Work Text:
This is probably a bad idea.
This is definitely a bad idea.
It’s all he can think, but it’s a little too late now. And when has something being a bad idea ever stopped him before, anyway?
“Try it,” he says, and Connie grins up at him with a light in her eyes. His shield rests gently in her hands, balanced perfectly on her palms, and she throws it up into the air a few times, catching it perfectly. “Wow, you’re good!”
“Are you surprised?” She asks, an eyebrow raised, and Steven feels a blush creep onto his cheeks.
“No! I’ve always known that you’re amazing.”
“I can’t believe I’ve never fought with your shield before,” she says, throwing it again, and this time she has to run a little to catch it, skidding to a halt with it in her arms.
“Stevonnie has,” Steven points out, and he smiles when she shakes her head.
“Doesn’t count. Stevonnie isn’t me.”
“Fair point.” He takes a few steps back, jogging backwards without looking behind him, and opens his arms wide. “Throw it!”
Connie obliges with a flick of her wrist, sending the shield flying through the air like a frisbee, and Steven jumps to catch it, floating back down and touching the ground with a soft thump.
“Show off,” Connie calls, and fakes offence when he sticks his tongue out in reply. She finds herself walking backwards, lengthening the distance between them until her feet touch the edge of the Sky Arena, and she glances over her shoulder at the drop below her. “Throw it back,” she yells, but he already has, and she watches helplessly as the shield flies over her head and goes tumbling through the clouds, a flash of pink that’s almost a blur. “What the hell was that throw supposed to be?”
“I thought you’d catch it!”
“I can’t fly, Steven!”
“My bad.”
She snorts, peering over the edge of the arena, squinting through the clouds. “It’s gone. You can just conjure another one though, right?”
“I could,” Steven says, and suddenly he’s by her side, eyes gleaming in a way that she recognises all too well. There’s an idea in his head, probably one stupid and ridiculous and perfectly Steven, and she glances over at him as he grins. “Or we could see if we can catch it.”
She registers his words for a second until something clicks in her head, and she stares at his grin and outstretched hand with wide eyes, a confused laugh escaping her. “You want us to jump off?”
“I can fly!”
“Well, yeah, but we’ve just established that I can’t, Steven.”
“Guess you’ll just have to hold onto me then,” he says, and Connie takes his hand with a roll of her eyes.
“Oh no, a situation of mortal danger with only you by my side? This has never happened before.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Steven says dryly, but the gleam in his eye shimmers with happiness, and he pulls her in with an arm wrapped securely around her waist. “You ready?”
“Born ready,” she says, and suddenly they’ve jumped, and they’re twisting in the air and free-falling through the clouds in a way that makes her stomach lurch and her head spin. It’s scary, it’s terrifying just for a second, the prospect of an unknown drop to an inevitable landing, and she swallows the scream in her throat. Her eyes water until a gust of air hits her and her head clears, and suddenly it’s amazing, it’s beautiful, and she cranes her neck to look at the view, the clouds whipping past her and her hair falling across her face and Steven’s arms around her, his eyes staring at her in a way that makes her melt just a little.
“Are you okay?” He calls, and with a quick scrunch of his face and a kick of his legs, they’ve slowed down, floating gently downwards with their arms wrapped around each other, a view stretched out below them that only they can see. A world kept hidden away that feels like it’s just for them, a place no one else can find.
“More than okay,” she says, her voice a little breathless, and she looks over at him with a smile that she can’t make go away. “This is beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“Can I fall?” She asks, and she knows that he understands.
“I’ll catch you,” he says.
“I know,” and she lets go of him, he lets go of her, and the terrifying feeling returns as she falls faster and faster and faster, but this time it’s exhilarating. It’s scary and peaceful, warm and cold, a mess of contradictions, and she shakes her head as the wind whips her hair across her face. Somewhere above her, she can still see Steven, a vague shape of pink and blue amongst the clouds, and she tears her gaze away from him and looks downwards, searching the air for something falling just as fast as she is.
And she sees it, a spinning circle of pink that’s suddenly in her hands, clutched to her chest, her arms hugging tightly as if it’s the most precious thing in the world. And really, it is, she supposes. It’s Steven, the embodiment of Steven’s magic, and she holds the shield as close to her as she can, screwing her eyes shut as she waits.
One.
Two.
Three.
She counts the seconds in her head, smiling. The longer it takes, the more she can tease him about being slow, playful words to draw a shy smile from him.
Four.
Five.
Six.
And then he’s there, one arm under her knees and one on her back, and she opens her eyes to grin up at him, the shield in her arms vanishing in a flash of light. “Six whole seconds, Universe.”
“It’ll be five next time,” he says, and the words come alongside the exact expression she’d been longing to see; a soft smile, a gentle blush, and eyes that look at her with so much love she almost can’t handle it all.
“Better make it four.”
“Three- no, two-”
“One,” she says, and kisses him. His arms tighten around her and he kisses back, a perfect mix of soft and passionate, and she smiles slightly against his lips. Another kiss, her arms slipped around his neck, and she notices that they aren’t falling anymore; they’re rising, they’re floating, they’re flying, and she’s so so so hopelessly in love. She has to say it, it’s building up inside of her. So she does, a soft whisper, her forehead pressed against his. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”