A.N. – This feels, in tone, to be similar to earlier episodes of Steven Universe to me. So, there's no Lapis or Peridot or any of the drama they bring. Just enjoy this semi-serious fluff. Also, if this looks familiar, I posted it on Pastebin last night (/PS7B2p0r). I do not own SU; Rebecca Sugar and CN do. I don't profit monetarily off this work in any way. I also don't own the LEGO Movie, which I ripped off a bit. (Word count: 550)
Zealotry
It was a lazy Sunday at the beach house. Yesterday, Steven had spent the day out with Connie. Today, however, it was just Pearl keeping him company. Amethyst and Garnet both were out on missions, leaving the ever-doting Pearl to watch over the youngest member of the Crystal Gems.
Steven was sat on the rug in the main room, sun shining through the windows and down on the paper he was busily filling in. Pearl finished up in the kitchen and strode over to see what he was up to.
"Steven, what's that you're drawing?"
Steven Quartz Universe, half-human, half-gem, and all-adorable, sat up and fixed his best puppy-dog eyes at Pearl.
"It's fan art! Me and Connie just saw that LEGO Dog-Copter movie and I had to create something! It was amazing. There was this…"
Pearl shushed Steven with a raised hand.
"I get the point, Steven. What I mean," and here, Pearl's cheeks took on a darker-blue hue, "is that character, the one you've drawn…in space?" Steven nodded in affirmation. "That wouldn't happen to be me, would it?"
"Well, no, not really," Steven, too, was blushing now, hand resting sheepishly on the back of his head. "The space man just reminded me a lot of you, is all. And not just for space, either!"
Pearl's brow furrowed at Steven's honest forthrightness. "In what way?" she asked.
"Um, you see, his greatest desire is to build a rocket. Kinda-sorta reminds me of that one time I nearly died, and…" Steven saw Pearl's countenance take a severe downturn as he rambled on, and decided to change tacks. The rambling, though, he could not stop. "And he's just so enthusiastic about it, too! Connie had to teach me this word in the Unfamiliar Familiar: neurotic. And I think that about sums that up, yeah…"
Pearl gave herself a second to think as Steven wound down, his face as bright as his signature shirt. She'd smoothed her features out to erase any displeasure she might have been presenting to Steven. Carefully, she worded her reply.
"So, Steven, in your eyes, I am an obsessive, head in the clouds, dash in first and face the repercussions later being? Do these few traits you've fixated on compose the entirety of me?"
"All of that, from one drawing…" Steven sullenly muttered as Pearl continued speaking.
"I would hope you see me first and foremost as someone you can rely on, what those from Earth would call part of their familial unit." Pearl's tone had risen as she went on, and now her resolve broke. "I am NOT some silly fictional character driven by one-dimensional desires and beholden to inconsistencies inherent in children's entertainment!"
If Steven was an impolite kid, he'd have mentioned how Pearl had just proven most of his point right then. Instead, he softened the cringe he'd curled into down into a more relaxed pose. Tearing the offending piece of art out of his spiral notebook, he offered up the colored pencils to Pearl as a peace offering.
"Help me get it right this time?"
Hands clasping furtively, the color drained from Pearl's cheeks and tears welled at the corners of her eyes. How did she ever deserve this sweet little boy? She gently crouched down beside him by the coffee table.
"Gladly, Steven."
