BELIEVE in STEVEN!!

That wasn’t reassuring. “What do you mean by conditions?” It didn’t seem like he knew much about it, but pushing it a bit might at least offer some clarity. Her hair flickers a bit in agitation, but otherwise, she doesn’t especially acknowledge his approach. 

His brightly-worded encouragement is met with a lot more caution, Lapis’s head tilting downwards to bury her eyes under her bangs. One of her hands rubs at the other arm, thumb making small, uncomfortable circles.

“…You really don’t understand, do you.”

Is it an unnecessary invective? Perhaps- she’s not sure how long he’s been alive but recent is a fair guess, and the Crystal Gems seem to have told him very little.

“Y-Yeah, I know they could do that. It seems like these guys can do just about anything! But so long as we’re still here--as long as we’re still alive--there’s always gonna be hope. Even bringing the Homeworld Gems here wouldn’t be that awful...!” Maybe they’d learn to work together.

“You asked about the conditions, right? Since these scientist guys are all about observing us, you just have to talk with different people a lot! That’s all I did! That’s not so bad, right?”

“I’m so glad to see you too, Steven!” She exclaims as she fixed her glasses. They were more of a safety plblanket at this point, rather than for practical uses now. Even if she did tell her mother about it, she felt the need for them. Voice faltering, a few teardrops gather at the corners of her eyes. “I’m really glad to see you Steven.”

“Oh, that’s great! At least we didn’t lose each other for too long! From...your perspective, at least...” Steven maintains a grip on one of her hands, but the other rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I’ve been here, um...about two months?”

She sweeped across section after section before seeing a spine colored and printed in a familiar fashion, finger catching at the top before pausing at the sound of an all too shocking voice. Steven? It couldn’t be.

But just as she began to doubt herself, the figure came bounding towards her as she gave a surprised gasp. “Steven!” She exclaimed, wide eyes paired with an excited smile. Her feet kicked up to run towards him despite him already heading her way, glasses bouncing up and down on the bridge of her nose.

He decides in that one single instant of seeing that delighted, maybe even teary smile on her face, that the answer is no.

It’s not too straightforward to hug her.

Steven crushes her in a truly enthusiastic embrace, laughing happily. The momentum nearly causes them both to fall over, but as they get their balance back, Steven grips her hands and bounces up and down with wild abandon.

This was all a waste, a gamble.  The thing had turned her attention with a fighting stance, had expected her to strike.  When she hadn’t, it’d relaxed and spoken.  Maybe she should just kick the Pale Copy into the wall while its defenses were done.  Not only would it solve the problem but she’d get a mild work out in the process.  Two Gems, one Leg.  Not bad.

It’s...going to take a lot to appease Jasper though, moreso than Peridot, but he thinks a similar angle may work here. Maybe play off of Gem superiority culture? He’s not lying when he says he wants to work together, but it’s all about the approach!

“Well, it seems like we’re all equally trapped here by these otherworldly scientists, right?”

“Isn’t there that saying...um...’the enemy of my enemy is my friend?’ Most people really don’t want to be here, and would it be fair to say you don’t either? Maybe if we all work together, we could find a way back to our homes! A-All of us fighting with each other just makes us weaker, right?”

Steven’s throat is clenching so hard that he can scarcely breathe, but he tries to speak anyway.

His son was his first thought when he awoke in a strange environment. Greg was used to sleeping in the back of his van, so it was very unsettling to wake up on a bed.

His heart pounded as he looked frantically around for anything that could tell him what was going on. A small screen turned on and began to explain –something about an experiment. Beings from many other worlds were here, but that didn’t matter to him right now. There was only one being he cared about.

“I have to find my son!” Greg opened the door of what he hopes wouldn’t be his permanent home, and stepped out into the street.

...Mostly.

The truth is he’s crashed his bicycle like twice in an attempt to avoid all sorts of insanity that’s occurring in the next Sector over, because it seems as if somebody lit another fire--but it’s taken care of! And here he is!

Just in time to encounter his panicked dad who’s tearing down the streets like a bat out of heck, and Steven’s jaw drops.

From: steven universe!!

[text] oh

[text] well, i guess it does! 

[text] that’s pretty cool, maybe, right? he doesnt have to be a bad guy, even if we don’t remember him!

[text] .....

[text] i MIGHT have just freaked myself out..........

[text] okay, but maybe he’s like a dream traveler! fighting off nightmares and stuff!! and you dont even remember him doing it!

At his question, she hesitated- briefly, but meaningfully, avoiding his eyes. Steven- she wanted to like Steven. He’d shown her a kindness not many had in the last thousand years. But his… ‘friends’ were more of a problem, and he was just too trusting and honest for his own good. Telling him what was happening could be an avenue to that information reaching less kind ears. 

…But at the same time… his friends might not be here. Or if they were, they might not be all that better off than Lapis herself.

“I feel weak… I can’t feel the ocean any more. It’s like I’ve been cut off from my gem, but that’s impossible.” 

“Y-Yeah, that’s...normal, I hear? The same thing happened to me when I first woke up, but things’ll start working again over time! I couldn’t even summon my shield at first! I hear there’s conditions you have to meet, or something...?”

He’s actually not wholly sure. Pearl would know more than he would, or Amethyst, and he makes a note to get the precise info from them.

“Besides that, well...”

“…Steven?”

She’d caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye- a familiar shade of peach-colored shirt, but initially hadn’t thought much of it, until she looked closer. Now there was no mistaking it- why was he here? Did they- know? Could they know? How much did these Scientists understand about what was going on with Earth- if they’d taken interest in Steven…

“L-Lapis!”

Hastily shoving the device into his pocket, he scampers toward her, a relieved smile crossing his face. She’s okay! And not Malachite! Even being here might be better than being that!

From: steven universe!!

[text] well...i dont THINK i have???

[text] i’ve had some pretty weird dreams before though, so maybe i just dont remember

[text] MAYBE...we’ve ALL dreamed of him before, but dont remember?

Happy endings. The stuff of fairy tales. The notion that no matter what hardships the characters went through, they would ultimately lead themselves towards a better future. Happily ever after, they call it. But for Rose, simply bringing her wonderful child into this world was enough. To know that she’d brought life into this world in a way that gem’s had never thought possible.. That was her happy ending. She’d desired nothing else beyond that.

Until this very moment. When a foreign voice reached her ears. A voice she’d never heard before, which could have been addressing any other person in this vast city. And yet, she turned. She turned because, despite never having heard it before, she felt as though she’d known that voice better than anyone. And despite never having seen the face of that boy before.. 

“Steven..? Is.. Is that you?”

Steven’s eyes go wide--the size of dinner plates--staring at his mom before he yanks up his shirt a bit just to check, and...! Yeah. There’s his Gemstone. And there’s his mom’s. And there’s his Mom!

His mom. His mother. He could--

Steven takes one hesitant step before breaking into a scrambling sprint, throwing himself at her and hugging her and basically rejoicing in the absolutely impossible joy of actually getting to embrace the mother that everybody else knew except for him.

“M-Mom...! N-No way, it’s really you! I never thought I’d actually be a-able to...”

“I think I could…Hmm.”

He poofed in his uke and began to strum at a few chords.

“Bah dah dah...Peace in the Hive~

Ohhhh...

Let there be, peace in the Hive~

Ohhhh...yeah!

Let there be peace in the Hive

For our improvised jive

Oh yeah, for peace in the Hive