guess who's finally gotten around to writing something π this bitch
series: steven universe future (post bismuth casual)
warnings: cursing, body insecurity
taglist: it's literally just @lizzienaut lmao
It was a surprisingly nice day in Beach City. Temperatures in the mid 70s, mostly sunny, and according to Steven and Connie, a perfect beach day. Granted, pretty much any day is a beach day when you literally live on the beach, which Pearl immediately pointed out to them.
"Pearl that's not the point!" Steven said, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "We never have nice weather like this before June, let alone in April!"
"Yeah!" Connie threw her arm around her boyfriend's shoulders. "Plus, you could come with us and bring Bismuth." Connie and Steven grinned at each other.
"Oh all right. but you two need to go find her at Little Homeworld" Before Pearl had even finished speaking, Steven and Connie had already rushed over to the warp pad. Pearl couldn't help but smile fondly at the two.
It took a shockingly small amount of time for Steven and Connie to return to the temple with Bismuth. Connie and Steven had also already changed into their bathing suits as well, Connie's underneath a pair of shorts and Steven's swim trunks paired with a plain t-shirt.
"Well I see you two are ready-" Pearl once again was interrupted by the giddy teenagers running through the room and out the front door.
"Young love," Bismuth laughed. Pearl smiled too. "Well, P, we better get out there before they start having fun without us!" And with that, Bismuth scooped Pearl up in one arm and ran out to catch up with them.
Steven and Connie were already seated right along the shore, each building their own sandcastle as they tried to out-do the other. Steven grinned and nudged Connie as Bismuth ran down the stairs with Pearl nearly tossed over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Pearl! Bismuth!" Steven called out as he and Connie ran to greet them. "Where are your swimming suits?"
"Steven, you know that all gems are water resistant. We have no need for special garments to keep us from getting wet."
"Oh come ON, Pearl," Bismuth said with mock frustration. "Have a little fun!" Bismuth snapped her fingers, and her usual clothing transformed into a pair of board shorts and a tank top.
Pearl looked at Bismuth in her new attire, feeling her cheeks flush. "Oh fine." Pearl snapped her fingers and, like Bismuth, her typical clothing transformed into an elegant looking one-piece bathing suit with cutouts on the sides.
Steven and Connie looked at each other, grinning, as they removed the extra clothing over their own bathing suits. "Hey Pearl!" Connie called out. "Can you take a picture of us?"
Pearl nodded as she approached the two kids. Connie handed Pearl her phone and stood next to Steven as they put their arms around each other and smiled for the camera. Pearl looked as though she was about to say something, but Bismuth was calling her back to their little beach spot. Pearl just smiled and handed the phone back to Connie as she walked back to Bismuth.
Steven grinned and turned to face Connie. "Lemme see!" Connie handed him the phone to look at the picture. He smiled broadly as he looked at their picture perfect smiles, but then frowned as he looked at it more closely. "Connie? Is there something wrong with your phone? It looks like your screen is scratched."
Connie looked over Steven's shoulder at the picture and immediately knew what Steven was talking about. "Ohhh, no those are just stretch marks, Steven. Don't worry, they're completely normal."
Steven turned pink with concern. "Stretch marks?? What is that?"
"They basically form when your body grows faster than your skin, so your skin has to stretch along with it. A lot of people have them. I had them on my legs during my growth spurt too."
"But I don't grow taller like humans do, i just shape shift into an older form! How did i get these?"
Connie bit her lip, trying to find a way to put what she was about to say as nicely as possible. "Sometimes people... get stretch marks, especially on their stomach like you, if they've been gaining weight."
Steven, now completely pink, sprinted back towards the temple, up the stairs and through the door. Pearl and Bismuth had taken notice to what was going on, and they both looked concerned.
"Connie, is everything alright?" Pearl asked with a nervous edge to her voice. Bismuth stood next to Pearl an arm around her shoulder, looking just as worried.
"Everything is fine. Just... give us a few minutes." And with that, Connie turned to go after Steven.
Connie pushed open the door to the little beach house. "Steven? I didn't mean to-"
"Go away, Connie." He sounded so genuinely upset. Connie's heart shattered.
"Steven, I'm coming upstairs," Connie announced as she approached Steven's loft space. "Please talk to me."
Steven was sitting on the side of his bed with a blanket over his back and shoulders. He was staring down at his stomach, and Connie noticed he was crying. "I'm just-" Steven began to speak but was interrupted by one of his sobs. Connie felt awful.
"Steven, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you"
"No, no, it's not your fault," Steven reassured her, wiping some of the tears away from his eyes. "I'm just not used to it, that's all."
"Not used to the stretch marks?" Connie asked, a little confused.
"No, not just that. I'm not used to feeling so upset by the way I look."
"Oh Steven, it's okay to feel insecure. But I can assure you that stretch marks are completely normal. Plus now it looks like you have tiger stripes! Maybe you should go talk to Amethyst about bringing back Purple Puma and Tiger Millionare-"
Steven chuckled at that, starting to feel a little bit better. "I'm afraid my glory days are far behind me," he said with an exasperated sigh, dramatically falling backward onto his bed with a small "oofe".
Connie smiled and sat down next to him, placing her hand on top of his. "Are you feeling a little better?"
"Mmm sort of? I dunno, I guess I feel better knowing that they're normal, but I'm still worried about what other people will think of them."
"That's okay, Steven." Connie placed her hand onto Steven's stomach. "If you want to keep them covered up, that's completely your choice."
Steven let out a content sigh before he suddenly began giggling softly. "Connieeeeee," Steven whined.
"You're tickling meeeee..."
Connie looked down at her hand, noticing how she had been tracing Steven's stretch marks with her fingers. "Oh! I guess I hadn't even realized. I'll stop if you want. But if you feel like you wanna laugh, then I can keep going."
This was a little routine they had. Whenever Steven was upset about something, as he began to calm down, Connie liked to make him laugh. Of course, knowing the important concept of consent, she always asked if it was okay. And nearly every time, Steven said yes.
"You can um... keep going if you want..." Despite how often Steven said it, he could never get the words out without blushing bright red. Connie thought it was cute.
"Of course, Steven. Any preferences?"
"Not really, just... kinda do whatever."
"Tell me when you've had enough, okay? Promise?"
"Good! Now let's see..." Connie was now kneeling on top of Steven's bed so she could easily use both hands. She began tracing Steven's stretch marks on both sides of his stomach. His left side was always more sensitive than his right, but Steven was the most sensitive right around his gem.
Connie always took extra care to notice which areas caused Steven's breath to hitch or turn his laughter frantic. She was overjoyed at the discovery of a new spot, about half way between his gem and his hip, on his left side. It was right where one of his stretch marks tapered off into his normal skin. Connie grinned and scratched at the spot with her fingernail. Steven's laughter rose a pitch.
Steven didn't actually have anything to say, so he just shook his head and closed his eyes as he continued to laugh. Connie milked that spot for a moment longer before continuing her hunt for Steven's jackpot spots.
After a while of trying, occasionally going back to that one area between his left hip and gem, Connie just went back to tracing Steven's stretch marks.
Much to Connie's surprise, Steven started laughing even louder as she did this. With Steven's senses being heightened, it made sense that he was quite a bit more sensitive now than he had been at the beginning.
"Wow, Steven, I was going back to tracing your stretch marks assuming it would bring you back down to relax for a second, but this is the hardest I've seen you laugh in a while! Maybe we should start calling these your 'giggle marks'!"
Steven blushed red at the comment, continuing to cackle as Connie's fingers got closer and closer to his gem.
Connie, however, could tell that Steven was getting tired and decided to stop just before reaching the stone.
Steven looked up at Connie as she stopped, still giggling. "You're going to stop before the gem?" He seemed genuinely confused and honestly a little upset.
Connie smiled fondly. "Were you expecting a grand finale?"
"Well... yeah, kind of? I mean, that's always how you finish."
Connie chuckled. "Well if you insist..."
Steven felt his whole body tense as Connie leaned over and positioned her head over Steven's gem. Connie looked to him for permission, and as he nodded, she blew a huge raspberry right on top of his gem.
Steven all but screamed. "CONNIHIHIEHEHAHAHAH-" Steven was laughing at full volume for a full five seconds after Connie had finished. She looked down at him, happy to see that huge smile plastered across his face.
"Mhmmm," Steven hummed contentedly, still coming down from his giggle high. "But 'm tired now. Can we just snuggle?"
Connie smiled. "Of course. Let me go tell Pearl and Bis that everything is alright." Connie planted a kiss on Steven's nose, making him giggle and scrunch up his face. And as Connie went downstairs, Steven couldn't help but feel he was the luckiest boy in the world to have such an amazing partner.
