(Context: Uploaded it the next morning)
Hello everyone; yes, this is another upload within the next twenty four hours, I just felt inspired to write and- bla bla bla, Yeah, this chapter might not be all that entertaining, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.
Anyway, on to the story then, there will be Connie, Spinel, Steven, and Pink Steven involved, that last one may not be the way you're hoping it to be, and you'll want it to be that way so much more once you read it, but if I'm constantly pulling him out, the times when he exists won't be all that special. :p
Anyway, enjoy-
-=The Beach House=-
-=Steven/The Crystal Gems/Spinel=-
-=Later That Day=-
Dr. Maheswaran came by earlier that day and much to Steven's embarrassment and discomfort, she had to remove his catheter despite him telling her he could figure it out. After a physical examination she left the residence, letting Connie stay behind.
The teen was taking a new interest in him that he found to be confusing and kind of out of nowhere, but he was more than happy to talk to her. Now Connie on the other hand wasn't exactly enthused about Spinel hanging out with them all day as well. She tried her best to get the gem to leave without making it seem like that's what she was doing, but she was staying too close to Steven the entire time, no matter what.
Connie wasn't sure why she even cared, all she knew was that she didn't want her near Steven anymore, not that she knew how she could go about that any time soon, but she did know that she wouldn't be able to get Spinel to hate him...so she would just figure out how to make it happen the other way around.
The human teenager let out a sigh as she discreetly made her way next to Spinel, the three of them walking towards the hill that Steven released the moss, letting it turn to flowers. They were going to this beautiful place so they could have a nice and peaceful picnic. "Hey Spine- oof" she tripped over her own feet on purpose, falling to the ground hard enough to scrape her elbows and knees. "damn, it hurts but at least that'll get me extra pity points I guess."
"Oh geez, are you ok?" The pink gem asked, offering her a hand to help her up.
"What?! You're the one who tripped me in the first place, don't try and act innocent!" Connie shouted, pushing her hand away as she looked over her scrapes. "Why'd you do that?!"
"Wh-What? No- I didn't do that." She insisted, holding her hands in front of her. "I didn't even see you walking next to me."
"Don't lie! I bet you would've done a lot worse if Steven wouldn't have been around!" She shouted at the confused gem, reminding Steven a lot of that "woman screaming at the cat who's just sitting at the dinner table" image.
"What? I really wouldn't do that, I don't even know you." Spinel insisted, but the human just kept accusing her and shouting so she decided to just get this over with. "Alright, I really didn't do this- or if I did, it was an accident and I didn't even notice, so I'm sorry if you think I'm trying to hurt you on purpose for some reason."
Connie was fuming at this point. "She's not suppose to apologize! Why isn't she getting mad or something?!" She thought to herself but didn't let her true irritation show as she just gave a sigh as she crossed her arms, accepting that this wouldn't work anymore. "Whatever, just watch what you're doing then."
Steven put some healing spit on his thumb and healed her scrapes without even saying a word to her! "Why didn't he even try and speak up in my defense?!" She thought, but just gave him an appreciative smile nevertheless.
"Alright, Spinel, you just stay on my left side, Connie, you stay on my right." Steven instructed, moving Connie to his opposite side much to her disappointment. "There, no more conflicts, just a peaceful walk into town, ok?"
"Right ok..." Spinel said quietly, taking note of his annoyed tone and assuming it was aimed at her, while Connie just smirked smugly as she noticed her expression. "Well at least I'm getting results in some way here."
The three of them kept walking, the rest of the journey up the hill being awkward and quiet, even Connie wondering why he wasn't being as talkative as she remembered him to be. "We're here." He said as the reached the top of the hill, overlooking the ocean and Beach City itself.
He pulled a blanket out of his basket and laid it out for them, setting out the food and drinks without saying a word. Spinel was seemingly trying to keep her distance from Connie, but the human girl wasn't going to give up just yet.
She casually approached the gem once again, keeping an eye on Steven as she did so. "Alright, enough games, why are you so stuck up his butt? Why are you even here?" She spoke quietly, her feelings for her coming to light.
"What do you mean? I'm always near Steven." Spinel insisted, confused as to why it would even matter. "He's my best friend, and I'm his best friend, we're always together."
"Well he was my best friend first, so I should be able to have some alone time with him; you got to be there through his entire recovery, so why don't you stop being so god damn selfish and leave us alone?" The human continued, keeping her voice low.
"Why can't we all just hang out together? I think it's nice that you want to rekindle your friendship with him after all this time, but he's my friend too, so I have every right to be around him as you do." She argued, crossing her arms.
"Every right to be around him? You're smothering him with your clingy personality, I think he would like to have a break from you following him everywhere like some dog and have his human friend that actually understands him stick around; it would be better for everyone if you just go back to whatever rock you came from." She said, rolling her eyes as she was careful not to get Steven's attention.
"Back to...where I came from..." Spinel's mind went back to the garden and the bad memories associated with the place. She shook her head and wiped away some tears, "Well I don't think he would like to be around some girl who treated him horribly, making him have a mental breakdown that ended with him starving himself half to death. I feel as his best friend, that it's my responsibility to make sure he never has to go through that again, so no- I won't be going anywhere."
"...Heh, ya know...this is a pretty big cliff. Do you know how easy it could be to frame you for pushing me off of it?" Connie smirked as she walked to the edge. "And knowing Steven, he'd throw himself after me in a heartbeat, and he would catch me before I was anywhere near the ground, and he would be extremely upset with you. Heh, he might not even want to be friends after that, I mean if you're attempting to kill the girl he once liked, and let's face it, probably still does, he wouldn't want anything to do with you."
Spinel felt herself go cold as she imagined a universe where Steven never wanted to see her again. "No...he-he wouldn't do that..." she insisted.
"Hm, guess we should find out then?" Connie shrugged as she made an over dramatic scream before making herself look like she was pushed towards the edge. Her one mistake? She turned her back to Steven.
Before she could even be in any real danger, she felt herself being held by the back of her shirt. "You're joking, right?"
Connie's heart dropped as she turned to see Steven already there, holding her shirt, him letting go at this point would let her begin plunging to her death. "S-Steven? It was her! She tried to push me off of the cliff! She got mad at me for taking some attention away from her, so she tried to get rid of me! Bubble her, she's a bad gem!"
Steven pulled Connie back onto flat ground with enough force to send her tumbling down onto her butt. "Ugh, could've been a bit more gentle to the girl in distress."
"Steven! I didn't do it, I swear! Please, I didn't try to do anything to her, she's trying to set me up! Please don't abandon me!" Spinel cried out, her eyes tearing up once more as she latched onto the teen, fearing that if she let go, she would never see him again, darkness clouding her mind as she began to get anxious.
To her surprise though, she felt his hand land on top of her head gently. "It's ok, Spinel, I know you didn't do anything." He reassured her as he used his other arm to embrace her. "I would never abandon you, so you can stop crying now, ok?"
She didn't even notice her erratic breathing until it began to slow down, her grip on him loosening but not letting him go completely.
"Steven, what are you doing?! Did you not see what she just did?! She has it out for me; she tripped me on the way up here!" Connie insisted, shouting at him.
Steven shot her a glare, holding Spinel close to himself. "You must think I'm dumb, blind, and deaf, don't you?"
"Wh-What? Why would I think any of that?" She asked nervously, hoping that this didn't mean what she thought it did.
"I was paying attention to you two back at the base of the hill, I was listening closely while making the picnic; I'm half gem, Connie, you gotta speak a little quieter and be a little sneakier than that." He spoke, his voice on the verge of shouting at her.
-=Flashback=-
-=Steven's POV=-
The three of them were walking towards the hill that he released his mother's moss on, him knowing it had the best view in all of Beach City.
He had been thinking quite a bit about his recent incident, mostly about the fact that he was dead, as well as what Spinel had said about him taking care of himself at least for the sake of the ones who love him. Needless to say, the teen was stressed out and needed some time to just relax and take his mind off things. Well that was the plan at least.
"Hey, Spinel-" He glanced over to see Connie walking up next to her but tripping almost immediately, the fall being very dramatic.
Spinel went to help her, asking if she was ok while offering her hand, Steven being glad that the two of them got along so nicely from the start...well that was until Connie began to accuse Spinel of tripping her up. He was about to defend her, letting Connie know that Spinel did no such thing and that she probably tripped over a rock or something but he was interrupted by the voice in his head.
"Stress levels rising, 45%."
"You can't measure literally everything with percentages, what's the one hundred percent stress even going to mean?" Steven questioned it in his mind.
"Mental break down, or a violent outburst, depending what feeling stresses you out over that line." It answered calmly.
"Listen, being constantly reminded that I now have a voice living in my head isn't exactly helping my stress ok? I can manage my emotions on my own; I've been fine this far, and I will continue to be fine." He argued, this only making him more upset.
He realized that Spinel had seemingly defused the situation as Connie was no longer shouting. He healed Connie up and to make sure it didn't happen again, he put them on separate sides of himself. The walk up the hill went by without any trouble; Connie walked quietly next to him and Spinel kept her head down for whatever reason.
Once they reached the top, he took in the view with a smile, calming his nerves ever so slightly. He laid out the blanket and began unpacking the basket for their picnic, determined to just enjoy his day. Buuutttt theeeeennnnn he was able to hear Connie trying to talk quietly to Spinel, taking this as only something bad, he decided to listen in.
"Well he was my best friend first, so I should be able to have some alone time with him; you got to be there through his entire recovery, so why don't you stop being so god damn selfish and leave us alone?" He could hear her say, obviously attempting to keep her voice quiet.
"Why can't we all just hang out together? I think it's nice that you want to rekindle your friendship with him after all this time, but he's my friend too, so I have every right to be around him as you do." Spinel argued back, thankfully not just accepting this from her.
"Every right to be around him? You're smothering him with your clingy personality, I think he would like to have a break from you following him everywhere like some dog and have his human friend that actually understands him stick around; it would be better for everyone if you just went back to whatever rock you came from." He heard her say, practically being able to sense the smug smile she most likely had.
"Stress levels rising: 63%"
"Back to...where I came from..." Spinel spoke quietly. He turned to see her ready to start crying but shaking it off. "Well I don't think he would like to be around some girl who treated him horribly, making him have a mental breakdown and starving himself half to death. I feel as his best friend, that it's my responsibility to make sure he never has to go through that again, so no- I won't be going anywhere."
"How did she know about that?..." He thought to himself, not exactly happy that someone told her about one of his break downs.
"Stress levels: 72%"
"Heh...ya know...this is a pretty big cliff. Do you know how easy it could be to frame you for pushing me off of it?" Connie smirked as she walked to the edge. "And knowing Steven, he'd throw himself after me in a heartbeat, and he would catch me before I was anywhere near the ground, and he would be extremely upset with you. Heh, he might not even want to be friends after that, I mean if you're attempting to kill the girl he once liked, and let's face it, probably still does, he wouldn't want anything to do with you."
He could've sworn he saw Spinel's face loose its color. "No...he-he wouldn't do that..." she insisted.
"Stress levels: 83%"
"Hm, guess we should find out then?" Connie shrugged as she made an over dramatic scream before making herself look like she was pushed towards the edge. Her one mistake? She turned her back to him.
"Stress levels: 96%"
Steven moved at surprising speeds, grabbing Connie by the back of her shirt with a glare. "You're joking, right?" He said, hardly able to believe she was behaving this way.
He could tell she was nervous when she turned around to look at him, a deeply hidden thought of letting her go came about, that not even he knew he had. "S-Steven? It was her! She tried to push me off of the cliff! She got mad at me for taking some attention away from her, so she tried to get rid of me! Bubble her, she's a bad gem!"
The hybrid pulled her back forcefully, making her tumble to the ground, Spinel running over to him obviously distressed.
"Steven! I didn't do it, I swear! Please, I didn't try to do anything to her, she's trying to set me up! Please don't abandon me!" She cried out, tearing up as she wrapped around him like her life depended on it, he was able to tell that just the thought was making her anxiety flare up.
He gave a small smile as he gently set his hand on top of her head. "It's ok, Spinel, I know you didn't do anything." He reassured her as he wrapped his other arm around her, hugging her so she would calm down. "I would never abandon you, so you can stop crying now, ok?"
He could tell she was coming to her senses gradually as she loosened her death grip on him and her breaths slowed down.
"Stress levels lowering: 40%"
-=End Of Flashback=-
"You need to go home now, I think it would be better for everyone if you went back under whatever rock you came from." He said with a glare, quoting her from earlier.
Connie was appalled that he would actually act this way towards her, "You filthy Homeworld scum, you brainwashed him, didn't you?! My Steven would never talk like this!"
"Yeah, well the Connie I knew would never act like this; I guess some people just change." He said, still not letting go of Spinel. "And I'm not your steven, now leave."
She just huffed before storming off, pulling out her phone so she could ask her mom to pick her up. Steven let his friend go, not even realizing how tightly he was holding onto her. "Oh- sorry about that, I didn't mean to squeeze you so hard." He apologized, now with a light blush.
"It's ok." She smiled, a deeper blush adorning her face as she didn't move away from him just yet, relishing the warmth that she felt. She didn't care that Connie was trying to set her up, she didn't care about the threats, and she didn't care about the past...this moment right here was enough to block all of that out. Unfortunately enough, she knew that holding him like this for too long would be weird, so she had to let go.
"So you knew? I thought you were irritated with me back there." Spinel chuckled lightly, relieved that he was being so attentive.
"Nah, that situation isn't what had me frustrated that much, but it's nothing really." He sighed as he sat down on the blanket. "Anyway, seeing as we're the only two left, would you like to continue the picnic as planned? I would rather the food not be wasted, as well as this nice afternoon."
"Right, you deserve at least a day of peace, sorry you had to handle all of that." She spoke as she sat down next to him, looking over the ocean and city.
"No, it wasn't your fault that she was acting like that, thought I have to say that I'm disappointed, I really thought that she wanted to hang out today, but I guess she was just looking to cause trouble after all. Oh well, at least I have someone I can trust to be here." He shrugged, handing her a sandwich. "Well, there are the other gems and my dad, but you're different I guess. I dunno, let's just eat."
Spinel chuckled at him, unwrapping the plastic wrap from her sandwich. The two of them ate their food in peace, enjoying each other's company.
A small figure watched them from halfway down the hill, opening her communication device. "The new Pink Diamond is alive and well, and he seems to care for his new pink gem very much, best course of action: use her against him."
"Do not act without permission, that is an order." Another voice spoke from the other side of the screen.
"Very well, as you say." She said before hanging up, recording the two of them. "How unfortunate for her, she seems like a good gem. Oh well, that's not my problem."
-=End of Chapter=-
Well there you go, Connie screwed things up with Steven (she's not gone though, you should assume as much.) and Steven is having a peaceful day without her; thankfully this gem isn't acting without permission, otherwise he wouldn't have such a nice day.
Now you may be thinking that the stress level thing feels familiar and...well I just love Mob 100, it's a good anime and I take inspiration from it. I mean of course Steven could never reach that level of power, but it's still cool to reference it.
Anyway, as always-
Good morning, goodnight, or good afternoon, I'll see you all again soon.
