she’s  already  moving,  a  fluid  route  mapped  out  and  put  into  action.  she  reaches  out,  twisting  the  dial  three  clicks  up  for  the  heating,  not  pausing  nor  slowing  down  in  her  progress  towards  the  trembling  boy,  and  extends  a  hand  to  take  his  coat,  the  other  gesturing  to  the  coat  rack  behind  her.          “ there’s  a  radiator  next  to  it;  should  be  dry  and  warm  by  the  time  you’re  leaving! “

his  query  bemuses  her,  until  she  remembers  the  time  she  made  chilled  gazpacho,  and  an  understanding  smile  takes  the  place  of  her  furrowed  brow.          “ we  certainly  do!  tomato  and  basil,  or  chicken  noodle.  you  want  some  bread  with  that,  sir? “

Steven shrugged off his coat, blushing as he felt it dripping on his boots as he passed it to her. She certainly seemed to be the boss around here, a pretty good hostess. Ever since Steven embarked on his own, he’d had people mostly treating him like an adult, but it still took some getting used to hear anyone call him sir. He told himself to stop acting like such a dork.

“Uh, tomato, please.” He took a seat at the counter, his bones already warming in the atmosphere at the sight of steaming pots on the stove. “And yes bread, please.” He looked around, a sense of familiarity in this old place despite never being here before.

@gempathic​

“WOAH! I thought it was going to be less packed because of all the activities but there’s so much snow!” Mumei said to himself excitedly. Yeah he’s used to seeing snow and a lot of it too but there was something about seeing everyone participating in the wintery activities that really struck a cord with him. Though his main place of hanging out was the Sunset Current at the moment, perhaps later he’ll move over to one of the other districts…

For now though, he began rolling up several snowballs- running around to get them big enough so he can start making snowmen when a surprised yell came from not too far away. 

“Uh…That didn’t sound good.” He didn’t run anyone over, did he? 

Steven hadn’t made a snowman in ages. Last year, he made a few with some of the younger kids, but he was now past the age where he wanted to act overly mature. There was nothing wrong with having a little fun in otherwise gloomy weather.

He made a snowball big enough for the base, huffing puffs of warm air at the effort. He was just working on the next snowball when something in his gem seemed to sense the danger even before he did.

“Ahh—” Steven gasped, feeling the slightest tap of soft snow before the rose-colored bubble engulfed him, taking the impact and sending him bouncing back.

“Aha, finally someone with a fine sense of humour! Let’s not dilly-dally then and keep going! What do you call a short fortune-teller who escaped from prison?”

“A small medium at large!”

“Hey! You’re really funny! Usually everyone around here is so gloomy...”

“A clown held a door open for me.”

“It was a nice jester.”

It was good that this boy had the support of others to rely on.  He looked very…squishy.  He would not last long in the entity’s realm, she imagined, but he seemed to be handling himself well enough here.  That was more than she could say for herself.  Her stay would probably be significantly more pleasant if she had the ability to blend into the crowd, but it was only a fleeting thought.

Anna was pensive for a moment.  “So you are willing to put effort into things that you might throw away later?”  That seemed…like a waste.  Of effort and time.  Both important things to attempt to conserve.  Time wasted might have been time spent gathering more food, or finding wood to keep the cabin warm.  Although it didn’t seem that those were problems commonly faced by many here; it was something she was going to have to understand eventually.

“Creative…outlets…?”  What was the definition of creative?  Drawing, writing, dancing, singing?  She didn’t really do any of those things.  Well– perhaps she sang, but not in the same capacity that this boy was doing.  After several seconds of deliberation she finally spoke again.

“I do not have a creative outlet.  There is little time for creativity where I come from.  I had seen people in the village do such things, but I did not partake.”  Mostly because the only time she walked into the village, it was to ruthlessly slaughter people – it occurred to her to keep that tidbit to herself, fortunately for him.

“I seem to have more time here.  I find myself bored.  Maybe I now have time for such things.”

“Eh, it’s better than letting the ideas bounce around in my head.” He shrugged, the soft sound of his fingers on the strings again. He played a few notes for nostalgia, the simple theme tune he’d written on ukulele so many years ago sounded just as magical on guitar, and even with all these years since then. “At least when it’s in the trash, it means I got my thoughts out, even if they weren’t that good.”

That the way of traumatized teenage mind. He could come up with such amazing lyrics, perfect metaphors and creatives rhymes all at three in the morning, only to check his phone notes the next morning and not understand a thing he was going for. Maybe he should stop trying to write songs when he was high at three in the morning.

“You used to spend all your time working, huh?” He gives her his batted-eyelash innocent boy smile. “Yeah, I knew a few gems like that. They didn’t know what to do once they were freed, but that’s what school was for. You basically get to try a bunch of new stuff and see what fits.”

He switched from the theme tune to something a little sadder, a little warblier. This one didn’t have a name—another phone note song.

@gempathic​

⇄ “I can’t believe there’s so much soup! And it just refills? How does that even work!?”

“ oh!  god,  sorry,  you  startled  me!  i  didn’t  even  hear  the  door  open!  here,  come  on  in,  you’ll  catch  pneumonia  if  you  stay  out  in  the  cold  like  that!  you  wanna  grab  a  seat  by  the  counter?  i  can  bring  the  space  heater  over  to  you  either  way! “

@gempathic​ liked THIS POST for a starter!

Steven had taken off running as soon as the snow started coming down. His jacket pulled over his head did an okay job of keeping the flakes from coating his curls, but the cold still chilled him to the bone.

All of that cold seemed to melt all at once, his face flushing deeply at the kind voice of the girl. He suddenly felt like maybe his heart was racing too fast. Was this hypothermia?

She’s glad that he didn’t pry into the stories of her world. This island is a land of new chances for her– she doesn’t have to think about lost love and the weight of her sins anymore. Nobody will judge her here.

She wonders if Steven would hate her. If he knew about her body and her crimes, would he be disgusted by her too? It’s hard to imagine him hating someone, but it’s just as hard to imagine that anybody would be able to love her if they knew the truth.

Maybe… She would disappoint him. That would be much worse than any level of scorn he could give. So, he must never learn the truth.

“Oh… She sounds really amazing. She must be a really reliable person to you. And to think she did all of that on her own…”

That’s something Sayo knows is impossible for her. She doesn’t have 100 years to spare on self betterment- especially when she’s already lost so much of her soul.

“… It seems that I have a lot to learn. Humans can do really amazing things, too. I’m sure that I can accomplish even some growth within less than a hundred years. I’m already taking care of myself here, aren’t I? And… I’ve made a friend today. I’d say I’m doing well!”

She seems at least somewhat proud of herself.

He tilted his head just slightly, a soft look crossing his face as she seemed lost in her own thoughts. He grew up admiring Pearl, so he knew the feeling quite well, but he also knew it must be different for someone who could relate so deeply to her situation.

As much as Steven empathized with Homeworld gems after taking Pink Diamond’s place, he’d never truly understand what that life of servitude and solitude was like. She seemed to be reminiscing on that, or something that had her sullen for just a moment. Steven was one to empathize, but not one to pry. If she had her own stuff to work through, he could offer his listening whenever she needed, but only when she asked for it.

“I know, right!? She really is the best—so are Garnet and Amethyst. They all pretty much raised me. It took the work of three gems and a dad, cuz I was so rambunctious, I guess.” Steven chuckled, a grin spreading over his face at her optimism.