Steven didn't know how long he just sat there, sobbing, curled up in Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl's arms. He knew it felt… weird, being this vulnerable around them. They had seen him angry, and they had seen him desperate, and they had seen him crying, yes - like after they had rescued him from space, when he'd just been floating and trapped in his bubble, fighting for every breath - but even those tears and sobs had been of pure relief and gratitude, happy to just be back in their arms again, safe and sound without a worry in the world. But these tears were nothing but anguish, his sobs wracked with pain, grief and guilt. He was at an absolute low, quite possibly the lowest he'd ever been. Honestly, he didn't even think he'd ever cried this hard for this long in his life. Usually, when he cried, it was on his own, silent enough to not be heard. Now he couldn't seem to silence himself, couldn't even make himself slightly quieter; there was no sense of control here, which might have been why it wasn't as comforting, as releasing as screaming was. Regardless, there was nothing he could do but cry, until he couldn't anymore.

When he did reach that point - and it took a long time to do so - the sobs slowly subsided into hiccups, then sniffles, then sharp, heavy breaths. He felt the gems shift slightly as he clung to them, a warm, gentle hand rubbing circles in his back. It was meant to be comforting, he knew, but he didn't really feel anything at the contact. The breakdown had left him drained - not physically, like he had been after his little fit yesterday, but more or less emotionally exhausted. He breathed in again, sharp and shaky, through his mouth, before slowly snapping it shut and forcing in a breath through his nose, struggling to clear both of his airways as he calmed down. It wasn't particularly effective, but at least he could say he had tried, anyways.

He loosened his grip on the gem he'd been holding onto - Garnet, he realized as he opened his eyes again, blinking rapidly to clear the tears as he leaned away from her - and brought his hands up instead to rub his face, using his sleeves to rub some of the tears that had clung to his cheeks. He was still trembling, not as bad as before, but still more than he would have liked. None of the gems said anything, either; Amethyst leaned back on her heels, and Garnet settled back on her knees, watching him silently. They were both crying, as well - silent tears tracking down their faces. Pearl was in the process of rubbing her own away, shuffling a little closer and raising a hand to her gem, which glowed slightly before dimming again, summoning a box of tissues. She pulled one out for herself, and offered the rest to Steven, who took them silently.

The hybrid wanted to apologize, but he didn't even know where to begin.

So he just blew his nose into the tissue, nudging the tissue box over to Amethyst and Garnet. The former snorted slightly, but chuckled tiredly as she pulled a few out for herself, but the fusion merely rubbed her own tears away by running her thumb under each of her eyes. Steven finally managed to clear some of the snot from his nose, and, not knowing what to do with the tissue, reluctantly stuffed it into his pocket to throw away later before rubbing his sleeve over his eyes once again. He looked back up at the gems as they all composed themselves as well - while Amethyst bubbled her tissue and just sent it off, presumably back to the temple (which made Steven snort this time), and Pearl simply sent her own back to her gem before kneeling down in front of him again, reaching up slowly to rub her thumb across his cheek.

There were no words, not then, but her eyes said it all; they spoke of guilt, and grief, but also an odd sense of determination, a strength that Steven had - admittedly - forgotten she possessed now. Which immediately caused him to berate himself internally, mostly for expecting her to crumble under the pressure. She had come so far, and he knew that, and honestly, it just made him feel like absolute shit for thinking she couldn't handle this… but then again, he really hadn't known what to think. He hadn't known what dumping all of this on them would have done. He hadn't known whether Pearl could withstand the awful emotions raging inside of him, and he, honestly, as fucked up as it was, hadn't expected such a level of support from any of them.

And while he still didn't feel like he deserved it, a small part of him could somewhat relax. Even at his worst, they were there. And it made him feel worse more than it made him feel better, but the information was out there in the open regardless, the realization that they did care. Even when he was lashing out, hurting people - killing people - they still cared. He didn't deserve it. He really, truly, didn't deserve it, and in the long run, it only made him hate himself more.

"Listen, Steven…" Pearl sighed, pulling her hand back, and Steven reluctantly ripped his gaze back up to her face, pushing himself up to his feet a little unsteadily. "If you want to stay here… for a while longer… then we understand." She looked back toward Amethyst and Garnet, who both nodded quickly in agreement. Steven didn't say anything, slightly uncertain. He could feel the anxiety churning already - the only reason he'd really been avoiding going back home was the gems and Jasper at this point, but even then, he still wasn't entirely sure about returning. What would he even do? He didn't want to just go back and pretend this never happened. He didn't want to just go back and pretend that everything was fine - he was so, so sick of that.

"Yeah, dude," Amethyst cut in, interrupting the hybrid's thoughts, and he let out a slightly defeated sigh as he turned his gaze toward her. "We can go back and bring you food, too. You're still into that whole vegetarian thing, aren't'cha?"

Steven stared at her for a moment. He thought back to the days he spent in the woods with Jasper, catching fish for food, and tried not to wince. Yeah, so much for 'that whole vegetarian thing', he didn't really think he counted as a vegetarian anymore after that. But it wasn't like it mattered, he wasn't even hungry right then anyway, and to be completely honest, he doubted he'd have any kind of appetite for a long, long time. The teenager stared down for a moment, wringing his hands together silently, then breathed in slowly and shook his head, adjusting his sleeves and reaching up to fix the collar of his jacket. "No… no, I'm fine. I'm not even hungry," he mumbled. "And I can't stay here forever, I guess I should…" He trailed off, hesitating slightly.

Amethyst frowned, standing up, and Garnet slowly pushed herself to her feet, lifting a hand to summon her visor before speaking, "Steven, if you're still not ready-"

"I'm not," Steven interrupted, wrapping his arms around himself for a moment. "But I can't- I- … I don't want… to stay here." He thought back to his encounter with White, and the fact that Yellow and Blue already knew he was on Homeworld, and how much they knew, and how much White would've told them - and he flinched slightly, digging his fingers into the folds of his jacket and shaking his head furiously. Yeah, there was no way he could stick around. At least the gems, right then, were a little more bearable than the Diamonds. And since White had refused to do the only thing Steven had come here for in the first place, there was no reason to stick around.

"Alright… if you're certain." Pearl didn't sound very sure, herself, and Steven tried to pretend not to see the looks she sent Garnet and Amethyst, reflexively clenching his hands into fists for a second before letting them uncurl again, forcing himself to relax to the best of his ability. They were just worried, he tried to assure himself, but it only made him angrier. Not even particularly at them, not really, but angry at himself. For so many different reasons even he couldn't even begin to decipher, but he was too tired - emotionally - to try. He lifted a hand, rubbing it sharply across his face and grimacing as Pearl went on, "well, we still need to go back and get- oh…" The pale gem inhaled sharply, going still, and Steven froze for a second, lowering his hand.

Pearl looked down at him, then spared a quick glance back to the other two, wide-eyed.

Steven gazed at her, then turned his head slightly to study Amethyst and Garnet's expressions. Neither of them looked particularly pleased either; Garnet was rubbing her thumbs over her gems, a nervous habit Steven had long taken note of, and while Amethyst didn't quite fidget, she looked visibly uncomfortable, eyes dancing back and forth between Pearl and Garnet before resting on Steven again, a slightly apologetic look crossing her face as she stared at him. The hybrid didn't have to ask - he knew who they were talking about, it was written across their faces. He had to force himself not to react, hands curling into fists again and a rush of heat flushing across his face as his cheeks turned pink, but otherwise fought to keep himself calm. "Jasper," he mumbled. It wasn't a question, and nobody offered an answer. Steven stared down, nails picking the skin on his palms for a moment, then breathed in deep and nodded. He should've known he wouldn't get off that easy anyway. It was only a matter of time before he had to interact with her again, especially since he was just going to be heading back to Earth. It was just the universe's way of saying 'fuck you, you can't avoid your problems forever' again.

"Hey, man," Amethyst spoke up, furrowing her eyebrows. "You can just head back home with Garnet and Pearl. I'll go get her or something." She tilted her head, offering a smile, but Steven simply stared back numbly for a moment. He appreciated the offer, he really did, but he still couldn't stifle the slight pang of guilt that came with it. She's only offering because I'm a mess, he scolded himself, biting down on the inside of his cheek. Which I shouldn't be… come on… pull it together already…

"No, it's…" Steven trailed off somewhat sourly, the word leaving a bitter taste on his tongue before he had even spit it out, "... fine. I'll have to see her again eventually anyway." He reached up, rubbing his face sharply, as he'd taken to doing as if to relieve some of the heat on his face. Luckily, the pink didn't last too long, dissolving easily enough, and he let his shoulders droop slightly for a moment before just shaking his head and looking back toward the door. He wasn't looking forward to seeing the Diamonds, or even really Spinel again. He knew her heart was in the right place, but he just couldn't deal with any of them right then. He couldn't deal with the gems, he couldn't even deal with himself. And after that breakdown… he just needed to collect his thoughts again, to just curl up somewhere by himself and just sit there in silence. Which… really seemed like all he ever wanted to do lately, but to be completely honest, he didn't care. A part of him also longed to test out those thoughts, see how far he could push himself before he actually started to scare himself with them. See how far he would go before he called it off. Because, of course, he would call it off, right? It wasn't like he actually wanted to shatter himself… but, he'd just have to wait and see and test it out on his own.

His stomach twisted slightly at the thought - not out of fear, but out of guilt. Shame. Like it was wrong to think like that, like he was doing something wrong. It made him feel sick, but there was nothing quite as exhilarating. It was such an odd, twisted combination of emotions, and he almost marveled at the complexity of it before finally managing to tear himself out of his thoughts for the time being, shaking his head and reminding himself firmly that they were leaving. He had to go back home and… do whatever the hell it was he was going to do. But until then, he had to confront the Diamonds and Spinel and Jasper and… yeah, this was… not gonna be good for him.

But he would suck it up, and that was what he did.

Ignoring the concerned looks shared by the other three, Steven pushed himself forward, walking past them and heading toward the door. Unconsciously, he brought his hand up to rub his thumb over both of his eyes, heaving out a shaky sigh. He could do this - he didn't want to, but he could. He was going to. Just rip the band-aid off, get it over with. He had to talk with the Diamonds and Spinel, to make sure Spinel didn't try to follow him back to Earth or something, and while he wasn't particularly looking forward to another encounter with White - nor Yellow or Blue for that matter - he had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy to avoid them. He hesitated outside his - the - room for a moment, glancing back as the gems exited after him. "Where…?"

"Oh, we kinda ditched her with Blue," Amethyst piped up, somewhat awkwardly, and Pearl let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of her neck. "Figured you wouldn't want…"

To see her any more than I wanted to see you? Steven bit his tongue and turned, heading off again without a word. His mind was a little clearer than yesterday, at least enough to somewhat remember his way around the palace. He had avoided White's room specifically, but he knew, at least, the way to Blue and Yellow's rooms from his own- his mother's. He gazed at the murals engraved on the walls as he passed, a pang of familiarity and an odd, twisted sense of homesickness churning in his gut. He didn't actually miss the damn place, and he knew it. He couldn't miss somewhere he'd hated for so long, a place he harbored such secret loathing for. And yet, in some weird way, he almost did miss it. He somewhat compared it to the things Lapis had told him about Jasper, and Malachite. It was horrible, it was… bad, but he was there for so long. That awfulness had become… normal. And while he didn't really end up hating it any less, he had just gotten so used to it that everything else had just kind of felt… odd. Off. Weird. He had struggled for so long, after everything he'd been through on Homeworld, to readjust. Maybe in a way, he still was…

The teenager sighed through his teeth, reaching out to brush his fingers over one of the murals. It was one of the 'newer' ones, that had been added a little while after he'd moved into the palace. He remembered watching them design it, feeling amazed and excited by what it would turn into, and completely left in awe when it was finished. It was him, the new 'Pink Diamond', stuck in the same pose as the old one. It was weird to look at now, a grimace settling across his face as he let his hand fall away from it again, fixing his gaze ahead firmly. It didn't matter.

"It's always so weird walking around here…" He heard Pearl sigh softly from behind him, an odd sense of longing lacing her tone. Steven hummed slightly under his breath, at least able to understand that sentiment, but he still didn't say anything. He wasn't sure how much of it he was willing to admit - because if he said it out loud, it was just admitting another thing that was fucked up about him, and he didn't want to do that. They already thought way less of him now as it was, the last thing he needed was for them to know he 'missed' the damn place in one of the worst, twisted, screwed-up ways possible. The hybrid rubbed his arm, tuning them out as they finally reached Blue's room, and stretched a hand up - eventually ending up shapeshifting his arm to make it a little bit longer - to press his palm to the panel to open the door. There was no point in knocking, it most likely wouldn't be heard anyway - and besides that, his first week in the palace, Blue had insisted that he could come and go whenever he felt like it, so he figured that still stood even though he didn't quite live there anymore. And, either way…

Well, he'd be lying if he said he cared right then…

Taking a deep breath to steel himself, the teenager clenched and unclenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms for a moment. He was fine. This was fine. He hadn't seen Blue in a while, and he didn't have nearly as much against her as he did White. Sure, she made him cry a few times, kept him locked in a room, kidnapped his dad and held him prisoner in a human zoo, tried to have Ruby shattered… Steven shook his head a few times, slightly frustrated with himself. But that wasn't the point now. He didn't have to forgive Blue for those things, but he also didn't have to hold a grudge against her for them either. He could remain neutral, and as long as he just didn't think about it, then everything would run smoothly. Rolling his shoulders back, Steven stepped inside, letting his gaze slowly flicker around the room.

Okay, so this was what Spinel had meant by 'clouds'. There were so many of them, ranging in size, fluffy blue clouds drifting across the room. The gems slowed beside him, looking up, and Steven leaned back slightly in surprise to avoid one that drifted a little too close to him, waiting until it passed before inching forward again. Weird, but not his job to worry about right then. While a part of him was curious, the rest of him just wanted to get this over with and get out.

"Steven!" Blue's voice reached his ears, and Steven winced slightly as he turned to look. Luckily, it didn't seem like she'd seen; she was stretched out on one of the clouds, beaming down at him as she drifted a little closer to the ground, and the hybrid scrunched his face up slightly to watch, tilting his head back to gaze up at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Garnet shift uncomfortably, certainly not blaming her for it either - how could he? He understood not being too fond of Blue just as well as she did, and he was grateful that she was putting up with the Diamonds as much as she was right then anyway. She knew neither Ruby nor Sapphire was ready to forgive Blue, especially, and Steven, once again, could understand and agree.

Regardless, he put a civil expression on his face, knowing any smile he tried to offer would most likely come off as a grimace. "Uh… hi, Blue." He paused, moving back a little bit and rolling his shoulders back, straightening up slightly. Amethyst glanced at him, then turned her head to look toward Pearl, but Steven kept his eyes firmly on Blue, not seeing the purple Quartz's slightly perplexed look. Or at least, trying to pretend that he hadn't. "It's… It's good to see you again."

"And you, as well! It's been ever so long," Blue sighed, leaning her chin on her hand and smiling down at him, radiating warmth and an odd sense of joy that caught Steven somewhat off guard. "White had told me you were here, but Spinel said you were resting. We didn't want to disturb you." The Diamond finally pushed herself to sit up, remaining on the cloud as she did so. Steven paused, if only for a second, and leaned back on his feet with a frown when another small cloud breezed past him. His lips curled back slightly, not quite hostile, but somewhat irritated, but he shook his head and readjusted his focus, reminding himself of his priorities as he turned his gaze back up to Blue - only to lift his gaze a little higher when a familiar flash of orange caught his attention from above.

Jasper.

She was on one of the clouds - which was an odd sight as it was - but even weirder, he noted, was the huge grin written across her face. The buff gem was stretched out on her stomach with her arms crossed under her chest, head lifted to watch a few of the clouds above her; but her gaze snapped down quickly enough, meeting his not long after he had shifted his focus to her, and the hybrid couldn't help but stiffen slightly. Jasper's expression didn't change, seeming to brighten even more, if anything, and the cloud she was stretched out on immediately began drifting toward where he and the other gems stood. "Hello, my Diamond."

Steven flinched, clenching his fists slightly as a rush of heat flushed across his face, spreading across his cheeks, and then simply engulfing him completely as he turned pink. Amethyst let out a low growl from beside him, and Jasper's gaze flicked toward her, a small smirk settling across her face briefly before the orange gem turned her focus back to Steven, who was simply taking a few seconds to compose himself - and make sure he didn't snap - before he spoke, "Don't- I told you, you don't hav- just, don't…" Forcing himself to breathe in, the hybrid held his breath. A part of him was kind of wishing he had taken Amethyst's offer, which he internally scolded himself for, with a stern, sharp reminder that you did this to yourself, Steven, deal with it.

"You're making Steven uncomfortable," Garnet told Jasper bluntly, and Steven tried not to wince again, rubbing a hand over his face. Keep it together. Garnet meant well. And, yes, it irritated him to no end when she spoke for him, but it always had, ever since he was younger. If he could deal with it then, he could deal with it now. She didn't mean anything by it anyway. And she wasn't wrong. The hybrid paused, rubbing at his cheeks again as some of the warmth faded.

"I'm just messing with him, chill out," Jasper grunted, shifting to sit up on the cloud. Steven paused at that, sparing a glance up at her again, more so out of confusion than anything. She did seem oddly relaxed - and… 'messing with him'? Well, it was Jasper, so he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised, but something still felt weird about all of this. Luckily, the distraction took away from the pinkness, allowing the rest of it to diminish, and he let out a low sigh in relief as he faded back to his normal hue, rubbing his face again just for good measure before dropping his hands back to his sides and straightening up again.

"Well, maybe-"

Steven cut Amethyst off quickly, somewhat tiredly, definitely not in the mood for a fight between her and Jasper right then. "It's fine… it's fine. I just…" He hissed out a sigh through his teeth, and shook his head, dismissing the subject entirely. "We're, uh, we're heading back to Earth, so…" He trailed off, not needing to say anything else, because Jasper was already in the process of jumping off of the cloud; Steven stepped back quickly to give her more room, even though, in reality, she was still several feet away from him when she even hit the ground, and watched with growing curiosity as the smile on her face immediately vanished the second she had landed, her usual frown appearing and her defensive, guarded posture returning as she crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her shoulders back sharply. "... yeah…"

"You're leaving?" Blue's voice made Steven tense slightly, silently cursing himself for no real reason at all - because, honestly, he had expected this. Or, at least, he should have expected it. Protest, disappointment, disagreement, which he wasn't in the mood for by any means at all. Covering his face with a hand, just in time as his cheeks flushed pink, he let his mumbled responses trail off for a moment, muffled by his hand and buried under despair, while Blue continued, "so soon, as well… we all thought for sure you'd be sticking around for a while. Spinel told us you, ah… weren't doing so well back on Earth…"

"That's not…" Steven trailed off, left feeling cold as the pinkness faded. He couldn't outright deny that statement, but he certainly didn't like it. Nor did he like the fact that they were talking about him to each other, that Spinel was talking about him to the Diamonds, like…

"Well," he was slightly surprised - and mildly panicked - to hear Pearl speak up, lifting his head sharply and opening his mouth, but she was speaking again before he could stop her, "that's not entirely inaccurate, but, Steven said he just wanted to go back, so I think we should all respect that. If Steven wants to go back to Earth, then we're going to take him back to Earth. Whatever makes him more comfortable is perfectly fine." Her gaze fixed on Blue, and despite the smile on her face, her eyes spoke warnings. Steven stared at her, mildly surprised, and cracked his mouth open again slightly. This time, though, he simply couldn't find the words, couldn't find a better explanation, or anything else to really say after that. He swallowed and glanced at Blue, still expecting some kind of protest, or objection, or disappointment from the Diamond.

But she only smiled back at Pearl, pleasant and calm and relaxed as ever - what the hell? - before looking back at Steven. "Well, of course. Whatever you think is best for you, Steven."

Still not knowing what to say, the hybrid managed to force a shaky, bewildered nod, surprised by how easy that had been. And, to be honest, he was kind of glad for it - and silently praying he wouldn't have to deal with the other Diamonds, or Spinel, on the way out… "Yeah…" He trailed off, sucking in a deep breath and letting out slowly, before asking somewhat reluctantly, "could you… could you tell Yellow and White and Spinel? We were just gonna go ahead and go, and… I know White and Spinel are kind of worried," he mumbled, chewing on the inside of his cheek and swallowing down a flare of irritation. It shouldn't be a bad thing, and he knew that, but for some reason, it only served to irk him more than he thought it should. Regardless, he managed to brush the thought aside, taking a few steps back as Jasper finally ended up heading over to them. He could've sworn the orange gem rolled her eyes, but he didn't have much time to ponder it before he had to return his gaze back to Blue when she spoke up again, chuckling.

"Of course. I'll let them know," the Diamond promised, smiling down at him. "I hope you feel better. Oh! Wait, speaking of- before you go-" She sat up completely now, looking excited, and closed her hand around part of the cloud she was sitting on, pulling off a handful and blowing it down toward them, while Steven watched in mild confusion and slight curiosity. "I've been wanting to show you my new power. Go on, touch it," Blue insisted, grinning.

Steven hesitated for a moment, staring at the cloud as it rested in front of him, then glanced at the other gems. Jasper was just watching, eyebrows quirked slightly and the tiniest smirk on her face, while Amethyst and Pearl rolled their eyes, as if they already knew what was going to happen. Garnet, of course, simply stood leaning back with her arms crossed, unamused.

Finally, with a sigh, Steven shuffled forward and reached out, resting a hand over the cloud cautiously. He inhaled sharply, at first, eyes widening slightly despite himself and a slight shudder running through him, his entire body going tense again, this time completely on its own. He felt something shift, laughter bubbling in his chest without his consent, but it felt all wrong. Like it was trying to push down all of the negativity he was feeling, burying guilt and pain and anger and grief under joy, but even then, as forceful as it seemed to be, he still managed to push it right back down after a few seconds, frowning down at the cloud for a moment before lifting his hand again and looking back up. Blue's smile had faltered, just a bit, now simply looking perplexed as she gazed down at him, then at the cloud, like something was wrong with it. "I don't really understand," Steven confessed after a moment, shifting slightly on his feet and sparing a glance back toward the gems. Amethyst was frowning now, and even Pearl looked mildly bewildered. Jasper and Garnet, well, their expressions hadn't changed much - except Garnet's eyebrows had furrowed slightly, almost puzzled. The teenager took a deep breath, stomach churning slightly with that horrible sense of wrongness again, the guilt and terror that came with wondering if he'd done something wrong, like the cloud seemingly not working for him was his own fault. Which, it probably was, he somehow managed to fuck everything up…

"Eh…" Amethyst shook her head and stepped forward, lightly nudging her shoulder against Steven's and offering him a comforting smile, despite the concern that was flickering through her eyes, which had only seemed to intensify tenfold. "Don't worry about it, man. They're just supposed to make you feel good or whatever, something like that. But maybe it just doesn't work on you like it does on us 'cause you're half human," she suggested.

"Yes, that must be it," Blue cut in, smiling once again. "That's too bad. It's quite an experience."

Steven glanced at the clouds, deciding not to mention that it shouldn't matter that he was half human or not, since Blue's crying powers had worked on him just fine since he was half gem. But he only nodded, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away again, back toward the door. Before he could say anything else, though, Jasper had spoken up, letting out a low groan and simply turning and heading away from them to leave the room herself. "Are we going, or what?"

Pearl sighed, and Amethyst spared a very, very annoyed look after the orange gem, while Steven nodded quickly - somewhat relieved and grateful for the interruption - and spared another quick glance up at Blue, raising a hand to wave a quick goodbye as he backed away after Jasper. "Yeah, we should probably get going. Uh, bye, Blue. Tell the others I'll try and call later or something," he added quickly, mostly just in an attempt to make sure nobody tried to follow him back to Earth, which he had a feeling Spinel might end up doing if she was worried enough. And, honestly, that was pretty much the last thing he wanted.

Blue waved back at him, relaxing on the cloud once again. "Yes, of course. Do keep us updated, Steven, we're all quite worried. I really do hope you feel better." Pausing, she glanced down at the others. "And goodbye to you all, as well!"

Garnet, without responding, turned and followed Steven. Amethyst waved a half-hearted goodbye before following, while Pearl offered a few seconds to give a much more formal farewell to the Diamond before she headed after them. The hybrid left the room just after Jasper, hesitating slightly and glancing over at her, then relaxing when Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl finally exited after them. Steven huffed out a soft, relieved sigh, honestly just more than glad to have finally gotten out of there, and with very little problems, too. Hell, he hadn't even really turned pink the entire time, which was definitely a good thing. Now, if he could just get from Homeworld to Earth without any issues, that would be just swell.

"Well, that was very… er, tense," Pearl chuckled, falling into step with Steven as they started walking again, and, once more, he offered a quiet hum of agreement, exhaling sharply.

He heard Amethyst mumble something to Garnet about the clouds not working behind him, but they were both interrupted by Jasper, who let out a low but audible growl of, "just shut up about it," and that was pretty much the end of that conversation. Steven would have been grateful, to be honest, if it didn't make him feel guiltier than he already did. He really hoped - and felt fucking awful for it - that Jasper would end up going back to her place in the forest, because he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep his cool around her. Every minute with the orange gem in his presence felt like pure agony, and he was honestly wondering if it was the same for her. He couldn't tell, but then again, if she wanted to keep it a secret, he was sure she'd be able to. It still didn't settle well with him that she was defending him, either. Especially considering that he was still pretty certain it would end in some kind of fight eventually.

Besides that, though, he was happy to reach the warp pad without any complications, stepping up onto it along with the others. Jasper and Amethyst were talking now, a surprisingly civil conversation about a few of the statues outside the palace, while Pearl was unusually silent. And Garnet was also silent, which wasn't unusual. Steven finally let his shoulders droop, looking down at the warp pad for a moment before simply shutting his eyes, feeling the familiar hum as it activated. Glad to get away from Homeworld, but disappointed to be heading back to Earth.

Wish that I could say that there's no better place than home, a familiar voice sang in his ears, wrapping him in nostalgia and sorrow all at once. But home's a place that I have never known…