Yurp. It's been a while since I've done a sophisticated baby Steven perspective.
So I wasn't exactly accepting prompts anymore. But, since I was originally planning on just making some mindless fluff, I decided to kinda just squeeeeze in a request made by PastakittyQueen. Not really planned, kinda just happened. So, here you are PastakittyQueen…sort of :)
Age: One and a half.
Warning: Randomly untamed fluff.
Blanket, Shopin', and Chillin'
There was a streak of electricity in the air. I could feel it through the way her foot jittered, the way her teeth were clenched, the way her smile increased in size.
The pale one was nervous, the tallest was anxious, and the purple one was excited.
"Did you pack Steven's extra bottle Amethyst?" I watched through the bars of my confinement as she rushed by with full arms, frantically stuffing supplies into a blue backpack.
"Psh, ya I did P," the shorter one waved off. She eyed the skinnier one from her sprawled out postion for a moment before looking over at me. "Why did Greg ask us to do this again?"
"Ugh, Amethyst," she sighed. Breaking eye contact with the purple one, I looked back at the pale one and began observing her strange techniques. "Remember, Greg entrusted us with Steven for a reason," she interrupted herself with a grunt at pushing the large bulge down into the bag. "He…mf…he waNTED us..mMMF…to do some bonding…mmmF…with Steven so that…blah blah…and…blah blablalalblah…"
Losing interest in her speaking, I rolled from my sitting position and onto my knees, deciding it was time to search the rest of my confinement.
Right hand in front first, left leg raised, left hand next, right leg, repeat. Go with the flow, survey the area.
So up I traveled, through the vast seas of blankets and between the halls of dull eyed animals. Over the fluffed pillows, and across the field of toys and dolls. I had one item in mind. One particular item that I happened to miss dearly since my last visit.
"…blah blah…I'll get Steven ready…blah…take the bag and I'll meet you and Garnet at the bus stop…blah…" Just as I sensed the crib shake from the movement of her bringing down the bars, I spotted my prize.
"C'mon Steven," I felt her fingers slip under my arms. "Let's go now."
I reached a stubby arm out, only a few inches away from my designated object –but alas, it proved to be useless. I was lifted with ease, the soft material disappearing from my view as I was turned around and snuggled into the crook of her arm.
"B'lke'!" I tried, turning over onto my side and attempting to crawl out from her arms while she walked.
She simply readjusted my position, replying with a quiet, "No Steven," and this time hugging me tighter.
I was dejectedly carried into the bathroom first, the usual routine of diaper and clothe changing finished quickly. Next was the kitchen where one out of the five packed bottles was warmed in preparation for the ride. Last, to my glee, was one last visit to the upstairs area.
"Hold still Steven," she grumbled as I began wriggling in her arms. In a swift movement, she had me out from her arms and instead tucked onto her shoulder. For better balance, I leaned forward onto her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her neck, still however searching from my back view at the crib. So while she sorted through my drawer for perhaps an extra sweater (despite the summer heat), I continued my desperate search in hopes of finding the comfort seeked.
Then, fate on my side, I spotted it.
"B-blnke'! Bllnk'!" I began bouncing up and down, ruffling a hand into her short hair and kicking my legs out. "Bb-b'lnke'!"
"Agh! Steven!" she looked over at me concerned, pointed nose only inches away from my cheek. "What is it sweetie? What's wrong?"
Pausing in my bouncing and kicking, I turned my head back towards the direction of my crib. She gave me a strange look before following my gaze, peeking over at the large cradle.
"Bl'ken'."
She hummed for a moment, abandoning her search in the drawers and turning around as to abide to my wishes. I pushed off lightly from her chest, turning as well from my shoulder position so that I was able to see her movements from the front view.
"Alright Steven," we were now in front of the crib. Both our eyes searched the crib, mine already spotting the wanted item, hers mistakenly falling on the wrong one. She reached down, now only centimeters away from what I wanted, and picked up the bear.
"Here you are honey," tucked Sir Bearington onto my chest. I looked down at the lifeless round spheres of the bear, cringing away from it. "Doe'!" I grabbed the bear and threw it back into the crib. "Blan'et!" I whined, battling against her attempting to sooth hands. "Bln'ke'!"
"Steven! Please! Calm down no-"
She paused suddenly in her panicked attempt at calming me down, a thought seeming to snap into her mind. I stopped in my movements as well, nearly shaking in anticipation as she brought her hands away.
And as if in dream like movements, she gracefully reached into the crib and plucked the red and blue blanket from where it laid.
"This is what you wanted?" she held it out in front of me, just out of arms reach.
"Bla'kt'!" I leaned forward with both arms stretched out, practically falling off if it weren't for the hand that flew upwards to support me.
"Ugh, that Ruby and Sapphire," handing me the prized object at last. I giggled happily, rubbing the soft material against my cheeks before hugging it close and leaning back onto her thin shoulder. "Are you happy now?" she grumbled, pouting her lips out as she returned back to the drawer.
My response was a happy gurgle, wrapping both arms around her neck, blanket splayed across my body and secured underneath my chest. She merely gave a second grumble, murmuring something before pulling out a small sweater and tucking it under her free arm.
"Now," she breathed out, shuffling me into a more protected position. "To the…grocery store."
/
I was now sitting atop the purple one, leaning back into her plush torso while her arms came to rest around my stomach. In my mouth was a pacifier, in my arms a warmth radiating blanket. To the right was the tallest, sitting straight and alert. At the left was Pearl, singing a quiet tune as she prepared the luscious white liquid.
"Almost done there P?" the purple one's raspy voice rang out through the bumping bus. "I think, like, ten years have gone by."
"Oh hush Amethyst," she smiled nevertheless, giving the bottle a final shake. "There," a hand was removed from supporting me to grab the outstretched bottle. "Now be careful. You remember how to hold him correctly right?"
"Ya ya, I got it Pearl."
And ever so gently, those deceivingly clumsy hands carefully came around me, sliding cautiously around my small body and slowly pushed me back into a laying position. Looking up now, I stared at her while sucking innocently at my pacifier. A strand of her white hair came down to tickle my nose while she gazed in wonderment back down.
"The milk Amethyst," Pearl reminded.
She quickly snapped out of her daze, reaching a hand down and tugging the pacifier out from my lips with a 'pop'. I gave a small whine at this, raising a protesting arm which she ended up ignoring. In return however, I was given that sweet lukewarm fluid that never failed to bring joy to me.
"Theeere we go," she hummed as I opened my mouth happily, both hands still grasping tightly at the blanket.
"You're a natural Amethyst," the tallest quietly stated, crossing her legs and arms together and leaning back. From my drinking position, I could see the glow in Amethysts cheeks while she attempted to hide her face, peering down at me instead. I glanced up at her, raising a hand and placing it atop her hand around the bottle. She smiled, almost seeming to blush harder.
"Thanks," she mumbled back to the tallest and, perhaps, me as well.
/
The store was remarkable.
On one hand, it was gigantic; filled with ten times the amount of people that shopped at the regular grocery store. There were bustling people everywhere, an overall loud chatter that filled the large warehouse. The dangling florescent lights gleamed almost harshly down at us newcomers, a direct depiction of the city life.
"Garnet," I heard Pearl whisper from behind the stroller. "Maybe we should just wait a week until the normal grocery store opens, hm? Just look at Steven. Why, he looks terrified!"
At her words, I craned my neck upwards, the spit bubble I had been unintentionally creating popping within seconds of looking up. I blinked up at them for a moment before returning to embracing my blanket and blowing spit bubbles.
"He's fine Pearl, now c'mon," the stroller was summoned to life, finally rolling forward. "We've got a list to get started on. You and Amethyst take the bottom, me and Steven will handle the top. We'll regroup and cash register 15."
"UUUHH. Oh alright," she huffed. "Amethyst! Let's go! And don't smell that device! It could be dangerous!"
"It's a toilet Pearl! We have one in the house remember?"
I listened as Pearl stomped away, her thumps soon blending into the chatter of the warehouse. Then, it was just me and the tall one. I was rolled around the area, occasionally catching eyesight with random people and grinning at them.
They ignored me of course, wrapping their long trench coats tighter around their bodies and hurrying away.
We frequently stopped whenever Garnet discovered one of her items. She'd grab them, observe it thoroughly, and usually put it back and instead choose the one behind it; dropping it into her basket and continuing, as if she knew that product was flawed in some sort of way.
For a while, I began fiddling with my thumbs. Then my hands. Then my feet, watching them wriggle through the shoes. Picked my nose for a little bit. Sucked on the blanket.
"AABbbgllgggggggg."
To put it simply, I was bored. We had been at this for almost twenty minutes now.
"BbBBBGBGBLGLBGG."
I managed to catch the attention of some brunette lady who smiled before looking away, but to the tall one, I was brushed off. So, I decided to try my Pearl technique –propelling myself up and down and shaking the whole stroller in the process.
Finally, the carriage was pulled to the side and her legs came into view in front of me. When she bent down and began shuffling through the bottom of the stroller, I gave a giggle and leaned forward to her.
"Hold on their Steven," placing a firm hand on my chest, which ended up being on my stomach as well, and inclining me back. With her other hand, she handed me a bottle of warm milk to hold while I was disconsolately buckled up. My blanket was taken from my grasp and placed on the food shelf while she attempted at making my area more comfortable, straightening out my wrinkled shirt and then preparing the milk.
"MMmmbln'," I reached a hand to it, tilting my head only slightly towards the comforting fabric.
But –she didn't realize it. Or she perhaps forgot. But the milk was handed back to me, and her figure disappeared to the back, and the stroller rolled on –and I still didn't have my blanket.
We moved on, and I was still fully expecting my blanket to return. My lips never touched the bottles cap, for I vowed to wait until my piece of fabric was returned before food was consumed.
Finally, after a good two minutes. I lost it.
"BBBLLLNKKKE'! B-B-BLLLNK'E!" I threw down the bottle, which she surprisingly caught before hitting the ground in a swift movement of her arm.
She came around to observe me. "Steven," her hands came to wander around my body for any signs of injury, then went to unbuckle the fastener around my stomach. "What's wrong?"
I tried to tell her. I really did. But unfortunately, it proved to be impossible. For my words were not able to be understood by her.
"Blkne'abl' AAA'BLek nEAIGHalop tobbggggllgll!"
She stared deeply at me, or at least I assumed she was, conceivably doing her best to understand. At last, after a complete observation, I was removed from the stroller, and pressed close to her chest. Three solid pats came onto my back which causing me to emit a small burp, and was then placed back into the stroller.
Before I could throw a second tantrum, there was the sound of a fast approaching cart and the click of a woman's heel, throwing off my plan.
"Excuse me! Miss!"
As Garnet turned away from me, I was able to view the lady. It was the same brunette that noticed me before.
"Hello!" the cart came to a stop. From the front, I caught sight of a girl about my age, tan skin and brown hued eyes and hair. She was sitting in the chair at the front of the cart.
"Hi," was the tall one reply, standing and therefore blocking off my view of the girl.
"I noticed you left this back at the cereal isle," they exchanged something between themselves. She seemed to look at it for a moment, then back up at the mysterious woman in the white coat.
"Thank you," was finally stated, and she turned, the red and blue blanket draped atop of me and tucked around on all sides.
"No problem! My daughter Connie actually spotted it first. So if anything, you should be thanking her!" she let out a quiet chuckle while Garnet smiled, nodding her head in the direction of the woman.
"Bye then," and as the both cart and stroller turned in the opposite direction, I caught sight of the other girl for a moment.
And in that split-second of eye contact:
"Bbgla," she gurgled.
Hi.
"Abglb," I mumbled.
Hi.
And with that, she was gone, and I was back to staring off into the vast halls of stocked food. But…then again…I was getting rather tired. After all, I was temperate, rocked, and satisfied.
Eyelids drooping closed…
…head lolling down…
...sleepy…
…
…
…
/
"Quiet Amethyst!" a voice hissed. "You'll wake him up!"
"Um…think again smart one," I shuffled in my scrunched up position. "Looks like the blames on you Pearl."
I blinked open my eyes, discovering two sets of contrasting gazes staring down at me, their shadows casting over me as well. At trying to move my arms, I found I couldn't. In fact, I couldn't move anything. I was stuck, as one may say.
"Hey P, I think you should probably loosen his blanket a bit. He looks pretty uncomfortable."
"Nonsense!" I tried again at breaking free through the fabric. "He's perfectly fine Amethyst, your just exaggerating."
They both held a silent glare before looking back down, all attention now focused on me. The bus gave a bump in the road, and Pearl immediately tightened her grip on me.
"Eh," Amethyst looked away and leaned back into her seat. "Whatevs."
Nonetheless, slim fingers came up to the tip of the blanket, carefully tugging it downwards so that the tension around my arms were loosened. I stuck out my tongue in thanks.
"Tol'jya," was all the purple being stated.
I watched Pearl's eyes go wide, taking in a sharp intake of breath. She glanced over at Amethyst, cheeks flushing a tint of blue, then dismissing the whole situation with a role of her eyes.
"Fine, you were right."
"M-hm, that's what I like to here."
"Ugh," she looked away in disgust, then down at me. Immediately at the sight of me, her eyes visibly softened. "Whatever makes Steven happy."
I followed her hand as it fluttered down, rubbing at my head, then making its way down to the side of my cheek. A truly soothing sensation. Then, without warning, her finger trickled down to my neck and began brushing against it. With a giggle, I squelched out my arms from inside the blanket and captured her index finger with both hands.
"Oh!" she whispered, a playful grin planted on her expression. "You got me!"
Two options were left here.
1: Claim the finger as my own by sucking on it. Two: Hug it.
I chose the second alternative, deciding she would better approve of it. Which she did, quietly chuckling at my supposed callowness. However, unknown to her, this specific act happened to hold many meaningful interpretations.
One, being undoubted trust throughout life.
Another being the need for the bathroom.
/
I was lying on my back atop Garnets thighs and playing with my feet, occasionally causing me to roll over on my sides. Pearl and Amethyst were sitting to the right, one reading while the other was leaning on Garnet, a small snore being released every few second from her lips.
"Well," she didn't look up from her book, yet continued to speak. "That wasn't…too bad I suppose."
"Yup," I felt myself roll a little too far, beginning to slip off her legs. Her hand quickly came to steady me back. "It was somethin'."
"Hmmm."
The dim light from the fire flickered throughout the living room, and I found myself abandoning my feet as playmates and instead opted to stare at the shadows.
"I miss Rose."
I continued my examination of the flickering orange light.
"G-Garnet?" her book was snapped shut. "I –I thought…we've been doing fine and -"
The way it seemed to bathe the whole room in a consoling feeling, the warmth of the fire almost being radiated off its light.
"Sorry. It's fine Pearl."
How the shadows would be nothing without the crackling flames, and the light would have no beauty without the darkness.
"We're fine."
She sighed softly. I looked at her, only to find she was doing the same. Her hands snaked around my torso, heaving me up straight as her knees came up behind back. The close proximity I had to her made me smile, reaching a hand up and sliding my finger across her lip.
She just smiled, chortled for a moment. Her thumbs began rubbing circles atop my shoulder blade, as if feeling for reassurance impossible to find. She leaned forward, the cool glass of her shades connecting with my forehead and scraggly hair brushing against my own hair.
"I love you Steven," she whispered, planting a kiss on my cheek.
But it was said so –despondently.
Before she could pull away, I decided I would give her my own kiss, feeling that it would make her happier. Inclining my head up, I reached my neck out and pecked her nose.
Her form was still for a good minute. Something wet dripped onto my bare foot in that minute. Her hand quickly came up to swipe underneath her glasses. Without even so much as a glance at me, her head was pulled back and I was suddenly being cradled tightly by two arms.
"I miss you."
I nestled deeper into her embrace.
.-.