Steven vs. Stephen

A Lesson in Friendship

Heaving a great sigh, Stephen crossed through the pink realm of the magic portal and onto the beach. It had been several hours since their initial departure, evident by the faint glow of the sun along the ocean's horizon. Above them the sky was turned a deep, rich blue instead of the pitch blackness of night. The sand was now dry from the previous storm, the mushy ground having been sucked of its moisture long ago. Taking a big stretch Stephen yawned tiredly, glad to be able to rest soon. Having some patience left knowing that sleep was nearby, he waited for the others to leave the portal before he would change Lion back into an actual lion. Pearl was the first to exit, followed by Garnet and Peridot.

Amethyst was the last to walk out, and in strangely gloomy spirits. It felt great to be back home and away from the disturbing atmosphere of the moon base, but she couldn't help but feel an incredible sense of bizarre loneliness. But this hadn't been the first encounter with the feeling. In fact, since Steven had started to act strange she'd begun to feel worse and worse about herself. The walk down the flight of stairs in the base was what made her truly realize that. Any time during the mission Amethyst would try to talk to someone or find a way to be involved, she was shot down at every opportunity. She couldn't get anyone to laugh like she normally could, and it stressed her out. Nobody seemed to listen to what she had to say, and actually appeared more agitated than before. None of them really wanted her there, she felt. Or at least, there was no need for her to be there. It made Amethyst feel useless. All she wanted was to get a laugh out of somebody, and ease up some tension from the ever-growing pit of hopelessness that had begun to fester inside of her. Was having a conversation too much to ask for? And even if she could talk, who would it be with? Garnet wasn't good at conversation, and Pearl was in much too foul of a mood to be open for discussion. And Amethyst wasn't going to willingly talk to Stephen, still not being able to look at him the same after what he did to Onion. So, that really only left her with one option. It was worth a short, at least.

"Hey," she approached Peridot, "Nice job on not freaking out about going through the portal this time!" She gave her a slap on the back as an applause for not being obnoxious for two seconds, hoping to gain a moment of decent interaction with anybody. She figured if she showed some kindness to Peridot, then maybe she could find someone that would actually enjoy her company. But fate seemed to have other ideas. Much to Amethyst's dismay, Peridot jolted away, sounding like she'd sucked something in her throat. She began to cough, punching at her chest as if she was choking on something. Stephen began to laugh, but Amethyst shrunk away in embarrassment.

"Geez, man. I was just trying to be nice, you know. No need to be so dramatic about it." Amethyst took it as her being bothered by her presence, as the other remained sputtering and choking. How rude. But, if even Peridot was annoyed, then the others must be truly sick of Amethyst. It seemed her attempt to make friends with the other had only made herself feel worse.

"Fine, I'm just never speaking or moving again. That way y'all don't have to deal with me." She hung her head low and spoke with bitter dejection.

"Finally!" Pearl exclaimed, raising her arms into the air in appreciation, "It was about time!" While she knew Pearl was upset, Amethyst felt genuinely hurt to hear such harsh words come from her, of all people. She was sort of hoping to have some comfort in Pearl's reaction, and not pure hostility. "You know what," Amethyst started, her voice shaking slightly, "fuck you, man!"

"Ah! You said something!" Pearl yelled back, "I guess you were lying about being quiet, then."

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN-" Amethyst screamed.

"Man, I hate liars." Stephen chimed in. He hadn't been listening to the whole conversation, so he had no idea how his reaction made Amethyst feel. It appeared everyone was ganging up on her even though she was trying to avoid conflict, not that Stephen had really noticed. While she had been sulking, Stephen's thoughts drifted onto the topic of his brother. It had been quite some time since Steven had been initially frozen, and Stephen had been wondering about how he was doing. He wanted to go and check on him, to see how he was reacting to the horrors Stephen had been putting everyone through, but he hadn't gotten the opportunity. Someone was always in the house, so Stephen was never able to go into the basement without attracting attention. Everyone had their eyes on him since his first few outbursts, so he didn't want to take the chance of somebody following him and discovering Steven.