★VIDEO - EMERGENCY DORCHACHT UPDATE

[starseedling]

Name: Steven Universe (SN: Steven U)
Date: August 20th (Backdated)
Format: Video

[Steven appears on camera, looking nervous but determined, like he's just stumbled upon something that he feels the need to tell everyone right now. So, here he is! Steven is very obviously a fae, complete with antennae and slightly too large, pink irises. Behind him, wings will occasionally flutter with agitation.]

Hey guys, Steven here! So - I told Nessie and Mhairi about that whole... dream... thing... we just had...

And it turns out neither of them had any idea that Dorchacht was doing things like that?? Nessie made it sound like their leader, Morgana, just seemed kind of racist at Coven meetings... not that they were enslaving an entire city's worth of monsters?

So... I think this is going to be a pretty big deal. They said they were going to get in contact with the Parliament about it, to see what they could do next. It didn't sound like they were okay with just letting them keep doing those things so, um... phew!

Aaaanyway... I thought you might want to know. I know I've been thinking about it a lot. Haha.

[He signs off, awkwardly.]

[OOC: This isn't massively relevant to this post, but Steven is currently wearing earrings that are charmed to tell him what the truth is when someone knowingly lies to him. So, if your character does that in the post, the earrings will probably tell him. Magic~!]

Comments

[starseedling]

[Steven smiles a little as he reaches down to give Pumpkin a pat, and then enters fully. Peridot seeming so disinterested is kind of hard to take, but he proceeds regardless.]

I wanted to talk to you. [He says, perhaps stating the obvious.] About the stuff that's happening.

[alienwear]

[ She at least spares him a glance over her shoulder now. But when she looks at his face, her expression scrunches up awkwardly, mingled shame and anger overtaking everything else until she's forced to look away from him again. ]

I... Think I'd like to. [ She says after a moment, with some effort. ] Talk about that, I mean.

[starseedling]

[Well, that's not a comforting expression. Steven slips the door closed behind him, but doesn't come further into the room.]

I wasn't... I wasn't trying to say you weren't allowed to be angry.

[alienwear]

[ Peridot flinches slightly. Pumpkin trots over and paws at her with a concerned whine, leading Peridot to rest a hand on her top. She relaxes a little after that.

Her reply is somewhat flat. She's making an effort not to sound accusatory but, it's difficult to keep the bite entirely out of her tone. ] Well that's good, since it feels like I'm always angry lately.

[ Surely he's noticed. Peridot's emotions have always been a bit volatile, but recently she seems to be flying off the handle with minimal provocation. And everything that happened in the Black City ranks way beyond minimal. ]

[starseedling]

[He's definitely noticed. Yet, as another attempt to reconcile falls flat, he can't help but break a little.]

Why are you angry at me? You know how I feel about this kind of thing - how I've always tried to... rrrgh!

[He crosses his arms around himself, his wings tucked together tightly.]

[alienwear]

[ She has to lift her hand back off Pumpkin abruptly, to keep from digging her claws into the poor creature's hide when her fingers tense up. Pumpkin sees this and whimpers, scuttling back to hide behind Steven. Which, Peridot instantly feels horrible about, which OF COURSE, in turn, makes her angry. She grits her teeth, her thick tail raising slowly up only to crack back down on the floor in a single heavy strike, powerful enough to make some of the plants rattle lightly in their pots.

She turns to fully look back at Steven, but rather than obscured in a mask of fury, her expression seems hurt, and a bit indignant. ]

I never said I was mad at you! [ Her voice cracks on the last word, coming out in a hideous sounding high-pitched squeak. ] I'm just... Mad! About all of this!

[starseedling]

[It's really hard not to be scared and defensive when someone is exuding body language like Peridot is - and evidently Pumpkin agrees. Steven can't help but kneel down and rest a hand on her - poor Pumpkin probably doesn't understand any of this.]

...I didn't know that. [He speaks more softly now, pushing down alien urges to be offended and spiteful. Instead, he manages to be gentle.] I guess it kind of felt like you were.

[alienwear]

...Alright so maybe I was a little mad at you. A little. Rrrgghh... [ She rubs the side of her face with the heel of her palm, eyes glancing away. ] But it was only briefly, and it was only because it felt like-- I don't know, like you were obstructing my sense of justice or something!

[ She turns back to the window, and rests her chin on the top of the ottoman, scooping the side of it with her tail. Like she's trying to coil around it, almost. When she speaks up again it's in a tiny, sad voice.]

Lately, it feels like everything that used to just kind of annoy me makes me furious these days. And the things that used to make me furious? Now they make me want to destroy something.

[starseedling]

I don't want to have to fight people. We just got away from that back home, and now...

[It could be starting a war all over again. It may be inevitable for all he knows, but he'll never feel good about it. He stays where he is for now, giving her space.]

But... I think this is a pretty good thing to be furious about. I just... get worried that this monster stuff will trick one of us into doing we don't want to.

[alienwear]

[ The fact that Steven hangs back like that honestly kind of hurts, but only because Peridot completely misinterprets it. She can't really help but worry that he's doing it because he's afraid of her, or doesn't trust her.

Peridot tucks her ears back, glancing off to the side with a frown. ]

I don't have a problem with beating people up or spitting acid at them if they deserve it. And I never have! But... I guess... It's different, now that we're fighting humans and not gems.

[starseedling]

Yeah...

[It's a reality Steven has been much more keenly aware of, thanks to being raised a lot like a human.]

It was a lot easier when a gem could just poof, and come back later once we were ready for them... if you did that to one of these humans they'd probably just... die.

[And horribly, at that. Acid attacks are up there as one of the most horrifying types of injuries for a reason.]

[alienwear]

I... [ She trails off. Her fingers tighten slowly on the ottoman, claws threatening to pierce the fabric. ] I still don't know that I would feel bad about that, if that's what those witches are really like!

[ The words come out in a rush, like if she just spits them out fast enough Steven might not get upset with her. ]

[starseedling]

[It's hard to say how upset Steven is - instead of getting mad or scolding, he just goes quiet, like he's trying to balance the idea in his head. It's not really surprising, he guesses. Peridot had been willing to kill him before, and so with a reason as good as this it's hard to argue.

But... There's always a 'but.']

If the Crystal Gems had just shattered gems that hurt them, back in the war... there are so many of them that wouldn't be here anymore.

And when the Diamonds though Pink was destroyed, it only made things worse.

[alienwear]

...

[ He has a point. Peridot knows it, too.

It doesn't change that there's still a very insistent part of her that refuses to let this go.

Her back is still turned to him. She wants to reply, but-- No... She hunches her shoulders, dipping her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she tries to will the sheer anger in her out of existence. But that only makes it worse! Her mouth feels so dry; she tries to swallow, but her throat is too tight, the attempted motion producing a thick choking sound. Her claws tighten and pierce into the upholstery of the ottoman, making a faint popping sound. She feels sick to her stomach. ]

[starseedling]

[She doesn't say anything, but her reaction can be read clearly regardless. It's really hard to know what to do or say about all of this, and the last thing he really wants to be doing is arguing about it with his friends. They are all hurting, and they are all scared.

Steven carefully gets up, and crosses the room to approach where she's sitting. If there's any space to spare, he'll try to sit down with her - first carefully resting a hand on her shoulder, not saying anything either.]

[alienwear]

[ There's plenty of space, and she feels him approaching. But before he can touch her, or even sit down next to her, something... Unfortunate occurs.

It all happens in the span of just a few seconds. Peridot's shoulders seize up again, and the holes she has poked into the upholstery become canyons as her grip tightens, her claws carving furrows into the fabric that bleed white cotton stuffing in their wake. But there's another tearing noise that doesn't come from the poor piece of furniture she's currently maiming.

With the motion of her arching upper back, a ruff of vicious looking spikes, almost like a cluster of icicles, erupts through the fabric of her shirt at the very base of her neck. She squeals in pain, gritting her sharp teeth as what appear to be two even larger spikes stab out from next to her shoulder blades quickly after that, one after the other. The true significance of these two peculiar shapes quickly becomes clear, as they twist and extend and flesh out into jointed shapes, the tips of them splitting off into odd little branches. It looks almost like she's growing an extra set of arms... Because she basically is.

It stops as quickly as it started. Her tiny new wings heave up and down with each exerted breath. Trying to reject her wrathful nature in it's entirety, rather than accepting it and working with it, has only pushed her further down the path towards becoming the monster she doesn't want to be. She whimpers, but doesn't look up. ]

[starseedling]

[That's... unexpected. He's personally never had a change happen so fast before - it's usually while molting, or gradually over time. Granted, he has seen it happen like this with Peridot before. Maybe as a Gem she just isn't used to changing like this?

He backs up when it actually happens, but when it seems like it's done, he'll come close again, carefully laying a hand on her back as he takes a look at the damage. Thankfully there's no blood or anything, even with how weirdly physical her body is here.

It seems like it didn't leave wounds.]

I... I think you just grew wings? [He tries to keep his tone gentle.] Do they hurt?

[alienwear]

[ Peridot sags over the ottoman, flopping down with her chest and chin flat over the top of it and her arms draped over the sides. She doesn't flinch when he touches her. ]

Wings...? [ She echoes the word faintly, a touch incredulous. ] Hah. Hah... If only Lapis were here to see this... [ She sounds amused, and wistful, and perhaps a little bit punch-drunk. Apparently this particular change has sapped a lot out of her. ]

[ Peridot heaves another sigh, new wings drooping limply across her back. Her eyes are closed ] They hurt while they were forming, but the intensity of that seems to be decreasing by the second.

[starseedling]

[As alarming as it was, it seems like this sudden transformation has sapped some of the tension out of the air. Steven finally manages to sit down with her, relieved to hear that she isn't still in pain. He looks at the wings with wonder, gently brushing a finger along the top of one tiny wing.]

They're cute. [He's smiling now, both to be comforting and also because he thinks there is just something beautiful and worthy of appreciation about them. Even if they were never asked for.] I bet you'll be able to fly with them one of these days! We could go together!

[alienwear]

[ Peridot finally opens her eyes, though her eyelids are still sort of drooping unevenly. The wing twitches again when Steven touches it, but the dragon attached to it doesn't protest. ]

I guess if I can't levitate around with my metal powers anymore, this is an okay trade-off. Even if flying with wings sounds exhausting...

[ Pumpkin finally comes back over at this point as well, nudging one of Peridot's dangling hands with her entire face. Peridot feebly lifts it to pat her. Truthfully, she still feels pretty nasty and angry about everything, but she's so emotionally exhausted it's hard to dive back into this argument about whether killing is ever justified. She trails off into silence, some of the tension creeping back into the moment. ]

[starseedling]

[He doesn't really know what more there is to say. It's a commitment he's made, and has been making, ever since he was thrust into the conflict that has since defined his life. He knows that not everyone has looked it that way. Not even all of the other Crystal Gems. Even though it ended up not being the truth, they had accepted it as necessary when they thought that Pink Dimond was shattered.

It had never sat well with him, but when Garnet told him about the assassination, he couldn't condemn her for condoning it, even if he'd always wondered how Rose Quartz could do such a thing. At the same time, Garnet had always respected his patience.

He knows that he never wants to have to see Peridot kill someone. He doesn't really know what he'll do, if it happens. But... he knows it won't change how he feels about her.]

I love you, Peridot.

[He says it quietly, leaving his hand resting on her back. Maybe it seems random, but he just doesn't want her to think there is any room for doubt.]

[alienwear]

[ Her eyes get all wet and shiny for a moment, and she sniffs audibly. This is the part where she'd normally reply with a "wow thanks", being practically physically incapable of saying "I love you too" to anyone, but...

She laughs shakily. ]

Wow. Even though this place is slowly turning me into an acid spitting vengeance hungry murder reptile?

[starseedling]

[He's gradually making himself more at home on the ottoman, sharing the space in a way that is hopefully less tense in favour of something more intimate. He's not afraid of her, he's afraid for her. And he's afraid that he'll do something to make her feel worse.]

If you're not trying to murder me on purpose I think we're still in a pretty good place. [He laughs softly, showing that he's not being overly serious about it. Some of this is just out of their hands.] Besides, Centi - I mean, Nephrite spits acid too, and she's the best.

[He'd only gotten to spend a few days with any of them before ending up here, but he loved Centi even when she was a nearly mindless centipede monster.]

[alienwear]

Oh. [ She snorts. ] Wow. I share a super power with a Nephrite. Thank you, Steven. That is so incredibly comforting...

[ It's kind of a mean-spirited and sarcastic joke, but at least she is joking. That's still an improvement over the towering temper she was experiencing before.

Hesitating a moment, she lightly scoops her tail behind him to return the gesture of platonic affection, rather than putting a hand on him. There's a bit of an embarrassed teal tint to her cheeks, underneath her scales. ]

[starseedling]

[Steven seems intent on just making it worse, the gateway for lavished affection opened wide. He notices the tail, and it bolsters him into doing something he's been wanting to do for a while.]

Hey... Peridot, there's something I want to give you.

[Steven has taken to wearing a faux gold star pin on his vest, ever since he found one in the market. It's meant to replace the Crystal Gem symbol he usually would have worn on his shirt. Except, now, he carefully removes it, cradling it in the palms of his hands.

He seems to focus his attention on it, closing his eyes and imagining vividly as he clasps his fingers over its form. His antenna, wings, and gem glow all at once, and a light forms between his hands and then vanishes. When he opens them, the pin is still there, in the same general shape, but its form has changed. Instead of cheap jewelry metal, it has taken on a perfect rose gold sheen, part of its pattern shimmering with all of the colors of Steven's scales.]

Here.

[He holds it out for her to take.]