If you asked Twoie if he could wake up at 5 am in the morning without waking the sleeping kid upstairs, the answer would be yes. Barely.
It was hard enough trying to figure out a way to program the alarm function on his phone so that it wouldn't make noise. It was even harder to sneak up the stairs and steal Steven's cheeseburger backpack. Luckily, he had managed to perform both tasks.
There was a reason he was up so much earlier than usual. Today was the big day! The field trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History! The young man quietly placed the cheeseburger backpack on the counter. It was easy to pack up Steven's notebooks and pens since the kid left them on his desk after classes were over. Now, the next step was to make them a sack lunch.
Twoie prided himself on his homemade lunch for the two of them. He'd made them sandwiches, packed some Chaaps, juice, water, and an apple. Let it be known he would not have Steven eating a bunch of junk food on this trip. Both lunches were in paper bags that Twoie had labeled with their names and a drawing. A smiling sun for Steven and a simple star wearing glasses for Twoie. Each lunch was tucked into their respective bags.
Everything had been packed up and set by the door at 6 am. Now it was time for the easiest part. Twoie quietly jumped off the porch. It was time to go get the van.
Steven had a feeling that today was going to be different. The first thing he noticed was that he woke up earlier than usual. Cookie cat's LED eyes glowed 6:32 am. The next was how quiet the room had become. Twoie normally preferred sleeping in the temple, since they didn't have enough beds, but lately, he'd been sleeping on the couch. The blanket and pillow he usually used were folded neatly on the couch. "Hmmm. Something is very different today…"
Steven crept out of bed. Silence permeated the house. "Maybe he decided to sleep in the temple after all?" The pink gem glowed on the temple door, opening up into Rose's room. He frowned at the empty room. "Twoie?" He called out. No answer. He stepped back into the living room. There was no note on the table or in the kitchen. He checked his phone. No messages.
There was no way Twoie had gone back to the future. The gems had placed the task of finding the adhesive on pause in light of Peridot's whereabouts being unknown. So where was Twoie? Steven decided he didn't like how dark and empty the house felt in Twoie's absence. It made him feel cold. Lonely.
"M-maybe he's outside?" It wasn't until he grabbed the door handle that Steven finally noticed the two bags by the door. "Huh? What's my cheeseburger backpack and Twoie's briefcase doing by the door?" He opened up his backpack and saw the lunch bag.
"Aww! That's so cute! I guess we're going somewhere today?" He put the lunch away and stepped outside. When he peeked over the porch's rails, he saw the van driving towards him. "Dad's here? This morning is so strange!" Steven ran down the stairs to wait for the van. His eyes went starry when he realized who was driving.
Twoie pulled up about a couple of feet from where Steven was waiting. "Morning, Sunshine! I didn't expect you to wake up until seven! I guess the surprise is slightly blown."
Steven couldn't stop staring at him in awe. "You're driving the van!" He breathlessly whispered.
Twoie graced the response with an undignified snort. "Better get used to it because I'm taking us on a field trip today! You saw your bag by the door, right?" He started walking up the stairs. A second later, Steven was following along.
"Yeah, I did! Where are we going? What are we doing? Are we spending the night?" The bombardment of questions stopped when Twoie held the door open for him. "Grab your bag, Steven. It's a surprise!"
"This. Is. Amazing!"
The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History loomed before them. Twoie guided Steven through the doors, where they got their tickets for the Butterfly Pavilion and their maps of the museum. "Okay, our tickets for the Pavilion are after lunch, so why don't we look at some exhibits? Are there any you want to see first?"
Steven scanned the map with a slight hum. "Oh! Let's go look at the giant elephant!" He grabbed Twoie's hand and dragged him in the direction of the exhibit.
The day passed quickly. Whenever the two ended up in an exhibit that featured something from their lessons, Twoie would quiz Steven on the topic. For the most part, Twoie let Steven ramble happily about every display or info board that caught his fancy. Steven had also taken multiple pictures of them and the displays, which he was constantly sending to Connie, his dad, and the Gems.
The kid's energy was so contagious that even Twoie kind of felt like a kid again. He had never visited the museum before. It was just as much his first time at the museum as it was Steven's. Twoie had taken a couple of selfies at the exhibits, but most of his pictures were of the younger boy. He'd managed a great shot of Steven holding a tarantula at the Insect Zoo. Another fun one was of him trying not to move as several butterflies were resting on his arms, shoulders, and hair.
Funnily enough, Twoie had been stopped on multiple occasions by employees and friendly parents in regards to Steven. Every time was filled with compliments on him taking such great care of his younger brother and admiration when they found out he was homeschooling him. The experience left him reeling in embarrassment and joy.
Sadly, the day had to come to an end. After the museum closed, they tried a cute little restaurant by the docks and headed home. Twoie took a sip from a cup of coffee he got sometime after they'd left Washington DC. It wasn't his beverage of choice, but it was past 10pm, and they had only just arrived in Beach City. He needed the extra caffeine. The radio was playing music softly while he drove. Steven had tried his best to keep a conversation going, the kid couldn't stop gushing about everything they saw, but he'd fallen asleep halfway through their drive. It gave Twoie a moment to just appreciate his new life.
He finally felt like he was doing something right for the first time in a long time. Maybe he hadn't been able to fix some of the past events, like Pearl's and Garnet's fight, but he was making a difference to his younger self just by being there for Steven. It felt… really good to be needed. He sighed. One day though, the gems will fix the hourglass, and he could go home… Back to where he wasn't needed anymore…
'Do I even want to go back?' Twoie bit his lip as the thought flickered in his mind. At least here he was helping. It was like he found his purpose again. Twoie scolded himself in his mind. 'No, don't even joke about it, Steven. One day the gems will fix the hourglass. Then, you will go home.'
He turned off the city road onto the beach. Until that day came, he would make the most of his time here. This whole situation was funny. All his life, he'd never thought about what'd it be like to have a younger sibling, but Steven fit that role quite nicely. 'I think I like having a younger brother.' The temple lights were still on.
"Steven? Steven, wake up. We're home." He parked the car. The younger boy groaned, blearily rubbing his eyes. "We're home?" Steven unbuckled his seatbelt and tiredly stepped out of the van. Twoie was already carrying their bags. "Come on, Sunshine. Once we get into the house, you can go back to sleep." Steven slumped against Twoie, eyes already closed.
"Carry me?" He mumbled. Twoie rolled his eyes as he hefted both bags to one arm. "Fine." He knelt down and pulled Steven into a one-armed princess carry. Instead of climbing up all the stairs, he decided it'd be easier to just float up to the porch. Greg held the door open for them.
"I thought I heard the van pull up. How'd it go? I guess Schtu-ball was really tuckered out, huh." Twoie plopped their bags down by the door and shifted Steven, so he was propped against his hip, and his chin was resting on his shoulder.
"The trip was great! I knew we wouldn't be able to see every exhibit since the museum is huge, but I just let him pick whatever he wanted to do. Thanks for letting me borrow the van, Dad." Greg watched as Twoie gently laid his son down on the couch. He promptly walked upstairs, searched through a drawer for some PJs, and floated back down.
"Alright, Sunshine. I let you sleep this long, but now you have to get up. You gotta get ready for bed." He pulled Steven into a sitting position. The kid let out a soft noise of protest but stayed sitting up, though his eyes were still closed. Twoie chuckled. "Okay! I guess we'll do this the hard way." He ruffled Steven's hair with both hands until the kid swatted them away.
"I'm awake! Yawn. I'm awake." The kid sleepily took the pajamas from Twoie's hands before disappearing into the bathroom. Twoie shook his head in amusement and headed down to the kitchen. Greg settled down on the couch beside his pillow and blanket.
"You know, you handle Steven like he's your little brother." Twoie's face flushed red, stammering unintelligibly with his hands up. "It's really cute, Twoie. Steven never had the chance to have siblings because of… you know." The young man just stared at him. "I think you're a great older brother for him. I know I'm not always around, and neither are the gems. I've always worried about him feeling lonely, but that has changed since you arrived. He seems happier than ever."
Greg smiled fondly at his oldest son. Twoie had a contemplative look on his face as he pulled a glass from a cupboard and filled it with cold water. Steven walked out of the bathroom, eyes half-closed, with his phone in one hand, and dirty clothes under his arm. "Sunshine. Water." Twoie called out.
Steven diverted from his path to grab the glass from Twoie's hand. "Tha-yawn you." Greg couldn't help laughing as Steven made his way to his bed. "Ha! That's-haha exactly what I'm, snort, talking about!"
Twoie pretended to glare at him, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Please, you're not the only one who told me that today. I still can't believe how many times I was stopped today at the museum by people complimenting me on how cute we were." He leaned against the counter, looking at the upstairs bedroom. "It's been… really nice, honestly. I like having a little brother." Steven had already fallen asleep, blanket clutched around him. Twoie tsked and pushed himself off the counter. Greg watched in amusement as Twoie went back upstairs.
"Figures he'd forget to plug his phone in the charger." The phone vibrated right as he picked it up.
Connie: That's really sweet! I'm glad you had a fun trip with your brother! Tell me…
Twoie blinked happy tears out of his eyes. 'I guess Steven feels the same way I do.' He plugged the phone in. He smiled at his little brother before heading back downstairs. With a wave goodnight to his dad, Twoie went to bed in the temple.