Normally I put lil author notes at the beginning and end but I don't have much to say. Just trying to get this one caught up to the Ao3 account. ^^; Enjoy.
Chapter Three
One of the weirder things about teaching at Little Homeworld was teaching during the summer. I've mostly only been a teacher at places that have summer off, and usually only as an assistant. I might have finished college early but a general lack of experience makes it hard to get a job sometimes, although considering some of the teachers that I'd had, it seemed pretty plausible that hiring procedures weren't actually very stringent.
Still, weird was becoming the new normal, and I'd always been at least a little adaptable.
Okay that's a lie, I've always been a goddamn mess. I'd say about 40% of the blame goes to my parents, 20% to my most significant relationship, and the other 40% is just me being a disaster.
Still, pain or damage don't end the world.
I was currently laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Classes were… good. I was still struggling to find my voice, and keep things in a somewhat organized state, but so far things went well. Usually there was a Crystal Gem sitting in to help out if needed, since they were the gems who had the longest time to get used to humanity, but so far I'd been handling things okay.
So why is it that it's on my day off that I feel like an absolute trashfire?
I groaned and sat up.
Fuck it. Time to go for a walk downtown.
Little Homeworld is actually not too far from Beach City, though since I don't have any kind of car I'll probably use the warp pad for groceries, but if I'm just gonna look around town, I might as well walk, even if I do have to douse myself in a few layers of sunblock.
I probably smell awful. I can't even smell it anymore myself, I've had to put the damn stuff on so much. One sunhat on, and my wallet in the event I do see something I just absolutely have to buy, and I'm set.
Oh right. I should probably change into clothes instead of my pajamas. Dress or pants? Pants. I don't have pockets on my dress, though some of my skirts have them. But then again it is a bit breezy and a long dress would do that cool fluttery thing in the wind...
I'm such a nerd.
Dress, sunhat, a bag… Okay, I'm good now. I take a moment to stretch, before heading out, locking the door and twirling my keys around my finger. Once I reached the door to leave, I stepped out into the warm day.
"Time to see what there is to see!" I hummed out loud to myself.
"Well, I dunno 'bout you, but I see someone talkin' to herself!"
God.
Dammit.
I turned slightly, and placed a fist on my hip to face Spinel, who had the biggest shit-eating grin I've ever seen.
Don't panic Ying, you just got caught talking to yourself like an idiot in front of your crush. Play it cool.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." I gave a big fake melodramatic sigh, earning a chuckle. "I'm fully aware that I'm a weird gal who talks to herself."
Spinel just tossed her arms up and shrugged a bit, still smiling. "Okay! I will laugh it up then!" And gave a little cackle.
"Ah geez, everywhere I go I get laughed at…" I rolled my eyes. "Perhaps it's just my destiny."
Spinel just giggled more, grinning widely. "Sooo… whatcha up to? You're not teachin' right?"
"Mhm!" I nodded. "Just thought I'd go for a wander. See what's out in Beach City. I haven't really seen much of the town other than what I saw on my way here, so I thought I'd visit. I guess I need to get groceries soon too, but I don't really feel like it today?"
"I don't know what groceries are." Spinel admitted. "Buuuut if ya want I can tag along? I've been 'round Beach City a bit. And I think people have mostly forgiven me for the uh, problems I've made…"
"I mean," Ying. Say yes. You wanna be friends, act like one. "Sure, if you want to come, I definitely wouldn't mind the company." Good job. You're not a disaster today!
Well okay, it's still early. You might fuck up later, but for now good work!
Spinel looked delighted, and I tried very hard to convince myself that the fluttering in my heart was just me being happy to have made a friend.
"Well, uh, shall we?" She offered me, her hands clasping awkwardly behind her back, leaning forward a little too far to not be silly. Spinel grinned a bit, then took a long step to the warp pad. A really long step, in fact. Like, I saw her leg literally stretch out.
I knew that gems could shapeshift, but usually it was a bit glowy-er and not so stretchy. Spinel made the bizarre motion look utterly natural in a way that I couldn't imagine another gem doing. It must be something about her specifically. Pearl had told me that different gems had different powers… I pushed the thoughts to the back of my head to step on the pad with her, figuring that spending a quicker trip to the city wouldn't hurt.
Spinel grinned at me, activating the warp pad. There was a flash, a shine, and I nearly fell on my face again. Right, still needed to get used to that… At least this time I didn't crash right into the floor.
Mostly because Spinel had caught me.
How fucking cliche can you get?
Apparently it doesn't matter how tired the trope is because I was still blushing up a storm. I sheepishly straightened, with Spinel's help, clearing my throat.
"S-sorry. Thanks." I mumbled nervously.
"No problem. You uh, still not used to that?"
"Not at all." I chuckled. "This is only the second time I've ever been warped…"
Spinel was nice enough to wait for me to recover. Once I'd found my balance, we started on our way through the temple to the beach below. The sound of the waves crashing softly against the shore was a pleasant distraction from my own inability to be a normal person for two minutes. Spinel and I walked along the beachfront towards town.
A strange expression was on Spinel's face. She kept glancing up at the cliff above the Temple, where the lighthouse was perched. Her mouth was twisted into a frown. Her eyes were a bit narrowed, causing the black markings on her face to crinkle too.
"...Hey, uhm…" I asked softly, a little cautiously. "Are you okay?"
"...Not really." Spinel admitted, arms crossing, speeding up a little.
"Okay." I kept pace with her. I could probably guess but… "Want to talk about it? If not, it's fine, we can just go somewhere else or something."
She slowed then, and uttered a weak little laugh. "I uh. I do wanna talk about it… but I also really, really don't?" She wiggled her hands awkwardly. "I kinda wanna, but… maybe later instead."
"Okay." I nodded. She paused, looking surprised, then managed a slightly less forced laugh, as we made our way up to the boardwalk. We didn't talk much, just looking out, people watching and enjoying the bustle of the beach. I paused a bit as we neared the Funland.
"Huh. I'll have to swing by sometime. I've never been to any kind of amusement park…" I hummed thoughtfully.
"Hm, you should!" Spinel nodded. "I'm not banned from Funland anymore, on account of it not bein' my fault really…"
"Huh?" I blinked, caught off guard by that one.
"Amethyst and Steven were cheatin' at one of th' games an' got a temporary ban. It's uh, long story actually." She looked amused at the memory. "One of the few nice memories of when I first showed up."
"Heheh. I guess if you have to get kicked out of an arcade or an amusement park, you might as well do it while having fun." I shrugged, grinning.
"Well what about you, you ever get kicked outta anywhere?" Spinel retorted, rolling her eyes.
"No, I was always pretty dull. Before I met my friends I was this quiet, well-behaved girl who didn't want to stick out because people already were staring a lot. If I didn't want them to stare, I should have just dyed my hair." I rolled my eyes. "But I wasn't exactly bright either."
Spinel was visibly trying to hold back a joke, and I grinned at her.
"I can practically feel you wanting to make a smart comment about me being bright now ." I might as well kill that before she even tries it.
"Darn, ya beat me to it." She giggled. "But in all seriousness, ya do seem pretty clever."
"Me? Clever? I just memorized a buncha stuff about humans." I shook my head, trying to hide the fact that I was on the verge of blushing like a fool. "I have very little idea of what I'm doing."
"Welcome to my life." Spinel snorted. "I still don't know what I'm doin. Earth, Homeworld, haven't really found a good place on either. I mean, technically I have but I still feel… lost."
"Well, what's wrong with that?"
"Huh?" Spinel raised an eyebrow. Feeling stupid and nervous, I hurridly began explaining.
"I mean, if you're not sure what to do, and lost and stuff… Doesn't that mean that, I dunno… That there's something to find?" I gestured a bit at the air. "There's people in the world who never quite know what they're looking for in life. And I think that's fine! I might know that I wanna teach people about people, but not everyone's gonna know that. That doesn't mean they can't be happy or find something that makes them happy, right?"
Spinel stared at me for a moment, and I was pretty sure I had lost her, but then her mouth twisted upwards into a corny grin.
"That's… I like that. Find something that makes me happy, huh?" Spinel nodded slowly. "Well I know I feel happy when I can make people laugh. I like to entertain. And… I like just exploring this place. I… wasn't a big fan of earth at first, but now… I can see the appeal!"
She then turned and winked with a wide smile and I think my heart just about stopped.
"Especially if I meet nice cute humans like you!"
I make an odd sound and I'm pretty sure it's embarrassing because Spinel starts cackling when she hears it. Help. Someone, help. My heart can't handle this.
Fuck, I can't deny it nearly as much as I wanted to. I'm utterly head-over-heels and am about ready to throw myself into the nearby ocean.
The rest of our little excursion was pretty easy and free of me being dumb. I didn't have much purpose coming out into town today, but while I was there I did grab a water bottle. I didn't quite realize how warm summers here would be. Spinel watched me with a weird look when I drank from it. Oh right, Gems don't eat or drink. Well, they don't have to. I've been here almost a week and I've only seen a few actually do it. Amethyst eats things that aren't even food. So Spinel's curiosity was warranted. While sipping from the bottle, Spinel, driven by her own curiosity, leaned to the water fountain I used to fill it, and...
Blasted herself right in the face.
I think I laughed so hard I nearly choked. Luckily, once she'd gotten over her initial disgruntled state, Spinel started cackling as well, her pigtails a bit less wild now that they were matted with water.
Once I recovered, mostly, the trip was more or less done- Not like I had much planned to begin with other than "explore", and that had been distracted by the presence of Spinel (who, to me, was very distracting indeed). I had to re-apply sunscreen a few times, but soon we were back at the warp pad. This time, I only lurched a little as we warped, managing to keep myself upright mostly.
"Woah…!" I groaned. "God, feels like my stomach is twisting itself up whenever we do that…"
Spinel giggled. "Is that a thing human stomachs do?"
"Oh god, I hope not. That sounds like a horrific image." I made a gagging sound, and Spinel looked about ready to crack up. I giggle a bit as well, straightening up. "Well, that was… a lot of fun actually. We should do that again sometime."
"Y-ya think so?" Spinel had a look of surprise but it quickly broke into that smile- that goddamn smile is melting my fucking heart - and she nodded. "Yeah! Okay! Sounds good! That's like, a thing friends do, right? So yeah, sure!"
God help me . I thought fearfully.
We parted ways there, and I made my way into the apartment building. Once I was inside my nice dark apartment, I sighed. It was way too bright out there. Luckily I feel okay- I can usually figure out pretty quick if I've been sunburned or not.
I tossed my hat aside and sank into a chair with a low groan, tired but satisfied with the day, mostly.
Finally, I pulled my phone out, opening the chat app.
UselessLesbian: Can one of y'all call life alert
UselessLesbian: Because I have fallen and i cannot get up
Sunnysideup: YOU OWE ME FIVE BUCKS ZACH
Techwizard: damn it