There were so many thoughts racing through Steven's mind, so many emotions pounding through his chest. Nails digging into the wheels of his chair, he wanted to scream; he wanted to scream out every thought that crossed his mind, from 'are you okay' to 'what the fuck Peedee don't tell me you tried to commit suicide too'. But even as he opened his mouth to spit out the many questions rolling through his head, the only sound he could muster was another choked, somewhat shaky gasp of surprise. Of all the people he would have expected to see in the mental facility, Peedee wouldn't have been his first choice. He wouldn't have even been his last choice. Now, Ronaldo, maybe, yes, Steven would have expected to see - but he was even more surprised to see Peedee than he had been surprised to see Kevin here, though, that wasn't saying much. He didn't know Kevin. But he'd practically grown up with Peedee; he'd been his first friend, and his only friend his age for as long as Steven could remember, before Connie.
And he realized (somewhat guiltily) that he hadn't really made any time for Peedee since he'd met Connie. Though, that could have also been because, when he did meet Connie, his life had pretty much taken a drastic turn. He didn't have time to be a child anymore, and he didn't have time for his childhood friends; Connie was different, because she had immersed herself into his world, into all the gem battles and the 'saving the Earth' thing. But Peedee had never been like that - Peedee had been his human friend. With him, there was a whole other life for Steven, one that didn't involve gems, or corrupted gem monsters, or saving the world. Just him and Peedee. Just two normal human kids trying to live two normal human kid lives.
He'd be lying if he said, growing up, he hadn't had some feelings for the boy, either. Back then, he hadn't even recognized what he was feeling could have been a crush. Those feelings were gone now, though, he noted, as he looked Peedee up and down. And that didn't really surprise him. Lately, Connie had been the focus of any kind of romantic attraction - but thinking about Connie and romance brought up the reminder of his failed proposal, and he quickly switched his attention - like flipping channels on a TV - before he could think about it too hard, lifting his gaze back to Peedee's face. He didn't even know where to begin. What to say. How to express any of the surprise he was feeling, the confusion, the worry. Peedee's abrupt appearance had managed to catch him off guard, kickstarting emotions he hadn't been sure he was still capable of. Concern was the more prominent one; studying his old friend's face intently, he once again wondered what the answer to his question was, how Peedee might have ended up here.
With any luck, it wasn't what he thought it was, but luck hadn't quite been on his side lately.
The smile fell from Peedee's face a moment after Steven had spoken, and the hybrid realized that, despite time having seemed to freeze while these thoughts and realizations and fears ran through his mind, it had only been a few seconds in reality. For a moment, worry twisted in Steven's gut, worry and guilt without knowing what the reason for any of it might have been. Just knowing that he had said something, and Peedee's face had crumbled faster than Steven had expected it to. Then again, the other boy had always been somewhat sensitive, hadn't he? He opened his mouth, fully prepared to apologize, but Peedee was already speaking before he could. "Well, that's a rude way to greet an old friend," he commented, lips twitching.
Steven realized a little too late that he was joking; stumbling over mumbled apologies while simultaneously trying to stop speaking altogether, he breathed in and shut his eyes, struggling to focus. He wasn't sure why it was so hard to see Peedee here, after all this time. He had taken everything else in stride so far, despite how difficult it had been - seeing Kevin, for example, he had mixed feelings about. Being here at all with only one familiar face, he had mixed feelings about. But that was another thing - along with these mixed feelings, there was also a sense of numbness, a kind of 'come what may' attitude. Something that still kind of cared, but also ached not to at the same time; something inside of him that felt nothing, and yet everything all at once.
"I'm filling in for Vexy," Peedee added, and Steven couldn't keep back a relieved, albeit bewildered laugh, screwing his eyes shut and trying to force himself to focus and think.
Seeing Peedee was difficult, he realized, because what he was feeling was new. No irritation, no anger, not even sadness. Fear, maybe. Confusion and disbelief. He was just… caught off guard for the first time, genuinely taken aback, and it had seemed to startle him, briefly, into what he used to be. Not even before all this had come up, before he'd become angry, and bitter. But before even all the gem stuff started to rule over his life. It was hard because he was looking into the face of someone he'd known since he was in diapers, and realizing slowly but all at once that neither of them were the kids they used to be. After all this time, they had both changed. Drastically. But according to Peedee, now, he wasn't a patient. He was… what, what was he, a nurse? A nurse? He was working in a mental hospital. He was filling in for Vexy. The smile on his face was calm, relaxed, secure. Warm. He had changed, possibly, for the better.
But when I change, I change for the worse.
"Well," Peedee broke him out of his thoughts by clearing his throat, and Steven slowly managed to bring himself back to focus again, flicking his gaze up to the other silently as Peedee made his way forward with a smile once again. "I guess we'll have time to catch up during lunch."
"Catch up…" Steven echoed, and the horrible twisting in his gut implied that, no, he didn't actually want to do that. In fact, he wanted to get up and run as far as he could, away from his old friend and everything he used to be. It was a painful reminder of how much he'd lost, how much being a gem had taken from him. How much he could have had. How much he did have, once upon a time. Just a reminder that he used to be a human, with human friends, and a human life. And how much of that had been thrown away when he'd had to step up and save the Earth, or liberate the galaxy. Guilt was steadily turning to anger, but it was still directed at himself. Maybe it hadn't even had to be like that. He could have made time for his old friend. But then, I couldn't have, he thought numbly. Because he's human… and humans and gems don't…
He ignored the lump rising in his throat, the reminder that Connie was human, and Greg was human, as Peedee carefully began pushing the wheelchair out of the common room.
"I didn't have a chance to read your file yet," he was saying, calmly, as Steven stared ahead and silently wished for him to shut his mouth for a second to let him think (and then felt bad for it almost immediately afterwards). "Figured it'd be better to get the story from you."
Great. He probably didn't even know Steven had tried to kill himself. How was he supposed to explain that? How was he supposed to look his childhood friend in the eyes and explain that? He supposed it should be easier, somehow, than telling Greg. But he dreaded it just as much as he dreaded telling Connie, and he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why it was so hard. Something had changed, shifted; he didn't feel as cold, or empty, or angry, or numb. He was- god help him, he was scared, and he genuinely had absolutely no idea why, but he really was. Being here with Peedee of all people felt wrong, different, like some switch had been flipped. Like something inside of him had abruptly clicked, the part of him he'd long shoved down and forgotten. The thought alone almost tore a bitter laugh from his lips- his gem half wasn't the only half he'd pushed down, and it seemed like both halves were making a startling comeback.
The hybrid only looked up when Peedee pushed him into the cafeteria, and the noise shocked him straight to his core. It had been mostly quiet during breakfast, but now the people inside were chattering almost excitedly among one another. Almost everybody seemed to be in a good mood; the sound of laughter reached his ears more than once, and he caught patients smiling; for a moment, Steven was genuinely taken aback. These people had been grumpy just that morning, heads in their arms and grumping and groaning quietly the entire time. Now they actually seemed to be enjoying themselves - and he didn't get it. He really didn't get it.
His attention turned back to Peedee, somewhat reluctantly, when the other boy leaned down to speak to him, pushing the wheelchair further into the room. "You wanna head to the salad bar? The meatloaf here isn't that good." At this, Steven did huff out a laugh - you'd think the mention of meatloaf would have been a sore subject, but in all honesty, he actually felt amused.
But even so, the promise of a salad was much more tempting. "Yeah… I'll have a salad," he finally mumbled, biting his lip with a frown and refusing to meet Peedee's gaze. The boy only hummed, straightening up again and pushing him off dutifully, while Steven let his gaze sweep around again after a moment. He was somewhat surprised to spot Kevin sitting with Parker; the other boy had his head buried in his arms, while Kevin was carefully pushing his own food around on his tray with a mildly disgusted expression. He did manage to look somewhat amused as he took a sip from a water bottle and said something to Parker, who lifted his head.
He turned away when they reached the salad bar, surveying his options carefully. Peedee moved over to grab a tray for him, putting a bowl of salad on it and handing it over. "Anything specific?" He questioned, gesturing to the other selections, and Steven pointed at one of the bottles of salad dressing, then toward what looked like a bowl of sliced tomatoes and shredded cheese. Peedee, of course, complied dutifully, sprinkling some of the cheese into the bowl with a spoon and doing the same with the tomatoes before letting him dump the salad dressing in. And, once he was content and had it the way he wanted it, Peedee put the bottle back on the table, handed him a water and pushed him off again, while Steven eyed his food thoughtfully. The salad itself didn't look too bad - it actually looked somewhat appetizing, which was a first. "Anywhere in particular you wanna sit?"
"I don't care," Steven began, then paused and looked up, flicking his gaze around. A part of him wanted a chance to be able to explain everything to Peedee in private, but the rest of him didn't want to be alone with the guy either. Thankfully, the other boy seemed content with this, pushing Steven over to the table where Parker and Kevin were sitting, and where it looked like Will had recently sat down as well, taking a seat beside Parker. Steven (much to his chagrin) was pushed into place beside Kevin, who spared a quick glance over and offered nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to his food; Parker had his head buried into his arms again, though he did peek up briefly when Steven and Peedee arrived, heaving out a sigh.
"Meatloaf," the boy told them miserably.
"Even I can't defend this," Will sighed, and Steven huffed out a quiet chuckle despite himself as he reached out to put his tray on the table, pulling himself a little closer while Peedee took a seat at the end of the table, near where Aaron and the other nurses were sitting.
"It's alive," Parker insisted, lifting his head again, and Steven and Will offered him a somewhat dubious look; the hybrid exchanged a glance with the latter after a moment, and Will shrugged.
"Not anymore," the man declared, stabbing his own meatloaf with the fork; Parker paused at that, then huffed out a laugh, and Steven couldn't help but crack a grin despite himself. He spared a quick glance toward Kevin, who only looked somewhat amused; leaning his head against his hand, the man was flicking his gaze around silently, almost looking bored. Steven only studied him for a moment before ripping his gaze away, briefly turning toward Peedee. The other boy was speaking to one of the nurses, a somewhat lopsided grin on his face. For a moment, the hybrid could only stare, genuinely wondering if this really was his old friend. He was finally getting a good look; the shorter hair, the more defined features. He was a lot taller, too - taller than Steven now, almost about Lars's height. He looked different. He was different.
"You good, Steven?" Kevin's voice shocked him out of his thoughts quickly enough; he jumped a little, whirling his head around to face the other man and ignoring the spark of pain that shot through his neck as he did. Kevin arched an eyebrow at him, looking… not quite worried, but there was something in his gaze Steven couldn't quite read, and it made his eyebrows furrow.
"Y…" Steven twisted his mouth slightly, jaw twitching as he struggled to figure out how to answer without outright lying, but he also didn't want to say no and risk being questioned. The hybrid grimaced, flicking his gaze away from Kevin briefly in favor of checking over on Parker and Will. The former had slid his tray over to Will, despite his nurses' (and Will's) protests, and the latter was still struggling to nudge it back over to the boy despite Parker's seemingly vice-like grip holding it in place. Steven stared for a moment, digging his nails into his palms.
Finally, after a moment, he managed to offer Kevin a half-hearted, one-shouldered shrug, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye with a slight frown tugging at his lips now. "No?" After a moment, he managed to mumble, "m'not exactly here 'cause I'm good, right?"
Kevin's eyebrows furrowed as he gazed down at him, his mouth half open like he wanted to say something - but, after a moment, the man only heaved a quiet sigh and shrugged back at him, turning back to continue picking at his meatloaf with a noncommittal grunt. Steven let his gaze linger for a moment, as well, silently wondering why the hell Kevin had even bothered to ask in the first place, but he eventually shifted his focus back to his own food. The untouched salad. It took him a few seconds to muster the energy and willpower to reach forward and pick the bowl up, lifting the fork a little to stir some of the lettuce around inside before scooping up some of it, making sure he got a chunk of tomato and a little bit of cheese as well before he took a bite.
Oh. Oh, it was good. It was better than anything else he'd eaten lately, for sure - so he wasn't sure why he almost gagged at the taste, why he recoiled and swallowed without completely chewing what he had in his mouth, why he felt like he was about to throw up at any given second. It was appalling, because nothing had tasted this good to him in quite some time. Truthfully, he hadn't been entirely sure anything would ever taste good to him again - especially not as long as he was in here - but, he supposed, it made sense that salad was one of few things the facility couldn't really screw up. He wasn't sure it was possible to screw up a salad. Literally all it was was lettuce, salad dressing, and a few extra things depending on how you liked it. And Steven could definitely say that this was the best thing he'd eaten in a while.
He waited for the nausea to fade before he took another bite, this time somewhat hesitantly. Thankfully, the reaction wasn't quite the same; yes, the nausea remained, but his stomach rolled and rumbled almost immediately after it hit him, and he realized it quickly - he had been starving, a little more than he had originally assumed. And this salad was literally the first decent thing he'd eaten in a while (and the first thing he actively wanted to eat, for that matter).
"You guys want a salad?" The hybrid glanced up when Peedee spoke, flicking his gaze toward the other boy briefly before looking back at the other three. Kevin was still picking at his food, and he was pretty sure both Parker and Will had yet to take a bite. Though, Parker's tray was now in front of him again (Will seemed to have won that fight), while Will's was pushed a little ways away from him so that he could cross his arms over the table; all three of them exchanged a silent glance, and while Will did look mildly contemplative, Parker and Kevin snorted.
"We would eat it if we did," Kevin sighed, pushing his meatloaf to the end of his plate and letting it fall into the tray. Parker snickered slightly under his breath, resting his head in one hand.
"I would never subject myself to rabbit food. I would sooner die." At this, even Steven managed to huff out a laugh, though Will offered a somewhat mockingly offended expression in Parker's direction, causing the other boy to crack up. "What? I don't have time for your vegetarian crap."
"Hey," Steven interjected, though he couldn't keep back another quiet laugh. "Whatever you think about vegetarianism, I'll bet you anything right now that this-" He pointed his fork toward his salad and arched an eyebrow at Parker as the other boy crossed his arms over the table, tilting the bowl toward him when he stretched over a little to look. "Is better than that." He gestured the fork toward the meatloaf on Parker's plate, and the boy huffed out a laugh. But he seemed to agree, trading a few glances back and forth between Steven's food and his own.
"Well, you sold me," Will eventually decided, pushing himself up and grabbing his tray. "I'm gonna go get me a salad, then. Parker, you sure you don't want one?" When the boy in question only shook his head, with a somewhat amused grin, Will let out a low hum and shrugged, turning away. "Alright, it's your funeral," he sang, heading off, and missing the middle finger Parker offered him in response before the boy reluctantly reached over to grab his fork again, pulling his tray closer to himself and glaring down at the meatloaf as if it really was alive. Steven couldn't help but snicker to himself, rolling his eyes and letting out a soft sigh before he turned his attention back to his own food, quietly twirling his fork around before taking another bite.
In all honesty, he almost hated how good it was. It still didn't feel natural to eat like this, but he'd be lying if he said it didn't feel good, after all this time; the food itself wasn't awful, he'd definitely eaten worse. Will returned after a moment, and by that time, Steven was still digging into his salad, despite the ever-growing pain in his stomach. The pressure had started building after a few bites, and was only getting worse the more he ate. But he still forced himself to continue, because it was the first decent thing he'd eaten in a long time, and he wasn't about to give that up because of a little pain and nausea. Still, even as he told himself this, he wasn't able to stifle a quiet gag after he had eaten nearly over half of his salad, clasping a hand over his mouth.
Peedee's gaze snapped back to him, concern flickering across his face; he looked at Steven, and then down at the salad bowl, as the hybrid abruptly let his fork drop and reached down to roll himself away from the table. Peedee stood up at once, waving Will and Parker down when they stood up and began to voice their concerns; Kevin was the only one silent, but Steven could still feel his gaze lingering on him regardless as the hybrid rolled himself backwards.
"Easy," Peedee began, grabbing the wheelchair. But, he seemed to understand what Steven needed, because he pulled it out and rolled Steven out of the cafeteria; he felt a little better once he was out in the hall, but by the time they had reached the bathroom (which Peedee had to stop to unlock), he was right back to feeling nauseous again. Thankfully, his old friend managed to get him to the toilet on time before he did throw up, some (if not most) of what he'd just eaten coming right back up from where it had come from and dumping straight into the toilet bowl. He couldn't even bring himself to feel upset or revolted; he just felt sick, and oddly tired. And still hungry, too. Peedee sighed, placing one hand on his shoulder and keeping his curls out of his face with the other. "Yeah, it's alright. Just let it out, man," he mumbled as Steven puked again.
"Shit-" The hybrid gasped when he finally lifted his head, shaking. "Shit, I…"
"You ate too much," Peedee told him, and even though his tone was more soothing and less accusatory, he still couldn't keep back a wince on time. Once the other boy had deduced he was done spilling his guts, the wheelchair was turned around, so that Peedee could inspect him carefully, checking his eyes briefly before standing up and grabbing a wad of paper towels and wetting them, handing them over so Steven could clean his face. He did so somewhat reluctantly, dabbing at his chin and the corners of his mouth as he frowned at the toilet. He'd hardly eaten anything at all. But, he supposed, that was what happened when you stopped eating much of anything for a while. He was gonna have to fix that somehow, if he could. "How're you feeling now?"
"Like I just ate too much and threw up in a toilet," Steven sighed, and Peedee cracked a grin despite himself. After a moment, the hybrid only shook his head and leaned back a little bit, gazing up at the ceiling blankly for a while before he turned his attention back to his old friend. The other male was just sitting there, seemingly making sure Steven really was done before he took the risk of leaving the bathroom with him. He was still so oddly calm - it was confusing enough that it made him feel like he was going to throw up again, but, thankfully, he didn't.
Still, Peedee sat with him while the hybrid struggled to recover. The hungry feeling was, after a while, replaced with something a little heavier - something that felt almost full, despite him having thrown up almost everything he'd eaten. It wasn't quite content; it hurt, for certain, but it was a kind of pain he could brush off after a few moments, easily adapting to it. It would go away soon; it was a familiar feeling, whether or not he cared to admit it. It wasn't like he'd never eaten too much before - granted, he had never thrown up because of it before, but the hybrid certainly knew what it felt like to stuff himself regardless. He sighed, clasping a hand over his mouth, and looked up to nod at Peedee to let him know he was alright; with a smile, the other boy pushed himself up and put a gentle hand on Steven's head before stepping around him.
"Well, I've got some good news," Peedee began, flushing the toilet and starting to push the wheelchair toward the door. Despite himself, staring ahead, he couldn't help a rush of dread; it washed right through him like a tidal wave, twisting his gut to shreds and threatening to make him throw up again. He didn't think he was going to get another chance to tell Peedee, alone and in person, what had happened and what Steven had done and why he was here. Sure, the boy could go ahead and read his file - but the hybrid didn't want that, not really. He wanted it all out in the open now, while they were alone, so they could talk about it without interruptions.
"I tried to kill myself," he blurted out, cutting Peedee off mid-sentence, while he was saying something about 'visiting hours' and his 'dad coming by'. The boy paused, the wheelchair only a few feet away from the door, and Steven sucked in a sharp gasp, continuing, "I crashed my car."
No response. His heart stuttered in his chest, risking a glance up at Peedee. He couldn't see much of the boy's face from this angle, but he could see him nodding slightly; he didn't look surprised. A little bit of worry had flitted across his face, but his expression smoothed over by the time he looked down at Steven, offering nothing more than a comforting smile. Steven hadn't been quite sure what he was expecting, but he knew for certain that it hadn't been that. "Well…" He trailed off, fidgeting his hands a little before continuing to push the wheelchair out. "I'm glad you told me. Honestly, I kind of figured…" He paused, and Steven bit the inside of his cheek, closing his eyes for a moment and tilting his head downwards. "I just mean, you're different," Peedee explained. "Plus, the fact that you're on a one-to-one… yeah."
"Yeah," Steven echoed, and frowned. "You're different, too. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"I know." Peedee paused again, but he kept walking after a few seconds, heaving out a sigh. "Actually, the whole reason I even volunteered here was because of Ronaldo." At this, Steven's head snapped up in surprise, twisting around a little to look up at him as much as possible, and trying to ignore the pain that rushed straight through his back as he did. "He…" Peedee bit the inside of his cheek and sighed, shaking his head a little. "He, uh, had kind of a psychotic break a little while back and he ended up here for a few months. So I ended up kinda… signing up to be a volunteer 'nurse', kinda, when I turned eighteen. Then he got transferred, but I stayed here."
The fact that Ronaldo had ended up in the mental hospital was the first thing Steven had heard since he'd been there that actually made sense. "Damn," he mumbled, blinking a few times as he turned back around to look ahead. A frown tugged at his lips, somewhat worried for Ronaldo - he'd always known the guy was cracked, so the fact that he had really cracked wasn't really the most shocking thing he'd ever heard, but he knew it had to be hard for Peedee. And probably their dad, too. He just hoped the mental hospital knew how to help him, at least. "Why'd they transfer him?" He asked suddenly, looking back up at Peedee.
The boy shrugged. "My dad had to move. He wanted Ronaldo somewhere he could visit easily. I go and see him when I can, but for the most part I'm just here. They're taking care of Ronaldo, but, I like being here where I can help other people a little bit too." And this, Steven could somewhat understand - even he'd known back then that the guy was somewhat of a lost cause. And he didn't mean it in a bad way, of course, but Ronaldo was… well, yeah, he was crazy. He was crazy, and Steven knew it. He was the first human who had actually managed to scare him as much as a gem usually would, the first human Steven had realized could be a real threat. He'd been used to gems kidnapping him and trying to hurt him, but humans… it was just the first time he had realized they could be dangerous if they wanted to be. Dangerous to him, anyway.
Of course, Peedee's comment about wanting to help people struck a chord. It had him thinking back to both himself and Maria - and, no, it didn't really settle too well with him. But, before he could open his mouth to express any doubts or concerns, Peedee was already speaking again. "Don't worry about Ronaldo, though." I'm not. "He's in good hands where he's at. So are you," he added quickly.
"Right," Steven dismissed quickly. "Whattya mean, you wanna help people?"
Peedee blinked at this, as if it wasn't quite what he'd been expecting, but he shook his head and replied anyway. "Well, I mean- people like you, y'know? I had a bit of a depressive episode myself a while back and- it wasn't anything like that," he added, watching Steven's gaze flick back up to his face quickly. "It scared me enough to tell my dad before I could do anything. I ended up on a suicide watch for a few days and met a few other people and… I don't know, guess it kinda struck a chord. Then Ronaldo ended up here and I figured… might as well, right? Maybe I can help someone the way the nurses here helped me, and him."
The hybrid wasn't really sure what to say at first. It wasn't like Maria, was it? It wasn't like him. Peedee seemed to know he had a choice here… did he, though? Even he couldn't really tell. He wished he could - his old friend used to be so easy to read, but now it was like a whole other book in front of him, and he was being forced to start reading from the middle. Steven grimaced, dropping his gaze to look ahead. He didn't reply with anything more than a quiet, non-committal grunt in response, breathing in slowly and letting it out in a quiet huff. "Where're we going?"
"Common area," Peedee explained, seeming relaxed once again. "You're not allowed to be left alone with visitors, and since you're on a one-to-one anyway, suicide watch patients typically have to meet up with anyone who visits them in a common room." Steven didn't respond immediately, silently looking around to memorize where they were and where they were going. He needed to start learning his way around here, he was getting sick of being pushed around. "Visiting hours are about to start. They're gonna let us know when your dad gets here- he already called ahead about an hour ago to let them know he was on his way, so it shouldn't be too long now." At this, Steven finally let himself relax, sinking back against the wheelchair.
He peered into the room through half-lidded eyes as they entered, twisting his mouth into a frown. Parker was there now, sitting at his table and carefully constructing another tower. Kevin was also inside, and he'd retreated back to the couch to read. Otherwise, the room was pretty much empty; there were a few nurses, and one of them had a remote in their hands. Steven followed their gaze to the TV, somewhat surprised to see that they had Flixflix, and the nurse was currently flicking through some of the movies. Seemingly at Will's request, because he was still telling them to keep going, most likely searching for something specific. He focused on the TV again as he was parked inside the room, near one of the couches. It was mounted up onto the wall, more or less out of reach from the other patients. Arching an eyebrow, Steven leaned back, watching as Will finally lifted a hand and asked the nurse to stop on one of the selections.
"There," the man said gleefully, "Balance: The Final Airbender. Perfect. Can you play that?"
"Sure can, baby doll," the nurse chuckled, clicking on the show and walking over to put the remote away behind a desk. Steven tilted his head slightly, fixing his gaze on the screen as the show started, and Will retreated over to the couch the hybrid was seated beside, grinning.
"They just released it on Flixflix," he was explaining as he settled into place on one of the cushions, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to his chest as he looked up at the screen.
"Balance?" Parker blinked up at the screen, abruptly pushing his chair back; he abandoned his half-built tower (much to Steven's amusement) in favor of joining Will on the couch. Peedee chuckled, taking a seat in the chair on Steven's other side. "Shit, man, move over-" He waved a hand at Will, who scooted down as requested so that Peedee could take a seat, crossing his legs and leaning forward to peer at the TV excitedly. "Steven, have you ever watched Balance?"
"Can't say I have," Steven responded, blinking back at the TV. Will gasped, and even Kevin looked up from his book to stare at the hybrid with a mixture of shock and confusion.
"Well, shut up and watch," Parker insisted, directing Steven's attention back to the TV. The hybrid arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back. Alright, so, they had a television and Flixflix - Steven still wasn't entirely sure about this place, but at least he had something to do other than sit around while he waited for his father to get there. So, he allowed himself to focus on the TV, on the show that was playing. Even Kevin, after a while, ended up putting his book away in order to join them, though he took a seat on the floor in front of the couch instead of sitting with Parker and Will. Steven still couldn't help but smile, though. And he wasn't really sure why - why it tickled him on the inside, just a little bit.
Regardless, for just a moment - just a flicker - just a little - he was content.