This last one was for Day 7(3/7/18) of the Jam Bomb. The prompt: Free Day. As in, do whatever you want.
Hope you guys enjoy.
:::
"Connie?" A familiar voice says.
Connie mutters something groggily, opening her eyes only slightly for a split second before going back to sleep.
"Connie, wake up, sweetie." The voice says, nudging her slightly.
This time Connie manages to keep her eyes open for a second, and would've fallen asleep again if it weren't for the aroma of fresh pancakes. She takes a few sniffs and eventually succeeds in waking up.
"Hm?" she asks sleepily. "Wha-?"
Her gaze falls upon her mother, Doctor Priyanka Maheswaran, smiling at her in typical maternal fashion, her father standing a few steps back. She then looks down at the pancakes her mother is holding in a tray-small pancakes sculpted by her parents in the shapes of her favorite things, all laid out in a circle. Her eyes widen as she spots an Archamicarus pancake to the left, and a Dogcopter pancake to the right, as well as various manga characters which could only have been crafted by her father. And in the center were two more characters together, stylized to look like numbers: a 1, and a 3.
"Happy birthday, Connie," her parents say.
:::
The Maheswaran family never really planned big parties for events like these. After having breakfast in bed and having a good time with relatives opening up family presents, the three went over to Beach City, where Steven and the other gems were waiting to continue the festivities with an evening picnic. Steven had his old pink vest on, and from the moment she saw him they were together throughout the entire evening. Soon, the time came for another round of gift giving.
"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Peridot exclaims. "Please, allow me to go first."
Connie smiles slightly and takes Peridot's gift, which she opens up to discover a distressingly functional replica of the plasma sword used in one of her favorite movie franchises. Connie soon shuts it off and gives it to Steven to bubble before handing it back, in order to make sure it stays safe.
"Well, I don't know if this can beat a sword, but…" Amethyst says as she pulls out a box which is later revealed to be the elusive variant edition of her favorite comic.
"Whoa! How'd you get this?" Connie asks, impressed.
"Oh, you know…ways," Amethyst says vaguely, thinking back to the aggressive "persuasion" techniques she employed against Ronaldo to get it. Connie is too intimidated to ask her to elaborate.
"You might not want this now," Garnet says, "But in the future…" she adds with a wink as Connie opens the box she made to look like it had been carefully wrapped. Inside is a Spirit Morph brand diary. Garnet won't explain why she'll want it when asked.
"Here, kiddo. Thought you might like this," Greg says as he hands her a stack of old CD-ROMs for classic songs from when he was younger.
Pearl smiles and hands Connie a meticulously wrapped collection of her favorite manga, volumes 1 through 26. She had the prudence to cut it into four smaller sections so as to be easier to carry.
"I read through some of it myself. The art is exquisitely drawn, but her fighting stance is horrendous," she adds.
Connie chuckles. "It looks more accurate after volume 3."
And then there was Steven. He didn't show any wrapped present at first, instead instructing her to accompany him to the waterfront atop Lion. The others were a bit puzzled, and wondered what he was planning-Garnet exempted for obvious reasons, of course.
After riding out across the ocean for a bit, Steven has Lion stop. Connie isn't quite sure what he's planning either, and asks him why he brought her there. Steven seems to think about what to say for a moment, before finally starting off hesitatingly with a "Well…" He elaborates.
"I don't know, I guess for the last couple weeks, I've been thinking about it a lot."
"About what?" She says, cocking her head to the side slightly.
"The day we met. When we were stuck on the ocean floor together."
Connie's eyes are only slightly less confused now.
So we're above the same point where we sunk down that day. But why…?
"And as I was thinking about that, I just remembered how…" He pauses for a second, as if the memory hurts him, "How upset you were, how you thought you didn't have any friends, how you thought that…that nobody cared about you." He begins to tear up slightly, as does Connie, but they both steady themselves.
"So…I want to show you something."
Connie is still confused about what he intends, but when he holds out his hand, she still grabs it. In a second, the two are engulfed in a bubble as Lion teleports back to the beach. However, they don't fall, thanks to Steven's floatation powers. He then takes something out of his pocket and holds it out. Connie is confused, but soon recognizes it: a photo he took of her a few weeks after they first met. Steven smiles awkwardly, somewhat sheepishly, as he says:
"I, uh, I've kept this by my bed for a while now. It was reassuring, I guess, because it was like, even if you weren't always there, I still knew you were."
He continues, "Recently I started carrying it around because I thought it might help with my floating powers. That being able to look at it might keep me happy enough for them to work. Because…because I can't think of anything else that makes me as happy as you do."
Whether it's part of his display or else completely involuntary, Connie couldn't tell, but the bubble begins floating higher without any forward velocity from Steven. She can't tell if he notices, and at any rate is more preoccupied with the tightening in her chest.
"I-if it wasn't for you, I'd probably have been frozen solid by that temple robot or eaten by that bird thing on that Jungle planet, or a hundred other things!"
The bubble rises past the lowest clouds in the sky.
"Every time I was being stupid or depressed or trying to shut everyone out, you snapped me out of it."
The bubble continues to rise.
"All those months ago, you told me I was incredible. You're even more incredible!"
"I-I mean, you know how to sword fight, you're great at tennis, you know all sorts of cool things about video games and movies and survival skills and history and science and, just, everything!"
"From the moment I met you, I've wanted to be like you! Because you're cool and smart and caring and pre-uh, practical, and I'm just…"
The bubble stops, hanging so high above the water that the gang below look like specks.
"Just plain old Steven."
He pauses before continuing:
"Everyone down there, they're-they're there for you. They're there because you've done more for them than you can possibly realize, just by being there for them. Including me."
Connie can feel herself choking up.
"And…and I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you for that. Stars know I haven't done a good job of reciprocating," he says solemnly.
"But even so, today, I just wanted to remind you how much of an impact you've made on so many people, just by being the cool, smart, caring person you are."
He pauses, and Connie tears up slightly before wiping it away.
"Steven…that's…that was beautiful."
Steven fidgets slightly.
"And…I know you might not feel the same way. I know I can be stupid sometimes. Stubborn, dense, and overall annoying. And I know that even thinking I deserve to be friends with you is almost entirely delusional."
Before Connie can correct him, he continues, "But in spite of all of that, I just want to say…"
He takes a deep breath as he prepares himself for what he's about to confess.
"I…I love you, Connie."
Connie is left speechless, and for a moment Steven panics, believing he'd screwed up irreparably, and the bubble begins to drop in altitude ever so slightly-not at any rate of descent that would pose danger, but enough to be noticeable. After internally debating how to respond, Connie reaches a consensus.
She leans over to him and kisses him on the lips, holding it for a good few seconds as Steven's eyes go wide and the bubble comes back to rest in the air. It is obvious that the sentiment is mutual.
When she pulls back, she puts her hands onto his cheeks and says simply, "Hey, rule 1: No more talking like that, by either party involved. Agreed?"
Steven nods, and the two smile and blush a bit until Connie leans in for a kiss once more, and Steven reciprocates wholeheartedly. They stay like that for a long time as the bubble continues to rise into the sky…
