Chapter Text
Steven made his final move, leading his amethyst right into Spinel's base. The holographic structure shook and crumbled before finally imploding for good. Thus ended their sixth game.
"HA! How do you like that?"
"No, no, nooo!" yelled Spinel pathetically, as she tried to hold together the holographic pile of dust that once was her base. "Ya destroyed Fort Awesome-times…"
Steven laughed at such overdramatic display. "That's right! I fucked you up, Spinel!"
There was a brief silence, followed by the sound of Steven slapping his mouth shut. Spinel gasped. The pebbles —whom had abandoned their nest to sit around them as spectators— gasped as well.
"Steven... Universe…" said a very shocked Spinel. The red on Steven's face intensified. "Oh, I am telling"
"Please don't use that word!"
"Too late! You used, that means I can use it too," Spinel crossed her arms, "It's da golden rule."
"It's the golden rule!" said one of the pebbles with great joy.
Steven's stomach dropped, for he knew what has coming…
"Fuck," said a pebble.
"Fuck!" repeated another.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" chanted the whole of them, as they made small jumps of joy.
Steven's embarrassment turned into a fit of giggles.
"Heh, ok, alright. I think I deserve that," he conceded, "but please, don't use it in front of the Diamonds. I don't think Homeworld is ready for that."
"Gotcha."
Spinel picked up a notebook and a pen from over the bed. There were also two glasses of water —the only beverage available in the room— on a table the pebbles had produced for them, right next to the bed. Steven picked the one that was his.
Steven's phone was also over the table, since Steven decided, a while ago, that they could use some jams. Goggles —the goggles pebble— was in charge of 'looking for fine tunes'. At the moment, he had settled for Steven's Arctic Monkeys playlist.
"Let us see now," Spinel licked her finger and passed the pages of the notebook, "I won the first two games. You won the next one, and then I won the next one to that one. And you have won the last two. So that leaves us at, um…" she scratched her head, "Yup, I reckon we are tied."
Steven chocked with his drink.
"What?!" he yelped, as he cleaned the water out of his chin. "Oh no. That cannot be. We have to untie this! Otherwise, how are we going to know who is the worst of the universe?"
"Exactly!"
Spinel let out a chuckle that was both embarrassing and cute at the same time. The soft music was soothing and, for the first time through the whole day, Steven could feel himself actually relax.
"You know, I am actually having fun," he said, earning himself a confused glance. "I mean real fun! It's so weird... I've always hated this game, but today I am living for it!"
Spinel gasped. "Golly gee! It's almost as if the gem made to entertain people actually knows a thing or two about fun."
"Heh, yeah I guess you do."
Spinel inflated her head twice its size. "I am sorry, couldn't hear ya. What was that again?"
"I said you were right."
"Louder. Louder!"
"I said you were right, Spinel!" shouted Steven, holding his hands like a megaphone.
Spinel punched his shoulder ever so slightly. "See? It wasn't so hard, was it champ?"
"Yeah... Thank you."
"Uh?" muttered Spinel, as her head went back to its usual size. "W-what for?"
"This," he signaled the mess that was the bed, with the board and the pebbles sitting in a circle around them. "All of this. I have been so stressed lately. The gems, the little homeschool, this mess with my powers which is only getting worse. All the stuff just… keeps piling up! It's nice to, you know, letting myself relax. And it was because of you, so, thanks."
A faint red painting Spinel's cheeks was the last reaction Steven expected. He had learnt that Spinel had two distinctive moods: ever-bouncing bubble of joy, and depressive pit of despair. He might have to add a third mood: bashful teenage girl.
"Anytime," muttered Spinel, playing with her hair like a schoolgirl.
Steven concealed his chuckles with his mouth.
Well, this beats her 'Barbie-girl, destroyer of worlds' mood by a mile, that's for sure, he thought.
He felt all tension leaving his shoulders. It was like a balm was being applied to him, searing an old wound in his heart and mind. Perhaps he hasn't gotten the answers he wanted, but he was sure he wasn't gonna see Spinel in her dreams anytime soon. And that was a victory.
"So uh…" Spinel cleared her throat, putting her shyness behind. "Let's begin the last round, shall we?"
She reached for the RESET button, but Steven's grabbed her hand.
"Wait. I got an idea, first," he said.
He reached for the table and grabbed his phone and put down Goggles back in his place. Arabella Was playing.
"Want to take a selfie?"
Spinel's made the face someone with a giant interrogation mark over their head might make. "A what-now?"
"A selfie! Its, um, well it's a photo of us, to remember this moment forever —or until we take one that makes us look cooler. And it's great because you can upload it to Facebook, Instagram... I'll have to send it to you first, but…"
Steven's brain caught what his mouth was saying.
"Except I can't, because you don't have a phone."
"You mean those little rectangles humans invented to do the thinking for them?" she asked. Steven nodded —she was not wrong—. "Why do I even need one?"
"Well… many gems in Homeworld have one now, that's a reason. And a lot of people on Earth. Also, they are great! They don't, like, think for you if you don't want to, but they can store your jams, you can take pics with them, surf the internet —if you are in a Wi-Fi zone— or connect to the Homeworld's net and keep in touch with your friends."
Steven flinched when he said that, for Spinel's aura —which has grown three sizes since they started playing— shrunk a little bit.
Right. Still a sore spot.
"Or, you know… you can hook into the Diamond's channel and we could be in touch while I am on Earth."
Spinel's aura made a slight jump, as did the real Spinel. Steven hold the board in place, fearing it would fall of the bed and break.
She landed on the mattress, making it go wobbly for a second. "Really?" she shouted. "Like, really, really?"
Steven nodded. She sat back in position, blushing once again.
"Yeah I-I would love t-that. Thank you."
Steven smiled, despite the tingle in his heart and gem. Keeping in touch with her was the right thing; he knew that. With more time to interact, he can earn her confidence and ease her into opening out about everything. Pink, the Diamonds, Val…
It's kinda shifty to think about her like that, but I gotta look at the bigger picture… Besides, I do like Spinel! I mean, just because I can get something out of this friendship doesn't mind it's not real. Right?
He smacked himself at how stupid he sounded. Even the fact he was doubting himself was dumb; there was no time for doubt in his life. Stupid, stupid Steven…
He noticed Spinel was staring at him, so he smiled as if he hasn't just smacked his skull in front of her.
"Sorry, there is a... fly around here," he lied. "Anyway, I'll get you a phone, if you really want one."
Spinel looked like she was about to say something, but she just smiled and said: "Swell."
"Great! It's decided then. But first, the selfie."
He crawled over the bed, around the Empire's board, with care as to not turn any pebble into mush. He sat leg-crossed next to Spinel and opened his arm to her. She leaned against him, shyly.
"Alright, now we sat like that, together. A bit closer… There! Don't move. Now you gotta smile and say 'cheese'"
"Why do we have to say that?"
"Nobody know, but you gotta, or the photo isn't gonna look nice. I think the French invented that."
"Ohh, alright."
Steven snickered. No harm done in getting a bit of fun at her expense.
Spinel did as she was told and smiled as if she had never smiled before —and knowing her story, it wasn't to far from the truth. Steven tried to measure to her happiness.
"Alright, ready? Three, two, one…"
"Cheese!" they said as the flash blinded them.
Steven rubbed his eyes as Spinel moved her head back and forth while her eyesight slowly came back.
"Oh boy, you should file that as a war weapon."
"Hehe, yeah, it's a good camera," Steven dried the tears from his eyes, "Let's see the photo."
He pressed a button and the photo appeared before them. It was a good one, maybe a bit forced. The kind of photo you take when you decide 'hey, let's take a photo' instead of just, like, take one.
Spinel was enthralled by it, however. She has never seen a picture of herself before, and she loved it! She looked so happy and calm; miles better than what she thought she looked.
Wish she could say the same about Steven, whose expression was deep down into dread territory.
"5:45?!" he shouted, as he broke from Spinel's embrace. "It's that really the time on Earth? Shit."
Steven stood up quickly, ignoring the pebbles still hanging to his clothes. How could have time fly so fast? They must be ridiculously worried back at Earth. He checked for lost calls. There were none.
That only raised his brain alarm to a curious 4 to an Earth-shattering 9.
"Gotta go" Steven proclaimed.
He paced around the room, collecting his stuff, chewing himself all the way.
"Shit, shit, shit…"
"Uh, Steven?"
"No Spinel, you can't use that word either."
"That's not what I was gonna said. I just wanted to know if you are fine."
"No, I am not fine. Look at the time! The gems must be worried sick about me and I have been wasting my whole day here!"
"Oh," said Spinel with a pinch of pain.
Steven stopped walking. She looked like a puppy that has just been kicked; and he was the puppy-kicker. The familiar guilt went through his spine, as did the knowledge that he didn't have time for this.
"Well, but It wasn't a huge waste, right?" said Spinel, "I mean, you said it yourself. Sometimes it's good to relax."
Steven bit his inner cheek. "Yes, I said that. But not if I have to reschedule the stuff I had to do and leave it to my friends to take care of it," he replied. "Did you know I had to book everything to Pearl and the other gems while I am here?"
"So what? You don't think Pearl can look over the fort while you are gone?"
"No, I-"
"I mean, she was always task-oriented as far as I recall, so she must be totally fine."
Steven scratched his head with violence. The sudden pain felt right.
"That's NOT the point," he said. "Little Homeschool was my idea. I should be there to take care of it."
Spinel sat uncomfortable on bed; her head was tilted like a student who was just not getting it.
"Ya losing me, Steven, cause as far I remember, you…" her stretched hand pointed at Steven's chest, "Had given up on going home 'till morrow, right?"
"Y-yes, but-"
"And you booked it all on the gems. And they are, like, three! Four, if ya split the fusion apart. I don't really see what's eating ya."
Steven hid his face in his hand and let out a single, charged exhalation.
"Forget it, you don't understand."
"Oh, I don't understand?" shouted Spinel, but Steven paid her no mind.
He grabbed his jacket from the nest the pebbles had made. He put all his stuff in his pockets and, once he was ready, he made a move towards the door. And he was swiftly blocked by Spinel, jumping into his line of sight.
"Well excuse me, mistah 'Space Prince'," said Spinel with a perverse giggle, "Maybe I am too stupid to understand your grand, ulterior motives. Because from where I'm standing, you were having the time of yer life a second ago, and now you are shifting back to being a train wreck! It’s almost as if you enjoy feeling like compressed garbage."
Steven closed his eyes tight. The world around him had become too loud, too lighted, too much; the anger was rising up his chest and the light in his gem was burning him.
"My stress is not on question here," said Steven, slowly, "that's not the point."
Spinel grew twice in size. "Then what IS da point?!"
"The point is that I NEED to be there! I NEED to make sure everything is done right! I NEED to supervise everything, to control that every gem is getting along, to see if they are adapting to their jobs and to the humans. And if something goes wrong —and oh, you better believe something's gonna go wrong at some point—, I need to be there to fix it."
He took a deep breath and shouted, almost cried. "Because that's my life, Spinel! Fixing stuff that's broken, which seems to be everything in the universe! I can't drop all of that on the gems. It's my responsibility. That's why I don't take days off, that's why I don't relax, and that's why I don't have time to spare playing games here with you!"
Once Steven ran out of air, he stopped talking. Two things came to his mind at the same time. One, Spinel was shaking; her aura spinning wildly out of control, a symptom of her going down a spiral.
And two, that the world was looking way too pink.
The truth hit him like a gut punch. He shook his head, breathed out and clenched his teeth so hard it hurt. The light receded into his gem and his hue went back to normal. The harm was done, though.
"Spinel…" he breathed to the shaking gem in front of him. He was tired, so tired, and she wasn't at fault this time. "I-I am sorry Spinel, I lost it. I-it's what I told you about my powers, they are out of control! But I-I shouldn't have said all that stuff. I have a lot on my shoulders, but I do enjoy playing with you."
Steven reached for her. If he could touch her, hold her, if she could cry on his shoulder, things would be alright. But he only held the air, as Spinel shrank from his reach. She hugged herself, eyes glued on the floor. It was a very specific gesture… Fear of being harmed. Which was the last thing Steven wanted. Even if she drove him insane sometimes, that wasn't him!
But she believes I am going to hurt her. I won't but… she thinks I will. Fuck, what difference does it make? I might as well have stabbed her in the back already.
Another thing he —not his mom— had done wrong. And the list was getting long.
"Spinel, I-"
"It's ok," she cried. When she looked up to him, Steven saw tiny drops on her eyes. "I am used to it. And, heh, at least y… at least you told it to my face, that's good."
The implication of that phrase made Steven sick, and he had to make an effort to not throw up right there.
"I should go," he rushed to say, "I'm sorry I made you upset."
His hands found his pockets. Only then Steven noticed his phone was missing. He looked back and saw it on the bed; discarded from where they had took the selfie. Do I wanna know? Was playing now.
He grabbed his phone and turned off the music. When he turned around, he was stopped once again by Spinel's hand. Her arm was long stretched as her body was still near the door.
"Wait," she said and closed the gap between them in one single long leap.
She extended her other arm and pressed the button on the controller. The yellow base and pieces respawned, good as new and ready for war again.
"Let's do one more game," she said with a faint smile, "for all the glory."
"Spinel, I don't think that's a good-"
She rose up one silencing finger.
"One turn, one question, one answer," she proceeded. Steven's eyes opened wide. "That's right. No games, no tricks, no may-bes. Ya wanted answers and ya are going to get them."
"In fact, I'll double the bet," she added. "If I won, we play 'Spinel says', and we have to do whatever I want," she grabbed Steven's hand. Her hold was very weak. "You will stay here 'till morrow. We can play, we can talk —about anythin' that is not Her. And you will spend more quality time with the D's."
"And if I win?"
"Then we play 'Steven says', and you can do…" she bit her lip, "whatever ya want... Stay or leave; your call. In fact, I'll cover you up with the D's. What do you say?"
Steven stare intensified; even with his normal eyes, Spinel felt like he was drilling holes into her being.
Quite appropriate feeling, since Steven was staring at her aura. There were a lot of conflicting emotions in her, but he couldn't see 'deceit'. That didn't mean she wasn't plotting something; his Aura Seeing revealed the gem's emotions, not their motives. Just because Spinel didn't feel 'deceitful' didn't mean she wasn't up to something.
Maybe this is Spinel's way to open up? 'Hey! Wanna play a game of Empire and ask me super uncomfortable questions that I couldn't answer on my own?'
Steven nodded at that logic. All gems, even those that love their newfound freedom, are still tied to their old roles. Like a computer programmed to do deep arithmetic being used to play The Sims. Spinel was made to play games, so she picked one in which she had no choice but to tell the truth.
One has to wonder what 'game' she was playing when she tried to poison the Earth.
"Come oooon, Universe," Spinel's grasp around Steven's hand tightened, "what do you have to loose? You have a fifty-fifty chance of winning and having it your way. And even if ya loose, you still got yer answers. I'm basically giving ya all the cards here."
Steven bit his lips. Another bad choice was coming…
He let go of Spinel's hand and sat back on his side. He pressed the button and summoned his units.
"Let's do it."
'Tactical War Simulator', commonly called 'Empire' in Era 3, was essentially chess with a bigger headache.
You have a base with five pillars, representing its hitpoints. To win, you have to reduce your enemy base's hitpoints to zero. For this purpose you have an army of quartz soldiers of different classes, each one with their own movement speed and attack power.
Now, Steven and Spinel were at the same skill level. They both sucked. Which, going back to it, must be the reason why he's been having so much fun. Whenever he played with Yellow Diamond, it felt like a lesson in war and strategy. Playing with Blondie was not much different. He had even played with Pearl and Connie on Earth a while ago, but he didn't have fun those times neither. Bad winners, both of them.
With Spinel, he felt like he was playing an actual game.
The stakes, however, were higher now. Empire's matches could last a dozen turns or just a few, so Steven will have to make every question count.
"I'll start," said Steven.
"Whatever," said Spinel.
Steven moved his first amethyst one square forward.
"Were you aware of my mom's powers and what happened to her pearl?"
"Mm… those are two questions in one…" said Spinel, "but I'll allow it. Yep, I was."
"How-"
"Ap-pap-pap," Spinel put her hand right in front of his face, "One turn, one question, one answer. You used your turn and now its mine."
She raised her finger and kept it in the air for a second, and then she pressed a button. One of her citrines moved forward.
"You didn't plan on staying here, right? No matter what I did."
"You can ask me stuff too?"
"Just answer the question."
Steven tapped his finger against the controller pillar. No point in lying now.
"I was gonna stay for dinner, then I was gonna text Pearl to call me with a lie that there was an emergency," Steven's voice became smaller as he spoke. "I am sorry."
"It’s cool. I already imagined it."
The game moved forward, and with each turn, so did the questions.
"Alright, tell me what you know about Pink Diamond's powers. And please, don't be afraid to use details," said Steven.
"Okay, okay, don't get ya panties into a knot," said Spinel. "Let's see… she was pretty destructive our girl; her screams could shatter walls, her stomps could break concrete and make kilometrical cracks on Homeworld, and yes, when she was super depressed and cried, the ground where the tears felt on would wither and turn into dust."
She shrugged. "You live one day, you are dead the other. That's just it for organics. Yer turn."
"Mm? Oh, right, right… So l-lets go back to that because I thought her killing touch was a… defect or a secret evil superpower. Her tears were supposed to heal."
"Woah there, vaquero. You are going waaay forward in time. Yea, she learned how to heal —somehow—, but it wasn't always like that. Back in the day, her tears were weaponized by the D's and released against harmless garden planets."
"T-that can't be true!"
"Oh, but it is. Were didja thought I found the Bio-Poison? Pink found a way to replicate the formula so she wouldn't have to cry every time the D's wanted to 'clean slate' a planet… Are, uh, are ya alright? You're lookin' a tad… jelly."
One look confirmed to Steven that, yes, his hand were shaking.
Sure, I am fine, just another pile of my family's stinking sins got dropped on my shoulders. Nothing to worry about.
"I'm okay," he lied and drew his attention to the board.
Suddenly, having his carnelian soldiers fighting Spinel's amethyst army felt offensive. Still, he moved another piece forward, initiating his attack.
"So, since we are at that topic already, where did you found the Bio-Poison?"
"An ol' Diamond's weapons storehouse. I went there once with ya mama. They had lotta 'fun' gizmos there, like my rejuvenator! It's also where they stored the 'killing juice', which is what I really wanted... The D's must had run out of it at some point, thought, cause there was barely 'nuff to fill my injector."
"A-ha. What about your injector then? Where did you found it?"
"It's mine," they were quiet for a while, "What? It is! Is the one they used to make me, so I reckon that makes it mine."
"Are you serious?"
"Yea! Didn't ya notice the giant heart-shaped spinel at the top?"
"Not really. I was distracted staring at the abyss you had me hanging above."
Spinel's hair frizzled. "Heh, yeah… good times."
Her finger played with the contour of the controller. Her pieces were advancing nicely into Steven's territory. She pressed the button to advance her assault.
"Do you still hate me for trying to kill you?" she asked.
"No."
They were quiet for a while. Even the pebbles, always so happy and cheery, were sharing silent glances. They were now sitting in hand-made bleachers, resting atop a small platform in a hole in the wall.
"Ok, fine!" shouted Steven, finally. "I'm conflicted."
"Oh."
Steven stretched the skin of his face. "Please, try to understand. I was in so. Much. Stress. Do you know what it's like to dismantle an empire? To tell thousands of planets, 'hey, guess what, you don't have to follow the Diamonds anymore and you can be free'."
"Free," repeated Spinel. "I imagine most folks didn't take the news well."
"No, they didn't."
For a moment, Steven wasn't there anymore. He was at the fields of Saurus 10, in the middle of the battlefield between the fanatic loyalist and the modern rebels, trying to convince both bands to give peace a chance. But they wouldn't listen.
His hand gripped the sheet; he felt the softness of the fabric, each one of the delicate strands that made it, and held on that feeling to stay grounded on reality.
"My point is that y-you tried to destroy my planet. The only safe place I had in the universe," said Steven. "You tried to kill my friends."
Spinel hugged herself. She was shaking, as was her aura. It was twisting around itself, turning into something horrible and unrecognizable.
"But…" said Steven with a long sigh, "I don't hate you."
"But ya haven't forgiven me either."
Steven wanted to say that he was close to; at least it felt that way not long ago.
"It's pretty hard to forgive someone whose last time you saw was laughing as she was about to kill you," he said.
"Then why didn't you come 'till now?"
Steven didn't answer, mostly because he didn't have one single reason. He was busy on Earth, and he trusted the Diamonds were doing alright on their own. And they were! And that was the most upsetting thing.
A part of him liked that they had missed him so much. He liked to be wanted, to be needed. And that feeling was so repulsive he had to hit his knee several times to drown it down. By the change in Spinel's aura, she definitely noticed what he was doing.
"Fine, keep ya secrets. I don't even care," she said finally. Steven breathed out in relief. "Your turn now. Got any more questions?"
"Mmm… Let's go back to my mom's powers," he said. "Could she get into other's people's minds? Possess them? Move at the speed of sound? You said she could glow with energy but could she release it-?"
"Woah, woah! I ain't a peridot to count, but that sounded like more than one question."
"They are all part of the same question."
Spinel tapped her gemstone rhythmically. "Fair 'nuff," she sighed. "You already got some stuff right. Her super strength and speed were there. I had no idea 'bout the 'mind control powers' you just said she had. She never used them on me…"
She stopped, as if waiting the answer of an unspoken question.
"Anyway… I did know about the light stuff, but I only saw it once. I was in the garden, pruning the trees, waiting for her —as I usually did,” Spinel spat that last part. "And she came back made a fury; a whole hurricane was spinning around her. It almost blew me away! I tried to reach to her, but she ordered me to hide, so I took cover behind a wall and then…"
Spinel closed and opened her fists very fast. "A flash and a BOOM! When everything stopped being so blinding white, I came out of my hiding hole. The whole garden was in ashes."
Steven covered his mouth but Spinel laughed.
"Sorry it’s just… You should have seen how MAD Yellow was! I thought they were gonna change her name to Red. And s-she threatened ya mom. She said 'if you don't start behaving we'll just take your Spinel away'" she said in a perfect mock up of Yellow's voice. "And Pink stepped forward and begged her not to. 'Please, don't do that! I can change! I will change! I promise! Just don't… don't take her away'."
Spinel kept smiling, but there was no emotion behind her grin.
"She stood up for me. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me until… you."
She looked at Steven with… Hope? Ah, that's it. She was trying to reach out to him. Steven extended his hand and Spinel took it, with no little hesitation.
After a while, Steven felt confident enough to let go of her hand and make his move on the board.
"And… how did she do it?" he asked.
"Did what?"
"Change. How did she go from destroyer to healer?"
"I don't know... Don't give me that sassy look, I don't!" Spinel showed her empty hands. "Look. Ya mama was a slick one. And ol' me didn't have a care 'bout her secrets. All I know is that one day, she came to the garden all jumpy and bumpy and crazy and showed me a pot of dirt. Then she cried into it and…"
She made a POP noise.
"A sprout came out. Since then, she was calmer… Gentler. And if she got mad at Yellow and Blue, she would cry all over the plants in the garden. And boy she got mad a lot."
"And she never told you how she learnt to give life?"
"She mentioned a lab once or twice… I don't really remember. She never took me there, so I never asked. That's all I have, chap. Sorry."
Steven took a moment to take all that information in. Then he took a moment to groan and fall back over the mattress. So his mom did find a way to control her powers and use them to heal, instead of destroy… But a lab? Where could that even be?
Maybe the vanity where I found the pebbles? No, I went there many times, and the only thing there is her diary and some old drawings… Which means this is another mystery of her I have to solve. Why is that whenever I took one step forward I also have to take two back?
Steven hid his face under the pillow and groaned. He stood quiet, waiting for his head to stop pounding. He went out from under his pillow cave when he felt a hand picking his chest.
"Hey there… How are you holding up?" said Spinel. She had stretched her neck to peck over him, while her body was still on the other side of the bed.
"I'm fine," Steven said as he sat up. "I'm just tired of my mom's secrets, that's all. But that's not your fault. Thanks for answering my questions… I understand it must have been difficult."
Spinel smiled and shrugged, but said no word on the contrary.
"You up to, er… finish our game?"
Steven buffed. Yea… why not? It’s not like there was much else to do. Spinel's aggressive strategy had earned her a lot of ground and had cost Steven most of his units. He only had a few amethysts and a carnelian; all packed together like deer against a wall. He could try to outmaneuver Spinel's soldiers… but becoming 'the worst in the universe' was not worth it. Steven was sure he already earned that title.
If he was going to loose soon, though, he might as well make his last questions count.
He pressed a button moved his carnelian to the side, directly into Spinel amethysts' range of attack.
"So… how are you doing?" he asked.
"Oooh, we hittin' close and personal now, uh?" Spinel laughed; her aura was somewhat brighter now. "I am fine. How's the ol' Fam doing?"
"Fam? Oh, you mean my family? They are ok. Busy, like I told you. Little Homeworld requires a lot of supervision… Are the Diamond's treating you right?"
"Heck yea! They are great. I mean, they are they, ya know. But they treat me alright. Blue loves my jokes, but Yellow is more partial to my physical comedy. White is a harder nut to crack, but I'm getting hotter… How's Earth doing? Is it-"
"It healed. We healed it completely, if that was worrying you…"
By the long exhalation Spinel took, that was definitely the case.
"What I meant about the Diamonds is if they are being, I don't know, nice to you? Back there, you seemed a little tense," said Steven.
"Nah, that's just… that was just me being a weirdo. They are fine. I'm fine."
"Mm… they made you live here though. Do you like it?"
Spinel was quiet before she moved another one of her jaspers. She was getting closer to Steven's base.
"What choice do I have?" she said. "They gave this room specifically to me. I can't just... give it back."
"Of course you can," said Steven slowly, as if explaining the ABC to a kid. A 6000 years old Immortal alien kid. "You can live whenever you want."
"Pss, ya just want the room for yourself."
"Stop that. I said you can keep it, remember? I don't even live here anymore."
"Yeah… must be rough, uh? Being so busy, having so many gems want to be around you-"
"Of course it's tough! All of the gems that were left with nothing to do come to Earth to get a life. They come to me! It's a hell lot of work!"
They were silent for a while. There were a few moves left, two for each one of them.
Steven moved his carnelian back. "You could move in with the pearls."
"HA!" laughed Spinel, "Good one."
"Explain to me why not?"
"They just don't like me, ok?"
"Why? Did they told you anything or-"
"No! It's… I know they don't like me, that's all."
Steven looked at the board. He was up to his final white piece. His base was surrounded by Spinel's yellow pieces. It was inevitable. With nothing else to do, he moved his last amethyst forward.
"Is it because you stole Blondie's board?"
Spinel's aura jumped, as did Spinel herself. She had a deer in headlights look.
"I… I didn't… how do you-?"
"I picked up some clues," explained Steven. "First of, the colors: each Diamond —and their pearls— have Empire boards with their colors, and they always play against white pieces —except White, of course, who plays against pink pieces. If this board were yours, the pieces would be pink and white, not white and yellow. Second… look at the state of this thing! The buttons on my controllers are a bit wonky and the color faded a while ago; also, it made those horrible clanking noises when you opened it. Its super old, but Blondie is very attached to it cause it's the first thing she ever owned, a gift from Yellow herself; and I remember cause we used to play with it when I lived here. And if it's really Blondie's, she wouldn't have given it to you willingly. She would have gifted you a new one. Like I said, she is very attached to this piece of junk."
Spinel's jaw dropped, and dropped; until it was so stretched it hit the bed, tongue out and all.
"Also, you sold yourself with that reaction."
The pebbles around them clapped and cheered. Spinel picked her under chin and put it back in place with a loud biting sound.
"So…" said Steven, "care to explain?"
Spinel's lips were tight shut, quite literally, as if she was afraid she would say something wrong if she opened her mouth. She pressed the button on her controller and made her final move. Her jasper went right inside Steven's base; that's a 5 hitpoints attack.
The white base shook and crumbled into holographic dust, as light shined on Spinel's side, declaring her the winner.
"Heh, would you look at that. I believe I won," she said as she scratched her neck. "What do you say we take five and go get some fresh air?"
Steven crossed his arms. "You didn't answer my question."
"Golly, I would love to, Stevie… buuut ya lose the game, which means we are playing Spinel's says now."
She pressed the button on the side of the board; there were CLANKS and SHIFTS as the many layers juxtaposed one over the other, turning the board back to its original diamond shape.
"And Spinel says the ask department is close. Come back in the morrow."
She picked the board and stood up. A gust of wind, all too familiar and intimidating, hit her in the face. When she dared to look, Steven was holding her by the wrist. She held the board closer to her chest.
"Spinel, you can't just steal stuff from others people. That's wrong! Do you know that?"
Spinel hissed. "Yea Steven, I know stealing its wrong. Thanks for assuming I am dumb."
"Assuming you- I am not doing that at all! I am just trying to understand."
Spinel was looking anywhere but at him. Her aura was stuck in a growing and shrinking loop —which meant she was frantically thinking.
"I-I don't know why I did it, ok?" she said, defeated. "I just wanted to play b-but not with Blondie. And one day, I was taking a walk around Yellow's palace, saw her room, open door and empty, saw the board on the table and…"
She showed her hand with the object, as if her illogical logic was somewhat logical.
It wasn't.
"In any case, I was gonna slid it back in her room whenever she is out."
Steven felt Spinel shifting her form under his hand and saw her shrinked hand and arm slither free from his grasp in a snake-like motion. She then blew into her finger, enlarging her hand back in shape.
"Besides, if it were so important to her, she would have noticed it was lost ages ago."
Ok, now Steven was seeing pink. For once, he didn't understand why Spinel was acting like this was not a big deal, especially since she KNOWS stealing is wrong. On the other, he really didn't want her to get in trouble. Not with the Diamonds, and definitely not with Blondie.
Despite his good sense, he was forced to see the bigger picture again.
"Fine," he said. "If you return it, we'll leave this whole thing between you and me, and we won't talk about it. Deal?"
Spinel snapped her fingers. "Deal."
"Great. Let's go."
Steven grabbed the board and moved towards the door, but he was yanked so swiftly he felt to the ground.
"Woah, there! Where do you think yer goin' now?"
"Uh, to return the board? Blondie must be with Yellow now, if she is not still on Earth. We can go there and come back and no one will know."
They were both joined by the board, which both of them were holding onto like their lives depended on it. Steven stood up and tugged to his side. Spinel, naturally, tugged to her own.
"Nop. Not going now."
"Wha-Why the hell no?"
"Cause… I don't know! I don't want to do it now, and that's it."
She yanked the board harder, walking circles around Steven, but his massive strength meant the board didn't left his hands. It was like dog chained to a tree, trying desperately to break free, only to grow dizzier and madder by the second.
"Why… are you being… so difficult," shouted Steven as he made circles in his spot, following Spinel frenzied struggle.
He felt stupid. It was stupid, the whole thing. He could hear an invisible crowd laughing madly at this sitcom gag —or maybe it was the pebbles, he wasn't sure. But Hell was he going to let her get it her way!
"You. Are being. Difficult!" she stood her ground, enlarging her hands to a gigantic size and picking the board with two fingers. "I told you I would return it later! You don't have to supervise me like I am some sort of dumb. Stupid. Gem!"
In an effort to get a better leverage, she put her weight on one foot and raised the other high. Specifically, up to Steven's face. It landed on his cheek, dusting him with dirt. He growled as his hue turned pink.
"Ugh, FINE!"
Steven shoved her. Or, that's what he wanted to do. Shove her, push her away, and make a little space to breathe between them because she was being suffocating right now.
What he did, however, was punch her in the gut. The strength of his Diamond heritage, mixed with the energy of his gem, was enough to launch Spinel flying across the room and crashing hard against the pink marble wall with such a raw force a long crack grew all the way to the roof. Several pieces of wall fell down around her inert body.
Steven's normal hue came back as what he has done sank into him.
"Oh my gosh!" he gasped out loud and ran to the hole.
He moved aside the loose pieces of wall and debris, until Spinel came into view. She seemed fine, just knocked out. Steven grabbed her by the shoulders and helped her sat against the wall —or what was left of it.
"Spinel… Spinel look at me," he pleaded. Spinel opened her eyes. "I am so sorry! A-are you alright?"
"Ugh… yeah?"
"You sure?"
Spinel cracked her neck and tried to focus her head; it took holding it with both hands to make the world stop spinning.
"Yeah just… ugh… my head. I could have sworn I was face planted by Yellow," she stretched her back, hearing it crack. "Gee-louse! Take it softer on a gem next time, soldier."
Steven relaxed. If she can afford to be witty, she must be fine. He put a hand on his chest, listening to his racing heart as it slowed down its march.
CRACK.
And now it was beating like a horse again.
Steven looked at Spinel for any crack; she touched her gem, but it was still in one piece. A flash of light caught their attention; it came from under a long piece of fallen wall, along with a horrible chirping noise. They moved together the debris and found the source of such scandal.
The board was hardly in one piece anymore; the cables and circuits were exposed, right in the middle were it had been broke in half. Its surface was glowing and fading, drawing strange forms in the air, trying to summon the holograms as it was programmed to, but completely incapable of keeping the pieces in shape.
Steven covered his mouth as not to yelp. Spinel lost herself to the panic.
"No… no, no!" she tried to pick up the object, but once she got a hold on one half, the other would fall back, and so on; like the film of a broken tape.
She pressed the button to open it many times, only to receive a painful BIP in response. The internal circuits went crazy, sending sparks flying around and releasing such a heat Spinel would have been burnt if she were human. The machine glowed one last time, in a final attempt to summon the pieces, which evaporated in the air when the internal battery gave its last breath and died. The board went dark and silent.
Steven covered his face to the horror. Blondie's precious possession was now nothing more than several metal plates and circuits loosely held together.
Spinel dropped the useless thing on the ground with a loud CLANK. Nobody spoke. Even the pebbles said nothing as they watched the whole scene unfold.
There was no beating around the bush; Steven has fucked it up.
"Spinel…" he tried; his voice merely a whisper.
The gem said nothing. She was lost to the world and her aura was small and spinning, as she descended down a dark spiral.
"Spinel I- oh Stars… I am so sorry. B-but maybe, er… maybe we can fix it… Here, let me-"
BAM.
He heard the noise the fist made against his chin before he could react to the pain. The assault was so fast Steven's own self preservation instincts didn't kick in, and no shield appeared. He stopped rolling on the ground when his back hit the side of the bed. Pain coursed through his whole body as he laid face on the floor.
He tilted his head up to see Spinel; her fists the size of a bowling ball, glaring daggers at him. Her aura was spiky and shifting; that meant rage.
When Spinel met his gaze it hit what she had just done and, in a whim of panic, she positioned herself in four and used her legs as a spring, shooting herself like a bullet across the room. When she was about to hit the door, she extended her hand and pressed the button.
She landed outside the chamber, safe and sound, and ran away.
Steven wasted no time and followed her; he stepped into the hallway and saw Spinel's ponytails as she escaped.
"SPINEL!" he called to her.
She stopped to look at him and mutter something. An apology. Then she sprinted away; her shoes making a squeaky noise that echoed and faded the further away she went.
Steven didn't doubt; he closed the door and gave chase, following her into the deepest, most abandoned hallways of the Palace; his heart beating like crazy and his gut making leaps. The gem on his belly was burning.
Stars… I really messed up now.