WEDNESDAY

Much to Steven's surprise and relief, the gems seemed to accept Peridot's explanation - either that, or they'd all simply decided they didn't want to know. Either way, none of them asked him any questions, and once he was back at the house, he decided to have an early night. This turned out to be a completely terrible idea, because every time he closed his eyes, he saw Peridot, naked in the water, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it because Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl seemed determined to spend the entire night chatting in the kitchen. At some point though, he must have passed out and he woke up to sunlight streaming in through the windows. He sat up and stretched, feeling his joints pop.

"Hey Steven," Lapis called from the lower level.

"Morning, Lapis," he greeted sleepily. "What are you doing here?"

"We're going back out to the Sea Shrine," she said, waving at the warp pad. "There's still a bunch of hourglasses to collect."

"Huh." Steven thought for a moment. The plan for Wednesday was to take pictures of something interesting, and the Sea Shrine definitely fit the bill. "Maybe I'll join you today."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Garnet said as she stepped out of the Temple. "That place is too dangerous."

"Yeah, yesterday Pearl picked up an hourglass and wound up repeating the same hour fourteen times," Amethyst added as she stepped out as well, with Pearl close behind.

Pearl shuddered. "It wouldn't let me go until I found a favorable outcome. It's fortunate it was me and not Amethyst, she could've been trapped forever."

"And um, Peridot? How is she this morning? Is she going with you?" he asked, trying to sound casual even though he knew perfectly well that Peridot had no intention of setting foot in the Sea Shrine that day.

Sure enough, Lapis shook her head. "When I left the barn, she'd locked herself in the bathroom." She smirked slightly. "I guess she thinks we've seen enough of her for now."

Steven gave an unconvincing laugh and tried not to let that mental image back in his head. "OK, well, I hope none of the hourglasses give you any trouble today."

"Thank you, Steven," Pearl replied, as they all stepped on to the warp pad. "We'll see you later. Bye!"

Steven watched them all disappear, checked his phone for new messages (one, from Peedee, with further details for Friday's double date) and then fell back on to his bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what to do next. There were plenty of interesting gem sites around the world, but the problem was, he was pretty sure Connie had already seen them all by now, and she was hardly likely to be impressed by a photograph of the geode or the strawberry battlefield.

Besides, Lapis's comment was worrying him a little. He hadn't taken Peridot's concerns seriously the day before because she really was exceptionally clever, but she was right in that there was no way to actually check her digestive system without eating. While it was possible she was just hiding from Lapis (or even using the toilet for its intended function), it was also possible that she'd put something in the wrong place and now her liver had exploded.

That troubling thought propelled him out of bed, and he quickly changed into his clothes and without even bothering with breakfast, he hopped onto the warp pad and headed for the barn. "Peridot?" he called out as he pushed the door open. "Are you all right?"

He heard scuffling noises coming from the upper area of the barn and a moment later, Peridot peered over the edge. "Steven?" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to text me."

"Lapis said you locked yourself in the bathroom," he explained, climbing up the ladder to join her. "And I remembered you said you were worried you got something wrong, so I thought I'd better check."

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she reassured him. "That was just… you know." She blushed. "The usual bathroom necessities."

Steven grinned. "I think she thought you were avoiding her."

"Yes, that's true also," she admitted. She sighed and looked down at the floor of the barn. "Steven, I wish to apologize for my abrupt departure yesterday evening. I realize I left you in an awkward situation, and I hope the gems didn't ask you too many questions."

"It's OK, I understand. You had a wardrobe malfunction going on," he teased. "But don't worry, the gems didn't say anything. I think they've decided to keep doing that thing where they just ignore stuff they don't want to think about."

"Of course," Peridot muttered, "just as I was walking away, it occurred to me that I could've just phased on my default outfit while nobody was looking. Perhaps I've become too accustomed to wearing human clothing."

"You look nice in human clothing," he said sincerely.

"Really?" She cheered up at once. "So anyway," she said, changing the subject, "what are your plans for today?"

Steven sighed. "I don't know. I know I need to take some pictures, but I don't know what to take pictures of. Connie's seen all the gem places I know."

"Well, why don't you take Lion and visit some of the human structures on this planet?" she suggested. "Your species may not be quite up to gem standards - I mean, none of your manmade creations even float! But you've still managed to create many sites of cultural and historic interest- Steven?" She stared at him in bewilderment as he smacked a hand against his forehead and groaned loudly. "Are you all right?"

"Of course! Tourist attractions!" he exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that!? I could go and see the Statue of Liberty, or the Biggest Ball Of Twine!" His eyes widened as possibilities flooded into his brain. "I don't even have to stay in America! I could visit the pyramids of Egypt, or the Great Wall of China or the canals of Venice or- or- or-" His voice trailed off as his enthusiasm vanished as quickly as it had appeared. All of those places sounded interesting, but he didn't want to visit any of them alone. Half of the fun in visiting new, interesting places was having someone to share them with. "Peridot? Would you come with me?"

"What? Me?" Peridot blinked in surprise. "Where?"

"I don't know! Somewhere! Anywhere!" He flung his arms out for emphasis.

Peridot still looked confused. "But the plan for today was-"

"Change of plan," Steven interrupted. "We'll go and take pictures of interesting things together. Please?" he begged as she still looked uncertain. "It'll be boring on my own."

"Well… I was planning on watching television all day," she said slowly. "But I guess I can reschedule. Very well!" She struck a pose. "I shall accompany you to one of your human places of interest. Just as soon as I've chosen something to wear."

Steven laughed and headed back towards the ladder. "Meet me back at the house. I'm gonna go get some food-" He paused. "I've just remembered, we left the picnic basket up on the cliff last night. I'll have to go and get it, so if I'm not in, that's where I'll be."

"OK, bye." Peridot watched him leave, her lips curling up at the corners as she stared at his butt, and then she dove into her prized collection of clothes to find something that would knock his socks off.

xxx

Peridot hadn't shown up by the time Steven finished his breakfast and filled his backpack with supplies, so he strolled out up to the lighthouse and found the picnic basket where they'd left it. Casting a quick look around to see if Ronaldo was lurking, he packed up the remains of the food and headed back to the house. "Peridot?" he called out as he pushed the door open. "You here yet?"

Peridot put his copy of Sailor Moon back on the little bedside table and stood up. "I'm here." Then she skipped down the stairs, pretending she didn't know that Steven was watching the short hemline of her dress bounce around her thighs. "So what's our destination?"

Steven tore his eyes away from her legs and put the basket on the counter. "Ah, now that's a secret," he said cryptically. He crossed the room and rummaged through the freezer until he found a Lion Licker. The familiar sound of the crinkling wrapper brought the large, pink feline to them, and as he ate the treat, Steven murmured instructions in his ear and then climbed on his back. "You ready?"

Peridot nodded and climbed up behind him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and rather wishing his backpack wasn't in the way. "Let's go."

Lion roared and jumped into the portal. They flew through interdimensional space for a minute and then emerged on the other side in the middle of a courtyard. People screamed in surprise and scattered as Lion skidded to a halt, but Steven was well used to this reaction by now and ignored them as he slid off of Lion's back and helped Peridot down. "Recognize it?" he asked as she stared around in wide-eyed amazement.

Peridot looked around again, taking in the enormous, beautiful palace and the anachronous glass pyramid but still not quite able to believe she was actually there. "The Louvre!?" she gasped. "Oh! Steven!"

"I know how much you like your meep morps," Steven explained, taking another, slightly melted Lion Licker out of his backpack and handing it over to Lion. "So I thought, why don't we go and visit the home of one of the most famous morps in the world?"

She let out a happy squeak of delight and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him so hard she almost broke something, and then she grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the pyramid. "Come on, come on!"

"Wait!" Steven pulled his hand free. Peridot stumbled to a halt, looking a little uncertain, but then he simply pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up. "Say 'meep morps!'"

Peridot laughed and let him take the picture, and then they walked hand-in-hand towards the museum entrance. It didn't occur to either of them that it was no longer necessary.

xxx

Even though Steven wasn't as interested in art as Peridot, he still found the museum fascinating and the two of them spent a most enjoyable afternoon looking at the paintings and sculptures until the announcement came that the museum would soon be closing. "Wow, already?" Steven said in surprise. "We've only been here a couple of hours."

"There must be some sort of time differential," Peridot mused as they began heading towards the exit.

"Oh, right. Time zones." Steven opened his phone browser to check the actual time. "Huh. It's almost ten here. I didn't realize it was so late."

"I suppose we should head back to the Temple then," Peridot said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"Yeah…" Steven stared at his phone screen a moment longer. "Or we could go somewhere else?" He frowned slightly. "Most of Europe is night now though. I guess we could go to Vegas? I kinda wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, they've got a little one there."

Peridot scanned the courtyard, a troubled frown on her face. "Uh, Steven? I don't think we're going to Vegas."

Steven lowered his phone and stared at the plinth with the statue of Louis XIV where they'd left Lion. It was immediately obvious that Lion was no longer there. "Oh, whaaaaaat!? Lion!" He stomped his feet in frustration. "I thought I'd trained him out of this! Do you think anyone's seen him?"

"He's fairly conspicuous," Peridot remarked.

Steven nodded and walked over to a nearby guard. "Excuse me, but have you seen a lion? A big, pink lion?"

The guard looked blankly back at him. "I am sorry, a lion? Is that correct? I am not understanding what you ask?"

"May I try?" Peridot stepped forward, Google Translate open on her phone. "Avez-vous vu un lion, un gros lion rose?" she asked, in appallingly accented French.

The guard responded with a torrent of French, which neither of them understood. Apparently he quickly realized this, because he sighed and shook his head. "Pink lion? He is gone, jump through hole."

Steven groaned and bit back a swear. He mumbled a thanks to the guard before turning back to Peridot. "What do we do now? It's night, and we're stranded! We haven't even got passports!"

"We have cell phones," Peridot gently pointed out. "You can call the gems and ask them to come and get us in the Ruby ship."

"Oh, right." Steven calmed down at once and dialed the number. "There's no answer," he said a minute later. "They must still be in the Sea Shrine." He nibbled his lip and thought hard. He could call his Uncle Andy, but it would take hours for him to get to them. He could call his dad and ask him to go to the house and leave a message for the gems, but again, it would be hours until they got back. Unless Lion suddenly came back, they were stuck in Paris for the foreseeable future. "I have my emergency credit card," he said slowly. "And I think Dad would agree that this counts as an emergency. So we'll book a hotel room for the night and try the gems again later. It's only like, four back home, so they might not be back for hours, and we can't just hang out here in the dark."

"That sounds like a logical solution to our predicament," Peridot agreed, and so they began walking along Rue de Rivoli in search of a place to stay. Of course, as they were so close to a popular tourist destination, they were spoilt for choice, but Steven steered clear of the closest ones, knowing the prices would be much higher - even though his dad still had millions of dollars, he didn't think he'd appreciate a bill for thousands for a hotel room, especially not one day after he'd brought a new wardrobe.

"How about this place?" he suggested, stopping outside an elegant building some minutes later. "This looks nice."

Peridot agreed, and they walked up the steps and inside. At the front desk, it took them a little time to make themselves understood, but the staff were used to foreign tourists and soon they were given the key to a pleasant room containing a chaise-lounge and two chairs arranged around a small table, and a wall-mounted television and a double bed. Steven took off his shoes, dropped his backpack onto the chaise-lounge and tried calling the gems again. "They're still not answering," he complained, and put the phone on the nightstand before he flung himself backwards onto the bed. "How long does it take to bubble a few hourglasses!?"

"I suppose that depends on how many times they get stuck in time loops," Peridot mused, kicking off her own shoes and laying down next to him. "They could've been there for months already."

"Huh." Steven blinked up at the ceiling. "Probably a good thing I didn't go with them. I could've starved to death." He mulled over that for a minute and then sighed and rolled over to face Peridot. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" she asked, genuinely surprised.

"For… getting us stranded in a foreign country?" he answered, surprised by her surprise.

"Are you joking me?" Peridot laughed. "Steven, I've enjoyed every single moment of this day, and there's no gem I'd rather be stranded with than you."

"Awww." Steven smiled. "Thanks, Peri." Then without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed her until his brain gave him a little mental poke to remind him that actually, that wasn't necessary right now. "Oh jeez, sorry!" He pulled away, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to do that."

Peridot smiled softly. "It's OK."

"I guess I just got carried away," Steven continued, hardly hearing what she said.

"It's OK-"

"And I kinda forgot we weren't in Beach Cit-"

Peridot gave up trying to talk, and kissed him, cutting him off mid-word, although his lips continued to move silently. She waited until he stopped, and then pulled back. "Really, it's OK, Steven." She smirked slightly at his confused expression. "I like it when you kiss me."

"Oh." He blinked. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, so in the end he just nodded. "Right."

"So…" She gazed up at him and gently stroked his upper arm. "You can kiss me again, if you want to." She licked her lips. "Or… more."

"Really?" His heart leapt with excitement even as a small voice in his head warned him that this wasn't strictly part of the plan. But it was a very small voice and he found it quite easy to ignore, especially when Peridot stopped stroking his arm and reached up to cup his face. This time, they both moved forward meet each others lips in a sweet kiss that quickly turned more intense. Peridot's hand slid from Steven's face to tangle in his curls, pulling him closer. Her lips parted slightly, and he pushed his tongue into her mouth while his hands began to wander over her body, stroking the soft, green skin on her bare legs. One of those legs nudged between his and he couldn't hold back a moan of desire.

But then the little warning voice got louder, and with extreme reluctance, he broke the kiss and moved away a little. "We- we shouldn't be doing this," he croaked.

"Why?" Peridot asked, looking bewildered. "Don't you want to?"

"Ye-es," he admitted. "But it wouldn't be right. I love Connie."

Peridot bit her lip and looked down. "Steven, I really like you. You are a very important person to me, and I want to do this with you," she said, a little awkwardly. "I know you love Connie and I have no illusions that that will change, but…" Her eyes flickered back up to meet his. "She's not your girlfriend yet. You wouldn't be doing anything wrong."

Well, Steven had to admit she had a point there. But still… "Are you sure about this?" he pressed.

"I have never been more sure of anything in my life," she said at once. Then she paused. "Actually, that's not entirely true, there have been many things I have been sure about. But yes, I am also sure about this." And just to make her point, she leaned forward and kissed him again.

Reassured, Steven's reservations melted away and he enthusiastically kissed her back. His hand went straight back to her leg and caressed her skin again until he dared slide his hand higher, sliding up underneath the hem of her dress until he reached the lacy edge of her panties. Meanwhile, Peridot traced her fingers around his gem and then pushed his t-shirt up, tugging impatiently at the material until he got the hint and sat up so she could take it off. She moved back in to kiss him again, but he ducked his head out of the way with a laugh, and began kissing a trail down her neck and across her collar. He pushed the straps of her dress and bra aside and kissed her shoulders, but when he ran out of exposed skin, he sat back and grabbed hold of the bottom of the dress. "Can I take this off?"

Peridot nodded at once and raised her arms to make it easier for him and seconds later, the dress sailed across the room and landed on the floor next to Steven's discarded shirt. Then Steven reached out and traced a finger across the swell of her breasts, along the edge of her bra until he reached the center point. "Can I take this off too?" he asked.

Peridot laughed at the hopeful expression on his face. "Yes, you may."

Steven immediately resumed kissing her neck while he fumbled behind her back with one hand, but after several seconds, he admitted defeat and looked over her shoulder to see what he was doing. "This is definitely not as easy as they make it look in movies," he complained.

"You just need to practice," Peridot reassured him cheerfully.

He briefly wondered if that meant she was offering to let him practice with her bras, but then he finally got the damn thing undone and tossed it aside and sat back to admire his handiwork. His shorts suddenly felt a lot tighter; seeing her naked breasts in the twilight the previous evening had been great, but seeing them up close in good lighting was even better. Full and round and tipped with dark green nipples that jutted out slightly as he reached out and cupped one in each hand and stoked his thumbs over them. He lowered his head and gently kissed one nipple before sucking it into his mouth and circling it with his tongue, squeezing and kneading the other breast as he did so, and Peridot let out a little gasp of pleasure. "Ah!"

Steven released her stiffened nipple and smiled, pleased by her reaction. Then he started suckling on the other one and Peridot couldn't stop the lewd moan that escaped her lips. She reached down with slightly shaky hands and stroked his cock through the material of his shorts, smirking with satisfaction when he moaned too, the noise slightly muffled by her chest. Then she quickly unbuttoned his shorts and tugged them down, along with his underpants, and they joined the other discarded clothes scattered across the floor. Now his clothing wasn't in the way, she wrapped her fingers around his erection and squeezed gently and he let go of her nipple with a gasp. "Are you OK? I'm not hurting you?" she asked a little anxiously.

"N-no, it's good," he panted, resisting the urge to thrust up into her hand as her thumb ran lightly over the head of his cock, smearing a drop of pre-cum around. Then she gripped his shaft a little tighter and slowly began to jerk him off.

Steven, wanting to make her feel as good as she was making him feel, reached down and slid his hand into her panties. He rubbed his fingers around the fleshy lips of her pussy, and then gently parted them, feeling her wetness on his fingertips. Peridot gasped, her grip around his cock faltered a little and her hips bucked towards his probing fingers. "Ah!"

"You like that?" he murmured, slowly sliding two fingers into her.

"Yes, that feels so good," she moaned.

He slowly pumped his fingers into her pussy for a few more seconds, but quickly decided her panties were impeding his movements, so he withdrew his fingers and tugged them down until she was able to kick them off. He moved back to resume his foreplay, but Peridot decided she was ready for more and pushed him back onto the bed and straddled his hips. "Ready?" she asked, grabbing his cock and lining the head up with her wet cunt.

"Uh-huh," Steven nodded in response. It hadn't escaped his attention that their position was pretty much exactly what he'd fantasized about in the shower the other night and as a consequence, he didn't think he was capable of anything more articulate than that.

Peridot nodded back, bit her lip and then slowly sank down onto him. She tensed at first, expecting pain, but instead, there was just a very pleasant fullness, and she quickly relaxed. Then she raised her hips, feeling him slide out of her until only the head of his cock was inside her, then lowered herself back onto his lap, a little faster this time. Steven groaned and grabbed her hips, not quite sure if he was trying to make her move faster or slower, only sure that he was loving the feeling of her muscles clenching around him. The next time she moved up and down, his hips rose to meet hers and she cried out in pleasure.

They continued to fuck in that position for several minutes, Peridot enjoying the power of being in control and Steven enjoying the sight of her undulating belly and bouncing tits, which he occasionally reached up to grope. But Peridot's legs started to get tired, so she stopped bouncing and leaned forward a little as she started grinding instead, pleased to find that the new angle increased the stimulation on her clit, sending little sparks through her body. Steven could feel the pleasure building up inside him and he grabbed her ass as he fucked her harder. "Peri… I'm close…" he panted.

Peridot immediately reached down and started rubbing her clit. It didn't take long, she was already wound up so tight that her sudden orgasm actually took her by surprise. "A-ah! Steven!" she cried out, grabbing blindly at him with her free hand as her body spasmed uncontrollably. Steven felt the inner walls of her pussy clutching at him, and with a wordless cry, he came too. A moment later, Peridot collapsed onto his chest, and she lay there for several seconds, panting heavily. "That… was amazing," she said, when she finally managed to gather up the strength to speak.

Steven chuckled and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "It really was. Thank you."

She smiled down at him and pushed his sweaty hair off of his face. "Thank you."

They lay there together for a little longer, and then Peridot sighed and rolled off of him onto the bed, wincing slightly as she felt sticky fluid ooze out of her when he withdrew. But they both felt too lazy and content to get up and clean themselves up, and minutes later, they were both fast asleep.