The walk back to "Home Boulder" (a codename both Stevonnie and Steven found incredibly humorous) was not a silent one.
He'd somehow forgotten that Stevonnie possessed twice the stamina as he, being a Fusion of himself and Connie. Coupled with his ravenous hunger for fun with Connie's thirst for adventure, and Steven believed he may have found someone even he could not keep up with.
That's not even considering the pure joy they shared from merely existing at the same time, something neither spared so much as a thought to before, now suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, a reality.
Steven sprinted by, lightly smacking her on the thigh. "Tag! You're it!"
"Oh!" Stevonnie froze, caught off guard for just a moment before breaking into a sprint after him. "Oh-hoh, it's on! I got longer legs than you, little boy! You can't outrun this machine!" She laughed wildly.
And Steven did too, so hard that he stopped and clutched his belly before Stevonnie's large step even allowed her to catch up. He whooped in surprise when Stevonnie made a dive and caught him in her arms, "TAG!" She rolled into a sitting position, kicking up the centuries-old dust of the Kindergarten further with her twiddling her fingers into her prey's stomach. "Oh look who I caught here!" she cried over the boy's shrieking laughter. "A little Gem monster, running around in the Kindergarten?! I'll have tooo bubble him!"
"Noooo!" Steven cried. He fought back in a feeble effort, which only earned him more tickles. He managed to stop squirming just long enough to push his arms out, and Stevonnie away, with a pink bubble surrounding him. "Hah!" he cried, panting. "Can't bubble what's already bubbled!"
Stevonnie sauntered over, serenity simmering in her eyes. "Very true," she purred, fingers dancing along the bubble's pink surface. "Guess you win." She glanced up, eyes locking with Steven's, and half a heartbeat later, a mischievous twinkle sparked in her gaze. "Have fun tagging me from in there!" she said, right before performing a jumping spin-kick to send Steven bouncing away.
"No fair!" he shouted after her. She was already a fair distance away when Steven popped his bubble and gave chase, though Stevonnie was running at a noticeably leisurely pace for his benefit.
She was almost skipping away.
In fact... He narrowed his eyes, staring as he jogged. Moments later they shot open in shock. "Hey! No floating!"
Stevonnie's raucous laughter answered as she ascended higher and higher. Steven broke into a sweat dashing after her, launching himself into a float-powered leap after closing a fair distance on the Fusion's leisurely pace and catching her by the ankle.
"I caught a Stevonnie!" he sang.
Stevonnie pulled her leg and him up closer and began to poke him right in his soft, ruddy cheek. "Get your touch-stumps off me, you Steven!" she replied in a familiar, nasally voice. The two of them engaged in an intense staring contest, but failed to hold it for longer than two seconds before bursting into laughter.
With that, Stevonnie made her descent. Just for safety, she grabbed Steven and held him close to her chest. They fell into a comfortable silence filled only by their heavy breathing as they made their way to the ground.
"What're you thinking about, if you don't mind me asking?"
Stevonnie grimaced. "Kevin."
"No wonder we're falling so quickly."
She laughed heartily.
Stevonnie took off as soon as they hit the ground, leaving Steven in her metaphorical and literal Kindergarten-grade dust. "Come on, Steven: rock jump! HYAH!" The tall Fusion leapt up and gracefully vaulted over a boulder easily twice her height. Steven could have sworn that was Amethyst's "Sitting Rock." A glance over to the upper layers across the Kindergarten proved this; the Warp Pad was still there.
Being a clumsy fourteen-year-old boy, Steven clambered over the Sitting Rock as opposed to vaulting over it. He landed gracefully on his butt beside Stevonnie, whom was leaning against the boulder with her arms folded.
Steven pushed himself up, breathing heavily. "Man..." he panted, "Never... realized... how much energy you had! ...Woof! Feel like 'm gonna pass out!"
"Well, we did run all over Beach City when I first came to be. Remember?" She watched him with a smirk, but the longer he went on without answering, the humor on her face proceeded to fall. "You okay?" She knelt down, resting a hand on his shoulder.
Steven continued to catch his breath, glancing over to flash a grin of assurance. Yet this only furthered Stevonnie's frown. "Here, let me carry you the rest of the way."
"'m okay..."
Without waiting for him to protest, knowing full-well he would, Stevonnie scooped him up and proceeded to walk further into the Kindergarten. Only when Steven's inhales returned going in through his nose, did she venture to speak again. "Sorry I got a little carried away there. I... tend to, you know," she finished awkwardly.
Steven thought back - to Stevonnie's first time alive, accidentally appearing before his dad, their dance with Kevin, racing against that stupid butt-head.
Steven giggled. "I do, actually," he answered brightly. "Don't be sorry, that was a lot of fun! You're great, Stevonnie!" He hooked his arms around her neck, nuzzling his cheek against Stevonnie's blushing ones.
She let out a deep, calming sigh as he pulled away. "It's just that, well, you know... It's so great to be... alive and... me, you know?" She shook her head, chuckling. "Ah, I sound like a dummy."
"Nah, no way! I know exactly how you feel." His eyes flickered over to her; the two locked stares, their cheeks puffing up with barely-contained laughter, "Fusion joke," and then they burst. The duo's guffaws rolled down the vastness of the Kindergarten and back.
"Man," Steven said as their mirth died down. "Amethyst never laughs at my Fusion jokes!"
"Right?" Stevonnie agreed.
"They're just so funny!"
"I know!" She was silent for a moment, before thoughtfully adding, "I bet Sardonyx'll appreciate it."
Steven gasped. He grabbed her face, awestruck. "Sardonyx is here?!"
"Yep! Everybody's here. Some friendly and familiar, and others, well..." She trailed off.
Steven soaked in the silence for a second, his gaze bouncing to and fro. "Sugilite?" he ventured quietly.
Steven awaited a reply, gazing up at his Fusion expectantly. But Stevonnie just looked... not there. Her gaze was distant, listless, worry creasing her brow. Her reaction was delayed, and noticeably more quiet than the energy that typically powered her mood.
"Oh, yeah, she's there too." Stevonnie shook her head, attempted a cover-up with an almost sisterly-tone as she said, "Sugilite's gearing up to see you, Steven."
Though Steven was lost in his own thoughts, that when he replied, it too was rather meek.
"Heh, cool." He hadn't meant to, but Steven was wondering what made Stevonnie seem so troubled all of a sudden, if not the rampaging Fusion who beat up Pearl?
Steven looked away, focusing on the path before them. The Kindergarten had begun to close, embracing them with its mighty walls. He couldn't help but shiver, and not from the sight; something was eating at Stevonnie, but he did not want to ask and make her feel worse as a result. Steven knew, quite literally, how Stevonnie felt when something was bothering her, was on her mind. Did his Fusion, knowing how he thought, already guess as to what he was thinking as well?
Steven could not be sure, but Stevonnie seemed just as eager to break the uncomfortable air between them as he. "I bet Sardonyx has been spending this whole time writing jokes," she mused. "Probably got a whole library of them by now!"
Stars shone in Steven's eyes as he welcomed the distraction from his thoughts. "Oh my gosh, that's alotta books! I'm gonna read 'em all!"
"Then let's go!" Steven laughed as Stevonnie clutched him harder, breaking into a powerful sprint.
Another voice behind them rose up just as the pair bent a left, coming upon a split in the Kindergarten. "YO, Stev-Squad!"
Stevonnie skidded to a stop, and Steven craned his head around to the source. "Amethyst?"
"Oh, hey guys!" Stevonnie waved.
The second Fusion stomped, no, tiptoed to a halt before she put Amethyst down. In one fluid motion she straightened up, standing twice Stevonnie's height, with cool-blue eyes and plump lips curved into a sweet smile. "Hello, Steven. It's so nice to see you up and about."
"Opal!" Steven cried with his arms out. Stevonnie handed him over to Opal, who promptly closed around his smaller body in a gentle, four-armed embrace.
Stevonnie looked over the two with a pleased smirk, then she met Amethyst, who was eyeing her up with folded arms. "'Sup, Amethyst?"
"Not much, Stevonnie," she coolly replied. "You're looking good."
She grinned. "I'm feeling good."
Amethyst gestured her head to the two Gems beside them, whom were chatting up a storm (really it was Steven recounting his fun with Stevonnie, Opal merely nodding every time he paused to take a breath). "Crazy stuff, right?"
Stevonnie ran a hand through her hair. "You're telling me. I'm itchin' to get some answers soon."
"Eh, just go with the flow. Enjoy it while you can!" Stevonnie beamed a tiny smile, and Amethyst shrugged, mirroring her expression.
They both quietly agreed: whatever this was, it was really flippin' cool.
The two Gems tuned back in just as Steven was wrapping up his story. "...and then we jumped over a rock! Well, I climbed. Stevonnie jumped."
Opal chuckled, a sound that made Steven's belly squirm with a whole family of butterflies. "Well, it sounds like you two had quite the adventure."
"It was great," Stevonnie replied. "Right, Steven?" The boy whooped in delight, pumping both fists in the air with all four of Opal's hands holding him for support. Stevonnie chuckled at his antics, but then regarded Opal with a crooked brow and a fist on her hip. "I thought you'd be back at camp by now. What are you doing out here?"
"Opal forgot where it was," Amethyst bluntly answered. All eyes were on the towering Fusion, whom shrugged with a sheepish grin, a dusty-grey blush on her cheeks. "But it was cool! We... had a lot of time to talk. About... stuff." Her eyes cast to the ground, though it was not a crestfallen face Amethyst was trying to hide, but a bashful one. A soft pat on the head by Opal brought the two of their gazes to meet. Opal moved her hand down Amethyst's mane, stopping to clap her on the shoulder, where Amethyst moved to stroke her long, thin fingers.
Steven was wondering just what those two were talking about, when Stevonnie suddenly spoke. "No worries, I remember where camp is. Follow me!"