homebound.

Despite blatantly egging her on, Jasper was visibly disoriented when Lapis pulled her down, if only for a second. Then the smile came right back, this time bigger and more mirthful than ever.

“Now there’s the Lapis I know.” But then, at that last question, her smirk vanished once more, this time into a scowl.

“What do you think? The same thing any Diamond would do if she wasn’t holding back—he shattered me!”  Even if they were talking about Steven, the answer seemed so painfully obvious to Jasper, at least given the other info she’d shared so far. What other alternatives were there? Did Lapis really think she just gave up like everyone else? That she conceded victory to someone for anything less? 

Even so. It felt…a little weird to say out loud still. 

The fierceness of her gaze did not waver, instead, it hardened upon Jasper’s sadistic smirk. She hated that she was feeding into Jasper’s sick fascination, letting the other see her getting angry and upset. But she couldn’t afford to her emotions in. Jasper was talking. As much as the other’s words cut deep, Lapis desperately did not want to shut her up. Words were valuable, especially coming from a gem who seldom liked to use her words.

But her head was spinning in her attempt to process the words coming out of Jasper’s mouth. 

“W–what?” Suddenly pushing some distance between them as she reeled back in bewilderment, finally releasing her grip on Jasper. Steven, taking another gem’s life? The thought was inconceivable---

“What’s wrong with you?” Her voice boomed, as rain began to pour and lightning flashed through the window. “Why would you want that? Do you value your life so little that you’d force Steven’s hand, just to prove a point?” A hateful look was thrown Jasper’s way, full of scorn and fury and everything inbetween. 

“You really think Steven wanted this? How can you be so selfish? If you wanted to die so bad, then why don’t you just end it yourself, instead of taking the coward’s way out, you bastard?”

// lapis: i can’t fight jasper, i’m better than this, i gotta be the bigger person

Jasper let out a short, dry laugh. He beat Lapis? The Diamonds? As if. He talked them down, talked them out of using the power they had; that wasn’t the same thing. Manipulation had a time and a place, but sometimes the battle called for good, old-fashioned raw power. And at the end of the day, that’s what you needed in a real leader.

“It’s different because he didn’t hold back.” 

“All of you are afraid of his power, he was afraid of his own power, just like you are!”

“But I’m not afraid of it. I finally gave him the chance to use it!”

And that was it, a nice start. Everything now was going downhill, because Jasper was hitting all the right nerves-- personal attacks that the quartz had perfectly weaponized, was perfectly poised to draw a reaction out of her. If it’s a fight she wants, it’s a fight she’ll get. 

Within a millisecond, Lapis invaded in the other’s space and leveled a scathing look, hands dragging Jasper down by the shirt. The strength of her wings flapping behind her viciously, threatening to whip at Jasper at any given moment, as they anchored them both down to the ground. 

They were too close to comfort, but Lapis didn’t care, bristling with the urge to wipe that smirk off Jasper’s face. She pressed herself exceedingly close to Jasper’s body, brushing the other’s gem with her nose, making certain Jasper knew of her fury, of her outrage.

Jasper stiffened a little, but didn’t shy away. 

“Steven and I were having a rematch, and he won.”  She knew what this was really about, she wasn’t stupid. Steven was still upset about it, though she couldn’t imagine WHY;  he’d done exactly what she asked, exactly what he set out to do. 

Of course was still shaken up about it, but none of that showed. What was the point of dwelling on it? She had a Diamond to serve again. Wasn’t that more important? 

“He’s just a bit shaken up about it.”

Unfurling her fists, Lapis backed down slightly. All right, this was a nice start.

“I know Steven’s a total softie, but beating you in a match wouldn’t have him go through an existential crisis and abandon his friends and family. He’s beaten the other Diamonds, he’s beaten me-- what makes this time different?” From what she had heard, Steven was broken up it, haunted by his regrets. Liked he had lost a part of his soul. Fighting Jasper was a cruel pursuit, she knew that much. She had lost a part herself through their heartless fusion, and even now, she was still trying to pick up the pieces of what remained of herself. The scars remained, albeit invisible, but still very much there-- in the way her skin crawled, in the way her breath seemed to pick up in the presence of Jasper.

Still, she refused to let this impede the interrogation.

@terraformr​ liked for a Fragments relevant Jasper starter

Of all the faces she’d expected to see after being resurrected, Lapis was the very last one she’d anticipated. Seeing her there, after Steven had opted to leave and collect his thoughts, was surreal to say the very least. Quite honestly? Jasper hardly knew what to say to her.

With nothing else to do, Jasper reached her hand up and rubbed the back of her neck while her gaze drifted a bit. Looking at Lapis was hard right then. This shouldn’t have been so hard. They knew each other inside and out basically, didn’t they? After all that time they’d spent as Malachite years ago, one would think that was the case. Yet there Jasper was, hardly managing a word.

Finally, she willed herself to look Lapis’ way again. Then, and only then, did she finally work out a small idea. The conversation would be interesting, she knew, so she guessed it would be best to start simple.

“…Hey.”

Stars, that was terrible. There had to be something to make this all come together. Something that would make things less tense and weird. A morbid joke rose in her throat, but she quickly stifled it. It didn’t even sound good in her head.

“If you’re here to apologize for what happened to me, don’t. I got what I deserved.” Even that felt weird to say, Jasper thought. Then again, she wasn’t really sure of what Lapis’ line of thought would even be anymore. So who really knew what she could expect?

“Mm... okay, then I won’t,” Lapis complied, softly. It was certainly a difficult topic to tackle. Speaking about one’s death wasn’t exactly the most idle of conversations to be had. 

Whether Jasper wanted to admit it or not, she was probably rattled about what had happened. Anyone would be--- getting shattered was a fate worse than death. At least in death, you’d forget everything that had ever happened. The comfort of forgetting the pain and suffering and everything that had up to that point. But Gems never really die. Their consciousness still liveed on, as their gems eventually faded into dust.

“I will say though, that you didn’t deserve it.” She knew Jasper. She’s always so hard on herself. Hard on others, too. Which in turn, made herself hard on the rest of the world.

@terraformr liked for a starter

“Lapis….?” She was one of the last Gems Jasper expected to see….ever, actually. Maybe she was just here to see what all the commotion was? After all, Lapis probably thought she was still out in the forest. When she didn’t leave immediately upon seeing her though, Jasper got a little uncomfortable. Wasn’t she here for Steven? 

“What do you want?”

Stress lines were apparent on her face as her jaw clenched. Ignoring Jasper’s stand-offish demeanor and her own discomfort, in order to get to the bottom of this. With fists at the ready, she closed the distance between her and Jasper,  looking up at her straight in the eyes, asserting her--

Dominance? Perhaps. Not intentionally. She just wanted to be heard, to understand what had happened.

“Tell me what went down between you and Steven. I know something did.”

Steven was missing, she couldn’t get ahold of him, and even Garnet couldn’t pinpoint his location via future vision. This was bad-- something must’ve happened, and with Jasper’s sudden reappearance in Steven’s home...