3rd Person P.O.V.
It has been three days since Steven was brought back home. He is grateful that he can walk again. Though, Steven hasn't been the same ever since he came back.
He can still her Moonlight's voice, taunting him about his recent defeat. For once, Steven is afraid, and he won't admit it to anyone, not even himself. He hasn't slept for over 70 hours (yes, it's possible and the consequences for being awake for that long will occur so don't think of plot armor).
He fears of Moonlight coming to get him while he was asleep and waking up back into that room. Speaking of the room, he now hates it when he's alone. The quiet reminds him of the room whenever Moonlight leaves him.
He doesn't want to be clingy to anyone, so he won't ask anyone to stay. He doesn't mind whoever is in the room with him, as long as he isn't alone. At this rate, he might even take the Diamond's offer to live in the Palace.
At least then, he wouldn't be alone. But then he thought he might appear clingy. His mind is trying to think of ways to help himself but the lack of sleep is restricting him from critical thinking.
How he managed to stay awake for this long is not easy for him. A big part of it is him purchasing energy drinks. He doesn't drink them for the taste, he drinks them for the caffeine, which he only purchases the ones who pack the highest caffeine count.
It does keep him awake, but he's smart enough to know that it'll eventually become ineffective for his body. At this rate, the only thing that is flowing through his body is probably caffeine. Though, he doesn't just sit around and drink energy drinks, he attempt to exercise but it starts to tire him out to the point he can only so small stuff like stretching.
The small part of what keeps him awake is fear. Fear is known to keep a person awake due to how unnerving it can be. He isn't afraid of Moonlight, he's more afraid of what Moonlight could do.
His eyes started to become red, he tries to avoid looking at people so they couldn't get the suspicion of him being awake for so long. Being awake for so long reminds him of a horror movie he watched. He learned about the concept of micro naps, where a person can sleep without realizing it.
This is probably what causes him to hallucinate Moonlight and her voice. He curled up in a ball and was nearly calling for help a few hours ago. He had to gag himself to prevent his voice from being heard to anyone else.
He had to get his mind off of things. He grabbed a book, he doesn't know what it's about or the author's name, he's just reading the words. Unfortunately, reading requires him to use his head so he closed the book and he nearly throw the book across the room.
Phoebe came in to check on him.
(Phoebe) Steven, how are you today?
(Steven) I'm... fine...
He nearly passed out from talking because he had to think of his choice of words, which was difficult due to lack of sleep.
(Phoebe) You okay? You sounded like you trailed off.
He nods. Head gestures use less energy than speaking for him.
(Phoebe) Steven?
He looks a little bit over his shoulder to pretend he's looking at her.
(Phoebe) Can you look at me?
He moved his head away. He knew the second she saw his eyes, she would knew.
(Phoebe) Look at me.
He shook his head.
(Phoebe) Look at me.
