Chapter Seven: Too Much

With Steven and Lars gone from the tent, Spinel was left with the Rutile twins, who had asked to speak with her.

"Do you honestly believe that human can be trusted?" asked the left Rutile twin, sitting themselves down beside the small, plastic pool that Spinel occupied.

"…" Spinel hesitated for a moment. If they had asked her this just a few days ago, the answer would be different for sure. However, Steven had gone through so much in order to keep her safe and he was asking for nothing in return. Though she hated to admit it about any human, Steven appeared to be sincere. "…I don't know about trust exactly, but Steven is quite different from the humans I've met before."

"A lot of Mermaids have said the same in the past and they have all since been betrayed."

This struck a chord with Spinel. A chill ran up her spine and she suddenly felt cold.
"What's your point?" snapped Spinel, losing her patience now. She didn't like remembering the past. It wasn't just the memories that upset her, it was the fact that she actually felt the same bracing cold as back then every time she recalled it.

"Our point is just that. You don't have to stay with the Human anymore. You can come with us and our captain. There's no need to put your trust in a human that might betray you for a bag of gold. It might take us a little longer to get you home, but at least you won't have to question our loyalty."

Spinel listened silently, not surprised by the offer, but surprised that she was so reluctant to take it. The choice should have been easy. Between a human and her own kind, it shouldn't have been a question who she could trust more. Still, Steven had done nothing to make her think he would betray her. He'd been kind. Too kind. Honestly, it reminded Spinel of how she used to be.
"...I said I would accept your help when it came to offering a Gem, but…Steven made himself a criminal to help me. Leaving him alone now…would mean leaving him to face the consequences alone as well. It doesn't seem right to-"

"—no need to say more," the right Rutile twin interrupted with a small smile. "Our Captain just wanted to make sure that you two had all your options. Your Human is being offered a way back home as we speak. He'll either take our Captains offer, return to his human life, or he'll agree to a binding spell."

Spinel felt her heart sink to her stomach. "A binding spell? Why go so far?!"

"You think we would allow him to see all this and just let him go? Even if he takes the gold and goes home, we have a plan for that too."

Spinel wasn't sure how to feel all of a sudden. If Steven took the chance to go home like he should have, she'd feel like a fool for saying she'd stay with him. If he ended up agreeing to take part in a binding spell, she'd want to hit him for being so stupid. "Is your Captain going to explain what that kind of contract can do? Because Steven might actually agree to something like that without knowing—"

"—he explained it all, don't worry," breathed Steven as he entered the tent. His face was flushed and dark circles plagued his tired eyes.

The moment she saw his haggard appearance, Spinel flared up, nearly spilling over the small pool as she leaned at the edge. "What did you do," demanded Spinel, an awful mix of emotion surging inside her heart. A part of her was relieved that Steven had decided to stay with her, but she was angry he would choose to do something like this. This man was too kind for his own good.
"You—you had a chance to go home and yet you bound yourself by contract with terms made by people you don't know?! Why are you such an—"

"—yeah, I know, I'm an idiot…" sighed Steven with a tired smile. "…could you maybe yell at me about it after I take a nap? I'm a little tired…"

The Rutile twins seemed satisfied with how things had played out. They stood and helped Steven stagger to the blankets that were set up in the tent for him. Once he was lying on the blankets, she left a small bag beside him and turned for the door. "There are some sweets in that bag. You'll need the sugar with all the blood you've lost. …if it means anything…we think you made the right choice," said Rutile before leaving the tent so that Steven could rest.

Spinel stared helplessly at Steven as he did his best to breathe evenly, clearly uncomfortable. Was he in pain? She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and instead, lifted herself from the pool, swinging her tail over the side.

Steven glanced over while Spinel slowly scooted herself to his bedside.
"What are you doing?" he asked quietly, making an attempt to sit up, only to be pushed back down as Spinel pressed her hand against his chest.

"Just lay down," she insisted, looking him over for a moment before she grabbed the small bag Rutile had left and pulled out some of the chocolate inside. "Here…" she offered, holding the treat next to his mouth.

No matter how exhausted he was, Steven couldn't help feeling nervous, his cheeks flushing as Spinel offered to feed him. "You don-"

"—just open your mouth," demanded Spinel with a blush. It was humiliating enough without him mentioning it.

Still rather shocked she even offered this, he did as he was told and Spinel placed the piece of chocolate into his mouth.
"…you didn't have to go so far," she began while Steven ate. "...it must have hurt. …and look at you, you're completely exhausted."

"It's not as bad as it looks. I'm just tired," replied Steven as Spinel slipped another piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"They went overboard," she commented bitterly. "A binding spell doesn't require enough blood to make you like this. That Captain clearly took more than they needed, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when I see him again."

Steven shook his head, "you shouldn't say anything. They haven't given you your Gem yet. …we still need their help. Besides, I'm a fast healer, remember?"

Even now, Steven was being too kind for his own good. It only served to make Spinel angrier at the Captain for so blatantly taking advantage of his good nature. Why was he like this? Why was he willing to go so far for someone like her? Was it simply because she was a mermaid? Would he do all this if she were just another human girl?
"…when you feel up to it, you'll tell me the terms of the contract, won't you?"

Steven nodded his head slowly, feeling a little guilty that he had worried her like this. However, it was necessary if he wanted the Off Colors to help her and still allow him to stick with her. It's not like he didn't understand. Mermaids were in danger every day, of course they had to be careful who they trusted. Giving up a little blood was a small price to offer them peace of mind. Though he couldn't call his motives completely selfless. He could have parted ways with Spinel here and she would probably be just fine with the Off Colors, surrounded by her own kind until she got back into the ocean water, but he wasn't ready to say goodbye just yet.

Spinel watched as Steven drifted off, glad that he was breathing easier now and seemed able to rest comfortably. With a sigh, she reached over and pulled a loose blanket over him to make sure he didn't get too cold. She still found his choices to be irrational and foolish, but she couldn't help smiling just a little. He had been given a pass to go home without consequences. He could have rid himself of all this trouble and gone back to his life. It's what he should have done. Anyone else would have. Yet he chose to stay with her. She shouldn't have been happy about it. It was selfish of her to want him to remain a criminal and abandon everything for her, so why did it make her heart swell beneath her chest?

Though it would have been more comfortable to go back into the little pool, Spinel decided to stay beside Steven. What if he woke up and needed something? He was feeling like this because of her after all, the least she could do is make sure he was alright. She hugged her tail to her chest once more; resting her head against the bend of it as she stared down at Steven's sleeping face.

As Spinel watched over Steven, Rutile was back in the Captains tent, also finding herself curious over the amount of blood that had been taken from Steven.

"Why did you need so much?" asked the right twin.

"Yeah, he looked like he was about to collapse when he came back to the tent," added the left.

"I need to look into something," Lars replied, "or rather; I need Peridot to look into something."

"You're gonna test it?" the twins asked together in surprise.

"That kid is different. I don't know how, but I don't think he's just another human. Either he's hiding something, or he doesn't know it himself. We need to know."

"…and you're basing this on the fact that he's strong and healed up quickly?" asked the right Rutile.

Lars nodded his head, "but there's more. Did you notice? I only caught it when he was lifting that Mermaid up from the chair earlier. …he doesn't have a bellybutton."

The twins looked at one another before glancing back at their Captain.
"What do you think that means?" asked the right twin with genuine curiosity.

"I have a few theories, but I'm not jumping to any conclusions until I know for sure. Once Peridot gets here, we'll know for sure whether or not that kid is what he says he is."