The Date
It was just before school ended for Christmas break, when Peridot came home with a smile on her face. Since the arrival of the gem nurses and hiring human helpers Peridot did have a lot more free time on her hands. Since Steven had cut back on his hours at the bar so did he.
"Steven I've arranged a free day this Tuesday and since you don't have work or classes that day. I was thinking of spending some time together," said Peridot.
"Shall we meet up at our love nest in the kindergarten?" said Steven as he embraced her.
"I was thinking we go on a date, a proper date and take the time to explore this town. After all we have all day and night to be with each other."
"So what about tonight? Shall we fly each other to the moon?"
"Nothing I'd like more but let's keep it quiet. After all we do have a roommate."
As Steven picked up his lover and carried her to the room they shared, Sour Cream smiled to himself. Making sure they were busy he picked up his cellphone.
"Madame Ambassador what are doing this Tuesday. Negotiating with Kazakhstan. What's in Kazakhstan? Well Steven and Peridot will be out of the house all day Tuesday and I since you're watched like a hawk in New York" Sour Cream trailed off suggestively.
When Tuesday morning came Steven woke his lover with a kiss. Peridot responded quite eagerly.
"Are you sure you don't want to spend all day at home?"
"Steven the extent of our time together is either fighting for our lives, working on a project or making love. We spend far too little time as a proper couple, I want to go out on a proper date. This time we won't be bothered by Garnet or some other menace."
"So what do you want to do?"
"Oh I've got a few ideas."
After they got dressed Peridot made sure to appear human and wear a beret covering her gem. They were greeted with the sight of Sour Cream sweeping the floor. The young man seemed absorbed in his work. Then the couple left to see the Kingsport docks. There they looked at the boats still moored and looked in on the fish market. Peridot gasped when she saw the giant squid like thing the fishermen had brought in. As the thing fought for its life Peridot gasped and pointed at it.
"Steven that thing is a corrupted gem. We have to save her."
"Are you sure?" Just then a fisherman stabbed the hapless gem with a harpoon. The squid disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Damn that's the second time this week. What is it with these cursed waters? The squid was worth more than the pearl. Douglas call the jewelers we have another gem to sell."
Not wasting a moment Peridot ran over to the fishermen, "Excuse me you were saying that you sell these gems from the sea to a jewelers could you give me their name and address?"
Within moments Steven and Peridot were at the Kadith's Own Jewelers. As they stepped into the jeweler's Peridot gasped at all the gems cut and set in necklaces, rings and bracelets. To her it was a house of horrors. To the shop keeper he saw two people in love.
"Good morning, lovely day isn't it? I can see you're in love. We've got a lovely assortment of engagement rings. Care to take a look?"
Peridot's eyes widened. Some of the jewelry sparkled in only the way a living or once living gem could. She whispered something in Steven's ear.
"Yes Dorothy here is interested in buying any gemstones that you got from the Kingsport fish market. Could we see them by any chance?"
"Yes you're very lucky these gemstones have such a sparkle and shine to them. They're in great demand but we still have some pieces of jewelry made from them." With a flourish the attendant opened the jeweler's case.
Inside were two bracelets and a large pendant. Peridot's vision blurred at the horror of these gems trapped by the precious metal cages. It must be horrible for the gems.
"I'll take them all and the fish market they'll be delivering a pearl. I'd like that before you set it into anything."
"Whoa that's a lot of money there."
"Let's just say I have a special interest and I do have the money," said Peridot as she handed him her credit card.
The next stop was back to their apartment where Peridot dropped off their find in the Kindergarten.
As a cat observed them the couple headed off a coffee shop. They had used up their coffee rations so they had to buy the substitute to drink. Peridot made a face as she drank hers now more than ever she missed her Jalla.
"So what do you want to do now?" asked Steven.
"Oh I've got some ideas," answered Peridot cryptically.
A few moments later they entered the Kingsport town museum. After they paid for their tickets a young woman with large eyes and flabby lips greeted them.
"Welcome to the Kingsport Museum, I'm Elisa Kreuger and I'll be leading a group tour of the museum. We will start in about 5 minutes."
As they waited the young couple peered at the odd artifacts. There were several artifacts clearly of gem origin, some photographs of the Kindergarten and sketches of what looked like gem mutants. The curators clearly had no idea what these things were as Peridot recognized a cooking appliance in place of honor. Steven was clearly fascinated by the items on display.
"It that a weapon?" he pointed at something that looked like a gun.
"No that's a hair dryer."
"Is that a weapon?" asked Steven as he pointed at what looked a chisel embedded in a crystal handle.
"No that's a sculptor's chisel."
"Is that a weapon?"
"Steven not everything the gems created was a weapon! But in this case it is a weapon for humans."
They stopped their conversation as they saw Elisa come to the front. The young woman cleared her throat.
"Thank you all for coming to the Kingsport Musuem. Kingsport was originally three towns Arkham, Innsmouth and Kingsport. Each town has its own colorful history but they amalgamated in 1953. Arkham was a university town, home to Miskatonic University which was made famous by Hebert Percival Lovecraft in his horror stories published in Weird Tales. Miskatonic University was originally an agricultural college but by the time HP Lovecraft attended as an English Major it was a fully-fledged university. There is plenty of evidence that Mr. Lovecraft used to frequent a place known as the Canyon of Souls which we now know to be a Gem Kindergarten. A place where gem young were born and the injured treated. Just recently the Kindergarten has been reactivated and is now being used a hospital to treat Gem war vets."
Steven peered at the pictures of the Canyon of Souls even 80 years ago the canyon was the stuff of nightmares. No wonder why Lovecraft wrote horror stories. As they moved further on Steven saw some sketches of what were clearly gem mutants and corrupted gems.
Elisa continued, "Here we have a series of sketches done by a Mr. Pickman before he became famous for his bird paintings. Though the subject matter is bizarre and the stuff of nightmares we can see the great skill and imagination of the artist. It is believed that he and Lovecraft used to be friends as they were roommates for several years.
"Now we come to Innsmouth which used to be a small fishing town. Though a quiet sleepy town it was famous for the strange artifacts that washed up on its shores. It was believed to be the treasure of a Spanish galleon that got shipwrecked over 400 years ago."
Peridot gasped as she artifacts that were clearly from the Sea Spire. The humans had no idea and thought up the most reasonable explanation possible.
Elisa was still taking " -but that is not the only strange thing about Innsmouth. Throughout the years Innsmouth fishermen would have sightings of bizarre sea creatures. Many of these creatures would disappear in a puff of smoke once caught.
"Finally we have Kingsport itself other than its location beside Innsmouth and Arkham Kingsport was a typical port town serving this area of Maine. It was a den of thieves and outlaws which cleaned itself up in the 1920's. One interesting thing to note is the strange urban legend of the hairy giantess who used to roam the streets and abduct unwary sailors."
Elisa pointed to a composite sketch of Rose Quartz causing Steven to gasp. The couple this time decided to leave the group and explore the museum on their own. It is here that they saw how Gem culture affected the inhabitants of Kingsport. They spent the time looking at artifacts and chatting. When they decided to leave the museum it was already dark.
"Well Peridot what would you like to do now?" asked Steven politely.
"The night is still young and I've still got my ration cards how about we go to a romantic restaurant?"
"That's a great idea, I found this great little restaurant nearby. Maybe you'd like to see a movie."
"Steven the last time we saw a movie was over a year ago but I am much more interested in the activities we performed during our lemonade break."
Steven chuckled, "So its settled we entertain ourselves after dinner."
As the couple waited patiently for their meal to come a large bulky shadow watched them. Rose Quartz smiled soon all the pieces would be set into place.
Peridot could barely taste her meal. Though she lived with Steven she barely spent any time with him. She was so looking forward to spending an evening not being tired or distracted and maybe even talking to Steven without worrying what may pop up.
"So what are you thinking about?" asked Steven bursting her bubble.
"Oh just looking forward to being with you without having anything hanging over my head. How's school?"
"Well my marks are much better since I cut back on my hours at the bar. If my marks are good enough there's a chance, I could get a job at the mental health center in the summer. What about you?"
"Well I am nearly finished my first batch of graduates from my robinoid program. Did you know we have a farmer who wants to use his robinoids to help him farm? I was thinking of setting up the program at Mikatonic University once this group is done. Kingsport has a lot more accommodations than Beach City many of my students there are living in tents. Steven I still have my chocolate ration card would you like some dessert?"
"How about we get some hot chocolate for the both of us? Tell me have you talked to Pearl or Amethyst?"
"Pearl has her hands full with Malachite. The gemling has learned to walk or rather I should say run. Amethyst has been hired as a bodyguard by Snowflake. It's very difficult for her as she has to learn how to look presentable and not just keep an eye on things. Beryl is teaching her how to dress her hair and basic lessons on poise."
"That's good it seems like this job is good for Amethyst. Oh look our hot chocolate is here."
As a cube headed shadow watched the young couple walked back home. Peridot and Steven didn't notice the cats staring at them as they opened the door. What they did notice was how quiet and dark the house was.
"Sour Cream must have gone out. Do you think he's got a girlfriend?" asked Peridot.
"Peri Sour Cream and I attend the same university. if he was seeing someone I'd know about it. Now my lady I believe you have an appointment with Dr. Feelgood?" With that Steven carried his lover bridal style up to their room.
They made love until well into the night. After which Peridot fell asleep. As Steven stroked her hair he thought about how this was the perfect day. He was looking forward to, many more days like this once Peridot hired some more Kindergarten technicians and passed the responsibility of the robinoid program onto someone else. Little did he know how much his life would be turned upside down in the next few hours.
