Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe
Title: Combat Of All Sorts
Summary: Peridot tries to learn hand to hand combat, but her fighting partner doesn't seem to like her very much.
...
"Connie!" Steven shouts, breaking away from Peridot's side to personally greet the girl. She flinches a bit, silently thankful for Garnet's presence by her side. She may not understand the fusion sometimes, and they butted heads here and there, so to speak, but she wasn't above admitting she felt much safer when she was nearby.
"This place is falling apart." Peridot hums, scanning the ruins of the sky arena. "I could fix this hunk of junk up for you, given the right supplies. A work of art such as this should be restored to its former glory, after all."
Garnet shook her head. "S' fine just the way it is."
Peridot detected a hint of something- a warning, perhaps?- in her voice that makes her nod her head and drop the topic. She doesn't know exactly what has driven the Crystal Gems to hate Homeworld as vehemently as they do, but she has learned it's best not to press her luck when it came up. She has thousands of years on Earth ahead of her; she'll find a way to fix it by then.
"Peridot needs combat lessons." Steven exclaims rather loudly, making her bristle. Back on Homeworld, such words could easily end a gem's credibility. Not that she'd blame him if that was the case; he'd always been rather... excitable.
But Pearl just nods her head, accepting this as fact without the slightest hint of disgust towards her- physically- weaker body. Peridot is silently thankful for it.
"I wouldn't need lessons if I could just retrieve my limb enhancers." She grumbles.
Garnet gently nudges her forward. "It's better to know how to fight with- and without- them."
Peridot opens her mouth to argue, then snaps it shut. Reason trumps emotion, she reminded herself. The fusion seemed to have learned exactly how to argue with her and win, and it was a tad irritating.
"Are you gonna teach her how to sword fight?" Steven's eyes shine with stars. She openly admires his enthusiasm.
Pearl shakes her head, however. "Not yet. Hand to hand is probably the best place to start."
Peridot swallows. "Isn't the size difference a bit unfair?" She couldn't be expected to fight Pearl- or, worse, Garnet- on her first day, could she?
Amethyst would be even worse, she reflected. A soldier against a technician. Steven wasn't built for fighting- whatever his purpose, he seemed to lean more towards defensive and healing maneuvers- so it was unlikely.
But the gem just smiles at her, amusement shining in her blue eyes. "Connie is only a little taller than you." She points out.
Peridot passively examines the human girl stiffly grasping her weapon as she spoke to Steven. Truth be told, she'd seen the girl before, at Steven's 'birthday', but had never had any real reason to look twice at her. She's tall and lean- only a bit bigger than Steven and yet galaxies older-looking. (The human aging process is truly mystifying.)
"Won't I... hurt her?" She asks finally. Connie turns toward her and straightens her shoulders. It's obvious she's taken her words as a personal challenge.
"I'll be fine."
Pearl nods in agreement. "As long as you don't purposely try and break bones, you'll be fine."
Peridot visibly shudders at the thought. Human injuries, she's found, are remarkably... messy.
"Connie can hold her own." Garnet agrees, a smile twitching at her lips. She can detect a hint of humor in her voice, as though not wanting to randomly kill a human is funny to her. Maybe the fusion just thinks she can't do it.
(She wouldn't be wrong.)
Steven nods, then glances at her. "Want me to bring by some snacks later?"
"Yes, please." Connie smiles at him shyly. "If you have the time."
Steven and Garnet both leave. Peridot almost wishes they hadn't.
Connie gently bows to the gem after handing over the sword. Pearl gracefully returns the gesture.
Peridot can't stop herself. "Is she your student or your servant?"
The human freezes and glares at her, eyes burning, but doesn't say anything. Pearl shows no offense taken, unlike her pupil.
"Student, Peridot. Humanity has- mostly- moved beyond slavery."
"Oh." She's supposed to be her equal, then. Fine. Peridot's willing to give it a try. She steps closer and sticks out her hand- a strange human ritual, but one she'd gotten the hang of. "I'm Peridot."
Surprise registers on her face as she gingerly reaches out to take it. "I'm Connie." She raises an eyebrow at the girl's sudden hesitance. Connie notices this. "Sorry. It's just... I assumed you'd be against touching humans."
"Steven told you about me, then." She hums. Why else would she assume this was any different than with the other gems?
Connie nods. "Of course." A spark of something flashes in her eyes, much too quickly for her to determine exactly what it was. It doesn't look good, whatever it is.
"Enough chit-chat." Pearl hums, stepping back a few paces to give them some space. "Alright, Peridot, let's see what you can do."
Peridot hesitantly faces the girl, unsure of where she was supposed to shift her weight or what to do with her hands. Is it better to be stiff, or loose?
Connie's eyes darken with determination, shoulders straight. Her face gives nothing away.
"Go!"
Peridot aims a punch to her stomach, letting out a surprised squawk when Connie grabs it with ease. She twists it, side-steps, and aims a kick at the back of her knees. She crumples.
"Not very refined, but good take down." Pearl nods, eyes proud. She's incredibly pleased that the girl can take down a fully functioning gem, or so Peridot gathers. She resists the urge to bring up that she's not very strong without her limb enhancers. Let the gem have her moment.
"Thank you, ma'am." Connie holds out a hand to help Peridot up, but she takes notice of the smile twitching, unbidden, at her lips.
She's gloating.
Peridot scowls at her. "You know, you were right. I don't want any more contact with human flesh than absolutely necessary."
She stepped back so she could get to her feet. The gem ignores the urge to hiss at her mostly calm expression (she can detect a twinge of hurt, if she looks hard enough) and stands up, wiping the dust off of her physical form.
"Alright, let's try that again."
Pearl eventually steps out to check on progress at the barn, leaving the two alone to supervise themselves. Connie is nothing but civil, but it doesn't take a genius to sense that she doesn't like her.
"You have a grudge against me, don't you?"
She half expects the girl to deny it, but she doesn't even flinch. "A small one, yes."
"You've been beating me into the ground all day!"
There's that little gloating smirk again. "I'm working through it."
"By fighting me?"
"I'm merely a teaching tool." Connie answers, eyes never leaving Peridot. She seems to be waiting for some sort of surprise attack. "But... I won't deny that it's fun."
"Speak for yourself." Peridot grumbles, rubbing her sore elbow.
"I am." Connie shoots forward, easily tripping her. "You're leaving yourself open."
Peridot snarls and kicks her ankle. Connie winces, but doesn't budge.
"That's cheating."
"This whole thing is cheating." She answers. "You obviously know much more about combat than I do!"
Her eyes dart to the side thoughtfully. It's obvious that hadn't occurred to her before now. Peridot cheats- survival in Homeworld comes to those willing to toss aside their moral values, so it doesn't shame her in the slightest- and takes the moment to punch her straight in the chin.
Connie stumbles and falls with a grunt, eyes wide. Something somewhat like respect sparks in her eyes as she massages the bottom of her mouth.
"You have a point." She says. It's not hostile, just a statement of agreement. As though this were an everyday occurrence. "Cheating is the only way to win sometimes."
Peridot balls her fists. She won't deny that she feels far more proud of herself for knocking the sturdy girl over than she probably should be. She'd quickly proven to have the solid stance of a- what's that Earth animal- a bull? Yes, a bull. That's it. "Now will you tell me what's going on?"
"Nothing's going on." She answers. She still hasn't moved. Peridot is impressed by her ability to look so relaxed, even when lying. She's obviously had plenty of practice. "We're practicing."
"I meant; why the grudge?" She stares down at her. If she has to keep in close contact with this human, they might as well be on the same page. "We've never really spoken to each other before."
"You tried to waste the planet." Connie prompts, standing up and dusting herself. Peridot wonders if it hurts to speak. "There is that."
"Understandable," She admits. "But not very likely. Garnet and Pearl could technically be held responsible for damaging the planet by fighting in the war. No battle is without destruction. Or Amethyst, simply for existing." She almost brings up the ever elusive topic of Rose Quartz, but she doesn't know this human well enough to properly judge what her reaction would be, and Peridot can't beat her like this, with no weapons in sight. Connie can use a sword; Peridot can't.
"That's true." She agreed. There was no surprise in her voice. Alright, then. So she knows about the war and the kindergarten. Steven certainly has been keeping her in the loop, hasn't he?
"Then what is it?"
"I'm a knight, and, as such, my only job is to protect those closest to me." She states flatly. "And you hurt him."
Steven.
Peridot winces and swallows. "Well, that's a stupid reason to be angry!"
Connie tenses, eyes narrowed. She looks ready to lunge at her, but doesn't move, sensing that the gem isn't finished speaking. Peridot's eyes dart around the arena, trying to explain. "What I mean is... from what I have gathered, Steven seems to be very... sensitive, to the world around him. If you hated everything that hurt him, you'd eventually end up hating the world. And he doesn't, so why should you?"
The human slowly nods. "You have a point, I guess."
"Besides, I was just following orders-" She continued. Connie's eyes grew hard once again.
"That's no excuse!" She snaps.
Peridot fixes her a deadpan look. "So, if given the order to end a life in battle, you wouldn't do it? You'd stop yourself, knowing that it was your purpose, simply because it was 'no excuse'?" She hesitated a second. "I'm not saying what I did was right. I'm saying that you- someone whose spent all day fuming over something that didn't even happen to you- can't possibly blame me for putting my loyalties first."
Connie doesn't reply. Peridot wonders if those is one of those things- death, that is- that she isn't supposed to bring up around humans- Steven especially was barred from many a different topic concerning Homeworld's actions- but it's too late now.
"My purpose is to protect the Earth." She answers finally, voice soft. "But my purpose isn't everything. I'm my own person, with my own values, and the gems respect that."
"Homeworld doesn't" Peridot replied bluntly. "And I always understood that. It was my job to put Yellow Diamond over everything- over reason, over myself- and do what I had to to." She glances away. "I'm only just beginning to understand just how differently things work here. It's... strange."
Connie bows her head and breathes a long sigh out of her nose. "Alright, Peridot. I see you point."
She vaguely hears the warp pad in the background. "Besides, aren't grudges supposed to be made when someone wrongs you?"
The human girl turns towards the noise and shrugs. "Normally. But most normal people aren't living my kind of life."
Steven appears with Pearl by his side moments later, holding a picnic basket. Connie doesn't offer her anything, but she does scoot over so she has room to sit down beside her.
Peridot watches her eat and slowly comes to the realization that she trusts her. They may never truly be friends, but this small human- this knight- is willing to fight by her side on the battlefield for the sake of others. To the death, if it came to that. Just to protect Steven.
Peridot is comforted by this knowledge.
Author's Note: This will probably never happen in the show, in any way, shape, or form, but it's cute, and this is fanfiction, dangit.
Connie is a protective child, and much more battle-equipped than Peridot. I'd say she brought it upon herself, but that would be mean. Also, might be a wise time to mention this is my first full-on Peridot 'fic. It's gonna be a bit choppy.
-mandaree1