Valentine's Day
(Prompt for Lapidot Tuesday (16th February))
by
Silver-Eyed Rukia
Rated: T
Pairing: Lapidot
Note: Please ignore any mistakes. Or point them out and correct me, whatever you prefer.
Peridot was used to not understanding all the different customs and weird rituals humans seemed to participate in, like the celebration of one's birth or the celebration of the end of earth's rotation around the sun. Now that she thought about it, humans were celebrating a lot of things. This new human custom was no exception to that rule either. Her visor covered eyes roamed through the room, tape recorder all but forgotten on the table before her due to the constant interruptions, and for a moment she wondered how long it had taken the Crystal Gems to get used to all this.
Garnet was busy drawing and cutting out something at the kitchen counter with the help of Steven who was his usual energetic self, both surrounded by a ridiculous amount of crayons, some sort of glittery substance and papers in various shades of red. The colour scheme for this particular festivity seemed to be of the utmost importance because all the colours Peridot could see were either red, pink or purple or a combination of all of them.
Quiet humming reached the green gems' ears and she shifted her attention to the entrance were she found Pearl decorating a portrait of Rose Quartz. They never really talked about the leader of the rebellion around her and from what she had gathered from Jasper she had been the key figure in its success but now that she was gone…Peridot sighed in frustration. She knew that Steven's mother, as he had called her, had been important to everyone and she had, albeit with no bad intentions in mind at the time, insulted her legacy, one of the actions she was painfully reminded of whenever Rose's name was accidentally dropped in a conversation around her.
She was torn out of her musings when she felt a hand smack her shoulder and she turned her head to see Amethyst grinning at her, mouth covered in some sort of thick, brown substance.
"Yo nerd what are you spacing out for? If you are regretting giving me your chocolate it's too late, I already ate it."
The alien raised an eyebrow. "If you are referring to the contents of the overly decorated box Steven gave me earlier than no, I had no intention of consuming your "chocolate". I was merely…thinking."
The small quartz was about to reply when Pearl's voice carried over to the pair, successfully catching both their attention.
"Amethyst, stop bothering Peridot and please go clean up your face. You have chocolate smothered all over it", the tallest of the three said as she approached them, face showing a certain annoyance at Amethyst's messy exterior before she directed her gaze at Peridot, now a faint smile playing around her lips.
"How does it look?"
The green gem followed her gaze to the with roses decorated portrait of Rose, only knowing what the flowers were after having received a short explanation about earth's flora from Pearl a few days prior.
"It looks adequate. The choice of botanic seems fitting despite a certain sense of irony."
"You can just say it looks great you know?"
"Amethyst!"
And with that both the quartz and Pearl disappeared further into the house, noise of their bickering growing quiet as they left Peridot to her thoughts again. Someone was missing, a fact that up until now had been ignored rather than forgotten, but now that all the gems and even Steven were busy making preparations she felt somewhat…alone. Blue eyes appeared in front of her inner eye, toothless smile directed at her as the owner's fingers wrapped around her own, pulling her into a slow, rhythmic dance.
The memory from the Beach-a-Palooza a few weeks back left her feeling both happy and empty at the same time and the urge to hold Lazuli close was growing so strong that she grabbed a pillow in desperation, pressing it close against her chest in a poor attempt to comfort herself. Lapis hadn't been there when she had woken up that morning and Peridot had felt abandoned by the gem that meant so much to her. When she had gotten up in search of the older one she had stumbled upon Steven already being awake and working on something she couldn't make sense of.
"What is all this?"
Steven raised his head to look at the person who had asked the question, coming face to face with Peridot who was eyeing the mess on the kitchen counter with a mixture of curiosity and weariness.
"Today is Valentine's Day! I am making cards for everyone." The boy grinned and hopped off his chair before he pulled out a fancy looking box out of the fridge. Steven held it out for Peridot to take, who accepted it with a raised eyebrow, before he returned to working on his cards. "They are chocolates, you give them to the person you like. I have one box for all the gems and Connie, now I only have to finish the cards to go with them. I will give you yours later."
The technician looked at the object in her hand before she muttered a short "Wow, thanks" and climbed one of the stools, curious eyes never leaving the many different cards scattered all over the counter.
"What is the occasion for this? Are we celebrating someone's birth again?"
Steven hummed as he started cutting out various paper hearts in different sizes and colours. "No, Valentine's Day is a little bit different than a birthday. You can give gifts to your friends and family but it's the one day in the year where you can ask someone to be your Valentine." He gave Peridot a knowing smile, her relationship with the ocean gem not having escaped his attention, before he continued his explanation.
"Your Valentine should be the person you can't stop thinking about. When they are happy you smile, when they are sad you cry. You want nothing bad to happen to them, ever. And they should give you this tingly feeling in your stomach that spreads through your body whenever they hold your hand."
Amethyst had interrupted the pair shortly after and Peridot had given her the chocolates to distract her from eating the cards while she had been busy with trying to wrap her head around the concept of "Valentine".
She pulled her legs up, pressing the cushion even closer against her chest, and let her thoughts wander. Was Lapis her Valentine? She hadn't asked her yet, she had in fact not seen the ocean gem all day, but she couldn't deny the impact the blue-haired Homeworlder had on her. Whenever she was close Peridot found it difficult to concentrate, tape recorder and inventions all but forgotten when she heard her voice or her melodious laughter. Her touch was something Peridot longed for and it was infuriating, irrational even, because her presence had started to become more important than all the other things Peridot had enjoyed like watching Camp Pining Hearts or studying old gem tech. And whenever she felt her close, fingers entwined or bodies pressed together in a hug, Peridot felt complete. As if the ocean gem was filling a void in her life she never knew she even possessed.
"You are the only one I know that's able to look both sad and adorable at the same time."
Peridot's head whipped around when she heard the voice she had craved to hear all day and she found the much older gem standing next to her, bare feet creating no noise that could have alerted her to Lapis' presence. Her mouth opened to form a reply but instead of saying anything she wordlessly closed it again, gaze returning to staring straight ahead. She didn't know why she was being so ridiculously irrational but she felt upset and talking to Lapis felt like too much to handle for the small gem right now.
The gem in question let out an almost inaudible sigh before she sat down next to Peridot, fingers fiddling with something she held in her hands.
"Steven told you which human custom is celebrated today?"
"Affirmative."
Lapis knew that Peridot had a temper that often got the better of her despite her rather rational and analytical behaviour but it rarely got so bad that she wouldn't even look at her. The taller of the two edged a little closer before silence settled over them. One of them would break sooner or later since neither had a lot of patience, it was just a matter of time. A minute passed, then another. Peridot grew increasingly more uncomfortable with the situation and was about to crack when she felt something soft connect with her head. Confused she stared at Lapis, who in turn just smiled down at her, before she looked at the pillow that had hit her head just now. It had a heart woven into the front and now that she got a closer look it looked like it was...selfmade?
"Pearl taught me how to do it, it took me all morning to finish though." The smile on her face slowly started to fade until it disappeared entirely, now serious expression directed at the gem she had spent all morning getting a gift for.
"Will you be my Valentine, Peridot?"
The words started sinking in slowly as her gaze was still fixed on Lapis' face that now carried the colour of a blush rising in her cheeks at the intense look.
"Excuse me?"
The ocean gem looked utterly flustered, a sight Peridot would have enjoyed if it hadn't been for the fact that her question had thrown her off so much that she even forgot to be upset any longer.
"Don't make me say it again", Lapis muttered as she started picking at a lose strand of yarn sticking out of the selfmade stichting before she took a deep breath and now fully turned to face the smaller gem, taking her hands into her own which made the pillow nestled between Peridot's feet fall onto the floor.
"I caught Steven last night, he was so excited he couldn't sleep so we spent hours just talking and he explained this holiday to me in great detail while you were still out." Blue sapphires stared into visor covered emeralds for a long moment before Lapis continued, voice soft but determined.
"Ever since I got freed from the mirror my life has been miserable. My gem had been cracked, when I returned home I was treated as just another prisoner and then, when I got stuck on earth in a forced fusion, I gave up hope completely", she started and placed her selfmade pillow between them on the couch before grabbing both of Peridot's hands, reveling in the comfort the simple touch gave her as she continued, "and then I met you. Well, technically I already met you before but I really got to know you. You made an effort to understand me that no one besides Steven did and you somehow always manage to make me feel less horrible about myself and everything that happened and-"
Lapis' extented monologue ended when she felt the green gems mouth covering her own in a somewhat clumsy kiss, most likely the result of Peridot's still lacking knowledge of human gestures and their meanings, but it did what it had been intended for. It successfully shut her up. The alien blushed a deep blue-ish hue as she realized what she had done before she composed herself, entwined fingers twitching against those of Lapis.
"While I appreciate your honesty and your concern I would not have been able to listen to another word you would have said without losing track of their content. The way your lips move is both captivating and highly distracting." It was a compliment, Lapis knew that, and it took her every bit of willpower she possessed to not burst out laughing at the utter look of emberrassment that was written all over Peridot's face. She hated being called cute after all.
The smaller gem grumbled something into her nonexisting beard before she pulled Lapis closer, effectively positioning the water witch on her lap with the pillow resting in between them, bright red heart facing their front.
"I agree to your terms under one condition, Lazuli."
Blue locks swayed slightly as Lapis cocked her head, tips tickling Peridot's still blushing cheek as she took a calming breath that did little to hide her obvious nervousness.
"And what condition are we talking about?"
She already knew the answer when she felt Peridot's visor brush against her shoulder as the gem burried her face against it, finally voicing the answer out loud as a mumble into the strap of Lapis' dress.
"I will be your Valentine if you will be mine, I don't want to share you with Steven."
The ocean gem giggled and placed a soft kiss on Peridot's into her forehead embedded stone.
"I think I can live with that."
My second, a little early, contribution for this week's prompt: Valentine's Day. The idea comes from timehuntress (tumblr) and you peers can go check out her picture on the 16th! I based the story on it ;) Yeah, we collaborated and that's really cool cause her art is amazing.
May write more for upcoming prompts, stay tuned!
Phrase of the Day
Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future
~Nelson Mandela
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