Jenkins had been the -- well, not proud necessarily, but faintly willing -- proprietor of Fandom's very own magic shop for a week now, and he very nearly had the inventory completed
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Between the Pokemon movie in Deadpool's class today and her conversation with Tip last night coupled with her research in the library today, Peridot was actually distraught enough to go wandering during her library break time to clear her head.
Wandering, in this case, led to her peering into the magic shop speculatively. She'd never been inside before, and curiosity was a powerful creature, especially on little, scientifically-minded Gems.
And so, after a few moments of watching the man inside rearranging the books through the window, she opened the door and ambled on in.
"I'm not buying any cookies today," Jenkins said, then actually, you know, looked up from his work. "And you are not a girl scout, are you." He pulled a pair of glasses from his inside jacket pocket and peered a little closer. "Are you some sort of . . . gremlin?"
"I'm a Gem," Peridot replied, squinting right back up at the man, one eyebrow raised speculatively. "The gremlins sometimes answer to me, but I'm not one."
They were all squishy and organic, for a start.
"What's a girl scout, and why would they come to a store attempting to sell anything? Isn't that... backwards?"
"One would think," Jenkins agreed. "A girl scout is a tenacious young female creature, about your height I believe. Dress primarily in shades of green. Slaves to the modern capitalist idea of the 'free market'. They wander around towns, accosting innocent adults, and try to foist their addictive cookies upon them."
Well, that explanation was needlessly hyperbolic.
"You'll pardon my confusion, gems in my experience tend to be far less. . . ." He gestured towards Peridot in a manner meant to convey anthropomorphism. "Unless -- are you perhaps a subspecies of troll?"
Jenkins spent as little time on the internet as possible. Which, considering that most of his habits had been developed well before mankind harnessed electricity, was not difficult.
"Giant, angry Norwegians." You see, Jenkins, this is why Baird spent the first year she knew you calling you 'cryptic and annoying'. "Turn into stone during the daylight hours."
"I imagine a troll might claim much the same. Only in Norwegian." Jenkins shrugged. "I can't say I've spent much time trying to converse with one, not having a death wish." Not that a troll would be able to kill him. "Very well then, what does a 'gem' do? Other than look pretty and occasionally bring about the fall of nations?"
There was a long pause at that, and then Peridot's head tilted sideways a little.
"That's a question with a very broad answer," she noted. "It depends what we were made for. But everything we do goes toward the improvement of Homeworld and the expansion of the Gem empire across the universe."
"Ah," Jenkins said. "Colonialist thugs." A tale as old as time. Or at the very least sentience. "Have you disowned this 'Gem empire' then? Gone rogue?"
Peridot gave a put-upon sigh and started wandering the store, looking at the merchandise.
"They were wasting resources," she explained. "I attempted to tell my Diamond of my plans for an alternate, less destructive use for Earth. She didn't take it well."
And then Peridot had called her a clod. It had been a whole thing.
"Different Earth," she said, giving a dismissive wave of her hand. "There was a geo-weapon implanted in the planet's core that was going to destroy everything, but we took care of it."
"From gems at the very least." Jenkins considered warning the creature about touching some of the products -- most of which were well out of her apparent reach, but who knew -- but honestly was rather curious what boils would look like on sentient space-rock.
"Curiosity," Peridot replied, leaning in to inspect a fancy looking stone without actually reaching to touch it. "I want to acquaint myself with every facet of Earth's culture that I possibly can. Humans... still confuse me."
And likely always would.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to how different Earth magics are from the natural abilities of the Gems of Homeworld."
With, of course, the exception of herself and other Era Two Gems who had been made without powers because of... budget cuts, essentially.
"What did this Apatite do to deserve being carved into this way?"
"My dear, humans frequently confuse me, and I have more experience with them than anyone has any right to." Jenkins shook his head. "Exist, most probably. The rocks of earth are primarily non-sentient and as such are treated very casually by most."
Wandering, in this case, led to her peering into the magic shop speculatively. She'd never been inside before, and curiosity was a powerful creature, especially on little, scientifically-minded Gems.
And so, after a few moments of watching the man inside rearranging the books through the window, she opened the door and ambled on in.
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They were all squishy and organic, for a start.
"What's a girl scout, and why would they come to a store attempting to sell anything? Isn't that... backwards?"
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Well, that explanation was needlessly hyperbolic.
"You'll pardon my confusion, gems in my experience tend to be far less. . . ." He gestured towards Peridot in a manner meant to convey anthropomorphism. "Unless -- are you perhaps a subspecies of troll?"
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"What's a troll?"
Peridot was only a troll on the internet, thank you.
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"Giant, angry Norwegians." You see, Jenkins, this is why Baird spent the first year she knew you calling you 'cryptic and annoying'. "Turn into stone during the daylight hours."
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Poor Norway.
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"That's a question with a very broad answer," she noted. "It depends what we were made for. But everything we do goes toward the improvement of Homeworld and the expansion of the Gem empire across the universe."
A pause.
"Everything they do."
She was reformed.
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"They were wasting resources," she explained. "I attempted to tell my Diamond of my plans for an alternate, less destructive use for Earth. She didn't take it well."
And then Peridot had called her a clod. It had been a whole thing.
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If Fandom was due to be destroyed by space-rocks, Jenkins would rather like to not be here for it.
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She was a hero, okay?
"Fandom is safe, so far as I'm aware."
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You know, for research purposes.
"And what brings you to a magic shop, then?"
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And likely always would.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to how different Earth magics are from the natural abilities of the Gems of Homeworld."
With, of course, the exception of herself and other Era Two Gems who had been made without powers because of... budget cuts, essentially.
"What did this Apatite do to deserve being carved into this way?"
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