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Peridot felt weird, unsettled. Some type of longingness. Maybe it was a side effect to this planet, Peridot had been trapped long enough to know that odd things happen here all the time. Nonetheless, she found herself cross-legged on the top of her barn, gazing up at the stars. She could see homeworld from here, she remembers Garnet telling her that, so Peridot scanned the galaxy above for the familiar star. The more she searched, the more she felt a discomfort under her skin, restlessness pulling at her to go. Was she sick? Steven informed her that humans could develop such a thing from the environment around them. Before she was able to indulge herself in this thought, a familiar voice startled her.
“Hey, P!” Amethyst’s gravelly voice called from below. Peridot scooted closer to the edge of the barn’s roof, peering down so she could meet Amethyst’s gaze. What was she doing here? Peridot decided to ask this outloud, getting an actual answer would be nice.
“What are you doing here?” Peridot asked far too bitterly, grimacing at her own tone. Peridot learned about hurting feelings, especially with this particular gem and Peridot didn’t want Amethyst to be upset, she didn’t want Amethyst to leave.
Thankfully, Amethyst didn’t react negatively to her less-than welcoming welcome. Instead, she shifted her form into a bird of some sort and flew up to join Peridot on the barn roof.
“I wanted to hangout” The bird-Amethyst spoke in a singsong voice, shifting back into her regular form and moving to sit next to Peridot. “Anddd, I wanted to see how you were settling” she added with a small smile. Peridot pursed her lips together, turning her gaze back out towards the stars. Amethyst’s presence was always a delight, it was always enjoyable but Peridot really wasn’t feeling good right now, she was probably sick.
The silence that filled the air was likely the give away to Amethyst that Peridot wasn’t feeling her normal self. “Something wrong?” Amethyst asked, eyebrows pushed up in concern.
“I think I’ve contracted some type of sickness” Peridot confessed, meeting the purple quartz’s eyes. Amethyst looked confused and slightly relieved.
“Oh yeah? How do you mean?” She asked, swinging her legs over the roof and dangling them above the faraway ground below.
“Well, I feel agitated. And, small ” Peridot spoke awkwardly, still not used to the whole “allowed to have feelings” thing. Peridot had left out the other part, that she had some feeling that was urging her to get off of Earth and to join the cosmos again. Peridot had only become an official crystal gem a few weeks ago, the others were just starting to trust her now, she couldn't go and tell Amethyst that she wanted to leave.
“Huh. I think I know what you’re getting at” Amethyst replied coolly, leaning back and supporting her weight with her arms. Peridot blinked dumbfoundedly at Amethyst, was the answer easy? “Do you miss homeworld?” Amethyst asked rather simply, yet nerves still pricked at Peridot’s heart. Does she answer this truthfully? Is this some sort of test? Amethyst is looking at her without a judging stare, so this can’t be..
“Yes” Peridot squeaked out, preparing to be shut down or yelled at, but Amethyst just nodded then shifted her eyes to the stars.
“You’re just homesick, dot” Peridot had never heard this word before, home .. sick? You could catch a sickness from your housing? Peridot found this confusing, deciding to inquire Amethyst on the word’s definition.
“Homesick?” she asked. Amethyst moved to sit crossed-legged, shuffling more to the side so she could face Peridot.
“Yea. It’s where you’ve been away from your home for a while and you start missing it lots” she explained, running hand through her lavender hair. Amethyst contained no judgement for this, Peridot could appreciate that. “Pearl gets homesick sometimes, I can’t exactly understand the feeling since I’ve always been here, y’know? But, it helps to talk about what you miss” Amethyst offered, giving her a reassuring smile. Peridot swallowed dryly, she wouldn’t be in trouble for talking about it...and if that was a solution to her ‘homesickness’ then she might as well try.
“Well, I miss having a purpose. I always knew what my future was going to be.” She explained, thinking over her wording, “I don’t want to go back to homeworld, but it wasn’t scary when I was there” Peridot fiddled her hands together, wondering if her words made sense to Amethyst.
“You think Earth is scary?” Amethyst spoke with confusion, tilting her head to convey her feeling.
“Yes!” Peridot nearly shouted, throwing her arms in the air to exaggerate her point. “There so much here I don’t know about, I’m used to knowing everything. And- and I don’t know who I’m supposed to be here. I’m scared that I won’t like who I am, this cloddy planet is messing with my head!” Peridot did shout the rest of that, hearing her own voice echo out into the fields around her. Embarrassment settled inside of her, so she brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them, hoping to disappear. A hand met her shoulder, bringing her attention back up.
“I like who you are” Amethyst attempted to console the fidgety green gem, but instead Peridot felt her heart flutter and face flush. She sharply removed her gaze from Amethyst's attractive face and understanding stare, swallowing down the heat that had risen in her cheeks. Peridot stumbled to find the right words to say to this, so instead she spluttered out;
“I miss the stars too” Amethyst didn’t seem to catch on, so Peridot continued with a better explanation. “The constellations in your star maps have stories, ones that I’ve grown quite familiar of” she mumbled, drawing her attention to the stars of Orion above their heads. Gems had recorded human’s findings from Pink Diamond’s zoo, the star’s folklore was something Peridot read upon often, it was nice to see such inspiration and creativity.
“Ooh, I guess that’s why you’re up here stargazing then, huh?” Amethyst asked with a positive tone. Peridot nodded her head in confirmation, looking for the next constellation she could recognize. “Tell me about em’” Amethyst inquired before the silence could stretch between the two, Peridot looked back at Amethyst to see if she was serious, and her interest glittering eyes confirmed it. Peridot liked that Amethyst enjoyed her “nerd facts”.
“Well, you see those two stars at a slant there, there’s three more underneath them that are bunched together” Peridot described Orion and pointed a finger in the direction of where Amethyst should bring her eye line. A brief pause, and then.
“Yea, which one’s that?”
“Orion, named after a Greek hunter. He was a boastful yet skilled hunter that angered the goddess, Gaia. She sent a scorpion ” Peridot paused to look at Amethyst to confirm if she had said it right, Peridot didn’t know what a scorpion was, but she assumed it was a type of animal. Amethyst nodded so Peridot continued. “She sent the scorpion to defeat Orion and he lost, so he jumped into the sea to avoid it” Peridot continued telling the story and found herself zoning out on Amethyst’s face. She had little specks on her cheeks and arms that reminded Peridot of galaxies, she had her own constellations. It was beautiful. She wondered if they had their own stories that Peridot could learn, maybe ones with words that wouldn’t make Peridot so confused.
“Uhh, Dot” Amethyst spoke with amusement, Peridot realized she had stopped speaking and was just staring at Amethyst now.
“Erg! Sorry! I-I was just looking at the flecks on your skin” Peridot blurted out, suddenly wondering if it was rude to look at them. She grimaced, pressing a palm to her forehead and muttering curse words. Clod clod, think things through.
“Oh, my freckles?” Amethyst blinked, bringing an arm forwards to look down at her darker purple “freckles”. Peridot moved her hand away from her face, happy that Amethyst was unfazed by her sentence. “Yeah, they’re caused by the sun or whatever. I've pretty much always been out and around the sun since I popped outta’ my hole” Amethyst explained with an explosion-like gesture to the word ‘popped’.
“Interesting.. So the ultraviolet radiation from the sun effects change on your skin? I’ve noticed markings on certain humans too, are those from the sun as well?” Peridot asked, leaning in towards Amethyst to examine the freckles carefully.
“Uh, well I came out with some of my freckles, and I’m not one hundred percent on how humans appearances work but I think they gotta do with melanin” Amethyst explained, leaving Peridot looking rather confused.
“Hm. Well, your freckles look like stars. Especially the darker flecks, they look like they could connect” Peridot rambled, pressing a finger to Amethyst’s cheek and attempting to connect the dots on her speckled skin. She realized how different Amethyst looked compared to her fellow quartz soldiers, she was unique. Her freckles, her height, her personality.. Peridots were made to work in kindergartens, Peridots could easily point out flaws in gems, yet in all of Amethyst’s flaws, Peridot found her beautiful. Zoning back in, Peridot realized she was cupping Amethyst’s face. Her eyes widened and she shot backwards, ignoring the burning heat in her face.
“Heh, yeah… they’re ok” Amethyst shrugged and turned her face to hide her very obvious dark purple blush, Peridot suddenly felt defensive, Amethyst had an insecurity in her freckles? But they’re so pretty!
Amethyst’s bewildered expression made Peridot realize she had voiced the last part. Ohmystars, did I just call her pretty? Peridot wanted to shrink into the ground.
“Thanks” she breathed softly, still not looking exactly at Peridot.
“Yeah..” Peridot mumbled, not realizing that saying ‘yeah’ to someone’s thank you isn’t the proper response because she was too busy focusing on how fast her own heart was beating. She couldn’t tell if this feeling was worse or better than the homesickness she was feeling before.
Amethyst’s hand moved to rest on top of Peridot’s. Peridot’s eyes widened and stomach turned, this was worse, much, much worse.
“Uh, Dot. I wanna say somethin’ and I understand if you don’t er- think the same way” she spoke rather awkwardly, meeting Peridot’s gaze. Peridot nodded slowly. Amethyst’s grip tightened slightly, knuckles moving upwards and dragging lightly across Peridot’s skin, it was a pleasant feeling Peridot almost wanted mo- “I’m glad you decided to stay here. I’ve never really had anyone that understands me the way you do” she paused, chewing on her lip, an obvious sign that whatever she said next would be important. Peridot felt a slight hope in her chest. “And uh, I like you”
Peridot raised an eyebrow in confusion, “I like you too, Amethyst?” Peridot blinked, wondering why Amethyst thinks she wouldn’t think the same way. Amethyst was her friend, her best friend. Of course she liked her!
“No- I mean. Like.. romantically” Amethyst said between gritted teeth, blush was practically glowing on her face. Peridot swallowed. This really wasnt allowed. She could get shattered. Amethyst could get shattered! But- they weren’t on homeworld. Homeworld was really far away. She was a crystal gem now, and she didn’t need to listen to what the diamonds had enforced. So, maybe this was ok.
“Ilikeyoulikethattoo” Peridot mumbled, looking down at the hand Amethyst was still holding. The feeling she didn’t like, well it turns out she really liked it, because Amethyst was feeling that way too. Amethyst was smiling, her fingers moved to lace between Peridot’s.
“Can I kiss you?” Amethyst asked. This was thankfully something Peridot didn’t have to ask the meaning of, she knew what kissing was. It was that thing on camp pining hearts, where their lips pressed against together which was apparently a huge sign of affection. Peridot didn’t understand why, though maybe it was like fusing for humans?
“Yes” Peridot squeaked, deciding to test her inquiry. Amethyst’s hand removed from Peridot’s hand and came to rest on her cheek. She closed her eyes and started leaning in, Peridot felt panic light inside of herself. What if I do it wrong? Peridot couldn’t ask Amethyst how now, she was already almost there. So, Peridot pursed her lips together and pushed them against Amethyst’s. Her eyes wide open, looking over Amethyst for her reaction. They parted shortly after this, Amethyst looking rather amused.
‘Did I do it wrong?” Peridot asked, looking at Amethyst’s expression with worry.
“Uh, kinda.” Amethyst chuckled, removing her hand from Peridot’s cheek. Peridot wanted to curl herself back up in a ball from embarrassment. “It’s okay though, I didn't really expect you to know how” Amethyst shrugged, still smiling. The feeling of pure embarrassment lessened, Peridot was thankful that Amethyst was understanding. “We can just practice another time, if you’re ok with that” she asked, looking hesitant.
“That’d be, nice” Peridot nodded, the fluttery feeling in her heart felt rather warm and comforting now. Amethyst was now beaming, wrapping an arm around Peridot’s shoulders.
“Alright, now tell me more about these constellations”