Chapter Text
Peridot shifted positions on the couch as she tried her hardest to not let the malaise set in. Lapis had been out for hours, all of her friends were busy, and her personal projects weren’t holding her interest. Those were perfectly good reasons for her to have spent the past three hours aimlessly fishing in Creature Junction. After all, that house wasn’t going to pay itself off.
She sighed, and the controller slipped from her fingers and clattered onto the floor. Nope, as much as she tried to deny it, that was definitely malaise.
Maybe she should head up to the greenhouse for a while? Some of her tomato plants needed transplanting. The thought of even moving off the couch filled her with a deep sense of ambivalence.
She was shaken out of her stupor by her phone suddenly buzzing.
Steven!: Hey Peri, what’s up?
PERI5XG: STEVEN. I REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT I HAVE FOUND MYSELF IN THE THROES OF AN INESCAPABLE MALAISE
PERI5XG: PLEASE TELL ME YOU AREN’T BUSY SO I HAVE SOMEONE TO TALK TO OTHER THAN THE ADORABLE YELLOW DOG IN CREATURE JUNCTION
Steven!: I’m sorry, Peri, but I am pretty busy :(
Steven!: The good news is I have something else to tell you!
Steven!: A mysterious gem has asked me to pass a message to you!
PERI5XG: A MYSTERY?!
Steven!: Yeah!
Steven!: She says, “Next to the swords, you’ll find something to shield you.”
Steven!: Better go check it out ;)
PERI5XG: THIS IS JUST LAPIS, RIGHT? THE MYSTERIOUS GEM IS LAPIS.
Steven!: Who’s Lapis?
PERI5XG: REALLY STEVEN
PERI5XG: REALLY
Steven!: Haha I don’t know!
PERI5XG: WELL I HAD BETTER GO SOLVE THIS MYSTERY GIVEN TO ME BY A GEM WHO IS NOT BLUE AND CAN’T CONTROL WATER
Steven!: Yeah, you’d better!
Peridot had no idea where Lapis -- because obviously -- was going with this, but she was so pleased to have something even mildly interesting to do that she certainly wasn’t complaining.
The clue told her to look next to the swords, so that probably meant Bismuth’s forge. When she entered, she was greeted by ear-splitting ringing noises, as Bismuth was working hard pounding an enormous, heated piece of metal into a curved shape. “Hey, Peri! Sorry I can’t talk right this second, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“That’s okay, Bis, this should only take a second.” Peridot headed to the back, where Bismuth kept a barrel of assorted swords for sparring practice and for demonstrating how to make weapons. Sure enough, there was an umbrella leaning up against the barrel. It was bright green with yellow stars, making its purpose unmistakable.
“Oh yeah,” said Bismuth. “You left your umbrella here.”
“This isn’t my umbrella.”
“You sure? ‘Cause it sure looks like you.”
“Cute, Bis, very cute.” Peridot picked up the umbrella and headed out of the forge. It wasn’t raining, but the umbrella was actually nice for shielding her against the hot summer sun. She was not surprised to get another text as soon as she had left.
Steven!: Hey Peri! Got another message for you!
PERI5XG: OF COURSE YOU DO
Steven!: It says, “You’ll need some protection from the Stormy weather.”
Peridot squinted at the message. Stormy weather…? And why was it capitalized like that…?
Oh, right, Zircon’s cat was named Stormy.
PERI5XG: TELL LAPIS I GET IT
Steven!: I’ve never heard of a Lapis!
Peridot rolled her eyes and put her phone away, walking towards the office tower. A few minutes later, she was knocking on Zircon’s door.
“Come in!”
Zircon had her feet up on her desk and was reading intently from one of her holographic screens. She seemed surprisingly at ease, given that she had assured Peridot earlier that she was absolutely swamped in urgent work and couldn’t possibly spend time together. In what Peridot assumed was a bit of thematic coherence, her soothing rain noise machine was set to thunderstorm mode.
It didn’t take Peridot long to spot a bright yellow raincoat, folded neatly and sitting in Stormy’s cat bed. Stormy, naturally, was not in her bed, instead snoozing in a sunbeam on the floor. Underneath the raincoat was a matching rain hat and shiny red galoshes.
“There’s a lint roller in the drawer next to you if you need one,” said Zircon.
“I’m guessing I’m supposed to put these on, then?”
“Are you normally in the habit of putting on random clothes you find in cat beds?”
Peridot narrowed her eyes. “Are you seriously going to pretend this wasn’t all set up by Lapis?”
“That depends,” said Zircon, an insufferably smug smile on her face. “Are you going to let your girlfriend do something nice for you, or are you determined to be a pain in the gem about it?”
“Nyaaaaah,” Peridot groaned, pulling out the lint roller and cleaning the cat hairs off of the rain gear before putting it all on. “There. How do I look?”
Zircon stifled a laugh. “Like a very irritable duck.”
Peridot slumped over, her new raincoat making squeaky noises as she did. “Fine, I did the thing. Text Steven and tell him.”
“If, hypothetically, I were going to do so, I would most certainly wait until you had left.”
“Fine.” Peridot stopped to give Stormy a few scritches on the chin before leaving the office.
PERI5XG: HEY STEVEN WHAT NOW
Steven!: I’m not sure, I haven’t heard from the mysterious Gem!
Steven!: Oh, wait, I think I’m getting something!
Steven!: She’s transmitting a message through my teeth fillings! I’m going to have to start wearing a tinfoil hat!
PERI5XG: WHAT ARE TEETH FILLINGS?!
Steven!: The message says, “If the items you’re wearing painted a picture for you, come to a place where you can do just that.”
PERI5XG: TELL LAPIS THAT ONE IS NOT VERY HARD
Steven!: Have I met this Lapis?
PERI5XG: YOU’RE RIDICULOUS
PERI5XG: SHE’S RIDICULOUS
PERI5XG: BIS AND ZIRCS ARE ALSO RIDICULOUS
Steven!: Yup! :D
Peridot walked out of Little Homeworld into the nearby woods, using her ferrokinesis to hover the umbrella in exactly the right place to shade herself from the sun. She felt a bit silly wearing a full set of rain gear on a bright, sunny day, but Lapis must have some reason behind it.
When she reached Lapis’ morps studio, there was a wooden sign out front. Painted on it was a very simplistic portrayal of herself in a raincoat and a blue arrow pointing to the right. She looked in the direction of the arrow, and saw another sign pointing into a clump of thick trees and foliage.
She pushed through the tall grass and tree branches and emerged in a peaceful clearing where the trees blotted out most of the sun. There were dozens of multi-colored umbrellas hanging upside down in the trees, scattered across the ground, and floating in a couple of small ponds. Cheerful, rainbow-colored lanterns strung on ropes provided light.
Peridot grinned. “This is beautiful, Lapis,” she said, assuming her girlfriend was somewhere close by. There was no response apart from the wind ruffling the leaves. “C’mon, Lapis, I know you’re there.”
She spotted something moving in the trees. It was one of the Robonoids Peridot had made for Lapis, one outfitted with a camera to help her with her photography and filmmaking projects. Before that could fully register, she was drenched in a sudden downpour. Her yelp of surprise turned into laughter. “Lapis, what are you doing?!”
She was swept off her feet by a sudden stream of water and deposited into one of the ponds. “Lapis! Hey!” A moment later, she was shooting upwards into the air on top of a column of water. Nearby, several more columns of water launched umbrellas into the air at the same time. The water column turned into a twisting slide, Peridot shouting happily as she bounced up and down on the ripples and splashed into a pond. Before she could pick herself up, she was rising again, this time encased in a bubble. Small fish swam by her field of vision as she floated, her umbrella and hat long gone.
The bubble suddenly popped, and Peridot was caught in Lapis’ arms. “Lapis!” she said, snuggling her girlfriend. “What was this all about?”
“It’s a performance morp, starring you!” said Lapis. “I wanted to capture surprise and joy. What do you think?”
“I think it’s brilliant, Lapis. I loved it. I love you.” Peridot pulled off her visor -- which she couldn’t see through anyway, due to the heavy rain -- and pulled Lapis in for a kiss, one which was eagerly returned.
“What was with all of the clues and the scavenger hunt, though?”
“Anticipation is a critical element of performance morp, Peri.”
“And how’d you get everyone else on board?”
“I don’t know if you noticed this, but all of our friends are hopeless saps for romance.”
“Oh. Yeah, that is true.” She looked up at Lapis, a fake serious expression on her face. “I don’t know how to break this to you, but it’s possible that I’m a hopeless sap for romance too. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me,” she said, smiling and holding Peridot close.