The last time she had let her guard down, her physical form had been taken away with a sudden, violent squeeze. All she had known about life outside of her gem had been stolen in an instant, and suddenly she was and wasn’t aware of what she was. Her limbs itched, but they weren’t there, and her mind was terrifyingly clear and unstimulated. The tiny green gem remembered fear and nothingness among other things as she waited in her gem, nearly screaming at the chance to regenerate if she had had a mouth.

Ever since that day, Peridot had been cautious around absolutely anything she didn’t recognize, and especially so around the things she did. These Crystal Gems were constantly reassuring that they would not hurt her, and they often refrained from reaching in her direction, seeing as it made her jumpy. For that she was appreciative yet apprehensive. These gems were not to be trusted by their word, rebels as they were.

Her days were spent conversing from a comfortable distance, working alongside them, and eventually learning the joys of teenage drama series with Steven. Over time she learned to accept that these people weren’t going to hurt her, despite her body having been contrition end to twitch and jerk away from initial contact. Everyone understood her boundaries, but it seemed like one of them was willing to try and chip away at them.

It started forward enough, with Peridot being unsuccessful in a sudden suggestion to fuse with the permaf- with Garnet. The thought threw her off guard. Peridots were absolutely NOT fusion gems. They were grown to be scouts, data organizers, lab tech. The little lime stones weren’t exactly any kind of foreseeable benefit in fusion, and the notion never even crossed her mind before she came across Garnet. The mere thought alone made her feel as though she was breaking some sort of unspoken rule, and it scared her how much she was compelled to break it.

In the long run, she wasn’t ready for something so intimate with a gem she hadn’t known a month before. The topic was left to float in the air as an option she was able to suggest at any point but never had to bring up again if she wasn’t comfortable. This kind of respect was another thing that threw off the little gem. She spent days in the sienna gem’s company, appreciating that she could rant about damn near anything and she would be heard, acknowledged, and occasionally patted on the head or shoulders about should she get too riled up. The relationship slowly put her at ease, enough so that she was rarely surprised by receiving these enter physical praises.

On this particular day, Peridot was hanging off the side of the couch (that Steven had insisted moving to the loft for her) with the top of her triangular-poof hair supporting her head, passionately mumbling as she re-watched the second episode of her favorite series. This had to have been the tenth time she’d seen it, but this time it was upside down, and this was apparently a game changer. As she mouthed along to the script she made heated little motions with her hands, enthralled with the early-season drama.

She was so immersed in the scene, eyes squeezed shut as she bit out a rather cutting line, that she didn’t notice as her silent companion scooted up next to her. It wasn’t until she felt a gentle hand steady one of her passionately kicking legs that the little gem realized she wasn’t alone. She jerked slightly, throwing off her balance and ultimately flipping her off the couch.

“Aaa-!”

Thankfully the fluffy pyramid of hair she had took the brunt of the fall, though she did win up doing a full backwards somersault, landing on her stomach and knocking the breath out of her. Garnet wasn’t cruel enough to laugh, though she did crack a brief smile as she stooped to pick the frazzled gem up and set her back on the couch, on her butt this time.

“Ought to be more careful Peri,” Garnet chided, gently patting the frizzy pyramid of hair. “We don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I-I was being careful. I /meant/ to do that. Evasive maneuver..”

Through her continued disorientation, Peridot blinked hard and scrunched up her brow. She still wasn’t quite used to being an individual, let alone one who was cared for. Despite her perplexity, the smaller gem did lean against the strong fingers now scratching at her hairlines.

The scritches continued quietly as Peridot returned her attention to Camp Pining Hearts. Garnet appreciated these moments, where she was allowed to just pat and scratch and generally share her love. Sometimes it just overflowed to the point where she absolutely needed to give, and Peridot having shown up was a blessing in a very, VERY convincing disguise. The little gem needed every form of affection out there and then some, and Garnet couldn’t very well refrain from providing it.

As the episode played out, Peridot fidgeted and mouthed along with it as she had been before, though now she was hugged up against Garnet’s chest and cushioned between her powerful yet soft legs. Her little fingers drummed on Garnet’s thigh and she leaned forward, unconsciously trying to get closer to the screen like a child might do. She was gently eased back by her shoulders on either side, thumbs circling her shoulder blades and digging in to ease the protesting muscles beneath.

Though her excited little heart wanted to be closer to the fantasy summer camp, she couldn’t deny that whatever was going on was very calming. Peridot was a very on-edge gem, and the gentle circular presses working up her neck absolutely melted her resolve. It was a marvel that those hands, designed for war and destruction, were so compassionate. And now those battle-ready palms were the exact thing that put her at ease and tore her attention from her favorite pastime.

Her head slowly lost all will to hold itself up, which wasn’t a problem, considering Garnet cradling the base of her neck between two loving hands. She worked her fingers into the mint skin slowly, undoing a lifetime’s worth of stress one centimeter at a time. The epidermis flushed the lightest shade of lime as burgundy palms ground down her neck and onto the clefts of her narrow shoulders. Tiny green goosebumps rose, and Garnet did her best to soothe those as well, the Ruby bit of her warming her hands enough to ease away the chill.

Peridot was absolutely reeling by then, and if those cozy fingers weren’t enough to melt her completely, Garnet deemed this as a perfect moment to lean forward a bit and press her lips (even warmer than her hands) against the back of Peridot’s very green neck. A full bodied yelp jumped out of her, her hands balling into fists against Garnet’s leg. She didn’t yank away, in fact she shank closer into the larger gem’s chest, but the affection was overloading her system.

Garnet took this as a sign to slow it down, nudging her nose once on Peri’s neck and running her hands lovingly down Peridot’s arms and letting them rest wrapped around her stomach. She continued to radiate heat and a generally warm aura as she tapped her fingers on the soft tummy that inhaled and exhaled against her.

“You know, it doesn’t bother me. The thing with your dental buffers that was happening,” Peridot mumbled, having started trying to mimic the calming movements with her own stubby fingers on Garnet’s thighs. “I’d go so far as to say it was.. an appreciated gesture,.”

This was enough to get another smile out of Garnet, her heart feeling squeezed with affection. Unable to really contain herself much more, she loosened her grip on Peridot’s sides and picked her up enough to spin her around. Another surprised noise later and the smaller gem was faced with a very happy Garnet pressing her lips to the glimmering gem in front of her without hesitation. Peridot yelped again, though this time it was accompanied by a goofy smile.

The noises coming from the tiny gem were golden. Garnet smooched at her gem, cheeks, chin and even over he visor. There wasn’t an inch of minty green face that went unaffected by Garnet’s kiss barrage. Peridot squealed, pressing her palms to the firm shoulders before here, which were shivering with laughter just as she was. She squeezed and ducked her head, unable to take it any longer. Tears practically dripped from her tealish eyes as they welled and overflowed, snorts and coughs of jittery laughter still falling from her throat.

After that brief moment of recuperation Peridot swooped her head back up, bravely placing her first ever kiss to Garnet’s upturned nose. This elicited a positively jovial “Hah!” from the tol gem, letting her visor dissipate so she could fully grin at her little friend. She was again rubbing at Peridot’s sides, this time with happy, quick scratches and squeezes.

“I love you, Peridot,” Garnet cooed, moving her hands to cup flushed green cheeks and gently press her gems into the hot skin. “We love you.”