Corrupted Heart - Steven Universe x Reader

Chapter 20

Spinning the spiked ball by the chain, I swooped it under Holo-Pearl's legs making it tumble backwards and poof when it came in contact with the ground. I was panting profoundly, my body sweaty and my muscles aching and sore. My shoulder blade had a cut on it and my hands were covered in grazes. Other than that, however, I was ok.

"How was that?", I turned my head to ask Pearl. She sat on the sidelines, a sword in her grip. Her melancholy eyes were fixated on the ground, her grip tightening without her realising. Pearl has been acting like this all day, sulking on the sidelines like the losing team of a sports match. It was pathetic to keep looking at.

"H-Huh?", Pearl's head sprung up when she noticed she no longer had to tune out the duel because it was over. "Oh! Very good, (Y/N)".

Giving her a subtle eye roll, I decided to play along with her charade. "So, what part of my form should I work on?".

"Um, nothing! Your form was perfect!".

I raised a brow at her, with my arms folded over my chest and my flail hanging from the chain. Pearl was still no better at lying. She would usually always find something I needed to improve, without fail. So to think that she thought everything I did was perfect is just wishful thinking. I let out a frustrated groan and snapped at her, "Grow up. What are you sulking here for?".

Pearl's eyes widened with distress, like a dear caught in headlights. But was too fatigued and upset to fight back. "You know, whenever Steven does stupid things to annoy me, and that happens a lot, he doesn't sit there and hope things get better. He tries to fix it".

Stepping forward towards her, I sent Pearl a cold glare, as if I was blaming her for everything. Which in fact, I was, because it was her fault. "So don't you dare mope there and feel sorry for yourself".

"(Y/N)~!", an irritating voice chirped my name. Steven came rushing down the stairs so speedily, that he almost tripped down. Once he reached the bottom, he asked, "You wanna go on a road trip with me?". I goggled at him, confused at the lack of context.

"What?".

"Dad, Garnet and I are driving to Keystone to stay at a cool motel". Pearl's head perked up in interest when Steven mentioned Garnet. But her disheartening frown still didn't leave her face.

"Eh, I don't know", I said, stretching my limbs, "I mean, would my mum even let me? She'd probably think it's a bad idea".

"That's a horrible idea!".

My mother's astounded voice was practically shrieking in my ear. I sent Steven a look that said, 'I told you so'.

"It's bad enough that I let you have sleepovers with that boy, now you expect me to allow you to travel out of state and stay in a motel with him?", even though we were on the phone with her, I could still picture my mum frantically shaking her head on the other line. "Absolutely not!".

It bothered me slightly at the thought that mum thought I was too irresponsible to spend even one day away from home. Sure, I could be a little impulsive when my ego was low enough to admit it, but that doesn't change the fact that I can be mature when needed. It was just Steven and I at a motel, what did she think was going to happen?

Steven suddenly took my phone away from my ear and began talking to my mum himself.

"Hello, (Y/N)'s mum! This is Steven Universe speaking!", he rhapsodized as enthusiastically as he could. "....I know you already said no, but we promise to look after her....We were heading to Keystone....No, my dad will be there with us....I'm not sure what that means ma'am but I can assure you we won't!".

Steven sent me a conceited smile with the playful charm which he seemed to have just now inherited. Normally he would get a punch to the arm for that, but because my mum was on the phone, I decided to instead subtly roll my eyes at him. He nodded at almost every word my mum said to him, explaining to her how it would only be for one night and that Greg would keep an eye on us.