♢My Little Songbird♢ ~AU Diamond!steven x Fem!siren reader~

12: sobered up

"I.... I... I..."

You couldn't form words as you stared into cold pink eyes. It was as though you her a hapless mouse caught in a snake's coils, complete with the suffocating grip of anxiety. "I-I didn't... mean to... I-I just didn't--"

"Be quiet." He ordered sharply, to which you quickly obeyed. He looked you up and down, his grip on your wrists tightening slightly as his eyes narrowed subtly. "What have I told you about obeying orders?"

You opened your mouth, but your words were stuck in your throat.

"I specifically said you are expected to obey any and all orders I give you. No matter what." He growls, leaning closer to your face, and you felt the heat that radiated from his pink skin. "Or you'd be subjected to severe consequences. I said that, did I not?"

You felt your chest run cold with dread, like your heart had frozen into a ball of ice. "Y-You did... I-I..." Any defenses you had vaporized on your tongue and you found yourself starting to shake uncontrollably, your lips quivering as you turned your head to the side, clenching your eyes shut to stifle your tears. "I-I'm... sorry." You squeaked pathetically, your voice shaky with fear. "P-Please... please have mercy..."

For what felt like eternity, a heavy silence fell, and nothing but the sounds of your pounding heart and uneven breaths filled your ears.

You didn't know what to expect as a consequence. You've already bore witness to how powerful he truly is; being able to punt solid stone across the room as if it were a football. And the mere sound of his voice put cracks in the wall. There was absolutely no doubt that he had the ability to pull your wings right out of their sockets with a sickening amount of ease. Or, with the pressure you felt against your wrist, he could easily snap them both with a flick of the prince's wrist like toothpicks.

You tensed up, bracing for what's to come...

...but nothing came.

Cracking an eye open, releasing a small flurry of tears in that had gathered in the process, and was surprised to find that the prince was no longer a glowing pink, and was instead back to his fair skinned form.

Slowly turning your head, you spared a look up at him, you were surprised to see that he now had a poorly hidden look of sympathy painted on his face. Upon seeing you peer back at him, he winced slightly and turned his head away with a sigh.

Very slowly, he released his grip on your wrists and sat back, clearing his throat. "....but since this is your first offense... I'm letting you off with a warning."

You almost audibly released a heavy sigh of relief, as the weight on your chest was lifted. Instead, you let out a soft shaky breath, your eyes widening in slight surprise.

He looked back down at you, and you could almost swear he had a slight twinge of guilt on his face as he saw your pupils dilate. "D-Don't... Don't let this happen again." He reached down and wiped the stray tear away from your cheek. "Am I clear?"

"Y-Yes, my diamond." You quickly responded with an instinctive nod. "Th-Thank you... for your mercy." He nodded back, his face holding a serene expression. He reached down and patted your head lightly. "Good."

He takes a deep breath, and slowly gets off you, and dismounts the bed. You slowly sit up, watching as his face slowly becomes more solemn and contemplative as he looks over at the damage he had done to the room. It wasn't as bad this time, but he still winced at the thick cracks in the wall, as well as the broken desk that was discarded across the room.

"M-My diamond?" Your voice came out tiny. "A-Are you okay?"

He glanced over his shoulder at you, looking you up and down as you knelt beside him.

Though you were relaxed by his show of mercy, judging by how you had your feathers were still ruffled, he still sensed that you were very much shaken up by what you've seen him do.

He should've felt pride at that. To instill fear and submission into one of earth's more dangerous creature of mythology is a feat only a true diamond could accomplish...

He should be proud. He should feel triumph!

...but the when he looked at you... he felt nothing but... pity.

He didn't understand why. He couldn't.

He was a Diamond. Diamonds weren't supposed to feel like this. Not towards anyone of a lower status, at least.

It was feeling of weakness.

He especially shouldn't feel pity for something that was supposed to be mythological!

He couldn't be afford to be weak...

But... that frightened look on your face made his heart tug.

He huffed, turning away from you as he let his shoulders fall, looking to his feet. "I'm... fine." He answered roughly. He sighed heavily as he sat on the edge of his bed, slumping forward. "Just... tired..."

You sat up straighter as he trailed off, going quiet as he stared at the ground. He looked as though he was facing an especially bitter defeat.

Despite yourself, you found yourself slowly crawling towards the crestfallen prince and, reached out and set a cautious hand on his shoulder. He flinched but made no move to brush it off. "I-If it's not too much trouble... may I... know what had you so... upset? My diamond?"

"...wouldn't you like to know." He grumbled, not taking his eyes off the ground.

You winced at the curt reply. "I... I would like to know." You replied softly, in order not to offend. "Talking could help with making you feel--"

You were cut off by Steven raising a hand to silence you. "Don't finish that sentence."

You slowly retracted your hand. "Right... sorry."

After a lengthy period of silence, Steven spoke up again.

"...I have a better idea."

---{outside the door}---

"Oh, I hope that siren's okay..."

Head Pearl fretted as she along with pink pearl, jasper and a couple Amethysts walked behind her. "Her first day here and she's already seen his... bad side."

Jasper scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Maybe if it didn't step out of line..."

"I-It's my fault for speaking out of line to begin with!" Head Pearl snapped, guilt written all over her face. "I shouldn't have spoken to him like that when he's in that state..."

"...It-it's... not like you had any ill intentions in what you said..." Pink pearl spoke softly, trying to comfort her comrade. "Y-You tried to make him see reason."

"But that only made things worse!" Pearl exclaimed as they came up to the pink rhombus door and opened the door. "I hope she's still--"

~You are the ocean's gray waves...~

"Huh?"

Pearl paused upon hearing a soft, silky voice fill the air, along with a sweet fragrance, similar to a Rose's, along with a subtle sea breeze. Turning her head, she gasped lightly at the display.

[Redrawing!]

~...destined to seek beyond the shore, just out of reach, Yet the waters ever change, flowing like time... The path is yours to climb...~

All three of the gems gawked at the display in disbelief.

"It... it actually worked..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course I had to use Azura's song, it fit too well!

I've re-edited reader's visuals [see Diamond orientation page] + updated the "Hybrid Siren" page to make things more interesting/accurate(?)