Safer Shores(Human Lapidot)

7. The Plush

When Peridot awoke, she hit her head on the bench and groaned in pain. Dammit. She thought. She was intensely missing the comfort of her own bed by now, yet knew that she could never sleep in it again. It was simply too big to fit in the car, obviously, but didn't even squeeze in when her and Jasper deconstructed it. Too many boxes in the trunk, she supposed. Thinking of the boxes, the girl remembered that all of them were still outside, and seeing an unusual orange light out the glass door, Peridot quickly rolled out from under the bench. "She better not be burning my stuff!" She hissed.

When exiting the building, Peridot seen the terrible sight of a burning vehicle. "Morning, nerd." Jasper called.

"W-why are you burning your car?"

"It was totaled anyway."

Peridot stuttered, trying to figure out what to say without upsetting the other traveler. After all the fuss about the well-being of her car, she decides to burn it? "Why couldn't you have it towed to a good repair shop?"

"Money, Peridot. It costs a bit too much."

"I just don't understand why you're being so cheap all of a sudden!"

"Cheap?" Jasper exclaimed, standing up from one of her boxes. "If I don't save any money, I won't have anything! We came here to make better lives for ourselves, and I'm trying to do that! If you hadn't stole my wallet yesterday, I might have been more generous about my spending, but now I have to worry about keeping it safe and saving up for my damn house."

"Let go of the wallet robbery Jasper, you've already got me for it."

"You didn't need to take it in the first place! Back across the country isn't home anymore, this is home. And it's different, so act different."

"Who are you, to tell me how to act?"

"The one who helped you outta jail, the bitch to keep you from getting shot!" Jasper shouted. "You owe me, and you can pay off your debt by dropping your robbery act." Jasper was now nose to nose with Peridot, both of them hating each other while the fire burned behind them.

"Peridot, Jasper-" Steven called, "-oh. Not a good time is it?"

"No, no, everything's fine." hissed the blonde. She walked to Steven. "What is it?" The boy had something behind his back, and revealed it. The alien plush from Funland! "You-you got your hands on one of those?" She asked. The game was rigged, how could anyone get that?

Jasper was completely uninterested in sitting through any conversation Peridot was about to have, so she went back into the waiting room. "I did!" Steven replied. "It was hard for me and Lapis to land all the rings though, but we eventually got it." Peridot could sense a blush about to creep onto her face.

"Lapis helped?"

"Yeah! And she wanted to give it to you, so uh, here." Steven held out the plush for Peridot to take. She hesitated, but grabbed the plush. She wanted to hug it, it was so soft and comforting, but she felt silly at the thought of doing it in front of Steven. "Lapis thought that it would be a good gift."

"Oh. Is-is she coming?"

"No, not here. Don't know why she couldn't make it. She wanted to meet you at Funland though."

The blush was here, hot on Peridot's face. She had no idea why she felt so... fuzzy, at the thought of Lapis. "Ok." She paused. "What time should I be there?"

"About nine 'o clock?"

"What time is it?"

Steven looked at his watch. "Eight forty."

"Frick!" Peridot shouted. She dashed into the car wash. Steven just shrugged and walked back home. Lapis made him promise that she'd have the day to herself. And Peridot.

While she waited at Funland, Peridot had Jasper 'drown' her in hose water. She would be presentable for Lapis. She gifted her with the alien plush, and Peridot figured that was the least she could do. Once Peridot had dug out an outfit for the day-a green T-shirt, black short pants, and yellow converse-

(IDK)

-she started walking to Lapis. She was right on time when arriving, which was a great plus on her part. "Hey Peridot. Like the alien?"

The girl stuttered, forgetting she ever had it. She was convinced that she looked like a child holding it around town. When she found her words, she didn't say anything, but, "Yes."

"Good. Now come on, I've gotta show you something."

Please don't embarrass me. Lapis, much like Steven did may times before, dragged the traveler along. They went to the one and only Thunder Bird. "Didn't you ride this a thousand times?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, but you haven't rode it once."

The blonde sighed, and they waited for the loop to be over so they and the rest of the line could have a chance on the roller coaster. When they got onto the ride, Lapis looked so excited and enthusiastic, it felt contagious to Peridot. Then, the coaster jerked forward, and speed up. Lapis was smiling ear to ear, and so was Peridot, until the first dip that sent them flying for a moment up a 'hill'. "Hold onto something Peridot." Lapis said. They were riding in the middle, and so again, and front of the roller coaster began to fall, and Peridot's smile faded into screaming as they fell with it.

...

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Lapis asked. Her acquaintance wobbled down the stairs with evident sickness flowing through her.

"I suppose." She said, her words slurred together. She held onto her alien plush, hugging it to reduce some of the sickness-or, that was what Lapis assumed.

"You sure? 'Cause you don't look so good."

"I'm fine, I think. What's next."

Lapis thought about what to do. Her fellow traveler was plagued with motion sickness, so a ride was off the current list. "How about," she began, "that dart game over there?" She said, pointing to a game booth next to a mirror house.

"Darts? O-ok I guess."

The two of them made their way to the game, Lapis having the first turn at throwing the darts. She had an ok arm, and hit six of all twelve targets dead-centered. When it was the other girls turn, she set her plush on the counter the grabbed one of the darts. Her aim, despite being sick, was no doubt better than than the blue-haired girl's. She got bulls-eyes on ten of the targets. Not wanting to have the chance to be cocky about it, she moved on, going into the mirror house with her stuffed alien.

...

While walking through the House Of Mirrors, Peridot found, with satisfaction, that when the two stopped walking by two mirrors, which dwarfed Lapis, and stretched out Peridot. She laughed in triumph, yet was shoved away, looking into a mirror that made her look fat, and as Lapis went to another mirror, she looked buff like Jasper. Peridot swallowed, and the two had a competition to find and stand in the best mirror. Both girls sped along, laughing and joking and trying to steal each other's mirrors. In the end when Peridot was playfully shoved aside, she dropped her plush alien, and it sat facing a mirror. "Woah, look at this one Lapis!" the girl called. When they both looked, they seen that the mirror made the doll's features adjust, making it look more like a green human than an alien.

"I think he won." Lapis said, laughing. Peridot chuckled and picked up the plush. Her and Lapis finally decided to walk slower and enjoy the new mirrors at the end of the hall.