Jasper checked the pocket of her sweatpants what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. She felt the wad of money and sighed in relief. The clothes felt too restricting but she couldn't phase on her uniform. A dark flush spread over Jasper's cheeks as she recalled her session in the bathroom ten minutes prior. Her indulgence was only to make sure she didn't have any inappropriate daydreams during her dates, or at least that was what she told herself. The quartz gem glanced at the alarm clock and read that it was almost ten in the morning.
"Might as well go now," she grunted, getting off the couch and heading out of the beach house before the fusion could say anything to sour her mood. A tug at her sweatpants made Jasper look down at a purring Lion. "No, Lion," she said sternly. She pointed at her couch. "Stay." Lion switched back and forth from looking at the couch longingly and looking at Jasper pleadingly. Luckily, Lion decided that a nap was better than following Jasper around during her dates. He curled up on the cushions and rested his head on one of the armrests to sleep. Jasper nodded in approval and left the beach house. She let the door slap shut behind her and stopped before she could put one foot on the stairs.
Peridot and Lapis were already at the foot of the stairs. Lapis was bent down trying to pry Peridot's fussing hands away from her red bowtie. The quartz gem noticed that Lapis had on a bracelet with the words "Empire City" spelled out in little cubes. Jasper heard something about her needing to be impressed from Peridot but the green gem relented from abusing her bowtie any longer. Jasper grinned despite herself, the two had dressed up for her. The quartz gem suddenly felt the need to do something with her hair, maybe put it in a ponytail. But it was too late now, Peridot had already spotted her.
"Hey, Jasper!" Peridot called out, waving up to the striped gem. She reached up to fuss at her tie once more but Lapis lightly slapped the hands away.
Jasper walked down the steps and smirked at the two gems. "Shall we go?" she purred, trying to hide how unprepared she felt at the moment.
They nodded and began to walk towards the Big Donut. Peridot took up most of the conversation, pointing out different human contraptions and saying what they were used for. Lapis and Jasper simply listened to the green gem go on like she lived on earth for thousands of years. Jasper was just glad not to have the spotlight on her, she didn't know what to say or do on dates. Perhaps she should have asked Connie, or maybe even Steven.
The three arrived at the Big Donut right as it was opening. Jasper held the door for the two and did her best not to stare at them like a fool when they went inside. She followed them inside and nodded a greeting to the humans behind the counter. Jasper looked over the menu with a serious frown. Now that she could actually eat solid food, Jasper didn't know what she wanted to try first.
"Hey, uh," Sadie spoke up, unsure if Jasper was okay to be around without Steven to rein her in, "Steven said he wanted to be the one to buy you your first donut." She shrugged like it was no big deal but the way Steven talked about it made it seem like he was taking Jasper to the moon. Sadie wasn't going to stop Jasper from buying one but at least she could say she told her about Steven's plan.
Jasper was surprised to hear about Steven's wish. She looked back at the menu and then at Lars. "I want to order a large banana smoothie with extra bananas. And whatever they want as well," she nodded towards Lapis and Peridot.
Lars nodded eagerly and set about making Jasper her smoothie. Lapis and Peridot ordered a chocolate donut each and Jasper paid. Sadie took the money with a somewhat shocked expression on her face which made Jasper a little irritated. She wasn't that stupid to think everything was free. Lars finished making her smoothie and gave it to Jasper. "Chug!" he cheered.
"I'd rather not clean up another mess," Sadie muttered to him. Peridot's laughter almost drowned out Sadie's whisper but Jasper still heard her.
"Lighten up, Sadie!" Lars replied, not trying to keep his voice low. "It's awesome she can chug so much and so what if it makes a little mess? We'll clean it up, no problem."
Sadie's eyes narrowed and she poked him hard in the chest. "You mean I will clean it up. You never help clean the messes you cause."
"I cause!?"
Jasper glanced at Lapis who only looked up at Jasper confused.
"It's a long story," Jasper explained, taking a sip from her smoothie. The three exited out of the Big Donut, leaving behind an arguing Sadie and Lars. Jasper was just glad that Peridot was too busy laughing to explain what had happened to Lapis. The thought of Lapis thinking that Jasper was weak because she couldn't handle a few smoothies turned her stomach into stone.
Lapis ate her donut and licked her finger clean of the chocolate frosting. Jasper almost growled at the sight and quickly moved her gaze forward. Lapis almost frowned at how Jasper's eyes flew away from her. Did she do something wrong? "It's really nice of you not to buy a donut just because Steven wanted to get you your first one."
"Maybe I wanted a smoothie instead of a donut." Jasper took another drink and tried not to grin at how Lapis's smile made her feel warm. She was a quartz gem, not some lovesick puppy, Jasper reminded herself.
"I disagree," Peridot spoke up, swallowing the last of her own donut. She didn't really like eating food, but the proper date required her to consume something sweet and or filling. "Donuts are far superior when compared to a simple smoothie. They usually have frosting on top and come in a much more variety than smoothies."
Jasper grunted, feeling a twinge of desire running down her back at Peridot's smirk and bowtie. She glanced at Lapis and saw that the water gem had a similar reaction, lust darkening her eyes to royal blue. The quartz gem took a gulp of her smoothie to cool herself.
Fortunately, the sign for Funland greeted them before long. They entered the park and took a moment to decide which attraction they should visit. "Where do you two want to go first?" Jasper asked. She didn't want to go anywhere near the distorted mirrors so she tactfully stood in between the group and the Whacky Mirrors building.
Her plan, however, proved to be futile as Peridot looked past her to the building. "Ugh," she said with a disgusted face, "anywhere but there. Steven and Amethyst took me there once and it gave me a headache." She stuck her tongue out at the building and turned her back on it.
Lapis raised an eyebrow at the two gems' peculiar behavior but she didn't comment on it. She learned from the first week of living with Peridot that it was best to let these things slide. The water gem pointed at the back end of the amusement park where most of the game stalls were held. "We can try going on the new roller coaster."
Peridot frowned but nodded in agreement. "As long as I am not too short there shouldn't be any problem." Jasper just grunted in agreement.
The three made their way to the roller coaster, Peridot talking about her adventures here along the way. Jasper and Lapis mostly listened rather than talk but they were more comfortable that way. Jasper noticed that Lapis and Peridot were grinning more often than not and the quartz gem wanted to keep it that way. They were beautiful when they smiled.
"Hiya!"
Jasper's attention was pulled from how Peridot would chew on her finger when she was thinking of something to say to Mr. Smiley. He smiled at them as he leaned against the control console for the roller coaster. "I remember you, kid!" he laughed at Peridot. "You won that space thing, although now to think of it there should have been no way you could have won it," he muttered to himself at the end.
"Hey, I won it fair and square!" Peridot exclaimed. She looked like she wanted to kick the man but she held herself back. Jasper was not sure if she would try to stop the green gem if she tried anything.
"Don't you mean fair and triangle?" Even Mr. Smiley stopped laughing as he processed his own joke. "Well uh, anyway you know the rules short stack." He patted a strange cutout of a dog holding a sign saying "You must be this tall to ride!" "You haven't grown much since I lost saw you so you can't get on." He looked at Jasper and grinned at her. "And you're too tall to get on this ride! One of the beams might decapitate you."
Jasper growled and took a step forward. "If my date wants to go on this ride, then she will." Nobody was going to tell Peridot what to do, except her, and maybe not even then. She pointed at her chest. "I survived a thousand-year war, being corrupted, and living with the Crystal Gems for months! This pathetic contraption won't kill me."
Mr. Smiley's smile dimmed but he quickly hid his fright from the quartz gem. He puffed up his chest and gave Jasper his biggest smile. "Do you know what a life time ban is?"
"Do you know what a broken nose is?" Jasper growled back. Two pairs of tugging arms pulled Jasper away from the nervous Mr. Smiley. She didn't fight them and allowed herself to be dragged away toward the game section of the amusement park.
When she was safely away from Mr. Smiley, Lapis and Peridot let go of her arms. "It's sweet that you stood up for me," Peridot said, a blush still on her face.
Jasper shrugged, "It was nothing," she waved the compliment away but she couldn't deny the pride she felt at it. "You should have let me take at least a swing at him. He deserves a good punch for mocking me before at the dart stand." Jasper flexed her arms and gave an agitated growl, "I haven't had a good fight for a long time." The quartz gem knew even if they had let her fight Mr. Smiley, Jasper would have had to be very careful that she didn't accidently kill the man.
Lapis giggled and patted Jasper's arm. "Maybe that's a good thing." She looked around at the different games set up. "We can spend some time here before going to Fishstew's Pizza."
The three went to the different game stands, each of them rigged and unable to win anything. The money began to dwindle but the three of them didn't care, they were having too much fun to do so. Jasper was about to play the dart game again but Peridot stopped her and pointed to a new sign that had been nailed onto the top of the scoreboard.
No one above eight feet can play this game on account of threats made previously from an eight-foot woman.
"Mr. Smiley," Jasper growled. She wished that she had thrown the punch while she still could. She may get a lifetime ban but it would have been worth it to see the look on his face.
"Did you really threaten Mr. Smiley?" Lapis asked, leading the other two away from the dart stand. If Jasper couldn't play then she and Peridot wouldn't either.
Jasper shook her head but then grimaced. "Maybe a little but he was mocking me first. He made fun of my aim so I stared him down as I popped the golden balloon." She looked at Peridot. "It's where I won the big alien."
Peridot's eyes lit up as she jumped up and down. "I love him! His massive brain and his compassionate eyes are what drew me in. I used to have one of my own but he met an unfortunate end. But he's floating in the fish tank now so he's happy!" She pointed at a water game stall where one of the stuffed aliens hung from the roof. "Maybe we can win him over there!"
"We already tried," Lapis said with a chuckle. It looked like she wanted to ruffle her hair but stopped herself before she could. She was about to say something but a toy from the test your strength game caught her eye. It was in the shape of a great white shark but it had tiger print fur on it. For some reason, it reminded Lapis of Jasper and the ocean, which made her smile to herself.
Jasper and Peridot were not loss by Lapis's enchantment of the toy. They glanced at each other and nodded before dragging Lapis over to the game. Jasper rang the bell with a grin, already imagining the look of gratitude on Lapis's face when she won her the shark plushy.
It took Mr. Smiley a few minutes to run over to the game booth and the smile ran away from his face at the sight of Jasper grinning wickedly at him. "How may I help you folks?"
"I want to play," Jasper said, grabbing the rest of the money out of her pocket.
Mr. Smiley gulped and was extremely reluctant to nod. "Okay, well first you're going to need this." He hesitated before handing over the game's mallet. "What you want to do is hit the target here as hard as you can. If the gong rises high enough to hit that bell, you win. It's two bucks for a turn but five dollars for three."
Jasper was about to hand over five dollars but Peridot spoke up, "Wait!" She narrowed her eyes at Mr. Smiley. "How many times do we have to win to get that?" she asked, pointing to the tiger printed shark.
"Five times," Mr. Smiley answered, sweat beading on his forehead. "It's a very limited edition plushy, as in the company made the mistake of giving the great whites the tiger fur printing." He knew these weirdly colored people wouldn't leave until they won. He just hoped that there was still going to be an amusement park left when they do.
Peridot frowned and snatched the money from Jasper's hand. She counted it and groaned. "Even if you win this game five times in a row, we won't possibly have enough money for our last date." The technician handed back the money and tapped her chin in thought. "We can always just take it when the park closes."
"That would be stealing," Lapis said, "and Steven told me that was wrong."
"The blue girls right," Mr. Smiley agreed. "And if you steal anything, I'll have to call security and ban you all indefinitely."
"What if I break this toy on my first try?" Jasper asked, eyeing the plushy. She wasn't going to leave until she got it. She wanted to see Lapis smile and she damn sure was going to get what she wanted.
Lapis touched Jasper's arm to get the bigger gem to look down at her. "I don't need it, honestly." Even though the words left her mouth, Lapis felt warm that Peridot and Jasper were deadest on winning her a toy. She liked that they both wanted to get her something, it made her feel special.
Jasper grunted and shook her head before looking back at Mr. Smiley. "If I break the bell on my first try, will I win the shark or not?"
Mr. Smiley weighed his options and noticed that a crowd was forming around the game, apparently they wanted to see the woman with the mallet break his precious game. If he said no, the crowd would disperse and maybe leave the park. If he said yes, the buff woman could break his game. But if she couldn't, some of the people in the crowd might want to try their luck. Mr. Smiley took a deep breath and made his decision. "Two dollars please," he announced with a smile that hid his immediate regret at the almost feral look on the tall woman's face.
Jasper eagerly paid the man and took a step towards the game. The crowd started to chant, "Smash it! Smash it!" and the quartz gem could have sworn she could hear Amethyst leading them. A glance to her right confirmed her suspicions. The purple gem was indeed in the front of the crowd and when she caught Jasper looking at her, Amethyst pointed to Lapis and Peridot and gave the quartz gem a thumbs up and a waggle of her eyebrows. "Way to go, Sis!" Jasper rolled her eyes and renewed her concentration on the target. She looked at Peridot and Lapis who were watching her and then back at the mallet. Jasper shrugged and dropped the object, earning a gasp of excitement from the crowd.
"I don't need it," Jasper said to nobody in particular. It felt good having so much attention on her and she could show off to Lapis and Peridot. She entwined her fingers to make a double-handed fist and raised her arms up. The crowd went silent when Jasper gave a battle snarl and slammed her fists down on the target, the gong shooting up. Jasper only had enough time to look up as it crashed into the bell and rip it clean off the frame. The bell and gong rose a few feet into the air before smashing back down on the boardwalk, the bell making a dent and the gong breaking through the wood boards.
The crowd went absolutely insane, screaming and cheering Jasper's name, once again led by Amethyst. Jasper shrugged like the praises didn't matter to her and smirked at Mr. Smiley. "I would like the shark with tiger fur please."
Mr. Smiley was too busy gaping at his destroyed game. So many people played it every day and now it was gone. He closed his mouth and people rushed over to him, asking how much it would cost to have the remains of the destroyed game. Mr. Smiley choked out a few incoherent words and the people started to bid on the bell and the foundation. Someone even shouted that they would pay for the gong if it was ever found. They were offering more than what the actual thing cost! He wore a genuine smile as he grabbed the shark and gave it to Jasper. "Come back anytime!"
Jasper took the shark and presented it to Lapis. "It was Peridot's idea," she admitted when Lapis took the prize.
Lapis hugged the plushy to her chest and had to lean up to kiss Jasper's cheek and lean down to kiss Peridot's. "Thank you, both of you."
The group left the amusement park, not before they heard some suggestive whistling courtesy of a certain purple gem. They walked to Fishstew's Pizza, Lapis holding her toy close and Peridot and Jasper grinning smugly. Jasper held open the door and the three walked in and got a table at the far side of the restaurant. One of the Pizza's daughters, Kiki, walked over to the table with a notepad ready. "What can I - hey I know you!" she said, looking at Jasper. She grabbed her phone and tapped away for a few moments before showing the screen to the group. The three gems watched as Jasper broke the game and win the shark. "My sister Jenny sent me this video. You're really strong, girl!"
"I am not a girl, I am a quartz warrior," Jasper corrected without any misgivings for the mistake.
"Oh, sorry," Kiki apologized with a blush. "Well, what can I get you three?"
They ordered a medium pepperoni pizza and a water for each of them. The three talked about their favorite moments from the amusement park and how Mr. Smiley actually seemed happy that Jasper broke his game. When the pizza and water came, Jasper did most of the eating, having worked up a ferocious appetite after the day's activities. Lapis and Peridot did nibble at their respective slices of pizza but mostly watched Jasper eat. Jasper almost squirmed in her chair at their attention, the tip of her tentacle poking out. The quartz gem started to really consider if she was going into heat. Maybe she could excuse herself and relieve the mounting arousal in the bathroom but she didn't want to leave the two alone for an extended period of time. Jasper settled on eating the food and thinking of anything that would douse her arousal, like Greg in underwear.
The three finished their food quickly and Kiki walked back to their table. She was about to hand over the check but stopped herself. "Hey, aren't you by any chance some of Steven's family?"
"Family?" Peridot asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah you know, the three Crystal Gems that live with Steven. Aren't you all related?"
Lapis snorted and shook her head. "No, none of the gems are related. We were all created differently."
Peridot tilted her head at Jasper. "Although, you and Amethyst were both created here so I guess you can say you two are related. What did she call you from before?"
"Sis," Jasper grunted. She looked at the pizza girl and shrugged. "Steven stopped the others from poofing me so I suppose that's a good sign. I wouldn't say I was related to that pearl though," she finished with a grimace. There was no way she would ever be connected to Pearl. She was far too bossy and loud. The quartz gem took out the rest of the money and tried to hand it to Kiki. "You can have whatever is left. I don't need it."
Kiki held up her hands and took a step back. "No, keep your money. Think of this as a thank you for saving the city so much." Right after the words left her mouth, some loud yelling came from the kitchen. Kiki rolled her eyes at the words and smiled at the trio. "Don't pay attention to my father. I'll pay the bill with my tips if he's so mad about it."
Jasper started to walk out of the restaurant before Lapis and Peridot could try to persuade her to pay the bill. It was the pizza girl's fault she didn't want the money, not Jasper's. She did wait for the two to catch up and held out the door for them however. They started back towards the barn and Jasper was surprised to see how much time had passed during their dates. The sun was already sinking and the skies were darkening to a lovely reddish orange. Maybe she could convince the other two to look at the stars together.
Lapis's laughter brought Jasper's attention down to the water gem. Lapis held the toy out and seemed to be laughing at it. Jasper and Peridot shared a confused glance and Lapis explained. "You broke that game and risked getting a lifetime ban for this plushy so we could have money for dinner but we didn't need it!" Lapis looked back at the shark and laughed harder, Peridot soon joining in.
"I wouldn't have cared much if I was banned anyway," Jasper said with a huff. "The test your strength game was a joke. I wasn't even trying and I still broke it." Lapis and Peridot laughed even louder at Jasper's comment and the quartz gem grinned at their reactions. It was nice seeing them so happy because of her.
Unfortunately, they ended up at the barn far sooner than any of them would have liked. Lapis slid open the barn door while Peridot cleared her throat and placed her hands behind her back. "This is the part where you kiss us good night," she stated matter-of-factly.
Jasper hummed and weighed her options. She didn't want the dates to end so soon but Peridot and Lapis were both expecting a kiss. Jasper suddenly grinned at a wonderful idea and smirked down at the two. "I don't think so," she practically purred. She went inside the barn and closed the door behind her without any explanation.
Peridot and Lapis both gulped at the predatory look on Jasper's face and the almost feral glowing golden eyes.