Peridot sat on the shore in front of the Crystal Gem temple. She had stolen a screw driver from a junk drawer in Steven's house. She tried, effortlessly, to dismantle her arm. Peridot's arms was aching as the rust started to dig into her physical form. It had been seven days since she stormed out of the house when Lapis had asked her about her machinery.
Lapis hadn't talked to her since. And even though the silence between the two agitated Peridot, she refused to apologize for her actions. In Homeworld, a gem didn't ask about another gem's welfare. Didn't these Crystal Gems know anything?
In those seven days, the rust and stiffness of her mechanical arms had noticeably gotten worse. Her once green arm replacements were a soft tint of orange and the wires connecting to her nerves were becoming rusted and snapping off. Out of 24 wire connectors in her replacement arms, she had 7 left on her right arm and 5 left on her left arm. Peridot blamed the city's salty ocean water and coarse sand for the rapid progression of rust.
She huffed a deep hot, breath as she plunged the screwdriver in her mechanical arm. The pain of the rusted wire connectors was unbearable. The screwdriver punctured the metal with a heavy thunk. As a drop of sweat rolled of her green nose, she wiggled around the screwdriver. She was sick of being technical and surgical and she just went ballistic on her mechanical arms. In a rage, she wildly punctured multiple hole in her rusted arms. After thirty stabs, she panted exhausted as only a single wire connector broke. She fell on her back in exhaustion and left the screwdriver hanging out of her left mechanical arm. She closed her eyes as she felt shimmering tears of frustration prick her eyes.
After some time, she felt a shadow cast over her and she forced back the burn in her throat. She opened her eyes and looked up to see Lapis Lazuli hovering over her. Peridot gave a glare.
"What?" She snipped. Lapis said nothing but sat next to Peridot's sprawled body. Peridot sat up and looked at the unusually emotionless Lapis.
"Give me your arm," Lapis said with a cold command. Peridot was taken back but she put on her own mask.
"You're not a technician. You can't help me," Peridot growled. Lapis gave a glare of her own.
"And stabbing yourself with a screwdriver is really working," Lapis said, sarcastically as she forcefully grabbed Peridot's arm. Peridot huffed as she allowed Lapis to inspect her arms. Lapis' cool hands delicately turned over the machinery. She pointed a blue finger at one of the orange wire connectors.
"Are these what needs to be disconnected?" Lapis asked, her voice now calm.
"Yes. I need a Guem 165 to properly cut them. And, that's not exactly available to me here on this insufferable planet," Peridot said, exhausted and irritated.
"What if I just pulled them out?" Lapis asked, tugging lightly on a wire.
"No!" Peridot shouted, grabbing Lapis' hand tightly and moving it away from her wire in a quick movement. Peridot's heart beat slowly returned to normal and she looked at Lapis.
"If you remove the wires, I would have to re-wire then to my gem for the new replacement arms I'm going to build," Peridot said, remembering how painful it was the first time.
"I'm sorry," Lapis said as she stared at the rusted mechanical hand that clenched her blue one. Peridot let go of her hand swiftly and returned her mechanical hands to her lap.
"There's no way to get them off without pulling them out," Peridot said, hopelessly, as a sharp pain ran up her shoulder.
"Why do you need to have mechanical arms?" Lapis suggested. Peridot looked at Lapis like she had absolutely lost her mind.
"I need them so I'm not a useless weakling," Peridot said as she took out the screw driver.
"Without arms, you wouldn't be weak," Lapis said.
"Of course, I would be," Peridot said, angrily. Lapis sighed and looked out towards the ocean. The sea air ruffled her short blue hair and the dark blue ribbons of her top.
"Do you know what being someone's friend means?" Lapis asked as she dug her blue toes into the warm sand. Peridot grew silent. She had no idea but she agreed to be Lapis' friendship a few months back just to appease her.
"That's what I thought," Lapis said as she sighed and tucked a blue stray hair behind her ear.
"To be someone's friend is to care for them, to worry about them, and to protect them," Lapis explained. Peridot grew quiet and thought about the consequences of being Lapis' friend. After some time of settled silence, Lapis spoke.
"Do you still want to be my friend?" Lapis asked her voice stripped of emotion.
"No. Friendship is pointless and illogical," Peridot said as she lightly looked at her screw driver and contemplated ways to make it work like a Guem 165.
Lapis stood up and turned without another word. She walked away and Peridot watched as Lapis trudged away. Peridot felt something cold lie in her stomach but chose to ignore the nagging feeling.