Lapis and Peridot

[Peridot's POV]

Cute. I just couldn't get the word out of my head. Lapis thought I was cute without my limb enhancers? CUTE? I could decide if I should be offended or not. Part of me was very offended, and yet another part of me was whispering that actually I thought SHE was cute too. I shushed that part of me quickly, denying the fact that I thought Lapis was cute. I did not! I did not! This whole internal debate was going on while Lapis and I were sitting side by side in her cell, talking. I had decided to let the whole 'you touched me' issue go and just speak with her, but it was a little tricky while my thoughts were in such turmoil. I made sure to keep at least an arm's length away from Lapis even when I was sitting with her. Better safe than sorry.

The truth was, being in Lapis' cell was more enjoyable than working in the control room. Having company was rather nice. And the control room was awfully empty all the time, except when Jasper came in, but she just made it worse.

"Peri..." Lapis was saying slowly. "Peridot. Peri...dot. I think your name sounds good either way."

"Nobody ever calls me Peri," I replied absentmindedly, not remembering how exactly she had started talking about my name and not sure if it was a favorable subject at all. "Except Jasper sometimes, when she teases me. The way she says it makes 'Peri' sound extremely unlikeable. That's why I don't like the nickname."

"Uh, does it bother you when I call you Peri?" For a moment Lapis looked a little worried. Caught up in my thoughts, I answered without thinking:

"No. I mean– that is – not really."

"So may I call you Peri?"

"Okay. But not when anyone else is around." Lapis nodded.

"So... What do you do when you have nothing else to do? What's your hobby?" I blinked, registered the change in subject, and replied.

"Sometimes I'll study history, or go over old reports. I don't have much free time. What do you do?"

Lapis gave a hollow laugh. "Thinking is really all I do. The only free time I've had recently is here on this spaceship, and it's not as if I have anything to amuse me. First I was trapped in a mirror; then I was in the sea, but I didn't stop to rest because I was trying to get home... and then I flew home and then I was trapped... so..." Her face had gone from smiling and cheerful to sullen and hopeless. "Yeah, I haven't done anything fun lately. But–" she attempted a more upbeat tone "–I used to like all sorts of things. Mostly I just like spending time in water."

I didn't know quite how to reply to that.

After a few moments of silence Lapis changed the subject again. Our conversations were awkward, to be sure, but something about them still made me feel comfortable. It was probably Lapis herself.

[Lapis' POV]

Once Peridot left, I sat back in my cell and stared at the wall. That was certainly an interesting conversation. Of course, after five millennia of no speaking, anything more than that was interesting – but all the same, I did quite like talking to Peri. Wait... She let me call her Peri. What did that mean? Was she accepting me? It was a little hard to believe, hard to understand; despite all my efforts to slow this down, everything was changing way too fast. I made decisions on the spur of the moment, and every minute spent with Peridot I asked myself all the same questions over and over again. Did she feel the same way? Or did she have a plan of some sorts? I groaned and buried my face in my arms. Why did this have to be so complicated? Why couldn't I just have gotten back to Homeworld and lived in peace for the next few years, at least, so I could get used to the new world? Instead, I was trapped again, only a few days after I escaped.

~~

Inky blackness filled the area around me. Cold metal was pressed against my body, enclosing me from all directions. My gem was cracked, broken... I couldn't escape... I was drying up, I was freezing, I was being shattered––

Shattered into a million shards, a million shards, but I was held together by a hint of light– A weak glow, green-colored, fading in and out. I had to grasp the light, I had to focus on it, and as I filled my mind with the light it seemed to grow brighter and warmer and then suddenly I was falling, falling––

Falling into a pool of water that grew and grew in my field of view and then I was swimming in it, diving, splashing, laughing, cheering myself on as I leapt through the waves on the beach, smiling, laughing, chasing droplets. The water enveloped me, warmed me, comforted me; it was my past, my present, my future... but then I saw Peridot––

Peridot, drowning, electric sparks flickering around her as she struggled to keep from going under. It was her limb enhancers, they were dragging her down, keeping her from seeing the wonder of the water. Her expression was horrified, hopeless, miserable, and electric shocks jolted her body and suddenly there was another being in the water, flailing about, a boy––

A boy, and I saw, it was Steven – and he spoke– "Lapis?" he said, but his voice sounded strange, like it was coming from a distance. "Lapis? Lapis! LAPIS!" The voice grew louder, closer, more panicky– "Lapis, WAKE UP!"

And then Peridot was standing over me, eyes wide. She was shaking me by the shoulder. "Lapis! Are you okay?"

I jumped to my feet, bumping Peridot aside, and then threw myself backwards against the wall again. My face, already hot and sweaty, burned even hotter in my embarrassment. "How– how long have you been here?!"

Peridot didn't answer my question. "I, I saw you shaking and you were- uh– I just felt like I should wake you–"

I blinked, looking at her. Wait a moment – I was looking down at her. But she was usually taller than me. My gaze traveled down slowly, from triangular hair to averted eyes to tiny hands to small feet. Then my eyes snapped back to meet hers. She had noticed me looking her over and shifted from left to right awkwardly.

"You... where are your limb enhancers?" It was a stupid question, but my mind was still groggy from the nightmare and I was totally confused.

"Oh– over there," Peridot replied, pointing to a pile of her stuff by the other end of the cell. "I, uh, I couldn't– I mean– I took them off so you could see me like this." She took a few steps backward and stood in the center of the cell. I looked at her, trying to focus. She was actually only a little shorter than me, really, from head to toe; her hair made up for a lot of the height difference. She was cute. It was so obvious. My eyes flew back to Peridot's face. Her mouth twisted and when she spoke, her voice was strained. "Look. Look at this." She held out her hand and surveyed it with distaste. "Aren't I pathetic? So small, so weak, so–"

I cut her off. "Don't say that about yourself, Peri." My mind was a little clearer now. "I mean, look at yourself, Peri. You're not weak. You're not pathetic. Peridot... you're strong. Well, kinda, anyway. You're smart. And... hah... you're cute."

Peridot turned dark green. "I am not!"

"You are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"