Chapter Text
It had been a few days since Steven’s little...episode.
That’s how Pearl talked about it. Just a little episode, nothing more. She was treating him like he was made out of glass these days. It was so frustrating. They had all come together and promised to help, just long enough to change him back.
The diamonds had left almost immediately; they had things to take care of on Homeworld.
Sure, Steven understood.
Connie had left shortly after, claiming that she said she needed to study.
Sure, Steven understood that as well. But that didn’t make it any less aggravating. He hadn’t even had a chance to properly talk to her since she’d- Since she’d rejected his proposal. He felt the despair welling back up in him. He focused on his breathing, running through some of the coping mechanisms his therapist had told him about during his first session the other day. Part of him thought Connie was avoiding him on purpose. She had never liked facing their problems. Not when her parents had freaked out about Alexandrite coming to dinner, and not now. You couldn’t always just get on a bus and escape.
-
Spinel faced the warp with some trepidation. She hadn’t really seen him since he’d come to ask the diamonds for help. They’d ushered her back home way too quickly after the incident. Still, she hadn’t been wasting her time on Homeworld. She’d flagged down one of the Peridots in the palace, and gotten her to help her study earth culture. Human culture was becoming pretty trendy amongst some homeworld gems. She’d spent the last few days studying, and was confident it would be enough. It’d definitely be enough to help him.
She stepped onto the warp, forcing herself to smile.
Showtime…
Ugh, the greenhouse. She hated gardens of all sorts these days. She made a quick exit, just in time to see Steven on his way to check who had warped in. “Steven!” She bowled him over in a hug, wrapping her arms around him a few times. “It’s so good to see ya again!”
“Spinel? What’re you doing here?” Steven didn’t really return the hug, but that was fine.
“I’m here ta move in! I figgred, this whole mess got started cuz ya didn’t have anyone ta talk to, right? An’ who better to talk to than me? I know all about vindictive thoughts, big time! So I can help ya with yers!” She helped him back to his feet, although she left one arm wrapped around one of his, and took his hand. Even now, she still needed a physical reminder that he was here with her, and he wasn’t leaving. She’d made some progress, but not nearly as much as she’d admit to Steven.
“Whoa, whoa, move in? Spinel, there’s no room in the Temple.” He tried to ignore her hold on him. “Besides, I thought you were happy with the diamonds.”
“Eh, they’re a little busy for me. ‘Sides, I’m totally fine now, yup! So I don’t gotta hang around em and bring em down anymore!” She had no idea that what she just said was an indicator that she was not fine. She wasn’t the most introspective gem. “I been studyin’ Earth stuff, so I’m totally ready for this! Whatcha wanna do first? Video games? Food? Oh! It’s morning, humans need to eat! Right! Let’s head in, and I’ll make you some breakfast!” She ran into the house, dragging Steven right along with her.
Hmm...She’d read something about sugar helping with human’s moods. She threw open the freezer. Let’s see...Toaster waffles. Those were sweet. Syrup. Whipped cream. “Spinel, do you...Want some help?” Steven knew better than to trust Gem’s cooking, really. Especially since he wasn’t sure if Spinel had ever actually eaten.
“Nnope! You just sit your butt on the couch and let Spinel take care of this, okay?” As she spoke, she rifled through the drawers, the hand that was holding him picking him up and depositing him on the couch, finally pulling away.
To his surprise, she mostly seemed to have a handle on things. Maybe Pink had liked to eat. She took...Something out of her gem, and sprinkled it all over. She'd come prepared. Oh! There was some strawberry syrup too! She made a whole stack of waffles, and frosted them with whipped cream, making a thin layer around the entire thing like a cake. She finished it off with a flourish, and some strawberry syrup. “Tadaaa!”
With far more enthusiasm than it warranted, Spinel set the breakfast down on the counter. Not quite a Together Breakfast, but close enough. Steven got up, taking a seat at the counter. It definitely did remind him of all the things he used to eat when he was younger. Steven used to eat toaster waffles basically all the time when the Gems were out, but it had been a while. They were still something of a guilty pleasure for him. It was a little sweet, but he wasn’t going to ignore Spinel’s effort. His therapist had told him to stop pushing away his support network. It looked like there were chunks of rock candy sprinkled all over it, and she'd drawn a strawberry syrup Spinel and Steven on the top, holding hands and smiling. He had to admit, it was pretty cute. Rock candy from a sweet rock. Spinel sat next to him, handing over a fork.
She’d never eaten before, but..Things were always more fun together, right? The pair began to dig in. Steven hadn't had anything so sweet in a while. So many clashing flavors! Spinel smacked her lips as she ate, a curious expression on her face. She chewed the waffles far more than such a soft food warranted, and swallowed. She tilted her head to the side, then the other one, like a confused puppy, trying to decide if she liked eating or not. "Hmmmmmmmm....." With that, she began almost literally shoveling the food into her mouth. If she was human, or even if she was a less stretchy gem, she probably would've choked. "Betta hurry, Steven!" She said between bites of the confection, "Or you won't get any!"
She was clearly trying to goad him into making a game of it, but he did need to eat. He let himself get drawn into it, fighting her for waffle-dominance. Their forks clashed! Spinel consciously avoided mussing up her little drawing, but Steven went straight for it, tearing off both strawberry doodle's heads. Spinel retaliated with a cut straight down, taking about a quarter of the entire stack for herself. For a moment, it seemed like she had the upper hand, but Steven managed to turn the table on her with a flick of the wrist, 'disarming' Spinel and sending her fork clattering to the plate. He took the chance to scoop up as much as he could, his cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk. Spinel giggled, tapping his full cheek. He swallowed a huge bite, beginning to laugh as well.
Well, this was going really well! She’d made him laugh and smile, and she’d only been here for a little while! Honestly, it was less of a performance than she’d thought. Being with Steven was easy, and fun. She still needed to restrain herself, but not nearly as much as she’d anticipated.
Soon enough, the breakfast was over.
The morning had passed quickly, and Steven seemed to be in a good mood. She would suggest going into town, but maybe a calm day indoors would be better for Steven? She...honestly wasn’t sure. But! There was plenty of stuff to do in his house.
It turns out there wasn’t plenty of stuff to do. Really only video games. Still, Spinel got sucked into the game pretty easily. Any game worked. Spinel did order pizza halfway through the day. As part of her studying (most of her studying, in fact. She didn’t have too much in the way of actual study materials) she had marathoned tons of teen comedies. Pizza was an essential part of any hangout session! And this way, they didn’t have to stop and eat, and potentially think of bad things!
Still, they couldn’t avoid themselves forever, no matter how hard Spinel tried. The moment classes were done for the day, the warp activated. Pearl was home.
“Steven? Are you okay?” Steven paused the game, flashing Spinel a somewhat guilty smile. She...Didn’t quite understand why he looked guilty. But it was okay. Things were going okay so far.
“Yes, Pearl. I’m fine. Spinel came to visit.” He stayed sat on the edge of the bed, correctly anticipating that she was coming up to see him.
Her anxious face popped into view as she hurried up the stairs to see them. She blinked, taking a moment to compose herself. She hadn’t expected to see Spinel. “I see. Well...I’m glad to see that you’re alright.” Pearl stood there for a moment, then two. “Well, let me know if you need anything, Steven.” With that, she retreated back, lingering for only a moment or two before heading into her room.
Steven glanced over at Spinel.. “I know she wants to help, but...She’s no good at these things.” He sighed, frustrated. “I know it’s selfish, but I don’t have the energy to reassure her. She’s blaming herself, just like I knew she would, and I just can’t- Can’t deal with that right now.”
Spinel nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder. At least Steven seemed like he was getting better at setting personal boundaries? “Ya don’t gotta.” She knew there was something else she should say...Some words of encouragement...But they eluded her. “Just look out fer yerself, okay?” Steven just nodded, unpausing the game.
Well, that was as good a dismissal as any.
-
Soon enough, night began to encroach upon their little bubble of light, the home nestled safely in the statue’s arms. Steven turned off the game, looking over at Spinel. They had spent the whole day on games. He extended a hand to her. “Let’s go for a walk.”
It was a beautiful night in Beach City. The seagulls had long since gone to rest, and the boardwalk had shut down. The only noise that broke the stillness was the gentle lapping of waves on the shore. Steven stared up at the stars, idly wondering if any of them were Homeworld. Spinel’s eyes never left his face. He was the first to break the silence. “Hey, so...I appreciate you coming to see me. But...Why?”
Her voice grew serious for the first time that day. “Well...It’s like everyone was sayin’ the other day, Steven. We wanna be there fer you. And if it turns out that everyone else is too busy…” She shrugged. “I’ll just haveta supportcha that much more, right? I realize we ain’t seen much of eachudder since dat whole fiasco with the bio poison and whatnot, but ya really helped me. And now I wanna help you.” She glanced aside, a little embarrassed. Still, there was something magic about the moonlight on earth. Something about it made the night feel like a dream.
Steven...wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He was sure Spinel was still dealing with things, no matter what she had said, and...Could he really ask someone else to take on his burden, even if they were offering? No, no...He had to, otherwise he’d just be right back where he started. He needed to accept help when it was offered…”Spinel...Thank you. The truth is, I...Kinda thought everyone would stick by me a little more after that. But Connie went right back to studying, and even the gems spent all day teaching. I know they have their own lives, and their own responsibilities, but…” He sighed, taking a seat by the sea. “I’m just tired.”
Spinel sat beside him, risking putting a hand on his shoulder. None of her studying had prepared her for quiet companionship. And even with Pink, she had never been good at the quiet part. This was all new to her...But she couldn’t mess it up. She couldn’t let Steven hurt anymore. “It’s alright, Steven. I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”
He leaned into her. So the hand had been a good idea...Spinel would get the hang of this. “Connie and I haven’t even talked since she rejected me, Dad’s on tour all the time…I really needed someone to just waste a day with. Thank you, Spinel...I know there’s no space for you to move in, but...Can you come back tomorrow?”
Spinel was already seeing progress. Emotions like that might’ve set off Steven’s diamond powers before. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part. “Of course, Steven. Ya couldn’t get rid of me if ya tried. I’ll be back tomorrow, an’ the day afta that, an’ the day afta that. Fer as long as ya want me around.”
Steven gave her a quick hug. Startled, it was a moment or two before Spinel thought to hug him back, and by then, he was already pulling away. “Thanks. Maybe tomorrow I can show you the boardwalk? I know you haven’t gotten a chance to see much of earth when it’s not being destroyed. I’m sure you’d love funland.” Steven had once dragged Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst there, but if any gem would actually enjoy it, it would be Spinel. “C’mon, it’s getting late. I’ll walk you to the warp.” He got up, offering her a hand.
The pair headed over, Spinel giving Steven a big wave as she stepped onto the pad. “See ya tomorrow, Universe!”
“See you, Spinel.”
And she warped.
She sighed, her face falling. That had gone well, she supposed. She trudged back to her room, opening the door. The pebbles had rearranged it to suit her, but it still didn’t feel like her room. Then again, what was her room supposed to be like? She’d never had a space to call her own. “Heya, pebbles? Mind bringin’ out Steven’s room? He musta toldja somethin’ about it when he was here.”
There was some soft murmuring - the only response she ever got from them, and they got to work.
After it was taken care of, she flopped down on the bed - on a replica of Steven’s bed - and closed her eyes. She was performing. But that’s what she was good at, right? Spinel needed to be strong. Strong enough for Steven to lean on.
Steven…
She’d tried not to think about him after everything that had happened. But...How were you supposed to just ignore someone who’d changed your life like that? He’d been on her mind more than she cared to admit. She didn’t think he was just a replacement for Pink to her. Still, she tried to ignore it. He’d sent her to the diamonds, so she’d be a good little gem and stay with them. Definitely not just looking for some excuse, any excuse to spend time with him.
But when she heard what had happened, there was no way she could just stay away. Steven needed help. And she was gonna be there to give it to him. She could handle her anxiety for long enough to do that. It had been getting worse, spending time with the diamonds...They were busy pretty often. Still, she could handle it.
...Right?