She knew that the other gems would make fun of her if they ever found out she did this. It helped her stay grounded when things around her got too hectic for her to handle. Jasper never really thought about it being strange or wrong since it helped her so much, but it was difficult to keep doing it so many others. They were always keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't do anything horrible and keep themselves safe even though it wasn't necessary. She hadn't done anything in the last few days to warrant such observation. It often forced her to wait until everyone had gone to sleep before she could play and actually enjoy herself like Steven was trying to get her to do. There were limits to what she could do at night, but she was still happy enough with the amount of time she got anyway.
Jasper had never noticed that Lapis had started watching her when no one else and had noticed that she had moments where she seemed younger. It made her very curious as to what was wrong with her friend and why she seemed to be hiding something from everyone. Maybe she could get her to open up to her when they were alone. Lapis knew that she might not have been the best person for her to talk to, but she was better than the others since she had known Jasper the longest. It still might take awhile to get what she wanted out of her.
There was something when it was getting close to the time that everyone started getting ready for bed and left the three of them in the barn that made her giddy. Jasper was more than willing to wait for the two other gems that she shared a living space with to go to sleep so she could finally relax and have some Little time. She knew that it was rude to be keeping it away from them for so long, but she couldn't stand the thought of them never speaking to her again. They would probably be okay with it if they understood why she did it.
She was so happy as she quietly snuck out the back of the barn with a brightly colored duffel bag. It was something that Steven had gotten her to make her feel better about not being able to do much and it did since she used it to carry her Little things around. As she shut the large door, she never noticed that one of the two gems was watching her leave. Jasper quickly made her way to her favorite hidden away cove that she had found while she had been walking along the beach one day. It was pretty hard to tell it was there unless you were really looking for it.
Lapis waited a few minutes to make sure she wouldn't get caught and quickly followed the orange gem. She didn't know what she was up to since the bag she was carrying didn't really make any sense for this late at night. Maybe she was sick and didn't want anyone to know since it would make her seem weak. It made her feel bad for her since she thought she trusted them enough to know if something was wrong. Lapis quietly got to her feet and went out the same way Jasper did.
It took her a moment of looking around before she saw the larger gem disappearing into a crack in the rock wall. She followed her quickly and easily slipped through the crack after she was sure it was clear. The sound of a zipper being undone caught her attention right away and she followed it. Lapis was lead to a large opened up part of the cave. It would have been a nice place to visit for a break away from people.
Jasper was in her Little gear in record time and was having fun playing with the few toys she had gotten. She didn't notice that someone was watching her from afar and was more than content to keep playing. There wasn't much she really did aside from play with old toys that weren't in the best shape anymore, but it was still better than nothing. The sight of a rock rolling over to her made her made snap up and meet the eyes of a familiar blue gem.
"Hello," she said softly.
"Hello, Jasper." Lapis responded gently.
"What are you doing here?" Jasper questioned as her Little mindset disappeared. She had never thought she would have gotten caught.
"I wanted to talk to you, but you ended up running to here before I could get to you." She answered.
"Aren't you going to mock now that you've seen me like this?" She snapped. Jasper knew she was being a brat about this, but she had to protect her pride somehow.
"I would never do such a good friend of mine," Lapis said. "You also look adorable dressed like you are."
Jasper's face lit up in a bright blush and she looked away from her friend. How could anyone say that she was anything but terrifying? She had never been called adorable by anyone so this was entirely new to her. It was hard to keep herself from crying since this was completely new to her and she just wanted someone to hold her. There was also no telling what would happen now that someone knew her secret.