Art therapy was a fucking drag.
Steven was put in front of a canvas - not even paper, just a canvas (honestly, he laughed when he first saw it, because he had come to the conclusion that paper literally couldn't do any damage and the fact that he wasn't allowed to be around it was absolutely ridiculous) - with a few cups of paint, one cup of water and a paintbrush. A few of the other patients - he recognized most of them from the morning group - were doing the same thing. Except Parker, who, he noticed, was glaring furiously at his own canvas and refusing to pick the brush up, despite his nurses' attempts to coax him into painting something. Idly watching one of the nurses finally manage to get him to at least pick the paintbrush up, Steven dabbed a few things onto his own canvas, little yellow dots here and there, but he couldn't bring himself to actually draw anything. What the hell was he supposed to draw, anyway? They hadn't given him anything specific, only explaining that painting was 'calm' and 'a constructive way to express your emotions'.
He dabbed another yellow dot onto the canvas, quickly coming to the decision that this was even more stupid than he had originally assumed. It wasn't that he had anything against art in particular - he liked drawing for the most part, but he usually never had the time (or for that matter, the motivation) to sit down and draw something. Except when he and Peridot had been trying to recreate the Camp Pining Hearts reboot, but that had mostly been an excuse to spend time with the green gem; he hadn't been as into it as he had wanted to be. And he wasn't really into this, either - the only thing he could think of was the therapy session with Maria, and the things that she had said that were still fresh in his mind, echoing mercilessly through his head.
Like a cornered animal. He pushed the brush against the canvas again, watching it flatten as the bristles spread out. A cornered animal. What's that even supposed to mean, anyway? That I'm an animal now? Great, another thing to add to the list. He twisted the brush a little, narrowing his eyes, then heaved out a quiet sigh to himself and sank back. Okay, she didn't mean it like that… she didn't mean it like that. And she's not wrong, anyway, is she? I am lashing out. A lot. At everybody. Even her, and she didn't do anything - it's not like she asked to be my new therapist or whatever, probably, and it's not like any of the people here asked for me to be here either. The gems… yeah, I'm still pissed at them, but I have a reason to be. He twisted the brush a little more, creating a full circle before lowering it back down to dip it back into the yellow paint. … so why am I angry at Maria? She didn't do anything, not really.
She stole my job.
Steven laughed aloud, ignoring the glances he received in response. She can have it.
"Are you alright?" Vexy asked quietly, looking up from her clipboard briefly. She hadn't left yet - saying she'd be heading out once 'free time' began - so at the moment she was just sitting a few feet away from him with Aaron beside her, looking over a few things 'to give to the nurse she was swapping out with'. Steven only spared her a quick glance and shrugged before he turned back to the canvas, lifting the brush again and pressing it against the canvas to make another circle. He didn't know whether or not he was alright, he was still kinda trying to figure that out.
Another thing Maria had said stuck out to him, hitting a little harder than before - hero complex. Or, rather, the reverse of a hero complex - but that was to say he had had a hero complex to begin with. And, he hated to admit it (Steven "Denial" Universe hated to admit anything else that was wrong with him at this point), but she was right. His whole needing to be needed thing, the fact that he wanted to fix everything. Or, that he had used to. But had that really been a 'complex'? What White Diamond had, yeah, he would call that a complex. His entire thing was more like conditioning; he'd had to fix everyone's problems for so long (the gems, his mother) that it ended up becoming a full-time thing, and something he ended up relying on, because it was basically a support net. Something to keep him stable and sane and focused on everything but his own deteriorating mental health. A security blanket of sorts; one he needed, to function. To have any kind of purpose. To be whole, and complete, and to feel important and…
… okay, yeah it was a complex. And now, what, it was reversing? He couldn't help but think back to what White Diamond had said to him all those years ago in her head, right after she had pulled his gem out; he managed to keep his thoughts away from that for the time being, but her words still rang loud and clear regardless.
"But I'm supposed to know better. I'm supposed to be better."
"I'm supposed to make everything better."
Oh. Oh, dear god, he hated Maria. He hated her with every fiber of his being, down to his very core, for making him think like this; for sparking these realizations, these thoughts. For kickstarting the gears in his head again in what appeared to finally be permanent - not dizzying or confusing enough to make him lose complete sight of his own emotions, but it was still enough to leave him spiraling for a good few seconds, trying desperately to find somewhere to sink the anchor in and stop. He didn't want to think about this right then - but, again, he knew he wasn't going to be able to get it out of his head for the rest of the day, and that… was terrifying.
"Okay, do we actually have to do this for an hour?" Parker's voice startled him; the hybrid flinched slightly despite himself, but he steeled himself quickly enough as he turned his attention to the other boy, who was still standing across the room, glaring at his canvas like it had just called him a bastard; Steven quirked an eyebrow despite himself as the boy waved his paintbrush around somewhat dramatically, and the other eyebrow shot right up along with it when one of the nurses shuffled forward to gently ease it out of his hands, which only seemed to satisfy Parker for a split second before his irritation returned. "Seriously, this is just stupid. Look around you, you dolts, nobody is having fun here at all. Nobody."
"I'm having fun," Kevin's voice practically dripped with sarcasm, and Steven snorted slightly. Unfortunately, Aaron didn't seem to understand that the man wasn't being genuine, because he lifted his gaze from his clipboard quickly to look up at Kevin with wide eyes, absolutely shocked.
"Really?"
"No." Kevin squinted at his canvas, stroking his paintbrush down it, and everyone but Parker, Steven and the other nurses huffed out low chuckles as Aaron sank back again, looking somewhat disappointed. "Parker's right, this is stupid. You're making us paint for an hour when we could have all this time to do the things we actually want to do that isn't this. It's dumb." Now that got a few chuckles out of Steven, while Parker snickered under his breath at Kevin's words. Steven had to agree; this was dumb. Sure, he didn't know what the hell he was going to do during free time, but at least he wouldn't have to sit there and stare at a canvas for an hour. If he was going to have to stare at anything for an hour, he wanted it to be a wall, or a ceiling. He didn't want to have to be expected to do anything the entire time, especially not just… paint.
Steven looked around again, glancing over all of the patients until his gaze focused on Parker again. The boy was still refusing to paint, and now that the brush had been taken from him, it seemed like he didn't have to; so he had sat back on his stool and was looking up at the ceiling. After a moment, Steven followed suit by dropping his own paintbrush into the cup full of water, leaning himself back in the wheelchair and ignoring the questioning look Vexy shot his way. "You're not going to paint anymore?"
"Don't want to," Steven muttered, jaw twitching, and Vexy frowned but didn't object. Parker caught his gaze from across the room, and he watched the other boy arch an eyebrow somewhat questioningly at him, offering a quick nod; Steven blinked and nodded back.
Thankfully, Vexy seemed willing to let him off the hook for the rest of the hour; he found himself almost collapsing into a puddle in his wheelchair in relief by the time 'art therapy' was over, as the patients finished up their drawings and let the nurses take a look at them before the room was cleared again. The hybrid didn't move, watching as his own canvas was moved away before Vexy pushed herself up and headed over to him after exchanging a few quick words with Aaron (who offered her a lopsided smile and was still smiling as he watched her walk away, he couldn't help but notice). "I'm heading out now," Vexy informed him, offering a small smile. "Aaron's going to keep an eye on you until the other nurse gets here."
Steven suppressed a sigh, staring at her blankly for a few seconds. "Okay."
"Feel free to do whatever you want." Vexy paused, flicking her gaze around for a moment, then offered the hybrid a slight grin as she added, "maybe take a nap, since you didn't sleep."
Sounded like a good idea, but Steven didn't say that. He just shrugged and watched as Vexy heaved herself up and walked away, staring until she had slipped out of the room; he then turned his head to glance around, first fixing his gaze on Aaron before surveying the rest of the patients and nurses, who had disbanded and scattered across the room. Parker had retreated to a small table, now holding a box; Kevin was sitting on the couch, with… a book in his hands.
He stared, not about to speak up and outright ask why the hell Kevin of all people was reading anything, but too dumbfounded to completely disregard the fact that he was willingly holding a book. And it didn't look like a comic book, either. Not to say he thought Kevin was stupid, of course - he knew the man could be smart when he wanted to be, despite being an asshole - but the idea of Kevin reading anything just for the hell of it - of him having the patience to sit down and devote his attention to a book like he seemed to be doing now - it was just… weird to see. Weird to think about, even. Even he, sometimes, didn't have the patience or the mental energy to sit down and read like that. The hybrid almost wanted to know what he was reading, but he wasn't about to roll over and ask him. Connie didn't like to be interrupted while she read, so…
… god, Connie… he needed to figure out what to do about that. Steven frowned, taking another quick look around and doing a swift double-take in Parker's direction when he saw the boy was building something now, with long rectangular-looking blocks. He thought it looked somewhat familiar - the blocks as well as the structure he seemed to be building, but he wasn't sure. Before he could think about it hard enough, though, the boy glanced up and caught his gaze; the hybrid grimaced, about to turn away again, before Parker lifted a hand to beckon him over.
He paused, for a long time, just debating on whether or not to actually take the invitation. But, he supposed, he didn't have anything better to do - and he'd be lying if he said the other kid didn't intrigue him. He wasn't ready to initiate a conversation with Kevin yet (though in that case he didn't particularly want to converse with anybody here either), but considering these were the people he was going to be stuck with for who knows how long, he figured he might as well get to know them. So, resigning himself to whatever his fate may be the moment he approached, he reluctantly reached down to grip the wheels, and rolled himself over to where Parker was.
"Hi." Parker clicked a block into place, adjusting it briefly before reaching into the box for another one. Steven paused the chair just in front of the table, eyeing the structure up and down silently. "You're… Steven, right?" The hybrid nodded absently, as Parker added another block.
"And you're Parker." It wasn't a question. Steven hardly ever forgot a name. He received a hum in response as the boy added another block, seeming more or less focused on what he was building; Steven only continued to watch for a good few seconds longer before curiosity got the better of him, prompting him to finally blurt out, somewhat tiredly, "what're you doing?"
Parker's hand paused over the tower, and Steven looked up to see the boy was blinking back at him now, looking somewhat perplexed by the question (and he'd be lying if he said he didn't squirm and sink back into his wheelchair a little despite himself). "Building a Jenga tower?"
"Oh." Oh. Jenga. Steven thought it was familiar. He'd heard of the game, but he'd never actually played it. It was probably still tucked away in the closet. "That's right. Jenga," he mumbled.
"Wanna play?"
Steven paused at this, flicking his gaze over to Parker as another block clicked, and the others rustled around as the boy reached his hand back into the box to grab another one. Honestly, he wasn't too sure; for one, again, he'd never played it. And another thing, he wasn't really sure about playing this game, with this kid, in this facility. It just… seemed… oddly impractical. Inappropriate. For where they were, and why they were here, and what they were doing… but, then, he supposed, they did need to keep themselves busy. Keep themselves distracted from the fact that they were locked away in a place like this for god knows how long. "... I guess," the hybrid finally replied, and prayed to the stars that he wasn't going to regret his decision.
"D'you know how to play?" Steven shook his head, once again directing his attention to watching Parker stack the blocks, but he didn't miss the bewildered glance he received. Thankfully, the boy seemed content to shrug it off for the time being, clearing his throat and digging another block out of the box. "So basically, you have to pull or push the blocks out without knocking down the entire tower. Once you get a block, you put it on the top like this-" He clicked another block into place, and Steven quirked an eyebrow as he studied the tower.
"Why?" The hybrid asked after a moment, somewhat bluntly; he paused, swallowed and took a moment to rein himself in again, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a soft huff. He really needed to figure out how to curb his temper a little bit - or at least, somewhat fix his filter now. Sometimes he was too quiet, and sometimes he couldn't seem to shut up - but he didn't want to be this way. He didn't want to be rude, he didn't want to be snappy and angry at people who hadn't even done anything to him. And he certainly didn't want to make other people feel bad just because he felt bad; that wasn't the person he wanted to be, 'fixing' people or not.
"Good question. I don't have an answer." Parker fell silent for a moment, finally putting the box down beside his chair, and Steven breathed out a quiet sigh of relief - because watching him shuffle through the blocks had gotten pretty irritating. "I just like it because it relaxes me."
Steven didn't say anything at first, mostly still struggling to rein his temper in a little bit. Parker seemed content enough without a response, though; he leaned forward a little, reaching out slowly to push one of the blocks through; it fell out and clattered onto the table on the other side of the tower, and Parker moved forward a little more to pick it up and place it on the top, smiling. "Seems easy enough," Steven offered, unable to help but wince at his own forced pleasantries. "I mean, uh- you seem… good at it?" How the hell had he managed to fake being okay for this long? He couldn't even sit there and be nice to somebody for five seconds. And that used to be one of the easier things, because being nice to nice people wasn't exactly a difficult thing to do.
"It's easy at first," Parker replied with a shrug, clicking the block into place and leaning back. "But it gets harder when you run out of blocks. The trick is starting from the top," he added, gesturing to the top half of the tower, and Steven furrowed his eyebrows. "People tend to go from the bottom, but in the end that just adds more weight and makes it fall down faster."
"Aren't you adding more weight anyway?" Steven guessed it was his turn, since Parker wasn't doing anything else; sighing, the hybrid finally forced himself to sit up a little, grunting and grimacing as he stretched his arms across the table and looked up at the tower with a scowl. Moving wasn't easy, and sitting up, of all things, was even harder than that - but, he knew he had to. He couldn't rely on the wheelchair all the time, and he already hated how reliant he was on being able to lean and sink back. If he didn't push through it, it wasn't going to get any easier.
"Mhm." Parker nodded his agreement as Steven reached out to carefully slide one of the blocks out of the tower, holding his breath. It wobbled a little, but the block slid out easily enough after a moment, and Steven was somewhat satisfied when the tower stayed upright. "But this way you're not taking the support away from the bottom. The chances of the tower falling quicker are lower than they would be if you removed most of the bottom blocks, because then you've got all that weight and hardly anything to hold it up. So, naturally, it crumbles." The hybrid let out a low hum, reaching up to put the block on the top - but Parker reached out to take it from him when Steven proved incapable of reaching it, and he didn't protest, even mumbling a quiet 'thanks'.
"So, you know Kevin?" Parker began conversationally after a few moments, gently prying one of the blocks out of its place and setting it on the top of the tower. Steven sat back a little, giving his back a bit of a rest before he forced himself forward and surveyed the tower again.
"I mean, I guess so," the hybrid finally responded. "'Know'... not really. We've met, but…"
"Hey, I feel you." Green eyes flicked briefly in Steven's direction before they rooted to the tower again, while Steven finally zeroed in on a block that looked somewhat loose, reaching out to carefully push it through where it was wedged in between two others. "It's hard to get to know someone with his nose constantly buried in a book. But, I mean, I make do, myself," Parker added, reaching out to catch the block as it fell out of the other side, and placing it on top with the others. "I make him play Jenga with me sometimes if I'm bored enough. We talk."
Steven arched an eyebrow at that, somewhat amused at the implications of someone 'making' Kevin do anything. And, not only that, but the idea of him devoting his time to this - then again, he was reading now, so the idea of him playing Jenga actually wasn't too far-fetched anymore. He was still getting used to the fact that he was reading now, though. "We've only met a few times. Once at a party, again during a race, and then at another party he invited me to."
"So you're friends?"
"No." Steven rolled his eyes at that. "He only invited me to the party because-" He stopped, not sure how he was going to explain Stevonnie to a human who didn't know anything about gems, much less fusion. The hybrid pursed his lips and frowned, watching Parker tap on a block to loosen it. "I mean, he only did it for… like, a popularity boost, I guess," he finally decided. "It's kinda hard to explain why but it wasn't because we're friends or anything. In fact, we didn't really like each other back when we did know each other. Kinda hated his guts for a while."
"Not surprising," Parker muttered, placing the block on top, and Steven leaned forward immediately to pull a block out, himself, having already spotted a loose one by the time Parker had gotten his free. "I mean, I don't have anything against the guy. He's pretty chill now - but he wasn't- not really- when he first got here. Hell, he kind of reminded me of my older brother…"
"Lemme guess, 'popular asshole' type?"
"Yeah, that's the one." Parker actually laughed a little at that, and Steven couldn't help but grin despite himself as he pulled the block out and held it out to the other boy so he could put it on top of the tower. "Pretty sure Will and I kinda set him straight for the most part, though."
The idea of that was even funnier, but Steven was more or less focused on who the fuck Will was. "Who?" He sat back a little again, heaving out a quiet sigh as some of the pressure in his back lifted a little, but he was still pretty uncomfortable regardless. He couldn't deny, though, this game - despite being odd and him not quite seeing the point in it still - was pretty interesting. At least in the sense that it was somehow better than painting, and he actually didn't hate it as much as he had originally assumed that he would.
"My roommate," Parker hummed, frowning at the tower now as he reached out to pull another block, only to stop and move to a different one when the tower jolted slightly in response. Steven couldn't help but tense a little, watching it wobble, but Parker seemed unbothered; he simply paused with his hand hovering near another block, waiting for it to steady again before he pinched it between two fingers and carefully wiggled it out of its spot. "He…" The boy paused, blinked, and suddenly lifted his gaze from the tower with the block halfway out, flicking his gaze around and furrowing his eyebrows as his frown deepened. "... should be here…?"
Steven glanced around briefly, only to root his gaze back to Parker when he remembered that he didn't know who the fuck to look for anyway. "Aaand… he's not?"
Parker took another quick look around, made a face, and looked back down to pull the block out the rest of the way. "Probably in our room enjoying his freedom or something." Still, he looked somewhat bothered; his previously relaxed expression had twisted into something nearly unrecognizable. It didn't seem like concern or worry, more like irritation, in a sense. Frustration, maybe. Steven studied him for a moment, watching the boy lift his arm to place the block on top of the tower with a quiet huff. "But anyway, yeah, we took care of Moreno over there easily. He's not too bad, y'know, once you get past all the arrogance and snark and jackassery…"
Okay, Steven had to laugh at that. This kid was growing on him. "If you say so…" He glanced up at the tower, shifting slightly in his seat and reluctantly pushing himself forward again to nudge another block free; Parker caught it, once again, when it fell out from the other side. "Like I said, I don't really know Kevin. Few times we've met, he's… been… a jackass, yeah. He does seem different now, though," he added, and frowned slightly despite himself. "Can't figure it out."
Parker only hummed, flicking his gaze briefly in Steven's direction. "Sounds like it bothers you."
The hybrid paused at this, returning the glance and pressing his lips into a firm frown. "No, it…" He hissed out a sigh through his teeth, and grimaced. "It doesn't bother me. It's just weird."
"Weird how?"
"I feel like I'm being interviewed," Steven grumbled, setting his jaw. Well, he'd liked the boy for like a second, but now he was becoming nearly as annoying as the nurses and Maria. Why the hell Parker was interested in what 'bothered' Steven was beyond him, but he wasn't about to try to get into the other boy's head, and he wasn't about to let Parker get into his own, either. "Also, it's your turn-" He jerked his head toward the tower, and the other boy quirked an eyebrow at him briefly before eventually turning away again, surveying the blocks briefly before finally reaching out to pull one out near the bottom, since they were running out of blocks near the top.
"Okay, so I guess I lack what most people call tact," Parker began, twirling the block briefly before placing it on the top of the tower. "But, sorry, I'm still curious. You're fascinating."
Steven wasn't sure how to respond to that, though he did surprise himself by outright laughing, a mixture of disbelief and confusion as he flicked his gaze back to the other boy and raised both of his eyebrows. "Fascinating? I don't think I've ever been called fascinating before. I don't know whether to be flattered or offended or both," he admitted, huffing out another laugh despite himself. Parker managed a lopsided grin in response, while the hybrid struggled to pull himself together, shaking his head slightly at the other boy and letting out a sigh. "Fascinating, huh?"
"Yes. Interesting," Parker said slowly, as if he was talking to a child, and Steven didn't have enough time to feel offended by that before he went on. "You're… I don't know. Weird."
"Gee," Steven mumbled, "thanks."
"You know what I mean." Parker rolled his eyes. Steven fell silent for a moment at that, leaning forward to pull another block out and struggling to ignore the way the other boy's gaze tracked him as he did so. He wasn't quite uncomfortable, but he still wasn't sure how to feel now. "There's just something- I can't explain it, but I know it's there. Besides, you don't exactly end up in a place like this if you're boring," he added, taking the block as Steven held it out to him.
The hybrid opened his mouth slightly, not sure whether he was going to object to that or not, but at this point he was just ready to say anything if it meant getting this kid to stop talking. "I'm-" Steven huffed through his nose and furrowed his eyebrows, watching as Parker placed the block on the top and leaned back again. "I'm pretty boring, yeah. I'm here because I tried to kill myself. Big deal. I'm pretty sure, like, half of the people here tried to do that too."
"Yeah, maybe," Parker agreed. "But why? Why did you do it?"
At this, Steven finally met his gaze, leveling a stare with the other boy that was equal measures confusion and disdain now. "Did you become my therapist without me realizing it or something? Are you replacing Maria now? Better call her and tell her she's out of the job or something," he warned, then snorted and added, "but just so you know, it's not an easy job to have anyway."
"Yeah, I'm not a therapist," Parker told him bluntly, and Steven raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest now, the game completely forgotten by both of them. "Therapists get paid to help you with your problems, or talk you through them or just… I don't know, sit there for an hour and stare at you because you refuse to speak," he added, wrinkling his nose, and Steven rolled his eyes despite himself - because that sounded awfully specific, and he wasn't really surprised by it either. "Point is, I'm not trying to fix you or help you with your problems or any of that," Parker spoke matter-of-factly, completely calm, confident. "I just wanna know about 'em."
"Okay, but why?" Steven snapped, though the words didn't hold any real bite, more confusion than anger in his tone as he sized the other boy up with a scowl. "Why me? Why don't we talk about your problems? I mean, not everybody wants to just up and tell a total stranger why the-"
"I'm depressed," Parker interrupted, and Steven stumbled over his words a little despite himself, too surprised by the sudden outburst to say anything in response. "I have anxiety. I tried to kill my own father just because he's an asshole, I hate him, and he managed to piss me off. Uh, let's see. I hear voices and hallucinate when I don't take my meds regularly, sometimes even then. I also have severe anger issues and mood swings and pretty much everybody here can tell you that I pretty much become a rabid animal every so often and get angry easily." A short pause followed, in which Steven tried to gather his thoughts again to form a coherent response. "Oh, and I'm afraid of mimes. Creepy little no-speaking bastards. Freak me the fuck out."
Steven just blinked back at him, struggling to compose himself enough to respond. Parker only gave him a few more seconds to do so before abruptly flicking his wrist in the hybrid's direction. "Alright, come on, your turn. Doesn't even have to be all your dirty little secrets. Just one."
"I don't-" Steven stopped himself, breathing in slowly through his teeth and shaking his head.
"Look, judgement free zone," Parker insisted, stretching his arms behind his head. He reached his foot out briefly to kick the leg of the table, and Steven flinched back despite himself as the tower crumbled, the blocks collapsing onto the table and some even spilling over onto the floor. "Hell, I'm probably just as messed up as you, anyway. Literally tried to commit homicide."
Steven laughed at that, despite knowing he shouldn't, not really, and Parker arched an eyebrow at him somewhat questioningly; the hybrid swallowed back the rest of his laughter before it could start bordering on hysteria, taking another deep breath and collapsing back into the wheelchair with a frown. Well, now he felt like he had to out of courtesy; he couldn't even count how many personal things (some a little too personal) Parker had just told him right off the bat, despite the fact that they'd just met that day. He really didn't seem like the kind of guy to judge, though - and he did just seem genuinely curious. But Steven wasn't sure whether that made him feel better or worse. "Okay, I don't know," he finally muttered. "I hate myself? Okay?"
"Good start," Parker noted, looking somewhat impressed. "Everyone else usually starts easy." At this, Steven wrinkled his nose and made a face at him, and Parker held a hand up with a sigh. "Okay, alright, hey, like I said- no judgement. I'm not exactly in the 'Parker Fanclub' myself. Now, hate's a pretty strong word in my case, but I don't exactly like myself, if you know what I mean. Anyway, congratulations, you've successfully completed a round of the Issues Game."
"The what?" And this kid had the nerve to call him weird-
"The Issues Game," Parker repeated himself proudly, a slight grin tugging at his lips now. "Will and I came up with it a while back when he first got here. Basically, we take turns either telling each other what the fuck's wrong with us or basically just spilling personal secrets… shit like that. I guess… not really secret," he added, and Steven watched his eyes flick, briefly, in the direction of the nurses. They seemed far away enough, but the hybrid wasn't going to assume they couldn't hear them regardless. Well, maybe they would if they weren't busy talking to each other. "But, point still stands. You, good man, have issues. Congrats."
"You-" Steven paused, just staring at him for a moment, genuinely struggling to figure out what to say. And he didn't even get the chance to, even when he decided 'you're insane' was pretty much warranted at this point, because as he opened his mouth to speak up again, another voice cut into the conversation (and Steven would be lying if he said he didn't flinch, violently).
"Yeah, you have issues, he has issues, everybody has issues." Steven breathed in sharply and turned his head, narrowing his eyes slightly and flicking his gaze up to the man approaching them. He recognized him, one of the few patients that had spoken up during the morning group - actually, it was the same guy that had ended up drawing everyone's attention to him with his whole 'who's the new kid' bullshit. The hybrid narrowed his eyes slightly, twisting his mouth.
"The hell were you?" Parker interjected, and the man arched an eyebrow at him, pulling a chair out and taking a seat at the table across from Steven.
"The bathroom? What, were you worried about me or something?"
Parker narrowed his eyes at that - and Steven stifled a snicker despite himself. "Not worried," the boy finally muttered, turning away from the man briefly and jerking his head toward him as he fixed his gaze on Steven again. "So this is Will, I forgot to mention that he's a jackass."
"I am neither jack, nor ass," Will muttered, throwing Steven a grin; the hybrid arched an eyebrow at him silently, though he couldn't bite back a grin of his own on time. "And yooouuu're Steven."
"Also a jackass," Steven replied dryly, earning a chuckle from both Will and Parker. "I also think I should do you a public service and let you know that your roommate here is insane, so."
"Insane?" Will flicked his gaze toward Parker, who managed to twist his expression into an offended one for about five seconds before he broke down snickering again, and Will only offered an amused look before he turned back to Steven and offered a one-shouldered shrug. "Like you said, I'm his roommate. I kinda already know he's got a few screws loose. But, coming from someone who hallucinates regularly…" He paused, and shrugged again, offering a laugh. "Well, let's just say I don't exactly have any room to talk about insane."
"Let's put it this way," Parker added, crossing his arms behind his head. "Like I said, you don't exactly end up in a place like this if you're sane, right?"
"You didn't say 'sane'," Steven corrected, arching an eyebrow at him. "You said 'boring'."
"Same thing." Parker grinned, and Steven managed to bite back his grin on time, despite the amusement bubbling in his chest now. "It's a mental health facility, guys. Helloooo, pretty sure everybody here's a little, oh, I don't know, what's the phrase? 'Coo-coo for cocoa puffs'?"
"I mean, insanity is literally defined as 'the state of being mentally ill'," Will cut in, arching an eyebrow. "And this is the place mentally ill people go, so… yeah, everyone here is insane. By all technicalities, anyway." At this, Parker actually laughed - not quite the airy chuckles or snickers he'd given before, but a genuinely amused laugh; Steven couldn't bite back his own laughter this time, though he wasn't sure why. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to warm up to these guys. At least, they were funny; better company than he expected from a place like this. And, compared to what he'd been expecting, he couldn't exactly complain.
"So I wasn't entirely off base when I called this place the crazy house," the hybrid mentioned, watching as Parker leaned forward to gather up the Jenga blocks that were on the table, sliding them off and letting them fall into the box again. "Good to know, I guess."
"Did I seriously miss over half of free time?" Will mumbled, turning his head briefly to look behind him, and Steven flicked his gaze up to the clock hanging on the wall.
"That's what you get for eating those pancakes."
"Right," Will huffed, giving Parker the stink-eye, and Steven let out another laugh. "I'll just be sure to starve next time. Maybe the nurses will take pity on me and give us snacks or something." He crossed his arm over the table, then squinted. "Wait, we can have snacks."
"No kidding?" Steven arched an eyebrow. "And here I thought they were keen on torture."
Will snickered at that, shaking his head a little. "Not like we don't have to work for the snacks. Vending machines take money, and it's hard to earn any of that in here," he added, rolling his eyes, and Steven let out a low hum in response, sighing. "On rare occasions, if you're lucky enough, you can knock a bag of chips loose or something, but it's hard to do that without getting caught."
"Correction," Parker interrupted, now picking the blocks up off of the floor. "It's hard to do that without getting caught if you're not experienced enough in the ways of stealing snacks."
"I don't think you'll be stealing much of anything with them on your back," Steven hummed, nodding toward the nurses, and Parker spared a brief glance over his shoulder and cracked a grin before returning to his task with a shrug.
"Speaking of, where's yours, Steven?"
"Probably sleeping, since she was up all night," Steven replied, and paused, flicking his gaze around briefly. "I'm supposedly getting another nurse to make sure I don't kill myself now, so that's fun. I get to be followed around by a stranger all day." He twisted his mouth, briefly setting his jaw into a scowl before letting his expression loosen up a little once again, shrugging slightly. He was still frustrated about that, in particular; Vexy, he had gotten used to. Despite her cheer, and her smiles, and how nice and sweet and happy-go-lucky she was. What if his new nurse was even more obnoxious? Then he'd have to deal with that all day. Then he'd be stuck with more happy people, who he genuinely couldn't understand. Maybe that's why he liked Will and Parker so much; because, sure, they laughed and joked, but they didn't wear bright, beaming, patronizing smiles all the time. They weren't being overly happy and sweet. And yes, Parker was a little overwhelming sometimes and pried a little more than Steven would have preferred, but even at the end of the day, he'd still take that over any of the nurses here regardless.
"At least you only have to have one," Parker hummed, pushing himself back up with the box in his arms now. "I've either got two or three on my back. Two on my good days. Three whenever I decide I wanna punch some rando in the face just for the hell of it." At this, Steven arched an eyebrow questioningly, and Parker sighed as he added, "relax, it's not like they don't enjoy it. Most of the people in here are masochists anyway. I go easy on the ones that I like."
"Mm." Steven offered a curious look, then paused and looked up when the two nurses abruptly pushed themselves away from the wall and made their way over to where the three were sitting.
"Lunchtime, Parker," one of them chirped, smiling brightly toward Will and Steven; the hybrid caught the man rolling his eyes briefly, but he still offered a smile nonetheless - only to roll his eyes again by the time both of the nurses had turned back to Parker, who was chuckling now.
"Yay…" Parker rolled his eyes as well, shifting the box to one arm and offering a half-hearted salute toward Steven and Will. "Guess I'll see you guys in Hell- uh, I mean, the cafeteria."
Steven laughed at that, once again turning to glance around the room. "Yeah, see you." He twisted his mouth, briefly looking toward Kevin again. He was still reading, not seeming to notice everybody else around him getting up and getting ready to leave the room, and he only looked up - if only briefly - when Aaron approached him; the man huffed out an annoyed sigh, scanning the book again briefly before snapping it shut and getting up. Steven stared for a moment, briefly studying the book again, but he looked away after a moment, unable to make out the cover. Instead, he turned his attention back to Will, who was pushing himself up somewhat reluctantly. "Visiting hours are after lunch, right?"
"Yep." Will looked down at him, offering a small smile. "And then we get to do whatever we want until bedtime."
"I might just have bedtime early, then," Steven muttered, rolling his eyes. Honestly, he was considering doing just that - one, because he was actually exhausted. Emotionally and physically. And two, he did not… he just, did not have the willpower to sit around for a few more hours either doing nothing but thinking, or talking. Sure, Will and Parker were good company. But there was still only so much social interaction he could take right then, and he could already feel it weighing on him now. He could already feel the relief, relief that it was over, and the dread that he'd probably have to do it again later. The only thing he was really looking forward to was seeing his father again, and he was still even a little hesitant about that, because he was willing to bet Greg would have a lot of questions regarding the facility, and how he was, and how he felt, and he wasn't sure he had the mental and emotional strength right then to answer them.
"Wouldn't blame you-" Will began, but his gaze flicked past Steven before he could say anything else, and the hybrid reluctantly turned his head to see whatever the hell he was looking at.
Okay, whoever the hell he was looking at.
Admittedly, at first, Steven didn't quite react; he blinked once, and then twice, fixing his gaze on the person approaching him. It took quite some time - several seconds - for the smile to register, for the voice to reach his ears, for the familiarity of who he was seeing to really kick in; and even then, he only managed to express his surprise with a sharp intake of breath and another blink. "Steven Universe-" The smile morphed into a grin, nothing like the happy-go-lucky, somewhat forced cheerfulness of the nurses. But the grin itself wasn't one he recognized. The confidence that radiated from it, the sheer pleasure, the excitement, it just wasn't really an expression he was used to seeing on this particular face, and it was enough to give him pause. But, no, it was exactly who he thought it was; he'd know this face anywhere. "-long time, no see."
"Peedee," Steven finally blurted out, surprising even himself by managing to speak, but it wasn't enough to stop him. Even when his heart leaped up to his throat, he managed to force himself to speak through it, despite the way it made his voice quiver and break. "What the hell are you doing here?"