When The Cold Wind Is A-Calling
Peridot sat on the couch, looking through videos on her tablet as she went deep into thought. It was a little odd, seeing her stare at the tablet with such intensity, like it knew the secrets of the universe or something.
"Why won't you give me what I want?!"
Or maybe she was just mad at it.
"Is everything alright, Peridot?" Steven asked.
"No! No one on your planet knows how to correctly build a pair of wings!" Peridot said. "You achieved space flight! You can grow meat in labs! You have an entire world of information at your fingertips and no one can fly!"
"Why do you wanna fly?" Steven asked, sitting beside her.
"Well, I've seen Lapis do it, and I thought it was cool..." Peridot said, seeming embarrassed. "I thought we could maybe...fly together or something..."
"Aww! That's so cute!" Steven squealed. "Can I help? Please please please?" He begged.
"Do you even know how to build a simple machine? A drone?" Peridot asked. "In all honesty, you will hinder my progress more than help me."
"Please?" Steven asked with pleading eyes.
"What are you doing?" She asked, scooting away. "Why are you giving me that look? It makes me feel...empathetic..."
"So you'll let me help?" He asked excitedly.
Peridot just sighed and nodded. "Fine."
"Hooray!" Steven yelled, pumping his fists into the air. "C'mon! Let's get out to the barn! Everything you need should be there!" He took her hand and started to run, with Peridot yelling and blubbering behind him.
The two ran the entire way, staring at the building full of scrap pieces and junk. "So, where do we start?" Steven asked.
"I don't know, because apparently everyone on your planet is stupid," Peridot said flatly. "Any wings that humans make are purely decoration."
"Oh... Well, do you know what parts we need?" Steven asked, moving to one pile.
"We obviously need a motor. We'll need articulated bars and some sort of control, as well as a harness." Peridot continued to list off parts they would possibly need as Steven rummaged through the piles, pulling out various things he thought could work. After a few minutes, they had a medium size pile in front of the barn, full of doo-dads, doo-hikies, and thing-ama-bobs that, if put together in a specific order, might make Peridot fly.
"Now what do we do?" Steven asked, staring at the pile.
"Ummm... Let's figure how each one works and what we can use if for, and then start piecing together the main mechanism," Peridot said, sounding a little unsure.
"That sounds like a lot of work. I'll put on some motivational music!" He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through a music app. Peridot just rolled her eyes and got to work. After a few minutes, the comfortable silence was broken by some loud Scottish music.
When the cold wind is a-calling
And the sky is clear and bright
Misty mountains sing and beckon
Lead me out into the light
"TURN THAT OFF!" Peridot screeched, slightly scared by the sudden noise.
"Ok." Steven paused the song and started looking for another. And the silence broke again a minute later.
I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
"Turn that off too!" Peridot yelled, now more annoyed than frightened. "Just, please, work silently."
"Aww. Ok," Steven said with a small pout, looking through the pile with her.
☆•☆•☆
Weeks passed on and Steven and Peridot were often sneaking off at all hours of the day. Everyone found it odd, but trying to ask them any questions just resulted in vague answers and them running away the second they could. So, when they snuck off once again, Amethyst decided to follow them. And when Pearl noticed that Amethyst was running off, she followed her to make sure she wasn't getting in trouble. And Garnet had to follow because everyone else was going and she had nothing better to do.
The three gems hid behind a bush and watched as Peridot put on some harness and climbed up to the top of the barn. "Is it ready?!" Peridot shouted down to Steven.
"Yeah!" He said, giving a thumbs up. "I'm recording!"
Peridot cleared her throat and said something that sounded mumbled. "Speak up!" Steven yelled.
"What are they doing?" Amethyst asked.
"I don't know, but I certainly don't like it," Pearl said.
"Entry #27!" Peridot yelled. "Today is the first test flight of the Mechanical Flying Apparatus, or M.F.A!"
"I thought we agreed to call them Mecha-Wings!" Steven yelled.
"FINE! The first flight of the Mechanical Flying Apparatus, or Mecha-wings!" She yelled with an eye roll.
"Oh no you don't!" Pearl yelled, rushing over to Steven. "Steven, turn that off! And Peridot, get down from there! You're going to hurt yourself!"
"I don't wanna!" Peridot yelled. "I put way too much work into this! I'm going to fly!"
"No you aren't-"
"Oh yeah, you are!" Amethyst yelled, rushing to stand beside Pearl. "Jump, Peri, jump! Jump, Peri, jump!" She chanted.
"Jump, Peri, jump! Jump, Peri, jump!" Steven chanted, still filming.
"Is no one listening to me?!" Pearl said. "Garnet, please talk some sense into one of them!" She said to the gem walking over.
Garnet stood beside Amethyst and everyone fell silent. She looked up at Peridot and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Do a backflip!" She yelled.
"OH COME ON!" Pearl yelled, holding her head in her hands.
"What's a backflip?" Peridot yelled.
"Then do a frontflip!" Amethyst yelled, holding back her laughter.
"What's a frontflip?!" Peridot yelled again.
"Nevermind!" Steven yelled. "Just jump! Jump, Peri, jump! Jump, Peri, jump!"
"Jump, Peri, jump! Jump, Peri, jump!" Garnet and Amethyst chanted.
"Don't listen to them!!" Pearl yelled. "Just get down!"
"No!" Peridot yelled back.
"Yes! Get down now!" Pearl insisted.
"NO!"
"YES!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"FINE!" Peridot jumped off the roof and briefly panicked, seeming to have forgotten how the M.F.A worked. Pearl started running to catch her, but she was too late. Just before Peridot hit the ground, the wings flew out and she started to glide. Everyone stared in awe as she actually started to fly, the wings squeaking and creaking with each flap.
Peridot whooped and cheered. Her plan was a succes! And then the motor stopped running, the wings stopped flapping, and she fell gem-first into the ground.
Everyone rushed over, kneeling close by. "Peridot?" Steven asked, finally setting down the camera.
Peridot groaned and looked up. There was a large crack in her gem and her eyes immediately went in 2 different directions while her parts of her body went limp.
"I got it!" Steven asked, licking his hand and smacking her forehead. The injuries left as quick as they came and Peridot hoped off the ground, absolutely giddy.
"It worked! It actually worked!" She said.
"It broke and you cracked your gem!" Pearl protested.
Peridot just ignored her, ranting and raving about everything she could do the fix her design while Pearl scolded her for her recklessness. Amethyst was watching over Steven's shoulder, laughing her ass off as she watched the screen of the camera replay the footage of Peridot falling. Garnet silently led the group back to the house, smiling to herself as they walked. "You did a good job, Peridot," she said when Pearl stopped scolding her.
"Thank you for recognizing my superior intellect," Peridot said smugly.