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“Log Date 7 15 2. Peridot speaking; Exactly 30 minutes and 5 seconds ago, Steven insisted I accompany him on an expedition of this locations countryside. I do not understand why he asks of me to do this, or why he is so relaxed despite there being a geo-weapon that could demolish the planet at any given minute! But I suppose everyone needs a break sometimes. And so I accepted this curious offer, it could assist me in my endeavours of understanding the earth more effectively.” Peridot then looks down at the floor and curls into a ball. “As I am a traitorous clod now… A Crystal Gem!” She crawls into a fetal position and rocks herself back and forth. “I’m still not over that.”
As Peridot constantly rocks herself back and forth, Steven suddenly approaches her from behind, he’s wearing his pink hoodie, at the bottom the strings of the hoodie are slightly torn clearly from chewing Peridot doesn’t understand why one would willingly consume their own garbs, just another thing for her to learn the reasoning of. His face has an exuberant expression, he’s also holding a goldenrod yellow raincoat with two small pockets adorned on both sides.
“Hey Peridot!” His face contorts into worry as he sees the condition Peridot is in. “Uh… Everything alright?” Steven asks as he stares upon Peridot who’s still rocking herself constantly.
After a second she finally gets up from the wooden floors of the barn and responds to his query in a mildly concerning way. “No!” She says suddenly grinning wildly.
”Is this about you calling Yellow Diamond a clod?” Steven asks in a solicitous way. “Aren’t you over that by now?”
”I’m still shocked by my actions, Steven!” Peridot replies before breathing heavily and slumping her green arms down to her sides. “I still haven’t decided where I’ll put the star! My chest?” Peridot yells before Steven lightly taps her shoulder.
”Why don’t we go on the walk now?” He kindly asks. “I bought you a raincoat, so you can be protected from the rain. I would’ve gotten you a green one but they didn’t have one in green so I hope you’re okay with yellow.” Steven then shoves the yellow raincoat into Peridot’s arms abruptly.
“Wow thanks!” Peridots face turns into one of curiosity as she gazes at the yellow raincoat. “This planet has defences against the rain, I’d like to know. Why?” She analyses the coat touching the texture of it and holding it close to her visor with a mystified stare.
”Because the rain can be uncomfortable for some people, and it prevents you from having to dry yourself off afterwards!” He grins brightly as he raises his hands upwards.
”Then why aren’t you equipped with one?” Peridot asks pointing directly at Steven, squinting her eyes slightly.
”I’m fine with the rain and I’m not really a big fan of raincoats.” He chuckles before continuing. “Just try it on, I’m sure you’ll like it.”
“Fine, if you insist.” Peridot then slips the raincoat on her, lucky for her it fits almost perfectly, a bit oversized at the sleeves but quite well-suited for her.
”Hm…” She then goes into the pockets of the raincoat. “Why are the storage functions of this garment so minuscule?” Peridot asks Steven with a perplexed expression.
”For some reason women’s clothing just have smaller pockets.” Steven informs her. “It’s so the companies can save money.”
”Why would they do that?” Peridot asks even deeper in her confusion. “That’s impractical for the wearer.” She says bluntly.
”I know right?” Steven nods his head in agreement. “If you want, I could try to sew bigger pockets into them when we get back. “How about that?”
”That would be charitable.” Peridot nods in approval as she gets a better understanding of the garment, zipping up the raincoats zip and fiddling with the pull tag.
”Alright then. Let’s go!” Steven then suddenly grabs Peridot’s hands and runs out of the barn.
She screeches in surprise as Steven suddenly grabs her and runs fast. “Where specifically are we going!?” Peridot asks Steven as the wind blows on both of their hairs.
Steven halts to a stop at the query. “Oh, sorry!” He touches the back of his brunette hair with an embarrassed smile. “I was going too fast, wasn’t I? We’re checking out the countryside, remember?”
Peridot gazes at the scenery in front of them. She’ll admit she hasn’t fully observed the beauty of the landscape, she’s seen it yet hasn’t admired it yet. She actually regrets not exploring beyond the barn sooner, she was so focused on making the luckily now complete gem drill she forgot to observe the planet she was now residing on.
“I admit.” Peridot admires the view ahead with sparkles in her green eyes. “The landscape is immensely fascinating, nothing like I ever seen on Homeworld.”
”Yeah?” Steven replies softly. “Wanna head down the hill?” He holds her hand and she nods.
As they stampede down the hill at an unintentionally high speed, due to the rain making everything all wet and muddy they slip over and fall onto the mud below them at the bottom of the hill with a loud splash.
Steven bursts into laughter right after they fall into mud, he gets up from the mud, his clothing stained with it. He’s beaming like a Cheshire Cat, a cheerful look in his eyes. “Woohoo!” He cheers enthusiastically. “Wasn’t that fun, Peridot?”
Peridot is attempting to wipe the mud off of her raincoat with her hands yet to no avail. “This crud is everywhere on my raincoat!” Peridot falls to the floor. “It’s ruined, isn’t it?” She says disgruntled.
”No, no.” Steven kneels down next to her. “It isn’t ruined, raincoats are meant to get dirty, remember?” Steven nudges her side. “They’re meant to be defences against the rain.”
Peridot quickly stands back up and stares down at the ground. “I know but doesn’t mean I don’t want it getting unclean!” She responds. “Will I even be able to clean it?” She asks Steven concerned.
”Of course, you just gotta throw it in a washing machine!” Steven informs her as he plucks a small dandelion from the grass and holds it gently in his right hand.
”What’s a washing machine…?” Peridot questions in response.
”It’s a machine that washes dirty clothes.” Steven tells her as he places the dandelion in her pale chartreuse yellow hair causing her to flinch in surprise.
”Why did you place one of earth’s weeds into my hair?” She asks as she takes the dandelion off of her hair and stares at it.
”Thought’d you appreciate it!” Steven replies.
”Wow thanks?” Peridot tells him with a puzzled expression.
”See?” Steven begins to say as he stares at the scenery all around them. “Nature’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Peridot gazes at the landscape once more, the small flowers that linger, the grass. The cloudy sky, all the oak trees and stones. She stares at her muddy goldenrod raincoat, the dandelion in her hands. She steps forward and kneels down and sees a small daisy missing a few of its petals, imperfect.
“Hm…” Peridot suddenly grabs the faulty daisy delicately. “This flower is flawed, multiple of the petals are missing.” She mentions as she touches the petite petals of the flower.
”That’s okay!” Steven stares at the daisy in her hand. “Nothing’s perfect, Peridot.”
“I guess I have no right to comment on the imperfections of other things…” She mumbles quietly.
”Peridot, like I said. Nothing’s perfect, Yellow Diamond isn’t perfect, I’m not perfect, Garnet isn’t perfect, nobody is.”
“You’re right.” Peridot replies silently.
”But that’s okay!” Steven continues.
”Huh?”
”If everything was perfect, how would we know what perfect is?”
”I have literally no idea what you mean.” She tells him deadpan.
”Oh… sorry!” He laughs and looks away before turning back. “What I mean is… Nobody knows what truly is perfect. It means different things for everyone, there’s no true definition of perfect. It varies between each and every being.”
Peridot thinks about this for a second before glancing at the daisy and dandelion, her stained raincoat and hands. “You know what? This daisy, this raincoat, their perfect… to me.” She grins lightly.
Steven smiles happily at this reply. “That’s the spirit.”
When they finally return from their adventure of traversing the countryside, Peridot hangs her yellow raincoat still stained with mud onto one of the support beams of the barn, the daisy and dandelion besides her in two tiny little plastic containers that both contain slight scratches on their surfaces. As she drapes a large blue cloth onto the gem drill, She gazes upon the view and smiles.
”Log Date 7 15 2; Steven has gifted me a raincoat, the pockets are overly tiny for an insufficient reason. I like it regardless, it’s comfortable. On our venture through my sector of countryside, I encountered a flower… several petals were missing, it’s alright however, the flower is pleasant. I believe I’m beginning to love the Earth. Though, maybe I already love it.”