NO ONE'S PRISONER ;;

Dropping her hand, she returned to staring at the leaf. That was.. it’s entire purpose? To ‘change colours’. “How?” Because.. well, even Jasper couldn’t do that without at least fusing. Shapeshift all she wants, she’d still be ORANGE. Glancing outside, she eyed the ‘tree’. So THAT’S where she’d seen them. Still they.. didn’t really DO anything, did they? “Wait.. live?” Turning, she pointed at the leaf. “So that thing is ALIVE?”

lapis paused, opening her mouth to explain before realizing...she had no idea how. steven didn’t tell her that much! “uh...i dunno. it just does.” and that was that. in response to jasper’s question, lapis nodded, despite the fact that she totally had no idea what she was talking about at this point. “yeah. most earth stuff is alive. like trees, and grass --- and stuff.”

He looks at the cord then at the lamp.  “I have no idea.  I just pulled this cord to look at it more and to ask why it’s in a wall.”  

“what!” lapis exclaimed, going over to look at what he was talking about. and then it clicked. “oh! i know what this does! the cord thingy kills the glowing thingy and then when you put it back into the wall it brings it back to life.”

Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the Lapis’ ‘home’, Jasper rested her elbow against her knee, propping her chin. She didn’t see the point in this. Why did she even have to see the ‘good’ in Earth? Nothing good ever seemed to come out of it. Frowning at the ‘leaf’, Jasper studied it for a moment. She was sure she’d seen these before.. But she never paid them mind. Glancing back at Lapis, Jasper had to ask: “Okay… but what does it do?” 

lapis paused, staring at jasper blankly before looking at the leaf again. “it changes colors,” she says, very matter-of-factly, presenting the leaf proudly once more. “and it lives on trees. there are a lot of trees outside,” she explained, gesturing to the window before returning her attention back to the leaf. jasper seemed even worse at learning earth stuff than she was. but surely they could do this together?

He listens in silence, offering a empathetic smile— he doesn’t really know if any other gesture of comfort would be welcome, so he doesn’t try. “Nightmares are like that, just…sticking around no matter what. I doubt that here, you could be trapped again, and you don’t seem like you’d hurt your friend. So, I think if you just remember that, eventually it’ll get easier to deal with the pain. If you can remind yourself that it’s just a dream and not reality.”

“I don’t know.”  He goes to see closer.  “It’s connected to a wall.”  He pulls on it to get a closer look and the lamp stop.  

lapis gasped and pointed at the now dim lamp. “hey look! the thing isn’t working anymore! what did you do?”

“No need to sleep? Sounds like that would be rather convenient.” Ryan watches her curiously, shrugging slightly in response. “I mean, everyone has their own coping methods. But go for it, if you think it’ll help. I don’t mind.”

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@terrafcrms continued from x

“Nightmares, huh? Yeah, those can really fuck with your sleeping schedule. Not great for your health. Or in general, I guess.” He chuckles dryly, as if that wasn’t an understatement by far. Nightmares could be downright miserable, even if he didn’t know what on earth the other had tormenting her. “You want to talk about it? I hear it’s supposed to help.”

He has to physically walk around to see if anyone eye’s are yellow form holding the spell for so long.  “Nothing of note is being done…”  He notices a cord.  “What’s this connected to the floating thing?”  

“huh?” lapis notices the cord as well, and immediately recognizes it. “i know what this is! this makes the television work! but...there is no television. and why is it connected to this thing?”

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“I have no idea.  I would say magic, but magic usually has a point…this doesn’t have a point.”  

“no, this looks like...some sort of gem power. like maybe...lava, or water that’s being manipulated. but by who?? do you see anyone?” she asked, glancing around the store.

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How Arthur ended up in a thrift store is a mystery to him, but he is entranced by a lava lamp.  He turns to someone he sees staring at it as well.  “Have you ever seen something like this before?”  

“no...” lapis gawked at the strange device. it looked like...well, she wasn’t sure. it was really cool though, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it. “i’m not...entirely familiar with earth technology. this looks like...an advanced meep morp. how is it floating like that? who is controlling it?”

Struggling and straining against the water, Jasper clenched her teeth so hard that they almost felt like they were going to BREAK. She couldn’t let it end here.. Hearing her speak, Jasper kept her eyes trained on the Lazuli, eyes still slitted with FURY. She didn’t know.. How could she? Her Diamond was still ALIVE. “Do you.. have any idea.. what it’s like? To hear that your Diamond, your precious and perfect DIAMOND, has been shattered? No. You DON’T!” She spat, thrashing once more in desperation. “You don’t know what it’s like to grieve for millennia. To know you failed your job as a Quartz. To serve under another Diamond and wear her colours. And then find out that the one who did it doesn’t even REMEMBER!”

For some reason beyond Jasper, her cheeks felt wet and her eyes itchy. She tried to ignore it and chalk it up as the salt water. Jaspers didn’t cry. “I have lived in MISERY for thousands of years! And the one who did it doesn’t even REMEMBER! She- She thought Yellow was MY Diamond! She shattered Pink Diamond and- and she just gets to forget.” Clenching her teeth once again, Jasper turned her head away. Why did her throat feel so tight? “I promise NOTHING. I have to.. I have to find out myself. I don’t know what you think she.. he.. IT is but.. I will find out. Then I will decide.”

there was a brief moment where lapis was reminded of how much jasper truly was suffering. it was strange to hear her talk so desperately --- strange to hear her in so much...pain. and not pain from the water. it was almost enough to convince lapis to let her go --- but not quite. because soon steven was brought into it again, and lapis struggled to keep her sympathy and have it replace with anger.