Peridot's PoV:
"Please tell me there's no mistletoe this time," Peridot grumbled as she hesitated in the doorway, anxiously craning her neck to see above the entryway without coming through.
Amethyst rolled her eyes, leaning heavily against the wooden barrier she still held out, though cold air was steadily chilling her the longer they stood here. "Relax. That was supposed to be for Pearl since she's so edgy about 'PDA'. Wouldn't wanna kiss you anyways." She stuck out her tongue as the blonde threw a pointed look.
Deeming it safe enough to proceed, Peridot shuffled through, shoving a neatly wrapped, very thin rectangle into Amethyst's expectant hands. "Merry Christmas."
Her friend grinned, waving the box. "Oh please tell me it's what I think it is."
The blonde chuckled as she shrugged out her coat and kicked off her shoes, letting them fall wherever. She'd never do that at her home; everything had a place, not to mention the fit her mother would undoubtedly throw. But here, it was acceptable. At least, Amethyst said so.
She cocked a teasing smirk the girl's way. "And if it's not?"
All she received was a roll of eyes and a sore shoulder when Amethyst punched her none too gently. "Come on, Ruby and Sapphire are already here. And Steven hasn't stopped asking when you'd be over."
Peridot followed quickly, rounding the corner to find Ruby and Sapphire huddled up on the couch, whispering between themselves and not at all paying attention to the, what looked like, action movie playing onscreen.
"Jasper isn't here yet?"
Amethyst winced, frowned. She looked away before Peridot could ask what that reaction was about. "Uh, no. She actually has other plans this year, believe it or not. Said to tell everyone a Merry Christmas, though." The last bit was spoken a little louder, earning a thumbs up from Ruby who didn't even look back.
The sound of feet on the stairs had Peridot's attention before she could question further. After all, it was unlike Jasper to bail on them, even if she wasn't exactly liked by anyone aside from Peridot. But, as the blonde looked up, finding Steven bounding towards her, it was all too easy to let that slip her mind.
"Peridot!" the boy shouted, very nearly tackling the both of them to the ground in his eagerness to wrap her in a hug. The hastily, messily wrapped box he'd been toting dug a sharp edge into her lower back, but she only winced and returned the gesture.
"Hey Steven!" She pulled back only enough to ruffle his dark hair, and enough to escape the jagged pressure of the unknown object. "It's been a while."
"You never visit anymore!" he blamed, smile dipping down into the briefest of frowns. Before it quickly turned a one eighty and jumped back into a childish grin. "Merry Christmas!"
As if realizing for the first time that he was even holding the small box, he backed up and held it out for her to take. She did, carefully, eyeing it. Her lips lost some of their upward turn.
"Oh, Steven, I didn't..." She bit her lip, bringing her free hand up to rub at her neck. "I mean..."
"Look what she got us!" Amethyst elbowed in, waving the game she'd, at some point, fully unwrapped. "You just loved the first one." She threw a small smile to Peridot, winking when the younger boy's mouth gaped.
"Yes..." he whispered, gripping the case like it was glass. His eyes darted up to Peridot, a glint in them. "This. Is. Awesome!"
The blonde exhaled, a weight lifting from her shoulders as she watched Steven turn on his heel and practically race back upstairs. She still felt slightly guilty that she'd forgotten about him this year. It really hadn't been intentional, but with everything that was happening, it had just slipped her mind. She offered Amethyst a heavy sigh.
"Thanks. I completely forgot... Wait, doesn't that have an M rating?" Her eyes shot up towards the stairs.
Her friend laughed quietly, slapping a hand against her upper arm, making her yip. "Relax. Unlike you, he's not boxed in. If it was anything too bad, I'd monitor or whatever. Let the kid have a little fun, yeah?"
Peridot wavered, finally settling with a small nod. "Yeah... Okay."
"So where's Lapis?" Ruby finally addressed her, standing from the couch and stretching. She was dressed in the stupidest looking sweater Peridot thought she'd ever seen. Red with a Christmas tree in the center.
The blonde rolled her eyes, huffing. "Her house, probably. Scared away by your tasteless fashion sense."
Sapphire giggled quietly as Ruby's eyes narrowed. She looked aside and crossed her arms defensively. "Shutup, okay? My mom made me wear it..."
"And you look beautiful in it," Sapphire murmured, reaching out to tug the sweater's hem. Of course that received a face splitting grin from her girlfriend.
Amethyst feigned gagging, covering her eyes. "God, you two are the worst." She parted her fingers and turned to eye Peridot through them. "Come on, open the gift, nerd. Everyone else has already."
Peridot started, having forgotten the box altogether. "Oh, right." She turned it in her hands to find the paper's seams, picking at the tape there gently. It made Amethyst groan, annoyed at the slow progress, but she couldn't be bothered by it.
Peeling back the two layers, because Steven had insisted he had to wrap it overtop Amethyst's wrapping, Peridot simply stared at the bare, white box. It wasn't a packaging box, that was for sure.
Playfully, she held it up. "Oh great, thanks for that. I really needed a box." The glare she got from Amethyst was worth it.
"Open the box, you dimwit."
Huffing, she let the paper fall to the floor and turned the box over, pulling up it's lid carefully. Only to stare at the small, oddly shaped... key?
"What?" she questioned quietly, letting a single fingertip run across it. It was smooth, a deep teal in color, and roughly the length of her thumb. There was no telling what it was for, or even if it was for something.
Amethyst smirked, crossed her arms. She threw a look over to Ruby and Sapphire, who nodded and reached in front of the couch, where they pulled up another, much larger box, grunting as they hefted in to sit, with help to keep it propped right, along the back of the sofa.
Peridot furrowed her brow. She took the key thing and let the box fall onto the wrapping paper, listened to the way it crinkled a moment before walking over to her other friends and the mystery gift. She could feel them all watching her, almost with bated breath, as she opened the container.
To come across a sphere. That was certain to reach her knees at least and looked like it weighed way too much. It was a sea foam blue with deep set emerald rings around the middle. A small slit just to the side looked like the key thing would fit perfectly.
"What... is this?" she asked. She didn't mean it to sound so rejecting, but she honestly had no idea. It was really weird, and she didn't know whether she should be grateful or if they were just waiting for the right moment to bust into laughter.
Amethyst huffed impatiently again and motioned for Ruby and Sapphire to sit the box back down, which they did against the coach's cushions. She then reached in, muttering something about how someone named Connie could've made it lighter, as she hefted it up and out the box to set on the floor just between the sofa and glass movie case.
"Kay, so, as far as I know, you just insert that thingy here," she muttered, holding the sphere in place and eyeing the slit.
Peridot's eyes narrowed as she squatted down in front of Amethyst and the... thing. "Okay, but what is it?"
Her friend scoffed like it should've been the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a robot, duh."
That gave the blonde pause. Sure she loved electronics. Computer, video games, robotics. But this, this was strange. And she'd never seen anything like this sold before. And no one she knew had the experience or expertise to make something like this. If it even worked.
"Where did you get it?"
"The moon," Amethyst shot out, rolling her eyes. "Does it matter? You like this junk, right?" She waited for the blonde's nod of confirmation. "Right. So just, you know, do with it whatever it's supposed to do."
Peridot eyed her a moment. Then rolled her own eyes and reached out, slipping the key thing into what she assumed was it's intended slot. "Do you have a manual or anything? I can probably figure out how to work it on my own but it'd be easier..." Her voice faltered and slipped away as the sphere glowed dully, hummed.
Then slots were opening up on one side and levitating metal limbs were coming out and the whole thing was twisting between Amethyst's arms and they were all staring as another larger piece seemed to just slip into itself to reveal a small circle that looked a lot like an eye.
Peridot gaped. This was... amazing! And... confusing. And she couldn't even fathom how much this could've possibly cost and now that stupid game seemed cheap and...
And she was beaming, giggling like a child as the sphere creature thrummed and turned to look at her or whatever it was doing and her eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"How the hell..." She shook her head. She didn't care. Whatever she was gonna ask left her mind as she reached out and ran her fingers over the smooth, cool metal. A panel seemed to materialize out of nothing, small buttons she could only assume were a way to control this thing.
She looked up to Amethyst, who had backed away. She was smirking and eyeing the blonde gently, arms crossed. She had a smug glint in her eyes that screamed 'knew you'd love it' and Peridot couldn't even be bothered to care.
"I... Thank you," she breathed, mind suddenly reeling with everything she could do. What could she learn from this thing? Were there certain modes, and what tasks did it do, and what did the circuit board look like, and what sort of power source...
Amethyst snickered, shrugging. "Merry Christmas, P-dot."
Peridot smiled, genuinely smiled. "Best Christmas ever."
Lapis' PoV:
Her fingers ran over the shirt constantly, unable to let it go. The material was soft and, at this point, warm and she absolutely loved the design. A band tee, an old band she didn't think even had merchandise anymore.
A pang of guilt swept through her as she eyed the rest of the gifts. All laid out meticulously along the kitchen table. The shirt, a couple of posters she had yet to unravel. Even the adorable top hatted green alien she was so certain had been laying on Peridot's bed the one time she'd visited.
She really, really wanted to see Peridot. But at the same time, something inside hurt at that thought. She hadn't even had the guts to send a thank you text or call. It didn't matter that the basket that'd been sitting on the doorstep didn't have a card or anything with a name. Who else would've done this?
It was eerily silent in here. As if she were alone. But Lapis knew that wasn't true. Her mother was a floor above her, still in bed. Still laying there like any other morning, any other noon. Unaware or uncaring that today was anything special.
Cerulean eyes fell on the painting sitting propped up across from her. An abstract painting, what had been her mother's favorite type. She hadn't seen it yet. Lapis wasn't sure she'd even want it when she did see it. She hadn't cared about things like that in years anyways.
Lapis groaned, letting her head fall back, caught only by the back of the chair. Her fingers still felt at the shirt's material, though. That was important. Her eyelids fluttered, she let her body relax from its state of tenseness. A state she couldn't fully escape, because that something that wouldn't let her even text Peridot kept telling her she couldn't do anything today.
She couldn't give that painting to her mother, above all else. Not when her mother sure as hell didn't have anything for her. Not even a look. That's all Lapis wanted, when she thought about it. Just the knowledge that her mother had acknowledged her for once.
Lapis swallowed uneasily, sniffled and cursed as she realized pinpricks were attacking her eyes, making them well up. God, she needed to get out, get away. But hadn't she promised last night to stay here? To try?
Was it even worth it anymore?
"Well fuck me," Lapis growled, pressing the palm of her free hand harshly against her eye socket and rubbing roughly. She wouldn't cry. And she'd give the painting to her mother. And after that, she'd text Peridot and tell her thanks. Tell her she was thinking about her.
She was moving before her mind could let her take those thoughts away, leaving the shirt, though she winced as she did, in exchange for the painting. It was hefty and solid and the frame was something wooden and firm. She held it as tightly as she dared to her chest as she trudged through the house and upstairs.
Her room, bathroom, guest room. Mother's room. She paused and stared at the offending wooden door. Stared as if, somehow, she could burn through it and end its existence. Her hands were shaking, she realized distastefully, as she reached out and took the handle.
It wasn't locked. It was never locked. It was like her mother knew she didn't need a lock to keep everyone out. Just that far away look to her eyes and the sag of her shoulders was enough.
Her mother was a bundle of shaking, quietly whimpering body, twisted sheets, and drowning dark. The curtains hadn't been opened, the nightstand held an open bottle of anti-depressants and a half filled glass of water. Everything else, though, was spotless. Lack of use.
Here, Lapis hesitated. Because here, she could see what she was really doing. What was really happening. Her mother wouldn't notice her, or at least she wouldn't show she noticed her. Lapis could throw the painting, scream obscenities, smash a few things. All that would happen would be her mother's covers would get tighter as they were drawn further around a sobbing body, and Lapis would be left alone, raw throat and pouring eyes and this sickening sense that everything was useless. Just like last time.
But this wasn't last time.
Lapis steeled herself, straightened her back and drew in as deep a breath as she could manage. The door clicked into place behind her.
A heartbeat of silence, where her mother didn't move or sniffle and she held that breath and everything seemed to still.
And then, "Mom?"
No reply, and though it ached inside Lapis shook her head and inched forward, until she was no more than a foot from the bed. Her throat was already scratchy as she tried clearing it.
"Mom... I just... I thought... I got you something." She hesitated, tensed and ended the gap, sitting as gently as she could at the edge of the bed. She let the painting slide to the foot of it, facing up. "It's a painting. I don't... know who it's by, but..."
She let out a shaky laugh that nearly broke. "Mom, I..." She bit her lip, winced. "Do you remember last Christmas? I do. And... I just wanted to say sorry. For everything. Not... not just that, but... I haven't been around much." She exhaled, and it caught and made her sob quietly. "I just... I tried, mom. I tried, and..." Her hands came up, shaking and tugging at her hair uselessly.
"I think we need help, mom. Not... not just you. I can't... I have these moments, mom... But there's this girl... She makes them better, sometimes. She makes it less scary and..." Lapis blinked, lowering her palms so they ground into her eyes again, stemming the flow of tears. "Anyways... so... yeah, I guess. If, if you feel like coming downstairs or... I'll be here all day, okay?"
The lack of an answer was enough for the room to suddenly seem too small. Too cramped. She couldn't breath in here.
She listened for only a second longer to the sniffling, whimpering, huddled figure before she was tripping over her feet to get out. It made her stomach wrench with something painful and guilty but she couldn't help it.
She only relaxed when the shut door was at her back and the hall was greeting her again. She only breathed when a moment of quiet had passed and she realized that she wasn't trapped. Not in the physical sense.
Her head fell back, making a dull thudding sound against the wood. Her eyelids fluttered as she exhaled, not caring about the tears staining her cheeks. "Merry Christmas, mom."
A/N: Hey guys. So sorry about that downhill slide there heh. Things'll pick back up next chapter though, promise.
Nothing really to say here. Next chapter should be up shortly, if things go according to plan (fingers crossed). So yeah, really hope you guys enjoy! Thanks everyone! -Sera