Talk To Me

-All I Want-

They all bustled about for hours, moving and sawing and lifting the wood and metal, consolidating it into piles. It was hard work, keeping them occupied until the sun was slung low in the sky like a drop of honey in a blue bowl.

Lapis balanced a stack of splintering wooden beams on her head, arms wrapped around a rusting barrel that might have once held old oil.

"Is this the last of it?"

Peridot's sweaty head popped out from behind a behemoth of junk.   

"Yep! Over here."

Lapis squatted and placed the barrel down next to the giant pyramid of scrap. Peridot used her metal powers and lifted the barrel to the very top of it, a cherry on the cake.

"Nice job."

"Hi-five?" Peridot asks as she proudly waves her hand at Lapis.

"Hi-five."

Their hands slapped together in a joyful reverberation, but the sudden movement caught Lapis off-balance and she stumbled as the wood threatened to fall on top of them both.

"Woah, careful there," Bismuth cried, catching the beams just as they tip over in her wide hands.

"I have the feeling that's not the last time I'll be saving your cracks."

Peridot scoffed emphatically. "Hmph, I could have stopped those pesky beams with no problem!" 

"Peridot, it's not metal. It's wood."

"Oh, yeah..."

Lapis leaned on her tiptoes above Peridot, a mischevious glint in her eyes. "Not to mention your height. Last time I checked you were, what, five robonoids tall?"

"Ngahh! My height does not impact my strength capabilities!" She hissed, poking Lapis' forehead.

Lapis laughed and straightened up as Peridot began to mutter only slightly angrily. Bismuth strolled over, just finishing sawing.

"Ha, alright, you guys did great work today. I think we're really making some progress!"

"And it's only sunset."

"Oh ho ho, don't you get me started, Water Wings. This is nothing compared to the smithing I used to do," She bragged as she brandished her muscular arms.

"How mighty."

"Ah, you're killing me!"

Bismuth chortled as Lapis and a newly cooled down Peridot shared giggles.

"We should head back to the beach. Steven said he was planning a little something for tonight."

"I bet it's a play of our victories."

"I think it's something with music."

"Whatever he has planned, I'm sure it'll be great."

Lapis suddenly spread her wings lifted into the air. Zipping to the warp pad, she cheerily shouted out "Last one to the warp is a chicken!" 

"Wings are cheating, Lapis Lazuli!"

Lapis turned upside down in mid-air and made her infamous fart noise, with the most ridiculous of smiles on her face.

"Hurry up, Peri Peri dot!"

"Wait up, then!"

Peridot bounded to the warp with Bismuth close behind, while ghosts of stars just began to twinkle in the dusky sky.

                                                                 ***

It hadn't been a play or something musical after all. It was a barbeque. Peridot figured it was something like a "Thanksgiving" or the Camp Pining Hearts potluck episode. She was still riled up about Percy and Paulette kissing at the end of it. They were so clearly wrong for each other.

Steven was there, of course, and so were all the other crystal gems, and a few townspeople to boot. It was quite a crowd. Bismuth had gone over to talk to a group of colorful Quartzes, so Peridot thought it would be nice to talk to Steven where he was huddled with Greg over a smoking grill in the middle of the beach.

"Hey, guys. You're just in time for hot dogs," Steven exclaimed, holding up a sizzling sausage with a pair of tongs.

"Oh, so that's what pork chops make."

"Pretty much. Do you want one? My dad just grilled them."

"And there's more coming. Boy, some of these gems eat faster than vacuum cleaners." He opened another package of dogs and tossed them on the charcoaled rack.

"I bet none of them have ever eaten a vacuum cleaner though, huh?"

That voice belonged to Amethyst, who popped out from behind Greg, munching on a hotdog bun.

"Wasn't that one of my meep morps?"

"Hmm...Don't remember. How's it going?"

"Well, Lapis and I just finished organizing the barn materials, and now we're here! With the meats."

"What are you organizing all that junk for anyway?" Amethyst mumbled as she polished off her bun and grabbed another one from a half-empty bag.

"We don't know yet."

"Something awesome!"

"Hot dogs anyone? Please?" Greg gestured to the now overflowing grill full of weiners, slight panic in his voice.

Amethyst waggled her hand in the air. "I'll take some."

"Me too," says Lapis.

Greg brandished a paper plate at her, ready for battle.

"How many?"

"Yes?"

She's tossed a plate laden with dogs and catches it awkwardly in her work-dusted hands.

"I added extra in case Peridot wanted some."

"I prefer foods that aren't tube-shaped, but thanks, Greg."

Greg flashed a thumbs up before turning back to the grill, whistling a swingy tune.

"Let's have some fun!" Steven smiled widely and bounced into the crowd, greeting people as he went.

Fun sounded good. Lapis could do with some fun. But something preoccupied her. She frowned, shaking her head ever so slightly to get rid of the thought. It didn't help. "Where is Jasper?" Why was she looking for her? How stupid.

"Lapis?"

She looked to her side. Peridot was there, a puzzled look behind her visor.

"Oh. Did I zone out again?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

It seemed like she heard those words so often nowadays. Lapis wondered why she hadn't noticed that before.

"What do you want to do?"

"Whatever you want to do, Peridot," Lapis said as she picked up a hot dog from her plate and held it out to Peridot. "Whatever you want to do."

Peridot took the hot dog and turned to the shoreline.

"I want to look at the stars."

Stars. Stars. It was always stars, inside her head, when she spoke, there were comets falling. When the comets burned, they faded into the waves of the ocean. The ocean felt like home, and nothing like it at the same time.

"Okay."

How many times had they made their way to the shingles on clear evenings to look into the sky? How many times had hours passed while the moon waned so slightly and the sun swallowed the night lights and glowed all on its own?

"Did I tell you about this weird animal I found online?"

"Maybe."

"Well, I'll tell you again!"

Lapis smiled.

How many times?

More than the stars.