#why has steven never been to a hospital? he's a gem. he never broke a bone to the point it had to be healed. I'm not even sure he was ever

[bigsteeb]

ok so I want to come back to these parts from the promo along with the first bit of leaked audio since after growing pains we now know why steven turns pink. it’s his unique way of coping with the high amounts of stress he falls under, it’s the reaction to a trigger, & with the events to come from the promo & leaked audio… the gems are on thin fucking ice.

let’s start with the beginning of the audio leak;

pearl: “how could this happen? you crushed the van with greg inside, you know how fragile he is! these pink outbursts of yours are getting out of hand-”

steven: “it’s not an oUTBURST!”

pearl: “see? this is exactly what I’m talking about! what’s happening to you?”

steven: “nothing! it’s nothing.”

he’s right, it’s not an outburst. this is clear evidence that the gems don’t have a clue what happened at the hospital. no clue that steven has trauma & c-ptsd & these pink attacks, I’m calling them that now since they’re basically intense panic attacks, are a result of him dealing with stress, I hope. pearl asking him what’s happening to him screams that the gems don’t check in on steven, & then steven just immediately dismissing it as nothing when it clearly is something. he doesn’t feel secure enough in talking to the gems about this, like they’d really care to know since they’ve been so distant with his as of late, I’m gonna link @universallywriting​‘s prediction here about what could happen in the coming episodes, because it tracks extremely well.

now to the next part of the audio that connects to this frame from the promo;

pearl: “steven! where are you going? we’re not through talk- steven!! drop this wall!”

steven: “uh! pearl I’m sorry, I’m trying- I just.. need some space, ok? I’ll be in my room.”

amethyst: “not so fast my dude! you’ve gotta tell us what’s going on!”

garnet: “it looks like steven is trying to avoid a serious discussion about this altogether.”

steven: “no I’m NOT!!”

he isn’t avoiding it, but at the same time he is. he wants to talk about it but right now it’s stressing him out to the point where he’s turning pink off & on. these pink attacks actually hurt him now. they stress him out, give him pains in his chest & quickened breathing. christ with what we saw in growing pains they stress him out to the point where his body physically can’t control itself. steven being pink is inherently bad, it was to begin with but even more so now & the gems aren't picking up on that because they don’t know what the fuck it is. steven does however. so does greg, priyanka & connie, but it seems no one has even mentioned it to the gems. let me also remind you all of why he made this wall. that was a trick he didn’t, his gem did. he didn’t consciously make that wall between him & the gems his gem did, because it felt him being threatened. like how in growing pains a bubble formed around his leg when priyanka was about to test for reflexes. his gem reacts to small threats due to his trauma, & it fucking sucks to watch.

now lets talk about these next parts;

garnet: “steven! you have got to calm down & talk to us!

amethyst: “just chill, man!”

I want to talk about the three yells steven does in the audio, because I believe they get progressively more powerful & painful to steven. the first one he does probably causes him to go pink, then calming himself down after he says it’s nothing. the second yell after garnet says he’s avoiding it, for fuck sake garnet, is more charged than the first. it cracks his house’s window & the frog mug. the mug from connie & the mug greg made him a hot chocolate in at the end of growing pains. I’ll get to the final one in a moment.

steven: “ugh-”

pearl: “we need to do something about this before someone gets hurt!”

steven: “ugh!-”

someone?! pearl steven is already hurting here!! he’s fucking trembling on the stairs trying to control himself before he cracks under the pressure the three of them are putting him under! he’s sweating & grunting in pain! idc at this point if they know or not, your kid is shaking, cowering, in front of you & you’re still pressing into him? you’re fucking garbage gems. any good person would look at steven in this exact frame & think “no that’s enough! get back away from him you’re stressing him the fuck out!” but the gems can’t see that, they never really have been able to have they?

& finally;

garnet: “don’t let this power control you! you’re better than this!”

steven: “UHRGH! LEAVE ME ALONE!!”

this shit right here? it’s nasty. telling him to control something you’re causing him to go through!? he’s crying during this final yell! like… what the fuck!!? this is terrible, it fucking hurts me. he didn’t want to yell, he tried so hard to keep calm but they broke that calm. I fully believe this final yell causes something as to what happened with smoky in guidance. I believe he slows time down just enough to give him the space to run. to run away from the gems stressing him out, to a place where he feels safer & can calm down. a place… that we will probably see in fragments. 

in conclusion;

these parts of the promo & the first batch of leaked audio are now fucking terrible after watching growing pains. his grunting? he’s in pain. the gems? completely in the wrong & don’t even try to prove me wrong about it. whether they know about what happened at the hospital or not they should not at all have done what they did to steven in the audio. they cornered & pressed into him about why he isn’t being honest with them &, quite frankly, I hate them for it. like… completely hate them. they haven’t spent any time with him since he left little homeschool, they go on field trips & leave him at home, alone, to comfort eat because he has literally no one to talk to about his issues. he has fucking no one to rely on until the events of growing pains! fuck me at the end of together forever he spent several hours in a pit, crying, & garnet just fucking sat there for god knows how long & waited. you have no idea how happy I was when steven got angry at garnet, she deserved it.

the fact that it’s greg too that’s there for steven, his father, is telling. he needs new parental figures in his life, a new support system who will be there for him & his struggles. as much as the gems are good people… they’re terrible parents. they neglected him for ages, made him feel like he had to his mother to them, etc. they need to apologise to him after all of this has happened & here’s the thing, steven doesn’t need to accept that apology or to forgive them. he has every right to tell them “I love you, but I can’t be near you right now.” it’s not selfish or mean, it’s him putting himself first for once. these next episodes are gonna be tough to watch honestly, I’m probably gonna go offline whilst I watch them. if any of you reading need to do that too that’s completely valid! the crewniverse are really leaning into the serious shit now & it’s a lot to process.

#but yea #those are my thoughts on the audio leak & promo after growing pains #this is… gonna suck #excuse if theres anything incoherent in this #not felling that great rn hdfgsagf #steven universe #steven universe future #su spoilers #su future spoilers #su leaks

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 26: Everything’s Fine (originally posted on September 20, 2021)

AN: Welcome back to the jungle readers. When last we left Steven, his mind was going further down the toilet after shattering Jasper and the voice in his head continues trying to take control, which led to him lashing out against White Diamond & Spinel. Can he possibly keep his personal Nega-Scott under control while trying to tell the Gems that everything is totally okay? All this and more in this gripping chapter of Alternate Future!

Synopsis: Despite Steven constantly saying otherwise, everything isn't fine.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven, Topiary Stevens, Cactus Stevens

Estelle as Garnet

Micheala Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl

Grace Rolek as Connie

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Ron Perlman as Steven's Inner Voice

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Laz, Zuli

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Kimberly Brooks as Cherry Quartz

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Ian Jones-Quartey as Snowflake Obsidian, Bixbite

Tara Platt as Heaven and Earth Cubic Zirconias

Martha Higerada as Topaz

Auli'I Cravalho as Orange Spodumene

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite

Kimiko Glenn as Blue Chalcedony

Phillipa Soo as Chrysocolla

Anika Noni Rose as Watermelon Tourmaline

Tara Strong as Grossular Diopside

Aimee Carrero as Moonstone

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

Susan Egan as Rose Quartz

--

As soon as Steven returned to his earthly home via Warp Pad and checked up on the bathroom, he returned to his room to flop down on his bed. Steven thought the Diamonds would be of help to him, but instead, they didn't understand what he was going through, and his evil voice kept making things worse for him.

"Why did you make me do that?" Steven lugubriously asked his inner self. "Why did you make me nearly kill White Diamond, and punch Spinel?"

"They hurt you, so I thought it was about time you gave them their just desserts." The evil voice within Steven answered. "Yet the real you insisted that everything was fine. That's your biggest problem, you're way too forgiving of others no matter how much they want you dead."

"No, I know when others don't deserve to be accepted." Steven argued. "Like Black Rutile for example. If she's going to be proud of how irredeemable she is, I'll just let her do her thing."

"Ah yes, do her thing." The negative side of Steven mused. "Like threaten your life and make repeated attempts on your psyche. Yeah, if you could change that pervert, then maybe you can change the sociopath too."

Suddenly, Steven's phone began to ring. "One second Negative Me, I have to take this." Steven said while picking it up and hearing a relieving familiar voice on the other end. "Hey Connie, what's up?"

"Steven!" Connie cried in delight. "Good, you finally picked up. I can't believe we haven't talked to each other since the hospital visit, how are you?"

"I'm great!" Steven fibbed while gazing at how he was still pink. "Never been better!"

"Really?" Connie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you haven't had any more swelling or turning pink problems?"

"Uh, nope?" Steven replied. "Okay, maybe, but how are you doing? How's prepping for college going?"

"It's going fine Steven." Connie answered nervously. "But what you mean when you said maybe?"

"Look, there's nothing to worry about." Steven kept on lying. "Everything's fine."

"I doubt it." Steven's dark side interrupted.

"Look, I'll call you later," Steven said. "I don't wanna wake up the Gems."

"But they don't even sleep!" Connie exclaimed before Steven quickly hung up and gazed at his hands before the TV turned on.

"-it's because I'M A UNIVERSE!" Steven began seeing visions of the past on the TV, starting with his argument with Greg before it went to static. Then it began showing Steven holding the shattered remains of Jasper's gem in his hand. More static, followed by the near-death of White Diamond, then Steven punching Spinel for singing to him. Just as Steven got up to try and turn the TV off, he got one last devastating surprise.

"Steven, we can't both exist." Rose Quartz announced to Steven in the video she made before giving birth to him, the very sight of her warm face making him twitch angrily where he stood. "I'm going to become half of you. And I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself, that's me, loving you and loving being you."

"No, I never loved myself," Steven growled furiously. "I've always hated being you. Everything I've suffered, and everything you ever put everyone through," He balled up his fist and pointed it straight at the TV screen. "IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Before Rose could finish, Steven broke the screen with a single punch and prematurely ended the video. However, Steven then let out a gasp as he gazed into his reflection on the shattered remains of the screen, noticing that his irises were now diamond-shaped and realizing what he had become.

"No! No, no, no, no!" Steven trembled and dropped to the ground in horror. "Th-this can't be happening, I didn't think about shattering White, I didn't shatter Jasper, punch Spinel, or nearly kill Dad!" His panicking soon turned to mad chuckling as Steven tried to cheer himself up. "I'm Steven Universe!" Steven then turned to Vidalia's painting of him and Garnet. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" he loudly repeated to himself, causing the glass of his bedroom door to break. "I'm totally fine!"

"Steven, is that you?!" The loudness of Steven's fibbing caused Pearl to cry out as she, Amethyst, and Garnet raced upstairs to Steven's room and gasped at his current appearance.

"What happened?" Amethyst asked Steven. "When did you get so big?"

"Is everything alright?" Pearl added just as nervously.

"I'm fine." Steven smiled and waved at the Gems. "Going to the Diamonds was just a waste of time since they had no idea what I was going through. I thought I needed to figure myself out, but I already know who I am! I'm Steven Universe; and I help, not hurt!"

"Yeah, then I suppose you tried to help the TV there?" Amethyst said while pointing a thumb at the damaged TV. "Seriously, we have got to upgrade someday. But seriously dude, what's going on? You look way different!"

"Pfft, I'm still your lovable old Steven!" Steven denied in response.

"Steven, we're worried," Garnet stated, taking off her glasses to emphasize how concerned she was for her ward. "You haven't been acting like your usual self lately, and we think you should get some rest before this gets dangerous."

"I'm okay, really!" Steven continued lying to the Gems, who glanced concernedly at each other before turning back to him.

"We'll take your word for it." Garnet said resignedly.

"You know, everything's gone downhill ever since I quit Little Homeschool!" Steven declared cheerfully. "I should head on over and see if I can make myself useful there! See you guys later!"

With that, Steven used his newfound super speed to race out of the house to Little Homeworld. To the Gems, it was like he was gone in an instant.

"I get that Steven wants us to know he's fine, but that was a little unsettling." Pearl stated fearfully. "We should just follow him to Little Homeworld so we can keep an eye on him."

"Agreed." Garnet nodded while putting her glasses back on.

"Yeah, that boy ain't right!" Amethyst declared before the trio left Steven's bedroom. But what they or even Steven didn't know was that a black-colored drone was watching them carefully.

--

"Excellent, he's just about at his breaking point." Black Rutile declared triumphantly while examining the footage her drone has gathered with White Topaz by her side. "Oh, I haven't felt this much of a rush since the Strawberry Battlefields!"

"But will Steven get any better?" White Topaz asked nervously, inciting her master to give her a furious glare.

"No, that's my intention!" Black Rutile stated. "I broke him, I broke his spirit! If I physically harmed him, the damage would just go away. But mental torture, the wounds shall only grow and fester! I have officially broken Steven Universe, and all that's left is for everyone to reject that monster."

"Oh master, we're back from training." Bluebird Azurite declared as she flew back to the Rutile's cavern hideaway.

"Oh hey guys, how you getting along?" White Topaz asked the fusion cheerfully.

"We're getting along splendidly thanks to Steven's advice." Bluebird answered before un-fusing into Aquamarine and Eyeball.

"Now we're even stronger than ever!" Aquamarine exclaimed joyfully.

"Look what we can do now!" Eyeball added before pulling out her chisel and shaking it to turn the blade into a beam of fire while Aquamarine launched bubbles from her wings.

"Ah, so glad you two are reaching your full potential, potential that Steven has suppressed for too long." Black Rutile smiled warmly at the tiny twosome. "But know this, you may be afraid of what could be to come, but remember that fear is but the precursor to valor! And to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a warrior. Don't think, become."

"I fail to see how that could inspire us, but okay." Aquamarine muttered before peeking behind Black Rutile to see the drone footage. "Now what's all this?"

"It's video evidence that I've driven Steven to madness." Black Rutile answered with a proud grin before gesturing to each screen. "Here, we see Steven going ballistic on a human television when his mother appeared on the monitor." She said pointing to the first one. "On this one, the accursed Crystal Gems show concern for him for once, but he denies that anything is wrong with him." Then Black Rutile moved on to the third one. "And finally, Steven is just gone like a light."

"How can he do that?" White Topaz asked as she looked at the third viewscreen.

"Research shows that this comes from his Diamond heritage interfering with his human biology." Black Rutile analyzed the footage. "I should know, I was often tasked with watching over Pink Diamond whenever her usual caretakers were unavailable. And let me just say, it was unbelievably hectic."

"Yeah, like remember our attempted occupation of Zembilla?" White Topaz added. "Pink really grew attached to those little orange natives and didn't want them all dead."

"Don't remind me to the point of making me have a flashback." Black Rutile groaned while stroking her temples. "This shall be our time to rise up. We shall strike the first moment we get when Steven is at his lowest, so I suggest you better prepare." The Rutile then turned to her Topaz muscle. "Topaz, I need you to preside over Aquamarine and Ruby's training for the time being."

"Oh, of course, I'll do as you say!" White Topaz frantically declared. "That's me, White Topaz, always at your service!"

"Just…..go." Black Rutile's eye began to twitch at White Topaz's brownnosing. As soon as her three subordinates left, the mastermind turned back to her screens and paused the first one at Steven punching the TV screen. "Soon, my boy. Your god complex will finally crumble, just like your so-called happily ever after."

--

"Ah Little Homeworld, long time no see!" Steven declared happily as he reached Little Homeworld and landed on the Warp Pad. "Time to find someone who needs my help."

As Steven ran around the village in search of people to help, Gems and humans were taken a little aback by his new appearance and tried to stay away from him, though Steven didn't know why.

"Look, we're just saying Emerald, there are more ways reptiles are connected to birds than you think." Demantoid argued with Emerald as the two played chess together.

"Name one!" Emerald declared while moving her rook to knock out Demantoid's pawn. "Are there any lizards that have feathers, hm?!"

"Hey, guys, any arguments that need settling?" Steven butted into the green Gems' debate with a wide smile, taking the two by surprise. "Something about birds?"

"What is wrong with you?!" Emerald exclaimed. "This is why Black Rutile hates you, you think everything has to revolve around you and how you think you can fix everything! But even so, you look creepily happier than usual. Something is definitely up."

"Oh, everything's fine." Steven declared, his eye twitching ever so slightly at Emerald's accusation. "I think I'll just let you guys get back to your conversation." And so, Steven set off for someone else to try and help, leaving the green ex-subordinates of Black Rutile aghast before they decided to change the topic while getting back to their game.

"So, I've heard rumors that Steven is suffering from some problems lately." Demantoid said as her rook moved to take out the opposing knight. "Something about post-traumatic stress disorder?"

"Are you sure?" Emerald replied. "Because I've read about the symptoms, and something tells me he might have a borderline personality disorder."

"Maybe somewhere in the middle?" Demantoid deduced.

--

"Now the key to giving a plant proper sunlight is finding a spot that's just right." Peridot exposited to her class of Pyrope, Orange Spodumene, Blue Chalcedony, Cherry Quartz, and Squaridot while pointing to a chrysanthemum. "And it also varies on what kind of plant you're growing."

"I see." Squaridot muttered in awe.

Just then, Steven barged into the greenhouse and grinned at Peridot's class. "Hi Peridot, do any of you need some help?"

"No, I do believe we're perfectly fine." Pyrope answered dryly.

"So what brings you back here?" Peridot asked. "Didn't you leave a few months back?"

"Just your friendly neighborhood Crystal Gem just here to help!" Steven declared. "And I think your students have a few struggling saplings here. Let me give you a hand." Chuckling at his pun, Steven licked his hands and reached out to Pyrope's pot before Peridot stopped him.

"Not so fast!" Peridot scolded Steven. "Amethyst told me you're on a No Plant Friends policy after what happened with the Cactus Stevens."

"We're right here you know." A Cactus Steven said while helping a nearby Sapphire.

"Besides, I don't want your germs all over my prized flower!" Pyrope added, protectively hiding her pot from Steven.

"Oh come on you guys, I just want to give them a little nudge!" Steven laughed. To further prove his point, a leaf fell off Blue Chalcedony's plant.

"That has been bothering me lately." Blue Chalcedony stated, holding her pot out to Steven. "Go ahead, just a smidge though."

"I got a bad feeling about this." Cherry Quartz said warily.

"Oh don't worry, I got this!" Steven said as he licked his finger and tapped on the spot where the leaf fell off.

Moments later, the greenhouse began literally bursting with plant life, and not in a good way. Living topiaries in the shape of Steven broke through the greenhouse walls chanting "Steven's here to help!" while Peridot's class ran away screaming.

"Nice going Chal, now look what's happened!" Pyrope yelled at Blue Chalcedony.

"Hey, lay off her Pyrope!" Orange Spodumene exclaimed. "But still, something is not right with Steven!"

On the topic of Steven, he followed the class out of the greenhouse and seemed oblivious to the damage he had caused. "Look at that, life! It's everywhere, it always finds a way!"

"Much like how you find a way to drive people away." Steven's evil voice muttered sardonically, but Steven paid it no mind as he continued his search for people to help.

--

"Now, tell me how that makes you feel." Garnet said to a human couple she was giving counseling to when she heard Peridot scream, causing the humans to stand up as they gasped. "See you next week."

As soon as the couple ran away in fright, three Topiary Stevens surrounded Garnet, still chanting "Steven's here to help!" while the real Steven ran into the fusion.

"Oh Garnet, I see you're making some new friends!" Steven exclaimed joyfully, continuing to be unaware of his surroundings. "Then I guess this was a net win. Welp, gotta run and find someone else to help! It's what I do!"

"Then help me stop them!" Garnet yelled while the Topiary Stevens repeated "Steven's here to help!", which began to get on her nerves. "The others have to know about this."

--

"Being a lifeguard was far easier than I thought." Laz declared while relaxing in a lifeguard chair above the Gems in the now completed swimming pool. "Just gotta sit around and wait for something to happen. Besides, Gems can't drown anyways!"

"Yeah, but they still need to learn some basic rules." Lapis said to her old friend turned enemy turned friend again before blowing her whistle. "Hey, no running so fast! You might slip and fall!"

"Sorry, Lapis." Teal Zircon apologized before diving in and landing on top of Watermelon Tourmaline. "This is living, eh Melon?"

"You said it, Teal." Watermelon Tourmaline said as she floated around the pool with the Zircon relaxing on her stomach. "Ain't nothing could go wrong today."

Just then, Steven came a-knocking as he opened the gate to the pool to check out what was going on. "Hey Lapises, how's everything going?" he asked. "Anyone need any saving right now?"

"Actually, I think we're running a pretty tight ship as is," Lapis answered Steven while Zuli emerged from the pool after a swim. "Right guys?"

"Yeah, we don't need any extra help right now." Zuli stated. "But if you want, we could hold tryouts sometime."

"Oh no need, I'll just do it myself." Steven beamed before he began looking out for someone who might need his assistance when he spotted Teal Zircon resting on Watermelon Tourmaline's stomach. "Hey TZ, you could slip and fall!"

"What?" Teal asked before Steven grabbed her by the hand. "I'm doing pretty fine over here." Suddenly, as Steven tried to pull the Zircon from the pool, he accidentally pulled a little too hard and threw her up in the air. "OKAY, NOW I'M NOT DOING FINE!" TZ screamed as she flew away from the pool. "WITNESS ME!"

Teal Zircon didn't stay in the air for long, and soon dropped from the sky into another part of Little Homeworld. "I'm okay!"

"What's the big idea, Steven?" Watermelon Tourmaline asked. "We were all having fun before you came in and threw Teal Zircon to who knows where!"

"I'm sure TZ's fine, she said so herself." Steven laughed. "Well, gotta run! Have a nice day everybody!"

As soon as Steven ran off, more Topiary Stevens came bursting through the chain-link fence as they wrestled with the Cactus Stevens, prompting the other Gems present to slowly back away.

"Can this day get any weirder?" Laz scoffed. "I was trying to relax here!"

"Hey, did anyone else notice that Steven was all pink and such?" Lapis asked her fellow water-manipulating lifeguards.

"Yeah, it's kinda freaking me out." Zuli replied. "And are we sure he's totally fine?"

"I'm asking that question too." Lapis pondered while Peridot came charging through the broken fence to break up the battle of the plant Stevens.

--

When Steven left the pool, the first thing he saw was Bismuth's forge. "That's right, it must be shop o'clock!" he declared while skidding to a stop. "Bismuth's shop class, that is. Time to get my shop on."

"You good bud, you talking to yourself or something?" Amethyst, dressed in a coach uniform, asked Steven as he entered the forge.

"Now, the detailing requires a light touch." Bismuth explained to Blue Pearl, Bixbite & Snowflake Obsidian while standing between Pearl wearing a smithing apron and Yellow Pearl in a suit of armor. "Pay attention now everybody, cause this is critical to getting it right."

"Uh, hey howdy hey!" Steven greeted the shop class while leaning against the entrance.

"Oh, hey Steven!" Bixbite cheerfully greeted Steven.

"Did you get taller?" Blue Pearl asked with a tilt of her head and a finger to her lips.

"Whoa-ho-ho, lookin' good Steven!" Bismuth complimented Steven's change in appearance.

"I don't think that look is a positive change for him." Pearl whispered to Bismuth. "We think something might be wrong with him."

"Fancy seeing you drop by." Yellow Pearl grinned, unaware of what the teachers were conversing about. "How do you like my armor?"

"You look great Yellow Pearl!" Steven answered. "So Bismuth, in need of a teaching assistant?"

"Actually, Pearl's my TA today," Bismuth replied with a hand on Pearl's shoulder before presenting Yellow Pearl's armor-clad arm. "but I could use a wedding expert for my wedding armor demonstration. How 'bout it?"

"Of course, I'll help!" Steven declared. "That's what I love doing, just helping everyone!"

"Okay, let's get some materials warmed up for you." Bismuth then walked over to a pot of coals that she plucked a cooling steel bar from and flattened one end of it on the anvil with her hammer hand. "I think that's good enough." She stated. "Hey Steven, mind helping me with a pauldron or two?"

"I got this." Steven cheered as he walked over to the anvil and prepared to punch the metal.

"Hold up there boulder-brain." Bismuth stopped Steven before he could punch. "It's just some detail work, no need for a big mallet when you could use a little hammer." She handed a tiny hammer to Steven. "Plus, you could burn yourself that way."

"Oh, whoopsy-daisy, thanks Bismuth." Steven exclaimed and lightly tapped on the metal with the hammer. Instead of the detail work he thought he could do, Steven instead cracked the anvil into pieces with a single tap.

"Someone's stronger than we thought." Snowflake laughed nervously while Pearl & Bismuth gazed at the broken anvil.

"Look at that, now you have two anvils!" Steven laughed while Bismuth mourned the destruction of her anvil.

"NOOOOO!" Bismuth dropped to her knees in despair. "My anvil! My beautiful anvil!"

"Oh, grow up will you?" Steven's inner voice grumbled. "It's an anvil, you can make another."

"Seems like my work here is done." The real Steven laughed as he prepared to leave. "Well, toodles!"

"You see what I mean, Steven's not himself lately." Pearl said as she comforted Bismuth. "First he nearly got Greg killed, then Jasper started calling him her Diamond, and now this."

"Can I be the first to say that he needs help?" Yellow Pearl asked sardonically as more Topiary Stevens continued their rampage outside the forge.

--

As Steven exited the forge, he ran towards a baseball game that Amethyst was holding. Nephrite was on the Warp Pad throwing a ball to Doc, Amethyst stood by with Onion next to her, Topaz stood with a pair of humans on the bases, Larimar was in the outfield, and Chrysocolla, Grossular Diopside & Moonstone were waiting to play.

As soon as Amethyst noticed Steven, she blew her whistle and turned to talk to him. "Hey dude," she greeted him. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you needed any more players." Steven offered. "I'm ready to have a ball!"

"I think we could squeeze you in, we do need a new outfielder," Amethyst concluded and pointed to Larimar. "Oy, Larimar! Hit the showers, Steven's taking your place!"

"Good luck there Steven." Larimar said while she got up and left while Steven took her place on the playing field.

"Yeah, good hustle there Lil Larimar." Steven complimented the ice Gem. "I'm honored to be joining such a great game, I mean, everyone here has been outstanding!"

"You just got here, how do you know that?" Nephrite raised her brow.

"That's just me, I know what everyone is doing and feel the need to help all the time!" Steven declared, creeping everyone out.

"Enough chit-chat, batter up!" Amethyst cried out, cuing Onion to pick up a bat and walk up to home base, ready to play. Nephrite threw the ball towards the silent boy and he hit it with the bat, although unfortunately, it was heading straight for a nearby house.

"Oh no, in danger again?!" the Heaven Cubic Zirconia complained as the ball sailed towards the window of her and Earth Cubic Zirconia's house while they were having tea.

"I swear, is it because we're small?" Earth Cubic Zirconia wondered. Thankfully, Steven caught the ball just in time, much to their relief.

"I did it." Steven declared and the other players cheered.

"Three cheers for Steven!" Topaz declared.

"That's our boy." Chrysocolla smiled.

"I did it, and I didn't ruin anything!" Steven boomed happily. "YEAH!" However, the complete opposite of what he just said quickly happened. His excited yell caused a windstorm powerful enough to knock people off their feet, break glass everywhere, and cause the Zirconias' house to fall apart.

"Whoa, take it easy Steven!" Moonstone cried as she held onto a bench while the windstorm continued.

"Someone help me!" Grossular Diopside yelled while she got blown away with Larimar. Thankfully, the windstorm died down after a few seconds but still left a ton of destruction in its wake, and all eyes were on Steven.

"Oops, sorry everyone." Steven blushed at the chaos he caused. "T-t-that was an accident. But what are accidents and mistakes but opportunities to learn and improve, right?" He looked down at the Zirconias, who weren't very happy about the destruction of their home.

"It was a mistake for us to be put in danger again, especially because of you!" Earth yelled accusingly.

"Earthy, shush!" Heaven shushed her partner.

"I mean, we all make mistakes, and as long as we keep improving, everything will be fine!" Steven declared while picking up a log. "Alright, let's get to it!"

"It was a mistake for you to come here in this state." The voice in Steven's head declared. "Black Rutile and I were right, you will drive everyone away."

"Listen, I am done with you for today." Steven's own thoughts argued with the voice. "Just pipe down and don't ever think about feeding me bad thoughts ever again, got it?"

"How about never?" the voice said smarmily while the Topiary Stevens got to work on helping Steven by picking up Onion, Larimar, and Grossular Diopside.

"WE'RE HELPING!" one of the Plant Stevens yelled.

--

High above the destroyed makeshift baseball field, Black Rutile's satellite continued watching everything and sending footage back to its creator, who was all too happy to see what her hard work has amounted to.

"This is just priceless!" Black Rutile laughed joyously. "First, he makes plants come to life and fight those cactus beasts, then he throws that annoying Zircon into the air, broke an anvil, and caused a scene during one of those human games. I'm sure he's going to make such a scene about all these little accidents."

"All the more tools to humiliate the boy." Aquamarine added just as sneakily. "Soon, he will have nothing but himself and his thoughts controlling him."

"Unless his friends were to come out and tell him everything will be alright." White Topaz objected. "I'm just saying, those Gems will stick by his side through thick and thin."

"Hey, no more objections!" Eyeball yelled while pulling out her flame knife. "Want me to test this on you?!"

While Eyeball began chasing White Topaz around the woods with her knife, Black Rutile just groaned and turned back to her screens. "Tell me Aquamarine, why do all great geniuses surround themselves with idiots?"

"Your guess is as good as mine my Rutile." Aquamarine shook her head while watching the screens focused on the beach house with bated breath.

--

As soon as Steven was done helping fix what he had broke, he returned to the beach house with a dourer expression than the big smile he kept wearing throughout the day. On the other side of the room, Connie was in the living room while Greg and the Gems sat down on the couch.

"Steven!" Connie cried. "I was right all along, you're still swelling! I tried calling you all day, but I kept getting this weird meme." She held up her phone, which now depicted Steven bouncing up and down while chanting "Steven's here to help!" just like the Topiary Stevens. "Please, what is going on? We're all worried for you."

"Go on boy, play dumb." Steven's inner voice commanded.

"I sometimes broadcast my subconscious these days." Steven answered. "It's really no big deal."

"NOT THAT DUMB!" the voice groaned in irritation.

"I can tell something is bothering you." Connie continued. "There are even times where the meme sometimes turns into this."

"Steven's here to help, Steven's here to help!" Steven kept chanting on Connie's phone before it began to glitch. "Steven help, help Steven!"

"Ah, I don't know what you're talking about!" Steven declared, his stress continuing to unnerve others. "Besides, you all saw I was doing just fine this morning. I'm fine, awesome even!"

"Steven, if being as helpful as you always are, even if it's a bit obnoxious & creepy, is what you want, we'll support you 100%." Greg comforted. "But if you're not really happy, if something's wrong-"

"He's onto us!" the voice exclaimed. "Should've gone a little further with the crash, I say."

"Nothing's wrong!" Steven rebuked his father's worries. "Besides, you all don't have to worry."

"We ARE worried!" Connie replied worryingly. "Besides, Pink Diamond's Pearl told the Gems over the communicator in your greenhouse that you punched Spinel while you were at Homeworld."

"Listen, you can tell us anything." Greg added.

"Look at these worms, ganging up on us." The inner voice kept snarling. "Run, run while you still can! No one may help us now! Except, of course, for a certain Rutile."

"It's not that easy." Steven muttered as he hung his head in shame. "You know what? I don't want to deal with all this." However, when Steven tried to leave, Garnet blocked his way to the Warp Pad while the rest kept him from leaving through the door. "Seriously guys, I don't want to deal with this!"

"No, we don't wanna deal with all this." Amethyst put her foot down at Steven's behavior.

"Please, you have to stop running." Garnet begged in addition when suddenly, Steven's body began to swell yet again and his face stretched out.

"Maybe we should get you back to my mom at the hospital." Connie suggested.

"HOSPITAL?!" Amethyst shrieked.

"Is that what you were doing while we were at the trial?!" Pearl yelled.

"You mean you didn't tell them?!" Connie cried out in shock, while Steven's body kept on distorting and his breath quickened.

"It wasn't that important, just my first ever doctor's visit." Steven smiled awkwardly. "You're making a big deal out of nothing! Sure, I messed up the house and broke a few things, but what teenager hasn't?"

"You spent years forcing secrets out of the Gems, and now you're the one keeping secrets?" Steven's darker half growled at his other half's hypocrisy. "You truly have become your mother."

"And sure, Dad and I had a little fight, but it was practically a rite of passage!" Steven continued fibbing and shrugged.

Connie and the Gems turned their gaze to Greg, who just scratched his head and let out a nervous laugh.

"I mean, wouldn't it be weird if we didn't?!" Steven kept on ranting. "And sure, I've had Black Rutile feed me some not so nice thoughts while you were at Los Diego that took the form of an inner voice that forced me to punch Spinel, or try and shatter White Diamond, but it's not like I actually went through with it! I did really shatter Jasper after all!"

"WHAT?!" Amethyst screamed at the thought of Steven, this sweet young man who would rather hang out with a fly than hurt it, doing such a thing, especially to a Gem he had tried many times to help see the light.

Although barely anyone could hear, Jasper let out a light moan from the bathroom.

"You're-you're joking right?!" Connie gasped with Greg while Garnet's jaw dropped and Pearl's eyes widened.

"Oh don't worry, I fixed Jasper! I can fix anything!" Steven's temper began to reach its boiling point. "I can just keep fixing and fixing things forever, and you'll never have to worry about anything ever again!"

"Except worrying about how you're deliberately pushing people away while begging them to stay." Steven's inner voice concluded while metaphorically looking around at the shocked reactions of Steven's human & Gem loved ones. "Just look at them all, how do you think they'd ever forgive you for such a horrendous act?"

"Steven." Garnet tried to lend an assuring hand on the boy's shoulder, but she was quickly shoved away.

"How messed up is that?!" Steven gasped as he felt something change in his body. His teeth began getting sharper, his skin became pinker & leatherier, his hands slowly turned into claws, and his pupils started turning pink. "That I've gotten away with all this for so long, forcing my views down the throats of others, tearing apart Gem society to the point where they'll eventually be invaded, actually murdering someone! Black Rutile was right, I am just an awful person! A sociopath even!"

No one could comprehend what Steven was thinking right now. Greg began to tear up at all these horrible things Steven was saying about himself, Connie gripped the father's arm tightly, and Pearl & Amethyst began fearfully hugging Garnet, whose face was completely frozen in horror.

"You think I'm so great, I'm so mature, that I always know what to do, BUT I'M NOT!" Steven began roaring in a more beastly tone. "I haven't learned a thing from my problems, and I never will! They all kept making me worse, YOU all keep making me worse! Are you even sure any of you ever loved or cared about me?! If it weren't for Pink Diamond ruining everything for everyone, I could've been just a normal kid!"

"That's right, just let everything out." The inner voice purred comfortingly. "Me on the other hand, I think I shall take my leave and prepare something more normal for you." With that, the inner voice seemingly vanished from Steven's mind.

"You all think of me as a perfect angel who's too pure for this world, but I'm not a little kid anymore!" Steven boomed before he dropped to the ground with his head between his hands. "I'm just like my mom. A fraud." He began to tremble where he crouched as something began bubbling on his back. "I'm a monster!"

Suddenly, a massive pillar of light pink scales erupted from Steven's back like a volcano as everyone reacted quickly. Garnet stuck her arms out to protect Amethyst & Pearl and Connie jumped back, but Greg was just plain terrified.

--

"I'm a monster!" Steven's final words before his transformation were rewound by Black Rutile as she eagerly replayed the phrase again and again on more of her satellite footage. "I'm a monster! I'm a monster! I'm a monster!"

With an evil grin, Black Rutile paused the video and shut off her screens. "And I have finally won!" she declared triumphantly and let out a booming evil laugh that echoed throughout the cave and scared off the nearby animals. Aquamarine & Eyeball grinned in delight, while White Topaz turned away from her cohorts in shame of what she had participated in. As quickly as Black Rutile finished her victorious cackle, she had another wonderful, awful idea in mind. "Now, onto Phase 2."

--

….holy shit. Uh, see you all for I am My Monster, I guess. And by the way, I did repurpose Steven accidentally playing Rose's message for the Rose trio in Rose Buds for the opening.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #garnet #amethyst #pearl #connie maheswaran #greg universe #peridot #lapis lazuli #bismuth #black rutile #white topaz #aquamarine #eyeball ruby #teal zircon #cherry quartz #nice lapis #mean lapis #emerald #pyrope #demantoid #watermelon tourmaline #orange spodumene #chrysocolla #moonstone #grossular diopside #squaridot

[fanfoolishness]

Comminuted (3/4)

SUF. Steven and Greg try to deal with the devastating revelations in “Growing Pains.”  

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4

(Comminuted: describing a skeletal fracture that breaks the bone into two or more pieces.)

***

“Ta-da!” Greg announced cheerily, setting down a plate and joining Steven on the couch.  Steven looked down at the food, suddenly ravenous, and turned the TV off. Koala Princess and her dramas would have to wait, though she had at least been a semi-successful distraction from… everything else.  The nap had helped, too. The weird distant fuzziness he’d been feeling since the hospital, the confusion, the disorientation, all of it felt a lot better after he’d had a little sleep. He propped up his plate on his knees.

Macaroni and cheese with vegetarian hot dogs stared up at him, with a side of green beans tossed with walnuts and a green salad.  Steven raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“When did you start cooking vegetables?” he asked, reaching for his fork and digging in.  “You never used to make them for me.” He shoveled a forkful of green beans into his mouth, closing his mouth as he tasted real food for the first time in days.  It was simple. But his dad had made it for him, and that was everything.

Greg gave him a nonchalant shrug.  “When you started eating them,” he laughed.  “I tried everything to get you to eat them when you were little.  I’m glad you like them now, though.”

Steven took a bite of the salad.  “Well, you know, they’re part of a balanced diet,” he said loftily.  His stomach squirmed. Two pints of ice cream, not so much.  

Greg lifted up his pinky finger from where it had curled around his fork.  “How fancy of you,” he said in a snooty voice.  

Steven snorted, eating a few bites of macaroni and cheese, half a hot dog.  He’d missed this. How long had it been since he and Dad had really hung out?  Shortly after the whole Bluebird debacle, he thought. That was weeks -- months? Ago. Without Little Homeschool, his sense of time had gotten skewed.  

A lot of things had, apparently.

Steven winced, the squirm in his stomach growing deeper.  No, no, no. He didn’t want to think about what Dr. Maheswaran had told him… didn’t want to think about those eerie fractures crisscrossing his bones like spiderwebs. Scars he couldn’t see.  Scars he didn’t even know about.

“You okay, Schtu-ball?”

Steven speared a chunk of hot dog with his fork, then let go of it.  The fork stood upright, quivering slightly.

“I dunno.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

He couldn’t bear to think about talking about it.  

He wanted to talk about it so badly.

He groaned, setting his plate down on the coffee table next to the TV.  “No…?” he hazarded. “But I think I -- I have to.”

“Well, I’m here,” said Greg, setting his own plate down and leaning back against the couch, his eyes fixed on Steven’s face.  “You can tell me anything, you know.“

Anything.  No.  That was too big of a word, too overwhelming, too massive to even begin to consider.  His hands curled into fists, gripping his legs hard enough that his knuckles whitened.

“I don’t even know where to start,” he said.  

Greg rubbed his back, his hand familiar and comforting on Steven’s shoulders.  “I don’t know either, so that makes two of us. It’s okay. This is hard stuff, Steven.  Is there anything in specific that stands out? That you want me to know? I know everything with Connie has been really difficult, but it’s a lot more than that, isn’t it?”

Connie recoiling from him in the sand, White’s nails on his gem, the pink dome threatening his friends, the sword through Pearl’s chest, Lars still and gray and silent --  There were still too many things.  How did he pick just one?  

“Yeah, I think it is.  I don’t know, Dad,” said Steven, swallowing back frustration.  He couldn’t figure out how to organize things in his head. Should he try to go chronologically?  Should he talk about the things that scared him the most? Some things he hadn’t even realized were traumatic until this afternoon, he’d been so eager to push past them and be a Crystal Gem.  It made his head swim. “It’s… there’s so much. I -- there’s a lot I, um… that I didn’t tell you.  When I was a kid.”

Greg’s hand gripped his shoulder harder.  “I’m sorry. I should’ve asked. Or I should have been there --”

“No!” said Steven suddenly, seeing the x-ray again in his mind’s eye.  “Dr. Maheswaran said I -- I’d gotten hurt a lot more than I realized. My gem must have healed me every time.  But what if you’d come along and you’d gotten hurt more than you already have, with your broken leg and the biopoison -- what if you’d gotten hurt when my healing powers weren’t working, or when I couldn’t help you --”  His heart raced, imagining his dad on Homeworld, fighting Jasper, faced with Topaz and Aquamarine. Greg kept rubbing his shoulders, smaller circles to larger ones, rhythmic firm pressure against his back.  

“Okay, okay.  I see what you mean.  But I’m still sorry!  I should have been there for you no matter what was going on, Gem stuff or not,” Greg said vehemently.  Steven glanced over at him, suddenly anxious at the way Greg’s voice broke.  

His dad was crying.  Not a lot, but the tears were there on his cheeks, his eyes puffy and dark-rimmed again.  He sniffed and pulled his hand away from Steven’s back, wiping his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Steven stammered.  “I didn’t mean to make you upset.  That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. I didn’t want to scare you --”  His hands, clawing into his thighs through the denim, swelled pink and twice their normal size.  

Greg grabbed him by the hand, gripped it hard.  His hand looked so small against Steven’s swollen one.  

“Please listen, Steven,” said Greg, leaning his head against Steven’s.  His cheek was damp. “It’s not your job to worry about me. I hate to pull dad rank, but I’m doing it.  You’re my son.   That means I’m supposed to take care of you.  I don’t care if you have superpowers or not, I’m supposed to worry about you, not the other way around. And look.  I might feel bad -- really, really bad -- about some of the things you need to tell me, because it's hard for me to think of you hurting.  But for your sake, I need to know how bad it was so I can help you.  Does that make sense?”

“I -- I guess.”  Steven looked down at their hands.  The swelling and the pink glow faded.  He pulled his hand away from Greg’s and stuffed it into his jeans pocket.  “Do I have to tell you everything? Tonight?”

“Of course not.  It’s been like four hours since we got home,” said Greg, smiling slightly.  The tears had dried. “This problem is a lot older than that, right?  It’s okay for working on it to take time. It might take a long time.  And I don’t need to know everything, you don’t have to tell me things you’re uncomfortable with -- but I think I need to know more than what I do now.”

“Right,” said Steven.  “That makes sense.” He curled his toes under his feet, pressing them against the wooden floor, trying to ground himself.  He still wanted to talk. But he had no idea how to do it without hurting Greg, no matter what his dad said.  

Maybe -- maybe he could start with something small.  Maybe that would be safe. “Do… you remember when I turned into a giant cat monster?”

“Steven, that’s something that’s a little difficult to forget.  Of course I do.”

His toes wiggled beneath the pressure of his feet.  They were starting to hurt, rolled over and pressed against the floor.  “I had bad dreams for weeks after that.”

“Why didn’t you --” Greg stopped himself.  “Sorry, sorry. Go on.”

“I kept dreaming I was all kinds of monsters.  Sometimes it was cats again. A couple times it was fingers, just hundreds of giant fingers. Once I dreamed my gem multiplied and I had rose quartzes growing all over my body.”  He laughed uneasily. “Of course, that was before we knew about Mom being a Diamond, right?”

He leaned hard against Greg.  “That night at the car wash, I thought I was really going to be like that forever.  You didn’t know what to do, and the Gems weren’t there again, and I was so scared… and I know I told you to use the washer on me, but those cats were still part of my body and it hurt, Dad, the rollers and the machinery and the hot water everywhere, I couldn’t see a thing, and all I could hear was the water rushing and the cats screaming --”

Stop turning pink! he thought desperately.  His toes throbbed, curled beneath his feet. Why was he putting so much weight on them?  He slowly uncurled them and watched as the pink faded from his skin again. There were red creases on his feet.

Greg stared past Steven to the warp pad and the temple, looking distant.  “You didn’t come around the car wash for about three weeks after that. I thought you were busy with the Gems.”  He looked pale.  

Steven shrugged.  “I didn’t want you or the Gems to think I was a little kid,” he said softly.  “I wanted to be… brave, you know? I wanted to be like Mom. I was embarrassed for being so bad at shapeshifting.  And I didn’t want to tell anyone about the dreams, or think about… how we had to make the cats go away.”

His dad’s voice, hushed.  “Oh, Steven.”

He shrugged again.  “Saying it out loud… I guess it is kinda messed up.  I didn’t even realize it until Dr. Maheswaran asked me if anything traumatic happened in my childhood.  I just started… listing all these horrible things that I’d been trying not to think about. And she got this look on her face like -- like she was trying to be professional?  But I could still see her eyes. She looked horrified, Dad, and I only told her about some of it…”  He rested his head in his hands. “Did she show you the x-rays?”

A beat.  A long and awful pause.  “Yes.”

“I mean, physically, I’m fine,” Steven said hastily.  “She told you that, right?”

Greg nodded.  “What did she tell you?”

This was a concrete question.  He could work with that. Easier than trying to pick one thread from the tangled ball of knots to unravel.  

“Um… well, like I said, I’m physically okay.  That all the fractures are old.” One hand crept up, rubbing his forehead, trying to find evidence of the breaks he’d seen.  But the bone beneath the skin felt just as smooth and solid as ever. “But mentally… She said that it’s like I’m stressed all the time.  Like my body thinks almost dying is normal.”

He heard her voice again, filled with concern and kindness, a reminder of how wrong he was.  “Maybe that’s just how I am now.  Maybe I’m just messed up like this forever?”  His voice cracked. “How can I fix this? How do I fix me?”

Greg pulled him into a hug.  Steven rested his face against his dad’s shoulder, taking deep shuddering breaths.  I’m broken, I’m broken, I’m --

“You are not broken, Steven.”  Had he said it out loud?  Or did Greg just guess what he was thinking?

Tears started rolling down his face in earnest.  He closed his eyes, listening to his father’s calm voice.  

“Maybe these traumas screwed up your ability to handle stress.  Maybe your body is trying to protect you from more and doesn’t know how to do it.  And maybe you need some help from people like Dr. Maheswaran.” Greg’s voice was gentle, warm.  “But you’re still Steven. You don’t need to be fixed -- we just need to help you find healthy ways to deal with this stuff.  Does that make sense?”

“Dad?” he choked.  “Tell me I’m gonna be okay again.  Please.” He hugged Greg hard around the middle, his eyes screwed shut, his wet cheeks leaving damp marks on Greg’s sweater..  

“Of course you will be, Steven,” Greg whispered.  “And I’ll help you get there.”

Steven trembled.  “Okay, Dad.” A long, quavering breath.  “I love you.”

“I love you, son.”

#steven universe future #suf #greg universe #growing pains #steven universe #steven quartz universe #fanfoolishness' steven universe fic #fanfoolishness steven universe fic

[moonlightstars16]

Love Unexpected

30 Days Connverse Challenge: Chadverse Style!

Day 15 ~ Family Visits

In celebration of making it halfway, today's prompt will include Chadverse!

Connie laid upon the warm sand. The soft texture of her beach towel that layered between her and the coarse dust from it all. This week she was on a trip back to her and her husband's home city for a visit. It was to celebrate and in honor of there first summer together as a married couple. However things didn't go as planned since she felt a bit under the weather during the entire road trip. But she insisted she didn't need his healing abilities on account of there agreement. Emergencies only.

As they arrived back in the old beach house, she had felt even worse. Embarrassingly so since she had rushed behind a bolder to throw-up the bile that was rising in her throat. Afterwords she immediately felt 'better' and was capable of carrying her large suitcase's. However Steven wasn't so thrilled with the idea and carried it himself using his gem powers. Walking up the stairs they were bombarded with hugs and talks about how they missed each other and all.

Once upstairs to his old room, Greg crashing on the couch, Steven implied that she should stay and rest for awhile. Continuing to insist she was fine, he complied and let the matter slide for now. Her parents arrived soon after as they gathered around the dinner table. Herself hardly eating anything with looks from her mom.

Afterwords during them playing board games, she took her daughter aside and asked what was wrong. Begrudgingly telling her about how she had been feeling for the past two months. Followed up by her mom urging her to meet her tomorrow at the hospital to check up on things. Obviously acting upon a mother's intuition.

One Connie will soon be having.

With a hand over her stomach, she smiled when her mom's co-worker informed her of the pregnancy. Her heart pounded in excitement as the shock left her speechless. She had talked about having kids with Steven. But they didn't realize how soon that was to come. Emotions of joy and uncertainty mixed together. Her mom was overjoyed with the news of becoming a grandparent.

Everything seemed right and wrong all at once. Was she ready to have this baby? Was she ready to be a mom? Steven obviously was ready to be a dad, even with everything he was working on. A smile appeared on her lips at the mere thought of it all. However she wasn't even sure how to tell him exactly. Before she had ideas of doing something elaborate and special for the news. Now that the time had come, she felt unprepared and shook about what to do.

That's why she was out on the beach. To think about things calmly and not put her health or the baby's safety at risk. It was only two days before her next visit to see if the child would live on full term. From what she understood everything pointed to a positive yes. However that small percentage made her feel uneasy. So she was going to try and stay peaceful as much as she could.

Watching the sun set she smiled and felt the warm rays upon her skin. Closing her eyes and enjoying the comforting feeling of being surrounded by light rays. It almost felt like this light was telling her it would be okay. As if nothing could go wrong and that she was safe. The image of her man appeared in her thoughts. Watching him with his strong arms holding there small child. Swaying back and forth gently as he sang a soft lullaby. His smile wide and eyes full of adoration upon the small baby in his arms. Wrapped up in a blanket and secure in her/her father's embrace.

A few tears of happiness spilled over her cheeks as she slowly sat up with a resolve to tell him right then and there. He needed to know. Standing up she glanced at her phone, saying they had another hour before the gems, Greg and her parents would be back from there busy jobs. Walking towards the door she was quick, yet careful, full of excitement. Until through the window her heart dropped.

"Why did you heal her?!" Thorn shouted gripping Ember's shirt and pulling his face closer to his own.

"It's not what she wanted." Ember's monotone expression and dead pan tone made Thorn yell even louder.

"She is in pain! We need to help her!" Connie winced a bit as she stood there on the other side of the glass door, hearing everything in sight.

"SHE. SAID. NO!" Ember's sudden burst of anger rang out and almost broke the glass. Connie cried out as her hands covered her ears. Eyes shut as she focused on her breathing. One hand gripping her stomach slightly when the aftershock wave was done.

"Do you want to see her in pain?!"

"No, but she has her limits and boundaries which we must respect too. Just like she did with us."

"But she knew when to reach out and call us on our BS!" Standing up, her entire body shaking slightly, Connie leaned against the door frame. Tears pouring over her face as guilt set in. Probably ten percent was because of hormones though. They were fighting because of her. Steven split because it was her fault. "Ember we have to look out for her best interest!"

"We could end up pushing her away."

"I KNOW THAT!"

"Stop!" The door busted open with a slam so loud it caught both of their attentions. Both immediately turning there gazes to their beloved, leaning in against the door frame with tears pouring, mouth over her hand with the other on her stomach. They were instantly at her side(s), leading her to the bay window where she gestured to be. All three sitting with her in the middle. Her hand raised up to tell them to be silent as she focused on calming down. Eyes closed as Thorn rubbed her back and Ember held her hand. For a few minutes all was quiet.

"I'm so sorry..."

"What?"

"I-I didn't mean t-to make you both s-split up...." Her voice cracked with emotion as they embraced her gently. Her hand still on her stomach.

"No Connie, it's not like that. We were just worried is all."

"I heard you Thorn. I know that I shouldn't be so independent like I was before. I realize there are times I do this a lot. You both were only looking after my health. I appreciate that so much... Please forgive me for making you so upset."

"Connie you can never upset any of us." Ember kissed her temple to prove that while each of them held her closer. "We shouldn't have acted this way. We do respect what you want and we support your choices."

"We love you so much." Connie laughed with a smile, it was rare hearing it from Ember. But nice all the same.

"And I love you all too." Taking a deep breathe she sighed and looked at both of them before glancing down at her stomach. "Right now... I just need to be calm. I need to be calm and at peace for the next few days. Because...." She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. This was now or never. "Because I'm-"

"Pregnant" Both Connie and Thorn looked up at Ember in shock. Thorn switching is gaze from the two people before him in confusion.

"How did you know?"

"Body trembling and needing to sit. Not yelling at us right away." He then placed a hand over hers were her stomach was. "Never moved from the position."

"I-..." She looked ahead, shaking away the confusion before laughing and pressing a hand to her forehead. "Well look whose been observant."

"What so you're really pregnant?!" Thorn spoke with a smile she had never seen before. It was so beautiful to see.

"Yeah...I found out this morning thanks to my mom's intuition from the night before... But-"

"What 'but'? There shouldn't be any 'but'. Why the 'but'?

"They said I'm ninety-nine percent good for having this baby full term. However there is a small chance that if I'm not careful... I-...I could-" She couldn't even finish as both hugged her close once more. Thorn and Ember's hands on her stomach along with her own. A bright light emerged as she felt Steven holding her in his embrace. Feeling surrounded in his protection. In fact he had formed a bubble around them both.

"I won't let this happen. I promise to not split up like I did and argue with myself. You have my full undivided attention." He whispered, kissing her lips, neck, cheek and then bending over to kiss her stomach. Connie giggled and nodded Wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his chest. Feeling his calm, beating heart.

"I know.... but when did the split happen?"

"Well since you left for your-...well appointment." Glaring playfully at her as she sunk into his embrace with a blush and a guilty smile. "I slept in and well that's when my thoughts became clouded. Then there was two of me."

"You've been like this all day? Ugh Steven" reaching up she stroked his cheek before pecking his lips with her own. Letting it linger than normal before pulling away. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Allow me to carry you everywhere from now on."

"Steven isn't that a bit-" She stopped with a sly smirk. The idea didn't sound too bad actually. "You know what? I wouldn't mind that at all. In fact would you massage my shoulders too while you're at it? Please?" Without hesitation he lifted her upstairs and placed her on the bed. Sliding behind her to do as she requested.

"As you wish"

"What's with the random 'Princess Bride' reference?" She giggled as he leaned in closer.

"Because you know what it means." Turning slightly to gaze into his eyes she whispered back.

"I love you too."

Leaning into his touch, he continued to massage her neck, humming softly to her as she closed her eyes and dreamed. Feeling elated and wonderful, from being with her beloved to having their child together. After awhile he stopped upon hearing the rest of the family. Connie sighed and looked at the stairs, the noise traveling upward from all the commotion.

"Should I tell them to be quiet?"

"No, well yes but let's surprise them tomorrow with the news. For now, I want to keep this a secret between us."

"But your mom knows."

"Yeah but she's on another level. Besides I told her to keep this secret until we know one hundred percent that-...you know..." He kissed her once more against her temple, holding her gently.

"Our child will survive. I promise just like I promise to keep this secret." With a smile he chuckled. "And that gives us enough time to come up with a surprise. What time do you go in?"

"Earlier than today."

"Good. I'll be by your side the entire time. We'll tell my family that it was just a follow-up appointment from today just to be sure."

"Ah so going with the half-truth for now." She smirked with a wink. Making them both burst into fits of laughter.

Later that evening after another family night together, this time with a movie(which made keeping the secret much easier), Connie sat up from the bed, wrapped her blanket around her soft nightgown and stepped outside on the balcony. The moon rose high above as the light illuminated and mirrored the warmth she felt earlier. Leaning against the railing, the wind's cool breeze making her cool from the warm summer temperatures. A familiar touch around her waist and a firm body held her close.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"I just have so much to think about...."

"This baby will happen, I promise."

"I know....I hope too. But then I thought what if it does? Will I be a good mom?"

"Strawberry, you'll be a great mom."

"What if I make mistakes Biscuit?"

"You won't do all the things my mom did. I know that for sure." Looking up she brushed away a fallen tear from his cheek. Slipping her arms around his torso.

"Shhh" She cooed gently. "I'm sorry... If anything I promise to do all I can to be the best mom I can be."

"I know you will...." He sighed and looked into her eyes, full of adoration like she imagined earlier. "I am so blessed to have you in my life. When I began to care about you beyond just a friend... I dreamed of you so much. I can't believe it's finally happening..." Connie's eyes brimmed with tears as he spoke every word. Then as if on cue, they heard a melody echoing in the wind. Growing louder and louder until that was l they heard. His voice flowing into words.

I have dreamed that your arms are lovely I have dreamed what a joy you'll be I have dreamed every word you whisper

When you're close, close to me How you look in the glow of evening I have dreamed and enjoyed the view

In these dreams, I've loved you so That by now I think, I know What it's like to be loved by you I will love being loved by you

His heavenly voice compelled (in his opinion) her angelic voice to reply. To which she did without hesitation.

Alone and awake, I've looked at the stars The same that smile on you And time and again, I've thought all the things That you were thinking too

I have dreamed that your arms are lovely I have dreamed what a joy you'll be I have dreamed every word you whisper

When you're close, close to me How you look in the glow of evening I have dreamed and enjoyed the view

He joined into there harmonious melody, turning her around so she was facing him. Enveloping herself in his protective and loving embrace.  Echoing her words before melding them together.

In these dreams I've loved you so (I these dreams I loved you so) That by now I think I know (That I know)

What it's like to be loved by you. I will love being loved by you.

Leaning in closer and closer as their song came to a close, their lips touched in a loving kiss. An intense, yet gentle, passion flowed through them just like there love for one another. Both hands upon her stomach. Sensing the love of there child between there beating hearts. Growing with each passing second.

#30 days connverse challenge #30 day connverse challenge #30 day writing challenge #connverse #connie maheswaran #stevenxconnie #steven and connie #steven universe #steven universe future #day 15 #chadverse

[thecommonbloodstone]

Amethyst headcanons/theories? dump

I've always been onboard for Florist/Gardener Amethyst ever since Watermelon Steven where she said "those flowers are lovely!"

While she and Rose loved plants, Rose was very impatient with the process and would just use her powers to speed up the process while Amethyst likes the process, seeing a plant grow up and helping it grow is a very calming experience for her.

Amethyst absolutely believes in talking/singing to plants will make them grow better.

She has a secret garden behind the waterfalls in her room that Steven and Pearl accidentally discover just before the events of Pale Rose because one of Pearl's swords fell down too close to the entrance.

Amethyst loves making friends with artistic and creative humans. Shakespeare; she knew the guy personally. Frida Kahol was her pal. Van Gogh were close for a long time. (She fully believes the theory that his death wasn't a suicide)

Amethyst has only fallen in love twice. Once with Pearl a long time ago and she falls in and out of love a lot with her. The second with a painter she met a few hundred years ago. This woman painted the shark painting in Amethysts room. They'd met not to long before then and Rose had noticed that Amethyst had taken a liking to her and she commissioned the painting to set them up.

The painter had always said she'd look beautiful in long hair and Amethyst promised next time she poofed she'd come back with long hair. The painter passed away not too long after this promise due to sickness. It took Amethyst a long time to come through with that promise...

The painter had said I love you a lot to Amethyst but Amethyst could never say it back... until after the painter passed away. It's one Amethyst's biggest regrets.

Aside from those two, Amethyst had experimented around a lot (she stopped after the painter) with all kind of people but nothing serious ever came out of them.

Current day Amethyst has been done with experimenting for a long time and is pretty much ready for a permanent relationship. However, despite a lot of gems being interested in her, right now they're are experimenting themselves and Amethyst is reluctant to try anything with anyone as of now. Right now Amethyst just wants to focus on herself, her family and little Homeworld. Everything else can come later.

To Amethyst no matter how big Steven grows he will always be her Little Man

Amethyst likes writing poetry. There a random bits of paper, parchment and even wood that are in her room that are covered in her poems. Steven once found a bit of drift wood in her room with a particularly romantic bit of poetry on it and Amethyst swollowed it whole so he would read it. She ended up being really sick after that.

Amethyst knows how to deliver babies. She thinks it's gross but she's had enough friends with humans over the years that she's well aware on the how to.

She had to deliver Sour Cream on the way to the hospital when Greg's van broke down.

She also had the heartbreaking job of bringing Steven into the world...

Amethyst is the unofficial leader of the Famethyst. Jay and Sharky used to be the head gems but when Amethyst came along she unintentionally took charge of the group. Not that anyone minded that is. If there's a problem with the Earth Quartz (or any earth made gem) you get Amethyst.

The Famethyst got into a habit of calling Amethyst by various titles associated with leaders, "boss, chief, captain etc". It drives Amethyst crazy as she doesn't really see herself as a leader figure. When she tells the to stop they just switch to a new title. It's mostly because they are messing with her but there's a dash of seriousness in it.

Amethyst emerged without code. There's the bare essentials of a gem and even the bare essentials of an Amethyst but she is essentially codeless. She will never feel compelled to do anything by any gem of a higher authority. The diamonds are the exception as their powers work by overwhelming a gem and filling them with their light. Even then, Yellow still can't down Amethyst for long and White can't completely overwhelm her. Other gems may not remember what happens under Whites influence but Amethyst does...

Amethyst has a crazy amount on excess energy within her from being incubated for so long. It's normally inaccessible to her but during fusion and through shapeshifting she can push her limits as an amethyst and use the reserved power. She could push her mass to be really super large if she wanted but the stain would damage her gem severely and she'd never try it. In fusion it's fair game, if the moment calls for it she can basically power a fusion.

Amethyst learnt everything by mimicking and shapeshifting. It makes her really good at picking up other languages.

Amethyst is an average fighter, closer to a really strong ruby than a really weak quartz.

Amethyst judging by the timeline had emerged during the war. She saw the corruption song and immediately hid in her hole. It only barely saved her...

The first time Amethyst fused was with Garnet. It was a really calm event with the two simple spending time together. It lasted less then a second and it took a long time for them to do it again. But once they figured it out Sugilite came out to play a lot.

Amethyst and Pearl managed to fuse for the first time by accident during a gem mission. Amethyst technically wasn't allowed to go on missions yet as she had yet to summon her weapon but a large group of ruby monsters were stampeding their base (this was before they made the temple) and during the chaos Opal emerged.

Despite how much Amethyst would ask Rose would never fuse with her. The only time they would fuse was to form obsidian. It wasn't until Rose was revealed to be pink that Amethyst understood why.

Over time as more gems began taking nicknames, even the CG began picking them up. Garnet would always be Garnet (Ruby and sapphire fusions were too rare and it was the name she chose in a way) but Pearl would go by her old war nickname Renegade. Amethyst took a long time to pick up one. For a long time she just let gems call her whatever; runty, pip squeak, or just 8XM but eventually one stuck; Rogue. She was basically the crystal gem of freedom right? Why not have a name that literally means wild. Plus it had a double meaning. A rogue plant was a defective one. No one but close family would call her Amethyst after that.

After the events of Earthlings, Amethyst decided to clean up her room. At first it was just getting rid of useless junk but she eventually got the idea to build something with her scrap. The rest of the gems noticed and began helping too. By the end of it the scrap had been turned into a large tree made of her junk. It had several platforms and landing areas for amethyst to just hang out in and they even made a rudimentary power system powered by the water in her rooms for a tv to be hooked up with in.

Amethyst hates Homeworld. Before going she was indifferent but after spending time in the place she can't stand. The whole place just sets her on edge. You couldn't pay her to go there again. So while Steven, Pearl and Garnet are out fixing up gem society, Amethyst stays behind on earth to hold down the fort and eventually work on Little Homeworld. It takes her a long time to be able to go to Homeworld comfortably but that's only after era 3 has completely taken hold on the place.

Amethyst and Centi are close pals. The two of them can be often seen hanging out and just goofing off together.

Amethyst and Bismuth also develop a close friendship too. They are both heart gems with a pension for shapeshifting. Bismuth is the first gem to encourage Amethyst to use her shapeshifting for more combat uses. Encouraging her to get more creative with it.

Amethyst loves being someones wingman. She's a romantic at heart (she lived with Garnet, Rose and Pearl it's hard not to be) and helping out her pals with their romantic endeavours is her absolute pleasure.

Amethyst and Pearl go to a lot of concerts together. There's no set genre to the concerts they attend, they just like going to them together.

Amethyst wants to travel to other planets. Even since she was in the kindergarten she would sometimes see the stars through the mist and she wanted to see more of them. Once everything with Homeworld and Era 3 is mostly sorted and she can have a break she wants to do some travelling. Just for a few months at a time nothing too serious as she would miss home too much if she was away any longer. No matter what Amethyst would come back.

During Steven and Connie's wedding, Pearl and Amethyst are the best"gems"/ring bears while Garnet officiates. There was an incident just before the wedding were the rings got lost, involving a corrupted gem, a trip off world and a battle with an alien but Amethyst and Pearl managed to return with the rings in time.

I'll add more later (probably)

#steven universe #amethyst #amethyst su #pearl #garnet #steven quartz universe #su #pearlmethyst #dfctv pride #puma mom #bird mom #square mom #marshmellow son

[lightanddarklove]

Converse Week Day 3: Sleep

Sleep: Rest Well my Beloved

Rated: Teen | 1930 Words | Warnings: Insomnia, Misgendering, Asexual Spectrum, Childbirth and Breastfeeding discussions

Day 1 Prompt | Day 2 Prompt | Day 3 Prompt | Day 4 prompt  | Day 5 prompt  | Day 6 Prompt | Day 7 prompt | My Writing Masterpost

Adult Converse parents. Connie and Steven are using Peanut as a nickname for their daughter, and the Tamil words for grandparents for Doug and Priayanka. Mother's father is Taata and Mother's mother is Paati.

Also, lil bit of Demisexual Steven mention when they're talking about therapy.

Steboni’s name for their daughter is from @discount-supervillain​, see here for their adolescent Connie and Steven daughter that is adorable.

Thanks for reading and I love hearing from readers, please let me know what you think.

As new parents, Steven and Connie aren't getting much sleep. However, Steven seems to be actively avoiding resting, and Connie intends to find out why. Fluff with a bit of adult subjects related to childbirth. Connie-centric. Teen.

Being a new parent is hard, Connie thought to herself as she lay in bed, awoken by the sound of crying from the baby monitor. I knew that already, but actually getting as little sleep as we are, is very different from being told that you will. She sighed quietly, and was about to take off the covers when she felt the bed beside her shift. She cracked one eye open to see Steven sitting up and about to go face the crying infant in the other room. He was turned away from her and she gently reached out to touch his back.

“It’s my turn, Biscuit,” she mumbled. He stood and turned to face her with a tired half-smile.

“I couldn’t sleep.” He groaned. “You pumped enough earlier? I can get it.”

“Yeah, but you should try to get some rest,” she replied, voice thick with sleepiness.

“You can get the first diaper when the sun’s out,” he said, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Connie’s cheek. She ran a weary hand through his curls as he moved away.

“Ok,” she relented. He turned the baby monitor down, as they always did when the other is still in bed. She closed her eyes and heard him pad away. She tried to breathe deeply as his voice came from the monitor. He crooned sweetly at their crying daughter. Cries turned into whimpers as she heard her husband in the other room, comforting their baby. After a few minutes, she knew the pair had left the room to get breastmilk as they went quiet.

It would have been the best time to fall back asleep while her husband and daughter were in the kitchen. Unfortunately despite counting breaths and trying not to think about anything, her mind was drawn back to how little Steven was sleeping. I have to do something, she thought. He can’t keep this up forever. I’ll call mom, or Greg or the gems in the morning, see if they can watch Steboni sometime this week so he can get some rest.

It had been just over a week since Connie and the baby had come home from the hospital. Having her parents stay at the apartment for the first few nights had helped, but since then, Steven rarely slept before 4 am, and never more than 4 hours at a time. The bags under his eyes were getting worse, and they looked about as bad as they did when he was running Little Homeschool. When she was up for the day, she sometime spotted him curled up in a chair, squeezing in a 20 minute nap here and here. It was seldom now he looked rested.

Connie tried turning over again and sat for another few minutes before hauling herself out of bed, scrubbing her eyes. With a groan and pop of stiff joints, she stretched and made her way to the bathroom. Moments later, she emerged, and Steven still hadn’t come back to bed. She moved into the kitchen, and found it absent before looking into the living room. There, near to the center of the room, he was seated pretzel style with their daughter in the crook of his arm as she sleepily chugged down the ends of her bottle. Lion was pressed against Steven’s back, drowsily observing at the bundle in Steven’s arms.

Connie caught Steven singing ends of a lullaby she recognized as being one Greg wrote when Steven was a baby. Somber and sweet, his voice had more baritone qualities as Steven had aged, but it was still his. Connie smiled fondly.

“Things start and things end And isn’t it lovely in theory but I could never be, I could never be, I could never be ready.”

Steboni had her eyes fluttering between open and closed as he sang, so he repeated the final verse a second time. Connie quietly stepped back into their bedroom to grab her phone off the charger and snapped a picture from the kitchen doorway as he finished the song and their daughter fell asleep. She set the phone down on the kitchen counter. He still hadn’t made any indication he had noticed Connie as he gently rocked the baby in his arms. Upon Connie’s entrance into the dimly lit room, Lion flicked his ear and raised his head slightly. This finally brought Steven’s attention from his daughter to his wife. His eyes only glanced up to Connie for a moment before looking back down in adoration at their child.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” Steven murmured.

“I was hoping you’d be back to bed by now,” she answered softly, stepping toward the pair.

“Hmm,” he crooned. “Our little one was fussy when I was changing her. I think she’ll go down easy now that she’s eaten though.”

“I’ll take her to the crib,” Connie offered in a whisper.

“I would say no, that I can do it, but I’m actually pretty comfy right now,” he replied. “You don’t mind?”

“I got you, Biscuit.” Connie snuck her hands into Steven’s arms and cradled their daughter carefully, supporting the neck as her mother had taught the young parents. She held the infant, rocking gently, and strode to the nursery, setting her down with the utmost care. With a smile, Connie tucked a loose curl into her daughter’s beanie, and tiptoed back into the living room.

Steven slouched against Lion comfortably. He gave her a lopsided grin as she sat down on the floor beside him, calves tucked under her thighs, so she was at the proper height to rest her head on his shoulder. She took one of his hands in hers and rested in on her thigh, rubbing circles on the softened palm with her thumb. He lazily stroked her leg with two fingers.

He pressed a kiss to her temple and he hummed, “Thanks for that, Strawberry.”

“Anytime,” she mumbled into his shoulder. She straightened slightly so she could look into his eyes. “Are we going back to bed, or we staying here for a while?”

“What’s the rush?” he asked. “Stay and sit a spell, I’m in no hurry.”

“You need your sleep, Steven.”

“Eventually, yes, but I could fall asleep here.”

“You’ll wake up with a sore neck.”

“I can live with that. It’s so warm next to Lion and with you here, I have no reason to get up until the baby does.”

“Are you having a hard time falling asleep in bed?” she asked with undisguised concern.

“We’re parents to an infant,” he said, tone apathetic, “there’s no way that we’re sleeping through the night anytime soon. I’m not in a hurry to get in bed, sleep for two hours and wake up again. I’d rather sit here with you. I can sleep later.”

“I said I’d take the next diaper,” she replied. “You did two in a row, plus I think you gave her the last of the breastmilk I had pumped, so I’ll need to get it anyway.” He leaned into her and hummed in thought.

“You could… try pumping while sitting next to me so we can snuggle?”

“Oh that would be very sexy of me.” She said, voice thickly sarcastic.

“I watched you give birth?” he replied, voice trailing upward as he spoke, “Do you think that if that couldn’t scare me away, watching you use a breast pump would?”

“I’m pretty sure most of the time you were crying or had your face in your hands,” she teased.

“Berry, I was worried…” he whined.

“And everything with me and our daughter is fine now, so I’m worrying about you.” She pointed to his chest as she spoke. “So why aren’t you sleeping?”

“No fair,” he pouted, looking away. “I just wanted to cuddle and now you wanna make me talk about serious stuff.”

“What’s serious about it?” Her hand reached his cheek and pulled his face toward hers for a kiss. After they pulled apart he sighed.

“I know this is a long road ahead of us, but I don’t want to miss any of it.”

“Parenting is not a sprint, but-“she recited.

“It’s a marathon.” They said together. He looked away again, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I know,” he muttered, “but even when I try to sleep I just end up thinking about everything that can go wrong.”

“It’s scary, but we’re lucky we have a lot of support.” She replied comfortingly. “We have Paati and Taata, Pops Greg, Auntie Amethyst, Nana Pearl, Gemma Garnet…”

“I still can’t believe she picked that nickname,” Steven sniggered.

“And, Sadie, Lars and Sour Cream have all offered to babysit too. So if you can stop worrying, and want to go rest for a while, I’ve got backup. It’s not all on you, or me, just know that we have people who we can depend on. And as for worrying about missing stuff, we can take pictures, you’ll see almost everything, even if you can’t be here for it. We’re a long way off from missing first word territory. First real smile and laugh are probably at least a month away.”

“So what you’re saying is, ‘trust me, we got this’?”

“Well that, and get some sleep. Anything else bothering you?” She took his head in both her hands and batted her eyes at him, a coy smile on her face. He tried to keep a neutral expression but once she raised her eyebrows repeatedly his composure broke.

“Ok, nightmares have been getting the better of me again.”

“You need a new therapist.” She gave his face a gentle squish and moved her hands to wrap around his neck.

“Tell me about it. She moved to Jersey, who retires in Jersey?”

“Aren’t people who retire supposed to go closer to the equator? Where its warmer?” she joked.

“I need a referral, the guy who has her office now does not understand men who aren’t very sexual. Or the gender stuff about how gems mostly refer to themselves as she and since I don’t usually, it bothers me when I’m misgendered.” He dragged his hands down his face. “I hate dealing with insurance stuff. It feels so tedious and frustrating.”

“So here’s what we’re gonna do. It’s time for you to go back to bed. I’ll stay up to pump. Then I’ll send out some emails to see who’s available to babysit what days this week. I’ll make arrangements, so on one of those days, you can see your doctor and get the referral. And if you want me to sit on hold with your insurance so you can get other things done, I will.”

“You’re the best,” he sang. Then more quickly he said “I don’t deserve you.”

“None of that talk, Biscuit.” She patted his face as she spoke.” You’ll feel better once you sleep. Peanut is all mine until after I call your doctor, that won’t be until after 8:30. So get some rest.”

“You’re the boss,” he replied. He gave her a tender kiss and unfolded his legs to stand. Unsteadily, he pulled himself to his feet. After gaining his bearings, he turned and offered his hand to his wife. She grasped it and tugged herself up, wincing.

“Ow, leg cramp.”

“I can fix that,” he said, scooping her into his arms, pulling her Pajamas up and kissing her calves. She squirmed and giggled as he carried her into the bedroom. “I can’t sleep unless you’re happy, so let me make you happy!”

“That wasn’t the deal!” she gasped, half irritated, half chuckling. “Go to bed!”

#JambudWeek #Connverse #Connverse Week #Fanfiction #Steven Universe #Steven Universe: Future #Connie Maheswaran #my precious gem child #Adult Converse #New Parents #Connverse Baby #Childbirth #Insomnia #Breastfeeding #Fluff #This is the Softest thing I've ever written #Non-Betad #SU Fanfic #my writing

[auratusuniverse]

Till you're here beside me

Steven returns to Earth (on time this time - so sorry about that other fic, guys) and needs to heal an injury that Connie sustained.

Fluff. Shameless fluff … at the end…

Title is from the same rendition of “I Will Wait For You” as the other Steven bomb 5 fic. Minor spoilers for Steven Bomb 5

Steven was nervous as they sped toward Earth. He knew he would be back in time to see Connie, but he worried about how she might receive him. He had told her he didn’t have time to wait for her, after all and he had been very abrupt with her. He hadn’t even told her goodbye.

He felt a hand on his shoulder as they neared the blue planet.

“Everything will be alright,” Garnet smiled. “You have Greg and Connie will be eager to see you.”

“I just was so abrupt with her over the phone. I really hope she understands that I was just upset.”

“Of course she does. She cares about you and she knows you care about Greg. She will understand -”

Garnet pause a moment.

“We need to change our course. There has been a change of plans,” she stated.

“Why? What happened?” Steven asked as Pearl commandeered the controls.

“Well, you’ll be seeing Connie a lot sooner than you originally were planning on,” Garnet started. “Pearl, we need to touch down at the temple instead of the barn. And be prepared for a fight.”

Steven turned to Garnet and paled.

“What?”

“Looks like someone beat us home …”

Steven watched as they came closer and closer to Delmarva, bracing for running into Yellow or Blue Diamond.

Instead, they were greeted, upon landing, by the sight of a small Roaming Eye and the glittering, inert gems of three Rubies and an Onyx. Near the Roaming eye was Lapis, who was busy bubbling the gems, and Peridot who was attending to someone. Someone who looked injured.

Steven knew immediately who that someone was.

“Connie! I need to get to her!” He cried out.

“Don’t worry Steven. Everything will be alright,” Garnet soothed.

“But she’s hurt!” Steven whimpered. “She’s hurt and it’s my fault! I need to save her!”

“There will be plenty of time,” Garnet started as they touched down.

Steven broke away from Garnet and ran to the door of the ship. He didn’t care what the gems said.

He needed to get to Connie now.

~

“Are you able to stand?” Peridot asked as she propped Connie up.

“I don’t know … I think my leg is too injured. You might need to use my phone to call an ambulance … Ugh. My mom is going to be so mad!” Connie gritted out.

“At least you are no longer leaking as much blood,” Peridot started. “I’ll try and call for help-”

“Connie!”

The pair whipped their heads up to see Steven running down the beach. Connie was relieved to see him at first but then her relief turned to worry as she saw the tears streaming down his cheeks.

Had he been too late to save Greg?

Seeing Greg step out from the ship relieved her of that fear but it didn’t explain Steven’s tears until he finally reached her.

“Connie! I’m so sorry!” Steven started as he sobbed into her hair. “I didn’t mean to be so harsh on the phone and now you’re hurt and it’s all my fault!”

She was confused at first. She couldn’t understand why he was so upset about what he had said and then she remembered how upset he had been on the phone.

“Steven, it’s ok!” Connie started. “I knew you were upset about your dad. And I’ll be ok. It’s not life threatening.”

Steven looked up at Connie and she felt her heart nearly break at the sadness in his eyes.

“Hey, Biscuit,” she started. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere … Except for maybe the hospital because I’m pretty sure my leg is broken. But that isn’t your fault! It might have happened anyway. These gems just came to Earth and we saw them trying to take Jamie when he was delivering mail, so we jumped in to save him.”

“They were going to take Jamie?” Steven whispered. “So it’s true. They were here to add to Blue Diamond’s collection … Argh! I should never have gone to Korea!”

She gently placed a hand on his cheek.

“Steven, it’s ok. Everything will be fine. I’m here for you.”

Steven looked into Connie’s eyes.

“I just … I’m so sorry. I wanted answers and I was so scared and I should have waited.”

“If you had waited, Jamie would have been kidnapped,” Connie said.

“It’s true. We were only coming to the beach because Connie needed to grab something she had left at your house. Otherwise we would have just been at the barn,” Peridot stated. “But I do need to either get Connie to a hospital or you need to heal her. I was able to stop the leaking but her leg is still injured.”

Steven looked back at Connie. She smiled at him again in silent understanding.

Their lips met. When they parted, Connie looked down as she lifted up her pant leg. The wound had fully sealed and the pain was gone.

“I think it worked,” she smiled before hugging Steven tightly. “Thank you, Steven.”

“Woo! Go Connie!” The pair heard Amethyst shout. “Nice going! Get some!”

“Amethyst!” Pearl shouted. “Don’t ruin their first kiss!”

Garnet simply smiled.

Steven chuckled as Connie whispered in his ear.

“We probably shouldn’t tell them that that you kissed me after I got that cut during training.”

“Yeah. Don’t want to ruin their fun,” Steven laughed.

The pair embraced again as the gems joined them on the beach, Pearl fussing over the next move that Steven should make while Amethyst teased Steven and Connie. Greg and Garnet hung back and watched as Steven helped Connie up, watching her test out her newly healed leg.

“This isn’t the first time they’ve kissed, is it?” Greg asked.

“Probably not. Connie hasn’t returned from training with even a scraped knee since Steven got his healing powers back,” Garnet smirked. “But don’t ruin their fun. I don’t think they want us to know.”

Greg nodded and watched as Pearl ushered Steven and Connie into the beach house, continuing to lecture them on proper courtship and how to handle their relationship while Peridot lingered with Amethyst, asking her if Steven and Connie were indeed “companions” and if she needed to start preparing for the “marriage ritual”.

“I am just saying, I found a place where I can become an officiate. They don’t even ask if you’re human!”

“Whatever, Wondernerd. They’re still teens so it’s going to be years before they actually get married.”

“Well, I can wait for years if I need to. I just want to be the one to perform the marriage ritual! I am his closest friend after all!”

“Whatever you say, Perinerd,” Amethyst teased.

Greg smiled.

After everything that happened; after Steven had asked for answers and had undertaken a journey to save him; after he had accepted his feelings for Connie, Greg knew.

His son was truly growing up.

#steven universe #steven universe spoilers #su spoilers #connverse #conniverse #steven x connie #fluff