♡ Shipping Space Rocks ♡ ~ A Special Valentine's Day SU Book

Chapter 2: February 2nd

"Thank you all for being here today." Steven smiled, examining all the pairs.

"Do we have a choice?" Amethyst asked.

"No you do not." Connie said.

"Everyone will go on a total of 13 activities or dates. I'll be watching each one of you carefully on each day to see how well you guys are getting along." Steven explained, pacing back and forth. "At the end of each day, I'll reward you with your points:
50 points for getting along perfectly.
40 points for getting along great.
30 points for getting along okay.
20 points for getting along...not bad.
10 points for getting along poorly.
0 points for getting along horribly."

Everyone nodded, a bit unsure about why they were even participating but confident they would win.

"Good! In that case, let's begin." Connie turned to Steven and smiled.

"Actually, before we begin, I'd like to make sure everyone knows that all this is for team bonding purposes only." Steven said, although it looked like he was holding in a laugh.

Ruby crossed her arms. "Can we just get on with this already?"

"Yeah, sorry." Steven sighed.

"Your first activity is a picnic at the park!" Connie announced.

"Where is there a park?" Pearl asked.

Steven chuckled nervously. "It's not in Beach City...but it'll be worth the drive."

●♡●

"Okay, have fun y'all..." Greg said as he drove away, dropping the Gems, Steven and Connie off at the park.

Pearl shuddered. "I can't believe we all fit in there."

"We didn't fit in there. It was cramped." Lapis crossed her arms awkwardly.

"Connie and I will be right back. We're gonna go set up the blankets." Steven said, grabbing a big bag and walking away. Connie quickly followed behind him.

"This...is going to be more difficult than I thought-" Sapphire's eye twitched.

Ruby grabbed her hand. "I know. Let's just try not to fuse."
Sapphire nodded and forced a smile.

"Hey Amethyst, can we trade places? I'm sure you'd rather be with your fellow Quartz." Bismuth said.

"Uh," Amethyst glared at Jasper, who looked like she was about to shatter everyone at this point. "You can keep her."

Bismuth moaned as Connie and Steven finally came back.

"Right this way, ladies." Connie pointed in a direction. Everyone took off in that direction, with Steven leading the group.

When they all finally arrived at their destination, there were four blankets set up on the ground, all near each other. And there was one extra blanket laid out further away from the others.

"We'll be over there if you need us." Steven pointed to his and Connie's blanket. "Also if anyone feels like eating, we've got some food!"

Amethyst's face suddenly lit up.
"Yes! This is getting a whole lot better!" Amethyst ran over to the blanket where Connie had already taken a seat at.

"We should sit down, right Lapis?" Peridot asked.

"Wait up, Amethyst!" Lapis called, running towards her and the mountain of food she was carrying back with her. Peridot frowned.

Connie and Steven both snickered. They had already taken a seat and were watching the Gems.

"I just wanted to grab something to eat." Lapis said simply, walking back to her and Peridot's blanket with a bag of Doritos.

Peridot looked at the bag of chips and her eyes widened in fear. "Uh..."

"Want some?" Lapis asked, her mouth stuffed full of the triangles.

"I'll pass-"

●♡●

An hour flew by, and to Steven and Connie's surprise, everyone had been getting along fairly well.

Bismuth and Jasper were competitively talking about who was a better fighter in the war.
Pearl and Amethyst were exchanging jokes, although Pearl was pretty bad at that.
Peridot was trying to toss Doritos into Lapis' mouth.
And Sapphire and Ruby were making small talk about the weather. It almost seemed like they were trying to not make much interaction at all.

"T-tell that one to Sapphire, Pearl!" Amethyst burst into laughter, falling back on the ground and kicking her legs around.

"Sapphire?" Pearl asked nervously.

"Yes?" Sapphire replied quietly. She seemed really tensed up.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"...why would you ask me? I honestly don't know." Sapphire said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Mmm, yeah...anyway, the chicken crossed the road...to get to the other side of the road..." Pearl awkwardly finished.

Amethyst once again burst in laughter, but Peridot did too after overhearing the conversation.

"What's a chicken?" Peridot questioned, continuing to laugh so hard she started crying.

This made Amethyst laugh even harder, and Amethyst's extreme reaction made Pearl start giggling.
Then Lapis started laughing at Peridot too, and she started snorting, which made Bismuth laugh.
Jasper then made the dumbest face in an attempt not to laugh. Ruby was the first to notice Jasper's expression, and she started giggling.
With literally everyone except Sapphire laughing, she then started to smile unintentionally.

"How are you not laughing, Sapphire?" Ruby asked, still cracking up.
Sapphire was trying to hold her emotions in. If she didn't... she and Ruby were probably going to lose the contest. So Sapphire didn't respond, which made Ruby worried.

"Okay guys," Steven said seriously. "The 'date' is over. Dad's here so we can all go home now." Connie grabbed the blankets and what was left of the food and everyone headed towards Greg's honking van.

●♡●

"Alright Gems! I hope you all enjoyed today! Steven and I have decided how many points to award each pair." Connie smiled at everyone. They were all seated back in the living room and kitchen in Steven's house.

"Lapis and Peridot, you have received 40 points." Steven said, and Lapis and Peridot high-fived.

"Bismuth and Jasper have received 30 points. Ruby and Sapphire have received...20 points." Connie said, looking over at Ruby and Sapphire who were facing away from each other. "Hmm."

"And Pearl and Amethyst get 50 points! You guys were surprisingly awesome today!" Steven exclaimed.

"Woohoo!" Amethyst shouted.

"Maybe this won't be so hard after all." Pearl smiled at Amethsyt.

"Alright, folks. Come back tomorrow for more fun!" Steven winked.

"Or maybe some drama~" Connie added.

"What did she just say?" Bismuth suspiciously asked.