"So you want us to meet your bubblegum twin who was trapped in your belly button diamond."

"That's the plan," Steven replied with a hum, crossing his arms over the table and watching as Will carefully poked a block out. He was just watching, not playing; he had come in in the middle of their game, and had ended up explaining while the two traded tense glances and scowls every so often. It was like that in the common room, when they got down to really playing Jenga and not just playing the Issues Game. Will was competitive, and there was nothing Parker took more seriously than his Jenga blocks; so far, he was the undefeated champion, but Will seemed to be getting more and more determined to win every time they played. Steven wasn't worried - he knew the moment the tower crumbled, they'd both be laughing it off. But until then, tensions were higher than ever, and Steven was, honestly, enjoying every goddamn second of it. Kevin was on the other side of the table, across from him, and Parker was on Steven's left, with Will across from him at his right; every so often, Kevin would look up from his book to watch, too.

"Hell, I'm down," Parker commented, leaning his chin on his hand and propping his elbow up on the table, eyes narrowing faintly as Will finally managed to flick the block out. "He sounds cool. And I've always wanted to see a pink person." Admittedly, Steven couldn't help but huff out a laugh at that; a while ago, those words would have probably made him cringe. But he didn't even think about his mother when Parker spoke; he just thought of his weird, glowing brother.

Ah, so glowing is 'weird' now. Steven paused, drawing his head back faintly and looking down. His gem was humming faintly, pulsing under his shirt - unnoticeable to everyone else, but since Steven knew what to look for, he was able to see the faint outline of pink under the white fabric. His brother's voice rang through his head, soft and quiet as if Aster was beside him, talking. He wasn't there, though - yet, Steven found himself oddly delighted regardless. He'd known they'd probably have an easier time communicating with each other now that Aster had freed himself of the chains, but he was even more happy to realize Aster didn't quite need to present himself for them to be able to talk to each other, either. The hybrid cracked a grin, looking back up.

Just a little bit.

Good to know, Aster mused. I'll consider that a compliment for the time being.

"I'd definitely like to meet your brother," Will hummed, leaning back while Parker adjusted himself slightly, taking his time in surveying the Jenga tower. Steven glanced over at Will, catching the smile the man offered him and easily shooting a grin of his own right back. "I mean, I still don't completely understand the whole 'gem' thing, but I'm getting there. Either way." He held a hand up, shaking his head slightly, and Steven huffed out a quiet laugh despite himself.

"I'm gonna see if they'll accept him as a visitor," the hybrid admitted, stretching his arms over his head. He almost winced, prepared for the familiar rush of pain, and was somewhat startled when there was only a faint throb in response. Funny, he usually couldn't lift his arms past his shoulders without it hurting like all hell - and while he had certainly gotten used to it by then, the lack of pain was welcome, but surprising. Not that he was going to look a gift horse in the mouth and start complaining or questioning or anything, he would just let it be for now, but he was certainly feeling much better physically now than he had since- well, since the car crash. Something he'd figure out later; he had a sneaking suspicion he already knew what it might be, but he also didn't want to get his hopes up too much. For all he knew, they'd given him a bigger dose of medicine or something - though he figured they'd probably inform him if they did, right? - but, again, he decided to shake the thought off for now and focus on it a little bit later.

"Do you take constructive criticism?" Parker questioned, sticking his tongue out halfway as he reached out to start prodding at one of the Jenga blocks. "Yeah, buddy, listen, you go ahead and tell the nurses that you've got a pink twin that's basically trapped inside you, and I'll bet you'll end up on more medication than your painkillers. But, you do you, Stevie, you do you."

"I have proof," Steven retorted, gesturing toward his stomach.

"And I can vouch for him anyway," Peedee piped up, and Steven turned his head slightly. "I've seen enough weird shit that was connected to his whole 'gem' thing to know he's not crazy and definitely not making this up." He huffed out a laugh; the hybrid cracked a grin despite himself, leaning back in the wheelchair and crossing his arms over his chest, wrapping them around himself with a soft, content sigh. "Besides, I kinda wanna meet this brother of yours myself. And not just because he's pink, but I'm curious because I didn't even know you had a brother." Steven only shrugged at that, returning his gaze to the Jenga tower. Yeah, he hadn't known either - this was pretty new to him, too. But he did appreciate that Peedee, at least, had his back on this whole thing. Because if Parker was right, and the other nurses decided he was crazy, he was gonna need all the help he could get. The teenager breathed in through his teeth and glanced up, fixing his gaze on Kevin - the only one that had yet to say anything about it.

Kevin caught his gaze, and the corners of his lips twitched; Steven couldn't help but relax, reassured that the topic hadn't stirred up any painful feelings for the man. "I'm curious, too." He offered a one-shouldered shrug in Steven's direction, cracking a grin. "Mostly 'cause he's pink."

Steven's lips twitched slightly, himself, meeting Kevin's gaze. He only looked away when the other man did, with a faint smile in his direction before he turned his attention back to his book, and Steven allowed himself to relax completely, sinking back in the wheelchair and turning his attention back to the other two to continue watching them play. He could still feel Aster, now that he was focusing; the faint humming of his gem - it was something akin to holding a laptop and feeling the fan whirring away inside. Only Steven felt it on a much deeper level, beneath his skin, beneath his bones, down to every vein and blood vessel in his body. It was a comforting feeling. The longer he sat still, and the more it spread through him, he felt better and better.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Art therapy came soon, much to Parker's chagrin, but Steven fairly enjoyed the time he spent painting for the most part. He wasn't much of an artist - I mean, yes, he could draw, but it wasn't something he spent a lot of his free time doing. But he did a few quick sketches, painting the familiar sky of his and Aster's shared mindscape, and including a few of the butterflies per his brother's request. He wasn't fond of the butterflies, himself, but Aster seemed to like them for some reason - he had asked, but his twin didn't have much of a reason. He just insisted that he did like them, despite what they represented. Steven decided against trying to question this time, simply painting the butterflies against the soft blue sky, and adding a bit of a pink tint just for the hell of it. That was how they looked now, anyway; he remembered that they used to look almost blue, reflecting the sky, but when they got close enough, they reflected the pink from the tiles, and from his brother. He got a kick out of that, despite his aversion to them.

And when free time rolled back around, he took a few minutes to finish up his painting before joining the others in cleaning up, then settled back down with the gang to play Jenga. Once again, he decided to sit the first few rounds out; Parker and Will seemed to have a score to settle now, and he didn't really want to get into all of that. He just grinned at their competitive behavior and commented to Kevin, "too bad we don't have money, we could place bets."

Kevin grinned back at him, teeth and all, at that. "Oh, what's this? Universe is a gambler?" And Steven huffed out a laugh, rolling his shoulders back, and once again noting the lack of pain.

"It's a guilty pleasure," he finally admitted. "Am-" He stopped, then, before he could spit out the full name, before he could bring himself to that point. Honestly, for a second, he almost laughed, wondering why the hell he was bringing up any of the gems right then to begin with. Sure, Amethyst had been the one to get him into placing bets - it started small, betting on little things, about Pearl and Garnet (and even Greg on occasion). Sometimes they didn't even use money - sometimes Amethyst would bet on snacks, and Steven would play along. Eventually, it had become a whole thing - not just with them, but the hybrid had found himself betting with other gems, too- other teachers, while he was running Little Homeschool. That was a while ago…

He couldn't help but think back to the first bet he and Amethyst placed, though. It was something stupid, he could recal - he'd baked a bunch of cookies for the gems that were doing construction for Little Homeworld, when they were still working on finishing it up. And they were almost done with it. That had been before Spinel, he remembered, since they'd had to do a lot of reconstructing after the whole incident with the blade… Steven had just been visiting, only meant to stay for a short time before he had to retreat back to Homeworld. Regardless, Amethyst had practically begged for the cookies, despite how heavily he'd insisted that she couldn't have them because they weren't for her. It had torn his nerves to bits, though, knowing she wanted them but also knowing that he intended on giving them to the other gems - none of them needed to eat, but he planned on teaching them about human things like food anyway once the school was up and ready, and a few of them had already shown an interest in it, and cookies were an amazing thing to start with. Eventually, Amethyst had kind of given up… until…

Well, Ruby had come running in with Sapphire in tow, throwing the door open and practically dashing across the house to get to the temple. They were laughing, though, so Steven hadn't been too worried about anything aside from the fact that Garnet had split - but they had done that more often after they all had gotten back from Homeworld, so he had just assumed they were more comfortable with exploring their relationship beyond fusion, which he was happy for them for. But what did worry him was when Rose's portrait shook and fell from the force of the door slamming open - but Amethyst had been there in a flash, catching it before it hit the floor.

Long story short, that was why they ended up moving it over the stairs instead of the usual place on the door. The bet had started with an offhand comment from Amethyst, something like "see, I bet nobody's even gonna notice a thing", and Steven hadn't been too certain about that; he still saw the glances Pearl snuck at the painting from time to time. He knew she'd notice. So he'd brought that up, and when Amethyst had sneakily declared a bet for the cookies - if Pearl noticed when she got back, without any assistance from either of them, Steven took the cookies to Little Homeworld; and if she didn't, he had to give them to Amethyst and make more - Steven had agreed, solely because he figured Pearl, being as Rose-obsessed as she'd been, would have to notice. And that's why Amethyst had told him later, when she'd won, that he shouldn't bet on anything as unpredictable as Pearl was. A deal was a deal; he offered her the cookies, and she'd taken a single one off of the plate before shooing him off to Little Homeworld.

"Go, have fun making people smile, you dork," she had laughed. "Consider this a lesson."

The hybrid leaned his head back, finding his lips tugging upwards despite his permission. He didn't want to remember these things, he didn't want to think about how happy he had been with them - because he was still convinced that none of it had been real, not really, and it hurt. It hurt to think about, and it pissed him off. Steven sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and forcing his mouth back into a neutral frown, twisting it until the smile was gone and trying to remember how angry he'd been at them. One good thing, one happy memory, it didn't erase all the damage they'd done. It didn't erase the fact that he was here because of them. That he needed help, that he needed someone to watch him to make sure he didn't kill himself, because of them. He had clung to them, needed them to need him, but he didn't want that for himself anymore. He wanted to be better. And if he was going to be better, then he needed to stop thinking about them. Because thinking about them only made him feel worse.

He let his head fall back completely, against the back of his wheelchair, and fixed his gaze on the ceiling. Parker and Will were still absorbed in their game, but he could feel Kevin staring. After a moment, he lifted his head again to meet his gaze, and offered a small, forced smile. Not trying to assure him that he was okay, he told himself - just that he would be, eventually.

When lunch rolled around, he managed to finish over half of a salad again before he felt sick again. This time, he had to get Peedee to take him to the bathroom to throw up, though; he wasn't too surprised, considering his nerves were already all twisted and frayed at that point after his phone call with Connie, and he was just left feeling nauseous anyway after thinking about the gems earlier regardless. "You gotta take it easier, man," Peedee chided him as he pushed him down the hallway, while Steven swirled a mint around in his mouth, frowning.

"It's not like I enjoy throwing up," he reminded his old friend, biting the mint in half. It stung his tongue - he was left somewhat unnerved by the way he still enjoyed the feeling of pain. He ended up swallowing both halves without chewing them. "Today's just a weird day," he mumbled after a moment. Peedee sighed, clasping a hand over his shoulder while he pushed him along.

"Well, I've got good news," he began lightly. "That brother of yours is a registered visitor now, so he can pop in to say hi when visiting hours are open." Steven perked up a little bit at that, successfully redirecting his attention back to Aster. The humming in his gem got a little bit louder, a faint glow peeking through his white shirt, before quickly settling back to normal again. "Unfortunately since Connie Maheswaran is not attached to your gem, it's gonna take a day to get her through the system, but she should be able to visit by tomorrow," his friend added.

"That's okay." Steven inhaled through his teeth. "... am I still only allowed to have two visitors?"

"Two adult visitors. Aster should be fine along with your dad and whoever your dad brings," Peedee assured quickly, seeming to realize what Steven was worried about, and the hybrid relaxed rather quickly. "I mean, technically you're both seventeen, not exactly adults yet."

"Cool," Steven mumbled, falling silent for a moment. Well, there was that - but they still hadn't figured out how Aster could even coexist physically with Steven outside of their mindscape, without the risk of Steven dying. Aster said he had an idea, but if that didn't work, they'd only have an hour to practice. The hybrid puffed his cheeks out, closing his eyes for a moment. Regardless, it was good news. Steven needed to focus on the 'good' part, not the 'what if it doesn't work' part. That was a big part of his problem - and he found himself wondering when and why he had gone from being an optimist to being so… cynical and pessimistic all the time. Sure, it was nice not having to look at the bright side of things all the time anymore, but he had found that being sad and angry all the time was as exhausting as being happy all the time.

He mulled around the room for a little while, rolling himself to and fro while Peedee sat and read a book nearby - he noticed they seemed more content to leave him to his own business instead of watching him like a hawk recently, and he took that to mean they trusted him a little more.

When Greg came in, with Bismuth in tow, he greeted them both with a hug. Greg seemed a little startled when the hybrid offered him a grin, but Bismuth only laughed and squeezed him a little bit tighter when she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't say anything, but he saw the tears glistening in her eyes when she pulled back, and the smile on her face was nothing short of relief. Maybe they were all seeing some changes, as little as they were. For some reason, it gave Steven a bit of a mood boost - things were changing, he was changing, and it was about time. "Hey, kiddo," his father mumbled as he hugged him again. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah," Steven murmured. Both physically and emotionally, he supposed. "And I've got good news," he added quickly, catching both Greg and Bismuth's attention. "First, I spoke to Connie."

He watched Greg and Bismuth pause, and he just barely managed to get his hands up in front of him before Bismuth could pull him into another hug, already knowing this one was definitely going to be bone-crushing. Greg himself looked more relieved than even Steven had been, but there was a faint flicker of worry in his gaze as he searched the hybrid's face. The mention of good news had made his lips tug upwards, though. "Yeah? How'd it go?" His father asked, somewhat anxiously - Steven actually wanted to laugh, at that, because he seemed even more nervous than Steven had felt when he'd been on the phone with her, and Steven couldn't quite wrap his head around that just yet, either. Greg had nothing to be anxious about. Steven, on the other hand, had practically everything to be anxious about when he'd called. "Did you tell her-?"

"No," Steven interrupted quickly, shaking his head. "They beat me to it." He didn't need to clarify; a myriad of emotions flashed across Greg's face, none of which Steven wanted to identify, and he quickly pushed on before the conversation could turn sour. "But she's registering as a visitor and I think she'll probably be able to come tomorrow, or something like that." He paused, giving Greg a moment to relax, and Bismuth still looked like she wanted to pull him out of the wheelchair and into a bone-crushing hug. "Speaking of new visitors," he began tentatively.

He watched Greg's eyebrows twitch, clearly misunderstanding. Shaking his head reassuringly at his father, and quite frankly feeling disgusted at the idea of the gems coming to visit him regardless, he continued, "Aster's free," he finally said, deciding to keep it simple. "He got free last night, and we talked about him meeting you guys, and I talked to Peedee about it, and he's registered as a visitor too, now. So if we can just figure out how to get him… out here without-" He stopped then, eyes flicking toward Bismuth for only a second, and he watched the rainbow haired gem's face shift briefly as she looked down at him, concern and confusion replacing the excitement for a second. She knew about Aster, but she didn't know about what had happened with White Diamond. And Steven loved her, he trusted her, he admired her - but he also knew she could be positively hot-headed sometimes, and he wasn't about to risk her declaring war on Homeworld. He wasn't going to risk her getting hurt. "But, yeah," he mumbled. "Good news."

"That's great," Greg breathed, and Steven glanced back up at him, somewhat relieved to see the excitement still flickering through his eyes. Admittedly, he'd been a little bit… worried. And he still was, to some extent - he didn't know how Greg and Aster would interact with one another. Greg was still pretty awkward on the subject, still coming to terms with the fact that he had another son, and while Aster did defend Greg to him for the most part, Steven could still see the brief flickers of uncertainty, the moments his resolve wavered. He couldn't tell whether it was anger or something else, but there was still something Steven couldn't quite place.

His gem hummed again, a subtle vibration rippling through his stomach. But instead of commenting on Steven's thoughts like he usually did, or elaborating on these feelings, Aster questioned, so, is it showtime yet? And Steven decided to let it drop for the time being.

By all means. He shifted slightly, somewhat apprehensive.

Greg had turned to Bismuth, saying something to her. Everyone else seemed pretty occupied, themselves; Will was with his own brother, who Steven had long been introduced to. But nothing too significant had happened other than a quick exchange of greetings, because Steven had been busy playing Jenga with Parker at the time; speaking of Parker, he was busy doing just that, trapped in a round with Kevin, who had just put down his book to see if he could beat the guy. So far he didn't seem to be having any luck. Peedee was once again reading, but he would glance up every now and again to make sure everything was in order. Aaron, beside him, was watching Kevin and Parker with rapt attention, clearly interested. All the other patients and their respective visitors were doing their own things; Steven turned away for a second, looking back down at his gem as it started glowing again, as the gentle humming got a little bit louder.

I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work, Aster told him.

Steven nodded, narrowing his eyes. Do what you need to do.

It started slowly at first, the glowing; getting brighter and brighter, but it took time for the glow itself to become bright enough to capture anyone's attention. Greg was the first to notice; he heaved himself up to walk over almost immediately, but he just hovered, clearly not knowing what to do. Steven tilted his head toward his father, eyes fixed on the glow. "It's okay."

"Hot damn," Parker mumbled. Steven didn't look, but he could feel the boy's gaze fixed on him. Kevin's, too - and Will's, and his brother's, and Peedee's and Aaron's. He ignored them.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the glow started to stretch outwards. Steven let his gaze follow it, somewhat curious now. It was like a laser beam; he watched it pin itself to one part of the floor and began to rise in the same spot, the glow widening just a little, a wide stretch of pink light. Bismuth shuffled back a little to avoid it, looking somewhat alarmed, but also curious. Then, ever so slowly, the light began to shift; it swirled and twisted, then began looping around and around, from the top to the bottom. This process only lasted about a minute, and Steven was happy to see, by the time the glow finally died down, that his brother was standing there. Still connected to the light emanating from Steven's gem; but after a moment, Aster raised a hand, slicing right through the center, where the light connected him to the gemstone, and it vanished. Steven's gem stopped glowing, and Aster finished materializing, standing calmly.

It briefly reminded him of how Pearl would summon those holograms of herself, the Holo-Pearls. But Aster wasn't a hologram; he was his own person. The hybrid shook his head, shaking the thought away for the time being, and looked up at his brother with a grin. "Welcome back."

Aster's eyes seemed to sparkle at the familiar words, words he often murmured to Steven when the hybrid appeared in their mindscape while he slept, but the diamonds were absent for now. "Hello, Steven…" He paused, turning his head to look around. Steven watched his expression shift, taking in the people around them, before his eyes landed on Greg - who, mind you, looked equal measures excited and anxious. Aster stared at him for a moment, eyes flickering faintly as he studied the man, and Steven caught the faint twitch of his eyebrows, the way the corners of his lips curved downwards just the slightest bit, but nobody else seemed to notice. "Father."

"Uh- hey-" Greg seemed to tense, just a little; Steven leaned back, content to watch their interaction play out. He knew he didn't have anything to worry about - Aster was pretty much the calmest person Steven knew at this point, and he figured he didn't need to intervene regardless. "It's, uh…" Greg hesitated, just for a second, before stepping forward and extending his hand to the pink teenager, seemingly unsure of what else to do. Which Steven could understand - actually, that in itself almost sparked another memory, but Steven was more adamant to not think about her than he was about not thinking of the gems. "It's nice to finally meet you, kiddo."

"And you, as well," Aster replied, clasping his hand firmly with Greg's and giving a swift shake before pulling away, a little too quickly. Greg didn't seem to mind, seeming more or less relieved when Aster turned away from him to head over to Steven instead, shooting a glance toward where Parker and Kevin were sitting - with a somewhat unsettled expression, mind you - before he looked back up at the hybrid, checking him over carefully. "It's nice to meet all of you," he added, without turning away from Steven - at least until the hybrid reached out to lightly nudge his shoulder; Aster sighed, but he lifted a hand to clasp it over Steven's, holding it where it was for a moment. It took him a few seconds to turn around again, back to everyone else, seeming reluctant to turn his back on Steven, and even more reluctant to turn his attention to the others. "My apologies," he muttered, oddly quiet, before raising his voice a little. "Hello, everyone."

"Well, I'll be," Bismuth mumbled, blinking. She looked startled - just about everyone there looked startled. Well, at least the patients that Steven didn't talk to. Will's brother also looked a little pale, himself, and the former was doing his best to reassure the other man that he wasn't going crazy. As for Parker, he just looked amazed, Kevin and Peedee just looked intrigued, and Greg, it seemed, was just still recovering from his anxiety. Bismuth, however, once she got over the initial surprise, cracked a grin and stepped forward to extend her hand to Aster in the invitation for a handshake, which his brother accepted after a second's hesitation. "Heya, cotton candy."

Aster shot her an odd look, confusion mixed with amusement, and Steven huffed out a laugh despite himself; his brother's expression smoothed over after a moment, lips tugging upwards. "I'll allow that this once, but it better not stick," he mumbled good-naturedly, and Bismuth snickered slightly; Steven relaxed, at that moment, content that everything would work out. He was already getting along with his favorite gem, Steven doubted there would be much of a conflict between Aster and the others, as long as they weren't the Diamonds or the gems.

"This is about as great as I thought it would be," Parker commented, and Steven glanced up, cracking a grin when he saw the somewhat dazed, awed expression on the boy's face.

Aster shrugged. "You're welcome."

Everyone settled down rather quickly; once Parker finished gawking at Aster, the boy turned back to his game of Jenga with Kevin (which he won, unsurprisingly). His brother stuck by his side most of the time, but Steven was alright with that; he exchanged a few words with everyone else, and he seemed to take a specific liking to Peedee once they got to talking a little more.

"I'd like to thank you for taking care of Steven," Aster commented, leaning over the back of Steven's wheelchair lightly. The hybrid tilted his head back to look up at his brother, arching an eyebrow, and Aster returned the expression playfully before he allowed his face to settle into a neutral look once again, glancing up to fix his gaze on Peedee. "I'd like to thank all of you, actually, you've all been quite wonderful to him as far as I can see. Watching him get better here has been… relieving," his brother murmured, crossing his arms over Steven's head.

"Well, we love him." Peedee spared Steven a grin, and the hybrid rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help a slight smile despite himself. "We like seeing him get better, too."

Steven puffed his cheeks out and cleared his throat, determined to change the subject. Not that it didn't warm him from his head to his toes, but it was also somewhat uncomfortable, and he couldn't quite explain why. "Hey," he mumbled, tilting his head back to look up at Aster, and his twin moved his arms after a second so that the hybrid didn't have to strain too much to do so. "Maybe we can figure out a way for you to go back to the house with Dad," he suggested, and Aster furrowed his eyebrows, staring down at him silently. "So that you don't have to go back. You'll still be able to visit every day," he reminded his brother, as Aster's expression shifted into a slightly more uncertain one. "I mean, doesn't it sound a little better than being trapped again?"

"I'm not technically trapped anymore," Aster reminded him, frowning. "I can come out anytime, as we've already demonstrated. And I'm still connected to you- or, the gem, at least," he added, shaking his head slightly. "So I'm not sure how far I'd be able to go, even if I did want to leave."

"And you don't?" Steven asked carefully, searching his brother's gaze.

"I assure you, brother," Aster murmured. "I'm very content to stay exactly where I am."

"Well, I don't see what one day would hurt anyway," Greg commented, and Steven paused at that, turning his head slightly to look toward his father in confusion. Everyone else looked a little bewildered, too - even Peedee, who ended up pushing himself back a little in his chair, a flicker of realization crossing his face. "Oh- right," Greg added quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I talked to Dr. Roberts this morning. She said you're fine to be discharged tomorrow, if you want. You've still got regular therapy appointments, and you've gotta see a doctor again to get your leg and everything checked out again before we leave… but you can come home."

Steven blinked, eyes widening slightly. His initial reaction was surprise, of course - but not that he was going to be discharged. No, the surprise stemmed from the fact that, when he finally registered the news, his initial reaction was an odd sense of disappointment. He was just starting to get used to the facility - and the idea of leaving, yeah, it bummed him a little…

But the more he thought about it, a rush of excitement engulfed him.

He could go home. Aster would be free to roam wherever he wanted. He'd be with his father. And Jasper, and Bismuth, and Peridot and Lapis, he'd be able to see them whenever. And Connie, he'd be able to see her a little sooner than he anticipated, too. And yeah, it kinda sucked that he was gonna be leaving his new friends behind - and honestly the thought of leaving when he was just starting to get used to Kevin was a little depressing - but he'd be able to visit them when he wanted, too, right? And if they were letting him go, then it meant that he really was getting better. And his disappointment only proved that the facility really had been good for him, in more ways than one. For the first time, he was welcoming a change with open arms; sad about it, for sure, but also excited to be able to explore something new again.

Steven cracked a grin, sparing a glance toward Aster. "Guess we're both going home." And for the first time in a long time, the word didn't bring a sense of bitterness, or despair, or panic.

It brought hope. Hope for the future, and whatever the future may bring.

Here we are, in the future…