Why Are You So Blue

by Yrubloo

Summary:

Previously titled "Why Are You Blue"

Jesse used to cook blue crystal meth. Lapis becomes a blue Crystal Gem. It could not be a more perfect match.

Or: An AU beginning at the end of El Camino where instead of moving to Alaska, Jesse ends up hiding in Beach City where he meets someone he surprisingly has a lot in common with.

_____

I know the Lesse Lazulman pairing is done to absolute DEATH and that everyone's already read like a billion stories where it either is or becomes center focus, but I can't let that stop me from putting in another drop in the bucket. And no, I'm not writing this because I lost a bet or anything. Why would you insinuate that.

Takes place during/after El Camino for Breaking Bad.
Takes place late Season 3/Early Season 4 for Steven Universe (I'm much more familiar with BB than SU, so this is an open invitation for SU fans to yell at me for the things I get wrong so I can correct it)

Chapter 1: Why are you here?

Summary:

Jesse Pinkman arrives at the countryside of Beach City, where a brief but distinctly odd encounter kicks off his new life.

Nearly everything seemed so out of focus. A surrounding blur of dull, metallic colors gave way for his attention to focus squarely on a few crystal clear sensations and objects. A metal chain constricted firm around his torso, biting hard against his midsection as the strung up wire it was connected to snagged and pulled him back. A blond man watching with only the mildest of expressions; his placid smile eliciting emotions of deep terror and hatred. And, just beyond reach, a photograph of a woman and her child hung up with a bent paperclip.

The metal contraption he was held by swung him back and forth, evoking a rising feeling of helplessness as it picked up speed, going so fast that it was almost as if everything was rapidly vibrating. He wanted to scream, but he suddenly found that a cloth was gagging his mouth.

Jesse’s eyes snapped open with a deep breath accompanying his awakening. His heart thumping wildly, he gradually reoriented himself on where he currently was. A small lamp dimly lit what felt like a rectangular coffin constructed of white, steel panels. A claustrophobic’s worst nightmare, and even then Jesse was relieved to find himself here instead of in his dream. He mentally affirmed where he was: The secret compartment in Ed’s moving van, currently on his way to a new home and life far, far away from his old one. His heartbeat steadied, at least a little bit, imagining what was hopefully going to be the fresh start he’d desired for so long. He had so many regrets, and he knew that they’d never truly leave him wherever he went, but this opportunity he had somehow managed to seize for himself was not something he took for granted. He worked hard for it. It felt like he had been doing nothing but working hard ever since he realized he was in too deep.

Jesse had “applied himself” to get here. He almost scoffed at the thought.

He didn’t want to fall back asleep after that nightmare, even if drifting off did offer him respite from the constant vibrations within such a confined space, as well as the aching feeling in his legs after so long of not being able to stretch them. He could, at least, continue to ingrain his new identity deep into his head. A sheet of paper he had been given listed many fake facts to memorize on the way there. His fake social security number. His fake birthday. His fake parents’ names. And, of course, his own fake name.

Mr. Driscoll. Mr. Steve Driscoll. That was who he was now. It was who he needed to be. A single slip up could be disastrous, so he might as well spend this time etching it into his brain as the hours passed by. He couldn’t even be upset about how long the ride was taking, as every second he had to wait was that much more distance put between his old life.

A small, battery powered fan hummed close by. It was still uncomfortably humid, but he wasn’t cooking alive at least. Alaska had been his first choice, but apparently that ship had sailed, and he’d instead be finding himself somewhere on the other side of the country. Which state was it again…? He only knew that it was on the East Coast.

At a certain point, Jesse could tell they were off the interstate due to the bumpier roads and more frequent turns and stops. It wasn’t too much longer before the roads got even bumpier, until the moving truck came to a complete stop and the engines shut off. It was simultaneously relieving and nerve-wracking. Was this just a quick stop, or had he finally arrived?

Jesse could hear the shutter door to the truck being lifted open, and Ed boarding the storage unit. Some things were tossed aside on the other end of the attic space before he heard a knock against the other side of the compartment. Jesse threw down the wall and was eased to see Ed’s face, as if he were worried about it somehow being anyone else.

Jesse slid out of the attic space after turning off the lamp and fan. His body felt stiff and rigid as he moved into the open space, feeling like a corpse snapping and cracking back to life while he stretched. In a way, that was fitting. This was going to be his rebirth into a new life. Slinging his bag around his back, Jesse then followed Ed out to the end of the storage unit. At last, he could finally peer outside after being cooped up so long in such a small space.

It was almost the crack of dawn, it seemed. The sun’s rays just barely peeked from over the horizon. Despite the time of day, it was still rather warm, though nowhere near as much as Albuquerque was. The arid and dry desert of New Mexico was a far cry to this countryside of green, rolling fields with the occasional bush and tree strewn about. It was probably for the best that it looked so dissimilar from his home. Old home, that is.

Ed waited at the base of the storage unit as Jesse stood with his feet just barely hanging off of the ledge. “Get your body used to moving again. It won’t be a long walk, but you’re gonna be carrying all your stuff with you.” He told him.

Jesse took a deep breath through his nose, staring out into the rolling fields ahead. The lot Ed had parked appeared to be the only human construction immediately in view. “…That’s fine.” Jesse spoke, his voice sounding ever so slightly fatigued for some reason. “It’s quiet.”

“Here, maybe. I’ve heard the city can be a much different story.”

“The city, yeah?” Jesse said as he stepped down from the truck and taking another moment to stretch. The cracks in his back were almost louder than his voice. “I thought this was a smaller place.”

“It is. It might have “City” in the name, but it’s more the size of a small town.”

“Beach City…” Jesse recalled to himself, staring at his few belongings before turning back to Ed. “And you’re sure this is gonna be a good place for me to be, yeah?”

“Enough to have driven all the way across the country.” Ed responded, though lacking any sort of snark. He sounded professional yet spoke casually, which eased Jesse’s nerves just a little bit. “I know you mentioned Alaska earlier, but this place will keep you just as hidden. I doubt one person here has heard your name before, or even your partner’s.”

“Bullshit…” Jesse muttered to himself in simple disbelief, a little louder than he had meant to. “I mean, shouldn’t I be careful? Be…vigilant that someone could recognize me?”

“Yes.” Ed nodded. “But I meant what I said. Beach City allegedly has its own wild stories and characters. If all the things I’ve heard are true, then to be quite honest with you, a meth maker isn’t even worth a footnote in their newspapers.”

“I’ve done worse than cook meth…” Jesse admits ashamedly, staring downward and trying to repress a particularly haunting memory.

Ed’s expression was hard to parse, but he seemed to soften a bit. “And I’ve transported worse. You keep a low profile here, and you’ll be fine. People don’t even believe half of the stories that come from this place. Any suspicions from the outside that you might be here would be clumped along with the same kind of conspiracy theorist bunk often associated here. At worst, that should give you some time to react.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of…crazy stories have you heard, then?”

Ed shrugged. “The entire coastline receding miles deep into the Atlantic, for one.”

Jesse paused for a second, before his expression scrunched as he registered what exactly Ed just said. “…What?”

“I’ve heard weirder, too.” Before Ed could elaborate, or if he was going to take the time to do so in the first place, he glanced over toward the rising sun. “You need to get a move on. I’ve already spent too long here.”

Jesse, still unsure how to process the information he had just been given, had to abruptly shelve it. He needed to focus on taking the first step toward his new home. Literally, in this case. Turning around, Jesse shut the shutter door on the truck and lifted up the duffel bag Ed had placed by his feet. With a free hand, he felt around within his jacket’s pocket, brushing the letter within with his fingertips.

“All right.” Ed spoke, breaking Jesse’s focus away from the letter. “Date of birth?”

A short beat. It was time for what he had so many hours studying for. “06-10-84.”

“Mother’s maiden name.”

“Stackhouse.”

“Where was she born?”

“Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan.”

“Father’s date of birth.”

“02-07-51.”

“Your father’s second to the last job.”

“…Claims adjuster, Dairyland Insurance, Appleton, Wisconsin.”

“What’s your social security number?”

“141-18-6941.”

“Backward.”

Jesse paused for a moment, as that was not exactly something he had been verbatim molding into his brain. “…1496-81-141.”

Ed inhaled, seemingly finished with the quiz and satisfied with the results. “Anything else?”

Jesse reached back into his pocket, taking out the letter.

“Hold on a sec.” Ed said, pulling out some gloves before taking it from him. While Ed read the letter, Jesse collected each of his bags and peered off into the green fields ahead. A long moment of silence passed as Ed read over the letter, with only the slightest of breezes forming any sort of noise. He took one silent glance up from the letter, briefly staring at the back of Jesse’s head, before looking back at it. “…Anyone else you want to say goodbye to?”

Jesse turned back around to face him, but couldn’t speak. He merely shook his head with a reserved expression that held so much more behind it. Without anything more to say on Jesse’s part, Ed pointed behind him. “Keep going straight ahead where you were just facing. You’ll pass by a barn that should be empty. It won’t take much longer after that.”

Jesse couldn’t muster up any sort of response. His eyes glanced at the letter Ed now held at his side only for a moment. Sunrise had just passed by this point.

“Not many of us get a chance to start fresh.” Ed put in as they stood face-to-face. “Good luck, Mr. Driscoll.”

With one final nod farewell, Ed pivoted around and walked back toward the other side of the moving van. Jesse took one last look at the truck as Ed got into the driver’s seat, and turned towards his new destination. He took the first step forward, and then the next, and the next, and the next. He didn’t look back. Not when he heard the engine of the truck start up, not when his foot stepped from pavement to grass, and not even as he heard the truck drive in the opposite direction. He doubted it, but he hoped he would be finished with looking back.

As the sun gradually rose higher above the horizon, Jesse dutifully marched forward. The only sound around was the rhythmic beat of his footsteps sweeping through the grass and the quiet rattle of the zippers on his bag. There was, of course, a deep sensation of wariness as he ventured forward, but with every step he found that feeling giving way to what could just barely be considered relief. Everything was so different here. The grassy hills’ lighter green shades and the calming atmosphere almost made the entire setting seem pulled straight out of a watercolor painting. It felt like a whole new world, and the distance he felt from his old one seemed to egg him on to being proud that he seemingly managed to “make it.” He hadn’t experienced emotions anything similar to these in a very long time.

The sun ahead seemed to guide him forward, as if to exemplify a bright new future in front of him. Jesse’s pessimism was difficult to break through, but some cracks had begun to form. Microscopic cracks, maybe, but it was something. No more cooking meth. No more death and murder. No more imprisonment and torture to leave him broken. He was Steve Driscoll now, and Steve Driscoll knew none of those things. Steve Driscoll was simply searching for a decent place to live and to hold an inconspicuous job that’d keep him a nice but unremarkable part of this new community. After everything that had happened, the mere idea sounded like paradise.

A couple more minutes passed as Jesse journeyed onwards. The beautiful but unchanging surroundings allowed him to get deeply lost in his own thoughts. He spent that time trying to mentally assimilate into his new role, as well as wondered what his new home was going to be like. It reminded him about what Ed had mentioned to him. How this place, if it was known for anything at all, would be for crazy and unbelievable conspiracies too wild for anybody to actually take seriously. The entire coastline lost miles deep into the Atlantic? It would honestly be pretty laughable, had Jesse been in any such mood to do so.

His thoughts were broken as something new appeared over the horizon. Disrupting the sea of green grass and a blue sky, something red and angular stood out in the background. The barn Ed had mentioned, supposedly empty. A wide, dirt trail spanned out from in front of it, probably leading towards the city. Jesse wondered who owned the barn as he got closer. Its complete isolation so far into the country side… Whoever owned it could easily… No, Jesse didn’t want to think about anything like that anymore. He was sure there was nothing special about it.

Except, as he got closer, he noticed something that made him stop in his tracks: The silo of the barn. It was tilting into—no, tilting out from the structure, as if it had sprouted straight out of the wall of the barn. Jesse squinted, focusing on the strange sight before him, trying to run through in his mind what could’ve possibly happened for the silo to have ended up in such a position. It couldn’t have just…fallen over, because it was sticking out from inside the barn. It couldn’t have fallen against the barn either, because if it did, it would’ve been completely perpendicular to how it was now. There was no feasible possibility Jesse could think of except for maybe it was simply built like that. But…why?

As Jesse got closer, he noticed even more oddities. Metal pipes ran from the base of the silo, and into a pool of water dug out ahead of the barn, as well as another larger pipe that was higher up and angled directly through the roof. It was then, he finally noticed, that the back of a teal pickup truck was perfectly nestled into the building straight above the barn doors, with the cargo bed acting like a balcony. Jesse didn’t even have much time to ponder why and how that got there before yet another bizarre sight stole his attention, and one that made him freeze a bit since it meant he wasn’t alone.

Atop the “balcony” of the barn, stood a young woman. The most obvious thing about her was that she was…blue. Very blue. Not just the deep blue sleeveless top and dress she wore, but she also appeared to have dyed her short yet very full bangs the same color. The strangest part by far however, was that she even seemed to have covered herself from head to toe in an ocean-blue body paint. The absurdness of it all had Jesse fail to realize right away that she looked to be scrutinizing him as well from her perch. She seemed to hold the slightest showings of intrigue at his presence, but otherwise revealed little emotion. Curious, but not the most invested.

The two awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds. A slight breeze tried its best to fill the silence. After a while, Jesse spoke, or at least made a failed attempt that ended up with a quick clearing of his throat.

“Why are you blue?” Was what Jesse wanted to ask, but he restrained himself. To be honest, whatever the heck all this was about, he didn’t feel he had the time nor willpower right now to wait around and figure it all out. Instead, he pointed down the dirt pathway. “Is that uh… That’s the way to Beach City, right?” He called up to her.

The blue girl’s focused gaze remained even as Jesse broke the silence, though it wasn’t very intense to begin with anyway. “Yeah.” She called back simply.

“All right, uh…” Jesse gave an awkward nod, turning his body to the path. “Thanks.”

The blue woman didn’t react, or if she did, Jesse couldn’t notice. He turned away from the strange girl atop the pickup truck lodged against the barn and began to follow the path of the dirt trail. He hadn’t even reached the city yet and he was already getting the weirdest vibes from this place, but at least it didn’t leave him with feelings of paranoia, dread, or anything like that. Maybe that wasn’t really a barn, but some abstract art project or something. And was the girl trying to pose as an alien? The whole fake conspiracy thing was beginning to make a lot more sense, he just wasn’t expecting anything as strange or so soon. Didn’t Ed say the barn should’ve been empty? He for sure didn’t remember any mention of a girl who seemed to make it her life’s mission to become as blue as possible.

“Fuckin’ weird…” He muttered to himself after a couple of steps. He took one look back to find the blue girl wasn’t there anymore, probably having gone inside…somehow. If there were more people like her, he wouldn’t have to worry about sticking out, at least.

Notes:

Minimal interaction between the two leads so far, but fear not. The next chapters will be much more involved. I've got the second chapter ready for tomorrow, and chapter 3 will probably be ready for the day after that. I've honestly got no clue where I'm ultimately going to take this. Maybe Jesse will help fight the Diamonds at the end. If you care enough, you can let me know if that or anything else sounds interesting.

Chapter 2: Why are you blue?

Summary:

Jesse finds it hard to settle into his new home, and a lingering curiosity leads him back to the strange woman.

Notes:

I hope the chapter title made you clap.

Beach City was not what Jesse had expected, despite how fitting the name truly was. He stood atop the western hill, which dipped down toward a long, flat space which appeared to hold the majority of the town, surrounded on both sides by sandy beaches and ocean waters. Farther ahead was a hill that practically mirrored the one he was on, with a lighthouse on top. Although it was difficult to tell looking at it from straight on, the farther hill seemed to abruptly cut off like a cliff, its sharper edges pointing straight towards the vast Atlantic. It was like nothing he had seen before. Not online, and certainly not in person. Its location and incredibly unique topography had Jesse wondering why he’d never heard of it before. It looked like a perfect vacation spot that would be flooded with tourists.

Jesse wasn’t sure how to feel. He was expecting something a lot more discreet. As nice as the town looked, what Jesse wanted most was to be able to live comfortably without worry that any attention my be brought upon him. He supposed he would just have to trust Ed that this truly was a good location for his new life. He could spot movement along the roads and beaches; the first sight of anyone he had seen since Ed and that weird blue lady. Apparently, none of them are likely to have even heard the name “Jesse Pinkman.” He could only hope. Jesse took a deep breath before continuing on down the hill.

Passing the giant water tower with “Beach City” written along the surface, Jesse finally made it, standing just outside the main section of the town. At the bottom of the hill, he quickly realized that he had no idea where he wanted to go. It didn’t help that he had lost his vantage point at the top of the hill. It did seem like a small town when he could see all of it at once from up high, but now at ground level, his lack of familiarity made it feel like he was about to step into a maze. He’d probably have to ask for directions. Although the prospect of more interaction with strangers made him feel a bit uneasy, it helped a little that the first woman he saw had the most ridiculous haircut he had ever seen. The older woman’s blond hair was worn in a bob which just so happened to be shaped exactly like a large onion.

“Yo, uh, ma’am?” Jesse said as he approached her. “You know if there’s a place I can get a map or something?”

The onion-haired woman turned to him, eyeing him with slightly bemused look that quickly faded. “Of Beach City?”

“Yeah.” Jesse said. He worried that the woman would show some sort of realization about who she was talking to as they stood face-to-face. Fortunately no such thing happened as she nodded and pointed straight down the road to a building in the corner of the town.

“That’s the visitor’s center over there. They should have plenty.”

“Ah. Thanks.” Jesse said with a nod, moving on quickly. The less interaction he had with others, the better. He needed to lay as low as possible while his case cooled. He tried to balance a relatively quickened pace as inconspicuously as possible, and upon entering the Beach City Visitor Center, he was comforted to find a collection of maps he could take from directly after the front doors without having to interact with the woman ahead behind the counter. He was out of the visitor’s center as quickly as he entered it.

Once outside, he took a moment to quickly scan through it, searching for any possible place to say. The Ocean Inn appeared to be his only option, so he quickly pathed a way in his head there from the visitor’s center. With his route determined, Jesse took another deep inhale, and marched onwards.

More people seemed to be out and about than even just a few minutes ago. Every new face was a chance he may be found out, at least in Jesse’s mind. It was just so difficult to believe that nobody had at least heard a passing mention of anything that happened back in New Mexico, so at least for his comfort of mind, he wanted to get to the inn as soon as possible. He tried to make as little reference as he could to the map, not wanting to appear like a lost and helpless tourist and attract a Good Samaritan to approach and try to help. It was easy, luckily. The layout of the town was rather square overall.

It didn’t take long for Jesse to get to the inn. It was only when he entered into the quaint and homey interior that he began to realize how truly tired he was lugging around what little possessions he had. He was used to hotter weather, but the moistness he was not. The cooler inside brought attention to the sweat running down his face. He haphazardly wiped it before stepping up to the man behind the counter.

“Hello sir. What can I do for you?” The attendant asked, before furrowing his brow with slight concern. “There’s a water dispenser over by that table if you need a cup.”

Jesse flipped around to where he was pointing, spotting the glass container half-filled with water with slices of cucumber and lemon floating inside. He gratefully swiped a small plastic cup and filled it to the brim, downing it in one large swig and holding back the urge to make a loud, refreshed exhale afterwords. Empty cup in hand, he stepped back in front of the desk.

“Thanks…” Jesse uttered before clearing his throat. “So uh, how much is it to stay for a night?”

“$80 per night is the usual rate.”

“$80 huh? That’s…not bad.” Jesse spoke, his exhaustion having him sound slightly out of it. “Could I stay for three days?”

“Of course. Could I get your name?” The attendant pulled out a clipboard and took out a pen, and put them in front of Jesse. “Right here if you would.”

Jesse froze for the slightest moment, staring at the name and signature boxes. Taking the pen in hand, he wrote down “Steve Driscoll” into both before handing it back to the attendant. Jesse watched as he scribbled some more stuff down.

“That will be $240, and then I can get you set up with your room.”

“Can I pay in cash?”

“Of course.”

Jesse nodded, letting his duffle bag drop to the floor as he reached into his pocket for his wallet, and counted the appropriate amount of 20s. It was a very small dent in what he had managed to recollect from Neil, as a good proportion of the heft of his duffle bag could attest. After the attendant counted the bills himself, he put them away and grabbed one of the keys hanging behind him.

“The room number is written on the key, and you can show that little card on the lanyard for a free breakfast each morning, which can be right now if you want.”

“Thanks.” Jesse simply nodded in acknowledgement as he took the key. He slung the duffle bag over his shoulder as he went over to refill his plastic cup. While he was hungry, Jesse could only find it in himself to grab a muffin so he could retreat to his room right away. Though his hands were full, he awkwardly managed to unlock his room and stepped inside to its welcome emptiness. He set his food and drink on the bedside counter and let his duffle bag drop between at the corner between the bed and the wall. His door was subsequently shut and locked, and he collapsed onto the bed.

His mind had been caught and pulled between so many places that he didn’t fully realize how exhausted he had truly been. His legs were sore, his feet hurt, and the moist climate he wasn’t used to had done him no favors in his journey here. He took his cup of water and downed it instantly once again, remembering only directly after that he intended to savor that one. He’d have to drink from the sink if he didn’t want to go back to the lobby.

Jesse wanted to simply rest for however many hours, but he felt uncomfortably sticky from his sweat. He reached into his bag for a change of clothes and made it to the bathroom. He couldn’t help but wince reflexively as the shower head began flowing with water. It was nowhere near as strong as the high-pressure hosings he received multiple times in the past, but it was enough to put him back into those moments for half of a second…

---

For what was now going to be Jesse’s new home, he still felt extremely disconnected from the town and its residents, but that was his own doing as he hardly left the inn, or even his own room for that matter. Jesse was still adamant on distancing himself from his crime for as long as he could before truly allowing “Mr. Driscoll” to assimilate into the community. As far as he knew, every second he was out of his room was a liability. The only time he went out was simply to snag a breakfast item or two that he could easily bring back to his room. It was enough to get through the entire day. He was used to being borderline starved; it made a single muffin feel like a full course meal.

Although avoiding any direct confrontation with them, Jesse still did try to get a little more familiar with the residents, albeit simply taking peeks through his window or listening carefully when a conversation was close enough for him to eavesdrop. The residents, as far as he could tell, were generally a lot more lively and animated than he had known. In fact, their appearances often set them apart as well. They always seemed to be wearing bright and colorful clothing, and Jesse was sure he had seen every possible body-type under the sun at this point. The one lady that had told him about the visitor’s center wasn’t even the only person with a distinctly food-shaped hairstyle, as Jesse was certain he saw a man with large french fries for hair.

Still, despite the general friendly and colorful atmosphere just outside his walls, Jesse couldn’t help but be scared of these people. He was scared that he’d take one step outside, and suddenly all eyes would be on him, and everything he had been through to get to this point will have been for nothing. And frankly, Jesse hated it. He didn’t want to be trapped in such a small area, surrounded by people he feared. He’d had far too much of that, and his consistent nightmares and spontaneous lingering thoughts that he couldn’t stop himself from getting lost in had given him enough reminders about that cage.

He didn’t want to be cooped up like this. He needed to go outside, and show himself he didn’t have to be scared. He didn’t need to interact with anyone, it would just be to get outside and alleviate his feelings of helplessness as his room felt increasingly cramped with each passing day. So, with his duffle bag tucked underneath his bed, Jesse finally mustered up the courage to step outside of the inn.

It was bright out, just as it had always been for his short time in Beach City. The sunlight felt so different when it wasn’t filtered through his room’s window, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. He turned his head, looking down both sides of the street. A few people were out. Nobody was paying him any attention. A glance or two might’ve gone his way, but they never stuck. Jesse took a deep breath.

This was simply something he could do whenever. He wasn’t trapped. If he wanted to take a walk outside, he could. Nobody would stop him. Nobody would punish him by making an example of…

Jesse halted his thoughts, and shoved them back into the deepest recesses of his mind. He was thinking too much again. He needed to leave the past in the past.

He began walking along the sidewalk, going nowhere in particular. For a moment, he thought about perhaps heading to the beach, but decided against it. While he was trying to prove a point to himself, he still didn’t want to be around too much people yet. So he just kept walking, until he found himself at the western edge of the town, where he had arrived from. The long stretch of road up the hill and into the countryside called to him as he remembered the wide-open hills and complete isolation. Almost complete isolation, as he remembered the weird blue lady and the barn.

It was brought back to mind the seemingly impossible structure of the building, as well as a mishmash of other strange things he wasn’t fully able to parse before his confrontation with her. Apparently the barn was supposed to be empty. Maybe it attracted squatters, though that still wouldn’t have explained everything.

Jesse’s lack of purpose gave way to the sheer curiosity he held about the barn, and so he decided he might as well take a walk to the barn and back. Better than aimlessly wandering through the town and constantly looking over his shoulder. With the smallest semblance of an actual goal in mind, Jesse set forward out of the town and up the hill.

As Beach City became smaller behind him, Jesse felt a little more at ease. He was both outside of his room, and away from any possibly prying eyes. The quiet and empty rolling fields invited him to keep moving ahead. Without a duffle bag full of clothes and money weighing him down, Jesse felt relatively unchained. It was even a bit cloudy out today, giving him long periods of shade from the sun.

As the barn came into view, Jesse could see that all the weird stuff he had recalled a few days ago was not something he just imagined. Though, it wasn’t like the silo sticking out the side of the barn or the pickup truck lodged above the front doors were subtle enough for that to have even been possible for Jesse to have just “made up” absurd things like that. It was just so perplexing how things ended up like that in the first place. The metal piping around the silo implied some intent in its placement, but the biggest question was how anyone could even move and position the silo exactly where it was. The barn’s wall would’ve had to be intentionally destroyed too, and none of that is even mentioning the pickup truck. Jesse began to get even closer, trying to pick out all the weird details. He was in the middle of trying to figure out the weirdly shaped antenna on the roof when a blur of blue in his peripheral moved out from inside the barn.

“Hello?” She called out to him, standing against the barn door and giving him an odd look. “You’re…the person from before.”

“U-uh, yeah.” Jesse managed to speak. So, she was still here, three days later. Jesse wondered if she would be or not, and he wasn’t sure which he preferred in coming here. On one hand, he did come out to the countryside to avoid being around people, yet at the same time…he was feeling pretty starved on human interaction.

“Why are you here?” She put out bluntly, leaning against the barn door. Her tone wasn’t hostile, but it wasn’t very welcoming either.

“I just…wanted to get away from the town for a little bit. The uh, the barn had me curious, so I thought I’d check it out while I was here.” Jesse cleared his throat again, gradually beginning to get the feeling he wasn’t particularly wanted here. “I heard it was supposed to be empty.”

“It was. But I live here now. With a…friend.”

“Oh, so…it’s yours, then?”

The blue woman shrugged her shoulders. “Kinda. Another friend lent it to us.”

“Huh.” Jesse acknowledged with a subtle nodding of his head. A lingering sense of awkwardness grew as he struggled on what to follow up with, or if he wanted to follow up at all instead of excusing himself then and there. It wasn’t that he was lacking on things to ask…he just didn’t know where to even start. He decided to begin with the biggest elephant in the room. “What’s with the…y’know?” Jesse spoke while gesturing to his entire body with both hands.

The blue woman looked down at herself, scanning her own appearance and apparently finding nothing out of the ordinary as she looked back and raised an eyebrow. “What? My dress?”

“No. Well, sorta. I mean…” Jesse fumbled around with the obvious detail she somehow didn’t pick up on. “Why are you painted blue?”

Jesse’s question had her eyes narrow in confusion. “I’m not.”

“What?”

“This is just what I look like.” She explained candidly.

“Uh…” Jesse wasn’t too sure how to respond. She had spoken so simply and honestly, even when it was so obviously untrue. It was as if she truly believed it, and Jesse was the weird one for bringing it up.

“Who are you?” She questioned him back before he could even come up with a response to her reply. Unbeknownst to her, she happened to ask just the right thing to distract Jesse’s train of thought away from pressing her about her appearance as he remembered the importance of his new identity.

“…Steve.” Jesse answered.

Although they stood a fair distance apart, Jesse noticed her eyes light up briefly at the mention of his name, providing a small break in her general reservation of emotions towards him. She stood up from the door and took a couple steps closer, peering at his face with a renewed sense of inspection.

“Steve…? Like, Steven?”

It was Jesse’s turn to raise an eyebrow in off-put confusion. “Y-yeah? Just…shorter, I guess.”

“Not really. So are you…” The young woman began, before a realization dulled the curiosity in her eyes. “…No wait. It doesn’t work like that. Sorry.”

“Doesn’t work like what?”

“It’s nothing. Forget it.” The woman dismissed it, letting Jesse stew in curiosity. Now that she had moved closer, Jesse was able to get a better look at her face. With whatever she had been caught up in now deemed irrelevant, the girl seemingly was about to stop analyzing him so closely, but something caught her attention just before then. “Are you…cracked?”

“Cracked…?”

The woman’s face scrunched up slightly. “No, that wouldn’t be the right word for you. The marks on your face. It’s all…cut up.”

“Oh.” Jesse realized she was noticing his scars. He had hoped they would’ve faded enough by now, but he supposed that scars are scars. He himself still noticed them each time he looked in the mirror, and they didn’t act as very pleasant reminders. He was thankful he couldn’t see the ones on his back.

“I know someone who might be able to help with that.”

“No, it’s fine.” Jesse said, unsure what exactly she had in mind, but feeling he should turn it down anyway. His scars would bring forth questions on how he got them, so he wasn’t the most comfortable agreeing to have anyone else take a look at them. He’d have to try and find some way to hide them himself sometime in the future.

“You sure? It wouldn’t trouble him at all. He’s the type who jumps at any chance to help someone.” She said, giving him another look up and down. “…You don’t look very well in general, even.”

Jesse blinked.

“…Thanks, but I’m good.”

“Suit yourself.” The girl shrugged. “I’m Lapis Lazuli by the way, though most people just call me Lapis. I figure it’s only fair I introduce myself too.”

Quite a unique name, Jesse thought to himself. It kind of sounded familiar, but he would’ve remembered if he had known someone by that name. “Uh, nice to meet you, I guess. I’ve never met a Lapis before.”

Lapis’ head tilted down suddenly, and a weak *snrk* escaped her. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” She spoke, sounding slightly humored with a small smirk. Jesse didn’t know why, but he supposed it was nice to see her stoicism waver, even for a second. More clouds began filling the sky above, casting the two in a gradually encroaching shade as Jesse thought about what was next.

“But…yeah. If the barn is yours, I’ll just head back. Don’t wanna bother you or anything.”

Lapis looked back up at Jesse, though her eyes didn’t meet his as she seemingly pondered something. Her eyes returned to him after a few seconds. “Eh, I don’t really mind if you want to hang around.” She told him. “Honestly, it’s…not too bad talking with someone other than Peridot after so long.”

“Peridot? That the friend who lives with you?”

“Yeah. She’s…not a bad person. Not really. But after so long with just her, I guess it’s kinda refreshing to speak with someone who isn’t so…loud.”

Jesse tilted his head slightly to look behind Lapis and at the barn. Even with the doors ajar, there appeared to be a tarp hanging over from inside that blocked any good view of the interior. “Is she here?”

“No. She’s off with some others. Don’t know when she’ll be back.”

“So, you’re just alone all the way out here?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty nice.”

Jesse paused for a bit, before nodding. “I can get that. That’s kinda how I’ve been lately, but I don’t know. Guess after a bit I was feeling a little trapped and just…wanted some open air.”

Lapis’ eyes drifted away, and Jesse just barely spotted a wistful look in them. “I can get that, too.” She echoed.

A brief silence stood between the two, before Jesse felt a tiny drop of water against his head. He looked up to see a larger mass of clouds rolling overhead, and another drop hit his forehead.

“Starting to rain, looks like.” He commented astutely, turning his head back down to look at Lapis and finding she had also been looking up. “Guess I better head back while it’s not so bad. Nice to meet you.” As decent of a conversation he was having, Jesse was a little relieved to have an excuse to leave. Lapis seemed pretty chill, but she was also painted entirely blue and tried telling him with a straight face that it was just how she naturally looked. 

Lapis didn’t respond immediately, still staring directly upwards at the clouds. “You’re not gonna make it in time.” She put frankly.

“Huh? You a…meteorologist, or something?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Uh, y’know, a weatherman. Or woman, I guess.”

“I guess you could sort of call it that…ish. Not really, actually.”

Another drop hit Jesse’s head, and then another. Slowly but surely, the water droplets were increasing in both size and frequency. “Well whatever it is, I think you’re right. So, uh, I’d better start now.”

Lapis finally looked back down at him. “You can stay until it passes if you want.” She offered casually. “I don’t really mind. As long as you don’t mess with anything.”

“Well, thanks, but…” Mid-sentence, a particularly cold and heavy drop hit the back of his neck, and he winced. It was only getting worse from here, and by the time it would take to get back to the inn, he knew that jumping in the ocean wouldn’t make him any more drenched. “Okay, okay. I appreciate it.” He relented.

Lapis nodded and stepped to the side, allowing him to walk straight in. “You coming?” He called to her just before passing the barn doors, noticing she was still standing in the rain. She seemed to be looking up at the truck embedded high above him.

“Yeah, just gotta bring the TV in.”

“TV?” Jesse questioned, but as he turned away from Lapis and glanced inside, his eyes widened in surprise.

Against the right wall, where the silo had seemingly crashed into the barn, was what appeared to be a small aquarium built directly into it.

“Yo, what the hell…?!” Jesse muttered, stepping into the barn and closer to the glass, spotting some fish swimming by. He then glanced around and found he was surrounded by a random assortment of all different kinds of things. It felt like being in an abstract museum with a red woody interior underlying it all. When he flipped around to the entrance, he found Lapis walking in, holding a television below her chest with both hands, and not appearing strained in the slightest. “H-how…? Wait, where’d you get that from?”

Lapis stepped through the barn doors and past the overhanging tarp. Despite the rain having picked up considerably outside, she looked completely dry. “From the truck up top.” She answered, acknowledging it by staring up at the vehicle perfectly wedged in the wall above her.

Jesse realized, now seeing the front of the truck inside rather than just the storage bed hanging outside, that it wasn’t connected to the second level like he had assumed. He had seen Lapis on the storage bed a few days ago, so how did she even get up there? “I…guess I didn’t see the ladder.”

“There’s not a ladder. I just flew.”

“…What?” Jesse stared in scrutinizing disbelief. “You…flew? You fly?”

“Yeah, we can do that.” She said bluntly.

Before Jesse could get another word in, he was faced with a sight his mind couldn’t fully comprehend at first. Two large streams of water appeared to magically sprout from Lapis’ back, and simply hovered in place like that, unaffected by gravity, and vaguely shaping themselves like an angel’s wings. Lapis flapped them seemingly as proof to her prior statement.

“YO, WHAT THE HELL?!” Jesse’s eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief, reflexively taking a step backwards. His mind raced to rationalize what he was seeing in any logical way, but failed miserably. He found that he could only stare wordlessly at whatever manner of witchcraft he was being exposed to. Lapis cocked her head and raised an eyebrow with a put-off mix of confusion and concern.

“I thought…the humans around here would be used to Gems by now.”

Notes:

How would YOU react if YOU were a meth maker who saw a water witch? Next chapter tomorrow most likely.

Chapter 3: Why are you shocked?

Summary:

Lapis struggles to comfortably host her human guest during the rainstorm.

Lapis knew that humans didn’t really have any powers, so maybe she should’ve seen this coming. She had just assumed that the residents of Beach City would’ve been used to seeing a Gem’s power because of the Crystal Gems. Though as Lapis recalled her first meeting with Steve, seeing him carrying bags and asking for the direction of the town, she realized he was probably new to the area. She thought he was just uneducated on Gems like most humans were, but not unfamiliar with them entirely.

Lapis dissipated her wings with an unsure half-grimace. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Neither her apology nor the withdrawal of her wings seemed to shift Steve’s bewildered and frozen expression. “…You don’t know what Gems are, do you?”

“H-how…? What…?” Steve remained staring with wide eyes, and it took him a while to find his voice. “The…The hell was that…?” He managed to ask, sounding out of breath and leaning back as if she were some sort of threat. Lapis frowned a little.

She took a moment to tuck the TV in the corner of the barn before turning back to him. “Listen. I don’t really know how to best explain it, but…hm.” Lapis turned to the open barn door, staring out at the rainstorm that was gradually intensifying. She extended her arm out in its direction and curled her fingers slightly toward herself, using her hydrokinesis to pull in a small amount of water, and then condensed it into a sphere no larger than a golf ball. She obviously was capable of more, but she didn’t want to be overwhelming. “I can control water, so…yeah.”

Steve’s eyes focused hard on the sphere of water as she gently levitated it closer to him. “This…This ain’t real. I-I must be dreaming or some shit.”

“It’s real. It’s…kinda all I’m good at.” She spoke simply, reforming the sphere into a perpetually spinning circular loop.

Steve’s focus shifted to Lapis, and then back to the water levitating in front of him. There was a long silence that seemed to be tense on Steve’s part, but rather awkward on Lapis’ own. However after a bit, Steve slowly lifted a hand up to the small amount of water, and he carefully poked a finger into it. The spinning water rushed around his finger, but kept circulating seamlessly regardless. Steve held it there for a bit, looking completely dumb-founded, before suddenly retracting it and putting his hands to his head.

“I’m actually going insane. T-they broke me, man. I-I…” Steve mumbled aloud, before taking a deep breath and looking back towards Lapis.

Lapis herself was beginning to feel uncomfortable about the whole thing. For a moment, she saw an intense distress in his eyes, with her seemingly being the cause. It made her feel incredibly guilty that she could do that to somebody without even trying. She never wanted to hurt anyone, but was that just the kind of person she was now, doing so whether she intended to or not? Her thoughts began to weigh on her, and she reached over to clutch her arm, looking embarrassed at herself. The levitating water was left to fall and splash against the ground.

“This was a mistake.” Lapis said regretfully, turning around to the exit and staring out at the heavy rainstorm. “I’ll leave you alone. You can stay until the storm passes if you want.” She sprouted her wings again.

“W-wait.”

Lapis froze for a second before turning to look over her shoulder, and moving down the wing that would’ve blocked her view of him. Steve seemed to be much calmer, with whatever intense distress having rapidly faded some time ago. He flattened his lips before putting an open palm against his face at his mouth.

“I’m sorry, I…” He paused for a bit, then cleared his throat. Despite that, it seemed like he couldn’t find any more words.

Lapis took one small step to readjust her stance, pivoting her body very slightly in his direction. She couldn’t think of any words either as the rain outside filled the silence. Her wings remained motionless. After a while, Lapis blinked. “…Do I scare you? You can be honest.”

Steve seemed to consider the question. “No. You’re not scary. It’s just…I don’t know what the hell this is.” He managed to speak with clear, if blunt, honesty.

Lapis took one more glance at the outside for a moment before turning back towards Steve. “Well… It’s like I said. I’m a Gem.”

“A Gem? Like…rocks? Minerals?”

Lapis twisted her torso and dissipated her wings, letting her back face Steve. She pointed to her teardrop-shaped Gemstone embedded between her shoulder blades. “That’s me.”

As Lapis looked over her shoulder at Steve, she was at least relieved to see that any kind of fear seemed to have completely faded, leaving only confusion. Lots of confusion, it looked like.

“You’re…a rock.”

“Gem.”

“Y-yeah, sorry.” Steve said. “But why does that make you…magic?”

Lapis gave a weak shrug. “We Gems have powers. As a Lapis Lazuli, I can control water and fly. We’re made with powers to fit our…role…” She stopped herself a little too late.

“...Role?”

Lapis winced inside, wishing she hadn’t said that last part. As much as it felt weird to admit to herself, she was actually beginning to feel a little comfortable on Earth, and so she especially wasn’t too fond about getting caught up in the things she would’ve and had been assigned in the past. “It’d take too long to explain everything…” She said, trying to avoid the question. “We’re not human, and we have a lot of different abilities. Most of us, anyway. That’s…really all you need to know.”

Steve blinked, seemingly spending time to register what she was telling him. After a moment, he reached over and pinched his arm.

“What was that?” Lapis asked.

“Uh, nothing.”

Another awkward silence followed. It was evident that Steve was still so shocked that he was having trouble even asking questions. Lapis could admit that she wasn’t the strongest conversationalist, and that was especially true in an instance like this. For a moment, Lapis thought it would be best to leave him be, but he managed to speak up before she dwelled too much on it.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…a lot to process, y’know?” He spoke with his posture slowly becoming more at ease. “So you’re…an alien? Aliens’re…real?”

“To you… Yeah, I guess I’m an alien. I’m from Homeworld. But I don’t want to talk about that.” Lapis explained and quickly brushed off. “If I make you uncomfortable, I’ll go. So just…say so.”

Steve stared for a bit, only to shake his head so softly it was almost impossible to notice. “No, it’s…it’s fine. I’m sorry for…kinda freaking out a little there.”

“Oh, um, don’t worry about it.” Lapis said stiffly. As she remembered his reaction, something he had said in particular had stuck out to her. Something about someone “breaking” him… “You…sound like you’ve been through some stuff.” She commented, and being honest, he looked like it too as she focused once more on the scars on his face.

“Huh?” Steve muttered, before realization crossed his eyes. “What did I say?” He asked weakly, and yet it sounded as if he already knew the answer.

“It’s fine. I’m not trying to get anything out of you.” Lapis told him. “I’ve…been through some pretty bad stuff too. I know that’s not fun to talk about.”

Steve’s gaze appeared to soften. For the first time since he saw what she was capable of, his face appeared to finally become devoid of fear or bewilderment. Rather…contemplation. At least from what Lapis could tell.

“Yeah…it isn’t.” Steve agreed, and Lapis recognized the expression on his face as one she’d seen many times before mirrored in her own reflection. She felt a deep sense of empathy within, and was partially surprised that it was for a human. It only made her feel even more guilty thinking back on some of her prior thoughts and statements about Earth. “Could I…see that again?” Steve asked.

“What?”

“Your…” Steve paused for a moment. “…water powers.”

“Oh, um, all right.” Lapis extended her arm towards the outside, and pulled in some rainwater once again. She grabbed a larger amount, which all-in-all could condense into a sphere slightly larger than a basketball. She allowed it to spin like a globe a little bit ahead of Steve. He watched with silent awe.

“So…you can move it however you want?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.” Lapis answered, shifting the floating sphere of water a variety of different shapes. A cube, a pyramid, and even more complex things after that. She finished the demonstration by creating a small, featureless water person, lowering it to the ground and having it casually walk back outside into the rain. Steve’s mouth hung slightly open, seemingly speechless before managing to find his voice again.

“And…you can fly…”

“Yeah. Do you…wanna see?”

“Uh… I-I guess, yeah.”

Lapis allowed her wings to sprout once more, before flapping them a couple of times to lift her off the ground. She rose up to the front of the truck in the wall and sat herself on its hood, looking down at Steve. His bewilderment was palpable, which masked any trace of his previously disturbed expressions that supposedly had some pretty negative memories attached. She imagined showing her powers helped to keep his mind from dwelling on them, which actually felt a little nice to think about. She wondered if Steve himself had asked for further demonstration of her powers for such a reason. “How was that?”

“You…really can.” Steve said, staring up at her.

Instead of floating down, Lapis allowed herself to slide off the hood of the truck and fell to the ground, sticking the landing with a solid thump.

“Woah!” Steve called out in surprise, confusing Lapis as he immediately rushed up to her. “Are you okay?!” He asked, shocked and concerned. Although his concern began to morph more into confusion as he slowly noticed she was perfectly fine. Humans must be considerably more fragile than Gems, Lapis thought in response. “Oh. Uh… You’re not…hurt?” He asked.

Lapis shook her head, a little caught off guard by his sudden closeness and showings of concern. “Yeah. I’m fine.” She told him, before noticing his face flush red slightly. “But um… I appreciate it. Thanks.” Lapis put in awkwardly, though she noticed some earnestness in there as well as she spoke.

After a brief awkward silence, Steve cleared his throat and took a step back. “Yeah, sorry. A fall from there would’ve…messed me up a bit.”

“No, it’s fine. Really.”

The heavy rain splashing outside and hitting against the roof of the barn helped to fill the silence as the both of them seemingly couldn’t decide what to say next. Lapis was studying Steve. There was something unmistakably familiar about him, despite never having met him before. The way he carried himself, the way he spoke, and that constant look in his eyes… It reminded her of herself. Whatever he had gone through in the past certainly seemed to have a long-lasting impact. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t minded talking to him when he came back to the barn, and even invited him inside. She wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable doing that for just any stranger, but Steve seemed…all right. Just…kinda jumpy, but she supposed that she was something he had never seen the likes of before.

After a while of nothing, Lapis looked around the barn. “So, um. What do you think of the place? You mentioned you were curious about the barn?”

“Oh, uh, it’s…interesting.” Steve answered, turning his eyes from Lapis for the first time since she had stepped inside. His gaze magnetized towards the makeshift aquarium lodged into the right wall. “That…That surprised me most.”

“Oh, the aquarium?” Lapis said. “Peridot and I made it. She apparently broke a hole in the side of the barn before, so we eventually got the idea renovate a little bit.”

“But the entire thing… You…installed it? The whole thing?”

“I did. It wasn’t very difficult when it was filled with water. Peridot did all the work with the piping and glass.”

Steve stared wordlessly at it. “I don’t even know if I should be surprised, anymore.” He said, sounding a little numb. Lapis thought maybe she should bring the conversation away from things involving her powers for now.

“Do you like the…art?”

“Art?”

“Yeah, I think that’s what you’d call these.” Lapis said, looking around the room at the various sculptures she had created with Peridot. “I just call it meep morp, though.”

“Meep…morp? Does that mean something where you’re from?”

“No. I just made it up.”

There was a slight pause. “Heh…” Steve gave a weak and singular chortle, and Lapis realized she was a little glad to see that change in his demeanor, even if it was an incredibly small change. It was a good sign that he was making progress acclimatizing to everything she had shown him, even if he was still relatively awkward and stilted. Lapis tried to appear friendlier as she stepped over to one of her creations.

“This one is for when I played baseball one time.” Lapis explained, presenting the strung up stick that itself had a bat, glove, and baseball hanging off of it. She then moved over to the adjacent mound of dirt with a single leaf at its peak. “A friend gave me a leaf, so I made this one too.”

“I…see. You, uh, you like making these, then?”

“If I’m feeling it, yeah. They can…help me get my mind off of things.” She said, purposefully ignoring the TV one a little further down, currently powered off. “Or just, get my mind where I want it to be. I don’t know. I hope it isn’t weird.”

“No, no. It’s actually pretty cool.” Steve said, taking a look at the ones she had shown him. “I wish I had some kind of hobby like that, too…” His tone trailed off into a slightly wistful one.

Lapis considered what he said, and a thought crossed her mind. “You can try making one if you want.”

Steve looked up. “Huh?”

Lapis shrugged. “They’re really easy to make. You just…put some stuff together and… Actually, that’s pretty much it.” She said. “There’s a lot of stuff here in the barn you could use.”

Steve scanned around the barn, seemingly considering her offer. “You know what? Sure. Why not. I could…use some of that.” He said after a while, moving to the other side of the barn and looking over the miscellaneous piles of objects and boxes. “And I can just use anything?”

“Yeah. Anything that isn’t already being used.” Lapis said as she stepped to his side, though not getting too close.

As Steve looked across everything, something in particular seemed to catch his eye. A clutter of instruments lay in a pile against the wall, and Steve appeared interested in the two drums and cymbals among everything else. “Can I use these?” He asked, picking up one of the drums.

“Sure. Go ahead.”

Steve nodded gratefully, before getting to work. Lapis watched with silent curiosity as he pulled over an old, creaky chair and an empty, waist-high cardboard box. Sitting the box right-side up and keeping the flaps open, Steve lifted the chair and set it down within the box. He then poked a few metal rods into the box, horizontal and side-by-side so that things could hang off of them either inside or outside of the box. He tried to lay one drum and one symbol on top of the rods on the inside of the box, but there wasn’t enough space, so he had to concede and leave them on the outside instead. After that, he froze for a moment, apparently not sure what to do next.

“Uh… I tried to make something like a drum kit, I guess.” Steve explained as the two of them stared at his creation. The chair inside the box almost looked like an imitation of some kind of death trap, as the metal rods poked into where someone would’ve sat. The drum and symbol on the outside looked off-center and loose. “Didn’t really turn out well.” He admitted.

“…I think you did pretty good.” Lapis commented. “It fits in as well as everything else does.”

“You think so?” Steve said, glancing over at her for a moment. “…Thanks.”

“Is it supposed to mean anything to you?” Lapis asked, thinking about how most of her own works had been inspired from her memories.

“Kinda, I guess. I…used to be in a band. It was a while ago, but I kind of miss those days.”

Lapis gave Steve’s morp another look over. It appeared just a little more valuable than it had a few seconds ago, Lapis felt. She now realized she appreciated him humoring her suggestion in making one. She and Peridot did invent the practice after all. She supposed Steve could be seen as her disciple in a way… Nah, that sounds stupid, Lapis thought. It was still nice regardless. “It’ll be well cared for here.” Lapis told him. “Unless you want to take it home, of course.”

“I don’t think I’d be able to carry it all the way back. If you really want to keep it here, uh, I appreciate it.”

Lapis nodded, before turning towards the entrance. The rain was still coming down, and it would probably stay like that for a while. Lapis was feeling pretty spent right now, especially since she wasn’t used to being any sort of host to someone else. She was at the very least, incredibly glad to see Steve was a lot more at ease now. She wanted it to stay that way, and she got an idea.

“Hey, Steve?” Lapis spoke, and for a split second, Steve looked the slightest bit confused, but quickly snapped out of it. “Have you seen Camp Pining Hearts?”

“…Camp Pining Hearts?” Steve echoed. “No. Is that a show or something?”

“Yeah, Peridot and I watch it sometimes. I like it.” Lapis said. “We have the first three seasons. If you just want to hang out until the rain stops, I can put season one on.”

“Uh, sure. What’s it… What’s it about?”

“Basically it’s about two human factions at war in a forest.”

“Oh? That sounds hardcore.”

“Kinda. There’s a lot of drama too. I don’t know. You’ll probably understand all the human stuff better than me.”

“Well, sure. Sick. I’m down.”

Lapis returned a small but nonetheless present smile. “All right. The tapes are on the second floor, and there’s a couch up there too. I’ll meet you up there.” She nodded towards a ladder further back. Steve nodded in turn, before heading to the ladder.

Lapis went back over to where she had placed the TV before easily lifting it into her arms and sprouting her water wings. She flew up to the second level where Steve had just arrived, settling down from the air into a kneeling position as she placed the television down. She turned and saw Steve with slightly widened eyes.

“Man… You must be pretty strong too to get that up so easily…”

Lapis shrugged. “I suppose so.” She responded, not wanting to bring up that her own strength was of course normal to her. Relatively speaking, humans were…kind of weak. She didn’t want to insinuate anything like that, though. Lapis slid the box over, taking out a tape labeled “Season One” and brought it to the TV. She ejected the third season and put in the first. “I hope you like it too. But if you think it’s lame or anything, just say so.”

Steve stared out towards the exit for a moment. “I think I’ll be fine.” He said. “And uh… I appreciate the invitation anyway.”

“Oh, it was no problem.” Lapis told him before pressing Play and taking her place on the couch. Steve seemed to hesitate for a moment, but joined next to her soon after.

The two of them sat together side-by-side on the couch. If Steve was uncomfortable, he didn’t say anything. Lapis was at least relieved that she had found an excuse to not feel inclined to strike up any further conversation for her guest. Plus, it was nice to refresh herself on the beginning of the show. It was easy to get reinvested as she could now appreciate how things had built up to where she was currently, although she also noticed a few things that seemed to have been dropped or swept under the rug too. Lapis understood a little better Peridot’s sometimes heated critiques, she just wished she didn’t vocalize them while they watched together. Steve was a much calmer watch-mate, and Lapis found the best of both worlds in that: She got to watch it without anything breaking her focus, but also had some company to watch with. It was…nice.

They remained silent for the entire first episode. Lapis occasionally turned her head slightly to take a side-ways glance at Steve, and sometimes in her peripheral, she thought he might’ve been doing the same. Once the credits began rolling, Lapis turned fully to him.

“So… What did you think?” She asked, realizing she obtained a weird feeling as she did so. Was she feeling self-conscious…? “Just so you know, I think it gets a lot better during the second season.”

“Oh, well… It’s not the kind of show I would go looking for myself.” He responded, having Lapis feel a little dismayed. “But I mean, I’m… I don’t know. Maybe I’m a little invested. About Percy and Paulette, I guess. Like, do they like each other or not, y’know?”

Lapis smirked. “You’re lucky Peridot isn’t watching with us. She’d have a lot to say to you.” She said, and was a little relieved to see Steve smile a little too. Lapis checked outside for a second, seeing it was still raining, but much less harshly than before. The weakening drops on the roof above corroborated that observation. “So… You want to watch the second episode, then?”

“Yeah. That sounds nice.”

Lapis’ smile grew just a little wider. “All right.”

The watching for the second episode went similar to the first, with one key difference: Lapis and Steve very occasionally made comments to each other about what was happening. They made quips, short commentaries, and even poked fun at the show during some parts too. Their infrequent discussions were never longer than a quick back-and-forth, but that was preferable to completely breaking the flow of the viewing session. It was five minutes into starting the third episode that Lapis realized it had stopped raining a while ago. She wondered if Steve had noticed, but if he did, he didn’t say anything. Lapis thought she should probably bring it to his attention just in case, but for some reason, she couldn’t really bring herself to.

“…Pierre’s kinda a jerk, huh?” Steve whispered. “Kinda controlling of everyone, especially Percy.”

A *snrk* escaped Lapis. “I swear, you have the complete opposite opinions of Peridot. She’d get really heated by at least half of the things you say.”

As Lapis silently snickered to herself, a familiar sound from outside caught her attention. It put her on high alert. Steve noticed, but before he could say anything about it, a voice called from outside.

“Liars!”

A Ruby, Lapis realized.

“Stay here.” She told Steve seriously, springing from the couch and sprouting her wings.

“Woah, what’s happening?!”

Without wasting a moment, Lapis jumped off the second level and flew directly through the exit. It was bright and sunny out now, but Lapis had little time to pay any attention as she saw the landed Roaming Eye, and approaching Ruby Squad. The leader was pointing an accusatory finger at her while the rest of them rushed out of the ship.

“We searched over the entire surface of Neptune! Three whole times! And then every other planet too!” “Doc” yelled. “No more lies! Tell us where Jasper is, or we’ll force it out of you!”

Lapis stared back with a scowl, feeling more irritated than she realized. “I am not dealing with this right now.” She spoke with grit teeth, raising her hand up and lifting a giant column of water from the small, artificial lake in front of the barn. Doc’s eyes widened.

“Huh…?! F-fine then, if that’s what you want. Rubies! Comb-BLRBLRBLRBLRB!!”

Lapis showed no restraint as she thrust the colossal pillar of water towards the Ruby Squad, enveloping them all in a massive stream of water instantly. Having them engulfed in water and helplessly floating in the air, Lapis divided them into separated water bubbles, keeping them in place as they complained and futility tried to swim outwards. With the threat dealt with, Lapis huffed in annoyance.

“Yo! W-what happened?!” Steve called out as he rushed from the barn, and his eyes widened as he witnessed everything going on. Before Lapis could respond to him, another voice chimed in accompanied by two sets of rushing footsteps.

“Lapis, is that you?! We saw the Roaming Eye and came as quick as we could.” Pearl spoke as she rushed up, but slowed considerably as she saw all the Rubies had already been neutralized.

“Looks like she’s already handled it.” Garnet put in, as stoic as ever. The two allowed their weapons to dissipate.

“Yeah, I got them.” Lapis spoke, staring up at the struggling Rubies above. They seemed greatly annoyed, but Lapis doubted they were more so than her.

“What the hell…” Steve muttered from behind Lapis, clearly at a loss for words. Pearl turned to him with a confused expression.

“Lapis? What was a human doing in the barn? It’s dangerous for him to be here right now.”

“We were just hanging out. It’s not like I asked the Rubies to show up.” Lapis grunted, watching as Garnet strode past her and towards Steve.

“You should go home.” She said simply, looking down at him through her specs. “It’s not safe for you right now.”

“U-uh…” Steve cleared his throat. “Y-yeah. I’ll… I’ll just go, then.” He stated awkwardly, before taking a look at Lapis. “Thanks…by the way.”

Lapis’ annoyed frown gave way to a slight, friendly grin. “It was no problem.” She said genuinely. “You’re uh… You’re welcome to come back when this is dealt with, if you want. Y-you know, to pick up where we were interrupted. If you want.”

“That… That sounds good…” Steve responded, though Lapis couldn’t parse his true emotions on that offer from the sheer bewilderment the scene around him had developed in him. He really must’ve felt like a fish out of water.

The two gave each other one final glance before Steve turned back to the direction of Beach City. Lapis, still suspending the Rubies, watched as he left. She almost didn’t notice Garnet step right next to her, and especially didn’t notice the subtle grin on her face.

“You made a new friend.” Garnet observed, blunt yet nice about it.

“…Maybe.” Lapis said, before shaking her head. “…What does that matter to you?”

“Steven’s going to love hearing about it.”

Lapis couldn’t respond, because she knew that was true. Although she worried it could all be for nothing. “It’s probably too early to say that anyway. He might not even come back.”

“I think he will.” Garnet said with a smile, before turning back to Pearl, who was inspecting the Rubies above.

Lapis looked back to where Steve had gone, only seeing him as a small speck in the distance. She supposed that…maybe…it would be nice to see him again. He was just starting to warm up to her, it felt like…

Notes:

Woah, Lapis perspective? That's crazy.

For anyone who cares, you can suggest some stuff you might like to see in the future. Obviously Lapis' and Jesse's relationship is going to develop further but like, I don't know, would you like to see Jesse become part of the gang? Interact with the other Gems some more? See how his presence affects different episodes in the actual show? Maybe Peridot can make him his own weapon or something. Let me know what you want to see if you care enough.

Chapter 4: Why are you contemplating?

Summary:

Jesse has a hard time knowing what to think about the revelation that aliens are real.

Aliens are real. Aliens are REAL. They…just exist! They’ve got magic powers! They’re here, ON Earth! And they’re simply hanging around like it’s nobody’s business! Jesse was questioning everything he knew as he walked back to Beach City. He thought it might’ve been a dream, but no amount of time or pinching himself proved that theory correct. Maybe he was tripping? Is that what he turned to in order to cope with his life? No, that couldn’t be true either. He was in a state of far too much clarity for that. As crazy as it had all seemed, there was really only one possibility left.

Aliens are real. And he met them.

Well, he only truly met one of them. And…she was actually pretty cool, Jesse thought to himself. He obviously had no preconceptions on how a real alien was supposed to act. Movies often depicted them as evil, but that was never a consistent thing. They could be friendly too, as he had remembered in some children show he watched when he was little. He just wasn’t expecting an alien to be so…chill.

Lapis was her name, he remembered. Lapis Lazuli. A Gem was what he thought she called herself. He had been so shocked, and admittedly even scared upon first seeing her powers, but as time went on, her actions told him she was actually a pretty go-with-the-flow sort of girl. For a moment, he was reminded of…

Jesse tried to clear his mind. The past was in the past. That was something he had to keep telling himself. Something he knew he’d have to keep hammering in for a long time. It scared him that such memories would never allow himself to live a comfortable life ever again. Only time could tell. At least it was easy to distract himself with all of the sudden and equally magical extraterrestrial jargon he had just experienced.

The conspiracies Ed had alluded to were true. Lapis seemed so casual about her life and meeting with him, so how was all this seemingly contained within Beach City? How had he never heard of these…Gems when he was in Albuquerque? Jesse may be a wanted man, but he was pretty certain that aliens by themselves would steal any sort of spotlight that might be shone upon this place.

Though, as he thought about what Ed had told him, another thought crossed his mind. He had mentioned a rumor that the entire shoreline had receded miles deep into the ocean. Jesse had immediately dismissed it at first…but now he had met Lapis. Could she really be that powerful, Jesse pondered in disbelief at the very thought. She could lift an entire barn silo so long as it was filled with water, which was already hard enough to think about. But…could she really move an ocean? If she could, then Jesse could hardly believe that he had sat directly next to such a powerful being…and watched a camping themed teen drama soap opera with her.

“I’m so fucking confused…” He muttered to himself, coming up at the top of Beach City’s western hill. From his vantage point, he stared out into the ocean and imagined it completely drained. Could Lapis be…incredibly dangerous?

Jesse threw that idea out of his mind almost as soon as it entered his head. She did nothing to indicate she’d use her powers to harm him, and he had greatly appreciated her efforts to be accommodating to him while he was there despite his utter shock and initial fear. He remembered how she encouraged him to make one of own of her little art projects to help get his mind in the right place, and how understanding she was when she didn’t press him about his slip-up. If anything, it seemed like she was trying to protect him from danger. He didn’t know what those red little dwarves were planning to do, but they sounded pretty upset before Lapis incapacitated them. Could they have been as powerful as Lapis might be?

As Jesse reached the bottom of the hill and walked through the town, he couldn’t even be worried about someone recognizing him like he had feared before. His mind was too preoccupied going over everything he had seen. What did those five even want? The Rubies, Jesse thought he remembered Lapis calling them. They mentioned someone named Jasper, and they seemed pretty angry at Lapis. Those other two Gems that showed up at least seemed to be on Lapis’ side, though Jesse remembered the snark she had spoken with against the thinner and less stoic one. Was there drama and even conflict between the Gems here, and as such, was it dangerous to even be around them?

Jesse was tired of danger. He had been partners with the very incarnate of danger itself in the past. He didn’t know if he wanted to ever come back to the barn. Not only was it mentally exhausting to learn all of this, but Jesse just wanted to live a peaceful life after all he had been through in the past. But…he couldn’t get that last interaction with Lapis out of his mind. She had given him a very genuine smile, despite then current circumstances, and invited him to come back if he wanted to. Jesse had to wonder to himself: Did he want to?

He had finally reached the inn, slunk towards his room, and collapsed onto his bed as he thought about his answer. Lapis was…pretty cool, Jesse had already decided. It was just that there was so much to process. Aliens were real, some of them might have the strength to push and pull entire oceans, and not all of them seemed to get along. He didn’t mean any offense on Lapis’ part, but being cautious had become his MO ever since he got a second chance at life that one emotionally tumultuous night. It wasn’t even fair to call that a second chance. Jesse couldn’t even count on his hands the amount of near death experiences he had been through.

As he lay in bed, Jesse wanted nothing more than to simply sleep the rest of the day away, but this was the last day he had the room booked. There was some stuff he had wanted to do that he had been holding off.

---

Money was no issue, and it wouldn’t be one for a long time. Not even after buying a car and skipping any sort of lease. Truth be told, it wasn’t entirely necessary with how small the town was, and the residents mostly seemed to walk everywhere for the most part anyways. Still, it was nice to have the option to drive anywhere and not feel so exposed whenever he would be out in public. It was a small and unassuming car with a blue paint job. Nothing fancy. It was also comforting to keep in his back pocket in case things suddenly started going south and he needed to leave as fast as possible. Since he didn’t have a house yet, he needed some place to keep it though. U-Stor seemed to answer that call.

Jesse drove his car into the lot of the storage facility, keeping a key labeled “1C” in his cup holder. The storage unit he had rented out would be big enough to hold his car, and would maybe be a nice place for any other items he may accumulate in the future. There was another vehicle in the lot: a large van with a pretty sweet mural painted of outer space. “MR. UNIVERSE” was written on the side. As Jesse got out of his car and walked over to unlock his his unit, he noticed the neighboring one was open, and a man stepped out.

The bearded man looked freshly in his middle ages. He was a bit heavy, and wore a black shirt with cut jeans and sandals that brought attention to his tan lines. His most defining feature was his hair, as while the top of his head was completely bald, what hair was left was long enough to fall to his waist. He looked at Jesse as he walked out from his unit, giving him an acknowledging smile as he passed him. The van was his apparently, as the long haired man took out a box from its open back and lifted it into his storage unit.

He seemed so easy going, Jesse thought to himself. There were aliens around, and this man continued to hum a tune to himself as if he wasn’t even aware, or didn’t even care. Jesse pondered it all, considering putting himself out there and getting some information on the town. It was simply jarring how casual everyone acted in spite of what Jesse had seen here.

“Hey, uh, mister?” Jesse awkwardly called to the man as he was walking out of his unit to collect another box. He stopped and looked at him, although Jesse realized he didn’t know where to begin. “Uh… Sick ride, yo.”

“Oh, you think so? Well, thank you.” The man replied in a very friendly voice. His tone sounded surprisingly genuine, even after hearing not even ten words from him. “The design is a bit of a memento when I was a rock star. Or at least, when I tried to be anyway. Maybe you’ve heard of me? Mr. Universe?”

“Oh uh, I haven’t sorry. I’m kinda new to Beach City.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I was joking, anyway.” The man said. “I’m Greg, by the way. Greg Universe. And uh, yeah, that is my legal last name now.” Greg said slightly abashed as he extended a hand to Jesse.

Jesse nodded, reaching over and shaking Greg’s hand. “Steve Driscoll.”

“Heh, my son’s named Steven.” He remarked, a little amused. “So, how’s Beach City been to you so far?”

“Uh, good, good. I don’t really have any complaints or nothing.” Jesse said, shrugging and trying to appear casual. His mind wandered, and he thought he may as well ask now that he’s gotten this far. “Hey, uh, I’ve heard some…pretty out-there rumors about this place.”

“Oh boy.” Greg replied scratching the back of his head, seemingly already knowing where this was going. ”You have, have you? I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

“W-wait, so… You know, then?” Jesse said, surprised. How could this man be so nonchalant about it?

“You’re talking about things with the Gems, right?”

“Yeah. You’re…also aware of them?”

“I know them.” Greg asserted. “Eh, a few of them, at least. I am probably the human that knows the most about them, but don’t try to quiz me or anything. I’d get a C+ at best.”

Jesse stared back at Greg for a few seconds. “So then…the things I’ve heard… They’re all true?”

“Probably.” Greg admitted casually.

Jesse paused for another moment. There was one thing in particular he wanted to ask. “I… I heard that the entire ocean was drained at one point. That’s true, then?”

“Oh yeah, that’s true. Ask anybody in town, they’ll tell you. I broke my leg because of it.” Greg answered with a weak chuckle at the end, as if none of that was a big deal. Jesse began to think he was going insane.

“And a…a Gem did that?”

“Yeah, Lapis Lazuli was what I think her name was.”

Jesse froze. His theory was now confirmed. Apparently, Lapis truly was more powerful than he could ever imagine. And he made art with her…! Watched a show with her! Jesse himself didn’t even know what he was feeling.

“Uh, Steve? Are you all right?”

“S-sorry.” Jesse replied, snapping out of his thoughts. “Why did…uh. Why did she do that?”

“From what I heard, she was apparently trying to go home. She was hoping she could use the ocean’s water to lift herself up, or something like that. I don’t know.” Greg shrugged. “Like I said, a lot of it goes over my head. I actually met with her in person not too long ago, and she seems like a nice girl. Sunk my boat, though.”

“…Sunk your boat?”

“Oh uh, it was an accident. It’s all water under the bridge.”

Jesse pondered all that he had been told. He had to ask himself again if Lapis was dangerous herself. Greg apparently broke his leg and got his boat sunk because of her, and the whole missing ocean thing was entirely her doing. He remembered Lapis’ offer to come back to the barn if he wanted. The question was…did he want to?

“So you met her? What was your impression of her?”

“Well, she was nice, like I said. Pretty timid, all things considered. And, uh, very reserved, too.” Greg answered, recalling his memories to mind. “She seemed very self-conscious about her actions. And well, I don’t know. Maybe this is presumptuous of me, but she also seemed kind of lonely. You know, the kind of person who doesn’t go out of their way to meet new people. It uh… Well, it didn’t seem like she was very confident in taking charge.”

“Oh…” Jesse thought about what he was hearing. He supposed that he had picked up on a few of those things when he himself hung out with her, he just couldn’t make any conclusions. He wondered if he was being unfair in worrying if she was dangerous or not when he hadn’t even heard her own account on the stories that unnerved him. Whenever he thought about her, the first thing that always came to mind was the smile she had given him just before he left. He wondered…was she hoping he’d come back to visit?

“Yeah, I know. It’s confusing, isn’t it?” Greg put in after a while of Jesse not speaking. “But, you know, I don’t think Gems are any more complicated than humans. We’re just complicated in different ways sometimes. Emotionally, though…” Greg’s eyes drifted away from Jesse. “…I don’t think they’re any different than us.”

“You think so? Huh…” Jesse reflected on Greg’s words. “Thanks. I’m, uh, I’m just trying to find my footing here, y’know? It’s all…very new to me. Aliens are…not what I was expecting, I guess.”

“Well if you have any more questions about Gems, I’ll tell you what I can.” Greg offered, and Jesse returned a thankful nod. “Oh hey! You said you were new here, right? Are you looking for a job or anything?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“If you want, I could set you up at my business.” Greg offered, friendly and earnest.

“Your business?”

“Yeah. Have you seen It’s a Wash?”

Jesse froze up. “Uh, I’d rather not work at a laundromat.”

“Laundromat…? No, it’s a car wash.” Greg told him with a raised brow.

“…O-oh.” Jesse spoke meekly, feeling a little embarrassed by his quick assumption. “Uh… I’ll think about it, thanks.”

Notes:

Greg has a meth lab underneath his car wash, but I'm not going to explore that at all.

Chapter 5: Why are you dissatisfied?

Summary:

Lapis talks to Peridot about her encounter with Steve.

Lapis and Peridot both watched together as the Roaming Eye soared upwards and past the clouds overhead. It became continually smaller until it was out of their vision completely.

“Do you really think that’s going to work?” Lapis asked after a bit as they stared into the sky.

“Undoubtedly.” Peridot answered, sound very assured and even almost a little smug. “I mean, you saw how dense they had to be in order to fall for Amethyst’s transformation. Rubies who’ve known nothing but Homeworld are so simple-minded and predictable.” She said, before her voice became softer and she turned to Lapis. “Uh… Are you doing all right? I’m sure Amethyst didn’t mean to…”

“No, I’m fine. I’m past that.” Lapis said calmly as she continued to stare upwards. “Or…getting there, at least. Anyways, I’m not thinking about that. I’m worried about Steven.”

Peridot regained her confident tone. “Steven and the Crystal Gems have been through much more threatening circumstances than five remarkedly gullible Rubies. I wouldn’t be worried.”

“I guess you’re right.” Lapis conceded. Still, she couldn’t help but feel at least a little concerned for Steven. The other three…well, not as much, honestly. Lapis still hadn’t completely forgiven them for leaving her in the mirror for all those years, and it was Steven who had to defy them in order to finally rescue her from that prison. Still, she supposed that they certainly loved him, and that protecting him would be their top priority as they traveled to the Moon Base. She could at least be thankful for that.

“Oh, how could I almost forget!” Peridot suddenly spoke, snapping Lapis out of her thoughts and bringing her attention back down. Peridot had an excited grin. “You won’t believe what happened at the Beta Kindergarten!”

“Oh? What happened there?” Lapis asked. The eagerness on Peridot’s face had her curious.

“Well, we ran into an…old foe. And let’s just say that you won’t have to worry about another run-in with her again…”

Lapis thought for a moment, and then the realization hit her. “W-wait. You mean…?”

Peridot’s knowing grin only grew further. “Come on, I’ll tell you the whole thing inside!” She told her, before walking towards the barn with a confident stride.

Lapis watched as Peridot disappeared into the barn. For a moment, she took a second to stare around at the open fields, not entirely sure what she was feeling. After a deep breath, she followed Peridot back into the barn.

---

“…And guess who dealt the final blow.” Peridot said with a creeping smile that gave away the answer, floating a tin can around her hand as if to give a hint. “Go on, guess!”

Lapis smirked, although it was a distracted and weak one. Her mind wasn’t fully there, even though she had been paying full attention. “You did.” She answered.

“Correct!” Peridot beamed. “WA-POW! A simple metal spike and my ferrokinesis were all that was necessary to poof her. Sure, it was a group effort and all, but I believe I’ve at least proved that my new powers are on a level relative to even the other Crystal Gems’ fusion tactics. But the important thing is, she has been bubbled. None of us has to worry about her anymore.”

Lapis thought about what she had just been told. First and foremost, she was undoubtedly relieved to hear it. She never wanted to be reminded about Malachite ever again. She was certain she had made that point to Jasper very clear the last time they had seen each other, but that desperation and fury she had displayed over her refusal embedded a worry in the back of her mind that it wasn’t over quite yet. That she couldn’t breathe easy unless she wanted to be caught off-guard.

But there was also another emotion hidden behind that relief. It almost felt like a small prick of dissatisfaction that while minuscule, was nonetheless there. The worst part about it wasn’t its undeniable presence, but the fact that Lapis couldn’t pinpoint where exactly it might’ve stemmed from. She did hate Jasper, but regretted how she had allowed herself to vent about it. Did the feeling have anything to do with that? Lapis refused to believe that she subconsciously wished to have poofed Jasper herself, as she had sworn off her actions as Malachite. She also wasn’t sure that it could stem from being disappointed that she wasn’t present for one of her largest sources of paranoia being solved without her to see it for herself. So what was it? And why couldn’t she just feel happy about it without anything getting in the way?

She just wanted to put that whole chapter behind her. But she couldn’t help but think about it. They were both Malachite. A fusion like that was so hard to forget. The paths afterwards ended up considerably different. Jasper got corrupted and bubbled, so Lapis couldn’t help but wonder…

“Uh… Lapis?” Peridot spoke, having lost her confidence to concern, and even regret. The tin can dropped to the floor. “I’m sorry. Perhaps I…presented that carelessly.”

“No, it’s all right. It’s just…a lot to take in.” Lapis said, before giving her best attempt at a smile. “Thank you, Peridot. I’m happy I don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

Peridot smiled back, but Lapis could tell it was a little forced. She wondered how forced her own smile must’ve looked. As if having searched for a segue into any other conversation topic, Peridot quickly found herself drawn towards something against the wall of the barn.

“Oh! You made a new morp while I was gone?” Peridot asked, studying the scuffed “drum kit” that Steve had made. Lapis stepped beside her and looked over it with her. “What was your inspiration for this one? I personally think the metal rods are a very nice touch.”

“Oh, no. That one’s not mine.”

Peridot’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What? Well, it’s not mine, so…?”

“A human made it.”

“A…human?” Peridot echoed. “Wait, a human went into the barn? Who gave them the right to intrude?” She asked indignantly.

“I did.”

“Can’t they see this place is…” Peridot froze, before turning to Lapis. “…Wait, you did?”

“Yeah.” Lapis confirmed simply. “It was starting to rain, so I offered to let him stay at the barn until it stopped.” She explained with a shrug.

“You did? And…you allowed him to make this?”

“Yeah. He seemed pretty friendly, he just wasn’t used to Gems. I thought it might help him feel comfortable around me, I guess.”

Peridot stared at her for a bit, and Lapis felt as if she were being put under a spotlight. There was no judgement in Peridot’s eyes, and yet Lapis still couldn’t help be feel put-off by her stare.

“What?” Lapis asked, unsure where this scrutiny was coming from.

“So you were the one to reach out?”

“Why do you sound surprised about that?” Lapis asked, and couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit offended.

Peridot’s eyes widened. “Nonono! T-that’s great, really!” She quickly clarified. “I just… Well, I wouldn’t have expected that.”

Lapis raised a brow. “Do you think all I ever want to do is stay at the barn alone to watch Camp Pining Hearts and sulk?”

“Eeeeeh…” Peridot couldn’t bring herself to directly answer that question.

“Okay, fair enough.” Lapis pinched the bridge of her nose. “But that’s not… I’m more than that. It…can just be hard.” She said, looking away and grabbing her arm.

“No, really! I’m proud of you, Lapis!” Peridot said with an earnestness in her voice, trying to sound as encouraging as possible. And…it did help Lapis feel better, she admitted to herself.

“…I was expecting to be hearing this from Steven.” Lapis said with a growing smirk.

“Oh, come on. I can be sympathetic too! You wouldn’t have believed how sympathetic I was to Amethyst back at the Beta Kindergarten.”

Lapis snickered a little under her breath. “Okay, okay. I believe you.”

“How was it, though?” Peridot asked after a bit. “What was his name?”

“Steve.”

“Steve? Like…?”

“No, but I thought the same thing at first too.” Lapis remarked. “He was, um… He was definitely pretty shocked to learn about Gems. But after he calmed down a bit, it was…pretty nice. I showed him my morps, and he made his own. And then we watched Camp Pining Hearts. It was…” Lapis paused for a moment as she contemplated the word. “…relaxing.” Lapis frowned. “And then the Rubies showed up.”

“Waitwaitwait. You watched Camp Pining Hearts with him?”

“Yeah. He’d never seen it before, so I put in the first season for us.” An almost devious smirk made its way on Lapis’ face. “And I’m sorry to say, but I don’t think he agrees with you about Percy and Pierre.”

Peridot’s expression went blank for a moment, before suddenly throwing a hand in the air. “Well I hope it was fun while it lasted, because I don’t think this “Steve” is going to be allowed in the barn anymore. Or anywhere near it.” She affirmed, sounding serious and disgruntled.

“I think you’re forgetting who also owns this barn. If you want to split in it half, I’ll let him stay on my side.” Lapis chuckled, before a thought hit her. “…But I don’t think it matters anyway. He probably won’t come back.”

Peridot’s indignant expression faded. “What? Why?”

Lapis found that an immediate answer didn’t come to her, and she had to ponder it. Not only that, but she wondered why she herself would default to that pessimistic prediction. He had seemed scared of her at first, but by the end, he seemed fairly comfortable talking with her as they got into the second and third episode of the show.

“Just a feeling, I guess.” Lapis shrugged. “I mean, it was entirely circumstantial that it even happened, so...”

“Are you hoping he’ll come back?” Peridot asked, and Lapis felt a little caught off-guard at what was admittedly a very simple and reasonable question to ask.

“Well, I mean…” Lapis thought for a moment. “…I wouldn’t mind.” Was all she could to answer with. It wasn’t untrue, and might’ve even been a little bit of an understatement. Slightly.

“Well… Even if it’s with people who have abhorrent opinions on the optimal interpersonal dynamics of the campers, I’m glad you tried putting yourself out there.”

“I told you, it just kind of…” Lapis stopped herself, and sighed. She might as well just take the complement. “Thanks.” She relented, before another thought came to mind. “Peridot? Do you…know a lot about humans? Since you monitored Earth?”

“Hardly.” Peridot scoffed. “Other than Steven, but he doesn’t really count. I mean, I know their technology is woefully underdeveloped, and that they’ve got no powers to compensate, and…” Peridot stopped herself as she noticed Lapis giving her a questioning stare. “Eh… Hey, I was getting to the part where they’re still worth protecting, just like all other organic life and the Earth itself and yadda yadda, preachy Crystal Gem stuff. But like, their customs and culture? I couldn’t tell you more than you probably already know.”

“Hm.” Lapis thought to herself, staring at Steve’s morp. She stared back at some of her and Peridot’s own, and compared it with the one in front of her. “They don’t seem too different, I guess.”

Notes:

Another shorter one, I know. I just wanted to get a scene of both of their perspectives after the first hangout. They'll interact next chapter, I swear! As compensation, here's a huge spoiler in how I'm going to end the fic (real!):

\/\/\/

(Mr. White Diamond): Jesse! You're just...acting like a junkie!

(Jesse): I AM a junkie. What's your excuse, BITCH?

(Mr. White Diamond): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRt9ehIrmdA

(Lapis): You did it, Jesse! You totally owned the Diamonds! We Broke Bad in the Steven Universe!

(Jesse): Hell yeah baby!

(Jesse and Lapis): *High-five and make out.*

Don't tell anyone.

Chapter 6: Why are you laughing?

Summary:

Jesse finally decides to take Lapis up on her offer.

Notes:

Takes place during "Kindergarten Kid" in SU.

If there was one place Jesse had learned he had hated being in recently, it would have to be his own head. Confusion, paranoia, and general uncomfortable contemplation on what possible things could happen in the future left little reason to keep raised spirits. Whether it was still coming to terms with the fact that aliens walked among humans, or worrying that his past would catch up to him, his mind felt like a minefield of tumultuous emotions. And because of the reclusive lifestyle he had opted to take these first couple of days, it was difficult to find ways to distract his thoughts from overwhelming his psyche.

But, as a consequence, it made the nicer memories that felt more like a break to the surrounding darkness and confusion stand out. Though admittedly, he had only really accumulated one such experience during his time here in Beach City. The time he had spent relaxing with Lapis was an outlier in all he had been through so far, because for a moment, just for a couple short hours, there was a little while where he felt a sense of…normalcy. A break from all the swirling thoughts in his brain. He had felt comfortable enough that even when it had stopped raining, he didn’t even bring it up, because being completely honest with himself…he found he had been enjoying his time there near the end.

Though, to use “normalcy” to describe it was definitely generous. There was a huge asterisk that couldn’t be denied. That was, of course, the fact that Lapis was a blue rock alien who apparently has powers so immense that she can move entire oceans. But that was the weird thing: Jesse found that such an incredibly wild detail was easily separated from the time he had spent making his weird “meep morp” or whatever it was called, and watching that show with her. Her very chill and accommodating demeanor certainly lent to that, despite her basically being the second coming of Poseidon. What did it mean that Jesse could overlook a detail like that, he wondered.

He did have reservations, of course. His entire world felt flipped upside-down, and he wasn’t sure if involving himself any further was a good idea. Not all Gems seemed to get along, and that tall one with the glasses told him it wasn’t safe for him to be there when those little red dwarves appeared. Still, no one seemed to protest when Lapis invited him to come back once it was all dealt with. So then, why was Jesse still having second thoughts about it? Was he scared of her?

Jesse thought back at her smile, and realized he couldn’t really be. Despite whatever powers she had, Jesse found more and more that the first thing that came to mind was that grin she had given him before he left. She had looked so genuine and happy. He again wondered if she was expecting his return at any point, and if he was disappointing her by not doing so. Being honest with himself, Jesse knew that there was a part of him that wanted to go back. To try and recapture that feeling of safety and comfortability he had lacked for so long. It did help that the barn was so far out, and funnily enough, Lapis not being from Earth gave him even more assurance that his identity wouldn’t be found out with her.

Jesse continued to ponder, and after a good while of thinking to himself, he let out a deep breath. “All right… Sure, why not.” He decided to himself under his breath.

---

What would’ve been a decently long walk was covered in no time by car. Making trips to and from the barn would be pretty easy. Not that this was going to be a consistent thing or anything, Jesse thought to himself. He parked himself a little bit ahead of the barn, just off the side of the dirt path.

As he got out of his car, Jesse took a moment to stare at the barn in all its abstract glory. It was odd to think that this was the dwelling of a being with powers pretty much beyond his comprehension. The interior was actually pretty cozy, he had to admit. Lapis didn’t seem to be on the storage bed of the truck. Jesse stood awkwardly at the front of the barn, waiting to see if she might come out. One door was slightly ajar, but Jesse wasn’t going to enter without an invitation. After mustering up a little bit of willpower, he knocked against the barn door that was closed.

“Yo, Lapis?” Jesse called out. “It’s uh… It’s me.”

“Steve!” Her voice called back from a place he didn’t expect. Jesse had to take a few steps backwards in order to look up at where the voice was coming from. He could just barely see her head poking up from behind the rounded top of the silo. A friendly smile was on her face, and before he knew it, Lapis had already swiftly flown down right by him. Her water wings dissipated as she landed. She looked as…blue as ever. “It’s nice to see you back!” She said, and the earnestness in her voice surprised Jesse.

“It is?” Jesse asked, confused, but also a little flattered. “…Thanks. Thought I’d just come back, y’know, since we didn’t finish that last episode, and uh… Yeah, y’know?” He said a little awkwardly. “I hope I didn’t come at a bad time or something.”

“Oh, no. Not at all. I was just… I wasn’t doing anything.” Lapis answered, looking up at the top of the silo for a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you arrive.”

“Do you…like to hang up there a lot?”

“Only sometimes.” Lapis shrugged. “I like the view from up there. If I want to just sit and think about stuff, that’s usually the spot I go to.”

“Ah.” Jesse nodded. “Sounds nice. What were you thinking about just then?”

Lapis frowned to herself slightly. “Nothing important…” She said in a dismissive way that implied the opposite.

“O-oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to be nosy.” Jesse quickly apologized.

His regretful reaction had Lapis respond in a similar way. “N-no, it’s fine! It wasn’t bad stuff, not really. Just…confusing stuff.”

“Nah, I totally get it. Don’t worry about it.” Jesse returned with an understanding tone. “Trust me, I get it.”

Lapis stared back with her expression lifting into a slightly appreciative looking one, exemplified by a shy smile at the corner of her mouth. “Thank you. But enough about that. You said you wanted to pick up where we left off?”

“Yeah, if you’re free, of course.”

Lapis’ smile grew a little further. “I am.” She began walking toward the open barn door, giving a small gesture inviting Jesse to follow. “The TV’s still where it was last time. I’ll get it set to about where we were.”

As Jesse walked after her, he couldn't help but compare her attitude now to when they had first formally met. She wasn’t callous back then, but she hadn’t been as friendly as she was now either, at least not until near the end of his first visit at the barn. It helped to ease some lingering nerves. She seemed happy to see him return, and Jesse couldn’t help but feel a little flattered about it. He briefly thought about what Greg had told him about her.

As Jesse followed Lapis into the barn, he watched with silent awe as her wings sprouted from her back, and she soared upwards to the second level with incredible speed and control. He was left to take the much less flashy route in climbing up the ladder. As he climbed the rungs, he noticed his dingy drum kit imitation exactly as he had left it. “I see you kept my…uh, meemorp, you called it?” He said as his head rose over the floor of the second level, seeing Lapis fiddling with the television.

“Meep morp? Of course. I told you I would.” Lapis called back as she scrubbed through the episode, looking for the approximate spot they had been interrupted. “Peridot said you did a pretty good job on it, too.”

“Peridot? Oh, yeah. I forgot you mentioned you had a roommate. Or, barn-mate, I guess.” Jesse spoke, finally at the top of the ladder. “Was uh, was she one of those other Gems that showed up last time? The tall one, maybe?”

“No, that was Garnet. Peridot is out right now with her and the other Crystal Gems.”

“Crystal Gems?”

“Oh, yeah, um… It’s a long story. Basically they protect the Earth.” Lapis explained simply. “Peridot is…technically a part of the team, I guess.”

“Are you part of the that group too?”

Jesse noticed a slight pause from Lapis. “No.” She answered after the beat. “I mean, not officially anyway. I help them out sometimes. They’ve helped me out too, one in particular, but…I’m not one of them. We’ve got a little bit of a complicated history.”

“Oh…” Jesse wasn’t too sure what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t worry. I don’t want to be one of them.” Lapis continued, now simply kneeling in front of the screen and staying there as she spoke to him. “I just don’t want to get tied up in all of that. I just…want to avoid that kind of lifestyle, now. Stay away from the conflict.”

Jesse reflected on her words, thinking about how much that spoke to him where he was now. He was done cooking meth, and never wanted to go back to that kind of life ever again. Like Lapis, he too just wanted to live his life without worry. Of course, Jesse didn’t feel so secure in his position. He wondered if the same was true for Lapis at any level. “…Are you worried you’ll get dragged into it anyway?” He asked thoughtfully.

Lapis suddenly turned to look at Jesse, with an expression that seemed to say she was a little caught off-guard that he asked that. “Yeah, actually.” She turned back to the TV screen. “I guess I am.”

Not so secure, it seemed. “Nothing to be ashamed of.” Jesse put in. “I’ve been there.” Correction: he was there, currently. But to say so would be an invitation for questions he wasn’t ready to answer. Answers he may never want to reveal.

“You have, huh?” Lapis hummed to herself. “Maybe I should’ve guessed.”

“What?” Jesse asked. “Is that…obvious?”

Lapis finally stood up from her knees and looked over at him. There was a gentle, slightly timid look in her eyes. “…Do you want me to be honest?”

“Uh…” Jesse didn’t like the sound of that. Still, this was probably something he needed to hear. The perception others had on him was something he was pretty much required to worry about. “Go ahead…?”

Lapis nodded. “Well, the injuries on your face for one, and you always seem so cautious and soft-spoken when you talk. Combined with that look that’s almost always in your eyes…” Lapis trailed off, remaining vague about what “look” she was talking about. Jesse couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed about how obvious his demeanor had been. “But, the biggest thing is…the thing you had said last time.”

“The thing I…” The realization hit Jesse. “Oh.” The slip-up he had in the midst of him questioning reality seeing her demonstrate her powers for the first time. That someone may have “broken” him. Jesse was ashamed to have flashed such a bright bulb at his past for someone else to see.

“It’s… Well at least to me, it’s been a little obvious that you’ve been through something pretty rough.” She told him. “It’s none of my business, though. Sorry, maybe I said too much.”

“About that, Lapis. Could you, uh…” Jesse cleared his throat. “Could you promise you won’t…tell anybody about that?”

She nodded, and gave him a serious look. “Of course. I promise.”

“Thanks. I… I’d rather not have that…floating around, y’know.” Jesse said. He certainly didn’t want people digging into his past. Maybe it was good Jesse had decided to visit Lapis again solely for the fact that he could ask that of her.

“Yeah.” Lapis nodded, before looking down slightly. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

“Don’t be. It was my fault.” Jesse shrugged. “…I guess I’m still working on it.”

Lapis gave a sympathetic look, before turning towards the couch. “Well, we don’t have to keep talking about it. I’ve…got the episode ready, so…”

Jesse tried to smile his worries away, and he could tell he was at least a little successful. “Sounds good. Let’s get to it, then.” He said, pumping a bit of enthusiasm into his voice to help steer his mind away from his paranoid thoughts.

Lapis smiled back, and pressed Play as Jesse took his seat. She joined him on the couch soon after, where they sat side-by-side once again. It was a little strange to be in such close proximity to her, but he wouldn’t call it uncomfortable, not at all. It was just that Lapis by herself had given him a lot to think about since he had been in Beach City, and yet nearly all of that would have to be put aside so he could focus on the show instead. The one thing he allowed himself to dwell on before immersing himself into the episode was, weirdly, her hair. Or “hair” perhaps. Her cobalt blue hair was cut short, and yet was very full, especially in the back. The style and form was unlike anything he had really seen before, but it wasn’t a bad look. It suited her, he thought.

Jesse snapped himself out of that strange mental tangent, wondering why he focused so much on it in the first place. Moving on from that, he lent his attention to the TV screen ahead. Paulette and Percy were in the midst of a long-standing argument that complicated their performances in their respective challenges, and was a catalyst for drama all around. The whole argument was pretty contrived, but the acting was really funny even if unintentionally, so Jesse couldn’t complain.

Jesse and Lapis weren’t the most talkative as they finished off the third episode, but after a few minutes into the fourth, their commentary found its way in here and there. To be honest, this wasn’t really Jesse’s usual type of show, yet he was actually enjoying his time a fair amount regardless. There was enough to get invested in, but Jesse found that the most fun came from the short back-and-forths it inspired between him and Lapis. Without the show, their conversations could end up a little awkward and stilted, but their little quips during the show felt smoother and natural, which was pretty nice. Perhaps the best part about it, however…

“Okay, who just runs into a tree like that?” Jesse whispered, throwing a hand forward to gesture at the screen in disbelief. “Like, isn’t he supposed to be the smart one?”

Lapis chuckled in response to his comment. It was how easily he could make Lapis laugh as they watched together that Jesse found the most enjoyable. It always almost made him want to laugh too, hearing the sudden *snrk* that usually preceded her laughter. “Not smart enough to look where he’s going.”

It was Lapis’ presence that made watching the show as enjoyable as it was. Even when she was silent, it simply was nice to have someone else viewing it with him. He didn’t have to worry about conversation and scrutiny like this. As they moved on from episode to episode, it simply felt as though Jesse was just…hanging out with a friend, alien ocean queen or not. Jesse was in a space where he could forget about all his worries, and he was thankful for it.

Hours passed as the two continued to binge, their commentary gradually becoming more frequent. They had watched so much, that eventually, they made it all the way to the season one finale, where the long-standing argument between Percy and Paulette was reaching its dramatic conclusion during the climax.

“P-Percy? But…we’re on opposite sides! And I thought you were mad at me!” Paulette spoke from the shallow trench she had fallen into, which had been dug out by Pierre and covered with leaves.

“I was wrong. I know how much completing this challenge means to you, so...let me help you!” Percy heroically spoke, extending his hand down towards her. “Take my hand!”

“She really needs help climbing out of that? It’s like…three feet deep.” Jesse commented, much to Lapis’ amusement.

Regardless of Jesse’s criticism, a dramatic pause ensued as Paulette considered accepting Percy’s help. Jesse supposed there was supposed to be tension felt by the audience on whether or not she would, but he couldn’t help but feel completely unsurprised when she finally relented and allowed Percy to pull her back up, where they reconciled together and finally used their words and civil discussion to clear up the misunderstanding that had been the root of their argument. Something that could’ve been done many episodes ago. Although both of them were disqualified due to inter-team cooperation, the season finale nonetheless concluded on a happy note as Percy and Paulette seemed to finally have made their love known for each other. With the final episode completed, the season one tape brought them back to the menu screen.

Lapis turned fully to Jesse, who likewise did the same. Their closeness was once again brought to Jesse’s attention. “So, that was season one. What did you think?” Lapis asked.

“I enjoyed it.” Jesse answered, mostly honestly. It would be a little more accurate to include that he enjoyed watching it with her in particular. “Though, some of the campers pull their weight a lot more than others.”

Lapis smirked. “Yeah, that’s definitely true.” She said. “But, um, I’m glad you liked it. It’s nice to watch it with someone a little more…casual about it.”

“Yeah, yeah, no problem. Thanks for letting me come back.” Jesse responded. “Having someone else to watch with made it more fun that if I would’ve alone.”

“Really? I’m glad. It’s the same for me, so… Thanks for coming back.”

Jesse smiled, and for a moment he wondered why he even had second thoughts about seeing her again. “You’re…pretty cool, Lapis.”

Lapis’ eyes widened slightly, and for just a moment, her azure blue cheeks darkened in hue. “O-oh, um… Thanks.” She quickly recollected herself from his complement. “You too.”

There was a long pause between the two. It truly did feel like he was just hanging out with a friend. It was a feeling he hadn’t really felt in a very long time. For a moment, he thought back to Skinny Pete and Badger. Jesse had seen them before he had escaped Albuquerque, and he owed them his new chance at life. It depressed him thinking about how his last meeting with them was deeply overcast by both his recent injuries and trauma, and the fact he was a wanted man. Jesse wondered if he had truly made his appreciation for them as evident as he had felt as they took care of him and risked their own freedom in helping him evade law enforcement. He doubted he’d ever see them again.

“Steve? Are you okay?”

Jesse snapped out of his thoughts. “H-huh? Oh, y-yeah. Sorry.” He apologized. “I was just thinking… I haven’t done something like this in a long time.”

“Oh, well, I’ll just put it out there. You’re welcome to come by whenever you want. Though I should probably introduce you to Peridot. Whenever she comes back, that is.” Lapis stared down at the barn doors below. It seemed to be well into the evening at this point.

“How long will she be gone for?”

Lapis shrugged. “Their missions usually don’t take longer than a day, I think. From what I heard, this one wasn’t supposed to be anything too difficult. She could be back pretty soon, but I can’t really say for sure. You can stick around if you want to wait and see.”

Jesse thought about it, and he supposed that he didn’t really have anything else to do. Plus, it was pretty nice to stay at the barn. He didn’t have much to do at the town at the moment, and he still wasn’t completely comfortable there either. He felt comfortable here at the barn. Though he had to wonder that was mostly because of Lapis herself or not.

“Yeah, I can stay.” Jesse said. “Meeting your friend sounds cool.”

“Good.” Lapis smiled, before turning back to the TV. “I’m a little burnt out on Camp Pining Hearts right now, though. Do you mind if we start season two sometime later?”

“Oh, no. Not at all.” Jesse said. “I’m kinda burnt out too. I can only handle so much drama in one day, y’know?”

Lapis snickered again, with her amusement making Jesse himself smirk. “Yeah, same.” She said as she stood up from the couch.

Jesse did the same, cracking his back and stretching afterwards from sitting for so long. He looked back at Lapis, but she seemed to have a thoughtful look in her eye as she stared down towards the exit, and Jesse noticed as her water wings materialized from the gemstone on her back.

“I could check if they’re on their way back really quick.” She stated, before turning to look at Jesse. “If you want, you can come with.”

“Oh, yeah, I could…” Jesse paused for a moment as an obvious question arose, highlighted by her wings. “Wait, uh… How would I? I can’t fly.”

“I’ll carry you.” Lapis put candidly.

Jesse froze. “W-what?”

“Oh, um, don’t worry. It’s safe, I promise.” She told him, seemingly picking up on his reservations. She peered down from the ledge at the bottom floor for a moment, before extending a hand in invitation. “Here, I can show you.”

Jesse stared back, unsure what to say. He looked at Lapis, standing closer to the edge with her wings spread out behind her. They gave a single flap. He stared at her open hand.

Was he…really going to accept something as crazy as this…?

Notes:

Wow, what a cliffhanger, huh? I wonder if Jesse is worried that the air traffic controller that would be guiding Lapis may have lost his daughter recently which will greatly affect his ability to do his job correctly ultimately having him fail to redirect Lapis and Jesse away from another Lapis carrying someone else in which a fiery collision ensues that causes rubble to rain down upon Beach City. I might be worried too.

Chapter 7: Why are you flying?

Summary:

Jesse tests the waters of flying with Lapis to determine if he'd be willing to take a trip all the way to Beach City with her.

Lapis awaited with her arm extended for Steve’s answer, but as the seconds passed with no response, she realized she might’ve asked too much. She could fly quite literally since she existed, and even though very few Gems also could, no one usually had any issue with heights. But she supposed that humans are typically more…fragile. And here she was offering it so casually. Was she being weird? Lapis’ arm began to lower as such thoughts began to weigh on her. Even her wings dropped slightly in dejection.

“Um… Sorry, I… Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.” Lapis said with a lowered spirit. “I know you’re not really used to this stuff.” She remembered how he reacted when he first saw her wings. It certainly didn’t make her feel good to unease Steve, especially after he seemed to have…gotten comfortable around her.

“W-wait.” Steve put in after a while. He still looked pretty apprehensive, but his expression seemed to soften just a little bit. There was a long pause as Lapis patiently waited for Steve to collect his thoughts. “You said…it’s safe?”

“It is. Really. I’ve flown with others before.” Lapis told him. “I promise, I won’t drop you. But I won’t insist or anything.”

Steve took a few more seconds to mull over his answer. He looked so unsure and uneasy, and Lapis felt a little guilty because of it. She had fully realized by this point that she was asking something comically out of his comfort zone. And yet at the same time…he actually seemed to be considering it?

“And you said you’d…give me a demo, or something?” He said awkwardly.

“Yeah, I can take you down really quick, just so you can see.” Lapis said, taking a moment to peer down from the ledge at the floor below. “If that’s fine with you.”

“That’s…” Steve spoke. His uncertain expression showed her he was truly considering it. After a while, he took a deep breath. “All right, I’ll… I’ll see how it’s like.” He relented, extending out is own hand where Lapis’ had since fallen from.

A grateful grin grew on Lapis’ face as she met him halfway. She clasped her hand over his, and felt its warmth. She had forgotten that humans were naturally warm, although her only reference was someone who was half-human. It had caught her slightly by surprise, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. She noticed a slight reaction from Steve as well, and Lapis understood that conversely, she must’ve felt cooler than he had expected. She offered her other hand, and Steve cautiously took it too. They stood for a little while, holding each others hands, and Lapis noticed Jesse’s face take on a pinker hue.

Instead of wondering if she herself was also blushing slightly, Lapis gently flapped her wings, slowly rising off of the ground and getting closer to the roof above. Their connected arms gradually become more vertical as she rose above him. “Hold on tight.” Lapis advised as Steve’s arms began to reach their full extension. In response, she felt his grip on her hands tighten.

“W-woah…” Steve let out nervously as his feet were lifted up and suspended a few inches above the floor. Lapis watched as he stared downwards in awe, before craning his head up to look at her. She gave a gentle smile in hopes to help ease his nerves.

Lapis held him there for a moment, allowing him to get as comfortable as he could with being held in the air. “I’m going to move over the edge now. Are you ready?” She warned as she looked down at him. He looked…uneasy, but he didn’t seem completely terrified, so that was a good sign.

After a bit, Steve nodded. “Y-yeah, okay.” He paused to take a deep breath. “I’m ready.”

“All right. He were go…” Lapis announced while trying to add a bit of whim into her voice as a way to tell him he had nothing to worry about. Holding Steve firmly by the hands, she allowed herself to float backwards and past the ledge. Steve’s grip tightened even further as he watched his feet float over the edge of the second level, letting him stare downwards at the floor ten feet below. Lapis ensured that she had a comfortable hold on both of his hands, keeping him sufficiently safe in the air. “Are you doing okay?” She asked while they hung close to the barn’s roof.

Steve had to take a moment and clear his throat before he could respond. “Y-yeah. I’m… I’m good.” He answered back. “Just…don’t drop me or anything.”

Lapis smirked. “I wasn’t planning on it.”

Before long, she allowed herself to descend at what she hoped would be a comfortably slow pace for Steve. Once his feet planted themselves on the base level of the barn, Lapis finally let go of his hands. She moved backwards in the air slightly before landing herself in front of him. Steve looked back at her with a ruminative expression on his face. She noticed his eyes drift to her wings for a moment.

“That was, uh…” Steve began, and Lapis found that she was anticipating his reaction more than she initially realized. She of course didn’t mind if he came along with her, but she now wondered if she even preferred that, too. “…not bad.”

“Really? I’m glad.” Lapis responded in earnest. She remembered how the sight of her wings had at first shocked him beyond words. It was nice to see that he had become comfortable enough around her that he’d indulge a quick test flight with her. Still, she wondered if he could handle a full ride all the way over to the Crystal Temple. “So… Do you want to come with me then?”

“I…don’t know.” Steve answered, and Lapis felt a little dampened to see he still had some reservations. “Hanging from you like that feels a little…dangerous, y’know. I-I mean I trust you won’t drop me, but…”

Lapis considered what he said, thinking about the apprehensions from his point of view. She could understand that hanging from her arms might not feel the safest for someone scared of heights, even if she had carried Steven in the past like that. Although she…did almost drop Steven, but she was distracted! She’d never let something like that happen again. Still, maybe a more secure method was in order, for Steve’s peace of mind anyways. And maybe her’s a little bit too. Slightly.

“Well, if you want, I could…carry you on my back.” She offered.

“Your…back? Like a horse…?”

“Horse? What’s a horse?”

“You don’t know? Like, you don’t have rock-horses or…” Steve interrupted his own tangent before it could truly begin. “It’s not important. But, if I…ride on your back, won’t I, like, really weigh you down, or something?”

“No, not at all.” Lapis told him bluntly. She’d lifted things over ten times his weight before. Steve alone was essentially weightless to her, being honest. Although his size was considerably taller than Steven, which might make it more awkward than it already would’ve been. “But if you don’t like that idea, I suppose there’s another way…”

“Another way?” Steve repeated, with curiosity in his voice. She wondered if he was hoping for something more secure than hanging off of her arms, but also less awkward than carrying him on her back.

“Well, I could…hold on to you from behind and carry you like that.” Lapis put forth the suggestion, though felt a little strange about it. “You wouldn’t be dangling from my arms that way.”

“O-oh, uh…” Steve seemed to have a little bit of trouble responding to that, and his face seemed to shift slightly pinker once again at the idea. “That sounds…pretty close.”

“I-I mean, you know… Just so it…feels safer.” Lapis put in, trying to sound casual about it. She knew it sounded a little…friendly, with it being basically a one-sided hug that she’d have to hold tight for the duration of the flight. Still, she wanted to put it out there anyway, but why exactly was that? Thinking about it, she supposed that, at least partly, she wanted to prove Peridot’s old preconceptions of her wrong. Or, more wrong. Lapis didn’t like that she had been building the image of herself being an asocial loner. Taking Steve on a flight from her own encouragement would certainly put that to rest, and she enjoyed thinking about how Peridot would react if she saw them on the way there. Maybe that was why Lapis was pushing this as far as it had gone. Regardless, it wasn’t her choice, and from the looks of it, Steve didn’t seem the most prepared for anything like this. “But… If none of that sounds good to you, I can go alone. I’ll be quick.”

There was a short pause. “I can…go with.” Steve finally spoke up.

“Oh, really…?!” Lapis let out a little more impulsively than she had meant to. She quickly collected herself. “I mean… Really?”

“Yeah, like… You already showed I can trust you so why…why not?” He said, not sounding the most certain overall, yet still seeming genuine when he told Lapis he trusted her. “I guess…flying sounds pretty cool, so… Uh, yeah.”

“And you’re sure? You…don’t have to do this for my sake if you don’t want to.”

Steve nodded. “I’m sure.”

Lapis gave a small smile, and began to feel a little nervous for a reason she couldn’t quite grasp. “All right. Follow me.” She told him, leading him outside the barn.

Once she stepped out, she looked out in the distance towards Beach City and up into the sky. It was getting close to sunset. She knew they had spent a long time watching Camp Pining Hearts, but she hadn’t realized it had taken this long. As Steve stood next to her, they gave each other a shared glance.

“So, uh, where exactly are we going?” He asked.

“Well, if we were to catch Peridot heading back, it’d be between here and the town.” Lapis explained. “The Crystal Gems have a warp pad where they live on the other side of the cliff.”

“Warp…pad?”

“They’re devices Gems can use to travel to other warp pads. Where ever their mission was, they’ll be coming back through it.”

“Teleportation…right.” Steve remarked mostly to himself. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Lapis snickered to herself a little bit, before moving behind Steve and extending her wings. “So…are you ready?”

Steve took a deep breath as he stared ahead. “…Yeah.” He nodded.

Lapis nodded back in response, though Steve couldn’t see it facing the other direction. For a moment, Lapis wondered if this really was a good idea, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy herself. She pushed for this, though. She wasn’t going to back out now. Trying not to give it more thought than it needed, Lapis stepped directly behind Steve, before slowly wrapping her arms around his chest and under his own arms. His warmth was even more present like this, but she didn’t want to dwell on this moment. With a decisive flap of her wings, she launched herself into the air with Steve wrapped in her arms.

---

“W-w-woah!” Jesse let out as it felt like his heart jumped out of his chest, being suddenly lifted into the air. His arms reflexively crossed to grip Lapis’ own, further intertwining the two together. He stared directly downwards, watching as the ground got further and further away. He had been blushing slightly when Lapis held him from behind, but Jesse was fairly sure all remaining color had drained from his face as they shifted from being vertical to completely horizontal in the air.

“Are you all right?” Lapis asked, a little concerned. Being directly over him, she was basically speaking right into his ear.

“Y-yeah… Don’t…D-don’t worry about me.” Jesse managed to say shakily after taking a few seconds to collect himself, which was easier said than done considering he was currently in motion soaring high above the ground. Lapis’ arms around his torso felt like a safety bar on a roller coaster, which her firm grip and cooler body had lent towards. His breathing was heavier as his heartbeat rose drastically…but he was managing.

“I’ve got you.” Lapis told him assuredly. “But you can tell me if you want to go down.”

“T-thanks…” Jesse breathed. “I’m good, though. I’m…good.” He told her, gradually beginning to take deeper breaths and letting himself trust that Lapis wouldn’t let him fall. He peered down at the rolling green fields below him, trying to let the scenery further calm his nerves. Surprisingly…it wasn’t completely ineffective. Having such a high vantage point over the vast countryside made for an admittedly remarkable view. The town, cliff, and ocean farther ahead made for an even nicer view.

The wind in his face was a mixed bag. It served as a constant reminder that he was dangerously high up in the sky, but at the same time, it somehow felt a little…exciting. He realized that his fear in general shared that kind of feeling. It was scary, and yet…also kind of fun. More scary than fun though, admittedly.

Lapis had stopped ascending just below the clouds, letting Jesse watch as they rushed past overhead. “Do you wanna touch the clouds?” She offered, and although he couldn’t see it, he could hear the slight smirk in the expression he had imagined in that tone of voice.

“U-uh… Yeah, s-sure!” He responded a little nervously, trying to focus more on the adrenaline rush than thinking about how far of a drop this would’ve been.

Lapis complied with a sturdy flap of her wings, lifting the two of them up into the large cloud that had been directly above them. Jesse’s view of the ground so far below, and the town and ocean in the distance, was thus masked by a canvas of puffy white vapor. Despite gaining height, it ultimately helped Jesse ease his nerves even further, not being able to see exactly how high up the two of them were. He felt comfortable enough to allow one of his hands to let go of Lapis’ arm and hang down, feeling the cloud rush across his open palm.

“Heh...” Jesse couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “I think I’m…getting it. K-kinda.”

“It can be pretty soothing, right?”

The cloud Jesse and Lapis had flown through soon reached its end, unveiling the white curtain and giving Jesse another view of Beach City up ahead. Despite being able to see how high up he was one again, Jesse wasn’t as fearful as he was before. The sun growing closer to the horizon made the view even more stunning. “Yeah… A little bit. The thrill is…kinda nice, too, actually.” He admitted.

“Sounds like you’re doing better.” Lapis put in, sounding a little pert about it.

“Yeah, well… I’m used to flying in planes, not so much being carried by flying ladies.” He shot back humorously. “It’s…not bad, though.” He said. Jesse expected for Lapis to make some sort of response, but instead she stayed silent. He couldn’t really turn to see her expression from where he was and how she was holding onto him. “Yo, Lapis?”

“O-oh, um, I’m glad.” She replied, sounding like she had just been pulled out of her thoughts.

There was a short period of silence as they quickly approached the skies above the town. Jesse peered below, trying to see if he could pick out any people from the specks along the sidewalks and shorelines. He wondered if anyone might look upwards and spot the two of them. He was conscious about the attention that might bring, but then remembered that the residents were probably used to much stranger things, so a flying Gem carrying another person wouldn’t have been very notable. Even then, he doubted anyone would be able to determine who he was from so high up.

Up ahead and past the cliff, the sun was moments away from beginning to set. The sky around had begun to take on a more orange coloring. It was a unique and breathtaking sight to see from so high up, which helped make it easier to forget his unorthodox transportation and how it was nothing more than two arms wrapped around his chest that kept him from plummeting to an untimely demise.

“The view is…really cool from up here.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Lapis responded thoughtfully. “Earth is…pretty nice. It’s grown on me.”

The mention of Earth, and the view of the ocean ahead, had Jesse remembering something Greg had brought up about Lapis. Apparently the entire reason she had used the ocean was because she was trying to go home. But, she was still here, on Earth. Jesse assumed she must’ve failed getting back if that was the case. He wondered if she was sad about that if it were true, but he thought it would probably be too much to ask. Still, maybe she was successful and could go back to her home whenever she wanted, but was staying here for whatever reason. Apparently not to be a “Crystal Gem” or whatever they were called.

“You like it on Earth, then?” He asked instead, keeping it simple.

There was a short beat before Lapis answered. “Yeah.”

“Good. That’s good.” Jesse responded, not sure what else to say about it. He certainly was curious, but he didn’t want to be nosy. He remembered something about Lapis mentioning she didn’t want to talk about her home world. “I hope other humans have been nice to you.”

“I haven’t really met any. Except for one, I guess. He was very kind.” Lapis said. “More than I deserved, really…” She shifted into a slight mumble for that last part.

“More than you deserved?”

“O-oh, I, um…” Jesse could hear how flustered her voice was. “I…didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“No, it’s cool. Don’t worry.” He told her assuringly. Whatever Lapis had meant, Jesse knew the life he was currently living was much more than he deserved. He couldn't imagine Lapis had done worse, even if she had godly powers. 

There was another short pause. “Thanks.” Lapis said. “We’re almost there. I’ll take you down now.”

Jesse watched as they soared directly above Beach City, and then over the cliff at the very end of the peninsula. The rising slope with the lighthouse at its peak reached high enough that its very top was level with Jesse and Lapis as they passed by it. What was far more awe inspiring than that however, was seeing the other side of the cliff.

It was harder to tell while directly above, but as Lapis carried him further out and slowed her forward momentum so that she could shift to suspend the two of them in the air, Jesse noticed how the wall of the cliff had been carved into a truly colossal statue of a very bizarre looking woman. She cradled an entire house in one of her many sets of arms, although Jesse didn’t immediately realize she was sculpted with more than one pair of hands, as most of them had since fallen off. Jesse was shocked, not realizing something so extraordinary had been so close all this time. He hadn’t stepped foot on the sand since he had gotten to Beach City, so he wasn’t even aware there was a rather spacious beach with a giant statue just behind the eastern cliff.

Lapis was simply holding him in the air at this point, with the two being completely vertical. When Lapis gently spun around, Jesse found the statue staring straight at him. The short distance Lapis had gained from it didn’t seem to make it appear any less gigantic.

“W-woah…” Jesse was speechless.

“You haven’t seen it before?” Lapis questioned as she began to slowly lower the two of them towards the beach below. “Yeah, that’s the Crystal Gems’ base of operations. Kind of tacky, isn’t it?”

“It’s…not what I expected. Is that a Gem?”

“A fusion, probably.” Lapis answered, leaving him a little confused. “Watch your feet.”

Jesse tore his attention away from the giant statue ahead and noticed he was almost ground level once again. Lapis slowly lowered him to the sandy beach floor, where he could finally plant his feet on solid ground. Jesse felt Lapis’ arms uncoil from his torso, and he could turn around and see her face again for the first time since they had begun flying together. He took a deep breath to collect himself as the adrenaline began to fade.

“Thanks, Lapis. That was…cool. Really cool, I mean.” He told her with surprising earnestness. “It was fun.”

“It was? I’m happy.” Lapis returned softly. Her grin was contagious, and Jesse noticed a slight blush on her again. A light sea breeze gently blew against her hair and dress. The fresh orange sunset behind her contrasted beautifully with her blue complexion. “I was going slower than I usually do, but I’ll throw in a flip or two next time just for you.”

“H-heh, that might be a…bit much.” Jesse chuckled nervously at her joke. “Wait. Next time?”

“Well, I need to take you back, don’t I?” Lapis put astutely. “And…maybe we can do it again in the future too. You know, if you want.”

“Uh, yeah. We can.” Jesse put out simply, letting it linger in the air. Flying with Lapis had proven more exhilarating than terrifying, so he really wouldn’t mind doing it again in the future. Sure, it was a little awkward at first to be carried in such an intimate looking way, but that was for necessity’s sake, Jesse told himself. For safety and comfortability. Yeah, that.

After a few seconds of awkwardly staring at each other, Lapis spoke up. “Well, I didn’t see Peridot on the way here, and I doubt she’d stay at the Temple, so they’re probably not done with their mission just yet. I guess I brought you all the way out here for nothing.”

Jesse stared out at the open beach around them, and the ocean waters farther ahead. They were completely alone, which felt pretty nice. He had avoided the beach specifically because he didn’t feel comfortable being in an area with too many people around, so he felt very at ease at the moment. “That’s all right. If you want we could…hang out here or something, y’know?”

“You’d want to stay out here for a while?” Lapis asked, taking the time to give the beach her own once-over. “Sure, that sounds nice. But what would you want to do?”

“Talk, I guess.” Jesse shrugged. “And, uh, if you’re fine with it, I’d like to know you a little better.” Jesse stared out into the ocean, thinking about what he had heard from Greg. Lapis seemed to catch his eye.

“Are you still curious about my powers?” She asked, extending her hand towards the ocean and causing a few fountain-like streams to jet out of the water in the distance.

“Well, yeah. But also, like, who you are as a person too. Y’know?”

Lapis paused for a little bit, looking off into the horizon as the sun was in the process of setting. “You know what? Sure.” She decided, before turning back to him. “But I have to ask the same for you.”

Notes:

A perspective change MID chapter?! They said it couldn't be done, but I did it. Please clap.

Chapter 8: Why are you conversing?

Summary:

Jesse and Lapis have a one-to-one together.

“You wanna know about me, too?” Jesse asked.

“I do. Isn’t that fair?” Lapis responded. “I’m not asking for your darkest secrets or anything like that. Just…anything, really.”

“Right, yeah.” Jesse found that agreeable, at least. He certainly did possess a lot of “dark secrets” he never wanted resurfaced, so to not feel pressured about them was definitely preferable. Though as Jesse continued to think about it, he wondered what things he even could tell her. Things that weren’t complete and tirelessly rehearsed lies. He hadn’t even told her his real name, and in retrospect, the fact he was getting used to being called “Steve” made him feel uncomfortably deceptive, even if it was hugely important. “That’s fair.”

“All right.” Lapis nodded with a faint smile. “There’s…probably a lot of stuff you’re still wondering about, I bet.”

A huge understatement for sure. “Yeah. There, uh… There is.” He said, wondering where exactly to start. Something she had said during the flight still lingered in his mind. Perhaps not his biggest question, but still something that felt appropriate to ask. “So… You’re liking Earth, right? How’s it been for you?”

As Lapis looked back at Jesse, her smile seemed to fade a little. “It’s a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. But recently, things have been good, and it’s stayed like that for a while.” Lapis told him. “I’ve got friends here, and a safe place to stay. I know I can’t take those things for granted.”

For a moment, Jesse felt a slight pang of envy. He had left his own friends far behind, and regardless about how safe he truly was or wasn’t hiding in Beach City, it felt much more natural to be fearful no matter how far away Albuquerque was. “I’m happy for you.” Jesse said after a pause. Despite his thoughts, he was truly genuine for her.

“Your turn.” Lapis said, slightly puckish. “How about you? You’re new here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. And uh, you were the first person I saw here, too.” Jesse remarked. “I asked if I was going the right way, and you said yes.”

“I remember that.” Lapis nodded. “People don’t often come by the barn.”

“Well, thanks for that.”

Lapis smirked. “No problem.”

“But yeah, uh, Beach City is pretty nice, I guess.” He told her, sounding very lukewarm overall.

“You guess?” Lapis asked with a raised brow.

“No, I mean it. I do.” Jesse clarified. “It’s just, like, uh… I haven’t really been…getting out there, y’know? Not yet.”

“Are you shy?”

“That’s not it.” Jesse wasn’t sure how he should, or even could, really go about explaining it. “I mean. I guess…I kinda have…trust issues?”

“Trust issues?” Lapis repeated, it having seemingly caught her in her own thoughts. “Are you sure?”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

A wry smirk grew on her face. “You trusted me enough to fly you all the way over here.”

“Uh… Point taken.” Jesse conceded, feeling his face flush. “But you’re cool, Lapis. I know that much, at least. You’re really chill, and it’s nice to hang out with you.”

“Oh, um. Thanks.” She replied with a tone suddenly more bashful, and holding an embarrassed look on her face. “Same for you. And you were pretty funny when we were watching Camp Pining Hearts together, too.”

Lapis’ laughter was brought back to Jesse’s mind. He was flattered by the complement, but what contributed more to his current, modest grin was remembering how she had sounded then, and how comfortable he had been. “Thanks.” Was all he could say in return, awkward but genuine. “You’re…really the only person I’ve gotten to know since I’ve gotten here. And I…never thought I’d meet an alien… Er—Gem. So that’s neat…and lot to think about.”

A thought seemed to hit Lapis as she listened to him. “…What do you think about Gems so far?” She asked.

“Oh uh, well you’re really the only one I’ve met, so… I don’t really know.” Jesse replied. “I know that like, you specifically can move water and fly around, and like I said, you’re pretty cool, so…yeah.”

“But, you’re not scared of what I can do anymore, right?”

“Well… No, I’m not.” Jesse told her. “Because I know I can trust you, so I don’t need to worry or anything.”

“Hm.” Lapis hummed thoughtfully. She turned towards the end of the peninsula; the most eastern point of the town. “Could you walk with me?” She asked of him, beginning to take a few steps in the direction opposite of the giant woman carved into the cliffside behind Jesse. She was walking towards the nearly concluding sunset, and Jesse quickened his pace so that they could walk side-by-side along the edge of the shore. “You’ve…heard about what I did, right?” She asked, staring out into the ocean. The orange rays of the setting sun gave it a beautiful warm coloring, though Lapis’ eyes seemed to stare past that as she held a vulnerable looking expression.

Jesse caught her eye, and from where she was looking, he knew exactly what she was referring to. “…I think so, yeah. When the ocean receded…that was you, right?”

Lapis flattened her lips and gave a nod as they walked. “Even being new here, I knew you’d have to have heard about it by now.” She said with a considerably dampened tone. “I was…being selfish. I was using your ocean for my own gain, and I didn’t think about how it might affect the people who live by it.” She admitted, sounding distant.

Eventually Lapis reached the end of the beach; the very tip of the peninsula. Nothing but the vast ocean as far as the eye could see. She simply stared outwards. As Jesse took his place next to her, he saw an embarrassed and regretful look in her eyes. He hadn’t expected Lapis to open up to him like this. “Well, from what I heard, it sounded like nothing too bad happened.” He put in, seeing her lowered mood.

Lapis turned her head from the ocean in front of her to Jesse. “W-what? No, it still was bad. I’m thankful it wasn’t any worse, but it could've been. And it still did…hurt people.” She told him seriously. “So, I appreciate you saying I’m cool and all, but I think it’s best you know that I’m…not so cool.”

“Oh.” Jesse couldn't find an immediate response. Lapis dourly admitting the whole ocean event to him had Jesse caught off-guard. He could understand through what Greg had told him, and even through Lapis’ own attitude, that she had some regrets about it, and that was something he hadn’t wanted to pester her about. He never planned to bring it up, especially since Lapis had been so considerate about not prying into his own past, so for her to talk about it herself was surprising to him. The was a part of him that admired that forwardness, and he wished I could do the same, but he couldn’t. At least, not really.

Lapis stared back at the water, absentmindedly stirring and swishing it about with a subtle wave of her hand. “So… Yeah. I figure it’s best I at least tell you. If that changes how you see me, I get it.”

Jesse pondered what she had told him, and how open she was being about it. Again…he was beginning to wish he could do the same. “Lapis, I’m in no position to judge you, all right?”

Lapis stopped swirling the water. “…What?”

“I’ve done bad things too, y’know.” Jesse admitted, feeling pretty nervous to say something even as vague as that about his past life. He reminded himself that Lapis was an alien who lived in a barn on the secluded countryside of the east coast. If there was someone he could afford to be a little vague to, it was her. “Stuff I hate thinking about. Really, really hate thinking about.”

Although now it was Jesse staring straight through the ocean ahead, he could see in the corner of his eye that he had Lapis’ full attention. The orange light of the fading sunset was almost entirely gone. “You do?” She asked.

Jesse nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, like… I was in a bad place for a long time. I hurt people too. Not cause I wanted to, though. But I…I did. I’m not proud of it.”

Lapis stared over at him with a pensive look in her eyes. There was a long silence between the two with ambient sounds of gentle winds and water. “Is that why you’re here?”

Jesse froze up. He knew she didn’t say that in an accusatory way, but even a simple question like that could shake him a little inside. He of course didn’t know her exact thoughts, but he had to hope that her question was more based on wondering if he was trying to live a new life rather than currently trying to hide from his old one.

“Oh, sorry. That was too much, wasn’t it?”

“Nah, no, it ain’t… Uh, it’s fine.” He told her. “I came here cause, uh… Too much has changed, I guess. I can’t really go back.” His voice was more forlorn than he realized.

As Lapis looked at him, she seemingly couldn’t think of anything to respond with. Jesse wondered what she assumed of him with his murky explanations. That he’s “done bad too” yet can’t be as open about it as she was.

“Yeah… So like, I’m not like a saint or nothing either, so you don’t need to worry about me judging you or anything.”

Jesse could see his words reflect in Lapis’ mind as they looked at each other. He knew that he should be more cautious about even hinting towards his past life. Being unreadably vague about it or not, it simply wasn’t a good idea, so he wondered why he was even sharing. Perhaps it was because Lapis was an alien, so it was very easy to disconnect her life from his.

“Here.” Lapis spoke simply, extending an arm straight forward and lining her palm parallel to the surface of the ocean ahead. Her fingers curled downward while her arm was pulled upwards. Jesse watched in silent awe as the surface of water directly in front of them rose into a large, circular platform with cleanly defined edges many yards in diameter. The platform of water froze no more than two inches as Lapis held it there. She turned to look at him, before stepping up onto the risen water where she stood atop it like it was solid ground. She extended an arm to Jesse. “Do you still trust me?” She asked, slightly above him as he still stood on the sandy beach.

Jesse looked at her hand for only a moment, before taking it and nodding. Gems didn’t seem to have body warmth. Not Lapis, at least. Instead there was the slightest coolness to her, like…well, a gemstone. Lapis pulled him up onto the circular platform of water, and Jesse felt his feet plant themselves cleanly on its surface. He looked directly downward in amazement, seeing his wavy reflection upon the very water he was standing upon. “You…can really do whatever you want with water, huh?”

“I guess.” Lapis weakly shrugged, before turning towards the horizon. The sun was no longer visible, though its orange rays still barely shined within their view. “Let’s go a little farther out for this.”

“Uh… Yeah. All right.”

Jesse followed closely behind Lapis as she walked towards the other end of the circular platform, before raising yet another platform that intersected with the first, and was a step higher. As the two of them walked onto the newly formed circle, Lapis allowed the previous one to fall back into place, losing its densely entwined structure and collapsing back into the ocean. The process repeated as they moved from circle to circle, raising up one step each time. To say Jesse was amazed was a huge understatement. He could certainly see the truth in her ability to move entire oceans, even through the minuscule sample he was witnessing right now. Each circular platform was a pillar that required more and more water to construct as each was subsequently built just a step taller than the last.

As the sky darkened with the sun fully passed below the horizon, Jesse rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a lighter. He hadn’t smoked in a long time, and frankly he hoped he’d never light another cigarette ever again, but keeping a lighter on him was something he often found himself doing regardless. He wasn’t sure why, but at least here it would come in handy as he lit a flame that illuminated a small area around him. The warm light it cast refracted through the water he walked upon, as well as reflected off of the back of Lapis, who turned her head briefly to see what the source of light behind her was.

The starry sky above got ever so slightly closer with every platform, and the peninsula with the giant stone lady carved into the cliffside similarly went further away. Their gradual ascension gave Jesse an ever better view of the vast expanse of the ocean, of which he was technically standing on. Jesse felt as if he had ended up in an entirely new universe. For a moment, he felt a sense of almost childlike wonder that any of this was even possible; that he could be walking up the ocean and into the sky. It was breathtaking, to be honest.

Eventually, Jesse halted as Lapis suddenly stopped at the center of their current platform. She was lit by both Jesse’s lighter, and the twinkles of the stars reflecting off of the surface of the spire of water they stood upon. Lapis stared back at him for a bit, before looking beyond him and in the direction of Beach City. Jesse turned himself, and saw that they had gone so far out that it he could barely pick apart any particular detail on the giant statue. “I think we’re out far enough now.” She said.

“Far enough for what?” Jesse asked.

“I didn’t want to scare anyone that happens to look this way.” Lapis warned, before holding both her arms in front of her with raised hands and palms facing downward. “Steady yourself. You might want to come a little closer.”

“Uh, sure.” Jesse said, taking his place right beside Lapis at the center of the platform.

As Jesse wondered what was supposed to be happening next, he noticed Lapis, with silent poise, tense her shoulders and lift her hands up by leading with her upper arms. Jesse’s knees buckled slightly as he felt the water platform below him suddenly rise even higher with the two of them still on it, though he managed to adjust in time and keep his balance. The water spire gained height at a very steady pace, which Jesse was able to roughly gauge through both how low the flame on his lighter dipped and the air they rushed past. The ocean below became farther away, and yet looked even larger as it continued to stretch past the horizon line that was beginning to develop a slight curve as they rose higher. Even though the stars above didn’t appear to get much larger, they still felt closer.

Soon Lapis stopped raising it, imposing its apex above even the clouds. It was even taller than the highest distance Lapis and Jesse had reached while flying. It was a truly colossal column of water that he couldn’t hope to see the full scope of, with how high in the air he was being his best indication. The sheer altitude seemed to weaken the flame on his lighter slightly, but the surface of the water platform reflected the starlight beautifully, almost shining like a kaleidoscope with many cooler colors glowing in various places.

“Yo… This… I don’t even have words, man…” Jesse spoke in awe, looking around in amazement. No matter where he looked, the view was always breathtaking. Whether it was the ocean far below, the starry night sky above, or Lapis standing at the center of the shining surface of the water spire, it all almost made Jesse wish he was a photographer or something. It was enough to make him forget about all his worries, at least for the moment.

Lapis, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care too much for the views as Jesse did. She had her focus solely directly upwards at the stars above, although she didn’t look as awestruck as Jesse. Seeing how focused she was, he joined in on quite literally staring into space, where a long silence ensued.

“I can’t go home either.” Lapis said after a while. “I know we can’t really see it from here, but it’s up there.” She told him knowingly, staring deeply somewhere among the stars.

Jesse scanned the night sky. He thought that one star in particular seemed to twinkle a little more vividly than the rest, but he couldn’t be sure if he was just imagining it or not. “Do you wish you could go back?” He asked.

Lapis remained silent for a while, and enough for Jesse to begin to wonder if she had even heard him. “I…don’t think so.” She finally answered. “It’s like you said before: Too much has changed. Even if I’d be welcomed back, I don’t think I’d be too happy. I can’t even really say what’s left for me there.”

Jesse turned his head and saw the uncertainty in her eyes. While her expression was rather stoic, there still appeared to be a hint of sadness in how she looked.

“I just don’t really know what to think.” She continued. “I had been on Earth for so long that when I finally got back… I don’t know, I guess I’ve completely forgot how life felt before I was suddenly stranded here. And the whiplash of it all never really seemed to go away completely.”

Jesse could tell she wasn’t trying to noticeably express it, but he could still hear the frustration buried under all of that confusion and emptiness. He supposed he knew where to look. “I heard the reason you used the ocean was to get home.”

“It was. But that doesn’t excuse it.” Lapis said, still looking up. “Especially since it wouldn’t have even worked. I almost drowned people for nothing.” She scoffed at herself.

Jesse could easily say he’s done worse, but that definitely wasn’t a competition he wanted to start. He was certain Lapis wouldn’t really care for that either. He still wasn’t sure what to say.

“…Wait.” Lapis said after a while, before turning her head down and looking at Jesse. “Where did you hear that from? That I was trying to go home?”

“A guy named Greg. He said he met you.”

“Oh, yeah. I…broke his leg.” Lapis admitted. “And sunk his boat.”

“Yeah, he told me.”

Lapis’ face flushed a deeper blue, and Jesse realized mentioning that so casually was a little tactless.

“O-oh, uh, I mean, he was fine with it. Like, he doesn’t hold it against you or anything.” Jesse tried putting in as an attempt to undo his thoughtlessness. “He said you were pretty nice, and he seems like an honest dude, so...”

Lapis’ blush faded, and she gave him a candid look. She let out a small sigh. “You know you don’t have to try and make me feel better.” She said frankly. “I did bad things, and if anyone wants to acknowledge that, it’s deserved. I appreciate you trying to be nice but…you don’t have to force yourself.”

There was a brief silence. “I’m not.” Jesse spoke up, simply and honestly. “I’m not forcing myself. Even if you’ve done bad things, at least you’re honest about it. You’re not trying to peddle some big moral obligation like you actually did the right thing or some shit. Like I respect that, but beating yourself up doesn’t really do anything either.” He said sternly, and surprising himself with how genuine he felt about it. “And like I said…I’m in no position to judge you.”

From the looks of it, Jesse surprised more than just himself. “Oh, you… You really mean it.” Lapis said, at a slight loss for words.

“Well yeah.” Jesse said as if he imagined it were obvious. “I’ll admit your water powers kinda freaked me out before I knew about them, but you’ve shown me you’re not a danger or anything. Like it doesn’t compute in my brain, y’know, that you’d purposefully do something bad again after all you’ve told me. And if that’s the case, I don’t see why you should keep making yourself feel bad over it. Like just live your life, yo. Let yourself be happy.” He continued, before losing steam. “At least that’s…just what I think. I know we haven’t known each other for a long time but…I still would like to be…friends.”

As Lapis stared back at him, and a silence hung in the air, Jesse once again had to take in the sight. The reflective surface of the water, and the starry night sky all around provided an indescribably beautiful atmosphere, and Jesse found that Lapis fit quite well at the focus of his attention, standing in the center with her blue complexion that seemed to glow due to how the light around found its way to her. It was…otherworldly, for lack of a better word. Or… No, that fit very well, actually.

“Well… Um. Heh…” Lapis seemed to struggle to find her words, only to crack a small smile; a smile that Jesse was happy to see. “Yeah. We can.” She said. “And thank you—for saying that.

“Yeah, of course.” Jesse said with a nod. “I’m happy to make a friend here. I thought it’d…be a while.”

“Well, I’m glad we met.” Lapis told him gratefully. “Whatever reason you’ve come here for, I hope I can make it a little better for you.”

“You have.” Jesse said before he even really thought about it, but it was true. His time spent with Lapis had some of the only moments that he wasn’t dwelling on terrible thoughts ever since he was freed. He was allowed to follow his own advice and let himself be happy.

“R-really? That’s good.” Lapis replied, her smile have grown larger. She looked so genuine and kind. Jesse was glad to see her depressed demeanor had mostly faded away. “You too.” She added.

“Ah. Sweet.” Jesse said, almost feeling a little embarrassed at hearing Lapis’ appreciation for him. Slightly flustered, he searched for another question to ask to fill in the growing silence. “So uh, why’re we up here?”

Lapis looked away. “I wanted to show you that the rumors were true—to be honest with you about what I did.” Lapis explained. “Though I guess I didn’t have to bring you up with me in order to show you. I hope I didn’t scare you.”

“Nah, you didn’t. It’s not scary. It’s actually like…pretty beautiful.”

Lapis paused. “…Beautiful?”

“Yeah. The stars and…the water… It’s like, hypnotic, y'know? It’s amazing you can do all this. Seriously.”

“Oh. Well, thanks I guess.” Lapis said with a smile, and she watched Jesse take a few steps closer to the edge so he could look out over everything. She joined his side, and they gazed out together at the shining moon far in the distance. “…I should probably bring us down soon. It’s so late.” Lapis turned to him. “Do you have anywhere to be? Don’t humans need to sleep?”

Jesse turned back to her with a confused glint in his eyes. “Huh? Do Gems not sleep?”

“We don’t need to, but I do it for fun sometimes. I guess it's kind of a new hobby for me.”

Jesse snickered. “Sleeping for fun? That’s wild.” He remarked. If he were in her shoes, he’d probably avoid sleeping all together. Nightmares were still pretty frequent for him. “But uh, no actually. I already turned in my key for the inn I was at, anyway.”

“Really? Where are you going to stay, then?” Lapis asked a little more seriously. “…Do you even have a place to stay?”

“My uh… My car.” Jesse admitted. The truth was that the inn had felt like a paradise after all he'd been through, but he became increasingly worried that the longer he’d spend there at once, the more suspicious it would be. Sleeping in his car was not something new to him, but after having a warm bed and a spacious room, he desperately wanted to go back.

Lapis raised a brow. “That doesn’t sound comfortable.”

Jesse shrugged. “It’s fine.” He lied, and it was a lie that didn’t seem to get past Lapis.

“You can stay at the barn. Like I said, I don’t need sleep, so you can use my hammock.”

Her offer took Jesse by surprise. “Really? Are you… Are you sure?”

Lapis shot back a knowing smirk. “Of course. You said we were friends, right?”

“Oh… Yeah.” Jesse felt a little warm inside hearing that.

“Plus then I’ll probably get to introduce you to Peridot whenever she gets back.”

Jesse pondered her offer. He felt the modest answer would be to decline, so as to not be a bother. But from the sound of it, it seemed like Lapis was hoping he’d accept. He imagined sleeping in his car, and thought about his poor back…

“Yeah, all right.” Jesse finally responded. “Thank you. Really, thank you.”

Lapis smiled warmly. “It’s nothing. Here, I’ll fly us back.”

A slight blush colored Jesse’s face as he was reminded what that would mean. Despite that, though, he found he was actually looking forward to it a bit. “Right. I’m ready.” He told her, taking one last look at the stars above.

Lapis had stepped behind him before long, wrapping her arms around him as gently as she could. “All right. Here we go.” She spoke close to his ear, before Jesse heard her wings sprout and push them off of the platform.

As the two of them flew away, Jesse could hear the water tower behind them lose its structure and collapse downwards towards the ocean far below. He couldn’t see it as they faced away, but as they passed over the beach they had been on before, he noticed a singular, moderate wave splash over the shore.

Notes:

Jesse Pinkman and Lapis Lazuli? More like... Jes-say Talkman and Yapis Blabzuli.

Damn it. These are my worst chapter notes yet.

Chapter 9: Why are you introducing?

Summary:

Morning arrives at the barn, and Lapis gets the chance to introduce her new friends together.

Lapis sat upon the rounded top of the silo she had used to build the barn’s aquarium, overlooking the gradual rise of the sun over the horizon. She had a lot on her mind, like usual. She had made a new friend, so that was nice. It certainly felt nice. What was that, three people she could truly consider friends now? She was on a roll. Though there was something about Steve that set him apart from the other two.

Sure, she related a lot with Peridot in both of them being Homeworld Gems now stranded on Earth. And yet, she weirdly saw more of herself in Steve than Peridot, despite being entirely different species from entirely different worlds. There were a lot of times Lapis looked at Steve, and for whatever reasons, found a familiar feeling here and there. She wondered if that was why she had been comfortable enough to talk to him about her past mistake, and even decided to give him a “small” sample to prove she was capable of it.

Lapis allowed herself to get lost in the sunrise. Both the sunrise and the sunset were pretty nice to look at, she supposed. When she was trapped in the mirror and abandoned, facing directly upwards at the sky for countless years before Pearl found it, she had only ever seen Earth’s sun directly above. Now having the ability to watch it pass above or below the horizon line, and seeing how that changed the color of the sky, she could appreciate what she had missed out on.

Yeah. Earth was pretty all right, she guessed.

She remained on top of the silo even after the sun was fully in view, feeling its balmy rays gradually grow stronger. The gentle warmth reminded her of Steve. She didn’t often come into contact with humans, so she had forgotten they were slightly warm to the touch. Lapis wondered why that came to mind so naturally. Maybe it was because of the way she carried him during their flights together. She just couldn’t seem to get him out of her mind in general, although she supposed that made sense after last night.

After having her fill of sitting around and doing nothing, Lapis decided to check in on Steve. She jumped from the silo all the way to the ground below, only using her wings to decelerate just before landing. As she stepped into the barn, she noticed something along the roof: A lime green bubble floating with something inside. Weird. She didn’t know Peridot could bubble things.

Lapis turned her attention away from the new bubble and towards the hammock farther into the barn. She could see that Steve was still there and asleep. He was strangely laid on his stomach as opposed to his back. One arm dangled off the side of the hammock, and his face was turned towards her direction. As she got closer, Lapis once again noticed the faded cuts that marked his face. The humans she had seen had never looked as beat up as Steve. Lapis wondered what exactly he had been through in the past.

Suddenly, Steve jolted in his sleep, taking Lapis by surprise and snapping her out of her focus. A faint mumble escaped him, although it was much too unclear for Lapis to understand. Whatever it was, it sounded uncomfortable and even a little distressed from what Lapis could tell. His body jolted again, followed by multiple concerning shifts and twitches. He mumbled some more, still incomprehensible, though Lapis was pretty sure she heard a few “no”s here and there.

“Steve?” Lapis spoke, confused and concerned, and not sure if he was awake or not. When Steve didn’t respond and continued to move around as if he were being possessed, Lapis’ worry grew. “Steve!?” She said louder, reaching her hand out to him.

“SHIT!” Steve yelled as his eyelids flapped open at Lapis’ touch, and his body having lurched to the other end of the hammock where the suddenly uneven weight distribution had the hammock twist and flip him off the side. He landed with a hard thud flat on his back.

“Ah! Steve! I-I’m sorry!” Lapis cried out apologetically as she rushed over to the other side, where Steve strained to curl up from the ground with his teeth grit and eyes shut.

Steve groaned in pain as he pushed himself up from the ground. “…the hell…” He rubbed the back of his head with one hand.

“Are you okay?!” She asked as knelt by his side.

“L-Lapis?” Steve blinked hard a couple of times, before making another pained groan. “Y-yeah—nah, yeah…uh.” He managed to push himself into an upright sitting position before rubbing his face.

“I’m sorry!” Lapis apologized again worriedly with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just watching you, and you started acting weird.”

“It’s all right… That…wasn’t your fault.” Steve sighed. “…Wait. You were watching me while I slept?”

“I was just looking for a little bit.” Lapis told him simply, as if that were a normal thing to say. There was a short pause as Steve held an unsure look on his face. Lapis then surmised something from his lack of response. “…That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Uh. Don’t worry about it.” Steve told her, beginning to lift himself up.

Lapis extended her hand in a silent offer to help him up, and Steve had little hesitation in taking it. There was that warmth again. “But seriously, are you all right?” She asked him after pulling him up to his feet.

“Yeah. Like I said, it ain’t your fault. It was just…just a nightmare, I think.” He explained, looking a little distant.

“A nightmare?” Lapis tilted her head.

“Oh uh, y’know, a bad dream.” Steve said. “I guess you mentioned Gems don’t need to sleep. So do you guys not dream or anything when you actually do knock out for the night?”

Lapis reflected on his question. “Those are when you relive parts of your past while asleep, right? Dreams, that is?”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded, and then frowned three seconds later. “No wait, they don’t have to be memories. They can be anything.”

“Oh, well… Yeah then, stuff like that has happened to me before. I don’t really know, I’m pretty new to sleeping, so maybe I’m still pretty bad at it.”

Lapis found Steve staring at her, as if he couldn’t understand what she had just said, before a bemused smirk began to form. “Tch.” He snickered. “Ah man.”

“W-what?” Lapis asked in response to his laughter. “It’s true. I’m new to it.” She grumbled sourly, feeling the slightest bit offended. So what if she wasn’t the best at it, she did it for fun! It’s not like she was aiming to do it professionally or anything…

“No, no. It’s good. It’s all good, yo.” Steve told her, shaking off his amused tone as he spoke. “It’s just that people don’t really train to go to bed. Not humans, at least. Unless you have insomnia maybe.”

Lapis’ shame began to fade. “Well it’s good to know you’re fine.” She told him, before realizing herself that she could’ve meant that for either his “nightmare” or his fall. Lapis supposed she meant both. She still felt some lingering guilt for the fall, though.

“I’m good. Don’t worry about it.” Steve assured her, before his attention was brought upwards. “Hey uh, what’s that up there?”

Lapis followed his eyes to the lime green bubble hovering by the ceiling. “A bubble.” She answered. “Peridot’s from the looks of it. Gems can bubble things to keep them stored and safe. I’m not sure what’s inside that one, though.”

“Wait, so she was here while I was asleep? What time is it?”

Lapis shrugged. “It’s pretty late into the morning. Though Peridot hasn’t come back yet. She just warped the bubble here from wherever she was.” She explained.

“Oh, so… She’s not here then.”

“No.” Lapis said, before picking up on an approaching gallop of footsteps in the distance. “Oh. Maybe I spoke too soon.” She remarked before turning and hurrying out the barn door to check on the noise. Steve followed.

As Lapis stepped outside, she saw an approaching pink blob in the distance, with a smidgen of green on it. There was not just once voice she could pick up on, but two, and Lapis felt her mood lift. She wasn't expecting that she was going to get to introduce Steve to both her other friends today.

---

“What’s that? Is she here now?” Jesse questioned as he rushed out of the barn closely behind her.

The sunlight was pretty bright, but once his eyes adjusted, he noticed something large and pink heading their way, and fast. As it got closer, Jesse was able to pick out more details, and he felt his heart miss a beat as he realized what it was. “A lion?!” He cried out in shock as it seemed to be making a beeline straight towards the two of them.

Lapis turned to him quickly. “No no! It’s okay! It’s not a threat.” She assured him, trying to ease his panic.

Jesse was half-way ready to run back into the barn, but Lapis’ assurance had managed to calm him down enough. He knew that he could trust her, and it sounded like she knew what this was about. Still, Jesse felt that regardless of context, seeing a lion charging directly towards your direction would always feel at least a little terrifying. Even a lion as pink as that one. Why was it even pink? More Gem weirdness?

And that wasn’t the only strange thing about it, now that Jesse had committed to watching it approach with Lapis. Sitting on its back appeared to be a human boy. Behind him, looking much less comfortable upon the lion’s back, was someone who was as green as Lapis was blue. She was much shorter though, and Jesse might not have even seen her behind the boy had her hair not been stylized into a giant four-pointed diamond. Jesse had seen some really strange hairstyles at Beach City, so it really meant something when that one took the cake by far.

“Steven!” Lapis called over before sprouting her wings and jetting over to meet them half-way. Wait, “Steven?” Jesse knew he had heard that name before, remembering he had since it sounded so close to his fake name. But where did he hear it again…?

Up ahead, Jesse saw as the lion came to a stop as Lapis approached it. Feeling awkward about simply watching from afar, Jesse looked around aimlessly before deciding to make his way over there too. He saw as the boy hopped off with relative ease, while the short green girl more or less tumbled off of the side.

“Lapis!” The boy called back gleefully as Lapis approached.

The short green woman dusted herself off after picking herself up from the ground, grumbling something about walking next time even if it’s slower. The lion, meanwhile, yawned and stretched as if it were simply a particularly large house cat before laying upon the grass. To Jesse, it really did just seem like “anything goes” in this strange new place he was living in.

“It’s nice to see you again.” Lapis spoke warmly. Through her voice alone, Jesse could tell that whoever this boy was, she was good friends with him.

“I feel bad we left so early last time, so I wanted to come see you again. But then the Rubies were here, and then we went to space, and then I got stranded in space… But I’m here now!” The boy said, before a knowing smile crept onto his expression. “And I heard something from Garnet about you…”

“Ugh, not you too.” Lapis said, and although Jesse couldn’t see her expression as he came up from behind, he could hear the eye roll and smirk in her tone. “Is it really big news to everybody?”

“Come on, Lapis. I’m just really happy to hear that it sounds like you’re finding your groove on Earth.”

“Well, thanks. But really, you don’t need to act like it’s anything impressive.”

As Jesse got closer, he saw the green lady was seemingly about to say something herself, but her eye caught him as he approached. “Oh…” She spoke briefly, before leaning towards Lapis and whispering, although she was still loud enough for him to hear her clearly. “Is that him? Is that the human?”

“Uh… Yo… What’s up?” Jesse spoke awkwardly as he made his way to the group. He rubbed the back of his head, partly from feeling a little out of place, and partly because his head still hurt a bit from falling from the hammock earlier.

The boy quickly made his way towards him, offering his hand to shake. “Hey there! You’re Lapis’ new friend, right?” He asked. “I’m also Lapis’ friend! But you can just call me Steven.”

“Steven, yeah?” Jesse replied, shaking his hand. “Funny. I’m Steve.”

“Hey, that means we get to be friends too. From one Steve to another—en.”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah.” Jesse forced a weak chuckle.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Do you live in Beach City?” Steven asked as they broke off their handshake.

“Yeah, I do. Got here like a few days ago. Don’t really have a house of my own or anything yet, though.” Jesse explained, before he noticed the short green lady’s scrutinizing gaze over him. “Uh… Hey. You must be Peridot then, right?”

The stern expression on her face didn’t change, even as Jesse extended his arm for a handshake. She left him hanging for a few seconds, before raising a finger and taking a deep breath in preparation to say something.

“Don’t ask him about Camp Pining Hearts.” Lapis interrupted frankly before the green lady could even begin speaking.

“Fine.” She relented with a sigh and her head craning back.

“Come on Peridot. Shake his hand!” Steven encouraged. “Don’t leave him hanging.”

Peridot stared at Jesse for a second, and then his outstretched hand. Through what looked like either caution or reluctance, she met him halfway, although Jesse had to pull most of the weight in actually shaking their hands.

“Nice to…meet you.” She spoke, not meeting his eyes. “I suppose.”

“Uh, yeah… Same.” Jesse responded, a little put-off by her unenthusiastic demeanor. “You share the barn with Lapis, right? I’ve heard a bit about you.”

Peridot’s eyes finally looked back at Jesse, and to his relief, seemed to soften a considerable amount. “I’ve heard a little bit about you too. And your morp was…admittedly well crafted. Certainly more thoughtfully constructed than your thoughts about—“

“Peridot.” Lapis cut in, giving her a serious look.

“Okay, fine. Fine.” Peridot sighed.

“But yeah. Steven, Peridot, this is my friend Steve.” Lapis told them, earning a very happy smile from Steven, and even a genuine grin from Peridot. Lapis turned to Jesse. “Steve, these are my friends Steven and Peridot.”

“Don’t forget Lion!” Steven put in, gesturing to the pink beast that was paying none of them any attention as it rested.

“And Lion.” Lapis repeated with a shrug.

Jesse leaned towards Lapis. “So you don’t have Gem-horses, but you do have Gem-lions?”

“I have no idea what his deal is either.” She said back.

“I hope we didn’t interrupt the two of you hanging out together.” Steven said.

“No, you’re good.” Jesse replied. “I just woke up, so…yeah.”

“Woke up?” Peridot echoed, and she raised a brow. “Wait, were you sleeping at the barn?”

“O-oh, yeah, I was. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Don’t worry.” Lapis put in. “My hammock, my rules.” She stated matter-of-factly.

“If you don’t mind, I don’t either.” Said Peridot nonchalantly to Lapis, which relieved Jesse. He certainly didn’t want to feel as if he were intruding with how comfortable he had gotten in the barn.

“It’s good to meet you both.” Jesse told the two of them, before looking at Steven specifically. “Gotta say, I wasn’t expecting to see another human.”

“Oh, I’m only half-human.” Steven told him.

“H-huh?”

“Yeah, my dad is human, but my mom was a Gem.”

Jesse paused for a moment to register that revelation. Steven was a…human-gem hybrid? That was possible…? Of course, it was utterly crazy to witness a Gem’s powers first hand. Lapis’ wings, her strength, and her masterful proficiency in manipulating water had been wildly shocking the first time Jesse had seen it all in action. Even still, the thought that humans and Gems, an alien race of rock people, were actually compatible felt like it was in an entirely separate ball park of strangeness. For a brief moment, he looked at Lapis and Peridot.

“Don’t look at us. The whole thing is entirely unprecedented.” Said Peridot.

“I don’t think anybody really knows how it happened.” Lapis added.

“Uh… Wow, that’s…” Jesse was too confused to even really know what to say. “…Right on.”

“Yeah…” Steven said, looking a little less gleeful and more thoughtful. “I’m still figuring out a lot of what this means myself.” He turned to Jesse specifically. “Oh, but you said you were new here, right? Did you know about Gems before you came here?”

“No, actually. I, uh…” Jesse glanced at Lapis for a second. “I’ve been learning.”

“Well, if you have questions, look no further.” Peridot cut in, crossing her arms and speaking in a very confident tone. “I can tell you anything you’d like to know, granted it isn’t Steven-related.”

“I can tell you about me!” Steven added. “…Mostly.”

“Uh, yeah. I guess I…would like to ask a few things.”

Notes:

Mr. Steven Universe himself makes his grand appearance. It's going to be real hard whenever Jesse needs to break the news about his true identity: How his real name is not almost the same as Steven's.

Chapter 10: Why are you worried?

Summary:

Peridot teaches Jesse a little bit about Gem history, including some concerning things regarding Earth.

Jesse sat on one of the couches in the barn, next to Lapis. Another had been moved up for Steve and Peridot so they could all sit and talk as a group. As docile as it apparently was, Jesse was glad that the pink lion had opted to remain outside. He hadn’t been sure what to think about Peridot yet. She was certainly eccentric, he could tell that much even from the few minutes he had known her for. Steven though, was strange in just how normal he seemed. He looked and acted just like a regular human boy, which ironically made him stand out when placed around Lapis and Peridot. Steven being half-alien was something he could hardly fathom. The more he was learning about Gems, the more it felt like he had stepped into an entirely new world, and yet he knew he had barely even scratched the surface.

“So uh… Gems, yeah? I don’t even know where to begin.” Jesse said, looking from Steven to Peridot. “I guess like, you’ve got powers too, right?”

“Naturally.” Peridot answered a little conceitedly. She cocked her head and made a shrugging motion with her hand, of which Jesse witnessed as a couple miscellaneous metal objects from the barn levitated towards her and swirled in the air around her as she waved her arm about. “I can manipulate metal objects however I please.” She told him nonchalantly.

“Yeah, she learned how very recently!” Steven added in helpfully, making Peridot flinch.

“A-and yet it’s as if I’ve been doing it my whole life…!” Peridot quickly amended.

Jesse watched as Peridot controlled the metal instruments, cans, and rods around her. He was moderately impressed. “So like if there was a huge mountain made entirely of metal, you’d be able to move it?”

Peridot stared at Jesse, seemingly caught off guard. “…What?”

“Like how Lapis moved oceans. You can do the same with metal?”

“An ocean.” Lapis cut in briefly, before narrowing her eyes and putting a thoughtful finger to her chin. “Though I never really got to try more than one.” She pondered.

Peridot again was silent at first. “…Well, maybe I could. I’ve just never tried something as big in scale, but I don’t see any giant metal mountains outside the barn though, so I can’t really show it off…” She told him unconvincingly as the metal objects around her were just kind of left to fall to the floor, only slightly aided by her powers.

“I can summon a shield.” Steven put in, sensing the awkward silence as his turn to show his powers. With a tightened fist, he tucked his arm in front of his chest, and suddenly a transparent pink disk with a thorn pattern and gem in the center materialized. “I use it to protect my myself and my friends.” He said before dematerializing it.

Jesse thought the shield was cool enough, but something Steven had said had Jesse feel a sudden sense of concern. “Wait, hold on. Protect yourself? From what?”

“From lots of things!” He answered more happily than Jesse would’ve liked, tapping a finger to his palm as he listed off a few things. “Corrupted Gems, Gem technology, Homeworld Gems… Just kind of Gem stuff in general.”

“Me at one point.” Lapis added. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay Lapis, we’re friends now, so it’s all good!” He said, before turning to Peridot. “I forgive you too, Peridot.” He told her with a friendly smile.

“Hey, you didn’t give me a chance to apologize. I was going to.” She groaned.

“No no, but wait.” Jesse said, his tone becoming increasingly serious. He really didn’t know the extent and details of all the stuff Steven listed, but none of it was anything Jesse liked to imagine. “You’re just a kid. Why’re you getting involved in all that dangerous stuff?”

Steven seemed to pick up on his concern, and his own words became more serious. “Because I’m a Crystal Gem, and that’s our job. I may be a kid, but I worked hard to prove to the others that I’m capable.” He said, before sounding the slightest bit haughty. “I’ll have you know we would have failed a few missions if it weren’t for me.”

“But those missions… Are they really dangerous?”

“Uh, well, yeah. Sometimes.” Steven admitted. “But that’s just what I need to do.”

“Not if it’s going to get you killed.” Jesse stressed, and immediately an uncomfortable silence filled the air after his last word.

Steven and Peridot stared at Jesse, both looking caught off guard, and he could tell from the corner of his eye that it was the same for Lapis. Jesse realized that he might have come off a little too strongly with that, but he really couldn’t help himself.

“I’m just saying. Kids shouldn’t get involved in dangerous stuff, y’know? Like I’m sure you can do a lot of cool Gem stuff and whatever, but that just doesn’t seem right.” Jesse continued. “There are other, uh… Crystal Gems than you, yeah? Do they really need to enlist a child to help?”

Steven continued to stare at Jesse. His expression fell slightly. “Listen, I get it, and I really do appreciate your concern. Believe me, the other Crystal Gems didn’t think I should’ve been doing this as well at first. But I really have proven myself.” He insisted, sounding completely serious and honest. Jesse noticed a strong sense of purpose in his tone. “And a lot of the stuff that’s happened has been very personal to me, both as a Gem and a human. I don’t think I could easily explain it in a way you’d understand but…I have to be a part of this.”

It was Jesse’s turn to stare back without anything to say. Steven sounded so genuine and mature in his words, like he really knew what he was talking about. Jesse supposed that Steven would know much better than himself, obviously. Whatever all of this Gem business was about, it was easy to tell that Steven had become active in it through his own volition, even when grasping whatever dangers came attached.

“Steve…” Lapis said after a few seconds. “I guess I never really told you, but it was Steven who helped me when I was trying to use your planet’s ocean to get back home.” She told Jesse.

“He did?” He looked over in surprise at Lapis, who held a thoughtful expression.

“And we also managed to, you know, SAVE THE EARTH too.” Peridot put in. “Which, I will concede, Steven may have done slightly more than me in that regard.”

“The…Earth.” Jesse repeated, hardly finding the words he wanted to say. “Like…the whole Earth?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.” Steven put in.

“If there was something that was going to blow up the Earth or anything, I wouldn’t care how long that story is, all right I’d read through a phonebook if I had to.” Jesse told him, his eyes wide from the very idea that apparently a doomsday he never even heard about had been thwarted. He knew that Gems were capable of huge feats thanks to Lapis, so it wasn’t too far fetched in his mind that there might’ve been some possibility where these Gems could’ve threatened the entire planet. The mere prospect that the Earth had almost ended without him even knowing was enough to instill fear that something like that could happen again.

Peridot glanced at Lapis. “Did you tell him anything about Homeworld?”

“Why would I have had to?” She asked, sounding a little defensive. She managed to catch her tone and respond a little more relaxed. “I mean, that’s not really a fun topic.”

“What is Homeworld?” Jesse asked, feeling very lost and wanting answers.

“Homeworld is where the Gems came from.” Steven answered.

“Many of us, anyway.” Peridot cut in. “Homeworld is run by the Great Diamond Authority, who decide everything about who Gems are and what we do, including sending out colonies to other planets with suitable resources that can be used to create more Gems.”

Jesse thought he could see where this was heading. “So Earth is…”

“One such planet, yes.” Peridot confirmed. “Except that during the colonization process, a Rose Quartz Gem began a rebellion—the Crystal Gems—to protect the Earth from the Diamonds draining all of its resources and leaving the native organic life to all die out. The rebellion was, against all odds, surprisingly successful. In response, the Diamonds’ plan for Earth shifted. Earth was no longer a viable colony in their eyes, so among other things, they planted a super geo-weapon near the Earth’s core, which would’ve destroyed the planet once it activated. But, fear not. Steven and I drilled our way down and disabled it, saving you and every other human being on Earth.” She explained, before giving him a suave finger point. “You’re welcome.”

Jesse’s brain was running wild with all this new information. It all sounded like some huge conspiracy theory, and yet he couldn’t help but believe it given all the fantastical stuff he had been introduced to in these past few days. And frankly, if it was really true that the Earth had come so close to being destroyed without Jesse even hearing about it, it was a humbling and terrifying thing to imagine. Suddenly his previous life and actions felt very small.

Steven’s gaze on him gained a little bit of uncertainty as Jesse become lost in his thoughts. “Um, Peridot? I think he’s still confused. You didn’t really explain anything in detail.”

“I was just giving a summary of it. If he really wants me to lecture him about anything specific, he can ask.” Peridot spoke back, before turning to look at Jesse as if she were expecting him to do just that. Jesse, it seemed, was still processing it all.

“Hey, Steve?” Lapis leaned towards Jesse. “Are you okay?” She asked with a slightly concerned look.

Jesse phased out of his thousand yard stare as he turned to Lapis. “Oh, I… I uh…” He struggled to get out before clearing his throat. “I-I’m fine.” His voice quivered slightly.

“You don’t sound fine.” Lapis said frankly.

Jesse didn’t respond to that remark as he turned back to Peridot. “So that “geo-weapon” would’ve destroyed the Earth? The whole planet?”

His sudden seriousness made Peridot uneasy. “Well, yeah. But like I said, it’s been disabled. So you don’t have to worry about it.”

“But the "Diamonds," or whoever. Are they out of the picture then?”

Peridot grit her teeth. “Weeeeell… Technically yes. They have no idea what we did, so they’re going to be waiting on something that will never happen.”

“What about when they realize that it never went off?”

“Uh…” Peridot looked like her confidence was beginning to crumble a little bit, obviously unsure how to go about answering that.

“If they make themselves a problem again, the Crystal Gems will stop them.” Steven filled in for Peridot. “We’ve protected the Earth from them before, and we can do it again if we have to.”

Jesse looked at Steven. No matter how confident he sounded in that assertion, its credibility was completely put into question coming from a literal child. It was hard to be comfortably convinced.

“But don’t worry. They don’t have any reason to come here right now. They might even think that The Cluster was just a big failure and never show up at all.” Steven suggested, but Jesse could tell that it was a very optimistic line of thinking that Steven probably didn’t even believe himself.

“But… Didn’t you just get back from a mission or something?” Jesse asked. “And what about those angry red Gems I saw earlier? The ones who were asking for someone? It sounds like something is still going on. Like you’re sure there’s no reason to worry?”

The looks he was getting back seemed to answer his question for them. The three of them apparently couldn’t bring themselves to say anything. Having his mind clouded with worry, Jesse managed to regain a bit of clarity to read the room and realize he had brought down the mood of the barn immensely. He felt a little guilty, but at the same time, it was hard to think that his concerns weren’t warranted. Jesse cleared his throat in slight embarrassment.

“Sorry. It’s just…a lot.” He said.

“Steve, I know it must be pretty weird to learn about all this, but I can only ask that you trust us. The Crystal Gems have been protecting Earth for thousands of years. No matter what happened in all that time, we always find a way.” Steven finally spoke up, serious and determined. “So please don’t be scared. Just leave everything to us, okay?”

Jesse took a deep breath before responding. “I’m just wondering, y’know… Is it safe to me to even…associate myself with you guys? With Gems?” It might not have been the most tactful thing to ask, but Jesse needed to know. He didn’t want to live a dangerous lifestyle, or even around others who currently did. He came to Beach City not just to hide, but for a peaceful life so far removed from his old one that just maybe, eventually, he’d wake up one day and actually feel completely safe for once in his life. Still, as Jesse looked around, and especially when he glanced at Lapis right beside him, he felt guilty for asking. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve asked that. I just…”

Jesse couldn’t find it in himself to finish that sentence. He wasn’t even sure how he wanted to finish it. He rubbed at his face before standing up from the couch. “I gotta go, man. I need to think.”

As Jesse stood up, he took one last apologetic glance as everyone stared at him with emotions of concern, awkwardness, and uncertainty. He shared a slightly longer gaze with Lapis, before turning and heading for the barn exit. This really was just too much to think about.

---

“Steve! W-wait!” Steven piped up, before hurrying off of the couch and stumbling after him. Lapis watched with a disheartened expression as the two of them exited the barn before resting a cheek on her palm and huffing through her nose.

“I think we scared him off.” She commented, sounding deflated and disappointed. “See, this is why I hadn’t talked to him about Homeworld.”

Lapis’ words seemed to shake Peridot out of her awkward freeze, and she turned to her. “I suppose I…failed to consider how an Earthling might react to learning about…Earth’s near destruction.” She said sounding guilty, and almost like she was apologizing to Lapis. “B-but Steven is right! The Crystal Gems have surpassed numerous odds with admittedly admirable tenacity.”

“I don’t know. Steve kind of had a point.” Lapis said distantly, staring at the floor. “None of us really know what’s going to happen with the Diamonds, do we? I can see why he’d be scared.”

“But…! But don’t you think that disassociating with Gems entirely is taking it a little far?”

Lapis shrugged. “The Rubies showed up while he was here with me. And for all I knew, Jasper could’ve paid me another surprise visit. Maybe he’s not wrong to do that.” She said. “If leaving makes him feel safe…who am I to do anything about it? I haven’t even told him what I was made to do. That’d probably change how he saw me. Maybe it’s best he never finds out.”

“I…! But…! You…! He…!” Peridot fumbled, before adopting a very serious tone. “Come off it, Lapis! You falling into this kind of pessimistic slump is exactly why everyone worries about you! You finally reach out and make a meaningful connection yourself, but you’re willing to just let it get thrown out just like that?!”

Lapis eyed Peridot, looking a little annoyed. “I’m not happy about it, you know. But it’s better than trying to get him to stay and having him feel trapped.”

“Ugh…” Peridot groaned in frustration. “Could you not have at least said something?”

“Like what?” Lapis asked bluntly. “His worries aren’t unfounded. Am I supposed to tell him he’s wrong for thinking them?”

“YES!” Peridot nearly shrieked, before reining herself in. “I-I mean no, of course. What I meant is that you should’ve at least tried to tell him he’s worrying too much. You said he was your friend, right?”

“Why are you making this about me?” Lapis’ tone gradually became more stern. “I’m not going to manipulate him to stay, okay? If he’s not comfortable around us, then that’s too bad for me I guess, but I’m not going to keep him trapped, all right?!” Lapis finished with her eyes narrowed and her teeth grit behind her lips. When Peridot flinched, Lapis immediately dropped her harsh expression into one that was more embarrassed and shocked with herself. “Sorry.” She muttered, looking away.

Peridot stared at her for a moment before sighing. “Look, you’re right. We shouldn’t be dismissive about his fears. But that doesn’t mean that talking with him about it is “manipulative” or anything. Lapis, I’ve been…enjoying myself here on Earth.” She told her, beginning to sound more vulnerable than Lapis had known from her. “And that is because of people here that I can call…friends. I guess what I’m saying is: Sure, whether he stays or not is ultimately his decision, but you shouldn’t be so passive about letting this go.”

Lapis rested her chin on her hand, and couldn’t look directly at Peridot. She considered her words, and huffed through her nose again. “Well… It’s too late to do anything now. He probably already left.”

“I haven’t heard his vehicle start up.” Peridot said. “Why not just…check? Could you do that? For me?”

Lapis thought about it. She knew that “for me” was actually for Lapis’ own sake. She knew there was truth to Peridot’s words. Lapis’ interactions with Steven, and even Peridot eventually, had become some of the few highlights she had experienced during her life on Earth. And thinking about it, Lapis supposed she had already made similar moments with Steve, even considering how short of a time they had known each other.

“All right. I will.” Lapis relented, standing up from the couch. Peridot gave a slight, encouraging smile to her as Lapis walked towards the barn’s exit.

---

Jesse walked towards his car, which was parked just off to the side in front of the barn. He felt guilty leaving like this so suddenly, and really killing the mood while he was there. But he had to go. All the Gem stuff was scary at first, then it was actually pretty cool, but now it was worrying all over again. This was a conflict between two seemingly immensely powerful parties, and Jesse was not about to get caught up in the middle of it. Not again.

“Steve! Wait a minute!” Jesse heard Steven call from behind. He turned around and saw the boy running up to him. He sighed.

“Listen, Steven. Look, I’m sorry, but it ain’t personal. I need some time to sit out and think about this.”

“Please, just give me a minute!” He pleaded.

Jesse took another deep sigh. He didn’t want to come off as mean to a kid, so he softened his tone. “All right. What is it?”

“You’re going to come back, right?”

Jesse remained silent for a second. “It’s like I said: I need to think.” He was getting tired of repeating himself here, but he really couldn’t articulate it any other way. He wasn’t even entirely sure what he meant by it with how general of a statement it was.

“Look, I’m sorry we scared you with everything we told you. I get it, okay? I really do.” Steven told him earnestly. “But you don’t need to be scared about Gems as a whole.” Steven then looked downwards. “I could tell that Lapis really liked having you as a friend. She looked so happy introducing you to us. You’re gonna…stay her friend, right?”

Jesse wasn’t sure what to say. He supposed he hadn’t really considered how the others might’ve felt about his departure, especially Lapis. Steven’s plea could have easily been seen as a guilt trip, but he had spoken so sadly and honestly that Jesse just couldn’t see it like that. The boy did seem to really care about Lapis, and in general he seemed like the kind of guy who cared deeply about all his friends.

“Lapis is cool. I like her, all right? I like being friends with her. It’s just that all this Gem stuff seems like…too much for me, man. I just don’t know.”

“That’s okay, it’s the same for Lapis.” Steven said. “She’s not a part of the Crystal Gems or Homeworld. She just wants a safe place to stay.”

Jesse had known that already to some degree. He specifically remembered her mentioning that when he first came back to see her. Did she have the same worries about these “Diamonds” that he did? Lapis did mention she couldn’t go back home, but did that mean she was stranded on Earth and thus just as vulnerable if it were going to be destroyed?

“I was really happy when I heard she made a new friend. She’s been through a lot, and I think she really needs it.” Steven continued sadly. “So… Even if you have to leave right now, could you at least promise you’ll consider seeing her again? Consider it my Steve—en favor.”

“Steve…en favor?”

“Yeah! One Steve-slash-Steven helping out another. If you do, I’ll repay it however you want!”

Jesse looked at Steven for a moment with a conflicted expression. He didn’t care too much for having Steven owe him a favor or anything, and he wasn’t even sure what he could do for him anyway. But he did bring up something to think about with Lapis. Steven seemed borderline desperate for Jesse to stay friends with her, and he did seem well acquainted with her. Considering what he remembered from Greg, it seemed like Lapis truly was pretty lonely. It made Jesse feel even guiltier for what he had said.

Jesse gave a relenting sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, all right, man. I like hanging out with Lapis, so…I’ll think about it. And you don’t need to cash in that “Steven favor” or whatever.”

“Thank you.” Steven’s expression lifted slightly, and he looked relieved, although there was still some disappointment in his eyes. “Do you really need to leave, though? We didn’t even get to know who you are.”

Gonna have to get used to that one buddy, Jesse thought to himself. They wouldn’t have gotten much other than rehearsed lies. Steve Driscoll was still in the process of developing a real background.

“I don’t think I should stay. I really killed the mood anyway, so…yeah.” He said.

“No one would mind if you stayed…” Steven put out.

Jesse peered down at this supposedly half-alien child. He had thought he was getting used to all the weird Gem stuff, but there was just so much more than he could’ve imagined. How couldn’t there have been? They were an entirely new species from a completely different planet. Still, he didn’t like the idea of leaving off on bad terms with any of them. Not for fear of his safety, but because they acted just like human beings, if a little more eccentric in some cases. Now that Steven had really brought her up, he couldn’t stop thinking about Lapis. He rested his chin on his palm.

“…I’ll go back and apologize.” He said. “Doesn’t mean I’ll stay or anything, though.”

Steven nodded, content with that. “That’s fine. And I know they’ll understand.”

Jesse took a deep breath before turning away from his car, and back towards the barn. Before he could reenter it, the tarp that blocked vision into the building was cast aside.

---

As Lapis passed through the tarp and outside the barn, she was surprised when she almost walked directly into Steve. They each took a sudden step back at the same time, before staring at each other wordlessly.

“Um… Hey.” Lapis said.

“Hey…” Steve replied, before rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, I… I’m sorry about…y’know, freaking out a little bit there. I said kind of a dumb thing, and I didn’t really mean it.”

“No no! Don’t apologize. Trust me, I get why you might’ve felt that way. Really, it’s completely understandable. In your position, I probably would’ve felt the same.” Lapis said. “I have similar thoughts too.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. But…” Lapis looked back at the barn behind her for a moment. “I feel pretty safe here. And Peridot and Steven always let me know about anything that might be going on, so I’m usually always informed about anything that could be worrisome.”

“Ah. That’s good to hear.” Steve responded modestly, though still supportively. “I guess I’m still looking for…that kinda stability, maybe.”

Lapis felt a small twang of pity for him. She remembered how he told her that she was the first friend he had made here, and that he had expected it would’ve taken a while. Lapis also thought about how if she hadn’t invited him to stay the night, he would’ve resorted to sleeping in his car since he had nowhere to stay. Lapis at least, even after losing basically everything from her life before Earth, had a place to stay and a few people she could trust.

“Well… If you’d like, I’d hope I could bring a little bit of that to you.” She said.

“Huh?”

“You know… I’ll always be up to talk if you want. And I’ve said it before, but you’re always welcome to come by the barn if you have nowhere else to be.”

Steve nodded after a while. “I appreciate it.”

During another empty silence, Peridot’s words echoed in Lapis’ mind. She wasn’t sure if Steve actually changed his mind and decided to stay after all, given that he hadn’t really said anything further, but maybe this was an opportunity for Lapis to not be so…passive about potentially losing her new friend.

“Hey, um, Steve. You don’t have to or anything, but… Do you mind staying a little longer?” She managed to say. “I’d be happy if you did. T-totally up to you though. Of course.”

“Really?” Steve asked, surprised. “Even after I…made a scene?”

“I don’t care about that.” Lapis affirmed. “What, do you think I’m going to pull a Paulette and be upset with you over nothing for an entire season?”

Her comparison cracked a smile on Steve’s face, which she found lifted her own spirits greatly.

“Heh. Well, I guess I’m glad I don’t have to rescue you from any shallow pits, then.” He returned.

Lapis snickered, suddenly feeling all the awkward tension in the air completely disappear. “Mm, I don’t know. I wouldn’t be too hasty thinking that. Just keep an ear out in case I need to give you a shout, okay Percy?”

“Ugh. You ruined it.” Lapis heard Peridot’s voice as she stepped out from the other side of the tarp. “How can the two of you bond over the worst scene in the whole show?!”

“P-Peridot…!” Lapis jumped slightly.

“What? I was in the barn. Did you think I couldn’t hear you or something?”

“I…” Lapis began, before conceding with a blush. “Okay, yeah. I shouldn’t have been shocked.”

“I’m here too!” Steven’s voice called from several paces behind Steve, who turned around to look at him.

“Oh…yeah.” Steve mumbled. “I…literally just talked with him. Don’t know how I forgot he was there…”

“Why are you standing so far away?!” Peridot called to Steven, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice to him.

“To give them space!” He called back while also cupping around his mouth, though remaining planted where he was. “You should’ve done the same! I think you scared Lapis!”

“I was behind something! That’s better than standing out in the open like that! It just looks weird!” Peridot countered.

“I’m not the one who spooked Lapis!”

Steve leaned towards Lapis as Peridot and Steven continued their distant back and forth, with neither taking a single step closer to each other for some reason. “So… Those two are part of the team that protects the Earth?”

“Um. Yeah.” Lapis said. “I think I understand your perspective better.”

“…I think we’re doomed.”

“They’re more capable than they seem.” She said, before turning back to Steve. “So… Do you…mind staying a little while longer?”

There was a brief pause, but Steve didn’t keep Lapis waiting for too long. “Yeah, I can stay.” He said with a reserved, but very appreciated grin. Lapis matched it.

“I’m glad.”

Notes:

As punishment for his crimes, Jesse Pinkman has been sentenced to one hour of listening to Steven Universe lore.

Chapter 11: Why are you unblemished?

Summary:

Jesse continues to make nothing more than vague allusions and straight lies about his past.

Gems were weird. At the very least, Jesse knew that much for certain. Coming into contact with alien rock people and their magic powers was obviously not something he would have ever foreseen. Learning that the entire Earth had almost met its end was a sobering thought, but it was one he had to try his best to ignore for now. Everyone else seemed much calmer and assured about the situation than he was, and he was aware they knew much more about all of this than he did. So in that case, he shouldn’t worry either, right? He was doing the best he could, at least.

He was mostly staying on account of Lapis. She was the only person so far that he had made an effort to get to know and even establish a friendship with. Jesse had been sure it would’ve taken a long time before he felt comfortable mingling with others, but Lapis had a kind of general demeanor and personality that really seemed to jive with him. From what he was both told and had seen, she was apparently in a similar position with him too. Sticking with her didn’t seem like the worst thing ever where he was, not by a long shot.

The four of them had regrouped back in the barn. Jesse couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed about having walked out like he did, but there was no awkward air between him and the others. They all acted as if it wasn’t even anything to care about, and just seemed glad he decided to stay after all.

“So Steve, how about you tell us about you?” Steven asked in what Jesse assumed was intentionally shifting the conversation away from any sort discussion about doomsdays or Diamonds. Though he didn’t doubt it was primarily a genuine inquiry.

“You wanna know about me, huh? I’ll tell you right now: None of it is really interesting.” Jesse lied. In his peripheral, he caught a subtle side-eye from Lapis beside him.

“That’s okay!” Steven said with a smile. “It doesn’t have to be. I just wanna get to know you better.”

Jesse held back a sigh. “All right. What do you want to know?”

“Well first of all, what brought you to Beach City?” Steven asked.

Jesse shrugged. “Location and size where the mains things, I guess. A calm, coastal town felt like an ideal place to settle. I was born in Wisconsin, but I really grew up in Nevada not too far away from Vegas, so a quieter place like this is a nice change.”

“I haven’t heard of any of those places.” Lapis said. “But I guess I don’t really know about any place other than here.”

“It was very arid and, uh…desert-y, I guess. So I kinda like the change in scenery here in Beach City.” Jesse explained. “Kinda funny though, have either of you heard about a place called Area 51?” He asked, turning from Lapis to Peridot.

“No.” “I haven’t.” Lapis and Peridot answered.

“Well, it’s like some kind of secret military base or something, but it’s famous for having a lot of alien conspiracies and stuff. It's in Nevada.” He told them. “So it’s kinda ironic I came here of all places.”

Peridot rubbed her pointed chin in contemplation. “So this “Area 51” then. Do they know about Gems?”

“Oh uh, probably not, I think. All the stories about aliens are probably just garbage.” He said, although he supposed he couldn’t quite rule them out now, knowing aliens really did exist.

“Perhaps I should send a drone over and see what they know.” Peridot suggested to herself.

“I-I don’t think that’s really necessary, Peridot.” Steven cut in.

“A drone?” Jesse said. “Like, one you built yourself?”

Peridot smirked, realizing she had another opportunity to brag. “As a Peridot, you could say I have a certain knack for technological mechanics and automation, even with the limited resources I have here on Earth. I can build anything you could possibly imagine.”

Jesse thought for a moment. “…Could you build a time machine?”

“…I can build almost anything you could possibly imagine.”

Well, it was worth a shot.

“Ooh, a time machine? That sounds fun!” Steven put in. “What would you have done with it?”

A lot of things, Jesse thought to himself. Or, maybe one thing that would have prevented a lot of things. There were so many places he could go back to if he had the opportunity, it was hard to single out what would have been the best option. That one offer he had taken up that felt so long ago quickly came to mind, but maybe he could go even farther back. “Don’t really know.” Jesse shrugged honestly. “Correct some mistakes, I guess.”

He got another glance from Lapis, and he wondered what she must’ve been thinking.

“I hadn’t thought of using it like that.” Steven put in. “I would’ve gone back and met my mom. There’s a…lot of stuff I’d want to ask.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Jesse offered.

“No, it’s all right…” Steven assured him before changing the subject. “But anyways, I still want to know a little more about you. Like, what are some cool facts about yourself?”

“Oh, uh…” Jesse bit his teeth together softly. “Being completely honest with you? I got nothing. Like I don’t got any awesome stories or anything.”

“Really? But how’d you get that big scar on your face?”

Jesse froze up.

“Or…huh. I guess there’s more than one.” Steven noticed as he focused on his face, before his attention was suddenly brought to Lapis sitting next to Jesse. He didn’t turn to really see it, but it seemed like Lapis was looking at Steven and shaking her head both discreetly and urgently, as if relaying to him it wasn’t a good idea to ask that. Steven seemed to realize it. “O-oh! I mean, if you want answer, anyways. Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked something like that.”

After quickly recollecting himself, Jesse cleared his throat and shook his head. “No, it’s fine.” He told him. “These, uh… They’re just from a really…embarrassing mistake I made. Not something I really like to get into.”

Steven’s expression fell into an unpleasant mix of guilt and embarrassment. “I’m sorry…” He apologized again.

“Hey, Steven, really. Don’t worry about it.” Jesse told him. He didn’t particularly like seeing the kid be so hard on himself for his sake. “It’s all in the past.”

Steven hummed in acknowledgement, although he still appeared a little down. Jesse wondered what he could say to possibly cheer him up. Luckily, Lapis interjected for him.

“Oh, Steven. I just remembered something.” She said as she pushed up from the couch.

“What is it, Lapis?” He asked, looking at her curiously.

“Could you follow me outside?” She asked him as she stepped over to where Peridot had previously allowed a tin can to fall to the ground. She picked it up and gave it a quick look over.

“Uh, sure.” Steven nodded, standing up as well.

Lapis smiled gently. “Thanks.” She said before glancing from Jesse to Peridot. “This’ll be quick. Peridot, don’t pester him about you-know-what while I’m gone.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” Peridot returned indignantly.

“You know what it means.”

Peridot grumbled. “Fine, fine.”

The two of them watched as Lapis led Steven past the tarp and outside the barn, out of view. Jesse suddenly felt an awkward air invade the room as he was left alone with Peridot. Lapis he was obviously well acquainted with at this point, and Steven seemed generally amicable all around, but he wasn’t sure how well he’d mesh with Peridot from what he had experienced so far.

“So, Steve.” Peridot began casually; seemingly not holding the same reservations Jesse did. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Uh…” Jesse muttered. Isn’t that what he had been doing? Granted, they were vague lies, but still. “Anything you want to know, like, specifically?”

Peridot clasped her palms together, almost like a haughty psychologist pondering how to analyze him. “What do you do?”

“What I do? Like, as in a job?”

“Could be.” Peridot said, looking weirdly focused on him. “Stuff you’re good at. Things you like. Anything like that.”

Jesse couldn’t help but feel there was some kind of ulterior motive behind her questions based on how she was studying him. Though, he couldn’t say he felt particularly threatened. If he were asked any of that by a human, he might have worried they were probing for some kind of hint towards his previous life, but it was easier to disconnect from that when hearing it from a literal alien.

“Well, before I came here, I was working as a carpenter’s apprentice.”

“Carpenter?” Peridot said.

“Yeah. Y’know, someone who works with wood.” Jesse specified. Peridot still looked a little lost. “Uh… Trees. Like, making furniture and cabinets and shit. From wood, mostly. From trees.”

“Wood… Interesting…” Peridot mused. “And what things about you helped you to fit into that role?”

Jesse shrugged. “I guess I liked making stuff. Stuff I can put effort into and…see the result? I don’t know. I liked working with my hands and ending up with something I could be…proud of, maybe. Something someone would look at and say is pretty good, y’know?”

“Oh, really? I guess we’re actually a little similar in that regard.” Peridot said, briefly sounding a little more cordial and less analytical. “But back to it, any other interests?”

“Uh…” Jesse felt a little bit at a loss. He felt like he had lost a lot of himself after he began cooking meth, even before partnering up with the most dangerous man he had ever met. His old hobbies and interests had a harder time resurfacing. “I played the drums at one point. Maybe you can tell from my meep morp thing over there. So I guess like…music, drawing…I had a…passing interest in science.”

“Science?” Peridot perked up. “What kind?”

Jesse pressed his lips together. He probably shouldn’t have drudged that up. He could lie about it however he pleased, but regardless he still felt a little caught off guard to hear Peridot wanting him to follow up on it. Obviously there was no way he’d say anything about “cooking,” so he had to quickly pull whatever came next in his mind. “Uh…magnets.”

“Magnets?”

“…Yeah.”

“Magnets…” Peridot repeated thoughtfully. “I can work with that…”

“H-huh? What was that?” Jesse asked. “Are you using these questions for something?”

Peridot smirked mischievously, which unsettled Jesse slightly. “Oh, don’t worry about it.”

Before Jesse could inquire further, the two of them heard a familiar voice from the entrance of the barn.

“Hey. Sorry about that.” Lapis said as she and Steven pushed passed the tarp and into the barn. The tin can she had picked up previously was still in her grasp. “She didn’t bother you too much, did she?” Lapis asked Jesse.

“Of course not.” Peridot answered for him, self-assuredly. Lapis glanced at Jesse for his input, for which he merely gave a weak shrug and a confused look.

“Well, sorry to interrupt whatever conversation you were having, but I wanted to ask you something, Steve.” She said, approaching him with the tin can still in hand, and once she got close enough, he could hear a faint swishing sound from within.

“Yeah? What’s up?” He asked as Lapis approached, standing up to be level with her.

“I just wanted to ask. I know you turned it down the first time, but that was before you really knew about us and Gems, so I thought I’d offer it again.” She said. “Would you like those scars cleared up?”

Jesse paused for a moment. “…You can do that? Like, you can…heal them? Completely?” He asked, feeling a slight twang of tentative anxiety.

“Yeah.” Lapis said, using her free hand to carefully levitate a small dollop of water from the can. “If you want.”

Jesse pondered, but he already knew his answer instantly. He never wanted to look into a mirror for too long, because the scars on his face were painful reminders about the worst days of his life. If they could be magically removed like they weren’t even there in the first place…

Jesse had to clear his throat before he could find his words. “Yeah… Yeah, I’d really like that.” He said with very evident honesty.

Lapis nodded and gave a gentle smile. “All right. Hold still.” She told him, before using only a finger to pilot the tiny ball of water towards his face.

With almost surgical precision and care, Lapis traced the lines below his eyes and on his forehead using her hydrokinesis. Even not being able to see his own face, Jesse had essentially memorized the location and shapes of his facial scars at this point. He could only see Lapis’ own face, which remained staunchly focused on the task at hand. Even her eyes were blue, Jesse noticed. They looked nice…

“Aaaand done.” Lapis stated proudly, allowing the remnants of the water ball to float back and drop into the can.

In addition to a slight damp sensation on certain parts of his face, he could feel that his skin felt…smoother? Or at least, less rugged. Something certainly had happened, and Jesse was hopeful that he wouldn’t be able to see his scars at all. He hated looking at them so much.

“Here, let me get a mirror.” Lapis said before walking further into the barn and towards one of the meep morp sculptures in the very corner. It was another television with metal pikes jammed through the bottom, having it stand like a tripod. Two more pikes with circular mirrors attached had been jammed into the sides as well. She plucked one of them to hand to Jesse, who gratefully took it.

Jesse couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. He wasn’t even entirely sure why. The idea that his scars could just be erased sounded almost too good to be true. But when he held the mirror in front of himself, he found exactly what he had wanted to see.

Jesse stood speechless as he studied his reflection. His skin was completely clear and smooth, even faultless. It was as if he never had any cuts and scars on his face to begin with. He was filled with a sensation of gratitude so immense he didn’t even know how to express it.

“I…I don’t know what to say.” He spoke up after a few silent seconds of feeling how smooth the wet spots on his face where his scars used to be felt to the touch. “Thank you. Really, thank you… I-I can’t even…like…tell you how much this means to me.” 

Sure, Jesse would still carry those scars emotionally, but to not have to be reminded of them physically was something he knew he would appreciate so much. And not only that, but it also meant he wouldn’t have to lie to others about where he had gotten them.

Lapis held a warm smile, but tilted her head back slightly in the direction of Steven behind her, who looked considerably happier than before. “You should be thanking Steven. He’s the one who made it so that this water could heal you.”

“I can’t take all the credit. It was your idea, Lapis.” He said back.

“You probably would’ve thought about it anyway if I hadn’t.”

“Yo, Steven.” Jesse piped up, looking at him. “Thank you. I guess I really owe you a Steve…Steven favor? Whatever you called it anyway.”

Steven put his hand up and shook his head. “No need. I’m just happy I could help.”

“You did.” Jesse nodded with a genuine grin on his face. He realized he had actually smiled a surprising number of times since he had gotten to Beach City. Everything was still super confusing all around…but at least, he was liking the people here. The few he had met, anyway.

Afterwards, the four of them continued to chat for a while, until Jesse finally realized how hungry he was. He hadn’t actually eaten something since before he went over to the barn. Jesse excused himself, on better terms than he had attempted to before, so he could drive back to Beach City and find a good place to eat.

Steven recommended some of his favorite places, Peridot wished him well, and even that weird pink Lion from before was there to watch as he got into his car.

“Oh, Steve! Hold on a moment.” Jesse heard Lapis say before he opened the car door. She approached with the tin can in hand, before handing it to him. “You can have this, for whenever you need it. And don’t worry about wasting it or anything, you can always ask for more.”

Jesse nodded gratefully. He already knew that the injuries on his back were going to be the next to go. “Thanks. Again, I can’t tell you how crazy appreciative I am about all this. You’re all the best, man. I really mean it.”

“It was no problem. And really, you mostly have Steven to thank. Not me.”

“I’m also talking about you inviting me over, y’know.” Jesse clarified. “I…had a great time with you. It was cool. The flying, and the water tower… All of it.”

“Oh.” Lapis blushed faintly. “Yeah, it was cool.” She agreed humbly.

“Let’s, uh, let’s hang out again sometime in the future. If you want.”

“You can come by anytime. I’m pretty much always here, so I’ll welcome the company.” Lapis said. “The barn will always be open for you. You still don’t have a place to stay right now, right?”

“Oh, yeah. I guess so.”

“Well, my hammock will always be here for when you get tired of sleeping in your car.”

A small but earnest smirk crept up on Jesse’s freshly scar-free face. “Thanks, Lapis.”

And with that, Jesse was off, waving to the four of them as he got into his car and backed away from the barn. As he drove off towards the town, with the barn becoming gradually smaller in his rearview, he felt a strange sense of wholeness, the likes of which he couldn’t really remember that last time he felt.

Memories of his past life, and fears about the entire Earth itself having been in danger, all couldn’t find any space in Jesse’s current train of thought. All he could really think about right now was Lapis. She…really was a cool person.

Notes:

Do you think Steven's healing spit could cure, say, stage 3 lung cancer? That'd be pretty cool I think.

Chapter 12: Why are you employed?

Summary:

Jesse gets a job.

Jesse followed the map to his desired destination, not that it would’ve taken long to find himself given the size of the town. If the large elephant sign adorned with neon letters spelling “It’s a Wash” wasn’t a clear enough indication this was the right place, then that space-painted van he had seen before certainly was. The car wash, as Jesse had already noticed from the map, was settled in the north eastern corner of the town, directly next to the eastern hill with the lighthouse. Jesse briefly remembered when Lapis had flown him over it. Things looked so different from ground level. It was hard to believe there was a colossal statue carved into the other side of the hill.

Greg’s van was parked off to the side of the sizable lot, and Jesse pulled up just behind it. As Jesse got out of his own vehicle, he saw the familiar face step out of the van ahead of him.

“Hi there. You here for a wash?” Greg asked as he walked towards Jesse. “Oh, hey! It’s Steve, right?”

“Yeah.” Jesse said. “And you’re Greg?”

“That’s right.” He nodded. “So what brings you here? Did you consider my offer, or are you really just here to get your car cleaned?”

Jesse looked over the very modest looking establishment. Inside or out, only he and Greg seemed to be present. It was slightly comforting.

“The offer, actually.” Jesse answered. “I thought, y’know, it wouldn’t be a bad place to work. Just wanted to ask if it was still on the table.”

“Well sure. If you want the job, I can set you up right away.”

“Really? Just like that?” Jesse questioned. “No…uh, interviews or nothing?”

“Oh, no. Nothing like that.” Greg told him, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. “To be honest with you, this place has become more of a novelty to me more than anything.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

“I told you that I was in the music industry at one point, right? “Mr. Universe?” I thought I had pretty much bombed my entire career, but not too long ago I actually received a ton of money in royalties.” Greg explained before frowning. “My jerk ex-manager only did that cause he was legally obligated to after using one of my songs.” His frown rose back into a more overall neutral look. “But I can’t really complain about being set for life. I’d have to be a really sour person to still be upset after all of that.”

“Set for life?!” Jesse said, surprised. The shocking part to him wasn’t that Greg was rich or anything, since Jesse already had been at one point, it was how he became that way. “Like, from being a musician?”

“Yeah, technically.” Greg shrugged. “It really wasn’t the way I had envisioned it though. I expected more, you know, fame and recognition for being a rockstar? Not really being paid decades later for one of my songs as a burger joint jingle. But you know what they say, life and lemonade, or something like that.”

“Huh…” Jesse pondered with a simple response that masked an intense pulse of envy in him. His own band had never made it further than a high school hobby. The vast majority of what Jesse had earned himself, that would’ve set him for life and more, had all been dirty money. Dirty money that had made him feel so sick that he’d even consider it worse than worthless; doing nothing more than actively harming his psyche. Why couldn’t he have been so lucky…?

“Hey, uh, Earth to Steve?” Greg said, looking a little concerned. “Are you all right?”

Jesse suddenly remembered where he was. “O-oh. Yeah, yeah.” He nodded, phasing from his absentmindedness. “So you’re just keeping the car wash for sentimental stuff?”

“Pretty much.” Greg nodded. “It wasn’t making any big bucks, but it helped me scrape on by for many years. To be honest with you, it was also nice that it gave me a lot of personal time, too. A very intensive business, this is not. It’s rare to get more than two customers a day.” He explained. “Oh, and I’d pay you by the hour because of that, so don’t worry.”

“Really, huh? Well that’s cool of you. But I don’t really care too much how I get paid—just having any kind of job to do is what I’m looking for. I’m not really strapped for cash…”

“Hey, me neither.” Greg returned, though he seemed too mild-mannered to really appear as cheeky as Jesse assumed he had wanted. “So how about it? You think you wanna wash cars and take names?”

Jesse thought for a moment, but he came to his conclusion quite quickly. This was a pretty perfect opportunity that just seemed to fall right into his lap. An unassuming job to help him blend into the town and comfortably assimilate was exactly what he knew he had needed since before he even got here. A largely idle car wash could be exactly that.

“Yeah. That sounds good.” He nodded.

“Oh, but what am I thinking?” Greg put in suddenly. “I haven’t even shown you anything about the place. Here, I’ll give you the rundown.”

“Sweet.”

---

The car wash was certainly nothing complicated, nor was the procedure for whenever a customer would arrive. It was a simple process. Jesse would just need to hang out near the wash, and if anyone should arrive, he’d take payment and start up the super-wash for them. He was even given the keys to the office space if he preferred to chill in there, though Jesse mostly noted it as a potential option to sleep at for any given night. Greg said he rarely used the office space himself, anyway.

“Although, there’s a chance you’ll get a vehicle that won’t fit well in the wash.” Greg explained, a hose in his hand that he had pulled from the building. “If that happens, you’ll have to roll out the cart with the cleaner and use the hose.”

As a little demonstration, Greg shot a stream of water against the side of his van. “It’s nothing fancy like the super-wash, but it gets the job done. You can twist the end to adjust the pressure.”

Jesse watched as Greg did just that. The water had gone from a weak stream to a powerful jet, with a myriad of droplets splashing back harshly from the broad side of the van. The noise it produced was rather strident to Jesse’s ears, and he couldn’t help but flinch at the sound. It was the same feelings he would get during the first few seconds of turning on his shower head, except this was worse with how easier the connection was to make with the literal hosings he had received in the past.

“Steve? Hey, are you all right?” Greg asked just in time to prevent Jesse from entirely getting lost in some unpleasant thoughts.

“Y-yeah… Yeah, I am.” Jesse responded, tearing his eyes away from the hose. Luckily Greg had turned it off soon after. “Just uh… Just thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

Jesse grimaced to himself, knowing he wasn’t going to tell him about how being pinned between a ribbed metal wall and a water stream from a fire hose felt. He had to think of something else to say. “I uh, I have to wonder, y’know, why you’re giving me this job.” Jesse said, which was something he had been wondering about. “I mean I appreciate it, I really do, so don’t get me wrong or nothing. But like if what all you said is true, it basically feels like it’s going to be free money for me.”

Greg though about it for a moment. “Well, I guess it was my own little way of wanting to help someone. Beach City’s my home now, and I want others to feel welcome when they come here, especially with how…off-putting all the Gem stuff can be.” Greg explained. “Speaking of which, how are things going? You haven’t seen anything too crazy since you’ve been here, have you?”

Jesse couldn’t help but let out a weak, singular chortle at that. “I have, actually.”

Greg’s eyes widened in slight surprise. “Wait really? You have? Nothing bad, I hope.”

“No, not like that.” Jesse clarified. “Kinda the opposite, actually. I uh…made friends with a Gem.”

“Oh, you did?” Greg said, sounding even more surprised. “Who? Was it Amethyst?”

“Lapis. I think we talked about her last time? She’s pretty cool.”

“Oh, her? That’s good to hear!” Greg said before scratching his chin. “I don’t know her too well.”

“You said you knew a lot of them personally, right?”

“A few. Just the Crystal Gems, really. Oh, but you probably wouldn’t have heard about them?”

“I have. Peridot and Steven. One of them is half-human, which is…crazy right?”

“You met Steven?!” Greg blurted with a pleasantly surprised smile. “That’s my son!”

Jesse blinked, and his mind froze as he registered what the information meant. Looking at Greg, he did notice a resemblance between the two. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, he remembered Greg mentioning something about having a son named Steven the first time they talked due to his fake name being so similar. He must’ve forgotten.

“Your…son? He’s your son? Like your real son?” Jesse managed to ask after a few seconds of silence. “W-wait, so you…with uh… You…” Jesse also managed to stop himself from tactlessly asking that Greg, in fact, did a rock alien. Despite that, something in Jesse’s tone must’ve tipped Greg off on what he thinking about as he noticed his face turn a little pink.

“Eheh, y-yeah! Steven is my son.” Greg somewhat sheepishly course corrected the conversation.

Jesse, in turn, was able to put his thoughts in more gracefully. “So you were in a relationship with a Gem?”

Greg nodded, a little solemnly. “I was. It was definitely a unique experience, I can tell you that much. Despite all our differences though, she was the one true love of my life…but she’s gone now.”

“I’m sorry.” Jesse offered. “I…” He paused for a moment, feeling like something was caught in his throat for a second. Greg was trying to hold a rather neutral expression, but Jesse could still pick out an underlying sorrow in his face. He felt possessed by a strong sense of empathy. “I know how that feels.”

“You do? But you’re still so young.” Greg remarked, returning some of the pity Jesse had just expressed.

Was Jesse that young? He honestly had a hard time answering that question to himself. He had wasted and ruined so many years, it was hard to tell where exactly he was supposed to be in his life. He didn’t feel young, but he couldn’t say he felt very seasoned either, even if his scars might’ve implied otherwise. But then Jesse remembered that his scars were gone. Maybe he did just look young.

“Yeah, maybe.” Jesse said. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to pursue this topic, and Greg appeared no different. “Steven seems like a good kid.” Jesse put in as an opportunity to change the subject.

“He really is.” Greg said with a wistful grin, seemingly taking the offer to move away from the more emotionally exhaustive topic. “Even if a lot of Gem stuff can go over my head, I at least know I can be proud of what he’s done…even if it worries me sometimes.”

Jesse had conflicted thoughts on what Greg said. He still didn’t like the idea about a kid being a part of a group that dealt with world threatening events, but he also didn't want to be judgmental about someone else’s parenting, especially with all of this magic jargon that he was undeniably the biggest outsider in. All of it was way out of his depth.

“You and me both, I guess.” Jesse said clumsily. “A-about the Gem stuff, that is. Like, Lapis? She showed me what she could do and…wow. Like I would’ve thought I was dreaming.”

“Yeah. They can do some crazy stuff, that’s for sure…” Greg said knowingly. “But I’m glad you made friends with her. Humans and Gems… Us being together is all pretty new stuff, so it’s good to know others are working to bridge those connections.”

Jesse supposed he hadn’t thought about it like that, though he couldn’t imagine he was too important in the grand scheme of things. He didn’t really want to be either, considering he was hoping to keep a low profile. Greg was the one who set the precedent anyway, apparently. Still, it wasn’t a bad thought. Despite how fantastical it all should have felt, the strangest part by far was just how normal it was like hanging out with her.

“Hell yeah, symbiosis and shit.”

Greg chuckled awkwardly. “Eh, yeah.” He nodded. “But if you ever want to talk to another human about all of this, I’ll be willing to lend an ear.”

Jesse nodded back gratefully. “I appreciate it.”

Notes:

Spoilers: Jesse will faint while working at the car wash, and after an ambulance ride to the hospital, he will receive a shocking diagnosis that will change the course of his life forever.

Sorry to come back with a smaller update, but that's just how it is sometimes.

Chapter 13: Why are you unamused?

Summary:

In an uncharacteristic move, Lapis decides to head into town.

Lapis didn’t particularly see herself as “cool.” Quite the opposite, even. She was just a Gem who did her job, no better or worse than her fellow Lapis Lazulis that she could tell, and then happened to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. From there it was a series of being either trapped, subservient to others, or both. The one time she fought back, while she knew it was necessary and justified, brought out a side of her that she didn’t like thinking back on. She had suddenly been thrown out of her element, and she couldn’t help but think of her life since then as a cycle of fumbles and mistakes. She was in a better place now for sure, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel aimless…or even useless. Needless to say, she didn’t hold the highest opinion of herself.

Maybe that’s why she couldn’t stop thinking about Steve. The way he was amazed by her powers after he had gotten used to them, and how happy he had become after she had healed his scars. She could’ve made excuses about any of those factors: Steve was a human, who had no powers, so of course she could easily leave an impression with her abilities. And she wouldn’t have been able to heal his scars at all without Steven. She didn’t think she even deserved half the credit there. But still, Steve had been so genuine in his gratitude for her, to downplay her own role would feel like insulting his intelligence. She knew he wasn’t stupid; Steve had proven aware enough about the situation to make his own judgements. He thought she was cool, and that was nice to think about. Why waste effort trying to argue that?

Lapis blinked, noticing the bemused-looking Peridot staring at her and holding an almost teasing smile.

“What?” Lapis asked her. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“Oh, was I the one smiling?” She asked cheekily.

“…Was I?” Lapis asked, before feeling how the edges of her lips and been holding up her expression. She felt a flush of embarrassment through her cheeks. “H-hey, what’s the big deal if I was?”

“Well usually when you get lost in thought, you’re either looking completely straight-faced or pouting.”

“Lost in thought? When do I…” Lapis started, beginning to defend herself, but stopped when she realized she’d be charging into a losing battle. She shifted her aim instead. “What about it? I need time to think to myself sometimes. And I don’t always think about bad stuff.”

“Well it’s the first time I’ve seen you like that.” Peridot stated wryly.

“I didn’t know you were making a hobby of studying my mood.” Lapis huffed with a sour half-frown.

“I’m not, but come on. Seriously. We share the barn, and neither of us really go very far out that much. You’re the only person I interact with on a daily basis anymore, so of course I’m going to passively notice how you’re like when you’re not reading or sleeping.” Peridot spoke as if it were self-evident, and maybe it was, Lapis had to admit to herself.

“All right. Fair, I guess.” Lapis relented. “But don’t you have anything better to do? I heard you working on something earlier.”

“I am no longer under any higher authority. I can take a break if I so wish.” Peridot casually defended herself. “Though while we’re on the subject, you wouldn’t happen to know any practical applications to Earth’s “wood” would you?”

“Wood?” Lapis raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, from trees. You know, the organic cylindrical bases they have?” Peridot gestured to everything around them. “The barn is made of the stuff, just repurposed. Do you have any good ideas on what wood could possibly be utilized for?”

Lapis squinted as she scanned around the barn, studying the walls and supports. She considered Peridot’s question for a good few seconds before turning back to her. “I don’t know. A barn?” Lapis shrugged.

Peridot frowned, her half-shut eyelids showing her exasperation. “Well that’s helpful.”

“You should know Earth better than me.” Lapis stated plainly. “Why would you even want to work with wood anyway?”

“That’s what I’m wondering. Apparently humans use it all the time to build stuff. They must seriously be lacking in resources to have to rely on something so flimsy and…finite.” Peridot shivered in disapproval.

“Are you planning to renovate the barn further, then?”

“Uh… I hadn’t thought about that.” Peridot looked around the barn again. “Well, I guess it’s not too bad, aesthetically speaking.” She admitted. “But anyways, I got a little sidetracked. It’s not a bad thing to see you so happy.”

“I’d hope not.” Lapis said, before shedding some of the rigidness in her tone. “…But thanks.”

Peridot waved her gratitude away like it was no big deal. “Don’t mention it. Just me being a sympathetic and emotionally cognizant friend is all.”

Lapis gave an amused smirk. “I guess so.”

“Well then, I think my break’s lasted long enough. I should get back to work.” Peridot said. “I’ll keep it outside so you can focus on reading, sleeping, or thinking. Whichever you pick for today.”

Lapis couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be an intentional jab at her or not. Regardless, it had gotten her thinking about how she typically opted to spend her time. She couldn’t argue with a lot of the points Peridot had made, as it wasn’t untrue that Lapis never tended to stray too far from the barn other than her occasional flights, but those were just another method to get lost in her own head. Sure, she had occasionally helped with the Roaming Eye and the Rubies, but that was only because they ended up coming to her, not the other way around.

It was really beginning to set in just how lazy a lifestyle she had been living. Or, no, “lazy” wasn’t the right word. “Scared” honestly would’ve fit better. The barn was a place she had managed to settle into an area of comfort, despite all that had happened. If she could find comfort here, then why would she want to explore any other options? Well, not appearing like a total depressed loner was one, as Peridot had, intentionally or not, delivered that point to her.

“Actually, if you want to work inside, you can.” Lapis told her. “I think I’m gonna…head into town.”

Peridot’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Lapis held back a groan at Peridot’s reaction. “Yeah, I get it, this “isn’t usually like me” or whatever. We’ve been over this before.”

“I’m just…happy for you, Lapis.” Peridot spoke genuinely. “You’re making me proud.”

Lapis gave a relenting sigh. “Well, thanks for being less patronizing about it this time.” She returned with a genuine smile of her own.

“Well of course I…” Peridot froze for a second. “H-hey! I am not patronizing! Not notably so, anyway.”

Lapis snorted. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry. It’s just that everyone seems to be looking at the small things I’m doing and thinking it’s this big deal or something.”

“Well obviously. That’s just what having friends is like.”

“I… Hm.” Lapis wasn’t sure what she wanted to say about that. Maybe it would be best to leave it at that. “Well, I’ll see you sometime later. I might not be gone for long, I don’t know.”

“Of course. Go off and have fun, for however long that lasts.”

Lapis sprouted the wings from her back. She gave one last nod to Peridot before setting off and flying out of the barn.

---

It was only when Beach City came into view that Lapis realized she really had no plan. She was so set on disproving the image she had built for herself that she hadn’t even thought about what she would actually do when she got there. She wrinkled her nose, disappointed in her own lack of foresight. She could just turn around now, but she knew that would disappoint Peridot, and honestly herself too. Maybe she’ll just skip town and say hi to Steven. After all, she didn’t know anyone who actually lived in the town, nor did she know anything she might be interested in doing. That felt like cheating though…

Lapis groaned at herself for trying to hold her accountable for what now felt like nothing more than a whim. She wouldn’t stay long, she decided. Maybe she could use this as an opportunity to learn more about humans and human things. Now that she had a 100% human friend, she might learn something that could end up being useful.

Lapis halted her forward momentum just before she had flown directly above the town, hovering in place for a moment to scan out some places to land. It was mostly just a bunch of primitive looking buildings that she wouldn’t be able to tell the purposes of from her elevation. One area in particular managed to catch her eye: A large boardwalk that partially hung over the bay on the northern edge of the town. There was a lot of open space, and there was a collection of relatively strange architecture that stood out from the rest of the town with colorful gates and spinning contraptions. But most importantly…it was made out of wood. Who knows, maybe she could help out Peridot as well.

With her destination selected, Lapis swerved above the large square of wood and allowed herself to drop down in an open space at its center. She landed fairly gracefully and dissipated her water wings as her feet hit the timbered flooring. A few humans that had been strolling nearby had bore witness to her entrance, and their initial surprise gave way to a couple of impressed cheers and some lukewarm applause.

“Where’d she come from?!” “Woah!” “Cool trick!” A few of them said amongst themselves, much to Lapis’ confusion, further accentuated when one of them went up to her and laid a small strip of green paper by her.

“Um. Thanks?” Lapis said, but the small crowd had mostly dispersed already. “Weird.” She mumbled to herself as she picked up the paper strip. It had a picture of a human she didn’t recognize on the center, with the number “1” on each corner.

Before she could fully analyze the thing, she was interrupted by another human heading her way: A man much more built and larger than she usually saw, lacking hair on his head, but also having two strips below his nose seemingly as compensation. Lapis wasn’t sure why, but she immediately assumed his resting face would still don a smile.

“Hey! Ma’am! I saw that landing. You…must be one of Steven’s friends, am I right?” He asked as he scurried over towards her, panting slightly. His toothy grin contrasted strangely with his raised eyebrow.

“Yeah?” Lapis answered, unsure where all of this attention was coming from. “What about it?”

“Oh no, don’t get the wrong idea, but I feel the need to ask. You did pay the entrance fee, right?” He said, before mumbling something under his breath. “Gotta have one in place if Funland’s gonna continue being understaffed…”

“Entrance fee?”

“Heheh. I guess I should take that as a no, huh?” The human chuckled weakly, suddenly looking a little tired; his smile looking like it was about to falter, but he managed to hold it up regardless.

Lapis looked over the strip of paper in her hand, before offering it to him. “You can have this if it’s worth anything.”

The man took the paper and stared at it. “…A dollar.” He said with scarcely any emotion, before giving a conceding sigh. “You know what? Just consider this one on me. Just don’t break anything, all right?” He said before handing her back a collection of even smaller strips of red paper.

“Sure.” Lapis shrugged in agreement. “I wasn’t planning on it anyway.”

“That comforts me more than it should!”

“So you own this place, then? Could I ask something?”

“Why not? Shoot.”

“Why is everything made of wood?” Lapis asked plainly.

The owner stared at her for a bit before weakly chuckling again. “Because that’s what boardwalks are made of.”

That adds another to the list: Barns and boardwalks.

“Well thanks.” Lapis said.

The man nodded and turned away, muttering something under his breath as he left. “That boy has some weird friends.”

With that, Lapis was left to her own devices. She was surrounded in all directions by the chatter of humans, mechanical rumbles, and even the occasional scream. Some happy-go-lucky melody played in the distance. It wasn’t difficult to piece together that this was a place for entertainment. She hadn’t seen anything like it on Camp Pining Hearts, which was basically her only point of reference when it came towards understanding human customs.

Lapis picked and random direction and began walking around. The entire place was pretty much the opposite of the barn in the countryside, even if they were both made of wood. There were a lot of colorful stands and stalls, and a lot of spinning mechanical things. Humans would line up to any of these places, and exchange the same red strips of paper she had received from the owner to participate in games or ride the attractions. She supposed that while she was here, and because she was granted the tickets, she might as well try a few things out, and learn what they were.

The first thing she came across was a collection of comically large teacups, spinning independently from the also spinning circle they were placed on. A sign nearby read “Teacups 2.0! Lawsuit-Free!” Regardless of the enthusiastic text, it seemed to be one of the less busy rides at the moment. Lapis took note of how the few who did want to ride exchanged a single red ticket to the operator, so she did the same when she walked up.

“Got anyone with you?” The man running the ride said as she handed him her slip.

Lapis looked around as if she were going to find anyone beside her. “No?”

“That’s fine. There’s not enough people to fill the whole thing, so you can take one by yourself.”

Was she expected to have come with someone else? As she entered an empty teapot, she did notice that the others were filled with pairs. Was she doing this wrong? If she was, nobody seemed to care as the cups began spinning.

Lapis…sat. The cup spun. The circular platform underneath the cup also spun. But there wasn’t much more than that. Lapis was waiting for something…more to happen, but it never really picked up from there. Riding solo in her own cup, she found she was left eavesdropping on the other pairs to maybe find out if she was missing something. From what she could pick up on, apparently the ride used to be a little more stimulating before someone had accidentally broken it. Other than that, she was left to wait with a patiently aloof expression.

After the teacups, Lapis decided to wander around to find something a little more exciting. The distant screaming sounded promising, so she meandered her way over. The flagship rollercoaster she had come across certainly looked more promising, but maybe having to wait in a line for it soured her experience when she realized she could achieve pretty much the same effect flying.

One building she had seen was labeled “House of Mirrors.” The edge of her mouth scrunched slightly as she read it. “Yeah, no thanks.” She said as she turned away from it.

The last thing she tried was something called a Ferris Wheel, but she quickly found it was basically just the teacups again, even with the same recommendation of having another person with her. The only difference was that it was vertical instead, and less porcelain themed.

Lapis sighed to herself as her gondola slowly rotated towards the peak of the wheel. None of this theme park stuff was really doing it for her. She just felt very awkward aimlessly wandering the boardwalk and stoically riding the attractions that had the humans around her laughing and even screaming. The view of the whole park might’ve been nice, had she not already seen it from a much higher vantage point. She looked away towards the pier stationed next to the theme park, remembering it was where Steven had taken her on a boating trip with his dad.

And speaking of his dad… A familiar figure stood on the pier, holding what she remembered as a fishing rod. In most cases, Lapis wouldn’t think she would’ve sought him out, but right now she was kind of desperate to find an excuse to do anything else. Did she really even need an excuse to leave? She came here alone after all. She shrugged to herself, sprouting her wings and taking off straight out of her gondola and towards the pier.

Notes:

If you had wood, what would you do with it? I'll make my personal top 10 list once I think of 10 things.

Chapter 14: Why are you inviting?

Summary:

Lapis gets some advice to invite Jesse along with her during her trip in the town.

Lapis soared to the pier in no time; perhaps too fast, as when her feet hit the boardwalk, Greg’s concentration was broken by a sudden flinch.

“W-woah!” Greg blurted, juggling his nearly dropped fishing rod back into his grip before it could fall into the bay. He twisted around to see Lapis. “H-heh, hey! Uh, sorry. You startled me.” He said genially, if a little awkwardly.

“Hey.” Lapis said back, also genially, but a little less awkward. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. You’re Steven’s dad…Greg, right?”

“Yep. Nice to know you remembered me. How’ve you been, Captain Lazuli?”

Lapis let out a humored scoff. “A captain who sunk the only ship she’s been on.” She remarked dryly. “I’m fine. Sorry that I interrupted your fishing.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Greg assured her. “I wasn’t really getting any bites anyway. Thought I’d try fishing here while I had some free time away from the car wash, but I haven’t caught as much as I wanted. And by that, I mean anything. What brings you here?”

Lapis shrugged as if she wasn’t entirely certain, even though she knew she had a pretty good idea. “I’ve never really checked out the town. I thought I might as well, but… I don’t know. I don’t really get a lot of this stuff.”

“Heh, I guess you wouldn’t, huh? You stay at the barn, don’t you?” Greg said, nodding understandingly. “Even humans don’t get humans most of the time, so don’t worry about it.”

Lapis believed that right away. Human individuality was at a level she wouldn’t have been able to comprehend very well until she experienced it herself. A Gem of one type was usually just like any other Gem of the same, or at least they were supposed to be. Lapis typically worked alone in the past, but even then, she could already tell with a great deal of confidence how the vast majority of her fellow Lazulis were like. She wondered how her experiences here on Earth might have deviated her from that mold. Maybe the Crystal Gems were rubbing off on her.

“I guess I just wanted to ask for any advice you might have for dealing with humans.” Lapis said.

“Other than being polite? I don’t really think there’s any kind of golden rule I can give you that’ll work for all of us.” Greg answered honestly.

Lapis hummed in acknowledgment. She was just thinking about how different humans were from Gems. She shouldn’t be surprised there was no easy answer.

Lapis noticed that Greg seemed to be running something through his mind as he looked at her. “Actually, you know… If you’ve got a friend you’re already comfortable with, doing this together with them could be just what you need.” He spoke up thoughtfully.

Lapis thought of both Steven and Steve. She supposed that if she were with either of them, they’d definitely be able to help her, given that they were obviously much more acquainted with human things and customs. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to bother either of them though, considering she came out here on a whim. Steven could be busy on a mission, and she had no idea where she might find Steve.

“Mmm, I don’t know.” Lapis said unsurely. “That’s not a bad idea, but I wouldn’t want to drag them away from anything important.”

“You’re friends with Steve, aren’t you?” Greg asked. “Uh, and I meant “Steve,” not “Steven,” to be clear.”

For a moment, Lapis was surprised that Greg knew that. She remembered that Steve mentioned he had talked with Greg sometime after their first meeting, but they must’ve had another one for Greg to acknowledge the two of them being friends. It felt kind of nice knowing that Steve had made some sort of reference to someone else that she was a friend of his.

“I am.” Lapis nodded. “…Did he tell you that?”

“Yeah. I offered him a job to work at my car wash, which is why I’m able to be here catching fish at this hour. Or trying to, at least.” Greg said sheepishly. “If you’re still feeling it, why don’t you head over there and ask? You can tell him I’ll take over for the rest of the day if he goes with you. It’d be a paid break of course.”

Lapis pondered the offer. She was leaning towards agreeing to it, though she realized it was more because she liked the idea of seeing Steve again more so than figuring out the appeal of a "ferris wheel."

“All right. I might as well ask him.” Lapis decided. “Thanks, by the way. And sorry again for sinking your boat.”

“Don’t fret over it. Steven told me you had a good reason.”

Lapis grimaced slightly at the memory. She was glad Jasper was dealt with.

“The wash is on the other side of the town over there.” Greg told her, pointing to guide her in the supposed general direction of his car wash.

Lapis nodded gratefully, sprouting her wings. “Thanks.” She said with a timid smile, before launching into the air.

---

“I’m sure I’ve made a substantial cause for my reelection. I know I can count on your vote.” The balding middle-aged mayor, Dewey, finally concluded with a smarmy smile.

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Jesse responded with his focus clearly elsewhere as he hosed down the tacky van Dewey had brought in. It wouldn’t have fit in the super-wash, especially not with a recreation of the mayor’s head smiling creepily on its roof.

Upon meeting him, Jesse had felt uneasy being introduced to him, as he would any stranger in Beach City. There was always that lingering worry that somebody would recognize him, and at first it seemed like Dewey was trying to butter Jesse up to secure his vote, but it turned out that he liked to talk more about his own achievements as mayor rather than trying to get to know Jesse better in order to make a personal appeal. At a certain point, Jesse began tuning him out. The man bothered him in a way he couldn’t completely pinpoint. His sleaziness reminded him of someone else, only Dewey was heavily lacking in any sort of charisma to offset it. He couldn’t believe this man was supposedly the mayor of the town.

Regardless, Jesse made sure to keep any direct face-time with the mayor as minimal as possible. The less time Dewey had to memorize his face, the better. The giant wall of a van gave him a good excuse to stay out of his view as he hosed around it. As Jesse was wiping the side of the vehicle, his attention was suddenly drawn to a person-shaped shadow cast over it. A shadow with wings a fainter, shimmering shade.

“Hey Steve.” Jesse turned around to see Lapis land by him.

“Yo, Lapis!” Jesse said, pleasantly surprised to see her, and relieved he wouldn’t be alone with Dewey anymore. “It’s good to see you. What’re you doing here?”

Lapis shrugged with a friendly smile. “I thought I’d check out the town for once.” Her smile faded a bit. “I’ve been having some trouble with it, though.”

“Trouble? What do you mean by that?”

“Hey, hey! Washer boy.” Dewey interrupted. “I don’t have time to watch you mingle with one of Steven’s sisters. I’m a very busy man with plenty of mayorly duties to attend to, as you already know.”

“Sister?!” “Sister?” Jesse and Lapis spoke in unison, though Jesse sounded more confused while Lapis was just weirded out.

“Cousin, whatever. Not important.” Dewey corrected himself. “Point is I’ve got places to be.” He took a quick glance at Lapis with a pondering look. “Though I might have some extra time if you can tell me a bit about Pearl.”

Lapis’ expression shifted to an unamused stare. She turned to Jesse. “Turn it on for a moment.” She asked of him while nodding to the hose.

“Uh, sure.” Jesse complied, turning the nozzle.

Lapis swished her hand out, and the stream of water from the hose found itself suspended midair, rapidly accumulating into a hydro-sphere. Even if Jesse had seen it before, it was still baffling to see and understand this was real. Once the ball of water was large enough, Lapis moved it forward to fully envelop the mayor’s truck like a Dewey-themed snow globe. The water then suddenly began spinning in place, mixing with the cleaner and rinsing every inch of the vehicle. Before long, Lapis flicked her wrists in opposite directions, and the water ball dispersed as small streams and drops in every direction while at the same time missing where the three of them stood. The van was left behind shining and sparkling.

“There.” Lapis announced bluntly.

Dewey cleared his throat. “You magic girls and your…magic powers.” He said. “As long as you’re doing things like this instead of causing trouble for the town.”

The mayor’s mild response was just another jarring sign to Jesse that this place was...weird. It seemed the townsfolk just really were used to this crazy magical stuff happening every now and then.

“Washer boy! Remember to vote for me. Not that anyone’s ever gonna think it’s necessary to run against me of course, but the sentiment is appreciated.” The mayor said as he slid into the van and drove out of the lot. Jesse and Lapis watched him drive away.

“Thanks for that.” Jesse said after a while. “That guy was kind of a sleaze.”

Lapis smirked. “He sure sounds like it. Glad I could help.”

“So what were you saying before? You been having trouble with something?”

“Yeah.” Lapis nodded, her smile fading with one corner of her mouth pulled back. “I decided to check out the town. I haven’t really done it before, and a lot of human things are going over my head.” She said, before looking a little more demure than usual. “I…thought I would ask if you could…help. If you wanted to. I talked to Greg earlier. He said he’d take over if you did.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. He said it’d be paid.” Lapis said. “I wouldn’t want you to feel roped in though. It’s totally up to you.”

Jesse thought for a moment. “So you want to like…go around the town together? Just the two of us?”

“Basically. I’ll try not to be too much of a bore, I promise.” Lapis said with faint traces of what looked like a hopeful smile. “I just want to make sure I’m not doing anything weird.”

Jesse thought about it. He had only been in Beach City for a couple of days, and he certainly still felt like an outsider. Apparently so did Lapis, but for different reasons obviously. They were both from somewhere far away, but Jesse was a wanted man where he was originally from, unlike Lapis. At least, as far as he knew? Regardless, Jesse’s issue was fearing he may be recognized by the townsfolk. Going around town just for the fun of it would certainly make him nervous.

But at the same time, he was finding it hard to turn Lapis down. There was something about the way that the both of them were finding it hard to navigate around the people here that was slightly comforting. Mutualism in Jesse’s previous partnerships had been drastically sparse. There was always someone working above him, calling the shots and making it difficult to tell if he was being taken advantage of or straight lied to. Jesse didn’t fear any of that looking at Lapis. Before Jesse’s brain had fully registered it, he was nodding his head.

“Yeah, sure. Sounds fun.” He told Lapis, and was rewarded with a wider smile from her.

“Great.” She nodded back. “I was at the boardwalk earlier. I don’t know if you’d want to try it out. I just wanted to mention it because there seemed to be a lot of things there that expected you to be with someone else.” She explained.

The boardwalk, Jesse thought. He remembered seeing a ferris wheel there, thinking there must’ve been some kind of amusement park. When was the last time he had done anything like that? He couldn’t remember.

“All right. I’m down.” He said.

Just then, the sound of a vehicle pulling in caught their attention, and Jesse thought he might have to clean another before he could leave. Instead he saw it was Greg’s van, with his window rolled down. He braked to speak with them.

“Hey Steve!” Greg greeted him. “I just saw Mayor Dewey’s freshly washed van drive by. Sorry you had to do that one. I know it’s too big for the wash.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Lapis came in and did it in seconds.” Jesse said.

“Really? Well thank you Lapis. Maybe I oughta hire you too, ah?”

“Mmm, no.” Lapis said with a pleasant smile despite her bluntness.

“Eheh, well, I just wanted to drop by and say you can take the rest of the day off, Steve.” Greg told him. “There must be something up with the fish at this hour. Couldn’t get a single bite, so I called it early. Why don’t you go out and have some fun? Get more acquainted with Beach City?”

“Actually me and Lapis were thinking about heading to the boardwalk. Apparently there’s rides and shit?”

“Oh, really? You’re going to hang out at the amusement park?” Greg asked, looking from Jesse to Lapis, and then seemingly off into the distance for a moment. “Just don’t break anything…” He said with a softer voice and a weak smile, not fully there, as if he were reminiscing.

“Why does everyone think I want to break something?” Lapis asked aloud, clearly puzzled.

“Oh, no. Nothing about you, Lapis. I just now realized my family’s kind of got a history with that…” He spoke. “But yeah! That sounds like a great idea. You two should go! I’ll take over from here.”

“All right. Cool.” Jesse nodded. “Thanks, Greg.” He turned to Lapis. “You uh, you good with walking?” Even if flying would get them there faster, he didn’t want to bring too much attention to himself. Plus it’d be a little awkward having Greg watch them take off given how Lapis carried him.

“Sure.” She answered. “It’s over this way.”

“Nice. Let’s go then.” Jesse said, turning to walk away. He briefly looked over his shoulder at Greg. “See ya, man.” He said with a wave.

Lapis did the same, though once Jesse had turned away, she caught Greg shooting her an encouraging thumbs up. She awkwardly shot one back before turning and leaving with Jesse.

Notes:

Better Blue Dew.

I know not much happened this chapter, but this section ended up longer than I thought, so I wanted to allocate more space for the next scene instead of making it a part of this chapter.

Chapter 15: Why are you amused?

Summary:

Jesse and Lapis have a fun time at Funland.

“Yo, so uh, Lapis. What was that about being Steven’s sister or cousin or whatever?” Jesse asked Lapis as they strode side by side up the stretch of road that lead directly from It’s a Wash to the boardwalk.

“No idea.” Lapis answered. “I think he was just confused about what Gems are. We don’t have “sisters” or “cousins.” At least, not like humans do. But then again I guess I don’t really know too well what those mean exactly for humans. I don’t know how accurate Camp Pining Hearts is to humanity as a whole.”

“Not much.” Jesse told her with a humored smirk, though it turned a bit sullen as he thought more on it. There was a lot more drama in the real world. Real drama.

Before long, the two of them arrived at the boardwalk. Jesse could see more clearly the ferris wheel and roller coaster that towered behind the flashy entrance gate. Settled in the middle of the gate, sitting behind a plastic folding table, was a fairly built man with a smile plastered on his face.

“Welcome to Funland!” He greeted the two of them, before looking to Lapis specifically. “I see you left and came back. Gonna pay the entrance fee this time?”

“Whoops.” Lapis mumbled to herself, before shooting an apologetic glance to Jesse. “Forgot to tell you about that.”

The man’s smile quivered.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Jesse said, pulling out his wallet, and he could tell the man felt relieved. “How much?”

“Three each, which’ll start you out with ten tickets you can spend at any attraction. Though you can pay for more too.”

Jesse filtered through his bills for a moment. “Smallest I’ve got are twenties. Just give us however much we can get from this.” He said, pulling out a bill and handing it to the man.

“Well thank you very much!” He said pleasantly, taking the twenty from Jesse, replacing it with a handful of red tickets. “You know I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

A slight wave of unease passed through Jesse. “Uh… Yeah.” Was all he could find himself to respond with.

“You can just call me Mr. Smiley.” The man introduced himself, extended a hand. Jesse cautiously shook it.

“Steve Driscoll.”

“Nice to meet you!” Mr. Smiley said, before turning to Lapis. “And I suppose I never got your name, blue lady.”

“Lapis Lazuli.” She told him. “Sorry if I caused any trouble earlier.”

“Water under the bridge.” He said, before reaching out to meet Lapis halfway.

She stared at his hand for a moment, but before the awkward pause could drag on for too long, she reached forward and grabbed his hand. Midway through their lukewarm handshake, Lapis glanced at Jesse. “Is this right?”

“Huh?” He looked back confused, unsure what she was talking about, only then remembering that she had asked him to join her so that she could have someone to help her navigate around human customs. Did Gems really not do handshakes? He remembered shaking hands with Peridot, but that was after some prodding with Steven. “Yeah, that’s good.” He said somewhat encouragingly.

Mr. Smiley raised an eyebrow before their handshake finished. “Uh… Yeah. So you two on a date or something?”

Jesse flinched from surprise at being asked that so brazenly, though he realized that wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. “Oh, uh…”

“Heh heh, I’m asking too much, aren’t I?” Mr. Smiley chuckled lightly seeing Jesse freeze at the question. “Guess I was just looking for an excuse to stay here a bit before I go running rampant operating everything… Go ahead and go in!” 

“Y…Yeah. Thanks.” Jesse nodded, stepping around the table with Lapis and passing through the entrance gate.

After they were out of earshot from Mr. Smiley, Lapis looked at Jesse with a puzzled look. “Date?”

“You uh… You know what that means?”

“No.”

“Ah.” Jesse felt strangely relieved for some reason. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What was it?” She asked with a curious glint in her eyes as she glanced at him.

Jesse was sure his cheeks must’ve flushed a little bit, but it helped put him at ease to realize that the concept of dating itself was simply alien to Lapis. Was the concept of romance the same? “It’s uh, it’s like when two people who’re in a relationship go out and do something together.”

“Oh, so this is a date?”

“I mean like, uh…” Jesse tried to formulate his explanation in a way that Lapis might be able to understand. “Y’know like, Percy and Paulette? How they like each other a lot? It’d be like if they went out together because they like each other so much.”

Jesse watched the gears turn in Lapis’ head for a second before she nodded. “Okay. Yeah, I get it.” She said in a surprisingly understanding tone.

“Ah. Good.” Jesse nodded, ready to move away from the awkward explanation. He wasn’t completely sure if she understood, but she sounded confident enough.

The two of them made their way to an open area within the center of the amusement park, surrounded by various different stands and rides. There were other people around, and Jesse was worried that being with a blue alien might draw some eyes towards him, but he found that Lapis’ presence wasn’t even able to catch them a single glance. It was just…normal to them, it seemed.

“Yo, so like, what did you want to do here?” Jesse asked as he took in the lights, sounds, and screams around him.

“Hmm. Well…” Lapis’ gaze turned towards a spinning teacup ride. “Apparently you’re supposed to do that one with two people. I tried it by myself and didn’t really get it, so I guess that part was true.”

“The teacups?” Jesse followed her gaze. “All right. Yeah sure, we can give it a try together if you want.”

Lapis nodded with a small smile. “Thanks.”

Together they walked side-by-side to the attraction. There was a small line, but it was less than the spots that would open up once the current group’s time finished, which wasn’t even a minute by the time Jesse and Lapis had lined up at the end of it. The operator took their tickets and told them to find any open cup. Once they chose one and got settled on opposite sides, Lapis shot Jesse an unsure look.

“So why is it you need two people for this?” She asked. A very slow rotation was beginning as they talked together.

Jesse shrugged. “For fun. You don’t really need multiple people. I think they just prefer that so the line doesn’t get long.”

“Really? Hmm…” She said, staring at the ground outside the cup as it began picking up slightly more speed.

“Think it’s boring?”

“I guess. I don’t get what the spinning is supposed to do.”

“That’s fine. I get it. You can fly, so like, I can see why this wouldn’t be interesting to you. It’s not super thrilling to me either, really.” Jesse said as he watched the world spin around him and Lapis. “But I don’t think it’s really supposed to be.”

“It’s not?” Lapis looked at him confused.

“Nah. It’s not a huge roller coaster or anything—It’s not supposed to be. I think it’s best to be with a friend and just relax with them.”

“Oh, I…guess that makes sense.” Lapis nodded as if she were on the cusp of understanding.

“Yeah, if I were alone, I’d probably only find this slightly fun, probably. But with you… I like it a lot more.”

“With me? But I haven’t really done anything.”

“You don’t need to. Just being here is enough, y’know?” Jesse shrugged.

Lapis smirked a little. “Wow. That’s really nice of you to say.” She remarked, before taking a moment to watch the buildings and stands spin. “…Hm. Yeah, I guess this is kinda nice, actually.”

“You think so, huh? Awesome, yo.” Jesse smiled, feeling a bit proud that he seemingly managed to get her to enjoy the ride at least a little bit. Did he achieve that through his words or through his presence?

The cups had reached their top speed a while ago, but it didn’t matter. Jesse could see through the grin on Lapis’ face that she was having a nice time on the ride. The swirling background gave him little else to focus on than the blue rock lady directly across from him. She had a nice smile. Reserved, but certainly genuine. Her full blue bangs swayed to the side slightly from the rotation of the cup.

“There’s one thing I still don’t get about that one.” Lapis spoke as the two of them stepped out of the cup.

“Yeah?”

“Why are they giant drinking cups?”

“Huh. I never really thought about that.” Jesse pondered. “Got no clue, really. Don’t really drink tea. Maybe it just draws attention.” He guessed, before looking around at the open area they had stepped into. “So, what’re you thinking now?”

Lapis also looked around, but she never focused on anything specific. “I don’t know. How about you decide?”

Jesse pursed his lips as he scouted his immediate options; something caught his eye. “Oh, you know I’ve always wanted to try one of these.” He said, leading Lapis towards the strange sight of a rather bored looking employee sitting above a pool of water and behind a protective cage.

“Dunk Tank?” Lapis read the sign aloud.

“One ticket for three throws!” The attendant greeted them as they walked up to the stand. “Hit the target once and win a premiere prize!” She gestured to the wall of rather large stuffed toys, funky masks, and similar trinkets. “Easier than you think! Why not give it a go?”

“It’s simple.” Jesse said to Lapis as he exchanged a ticket for three throwing balls. “You throw a ball at that target, and if you do, it drops the guy into the water.”

“Why would you want that to happen?” Lapis asked with a raised brow.

Jesse shrugged. “For fun.”

“Hm. All right. Sounds kind of weird, but what do I know?”

“Cool. I’ll go first, and then you can give it a shot.” Jesse said, before noticing that the bored cage attendant was distracted on his phone. “Yo, hey. You wanna put your phone away before I go?” He called over towards him.

The dude peered up only slightly from the screen with almost an annoyed glare, seemingly bothered he had to spare Jesse any attention whatsoever. He looked back down without responding at all.

“Sheesh. Well, I warned him.” Jesse wound up for a throw, twisting forwards and tossing a ball towards the target. He just barely missed the mark, the ball hitting with a disappointing thud against the bottom part of the tank.

“Heh.” The cage attendant snickered at the failed attempt.

Jesse frowned, realizing this dude was a bit of an asshole. He hadn’t been taking it seriously since he just wanted to demonstrate for Lapis, but now he was encouraged just a teensy bit more to hit a shot. He wound up once more, honing his aim before tossing the second ball with more purpose. Jesse was satisfied to see the straight-line path the ball had traveled, successfully hitting its mark.

…Except nothing happened.

“Huh?” Jesse confusedly murmured. Did he see it wrong?

“Why didn’t anything happen?” Lapis asked, just as confused as him. “You hit the target.”

“Doesn’t look like it. Would’ve fallen in if you did.” The cage attendant spoke up, still not looking up at either of them. “Guess you’re gonna have to try again.” He said with a slight mocking tone.

Jesse huffed. “Must be rigged.” He deduced under his breath. That was a little disappointing. Knowing it didn’t really matter much anymore, Jesse gave his third throw less focus. It veered off to the side and hit the very edge between the target and the wall of the tank, which was a much more disputable position to argue it wasn’t a hit than his previous dead-on shot.

“Hmph, not a hit.” The dude smirked, still safely perched above the water. “Too bad. Maybe next t—WHA-EH?!”

Suddenly, as if the water itself disagreed with the call, it geysered upwards and enveloped the guy up to his neck like a giant hand, before he was pulled down into the tank. The dunk seat folded naturally from the force of the water, and the resounding impact of the water filling the tank back up caused a spray of droplets to erupt from the open top. The guy remained surprised but unharmed as he sat drenched at the bottom of the tank. His phone, miraculously, had fallen onto the boardwalk and was also unharmed.

“Looks like a hit to me.” Lapis smirked deviously, lowering her hand. “Nice throw, Steve. I think I get the appeal now.”

Jesse repeatedly looked from Lapis to the dunk tank. He knew what happened, of course, he was just very surprised Lapis had intervened like she did. To be honest, once Jesse got over his brief shock, he found himself feeling…appreciative. “Tch—Heh.” He couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Lapis…”

“W-wow…! You… You did it…?” The lady behind the counter announced with surprise and uncertainty laced in her voice. “U-uh… P-prize! You can…pick one.”

Jesse strode up to the counter, only feeling slightly smug. “Yo Lapis, how about you pick?” Jesse offered. It was her who made the victory possible.

“Oh, um.” Lapis took three seconds to look over the selection. “Those.” She stated bluntly, pointing towards a tacky pair of sunglasses with blue, star-shaped lenses.

“Interesting choice.” Jesse remarked as the stand attendant scrambled to retrieve them.

Once they were in Lapis’ hands, she fidgeted around with them to figure out how to unfold the handles. “I was just curious about how Garnet feels all of the time.” She explained, putting them on. She predictably looked a little ridiculous wearing the glasses and looking around aimlessly for all of five seconds. She kinda looked like a douchbag. Jesse held back another chuckle. “Hmm. Yep.” Lapis concluded, taking off the glasses and handing them to Jesse. “About what I expected. You can have them now.”

“Oh, you sure?” Jesse took them back.

Lapis waved away his concerns. “Yeah. Just wanted to see was all.”

Jesse looked back towards the stand and the dunk tank. The dude had scrambled out of the tank and was angrily asking the lady why there were no towels, who incredulously returned she had been told that apparently they wouldn’t have been needed.

“Uh… Sorry. Doesn’t look like you’ll get your own chance to play.” Jesse spoke up after a few seconds of the two of them watching the mess unfolding in front of them.

Lapis held an unbothered grin. “Don’t worry, I still had fun.”

“I could tell. Dude’s lucky his phone survived.”

“I made sure of that.” Lapis said. “Thought about it though, but I already promised, like, two people I wouldn’t break anything. Never thought I’d have the urge to, but… That guy was kind of a jerk.”

Jesse smiled in agreeance. “Thanks, by the way.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Jesse began getting a familiar feeling as he looked at Lapis. Memories of him and his friends began creeping in from the back of his mind. Usually such thoughts would bum him out, but they didn’t now. Maybe Lapis’ presence subconsciously told him that those days were not yet entirely gone.

“So what now, then?” He asked.

“Eh. Just wanna walk around until we find something interesting?” Lapis offered.

“Yeah sure. Sounds good.”

The two of them left the squabbling pair of dunk tank operators behind, taking in the sights of the amusement park as they moved from place to place. Jesse, for the most part, was waiting for Lapis to find something she liked before he pointed out anything he might’ve wanted to try next, but as they continuously moved on from each area, she seemed fairly content as she was. As they made it to the far corner of the amusement park, Jesse stopped right in his tracks.

“No way…” He muttered.

Lapis followed his eyes towards a miniature road with traffic cones around. Racing on that road were proportionally appropriate cars. “What is that?” She inquired.

“Go-karts.” Jesse answered, staring at the attraction and getting lost in his thoughts again.

Lapis stood by in awkward silence, but eventually spoke up. “Is that something you want to do?” She asked.

“Oh, uh, we don’t have to if you don’t want to y’know?” Jesse responded.

“Why wouldn’t I? I’ve never tried it.”

“Ah. Yeah, that’s right.” Jesse said partially to himself, realizing he had simply assumed he’d be turned down. He turned his head to her suddenly. “Wait, you’d be cool with doing that, then?”

“Of course. As long as I’m doing it with you.” She said, with her word choice sounding sweeter than the nonchalant tone that went with it.

To tell the truth, Jesse hadn’t actually been feeling the go-karts. First laying his eyes on them here, and his mind was brought back towards bad memories that go-karting had him failing to cope with, resulting in a mental association rather than blockade. However when he heard how Lapis was perfectly cool with joining him, he began to form a second opinion.

“Really? Uh, all right, then. Cool. Let’s give it a shot.” Jesse said as he led the way towards the rails that would’ve moderated the line had there been one. A familiar man was running the thing, and smiled at them as they approached.

“It’s you two! Here to do some karting?” Mr. Smiley smiled at them.

“Yeah.” Jesse nodded.

“Well I’m glad to hear it. It hasn’t been as popular as I would’ve hoped, so you’ll get to try it before it’s taken down.” He told them. “One ticket each for a race. One race is three laps.”

Jesse handed him two tickets, and was given helmets in exchange. He passed one to Lapis, who stared at it with a confused look in her eyes.

“It’s for safety.” Jesse answered her unspoken question.

“And protection against lawsuits.” Mr. Smiley added helpfully. “So put ‘em on.”

Jesse obliged. Lapis still looked weirdly unsure, but after taking a look at Jesse, she did the same, with her tresses sticking from either side of the helmet, and her bangs fringing the top. “I don’t need this for protection, but I don’t want to find out what a lawsuit is.”

“Now that is something I wish I heard more often!” Mr. Smiley chuckled. Jesse couldn’t tell if it was forced or not.

Two karts were set out for the both of them. Jesse got settled into his rather quickly, and Lapis following his lead, awkwardly slipping into the seat of hers. “I’ve never been the best with tech.” She admitted. “Much less piloting human tech.”

“Don’t worry, it’s easy.” Jesse assured her. “You got a pedal for going, stopping, and you turn the wheel to…turn.” He explained.

“Hm. All right. But this is a race, right?”

“Doesn’t have to be, since you’ve never done this before.”

Lapis gave it some thought, adjusting herself in her seat. “It’s fine. I might as well get an authentic experience while I’m here. I don’t care if I lose.”

“All right. When the light turns green, you go.” Mr. Smiley explained from the sidelines by the starting lights. “Ready…” The top light filled in red, then the middle light…

“Which one is it?” Lapis mumbled to herself, looking down at both pedals. Then suddenly, before the final light flashed green, her kart launched forward past the starting line. Jesse couldn’t help but snicker a little before setting off after her.

“Hey! You went before—! Ah, forget it. There’s no prize for this anyway.” Mr. Smiley shrugged.

Jesse felt the thrill of the open air rushing past his face as his kart picked up speed. While he kept a straight line, he noticed Lapis ahead was zigging and zagging. She made it to the turn first due to her head start, but her lack of control had her kart careening against the side of the wall from a turn that was too late and too wide. Riding the wall slowed her enough for Jesse to catch up, and he slowed his own pace in order to drive side-by-side with her for a second.

“How’re you doing?” He asked her.

Lapis let out a humored *snrk*. “Terrible.” She responded with a smirk, her voice holding a slight tremor as the side of her kart repeatedly bounced off of the wall.

As Jesse took the lead, he decided to keep a slower speed so to not get much farther ahead of Lapis, almost like an invitation for her to see if she could catch up and pass him. After the first lap with no change, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen, but not long after, he heard her engine begin to whizz past. Jesse turned to his side and witnessed Lapis overtaking him.

“I get it now.” She called to him as she gained the lead.

Jesse grinned, feeling slightly proud of Lapis, and taking that as his queue to treat this like a real race now. He accelerated in order to catch up. Even if Lapis better understood going forward and turning, her lines were still pretty shaky. Jesse was able to surpass her just before the second lap.

“One more lap, Lapis…” Jesse reminded her as a friendly challenge, passing her by and only extending his lead. The adrenaline of the race made it a much more thrilling experience than if he were to have done this alone, even if he pretty much had this in the bag.

After a sharp turn, Jesse was confused to see a shadow on the track ahead of him, and glancing upwards, he caught a glimpse of Lapis descending from the sky with the wheel of her kart dangling from her fingertips. She landed her kart on the track ahead and seamlessly swooped back into a sitting position.

“Yo! I can’t do that!” Jesse called ahead.

Lapis turned to head to look behind her, shooting Jesse a cheeky smirk. “I can barely pilot these things. I needed some way to even—“

CRASH!!

Lapis, having not been looking forward, slammed her kart head on into the barrier ahead that shifted into a sharp turn. Her impact was so dead-on that her kart didn’t even spinout at all, rather she just came to a complete stop with a solid thump.

“W-woah! Lapis!” Jesse exclaimed, hitting the brakes so that he’d come to a stop right by her. His worry immediately dissolved into relief once he found her unharmed and snickering to herself.

“That was stupid.” She chuckled. “Guess I deserved that one.” She turned to Jesse as he drove closer with a grin stuck on her face. “Okay, I think you won. Good race.”

“That didn’t hurt? Like, not at all? Well, I’m glad you’re okay.” Jesse said with a sigh of relief.

“I’ve been in a crash much worse than this. This is nothing.”

“Y-yeah? Uh… Sick.” He said. It was only after seeing how she wasn’t hurt whatsoever that Jesse could finally realize that his heart had been racing. He wasn’t certain why, though. He was worried she might’ve had gotten herself hurt, yet the relief he felt now didn’t feel proportionate.

“Go ahead and finish the race. I’ll catch up.”

“Yeah… All right.”

Jesse used the remaining half of a lap to reinforce that he had nothing at all to worry about. It was just go-karts. He questioned why he had such an internal panic. Realizing how pointless worrying about it was, Jesse got over it quick enough to where he could enjoy what little time he had left on the track. He crossed the finish line with little fanfare, as Mr. Smiley had his attention captured upward.

Gently descending from the sky with a go-kart in her arms was Lapis. She landed very delicately for the massive weight she was carrying, setting hers by Jesse’s after he had gotten out of his. Her blue bangs were a little messy after she took off her helmet and handed it back to Mr. Smiley.

“I never thought I’d have to make a “no flying” rule for the go-karts.” Mr. Smiley remarked under his breath before turning to Jesse to take his helmet. “Congrats, Steve. She got a head start and flew over part of the course, and you still won.”

Jesse shrugged. “I’ve got some practice I guess.”

“Maybe next time.” Lapis said, unbothered.

Having finished the go-karts, the two of them made their way back towards the center of the park. Despite the incident, Jesse felt he was leaving the attraction on a high. “Hey, Lapis…” He said was they walked together. She looked at him. “Thanks. I had more fun with that than I thought.”

Lapis smiled back. “Me too, if you can believe it with how terrible I was. I don’t think stuff like that is usually my speed, but it’s fun with you.”

Jesse felt warm from her words. The same was true for him. It wouldn’t have been nearly as fun if he were to have done this alone. “You’re awesome, Lapis. Like seriously.”

“Oh.” Lapis’ cheeks flushed a deeper blue. “Thank you.” She said, before coming to a halt, and looking off into nothing. “Sooo… Is this the part where we…?”

“Uh, the part where we what?”

“When Percy and Paulette were on a date like this, at the end they put their faces togeth—“

“H-huh?! W-wait, a date…?!” Jesse blurted from surprise.

“Oh, wait. This…wasn't a date?”

Jesse froze for a couple of seconds at such a notion. His emotions were so all over the place that he couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking, except for anxiousness of course. “Did you…want it to be?”

“Oh, um. I don’t know.” Lapis admitted tentatively. “It’s just that Percy and Paulette did something similar and… Oh wait, that’s a spoiler. You haven’t gotten that far yet.”

Jesse had to remind himself that Lapis had already admitted to not being the most well versed on the concept of dating. He felt the warmth on his cheeks fade as he convinced himself that Lapis likely didn’t mean exactly what he thought she meant.

“Beach City! Be warned!” A loud voice suddenly called from the center of the amusement park. Jesse and Lapis turned their attention over to see a slightly hefty teenager with square glasses and distinctly french fry stylized hair, amplifying his voice through a megaphone. “There are dangerous people living right under your noses, hiding in such plain sight they’re practically invisible!”

An overwhelming sense of dread suddenly enveloped Jesse. A subdued panic in his chest paled his face and dilated his pupils. “S-shit!” He muttered harshly under his breath, before quickly moving behind the side of a nearby stand, out of direct sight from the guy.

“Steve…?!” Lapis said, concern and confusion in her voice as she hurried to join him behind the cover of the stand. “What’s wrong?”

Jesse’s back hugged the side of the stand as he listened intently on the voice on the megaphone. Was he found out? Would he have to evacuate Beach City as soon as possible? He was just getting comfortable. Where would he even go from here? So many thoughts raced in Jesse’s head, and he had to try his best to suppress them so he could focus on what was being said.

“There is nothing more dangerous than the suppression of the truth! And the men in black want to suppress the truth that they’re here and doing just that!” The voice echoed throughout the park. “Not only are aliens among us, but so are the people who would want to convince you otherwise! Don't be fooled by the men in black just because they're not wearing black!”

“…Huh?” Jesse was hit with a wall of confusion, leaving him dumbfounded for a moment, but ultimately incredibly relieved. It seemed it was just some nut job conspiracy theorist.

“Steve, what’s wrong?” Lapis asked again. “Is it that weird guy? Do you want me to take care of him?”

Jesse turned to Lapis. “W-huh?! No, it’s fine…! It’s…fine.” Both his words and his breaths were shaky, and his hands were slowly recovering from a slight tremble.

Lapis took in the sight. Jesse had to wonder how he must’ve looked, because Lapis was wearing an expression of pity and concern like he hadn’t seen on her before. She reached out a hand.

“Let’s get out of here. I think I’ve had my fill.” She offered, her voice gentle and considerate.

“Y…Yeah.” Jesse agreed. “…Thanks.”

Jesse allowed Lapis to take both of his hands into hers as she sprouted her wings, and took to the air holding on to him tight.

“Be wary! Be vigilant! Don’t let them think you’re not aware—!”

As they left the amusement park, Jesse watched from afar as Mr. Smiley had rushed up to the weird looking teen and swiped the megaphone from his grip.

Notes:

Jesse Susman and Lapis Lazulimposter.

(New worst chapter notes)

Chapter 16: Why are you together?

Summary:

Jesse and Lapis have a heart-to-heart.

Steve was silent for the entire flight. It wasn’t a very long one, but even still, Lapis could tell there was something eating away at him, related to whatever that loud human had been trying to preach. To be honest with herself, she was upset by extension. Her time with him at the amusement park had been going really well, so for it to end like that was especially disappointing.

Lapis was going to take him back to the car wash, but she felt the need to ask if there was anything wrong he might’ve wanted to talk about in a place where it’d just be the two of them. The hillside just past the wash had a lot of empty, open space, and if he didn’t want to talk about it, she could easily fly them down to the wash in less than ten seconds. They swooped over towards the approximate center of the hill, and Steve didn’t say anything when they passed Greg’s car wash.

“About to land.” Lapis warned him as she hovered above the ground. She slowly lowered herself, allowing Steve’s feet to plant themselves on the floor before letting go of him. She landed herself next to him after.

“Thanks.” Steve said, though it sounded like an automatic response while his mind was elsewhere.

Lapis gave a small smile regardless. “Of course.” She said. “So hey. About that. Are you doing all right?”

“…Yeah.” Steve nodded. “Sorry about that.” His apology was followed by an awkward silence. Lapis could tell that Steve wasn’t sure what to say about it.

“You know, if you want to talk about it, I’m not going to judge you.” Lapis offered, trying to sound both friendly and casual enough for him to make a comfortable decision. She smirked slightly. “I’m “dangerous people” too, so…”

Steve turned his head to really look at Lapis, pulled out of the semi-trance he had been stuck in. “No, Lapis… I mean like, it’s different. It’s totally different.”

Lapis turned slightly sullen, thinking about her original purpose. “Can you really be sure about that?”

“Well… Uh… No.” Steve admitted. “I guess not. But Lapis, I… I got reasons.” His mood turned especially somber. “I’ve made people’s lives worse, and…done worse than that, too. I’m not a good person, Lapis.”

Lapis obviously knew Steve had been through some pretty rough stuff and had done some questionable things, both through inference and his own admittance. They both have, but neither of them ever went into very much detail. For the most part, Lapis had usually kept to herself because that was just what was easiest. She did regret some things she had done in the past, but it’s not like she ever needed to tell anyone who didn’t already know, and she’d have hated any attention about it too. She certainly was hesitant on telling Steve, believing it could easily drive him away… And yet, the more time she spent with him, that wasn’t so much the impression she was getting anymore. Looking at him almost felt like looking in a mirror sometimes.

A mirror, she thought…

She took a deep breath and considered what she wanted to do. She supposed she truly didn’t know how Steve might react to her past until she actually told him. She didn’t have to, she knew. She could feel the two of them had long since come to an unspoken mutual agreement that their own baggage was their own to talk about if they ever wanted to. Lapis had already told him about when she stole the Earth’s ocean, and her thoughtlessness about the potential consequences, but he had also sympathized with her reason for it. But what if she told him about what her purpose as a Lapis Lazuli she was supposed to fulfill? The longer she spent on Earth, the less she wanted to think about it. But perhaps now would be a good time to fess up, dispelling his assumption that she couldn’t be on the same level as him…where ever that may be. In a sense that was hard to admit to herself, that was a real amount of comfort in thinking that there was someone else like herself. Maybe it would help comfort Steve a little more too.

“Maybe I should show you something.” Lapis finally spoke up.

---

Jesse immediately noticed the seriousness in her voice. “Huh? Show me something?” He responded.

Lapis looked away for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I’ll let you be the judge on…what kind of person I am.”

Jesse intrigue was as strong as his confusion and hesitance. “What do you mean?”

Lapis pursed her lips for a moment before speaking. “Gems and humans are very different. I know that much at least. Us Gems are…created for a specific purpose. I’m not the only Lapis Lazuli. There’s a set way we’re supposed to act, and a set job we’re supposed to carry out.” She explained.

That was a terrible thought, Jesse thought to himself. He was sure there was a term for that that some dictatorial country probably practiced somewhere in history. Eugenics? Fascism? Probably a word like that.

“Do you still have those glasses on you?” She asked.

“What? Glasses?” Jesse responded, before realizing she must’ve been talking about the prize she had picked out back at the dunk tank. He pulled them out of his pocket. “These?” He asked, puzzled what they might have to do with anything.

Lapis nodded. “Yeah. Hold on a second.” She turned towards the bay, out reaching a hand towards it and flicking her fingers back, retrieving a small ball of water all the way over towards them. She let the ball hover above her hand as she turned back to Jesse. “Hold them out.”

Jesse did so, holding them by a folded out temple, having the reflective star-shaped lenses pointed towards her. He waited for whatever Lapis was planning to do with them and the ball of water she summoned, but she seemed to hesitate for a bit, looking at the glasses as if contemplating something.

“Yo, uh, Lapis? You good?”

Lapis blinked, nodded, and then took another deep breath. “Yeah. Sorry.” She said, before allowing the ball of water to disperse into two separate streams of water, which subsequently were pushed forward, flowing into both lenses as if they were absorbed by them. As far as Jesse could tell, it seemed she had simply coated the lenses with a layer of water.

Lapis’ eyes shut tight for a second, as if she were put into a deep concentration, before opening back up.

“W-woah!” Jesse flinched, not expecting the new appearance her eyes would take on. At a glance, it appeared as if they were missing, but a closer look revealed that her eyes had become completely reflective with a metallic gray sheen. Her pupils were gone as well. “Your eyes...!”

Despite her almost unsettling new appearance, Lapis held a very stoic face. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” She assured him, although it was difficult to know if she was truly looking at him like that. “Put the glasses on.”

Jesse had completely forgotten he had been holding them. A quick glance at the lenses showed him that something was also happening with the water coated on them; it was glowing different colors. As baffled as he was, Jesse knew he could trust Lapis, so he put them on.

What he saw, was…Lapis. Except it wasn’t the same Lapis in front of him. It appeared to be a very minimalistic representation of her, made up of solid colors and very little overall detail, like an extremely simple cartoon. The picture shifted backwards, revealing that it wasn’t just one Lapis, but a whole line of them standing side-by-side, each one identical in posture, and nearly appearance.

“Like I said, there’s more than just me.” Lapis’ voice narrated over what Jesse was seeing. In uneven intervals, the multiple lapis-es began sprouting their water wings. “Compared to other Gems, we are made relatively stronger and ranked higher. That strength is needed for our designated purpose.” One-by-one, each Lapis suddenly flapped her wings, jetting upwards and out of view, until there was only the original Lapis, which held the greatest resemblance to the one Jesse knew. “I was no different from the rest. I did my job, and I didn’t think much of it.” The final Lapis then jetted off with the rest.

The colors swirled together and the scene subsequently changed. Through simple shapes and solid colors, Jesse was shown what looked to be a very jagged and rocky planet, with a few lakes scattered about. “Peridot told you before, but Homeworld finds planets that have suitable resources and minerals to create more Gems. The first step in that, after a planet is found, is terraforming.” From above, two Lapis Lazulis floated down, who pulled in large chunks of water from the nearby lakes. “We were made for that role.” The two of them suddenly whipped their collected water forward into a high-pressure stream, instantly cleaving a rocky hill into two clean-cut pieces. “…I was made for that role.”

The scene changed again to another planet, this one with more greenery, although the plants were distinctly alien from those on Earth. A singular Lapis, the one most similar to whom Jesse knew, floated into frame. “I…did what I was created to do, just like the others.” Lapis’ voice carried some obvious hesitance in her admittance, and her minimalistic representation pulled in some water and effortlessly sliced the ground, cutting it up into squared-off segments. Given that her face was all one solid color, her expression would’ve been impossible to tell, however a slight crease at the edge of her head where her mouth would be implied an unbothered smirk.

Jesse was, of course, slightly perturbed about what he was seeing. The thought of multiple Lapis-es flying across the galaxy and shaping planets was certainly bizarre to imagine. But one very obvious question was left lingering in Jesse’s mind. Like Lapis mentioned, he had already learned from Peridot about what their home planet did to others…

“Did you ever…terraform planets that already had people on them?” Jesse finally managed to find his voice and ask aloud, although he partially regretted it. The implications of that were not pleasant, but it seemed like that was what Lapis had been building up to. He heard her huff through her nose.

“…I really hope not.” She finally answered, her words heavy with meaning and regret. “But being completely honest, at the time I wouldn’t have even cared. We were simply told that organic life was inconsequential, and that’s what I believed back then.” Perspective on Jesse’s vision was shifted so that the minimalistic Lapis was seen from straight on, where the indication of her smirk remained. However the colors soon began to wash away as the water on the lenses were allowed to flow down and drip off of the glasses, leaving Jesse to see the real Lapis standing in front of him, looking away and deeply regretful. “I don’t believe that now, of course. But…it happened.”

Jesse could see the sorrow in her eyes even while they were mirrors, though after a blink, her eyes returned to normal. She glanced at him for a moment before she dropped into a sitting position on the sloped ground they were on, looking out at the town with her legs curled inward.

“I’m not going to tell you how to feel about what I’ve done. I just want you to know that if you think you’re a bad person for whatever you’ve done in the past… Maybe we can be bad people together.”

Jesse watched as Lapis stared out towards the town below, thinking about what she had shown him. It was difficult to imagine someone as delicate-looking as Lapis was in charge of the shaping of literal planets, and her nonchalant demeanor only added to that. Even being shown her assigned role directly, his own memories of Lapis made it simply hard to believe. Seeing how she made art, watching a corny teen drama with her, and showing her around the amusement park was more than enough proof to tell him that she wasn’t the same person she was before.

“Nah… You’re not.” Jesse told her, taking a seat by her. “Like… Not anymore, at least. I can see you’re…not what you showed me.”

Lapis looked over at him, with a smile faint and appreciative. “Sooo… Can’t it be the same for you then?” She put forth.

“Uh, I…” Jesse realized she had a point. It did seem hypocritical if Lapis shouldn’t be considered a bad person for renouncing her old ways while he still would be. “Well I mean… You had been taught that growing up, right?”

“Growing up?” Lapis repeated, confused. “It was something I was told pretty much instantly, as soon as I came out of my kindergarten.”

“That’s so young…” Jesse remarked, imagining little children being told they were to be terraformers disregarding organic life. “But that’s the thing yo. You were taught that kinda stuff right away. Me? I… I knew I was doing wrong, and I kept doing it. When it got bad enough to the point I wanted out for good, I was in too deep. So there is a difference.”

Lapis gave him an unconvinced look. “I would think the important part is the change.” She shrugged. “Wasn’t that the point you made back on the ocean? That whatever we’ve done in the past, we should just focus on living our lives now? Not beat ourselves up over it because that doesn’t do anything?”

Jesse remembered what he had said, but he was using those words solely for Lapis back then, and not thinking about himself. It was weird to compare the two of them. Jesse’s hands were irrevocably stained with blood, but he had to acknowledge that was mostly coercion, desperation, or if he was lucky, self-defense. No kill left him feeling good by the end of it, not even Todd’s. And Jesse couldn’t even bring himself to finish off him during their last meeting. Meanwhile, Lapis had worked as a cog in a planet conquering authority without caring about the consequences. She was a part of a system that could’ve affected more people than Jesse could imagine, incomparable to himself, but that was apparently what she literally was made to do. It was ingrained into her since she could remember. And even then, Lapis herself wasn’t sure if she ever terraformed any planets that already had life on them.

Trying to compare the two of them was both confusing and honestly felt counterproductive. Maybe Lapis was right. Maybe the important part is that the both of them were past those parts of their lives. And if so… Did Jesse deserve to follow his own advice?

He overlooked the town in deep contemplation. He thought about how if anyone knew his story, he’d be one police call away from prison. Anyone would, right? There was a sole exception in his mind, though: The flying blue water-manipulating teen-drama-watching alien rock lady sitting beside him and also overlooking the town. What a world where he found himself connecting more with her than anybody else. She must’ve felt at least somewhat similar, considering all that she had confided in him.

There was a very long silence between the two of them as Jesse contemplated and contemplated. Eventually, he huffed through his nose, which caught Lapis’ attention as she glanced over to him.

“Lapis?” Jesse spoke, before clearing his throat. “My name…isn't Steve.”

Lapis gave him her full attention as she looked over. “It isn’t?”

“No. Do you…promise not to tell anyone?”

Lapis shot back a kind and trustworthy smile. “Promise. I wouldn’t think of it.”

Jesse felt his heart beating quickly from the fact he was actually telling someone this. “My real name’s Jesse. “Steve” is a fake identity. Where I’m from, I’m still a wanted man. I fled here so that I don’t have to live the rest…or all…of my life in prison. And like maybe I deserve it, but… I just can’t. I can’t stand being trapped in one place anymore.”

Lapis looked into his eyes, with her own appearing softer than he had seen on her before. “I know exactly how you feel.” She spoke earnestly. “Thank you for telling me that… Jesse.”

It threw Jesse for a loop hearing his real name spoken aloud by someone, and his heart fluttered. But that sudden feeling in his chest wasn’t fear or anything like it. There was some kind of joy, relief, and one other thing he couldn’t quite determine as he looked at Lapis. “No… Thank you for listening. But uh, make sure to keep calling me “Steve,” y’know?”

Lapis nodded. “Yeah. I will.” She said, before looking back at the town. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret safe. I think I know what you’re going through. I was trapped for a long time, and when I finally got free…I was trapped again with this power-hungry Gem that I couldn’t get away from.”

“No way… You had someone like that, too?”

“Tch.” Lapis snickered. “We have that in common too, huh?” She said wryly, before pushing herself up from the ground and turning to Jesse. “Whatever the case, it seems like we’re both stuck here now. Whether we deserve it or not… Whether we’re bad people… At least we can be whatever we are together.” She said, surprisingly heartfelt, offering a hand to Jesse to pull him up with her.

Jesse found himself smiling. “Yeah man. Together.” He agreed, grabbing Lapis’ hand and letting her help pull him up.

As he was pulled up, Jesse witnessed as Lapis’ smile disappeared behind a blue-tinged blinding light encompassing her entire body. Jesse didn’t have any time to vocalize his surprise before the light Lapis had become enveloped him.

“H-huh?!” Jesse opened his eyes after they instinctively closed to protect themselves from the bright light, and he found that his surroundings had all taken on a bright blue tinge, and also that Lapis was gone. An alien sensation was felt around his entire body. He tried to move his hands up to his face to look at himself, but discovered he had to exert a great effort to move any part of his body. There was also something cold against his back. “What happened!? L-Lapis?!”

“S-Steve!?” He heard Lapis’ voice call back in similar confusion and distress. It sounded as if her voice came from himself, but he knew it hadn’t.

All of the sudden, Jesse’s hands were pulled up into his view, feeling out of his control for a moment. He saw that his arms and hands were enveloped in that same light blue glow he had seen Lapis turn into. His hands were pulled down, and before he could make any further comment or question, he noticed two figures, little more than silhouettes, in the distance starring at him, with an uncanny sensation emanating from both of them.

One of the figures was very intimidating in physique, very bulky and absurdly tall. A thick puff of untamable hair flowed all the way down to the figure’s waist.

Despite the first one’s size, the other figure scared Jesse more, appearing to be an averaged sized man wearing a pork pie hat and having some indication of rectangular sunglasses on his face.

A strong sense of fear overcame him, and suddenly Jesse felt an invisible force pull him back. His eyes closed before he hit the ground, and when he opened them, he found everything was back to normal, including a prone Lapis who looked like she had been tossed in the opposite direction.

Jesse pushed himself off of the ground, scurrying to check both his surroundings and his own body, but feeling and seeing everything normally. There was no more weird light, no more struggle to move his own body, and thankfully, no more silhouettes. “W-what…?! What happened?!” He asked, turning to Lapis and finding that she looked weak and exhausted as she just barely was able to push herself into a kneeling position. “Lapis?!”

He hurried over to her, concerned and checking around her form as if he even knew what to look for.

“Ugh…” Lapis groaned.

“Are you all right?!”

“I’m… I’m fine.” She said, relieving Jesse.

“What the hell was that?! What happened?!” Jesse asked as he helped Lapis into a standing position, ensuring she stayed steady the entire way up.

“I…don’t know. It felt like fusion, but…not really.”

“Fusion?”

Lapis was silent for a moment as she recollected her strength, hanging on Jesse’s shoulder. “Maybe… Garnet could help.”

Notes:

It finally happened. Lesse Lazulman is REAL.

Chapter 17: Methful Education

Summary:

Jesse and Lapis seek the Crystal Gems out to possibly learn more about their supposed fusion.

Notes:

Title pattern deviation? Unthinkable!

It was lucky that Lapis had decided to take the two of them to the cliff where the Crystal Gems lived, all they had to do was head down the hill so they could go around to the other side. Whatever had happened had clearly exhausted Lapis. Her tired eyes and the way she leaned on him as they walked together told him that flying there was out of the question. Jesse wondered why he didn’t feel similarly tired.

“Yo, Lapis. Are you sure you’re good?” Jesse asked as they rounded the cliffside, stepping onto the sand. The colossal statue of the giant multi-armed woman was coming into view as they continued.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She said, and fortunately she did sound better than a minute ago.

Any sound of the town was left behind them in favor for gentle ocean waves moving back and forth on the beach around the opposite side of the cliff. Jesse remembered this being the spot where Lapis took him after their first flight together.

“What was that? Y-you turned into light, and…”

“I think…that was some kind of failed fusion.” Lapis answered. “Fusion is…something Gems can do with each other.”

“Like what, you… You merge together?”

Lapis nodded. “Exactly. The gemstone on my back… I told you that was the real “me” right? Our Gems produce a light that…makes up our bodies. If Gems sync together with a shared purpose…those lights can fuse.” Lapis turned her head up towards the colossal statue as the two of them got closer. “That’s probably a fusion…I think.”

Jesse stared up at the statue, realizing the multiple limbs suddenly made more sense. He obviously had a ton of questions about what fusion was and how exactly it worked, but he didn’t want to barrage Lapis with questions while she was still exhausted. However he soon learned that he must have misjudged how tired she was.

“Thanks for helping me along… I’m doing all right now.” Lapis said, but instead of letting go of Jesse, she instead leaned in further and wrapped her arms around him. “I’ll take it from here.” Her wings sprouted, and Jesse had a second to prepare himself before being swept up as she launched forward.

The sudden thrill was very short-lived as the only distance left to cover was a few more paces on the beach and the wooden stairs up towards the porch. Lapis slowed her descent, landing carefully for her passenger. Jesse was placed in front of a wooden house held within two hands of the giant statue.

“So this is where those, uh…Crystal Gems live then?” Jesse asked as he looked from the house all the way up to the head of the statue above them.

“Yeah.”

“You been here before?”

“I have. Well, kinda. It’s a long story.” Lapis said. “A very long story…” She walked up to the door and knocked on it. “I know for sure one of them knows more about fusion than I do. She might be able to help us figure out…whatever that was.”

Jesse thought about what had happened. Had he really “fused” with Lapis? It’s not like he had any frame of reference to figure it out himself. Whatever had happened, he for sure was curious about it too. Especially when that “fusion” had seemingly had some kind of effect that lingered in his mind.

“Yo… Lapis?” He spoke as they awaited someone to answer the door. “Did you also see those people? When that thing happened?”

“…I did.” Lapis said, her answer distant and contemplative. “I think I recognized one of them, too.”

Before Jesse could say the same, the door opened. Jesse hadn’t met very many Gems, so even though he had barely seen this one before, he still did remember her. She had a very lithe figure and an almost pearly white complexion. The ovoid gemstone lodged in her forehead almost distracted him from the pointiest nose he had ever seen.

“Oh, Lapis?” The Gem spoke, her tone indicating a visit from Lapis was certainly unexpected. “Did something happen at the barn?” Her eyes soon found their way to Jesse as he hung behind Lapis. “Who’s this?”

“Is Garnet here?” Lapis asked, not really answering either of the Gem’s questions and peering into the house.

“Oh, uh…” The Gem turned her head and called into the house. “Garnet? You have some visitors at the door.” The Gem looked back to the two of them. “Why don’t you come inside?”

The Gem moved aside and Lapis led the way into the house. It looked very quaint and cozy, with a fireplace, lounge, and a kitchenette all within close proximity. There was little time to focus on anything in particular however, as there was another Gem on one of the kitchenette stools. She was purple, with so much white flowing hair Jesse wouldn’t have known what he was looking at had she been turned away from them. She was short but stocky, almost like a smaller version of that first silhouette Jesse had seen…

“Wooow, look who finally came out of her barn!” The purple one remarked teasingly to Lapis. Jesse was sure she rolled her eyes at that comment.

“Amethyst, please. Let’s be respectful to our guests.” The other one admonished.

“Psssh. You can’t tell me you’re not surprised too.” She shot back, before her eyes landed on Jesse. “Hey! You’re Lapis’ new buddy Steven talked about, aren’t you?”

“Uh, hey. Yeah. I’m…Steve.” Jesse awkwardly introduced himself. There was a millisecond where he nearly introduced himself with his real name. He turned to Pearl. “I’m sure I’ve seen you before, actually.”

“You have?” The gem put a curled finger to her mouth while she pondered if that were true. “Oh! You were the human who was at the barn when the Rubies returned, right? What were you even doing there, if I may ask?”

“Come on, Pearl. You remember how excited Steven was talking about it. They’re friends. They were probably just hanging out doing stuff.” The purple one, Amethyst apparently, spoke up.

“Really? Well, that’s wonderful, Lapis.” Pearl said with a slight hint of sincerity.

Lapis slouched a little. “It’s not a big deal.” She grumbled. “So is Garnet here or not?”

“I’m here.” A very stoic and reserved voice spoke as the doors at the very end of the house opened, revealing the very tall visor-wearing Gem that Jesse had also seen before. Her particularly blocky hairstyle was also eye-catchingly jarring. Jesse wouldn’t have expected her to wear anything other than a pokerface, but as she looked from Lapis to him, he caught her smirking at Lapis. “I told you.”

“Ugh.” Lapis sighed, annoyed. “Look, we came because I thought you might be able to help us understand something. Something…really weird happened.”

“Something weird?” Pearl asked.

“We…” Lapis paused. “Fused…kinda.”

“Fused?!” Pearl gasped, looking from Lapis to Jesse repeatedly. “But…that should be impossible between you two!”

“Woah-ho! You really found a way to fuse with a human? Out of all Gems, how did you manage that?” Amethyst said.

“I don’t know. It felt like fusion, but also…not.”

Garnet walked up to Lapis, looking down to her. Any change in her expression was certainly not as noticeable as Pearl or Amethyst, but Jesse could tell she was entirely focused on the subject at hand. “Tell me everything about how it felt. Start from the beginning.”

“Well… Steve and I were talking together. We were sitting, but I stood up and offered my hand to pull him up with me. As I was pulling him up, it…happened.” Lapis recalled.

“Just like that?” Pearl interjected. “You didn’t intend to? You didn’t perform a dance or anything similar?”

“No.” Lapis answered. When Pearl looked to Jesse, he shrugged and shook his head.

“To fuse without intent… It’s obviously not impossible, but for that to happen, the two of you must’ve really been in sync together. What were you talking about?” Pearl questioned.

“U-uh…” Jesse stuttered, definitely not wanting to reveal what they had been talking about then.

“…It’s none of your business.” Lapis affirmed after seeing Jesse’s reaction.

Pearl crossed her arms. “Oh, come on. If you came all this way for us to help you figure this out—“

“Pfft…!! Bwahaha! Oh, no way! Seriously?” Amethyst suddenly guffawed. “Are you telling me Lapis actually scored while nobody was looking?!”

Jesse probably would have felt himself blush had Amethyst’s misinterpretation not lead the conversation away from what the two of them had truly talked about. A deeper blue flushed on Lapis’ cheeks.

“Okay, I’m tired of this.” Lapis grumbled, her voice very frustrated, and Jesse wondered if she wanted to leave right then and there.

“Pearl. Amethyst.” Garnet spoke, her voice firm and serious. Amethyst’s laughter was halted, and however Pearl was about to scold her was similarly interrupted. “If you aren’t going to help, then go.” Her words were wrought with authority.

“All right, all right. I’ll stop.” Amethyst relented.

“But Garnet, it would be helpful for us to understand if we knew what they were—“

“No. Lapis is right. Whatever it was, that is their business. It’s their choice if they share it.”

Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. If he had to pick a favorite between the three of them at this moment, it would definitely be Garnet. Pearl’s eyes felt strangely judgmental whenever she glanced at him, and Amethyst almost reminded him a little bit of his past self.

“You can continue.” She said to Lapis.

“Right…” Lapis nodded with a sigh. “Well, like I said, I pulled him up, and…I felt my body begin the fusion process. I was pulled toward him, but there wasn’t any sort of merging. It just felt like I was stuck in the transitionary state. I guess I kind of…molded around him? I really don’t know. It was weird.”

Garnet suddenly glanced at Jesse. “Tell me how it felt for you after being pulled up.”

“U-uh, yeah, well…” Jesse stuttered and cleared his throat. “From my view, Lapis just suddenly became a blue light, and I was like…enveloped by it or something. After that, everything was colored blue when I opened my eyes. My body was glowing blue, too. Oh and uh, I could barely move my body. But then it moved on its own. Or it felt like that at least.”

“That was me.” Lapis said. “Whatever state I was in, I could still move as if I had a solid body. It took me a little bit to realize that was you. Sorry.” Her apology was as sincere as it was simple. “We were ejected not too long after that.”

“But your minds didn’t become one?” Pearl asked.

“No.”

“W-what? “Become one?” That’s a thing that can happen?!” Jesse said, surprised.

“Fusion is not just physical. It is also mental, and emotional. It is where you can become one with someone you truly trust.” Garnet said. “Or it should be.”

Just when Jesse thought he had learned the weirdest things about Gems. This fusion shit felt like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie. He couldn’t even comprehend how it would feel to mentally become one with somebody else. “That sounds…dangerous. L-like, is it supposed to be permanent?”

Garnet smiled. “With a healthy fusion, it lasts as long as the Gems want it to.” She stood up straight, overlooking the two of them. “It sounds like your gemstone tried to fuse with something physically incompatible.”

“Wait, but Steven can fuse with Connie.” Amethyst remembered.

“Steven can fuse?” Lapis said, surprised.

“Y-yeah, what?!” Jesse added.

“Steven is half human, so it’s likely that bridged the process. It seems that when a pure Gem tries to fuse with a pure human, there’s a one-sided reaction.” Garnet explained. She looked to Lapis specifically. “You subconsciously trusted Steve with your light, and your emotions harmonized strongly enough that to your gemstone, fusion felt natural. Felt right. But if Steve’s body cannot physically respond in the same way, you would need to try twice as hard to keep the two of you connected. Your body would have to constantly adapt the entire time.”

“More than just twice as hard.” Pearl put in. “To constantly be in that state and continually adjusting your shape to someone else’s movements… I didn’t even know Gems were capable of something like that.”

“That must’ve been why I was so tired by the end of it.” Lapis deduced.

“You weren’t hurt? Just tired?” Jesse asked.

Lapis nodded with a slight smile. “Yeah. Just tired.”

“Good. That’s good, yo. I’m glad you weren’t hurt or nothing.”

“Sooooo…” Amethyst mused. “What now?”

“Personally, I would like to see this…pseudo fusion for myself.” Pearl said.

“That’s their choice.” Garnet spoke. “If you want to show us, I will do my best to help you understand it. You did it by accident before, but now that you know about it, then maybe you can make it stable.”

Lapis turned to Jesse. “What do you think? If you want to, I’ll go too.”

All of this fusion stuff was incredibly difficult to grasp. The very idea seemed inconceivable, but he was learning that was just the way things were with Gems. He had to admit, he was still very curious about why this had happened to him. Was he really so in sync with Lapis that her being had attempted to “fuse” with him? He supposed there was only one way he’d be able to find out what this all meant.

“Yeah. That sounds fine I guess.” Jesse agreed, despite still feeling completely out of his element.

Garnet smiled in response. “Thank you.” She turned to Pearl. “Let’s fuse to give them an example.”

“O-oh, really?” Pearl asked, caught off-guard at the suggestion.

“If it will help them understand, it would be good to show them.”

“Of course. But let’s take it outside.” Pearl suggested, and Garnet nodded in agreement.

“Why does it have to be outside?” Jesse wondered.

“Oho, you’ll see!” Amethyst chuckled.

Garnet led the way out the front door. Jesse and Lapis walked together, and as they moved down the steps towards the open beach, a question popped into Jesse’s mind.

“Yo, uh, Lapis. So is this new to you, too? Or have you…fused before?” He asked.

Lapis frowned, looking a little sullen. “I have, but…it wasn’t good. It’s a long story.” She sighed.

“Oh, so… Are you sure you want to be doing this, then?”

Lapis’ expression lifted from its previous gloom, and she looked at Jesse with a very sincere smile. “I’m sure. This is different. I trust you.”

Jesse returned a smile of his own. As the five of them made it to the beach overlooked by the colossal statue, Garnet stopped and turned towards them, and Pearl made it to her side.

“As you already know, a dance isn’t required to fuse. But it can help.” She explained, extending a hand to Pearl. Pearl accepted it, being pulled in front of Garnet.

Jesse watched with great confusion as the two began a slow-paced, almost sensual dance. Pearl had closed her eyes as she shimmied her shoulders, before allowing herself to gracefully stretch and step in place, raising her arms to be placed into Garnet’s hands who stood behind her. Garnet’s hips wiggled in rhythm as she took a hold of Pearl’s arms and pirouetted her to her side. Pearl leaned far backwards as Garnet held a supportive hand under her back. Then, much to Jesse’s surprise, Pearl was thrown high into the air, performing many side-ways rotations on the way up, before dropping into a free-fall directly towards Garnet. As she caught her, the both of them transformed into two differently colored lights that merged together into one color.

In a fantastic spectacle, a peachy spotlight reigned from the heavens above the conjoined light, which rapidly grew and expanded outward into the shape of a new woman. A silhouette with a rounded triangular headshape, two sets of arms, and the most surprising thing to Jesse, what looked to be twenty feet in height! The silhouette cast in the spotlight suddenly brushed it aside as if it were a literal curtain, revealing herself as that “curtain” was pulled away and dissipated.

“S-she’s huge…!!”

“Hello hello, heeeeellooooooo!!” The giant woman announced as she stepped forward, putting a hand to her chest and peering down at the group. “The lovely Sardonyx is here to host another wooonderful evening here at Beach City! I see we have some new faces in the audience!” She grinned, staring down at Lapis and Jesse.

Jesse was shocked speechless, but Lapis didn’t look too different. This new vermillion-skinned Gem, Sardonyx, certainly carried the air of a performer, and if her introductory speech didn’t give that away, her magicianlike outfit definitely did. She wore large and rounded glasses, shaped similarly to butterfly wings. Jesse noticed that not only did she have four arms, but also four eyes as well, with the top set being much smaller than the main pair.

“What the… What the hell…” Jesse said with wide eyes, staring up at her. Giving the most intense reaction of the trio, Jesse found Sardonyx’s eyes were drawn to him in particular.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho! Have I truly shocked you beyond words already? I know I do that a lot, but this just may be a new record!” She laughed. “Now I heard I’ve been called to give a little demonstration about fusion. Let me tell you, I’m not one to shy away from the limelight. There’s no one better than me to put on a show about fusion!” Her upper body performed a showy 360 degree twirl while her lower body remained completely still. “If you would, could I get your names, please?”

“Lapis.” Lapis shrugged.

“U-uh, Steve.” Jesse stuttered. In the corner of his eyes, Jesse could tell his reaction was amusing to Amethyst.

“Lovely names! Luh-vuh-lee names! I’ve got a friend named Steven, you know?” Sardonyx continued, looking at Jesse, who couldn’t help but feel intimidated with her bizarre mixture of size and showbiz style confidence. “But Mr. Steve, might I ask how many times you’ve seen a fusion performed in your lifetime?”

“Z…zero.”

“Then how lucky you are that mine was the first you’ve seen. Quite the showing, wouldn’t you agree? I know I tend to leave quite the…” In a quick motion, Sardonyx pulled what looked like a blue spear directly out of the gemstone on her head, holding it in front of her with one arm before two others materialized with gauntlets. She punched the tip of the spear between both fists, and the three weapons combined and grew into a hammer that was ridiculously sized even for someone as huge as her. “Impression!” She finished her sentence, twirling the massive weapon above her head.

Jesse backed away slightly, worrying about what would happen should she accidentally drop it.

“Yo, chill out, Steve. It’s all fine.” Amethyst assured him.

“Hey, Sardonyx.” Lapis called. “Tone it down a little, okay? I think we get the point.”

“Oh my stars, am I worrying you?” Sardonyx asked with dubious sincerity as she looked down at Jesse. “You’ve no need to fear, really! I’d never hurt anyone in my precious audience. Now that’s a recipe for bad press! Here, let me show you!” She grinned, dissipating her hammer and making a move towards Jesse.

“Woah woah woah! What are you—?!” Jesse cried in surprise in response toward such a gigantic being walking directly towards him, before bending down and reaching for him with two of her arms.

“Goooooing up!” She declared cheerfully, halting Jesse’s attempt to back away as she grabbed ahold of him, lifting him upwards as she stood up straight.

“H-hey!! G-gah—!!”

“Steve!”

Sardonyx cupped her other set of palms together underneath Jesse, letting him drop onto them as a platform to keep him eye level with her. “See? Nothing to worry about!” She claimed as if her point was proven.

“Y-yo man! P-put me down!” Jesse said, trying to keep himself from looking straight down from her palms.

“Oh it’s all right! Really now, you can trust me. Your fate is in my hands!”

“Sardonyx!” Lapis yelled, and both Jesse and the fusion holding him turned to see a giant water hand, pulled from the ocean, looming close. “He told you to put him down.” She said sternly.

"Woah, hey! Don’t start fighting!” Amethyst shouted. “Even if I’m really curious how it’d go down!”

Sardonyx looked from the giant water hand that pointed towards the ground to the uneasy Jesse. A guilty smile crept up on her face. “Haha, right, right… My apologies.” She said, before kneeling down and slowly lowering the back of her hands onto the sandy floor below, letting Jesse hop off as if he were a bug being released back into the wild. “Sometimes you can shine so bright, you blind even yourself.”

Lapis allowed the water hand to lose its structure, collapsing on itself and splashing back into the direction of the open sea. “Are you okay?” She asked Jesse as she walked over towards him.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m good.” Jesse breathed a sigh of relief.

Above them, Sardonyx cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for getting carried away, Steve.” She apologized, sounding the most normal she had so far.

“Uh… Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Next time, I’ll be sure to put on a show you’ll find more enjoyable. But for now, I think that demonstration should suffice. I’ll see all you lovely folk sometime later. It’s been a pleasure!” She announced, before her entire body began glowing, and she shrunk down into two singular beings.

“I apologize for her.” Garnet spoke as soon as she was able, stepping from the light that was once her fusion.

“That’s Sardonyx for you. She can get a little…extravagant, sometimes.” Pearl added.

Yeah, no shit, Jesse thought to himself. He still hadn’t gotten over the image of a literal giant right in front of him, and being singled out by her and picked up like a doll wasn’t helping in that regard. Two women fusing into one giant woman? Maybe he was killed back in Albuquerque.

“Regardless, I hope that gave you a better understanding about what fusion is.” Pearl said to Steve. “Or what it’s supposed to be. I still don’t know exactly what is supposed to happen between the two of you.”

Lapis turned to Jesse. “I guess we should show them then?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. But like, do we really gotta do that dance? Like I can’t throw you that high…and I don’t want to be thrown like that either.” Jesse asked. He’d had enough heights for today.

“It’s not necessary, but it could help keep it stable.” Garnet said. “A dance between you two would be your own.”

“Man, I’ve flown more times than I’ve danced.”

“That’s fine. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. It’s just us.” Lapis told him, offering her hand.

“Just us...” Jesse repeated. He knew she didn’t mean that as if they were alone together, given the other three Gems watching them. Whatever dance it might be, it would be theirs. Just theirs. “All right, yeah.” Jesse said, taking Lapis’ hand. “But I seriously don’t know how to dance.”

“You can follow my lead if you need to.” Lapis offered.

“She would be the only one going through the fusion process, apparently.” Pearl remarked.

“Regardless, Steve’s contribution isn’t unimportant.” Garnet corrected her. “It shouldn’t matter what form fusion takes. The connection is always important.”

“Hey, if Steve and Lapis can fuse, why couldn’t Greg and Rose?” Amethyst joined in.

“Even if they loved each other… Greg and Rose were very different people.” Pearl said. “Fusion between humans and Gems should already be impossible.”

“So what? Steve is just like Lapis 2.0 or something?”

“Enough.” Garnet spoke. “Let’s let them focus.”

Jesse wasn’t the most comfortable having an audience to watch his best attempt at dancing, but he was prepared to try regardless. He let Lapis gently pull him towards her, and they each took a hold of both hands. Jesse felt awkward as he tried to match Lapis’ more graceful movements, and he loosened his form so that he could more easily adapt. There was some waltzing and twirling, though Jesse couldn’t help but feel he was only being strung along. Maybe that’s why the “fusion” wasn’t happening.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m doing it right.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re in this together, remember?” Lapis smiled.

---

“Together… Yeah.” Jesse smiled back.

As Lapis pulled him close, she felt her gemstone resonate with him, and she began glowing. Her body felt pulled towards him, and although his own form couldn’t meet hers halfway, her light naturally moved around him.

“Oh! It’s happening!” Lapis heard Amethyst say.

“So…it is possible.” Pearl said.

Lapis found herself in the same position she had been in earlier, except this time she was more aware of what was happening. Her body felt weightless and dense at the same time, like she had a core that wasn’t her own. It felt like she was in the middle of shapeshifting, except without ever reaching a final form.

“It’s—! It’s happening!” Lapis heard Jesse say, his voice emitting through her own face, or at least where hers would have been if she weren’t currently a body of blue light.

“It…still feels weird.” Lapis said, her voice her own.

“Yeah, that’s not really a fusion.” Amethyst remarked as she looked at the combined duo. “That’s just Steve glowing blue.” She observed.

“Steve.” Garnet spoke as she approached the two. “Try moving your body.”

Lapis suddenly felt an intention come to her to move her arm up, but suppressed it since Garnet hadn’t asked her.

“I-I’m…trying…to move my arm.” Lapis heard Jesse say with evident exertion. The arm she had gotten the desire to move began moving on its own, slowly up and shaking from the effort it took. There was an especially fuzzy sensation as her light based form shifted to accommodate the movement.

“All right. Stop.” Garnet ordered, and the alien intent Lapis had felt vanished. “Lapis, you try.”

As told, Lapis moved her arm upwards, bringing Jesse’s up as well. It felt weird, unsurprisingly, to move in such a state, but she could manage fairly easily.

“W-wait, that’s you doing that?!” Jesse asked.

“Y…yeah. I think I can tell whatever you’re trying to do, too.”

“Sounds like Lapis has more control over…whatever this is.” Pearl remarked. “This is so bizarre. If you can tell what he’s trying to do, then are you still somewhat mentally linked?”

“Yo Lapis! Steve! What does that feel like?” Amethyst asked.

“H…Heavy.” Jesse answered. “W-wait. Are you…yellow now?”

“Wha? Dude, what are you talking about?” The now yellow Amethyst said.

Lapis felt as if her eyes should have widened in shock, but it was hard to tell in her form. Jesse was right, Amethyst had turned yellow. It made Lapis feel immediately uneasy.

“It’s…sorta hard for me to tell, cause everything looks kinda blue for me. But you don’t look purple anymore.” Jesse said. “Lapis, what do you see?”

“U-um…” Lapis couldn’t respond, staring at the clearly yellow Amethyst. She began backing up from her, bringing Jesse with her.

“L…Lapis?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m like, as purple as I’ve always been. I’m not yellow.” Amethyst spoke as she very gradually grew taller. Her voice slowly developed an echoing effect. “Not…yellow. Not…strong enough…without you.”

“What?” Lapis heard Jesse’s confused response.

Amethyst’s face and features molded into someone much more aggressive and bullheaded. As if returning to haunt her, Jasper now stood where Amethyst had once been. She knelt down in front of them, her stocky body hitting the ground with a heavy thud despite the fact the floor should have been sand. She snatched their combined arm, holding it tight in their grip.

“Yo, what the hell! G-get off me!” Lapis heard Jesse’s voice shout, and she felt his intention to try pulling away.

The air around them suddenly felt heavy, and everything not directly in focus blurred into a black void.

“Together, we can be strong enough that neither of us will need to worry about anyone ever again. I know you want that. The both of you.” Jasper spoke, determined yet desperate. “Let’s be Malachite again.”

“The fuck is Malachite?!” Jesse responded, panicked. “Yo L-Lapis?! What’s happening?!”

Lapis suddenly came to her senses, and yanked her hand out of Jasper’s grip. In a more extreme way that Amethyst had morphed into Jasper, Jasper too began morphing. Her size increased drastically, and two more eye slits opened up on her forehead. Her body slowly merged from yellow to a teal green color. The most jarring change however, other than her size surpassing Sardonyx, was that her legs appeared to morph into arms, with one more set sprouting along with them as if she were some abomination of a centaur. Her four eyes opened with each looking in a different direction, before unsettlingly centering on her and Jesse as she loomed over them.

Lapis backed away in horror from the much too familiar monstrosity in front of them. Her light based form wavered and glitched. She could feel Jesse trying to turn and run, but now her own movements felt incredibly heavy.

Colossal waterfalls crashed in from the background, filling the area with a very familiar and claustrophobic aura.

“Not…again! Never! Again!” Lapis declared as she continually backed away from the monster staring eagerly at them. A thin layer of water had managed to cover the entire floor at this point. “This isn’t real! These are just…bad memories!”

“Bad memories?!” Jesse said.

Lapis’ next step backwards was met with a crunch underfoot instead of a splash. She looked down to find the water had instantaneously changed into a sea of blue crystals. “Shattered Gems?” She assumed.

“N…no.” Jesse corrected, and Lapis could pick out the dread from his voice.

“What exactly are you doing right now?” A new voice spoke from directly behind Lapis, stern, cold, and condescendingly disappointed. Lapis flipped around to find an older human man who was bald and had glasses and facial hair. He stared at her like she was something to be looked down upon. “Why is it so hard for you two to follow instructions? Why do you so often believe that you know better?”

“W-who are you?” Lapis asked, sensing a deep seated fear that wasn’t her own.

“Oh, nobody. Only the man who has to clean up after the messes you make. The man who’s given you more chances than you really deserved.” He informed her with gruff sarcasm. “The one you should really listen to, because every time you, for some misguided reason decided to deviate from the things I ask of you, we all end up paying the price for it. We’re a team, but you need to follow my lead. Follow our lead.”

The ground shook as Malachite took another step closer, the crystals underneath her palmed feet shattering into a fine dust under her weight. The sound reminded Lapis of a mirror shattering.

“Listen to us.” Malachite laughed.

“Think. Please, I ask that you actually think for once. When has going against us ever worked out for you in the end?” The man said.

“This… T-this…” Jesse tried to speak, but he seemed to be just as terrified as Lapis.

Lapis couldn’t deal with this any longer. With her remaining energy, she managed to sprout her wings from the gemstone at their back, and she instantly jetted off into the black sky above, narrowly avoiding Malachite’s hand as she attempted to grab them out of the air. She didn’t know where she was heading, but she knew she needed to get her and Jesse out of there.

---

Jesse slowly opened his eyes, feeling the most disoriented he had ever felt in his life. Both his memory and his senses took their time getting back to him, but eventually he realized he was lying on his side on the floor. It was not sand underneath him, but hard dirt. His vision was a blur at first, but something blue was lying opposite of him.

With a groan, Jesse pushed himself off of the floor into an upright position, and looked around the setting around him that was slowly coming back into focus. He was surprised to find that he was actually in front of the barn. Lapis lay by him, her eyes shut as she stirred in place on the ground.

“L…Lapis?!” He shook her shoulder. She groaned and opened one eye.

“I’m…fine.” She told him.

Jesse sighed with relief, before collapsing onto his back beside her. “The…FUCK…was that?” He asked weakly, staring up at the sky. Before long, a lime green triangle obscured half of his vision.

“Lapis?! What was that noise? Did you crash?!” Jesse heard Peridot’s voice.

There was a very long pause, and Jesse wondered if Lapis had gone unconscious for a moment.

“…Yes.”

Notes:

By the way, Walter x Malachite is the second best ship behind Jesse and Lapis. It is inarguable.

Chapter 18: Why are you recovering?

Summary:

Lapis and Jesse recover from the side-effects of their semi-fusion.

Jesse and Peridot worked together to carry Lapis into the barn and lay her on her hammock. She wasn’t particularly heavy or anything, but Jesse was still a little woozy from all that had transpired a couple of minutes ago, so he appreciated Peridot’s help. As they put her on the hammock, Jesse made sure to center Lapis’ balance on it so she wouldn’t go falling off.

“Thanks.” She muttered quietly. Jesse looked over her, feeling lost about what to do.

“You really have no need to worry.” Peridot assured Jesse confidently. “If she hasn’t retreated back into her Gem, then any physical damage couldn’t have possibly been too bad.”

“I got no idea what that even means yo, but it wasn’t just a physical thing. It was, like, mental. I think.”

“Mental? What do you mean? What even happened?” Peridot asked, before turning to the resting Lapis. “Lapis, what did you even do out there? You were gone for so long that I thought things were actually going well!”

“Mmmmnnnnngh. Let me rest.” Lapis groaned, keeping her eyes shut.

“Oh, right.” Peridot nodded. She turned to Jesse to find her answers. “Do you know what happened? Lapis was just supposed to head into town and…I don’t know, do something fun?”

“I don’t even know, man. I really don’t know.” Jesse admitted. “Something messed up. Something really really messed up.”

“Come on, that doesn’t answer anything. It just makes me more curious!” Peridot complained.

“Listen. I’m sorry, but like I really don’t know what to tell you, man. It all seemed…very personal. I wouldn’t want to talk about it until at least Lapis is up and okay with it.”

“Huh? And Lapis trusted you with that?”

“…Kinda?”

“Kinda?” Peridot repeated with a scrutinizing gaze. “I knew you two were close to some level, but really, how close are you?”

“Maybe a little too much recently…” Jesse half-mumbled, his slowly recovering mind having found the opportunity to crack a joke in a subconscious hope it would help ease his disorganized mind, only he realized soon after saying it that Peridot wouldn’t have gotten it. “Uh, I mean like…not physically. Not like what you’re thinking.”

Peridot stared back with an unamused glare. “I’ve got no idea what that means. Anyway if your intent is to confuse me, I would ask that you refrain from that.”

“I’m not, I’m—“

“I told you, they flew this way!” Amethyst’s voice rang out from somewhere outside. “Like of course she’d go to the barn.”

“Amethyst, enough of that kind of talk.”

“I didn’t mean it in a rude way or anything, sheesh.”

“Hm?” Peridot raised her eyebrow as she turned to the barn’s entrance. “What are the other Crystal Gems doing here? Or am I going to be left in the dark about that too?”

“Lapis?! And, uh…Steve?!” Pearl’s voice called as her head suddenly peered inside.

“Yeah, we’re in here. We’re fine…I think.” Jesse called back.

“Oh thank goodness.” Pearl sighed, before turning the other way. “They’re over here!”

Before long, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet had all made their way into the barn, each having a different degree of relief on their faces, but they all nonetheless seemed glad to see Jesse and Lapis unharmed.

“Dude, what happened?!” Amethyst asked as she walked in. “You like, started talking to yourself…or, yourselves? …And then just flew off in a panic.”

“Lapis, are you okay?” Pearl asked as Lapis lay motionless on the hammock.

“Yes.” She answered both blunt and tired.

“Will someone please fill me in on what’s going on?!” Peridot spoke up.

Lapis shifted slightly, grabbing Jesse’s attention. “It’s…fine. You can…tell them…if you want.”

“Really? You sure? Well…all right.” Jesse nodded, taking a breath as he prepared to give his best interpretation on what had happened. “I think this fusion thing’s got…side-effects or something.”

“Wait, what?!” Peridot interrupted. “Fusion? What do you mean fusion? There’s no way you and Lapis… T-that’s impossible!”

“Yeah trust me, I don’t get it either.” Jesse said.

“None of us really do. I don’t even think it’s right to call that fusion.” Pearl added.

“I would.” Garnet said stoically. “It might not be a traditional fusion…but neither was mine.” She smirked slightly at that last part.

“Well, categorically, anyway.” Pearl responded before turning to Jesse. “Whatever the case, could you please explain what exactly happened, Steve?”

Jesse felt all eyes on him, and he began feeling the pressure that came with being the one to explain something he was certainly the least knowledgeable on. It didn’t help matters that he’d have to step around telling them his particular bad memories from the fusion. They may be literal alien women that Jesse was pretty sure would have no reference or use for his past life, but still, he didn’t know these three at all, and he barely even knew Peridot more.

“I don’t know man, it was like…we saw somethings.” Jesse began, remembering the weird other Gems that had appeared, as well as his former meth partner. “I guess it was like…a bad trip, or something, y’know?”

“A bad trip?” Pearl repeated with a very confused look in her eyes.

“We hallucinated.” Jesse put more succinctly. “Like, at the same time, I-I think? It was like a shared nightmare, or something.”

Garnet nodded understandingly. “I’ve seen it happen before.”

“You have?”

“Yes. Stable fusions require clear heads and clear consciouses. If one is haunted by bad thoughts, those thoughts may seep into the fusion’s state of mind, creating an imbalance.” Garnet explained. “That imbalance can go both ways, too.”

“I saw…” Lapis spoke up faintly, still lying down with her eyes closed. “…Jasper. And Malachite.”

Jesse noticed Peridot’s eyes widen. In fact, he was sure he saw Garnet have some sort of subtle reaction behind her visor as well. Those must’ve been the names of the hallucinations he had seen. He remembered her mentioning that everything going on back then were bad memories. He sure as hell saw a demon of his own past, so those two must’ve been the equivalent to Lapis.

“Steve.” Garnet said suddenly. “Follow me. I want to speak with you alone.”

“Oh… Uh, yeah? What for?” He asked, looking around and seeing everyone else appeared just as confused.

“Something private.”

“Ah. Fair.”

He followed behind Garnet as she led him outside of the barn, and then a few paces further, until Jesse was pretty sure their conversation would be too far away for the others to hear. The sun was beginning to set, and the vibrancy of the rolling hills slowly dulled to darkness. Garnet took her final step before turning around to face Jesse.

“I am going to make a conjecture about you.” Garnet spoke, unnerving Jesse with how blunt that statement was. “You do not have to tell me if I am right. You don’t even need to speak a word.”

“Uhhh… Nothing bad, I hope?”

Garnet shook her head. “Not about your character.”

“Huh?”

“Steve, there was something I found strange about all of this. A pure Gem fusing with a pure human has never happened before, and not only have you and Lapis achieved it, but you did so by accident. If I am not wrong, you weren’t aware fusion existed when you first did so. For such a thing to happen, I have no doubt there is something incredibly strong between you two. Yet, at the same time, your fusion is quick to lose touch with reality and break down. Such things sound at odds.” She said.

Jesse didn’t take her brief pause to cut in. He was curious where she was going with this, and he didn’t even know what he would’ve wanted to say anyway. He wasn’t even sure if he should say anything, at least until she was finished. A few insects chirped in the background during the silence.

Garnet peered over Jesse in the direction of the barn. “…Lapis is a very hurt Gem. I do not know her very well, but I do know she has experienced things that nobody, Gem, human, or anything else, deserves. It would not surprise me to learn that it still often haunts her.” Garnet turned her attention to Jesse. “She can fuse with you. You share something together that’s so strong it ignores the barriers between Gem and human, yet that fusion is as strong as it is fragile. It makes me believe that the strong similarities you share are not pleasant ones. That your fusion is tied together by things you do not like to think about in the first place.” She explained, her voice holding weight despite its lack of emotion.

Now Jesse was really at a loss for anything to say, because Garnet’s deduction was looking to become worryingly spot on so far. Could she take it any further? Does being able to “fuse” with Lapis really reveal a lot about himself? Here he was trying to keep as much of his past obscured as he could, and yet he was feeling like an open book right now.

“Of course, I may be completely wrong. I have never seen a fusion like yours. Likely no one has.” Garnet said, which put Jesse just a little more at ease. “It may just be the case that a pure Gem and human combination cannot hold itself for long, especially with how much Lapis needs to work to keep it going. But if I’m correct, I believe the two of you could work to make it stable. It would require the two of you to understand each other’s most guarded feelings and memories. That way, your fusion would not be held together by relating similar pain, but instead overcoming it with each other’s help. I believe that not only would that make it stable, but it would also make your connection even stronger.”

“That’s…what you think?” Jesse barely found his voice.

“It is. This all comes from what I personally know about fusion, and the little I know about Lapis. Like I said, I may be wrong about you. I don’t wish to peek into your memories. I’d simply like to help anyone unfamiliar with fusion. But considering all I’ve said, I would not blame you if you and Lapis do not want to go through that experience again. That fusion, and everything it stands for, is yours and yours alone. How you approach it should only be decided by the two of you in mutual understanding.”

Despite all that he had just been told, there was still one crucial piece that was lost on Jesse: the entire point of fusion. The literally alien technique was still mind-numbingly baffling, and even slightly disturbing if he was being honest. Maybe Garnet was right that, if he and Lapis opened up to each other even more about their pain, they could make their little weird combined state last longer. But what was the point? What did it even mean? Jesse was obviously only familiar with human customs before he met the Gems.

“Uh, yo can I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“You already knew, but like humans can’t fuse or nothing. So maybe the whole point is lost on me, but, like, what exactly does fusion mean? To Gems at least, I guess.”

“It depends on the fusion.” Garnet answered. “It can mean a lot of things: friendship, family, love, or even just a strong sense of camaraderie. It is what you make it, but as long as there is understanding between all involved, then it is always meaningful. That is why it would make me glad not to see you give up on it. But that’s only what I think.”

Jesse pondered it. He still didn’t feel like he understood it very well, but he had to cut himself some slack. This was hilariously unfamiliar to him, and humanity as a whole. Lapis’ hydrokinesis and flight, while insane to witness, were simple in purpose and function, and thus easy enough to understand. Fusion was not. It had him seeing things and people that weren’t there. He saw a man he never wanted to (and never thought that he could) ever see again, so being honest, he wasn’t sure how partial he was to the technique. Though for a moment, he wondered how much it meant to Lapis…

“Yeah, uh. Well thanks, yo…” Jesse spoke up, still feeling a little vulnerable after Garnet had been able to read him as far as she did. He did his best to play off his response casually.

The sun over the horizon finished its final bow out of sight, gradually casting the entire field in a dimmer and dimmer light. It seemed that Garnet had said all she had wanted to say, as after a nod and a short pause, she turned back to the barn, leaving Jesse on his own as he found himself rooted in place. He turned his head towards the set sun and listened to the footsteps getting quieter and the insects beginning to chirp. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

“What the hell, man…”

---

Lapis groaned silently and shifted a bit in her hammock. Flying while in her semi-fused state had been incredibly taxing, as she was now finding out. It didn’t feel exhausting in the moment, in fact she felt quite energized to flee from Malachite and that one weirdly unnerving human. It was only after she had escaped them that the tiring sensation began to set in. Funny, she thought, that the last time she had become comparably tired was when she had finally unfused from Malachite after spending so long trying to keep her and Jasper restrained.

Pearl and Amethyst were still there, talking amongst themselves and Peridot. Their conversation was white noise to Lapis as she felt close to drifting off. However, the phantom image of a four-eyed, teal-faced fusion grinning at her had Lapis jolt ever so slightly back towards the waking world. Her eyelids groggily opened, annoyed at her own mind for gatekeeping her from slumber. She decided drifting off was a lost cause, and let herself listen in to the conversation around her.

“So she actually crash landed? Seriously?” Lapis heard Amethyst first.

“She did. The collision was startlingly loud, and when I went to check outside, the two of them were on the ground.” Peridot confirmed.

“That sounds concerning.” Pearl spoke up. “I mean, Gems are more resilient, so Lapis would be fine, but Steve?”

“Well, he didn’t seemed harmed at all.” Peridot said.

“Yeah, he seemed just fine heading out with Garnet, too.” Amethyst added.

“Hmmm…” Pearl pondered. “Perhaps that…fusion protected him. It’s the only thing I can think of. From what little we know, Lapis’ body might have acted like a protective shell for his.” She deduced.

“A reasonable enough conclusion.” Peridot replied. “Of course, I wouldn’t personally be able to guess, not having seen it at all.” She sounded a little sour with her unresolved curiosity. “A Gem and human fusion…”

“Dude, just ask them to show you it later.” Amethyst suggested.

“What? Of course not.” Peridot waved it away as though it wasn’t worth any further consideration.

“Why not, if you’re so curious?”

“You heard her. She hallucinated Jasper and Malachite. I wouldn’t have her subjected to that solely for my own sake.” Peridot answered staunchly. “I’ll just take your word for it that it just looked like…Steve glowing blue.”

“Wow. That’s surprisingly thoughtful of you, Peridot.” Amethyst mused.

“S-surprisingly?! What do you mean by that!?”

“Calm down, it was just a joke! Mostly.”

“For your information, I can be very—!”

“O-oh, Garnet! You’re back!” Pearl interrupted, shutting down the tangent Peridot was about to get into.

“Tell me how Lapis is.” Garnet said.

Although Lapis’ eyes were half-closed, she could feel everyone in the room turn to her. She groaned again as she pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes with the back of one of her hands. “…’m good.” She spoke, shaking off her drowsiness.

Garnet nodded in acknowledgement. “All right. Let’s head back then.”

“Really? Already?” Pearl asked, turning from Lapis to Garnet.

“Yeah, really? I thought we wanted to figure out how their fusion works, and why it made them go crazy for a bit.” Amethyst added.

“It’s nothing we need to know.” Garnet said, before turning to Lapis. “But our door will be open if you want to discuss it.”

“Oh. Um, thanks.” Lapis nodded back awkwardly as she tilted her body up to look at them. She noticed it was dark outside. “Where’s Steve?”

“Outside. He’ll likely be back in a moment.” Garnet informed her. “If there’s anything else, you know where to find us.” She said, before turning towards the exit. Pearl and Amethyst still seemed a little confused, but followed after regardless.

“Uh, bye then, I guess.” Amethyst shrugged. Pearl simply waved. The three of them disappeared behind the tarp, leaving Lapis and Peridot alone. As Peridot didn’t immediately say anything, the room was silent for a bit.

“Hey, um, Peridot.” Lapis spoke, rotating her body so she could sit up on the hammock with her feet anchoring her to the ground. “…I appreciate what you said just then.”

“Oh, you heard that?” Peridot replied softly.

“Yeah. And sorry you didn’t get to see the fusion…or whatever it was.” Lapis apologized, feeling a bit of genuine guilt that Peridot missed out on witnessing what had been thought of as an impossibility until just recently.

“It’s fine. There’s no need to fret over it.” Peridot returned, sounding unbothered.

“Uh… Yo.” A familiar voice spoke from the entrance of the barn. The tarp pulled back to reveal Jesse, though his mind looked to be set on something. After a blink his focus was back on the two of them. “Feeling better, Lapis?” He asked.

Lapis smiled. “Yeah. Still kinda tired, but I couldn’t fall asleep.”

“Hey, what did Garnet talk to you about?” Peridot inquired.

“Uh. Something private.”

“Ah. Fair.”

“What about you, Steve? Are you okay?” Lapis asked, noticing how his eyes wandered a bit. “You weren’t hurt when I…we landed, were you?”

It seemed that was the first time it had crossed Jesse’s mind, as her question had him checking over himself like he was looking for an injury he didn’t realize he had. “Nah, I’m fine.”

“Good.” Lapis nodded, relieved to see him unharmed.

There was a long silence that ensued as all three of them seemingly ran out of things to say about the situation. There had certainly been something on Jesse’s mind just then, but she didn’t want to press it, no matter how curious she was about what Garnet had pulled him away for. If Jesse wanted to talk about it, she’d wait for him to decide himself. Lapis surprised herself when she felt the urge to break the ice herself.

“Hey, so, do you want to stay the night, Steve?” She found herself asking. “If not, I’ll fly you back. If you want, of course.”

“Fly me back? Aren’t you like, still tired?”

“Not enough that I can’t fly.” Lapis affirmed, letting her wings sprout and flap once as proof for her statement. “But after how we got here, I get if you’d rather walk.” She made sure to add.

It took Jesse a bit of contemplation to come up with an answer, but he had one before too long.

“I…wouldn’t mind staying, I guess.” He said, before looking at Peridot. “If that’s all right with you, I mean.”

“Of course. I don’t mind.” Peridot said earnestly. “You’re a friend of Lapis, so… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to consider you a friend as well, even if you have some objectively false opinions on Camp Pining Hearts.”

“Sweet.” Jesse said with a slight smirk, not caring at all about the last part of her statement. “I appreciate it, yo.”

An idea popped in Lapis’ head. “Hey, now that you’ve mentioned it, would you two be up to watch some of it?” She offered. “After all that’s happened, I’d just like to relax and put my mind elsewhere for a bit.”

“Yeah.” Jesse agreed. “That actually sounds like a really good idea.”

“You’d be joining us at the start of season two. Is that fine with you?” Lapis asked Peridot.

“Not a problem. With my guidance, Steve may yet learn a thing or two about the show and how one should accurately view the characters. It would be especially helpful for season two.”

Usually Lapis would’ve tried to shoot down that eagerness in fear of the viewing experience, but maybe this time it could be useful keeping her thoughts away from Jasper and Malachite. Looking at him for a moment, she thought that maybe Jesse was thinking the same thing. She was still wondering what that older human man had meant to Jesse during their hallucinations…

Notes:

So sad for Peridot to miss out on seeing Jesse Blueman.

In other news, I'm sorry to say that the next update is going to be a while from now. I was taking a break after the last chapter, but pretty much as soon as it ended, a lot of stuff popped up that's going to keep me occupied for a while. Apologies! I guess I'll just take this time to say that I'm very thankful for how much traffic the story has gotten. It's certainly a lot more than I expected! I appreciate every hit, kudo, bookmark, and comment, so thank you all! I'll still be checking in and responding to any comments I might find, but just know that I won't be able to work on an update for a while. Cheers, and may the good spirit of Lesse Lazulman be with you all.

Chapter 19: Why are you flustered?

Summary:

Jesse and Lapis watch some Camp Pining Hearts to distract them from everything that has happened recently.

“Completely contrived. Even with Paulette’s lackluster physical capabilities, climbing out of that pit should’ve been pathetically simple. And if she truly couldn’t get out by herself, that would be all the more reason for Percy to realize his association with her is horrendously restraining on his own end.”

“Yeah, no I can get that. It was pretty funny.”

“Funny? No, it was infuriating! But regardless, so you do agree with me then that it should have been Pierre?”

“Nah, I didn’t like Pierre. Can’t handle not always being in charge. Not very cool of him, y’know?”

“Because he’s clearly the most suited for a leadership role!”

Lapis smirked to herself as she listened to Jesse and Peridot banter from the lower floor after she had flown up to set up the TV for the second season. Peridot certainly did seem to care a whole lot more than Jesse, but she made the mistake of believing that anyone could be as invested about the show as she was, so Jesse’s lack of a concrete stance seemed to completely baffle her. Lapis had her own opinions, but there was more than one occasion where she’d simply go along with Peridot’s own viewpoint because she didn’t feel like defending her stance. She supposed she was closer to Jesse than Peridot when it came to how seriously she took the show. Enjoying it was one thing, analyzing the intricacies was another, especially when human customs were still so unfamiliar to her.

She was happy to hear the two of them talk together. Lapis was on a roll making new friends lately, though she was slightly worried that the complications of all these new connections were going to accelerate faster than she could get used to them, so it gave her some relief to see them talking amongst themselves as well. She supposed this was what it was like to be in a friend group. She had some interactions with other Lapis Lazulis in the past, but she never really built a true network of those she’d like to have more than a passing conversation with.

“You guys coming or what?” She called over with a smirk still on her face, having just finished preparing the TV.

“Yeah, I’m coming up.” Jesse called back, and she listened as the two of them climbed the rungs of the ladder up to the upper floor. As her friends emerged from below, Lapis took a quick moment to effortlessly push the couch so that it was centered towards the screen before taking a seat on the righthand side and resting her elbow on the armrest.

“About time.” She jested, resting her head on her propped up hand as if she had gotten bored waiting for them.

“Heh, sorry. Peridot had something really important to tell me.”

“I’m only helping you get into the correct mindset for this show.” Peridot complained sourly as she followed Jesse up the ladder. “Ask Lapis. She’ll agree with me.”

Jesse and Lapis’ eyes locked for a second, where the latter only responded with an unconvincing shrug and a smirk. “Let’s just get started, how about that?” She offered.

“Good idea.” Jesse agreed, taking a seat on the couch with Lapis. When Peridot followed after hitting the play button, Jesse had to move over to either side to make room for her. He chose the center, ending up closer to Lapis as a result.

“All right!” Peridot announced as she crashed next to Jesse on the other end of the couch. “So pay attention to what happens right at the beginning. It’s going to be important for— Uh, I mean, it might or might not foreshadow something later. No spoilers. But be sure to pay close attention. Just in case.”

“Sure man. You got it.”

The short conversation came to an end as the intro wrapped up. Season two began not too long after season one ended. Percy and Paulette had both ended up disqualified after the former had helped the other during the challenge, but neither cared very much. Their feelings were now known for each other after about half a season of them being in a dramatic argument that Lapis still wasn’t the most clear on. Having seen the season before, Lapis knew the new issue that would arise: how could the two of them maintain their relationship while being on opposite teams?

Maybe it was because she already knew the story beats that Lapis found her thoughts elsewhere. With Jesse sitting so close to her, she couldn’t help but think about what had happened hours earlier. She had fused with him, or at least attempted to. The resulting visions elicited from that semi-fusion dug up bad memories that still felt pretty fresh. Although, Jasper and Malachite weren’t the only ones there…

Lapis’ eyes drifted to Jesse beside her as Peridot whispered some guiding advice for the show to him. She wondered who that other human had been. Whatever the extent of their fusion’s abilities, she knew she had been somewhat emotionally and mentally attuned with him. That older human man had greatly put her off, and she felt so many unwelcome emotions bubbling up at a person she had never met. Whoever that man was, in that moment, Lapis detested him. She feared him. There was a small part that even pitied him. Somehow, despite being a rather unimpressive looking human, Lapis had wanted to get away from him just as much as she did from Malachite. Who was that man to Jesse, Lapis wondered as she side-eyed him. Was he his “Jasper?”

The empathy she shared with Jesse was strong, else they likely wouldn’t have been able to fuse like they had. As Lapis thought about it, she realized it was actually comforting to have someone she could relate to in such a way. She hoped that feeling was mutual.

---

“Paulette gets a little bit better in this season.” Peridot whispered loudly to Jesse as Paulette excelled in a camp challenge to make up her previous disqualification to her team. “But she’s got a lot to make up for before I can consider her a decent character.”

“Yeah. I get it. She is like, actually doing stuff now I guess.” Jesse responded somewhat automatically. He was keeping an honest effort to actually discuss in earnest with Peridot. He obviously didn’t care as much about what they were discussing as she did, but he wanted something else to focus on that wasn’t magical, or drudging up bad memories, or putting him face to face with a colossal monstrosity that acted like it knew him. This moment was a palate cleanser of sorts to shift back into normalcy before he was ready to really think about all the strange stuff that had happened recently. Granted, having green and blue aliens on either side of him made that a little harder, but that’s what the TV was for. With no other light source in the barn, its colored light glowing back at them and reflecting off of its immediate area gave little else to look at.

Camp Pining Hearts certainly wasn’t Jesse’s style, but he enjoyed laughing at it with Lapis, so it was easy to notice her silence through the first few episodes of the season. He thought he might’ve caught Lapis’ eyes drift over to him a few times in his peripheral, but to confirm that he’d have to look back at the same time. For now, he pretended that he hadn’t noticed such a thing, and tried to get back into fully watching show.

It seemed that the whole schtick of season two was fully committed to lovers on opposite sides, and based on how it was treated in the plot, one would think Percy and Paulette were tragically a part of warring nations instead of camp rivals. Wasn’t this how Romeo and Juliet went like? Jesse couldn’t be sure, since he skimmed the play in an afternoon back in high school. Whatever the case, their respective teammates expected the two to prove their loyalty to the group over their romantic interests when needed, fearing betrayal. Hypocritically, campers from both sides also attempted to get with either Percy or Paulette seemingly as a way to develop romantic tension and to test the two main lead’s relationship given their oppositional situation.

“Ugh, this is the worst episode of the season.” Peridot groaned. “No stakes are raised. No progression is made. And no other characters are involved except Percy and Paulette. I say we skip this one.” She suggested. “It’s not like we’ll miss anything important.”

“Nope.” Lapis answered back simply. Peridot groaned again, but made no attempts to convince them further.

The episode in question seemed to take a break from the camping setting as, while all other campers were asleep, Percy and Paulette had secretly met up together and snuck away to a holiday market held not too far away from their team bases. Jesse could tell that the episode was supposed to be very indulgent for anyone who was a fan of Percy and Paulette as a couple. The two of them were able to have fun together in a stakes-free environment away from everyone else. Although it was never explicitly defined as such in the episode, it was purely a date between the two. It reminded Jesse of his time with Lapis back at the amusement park earlier that day, where Lapis had assumed they were on a date.

He had forgotten about it, given all that had happened since then. Jesse found it hard to believe that it wasn’t even a day ago. He remembered that Lapis had brought up an episode of Camp Pining Hearts to compare their time together since then, and he was certain the current episode playing was the one she had been thinking of. Jesse couldn’t say he didn’t see the similarities as Percy and Paulette explored the market together, visiting various stands with one of them acting as more of a guide to explain what the holiday is about. He couldn’t blame Lapis for making the connection, in fact, he was beginning to wonder if he could even say it wasn’t a date when it seemingly had all the attributes as one. Granted, him and Lapis hadn’t kissed in front of a backdrop of a beautiful crystal clear lake with the full moon reflecting off of the surface like Percy and Paulette.

“What even is the point of “kissing”?” Peridot complained, asking a question for once after so many comments of instructing how Jesse should feel about the show.

“It does look kinda weird.” Lapis agreed.

“Well, it’s a human way of affection. It’s like, love shit, y’know?” Jesse explained. “I don’t know when in human history it became a trend or nothing.”

“Hmmm.” Peridot pondered, still sounding slightly put off by her confusion.

It reminded Jesse of a thought he had earlier. “Do you guys… Do Gems do relationships?”

Lapis looked over quizzically, but curiously. “What do you mean?” She asked.

“Like uh… Y’know, boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives, weddings and shit. Marriage. Is that stuff you guys do?”

“I don’t think I know what any of those words mean.” Lapis admitted.

“The first two are what Percy and Paulette call each other.” Peridot grumbled.

“Oh yeah.” Lapis remembered. “Is that why they’re allowed to flirt with each other so often?”

“Wait wait, hold on. So you know what flirting is, but you don’t do, like, romance or nothing?”

“What, like relationships for romance?” Peridot said. “I don’t know the purpose of it for humans like yourself, but I don’t believe that has ever necessitated itself for Gems. That just sounds simply inefficient, especially for Homeworld Gems. I doubt the Diamonds would have permitted such a thing, and romance among workers in general, frankly.”

“The Diamonds…” Jesse repeated under his breath. He had forgotten about what he had learned about them. He didn’t want to worry about world-threatening Gem people. He had just been freshly distracted from thinking about what he had seen with Lapis during their fusion.

“Wait… Hold on.” Lapis spoke up sounding greatly uneasy, so Jesse assumed she must’ve been thinking something similar to himself. “So uh… Human romance stuff. The things you said... Are “dates” a part of that?” She asked weirdly, as if she could already anticipate the answer.

“Uh… Yeah.” Jesse answered back just as awkwardly. Lapis’ cheeks deepened a bluer hue.

She had looked the most flustered Jesse had seen her, like she was frozen trying to comprehend his answer. Jesse remembered again Lapis calling their outing a date and completely catching him off guard. It looked like it was Lapis’ turn to try bouncing back from such a bombshell. It took her a few seconds before she realized she needed to break off the frozen stare with Jesse, twisting back so she was sitting up straight and pointed towards the TV, although not truly looking at it or anything else.

“Dates weren’t a thing on Homeworld.” She stated, speaking a little low and toneless, like she was simply giving out a quick and meaningless explanation that shouldn’t necessitate much further thought about it. Her blush was still evident.

“Ah. Yeah. …Kinda thought that I guess. So, like don’t worry about it.” He answered back, trying to sound as understanding as he could so to help Lapis not feel as embarrassed, and it was then the thought he had somehow been neglecting finally hit him.

Was he really having this discussion with an alien? A literal alien? Was he talking about romance and dating with a blue rock woman from outer space?

Was Jesse Pinkman…an alien fucker?

Somewhere far off, Jesse sensed for the first time the unmistakable feeling of Badger’s unknowing envy of him.

No, it’s not like that, Jesse thought to himself. It was never intended to be a date date by either of them, it was just a misunderstanding. And frankly, seeing two faces of his past in particular flash briefly into his memory, he didn’t think he was really looking for a relationship right now. Even if seeing Lapis blush was kinda…

“Uh, what are you two talking about?” Peridot broke the silence, looking over at them with a strange expression.

“It’s nothing…” Lapis said, the darker hue of her cheeks finally fading. “Let’s just keep watching, yeah?” She suggested.

“Yeah, about time.” Peridot nodded in agreement, using her ferrokensis to push the play button as if her finger gun were a remote. Jesse and Lapis continued to watch the following episodes in silence, which was more than made up for as Peridot went right back to her usual commentating.

---

The trio hadn’t been able to complete the whole season, given how late it was and that for humans, sleeping wasn’t optional. Occasional yawns and heavy eyelids hinted to Lapis that maybe it was time to pack it up for the night. Peridot’s rambling could only keep Jesse awake for so long.

“Hey Steve. You’re looking pretty tired.” Lapis spoke up for the first time in a while. She had, for the most part, recovered from the embarrassment of realizing what a “date” actually meant to humans, and how she had let him know she assumed they had been on one together. It was a simple mistake, and she knew Jesse knew that. Still, she had never remembered herself ever feeling as flustered before then at that moment.

“…Yeah, sorry. Guess I am.” Jesse said as he rubbed his eyes.

“Oh, right. I had forgotten humans require sleep to function.” Peridot said. “You did seem less attentive recently. We should continue this when you’re able to completely focus on my guidance.”

“Yeah… Yeah.” Jesse nodded absentmindedly.

“So Steve. Do you…still not have a good place to sleep?” Lapis asked curiously, remembering last time he had told her, he was only able to sleep in his car.

“No. I-I mean, kinda. There’s a small office space in the car wash I work at, so…”

Lapis was unconvinced. “But is there anything comfortable to sleep on?”

“Uh… No.” Jesse admitted. “I was thinking of getting something but…haven’t done it yet.”

“Well…” Lapis turned to Peridot for a second, and she gave a simple nod in agreeance as if she already knew what Lapis was thinking. “You can always sleep here. My hammock or the couch is available if you’d like it.”

Jesse looked to give it a bit of thought. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to turn down her offer, but in the end, he did the opposite. “Yeah that sounds good. Thank you.” He said with a tired smile. Lapis smiled back.

“No prob, Bob.”

A slight snicker through Jesse’s nose indicated that Lapis had seemingly pulled off that human expression appropriately.

“Guess I’ll take the couch then, case you wanna use your hammock.”

“Sounds good.” Lapis said as she and Peridot stood up from it. “So… Guess I’ll see you in the morning then.”

“Yeah.”

Once Peridot had turned off the TV, the barn went almost completely dark. On her end, Lapis picked it up and spread her wings, taking it down to ground level so it wouldn’t be in his way later. Peridot climbed down the ladder to join her, leaving Jesse to sleep on the couch by himself. Lapis wanted to speak with Peridot about something, so she decided to wait until she was sure Jesse was asleep, although it didn’t matter too much when Peridot had moved behind the barn to work on whatever she had been fixing up the past few days.

“Hey, Peridot?” She said as she approached, briefly looking at the bulky laser-looking item she was working on. “I wanted to get your thoughts on something.”

Peridot looked up from her work. “What’s on your mind?”

Lapis looked back at the barn for a moment. “I’ve been thinking about…inviting Steve to stay at the barn with us.” She said, feeling a little vulnerable doing so, though she wasn’t quite sure why.

“Stay with us? Like, live here with us?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t really have a place to stay, so I thought…why not?” She shrugged like there wasn’t much more to it than that, but the truth was she had more of a reason.

She thought about their conversation back at the hill, where she admitted to him her past wrongdoings, and that she hadn’t gotten stuck here by choice. Jesse apparently found himself in a very similar position, the difference being he didn’t have a safe place to stay away from prying eyes like she did. She thought he might appreciate being able to live in an isolated home, and that it’d bring comfort considering all he had told her. Lapis was fortunate enough, so why not share that fortune?

Plus, Jesse was her friend now. If she hadn’t felt very close with him before, their sudden fusion certainly proved they were past that phase even if she hadn’t realized. There was something comforting about the thought of sticking together, though perhaps not literally given the hallucinations the two of them witnessed in their fused state. Still, she knew the fact it was even possible was undeniable proof the two of them shared some strong similarities…

“I was going to ask him while we were watching Camp Pining Hearts, with your permission of course, but…”

Peridot furrowed a brow in confusion. “But?”

Lapis turned her head slightly. “It’s nothing, I just thought it’d be better to ask him later.”

“Well sure.” Peridot answered simply.

“Wait, really? You agree just like that?”

Peridot nodded. “I couldn’t deny you that. You’ve made such big progress in making friends on your own accord.” She said genuinely.

“Not that again.” Lapis groaned. “But thanks. If he agrees, I’ll split my half of the barn.”

A mischievous smirk crept up on Peridot’s face. “Plus… I’m finally almost done. By morning, I should be able to show him what I’ve been working on…”

Notes:

Badger can now pinpoint Jesse's exact location.

I'm back! Thank you to anyone who's kept tabs on this story. Jesse x Lapis is back in business, or at least, my take on it is anyway.

Chapter 20: Why are you armed?

Summary:

Peridot shows off the thing she's been working on for Jesse.

“Yo yo, wait. You mean like live here? Like live here in the barn with you?” Jesse asked, wondering if he had somehow misheard the question since he had only just awoken.

There hadn’t been much time after Jesse had woken up on the couch and climbed down the ladder that Lapis noticed and approached him. Although she spoke casually, there had been something in her expression that seemed softer. Her offer for him to simply live at the barn completely caught him off guard.

“Yeah, if that’s all right with you. Peridot’s cool with it. I was thinking about how similar our situations are. I didn’t have anywhere to go at one point, and I knew I couldn’t go back home, but I was fortunate enough that Steven lent me the barn. I thought I could offer the same for you.” Lapis explained with a shrug. “If you’re still worried that people are looking for you, maybe you’ll find some relief here. We get like, no visitors. Except Steven sometimes, of course.”

Lapis’ offer was one that gave Jesse a lot to think about. Living at the barn? It was true Jesse didn’t really have a true home yet at Beach City, and he definitely was tired of not having a comfortable place to sleep. It wasn’t just the lack of anything literally comfortable to rest on, but also the ever present worry about being found out while he was asleep and vulnerable. The barn was certainly an eccentric place in how it had been restructured and cluttered with “meep morps” and such. Still, the living conditions wouldn’t be anything Jesse could complain about, given the places he had to stay at in the past. The isolation of the barn was a huge draw. Jesse never felt entirely safe among the public of Beach City, and he wasn’t sure he ever would be. That weird conspiracy theorist french fry teen had shown Jesse how truly afraid he still was that the chase wasn’t over.

Imagining the big picture, the barn seemed like pretty much the perfect place he could stay. The two people he’d be living with in this neighborless field would be two literal space aliens who had little knowledge on human events outside of Beach City, and probably even less reason to care. Not only that, but he had already confided in one of them, and she seemed nothing but supportive and even empathetic. And she was pretty cool to boot. It seemed that Lapis was another big draw… From nearly every angle, Jesse seemed like it would be foolish to turn down such an opportunity given his current circumstances. There was just one thing he was wondering about.

“That sounds awesome, actually, thanks. But you know I have to ask, like what was the deal with the little red Gems that showed up the first time I was here? Could something like that…happen again?”

Lapis’ smile faded a little. “Oh, those Gems. Sorry, guess I never completely explained what happened then.” She said, frowning at the memory. “Those were Rubies. They’re low ranking troops of Homeworld.”

Jesse was reminded again about what he had been told of Lapis’ uncreatively named home world. The home of the Gems apparently had the power and resources to terraform planets, something Jesse had once only ever imagined possible in movies, just like space aliens themselves. Not to mention whatever weapon Peridot and Steven had supposedly disabled. World ending events were not something Jesse liked to imagine.

“Homeworld, huh…”

Lapis looked back understandingly.  “Yeah, I think I get how you probably feel about that… But from what I’ve been told, Steven and the others tricked them, so they won’t be coming back.” She said, pausing for another moment. “And if there ever will be any new news about Homeworld, Steven would come here and tell us, or Peridot whenever she goes over to help them out with stuff.”

There was something uncomfortably familiar about “Homeworld.” Not anything specifically about it, obviously, but rather its looming presence. The indication of possible danger.

“So like I’ll be…informed about it if I stay here?” Jesse asked.

Lapis nodded. “The most informed on Earth, other than where the Crystal Gems live, obviously. Plus…” Lapis moved her arm out in the direction of the exit. Pulling her fingers inward, Jesse watched as she levitated a ball of water above her hand. “If anyone were to try something…I’m at the very least kinda capable of keeping this place safe. Plus Peridot builds mechs too.”

“Woah what? Mechs? Like sci-fi mechs?”

“Sci-Fi…?” Lapis questioned.

“I can build a lot more than mechs.” Lapis and Jesse turned towards the much more pronounced voice as Peridot walked in from the entrance. “Case in point…my secret surprise for you.” She said with a mischievous grin. When Jesse realized she was looking at him and not Lapis, he blinked.

“For me?”

“Yep! It took me longer than most things I make, but that’s just because I was limited in what I could use here and had to find a couple of workarounds.”

“Wait, hold on.” Jesse said. “Uh, what exactly did you make me?”

“Why don’t I show you instead?” Peridot offered, before waving over to the exit of the barn and pushing through the tarp outside. “Come on!”

Jesse looked over at Lapis, feeling very confused. Lapis looked back similarly and shrugged. “I have no clue what she’s been working on. Didn’t even know she was making something for you. You should probably check it out.”

Jesse supposed he agreed, and moved to the barn’s exit with Lapis following close behind. Pushing aside the tarp, he wasn’t sure what to expect. Apparently Peridot was something of an inventor, so he was certainly curious. Outside, Jesse was greeted by Peridot proudly presenting some sort of contraption displayed on a workbench. There was a second workbench further off the side of the dirt road, although that one seemed to only have a few tin cans on its surface and a bunch of miscellaneous junk underneath.

It looked like, fittingly, some kind of hand held sci-fi laser cannon, bulky in a way where it looked large enough that one should use both hands to aim it, but compact enough where it could also be carried with one hand. The “barrel” of the cannon was fairly long and stocky, dwarfing the grip. At the end of the cannon was not a hole, but rather a segmented wall of iron. The entire thing was framed with steel and overlayed with what looked like wood paneling. It looked like something that wouldn’t be out of place in a video game.

“Tada!” Peridot spoke with an excited smile. “Check it ooout! Ahem!” She put a fist to her mouth and adopted a more professional stance. “An entirely Earth-constructed ferromagnetic manipulator with an in-built aqueous magnetizing reagent mixer and launcher…and also…” She smirked knowingly at Jesse. “A multi-reinforced wood exterior.”

Jesse and Lapis shared the same reaction, which was a silent and hopelessly lost one. Peridot wasn’t deterred, waving Jesse over. “Well come on, try it out, Steve!”

“So you…built this for me?” Jesse asked as he stepped over to the workbench, looking over the futuristic device.

“You told me you were interested in magnets, correct?” Peridot asked, prompting Jesse to remember their previous conversation a couple of days ago.

“Uh…yeah. I guess I did…” Jesse responded, having never expected it to have resulted in this gift. He cautiously grabbed the handle with one hand, and lifted it off of the workbench with his other hand underneath the barrel. The machine had some definite heft to it, but was otherwise reasonably able to be carried for its size. “Could you tell me what this is again, but in like…simple terms?”

“Simply put…it’s a magnet!” Peridot obliged with a smile as if that were helpful.

“Uh, less simple. Like, what’s it do? It isn’t dangerous, is it?”

“Well, what it does is allow for, as its primary function, is the complete and selective attraction or repulsion of metal.” Peridot explained. “Go on, try it!” She encouraged, and how genuinely eager she was to see Jesse use it actually had him put away some of his initial reservations looking at the alien device. The design was very unlike anything he had ever seen in real life, certainly far removed from any kind of firearm, which Jesse appreciated more than anyone other than himself would be able to know.

“Uh, sure… So like…how do I use it?” Jesse asked, scanning the sides and trying to see if he could intuit the buttons and sliders. Peridot pointed towards the second workbench ahead of them.

“There’s a switch for the dynamic laser scope above the sliders. Flick it on and point it over there.” She guided. Jesse did just that, finding the small switch and flicking it over. A green laser pointer shot out from the top of the barrel, landing on a tin can set up on the bench ahead.

“All right…” He steadied the laser on the can. “So like do I squeeze the trigger and the can comes over?” He assumed.

“Not yet. You’ve got the direction slider in the center right now.” Peridot informed. “Move the bottom slider towards you a bit and then try.”

Jesse found that, intuitively, his thumb of his left hand supporting the device could wrap up around to the side and reach the lower horizontal slider. He slid it towards himself and, while he couldn’t see the direct front of the magnet cannon, he could tell that certain parts of the metallic, segmented front shifted and rotated in result. When Jesse squeezed the trigger, he found the tin can pinpointed by the laser scope flew off the table and stuck directly against the front of the cannon.

“Woah! That…really works!” Jesse said, impressed with how seamless it worked and felt. Its focus and range seemed at odds, precise in its aim and not influencing the other cans that had been right next to the one he pulled.

“Of course it does.” Peridot proudly gloated. “But that’s far from the only thing it does. Try moving the slider in the other direction.”

Jesse did, and in doing so, found the tin can propelled outward instead of inward. “It really is a magnet gun…” Jesse mused as he tried to get a better look at how the metallic end of the barrel adjusted depending on where the slider was positioned.

“And! And!” Peridot demanded his attention once more. “Try locking on to something with the magnetic slider in the center, and then move your aim off of the target.”

Jesse turned his attention to a different tin can on the workbench ahead. He took a glance at the lower slider and moved it back to the center, although the upper slider parallel above it caught his curiosity. “What does the other slider do?” He asked.

“That one widens the scope of the effect. The laser scope should adjust accordingly. Give it a shot!”

Jesse fiddled with the upper slider, and just like Peridot had said, the laser scope widened from a straight and solid line to more of a faded cone, which Jesse could make wide enough to cast over two of the tin cans despite the empty space between them. With both cans in focus, and the lower slider positioned directly at the center, Jesse squeezed the trigger once more. There appeared to be an initial jolt of movement from the cans, but nothing else. However, as Jesse pointed the magnet cannon elsewhere while still holding down the trigger, he was stunned by the result.

“N-no way…” He mumbled under his breath as he witnessed the two tin cans suspended in the air to the left of the workbench, neither being pulled towards him nor repelled away. Pointing the magnet cannon higher or lower, more to the left or right, likewise moved the cans while keeping them equidistant from Jesse himself. It didn’t take him much longer to figure out the he could adjust how close or far the metal items in his influence were held by pushing the slider closer or farther away from him and resetting it back to center. It was only when Jesse let go of the trigger that the cans succumbed to regular gravity.

“Yep! A perfectly balanced magnetic stream.” Peridot said. “Now normally tractor beams would render this kind of technology obsolete, but I don’t have the kind of resources necessary to spare right now.”

“Wow, that actually is pretty cool.” Lapis spoke up as she spectated closer to the barn’s entrance.

“I’ll say…” Jesse agreed, still stunned this kind of technology was possible. It seemed that Gems weren’t only unbelievable through their powers. “And you’re saying they don’t even use this kind of stuff anymore?”

“Nope. After all, why use something that only works on metal when tractor beams work on any solid matter? But…” Peridot smirked. “I hope it won’t surprise you that, since this was built by me, I’ve worked in a compromise specifically for that limitation.”

“And that would be…?” Lapis prompted.

“Well, the aqueous magnetizing reagent mixer I mentioned before, obviously. Open the top, pour some water in, allow the reagent to be applied, and then just like that you can blast any non-metallic substance with the mixture and make it magnetic for a short while.” Peridot pointed over towards a plank of wood that had been left on the ground by the second work bench. “As far as my thorough research has taken me, that kind of wood holds no magnetic properties at all. Just launch the mixture at it and see what happens! Oh, but you might have to refill it a little since I last tested it.”

“I got it.” Lapis offered, pulling a thin stream of water out from the artificial pond near the barn. After Jesse had found the button to open the hatch at the top of the magnet cannon, Lapis telekinetically snaked the stream directly inside.

“Yo, thanks.” Jesse said, before studying a glowing bar that appeared on a small, metal panel at the back end of the cannon, indicating the process of the mixture. It only took a few seconds before the bar filled up.

“There should be another flip switch by the laser scope toggle. With that flipped on, it should launch a projectile water bomb instead of magnetizing.” Peridot explained. Jesse flipped the switch and aimed the cannon at the plank of wood. Just as Peridot described, a ball of water was launched forward and drenched the plank on impact. Switching the setting back to magnetizing, Jesse attempted to pull the plank of wood towards himself. The plank of wood, as well as multiple blades of grass that had been caught in the collateral of the water bomb, were quickly pulled inward as if they were made of metal themselves.

“So you built this? All by yourself?” Jesse asked, trying to hold back his amazement.

“Yep! As a Peridot, this stuff comes quite naturally to me.”

“Sweet. This is awesome man. Seriously, it’s really cool. Like I-I don’t even know where I’d even begin with it, y’know?”

Peridot smiled a grin both greatly proud and genuine. “Well, I’m glad you like it, since I am giving it to you.”

Jesse froze for a moment. He had been caught up in how well it functioned that he had forgotten about that part. “You really are?”

“Well obviously I have little use for it.” Peridot shrugged cooly, levitating one of the tin cans Jesse had pulled inwards to demonstrate her point.

Jesse looked down at the futuristic magnet cannon that was apparently now his, no strings attached. He knew that Badger and Skinny Pete would have gotten a huge kick out of something like this. It’d certainly make for one hell of a party trick. Simply holding it in his hands made him feel like some sort of video game character. But regardless, Jesse wondered what he’d actually need it for, not to mention it probably be a bit tiring to lug around despite its surprisingly manageable weight. There was also something else he was wondering.

“Could I ask like…why you went out of your way to make this for me?”

“Why?” Peridot repeated. “Well, a few reasons. First, well…” She hesitated for a moment, and her tone turned a little more vulnerable. “I know how it feels like to not have powers, and with that in mind, if you’re still worried about Homeworld, I was hoping this would make you feel better. Consider it my way of apologizing for…freaking you out that one time.”

Jesse thought about that memory. He never truly got over the idea that their home world had apparently threatened the entire Earth without him knowing. He did see the practicality of using the magnet cannon in self-defense if that were truly necessary. He quickly dismissed the thought about using actual firearms instead, given that he’d rather never shoot another gun in his life if possible.

He thought about it for a moment. “…Thanks, man.” He said in complete earnest. If she put so much thought and effort into it, not accepting the gift felt out of the question.

“Plus…” Peridot continued, apparently not finished. She moved over to Jesse, and he had to bend down slightly as she put up a hand cover her mouth from Lapis so she could whisper privately to him. “It’s also a thank you for being friends with Lapis. She can be very grouchy sometimes, and usually she’s not one to try and make connections.”

“H-hey, you aren’t talking about me, are you?” Lapis asked accusingly as she walked closer. Peridot stepped back from Jesse with a big smile.

“Nope!” She answered on point, before casting a glance to Jesse and throwing a cheeky wink his way.

Lapis looked unamused. “I saw that wink.” She crossed her arms. “You didn’t even hide it or anything.”

“W-what wink?” Peridot still tried to play it off regardless of being caught.

Lapis turned to look at Jesse. “What did she say about me? It’s something like it being hard for me to make friends again, is it?” Before Jesse could contemplate the dilemma of siding with Lapis or Peridot, Lapis appeared to cool her head. “Actually, forget it.” She relented.

Jesse had to hold back a slight chuckle. Lapis and Peridot seemed so different, but apparently they could get along well enough to live at the same barn. He looked from the alien device he had been gifted, to the aliens around him, to the barn the aliens lived in. It all felt so far removed from his old life, and the isolation was incredibly comforting. He looked at Lapis for a moment…

“Hey uh, Lapis.”

“Yeah?”

“If the offer’s still open…”

Lapis’ eyes lit up briefly. “Oh! Yeah, of course it is.”

Jesse grinned. “Thanks.” He turned to Peridot. “You too, Peridot.”

This certainly wasn’t the kind of place he expected to find a sense of comfort in…but who was he to complain. Barnmates with aliens? Yeah sure, why not? They’re cool people. He was pretty lucky to have met them.

Notes:

Yeah, bitch! Magnet cannons!

Also I'm changing the name of the fic from "Why Are You Blue" to "Why Are You So Blue" because that actually merges the two universes rather than being a popular quote from only one of them. More original and easier to look up that way too.

Chapter 21: Why are you chilling?

Summary:

Lapis and Jesse chill out after the latter moves into the barn.

There was a difference Lapis noticed in herself. She hadn’t realized it immediately, but there was an inarguable shift in her general mood recently. The reason she was able to notice it was how that feeling would rise every time she watched Jesse drive back to the barn with some more stuff to place in his section of the barn. She found herself unconsciously smiling every now and then, though luckily Peridot wasn’t teasing her about it like she had done a few days ago. Speaking of, she felt the edges of her lips curve up into a small smile as Jesse arrived once more, and she dropped from her perch on the top of the barn’s silo.

“Hey.” Lapis greeted as she swiftly dropped to the side of Jesse’s car as he got out. “Anything heavy?”

“Actually yeah. Managed to fit a nightstand in the trunk. It’s all in pieces though, so I need to put it together when it gets up there.”

“Cool. I’ll get that for you then.”

“Thanks yo.”

Lapis moved to the back of the car after Jesse popped the trunk, where she found a collection of wooden paneling: a nightstand, apparently. She took it all out at once without effort. Not heavy to her by any definition, in fact it was harder for her to get a comfortable grip on all the panels than to lift it. It unsurprisingly wasn’t difficult to fly it up to the second level as well. She set the panels down at the side of the couch, recently embellished with freshly obtained blankets and pillows. She'd be bringing in a bed he'd purchase later, but for now the couch would do. Other stuff was not so new, sourced directly from the barn itself, including hollow metal poles with wide spans of curtain that could easily be hooked across each one. It wasn’t completely set up yet, but it provided for an easy enough division for Jesse’s “room”. The entire thing almost looked like a meep morp itself, and Lapis grinned to herself at the thought.

“It’s looking good.” Lapis said as Jesse climbed up to the second level behind her. “At least I think so. I know my eye for aesthetics is probably a little rustic.”

Jesse snorted at the comment. “Dunno. Wouldn’t really call this “rustic” to be honest.”

“Really? Hm. I guess not. What would you call it?”

Jesse pondered a little. “Crafty, maybe. Kinda like those…meep morps around the barn. So I guess it fits perfectly.”

Lapis snorted herself. “You know I was thinking exactly that.”

“Yeah, two great minds think alike, right?”

“Yep. Of course.” Lapis gazed ahead thoughtfully. “Really though, I’m happy to have you with us. If there’s anything here you aren’t happy with… Don’t be shy.”

“Nah man, this is honestly a lot better than most of the places I’ve been in like, recent memory. I can tell it’s gonna be pretty chill here. Real homey. I think that’s become my kinda place, really.”

“Well that’s good to hear. I’ll keep the offer open, though. Give me the word and I’ll move stuff around however you need.”

“So then, how’s it going?” A voice from behind, Peridot’s, came up from the ladder. “Everything situated like you need it?”

“Gonna do a little more later, but for now it’s good.” Jesse answered. “Thanks for uh, agreeing to let me stay here and all that.”

“No need for gratitude. I’m just happy things will be a little livelier around here.”

---

“Why have you two been doing absolutely nothing for so long!?” Peridot suddenly chided at Jesse and Lapis as they lounged about the couch, Lapis lying across the cushions on her back and Jesse sitting up on the floor and leaning his back against the half with Lapis’s legs. The both of them looked up to her, each having reading material.

“What do you mean?” Lapis asked, head twisted to look off the edge of the couch. “We’re reading.” She told her, picking up the book that had been lying open and face down on her chest as proof.

“Unless you shape shifted an eye on your chest, I’d hardly call that reading.”

“You guys can shape shift?” Jesse leaned up.

Peridot turned to him. “And you! I swear you haven’t turned more than three pages.”

“Uh, were you expecting me to like, read more or something?” He asked.

“What I was expecting was a little more energy around here, but you two just sit there and do…nothing like this!” She explained, exasperated.

“I mean yeah.” Lapis shrugged again. “We’re hanging out together. That’s just how it happens sometimes.” Her defense was lukewarm, but assured.

“Yeah.” Jesse corroborated succinctly.

“We might do stuff later. I dunno. We don’t have any plans.”

“But is this…fun for you?” Peridot asked as she gestured to them doing nothing on the couch.

“Sure.” “Yeah.”

Peridot’s eyelids half-shut and her lips pursed for a moment after hearing their answers, but she eventually waved it away. “Well fine. If you’re enjoying yourselves like that, then whatever.” She said, turning to the ladder. “I’ll be off…doing something.” She faded off auspiciously before making her way down the ladder.

“All right.” “See you.”

Lapis turned her head back so she was looking up at the ceiling again and laid the book back on her chest, while Jesse flipped a couple pages around the book he was holding just for the heck of it. There was a quiet silence after Peridot’s footsteps had left the barn that the two of them marinated in for a while. The silence was suddenly broken by Jesse.

“She think we’re lazy?” Jesse turned over his shoulder to Lapis as he sat against the couch.

“Mmm…” Lapis thought for a bit. “Usually the word she uses is “unmotivated”. I think that’s better. Probably, anyways.”

Jesse thought for a bit as well. “Well, she’ll have to forgive me. I think I’m done with doing anything big for the rest of my life. I just want a quiet place to relax, you know?”

“Same.” Lapis nodded. “Maybe in the future I’ll be more…I don’t know, enthusiastic I guess. Maybe. But the kind of stuff I’ve had to deal with recently has been…I’ll just leave it at exhausting.”

Jesse nodded in agreement with palpable understanding. It was a strange thing, Lapis thought, how they could both be so confident in empathizing with each other despite knowing that the both of them have kept guarded so much of their pasts. She was certainly curious about the details of Jesse’s life, why he had to go under a different name, and why he had all those scars when they first met. She had more grace than to just ask, but even more than that, the way she so easily synergized with him in the present regardless made her wonder if it even mattered that he did or didn’t confide those details.

Lapis listened to make sure Peridot had gone far enough to be out of earshot. “Hey Jesse. Have you…thought about our fusion since it happened?” She asked.

Jesse held a page between two fingers. “Yeah. A bit.” He said, and she could tell his mind was halfway somewhere else, probably thinking about the fusion and what it meant. Or perhaps, why she was asking about it…

“Hmm.” Lapis simply hummed in acknowledgment. After she didn’t say anything more, she saw Jesse’s head turn to her in her peripheral.

“…What about it?”

“…I dunno.” She shrugged. “Never mind.”

Lapis saw Jesse turn his head back after a second, letting that brief conversation die out there. She wondered if she shouldn’t have brought it up in the following silence. “…Hey, Peridot said something about shape shifting.” Jesse turned to her again. “Is that something you can do too?”

She could, although it was never something she ever particularly felt a need or want to. The last time she had shape shifted was to change into a “baseball” outfit the first time the Rubies had shown up to the barn. She thought about doing something similar as an example, but hatched a cheeky idea that she debated on doing.

Why not, she thought to herself. With a wry smile, her entire body enveloped itself in a solid blue light. Her silhouette shrank in height slightly, trading off verticality for a stockier shape. The outline of her short hairstyle grew out longer and wavy. Her identity change was made most clear through her dress morphing into a camper’s uniform, with a large scarf tied at her neck like a handkerchief. Once the transformation was complete, she opened her eyes to see Jesse’s own eyes, widened at the new sight.

“Camper Paulette reporting.” She said in her best Paulette impression.

Jesse shivered and scrunched his shoulders. “That’s creepy, man.”

“Pfft.” Lapis snorted, leading into an amused chuckle at his reaction. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” She didn’t know what exactly was possessing her, but Lapis was feeling a bit playful from her joke. She cleared her throat and committed even further to her hammy impression. “I don’t care if you’re on the yellow team, Percy. We can make this work.”

Jesse, seemingly having gotten over his unease, snickered back. “It’s color war, Paulette. Does that mean anything to you?” He replies in his own impression of Percy.

Lapis’ grin widened that he was playing along, and she was ready to jump on Paulette’s next quote in the scene and continue their performance, but then she remembered… What happens next wasn’t a quote, it was a kiss, which from what Lapis had learned recently was an act of romantic affection for humans. She quickly turned away from Jesse, looking back at the ceiling with a growing blush on her Paulette-imitated cheeks. A blush then obscured as she was enveloped back into a solid blue light and morphed back into her normal form. “Ha… So yeah… I can shape shift.” She stated stiffly before falling into silence.

Jesse was silent too, and Lapis wondered if he had come to the same realization that she had. She was trying to discreetly keep herself turned away to hide her blush, but for some reason she thought she could sense Jesse doing the same. “…You Gems can do anything. That was pretty cool though.” He spoke up.

“Cool? I thought you said it was creepy.” Lapis returned, amused, though also glad there wasn’t any more attention brought upon where that Camp Pining Hearts imitation would have lead to. An unfamiliar feeling plagued her chest, yet it wasn’t something that felt bad despite her instinct telling her to hide it away.

“I mean it is creepy.” Jesse clarified. “But it’s cool too, y’know?”

“Mm, not really.” Lapis answered casually. “But whatever the case, I’m happy to hear it. I’m glad I don’t completely scare you anymore.”

“Nah, of course not. I’d never seen anything like you before we first met.” Jesse said. “But now I’m living with you, so like… I think that says everything, yo.”

Lapis nodded in agreement. “Yeah. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Glad you invited me.”

Man, having friends was pretty nice, especially having one who matched her rhythm as much as Jesse did. Not that she didn’t appreciate Peridot or Steven of course, they helped her get out of her comfort zone from time to time, it was just cool to have someone who seemingly already existed within that zone. As he sat against the foot of the couch, doing nothing right alongside her, another striking thought developed in Lapis’ mind.

…She kind of wanted to try fusing with him again.

Of course she wasn’t going to ask him. It’d probably come off as pretty weird on her part, especially after her having just asked if he thought about their fusion since then and dropping the subject immediately after. Not to mention both times it happened, they were plagued with visions of their pasts the Lapis didn’t care to be reminded of. Heck, she even knew Jesse didn’t want to be reminded of the hallucinations that spawned from his memories either, as she could pick up on his feelings when they were fused.

And yet still, despite it all, she couldn’t help but think about how fusion had been like with him. How would it feel a third time? Could they get the hang of it better? She didn’t know why she wanted to know, but she knew that she did. For experimentation’s sake, maybe. She’d leave it at that. She thought the Malachite incident would’ve turned her off from the idea of fusion entirely. In fact, she was sure she had just completely hated fusion as a whole after all of that. But maybe in better circumstances…

She shelved the thought entirely, as that was the easiest thing to do about it. Sure, she’d be lingering on complicated emotions and curiosity, but she was used to keeping that kind of stuff to herself. She still hadn’t really talked to Pearl about her inner misgivings for Crystal Gems allowing her to remain trapped in the mirror, and frankly she had no plans to do so. She could live leaving it unspoken, and maybe she’d have to do the same with her and Jesse’s fusion.

“You wanna see what Peridot’s up to?” Lapis broke the silence, having racked her mind on something to say instead of the fusion.

“Huh?” Jesse looked back at her.

“She’s definitely up to something. Didn’t you hear it in her voice as she left?”

“Oh, no. Guess I hadn’t.” He responded before shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah sure.” He put his book down and pushed himself up from the ground. Lapis followed suit getting up from the couch behind him.

“Here, I’ll take you down.” She offered, already reaching around his chest.

“O-oh.”

“Hm?” Lapis retracted slightly. “Oh, sorry. I should’ve asked first.” She said, a little embarrassed. She hadn’t put much thought into it, but now she was remembering he could get a little uneasy carried around on her flights.

“No, no. It’s cool. Just…y’know, you caught me off guard is all. Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“Oh. No problem then. As long as you’re cool with it.” She smiled softly, wrapping her arms back around him and spreading her wings. With a strong first flap, she lifted the two of them into the air, diving down towards the first level of the barn and swooping out the barn doors that had been left ajar. Peridot wasn’t immediately in sight. She wondered if she had left for town, but she picked up on some tinkering noises coming from somewhere behind the barn and averted course.

“Hey! So you two were going to do something today after all?” Peridot said watching them come into view, standing atop some cumbersome looking human machine. It kind of looked like a bulky go-kart. It was something she had seen around the barn, but never actually wondered what it was until now.

As Lapis landed, she made sure to gently put Jesse down before her own feet touched the ground. “We were curious what you were up to.” She said after grounding herself.

“What’s the tractor for?” Jesse asked, revealing to Lapis what that mechanism was called.

“I’m glad you asked.” Peridot said with a confident smirk. “As I have already proven to you, my aptitude in technical Gem work is much more than sufficient. But, I thought I’d challenge myself and try things the human way.”

“The human way?” Jesse repeated.

“Yep. I’ve done a bit of research, and apparently humans grow their troops not entirely dissimilar to the method that Gems use.”

“…Grow their troops?”

“Hmm, perhaps you just never worked in that role.” Peridot dismissed Jesse’s confusion. “But my research told me that humans inject life into the earth and reap from it their own specialized organic specimen. Instead of taking minerals deep within the Earth, they cultivate what they can from the softer soils at ground level.”

Lapis turned to Jesse, scanning his face for any indication of understanding on his end. “…You mean farming?” He asked with an eyebrow up.

“Ah, so then you aren't entirely unfamiliar with it then! So perhaps you’re also aware that barns are one of the primary structures of operation when it comes to “farming”?”

“Uh… I guess.”

“Is that what gave you the idea?” Lapis asked, looking from the barn to Peridot.

“Ah. Well… Not entirely.” Peridot’s tone lightened. “I have to admit, I’ve been starting to miss the pitter-patter of full-sized Gem soldiers.”

“It does get pretty quiet around here.” Lapis nodded understandingly. “…But we’ve got Steve now. That’s pretty cool, I think.” She said throwing a smirk Jesse’s way. He grinned back.

“I suppose you’re right.” Peridot admitted. “But still! Speaking practically, growing some of our own troops would certainly help us and the Crystal Gems protect the Earth.”

“Yo wait.” Jesse cut in. “Are you planning to…defend the planet with vegetables?”

“Yeeeeees?” Peridot answered with an eyebrow raised, confusion from witnessing Jesse’s own confusion. “Frankly I don’t know why Steven doesn’t do it.”

“Uh… You know vegetables don’t like…do anything. They’re not alive. Humans grow them to eat.”

Peridot blinked. “…Really?”

“Well that’s too bad.” Lapis said. “Gems don’t eat. At least, I’ve never…” Lapis’ pupils shrank a little as a memory flashed intrusively into her mind, one she mutually shared with another Gem. She flinched and shivered remembering that sensation of closing her teeth on something so hopelessly fragile.

“Y-yo, Lapis?!” Jesse’s concerned voice brought her back to her senses, letting her peer past the imagination clouding the present. As she shook off those unpleasant memories, she realized the tense stance she had been briefly frozen in, and loosened herself up immediately upon seeing Jesse and Peridot’s worried looks.

“S-sorry.” Lapis apologized, feeling a little embarrassed suddenly spacing out like that. “Just…remembered something. Don’t worry about it.”

Lapis couldn’t help but wonder how she had let such a memory hit her like that. Usually she coped with them silently and alone whenever she sat upon the silo or took a long flight around nowhere in particular, and she thought that was enough. She thought they were slowly fading away from her conscious. To have been caught off guard like this, especially in front of other people, her friends, made her feel incredibly uncomfortable, and even a little ashamed, as her bluer cheeks and drifted eyes would imply.

“…You wanna talk about it?” Jesse offered, with Peridot looking ready to listen too.

As Lapis tried to throw Malachite out of her head, her fusion with Jesse was also brought back into perspective. All the sudden that desire she had felt to try feeling out their fusion again was bottled up and stowed away. It was for Jesse’s sake. Her and fusion just felt like bad news, and she especially didn’t want to control someone she actually cared about. Was that why she had gotten the urge in the first place? To feel that kind of power over someone again? She was certain she had completely disavowed those feelings as a whole the last time she had spoken to Jasper. She was pretty sure... No, she was certain she still did. But…maybe to be safe…she wouldn’t go asking him anytime soon. Or ever, possibly.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.” She attempted to reassure them, aiming for a small smile that she wouldn’t have to put much effort into forcing.

“Well, if you say so.” Peridot said, although Lapis could tell she wasn’t really convinced.

“Offer’s open, though.” Jesse let her know softly, and she felt appreciative of it even if she wanted to forget it entirely.

“Thanks.” She said, and whatever amount of facade she had to put into her grin melted away into being purely genuine. It was pretty nice to have friends who cared about her, she had to admit. “But um. Peridot?”

“Yes?” She looked up.

“What had you been planning to grow anyway?”

“Well I was going to start with something humans call “corn”, and then maybe move on to “pumpkins” as well.” She answered. “Although now that I know they won’t obey me…”

Good, Lapis thought to herself. No watermelons.

Notes:

A Jesse, Lapis, and Peridot blunt rotation would go hard. Probably.

Sorry for the long break! Was out planning and doing stuff irl. Next chapter should be a fun one though, heavily derivative off an actual SU episode. Maybe you can already guess which one...

Chapter 22: Meth Harvest (Part 1)

Summary:

An unexpected guest threatens to take the barn away from Lapis, Peridot, and Jesse.

Notes:

Gonna split this chapter into two parts so I can explore more stuff with it.

Living at the barn was, for the most part, pretty much exactly what Jesse had wanted. Quaint and eccentric living space be damned, practically living in the middle of nowhere while still retaining the company of people who were naturally so disconnected to anything that could reveal his prior reputation was just about the best he could’ve hoped for when it came to starting his new hidden life. Of course he’d still need to drive into town for work or to restock on food every now and then, but the fact that he didn’t have to live in town around so many prying eyes was a huge weight off his shoulders. He never imagined he’d make a barn his home, but frankly this was probably as close to perfect as it could get.

Lapis and Peridot made for some good company regardless of their alien quirks and misunderstandings. He had assumed that his new life as Steve Driscoll would be that of a forever loner, always in the background and detached from the greater community of his new home, for the safety of his identity. It had seemed he had been granted the best of both worlds. He was grateful for it. Peridot was usually busy in her machines and experiments, but it seemed Lapis was always down to just chill with him. Occasionally Peridot would join in too, and a continuation of watching Camp Pining Hearts wasn’t unlikely after that.

Steven had even come to spend the night yesterday. He was ecstatic to learn Lapis had invited Jesse to live at the barn. Jesse could tell those kind of reactions and comments about her usually annoyed Lapis, but with Steven it was different. She and him evidently had a good relationship. Those kind of remarks were less bothersome coming from Steven. He wondered how exactly they had met. Not long after the three of them had seen Steven off did Jesse turn to Lapis as they all stood out a good few meters out in front of the barn.

“You two sound like good friends.” Jesse said to her.

“Yeah.” She confirmed before looking off into the distance. “He helped me out when I really needed it.”

“I remember you saying something like that before. When the, uh, ocean thing happened, that’s when he helped you.”

Lapis nodded. “My gemstone was cracked, so I couldn’t form my wings. He healed it the same way he healed your scars, and with my wings back…I didn’t need the planet’s oceans.” She explained as the three of them began walking back to the barn.

“Cracked gemstone, huh?” Jesse repeated curiously.

Before he could say anything more about it, a rapidly approaching noise caught everyone’s attention, roaring into a quick but fleeting crescendo as a biplane soared directly overhead. The pitch of its propellor shifted lower after passing them, and the three of them watched as the plane decreased both speed and altitude as it got closer to the barn.

“That flying machine is heading for our home!” Peridot gleaned, prompting the three of them to hurry over.

“What the…?!” A gruff and older voice came into earshot as Jesse ran in with Lapis and Peridot. The voice belonged to the pilot of the now-landed plane, an older man appropriately dressed in an olive pilot’s jacket and aviator hat. The trio stopped in surprise at the intruder staring at their home. “Hobos broke into the barn!”

“Yo, what’s going on?” Jesse yelled, blood pumping in seeing what looked to be a home invasion. “This is our own private domicile, bitch! We will not be…harassed…” His voice tapered off as he remembered where he learned that from.

“Hey!” Peridot called out to him brashly, her and Jesse having earning the stranger’s attention as he turned around to see them. “Don’t you touch our things!” She scolded.

“A hobo family? With hobettes? Who said they could start hobo unions in my barn?!” He scolded right back with his gruffer voice contrasting Peridot’s more shrill one.

“Who is he? And what’s he yelling about?” Lapis wondered out loud. “What’s he want with our home?” There was a somber seriousness Jesse could pick up from her confusion.

“A better question is where are my attack drones?” Peridot complained as she repeatedly pressed a button on a remote Jesse hadn’t seen her pull out.

“What? Attack drones?” Jesse said, alarmed at what those drones were supposed to do. Attack, obviously. But to what degree…?!

“Wait a minute.” The stranger spoke up again, looking particularly intense at the external additions the barn, and then Lapis and Peridot specifically. “Those mysterious constructions, your weird appearance, your strange jewels. I know what you are. You’re hippies!” He concluded with fervor. Jesse was a little speechless by the stupidity of that deduction. “I heard about you on AM radio. What are you doin’, coming’ in here, socializin’ this fine American barn? And you!” He glared at Jesse. “You don’t look like a hippie, at least not yet. You lettin’ them induct you into hippiedom?”

“Yo man, do you need help or something?!”

“Do I need help?!” The man returned, walking up to Jesse, who tensed up as—for some reason—he had an instinct that the man was angrily marching up to deck him.

As Peridot continued to press the button on her remote, Lapis glared before taking a step forward and flicking her arm to the side. “Get away from him.” She spoke tersely as all of a sudden the water in the artificial lake next to the pilot leaped out at him, snatching him up into the air in the process of morphing into the shape of a giant hand.

“Whaah!” He exclaimed as he was lifted up, being held in its fist sideways about forty feet in the air. To make the situation more dire for the man, his helpless position was quickly swarmed with circular, green drones pointing turrets at him.

“Oh, there they are.” Peridot said approvingly.

“Woah! Woah!” Jesse interjected quickly. “Don’t kill him!”

“H-huh?” Lapis turned to Jesse, looking stung by that suggestion. “I-I wasn’t… We weren’t…” She looked from Jesse to the struggling man uselessly trying to pry the fingers from her water hand, ready to be fired upon by Peridot’s drones. A flash of understanding hit her, and she lowered him before letting him drop to the ground. Following Lapis’ lead, Peridot reluctantly sent her drones away.

“Oof!” The man grunted as he hit the floor from an ultimately safe distance.

“I’m sorry.” Lapis apologized, not to the man, but to Jesse as she looked away from him. “I guess I forgot how fragile humans were…” Before she could mope too hard about it, she quickly turned back to him. “Oh, b-but not you Steve. You’re…super strong.” She stumbled a bit.

Jesse could see the hurt in her eyes now, and he realized he might’ve said something too strong in the heat of the moment. He was genuinely worried what was about to happen, but he didn’t want Lapis or Peridot thinking he actually expected them to purposefully kill someone.

“N-no, wait, man. I wasn’t really expecting that you’d—“

“Not cool.” The man chided as he dusted himself off, interrupting Jesse. “Are we finished with the…hippie mind tricks?” His query further baffled Jesse. Why was everyone so casual about seeing Gem stuff, even more being nearly attacked by them? “‘Cause if so, outta my barn! You clean up whatever garbage you left inside, and then you don’t come back ever.”

Peridot leaned towards Jesse, hand hovering over the remote. “I’ll promise he’ll be able to make a full recovery if I—“

“J-just let me handle this.” Jesse suggested before walking up to the older man. “Hey yo, uh, who are you?”

“Who am I? I’m the owner of that barn you’re tryin’ to take. Have I not made that clear by now?” He was shouting less, but he was still quite irate.

“There must be like a mistake or something, man. They didn’t take the barn, it was gifted to them.” Jesse tried explaining calmly.

“Gifted?!” The man exclaimed. “Who thinks they have the authority to rent out my barn while I’m away? Is this some sort of money makin’ scheme, huh? Take people’s barns when they aren’t looking and make…Beds & Breakfasts out of them for hippies?”

“Do you know a Steven? Or a Greg?” Jesse threw out.

“Greg?” The pilot’s eyes flashed something, before narrowing again with deep scrutinization. “Greg who.” He quizzed.

“Uh…Universe.”

The man’s face scrunched. “Universe? What a ridiculous name.” His usual scowl returned. “But no, I don’t know a “Greg Universe”. You let me talk to him. I wanna give that no-good conman a piece of my mind. No one’s gonna make money off of renting my barn to hippies.”

That was…actually a good idea, Jesse thought. Might as well get Greg and Steven over to help clear up this mess. The trio certainly had no clue that this man had even existed. Jesse turned back to look at Peridot.

“Yo, Peridot? Could you contact Steven with your tablet? I can call Greg.”

“I suppose that is a more rational way to deal with this issue…” Peridot admitted, finally putting the remote away. “Fine. I’ll call him back.”

“Good.” The man huffed, crossing his arms. “If those people are the ones behind the operation, they’re paying for all the damages you’ve done.”

Peridot rolled her eyes as she moved to make a call with her tablet. Her departure left the remaining group in a tense and uncomfortable silence. Lapis remained by Jesse’s side as the pilot silently fumed over all the crazy things placed on the exterior of the barn.

“I don’t even know where to begin with all this. Like it’s not enough to invade my space, but they gotta desecrate it too? Turn it into some kinda tourist attraction?” He complained out loud as Lapis shifted closer to Jesse.

“I…wasn’t really going to hurt him.” She reaffirmed, seemingly wanting to ensure that detail was clear to Jesse. “It’s just…he’s attacking our home.”

“No, I’m sorry.” Jesse apologized back. “I know you don’t like hurting people. I shouldn’t’ve…worded it like that.” Jesse looked towards the angry pilot. “…I’m kinda worried too, but we’ll see if we can clear this up.” He said as he pulled out his new phone. Lapis nodded in agreement before Jesse dialed Greg’s number. He took a few steps farther into the open field as it rang, distancing himself from the man.

“Steve? What’s up?” Greg picked up.

“Yo Greg, listen man. There’s a problem at the barn. Like this weird old man just flew in and he’s sayin’ the barn’s his.”

“What?” Greg went silent over the line for a moment. “…Did you say he flew in?”

“Yeah man, with a little plane. He’s like a pilot or something, I don’t know. Do you know him? He said he doesn’t know you.”

“…”

“Greg? You still there?”

“Y-yeah, sorry. I’m heading over right now.  Hang tight, I’ll talk to you when I get there.” Greg informed him.

“Uh, right.” Jesse responded, and the call ended there, leaving Jesse to stare blankly at his phone. “That went quicker than I thought.” He mumbled to himself as he pocketed it. He had expected him to ask more questions. It seemed Greg already knew something about the pilot, which made Jesse a little more wary that the strange man’s ramblings about owning the barn might have actually held some sort of validity. Unfortunately there wasn’t much left to do but wait with Lapis and Peridot until he arrived.

---

It was a colossal breath of fresh air when Jesse and the others noticed Greg’s van driving in. The brooding complaints murmured under the man’s breath as they all waited was getting very tiring. Luckily it wasn’t a long wait. In addition to Greg, and Steven, the three “Crystal Gems” Jesse had met before had also seemingly come along to see what the deal was.

“Ah great, more hippies?” The man mumbled as the trio came into view. “Just how many of you are there?” He asked, looking at Lapis and Peridot in particular. The two responded by looking back at him with parallel, wordless glares. “Tch. You don’t get to be the angry ones here.” He crossed his arms sourly.

“Greg got your message, and we came too.” Pearl said.

“Hey what’s with the new guy?” Amethyst asked obliviously as she walked up to them. “Did Lapis make another friend?”

“No.” Lapis put as bluntly as she could, sounding a bit grumpy as a result. “He’s definitely not my friend.”

“Of course not.” The man agreed, stepping up to meet the forming group. “Let’s get this over with. Who’s the one you’re payin’ to stay at my barn?”

“Paying?” Steven spoke up. “Your barn?”

“Andy?” The group, stranger included, turned to Greg as he stepped out of his van. “So it is you?!”

“Greg? It was you?!” The man returned in kind.

“They know each other?” Pearl asked.

Andy glared at Jesse. “You told me it was Greg Universe.”

“It is Universe!” Greg said before Jesse could defend himself.

“What?” Andy looked back to Greg. “So then is what they’re saying true? Is that your fake name for associatin’ with hippies?!”

“No, it’s my real name. I…had it changed.”

“You what?!” Andy nearly yelled. “Ah, no. You know what? I guess that makes sense. Scrub yourself of everything about the past, huh?” He continued with contempt. Jesse had been hoping it’d get less awkward with more people around.

“Wait, hold on!” Steven spoke up. “Dad, is that guy part of our family?!”

“Dad?!” Andy’s eyes widened at the word. “You mean…? No way.” His voice was soothed over with sheer disbelief.

“Steven, this is Andy. He’s my cousin.” Greg took that as his cue to introduce the two of them. “Andy, meet Steven. He’s my son.”

Steven’s eyes lit up. “Wow! It’s really nice to meet you! Does that mean you’re my...first cousin, once removed?”

“Forget that nonsense!” Andy replied with a smile, in utter contrast to his entire attitude before. He suddenly lifted Steven up and pulled him into a hug, which Jesse noticed the Gems around him lean forward as if they assumed he were going to hurt him. “You call me Uncle Andy. I’m an uncle. I can’t believe it. Greg, ya little turd, how come you—“

“How did his mood shift so drastically so quickly as if he wasn’t just being the biggest clod to ever clod?” Peridot grumbled as the crowd of Gems (and Jesse) overlooked the unearthing family drama. “Steve, explain it. Do “cousins” enforce a calming presence for humans?”

“I don’t know man. Steve and Greg are related to that guy I guess. Sounds like they’re family.” He answered as best he could, entranced by the unexpected development.

“How was I supposed to? I haven’t seen you in years!”

“And whose fault was that? You thought you were so much better than us, you just got in your van and drove away.”

Although the conversation had seemed to have been heading in a better direction, it was nonetheless beginning to be brought down again by the unresolved family conflict Greg’s family apparently shared. Jesse was reminded of his own family. He had done a pretty decent job at blocking them from his memory since he had gotten here, not thinking about them too often. But it was impossible not being reminded of them witnessing this family’s own arguments and blame about absentee family members. Andy at least had a soft spot for his new nephew, which kept their conversation in a flux between arguing about the past and Andy being genuinely happy and curious about Greg and Steven’s life now. That part reminded Jesse of his brother. He hoped he was doing fine.

“So, uh, which one of these girls is the wife?” Andy asked, looking over the group. “I gotta give her my condolences, right?” He elbowed Greg playfully and chuckled, not immediately noticing the downed reaction his question had caused. “Hey, come on. What, I gotta guess here?” He pointed to Garnet. “It’s gotta be you. I bet this useless lump needs a big girl to keep him in line. You’re not big, I’m just saying. You’re tall, not, you know.”

“Rose is…no longer with us.” Greg revealed somberly, eyes looking down.

Rose… So that was the name of Steven’s mother then. The Gem that…did the deed with Greg, a human, and had a child. He wondered what exactly happened for her to pass so early in her kid’s life.

“Uh, wow. I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Those people are sort of like her family, so I offered to let them stay in the barn.” Greg said, motioning to Peridot, Lapis, and Jesse. Jesse felt extraordinarily awkward knowing he wasn’t exactly a part of that original agreement, nor really could he be considered Rose’s family. He would’ve tried shuffling out of the way, but he knew that would’ve only brought more attention to him, so he stood awkwardly in place.

“Yeah? Ah, well, that was real nice of ya. But the barn’s for the DeMayo family.” Andy asserted.

“What’s a DeMayo?” Steven asked.

Andy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Right, you wouldn’t know. Your walnut father changed our family name as soon as he got here, didn’t he? But even after that, he didn’t mention any of us to you too?” His voice was rising in anger. “And yet he thinks he can just hand out precious family property like candy on…some…kind of…candy-givin-‘out holiday?!”

“Andy, look, they just really needed a place.” He said, again turning to the Gems and Jesse. “They’re… Most of them are alien refugees from space and—“

“They’re illegal aliens?!” Andy interrupted, greatly emphasizing those two words. “Wha…? You couldn’t even marry an American?!”

“What does that matter?!”

“Steve, classify American.” Peridot ordered.

“Uh… People who live here.”

“Hmm. Sounds like Lapis and I are very American then.” She concluded, sounding very self-assured.

“You turned your back on your family just so you could get in with a bunch of weirdo, hippie, Martian immigrants!?” Andy spat angrily at Greg, quickly heating back up to levels before Steven had quelled his emotions. “You three!” He turned to the trio. “Get the heck off my planet, out of my country, and out of my barn!”

Two of the three stood by awkwardly, while the third one pulled out her trusty remote once more. “Reactivating attack drones.” Peridot stated, ready to press the button again. Jesse noticed that Steven, as well as himself, were beginning to make a move to stop her, but to his surprise, it was Lapis who did something about it first, grabbing Peridot’s arm.

“H-hey!” Peridot complained, looking up at Lapis.

Lapis only shook her head in response before letting go. Peridot grumbled under her breath as she reluctantly put the remote away again. Jesse and Steven both sighed with relief. Jesse gave Lapis a thankful glance while Steven took it as an opportunity to appeal to Andy.

“Uncle Andy?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry we took over the barn. I didn’t even know we had any other family to share it with.” Steven apologized, sounding genuinely sympathetic to Andy’s plight.

“Already figured that one out.” He glared at Greg for a second. “It’s not your fault, Steven.”

“But this barn? It means a lot to all of us. We spent so much time together here.”

Jesse wasn’t sure how much he was or wasn’t included in that statement. Steven only found out he was living there now too yesterday, and he had off handedly mentioned it to Greg at work soon after he moved in. The barn did mean a lot to him despite how short of a time he had been living there, but if anyone was an outsider here, it was most certainly him. He didn’t even know what kind of value the barn held to Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst.

“Well, my family spent a lot of time here, too. Once a year, we’d all meet up here, catch up, eat a big meal, have a good time. Years and years of family tradition.”

“Oh yeah? Well, we can do that too.” Steven suggested cleverly. “Let’s make a big, traditional meal and eat it together. You’ll have a good time, and then you’ll have to admit they’re family! And would you kick family out of the family barn?”

All of Andy’s scorn appeared to wash away upon hearing Steven’s plan, and a smile crept up on his face. “Ahh… Greg, you’re lucky you got such a cute kid. I know he didn’t get it from you.”

Greg looked up. “So, you’re letting them—“

“I’ll give your coven a chance and eat your dinner, but only ‘cause I lost my sandwich in the Atlantic. Now, excuse me, I gotta go get my junk out of the plane.” He told him as he walked off to where his plane was landed.

“That sounded a little better.” Lapis remarked, eyeing Andy as he left the scene.

“You think this’ll work?” Steven asked his dad.

“Maybe. Andy’s never been the type to change his mind about something, and he’s really got his longjohns in a twist. It’s gonna take a lot to calm him down.” Greg told him, seemingly about to leave for a moment too.

“Yo wait, Greg!” Jesse called over as he and the Gems walked up to them. “Just want you to know, I’m gonna stay at the Wash for a while. ‘Till this gets figured out.”

“You’re going?” Lapis turned to him, surprised by what he said.

“Well, yeah… I mean like, I don’t know if this is really my business or nothin’.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s your business. He’s trying to take the barn from us! Last time I checked, you live here too.” Peridot said.

“We’re not going to let him take our home away when you just got here, Steve.” Lapis agreed firmly.

“Oh… that’s… Wow man, I…” Jesse was touched, and he wasn’t sure how to express it. He hadn’t had much of this unconditional acceptance in his life, he realized. Getting tied up in Steven’s family’s drama with that old coot wasn’t something he was sure about, but maybe he didn’t mind sticking with Lapis and Peridot and fighting for their right to stay at the place they’ve come to know as their home.

 “It’s all up to you, Steve.” Greg said. “Sounds like no one’s gonna mind if you stay. I won’t. But if you’re still not comfortable around…all of that, I get it.”

Jesse looked to his two barnmates briefly. “I’ll stay.” He answered Greg. “It’s a cool gig we got going on, y’know? Don’t want to lose that if it’s possible.”

“Great!” Steven said. “The more the merrier! We’ll show Uncle Andy that the barn is in good hands with you guys!”

“I don’t like this new Greg.” Amethyst put in. “No offense, old Greg.”

“Don’t worry. He can be a little…”

“Insufferable?” Peridot finished his sentence for him, although Greg’s flinch implied he was going to say something else. Likely something much less harsh.

“Andy is a part of Steven’s family. We should make an effort to get on his good side.” Garnet suggested sagely.

“If he’s my family, he’s yours too.” Steven pointed out.

“Gems don’t have family, At least, not before we came here.” She said, her stoic expression shifting to a sweet smile. “So for the sake of our family, tell us what to do.”

“Well, there’s no food at the barn, so we need to go get some. Dad, what kind of food was at those family gatherings Andy mentioned?”

“Hmm… When there still used to be vegetables grown here, we’d pick some of them and grill them right here. Grilled some sandwich meats too and made…sandwiches.”

“Well that's annoying. It seems I would have benefitted from my original farming idea after all.” Peridot remarked to herself under her breath. “We could’ve had so much corn by now…”

“Still, if the grill is somewhere in the barn, I doubt it still works.” Greg said.

“It may have been used for a meep morp that was ultimately scrapped…” Peridot informed him thoughtfully.

“A what?”

“That won’t matter though. I can whip up something that can cook your human foods.”

“Oh, uh, okay. Still, we need to get the food in the first place, but I want to stay here if I can. I don’t want him getting…fired up at you again if I’m gone.” Greg pointed out.

“I think I should stay too.” Steven said, looking in Andy’s direction. “He doesn’t seem to get as mad around me now that he knows I’m his nephew. Plus…I want to get to know him better too.”

“Not a problem.” Pearl spoke up. “If you lend me the van, I can come back with everything we need to win him over.” She offered.

“Not a bad idea.” Greg nodded approvingly. “Some others should probably go with you to help carry all the stuff.”

“I’ll go.” Garnet spoke.

“Hey, Steve?” Greg looked at Jesse sheepishly. “I’m really sorry to ask this, but if you are going to eat dinner with us, then do you mind going with Pearl and Garnet and helping them out? You know, since you’re human. Gems don’t really eat, so it’d be helpful if you were there in case they need help.”

“I’m sure we won’t, but if Steve wants to come along, I won’t say no.” Pearl said.

“Yeah sure. I’ll go.” Jesse agreed, understanding that option was the one away from Andy.

“I’ll go too, if that’s all right.” Lapis joined in, which Jesse was happy to hear. He still didn’t know Pearl and Garnet very well. It would’ve been weird if they were the only ones he was with.

“Amethyst? Peridot?” Pearl said.

“I think I’ll stay.” Amethyst shrugged. “I’m curious about Mr. Grouchalot too.”

“Like I said, I can build something to cook the food.” Peridot answered for her part. “And if Pearl’s going to be gone, I think I might be the only one capable.”

“Then it’s settled!” Steven grinned, sticking out a hand in the center of the group. Greg and the other Gems joined in, stacking hands on hands. Jesse followed their lead, the last one to add his to the pile. “Go team!” He said as everyone lifted their hand up.

“Go team.” Lapis smiled. As the group split into two, she waved Jesse over to follow her to Greg’s van. “You wanna sit up top?” She asked him.

“Up top? You mean on top of the van?”

“Yeah.” She said, sprouting her wings, although after a quick thought, she recalled them. “Oh. Wait, that’s not safe for humans, is it?”

“No, sorry.”

“Sorry. Um…” She looked from the top of the van to the back of it, looking lost in thought.

“Something wrong?” Jesse asked.

“No. I’m fine. It’s just that I was thinking…the inside looks like it might feel a little cramped.” She admitted.

Cramped?…Jesse pondered. The back of a van was probably one of the most spacious vehicles you could realistically ride in. Well, Lapis was an alien after all. He had no idea what she was used to.

“You know I won’t mind if you’d rather sit on top without me.” He told her.

“I…” Lapis stared at the van for a bit, but then shook her head. “No. I’m just…being dramatic. It honestly isn’t a big deal.” She decided, taking initiative and moving over to the back of the van so she could open the doors.

Jesse was about to say something, but he was distracted as Garnet strode by him. “That’s a good sign.” She told him with an approving grin as she walked past.

“A what? Wait, what do you…?” Jesse tried asked, but it was too late, as Garnet performed a mighty leap that still landed deftly upon the top of the van. She took a comfortable position lying on her side.

“I really don’t mind.” Lapis continued as she got the doors open, revealing an open space within that looked pretty comfy as far as vans went. There weren’t any seats other than the ones up front, so the rest of the room was dedicated towards a miniature living space with a few of Greg’s personal belongs adorned around. And yet, when the doors had been thrown open, Jesse found that his brain had, for a split second, expected beakers and flasks against the walls. It had been so long since he was in the RV, but…

“Are you two going to go in?” Pearl asked from behind them, causing a startled flinch from the both Jesse and the blue Gem next to him at the same time. Jesse hadn’t realized how long he had been staring, and apparently neither did Lapis.

“Y-yeah, yeah.” Jesse said, clearing out those memories he didn’t want to think back on. It helped to have a blue alien at his side. Simply looking at Lapis was essentially a pallet cleanser when it came to focusing on the now instead of the then. He stepped up into the van before turning to her and offering a hand up. “You ready?”

Lapis looked at it for a bit, before a small grin formed on her face. “Yeah.” She nodded, taking Jesse's hand and allowing him to pull her up into the van with him.

Once the back doors were shut, it wasn’t long before Pearl had gotten into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “See you in a bit!” She called out to the other four who had stayed behind.

“Have fun!” Jesse heard Amethyst call back.

With that out of the way, they were moving. The dirt road made it bumpier of a ride, especially without proper seats to sit themselves in, but Jesse and Lapis made do settling down and leaning against a wall of the van, sitting side by side. Lapis seemed to have been thinking about the bumps and movement of the van too, as she peered her eyes over with a wry smirk.

“Good thing it isn’t me driving, huh?” She said jokingly. “You know, if the go-karts are anything to go by.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jesse remembered, humored at the thought himself. “That probably wouldn’t end well. No offense.” He lightly chuckled.

“Oh, no. Of course not. I’d probably—“ she snorted slightly as she restrained a chuckle. “—I’d probably crash us directly into a wall.”

Jesse snickered. “Tch, heh. Yeah.”

“H…Haha.” Pearl joined in awkwardly from the front seat, glancing over her shoulder for a second. “Don’t you two worry. I’m…quite the responsible driver, and I’m very well informed on human traffic laws.”

“Oh, uh. Yeah.” Jesse responded stiffly. Lapis didn’t say anything back. For a moment, Jesse caught a strange expression for the second or two Lapis looked in Pearl’s direction. He couldn’t quite tell what it was.

“Well, either way…” Lapis spoke up after her silence. “I’m glad to get away from the guy for now. I’m sorry that had to happen so soon after you moved in.”

“Nah, it’s not your fault. I don’t blame anyone.”

“Well, that’s good.” Lapis nodded.

“So Steven really was telling the truth. You did move in with Lapis and Peridot, Steve?” Pearl said.

“Yeah. Steven told you…?”

“He did. It made him very happy. He couldn’t help but share the news after he got back from staying the night with you guys.”

“Hm…” Lapis hummed, looking contemplative.

“So, with that said, I hope you don’t mind if I ask.” Pearl continued. “Has there been any updates with your fusion?” She asked, which was immediately followed with a solid THUMP coming from the roof of the van. “O-oh, sorry, never mind that question. That was a little careless to just ask like that.” Pearl sheepishly retracted her query in response. “But uh, Steve. I appreciate that you’re helping us out here.”

Jesse took the opportunity Pearl provided to steer the conversation away from the topic of fusion. “You don’t need to thank me or anything. Like it’s my problem too now…y’know?”

“Right.” Pearl nodded, eyes still on the road. “…We’ll all make sure you don’t get kicked out of the barn.” She told the two of them.

Given that Lapis didn’t seem to want to jump into the conversation, it ended there, on an uncomfortable note given Pearl’s retracted question. Jesse was aware there was some sort of complicated history between Lapis and the Crystal Gems. Pearl especially for whatever reason, he was beginning to notice. He wasn’t going to ask, of course, especially with Pearl directly in earshot. It seemed to be just another thing to throw on to the pile of questions. Just thinking about it, he remembered what Garnet had told him the night they had shown them their fusion. How it could possibly be made more stable if they were open with each other about their more painful experiences. Jesse sure had a bunch, and if Garnet was right, that meant Lapis did too.

Jesse decided not to dwell on it. There were more pressing matters at hand right now. The place he was finally beginning to feel comfortable in was seemingly under threat of being taken away from him. He wanted to help however he could, not just for himself, but for Lapis and Peridot too. Going to the store meant being around a bunch of people, something he usually tried to avoid whenever possible. But as he turned to Lapis, seeing her deep in thought… Well, he’d do it for her.

Notes:

Pumpkin superfans, you have my apologies. Given why she was introduced in the show, it just doesn't make sense for it to happen now. Forgive me! Please! PLEASE!!

Oh hey wow would you look at that! Is it really the anniversary for this fic already? Get the streamers out, the balloons, even the cake! I hope everyone who's been along for the ride has been enjoying this as much as I have. I'm so grateful for all of you! This ship is very dear to my heart. There are many fics like it, but this one is mine, and I'm thankful for however you landed on this specific telling. If you've had any questions or points of discussion about the story so far, I'd be glad to hear it. Really I always am, but that feels fitting to say on the anniversary.

Chapter 23: Meth Harvest (Part 2)

Summary:

The gang prepares to have dinner with Andy, hoping to make a good impression with him so that he allows them to stay in the barn.

“We’re here.” Pearl announced as she parked the van, the first thing she had said in a while after her last attempt at conversation ended poorly. “Soooo everyone… Let’s make sure we do a good job in getting everything Andy needs to know that you two and Peridot can stay at the barn.” She tried in a friendly voice, though it was undermined by a slight stilted awkwardness.

“Yeah.” Lapis agreed quietly, seemingly taking whatever common ground was available. The awkward air between her and Pearl was something Jesse had quickly noticed. He had been around Lapis long enough to know she could be a little standoffish to anyone who wasn’t directly a friend of hers, and that she was on especially rocky terms with the Crystal Gems for reasons he never asked, but there seemed to be something even more so when it came to Pearl. Wasn’t his business though, and he certainly wasn’t going to ask with Pearl in earshot. “Let’s get out of here already.” Lapis spoke as she stood up and made her way to open the back doors of the van.

As the double doors were swung open, extra sunlight flooded in, outlining Jesse’s view of Lapis from the back as she spent a few seconds to take in the open air. Her bangs and dress fluttered softly from the draft that was now allowed in, although Jesse’s eyes were drawn most to the teardrop-shaped gemstone in her back. She looked back over her shoulder.

“Are you coming?” She asked.

“Oh, yeah… Sorry.” Jesse shook himself out of his trance, standing himself up and following Lapis as she stepped out of the van.

She smiled softly and offered her hand up to Jesse as a nice gesture to help him step down. He accepted it gratefully, taking note of the coolness of her hand due to her lack of body warmth as their fingers intertwined. “Feels good to get out of there, huh?” She said, gazing at Jesse’s expression.

“Yeah, I guess it does.” He responded, still holding her hand.

The fact that what he saw and felt was entirely a projection of that gemstone in her back was always a bizarre thing to remember, though it did bring some semblance of logic to her ability to shape shift and fuse. Science fiction hocus pocus logic maybe, but something followable nonetheless. It made him wonder for a second if she wanted to try fusing with him again, given she had brought it up recently, although she hadn’t followed up about it.  Fusion and its meanings were obviously more Gem territory, and Lapis apparently had some kind of nasty experience with it before he had met her, so he’d leave her to initiate any further developments on it if she truly wanted. Though, he couldn’t say we still wasn’t a little curious about trying again…

Lapis’ eyes drifted down slightly, and when Jesse followed them, he realized he was still holding on to Lapis’ hand. “Oh, uh…” He somewhat sheepishly retracted his hand from hers. “Thanks for that.”

“Anytime.” She grinned softly, and Jesse just barely noticed her curl the fingers of her hand inward to rub at her palm a little bit after they had let go of each other. He wondered if the faint lingering coolness he felt in his own palm was mirrored by a warmth in hers.

Jesse flinched as Garnet landed a few feet behind him, having jumped off of the van and looking as unfazed as ever despite the hard pavement of the parking lot she had stuck the landing on. Pearl was out of the van too, clasping her hands together as she joined up with the rest of the group.

“All right, everyone. Greg recommended vegetables and sandwich foods. But I was also thinking that since money won’t be an issue on Greg’s card, we could also pick up anything we can think of that will help enhance the experience for Andy.” Pearl explained.

“Not a bad idea.” Garnet agreed. “But let’s not spend so much time getting stuff that we keep Andy waiting.”

“Good point. Then perhaps we should split up into two groups? One for the food, and the other for embellishments?”

“Yeah, that works.” Lapis joined in, finding it agreeable enough to voice it.

“Same.” Jesse said next, also finding it agreeable as he automatically assumed he’d naturally be paired up with Lapis.

“Good! Steve, would you mind coming with me to the food aisles then?” Pearl asked, and Jesse saw Lapis blink in his peripheral. “Usually Amethyst is the one who’d actually have a pallet for human food amongst us, but since she didn’t come along, I was hoping you’d be able to help pick out what’d taste the best for Andy.”

“Oh, I…guess that is important, yeah.” Jesse admitted, feeling a little blindsided.

“Would you know more than us about human food?” Lapis questioned Pearl. There was some semblance of accusation in her voice.

“Oh, well, I suppose Garnet might know slightly more than me. Why do you ask?”

“I… Never mind.”

“I would enjoy your company, Lapis.” Garnet spoke stoically, yet still with detectable sincerity.

“Oh, um… Thanks.”

“Well then, why don’t we head inside? We’ll split up after and meet back up at the checkout in, say, about fifteen minutes? We want to be quick getting back after all.” Pearl said.

“Should be enough time.” Garnet agreed.

“All right.” Jesse added. He looked at Lapis. “See you in a bit I guess.”

“Yeah.” Lapis nodded.

---

“Steve? Are you looking for something?” Pearl asked as the two of them made their way to the produce aisle. Jesse’s eyes flicked away from a distant customer as he realized Pearl had picked up on how wary he was about being in a public space again.

“Huh? Uh, nah. No. Just…looking around.” He said, before turning his attention fully to Pearl. He realized that part of the reason he defaulted to looking around was also because he really didn’t know how to initiate conversation with Pearl. As clumsy as she had been earlier, there was still a present aura of refinement coming from her. It was even slightly intimidating, which made the fact it was just the two of them for the time being even more awkward. Still, he felt like he ought to try, as the silence was a little unbearable. “Yo uh, so like… You’re all friends with Greg, yeah? The uh…Crystal Gems, or whatever you call yourselves.”

“Well of course. He is Steven’s father, after all. It’s only natural…for the most part.”

Steven’s father… It reminded him of something he saw in the van. “There was a picture in the back of Greg’s van. One of him and…some pink woman…” Jesse said, and Pearl’s head turned up in response. Jesse could’ve sworn to spotting an invisible shadow cast over her eyes.

“Oh. You saw that?” She spoke as if that were, for some reason or another, regrettable.

“That was Steven’s mom, right?”

“Yes, that was Rose. Her…passing took a heavy toll on all of us.” She said somberly.

Jesse realized from the downed mood Pearl had been put in that he touched a severely sensitive subject, and it was probably not his place to have even asked. “…Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. Guess that was kinda…uh, insensitive.”

Pearl glanced over her shoulder to him, surprising him with a smile. A saddened one, but a smile nonetheless. “You don’t need to apologize. In fact, it’s only fair, really. I shouldn’t have asked you two about your fusion back in the van. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I still don’t get fusion…like at all, yo. It didn’t like, offend me or nothing. You should be apologizing to Lapis if anyone.” Jesse suggested. “I think it meant more to her, so…yeah.”

“I see…” She said, looking a little contemplative.

“Yo. Got some corn.” Jesse announced, holding an ear in his hand.

Pearl stopped walking. “Oh! I didn’t realize I almost walked past all the vegetables. Do you like corn, Steve?”

Jesse shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like a five out of ten I guess. Maybe better than that if it’s got, like, some melted butter or something. Think the last time I had it was…a couple of Thanksgivings ago.” He recalled, thinking back to those meals with his family. Unfortunately, the last couple of years he wasn’t there to eat with them.

“That’s helpful. Your insight is very appreciated.” Pearl stated nicely.

“Uh… Thanks.”

---

“This one looks good.” Garnet said, staring at a large balloon with the words “It’s a Boy!” written on it. “It’s accurate, and it should help lift the mood.”

“Um… I guess.” Lapis shrugged, not having any understanding why it would or wouldn’t help convince Andy to let them have the barn.

Garnet grabbed ahold of it, holding the string in her upheld fist. Lapis looked around, hoping something would make sense to her to pick out. Along with balloons, there were things like streamers and colored candles lined up on the wall. The aisle behind them was entirely dedicated to little paper cards of various occasions, most of which Lapis had no frame of reference for.

“I’ll let you pick out whatever we’re getting. Just let me know what to carry.” Lapis said as she peered amongst the lineup of cards. One word in particular halted her aimless scanning. “Oh, wait…” She pulled out a card. “Happy Marriage. …How long ’till the Carriage?” She read aloud, stiff and deadpan. She had heard that word before—marriage—but she was struggling to remember from when and where.

Garnet, balloon in hand, stepped behind her to look over the card. “We should get that too.” She suggested approvingly.

“…Do you know what marriage is?” Lapis decided to ask, which took a bit of effort to do so. One-on-one talk with any of the Crystal Gems not named Steven wasn’t Lapis’ idea of a good time, being completely honest. But Garnet was admittedly the best of the trio she could’ve been stuck with. Still, the image of Garnet’s looming hand trying to take the mirror away from Steven was never something she truly forgot.

“Not extremely well. A human version of fusion, in a sense.” Garnet answered her.

“Really? I thought humans didn’t fuse.” She said. “…With other humans, I mean.”

“They don’t, not like Gems. It’s a promise of commitment and love, at least as far as I understand it.”

“…Oh.” Lapis suddenly remembered where she had heard marriage mentioned before. “Human romance stuff…” She recalled to herself.

“Hm.” Garnet grinned.

“…What?” Lapis raised a brow.

“I shouldn’t say. I don’t think you’d like to hear it.”

“What?” Lapis repeated, more commandingly as the go-ahead to tell her anyway.

“You’re blushing.”

“W-what?” Lapis hadn’t realized it before, but she certainly did now. In fact she was sure it grew even worse after being pointed out. She quickly turned her head back to the selection of cards, away from Garnet, as if something suddenly caught her eye. “I don’t know why you had to point that out…” She mumbled.

“You told me to.” Garnet responded, and Lapis knew she had a point.

Lapis huffed quietly, wanting to move away from it. “Let’s just get what we need and go.”

Garnet stared at her for a little longer. “You know Lapis, it’s good to see you’ve been happier recently.” She told her.

Lapis looked up for a moment, wondering where that was coming from. “Well… Not being trapped in a mirror or fusion makes that easier.” She put, taciturn. “…Thanks for the latter, I guess. Don’t think I ever thanked you for that.”

“And I don’t believe I’ve apologized for the former yet either. I’m sorry, Lapis. We shouldn’t have left you in there, regardless of how scared we were of the consequences.”

“O-oh, um…” Lapis felt caught off guard by the apology. It was something she had wanted to hear for a long time, but with how long it had been, she expected they’d let it silently pass from memory. Of course, Lapis would never be able to forget her time in the mirror, nor the threat of the Crystal Gems trying to prevent her from revealing herself as she was so close to freedom. She wondered if she’d still be in the mirror this very moment had Steven never gotten involved. “…Yeah.”

“I’d understand if you hated us for that.”

“H-huh? I-I mean, I hate what you did. I really, really hate that part… But…” Lapis wasn’t expecting to be having this discussion at all, or at the very least, not so suddenly. As long as she had wanted an apology for her imprisonment, she wasn’t nearly ready for this conversation right now. “…This isn’t the time for it. We…need to focus on saving our home.” She said, which was true, but also an excuse to avoid the conversation, at least for now.

“You’re right. We don’t see each other often, so I wanted to let you know.”

“Well…thanks…I guess.” Despite the stiffness in her voice, there still was some genuine gratitude mixed in everything she was currently feeling. “Hey, how about this?” Lapis changed the subject, moving to an aisle with a bunch of spooky props and picking up a plastic gravestone in her arms among many with different names engraved.

“That looks perfect.” Garnet grinned and nodded approvingly. “But we should get one with Andy’s name on it.”

---

“Yo I’m going to be entirely honest, but like…I got no clue what you guys were going for here.” Jesse said on the ride back to the barn, looking at the balloon, tombstone prop, and a few other mismatching items brought in by Lapis and Garnet. It was almost kind of eerie. The birthday cake seemed especially overkill.

“Really?” Lapis responded, taking a glance over everything too. “…You know I guess I don’t either. I just trusted Garnet for the most part.” She acknowledged, before sounding a little more serious. “Do you think it’s not going to work?”

“I didn’t say that.” Jesse said, having not wanted to imply something so pessimistic. “Just saying, like… I don’t think I’d ever expect like, any of this for a picnic. Especially, uh…” He glanced at the gravestone with “R.I.P. ANDY” written on it. “Well, it’ll be fine…probably.”

Upon arriving back to the barn, they were met with an unfortunate sight: A red-faced Andy fuming silently by the side of the barn with Greg trying to speak with him. On the opposite end of the barn was Peridot and Steven, the former crossing her arms in frustration while the latter patted her back. The two were standing next to some sort of green device with a propellor and engine embedded into it.

“Greg? Andy?” Pearl called out as she parked the van.

“I don’t want to talk to any of ya right now. Leave me alone.” Andy responded indignantly, turning away from the van as Pearl parked it nearby.

“That’s not a good sign…” Lapis said.

Once the van was off, Lapis and Jesse hopped out the back, leaving the doors open for Greg to see their haul as he approached. “Hey, you got back quick!” He greeted them, although it was clear he was a little distracted as glanced back at Andy grumbling to himself closer to the barn.

“Greg, what happened with Andy while we were gone?” Pearl asked as she got out of the driver’s side seat. Garnet landed next to her as she jumped from the top of the van.

“Ehhh, well, in order to build her own grill, Peridot kinda used some parts of an old plane that really meant a lot to Andy. She didn’t know, but Andy took it pretty bad.” Greg explained blamelessly, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh dear.” Pearl remarked.

“That thing?” Lapis asked, glancing over at the machine by Peridot on the other side of the barn. “Well at least she actually put some of it to use.”

The group moved towards Steven and Peridot, the latter of which looked just as upset as Andy had. “Pfft, “parent’s plane”… What do his “parents” matter in this situation if they were never going to use it again anyway?” She grumbled.

“Peridot…” Steven looked at her. “I get you’re upset, but you shouldn’t say stuff like that.” He turned to the group as they approached, and provided a weak smile to greet them. “Hey everyone. We had a little bit of an issue…”

Garnet nodded. “Greg told us.”

“Yeah.” Steven looked down. “I’ll try to talk to him in a bit. Did you guys get the stuff?”

“We did. Steve helped me pick out an appropriate meal for Andy, and Garnet and Lapis got a few extra things to help spice up the occasion.” Pearl informed him.

“What we brought should help improve his mood.” Garnet said.

“You think so?” Steven said hopefully.

Garnet grinned. “I do.”

Jesse wasn’t so sure thinking about all the weird stuff in the van, but he held his tongue. He still felt like a guest in all of this, even though the barn was his home now. He didn’t want to be any kind of a pessimist or downer.

Before long, Greg decided to break from the group, telling everyone he was going to start setting things up and giving Andy some time to cool off a little. The rest of the Crystal Gems went along to help him, with Jesse and Lapis staying behind with Peridot and her plane engine powered stove top. Jesse looked it over, wondering how she could invent something so advanced yet cobbled together from whatever happened to be in the barn.

“I’m sorry.” Peridot apologized out of the blue before either Jesse or Lapis could fill the silence. She sounded uncharacterstically defeated. “I may have just greatly reduced our chances of settling this peacefully.” She explained as she stared sourly at Andy’s direction.

“It’s not your fault.” Lapis told her, assertion firm in how succinct it was. “I don’t get why he gets to be so mad. He certainly wasn’t taking care of any of this junk.”

“Regardless, I don’t want the three of us getting kicked out of our home. But now I can’t use force or even threats against him either, given his connection with Steven. I don’t want to ruin that for him.” Peridot sighed in frustration. “I don’t understand how someone like Steven could want to associate with someone like him. They’re like polar opposites.”

They were family, Jesse supposed. However there of course was no guarantee that family always got along. He quickly curbed a growing sense of envy remembering how genuine Andy had seemed in being so invested in his new nephew. He missed Ginny. It had been a while since he had thought of her.

“Yeah. They’re family I guess.” Jesse put somewhat uselessly, still a little lost in his head and not knowing exactly how that should be taken.

“…I kind of hate this.” Lapis said bluntly. “I feel so restrained. If he doesn’t change his mind, will there really be nothing we can do?” Lapis frowned, and her fists clenched. “We can't lose our home.”

Jesse could hear how resolute she was in her voice, something he had not often seen from her, and Peridot’s similar frustration enforced just how important the barn was to them. He had the money to buy them thousands of barns should they ever get kicked out of this one, but this one was special to them. He didn’t want them to lose it.

“Yo, I’ll be right back.” Jesse said.

Lapis looked up. “Where’re you going?” She asked curiously.

“Thought of an idea. Don’t know if it’ll work, but I’m gonna try.”

“Do you want some help with it? Whatever it is?”

“Actually, I think it’s best if I do this by myself. Sorry. Gonna try talking with him.”

“You sure you want to do that?” Lapis asked, cocking her head a little. “Well, good luck with that.”

Andy had since moved from the other side of the barn to closer to where his plane was landed, which was good for Jesse, as that meant they’d be out of earshot as long as they didn’t talk too loudly. As far as Jesse could tell, his disgruntled scowl had faded a bit from their arrival back from the store, though his expression still had a lingering unpleasantness.

“Yo, uh, Andy.” Jesse called over awkwardly as he got close.

“What do you want?” Andy said looking over his shoulder to him.

Jesse wasn’t sure the best way to start what he wanted to say, although given that he wanted to get through it as quickly as he could before anyone else came by, he decided to just come out with it immediately. “How much do you want for the barn?”

“What?”

“Like in cash. How much would it take?” Jesse restated. “Like name a price. Go as high as you want.”

Andy turned fully to Jesse, looking him in the eye with a perplexed look. “You sayin’ you wanna buy the barn from me?” He looked Jesse up and down. “You?”

“Look man, just give me an idea, all right?” Jesse pressed. Normally he wanted to completely avoid making huge purchases with the money he had left, not so much to save it, but to avoid suspicion. However if this was a viable solution to help Lapis and Peridot, he’d take it.

“Listen kid, it ain’t gonna be that simple. I put more value into this place than cash.”

“Really? Not even like…for a lot of money? A lot a lot?”

“You oughta just give it a rest. Greg already tried this, you know. And I know he doesn’t look it, but apparently that reckless rockstar gig of his actually paid off…a lot. Doubt you got that kinda cash stacked in your bank account.” Andy said decisively. “But even if ya did, I ain’t just selling this place just cause ya waved a few dollars in my face. Won’t matter if it’s ones or hundreds printed on ‘em.”

Jesse’s shoulders slouched as he realized he wasn’t going to be able to break through this guy’s stubbornness. He had hoped money would make it an easy solution, but then again, he had to admit Andy was right. Money never made things as simple as he wanted.

“All right man, fine. Your call.”

Andy gave him a curious look, and straightened his posture. “What’s your name?”

“Steve.”

“All right Steve, answer me something. If I wanted more than half of all the money you’ve got, would you still take the barn?”

Jesse’s brow furrowed in confusion upon receiving the prompt. He wondered why Andy would ask that if he already said he wouldn’t sell the barn. Still, Jesse found his answer rather quickly. “Honestly, you could take all of it if you wanted.” He spoke completely truthfully.

A huge amount of cash only felt burdensome to Jesse these days. Expenses were no issue, but the duffle bag full of money itself held so heavy a presence for Jesse’s psyche. Any excuse to get rid of it sounded nice, even acknowledging how terrible an idea that would be. The reason he had it in the first place and all it stood for was bad enough, but there was also the constant worry that somehow someone would end up coming across it, leading to his reveal and subsequent imprisonment.

“You sayin’ that cause you don’t got much in the first place?”

“Nah.” Jesse shook his head, but he didn’t dare elaborate. “I’ll leave it at that, unless you do want to make the deal.” He said. “I really do mean it, yo. I’d give everything I had if you let them stay.”

“Hmph. It means that much to you?”

“Them more than me, but yeah.” Jesse nodded his head slightly in the direction of Lapis and Peridot. “It’s been difficult for all of us to find a good place to stay.”

Andy stared at Jesse for a bit, exhaling through his nose. He spoke after a fair amount of silence between the two of them. “Listen kid. Maybe that’s all true, and I can understand that this whole thing is really Greg’s fault for tellin’ ya’s you could stay here. But none of that was my fault it happened this way. It shouldn’t have to be my issue. You think that barn means a lot to you? Think about how much it means to the person who grew up with it. That old girl is one of the last bastions I have to remember how my family used to be. I don’t got much a those nowadays, you know.” His tone wasn’t harsh, but it was still serious and stern. Jesse couldn’t say he didn’t have a point. The last part was especially poignant to him.

“All right, yeah, I get it. No deal then.” Jesse sighed in resignation.

“You know Steve, I am a man of my word. I promised my nephew I’d give you all a chance and have dinner with you, so that’s what’s going to happen. And let me be clear, I ain’t saying that as a formality, I am giving you all a fair shot. I’m not making any final decisions ‘till then, all right?” He told Jesse. “Granted that green hipp—lady—isn’t off to the best start considering what she did to my parents’ plane. But I meant what I said.”

“Huh.” Jesse pondered. He had worried that Andy being mad about the plane would be enough to threaten the dinner being called off completely. The fact he was still willing to go through with it was more than Jesse expected. “Well all right man, if that’s the case. And…thanks I guess.”

“Don’t thank me.” Andy shook his head. “‘Cause for all we know, you lot could easily end up leaving here hating my guts by the end of the day.”

“Yeah. Fair.” Jesse hovered awkwardly. Andy was still looking at him weirdly. “Well, I guess I’ll…go.”

“You know, Steve, there’s something different about you than the others.” Andy scrutinized.

“No shit” was the first thing that came to Jesse’s mind, but he didn’t say it out loud. “Yeah, like I don’t look like I jumped out of a crayon box?” He guessed in a statement that sounded vaguely insensitive after the fact, and because of that he was thankful the Gems were out of earshot.

“No, that’s not it… Ah, forget it.” He waved the thought away. “I can see Greg struggling to peel the potatoes you guys brought, so I’m actually gonna excuse myself.”

“…Y-yeah, uh… all right. Cool.” Jesse said, having felt a sudden chill as he realized one possibility of something that could have tipped Andy off to some obscured detail about him.

Thankful the conversation could simply end there, Jesse moved aside so Andy could walk off to where Greg and Steven were peeling potatoes. Jesse remained in place, feeling an incredibly heavy feeling of unease settle itself within him. He glanced over at the nearby plane, realizing that Andy could probably have been all over the country. And any destination close to New Mexico…

“Steve?” Lapis’ voice startled him out of his thoughts. She flew in gently, landing close, but Jesse hadn’t seen her coming.

“L-Lapis…!” He quickly collected himself. “Uh… Yo.”

“How’d it go? He doesn’t seem as moody anymore.” Lapis observed looking back over her shoulder, before turning to Jesse. “But you look a little pale. Did he say something to you he shouldn’t have…?” Her voice became a little foreboding near the end.

“Nah, no, I just…had a thought. But it’s fine yo, don’t worry about it.”

Jesse could tell Lapis didn’t really believe that from the concerned look in her face, but luckily she didn’t press the topic. “Well, OK. If you want, we can talk about it once all this is over with. Just let me know.” She offered nicely. The lack of pressure that offer granted was especially appreciated.

“Thanks. I’ll…think about it.” He told her, and neither of them seemed to care that his response contradicted his previous shallow dismissal of the matter. “But anyway, I tried asking him if I could just buy the barn from him.” Jesse looked over at Andy again, and caught a rare sight of docileness from Andy in the middle of showing an impressed Steven how to skin a potato with only one peel. “He said no. Told me he couldn’t for any price.”

“Why’s that?” Lapis asked, catching Jesse’s eyes and also looking at Andy.

“He’s like, super sentimental because of his family, or something. He said that the barn is one of the last things he has that reminds him of his family.”

“Hmm…” Lapis stared thoughtfully for a moment. “…There’s been a lot of talk about “family” today. It’s still not something I can say I understand well, so…” Lapis looked to Jesse. “Do you get where he’s coming from about all of that?”

“Honestly? Well…yeah.” Jesse admitted. “I still don’t think it’s right to kick you guys out, and that shouldn’t happen. But like…I can kinda get why he’s so pissy. It sounds like those memories he’s got with his family are real nice.” Jesse scanned around to make sure they were still out of earshot. “I’d…give a lot to be able to feel the same with mine.” Jesse allowed himself to say. It was Lapis after all, he felt comfortable being personal with her.

It wasn’t that he never had any good memories with his family, it was just that “happy” had been increasingly replaced with “complicated” as he grew older, and those complications usually only led to negative things and masked the good. It was far too late to clear anything up between him and them.

Lapis reflected on Jesse’s response, her eyes softening. Her gaze wandered to the barn. “Well, thank you for trying to talk him into selling it. It’d be nice if we could’ve skipped the whole “traditional meal” thing, because I have no idea what he expects of us. I’m not even going to be eating anything anyway.” She paused for a moment. “…And I’m sorry to hear that about your family. I can understand they’re important, even if Gems don’t really have them like humans do.”

“It’s cool. It’s all in the past.” He said, as if that wasn’t precisely the issue. “But uh…I…don’t know if I can stay for dinner.”

“What? Why?”

Jesse supposed he had no reason to be dishonest. “I’m…worried. Andy’s a pilot, so like he’s probably been a lot of places around the country, you know? There’s a chance he might have…heard about my past.”

Lapis looked to him with steady, serious eyes, and her tone matched it. “We won’t let you get taken away, just like how we won’t let Homeworld take me or Peridot away.”

The resolution Lapis held in that statement managed the herculean task of easing Jesse’s worries even slightly. Lapis and Peridot were uniquely powerful people. Not in an authoritarian kind of way luckily, Jesse had enough of that in his life, he still felt a mutual connection with them even if he couldn’t build robots or move the sea itself. Their support felt like a metaphorical safety net should shit ever hit the fan.

“Thanks man. It…means a lot. Whole lot.” He said, seeing Steven use his shield to cook on the stove Peridot had built. Surprisingly, Andy didn’t seem bothered by it, even kind of impressed. “Let’s just hope this all works out.”

---

“Lapis.” Hearing her name called, Lapis turned to Garnet as she approached.

“O-oh, Garnet?” Lapis returned, immediately thinking back on the conversation the two of them had at the store.

“We’re about to gift Andy the things we brought. You can join us if you’d like to come. If not, that’s cool.”

“Oh.” She was happy that previous talk wasn’t being sprung on her again. Although she didn’t necessarily want more interaction with Andy. She turned over to look at him, and saw him…actually smiling with Steven, who was doing the same. “…That's fine.” She decided with a shrug.

“All right, well, see you at the table then.” Jesse said, and Lapis was glad to hear he was going to be joining them after all. She smiled softly.

“See you.”

Lapis followed Garnet back to Greg’s van. All of the food was already taken out sans the cake. Along with that, all that was left to deliver were the dinner embellishments. Garnet held the base of the cake’s plastic container upon one palm, and grabbed ahold of the “It’s a Boy!” balloon with her other hand. For her part, Lapis wrapped her arms around the fake tombstone and held it to her chest.

“I hope this works.” Lapis said to Garnet within the privacy of the van.

“I have a good feeling about it.” She returned. “Let’s go.”

Hopping out of the van, Lapis saw that everyone had gathered in the same relative area in front of the barn by the freshly set up table. Jesse hung back a little from Andy, seemingly making sure Greg was always between them. Pearl put on a smile as she noticed the two of them with their gifts in tow. “Oh! Andy, we decided that while we were out, why not make this family dinner extra special? So we had Garnet and Lapis go out to get anything that really speaks “human celebration”! Credit’s all due to them. They picked out everything.”

Lapis would have preferred to remain uncredited given the attention it drew to her from Andy, who stared at the two of them with a very put off look as Garnet handed off the balloon. “To celebrate Steven coming into your life.” She explained coolly.

Lapis came in next, passing on the tombstone from her arms to his. “Trick or treat.” She said during the exchange. She hoped she did that right.

“We also got a birthday cake.” Garnet said with it still in her hand. Since Andy’s hands were already full, she placed it on the table. “There were wedding cakes too, but Lapis and I decided this was more fitting.”

Truthfully, Lapis had opposed the wedding cake after learning about marriage, partially due to the embarrassment of the moment.

“…I don’t think either of them would be fitting.” Andy finally spoke after his baffled reaction wore off. “Heh… But you two probably already knew that, huh?”

“No.” “No?” Garnet and Lapis answered in unison.

Andy stared a bit at them…before a smirk cracked at the edge of his mouth and, to Lapis’ surprise, he even chuckled a little. “Okay, okay. I give up. This is too much.” He set the tombstone down, and in addition, took off his cap. “All right. Where am I sitting?”

The entire group gathered around the table, with Lapis, Peridot, and Jesse naturally bunching together and seating in a row of each other. Lapis sat in the middle between them.

“What do you say we get right to it, huh?” Andy announced at his end of the table. He popped open the plastic top from the cake and took a knife. “And hey! If we’re throwing tradition all out the window anyway, why don’t we start with the cake?” He suggested, slicing himself some of it. Just before he could take a bit, he stopped himself. “Where are my manners? Steven, pass this to your friend.” He said, instead handing the plate over to Steven.

Steven obliged, passing the plate to Peridot. She looked at it for only a second. “Oh, where are my manners?” She echoed from Andy, similarly passing the plate onwards to Lapis.

“Oh. Where are my manners?” Lapis followed their lead, passing the plate over to Jesse.

“Uh…” Jesse held the plate in his hand for a moment. “Thanks.” He set it in front of himself. There was a short but awkward pause for the equally awkward exchange that had just occurred.

“Well at least one of you likes cake.” Andy said, looking to the three of them.

“Lapis and Peridot are Gems, so they don’t really eat.” Steven clarified.

“Gems? What, is that what you call a vegetarian for sugar or something?”

“No, I meant they don’t really eat at all.”

“Ah, so that’s it. You know ma used to have that problem when she was young. Anorexia’s a big problem in this day and age. A single slice of cake ain’t gonna fatten you up, you know.”

“…We’re good.” Peridot answered for the both of them.

“…Fine.” Andy dropped it, and his attention turned entirely to Jesse. “So they’re “Gems” but you’re not, Steve? Where you from?”

Lapis noticed Jesse tense a little bit. She knew he was probably still worried Andy might somehow know who he was. “Uh… Nevada.”

“Actually, Andy…” Lapis interrupted, drawing his attention away from Jesse. “I…changed my mind. I’ll have some cake.” She told him, and all heads turned her way.

“Really?” Pearl mumbled in genuine confusion.

“Heh, that’s more like it.” Andy grinned, already getting to work taking out another slice. “What was your name again?”

Lapis wasn't sure how genuine he truly was given their first meeting together, but it was a little nice to hear him have enough respect for her to ask her name. A low bar maybe, but a good sign nonetheless. “Lapis.” She answered, taking the new plate as it was passed to her.

“You know what? Cut me a slice too. I was going to pass already being full on cooking oil, but how am I gonna let Lapis of all Gems eat more than me?” Amethyst cut in.

“…Please don’t make it a competition.” Lapis said.

“Are you sure though Lapis?” Pearl asked with a mix of concern and confusion.

“Well, yeah. Why not?” She responded casually, if a little dryly. Food shouldn’t be too bad, theoretically at least. She technically had experience despite never having eaten food by just herself. She just…wouldn’t think about watermelons when she took a bite from the cake. …Nor look in Steven’s direction. She took a fork in hand and gracelessly stabbed her slice in the center, pulling back an uneven chunk of cake. She stared only a moment at it hanging from her fork before awkwardly biting it off. “Mmm.” She hummed unconvincingly, barely chewing before swallowing it. She didn’t taste a thing, given she had never generated tastebuds before. “Delicious.”

Her stilted performance earned her awkward stares from almost everyone around the table. A sustained silence with all the attention on her after that had her on the verge of blushing from embarrassment.

“Yeeaaaaah! Go Lapis!” Amethyst cheered. If and however facetious that was, Lapis was glad it broke the silence.

“I’m…glad that you like it…” Andy said with a deeply furrowed brow, handing another slice of cake to be passed to Amethyst. She gladly took it, before putting an edge of the plate to her open mouth and rearing back, allowing its contents to slide in all at once.

“Shee Lapis?” Amethyst looked across Jesse to her, mouth full of cake. She swallowed it all in one gulp. “That's how it’s—“ Her eyes bulged suddenly as she leaned forward to cough out her fork, which clattered on the table, partially covered in cake crumbs.

“The hell?” Jesse muttered under his breath just loud enough for Lapis to catch, leaning away from the spat fork.

“That’s uh… All right, well, I didn’t think cake was gonna make this so weird.” Andy said.

“Heh heh…” Greg chuckled weakly. “Sorry Andy. It can take a little time to understand Gems.”

“Yeah, no kiddin’.” He agreed. “Are all Gems like…this?”

“Of course not.” Pearl chimed in helpfully. “Lack of table decorum is more so a trait of Amethyst herself…” Her voice flattened as she side-eyed her, signaling her to adjust her manners.

Amethyst beat at her chest as she cleared her throat, attempting to dislodge all the cake bits stuck at the bottom of her esophagus. “What can I say? I like to have fun.”

“…Choking on forks is fun?” Jesse wasn't able to keep to himself, and the sheer, genuine confusion in his tone had Lapis snort a restrained chuckle.

“You would do well not to generalize Gems.” Peridot said informatively.

“What?” Andy seemed a little caught off guard. “No, that wasn’t what I—”

“Amethyst here has practically none of the education and social standards established from Homeworld. So it only makes sense she can be a little…wild-spirited.”

“Yeah, and screw all of that.” Amethyst rolled her eyes. “Like I wanna be another cog in the machine. I’m over all that.”

“You know, that kinda mindset—“

“It’s not entirely a waste of time.” Peridot interrupted Andy without even realizing it. “There are some valuable things to pick up here and there.”

“Are you implying your allegiance is still with Homeworld?” Amethyst quipped.

“Pfft. No.” Peridot rebuked bluntly.

“All right, we don’t wanna start another Gem war at the table.” Greg said, keeping the mood light.

“Oooh, don’t start it.” Garnet wagged her finger, with Amethyst chuckling in response.

“What if I just come to this table and started colonizing it ‘cause I’m a Homeworld Gem?” Peridot suggested jokingly, dipping her words in fake drama. Lapis couldn’t help but chuckle at that too.

Amethyst mocked an emotional gasp, grabbing an ear of corn from the center of the table. “But you can’t! This table has corn on it, and it’s beautiful, and we’ll defend it!”

Her performance earned a round of laughter all across the table, with two exceptions, although Lapis herself was having too good of a time to notice. Not to be outdone, Peridot prepped her voice. “You’re right! Now that I’ve spent time at the table, I can see the value of your corn!”

Lapis managed to recover enough from her giggling fit to give it a try herself, spitballing it as it came to her. “Why don’t you put that corn in a mirror for thousands of years, and then see how it feels about the table?!” She joined in, struggling to hold in another fit of laughter. She hadn’t noticed that only Peridot was laughing along with her. “It would really hate the table!” She managed to get out between laughs, keeling over the table and knocking her fist against it.

“L-Lapis?” She heard beside her, and her laughing fit decelerated exponentially into a screeching halt, though Peridot didn’t seem to notice as she was still chuckling. “A thousand years?”

Lapis sat back up straight and opened her eyes, finding the stare of a very concerned Jesse. “O-oh, um. Don’t worry about it.” She said to him, realizing she had never told him about the mirror. All the sudden she couldn’t believe she said something out loud like that.

“Haaaa… Whew!” Peridot wound down from her cackling. “Good one Lapis. Good one!”

“Y…yeah.”

“Well, uh, that aside…” Greg said, turning to his son. “Thank you, Steven. Putting this meal together was a great idea.”

“Oh, no.” Steven humbly deflected. “I should be thanking Amethyst for livening up the table so much.”

“It was nothing. I should thank Garnet and Lapis for getting that delicious cake!” Amethyst responded. Lapis felt a little flattered at the appreciation thrown her way.

“It was Pearl’s suggestion to make the dinner more festive. Thank you.” Garnet said.

“Well, I have to thank Steve for running by our food choices and portions, and Peridot and Steven for making sure we could cook it in the first place.” Pearl returned.

“Don’t forget you were able to bring it all back easily with Greg’s van.” Peridot pointed out. “I’d say he deserves thanks as well.”

Greg chuckled appreciatively. “I guess you can say we can thank everyone.”

“Yes!” Pearl agreed. Was everyone thanked? Raise your hand if you were thanked.” She suggested as she raised her own hand. Lapis followed suit, and watched as everyone else raised their hands as well…except for Andy.

“Hey, um, what about Andy?” Steven noticed the same thing, bringing attention to just how lost he looked.

Lapis was still riding a warmth she had felt in how nicely this dinner had been going, and it almost made her forget why this was happening in the first place. The dinner was for Andy too, to have him view them not just as Steven and Greg’s friends, but like family to even him.

“Andy, thank you for…helping me understand “family” better.” Lapis spoke up, letting herself sound a little vulnerable. “I never really had one, but…seeing everyone out here having a good time together, I…think I get it. A little. So…thanks. It's pretty nice.” She told him. Although Lapis looked at him with a genuine smile, he stared back with a look in his eyes that was difficult to determine.

“Aw, Lapis…” Steven smiled warmly.

“Yeah, cheers!” Peridot raised her plate. Lapis smirked and did the same, as did mostly everybody else. Lapis looked back to Andy, and found him staring at the table, looking deep in thought. Just as more chatter was beginning to start up, he spoke again.

“You can have it. The barn. It’s yours.” He said flatly, getting up from his seat, putting on his hat, and walking off without so much as another word or even glance at the party. Everyone at the table fell into complete silence, watching as he made his way back to his plane. Lapis thought she should have felt happy, since they got what they wanted. The barn was supposedly theirs, no questions asked. And yet it still felt…off.

“Did we do something wrong?” Pearl questioned.

“I…don’t know.” Lapis answered honestly. She turned to Jesse, wondering if he understood. “Did I say something bad?”

Before Jesse could give an answer, the sound of Andy’s plane engine caught everyone’s attention.

“No! Wait, he can’t leave!” Steven said. “Lapis?” He turned to her with desperate eyes, and she knew exactly what to do. She nodded understandingly, and her wings sprouted from her back.

---

“Aw geez. Steven…” Greg mumbled as everyone watched Lapis jet into the air with Steven hanging from her arms, giving chase to Andy’s plane flying farther in the distance. “Don’t do anything reckless.”

Jesse wasn’t sure what to make of…everything that had happened today. Getting caught up in someone else’s family drama was not something he ever expected would happen in his new life. Although with Andy gone, at least for the moment, there was a certain weight lifted off his shoulders about the possibility of being recognized.

“I don’t know what his issue was there.” Peridot remarked next to Jesse. “I thought Lapis said something really sentimental. Isn’t it kind of rude to leave right after something like that?”

“I dunno. I guess. Complicated family stuff can be like that.” 

Greg glanced Jesse’s way for a moment, although he didn’t say anything.

“Well whatever the case…” Peridot looked to Jesse with an excited smile. “We did it!” She beamed excitedly, holding out her palm for Jesse to high-five. Jesse glanced at it weirdly, but despite his hesitation, Peridot’s expression didn’t falter. After a couple of seconds, Jesse softly tapped his palm to Peridot’s. “You heard what he said. The barn is ours!”

“Oh, yeah.” Jesse realized that was the entire point of the dinner. His thoughts had been stuck on something else for the past couple of minutes. He wasn’t sure if he had heard it correctly, and for Lapis’ sake, he sure hoped that was the case. “Yo, uh, Peridot. What was that Lapis said about a mirror?”

“Oh, that.” Peridot’s excited expression fell. “The Crystal Gems would know more about that than I do. But, well… Lapis kind of has a knack for getting trapped for exceedingly large amounts of time.”

“Huh?” Jesse turned to the Crystal Gems, and to his surprise, he noticed all three of them looking a little uncomfortable at the unfolding conversation, even Garnet to some degree. He suddenly remembered when she had mentioned to him that “Lapis was a very hurt Gem.” He decided it was best to drop the subject, for more than one reason. “Well I guess Lapis can tell me about it if she wants. Doesn’t feel right to ask about it behind her back. Seems kinda heavy, y’know?”

“Oh, well look.” Peridot pointed back out into the sky. “She’s already coming back anyway.”

Jesse tracked where she was pointing, and just as Peridot had said, he could barely make out a blue figure flying back towards them. The remaining group gathered around as Lapis landed, no Steven in sight.

“U-uh, Lapis? Where’s Steven?” Greg was the first to ask.

“On the plane with Andy.” Lapis answered as her wings dissipated. “He…told me to put him on it, so I did.”

“In midair?” Greg asked.

“It went pretty smoothly.” Lapis eased his nerves.

“That’s good.” Garnet nodded. “And Lapis. You made a wonderful speech at dinner today.”

“Oh… Yeah. Well…” Lapis shrugged. “Thanks.”

“Well then, I suppose I better start getting things put away.” Pearl chimed in a little weirdly.

“I’ll help you out.” Greg said. “I need something to do while waiting for Steven to get back.”

“Same.” Garnet agreed.

“And I’ll help with the leftovers.” Amethyst grinned.

Once again, the barn trio was left by themselves for the moment. They all stared in the direction of their home, in all its abstractly decorated glory.

“Welp, mission accomplished.” Peridot acknowledged with satisfaction. “Our home is ours to keep.”

“I’m glad.” Lapis nodded. “I really was worried we might lose it.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting Andy would just…give it to us like that.” Jesse turned to Lapis. “Did you figure out what that was about when you flew to him with Steven?”

Lapis seemed to think about it, like it wasn’t a simple yes or no. “Not so much. I wouldn’t really understand it too well, but I think that’s up to Steven to figure it out with him anyway.”

“Ah.”

“Well, as long as he doesn’t go back on us being able to keep the barn.” Peridot added.

“And um…Steve? I know you must be a little curious about…what I was laughing about at dinner. I realized I never really told you about it. So…”

“Nah man, it’s cool, yo. If it’s not something you wanna talk about, that’s completely fine with me.” Jesse assured her. He obviously didn’t know how it would feel to be trapped in a mirror for thousands of years, but “traumatic” was a pretty safe guess regardless. 

“Actually, I…think I’d like to, if you don’t mind. Something happened earlier today, and it made me realize that I…kinda just want to…say some of my thoughts for someone else to hear. I don’t know if that makes sense, but…”

“Oh, of course. I don’t mind at all.” Jesse answered her, a little surprised she was not only willing to talk about it, but specifically desired it as well. He felt a little honored that she trusted him for things like this.

It wasn’t too much longer before Steven had returned, with a sheepishly apologetic Andy alongside him. Whatever Steven had said had managed to smooth things over, and luckily, Andy still kept to his word that Peridot, Lapis, and Jesse could continue living in the barn. Still though, Jesse had to wonder if he was truly safe around Andy. Despite him acting nicer after getting back, he tried to keep any further interaction to a minimum. It was pretty exhausting to always worry that someone would realize who he was, but unfortunately, he knew that was just something he'd have to get used to as much as he could.

Notes:

Jesse ain't the only one who can cook.

Chapter 24: Why are you revealed?

Summary:

Lapis flies Jesse over to the Galaxy Warp, trusting him enough to vent some feelings she'd left unspoken.

Jesse felt the cool wind brush past his face as he soared through the night sky, carried by Lapis. He was getting pretty used to this, as he was spending less thought worrying about dropping than recognizing how beautiful the ever expanding ocean below was. Lapis had been completely silent throughout the trip, leaving Jesse to wonder what she was thinking. Probably her past, he thought, thinking about why they were heading out here in the first place.

“There it is.” Lapis spoke, the first time since they had taken flight.

Jesse gazed downward to find a lone structure poking out of the ocean. It was some sort of circular stone platform, with many smaller circles randomly strewn about the surface. Six large pillars cut up from the edge, equal in distance from each other, but cut to differing degrees, with inner metallic surfaces pointing towards the center. Around it, rocky outcroppings made of the same material.

“What is that?” Jesse asked.

“The Galaxy Warp. Gems used it thousands of years ago to get to Earth.” She answered, before swooping down towards it.

The entire structure looked much grander up close. Lapis slowed her descent as she approached, orienting herself and Jesse upright so they could board it in a standing position. Jesse looked around in awe, noticing what at first seemed like reflective metal surfaces were more crystalline in nature. Whatever the circular centerpiece was supposed to be looked in disrepair with all its cracks and broken off chunks of crystal. There were no light sources other than the moonlight reflecting off the shiny surfaces around them.

Lapis looked around too, with a much more wistful look in her eyes.

“You… You all right, Lapis?” Jesse asked, concerned and wondering if she was regretting her decision. “You know you can change your mind. Don’t worry about me.”

Lapis looked back, and provided a small smile that told him she was all right. “Thanks, but, I still want to do this.”

“Right.” Jesse nodded supportively. “You can tell me whatever you want.”

Lapis held on to her smile, gazing around some more, before craning her neck to stare straight upwards at the open sky. “…I’ve still got those star patterns memorized.” She said.

“Huh?” Jesse looked up with her. It was a beautiful night sky with many twinkling stars, but there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Lapis took a deep breath. “This is what I was stuck looking at for thousands of years.”

“Thousands?” Jesse nearly whispered the word. Something like that was incomprehensible to him. “When you were…trapped in a mirror, or whatever?”

“Yes.” Lapis said, before looking down at the surrounding ocean, and then the center platform. “I can show you, like before.”

Lapis lifted her arms up, concentrating in order to pull up a blanket of water over the platform. A shallow sheath of water rushed around their feet, covering the entire surface of the Galaxy Warp, and a wall of water rose up just off the edges and encircled the entire structure. She then moved over towards the circle risen in the center, and Jesse followed after. They walked up its few steps before it too was covered. Lapis shut her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, they had taken on the appearance of mirrors. Jesse remembered her having done that after their time at the amusement park.

“Peridot already told you that a long time ago, there was a war between Homeworld and the Crystal Gems on Earth. Somehow, simply because of horrible luck, of all times, I had flown here while it was happening.” Lapis explained, supplementing her story with a projected image of herself over the elevated sheet of water upon the center piece’s surface. As opposed to the vision he had been shown before, there were many more colors and details, although any character that wasn’t Lapis herself was rendered through solid colors and simpler shapes.

The projected Lapis flew into a setting that represented Earth. Then suddenly conflict sprouted, abruptly swapping the beautiful blues and greens with reds and oranges, and billowing smoke. Around her scurried what Jesse assumed were different Gems in the middle of a skirmish. “It was awful. When I realized what was going on, I tried to run, but…”

Before Lapis could fly away, a rather large and beefy Gem with rainbow hair leaped behind Lapis, throwing a punch at her back. Past Lapis, and Jesse witnessing the attack land, both winced hard from the impact. Jesse didn’t like that imagery of Lapis getting decked as hard as she did. He knew she was much, much stronger than her delicate appearance would’ve implied, but that didn’t matter too much. However strong Lapis was, Jesse hated watching her get hurt.

To make things even more surprising, Lapis simply appeared to poof out of existence, with the sole exception of her Gemstone falling to the ground. The background had swiftly changed into a black void as it happened. “I was found by a Homeworld soldier, but they had confused me for a Crystal Gem.”

A pair of unidentified arms picked up the Gemstone, before embedding her into the back of a handheld mirror. The mirror flipped around, revealing the reflection of countless silhouettes with blank eyes all peering into him.

“They imprisoned me in a mirror, and asked me to show them the Crystal Gems’ base. But I didn’t know. I wasn’t able to convince them I wasn’t a Crystal Gem, and before long…”

The scene shifted. A crowd of Gems, shown only up to their legs (and some dresses), were all running somewhere. Amongst the crowd, the mirror dropped from one of them, clattering on the ground just before another stepped on it, cracking the Gemstone, and the vision when out like a lightbulb. “I was abandoned. Left behind and forgotten.”

Jesse witnessed what appeared to be the Galaxy Warp in prime condition. Various space crafts fled to the skies, and streams of light shot into the air. Then, from somewhere amongst the stars, a blinding light enveloped the entire scene.

When the light faded, Jesse had assumed Lapis had stopped the projection, as all he could see reflected into the water was the night sky above. He quickly realized that wasn’t the case, and that Lapis was still projecting her memories through it. It just so happened that the vision she was providing was that of the exact same sky currently above them. “And I stayed there, for a-ages…” Lapis’ voice weakened during her reminiscence.

“Lapis…”

“It lasted for so, so long… Until I was found.” A familiar face walked into the scene, looming tall due to the upwards facing angle. Pearl, Jesse recognized. She looked down, noticing the viewer, and reach her hand towards them, casting the scene in darkness. As it happened, said darkness was split open as Lapis had released her hold on the water that had been covering the ground, letting it all flow off the edges of the Galaxy Warp in addition to the walls of water collapsing back into the ocean.

It almost looked like Lapis was on the verge of fainting as her powers ceased, and Jesse rushed over just in time to help restore her balance. “L-Lapis?! Are you okay?” He asked with an arm around her.

Lapis’ eyes opened, revealing they were back to normal. Her cheeks blushed a slightly bluer tinge before she straightened her posture. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. It just…kinda came back to me a little harder than I thought. I thought I’d be fine since I’d done this before, but…I guess when you try not to think about certain memories, they feel really fresh when you eventually do.”

“I can’t imagine it. You really were like, trapped in some magic mirror for thousands of years like that? That’s awful.”

“It was.” Lapis agreed solemnly.

“And that’s what you wanted to talk about, right?”

“Well… Not quite.”

“Huh?”

“The mirror thing isn’t a secret. Steven, the Crystal Gems, Peridot… They all already know what happened to me. There’s just been one thing about it that…” Lapis clutched at her arm, looking unsure of herself. “I-I don’t know. Something I feel was just…forgotten by everybody but me.”

“Yeah? What do you mean?”

“You saw that it was Pearl that found me? Found the mirror? Well, I didn’t exactly go free after that…”

“Wait, she…kept you in there? Or did she just not know how to get you out?”

Lapis’ brow furrowed a bit. “It was as easy as pulling my Gem out of the back. That’s all she would’ve had to do.”

All of the sudden, the weird tension Jesse had noticed whenever Lapis and Pearl were in the same room made a lot more sense.

“But…why would she do that?”

Lapis shrugged callously. “She—or any of them—never told me face-to-face why they left me there. But as far as I could tell, it was because they thought I could be a danger to them. That I'd report them back home. A complete reversal of when I was stuck with the Homeworld troops. Whichever side had me, I was apparently a threat enough to them that they had the right to keep me imprisoned.” Her voice was becoming more strained and frustrated as she went on, and Jesse noticed her clutch her arm tighter. “Homeworld wouldn’t listen to what I was trying to tell them, a-and the Crystal Gems? They didn’t even give me a chance. It was Steven who finally listened to me. But when the Crystal Gems found out I was communicating with him through the mirror, they… They…”

Jesse witnessed, with concern and pity, as Lapis flinched at some unspoken memory.

“If Steven hadn’t intervened… If he hadn’t defied them… I think I’d still be in that mirror right now.” She said, peering downward with a thousand yard stare.

“Lapis, that’s… They really did that to you?” Jesse asked, in disbelief. He couldn’t say he really knew Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst very well, but he had been around them long enough to be greatly surprised they’d have done such a thing to Lapis. “Are they really bad people?”

“I…” Lapis huffed, and her tense posture loosened. “No, I wouldn’t say that. Homeworld is scary when you’re not on their side, not that it really justified it. But they did end up saving me from…another situation I was trapped in later. And I know that Steven really loves them, and I trust his judgement. But…”

Lapis froze. She stood silently for what seemed like minutes, despite it only having been a couple seconds. It was a deafening silence, with the calm waters around them lending to that feeling.

“I just wish they didn’t act like it never happened.” She finally said. “It took until today for even one of them to say something about it and apologize. Garnet, when we were at the store. Completely caught me off guard. It was something I wanted to hear for a long time, but…I had no idea how to react. I thought that I was just trying to forget it, like I assumed they had. For it to have happened out of the blue like that… Well, that’s why I wanted to…tell you about it. I don’t know if I can really forgive them without…getting all of this out of my system first.”

A familiar thought struck Jesse. “Do you…want to forgive them?” He questioned. “Do you really need to forgive someone who put you through hell, so long as they did something good for you in the end?”

“I…guess I’m still figuring that one out.” Lapis admitted.

Jesse wondered if he’d have forgiven the Crystal Gems in her position. The three of them didn’t seem particularly bad or evil… But then again, that was also the case for him. Appearances could be deceiving. “You know, Lapis… There was a guy who…technically saved me too. More than once even. The last time I saw him, he…saved…me. But…” Jesse stared downward. “I never forgave that asshole for what he had done to me. And I never will.”

When Jesse looked up, he was a little startled to see Lapis staring intently at him. He could tell she had pieced together something in her head.

“Was that…the other human in our fusion?”

Jesse blinked, left unable to produce any response. It seemed he had flown a little too close to the sun in his allusions to his past. And yet, he didn’t feel particularly bothered that Lapis could figure that much out. It was kind of relieving, even. She had already known his real name for a while now. Maybe it was finally time.

“Yeah, it was.” Jesse nodded. “His name was Walter White.”

---

It was a name Lapis had never heard before, and yet she still felt a chill within her. She realized that feeling wasn’t a direct elicitation from simply hearing his name. She was remembering how she had seen the man during their fusion, and how Jesse’s own emotions leaked into her psyche.

Lapis could tell in Jesse’s eyes that he was dredging up some complicated memories. She had seen that look reflected in her own eyes many a time. What unfortunate similarities they must’ve shared, although it was nice to know Lapis wasn’t completely alone with how she felt. She didn’t want Jesse to feel alone either.

“Sorry.” Jesse suddenly apologized. “I didn’t mean to make this about me or anything.”

“No, don’t worry.” Lapis said. “I mean… It feels good to talk about it, doesn’t it? This…wasn’t really something I could talk about with Steven, given he loves the Crystal Gems. And Peridot, well… I’d be worried she'd try forcing them to apologize to me in my stead.”

Jesse lightly smiled. “I’m happy you trust me that much, yo.” His grin was exchanged for a contemplative look. “I trust you too. So…I guess I might as well…” He shifted a bit.

“I’ll hear you out.” Lapis said considerately. “If you really want to. It’s only fair, since you did that for me.”

It took Jesse some thought, but after a while, he nodded. “All right.” He took a seat upon the top step of the broken Homeworld warp, and Lapis joined him there. “Sorry, I can't really show you it like you could, but... I was trapped somewhere for a long time too.”

“You were?”

“Yeah. Well…” Jesse shook his head. “Actually, no. Not compared to you. I wasn’t even stuck there for a year. But… It was hell.”

Lapis could hear the hurt in his voice. She didn’t want him to believe his own suffering was inconsequential compared to hers.

“This group of people, they captured me. They…had me locked in a cage underground. Had a concrete floor and nowhere to sleep. They’d take me out and…tie me to a metal wire so I could work for them without being able to escape.” He put a hand to his midsection. “I can still remember how it felt, super vividly. They beat me a couple times, that’s how I got those scars on my face. And they kept me clean by…power hosing me against a wall.”

Lapis felt two great emotions in parallel. One being sorrow for what Jesse had gone through, and the other being anger towards the people who had done that to him.

“Power hosing?” A new concern was raised in Lapis’ mind. “You mean the thing at Greg’s wash?”

“Yeah, it… It hurt a lot. I still sometimes flinch when I turn it on. Showers too.”

“I don’t remind you of that, do I?”

“Huh? What do you… Oh.” Jesse realized. “Actually, I…guess not. Even with all your water powers, you’ve never once made me think about that.”

“That’s good. That’s really good.” Lapis was relieved, having been a little horrified that her powers and presence might’ve naturally had Jesse reliving his own personal days of torture. “I know it sounds kind of dumb coming from me, but…water has also given me painful reminders too.” She said, thinking about her time with Jasper as Malachite, submerged under the weight of the ocean.

Speaking of the ocean, the pair found themselves in a long period of silence, both looking out towards the open waters, surrounded by both it and the glow of the moonlit crystals of the Galaxy Warp. The ocean didn’t look so bad at the moment.

“That’s terrible though, Jesse.” Lapis spoke after a while. “I might’ve been trapped longer, but at least I wasn’t tortured.”

“I don’t know man, being trapped for thousands of years in one place like that sounds like torture itself.” Jesse pointed out, and Lapis did have to agree. “But I don’t wanna argue who had it worse.”

“No, of course not.” Lapis agreed heartily. “I just want to be over that period of my life.”

“Me too. Maybe that’s something we can work on together.”

Lapis smirked. “Yeah. I think it is.”

There was another long silence before Jesse continued his story. “Lapis? I’m gonna take a big guess here. Gems don’t… They don’t have…meth, do they?”

“Meth?” Lapis repeated. “I’ve never heard of it. What is it?”

Jesse looked away, staring straight ahead. “The reason I’m here.” He answered. “It’s a drug that anyone can cook in their garage if they know what they’re doing. It makes people experience some real shit. Stimulates us to hell and back. But it’s illegal to make because it’s addictive and can kill you if you take too much. Like, some people can’t help themselves, and it ruins their lives and makes them self-destructive in doing whatever they can to get some more. But… That’s what I used to make. And I made a lot.”

“But, don’t people choose whether or not they use it?” Lapis wondered.

“…It’s more complicated than that.” Jesse admitted guiltily. “Like, I don’t know, imagine if Greg got hooked on it. If he became dependent on it, he could easily end up prioritizing it over being a Dad for Steven. Wouldn’t be Steven’s fault, but it could still break apart his family.”

“Oh.” Lapis registered the severity of this “meth.” She had just gotten a better grip on the concept of family. She understood the seriousness of it, or at the very least, the seriousness of Jesse’s example. “I get it.”

“Yeah. It’s bad. That’s why I’ve said I’m not a good person. Why I had to come here to hide. And really, that ain’t even the half of it. The meth business makes a shit ton of money. The deeper you go, the farther people are willing to get their own product in circulation. People…kill for it.” He said, looking especially depressed by the end.

A glaring question was brought to Lapis’ mind, and she was a little wary about throwing it out. The way Jesse was beginning to quake implied the answer for him.

“I-I never wanted to get that deep into it, man. But I just couldn’t get out.” He inhaled a shaky breath to calm his nerves. “The people in that business… They don’t just let you walk away. The guys who imprisoned me decided not to kill me just because they knew I was a good cook. And like even then it was still a close decision.”

Lapis remembered something, and she was hesitant to bring it up. “Were they the ones who you thought…”broke” you?”

“You still remember that, huh?” Jesse muttered. “Yeah. Those were the guys I meant.”

“And that Walter White guy was a part of them?”

“No. Actually… Mr. White was the one who got me out of there.” Jesse revealed, much to the surprise of Lapis. She had been sure the guy must’ve been a part of the group, given Jesse’s hatred for him. “I mean he did work with them before. We did. But it was his fault I ended up with them in the first place. Like, almost everything was because of Mr. White. He was just… I don’t know, man.”

All of Lapis’ attention was on Jesse, no thoughts spared to anything else. This was the most open Jesse had been about his past to her, and she wouldn’t be taking that for granted. She had certainly always been curious, but just like he respected her history, she did the same for his. If Jesse wanted to vent to her, she’d be his soundboard. It seemed like their go-to way to support each other at this point.

She had never expected Jesse’s history to be as dark as it was. The deal with meth, what it did to people, and the business around it, was something she had a difficult time fathoming. Was Jesse really trapped and tortured for something like that?

“Who was Walter to you?” Lapis asked.

Jesse shrugged weakly. “My chemistry teacher. It… It is partly my fault. For making meth in the first place. For helping him get started. He asked me for help, cause he’d never done it himself. Said he needed money for his family when he died. I didn’t really care at the time, just thought it was funny some goody two-shoes like him wanted to get in on the business. We became…business partners. I got his foot in the door…and he dragged me all the way down from there.” Jesse recounted, looking down. “Not that I’m blameless…” He sighed. “I might've gotten stuck working with him, but like it wasn’t always unwillingly. Played me like his little henchman, and like a dumbass, I fell for it more than once. It took me too long to figure out the kind of guy he was.”

Lapis thought about what she had seen of that man from their fusion. Her memories of it were still very vivid. That stone cold condescension somehow made him appear much more threatening than the weak-looking human he’d otherwise be seen as. She decided she’d drop the ocean on top of him should Lapis ever meet him in real life, for Jesse.

“But like I said, he…did save me in the end. But that doesn’t mean I have to forgive him.” He said, before turning to her. “You said the Crystal Gems saved you one time too, right?”

Lapis nodded. Looks like it was her turn again, but she was ready. “Do you remember that giant Gem during our fusion?”

“No way. How could I forget?”

“Yeah, well…” Lapis smiled guiltily. “That was me. Half me at least, as Malachite.”

---

Truth be told, it was already a possibility Jesse had thought of. All of the fusion stuff Jesse had been exposed to was overwhelming, too much so to process it completely as it happened. But given some time to think, remembering those vivid fusion-induced hallucinations he shared with Lapis, there really was only one answer to what the colossal centaur-like Gem could’ve been. He was even sure Lapis had alluded to it in the past. It was just difficult to fully believe in. When Garnet and Pearl fused, they had transformed into a giant being with four eyes as well. He certainly remembered his encounter with Sardonyx.

The issue though was that Jesse’s mind was having a hard time trying to mask that four-eyed monster’s face over Lapis’ own. Not because of appearances. He genuinely could see the similarities in physical appearance between Lapis and Malachite. What made it difficult was the expression. Malachite looked aggressive, vicious, and hungry. There was a cruel glee to the fusion that Jesse just could not place in Lapis.

“The other Gem that showed up first, who asked us to fuse… That was Jasper. The other half of Malachite.”

“Oh. Oh! I get it.” Jesse said as things suddenly clicked into place. The answer to the disconnect of Lapis and Malachite should’ve been obvious. “The…evil monstrousness must’ve come from her then, right?”

Lapis looked downward ashamedly. “…Not entirely.”

“Huh?”

“I mentioned it back at the Crystal Gem’s temple that I had a terrible experience with fusion before. It’s a long story, but… After Steven freed me from the mirror, and healed my Gemstone so I could fly back to Homeworld…” Her brow furrowed as she recounted the scene. “They interrogated me and locked me right back up, sending me on a ship right back to Earth along with Jasper to oversee the information I had about the Crystal Gems. Steven and the Gems… They got abducted, but they managed to break out, and fought against Jasper… Ended up crashing the ship back on Earth. I emerged from the wreckage, and I tried to fly away, but Jasper grabbed me before I could. She told me to fuse with her, so she could be strong enough to defeat them, and so I could get my own revenge on them for keeping me on Earth. I didn’t really care about Pearl, Garnet, or Amethyst at the time…obviously…but she wanted Steven too. So I…” She paused. “Actually, why don’t I just show you again?” She suggested, standing up from the top step.

“Yo wait, are you sure?” Jesse asked with concern, standing up after her. “Last one looked to take a bit out of you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” She assured him. “This is the best way I can show it to you.” Lapis committed her focus in manipulating the water around them, layering the ground with water once more. Her eyes changed, as did the surface of the water.

At first, the projected image was very dark. There were some voices muffled in the distance, but Jesse couldn’t quite make out who was speaking. Lapis’ own voice was then heard, grunting as light filled the scene: she was pushing a huge slab of metal or stone off of her (the size of which would’ve had Jesse squashed flat in her position), emerging from rubble and collapsing to her hands and knees on the beach, with a green fire surrounding the ruins of what Jesse eventually realized must’ve been the crashed ship Lapis had mentioned.

Lapis glanced around for just barely a second, giving Jesse enough time to catch Steven, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and a yellow, particularly beefy fifth Gem. He recognized her as the vision from their fusion. Her wings sprouted, and she launched from the ground in a panic.

“C’mere, brat!” The gruff voice of Jasper spoke as she grabbed Lapis by the leg, yanking her back down towards her, before dangling Lapis’ much smaller frame by the wrist. “Aw, don’t fly off so soon.”

“Lapis!” Steven called.

Jasper pulled Lapis closer to her face. “Lapis, listen. Fuse with me!”

Lapis turned her head back to Jasper in shock. “…What?”

“How long did they keep you trapped here on this miserable hunk of rock?” Jasper inquired aggressively, pinching Lapis’ cheeks together before letting her drop to the ground.

She landed with a grunt onto her knees, looking scratched and scuffed as Jasper went on about the Crystal Gems being traitors to their Homeworld, and having kept her prisoner. It was the worst state Jesse had seen her in, and he felt a pang in his heart at seeing such a thing. He realized just how vulnerable she was allowing herself to be in all she had told and shown him. He didn’t want her to feel her trust was misplaced.

“This is your chance to take revenge!” Jasper pressed. “Come on… Just say yes.”

There was a long silence, both in the past and the present, as Lapis seemed to take the time to consider it. Then, with a silent duck of her head, Lapis extended her arm to Jasper. The latter grinned evilly at the invitation, clutching Lapis’ hand, much to Steven’s dismay. Jasper pulled her close, twirling her around a few rotations before catching her by the back, where Lapis arched back in a dramatically graceful pose given the situation. It wasn’t lost on Jesse that the brief twirls Jasper had put Lapis through was somewhat reminiscent of the awkward “fusion dance” she and Jesse had done, the main difference being whether it was Lapis who was leading the dance.

Upon that dance’s quick conclusion, Jasper flashed a deathly proud smile at the opposing group before hers and Lapis’ forms regressed into yellow and blue blobs of light that merged into each other. The resulting teal mass grew many times larger than the sum of its parts, shaping two pairs of arms to act as legs, and ultimately forming into the very same monster Jesse had witnessed during their shared hallucination. He could see the resemblance Malachite had to both of them. It was crazy to think Lapis was half of what he was seeing, despite being able to recognize some of her facial features.

Malachite cackled as she effortlessly sized the Crystal Gems up, who watched on in disbelief and terror. The giant fusion raised an arm, drawing out a large hand made entirely out of water from the ocean. The evil laughter was suddenly cut short when, to Malachite’s surprise, the water hand lunged at Malachite instead, snatching the very arm that conjured it and morphing into a thick cuff around her wrist.

“Huh!? What!?” She bellowed as her other arm was caught in the same way. She grunted as a length of water rushed at her from the back, forming two chains around her torso and tightening over her chest into an X. From each chain, she was beginning to get pulled closer towards the water. Malachite struggled and groaned as she attempted to push forward, only to lose ground. “What are you doing?!” She asked herself.

“I’m done being everyone’s prisoner.” Her voice suddenly shifted to being distinctly that of Lapis’, anger layered through her amplified and warbled tone. “Now you’re my prisoner! And I’m never letting you go!” She declared as another pair of water arms emerged from the ocean and grabbed ahold of Malachite’s back legs, dragging her into the water.

Jesse had never seen Lapis so serious or intimidating. The lower energy and laid back inflections Jesse had known her for were a far cry from the seething and declaration present in what he was witnessing. The release of anger would’ve been proof enough that Lapis had been through too much in her life.

Malachite’s face distorted and shifted with eerie fluidity as she groaned and struggled against the pull. It looked as if her face was trying to split apart, which was probably what was actually happening, given the context, but it was forcefully molded back together.

“Let’s stay on this miserable planet…” Lapis’ voice took dominance once more as only Malachite’s head was left above water. “Together!” With that final declaration, she fully submerged under water…and kept going…and going…and going…

Jesse watched as the vision showed to him Malachite's descent into the bottom of the sea. The light refracted, and everything gradually got darker as Malachite’s vocalizations of struggle were muffled and bubbled through the water. Eventually there was nothing left to see, the sheen of water returned to its natural color.

“…We were stuck at the bottom of the ocean for a long time after that. Nowhere close to how long I spent in the mirror, but after everything that happened…everything just felt like it was extending what came before.”

The water broke apart once more, but this time Jesse was ready to help Lapis maintain her balance. Jesse could hardly believe that what he witnessed had actually happened, and that Lapis had to go through not just one, but two horrific ordeals that he would’ve only thought possible in movies before he came to Beach City. He kept thinking about what she had said before being submerged.

“I’m done being everyone’s prisoner.”

He thought about Walter, and Todd, and Jack, and Gus, and Hank… 

“Keeping Jasper restrained… Keeping an unhealthy fusion like that together took a lot of work. Eventually I lost myself to Malachite, and that’s when the Crystal Gems saved me. When they found out where we were, they came over and defeated Malachite. Freed me from the fusion.” She shrugged. “And that’s more or less the end of it.”

“I can’t imagine how that was like.” Jesse said. “And right after the mirror too?”

“Well… There was one major difference being trapped in the fusion. I was actually the one in charge there. I had…power. A-and I…” Lapis turned her head down with a defeated expression. “…I liked it. I liked being able to take my anger out on her. I’m not proud of it. In fact, I hate myself for it.”

Jesse watched her downturned expression. “Don’t.” He softly, if bluntly, suggested.

“What?” Lapis looked up at him.

“Like most people would have gone mentally insane with what happened to you. And then Jasper wanted to use you to kill your friend? Kill a kid? I’ve been a bad judge of character in the past, but even I could see Jasper was a crazy evil bitch. Like I understand why you’d feel that way. I think most people would.”

“But… Even still, I shouldn’t have felt that way.”

“Why not?” Jesse challenged. “Like so what, you feel emotions. Big deal. You just went through hell and back. I think you deserve some slack.”

“…Oh.” Lapis seemed unsure how to respond. “You really think so?”

“Yeah, I do.” Jesse nodded. “Why do you think you should’ve reacted perfectly?”

“…Thanks, Jesse.” She spoke genuinely. “I’m glad I took you out here to…talk about it all. I’ve never really done it this much.”

“Same, yo.” Jesse agreed. “So thank you too.”

“Of course.” A smirk crept up on Lapis’ face. “…We’re really messed up people, aren’t we?”

Jesse chortled. “Yeah. Yeah we are.”

“I’m glad I met you. I’m glad you came here.”

Something about the earnesty in Lapis’ tone had Jesse’s heart thump faster. “Y-yeah, me too.” A light sea draft brushed her bangs lightly in one direction as she smiled softly at him. Such a small detail kept his heart beating at the pace it was. 

“You know, before you…said all that…I had been thinking about telling you we shouldn’t try fusing again.” She admitted. “I was imagining…how it felt being in control of Jasper. I was scared those thoughts might’ve returned with you.”

“Well, you know I trust you, Lapis.”

“Yeah. I do. And if…you can trust me. Maybe I should trust myself, too.” She said, before extending a hand out towards him at her side. “Wanna try giving it another go?”

Jesse was surprised by the offer, especially after Lapis had just projected her unfortunate fusion experience. Before he had even thought up an answer in his head, he found he was already reaching to take her hand. “All right.” He said approvingly. “Let’s do it. Still bad at dancing though.”

“I don’t care.” Lapis smirked wryly, suddenly pulling him towards her. Jesse had to hastily adjust as Lapis began leading the dance. They waltzed over towards the center of whatever the circular crystal platform was supposed to have been, currently cast in moonlight. Lapis stepped and twirled gracefully as it all seemingly came easy to her, while Jesse tried to move with her and support her in the least obtrusive way possible, mostly loosening himself so he could flow as best he could with her motions. He was glad they could practice alone this time and not have to worry about embarrassing himself in front of more people than just the two of them. “Ready?” She quizzed vaguely mid dance.

“Ready for—? Woah!”

Lapis suddenly spun Jesse with a singular twirl, catching him with the palm of her hand supporting his back as he was leaned backwards. She held one of his hands in her other.

“I like how warm your hands feel.” She said as they held that pose, prompting Jesse’s cheeks to warm up as well.

“Y-yo, uhhh…”

“Oh, sorry. That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“N-no, no. It’s fine.” Jesse assured her, feeling he ought to return a compliment. “I like how your eyes kinda sparkle like your Gem.”

Lapis froze for a second, as if it had caused a stutter in her mind. Her cheeks tinged bluer, although Jesse didn’t have much time to see that as Lapis soon glowed into one singular color, and shifted towards him.

When Jesse opened his eyes, he found that everything around him had taken on a blue hue, and that he was standing “alone” at the center of the Galaxy Warp. Unlike last time, his movements didn’t feel too weighed down, though it did feel like he was wading in water. A cool sensation was placed square on his back.

“It worked…!” Jesse remarked, moving his hands in front of his face to look at them.

“Y…Yeah.” Jesse heard Lapis’ voice, although from the sounds of it, her focus was not entirely there.

“Lapis? You good?”

“Yes. I’m all right.” Her attention returned. “How does it feel for you?”

“I think I can actually move better than before.”

“Wait. Does that mean our fusion’s gotten stronger?” Lapis wondered.

“I have no idea.”

Jesse then blinked as he finally noticed the subtle sensation all around him. Not directly over his body, but somehow far past even the edges of the Galaxy Warp. “Hold on a minute…” Jesse raised their combined arm out towards the ocean. “I…I can feel how the water’s moving over there!” He realized, sensing the calm waves sweeping across the ocean’s surface.

“You can?!” Lapis said. “Can you move it?”

“Uh… How do you usually do it?”

“Here, like this.”

Jesse felt her take control of his arm and hand, twisting their palm facing upwards and bending back at the wrist. Their fingers curled slightly as Lapis guided the movement, lifting their arm and pulling inwards. Jesse could sense a specific sphere of water cut out from the rest before Lapis had even pulled it from the ocean, suspending it above the surface.

“I’m going to let go. Try holding on when I do.” She instructed, and Jesse felt her relinquish her influence. Jesse felt a bizarre phantom weight within his palm and fingertips, and the ball of water, while still levitated for a moment, eventually splashed back into the ocean as Jesse’s grip on it couldn’t hold it in the air forever.

“It dropped. But I could feel it!” Jesse said.

“But you had held on to it even when I let go, even if not for long.”

“So does that mean I can use your powers like this?”

“I th-th-th-thiiiink.” Lapis’ voice suddenly and rapidly warbled, and Jesse felt the light encasing his body spike and glitch for a brief moment.

“Lapis?! Is it the visions again?!”

“N-no, I… Sorry, hold on.” She said, and Jesse felt the sensation of their fusion leave his form as Lapis’ light retreated and condensed back to her normal form. “Sorry, that was me. I…felt a little distracted. I messed up the fusion.”

“Distracted? From what?”

“Oh. Well.” Lapis looked away from him. “I…don’t know how I should put this. I guess… We kind of act like Percy and Paulette, in a way. …Right?”

Jesse was about to ask what she meant by that, but it came to him pretty quickly. And being honest with himself, it’s not like it had gone totally unnoticed by him either. He felt his cheeks start to flush and his heart pick up again. “Yeah… I guess we do. Should we…stop?” He asked, and he realized he was partially asking that question to himself.

“…I didn’t say that.” Lapis awkwardly shrugged. “I just…wanted to bring it up because…I don’t really know how to act about it. Gems were made to work, not really mingle or…flirt.”

Jesse wasn’t prepared for things to move in this direction. He knew that Lapis came from a culture that had virtually no emphasis on romance. But now that Jesse’s brain was all-in on the topic, he realized he didn’t doubt Lapis would make for a wonderful partner, and although he could understand the oddity of thinking that about an alien, it was very clear in his eyes. He just didn’t think Lapis would want to venture into something like that, nor was he confident he was ready for another relationship given his…previous experiences. He never truly gave such a situation any consideration, as though his mind automatically assumed it never could've occurred.

“So then… How do you feel about it? You wanna just…forget we had this conversation? Like, pretend it never happened?” He offered her the out, since she seemed very unsure how to navigate the situation.

“Not…really.” Lapis admitted, which certainly didn’t help slow the pace of Jesse’s beating heart. “U-unless you want to, of course. It’s just I’ve been…learning a lot about stuff on Earth. Maybe this is just…another thing.”

“W-wait, so… Are you saying you want to be a couple?”

Lapis looked very flustered, reminding Jesse of when she learned exactly what a “date” was. “W-well… Maybe?” She broke eye contact. “Or maybe I just don’t know what I’m saying.”

Jesse realized he had to come up with an easier question to dig out the heart of the matter. “Do you like…like me?”

Lapis didn’t speak for a while, keeping the suspense pressing Jesse as he awaited her answer. It gave him time to consider the inverse as well.

“…Is that all right?” Lapis answered his question with her own. “I know I didn’t show you my most flattering moment today, so I understand if—“

“I like you too, Lapis.” Jesse returned truthfully.

He…really did. She was the only person he felt comfortable revealing anything about his past. They were able to empathize with each other to such a level that Jesse would’ve believed impossible had he never met her. But even without any of that, the way she carried herself, and her chill vibe made her a joy for Jesse to be around. He thought about the wry banter they laughed over as they binged Camp Pining Hearts and went through the Amusement Park. How they could hang out together and feel so naturally comfortable together despite all that had happened in their lives. And…she was pretty cute. The way her dress and bangs breezed in the wind, the little snort that usually preceded her laughter, the light smiles and smirks she’d give him, the way her cheeks blushed bluer over pink. Hell, he had even come to see her total blue-ness as endearing in and of itself, as well as her alien mannerisms. Jesse couldn’t deny it, he was smitten with a rock. Truthfully, had been for a while.

And you know, after everything Jesse had gone through to get to this point… Why not?

“Y-you do?”

“Yeah. You’re amazing, Lapis. I’d be super happy with you.” He told her. “If you want to be a couple, then… I’ll be your partner.”

“Oh, w-wow, um. Heh…” Lapis stumbled with her response, and Jesse noted she looked like a fish out of water. But a happy fish, just still going through processing what this meant. Her blush didn’t look like it would be going away anytime soon. “Sorry. I’m really not used to this. Y-y’know, watching romance in Camp Pining Hearts is a lot different than…actually being a part of it. I’m still learning what’s real and what’s not. But yeah. I’m ready to try.”

“All right. I just need you to promise something.”

“Promise what?”

“Just…” Jesse pushed some memories out of his mind. “Keep yourself safe, all right? Please don’t let anything happen to you.”

“Huh? Really?” Lapis questioned, evidently a little surprised by his request. “I think I should be the one telling that to you.” She remarked, and Jesse knew she had a point. “…But, yes Jesse. I promise.”

It was a promise that soothed Jesse’s soul. Lapis may have been like a Greek Goddess compared to himself, but the memories she had shown him proved she could get hurt just like anybody else.

“Thanks.” Jesse sighed, and upon realizing that their relationship was essentially made official through that promise, he felt awash with a joyous feeling. It was something he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel again.

A happy, awkward silence filled the air between them, but eventually Lapis broke it. “Sooo… Is this the part where we put our faces together?”

It caught a snicker from Jesse. “Yeah. Of course.”

"I still think it looks pretty weird…but I still want to try."

With the full moon’s light reflecting off both the crystalline structures of the Galaxy Warp and the surface of the water, the two of them leaned towards each other, a little awkwardly perhaps, but not letting that stop them as they went in for a kiss. …Or, Jesse went in for a kiss. He quickly realized that Lapis really did think the process was just pressing their faces against each other and holding them there.

Oh well. She was still learning.

Notes:

At the end of the day, if Lapis Lazuli and Jesse Pinkman exist within the same universe, this is a forgone conclusion in every timeline.

Chapter 25: Why are you reflecting?

Summary:

Back at the barn, Lapis and Jesse have more stuff to reflect upon now that they've become significant others.

Lapis wondered how she was able to be so bold. The prospects of romance, dating, and couples were things Homeworld had given her no such inclinations of at any point in her existence. That was simply not how things worked, especially as a Lapis Lazuli who was out traveling the cosmos solo so often. Of course, the capacity to feel those emotions already existed, but igniting them was a different story entirely. Her time on Earth—not trapped in the mirror, or as Malachite—was barely even a percentage of a percentage of her existence, and yet it already seemed to have had a profound impact on her that she couldn't deny. Was that the power of Camp Pining Hearts? Well, probably not.

It all seemed to start with Jesse. Something about him just clicked with her. Multiple somethings, even. The idea of being his "Paulette" to her "Percy" brought out an emotion within her she had no prior memory of experiencing. It was...warm, and maybe a little tingly. Exciting? Yeah, that sounded pretty accurate. The weirdest part of all to her was that she liked it. She really liked it. She couldn’t stop liking it. The feeling and memories stuck in her heart and mind like the warmest parasite in history. She suddenly understood the Crystal Gems’ Ruby and Sapphire a whole lot more.

“I hope there isn’t anything defective about me.” Lapis mumbled to herself as she sat upon the back of the pickup truck lodged into the barn wall. The TV she had brought up illuminated her in the dead of night, playing the night market episode of Camp Pining Hearts on mute. She was trying to study it in order to get a better idea of human romance, but it hampered her focus when she caught her mind automatically replacing Paulette and Percy with herself and Jesse.

“HEY! LAPIS!”

Lapis nearly poofed upon hearing the sudden exclamation from Peridot, calling at her from below the truck, and she scrambled to turn off the television. Neither her nor Jesse had told Peridot about their relationship yet. It was a request she had made herself.

“Well that’s all right with me. Are you embarrassed about it or something?” Jesse had asked her.

“No! No. It’s just… Everyone’s already making such a huge fuss about me being more…out there.” Lapis had said. “Even though I’m not used to it, I can tell dates and romance and couples and whatever are pretty big things. I can already imagine how they’re going to react.”

“Oh I get it. That’s cool. I promise I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”

“Thanks.” Lapis had smiled. “And I won’t keep it hidden forever.”

Back in the present, Lapis lunged over to the side of the truck, looking down at Peridot with a forceful finger at her lips as a gesture for her to shush.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Peridot nonchalantly apologized as she rose up to the truck upon a floating trashcan lid. “Sometimes I forget you’re not the only one who sleeps around here anymore. Hope I didn’t wake him. What even were you two doing before you got back? And where’d you go?”

Despite the reasonable question, Lapis felt some nerves as if she were on trial. “The Galaxy Warp.” She answered honestly. “It’s nice and quiet there.”

“The Galaxy Warp? Isn’t that where you were… You know?”

“I’m over it.” Lapis lied with surprisingly little thought. “Plus, he hadn’t heard the story yet, so I thought I’d show him.”

“Oh. I see.” Peridot spoke softly. Softly enough that it seemed as if she were already aware of the initial lie. “Anyways! What are you doing up here?” She gracelessly changed the subject, eyes looking around the bed of the truck before landing upon the television. “Huh, the TV? What were you watching?” She moved her hand forward.

“W-Wait! Don’t—“

It was too late, as Peridot had already used her ferrokinesis to turn the screen back on, revealing the muted episode Lapis had been watching.

“Eugh. That episode? I…” Peridot stopped talking as she noticed Lapis’s expression. “What? What is it?” She looked from Lapis to the TV.

Lapis wasn’t put on the spot like this very often. She froze up as her mind tried to think up any sort of response to steer Peridot away from the conclusions she didn’t want her to reach. Her sustained silence, sadly, was only achieving the opposite. “It’s nothing. I just…was doing a little bit of rewatching.”

“I see. I…” Peridot’s eyes narrowed as something came to mind. “Wait. Then why was the TV off, then?”

“Oh, you know… Cause it’s… So bad. The episode, I mean. It’s so bad I turned it off.” Lapis felt any form of convincing front falling apart at the seems. Not that she truly felt she was very convincing in the first place, but maybe if she appealed to Peridot’s opinions… “Like… It’s the worst episode, right? Like you said? I hate it.” She answered stiffly and deadpan.

“Well that is correct, objectively speaking of course.” Peridot said self-assuredly, turning back to the screen. “I mean seriously, I get it’s a human thing what they’re doing right there, and that it has something to do with romance or whatever, but it still just looks so…pointless. I don’t get it.”

Lapis glanced back on the screen, seeing that Peridot was referring to the ‘kissing’ scene between Percy and Paulette. The first two times she had watched it, she thought it was really weird how long the show lingered on the shot. But now, after her time with Jesse on the Galaxy Warp, she found it a lot more understandable. She didn’t notice how her cheeks deepened in hue.

Peridot did.

“Lapis?”

“W-What?” Lapis snapped to Peridot, tearing it from the TV screen upon hearing her suspect tone.

“…Do you get it?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“The kissing thing. What Steve told us about.” Peridot clarified, and it felt like checkmate to Lapis, with Peridot winning a battle she didn’t know she was playing.

Lapis finally released the tension by letting out a frustrated sigh and burying her face in her hands. This was already way too exhausting. “…No.” She mumbled through her fingers. “I don’t get it. …But I feel like I’m getting closer.”

“Getting closer…? Did something happen?”

Lapis split her fingers to create an opening for a tired eye to peek out at Peridot. “If you want me to tell you, you have to promise you aren’t going to make a bigger deal about it than it is. And you’ll also have to promise you won’t go telling anyone else.”

Peridot squinted. “…Did you ‘kiss’ Steve on the Galaxy Warp?”

Lapis’ eyes widened, and her hands fell from her face in an equally disbelieving and exasperated manner. “Peridot!”

“Oh, I suppose the reaction answers that question…”

“…I can’t believe this.” Lapis half-groaned, half-sighed. She wondered how she was so bad at this. She had already given up and was about to tell Peridot, and yet she was beaten to the punch anyways.

“Don’t blame me, Lapis. You made it too obvious. I’m not stupid, you know.”

“Just please don’t tell anyone, all right?”

“Of course I won’t, but can I at least ask why?” Peridot said. “Are you embarrassed by it?”

“No, I’m not. It’s just that…” Lapis turned her head, looking over the empty plains in the dark of night. “I don’t really know. I just feel like this should be private until I figure out how I want to handle this. Until I understand it all better.”

“Humph. Fair enough.” Peridot shrugged unconcernedly.

“…Really?” Lapis said suspiciously, not entirely convinced. “Just like that, you don’t care anymore?”

“Oh no. Believe me, I certainly care.” Peridot clarified. “But the reason I care is because, like I’ve told you before, I’m happy for you. I’m happy to see you do any of this in the first place!”

Lapis opened her mouth, but Peridot quickly interrupted.

“And and and! I know you like to do the whole “this isn’t a big deal, so don’t treat it like it is!” thing.” Peridot cut her off, imitating Lapis’ voice with a little too much attitude than she liked. “But you can’t stop me for being happy for you. All right?”

Lapis crossed her arms limply and defeatedly looked away. She knew she couldn’t really get annoyed or mad at something so genuine. “Yeah, I get it.” She sighed. “…Thanks. I don’t…want you to think I’m not grateful about that.”

“If you don’t want to tell me anything, you don’t need to. But remember that I’m cheering you on regardless.”

Lapis hummed, and thought for a moment. She thought about how nice it had felt to open up to Jesse back at the Galaxy Warp. She had gotten so used to being reclusive that she hadn’t even realized how stifling that attitude could truly be. “Well… If there was only one person I could talk to about this… I guess it would be you.” She relented. Plus, she really didn’t like the idea of having to hide it from the Gem she literally lived with. The few moments she tried to cover it up from her were already exhausting enough.

“Well duh.” Peridot grinned proudly, just before reverting to a more modest expression. “…But I mean, it’s your decision.” She said.

“Mm, it’s already too late anyways.” Lapis said. “You already know too much.”

“I didn’t hear anything if you didn’t want me to hear anything.” Peridot affirmed, before winking twice at Lapis.

“…I don’t think it really works that way.” She responded, before taking a seat in the truck bed, curling her legs in with her arms wrapped around her knees. “It’s…fine though. I’m…giving romance a shot.”

“Like in the show?”

“Like in the show.” Lapis nodded. “We’re going to be…dating, as the show and Steve called it. It’s going to be another learning experience for me, but I’m…kinda excited, to be honest.”

“You’re actually excited about something?”

“Peridot…” Lapis warned with a tired glare.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Like I was saying… We’re going to be…together. And that thought just makes me…” Lapis paused for a moment, as she tried to rationalize her thoughts. She couldn’t really. “I don’t know how to describe it. It feels nice.”

“Sounds like you really trust Steve, huh?” Peridot remarked. “Well, I guess you supposedly can fuse, despite all odds.”

“Yeah, well, I never would’ve expected it. But he and I… There’s a lot that we understand about each other that…I think we both really needed.” Lapis explained, looking down as she hugged her knees a little tighter. “And, well… He’s a cool guy. I…like being around him.”

“Which is why you decided to invite him to live with us, right?”

“That wasn’t the only reason.” Lapis half-pouted at Peridot, before looking back to the floor of the truck bed again. “…But fine. It was one of them.” She admitted quietly.

“I had suspected as much.” Peridot spoke with more confidence than Lapis liked. “The only other person I see your mood improve simply due to their presence is Steven.” 

“Steven’s different.” Lapis said. “I mean, the way I feel about either of them. I like Steve in a different way that I can’t really explain. Steven’s optimism is admirable, and it’s what I appreciate most about him. But something about Steve makes me feel…warm.”

“…Is warm good?”

“Warm is good.”

Peridot gazed back to the television, seeing the credits for the episode Lapis had been watching on mute. “I’m happy for you.” She smiled genuinely.

“…There was a small part of me that thought you might not like it.” Lapis admitted, catching her eye. “The two of us already made the connection of being like Percy and Paulette, and I know how you feel about that relationship.”

“The show’s all fake. You and Steve are real. If it makes you happy, then I’ll gladly support you all the way.” Peridot said. “Even if I don’t understand it.”

“Thanks.” Lapis smiled lightly, but very genuinely.

“Of course. You can ‘kiss’ Steve as much as you want. I’ll only cheer you on!”

“Okay, maybe tone it down a level.”

---

“Yo, you’re getting real good at this, Lapis.” Jesse said after watching her perform another perfect throw at the dunk tank target.

“Hm, I guess.” She smirked. As much as she liked to appear fairly level and reserved with her feelings, he could still tell she was having a great time. And Jesse was too, mostly from seeing how much fun she was having. “What should we do next?” She asked.

“I’m not sure.” Jesse said, looking around at the colorful lights and rides that surrounded them. It was a bright and sunny day. The weather was absolutely perfect. Jesse had no doubt that whatever they decided to do next would be great, and their options were plentiful. “Aah, I got it.” Jesse grinned, turning back to Lapis. “Heroin.”

Lapis smiled. “Sure. That sounds fun.”

Conveniently for Jesse, he found that he was already holding a pair of needles in his hand, loaded up and ready to go. He passed one off to Lapis. “You ready?”

“Yep.” Lapis nodded. “But how do you do it? Never done this before.”

“It’s easy, you just stick your arm out and…” Jesse paused for a moment. His words suddenly stopped coming to him, and a paranoid sensation began to develop within him.

“Jesse?” Lapis looked concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“No. Nah, it’s just…uh.” Jesse stumbled with what to say. “It just goes in your arm like this.” He explained, jabbing the needle into himself. It felt like television static. “O-or, wait, I think I did it wrong, uh…”

“Jesse? Is something wrong?” Lapis repeated.

“Hey, was this place always empty?” Jesse asked, ignorant of Lapis’s question. He looked around, not finding anyone in the area, other than himself and Lapis of course. His heart began to beat a little faster.

“We’re not alone.” Lapis answered back stiffly. “You did it wrong.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right.” Jesse worriedly realized. If you injected incorrectly, something bad usually happens as a result, but…what was going to happen? He couldn’t remember. Not knowing only made the frequency of his heartbeat rise. His chest felt lighter, and he couldn’t help but keep his head on a swivel, although it was hard to see much of his surroundings given how dark out it was. A muffled chirp of crickets remained the only ambience around them. “Uh, hey yo, Lapis? I-I think we should go.” Jesse said, searching for signs of life behind any car or house.

“But I haven’t met your friend yet.” Lapis said.

Jesse immediately turned to her. She was watching an approaching man Jesse hadn’t seen before. It was Todd. He smiled pleasantly at Jesse as he got closer to Lapis.

Jesse froze. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. He could only stare as his heart threatened to thump right out of his chest.

Lapis turned back to Jesse, smiling obliviously. “You know him, don’t you?”

Now merely a foot away from Lapis, Todd pulled out a handgun, brought it up to the back of her head, and fired. There was no sound, only Lapis limply falling to the ground to Jesse’s feet, her blue hair mopped over her head, and her dress laid out across the concrete.

Jesse tried to shout. Nothing came out. He felt as frozen as the ice within his veins at what just occurred.

Todd looked to Jesse. His expression remained entirely unchanged from before he fired the gun. “Hey Jesse. I’m honestly real sorry, but you’ve still got some work to do…” He said, stepping over Lapis’s body. Jesse tried reaching for his gun, but found it wasn’t there. “We can get you all cleaned up once we get back. I…”

Todd stopped speaking, having noticed a large shadow cast over him. Both he and Jesse craned their necks upward, discovering a giant hand made entirely of water looming over Todd. It hung in the air for a few moments, before suddenly closing into a fist and smashing downwards, collapsing over Todd in a violent splash. When the water cleared, Todd was nowhere to be seen, as if he had been entirely washed away. Instead, Jesse saw Lapis, back on her feet, completely uninjured, and with a hand outreached to where the water hand had fallen. She relaxed her hand, took a deep breath, and then looked to Jesse with a small smile.

“Let’s get out of here.” She offered, extending a hand out to Jesse.

Jesse’s eyes creaked open, slowly coming to the realization that he was lying down on his bed within the barn. His beating heart had gradually returned to a normal pace as he remembered where he was. The sensation of adrenaline slowly relaxed.

It wasn’t the first time he had waken up in such a manner, not by a long shot. However, this time wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been in the past. It felt more like he had naturally woken up, rather than snapped awake from the nightmare in utter terror. Obviously, it all had to do with the much nicer ending.

Lapis getting shot was not something Jesse liked to see, and it would have left a horrific feeling lingering with him for a good amount of time… But Lapis wasn’t human. Could a bullet even harm her? He knew (and even saw) that she had endured terrible things. He was very aware that Gems were much more durable than humans. Something about that was…oddly relieving. It sounded like crazy-talk in his head, but the possibility of Lapis being inhumanly durable, bullet proof, would be a legitimately notable positive, at the very least for Jesse’s psyche.

Jesse didn’t want to really think about how his previous relationships had gone. It was easy to fall into that well of regret, guilt, and self-loathing about what ultimately happened. Now that Lapis was his girlfriend, a lingering worry about it happening again naturally crept up. It made him wonder about if it would be best he never try to get into another relationship at all. Made him feel that the only person he should attempt one with is a girl who was literally invincible.

He didn’t imagine Lapis was invincible, but knowing she was strong… It was a comforting thought. He tried to use that comfort as he slipped back under his covers, hoping to sleep the rest of the night without another nightmare.

Notes:

Gems are very durable. Compared to humans, Lapis is practically [ INVINCIBLE ]

(I've never seen the show.)