Corruption

The beach.

Everyone sat in the living room, discussing what to do next. With Jasper's image still hot in Steven's head he kept strangley silent. He sat with a look of malice, in the corner of the sofa, his feet up and his tail wrapped instinctively around him. His stomach rumbled, catching Amethyst's attention.

She turned to him, "Hey Stee-Man, you hungry?" He looked back at her, with a softer expression. The sudden realisation of his starvation hit him fast, like a truck.

"Come to think of it, you haven't had a proper meal in a few days.." Connie added.

"Yeah...Yeah Your right..." Steven admitted, letting his legs drop to the floor, "I'm gonna go get something to eat, I'll be back soon." He stood up, and walked out to the city.

Stepping out onto the golden sand, the conflicted corruption rummaged his pockets for money. He found just enough for some fries from Fryman's, the thought of fries made his mouth water slightly, so he embarked on his mission for food.

He walked slowly along the beach, taking the time to enjoy the peace, which had been absent the past few days. As he got to the board walk, Lars and Sadie approached him, wanted to figure out why he looked so strange.

"Hey Steven!" Sadie called happily, followed by a pink Lars.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Steven replied, with a wave of his right hands.

"It's been good on our end, I saw you at the concert last night" Lars answered, a bit creeped out by Steven's new purple limbs.

Steven saw the uncomfort in Lars' face, he looked at his purple hands and chuckled a bit, "It's been a rough couple of days on my end" He joked.

"You wanna talk about it? I would love to write a song about you" Sadie joked too, but still curious how her friend got into such a state.

"Eh.. it's a long story...but don't worry, I should be fine pretty soon" He reassured.

"Alright, hey you wanna get a donut quickly?" Lars asked comfortingly.

"No thanks, I'm just on my way to get some fries" He politely declined, pointing to the fry shop.

"Well then, we'll get outta your hair and let you get your food" Lars shot finger guns at him.

The three friends began walking away from each other, Sadie yelled back to Steven, "Watch out for Ronaldo too!"

Steven laughed and continued walking to his food. He took into account Sadie's warning and walked slowly to the window, where PeeDee stood with a bored expression.

Steven walked up to him and checked behind him, Ronaldo wasn't there, He let out a sigh of relief before meeting his board friend.

"Hey PeeDee, how have you been?" Steven greeted, leaning against the wooded windowsill.

"Pretty good, pretty good, how about you?" He replied, analysing Steven's face.

"Take a guess" He joked, the two friends laughed, before Ronaldo came into the room.

"STEVEN!" He yelled pushing PeeDee away from the window, "Steven, wanna be in my blog?!" He was already taking out his phone.

"Uh...I'd rather not, I'm really hungry..." Steven uncomfortably declined, remembering the last time he tried to help Ronaldo with his "Snake People" Theory, he looked away.

"Are you sure?! This is really weird! After you eat would can I put you in my blog?!" He insisted.

"Uh..." Steven stuttered, "I didn't plan on it, I just wanted to get some fries.."

"I'll get you fries! If you be in my blog!" Ronaldo yelled, spitting in Steven's face.

"Ronaldo, I don't want to be in your blog." He said sternly, wiping Ronaldo's spit off his cheek, "I've been through, a lot, these past few days and I don't want to be asked a million question for some stupid online blog." His eyes narrowed as he glared at the surprised blogster.

"Uh, here you go Steven," PeeDee stepped in, before Ronaldo could aggravate Steven further. He handed Steven his greasy bag of fries and Steven paid for them.

"Thanks, I'll see you around" He walked away back to the Temple, eating as he walked. He looked towards the sea and walked towards it. He sat down on the sand and crossed his legs and watched the waves crash against the sand, eating his hot fries.

He sat and ate for around an hour, completely overwhelmed by the calmness and sirinity of the raging ocean. He sat and thought about nothing, it was brilliant, he wanted it to stay like this forever. He sat and lost track of time completely, completely oblivious to his surrounding, just focusing on the water going in, and back out. In and back out.

The sun started to set, casting a bright shadow over the blue sea. He stayed and watched the sun pass over the cloudless and dip beneath the water.

The gems where still waiting for him to come back in the Temple. Pearl was pacing, Amethyst tapping her arm with her purple fingertips, Garnet wasn't worried.

"That's it I'm going to find him!" Pearl angrily exclaimed, with no protest from anyone.

Pearl hastily marched out of the door, followed by Garnet, Amethyst and Connie. She ran down onto the sand, scanning for Steven.

As her eyes landed on the peaceful, sitting boy on the beach. His knees up to his chin, his arms resting on them and his face covered by his pink sleeves. His tail curled around his legs and his dark eyes fixated lazily to the sea.

Pearl's worry melted away, as she walked up to him and sat next to him, watching the ocean aswell. Garnet seamlessly sat behind them and Amethyst plonked herself next them all. Connie walked over and sat at Steven's side.

The family stayed in the night watching the never-tiring sea for hours. Steven and Connie slowly drifted into a deep sleep, in the comfort of the gems, who gave them blankets to keep them warm as they peacefully slept.