In the Barn | 1x1

[sugarbird]

The next few statements she said lightened the mood greatly for her. It relieved her for some reason. Almost sounded like she was listening to her reflection in a mirror, she said exactly what she felt. Lapis chuckled, bringing herself to ease up once more. "Heh, heh. Yeah. Exactly what I was thinking." She grinned wider against her will as she laughed, turning away to hide her face. "I never would've had this much fun without bringing you along." she beamed to herself, feeling so awkward about this yet joyed. A small pause ensued after that, and the ride made its way to the peak. The entire park could be seen from there. And it was so nice to see, since she hadn't paid attention to that angle until now. Her thoughts started back up again, this time telling her how much of a good day this has been so far- and it's only halfway over. Wonder what else would be in store for them? The ride then finally went as high as it could go. Lapis impulsively straightened her posture and craned her neck to feel a noticeable yet gentle breeze that flew against her face almost as if on cue. It was such a good breeze. The coolest one she's felt so far today. It took a good amount of her will to resist spreading her wings right then and there. It felt as if she was flying at that moment. And it felt as if the inside of her was fluttering as well. Her grin grew even wider. But Lapis forgot about that.

[soozee]

As the wheel hit its peak once again, Peridot straightened up as well, grinning as she felt the gentle breeze on her face. She gave a content sigh as she leaned forward in her seat. It reminded her of how it felt to dangle from Lapis’ arms, minus the clinging — and it certainly wasn’t quite as remarkable. She settled back down as the wheel began to make its descent again, leaning back in her seat. “Yeah, same here! Perks of having a barn mate, huh?” Peridot joked, poking out her tongue. She seemed rather unfazed and exceptionally comfortable with the situation, cracking innocent jokes and leaning on the other as the ferris wheel went through its slow, soothing cycle.

[sugarbird]

Lapis laughed even more at her joke, so graciously snorting as well. As they descended, she slowly leaned back, feeling the other rest against her. She slowly felt herself grow drowsy yet again, and her smile gradually faded away in exchange for a slightly hung jaw. Now they were both resting against each other. Things were quiet again for a little bit. Even if it still took a minute or so, it felt like a few seconds. Such a good moment that was so fleeting. And as soon as it started, it ended. Her eyes were closed throughout, only to flutter open as the heavy clunk of the stopping ride grabbed her attention. For a second, she was sad it was over. But at the same time, she felt nothing but contentedness at the fact that it happened. How she should've felt with the game they've played. Still, it was the closest to flying she's ever gotten to without actually flying. It was still unfair to compare the two. "Alright, you've had your fill, yeah?" Smiley said in a forced cheery tone. Lapis sighed a bit and her half-open gaze turned towards the other to see her reaction.

[soozee]

As the wheel came to its abrupt stop, Peridot jolted. It seemed like it was over just as it had started - but she couldn’t complain. She thoroughly enjoyed herself on the ride. “Yeah, I suppose so. Thanks,” she yawned, hopping out of the cart. The small gem took a quick look around the park, then to the skies. It was starting to become later in the afternoon, judging by the blue skies beginning to fade into a gentle dandelion color. It would still be a while before it got completely dark. She held her plush in one hand and gave a small huff of uncertainty as she turned to her barnmate. “So, where to next?” she inquired, cocking her head to the side.

[sugarbird]

The man watched them leave, and suddenly remembered that trips to Funland weren't free. But, since they were already taking their leave, and since they didn't seem to be having any money on them anyway, it was pointless to tell them now. Plus, he usually got his money from the arcade anyway. So, he instead just waved them off while still thinking about Peridot's thank you. Lapis had to think about what she asked her. She put a finger to her chin. What else could they possibly do? If she was being honest, there was not too much they could do when it came to activities around the city. There were restaurants, but Lazuli didn't prefer to eat at all. In fact, it was.. literally impossible for Peridot. There was the park they just visited. There was the arcade. Though, she did hear Steven call it a place to simply play more games. She's had her fill of those. "Uh.." she trailed off for a minute. "Maybe.. while we wait for it to get dark.. we could explore a bit? There's that warp pad back at the temple." The warp pad didn't exactly bring back the best of memories, but it still took her to different places to visit. She wouldn't exactly just want to do something without the smaller gem's approval.

[soozee]

“Ooh- great idea!” Peridot beamed. She had never really gotten the opportunity to visit destinations available to her via warp pad. That is, without the endless responsibilities assigned to her looming over her head. The few places she had actually seen were long ago, when she was deployed to inspect the progress of the Cluster. She tried to rid herself of those memories - now that she was actually free of Homeworld’s doctrine, she and Lapis could explore the planet however they saw fit. Often times, it wasn’t all that bad to remember how things used to be. It put things into perspective and reminded Peridot how much freedom she truly had now. She skipped ahead of Lapis as they exited the boardwalk, her stride full of earnest alacrity. “Hopefully they won’t mind us cutting through,” Peridot joked.

[sugarbird]

Lapis was glad that her friend agreed, as she was growing more interested in the thought of exploring with it as well. It's been quite a while since she's used a warp pad of any kind. And based on how excited the other got, suddenly skipping ahead of her, she looked foreword to it even more. "I'm sure they won't care.. hopefully." she responded blankly, walking foreword with no emotion. She was thinking quite hard about it and grew increasingly antsy to try. "Where do we want to go?" she asked quietly, more so to herself. Where would they want to go? And how many warp pads were there on Earth? The more there are, the more they could see here. It would be a whole lot more interesting with more sights to view.

[soozee]

“Hm.” Peridot thought about the question for a moment, slowing her pace so that she could walk beside Lapis. She wasn’t all that familiar with many of the locations on Earth, outside of what she had heard from the other gems. And the locations from the short, menial missions she’d been lucky enough to tag along on weren’t all that welcoming or appealing in the slightest. She pondered it for a moment, racking her brains to remember some of the locations. “I hear the Strawberry Battlefield is pretty nice?” she suggested, looking up to the other gem. “I’ve never been, but I’m sure it’d be superior to some of the other gem sites. And of course, we could also explore elsewhere afterward.”

[sugarbird]

Strawberry battlefield? ... Lapis tried to remember what she managed to hear from the gems about that place. The site of the war five thousand three hundred years ago. "Oh, the.. war site? That'll be interesting." she responded lightly to mask her initial reluctance. In her head, she immediately got a memory upon thinking about it. About what happened when she got caught up in the side of the rebellion. The interrogation. The breaking of her gem. It was horrifying to remember. But at the same time, she wanted to see how it was today, what it looked like. Just because she had a traumatic history with it doesn't mean she doesn't want to visit it anymore. It can't be that bad. It's even been described as nice. And with Peridot to accompany her, things would be fine. She could fly across and see the field from above! Now that got her excited. There would be cool things to see there, especially from high up. It would be worth it, she told herself. "Yeah. Yeah! That would be nice." Her voice lit up with a newfound burning curiosity. As they made it towards the beach part of the city, she was buzzing with thoughts and imaginations of what the site would look like today.

[soozee]

“Yeah! It’ll be new and exciting,” she grinned. New for her, at least. Peridot struggled to remember the last time the two of them had gone somewhere completely new together - other than their visit to Funland. She always took pleasure in getting to head somewhere new, especially with Lapis. Being nosy and curious was in her nature, she couldn’t help always wanting to explore the vast planet. “Maybe we could fly there too? That’d be neat,” Peridot mumbled, mostly to herself. “Have you been there before? Steven tells me it’s overrun with these giant plant by-products these days.” She blathered, looking to Lapis curiously.