lapis lazuli.

“Nope! But Steven is a baby human, and they’re very strange creatures. They don’t know anything and everyone else has to care for them! Steven probably just learned how to talk and walk about…a year ago.”

That was being generous, she thought. She could walk and talk as soon as she popped out of the ground, so she didn’t understand why it took humans more than a single day to learn.

She finished drying off and carefully placed the towel in the hamper. She then approached the sink. She needed something for her messy hair. 

“Ah-ha!” She picked up someone’s toothbrush and prepared to brush her hair with it. 

Lapis cocked a brow.

“I don’t think that’s how it works.”

Then again, Lapis herself was hardly a source for knowledge about human beings. Though, she felt at least more knowledgeable than Pearl must have been...

Still dripping with water, Lapis watched in silence as Pearl used someone’s toothbrush as a hairbrush. After a moment, she snickered.

“That’s not what that’s for.”

“…”

It was something that seemed to upset her, and Pearl wasn’t sure why. But she was willing to let it go. It wasn’t like she was missing out on much, since she couldn’t contribute to the conversation, having never done it.

“Oh! That’s okay!” She laughed nervously. “Hm, this water is getting chilly. I wish we had a Ruby to heat it up!” 

She went back to examining the bath shelf. There were all types of soap, but she was already too clean.

“Look! My skin is reacting to the moisture!” She held up her hand to show Lapis the wrinkles on her fingers. “I think I’m done, then.” She climbed out onto the mat and grabbed a fluffy towel. 

Lapis did not immediately respond, instead choosing to further sit in silence until Pearl made note of her own skin. She looked up, peering at the wrinkles on the other Gem’s fingers. She blurted out the first thing to come to her mind.

“Steven says being in the water for too long turns your fingers into raisins.”

A pause.

“I don’t know what raisins are.”

Lapis stood, quickly taking a towel for herself; she let it drape over her shoulders, which, did little to help the water on the rest of her. She looked to Pearl again, now meeting her eye.

Something was wrong. She was just trying to preserve the playful atmosphere by imagining fun hypothetical scenarios. Isn’t that was Earth was all about, exploring potential?

Suddenly, she was alone in the tub, with Lapis on the edge. She carefully extended her legs into the extra room, not taking her eyes off the other gem. 

“W-Well…no. I haven’t.” Some pearls that assisted more common gems did fuse for work related reasons, but a Diamond’s Pearl was more for show and doing tasks on computers.

“I really have no idea. I assume that same-gem fusions are just like the same..but bigger. As for cross-fusions…I have no idea. Isn’t it like…a new gem entirely?” Lapis sounded like she knew, but it was a tougher topic than Pearl thought. 

Lapis did not look back at Pearl as she spoke. She had figured that the other Gem had never fused-- she was a Diamond’s Pearl, after all, but...

No, she supposed that wasn’t any fault of Pearl’s.

Lapis closed her eyes.

“It’s... a new gem, but... it’s not always stable.”

“It’s just-- when you fuse, you...”

Lapis sighed. She turned back to the other Gem, letting her hand fall into the water. It was cool now, she noted.

“No, of course not! I was made in Yellow Diamond’s image. Yellow is actually the best color – Ah. I believe you were teasing me!” It took her a moment to catch on, but before being here, she probably never would have at all.

“You know…” She sunk down into the water, letting her hair rinse. “I’ve been to so many planets…and I’ve watched Lapis Lazuli’s work. I’ve been afraid of their power. They’ve got the strength of a Quartz but with ten times the grace and beauty. I suppose in a way, I wasn’t afraid, but in awe….”

She really needed to stop going on and on about it, but it was hard when this was the first time she’d ever really talked to such a strong gem.

“Ha! Imagine if A Lapis fused with a Quartz soldier! Hear me out, these Earth gems might be right about fusion. They seem to do it quite flippantly, but they’re actually onto something. A Lapis and a Quartz would really be something! Something huge and beautiful~!”

Her snickering died down, easing into a tired smile, at the other Gem’s nose.

“Yeah, I was.”

She let Pearl continue to ramble on, soon realizing she should not have-- yet, she knew there was no stopping her, even as her form tensed. A Lapis Lazuli and a Quartz--

Lapis flinched; she shut her eyes, frowning, and tried not to think of that Gem.

“No they wouldn’t,” she finally said, eyes opening and focusing on the water instead of the other Gem.

“It would be something... awful.”

Lapis stood, slowly removing herself from the bath tub. Normally, she wouldn’t have cared about the water dripping from her form, but now she immediately wrapped a towel around herself. She didn’t look at Pearl as she sat upon the edge of the bath tub.

                — ⊰ | ♔ | ⊱ — “That is a very fitting name, and quite adorable if I may say so myself.” Leo smiled at the young vegetable before offering more of his popcorn to her. He beamed when she introduced herself to him. It meant that she was actually interested in continuing this conversation. “And I am Leonardo B. Harwey, but please call me Leo. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He looked down at her pet afterwards. “And you too.” Wouldn’t want to be rude to her animal. “Are you interested in this kind of movies? I have never watched one myself.”

Humans sure did have odd names, but, she supposed it must be harder for them to go around calling themselves just humans; it was the closest comparison to Gems, anyhow.

“Leo it is,” she nodded, pleased herself to see Pumpkin getting along with someone so well. It was probably the popcorn, but Lapis wouldn’t say so.

@riptideroyalty

“This is peculiar.  I did not expect I would ever meet another Lapis Lazuli.  Sensei once explained to me that fully formed gem duplicates were a rarity.  Did you come from the Beach of Beginnings recently?”

Unbeknownst to Lapis, the gem in front of them was absolutely nothing like their kind.  They were in for quite the surprise.  They had an inkling that this person was different from the norm due to their lack of a shimmer all throughout their body… Lapis was not going to jump to too many conclusions quite yet but the fact that their body seemed a lot more crystallized than the stranger’s, by comparison, was also alarming.

“Why did Sensei choose to refrain from correcting your asymmetries?”

If Lapis had a nickel for every time someone began spouting things she didn’t understand, she would have many, many nickels. It was a shame, though, that she dubbed human currency almost worthless.

“The what--Sen-who?”

“Asymmetries?” She echoed. “I’m a normal Lapis Lazuli.”

Well, not anymore, but physically she was still quite standard.

“I’m not really sure what it is.” He said honestly. “I mean, it’s a drink, but something about it makes humans act weird when they drink it. It’s like you can’t think clearly or walk in a straight line. I have no idea why they drink it.”

School really did sound boring. Sure, it was a staple of being a normal human boy, but he never envied that life.

“Nope! I learn way more from hanging out with gems!” The only thing he was missing out on from not going to high school was all the girls.

“Huh. Sounds weird.”

Lapis shrugged.

All she knew of school was from what she had garnered from television, so she had no idea who knew more about the subject, herself or Steven. As far as she knew, it could be either one of them.

Seeing Steven’s expression, she leaned forward to give him a gentle nudge of her elbow. Lapis smirked at him.

“Duh.”

Ah, right. Maybe it was odd of her to ask that. After all, she was just a Pearl, and while Lapis Lazulis were made for a very specific job, they were also extremely powerful. Pearl shouldn’t overstep boundaries.

“Oh, my stars!” So many bubbles! This would really get them clean. They began to over flow, and as Pearl flailed around in the tub, her elbow squashed the rubber duck, causing a loud squeak.

“Ha!” She read one of the bottles, and saw it was for washing your hair. She decided to try it. “Can you believe this is the first time I’ve washed my hair in five thousand years?” 

The reaction from the other Gem made Lapis relax, and she sunk farther into the tub. Bubbles soon ticked her chin, and she smiled softly at the pleasant sensation of the bubbles and warm water on her form.

This was nice, she decided. It was fine.

At Pearl’s words, she snickered.

“Really?”

“Is that why it’s so yellow?”

                — ⊰ | ♔ | ⊱ — As someone who was the future of the great Harwey family, Leo did not have time for small and insignificant things, so this was his first time watching a movie in a cinema hall. To say he was feeling ecstatic was an understatement. The film he picked was irrelevant since he was more entralled by the act of watching on the big screen itself. The sound of sniffing caught his attention, causing him to glance at the person seated next to him. 

                A gentle smile appeared on his face despite her seemingly reclusive attitude. “It seems like your little companion is interested in my popcorn.” Her interest prompted him to place a few popcorn on the palm of his hand before extending it out for her animal. “Here you go.” While she was busy eating, he decided to strike up a conversation with her owner. “I do not believe I have ever seen a talking pumpkin before, but she is quite a bonny girl. Does the young lady have a name?”

Another human, though this movie theatre certainly was full of them. Lapis saw them on the streets aplenty, though, that was mostly her assumptions. However, if the people she saw did not end up being primarily human, she probably still would not have cared too much.

Though, it was a bit of a relief that this human was actually intrigued by her pet rather than annoyed or repulsed-- or, hungry for that matter. What’s more, this human had an interesting way of talking; it made Lapis crack a smile in amusement.

“Her name is just Pumpkin.” The sentient vegetable did not even perk up at her name, as she was far too busy with her snack.

「BASICS」

▐ NAME: – persephone ▐ PRONOUNS: – they / them ▐ SEXUALITY: – pan ▐ TAKEN OR SINGLE: – single n ready to mingle ▐ Five Facts:

i work full time at a local college

i’m working on my bachelor’s in elementary education

i live in the asscrack of the US (florida)

i … am gay?

i’m bad at these

「EXPERIENCE」

▐ HOW LONG (YEARS/MONTHS): – oh gosh… probably around a decade if not a bit under? i’m almost 22 so… ▐PLATFORMS USED: – iirc, i started on deviantart and the like, and moved to tumblr several years ago just to use the site to blog. now i use it primarily for rp! ▐ BEST EXPERIENCE: – given my limited experience irt platforms i would have to default to tumblr due to deviantart being from my cringy weeb days….

「MUSE PREFERENCES」