These will all be Steven x Peridot stories. If Steven x Peridot stories are not your thing, I suggest you turn back now, because I will not be all that happy if every single comment I get is a complaint that it's Steven x Peridot stories. You have been warned.

Ratings differ for each week.

Prompt for week one - Confession, Cuddles, Love at First Sight

xxx

LOVE AT TWENTY-FIRST SIGHT (K)

The guards brought her in and threw her at the feet of the Supreme Ruler. He raised the staff aloft, ready to strike...

"Father, no!" The Prince threw himself between them. "Don't hurt her!"

The Supreme Ruler frowned. "She has betrayed our people and sold our secrets to our enemies. Give me one good reason why I should spare her life!"

"Because..." The Prince cast a longing look back towards the prisoner. "Because I love her!"

Unfortunately, whatever the Supreme Ruler had to say about that was completely drowned out by a loud and derisive snort from Peridot. "You met her yesterday!" she yelled at the screen.

"Aww, come on, Peridot!" Steven said with a small laugh. "Don't you believe in love at first sight?"

"No," she flatly replied. "It takes time to develop that sort of meaningful bond. Why, when I first saw you-" She stopped abruptly. "Ah, I-I mean... I acknowledge that everybody makes judgements about people on first sight and in some rare circumstances, that could be perceived as 'love', but it's impossible to really know somebody without spending a significant amount of time with them. All they need to do is open their mouth and belittle you and ignore your ideas and shout at you-" Once again, she stopped abruptly and took a deep breath. "And you realize, you loved who you thought they were, not who they really were."

"Hey, Peridot..." Steven said softly.

"Conversely," she said, ignoring the interruption, "you could see somebody and think nothing of them. But then they show you kindness and understanding even while you're at your absolute worst, and then one day, you're standing in front of a projection of the person you thought you loved, and you have a chance to redeem yourself in their eyes, but it would mean betraying this other person, and you just can't do it. Somewhere along they way, they've become more important to you than your Dia- other person. And the more time you spend with them, the more your feelings change. Love at first sight isn't real, but perhaps love at say, twenty-first sight... I believe in that."

Steven opened his mouth and then shut it again. Had she just, in a roundabout way, confessed to him? He glanced sideways at her, but she stared straight ahead, her gaze fixed firmly on the television and a tell-tale dark green blush on her cheeks. "I guess I understand what you mean," he said carefully. "When I first saw you, I thought you looked really cool and smart and pretty. And then you tried to crush me with a giant fist."

Peridot groaned and hid her face in her hands. "Ugh..."

"But then I got to know you," he continued. "And I found out you really were cool and smart and pretty. Not to mention curious, loyal, brave... and a tiny cutie-pie."

"Uggghhhhhh!" she groaned louder.

"So you see," he persisted, "love at first sight doesn't really exist, you're right, but that doesn't mean first impressions are always completely wrong." He paused. "I'm glad I was right about you."

She peeked at him from between her fingers and then slowly lowered her hands. "I'm glad I was wrong about you."

They grinned stupidly at each other for several seconds, then Steven cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the movie. "I've missed everything that just happened," he complained lightly.

"Oh, she betrayed him again, killed his father and stole the Sacred Stone," Peridot explained at once.

"Yikes." He raised his eyebrows. "So, definitely not love at first sight."

"It would appear not." She glanced at him. "Although... there is a sequel out now. Perhaps it'll turn out it was all a misunderstanding."

"Yeah, I suppose that could happen," he admitted with a laugh, and pulled her in for a hug. "So..." he asked hopefully. "You wanna go see it with me and see if we're right?"

She smiled back up at him and relaxed in his embrace. "Yes. I'd like that."