My Only Friend (Steven x Spinel)

3 - Safe

The warp pad in the temple glows as Steven and Spinel appear. Once the light fades, Steven steps off. Spinel takes time to look around.

"I remember this place.." She says as deja vu strikes her. It was after she first showed Steven the garden.

Spinel steps off the pad.

Steven looks over at her and speaks,
"Stay here, I need to check if anyone's here."

"Okay." Spinel replies, trusting him to come back.

Steven silently goes down the stairs. He looks down them while as hidden as he can be. He shifted to look in the living room. Garnet was sitting on the couch. Steven was about to go back up to think of another plan when Garnet spoke,

"What are you doing up this early?"

Steven froze. He was caught. He walked down the stairs around halfway and looked nervously at Garnet.

"Just.. uh.. got a breath of fresh air. That's all.."

There was a thump from nearby; Steven realized it was Spinel. What was she doing?

Garnet chuckled quietly. "What girl did you bring with you, then?"

Steven blushed, clearly flustered. "I-It's not like that, Garnet- She's just a friend."

"Ah, it is a girl then," Garnet stood up as she spoke, "Bring her down; We could have a chat."

Steven sighed and walked back up the stairs. Spinel was standing still, nervously smiling when she saw Steven.

Steven forcefully sighed, "Come down; Someone heard us."

Spinel's expression showed worry as she asked "Wait.. who?"

"Garnet." Steven replied.

The two of them walked down the stairs, Spinel two steps behind Steven. Garnet watched them.

"Spinel? Hm, you got me there." Garnet commented, slightly sarcastically.

"Uh.. yeah.." Spinel replied, a little confused.

Steven knew what Garnet meant and kept quiet about it. Spinel was just his friend, nothing more.

Once Spinel got down the stairs, Garnet started,
"Don't worry about getting in trouble- You being here will be our secret," She looked over at Spinel as she said 'You', "But, what were you going to do now?"

Spinel gained a little confidence as she spoke, "Find a place to hide, from uh... Everyone."

"Everyone? I know a place." Garnet paused, "But first, before I show you, we must get you there."

Spinel was curious, "How, exactly?"

"By poofing you and hiding your gem. Simple."

Spinel was a little fearful of the idea, but knew it was a good idea. Steven, however, didn't like the sound of it.

Steven objected, "Poof her? There's got to be a better-"

"Spinel, are you okay with this?" Garnet asks, interrupting Steven.

Spinel nodded, "Yeah, I'm read-"

Garnet summoned one of her fists and punched Spinel right beneath her gem. In a cloud of smoke, Spinel's gem was all that was left and fell to the ground.

Steven stared at Spinel's gem in shock.

Garnet picked it up, "Okay, put her gem in your jacket pocket so that no one will see it."

"..Alright." Steven grabbed it slowly, looking at it for a short moment before putting it in the pocket.

"Okay, let's go. We're walking, so it'll take a bit to get there."