When Steven told her she could live in the barn, she thought everything was going to be okay.

She thought that maybe, just maybe, she'd finally have a place she could call home. Yeah, right.

She should have known there would be a catch. There's always a catch. There's always a problem, a fault, a loophole. In this case, it was a Peridot. The Peridot. The same starforsaken Peridot that trapped her on that ship, manipulated her for information.

Lapis refused to live with her, but Steven insisted. He said that Peridot had 'changed'. Lapis wanted to laugh. Ha, she'd been tempted to say. Change? What is that? No one can ever change. It's not in a gem's nature.

Instead, she gave it a shot– and not only did she end up saving her ex-tormentor, but was now living with her in Steven's barn ('You're roommates', he'd exclaimed in delight.)

Lapis was pretty sure even Garnet with her future vision hadn't seen this coming.

Peridot, to her credit, was obviously trying to make sure Lapis felt at 'home away from home', comforting her with the thought that 'These cloddy Earth residences aren't as bad as they look' and that she'd 'soon get used to it!'

Lapis didn't bother telling her that it wasn't the barn that bothered her, but the other gem herself. It wasn't worth it.

Steven had just left with the other Crystal Gems, leaving Lapis and her new 'roomie' alone.

Lapis had immediately flown over to her side of the room and rolled over on her bed, away from Peridot, clutching her precious leaf near her. She hoped that Peridot would get the hint and leaf (heh, pun), but no such luck.

"Hey, Lazuli!" the green gem grinned, sitting next to her.

Lapis rolled over.

Peridot scurried over to the side she was facing.

"You know, Earth culture says that when someone says hi, you say hi back," she informed.

"Really."

Either Peridot wasn't very good at picking up on sarcasm, or she was choosing to ignore it. "Yeah. Oh, are you holding a…. What is that? A human weapon?"

"Leaf."

"What does it do?"

Lapis raised an eyebrow. "It changes colors."

That made Peridot laugh quite a bit. Lapis was tempted stab her right on the gem, or at least fly away, but both actions required too much effort than she was willing to give. Instead, she buried her face in her pillow.

Peridot was practically choking with laughter.

"B-but," she gasped, "That's ridiculous! Even a common pearl if placed correctly under light can do that! Earth sure is weird."

Lapis sighed. "It doesn't work like that."

"And at least a pearl can perform tasks for you," Peridot continued to ramble loudly. "What does this 'leaf' do? Talk about a wasted case."

"It's pretty."

"So's a pearl."

Lapis raised her eyebrow again, more surprised this time. Wasn't there a pearl in Steven's group? She distinctly remembered one. Peridot seemed to realize her mistake. She blushed bright lime.

"I didn't– You– That's not what I meant!" she fumed. "They're– She's beneath me in every way possible! Well, except maybe in building things. That robot was a worthy opponent. But still not what I meant!"

"Calm down," Lapis said idly. Peridot was definitely a sight to see when all flustered like this, but the ocean gem wasn't in the mood right now. "I don't care if you like Pearl or not."

Her words had the opposite effect. Peridot's jaw dropped. "I do not harbor feelings of any sort for the Pearl! She's just a mildly talented servant of the– I mean, of Steven's!"

"Mm."

The shorter of the two shook her head aggressively as though trying to shake off water. "Geez, Lazuli, did you stay in the ground too long or something? How can you even suggest that?!"

"You're the only certified Kindergartner here," Lapis said coolly.

Peridot apparently took that as a compliment. "Wow, thanks," she preened.

Lapis sighed. "Look… Peridot. I don't want to talk to you right now. Can you just go back to doing whatever you do?"

The tech expert frowned. "But roommates are supposed to spend time together doing 'fun' things." She made quotation marks with her fingers. "Steven said so."

"I think he meant roommates that don't hate each other," Lapis muttered. Peridot's face fell.

"You still… hate me? But I gave you all those Earth presents! And you saved me from that Yellow Diamond ship! I thought that we had sealed some sort of no-hate-pact with that!"

Lapis mulled that over for a moment. Peridot, for all her annoying-ness, had a point. She had tried to be nothing but nice, and Lapis had ended up saving her. Honestly, Lapis still wasn't sure why she'd done that. It's not like she owed this former captor anything. She must have not been thinking right or something.

But– Well. Peridot's after-smile had been pretty rewarding. Lapis actually had had to fight back a blush. A BLUSH.

She cleared her throat. "I– No, I don't hate you. But I don't like you. And I want some time alone."

Peridot nodded, still a little upset but definitely more uplifted.

"Okay. I'll come and see if you're doing alright in a few months."

Lapis didn't tell her that time worked differently on Earth.

She'd like a few solitary months.