B1, Day 2 [public channel]

[whattaprick]

[ There are a lot of things people need to do right now: help the Prince's servants get resettled, get started on figuring out who can work on a cure for the petrification, deal with the trauma of dying in a hopefully healthy and non-self-destructive way, show the new people the ropes of what the Carnival has to work with.

Instead, in the morning of the second day since the Prince was defeated, anyone on the radio gets this: ]

So, I've been wondering.

[ The Nightrider's voice, for those who recognize it, has definitely been better. It's a low, hoarse rasp, and the pause at the end is not just for effect, but to actually catch his breath. ]

Just how old is everyone here, anyway? Here, I'll start. I'm ... pretty sure I'm almost sixty. [ A beat. ] ... Maybe.

[ Why did anyone let this man have his radio back again? ]

[ ooc; Lambert's flat on his back in the medical tent for this, feel free to bug him in person and threadjack each other at will. ]

Comments

[kingsroads]

And you couldn't have broken that curse and freed yourself earlier?

[ this member of the peanut gallery is bringing up the great magic vs. technology war. stuck in a mirror for 5,000 years puh-lease, he could have gotten himself out sooner than that. ]

[mirrortide]

[BUDDY.]

It wasn't a curse. I was physically put into a mirror. There was no "getting out". I couldn't reform. Not to mention the thousands of years that Pearl had stuck me in her gem for.

[periphrasing]

...Pearl was keeping you in her gem?

[That's a detail she doesn't remember hearing. PEARLS *ARE* FOR HOLDING STUFF, SHE GUESSES, BUT... Keeping a gem with in a gem. Jeez. No wonder Lapis is so salty.]

[mirrortide]

The mirror I was stuck in, yeah. [PERIDOT... HER SALT REGARDING PEARL IS. SO MUCH.]

I guess they just needed somewhere to store a broken, useless gem trapped in a mirror like me.

[periphrasing]

But you're not broken OR useless anymore!

[SHE SOUNDS SO CHIPPER ABOUT THIS ASSERTION, TOO. Like, EVERYTHING IS FINE NOW. ITS OK LAPIS. HAPPY THOUGHTS.]

[mirrortide]

[Thank goodness that Peridot is here because her enthusiasm is??? Helpful. SURPRISINGLY.]

That's because Steven fixed my Gem.

[kingsroads]

So this was a back in your world sort of thing? Well no wonder you couldn't get out! Everything I've heard about your world says that the state of magic is absolutely horrible.

[mirrortide]

It wasn't magic. It was me losing my form and being shoved into a mirror during a war because they thought I was the enemy and so they tried to get me to reveal information I had no way of knowing about, and then I was left forgotten, only to be picked up by the rebel group and shoved into their Pearl's Gem, because at that point my Gem was cracked, so I guess they thought I was useless.

[remember when peridot said she had a lot of baggage.]

[kingsroads]

[ strange is just now realizing the level of baggage involved. Dang. alright, don't be terrible, you got this. ]

I assume you tried telling then you weren't the enemy?

[ he might not got this. ]

[mirrortide]

You can't exactly talk when you're stuck in a mirror. [Though Lapis did eventually find a way.] It didn't matter, because they wouldn't have believed me anyway.

And I was an enemy to the rebel group that eventually picked me up. [and she kicked their asses too, thanks.]

[kingsroads]

Of course you can, you just cast— [ Wait. Magic. He's about to suggest magic, don't do that, it's not Lapis's fault that the gem world is a bit backwater and magicless. ]

Anyway, terribly sorry to hear about the whole 'getting stuck' thing. It's more of a chore than people realize.

[ look, Peridot! He's being sensitive! Be proud of him! ]

[mirrortide]

Yes. It is. Because it's not just about getting stuck, right? It's about being used over and over again hoping that eventually someone will think that you've done enough time in your prison and set you free, but no they just keep asking you to show them random things over and over again, and you're left in isolation for thousands of years, forgotten about.

It's. A chore.

[You can practically hear the passive aggressive :) at the end.]

[kingsroads]

Well what would you want me to say? Terribly sorry that you were stuck somewhere for thousands of years, such a pity that the state of magic in your world was too pathetic to do anything to help?

[ You can definitely hear the aggressive >( at Strange's words as all attempts at 'don't press the buttons too hard' and 'Lapis has issues with these things' fly straight out of the window. ]

[periphrasing]

THAT'S your idea of sensitive?!!

[kingsroads]

I'm TRYING!

[ not fuckin hard enough it seems. ]

[starseedling]

[Steven has been listening to this conversation, growing increasingly uncomfortable and nervous. Until Strange just goes off on her and he can't hold himself back anymore. He wails.]

MISTER STRANGE, NO...!

[kingsroads]

Steven, my England gained magic, lost magic, and gained it back again in the span of five hundred years or so. I honestly don't understand why your world never received magic strong enough to free her in the first place!

[mirrortide]

[STRANGE YOU'RE A DEAD MAN. YOU BETTER HOPE PERIDOT CAN KEEP LAPIS FROM KICKING YOUR ASS!!!]

[stompadour]

This is ridiculous. If this human had his pathetic essence reduced to its feeblest, most powerless state, would he be able to free himself from something designed to keep him that way and consume whatever worthless energy he created? Obviously not.

[starseedling]

See? Jasper gets it!

[Things nobody thought anybody would ever be saying.]

[periphrasing]

[And Lapis's unofficial handler cuts in on a private frequency. It sounds like she's whispering urgently, cupping her hand over the radio mic:]

Um, Mr. Strange... The mirror thing is kiiiiiinnnd of a sensitive topic for Lapis? I'd try to be sensitive about it, if you can. She basically had her body integrated into a device and was used as an unwilling power source for thousands of years. She has a lot of baggage about it? Understandably, if you ask me.

[kingsroads]

[ Peridot. Buddy. Look at the person you're asking to be sensitive. THIS WILL PROBABLY NOT WORK. ]

I can try, [ he says, with a little sigh. He will fail. ] How amenable do you think she would be to talking about it?

[periphrasing]

It... Kind of depends on what kind of mood she's in...?

[You can practically hear her wincing uncertainly over the radio.]

Most of the time she has a pretty good sense of humor about it. Just try to be understanding that it was a pretty traumatic situation all around.

[kingsroads]

[ Alright! Understand trauma! He can do this! ]

It's a pity, though. Reflection based magic is my specialty—even if this is just technology, I'd love to learn more about it.

[periphrasing]

[He really isn't grasping the implications of this tech, is he. SHE'S TALKING ABOUT USING SAPIENT BEINGS TO POWER INANIMATE OBJECTS, BUDDY.]

I can... try to explain it to you some time, if you want, but. [She sounds real uncomfortable about this stuff.] It's... Not exactly a fun, light-hearted topic.