Steven Universe x Gem! Reader insert

Chapter 20: Strange dreams and Steven's weird Birthday

3 days after the last chapter

(Dream Land)
You're on Earth. You look around, and see lots of larger, taller gems. Jaspers, Adventurines, Topazes, all here... For what? You turned and found out why. Blue Diamond. You shuddered. 'What is going on?' You thought. A Sapphire along with 3 Ruby guards walked down the long bridge you all stood on. There were other gems mingling around you. You wanted to talk and ask what is happening, but then you noticed something. The Ruby guards. They were horsing around and one of them bumped into the Sapphire. She recovered and brushed it off. Could this be when Ruby and Sapphire met? Why were you dreaming about this? If you remember correctly from when Garnet told you many years ago, the next thing that happens is Sapphire tells Blue Diamond about a rebel attack. If that does happen, your suspicions will be confirmed. Yep, she walked into Blue Diamond's chamber and talked. She walked bad to the rubies. After a few more minutes, the rebels attacked. You saw Pearl, wielding dual swords, and... Rose. You felt yourself moving, running towards the Pearl, bringing out a longsword. You clashed with Pearl a couple times before you were sliced in the chest by her, no remorse in her eyes. Pain radiated throughout your kneeling stature. As your physical form subsided, you looked up to see Rose one more time, before you poofed.

(Back to Reality)
You awoke with a start, sweating and breathing heavily. You looked around, you're back in the barn. You made a mental note not to mess with Pearl. In fact, whatever you had witnessed had actually made you... Paranoid of her. Should you talk to Garnet, since it was her origin story you dreamt about? Meh, gems dream about weird stuff all the time. Well, not anymore since they don't sleep. Ever. Except for you sometimes. And Amethyst. Whatever, you got up and noticed your fingers were sharp again, as well as scratch marks on the bag you slept on. 'It's just a dream.' You told yourself. 'It can't hurt you.' Your fingers dulled. You got up and walked outside. Peridot was working in the drill and everyone else was... Celebrating? Oh right, it's Steven's day of creation, or 'birthday' as he calls it. A large vehicle approached the barn. Oh, that's the van you sent Steven in when the hand ship landed. That must be his father again. You were surprised to see a smaller human come out. 'Who is that?' You thought. You guessed she knew Steven in someway by how she yelled "Steven!" As soon as she saw him. "Connie!" He yelled back. So that's her name. She probably hasn't seen you before. You walked over to the table, you kind if wanted to ask Garnet about your dream. But then you saw Pearl, and remembered what happened. 'Stupid, irrational childish fear.' You thought to yourself. She isn't going to hurt you an you know it. But yet you're still scared. You'll ask Garnet later, when Pearl isn't around. You looked to see that Steven had caught sight of you. "(G/n)! You're up! This is Connie, my best friend! Besides Lars." You have no idea what a 'Lars' is, but you didn't care. "Well, Connie, I'm (G/n)." You did the only thing you knew to greet people with, the high five. "Slap my hand." You said. Connie laughed, hi fiving you, almost dropping her juice because you were much taller than her. (Or not, if your smol like periwinkle.) "I know all about you!" She said, leaving you surprised. "Oh?" "Yeah! Steven told me everything! You sound so cool! How fast can you run? How do you not get crushed over the terminal velocity and the friction of the air currents and the weight of your own body?" She asked a bunch if other questions, most of your answers being "I don't know" and "I don't want to talk about it." Soon Steven's father walked over. "Outta the way Connie. I was his friend first! Happy birthday Steven!" He picked Steven up and wrapped him in his arms. He put Steven down after a few second and turned to look at you. "Hello, you must be (G/n). We meet again." "Nice to see you again, you must be Steven's father." "Please, call me Greg." You and Greg shook hands and he looked down at Steven. "Alright Stewball, lemme get a look at ya. I can't believe your growing up so fast!" Greg wiped a small tear from his eye. Steven looked embarrassed. You chuckled. "It feels like it was only yesterday you were only a baby, now you're turning fourteen!" Connie spit out her juice, almost getting it on you. "Steven, you're FOURTEEN?!" She questioned, quite loudly too. "Yeah...." Steven said nervously. "But I'm only twelve an three quarters. You're... Older than me?! I... I don't believe it!" She exclaimed. "Well sure, check it out!" Greg pulled out a book from nowhere. 'Where did he get that?' You asked yourself. Greg opened the book. "Here we have Infant, toddler, what is that called... Adolescent...adolescent...You quickly got bored looking at pictures of younger Steven, so you walked a safe distance away from the three and dashed around to the other side if the barn. You want to help with the drill. You saw Peridot sitting on a black, wooden stool welding something with a red blowtorch. You grabbed some protective glasses, like the ones Peridot was using. You stood next to her awkwardly, she paid no attention to you. "Is there something you need?" She eventually said. "O-oh, yes, do you need help with anything?" You said anxiously. "No, I've got it. I... Appreciate the offer though." You turned to walk away, but Peridot stopped you. "Actually, could you hand me that... Tightening rod?" (Wrench.) "Sure thing." You picked it up and handed it to her. She turned a bolt a few times and then held her hand out. "Leverage optimizer." She commanded. She wanted your help after all, but is too afraid to say it. So, you handed that to her and handed other tools and things to her for about 10 minutes before you heard everyone yelling "Happy Birthday Steve--huh?" What's going on? You dashed to the front if the barn, where you gave the same reaction as the rest of the gems. In front of the barn, stood a slightly older looking Steven. He had longer legs, arms, and he even had a neck! His clothes were now too small for him, his gem visible. Is this how humans age? "Steven? Are you feeling alright?" Pearl asked him. "You look good Steven." Garnet complimented him. "Oh, heheh... Thanks Garnet." His voice. It's deeper. What is going on? "Dude, your neck." Amethyst pointed out. "Oh, what about it?" Steven felt his new neck. "You HAVE one!" Amethyst cheered. Why is it that every time you think of something cool, someone else says it before you? "So... You just grew all of a sudden?" Connie asked the question you were all thinking. Steven and Connie moved closer to each other. "I had a magical growth spurt. Right now. Cool, right?" He bragged to Connie. You're not sure what to make of this, as you've never really aged and you've never seen humans age before. Interesting. You think you're really understanding why Rose was interested in humans, or so the gems told you. "Oh yeah, that's totally cool!" Connie said excitedly. "Alright, let's eat this cookie cake!" Greg said excitedly. Garnet extinguished the flames on top of this 'cake' and you all went to eat some. Well, Amethyst, Greg, Steven, and Connie did. You debated on it, but declined. You don't need to eat. Soon after all the cake was eaten, mostly by Amethyst, You went back to work with Peridot. She actually let you do something important this time, you tightened the control panel into place while she worked on the rest if the cockpit. Before you knew it it was late afternoon. The sky shone bright orange. The sun was setting. Garnet and Greg played music out from the back of the van. Pearl and Amethyst were dancing on the dirt. You just kind of stood and leaned back awkwardly against the barn watching it all happen.
You feel a little left out. Pearl and Amethyst are dancing, Steven has Connie, and you well... Nobody. "This one goes out to the Birthday boy, and his best friend." Garnet said over a microphone. A sort of softer, slower music started to play. Steven And Connie held each other's sides and shared a little dance. The two converged, Connie's head on Steven's chest. You looked away blushing, this was their private moment. "We know how to throw a party." You heard Garnet say. Suddenly, Steven freaked out and started running to the back to the barn, you followed. Something's up. You ran around the opposite side of the barn, passing Peridot and making it behind the barn before him, watching Greg and Amethyst trying to smash something. You skidded to a stop behind Amethyst, who was blindfolded. Steven came from around the corner and leaned against the wall, forehead drenched with sweat. Then the unthinkable happened. He shrunk back to his smaller self. He's recreating what you did you shapeshifted too much and poofed a week ago. "Oh geez... If I can just keep this up for the rest if my life, no one will suspect a thing." He said, exhausted. At this point you were all staring at him, mouths open. He noticed. "What are you doing?!" Asked Amethyst, pointing at him. Steven tried changing the subject by repeating what Amethyst said, growing taller again. "What are you doing to your body?!" Asked Greg, worried for his son. "Have you been doing that all day?!" Amethyst said, still in a state of shock. "N-no, I was just... slouching." He said, trying to play it off. "Steven, you shouldn't stretch yourself out so much for so long. Don't you remember what happened to me when I pulled that stunt? I poofed for three days! Why are you doing this to yourself?" You said, worried for him. He's half human, so there's no telling what might happen when he can't support his organic form anymore. "Because, I can't stay a kid forever! When Connie grows up and becomes president, what'll that make me? First boy?!" He said, checking to make sure no one else hears him. "Steven, you can't do that forever. You're going to hurt yourself!" You said, said trying to stop what he's doing. "Yeah, well, I'm half human! Maybe it works different for me!" "If anything that makes it worse! No offense Greg." You said. "None taken." He replied. "Well, we'll just have to see! Right dad?" He turned towards his father. "Steven..." Greg sighed. Steven walked off. You need to tell the gems before it's too late. You walked around, looking for Pearl or Garnet, somebody Steven will listen to. Speaking of Steven, he's counting stars with Connie. You walked faster, and you eventually found Pearl talking to Garnet. You interrupted what they were talking about, feeling slightly guilty. You tried to be as polite as possible. "Excuse me? Pearl? Garnet?" Pearl turned around to look at you. "What is it (G/n)? Is everything alright?" "No. Steven isn't aging. He's stretching his body out, to make him look older. That's what he's been doing all day and I don't think he can hold his form much--" you were cut off by high pitched crying. Everyone turned to look at Connie holding... A tiny Steven. "Steven, what happened to you?!" You asked, only to get a wail in response. "He turned back into a baby?!" Pearl screeched in disbelief. "Yes! We were just talking... And then he just changed!" Connie yelled in desperation. You've never seen a baby, so you don't really know what to make of this. But when Steven was normal, he told you about how humans age. Apparently 'baby' is the first and least efficient phase in a human's life, requiring the most care. "See? I told you stretching your body out like that was going to end horribly!" You snapped. Steven kept on crying. Amethyst took the baby and tried to hand it to Pearl, but she refused, quite anxiously. "Oh nonononono don't give him to me!" "Amethyst, let me see him." Garnet took Steven in her arms, making her shades vanish. She held him in front of her face, and closed all her eyes. She then opened them from right to left, one by one. A popping noise followed each eyelid opening. Then she smiled and stuck her tongue out made obnoxious noises. Whatever she was doing, it didn't stop baby Steven's crying. "My power means nothing to an infant." Garnet said, defeated. What if instead of trying to cause a reaction, such as laughter, there is nothing trying to cause it, therefore no reaction? "May I try?" You piped up. "Uh... Sure." Pearl said. Garnet handed Steven to you, and you looked into his small beady eyes. You remained as calm as possible. You kept a straight face, and just looked. Steven just kind of... Froze and stared back. You're surprised your plan worked. You handed Steven to his father. "There. You didn't need to do anything to calm him down." Kind of proud of your achievement, you beamed a quick smile before it faded as fast as it started. "Well, would you look at that, he stopped crying. You must know him better than I do!" Greg said, astonished. "Well, it's a start." You replied. "How do you keep him calm? I assume you have experience with this sort of thing." "Well, I would usually take him out for a drive." He responded. "Okay, in the car little Steveling." Connie said. "Nice nickname." You complimented. "Thanks." Amethyst, Greg, Connie, and baby Steven all got into the van, and drove off. "Wow, you handled that well. How did you do that?" Pearl asked as you watched the car drove away. "Skills." Was all you responded with. Eventually it got really late and you fell asleep in the barn. You opened your eyes, and saw something... Strange. You're in water. You can't really see much, but you hear some faint screaming in the distance. You swam until you saw a bright light. It's kind of... Greenish? You kept swimming towards it until you were hit by something and you blacked out. You opened your eyes for real and saw Steven and Connie talking outside the barn. Steven's back to normal. The gems are outside, looking at him and touching his face. You got up and walked over there, the dream still echoing in the realm of your subconscious. You reached Steven and he said "(G/n) Look! I've got a facial hair! I'm gonna grow a beard!" He said flicking a single hair on his cheek with starry eyes. "Good job Steven!" Was the only thing you could think of saying to him. You're still kind of weirded out by the dream. What was that screaming, and the light? And what cause you to wake up?
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