( open ) quarantine safe house

[competing]

CHARACTERS: anyone! everyone???
DATE: from March 4 onward
WARNINGS: violence... gore... c..annibalism?? maybe
SUMMARY: some people decide they're too dangerous on their own and decide to put themselves in Time Out. other people visit them.



THE AFTER SCHOOL SPECIAL

THE DEAL:
1. post a toplevel
2. comment around
3. profit???
4. please include warnings on your subject headings if things get a little cray cray

Comments

[competing]

[ lance isn't going to get into the round of questions that crop up with that little reveal — does this steven guy just have control over vegetation or something??? is he THE PUMPKIN KING? — instead too happily focused on the little squash dog yapping in his arms.

even if peridot herself is somewhat lacking in the tact department. why is lance surrounded by these kind of people... ]

Hah, yeah, she's... she's a real treat. [ he wiggles his fingers in what he assumes to be pumpkin's little tummy. ] Thanks for the thought, Per.

[slapfight]

[happy pumpkin noises!!]

I'm trying. [she sounds exacerbated- at herself, mostly. she's been thrown into situation after situation where emotions and, more importantly, understanding the emotions of other people are key, and she's terribly out of practice. Steven's usually around to hold her hand through it, but now she's doing it all on her own.

and besides that time with the cluster when she was just as likely to die as Steven and the rest of the Earth, she's never been faced with the idea of losing people. she's a gem. gems live forever unless they're shattered. she'll survive this even if no one else but the other inorganics do.

it's terrifying.] I don't know what else to do to help you.

[competing]

[ he shifts pumpkin around so she's just cradled in the crook of one arm, freeing up his other so he can reach for peridot too. he pulls her in close, giving her a half-hug that he's doted on her once or four times before. ]

You're doing a pretty great job already, if you ask me.

[ her showing up, her being there... even just thinking of him. it's already more than he could ask for. ]

How's Bud?

[slapfight]

[she tenses up, as she always does because she still isn't used to embraces freely given, and then relaxes, pressing her face to his chest, quietly grateful that if she feels the urge to cry, her visor will keep him from noticing it until she pulls back.

which she isn't going to do right now. instead she wraps her arms around him, slowly but surely. embracing is supposed to be good for the infected. Steven would love that.]

He's fine. I had to teach him that Pumpkin isn't food, but I think he's finally grasped the concept.

[competing]

[ she's short enough that even if she did want to cry, he could easily feign not being able to notice it. still, that hand on her shoulder is making the rounds along her arm, definitely in what one might call a "comforting gesture." ]

Ah, yeah... Bud's a little persistent when it comes to that. I'd say there's probably no way he can get to Pumpkin before you can notice, but I've seen that little guy inhale an entire donut in two seconds before, so... who's to say.

[slapfight]

She can sit on him. [her breath hitches a bit. she's been hugged. she's been comforted. but never by someone who isn't Steven, whom she believes is the be-all and end-all of feelings for the sake of feelings. she's not supposed to feel like this.]

I'm just-just mediating between the two of them. [it's so stupid and illogical- all of this. she's talking about mediating between a space mammal and a plant while trying not to cry and Lance is comforting her, and Earth, for all its wonders and freedom, still feels like a prison sometimes. at least gems don't worry about things like this. they're free from the devastation of emotion.

well, they're supposed to be, anyway.]

[competing]

[ this close, he can hear it in her voice, and feel the way her body coils in on itself, ready to snap. it's hard to really hug her with a squirming pumpkin-dog in his other arm, but he definitely makes a valiant attempt at it. ]

Thanks for holding down the fort, Peridot. Dunno what I'd do without you.

[slapfight]

[she makes a whining noise. stupid Lance. stupid Lance and his ability to say exactly what she needs to hear- that she's indispensable and not useless. and stupid clod-y her for being dumb enough to cry about it.]

I know. [her voice is weak.] I'm amazing.