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"Don't wanna get rusty," Bismuth told them, shapeshifting her massive hands into hammers and slamming them into the beach. Peridot was handling her trash can lid with ease, tossing it to and fro like a frisbee as Steven used to do with his shield, before catching it mid-air and drawing it back down to her for another throw. But, Pink Steven only stood a few feet off, not sure what he should do.
He'd seen a few of his powers in action as a Gem, without his human half there to hold anything back. He'd seen his shield— the one made of rose-colored geometric panels, not Steven's usual spiraled shield— and his... scream...
He didn't want to use them, not now. He had only used his raw powers when he absolutely needed to, or when he just couldn't keep them in. He could slice through any organic material with the sharp edges of his shield, and easily crack walls or even Gems with his scream. As Steven, he was supposed to use his powers to build, to heal. Not hurt.
He definitely couldn't hurt Bismuth or Peridot.
"C'mon, Pink Steven," Bismuth urged, using the name that Amethyst had begun to call him. "Show us what you're made of!"
Peridot's trash can lid swooped down from behind and nicked him in the shoulder. He jumped back in surprise. "Yeah!" she agreed.
Pink Steven hesitantly lifted his hand, and summoned a small pentagonal pink shape at the tips of his fingers. When his fingers spread out, the shape expanded. When he tightened his hand into a fist, it contracted. He watched Bismuth charge at him, her hammers prepared to slam him into the sand.
When she leaped, he spread his arms out in front of him, and the shape screened his whole body, even more so. Her hammers hit the shield as a mallet would a gong. Shocked, she stood back up, and smirked.
"Nice," she congratulated. But, Bismuth didn't stop. She continued to press on him, and every time she swung at him, another pink shape would block him from her attacks. Peridot's metal lid continued to strafe him from several directions, and he did his best to avoid it. All in all, he was doing pretty well.
In a moment, he was able to get away from Bismuth, and sweep Peridot's legs out from under her, ceasing her trash can lid attacks. Then he made his way back to Bismuth and, throwing himself at the larger Gem, kicked her in the thoracic region on her back. Stunned by his sudden attack, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground.
Peridot was laughing. Bismuth chuckled as well, brushing the sand off her overalls as she stood up.
"Haven't had a fight like that in almost three years," she commented. "Great job, but if anyone's still out there that has a bone to pick with you, we need to be even better."
There Bismuth went again. Always with her speeches, her inspiring words that could make any Gem ready to fight a Diamond. But then she went too far.
"Take Spinel for example," she added. "Or Aquamarine, or Eye...ball..."
Her eyes widened. Pink Steven's attention had snapped to her. The floodgates opened and his mind filled with memories of the Diamonds. Of Eyeball hurting him. His mom.
It was too much. The bottle he used to bury the feelings he didn't want to mess with had overflowed. Thousands of tiny pink triangles and pentagons were appearing out of the air surrounding him, and his gem began to shine through his shirt.
"Don't," Pink Steven warned, his voice dangerously close to using that scream of his. Bismuth had taken a step back, making sure to block the path between him and Peridot, who was still on the ground.
"Don't say her name again," he finished. He was trying desperately to calm down, he was, but without his humanity he had little to no control. The beach had gone full pink. The sand reflected the pink aura of his gem, the waves did it too, and he could even see Lapis and Amethyst exiting the beach house, their faces showing nothing but fear.
"What?" Peridot asked, oblivious. "The Ruby?"
Pink Steven let out a cry, and the sound of it only made his stomach twist even more, but at least it wasn't the scream. As he scraped for anything left of him that wasn't angry or sad or any of those other complicated feelings, the pink glow began to fade, and the Gems eventually sighed in relief. But he was still curled up on the beach, refusing eye contact with anyone.
After a while, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. Bismuth sighed.
"Don't be. I get it."
Pink Steven stood up, his eyes still on the ground. He promised himself he'd do better. That he could control his new pink powers. He probably just convinced Lapis Lazuli even more that he couldn't be trusted.
Bismuth didn't get it. He scowled.
"The Gems have to bring him back soon. I can't be here much longer."
It was morning. The sun was almost over the ocean now, its rays shining through the windows of the beach house and settling on Pink Steven, who sat on the living room couch, reading a book. Or, reading what he could. He wasn't too interested.
He hadn't slept a wink last night. Or the last three nights, either. Pearl and Garnet and his dad were still at the hospital with his human counterpart. He hadn't heard any news since Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis left last evening. He didn't know if he was doing better, if he had woken up yet, nothing.
So, to pass the time, he messed around with whatever pointless games he could find. Right now, he was rereading some books Connie gifted Steven a couple years ago. They were fantasy, of course.
The last time Amethyst had checked on him was a couple hours ago. He guessed she would revisit in a few minutes to get a snack. So until then, he had to kill time somehow.
His eyes strayed from the book and landed on the door of the temple. It had been an agonizing seventy-two hours, and all he wanted was to see how his human half was fairing. Or just another distraction. Amethyst was pretty good at those.
Then he perked up, eyes on the house door, when he heard footsteps.
"Steven? Steven?" A familiar figure appeared on the porch. Her white blouse was buttoned in all the wrong ways, her dark hair was wild and a bit staticky, and her eyes were wide. She pulled open the screen door in a frenzy, and he stood up.
Her eyes landed on him, and without hesitation, she grinned wide in relief and threw herself at him. "Steven!"
He hugged her back as tightly as he could. Her nose was buried in his jacket, where he could feel a wet spot growing as she cried. He buried his own nose by her neck, where her hair smelled like strawberries.
Connie.
At some point, however, she opened her umber eyes and noticed the odd pink glow, and stepped back in surprise. She released her grip on him and stood about a yard away. He tried not to look hurt.
"Oh," Connie breathed. "It's you."
Her eyes wandered to his stomach, where his gem would be.
Oh, that's right. He shouldn't have expected anything else. The last time he had seen Connie, it was after he used the scream. Just like everybody else, she didn't trust him.
She hurriedly wiped the tears off her tanned cheek with the palm of her hand. "I-I heard... my mom told me you were hurt, that you were at the hospital— I didn't, I didn't know what to do, she told me not to come, so I just went to your house instead." She sniffed, and turned to him, still shaken-up. "What happened?"
Pink Steven looked down at himself, his eyes trailing slowly over his petal-pink form. He wasn't entirely sure why he had to split, since everything that happened when he was attacked was really all a blur, but... "I think I was hurt, too. Not just Steven's body. Something just... pushed me away."
He hated that he couldn't find the right words.
Connie sniffed again, now much calmer. "I guess that makes sense. Since Gems have to retreat into their gems when they're hurt, maybe that's what happened to you. You just never had the chance to get to your... body again."
He nodded. When Steven was hurt before— whether it had been as small as a paper cut, or as serious as a concussion— he wasn't damaged at all. This time he was just unlucky.
He hoped with all of his being that it wouldn't happen again.
Connie sighed, and looked back up at him. "Any updates?" she asked.
"The Gems haven't said anything since yesterday," he shook his head. "Last I saw he was still on blood transfusion."
She bit her lip, then nodded firmly. "Alright. I'm gonna call my parents, and I'm gonna stay here with you until you two are Steven again."
Pink Steven was genuinely surprised. "Really?"
"Yup," she replied, popping the p.
"Then I can—"
Connie put her hand on his shoulder, and he cut off abruptly, staring at her. She shrunk a little bit at the sudden attention, or maybe she was intimidated by the diamond-shaped pupils. He wasn't sure.
"No, you don't worry about a thing," she insisted. "I know where the sleeping bags are, and everything else."
He furrowed his brow, then replied, "You can have his bed. I can't sleep."
"You mean you won't sleep."
"Either one."
She sighed. "I... whatever. If you're sure." He nodded. "Alright."
That's when Amethyst showed up for her seventh check-in, said hi, and Pink Steven and Connie got to work setting up for her stay. Steven's puffy white comforter was set on the floor at the foot of his bed, movies were lined up, snacks were ready (mostly for Connie, he wasn't in the mood to eat), and finally, they were ready for the most tense sleepover in Gem history.
"And... and remember Jam Buds?" Connie asked. "We used to have so much fun messing around like that when we were younger." There was a familiar look in her eyes. They shone like stars, as if they were made from a droplet of the galaxy.
Pink Steven looked down at his hands, where they were, once again, folded in his lap. He nodded, the breath of a smile on his face.
"And when we'd make up songs together, and sing duets," she sighed. "We weren't bad. At least, I thought so."
He nodded again.
"I still have my old violin somewhere, I think." Connie put her chin in her hand, eyes miles away and brow drawn. "Maybe it's in my room. Or my closet. Do you still have that ukulele?"
For that, Pink Steven actually had to think. Where did Steven put that? He hadn't played it in at least a year, after he grew out of the tiny instrument. He moved on to his dad's larger acoustic guitar, but he couldn't have gotten rid of the ukulele... could he?
No. There was no way. He must've left it with Dad, or kept it in storage, or somewhere, it was still in the temple/beach house.
"Probably," he shrugged. "I don't know where."
There was a pause.
"I know it's horrible, but I kinda miss us... y'know, fighting side-by-side."
Connie yawned, and he frowned. "I didn't fight with you."
She stopped mid-yawn. Her lips were pursed. She was uncomfortable. "I know, but like... you were there."
Connie was looking at his stomach. Where his gem was.
His frown deepened, and he covered the gem from her line of sight with his hand. "I wasn't there," he argued. "Steven was."
Her eyes widened, and she quickly muttered a "sorry" before he continued. He guessed he couldn't blame her. Their last meeting hadn't been too great... he had to've scared her.
But he was tired of it. Of the Gems and whoever else seeing him as just Steven's gem. That everything else came from Steven's human half, that he was just a source of uncontrollable energy and power. He had feelings too... he just wasn't good with them...
He wasn't Steven. He wasn't Rose, and he wasn't Pink Diamond, and he wasn't just some Gem. He didn't know what he was.
Pink Steven sighed, that same weird edge to his voice bothering him, just like everything else about his stupid self. "It's late. You should probably get some sleep, if any."
Connie nodded stiffly. "Yeah, alright." Then she looked him in the eye. "But only if you get some, too."
He was surprised, but not too much. He sighed again, leaving to grab a sleeping bag, because he still promised Connie the bed.
"Ste— Pink Steven, Pink... c'mon, wake up."
Pink Steven's eyes snapped open, and he shot into a sitting position, startling Connie. The sunlight pouring in from the slide door window landed just at the edge of the glass. He looked at the clock (which read 12:46 pm— oh stars, had he really been asleep that long?) and then to Connie, who still seemed to be recovering from her latest heart attack.
He flinched. "S...orry."
Giving him a weak smile and a thumbs-up, she hurriedly replied, "It's fine. I should be apologizing, I didn't want to bother you, but my mom just texted me."
He rubbed his eyes and stretched, trying to bring some life back into his limbs. Then he stood up, and turned his full attention to Connie. "Is it about him?"
What are we supposed to call him? If I'm "Pink Steven"... goodness, this is getting confusing.
She nodded, quite obviously holding back some excitement. "She said he's good to come home. The Gems are bringing him back today."
Thank you for reading! Reviews are always appreciated. :)