#gem.posting

It’s hot. The morning air around you is heavy with the smell of heat and summer, yesterday’s weather still clinging to the underbrush. You can feel the sweat building underneath the layer of sticky sunscreen you applied before leaving the house, a fragile shield against the sun that is slowly starting to peek through the leaves. You’ll probably sweat it off before even reaching your destination but you can’t find it in you to care, your stomach too fluttery in anticipation. You’re too nervous for this beautiful Saturday morning, doubt creeping into you with every single step you take. A deep breath, then two and you feel a little better, that hollow pit in your belly swallowed up by your breakfast again. Think logically, you tell yourself. Nothing is going to happen. She’s going to say no and that’ll be it. You kick a stray rock to the side and sigh. How did you even agree to this? It’s your own fault, really. Ever since the Crystal Gems had started building Little Homeworld, ever since Beach City had been flooded with colorful aliens, you had been obsessed. You had gotten involved maybe a year or so back, happy to help with lessons and anything else Steven and the gems needed assistance with. You had grown closer to the boy over time and learned soon enough that both ancient rebel aliens and serious, established adults (like you) couldn’t say no to his puppy eyes. And this is how he got you to trudge through the forest, a couple of pamphlets in hand and some pre-crafted sentences in mind, on your way to persuade one of the rogue gems into joining the rest of them over at Little Homeschool. To be fair, you didn’t agree because of his puppy eyes alone. How could you deny yourself the opportunity to see the Jasper, the perfect quartz according to some of the Crystal Gems, the very gem who corrupted herself? You have heard some stories here and there, enough to be curious about her - but also enough to be aware of the fact that she isn’t to be taken lightly. Tales of violence and fury, of pride and a steep downfall kept you curious. Now that you’re mere minutes away from facing her, you don’t really know if satisfying that curiosity is worth the trouble. She could easily turn you into minced meat, if she so pleased. 

Your stomach cramps at the thought. She wouldn’t hurt you, right? Her obsession with Steven was misguided and she wouldn’t try to outright murder a human, right? No, that’s just your anxiety running wild - she might perceive you as an annoyance, but you’re pretty sure she’ll just chew you out for bothering her. You kick another stone as you try to calm yourself, this time with more force than intended. It bounces off the cap of your boot, up into the air. Instead of spiraling further for really no reason at all, you try to focus your mind on the reasons you agreed to this, the reasons you’re so enamored with these alien life forms. They’re fascinating, really. Thousands of years old, capable of creating and maneuvering astonishing tech, some strong enough to rip you apart with their bare hands, others able to manipulate the nature around them. And yet, here on earth they’re nothing but bumbling idiots when faced with the basics of human day-to-day life. It’s strangely endearing to watch them fail at making phone calls and cooking and rewarding to show them just how it’s done right. You’ve made friends over in Little Homeworld and your weekends are usually filled with gems and their antics, not that you mind. It’s easy enough to forget that most of them have been involved in earth-shattering wars, that some have killed - not only each other but organic lives as well. It’s a little too much to think about sometimes, but when they’re in Little Homeworld, they can finally be themselves, finally free to pursue their own interests - and you can forget how easy it would be for a quartz to rip you limb from limb. You’re easy to get along with, at least that's what Steven has told you. Soft and eager to give out smiles and laughter - every time you drop by to spend some time in Little Homeworld, you have a gaggle of gems following you around, curious about your day and excited to tell you about theirs. Maybe that’s why Steven had asked you to talk to her. Maybe she will be more receptive to an organic - although he had sounded skeptic at the very thought of that and you weren’t all too sure either after asking the other Crystal Gems some more questions about their shared past. It is a sign of good character that he wants to try to get her to re-join gem society at least somewhat and although you don’t think you’ll be able to talk her into it, it is worth the shot. Maybe you were too confident in yourself, in your ability to sweet-talk gems of any kind when you agreed to this some days ago, but if it’s any help to Steven and Little Homeworld, you can’t say no.

One last deep breath and you feel a little better. You know you’re almost there - the forest around you gets more and more sparse, broken stumps peppered in between the massive trees around you. There is a clearing up ahead and you can spy the cave entrance from where you’ve paused for a bit. You’re straining your neck to see if you can make out her figure as well - you know she’s home, she has to be. Nothing much to do with your day when you're a free gem hiding away in the darkness, all alone. When you can’t spot her, you simply strut forward - you’re pretty sure she’s already aware of your presence, anyway. The clearing is weirdly silent when you step into the ring formed out of mowed down stumps and receding grass, only silence greeting you. Just where is she? Is she still scouting you out, trying to see what you’re up to? No matter. Your stomach is too queasy not to break the tension. You just want to be over with this and go back to your apartment.

“Hello? Jasper-”, you call out, only to be interrupted by thud behind you. Of course. You should have known that she was already one step ahead of you. You turn around slowly, hands already raised in defense. She’s huge. Peridot hadn’t been wrong when she called her the perfect quartz - she towers over you with ease, thick arms crossed defensively in front of her chest. She looks at you like one would at a disgusting bug they just found squirming around, one eyebrow quirked up while she glowers down at you. Your mouth feels unusually dry when she pins you down with a simple glare and you’re reminded of the power imbalance between the two of you. Unlike the other quartzes, she doesn’t exude that laissez-faire attitude, that friendly openness. Other soldier gems, although intimidating in stature, are usually friendly and eager to make friends. One look at her yellow eyes and you know she very much isn’t. “Earthling”, she spits out in disgust and- disappointment. “Yeah, that’s me”, you say and cringe at your own voice. You sound like a total idiot who is trying to impress the popular kids at school. “I came here to talk about something.” She clearly isn’t amused. You give her another sheepy grin and hastily fold open one of the pamphlets, already trying to form the perfect sentence to get her to consider your little missionary deed. “You see, this is about Little Homeworld”, you start, but she rolls her eyes and pulls a disgusted face. “Please, at least listen to me?”, you squeak out, having lost all of your confidence with one simple twitch of her mouth. You figure she hasn’t punched you yet - she might not do it at all if you’re careful. Jasper narrows her eyes for a moment, searching your face for something before she scoffs again in realization.

“He set you up to this”, she says, looking right through your charade. You shrink into yourself at her steely gaze, a bit ashamed to be found out that easily. “Ah, well-”, you stutter, trying to find the right words. “Not entirely, I did agree to this-” She rolls her eyes at that. “Leave or I’ll make you regret it”, she huffs out, already turning to go back to her cave. “Please, at least consider it! Everyone put so much work into Little Homeschool-”, you press out before you get interrupted by her whipping her head around.

"I said leave!", she bellows, her tone suddenly angry. “I don’t have the time to listen to the begging of some puny earthling.” Maybe it’s the heat that is melting your brain, maybe it’s the thought of disappointing Steven - it doesn’t matter what it is, your feet move forward on their own for a few steps, a tiny call of “Wait!” tearing itself from your lips before you can process your actions. The air immediately shifts into something else. It’s prickly and instantaneous, heavy like the shift in pressure moments before thunder. You have half a mind to stagger backwards, but it’s too late. She charges forward faster than you can react, eyes wide and angry. Your mind screams at you to run but you can’t - never have you seen so much anger in someone’s face and never directed at you. The fist to your jaw catches you off-guard and you stumble back, immediately rubbing your mandible where she caught you. “Fuck-”, you cry out, but she only gives you another second to recover before she uses your open torso to her advantage. One hit turns into two and two into three- she pushes you around with sheer force alone and you can barely react because of her speed. The world is a blur of pain, adrenaline ringing in your ears. You’ve never been beaten up before and she is relentless, no plea or excuse making her falter. Instead, your panicked cries for her to stop seem to spur her on, seem to heighten her rage at you. “You can’t even fight back, weakling”, she sneers with her fist in your face. “Come on! Didn’t you want to talk?” Before you can utter one more pathetic word of defiance, she raises her arm again and brings it down on your jaw, smack dab in the middle of your mouth, right under your nose. Your bone creaks in protest, the sound unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. You can feel something break. The pain ripples through you like an electric shock and you sputter in surprise, spit and blood and something sharp flying off your tongue. Your mouth pulsates as you press your hand to your lips, a futile attempt at soothing yourself. The sensitive skin prickles against something jagged and you push your tongue forward out of reflex, a weird, unknown panic suddenly taking root. Did she- did she break your teeth? You can’t help the tears that rush in as you mutter- no, lisp - a string of no, no, nos to yourself. Oddly enough it’s just like one of these weird nightmares come true, but that thought slips away with reality of the situation.

Everything else is replaceable, could be mended, could heal- but not your teeth, your precious front teeth that are now reduced to nothing but bloodied stumps, the healthy pulps bleeding into your mouth until your saliva is thick with blood. Your reaction seems to entertain her enough to stop her abuse for the moment, but the relief of that fades quickly as your head spins with the terrible realization - it’s like the world is suddenly muted as you cradle your mouth in your hand, your head heavy with panic. Everything slowly fades out of existence as the only thing you suddenly know is your breathing and the louder and louder growing hiss in your ears- white stars flit over your vision and- The world topples.

You feel before you see. You’re sprawled out on the hard, dusty ground, cold sweat pooling beneath your shirt, arms and face and chest hurting from her fists. Something is pressed into your stomach, something so dense it pushes itself uncomfortably into the fat of your belly. Birds shriek around you in excitement as they flap their wings skywards and you can’t help but groan at the unnaturally loud sound. “Earthling.” Your eyes snap open. Above you, a hulking mass of orange and cream blocks the sun, its light spilling around the rugged edges of- Jasper. And with that the momentary peace is broken. You immediately scramble to get up, to get away from her, but you can’t - she has you pinned underneath her foot, the pressure on your stomach increasing until it genuinely hurts. “And here I thought we were done”, she spits out, eyeing you with nothing but contempt as you wriggle underneath her like a pathetic little insect. “Please-”, you lisp, tongue scraping over the ruins of your incisors with the ‘s’ sound.”Let me go- You beat me, you won.” She leans closer to you, eyes sharp and mean. Although you aren’t a real challenge, a real fight, she doesn’t seem to have enough, not yet. “Weakling.” “You’re so soft”, she lowers her face closer to you, “so round, so pathetic.” You watch in horror as she lifts up her foot from your stomach and slowly drags it down to your crotch, planting herself right on top of your cunt with a thud. It hurts and your legs close around her leg out of reflex, muscles hardening themselves to take your mind off the pain.

“Oh-”, you choke out, shoving your hands down to protect yourself. “Please- not there- Anywhere else-” You receive a swift kick in response.  "That's your weak spot?", she says and smiles- no, bares her teeth at you- while she watches you writhing on the ground in agony, blood running down your shirt and eyes red with tears. “Please-” Another kick, another cry from you. She considers your pain and your helplessness, towering above you like some dark herald as you gasp and sob underneath her, too tired to fight back now. There is something peculiar in her eyes - not unlike the curiosity of a cat toying with its meal. You stare at each other for a single heartbeat, then- Within a second, her foot is gone from your body and she is all over you, tearing at your hair and clothing. Grunts and tiny sounds of disapproval fall from her lips as neither your shirt nor bra underneath it yield, her impatient hands traveling downwards instead. She hooks her fingers into the waistband of your pants and you can only watch in horror as she rips them in half with sheer force. She doesn’t even give you the grace of taking them off, your ruined zipper and half-opened crotch are shoved just underneath your ass, barely enough space to give her access. Your panties follow with a snap of elastic and cotton, the fabric flimsy enough to be tossed aside. No amount of squirming and choked cries are enough to make her stop - she seems to be in some kind of stupor, those sharp eyes full of something vicious and nasty. Rough hands dig into the fat of your hips, strong enough to bruise and strong enough pinch your skin against bone as she turns you over. She rattles you around like you weigh nothing, and with arms like hers you can believe it. Face shoved into the dirt and ass up in the air, your teeth pulse as blood rushes into your head, the feeling dizzying and disorientating. It hurts and you can’t help the tiny groans of pain that slip through your busted lips. The feeling is strange and increases with each heartbeat, the blood in your head so heavy it feels like your cheeks twitch. A hand on your cunt pulls you out of the haze. You aren’t stupid. You know how this will end, knew it from the moment she had torn off your hiking shorts. But the way her hand curls around your crotch is still a shock to your system, enough for you to lurch forward- but your weak arms can only grasp air and not dirt as she easily swoops her left arm under your chest to hold you just above the ground. It’s humiliating; scooped up like an animal, exposed, the tattered scraps of your shorts still hanging somewhere around your knees. You can’t even make a run for it if you wanted to. She can do with you as she pleases- You whimper at the thought- and she laughs. It’s low and rough, an ugly sound that makes your skin prickle in fear. “Pathetic appearance modifiers.” She sets you down again, but pointedly keeps one burly hand on your back, pushing you down. Her fingers grope and pinch the fat of your ass, inspecting your organic matter. It stings but you bear it, even as she presses down to the bone. She probes and slaps and squeezes you again and again until your skin is numb and hot. Seconds feel like hours as you tremble in her grasp, nerves sharp with pain, waiting for her to go further down, waiting for her brash hands to abuse your cunt with the same fervor. It’s inevitable and the thought kills you inside. Ever so slowly she inches her way down to where your pussy is painfully exposed- at first her touch only tickles, deceptively careful. Then she reaches between your labia, grabs one pair tightly- before you can blink there’s a thumb shoved into you, and she pulls. It burns, especially with the sudden movement, and you cry out. Another laugh sounds behind you, deep and amused. “There it is.”