Holy dang, someone actually clicked on this story? In 2019, no less? Hopefully not on accident, heh.

(I don't own Steven Universe)


I: Empathy

*crack*

"Steven! Keep it down!" a pale woman hissed to the boy behind her. Her thin frame was barely visible in the dim light, though the look of annoyance adorning her face was still apparent. "We don't want to give away our position!"

"Sorry!" he whispered as he slowly rose his foot off whatever he just broke. Careful not to make another sound, he bent down to examine the fragile object he just trampled. As soon as he leaned forward, one of the many luminescent rocks dotting the caverns pulsated from underneath it, creating the frightening image of a semi-destroyed skull glowing gruesomely.

Steven yelped in surprise, stumbling backwards with arms flailing about; whether for balance or from panic, he couldn't tell. His legs propelled him away from the grinning remains, causing him to slam into a short, white-haired Gem who was following close behind him. Neither could get out a single word before they both came tumbling down to the rocky ground, making Pearl slap her Gem out of frustration.

"Oof, do ya mind?" Amethyst remarked as she ungracefully pushed him off of her. Still frightened by the ghastly object, Steven shakily rose to his own feet and apologized again, offering his hand. It didn't take long to fill it. Now standing, Amethyst motioned for the both of them to rejoin the other two Gems, facing forward once more. Steven was able to see a cautious expression return to her features a split second before the sight was blocked by her silver hair.

She wasn't the only one alone in her caution. Steven noticed how each of the three guardians looked around cautiously, searching for the dire Gem threat they'd come to find. Thinking of the skull, he joined them. The fact that there was some Gem threat to deal with was essentially the only reason they had bothered to travel this far into the Earth's crust, evidently. No reason aside from magical patrol came to anyone's head as to why they had decided to go here in the first place. It certainly wasn't some tropical spot for a vacation.

Pearl, for once, had no interest in whatever history was behind the deep underground tunnels, instead finding their presence nothing more than unnerving. Steven was happy to be joining the other Gems on a more important mission, but had failed to hide his unsettlement the moment he saw the dense, unnatural fog of darkness shrouding them from the warp pad. Garnet had a mission to do, which currently wasn't to scare Steven. She could do that much without some foreboding cavern, and probably better, too. Amethyst, though initially impressed by the magnitude of each hollow pathway, begun to see that wherever they were was neither cozy nor comfortable. Not to mention her irritation at being unable to bring one of the many glowing yellow stones home as a souvenir.

"Man, G," she called to their leader after a short time, who was aptly leading her team further into the foggy gloom. It was a dark place like this that really made Steven appreciate her ability to see beyond what normal eyes could. "You weren't kiddin' when you said this place was creepy."

"Amethyst!" Pearl exclaimed more than a tad louder than the statement she was reprimanding. The look of annoyance from Steven's small blunder hadn't faded. "What did I just say?"

The short Gem shrugged her arms, matching her own expression of apathy. "Eh, the thing's probably not even close, P," she reasoned, looking somewhat bored. A small pause in everyone's dialogue followed Amethyst's words, allowing a brief moment to hear the far echoes reverberate from unseen stone. Pearl groaned, and begun stomping forward in some likely futile attempt to avoid an arguement. Amethyst shrugged it off, something she's had literal millennia to practice, and continued walking, absent-mindedly glancing back to Steven to make sure he was still with them. The sight of his small wave ensured his presence, and she nodded, moving her eyes back to the darkness one usually associated with nightmares. At the same time, Garnet rose a solitary hand from the front of the group as she stopped abruptly, signaling the others to follow her lead.

With Pearl having just started her extreme pacing and Amethyst not paying attention (with good intentions this time) what happened wasn't precisely what Garnet intended. The result was Pearl freezing midstep, then Amethyst stumbling right into her due to her searching the blackness surrounding them. Thankfully, gravity didn't completely take both persons down again, but the unbalanced force had put a sizable scowl on Pearl's features. That was quickly removed upon the second impact.

Steven, having done similar to Amethyst, bumped into her, and because of the simple laws of physics, had created one more forceful contact between Pearl and her. Only half a dozen seconds after Garnet called for the group to come to a standstill did they stop advancing.

Notice the use of "advancing," rather than "moving."

"Okay, you lost your leg privileges, buddy," Amethyst remarked to Steven. In almost the same minute, she pushed him off of her again with a little more difficulty. After a bit of awkward limb movements and a couple steps on Pearl that were probably accidental, Amethyst was able to stand above the assortment of limbs. Steven was less fortunate, considering the added disorientation from being moved by both gravity and Amethyst, but eventually found his footing on solid terrain, apologizing profusely. Amethyst waved them off, making sure that she and only she didn't hold it against him.

Pearl took her time to count to ten, then rose with as much grace as she could achieve in the presence of either Gem. It wasn't a very impressive quantity. Her hands tightened upon witnessing Steven still needlessly apologizing to Amethyst, a bit more than irked that he seemingly ignored her.

Another silent count to assure that her spear wouldn't accidentally find its way into her hands was applied before Pearl glowered downwards to reprimand Amethyst. She made it almost too obvious that she'd ignored Steven's assistance in the collision. "What do you—"

"I never 'kid,'" a voice interrupted her. Startled, Pearl turned towards Garnet, and saw the fusion looking forward intently as if she'd completely ignored the recent fiasco behind her. "Now, let's keep moving."

Steven tried not to compare Pearl's gaping to that a fish, but found his subconscious did so anyways. "But, Garnet—"

"Come on, Steven!" Amethyst suddenly exclaimed, trying to avoid having her laughs overtake her vocal cords. "You heard Garnet! Onwards!"

And with that, the violet Gem began dutifully marching behind the leader, in such strong steps that it could be deemed nothing but comical. Steven gave Pearl a small glance, then briskly turned away so she couldn't witness the smile breaking the surface of his cheeks. He was able to suppress a laugh when he needed to (though that was almost never,) but Pearl's reaction hadn't made it a very trivial task. After a slight hesitation, he followed Amethyst, forcing himself not to copy her for Pearl's sake. She eventually rejoined the group in a detering silence that suggested not annoying her further was the correct course of action.

Some minutes of quiet walking let the situation's humor fade, the initial feeling of urgency regrettably taking its place. Even Amethyst's mischevious smile was lost, replaced by an apprehensive frown seemingly directed at everything. After looking particularly displeased at a distant group of pulsing yellow rocks, she half-consciously told Steven not to wander too far off.

If Amethyst was focusing attention on the use of her ears rather than her eyes, she might've heard a slight stumble in someone's footfalls. A few abruptly silent moments passed when she felt eyes on her; thankfully not that of a predator lurking in the dark and unnatural fog, but still a gaze that told her she was being watched. Amethyst stopped walking and turned towards where she assumed the observer stood.

"…what?" she answered to Pearl's odd look. The expression probably had a name, though its identity wasn't known. A strange mixture of both suspicion and approval. Knowing Pearl, the cause of it was something that'd end up accidentally belittling.

"Hm," Pearl hummed before walking past Amethyst, her countenance changing to contemplative at the last moment. That was probably not a good sign. "Nothing."

Now frowning at her, Amethyst turned to Steven, head tilted. He gave her a shrug, essentially saying "Your guess is as good as mine." That was assuming Amethyst had a guess, which she didn't. Regardless, she was more or less forced to forget about it, returning her attention back to the dreary search for some deadly Gem. The ordeal was beginning to resemble an extremely delayed baseball pitch; just important enough to stay alert without the reason for being alert existing quite yet, always looming without the ability to tell when it would strike. Not a very good feeling. The sooner they bubbled the thing, though, the sooner she could stop worrying about it.

Steven would've agreed to her statement, had she voiced it. If what Garnet had told him earlier rang true, then Amethyst had all the right in the world to revert to seriousness. Steven thought it safe to assume Garnet was right.

"This Gem is unlike any you've faced before," he recalled her saying. Despite Garnet's extensive secrecy, Steven somehow knew that it was more dangerous than she was letting on, which was saying something. "I have a feeling it's not going to be pretty. You're not forced to come along, Steven."

Being the smart Gem-human hybrid he was, Steven had come along anyways, having ended up convincing himself that he was finally ready to take on more serious missions. There might've been some ironic symbolism in the event just a minute prior, had Steven cared to search for it. He hadn't.

Now, though, Steven was beginning to regret his decision. Not to search, mind. The monstrously large cavern all four Gems were currently searching seemed to be actively attempting to scare them, and it was succeeding annoyingly well. As if the idea that only one single entity was able to dig out the cave's entirety was far too realistic. Who knew what kind of Gem beast resided down here?

"Hey, uh, Garnet?" Steven said, glancing about fretfully. A nervous sweat begun to bead itself on his forehead, rivaling the deep-underground's heat. He may've not possessed a magical sixth sense, but even he could feel the possible danger around them. A chunk of that may've been paranoia. "What's this Gem thing look like, anyways?"

Garnet visibly slowed, for which Amethyst was a little grateful for; it felt like they'd been walking along aimlessly for hours. It was most likely not even a dozen minutes, but still. "Yeah, what's this thing gon' be, G?" she inquired herself. "I wanna know what we're wreckin'."

Pearl hadn't needed to show her own curiosity to get Garnet to completely stop. Perhaps her expression was enough. Sighing, the dark woman lifted her hands to her excess quantity of eyes, studying the facets of her halves. "I do too," she eventually answered, clenching her hands shut.

A mediocre moment of silence ensued. Amethyst was the first speak again, a bit more confused rather than less. "Wait, what? You dunno?"

Unexpectedly, Garnet nodded, wearing an odd combination of both determination and irritation seeming directed at everything surrounding her, save for the three others accompanying her. "I'm aware of the creature's severity," she explained, "but not the severity's origin. It's… frustrating."

Steven quickly spoke up from behind Amethyst, a nervous smile etched on his cheeks. "Well, all the more reason to find it then, right?"

Garnet glanced down at the optimistic boy. Her mouth turned upwards, hands relaxing to pat his head. "Well put," she said, continuing deeper. Amethyst made sure to keep her complaints to herself, and distracted herself by comparing Pearl's gaping to that of a fish. The connection was fairly easy to make, so much that mentioning it would probably be one of Amethyst's more biting insults.

"But, Garnet," Pearl spoke, attempting to illuminate the walls with her Gem like a miner's helmet. A silent curse fell from her mouth when she remembered trying it five minutes earlier had yielded no useful results. "Surely you know something that would aid our efforts?"

Garnet thought for a moment, temporally searching for some shard of useful information. "Eyes," she said after a moment with a self-satisfactory nod.

Steven rose an eyebrow, wondering what Gem she was referring to with that single word. Amethyst groaned shortly after, frowning. "Right. That's super helpful."

Garnet gave her a placid shrug, then suddenly jerked her head sideways. A motion that quick would've been enough to cause everyone to stop even if Garnet wasn't the one to whip around so abruptly.

"We're getting close, Steven," Garnet said to the boy, watching in the direction they'd been travelling for a considerable amount of time. She seemed to hesitate a moment, like she was going to regret what she said next. "It'd be best if you stayed here." She adjusted her currently unnessecary sunglasses, and looked around the spire of stone holding up the enormous underground cave. While her eyes couldn't see much in the nearly pitch-black gloom, centuries of fighting had honed her instincts, and they were telling her something ominous was slowly approaching. It still didn't distract her from her own hypocrisy.

Garnet hadn't needed to visibly see Steven to feel the slight hurt at her attempt to shelter him from harm. She did need to see Amethyst in order to witness one a more rare expression of irritated agreement. Pearl looked on with approval, most likely relieved that her persistently protective thoughts had finally taken effect.

"But I can help!" he said, trying to remind her of his growing aptitude with his Gem. If he was supposed to simply sit away from the fight, then what was the point of him coming in the first place? His statement was given an apologetic smile in response.

"I know, and we appreciate it." Pearl nodded sincerely, understanding his eagerness. Amethyst was a bit more hesitant, for reasons she hoped weren't too obvious. "But," the fusion continued, "We don't want to risk you getting hurt." More nods; this time Amethyst beat Pearl to it, agreeing both loudly and silently.

Steven made a delayed nod himself, though still appeared somewhat petulant at their refusal to let him show his ability. "Fine," he finally answered, sighing. Then a thought occurred to him. Recalling the skull, he made a thoughtful expression. "But what if that thing comes after me first? Shouldn't I be with you guys, then?"

A pregnant interlude of further thought took hold. "Whoops," Amethyst said after some moments, appearing thoughtful herself. A slight feeling of compunction at semi-subtly arguing for him to stay made itself known on Steven's features, but if he was going to remain out of the fight, then he at least didn't want to be on his own if their mystery opponent targeted him instead. He was good, but not that good.

"He does have a point," Pearl said, trying to hide her distaste at how that hadn't occurred to her. Garnet put a thoughtful hand on her chin, weighing solutions rather than dwell on her potentially disastrous mistake. Chalk that one up to a lesson for not being a hypocrite. Splitting up was a bad idea, but at the same time, Steven being involved in the inevitable fight was a worse one. His well-being was what was paramount, after all. She had a feeling her companions felt similar. She also had a feeling they didn't like her going back on granting Steven permission to come along. Or at least Amethyst didn't approve.

If the reasoning bothered Steven enough to ask, Garnet would've told him that she hadn't expected the environment to be so visually crippling. Ironically enough, Garnet often compared seeing the future stretch and branch out before her to looking at a river from a cliff without glasses. Details were a luxury she couldn't often afford. Quite literally, one part of her would think that revealing this information now would hurt her pride, and another thought he wouldn't believe her, ultimately hurting his pride as a result.

Steven looked at each, attempting to make his regret at being essentially dead weight known, but hadn't succeed too well. Garnet held a hand on her chin in deep thought, most likely searching for an ideal option. Pearl had done likewise, deciding what course of action would result in the most safety for Steven. What was hard to work out about either letting him come or splitting up, he wondered? Either way, he would've been safe. More importantly, everyone would've. The only Gem he managed to get eye contact with was Amethyst, and even that only lasted a split second.

Being the only Gem that wasn't working out how many ways one could divide the number four, she was found facing in his direction. But when he faced her, she turned away in an amount of time that Steven could only compare to the duration it took to register eye contact. Rather then send a message in that fraction, though, Steven had nearly received one. The start of worry to an extent he hadn't seen yet, though he doubted the cause's severity; sure, the Gem they were chasing was supposedly serious business, but difficult to defeat wouldn't mean unbeatable. "I'm—" he began before getting interrupted after just one syllable.

"Shoot, why not," Amethyst abruptly sighed, throwing her arms behind her head. She looked back at Steven with a bit disinterest, though he swore he could see something else in her eyes. An almost-sloppily concealed concern; at what, though? "I'll play babysitter."

Her words were closely followed by a snort. The surprise on Pearl's face was almost reason enough to say that in its own right, the result being a comical stupefaction. Amethyst tried pinpointing exactly what species of carp she was so accurately representing. "Uh, right," the pseudo-aquatic Gem said skeptically, drowning out a somewhat confused Steven trying to figure out if he should be offended by how Amethyst answered. "Are you sure?"

Amethyst had a feeling there were four more words following her question, consisting of "that's a good idea?" The purple Gem looked to Garnet, raising an eyebrow for just a second. She could feel the motion being reciprocated from behind Garnet's reflective sunglasses. Probably not suspicion, but still a slightly insulting amount of surprise. "Yeah, I'm sure. 'Sides, G should pro'lly be the one to take the thing down."

The Gem in question gave Amethyst a faint grin that was a little unnerving. Like she knew more than she was letting on. At least the quiet and secretive Gem was the one to seemingly understand, "Alright," she answered, grin fading as she went back to the mission at hand. "Let's go, Pearl."

Honestly, Amethyst was expecting a bit more resistance than that, but hey, she wasn't complaining. Pearl gave both Gems a look of caution, though there was some undefinable amount of untrusting caution that didn't exactly flatter Amethyst. Why was she so skeptical of her ability to watch him? It seemed to her that Garnet had no problem with it, and she knew that was probably the most reassuring reason for anything. It's not as though she hasn't looked over before. The only current difference is that Amethyst was currently volunteering rather than silently agreeing to do what she was told. Pearl should be thanking her.

"Keep him safe," she said, less of a command and more of a grammatically incorrect self-reassurance. If anything, Pearl's constant worry incited more reason to make her image of Amethyst incorrect. Regardless, the Gem brashly responded with, "Psh, how hard can it be?" Though Pearl obviously wasn't convinced (and most likely less trusting than previously) Amethyst preferred that reaction to the one she would've received if she gave a silent nod. Now was not the time to patronize her.

In only a few moments, Pearl left after Garnet, walking into the dark gloom. Amethyst refused to describe the sight as blackness swallowing her. She gave Pearl's form a lingering look, then faced an almost-pouting Steven. Well, almost-pouting was essentially pouting for Steven. He sat on the ground, crossing both arms and legs with a face of bothered discouragement that didn't really look right on his features. Now only with one other Gem, Amethyst let her expression soften, more forcibly than she'd like to admit.

"Prove Pearl wrong," she reminded herself. "Be a huge softie, if that's what it takes."

Hopefully it wouldn't take that.

"Hey," she said, joining Steven on the ground with a thump. Giving him a sympathetic smirk, she asked what was on his mind, knowing the answer. She was no psychologist, but if he didn't want to talk about it, then she wouldn't talk about it. He kept facing outwards, either forcefully looking away or studying the slow pulse of one of the many yellow rocks embedded in the cave around them. Amethyst had a feeling it was the former.

"I can help you guys," he stated after a considerable pause, sighing. The bounding boy's shoulders sagged to a point that didn't look medically correct, because he was Steven. Sad shoulders on him was like a broken horn on a unicorn. His look of disappointment seemed more sad than it should've to Amethyst, which also worried her a bit more than it should've. Maybe it was due to the sight's rarity that enhanced its sorrowful feeling. She didn't want him to be in such low spirits, no one did, but it was between feeling down and not—

"…right?"

The uttered direction was at that magical volume where it wouldn't echo off a single wall but could still be heard. This trait caused it to remain so solitary that deciding whether or not Steven had said anything was a difficult choice. Amethyst was slightly taken aback by the way he pronounced the last delayed word, looking equal parts confused and startled. She wondered if he doubted he could help, then wondered if the thought that he couldn't have was something a sane person would say. However, that would explain the excessive slouch. Worried, Amethyst scooted closer, patting his back.

"'Course you can," she confidently stated, giving him a wide smile. Rather than force her attempt to reassure him, Amethyst was pleasantly surprised to have found that it came naturally. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard after all. "That shield o' yours has saved our butts more times than I can count."

His mouth turned upwards ever so slightly, but even that sliver of a grin was lost just as quickly as he gained it. A similar occurrence happened simultaneously with Amethyst's. "Then why don't you guys let me?" he asked in response.

That was an easy question to answer in the same sense that some elaborate and convoluted arithmetic problem was; the hard part was knowing how to answer. However natural her stating a fact was, trying to be outright sentimental was not something she refined over several thousand years, right alongside manners and knowing what was supposed to be edible. "Well, uh…"

Amethyst frowned, searching the ground for a method. Unless saying "soot, rock, yellow," was the right thing to do (and, it was just a hunch, but she didn't think so,) she didn't have an answer off the top of her head. At least, one that she could bear saying; she had the feeling either Garnet or Pearl would have no trouble telling him why. It was a little bothersome to her that she was apprehensive about being the one to relay their concern.

"Ah, what the heck," she thought, allowing herself to say it for his sake. Besides, she's been trying to be a bit more open lately, anyways. Somewhat due to Pearl's constant patronizing on being a bad influence, but she honestly did want to better her more flippant habits towards emotions, as corny as that sounded. It sounded even more corny to say she was trying mostly for Steven, which is why she didn't go that far. One step at a time, as they say. She didn't like her reluctant instinct anymore than he enjoyed sitting out a mission. It was currently in the way of reassuring Steven right now, providing more incentive to rid herself of it.

"'Cause… we don't want you getting hurt," she stated surprisingly warmly, resting an arm around his shoulders. Averting her gaze from him helped her avoid a reflexive tone of sarcasm. He didn't need some joke; he needed the truth. Heck if she could tell how she knew. "It ain't like Garnet was lying. Like it or not, we actually do care about you, man."

Not a second after she finished the last -n, he perked his head slightly. His back had visibly straightened at the first admittance, and at the second, Steven turned to Amethyst with a grin that didn't appear to be forced. Though it somewhat contradicted his curious eyebrows. The width of his eyes seemed just a little greater than normal, too, spanning an area just after obtaining his attention but just a sliver before being caught off guard. Only seconds passed, and yet Amethyst still felt a bit too much like he was staring at her.

For that much?

"Don't be too surprised now," she grumbled, turning away. Figures that when she tried to comfort him, he didn't expect it in the slightest. The last time she did so may've been a while ago (or maybe never) but was it really that out of place for her to show concern? A concern that she assumed was at least a little obvious?

Steven's neck tilted his head slightly, a bit confused at how Amethyst appeared upset by him. He thought he didn't respond with anything that denoted a sour-looking mood. Just gratefulness and a look of… wonderment. Then it clicked that the one time she openly showed her care in who knew how long, he outwardly treated it with a start instead of the inward appreciation he had.

"Oh!" he suddenly said a bit louder than usual. Continuing after a couple moments of awkward silence as he was heard from increasingly distant locations, Steven explained the reason for his burst of eureka. "No, I'm not surprised, Amethyst. Just… well, I guess I am, but not…" He pondered for a moment, wondering how to explain himself. "You kinda sounded… different."

Amethyst turned back to him, giving him an expression that told him to be careful with his next choice of words. Very careful. As in, disabling a bomb careful.

"Not a bad thing!" he said, raising his hands defensively. "Not bad at all. I meant… I'm not used to you being that, uh…"

"Earnest?" she filled in for him, sighing. The fake anger fell away, revealing itself to be disappointment. Disappointment that he was surprised she could say something that basic. It wasn't as though the Gems didn't on a regular basis; it wasn't as though she didn't. Right? Though not physically fatigued, Amethyst's legs stretched outwards, allowing her to prop her elbows up onto her knees. "I can do nice," she stated, sounding similar to Steven when he tried confirming if he wasn't useless. "I just… don't wanna."

Steven gave her an apologetic look that somehow didn't manage to annoy her. Most likely because that's all it was; apologetic, not pitying. Fittingly, he apologized as well.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have reacted like that," he said, scooting a tad closer to her. Ironically enough, him putting an arm around her shoulders surprised her. Unless he was outright told to quit it, Steven would do his darnedest to make anyone feel better. That fact made Amethyst feel a bit better. "But why don't you want to 'be nice?'"

The sideways glance he faced now looked a bit more authentic from his point of view. "Don't be asking me that, Steven," she warned. If she was even able to, Amethyst tried to make her glare look as reluctant as possible. "Ain't gonna end well."

One can't pour flour without opening the bag.

Still, no verbal warning against actually touching her, so his arm stayed where it was. Steven, taking the not-so-subtle hint, nodded, and fell into a thoughtful silence. His grip stayed, and yet neither mentioned it. Amethyst didn't have any problem with that.

Steven glanced at her for a brief moment, thinking. The gears of his mind ground against each other, struggling against her monkey wrench of a contradiction. Almost all the time, Amethyst was upbeat and humorous in a way that pleasingly seemed impossible to ignore. He had never been bothered by how she acted, treating most situations with an infectious joviality, but it seemed to him that she was somehow bothered by it. Did she find it in excess?

Thoughtful, he rose his hand from the sooty ground, looked at it, wiped it on his jeans, and put it on his chin. Not like he was willing to get what was probably rocks and dirt on his precious face. Whatever the reason for Amethyst not wanting to show a bit more emotional candor, he was intrigued by it. Though he doubted she'd appreciate him trying to figure out why on his own. His good intentions of wanting to know more about her would most likely be difficult to prove. Good thing thoughts weren't—

"Dang it," Amethyst suddenly groaned, tearing him away from his hopefully silent ideas. That was how thoughts worked, right? Steven looked at her, seeing her rub her neck with an odd expression. A kind of regret one usually wore before jumping out of an airplane or getting on a rollercoaster. "You didn't even say anything. How the heck did you do that?"

Do what? Think? Now a bit more at a loss, Steven opened his mouth to ask what she was referring to, but the chance never came to exist. "If I say why, and that's a pretty big if, you gotta promise not to tell anyone, y'hear?"

"Um," he said, beginning to understand. His cognitive ability took a small detour, but eventually arrived at a solution to his conundrum. She was asking him to withhold her answer, should she tell him why she often avoided absolute sentiment. Honestly, he would've done so for pretty much any reason. He learned to be more respectful of privacy since that unplanned stay at that magic island a while back. "Yeah. Yes, I promise."

"You sure?" she asked, looking at him dead on at a faintly closer distance than he was used to. Some parts of her expression fell away, showing some form of apprehensive hope. Steven made no attempt to discern it, more out of respecting her privacy than apathy. "Even if it's really, really dumb?"

"Absotively," he nodded with a grin. Dumb things were his specialty. With his free hand, he pinched his thumb and index finger together, tracing them across the length of his mouth before flicking them outwards. Zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. Still, Amethyst looked anxious.

"Right." She sighed, looking at the golden bulb next to Steven. The way she studied it suggested that she hadn't anticipated getting this far, much less without any curious encouragement. Steven guessed reading people was just another of his specialties. "Look, I know I ain't the best when it comes to… feeling. Pretty sure everyone else does, too."

Steven stifled a half-surprised, half-confused "What?" to what she said. He furrowed his brow, interested in what she was trying to say that could possibly explain that. Whether she thought she wasn't or whether he could see too much from her laughing nature, he was certain she felt no less than anyone. It took some active politeness not to disagree and say she felt in her own humorous way, but something about her expression helped. A sort of sympathetic window into understanding her, not all that common. It was strange, as if one had suddenly found solid evidence of what they suspected all along. How he suspected, he couldn't say.

"Buuut…" she drew out, making no effort to quiet the nervous twitch of her finger twirling a random lock of snowy hair. Still shining white against the black background. Blackground. "It's just… hard."

The need to continue her explanation was felt, but went unheeded for a good amount of time. An inquisitive head tilt persuaded her to acknowledge the lack of understanding. "I don't like… being weak. No, that ain't right, I…"

"Being weak?" Steven may or may not have interrupted. The pause after denying her own terminology made it hard to tell. He mused for a moment, feeling her elusive point within grasping distance. The fact should've been known to him, but it seemed to persistently evade him every time he got close to it. He knew she enjoyed being strong, and she was probably one of the last people in the galaxy he thought of as weak, but he didn't have to be a doctor to know that she didn't mean physically in this case.

Amethyst ran a free hand through her hair, mentally shuffling through her head for the right word to describe a specific form of weakness. A few clues were given to Steven in the hope that he'd be able to help her form an answer. "It's sort of like… like it's putting me out there, y'know? In the open. And, well, I… don't like it."

Much like the final piece of a puzzle was found, Steven's eyes broadened as what she was saying clicked neatly into place, completing the picture. He shifted a bit closer to her than before, instinctively tightening his grip on her shoulder just a tad. Her jump told him that much was noticed, but still hasn't been verbally acknowledged by either. Weirdly, she seemed to become more relaxed than previously after only a couple moments. Still tense, but an improvement. "So you're saying that it makes you feel vulnerable? When you don't joke about that stuff?"

Amethyst pursed her lips, looking oddly sheepish, almost ashamed. So that's the word she was looking for. "I guess I am," she said quietly. Then she gave him a nervous grin, going back to twirling her hair again. "Shoot, when did you become my therapist?"

"Hey, here to help," he replied, offering a smile. The one he received didn't really match his own, still showing an amount of unease that he felt determined to rid her of. It was somewhat difficult to see Amethyst so troubled, and knowing that her regret was directed at herself only intensified the challenge. Steven's expression changed to one of concern, looking at her worriedly.

"Y'know," he began slowly, trying to help. He hoped to know exactly what would successfully make her feel better. That was the one thing that he had a fair amount of confidence in, but now that she told him about being disconcerted by her reluctance to show seriousness, that confidence dropped considerably. Despite not knowing where to start or what she wanted to hear, he decided to at least begin with what he thought would comfort her. "There's no right or wrong way to react to things."

A curious look prompted him to continue. A good sign. Probably. "I mean, no one would attack you or anything for being open," he explained, sounding more sure with each word, "but it's okay to laugh about things. Just do what makes you comfortable, and you'll do it right."

Silence ensued.

If, by some miracle, Steven could've seen his own reaction that brought up this very topic, he would've compared Amethyst's expression to his own, confusion and all. Suddenly, he felt a bit more self-conscious, and looked about uncertainly. Did he say the right things? He had just tried to make her feel better. It was difficult to tell how she reacted, mostly due to him not really knowing what part of it surprised her. A clue was present. "Uh, I'm sorry, Amethyst, I—"

"Bwah?" she interrupted him, a laugh mixed with a statement of misunderstanding. Laugh? She put an arm around him now, smirking with an odd expression that took the place of what had been surprise. The common smile he was used to had returned to her lips, but he couldn't help but receive a small feeling of… sheepish… ness?

That fit about as well as a lion in a bird's nest. However, it didn't take long to figure out that it wasn't her fault she appeared that way. Something probably happened with the elusive Gem beast that lie in these very caves at some point during the revelation, because the glowing stones of the cave (at least the ones around them) illuminated her features less than usual. Or was her face just suddenly a deeper violet than he remembered?

"What in the universe are you sayin' sorry for?" she questioned, breaking him away from his thoughts. Steven answered her question somewhat uncertainly, gradually managing to ignore the monochromatic change of color. "I dunno," he began, his eyes drifting back towards her own rather than her face in general. They looked a tad unexplainably different, too. "I just wasn't sure if… I said what I was s'pposed to. So, sorry if I didn't."

Oddly, her smile expanded wide enough for the both of them. He supplied his own anyways, finding it rude if he didn't. He also found it a bit rude how much he looked at her face; it was probably always that dark, right? But why would it be like that only on her cheeks? "Yes, Doctor Steven," she assured him, "you did. Congrats."

He vaguely shook his head from side to side, trying to match his motion to the point where it made it easier to think without being able to be discerned. Steven made a salute with his free hand, proudly stating "Happy to be of service!" in a failingly gruff voice. Amethyst made a point to say that doctors didn't salute, which was followed by more laughter. Probably a bit more than was necessary, but an excess of chuckles never killed anybody.

"But," Amethyst eventually began after the final giggles subsided. Steven quieted with her, looking at her appreciative expression that still wore a smile. "Really, though… thanks, Steven. I needed that."

An expression of rapport was offered in return. "No problem-o," he said, treating her admittance with simultaneous triviality and urgency. Though unable to see why she felt apprehensive about it, Steven at least understood that if she wanted to keep that feeling of weakness a secret, then he'd keep it a secret.

She laughed again, lightly this time. It caught his attention in the sense that one found more cookies than there should've been in the jar. Most of her laughs were abrupt and sudden, but this one was... soft. Was this even the real Amethyst?

Suddenly, she coughed without anything visibly causing her to do so, unless the pebbles on the ground somehow dissipated into dust. Steven didn't have to look down to see that much was false. After he realized her cough was artificial, Amethyst rose her head to reveal an abruptly hardened expression. Not as common as the mischievously sly grin he swore took up her face 90% of the day, but still something recognizable. "Okay, that was nice and everything," she stated matter-of-factly, "but you tell anyone about… this, and you really will lose your leg privileges. Got it?"

Ah, so it really was Amethyst. Knowing that she wasn't some Gem impostor seemed like a different kind of reassurance than knowing she was the real Amethyst, but that didn't mean he hadn't felt both. Steven nodded dutifully in response to her interestingly worded question, doing the previous motion of locking his lips while making a mental note to wonder about that later.

Seeing his agreement, Amethyst leaned back, reverting to the casual demeanor he was used to. He did the same; partly because her relaxation was so contagious, and partly because the mutual shift in weight on each other both had partaken in at some undefinable point in the conversation forced him. Even if they were both now just sitting back and not doing much, something felt different for Steven. The need to note this characteristic was supplied by how common lazing about with Amethyst was.

Whether or not it would be beneficial could only be determined by time, but Steven knew why it was different. The fact that Amethyst entrusted him enough to confess some regret that was evidently unknown to her teammates made Steven feel somewhat better, in an altruistic way. Not as an individual, but just a permanent increase to his mood that he welcomed with open arms. He felt… closer to Amethyst. As if he understood her better, and was glad to more precisely know how to comfort her. It wasn't known to him what tier outshines "best friend," but Steven felt her standing move to it. That much was probably shared among either of them, right?

"Hm," he suddenly hummed out loud. Amethyst looked at him for a brief moment before asking what he was thinking of now. He looked skyward, returning a hand to his chin. Friends, best friends...

…what was that called? Steven didn't bother to order all the synonyms for "friend" (such as "acquaintance" or "companion,") but he knew that the term "best friend" was fittingly at the top of the list. However, since Amethyst was already there prior to the conversation's happening, Steven didn't feel like those two words told the whole story anymore.

"Hey, Amethyst?" he spoke up, breaking the silence with a thought turning verbal. Turning to her, he saw her open eye to looking at him inquisitively. Her hair blocked the other, but he had a feeling it was still closed from the serenity. How weird that in some dark and foreboding cavern, he found calm? Less weird when he remembered Amethyst was somewhat of that calm's reason for existing.

Right, Amethyst. "You know how people have friends, right?"

She rose an eyebrow, a bit confused at the question. Granted, that wasn't something people asked on a daily basis. "Generally speaking," she said with a shrug, "yeah, they do. Most of 'em, at least."

He continued after a brief pause, making sure the knowledge he was searching for wasn't present in his mind. Friendship was his number one deal, so how could he not know? Unfortunately, his mind was still blank as a canvas. "And then people usually have best friends, right?"

Weirdly, Amethyst didn't appear to catch on that what he was asking still pertained to the current situation. Maybe she thought it better to drop off the previous subject when they did (in a way). Her eyebrow maintained its elevated state while her other eye opened underneath the lopsided bangs. Not that Steven could see that much himself. "Well, yeah. Some people are straight-up better."

"Soooo…" he mused, lingering on the vowel in deep thought. "What comes after 'best friend?'"

Only a moment passed before Amethyst snorted, a smirk growing across her face. Steven found himself comparing her expression to the one he's always see before she'd say something humorous that would go right over his head. Definitely the real Amethyst. "What, you mean like 'friends with benefits?'"

The term felt familiar to his ears, but he could've sworn he heard it at a time when he wasn't supposed to. Some faded memory of watching a television show with his father, the show in question supposedly bearing a lot of humor that was lost on Steven at the time. Steven's curious expression hadn't changed by her answer, continuing to face her. "Is that what it's called?" he asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't falling for one of Amethyst's pranks. Not that he didn't trust her, but it seemed to him that whatever she said was some sort of joke. He still valued what was left of his dignity. He also still wondered where people could go from being best friends, creating a slight conflict in whether or not he should risk accepting her answer.

"Yeah, sure," she waved off, rolling her eye with a smile that Steven assumed was good-natured. "Ask Pearl about it later. She'd love to explain it to ya."

Okay, so that was the answer. He didn't exactly understand what the "benefits" part of the title implied, but it probably referred to that kind of understanding that he enjoyed having with Amethyst.

"So…" Steven started again, more sure than last time. The confidence dropped off the vowel's lingering, but the delay after saying a two-letter word was still identical. He smiled back at her, obviously content with being able to know that. "Is that what we are?"

Steven didn't need a watch to count the amount of blank seconds that passed across Amethyst's face. At about four completely silent moments, Amethyst's eyes broadened enough to technically show both of them; a sliver of her semi-covered eye could be seen, implying a great deal of surprise. "What!?" she essentially yelled, jumping forward at him with an evident blush. That's what she was doing before! But why was she doing it then? And why now?

"No, no no no," she denied fervently before Steven could ask what the matter was. "Jeez, Steven, just… no. Eugh. Why?"

Taken by surprise from her extreme denial, Steven's head recoiled slightly before settling down with a saddened expression. So the closer relationship didn't go both ways. Then again, why would it have? "I just thought…" he started, forcing himself to look back at her. "...we were better than best friends."

Amethyst groaned with a laugh, creating a noise that she probably wouldn't appreciate being imitated by literally anyone else. "Look, Steven," she began, still smiling and blushing simultaneously. Steven was a little it curious as to why she almost appeared apologetic. "I was just joking with the 'friend's with benefits' thing. That's something… you'll find out when you're older, m'kay?"

Steven's sad expression changed to one of confusion, as he was now attempting to figure if he still stood on that level above "best friend." He didn't pay much mind to how his suspicion was right, more interested on what term could accurately define where he stood with Amethyst. "Okay," he began, mentally rebooting. "So we aren't friends with benefits, whatever that means. But then are we still better than best friends?"

Amethyst eyed him uncertainly, seeing his hopefulness. After a slight hesitation, she sighed again, having that look of slight apprehensiveness he'd witnessed just before hearing of her secret. The difference between then and now is that now it dissipated on its own. "Yeah, Steven," she said softly, grinning. "I'd say we're pretty up there."

If that didn't sound genuine, Steven didn't know what the word meant. Maybe he'd work on having a title for it later; right now, all Steven was concerned with was knowing that the both of them were, as she confirmed, "better than best friends." True to their increased friendliness, Amethyst hadn't even tensed up at his sudden embrace, instead returning it. Steven wasn't aware if being predictable was a bad thing, but it seemed to him that she expected him to do so. Time seemed to grow fuzzy for either a second or a minute, because Steven couldn't tell anyone how long the hug lasted specifically. But he did know that it lasted a bit longer than usual. He also knew that neither he nor she was put off by the increased duration.

Eventually, the hug ended, and he faced her happily. Witnessing a small bulb just outside of his peripheral vision, Steven's blithe expression suddenly melted away. "Wait a minute," he said in a reflexively dire tone.

"What?" Amethyst questioned. She didn't say anything about the hug, but Steven still felt as though she was aware of its extended length.

"Time." Steven said the word with such conviction as though he believed that would explain everything. Seeing that it didn't, he decided it would help to actually state what he was thinking about. "How long have Garnet and Pearl been gone?"

And like that, the sudden coziness Amethyst had felt left as she remembered that there was, in fact, danger lurking about. "Oh, crud," she said in place of a curse word Steven didn't need to know about. For the time being, at least. She quickly stood up, giving a hand to Steven as she did so. "I forgot about them. Whoops."

Steven internally blamed the distraction as Amethyst's fault, though still didn't hold it against her. Only time would tell if he could hold anything against her anymore. "We should probably find them, right?"

They both surveyed the darkness around them, looking at it with apprehensive annoyance that briskly became unease. An absolute blackness that choked the light out of its own ominous bulbs, silencing any attempt of comfort that would've been given to an exploring Gem. And residing in that cold, malevolent darkness was a Gem creature that would've been filled with just as much malice. Something that would surely prove a difficult challenge to face, much less battle. Something that could be waiting for the other half of its prey.

Unfortunately, neither Amethyst nor Steven could say the other's hand slipped into their own, because the motion occurred between both of them within the same millisecond. "Yeah, probably," Amethyst said.


A/N: I don't really know what to put here. I've changed the notes around so much in these things that it's become an odd sort of monologue by now. Honestly, I'm just kind of surprised that you willingly clicked on such a needlessly extensive story based around a lesser known ship for Steven Universe. I hope I can satisfy your curiosity/need for fluff, and I hope you can enjoy this story any way you can, whether you ship this pair of quartz or not!

I hope you enjoyed this story enough to click on the next chapter! Hope to see you there! :D