In the Barn | 1x1

[sugarbird]

1x1 between me and ★ dottie ★. Don't post unless you're us. Thanks.

[soozee]

The hot sun beat down on the roof of the shabby barn, warm beams of sunlight percolating through the thin spaces between the ceiling’s wooden boards. Peridot found herself seated in the back of the pickup dangling from the barn’s front wall, tablet clasped in her small hands as she swiped across its glass screen absentmindedly. A small pop-up appeared on screen, reminding the gem just how long she had spent on the thing. Peridot groaned and sat the device down, clambering through the front of the truck and crawling out the window, falling out the front of the pickup and into the barn with a rather ungraceful ‘THUD’. Her preferred form of exiting the truck (at least, when Lapis wasn’t present), it wasn’t ideal, but whatever, it worked. Standing up and brushing herself off, she gave herself a moment to look around the barn. Pumpkin was lying beneath the hammock, her tail thumping against the floorboards with excitement, and just above her, in the hammock, lay Lapis.

It seemed it was one of those days where Lapis preferred to be ‘left to her own devices’, as Garnet called it, when really she just… napped. For hours on end. And snored. Peridot had no idea as to how long this had to have been going on for, and she hated to have to wake her barn mate from her deep slumber, but Peridot’s boredom prevailed. She crept over to the hammock, a meek hand reaching out to gently nudge Lapis’s shoulder. “Hey, Lapis…!”

[sugarbird]

The heat was still fairly strong even under the shade of the musty old barn's roof. But Lapis soaked up every bit of it as she slept deeply. Her snores still persisted even in this late hour of the morning. Ever since she was introduced to the whole concept of sleeping, she's been doing it as often as she could. Who knew "sleeping" felt so nice? Especially after enduring so much work in her previous life. It didn't even take Pumpkin's excitement to wake her up. But rather, a nudge on the shoulder. She snorted a bit before fluttering her eyes open. "Whaa.. mm?" She mumbled a bit, raising her head off the hammock and revealing her bedhead. She looked over to see none other than her barn mate. "Oh. Hey, Peridot." she croaked in a slightly irritable tone. As she woke up, the already fairly excited Pumpkin barked a few times and hopped in the hammock with her to say a pumpkin's equivalent to a good morning. Surprised, she fully woke up and fell on her back once more, the little vegetable now looming over her face. She picked her up and placed her back on the floor, finally bothering to actually get to her feet. "What is it? Steven here or something?" She glanced a few ways through the barn, only to see him not here. Lapis was a little confused.But she was hoping that Peridot woke her up for a good reason.

[soozee]

"Nope!" Peridot replied, beaming, her hands planted proudly on her hips. "My tablet's dying," she announced, holding her arms out, only for Pumpkin to excitedly leap up into her arms, lapping at the gems visor and wiggling to and fro. "Aaand you've been sleeping for a while now. And I was gonna rewatch Camp Pining Hearts, but I just finished season three. You know how it is," The gem prattled on, hoping dearly Lapis wouldn't mind the rude awakening. It definitely wasn't the first time Peridot had awoken Lapis completely unannounced, just so she could spend time with her. "Y'wanna go do something?" She offered, placing Pumpkin down onto the barn floor, who ecstatically nuzzled Peridot's leg before bumbling back over to Lapis.

[sugarbird]

So, there wasn't a good reason for her to be woken up. Lapis heard this little song and dance from Peridot time and time again whenever she wanted to do something with her. And it was the hundredth time she's heard her mention Camp Pining Hearts. "Oh, yeah. I know how it is." she deadpanned, taking note of how lackluster the later seasons were compared to the former half of the show. She returned her trailing thoughts back on the matter at hand. Well, since she was up, might as well figure out something to do. But then there came another problem. What exactly could they do? She wasn't really in any mood to read, nor did she think Peridot was in any mood to either. "Uhh.. I don't know." she began, reaching down to pat the happy little orange ball of excitement as she nuzzled her leg as well. "Maybe we can check the garden? Stop by the temple?" Lapis wasn't being of much help, admittedly. She was planning on just having this day be a day to sleep through. Maybe they can fly around some place? Do some "exploring?"

[soozee]

"Well, I've already checked on our crops, and they all seem to be doing well. Ooh, and our propagated potatoes are doing nicely," she noted, resting her chin on her thumb and index finger thoughtfully. "Oh, maybe we could go flying?" Peridot suggested, her eyes lighting up at the thought. "That is, if you're feeling energized enough." Peridot herself didn't sleep enough to be totally familiar with the subject, but she knew well how groggy and drowsy Lapis would get after naps. The little green gem would always go out of her way to try and accommodate her barnmate's somnolent state. "We can visit the temple later if you really want to, I'm probably going to have to charge my tablet there anyways." Peridot groused, recalling the tedious tablet.

[sugarbird]

Lapis gave a bit of a smirk when she suggested that they fly. She's been around the air by herself many a time, but whenever Steven was with her in the air, she felt a certain excitement that she couldn't really find anywhere else. She doubted Peridot's been in the air with her before, and if she did, it must've been too long for her to bother remembering. But she was certainly on board with the idea of that and visiting the temple later. "Sure." she responded coolly, rubbing an eye to clear up her blurred vision from sleeping for a while. Walking past her and Pumpkin, she glanced outside and looked at the weather. Just how she liked it. Warm, sunny, and clear. Perfect for a flight. Though, she doubted it was as perfect as one at night. Now those, those were unmatched. Flying high above a glowing Beach City and gazing up above the clouds to see the glittering sky. She took note to take Peridot on a night flight sometime.

[soozee]

Peridot skipped ahead of Lapis eagerly, planting her hands on her hips as she inhaled, taking in a deep breath of the morning air. “Nice out,” she noted, a warm smile forming on her face as a hand came up to block the sun from her eyes. Pumpkin trundled up between the two gems, sniffing at the ground before looking up at the two with anticipation. The green gem hunched down to lightly pat Pumpkin’s head, to the gourd’s enjoyment. “We’ll only be gone a little while, Pumpkin!” Peridot quietly reassured the pup. She knew well that Pumpkin lacked any means of understanding her, but Peridot still liked to hold onto the jejune habit of talking with her. Besides, maybe it served as some sort of enrichment for the veggie. “So, how do you wanna do this?” Inquired Peridot as she stood back upright, glancing up at Lapis. She had seen Lapis and Steven flying overhead the barn her fair share of times, noting how Lapis would carry Steven by her wrists. But then again, she did have a small heap of metal, consisting of mostly trash can lids, that she’d use as hovercrafts, with the help of her metalbending.

[sugarbird]

Lapis looked up to the blue cloudless sky and felt the summer air just as Peridot did. "Yeah." she responded blissfully, soaking a few rays while she stood idly by. She listened to her inquiry, and shrugged a bit. She didn't think about that, but tried not to stress about it. Looking down at her, she gave a little smile. "How else do you want to fly? Unless you'd like to use something from your scrap heap?" she teased jokingly, crossing her arms. "Afraid I'll drop you or something?" The gem chuckled a bit as if that thought was ridiculous. In reality though, it wasn't. Steven slipped out of her grasp before, although she did promise herself to be more careful from then on. But then she gave a bit more of a warm glance. "But it's fine! We'll be in the air either way." Spreading her water wings and giving them a "test" flap as if to stretch them, she awaited an answer patiently.

[soozee]

“I am not afraid!” Peridot huffed back defensively with a stomp of her boot, a flustered blush spreading across her cheeks. “I trust you enough not to drop me,” she admitted. “And even if you did, I wouldn’t be scared!” huffed Peridot. “We don’t have to use scraps,” she said as Lapis conjured up her water wings, watching as the sunlight shone through them and reflected onto the grass below. Part of her was eager to try something new, as she had been honing her ferrokinesis skills ceaselessly these past few days -- but then again, half of her was still on the defense and wanted to prove herself to the other gem. She stepped closer to Lapis, expectantly holding out her hands for the other gem to take. "Ready when you are."