can't we all just get along?

Fake teaser: Expressing feelings is bad. So is flooding the bathroom.

I have a slight plot direction for now, so I guess we'll wait on that canon tie-in for a while still. For now we have…plot development. idk.

"Yes, Peedee, he's still here…no, he's not bothering anyone…he has medication? …yes, I'll remind him….oh, why is he here? Oh. Heh, well, funny story…oh, you'll hear it when he comes home? Okay…okay…okay…okay! I'll talk to you later! Byeeee!"

-click-

Steven placed his phone on the counter and buried his face in his hands, groaning. Whenever the Crystal Gems went out on longer missions, Garnet and Pearl expected him to watch the house and take care of things like a big boy. But where to begin, where to begin?

Ronaldo had been camping out down at the beach ever since the trip to Great Buy. He seemed really into being Peridot's friend, though she refused to even look at him, so he set up his camp area not far from the stairs and occasionally went into the house to recharge his laptop. Only problem was…he didn't exactly tell anyone where he was, and his family came super-close to filing a missing persons' report. Steven hoped they wouldn't stop serving him The Bits because of this.

Peridot was hard to get along with, as usual. No, more than usual because she had one malfunctioning limb enhancer now, leaving her with one scary, limb-enhanced arm and one short, admittedly cute arm. These past couple of days, she'd been in a sour mood, but Steven didn't fully understand why. She seemed perfectly capable to do anything, limb-enhancers or not.

"Because I'm inefficient without them, Steven!" she had snapped at him earlier today when he asked. "A proper Peridot is supposed to excel at all technological and engineering tasks. We're the brains, the science of the operation! I can't fulfill my tasks like…like…like this!"

And then she tossed him off his bed and shook the new TV, muttering curses in the Homeworld language.

Lapis was…he wasn't sure at all what words fit Lapis's mood. Probably somewhere between cloudy and stormy. She was still recovering, she dozed in and out of sleep, but there was something more to it. If Steven had to place a finger on this something, he'd say that Lapis didn't really want to be stuck on Earth. Just a hunch.

But he had to try to make this work. They were beach summer fun buddies, after all. Maybe they could be beach two seasons fun buddies if he tried hard enough.

His eyes bulged out from between his fingers. Oh, no. Speaking of trying hard enough, his brain tried hard enough to suddenly remember something. He darted across to the bathroom and hurriedly knocked on the door, making sure to take deep breaths so as not to panic. Not again. "Lapis? Lapis, are you okay?" he asked shakily. "I'm gonna open the door…please tell me you didn't flood the room again."

Hesitant, he reached out and twisted the knob, opening up the door just a crack. A trickle of water immediately rushed out and wet his feet. He groaned again, this time out of exasperation. Flinging the door open, he spread his legs apart and crossed his arms, furrowing his eyebrows. It was time for Serious Steven. "Lapis, I thought we had already discussed this! You're not supposed to flood the entire bathroom!"

Lapis was laying in the bathtub. The room was colored a clear, light blue from top to bottom, still with water other than the constant trickle. Luckily, as long as Lapis kept minimal concentration, the water wouldn't flood past the bathroom and destroy the entire lower floor, but it was up to Steven to wipe up whatever water damage she left in the bathroom…which he already had to do twice in the past week. Not the easiest task in the world. They shared a long glance before Lapis turned her head, indifferent. "Sorry. Being submerged helps me think."

sploosh! And the water rushed down through the bathtub and shower drains, leaving puddles everywhere. Steven sighed and walked over to her, avoiding the soggy rug so his feet didn't have to feel like mush. Leaning over the tub, he wrapped his hands around Lapis's neck and lightly pressed against her back in a weak hug. She tensed but gently patted his hands, and he smiled. There were better things to get angry over than this. "Well, don't worry about it too much. I'll clean it up eventually."

"Is there any reason why you're checking up on me now, then?"

"Oh, well, I have to check up on everyone while the Crystal Gems are gone! I'm the house leader when they're away. And…" Steven paused, scratching behind his neck. He knew she wasn't going to like to hear this next part, "and I wanted to see what the four of us could do tonight. Maybe eat dinner together?"

"Four of us? You mean us and Peridot, and that weird fry boy?"

"Yeah!"

"I think I'll pass, Steven. But thank you."

"Do you think you and Peridot will ever get along?"

"No."

"Oh."

Lapis sighed and squeezed his hand. The cloudiness or storminess or whatever bad mood she had on her face disappeared for a moment, replaced by a small smile of her own. "Can we cooperate? Well, yes, if we really had to, just like when we played Smash a few days ago. But it'll take a while before we can get along. Maybe never. Not everyone is like you and the Crystal Gems, Steven. She, weeeell…." She gulped, "…she's kinda evil, if you wanna put it bluntly."

"She's not evil! She's just misunderstood! I don't like Peridot much, either, but I'm sure if she just warms up to us eventually-"

"You're the one who doesn't understand, Steven!" Lapis snapped. Splashing some water into the air, she slapped the ceiling and grunted, smacking her hands over her eyes. "You…not everyone can change to be good! Do you think that just because you rescued us from that big hunk of orange that we're gonna be best buddies and add to your stellar gem family?! You should give up on her! On me! ….you should just…give up on us, Steven."

Steven recoiled from her, balling his fists at his sides. This was the final straw. "I won't give up on you!" he shot back, flushing. "And I won't give up on Peridot! If my mom and the Crystal Gems could turn good and find happiness on this planet, so can you! And it's okay if you and Peridot don't like each other! Garnet said it was okay if we can't get along with everyone! So…so…so don't give up on yourselves, either!"

"Steven, I-"

But he stormed off, almost colliding with Peridot as she was walking to the kitchen. She narrowed his eyes at him as he ran outside and slammed the door behind him, and when Lapis came out of the bathroom, she directed her confusion at her. "Hey, what's up Steven's rear end?"

"So, are your hot snerson sisters angry with you, too, Steven?"

Steven sunk into Lion's mane as much as he could without slipping into the other side where all his mother's cool treasure was. His pink fur felt cool and comforting against his head while they sunbathed. "Nah, I think it's the other way around. Me and Lapis had a fight, and Peridot's Peridot. I'unno, I just wanted us to have one good day while the Crystal Gems are gone."

Ronaldo lifted his head and looked at him. "That's rough, buddy. It's almost angsty enough for me to make an entry on my blog, but I have to keep the personal stuff as limited as possible. You understand, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Me and Peedee fight a lot. He gets mad that I hog up most of our Internet's bandwidth, but he never really goes on the computer or his phone. He mostly just spends his off days on school work or playing the Nintendo 64, which admittedly is Nintendo's best console system to date. So, then, why does he need to fight with me all the time about the Internet? Sometimes I think it's a conspiracy."

The sunlight flashed over his glasses, and he coughed. "But sometimes when things get too bad, instead of going to our rooms, Dad forces us to do something together until we get along again. He says that sometimes it's good to cool off on your own, but other times you gotta do it with the other person to make sure you're on the same page."

"Does it work?" Steven asked.

"Uhhh, sometimes. Usually when we all go out for pizza. Otherwise we spend most of the time in silence."

"Well, that's…oddly comforting, actually. Thanks, Ronaldo."

"Yeah, well, y'know, I'm a genius."

Steven chuckled and shut his eyes, scratching Lion's mane. Going out for pizza would be a lot better than just bubbling in awkward silence until they started talking to each other again. From a short distance he could hear the faint sounds of the ocean rock back and forth against the beach, and it lulled him. They would get along eventually, he was sure of it.

"Steeeeveeen!"

He opened one eye. From above Lapis and Peridot leaned against the stair rail, waving at them. He waved back while Ronaldo rolled off of Lion's back and ran towards Peridot. Usually they only had one Pizza Night a week, but they could make an exception for the sake of getting along.

Also they were all pretty terrible at cooking.