Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

[bigdamnprincipal]

The weather was lovely, the newbies had survived their shuttle, and yes, all the holes in the lawn from graduation had been filled and covered with new grass so everything looked normal and pretty. Well, pretty, at least.

[OCD is up! This is the picnic post for general mingling. Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are all here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[era_two_triangle]

"Sounds nice," Peridot said, her tone almost wistful as she settled in and considered the blank page in front of her. And then, since the topic was on moms, she settled in and started to draw.

It was a kindergarten injector, a huge piece of machinery that looked like an elongated canister with four spider-like legs and a drill on one end, and a massive gem on the other end. Drawing it didn't take long, so she embellished it slightly by adding tubing and wiring inside the transparent part of the canister, and then tilted her head thoughtfully at it before holding it up to show Astrid her handiwork.

"Is this how it's done?"

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[white_oleander]

Astrid tilted her head as well, then nodded. "That's the idea, anyway," she said. She hadn't exactly had any formal training herself, so she wasn't necessarily impressed, but the green person seemed to have done pretty well for apparently not even knowing what drawing even was. It looked like...something. She didn't know what, but it was definitely something.

"...What is it?" she asked.

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[era_two_triangle]

"Machinery from home," Peridot explained, and then tilted her hand at the picture before offering the book back. "It's called an injector. We used to use them to make new Gems."

Which essentially made that machinery the closest thing to a mother that Peridot had ever really had. There was a pause, and then she added, "I'm a Gem."

Most humans didn't seem to gather that bit on their own.

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[white_oleander]

And Astrid would definitely be one of those humans, thinking that Manfred had competition for best completely made up bullshit, but, really, I'm psychic shouldn't be that hard to beat around here, she'd realized.

Was this a school for crazy people? Did the State of California determine her too crazy for normal foster care? It's a highly experimental school, he case worker had warned her, which she figured was just code for we just want to get you out of our hair before you hurt someone.

Okay, maybe she was a little unhinged. But threatening your roommate with a knife for touching your stuff was still miles away from thinking you were a gem created by a machine.

But whatever. She always figured it was easiest to just go with the craziness. "So, then, that means you were created by one of...those," she noted.

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[era_two_triangle]

"Using one of those, correct," Peridot agreed with a shrug. "It was, of course, operated by other Gems. I suppose it's as close to a mother as I have."

Which was a weird thought. The idea of a Gem with a parent. Besides Steven, anyway.

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[white_oleander]

Was it bad that Astrid briefly wondered if an injector would have made a better mother than Ingrid? A heartless machine that needed other things to make it even work?

No, not really. It was just honest.

"Are there other Gems here?" she asked.

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[era_two_triangle]

"On Earth, yes," Peridot replied easily. "On the island, no. Maybe that's for the best. There aren't many that I'm still on good terms with."

She could pretty literally count them all on one hand.

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[white_oleander]

"Bit of a troublemaker among the Gem community, huh?"

What were these words even leaving her mouth right now?

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"I betrayed my Homeworld," she muttered. "I can't go back, or I'll be shattered."

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[white_oleander]

Yup. Totally CooCoo for Coco Puffs.

And yet Astrid was strangely fascinated.

"What did you do?" she asked, in a slightly hushed tone.

Re: General Mingling [Summer 2018]

[era_two_triangle]

"I disobeyed my Diamond," Peridot murmured. "I yelled in her face and then I had a direct hand in putting a stop to the creation of a superweapon that was thousands of years in the making."

Basically, she'd saved the Earth.