The Arcade

"Where have you taken me?" Peridot asked Steven, staring at the building in front of here.

"It's the Beach City Arcade!" The boy answered.

"Arcade?" She asked, turning to look at him. "What is an 'Arcade'?"

"The Arcade is only the funnest place ever!" Steven said, excitement written all over his face. "Come on!" He continued, grabbing Peridot's hand and dragging her into the building.

Once inside, the technician found herself surrounded by flashing colors and upbeat music. Looking around, she was too focused on the machines in the room to stop a small smile from working its way onto her features.

"What do you wanna play first?" Steven question brought Peridot out of her trance. Thinking about his question, she found herself overwhelmed, not knowing what to do.

"I-I-uh... W-Why doesn't the Steven decide?" She responded, mentally kicking herself for stuttering.

Giving a small cheer, Steven looked around for a moment before saying, "Oh! I know the perfect game!"

He led the green Gem towards the rear of the arcade, into the realm of the retro games. Peridot looked around, noticing the differences between the quality, and voiced her observations.

"The games towards the front are newer, that's why they're more advanced." Steven explained.

"If they are better, than why do we not play them?"

"Well, just because they're more advanced, doesn't mean that they're better. Some of the older games are the best games ever made."

Finally, they stopped in front of a game cabinet, where Steven turned to her, almost shaking in excitement.

"Tada!" The boy said with a flourish. "The Beach City Arcade and Steven Universe presents to you: Galaga!"

Peridot looked at the 8-bit graphics displayed on the screen. Turning to Steven, she said, "How is this meant to impress me?"

"Aww, come on, Peridot. At least give it a try."

"Very well." She sighed. She stepped forward and placed her hands on the controls. After Steven explained the controls, he inserted one of those decorative metal disks- a quarter, she remembered what he called them- into the machine, and the game began.

And ended within 10 seconds.

Peridot stared at the large, flashing letters that spelled GAME OVER. She stared at the screen as the game taunted her, mocking her skills and her intelligence.

"Ah! You stupid, meaningless, pile of junk!" Peridot yelled at the machine in frustration.

"It's okay, Peridot." Steven said, holding out another quarter, "You can just try again."

This time, Peridot snatched the quarter from his hand, determined not to be defeated again by the game.

And so, the process continued, the time between each defeat gradually growing larger. In time, a small crowd began to form around her, watching as the green woman began to master each level. Eventually, on the last life on her last game- the Steven having run out of quarters- she cleared level 10, causing the crowd around her to cheer.

After losing her last life halfway through level 11, the crowd cheered again, and then louder, after seeing that Peridot had beaten the high score.

An hour later, Steven and Peridot could be found back at the beach house, Peridot locking herself in the bathroom while she listened to the Steven talk on his communication device, animatedly retelling the days events to the human he calls "The Connie".

And, while Peridot would rather fight the Cluster single-handed with nothing but the Steven's cavity weapon, she found herself thinking that the trip to the arcade was actually... Pleasant.