Steven.
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Steven steels himself and makes the assumption that it's okay to hug her, by that count. Incoming. ]
You didn't have to warn us they were coming to Earth, but you did. And you didn't tell them about what I could do, even though you got in trouble for it. [ If she hadn't been there, they'd all be dead or in space jail right now. Peridot was already fixing warp pads and trying to fix up the Kindergarten. She might even be trying to do it now. They might have just sent Gems anyway someday. No time for evacuating, no way to get ready. Who knows what could have happened? ]
You saved us.