Blue is a Sleepy Colour

10- Connie's epiphany

"I'm telling you, you're going to love him!" Connie squealed as she jogged across the sand, her new friend from school trailing behind .
"You said he has... super powers? And the three ladies who live with him do too?" He asked doubtfully. Connie grinned.

She had only become acquainted with Jeff pretty recently- turns out they had many common interests, and they made quite good friends. So of course Connie couldn't help but tell him about the coolest thing going on in her life- Steven Universe. She had tried to explain as best she could the situation with the gems and Steven's status as a half gem, but unsurprisingly it was difficult for Jeff to grasp immediately. That's when Connie invited him along with her to watch Steven train with Amethyst as they tend to do on Saturdays.

"How come I've never seen him at school?" Jeff asked.
"Oh Steven doesn't go to school. He's training for like a war against Homeworld or something? Details are unclear." Connie shrugged. They had just arrived at the edge of the temple, and Jeff stared up in awe at the vast size of it.
"Cool, right?" She smirked.
"Right..."

As if on cue, Steven stepped out of his beach house, fiddling with the strap of a small pouch. It was a hot day, so he had shed his hoodie and was in his black shirt and jeans.
"Steven!" Connie called out, waving at him wildly from the further end of the beach. Steven's head snapped up, a big smile forming on his face as he spotted her. He vaulted over the railing of his porch and hopped down onto the sand, jogging over to the pair.

"Hey, Connie!" They hugged each other tightly before he turned his attention to Jeff. "Who's your friend?" He asked.
"Oh, this is Jeff. He's from my class, and I felt like you two would get along, so I thought I'd introduce you." Connie grinned at Steven as he chuckled.
Jeff held out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Steven."
Steven shook his hand, echoing his words.

"So what do you have there?" Connie asked, indicating to the pouch he still held in his left hand.
"Oh!" He held it out to her. "Well I was thinking- what if I'm in battle, and there's no water nearby? I'm pretty much helpless, so, I thought why not just bring the water with me, in a pouch?"
Jeff looked at them both in confusion.
"Water? Like... to drink, right?" He asked sceptically. Connie and Steven laughed.
"No, Steven's got hydrokinesis, that's why he needs the water to fight." She glanced at Steven. "Though I still don't get what you're going to do with such a small amount, usually you need like a river or the ocean."

"Hey wait, what's hydro-a-what-now?" Jeff interrupted.
"Connie's fancy way of saying I control water. Gems usually can just summon weapons but my powers are a bit different." Steven smiled.
"Can I... can I see?" Jeff looked between Connie and Steven. She immediately perked up at his question.
"Oh- his powers are so cool! He has these super amazing wings made out of water that he can actually fly with! It's like he came straight out of a book!" She rambled excitedly. Steven blushed bashfully.
"Aw, shucks."
"Now this I gotta see!" Jeff stared at Steven expectantly.

"Hey, maybe we can head to the training arena first? I wanna show Connie what I plan to do with the water pouch." Steven scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Oh, sure!"

The three of them stepped off of the warp pad and onto the floating arena. Amethyst was already laying back on the observation area, her eyes shut in relaxation.
"Hey Amethyst." Said Steven casually as he walked over to the newly installed weapon rack. Her eye opened a crack as she grinned.
"Sup, Ste-man! Here to get your butt kicked again?"
"Well why else would I come here?" He deadpanned as he examined the swords. Connie snickered, and Jeff couldn't help but grin at their interaction.

Amethyst stood up from the observation area and stretched her back out, pulling her hair into a ponytail. Jeff's cheeks reddened slightly as he nudged Connie.
"Who's that?" He whispered to her.
"That's Amethyst. She's one of the Crystal Gems, and has an obsession with beating Steven in a fight. Which, with the lack of water here, is probably more likely than usual." She frowned as Jeff nodded.
"She's really pretty." Jeff said as casually as he could.
"Yeah, all the gems are. Wish I was too..." She shrugged.
"You're pretty too. A lot, actually..." He trailed off, both their cheeks a fiery red.