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“Mabel, stay back! He’s a monster!”
Steven’s eyes shoot up from his glowing hands, to twin faces of fear. Dipper changes his stance, whether to bolt or tackle him Steven doesn't have the space of mind to think of.
“You… you think i’m a monster ?” It feels like everything in Steven's body has gone very still, and when Dipper doesnt move, and Mabel falters, everything speeds up.
“You think i’m a monster! ” he chokes out, forcing his hands into his hair, hunched over. With his limited view from through his wrists, the ground seems to be getting further away. His tears run down his chin, and where they fall, flowers slowly bloom. It just makes him cry harder.
Steven had been having a bad day. There wasn’t really anything that had gone wrong, just scraps of an old dream floating around in his head all morning. The twins had managed to get him to eat (how could he say no to Mabel pancakes? They had popcorn, whipped cream, and strawberries), but otherwise he probably wouldn’t have come out of the room Stan was letting him stay in. it was too bright in the main house, too hot.
It, of course, all went wrong very quickly. Stan had slapped a hand down on his shoulder and asked, “you okay there, rosy cheeks?”
Steven had instinctually reacted, yelling “Don’t call me that!” shoving Stan’s arm away and blindly twisting it away from him, until he heard a snap . He was seeing pink, again.
He had quickly run from the shack, until the twins caught up with him.
“Steven! What’s going on?” Mabel yelled after him, stopping him in his tracks. His skin burned, thrummed with energy and tension.
“ Mabel, stay back! He’s a monster!”
Mabel’s footsteps are accompanied by the crunch of some shattered glass underfoot, and instead of his head in Steven’s hands, it’s the shards of Jasper, and he’s stooped over his bathtub praying to anything listening for a miracle please, god, please.
“Steven, please, what’s happening? Why are you pink? Not that i don’t love the look, but you’re scaring us,” Mabel takes another tentative step. Steven chokes.
“I’m a monster ,” the trees get swept back and shake, and the ground beneath him quakes.
“Steven, what-”
“Mabel!” Dipper yells, and Steven’s head shoots up to watch Mabel being pushed back by an opaque pink diamond shield. Dipper dives to catch her, and they both stare up at him from their position several feet away.
Cracks split the earth, forming a crater in the ground around him, leaving Dipper and Mabel on the edge. it felt like the world was going to end, for a long string of moments.
“Steven!”
He looks up at the familiar voice. Connie flings herself off of Lion, racing towards him. As Dipper shouts for her to wait, Steven watches as she slides down the side of the crater towards him.
“Get away, Connie! I don’t want to hurt you!” he yells, falling to his hands and knees as the burning sensation under his skin begins to stutter violently.
“You won’t hurt me!” he hears her say over the buffeting wind he is creating , and despite his doubt, she faces no other obstacles as she reaches him.
“Steven, you are not your mother!” she insists, gently placing her small hands over his, trying to delicately pry them away from his scalp.
“I’m just as bad, connie! I’m nothing, nothing but a monster !”
The thought that runs through his head is one his therapist often repeats to him. “ Bad people don’t care about being good, Steven, and you care perhaps the most out of anyone i’ve ever met,” the sentiment is quickly swallowed by the look on White Diamond’s face when she finally managed to break the hold he had over her. those months ago.
“Steven, look at me, please,”
He does. Connie takes both of his hands between hers.
“Steven, you are not a monster. You’re my best friend. You’re my boyfriend.” she says.
“But i’ve hurt people!”
“So has everyone,” She’s so calm, and Steven doesn’t understand how she does it. How she breathes.
“I’ve killed people!” he risks a look up at her face, and sees kind eyes.
“You’ve saved far, far more. Out of the goodness of your heart.”
“But-” he waits for her to interrupt - but nothing - but she doesn’t, and instead of continuing his sentence he sobs.
The wind has largely calmed down now, but his ears ring.
“You, Steven Universe, are the kindest, most gentle, lost loving person i have met, or will ever meet. You see these hands?” Steven looks down at his regular, non pink-glowing hands. “These hands work miracles.”
Steven lets out a wet hah , that’s filled with more sadness than humour. “Not saying much, given the, you know, superpowers.”
“It goes beyond that, and I think you know it, deep down. You are a superpower, Steven.”
He smiles.
--
“There you go, all fixed!” he says, leaning away from Stan’s arm.
“Well thanks, Wonderboy,” Stan’s so bad at emitting emotions that Steven can’t tell whether he’s hiding shock and amazement, or genuinely unbothered by it. He decides to take it in his stride, and smiles at him.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay longer? I’d be happy to phone my mom and ask if I can stay here tonight!” Connie says when he walks back across the kitchen towards her. It’s late afternoon, at this point, and warm rays of sunlight dance on her skin.
“I don’t mind, if you really want to stay. I don’t want you to fall behind in your studying.” Steven says, rubbing his arm.
Connie smiles. “Studying can definitely wait for the rest of the day.”
“How did you know to come?” steven asks.
“I gave Soos my number, for emergencies,” Soos gives him a thumbs up from across the room when Steven’s gaze moves to him.
“Probably- definitely, smart,” he smiles, swallowing around his sore throat.
Barely a moment later, something barrels into his side. Mabel latches her arms around him, face buried in his jacket. “I’m so sorry, Steven!”
He’s taken aback, for a second, before he replies. “It’s okay, Mabel. It’s not your fault.”
Dipper is standing nervously to his side. Flitting his eyes between the ground and his face. “It’s not your fault, either, Dipper,” he raises his arm.
Dipper’s weight is suddenly pressing into his other side, and he smiles over their heads at Connie.
“I- i’m so sorry, Steven. i didn't mean-” Dipper grips his jacket sleeve.
“Hey, what did i just say?” Steven says, and Dipper sighs.
“If- if you wouldn't mind, and it’s totally fine if you don’t want to! But- would you mind telling me how you did all that?” Dipper is very hesitant, and his anticipation is written all over his face and body as he pulls back.
“Yeah, it was super awesome!” Mabel says enthusiastically, also pulling back from the hug to look him in the eye.
“Yeah, we can do that,” Smiles at them, and Connie makes an affirmative noise.
“Woah, woah, Connie, can you do that too?” Mabel asks, pulling away from Steven to lead Connie through the shack.
“No, unfortunately, Steven’s the only human that can do it,” she says.
“Eh, fifty percent,” Steven corrects, him and Dipper following after them, after Steven offers Dipper a fist bump.
--
They end up on the floor of the Twins’ attic bedroom in a circle. Steven talking animatedly about his childhood with the Gems(mostly the good parts, and not going into much detail on the bad), Connie cutting in and adding to stories often.
At some point, Soos comes up to join them, pillow under one arm and vending machine snacks under the other. Wendy isn’t far behind, but dips out for a second to drag Stan up the stairs, an interested Ford tailing behind them.
Steven smiles at the way both Dipper and Ford intently take notes whenever he talks about the gems, or his gem. You could tell they’re related.
The cool evening breeze wafts through the window, and the sound of their voices and laughter drifts out. It’s a nice night.