Wrong nor Right
Chapter Thirteen: To Convince
Same ol', yet simultaneously new ol'...
"Your media-based entertainment is weird. What is making these inexplicably living foods cry so easily? Are they just chronically depressed?" The television was giving the Gem some weird vibes, as was the show that was currently airing.
"Dunno what'cha mean b' "inexplicably" or "chronically" so… mebbe? Ah jus' feel for 'em a bit. Want 'em to get better, ev'n though they jus' go righ' back to bein' sad... Over 'n' over again..." March hummed in thought at this.
"Ah jus' think they're all wussies," May stated her opinion succinctly.
The gem responded, "You're probably not wrong. I have a disturbing lack of set purpose and gaps in my memory, but none of you have seen me crying about it... yet."
The two adults, meanwhile, were thinking on a few different matters. April was ruminating on what specifically to say for her speech, jotting down ideas on a sheet with a beaten-looking pen while Bobby read through a newspaper and silently ruminated the economy.
A slamming of the pen is what drew the attention of the other four people in the room to April.
"A'ight. Think Ah got what I need to say all planned out. How's about you get over here 'n' come up with some stuff to say yourself, Miss Gem?"
She literally rose to the occasion, pacing over and giving the short notes a quick read before taking the pen (giving it a curious look, probably attempting to figure out which end goes where) and jotting her own words down on the opposite side. She mumbled a bit during this procession, "Could mention the patience... Gratitude… No, too easy, wouldn't convince... Hrmmm..."
"Convince? What're you tryin' to convince the town of?" Bobby inquired after hearing said word.
After a moment of thinking on how to word her reasoning, the Gem responded, "Well, they all could clearly tell how I was dangerous, yeah? So I figured that they may need a bit of warming up to the real me, and some assurance that I'm no longer some unstable monster would probably help..."
The local matriarch let out a snort at this. "Ah already got that part a' the presentation on lockdown, Missy. Why don't'cha instead focus on things like your good character or your thoughts on what'cha want to do instead a' focusin' on the past so much?"
The Gem's next words were again delayed by some thinking. "Well... The thing here is that I'm not really sure what I'm like, or even what I really want. I may as well be less than a day old, as I've already said, and I haven't bothered or had reason to do much serious reflection," unless you count the thinking on going back to my emergence hole, she reminded herself, just now remembering her previous train of thought, "so I don't exactly have much to talk about." The blondie looked a bit awkward, if not full-on uncomfortable as she made herself confront this lack of familiarity with her own self.
The woman sighed. "Guess you're not wrong, and I'm not one for cheesy uplifting speeches, so methinks that you're gonna have to figure that bit out on your own. By extension, Ah guess I'd be fine if ya went ahead and assured everyone that'cher not gonna be a problem, but please try to come up with some redeeming qualities about'cher self?"
The Gem sighed in turn. "I'll try."
The mother nodded at this. "And you'll try your darndest on this, however big your impact'll be." That wasn't a request so much as it was a demand, but the Gem nodded back in turn anyways. "You have a little over an hour 'till we get up 'n' get out there. Even though you're on a time limit, don't rush, and use whatever time you got left to practice out loud. You got me?"
"Uh huh. Why don't you practice, though?"
"Oh? That's just 'cause I've already given dozens on dozens a' speeches. By this point I'm right familiar with and over the pressure a' bein' the center of attention, and regardless most everyone knows me and won't judge. Give everyone a bit, and they won't be judgin' you, either," she finished with a reassuring tone.
Yes, well, it's not exactly "in a bit" in the now, is it? the home-grown alien wanted to retort, the pressure beginning to stack as she resumed thinking on the specifics of her part of the speech, but bit the response back. No point in being a sassbot... Just get to thinking.
And that she did, but nearly twenty minutes in and she came up with nearly nothing on the more personal aspects of what she was going to say. Pretty sure that being defective will hardly assure the people, nor will telling them, "Surprise surprise, I'm no longer a monster!" At this point she let out a hum loud enough to be heard over of the sounds of the television.
"...D'ya need sum'elp with tha', Miss?"
"Hmm? Oh," she let out as she saw March a foot or so away, looking curious. "Well, at this point, I'd say that yes, I do. Have any suggestions?" she asked with a quirked brow.
"Uhmmm... Ya could try mebbe how'y went 'n' helped Timmy durin' that whole fight wit' that other Gem?"
"I'm not sure who this "Timmy" person is. Wait, unless you mean...?"
"Uh-huh. That boy you saved, the one who's lookin' a gift horse in the mouth."
The Gem resisted the temptation to succumb to her curiosity about both Timmy and the seemingly strange expression, acknowledging that there were things more pressing to attend to than her curiosity. "And what would I do from there?" No sarcasm, just curiosity.
"Well... There's how'y stepped in 'n' stuff? Could say you were 'n' are protective. Most folks like that'n a person, Ah thin'."
She smacked her lips after a second of rumination, making a sort of clicking noise. "Yes, that would help my image… What else have you got in that bright little head of yours?" She asked this with a genuine, encouraging smile.
The lad blushed a tad at the compliment. "Well, not much else, but with jus' a lil' bit a' good wording, ya can turn some'in' small into some'in' big..."
The bell rung. The townsfolk came. Murmurs began and spread quickly amongst the small crowd, not really recognizing the unfamiliar woman next the April. Said woman exhaled softly and slowly as the number of people, numbering a few dozen plus some change, looked upon her new form.
One glance around the area later by the mother, and April began, seemingly ignoring the Gem's lack of nerves.
"Alright, alright, pipe down. Ah know Ah've been callin' all ya down here a lot lately - once a day as a' late, has it been? - but y'all gotta understand that this situation is a rapidly evolving one. Ah'd assume y'all remember that Gem Ah've been housin' with those scary arms and weird noises?"
A number of affirmative words and grunts.
"Well, jus' last night somethin'... let's call it strange happened. From what my kids told me, one moment she was jus' readin' a book over rocks, and none too suddenly she turned into this."
She gestured accordingly, everyone's eyes promptly turning back to her.
In spite of the audible "umm," April continued, "Turns out she wasn't supposed to be made like that, and with a bit of love and care she turned from... whatever she was before back into her natural state. 'least, that's how Ah understand the story so far. And in case y'all couldn't tell, she's packin' a lot more intellect and may as well be human in that head a' hers. Which, incidentally, transitions pretty nicely into her introduction. Take it away, Gem-lady."
Cue music - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance soundtrack - His Father's Son
Her small, reassuring smirk got the Gem going a lot faster than she would have without the subsequent confidence boost. With a slight tremor in her voice, the Gem took her turn speaking.
"... Hello, fellow sapient beings."
wowawkardstartmuch
Clear throat. Calm down.
"So, as April has said, I am a Gem. Which makes me an alien, obviously. Though I think it could also technically be said that I actually am not one in the traditional sense. I was born right here on Earth, just like the rest of you. As a matter of fact, I came from a hole you could find a couple hours' worth of walking from here."
shouldhavegaveanumberwhatever
"So I encourage all of you to not think of me as some outsider or a monster. I may have been one just a few hours ago, yes, though you can't deny that even in that state I wasn't of help. What do you think that other monster of a Gem would have done to Timmy had I not coming running in to save him?"
This got some people mumbling or at least thinking worriedly.
"And on top of this I worked quite hard, mostly voluntarily, might I add, to the point of physically collapsing. You can't deny that I wouldn't be of help around here, either, not with my kind of work ethic."
Some more mumbles, this time of a different, slightly more positive sort.
"And although I may've went on a small rampage a yesterday, I was having a bad time mentally. Trust me when I say that, were you in my shoes there, you would have also thrown a hissy-fit at the world in general."
The third wave of mumbling was about as negative as it was curious.
don'tbringupthenegativesorpotentiallyinsult
"With my point here being that, though I'm not human, I am still a person. April and her family have been showing me the utmost patience and hospitality, and though I would hardly ask the same for every single one of you, I just want you all give me a chance to fit in here on Earth. After all, I'm effectively less than a day old. Wouldn't want to throw this small alien child back into the wilds, would you?"
A half-dozen people chuckled at this. One or two looked vaguely perturbed by the nature of the jape.
"And thanks for humoring me so far. I know I was a handful in terms of simply being around, but that will change in time, because I have changed. You got me? Thank you all for listening."
Around half of the crowd clapped about as much out of politeness as it was being impressed. A few additional faces only smiled, and the rest retained a neutral expression.
The Gem's thoughts slowed to a normal pace, sighing deeply a couple seconds after April picked up where she left off. Could have went a lot worse, though a little better. All things considering, for a first-time speaker I'm kind of impressed with myself. Maybe convincing people tied into what I was supposed to be made for? Hmm.'
"... and Ah hope you all make true on this here Gem's words. She only means y'all well, and y'all should do the same for her. It's like she said; she's new to Earth and straight-up living, so do us all a solid an' play nice. Got that?"
The majority present gave a variety of affirmative responses.
"Good. You can all get back to your lives... again. Ah know Ah've got my hands full, and so do all of you!"
With all pieces being said, the crowd quickly began to disperse. Some loitered around and looked at the Gem in curiosity, wariness, or some combination of both before leaving. Only two ended up remaining: a thin, highly official-looking man and a certain kid that looked a couple years older than May.
The gentleman walked up and struck up a conversation with April. Being only a few feet away, the Gem naturally listened on.
"Miss April, are you sure this'll end well? Not to say that I am doubting you that much, but, well..." His accent felt a bit more familiar to the Gem compared to that of the rest of the folk she's talked to thus far.
"You are doubting me that much, ain't'cha?"
A sigh before an affirmation.
"Well, how's about this: You just let me handle this whole shtick and whatever kind a' collateral that probably won't even come up'll be payed up by me."
"I'm not liking the sound of that "probably," Miss Apr-"
"Why don't'cha just take my word for it?" she cut him off.
"You know I have a hard time doing that when the last time I did you-"
"We don't talk about the New Year's incident, Hawky."
The mayor apparent practically sighed out, "I know, but I'm still doubting your ability to not make a mess of things in these kinds of cases because of it. You get what I'm laying down, here?"
"Yeah, yeah, but really, by this point all Ah can ask you to do is trust me. You get what Ah'm laying down?"
Hawky sighed a second time, after which the Gem felt the need to intervene. "You know, I'm right here if you want to talk to me. If anything, you should probably be talking to me instead of April. You get what I'm laying down?" she tried to joke.
"Well at least you're trying with the humor," the man let out politely as he extended his hand, "Mayor Arnold Hawky, Miss…?"
"I was being sincere when I said I didn't know what I would be called," she stated for the record as she looked at the offered hand, not really sure what to do in response.
"Ah."
Silence.
"... You're supposed to take my hand and shake it."
"Was wondering, yeah," as she did as was told. "And why do you humans shake hands like this?"
"Weren't joking about your time spent being alive, huh?" he muttered under his breath. "Well, we mostly do it for polite, formal introductions, or when someone sees a friend after a long while. Just another one of those "nice to see or meet you" kind of things, essentially."
"Hmm," along with a nod, "better keep that in mind for the future. In the meantime, though, I think it'd be better to get all of this tension and uncertainty out of the way right now instead of later. So I'll just ask this up front: Are there any real problems that you have with me, personally? And don't be afraid of sounding silly or afraid, I'm legitimately not the one in a position to judge."
"Not a bad idea," April said as she re-joined the conversation, "Better make this whole situation of ours as concrete as we can as soon as we can. So tell us whatever kind a' concerns you've got."
He seemed a bit uncomfortable at this request. "... You really want me to?"
"Yeah."
"Uh-huh."
He sighed deeply as if to stifle an inner animal before beginning, quietly, "Do you know how much trouble you've caused already?"
The Gem thought that was a piece of rhetoric, but he went silent, so she responded, "Damage to a couple of buildings and destruction of some person's field?"
"Correct. And that property damage is already a number of thousands of dollars to the structures and the loss of several hours of work done by that individual. And perhaps most importantly, the feelings of safety and security that has practically that was lost with the people who lived on those hourings and the ones who were even remotely involved in the incident, which, considering the size of this place, is virtually everyone. And, fun fact: safety and security been our staple since its inception… Until you came along."
And then? Then the beast was unleashed.
"You! You and all you freakish, mutant aliens all coming all over us humans and trampling us and our peace! Like we're a bunch of abused pets! As if you're better than us, superior to us! Well lemme tell ya what: ya ain't! As a matter of fact, from what I've seen of you lot so far up 'till you, your kind're no less than a bunch of deranged animals! You ought to be beneath us, if not for what you are than certainly for what you all've been doing, and for what your kind would have done to this entire planet all those thousands of years ago!"
His snarl lessened only slightly as he continued, in a low tone: "As far as I'm concerned, I've every right to kick you outta here or lock you up for a a number of years. In fact, the only reason I haven't done just that is because you've got a whole family of our people vouching for your sake. So you'd best not take even a single step outta line, or I'll plant my boot on that behind of yours so hard you'll go flyin' away into the horizon."
His piece being said, he stormed off to his place of business, which was already having work done on it by a mix of the locals and a few other, completely unfamiliar humans dressed in bright attire and wearing yellow hard hats.
"... Well at least he was bein' honest," was all April said to Mister Hawky's outburst. The Gem, for her part, was stock-still and was yet to completely get over that unexpected wave of unadulterated anger directed at her. A number of seconds after April said her two cents, the Gem replied, "Yeah, I guess. Huh. I have a question, April."
"Yeah-huh?"
"What all has happened that involved Gem-related incidents while he's been around here?"
The woman put a thumb over her lips as she hummed. "Well, if you mean monster attacks, then I'd say… four, five times? Luckily they've been gettin' less and less frequent, to the point where the last one that happened before yesterday was nearly two years ago. And for some reason, every single time since Arnold's been mayor, the monsters've done quite the number on the town hall in particular, which puts more than a little bit of a damper on the town's business and, perhaps more severely, his mood. Shucks, last time I saw him this mad was that last attack two years ago. As for the whole "thousands of years ago thing," well…"
"Assuming that part of my knowledge isn't defective as well, I think I know what colonizing this place would have entailed for the life on it." The Gem let out a deep, elongated sigh before she finished, "Guess I have some pretty big holes in his views to patch up, then... I mean, I know I'm technically one of the monsters, but do I act like them at all in the now? Do I really?"
Some shakes of the head and a "nu-uh."
"Thought so. Looks like I'll just have to make him get over himself with some effort and patience... Let's hope I'm a patient one by design, yeah?"
"Ah thin' you'll get 'im on yer side 'fore long," May spoke up. March nodded enthusiastically to May's guess, going all in for the positive reinforcement.
"Your vote of confidence is appreciated, but I don't think this is a wound that'll only heal with time…"
Unbeknownst to anyone of the fam', a certain preteen began his approach toward the group, and only made himself known with a "hey."
The Gem observed the lad's plain blue jeans and equally plain white t-shirt, as well as his matching complexion with everyone else around on top of his messy sandy hair and surprisingly hard features for one his apparent age.
"Hello? Oh, it's you, Timmy. What'cha need?" said April as the small group turned their attention toward him.
"I wanna talk to this Gem in private." His eyes were focused solely on said Gem rather than April as he said this.
"... 'kay. But remember what I said about playin' nice-"
"Yes, Mom, I'll be the most polite young man you'll ever see," he snarked, taking the Gem's arm a bit roughly before just about dragging her behind a nearby building, specifically the one that wasn't the town hall that ended up being totalled.
"You know, if you want to be sassy you can try something better than sarcasm-"
"Don't wanna hear it, Gem-lady. Listen here; I know you did just about everyone quite the solid a' gettin' rid a' that monster and kinda-sorta savin' my hide, but Ah still think you oughta take it easy on the whole "faking the good gal" shtick. The mayor 'n' I know what'cha really are, 'n' that's a menace to humanity!"
The Gem stifled a giggle at this show of apparent idiocy (at least in her eyes). "Is that so? And what has been shown to you so far to make you think that? Give me some examples."
"Hmph! Ah've read enough history to know what your kind did all those years ago! The Ancient Gem War, they call it! Buncha rebels against practically everyone else a' your kind, vastly outnumbered and only really seen with a buncha weirdos in nearby Beach City! Wonder what that says about you lot as a whole, huh?"
The Gem felt tempted to ask about the Beach City rebels, but more urgent was the growing frustration she was feeling. With a sigh, she began, "Okay, I'm going to have to stop you there. What is with all of you humans with generalizing? "Oh, hey, they started a war with our species as collateral a bunch of years back, better start hating on them for all of eternity!"
Her voice began to raise as she took a step toward the sandy-haired boy. "Well, listen up! As long as I've consciously lived, I've been trying at every turn to be nothing short of the most polite person I can be, and when I haven't been it's because I legitimately didn't know any better."
She took a second step forward. The human took a step back.
"And, you know, you're being pretty rude with how many assumptions you're making. And on top of that, if I may be less than polite for just a moment, is the basic principle of logical sense that you're pointedly ignoring. Fun fact: I am not one of the Gems from that old war. You don't see me calling you a-an ugly hairy ape that your kind probably were thousands of years ago! That's what you're doing, looking at events or history that stopped mattering dozens of times the length of your lifespan in the past! Unless you all suddenly live more than a couple centuries," she muttered that bit, "but my point here is that you need to stop looking at Gems and start looking at me. 'cause I'm not the entirety or my race, and nor are you. 'zat so hard to get behind? Is it really?" Her tone was now just as pleading as it was frustrated, if not more so. Her posture then relaxed out of resignation as the boy looked conflicted, running off a couple of seconds'-worth of staring later.
She sighed and shook her head as the lad left her sight. She walked over to the family she knew best, and after being asked, she responded: "That boy's got some ridiculous reason to dislike me. Damaging the place after all this continued harassment with Hawky, I can sort of understand, but it feels like Tommy's just hating on me for no concrete reason. Even after I told him that that was thousands of years ago and that it really doesn't matter at this point, I don't think I managed to change his mind. There I was, thinking humans could change easily, and then it turns out you all sometimes can't! And this is effectively a sentient rock telling you this."
The parents shot the Gem a soft glare at that last bit. "Ah, no offense intended, Just stating facts. A bit frustrated is all."
The matriarch took to explaining, "Hrmmm… What'cha gotta understand, Miss Gem, is that us humans cling to constance whenever we can. Change ain't our thing, even though we live surrounded by the concept and are things that change a lot, ourselves. Something about a default fear a' the unknown or some abstract nonsense. Like ya said earlier, it'll prolly take more than just words and time to persuade both a' them and whoever else is doubting your character to stop harpin' on ya."
"What they probably want is action, then..." The Gem sighed once again when she realized what she probably had to do. "Guess it's time to do what I was doing before."
"An' what was 'at?" March inquired.
"Good old manual labor. Again, let's hope I was made with this in mind, yeah?" she asked rhetorically in turn, the grin she had not not fully reflected in her eyes.
"Well, where're ya gonna start with that? Doubt anyone's gonna take ya to do their farmin' work after that lil' rampage you went on durin' your... previous phase," the matriarch worded mindfully, "and what we have to do on our crop at this point won't even amount to an hour a day 'till nearly three months from now.
The Gem interpreted "three months" as being fairly long, and with this in mind, she next said, looking over at the ruined section of town, "Oh, I think I already have an idea…"
Author's Note:
Shyaaah!
No real excuse this time. I've practically had all the time in the world and I haven't been bothering to use it to work on this; methinks some priority re-ordering is warranted. Sorry, Pokémon…
Disclaimer:
Steven Universe and any other referential materials found in this story do not belong to me. They belong to their respective owners and subsidiaries, and I claim no ownership of them.