Let's Talk Then 3 - (Steven Universe, Counselor!MC)

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Amethyst was many things. A slob, a jerk, quite the prankster, but, beyond all of that, stood a very complex individual.

She knew many things, but it always paled before the knowledge and wisdom of her friends. She was the youngest Gem, and also the one that had known Rose Quartz the least.

So, when it comes to handling 'Baby Rose', or Steven, things had not been easy for her. One moment she tried to mimic how Greg used to be when he was younger, but even now that attitude was gone. Greg was not the same Greg she remembered from years ago and... Amethyst loved to copy people to skip on troublesome paths.

It was a habit, one that had worked well so many times. But even as she bowed her head to the notions proposed by both Pearl and Garnet, she couldn't help but feel the words from the last session with Dr. Cross, the feelings and the intensity, all stuck in her head. She couldn't get them out.

Heck, she even took a bit of a chore in apologizing to Steven for what happened with Lapis. Not much about being 'right', but because they could have handled this way better.

Thinking was usually a chore Amethyst left for after a mess. It was expected for either of her companions to do the 'planning', so it kind of caught her off-guard how bad they worked with that mess. Steven had reacted by instinct, which was fine in times of battle. But the boy had not been taught that it was bad when it comes to unknown stuff.

People lie. And Lapis had lied to him.

The issue was that Steven hadn't known that until it was too late. And Lapis had exploited his kindness and put him and the rest of his family at odds. Checking on the little buddy was a necessary thing and, while he understood why what he did was wrong, Amethyst apologized to him in return.

"We could have all handled this way better. We just snapped and all, and it got out of hand."

That was pretty much it - everyone was at fault in that case and, by admitting that, Amethyst felt a load better. Same for Steven. And the two went for some ice cream.

Still, the priority was to learn from this mistake. After all, Lapis didn't fully capitalize on Steven's weakness, but other Gems weren't going to be any kinder. So, she had planned to do something to teach Steven about it but... she had no clue on how to get that one going.

And she refused to check on Dr. Cross so soon.

Maybe she was overreacting. In fact, she had been thinking of this possibility a long time now, but it never felt as strongly as now.

As far as Amethyst knew, the Doc had not been trying to prod for info for nefarious reasons. That didn't mean she was as accepting of bringing up such a heavy topic to someone that she barely considered a friend. And yes, that was stupid of her. She had known him for more than just a few weeks now and they had been talking a lot. He knew stuff about hers and never ratted her out or stuff of the kind.

Still, the 'War' was a touchy subject. It meant bringing up info that wasn't hers to relay and she doubted it truly mattered to anything about her own personal flaws.

So... what to do?

She asked both Garnet and Pearl for help, but both were either busy or unsure themselves on the matter of testing Steven on his capacity to not be too trusting of everyone. Greg said she had to 'do this on her own', but Amethyst knew she had absolutely no idea in mind on how to get that to work on her own.

Hence why she was soon wandering Beach City, looking for people to talk to and... share her plight with. She ultimately stepped into Big Donut and looked for guidance in the only one that had enough common sense and coolness to give her some help.

"Heh, you know Mr. Cross? Kind of surprised that you even know about that guy?" Sadie Miller, one of the employee at the Big Donut, asked with surprise and confusion pending by her lips. "What are you doing in school, Amethyst?"

"Just heard he was good at talking and giving advice. So, I checked out once and kind of started to rely on his words. He is a good guy but... same for you?"

"Absolutely!" The blonde replied effortlessly. "Mr. Cross is one of the coolest guy at school. Even Lars likes him, and that says a lot."

...

"And?"

"And what?" Sadie asked back, frowning. "Wait, did you do something that actually made Mr. Cross angry? Because that would be impressive. And bad."

She flinched. "I-I didn't piss him off. I just got fussy about a topic and I am currently skipping on talking to him about stuff."

"You do you, but I will give you my opinion- talk to him if you feel he is your best bet."

"I mean, is he really that good? He is good at advices but-"

"Has he failed you yet?" Sadie interjected, which left Amethyst to hesitate for long enough for the short human to speak once more. "Look, you are cool and all, Amethyst. But Mr. Cross? You can talk to him. If you didn't piss him off, and I would be shocked you pulled that off, then you will have some smart ideas to work with."

This response left her very unsure on what to do. She was still 'angry' (or whatever the reluctance really was she didn't know), so was she supposed to say... sorry, or something like that?

"I guess I can... check on him today?"

"Today?" The young woman parroted with a frown. "Dude, it's Saturday. School's closed."

Amethyst's mouth formed a 'o', having forgotten that school was closed on weekeneds so... she had to wait for Monday?

"If that can't wait, I have his phone number. Kind of odd you don't have it on you since he usually has it in his business card whenever he speaks with students that may need to talk beyond school hours."

The business card- oh right... I trashed it, didn't I?

That was a bit embarrassing, but at least Sadie had a few of those on herself if 'some students trashed them'. How ironic.

Still, Amethyst couldn't muster herself to talk to him once she got home. She didn't want others to know about Dr. Cross. It wasn't like he was bad, or someone she was trying to keep away as a secret from others but...

It was embarrassing.

So, she waited and waited and...

"...Hello? Who is it?"

"Doc, it's Amethyst."

...

"Amethyst, it's midnight."

"Yeah, I know but... Like, I have a big question and I need help with something."

She heard a sigh from the other side.

"Sure, let's talk about it."

Despite still feeling embarrassed, Amethyst beamed and started to address her point, delighted to then have some stuff to work with and, deep down, kind of glad to hear his voice after so long - it's been a few days but...

She missed him. What about it?

AN

Therapy for Amethyst is quite addictive. Especially since it gives her that form of lasting happiness she hardly gets from more temporary reliefs like doing sports or pranking people.