As it turned out, waiting was easier said than done.

Sure enough, the sun did rise only a handful of hours after their last petrifying interaction with Jasper and the rest of Nyumbani-Dunia, but there was no dispatch in sight. There was no Lapis Lazuli in sight either. Amethyst had climbed to the uppermost branches of the pine tree to try to see the edge of the grasses, but she hadn't seen the Jeep nor the trees they'd made their previous campgrounds.

So, they began to walk. They went at a moderate pace as to not exhaust themselves without the appropriate resources to re-energize with. They headed in the direction that Garnet had suggested, and while Peridot was not a believer in blind faith, she had no problem with trekking after the de-facto leader.

The temperature had subtly acclimated with the sun, turning the land a warm shade of gold that rippled across the seas of tawny-coloured grasses. Scraggly bushes studded the terrain, their boughs stretching hungrily outwards for pant cuffs to snag. The sky was a deep, dusty shade of blue, spotted with a few wayward streaks of cloud.

Peridot had resorted to taking off her overshirt, pushing the reminder of a similar top she'd shared with someone else, and wrapping it around her waist. Dust billowed out from beneath the soles of her boots, soil and pebbles crunching with every uneven step. She figured they must be nearer to their original campsite now, even if she couldn't really make out any familiar landmarks on the makeshift trail. If she could even call whatever path they were marching across that.

"Jesus," Amethyst was crowing ahead of Peridot as she grabbed at the fabric of her collar and fluttered it to get some cool air down her neck. "Sun's not even high enough to be annoying yet, can it chill with the heat for a little bit?"

She was met with a clueless noise from Steven. "Dad said it wasn't supposed to get this hot today. Maybe it's just because we got used to the chilliness last night, and now our bodies are. . feeling weird?" He put a hand on his forehead. "I forgot what Connie explained to me that one time when I was confused why hot water felt weird on cold skin."

At least Peridot could explain that. "What's happening right now is just typical temperature adaptation. The phenomenon you're referring to is paradoxical cold," Peridot supplied from the back, thinking herself helpful in the boy's minute befuddlement. Said boy turned to give Peridot a look over his shoulder, before tugging at Amethyst's elbow as they slowed to fall in pace with the more quiet crew member. Peridot didn't try to dissuade them, only crossing her arms over her chest when they grinned at her. "You must know a lot about stuff," Steven noted with admiration, before his smile dampened. "Sorry that you had to be stuck out here with us. I don't think this safari turned out to be the adventure any of us were wishing for."

Amethyst chuffed, amused. "Well, if I ever did get stuck in the middle of lion-infested territory, I'd rather it be with people I know." She gave Peridot a prompting look. "Sucks for you, though- had to be trapped with a much of strangers from the very start."

Peridot could toast to that, but this particular group of quirky characters hadn't fried all of her nerves just yet. Despite their sense of aimlessness, even with Garnet and Greg's fickle sense of know-how, they were still here.

Well, most of them were. "Lapis told me that you all were from Delmarva, in the states," Peridot addressed. "We're closer than you might think. I live at the capitol." That made Steven's eyes twinkle as he nodded, supposedly amazed at their inherent likeness. "That's awesome, Peridot! Kinda a crazy coincidence, too. Do you go to the college there? Is that where you said you were doing the study for?"

Peridot dipped her head affirmatively. "The intention of the trip was to observe how the animals naturally performed in this specific savannah. The heads, however, failed to inform me of the insanity that was Jasper and her crazy pride," she elaborated with a hint of bitterness. "I didn't ask for an up-close and personal experience with them. Let alone seeing what happens when they attack." Thinking of the sensation of hot, unpleasant breath billowing in her face made her back thrill with gooseflesh. "But life's not fair, is it?"

"Amen to that," Amethyst barked, slapping Peridot's back gladly, only causing the thinner woman to stumble slightly forward before regaining her balance. "'Specially this trip. . . seems like something's just out to get us."

"That being Nyumbani-Dunia," Peridot clipped distastefully. Recalling the demented predators made her think of Lapis, and that same frosty feeling sank into her chest, the sensation flowing into her limbs and making her receive pause for a moment. Steven stopped with her, bushy brows pressing worriedly together. "You okay?"

"Peachy." Peridot cleared her throat, fixing her glasses, before sticking her hands stubbornly into her pockets. She pretended she didn't see the look shared between Steven and Amethyst over her. "Just wishing Lapis had made it with us."

"Is that why you've been sulky for the past few hours?" Amethyst theorized, a brow perked speculatively, leaning in with a devious sort of smirk. It kind of made Peridot nervous on the inside, but on the outside she made a face of denial. "Don't act like you haven't been trudging along since Lapis took that detour earlier. Plus, Garnet said she'd be fine. You gotta trust her on that."

Again Peridot had to consider the group's ease of belief in Garnet. Sure, she seemed to know what she was doing and what was going to happen, but this was the wilderness we were talking about. It was the ultimate source of spontaneity known to man. You could never know what was going to happen when you were all alone out in the middle of the savannah. "Why do you two give her so much credit?" She decided to ask.

"Who, G?" Amethyst's eyes squinted thoughtfully. "No idea. It's always just come as, uh. . . second nature, I guess? Always has a cool head, even if we're, say, trapped in the middle of a desert with no food or drink, or even a vague sense of direction?"

Steven laughed drily. It sounded less gleeful and more jumpy now. "You say it like we're doomed! But, Peridot, Lapis will be okay, I'm sure of it. She's really capable, I know she is."

Peridot scowled at the ground. She was capable, she was sure, too. After all, she'd survived a Jasper attack before, and Steven knew she had too- even if she didn't specify Jasper exactly. But she didn't remember if she'd been attacked by just one lioness or five. Still, neither option made Peridot think any more optimistically. Amethyst must have deduced something from Peridot's brooding silence, a devilishly knowing smirk striking her features. "What, do you like her or something?"

Now that made Peridot shoot ramrod straight, teeth clipping the edge of her tongue as she hissed with mortification. "Wh-what? No! What made you get that idea?"

Steven's smile curled up to his ears as he leaned in, dark eyes just sparkling with the spirit of playful inquiry as he leaned on Peridot's shoulder. "Oooh, is Amethyst right? Do you like her, Peridot?" When Peridot's brows shot even higher, he continued with a giggle. "Oh my gosh! That's so cute!"

Peridot's arm whipped out and slapped Steven lightly on the shoulder, earning a lighthearted, guiltless laugh from the boy. "Ow, haha! Why'd you hit me!"

"Because you called me cute!"

Amethyst snaked in beside her again, the same devious look dancing in her face as she gave a willful chuckle. "Would it make you feel any better if it was Lapis calling you cute?"

The gall of these two! And the fact that Peridot had even considered Amethyst's last remark for a moment made Peridot attribute a shard of truthfulness to the words and now she was imagining and oh stars. Peridot stammered to deny the clause as soon as that curious thought passed, hands shooting up and hiding spastically in her knotty blonde hair, fingers hastily reaching for a hat she knew full well wasn't there to hide her face.

"Aww, Amethyst, look, she's all blushy!"

Peridot coloured further, sticking her tongue childishly at Steven before slamming to a stop behind Pearl before she ran head-first into her back. Before she could scold her for stopping so abruptly, though, she heard a wonder-filled gasp from Steven and an equally awed 'whoa' from Amethyst.

She was relieved to be freed of their doting but the sudden stillness in the party made her inquisitive. "What?" Peridot padded out from behind Pearl, who was staring past where Greg was silently motioning for the others to look. Oh stars, it wasn't more lions, was it? No, it couldn't be; Steven and Amethyst wouldn't have sounded so wonderstruck. She followed Greg's gesturing hand, then stopped and gaped like a fish out of water.

Ahead of them there was a single acacia tree, its ancient branches hovering high off the ground. But that wasn't what drew their attention. Out from behind the expanse of shrubby leaves came an enormous, spindly, long-limbed creature, golden with deep brown spots.

"A giraffe!" She heard Steven hiss excitedly through his teeth, rushing past her and Pearl to get a closer look. Greg was able to stop him with an amused but cautious laugh, a hand extending in front of Steven's chest and effectively stopping him before he could run underneath the animal's towering legs. "Hold on there a sec, Steven- it's not exactly, uh, safe to go running underneath some wild animal's legs, you know?"

"But dad, look at her!" Steven gesticulated wildly at the regal giraffe. "She's not doing anything bad! She's just eating her leaves like a good giraffe."

Pearl twittered at Steven's side, seeming to concur with Greg about maintaining caution around these creatures. "Your father's right, Steven. Even a. . good giraffe could turn into a dangerous one very quickly."

Peridot's eyes went to Amethyst, who was blowing raspberries in a dismissive kind of way, pushing past Pearl's other side and turning around so she was walking backwards towards the giraffe. "Stop being such buzzkills, you guys. If we're gonna be stuck out here in the middle of nowheresville for the next few hours, let's make the best of it!"

"It's actually the Kalahari-" Pearl pursed her lips discontentedly when Amethyst raised a brow at her, as if to prove her point. "Point taken, but, won't you be careful?"

"Always careful," Amethyst grinned a wily grin, tugging Steven along, up to the giraffe. Peridot ambled in beside Greg, her dubious expression matching that of his. "Is this really a logical thing to be doing? What if one of them gets hurt? None of us have any first aid resources aside from routine CPR training, I want to say." If push came down to shove, Peridot supposed she could rip strips of fabric off of their garments, but, that wouldn't help if a wound became infected. It would just stop blood.

Plus she really didn't wanna see someone's forehead get stomped in by a wayward giraffe hoof today.

Her teeth found her lower lip as she worried lightly at the flesh there as Steven and Amethyst darted up to the giraffe, the former calling up to it expectantly. Surely he didn't think that the- of course the giraffe was now looking down at them like it understood the cadence of human language.

"Hey girl!" Steven waved softly up at the massive animal, beckoning it down (or, its head down, actually, since it was very much on the ground) with an exhilarated hum. "Or boy, it doesn't matter to me! C'mere!"

Peridot didn't think that the big, spotted herbivore would actively respond to Steven, let alone understand what he was saying. But again, despite all the biological and behavioral studies Peridot had been familiarized with for the past two semesters, the giraffe was actually seeming to emote as its tapering head dipped low to the ground, hovering just a few inches above Steven's curly hair. Incredulous, she shared a look with the other safari crew members. She saw her own bafflement mirrored in Pearl's eyes, before they both switched their eyes back to the scene in front of them.

Steven was now reaching up, pale, chubby fingers seeking out something to graze. "C'mon! I won't bite! And, uh, I hope you won't either." His eyes went quickly to the ground, as if he'd just realized something critical, and crouched to grab a handful of dried acacia leaves. "You like leaves, right? Here!"

Greg looked like he wanted to say something, but instead of doing so, he actually began to walk slowly over to his son. A hand clasped over Steven's shoulder as Greg marvelled at the giraffe's docile nature. "Normally I'd be discouraging feeding any of the animals on the reserve, but. ." Steven's deep brown puppy-dog eyes ended up winning over the father over. "I think can make an exception, just this once."

Amethyst joined the father-son duo next, having grown tired of just gawking at the animal's huge, spindly limbs (Peridot swore she heard Amethyst retort something about Pearl and ballerinas, but she wasn't certain) and decided to return to the others. "This thing is almost as tall as that tree! D'ya think it'll let us pet it?"

"They want to pet it?" Peridot winced, and a second later Pearl was off, hand stressfully holding down her touristy pith helmet with a hand as the other found Steven's handless shoulder. "Do you think that's a good idea, Steven?"

"Positive!" He beamed, wholly unaffected by the worry lines creasing Pearl's forehead. That, or he was incredibly naive to her strain. "C'mon, Miss Giraffe! I've got some leaves for you!" He waved his fistful of leaves again, persuading. "Tasty, tasty leaves. ."

"It won't want to eat them out of your palms, Steven," Pearl sighed, gently coaxing the acacia leaves from the boy's fingers, before all at once, hell broke loose.

A multitude of things happened. Amethyst seemed to be laughing hysterically, Steven gaping for a moment before joining in. Greg was staring with a dopey sort of grin painting his cheeks, sharing a quick, amused glance with Garnet as Pearl. . . screamed, for lack of a better term, as the giraffe's blue tongue slipped out and stole the leaves from Pearl's loose fingers. Said fingers clenched together as soon as her friendly assailant had risen its head again, chewing contentedly on the plants as Pearl hid her hand away with some very curious, very birdlike squabbles.

"Oh my god, P," Amethyst was gasping, a hand on her forehead and the other trying to still her quaking heart. "Your face when that thing's tongue-"

"I don't need a reminder!" Pearl clipped in before Amethyst could finish. She made an unpleasant, quivering tremor of a noise, bringing her hand out from the safety of her armpit and staring at it like she'd grown an extra thumb. "I can still feel it."

Steven laughed, bouncing up and grabbing Pearl's hand in his. "Is it sti- eww, haha!" He drew back his hand, a thin film of saliva streaking across his palm. "Yeah, it's a little sticky!"

Peridot had found herself approaching the group with Garnet coming in just behind her. Up close she swore she could feel the strength in the lean legs of the giraffe; while it put on an amenable front, Peridot wasn't about to just let her guard down. . . not when a two-ton Southern giraffe's hooves were only mere feet away from her.

A two-ton giraffe which was now returning for round two, nostrils flaring inquisitively at a flabbergasted Pearl and billowing hot air through them when she had nothing of interest for it to chew on. It turned its head to the next best thing, that being Steven, hands full of little twigs and sleek, brittle leaves. The entire group seemed to hold its collective breath in the giraffe's placid moment of pondering, before its head moved and it stole the leaves from the boy's hands. Steven giggled, hands moving like they wanted to retract, but when the huge head remained close to him, he reached up, delicately, to reach for its short, wiry fur.

Peridot felt alarm for him, since he seemed to harbor none of his own. She marched forward to stop him before he did something he'd regret- like lose a finger to those flat, munching teeth- but was grounded, dumbfounded, as the giraffe allowed the boy to gently caress the size of its broad yellow cheek.

"That's a nice girl," came Garnet's voice, and Peridot made way as the large woman moved past and rested her open palm appeasingly over the curve of the giraffe's muzzle. Oddly enough, the animal seemed to lean fractionally in to the touch. Amethyst was quick to join in, beckoning for Steven as she ran a darker hand through the thin dappled fur. "This is sick."

Despite all of the alarm bells that were still chorusing at the back of Peridot's mind, she couldn't help but feel drawn to join the others. Her feet realized where she was headed before she did, and she was soon hovering next to Steven, staring up the careful muzzle of this great beast. "Um," she whispered tensely to him, voice the opposite of confident. "What should I do to garner its attention?"

"Just. . say hello!" Steven chirped. When Peridot didn't look convinced, he tacked a "she's friendly!" on for good measure.

Say hello, Peridot echoed in her mind, feeling every bit as cynical as she had when Steven had been trying to obtain the giraffe's attention before. She cleared her throat, the beginnings of a grumble resonating at the back of her mouth.

Apparently, that was all the giraffe needed to focus its beady eyes onto her. Peridot stiffened under its heavy, peaceable gaze. Was it regarding her? No, that's impossible- those dark brown eyes were thoughtless. Thoughtless, and nothing more! But if that was the case, why did it look so thoughtful?

In a brilliant moment of word association in the face of this elegant creature, Peridot managed to sputter one audible thing.

"Erm."

And then it licked her, right in the face, with its long blue tongue.

Peridot shrieked, stumbling backwards and tripping into Greg who caught her before she could collapse into the dirt. Her hands flew up to her face to rip off her glasses, wiping her nose vigorously with the sleeve of her shirt to get the saliva off of her face because it was everywhere. Even her glasses were slimy with the stuff!

She could vaguely hear Amethyst's roaring laughter as she bent over her knees, lavender hair flying everywhere as she heaved. Steven was looking at her with concern, but she could see the hilarity in his gaze and in the way he was biting down on his lip to prevent from giggling. "You okay, Peri?"

"Eugh. . . that's debatable," Peridot grumbled as she let herself sink into Greg's arms for an unguarded moment before flopping onto her behind, clenching her overshirt's fabric and rubbing it against the clouded, gooey lenses of her lime wireframes. "That was disgusting."

Steven shrugged, cheeky. "Maybe, but, it was kinda funny!"

Peridot raised a brow at Steven with no real venom behind it, blinking upwards when Garnet fell in beside the boy with a small smile on her lips. "Eh, it was a little funny."

"Yeuck." Peridot swiped some free fingers over the smear of giraffe slobber on her cheek, flicking it disdainfully onto the ground by her boots. She reached back up to get the last dribbles off before freezing, and slowly, began to thread her fingers through her tangled, damp hair. She deflated. "It's in my hair, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately," Garnet mused.

Greg helped Peridot up once she'd finished swatting her face free of spittle, dusting off her khaki shorts with a mix between a sniff and a grumble. When she looked up again Steven was waving off the giraffe who had apparently lost interest after putting its tongue on Peridot's face.

Just wait until her colleagues back at the department heard about this! They'd be macking and howling about it for months, the clods! . . . That is, uh, if she ever saw them again, but she decided she mustn't think so ill of the situation. She'd definitely make it back to Delmarva, hopefully still in one piece.

Or many small bloody ones.

Anyways. . . Peridot removed that unpleasant sentiment from mind, testing the clarity of her glasses before huffing with resignation. "Let's just hope it doesn't decide it wants seconds."

Steven put his hand up to his lips to conceal a blatant smile, sparkling eyes moving from Peridot to Pearl. "At least it didn't lick you again!"

Pearl's face was written over with relief as she nodded frivolously, obviously very much agreeing with him. Greg was the one to speak next, face wrought with something more thoughtful than humor. "Speaking of seconds. . I don't know about y'all, but," he patted his stomach absently, "your old man's kinda getting hungry. Too bad we had to leave all of our things back at the fire."

Ugh, food. Peridot had been doing well enough in keeping the idea of nutritional substances out of mind, but now that it had been openly brought up, the gnawing in her abdomen seemed to grow more prominent. Above her, Pearl and Garnet were acknowledging Greg's concern and having a quick interplay.

"There has to be some edible form of crop for us to find here," Pearl argued, eyeing a prickly, dark-toned bush that flanked the group at the foot of the acacia. "The animals feed, so naturally we must be able to, as well."

"Our systems aren't quite as adaptive to this sort of environment, however," Peridot spoke up, having been watching Pearl ogle the yew bush. "They can tolerate things we can't. And that bush is a yew; those berries are poisonous."

Amethyst, who had been gathering the little red berries in her hand, glanced down at them with that, and slowly let them clatter earthward with disappointment. "Figures."

"We won't have to, uh-" Steven piped up, wringing his hands awkwardly together as big brown eyes swept over Peridot. "Hunt, will we? I mean- I've gone fishing before, but, I've never-"

"We won't need to come to that. It's discouraged in the reserve, anyways," Garnet spoke up. "Say," she added after a brief pause, sending Peridot a look behind her dark shades. Or, she thought Garnet had. "Do you suppose you could direct us towards an area where there might be something of value?" She then looked over to the yew. "Preferably something edible."

Could she? Peridot mulled over Garnet's request before giving a proud nod. "Certainly," she boasted, pushing past the others and ignoring the odd sensation of sticky hair clinging to her stickier forehead. "Follow me. There ought to be something in that copse there, past those bushes." There had to be; little deciduous areas such as that were popular grazing grounds for herbivores of all fares.

The group moved across the flat, grassy soils, maneuvering through the clods of shrubby thickets and stopping at the edge of the tangled grove. Six great acacia trees sat clumped together, their trunks reaching high into the cloud-speckled sky, a great barrier of stunted shrubbery lining the areas positioned between them. Peridot's eyes scrutinized the arid vegetation. The chances of finding something edible were slim, and the chance that it would be even remotely tasty was even slimmer. But she had to chance it still, lest she and the others want to trudge through the coming afternoon with empty stomachs and growing tempers.

She had stepped over a matted clump of dried grass mulch when her eyes caught something bright and shimmering within the leafy confines of a shrub. She did a studious double-take, teeth clipping her tongue thoughtfully as she scrambled over. Tucked into the rough leaves of a mallow-like, flowering bush were golden, bulbous fruits, ones Peridot vaguely recognized as the indigenous African Sandpaper Raisins. "A grewia," she mumbled to herself as her fingers gently pinched the soft fruits, and found them to be just past ripe. It was better than nothing.

"Here," Peridot grunted, climbing back onto her feet with a handful of fruits she'd picked out. "These are Sandpaper Raisins, the fruits from this shrub. T3hey're safe." She handed one to Steven, then the next to Amethyst and then Garnet. When the staidly woman eyed the fruit then took an experimental bite. Peridot didn't know she was holding her breath until Garnet gave her a thumbs-up and took another bite. Peridot couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. She'd helped out in some way now!

She and Greg went in to harvest some more of the slightly overripened fruits, placing any extras in a pile beside the shrub as the group ate. The taste wasn't spectacular, no, but beggars couldn't be choosers- not when Peridot had only eaten a quarter of her trail mix bag over some twelve hours ago. Now that she thought about it, what time was it?

She swiped a bit of the raisin-like fruit's moisture from the side of her lip with a thumb while her eyes travelled down to her wrist. The digital watch face read 12:03 PM.

"It's noon," Peridot noted aloud, drawing the eyes of her companions, lips pursing with discontent. "Over fourteen hours since losing our Jeep, now roughly ten hours since losing Lapis."

That last remark certainly seemed to put a damper on things. She saw Amethyst and Pearl exchange a glance through the corner of her gaze and pretended she hadn't seen for her own sake. She was only stating the dire facts.

"If only I still had a working radio," Greg lamented, shifting in the soil beside Peridot and bringing out a cracked walkie-talkie from his shorts pocket. Peridot raised a brow. "I didn't know you'd broken it."

"It was an accident, honest," the older man explained, tapping the inactive machine with a grimace. "It must have broken when I fell in the brambles after Nyumbani-Dunia attacked the second time. I only noticed it was broken when I tried to call in for recovery dispatch this morning."

"Let me see it." Peridot requested, and Greg handed her the damaged device. The casing had been cracked off, revealing the green circuit board underneath. She was pleased to see it was mostly undamaged, but as she peered closer she could see two ports that had been crunched into themselves. She groaned. "I don't have the right tools to properly bounce the circuits back up without damaging them even more."

Again she mourned for her backpack, which conveniently had a small multitool tucked into one of its many pockets. In hindsight, she probably should have stored that in her pocket like she had her water back at the Jeep with Lapis. It would have been better than lugging it with the rest of her things. By the looks on the others' faces, none of them had any tools to use, either. Amethyst had a few bobby pins that she offered, but Peridot knew better than to try to scratch up the circuits more than they already were.

Nevertheless, she put the walkie in her pocket. She could fiddle with it later when they stopped to rest again, whenever that may be. Her gaze went around their little misshapen circle. She glanced up to see Amethyst trying and kind of succeeding in juggling the yellow fruits, sending a wink Pearl's way with a mellow cackle. Pearl only sighed with a tired smile, elbows resting on her knees as her eyes moved over to Steven. He seemed intrigued by the fruits still, having snapped one open to get a better look at them now that he wasn't wolfing them down. Garnet was sitting cross-legged next to him, pointing something out to the boy that he giggled at. Finally it traveled to Greg next to her, and despite everything, Peridot felt a sense of safety among them. She didn't know why. She barely knew them, right?

"Y'know, Steven," Greg spoke up before Peridot had time to reflect on that. "It's at a time like this you'd bring out that good ol' ukulele of yours."

Steven could play the ukulele? Peridot had never been partial to any instruments herself, save for a triangle she often got paired up with during music class in secondary school. The boy in question was now looking thoughtful, setting down the fruit he'd been fondling. "I wish I had it with me. I think I left it in the Jeep, though, in my backpack. I think it's in the cheese."

". . In the cheese?" Peridot questioned.

"Oh! I have the limited edition cheeseburger backpack from Wacky Sacks!" Steven's face was alive with excitement now as he explained what he meant. "Every ingredient in a cheeseburger is a layer in the backpack! Like, there's a bun, the meat, the cheese, the lettu-"

"I understand fine now," Peridot stopped him before he could splurge any further. She didn't know why one side of her lips were quirked with endearment.

Garnet spoke up next, shifting in the soil and turning her shades out to the rest of the group. "I have an idea. Why don't we make the most of this little break?" Peridot paled when Garnet tilted her head at her, the curve to her mouth every bit knowing. "I take it some of us are feeling a little. . . baffled."

"If you say so," Amethyst yawned, taking a bite of one of her former juggling balls. "I'm feeling just fine." She began nudging Pearl, a coaxing smirk written all over her features. "How about it? Maybe a game of Paranoia? 'Truth or Dare'? 'Never Have I Ever'?"

"Oh, don't be silly," was Pearl's response as she shrugged Amethyst off, smiling. "In this house we play Twenty Questions."

Steven looked up, face glowing with anticipation. "Oh! Isn't that the one where you ask each other a bunch of questions about each other? That'd be fun!"

"Actually it's an old parlor game," Pearl corrected. "One where one person needs to think of a certain object and the others get twenty questions to ask what it is." She must have seen Steven's expression falter, because she rolled her shoulders and leaned over to ruffle the boy's hair. "But we can play your version instead."

"Woo-hoo! Can I go first?" When there were no objection to Steven's request, the boy got comfortable, hands placed keenly over his eyes as his eyes shone with enticement. "Okay! Hmm. . . okay, Peridot first!"

Peridot livened, eyes roaming up from the ground as she was called upon. She didn't want to divulge more than she absolutely had to, but, there was no real danger in revealing any sort of personal details right now. "Err, alright. What's your question?"

"What's your favourite kind of music?" The boy asked. "Like, rock or jazz, or. . you know! The other kinds!"

Peridot bit lightly into the flesh of her cheek. She did admit to having some specific affinities for different types of musics, and loathe as she was to admit it. . . "I have a certain affinity for. . country music whenever I'm upset," she offered, ignoring Amethyst's amused grin and Greg's little chuckle. "But on a normal day, spacey DnB music."

The rest of the group nodded, like that bit of information made sense. Peridot fidgeted until Steven called on her to ask someone else a question about them. She hrm'd, narrowed eyes studying the others before deciding on her receiving candidate. "Pearl," she began, "what do you. . . do, besides this? You mentioned you had a degree in mechanics."

Pearl looked pleasantly surprised that she'd been picked next, practically preening as a hand swept through her sweaty pink locks of hair. "Well, currently I balance between being a ballet instructor and a fencing coach in Beach City, where all of us come from. My major was mechanics and rocket science, yes, but with a minor in the arts. I can fix things if they happen to come my way."

Peridot rubbed her chin, analytical, and gave a contented noise. She could appreciate another artist, even if she would never lower herself to create things like performance pieces. Pearl called upon Greg next, asking something about someone by the name of Rose. Greg flushed in response, hand flying up to itch nervously at the back of his neck. "Well of course I miss her," he uttered quietly. "Every day I do. It never got easier, but, I just got used to it. I think."

Peridot suddenly wished she'd been paying closer attention to what Pearl had asked, but based on the context in the crestfallen faces of everyone around, she could assume that Rose must have been someone important to all of them. She probably shouldn't pander where she didn't belong, so she kept her mouth shut, and her curiosity in check.

"All right, Amethyst, you're up," Greg proclaimed next, throwing the spotlight onto the lavender-haired group member. "What would you say is the best season of Little Butler? Answer wisely."

"Dude, come on," Amethyst groaned, hiding her face behind her hands in frustration. "You can't just make me choose. Ugh, fine, it's gotta be season two."

Greg seemed satisfied by the answer, letting out a mirthful laugh and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Called it! Who're you gonna ask next?"

Amethyst's gaze swept over the others with the craftiness of a languid panther, before setting onto one of them. "Garnet. What's the hardest part about being a firefighter? Is it the heat? When everything's all on fire and stuff?"

"Hmm." Garnet adjusted her shades, astute, as she considered the answer. Meanwhile, Peridot was eyeing the woman with evident interest. She didn't know she was a firefighter; in fact, she knew the least about Garnet than any other member of the group. So she kept attentive when Garnet answered a few heartbeats later. "The hardest part is when we see others trapped inside the buildings. In the flames. We work to get them out, of course, but there is always the chance that fate has another plan."

Oh. Peridot suddenly felt as though she were treading on thin ground, lips pursed inward as Amethyst let out a quiet 'yikes' somewhere near her. Garnet was unphased though, instead turning to Steven with a fond smile. "Now it's your turn again, Steven. Tell me, what are you most looking forward to? It can be anything and everything."

"Well. ." Steven's face contorted as he pondered the question, almost looking troubled. "I'm excited to see Connie again! I remember she was a little sad she couldn't come with us because of all the projects she has to do for school, so. . . and I'm ready to find Lapis and get out of here."

Ah, there it was. That minute thorn of grief that Peridot had become accustomed to, wedged into the side of her heart, returned with a renewed vigor. She swallowed the dry air, reaching up to scratch awkwardly at her cheek. The others seemed to sense the boy's discomfort, too.

"You'll see both of them again soon enough," Garnet soothed, placing her strong hand on Steven's back comfortingly. She lifted up her shades and winked at Steven, and for the first time, Peridot noticed the heterochromia in her eyes: one brown, and one blue. "Trust me."

Whatever dubiety Steven held melted away under her touch, and he gave a little laugh and hugged onto Garnet's arm. "Always."

It was quiet, then, as the group began to discard the remains of the fruits. No one was starving anymore, and their thirsts had been minorly quenched by the juices- but Peridot knew it would return soon enough. It would only stave them off until later, when it got darker and more risky to be out in the open.

"I propose we keep moving," she ended up suggesting, climbing up and swatting herself down. "I can't imagine the dispatch team will find us at this rate, so we'd better keep trying to find them."

And Lapis, she added mentally, but didn't want to risk another round of teasing from a playful Steven and coy Amethyst. She wasn't too happy to need to be out of the shade, having grown used to its coolness, but she would rather know she was being productive and actively seeking help with the others than growing lethargic under an acacia tree.

Hold on, she prompted to the empty, cloud-smattered skies above as the group began to march across the savannah. A few more hours, and the sky itself would be as dark and blue as Lapis' hair. We're coming.