Chapter Text
Steven awoke groggily, not sleeping as well as he would have liked. His back ached uncomfortably, causing him to stretch, making a little crack of noise as he did so. It took a while, but he eventually slumped out of bed, dragging his feet along the wooden floor, past his clothes on the floor and boarded up window near his sliding glass door. He ignored the sound of his own heavy breathing as he slowly made his way downstairs to the kitchen. It was the only sound he heard. Were the gems at Little Homeschool? Maybe. He wouldn't be surprised if they were. It's been suffocating both for Steven and everyone around him days after the 'incident.' They probably were trying to go back outside instead of having to stay with me. They have better things to do, anyway. By the time he made it to the landing, he was already out of breath, cringing in pain as he put his last step on the ground. He grumbled to himself, embarrassed by his own pain, leaning against the blanketed, flimsy wall for support. He ignored the whistling, annoying wind that came through the tarp easily. He ignored the persistent, yet foggy memory of him tearing through the front of the beach house. He ignored his hands shaking as he stumbled to the kitchen table, gripping the sides as an attempt to regain balance. He ignored the engraved claw marks that trailed out the front, peeking from the side of his vision. He couldn't face it. Not today, not for a long time. Now really isn't the time, Steven.
He prepared himself a bowl of fruit hoops, shakily pouring the milk into the small bowl of grain. He wasn't really hungry. He ignored how difficult it was for him to simply pick up a carton of milk. He hated this new...soreness in his body since his co-- breakdown. He hated the frailness of his whole self. How he was treated. How he physically felt. It was different to all the other times he got hurt. Well...he never really got hurt. It just healed instantly, according to Dr. Maheswaran. But this was really different. It wasn't an injury pain, no. So why was it so irritatingly painful to move a muscle? Maybe it was a gem thing. He doesn't know. Steven, realizing he zoned out for a while, picked his spoon back up, taking it to his mouth carefully.
The bathroom door clicked close, reaching for the light switch to turn the light on. Steven looked around blankly, a dread surrounding him. It was the same bathroom he's always had. why do I feel so unsettled...? The aching returned once more, more noticeable this time, starting from his back to his calves. He groaned harshly, letting his head drop along with his hands clenching and fingers digging into his palms as a way to distract himself from his whole back. Not long after, Steven gave up on trying to stay still, his legs grasped onto the sink, sucking in a breath hastily. "Ugh! Why can't I-" He caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror. his reflection. He hasn't looked at himself for a while; not recently, at least. Steven turned his head, gazing deeply into himself. It was his same, usual self. Right? Same curly, dark brown locks. Same face, same...skin? He leaned in closer to the mirror, his one arm letting go of the sink to hold the side of the glass. Steven continued to inspect himself anxiously, moving his head from the left to the right, brushing his hand through his curls, then touching his cheek. His fingers skidded across, reaching a rough, patchy part of skin. Steven recoiled at the sensation, letting go of the mirror. The sudden movement caused his muscles to tense up, causing him to collapse on his knees, crying out. WHAT WAS THAT? Steven's hands shook, struggling to keep himself from his whole body hitting the ground. He shuffled his knees forward, being able to reach the sink again, pulling himself up with a grunt.
The reflection was the same. It was the same.
Ī̫͎t ẘ͑a͠s t_̩h̙͘͜e s͌aṃe̓.̬
Iͤ̌͛tͩ̆ w͔a̵͓s͉̞͠ t͚̃h̫ͧ̊͗͝e̿̐ͩ̎̍͘ s̶̈́ȃ̷͚͘me͙̋̾̄͢͞?.̷͛ͩ͟ͅ I̮͈͔̯ͤ́͆͌͢
t̴͕̟ ẉ̭̳̏̈ͣͩa̷̢͇̙̯̔̓̚͢s̴̫͙̤̩̖ͧ̈ͪ̒ t̷̼ͤ́_ͧ͑̔͆̇̕he ś̸͈͚͇̋͛͞a_̇m͎e?._̲̣ͥ̉ͩ̀
_̵̆Í̻̼̩ͨͯ͒̓͌̄̑̕t͔͙̪͚̎ w̢̘̥̜̹͔͐ḁ̠̟̎͆ͦ̏̂̈́̾͜s̵̭̼̣͓͕ͩ̆ͪ͂͘̚ ṱ̵̵͎̼̂̿͘h̴̛̲̮͔̙͌́́ͬ̊́̏͟e̼͌ s̫͒a̮̳̖̳͂mͦȩ͉͙̀ͮͥ́͒ͤ̽ͬ͛ͫ͜?.̨̻̮̝̬̥̆ͤ̀̃͐̀̈́
I̸̱̦͓̤̘̋̋ͪ̔̊͗ͭ̅͐́͜͜ͅt̴̤̥̬͎ͯ̆̆̑͘͜ w_̷̤ͤ̿͒̋͆̉͝a̢̔ś̵̴̸̫͔̗̬͓̦̐̍̌ͪ̓͜͝ t͍͙͕ͭh̡͖̺͔̬̗̹͈̳̭̽̏́̈́ͩ̓̀ͫ͘̕̕̚͠ę̲͉̖̓̔̈ s̡̛̠̳͖̙̍͛ͧ͆ͭ͜aͧm̧̢̜̰͍͎͓̣͍̼̮ͮ͗ͦ̎̿͒͐̚͜͠ͅe̦͐_̢͙͉̠̙̔?.̶̸̢͇͖̩̤̩̟̳̟́̅̄͗ͦ̏̄ͩ͢͝͡
İ͙̪̀͂t͉͘ w̸̵̝̖͉̰̮̩̓̑̏͋̆̇̎ͯ͐̌ͨ̀ͦ͞͠ą̵̧̗̲͎̗͈̯̘͉̇̆̃ͬ̍̕ṣ̙̼̀ͤ̀ͩ ţ̵̴̱͎̽̎h_̷̧̛͍̫͓̩̫̺̝̪̠͚̠̍͆̄͋͋ͣ̉̋ͧ̓͘͟͝e̴̴̵̛̺͖̻̣̙̅ͮ͊ͩ̈ͦ͘͝ s͒a̧̢̛͈̤̘̳͚̼̱͋͆ͬ̋͒ͨ̒̿͐̅͆ͣ̚͢m̸̙̠̩̒ͩ͛̓͑̉_̛̘̀̄̀e͈̱̜̪̘̦̤̥ͧ̓̎ͮ͡.̧̛̱̼͔̩͉̮̯͆͒ͥͅ?
I̴̷̡̖͓̘̱͔̮̜̝̊ͬ̀̔̊͌͋ͬ͟_̢͉̰͍̫͛͌ͣͥ̀ͫ̉͘͢t̨̧̠̤͈̟̼͚̰̱̗͚̗͈̗̣̗̼̤̱ͣͥͯ̆ͣ̓̇͛ͩͫ̄ͪͣ̎͢͞͠_̺̰̐̇͛ ẁ̶̢̧̦͕͙̖͈͇͚̩̰͔̜̫̜̞̞̼̓̌̎͊ͯ͆̄͛̔̑̔ͮ͗͗̊̆ͮ́͢͜͟͝ͅà̶̡͔͎́̄̓ş̵̸̻̟̩͉͙͈͕͚̻͖̹̋ͭ͌̊ͪ̏̈́̽͌̊̌̋ͦ͘͜ t̸̺̩̣̮̟̳̙͔͎̗͎̰͕͈̪̞͖̍͆͋̊ͣͦ̏͐͗ͭ͂͠͝_̛̣̤ͥ̇͟h͓͕̮_̩͒e̵͚̣̲͔͓̗̦͍̹̜͖̗̐̅́̅̊͗ͯ͗̊ͤ s̨̝̘͍͍̭̜̪̺̒ͣ́͋͘͜ả̸͕̯̦͇̖̃͂̍ͬͯ̾̽͢m_̷̙̜͉̝̱͔͈͕̤͉͇̦͐̈́̅̍͊ͮ̓̄́̄͊̐̌͋̚͘ḛ̸̸̛̰͈͓͕̹̟̠̲̻̠̽̑̑̒̔̑͆̓́̓ͯ̿ͦ͛ͤͭͤ̀͋͛̿̓̋̚͜͠.̵̢̦̭̭͚̱̫͇̠̹̟͔̻̜͉̬̯̈́́͊̈ͬ̉ͦ̾̀̀͆̽͐̑ͨͭ̄̐͘̕͜͝͝?
I̺͓͚͖̟̜ͨ͘͟ͅT̥̏͝_̛̪̩͖͉̩̦͗̏̀̃̇ͬ̎ͨ̈́͆̊̈̊̑ͩ̍̂͑̑ͬͨ͆͟͟͞͞͠ W̴̴̛͖͚͙̙̣̩̝͈̳̖̟̼̥͚͉̬̱͖̫̯̠͆͒ͦ̂̃͗͂̔͗̃̅̍ͦ̊ͬ͒̓́̿ͥ͟Ą͕̻̗̘̂̄ͯ͢͞ͅS̶̛̭͎̠͖͔͈̭̊̓͛͑̋̎ͫͪ̋͛̔̌̀̽ͧͥ͂ͭͩ͋͟ Ṭ̴̷̦͚̤͚͍̟͎̙ͩ̓̌̓̓ͦ̀́̓̓͘Ḧ̵̵̪͚̰̱́̅̏̑̌ͬ͘͘E̴̻͕̥͌͗̾ͧͪ̆͜͢͜ S̖Ą̸̶̱̤͉͎̱͍̮͈̫͕̞̟̟̰̔ͪͣͩ̿̓̓̏̍ͥͭ̇́̍̄̈͘͡͡͞_̗̲̫͠M̷̡̤͍̰̟̪̣͖͔͎̫ͦ̋̀ͬ̽͘͢Ė̵̵̢̢͚̩̬͎̞̱̥̻͊̆̾ͭ͐͋̏͛ͮ̉ͩ̅̍̏͘͘͝͝͞!̧̡̢̧̢͎̮̰̬͇̱̖̼͎ͮ͐̒̏̔͑̄͂̽͟͡?̴̡̨͇̗͔̥̗͓̙̻͎̲͚̞̬͌ͣ̏̓͒̿̎ͨͪ͊̑̈͛̏ͩ̉͊̉͠͡ͅ
Steven immediately saw all the other marks on his skin. There were two large, ragged scars on each cheek, and then another little slash on his bottom lip, interrupting the smoothness of his mouth, then another one of the other sides, and another scar on the sides of his temples, a faint discoloration of purple hinted around each scar he observed. Steven's breath shallowed, his hand hovering over his face, terrified of his marks. He glared harder at his face. This is it, right? I couldn't have had any other ones. I can't. I'm STEVEN UNIVERSE. [R͒͜͜IG̈́H̸͗̾T́?̸]
||Amethyst POV:
Amethyst was on her way back to the beach house, bags full of random foods and items she would snack on. She licked her lips, grinning almost maniacally at her food. She couldn't wait to eat. Although she knew she didn't need to, it was one of the things she enjoyed the most from out of all the things Earth had to offer. Racing up the steps in a hurry, she pushed the tarp to her side to shimmy through the opening. Man, how long will it take to fix the front of the house? She shrugged it off internally, gaiting across the living room and into the kitchen, putting the two bags of food in her hand on the table, its contents spilling across: bananas, some boxes of cereal of various brands, a bottle of motor oil, sandwiches she brought home on her way back (still warm), and a can of--
"Gah!" Amethyst yelped, an aluminum can beginning to tip over the edge of the table. She scrambled over to the other side, shapeshifting her hand to stretch out her forearm to reach the can, diving for it before it could make a clang! Thankfully, Amethyst caught it just in time, her hand touching the wooden floor with the can in her other palm. She slumped on the floor, which she was already about to hit anyway, a glow illuminating her arm as she shapeshifted her arm back to her regular length, breathing out in satisfaction. Her gaze went to something glowing in the distance, inside the bathroom. She shifted, pulling herself up while placing the can back with the other items. ...pink? Oh stars. Amethyst rushed to the door, blowing the wisps of hair out of her face as it whipped in front of her while she stood up a moment ago. "Steven?" She implored, reaching the door and pressing her hand onto the doorknob, not quite twisting it yet. "Steven!"