Work Text:
Lapis was an enigma.
Peridot recorded everything on her little microphone, labelling her tapes by date and event and categorizing all her feelings into little pockets of memories so she could come back to them. This feeling, though, she could not even begin to describe. The actions themselves were almost emotions at this point. The feeling she got when Lapis sat on the couch but curled up so her legs were pressing into hers. When Lapis stayed up late, falling asleep on a pile of blankets watching her work on something new. When they decided to keep Pumpkin and Lapis looked at her with that small smile. That rare smile. How to even explain how that smile made her feel? She didn’t feel like this when Steven smiled at her. Or when Steven spent the day with them at the barn.
Peridot sat there with the tape rolling, waiting for words to come out, but just like usual there were none to record. Another static tape. She lay her head back against the wooden wall of the barn and sighed. Nothing ever came of trying this, she should just stop bothering. It was probably nothing, but a nagging voice in the back of her mind wondered if Lapis ever thought these things. If she ever struggled with trying to describe her feelings.
With frustration, she went to click the stop button on the recorder but paused just as she heard a faint melody coming from inside the barn. It was quiet, a little uneven, something Peridot had never heard before. Quietly, she crept closer to the door, where the sound was a little louder. It was a sweet melody, sounding slightly more confident as it carried on and floated out to where Peridot stood, entranced. Lapis was... humming? She wanted to get closer, but was afraid it would stop if Lapis heard her. All of a sudden the pile of things next to the barn door shifted, and the metal rods clanged together and Peridot flailed and managed to successfully stop the tape and hide it under he deck before Lapis flew out, worry and concern painted across her face.
“Peridot! Are you okay?” and then, quieter, “What are you doing? Have you been standing here... long?”
Peridot blushed and scrambled for an answer. She didn’t want to admit she had been listening, and she looked down at the scrap pile, with a feeling of something like guilt or embarrassment making her face feel warm.
“Oh me? Not long at all! I was just coming back from a w-walk! Yes! Got some inspiration for a new meep-morp! Gotta go out and look around for some good inspiration. Fresh air. Good things. Yes. So I need these things, here in this pile. Yes. Uhhh, what are you up to Lapis? Was awful quiet when I got here. Yep. Didn’t hear anything didn’t, didn’t think you were even here. Ha!” Nailed it.
Lapis’ expression turned from concerned to amused, and she landed on the ground, reaching over and ruffling Peridot’s hair affectionately. “You are a strange one, Peri. Need a hand?”
“A hand? With what?” ... “Oh this no no no, don’t worry about me I’m working on moving these things _without_ my hands. I don’t need extra hands if I’m using no hands! Right?”
“Ahh, okay? Sure if you change your mind let me know.” With that, Lapis turned around and flew straight up to return to the top floor of the barn.
Peridot exhaled slowly. A breath she didn’t know she was holding, or why she would have been holding it. She felt silly. Why did she lie about hearing Lapis in the barn? She should have asked her why she never sang before, with Steven, or on her own. Or for Peridot. With that thought, Peridot blushed and pushed it out of her mind. Lapis didn’t need to do anything for her, explain anything she didn’t want to. Besides, it wasn’t even Peridot’s business. She tried her best to clear her mind, and then picked up the recorder from under the scraps. She considered recording over it and pretending it never happened, but something in her screamed when her finger hovered over the rewind. She wasn’t sure why, but instead of recording over it she ejected the tape, and wrote “Lapis” on it, before returning inside the barn tugging a couple small metal scraps floating in after her.