text, also accepting action

[ssmisery]

[Lapis isn't the kind of person who immediately responds to being trapped in a strange place by posting to its social media. Right now she's had time to acquaint herself with the situation, i.e. freak out, i.e. find a couple helpful pamphlets, poke her head inside the mansion, and then spend some time trying very hard to leave. This is just as well since everyone's already had enough of drowning for a while.

It's only after she's exhausted herself that her attention wanders to the little device waiting patiently for her, as if it knew she'd have to give up. It'd probably look smug if it could. Just in case it might actually be worthwhile somehow she even scans the recent posts, but of course there are no answers she would want. So that's what she's supposed to do, huh? Sit tight, make herself at home, and join in the hopeless little community of fellow prisoners? Lapis almost chucks the thing off the roof; she doesn't want Wonderland's garbage. And yet, here it is.

...Not that much of that matters to the audience. In text, after all, nobody can tell how much lid someone's flipping.]

I know it's too much to hope for, but you're absolutely sure this isn't some kind of personal nightmare I'm having?
It'd be a first considering I don't sleep, but the mirror thing is pretty suspect.
Your ocean is broken, by the way.

[She's sprawled out on the roof if you'd rather stumble upon her in person. Hopefully not literally.]

Comments

[slapfight]

[but it's something, which, at least, relaxes Peridot somewhat. it'll be fine. it might not be just like it was and there's a lot here to contend with- way more than back in Beach City- but... it'll be nice.]

He doesn't take up much space if you two don't get along. He doesn't like being up high.

[so any place that might need to be accessed by flight is safe from his little claws.] But he's not too difficult a roommate.

[ssmisery]

If he got used to you, he can't be too difficult. [like you can talk, lapis] Let's just go.

[Frankly, any animal that's survived living with Peridot is already a kindred spirit to Lapis. How the heck does she have a pet? Regardless, and despite the bit of amusement that got through, she doesn't have the energy to spare for trivial conversation about a cat. That's not important. A tiny bit of normalcy has asserted itself, and it only makes respite more appealing, or at least more acceptable to want.

It's about here that the two get in the door. Which leads to a different issue. The stairwells aren't as bad as the hallways, but almost nowhere in Wonderland's mansion is without, after all. Lapis shouldn't be surprised -- she did look inside the building before -- but it wasn't on her mind now, and the sight catches her off guard enough to halt up momentarily.

Oh yeah. The mirror thing.]

[slapfight]

[Peridot has taken for granted that the "Mirror thing" is everywhere in the mansion. sure, she's shouted at them and she and her Mirror have exchanged diatribes on them in the past, but for the most part, she ignores them.

but that's because Lapis wasn't here.

she manages to get a few steps ahead of Lapis before it hits her and she runs back to her side in an instant.] You have to admit, they're really terrible as mirrors. More like locked doors to the other side of Wonderland that show your reflection.

[that was terrible. she knows it. and she slaps her forehead a second after the words leave her mouth. Stupid.]

[ssmisery]

[Lapis looks Peridot in the eye, ignoring the poor attempt, and repeats herself, with a grim, heavy firmness.]

Let's just go.

[It's not like she can't handle seeing a mirror. Bad history or no, they're just objects. Except these ones aren't, and Lapis can't make herself forget that; it feels like they're staring at her, pressing in from the walls. It's -- she'll handle it. She just has to make it to the room.]

[slapfight]

[this time Lapis gets ahead of her as she stares down the Mirror for a few seconds and then strides on her tinier legs to catch up.] I don't keep them in my room. The poor copies of us that live on the other side can see through them. I don't know why anyone would want that. ...Ah! Here it is!

[she bolts ahead, stopping just in front of a door, grinning ear to ear, and forgetting all about her nattering about the Mirrors. there's only one cure for the common Lapis funk- overly exaggerated enthusiasm!

...okay, perhaps it isn't a cure, but it is at least a tonic.] Lapis Lazuli, are you ready to see my semi-faithful recreation of our home away from Homeworld?

[ssmisery]

[Lapis has less response to Peridot's showmanship than usual, not merely out of grumpiness; by the time they reach the door she's looking a bit dazed.]

Yes.

[Okay.

Maybe it's for similar reasons that the sight hits her hard when the door is opened. It's not a replica of their barn, but the style is unmistakable enough for a wave of familiarity. There's even impossible sunlight peeking through the gaps between boards; Lapis glances back at the door even though it's not Wonderland's first or only impossibility. If she still had reservations about keeping a comforting little hint of home here -- well, no, she does, of course she still does. But at this precise moment the need for pleasant illusion is beyond questioning.

She's had a long fucking day and she's too tired to not be amazed.]

It's... nice.

[slapfight]

[Peridot bounds in, throwing her arms out and spinning in a circle to indicate the whole of the place, practically giddy with delight.] Isn't it? Now that you're here, it'll be as close to perfect as it can get. If events get to be too annoying, we can just hole up in here, shut off our communicators, and wait for them to pass.

[unless it's an event that keeps them out of their rooms, but she's not worried about that just yet.]

[ssmisery]

[well maybe she should be

Er, while Peridot showboats, Lapis slowly makes her way across the room to its small window. Like the room, the scenery out there is blatantly wrong, but at least clad in the same shirt as Earth. From this view the inescapable prison looks almost tranquil. It's still not right, and she still knows better and still doesn't want to let anything here comfort her, but it still helps.]

Peridot...

[She looks back at her once-and-again roommate and hesitates. That's a little different as well: the situation really isn't that much like Earth, for starters. If she tried, Lapis could feel a wrong shape there too. She doesn't know that she likes it any more than the others. Peridot, however, is a lot of things but not fake.]

Thanks.

[slapfight]

[Peridot's still babbling away, the sounds background noise at this point- she never shuts up. It's just her way. Usually, if it's something important she'll wait for someone to actually acknowledge they're listening to her.

She stops short when she hears her name and cants her head, catlike, wondering if Lapis has been listening and she wants her to stop. The hesitation causes her to tense, already worried that she's stomped all over the delicate eggshells around Lapis right now (and always, just a tiny bit), but then the gratitude comes and she relaxes.]

You're welcome.

[they can make this work. They can. It won't be ideal, but nothing ever is, really.]

[ssmisery]

[With that, Lapis wilts back to sitting on the floor, vulnerable for a rare moment as she allows everything to catch up with her. The exhaustion, the emptiness after anger burns out, the dizziness of walking through a hall of mirrors all reaching for her. That was the last response she intends to make for a while, because there's no point wasting the effort of saying anything more, but from time to time she may watch Peridot, who is something real if nothing else is.

At some point Claude comes over and sniffs her thoroughly, appreciating her passivity in the matter; she touches his soft kitten fur absently.

Also, she's not gonna leave the room for like two weeks minimum, you must realize. It's like acquiring a pest problem or another pet as much as a roommate. It's all right, though. This can all be worked on.]