Steven Universe Oneshots

Lapidot (Help me this ship is my life)

Peridot learned the signs, even the small ones, and the big ones. She noticed everything, and she kept a close eye out for Lapis now, and watched what she said. Anything could make her go off, and it was terrible when she did, on occasion.

She had a list of them. Because it helped her remember, and Lapis liked lists. Lapis listed the couples that she liked in Camp Pining Hearts, she listed all the couples she didn't like, she listed the episodes that she hated, and the ones she loved.

She listed things in her mind too. Why she was afraid. Why she shouldn't be. Things that will not be mentioned, and the things that aren't, despite everything.

Things not to mention:

Jasper (causes nightmares, flashbacks, crying, and mental instability)

The ocean (avoid whenever possible, as Lapis does not talk for hours after the mentioning)

Love (no exceptions, not even for Camp Pining Hearts.)

Fear (will cause a mental breakdown, has already cause three)

The Gem War (something about her past makes her want to forget it)

Mirrors (she says that she just doesn't like them, do not ask why she doesn't like them)

Loneliness (exceptions for when comforting) (Reason still unknown, and confusing, since she is rarely alone, because I am with her)

Dark (she doesn't like shadows)

Her past in general (also true for a few of the Crystal Gems)

Fusion (she tolerates Garnet, but does like talking about it)

The list only went on as the days passed. Peridot listed them, because it hurt so much when she didn't remember, and accidentally mentioned it, and Lapis stiffened, and didn't talk to her. It hurt because it was so obvious that Peridot was the cause of that pain.

She wrote it down, over and over again, because she was afraid of using the recorder, in case Lapis might hear it. She wrote them down, and what they were caused by, and the degrees of not-to-be-mentioned.

Peridot saw the tiniest of signs, the way that Lapis shivered whenever Jasper was mentioned, even when it was unbearable hot, and the way that tears would appear, tiny and glistening, in the corner of her eyes, and she blink them back.

Lapis saw how Peridot noticed. She tried to hide them, to make Peridot feel better. Lapis knew that Peridot didn't mean to mention Jasper that one time, and it wasn't her fault that she ended up crying for hours.

But Peridot was too observant to hide from. Lapis always tried not to care, but it was...terrifying. Because that one shadow looked just like Jasper's arm, reaching out to her, and Lapis would stop looking at the TV, and would watch that shadow, because she was too afraid to look away.

Lapis read over the list, the one that Peridot wrote, and kept hidden from her. Of course Lapis knew where it was. The list only got longer. There were things that Lapis didn't even know made her scared, but it was there. She never thought that she avoided the conversation topic of loneliness, but when she thought about it, she did.

Peridot noticed things that Lapis didn't even know that she was afraid of.

That's why Lapis was so... happy. She was so happy that there was someone that was willing to spend time to try and make her feel safe, even when Lapis told Peridot to destroy the VCR that held the season special, where Percy and Pierre did their fusion dance, Peridot did it.

Peridot was always there, and although she didn't usually know what to say when Lapis was crying, she was always there, no matter what. Even when Lapis flew up to the top of the grain silo, Peridot climbed up, too, and would sit next to Lapis.

Over the days, sometimes the list grew longer, sometimes it remained the same, some days they were erased.

And one day, there was nothing on the list anymore.