Kitty Claws

"Almost done!" Greg calls out. "Steven, get the hubcap."

"On it, Dad." He replies, scrubbing the hubcap of Mayor Dewey's Van. He missed just casually doing stuff with that, and today was the perfect excuse to do that.

"Make sure to scrub it good." Greg says "This is a high profile job."

"Yeah, this is for the Mayor's re-election, right?" He asks.

"Yup! We might even get political favors~" Greg replies with a grin.

"Can't ever go wrong with those!" Steven remarks, before accidentally spraying his Dad full of water, to which Greg laughs and retaliates, ending with the two of them splashing water on each other for fun.

"Hey Hey Hey!" Mayor Dewey calls out "I'm not paying for Father/Son bonding here!"

They chuckle a bit as they turn off the hoses. "Sorry about that. You van is squeaky clean and ready, Mayor!" Steven says on behalf of his Dad, who was then promptly paid by Dewey.

"Well... it Is clean, so I suppose it's alright. Pleasure doing business with you Universes." He calls out before getting in the van and driving away, the speakers shouting "Mayor Dewey! Mayor Dewey!" as he drives down the road.

"Political Favors, eh?" Steven says with a smirk, before being hugged and noogied by his Dad. "Agh you Rascal! Enough with the hose fights."

They both just sorta laugh before suddenly being sprayed by water. "What the..." Greg said as, to their surprise, it was a purple cat holding a hose?

"Woah!" He said in surprise as the cat began to chase them with the hose, causing them both to run for their lives!

"What is With this cat?" Greg exclaimed in confusion, before the cat stopped, and shape-shifted back into a laughing Amethyst.

"Haha! Got you guys~!" She says with a grin as Greg sorta... awkwardly chuckled back. "Uhh... pretty cool Amethyst."

Steven chuckled too, smiling at the little interaction. "That's pretty cool. I wish I could shape-shift into animals like you."

"You could probably learn." She replies, tying the hose into a knot. "You got a Gem after all."

"Nah, I don't think my body can do it. But... I have been practicing this instead." He said, focusing, taking a deep breath... before Extending his hand out with Force, and...

"Whoa!" Greg and Amethyst said in union as Steven's Index grew a... Lion's Claw?

"Dang Steven, how'd you learn how to do that? When did you even learn how to do that?" She asked in genuine surprise.

"Yyyeah... that's a Thing you can do now?" Greg asked in equal confusion.

"Of course!" He replies "I always see Amethyst doing it, so... I copied what she did. I even made my finger into a cat, but... that was too freaky, so... Kitty Claws are better!"

He breathed, mimicking the action, this time making 3 additional fingers similar to a a Lion's Claws! Easy to shape-shift weapons.

"Heheh... Well, that's pretty cool. I'd stick around a little longer, but Pearl says we have another mission to go to." She explains with he roll of her eyes "So... See ya!"

Steven waves her farewell as Greg still just sorta Stared at those claws. "Are they... Permanent?"

"Huh?" He looks at his claws "Oh jeez, thankfully not. That was an issue before, but I'm a little better at this now. Watch."

He focused, breathing softly, before Whipping his hand again, and Ta-Da! No more claws, just fingers.

"I'm still struggling to summon my Gem weapon for some reason, so it's kinda weird that shape-shifting's been the easiest thing to do so far." He explains.

"Huh." Greg rubbed his chin, before heading out to the back of his van. "So... are you going with the Gems with those claws?"

"Maybe another time. The Gems are gonna be busy fighting a Living Island." He explains. "So... I thought I could spend today with you, you know?"

After a moment of thinking, he shrugged and smiled, stepping into the Van. "Well Shtew-Ball, I'll admit I do like having you around every once in a while."

And with that, Steven stepped inside as Greg set up a small TV and some DVDs. He figured Steven might enjoy watching a movie as they relax.

"He What?!" Amethyst just shrugged, munching on some donuts. "It's true. He just shape-shifted claws, says he saw me doing it and just tried to copy me. Pretty impressive for his first time."

Pearl was in Disbelief, running her hand through her hair. "I-I... this isn't... he... Didn't tell us?"

"I know right? Normally he'd be all: Look at Me! I'm super Excited and I wanna be a Lion with Wings and Chainsaws for Hands!" She says, shape-shifting into Steven as she mockingly mimics his tone of voice.

"...essentially, yes." Pearl said with slight discomfort at the sight. "And... I know we wanted him to mature, but... It feels too... Sudden?"

"Right?" Amethyst glows and shifts back to her normal form. "Like, how do you tell someone: 'Hey, you're Super nice and it's weirding me out, stop being so Nice.'?"

"You tell them:" Garnet interjects from out of the blue, surprising the other Gems. "I appreciate your efforts, but I am not ready to handle your love."

The other two remained silent as they got the gist of the message. Though Garnet crossed her arms. "I take it we've All noticed Steven's odd behavior?"

"Yes, it's quite... Different." Pearl replies "But, I'm worried about saying anything, cause this is the best I've ever seen him do. And... what if we say something, and he stops in fear that we're upset at him?"

"Hmm... a Tricky situation. Perhaps when we come back, we can devise a plan of sorts, get to the bottom of this sudden shift." Garnet offers, the other two agreeing. They didn't have any better plans, so this was as good a plan as any.

"Then good. Now help me get the Gem Sloop out to sea." Garnet commands "I sense that this is a Tectonic Emergency. We'll deal with Steven when we come back."

"...hey Dad?" Steven said, looking back at Greg. "Yeah Steven?"

"I know you told me already how you met Mom. But I was thinking..." He says. "How come you never talk about your Mom and Dad?"

Oh boy... Greg knew he'd ask this eventually. Well... better to deal with this now rather than later. He paused the Movie as he looked back at Steven.

"Well, you see... when I was a little older than you, I realized I had no idea who I was or what I wanted to do with my life." He explains. "And my Parents, ugh. I don't wanna be rude, but... they were... not the greatest. Strict Curfews, I was forced to take classes of all sorts, I couldn't even listen to music! How crazy is that? Living in what was basically my Parent's Prison."

...yeah, he... remembered that day. He felt lost, he wasn't sure who he was. And his Dad, being the best he could, took him to his old home to try and teach him how he became: "Mister Universe, Freelance Musician". Man... he nearly injured his Dad, because he had a... temper tantrum, and crashed the Van.

"But, a buddy of mine showed me this Disc, oh man. It was called uh... huh." He struggled to remember. "Well, it was made by Kerry Moonbeam, and it was out of this world. So, after a Long time, I finally had the guts to leave home and start my new life as Mr. Universe!"

Steven... teared up a bit, listening to that, Greg of course noticing. "Aww hey, what's the matter Steven?"

"I... I just wanna say... I'm... I'm sorry Dad." He wiped his tears, though some more came about. "I... I know Mom's not here anymore, and that... your parents were probably... not that great. I... just..."

...he fiddled with his thumbs, mustering up the courage to speak. "I... sometimes wish I could be a normal kid, you know? With.. School and Lessons and... a Structure of sorts with a routine."

Greg sort of... looked at him oddly, having not expected that from Steven of all people. And yet... he smiled, and helped wipe his tears. "It's okay Steven. I just... I've done the best I can, and I'm sorry its not the best. I tried finding a place I could afford to stay in with you, and... I even considered sending you to school and all. But... when I realized that your Gem would one day grow and the others would need you, I... I decided to be the best Dad I could be for you, even if it meant letting the Gems raise you later on."

And there it was. The truth he was... so blind to before. Greg wasn't perfect, and there was a whole lot he wished his Dad did better. And yet, looking back... his Dad was nothing but loving and supportive despite his rough upbringing, always there for him... he felt ashamed for yelling at him all that time ago, and... he wanted to make up for it.

"I know Dad... No one's perfect, right? But..." He said, hugging Greg tightly. "I... I love you Dad. You're the best Dad I could ever ask for, a-and I'm sorry that I ever... m-made you feel otherwise."

Greg was, understandably, rather shocked at all of this. Where did it come from? When did Steven say anything rude about him...?

...still, his son was confessing his deep thoughts, holding him, and... tearing up. And he couldn't help but hug him back and tear up too. "I love you too, Steven. I... I'm proud of you, for getting the guts to tell me this."

"I could always... try and get you into a... school, or... maybe enlist you into something if you'd like...?" He offered, gently scratching Steven's hair.

Steven was about to say No, of course, until it suddenly hit him. He always said no to that, because... He was raised with little responsibility, just sorta playing video games growing up, walking around the town, doing whatever he wanted. But, doing something, even if small, might actually bring a little bit of that stability he always wanted.

"...do you... think... maybe... y-you could help me... find something exercise related?" He suggested, to which Greg chuckled, and nodded. "Looking into getting healthy? I could help you find something, that I can do for sure."

...if things keep going well... maybe... soon... he can talk to them about the future...

With multiple steps going up the outdoor stairs, the door opened as all 3 gems came in, with Steven in the midst of eating his dinner for the night.

"Alright Steven, let me see." Pearl exclaimed, approaching him to look for the claws, only to be confused.

"Uhh... Hey guys." He waves. "Did something happen?"

"I uhm... A-Amethyst mentioned you had Tiger Claws and I was worried you might go Overboard with shape-shifting." Pearl explains.

"Kitty Claws." Amethyst clarified "He said Kitty Claws."

"Oh whatever, it's still feline claws. But, it seems you were careful, which just goes to show that... uhm..." She was about to say something about Amethyst, but realized Amethyst didn't technically do anything wrong.

"It goes to show," Garnet interjects "You should have a little more faith in Steven." She crossed her arms.

Pearl blushed of course, nodding and letting go of Steven. "Well... I suppose that's fine. I uhm... Have to organize some of my swords anyways."

She steps away, Amethyst following suit. "Yeah, uh, I gotta like, make a bigger junk pile in my room. So... See ya."

And that of course left Garnet and Steven alone as he continued eating some of his grilled chicken with guacamole.

"Steven." She calls out "You've been acting different. Is there something you want to explain?"

He sorta went silent for a moment, before clearing his throat. "I uh.. I... want to be taken more seriously, so... I've decided I don't wanna be the little kid anymore, and I want to be a true member of the Crystal Gems." He says proudly.

Garnet approaches him, looking at him through her shades with a somewhat cold gaze, before petting his fluffy hair. "I'm proud of you, Steven. Keep up the good work, Fellow Crystal Gem." She adds with a little grin as she heads off to her room.

Steven could only smile as he finished the rest of his dinner before eventually getting dressed and brushing his teeth. He checked his calendar on his phone, looking at what was on the list.

"Connie." That's right! That's next on the list. He's gotta keep an eye out for her, she'll appear soon. And... all and all, she might be his best bet for a helping hand during all of this. He's just gotta keep trying.