Into the future

Jasper and the cactus

Your POV

"Hey Steven!" you call, and he looks at you from the kitchen. "Yeah?" he asks back, and you walk to the door. "Ima explore some!" you say, "But the daily advice for today is that you don't need to vent to someone. If you really need to, write a diary or talk to me, okay?" he nodded, and you left.

You left, knowing that Steven would probably make cactus Steven anyway. That was just the way things worked around here. You walked into the forest, hoping you could get to Jasper to say hello. That 'hello' was a punch to the face, but you didn't mention anything.

When you see a rock, you dodge it, and Jasper walks up to you. "What is a puny-" she started, but you had elbowed her in the stomach before she could say more. "I would love to destroy you right now, because I know your weaknesses, but instead, I'm going to offer you to be my friend." you growled.

"What is up with everyone wanting to be my friend??" she complains, and you pick her up with one hand and hold her by the collar. You say, "And by the way, I'm not puny." you toss her away from you a bit, and she smirks. "Heh, you're pretty good. Want a fight?" and you scowl, "No matter how much of a fight I want to give you, I'm going to say no for now."

She gives you and eyeroll, and you offer your hand. She gladly takes it. "So, what makes you hate me so much?" she asked, and you think for a moment. The truth was you didn't hate her. You hated the fact that she treated Steven like trash. That was pretty much it.

"You act all high and mighty to everyone." you say, "It's gets annoying, and it's not even insulting. It's like when someone says they're better than you, but you weren't trying." She gives you a confused look. "When calling me names has little to no effect on me, and I know what you're going to do, before you do it." you summarized, and she nodded.

"So basically, you're threatening me?" she asks, and you nod in confusion. "Great! Let's fight!" and you sigh, "Okay, but remember, I'm human. You could actually shatter me, okay?" she nods, getting into fighting stance, and you do the same.

She runs at you, sending a punch your way. You manage to move, and you push her with the momentum she had already gained to push her into a few trees. "That's more like it!" she chuckles, and the fight goes on for an hour.

When it's over, Jasper was laying on the ground, not defeated, but tired. You hadn't broken out a sweat. "How was the warm-up?" you ask, clearly forgetting it was a full-on fight. "Wh-?" she responded.  "I understand, you need to regain strength." you say, "I'll wait over here." and you walked over to some unused rocks.

You had never felt this good before. It felt as though you had the energy of a thousand suns coursing through your veins. (I have heard that somewhere, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was a reference to something.) It took an hour, but Jasper recovered. "How in the earth did you think that was a warm-up you punk?" she had screeched. You didn't flinch, but you did send her smug looks. "Maybe I'm just better." you say, and you could see steam coming out of her ears (she technically doesn't have a nose!).

"No way!" she yelled, "Go again!" 

once again, the same thing happened. She managed to plow out an area in the forest from the fight, and you deemed it as your territory once you won. It was just as homey as Jasper's, and you left for a few minutes to get camping supplies.

When you were done fixing up the place, it looked like a gorgeous campsite. You offered to let Jasper come there whenever you were, and she agreed. You became great friends. "Who knew you could bond over fighting?" you think aloud. "I did." Jasper said proudly, and you scoffed. "No, you didn't."

It was noon when you returned. You ended up seeing a Steven with a cactus rose in his hand. He was covered in thorns. "Did you take my advice?" you ask, and he sighs, "No." you laugh. "That's that you get!" you say, pointing to him, "I ended up spending the day with someone who hates you!!" he gave you a confused look. You were really happy, and you were laughing. Probably at him, he had guessed.

He groaned, "You were right, I get it. Now who hates me?" you rolled your eyes. "Guess." and he thought for a moment. "Bluebird?" and you screech, "NO! JASPER YOU LITTLE-" and he just looked at you. "I'll get to see Jasper again?" he asks, and you don't reply, remembering the fight.

"I can't say." you spoke, clearly making the whole situation really uncomfortable. "You should get those off you." you point out, and he looks down at himself. "I really do." he says, and you both laugh. "Here- let me help you with that." you say, and you start to pick out little barbs of cactus. 

He could kiss each scratch, and eventually, he went into the bathroom to do it himself (his feet and neck). You had only helped his with his face, arms, and hands. All the other needles seemed to be on his clothing and not really him. 

When he came out, he realized how beat up you were. "Did Jasper hurt you?" he asks, and you shake your head. "We had two fights, and I won both." you say proudly as he kissed a scratch on your hand. Then, the bruse on your cheek. You blushed when you realized how close you were. He was practically on top of you. 

He didn't seem to realize, kissing a cut under your (right) eye. You just sat there, unmoving until he was satisfied with his (healing) care.

~TimeskipSteven!!~

"So- I did make a cactus version of myself and told it all of my secrets." he laughs, and you groan, "If you needed me, you could've texted!" he shrugs, "I know, but you seem to have a lot on your plate already. Adding me to the list isn't a good thing."

You say, "But that's the whole reason I'm here! You weren't supposed to get attached to me!" You and him playfully bickered for a few minutes, before deciding it was getting late.