"Lapis, Peridot! Come here, I have gifts for you guys!" Lapis looked up from her book upon hearing the voice of her beloved Beach Summer Fun Buddy.
Well, it'd have to be her Fall Buddy for now. It was so beautiful outside, leaves the colour of fire had fallen all around the forest near their home, and the half human had made them all into big piles for he and the Crystal Gems to play in. Yes, it was true, Lapis now called herself a Crystal Gem. It was rather hard not to after she'd been poofed and reformed with not only a golden bow that wrapped around her waist, but a dark blue star on the side of her skirt, according to her magazines asymmetry was stylish.
The two Gems excitedly ran over to the young boy, Peridot on all fours, sniffing the boxes he had in his arms, Lapis was no better though, she was lightly prodding the bow that was attached to the box with her name on it. "What are they?" Peridot asked, Steven started to laugh.
"Easy Peridot, relax!" The half Gem chuckled. He set the boxes down on the ground and moved them close to the two Gems. "Okay guys, Pearl and I made this stuff for you, we figured you guys would like them, they're super soft and fuzzy. Go on, open them!"
Not even a second went by as the Gems greedily tore their presents open. In Lapis' was a dark brown sweater with thin red, orange, and gold stripes. In the center was a bright orange leaf similar to the one used in her Meep-Morp. It was warm and fuzzy, it felt oddly soothing to brush her slender fingers over it.
Peridot's was a warm burgundy with thick orange and yellow stripes that were much lighter than Lapis', in the center was another leaf though in a different shape. A maple leaf? Wither way it looked much too big for her, but the Ocean Gem felt that it would look strangely cute. The blonde Gem had something else in her box though, thick fuzzy gold and orange socks with red on the very end.
Lapis smiled when she saw them, she knew there was a reason Steven hadn't given her any. The blue gem hated the feeling of wearing something on her feet, it made her uncomfortable and more anxious for some reason she couldn't quite explain.
"These are for you guys!" Steven told them, "I want you guys to have some fun, and everyone likes to dress up in fluffy clothes for fall."
The two Gems grinned, and slipped the 'clothes' on. They felt nice, and smelled sweet too, like that cinnamon stuff Pearl liked to put on pies, Lapis snickered at the memory of Peridot sniffing to fine brown powder only to break out into a sneezing fit.
Lapis hugged the half Gem tightly. "I like my sweater, thank you Steven. It doesn't even pull down my bow either!" She exclaimed with joy, because in all honesty the blue Gem very much liked her new outfit, the gold bow compensating for her lack of golden colouration. On Homeworld she had been considered 'flawed but too needed to waste' upon her birth during a slight recession (some big power core had melted and destroyed a bunch of things on one colony and a lot had to be moved to a new one, didn't matter though, her first flight had been fun).
She felt Steven almost tip over when Peridot pounced on him for what was now a group hug. "Wow, thanks!" She cheered, "These are exceptionally well-made, and a very sweet gesture, I'll be sure to think of a gift for the Crystal Gems soon, just give me time. Although, you'll be getting the best one." The blonde said with a smile.
Steven started to laugh. "Okay, well there's no need to thank me guys, it's just something I thought you should have. I want you guys to be happy!"
Peridot and Lapis looked at each other before looking at the young boy. "We already are!"
After Steven had left, the two of them headed out into the forest. Peridot held her hand, the green Gem's sleeves came up to her fingertips with the bottom of the sweater going down to her mid-thighs. The forest was beautiful in fall, the green leaves changed to the colour of fire, some of the drifting lazily about in the breeze and some crunching softly under their feet. Acorns fell from the trees, tiny animals with bushy tails running around to gather them up. Birds sang in the trees and flew around overhead, weak sunlight dappling the earthy leaf-covered ground, the light swirling like water as the leaves rustled from the cool breeze that gently ruffled Lapis' hair.
"Hey Peri, wanna see something cool?" Lapis asked the small Gem, who looked up and nodded with wonder in her large innocent eyes. Sadly, the blue Gem had to let go of her hand, and raise her own. Water from the river floated over to them, and gathered up what must have been thousands of leaves. She flicked her wrist, and it gently smushed the leaves into a humongous pile before setting them down, when the blue Gem flipped her hand over the water quickly vanished back into the river, not a single drop had been left on the leaves, they were all perfectly dry.
"Woah! Lapis that was amazing, what is this?" Peridot ran up to the leaf pile in excitement, poking a few leaves and laughing as she smiled back at the taller Gem.
She smirked though, Peridot knew so little about forests, this was almost too perfect. "It's something to keep uh... The... Phantom Queen away. Yeah."
The blonde tilted her head. "The what?"
Lapis pretended to be shocked. "You mean, you don't KNOW? I've been on Earth for thousands of years though, so I'm not surprised you've never heard the legend."
Now Peridot stomped her little feet like a toddler throwing a fit. "What is it?! Come on Lazuli that's not fair, please tell me!" She whined and tugged at the taller Gem's skirt. Lapis was thankful she had enough self-control not to crack a smile at how cute the technician's face was, pouting and huffing at her.
Lapis took her hand once again, and sat beside the leaf pile. "Alright, alright, calm down Peri. Once, a long time ago, there was a Queen. She was cruel, and ordered everyone around without ever thanking them-"
"Like Yellow Diamond?" The little nerd's eyes were as wide as saucers.
"Pfft, yeah, like Yellow Diamond." Lapis snickered, Peridot could be pretty funny sometimes, even now, her eyes wide with a terrible awe as she tried to imagine this bullshit story. "Anyway, she was so cruel and terrible, that one day her subjects decided that they knew exactly what they wanted her to do."
Peridot was fully enraptured in her story, nodding and fidgeting with her hands on her crossed legs. "W-what did they do?" She asked.
And Lapis definitely had an answer. "Well, in an old forest, just like this one, the brought her out for a walk, telling her that they had found a beautiful treasure that they buried under a pile of leaves, so that no one would be able to steal it." She leaned in a bit closer, trying her hardest to ignore the full lips in front of her own mouth now as she kept talking. "So, when she got close to the leaves, all her subjects rushed forward and pushed her! Under the leaves was no treasure, but a huge hole they had dug! The Queen fell all the way down into it, sitting at the very bottom she screamed for them to pull her up, because she herself wasn't tall enough to climb out."
The short Gem quivered a bit where she sat. "D-did they help her?" She asked, but Lapis shook her head, a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
"No, they left her there. She died in that hole, surrounded by all those leaves, that's why I have this pile. Legend has it her angry spirit is too scared to go near any more leaves." The bluenette 'explained' to Peridot, whose shaking had subsided.
"Oh, okay."
Lapis' smirk grew as she slowly drew water from the river again, this time much more discreet and with the hand Peridot couldn't see. The water silently made its way through the leaf pile. "But you know what else the legend says? It says that sometimes, the Phantom Queen gets brave, that she really wants REVENGE on the subjects, that she'll drag down people who are small like her, right through the leaves, never to be seen again, it all starts when she grabs your leg."
3 guesses on what Lapis did with the water.
The liquid tendril latched onto Peridot's ankle, and the tiny Gem screamed with fear. "LAPIS HELP ME!" Peridot cried and screamed, the blue Gem cackling with laughter as the water let her go and appeared in front of her face to show her it was just a joke. Tears rolled down Peridot's cheeks as she shook and... Lapis realized she'd gone way too far with that.
The bluenette forced the water back down to its source and held the tiny Gem tightly. "Oh Peri I'm sorry, I didn't think you were going to be that scared." She murmured gently as she rocked back and forth to sooth Peridot, who sniffled as she hugged Lapis' neck, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm.
"..." The younger Gem whispered something, but Lapis didn't catch it.
The blue Gem managed to wipe her tears away. "What was that?" She asked.
"Was... W-was that story... T-true?" Asked Peridot, who now just sat in her lap having her back rubbed. Lapis shook her head. "When the water grabbed me I... I thought I was never going to see you again, I'd be trapped forever, a-and I would never be able to see you ever again!" She cried. Lapis pulled her closer and patted her back.
"Shh, shh it's okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you like that Peri. And believe me, if anything EVER tried to hurt you, I'd destroy it. Nobody hurts my Peridot-" Her breath hitched. Did she really just say that? For months she'd been thinking such sweet thoughts about the short Gem, imagining herself and the blonde in all those situations she'd read online for Percy and Pierre, all the things that brought a smile to her face.
"Yours?" Peridot had the slightest grin. "Is this your... Your way of courtship Lazuli? It's odd but... I like this part."
The blue Gem smiled back at her. "Then... Then from now on I'll just hold you and say nice things. No more scary stories. I promise. No monster is going to hurt you Peri."
Peridot now had a warm look in her eyes, she leaned up and pressed her soft lips to Lapis' cheek. A brilliant glow filled the forest as two became one quicker than eyes could blink.
Speaking of eyes, Turquoise opened hers for the very first time.
"No one is going to hurt us."