Below the Surface (Steven Universe x Reader)

2

After having removed himself from the embrace of the ocean after an hour, and replacing his sopping wet clothes with new, dry ones, Steven found himself back in the kitchen with the quartet of gems. Though all of the gems' lessons were unique in their own way, Steven found himself contemplating on his aunt's the most - find his way.

"I think my best bet is recreating what happened the last time my gem glowed."
One-by-one the boy began placing everyone the way they could remember from this morning, being very meticulous with details. When he felt the setting was right he grabbed the partially eaten cookie cat from the freezer, "Then I took a bite of this Cookie Cat! Oh, wait, I sang the song first! Uh...he's a frozen treat, all new taste, interstellar war, and now available at Gergan's."

The deafening silence disappointed the boy, "Aw, it was funnier last time!" Lifting his shirt Steven's disappointment grew, "Maybe I'm not a real Cryst-hmph!"

Steven's self-degradation was stopped short by a finger pressing against his lips. The look of disbelief met his own as he watched his aunt pull him into a hug, "Don't you ever say that, nor think that again. You're young and learning. There's never a need to rush your summoning abilities. You'll get there eventually, but never doubt yourself for another second."

"(Y/n)'s right!" Amethyst butted in, "And you're fun to have around, even if your gem is useless!"

A sneer and a growl from Pearl had the purple-skinned gem lean back, looking away without a care, "I mean...you're one of us, Steven! We're not the Crystal Gems without you."

Garnet, who had been silent the whole time, nodded with a sincere smile.

The boy looked around at all the supportive faces, a smile and starry-eyed gaze taking shape on his own, "Y-yeah! Even if I don't have powers I still have...Cookie Cat!" With a big chomp, Steven closed his eyes in pure bliss as the valiant of flavors coated his tastebuds. Unbeknownst to him the team watched in amazement as the boy's gem radiated with a brilliant, pink light before a shield manifested in front of him.

"Hah! Steven...it's a shield!" Pearl gasped.

"Oh, what?! I get a shield?! Awwww~ yeah!" Unfortunately, his burst of energy sent the shield flying around the beach house like a bad game of pinball, ultimately ending up embedded into the tv upstairs. Amethyst found the situation all too hilarious, chortling loudly. Pearl placed a stressed hand on her head, Garnet remained impassive, and (Y/n) was slowly removing the boy from her protective embrace.

After the chaos settled down the brunette lifted the cookie cat in the air with a newfound discovery, "I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!"

Pearl picked up the wrapper, a skeptical look on her face, "What's in these things?"

The entire house shook violently, cutting off the group from their current endeavor. From the window they saw the large body of centipeetle mother scaling the house.

"What was that?" Steven asked.

Everyone ran outside to find the mother clinging to the side of the cliff, staring at the sky. Garnet was the first to spring into action, followed by (Y/n).

"In the house, Steven," Pearl ordered sternly.

"No way! I'm coming too!" Running back into the house, Steven grabbed as many Cookie Cats as his arms could carry then stuffed them into his cookie cat freezer and plugged it into a bunch of extension chords.