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fandomweekly2016-08-28 11:59 am
abandoned_quiche) wrote in fandomweekly2016-08-28 11:59 am
Entry tags:
[#022] Like Memory Repeating (Steven Universe)
Theme Prompt: #022: Déjà Vu
Title: Like Memory Repeating
Fandom: Steven Universe
Rating/Warnings: T (contains references to Jasper)
Bonus: No
Word Count: 994
Summary: Peridot introduces Lapis to the concept of 'sleep'.
"If you wanted, you could try sleeping!"
Another Earth term. It wasn't beyond the ordinary for a Peridot to hold knowledge of the local terrain, but Lapis often found herself surprised at how much this Peridot had taken in of Earth, and Earth culture. They'd both been physically on the planet for the same length of time, hadn't they!?... But it was too easy to think of how different the circumstances were, and how Peridot had gleefully thrown herself into Earth things, and how Lapis herself hadn't had that chance because--
"What's 'sleeping'?"
Sat on the grass outside the barn, Peridot looked to Lapis with obvious delight at having something she could explain, in great detail. She held a finger aloft as she spoke, taking on an air of expertise. "As far as I've come to understand it, 'sleep' is to humans what a refractory period might be to a gem. Humans undergo a low amount of physical stress through their normal existence, and require that stress to be constantly diminished through frequent and deep applications of sleep. During this time, the human is unresponsive, but in a light form of recovery."
"... I see. Why would I want to do that? My gem isn't damaged."
Peridot threw her arms in the air. "Because you haven't done it before, right? You might like it!"
"Is there something fun about being in an unresponsive position?"
Leaning in on all fours, Peridot grinned. "That's only half of it, though. As part of the human recovery system, the brain itself undergoes a kind of simulation program. Isn't that amazing? You wouldn't know it to look at them, but there's actually something complex lying under that squishy pink exterior. Those things, I am reliably informed, are called 'dreams'. Steven has often told me of the deep and varied 'dreams' he has experienced. He's seen all sorts of strange things, from his mind alone! It sounds pretty wild!"
"Yeah? Cool." Something about Peridot's explanation struck Lapis as odd. "You've not experienced 'dreams' yourself, then?"
Peridot pulled away, kicking her feet absently against the dirt. "Ashamed as I am to admit it, I haven't managed it. Not yet! But I've been trying real hard! So maybe if you tried it, you could do it, and you could tell me how you'd done it!"
"So I'm your experiment, huh?"
"No!" Peridot shrugged lightly. "... Maybe a little. But I just think it'd be fun, that's all! You might be able to do it better than me. It's a new experience, right?"
Lapis knew how easy it was to talk Peridot into something by using that as an excuse - and she knew herself, secretly, just as susceptible, not that she would have said so out loud (to Peridot, at least). She wasn't sure she saw the point in this 'sleep' thing, but humans seemed to do a lot of pointless things; that didn't make them entirely without worth.
"Okay. What do I do?"
Peridot lay back against the grass. "You get into this position, and you just kind of... turn yourself off."
"... How do I do that?"
"Uh... what was it Steven said... 'you gotta empty your mind'! Try and think about nothing. Don't even think about how you're thinking about thinking about nothing! That's not thinking about nothing! Take deep breaths."
"What does that do?"
"I don't know, but it's meant to help! Ffhh--... haa--! Ffhh--... haa!"
"Ff... f... haa..."
"Maybe you don't need to do that part. Oh! Right, you have to close your eyes, too. Close your eyes, empty your mind, relaaaax. Relaaaaaax."
It still seemed a largely pointless endeavor, but underneath the warm afternoon sun, Lapis tried to follow Peridot's instruction - commands that drifted off into silence as Peridot herself succumbed to this 'sleep' thing. The silence made it easier; think of nothing. Think of nothing.
________________________________________
Nothing.
Darkness.
Darkness, and silence, and the comforting pressure of water
the instinct of a Lapis Lazuli would be to move freely within it, but--
"Don't--... go--... anywhere--!"
Even under the water, there were chains. This wasn't the true experience of being underwater - the pressure of fusion was unimaginably stronger than the pressure of water, and they couldn't escape
Lapis wouldn't let her escape
Jasper wouldn't let Lapis escape
but beneath the water, Jasper had no choice--
who ever heard of a Jasper, underwater--
Here, Lapis was strong--
Stronger than Jasper, strong enough, stronger than she'd even been, and angry, angrier than she'd ever been, more intense than anything she'd ever felt--
"I won't--... let--... you--... go--!"
it never ends--
________________________________________
Lapis was suddenly aware of being within the barn, being peered at by a concerned-looking Peridot. Her mind was racing, and she felt weak, somehow - exhausted, confused, terrified. Why, though? The barn was the barn, as it always was. Peridot was Peridot, as she always was. So what had it been, causing that fight-or-flight reaction...? It felt so familiar, but--...
"... Lapis? Are you okay?"
"Uh, I'm... I--... I don't know..." The feeling was fading. "I think so. What--... happened?"
"Maybe you had a bad dream...?"
"A bad dream?"
"Yeah. Steven had a word for it... 'nightmare', that's it. A dream pulls information from everything that you know, so... maybe you saw something bad?" She attempted a half-smile. "I guess that means you had a dream, though!"
"I, I guess..."
Peridot fell into the 'sleeping' position. "Here, look at this!" Eyes closed, Peridot made a strange, nasal, grunting sort of a noise. Despite herself, Lapis couldn't help but smile.
"What are you doing?! That's weird."
Peridot opened her eyes, and smiled on seeing Lapis smiling. "Humans make that noise when they sleep! Isn't it weird?! Humans are so weird."
The dream had been a nightmare, but they could still laugh together about those strange human habits. Like that, another day passed quietly at the barn (except for that noise Peridot kept making, and Lapis laughing harder each time).
Title: Like Memory Repeating
Fandom: Steven Universe
Rating/Warnings: T (contains references to Jasper)
Bonus: No
Word Count: 994
Summary: Peridot introduces Lapis to the concept of 'sleep'.
"If you wanted, you could try sleeping!"
Another Earth term. It wasn't beyond the ordinary for a Peridot to hold knowledge of the local terrain, but Lapis often found herself surprised at how much this Peridot had taken in of Earth, and Earth culture. They'd both been physically on the planet for the same length of time, hadn't they!?... But it was too easy to think of how different the circumstances were, and how Peridot had gleefully thrown herself into Earth things, and how Lapis herself hadn't had that chance because--
"What's 'sleeping'?"
Sat on the grass outside the barn, Peridot looked to Lapis with obvious delight at having something she could explain, in great detail. She held a finger aloft as she spoke, taking on an air of expertise. "As far as I've come to understand it, 'sleep' is to humans what a refractory period might be to a gem. Humans undergo a low amount of physical stress through their normal existence, and require that stress to be constantly diminished through frequent and deep applications of sleep. During this time, the human is unresponsive, but in a light form of recovery."
"... I see. Why would I want to do that? My gem isn't damaged."
Peridot threw her arms in the air. "Because you haven't done it before, right? You might like it!"
"Is there something fun about being in an unresponsive position?"
Leaning in on all fours, Peridot grinned. "That's only half of it, though. As part of the human recovery system, the brain itself undergoes a kind of simulation program. Isn't that amazing? You wouldn't know it to look at them, but there's actually something complex lying under that squishy pink exterior. Those things, I am reliably informed, are called 'dreams'. Steven has often told me of the deep and varied 'dreams' he has experienced. He's seen all sorts of strange things, from his mind alone! It sounds pretty wild!"
"Yeah? Cool." Something about Peridot's explanation struck Lapis as odd. "You've not experienced 'dreams' yourself, then?"
Peridot pulled away, kicking her feet absently against the dirt. "Ashamed as I am to admit it, I haven't managed it. Not yet! But I've been trying real hard! So maybe if you tried it, you could do it, and you could tell me how you'd done it!"
"So I'm your experiment, huh?"
"No!" Peridot shrugged lightly. "... Maybe a little. But I just think it'd be fun, that's all! You might be able to do it better than me. It's a new experience, right?"
Lapis knew how easy it was to talk Peridot into something by using that as an excuse - and she knew herself, secretly, just as susceptible, not that she would have said so out loud (to Peridot, at least). She wasn't sure she saw the point in this 'sleep' thing, but humans seemed to do a lot of pointless things; that didn't make them entirely without worth.
"Okay. What do I do?"
Peridot lay back against the grass. "You get into this position, and you just kind of... turn yourself off."
"... How do I do that?"
"Uh... what was it Steven said... 'you gotta empty your mind'! Try and think about nothing. Don't even think about how you're thinking about thinking about nothing! That's not thinking about nothing! Take deep breaths."
"What does that do?"
"I don't know, but it's meant to help! Ffhh--... haa--! Ffhh--... haa!"
"Ff... f... haa..."
"Maybe you don't need to do that part. Oh! Right, you have to close your eyes, too. Close your eyes, empty your mind, relaaaax. Relaaaaaax."
It still seemed a largely pointless endeavor, but underneath the warm afternoon sun, Lapis tried to follow Peridot's instruction - commands that drifted off into silence as Peridot herself succumbed to this 'sleep' thing. The silence made it easier; think of nothing. Think of nothing.
________________________________________
Nothing.
Darkness.
Darkness, and silence, and the comforting pressure of water
the instinct of a Lapis Lazuli would be to move freely within it, but--
"Don't--... go--... anywhere--!"
Even under the water, there were chains. This wasn't the true experience of being underwater - the pressure of fusion was unimaginably stronger than the pressure of water, and they couldn't escape
Lapis wouldn't let her escape
Jasper wouldn't let Lapis escape
but beneath the water, Jasper had no choice--
who ever heard of a Jasper, underwater--
Here, Lapis was strong--
Stronger than Jasper, strong enough, stronger than she'd even been, and angry, angrier than she'd ever been, more intense than anything she'd ever felt--
"I won't--... let--... you--... go--!"
it never ends--
________________________________________
Lapis was suddenly aware of being within the barn, being peered at by a concerned-looking Peridot. Her mind was racing, and she felt weak, somehow - exhausted, confused, terrified. Why, though? The barn was the barn, as it always was. Peridot was Peridot, as she always was. So what had it been, causing that fight-or-flight reaction...? It felt so familiar, but--...
"... Lapis? Are you okay?"
"Uh, I'm... I--... I don't know..." The feeling was fading. "I think so. What--... happened?"
"Maybe you had a bad dream...?"
"A bad dream?"
"Yeah. Steven had a word for it... 'nightmare', that's it. A dream pulls information from everything that you know, so... maybe you saw something bad?" She attempted a half-smile. "I guess that means you had a dream, though!"
"I, I guess..."
Peridot fell into the 'sleeping' position. "Here, look at this!" Eyes closed, Peridot made a strange, nasal, grunting sort of a noise. Despite herself, Lapis couldn't help but smile.
"What are you doing?! That's weird."
Peridot opened her eyes, and smiled on seeing Lapis smiling. "Humans make that noise when they sleep! Isn't it weird?! Humans are so weird."
The dream had been a nightmare, but they could still laugh together about those strange human habits. Like that, another day passed quietly at the barn (except for that noise Peridot kept making, and Lapis laughing harder each time).
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