Progress on the drill is coming along swimmingly. With no more drama cropping up, we spent a few more days working on it and making sure everything is going according to plan. However as those days passed, something else popped up that completely took me by surprise.
Steven's birthday.
When I saw the gems starting to place birthday decorations around the barn, I asked them about it and they told me it's none other than Steven's birthday soon. The blank expression I gave them meant that I was completely caught off guard by that bit of news. I feel so bad that I didn't even know his birthday and I didn't have a freaking present for him!
"C'mon Marcus. It's not that big a deal."
"Not that big a deal?" I slam the bundle of ribbons on the table and look deathly serious at my brother. "NOT that big a DEAL?! I forgot your birthday Steven! I forgot your birthday and I don't even have a present to give you! Graaaaa I can't believe I didn't get you a present for your first birthday with you." I grumble as I stare down at the table angrily.
"Second actually."
"… What?" After a second to process what she said, I look at Pearl as she continues to make a giant red ribbon flower bow.
"If I remember correctly, and I am, you met when Steven was 12 years old. This is his 14th birthday so technically this is the second birthday party with him." Pearl calmly explains while still tying.
Nothing comes out of my mouth as I stare at her trying to remember exactly when the hell I missed my brother's first birthday party with him.
"I think it was when you first got kidnapped by the Iron Kings did you miss his first birthday." Pearl adds nonchalantly.
"… Ahhhhhhhhhhh." I groan as I let my head fall onto the table and my legs slowly give out, leaving my upper body to lay on the table. I feel Garnet gently pat my head in some hope of comfort at my depressed state.
It helps a little.
"Don't worry Marcus. You're here now aren't you?" Steven asks me.
I don't reply instantly as I let his words sink in. "Yeaaaaaahh… I guess you're right." I begrudgingly say through a muffled voice. I finally get back onto my feet and pick up the bundle of ribbons again. 'Still disappointed I missed the first one but the very least I can be here for this one.'
"I can't believe it's finally my birthday. You're sure it's okay we're taking a break from the drill?" Steven asks as he holds the rest of the ribbon silk that Pearl is using to make her giant ribbon flower bow.
"Peridot will keep us on schedule." Pearl reassures him. Speaking of Peridot, she steps out of the barn and is about to walk around the building to the drill pieces we moved away so she wouldn't be disturbed by the festivities.
"Yo, Peri! You sure you don't want to get in on this?" Amethyst asks her before she blows up a balloon that looks like Peridot for some reason until it pops. She smiles at her.
Peridot gives her an unamused look before she flaps down her welding goggles and walks to the drill. "I don't think she wants to get in on this." I comment.
"We should celebrate our progress." Garnet says. "We should celebrate your progress. You've grown a lot this year." Garnet tells Steven specifically as she pats his head.
"He certainly has." Pearl agrees with the fusion.
"Mh-hm." I nod as well. They've known him since he was born and have seen him progress the most. I'm mostly comparing to when I met him to now, which is definitely an improvement considering all that we've had to do these past couple years.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so!" Steven happily states.
Before anyone else can say anything, a familiar car horn honking gets our attention. Coming over a hill is Greg's van. 'Ah Greg. Good to see him here. Definitely should be for his son's birthday after all.' After I came back and we made some progress on the drill, I went ahead and met up with Greg to tell him that I'm back and alright. Although he was a little cross at me having to be very cautious at the idea of people stalking him. Apparently the gems had him sleep closer to the temple just in case if the Iron Kings did anything else to them after they found the pictures. I reassured him though that I took care of them and they shouldn't be messing with us again anytime soon. He still gave me that cross look but was still relieved none the less that I was back.
Once Greg parks his van a little ways away, he shuts off the engine and someone other than Greg gets out: Connie. "Steven!"
"Connie!" They two of them run at each other, excited to see each other on his special day. I follow my brother at a slower pace.
"Happy birthday!" Connie happily says as she gives Steven a hug.
"Thanks. Welcome to the party! May I offer you... a refreshment?" Steven asks her as he pulls out two juice boxes from behind for the both of them.
"Oh, Steven. How genteel." She replies before the both of them tape their juice boxes against each other.
"Clink!" They both say at the same time, acting all sophisticated.
"Ohhhhh! Clinking glasses I see. Should have worn my good jacket." I comment in a posh accent when I finally reach them, grabbing my jacket and straightening it.
"Marcus!" Connie calls out my name happily as she moves towards me.
"Hey Connie!"I reciprocate the action and the two of us hug. "Ohhh it's so good to see you again." I tell her with a smile.
"You too!" She replies and I put her down. "Last I saw you was awhile ago. When I asked Garnet said you had been kidnapped?" She says it like a question and a raised eyebrow.
I give her a nervous chuckle as I rub the back of my head. 'Of course she'd be the blunt one to tell her outright.' "He he, yeeaaaaah some stuff happened, some people were angry and they took me. Took me awhile to break out but I'm glad to be back."
"I'm sure the others were too." I nod at her words. She glances at the barn. "This where we're having your party?" She asks Steven.
"Yep! This is the barn! I'm surprised your parents are letting you stay for the weekend." Steven tells her.
"Haha. It wasn't easy. They'd only let me come after equipping me with every piece of safety gear on the planet."
"What should I do with this defibrillator!?" Greg calls out to Connie from his van while holding said device.
"Um, we can just leave it in the car for now!" She tells him.
"They gave you a defibrillator?!" I ask her in utter surprise. She simply nods like it's a norm for her. I can't help but rub my head at their complete overprotection for her. 'I have missed a lot.'
Steven giggles. "Well, I'm glad you could make it."
"Me too."
"Same here." I can't help but add.
"Alright, move it Connie, I was his best friend first." Greg buts in before he goes up to Steven. "Happy birthday!" He hugs Steven. "Ooookay, shtoo-ball. Let me get a look at you." He states after he puts his son down and looks at him.
"Daaad!" Steven moans embarrassed.
"Sorry, I just can't believe my little boy is growing up so quickly. Seems like just yesterday you were a baby, and now you're turning 14 years old." He reminisces, much to Connie's surprise as she spit takes the juice she was drinking.
"Steven! You're 14?!" She asks him very surprised.
"Yeeeaaaahhh?" He says but I don't think he meant it to come out confused and in a question.
"But I'm only 12 and three quarters." She says in disbelief as she covers her ear. "You're older than me? I- I don't believe it!" She states in utter surprise and disbelief. All of a sudden she grabs me. "Quick, Marcus! How old are you?" She asks.
I look down at her for a second before glancing at the other two, who are also sporting some confused looks as well, like me. "Uhhh, well if I remember correctly I was 18 when I first met this guy…" I say as I tap Steven's forehead.
"Hey!" He complains at the bop.
"He was 12 at the time… he's 14 now… so I'm 20 then." I answer. It takes me a second to realize just how old I am. "Huh, one more year and I'm technically an adult. Interesting." I comment. Although to be honest I haven't really been caught up in something like that. I have been on my own for several years now as it is so technically I've had to do some adult-esque things when I was way younger than I was now. Albeit less… legal… technically illegal adult things and situations, like stealing, illegal hacking… and vigilante killing. It's something to note okay!
"Well sure, check it out." Greg calls out as he pulls out a book with a star on the front under the name 'Steven Quartz Universe'. 'Oh baby book. Cool.' I comment in my head as all four of us look at Steven's baby pictures. "Let's see, we have infant, baby, toddler… what's it called?" He asks at a picture that looks very similar to what Steven looks now.
"Adolescent."
"Thanks Marcus." He thanks and continues with the other pictures. "Adolescent, adolescent, adolescent…" Which the rest don't seem as different as what Steven looks now. "Whoa, looks like you stagnated there a little bit, buddy." Greg comments to his son.
"Mr. Universe, could I show you how the defibrillator works?" Connie asks him all of a sudden.
"Oh, uh, sure. Be right back, kiddo." He tells his son and walks away with Connie. Steven and I look at each other before glancing at his pictures again.
"Marcus could you help us out with something?" Pearl asks of me.
"Coming!" I reply and begin walking over to them but not before giving Steven a reassuring pat on his back.
Back at the Universe van, Connie and Greg get to talking.
"So he's not going to grow up?" Connie asks Steven's dad.
"Well, it's hard to say. He's a Gem, and Gems don't really grow up. I mean, I've known the Gems since I was 22, and they never change." He explains to her the best he can. "They just are what they are. But Steven's not like the other Gems, he's half-human. So, I'm not really sure how he's gonna age. We're just gonna have to wait and see." He says a little depressed at the idea. He purses his lips though as he looks at Marcus helping the gems put up some decorations. "Then again, Marcus is just like Steven and look at him. You don't see him being Steven's size at… how old is he?" He asks her.
"20. Apparently he was 18 when you all first met him when Steven was 12, so since this is his 14th birthday…"
"Right, gotcha." He says, getting exactly what she means. "Like I said, for now we'll just have to wait and see."
"Yes, right."
"Are you okay?" Greg asks the little girl in concern at her downtrodden expression.
"Yeah, yeah." She reassures him.
"Human beings?" Greg holds his hand up in a high-five as a means to comfort her.
She smiles, "Human beings." She agrees and high-fives him.
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the two of them Steven heard every word from the side of the van he was pressed up against. Hearing this bit of information starts to put thoughts into his head as to how to get himself out of this stagnated state he's in. He walks away without them or anyone else noticing.
"Perfect." Pearl says as she finishes up the bow she was making.
"Nice Pearl." I comment on her intricate work.
"Thank you."
"Now what else do we need to do?" I ask her on what's next.
"Well, the decorations are up, the cakes here, the allotted number of birthday candles indicating his age are on the cake, his presents are accounted for—"
"Ooh." I groan.
"Oh hush now. He's not going to hate you just because you didn't get him a present."
"I know… but I hate me." I go back to being depressed with my head laying on the table.
"As I was saying!" She interrupts my sulking mood. "Now all that's left is to have Steven get in his birthday suit."
"His birthday what?!" I ask loudly in surprise as I look at her.
"His birthday suit." She says again like it's no big deal. "Greg, do you have it?" She leans back in her seat as she stares past me.
"Got it right here." Turning away from Pearl, Greg places what looks like a large red cape and royal crown on the table.
I stare at is for a few seconds before looking back and forth at the two of them. "Soooooo, this is the birthday suit you were talking about?" They both nod. "Phew!" I let out a breath of air of relief. "I thought you were talking about something else. That would have been so weird and awkward."
"You wanna talk about what's weird?" Garnet asks as she comes up to us. "Is your obsession with hiding guns everywhere?" They all look at me now from her words.
"What? I have a fondness for them. And is it so bad to be have some around just in case things get dicey?" I ask her. True I haven't necessarily had to use any of my hidden weapons to take out anyone trying to fight me, but it's a necessary precaution.
Garnet doesn't believe however as she simply stares at me with the same neutral stare she's known for, before she reaches under the table and rips the 1911 I had stashed under it with tape. Pearl doesn't look surprised but Greg stares at the firearm with surprise before looking under the table and back at the piece. Their stares towards me now leave me in an awkward position.
I scratch the back of my head. "… I have a problem don't I?" They nod. "Okay." I agree as I take the pistol from her and put it in my belt.
"C'mon, let's go get Steven ready for his big day." Pearl says as she picks up his suit and goes over to him, followed by Garnet. I get up and I move to follow but the stare and crossed arms look that Greg gives me makes me stop.
"Uhhh…"
"Anymore surprises?" He asks.
I look at him for a bit before shaking my head. "No. Don't worry." I give him my best smile on the matter.
He stares at me for a bit in hopes of finding some tell that means I'm lying to him. Once he's satisfied, he turns around and goes with the others to Steven who's with Amethyst.
Once he's far enough away, I quietly but quickly reach under the seat and take the second 1911 I have stashed. Once I pull it out, I stare at the weapon before sighing. 'I really do have a problem.' I think as I put it away next to its partner on me and walk with the others.
"Is everyone ready?" Greg asks the others once they've all got what they need to surprise Steven. With nods from everyone, including Garnet who holds the giant cookie cake and Marcus drinking some juice, he smiles and knocks on the barn doors that is housing the birthday boy of the day. "Okay Steven, open up!" He signals.
At a slow rate, the barn doors open. "Surprise!" Everyone yells to Steven as they see the kid through the slowly opening doors. The surprise for Steven quickly turns to surprise and gasps for everyone else as they see just what happened.
"Wow." Garnet says.
"Oh my." So does Pearl.
"Huh?" Greg is confused at the new development for his son.
"Pffff!" Marcus spit takes his juice at seeing the kid, who right now no longer looks like a kid.
Steven smiles at everyone, pleased by their reactions to his new taller form. With new confidence, he walks out of the barn and closer to them all.
"Steven… are you feeling okay?" Pearl asks as everyone converges on him.
"Heh, you look good Steven." Garnet compliments Steven.
"Oh, eh hehehehe, thanks, Garnet." He thanks her in a slightly deeper voice.
"Whaaaaaa…?" Marcus draws out the word in confusion at seeing Steven like this, especially the voice.
"Dude, your neck!" Amethyst shouts.
"Oh, uh, what about it?" Steven asks confused.
"You have one!"
*Slap*
Marcus slaps the back of her head but continues to gape at the kid.
"So, you just grew... all of a sudden?" Connie asks curiously.
"I had a magical growth spurt, just now. Cool, right?" He explains simply and asks.
"Growth spurt?" Marcus mouths the words under his breath in confusion.
"Oh, right! It's totally cool!" Connie is happy nonetheless by the development.
"Alright then, let's get this party started." Garnet is no less perturbed about the situation and opts to blow out the candles in Steven's stead.
"Yeah, let's eat this cookie cake!" Greg is excited though to still eat the cake. While everyone goes over to the table to get ready to pass out the slices of cake, Steven and Connie go over to where she has her present for Steven, Marcus stares at the back of his brothers head with narrowed eyes.
"Hmmmm." He purses his lips in a questioning manner as he gets the feeling something is off about Steven. 'I'll keep an eye on him, just to be sure.'
After eating some of that cookie cake, it was awesome, Steven got his present for Connie, which the unbuttoned pink shirt suited him quite well, and they played some badminton, we are now inside the barn chilling out and having a small dance party to relax. While Steven, Connie, Pearl, and Amethyst are dancing Greg and Garnet are going through his music collection and I'm just sitting by and watching the events unfold. Psychologically speaking, when you watch people or hear music playing, your muscles twitch and flex as if your actually dancing, giving you the feeling and enjoyment as if you were actually dancing… except without the possibility of you possibly screwing up a move and possibly getting embarrassed.
While I bob my head to the beat of the music, I smile at everyone having the time of their lives. 'Even when we're dealing with a monster that could destroy the planet, it's nice that we can at least take the time to relax.' I think and my eyes stop on Steven dancing next to Connie. Weird thing though, he looks like he's sweating and straining with something. I keep my eyes on him to make sure everything's alright with him while he continues to have fun with Connie.
"This one goes out to the birthday boy, and his best friend." Garnet calls out to everyone before putting on another track of music. The two of them notice the music and giggle softly at it before they both begin dancing together. While I am still curious what's wrong with him, I can't help but smile at the closeness the two of them seem to show for each other.
"I still can't believe all this time you were older than me. You should sneak me into a PG-13 movie sometime." Connie proposes to him.
"Oh yeah…" Steven says and he looks like he's sweating even more.
She laughs at his embarrassed tone. "No, I'm just kidding, I would never ask you to break the law. If anything I'd ask Marcus to do it since he's so good at it."
"Thank you!" I call out and walk over to where Garnet and Pearl are.
"It's funny that I have to look up at you now though."
"Funny good or funny bad?" He fidgets at his own question.
"Funny good." She tells him before leaning on his chest.
"Aw... Steven's having fun." Pearl coos as she, Garnet and I watch from a distance, watching the two of them so close together.
"We know how to throw a party." Garnet compliments on their work.
"He he, yeah you do." I agree before turning my attention back to Steven, who suddenly decides to exit the barn for some reason in a sweaty haste. "Hmmmm." I moan curiously at his bizarre behavior.
"What's eating you?" Garnet asks me. I look back at the two of them before catching Steven just leaving the barn.
"It's… Steven."
"What about him?" Pearl asks.
"I don't know what it is but he looks different- And it's not the sudden growth." I quickly interrupt them before they point out that fact. "He just seems like he's really… straining with something but I don't know what?" I try to explain the worriness I have for my brother. "I'm just worried about him."
"He doesn't seem all that strained or worried in general." Pearl points out. "I'm sure it's just because of his birthday and all, coupled with the sudden growth spurt who knows what he's feeling. I'm sure you went through it when you had your growth spurt."
I look at her confused as to what she implies to me. "But… I didn't have one."
They both look at each other before looking back at me. "You didn't have growth spurt at his age?" Garnet asks.
"No…" I'm pretty sure of my answer but as I recall, most of my childhood wasn't exactly a pleasant one. "At least, I don't think so." I place my hand on the side of my head in hopes of trying to remember what happened when I was his age. "I can't really remember. As you know, my childhood wasn't exactly a pleasant one to be had. If I did have a growth spurt, I honestly don't remember."
"Hm, that's a shame. It would have been nice to have at least some form of information on you and Steven." Pearl says slightly depressed.
I nod along with her and notice everyone else already heading outside. "You and me both." I motion for us to go outside with the others for a more relaxed part of Steven's birthday. As we exit out of the barn, we notice Steven and Connie lying on a blanket looking at the stars and Greg and Amethyst are at the table looking especially worried about something. We head for them. "Hey you two. What's up?" I ask as we sit with them.
"Steven's been stretching himself out to make himself seem taller and more grown up."
"…" Pearl, Garnet and I look at eachother at the father's quick but blunt explanation. 'Ooooookay… wasn't expecting that right off the bat.' "I'm sorry, what now?" I ask for clarification.
"Steven's been using his shape shifting powers to stretch his body into what he looks like now. We caught him when he returned to normal but for some reason he's really stuck on this." Amethyst explains.
"He's been shape shifting?!" Pearl explains frantically but quickly quiets herself before she attracts the kid in questions attention. "But… don't you all remember what happened the last time he tried shape shifting?" She asks in a much quieter tone.
"Yeah, the cats."
I shiver a little at Greg reminding me of that incident. "Don't remind me." I groan as I remember having been thrown through the window, left to dangle precariously off the balcony, and having to tackle a giant biting cat monster into the car wash that was spraying to ever living crap out of me. "Is that why he looks like he's been straining and sweating a lot?" I ask and they nod.
"All day he's been keeping that form and we found out when he took a break." Amethyst mentions how they found out. "I like shape shifting as much as the next gem, but there's no way I can keep up a new form this long without it hurting!"
"It's true." Garnet speaks. "From all the times I remember Amethyst or any of us shape shifting for any reason, it was always in the moment or the very least no more than a few hours at most." She looks up at the slowly darkening sky. "It's been nearly an entire day."
"Plus you guys are gems!" Greg exclaims. "That's something you guys were born or made to be able to do. Not humans. And he and Marcus are only half of each." He gestures to me. "What do we do to make sure he doesn't hurt himself?" He asks everyone. We all think on just what can be done. He's right on a lot things. The gems bodies are made of a sort of hardened light construct to give them their humanistic forms and from what Pearls told me can be changed to suit their environment and planets atmosphere. Humans aren't like that and can't change at will. Shape shifting shouldn't be as harmful to the gems bodies since they were literally designed to do that but the human part is another story.
"Wait, wasn't their another time he shape shifted and we were freaking out?" Amethyst asks. We think again on any other times Steven shape shifted but the cat was the most prominent one I can remember.
'The only other time I can remember was—' My eyes widen as remember the other moment. "Oh no. Guys, remember when Steven found out about your ages and he—"
"Uhhh, guys?!" We look away towards the voice to see Connie walking over to us carrying something that is crying. She holds it out and to our surprises, we all get up out of our seats as we see a baby Steven crying. "We were just talking then all of a sudden—"
"He turned back into a baby?!" Pearl asks loudly in disbelief.
"YES!" Connie confirms.
"A baby?!" I too ask loudly in disbelief. I wasn't there to see Steven turn into an old man but seeing him a baby now is a bit freaky. "What the F—"
*Smack*
A large red hand covers my mouth before I finish my statement. My glance over to Garnet who was smart enough to take the initiative and everyone else is staring at me. "Thnmk yuu." I say in muffled voice. She nods and lets me go. "But seriously, whaaaaaaaat?" I draw out the word in confusion as I gesture with both hands to newly formed infant in front of us.
"Dude, I told you…" Amethyst takes Steven from Connie and hold him up. "Stretching your body out for that long is not good for you."
"Aba uhh oh." Steven mutters in baby talk.
"Here you go, Pearl."
"Oh, no, no, don't give him to me!" Amethyst tries to hand off baby Steven to her but she refuses almost instantly.
"Hand him over, Amethyst." Garnet instead opts to take the kid off her hands. She also removes her shades for some reason.
"Here you go." Amethyst gives Steven to her.
With Steven in her arms, the two of them stare at each other until Garnet blinks all her eyes one by one and sticks out her tongue. It doesn't have the desired effect on Steven though as he starts crying again.
"My power means nothing to an infant." She concedes and gives the infant to Greg.
"Three eyes is never normal to humans Garnet." I can't help but mention.
"Okay, this is my department."
"What are you going to do?" Connie asks the father of our group.
"Don't worry, I got this." He replies with a smile as he holds onto Steven.
"How can the Gems not know what to do?" Connie asks Greg while waving the maraca in front of Baby Steven. Greg's plan was to try to calm Steven down by driving him in his van and we opted to go with just in case. Connie sits in the front while I am sitting next to Steven in his car seat.
"You think they know the first thing about raising a baby? That was all me, but I don't get it, driving always used to calm him down." He explains. Steven continues to cry and its starting to make me really uncomfortable. 'I don't like it when baby's cry. I really don't' I think as I try rocking the car seat a little to calm him.
"But, how do we change him back?" She asks but none of us can give her an answer.
"We have no idea Connie. The first time we had to deal with something like this was when he tried to give the gems a birthday party." I explain somberly as I look at him. His crying subsides and he's sniffling now but it still hurts to see him cry regardless. "He solved that problem himself." I look down. I wasn't there to really help with what happened and all I could do was stare out the window and watch everything unfold at some points. Now though, I still feel useless.
"Yeah… I don't know… look Connie, let me take you home, I-I'll call you when this all this gets sorted out." Greg proposes we do instead.
"Whaaa uhhh." Steven baby talks in what I can assume is confusion at his dads proposition.
"W-Wait no, I wanna stay." She rejects the idea almost instantly.
"Are you sure?" Greg asks her.
"This… will probably get confusing and complicated Connie." I pitch in as well. If she wants to stay, she's gotta be sure that this may possibly end badly. 'Oh god. I hope this doesn't end badly. Please no.' I start to hyperventilate a little at the idea of something really bad happening to Steven.
"Yeah, I just want to be there for Steven." She answers sincerely and looks back at Steven. "Don't worry Steven, it doesn't matter to me what age it seems like you are, I wanna hang out with you no matter what. Your dad still has his carwash and the gems have to do gem stuff so I'll watch you when they're not around. I can come see you after I'm done training with Pearl too. Doesn't that sound fun?" I smile at her words as she tells Steven what could happen in the future. He smiles and coos happily as she holds onto Connie's finger.
"She's right Steven." I get off my seat and kneel on the floor so I can look more directly at Steven. "Listen, never forget that you're not alone in this. Your never alone to go through with whatever problems that may arise." I look down a moment, trying to come up with a proper response before I take in a deep breath and look at him. "Steven… I don't know how long our age life is. We could live forever like the gems, we could live as long as a human, or live only twice as long, but I know one thing for sure, without a doubt…" I take one of us little hands in my own. He stares at me with stars in his eyes as I give him my most sincerest smile yet. "You're my brother Steven. It doesn't matter to me that we aren't related by blood. Blood means nothing to me as its your actions that I care most about." I smirk at him. "And you Steven, have wormed your way into the deepest parts of my heart. I'll always help you, my brother, as long as you remain true to yourself." Already I can feel myself tearing up, but I continue regardless. "Me, Connie, your dad…" I look at the two of them to see Connie staring back at us and Greg staring at the rearview mirror, both smiling. "Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, we all will be there for you Steven. Never forget that."
Baby Steven in front of me coos happily just like with Connie and takes my finger as well into his. My heart lifts at the action. I wipe my eyes with my free hand and continue to smile at him.
"Wow, nicely done Marcus." I hear Greg compliment me.
"Beautiful speech." Connie compliments me too. "He's right Steven." Connie adds for the little guy.
I blush at their words as I take a seat again. "Hehe, yeah. I try. Thanks."
"And look at that you two, he finally stopped crying." Greg points out to us and it's true. Now instead of crying, he has a smile on his face.
"Yeah, it's a start." Connie says. Now we just need to get him back to normal but for now, we take a moment to relax.
"Ahem."
For the moment. "What's up, Amethyst?" Greg asks the carseat. 'Oh yeah, I forgot she changed into that.'
"Baby Steven needs changin'."
"Not it!" I immediately deny diaper change duty.
"Aw come on Marcus!" Greg complains. "Your right next to him." He points out.
"No I'm not." I retort.
"Marcus," Connie shakes her head. "Your literally…" She looks back to her surprise sees he's not in fact there but the back doors click closed. "Not there. Where did he—"
*Tap*Tap*
"Aaah!" Greg cries out in surprise at a hand tapping the windshield.
"Yo." I call out from my position on the roof of the van. The two humans look at the window in surprise before looking back at Amethyst and Steven.
"How did he do that?" Greg asks out loud. Amethyst, despite being a car seat, shrugs the arm rests like she would her shoulders. Even Steven in his baby state shrugs his shoulders like he doesn't know. All in all, it was a pretty calm ride back to the barn being on the roof.
By the time we got back it was already pretty late in the day and getting really dark. While the gems decided to get to work on removing all the decorations and cleaning up after Steven's party, us humans and semi-humans went to sleep. The stress of being worried about Steven all day didn't leave me with a preferred amount of time to get some sleep. I only got like less than half a dozen hours of sleep in the barn. Greg took his van and Steven and Connie took a tent. He was still a baby when we all went to sleep so I could only hope things would get better for him. The gems told me how close and dangerous he was to possibly dying of old age the first time he had problems with his age and now, who knows what'll happen? Will he turn back into a fetus or something?
"God damn." I groan from my place on the silo. After I woke prematurely than I preferred and couldn't get back to sleep, I decided to go ahead and get up and look around. The sun was just barely peeking over the hills so it gave the sky a beautiful orange bright glow to it and the smell of morning dew relaxed me a little. Not wanting to interrupt or wake anyone else, I went ahead and left for the silo away from everyone so I can get an alright view and lay of the land. Being so high up on top of the silo, there was a sense of calm that swept over me as I stared at the countryside around me and at the slowly rising sun. Since I've been back, I've had to constantly work and keep working on the drill and pretty much anything else we might need for when the situation called for it. Now that I have a moments rest that didn't involve me working on something, I calmly breathe in and out before taking out my Colt Anaconda. Holding the weapon in my hand, a new thought goes through my mind.
'I can't keep feeling sorry or hopeless for myself anymore.' I think as I flip open the cylinder and close it again after seeing the empty chambers. 'I was alone for so long, felt like I was nothing… but now…' I look back to see everyone already up and starting to walk around. My new family. 'I'm not alone. I have people I care about. People who care about me!' An image of a smiling Lapis flashes into my mind. 'People who need me! I can't ever do something like that ever again!' With gritted teeth and a firm grip on the handle of my gun as I remember moments I had with this gun, I rear my arm back and prepare to chuck it as far as I can.
"Marcus?" A voice stops me. Looking to the right, I see Steven on the silo with Connie right behind me. What surprises me so much but also gives me such relief is the fact that Steven is back to normal, while also wearing the shirt Connie gave him.
"Steven!" I exclaim happily as I see him normal again. "You're back to normal!"
"Haha, yeah I am." He says as he walks over and sits next to me with Connie as well.
"What are you doing up here anyway?" She asks.
"And why did it look like you were going to throw your gun?" Steven asks too. Looking at the gun still in my hand, I look at it for a second before I sigh and put it away.
"Just… just tired, angry and confused about some stuff." I elect to say instead.
"Oh, okay." Steven is somewhat satisfied with the answer.
"Is that why you're up here? To think?" Connie asks as she momentarily looks down to the ground before quickly scooting back and gripping Steven's arm. I nod yes at her question.
"Do you want us to go?"
"No no. It's fine that you're here." I reject Steven's offer for them to go. "Seeing you back to normal lifted a weight off my shoulders."
"That's good." He replies before silence falls over us. No one says anything as we just decide to take in the view around us for a bit. "I'm sorry I made you all worry. I just wanted to be older than I already was."
"Ah don't worry about it. Your back to normal with no permanent damage. That's the important part."
"He's right Steven. Your alright now. Plus you got that neat facial hair." Connie points out.
"Huh?" I ask confusion. Looking at Steven, he points to a tiny strand of hair that just barely appearing on his face. "Oh wow. Nice man."
"Yeah, I think so too." He replies with a smile, no doubt proud and happy at the first sign in a long time that he's growing up. "Hey Marcus?"
"What's up?"
"What do you think makes us grow?" He asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for awhile I was just, stuck like this." He gestures to himself. "And here you are so much taller like an adult. Yeah you are older than me but… just what do you think makes you and me grow?" He asks.
"That's a good question." Connie joins in as well.
For awhile, I try to remember exactly what it was in the past that has warranted my growth over the years. When I was Steven's age, I wasn't his height but possibly taller. Then again, my whole life things weren't exactly in the best place for me at all. "Experience." I decide finally. "I think it's when we go through life and its challenges. As it stands, my life as I grew up wasn't exactly… the best, or supportive, not like yours Steven. You had plenty of people to take care of and nurture you but me? I had to take care of myself from an early age."
The two of them look at me as I give the vaguest description of my childhood. "Ohh." Steven looks down from my words.
"Now listen Steven." I turn to him fully and make sure he's looking at me. "That shouldn't matter to you and it doesn't matter to any of us. You've still got a lot of your life ahead of you and you will have plenty of chances to get some experience. But I also want to make one thing clear to you…" I place my hands on both sides of his face, making sure his attention is fully set on me and he ears what I am going to say. "I will never, let you deal with what I've experienced my whole life. I will NOT let you have even as close life as I had Steven. Okay?" I tell and ask him in the most firm and serious tone I can give him. If my experiences in the past have brought me to what I am today, then I will not let my brother deal with what I've dealt with at all. Not if I have anything to say about it.
He looks at me surprised at the seriousness of my tone with him but he gives me a firm nod. "Okay." With a smile, I let him go. Before I fully move away from him, he grabs my hand with his, "Brother."
My smile turns into a grin as I grab him in a hug. "Thank you." I say before putting him down.
"You're welcome." He replies and we look to his right to see Connie beginning to go down the ladder. She stares at us awkwardly as we caught her just climbing onto the ladder.
"I didn't want to interrupt."
"Connie get up here!" I demand with a smile and a wave and she does so. Sitting back down, we go back to staring at the sunrise for a bit again.
After a few minutes of staring, a groan interrupts our quiet moment. "I'm hungry." Steve says.
"Me too."
"I think there's some cake left."
"Cake for breakfast?" Connie asks me incredulously. I give her a shrug as we stares at each other before she shrugs too. "Sure why not."
"Great! I'll go get it." I say as I push myself off the top of the silo.
"MARCUS! ARE YOU—"
*Slam*
I land on the ground hard, cracking the dirt around me but overall I'm still good before I jog away to get some cake.
"… I forgot he can do that."
Steven chuckless before both he and Connie go down the ladder.
New chapter down. Sorry if some of you were expecting 'The Answer' but since that was mostly a flashback episode for Steven, their wasn't much I could add to devote an entire chapter to it. In the future I may expand on what happened in the flashback but I'm not too sure. As I stated before, the rating is going to be set back to M when this chapter was going to be released. Anyway, this chapter was alright to write. From what I can tell nothing too big went on here but I like the sentimental moments Marcus had with Steven and other moments he had as well.
Also I want to go ahead and mention my random guess at what point in the season 1 was Steven's first birthday. The 'Too Many Birthdays' episode I don't recall it being Steven's birthday but more so his attempt at the gems birthdays but I digress. The wiki though does say that Steven Universe was originally 12 years old in season 1 and 13 in season 1 and 2. Don't know exactly when his first birthday was and if anyone has any concrete proof I wouldn't mind being informed of what's what you know? Regardless, I'm excited for the next set of chapters for this story because they'll touch up on some pretty heavy and interesting issues and moments, from the moon base, the drill, Lapis coming back, the Ruby's and so on. After the next round of chapters for my other stories, it's possible I may go on another binge of chapter's writing for 'A Tale of A Jade' but I'm not sure. There's also the problem of school starting up again so that'll take up some time again. Hopefully not as much with the classes I'll be taking but we'll see.
Now onto other matters. I've recently gotten back to playing XCOM 2. Reason being is because when I first got the game after the first couple weeks it was released, I never finished it. Something would 0always come up that would warrant me to completely forgo the campaign playthrough I was playing and just start over. New graphics card for my PC, new mods added, new patch, things have gone bad for my soldiers and so on. Recently I figured out that the main reason why I went through FIVE separate campaigns without finishing them was because of the multitude of the mods I had added. It's because of them that made the playthrough sort of more difficult but also interesting is what left me sort of unfilled to finish it when I never finished the base part in the first place. For the past week I've been playing on a new campaign with no mods added and I'm determined to finish it before I go crazy with adding mods again. It's why my progress has been somewhat slow going this week since I've been focusing the majority of my attention on beating a game that's been sitting in my library for awhile now. It's time I get it finished.
Bare with me please on that as I feel like it'll be maybe just less than a week till I beat it.
Anyway, thank you all for your patience, have a great day and have fun reading.
