She's adapting.
LOG-044.
It had been almost a week since I'd first arrived to Earth.
"Eh...I'll have two of the chocolate ones. Oh, and can I get those in a bag?"
Almost a week of slowly but surely settling down and getting to know the Crystal Gems, of them 'teaching' me about Earth, the war, corrupted Gems and all sorts of other things, all of course in between trying to find a place for Vermilion and me to stay at, despite the Pearl in question eventually deciding she actually preferred sticking around the temple. That entire situation had ended...fairly well, considering we hadn't actually been here all that long.
Sure, I still hadn't found anywhere permanent to stay, but we'd finally gone and retrieved the Roaming Eye, parking it within the fenced off section surrounding the place. The ship...worked well enough. Blankets, a sleeping bag and a portable radio helped make it a lot comfier to sleep in, to say the absolute very least. Granted the only other person who ever actually used it for the purpose I'd given it was Amethyst, and she only took short naps at best.
"Of course, let me just get those for you!"
I smiled, even as I twisted in place and reached across the small space in between me and the shelf, my gloved hands snatching a pair of donuts and sorting them into a small paper bag in one smooth motion.
The young man across from me nodded in approval as I set the bag down in front of him, before reaching into the left pocket of his jeans as I rung up the order.
Let's see...two chocolates. There.
"That will be a dollar and twenty three cents, please."
Accepting the bill he quickly handed me, I sorted it into the register, pulling out the appropriate change and sliding it back.
It was when he didn't immediately move to leave that I tilted my head slightly, confused. In my admittedly small experience (just two days of working here), people generally wanted to get going as quickly as possible later in the evening like this, save for some of the chattier elders. Especially since I had less than half an hour left until I was supposed to lock up for the night.
"Is there something else I can help you with, sir?"
The customer just chuckled awkwardly in response, a hand rising up to rub at the back of his head.
"Ah it's nothing. It's just...you're new, right? I guess I was wondering what happened to the old guy that used to work here? Rosquilla? He had this really big grey beard. I think he was French?"
Blinking, I thought back for a second before my eyes widened.
"Ah! Yes, Mr. Rosquilla left fairly recently actually. I just happened to apply for a job around the same time, and he was nice enough to put in a good word for me!"
Very lucky. Especially considering the place was apparently more than willing to pay in cash for someone with literally green skin. People around here tended to be a lot nicer than I always planned for. It really never ceased to shatter my expectations.
Regardless of my quick mental tangent, his own eyes eventually matched my own, widening ever so slightly.
"Wait, really? Where'd he go? I thought he loved this place!"
I glanced at the hanging clock out of the corner of my view for a moment, before crossing my arms and letting myself relax and lean against the counter. I still had a little bit left before I needed to close up after all, and it didn't seem like any other customers were gonna be entering the donut store anytime soon.
"He's moving to Ocean Town to set up a new branch from what I understand. Said he wanted to help his son expand the business a little bit."
My conversation partner nodded for a moment, visibly thinking. "Huh...who would have thought? I guess I just...never really expected him to go anywhere. Heck, he's been around since I was just a little kid."
Then he visibly paused, a slight blush of embarassment colouring his expression.
"Ah dangit, sorry. I've got us both talking and I haven't even introduced myself! Name's Bill. Bill Dewey."
...Huh. Then again, I didn't know what I was expecting when I'd gone job hunting in Beach City of all places.
Shaking off the idle thought, I accepted his outstretched hand, giving it a shake as I gestured to the uniform layered over my hidden dress with a wry smirk.
"Viridian, no last name. Though the nametag probably already told you that."
He nodded slowly, glancing at my bare arm for a moment.
Rolling my eyes, I nodded right back.
"Yes, I'm one of the weirdos from the big statue on the beach. Though I like to think I'm a little more in tune with society than they are, considering I actually have a job and all."
Snorting, Bill scratched his cheek.
"Yeah, sorry if I was rude or anything. Just kind of rare to see any of you ladies appear at all, much less find one selling donuts!"
My smile widened slightly in response, even as he finally picked up his bag.
"Well, we all have to make a living somehow, don't we?"
---
I continued to bob my head up and down with the beat playing from the thick wired earphones carefully tucked past my hair, even as I carefully twisted the lock shut behind me, my uniform and the key to The Big Donut (it still felt strange thinking of it as an actual workplace rather than a location from a cartoon) into my gemstone with a flash of green light made all the more apparent in the evening shade.
Humming slightly, I walked a few short steps before warm road finally shifted into equally warm sand, my feet leaving slight imprints as I casually made my way down the beach that brought so many visitors to this little town.
Another flash, and I had a notepad in my hands, the pages flipping slightly from the wind before I got them back under control.
"Right...work's done. Next up on the agenda is...checking up on the others. Then I'll sit around a bit. And then I'll go handle the other, crappier stuff."
The thing wasn't actually necessary, considering I could perfectly recall myself making up my little schedule and semi long term agenda, including my hesitant plans to begin scoping out some of the more relevant areas I remembered from the show, but it felt...nice, having something to occasionally write my thoughts in.
I didn't dare keep an outright diary or anything like that though. Stars knew one of the other Gems would get a little too curious for their own good and end up learning something at the wrong time. No, for now, everything could stay safe and tucked away in my pretty little head.
My tongue clicked slightly as I flipped past a few more pages, glancing at the waves crashing against each other before gently rolling up and down the edge of the beach.
"Then there's Lapis. And Bismuth. f*ck. And I'm still gonna need to explain the Cluster."
I paused, thinking quickly as my expression tightened.
"How would I know about it though?"
Well, that was probably simple enough. I'd served a high ranking fleet admiral after all. Could probably just say I'd heard it mentioned during a meeting with some other officials that Earth had a f*cking geoweapon slowly incubating inside of it.
Yeah, that'd work. And I'd explain away not immediately telling everyone as me still learning to trust them.
Perfect.
Returning the notepad to my storage space, I stared up at the darkening sky for a moment before making a quick hop over the fence keeping the temple isolated from everything, landing with a small twirl before making my way deeper inside.
It was when I was just getting in general proximity of the Roaming Eye that I caught a sight that...well.
...Our timing was even better than expected, it seemed. By a certain definition anyway. Stars, if I didn't know better, I'd almost be tempted to say that it had all been planned or something.
"I'll just throw him over the fence."
But nah, that would be ridiculous. Instead, I was just incredibly unf*ckinglucky apparently.
"Hu-oo-wAaAoah!"
And so instead, I merely watched as canon reared its ugly head, namely due to the long haired man being hefted above Garnet's shoulders, his form wriggling around as the fusion carried him towards my direction, a smiling Pearl following behind her with Amethyst in her arms.
"Excellent idea! Humans should stay on the other side of the fence like the sign says. Isn't that right Vermilion?"
If I squinted, I could just about make out the crimson Gem's lightform hesitantly peeking out from deeper inside the 'cave' of the temple, her eyes darting between the ongoing circus show and me even as she rapidly nodded her head in support of the statement.
"This zone isn't cleared for organics!"
The renegade paused mid approving nod of her fellow Pearl's words as she caught sight of me, her smile turning a little awkward.
Ah...it seemed she still hadn't gotten over the midnight fridge incident. Unfortunate.
"Er-hello Viridian. We were just getting ready to remove this..." Her hand slowly gestured to a still struggling Greg, only for the Gem to let out a squawk as Amethyst promptly took the opportunity to escape her grasp, the Quartz practically crawling/rolling her way towards me.
"Yo Vee! We found some weird guy! Wanna help us throw him over?"
The poor bastard blinked at that, before redoubling his efforts to get away.
"Please no throwing!"
Just like the damned show. Hell, three...two...one...
"Wait!"
Everyone paused, and I just crossed my arms in exasperation as Rose, as a matter of course, came running with wide eyes locked onto a certain musician's form.
Resisting the urge to sigh in annoyance at my brand new schedule already being disrupted, I simply remained silent as things went just about as I remembered them.
None of it mattered to me anyway, if Pink f*cking Diamond wanted to get railed by some random human guitarist, well that was entirely her decision, now wasn't it?
...f*ck, I was gonna have to pick up the slack, wasn't I? Maybe I could convince Amethyst to come with me on my eventual trip to the Kindergarten, have her 'show me around' her birthplace while I searched for the facility hidden somewhere below it? I'd probably need the backup once the things down there turned up, and a Quartz was still a Quartz, even if she was overcooked.
As much as I wanted to put off doing anything Gem related for maybe a few years at least, that wasn't exactly a choice now. Not when I'd quite likely live to see the consequences of my not getting sh*t done early.
...Maybe I should have just gone and told them everything at the start?
"Hey, so I'm actually a human being reincarnated into this form! And in my original universe, you were all a form of human entertainment! So I know the future and need to warn you about certain things! And I'm not crazy and mentally defective, or a really weird Homeworld spy sent to manipulate all of you, I swear!"
"...Viridian, get in the bubble."
Okay yeah, no. Bad idea.
Internally groaning as Rose and Greg began to make puppy dog eyes at each other, I finally gave in to temptation and withdrew a small paper bag from my gemstone, grabbing one of the donuts I'd snuck from the store before leaving.
The chocolate definitely made me feel better, at the very least.
---
Author's note: Drawn by Jnixz. Visual representation of the midnight fridge incident, just pretend the house ain't there.
