When morning arrived, Peridot exited the bathroom, ready for another day of work on the drill. Expecting to find all the Crystal Gems in the living room and head over to the barn, she entered the kitchen only to find two of them. A strange, sweet smell filled the air. Steven was at the stove with an apron on, cooking something. Amethyst sat beside him on the countertop.
"Morning, Peridot!" Steven greeted cheerfully. Batter was splashed on the front of his apron and spattered over the stove area.
"Want some pancakes? Steven's getting really good at making them," Amethyst said as Steven flipped a golden-brown cake onto a plate.
Peridot eyed them skeptically. "What are 'pan-cakes'?" she asked.
Amethyst grabbed the plate along with a fork and jumped down from the counter. "Don't worry about it, just try them!"
"No thanks."
"Come on! They're really good," Amethyst urged, cutting off a piece of pancake with a fork and heading towards Peridot. Knowing she likely had not experienced the wonders of eating before, Amethyst really wanted to see how the Homeworld gem reacted to the food. "They're chocolate chip, that's the best kind."
Peridot was unsure about the concept of eating. She had seen Amethyst and Steven do it multiple times while she was staying with them, but it was unlike anything she had done on Homeworld. If it wasn't necessary for gems to eat (with the exception of Steven), why would she do it? Peridot kept her mouth firmly closed.
"Open up, nerd," teased Amethyst. She wanted to see how far she could take this. Much like with Pearl, she found playfully tormenting Peridot to be a lot of fun.
Peridot silently shook her head. Amethyst put her free arm around her in an attempt to constrain her. Peridot immediately tensed up and began to get a bit flustered.
"It's yummyyy…" Amethyst coaxed, making the fork come closer to Peridot's mouth, as if she were spoon-feeding an infant.
Peridot's face felt warm. Her legs began to feel unsteady. The sound of Amethyst's voice. The feel of her skin, her body next to hers…she could hardly stand it. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Steven smiling and giggling at them from the kitchen. Ugh. He's making it worse!
Peridot finally gave in. She allowed Amethyst to feed her the bit of pancake, hesitating at first, then chewing it. It was strange initially, which she had expected. Then the sweet, syrupy taste started to overwhelm her senses.
"Well, what do you think?" Amethyst asked.
Peridot considered what she had just eaten. "It was…not unpleasant."
"I told you!" she laughed, satisfied with her reaction.
Peridot couldn't help beginning to smile as well. Amethyst's good-natured teasing could be a bit annoying at times, but it was something she was willing to put up with. Anything to make her laugh.
"There's more where that came from!" Steven announced proudly, sliding the last pancake onto a plate.
Peridot tentatively took a place at the table where Steven served them. As they ate, Amethyst and Steven laughed and talked. Pearl soon arrived and tidied up the mess they had made.
The green gem found herself gazing at Amethyst, everything else around her just fading into the background. She picked at the food on her plate, feeling confused. The feelings Amethyst was making her experience were completely new to her. She had been so uneasy when the purple gem held her close like that. But at the same time, Peridot wanted more. She wanted to like it, and not to feel so uncomfortable.
At one point during breakfast, Steven caught her looking at Amethyst. Peridot quickly glanced away as if nothing had happened.
"Alright, let's head to the barn," Peridot heard Garnet announce. The five gems all headed out the door on their way. As Peridot and Steven trailed behind the group, Peridot could feel the little boy looking at her.
"What?" she growled.
"Nothing," he replied, innocently yet knowingly.