Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe!
Title: Pillow Talk
Summary: Garnet and Peridot have long conversations while trying to do something simple. It doesn't quite work.
Warnings: Sex, but only like two paragraphs, I swear. The whole story is like ninety percent talking, five percent sex, and five percent Ace Garnet.
...
Peridot likes it when she's on top, when she can lean down and kiss Garnet as much as she wants, running her fingers through her hair. Revels in it, really.
Garnet is nothing but power; powerful hands and powerful teeth and powerful body, but her touch is gentle, her kisses playful. She always seems content whenever they do this, despite seeking no physical reassurance herself. Garnet is always happy to help.
"You don't find this demeaning, do you?" She asks, once they split apart.
"Hmmm?" Garnet props herself onto her elbows; the grass makes a small noise of surrender as it's crushed beneath her. Nature itself bowed to the raw ability she contained. "Do you see yourself as demeaning me?"
"I'm sitting on you."
"I can see that." She smiles at her tone, amused. "Are you trying to hold power over me?"
"Well, no."
"Then it's not demeaning. Least, not to me personally."
"I like control." She explains. Garnet is watching her, face unreadable. "I like being able to make this work the way I want to. But I don't want power over you."
"Ah." Garnet says. "Yeah. I know how that feels. I like having control myself. Makes me feel safe."
Peridot spends a moment boggling at the thought. In her mind, it seemed, Garnet could be walking up to Yellow Diamond in chains and she'd be humming a tune. Anger, yes, Peridot has seen her angry; but fear? It's never colored her body language before, screwed up her face. Maybe Steven has seen it, but not Peridot. She doesn't think she wants to.
"How?" She splutters eventually. "I'm on top of you."
She huffs out a laugh, a small but deep chuckle, and pulls Peridot up by her legs. Garnet presses their visors together, grinning ear to ear. She could crush her, if she so choose, and in that was her control.
"I know my limits." She promises. "And you're learnin' yours. That's enough for me."
The fusion presses a self-satisfied kiss to her belly. Peridot squeaks.
For a brief second, Peridot contemplates what Garnet's component gems must think of this arrangement they have. Then it occurs to her that, if they were really so against it, they would be present to tell her; as individualized as Garnet is, part of her is still bound to the emotional stirrings of her gemstones.
It can't be easy for her, being subjected to the wills of two emotional extremes.
"Hey?" Warm fingers ruffle her hair. "Earth to Peridot."
"That's where I am, yes."
"You look conflicted."
"Do you ever wish you were your own gem? Not bound to the wiles of those who created you?"
Garnet is silent for a long time, considering. It's a cool day, out in the fields.
"No." She answers finally. "Bein' a fusion is part of who I am. I can't toss that aside without tossing me aside."
"Alright."
"Do you understand?"
"In a vague sense, but otherwise no."
"Ha. No worries. It'll make sense one day."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then you and I will have to respect our different viewpoints and situations."
"Ah."
"Not that easy on Homeworld, I take it?"
"No. Not unless we're debating technology. Nobody interferes with a Peridot on the job."
"Wise of them."
"Perhaps."
"Well," Garnet clears the air with another laugh, "you still up to sitting on my face, or has all this serious talk thoroughly squashed the urge?"
Peridot blushes up to her ears and buries her face in Garnet's hair, pounding on her shoulder. It's like trying to break a storm in half.
"Never use such crude words around me again."
"That was fairly polite, actually. Earth's got a handful of different terms for copulation."
"Do I want to know?"
"Ask Amethyst. She knows them better than I do."
"I don't want to know." She affirms. The things Amethyst tends to teach her are both fascinating and horrifying.
"And that's your choice."
"So is this, I suppose?"
"Of course. It's hard to enjoy something when you don't want it."
Peridot bit her lip. It was strange, how Garnet could be unyielding and unflinching and yet so heartily ready to back down. She'll go from bringing up fusion to immediately standing aside the moment you flounder. There are lines, of sorts, that she simply refuses to cross.
"Are... you okay with us continuing?" She asks. Garnet's face lights up with pride, the question being a decent step on the path of open communication, or whatever it was that went through her mind.
"I am. Are you?"
"I believe so. Yes."
"Alright then." She pats the woman's arm. "Off they go."
Peridot has learned to carry herself with a semblance of self-esteem, in that sitting on a very aesthetically pleasing woman while squirming to find a sense of personal love is useless. It's better to just get it over with. She phases off her clothing, feeling like she's lost part of her form with it.
"Can I see?" Peridot hesitantly probes.
"Will it bother you?"
"No."
"Alright." Garnet props her up with one hand now and brings the other up to dismiss her shades. Different-colored though they may be, each of them has a dark-ish tint. Peridot enjoys it. It's a fitting look for a war hero.
That's a complicated thought. Peridot is young, for a gem, and she's never had to face such things, even so far as building machines for it. Garnet has seen war, had a part of her die in war, and is now tasked to wile away her remaining years protecting a backwater (albeit charming and full of life) planet and pick up the pieces.
Peridot tries to imagine a Homeworld where Garnet could have belonged and even inputted, and the images she comes up with are too strange, too new. She blinks them away.
Garnet is gently carding her thumb over the diamond-shaped patch of hair over her outer lips. She's been told it feels fake, like the fur on one of Steven's teddy bears, but she never seems to mind. Peridot has never touched it herself; there's a means and a way, but no real ambition. The fusion didn't seem to mind in the slightest.
"You're slightly off-center." She muses.
"Well, it's not exactly like I put a lot of consideration into it." Peridot grouses, amused and hurt all at once.
"That's a lie. You're very precise when it comes to your form." Three amused eyes turned on her. "Fightin' the power, were we?"
"I don't know about that. It's too small for that. I just... wanted to experiment, and this is the best it gets."
"I disagree." Garnet lifted her up and closer. "It's the little rebellions that matter most."
Coming from a war veteran, Peridot assumes this is a bit of unnecessary but nice flattery on her part. Nobody knew how to start a revolution like a Crystal Gem.
(And, yes, okay, she's one too. But she's still a rookie, best confined to expressing herself through meepmorps.)
"Last chance." Garnet squeezes her hips. "You seem pretty out of it today."
"I've got a lot on my mind."
She smirked, but not on a mean way. "You always do."
"I'd still like to continue, if you're up for it."
"Always."
Garnet isn't subtle. She pulls Peridot onto her face, secures her grip, and circles her clit with her tongue.
Peridot wants to buck, but she can't move, can't shy away from the explosive sensations. It's a bit of a turn-on (yes, Amethyst did teach her the beginner's terminology for kinks. No, she doesn't like to use it), being surrendered to one's will, but only if she can trust them not to abuse it. Garnet has no reason to gain from such pursuits, so she melts into her touch, small fingers threading into her afro.
Peridot is new, and young, and it doesn't take her long to finish. The gem nonchalantly probes inside with two fingers. It garners a low wail out of her.
It's with a deep blush that she reaches up to play with her breasts. The little jolts makes her feel even better. The look the fusion gives her makes her feel ashamed, but she squeezes her hips reassuringly, fingers wet, before returning to her entrance.
Another one, and she's down for the count. Peridot silently pleads for mercy, smacking the long fingers on her hips.
"Atta girl." Garnet sits up, wiping her mouth on her arm. She looks proud of the reaction she's garnered. "You're building up a level of anticipation."
Peridot doesn't reply to that. "Can we cuddle?"
A gentle smile tugs at her lips. "'Course."
It's not often she sees the woman naked. Her skin is all smooth planes and beautiful curves, much different from Peridot's spindly limbs. There's a neatly-trimmed patch of hair, with little splotches on her legs and arms, and scars shapeshifted here and there for display. Peridot wants to touch, to return the favor, and it takes all her restraint not to as she curls up in Garnet's arms.
"Does it hurt?"
"No. I just don't like it."
"Okay." That's understandable. Garnet doesn't like sex; Peridot doesn't like being shoved into a corner. If Garnet can respect that, it's only right of her to respect her in return. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"If you don't like sex, why have the parts?"
"I like it. Fits the form." She shrugs her strong shoulders. "I'm not against touching myself, either. I just don't like having others down there, you know?"
"Yes." Peridot buries her mouth in the fusion's neck, remembering those days when all she wanted was to hide from everyone but Jasper. Not respecting her own personal boundaries had left her so anxious; she couldn't bring herself to even consider doing the same to Garnet. "I understand completely."
Author's Note: Not much to say about this one, honestly. Garnet and Peridot are adorable together. Buds, romantic, whatever. It's all cute.
-Mandaree1