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The sun was beginning to set, a soft breeze causing the old wooden walls of the barn just on the outskirts of Beach City creak a bit. Birds were chirping in the distance, the sound of leaves rustling gave a calming serenity to the blue gem sitting in the barn, comfortably reading through a book.
The only thing that was somewhat out of place was the gentle rhythmic hammering above her, the sounds of her roommate fixing the robot-sized hole in the barn's side. It wasn't an unwelcome noise though, in fact it was almost therapeutic. She closed her book, laying down on the wooden planks below her, enjoying the cool, calm moment.
Everything that had happened to her, to Lapis, here on Earth made it seem like a moment like this could never happen. She had so many bad experiences on this planet: from being trapped here for thousands of years, to being in a horrifying fusion for months. It was a bit surprising to her that after all of those bad memories that she still wanted to be here.
"I guess Steven was right, everything is changing on Earth, even homeworld gems," Lapis thought to herself, the other gem on the roof on her mind.
"Peridot sure has," the blue gem thought, only to hear the green gem on the roof yelp out a bit in pain, followed by the sound of a hammer being dropped onto the rooftop and Peridot proceeding to call the tool a "clod."
"Well, mostly anyways," Lapis said out loud with a soft chuckle, returning to the peaceful state she was in, the soft sound of distant thunder nearly lulling her to sleep. She let out a pleased hum, on the verge of falling into a serene slumber-
THUNK THUMP THOCK THUD
Lapis suddenly sat up, the sudden loud thumping on the roof startling her. Confused, she started to call out to her roommate, not even getting a word out as the sudden familiar sound of Peridot yelping in mid-freefall interrupted the blue gem.
She let out a soft giggle from hearing the soft WHUMP of Peridot's body landing on the grassy ground outside the barn. Lapis quickly hopped down to the ground floor of their abode, walking outside and around to the side of the barn.
"You're going to break last week's record at this rate," the blue gem teased, kneeling down beside Peridot, who was still face-first into the ground. The technician flailed her limbs a bit, finding grip on the ground and pushing herself up, looking up at her roommate.
Lapis gasped, a jolt of fear and worry going through her body, her eyes wide as dinner plates. She couldn't have anything else bad happen here, not right now, she was just starting to feel normal.
"P-Peridot," Lapis started, taking sharp breaths, trying to stay calm, "A-Are you f-feeling alright?"
Peridot raised her eyebrow, confused by the blue gem's worry and her question. She sat up on her knees, looking herself over before returning her gaze to the startled gem in front of her.
"I feel fine, why? What's wr-", the green gem suddenly stopped. She looked even more confused, totally forgetting the word she was trying to say. She took a breath in, ready to finish her sentence, only to close her mouth again in an even bigger state of confusion.
"P-Peridot...", Lapis couldn't finish her sentence either, just pointing at the technician's forehead, her other hand squeezing her dress tightly. Peridot tried looking up at her forehead, fruitlessly. She took her visor off, reaching her curious hand up to her forehead.
She felt the smooth surface of her gem against her fingertips, her eyebrow raising slightly again, only for her eyes to widen suddenly. She yanked her hand away from herself, from shock and slight pain of her finger brushing against a sharp surface: her gem was cracked.
She inhaled again, wanting to tell Lapis that everything was going to be fine and that she doesn't have to worry, but find that she couldn't recall any of the words to say those phrases. She tried again and again, breathing in for a sentence only to exhale in defeat. The green gem slumped a bit, unable how to console her friend.
Lapis was on the verge of tears, her mind already thinking of all the horrible outcomes of this scenario: from Peridot's gem staying this way, to it cracking further, to being completely shattered. She gripped her dress tighter, looking down at her shaking fists, the feeling of being completely alone starting to creep back up in her mind. She jumped as she felt a sudden warmth against her shoulder, looking up at it to see a green arm outstretched to give it a squeeze.
Lapis followed the arm back to see Peridot's face smiling at her, nodding as if trying to tell her things were going to be okay. Her eyes couldn't stop glancing at the cracked peridot on Peridot's forehead, shivering each time she saw it.
Peridot stood up, taking a bit to find her balance. She speculated that her equilibrium being off must be caused by her cracked gem, along with her lack of speech. The water gem looked up at her barn mate, instinct taking over as she quickly followed suit, holding her arms out to catch the technician in case she fell. She let out a mental sigh as Peridot regained her balance, but her concern hadn't waned.
"Wh-What do we do?", Lapis asked, her fists clenched at her sides, trying to stay calm for Peridot's sake. The green gem thought for a second, only coming to one conclusion. She began to explain her solution, only to have her ability to speak be absent once again.
Peridot pointed at her mouth, repeating a gesture she had remembered from an episode of Camp Pining Hearts, zipping her lips shut. Lapis took a second to recall the familiar movement, nodding as she understood, easily recognizing it from their favorite Canadian entertainment.
"L-Lead the way, then," The blue gem said, watching her roommate now walk back to the barn's entrance, following her closely. As they both entered the barn, Peridot quickly ran to one of their pieces of art, pointing a green finger right at it. Lapis quickly put it together as soon as she saw her barn mate pointing right at her leaf meep-morp, a subtle smile on her lips as hope began to sprout in her mind.
"Oh! Of course! We should go right now," the water gem said, already spouting her aquatic wings and walking right back out of the barn. Peridot quickly followed, jumping a bit clumsily onto Lapis' back, gripping her shoulders tight as the blue gem took flight.
"I just hope Steven's home..."