/trash/ /sug/ 1272754 (et all)

Taken from posts 1272754, 1272768, 1272774, and 1273124

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Pearl quietly locks the door after leaving the house, so as to not wake Steven up. She just loves mid-night walks, everything is so calm and peaceful.
She jumps to the bottom, not bothering with the stairs, and heads towards the main town buildings.
Pearl takes in a deep breath, filling an emptiness inside her. Not needing air when it’s relaxing is both a blessing and a curse.
It starts to rain.
Hard.
“Well, I suppose rain is… serene.” She said to herself, wiping a few droplets of water off her face, only to be replaced by new ones soon after.
She continued her walk across alleys and streets, all alone with her thoughts.
Pearl stops when she notices a big sash along the street.
A homeless? Hm. They might need help, with this rain and all.
Pearl approaches them, and leans in as elegantly as ever, “Hello, human. Do you need shelter?” She asked, with a pinch of smugness.
No response. Hm.
Pearl asks the same thing again, gently tapping the homeless’s shoulder.
A face reveals itself from beneath the soaked sash, a Jasper with hair covering half her face.
“I’m fine, I don’t need your he–” Jasper stopped mid-sentence, noticing who was talking to her. She jumps back in fear, pupils shrinking.
“O-Oh, Stars! It’s you! G-Go away, l-leave me!” She yelled at her, shaking.
“A-Are the others here!?” She frantically looked around, eyes darting from left to right.
“T-The rain! I-Is Lapis here? It must be Lapis–
P-Please, just, go away!”
Pearl stood in shock at the site before her. Is it really the same Jasper?
What has happened to her to send her into such trauma?

“…Jasper?” inquired Pearl, concern rising in her heart.
“P-Please, I-I won’t try to go to Homeworld! I-I swear, j-just don’t hurt me! Don’t shatter me!” Jasper begged, covering her nose. She had backed up into a wall right now, still frantically searching for the others.
“Jasper, c-calm down!” Pearl said. What could have broken someone that seemed as tough as Jasper?
“Please,” Pearl continued, “Just… I won’t hurt you, alright?”
Jasper’s frantic shaking and speech didn’t slow down or change for the better at all.
“I-Is this a trick? I-Is this how you do things!?
You invite someone to safety before stabbing them in the back! I-I don’t believe you!”
Jasper yelled, pointing at Pearl with a weak, shaky hand. Her tears mixed well with the rain that had drenched both of the gems.
“Jasper! I promise, I will not hurt you.” Pearl reiterated her last sentence.
“Can you please, just calm down? Tell me what happened?”
Jasper looked away and lowered her arm.
“Ma… Malachite– No, Lapis! It’s HER fault!” Jasper turned back to Pearl.
“S-She– and I, w-we fused. And she just– she wouldn’t let go! She trapped me along with her, deep under the ocean, for so long!”
Pearl realized the gravity of the situation.
Jasper continued, “I-I only managed to unfuse when she finally let her guard down…
I-I made it back here, and…
you showed up.”
“Oh, my Stars… Jasper, I’m… I’m so, so sorry” Pearl slowly walked towards her.
“Listen, I know you don’t want to trust me. I-I don’t blame you! Not after that.”
Pearl continued walking towards Jasper, her hands slightly extended towards the traumatized gem.
A few inches apart, Jasper stares at Pearl without blinking, with eyes full of fear.
Pearl gently places a hand over her shoulder, making Jasper’s entire body flinch.
“It’s… it’s alright, now, Jasper.”
She crouches, so as to level herself with Jasper.

“You are safe now. Lapis is gone, and no one has seen or heard of her in a long time. Do you want to get out of this rain?”
Jasper pushed Pearl’s hands off of her.
“I…
I don’t want to go with you. Not to see t-that fusion, and that R-Rose-child-thing, and the broken Quartz.”
“Jasper…” Pearl responded, with a heavy sigh.
She sat on the ground, directly across from her.
“then I will keep you company.”
Jasper just stared at her, paranoid as before.
After a while of nearly uninterrupted staring, Jasper looks at the ground, puddles of rain reflecting her image back to her, frightened and shivering.
She looks back up at Pearl, who hadn’t said a word, waiting on a response from her.
She laughs before frowning again, “It’s funny,” She says.
Pearl perks up. Finally, a response.
“Back on Homeworld…
people tell stories of you and your ragtag bunch. A defective Pearl that would go against her superiors, a hideous fusion of a low-grunt and a clairvoyant cyclops, and an Earth-half-born Amethyst Quarts.”
“And Rose.” Pearl added.
“And her. That bunch… the last soldiers of a rebellion that stopped Homeworld from expanding to one uselessly small planet.”
Pearl simply rolls her eyes. People talk whatever comes to their mind, as long as they relax and open up.
“I… I know you’re not happy with the names I called and the words I used to describe you and your friends.” Jasper said, looking away from Pearl.
“I can get us a place away from the rain and my ragtag bunch.” Pearl attempted to lighten the mood.
Jasper slightly nods, “That would work.”


Pearl smiles as she gives Jasper a hand to help her off the ground. Jasper reluctantly takes her hand and gets up.
"There should be a hotel just around here..." Pearl whispered to herself, dragging Jasper behind her.
"Pearl..." Jasper asked, now much more calm than before.
"Yes, Jasper?" Pearl answered without looking back, still keeping an eye out for her destination.
"What happened to the Peridot that came with me?" Jasper continued, without a hint of concern for Peridot herself.
"Oh, she... she kind of lives with us, now. In our bathroom." Pearl awkwardly answered. She withholds a few more important details.
"Does she still talk like a tool?"
Pearl giggled to herself. "If by 'tool' you mean saying stuff like Gravity Connectors, yes, she still does."
Jasper laughs. "Typical. That's what all new Peridots do. We tell them how 'official' they have to be at all times. Each one falls for it, and keeps doing it for the next thousand years. It's hilarious."
Pearl awkwardly laughs, trying not to get Jasper annoyed or angry.
"Ah, here we are!" Said Pearl, finally reaching her destination, "The 24/7 Sleep-in'!"
The two go inside, finally away from the rain.
"Here... Much better than all that rain, don't you think, Jasper?"
Jasper slightly nods and takes in a deep breath.
"You can... just wait on the benches, over there, or I can get u-- er, you, a room."
"I know you'll report back to your team, Pearl." Jasper said, a tired and weary expression on her face.
"I have lost. And I am ready for judgement." She continued as she lifted her face, honor and pride beaming from her.
Pearl nods at her, then leaves her there as she makes her way back to the temple.