Once Greg had finally released him, and given him a quick once-over, the gems had decided it would probably best to move to what they called the 'house' for the time being, the little structure connected to the stone gem. The other Homeworld gems had decided to stay outside, mostly due to Berry, who practically forced them all back when they tried to follow, because Steven 'needs time alone with them'. The hybrid couldn't help but roll his eyes at her despite himself, but he didn't want to risk arguing. He didn't want to come off as rude; it wasn't that he was… uncomfortable with them (though Amethyst, he couldn't help but be wary of regardless), and he was sure the other gems wanted a chance to explore anyway. So he followed the gems and his Dad and Connie to the 'house', glancing back on occasion to watch Tangerine finally climb back out of the ship, coaxing Clementine along with her and letting Berry lead them away to where Lemon Lime and Candy were still exploring, having picked something up from the sand to show them once they'd approached. He was worried, but… he was sure they'd be fine.
His friends could defend themselves. Agate taught him everything he knew, Berry was one hell of a fighter despite how much she hated it, Sage was quick on her feet, and Tangerine could destroy anything within seconds - even on accident. Clementine was a good fighter, herself. Of course, that just left Lemon Lime and Candy, but he was sure they'd be fine, too. There was no reason for him to doubt that the others would keep each other and themselves safe. Steven rolled his shoulders back and sighed, looking up and following Greg up the stairs with a frown. Not worrying wasn't his strong suit; he was already on edge as it was regarding their escape, and since he already knew his Diamond was going to be absolutely furious with them… yeah. He was concerned. And he was gonna keep himself on edge; he needed to be prepared.
"You know, your friends are very welcome to come with us," Pearl commented, opening the door to let Amethyst and Garnet through. Steven paused, watching Greg head inside, and glanced over at Pearl, furrowing his eyebrows. "I know we weren't very, ah- welcoming- at the beginning, but we didn't exactly know they were…" Pearl huffed out a nervous laugh, clearing her throat. "What I mean is, they're certainly welcome here, if they'd wanted to come inside or…"
"Don't worry." Steven glanced over his shoulder, pausing as he looked back at his friends. "I'm sure at this point, they're already over that, anyway. If they want to come in, they will. Besides… Berry gets bored quickly." He rolled his eyes and offered Pearl an amused, awkward smile, finally stepping forward to walk inside after the other. "So I'm sure she'll be bursting in here within the next few minutes, anyway…" He trailed off, looking around, and blinked. The inside of the house - he recognized it, just as instantly as he had with Connie, and Greg. At least, he knew he'd stood there before. He knew he'd been in here before. He swept his gaze around for a second, taking a few steps further inside. There was a… warp pad at the far end, on the other side of the house, and a door with a star embedded on it just behind that. But the main part of the house looked cozier than the cave-like area the warp pad and door resided in; Amethyst had fallen back onto some kind of soft structure, which sank down beneath her when she sat on it, and Greg had retreated to another part of the house, which was separated by what looked like an only half-built wall - but he assumed, with the chairs and stools centered around it, that was probably how it was supposed to be. And there was another part, with stairs leading up…
Pearl paused beside him, glancing over at the hybrid briefly before looking up the stairs. "That's where your room is," she told him, and he furrowed his eyebrows in response, staring upwards silently and tilting his head. His room… "Where your bed and your clothes… oh, speaking of clothes! I'm sure you want to get out of that uniform, right?" She stepped forward and held her hand out to him; the hybrid hesitated slightly at first, but reached out to take her hand eventually. Get out of his uniform… honestly, he wasn't sure how he felt about that. But he let her lead him up the stairs, flicking his gaze around and furrowing his eyebrows as he glanced around.
"I'm not sure I'm supposed to take my uniform off…" He began as she released his hand, heading over to one of the structures in the room and reaching out to open a drawer.
"You can do whatever you…" Pearl faltered, suddenly. "Oh, these clothes won't… fit…"
Steven hesitated, staying where he was for a few seconds, before taking a few steps forward. "It's okay. I don't mind the uniform," he told her, scanning the room after a moment. "It's not uncomfortable or anything, I'm pretty used to it by now… what's that?" He gestured toward one of the structures in the room, sitting low to the ground. There were few things on top, but Steven couldn't name any of them; he stepped forward, but he didn't reach out to touch anything. He wasn't exactly keen on getting into trouble here, remembering what he'd decided - don't do anything, don't get in trouble. If he just stayed still and didn't touch things, didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to be doing, then there wasn't any reason for them to be upset with them. Considering he'd just met them again, and only remembered a few things that could hardly light a candle to what he was sure really mattered, he was gonna try not to piss them off too much.
"Hm?" Pearl turned, and blinked. "Oh, that's your bed. That's where you sleep," she explained, closing the drawer after a moment and walking over to him, and Steven furrowed his eyebrows. He thought for a moment, scanning the 'bed' in silence, and shook his head. Yep, no memories.
"What's 'sleep'?"
The way Pearl looked at him then was enough to make him flinch; the horror, the bewilderment, the realization that flashed across her face. He bit the inside of his cheek and steeled himself; for what, he wasn't entirely sure. He wished he knew what to expect from these gems, honestly. At least on Homeworld, he knew what was going to happen when he said the wrong thing to the wrong gem. At least he knew what kind of punishments he might receive; whether it be a few days in the Room or whether it be a destabilizer shoved into his back. But he was in completely uncharted territory here, having absolutely no idea what these gems could do to him. The idea that they might not even do anything was so far out of his reach that it wasn't even a possibility.
"Sorry…" Steven trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek. "I didn't mean to-"
"No, no, it's- it's okay, I just-" Pearl shook her head quickly, and Steven fell silent for a moment, still tense, but a little more relaxed knowing that he wasn't going to be punished. He still didn't feel completely right, though; his question had bothered her, and he didn't know why, but it was enough to make him wish that he had just kept his mouth shut right then. "Sleep…" The pale gem sucked in a breath. "Sleep is… well, it's a necessity for humans. Basically, it's like…" She trailed off. "Oh, I don't know how to describe it. It's like a… recharge. You lay down and close your eyes, and think about nothing… or everything," Pearl added faintly, glancing at him. "It's necessary for a human's survival and health. Physical and emotional. When humans don't sleep, their bodies shut down." Pearl paused, studying him. "You… you haven't… slept at all?"
"Uh… no." Steven narrowed his eyes, puzzled by the explanation. Alright, tread carefully now. She was still upset, and he didn't want to make it any worse. "I guess…" He ran his tongue over his lips, narrowing his eyes faintly. "Gems… don't need to sleep. I know I'm only half-gem, but… I guess, the other gems- and my Diamond- figured since I'm not completely human, I don't need to do human things. Honestly, I don't even think my Diamond knows I'm not a real gem…"
"Being half-gem doesn't make you any less of a gem at all," Pearl told him quietly. The horrified look on her face had intensified, and now it seemed to be for more than one reason. Stars, he really needed to start thinking about what he said before he said it. At this point, he was either going to get in trouble or he was just going to keep upsetting them, and neither of which sounded particularly favorable to him at all. "And…" She seemed to hesitate, gaze flicking across Steven's face carefully, before she steeled herself and straightened up a little bit. "Being half-human, it doesn't make you any less of a human. I guess… if you haven't slept, you might not need to to survive, but… for your health, otherwise… you do look exhausted, Steven…" The hybrid paused, glancing down as if to look himself over, but he looked back up after a second. "I'm sure you might feel a little better if you get some rest," she murmured. "And some food…"
Steven opened his mouth slightly, but he snapped it shut again after a moment of hesitation. Asking what sleep was hadn't gone over too well, he'd upset her. Asking what 'food' was…
Pearl stared at him for a moment, looking almost despaired. "You don't know what food is."
Shards. "Sorry…"
"You've got nothing to apologize for," Pearl told him for the second time that day, and Steven grimaced slightly in response. "Food is another thing that's necessary for humans. Eating…" She trailed off, and Steven watched her face seem to scrunch up, almost looking disgusted. "Well, humans consume 'food' because their bodies require it. Like with sleeping, if they don't eat, their bodies shut down. If a human goes long enough without eating, they could die-" At this, Steven's eyes widened slightly in surprise, while Pearl continued on tentatively, "Amethyst might be able to explain how it works better than I could, but you should probably eat, too…"
"But I'm not completely human," Steven said slowly, confused. "So maybe I can just…"
"You might not die if you don't, but…" Pearl trailed off. "Well, it's certainly going to take a toll on you. It has already…" She stared at him again, offering another silent once-over, before she shook her head and cleared her throat. "Not eating and sleeping can make you weak and tired. Your body might not shut down completely, but I'm sure you can only go so long without… you need to take care of yourself, Steven," the pale gem urged, finally looking back up at him, meeting his gaze, and the hybrid furrowed his eyebrows, staying silent. "You're still half-human. That part of you still needs to be taken care of, still needs to thrive on necessary human things." For a while, Steven just twisted his mouth and stared at her, staying silent. Eating didn't exactly sound favorable for him; he knew what 'consume' meant, at least, and he wasn't sure he liked the idea of that. Another thing was that he wasn't sure about going to Amethyst for anything. Yes, he'd remembered some things, but it wasn't enough to make him comfortable around her. Or any of them. Honestly, the only ones he was really comfortable with were the humans…
"I…" Steven closed his eyes for a moment, ducking his head. Alright, right. This was an order. To 'recover', to listen to whatever the gems had to say. Agate had basically passed his training over to them, so, whatever they said goes, right? If he thought of it like an order, then it wasn't his decision. If it wasn't his decision… then it was easy. He could hate what they were telling him to do as much as he wanted to, but when it came down to it, it wasn't his choice at all. And as long as it wasn't his choice, then he wasn't conflicted on whatever it was he should do. Following orders was what he did best - so he was going to follow this one, like a good soldier. The hybrid steeled himself again, rolling his shoulders back and opening his eyes once more. "Alright. If that's what you want me to do, I'll do it." He offered a quick nod, glancing at the bed.
"You don't h-" Pearl began, and Steven shook his head quickly to cut her off. He didn't want her to finish that sentence; if she did, then it was his choice. Then it was up to him to make the right one. Following orders was a lot simpler than that; then he knew that whatever he did was the right choice, because it was the only one he was given. Pearl seemed to falter, staring at him desperately for a moment, before she took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, well… you can go ahead and sleep, then," she told him quietly, gesturing toward the bed again, and Steven took a slight step forward. "While you're asleep, I'll get Amethyst to go and get you some food."
"Right…" Steven trailed off, looking down at the bed for a moment. But he stepped forward after a few seconds, hesitating as he hovered beside it. "How does this 'sleep' thing work again?"
"Here." Pearl walked forward and pulled something off of part of the bed. It was long and flat, and it folded slightly under her grip as she pulled it back. "This is a blanket, you put it over you while you sleep to keep yourself warm," she explained, gesturing to the rest of the bed. "And that's a pillow, which is what you put your head on when you lay down. You always used to say it was comfortable," she mentioned, almost fondly, with a small smile on her face and Steven relaxed a little as he looked down at the bed. Good, at least she wasn't upset anymore.
The hybrid breathed in through his teeth and reached forward to pull himself up onto the bed, and Pearl guided him to lay down without quite touching him, letting him sink back against the bed and rest his head back on the pillow. Well, he'd be lying if he said that it wasn't comfortable; she draped the blanket over him after a second, and she seemed to hesitate with her hands hovering in the air before she pulled back again, offering another smile. "Just close your eyes," she told him. "Lay still, don't say anything, and just… let yourself fall asleep. It's fairly simple." Pearl paused again, as Steven hesitated for a second before letting his eyes drift shut, taking a deep, careful breath to steady himself. "I… could stay with you until you fall asleep," Pearl said suddenly - and the hybrid blinked his eyes open, pausing to glance over at her once again. "Of course, if you want me to leave you alone, I'd understand," she added quickly. "I just figured-"
"Actually-" Steven paused, taking another deep breath and running his tongue over his lips again. He hesitated for a moment longer, uncertain as to whether or not he should voice his thoughts, whether or not he should say what he wanted to say. But, she had offered - so maybe it was okay, maybe it was okay to let his guard down just a little. He had to learn to trust her, right? She didn't seem to be all that bad, and he liked Pearls for the most part. Some of them didn't like him, but most of them would smile and wave at him when he walked by them, so… yeah, Pearls in general were okay in his book. And this one… well, he had known her before. She was part of his past. He wanted to trust her. "I… don't… like being… alone," he finally mumbled after a few moments, clenching his teeth and swallowing as he looked away again. "Not really, anyway. I guess I'm just used to it sometimes, but I don't really… it's not…" Steven trailed off, shaking his head furiously. "I- what I mean is- you can stay… if you want to stay."
"Then I'll stay," Pearl murmured. He watched her as she sat down on the floor beside the bed, stretching one hand over the blanket toward him almost hesitantly. It took a moment to realize what she wanted, but he didn't hesitate to reach out and take her hand. As far as contact went, he was willing to explore that particular aspect; he liked being able to feel things, he liked being touched without experiencing some kind of pain immediately afterwards. And this didn't hurt. If anything, feeling Pearl's hand curl around his as gently and cautiously as ever, it felt… nice. The hybrid settled again, closing his eyes once more and heaving out a gentle sigh as he relaxed.
After a few minutes, everything was dark.
Sleeping for the first time in eight months was rather peaceful. It was just… dark, and quiet. Nothing really to account for, nothing happened while he was asleep, he just existed, frozen. It felt like no time at all had passed when he finally began to stir; it felt like he had only just closed his eyes. He hadn't even realized he'd drifted off, but he had. He knew because waking up felt much different than just having been laying there with his eyes shut. It was like he was being pulled out of something, out of whatever frozen space he'd been trapped in just moments before, and time kept ticking the moment he shifted, winced, and forced his eyes open again. Something was different; something felt different. He was relaxed, calm, he felt… good.
Steven blinked a few times, screwing his eyes shut again for a few seconds. Well, he had felt good. His eyes felt heavy and his body didn't want to move, even as he tried to push his arms underneath him to sit up. But his hands only offered a twitch before he was still again, unable to make the necessary movements to push himself up out of the bed. He also vaguely noticed that Pearl was gone, no longer there and holding his hand; he wasn't upset about that in particular, she'd said she was only going to stay until he fell asleep, but the fact that he was alone right then didn't settle well with him. But, it wasn't enough to make him move; he did open his eyes and try again, managing to roll over a little onto his side in the process, but he still couldn't bring himself to sit up - or to want to sit up. No, he was actually rather content where he was. Content to just lay there and close his eyes, and find himself trapped in the darkness again. It was funny, he didn't like the dark at all. But it had come and gone so quickly, and it had been so peaceful…
The soldier let out a quiet sigh, then a groan, as he finally shifted his arm underneath him to push himself up. He didn't want to get up at all, and the second he was actually sitting up, he wanted to lay back down and fall asleep again. In fact, the longer he was upright, he just wanted to crumble again. He couldn't explain why it had felt so good, he couldn't even explain how good it had felt, but he just knew it was something he definitely wanted to do again. Over and over. Preferably for longer than however he had been already, because it had felt like nothing. The bliss had been over far too soon, and he found himself more disappointed by the second. Steven sighed, groaning once more, before he pushed himself to stand up again with a grunt.
He lifted a hand to rub his eyes, glancing around for a moment, before stumbling forward. He winced a little initially when he stepped forward, finding himself oddly unbalanced, dazed. But he still managed to navigate himself toward the stairs, only making his way down a few of them before he abruptly realized he might not be supposed to leave at all. Pearl hadn't specified as to whether or not he was supposed to stay in his room or not, and there wasn't exactly a door or anything to shut him in, so without orders and without the obvious, he was left without instructions. So, naturally, he paused, grabbing the wall to hold himself up and fully preparing to turn and walk back up the stairs until he had received specific orders to do otherwise. And he'd just been about to, ready to turn and leave, and maybe even go back and try that sleeping thing again - but he froze when he turned his head, his gaze locking just above the door to the house.
Admittedly, he almost fell down the rest of the stairs.
It was the pink gem, the one from the vision, the memory. That was the face he had seen. It was his mother. Steven just stared, silently flicking his gaze over the picture. The portrait. That's what it was called, a portrait. It was a painting of his mother… a painting of her. Rose Quartz. He didn't know how he knew it - he didn't even know how he knew what a mother was to begin with, but it just clicked. Something clicked. Another piece of the puzzle. That was his mother, the gem who had created him, brought him into this life. And there were many conflicted feelings on that front, feelings that had seemingly been there for a long time. Feelings he had felt out on the beach, during the brief, few seconds when her face had flickered through his mind.
There was the hurt, and pain, and the feelings of inadequacy... even a little bit of rage. But there was also warmth, and love, and awe - he remembered thinking how beautiful she was all the time, just sitting there and staring and wishing she was there with him. Wishing she could hold him, and love him, sit with him and talk to him and be there to care for him, like mothers did-
-but that brought up an entirely new set of feelings.
Mom. While he did associate the word with the woman in the portrait, other faces popped up in his mind the more he thought about it. Pearl's came up more often than not; feelings of warmth and acceptance, unconditional love, feeling safe and warmed and content as he wrapped himself up in her arms and snuggled close to her. As she spoke with him, sang to him, made him feel safe, and loved. He jerked a little as the emotions twisted in his chest, unconsciously curling his fingers against the wall. Rose Quartz was his mother. Pearl was his Mom.
The hybrid shivered and ducked his head a little, ripping his gaze away from the portrait and bringing a hand up to his head, fingers gripping at his hair. His head was starting to hurt, still hazy, still left in a daze. But more memories had flown free, more emotions added on top of it. Better feelings than he'd been receiving so far; only Lion and Greg had made him feel that safe and warm and… and loved. This was the first time he'd felt anything positive regarding any of his memories of the gems, or even Connie; those feelings were still linked to guilt. On some level, so were these - but they weren't the strongest ones that took hold when he thought about Pearl like that. No, that was the love, the unconditional acceptance, the safety he felt with her.
"Hey," Amethyst's voice snapped him out of his thoughts - and, honestly, the hybrid couldn't help but flinch and jerk back in surprise, snapping his head up at once. The purple gem was standing at the bottom of the stairs now, watching him carefully. She held her hands up when Steven looked at her, offering him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"
"I…" Steven hesitated for a moment, just staring at her. He still wasn't sure what to think about her, wasn't sure how to feel around her. But… if he could push past his disdain for Amethysts to be able to train them for battle, maybe he could push through it to give this one a chance. The hybrid sighed, taking a deep breath and clearing his throat as he looked down, forcing himself to take another step down the stairs so that he could make his way to her. She stepped back to let him, just watching him as he struggled to recompose himself again, nodding. "Yeah, I'm okay." He paused when he reached the bottom, quickly scanning the house. It was mostly empty - but he did notice Connie, curled up and seemingly sleeping on the couch, with Lion beside her.
Amethyst followed his gaze, snorting out a chuckle. "Yeah, she was too worried to leave," the purple gem explained, stepping back for a second and turning to head over to where the stools were propped against the half-built wall. Briefly, another word stirred in the back of his mind - kitchen - but he wasn't sure what to make of that. It was definitely a weird word… the hybrid narrowed his eyes, thinking. "Pearl just left- she went to show some of your friends the Sky arena, and I think your Ruby friend dragged Garnet off to show her her ship or something…"
"Sounds like Berry," Steven noted quietly, watching her. "She gets pretty excited about fusions."
"Not like Garnet minds," Amethyst laughed again, reaching over to grab a box. Steven furrowed his eyebrows and ventured a few steps forward. "She'll take any chance she can get to be able to show herself off, to anybody. That's the thing about literally being a fusion of two gems who're madly in love, it means that you're madly in love with yourself, as weird as that might sound." Steven couldn't help but snort out a laugh of his own at that, rolling his shoulders back and letting the rest of the tension drain from him. Alright, this gem currently had his attention. She didn't seem to be nearly as bad as the other Amethysts on Homeworld, so he'd give it a go. "Also, Pearl told me to feed you if you woke up while she was gone," Amethyst added, holding the box up and offering a grin. "She'd probably go for a healthier option, but I got you a treat."
"She told me you'd be able to help me with the 'eating' thing," Steven admitted, finally walking forward to meet her, on the other side of the counter. "Since I don't know how to do it."
"And you couldn't ask for a better teacher." Amethyst smirked, sliding the box in front of him as he pulled himself up onto one of the stools to get a closer look. She reached forward to open it, but turned it toward her before he had the chance to see inside. "Okay, so these things…" She took something out of the box, and held it up so he could see. A circular, soft-looking object with a hole through the center; Steven furrowed his eyebrows, staring at it until she put it back. "Are called donuts. They're one kind of food, and let me tell you, little man, they are a delicacy."
Steven quirked an eyebrow, crossing his arms over the counter. Amethyst then pulled another 'donut' out of the box; this one looked different from the other one, a darker brown color covered in pink specks. "And this, this was your favorite kind of donut. Chocolate with pink sprinkles." The purple gem grinned, reaching across the counter to give the donut to him.
The hybrid took it carefully, somewhat curious now. It was… sticky. Sticky like the red liquid that trickled from his skin whenever he was cut during training, or by the limb enhancers. The blood. Actually, it was a little more sticky than even that; it stuck to his fingers as he pulled them apart from the donut one by one, mostly just to make sure that he could, and that the purple gem hadn't handed him something that he was stuck to or something. He wasn't sure what to expect here, what kind of weapons they could have - and just because he was willing to give her a chance didn't mean he wasn't going to be somewhat cautious regardless. But, once he was content that the thing he was holding was relatively harmless, he looked back up at her again. "And you… consume these," he said slowly, and Amethyst nodded. "Weird…"
"Weird, but awesome," Amethyst commented, selecting another donut out of the box. This one had different colored specks - 'sprinkles', as she had called them. "Eating is pretty simple. All you gotta do is take a bite." She demonstrated by sinking her teeth into part of her donut, and Steven watched, raising his eyebrows, as she bit off a chunk of it and leaned back again. "Then you chew it- basically use your teeth to mash it up as much as you can- and then you swallow."
Once again, she demonstrated. Steven watched her jaw twitch as she chewed the part of the donut she had bitten off, and furrowed his eyebrows as she tilted her head back to swallow it. "Weird," he murmured again, leaning back and looking down at his own donut. And he hesitated for a few seconds, turning it around a few times in his hand and scowling slightly at the sticky texture - it hadn't stuck to him, but some of it had rubbed off on his fingers - before he finally settled again, resting both of his elbows on the counter in front of him and bringing the donut up to his mouth. Unlike Amethyst, he didn't take a huge chunk of it; he sank his teeth in carefully, tearing off a little piece of it to start with, and pushed it back with his tongue to chew it.
And, oh, the flavor…
It was so… strong. It made the inside of his mouth tingle; his first reaction was to gag, clasping his free hand over his mouth so that he didn't spit the piece of the donut out. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but he certainly hadn't expected it to cause such a reaction, for it to… to taste like that. He hadn't expected it to taste like anything. Of course, he'd tasted things before; he'd tasted blood, he'd tasted the metal of his limb enhancers whenever he had to stick his finger in his mouth to heal a gem, or whenever he tried once again to heal his own wounds. But he'd never tasted anything like this, nothing so strong, nothing that made his mouth ache. And as much as it startled him, it also intrigued him; once he recovered, after a few seconds, he found himself doing as she'd demonstrated, chewing slowly. That just made the flavor burst to life once more, but once he was a little more prepared for it, it didn't startle him so badly.
It made his throat ache as he swallowed, and his stomach twisted the second he did, offering a loud rumble in response. The hybrid blinked, looking down at his gem in surprise, and he heard Amethyst huff out a somewhat muffled down as she swallowed another bite of her own donut. "There you go!" The purple gem exclaimed, and Steven looked up again, eyes wide now. "See? You're a natural at this. So, whaddya think?" She leaned forward across the counter, grinning. "You miss food as much as I think you did? Sounds like your stomach sure missed it to me."
Steven paused, staring at her for a moment. The donut was… well, it was certainly different. It was sweet; that was the only word he could use to describe it. It was sweet. A little too sweet. Too strong, he thought. But staring back at the excited expression on Amethyst's face… he couldn't bring himself to say that he didn't like it as much as she probably thought he did. At least, he didn't think he'd willingly be eating one anytime soon. It wasn't that it was horrible, it was just that it was new, and he didn't know how to react to it. The way it made his mouth tingle, and his throat burn, and his stomach hurt. But he didn't have the heart to crush her like that, and he didn't think it had anything to do with his disdain or fear for Amethysts. It was just her. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by rejecting the donut. He didn't know why, he couldn't explain where it was coming from, the odd protectiveness stirring in his gut. But he knew he couldn't tell her he didn't like it. "It's…" He trailed off, and forced a smile. "Yeah, it's really good, Amethyst."
He watched her pause, flicking her gaze across his face, and his smile faltered when hers did. Shards, did everybody on this star-forsaken planet just see right through him? Berry was right, he wasn't as good an actor as he would have liked to believe. "Dude, you don't have to like it."
"I… I know that, but…" Steven trailed off, and faltered, glancing down at the donut.
Amethyst was silent for a while, seemingly lost in thought, before she spoke again. "Alright, how 'bout this?" She turned the box around and scooted it toward him again, and Steven reached forward to drop the donut inside when he realized what she'd wanted. "Let's try something else. Maybe it's just the donuts," she suggested, closing the box and stuffing the rest of her own donut in her mouth, and Steven crossed his arms over the counter again with a frown. His hands were still sticky, but he wasn't about to complain about that on top of everything else. "I'd tell you you didn't have to eat anything, but Pearl would totally kill me if I don't get you to try again-" She paused, and added hastily, "that, and the fact that you really, really need to eat anyway. You might find something else that you like. I got some fry bits we can try instead!"
"Okay." Steven watched as she turned around, reaching down to grab something else. This time, she deposited a bag on the counter instead; Steven stared at it for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek and leaning back a little. "I'm sorry," he said suddenly after a second.
Amethyst blinked, glancing up at him. "For what?"
Steven hesitated, staring at her for a moment. Well, he wasn't used to being asked why he was apologizing. Usually, there was always something to apologize for. And if there wasn't, they just told him that, but it was never really much of a reassurance. But for a split second, he couldn't help but wonder what he was apologizing for; she didn't seem upset with him about the donut thing, and while he still felt pretty guilty about that anyway, he didn't think it was anything to apologize for since she had moved on from it rather quickly regardless. Besides, she had told him that he didn't have to like it - and he knew, logically, that he didn't. So why was he so…
The hybrid rolled his shoulders back and lowered his gaze, running his tongue over his lips and lightly curling his hands into fists, knuckles pressing against the counter. He didn't want to answer because he didn't want to answer, but the idea that the question might have been a trap made him feel nervous enough to speak. "I… I don't know," he replied uncertainly. "I'm sorry."
"Hey," Amethyst's tone had softened slightly; Steven grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment and shaking his head. "Don't worry about it, guy. You don't have to, like, apologize for every little thing you think you're doing wrong. And trust me, you're not," she added quickly. The hybrid didn't say anything for a moment, but he blinked his eyes open to glance up at her again, furrowing his eyebrows slightly. She offered him a small smile in response, reaching into the bag. "Seriously. Nobody's gonna get on your tail, or anything. Getting into trouble is the last thing you've gotta worry about right now, at least with us. I'm certainly not gonna give you any bullshit," she added with a grin, pulling a small, open container out of the box. "So, it's okay."
Steven studied her for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows. That was probably the nicest thing an Amethyst had ever said to him, and if she wasn't purple and didn't have a Quartz embedded on her chest, Steven would have highly doubted that she was one at all. He fell silent for a few seconds as she pushed the container to the center of the counter between them, glancing down at the small, yellow squares that rested inside before he flicked his gaze back up to her again. "You know…" He began hesitantly, studying her. "You're pretty nice… for an Amethyst, anyway."
"Thanks, I try," Amethyst huffed out a laugh, lifting one of the little yellow rectangles out of the container and holding it out to him. "This is a fry bit. Same concept like with the donut, but it tastes a lot different, trust me." She paused, then added with a grin as he reached out to take the fry bit from her hand, "and if you don't like it, tell me… so are other Amethysts like, not… nice or something? The ones I met back at the human zoo or whatever were actually pretty decent." At this, Steven offered her a curious look, and the purple gem shrugged her shoulders with a grin. "It's a long story, I'll tell you all about it later. But I thought they were nice."
"Eh…" Steven trailed off for a moment, looking down at the fry bit. "I mean, I guess so. The ones at the zoo… I think they're younger. Still Era-1, but I don't think they were around during the war… most of them, anyway. The ones that were are kept on Homeworld so they can fight, and train and stuff," he added, propping his elbows up on the table and glancing back up at her. "They don't really like me, 'cause I'm- 'cause they think I'm Rose Quartz," he added hastily. "And I don't really like them all that much either. Most of them. I had to train a batch of Era-2 Amethysts for battle, but they weren't…" He gestured faintly, and Amethyst furrowed her eyebrows, almost looking perplexed, but she nodded. "My Diamond used to send-"
"Blue," Amethyst corrected, but not unkindly. "Blue Diamond."
Steven hesitated. "Right. Blue Diamond used to send Amethysts to punish me whenever I did something wrong, so there was usually a… mutual kind of… hatred…" He trailed off, faltering slightly when the purple gem's expression shifted into a mixture of horror and absolute fury. The hybrid grimaced, gripping the edge of the counter to push himself back a little, leaning away. "Sorry, I'm- stars, I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have said anything-"
"No- no," Amethyst interrupted quickly, sinking back sharply on the other side of the counter and shaking her head furiously at him in response. "No, don't- it's- don't. I need… give me a sec."
Steven took a deep breath and nodded, falling silent and looking down at the fry bit. It was small, smaller than the bite he had taken from the donut before. So, after a moment, he simply put the entire thing in his mouth. Amethyst was right; it was definitely different. Definitely not sweet, either, that was for sure. It made his tongue tingle in a different way, and his stomach had ached and rumbled before he even started chewing it. The flavor was still strong, though. Stronger than he thought it would be, and too strong for him to be completely comfortable with eating it. Again, it wasn't bad - he actually kind of just liked it - it was just… too much.
Amethyst took a deep breath, finally seeming to compose herself. "Whaddya think?"
"It's not bad," Steven admitted, and he hesitated a little bit before continuing, because at this point, he knew there was no point in not saying anything. "It's… I don't know, it's different. Eating is just… different." He fell silent for a moment, staring at the container of fry bits for a moment, and Amethyst let out an understanding hum in response. "I like it, but it's kind of… overwhelming?" The hybrid lifted a hand to run his fingers through his hair, but he jerked his hand back down quickly enough, remembering that he didn't like the feeling of the curls.
"That's okay." Amethyst shrugged, abruptly pushing herself up. Steven didn't flinch at the movement, offering little more than a blink as she hopped down from her own stool. "I think the only way to fix that is to get into eating again, though. It was like that for me when I started," she added quickly over her shoulder, turning away from him. Steven crossed his arms over the counter again, eyeing the fry bits for a moment, before he sat up again and reached out to grab another. She was right, wasn't she? He had to get used to it again. "But now I love eating anything and everything! And you know what I love almost as much as eating…" She grabbed something off of the counter and reached over to open the door to a giant, rectangular white structure beside it. "Drinking. Almost slipped my mind. So, what'cha want? Soda? Juice? Milk?" She paused, and Steven furrowed his eyebrows, bewildered. "We've also got water…"
"Uh…" Steven trailed off, arching an eyebrow. "I don't know."
"We'll go with… water," Amethyst decided, shutting the door again and heading to another part of the counter that seemed to cave inwards at the top. Steven just let out a hum and looked down again, turning his attention back to the fry bit in his hand. Like before, he put it in his mouth and chewed and swallowed; it was still as strong as it was the first time, but easier to eat somehow regardless. He ran his tongue over his lips, making a face at the taste. He couldn't decide whether he liked it or not; he didn't know what to feel, what to make of the food. What to make of eating in itself; everything about it was just… weird. He looked up again when Amethyst climbed back up onto her stool and reached over to slide something in front of him, smiling. "Drinking is easy. Just get some of the water in your mouth and swallow. Heads up, though," she added, as Steven reached out to grab the tall, circular object she had given him, holding it carefully so that he didn't spill any of the water that was inside. "Water doesn't have a taste."
"I think I'll like it, then," Steven commented, huffing out a laugh despite himself. Amethyst snickered a little, crossing her arms over the counter, as Steven cautiously tilted the cup upwards to pour some of the water into his mouth. Water. Just the word made his stomach twist - tasting it was an entirely different thing. Amethyst was right - it didn't have a taste. But he could feel it in his mouth, and as he swallowed. Again, his stomach twisted, accompanied with a sharp, burning pain in his chest that he wasn't sure had anything to do with the liquid itself. But, after a few seconds, something else shifted. The water was cold. Really cold, at least to him. And it felt… it felt amazing on his tongue, and it was even better once he had swallowed.
He found himself tilting the circular object - a cup, his mind supplied the word rather quickly, it was a cup - upwards again to take another sip, pouring more water into his mouth and swallowing it down just as quickly. He heard Amethyst huff out a laugh as she watched him, resting her chin in her hands with her elbows propped up on the counter, and he only paused when she spoke, snorting out another quiet chuckle. "Alright, slow down," she chided; he lowered the cup a little, running his tongue over his lips and staring down at the water inside. He had drank almost all of it, with only a little bit of the liquid left at the bottom. "You'll make yourself sick. So, you don't like eating, but you like drinking… definitely noted. You know what…" She lowered her voice after a few moments, mumbling to herself, "if there was ever a time to get you to try alcohol, you'd definitely like that now… I wonder if Pearl would even let me…"
Steven laughed despite himself, though he was rather perplexed by what she was saying and whatever 'alcohol' was, he didn't bother asking right then. Instead, much slower now, he tilted the cup upwards to drink the rest of the water, setting it down once he'd swallowed the last little bit in the cup and shaking his head with a startled gasp. "Stars that felt… that felt good…"
"I'll get'cha some more," Amethyst laughed, grabbing the cup. Then she flashed him a grin as she slid off of the stool, nodding toward the container. "But only if you eat some more fry bits."
Steven made a show of picking one up and putting it in his mouth, grinning slightly now. Maybe, he thought, as he watched her walk off to fill the cup back up with water, maybe this isn't so bad. She seems nice… and the rules here seem pretty simple to follow. At the very least…
… at the very least, he reminded himself, it's not like back home.
Yeah, the hybrid considered. This wasn't so bad.