Chapter Text
It was a lovely sunny day and Amethyst was doing what Amethyst did best, lounging around and eating. Spread out on the couch, she finished the last of Steven's peanut butter. The cupboards were looking a little bare, and Amethyst felt proud that this time it was only half her fault. She made a mental note to remind Pearl that they needed to go shopping soon.
Today she had the whole place to herself. Pearl had taken Steven and Connie for training, and Garnet was doing... Garnet stuff. Amethyst wasn’t sure what. Garnet might have told her, but all she heard was “blah, blah, blah, see ya.” It probably wasn’t important. What was important was she had a few hours all to herself, and she had some very important plans for that time, napping, snacking and snoozing.
As Amethyst stretched her fingers to reach the last bits of peanut butter at the bottom of the jar, the warp pad hummed, signaling a gem was about to land. With her luck it was Pearl cutting the training short because Steven skinned his knee or because of some near death thing. That meant she would have to deal with Pearl going, “blah, blah, blah, disgusting. Blah, blah, blah, Steven’s food. Blah, blah, blah, responsibility. Blah, blah, blah.” The warp pad glowed and the silhouette began to take form. There was only one shape, which ruled out Pearl cutting training short. And as the shape took form, she saw that it was way too short to be Garnet. Before the gem had fully arrived, Amethyst recognized that triangle shaped head.
“Hey, P-dot, nice of you to drop in?” Amethyst said, waving with the hand that was still stuck in the peanut butter jar.
“Yes... Well, is Steven here?” Peridot asked.
“Nope. Off training with Pearl and his girlfriend.”
“What about Garnet?”
“Nope. Just you and me here.” Amethyst pulled her hand out of the jar and began sucking the last bits of peanut butter from her fingers.
“Just the two of us, alone?”
“Hmm hmm,” Amethyst said, answering the best she could with a mouth full of her own hand.
“I see. Well, I suppose this is something that you can help me with.” Peridot said, walking up to the couch and sitting beside Amethyst. “I want to know more about fusion.”
Amethyst nearly choked on her own hand in shock. She spat out her hand to shout, “What?”
“It’s been something I’ve been curious about for a while and I would like some help understanding it better.”
“Then you might want to wait for Garnet to come back. She’s the expert in that area.”
“Yes, I’m well aware, but I’m sure there’s plenty you could tell me. I know you’ve had some experience with cross gem fusion.”
“Yeah, I’ve been around the block a few times.”
“What do blocks have to do with... Nevermind. While I’m sure Garnet has much information on how to keep a fusion stable for an extended period of time, the kind of information I’m looking for is more practical.”
“Uh-huh, and the point is?”
“I’ve seen you and Pearl fuse many times, and sometimes not even in a battle situation, and while Garnet hardly uses fusion like that at all, I figured that given you’re experiences and....”
“Get to the point already.”
“Fuse with me.” Peridot blurted out as quickly as she could.
“What?” Amethyst said.
“As much as I try, I don’t believe I can get a true understanding on how you gems view fusion without experiencing it for myself. I have no idea whether or not this will work, but information beyond what I’ve already learned from you gems is limited.”
“So you want to fuse with me? Alright, cool. Let’s go.” Amethyst jumped off the couch, holding out her hand to Peridot.
“Just like that?”
“Sure. I mean, it’s just fusion. It’s not like we’re getting married or anything.”
“What’s married?”
“Nevermind. What I’m trying to say is that it’s really not that big a deal,” Amethyst shrugged.
“Okay,” Peridot said hesitantly, feeling both uncomfortable with how close she was to doing something she once considered wrong, and with having to touch a hand still covered with peanut butter and slobber.
Amethyst picked up on this and quickly wiped her hand off on her leg before offering the mostly cleaned hand to Peridot again. “Don’t worry. We can take this as slowly as you want. There’s no need to rush. We’ll start when you’re ready.”
Peridot grabbed onto Amethyst’s hand. “I’m ready.”
“Cool,” Amethyst said and led Peridot around the coffee table so that they would have more room to dance.
Amethyst let go of Peridot’s hand and took a few steps back. “Okay, first rule of fusion: it needs to be with someone you trust. Do you trust me?” Amethyst once again held her hand out.
“I guess so?” Peridot reached out for Amethyst’s hand, but jumped a bit when Amethyst pulled it back.
“There’s no ‘I guess so’s in fusion. Do you trust me or not.”
“I do.” Peridot said with much more certainty this time.
“Then let’s get it on!” Amethyst shouted as she broke out into dance, rolling her hips and stretching her arms over her head.
Peridot stood there, uncertain as she watched the other gem dance.
“Dude, you do know you usually have to dance for the fusion to work.”
“I understand, but what dance?”
Amethyst stopped moving. “What do you mean?”
“Which dance allows for the smoothest fusion.”
Amethyst snorted, which grew into a guffaw. “The dance doesn’t matter, silly, what matters is that it’s your own dance while matching the movements of your partner.”
“How can it be my own dance while matching your movements?”
“You saw me and Pearl fuse, right?”
“Yes.”
“My dance is wild and free while hers is ballet. When we fuse, I still dance like me, but I slow it down so that Pearl can keep up. You understand?”
“So one gem has to make the concession?”
“Well, both of us do. Pearl has a little more fun with her dance when we fuse, but it’s still her dance. And I’m dancing a little more like her, but it’s still my dance.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, I guess it’s kind of hard to explain. It’s not really something you talk about but more you feel. It’s hard to explain fusion unless someone has actually been fused before. You don’t really think about it. You start moving and you feel their gem and you feel their movements in yours and you feel them more and more until you’re not feeling them or yourself but your both someone new.” Amethyst clasped her hands together into a single fist.
“Okay, so how does this help me learn how to fuse?” Peridot crossed her arms.
“What I’m saying is that you don’t have to think so hard about how you’re dancing or even think at all. Just dance.”
“So where do we start? Do we hold hands?”
Amethyst shrugged. “If you want to I guess. It doesn’t matter one way or the other, but remember, I’m leading this one.” Amethyst grabbed Peridot’s hand and pulled her close.
“Why do you get to lead?”
“Because I’m the only one of us that knows what I’m doing.”
“Oh, right.” Peridot still sounded unsure.
“It will be fine. Remember we can stop anytime you want to. Just let me know.”
“Alright.”
“Great.” Amethyst took a step outward and raised her arm in a theatrical pose. “Then let’s dance.”
Despite the certainty that Amethyst displayed, neither gem were really sure how to begin. After a few awkward steps of a half attempted waltz, they let go of each other and tried separate dances. That is, Amethyst tried dancing and Peridot shuffled from foot to foot. It became very clear very quickly that nothing was going to happen.
Peridot was the first to give up. “I don’t get it.” She said with a sigh. Her arms and head sank.
“Well it’s because you’re not dancing.”
“I’m dancing perfectly fine!”
“Yeah, no. You look like a human who REALLY needs to use the washroom.”
“You said it didn’t matter the dance.”
“Well, yeah, and what you were doing wasn’t dancing.”
“And what do you call what you’re doing? waving your limbs in all random directions.”
“Gah, you’re starting to sound like Pearl.”
“Well good. Maybe that would increase our chances of fusion.”
“Ugh.” Amethyst crossed her arms and stared at the ceiling. “What would Garnet do?” She pondered out loud. Garnet was the one who helped everyone learn to fuse in the first place.
“Probably already be fused,” Peridot answered, not realizing the question was rhetorical.
Amethyst could feel herself get angry, but she calmed herself down as the answer came to her. “Okay, I think we started this all wrong.”
“I’ll say.”
“How about you start dancing and I’ll see how we can work together with that.”
“So I’m leading the dance?”
“Sure, we’ll see.”
“Well, okay.” Peridot resumed her little dance. Rocking from one foot to the other. As she loosened up she incorporated her arms, shaking them like she had some maracas in each hand.
“Okay, I think I can work with that.” Amethyst walked up to Peridot until their midsections were almost touching. She grabbed Peridot’s hands and placed them behind her neck and set her hands on her waist.
Peridot’s face flushed a deep green. “What are you doing?”
“It’s called a slow dance. Watch.” Amethyst began rocking back and forth in time with Peridot.
Peridot caught on quickly. Her fingers entwined in Amethyst’s hair as they moved almost as one. The dance was calming and close. Peridot leaned her forehead into Amethyst’s chin. She wasn’t sure what kind of feeling that she was waiting for, but she could feel something.
Amethyst pulled her closer and pushed her face into Peridot’s hair, taking in her smell. A new feeling was starting to bloom in the core of her being. It wasn’t the same feeling she felt when she usually fused. It was different. It was something she had never felt before. A warm glow spread through her body, only she wasn’t actually glowing. After a few minutes of dancing, despite how content she felt to be in contact with Peridot, nothing was happening.
“Shouldn’t something be happening by now?” Peridot asked.
“Yeah,” Amethyst said with a soft voice.
“What are we doing wrong?” Peridot stopped dancing. Amethyst leaned back to look Peridot in the eyes. Neither of them moved their hands.
“Nothing. At least I don’t think we are. We’re dancing. We trust each other. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah. So it usually just happens. We were moving together, and I don’t know.” Amethyst let go of Peridot, who let her arms drop as well. “I mean, fusion isn’t always easy, but it’s usually easier than this. Maybe I should talk to Garnet. I mean, I thought I understood, but maybe I was wrong.”
Guilt wormed its way through Peridot as she watched Amethyst beat herself up. “It’s not your fault.”
“Of course it is. I should get this by now.”
“No. It’s me, at least how I was made. I wasn’t made to be capable of fusion.”
“Dude, of course you can fuse. I mean, if Steven can fuse, then any gem can.”
“But I can’t even shape shift. Steven can, you can, Garnet can, and I’m sure Pearl can as well, but no matter what I try, I’m always just Peridot.” She gave a short wave to her form. “Which isn’t a bad thing. I mean, I’m pretty incredible, but there are limitations to being me, and I guess fusion is one of them.” She tried to laugh it off, but she sounded so completely disappointed.
“Yeah, no. Remember when you thought you didn’t have any powers?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it turned out you can control metal! You can totally fuse, even if it’s just not with me. Look, next time I see Garnet… she can probably help out.”
“With you and me fusing or by fusing with her?”
“I think it would work better with her. You’d probably be better off.”
“Oh.” Peridot could not hide the sense of disappointment in her voice. “Yes. You are probably right. After all, she was the one who wanted to show me in the first place. I was just hoping that my first time could be with you since fusion would be nicer with someone… someone who is closer to my size. You know, so it’s less awkward to dance with.”
“Yeah.” Amethyst’s hair fell onto her face, covering nearly her entire expression.
“So, I guess I’ll just head back to the barn, and come back some other time… when Garnet is around.” Peridot slowly inched her way back to the warp pad.
“Yeah. See ya.” Amethyst dismissed with a quick wave.
“See ya.” Peridot said sadly and warped away.
Amethyst flung herself onto the couch and screamed into the pillows until she no longer had the energy to scream anymore. It was a lovely sunny day, and Amethyst was doing what Amethyst did best, taking what should be simple, and messing it up.