Disclaimer, I, sadly, do not own Steven Universe! It is accredited to the marvelous Rebecca Sugar! Round of applause for her and the Crewniverse, guys!
Author's Note, this story takes place shortly after the events of "Bubbled" but before "Kindergarten Kid."
The days after Steven's perilous endeavors with the Rubies and, ultimately, with the very depths of outer space herself were long and brooding. It seemed like no matter what he tried, one of the gems would always be within a few steps of him.
There was never a time anymore where all three of them would be in the Temple.
One was always there with him under the wooden roof of the beach house.
Steven found their concern heartwarming, though still there was a hollowness within that couldn't simply be filled with their absentminded worry for the boy after nearly losing him to the nebulae far, far away from Earth.
The guilt for throwing the ruby Eyeball into space, possibly never to be seen again by any living or even sentient thing, still gnawed at his bones and made even his most favourite activities seem dull and drained of their usual luster.
The apathy had abated considerably since returning fresh from space, but it was still ominously present in every second. He just chose to try and ignore it now, hoping it would eventually fester and crumble away altogether.
Amethyst was the gem currently loitering about the house, lying on the couch and feigning interest in a hairstylist magazine. She had undoubtedly been tasked by Pearl or Garnet to supervise Steven, though Amethyst was much more lax in her efforts by giving the boy the space he needed. Of course, that didn't mean she didn't try to spark his spirits with funny quips and jokes.
It worked for a little while before they became too forced.
Steven was listlessly tapping away at the bulky purple controller connected to his Dolphin console, watching his character be defeated for the fourth time that evening since booting up the game. He initially had won against his opponent, yet the more he watched the screen the more his mind sauntered and eventually drifted away into generally incomprehensible thought. Soon it was just phantom movements that spurred the game play onward.
It wasn't until a snore broke the white noise produced by the game Steven was jolted back into reality with a curious hum.
He scrambled over to the edge of his bedroom loft and stared down at Amethyst. The magazine was now covering her face, making her mass of pale lavender hair seem almost comical, what with it sprouting out of a small bind of paper.
Is she asleep? He wondered only to have his silent question answered by another snore.
Steven almost envied her - sleep hadn't been particularly easy for him for the past week.
He rushed back to the television and promptly muted it, waiting a moment to discern whether or not this woke Amethyst, before shutting off the device entirely.
While the more rational part of him chastised him for thinking what he was - that being leaving the beach house unaccompanied by any of the Crystal Gems - the more psychological part of him begged and pleaded and cried for him to go. To go and do something, anything. It didn't need to be much; sitting on a bunch on the boardwalk would suffice, just to see and hear and talk to people.
He tucked the controller into its cords and padded quietly down the steps.
Still, Amethyst was motionless other than the artificial rise and fall of her chest.
Steven meandered over towards the windows facing outwards towards the beach. You could just see the fringes of Beach City from them, as well as the distant, misty bulks of green plains just beyond the city. He thought that if the light fog let up, he might just be able to see the barn where Peridot and Lapis lived together.
Thinking of the two gems brought a curious idea to life, and Steven brought up a hand to thoughtfully tap at his chin before a small smile of hope came to his face. I wonder how they're doing now! They were doing so good last time.
Steven promptly turned away from the window and scurried across the house towards the Warp Pad, clambering onto the smooth surface. He extended his will to travel to the Warp Pad near the barn and was washed in a beacon of brilliant light before he felt himself warp.
Despite the groggy atmosphere, the walk from the Warp Pad to the barn was quite emotionally sobering. It seemed to chase away the blue thoughts that had blighted him, leaving him a bit absentminded but thrilled nonetheless at the thought of seeing Lapis and Peridot again.
Beads of moisture clung to the plains, still fresh from the recent drizzle. The dew felt real and cool against his feet, and he found himself speeding up as he reached the incline that ended with the sand lot and its barn.
Just seeing the renovations the two had done to the barn again made his heart throb with enthusiasm; he really was proud of the two. They'd come so far!
Steven was disappointed, however, to see that neither gem, green nor blue, was in the truck bed as they had been the last time he'd visited. He suddenly grew timorous at the thought of intruding; what if they weren't even there? They could be off, together or separate and learning more and more about Earth. The idea made his chest pulse happily.
While he was musing over this he caught a flicker of blue in the corner of his gaze and he quickly snapped his eyes to it.
Lapis had just flown swiftly out from under the cloth strewn across the barn entrance, a look of amusement lighting up her features as he watched an agitated Peridot stomp out of the barn. Her pale shock of hair was dripping with water, her visor sprinkled with the same substance as she stared indignantly up at the older gem.
"Lapis!" Peridot gawked, motioning with obvious disbelief towards the barn with a hand. "What was that? You nearly hit Wow, Thanks!"
"You were rambling and this is usually the best way to make you stop," Lapis remarked, retaining a sort of mischievous and knowing look as she beamed down at the soaked green gem. "And I didn't hit your meep morp."
"But you could have!"
"But I didn't."
Steven would have been concerned that the friendship the two seemed to have established from a while ago had deteriorated. But he quickly realized it was playful banter when he noticed the smirks on both of their faces.
Lapis eventually flew down when it was clear she wouldn't be assaulted with floating spoons and crossed her arms in front of Peridot. She snorted and laughed when the smaller gem frantically ran her hands through her thick hair, doing her best to get rid of all the trapped water before it eventually popped back into its trademark tetrahedral shape. Peridot, too, had some sort of silly grin on.
It quickly shifted into a surprised grin when she finally locked eyes with Steven.
"Steven!"
"Hey guys!" The boy sauntered the rest of the distance over, eyes bright as he surveyed the two of them.
"Hey Steven!" Lapis greeted happily, crouching to become eye-level with him before smiling. "It's good to see you!" She seemed to briefly look around the assembled trio before turning back to the boy, tilting her head curiously. "You didn't bring the others with you?"
Steven shook his head. "No, I came alone," he confirmed. "I wanted to see you guys! It was so great seeing everything last time! All your. . uh. . art-"
"Meep morps."
"Meep morps! Yeah! Sorry, Peridot. But, yeah, I wanted to hang out!" Steven put on his bravest grin, eyes wide with anticipation. Then, suddenly tentative, he inquired. "If that's okay with you guys?"
Lapis and Peridot turned towards each other in sync, making eye contact for the briefest of moments before they both turned back to Steven with equally ecstatic grins. "Well, of course!" Crowed the smaller of the two, rushing forward and excitedly grabbing onto his him. "Come on! Since the last time you visited we've done a little more. . . refurnishing. Lapis deducted that there weren't enough soft places around so we moved in some more couches an-"
A flick of a blue wrist and a small dollop of water crashed into Peridot's visor. She let out a small shrill gawk of surprise before rubbing a hand over the droplets, smirking at Lapis before turning back to Steven with practical stars in her eyes.
"The point being! Your human needs for comfort and indolence should be well tended to here now!"
The three slipped beneath the sheet draped over the barn doors and again Steven was in awe of the progress the two had made on the barn.
Strings of lights, though off since the daytime-even plagued by fog-offered more than enough light at this hour, were loosely wrapped around the borders of the barn lofts. The meep morps he'd seen before were still on display, but now more bits and pieces of junk and unique items alike lay scattered near the back of the barn around Occupied.
The deeper he padded into the barn, accompanied by a chattering Peridot and a gently smiling Lapis who'd snort every now and then when Peridot stumbled over herself trying to show Steven some new contraption, the more homey the place felt.
Of course, he had been astounded by the initial reveal of their redesigned home away from homeworld, but this time it felt more tangible; more personal. If it was possible to have a personal bond to someone else's home? Oh well. They'll have to deal with me going all starry-eyed all the time!
And he did just that when he caught sight of the large skeleton of a familiar giant metal yo-yo sitting near a wooden shaft in the back of the barn.
Steven let out an excited cry and rushed forward, pawing curiously at the large contraption that was seemingly identical to the one Smoky Quartz sported in the beta Kindergarten. "Oh my gosh! Peridot! You really did make the giant yo-yo! It's only been. . like. . ."
"Five days! I know, quite impressive, is it not?"
A nasally cackle erupted from the creator as she paraded over to stand beside Steven, wiggling her fingers experimentally before the yo-yo gave a light shudder. The metal groaned as it lifted up from the wooden planks of the barn floor and levitated a good inch or two above the ground. "Did you think I was joking you? It was the perfect opportunity to sharpen up my powers! After realizing I needed to work a little more on them after the unfortunate time we had at the Kindergarten, I made sure to focus it into making. . . "
Peridot pulled a jazz hands towards the joined, grooved metal plates. "This beauty!"
Just as she finished dazzling her miniscule audience with the display, the yo-yo dropped unceremoniously to the floor and clattered onto its studded side with a particularly unpleasant, rattling clatter.
Steven jumped only a bit from the loud crash, but was soothed by the sound of Lapis dismissively blowing out her cheeks and coming in to stand beside her barnmate. "I still wonder how it was you who managed to poof her," the blue gem commented offhandedly, resting her hand mirthfully on Peridot's shoulder.
In what felt like the smallest fraction of a second, Steven's eyes met Peridot's and a thousand things were said; his eyes were bright with inquiry, while hers were filled with a comfortable pride.
Peridot had told Lapis about what had happened at the beta Kindergarten with Jasper; he wondered how it had gone, when Peridot and she were left after the Crystal Gems saw the Homeworld Rubies to the moon base.
"You know about that?" Steven piped up, surprised at the astonishment in his voice.
"Yeah, Peridot told me," Lapis clarified with a light sigh, dropping into a crouch. Though her voice sounded tepid, her eyes told another story: they spoke of triumph, of relief, of solace.
Of happiness.
"I thought Lapis would appreciate knowing about her," Peridot chipped in, materializing beside the ocean gem with an uncharacteristically sweet-tempered quirk of the lips. "And. . "
"I was," Lapis finished quietly for her, tossing her head back to peer at the green technician who scratched thoughtfully at her cheek. "I feel lighter, almost. If you know what I mean," finished the blue gem with a dry content chuckle.
"Oh yeah! Yeah, Lapis, that's great!" Steven erupted gleefully, chubby hands clasping excitedly over Lapis' lax ones. "I'm so glad! You must feel a whole lot better knowing Jasper's bubbled away!"
Lapis tilted her head and her electric blue hair shifted over her shoulder. She pensively hummed and cocked a shoulder. Sheepishly she shut her eyes, looking like she was fighting something from reaching her cheeks from the way they ticked. "Yeah," she said with a swift, nearly imperceptible smile at Peridot. "I do."
It looked like Peridot caught it the way her hair humorously bristled with revelation.
Steven grinned brightly and embraced the willowy gem, laughing gratefully. "That's awesome!"
Lapis returned the grateful laughter and hugged him back before receding and playfully throwing a look at Peridot.
"Well?"
"Well!" Peridot looked rightfully thrilled as she bore down on the others, lips split into a wide, excited grin. "Lapis, don't you think it would be appropriate to show Steven how we've progressed on our gem metal band?"
She summoned the metal triangle with a practiced flick of her wrist, chiming the stick experimentally with a twitch of the finger. "Since my one-gem metal band idea seems a little out there, as Lapis put it, we've decided to conjoin our efforts after you and Amethyst visited!"
"I refuse to use anything other than the tambourine."
"She refuses to use anything other than the tambourine," echoed Peridot, her fervor untouched by Lapis' intervention. Steven giggled.
Peridot proceeded to scramble across the barn towards the pile of instruments she had gotten from who knew where-Steven didn't really want to ask for fear of learning she'd stolen them. "Come on! We gotta show him, Laz!" She said as she levitated a kazoo and cymbals, chucking Lapis' tambourine excitedly towards them.
Steven ducked with a startled yelp but didn't feel the tambourine bounce off of his curly head, thankfully. He looked up to see Lapis grabbing the item, thoughtfully tapping its pale white tarp and shaking its jingles as she wandered over towards Peridot.
As the two talked hushedly to one another for a second, another surge of warmth wormed its way into Steven's heart.
Just being with these two for such little time had alleviated some of the grief he'd felt for everything recently. For Bismuth, for Jasper, for Eyeball. . . I mean, the bad is still there but. . Steven sent a look towards the blue and green gem and clambered onto the bean bag they seemed to have dug out of the junk, contentedly sinking into the folding fabrics with an amused giggle. It's good to just ignore it and do this!
Peridot seemed to flash Steven a knowing smirk from beyond the depths of the teal bean bag as she readied herself, assuming a dignified position, arms dramatically poised as the triangle and cymbals hovered over her head. The kazoo hovered just a bit in front of her nose.
Lapis, likewise, was poised with a hand draped gracefully over the tambourine, readied for the beginning of their impromptu performance.
"And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three!"
Steven leaned upwards in the deep cushion enthusiastically, grunting as the fabric collapsed in on him for a second before resettling himself.
The sounds that filled his ears were different from the improvised music the two had made when Amethyst had been with him. It was still a little wild and on the rough side, but now there was rhythm! Coordination! The tempo of their instruments rallied off of one another, with one accelerating while the other dipped back to allow them the spotlight.
The song was sharp-sounding and full of jingles and chimes. Steven almost regretted leaving his ukulele at the house - imagine throwing in some sweet-sounding string-pulling to this! His thoughts were cut off by a shrill but well-timed buzz of Peridot's kazoo, which promptly fell out of her mouth. She quickly caught the thing with her ferrokenisis as she began to frisk towards Lapis with steps that matched the cadence of their melody.
Steven couldn't help the wetness at the back of his eyes, or the giddy grin that stretched up to his ears. It was such a welcomed feeling, emotion. Especially when it was borne from pure joy rather than the languish he'd put up with lately.
It was just such a stark albeit welcomed contrast to what they had been so long ago: just a handler and her informant.
Now, they were two friends, and it looked like very good ones at that, who were creating meep morps together and making music and dancing together.
Soon Lapis began to caper about in a similar manner, tapping the tambourine smoothly against her palm at just the right moments as the two gems got ever closer.
Tap, tap, tap, and their feet shuffled them closer together. Shoulders swiveled and they seemed to line up together, their steps soon falling in absentminded sync with one another. Lapis naturally held up the more graceful standard, but Peridot made up for her initial clumsiness with kind of motion with a sleek gambol.
The pivoted around each other, a combination of twists and dips and hops. The latter being more on Peridot's part.
Steven felt his heart lift dramatically when he swore he could see a small flicker of light pulse from Lapis' back as she briefly twirled behind Peridot with a shake of the tambourine to match. Her eyes were closed, blithely unaware of the pulse of light energy.
His heart thudded dangerously in his throat when he doubled back to check and saw another pulse. His eyes grew wide.
This time the glow emanated from the green gem on Peridot's forehead, followed by a slight flash of her mass projection, like it was ready to dissipate.
Lapis didn't miss that.
Immediately the tambourine dropped to her side, much like it had when Amethyst mentioned Jasper those days ago, expression earnestly blank.
Steven could only watch in disappointed awe as Peridot slowly came to the realization that a certain instrument was missing from the song, and with this mental revelation the cymbals clattered uselessly to the ground from lack of focus. Her gem also ceased its timid gleaming.
"Lapis?" Peridot tried, grabbing the kazoo out of her mouth and holding it tautly in her tiny hands. "Why'd you stop? We hadn't even reached the coda yet, like my tablet said we should!"
Steven suddenly found his voice and scrambled, enlivened, out from the bean bag and up to the now laconic duo.
"Peridot! Didn't you see?" Steven blurted, highly adrenalized from the feat he'd just seen. "You two! You guys were gonna fuse!"
Peridot looked utterly baffled. "We were?" She said as if for some confirmation, sending an anxious look at Lapis, instruments all but forgotten.
"You were!" Steven upheld. "Your gems lit up and everything like the other gems' do! It. . it was because you two were dancing! And being happy and playing instruments!" He motioned with both hands to the instruments now strewn at their feet. "Wow!"
It took Steven a few moments to register the silence that had engulfed the trio.
"Guys?" He worriedly shot a look from Peridot to Lapis before finally the realization came crashing down onto him like an icy wave of ocean water, pun not intended.
Malachite.
The fusion Lapis had been trapped within for months, entombed at the bottom of the ocean with Jasper, of all gems.
Suddenly it felt much easier to weep from unhappiness instead of thankfulness.
"Lapis, I-"
"It's okay, Steven," Lapis intervened, shaking her head. "It just caught me off-guard, that's all. . . it's just. . "
"Never happened before," Peridot chipped in, hand now brought gingerly up to cover her mouth as she scrutinized Lapis with unreadable eyes. Steven briefly wondered that if she took off her visor, would her eyes reveal more without that yellowish tint always covering them?
Silence befell the group again, and this time Steven thought he could feel a cold sweat pricking the back of his neck.
Unsurprisingly it was Peridot to break the silence, but not with something Steven had expected. ". . I'm sorry."
Steven and Lapis simultaneously faced the small green gem, who still had her fingers pressed fretfully against her jaw. "For what?"
Peridot's expression shifted from quiet anxiety to agitation as she stared the other two down. "Like you don't know! For. . for almost fusing with you, Lapis!" The gem's voice cracked. "I honestly don't think it's essentially something you want after all that!"
She visibly calmed, letting out a remorseful sigh. "I-I didn't mean to. . to. . I didn't even think I could." She self-consciously palmed her gem.
Steven's mind, in its frazzled state, went back to the day he had borrowed Peridot's tape recorder - the very same one now used in Wow, Thanks - and remembered hearing her talk about how she had tried to fuse with Garnet, but failed.
But what had made them fail?
Steven watched in careful caution as Lapis soundlessly approached Peridot, folding her knees beneath her and splaying out her blue dress as she placed her hands, supportive, on each quivering green shoulder.
Steven knew that Lapis was strong. She had stood up to Jasper when said quartz had clambered onto his dad's boat those weeks ago; bravely she had rejected her when Jasper had begged for them to reform the atrocious Malachite.
But still he couldn't help the surprise he felt when he saw her consoling Peridot, about fusion, of all things.
"I know you didn't. But I'm at fault as much as you."
"W-What?" Startled green eyes looked back at the kneeling gem.
Lapis's hair spilled slightly over her eyes as she looked down, then back up at Peridot. "I could feel my gem starting to resonate, and I didn't stop. But that's because I didn't think that yours would. . "
"Start to light up too," Steven finally butted in, trodding over and placing a hand thoughtfully over the empty spot where Lapis had just retracted her left hand. "Lapis understands, Peridot! Both of us do! Garnet told me that fusion can be spontaneous sometimes! Like when Ruby and Sapphire first met, they fused on accident!"
Steven offered a bright grin, dark eyes soft with sympathy. For him, fusion had always been a wondrous thing-Malachite aside. Stevonnie had been incredible, and the recently discovered Smoky Quartz: the proud and happy-go-lucky! It was when, as Pearl and Garnet had eloquently put it, when two or more gems were in perfect sync. Fusion was physical, mental, and emotional. It embodied something greater than all of them!
Lapis sent Steven a thankful smile as she pulled away from Peridot, who looked considerably better after the consolation from her friends.
"I doubt I'll ever be ready for fusion again. And if. . if I decide I am, it won't be for a while yet. But, if it had to be any gem, Peridot," Lapis mused gently, extending her hand and waiting for Peridot to rest her own smaller palm on it. "I'd want it to be with you, all right?"
Peridot looked astonished. No, she looked astounded. Stupefied, amazed, awestruck!
Steven decided there weren't enough words to describe the raw emotion when the short green gem let out a timid, "wow, thanks."
Well, Steven thought with a half-muted sniff and teeth dug roughly into his lip, there go the gates! That was so sweet! Aaah! I might get a cavity!
He half-heartedly wiped the edge of his pale red sweater arms over his eyes, a hopeful smile on his lips. Looking back up revealed Lapis and Peridot now beaming at each other, the smaller of the two curtly tucking a finger beneath her visor to wipe away a stray tear that had collected there.
In the end he ended up letting out a happy cry and leaning forward, encasing both slimmer gems in his hammy arms. "You guys!" He said into Lapis' shoulder, voice muffled by the thin strap of fabric there. "I'm so proud! And glad! And happy! And-"
Lapis snorted and emitted an amused giggle, bringing up her slender blue arms and wrapping one around Steven, and the other around Peridot. Peridot seemed a tad hesitant to reciprocate the action, though ultimately ended up resting her hand on Steven's left shoulder and curling the other around Lapis' shoulders. Soon, she was laughing too.
"Look at us!" Peridot cackled, hysterical with embarrassment. "This is the strangest hug I've ever seen! Not even the group hug the yellow team executed in Camp Pining Hearts can compare!"
Laughter broke out of Steven and Lapis.
"It's not just a hug! It's an embrace!" Steven chipped in helpfully, giving a squeeze with each hand and laughing merrily when he felt Peridot try to return the gesture, except it felt more like a pinch than an affectionate clutch.
Steven chuckled, shoulders dropping leisurely.
Suddenly he was letting himself droop closer to the barn gems, expression far more earnest than it had been only a second prior as he whispered, "thanks, guys."
The boy didn't look up, but he could feel them both shift as they lifted up their heads to look at him. He could feel their eyes: probing, inquiring, concerned, and most of all, comforting.
They didn't need to say anything. He knew that they were there and were always going to be willing to help him through a rough patch.
And they'd done just that.
He'd come to the barn awhile ago in hopes of seeking distraction.
Distraction from all that he'd done lately, or rather, all that he hadn't done. All that he couldn't do.
But he found something more.
He found a relationship: growing and cautious but blooming and sincere and trusting and more; and, frankly, every other happy word he couldn't for the life of him think of!
And he was so, so glad.
A.N., Shout out to my friend Lauren who was very excited to read more trash fan fiction after I sent her links during class to my other stories. Lauren, what's good? How is your heart doing? text me when you read dis- unless you're dead. sorry then, friend, oops, it was intentional I promise ;))
Oh, and if you want a basic idea of what the song they created sounded like, look up Lonely Rolling Star by Aivi & Surasshu on YouTube! They're really talented and have created a myriad of official SU soundtracks in the past! I thought that this song fits Lapis and Peridot pretty well so why not imagine them tapping their 'lil instrument things to it in a story?
Now I know that this didn't happen between seasons (probably) but I kinda had a dream about it and didn't know where to fit it in. All I know is that somewhere, Garnet is doing that little smile thing she does when she is pleased. hA- okay I'll go now Also, get me out of hiatus hell. I need to see my barn kiddos again? where are they