your pov
by the time i reached beach city most of the day had already flown by, filling me with the sense of loss; i know it was only a few hours but that's still something i'll never get back.
this was the time of day group hang outs where scheduled to end, the time people began packing up to leave the beach, it's right now that everyone gets ready to finish up for the day.
not wanting to go back to the temple just yet, i sit with my feet dangling down the smooth surface of a concrete ledge, not too high off the sand but still far enough to experience ground shock.
today was a bust. lapis probably convinced steven not to talk to me by now, or even to just kick me out all together.
i don't wanna go back on the streets, that's where the worst parts of my life went down. nightfall when you're alone in a silent alley wasnt ideal..
"mind if i sit here..?"
a familiar voice enters my vast sea of thoughts
"um.. not at all" i smile up at the figure as he takes a seat next to me
"what's on your mind?" charlie sees straight through my forced smile
"today was the worst.." i simply confide, not wishing to bother him with the full story incase he was only asking out of pity
"i don't mind listening" the genuine sound of his voice was enough to convince me
"well.." i begin with a slightly warmer heart, knowing he cared "i found a new power, but then i scared everyone including your sister.. she looked so scared of me"
"if youre worried eliza won't like you anymore, don't be, she's either going to forget or forgive. she's an accepting kid"
"even if she does, i don't wanna lash out at anyone again"
"well.. what's the power?"
"they're mainly water based, it's basically controlling the ocean i guess"
"..there's lots of water there" he states suggestingly
"oh.. no, i don't wanna cause a scene, what if i get mad and something bad happens again?"
"if you fill yourself with positive feelings, the outcomes sure gonna reflect on that, and if it doesnt, you still learnt somethin"
there was a uniqueness and charm to the way charlie spoke, even if his broken english shon through at times
the idea paired with his words was tempting enough to have brought us down to the water, infront of the temple, where any beach city onlookers couldn't see
"lapis said i should close my eyes and visualise what i want it to look like"
charlie gives me a look as if to say 'go ahead'
so with an exhale, i close my eyes.. now indulging in complete darkness
"what makes you happy?"
"umm.." i skim through memories "i like it when i make other people happy?"
"..well you make me happy?"
i smile with a giggle at his lovely words, still with my eyes shut tight
"oh really?"
"serious, you convinced the scary guy to let us live here, you helped me protect my sister. of course i'd be happy"
"the scary guy?"
"yanno, steven.."
i chuckle with amusement as i speak
"what's so scary about steven?"
"the guys got powers, plus he seems really protective"
charlie was right, steven was almost impossible to read which often felt intimidating.
as charlie and i continued to talk and laugh, everything felt easier, like my day had a good ending.
opening my eyes to see the completely flat ocean made me rather disappointed, but still thankful for the exchange
"i didn't even make a wave"
"well you did something, because when we came here there were plenty"
"wait, really?"
"they were distant ones that looked pretty big, but not anymore"
the slight victory gave me a fulfilment and charlie insisted on more practice
easily obliging, i took him closer to the water where we sat at a point the gentle waves couldn't reach
"i made little circles of water earlier but i'm trying to learn shapes"
i don't close my eyes this time, maybe i should approach it my own way
when i was younger, before i knew that my gem was such a parculiar and powerful thing, i'd watch movies of people with powers and pretend to be like them.
most of the time i'd copy their hand movements and make myself believe some sort of magic was happening by me moving my hands certain ways, but this time felt different..
like i was pulling on an invisible string rather than desperately forcing my imagination to make me believe something in the room was now motile.
