A Day Without Steven
Steven decides to spend a day over at Connie's house, meanwhile the Crystal Gems have a day at the hot springs planned, however their newest member still doesn't understand the concepts behind washing and relaxing.
Steven stuck his neck outside the window as he saw his best friend Connie passing by, her hair flowing behind her as she smiled and waved at him.
"Hey Steven, I came to check on how you and the gems are doing, I hope you don't mind" Steven blushed. "No, not at all Connie, in fact I was wondering if I could come over to your house and we y'know... could have a sleepover?"
Connie raised an eyebrow "A sleepover?"
"Yeah" Steven answered "The gems will be fine, they're trying to teach Peridot about Earth and our ways of life"
The short green gem with triangular shaped blonde hair came over to Steven and looked out through the window at Connie, then looked over to Steven.
"Who is this?" She asked "Another 'human'?"
"Yeah Peridot, this is my best friend Connie"
Connie came closer to the window "It's nice to meet you Peridot, can I come into the house?"
"Sure, of course, I'll go get the door" Steven replied, running over and opening the door for her. Steven looked over at Peridot again as Garnet came down the stairs in front of Pearl and Amethyst.
"Guys, can I stay over at Connie's for tonight?"
Pearl smiled as she looked down at the young boy. "Of course, Steven, you can go right now if you want"
Peridot piped in with a confused expression "What's a 'sleepover'?"
"It's when two people stay together at one of their houses and have fun and stay up late" Amethyst said "Don't worry if you don't get it, I'll explain more later"
Steven hugged Pearl and then gave a hug to Garnet and Amethyst "Thank you guys" then he turned to Peridot and hugged her
"Uhh Steven... can you help me understand what a sleepover is?"
"Sorry Peri, I gotta go with Connie" he said as he rushed to his room, grabbing his hamburger backpack and runs into the bathroom grabbing his toothbrush.
"So Connie, what is your status with Steven?" Peridot asked her "Are you friends or partners or have you... fused?"
Connie blushed at the green gem and her questions, not realising that gem society was complicated and didn't function on romantic relations.
"W-well Peridot..."
"DONE!" Steven called and rushed to the front door, his hamburger pack slung around his shoulders. "See ya guys!" He waved goodbye as Connie waved and left the house through the front door. "Bye" she said at the steps leading up the front porch.
The gems gathered around Peridot, sitting on the sofa to discuss their plans on what to do for the day. Amethyst crossed her legs and swung them on the edge of the sofa as Garnet and Pearl sat next to each other.
"So P-Dot, how d'ya feel about going to the hot springs with us?" Amethyst asked.
"W-what? What's a hot spring?! Is it some form of cleansing machine? Is it a weapon?"
Amethyst snorted in her laugher "No, not like that, it's something humans use to wash their bodies, it's basically a tub filled with hot water full of natural salts and stuff like that"
"Amethyst" Pearl looked over at the purple gem, still swinging her legs on the edge of the sofa. "I think your idea is great, it'll get Peridot out of the house and we can teach her more about Earth society" Garnet simply just gave her a thumbs up.
"YEAH! LET'S GO TO THE HOT SPRINGS!" Amethyst said in excitement, bouncing up from the sofa and rubbing her hands together.
"This 'hot springs' sounds... interesting, alright, I'll try it" Amethyst patted Peridot on the back.
"That'sa girl Peri, we're gonna have some fun today"
Peridot subconsciously rubbed her shoulder "But what about Steven and the Connie he was with?"
Garnet gave a reassuring smile "Don't worry about Steven, he'll be fine and he'll be back again tomorrow, Connie's mom will bring him back"
"Ah okay... I just hope the Mom will be nice to him, and if not I'll come over there and-" Pearl cut in "Alright, that's enough now Peridot, let's go"
"You'll love it Peri, water feels amazing!" Amethyst said with a wide grin "I really enjoyed it the first time I went there"
"So... it's like rain except there's water all around you?" she asked inquisitively "Steven told me about rain, he showed it to me"
"Well that was nice of him, and how did the rain feel?" asked Pearl
Peridot paused, remembering the day where she first discovered rain and found out that thunderstorms were a natural part of the planet and not the sound of the cluster emerging. She remembered feeling scared but then felt a rush of something in her when she felt the patter of rain on her body, something she had never felt before when she had her limb enhancers and was still accustomed to life on her Homeworld.
"It felt... cool"
Chapter 2 coming soon, stay tuned for more. In the next chapter there will be more of adorable confused Peridot XD