Jasper turned the page of the book that the human runt gave her. Connie just left the house after their reading session and had said that she was impressed with Jasper's advancements. Now the quartz gem could read at a tenth-grade level, although she didn't know what that meant. Jasper grimaced at a new word in her book and struggled to figure out what it was. After a few minutes of trying to sound it out in her head, Jasper slammed the book shut and tossed it onto the living room table. She reclined back into her couch, wondering if she would ever learn what the elusive word was or if it even mattered. Fangs of Love proved to be an awful book, full of horrific puns and sex scenes that made Jasper want to puke.

The sound of the refrigerator closing brought Jasper's attention into the kitchen. Amethyst had her arms full with apparently a random assortment of foods, some of which Jasper doubted came from the fridge or should ever be placed in a mouth. The purple gem dropped her goods onto the table and began to create a crude version of a sandwich. Jasper sneered at the sight but she could not deny the rumbling of her stomach as Amethyst drowned her creation with ketchup.

As her ability to read grew every day, so did Jasper's appetite. She still could not digest solid foods but she was able to drink more of the smoothies, something Jasper could not decide if it was a good or bad thing. The quartz gem went back into her laying position and watched as the ceiling fan turned lazily. With every full cycle, Jasper's eyes fought to stay open longer.

"Hey, Jasper!"

Jasper groaned and rolled onto her side so that she did not have to face the brat bounding down the stairs. She felt one of Steven's hands shake her left arm in an attempt to gain her attention. Jasper glanced behind her shoulder to glare down at the smiling boy. "What do you want now?"

Steven was not deterred by the coldness in Jasper's voice. "I want to treat you to Big Donut!," he exclaimed, rocking on the heels of his feet. "Think of it as a reward for trying so hard at reading and not attacking Connie."

Jasper raised an eyebrow and considered her options. She could stay at the beach house just to spite the human brat. Perhaps she could even rake her claws against the couch, the gems having decided to trust Jasper enough that they removed the plastic from the furniture. However, she hadn't been outside since the hospital and it was getting stuffy in the house, since she had no clearance to enter the temple itself. Jasper sat up and sighed, grunting an affirmative before getting off the couch. The quartz gem more marched than walked over to the backpack shaped as some sort of human food. She believed that it was called a cheeseburger. Jasper zipped open the backpack and made sure that it held all of the medical equipment Dr. Mesawarhwan had given Pearl. She placed her book in one of the less full compartments before zipping it close and shrugging it on. If the brat tried to talk to her she could just start to read. The backpack easily weighed fifty pounds and Jasper was secretly glad for the weight, having nothing to keep her in shape.

The quartz gem exited the beach house without a glance at Steven, knowing that the boy would simply follow her outside. She leaned against the railing and lifted her face to the wind, taking a deep breath of the clean outside air.

"Steven! Hey, Steven!"

Any hope of peace was ruined by the high-pitched voice invading her sensitive ears. Jasper released a low growl and turned her head to watch as Steven ran down the stairs, laughing all the while. She should have known that there was a catch. Although she just wished that it wasn't in the form of the small green technician. Jasper shoved herself off the railing, smirking at the littering of cracks spreading across where her palms had abused the wood.

She walked over to the edge of the porch where the stairs began and sneered down at the sight of Steven embracing Peridot in a hug. The green gem returned the hug quickly with dark green cheeks, apparently still unused to Steven's lack of personal boundaries. Peridot's eyes glanced up and Jasper smirked down at the technician, barely biting back a chuckle when Peridot's face paled. Peridot ended the embrace and looked as if she wanted nothing more than to run away from the house and Jasper but Steven kept his hold tight.

Jasper walked down the stairs, each step causing Peridot to appear more and more uncomfortable with the entire situation. When Jasper reached the foot of the stairs, the quartz gem leaned against the cliff's face and looked down on Peridot.

Steven finally noticed that the green gem had become stiff in his arms and he ended the hug to look at her. He followed her wide eyes to Jasper and then grinned back at Peridot like it was no big deal that the quart gem was outside without any restraints or guardians. "Oh, did I forget to mention that Jasper is coming too?"

"Yes!" Peridot managed to squeak out. She took a step away from Jasper as her eyes flashed about, trying to find any metal that she could control to protect herself and Steven. When she found none, Peridot grabbed Steven's arm and placed herself between him and Jasper.

Steven only laughed and patted Peridot's back in a vain attempt to calm her. "You don't have to do that. Jasper is tame now, she won't hurt us."

Jasper growled at the choice of words and almost smirked at how Peridot instinctively took a step back which caused the technician to back into Steven. "I can hurt you both but I rather stay here than go back to that bubble." The quartz gem crossed her arms and sneered down at Peridot who gulped. "Now are you going to continue to act childish or are we going to move?"

Peridot's eyes hardened and she let go off Steven's arm. "I am not a child," she said. Even though Peridot stood straight and stared up at Jasper, a small tremor leaked into her voice. To hide any further discomfort and fear, Peridot turned her back on Jasper and started to march away, half-dragging, half-walking with Steven.

The quartz warrior was stunned by Peridot's sudden show of bravery at leaving her entire back exposed. Jasper glanced back at the beach house and then started to follow the duo as they strolled towards the boardwalk. She turned her head this way and that, analyzing and familiarizing herself with Beach City's layout. Jasper was unimpressed with the barbaric attempts of buildings and vehicles. Jasper also noticed that even though Steven and Peridot were well away from her reach, Peridot still made sure that she was behind Steven and in between him and Jasper. Jasper found the position rather annoying, especially when the human boy had to crane his neck around the green gem to yell something to Jasper, even though the quartz warrior could have heard him just fine if he had whispered it. Her eyes went back to the duo in front of her as Steven informed her what a car was. Each new thing that Steven pointed out to Jasper was responded with a grunt as the quartz gem thought about how inferior everything was compared to the technology on Homeworld.

"How are things?" Peridot finally spoke for the first time since the trio started walking. The tremor in her voice was gone but Jasper could easily read the unease in the way Peridot walked. The technician had her fingers splayed out and Jasper could tell that Peridot was feeling all the metal around them, ready to use it at her disposal at a moment's notice.

Steven had to turn around and walk backwards to answer Peridot. "Great! Garnet fixed the hole that Jasper created in the living room yesterday." One side of Jasper's lips twitched up in a smirk. She would have to find another spider to squash soon. "Oh, and Lion didn't try to sleep on top of Jasper last night."

Whatever smidge of joy that Jasper was feeling was snuffed out by the boy's last statement. She scowled and crossed her arms again, imagining wiping the confused look from Peridot's face when the gem looked back at her.

"Lion sleeps on Jasper?" Peridot asked Steven, looking back in front of her when she saw the nasty scowl Jasper was sending her.

Steven nodded. "He does most nights but this is the first time that he didn't!" He was practically skipping with all of his excitement. "Lion always wants to be around Jasper now but he would wake her up in the middle of the night when he laid on top of her. So, this was the first time that Jasper got her full eight hours."

Bullshit, Jasper thought to herself. Jasper placed a hand over her gem and felt the thump of her heart right underneath. Last night was the first where she didn't have any night terrors and gotten a full night's sleep. That damnable animal knew when she was having night terrors and would wake her up on purpose before she destroyed the house. Jasper was also aware that Steven knew when she had night terrors as well but so far the boy kept his observations to himself. The brat was annoying at times but Jasper had to admit that he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

Once again, Peridot turned her head to look at Jasper. "You sleep now?"

Jasper gave a simple grunt in response, not willing to disclose any information on her new form and its demands.

Steven frowned at Jasper's grunt and went to answer Peridot for the quartz gem. "Yeah, and she needs to eat and drink like me too. Her new form isn't all that stable so her gem doesn't give off enough energy." He gave a shrug like it was no big deal while Peridot halted to stare up at Jasper, her eyes trained on her nose where her gem used to be. For some reason, Jasper felt heat rise up on her cheeks as Peridot continued to study her face with a mildly concerned expression.

"What happens when you don't sleep or eat?" Peridot asked.

"I'm not sure," Jasper answered truthfully, her cheeks still flushed from Peridot's staring. She didn't understand why her body was reacting the way it was and Jasper hid her confusion with a grunt. "But I don't plan to find out." She glanced up at the building in front of them and released a sigh of relief. "We're here by the way so you can stop staring at me."

It was Peridot's turn to sport a blush and she coughed into a closed fist before crossing her arms behind her back. "Well, I was simply trying to discern whether you were a threat to humanity or not." She turned around and opened the door, her eyes glancing up to find the source of the responding ding. "We may continue on our endeavor."

Jasper rolled her eyes at Peridot's attempt to act calm and in charge. She marched past the green gem and looked about the store. She saw Steven rush past her and run directly to the glass container where all the different types of donuts were displayed. Jasper turned her head this way and that to look about, finding nothing that piqued her curiosity. She glanced down and saw that Peridot was staring at everything in awe, her eyes flashing from one object to the next within seconds.

Jasper rolled her eyes again and walked over to where Steven was still trying to decide which donut he wanted. She looked down at the two humans manning the counter. One was Steven's height and had blonde hair and was currently staring at her, or more accurately her horns. The other was taller and had his back to Jasper, completely unaware of her presence. The short one continued to stare at Jasper as she poked the other's back repeatedly, each poke becoming more and more aggressive.

"Sadie, will you quit that!" The man yelled out, turning to face the short one. "I'm actually trying to do work her-, what is that!?" he shrieked, reaching underneath the counter to grab something. His hand came back up with a chocolate covered donut and he pointed it at her.

Steven stood up from his kneeling position in front of the glass container. "Hey, its rude to call someone a 'that.'" He looked up at Jasper. "Her name's Jasper and this is her first time here so be nice." He pointed at the donut that the other male was still holding like a weapon. "Can I buy that, Lars?"

Lars slowly lowered the donut he was wielding, his eyes not straying from Jasper. Jasper narrowed her own eyes and felt someone watching her. She glanced down and saw Peridot also staring at her, a look of concentration on her face as her right hand was clenched into a tight fist. Her eyes streaked over to where a freezer holding something called Lion Lickers was floating a few centimeters above the ground, something that most people would not be able to see at one glance except if you were trained to notice such things. Realization dawned on Jasper's face and she almost smacked her forehead for not realizing it sooner. The gems sent Peridot to watch over her! The whole Peridot being surprised by her coming along was all an act. An errant growl forced its way out of her throat and she couldn't even feel the satisfaction of Lars and Sadie jumping in shock at the sound. The growling stopped and Jasper shook her head slowly, raising her hands, palms outward to show that she meant no harm. Peridot's eyes narrowed but she relaxed her fist, the freezer touching the ground without a sound. Jasper's hands fell back to her sides and she turned to face the humans once more.

"Sh-she's safe to be around, right?" Sadie asked, her hand fisting Lars's shirt.

"Yeah, but she does growl a lot." Steven gestured to the donut Lars was still holding. "Can I please buy that donut, Lars? I'm really hungry."

Lars glanced between Steven and Jasper a few times before he nodded slowly. "Uh, sure." He went about ringing up the donut and taking Steven's offered money, his eyes still flashing up to Jasper during the whole process. Jasper in turn glared down at the man, wondering if she could at least punch him without being sent back to the basement in a bubble or having a freezer thrown at her.

"Do you, um, want anything?"

It took Jasper a moment to realize that Lars was talking to her. She looked up at the menu but most of the foods were solids and she knew she couldn't risk eating something that may send her back to the hospital. Her stomach seemed to disagree with her as it grumbled quite loudly. The quartz gem felt a tug on her pants and she looked down to see Steven smiling up at her. She groaned, knowing that the human child wanted to order for her. She didn't say anything, only jerking her head up once to give him permission.

Steven's smile widened and he slapped down a five-dollar bill on the counter. "A large banana smoothie and make it chunky!"

A shudder ran through Jasper's spine. "I am tired of those smoothies," she said.

The smile dimmed a little. "But you'll like this one! It tastes really good and it isn't all that healthy for you." When Jasper still looked unconvinced, Steven continued with a sly smile, "Pearl wouldn't approve."

For some reason, that logic made the smoothie sound much more desirable than a moment before. "Fine," Jasper grunted. She watched with little interest as Sadie prepared the smoothie. At least this human had the decency not to glance at her every second. When the smoothie was done, Jasper was a little surprised that the concoction was not a nasty green color like the ones Pearl made her. She grabbed it and took an experimental sniff before sipping it. Her eyes widened in shock as the drink hit her tongue. She finished the drink in one huge gulp and slammed the cup down on the counter, not missing the other three staring at her in awe instead of fear and distrust. "Another!" she said. She had no idea that smoothies could taste so good! Jasper now had the suspicion that the pearl was intentionally making her smoothies taste so disgusting. One day she would make the gem pay but right now she wanted another smoothie.

"Uh, sure, that'll just be another two dollars since it's a refill," Sadie said. Lars was already preparing her drink when Steven handed over the correct amount.

Jasper eagerly grabbed the cup and once again downed the entire thing in one gulp. She looked down at Steven expectantly and the boy handed over another two dollars. Lars refilled the cup but as Jasper went to drink it, he set another smoothie in front of her.

"On the house," he said. He looked down at Sadie, "How much you want to bet that she can drink this one too without needing to take a breath?" Apparently seeing her drink a few smoothies was enough to convince the male that she was not going to hurt him.

Sadie glanced between Jasper who had finished her third cup and the one in front of the gem. "I don't gamble, especially when I know I'm going to lose."

Lars seemed discouraged for a moment but when Jasper reached for the last cup, he started to bang his fists into the counter. "Chug, chug, chug!" he chanted.

Jasper shrugged, feeling a bit smug with all the positive attention she was receiving. She upended the cup but when she drank half of the contents, a horrible pain took root in her brain. The quartz gem dropped the cup, spilling the smoothie onto the floor and a bit on Peridot's legs. She ignored the prompted yell and gripped at her head, yowling as the pain got worse. "What the fuck!? Shit!" she cursed.

"Don't swear in front of Steven!" Sadie chastised the gem.

Jasper hissed in pain and tried to rub at her temples to make the pain go away to no avail. She noticed that Peridot was no longer yelling at her but laughing at her, along with Lars and Steven. Jasper whirled her head around and tried to snarl at the green gem but ended up cursing more which caused Sadie to chastise her more which then caused the other three to laugh even harder. "I'll do whatever you say, just make the pain stop!" Jasper finally got out.

Sadie huffed and grabbed a half-empty bottle of soda from under the counter. "Drink some of this and then press your thumb to the roof of your mouth." She demonstrated for Jasper while the quartz gem quickly drank the rest of the bottle. Jasper did what she was told and the pain ceased after a few moments. She sighed in relief before glaring down at the still snickering Peridot.

Peridot was unfazed by the glare, a few giggles escaping the gem every few seconds. She sobered a little and wiped away a tear that formed at the edge of her eye.

Before Jasper could growl or hiss at her, she felt another tug on her pants. She looked down at Steven who was grinning up at her, a few splashes of banana smoothie dirtying his pants and shirt. "What do we say?" When Jasper did not answer, he gave the clothes another tug. "Come on, Jasper. Be nice."

Jasper growled low in her throat. "Thank you," she ground out.

"Huh," Peridot said, her head tilting a little to the left. "I guess an old gem can learn new tricks."

"Don't forget that Garnet isn't here to protect you," Jasper warned, baring her fangs and elongating her claws in a display of power.

Peridot gave a little meep and took a step back, accidentally kicking the forgotten cup and making more of a mess. "L-Lapis would be mad if you tried to hurt me," she said as her right hand clenched into a fist again. The freezer hovered above the ground but Jasper noticed that it was more unstable this time, floating back down before rising again, like Peridot was having trouble concentrating.

A low growl erupted from Jasper's throat but she allowed her claws to revert back to their normal length and covered her fangs. Jasper felt ridiculous that the mere mention of the water gem could make her heart thump faster and harder in her chest. Hiding her frustration, the quartz gem stomped out of the shop, feeling everyone's eyes trail after her. She leaned against the bike rail outside and waited for Steven and Peridot to come out. After a minute, the door dinged but Jasper didn't look behind her.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Steven said, walking up next to Jasper. He looked up at the quartz warrior and noticed the tense shoulders. "Hey, don't worry about the mess," he said, patting Jasper's hip in what he thought was a reassuring manner. The action only served to make Jasper grumble under her breath. "I made plenty of worse messes, like one time-"

Jasper started to tune Steven's voice out as he continued to talk about some fire crystals and donuts. The boy started leading the gems back to the outskirts of Beach City but Jasper noted that it wasn't in the direction of the temple. She looked around her new surroundings and realized with a start that they were walking towards the barn. Jasper's eyes skirted to Peridot and saw the green gem fidgeting with her fingers. Apparently Peridot also noted the direction Steven was leading them and she didn't like it. Jasper only hoped that the technician didn't give voice to her misgivings and have Steven take them back to the temple.

Whether it was because Peridot was trusting Jasper enough or more likely she was afraid of what Jasper would do, the green gem kept her mouth shut and eventually the trio could see the barn in the distance. Jasper felt the urge to sprint past the two but she managed to keep the pace she was going, knowing that displaying her eagerness might cause Steven to turn them around. Her eyes flashed across the building and landscape, hoping to catch a glimpse of the water gem. However, she could not find Lapis anywhere and the wind was not strong enough to carry her scent that far away to the group.

Before Jasper could possibly get close enough to look inside the barn, Steven stopped walking. He turned around and looked up at Jasper with a serious face. Jasper met his gaze and once again saw the knowing look in his eyes. She knew without a doubt that Steven knew that she was just barely able to keep herself still and not go off to look for Lapis.

"Okay, Jasper," he began, squaring his shoulders in an attempt to look more tough. "I understand that the others," he nodded towards Peridot who looked as if she was a second away from bolting to the barn, "don't trust you enough to do this but I know you. I know you won't hurt Lapis and I know that you won't hurt Peridot because that would upset Lapis." He turned his attention to Peridot. "You don't trust Jasper, I get that. She hurt a lot of people but she's different now."

Peridot frowned at Steven as if she was trying to figure out what Jasper was doing to make him say the things he did. "I don't think this is a good idea," she pleaded. "Let's just take her back to the temple and away from Lapis."

"So Lapis is there." Jasper took a step towards the barn but Peridot immediately went in her way. Jasper didn't growl or threaten Peridot, she simply bent down and picked up the green gem. There was no metal for Peridot to defend herself with. A series of punches and kicks came from the technician but Jasper ignored them all, looking down at Peridot. "Stop." The one word was enough to make Peridot cease her struggling against the bigger gem.

Steven frowned up at Jasper but did not say anything. He looked at Peridot and gave her an encouraging grin. "Don't worry, Peridot. I'll only be gone for a few minutes and if anything happens, you can call me from your tablet."

Peridot stayed limp in Jasper's grasp as she weighed her options. Sensing that she couldn't do anything else, she nodded with a resigned sigh. "Fine but if she breaks anything I'm holding you responsible." She slapped at the arm holding her. "And let me down!"

Surprising Peridot, Jasper let go of the green gem and watched as she fell down to the ground. Peridot quickly got back on her feet and brushed off any dirt that got on her uniform. Jasper looked back at the barn with a suppressed grin. Finally she could talk to Lapis.

"I'm going to go now, tell Lapis I said hi!" Steven called back as he began to run back to the temple. Jasper turned her head to watch him go, wondering not for the first time what made the human boy tick.

A cough brought her attention back down to Peridot. The technician was obviously very uncomfortable with being alone with Jasper. She resumed playing with her fingers as her eyes studied the dirt.

"You visited me at the hospital with Lapis," Jasper said, breaking the minute-long silence.

Peridot jumped at the statement like she didn't expect Jasper to remember that detail. Her cheeks turned a darker emerald as her fingers picked at one another. "I wanted to see the human contraptions."

"You already said that," Jasper responded.

Peridot nodded and rubbed at her arm as the blush deepened. "Yeah but I also wanted to, well, thank you for not barreling into me before. You probably would have poofed me with your, um," Peridot glanced at Jasper's horns, "you know."

Jasper's eyes widened but before she could respond, Peridot turned around and marched into the barn. She stayed where she was, her cheeks flushing once more as a hand absentmindedly touched her horn. Perhaps the humans had put something in her smoothie when she wasn't looking.