Second Floor Common Room, Tuesday Afternoon

[era_two_triangle]

There was a Camp Pining Hearts marathon on the television. Peridot had found out about it mostly by accident, and was now fixated on the television screen for what was probably going on the eleventh episode, now. She'd needed to break for class that morning, true, but that only meant that by the time she returned to the television, she had a rather large collection of hand-toasted marshmallows with her.

A few had even been dipped in chocolate, not because she figured they would be better that way, but because her hand had slipped and some had fallen into the fondue pot. There were some others that had similarly been dipped in cheese, which people were welcome to sample if they so desired. She wouldn't be, naturally. She would just be laying down on the floor in front of the television, a myriad of yellow roses and one white carnation sticking out from her hair here and there, enraptured by the antics of Percy and Pierre.

... And Paulette too, she supposed, even if she was terrible.

[OOC: Snow day, the revenge! Open!]

Comments

[intotheout]

Tip had a yellow rose in one poof and a purple carnation in the other, and she went looking for Peridot the very moment she finally got off the phone with J.Lo and her mom.

. . . The Valentine's Day phone call took awhile. She filed that information away for next year.

"Hey Peridot." She came over to sit next to her on the floor and picked up a . . . cheese-covered marshmallow. Huh. Alright. "I see I wasn't the only one who sent you flowers for Valentine's Day, huh?"

[era_two_triangle]

"That would be correct," Peridot agreed, sitting up and giving Gratuity a pleased little smile. "I also got them from Ada and Rufus. As well as one anonymous one that was... pleasant, if confusing."

She was loved? What did that even mean?

[intotheout]

Mostly that someone thought they could fix the world with generalized positivity.

"It's probably a friendship thing," Tip said, hand drifting up to the poof with the yellow rose in it. "Which you definitely identified correctly."

She was so proud of you, Peridot. So proud.

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot beamed that little bit more. She'd figured it out? She'd figured it out! And Gratuity was wearing the flower she'd sent! Yes, victory!

"I've been paying attention," she replied proudly. "Human customs are still confusing but gestures of friendship are still... enjoyable."

[intotheout]

"I'm glad," Tip said. "Can I give you another human gesture of friendship? It's called a hug."

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot considered that request carefully, and then she nodded, and held out her hand expectantly.

"Yes," she replied pleasantly, "I will accept your 'hug.'"

[intotheout]

Tip smiled and shook her head. "It's not an object," she clarified. "It's an action. An actual, you know, gesture. Something friends do to show they care about each other."

[era_two_triangle]

"Oh." Peridot lowered her hand again, looked at it thoughtfully, and then looked back up at Tip. "Well, then how is this gesture performed?"

[intotheout]

"You wrap your arms around them and squeeze." Tip really should have put a strength modifier on that explanation. "Not everyone likes them so it's nice to ask first before you do it."

[crimson_sister]

"Peridot," Lucille said, having noticed her in the common room. She didn't intend to stay as there were noisy things playing on the television, but she had received a flower from the gem this morning.

"I wanted to thank you for the carnation. It was very kind of you." And very surprising, considering Peridot's understanding of things, but Lucille interpreted this as an improvement in social skills.

Then she saw the marshmallows. "Oh. You brought things with you from class." Lucille had a sweet tooth. She also knew that Peridot didn't eat.

[era_two_triangle]

"I did," Peridot replied, looking at the marshmallows speculatively. "I thought somebody might as well get some use out of them."

She still had her bread.

She could probably kill a person with that bread, by now.

"Did you... like... the carnation? I understand that humans give them to other humans as gestures of goodwill."

Or, at least, that's more or less what she'd picked up from television.

[crimson_sister]

"I liked the carnation very much," Lucille said. It wasn't untrue, she did like flowers even if she preferred them in other colors. But perhaps it was a good thing that Peridot hadn't sent her a dark red one.

She reached out a hand and picked up a marshmallow. One dipped in chocolate, not in cheese. She hadn't noticed the latter yet. "Sharing food is very kind."

She would have eating the bread before it got rock hard, Peridot.

[era_two_triangle]

"Is it sharing if I don't plan to eat any as well?"

She still wasn't completely sure about the specifics of sharing, but so long as Lucille seemed to approve, that was good enough for Peridot.

[crimson_sister]

"I would say it is," Lucille said, as this was probably the most encouraging answer. "It is not your fault that you can't eat them.

[era_two_triangle]

"That's true," Peridot mused, smiling a little. Apparently, this answer satisfied her. "Well, then you're welcome to eat as much as you like."

Of the chocolate or the cheese ones, whichever was best.

[crimson_sister]

Having finished the nice chocolate one, Lucille accidentally picked one with cheese. And made a face.

"Cheese? That is... an unusual combination."

[era_two_triangle]

"Unusual? It is?" Peridot blinked down at the marshmallows curiously. "Which one is the cheese?"

It wasn't like she could tell cheese from chocolate, given her current level of experience with either.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo didn't really have pressing business on the second floor, but she didn't have anywhere else in particular to be either, and the sound of the TV drew her into the common room.

"What's on?" she asked curiously.

[era_two_triangle]

"A Camp Pining Hearts marathon," Peridot shared, her attention glued mostly to the television. "Pierre is about to destroy everyone in the three-legged races."

Pierre was a brute. Peridot liked Pierre.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Um. I don't think I know that one," Ringo admitted. "What's it about?"

[era_two_triangle]

"It's about a camp in the Canadian wilderness," Peridot replied. "There are three-legged races and canoe races and-- there are a lot of races. And also hearts that pine."

She still wasn't completely certain what that even meant. But she was a dedicated shipper to the Percy/Pierre power couple possibility.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Yeah?" Ringo found herself sitting down to watch the screen.

"Races are pretty interesting," she allowed. "But why are their hearts made of wood?" There were some subtleties of English that Ringo still hadn't fully mastered.

[era_two_triangle]

"I think it's because wood is comparatively stronger than a human heart," Peridot replied. "It takes real strength to dominate the field the way Pierre does."

There were some subtleties of human that Peridot hadn't fully mastered, too.

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Which one is Pierre?" Ringo asked, leaning forward in her seat. "I take it he wins the most?"

[era_two_triangle]

"Pierre is only the greatest camper to ever grace the campground of Camp Pining Hearts," Peridot replied, pointing a finger enthusiastically at the screen as one of the boys picked up a rope to tie around his leg. "He and Percy together are, objectively, the best."

The. Best.

There were diagrams to prove this. Peridot had put a lot of thought into Camp Pining Hearts.