Amethyst watched from her hiding place behind the couch as Steven tip-toed down the stairs, fully dressed. She glanced at the microwave clock again, and fought an eyeroll as it flickered to 3:02. He had a therapy appointment at nine tomorrow morning, was he serious?
Moonlight glinted off the zipper of his jacket, and his fingers tightened around the straps of his flip-flops as he carefully, slowly, turned the door knob. He only opened the door halfway, because after that point it would start creaking. By now, he could instinctively pinpoint down to the centimeter how wide he could safely open it.
Amethyst would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed by all the effort he was putting into this. He knew every squeaky porch step, every shadow he could hide in. She watched him slip outside, quietly slinking out of view as quietly as a mouse. She was almost proud.
She sighed, turning her gaze from the huge glass windows and grabbing the remote, falling back into her nightly routine of watching TV until five am. Blinking light filled the living room, and she shifted through the channels rapidly, unable to pay attention to any of them. There was a nagging feeling of dread that kept pulling her back into reality, preventing her from really escaping from her thoughts.
...She trusted Steven, but somewhere along the line, years ago, he'd become a horrible risk taker. Not like she was much better, but he was her Little Bro, and seeing him pull stunts like this was unnerving. If he got caught… she didn't want to think about it. It was both of their names on the line, here.
Couldn't he see that?
Amethyst dropped the remote on the coffee table with a sigh, dramatically flopping onto her back and covering her eyes. Maybe laying here angrily with the Crying Breakfast Friends theme song playing in the background would help.
Maybe not.
Steven crept down the porch stairs silently, but was spotted before he'd even made it four steps down.
Waxer and Fives' eyes lit up at the sight of him, and he quickly pressed a finger to his lips. He knew them well enough to know how poor their volume control was when they were excited. It seemed no matter how many times this played out, it was always novel and exciting to them.
Waxer swept him up in a hug, and Fives was quick to join in. He hugged them back, fighting off a smile.
"Going to the woods again?" Waxer whispered, and Steven nodded.
"Can you bring us back more crawling knights?" Fives asked.
"Night crawlers." Steven corrected. "Yeah, I'll look."
They squealed with joy, and Steven was quick to shush them. He loved them with all his heart, but they were horrible prison guards, and if they were caught letting him slip by, he wasn't sure the Gems would let him see them so often. They were on borrowed time as is.
He savored the hug for a few more moments, before they begrudgingly let him go, waving goodbye as he resumed his journey.
Once he was on the sand again, he donned his flip-flops and began his trek across the beach, using the light of the full moon to keep his bearings. It had reached its zenith in the sky, and underneath it, the sand could've been mistaken for snow. The salty air and the gentle pawing of the waves at the shore were the only giveaways.
An ocean breeze rolled over the beach, and Steven pulled his jacket tighter, shivering. The sand was cold and smooth, and while he was glad it muted his footsteps, he was looking forward to getting under the trees and away from the chill. He'd been based inland for such a long time that he'd forgotten how cold the coast could be.
Eventually, he made it into the coarse, thick grass of the hills, and the smell of the sea was gradually traded for the sweet, rugged scent of long-lived pine. He walked quickly under the dark canopy, dead-set on reaching his destination in a timely manner. The sun would be up in only a few hours, and he didn't exactly have the luxury of superspeed.
The shade broke up ahead, and the clearing came into view.
He breached the tree line, and took off his shoes, cautious of damaging the delicate, dewy grass underfoot. It was thin, and new, and patchy in places, but it was growing back, and that was enough.
Unsurprisingly, Jasper was nowhere to be found. He passed under the dim shadow of her old rock shelter, watching the moon disappear over it's peak.
Finally, he came to their Tree, and set his jacket down in between two large roots. He sat, resting his back against the cool bark, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breathe, settling in to wait.
After several minutes, a shadow passed over his closed eyelids, a large puddle of black phasing through the reddish gray static, and he opened his eyes to see Jasper sit down beside him.
"Hey." He greeted.
She didn't say anything in return, didn't even look at him, but he found himself smiling anyway.
He leaned over to rest his head on her bicep (he wasn't tall enough for her shoulder) and they fell into a comfortable silence. High above, the stars peeked at them through the dark leaves of the tree, and the moon slowly sunk to rest on top of Jasper's rock pile.
Steven could easily understand why Jasper had picked this spot all those years ago. There was so little light and air pollution that every single star in the sky was clearly visible. If he squinted, he could even make out the tiny, pink tinted dot that made up Homeworld.
He glanced up at Jasper's face, expecting her to be looking in that direction. She did most nights.
Instead, her gaze was fixed on some point in the meadow.
It was such a well lit night, Steven could make out every flower, every glowing, silver river in the distance. Jasper's hair was starkly lit as well, almost as bright as the moon.
"Hey Jasper?" Steven asked. Her gazed fixed on him.
"Could I braid your hair?" He asked.
She gave him a puzzled look, and he sat up, crossing his legs, smiling politely at her.
It took a lot of beckoning and encouragement on his part, but she did end up tentatively resting her head in his lap.
He began the process of parting her hair, gently weaving the locks together. The strands were wild and messy, but his hands were gentle, and slowly, he began taming them into a more organized, intricate design.
Time passed, and Jasper found herself relaxing, against her will. It was an eerie feeling, almost foreign. It wasn't natural for a Quartz to let her guard down, no matter where she found herself. It was kind of hard not to, though, when Steven's breathing was deep and slow, and she could feel the heat of his gem radiating through the thin fabric of his shirt.
She shifted slightly, subtly resting her face closer to it. She watched his face for any sort of reaction, but he just stayed focused on his task, paying her no mind.
She closed her eyes, just listening to the breeze comb through the leaves of the trees, feeling a rare sense of peace with the knowledge that his gem was safe, secure, nearby.
This was the cut of stone that rightfully owned millions, billions of lives. On Homeworld, and other worlds. This was everything that mattered, the most important thing in hers or anyone else's lifetimes, and no one had even guessed that it was more than just a typical Rose Quartz. She hadn't guessed.
How had anyone ever thought this was a Rose Quartz? How had she ever thought this was a Rose Quartz?
Without thinking, she traced the edged surface of the stone, running her fingers over it's crisp, smooth corners, before she realizing what she was doing. She froze for a moment, waiting for admonishment. But none came. Steven's hands just continued to braid, and she realized he was almost done.
Emboldened by his lack of action, she cautiously moved her face towards the gem, pressing her forehead to it and closing her eyes. It was strange, to feel the gentle rise and fall of his breath, the softness of his stomach. She felt him twitch, though, and the peace was broken.
"Ah, um. Jasper? Your horns are kinda poking me." She heard him say, and she might have recoiled violently if not for the steadying hand he held against the back of her head.
"Hey, it's ok. Just, maybe move an inch?" He said.
She quickly found another place for her head, this time by resting her cheek against the stone itself. This was much better, she supposed, because now she could see his face. He wasn't looking at her, more fixated on finishing his task, and she found herself comfortable enough to close her eyes...
She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until they were both bathed in early, yellow sunlight on the forest floor.
And Amethyst was honking at them from the drivers seat of the Dondai.
"Hey, idiots!" She called. "Sun's up. Steven needs to come home."
Jasper was mortified to realize that, at some time during the night, she had wrapped her arms around Steven's waist and was currently holding him tightly, so that her face was still flush against his middle. Steven himself had ended up asleep on his side, and had curled around her head, fingers absently twined in her hair. He blinked sleepily, taking in the glowing orange landscape for a moment or two, before finally catching sight of the Dondai.
"Amethyst!" He cried, pushing himself up onto unsteady legs, and would have come dangerously close to falling backwards if the tree hadn't been there to catch him.
"Shit! I-"
"Easy with the potty mouth. I'm not gonna snitch." Amethyst said, rolling her eyes. "But if we don't head home soon, it won't matter. So just get in the car?"
Steven slowly came closer, looking ready to bolt at a moment's notice.
"You're not mad?" He asked.
"I'm mad you been sneaking off to the woods every other night." He deflated. "But… I don't really see the harm in it."
She grinned, putting her hands to her cheeks and cooing to them, "And you two looked super cute all cuddled together like that."
Jasper growled ferociously, getting to her feet.
"We weren't cuddling." She roared.
"Ok." Said Amethyst. She turned her attention to Steven, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the passenger seat behind her. "Yo, Steven! Let's go!"
"Coming!"
Steven ran over, hopping into the passenger seat and buckling himself in. Amethyst's foot was off the break before the seatbelt even clicked. She made a U-turn, kicking up dust and disturbing the new grass, and Jasper felt an odd tinge of anger at the carelessness. She fixated on the fresh tire tracks left behind, wondering why she felt a sense of loss at the sight of torn up grass. She didn't have long to ruminate on these feelings, though, because suddenly the car had squealed to stop at the mouth of the dirt road back.
Jasper squinted, and through the rear windows, she could make out Steven giving Amethyst a Look, and the Gem reluctantly caving in.
Amethyst backed the car up, parking in front of Jasper, and Steven leaned out the window.
"Bye Jasper!" He called.
"Yeah, bye Jasper!" Amethyst mocked Steven's cheerful tone. Jasper gave her a glower in return, before turning to Steven.
"Farewell, My Diamond." She said, bowing her head, and Steven gave her a sad smile and a wave goodbye. Jasper turned away, heading back to her cave and as the car drove off. She always hated seeing him leave, because these days, she never knew when he'd be back.
As a Quartz, she'd never asked, or expected, her future to be certain. But the past six years had absolutely tested her tolerance for uncertainty. Maybe she should be used to it by now, but for whatever reason, she still constantly felt like the ground beneath her feet was always ready to crumble.
She wasn't really sure what the future held now, for Steven or herself. She wasn't used to having to think so much, especially now that Steven had been encouraging her to think of her own future. Where was she even supposed to start?
She didn't know when she'd see next Steven, or even what his place was in her future, but she did know he'd always be welcome in it. From now until the end of time.
