Planning for the Day
Morning came too soon for Steven and Lapis. The nightmare left Steven feeling more tired than he otherwise would normally be. The relaxing dream afterwards only slightly diminished the exhaustion. "Ugh. My limbs feel like lead weights," Steven groaned to himself. "Need coffee." With excruciating effort, he managed to roll out of bed without waking Lapis and drag himself from the room to the sink. Taking the toothbrush stored in his jacket out he began prepping for the day. Brushed teeth and a washed face should be enough to get him by. What he wouldn't give to sleep in longer.
Lapis slowly drifted back to consciousness once she noticed the lack of warmth and weight next to her. Her eyes glanced around looking for Steven before hearing the running of the sink in the kitchen area behind her. She rolled over to see Steven partway through washing his face. "I got some of that dark bean juice stuff in the cabinet above you," she said to him.
"It's coffee," he replied. He looked up and opened the cabinet to see she had his favorite blend sitting front and center in an unopened package. Did she have it sitting in there waiting for an occasion such as this?
"Too tired to care right now," she said back to him. She rose from the bed and stretched her body to get herself limbered up for the day. Luckily being a gem made it so she went from drowsy to alert quickly. "By the way, it's like ten in the morning."
Steven's attention shot to her immediately. "Only ten? We slept for like, six hours?" He quickly regretted that decision as soap started to get into his eye which burned greatly. "Ow ow ow-"
"More like five. Your nightmare kept us up awhile," Lapis said walking over to him. She used her hydrokinesis to wash the soap out of his eyes, relieving him of the burning pain. "You're okay now, right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Steven reached up to grab the package of coffee then looked around to try and find a pot to brew it in. There didn't seem to be one. "You got a coffee pot, Lapis?"
"Damn. Knew I was forgetting something," she answered. Seems she forgot to get the one thing needed to brew coffee other than the coffee itself. "I know Peri has one. And that Bismuth banned her from ever using it again."
Steven was perplexed to hear this. "Peridot's banned from coffee?" He just HAS to know the story behind this.
Lapis was preemptively giggling before even recalling anything from that day. "We don't really talk about it but I can tell you it involved her getting the brilliant idea to paint the entire tower by herself."
Steven was laughing just imagining the chaos that went on that day. "I think I know what day that was. She sent me like fifty texts in the span of ten minutes. It was the most sophisticated gibberish I ever read." He could recall that the texts had some semblance of coherency but the topic jumped around so quickly that it was too difficult to keep up with. "Thanks for the tip, though. Gonna go next door real fast." And with that he turned to walk out before Lapis quickly stopped him by grabbing ahold of his sleeve. "Hm? What is it?" he asked her.
Lapis hadn't realized she'd done it until it was too late. Her face gained a small, blue blush as she let go just as suddenly. "Oh uh- I wanted to wish you a happy birthday is all." What made her want to stop him from leaving? They already spent the whole night together.
"Oh, thanks!" Steven was none the wiser and simply waved goodbye to her as he walked out with a smile. Once the door was closed and he was out of earshot, Lapis facepalmed and returned to the bed. She'd rather forget that happened.
Peridot was standing at a workbench tinkering on what appeared to be limb enhancers when Steven had come knocking. "Argh! Why do people always choose to disturb me when I'm working!" She stomped over to the screen showing her doorbell camera to shout obscenities at whoever dared disrupt her during such critical work. "Alright. Who's the clod that showed up unannou-" She fell silent upon seeing Steven in the camera's view. "… This disruption is allowed. Come in," she said with annoyance still in her voice.
Steven awkwardly made his way up to Peridot's lab with the coffee still in hand. "Hey. Lapis told me you have a coffee pot I can use?" He shuffled into the room. Immediately all the spare parts and miscellaneous trinkets scattered about pulled his attention in a million different directions.
"I did. Then Bismuth confiscated it," Peridot answered. She returned to her work on the limb enhancers without paying Steven much attention. "Long story. Come back later. I have work to do."
He peered over her shoulder to check out what it was she was working on. "Limb enhancers?" The can of over explaining and technological jargon he just opened cannot be closed.
"These are Era 3 limb enhancers," Peridot began. This was going to be a long one. "They fulfill the height supplement and computer functions of the Era 2 limb enhancers but strip away all the offensive capabilities of the Era 2 models. This is a special request of another Peridot who rather enjoyed the limb enhancers and didn't like having to hand her's in when we confiscated all the non-gem summoned weapons. This will also…"
Steven tried listening to everything she had to say, but he could feel himself beginning to tune out when she started throwing terms like "capacitor" and "logarithmic equations" at him. That second one had to be made up.
"So, in short. These new Era 3 models will be legal for any gem who wants to wear them," she concluded after about five or so minutes. "Did you catch all that?"
Steven nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Got it. Logarithmic capacitors and stuff." That's about all he got from her spiel. "Keep up the great work, Peri." He began to try and back up to leave but stopped when he bumped into someone. Turning around, he saw another Peridot standing there. Her hair was in the shape of a star, her skin slightly darker green than Peri's, and her gem located on the left side of her head about where an ear would be. "Hey there, fellow Peri! My name's-"
"Don't care," she quickly snapped. "How long till the limb enhancers are complete, 5XG?" This Peridot was rather rude.
Peri grumbled under her breath before answering. "I dunno, 20A. Give me another couple hours." She waved her hand to the Peridot trying to dismiss her.
"You said that a couple hours ago," she replied. "You're being sluggish."
"It hasn't been that long!" Peri hopped off her stool on over to the window and threw the blinds open. "See! It's still dark ou- Holy shit it's bright." She stared out at Little Homeworld in total shock that so much time had passed without her realizing. "… It's still gonna be a couple more hours."
The Peridot groaned. "Whatever." She left Peri's home without so much as a thanks.
Steven couldn't help but dislike this Peridot. He's met plenty of them, but this one in particular was crude and unlikable. "Talk about rough around the edges…" He gave Peri a small pat on the shoulder as a little pick-me-up after having to deal with all that verbal abuse. "You're doing good, Peri, even if she doesn't appreciate it."
Peri let out a long sigh setting her tools down on the bench and pulling away before the work reconsumed her. "I guess I should take a break and give you your birthday present." She made her way to a large cabinet she was barely tall enough to open and pulled out a visor from a bag stored neatly on a shelf. It was like her's in shape but larger to match his increased size and pink to match his usual colour scheme. "Made it myself a few nights ago. Here!"
Steven took the visor in his hands and put it on his face. It managed to stay on without feeling uncomfortable and was quite stylish to boot. "Wow, thanks Peri! I love 'em," he said with a smile. "Now I can look as cool as you."
She got a small, green blush on her face from the compliment. "Oh you flatter me, Steven. You're welcome." she replied. "Well, break time's over. I should probably get back to it." At the drop of a hat she returned to her work on the limb enhancers. Only Peridot could switch modes like that so quickly. "Now leave me be."
He understood her desire to be left alone and exited without protest. "See ya later, Peri," he said as he left. Steven's next stop on his quest to brew this coffee was the Temple. Surely the Crystal Gems still had a functional coffee pot.
"Oh great," Pearl mumbled to herself. "She ripped the gasket. Now it leaks cold air all the time." She was midway through working on fixing the fridge door that had gotten ripped off the night prior when Steven had arrived via the warp pad. "Peridot, if that's you then you better be prepared to fix this f-" The tall gem stopped herself once she noticed it was him. "Steven! Welcome back! I hope you and Lapis had fun last night." She stood up and slammed the fridge door back on. For being so thin and dainty looking, she sure was powerful. "But not too much fun." And there's that stern motherly side coming out.
Steven rolled his eyes and laughed. "C'mon, Pearl. Her and I are just friends. Promise." He walked into the kitchen and looked over to the coffee pot. To his horror, it was currently taken apart and missing pieces. "What happened to the coffee pot?"
Pearl looked over to the pot in question. "Oh, that! I just needed a piece or two from it to fix the fridge. Nobody around here really drinks coffee, so I thought nobody would miss it." There goes plan C. "Happy birthday by the way!"
Walking down the stairs was Greg in his best "I just woke up only twenty minutes ago" outfit. He greeted Steven with a yawn. "Schtu-ball! Happy birthday, big man!" He ruffled up Steven's hair a little while passing by. "Got any big plans for the day?" Greg made his way to the coffee pot only to notice it missing parts. "Again!?"
"That reminds me," Pearl said as she reached into her gem. "I got this a short while back for your big eighteenth birthday." Emerging from her gem was a can of beer that she had bought for him unknowingly a few birthdays too soon.
"Woah, Pearl!" Greg quickly interjected. "That's twenty-one!" He pushed the can back towards Pearl trying to shove it back into her gem. "And ten is far too early to start! Speaking from experience." That experience being a little pre-show partying with Marty back in the day.
"Huh… Swore I had that right," she said to herself.
"Aww, can't the saviour of the galaxy have himself a drink," Steven said jokingly.
"He can in three years," Pearl replied seriously returning the can into her gem.
Walking out from the temple door was Amethyst holding a paper close to her face. "Man… Why do I gotta memorize this layout for your little town thing next week?" She looked away from the paper to notice Steven. "Yo! Happy birthday, man! Those shades are bitchin'."
"Thanks. Peridot made them for me," he said while pushing the visor back up.
Pearl wanted to tell Amethyst to watch her language, but she didn't have the energy to deal with that right now. Between planning this event and now also fixing the fridge, her schedule is too full to fit in dealing with Amethyst. "You're memorizing that layout because you'll be working as part of security."
Amethyst groaned at the boredom. "But Peridot made it so simple. I could probably stand up on stage and see anyone causing trouble with my own two eyes." She shapeshifted her eyes to be larger for comedic effect.
"Peridot made those plans?" Steven asked curiously to which Pearl quickly answered.
"Not our Peridot. It was 20A that made those plans." She took the paper from Amethyst and inspected the page for any potential spots or tears. The purple gem took the chance to return to her room to do literally anything else than talk about more boring details.
Steven thought back to earlier. "20A… Oh! That Peridot? I met her earlier. Kind of rude, if you ask me," he said with a look of disgust. "Don't see her as the type to want to help with this sort of thing."
Pearl nodded in satisfaction once seeing the page was unharmed. "She insisted. Guess she wanted to learn more about humans. I have to applaud the initiative." The paper was laid flat on the counter for Steven to see. There was a stage, a section marked off for a statue in the center, and an area marked off to the side labeled "human necessities." It really was simple. Simple and efficient.
"Can't wait to see how this thing goes," Steven said while checking out the plans on the sheet of paper. "Really hope it works out."
Pearl's face suddenly lit up as she had an idea. "Steven! You should give a speech at the event. Being a hybrid, your insight could greatly help bridge the gap between humans and gems." She was smiling at him really, really hoping he'd say yes.
He understood her reasoning, but he couldn't see himself being too helpful at the moment. He's been feeling a disconnect with his humanity as of late and that could seriously prevent him from being able to do what she's asking of him. On the other hand, this could be exactly what he needs to reconnect the two halves of himself… "How long will I have to prepare?" Steven asks hesitantly.
"About five days. It'll be on Monday the twentieth." Pearl summoned a convenient calendar from her gem to show him. Five days? That wasn't too long from now, but surely he could handle that.
Thinking it over a minute, Steven finally gave her an answer. "Sure. I'll do it."
An elated Pearl put her hands together in glee. "That's wonderful to hear! We'll see you there about four or so in the afternoon. Okay?"
"You got it," Steven replied. Picking up work to do on his birthday wasn't something he planned on doing, but surely it won't take him too long. Emotional speeches are his jam. That's how he's turned everyone that wanted to kill him into his friends or at least not an enemy. But first he needs to finally get himself a cup of this damned coffee.