#I’m still so hesitant to use my cane but it’d probably help a fair amount

[sourburialground]

Being around a whole new group of people again + having to set up and decorate an apartment is making me realize once again that most people don’t deal with physical hindrances/chronic pain (and aren’t autistic but that’s not my main point) and that I genuinely am disabled

[kujo1597]

Actually, That Was a Good Thing

A lot of time has passed since the beginning of Peridot’s tale. There have been a lot of ups and some downs. But overall things were going fairly well.

Too bad there was a six-foot five shadow hanging over Peridot’s shoulder.

There was no word on that however.

What Peridot needed was a nice date and Amethyst is always more than happy to give her that.

You can also read this on Archive of Our Own.

Chapter 9

A few weeks later and no update on Jaune. A normal person would conclude that there was nothing to worry about but stress was a part of Peridot’s life that will never leave.

She concluded that the only way this sense of dread would go away is if all the residents of Beach City chased her mother out of town with pitchforks and torches.

The mental image made Peridot smile.

If only...

Peridot check her phone and saw that Amethyst sent her a text just a few minutes ago.

Ams: Yo, call me when you get a chance.

Normally Amethyst would simply phone Peridot.

And why’s Amethyst up so early? She’s off work.

Peridot decided to get ready for the day before making her phone call.

A groggy Peridot is never great at making conversation.

Feeling nice and refreshed and ready to make a phone call, Peridot phoned Amethyst.

“Mornin’ Peri!” Amethyst sounded very chipper for somebody who isn’t a morning person.

“Good morning,” Peridot giggled. “Someone’s in a good mood.”

“Of course! Next week’s our six-month anniversary!”

“It is?” Guilt flooded Peridot. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it’s been that long already.”

“Hey don’t sweat it, you’ve had a lot on your mind.”

This made Peridot feel a bit better. “Okay.”

“So anyway, I was thinking that we could eat somewhere nice together.”

Peridot started going over her budget.

This pause told Amethyst a lot. “Don’t worry about the money, I saved up for this.”

“You’re too good to me.”

“Oh no, don’t start that up again. You’re plenty good to me, let me treat you.”

“Alright. So, when are we going?”

“I was thinking Wednesday or Thursday, I waited to make the reservation in case you had plans.”

“Nope, no plans, well, not before now,” Peridot winked, Amethyst obviously couldn’t see it but it felt so natural.

“Smoooooth Peri,” the sarcasm was obvious. “I’ll update you when I reserve a table.”

“Sounds good.”

“‘Kay, talk to you then! Love you, bye.”

“I love you too, bye.”

Peridot hung up and felt a slew of emotions.

First, excitement. This would be my first time eating someplace nice with Amethyst.

Second, happiness. Amethyst kept track of how long we’ve been dating.

Third, concern. There wasn’t enough time to make something nice as a present, and the budget won’t allow for an expensive purchase.

Fourth, regret. Why did I have to buy that awesome model kit?

Fifth, calmness. Amethyst doesn’t expect me to buy her nice things.

Six, some guilt. Of course Amethyst doesn’t expect anything. She’s dating someone in massive amounts of debt. She deserves to be treated too.

And finally, determination. Amethyst deserves that present, darn it. 

Peridot picked out some purple yarn and got to work.

It’d take some all-nighters but Peridot wanted to crochet the best present she could.

Peridot deeply inhaled after she she got out of her car. She adjusted her dark-green three-piece suit, it rode up a bit while she was driving.

She ran her fingers through her hair. After staring in the mirror for an hour she decided to not style it and kept it in its somewhat feminine long bob-cut.

Part of that hour of staring was trying to decide which plugs to wear.

Despite the fact that she only had the two pairs.

She eventually settled on her solid black ones, in her opinion they go better with formal clothes than the tunnels she usually wears.

Peridot’s heart sank, she almost forgot the present!

She fetched the large box from the car, the gift was wrapped in green paper and had a deep purple ribbon on the top.

Peridot’s never been the religious sort but that didn’t stop her from praying that she wouldn’t need her cane on this date. Her knee was sore but still in good enough shape to just need a brace.

Her legs shook as the walked to the restaurant door.

Logically, there was no reason to be so nervous. It was a date with Amethyst, they’ve dated plenty of times before.

But this was the first date where Peridot was carrying a huge box into an eating establishment. 

A silly voice in her head said, “is it really much more conspicuous than your usual hairstyle?”

A giggle left Peridot’s mouth without her realizing it.

Okay, maybe the box wasn’t that bad.

The heavy door of the restaurant opened and wow, Amethyst wasn’t kidding about it being fancy.

Speaking, or rather, thinking of Amethyst, she wasn’t there yet.

“Good evening miss,” the host greeted Peridot. “Do you have a reservation?”

Peridot smiled awkwardly. “Sort of? My girlfriend made it. It should be under Amethyst -” it was then that Peridot realized that she never asked Amethyst’s last name, “-oh dear, this is embarrassing, I’m afraid I don’t know her full name...” Peridot’s face turned red, he voice squeaked. “I’ll just sit down-and... and wait for her.”

“Okay, we haven’t had an ‘Amethyst’ arrive yet so you haven’t missed her.”

“Oh good,” Peridot sighed, her cheeks were still red, she leaned back on the bench. “I’m such a nervous mess.”

“Is this your first date?”

“No, we’ve been dating for six months,” Peridot laughed bitterly. “So it’s kind of pathetic that I’m so nervous. We’ve just never eaten somewhere nice before.”

“It’ll be fine,” the host reassure Peridot. “And if it helps, you can imagine that you’re at a fast food restaurant.”

Peridot smiled. “One where it’s too dark to see your food.”

“If you ask me, it’d be an improvement.”

This made Peridot laugh. “Thank you, you really helped.”

“You’re welcome.”

The ten minute wait passed by pretty quickly thanks to getting so sucked into a game.

“Hey Peri, sorry I’m late,” Amethyst sounded a bit out of breath.

The sight of Amethyst stunned Peridot.

She was gorgeous.

Amethyst wore a light-purple mock-neck sweater, it hung nicely on her shapely body.

And Amethyst didn’t typically wear skirts but decided to make an exception for this date by wearing a black skirt that stopped just above her knee.

Her hair... it looked so beautiful in a bun. Amethyst’s left eye was covered by her hair as it usually was, her right eye and her piercings glittered with what little light was in the restaurant.

She was so picturesque.

And Peridot was so tongue-tied. “That's, uh, okay. You made it,” Peridot kicked herself for not immediately complimenting her date. “You’re pretty.”

Whyyyyyyy was that all that came out?

Amethyst didn’t seem offended, in fact, she looked very amused. She leaned into Peridot. “You’re handsome.” With a wink Amethyst gave Peridot a kiss. “Kidding, we all get tongue-tied. Well, I wasn’t kidding about you being handsome. That suits looks great on you.”

“Thank you.”

Amethyst went up to the host and a waitress came to lead her and Peridot to their table.

“Oh, miss,” the host noticed a box on the bench. “You forgot your package.”

“Thanks,” Peridot ran and grabbed it then rejoined Amethyst. She started to feel bashful when Amethyst stared at the large gift. “Um, now that I think about it; perhaps I should have left this in the car.”

“Nah, it’s cool, I reserved a booth for us,” Amethyst held Peridot’s hand. “It’s more intimate. And it gives me a place to put my purse.”

“Practical and personable, my two favourite ‘p’s.”

“Nerd,” Amethyst kissed Peridot on the cheek.

They arrived at the table and opened their menus.

Amethyst gave Peridot a firm look. “Promise me something. Don’t you dare look at the prices. I know you, you’ll order the cheapest thing they have. Just pick what sounds good to you.”

“You’re dead-set on treating me,” Peridot smiled crookedly. “Unfortunately I’ve already seen the prices. But don’t worry, I won’t concern myself with them.” Peridot’s mouth twisted. “Well, no steak and lobster, ordering something that pricey is just plain rude.”

Amethyst softly chuckled. “Alright.” She frowned in thought. “I’m debating ordering wine, it’s kind of a big night. Ugh, but I haven’t drank in years.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why did you give up alcohol?”

“I just don’t like what it does to me, I made a lot of mistakes while drunk,” Amethyst answered with a shrug. “So uh, how ‘bout you?”

“I simply don’t like the way it tastes, and it burns my throat a bit. It’s unpleasant.”

“You get used to that.”

Peridot wrinkled her nose. “That’s another reason, drinking something that I have to become numb to doesn’t appeal to me.”

“Fair enough,” Amethyst thought some more. “Nah, I don’t need it.”

After placing their drink orders Peridot and Amethyst mulled over the menu some more.

“You know, I started saying ‘cola’ to avoid being asked if I prefer one over the other but I keep getting blank stares.”

“Not everybody’s an old lady like you are,” Amethyst winked and stuck her tongue out.

Peridot blushed. “So what are you ordering?”

“Probably a chicken breast, you?”

“Steak. I hardly get to eat beef because Lapis doesn’t and I’m not about to cook two meals.”

Irritation flashed on Amethyst’s face for a split-second. “Cool, steak. We also gotta get appetizers. I mean, this is a fancy joint and all.”

Peridot made an excited noise. “This shrimp appetizer sounds really good!”

“Good to see you so excited about this, I have a couple things picked out too.”

After agreeing on what appetizers to get, Peridot and Amethyst placed their orders. While waiting for the food to arrive they talked about work, TV shows, and other mundane things.

“Ugh, I’m not too happy about my Ninja Keith NOTP becoming canon,” the appetizers arriving cut off Peridot’s rant. “Thank you.”

“Thanks,” Amethyst didn’t hesitate before digging in.

“I mean, I’d be okay with it if they at least had some chemistry or if there was some buildup, but there wasn’t,” Peridot finished her passionate complaining before digging into her shrimp.

“Yeah, I totally get your frustration, and like, Keith’s in his seventies and Mei-Lin’s how old, like, twenty, tops.”

“I wonder if people are so okay with it because he stopped aging in his twenties. Although that presents a whole host of other problems.”

Amethyst thought of something as she popped some calamari into her mouth. “Y’know, maybe this romance’ll convince Keith to not change the past.”

“I think so too,” Peridot enthusiastically agreed. “I mean, I’d rather~”

They somehow managed to talk about Ninja Keith theories until the main course arrived.

“That steak looks so good,” an envious look was in Amethyst’s eye.

Peridot looked up and snickered. “Alright, I’ll give you a bite.”

“Wha, I wasn’t asking for any.”

“You’re looking at my steak like Max looks at chicken,” Peridot was clearly amused, she cut off a piece and pierced it with her fork. Her first instinct was to feed it to Amethyst but she hesitated when she saw the other patrons. “Would it be weird to feed you over the table in this environment?”

“No weirder than talking about cartoon characters having sex,” Amethyst said with a snort. Peridot still looked unsure. “Look, don’t worry about everyone else, they’re doing their thing, no reason we can’t do ours.”

“Okay,” Peridot looked relieved, she held the steak out to Amethyst who cheekily pulled it from the fork. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is, I picked a good place,” Amethyst cut off a piece of her chicken breast. “Here, try mine.”

As soon as Peridot bit down on the chicken their waitress arrived. “So, how is your meal?”

Peridot blushed and sat back down chewing the chicken, Amethyst replied saying that the food is great. The waitress walked away.

“I swear, wait-staff is trained to ask that at the worst time,” Peridot grumbled. “The chicken’s good by the way.”

Amethyst chuckled. “You got us, that’s the first thing the boss covers.”

Peridot giggled. 

“That reminds me of Kayla, this girl I work with,” Amethyst spoke between bites. “So she asks this guy how his food was as he was stuffing his face. Well he gets all pissy and was like, ‘how come all you waitresses do that, can’t you see I’m eating?’ Now, Kayla’s from the Bronx, you don’t mess with New Yorkers. She can’t do anything too bad to a customer ‘cause you’d get in shit with your boss. But no reason she can’t make note of him. So now we all go out of our way to ask him questions as he’s eating or drinking.”

Peridot burst out laughing. “Seriously? That’s great!”

“Yep, it’s a fun little game we play now,” Amethyst hastily added, “But don’t tell my boss, we’re not actually supposed to be doing that.”

“My lips are sealed,” Peridot thought of something mid-bite, she quickly swallowed. “Oh actually, I have a funny work story too.”

“So, this guy hired me and didn’t know exactly what he wanted, fine, annoying, but fine, I’m getting paid. Anyway, he’d make changes with no notice, I’d finish what he wanted, he’d change his mind and I’d redo it. Well, he wasn’t very polite and I got sick of it. We argued and I eventually got it done. He decided that I was overcharging and refused to pay what I was asking. We went back-and-forth on it for a while, I had the program so I had the leverage and eventually got what I asked.”

Peridot took a sip before continuing.

“Before sending it to him I gave him the little ‘I’m dyslexic, I need to do another once-over to make sure it’s working’ it was, I just needed the excuse. I put into the code a very rude message, something like ‘I’m a clod who doesn’t know a thing about coding. I can’t even decide what pants to wear, and I don’t know how much hard work is worth’ and probably some more too. I set it to pop up when a certain combination of keys is put in and it’s not one a person normally uses.”

“Did he ever see it?” Amethyst asked with a smile.

Peridot shrugged. “No clue, I kind of hope not. Word of mouth and a good reputation are how I get business. I was inexperienced and didn’t know any better, it’s still funny, but I wouldn’t do that again,” Peridot smirked. “Instead I just bury my rants where only another programmer can find it.”

Amethyst snickered. “So I guess the lesson is to not piss off a programmer.”

“Oh, no, what I do is nothing compared to what wait-staff does. My messages are hidden so the lousy customer can never see it.”

“Sometimes the satisfaction of knowing it’s there is the best feeling.”

“I hear that.”

They finished their main course while talking about silly topics.

“Before we eat dessert, I was thinking that we could open presents. I’m dying to know what’s in the huge box.” Sure enough, Amethyst would not take her eye off of it.

With an amused expression Peridot passed her gift to Amethyst who pulled a small box out of her purse and gave it to her partner.

This gift was the size of a jewelry box. “Um, I didn’t get you anything pricey. I actually made your gift.”

“Don’t sweat it, I wasn’t expecting a present, and homemade’s great. I mean, it’s one-of-a-kind, that’s awesome,” Amethyst started opening the large box. “And by the way, I didn’t spend a ton of money either.”

As soon as the box was opened Amethyst’s eyes went wide and her shoulders shook with suppressed chuckles. She pulled out a large crocheted puma.

“You made me a puma, it’s big, really cool,” Amethyst took a close look at its face. “Man, look at those eyes!”

“Yeah,” Peridot rubbed the back of her neck, “it ended up so big because the only purple yarn I had was blanket yarn.”

“So did you stitch the eyes yourself? They’re really detailed.”

“I did stitch them,” Peridot replied, full of pride. “It’s tiny intricate work, three layers of thread and attaching them was tricky too.”

“This is awesome, thanks,” Amethyst put the puma next to her with a smile. “So, you gonna open yours?”

Peridot felt a lump in her throat, it really looked like it could be jewelry, not only does she not wear jewelry, it’s also expensive.

She opened the box and saw a pair of dark-green plugs with a star-shaped cutout in them. 

“Ah, so that’s why you asked the gauge of my ears.”

The tepid reaction concerned Amethyst, were Greg and Vidalia wrong about it being a good idea? “Yep, like, couples usually give each other jewelry but I know you’re not into it.”

“The stars are neat, did you pick them because I like aliens?”

Oh, so Peridot seemed to just be bad at receiving gifts. 

“I didn’t even think of that. Nah, I picked the stars to kinda say that you’re y’know... part of the family. Not like, in a creepy incest way,” Amethyst’s face was red. “That turned out wrong! Okay, so Rose loved stars and when she died we all started to keep a star somewhere on our bodies,” Amethyst hid her face behind her hands. “Oh no, when I say it out loud it sounds less sweet and more cult-ish.”

Peridot laughed. “No, it’s fine. It’s a really nice gesture. But are you sure it’s okay for me to wear them? Especially around Pearl, weren’t her and Rose...” Peridot put two of her fingers together, “...girlfriends?”

“Yeah, they were for years. But it’ll be fine.”

“Alright then, I’ll be sure to wear them, thank you.” A thought occurred to Peridot as she looked through the dessert menu, she didn’t have much of sweet tooth so finding something was proving difficult. “So where’s your star? I’ve seen Pearl’s earrings, and Garnet’s sleeve, but I’ve never seen yours.”

“I can’t show it to you right now,” Amethyst replied, she broke out in a chuckle-fit when she saw Peridot’s dropped jaw. “Nah, nowhere like that. It’s behind my ear, I was so young when Rose died and knew Pearl would freak out if I came home with a tattoo so I got it someplace she wouldn’t see.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t a minor need a guardian’s permission to get a tattoo? Or is that different in the states?”

Amethyst laughed. “Oh god, yeah, you’re right. But when you go to as many parties as I did you meet people. Well, one of my friends’ brother made this janky-ass tattoo gun, y’know, like they have in prison. You don’t need permission to get one with that.”

Peridot was astonished. ‘Wait, really? You actually got a tattoo like that?”

“Young and dumb Peri, young and dumb.”

“Did it turn out well?”

“Sort of, there’s no shading or colour or nothing but the lines are straight at least. A part of me wants to get it touched-up by a professional but at the same time, Rose knew me when I was a teen so in a way it’s fitting the way it is.”

Amethyst thought of something as she tried to decide between chocolate, cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and a slice of fifteen layer chocolate cake. What, she was in the mood for chocolate. “So have you ever gotten a tattoo?”

“Have I ever... that’s an interesting way of phrasing it,” as the waitress took their orders Peridot processed the question. “Ah, right, the burns. No, I’ve never gotten a tattoo. It’s so permanent, you know.”

“And your mods aren’t?” Amethyst smirked.

“Technically no, a plastic surgeon can fix my ears and it’d be painful but I can get my tongue fused, although that wouldn’t be worth it. Meanwhile, tattoo removal technology hasn’t been perfected yet. It may interest you, however, that I used to have nipple piercings.”

This did interest Amethyst. “You get bored of them and take ‘em out?”

“No, when,” Peridot put her hand over the left side of her chest, “that happened I took the one I had left out.” She giggled. “It’s a bit silly, the asymmetry was bothering me. I don’t know why though, my whole body’s asymmetrical now.”

“Makes sense to me, you want your piercings to match. I’m the opposite, I made mine not match on purpose.”

“That’s true, I’ve been thinking about that piercing some more. You know, the barbell one. I might get it on one side, both may look a bit silly.”

“So which side?” Amethyst was actually hoping Peridot would go through with it.

“I’m undecided. I’m leaning towards the left but, well... that’s where my burns are and a part of me doesn’t want to draw more attention to them.”

“Think of it this way, drawing more attention to ‘em also looks like you’re embracing your burns and sorta rocking them. I mean, I can’t talk since I have nothing like that ‘cept maybe my chest but uh, if I did I’d wanna show it off. Like, let everyone know that I survived and still going strong, y’know?”

Amethyst would’ve leaned forward to emphasize her point but dessert had arrived.

Peridot thanked the waitress then continued the conversation. “You’re really good at getting me to look at things in a different light.” Peridot composed her thoughts, “I’m not embarrassed or ashamed, if I were I’d have my hair like this more often. But at the same time, I never want too much attention drawn to it, or myself for that matter.” She sighed heavily. “I think I’m just still getting used to it. Which is funny since it’s already been three years.”

“Think about it Per, three years is nothing compared to twenty-something.”

“That’s true,” Peridot said with a giggle. “It probably doesn’t help that I was bald for a while.”

“You were? So did it all... burn off?”

“Oh no, you just can’t have hair in the way of skin grafts so they had to shave some of mine off. When it grew back my hair looked so patchy and awful since they didn’t shave my whole head. It bothered me so I hopped over to the barber’s shop and had him shave it all off.”

Amethyst chuckled. “You’re a girl of extremes, aren’t ya?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Peridot rubbed one of her earlobes.

They shared a laugh and finished dessert.

When it came time to pay the bill Peridot absolutely insisted that she covered the tip at the very least.

Amethyst eventually let her because Peridot’s face clearly said, “I will never give in, I will argue this until the restaurant closes.”

Peridot walked Amethyst to her car after the bill was settled.

“I had a wonderful evening,” Peridot said as Amethyst fit her new Puma in the back seat. “Thank you.”

Amethyst stood up and gently pulled Peridot towards her. “You’re welcome Peri.”

They gazed into each other’s eyes then leaned in for a kiss.

It started off gentle and reserved and eventually let into something deeper. Over the months Peridot’s kisses became more confident and stronger. But Amethyst was bolder and initiated the tongue-kiss. She explored the divide in Peridot’s tongue causing her partner to melt in her arms.

“Stars Amethyst,” Peridot spoke when they separated for air, her cheeks were flush.

Amethyst chuckled. “Got a little carried away there.”

“Oh I’m not complaining,” Peridot looked around and saw nobody. “I kind of want to continue.”

With a smile Amethyst ran her hands along the top of Peridot’s hips feeling her seldom-seen figure through her suit. And Peridot put her hand on the crook of Amethyst’s back getting a feel of that wonderful body fat.

Amethyst deeply kissed Peridot’s neck making sure to avoid the scarred side, she learned early on that Peridot could only really feel pressure and dampness which isn’t nearly as pleasurable as feeling the subtle movements.

She moved her hands up Peridot’s back then ran her fingers through Peridot’s hair enjoying the rare opportunity.

Peridot giggled and the vibrations made Amethyst break down into giggles too.

“God damn it Peri,” Amethyst wasn’t actually mad, she found Peridot’s giggle-fits endearing. “It’s hard to kiss when laughing.”

Peridot was the first to calm down. “You know I can’t help it.” She kissed Amethyst’s round jaw and slowly trailed down her neck.

“You’re getting good with that tongue of yours,” for once Amethyst was blushing.

“I’ve had a lot of practice,” Peridot said slyly.

They put their foreheads together getting ready for another round of kisses but unfortunately they heard a loud conversation getting even louder.

“Damn,” Peridot thought the same thing. “Guess that’s all for tonight.”

The interruption clearly irritated Peridot. “Well, you could always come to my place.”

“Can’t, I work tomorrow.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Not like we’ll never see each other again, right.”

“True. So then, until next time,” Peridot kissed Amethyst on the cheek.

“Yep, next time,” Amethyst kissed Peridot back.

“Until then. I love you, bye.”

“Love you too, ‘night Peri.”

They hugged and Peridot walked to her car with a warm feeling coursing through her body.