About an hour had passed since Connie had left. Ever since then, Steven had been lying on his bed, arms splayed out and still in his regular clothes. The sky had become a pinkish-purple colour at this point, only the rim of the sun visible behind the distant waves. He would've called it it beautiful, but all this information really told him was that it was a bit too late to pay a visit to Lapis and Peridot. Even if he were to travel by warp pad, there was still some distance to walk until he would finally make it to the barn.
He let out a long, frustrated sigh. He wished he could go back three days ago and drag himself to the barn, instead of having to face whatever reaction his two friends would have to him going ahead and freeing someone who had caused them so much trouble, Lapis especially. Deep down he knew neither of them would hate him, but it scared him to think about the disappointed looks he might get from them, at best.
Despite all of this, he knew he had to tell them as soon as possible. Now would be a nice time to do so, since it was as soon as possible, but he was already exhausted from his training with Connie from today that he couldn't bring himself to travel all that way.
Then an idea popped into his mind. He rolled over to the edge of the bed, until her was in reach of the drawer built in the desk next to him. He reached his arm for the knob and pulled the drawer out, revealing his laptop inside. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up, then scooped the laptop up in his hand and pushed the drawer back in its frame with his foot. He opened the device up and pressed the power button, then waited for the login screen to load up, his fingers drumming his duvet as each second passed.
Once he had logged in, he directed his cursor to a shortcut of a social network and gave it a click, opening it up. His finger scolled through his contacts, until finally he landed on the profile picture of Peridot. Being one to use her tablet often, Steven had introduced her too numerous social network sites and apps, including this one, which she and him would occasionally use to make calls and video chat. Today would hopefully be one of those days where they would do so.
After clicking her profile picture, he searched for the option to video chat with her, his cursor soon finding it. He was about to open the chat up, before stopping himself.
Jasper was sure to hear their conversation from where he was sitting.
He withdrew his finger from the touchpad and picked the laptop up, carrying it with him as he made his way down the stairs and towards the door, past where Garnet was sitting. The fusion glanced at him, as to question what he was doing, to which he replied,
"I'll be back in a sec."
He shut the door behind him and trudged down the steps, far from Jasper's hearing range. He finally settled below the steps and on the dry sand. The glow of the screen in front of him was now apparent, as it had gotten pretty dark already.
Laptop now sitting on his lap, he allowed himself to click on the video chat option, which opened up a tab that awaited for Peridot's response. For a while, all he saw was a loading screen.
Then, a blurry picture appeared. He edged forward.
A green figure could be seen, tongue out as she stared at her own device, probably trying to figure it out. Eventually, her eyes moved up to the screen in front of her and she grinned excitedly.
"Steven!" she exclaimed. Steven could see that she was lying down on a white hammock, and that she, for some reason had short sleeves. This earned a laugh from him.
"Hi, Peridot! I like your shirt."
The gem's happy expression turned to one of embarrassment, and her free arm slapped over her body in an attempt to cover up the baggy white t-shirt that she was wearing, her wrist hiding half of the alien head logo.
"I-it's a one-time thing!" she stammered. Steven laughed again, as another voice piped up,
"You've been wearing that for three days straight."
Peridot scowled at someone who was off-screen.
"Like you're one to speak!" she retorted, before her attention was drawn back to her tablet as Steven said,
"Oh, is Lapis with you? Can you get her on camera with you?"
Peridot nodded, before her camera-work began to get really shaky as she crawled along the hammock. Steven waited for a clear picture to come up, which eventually happened when Peridot fell back onto the hammock, now lying next to Lapis. Steven concluded they must've both been lying on it, heads just in different places.
Lapis' dark blue eyes lit up at the sight of her friend, and her hands flopped forward, the book she held now flat on her bare belly. Steven saw that she also had a change in clothing - a blue and white-striped tank top that still failed to cover her whole torso.
"Hello, Steven!" she greeted, smiling sweetly.
"Hi, Lapis!" He waved. "Since when did you guys start wearing clothes?"
She glanced at the green gem next to her. "It was Peridot's idea."
Peridot's mouth scrunched up at that. Steven laughed again.
"I think they really suit you!" he commented. The younger gem's irritated expression immediately transformed into a smug grin.
"Thank you, Steven! I do come up with the best ideas, after all."
Lapis rolled her eyes while he chuckled. Peridot then pulled the tablet closer to her face and squinted.
"Where are you right now?" she asked. Suddenly, the reasons for calling his friends came flooding back to him, and he had to pin his grin to his face.
"Oh! I'm just- I'm outside." He tilted his laptop backwards to allow the webcam to get a good view of his house, then adjusted it so that the camera would be recording him again.
"Oh, it's a nice night, isn't it?" The corner of Lapis' mouth quirked up. Steven bit his lip.
"Erm… actually…" He tried to think what order to put his words into, his eyes trailing in some random direction that soon landed on the sky above him. "...Yeah. It's a nice night." Those weren't even the right words.
"Yeah! Lapis and I are planning to go stargazing later tonight!" Peridot declared, shaking the tablet as she did so. The blue gem nodded.
"As long as we wake up at the right time."
Steven's eyes widened a little. "You guys like sleeping?"
One of Lapis' hand crossed over her other as she stared off at something in the distance. "Sometimes, yes."
"It's very interesting!" Peridot stated. "I was searching through what humans have found out about it and the dreams that come with it, and while most research done was petty and theories illogical, some were… above adequate for a being with such a short lifespan."
Steven smiled, delighted to hear that the two gems were settling into Earth so well that they would join in with human activities.
"That's great, Peridot." His smile faltered. "Um… so the reason why I've called you…" He broke his gaze with the screen that was lighting up his face.
"You mean, other than to see your two favourite gems?" Peridot chortled, and Lapis smirked at the comment.
Steven bit the inside of his cheek. "Heh… well, there's something I need to tell you guys."
The two gems' attention was drawn, and they awaited for him to continue. He tapped his fingers on the sides of the laptop as he tried to decide on where he should start - the apology, or the story behind the apology?
"...Yes?" Peridot prompted him after a while of waiting in silence. He broke out of his thoughts, staring at the two trusting faces in front of him.
They looked so happy over there.
"Hey, uh… my battery's low. Do you think that we could meet up tomorrow morning at some point?" A yawn soon followed his excuse. "Uh… also I'm really tired." That wasn't a lie.
"Of course, Steven!" Lapis offered an understanding smile, a smile that Steven was dreading slapping off of her tomorrow. "You go and rest. We're looking forward to seeing you - right, Peridot?" She glanced at the gem lying next to her, who nodded, grinning wildly.
"Yep! We'll let you regain your human energy." She slipped one hand behind her head. "See you tomorrow, Steven!" She then leaned over to Lapis and whispered, "What's that Earth saying that humans say before they sleep?"
Lapis shrugged and muttered back, "I dunno, sour dreams or something?"
Steven snickered. "I think you mean 'sweet dreams', Lapis."
The blue gem fluttered her lashes. "Right. Sweet dreams, Steven!"
"What she said," Peridot added.
He smiled gingerly. "Sweet dreams." He yawned again. "Goodnight, guys!"
"Goodnight!" The two of them waved - the blue hand slow and steady while the green frantic and ecstatic. Steven returned the gesture, before clicking off the tab to end the conversation, and finally flopping onto his back with his laptop almost toppling over his lap. He stared up at the stars that had begun to appear, wishing that he could find some way to break the news to them. Yet, no ideas came to him, much to his disappointment. Then again, it really didn't matter how he did it - Lapis would be upset no matter what, and Peridot would probably become annoyed that he hadn't told either of them any sooner.
But I need to tell them, he told himself, even if they think I'm crazy.
Steven had woken up slightly later than usual. At first, he had been happy that he'd gotten a goodnight's sleep, and that today had already began to look like a beautiful day, however all of his joy was sucked out of him when his eyes landed on his laptop sitting on the counter, immediately reminding him what he would have to do this morning. He let out a long sigh, throwing his duvet off of his body and swinging his legs over do that his feet would land on the floor.
His joints cracked as he stood up, a spiral of clicking sounding as he twisted his back around. He yawned, before sauntering over to the stairs and plodding down each step, slowly passing the large figure still sitting on his couch.
"Morning, Jasper," he murmured, rubbing his eyes.
The quartz sneered, "I'm aware."
Steven paused at the bottom of the stairs, trying to process her reply, before finally realizing and chuckling.
"No, no, I mean, good morning. Like a greeting." He groggily smiled at her, while she just huffed and turned away. When she did, Steven tread slowly towards the bathroom, his hand reaching for the handle once he was in front of the door. But, before his palm was even on the doorknob, the door swung open, revealing Amethyst standing in the entrance, the toilet flushing behind her. The surprise in seeing her jolted him awake.
"Amethyst?"
"Oh, hey Steven."
He arched a brow. "What were you doing in there?"
She shrugged. "I dunno, I wanted to see what would happen if I flushed food colouring down the toilet."
He felt like he should've been surprised, but honestly, he'd become used to these type of antics.
"Did the water change colour?"
"Nope. Pretty disappointing." She shuffled past him. "Anyway, you go do your buis'."
Steven obliged, slipping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
He spent about half an hour cleaning himself up, his hair still wet by the time it was ten-thirty. He had decided to take his breakfast outside, sitting with Amethyst, Garnet and Pearl on the patio while scoffing his pancakes down hungrily.
"Oh, guys, I forgot to tell you-" he licked some syrup off of his lips, "I'm meeting Lapis and Peridot this morning."
"Oh!" Amethyst turned, a wide grin on her face. "I wanna come! What are you guys plannin'?"
Steven looked over to her guiltily. "Erm… this isn't really gonna be a casual meeting, Amethyst." He took another bite of his pancake.
The purple gem raised a brow. "What d'ya mean?"
"Well... " He stared at his plate. "I realized yesterday that I probably should've told Lapis about Jasper at some point."
"So you're going to tell her today?" Garnet guessed, correctly, at that.
"Uh-huh." He nodded slowly. "I know she won't be happy about it."
The fusion lay a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to worry. You're Lapis' closest friend - she'll understand your reasoning."
Steven felt a comfort in the hand placed on him, even if her gem blocked the soft palm from underneath.
"Yeah, you're like, her will to live."
There goes that touching moment.
Pearl rolled her sky-blue eyes. "Oh, Amethyst,at least try and be sympathetic."
Amethyst snickered, shrugging her shoulders. "Just sayin'."
The half-gem disregarded her comment and continued eating his breakfast, until eventually there was only half a pancake left. He was about to take another bite, when the sound of the warp pad alerted the group, all their heads turning towards inside the house. Their suspicions were confirmed when they saw the bright blue glow of the warp pad lighting up the room.
At first, Steven was confused to who would be using it - Jasper couldn't use it, as she was still half-corrupted, and she was also still sitting on the couch. And, obviously, no one from the temple would be using it, as they were currently with him outside. It was then the realization hit him, and he dropped his plate on the ground and darted inside.
By the time he was standing next to the kitchen counter, the glowing of the warp pad had faded, revealing two figures - one green, one blue. He stopped in his tracks, heart pounding.
"L-Lapis! Peridot!" he stammered, chancing a glance with Jasper, who had visibly tensed up, her fists clenched and eyes wide with discomfort. His eye contact was brief, as he had to look back at his two friends. "What are you guys doing here?"
Peridot smiled and arched a brow. "You wanted to meet up, didn't you? Well, here we are."
He attempted to smile back, though his mouth was probably a crumpled mess when he did so.
"O-oh! Yeah, I know, but I thought…" He shuffled forward until he was past the wooden floorboards and instead standing on the smooth surface that led up to the temple door. "I was actually gonna come and meet you guys at the barn! Y'know, to save the hassle and all!" He felt beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. Whether they were created by the burning glare he felt Jasper giving him from inside his living room or the nervousness pulsing through his veins, he was unsure.
Lapis gave a thoughtful smile. "It's okay, Steven. It really wasn't that hard getting here, you know." She stepped off of the warp pad and stood in front of him. Before she did, Steven quickly looked at Jasper, who had now clenched her teeth and gripped the sofa at the sound of the blue gem's voice. Before Lapis could follow his gaze, he turned her attention back to her.
"I know! But, um… I wanted to see any new additions to the barn!" He side-stepped over to the warp pad, which by now had no gem on it, as Peridot had hopped off of it as well.
"Oh, we haven't modified it in the time you were gone." The younger gem flicked her hand forward casually. "We've got some ideas, but haven't got the right material to act on them." She then smirked, cantering further into the house, while still keeping her green eyes on Steven. "So, I was wondering, while we were here-"
"Um, Peridot-"
"If we could possibly borrow any unused or discarded devices to which we could make some use fro-"
The gem froze when she turned around, now standing in the middle of his house and having a clear view of the gem sitting on his sofa. Steven felt himself tremble at the sight.
And then she screamed.
"AAAAAH! LAPIS!" Peridot spun around, slipping in the process, then scrambled onto her feet and slid over to where her roommate was standing. Lapis was shocked and confused, to say the least, her eyes widening and brows raised, as the little gem grappled onto her left arm. "DON'T GO IN THERE!"
She stared at her, puzzled.
"Why? What's wrong?" she questioned, taking a step forward, ignoring the green gem tugging her back by the arm. She, however, paused when she heard,
"She's right! Don't go in there!" he cried, stumbling over to them. None of this answered Lapis' question, which began to make her grow irritated.
"Why not? What's in there, a monster?"
"No! Something much worse!" Peridot exclaimed, tightening her grip on her friend's arm. Lapis opened her mouth to reply, when a deep, raspy and almost animalistic voice interrupted her.
"Watch your puny tongue, before I rip it out your mouth."
Peridot froze. Steven froze. Lapis froze.
Then, Lapis raised her other hand to clamp it over the green arm gripping onto her. Steven felt his own heart choking him in his throat.
"Lapis, I…" was all he could muster up. The gem still didn't move, though her face was the living embodiment of terror.
Then she took a step forward. And another. And another.
Peridot, unable to keep her roommate still, had no choice but to keep up with her slow pace into the house, still holding her arm tightly. Steven followed behind her nervously, his eyes constantly darting from the two gems to the large figure slowly revealed as they reached the right angle.
Lapis stopped once she had a clear enough view of Jasper, whose amber eyes were wide, filled with intense animosity. If stares could kill, Lapis would be shattered into pieces; this thought was what dragged Steven over to stand between them both, which wasn't so hard with such a distance between them.
"Jasper," Lapis finally croaked, voice dripping with remorse. Jasper tilted her head forward, her bangs falling over some of her face and making it harder for anyone to see her eyes.
"Lapis." A low growl rumbled from her throat.
Steven looked back at his friend, still gripped by Peridot, who shakily spoke out.
"Wh-what are you doing here?"
A haughty laugh could be heard, before she gestured towards the boy standing a few feet away.
"Ask your leader."
Both Lapis and Peridot's gazes landed on Steven, and they stung. They were a mess of confusion, betrayal and fear.
Then the ocean gem squeezed her eyes shut, running her fingers through her electric blue hair and finally slipping out of the smaller gem's grasp.
"I…" She shook her head. "I'll be back."
With that, she scurried out of the house, with only a weak attempt to close the door behind her before summoning her wings and flying off. She didn't even acknowledge the other gems standing outside, watching the scene unfold intently. As Lapis passed them, they all exchanged pitiful glances with each other.
Peridot stared after her helplessly, before swinging her head around to face Steven once again.
"Steven...?" She narrowed her eyes, tapping her foot against the wood impatiently as she waited for an explanation.
Steven looked at her guiltily, before making his way to the door, gesturing for Peridot to follow, to which she obliged. Once they were out on the patio, he shut the door behind him and turned to face the little gem.
"Peridot-"
"Steven, why is Jasper in your house, and why isn't she that dreadful monster that she had originally transformed into?!" she screeched, splaying her arms out childishly. Slightly taken aback, Steven had to find the correct words to reply.
"I… I'm sorry, Peridot!" He clenched his hands into fists. "It's just… I felt really bad for leaving Jasper in that bubble! I have healing powers, and I thought that maybe I could help her! And… it's worked so far! Kinda…"
Peridot's face was scrunched up in perplexment. "But… why would you want to? I mean…" Her nose wrinkled up as she stole a look from the quartz soldier. "Did you just forget about everything she did?"
"Well, to be fair, Per," Amethyst stepped forward, "we gave you a chance, didn't we? We're just helpin' out Jasper rather than leaving her in the dust." She draped an arm over her friend's shoulder. "Ya gotta admit, what happened to her wasn't pretty."
Peridot gave her an unsure glance. "The possibilities of her becoming our ally are slim." She then snarled. "And, honestly? The chances of me wanting her as an ally are as well." She then began frantically search the sky. "And I doubt Lapis will be any better."
Steven sighed. "She's probably so mad with me."
Peridot then looked back at him, eyes round with surprise. "Mad at you? Ha!" She scoffed, flicking her wrist forward dismissively. "That's very unlikely, Steven. I mean, she may be upset, but I highly doubt she's angry."
Steven perked up with hope. "Are you sure?"
"Only one way to find out." She turned towards the stairs and began her climb down to the sand below, then began to run in a random direction, away from the temple.
"Wrong way," Garnet called, stopping her teammate in her tracks. The fusion pointed up to the lighthouse on top of the hill. "She's up there."
Peridot stared up at the tall structure towering above them all and groaned.
"I have to climb all the the way up there?"
Amethyst snickered, leaning over the fence and gazing at her with amusement. "You wanna climb up there?"
"It's okay!" Steven shuffled next to Amethyst to look at Peridot. "I can float us up there." He followed his friend down the steps and onto the sand, then lead her over to a more sloped end of the cliff, where he snatched her little green hand, before preparing to jump up.
"Ready?"
"Of course I'm ready," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Steven nodded, then jumped, keeping tight hold of her hand. He heard Peridot let out a gasp as she left the ground, far higher than the average jump. They didn't quite reach the height of the lighthouse, so Steven allowed himself to float back down and land on the cliff that the building was standing on. He heard the gem next to him let out a sigh of relief as soon as her feet touched the green grass, until he jumped into the air yet again, earning a surprised yelp from her. This time, they could reach the top of the lighthouse, in fact they floated a little distance above it, allowing them to see a blue figure sitting on top of the structure, her knees tucked tightly under her chin while her hair blew widely in the wind.
Lapis was jolted out of her thoughts at the sound of a body slamming onto the hard surface she had settled on, followed by the sound of two feet landing much more lightly. She didn't raise her head from her knees to see who it was, as she could take a good guess.
Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw from the corner of her eye, a green figure sit on her right, and another all too familiar figure on her left. Now trapped between her only two trustworthy friends, she knew there wasn't any point in trying to escape.
"Hey, Lapis…" the boy spoke slowly. "I, uh…" She saw him shift nervously. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about all of this sooner. It just… slipped my mind."
She didn't need to hear much to know he was deeply remorseful. She'd say she would have forgiven him, but there was no grudge to let go of. She sighed, and placed a hand on his shoulder, peeking at him through the gaps in between her bangs.
"Don't worry, Steven," she murmured. She saw his eyes grow wide, clearly surprised by her response.
"You're not mad?" His voice grew a little louder than it had been before. She shook her head.
"No. I mean, I'm surprised, but…" She turned to her little green friend sitting on the other side of her. "Peridot told me what happened with Jasper. I…" She carried her blue clumps of hair out of her face with her fingers. "All I can say is that it came as a shock to me." Her pupils trailed the beach below them.
"Yeah…" Steven agreed sadly. "I did try to heal her when the corruption started, but she just wouldn't listen. I-I felt like I had to do something, y'know?"
Lapis gave him a one-sided smile. "I know."
His brown eyes still shone with guilt. "I really am sorry about not telling you. Or Peridot." He glanced at the younger gem sitting next to her. "I guess all I was thinking about is how Jasper would react to us… but I didn't consider how you would react to Jasper."
"It really wouldn't have made any difference, Steven."
He blinked at her. "Huh?"
She stared at the ocean, at how far it stretched out for. "I would've been fine with you bringing Jasper back."
Peridot then suddenly chimed, "That doesn't mean you shouldn't have told us."
Steven tore his gaze away from the two of them guiltily. The sight was enough for Lapis to elbow Peridot in the arm, though not so hard that it would hurt. The younger gem did let out a surprised squeak, though, before rubbing the part of her arm that was nudged. "What? He should've."
Lapis just gave her a blank stare, passing on a message that only she would understand. She clamped her mouth shut and turned back to Steven.
"We're not mad, though. So… don't worry about it," she quickly added. The boy dragged his gaze away from the ocean below and found the courage to look at them again.
"Are you sure?"
They both nodded simultaneously.
"It's sweet how you want to help her, Steven." The older gem's tone sounded forced to her, but it seemed her friend didn't notice, to her relief. He shyly smiled at her.
"I'm glad you think so, Lapis. But, please don't think that just because I'm helping Jasper out with… this… that I won't be here for you as well." A single tooth grappled onto his bottom lip. "I know you and Jasper have a… erm… difficult relationship." He scratched the back of his neck. "So if you ever feel uncomfortable with all of this, please tell me."
Lapis sweetly smiled at him, a darker shade of blue appearing on her face for the shortest of moments. His words really did comfort her like an Earth blanket.
"Thank you, Steven," she breathed, leaning her head back on her knees, her arms crossing over each other and surrounding her chin. The wind blew in her hair, blocking a clear sight of the sea lapping up on the shore - or anything in front of her, for that matter. A silence fell upon them, thoughts overcoming words. Lapis' eyes drooped until they finally closed, and she felt herself fall into a realm built out of her conflicting thoughts. The image of Jasper and her half-corrupted form flashed in her mind for a brief moment. It didn't last long. That doesn't mean it didn't hurt to see her-
She was suddenly dragged out of that realm by a small hand clamping over her arm. She finally opened her eyes and glanced at the little gem next to her, one hand on her arm as she stared into the distance.
"Say, I'm sure Jasper isn't all that pleased to see us, so perhaps we should return to the barn," Peridot suggested distantly. "Y'know… to give her space and all."
"Oh, yeah, okay." He sounded slightly disappointed. "Can we keep in touch, though? I mean, I don't think I'll be able to visit the barn so often with Jasper around."
Lapis nodded while humming, "Mhmm," before standing up onto her feet, her gem glowing so it could reveal a pair of water wings. Both Steven and Peridot stood up as well, the human pulling a foot back as he stared at the ground below.
"Want me to carry you down?" Lapis offered. Steven shook his head.
"No, it's okay! I can just float." He grinned, before jumping off of the lighthouse and steadily falling to the ground, letting out a 'whoosh' as soon as he got into the air. Peridot's eyes followed him as he descended, before she yelled,
"Hey, wait! How am I meant to get down?"
Lapis rolled her dark eyes, before hooking her hands under the smaller gems arms, her fingers tightly grasping her limbs. With a strong beat of her wings, she left the surface of the building and made her way down to the ground, while also hearing an 'eep' from Peridot at the sudden movement.
"Oh- uh… wow, thanks," she eventually sputtered as her hanging feet grew closer to the sandy beach below. Lapis didn't notice her own grip tighten.
"It's fine," she muttered, her head drooping slightly as she watched her other friend land on the sand safely, followed by Peridot, who she let go of a few inches above the ground, and then herself.
She crossed her arms over her chest as the trio began walking towards the steps that led up to the beach house, and with each step, the blue gem could feel a pit grow in her stomach, as she knew that each stair was a sign that she was getting closer to Jasper. Once they were back on the patio, Lapis could feel three pairs of eyes - along with one extra one - stuck to her. She refused to even glance at any of them.
"So… all is good?" Amethyst, who was leaning back on the fence, guessed, though you had to really dig in order to find the concern buried beneath her casual demeanor.
"Uh… yeah! We talked it out," Steven replied, smiling gingerly. "Lapis and Peridot were just about to make their way back to the barn."
The tiny quartz pouted. "Aw, I was hoping the Shorty Squad could've hung out more."
Lapis' insides churned at the suggestion. She definitely did not want to walk past the half-corrupted figure sitting inside alone.
"Oh, I'd love to, Amethyst!" Lapis bit her lip as Peridot spoke. "But I think a certain other soldier would object to such an idea."
Amethyst glanced at the window across from her, then back at her green friend. "Eh. That's fair. Maybe Steven and I could come over to the barn at some point."
"That sounds great!" Steven exclaimed. "What do you guys think?"
Peridot smirked. "Of course! Sounds like a good plan."
"Sure," was all Lapis said. Honestly, she had hardly heard the conversation unfold before her, as her limbs were itching with the urge to leave, as a hot flash was repeatedly flooding through her, mainly on the side of her body closest to the house. She would've blamed it on the sun, had it not been shining from the other side of her.
"Awesome! We'll see ya later then." She snapped her fingers then pointed at them with her index forward and thumb straight up, winking.
"'See ya'." Peridot attempted to mimic her actions, performing the same hand gesture and wink to her, along with the same tone in voice. It was nowhere near identical to the purple soldier's Earth greeting.
Before anything else could be said, Lapis turned towards the door, outstretching her arm towards the handle. Before her palm could touch it, she accidently gave into the urge to look up, and her eyes immediately locked with a heated amber gaze from the other side of the glass. She felt her body freeze, her fingers twitching desperately as they attempted to move.
She was broke out of her trance as she felt a small hand touch her arm. Her eyes moved down to see her roommate staring into the house, her lips a shaky line drawn on her face. Following that were heavier footsteps that couldn't belong to either of her shorter friends, so out of curiosity, she glanced up, seeing the fusion staring down at her through an opaque visor.
"She won't hurt you," she murmured. Lapis furrowed her brow at the statement, then exhaled.
"Right," she mumbled. She knew it didn't sound it, but she was grateful for the attempt to soothe her worries. It goes to show that she was, at the very least, safe.
Her attention was then drawn to Steven scurrying past her, clicking open the door and holding it open for them. She forced a smile as she stepped into the room after Peridot, who had her green eyes glued to Jasper as she sauntered past her. Lapis chewed on her lip as she glanced at her again, expecting some sort of staring contest to take place across the room. But no, the huge gem wasn't paying her any attention. Instead, she had her eyes on the younger gem in front of her, an emotion she couldn't name plastered on her face. All she knew is that she didn't like the emotion, and quickened her pace to stand next to her roommate, guarding her from the unpleasant gaze of the quartz.
As soon as she knew Peridot was out of view, she saw Jasper look back at her, eyes narrowed into fiery pits. She held her gaze for a while, until finally she passed a wall that blocked her view of the gem. She finally looked away, and turned towards the warp pad that was only a few feet away from her.
"So… see you guys some time?" She whipped her head around to Steven, who was standing beside Amethyst and in front of Garnet and Pearl. She smiled and nodded.
"Yes."
"Yep!" Peridot agreed, now grinning. "Bye, Steven! Bye, Amethyst!" She waved to them as she leaped onto the warp pad, as well as Garnet and Pearl, who waved back.
"Bye, Peridot, bye Lapis!" Steven returned, waving back. Lapis copied the gesture.
"Bye, Steven."
One last wave goodbye, and Lapis' vision transformed into a bright flash of blue light.
The pair stepped off the warp pad that was placed in the countryside, close to the beach. Without saying a word, they stepped off of the pad and began the journey back to the barn.
At this point in time, the sun was just behind the midpoint in the sky, and was beating down on them with its heat. The only sound between them was the quiet rustling of the blades of grass brushing next to their feet. Lapis had her arms folded across her chest like she usually did, while Peridot twiddled her thumbs, trying to think of the correct way to break the silence between them.
"Lapis?" she suddenly asked. The older gem caught her eye as a response. "Are you okay?"
She pursed her lips. "Yeah." She turned her attention back to the path ahead of her.
Peridot frowned. Obviously that was the incorrect response.
"Are you sure about that?"
The blue gem's eye twitched when she said that, drawing some regret from her.
"Okay, you're fine, sor-"
"No, not really," Lapis replied with a deadpan expression. The little gem's attention perked, and she turned towards her, intently staring at her.
"I'm guessing you're not okay with this," she muttered.
She dragged her deep blue gaze along the ground. "Are you?"
Peridot arched a brow. "Am I what?"
"Okay with this."
"Oh." She clamped her hands together, her fingers interlocking. "I'm… indifferent, for the most part. I mean, I don't see any reason why Steven would want to help that brute," a sneer appeared on her face, "however, I suppose it's only fair. I mean, he helped us out." She then glanced at her roommate worriedly. "I'm just concerned about the outcomes to this decision."
Lapis blinked slowly. "I'm okay with it."
Peridot's eyes opened a little wider. "You are?"
"I said I was before," she pointed out.
"I know, I just assumed that-" She shook her head. "Irrelevant. Point being, I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She glanced forward, and was enlightened to see the barn become visible over the hills, so began to walk faster. "Tch. After all that, we still bring her back! What a cloddy idea." She scoffed, rolling her eyes around her sockets. "Looks like we're sticking to daily episodes of Camp Pining Hearts and making meep morps at the barn." She shrugged her shoulders dismissively. She wasn't exactly complaining about such a possibility, as doing those activities were never a let-down.
"Mhmm," was all Lapis said, still going at her same pace as before, making it so her roommate was quite some distance ahead of her. The simple response made Peridot turned her head back to her, and she noticed how slow she was walking compared to her, which caused her to stop and wait for her friend to catch up. However, when she was finally at her side, she didn't begin moving again straight away.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she questioned, squinting. Lapis' eye twitched.
"I-" She stopped herself from snapping at her by clenching her teeth, cutting off her own sentence. "No."
Peridot frowned. "Do you want to discuss your feelings?"
The blue gem sighed, then shook her head. "Can we just go and watch Camp Pining Hearts?"
She couldn't protest. "...Okay."
Once they made it back to the barn after a short and silent journey, Lapis lifted Peridot up onto their balcony and dropped her in front of the television, while making herself comfortable on the other side of the truck, leaning back on the wall behind her while she watched the younger gem insert a DVD from a pile next to the Earth device into the slot. Soon, opening credits were rolling, and Peridot crawled over to sit next to Lapis.
They stared at the screen, watching as Percy and Paulette darted through the woods, both of them constantly looking over their shoulders as they fled from some unknown enemy.
"Go on ahead, Paulette! I'll hold this thing off!"
"But, Percy! What if you get hurt?"
"It will hurt me more to see you hurt!"
Peridot snorted. "Oh, come on, Percy. In any other situation you would've returned to the camp to retrieve reinforcements! You just don't think logically around that clod, do you?"
She heard no mutters of agreement. Curious, she glanced at Lapis. Her dark eyes were stuck to the screen, but they weren't moving. They didn't follow Percy's gaze. They didn't scan the background to search for what was chasing the two characters through the woods.
She knew she wasn't watching the show. Not like she usually would.
But Lapis didn't want to talk about it. She had no idea how to get her to spill her worries - she'd simply have to wait until she was ready. All she could do for now is lay a hand on her arm, a reminder that she was still here, and that she wasn't alone.
After a while of the show playing in the background, but now neither of them paying it much attention, Lapis suddenly murmured,
"She was looking at you."
Peridot glanced up at her, puzzled to what she was referring to.
"Um, what?"
The gem didn't look at her with her anxiety-filled eyes.
"When we were walking back to the warp pad. She was looking at you, and I didn't like the look in her eyes."
Peridot dragged her gaze away from her roommate, biting the inside of her cheek. She'd felt uncomfortable being in the same room as Jasper, but she'd noticed nothing like Lapis' description.
She then looked back at her, and decided she looked worried enough.
"Pssh. She's probably humiliated by the fact that, out of all the gems, it was a little, limb enhancer-less Peridot that ultimately defeated her!" She cackled. "I bet not even Garnet saw that coming!"
Lapis' eyes finally found her, and she stared at her, frowning.
"Please. I just don't want her to hurt you. Or Steven."
She blinked a couple of times in a row, before giving an appreciative smile. "No one will get hurt. They've got this under control." She flicked her hand forward. "And she's not going to hurt you. Or me. Or Steven. She's on her last leg, and I think she knows that. Hurting us won't benefit her in any way."
The corners of Lapis' eyes creased. "Are you sure?"
"Name a time when I was wrong about anything!"
She arched a brow. "Yesterday you said that those bees would agree to a peace treaty."
Her smug grin disappeared, replaced with a look of vexation.
"Well why wouldn't they?" she exclaimed.
"Perhaps they would've if you didn't give them the treaty by attaching it to a frisbee and throwing it at their hive."
"I wasn't going to just walk up to them. Last time that happened they all swarmed me and stuck those tiny stingers into my form!" She pouted, folding her arms grumpily. Lapis snorted.
"Why didn't you just retreat into your gem?" she asked, the corners of her lips finally quirking up.
"I wasn't going to be poofed by such small, insignificant beings!" she jeered. Lapis laughed. Finally, she was happy again. Peridot smiled.
"You try it someday, Lazuli!" she challenged playfully.
The blue gem raised her brows. "I don't think I will."
"What? Afraid I'll come out as superior with my methods?" she taunted, smirking. Lapis remained deadpan.
"No. I'm just smart enough to know approaching bees isn't a good idea."
Peridot gasped over dramatically. "Oh, now you're saying I'm dumb?"
"No, you just make some dumb decisions."
She glared at the taller gem, eyes narrowed, while her smile grew by each second, humiliating Peridot even more.
"Pierre? It was you chasing us the whole time?"
They both turned their heads to the television. Peridot then blurted out,
"Predictable!"
Lapis laughed. "I know, right."
And for that afternoon, they forgot about all that may have worried them before.
At least, Peridot hoped that was the case.
