Scene #2778: Attempted Fusion

Owner	Pose
Guest Lapis Lazuli	West of the planetary plains lies Naturia, but not much further west leads to the land where the farmland begins to stop, and the rolling hills and grasslands keep going on into Naturia. The two gems, Lapis and Peridot, walk in these hills along a deer path through fields of knee-height grass. It's just cresting the evening hours, when the sky is a rainbow of evening colours cast by the sun over the horizon. There's a cool summer breeze tempered by the hot evening air, and a blanket of white noise is sweeping the area composed of crickets and other domestic forms of life. Lapis is carrying one of the monitoring devices, here on investigating what should be another starfall event, but the search for the past couple hours hasn't really turned up anything. Not even an impact site. Maybe it was a fluke.
Peridot	Peridot looked around the landscape uneasily. All this nature made her uncomfortable. She always felt far more at home in the sterile environment of a gem vessel. Long trips where she spent the majority of her time. The vegetation that seemed to overrun and choke the planet earth was invasive, to her. But, starfalls were important. New gems could mean new allies... or worse, new foes. But either way she was bound by the duties of her job to investigate ever one of them. She walked studying her holo-pad, similar to Lapis's monitoring device, it showed no results. "This is a waste of valuable time." She said in a mildly disgruntled tone. "I've almost got the injectors up and running-- and not to mention I have a mountain of work to do before Kindergartens automated defenses can be set up." "Which I am beginning to question after our encounter with that monstrous human that nearly destroyed the Steven. All this work- Is it feasible it isn't enough?" She asked out loud, without taking her eyes from her holopad.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	"It could be another corrupted gem.." Lapis replies with a hint of exhaustion. It had occurred to her that she was doing just as the Crystal Gems were doing before. Protecting the planet from corrupted gems and taking care of Steven. But this was different. Earth would only be safe long enough for the kindergarten to activate. "We're close. After we drain this miserable planet we'll have enough to maybe find homeworld." The blue gem stops momentarily to look at Peridot, "I just want to go home." Same as Peridot, probably. Neither homeworld gem really wanted to be here. Looking back at the device, she presses on again. But only for a moment until she stares at Peridot, "We don't have any alternative!" Lapis' voice almost dips desparate, "We're doing everything we can." The strained expression on her face turns sad as she walks towards one of the few trees out here on the plains.
Peridot	Peridot paused and looked up. Her voice took on a weary tone. "I want to go home too. Everything about this planet is wrong. Looks wrong. It just... smells wrong." Her brows lay flat across her eyes. "You know they eat meat? The humans eat meat! They're made of meat! It's like they don't even realize it!" She says in growing exasperation, as she looks to Lapis. She sighs and returns her face to the Holopad. She calmed down a little, having got that little rant of her chest and listens as Lapis express her own concerns. She nods some. "Our resources are spread thin. But, I think if there is something we can learn from our enemies to become stronger." She looked to Lapis from the corner of her eye. "We have a ace up our sleeve that no other being on this planet has, that we know of." "Fusion."
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis laughs, as if something were amusing about the fact that humans eat materials not unlike themselves. It's at least a little lift for the water-gem. She seems to laugh at the oddest stuff, too. Coming up to rest at the tree, Lapis turns and leans against the rough bark. "Do we really need to be stronger?" She knows what happened with Steven and Vega, and that irks her a little bit that she wasn't around to step in and help. Then there's Sunstone, and the fact that she doesn't even really want to fight the other gem. Peridot seems to think it necessary though, and as long as she's allied with the other homeworld gem, she doesn't really have a lot of flexibility. Then Peridot suggests Fusion, and Lapis just /looks/ at her. Really, she just stares wordlessly. Unclear if that's an invitation or a look of disbelief and shock.
Peridot	Peridots cheeks turn a dark shade of green and she looks away. Her cheeks puffed out for a moment before she continues, feeling the need to explain herself. "I have a very honest appraisal of our strengths and weaknesses. I have it all boiled down to numerical stats WITH variables which gives me some capacity to calculate our chances of success. And based on everything I've seen- the odds are against us." For a brief moment she looked toward Lapis again. "This.. multiverse. It's large, confusing and I don't trust a single denizen I've met here so far. You however, are the only being here that shares my agenda. Therefore, fusion would mathematically even the odds against the foes we come across." She taps something into her holopad. Perhaps more so because she just needed something to do with her hands."It's just pure logic. Even then, it would be a last resort, after we've exhausted our respective reserves."
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis presses her back against the tree as she listens to Peridot go over the pros and cons. The palms of her hands press back against the tree as she braces herself. She's not particularly scarred after having that fusion event with Jasper, she was the one who decided it was necessary. She was the one fighting and concentrating to keep Jasper trapped against her will. If anything, it makes her feel something akin to anger and guilt. Jasper deserved it, and it was the least she could do for Steven. She's still paying that bill, so to say. So when Peridot finishes going over the pros and cons, Lapis responds, "So you think we should practice? Here?"
Peridot	Peridot nods. "It would be foolish for us to wait until a situation arises that is too big to handle. I've poured over our records on fusion- the documentation is extensive." Peridot waves her arm, as her fingers release their holopad form and rejoin her hand where they normally resided. "I've never... needed to fuse in the past so I have no practical application to draw from. But, I spent the greater part of last night reading on it. Analyzing holofootage. I believe I have a competent understanding of how it works." She went on dryly, her posture was uncomfortable. "....I practiced. In my quarters." "Homeworld does not posses a high opinion of fusion. However I think the situation is dire enough to warrant this. We cannot risk Kindergarten, or the Steven. Practicing here would be.. the safest. There is no telling what we will become until it happens and we dont want to risk damage to the Warship or the Injectors. Out here, we won't damage anything of value." She concluded, keeping her tone as detached and clinical as she could manage.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	"Wait. You did?" Lapis inquires with raised eyebrows. She stifles a giggle and steps forward, pushing off of the tree. There's a mix of feelings, a deep dissonance that really makes her unsure about this. Peridot just keeps reminding her of Jasper, and she knows if she really wanted to, she could harmonize this fusion to at least an unstable state. That won't get them anywhere, though. It won't make a valid fusion. This questioning mentality makes Lapis look unsure, which could easily be misread as shyness to actually do a fusion. Yet Lapis steps away from the tree and raises a hand towards Peridot. "If you're really sure," Lapis affirms with a softness.
Peridot	Peridot looks at the hand uneasily. "Alright well." She reaches out and takes it. Her own fingers were warm, but they had no give to them. Four firm cylinders that if pulled or pushed would give Lapis some sensation of the invisible tethers of energy that kept them firmly in place at the end of Peridot's wrist. "This is... You start by, just moving. Basically." And so, Peridot took the first step and began moving. She first started by mistakenly pulling Lapis as she lifted her arms some. Peridot's body beginning to twist and turn at odd angles. On her own, she wasn't a bad dancer; a trait seemingly shared among most gems. Merely she had no experience dancing with someone at all, much less fusion. She panics a little as tries to compensate being doing the opposite, transitioning into a type of dance that would push Lapis away. "Er- wait." She raised her leg, balancing on the other boots toe turning. "Ah." Her raised boot manages to clang against Lapis's knee. Which due to the armored nature of her ligaments, couldn't have felt nice. "S-Sorry." She blurts out, without even thinking, as she clumsily tries to continue her dance.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis feels just like any other gem. She's not augmented by gemtech. When her hand comes in Peridot's, Lapis begins with a curtsey before just being tugged in slightly off balance. She gasps and accidentally steps on Peridot's foot. "H-hey!" She works to regain balance and just resume dancing, much like a ballroom style. Peridot's odd, robotic movements hard to sink with her own soft and fluid body movements. The push away she mistakenly tries to turn into twirl, which just pulls Peridot in to before her knee collides with Peridot's knee. Gasping sharply in pain, Lapis just tries to continue. Peridot will get the hang of it, it's her first time. But Lapis' own thoughts are causing some discordance in her movements. In trying to switch sides, her elbow accidentally bangs against Peridot's side. "Ack!"
Peridot	"Oomf!" Peridot almost had the wind knocked out of her. Not that she needed wind; but it was useful for vocalization. Many thoughts raced through Peridots head. This is unorthodox. It's against protocol. I love protocol! But I must make logical choices, and this is a logical next step. And Lapis's leg is twirling around, that's a strange way to dance. I need to not get hit by that. I need to move my hip away. Didn't she lie about the Steven? Would she put Steven before Homeworld? Ow! I got hit by the leg. Do better. Dance better. Peridot continued to pop and lock.Eventually she managed to not bang any of her mechanical parts against Lapis long enough for the gem on her forehead to begin to glow. Peridot tried to push the distraction of the glow out of her head. She needed to focus; this was the critical part. Where was Jasper? If Jasper was here, Peridot wouldn't even need to fuse. Did Lapis lie about knowing nothing about her? No. She goes to lift Lapis above her head as their bodies begin to glow bright white. On the way up, Peridot rotates her wrist, causing Lapis's elbow to hit her in the nose. "Ow-wa!" Is the last thing Peridot gets out before the glow intensifies their light forms begin to wobble in and out of shape. ...And pop! Before their forms could actually meld or even deviate too far from the original forms, Peridot is the first to lose sync. Doubt plaguing her mind, and her nose managed to sting and feel numb at the same time. As it all falls apart, the rush of returning to their original forms causes Peridot to lose her balance and sends the two tumbling to the ground as she drops Lapis.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis has a weird way of moving, graceful and a little awkward at this moment. She manages to dodge one misstep and just cause another. Different points of impact on her body causing scuffs and scrapes. It's a veritable mess which keeps ending in ouches. Somehow, the two have a moment where they are partially in sync. The dancing actually working to somewhat soothe Lapis' mind. Maybe she can fuse with Peridot. She's lifted and all at once she can feel that feeling of elation and energy in her core. The glow from her gem spreads to her body, just as she accidentally miscalculates and nails Peridot's nose. So close.. So close! She's tempted to just bring them that extra mile to complete the fusion, but all at once she loses it and the fusion destabilizes. Compounding that, she's just dropped right on the ground with a graceful 'Oof!', right on her back. Almost immediately she sits back up and looks at Peridot with a blank stare.
Peridot	Peridot blinks some, looking around. Even the initial stages of fusion felt strange to her. Her brows raised and her lip slightly parted as she stared blankly at the ground. She intook some air, closing her mouth, it was then she noticed Lapis looking at her. This causes her to snap to attention and she sits up alertly, embarassed. She quickly gets back to her feet and starts dusting herself off. "I uh... heh." She clears her throat. "I was in error. The.. synchronization process is more.. complex than I initially gave it credit for." She had completely under estimated the emotional toll fusing with another being required. Homeworld did not document this aspect of fusion very thoroughly, she thought bitterly, otherwise she would have been a little more prepared. "Let us.. try again." She held her hand out once more. "Perhaps it would be more prudent if you lead this time."
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis watches Peridot and blinks a couple times. Her mind is blank for a couple moments, and then she shakes her head coming back to. There's a lot of concentration required in this. It sort of surprises her when Peridot rebounds so quickly, eager to try again. "It's okay." But when Peridot offers her hand, Lapis takes it to help herself up, but doesn't let go when on her feet. There's a bit of dark blue blush on her cheeks and she replies, "That's enough for today, actually. Maybe another time?" Did Peridot do something wrong? Obviously there were mistakes on both sides, and it happens. But she doesn't exactly look eager to continue this task. Peridot just doesn't know the real reasons why.
Peridot	Peridot blinked a few times. She was quick to blame herself. She didn't know if Lapis had fused before, and she had never asked. But, she was certain that she had been responsible for a majority of the dancing errors. And even if that could be debated, there no question that she was the one who de-synced at the end and caused the fusion to fail right before it was going to succeed. She figured Lapis blamed her. She looked at the ground silently as she thought, then raised her head her brows furrowed. Though, not expressly in anger at Lapis, but more so frustration in herself. "I can do it!" She insisted. "It.. it was my fault. Your motions just, they surprised me. And I wasn't ready when my light started losing form. I'm a genius. I can handle something as.. documented as fusion. I know what to expect this time." At this point, it wasn't about the fusion that made her eager to try again. Afterall it was a last resort anyway. What bothered her, was Peridot had failed, and she hated failure- especially over something she thought would be a simple matter.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis looks surprised at Peridot's insistence that they try again. In fact, it's actually really tempting. Unfortunately, her mind is already made up. "I know you can, Peridot. You're capable of so much. Just.. Not right now. We can't force it." And it's just been completely lost with Lapis. All she's thinking about it Jasper and what would happen if she returned. It's enough to send shivers down her spine. Regardless, she offers a soft, forced smile to try and temper Peridot. Lapis leaves Peridot to go get the scanner at the tree. When picking it up, she glances at it once more before shrugging her shoulder and looking a little dejected. "There's nothing out here. Let's go home, Peridot."
Peridot	Peridot looked to the side. Lapis's phrasing could have been better. Fusions could be forced. That was the whole point of the cluster experiments she had been sent to earth to check on to begin with. But, this wasn't what she was trying to do. The cluster was experimental-- and performed on Crystal gems. Enemies of which, Peridot had very little regard for. But,she came to realize that Lapis was actually right. This was different than the cluster, this couldn't be forced. After a delayed reactions. She nodded watching Lapis go to the tree. "That.. is correct. At least, as close to correct as is required for a successful fusion and If intend to do it, I intend on doing it properly. I will continue my research and cross reference it with the new data I have acquired." She formed her holopad, and followed after Lapis. Already queuing more reading material. She also considered accessing the footage of the warship. She had been watching the command center when that Crystal gem.. Garnet had formed up. It had been the most effortless fusion Peridot had ever seen. "We shall try again later." She agreed.