#tmib

Time for Lapis to get a little more focus, don’t you think?

"That gentleman gets whatever he wants.”

A year has passed since the Kraang invasion was prevented. New York City is healing, alongside its intrepid turtle heroes, who are finally braving the outside world and the newfound popularity saving the world has given them. Mutants and Yōkai are slowly yet subtly integrating into human life, crimes and crises are few and far between, and the future seems bright. However, Big Mama is using this opportunity to further her own plans, and with the help of her Assistant Frida, aims to complete her goals to create a New Battle Nexus New York. Frida will do anything to help her boss achieve her goals—even if that does mean confronting those strange turtles. The more they interact, however, the more things start to unravel. Questions beget more questions, a past shrouded in fog is given clarity, the fragile peace is shattered... And a painful truth is revealed.

Honestly, Marigold reminded Peridot of Pearl a lot. Not only did she look like she could be her long lost twin or something (That is if you ignore the bright blonde hair, the darker skin and the snobbish attitude that Peridot already couldn’t stand). She had the same compulsive need for everything to be in order, that everything had its own place and that she herself needed to be the pinnacle of prim, proper and perfect.

At the same time, she was a lot like Peridots mother, too. In attitude, in presence. It was like if Pearl and Diane Diamante got together to have a bady.

That idea kind of made Peridot cringe.

After she had greeted Peridot and introduced herself, Marigold had wasted absolutely no time bringing her luggage to the guest room and claiming it as her temporary lodging as she stayed with Peridot. She’d spent a good portion of an hour inside that room, moving things around, laying out her own belongings and Peridot was sure that if she dared to peek into the room, it would have looked nothing like it had before. But, honestly, the student didn’t really want to step into this woman’s room, she had a feeling it would just have far too much yellow in it for her liking, anyways.

Knowing that she’d get an earful if she just up and left while this guest of hers was unpacking, Peridot just plopped herself on the couch and started playing on one of her handheld consoles to pass the time. She was so engrossed in her game that she hadn’t even heard Marigold leaving the room or walking down the halls, something that she normally would have noticed from the click-clack of her sharp heels. It was only when the shadow of Marigold was cast over her that Peridot was drawn from her trance and looked away from the screen to lock onto her focused gaze.

“If you would kindly put the game away, I’ll go over the house rules with you,” Marigold said as she crossed her arms over her chest, her stance a clear sign of asserting her dominance, to show to Peridot that she was in charge here, that she wouldn’t let anything slide by.

It looked like she’d learned how to imitate Peridot’s mother quite well form her time serving her. Peridot couldn’t help but almost feel a shiver run up her spine, feeling like she was under the scrutinizing gaze of her mother, not her mother’s assistant, almost. Marigold still had a long way to go before she matched the same ruthless intensity that her mother possessed.

Quietly, Peridot tucked her game onto the couch cushion beside her and straightened up in her seat to look up at Marigold, tucking her hands onto her lap as she waited quietly. She might as well be as well behaved right now as she could, no doubt Marigold would report anything and everything back to the Diamante matriarch if she didn’t act right during their very first meeting.

Marigold let out a quiet hum and nodded her head, “Yes, well, as I’m sure you know, this arrangement is because you’ve allowed your grades to slip. Not just that, but Miss Diamante has grown concerned that you’re not focusing on your studies and are rather getting involved in frivolities around town,” she began. Peridot wanted to roll her eyes. Yeah, her mother was ‘concerned’ alright, concerned for what sort of backlashes might hit her own reputation if Peridots own started to fall. She kept her mouth shut on that, however, and Marigold continued, “So, until your grades have improved and your mother is sure that they won’t fall again, I’ll be staying with you to ensure that happens.”

She pulled out a notepad and Peridot could see in small, neat handwriting a list was written down on it. The young woman cleared her voice before she began reading off of it.

“You are to be back here every night by eleven, unless you call me ahead of time and explain the circumstances pertaining to your tardiness,” she stated, glancing at Peridot, “that should keep you from wasting the night away with parties and the such. Not that I can see you being the type to go to them, but it never hurts to take precaution.” Peridot just shrugged, not finding it in her to confirm or refute the notion of her being a partying type. That was more of Amethysts thing, not hers.

The rules went on, Marigold reading from them like she was reading from a dictionary. Some were strict, some were average. It was clear that it was Peridot’s mother who wrote them, not Marigold herself. It just reeked of her mother.

She had to let Marigold know where she was going if she went somewhere other than home and school, had to let the woman know who she was with. Had to get the OK from Marigold first before she could even go anywhere other than school and home. No gaming unless all her schoolwork was done, no TV unless everything was done. It was made very clear, too, that her mother wanted her to limit her time with her ‘less than reputable friends’. Which basically meant that if she wanted to hang out with Amethyst she had to be sneaky about it. Her mother never really liked Amethyst, so it wasn’t a surprise. Peridot had to come straight home after school, too, if she’s staying in school for after school reasons, she has to call Marigold to let her know and let her know how long she will be.

Peridot was sure there were more rules to it than that, unsaid expectations on how Peridot was to act and behave while Marigold was here that she would surely be called out on if she didn’t meet said expectations.

It didn’t need to be said either that if Peridot failed to follow these rules that Marigold would be required to inform Diane Diamante, and that was something Peridot did not want happening.

She shuddered at the very thought.

Right now it appeared that all Peridot had to do was play by the rules and be on her best behavior. Work her ass off to raise her grades back up before the semester ended.

Swallowing hard, Peridot frowned as she glanced discretely at a calendar. Midterms would be coming up pretty soon. That should be more than enough time to bring everything back up to an A, right? Of course it was. She had plenty of time.

There wasn’t anything left to go over and Peridot excused herself to her room while Marigold took over the office to do the other half of her job as serving the Diamante CEO. Peridot let out a groan as she laid on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. This was going to be an awful few months, it truly was. She just hoped she could get her grades up quickly enough so she didn’t have to deal with Marigold.

Honestly, she couldn’t wait for Monday to come, then at least she could spend some time with Lapis.

Peridot felt a chill run up her spine. It was going to be hard keeping Lapis a secret from Marigold. The last thing she needed was her mother finding out that Peridot was dating her teacher. She would have to ask Lapis about it next time she saw her, ask if she had any ideas on how to keep themselves hidden from the world.

Thinking about Lapis… Peridot felt a goofy smile form on her face. Damn, she had it bad for that woman, didn’t she?

Time went by and soon enough Peridot was with Lapis once again. “Good morning,” Lapis whispered as she began peppering kisses along Peridot’s neck and cheek.

Lapis had told Peridot to meet her in the fine arts section of the school, the same area their class was in. As soon as they’d crossed paths, Lapis had pulled Peridot into one of the small, usually empty and unused office for the faculty that taught anything that wasn’t ‘educationally important’, AKA classes like art, drama and music. Teachers didn’t really use it, as seen by the dust that was on many of the shelves.

The teacher had pulled Peridot close, arms around her waist as she affectionately kissed every inch of Peridot’s face as she could. “You were taking so long, I was starting to get worried that your new babysitter gobbled you up,” she teased lightly.

Peridot rolled her eyes and gave Lapis a quick kiss on the lips, “I don’t think cannibalism is her thing, wouldn’t fit in with the image she’s trying to keep.”

The bluenette snorted and moved to sit on the desk. She quickly tugged Peridot up to rest in her lap as she encircled her arms around the blonde’s tiny waist and rested her chin on her fluffy hair, “Real talk, though. How did it go?” she asked, “You were pretty nervous when he parted, are things as bad as you thought they’d be”

Peridot let out a low groan as she hid her face in Lapis’ collarbone, “She’s trying real hard to act like my mother, and not in a good way.”

“Sounds bad.”

“You’ve no idea,” Peridot replied.

Glancing at the clock that hung in the dim room, Peridot saw that they still had a few minutes before class started. One of the benefits of coming to school earlier than most students bothered too. It gave her more time to be with Lapis without the prying eyes of the world.

She sank deeper into Lapis’ hold, trailing her fingers up and down the woman’s back. “Hey, Lapis, I’ve a question.”

“Hm?” Lapis hummed.

Cheeks heating up, Peridot struggled with her words for a moment, not sure how to ask. Not sure if she should ask. “It’s probably a stupid question,” she mumbled in embarrassment as she looked down, “But, um, how are we going to make this work?” she asked her.

Lapis pulled back and looked down at the blonde with a cocked brow and a confused expression, “What do you mean?”

She felt hot under Lapis’ gaze and refused to look up at her, “How are we going to do this, be together and make it work?” she asked her again, “We can’t exactly advertise to the world that we’re dating, and we can’t let anyone know we’re together.”

Arms moving to rest on her shoulder and the other on her cheek, Lapis nudged Peridots chin up so she looked at her, “The world doesn’t need to know we’re dating,” she answered as though it were simple. “The world doesn’t need to know of our private life. So all we have to do is not show off to the world who we’re dating,” she said and then quirked up a smile, “Might be hard, though. I want everyone to know that I’m dating the best girl out there.”

Face going red, Peridot hid it by pressing her head against Lapis’ shoulder, “Shut up,” she murmured, feeling her ears burning.

“It’s true, you’re the best girl out there.” Lapis adjusted her and began peppering her with kisses, “You’re the cutest, the prettiest, the smartest, the kindest, the list can go on and on.”

Completely red and a stammering mess, Peridot couldn’t form her words, not that it would have mattered because Lapis took that as her chance to claim Peridots lips for her own and the blonde just melted.

Eventually, she and Lapis parted ways so they could go to class. She must have looked happier as she sat in her desk that morning. Her face still slightly flushed from the little kissing session she’d shared with Lapis in private just minutes ago. Peridot had almost been late for class because of it, but, she really doubted Lapis would writer her a tardy slip wen the reason she was late was because of Lapis. Still, she shared a tiny laugh to herself as she thought of it. She could see Lapis writing her a detention slip or something to force her to stay after class just so they could spend time together without suspicion.

Though she had almost been late for class, Lapis certainly had been. She rushed into class after the bell rang, apologizing for arriving late and claiming that she’d been held up by something. She’d glanced at Peridot discretely as she said ‘something’ and it took an iron will for Peridot not to give her a smug look in return.

Honestly, it was kind of amazing that the two managed to go about class without making it obvious that something was going on between them. Lapis treated her just as she always had in class, and Peridot did her best not to stare at Lapis too much and to keep the dreamy look on her face to a minimum.

Still, she must have not hidden it too well, it must have been clear that something was different. During lunch (Peridot had chosen to eat in the lunch room today as Lapis had a teachers meeting with the other Fine Arts teachers during that time, and she didn’t want to risk the weight room to spend time with Jasper just yet) Amethyst had practically tackled her down and tugged her to a table with her and Pearl.

The expression Amethyst had, it was a knowing one and Peridot found herself afraid that her best friend had already figured out what was going on.

“Okay, P, what happened?” Amethyst asked, leaning forward and wearing a grin.

Putting her tray down on the table and did her best to look as though she was innocent, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said simply.

“Oh don’t give me that, you looked like you were on cloud nine all day.” Amethyst shook her head. “Did something happen with that crush you got? Did you ask them out and they said yes because who wouldn’t?”

“Amethyst,” Pearl scolded lightly as she patted the girl on the arm, “Really, you shouldn’t be invading her privacy like that.”

Amethyst shrugged and leaned back in her chair, “What? I just wanna know if something good has happened to my best friend, that’s all,” she defended herself and then turned to look at Peridot again, “So, has something good happened?” she asked with a toothy smile, ignoring Pears exasperated complaint.

Feeling the attention on her, Peridot ducked her head and shook her head ‘no’. “Nothing new, sorry to disappoint,” she said.

“Bullshit,” Amethyst laughed, “I know you better than that, Peri, come on, you can tell me,” no, she really couldn’t.

Thankfully, at least Pearl was on her side that day as she tugged Amethyst a way, her face holding that stern expression she always used when scolding someone. “Amethyst, leave her be. Let her tell us what’s going on when she wants to,” she said in a clipped tone, “It’s clearly not something bad if she’s appeared so happy by it, so just let her be.”

“Thank you, Pearl,” Peridot smiled, at least someone was on her side. “It’s really not something that big, I just don’t want to share what it is, that’s all.”

Amethyst crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, but didn’t press it any further. Instead she opted to chat with Pearl, talking about small things, the usual. Peridot smiled softly as she ate. Her phone buzzed and she had to keep herself from grinning like a dork lest her friends notice and question her about the nature of the text. She still kept a small smile as she read the text Lapis sent her.