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 day. Just letting you know that now, because tomorrow it's gonna skyrocket.
Prompt for day one - Fight. Just make them fight each other.
xxx
GAME OVER (K)
It was only when they were back on Lars' stolen ship that Stevonnie finally allowed themselves to think about what was going to be waiting for them back home. "We're going to be in so much trouble," they fretted aloud. "We must have been gone for days-"
"Actually, it's been less than 24 hours," Lars corrected, handing over Steven's phone, where they saw that it had indeed only been around 20 hours. The panic rising up within them eased somewhat, but still, 20 hours was a bit more than one, which was what they'd written in the note they left behind.
"Come on," Lars said, kneeling down in front of them. "You'd better get going. Let my folks and Sa- everyone know I'm taking the scenic route."
"Will do." For a brief moment, they considered unfusing first, then decided against it. Perhaps Stevonnie's presence would distract the gems from telling them off too badly. Plus to be entirely honest, neither one of them wanted to face the music alone.
They climbed into Lars' head and quickly crossed over to the tree that signaled Lion's portal, and fell out of his mane onto the forest floor. "Why are we here?" they wondered aloud, spotting the old drop ships through the trees. Perhaps Lion hadn't wanted the gems following them through his mane. Or perhaps it was just a random Lion thing. Either way, it wasn't enough to be back on Earth. They needed to get home. "Can you take us back to the house now?" they asked, turning around and petting Lion behind the ears. "We'll give you a Lion Licker."
"Mrow," Lion grumbled, but stood still obligingly while they climbed on his back. Then, with an enormous roar, he opened a portal and leapt through it, landing right on the deck outside the beach house.
Before they could even dismount, they heard the sound of the warp pad inside activating, and a moment later, Garnet flung the door open and loomed ominously over them. "What happened!? Where have you been!?"
"Hi, Garnet," Stevonnie said meekly, sliding off of Lion's back.
Garnet folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "Don't you 'Hi Garnet' me-"
Before she could say another word, the door opened again and Pearl stepped out. "I heard the war- Stevonnie! You're back!" She lunged forward, pulled the fusion into a bone-crushing hug and burst into noisy tears. Stevonnie wasn't sure which was more uncomfortable; the large, soggy damp patch now forming on their shoulder, or the squirmy feeling in their stomach when they caught sight of Peridot through the open doorway of the house. The little green gem stared back at them for a moment, and then turned abruptly and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
"W-we w-were sooooo worried!" Pearl continued to sob relentlessly. "We thought y-you were deeeeaaaad!"
"Pearl, I am in the middle of a serious reprimand here," Garnet grumbled, but to Stevonnie's relief, she sounded a little less angry now.
Finally Pearl's tears subsided and she reluctantly let them go. "I suppose Peridot and I can stop picking through the remains of her crashed ship now."
Garnet nodded. "Could you warp to the desert and find Amethyst and let her know Lion and the children are back?"
Pearl looked longingly at Stevonnie again, clearly not happy about having to leave them again so soon, but then she nodded and walked back inside. A moment later, they heard the sound of the warp pad activating and once again, they were alone with Garnet. "Unfuse," she commanded.
Stevonnie sighed, but did as they were told. Their form glowed and separated, and a moment later, Connie and Steven stood meekly before the elder fusion. "Garnet, we're really sorry-" Connie began.
Garnet held up a hand for silence. "I called your parents and told them we'd asked you to join us on a mission that had run late and that you would be staying here for the night. Don't ever make me lie to them again like that," she said coldly. "Go home. We'll call you when you can return."
Connie flushed with shame, but she didn't argue. Instead, she climbed back onto Lion's back and gave him a pat. "Text me," she hissed to Steven, and then she disappeared.
Garnet waited for a moment and then turned her attention back to Steven. "We didn't tell Greg you were gone. We were hoping we wouldn't need to, not after last time, and I'm furious you put me in that position again." She reached into her hair and pulled out the note he'd written before they'd left. "You said you were taking a care package to Lars and would be gone no longer than an hour. I assume something went wrong. On Homeworld. The planet ruled by tyrannical dictators who want you dead," she said sarcastically.
Steven winced. "Actually, he wasn't on Homewolrd," he said timidly. "He'd stolen a spaceship and was being chased by an Emerald. We helped stop her, but the fighter jet we were using to defend the ship got hit and we crashed on an alien planet. That's why we were gone so long, he couldn't find us. I really am sorry," he implored her. "It's just, I was so happy Connie was talking to me again and we wanted to do something productive and then Lars' parents asked if we could take him a package and nobody was here and we really thought we could do it," he explained in a rush. "We never meant to be gone so long."
"You shouldn't have gone at all!" She dismissed her shades, closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. When she opened her eyes again, the anger was gone and all Steven could see in her eyes was fear and sadness. "We thought- you went back to Homeworld, Steven! You took another human with you! After your friend was killed and stranded! And you snuck off and left us a note!? How could you do that to us? We were so scared!"
"I'm sorry," he whispered again, feeling about two inches tall. "It won't happen again."
"You're right, it won't." She snapped her fingers and her shades reappeared. "You are grounded, young man. You are not to leave this house, let alone this planet, without seeking permission first. If you do..." She trailed off ominously.
"OK," he agreed at once. He had no idea what Garnet would do (and truth be told, Garnet didn't either) and he was pretty sure he didn't want to find out. "I'll just... I'll go inside now."
"Good." Some of the sting had left her voice now. "Stay there."
Once inside, he went directly to the fridge and started looking for something to eat, well aware that all three of Garnet's eyes were watching him with every move. How long was she going to do that for?
As it turned out, not long. Five minutes later, just as he was heating up a can of soup, she adjusted her shades and frowned. "They should be back by now, what's taking so long?" she muttered to herself. Then she abruptly spun around, marched over to the bathroom door and knocked. "Peridot?"
"...Yes?" Peridot's voice sounded cautiously from the other side.
"I need you to come out of there and keep an eye on Steven while I go and look for Pearl and Amethyst. Don't let him leave the house."
Peridot pushed the door open a crack and scowled up at the other gem. "Do I have to?"
"Yes," Garnet said flatly.
Peridot glanced over in Steven's direction and she sighed reluctantly. "Fine. If I must."
"You must." And with that, she walked off towards the warp pad and disappeared without a backwards glance.
A tense silence fell over the house. Peridot came fully out of the bathroom, sat down on the sofa and began tapping away at her tablet screen. Steven took his soup off the heat, poured it into a bowl and began eating, trying to stretch out the meal for as long as possible so he wouldn't have to face her. But of course, he could only eat for so long, and so when he was done, and the dirty dishes had been cleaned and put away, he took a deep breath and walked over to stand beside her. "Hey."
Peridot didn't respond.
"OK. You're mad at me, I totally deserve it." He moved to sit down next to her, but when he saw her shoulders tense, he thought better of it. "Um, we should probably talk."
Peridot continued to tap away at her tablet screen, resolutely ignoring him, and Steven felt his heart sink. "I know I messed up, you have every right to be mad at me, but please, just let me explain!"
This time, instead of just quietly ignoring him, Peridot opened her music app and hit play. Steven stared incredulously at her and shook his head. "OK, now you're just being childish."
It was true, but Peridot didn't care. Instead, she turned the music up. Then she finally glanced up at him, silently daring him to try and snatch it out of her hands like Amethyst had once done. And for a split second, Steven almost considered doing it, if only to try and provoke her into actually reacting, but the moment swiftly passed. "I'm sorry." He straightened up and stepped back. "I'll head up to my room and leave you alone now."
He turned and took a step towards the stairs, swallowing down the lump in his throat. Perhaps if he had a nap, one without any Diamond dreams, he might feel a little better. And maybe then Peridot might be willing to hear what he had to say. If he'd learned anything from his recent quarrel with Connie, it was that pestering her with apologies would do no good if she wasn't ready to hear them.
Anyway, she could hardly ignore him forever, not when she lived in his bathroom.
He didn't even realize he'd said anything until he heard her mutter, "-worked for Connie."
He stopped and half-turned back towards her. "What was that?"
Peridot looked away at once, a faint blush on her cheeks. "Nothing."
Steven stared at her for a moment and then cautiously took a step back towards her. "Peri... are you jealous?"
She thought about ignoring him some more, but it seemed kind of pointless now she's spoken, so she sighed and put the tablet aside. "Of course I'm jealous. We've only been dating for three days and you've spent half of that time fused with somebody else. That's not why I'm angry though," she added before he could comment on that.
"Oh." He took another cautious step towards her and opened his mouth to ask why, then snapped it shut again. Now she was talking to him again, he really didn't want to say the wrong thing and have her clam up again, so instead, he sat down silently next to her and waited.
"Why didn't you ask for my help?" she finally asked, turning to look directly at him for the first time. "Until I came to Earth, I spent my entire life on Homeworld. I know how things work there, I could've helped! When you came back to the house with Connie and found nobody here, did you even stop to look for anyone? Or did you jump at the chance to leave without having to seek permission? It's a rhetorical question, you don't need to answer that," she added flatly. "I was up in the garden. If you'd done even a cursory examination of the area, you would've found me."
Steven flushed and ducked his head. She was right. He'd known the gems would never agree to let him and Connie visit Lars without supervision; in fact, he strongly suspected that if he'd asked, they would've refused to let him go at all. But he'd promised Lars' parents he'd personally make sure their son got their package, and so he'd deliberately chosen to return to the house at a time when he knew the gems weren't likely to be around.
Including Peridot.
"I'm angry and hurt that you didn't think to even ask me for any information that could've been of use to you. Then again," she added a little bitterly, "nobody listened when I tried to instruct you all on the operation of the Ruby ship, I don't know why I thought things would be any different this time." She crossed her arms and sat back moodily. "I know my gem powers are limited, my fighting skills even more so, but I always thought you, at least, respected my intelligence."
"I do respect your intelligence," he protested, shocked into speech. "Peridot, you're the smartest person I know!"
"Then why didn't you ask for my help?" she repeated, turning to face him again. "Steven, I love you and I don't really want to break up with you already. But for our relationship to work, we need to communicate with each other, and we need mutual respect and right now, I don't feel as though I have that from you."
Steven winced. "I'm sorry," he said humbly. "I didn't realize I made you feel that way, I never meant that to happen." He paused for a moment and tried to work out how to explain his motives to her in a way that didn't sound patronizing. "I didn't ask for your help because... because I knew you'd want to come with us, and I was afraid you'd get hurt. I don't mean I don't think you can't take care of yourself," he hastily added. "I know you can, you rigged up that old ship and almost killed us!"
Peridot narrowed her eyes and uncurled slightly. "Go on."
Encouraged, he took a deep breath and carried on. "Last time I was on Homeworld, Lars died protecting the Off-Colors from the robonoids in the Kindergarten. They're programmed to destroy all the gems they find there, but they ignored him, because he doesn't have a gem. That's why I knew Connie would be OK, if they showed up again, they wouldn't see her. And she had my mom's sword and I've already seen her use it to defeat a scary, floaty killy thing. And that was before Pearl started training her. But I was too scared to take you as well." Sudden tears rose in his eyes and he blinked them away. "I couldn't be sure you'd be safe, not after what happened to Lars. What if they shattered you? I don't know if my tears will work on gems. Or what if Yellow Diamond caught you? Last time you saw her, you called her a clod and she tried to blow you up. Like you said, she won't fail a second time. I couldn't risk it, I couldn't risk losing you."
They sat in silence for a moment, and then Peridot reached over and punched him on the arm. "You absolute clod. Did it never cross your mind that I might have the same concern towards you?"
"Ow." It didn't actually hurt, but he rubbed the spot anyway. "I guess that didn't really occur to me until we got stranded." He sighed. "I'm really sorry, Peridot."
"Hmm." She mulled it over and then leaned against him. "I suppose I accept your apology. But if you pull another stunt like this," she added sternly, "I can't promise I'll be so understanding."
"That's fair. I messed up." He sighed and put his arm around her to give her a quick hug. "You know the really stupid thing? If you'd come with us, we probably wouldn't have wound up stuck on that planet all day, 'cause you could've flown that ship better."
Peridot laughed at that and then leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm glad you're back safe. I was worried about you. We all were."
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"You can stop apologizing now," she murmured. "I already forgave you."
