Rising Tides (Human!lapidot)

Chapter 41

Peridot smiled and wiped her eyes on her arm before grabbing Lapis' arm and allowing her to be pulled back up to her feet. She picked up her bag, after packing up its contents, and slung it over her shoulder as she stepped off of the smooth sand of the beach and onto the cold wood of the boardwalk. Hands intertwined, the two entered into the large building which held the arcade. Lapis went to buy some tickets and Peridot stood behind her as she inserted the money, watching as parents walked past, tired eyed, slouching as their children raced over to one of the dance games situated in the room.

Lapis pulled the tiny red tickets from the machine and spun around on her heel so she was facing her girlfriend. With a goofy grin, she handed Peridot exactly half of the tickets and started off towards a cheesy looking spinoff of street fighter. The shorter girl followed behind, playing with the tickets as she peered over Lapis' shoulder at the unfamiliar game.

"We should totally play this!" Lapis grinned and inserted two of the tickets and motioned for Peridot to do the same. Then, she pressed the 2 player button and the screen lit up, the words 'character select' flashing red and yellow.

After picking their characters, the screen went dark and Peridot stifled a sigh, blinking rapidly to get used to the change of lighting. But, as quickly as it had grown dark, the screen lit up again, this time a bright green colour and Peridot almost wanted to smash the screen in. If it wasn't for Lapis and the fact that she'd definitely get banned, she'd totally do it.

The screen counted down until an air horn sounded from on of the speakers below the game, startling Peridot, making her freeze up and give Lapis the chance to beat her character down. Peridot slammed down on her own buttons, trying desperately to redeem herself after that false start.

Lapis won the first round.

The second round Peridot was more prepared for. She mouthed down the numbers until the cheesy air horn sounded and her hands immediately went down to frantically hit any button she could. Lapis was going down.

Peridot won the second round.

The third and final round was fierce to say the least. Both knew what they were doing. Lapis was naturally good at these types of games, as she would later find out, and Peridot was very competitive so generally, it wasn't a very good mix. Lapis had already found out about how to make combos and Peridot had barely managed to dodge her attacks. Her character hit the edge of the map and she panicked.

Lapis was smirking next to her, inching her character closer until it was close enough for the attack. She hit down on the bottom left button and its little leg flew out and hit Peridot's guy in the face. The guy fell down but immediately popped back up.

Peridot yelled in triumph and went for Lapis, hitting the middle button. Her guy threw a punch, which Lapis dodged. The fight battle was intense from then on, neither of them were prepared to lose and soon enough a small crowds had started to gather. For what reason? Peridot wasn't really sure. Maybe it was the fact the it had been around ten minutes and neither of them had given up. Peridot was good at dodging and Lapis' character was stronger than she had guessed. But she wasn't going down that easily.

A loud whoop came from the front of the crowd. Peridot looked up for a second and peered at the reflection in the glass. Amethyst was standing at the front of the small mob, hands around her mouth so she could increase the noise of her cheering. Pearl stood next to her, blushing. Steven was to her right, cheering along with the smaller girl, his signature grin on his face.

Peridot grit her teeth and hit the buttons faster, somehow managing an unsuspecting combo and taking Lapis' character down. Red letters appeared on the screen, signalling the end of the game and the crowd parted, congratulating the both of them as they passed.

Amethyst ran up to Peridot, slamming her palm on her back with surprising strength and making the blonde lurch forward. Lapis caught her by the collar of her shirt before she could fall.

"Woah! Cool leg"

Peridot froze. She looked down. She was still wearing those damn shorts. Her freckled cheeks turned bright red and Lapis noticed and pulled her in for a hug.

After explaining the situation to the others, the two returned to Peridot's house and chilled out in her living room watching cartoons and eating takeaway until it grew dark and Peridot suggested the go to bed.

As soon as they stepped into the room, Lapis turned to Peridot, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

"Should I sleep on the floor or??"

Without replying, Peridot laughed and pulled her onto her bed, wrapping themselves in a blanket cocoon and hugging until they eventually fell asleep. They didn't even change. Disgusting.

These are really short but I'm trying my best :')
Thank you so much for 2k+ votes I never thought this awful fic would get this much attention :D

(Edited)