Seagulls, the ocean brushing against the sand, sunlight beaming in your face. It gives the feeling of life like nothing else, a feeling where you couldn't help but feel happy.
I can't stand it.
Shakily, I stood from my bed and went to make some coffee, then some eggs, and took a shower. Didn't have much in the way of clothes, one coat, a few pairs of dress pants, cargo pants, button up shirts, and one pair of shoes, not exactly a dedicated follower of fashion.
"What am I doing today?"
I guess I'll just take a walk around town, maybe stop by the fair, then...
My hand started itching again, but... it's not going to come out, no matter what I do. I turned my hand, a large green gem, an emerald, I'm guessing, planted right in the middle of it. Sighing loudly, I grab my coat and gloves before walking out and locking the door. I check my pockets for loose cash, there's a twenty in the breast pocket, so I'll at least be able to buy snacks.
Nothing of note happened, not even beating a bunch of kids in Street Fighter did anything to satisfy, I prefer playing games at home anyway.
"Guess I'll plug in the guitar and pretend to be Robert Plant holding a small, yappy dog for a few wonderful minutes."
Then, right the hell out of nowhere, I heard a loud crash and a bright green light appeared in a nearby alleyway. For some reason, nobody seemed to notice or even care. If no one will notice, I will. In a cartoonish fashion, I poke my head into the alley.
"Urgh, do the humans ever pick up after themselves?"
Inside was nothing less than ridiculous, a short woman with yellow-green triangle-like hair, on closer inspection, she has green skin.
"Whoa…" I mumbled.
"Who's there?!"
Following a rapid barrage of energy shots, this girl seems to be a little trigger happy. To be fair, I did sneak up on her, but her reaction is a little extreme.
"Whoa, slow down, babe!" I shouted with the only response that I thought was appropriate.
The girl stopped firing and lowered her arm, she got a good look at me, seeing that I meant no harm.
"State your name, human." She said.
"Only if you say yours first, lady." I raise an eyebrow and smirk widely.
The girl rolled her eyes and groaned loudly.
"My name is Peridot, if you must know."
I chuckle and hold my hand out.
"Glas."
The girl stared at my hand, I'm guessing she's not familiar with human concepts such as 'hand shaking', I tried to hold in my laughter.
"You extend your hand and grip." I said.
Peridot looked at my hand and in my eyes before shaking with the opposite hand.
"Nice, give it a few hours and maybe you'll be able to work a toaster."
The girl stared at me for a long while before speaking, "What is a Tow-steer?"
(Sounds of a muffled JonTron laughing in the background)
This chick, seriously! I'm gonna die of laughter if she keeps talking.
"I see no reason as to why my statements would amuse you."
And there she goes again. So, aside from being a wicked comedian, what can she tell me about herself?
"Y'know, you look like the sort of person who'd spend the majority of their time at a computer."
"A computer? Isn't that a device that works similarly to a digital library and postal service?" She asked.
"Yeah, pretty much." I answer. "So, what are you doing here?"
Peridot stares at the ground for a bit, just being adorable.
"I've been sent to research your planet, then report back to Homeworld." She simply answers.
"There's more of you?" I nearly shout.
"If by 'more of you', you mean my comrades and colleagues, then yes."
Well, that settles it. Aliens exist, but I doubt that these guys helped make the pyramids, and I'm pretty sure those crop circles are just a ad for Target. But, seeing as she is a newcomer, I can't just leave her out and exposed. Besides, she has a gem in her forehead, she might be able to help me figure out just what the hell this emerald is doing in my hand.
"I can help you, you could stay with me for a while."
It may not be the most... sane idea. But it's the only one that I have.
"Stay... with you." Peridot repeated before giving me a sort of smile, "If that is what's necessary, then I will stay with you until further notice."
No joking, she's way too cute. Though I'm not really sure why, maybe it's her somewhat nerdy demeanor. Maybe it's the fact that she could be considered 'foreign'. Whatever it is, I'm definitely looking forward to how this'll turn out.
I'm not sure why, but I get the feeling that Glas is hiding something from me. His pale olive skin is clear enough indication, but I can't be too judgmental, other humans could have similar skin colors.
"Hey, do you mind not staring at me? It's rude." He hisses suddenly.
"S-sorry!" I blurt out.
Glas scoffs and leads me to his establishment, a small 'aparte-men' with one large room connected to two smaller rooms. The walls were adorned with images of several people, some were titled, things like 'Black Sabbath' and 'Led Zeppelin'.
"Make yourself at home." Glas said as he went to a white box, opened it, and removed a chrome metallic cylinder from it.
It seems that I was staring for quite some time, because Glas cleared his throat multiple times.
"Do you want one?" He asked.
"For the sake of documentation." I answer.
He throws one in my direction, which I had a little trouble in catching. After fumbling with it for a few seconds, I stare at the puzzling contraption. After noticing my struggle, Glas walked over to me and grabbed the cylinder.
"See this little tab? You pull upwards on it, then the air inside the can will start to hiss."
I do as he instructs, and a loud cracking/popping sound filled the air. A sweet smell permeated from the can, vanilla. Slowly, I put the can to my mouth and take a sip. It tasted... great, spectacular even! I continue to drink this delicious liquid until the can is completely empty.
"Good?" Glas asked.
I nod with high enthusiasm, my cheek a little dark after releasing a gaseous reaction from my mouth. Glas only smiles and makes my cheeks darker, why do I feel this way? I've only known him for an hour and I feel so... defenseless around him. He takes notice right away.
"You okay? Not coming down with something, are you?" He asks in a kind voice.
This girl is too much, she makes me laugh like a hyena and melts my heart with her sheer power of nerd. But, I'm guessing Peridot isn't quick to admit things, see here.
"Of course I'm not! Don't you dare insult me ever again, I am capable of destroying you with a single twitch of my finger if I so desired!" She then bellowed with generic super villain laughter.
"Oh, really? How about we test that endurance then?" I say in a sensual tone, caressing Peridot's chin.
This turned her into a stammering mess, making me laugh. I should probably stop before this gets any weirder. So, I parked my ass in front of the TV and plugged in the piece of plinky plonky plastic.
"Ooh, this one sounds good."
(Please go find a video of someone playing Money for Nothing on expert)
After playing with bags of frozen peas strapped on my arms, I noticed that Peridot started snooping in my room, currently stuck under the bed.
"What are you doing?" I asked, almost laughing.
"Help me! I appear to be caught in some aggrieving human trap!" She shouts.
After rolling around on the floor, laughing my ass off, I grab Peridot's arm and drag her from under the bed. She bashfully turns her eyes away from the statue of solidified handsome in front of her.
"Thank you." She quietly says before parking in the corner.
Wow, I've never had this kind of effect on a girl before, usually they whip out the 'I already have a boy/girlfriend' excuse or are equipped with pepper spray and think that I'm a stalker.
"Hey, it's the thought that counts." I state while kneeling in front of the the little green lady in my room.
"Why are you doing this?" Peridot asked.
"Honestly, it's because you're kind of cute." I answer.
Peridot's face immediately flushed a dark green. She pulled herself up and smiled, a genuine smile, like she was actually happy to be here. Seeing this girl so happy made me happy, so I smiled back. Then I remembered what I should have been doing, I pull off my gloves and show her the emeralds on my hands. The skin on my right hand is etched with scars, for a few years, I thought I could dig it out until I found that removing this thing is going to be impossible with anything short of a JCB. The skin on the left is a lot cleaner, a small cut from scraping my finger against a chain fence earlier today, but other than that, totally clean. Peridot stared in disbelief, almost like she doesn't believe that something like me could even exist.
"E-emeralds?!" She says, completely shaken up.
"Do you think that you could tell me about them?" I ask.
"Well, t-there was a Emerald within our ranks, she... she was nice to me, we always talked about random things. But..."
I tilt my head a little, as if to say 'but what?'.
"She abandoned us, along with Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Rose... We don't like talking about them..." She mentions a 'we', her friends back on the Mothership, I'm guessing.
So, they have deserters. But I'm guessing that she's not going to tell me, so I shouldn't push.
"I'm sorry to hear that. If it's any better, I'll stay."
Without another word, Peridot leapt forward and wrapped her arms around me. We slept on the floor that night, and I didn't care that I'd woke up with a sore neck, I want this girl to be happy while she visits. I'll do whatever it takes.
Days turned to weeks, weeks became months. I'd let Peridot do as she pleased. Whenever she had a question, I answered. Whatever she wanted to eat, I cooked. She had me wrapped around her little finger, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
"You know, my dad always kept this locket with him. He said that it was a gift that my mom gave him after their first date." I walked over to the dresser in my room.
Inside of a box underneath a pile of socks and underwear lie a silver locket. Heart-like in shape, silver and jade in color. Looks to me like it cost her a pretty penny for this one, they put a picture of their first time in a photo booth. Mom and dad looked happy, if only he knew what he was getting into.
"If only that was us." Peridot mumbles.
I smile and take her by the hand, spinning her around.
"If only it was."
We briefly kiss before I stumbled, or rather was pushed, onto the floor, Peridot right on top of me.
"We should do something tonight." Peridot whispered.
Oh, and I have just the thing! I've been saving my nickels so I could take her out to a real nifty restaurant. Peridot instantly ran into the bedroom, emerging a few seconds later, wearing a dark green one piece dress, black heels, and a black blazer. Seems that she couldn't do anything about her dorito hair, I don't mind, I think it adds character. I dressed in a dark green button up shirt, grey vest, black pants, and some cheap leather shoes.
"Aren't you excited?" I ask.
"Yes, yes! I thought I made that obvious." Peridot can barely contain herself.
"I know, Peri. I'm just testing you." I spin her around.
We leave the apartment, hand in hand. It'd be fair to say that we danced our way to the restaurant, a quaint little Italian place. I'm on decent terms with the owner, a lady named Maria, I help around the restaurant whenever I'm grabbing for cash. Maria treats her customers as if they were part of her family, though I feel as if she gives me more attention than the other customers.
"Glas, is good to see you again!" The short lady said as she waddled up to us and gave me a tight hug. "And who is this cutie?"
"My name is Peridot, it's a pleasure, Miss." Peridot says in a somewhat embarrassed tone.
"Glas, why did you hide this adorable girl from me?" Maria leans in with a smirk on her face.
"You're not my mother, I don't need to tell you about every detail in my life." I apathetically said.
"I bet that you both will have beautiful children." Maria blurts.
Peridot and I seize of up and stare at each other.
"Maria, might not be a good idea to say stuff like that." I whispered.
Maria shrugged and led us to an outdoor table, no doubt bringing a double order of my usual, spaghetti carbonara and a cream soda. After delivery of our food, we spent the next few hours sitting about, talking about random topics. Peridot talked a bit more about the Homeworld, and I gave her a crash course on the Thompson SMG.
"Sounds like prohibition was the least of their worries..." Peridot said before downing her drink in three gulps.
Seeing her like this... let's just say that it made me think of lewd things.
"Would you want to go back home?" I asked.
Peridot looked at me for a moment, then averted her gaze.
"My communicator started working again. I suspect them to pick me up by tomorrow."
I held my head low. I've come to love this woman, now... it'll be a long time for us to meet again, if ever. I'd gladly go with her, but my place is here.
"Glas, run!"
Immediately knocking me from my thoughts is the screams of Maria. I swiftly turn to see what the fuss is about. Giant centipede creatures, because normal centipedes aren't scary enough.
"Damn!" I shouted, before running at these things.
"Glas, don't!" Peridot yelled, running after me.
It couldn't be helped, anger had tightened its grip and I was enthralled. My right hand felt like it was on fire, then a definite weight could be felt in it.
"A sword?" I said aloud.
Yes, the emerald colored piece of metal I was holding is indeed... a sword. A saber to be exact, with a dragon themed hand guard and a black stone on the pommel.
"You have Emerald's weapon?" Peridot asked as soon as she caught up with me.
This was... my mother's? I thought she'd be more of a spear person.
"Looks like I got a trick up my sleeve." I chuckle while spinning the blade.
It took four to five chops, the centipede exploded into a green blooded storm, where I then stood with my head bowed and my hips cocked. We headed straight home after that, I needed to know more.
"This is my mother's? I guess it makes sense, I have her gem."
"But you should've been able to make your own weapon..." Peridot took my hand and examined the sword.
I look to the side, even after what has just happened, all I can focus on is the fact that she'll be leaving. Peridot seems to notice and cups my face in her hands.
"I really wish I could stay... I know, how about I appear at least once a year?" She better keep that promise, or maybe...
"Once every two months... I don't handle loneliness well." With that, Peridot kisses me and pressed her face into my chest.
"As soon as I get home, I'll start developing a serum to allow pregnancy without giving up the physical form. That way we can... have a family."
We... as a family? I would love nothing more, but would it even be possible? How would she go about testing that? Unless she took sperm samples while I slept... She did, no doubt about it.
When I woke up, Peridot was nowhere to be seen. I rushed outside to see a bright light above the beach with Peridot standing in front of it.
"Glas, thank you for everything." She said before disappearing with the light.
I dropped to my knees and held my face in my palms, then I started crying.