It had been a few days since the gems had discovered Twoie's condition. And they had been insufferable. Twoie couldn't even breathe without Pearl or Garnet asking him if he felt fine or had something to say. His only reprieve had been Steven. His younger brother was doing his best to treat Twoie normally. Homeschooling had taken a backseat during all of their recent gem missions, but now that Twoie was stuck at home, he had thrown himself into forming lesson plans. School was back in session for Steven, who was honestly happy with the semblance of normalcy it brought.
Their dad had started visiting more often once he found out about what happened the next morning. He stopped by every evening and usually stayed for a couple of hours before sleeping in the van. It was still fairly awkward between Twoie and his father, but it was remedied slightly by the fact that the gems were always around.
However, there was one person who was starting to worry him the most. Most days, Twoie saw neither hide nor hair of Amethyst. The few times he did see her were met with terse greetings before she disappeared via the warp pad. He had wracked his brain for reasons for her behavior and couldn't figure it out. They hadn't fought Jasper yet, Pearl and Amethyst already talked things out, and so had Peridot and Amethyst. What was he missing? It was stressing him out that she was withdrawing, and Twoie couldn't figure out why. Twoie rubbed his eyes as he laid back against the couch.
"Are you alright, Twoie?" Pearl chimed from the kitchen. The prim gem had set out to make dinner for the night. She had been reading about lots of different medicinal dishes and was trying out some kind of curry. Throughout her task, she periodically checked on him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just… do you think Amethyst has been acting weird?" Twoie hoped he wasn't the only one who noticed. It'd be easier to talk to her if one of the other gems knew why she was leaving or what she was doing.
Pearl hummed in though at his question. "I don't think so? She has been gone a little more often, but that's not entirely unusual for her. And we don't have any important gem missions right now, so I don't mind her going off to train in her free time." Twoie's eyes widened, and he sat up straight. She was training?
"Whoa, hold on. Every time Amethyst leaves, it's to go train? But she's gone all of the time?" He knew she sometimes left before he woke up, and often was still gone when he went to bed. Twoie had been doing his best to follow the house rules Priyanka had given them, but now he wished he didn't follow them as strictly. Constant danger had made him a light sleeper, and he never woke up during the night to the sound of the warp pad, so how often did she stay out?
Pearl stirred the curry on the stove. "No need to worry about it. I'm sure she's not training all of the time. Amethyst always does things on her own, and stressing about her isn't good for your health. Go rest in bed, and I'll bring this to you when it's ready." Twoie sighed and walked back over to his bed. He knew that something was up with Amethyst. But he wasn't going to be able to find out with Pearl watching him. He'd just have to wait for the right moment to ask her in private.
A couple of days later, Twoie still hadn't found a moment to talk to Amethyst alone. He was hoping that the weekend would mean Amethyst would relax a bit, but he hadn't seen her at all. Since Amethyst was busy, Pearl and Garnet had taken to watching over him. They switched out with each other daily, which meant today was Pearl's turn to supervise. Instead of trying to deal with getting permission to leave the house, Twoie decided to just waste the day away in front of the tv. He only noticed it was night time when he started nodding off. Worry crossed his mind for a second when he realized that Steven was still out, but figured he was probably spending the night in the van.
Twoie had just turned the TV off so he could go to bed when Steven and their dad ran into the house. "Twoie! Is this what you were talking about last year?" His dad called out to him while waving a slip of paper in the air. Twoie raised a brow in confusion as they ran up the stairs, and Greg showed it to him. It was a check for ten million dollars.
"Oh, was that today?" Twoie blinked when Steven got in his face.
"So, Dad's song really did become famous?!" The kid grinned with starry eyes. Twoie winced as Steven practically shouted in his ear. Noticing his eldest's discomfort, their dad grabbed Steven around the waist and pulled him back a bit.
"Woah, Steven. Let's respect Twoie's personal space. Also, we're right here, buddy. No need to shout." Steven apologized and sat where he was, leaning forward slightly.
Twoie chuckled at their excitement. "Yeah, Marty sold your song to a burger chain. Did he tell you the name of it? I forgot what it's called." Greg scoffed.
"That's more than what Marty told me. I guess I'll have to turn on the TV and watch through a couple of commercials until I find the right one. If it really made me this rich, then it's probably still being aired." The time-traveler wracked his brain for the memory of watching the commercial. It was mostly overshadowed by the trip they went on later that day.
"I think we'll see it tomorrow morning on the van's TV." Greg nodded and tucked the check into his wallet.
"That settles it, then. I guess I'll look for the commercial in the morning. Speaking of morning, why don't I let you two get ready for bed?" Their dad ruffled Steven's hair. "You should probably take a bath for being such a hard-working roadie!" His younger brother nodded and ran off. Twoie felt a little awkward now that they were alone. He hadn't really spent time with his dad since the… van incident. "And how have you been, Twoie?" His dad looked at him in concern.
Twoie furrowed his brows a little. "I'm fine. It's just gem stuff, so don't worry about it."
Greg looked at him sadly. "Twoie, do you really think I wouldn't care about your problems because you're going through something gem related? I'm worried about you, son. I don't understand why you have these horns and spikes, but I can tell it's bothering you." His dad put a hand on his shoulder. Twoie sighed and flopped back on the bed. He murmured quietly since he didn't want Pearl to hear him. The gem was currently sitting at the kitchen counter, reading through a stack of books on human physiology and diseases.
"I don't know why, either. I keep telling the gems that, but they just think I'm hiding something from them. I'm so sick of it." Twoie felt himself sink into the bed a little. Greg looked around. The gems had told him of their plan to monitor Twoie, and he had told them it wasn't a good idea. But he went with it since he didn't know much about gems. Now, he wished he had questioned it a little more.
Greg matched his son's volume. "Have you told them that?" If Twoie needed help convincing the gems to step back, he'd be happy to help. Although Greg wasn't against monitoring Twoie, he could tell the gems' extreme methods were stressing him out.
"No, I haven't. I've told them about things that bothered me in the past, and they usually ignore it anyway, so I figured 'why would this time be any different?'" Twoie sighed and closed his eyes, resigned to his punishment. Greg, however, was becoming increasingly worried about his oldest son.
He whisper-yelled, "Twoie, that's not okay! If the gems are ignoring your concerns, then you need to make them listen, or you need to tell me, and I'll handle it."
The young man huffed. He opened his eyes to scowl at his dad. "It's fine, dad. I don't want you to talk to the gems about it. I'll just deal with it like I always do." Greg frowned. It didn't look like Twoie was going to change his mind tonight, and Greg didn't want to push him. Maybe he should start staying around the house a little more often so he could support his son better. With his newfound wealth, he could afford to reduce his hours at the car wash.
"Alright, Twoie. Just think about it. Your feelings matter, so if you're not happy with their decision, you have to say something. I'm gonna spend the night here, so maybe the gems will let up a little on the supervision." Twoie just stared at the ceiling. His dad sighed and patted his son's shoulder. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?"
The half-gem looked at his dad. He knew he could, but the truth was he didn't want to. He still felt betrayed by his dad, and he knew his father wouldn't understand anyway. His problems were all gem-related. "Yeah. I know." His dad wished him a good night and then went to fashion the couch into a temporary bed. A couple of minutes later, Steven had returned and started chatting with him about his day with their dad and Sour Cream, but Twoie was only half-listening. Your feelings matter. That phrase bothered him. He knew that was true, but his feelings were always minor compared to the situation. Who cared if he was upset when Garnet's thousands of years old relationship was at stake? Or when he had to work on reforming the Diamond Authority? Or when he needed to help Volleyball because his mom had traumatically cracked her in the past? In fact, his emotions made that last one even worse. But even as he and Steven went to bed, Twoie found himself contemplating it throughout the night. Your feelings matter.