Chapter Text
"I can't wait until we get to Connie's house! She's going to flip when she see's how my costume came out!" Steven shouted gleefully as he walked along the crowded sidewalk. Amethyst and Peridot followed behind him. It was Halloween evening, the three friends were on their way to meet Connie so that they could all go trick or treating together.
This Halloween Steven and Connie planned their costumes ahead of time, basing them off of their favorite Studio Ghibli characters. Steven had spent nearly 6 weeks working on his costume, with the help from The Crystal Gems, of course. The two friends had made an agreement that they would wait until Halloween night to reveal them to one another.
The air outside was crisp. The autumn leaves adorned the trees like ornaments celebrating the changing season. Every different colored leaf signified a mark of change, a constant theme that Peridot recognized on planet earth. "Are we there yet?" Amethyst asked.
"Not yet! But we're close. Just a couple more blocks." Steven told her.
He was so excited for the night to begin. They were going to have so much fun, he thought. He was especially excited to introduce Peridot to the holiday. Peridot took some convincing, but Steven was eventually able to persuade her to join him and Connie.
Once Amethyst had heard that Peridot would be joining them, she became a willing participant as well. Amethyst had celebrated once or twice with Steven, but she'd never worn a costume before, not until that night.
Steven could remember explaining everything that there was to know about Halloween to Peridot. Her questions just never seemed to end. Where one answer was planted, another question grew.
What interested Steven and Connie in the holiday was the opportunity to dress up, get free candy, and enjoy themselves. But Peridot didn't exactly share those same interests. She had no desire to dress up, nor did she think that she would like candy and the idea of a night dedicated to getting frightened didn't seem to make things anymore appealing.This prompted Steven to frame trick or treating as a tradition, something for Peridot to take part in to better understand earth customs. This perspective actually intrigued Peridot, so much so that she allowed Steven and Connie to pick out a costume for her.
"We're here!" Steven announced. The friends all stood on the small porch of the Maheswaran household. The porch was lit up with small Jack-o-lanterns, carved by Connie herself.
Steven rang the doorbell. "Finally." Amethyst groaned. Peridot had stayed the silent observer for most of the trip to Connie's. She tried to take in as much of the fall scenery as she could from her limited perception. "What's taking her so long? We gotta get going before all the good candy gets got!" Amethyst started to become impatient.
Steven rang the doorbell once more. He leaned in and put his ear against the door. He could hear someone running down the stairs. "I'm coming!!" a voice sang.
The door swung open. "I'm here!" Connie sang out. Steven's eyes lit up at the sight of his friend's handcrafted costume. Connie had chosen to dress up as Princess Mononoke from one of Hayao Miyazaki's early films. From the hand made bone necklace, to the red face paint, Connie's costume was replicated perfectly. Every little detail had been paid attention to.
"Connie!" Steven called out. "You look AMAZING!" There were stars in his eyes.
"Me? What about YOU!" Connie shouted. She stood stunned at Steven's ensemble.
Steven enlisted the gem's help to turn him into Haku from Spirited Away, one of his and Connie's favorite films. The costume would have been simple enough, only he wanted to go as Haku in his dragon form. It took weeks of designing, sewing, and engineering but thanks to the combined efforts of him and his friends, he was unmistakenly the famous white dragon.
"Look at your scales!" Connie shouted. Each scale was meticulously placed and hand sewn on by Pearl.
"Look at your mask! Did you make it yourself?" Steven inquired.
"Yup!" Connie answered proudly. The mask was made of out paper mache and painted with acrylic paint to help make it look as authentic as possible.
"Wow! I love your fur coat..is that real fur?" Steven felt the white fur that was wrapped around Connie's shoulders.
"No, it's faux. Can't be cruel to the animals, ya know?" Connie said.
The two exchanged one final glance at each other's costumes.
"We look amazing!" Steven and Connie shouted at one another. Their compliments soon turned into pure unbridled laughter. "Hey! What about me?" Amethyst called out.
Amethyst decided to go as one of the most popular characters, Totoro.
"Well? Do I look great or what?" Amethyst asked. She stood next to Peridot displaying herself in her costume. "Oh wow, Amethyst! You look fantastic. Did you make that yourself?" Connie asked.
"Uh, well I was going to buuuuut, Pearl really wanted to so I let her." Amethyst had originally insisted on making the costume herself, but after a bit of a mishap with the sewing machine, she gave the costume to Pearl to finish.
"Amethyst sewed her fingers to the fabric," Steven said.
Connie looked mortified. "Hey! I tried okay, what do you want from me?" Amethyst muttered. Connie placed her hand on her shoulder. "Well, you look great, Amethyst! It's perfect. Totoro's such a sweet and fun loving character!"
"If those ain't the perfect words to describe me, I don't know what are!" Amethyst smirked.
"What about Peridot? Don't forget, she dressed up too!" Steven said. "Oh, of course! How could I forget? Peridot you look so great. It really suits you, don't you think, Steven?" Connie asked.
The friends eyes all panned over to Peridot who stood stoically in her small black cat costume. Weeks prior to Halloween night, during a brainstorming session between Steven and Connie, they decided that they wanted to choose a costume for Peridot that would match the theme of theirs and Amethysts. Peridot's one request was that the costume to be both practical, and comfortable. After a bit more thought, the two friends came up with what seemed like the perfect idea. They chose to dress her up as the character JiJi from KiKi's delivery service. Not only would it be easy for Peridot to get around in, but both Steven and Connie agreed that out of any of the other characters they could think of, a cat seemed to match Peridot's personality best.
"If by "It suits you" you mean it does an adequate job at clinging to my body and extremities then sure. It suits me just fine." Peridot said.
Amethyst snickered. "Aw, come on, Purry!" Amethyst said as she smacked Peridots back. "You look purrfect!"
Peridot groaned. "What time are these festivities you described being put on?" Peridot asked. She looked to Steven for an answer. "Pretty soon actually. We should probably go." Steven said, he turned to Connie. "Are you about ready?" he asked.
"Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot. Amethyst, my mom wants to talk to you before we go!" Connie said. "Mooooooom! Steven's here to take me trick or treating!" Connie called into the house.
Mrs. Maheswaran walked to the front of the porch. "Hello, Steven Universe."
"Hi, Mrs. Maheswaran. How are you?" Steven greeted her respectfully.
"I'm well, thank you. I see you're ready for Halloween." Mrs. Maheswaren said, looking down at Steven's costume.
"We sure are!" Steven smiled.
"Mom, Amethyst is here to talk to you." Connie pointed towards the purple gem in her furry gray costume.
"Oh, good!" Mrs. Maheswaran stepped down from the porch and walked towards Amethyst.
"Now Amethyst, I know that we spoke on the phone but I just wanted to check in with you before you left to take these two trick or treating. A parent's presence is very important during these sorts of activities. You never know what sort of people are lurking about."
Amethyst nodded. "Yeah, tell me about it. There are some real weirdos out there." Amethyst raised an eyebrow and sent a wink in Peridots direction.
"Oh, who's this?" Mrs. Maheswaran asked. She was referencing Peridot, who was trying her best not to involve herself in whatever the two of them were discussing.
"Oh! That's Peridot. She lives with me and the rest of The Gem's at my house." Steven explained.
"Nice to meet you, Peridot. I'm Dr. Maheswaran, Connie's mother," she said. She reached out her hand for Peridot to shake. Peridot eyes shifted up and down from the doctor's hand to her face.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Peridot said, grasping the Doctors hand.
"Fresh." Amethyst joked.
Once Mrs. Maheswaran was finished introducing herself, she turned back to Amethyst.
"So, as I was saying, thank you for offering to take them. I would have done it myself but I'm busy working at the hospital tonight. " Connie's mother explained.
"It's no biggie! I'll have her back before you know it, after the party of course." Amethyst told the woman. Mrs. Maheswaran felt a wave of panic flood over her.
"Party? You never said anything about a party before, Connie!" She turned back to face her daughter.
"Oh! It's just a small get together at Steven's house. I thought I mentioned it."
Amethyst looked over at Connie, who looked rather embarrassed. She felt a sudden urge to interject.
"Don't worry! After it's over, she'll be back at home safe and sound. You can count on me!" Amethyst grinned.
Connie's mother took a deep breath. "Thank you, Amethyst. I believe you." She said. Connie's mother had been trying to be less overprotective since Connie was finally honest about her relationship with Steven and The Crystal Gems. However, like all mothers, she still had to know where her child was and to make sure that she was safe.
Mrs. Maheswaran walked back to the porch where Connie stood in her costume.
Connie stared up at her mother's face, unable to read her emotions.
Connie's mother placed a hand on her shoulder. "You really do look great," she said.
Connie smiled, she wrapped her arms around her mom's waist. "I couldn't have finished it without your help!" Connie said. Mrs. Maheswaran hugged her daughter tight.
"Have fun tonight, Connie. Just..stay safe. Okay?" she asked.
Connie nodded. "I promise. I'll see you later, mom."
As hard as it was for her, Mrs. Maheswaran let Connie go.
She waved goodbye and closed the door behind her.
As the four friends left the Maheswaran household, they saw the once gray sky begin to fill with color. The sun was setting which meant Halloween night had begun, and they were on their way to celebrate it. "Well?" Steven asked. He looked to Connie who walked beside him. "Well?" she answered curiously. "Are you all ready to have a spooktacular time?!" Steven shouted. Connie giggled. "Sure am! I've got my bucket and it's ready for some goodies!" Connie said, her eyes were filled with want and determination.
"What about you, Peridot? Are you ready to fill up your basket?" Amethyst asked.
The two gems walked side by side, just a few steps in front of Steven and Connie.
Peridot looked down at the small wicker basket she held to her side.
"Fill it up? Oh- you mean with those sugar filled foods wrapped in foil?" Peridot inquired.
"That's them!" Amethyst replied.
Peridot scoffed. "Why would I be? I have no plans to ingest any of its contents once I obtain them." Peridot told her.
"What're you gonna do with all the candy you get then?" Amethyst asked.
"I'm not sure. I suppose I'll just dispose of them once we get to a nearby waste disposal." Peridot shrugged. Amethyst stopped her in her tracks. "You're just gonna throw them away?!" she shrieked.
"What's going on you two? Why are you yelling, Amethyst?" Steven asked as he and Connie approached the two gems.
"Peridot says she's going to throw out all the candy that she gets tonight." Amethyst explained. She was absolutely outraged. Visions of Peridot discarding her candy struck Amethyst, bringing her more distress.
"Whaaaat?!" Steven gasped.
"But Peridot, that's one of the biggest points of trick or treating!" Connie said.
"Yes well-" Peridot stammered.
"It's THEE point." Amethyst huffed. "Have you ever even had candy before, Peridot?" she asked.
"No," Peridot responded bluntly.
"Oh my gosh! You have to keep it then. As soon as we get to the first house, you're trying some." Amethyst said, and with that, it was decided.
"Speaking of which...Looks like we've arrived! Let's go and loot the place!" Amethyst laughed.
Peridot looked over at the house that Amethyst was referring to. It was a small green one story home with brick pavement the lead you to the front of the house. There were bright orange lights hung along the railings, all of them glaring out at Peridot.
"C'mon Peri! What're you waiting for?" Amethyst asked. She grabbed Peridot's hand and carried her to the front door. Steven and Connie followed happily behind.
The front door of the house was covered in what appeared to be artificial cobwebs with a large fake spider smack dab in the middle. Peridot felt a sense of unease come over her.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Now you just knock on the door," Steven told her.
"And then?" Peridot asked, suspiciously.
"And then we all say "Trick or treat!" and they give us our candy," Steven explained.
"It's really easy, Per." Amethyst said. "I know that!" Peridot shouted defensively. Her cheeks were a deep shade of green. Why was she suddenly so intimidated? she wondered. Steven had explained everything to her already, so why did she need his reassurance? Peridot sighed. "If you want, I can do it with you." Amethyst offered. Peridot turned to Amethyst.
"Y-you can?" Peridot questioned. A wide grin appeared on Amethysts face.
"Pfft, yeah! Just tell me when you're ready," she said.
Peridot could feel Amethysts fingers still wrapped around hers. She squeezed Amethysts hand a little tighter as if to give her the courage that she needed. She reached with her other hand toward the door. Peridot knocked on the cold hardwood twice, her hand quickly retreating to her side.
The friends stood in the silence of the night as they anxiously awaited someone to greet them. Peridot was jolted when she heard a voice cry out from behind the door "Just a second!".
She tried to regain her composure, as a tickled Amethyst suppressed a giggle.
Suddenly, the friends heard rustling inside of the home. The door opened and a woman dressed as a witch appeared in front of them.
"Trick or treat!" The four friends shouted.
The woman's face was painted a dark forest green. She had a long prosthetic nose glued onto her face, along with fake eyelashes. She wore a long black dress that went down to her ankles, which revealed her black and white striped stockings, and pointy black boots.
The woman leaned down and flashed a smile at the friends. "Well, aren't you all just adorable?" she said.
The woman's cheery demeanor did not match her appearance, Peridot thought. The realization relaxed her a bit.
"What are you all supposed to be?" she asked.
"I'm The Kohaku dragon!" Steven declared as he took a prideful stance.
"And I'm Princess Mononoke, protector of the forest!" Connie shouted.
"And I'm your friendly neighborhood Totoro," Amethyst said.
"And I'm...A cat." Peridot said dryly.
The woman let out a hearty laugh.
"You're also my first trick or treaters tonight! Here, why don't you just grab whatever you like." The woman said as she stretched her arms out to display a large bowl filled with candy.
"Alriiiight!" Amethyst sang. She let go of Peridots hand and filled hers with the sweets of her choosing.
"What are you supposed to be?" Peridot asked. She squinted her eyes at the woman.
"I'm a witch!" The woman told her. This didn't seem to make things any clearer for Peridot.
"Go ahead!" the woman said. Peridot starred blankly at the bowl in front of her.
"Go on, Peridot! Just take whatever looks good to you." Connie said.
Peridot hesitantly reached her hand into the bowl and pulled out a small chocolate bar.
"Aw, you can take more than that if you want!" the woman told her.
"No thank you, ma'am. I don't know if I'll even want this one." Peridot said. The woman shrugged the curious remark off.
"Alright then. How about you two?" The woman asked. Amethyst and Peridot stepped out of the way as Connie and Steven selected their candy from the bowl.
The two gems began to walk down the short moonlit path, marked by brick, which leads them back to the sidewalk. "Hey, good job back there." Amethyst said. Peridot looked to Amethyst, there was a smile planted across her face. "I know you were nervous but it wasn't so bad, was it?" Peridot wasn't sure if it were the moon's rays escaping from the clouds that made Amethyst look the way that she did, but there was an enchanting quality that radiated from her, a quality that Peridot could not help but notice. "Anyways, if you do get spooked again, you can hold my hand. You know, if you want." Amethyst said.
Peridot felt as if a bolt of lightening had just shot through her. "Thanks." was all that she could manage. Amethysts smile grew wider, which just intensified the strange feelings that Peridot was experiencing.
Steven and Connie stood with the two gems on the sidewalk outside of the green house.
"What a great way to start the night!" Steven shouted gleefully.
He and Connie marveled at their buckets that contained the sweet sugary assorted treats.
"So, are you ready?" Amethyst asked. She looked down at Peridot, who was still trying to sort out her newfound and rather alarming feelings.
"Peridot?" Amethyst called.
"Huh?" Peridot looked back at the purple gem. "Sorry, what did you ask me?"
"I was just gonna ask if you were ready to try candy for the first time. Ya know since you have some now."
Peridots eyes panned down to her basket which held her one mini chocolate bar. She pulled the small bar out and began to examine it. "Chocolate. Good choice." Amethyst said.
Peridots eyes stayed on the bar, it was wrapped in a light gold foil with the words "Choco Nugget" written in red letters across the front. "Oh man! You got a good one too!" Amethyst yelled. "I can't wait for you to gnaw down on that thing!...Say, do you need help, unwrapping it or something?"
Peridot had gotten lost in thought again.
"Peri!" Amethyst shouted, startling Peridot. "I can do it!" Peridot yelled. She looked down at the candy bar and began unwrapping the small folds that hid its contents.
Peridot could feel all eyes on her as she unveiled the choco nugget.
Steven, Connie, and Amethyst all stood in anticipation while Peridot prepared herself.
She took a deep breath, opened her lips, and ever so slowly brought the bar to her mouth.
The bar laid delicately and unassumed on her bottom lip waiting to be consumed. Peridots friends all stared intently as Peridot finally, in one foul swoop, bit down on the bar and began to chew.
"Wellllllll?" Amethyst asked.
At long last, Peridot responded with a smile.
Her friends all gasped and cheered. "See! I knew you'd like it." Amethyst said.
Peridot nodded her head slowly up and down, her facial expression remained unchanged.
"Okay now swallow," Amethyst said.
There was nothing but silence.
"Peridot? Did you hear Amethyst?" Steven asked. He started to grow concerned.
"Just swallow, Peridot," Amethyst said.
Peridots eyes shifted quickly back and forth between the two of them. She couldn't take it anymore, she turned around and spit the chocolate bar out.
"I'm sorry. But I couldn't stand it a moment longer." Peridot said. She stood hunched over as she retched whatever was left of the candy into the bushes nearby.
"Aw, man! So, you really didn't like it then, huh?" Amethyst asked. She folded her arms rather disgruntled.
Peridot stood up and wiped her mouth.
"No no! It wasn't that. The taste was actually somewhat enjoyable. The texture wasn't a terrible experience either. But I REFUSE to shapeshift my body in order to digest anything. That's something that I have no desire to do...Not again." Peridot muttered. "I'm sorry, Amethyst. I tried." she said.
Amethyst unfolded her arms. "Hey, that's okay. At least you tried." Amethyst said.
Peridot felt bad at the thought that she had disappointed her friends. She wondered how she could make it better, when suddenly, an idea struck her. "Perhaps...You would like the candy that I collect this evening?" Peridot offered.
"You'd give me all your candy?" Amethyst asked, her voice filled with speculation.
"Sure. I'd just throw it out otherwise. It's better if it's of some use to someone." Peridot explained.
"Wow, that's so cool of you, Peridot! Thanks!" Amethyst said. She wrapped her arms around Peridot and pulled her into a tight hug. Amethyst's touch sent alarm bells all throughout her body. Peridot forced herself to wrap her arms around Amethysts shoulders. "Y-you're welcome." she said. What are these strange feelings? Peridot asked herself. She couldn't seem to place them no matter how hard she tried.
Amethyst released her from their hug.
"We should get back to trick or treating! Pearl and Garnet are working on the party for us back home!" Steven said.
"That's right! We still have so many houses to visit. I hear the whole 7th block is giving out full-size candy bars." Connie said.
"FULL bars?!" Steven's eyes filled with want and determination. "What are we waiting for?" he screamed.
"Right! Let's get a move on!" Amethyst said.
Peridot pushed her invasive thoughts and feelings out of her head. "Right!" she nodded.