Well, we're on Day 2 and I'm doing pretty well so far. It's like an hour before midnight, so it still counts! Enjoy.

"Hey, Pearl?"

Pearl looked up from the book she was reading to see Steven on his way out the door. "Yes, Steven?"

"I'm going to hang out with Connie. I know you don't want Peridot to be unsupervised, so I thought I'd let you know. She's on my bed right now playing video games."

"You aren't taking her with you?" Pearl tilted her head. "I saw the three of you on the beach a few days ago, and you were all getting along fine."

"That's because we were here," Steven explained. He glanced toward the upstairs before lowering his voice. "I think she's embarrassed about how small she is now. She doesn't want lots of people to see her."

"Really?" Pearl's brows furrowed thoughtfully as she looked over at the stairs. "That's an odd thing to worry about." She turned back to Steven with a smile. "Well, you don't want to keep Connie waiting. Just be back before dark, okay?"

"Okay. See you later. Bye, Peridot," Steven called as he ran out the door.

Pearl tried to return to her book without success. A few weeks ago, she wouldn't have given what Steven had said about Peridot much thought. Now, however, her mind filled with guilty images of Peridot saving Steven from the fusion experiments, Amethyst throwing the robotic enhancers into the ocean, Peridot peeking nervously out of the bathroom whenever one of the Crystal Gems walked by, an excited Steven giving Peridot her first taste of fries and donuts, and a more recent one of Peridot hesitantly sitting between Pearl and Steven during a family movie night.

She sat indecisively for a few more minutes before letting out a defeated sigh and closing the book.

When she entered Steven's room, Peridot was laying on her stomach on the bed, a game controller in her hands. She was furiously punching the buttons.

"Hit it WITH the sword, you idiotic- What?! You're making me go all the way back there?! Stupid, infuriating-"

"Everything okay?" Pearl asked with an amused smile.

Peridot jumped a little before relaxing when she saw who it was. Out of the Crystal Gems, Pearl was the one who made her the least nervous (besides Steven, of course). Amethyst seemed determined to get on her nerves at any opportunity while Garnet had what looked like a permanent glare on her face whenever Peridot saw her. Pearl, on the other hand, had been somewhat pleasant since the mission in the cornfield.

"The Steven told me that this was fun," Peridot explained, holding up the controller. "But, it's filling me with the urge to throw that box machine out the window."

"Then, you should probably stop," Pearl suggested. "Steven would definitely be upset if you broke his TV."

"Hmph. Pointless, archaic machine," Peridot grumbled as she put the controller down. She glanced warily at Pearl. "Why are you here? I have no information to give you."

"That's not it. I…" Pearl trailed off, unsure of how to word this. It wasn't as if she and Peridot were friends, or even particularly friendly, after all. "I just wanted to let you know that you aren't confined to the house. You're allowed to walk around and even go to town if one of us is with you."

Peridot looked at her with a suspicious frown. "If you're trying to bribe me, you'd might as well give up now," the green Gem said, folding her arms.

"It's not a bribe," Pearl replied, her eyebrow starting to twitch irritably. "You haven't tried to escape or attack anyone, so I think we can afford to give you a little extra freedom."

"Hm." Peridot drew her knees up onto the bed, hugging them in a now-familiar position. She stared at the ground, trying to decide what to say. Pearl didn't seem like someone who would mock her. She was definitely snobby, infuriating, and filled with a holier-than-thou attitude, but she also seemed like someone who would listen. Steven certainly confided in her more often than the other Crystal Gems.

"I don't want the humans to see me," she finally said.

"Why is that?" Pearl replied, feeling a small measure of satisfaction at getting Peridot to open up.

"Look at me!" Peridot spread her arms, allowing her legs to go back over the edge of the bed. "I'm the size of a pebble! It's bad enough that you've all seen me like this. I don't need an entire town to know how pathetic I look."

Feeling embarrassed at her outburst, Peridot turned to look at the ground again. "Why did Amethyst have to throw them away?" Her shame increased when she realized that her voice broke.

Pearl winced at the raw emotion in Peridot's words. She really seemed to hate the way she looked without those robotic limbs. Cautiously, Pearl walked over and sat on the bed. "You know," she ventured. "You don't need to be ashamed of your height. There are some human adults around your size, and Ruby and Sapphire are shorter than you."

"Those two are always fused, so that point is invalid," Peridot said with a derisive snort. "And humans don't have to worry about serving Yellow Diamond. They don't have to worry about being inadequate."

Realization dawned on Pearl as she thought back to her time on Homeworld. Words like "defective" and "grunt" circled through her head. She eyed Peridot's small hands and short legs and felt a familiar, righteous anger. "You were told that you weren't good enough." It wasn't a question.

Peridot knew she should stop, but the look on Pearl's face made her want to continue. Was it possible that the other Gem…understood?

"Most Gems of my stature are relegated to menial tasks and are under the boot of everyone else." She frowned as she thought back. "I was deemed to be more intelligent than other Gems in my station and was granted a higher position. My enhancers were given to me then. They told me that they were healing my inadequacies and that it was a great privilege to be so improved."

Pearl let out a disgusted huff. "That sounds just like Homeworld," she growled bitterly.

"They need strength," Peridot said quickly. "It makes sense to value size and ability on a planet so often at war."

Pearl started to retort, but decided against it when she saw the stubborn set of Peridot's jaw. The young Gem would defend her home and its skewed morals until she was blue in the face. Instead, Pearl tried a different approach. "Well, whatever Yellow Diamond thinks, the humans won't care. I'll go with you."

She felt encouraged when Peridot tilted her head, seeming to be seriously thinking about it. Then, the green Gem looked at her hands and frowned, her eyes narrowing with frustration.

So close… Pearl thought, breathing a sigh. Why did she care so much all of a sudden? Was it simply pity that drove her actions?

An idea occurred to her. "What if you shapeshifted into something else? Then, no one would know."

Peridot blinked in surprise and looked up. "Shapeshift?" She thought about it for a moment. That was a surprisingly-good idea. "Into what, though?"

"Well," Pearl said, turning on her gem's projection. "Some common animal would probably be best, so we don't incite a panic. A dog, perhaps?" She allowed images of various dogs to appear.

Peridot watched the pictures for a moment before pointing at one as it flashed by. "Wait! Show me that one again." She looked at the image of a larger creature with pointed ears, a long tail, and shaggy fur. "Hm. That one should suffice."

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the image. She inhaled deeply. As she exhaled, she crouched down and felt her limbs and snout lengthening as she turned into her first Earth animal. She blinked up at Pearl. "How do I look?"

Honestly, "cute" was the first word to come to mind, but Pearl didn't dare say that. Peridot had turned into a fuzzy, green Husky with a pale green underbelly, head fur that jutted out in a way that was reminiscent of her triangle-shaped hair, and her visor obscuring bright green puppy eyes.

"Perfect," she said instead. "Though," she added with a slight smile. "There is one more thing we need to make this convincing."

A few minutes later, Pearl was walking down the sidewalk, holding a long leash that ended with a very irritated green dog.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Peridot growled as she trotted alongside Pearl. "You're deriving some sick pleasure from this situation. I just know it!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Pearl replied, trying very hard not to start snickering. "We can't have you running off, and dogs are supposed to walk on leashes."

"Hmph." Peridot's ears flattened with resignation. "Fine, but we'd better stop by that 'Frybo' place the Steven likes so much. I want a carton of those salty fat sticks without having to share them for once."

The two walked through town for an hour, Pearl greeting the people she knew, Peridot staying silent and observing the strangeness of the various dwellings, clothes, and manners of speaking (or not speaking in the case of the being called "Onion"). The walk ended with a trip to Frybo's, where Pearl got the largest order of fries.

They sat on a bench near the beach, Peridot happily scarfing the food, heedless of the smacking noises her muzzle made. Pearl wasn't sure whether to lecture her on table manners or burst out laughing. In the end, she said nothing and simply scratched at the area behind Peridot's ear.

Peridot paused in her eating, confused at the weirdly-pleasant sensation of Pearl's hand on her head. Other people in town had "petted" her during their walk and she had barely tolerated it. This time, for some reason, she didn't mind at all.

When she went back to her fries, she noticed that her tail was moving back and forth of its own accord. She started to wonder the reasoning behind it, but decided that it didn't matter. It was probably just a dog thing.

Bonus points for Peripuppy and managing to incorporate the leash idea! I'll see you guys tomorrow for more cuteness.

Peace out!