Hi there, I'm here with like my lomgest chapter yet but I think that has mostly to do with (spoiler alert? I don't think it matters though, it's not plot heavy) Steven's bedtime story which I decided against completing it, but more on that later.
Anyway, let's get into today's chapter then!
-=Three Hours Later=-
-=Steven/Pearl=-
The teen shot up in his bed as he looked around, noticing Pearl who was seemingly waiting for him. The next thing he noticed was that he was holding onto Spinel's gem, it seemingly being left in his hands while he was unconscious.
Pearl was hesitant at first was quick wrapped her arms around him after shaking off the unwanted feeling of...fear? "Are you feeling better? I was close to calling Dr. Maheswaran again." She said with a sigh, careful on how tightly she held him, unsure if he was hurt or not.
"No- I...I'll be alright." He said, looking down at Spinel's gem. The memories of what happened came flooding back. He did this...she trusted him to make sure nothing bad happened...and he did this to her. Did he really only exist to bring pain and suffering to those unfortunate enough to become associated with him?
"Steven...I know you must be upset about what happened to Spinel," Pearl began as she let him go, thinking to herself, "that much was obvious..." before going back to trying to help him feel better. "and I know what you're thinking, but it's not your fault." She reassured him, knowing that the first thing he would do is feel like this was his doing.
"But it is...I'm the one who convinced her to do this, I'm the one who told it to fix anything 'wrong' with her, I'm the one who let it reset her, and I'm the one who almost killed all three of us because I couldn't control my temper. Why? Why is it when bad things happen, it's always because of me? I don't want to hurt anyone and I don't want anyone to get hurt...but somehow, when someone is associated with me or my mother they either get hurt, hurt me, or both!" He ranted, holding her gem closely, closing his eyes tightly.
"Steven, that's not true at all. Me, Garnet and Amethyst have been apart of your life for over fifteen years now and all you've done is help us and keep us safe," Pearl argued, hating that he was associating himself with the pain of others.
"In just the last two years, I caused a war and rebellion on homeworld, I got Spinel reset, I drove Jasper to choose corruption over help, I abandoned all of you here while I went to homeworld, I threw Eyeball into space, I've put Beach City in danger quite a few times, I destroyed Fun Land, I've messed up our missions to nearly the point of failure time and time again, putting you all in danger, I've gotten a bunch of my friends nearly kidnapped, and I put my friends in danger a bunch of other times as well...I'm just all around bad to be around, I wouldn't be surprised if Spinel wanted nothing to do with me...if she were even here anymore." He said, now on the verge of tears at the realization that he might never see his best friend ever again, that he might never find the answer to how he felt and if he did, he wouldn't be able to share it with her.
"Steven, you're not bad at all! You've done so much more good than anything! You went to homeworld and freed all the gems from the hold of the Diamonds, you changed the Diamonds into good guys, you are the sole reason that all the gems in little homeworld are now uncorrupted, you saved the half of the townspeople when Aquamarine and Topaz came, you saved your dad from that zoo, you stoped the cluster without having to shatter it, you saved us from Jasper and Peridot, you brought back the world's ocean, you saved Lapis from her mirror and you've redeemed gem after gem." She argued. "And don't think for a second that Spinel would be upset with you, because you saved her too."
"But what does it matter if she'd be upset with me or not when I probably won't even get to see her again, much less apologize to her?" He questioned as he leaned his forehead against her gem. "I just want her to at least know how sorry I am..."
With that, the crystalline heart began to float in the air, a nearly blinding light shining before a small pink gem flew from inside the light and onto Steven. The hybrid let out of 'oof' as he caught the unexpected gem.
She was back in her old get up, the one he first saw her in at the garden, just cleaner. "U-Um...Spinel?" He questioned, wondering just how bad this was.
"That my name, don't wear it out." She laughed in a higher pitched and overly happy voice. Steven, needless to say, was confused, already finding this new and energetic Spinel to be kind of polar opposite to his Spinel's usual self...wait, his Spinel? He had never used a possessive term like that for anyone.
"Do you...remember me?" He asked hesitantly, fearing he would get the answer that he didn't want, he could feel his heart rate rising in anticipation. "Stress rising: 50%" The voice of his gem spoke, much to Steven's annoyance.
"Hmmm... Nope, but that's okay! As your best friend, I'll will make sure to make many memories with you, so be sure to ask me again at some point!" She responded with a smile, not moving from on top of him as she bounced around, seemingly unable to keep still for a second.
"Stress levels rising: 85%" It reminded him, when in reality it was only making Steven more stressed and annoyed to hear it every few second. "You're not helping." He said lowly with gritted teeth, Spinel eyeing him with a confused look while Pearl watched closely as she was thinking he was talking to Spinel at first.
"Stress levels rising: 97%." It warned, seemingly ignoring his previous comment. "No, stop it. Shut up..." He warned, raising his voice slightly as he clenched his fists, Pearl coming to realize it wasn't Spinel as she had been quiet since the last time he spoke.
"Stress levels rising: 98%- recommendation: blow off some steam." It continued, not aware that it was the cause of this. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Steven continued as he pulled on his hair out of frustration, leaving Pearl concerned.
"Umm...I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" Spinel questioned, feeling bad about annoying her best friend right after she first met him as well as a hint of fear and the need to run. Steven felt a twinge of sympathy when he looked to her. "S-Spinel, no, I wasn't talking to you- don't worry." He reassured her. "You're not doing anything wrong."
"Stress levels rising: 99%- Allowing yourself to get to 100% will damage those around you and yoursel-" It began to warn him but he had seemingly had enough. "I SAID SHUT UP!" He demanded; his voice distorting and overlapping itself as a burst of energy sent Pearl flying back and Spinel floating over him along with most things in the area.
The bed was in dire need of repairs now, as was the glass, but at least Spinel seemed to be having fun as she was just floating and giggling, seemingly unaware of his anger and forgetting the thought that he was talking to her as the fun of zero gravity was an easy distraction for her. Steven opened his eyes and for a split second, you could swear he had diamond shaped pupils on his own, but thankfully enough he came down when his eyes opened to see Spinel, she was upside down and floating in the air inches from his face with an innocent smile.
The stuff around him that was floating dropped immediately, Steven, who was now madly blushing and feeling weak, made sure to catch Spinel before she got hurt. He looked around with worry in his eyes until he saw Pearl who was getting back onto her feet.
"P-Pearl, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" He tried apologizing to his mother figure who was now making her way over to Steven with her own look of concern.
"S-Spinel, can you do us a favor and sit outside that door so I can talk to Steven privately?" Pearl requested, motioning the glass door that she didn't realize was destroyed at first.
The pink gem latched onto the boy as she seemed upset by the suggestion. "No! You can't make me!" She shouted with clear panic and even anger in her voice.
Steven gave a sigh before coming to a realization. "It's ok Pearl, I'm sure whatever it is, she won't understand to the point that it needs to be a private conversation." Steven reassured her. "But once you're done here I think I'm on to something."
"W-well that's very nice and all Steven but...I think it's time we address the elephant in the room." Pearl responded carefully.
"Heh, what's an elephant?" Spinel giggled, assumably still all giggly over what happened earlier. "Ooo, is it this thing?" She questioned, picking up one of Steven's figures that was now on the floor from earlier, assuming that the 'elephant' was in this room as she had suggested.
The hybrid decided to get on with Pearl's conversation and get it over with instead of indulging the child-like gem. "I assume you mean that back there?" He asked, seemingly not wanting to touch the subject.
"Steven, back at the upgrade center...what was that voice?" She questioned him, her first worry being the fact that he was hearing voices now.
Steven felt his stomach flip but he found this to be the perfect time to tell her without Spinel hearing and freaking out as well. "Fine, I'll tell you, but you have to promise me that you'll stay calm, cause if you don't, I won't tell you anything more than that. And I mean anything."
This was enough to make her worry already. Something happened that he was hiding from her? Something that she would be overwhelmingly upset about? "Right, I promise to try to be level headed."
"Alright then... I didn't forget what happened to me back on homeworld." He confessed, having previously told her that he didn't remember a thing from back then except having to fight Jasper. Pearl was obviously surprised that he would lie to her like that, but assumed there was a reason...a reason she was apparently about to find out.
"So back on homeworld, Jasper and I fought, and unfortunately she won, this much you know. Well, when I woke up, I was in a cell and there was a restraint on my gem; I couldn't use my powers to escape. After me realizing that, Jasper walked in with a couple other gems, she went on about how they were going to bring back the original Pink Diamond and I spit in her eye and kicked her face, which only made her mad, resulting in her punching me in the chest and breaking some ribs...and apparently puncturing a lung." He began to explain solemnly.
Pearl was trying to remain calm on the surface, but on the inside she was fuming. She wanted nothing more than to go to homeworld and fight Jasper at this time, but that helped her see why Steven made her promise to stay calm.
"After that...well, she ripped out my gem." He said, Pearl being unable to keep a shocked gasp in. "Now, after that, Rose didn't come back and neither did Pink...but it was like a pink version of me. He took out everyone by just shouting and came back over to me..." Steven ave a sigh as he knew this next part would be the heavy hitter. "Pearl... I died that day... I was resuscitated by him...but I was dead in a way that no human doctor could fix. My heart had stopped and my brain had shut down as well."
She didn't know what to say or what to do. She couldn't believe that her baby had died at some point...Jasper had killed him. She looked down to him with tears in her eyes as she put her arms around his shoulders, even Spinel seemed to be upset despite not knowing the gravity of the situation. "Steven... I had no idea... I can't believe this." She said, seemingly struggling to hold back sobs.
"It's ok, I'm still here and I'm alive. I'm just glad I was able to tell someone about this, it was honestly becoming a lot to have to deal with by myself, even if I had pushed it to the back of my mind." He said with a faint smile as he hugged her back. "But um, the voice...well that's my gem speaking to me and giving really annoying warnings and recommendations. Anyway, with the stress of Spinel being reset and him constantly reminding me about how I'm too stressed and should do something about it which only made me more stressed, I guess that was the burst of anger or something that comes when I hit '100 percent'?... I don't know, it's all really confusing."
"So, is that what happened when we were Rainbow Quartz?" She asked, wiping tears away as she pulled back, just trying to be there for the teen instead of working herself up over what had happened any more than she already had. "It left you in shambles."
"No, he calls that 'boosted mode' or something; I guess it's when my powers go into overdrive compared to what they are now, but what we did back there surprised even me." He explained. "Anyway, apparently when that happens, I will black out half of the time and I need food and water afterward." He said, slowly coming to realize just how hungry and thirsty he was.
"Well in that case, please just sit here and relax, I'll call Bismuth up so she can fix your bed and door while I make you something to eat." Pearl offered quickly, seemingly still upset but not wanting to loose her composure in front of him. She got up from the mattress that was now basically on the floor and held her hands together tightly. "Th-thank you for confiding in me."
"Thanks for listening." She responded with somewhat of a smile as she began to walk away. "Wait- Can you make two plates of pancakes, two glasses of orange juice, and a glass of milk?" He requested. "I want to try something, so I'll need enough for Spinel as well."
"Ooo, I get to be apart of this too? Is it some kind of game?" The aforementioned gem questioned with a smile, receiving a light chuckle from Steven. "That's right, it's called eating." He responded.
"Alright then, I'll leave you to fix this seeing as you seemingly have it figured out; Bismuth will be by soon." Pearl informed him without turning back, giving a small wave as she walked down the stairs.
"So, I guess you still don't remember anything, huh?" He asked with a sigh as he looked her in the eyes, thinking if he stared hard enough or peered deep enough...he'd see the real her. He knew he had to be able to get through to her based on her reaction when told to leave him for a little bit, and he knew that making her remember that pain would more than likely trigger her return, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to her...no, there had to be another way to get her back.
"Hm? You keep asking if I remember things, did something happen?" She questioned him with a tilt of her head, seemingly not having picked up on his earlier comment about her being reset.
He gave a sigh, he didn't want to worry or pressure her, so he just gave her half the story. "Don't worry, you just seem to be forgetting a few things, I have an idea on how to help you remember so don't stress yourself out too much."
"Hm, if you say so." She said with her usual innocent smile and a shrug. "So, when are we gunna play eating?" She questioned as she hopped up and started looking around for other things to play with in the meantime.
He gave a friendly chuckle, unable to imagine his Spinel coming from this, though his mood turned around when he realized just how bad it had to of been for her to change her from this innocent and overly happy little gem into the mentally scarred and emotionally traumatized gem he knew. "Soon. Pearl is setting it up right now."
"Oh yay!" She said, giving even more laughter as she stretched her arms around the hybrid and lifted him out of his broken bed. "So what do you wanna do while we wait?" The energetic little gem asked enveloping him in a hug.
Steven gave a slight blush as he set his hand on her head and moved her slightly away from him, having to remind himself that this wasn't the gem he knew and cared for, not that he didn't care for this Spinel it it just wasn't...his Spinel. "Umm, we can play a video game while we wait." He offered as he remember just how much she got into gaming before she was reset.
"Ooo, what's that?" She asked curiously, holding a finger to her chin, proving to be too adorable for him to handle. The teen made his way over to his thankfully (and surprisingly) undamaged television that held his GameStation2 in the cabinet underneath it.
"Well, you basically control characters on a screen to solve puzzles and fight bad guys, or your friends if you want." He said as he hooked it up and handed her a controller. "So, what kind of game do you wanna play?"
"Wait- why would you wanna fight your friends? That's not friendship, that's mean, you shouldn't hurt your friends." She said, trying to act serious and cross her arms but that only made her look even cuter.
"Don't worry, you're not actually fighting your friends," Steven reassured her with another laugh. "Think of it as a challenge- like hide and seek or tag, only you're trying to have your character attack your friend's character until they can't fight anymore."
"Ooohhh, so like sparring?" She asked, seemingly relieved that she wouldn't actually have to fight her new best friend. "I think I get it."
"I guess you could say it's like that, just less actually hurting someone and more like controlling people in a video to see who's the best at controlling the characters." He tried to explain in a way a homeworld gem could understand. "It's more a game of mind and skill than actual strength."
"Alright, I understand then." She said, giving a thumbs up and a smile while sticking her tongue out to make a playful and silly face in hopes to entertain her friend. Steven just gave a slight chuckle as he handed her a controller. "In that case, let's try one of those games." She agreed, assuming that he wanted to play it because he chose to explain it.
"Alright then, I'll teach you the controls and we can get into it." He nodded as he put in Lonely Blade III unbeknownst to him that it was rated M for blood and gore. "You should choose Lonely Blade, he's the protagonist of the game and in my opinion the best character."
She responded with a giggle as she looked over the characters. "Nah, that's ok, I don't know about this as much as you do, so you should play as the character you like the most." She said as she landed on a skeletal man dressed in black robes and holding a scythe. "Ooo, this one looks fun, I'll be them." She said, but paused as she felt a twinge in her gem as she looked at the weapon. She decided it was nothing and picked that character.
"Well- If that's who you would like to be, be my guest." He agreed with a smile of his own. "I was right, this isn't completely hopeless! She might actually be able to remember her old self!" He theorized happily in his head as he chose his character.
As soon as they got into the game, Steven paused it for her to show her the controls menu. "So, basically you use that button to jump, the other to kick, that one to block, and that one for hitting and the last one is for using your weapon. You use that stick to move back and forth and you can enter in any of these button combinations down below to do special moves."
"I see... alright then let's play." She said, grabbing her controller and getting ready to play the game. "I've never played anything like this before, so I'm excited to try."
"Wait- So you remember playing games then?" He asked, intrigued on what the rejuvenation didn't erase and what it could be that she was able to hold onto.
"Well, now that I think about it, no...but I feel like I remember playing other games..." She said, giving a puzzled look as she tried to remember where she felt those memories from despite not actually having them, but that only resulted in a feeling of pain deep in her gem. She put on the best smile she could and gave a shrug. "Oh well, let's play."
"R-Right." He nodded, adding that to his list of things that could be of use in bring her back to normal. He unpaused the game, deciding he would go easy on her till she was comfortable with the game and character. That much was a mistake, she started off just throwing his character around like nothing, hitting combos he thought to be nearly impossible to remember.
Even when he used his full skill he couldn't land anything more than a few hits on her before he found himself stuck in another combo attack, amazed at her skill despite the fact that she literally just started playing. "Wow, you're really good at this."
In a couple minutes she had won the round. Being offered the chance to do a finisher, she recalled seeing a certain list of button combinations that was under the word: finishers, so she entered in the first one that came to mind. Her character pulled his scythe out and spun it around at blinding speeds before letting go and allowing it to hit Lonely Blade, slicing the hero in half, showing all the blood and gore such and action would naturally offer.
Steven gave a chuckle and was about to congratulate her on her win before she gave a panicked scream, rushing to the television, holding her hand inches from the screen but not daring to touch it. "Spinel, what's wrong?" Steven questioned her, becoming concerned that something might be wrong with her.
She looked back to him and to his surprise, she was crying. "S-Steven, I made him kill your human!" She sobbed much to his confusion. "I'm s-s-sorryyyy." She apologized as she latched onto him.
After a few seconds it hit him, "she thinks this is real, doesn't she?" He thought letting a small smile come to his lips. "Hey, don't worry, it's perfectly fine." He said as he set a comforting hand on her head, something about it just naturally calming her down slightly.
"B-But I killed him..." She whimpered, burying her head into his chest. "I'm a bad gem! We were just playing and I killed him!"
"Hey now, that's not true. You're not a bad gem at all, he didn't really die." He tried to sooth her, running his hand through her hair as her sobs came down to slight hiccups.
"R-really? He's ok?" She asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes, glancing back to the screen that was now announcing the win of player two. "He doesn't look ok..."
Steven was going to tell her that none of them are real, but for now he decided that telling her they're fictional people would only upset her more. "Well, he comes back later; in their world, you respawn after something like this happens, right now he's just taking a break until he's chosen to fight again- you know, like a gem."
"Really? He's still alive?" She questioned, her mood seeming to lighten up ever so slightly. "But, doesn't that hurt him? That looked really painful."
"Don't worry, he doesn't feel a thing." He reassured her with a smile. "Here, I'll bring him back to prove it." The hybrid said, letting go of her much to her disappointment and grabbing his controller, starting a new game with the same characters. "See? Lonely Blade is standing there perfectly fine."
"I guess, but wouldn't him having to live through death really hurt his mind too? I still feel bad for putting him through that." She said hesitantly, not sure if she could even find the will to lift up her controller again.
He gave a small sigh, wondering if this was her way of trying to talk about his conversation with Pearl earlier, or if he was just looking into it too much. "Don't worry, he's gone through it many times and at this point it's just an every day thing, he isn't bothered by it seeing as he always comes back and he never feels a thing." He continued to make up this imaginary world like a parent telling their kid about Santa for the first time.
"That's horrible, no one should ever have to get used to that." Spinel responded, her kind nature refusing to let her just accept the 'fact' that this 'person' has to go through this.
"Alright, tell you what, I'll change the game mode and make everything ok and make sure no one has to 'die'." Steven promised as he returned to the main menu and went to the options screen to turn off blood and gore. This was a feature added that allowed a more child friendly game but unfortunately made the finishers kind of boring, as how the scythe would've gone through Lonely Blade before, now it just cuts him multiple times until he's unconscious, and even then there's no blood. Steven didn't mind though, overly violent games weren't Steven's style anyway, it didn't appeal to him.
"Wait- there's a way to make it so no one has to die and it's just a choice that you have to go searching for? What kind of monsters would make game rules like that?" Spinel complained, surprising Steven when he realized this was the first time her response to something wasn't just smiles and laughter, in fact it was a mild anger despite the cute pouty look she had.
"Hey, don't worry about it; the characters all knew what they were getting in to and gladly agreed because they thought it was fun as long as they couldn't really die." Steven continued building this false world for Spinel, now that he was in too deep to tell her he was lying. "No one was forced into doing anything, but if it will make you happy, they have just as much fun without the dying part." He offered as he started a new family friendly round...well as family friendly as you could get with a fighting game like this.
Spinel was hesitant to play again, but once she played (and won) she was joyous once more upon seeing that no one was killed this time around. The two of them continued playing, Bismuth even coming up at some point, seemingly confused on how this mess would've happened. Stecen insisted he take a break and help where he could, nit taking no for an answer. Bismuth was insanely fast at fixing everything and Steven thanked her for her help and apologized for making her come up to fix everything before he went back to playing with Spinel.
About ten minutes and six rounds later Spinel started to loose round after round, almost always offering a sentence like 'oh shoot, I lost again- guess you're just too good at this' and other lines that lead him to the conclusion, "she's throwing the game now? Spinel was always very competitive when we played before she was...reset. I almost never won."
"Hey, you know it's ok to win, right? You were doing so well for most of the game, why start letting me win now?" He asked with a raised brow.
"Oh, you noticed huh?" She asked with a slight frown. "Well it's no fun if I'm constantly winning; I just want my best friend to enjoy himself too, ya know?" She responded, that smile returning once again.
"Well there's a few problems with that. One: if I'm always just getting pity wins, I can't feel good about any wins I might actually earn cause I'll just assume you let me win. Secondly: I'm having fun even if I loose, I mean the competition hardly matters when playing with your friend, right?" He explained to the confused gem. "And third off: it's no fun for you when you have to throw the game constantly, so just relax and enjoy yourself."
"But...my whole purpose is to entertain you, it was selfish of me to even take the win as many times as I did in the first place, I just got overexcited at the new game you were teaching me..." She explained, her smile falling as she spoke, fidgeting with her gloves absentmindedly.
The hybrid just gave a sigh as he thought back to all the times when Spinel had to sacrifice her own enjoyment so his mother would be happy. "Anger rising: th-" Steven was quick to interrupt the voice this time. "Will you stop that?! You constantly telling me how I feel is what makes me even more angry and annoyed!"
He came back to reality when Spinel had jumped behind his bed with his comforter, hiding from...from him... "I-I'm sorry, I just assumed you were having fun now..." She said timidly as she peeked from behind her hiding spot.
"Wait- Spinel, I wasn't talking to you." Steven tried to reassure her as he reached out to her but she just pulled her head back into his blanket out of fear. The hybrid looked down at his hand, thinking back to the time when he witnessed one of his mothers fits of anger when denied a colony. "No...I can't be like this...I'm never quick to anger...what's going on?"
Pearl had finally made her way upstairs with two very full plates of food as well as all the requested beverages on a tray. "Sorry I took so long, I had to go out for ingredients and-...Um...what's going on here? Am I interrupting something?..." She questioned the teen as she glanced over to the poorly hidden and frightened Spinel.
"I-it's nothing...could you just set it all on the table? I want to talk to Spinel in private." He requested as he motioned to said table. "We can talk about things later, but for now, I'd just like to try and help my friend."
"Very well, just...be careful, you wouldn't want to be the one to hurt her this time." Pearl warned as she made her way over to the table and set everything down. She then turned to look between the two of them and made her way out the door.
"Spinel, I promise I wasn't shouting at you." Steven said gently as he sat on his bed, being careful to not get too close. "Do you remember what I told Pearl about earlier? How I had this little voice in my head that would talk to me every now and again?"
She peeked out from inside the blankets, giving him a small nod. "Well, you see, that voice tries to tell me how I should and shouldn't feel about things, and it becomes very annoying. Ao while it may seem I'm shouting at you, I promise I'm not mad. Plus, we can start eating now, the food is ready." He said as he offered her a hand.
She looked over to the stuff that Pearl set up on the table. "Food? What's that?" She questioned as she glanced back to the hand he offered her.
"We need it for eating, don't worry, I promise you'll like it." He said, waiting patiently for her to accept or refuse his offer to join him. Thankfully enough, she chose to accept it, stretching her arm out and grabbing his hand hesitantly as she dropped the blanket.
"I'm sorry, I was being pretty difficult for you just then...I'm not even sure why I felt so scared, you don't really seem like the type to hurt others...I guess it was just some kind of instinctual reaction I had." She responded as she made her way over to his side, Steven feeling his anger stir once again just at the thought of what that might have meant about his mother and Spinel's relationship, but to his surprise and relief there was no voice to tell him anything.
He lead her over to where Pearl left the food and drinks, thinking about how often he was getting upset lately as well as all the stuff his mother did coming into light all at once. "Alright, so what you do here is you take the fork and knife and you slice into the circle; it's called a pancake."
She did as instructed while mirroring his movements. "Oh wow, look, I did it." She grinned as she held up the fork that now held a slice of the stack of pancakes. "I'm gunna be the master of eating." She declared confidently.
"Heheheh, very good Spinel, now you gotta put it in your mouth, chew, and swallow." He told her before giving her visual instructions once again just like the first time they did this. She of course followed his instructions to the tee and gave a look of joy before she began eating faster.
"Well hey now, try and savor it, dip it in the extra syrup that pools at the bottom of the stack, I think you'll find eating to be a lot better when you take your time to enjoy it." He said before he took another bite.
The smaller pink gem headed his advice as she slowed down on how much she shoveled into her mouth at once, and as he said, it was a lot better this way. Once she swallowed her next bite she saw Steven drinking his orange juice from a glass cup. "Hey-wusdat?" She asked with a mouthful as she stretched herself closer to him so she could inspect the drink.
"It's orange juice, you have some next to your plate too." The hybrid pointed out, gesturing to the cup that was placed on her end of the table. "Go ahead, try some. It's like eating, but you just pour it into your mouth and you don't chew, just swallow it." He explained.
Spinel gave a shrug as she picked the glass up and tilted her head back before pouring it all into her open mouth, a foot or so away from said mouth. She gulped it down much to his surprise, not even giving a sour look once. "Um...did you like it? Remember, you can be honest."
"Oh, well if I'm being honest, not really; I just saw that you liked it and...well I thought if you thought I liked it, it would be a new connection between us; something that we both enjoy." She admitted as she set the cup down with a smile. "Sorry."
"Hey, you don't have to apologize for everything." He let her know before he took a gulp of his drink and pushed the glass of milk towards her. "Go ahead and try that, I'm sure you'll like it better. Oh, and you don't have to dump it all into your mouth at once; if you like it, you should savor it- just like the pancakes."
Spinel gave a nod, this time deciding to do what Steven was doing as to help her drink it down slower. She found nothing extraordinary about the taste, but it was better than the juice so she decided to just drink that. Steven was discouraged that this dinner didn't pull a reaction from her, he expected her to at least remember something from that day.
The two of them ate, Spinel deciding to tell a few jokes and juggle a few items when she noticed Steven's down mood but he reassured her that he was ok. He didn't want to tell her about what was really going on because she would think he doesn't want her around because she's not her old self, and as he had already promised himself, he wouldn't bring her back through hurt or pain of any kind.
Later that night, Steven decided to reintroduce her to sleeping hoping that something would come out of her unconscious mind to help her remember, though he still stuck by his decision to not make her remember through fear and hurt, letting her sleep by his side just in case she still had those nightmares in her subconscious.
He made sure to tuck her in and get her as comfortable as possible. "What are we doin' now?" She asked, slightly squirming under the sheets and comforter. "We can't really play anything laying down."
"No no- this isn't exactly a game." He corrected, sitting next to her. "You see, humans need sleep, and while gems don't need it they are capable of it. I just thought I'd show you something new since night time is the time that you go to sleep after all."
"Ooohhhhhh, okay then." She said with a smile followed by another giggle. "Alright, how do I get 'sleep'?"
"Start by closing your eyes and just try and relax." He instructed with a warm smile, the gem doing as he instructed with her own smile.
"Okay- What now?" She asked, not opening her eyes but still seemingly antsy as she didn't stop fidgeting around, relaxation obviously not being her strong suit.
"Okay, how about this," He sighed as he thought for a moment. "I'll tell you a story to help you fall asleep to. Does that sound good?"
"A story? I'd love that." She grinned, opening her eyes again before seemingly remembering that he told her not to and closing them once more.
"Alright then...once upon a time there was an army of rogue warriors who fought against an evil empire. Their leader started a war against the four evil monarchs who wielded powers amazing enough to take over the world." He began as he closed his own eyes. "Yasmin: The emotionally hardened leader who lived to expand and further the empire, she was in charge of their armies and was the most feared general in all of the world, always seen in her golden battle armor and never removing her golden helmet to release her blonde hair. Despite looking ready for close combat, this leader could control lightning and electricity at will."
"Then there was Belle: she monitored their political activities and was known for her clever mind and ran the Homeland kingdom in a more peaceful way than Yasmin, opting to wear dark blue robes everywhere she went, her extremely light blue hair going all the way down her back, her power being to manipulate the emotions of a person to her advantage, even if she lost control of it often and forced others to share whatever intense emotion she would be feeling, most of the time the emotion being sadness."
Of course you couldn't forget Winola- the one who founded the kingdom and made sure to keep things running. She wore a shining white cloak with the inside seemingly having the universe itself on the threads, her flawless white hair shaped as if it was the largest of stars. You would almost never see this woman frown as to be unhappy was not perfection, and she was obsessed with being perfect. Her power was to control the minds and bodies of others with just the flash of her blinding light."
"...And last but not least there was Penelope... Penelope was the youngest of the four, she was considered the weakest due to her smaller body and younger age, therefore she was never respected as a leader but was spoiled nevertheless. She tried her best to dress up as royalty but was often compared to a jester, she had light pink hair, and her power was to heal and create. She could fix anything with just her touch, her kisses being said to reanimate the dead...though she wasn't know for those powers...no, everyone knew her for her destructive temper tantrums where she would destroy entire rooms of the main palace when she threw one."
"One day, Penelope threw a relatively nondestructive fit so she could have her own palace to live in and her own kingdom to watch over, as the other three had multiple kingdoms that they ruled in separately. Of course they didn't take her seriously because she couldn't act like a proper leader and just ask for their support...no, she just continued to throw fits until Winola and her came to an agreement. 'You must leave your childish ways behind if you wish to have a kingdom. Mature and you will be seen as a proper ruler on her way to being just like us- you may turn in or replace your servant and playmate or you can try to balance work and mature entertainment, that is your choice.' the head of Homeland offered."
"Of course, Penelope never had to juggle being a serious leader and playing so she didn't bother to try and start now. First was the servant: she had been by Penelope's side since she was a child and had given her endless joy and entertainment...but now she was given to Winola who eventually had her left eye removed as punishment for disobedience...then was her playmate who was her own free person but was loyal to Penelope nevertheless and returned day after day to the erm...orchard where they would go to play, never being told that her friend had abandoned her."
"Skip ahead a few years and Penelope's palace was nearly built- they royal guard taking over a very large village for her to rule over. There were tales told about her and her wicked ways- how she would have innocent people executed and tortured for her entertainment. That's when a peasant from the kingdom stepped forward to stop her reign of terror, going by the name of Rosé."
"There were few humans who had abilities as strong or as potent as the monarchs but Rosé was able to compare with her similar power of healing tears instead of a touch her power only able to heal organic material and claimed to be unable to revive the dead but her saliva reportedly being able to creat plants to fight for her. She fought with her shield and sword as she didn't have any powers of destruction, though the weapons she used were more than enough to fight off any of the royal guard that tried to stop her."
"She went around recruiting soldiers and civilians to fight for her, even getting a eleit soldier and an oracle to join her, the soldier having a mild control over fire and using a gauntlet while the oracle could peer into many paths of the future and mildly control ice as well as float. She was a powerful adversary with her multiple abilities and way seen on almost the same level as the four monarchs in status, but nevertheless fell in love with the lower class soldier."
"Then there was the builder who could twist her hands into weapons and tools as well as being heat resistant, even opting to take baths in lava. She would build weapons for Rosé and her people and she loved it, even deciding to fight as well."
"But before all of them there was the servant who had sword skills to rival even the head of the royal guard herself, having been taught by her father since she was young. She was in love with Rosé and would follow her to the ends of the universe if she had to."
"Now, there were many rebellions every year, this was nothing new and hardly an annoyance to the leaders of the world. No- Rosé had to do something drastic and become someone who couldn't be ignored...she killed Penelope. This started a full on war between Rosé and her rebellion who had at this point grown to be their own large army where she fought for the freedom of her village and won...for the most part."
"Everyone else in the village had gone insane from an attack launched by the monarchs and now they were feral animals who killed anyone they saw out of fear, their physical strength now greatly increased."
Steven went on to tell Spinel about how they would capture the mentally damaged people and try to help them with Rosé's healing powers, how nothing worked on them but they never gave up hope. How Rosé fell in love with a man in the village. There was nothing special about him, he had no powers, and he was average looking, but Rosé loved his heart and eventually had a child with him.
He told her how Rosé passed on her powers to the boy but unfortunately died while giving birth to him. How he had to go through many struggles in life and how he ended up fixing the effected humans and liberating the world from the monarchs peacefully along side the now six warriors that fought by his side through out all of it after learning his mother was Penelope, and Penelope was Rosé.
"The boy would go on to fix the world with a few bumps on his way. He'd have to go through heartbreak, he'd then have to figure out love all over again with a new person...but eventually he would settle down and they would all have their happily ever after,"
He looked over to see Spinel now seemingly struggling to stay awake, he assumed she wanted to hear the end of the story. "What happened to the girl in the orchard? Did she always return to see if her friend had returned? Did she ever hear of her faking her death?" She asked tiredly.
"You're interested in her, huh? Well I'll tell you what happened...the poor girl eventually made a house on the orchard and lived there, waiting for Penelope, having never gotten the news of what happened due to her isolation. Eventually she too had found love though. She was able to forget the past and look forward to the future with the one she loved. They grew up to have beautiful children and lived together happily for the rest of their lives." Steven explained with a smile.
"Heheh, what are children? The word sounds funny," Spinel giggled tiredly. "...but I'm glad to know she got her happy ending as well." She smiled softly as she finally nodded off.
"Yeah... me too." Steven said, his smile faltering as he held onto her gloved hand gently with both of his bare hands, allowing a few tears to slip. "Me too..."
-=End of Chapter=-
Okay, so I know this chapter feels like filler and all but I really just wanted to write as much original Spinel as I possibly could.
Now as for Steven's bed time story, yes it was a sort of a fantasy world remake of Steven's story but without gems, just humans with incredible powers.
I could end up writing this as a spin-off to this as a story that Steven goes on to tell his children/child or someone in great detail if y'all wanted (child/children are not set in stone, just one if the many possible endings I have. Also keep in mind I didn't say Spinel in there, like I said, nothing is set in stone but there are many possible endings so don't take any of this as what will happen as it's just a hypothetical)
Anyway, as always-
Good morning, goodnight, or good afternoon I'll see you all again soon!