Welp, here's a cute one-shot! Part of this was made as an apology for not updating, and I thought everyone could use some fluff after the new episodes. This is also completely self-indulgent.
This isn't in the same universe as TGND, tho! It follows a completely different line where the characters are older and Lapis and Peridot have an established relationship. Human AUs are pretty much all I know how to write lmao.
If you want to help me with writing, leave me some feedback about what you think! Does the story flow right, are the characters in character, what was your favorite part, etc.! And I hope you like my improved writing style. Enjoy the story!
"Pumpkin, SHUSH!"
Okay, maybe bringing Pumpkin along wasn't the best idea, Peridot thought as she bent down to calm her excited puppy.
Well, technically it was their puppy since both her and Lapis found the little shiba abandoned in a corn field that they had definitely not been trespassing in to find party snakes. Lapis was the one to even give the name pumpkin to her. Pumpkin was just as attached to Lapis as she was to Peridot, but they both decided it would be better for Peridot to keep the hyperactive puppy since Lapis wasn't allowed to have pets.
Which is why when Peridot got the impulsive idea to visit Lapis in the middle of the night, she (also impulsively) decided to bring Pumpkin so they could both see Lapis. Peridot hadn't planned for Pumpkin to get so excited about being out, though. She was making little barks and hopping around so much she was getting tangled in her leash, and while Peridot normally found this behavior to be super adorable, right now she was worried it would wake the entire neighborhood!
"You have to be quiet or someone will hear us!" she tried to reason with the dog.
Pumpkin let out another bark and ran in circles around Peridot, which only served to get Peridot tangled in the leash. Peridot grumbled under her breath and tried to untangle her legs, but she nearly fell over in the process. She quickly scooped up Pumpkin in her arms and glared at her.
"That's it, missy! You're on timeout!" she whisper-yelled as she tucked the bottom of her hoodie into her sweatpants. Then, with some difficulty and no help from the squirming ball of fluff, she stuffed Pumpkin through the collar of her hoodie so she was squished between the fabric and Peridot's chest. "Now you have to stay like this until we get there."
Pumpkin made herself comfortable in Peridot's hoodie and peeked her head out to kiss Peridot's face.
"No, no! This is a punishment! Don't thank me!" Peridot cried as she tried to turn her face away from the assaulting tongue. After some struggling, Peridot realized she would be unable to escape. She pressed her lips together and looked down at Pumpkin, who was wagging her tail inside the hoodie. Peridot relented with a huff and returned a kiss to the puppy's soft little head. That seemed to satisfy Pumpkin and she finally calmed down so Peridot could continue the rest of the journey for both of them.
With Pumpkin no longer making so much noise, Peridot noticed how quiet it was. Only her shoes quietly hitting the pavement with each step and some other dog barking faintly in the distance could be heard. The pale yellow light shining from the street lamps and the vastness of the clear night sky above her made the familiar neighborhood seem surreal at this time of night.
What made her decide to do this again?
Oh, right. Her stupid blood-pumper and her inability to sleep.
She had been tired earlier that night and thought for sure she would fall asleep within a few minutes of crawling into bed. But that hadn't been the case.
For some reason, Peridot ended up tossing and turning the whole time. As time ticked on without sleep claiming her, she ended up with deep, late night thoughts that prevented sleep even more.
Of course, after Peridot concluded her brilliant idea of how pizza pockets could end world hunger, her mind had turned toward more important things: Lapis.
The thought of Lapis always made Peridot's heart skip a beat. They had what Peridot considered to be the perfect relationship. They both liked abstract art, they had the same taste in TV shows, they even liked the same kind of plants! She wasn't sure what it was, but something about having Lapis around made her life feel like things were clicking into place.
Unfortunately, she hadn't seen much of Lapis lately. They hadn't been talking much either, aside from the texts they shared. Although, even those were few since Lapis wasn't very good at checking her phone like most people were. (Also, she suspected Lapis didn't fully understand how to operate the smartphone she had given her for Christmas).
Peridot had been starting to get a little worried about Lapis, actually. Lapis's absence in her life had started a couple of months ago and it didn't seem like it was going to end any time soon. Lapis insisted she was fine and she was just busy with school and her part time lifeguard job, but Peridot wasn't sure those were the only things going on.
Peridot had known Lapis for a few years now and she knew that sometimes Lapis fell into depressive episodes where she wasn't all that enthusiastic about doing anything. It wasn't her fault; Lapis had a pretty rough life before Peridot met her. Lapis didn't like talking about it and Peridot didn't want to pry, but from what Peridot knew it seemed like Lapis had once been kidnapped or held hostage.
Whatever it was, Peridot knew it was bad and sometimes she would do something with Lapis to cheer her up, but sometimes Lapis just needed time to herself to think and sort out her feelings. It usually resulted in Lapis becoming a little cut off from the rest of the world, including Peridot, which wasn't exactly good for her. But she couldn't be sure if that was happening since she hadn't had the chance to talk to Lapis about it.
Still, Peridot feel lonely not having Lapis around. Peridot had been trying to ignore the feeling and reassure herself that Lapis would come around eventually. She tried her best to be understanding of whatever Lapis was going through. But Peridot would be lying if she said didn't feel a little hurt that Lapis wasn't talking to her. Every time Lapis told her she had to go or made a vague promise to maybe see her "tomorrow" and not follow through, it felt like Peridot was being stabbed through the chest. So on a whim, she decided she didn't want to wait around anymore. She missed Lapis and she was going to do something to make them both feel better!
And that's how she ended up leaving her house in the middle of the night to walk to Lapis's house in her pajamas with Pumpkin by her side. Er, in her hoodie now.
Admittedly, now was probably not the best time to do this. Peridot could have waited until morning to go see her, but that's where her blood-pumper came in. Her heart decided she couldn't wait until morning–unless she felt like staying awake all night to do so because there was no way she would have fallen asleep feeling like that. A small, rational part of Peridot cursed whoever's idea it was to let hearts make decisions for people. But she still felt confident this was a great idea.
Said heart began to beat faster when Peridot saw Lapis's house come into view. Lapis didn't exactly live close to Peridot so it had been a pretty long walk to get here and the anticipation to see Lapis was killing her. Pumpkin must have sensed they were close, too, because she began wiggling excitedly against Peridot's chest. Not wanting Pumpkin to get too excited and start barking again, Peridot sped up her pace.
She didn't want to wake up Lapis's roommate by knocking on the door, so Peridot went through the backyard and around the house to the window she knew was Lapis's room.
Peridot was lucky Pumpkin didn't start barking again and wake everyone up. Peridot told her to be a good girl and held her inside the hoodie with one arm as she stood on her toes to reach Lapis's window and knock. It was only a couple of minutes before a dim light turned on and Lapis appeared at the window to open it.
"Huh?" Lapis asked groggily as she rubbed one of her eyes.
"Hey!" Peridot said, but made sure to keep her voice low. "It's your most favorite person in the world!"
"...Steven?"
"Ye- No!" Peridot went closer to the window so Lapis could see her. "It's me, Peridot!"
"Oh." Lapis seemed to pause before she comprehension settled in. "Wait, Peridot? What are you doing here?"
"We thought we would stop by to visit you!"
"'We'?"
"I brought Pumpkin!" The puppy popped her head from the hoodie and panted in response.
"What?" Lapis closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Peridot, it's almost two in the morning. Why did you come here and wake me up?"
Peridot felt a pang in her chest at Lapis's tone. This wasn't really the reaction she thought she would get. In her head, she imagined Lapis would be so happy to get to see Peridot that she would immediately let her inside and praise Peridot for doing something so nice for her. This had not been apart of the plan.
"To see you! I thought-" Peridot was cut off.
"Look, I know you mean well, but why don't you just come back later? It's the middle of the night and I'm exhausted. We can do this some other time." Lapis said.
Peridot's heart felt like it dropped all the way to her feet. It had never occurred to her that Lapis might tell her to leave.
She couldn't leave, though! She knew that if she did, "later" would never come. She would end up going home feeling worse than before and it would all be the same. Lapis would continue putting her off and Peridot would still feel lonely! Even Pumpkin cocked her head at what Lapis said.
"B-But we walked all the way here to see you." Peridot said in a pleading tone.
"Wait, you walked here?" Lapis asked incredulously. "Why didn't you just drive?"
Peridot paused at that. Why hadn't she thought of taking her car? It would have saved her a lot of trouble with Pumpkin. It's not like she had been thinking all that clearly, though. "I dunno." she admitted.
"Ugh." Lapis sighed and stretched her arm out toward Peridot. "That was stupid, but I don't want to have to make you walk all the way back home. You can just stay here tonight and maybe Jasper will give you a ride in the morning."
Peridot's heart sped up at that and she grinned as she took Lapis's hand. Who knew that forgetting about her car would be a good thing!
It was difficult trying to climb through the window with Pumpkin in her hoodie, but her and Lapis pulled it off. And once she was in, she took Pumpkin out of her hoodie and let her run to Lapis.
Peridot was unbelievably happy that her plan actually worked! It still hadn't gone the way she wanted it to and it almost didn't work at all, but the important part was that it worked out in the end! Although, she hadn't really planned this far ahead and now she wasn't sure what to do next. She supposed that's what happens when someone plans to do something on a whim.
Now that she was in the dimly lit room, she was able to see Lapis better. She watched as Lapis bent down to pet Pumpkin and whisper to her about how much she had missed her.
It was obvious that Lapis had been sleeping. Her bright blue hair was tousled and she was wearing nothing but a loose T-shirt and underwear. The sight made Peridot's heart clench and her cheeks reddened. Not that she hadn't seen Lapis like this before (honestly, she had seen her with less clothing), but it had been a while since Peridot got a real chance to see her at all.
She was pulled from her thoughts when Lapis yawned and stood up with Pumpkin in her arms.
"We should sleep." Lapis said as she sat on her bed. "I have to get up early. I guess you can borrow something of mine to sleep in."
"Already covered!" Peridot exclaimed. She pulled off her hoodie and put her hands on her hips to reveal her outer space-themed pajamas. Lapis stared at her.
"You... walked here in your pajamas." Lapis stated. Then she laughed. "You're so lame!"
Peridot beamed at being able to get a laugh out of Lapis. She hadn't heard that pretty laugh of her's in a while, either. "That's a weird way of telling me that I'm a genius for saving you from washing an extra outfit." she said as she crawled into the bed.
"Whatever." Lapis said with a smirk and turned off the light so they were encased in darkness. They both took a moment to get comfortable under the blankets with Pumpkin laying at the foot of the bed between their feet.
Peridot made sure her glasses were safely on Lapis's nightstand and snuggled into the pillow with a smile on her face. Peridot had been hoping they could stay up a little bit and maybe watch a movie or something, but being able to sleep with Lapis was still great. It wasn't exactly the quality time she wanted, but it was enough to sooth her for the moment. It would be hard to feel lonely being so close to Lapis. Maybe they could eat breakfast and watch TV together before Lapis left for her morning class! As she scooted a little bit closer, she was already starting to feel better.
Until she realized Lapis had her back turned to her.
"Hey!" she cried as she pushed herself onto her elbows. Later, Peridot would blame her outburst sleep deprivation and emotional vulnerability. Otherwise, if she had been thinking more clearly, she would not have been so upset about such a small thing.
Although, maybe it wasn't a small thing.
"What!?" Lapis said in alarm as she bolted up. Pumpkin lifted her head and made a little yip, too.
"You're not facing me!" Peridot whined.
"What are you talking about? I'm just trying to sleep!"
"But you're ignoring me!" Peridot's chest felt tight. She didn't understand why Lapis was acting like this. Wasn't she happy to see her? Shouldn't she be excited that they were finally able to have some time together, even though it wasn't much? Peridot was doing her best to see Lapis, why wasn't Lapis doing the same?
"I'm tired, Peridot, not trying to ignore you. I didn't tell you to come here while I was sleeping!" Lapis said exasperatedly.
"That's just it! You didn't tell me to come here at all!" Peridot said sitting up and facing Lapis head on, although there wasn't much she could see.
"Wha-"
"You've been so busy it's like you never have time to do anything!" Peridot said. "You always have some excuse to not see me. I can understand life getting in the way sometimes, but lately it's been all the time! Even when we do see each other, you act like you're not interested, just like you're doing right now! I want to make sure you're happy, but I can't do that if I never even talk to you."
It was silent for a long time and it unnerved Peridot. She was worried she upset Lapis with her outburst and Lapis would kick her out, or worse. She hadn't meant to lose her temper like that, but she was so frustrated about it! Now she might have ruined everything.
"You're right." Lapis finally said in a quiet voice. Peridot let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Lapis wasn't mad at her, but she didn't sound happy, either. She listened as Lapis laid back onto the bed. "Why didn't you bring this up sooner?" Lapis asked.
"I... I didn't know if I should. I was trying to tell myself it wasn't a big deal and I didn't want to hurt your feelings." Peridot admitted.
"That's not exactly being honest, Peridot." Lapis said flatly.
"I-I know. Sorry..." Peridot said turning away guiltily.
"No, I should be apologizing." Lapis said, making Peridot turn back toward her. Peridot heard Lapis patting the pillow. "Lay back down."
Peridot complied and slowly laid back down before Lapis spoke up again in a soft voice. "It's not your fault. I'm not avoiding you because I hate you or anything. I know I've been distant lately and I thought..." The blankets rustled a bit and Peridot realized Lapis was turning toward her. "I thought I should wait until I was able to give you all my time and attention instead of just part of it. You deserve more than just a few minutes of my time between work and school."
Peridot's heart swelled in her chest. That wasn't an answer she had been expecting to get, but it wasn't unwelcome. At least she knew Lapis wasn't avoiding her because she was upset in some way. She chewed her lip in thought before she replied. "Well, that's completely reasonable. But why didn't you tell me that then?"
She swore she could practically hear Lapis rolling her eyes. "I didn't know how. I thought it would be too confusing."
"This whole situation has been confusing." Peridot muttered under her breath. Lapis must have heard her because she sighed and shifted.
"I'm sorry, Peridot. I'll start finding more time for us to be together. I didn't mean to just disappear." Lapis reached her hand up and ran her fingers through Peridot's hair. It was comforting and Peridot leaned into it.
"I can forgive you. And I will be sure to tell you my feelings next time as well." Peridot nervously reached out her own hand and rested it on Lapis's hip. "However, we are together with some time right now..."
Lapis chuckled and pulled Peridot closer to place a kiss on her cheek. "Yeah, because you're an idiot and decided to walk here in the middle of the night by yourself! You didn't even text me first!"
"I wasn't by myself, I had Pumpkin! You wouldn't have seen my text even if I had sent one because you don't understand technology." Peridot said wrapping her arms around Lapis's chest. "And... I came because I missed you."
Lapis seemed to hold onto Peridot tighter and placed another kiss of the opposite cheek. "I'm sorry. I'll be sure to make it up to you."
"You wha-" Peridot was cut off by a pair of lips on her own. Peridot sighed and welcomed the kiss without hesitation.
They shared a few soft, chaste kisses like that in the dark. Peridot's head began to swim when Lapis took the first step in going a bit further. Peridot eagerly accepted Lapis's tongue passing through her lips by wrapping her arms around her neck to pull her closer. She hadn't realized how much she missed Lapis's smell and taste and everything about her. It was almost intoxicating.
"Is this how you're going to make it up to me?" she asked in a breathy whisper between kisses. Lapis pulled Peridot's bottom lip between her teeth and rolled Peridot onto her back so she could hover above her.
"No." she said as she kissed Peridot's jaw. "This is just a bonus."
Peridot let out a small hum as Lapis ducked her head and a pair of lips grazed her neck. Peridot's hand found its way tangled in Lapis's hair, and she moaned as a warm tongue slowly dragged it's way up the sensitive skin of her neck. She made another noise when teeth bit down sharply, only to be replaced with soft lips and a tongue once more. A small part of Peridot realized there would be a mark there in the morning, but she didn't mind at the moment.
She was vaguely aware that Lapis said her name in a cute whisper, which made Peridot pull Lapis's face up toward her's so she could kiss her again. Their moans seemed to mix together through their passionate kisses.
Suddenly, there was a cold hand slipping under Peridot's shirt. It made her hiss and arch her back, but she hummed again at the hand's gentle caresses. They kissed again and Peridot squirmed with pleasure as her own hand began to sneak its way under Lapis's shirt.
They must have been moving too much, because soon a third, sloppier tongue was added to the mix.
"Pumpkin!" they both cried as the dog alternated between licking both their faces. Lapis rolled off of Peridot and Pumpkin followed to jump all over her and lick her face more thinking this was all some fun game.
Bringing Pumpkin was definitely a bad idea, Peridot thought regretfully as she sat up to wipe the dog slobber from her face.
"You are such a bad girl!" Peridot told her as she ruffled her fur with both hands. Lapis chuckled and scratched Pumpkin's belly when she rolled over.
"It's not her fault. She thought we were playing."
"I know, that's the problem." Peridot huffed and straightened out her shirt. She folded her arms and pouted over the loss of Lapis's lips and hands on her body. They had been having a nice moment and Pumpkin ruined it! Peridot knew she was just a dog and didn't know better, but that didn't make it fair!
She was pulled from her pouting when a gentle hand turned her chin and soft lips were on her's once more and they didn't leave for a long while.
"There will be another time. I promise." Lapis reassured her. "I still have to get up early anyway. It's probably best if we just sleep."
"Okay..." Peridot whispered as she stared at the beautiful girl next to her through half-lidded eyes. Honestly, Peridot would have agreed to anything as long as Lapis was the one suggesting it. She laid her head back onto the pillow and watch as Lapis picked up Pumpkin.
"C'mere you little pupper." Lapis said as she brought Pumpkin under the blanket with her. Peridot felt both of them get comfortable, with Pumpkin snuggled between the both of them and Lapis's forehead pressed again her own.
Green eyes met blue as Lapis felt around until she found Peridot's head and intertwined their fingers. Peridot felt herself blushing at the simple gesture for some reason and shifted her eyes away in embarrassment. Lapis seemed to noticed and chuckled before giving Peridot's hand a light squeeze.
"Goodnight, Peridot."
"...Goodnight, Lapis."