Shattered Hearts (Steven Universe)

Chapter 4

Peridot groaned. When her vision cleared and the world stopped wavering in and out, she felt something soft wrap around her body.  She felt its soft cotton fibers, and sat up. A blanket? she thought. But where did this come from? Where am I? She pushed the blanket off of herself and got up. A familiar voice intermingled with other unfamiliar ones nearby. Ben? Peridot straightened her visor and listened, hiding behind a bookshelf. The human she had spoken with was arguing with someone else, speaking loudly and defiantly. "She passed out, Mom! I mean, what else was I supposed to do? Leave her outside?" Ben held a strange device up to his ear. It was some sort of tool used for communication, but Peridot had never seen one before. "She told me that her name was Peridot. Yeah, like the gemstone. She's cool...no, she's not drunk, although she could be. She was saying some pretty weird stuff..." The gem grew angry at that. What did drunk mean? It sounded like a negative term. "Okay...okay, yeah, I'll keep an eye on her. Bye. Love you too." The device shut off, and Ben put it away into one of his back pockets. Peridot had been peeking out from the side of the bookshelf, watching him, but when he turned around directly, she quickly dived back down behind it. Her breathing had become ragged from the action, and she mentally scolded herself. With her suit being as  messed up as it was, she wouldn't be able to perform her usual  movements. "I know you're there, Peridot," Ben called. "You can come out now." The gem sighed, but listened and walked over to him, her heavy boots clanking against the floor. "Hello. I'm sorry for spying, but I have no idea where I am." When she saw his knowing expression, she narrowed her eyes. "Oh....You brought me to your prison, didn't you?"Ben held up his hands in surrender when he saw her furious expression. "It's not a prison, but yes. You fainted right in front of me.  Did you want me to just leave you out there alone?" Peridot scowled. She had done a lot of scowling lately. "It would be much better than you treating me as if I were helpless!" Ben shook his head. "I never said that you were helpless. It just felt wrong to leave you out there while you were in trouble." He seemed to hesitate, then spoke again. "Why did you faint yesterday? You're not on crack or something, are you?" Peridot straightened the hoodie she still wore. "Considering that I don't know what that means, no, I'm not "on crack"."

She made quotation marks with her green fingers, then crossed her arms. "I don't think I should tell you why." "Oh, come on!" Ben shouted. "You've already told me plenty of things about yourself. You can tell me this." "No, I can't," Peridot protested. "Why not?" "I just can't." She tightened her hands into fists. Ben was persistent. "But why?" "Just...because! Stop pestering me for answers! I've told you too much already!  Humans are not supposed to know anything about us!" Peridot's gem sparked and she fell back against the couch. Ben backed away. She saw guilt flash in his eyes. He must think that he caused this to happen, she thought weakly."This isn't your fault," she stated. "It's mine, and you couldn't fix this, even if you really wanted to." Ben swallowed hard, then approached her. He held up a single finger and poked the cracked gem on her forehead. There was a little resounding pinging sound, and Peridot shied away from his touch, wincing. Ben gulped. "That's...really serious. I don't know how to help you and I don't think I can send you to a doctor..." He looked scared. "You really are an alien, aren't you?" "It doesn't matter! I just need to get away from this place and away from you!" Peridot ran out of the room and searched for a door. Finding one, she was about to leave when the boy appeared beside her again.  "Don't go," he murmured. "Please don't go. I won't tell anyone about you, I promise." Peridot turned away from him. "Promises mean nothing if they come from a human." She managed to open the door at last and she raced into a field. The gem found her escape pod there from where she had clumsily landed it. When she heard approaching voices, she hid in the nearby foliage and crouched there quietly, peering out at the intruders.