driftfleet | one ☂ rain, rain, go away...

Entry tags:

one ☂ rain, rain, go away...

Who: Lapis Lazuli & YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: S.S. Huntress
When: 1/10

[ VIDEO ]

[ The very second she wakes, the immediacy of how wrong this is crashes over her like a wave.

Lapis curls upright on a cot on the Marsiva, blinking and coughing - like she's been underwater for too long. Frantically, she reaches out for something that isn't there - a shackle. A connection she had been holding on to with all the strength she had, just moments ago -

She had lost it. She hadn't been strong enough.

She stumbles off the cot like she's still getting her land legs, and slowly moves out of the room, quickly casting glances around every corner as she moves down hallways. This doesn't look like a Homeworld ship, but...it has to be. She wasn't strong enough to stay fused with Jasper, and so she must have gotten free. She was probably hurting Steven right now, and Lapis had been taken prisoner again -

What's the point?

In front of a large window, she slumps down, arms winding around her knees. She her forehead against them until she can't see the harsh lights of the ship anymore. With that blocked out, there's just her, and the tumultuous ocean roiling inside of her. ]

[ ACTION ]

[ Soon enough, Lapis is shuttled off to the S.S. Huntress, and she enters the ship with all the reluctance in the world. She is not happy to be here. She barely minds the fact that she's been assigned to a Security position - rather, she avoids the armory entirely. She didn't ask for this. She didn't ask to come here, to be taken prisoner yet again by an organization she knew nothing about, but who would inevitably find some way to use her to their ends.

She doesn't want any of this.

And so as Lapis makes her way to the bunks, she starts pulling - only partly deliberately - on any liquids she passes. Someone using the toilet or shower may suddenly find the water fleeing upwards and out towards the Gem calling it to her. Water, tea, or any other drink may jump out of a cup or drink dispenser as she passes. She does this until she builds a small river down the hallway, barely glancing at anyone she passes unless - unless, they get a bit too close for comfort. ]

No! Just - just stay away from me!

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[Steven's shoulders sink, and he worries. Now it feels like he's just making her sadder, no matter what he says. But he tries to carefully answer her questions.]

It's - it's okay because no one got hurt, and time's not moving back home, and there's a lot of nice people here... Stuff like that! It makes things here... not so bad?

[He pauses and looks down.]

Anywhere. The fleet doesn't have a final destination that I know about. We just... drift through space, and check out different planets.

[ It's difficult to follow his explanation, distressed as she is, but she tries. She tries, taking deep breathes to keep the panic at bay ant focusin on what he says.

No one got hurt.

Time's not moving back home.

There's a lot of nice people here. ]

So it's like...we're all imagining it together? [ Quieter: ] But we're all prisoners.

Edited (blarg) 2016-01-13 06:36 (UTC)

Um... I guess it's like that! And one day we'll make it end. [He hopes, with a nervous smile.]

It's only like we're prisoners. We can still move around and do most of the things we want! So, it's more like being forced onto a space vacation! [That's a lot better right?]

[ Is that really better? ]

This doesn't make any sense, Steven! How did I even get here? I was fused!

[ Had they destabilized the fusion somehow? Why couldn't she remember anything? ]

Magic! Or science! Or... magic science!

[He deflates.]

I... I don't know for sure how it happens. But... you're here, and that's what matters.

You can be yourself again, Lapis. [A smile starts to grow on his face.] And... and we can be beach summer fun buddies all over again!

[ Magic science basically sums up the Gems, so. ]

But I...I didn't -

[ Wouldn't it be nice? To be herself and feel like she could be comfortable and safe for once.

But that's not for her. Not for her. ]

I didn't finish protecting you. Whoever it is that brought us here...the Atroma, I should've -

I'm so sorry, Steven.

[Basically.]

Lapis... [He looks on softly once again.] No...

It's okay, Lapis. It's okay. You've already done so much for me. So much more than you had to. And that's why I'm standing here now.

No one's hurt right now, and we can figure this out, Lapis. And while we're figuring it out... we can have fun, too.

No one's hurt?

[ But they might get hurt. That's always the risk. Especially when she tries to help...

She bites her lower lip. ]

I shouldn't help you figure it out. I'll only make things worse.

[At her first question, he nods and makes jazz hands again, to indicate his lack of being hurt.

Then he keeps on looking gravely towards her concerned expression towards the feed. Lapis is one of his dearest friends, and it stings him whenever she thinks of herself that way.]

No you won't...! You're Lapis Lazuli, and you're my friend. My life will always be a little better just because I know you. So... so I believe in you, Lapis. For reals.

[ This is too much.

This is too much, and she...she doesn't know what to do. If what he says is true, then she can't escape. Not immediately, anyway. Which means she's a prisoner. Again. And that alone is a lot to swallow.

But he's so encouraging, and she doesn't want to make things worse for him than she already has.

She looks up into the screen. ]

Steven...I want to help you get out of here any way I can.

I know that you do, Lapis. And... and I know that we'll find a way together. We always do.

I just... I need you to believe, okay? Just trust me on this one.

[ Believing is terrifying. Her natural instinct is to recoil from it, to withdraw and mind herself until things pass. But that hadn't worked out for her when she had returned to Homeworld.

She doubted it would work out for her here, either. ]

I...I don't know if I can believe, Steven. Not in myself. [ A beat. ] But...I can believe in you.

[It's a tough road with Lapis, but it's still a road that Steven would never turn away from, in a million years. So he pauses for a moment before-]

Okay. That'll do for now. [He smiles cheekily.]

But you know, I believe in you a whole lot. So believing in me's like believing in you, too!

[ For the first time since they've been talking, a small smile cracks on her lips. When he puts it like that...it sounds a little more possible. ]

...Is there a way I can see you? Outside of this screen, I mean.

[...It feels like so long since he's seen that smile. So he melts a little inside, and he smiles right back.]

There is! But, um... not yet. See, after you're on the Marsiva for a few days, you get put on another ship. And wherever you go, we'll be able to go to each other's ships and see each other! Or to different planets. Won't that be so neat, Lapis?!

You're on a different ship? [ There's more than one? Her smile fades back into worry. ] And they stop at different planets?

...Why? [ That's the big question in all of this. ]

Yeah... Mine is called the Wonder Duck!

There's plenty of different planets we visit and they're all neat. Ummm... we're here because the Atroma records our lives for entertainment!

[ The Wonder Duck? What a funny name. What's a duck, she wonders? ]

Entertainment? We're here to be...performers? [ Oh, she does not like the sound of that. ]

W-well... kind of, but not exactly! They record everything we do for their show, but we don't have to actually perform or anything. ...Well, you could if you wanted to!

Why would anyone want to do something like that? After bringing us here like prisoners...

Iiii think it makes more sense if you watch more tv shows! Reality shows are really popular, and they're just about a bunch of different people who have to live together! ...They're usually not prisoners, but still! This is like that, but in space.

[ If this is what TV is like, she definitely doesn't want to watch more of it! ]

Is that really all there is to it? Are you sure they didn't take us for another reason?

[Don't say that, Lapis. At least not until you try Crying Breakfast Friends!]

To be honest, Lapis, I don't know for sure. Buuuut I've been here for a few months now, and I haven't seen anything that makes me think it's something else!

[ She probably would like a show with lots of water works, it's true... ]

I...it's just...you're really special, Steven. [ In more than one way. There's a reason she hid his existence from Yellow Diamond. ] What if they brought us here because of our gem powers?

[She'd have a splash!]

Then the joke's on them, because if they try to mess with us then we'll always find a way! ...You know, to save the day.

But I still don't know about that. There's only three of us gems here, and there's so many other people who aren't gems or don't even have powers. So it can't just be about us!

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