I love Steven Universe and other stuff

The digital chime of your phone cutting through the silence of your dark bedroom was a sound you had quickly learned to associate with a sudden, inevitable rush of warmth.

It was exactly 2:14 AM.

You rolled over in bed, burying half your face in your pillow as you fumbled for the glowing device on your nightstand. The screen lit up your face, displaying a contact name flanked by a string of chaotic emojis—sparkles, wild animals, and a volleyball.

You swiped to accept, and the screen instantly filled with a flurry of motion, a crackle of wind, and a blinding grin.

"Hey! You're awake! I didn't wake you up, did I? Tell me I didn't wake you up, but also I'm so glad you answered!"

Nishinoya Yuu’s face was pressed incredibly close to the camera, his dark eyes sparkling with a familiar, boundless energy. His hair, usually styled into his signature, gravity-defying spike, was completely down. It fell softly around his forehead and ears, damp and messy from either a recent swim or the humid night air of wherever he had landed yesterday. He was wearing a faded, oversized tank top, his shoulders deeply sun-kissed, a stark contrast to the pale, cozy blankets you were buried under.

"Yuu," you mumbled, your voice thick with sleep, a small, involuntary smile tugging at the corner of your lips. "It's past two in the morning."

"Ah! I knew it!" He looked momentarily apologetic, his shoulders dropping, but the excitement quickly surged back, puffing his chest out. "But look! You have to see this. I couldn't wait until your morning. I literally ran back to the hostel just to get a good Wi-Fi signal so I could call you."

He spun the camera around. The shaky footage smoothed out to reveal a breathtaking view. He was standing on a wooden balcony overlooking a dark, glistening expanse of water—the Mediterranean, if your memory of his chaotic itinerary served you right. Far in the distance, the cliffside of a coastal Italian town was dotted with warm, amber lights that looked like fallen stars scattered along the rocks. The sound of gentle waves crashing against the shore bled through your phone speaker, a rhythmic, soothing backdrop to his breathless narration.

"Isn't it crazy?" Yuu’s voice came back, loud and clear, though he was trying—and failing—to keep it down for the sake of his sleeping hostel roommates. "The water here is so blue during the day, it doesn't even look real. It looks like someone poured paint into the ocean. And tonight, the moon is so bright it’s casting a silver path all the way to the horizon. I swear, I wanted to jump off the balcony and try to run across it!"

"Please don't jump off any balconies," you laughed softly, resting your chin on your arms, staring at the screen. "I'd like you back in one piece."

"Don't worry, my balance is legendary! You know that!" He flipped the camera back to himself, leaning his chin against his palm as he propped the phone up on the balcony railing. His grin softened into something incredibly tender as he looked at you. "Man... I really miss you. Seeing your face right now is the best part of my day, hands down."

The sudden shift from high-energy explorer to sweet, earnest boyfriend caught you off guard, making your heart do a familiar flutter. "I miss you too, Yuu. How has the food been?"

"Oh, my god, the food!" He sat up straight, his eyes wide. "Okay, so today, I found this tiny little bakery down an alley that smelled like heaven. I didn't even know what I was ordering, I just pointed at this pastry and yelled 'Questo, per favore!' with the best accent I could muster. The old lady behind the counter laughed so hard she gave me two of them! It was filled with this sweet cream, and the crust was so flaky it got all over my shirt. I thought about you the whole time because I know you would’ve stolen half of it."

"I absolutely would have," you agreed, shifting under your blankets. "And you would have let me."

"Duh! I’d give you the whole thing," he said instantly, without a shred of hesitation. He leaned closer to the screen, his gaze tracing your features. "Hey, you look sleepy. Are you cold?"

"A little," you admitted, pulling the duvet up to your nose. "It's freezing here tonight. I wish I had your weather."

"I wish I could share it with you," Yuu murmured, his voice dropping into a register that was rare for him—soft, quiet, and intensely intimate. He looked down at his own hands, then back up at the screen. "When I was walking along the beach earlier, the sand was still warm from the sun. I was thinking... next time, we’re coming here together. No excuses. I'm going to show you every single spot I found. I'll carry your bags, I'll buy you all the pastries, and we can just sit on the sand until the sun goes down."

"Promise?"

"I never break my promises!" He thumped his fist against his chest, right over his heart, a fierce determination shining in his eyes. "Just picture it. You and me, eating gelato, walking around these crazy old streets. I'll even protect you from the seagull I had a fight with yesterday."

You let out a quiet giggle. "A fight with a seagull?"

"It tried to steal my sandwich!" Yuu defended himself, puffing his cheeks out indignantly. "It was a tactical retreat on my part, okay? Those things are ruthless. But for you, I would've fought to the death. No bird is taking your lunch on my watch."

You stared at the glowing screen, feeling incredibly close to him despite the thousands of miles of land and ocean separating you. It was in moments like this—when he was rambling about seagulls, his hair damp and messy, his eyes full of absolute devotion—that the distance felt manageable. He brought his entire, vibrant world right to your bedside.

"You're ridiculous, Yuu," you whispered affectionately.

"I'm serious!" he insisted, though a bright, boyish grin broke across his face. He shifted on his end, moving back inside his room. The background changed to a cozy, rustic room with stone walls and a small bed. He collapsed backward onto his mattress, holding the phone above his face. "Ah, my legs are killing me. I walked like fifteen miles today. But it was totally worth it."

"You need to rest, too," you said, watching him stretch out. "Don't overexert yourself just because you have endless energy."

"Hey, even the great Nishinoya Yuu needs to recharge," he chuckled, rolling onto his side. He propped his head up on his arm, holding the phone steady. The angle showed his sharp jawline and the relaxed, sleepy curve of his shoulders. "But talking to you is how I recharge. Seriously. It’s like... when I'm traveling, everything is so fast and new. It's awesome, and I love it. But when I call you, it feels like I can finally take a deep breath. You're my home, you know?"

Your chest tightened with a sweet, aching warmth. "Yuu..."

"I mean it," he said, his eyes unwavering. He reached a finger out, gently tapping his screen right where your cheek was on his display. "Right there. I'm touching your face. Can you feel it?"

"Yeah," you whispered, matching his action and tapping your screen where his cheek was. "I can feel it."

A soft, pink dust settled over his cheeks, and he let out a shy, breathy laugh, burying his face in his arm for a brief second before looking back at you. "Man, you're too cute. It’s not fair. I want to hug you so bad right now. I want to squeeze you until you complain that I’m holding on too tight."

"I wouldn't complain," you said softly. "Not tonight."

"Then I'd hold you even tighter," he promised, his voice incredibly gentle.

For a long while, neither of you spoke. The silence wasn't heavy or awkward; it was comfortable, filled only with the soft rustle of your blankets and the distant, faint hum of the Italian night through his open window. You watched his eyes flutter slightly, the exhaustion of his long day finally catching up to him, though he stubbornly kept his eyelids pried open to keep looking at you.

"Yuu, you can close your eyes," you murmured, your own eyelids growing heavy. "I'm not going anywhere."

"No way," he mumbled, though his blink lasted a second too long. "Want to keep looking at you. What if you disappear when I close them?"

"I won't disappear. I'll be right here on the screen."

"Promise?" he echoed your earlier question, a sleepy, vulnerable edge to his tone.

"I promise. I'll stay on the line until you fall asleep."

"Okay..." He let out a long, contented sigh, shifting his pillow so he could rest his cheek comfortably while still keeping the camera pointed at his face. His dark eyes softened as they locked onto yours one last time. "Hey. I love you."

"I love you too, Yuu. Sleep well."

"Love you more," he mumbled, his voice dragging slightly as his eyes finally drifted shut. "Next time... gelato... and no seagulls..."

You couldn't help but let out one last, quiet laugh at his sleepy rambling. You watched him on your screen as his breathing slowed into a deep, steady rhythm, his features completely relaxed and peaceful.

Even with an entire ocean between you, wrapped in the quiet chill of the late-night hours, you had never felt warmer. You nestled deeper into your blankets, resting your phone on the pillow next to your head so his sleeping face was the last thing you saw, and let yourself drift off to sleep to the faint, distant sound of the Mediterranean waves.

Once again, your panel flow is perfect as always. Iiiii actually have a degree in illustration. I don't get to use it that much anymore for chronic illness reasons rip but it does let me more pointedly gush about your work. ANYWAY I'm always really impressed by how well you storyboarders are able to, you know, make the story flow around just through composition and directional lines. I just think it's neat and you're clearly very skilled at your craft.

Really love the way that Kinger's body language slumps leads into like the scared surprise that Caine is giving in this first panel. The hand in the foreground over Caine does so much to like establish what's going on and I just think that's neat. I love Kinger's expression on panel two, really doing a great job of establishing the "we are talking about business now" energy

God, and the way you can tell in the next panel when Kinger looks back from the desk to look over at Caine, like, Caine is genuinely VERY upset by this. Like, you sell that fear and shock so well. Like, there's such subtlety. There's a lot of subtle acting in how you've drawn his eyebrows and mouth here, and the little lines around his eyes are also doing so much, and I just think that's neat.

AUGH and then the way you show the progressive sad emotions as Kinger goes to leave that side shot, and the way you capture just the lines on his eyes and his eyebrows, and the way that helps emphasize the mood and the shading here. It's just really neat and I'm destroyed. I'm destroyed and I wrote this. I know what's going to happen in it and I'm still destroyed. GOD the shot of Caine by himself, and you've done a little bit of shading in his eyes to really help emphasize, and God, he looks so upset and so scared, and I just want to give him a hug. Okay so the cut between Caine reaching out to Kinger as he leaves and Caine's hand in the past HITS SO HARD!!!!! It's just such a great visual way to depict the prose I wrote down without the words, and I just think that that is cool. Also, the hand reaching out is just really well done, very expressive. I'm absolutely losing my mind about your shape language on that red hand. It's just really good. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH and then the little "don't go" and the way that like you made the font a little smaller to really emphasize that. And again, Kinger's hand reaching for the doorknob is just a really good hand. And then you can see the little surprise on Kinger's face and the way you use more circles in it to help emphasize that surprise is neat. And then the next panel, Kane's body language and the shot being from slightly above so we can see how he's kind of curling in on himself. And again, you have the glitches triggering and AAAAHHH it's so good! THE WIDE SHOT SHOWING KINGER AT THE DOOR I'M LOSING MY MIND IT'S EXACTLY HOW I PICTURED IT

GOD so the big shot showing Caine's expression as he starts to cry, and the way you make his teeth seem a little sharper to help, like, emphasize that big emotion, and he's still got the glitches. And again, God, shading adding so much here, the little bit of highlights in his eyes!! The shot of Kinger coming back. I don't know, man. The fact that you can't see Kinger's face, you can see the little bit of tears from where Caine's sitting. And again, like, body language here, so good. The little curve of his back and his shoulders and showing that little bit of tears does so much. And you can see clearly that, like, you can feel the apprehension of Kinger standing over Caine in this shot, and it really emphasizes, you know, he big, Caine small. Caine is the smallest he's ever been in this moment.

AND THEN KINGER SITS DOWN WITH HIM YEEAAAAAAAH WE DID IT

GOD CAINE sitting there on the bed with his little hands on his knees, and he's still got the tears, and he looks so sad. This is the most sad little Muppet man I've ever seen in my life. And the contrast of like the heavier lines on him while Kinger seems to have softened and he gets more soft shapes. Just, ah, so good. Also, I love the little bit of depth you gave to Kane's shoes. It's very good. Love the flow on. "Are you sure that's what you want?" This is a really strong composition. My eye really strongly goes from that text to Kinger's face to Caine's face. It's just listen. You could draw the little like golden triangle in there, maybe. Probably not. But you know, it gives me. It's good. It's good. I'm sorry. All I keep saying is it's good. I just really like it and I want you to know that I really like it in detail.

Oh God, Caine's expression in the "I don't want to be here" line. Listen, the shading you did inside his mouth here to really emphasize that depth is just good. And then you show his little teeth shutting, and oh my God, my heart. HIS LIL NOD AND THE WAY HIS HANDS SQUEEZE SHUT WHEN HIS TEETH SHUT AAA IT'S SUCH GOOD BODY LANGUAGE

Meanwhile, Kinger's expression has gone full like Midhell Manor, sitting and comforting someone, which, ah, yes, it's all I wanted.

The final shots with poor Caine actively shaking. And Kinger has finally softened, and he just promises, and then he just sits with him, and oh my god, it's so cute. Again, really love how your shading emphasizes the ending of these. It just, it always makes it feel like it lands, and I think that's really cool. I love them, your honor. They're my favorite. I'm so glad I wrote 55 thousand words just to get here just so I can write God knows how many more words before they can finally call each other "Dad" and "Son". We'll get there, but by God, they're going to earn it.