Rising Tides (Human!lapidot)

Chapter 17

Peridot blinked, watching the two figures vanish through the park gate and down the street. It had ended so abruptly she wasn't entirely sure what to do. She was pretty sure Amethyst had made people do worse but Steven looked pretty ill. Then again, he did just eat playground sand. The boy himself was currently sitting next to Connie, holding a bottle of water in each hand and trying to get the stray grains of sand from his mouth. Peridot had made the mistake of putting beach sand in her mouth before when she was younger and knew of the consequences.

Steven opened one of the bottles before taking a big sip and spitting it out onto the colourful leaves; an effective way of getting rid of that unwanted sand that sticks in your throat. Connie, who was sitting cross legged in front of the boy, trying to instruct him on what to do. Beside Peridot was Lapis, who had been suspiciously quiet ever since she was dared to talk about her. The bluenettes cheeks had a red hue to them, making Peridot's heart flutter in hopes of her returning her feelings.

Suddenly, her head snapped up, eyes on Steven. She crawled closer, offering to take the now empty bottle of water from him. She brought her knees up to her chest and grinned a lopsided grin.

"How'd it taste?" She asked, a mischievous hint in her tone.

Steven coughed loudly, swallowed then retuned the smile. "It tasted a bit like dirt and feet and I'm actually quite concerned" he glanced over to three kids now sitting in the sandpit, throwing sand over each other. Steven visibly cringed.

Lapis laughed and pulled Steven into a quick hug. Peridot's gut twisted uncomfortably but she decided to ignore it. They were good friends. Friends.

Pulling away and wiping his mouth, he grabbed Connie's hand and pulled her up alongside him. She let out a startled yelp and stumbled but Steven held her up with strong arms.

"Well, that was uh...fun?" He shrugged, laughing at the memories. "But we have to go find Pearl and Amethyst, they have the car".

Lapis nodded and waved the two off. Now it was just the swimmer and the nerd as Ruby and sapphire left a little after Pearl and Ame, checking steven was okay before going into the secluded woods to makeout or something. Or maybe it was another route to their house? Nobody really wanted to find out.

Both females stood there in silence for what felt like hours. Peridot ran a hand through her choppy hair, trying to control her breathing as Lapis' arm pressed against her own. The smaller girl let out a chocked wheeze, trying to cover it up as a cough. Lapis turned her head to stare at her, once again brushing the other girls arm as she moved closer.

"W...what now?" Peridot's asked, trying not to sound too flustered. It probably wasn't the first time they'd been alone together but today felt...different.

"Hmm" Lapis put a finger to her lips in thought.

"We could just... Y'know, walk and talk?"

Peridot nodded. It sounded better than heading back to her place to binge cartoons and play video games. Though that did sound pretty nice. She shook the thought out of her head and followed Lapis down the winding gravel path that led into a small wooded area. The one that Ruby and Sapphire had disappeared into. They were most likely gone now. Probably. Hopefully.

"So what your favourite video game?" Lapis broke the silence.

Perking up, Peridot startled rambling on about games, listing her favourite then describing them in detail. Her enthusiasm made the blue haired girl giggle. Once the nerd noticed, she stopped, her cheeks red.

"S-sorry" she chuckled and threw her an awkward smile "uh.. You like to swim?"

The question was so random and unexpected, it threw Lapis back a little.

"Yeah,I'm on the swim team and a local at the pool" Lapis grinned "you?"

Peridot laughed as if Lapis had told a really funny joke.

"Me? No way" she wiped away a tear rolling down he cheek "I can't get my leg wet, remember?"

Lapis blinked, a little hurt at Peridot's reaction to her question. "Can't you just..take it off?"

Peridot shook her head "tried that, almost drowned".

"I can help you, you know" lapis mumbled.

Peridot glanced up at the taller girl, her lips pulled into another one of her famous awkward smiles "thanks but no thanks, not going through that again".

"Oh" lapis frowned, her head racing for more questions to ask.

"Do you have any other hobbies? Like, except from video games and cartoons?"

Peridot nodded "I like to build robots" she said in almost a whisper, as if it was something embarrassing. It wasn't. It was awesome.

"Really? Can I see?"

"Sure, I guess"

By now they had left the woods and were walking on familiar concrete paths. Peridot's hand intertwined with Lapis' and the blonde turned them both around. She guided the bluenette down the long path, left then into her house.

The familiar yellow wallpaper made Peridot feel more safe and secluded. Even though she hated the colour. Who uses pastel yellow for a living room? Her mother apparently. The blonde went to the kitchen, grabbed some snacks then went up to her room with Lapis following behind.

Once inside, Peridot shut the door, threw Lapis a bag of popcorn, toffee of course, and flopped onto her bed with a tired sigh. Lapis opened her bag and sat on the carpeted floor, quietly eating the food.

Suddenly, she stood up, popcorn spilling on the floor as she ran towards the nerds desk. She dropped the bag and picked up something round and soft.

"This is so cute!!" She held up a small plush toy. It was light grey with a hint of green: a ball with four stick like legs attached onto the bottom with think black fabric.

Peridot's eyes widened and her face grew red. "My mother made it for me when I was four. I've had it ever since" she wanted to shrug it off but Lapis was fangirling.

"What is it?"

"Its a robonoid"

Lapis snorted.

(Edited)