Crazy trouble with love part 9
Malachite and Steven part 2
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Malachite yawned as she lazily opened her eyes, slightly annoyed by the sun shining on them from her spot outside Steven's house on the beach. She grumbled and tried turning on her side with her back to it, closing her eyes to get back to sleep.
As she tried to go back to sleep, she didn't see the teenager running towards her, pizza boxes in hand.
'Ten more minutes, maybe twenty is all I'm asking…' She thought before she began to feel someone poke her.
"Um, excuse me, miss? Can you move, I need to drop off Steven's pizza and you're blocking the door."
The fusion's eyes snapped open with her letting out a growl, rising up and overshadowing the teen who gulped as Malachite looked down at them with a snarl. "What was that?"
"I uh, I needed you to move, you were blocking the stairs to Steven's door, and I couldn't get him his food." Kiki said with a gulp.
"Oh, alright." The fusion yawned and rubbed her eyes while moving over to the house and tried tapping on the door with her finger. "Steven. Pizzas here."
"Yay! Pizza!" He cheered as he opened his door and rushed down to Kiki. "Thanks Kiki."
"No problem Steven." Replied the girl as Steven handed her the money and handed over the boxes. "Enjoy."
"Thanks!" He beamed as Kiki ran off while Malachite leaned her head down and picked up the scent of fresh pizza. "Mmmm, smells great! Hey, Malachite, do you want some?"
"I'm always hungry for pizza." she grinned as Steven pulled out a slice and tossed it up before watching her snatch it up easily with a hum. "Mmmm, still nice and hot."
"So, what do you wanna do today?" he asked, sitting down and grabbing his own slice.
"Wanna play Tsunami again?"
"Mmmm, nah, last time Pearl made me take three showers after all the sand got stuck in my hair and clothes." He said with a groan before getting an idea. "Hey, Kiki saw you when she dropped off the pizza, right?"
"Well obviously."
"Then that means the town knows about you, you don't have to hide here anymore." he said with a smile.
Malachite paused as the gears in her head began to turn. She slowly began to give a wide grin with a glint. "You know what this means?"
"Yep." He said with a smile. "We can go to the arc-"
"We can go on a date!" She cheered, throwing her arms up in the air and let out an excited yell which shook the ground a little while Steven went wide eyed momentarily and coughed, rubbing his chest and looking a little pink around the cheeks.
"A-A date? Do yo-oof!" He cried as a large blue hand shot down, grabbing him. He found himself pulled up and rubbed against her chin.
"Oh it's about time! I was getting tired of waiting for the day to come, but it's finally here!" She exclaimed happily. "Oh I knew you'd be the one to ask first!"
"Y-Yeah…" He muttered out while going more red and found himself set down with Malachite looking giddy. "Uh, before we work out details, we better finish the pizza before it goes cold."
"Oh! Right, once it's gone we can plan our date!" She said as she looked at the pizza before getting an idea. 'If I eat it all in one bite then we can have the date right now!'
"Bingo." He gave a thumbs up and moved to grab another slice, only to find a tongue lash out and grab the box and yank it up, with him still holding it. "WAH!" and found himself in Malachite's mouth, again.
"Mmmm~" she let out, eyes closed before feeling something wriggly, saw Steven gone, and paled as she stuck her tongue out to show Steven soaked in saliva. She picked him off and looked guilty. "Sorry Steven, I guess I wasn't watching where my tongue went, again."
"Yeah…. We really need to work on that…" he groaned as he sat up. "I didn't even get any pizza."
"If you want I could get some back." She offered before opening her mouth and went to stick her hand down it.
"No! No, no, it's fine, I'll just get some on our date." He sighed, his cheeks turning red again. "But uh, let's hold off. I need to get another shower."
"Really? Can't I just dunk you in the ocean quick?" She groaned with a pout.
"Don't worry, I'll be out in no time." He promised as he headed back into the house. "I promise, just wait here, ok?"
"Ugh, oh fine." She groaned before laying down on her stomach with her arms crossed. 'Stupid tiny door and tiny fragile structure, if it was bigger I could follow him.'
Steven headed back inside and saw Amethyst laughing while Pearl looked furious and Garnet was on the side sipping coffee.
"Amethyst take that back!"
"Nuh huh."
"I mean it, take back what you said!"
"Naaaah, this is too hilarious." smirked Amethyst before jumping when Pearl made a grab at her and she took off running.
"Get back here!"
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Steven asked as he made his way to his room to get a fresh change of clothes for after his shower.
"Yo Steven! Pearl was-"
"Quiet!"
"Make me!"
Steven saw the two gems start wrestling with Pearl trying to smile innocently.
"Steven, Amethyst here is...suffering from sleep deprivation. She's babbling all over the place, I'll just take her to her room so she can rest and start talking NORMAL." Pearl said as the purple gem struggled to get free.
"Lia-mph!"
"Ah, ok…. Garnet, what's going on?" He asked as Pearl's pale face somehow got paler.
"Pearl was looking at a magazine with wedding stuff and-"
"Garnet no!"
"-she was wondering what looked good if you and Malachite ever wanted one. Then Amethyst started teasing her about how you wouldn't have her get involved because she's...Pearl."
"Garnet!" Pearl groaned, her face heating up to a new shade of blue. "You didn't have to tell him that…"
"If I didn't, Amethyst would have let it slip." She said calmly. "Steven, you should hurry with your shower, all signs point to Malachite trying something foolish if you take too long."
"Already ahead of you." He replied as he got fresh new clothes and went to the bathroom. "I'll be out shortly."
"Ok." Pearl called before he closed the door. She waited a moment before turning to Garnet. "So, what do Steven and Malachite have planned today?"
"Ah ah, can't say." She smirked, wagging a finger. "That's for the future to tell."
"In other words, she doesn't want you to stalk them." Snickered Amethyst.
"I would not stalk them!" She guffawed, offended.
"Remember the time she took him out to sea? You were trying to get Lion to follow them."
"That was….purely to show Lion some of the creatures of the sea he should NOT eat. With him who knows what he might try and eat if he got too hungry."
"What about the time she took him to the Beta kindergarten to show him Jasper's hole?" Amethyst piped up.
"I was going to collect some rock samples to study any long term effects they might have."
"What about when they went to talk to Peridot and she roped them into going with her to a junkyard to cart away some large garbage she wanted for her inventions? You willingly followed them to a place full of filth and ended up falling into some, remember?"
Pearl grimaced and shuddered before shaking her head. "That was….to….try and find any gems that might have been trapped in some of the piles. For all we know they were trapped and couldn't form a body, therefore if I happened upon one I could bubble them before they ran wild."
"Then you wouldn't mind accompanying Amethyst to the landfill, she heard something about a hidden stash of bad video games buried there. Plus your theory might be right, so you won't mind digging through some more garbage, right?" Garnet asked with a small smile.
"Yeah Pearly, unless of course you DO got a problem with all that messy, smelly, mushy gunk." Smirked Amethyst with Pearl slowly turning green.
"No…..no….I…. uh…." She stammered, trying to find some way out.
CRASH
"Oh, look at that, a distraction! It came from the front...door?" Pearl said as she quickly turned, only to see Malachite with her fingers through the now destroyed doorway.
"Whoops." She pulled them out. "Sorry!"
"Sup Malachite, waiting for Steven to get all clean?" Asked Amethyst.
"Yeah, I was just trying to see if I could fit in, I'm sick of not being able to come in." She groaned.
"Why don't you just shapechange then?"
"Shape-what?" She asked as she tilted her head in confusion.
"Wait… do you not know how?" Garnet asked in surprise. 'Huh, that actually makes some sense, on Homeworld we are taught to stick to our stations, there aren't many instances where shapeshifting is approved.'
"Is it like the time I got my shades?"
"Nah, it's way different. Like this." Amethyst glowed before turning into a tabby cat. "Try it."
"Wait, what?!" She gaped as she stared at Amethyst. "How?!"
"Malachite, we're gems, our physical bodies are made of light, meaning we can change our size and shape at will, but there is a limit." Garnet warned. "You need to have strong focus and mental control to keep it together. If you don't, it can greatly backfire."
"Yeah, plus the longer you hold a shape the harder it is." Amethyst said as she changed back. "Plus the larger your regular size is the harder it is to stay small, right Garnet?"
"That's right."
"But I can get small, right?"
"You'd need lots and lots of practice."
Malachite groaned and crossed her arms. "I don't have time to practice."
"Well you can't just get the hang of it right away."
"But I need to if I want to get smaller now!"
"You need time to get it down, it's not that easy." Garnet said calmly. "You'll get the hang of it in time."
"But I do-" She started when the bathroom door opened.
"Alright, I'm done Malachite, we can g- what happened to the door?!"
"Pearl did it!" She said quickly as said gem squawked in indignation.
"Yup, sure was." nodded Amethyst.
"Yes." Garnet said with a nod as Pearl looked around in shock.
"That's completely untrue!"
"Pearl, you said it's bad to lie. Can you fix the door while me and Malachite are gone?"
"But I….they….she!" She sputtered as Steven walked out of the house and towards the smiling fusion.
"You ready to go Steven?" She asked as she rubbed her hands together eagerly.
"You betcha." He said before seeing her start to shoot her hand out towards him. "Whoa, I can just walk next to you!"
"But I can carry you easy." She pouted. "Why wouldn't you want me to carry you?"
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I wanna keep using my legs without making you carry me all the time." He said as she frowned before sighing.
"Fine…"
"We'll be back later guys." He called as the gems waved goodbye with Pearl still trying to argue her innocence.
"But I'm innocent! INNOCENT!"
"I know Pearl, but I had to find a reason to keep you here."
She gave an unamused look while Amethyst yawned.
"Alright, I'm gonna head to the dump, see ya later."
"Well, you have two options Pearl, fix the door or go to the dump."
Pearl sighed and walked over to the kitchen. "Let me get the screwdriver."
Meanwhile with Steven and Malachite they were heading down the beach towards town.
"So, what are we going to do on our date Steven?"
"I figured we could start off with a couple of donuts to get us rearing to go, then stop on by the carnival for some games, and then wrap the day up with a nice swim. How's that sound?"
"Sounds great!" She said as she looked over at the donut store. "Great, they even have one my size!"
"Uh, actually that's meant for decoration." Steven said only for her to rush forward. "Wait, no, Malachite, stop!"
"I wonder if it tastes just as good as pizza." She mused as she licked her lips before grabbing the oversized 'donut' and bit into it. Her eyes widened as she ripped some of it off before she chewed a little, then promptly spat the stuff to the side and stuck her tongue out. "Bleck! This tastes terrible!"
"That's because it's fake Malachite!" He cried as Lars and Sadie ran out of the store.
"Steven! What's going on?" asked Lars with a frown.
"Sorry, we're just having a bit of a misunderstanding!"
"She DOES know we sell real donuts inside right? I mean we have plenty that were just made." Sadie remarked while Malachite wiped at her mouth.
"Gimme, gimme! I need to get that bad donut taste out of my mouth." She said as she let go of it, watching as it creaked before topping over.
Lars groaned while Steven gave a bashful smile.
"Sorry."
"Now I remember why I was thinking of getting a new job."
"C'mon, let's just get them some donuts." Sadie said as she shook her head. 'Good thing this place has gem insurance.'
Steven went inside and bought a couple dozen donuts in boxes and headed outside with Malachite sitting down.
"Donuts, donuts, donuts, donuts!" She chanted eagerly.
"You remind me of when I was little." He chuckled while grabbing one of the boxes and opened it. "I used to go nuts on these."
Malachite carefully took one before popping in her mouth.
"So? What do you think?"
"It tastes more….what's the word? It doesn't taste like pizza, but something else." She said with a hum. "It's pretty small too."
"That's why I got a few dozen to make up for it." He said as he pushed her several more boxes. "Dig right in."
"Don't mind if I do~" She grabbed them all with one hand and popped them in her mouth, munching on them all with ease before gulping them down. "Mmmm, not bad but I think I prefer pizza."
"Well it never hurts to try other stuff, otherwise you won't know what you're missing out." He said with a shrug as she stared at him.
'He's right… if I don't try something it'll never happen, so I should try shrinking down.' She thought before she closed her eyes and envisioned herself being smaller. 'Think small, think small! Tiny, puny… Amethyst!'
Steven munched on his own donut with a hum of satisfaction. "So, you wanna head to the boardwalk now Malachite?" he asked as he looked up only to see her eyes closed as she looked like she was concentrating. "Malachite?"
'Small, tiny, puny.' She thought as she kept focusing, not noticing her form beginning to glow.
"Malachite?" He asked worryingly as she began to suddenly shrink. "Malachite?! Are you unfusing?!"
'Just think small thoughts!'She thought as she got smaller and smaller. 'Just a small version of myself, this should be easy, right?!'
"Malachite!" Steven called as the gem kept shrinking and shrinking until she suddenly stopped. "Malachite? Are you ok?"
She slowly opened her eyes and noticed she was just a little bit taller than Garnet, and the fact the ground was closer than usual. "It...It worked!"
"Malachite, how did y-oof!" He cried as he was pulled into a hug by the ecstatic fusion.
"I did it! I did it I did it I did it!" She laughed happily as she hugged him tightly. "I shrunk down! YES!"
"That's great." he let out in a groan from the squeeze she was putting on him. "I didn't know you could shapeshift, this is great! This will definitely make the day a lot easier."
"Hahahaha! Let's go wild!" She laughed as she let him free of her hug. "So, what's first?"
"To the boardwalk!" he cheered with his fists pumped.
"Alright!" She said with a grin. 'This is going to be great!'
(Later)
'This is so boring!' She thought with a bored expression as she watched Steven roll a ball up to several holes with it landing on one as several tickets came from the game. 'I've fought in intense battles for weeks on end, I've flown through the air, so how can tossing these balls into holes be fun?'
"We sure are bringing in a lot of tickets. You want a turn now?" Steven asked as he turned to her with a grin.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, whatever." She said as she took one of the balls. 'Ok, this can't be that hard.' She thought as she hefted her arm back before launching the ball into one of the holes…. And through the back of the machine. "Like that?"
"N-Not quite…" Steven said as his face paled. 'Oh man, Mr. Smiley isn't going to like this.'
"Oh, should I have tossed it like you?"
"Yeah, maybe a little softer." He said as he looked at the broken machine.
"Huh? Why would I throw it softer?"
"Well, you weren't supposed to break the machine."
"I thought it was tougher than that." She huffed.
"Um, maybe we should go somewhere else before Mr. Sm-"
"Steven! What did you do to my skee-ball machine?!"
"Uh-oh, we gotta go, now!"
"Why?" She asked before he took her hand and began to lead her out of the arcade.
"Just trust me!"
"Aw man! This is what I get for not getting insurance!" groaned Mr. Smiley.
"So, what next Steven?" Malachite asked as they left the arcade. 'Hopefully something more exciting.'
"Um, uh…. Uh…." Steven said as he spotted Mr. Smiley coming out of the arcade after them. "How about a swim in the ocean?"
"Now you're talking." She said with a grin as she took him in her arms and began to dash towards the edge of the boardwalk. "Cannonball!"
"WHOOO!" Steven called as they splashed into the ocean. "Alright!"
"Steven, get back here, someone has to pay for my machine!" Yelled Mr. Smiley shaking his fist in the air.
"Sorry, can't hear you!" He called before leaning over to Malachite. "Can you make me an air bubble and dive us down really deep?"
"Ha, you make it sound like it's hard." She chuckled as she made the water form around him in a dome before she grabbed him and dived down. She swam down while manipulating the dome to follow while Steven sat down and sighed in relief.
"That's better. So, do you want to have some fun down here?" He asked as she smiled.
"Oh yeah? You think you're up for it? I mean, I AM in my element here." She said with a grin. "How about a game of tag? Or maybe hide and seek, or maybe-" She started to list off before her eyes lit up as she got an idea. "Hey Steven, you remember that story you told me, about how you and that girl got stuck in your bubble down here, and how you could breathe in it?"
"You mean Connie?"
"Yeah, her." She said with a small frown before shaking her head. "That's not important, what is important is if you can make that bubble again."
"Well, maybe, but I'd need to really focus."
"You can do it, I believe in you! And if you do manage it I have a few ideas on some games we can play." She grinned with a devious glint in her eyes.
"Ok, sure, just give me a second." Steven said as he closed his eyes and began to focus, missing the look on her face. 'I wonder what games she's talking about.' He thought as he kept focusing before the bubble lit up around him. "There we go, now what's the g-waaaaah!" He cried as Malachite smacked the bubble sending it rolling away.
"Catch!" She laughed. "Or is it tage? The idea is you try to get away from me~"
"It's tag!" he called out as he went spinning around the bubble. "Catch me if you can!"
"Will do~" she grinned and began swimming after him using all her limbs as he started bouncing against some of the underwater rock formations.
Steven tried to keep control of the bubble as he bounced around, but he began to feel like he was in a hamster ball trying to escape from a tiger in a raging river as the currents carried him along. He got pulled one way and fell on his back, before another current made him roll onto his stomach as the water narrowly kept him from Malachite's reach.
"I'm gonna get you Steven~" She laughed with a feral grin as she made a grab at him, barely missing and destroying a rock outcropping with her swipe.
Steven however braced himself and started running to ride with the currents, leading to him going over her head with a smirk. "Missed me!"
"I won't next time, and once I catch you you're mine!" She laughed with a grin.'This is much better than that stupid human arcade!'
Steven went rolling across the sea floor bottom and began to slow down. "Uh-oh." he said as he tried to speed up, but he was no longer going downhill or getting help from the current. 'I'm a sitting duck!'
"I have you now!" Laughed Malachite who landed on the bottom with a crash, causing his bubble to rise up before it was grabbed by Malachite swimming over and wrapping her arms around it. "I GOT YOU!"
"Hehe, I guess you di-wah!" he cried as she tossed him up before catching him again with a grin. "W-What was that?"
"Now that I caught you we can have some fun!" She chuckled with a grin as she began to glow before she tossed him up again.
"Uh, Malachite?" Steven asked as he looked down to see her growing back to her normal size as he began to fall back down towards her. "You're back to normal size." He called as she caught him.
"No I'm not I'm… small?' She said as she looked down to see that she was back to normal. "NO! Damn it!"
"Well look on the bright side, you kept it together pretty well for your first time." He said as he tried to comfort her.
"No! I was supposed to stay small for our date, now I'm this big dumb gem that can't be with you, I can't fit in your house, I can barely hug you right like this!" She cried out closing her eyes while holding the bubble in her hands as she sat down. "All I wanted...was to make things fun."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at me Steven. I'm giant compared to you and everyone else. I wanted to try and be small so we could have real fun like a couple around your home and amongst all the other small people. I didn't want to risk the chance at destroying everything, because….I was scared you'd hate me." She admitted while her lips quivered and her voice cracked. "When I'm like this I'm a danger to you, it's hard to be careful around you, heck I almost ate you earlier on accident!"
Steven looked away at the reminder, but looked up and put his hand against his bubble. "Malachite, I could never hate you."
"Steven, I could crush the pier just from walking across it, imagine what would happen if I tripped."
"Well I trust you not to hurt me, I care about you and I know you care about me, you would never hurt me." He smiled as the fusion looked down at him. "It's sweet you wanted to be small for me, but honestly? I don't think it suited you. Sure things started out bumpy, but we managed to make it pretty far. That's why I prefer you to be who you are, and be the size you feel comfy in."
"R-Really?" She asked with a blush. "You… like me like this, all big and dangerous?"
"I like Malachite, and that is part of you, how could I dislike any part of you?"
The fusion stared at him before promptly hugging him against her chest. "Oh Steven!" She cried out in happiness. "You have no idea how much that means to me!"
He smiled, blushing a little since he was so close to her cleavage, but that's when he felt a small rumble through the water, making him turn his head to look in the darkness. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" She asked as she looked around before feeling something watching them. She grew serious and got back on her hand-feet. "We're not alone."
Steven looked around with neither seeing any movement and was getting a creepy vibe from being surrounded by so much darkness. "M-Maybe we should head back up."
"Agreed, let's go, we can have fun on the surface." She said as she began to move towards the shore. But what she didn't see was the large shadow darting out and snatching the bubble, before Steven cried out.
"Malachite!"
She turned and went wide eyed seeing the pink bubble get dragged away into the darkness. "NO! STEVEN! GIVE HIM BACK!" She roared as she raised her arms and moved forward, several chains of condensed water lashing out to where Steven disappeared. She felt them grab something and started pulling them. "Give me him back!"
"Malachite!" Steven called from the darkness as she kept pulling.
"Don't worry Steven!" She called out while using her legs to swim towards the shore, feeling the thing trying to thrash out of the chains. "I'll get you back in no time!" She called as she felt herself nearing the surface. "I'll drag that monster onto the shore and kill it myself!"
The light began to make it easier to see what it was as she got out of the water and kept pulling, seeing it was a large blue fish creature with sharp teeth, with Steven's bubble between them and trying to swim out of the chains around its body.
"NO! Spit him out, spit him out!" She roared as she rushed forward and tackled the fish.
It thrashed harder as Malachite grabbed at it's jaws and tried opening them.
"I'll rip your head off if that's what it takes!"
"Malachite be careful! It's not a normal fish!"
"No shit, it tried to eat you!" She cried as she punched it in the face, making it lose its grip on Steven's bubble, causing him to fall to the ground safely.
"Not that, I mean it's a gem." He spoke while pointing at the side, showing a teardrop shaped gem.
"I don't care if it's an alien, it tried to eat you, so I won't hold back." She lifted a hand, causing water to propel it into the air before bringing out Jasper's helmet, and brought it down against the fish right into the shore, kicking up a huge dust cloud. There was a large poofing sound as the dust cleared to show the gem lying on the sand. "There… it's done."
"Great, I'll bubble it." Steven said as he made the bubble around him pop.
"Why? This thing tried to eat you, make a meal out of you. I say we smash it." Spoke Malachite making a fist.
"Nooo! We can't!" he cried out as he rushed over to the gem. "We don't do that here!"
"But Steven-"
"No. It might have been a wild animal, but it's still a gem. It's like all the others we bubble, it just needs some time to rest for a while until we find a way to fix them all."
"...Fine, but I'm only letting you do it because I love you." She huffed.
Steven blushed with a smile before bubbling the gem and sent it away. "Thank you."
"It's fine, but it'll cost you." She said as she gave him a feral grin.
"Cost me what?"
"Cuddle time~" She said as she launched her hands down to grab him.
Steven braced himself as he was grabbed and picked up near the fusion who rubbed her cheek against his own. "Ok, ok, we can cuddle." He said with a small smile.
"Good, because I'd say that's the perfect way to end this date." She said with a smile before moving him. "Now give me a kiss~"
"I thought people didn't kiss on the first date." He blushed with a nervous chuckle.
"Well I'm not people, I'm Malachite~" She laughed before moving her lips closer as Steven tried to stick his own out, before finding his face covered by her own.
CHU~
'Does this even count as me kissing her?' He wondered, unable to speak up while Malachite felt bliss right now.
'This is heaven, I never want this to end~' She thought, both of them unaware they now had an audience.
"Oh...my….word." Muttered Pearl covering her mouth.
"Whooo, nice going Steven." Amethyst laughed.
"Saw this coming a month away." Garnet said as she adjusted her shades. "This was always going to happen."
"And you didn't tell us?"
"What would you have done Pearl?"
"Probably tried giving him a hundred tips on what to do, or tag along on their date." Chuckled Amethyst.
"Only to keep him safe!"
"He needed to do this on his own."
"But he's still so young to be dating."
"So how many dates have you been on again?"
"W-Well, uhhhh…."
"I thought so, if anything Steven should be giving you advice."
"Hey, I should go and give Malachite advice for another date. Maybe give her an idea to try out a bikini, Steven would REALLY like that." Grinned Amethyst.
"Don't give her ideas!" Pearl squealed as Garnet just chuckled.
'She'll lose her mind when they fuse in the future.'