A/N: And some more! I could put some witty banter or jokes, but I don't want to devalue the great deal of text below this with an immersion-breaking acknowledgement up here. Which I guess I just kinda made anyways... oops.
(I don't own Steven Universe)
V: Momentum, Part I
Unsure, he called out a name, hoping to find them. He couldn't hear his voice, but it didn't feel lost to the sparkling void. A different voice echoed back at him; it wasn't Smoky, though. Steven had difficulty in discerning if it was his or someone else's. Despite the ambiguity of everything, however, he wasn't that unsettled. Something about the twinkling of the stars around him put the mock-silence in a more positive light. Smoky's presence only added to the feeling, as if they simply couldn't be seen at the moment.
More words echoed from the stars around him. It was impossible to tell what they were on sounds alone; instead, it was their emotions that spoke to him. A broken conversation met his ears, lacking the usual cohesion of speech but still understood far better than any authentic catharsis he'd experienced before. Steven smiled.
Someone was missing, though. Before he could figure out who, a distant rush of water shattered reality to pieces.
Some undefinable noise jolted Steven upright on the couch. The motion was so quick that he could feel himself leave its cushions for a second or two. Wide-eyed, he looked around, some of him still returning from the shining space-scape he was so abruptly taken from. He looked around cautiously, unsure of where he was brought to.
Though the living room was now dark (as was the rest of the Temple), the blanket next to him made it easier to remember. Seeing his novel splayed open on his leg helped as well. A far-off glow on the ocean's horizon could be seen through the windows of the Temple, but it couldn't have been any later than six in the morning. Steven returned his eyes to the large blanket next to him, frowning. He lifted it up cautiously.
No one was found underneath it now. One side of the blanket was folded across the couch, like someone had thrown it off in some kind of hurry. Confused, Steven let go of the blanket, standing up from the couch. A hard corner of wood struck against his knee.
He didn't make any sort of pained exclamation, but the impact was still startling enough to stumble Steven. Another clattering noise followed, not quite heavy enough to be the book he had set on the couch. After rubbing his knee alongside his own irked self-chastising, he bent towards what he assumed was some object that fell from the coffee table. The dawn's dimness prevented him from knowing what it was it immediately. He reached towards it, finding its comparatively darker outline about the size of his phone. Then he realized it was his phone.
With a new urgency, Steven picked up the device, feeling the smooth surface of its screen with his thumb. Thank goodness, it wasn't cracked. A relieved sigh fell from his mouth. Still, he didn't remember putting it there in the first place. Steven looked around, unable to find anyone else in the Temple with him. No one sat at the kitchen nor was watching TV in his room, according to the silence. Out of curious instinct, he clicked his phone on, became momentarily blinded by the brightness, then dimmed the screen before looking at it. He furrowed his eyebrows in an unsettled grimace.
What had to be at least a dozen notifications dotted the screen, scrolling far below its threshold. Almost every single one had Connie's gleeful countenance next to it, though the messages were far from gleeful. The majority of them were worrisome about Steven's inability to respond, as though the Diamonds themselves had invaded again. Now Steven inspected his phone a little closer, looking through his friend's messages carefully. The most recent one had been sent yesterday just after nine-o'clock; "Nevermind, Lion's here."
At least that probably eased Connie. Breathing a sigh of relief, he removed the rest of the messages, finding the worry of his friend a welcome familiarity. An out-of-place message from Pearl halted his swiping. The text was short, far shorter than Steven would've expected from someone like Pearl. "Getting Gems. Be back tomorrow."
Steven hummed. The message's timestamp read "5:09 PM", which didn't seem accurate to him. He didn't recall it being that early in the evening. Given how his phone was put on the table, he assumed Garnet must've returned to place his phone in front of him and make sure he'd seen what Pearl had sent. Right after Pearl's message was a picture that he'd apparently sent to himself. Curious, Steven opened the photo.
A quarter of Garnet's face was in the frame, the fusion having a visible smile on her features. The more in-focus portion of the picture was some distance behind her, that being Steven and Amethyst sleeping on the couch. He sat with his back leaning up against her, the book he'd been reading still open on his leg. Amethyst didn't seem aware of his weight, curled up into the blanket and against the couch's cushions. She seemed content. The corner of Steven's lips moved up a little. His eyes lingered on his companion and him before he finally brought himself to close the photo.
For a moment, Steven considered replying to Connie, though reasoned it wasn't the right time. She might've been punctual, but waking her up before the sun even began to rise might've been pushing it. Instead, he pocketed his phone into his jeans, moving the coffee table forwards a bit more to avoid bumping into it for a third time in less than a 24 hours.
"Wonder where Amethyst is…" he pondered to himself, stretching the rest of his waking grogginess away. Her waking up before him was a new one. Even waking up before noon had been a surprising feat for her. She wasn't in the kitchen, so he had to assume she'd left to her room. Why she had left was harder to figure out.
Suddenly, a distant noise interrupted his train of thought. Finding it similar to what woke him, Steven frowned, looking to where the noise had come from. It'd sounded like a grunt, or a heave of air. He moved around the coffee table carefully, eyeing the bathroom door. Light streamed out from under it, but there was a noticeable silhouette of shade, like someone was sitting on the floor. The earlier heave was followed by some kind of labored breathing. Now worried, Steven stepped closer.
"...Amethyst?" he tried. Silence met his offer. For a moment, he hesitated in front of the door. Then he rapped his knuckles against the wood, knocking quietly. After another pause, a voice came out from behind the door.
"I-I'm fine," Amethyst told him, sounding explicitly not fine. Her voice emanated from somewhere low to the ground. Considering Steven hadn't gotten around to asking if she was fine yet, her assurance that she was didn't really persuade him. He moved against the door, still worried. Another heave echoed through the wood, as if Amethyst had just gotten sucker-punched in the gut. Steven placed a hand on the doorknob.
"I'm coming in," he prefaced to his companion. Unsurprisingly, Amethyst told him not to, saying that she'd be out in a moment. Her words were cut off by the sound of the toilet flushing. Something was wrong enough for Steven to turn the doorknob anyways, sensing that his friend needed some kind of help. In light of recent events, that wasn't too far out there. Carefully, Steven pushed the door open, bracing.
Amethyst sat in front of the toilet bowl, hunched over it for some kind of support. Most of what Steven could see was blocked by her hair, the locks still a dark black. He stepped to her side, almost falling from moving so quickly. She definitely wasn't fine. It was easy enough to tell as much from the strain of her posture alone.
"I told ya not to come in," Amethyst weakly argued, not facing Steven. Her voice was as labored as her breathing. Steven placed a hand on her back, trying to help her sit up easier. His other hand moved to her arm, gripping it securely. He didn't offer a rebuttal to her accusation. Instead, he tried easing his friend, having a vague idea of what she'd been going through.
Amethyst lurched forwards with another sudden hitch in her breathing, moving one arm to her stomach. In almost the same instant, Steven swept a hand in front of her face, holding her hair back. His grasp around her arm carefully tightened out of concern. She stayed over the bowl, taking a few rushed breaths. There wasn't much Steven could think of that could help her beyond offering what support he could.
After a few moments, Amethyst relaxed back down, still breathing hard. She reached up a hand towards the toilet's lever, though Steven beat her to it, telling her to take it easy. Despite how difficult it was to read her fatigued expression, she seemed a little grateful. Her paler complexion didn't ease up anytime soon. Then, Steven looked to the arm he was holding out of concern. Her skin was more than pale; it looked unsaturated, almost tinted gray. The color she did have was now some kind of light mauve, still darker than the usual lavender.
"Woke up like this," Amethyst told him quietly, seeing his expression. She eased down onto the floor, sitting carefully, and Steven took it as a prompt to let go of her hair. Still, he kept a cautious hand on his friend's back. To say he was worried was an understatement. He tried using what optimism he had to at least direct his concern.
"I'll be right back," he told Amethyst, tentatively letting go of her. She gave a hint of a nod, some of her hair falling back in front of her face. The Gem slouched onto the floor, her breaths slowly returning to a normal pace. Once he was absolutely sure she could sit on her own, Steven jolted up from the bathroom tiles, not wanting to waste a second. Instantly, he dashed from the bathroom towards the kitchen, throwing open numerous drawers and cabinets.
Less than a dozen seconds later, he returned to the bathroom, a loaf of bread in one hand and a glass of water in the other. The water nearly spilled out of the cup as he sat back next to Amethyst. She wasn't that receptive to his rush, swaying her head towards him. After making sure the water had stayed in the cup, Steven held it out.
"Here," he offered. His tone didn't entirely make it seem like an offer, though Amethyst didn't read any poor intent from him. She sat up a little straighter, nodding gratitude as she took the cup. Carefully, she rose it to her lips, taking a small sip at first. Then she took a more purposeful swig. After about six seconds of gulping down water, she lowered the cup.
Wordlessly, she looked towards the loaf of bread in Steven's hand. That was all the incentive he needed to unwrap the bread's packaging, taking out a piece and handing it to her in moments. His rush was more out of being polite than urgent. Amethyst moved to the wall of the bathroom, leaning up against it as she took a bite of the bread. Even though it was possibly the blandest thing she could've eaten, she seemed more than satisfied. Steven had to think that was a step in the right direction.
He moved next to Amethyst's side, allowing her to eat at her own pace, not wanting to be too motherly. She smirked at him, shaking her head as she took another slice of bread.
"Guess there's more to this whole human thing than we thought, huh?" she told him, taking another long drink of water after a second. As much as he didn't really want to, Steven nodded, agreeing that there was apparently more than met the eye. Not that the change in Amethyst's skin was taken in stride. He glanced at her bare arm as he leaned the loaf of bread against the wall between them, noting how uniform the difference in color was across her whole body.
"Are you sick?" he asked, tempted to put a hand on Amethyst's forehead but deciding against it. If she'd taken some part of his human body like Garnet had explained, then he wondered if she had also taken some cold he had yet to feel the effects of. Amethyst shook her head, though didn't look entirely sure.
"Don't think so," she answered, looking to the cup of water she'd put on the floor. "Just felt like my stomach was gonna eat itself. Guess it tried to."
Though that provided enough of an explanation to make sense to Steven, his frown persisted. Amethyst's eagerness for the bread and water felt a lot more dire when it was for such a different reason.
"You were hungry," Steven said to himself as much as Amethyst, humming a discontent tune. His companion paused for a moment, now looking at the bread in her hand in a new kind of light. She was hesitant to nod.
"Sounds about right," she admitted quietly. Needing food was much more daunting to her than wanting it, judging by the Gem's slight grimace. After a brief sigh, she resumed eating, speaking in between bites of bread. Her grimace dissipated over the next few seconds. "Last thing I ate wasn't really food, though. Ain't my fault they make toothpaste taste so good."
Amethyst paused suddenly, turning towards Steven almost too seriously to not be comical. "We're out of toothpaste, by the way."
Steven appreciated the attempt at humor, but it unfortunately didn't quite hit its mark. He was too busy wondering what, if anything, counted as actual food or a poor source of nutrition to Gem-human hybrids. Anything his father could eat, he could, but was there a different threshold when it came to more Gem-like people?
A push on Steven's shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. It was good-natured enough to lift his mood, if only a little. He looked to Amethyst, who shrugged with a much more casual expression than he could muster.
"It's no biggie," she admitted, waving her half-eaten bread towards him. Her tone was surprisingly genuine, probably due to how easy-going she seemed to be about getting hungry. "Most of that stuff I ate just to gross Pearl out. Bet she'll be glad I can't eat toothpaste anymore."
Amethyst seemed much readier to accept the forced change in her diet than Steven was. Somehow, though, it persuaded Steven to take her more comical approach with a small grin. He chuckled, appreciating his friend's ability to look on the brighter side of things when he couldn't. He supposed they balanced each other out in that regard.
"If you haven't noticed," Amethyst continued, smirking, "I ain't gonna mind eating, anyways." She pat her belly in pride. A laugh escaped Steven's mouth, having a persistently appreciative authenticity. Both his and Amethyst's moods seemed to improve at the sound. It put her condition since last night in a less dire light, which Steven wholeheartedly accepted. Now confident, he moved a bit closer to Amethyst, careful to not tip over the loaf of bread.
"Maybe we can still heal you," he brought up. Amethyst paused half-way towards reaching for another slice of bread, and he put one in her open palm. She rose a curious eyebrow as she ate, letting Steven explain.
"Mom's fountain," he told her simply. The idea made sense to him. "It heals Gems, right? So maybe it'll turn you back to normal, since you're supposed to be all Gem."
Amethyst didn't look convinced right away. She pondered in silence for a few moments, eating slower. It wasn't every day that she thought so seriously about something. Unfortunately, she seemed more hesitant than eager, some of the earlier humor fading from her features.
"Couldn't you do the same thing?" she asked, tilting her head. Some of her dark hair spilled to her side as an effect. She sat up against the wall a little straighter, propping her legs up to put her knees on her elbows. Steven scratched the back of his neck.
"I don't know if I can just lick your Gem or something," he admitted sheepishly. Just because Amethyst was so casual didn't mean he was so ready for such an odd conversation, especially when she was the majority of the topic. "Garnet said that the human-stuff was in your Gem's light, right? So maybe you'd need, like, a bath. Or something."
Amethyst's eyebrow stayed elevated just a tad longer, causing Steven to put an addend to his explanation. "That'd be a lot of spit. And a little gross, too."
Some more seconds of silence passed. Amethyst hummed to herself, seemingly trying to make sense of what Steven was attempting to convey. He didn't entirely understand it himself, but he'd rather try something more thorough than just a quick slap of spit or couple of tears. Better to be safe than sorry. After a brief hesitation, Amethyst nodded.
"Yeah, spittin' would be kinda gross," she admitted, finishing what must've been her fifth slice of bread. She grasped her cup of water tentatively. "But don't you want your stuff back?"
Steven didn't consider that. He hummed himself, realizing that she did technically have some of his body (at least, according to Garnet). Still, that didn't sound completely right. Surely having some of the light from Amethyst's Gem would have an effect on him after Smoky unfused. The most he could recall is the health of his foot, and that seemed more like Amethyst had taken that part rather than replaced it with her own.
"I feel fine," Steven admitted to Amethyst, shrugging. As far as he could tell, neither his hair nor his skin had changed their colors to take after her. "I don't think anything really happened to me. My body doesn't feel any…"
Abruptly, he paused, grinning. "Lighter."
As expected, Amethyst groaned, shaking her head with a grudgingly amused smirk. She gave a good-natured push on Steven's shoulder. "Boooo," she drew out with a laugh. Whether she wanted to or not, she did seem to find some genuine humor from him. He was glad that he could match hers. Amethyst eyed her bread for some time, then relaxed back against the bathroom wall, finishing the piece.
"Sure, we can try that," she said as she ate, a few crumbs spilling outwards. The Gem wiped the rest of the bread's crust from her mouth. A tentative sigh escaped her lips. "Dunno if it'll work, though."
An agreement was something to Steven, even if she was apprehensive to have as much hope as he did. He smiled confidently, assuring his companion that it wouldn't hurt to try. The last thing he wanted to do was nothing. Steven attempted being patient as Amethyst finished her lackluster meal, then opened his mouth to offer a better breakfast in the form of anything with actual flavor. Instead, a low grumble emanated from his stomach, halting both Gems.
Amethyst snorted, chuckling in response to Steven's embarrassed blush. After his own amused laugh, he saw Amethyst holding out a fresh slice of bread. She was really making progress on the loaf.
"Wanna piece?" she offered, still smiling. Steven looked at the bread for a moment. For some reason he couldn't quite discern, it seemed much more welcoming than a bland piece of bread had any business being. Maybe that was an effect from Amethyst. She waved the food slightly, keeping her offer standing. "If it's good enough for me…"
She had a point. There was the argument that he might've been able to stomach something heavier than Amethyst could at the moment, but he honestly would rather enjoy bread with his friend than some grand meal alone. Steven took the piece gratefully, getting out an extra to hand to Amethyst. She seemed a little surprised at his eagerness to eat alongside her. Before she could move to question it, an abrupt ring halted both of them.
Curious, Steven lowered the bread from his mouth. He reached into his pants pocket, having a little difficulty since he was sitting down. As soon as his hand clasped around his phone, it ringed again, buzzing slightly. Amethyst matched his curious frown as he looked at the phone's screen. Then, she whistled an impressed tune, sitting closer to Steven to get a better look.
"Someone's popular," she said, seeing the avalanche of messages filling the screen's space. Steven could've sworn he'd cleared most of them earlier. As he would've expected, a sly smirk grew across Amethyst's lips when she recognized whom most of the messages were from. Normally, Steven wouldn't pay it much mind (if only out of being used to her mischievousness), but the abrupt interruption to their atypical breakfast made him feel rude, somehow.
"It's Connie," he tried explaining, scrolling to see what the new message had consisted of. Amethyst nodded, a lot more purposeful in taking a drink of water.
"I noticed," she said simply. Steven scrolled to the two most recent texts. Not even a full minute passed in between them, both of them having been sent in the same 6:17 that his phone prominently displayed. A short "Hello?" was followed by a quick "You're not getting invaded or anything, right?"
Another message interrupted Steven's reading. "Lion's still here btw." Amethyst read alongside him, but he could see her eyeing the other messages he'd read earlier. Being so used to Amethyst made it seem far less intrusive on his privacy. Still, she didn't even attempt to hide how interested she was in what Connie had said. Steven explained his friend's worry.
"She tried talking to me yesterday," he told Amethyst, hearing an apt amount of guilt in his tone. "I kinda… forgot about my phone, though."
Amethyst continued reading his phone for a few more moments. An unrecognizable expression flashed across her features, but it didn't even last a second, so it didn't seem important enough to ask about. Then, Amethyst relaxed back onto the bathroom wall, returning to her casual tone.
"Ain't your fault," she reasoned, lifting the cup of water to her lips again. She took a short drink before holding the cup out towards Steven. "Kinda had your hands full. She'll get it."
Some of Steven's embarrassment lifted from his features. Amethyst didn't seem bothered by the minor interruption of his phone, so Steven took it as a prompt to treat it with the same triviality she had. He took the cup of water gratefully, lowering his phone back down onto his leg.
"Yeah," he agreed with a nod. Noting how little water was left, he decided to take a smaller sip. "She'll understand."
Amethyst took a content bite of bread, then paused, looking back at Steven. Her expression was curious enough to halt his reply to Connie just a little longer. She scratched her neck, looking much more contemplative than usual.
"Dunno if she's gonna get the whole 'human-Gem' thing, though," she said. Steven looked to her, curious about the sharp drop of enthusiasm in her tone. It'd made her seem almost reluctant. Seeing his curious gaze, Amethyst scratched the back of her neck. "I mean, she's used to Gem stuff, sure, but this whole…"
Amethyst paused again, waving a hand over her features. "...this might be a little over her head. I mean, I barely got half a clue, and Garnet totally laid it out for us. Kinda."
Well, Amethyst's condition might've been harder to explain to Connie. Steven placed a thoughtful hand on his chin, subconsciously taking another note of the Gem's darker hair. Combined with her skin, she could've been a completely different person. The one consistency (aside from her attire) was the deep violet Gem of her chest.
"Yeah," Steven agreed with a nod, "that might take longer to explain. But she's smart."
He had enough faith in his friend to make her own sense of it. Amethyst, though, didn't seem to match his faith, giving him a skeptical shrug. She hummed indifference, resuming what was probably her last piece of bread. Hopefully there was enough of the loaf left to make sandwiches later in the day. A thought seemed to occur to Amethyst, widening her eyes a fraction.
"She know about Smoky?" the Gem questioned, looking at Steven again. What casualness she had was replaced with some kind of apprehension, and it didn't quite look right on her features. Steven tilted his head in response to the odd question, pausing with his thumb over the "send" button of his phone.
"Of course," he answered, unsure of how Connie wouldn't know of the fusion. Though he couldn't recall if the two met personally, he filled her in on any potentially interesting Gem business on a daily basis. Whatever he didn't say, she usually asked about. Steven thought that much was well-known enough. "Why wouldn't she?"
Amethyst didn't take another bite of bread, her appetite seemingly sated. Her abrupt anxiety didn't leave Steven too sure. He sent the quick reply to Connie before putting his phone back in his pocket, frowning. It was difficult to make sense of why Amethyst of all people was acting regretful.
"Fusion was kinda your guys' thing," she told him slowly. "Hate to step on your toes or somethin'."
That wasn't what Steven expected to hear. Almost immediately, he shook his head, smirking a little. Not that Amethyst would probably appreciate being called silly out loud, but he still thought her concern was a little nonsensical, especially with how long they'd known each other. Her worry seemed more earnest than paranoid. As a result, Steven gave her a reassuring grin.
"Fusion is our thing," he clarified. Then he realized his poor phrasing when Amethyst froze half-way through a bite of bread she'd forced herself to take. She stared at him, skeptical.
"Mph-huse mh?" she muffled through the bread. Steven rose his hands defensively, an embarrassed blush heating his cheeks. He didn't think he could've worded his reassurance any worse. Maybe that much wasn't true, but it still felt like it.
"Not like, us kind of 'our', I mean," he desperately tried recovering, sitting up on some paranoid instinct. Was the bathroom always so warm? "I just meant, like, a Gem thing. Something we- Pearl, or Garnet, or you or me- do."
Another couple moments of staring passed. Steven didn't trust himself to read his friend's features all that accurately at the moment, but they seemed impossible to read regardless of his own discomfort. Still paranoid, Steven continued.
"But I don't mean, like, it can't be our thing," he spoke nervously, trying to get more comfortable against the bathroom wall. The tiles he sat on felt wrong, somehow. So did the bread in his hand. "If you want it to be, that's fine, too. I'm not saying it should be- but not that it shouldn't be, either, but-"
Suddenly, Amethyst broke out into laughter, halting his vocal cords. Steven was a little thankful that she got him to stop speaking. For someone that considered himself more comfortable in expressing what he thought, talking was suddenly a lot harder. A feeling of obligation to clarify and simultaneously ease Amethyst hadn't helped. She finished her bite of bread as she chuckled, a mirthful grin plastered on her lips.
"I get it, Steven," she told him, nodding with her confirmation. It was a little easier to smile himself as an effect. Steven relaxed, shaking his head as Amethyst continued. She moved somewhat closer to him, leaving exactly the loaf of bread's width between them. "Just something you like sharing with her, right?"
Oddly enough, Amethyst worded it much better than he had. The occurrence seemed timely to Steven. He agreed, mentioning that she said it well. It wasn't every day Amethyst spoke so succinctly, so her taking it stride was made even more noticeable. She finished the last of the water in her cup as Steven ate the remaining bread he held.
"Thanks," he told the Gem, standing back up from the bathroom floor. He grabbed the loaf of bread as he rose. It seemed much lighter, though the majority of that was Amethyst's doing. "I appreciate it."
"Bet she appreciates it, too," Amethyst replied with a smirk as she stood up herself. Her leg didn't seem to give her a hint of trouble, meaning that her natural regeneration likely functioned fine. As pleased as Steven was, though, he didn't entirely gloss over the miscommunication Amethyst had interpreted from his gratitude. His appreciation was more to do with her ability to speak for him rather than his ability to fuse. He rose a finger to correct himself (again) then stopped at a distinct ringing noise.
Amethyst glanced at him, dusting bread-crumbs from her pants. Seeing his hesitation, she gestured towards the phone in his pocket. He shook his head in another attempt to clear it before pulling his phone out again. Instead of a punctual response from Connie, another short message from Pearl spanned the screen. "Amethyst okay?"
Like before, Amethyst had moved to Steven's side to see what the text had said. He still didn't take it as any personal attack on his privacy, since Amethyst and he were close enough anyways. The Gem rose an eyebrow, looking over her grayed arms. Steven did the same, hesitant to respond so quickly.
"Fine now," Amethyst spoke for him, stretching her back. They'd been sitting on the hard tiles so long, Steven couldn't imagine she was that comfortable right away. He knew he wasn't. His friend patted her stomach, looking much better than the state she was in when Steven first found her. She spoke confidently, blowing some of her longer bangs of hair from her face. "Bread n' water, does the trick."
Steven trusted her enough to take her word, whether or not she seemed so genuinely re-energized. Still, he was hesitant to say his friend was okay. Too much had changed since yesterday for him to assume everything was fine a second time. Humming, Steven looked back to his phone, typing out a quick response to Pearl. "She's fine now. Skin changed, was hungry."
Amethyst hummed approval, then frowned suddenly. She moved to the bathroom door's frame, placing a careful hand on the wood as she glanced into Temple. It was still dark, but a subtle glow from the sunrise brightened the living room just a tad.
"Where is P, anyways?" she asked, looking back at Steven. An irked frown brought her eyebrows together, though it seemed more due to worry than aggravation. "And Garnet? Don't tell me they're still getting those Gems."
Steven hummed a reluctant response. "'Fraid so," he told her, looking back at his phone. If he'd gotten to the temple with Amethyst at around five yesterday, that meant Pearl and Garnet had been scouring around for Gem shards for almost half a day straight. Neither of them could've been too happy at the task. At least they seemed okay for the time being, according to Pearl's ability to text Steven. He was surprised she even got service from where she was.
Another message from Pearl rang his phone. "Hungry?" was all it said. Before Steven could key any kind of explanation, another message followed, the speech bubble almost carrying Pearl's usually worried tone. "Her skin changed? What do you mean?"
After reading the questions, Amethyst scratched her chin, thinking for a moment. Steven did the same, pondering how to word exactly what happened. Answering either question would be difficult, and that was assuming that Garnet had given Pearl the same explanation Steven and Amethyst had received. The most Steven understood himself was Amethyst's condition worsening over time, and Garnet hadn't even understood that part.
"Should probably just show 'em," Amethyst casually said, turning her palms outwards in an "eh" kind of gesture. Steven agreed, thinking that would be the best way to convey what he meant. Only saying that her skin was a different color wouldn't do much to alleviate the worry Pearl probably had. He handed his phone to Amethyst, who promptly navigated to the "camera" application. She tapped the screen once before pausing.
Seeing her raise an eyebrow, Steven moved to her side, wondering what had gotten her to stop so abruptly. Then he saw the last photo he'd opened from earlier, that being the poorly framed image of himself and Amethyst sleeping on the couch. An unknown smirk spread across Amethyst's face, and she looked to Steven questioningly. He matched her grin with his own.
"I think Garnet came back to make sure I saw what Pearl said," he reasoned, absentmindedly tying the loaf of bread back up in its packaging. "She put my phone on the table, but not before taking a picture."
A minor laugh escaped Amethyst's lips. "I see that," she said with a nod, looking back at the phone's screen with a persistent smile. Steven looked alongside her, noting that it was surprisingly endearing. The proportionally large grin from Garnet gave the photo a certain charm, he thought. Given how Amethyst's gaze lingered, she seemed to think something similar.
"Not a bad pic," she granted, closing the photo to get back to the camera on Steven's phone, "but this is how it's done." The Gem suddenly raised an arm behind Steven before hooking it around him, pulling him closer to her. Out of habit, Steven laughed, going with the abrupt headlock he found himself in. Her grasp was softer than usual. Now Amethyst held the phone out, giving the device a lazy smirk and sticking her tongue out in a fittingly casual expression. Steven, seeing himself on the phone's screen, smiled widely for the camera. One digital click later, his latest photo was updated.
"There ya go," Amethyst told him proudly, loosening her grip on Steven. Even if he was still worried about her condition, the usual laid-back nature of his friend wasn't lost on him. Then again, he'd have difficulty even attempting to ignore the fun ease she always seemed to possess. The Gem lowered his phone back down, looking at their shared selfie for another few moments. He didn't mind. Her pause allowed him to look at the photo himself.
A few contemplative seconds passed before Amethyst handed the phone back to Steven. In return, she reached towards the loaf of bread in his hand. He exchanged it without a word, still looking at the photo. It was a fairly good picture, that was for sure. Amethyst looked surprisingly well for someone whose hair had flipped sides of the color spectrum over-night. Then Steven remembered what purpose the photo was supposed to serve, and he re-opened the brief conversation with Pearl he'd been sharing. After a few taps, the photo was sent. Hopefully that could convey enough. A hum from Amethyst attracted Steven's attention back up from his phone's screen.
"Maybe we should check up on them before hitting the fountain," she reasoned, heading towards the kitchen. Steven could see a dutiful expression settle on her features, despite the dimness of the Temple. "Y'know, make sure they ain't going crazy from looking for all those Gem shards."
After jumping onto the kitchen's counter to put the loaf back in some random cabinet (that Steven definitely wouldn't have been able to reach in the first place), she hummed thoughtfully. "Crazier, at least."
That was probably a more accurate worry. Regardless of her concern, though, Steven didn't quite stack his priorities in the same way.
"I don't know…" he tentatively reasoned back, turning off the light of the bathroom as he stepped out of it. True, it was a good idea to check up on Pearl and Garnet, but he didn't think it was the most important thing to worry about at the moment. Not that it wasn't important, obviously; Amethyst's condition simply seemed a bit more pressing. Simply asking if the two Gems were alright wouldn't really suffice to either himself or Amethyst. A lot tended to get lost to the neutralizing effect of phones. Steven scratched his neck nervously. "What if something else happens to you? Like, you catch a cold, or something?"
Amethyst slapped the cabinet shut before jumping back to the floor with a loud *thud*. Her relatively serious expression melted into an earnest grin as she strode back to Steven, shaking a couple loose locks of hair out of her eyes.
"Then we go straight to Rose's fountain," she told him confidently, putting her hands on her hips in a fittingly confident pose. Her hair had fallen back over her eye in spite of her efforts, which Steven had to think of as a little funny. "Worse comes to worst, you have my permission to give my Gem the ol' spit-shine."
A brief grin drew Steven's lips upwards. "Got it," he affirmed with a nod. As serious as Amethyst's condition was, her being so optimistic in Steven's place was something to be grateful for. His friend reciprocated his nod, stepping towards the warp-pad. Steven made a quick mental note to watch for any other odd occurrence that could potentially befall his companion. Given her lackluster breakfast, he made a special note of where the rest of the food in the kitchen was, should he need it on short notice later.
For a moment, Steven glanced outside at the distant sunrise resting on the horizon. He had to hope that it wouldn't take too long to see if Pearl and Garnet were still alright. Waiting to see if Amethyst's skin would explore other colors of the spectrum wasn't something he really wanted to do. A low whistle from Amethyst broke Steven from his thoughts, and he joined his companion on the warp-pad.
"Know where that warp-pad was?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow in mock skepticism. Right, she'd been asleep when Steven had used the warp-pad Pearl had directed him towards. Steven promptly took mock offense, giving Amethyst an overdramatized gasp. They both chuckled a little.
"'Course I do," Steven answered. With another subtle grin, he held his arms outwards, and a familiar blue light enveloped the both of them.
A/N: Ooo, we're getting to the good stuff, now! I think we are, at least. Apologies if the pacing's been a bit slow so far; don't want to rush and ruin later chapters, yeah?