Chapter Nine

My thoughts were grinding at a snail's pace as I tried to process the right response to Spinel, awkwardly sitting across from her. I had no idea what exactly to say. Spinel paused, then offered a wavy, nervous half-smile, which managed to just slightly set my nerves at ease. I cleared my throat a bit, sitting up, forcing myself to maintain eye contact.

"Y-yes, Jez did in fact say that…" I said a little cautiously, carefully chewing the side of my lip, heart pounding. "What about it?"

Spinel fiddled with one of her pigtails slowly. "I guess...Do you? Actually?"

Damn it. No turning back now.

"Well, um I mean, I'm hoping Gems and Humans mean the same thing here, when I say this but… Yeah? Kinda?"

Spinel starts. She looks… surprised. "You… do?"

"Y-yeah." I stutter. I wouldn't be able to lie to Spinel even if I wanted to. And I was sick of dancing around it.

"Uh… I guess… why?" Spinel seemed unusually guarded. Not exactly wary, but shy, and maybe a bit cautious. I felt flustered, heat rising to my cheeks again.

"W-well… I mean... You're funny... You're nice. You're patient with me w-when I'm wound up about something or being stupid and self-loathing for no reason. You listen to me go on and on about things, even when you have no idea what I'm going on about… I like talking with you, and spending time around you…" God, I was rambling at this point. "I like it when I make you smile, and your laugh is really nice to listen to. Um… You're also really pretty, but that's, like, more of a nice bonus... You... make me feel safe."

Spinel's eyes had gone wider with each word and a blush was steadily creeping over her cheeks. I really hoped that was a good thing.

"And um, I don't wanna make it sound like this has to change anything…" I added hastily. "It's okay if you don't feel the same. I'd understand, I mean… We're super different, of course. And, you know, we can always just… ignore this and move on, stay the same friends as always-"

"What if I want something to change?" Spinel interrupted me, her voice wavering a little.

Holy shit my heart.

"Uhm…" She paused for a moment, the bold statement hanging awkwardly. "What I mean is… I don't know how humans exactly do this but… I like you too. Like, a lot. A lot, a lot. I just know that… Well, spendin' time with ya is great, and I… really really like ya a lot." Spinel blushed nervously, fingers awkwardly fiddling together. "Like, a lot more than I ever thought I would, eheh. You're… Well, I mean you're a human and I'm a gem, which is… well, I mean, might make things tricky, but… I don't think I actually care that much about that. I like you, and you being human doesn't change that at all..." Spinel gave a nervous little giggle.

"Ah…" I flushed, equally awkward. "I'm not sure how this will work out either, but I guess we can... Try and feel our way through this?"

"I think that sounds good to me." Spinel nodded meekly. "I guess, uh… what comes next?"

"Oh! Uh, well. I mean. Generally the next step is to ask the person you like on a date…?" I stammered hopefully.

Spinel grinned playfully, then. She was almost as nervous as I was, but clearly gaining confidence faster.

"Then… What do the couple do on a date?"

"Anything, really. Just something fun, maybe cute, maybe romantic… First dates are usually more casual."

"In that case... Ying."

"Y-yes!" I squeaked nervously. She was clearly trying not to laugh at my utterly absurd responses.

"May I have the pleasure of askin' ya out on one of these "dates"?"

"Yes! You may!" I blurted, maybe a bit too quick, my voice cracking a little. Spinel beamed at me, and I grinned back, rising to my feet to try and give myself some confidence, but my voice still wavered. "I'd love to, um, do that! To date you!"

Spinel laughed a little, before hugging me. "Hm, thank the stars for your friends." She mumbled sheepishly. "Because I never woulda been able to talk about it to ya without a push.."

"Oh god, me either. Would we have both just nursed crushes forever?" I groaned, laughing into my hands. "I can't even imagine. Guess I should thank Jez, even if it did kind of piss me off a bit…"

Spinel giggled.

My heart was soaring. Oh god, I was actually doing this. I was gonna go on a date! With Spinel!

"So… Got anything you think would be good for a date? I uh, my experience with first dates is a bit limited." Spinel laughed awkwardly.

"I um, maybe we could just go and just…" My mind ground to a halt. Gems don't need to eat, so a meal date was probably out. Spinel had mentioned she was trying food a little, but mostly out of curiosity. "...Uh… hm. We could…" An idea formed in my head. "We could go to Funland together!" I suggested, grinning. Spinel perked at that.

"Ooh, that's a swell idea! I haven't really been, even though that place seems right up my alley…"

"I haven't been to a theme park in ages." I admit with a laugh. "I've got stuff to do most of the week, but maybe on the weekend we could head over together?"

"I guess that makes it a date then?" Spinel grinned shyly, and I nodded.

"A date it is then~!" I gave her hand a nervous squeeze. My heart was still pounding. I needed to calm down before the weekend or else I would die.

The week went by slowly. Agonizingly slowly. I wasn't exactly fretting, or overly freaked out by this, but I was certainly a little unsure of myself. I'd been on dates before, of course. Peony wasn't exactly a gold standard of quality as far as romantic interaction went, but I'd dated a few girls briefly after her. Little things that never went anywhere. Casual affairs that ended not long after they began, usually just because we didn't really connect, not for any big reason.

And yet this was making me more nervous than any of the others were. Maybe because Spinel was making my heart leap into my throat the way nobody else ever had before.

Okay, so maybe I was freaking out a little bit.

Classes, at least, were smooth. I taught about all kinds of topics. Anything that could help gems learn about humanity's quirks- and maybe how we were more similar than one might think. The biggest lessons for this week were about avoiding conflict.

"Humans tend to panic or get spooked by some fairly silly things sometimes." I had told the class with a grin. "Some of us are absolutely fearless, but most aren't. So, it can be a good idea to know some tricks to set them at ease."

Of course, I didn't mention that I was spooked by something rather silly. A pretty girl.

Each day, as soon as classes were up, I was back to fretting in my room.

At least it was going to be a pretty casual date. Fancy dates and stuff was definitely more for the third or fourth date territory.

I have no idea what we'd do for a fancy date, actually. That's a "much later" problem.

Things might not even get that far. I reminded myself calmly. Just enjoy what you have now instead of worrying about what might be later.

That thought soothed my nerves a bit. That was the right way to think. I'm going on a date with Spinel, and I shouldn't worry about later dates. All I needed to do was try and make this one go well.

I still was a little nervous when Saturday rolled around. Okay, I was really nervous. I just about jumped out of my skin when Spinel knocked on my door in the evening. Still, I stood, calming my nerves, opening the door.

"Hiya." She grinned, and before I could say anything, cheerfully poked me right on the nose. "Ya ready?"

That dissolved the tension I was feeling almost instantly, and I giggled, wrapping my hand around hers. "Yep. Let me grab my wallet real quick."

It was fairly late in the evening. Even though summer was drawing to a close, the sun still was out late, but the sky was a brilliant orange thanks to the way it began to dip below the horizon. I probably would only need one dose of sunscreen for a change, which was definitely a nice change of pace.

I'd always been a bit of a night owl, thanks to my albinism. Or at least an evening owl. Mild photophobia and severe vulnerability to sunburns meant it was best to be out when there was no sun.

The boardwalk had a different air at night. It wasn't something I could easily explain. It just felt a little more peaceful, despite the fact that the same number of people were there, give or take.

Spinel and I walked, hand-in-hand towards the main entrance to Funland. It was open until fairly late. I was a little surprised to see a fair few gems working at different stands as well. Most of the people in the small amusement park were tourists, but I did vaguely remember a few people were locals.

Spinel was looking around wide-eyed, taking in all the colors.

"Never actually come into this part." She admitted sheepishly. "It's really bright and fancy here."

I giggled a bit. As far as places like this went, Funland was actually pretty small, and definitely not fancy. But not like "dirty and decrepit" or anything. It was charming. Quaint was probably the right word for it.

"Well, what shall we do?" I gestured a bit. "I can't imagine you're too into food, but there's plenty of rides and games, and those are fun! Even if I've never seen a park that doesn't rig the games."

"Rigged games?" Spinel raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." I nodded. "Like… Hmm…" I cast my gaze about, until it settled on a little shooting gallery, with a popgun and targets. "See that one there?" I gestured, and Spinel followed my gaze. "The goal is to shoot the targets. If you get closer to the middle you get more points, and more points means a better prize. But there's some tricks to make it harder."

"Ooh?" I had definitely gotten her curiosity. "How's that?"

"Uh…" I thought back. "Sunny told me about a lot of these… Oh right. They tamper with the sight on the popgun, and make it just a lil crooked. The backdrop netting also can mess with your depth perception, and the air that the gun uses to fire is usually just a little under-pressure, which also wonks the aim."

"So… Is it normal to do that?" Spinel raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"Yeah. It's so the carnival can try and get people to play more games and not have to give out as many good prizes." I shrugged. "But they're still fun to play, and it is possible to beat the odds. You just have to know the right tricks."

"Hmmm. So in other words, you have to play a specific way to beat their cheating?" Spinel giggled deviously. "Sounds fun."

I laugh a bit. "It'd be more fun for me if my eyesight wasn't so awful. There's also the rides. Those are not rigged for us to lose, those are just fun."

"Hm, guess we should do some of those then!" Spinel giggled. "Most of them are just like… Going real fast right?"

"Pretty much." I giggled. "The roller coasters here look fun."

We started slow- smaller coasters, building up to larger ones. I was always a little nervous on the bigger rides, but they were a lot of fun, but it was best to work up the nerve to go on those. The first ride was fast, but it didn't have any loops or particularly wild turns or drops. Still fast enough to make me a little light on my feet when we finally got off.

Spinel watched in amusement as I staggered slightly, catching my shoulder a bit.

"Y'alright there?" She giggled, as I leaned into her.

"Uh-huh. My balance just gets a little thrown off." I shrugged.

"Is that a human thing, or a you thing?"

"Both, I think." I took a second, laughing. "What did you think of the ride?"

"Fast. But fun! I definitely wanna try more of those."

"Sounds good to me." I chuckled. "There's plenty of things to try. Fair warning, some of the bigger ones are a little scary to me, in a fun way. So if I suddenly cling to you while on a ride, that's why."

Spinel giggled a bit. "And it has nothing to do with ya just wanting to cling to me?"

I blushed. "We'll say that it's maybe thirty percent fear, seventy percent you being real good to hug."

Now Spinel was blushing too, but she was smiling. Her fingers curled around mine, and we made our way to another ride. There weren't a ton of rides here, but there were a few nice ones. There was also a house of mirrors, which Spinel seemed to adore. She kept stretching herself out and giggling wildly at the way the mirrors distorted her appearance even more wildly than she could do herself.

It was getting late. I was surprised how long we'd spent at Funland, but the sun had dipped below the horizon, and some of the rides were starting to close up.

"We have time for maybe one more…" I suggest, looking around thoughtfully, before pointing upwards. "How about the ferris wheel? It's not fast like the others o-or anything but uh, it's a nice way to cap off an evening…"

"I'm just following you at this point." Spinel giggled, resting her hand on my shoulder. "And I've been havin a swell time, so uh, you know best I guess!"

I chuckled dryly. "First time I've heard that . Shall we~?"

The pair of us made our way to the Ferris wheel. This late, there wasn't even a line, which surprised me. A night-time ferris wheel seemed like it would be more popular. Still, I was grateful that Spinel and I could just get right on. The wheel began to spin, the two of us slowly rising into the night sky, surrounded by stars.

Spinel sat across from me, watching out the car, as the world below shrank slowly. Her gaze flitted over to me, and she smiled honestly.

"It's… lovely up here!" She admitted, voice soft, even a little reverent, and I felt my chest flutter.

"Yeah… I haven't been to many parks but… Ferris wheels were always my favorites." I admitted softly. Spinel looked back out, and I followed her gaze to look out across Beach City, the small oceanside town illuminated by the lights of the buildings, and not much else. We could see Little Homeworld from here, and the rolling green fields around it.

"I'm glad you took me here. Today has been… well, better than I've had in a long time." Spinel murmured softly. I smiled at her, my gaze settling on her face.

"You too, huh?" I paused for a moment, before scooting carefully over to Spinel's side of the carriage, sitting next to her. "I'm kind of an anxious idiot all the time, so I'm… Well I'm a mess but today has been really fun."

Spinel glanced at me, for a moment, then reached up and removed her gloves, before resting her hand on mine softly. "Well, I dunno about "idiot" ya seem pretty smart to me. Although you did get a crush on me ."

I frowned a little, turning my hand to squeeze hers. "Don't say that about yourself… You really are better than you seem to always say you are."

"Likewise." Spinel smirked smugly.

Wait.

"Did you just depreciate yourself so that you could make me stop self-deprecating?" I stared at her, wide-eyed. Her smug grin only grew. "Oh my god you did. You absolute dork."

She burst out laughing, as the Ferris wheel carried us higher into the air. It began to slow slightly, as we began to reach the top of the wheel. Spinel cast her gaze out the window again, her hand still curled around mine.

"You do have a way though, of just making things feel worth it. I have bad days and good days. Sometimes I have days where all I think about is the Garden, and Pink, and that's… Not a good day for me usually."

I felt a little pang, and I squeezed her hand again softly.

"I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through." I said softly. "And I don't know anything about what Pink Diamond was like, or the things she did, but I can say that her leaving you alone like that was pretty dumb, because you truly are fantastic."

Spinel lightly flicked the side of my head with a fond smile. "Well I don't know why she left me, in the end, but… She did. But seeing this…" She gestured out of the carriage and I followed her gaze.

We were at the very top of the Ferris wheel, stopping there for a moment. The view had already been impressive before, but from here, no matter which way I looked it was beautiful. I could see the ocean, reflecting Funland's lights, or flicked with phosphorescence. To the other side, I could see beach City, and the rolling fields and forests just nearby.

"When I look out at this planet, I can definitely see what she saw in it." Spinel finished. I glanced back at her, and turned bright red when I realized that she had been looking at me.

The Ferris wheel remained stopped for a minute or two, and we remained quiet for most of it. It's hard to say whether we just were too awkward to say more after all that flirting, or if we just wanted a moment to absorb the atmosphere.

Atmosphere which I ruined with a sneeze.

Spinel cackled a little. "Oh my gosh that sound was adorable!"

"Oh hush, I'm cold up here." I grumbled, blushing, fighting off a smile. "Guess it should have occurred to me that it'd be colder up so high."

Spinel startled me then, by casually looping her arms around me, leaning her head on my shoulder. "How about now?"

"Cheeky." I mumbled, blushing. It was warmer though. "I still don't understand a thing about how gems work , like… physically. You're like… light, right?

"Mm." she nodded. "Light, a rock in the middle. Probably magic."

"Magic." I mumbled. "...Yeah, I could say that you are pretty magical."

Yes ! I got a blush out of her, this time on purpose!

I decided then and there that tonight was a success. I still had no idea what the future might hold, and niggling little doubts and intrusive thoughts would likely hound me once I was alone again. But right now? I felt like I could do anything.

The two of us held hands all the way back to Little Homeworld.