Is already nighttime in Beach City.
For humans, is time to lay on bed and sleep waiting for a new bright day, for gems, however, the only difference between day and night is how much light they need to put outside, even though the more veterans gems in humans affairs have tried to push a schedule similar to their fleshy neighbors, the vast majority of those gems have been around for thousands of year, old habits die hard.
So, as one species was sleeping, and the other was awake, the children of both worlds was doing neither.
'...Again really.' Steven woke up for the five-time that night "Agghhhh." Only a grunt escaped from his lips as he raised to see his alarm clock "It's not even four in the morning…" His mind was tired, but his body was brewing with energy, he could feel it, an energy that wasn't his. "Ahhh, I don't know how but this is your fault mom…" He tossed and turn in bed, trying and failing to find a posture that could help him sleep once for all, but like everyone does in a sleepless night, he began thinking about his life.
His powers were out of control, he knew it, and even though the gems knew it too, they preferred to ignore it, and he thanks them for that. His outbursts, his pink weird form… 'Of course mom's gifts just keep on giving.' His lips curved into a smile, and like every other smile of the last few days, it was a fake one.
"Well, tonight I ain't sleeping." He jumped out of the bed and began searching in his drawer for his normal attire. 'It's a little over three in the morning, everyone that I know is sleeping, I haven't touched a TV since the little adventure with Peridot, so...what to do.' But sadly for Steven, he finished dressing before he could come out with an answer "Body, you are the one that doesn't let me sleep, so you decide." And sadly, his body didn't have the answer either 'Yep, it hasn't been a month since I left Little Homeschool and I'm already talking to myself, good one Universe.'
He made his way downstairs, not a single lamp lit and not a single person/gem on sight, and before he realized it, he was already making his way to the beach. 'These days my body feels light, really light, like I can fly with just strength alone, is this how it feels for the gems?' Steven gaze upon his hands, he felt the energy in his fist, like he could punch a mountain if he wanted to, as the moonlight illuminated his body, he could swear that he saw faint shades of a brilliant pink on it, but that, like many things happening right now, could be all in his head.
"What the hell, what could go wrong." If his body was the one keeping him awake, he just needed to tire it. "Maybe fly a little, punch a rock or two (that is not alive) and I'll be on my bed for a sweet three hours of sleep." He prepared for the takeoff, just a little jump, and he could leave the sand behind, but…' What if they see me?' he couldn't help but think. Steven relaxed his posture, and looked vacantly at Beach City, it was dark, he could only see two or three lights, either from some of the homes or a store that refused to close up.
'Maybe they'll think I'm a freak, maybe they already do.'
He moved his head towards Little Hometown, brimming with light, he could make the shape of a few buildings, and even shadows belonging to space ships.
'What do they see in me when I use my powers? A diamond?'
That wasn't true, he knew it, he knew it, but… these days, he couldn't help but overthink everything 'They won't think that, they like me for who I am, for the things I have done, they, they…' no matter what he said to himself, he was already going back to his home.
Steven contemplated his garden, he always feels proud when he sees it, remembering each seed and how big they have grown now, but like everything in his life right now, new bad memories merged to eclipse the good ones 'I hope that you are doing better than me Steven Captus, maybe he has found the island with those watermelons.' He fixes his sight in the warp pad, Steven still had all the energy wandering in his body, little sparks that made his muscles clench and send his brain signals to use them, to move, to jump, to fight.
"Maybe a change of scenery could help me." 'Or planet.' He finished in his head, still, the question remains "Where?" As he steps on the pad, all his space adventures came to mind, but only a handful of those where to empty planets. "There's that weird moon when I was with Connie…" Too dangerous, not for himself, but for the other things living on that planet, his powers were out of control and they just keep getting stronger, if something attacks him, he wasn't sure that he could limit himself. "I doubt that there's going to be anyone in mom's garden." But he rejected that too, there was the small chance of Spinel being there, and he wasn't ready to talk with her yet, not after everything that was happening. "Maybe the moon?" Also a bad choice, no air, just dust dunes, almost died there once 'Well, I have almost died in every place that I have gone to, so not really fair.' But still a bad choice, he didn't want to see those gem murals or remember that time when Lapis left them. "Wait, Lapis…" A planet came to mind, one without anything dangerous or any gem stuff. "That blue jungle planet!" It was perfect. "There shouldn't be anyone there, I know for a fact that Lapises don't stick around in the same place for long….even if it's to protect your friends…" His mod went down, but he quickly recovers. "Good scenery, cute creatures, no one to see me." He finally decided, it was just what he needed.
"Teleport pad! To the Jungle Planet!" He didn't need to speak for it to work, but, it just felt like second nature to voice his thought after a night talking alone.
And, with a shining blue light, Steven left Earth.
Has the light of the teleported faded, Steven gaze upon his surroundings. All the shades of blue were present, with a few touches of green and purple to break the monotony, the plants, the sky, even the atmosphere felt blue." This..this is great." he didn't really take a good look the last time he was here. 'Having to deal with thre-I mean two, two unstable lapises it's not exactly the perfect state to enjoy the scenery, and it seems that it's still day time here.'
As he stepped out of the teleport, he began walking a natural path in the forest, one hand in his jacket's pocket and the other touching the plants closer to him. 'The sensation is the same as the ones on Earth, maybe a little wetter than normal.' He took one leaf from a nearby tree and gave it a little sniff.' 'Umm, smells like a normal leaf.' He didn't understand why but he was a little disappointed. 'Better to leave the tasting test for later.' He thought half-joking, or at least he hoped, he knew that when he was hungry his bar for what it's considered edible fell really really low.
Not much later he reached the end of the forest, he remembers this sight from his last visit, the low sea surrounding other hills with forests like the one he is in. 'I don't know if I should call them islands or hills-' He wondered for a moment, but he pushed that thought aside because he came here for a reason, and after seeing that bast boundless horizon he couldn't help himself and he just...jumps.
Before he knew it, he was floating in the sky, he didn't have a destination in mind he just wanted to move. "Okey Steven, you lost a little practice, but this should be just natural for you." He reassured himself. "Control your emotions, and advance." He began heading straight, at first, it was slow, giving small leaps in the parts without waters to remember the sensation of flying, and without even noticing himself, he began picking up speed. "I didn't remember this feeling so good!" The jumps from rock to rock quickly became gigantic leaps between hills. "It's so liberating!" He didn't know what was happening, what was the sensation in his chest. "I feel...free." He didn't know another way to express that feeling, he wasn't flying because he was late for some appointment, or because there was trouble and he was expected to resolve, no one was injured, crying, or having a bad time, it was him, alone, using his powers because he wanted, not because he needed it.
As the flying went on he gained more and more confidence, mixing the jumping with fast runs in the forest up the hills, dodging trees, and plants alike. 'I didn't remember being this fast.'
Sometimes it felt like time slowed down the faster he went. 'It's this speed another power? Maybe that's why I still haven't stamped my face in any tree.' Now that he was aware of it, he clearly noticed the slowing of time; a leaf that was falling down suddenly got frozen in mid-air, the dust that his speed raised seemed to be stuck on thick jelly, weird pink after images of himself following him, even the rays of light that managed to sneak between the forest leaves looked strange, like even the light was getting lazy. "Really mom? Another one?" He said with disappointment, but...he surprised himself because he was happy, it was like he was a kid again, the happiness in his chest discovering a new power was somewhat present. "Good god, I can't remember the last time I felt happy with something related to my mother…" But it was not time for self-reflections, if he had a new power, he was going to use it to have a good time here, not for others, but himself "Cmon Universe, let's go again."
Steven didn't know how much time he spent running, but if you ask him he would have probably say. "Not enough." He wanted to move a little more, but it seems that his body needs a little recharge, so as he panted, he places his jacket on the ground and sat upon in a clearing, just feeling the difference temperature between his skin and the air, the sweat dripping from his body, painful but good sensations on his muscles. "Ahhhh, I didn't know that working out was so much fun." The problems that he had, his sleepless night, his existential crisis, all washed away, maybe they'll come back to haunt him, but for the moment, his mind was empty and he was just enjoying the moment.
"Maybe I should make this a routine now that I have so much free time, at least here the plants don't try to kill me or reveal my inner thoughts to my family." He eyed one of the sentient plants that were happily lazing around and locked eyes with it. "Don't even try it." Steven pointed a little accusatory finger to it, but the plant either didn't care or didn't understand him, and normally continue his path. "I know where you live!" He began laughing softly, sometimes when no one was looking at you it always felt right to act a little
"Dumb"
That was not his voice.
"That was dumb, you know that the plants here can't talk, right?" He panicked, the exhaust of his body completely push aside in favor of confronting the imminent threat. He quickly got up to face his opponent.
"Puff so much for a Diamond, you get that scared when your Lapis lazuli isn't with you or what?" The voice came from behind, it wasn't very difficult to imagine who was the one talking to him, and as Steven turns around he saw her.
Floating in the sky with water wings on her back, blue skin with a gem on the shoulder, blue curly hair, a blue beach dress with a diamond symbol on it. A Lapis lazuli, the same one who tried to kill him…'Well ok every Lapis Lazuli has tried to kill me one way or another, but she is the one that didn't come to Little Homeworld, I thought for sure that she wouldn't be here, and I'm very far from the point where we met last time.'
"You...what are you doing here? " Steven asked, not even bothering to hide the displeased in his voice.
"Shouldn't I be asking that question?" She responded with the same tone. "Last time I checked, I was here first." The lapis landed on the clearing as her water wings vanished from her back.
"Were you tailing me?" He said accusatory, Steven didn't know what she wanted from him, but he began looking at the terrain, he didn't spot any water sources nearby, but with a Lapis he couldn't be so sure, maybe they were on top of some underground water that she could use to-
"Gezz, relax a little." She rolled her eyes. "Last time we met you weren't that scared of everything." And even if Steven didn't want to admit it, she was right, these days had taken a heavy toll on him. "And for your information." She continued. "I didn't 'tail' you, you were screaming 'Yoohu' while going from island to island while breaking the sound barrier, and on top of that it's very hard to miss your glowing pink in all this blue, at least you have finally stopped, for someone without wings you are surprisingly fast."
'So even if she doesn't want to say it, she has been following me, and wait a moment, I was glowing pink?' those were important questions, but there was something more crucial to say. "I wasn't saying 'Yoohu' every time." He explained. "It was just...when I felt good, I did it a few times, it's totally normal. " He was pretty embarrassed knowing that someone has been listening to his childlike cries.
"Whatever you say my diamond." She said while smirking, if her objective was to piss him off, she was being very effective. "And what are you doing here? Because if you try to convince me of going to that school of yours I'll-"
"I'm not working in Little Homeschool anymore." She didn't get to finish her threat. "So no, I'm not here for you, what's more, I was hoping of no one being here."
"What? Afraid of someone hearing your cries of joy as you fly?" Steven had to recognize, she knew how to make her words sting. "And I can't even imagine what gem has enough courage to fire a diamond from his school." The smirk was still on her face, much to Steven dismay
"First of all, I'm not a diamond, I'm Steven Universe." He saw her rolling her eyes. "And second, I didn't get fired, I just...lost motivation to teach there." 'And I can't teach anyone right now, with all of this happening' He keeps the last words for himself.
"What?!" She said angrily "So, you tell me, that we were perfectly fine here, you come to drag us to your stupid school, you separate us and now you tell me that you don't even care anymore!?" Water wings spring from his back, more of instinct than a conscious action, to say that she was piss would be an understatement.
"You were DESTROYING this planet!" Steven's patience also reached his limit, he started to close the distance. "Don't make it sound like I tossed around the gems in Little Homeschool! I care about each one of them!" His skin was glowing pink.
"Oh, so you are here dancing around because you care so much isn't it?!" She also got closer, now they were face to face, just a deep hatred in their eyes. " You know what, maybe you are doing them a favor, because without you brainwashing them in forgetting their purpose they'll be happier! You and your friends have trashed everything! We were better with the Diamonds!" Their eyes didn't look apart, for now, they were satisfied with just verbal confrontation, but that could change easily.
"While you were here destroying a beautiful planet I have been with those gems! They were on the brink of collapse, if the diamonds had kept in power, everyone would have a break from the stress, even you." He pocked her with his finger to emphasize the point.
"We are desing to support that stress, to do our mission!"
"Even if the diamonds made you a monster?! Because I have dealt with gems who become crazy from doing 'their mission' as you call it! Little Homeschool has helped them relax and see more to life than the mission they were made for!"
"Then why you are here talking with plants and not with them in that school of yours!? Don't you want to help them if you and your friends are so great?!"
"Because I don't want to see those gems go!" He spilled the beans. "You know what it's like to spend so much time with someone just to see them move on and forget about yo-" He stopped because he finally realized why she was following him, what she wanted from him. "That other lapis…" And as he said it he saw the expression on her face, he hit the nail.
"What are you trying to imply?! Do you think that I care about her?! Care about her just leaving me here alone on this dirty planet because two people that didn't even know her managed to win her over?! I don't care about how she didn't even try to convince me to went with her and just left on her own! I D.O.N' T care!" Steven felt a vibration in the ground, it seems like he was right about the underground water. "If you didn't come here, if you…" There was another source of water forming around.
'Oh no.' Steven knew what was happening, so many times he has seen it, normally coming from Pearl, others from himself. 'Not here, not her.' But it was too late, she just broke down crying in front of him, the water wings from her back returned to her body, she sat with her head between her knees, trying to muffle the sound, she was probably embarrassed by someone seeing her like this, and while that happens, the now just normal skin tone Steven didn't know what to do.
He just stood there, normally the gems cried about their problems long after meeting him, but he and this Lapis were stranges, enemies even, maybe his kid self would have hugged them until they stopped crying, or say something to uplift their spirits, but he wasn't him anymore, he had a lot of problems himself to be consoling others, he should just go and forget about 'NO.' He put down those thoughts, he wasn't kid Steven anymore, but he was still Steven Universe, if someone broke down crying, he would do something. 'Even if it's not much'
He sat too, an arms distance away, he regretted a little how close they were but he couldn't get up to change his position. She continued crying, Steven knew that in those moments it's better to be alone, but she was on a planet with him being the only other creature capable of speaking, and no one wants to be that alone.
He didn't know how much time passed, but the crying stopped and a silence reined over the clearing, neither of them made an attempt to talk, but at least she wasn't telling him to leave, so maybe that was something.
"Why are you still here?" The lapis said, she still didn't remove her head from her knees.
'Danmit, I spoke too soon. ' But it didn't sound like an order or a threat, so there's still hope. "I...I don't know, I suppose that's what I do, it's like my job."
"Your job is to take shit off people that you don't know and then hearing them cry about it." She sounded better, still managing to place a little acid tone in her voice.
"You know what, yeah, that's basically it." He heard something that sounded like a chuckle. 'You still got it Universe, keep the ball rolling.' "And what about you, you sound like you hate my guts, but you didn't sneak attack me or anything."
"I… I just wanted to talk." She sounded sincere and sad. "I have been on this planet for some time and the plants are good listeners, but they don't are the talkative type."
'She has been alone since the last time we were here..." He wanted to be mad with her, he really did, he promised to not forgive everyone like when he was a kid, but… this situation, he didn't know why but he felt that they were similar. 'Let's give her a chance at least.'
"So, that lapis...she was a friend or something more?" 'Please tell me that I didn't touch a sensitive subject, please.'.
"We were...friends, I think, you know, we didn't really know each other very well." Steven could finally see her face, it didn't really look like she has been crying, not even a hair outside position, Pearl could learn a few tricks from her. " It was just...we were always together. We emerged together, we were sent on missions together and we have been together since, but to tell you the truth, I don't really bother to learn anything from her, I just thought that it didn't matter, that she would still be my side no matter what but…"
"But she drifts away." He finished for her. "Yeah, I can relate to that…"
"How can you relate to that? You are the great Steven Universe, big mighty savior of the entire galaxy, everyone loves you and wants to be your friend." There was a mocking tone in her voice, Steven decided to ignore it.
"That's the problem, the people only see me as either a hero, a human, or a diamond. Never Steven Universe, so I just stand there, stuck in the role that they have imposed on me and I see them go with their lives, moving on and forgetting about me, the crystal gems spend more time outside, my human friends have moved on, and even my dad has gone somewhere else, but I'm still my old self, listening to the cries of someone who has tried to murder me because I don't know what else to do." He smiled, there wasn't any happiness behind it, but at least he got out of his chest the words that were stuck so long ago, it didn't felt good, but at least they were out.
He peeks in her direction and saw a shadow of a smile on her lips. "Wait, so were serious about hearing people cry being your job?" And she giggles, Steven didn't know why but that sound made something in his chest pound.
"Yep, that's me, Steven Universe, if you have a local tyrant in need of redemption I'll go your way, made them cry with songs and then forgive them for all their crimes." She couldn't help but laugh, he also started to smile, the awkwardness in the atmosphere seems to die down a bit. And now she was facing him, both of them sitting in the grass looking at each other eyes, but this time there wasn't hate in them, it was curiosity.
"You are weird Steven Universe." At least he wasn't calling him Diamond again, he took it as a small victory.
"Says the immortal thousand-year-old alien who can control water and fly in space." Pearl taught him that it's bad to point another person with his finger, but this seems like a perfect time to break the rule.
"You know that's for gems that's normal, right?"
"Fair point."
They let the silence take over for a bit, the perfect time to relax their bodies after all that tension, if something Steven knew very well, was that even if Gems don't feel fatigued in their bodies their minds are the same as humans, and they enjoy a little rest too.
"So…" Lapis was the first one to break the silence. "My Lapis and your Lapis, how are they doing?"
"It's not 'my' Lapis, gems are free bei-" He saw a very fast object moving his way and then he felt cold water on his face 'D-Did she just throws me a ball of water?'
"Cmon, stop being preachy for a moment." She was in the same position, but one of her water wings was out and there was a chunk missing, he also couldn't miss the big smirk on her face.
"Did you just throw water at my face?" He couldn't believe it, don't ask him for the big smile on his face because he would tell you that you were seeing things.
"Puff, details, cmon answer my questions."
"Okay..." 'My butt okay.' "To tell you the truth, last time I saw both Lapis was soon after departing from this planet." He places a bit of spit on his hand without Lapis noticing. "I'm sorry but I haven't keep in contact with the gems these days, it seems that they want to give me space, maybe an idea from Garnet." He checked very quickly the zone where Lapis was sitting, he saw the perfect target. "So that's that." With all the precisions and quick movement he could muster, he throws his spit at a dead branch next to Lapis.
"Well, can't be helped." She sighed. "Doesn't really matter anymore if both of the-" We'll never know what she wanted to say because, with a very girly yell, she was panicking as a big blue tree started growing beneath her, soon after she was face down hanging on a brach, looking at a very smug upsidedown Steven Universe. " .Shit" as she remembers that she could fly at will she just landed perfectly at his side.
"Cmon, don't get mad about little details." They stared at each other for a moment, and then just..broke into laughter
"Hahaha, I-haha-I didn't expect that you were so vindictive Steven." Lapis said between chuckles.
"Hehe, what can I say, I lived with an amethyst my whole life, I'm used to dealing and getting revenge for pranks." As the laughter dies down, they sat again in the grass, closer than before but this time they didn't mind.
"An amethyst you say? I have never talked with one before, I just saw them goofing around in the distance." It was good to hear her voice without any sarcasm or bad intentions behind her words, Steven found himself liking it.
"How's that possible? Aren't you super old, you had time to meet a lot of gems."
"Old?" She smiled at him, his heart pounded a little. "I think you are the first person to call me old, I'm an Era Two gem, so I'm used to older gems telling me that the new generation is useless blah blah that in their days the gem empire was much better blah blah. " While she was talking, she was also imitating a mouth with her hand to mock her older seniors, Steven was surprised at how much human-like was that. "That's why I had a companion, Era Two Lapises are weaker than those from Era One, and we need another one to be effective in terraforming planets."
"Well, that's lucky, because I can't imagine if my Lapis came in a duo, Peridot wouldn't have survived the barn."
"Oh oh, so now it's 'my Lapis' eh?" Steven smiled. 'She can't go two minutes without being smug isn't she.'
"Shut up." Weak counter, but it never fails.
"Make me." Okay, maybe it wasn't the best counter after all.
They stared again, and after a few seconds, they ended up in another fit of laughter.
Steven found himself laying on the grass. 'This feels good.' He couldn't help but think. 'I can't remember the last time I talked with someone one on one like they were my friends.' He gazes upon the blue sky, and then he drifted his eyes to his blue companion, she was laying at his side, maybe with his exact same thoughts, he couldn't know, but at least he hoped that she also founded him endearing.
They were both two lonely souls looking for companionship, and maybe they have found it.
"Hey, Steven." Again, the blue gem was the first one that broke the silence. "It's this normal? Like, a while ago I hated you, a lot, like a whole whole lot."
"Yes yes, I get it."
"A LOT." She extended her arms to emphasize the point. "But...after talking with you, that just, floated away, this isn't one of your weird diamond powers right?"
"It's not, or at least I hope not, being endearing and adorable it's one of my main points."
"Adorable?" She lay sideways facing him, he saw that little smirk on her lips that always came back.
"Hey, just a few minutes after meeting the diamonds they were already siding with me, I must have some kind of Universe Charm, did you know that my dad almost became king of a harem one time? Must be his genes."
"I don't know what's a dad, a harem or a gene." Steven snorted, it was more fun knowing that she was serious. "But yeah, I must admit, you are not that bad."
"So…" He wasn't a damn kid anymore, why was he getting nervous about this. " Are we like friends and stuff?" 'I'm blushing, Steven Universe savior of the galaxy it's blushing while asking for someone to be his friend, I can't believe it '.
"What.." Well at least Steven wasn't the only one getting embarrassed for this simple child question, and if he wasn't so worried about his cheeks, he could notice a deeper shade of blue in hers. "I mean...I guess if you want, BUT, I don't want to go to your school."
"Okay."
"Songs and dances are a big no too."
"Okay but that's your loss, they are really fun."
"And not fusing, I heard rumors that you fuse with anyone that asks, but I'm not that kind of gem."
"What? What rumors? I don't fuse with anyone at rand-" That damn smirk on her face, it was growing. "Haha, very funny." He said with a plain tone.
"Hehehe." Her giggles made his ear itchy when they were so close. "So, you are the expert on friends, what do we do now?"
'Good question.' He honestly couldn't tell, his history of friendships wasn't small, but he couldn't remember spending so much time with them either. 'The people from a beach city, the gems...even Connie, I can't really recall what we did after becoming friends.' "Normally after meeting them you go in a life-risking adventure and maybe fight a little too deep the bonds."
"We have already try to murder each other before, so next step."
"Right right...maybe sleep together?" Not in the dirty way, of course, a sleeping party with the gems came to mind, they seemed to enjoy sleeping more or less, so why not give it a shot.
"Sounds fun, how do you do it?"
"That's the thing, you don't do it, you just lay still, close your eyes, and think of nothing until your brain shuts down for a few hours."
"That's dumb, you are dumb Steven." She poked his nose with her finger.
"Hey give it a try, I promise that you'll like it." He saw her doubting, but it seems like she conceded at the end. "Follow my lead, first try to being as comfy as possible, then don't move your body, slowly close your eyes, and don't think about anything." 'A few hours ago I couldn't sleep no matter what I did, and now, I'm giving classes on how to do it. ' He gave a last look at Lapis before closing his eyes, she was either very good at laying still, or she was sleeping, he chose to believe the former for his pride as a teacher.
Then finally, the entire weight of the day felt under his shoulders, or to be more precise his eyelids, after exercising and making a new friend, he was both mentally and physically exhausted, for the first time in many weeks, the sleep came right away.
Steven felt someone's eyes him, he could tell when people were watching him sleep, he didn't know if that six sense was something he got from his human or gem side, normally when he wakes up feeling that, it was either Lion, Pearl 'Because she stills watch me from time to time even though she thinks I don't realize, and she got strangely angry when I installed the lock on my door' or Peridot that one time, so he opens his eyes ready to kick out of his room anyone disturbing his peaceful rest.
But this was not his room, and those green eyes watching him weren't from someone he knew, it was an entire group of very adorable plants of different sizes, he recognized them, they were from that planet wher- 'Oh right.' He finally recalls the previous day 'I'm not on Earth anymore' He also saw a pair of deep blue eyes mixed between the group.
"You really are an expert in that sleeping thing Steven." That voice with a permanent undertone of mocking could only come from his new blue friend.
Steven looked at the sky, it was still daytime so it looks like he didn't sleep too much. "And you didn't try to kill me in my sleep?" He said it smiling but there was also a hint of surprise in his voice.
She just shrugged. "If I kill you, then who is going to listen to the cries of strangers around the galaxy?" He chuckled, it was pretty good to wake up like this. "And aside from that, I was busy."
"Busy? Busy with what?" She just smiled, and her eyes fell in Steven's stomach, he followed them and finally realized. 'Either these plants are really light, or I'm a very heavy sleeper.' He didn't know how he hasn't noticed before, but there was a big tower of small plants creatures pilled on top of his stomach, they were trying hard to hold their balance and keep the structure stable.
"Before you ask, fifteen, and they were surprisingly cooperative, I must admit, they are smarter than they look." It seems that the plants on top of steven realized that he was awake, and with a sound that he could only translate into laughter, they jumped down and broke the tower, the other plants at his side looked at him with sad eyes, it seems like they also wanted to be on the pile.
'Great Steven, you just woke up and you have already broken the heart of at least twenty plants alien.' But he saw the expression on Lapis face. 'But at least my new friend is happy, so worth I guess.' Steven got on his feet and began stretching while yawing, he didn't remember the last time he felt so energetic after sleeping.
"Oh, so you do that thingy too." Lapis said while getting a bit closer. "I thought that I was weird when I began exhaling so much air."
"One, don't worry it's called yawing, even the gems do it after sleeping, don't really know why. And two, yes you're weird, you are the weirdest gem that I have met." He stopped stretching, he noticed that his muscles weren't sore from before, maybe having a diamond constitution wasn't so bad.
"Really?" She said playfully. " I imagine that you have met a lot of gems being the savior of the galaxy and all that. " She didn't care much about the title and she made it clear with her tone, Steven didn't mind, if she also considered him a hero too he wouldn't be enjoying this time so much.
"Yes you are. " They began walking, no one of them knew why, but they moved into the forest, no destination in mind. " After meeting a gem and hearing their problems they either hate my guts and try to kill me or they see me as some kind of messiah who has all the answers for their life, but...I just, it's the first first time talking with anyone like this, like, we are really friends you know?" The last time he could think about having a light talk with someone was Connie when they were kids, now they barely talk that much anymore. He didn't know how to express it, and he was pretty embarrassed saying how he feels out loud, lucky for him, he wasn't the only one.
"Well, I guess that I also haven't talked with anyone like this before." Steven could hear the fluster in her words, admitting it made her a little ashamed, but they have shared more embarrassing stuff already, so she didn't shy away. " Aside from the other Lapislazuli, the only gems that talked with me were either an Agate ordering me around, a Peridot complaining about me cutting a valley a little too deep, or a Bismuth crying that one of my water attacks had destroyed an important pillar for building or something." Even though she was saying it like she didn't care Steven could she on her face that her mood was going down. " No one talks with the Lapises, they are either scared of us or they think that we are annoying, sometimes both, and there's not a lot of us around, so we don't socialize much, the other Lapises that I have seen from Era One are always alone and grumpy. "
He didn't like seeing her sad. "It's true that you are annoying, I have known hundreds of gems, and no one managed to sneak up so many sarcasm remarks and hurtful things in their words."
"Wow, now I know why everyone likes you, you truly have a way with words, now I feel so much better."
"See?" He pointed at her. "Like that, but let me finish." He took a deep breath. "I...I have known you for a short time, and most of it were you trying to kill me."
"If you don't say 'but' now I'll get angry."
"HOWEVER." he glared at her "You are...fun to be around, really, I-I haven't been myself these last few weeks. " 'Or months, maybe years.' "But talking with you here...it's pretty relaxing and fun." He knew damn well that his face was becoming pink and it wasn't because his powers, but he was too deep to step down now, " If that Lapis didn't want you around, and if the gems prefer to avoid you, then it's their loss, because...well, I like how you are, and I'm glad that we had this time alone together,"
"Gezz Steven what the hell!" She punched his shoulder and he recoiled a bit.
'I think that was meant to be playful, but I wasn't expecting that strength from those little arms.' He swallows the pain, better not to break the atmosphere.
"Don't go saying that stuff like it's nothing!" Even though she tried to sound mad Steven saw the shadow of a smile on her face as she began playing with one of her curls, when she noticed him staring, she quickly moved her head away. "You are not that bad either…" Only a whisper, but Steven didn't have a problem hearing it in this empty forest.
'I'm glad to have come here.' He didn't speak up loud, so he just let the comfortable silence sink in.
They admire the forest, Steven had to admit, it was stunning, once you got comfortable with all the blue surrounding you, the little details began to shine, a touch of emerald green in the leaves that made them sparkle, the greenish rays of light that came from the sky, the sweet smell of red flowers growing between pale purple rocks… it seems so familiar and so strange at the same time, like a lazy God had just picked a forest in Earth and gave it a layer of blue and green, still, the most amazing part was the silence that covered everything, there wasn't nearly any sound, no animals, humans or insects, he could only hear his breath, but if he focused, other sounds began to mix in, the very relaxing sound of the leaves moved by the wind, little steps of the plants as they walked, the crashing of the weaves against the hill down below...it was truly fantastic.
Steven had the idea of taking a few photos, maybe seeing them would help him relax when he went back to Earth. 'Wait, back to Earth? Earth...the gems…' he stopped walking. When Lapis noticed, she stopped too, wondering why now he looked so disturbed.
'Oh no, oh nononono' Scared, he searched for his mobile in his pocket, gently power it on, and looked at the time.
07:03
'Oh thank god, I came here just 4 hours ago.' He wasn't going to look at the number in the day. 'You know, between jumping, talking, and sleeping I thought for sure that it was going to be much more. ' He didn't want to look at the day, nope, not even a little. 'With how paranoic is Pearl she would make a search party if I disappear in the night without saying anything.' But he couldn't help it much more, and Steven saw it, the number in the day.
A whole day has passed, so that means that it was 28 hours since he came here. "What?! How?!" He screamed at no one in particular, he already knew the answer though. 'Normally I don't even manage to sleep two hours without waking up, I get annoying after a few seconds of using my powers and my last few conversations have been people pitting me while I just said three phrases trying to end the talk as fast as possible, how did this happen?! "Lapis!"
"What?"
"Damn you and this planet!" She didn't understand what was happening, but it was strangely fun to see him panic.
"Your welcome." The more she smiled, the grumpier Steven got, and the grumpier he gets the more she smiled, it was a vicious cycle.
But he ended it with a deep sigh. 'What's the use of getting angry? I'm already 24 hours late, a few more it's not going to hurt anyone'
"I don't know what is the small thing that you have there, but it caused you more distress than all my attempts at murder you, I'm a little jealous Steven. "
He decided to take it as a joke. " It's a phone, a human communicator with a bunch of other stuff, the thing is, I...kinda maybe perhaps didn't tell anyone that I was going to this planet and now they are probably super preoccupied?" She didn't really understand it, but she got the big picture figured out.
"So you are late and fucked."
"...yes."
"Hehehe." With just a giggle of Lapis, Steven felt like those problems became much smaller. "Then what are you waiting for, let's get going, follow me."
"Follow you? Where?" But as the words escaped his lips he realize, he didn't know where he was "The teleport pad…"
It seems like she saw through him. "I guessed that you had forgotten about it, with all the jumping and stuff."
"And…" Steven ventures, he already knew the answer but he was going to ask regardless, it seems this kind of game made her happy, and he kinda likes them too. "It's there a chance that you know where the pad is?"
Her smile widens. " I have the entire planet mapped in my head." She sounded really proud of it. "Aren't you glad that I'm here? " She was unusually happy of having something over him, little by little she closed the distance, it wasn't really a question, she just wanted to hear him say it.
"Yes yes, I'm extraordinarily happy to have met you here. " Now it was his turn to use sarcasm, though maybe the smile on his face betrayed him a little. " I'll add 'Excellent memory' to my list of your good qualities, so please lead the way."
"Oh oh, so you have a list eh?" She wasn't going to let this go so easy. " Care to name a few?"
"Let's see; annoying, loud, cruel, crybaby…"
"Ups this is so strange, the location of the pad it's sliding through my mind."
"Cute, charming, beautiful."
"Hahaha, that's what I thought." With a laugh and a jump, water wings formed on her back, as she began to fly in the air. "Now come on my diamond, let this lowly Lapislazuli be your guide in your journey home." She bowed a little and took off, not even cheeking if Steven was following her, even though part of her wanted to see his face right now.
"You know that funny isn't on the list right?" He screamed at her, she was fairly far now, he needed to follow her or she will escape his line of vision. 'I swear this girl…I think that this is the first time someone calls me a diamond and I'm not angry about it, well, not too angry.'
And with a single jump, he also left the forest behind.
The journey back was pretty short, Steven got used to traveling through the planet the day before, and Lapis was an expert in dodging trees at max speed, he didn't ask why she chose to be on his level when she could just fly on top of him, he liked to see her at his side, and speaking when you go faster than sound it's inconvenient, so they just travel besides one another in silence...which let to a race five minutes in.
Sometime later Steven landed in front of the warp pad, Lapis was sitting on the border of it, moving her legs up and down with a very smug smile on her face.
"Looks like I won Steven. " She put a big emphasis on each word, like she didn't want to take even the slimmest of chances of Steven not hearing them.
"You made a sudden turn, dived into water and the created a curtain of bubbles so I couldn't see you anymore, I have spent ten minutes searching this side of the planet." He was too exhausted and soaked to the bones to be mad right now, he couldn't tell the water from the sweat. "So much for being my 'guide.' "
"Hey, you were the one that made this relaxing walk a race, I just did a little effort to win it. " She wasn't sorry in the slightest. With a wave of her hand and focusing her powers on Steven, the water on his body started to leave and form a sphere in front of him.
"Neat." It wasn't like he was completely dry, but now he wouldn't soak his house. " Didn't know that Lapises could do that "
"Neither did I… normally my job was just using brute force to break mountains that were in the way, or make big holes in the ground. " She threw the water into the forest without thinking twice. " But now that I'm stuck on this planet I don't really want to destroy it, so I began doing more delicate stuff, like your Lapis said, using my imagination and all that."
"You aren't stuck here." Steven sat with her at the edge of the teleport, he was surprised how fast he got used to being close together. "You can go anywhere in the universe, by teleport or flying." He doubted that she didn't know this already, but it felt right to ask.
"I know but…" She just moved her hands, like trying to englobe the whole situation she was in without speaking, funny enough, Steven got her message.
"You don't know where to go, so you just stay here."
She smiled at him "Yeah… after you guys left last time, I lashed out a little on this planet." Steven didn't believe the 'a little' part. " But then I got exhausted, and I began looking around, I never did that in any of my other assignments. This planet's good, better than Homeworld that's for sure." Her eyes lost a little focus, Steven imagined that she was recalling old memories, and they didn't look very good for the expression on her face. "I think that I'll stay here a little more, before thinking about what to do next and stuff."
"So…" He began scratching the back of his head, dodging her eyes for his next question. "Do you mind if I come back here again? T-to do a little exercise you know." He quickly clarifies. He wasn't buying it, she wasn't buying it, not even the plants were buying it, but at least he tried.
She was waiting for this question, because if he didn't say it, she would have to be the one to jump the shark, of course, she already had an answer, but she couldn't pass the chance of teasing him a little about it.
"Oohh, so the little Diamond has taken a liken to me, isn't it? Are you going to feel lonely if I'm not around~~?" She couldn't wait to see his embarrassed face.
But Steven just had a serious look.
"Yes, I'll miss you,"
"W-what?! 'No wait, this is wrong.' Lapis thought, she wasn't ready for this bluntness, she could feel her cheeks getting warmer, she didn't know why. 'W-wait I still can say some comeback.' But no words left her throat, just little noises more akin to a mouse, he had disarmed her with just a few words.
She jumped as fast as she could and began floating, Steven at his back because even if she had to destroy this entire forest, she wouldn't let him see her face right now.
"D-do whatever you want, I don't care if you come or not, but if you do just scream or something, there's not a lot of noises on this planet so I'll hear it. " She played with her curls, this was hard. "Now get out! Didn't you say that you were late? " And without even waiting for Steven's response she dashed to the horizon.
So Steven just stayed there, on the edge of the teleport pad, quiet, not moving….and with a very smug smile on her face.
'Finally, after the whole day, I can make her taste a little of her own medicine, I maybe lost all the battles today, but I won the last one… and I can't see her not taking revenge for it.' He pushes aside those thoughts for the moment and checked again his phone. 'Soon it will be morning, better to get going now before Pearl mobilizes all Little Homeworld in a rescue operation.' Though he very much doubted that they will think on searching this random planet, not even Lapis would expect him to be here, and he preferred it that way.
He gave one last look at it before teleporting home, he was truly glad to have come here.