Pearl tried her best to leave the two alone as she watched from afar, welding metal together in rapid strides to get her mind off what had been occurring. It had been 2 days since Steven and Peridots demonstration of 'bonding,' and the drill head schematics had finally been completed. Pearl happily sighed as she placed down her chalk, "Peridot! The drill head blueprints are finished, we should start construction immediately," Pearl shouted as she confronted Peridot.
Peridot murmured within her breath as she turned away from Steven who had been sleeping on a nearby stack of hay, who Peridot had been staring at for about an hour now caught up in thought but would refuse ever actually doing it. Why had she gotten so attached? She wasn't even entirely sure if her feeling was mutual or if it was just her, neither could she determine what exactly she was feeling as well.
Steven had been thinking the same, it had only been three and a half days since Peridots alliance with the crystal gems and they had already been dancing in each other's footsteps, literally. Despite Garnets warnings, Steven and Peridot had fused 3 times in the past 42 hours. Steven was reluctant at first but soon started to enjoy being useful to Peridot and the rest of the team after being convinced that fusion was okay. Pearl had caught Steven fusing with Peridot only one time though, which had been the most recent one, that being the reason why Peridot was tied to a rope. Steven tried to convince Pearl that he could be helpful, but Pearl denied, saying that they couldn't take the risk for any mistakes being made whilst in the creation of the drill.
Peridot stood and approached Pearl, but she soon stopped as the rope pulled on her torso. Peridot opened her mouth and revealed her ferocious sharp teeth as she growled at Pearl, "Urgha! This would be so much easier if you could let me off of this thing!" Peridot shouted. Pearl hummed as she put her hand to her gem and equipped her spear, "Fine, you're out of time out for now, but I better not catch you doing any fusing with Steven," Pearl threatened as she then pointed her spear at Peridots gem. Peridot did a combination of both a yelp and a hiss as she rose her arms into the air like she was about to do Kung-fu and scoffed at the same time. Pearl turned toward Amethyst as Peridot made her descent to the chalkboard, scaling out the schematics with an agreeing hum and a few slow nods, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be, very good Pearl," Peridot said before making a few changes.
Pearl turned away once again, looking back at Amethyst who was sitting to Stevens' left, taking refuge on the haystack whilst eating a donut. Pearl approached Steven and put her hand on his chest, shaking him as to wake him up. Pearl continued to shake Steven until he groaned and turned over to his other side, "Peridot?" Steven asked confusingly.
Steven took a better look and corrected himself, "Oh, hi Pearl," Steven restated as he leaned upwards and rubbed his eyes. Steven didn't feel like he needed any more sleep as he jumped to his feet and smiled, "How's the drill?" Steven asked. Pearl grinned, "Well, the drill head schematics are finished, but we don't have the materials to make it yet... It could take quite some time, time that we don't have," Pearl explained in a worried tone, bringing her hand to her gem. Steven bent over and spotted Peridot before looking back at Pearl, "Peridot's still in time out I guess?" Steven asked.
"Of course she is... as much as Garnet and the rest of us get excited about fusion, we just don't think you're ready to fuse with gems just yet. Trust me, Steven, do you remember what happened with Malachite?" Pearl asked as she placed her hands on Stevens' shoulders. Steven stayed silent, looking at the ground as he remembered what had happened.
"Look, Steven, we're just trying to protect you, you know that," Pearl explained. Steven huffed before looking back up with a dour expression, "Pearl I-" Steven stopped, "I just want to be helpful," Steven finished with a grave tone. Pearl felt a shiver run down her gem.
Pearl watched as Steven silently walked away, 'did I say something wrong?' Pearl thought.
Steven felt a little upset that Pearl had compared Triphane to Malachite, but she had a point | if he was fused as Triphane, and Peridot resisted to unfuse like before, things could possibly get messy. Despite knowing this and understanding the bad things that could happen, Steven felt as if he needed to fuse with Peridot again, and again, and he didn't know why he felt that way. Steven was now close enough to Peridot for her to realize he was standing right beside her, "Mornin' Peridot, how's it going?" Steven asked curiously. Peridot looked at Steven, "The drill head, or the programming?"
"Both?" Steven replied.
Peridot hummed as she gave it some thought, "The mining systems are nearly complete, but without the actual drill head it's self, I won't be able to continue."
"Oh... wait, what about the Kindergarten? Didn't homeworld use drills to collect the nutrients and stuff?" Steven claimed. Peridot opened and closed her mouth a few times before answering, "How didn't I think of this sooner? Steven, you're a genius!" Peridot praised before looking back at the gems in thought.
Steven was about to inform the gems of the discovery until Peridot reached out and yanked on his shirt. Steven looked back, "Peridot?" he asked, confused. Peridot paused, "uh... nevermind." Steven shrugged as Peridot let go, 'I wonder what that was about?' Steven thought.
In a snap of the fingers, Steven, Peridot, and Amethyst were at the Kindergarten, searching for an adequately sized drill head. After finally finding a drill within the criteria for their blueprints, Peridot commanded Steven and Amethyst to chip the top of it off whilst she makes a voice log.
Peridot peered at Steven and Amethyst from a distance as she spoke into her device, "Log date, 7-11-2. Steven and the Amethyst have volunteered to help me dismantle this Era-One-Drill. How stylistically displeasing, the newer ones have a nicer finish."
Peridot felt her non-existent heart race, her face turning purple as she continued, "I know that it's nefarious to fuse with other gems back on homeworld, but I've continued to engage in this transgression... I don't know who I am anymore, what's my purpose now?" Peridot asked herself as she brought her device closer. Peridot then stopped the recording device, pressing a red button before putting it away. Where ever that was, we'll never know. Seriously, where does she put that thing when she's done? Anyway, back to the story.
Peridot had finally finished her recording log and had returned to the drill, peering at Steven as she approached. Steven noticed this and turned towards Peridot, "Hey Peridot, Amethyst decided to take a look at her hole and kinda left me here... Could you help, maybe?" Steven suggested, closing his eyes as he scratched the back of his head. Steven had been standing atop the drill while smashing the top with a rock, Amethyst was checking out her birth-hole, and Peridot was thinking about how she could possibly help Steven. Steven was taken aback as he suddenly slipped off the top of the drill and landed on the ground, taking a hard hit to his stomach.
Steven released a whimper of pain as he hit the ground. Peridot quickly ran his aid, "Steven! Are you alright?" she asked, sliding to her knees. Steven casually leaned upwards as if it was nothing, "Ha, I'm fine Peridot," he answered with a slight crack in his voice. Peridot was about to speak before Steven cried in pain once more, wrapping his hands around his own gem. Seven fingered the edges of his gem placement before lifting his shirt, whimpering once more as he threw the shirt off. Steven felt as if he was to faint as he fell into Peridots arms. Peridot and Steven looked down at his gem, gasping as the crack continued to spread.
"OH, MY STARS!" Peridot panicked, widening her eyes in dismay as she softly layed Stevens head against the drill. Steven had been calm though, he knew he could fix it, although something like this has never actually happened to him before. Peridot looked as if she was about to freak out before Steven smiled and placed a hand on Peridots fluffy hair, swishing it around. Steven wasn't always sure about when his healing spit would work, but he was feeling confident and confined, plus this was a very serious situation. He had been feeling oddly confident lately, maybe it was because he fused with a gem without having to rely on his emotions, maybe.
"Don't worry Peridot, I have healing spit remember?" Steven assured Peridot as he rose his hand to his lips. Steven gently placed his hand over his gem, rubbing it ever so slightly against the surface.
Peridot blushed as she watched, she had never seen someone touch their own gem in such a way before, neither has she ever seen something drool down the cracks of one before. It was mildly amusing. Steven slowly rose to his feet, retrieving his shirt that was only a few feet away. Once Steven got a hold of his shirt, he threw it over his head, stretching his arms through the holes on the sides.
Peridot stood beside Steven, keeping his shirt lifted above his gem as it sparkled, slowly reversing the damage. Steven tilted his head, nervously chuckling as Peridot rubbed her hands against his stomach until eventually reaching the edges of his gem. Peridot enlarged her kiwi colored eyes in awe as the sparkling faded into thin air. After the tiny lights disappeared, Steven smiled and looked back at Peridot who had started touching the surface of his gem, almost as if she was investigating it.
Steven began to laugh as he wrapped his hands around Peridots fingers, "Stop it, that tickles!" Steven wailed, easily splitting Peridots hand from his gem. Peridot coughed as she rose herself from the ground, her hands now by her sides. "Sorry about that," Peridot apologized, "I-" she spoke, "It's alright, no pain no gain!" Steven finished, flexing his arm outwards. Peridot and Steven awkwardly laughed, looking at the ground for a slight moment before remembering what they were supposed to be doing.
Steven quickly looked at Peridot, "We can't tell the gems about this," Steven said in a dead-pan tone, his eyes clearly showing no frivolity. Peridot looked down at Steven as she blushed, "Y-yeah, of course," she agreed.
It was by this time that Amethyst had returned, her whip in her hands as she looked at the two. "I can see that you two haven't made much progress," Amethyst said sarcastically, "maybe I should help," she offered as she threw her whip towards the drill bit. Amethyst smirked as the drill head hit the ground, "Okay, now that that's done," Amethyst moved her sight to Steven as she retracted her whips, "Steven! Come help me move this thing." Steven quickly ran towards the drill, placing his hands under the drill, reddening his face as he lifted it off the ground, alone. Amethyst had been picking her nose as she curiously looked at Steven, "Oh, didn't know we were starting now," she said before running to the other side and lifting it.
While Steven and Amethyst carried the drill back to the barn, Peridot hung close to Stevens' side, giving him encouragement every time he broke down in large puffs. Steven had finally broken down as he reached the warp pad, sarcastically cheering as he fell on his back. Peridot leaned over in concern as she called Stevens' name, "Steven!" Amethyst simply looked over her shoulder, nodding in approval as Peridot ran to his aid. Steven rose his thumb but didn't open his eyes, "I'm alright. Never better," Steven whispered, feeling as if he were about to pass out.