Peridot lay on their bunk trying to summon a Robonoid but the pain made it too hard to concentrate.
They were just about to give up when there was a small knock on the door.
Peridot looked over in surprise as the door was gently lifted out of the way, still hanging off its runners. Jasper was standing behind it.
"Hey" they stand there slightly awkwardly.
"Hey" Peridot glared at them.
"I heard shouting and… well I can go if you want me to"
"No. It's okay" they looked at each other awkwardly for a little while "I'm sorry for before" Peridot blurted out "I've just never really had anyone say no to me before…"
"It's okay, it's my fault" Jasper scratches their head, slowly walking into the room. "Look, there's stuff about me-"
Peridot raises their hand "It's okay, you don't have to explain." They sigh heavily "I'm trying to be 'mature' about this."
Jasper doesn't reply, rushing forwards to kneel next to the bunk and reaching out to gently take Peridots hand "What happened to you?" their eyes narrow "Lapis." Jasper growled deeply, starting to stand as Peridot grabbed their wrist, wincing at the pain in their fingers.
"No, no I just fell that's all"
Jasper looked at Peridot disbelievingly "You fell? Come on, I know you're fragile but…"
Peridot looked down awkwardly "I fell into the containment field"
Jasper shook their head, smiling slightly "I don't want to you to keep talking to Lapis, before you get even more hurt"
"I told you, it wasn't their fault, I just fell"
Jasper looked at Peridot disapprovingly "Alright. Just summon one of your little balls and fix yourself up. No point in lying there feeling sorry"
Peridot groaned "I can't, it's too hard to focus"
Jasper sighed "You really are useless aren't you?" they cupped Peridots injured hand in both of their own "Okay, first of all. Remember, your body is just an expression and pain is just your way of telling your gem that something isn't working properly."
Peridot nodded, biting down on their lip and closing their eyes.
"Now" Jasper continued "Picture what you are trying to create in your head, feel it, hear the sounds it makes as it walks. See what it sees when it looks up at you, feel that connection. Remember, it isn't a part of you, but it isn't separate either." Peridot could hear a hint of emotion creeping into Jaspers voice as they concentrated on their words "When you are ready, release it. Let its form well up in your gem and then let it be born." Peridots gem was beginning to glow brightly "it exists on your energy but outside of your body, feel that pathway, the conduit you send to it. It is the thread of emotion that binds it to you, carrying your very essence with it"
The glow of Peridots gem intensified, a large sphere taking shape in front of them, solidifying as the light faded away and dropping down to land on their chest. The newly formed Robonoid whistled happily as Peridot opened their eyes "That was amazing Jasper how-"Peridot stopped themselves as they looked at Jasper in shock, tears leaking from the large gems eyes.
"Are you okay?" Peridot asked in concern
"Of course" Jasper looked at them in surprise
"but, you're crying"
"What?" Jasper put a hand to their cheek, feeling the warm tears "huh…"
They let go of Peridots hand, standing up quickly and wiping their face "Well, I'm done here. Get well soon Green" they said, striding out of the room, ignoring Peridots cries of protest
"Wait, you don't have to go…" Peridot groaned, flopping back down onto the bunk, the pain in their hand returning along with a cold, wet feeling.
Peridot looked down at their arm in surprise to see the Robonoid crawling over it, spraying its repair substance liberally.
"I didn't give you any orders?" Peridot asked the little device musingly.
The Robonoid whistled happily again. They didn't usually do that.
Peridot had to admit that that had been pretty amazing, they usually just called up the Robonoids with the help of their screen, channelling the energy through their technological enhancements but feeling it grow inside them like that... That was definitely an experience. They absentmindedly patted the Robonoid with their other hand as it finished its task and scuttled over to plop itself down on their lap.
There wasn't any point in wondering where Jasper learnt to do that. Peridot thought of Carnelian and the mysterious Chalcedony. Standing defiantly on the battlefield with their host of centipede, beetle, dog things…
This just made Peridot even more determined to find out what had really happened, they couldn't have betrayed Chalcedony, not after sharing something like what Peridot had just experienced.
"Peridots just fucking with me" they muttered to themselves. To their surprise the Robonoid gave off an assertive chirp.
"I really need to scan you properly don't I?" Peridot regarded the small sphere closely, reaching out to scratch under one of its little legs, causing it to flop over onto its back and wave its legs around excitedly.
Peridot drew back in surprise, mentally chastising themselves for being so soft "You're probably just malfunctioning" they said, quickly pulling up their screen and beginning the diagnostics check. The pain in their slowly healing arm completely forgotten in the wake of these strange new developments.
Crows note
In response to the reviewer who asked about the use of gender neutral pronouns I know that the gems are generally shown to use She/Her/Hers pronouns I always had a little headcannon that that was something the Crystal Gems adopted in response to Earth culture and therefore the homeworld gems don't. Lapis could be an exception, no doubt having been exposed to plenty of Earth culture over time but I figure even if they did they probably wouldn't bother around other Homeworld.
Anyway, the tl;dr; or it is that its just a stylistic choice I made for this fanfic, partly to see how it would be to write a story using as little gendered language as possible (luckily I'm not French)
Thanks for reading