To say that Lapis was having a great day would be an understatement. Sure, she was still in rather high spirits after lunch yesterday with Peridot, but today and all its events just served to make her spirits soar even higher.
First of all; no Jasper. Apparently, the gym teacher had come down with something and wasn't going to be at school today and maybe tomorrow. That alone had her grinning like crazy when she heard the news; less Jasper the better. Apart from that, she'd finally finished personalizing the art room, something she'd honestly been procrastinating since day one after getting the job. The students were also working on their first major project (Splatter paint, they seemed to love that, and she didn't blame them. Splatter art was freaking fun as far as she was concerned) and everyone was busy discussing their ideas and brainstorming during class. Honestly, the room was such an optimistic place during class, Lapis loved it.
Sure, she didn't get to talk much with Peridot during class, her blonde had been running late and barely made it to class before the bell rang, and it would have raised suspicions if she started talking to her in the middle of class or while her friend Amethyst was there.
But, she did get a hold of Peridot before the girl left the room, she had actually lingered behind a bit so that she was the last one out of the room. Lapis was pretty sure she did it so they could talk in private.
They didn't speak much; Peridot had a class to get to and all. All they got to do was a hello, a goodbye, and Lapis had invited her to come over to the art room during her free period again. Peridot had agreed, and when she smiled softly, a faint blush on her cheeks as she said 'okay', Lapis could feel her heart flutter a little bit. Gosh, the girl was too cute, it was almost too much.
She had a few hours to wait before she'd see Peridot again, and with no classes to occupy her until after lunch, Lapis had the morning to herself.
The blue haired teacher alternated between fixing up the art room; cleaning up any messes that may remain, reorganizing papers, supplies and paint cans and making trips to the faculty lounge to refill her travel mug of coffee or just to rest on their surprisingly soft couch and make small talk with some of the other faculty members in the room at the time. She'd straighten out the paintings she'd brought into her classroom too, make sure they were all straight and that there weren't any smudges to be found.
It wasn't until Peridots free period hit that Lapis had realized she was jittery. That had taken her by surprise. Why was she so excited for Peridot to come that she was practically nervous? Sure, she'd taken a real shine to the student, but, she didn't think she would get this excited over their chats and time together.
Before Lapis could ponder on it any longer, the door creaked open and the blonde in question stepped in quietly.
"Hi, I'm, um, I'm here," Peridot greeted awkwardly as she set her backpack on one of the tables.
As soon as the door shut and she saw that head of blonde hair and crooked glasses, a smile found its way to Lapis face, "Glad for it," Lapis took quick and long strides, reaching Peridot quickly, "So, how were classes this morning?" she asked her as she sat up on the table, still smiling at Peridot, hands on her cheeks as she watched in genuine curiosity and interest.
Peridot game a tentative smile as she tugged at the drawstrings of her hoodie, that little fidget of hers was kind of cute, "Well, they were boring as usual. At least gym wasn't that hard with a substitute teacher and all that. We just played dodgeball," she explained, slowly climbing up to take a seat by Lapis on the table, the teacher listening intently as she spoke, eyes not leaving her face, "Really, classes were as they usually are, nothing new to say."
"I heard Jasper wasn't here today. Glad that it's on a day you have her, don't want her going off and breaking you in class, now do I?" That honestly made her even more happy that Jasper was absent from school today. Everyone knew how brutal her classes were. So seeing her dear little Peridot getting a break from that brutal gym regiment that Jasper ran made her mood even better than it already was.
Peridot blushed and smiled, looking away quickly to avoid locking gazes with Lapis.
"So, um… I was meaning to ask, but didn't really get a chance to in class, since I was, you know," Peridot murmured, still a bit embarrassed at having arrived when she did this morning and stayed looking away from Lapis as she surveyed the room, "But, where did you get all these paintings you put up? They're all amazing."
Well, now it was Lapis' turn to blush a little bit in some minor embarrassment. She'd brought the paintings into making the classroom feel more personalized like it really was her room. But as of yet no one but Peridot had even commented upon the decorations. Scratching at the back of her neck, she gave Peridot a sheepish smile, "Actually, all the paintings I brought in today are mine," she answered as brought her hand back down and leaned back. "As in, I painted them. But, I'm glad you think they're great."
The blonde whipped her head around so quickly Lapis wouldn't be surprised if she got whiplash. Her eyes were wide and mouth parted open in a silent awe. "You serious?" she asked, and when Lapis nodded, the student began surveying the paintings yet again, "That's amazing! These look like they were done by some big name professional! You're an amazing artist, Lazuli!"
Well, if she hadn't been a bit pink before, Lapis was certainly blushing red now. Sure, she had people compliment her paintings before, it was certainly nothing new for the young teacher. Classmates and professors back in college and high school would tell her she was a natural at it. Hell, she'd even put some of her paintings in a local art show back in college and had complete strangers praise her work among the others that were being displayed. So, it wasn't as though Lapis had never gotten a good word about her art before.
But, the way that Peridot praised her… it was so genuine and not to mention so enthusiastic you'd think that Lapis did something to surpass Michelangelo.
"Th… thank you," Lapis mumbled, turning her head so that Peridot wouldn't see her bright blush. But, before she could even say anything, Peridot had begun moving around the room, edging closer to the paintings to examine them in better detail, going from artwork to artwork as though she were some critique. Her huge smile never left her face.
It felt like an eternity before Peridot returned to the table Lapis sat at, "Seriously, Lazuli. What are you doing teaching art when you could be selling it?"
Her blush had toned down considerably and now Lapis was able to look at Peridot again, a teasing smile up as she answered her question, "Well, I dunno, it's like selling my babies, you know? And what parent would sell their own child?" she asked and as Peridot opened her mouth to answer, she quickly shook her head, "No. Nope. Don't answer that."
"You must really love painting," Peridot said, her voice so quiet it was like they were in church.
"Come on, didn't I already say that I do during our lunch yesterday?"
"True."
"So, why are you in art anyways?" Lapis asked as she tilted her head, "Not to sound rude, but, by the sounds of it, you're pretty deep in the sciences and computer things."
Peridot looked away, drawing her hands together to fiddle with her fingers, "Well, about that," she gave a small laugh as she shook her head, "You're not wrong. Computers are my thing, My future is pretty much set in stone that I'm supposed to be a programmer. But, art is just… it's relaxing and fun, you know? It's fun to just sit down and draw, even if it's crappy, it helps ease the stress I get from everything else in the world."
The teacher leaned closer to Peridot, "Oh? You draw?" She asked with a bit of a smile, "I'd love to see some of your drawings some day."
"I… um, but you will!" Peridot said quickly, shaking her head as she spoke, seemingly embarrassed to let someone see the drawings she'd done outside of class, "You are my teacher and all, so of course you're going to get my assignments."
For some reason, it kind of hurt a little at Peridot reaffirming that she was her teacher. But, Lapis chose to shrug that off, "Well, that's different," she pointed out, "your drawings in this class are for class. What you draw at home, without any requirements behind it, those are vastly different and far more interesting. At least I think so."
The blonde sank where she sat, "I mean… they aren't anywhere near as good as yours."
"Now that's just subjective," Lapis shook her head but was still smiling at her, "But, if you really don't want to show me, I won't force you to hand them over. I can understand having drawings you don't want anyone to see," she was like that a lot in high school and the first half of college. She'd only ever let the teacher see her work or a select few. She couldn't say she had the same reasons for doing so as Peridot, but, she could understand the feeling.
What she got in return was a small, grateful smile. Lapis could feel her chest warm up considerably and her heart turn to some weird goop like substance at that.
Lapis looked at her, and then let her eyes settle on the clock above the door. They still had well over an hour and a half before Peridot would need to be in class again. There was still plenty of time for them to just hang out and talk. And Lapis was growing to love talking to this blonde girl more and more with each word and sentence.
Her mind was made up and Lapis stood up from her seat and spun on her heel to face Peridot. "How about I make you a proposition," Lapis said, holding a hand out to her student, smiling innocently at her, "I take you out to lunch again and in exchange, we get to keep on chatting with a bit more privacy to it. I can show you some of my sketches too if you'd like to see more of my work."
Peridot seemed to hesitate, staring at her hand and then looking up at Lapis' expression and her patient smile. The girl swallowed as she glanced at the door, taking a moment before she took the offering hand, "Well… when you're offering to show me more of your art, I can't really say no," she said in a lighthearted fashion.
"Good to know I can bribe you with my art," Lapis laughed as she pulled Peridot from her seat and grabbed both their bags, "Come on, we better hurry if we want to get to The Barn before the lunch rush gets there."
Authors Note: Well, this felt a bit short, but still, I hope you guys enjoy watching Lapis slowly fall in love with her small blonde nerd.