A/N: (My other fic isn't abandoned, I just need something else to refresh my writing mind.)
Ok, before I go on and disappoint, it's not guaranteed that I will finish this, and there will be long hiatuses between fics. I tried writing whole stories before releasing them, that way no one would be disappointed if I abandon them, and none of them ended up even being close to being finished. I probably need reviews or sumthin' in order to keep me motivated to keep writing. (Totally not begging for reviews here) If you don't wanna read something that may be discontinued, stop reading now, lest you get disappointed. And, yes, there will be long gaps between chapters since I have a life outside of writing. If you can't deal with that (and I don't blame you), get out now. I'll definitely try my hardest to finish this, though, just like my other fic!
But anyways, to the story. There's no Lapidot in this fic. Gonna try to make this accurate to the show, so none of those noncanon ships. This takes place sometime after Storm in the Room, but before Rocknaldo. The New Crystal Gems and Gem Harvest never happened here. You'll see why later.
Peridot lied on the hay stack, trying desperately to go to sleep. Of course, gems didn't need sleep, and she was perfectly aware of that. But she has seen Amethyst doing it, and she had a try at it for herself. She found it actually quite relaxing, as a way to just let that mind of hers rest from all of her troubles and ideas. She would have thought it was ridiculous a few months before, back when she had her limb enhancers. To just waste all that time just… lying there… Peridot still had to admit, it was still quite absurd and seemingly useless, even now. But here she was, trying to take part in another one of Earth's surreal, primitive traditions.
Emphasis on trying.
She had been laying there on that hard, scratchy haystack, the constant hum and plitter-platter of the storm and occasional thunderstrike was exceedingly annoying and sometimes startling, and she constantly had these persistent, abhorrently annoying drops of water landing straight on her forehead – her gem – and promptly sliding down her face. Lapis must've been doing something; didn't she know she was trying to sleep?
It could wait though. Peridot still wanted to get on better terms with Lapis; she still felt guilty about dragging her here to Earth. Her patience didn't last long, however. Overtime, her annoyed grunts and groans gradually became more and more audible, and eventually, she burst. "URRGH! LAPIS, CAN YOU PLEASE USE YOUR WATER POWERS SOMEWHERE ELSE?! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT USING YOUR POWERS TO ATTEMPT TO ANNOY ME IS A PATHETIC ABUSE OF THEM!"
There was silence. "… what are you talking about?" Lapis' voice came from the rafters of the barn – Lapis liked hanging around up there for some reason. Weren't there those spider webs that Steven told her about?
"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Lazuli! What else could be constantly dripping these clod-like drops of water on my gem? This isn't funny, Lapis."
"What are you-" Lapis paused for a second, seeming to have realized something. "Oh, you're right. There is water dropping. I think the ceiling is leaking."
"What? Hmm, from my recent studies with the trees outside, I suppose that overtime, wood does rot away, and water could seep through. Lazuli, how old is this barn exactly?" She put her palm to her chin, now in full detective mode.
"… you really think I know?"
"Right, of course. I'm just saying, that if the wood this barn is composed of is old, it could rot away and the water from the storm outside could leak through and possibly soften the wood enough to break itself under its own pressure-"
"W-wait… do you hear that…?" They both paused. Through the constant sound of the rain, they could hear the faint sound of wood creaking, and it gradually got louder and louder. Suddenly, they realized what was happening: the barn was collapsing.
"My Camp Pining Hearts DVDs!" Lapis ran to grab the box of DVDs.
"B-but what about our meep morps?"
"Just take the important stuff!" Lapis alerted as she was holding the box of DVDs and Peridot's tablet and flying down from the rafters and running outside.
"No, no, no no no nononononono!" Peridot stammered as she was desperately trying to gather all her blueprints for her most recent project with the creaking wood getting louder and louder by the second.
"Hurry it up already!" Lapis called from outside.
"DON'T RUSH ME!" She desperately opened shelves upon shelves, looking for the blueprint for her soon-to-be, impromptu limb enhancers she was planning to build.
"Ugh, c'mon…" Lapis muttered as she reached a water arm into the barn, grabbed Peridot, and pulled her out, just as the barn collapsed under its own weight into a heap of rubble and debris.
"NOOOOO! M-MY LIMB ENHANCERS!" Peridot cried out loud as she held her arms out to the destruction, and was put down by Lapis' water arm.
Peridot ran into the rubble and desperately dug through to find the drawer broken into pieces. The rain fell into the papers inside, drenching them and making them illegible. "NOOOO! M-my whole Earth-life's work… all gone…"
Lapis flew over, using her water powers to hold the rain over their heads, keeping them dry. "I-I'm really sorry Peridot… I know you were working on that for a while."
Peridot looked up at Lapis. "I-it's ok… I haven't started building yet, I was still in the planning phase. Though, I still got a long way into it… and now… I guess I have to start over…" Lapis looked at Peridot with sympathy. "W-well, that's the least of our worries now, where are we going to stay?"
"Oh… yeah… I mean, we could just stay out here…"
"With the annoying rain and terrifying lighting strikes? I don't think so, Lazuli." She gasped as she got an idea. "Hey, why don't we stay at Steven's base for now?"
"Wait wha-"
Before she could say more, Peridot snatched her tablet from the box Lapis was holding and called Steven on its video chatting application. A few seconds later, he picked up.
Steven came up on the screen and waved "Hey, Peridot, Lapis! U-umm… what're you doing out in the rain?"
"Oh, w-well Steven, w-we-"
Lapis took the tablet from Peridot's hand and pointed the camera at the rubble. "That happened."
"What?! Th-the barn collapsed? Where're you guys gonna stay now? Wait, what are we gonna tell Dad?!"
"Steven, do you mind if we could stay at your base for awhile? At least until we find another place to live."
"W-wait, now hold on-" Lapis started, but Steven interrupted with a gasp.
"You guys want a SLEEPOVER?! That'd be awesome!"
"What's a… sleepover…?" Peridot questioned.
"Oh this'll be great, I'll show you guys everything, the kitchen, the warp pad, the bathroom- oh wait you already saw that, Peridot- oh, and I could show you guys the awesome missions me and the gems go on-"
"N-no!" Lapis interrupted at the mention of the gems.
"Wh-what? Lapis, why not?" Peridot asked her confusedly.
"I… I don't wanna be anywhere near… them…"
Peridot sighed. "Lapis, if you wanna get used to Earth, you have to learn how to get used to the gems too."
"It's not that! It's… just… it's more complicated than that…"
"Wh-what is it, Lapis?" Steven looked at her with a concerned face.
"I… I just can't… we'll have to find another place to stay."
"But…" Peridot tried desperately to think of something to persuade her, "but don't you want to live closer to Steven?!"
Lapis looked down at Peridot. She had a point, she actually did miss spending time with Steven. The gems on the other hand… she couldn't stand to even think of them. But she looked down at the tablet. To be there living with Steven... the idea appealed to her, even though the gems were there. "See you later, Steven." She hung up, leaving Steven with an incredibly confused face.
Wow, ok. That was fun to write, haha. Peridot and Lapis are so cute :3. IT'S NOT ROMANTIC THOUGH. I wrote kinda ahead, I already wrote the next chapter, just proofreading and making mild adjustments now. Hopefully I can release it next week and get the next next chapter (or at least some of it) done before then. I'm hoping for the best.
