🌟 The Caged Bird 🌟 [Rebooted Reader Insert]

part 14: needed again

"Goodness, Look at these holes. (Name) was lucky those things only got their back." Pearl murmured out loud as she patched up the peck holes of your red onesie. "I don't remember seagulls being this aggressive... I'd think they'd at least recognize little (Name) as a humanoid infant at least!"

"I mean, I've seen em swallow a whole rabbit, rat and squirrel before..." Ameythyst idled, skimming through random things on a phone. "Maybe they're evolving."

"Where did you even--?" Pearl cut herself off, and grunted in disturbance. "The things that people post..." She grumbled, shaking her head. "Nevertheless, we just should be thankful that the damage wasn't too severe..."

Steven quietly sat at the kitchen table, gently rocking you who was swaddled up loosely in warm blankets, bottle-feeding you milk laced with fountain water. He had a troubled look etched into his face as he listened to the gems converse with each other.

Guilt churned in his stomach; this was your first time he's taken you outside, and after only minutes, or an hour, you get mauled by a flock of seagulls.

You only hatched around two days ago, and already, you almost perished.

Because he wasn't paying attention.

"It... it's my fault." He uttered shamefully. "I... should've kept a closer eye on them."

"I don't think you could have known that would happen." Garnet assured him calmly, setting a hand on his shoulder. "It's not often that you hear about seagull attacks this vicious."

"I-I know... but still..." He sighs, pulling the bottle out of your mouth, and replacing it with a baby blue pacifier. "I shouldn't have let them out of my sight like that..." He shakes his head, looking out at the shore through his screen door, rocking you gently as he glared faintly at the few seagulls that flew by. "That was too close of a call..."

A moment of silence comes over you all as Steven just looks down at for an extended period of time, while you yawned, shifting your weight in his arms to make yourself more comfortable.

"Well... I mean, it could've been a lot worse.." Amethyst tries to reassure him, looking up from the phone at him. "Least they still have all their body parts..."

Pearl gives Amethyst a look, but she sighed, shaking her head in a dismissive manner. "Well... She's right... for the most part. Aside from a few scars, they're young enough to recover from this experience."

Steven's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly, feeling a dull heaviness in his chest at the statement.

Even if you were young, it's not like something of this nature can be easily forgotten...

Garnet lightly caressed your head, making you smile, lightly purring as you leaned into her touch. "We just need to be more careful with them while they're this small."

"Y-Yeah..." He muttered to himself, fighting a strange urge to lean away from Garnet and hold you closer to him. "I-I'll be more careful..."

"But once they get older, we'll definitely have to teach them self-defense." Garnet stated, crossing her arms. "We can't have something worse happen to them."

Steven shuffled slightly in a bout of discomfort at the aspect of you facing an ordeal like this again. "...I-I guess..." His voice was nearly inaudible, sounding like he was saying it more to himself than anyone else. "But, I don't think that--"

"Hey, maybe we can see what powers hybrid sirens can have!" Amethyst perked up, excited at the idea. "If seagulls are evolving, maybe sirens are!"

"I highly doubt seagulls are evolving. If anything, they're devolving." Pearl said with a roll of her eyes. "Although, we haven't had any experiences with mythological creatures in general... if sirens are able to crossbreed, then what powers could they have developed besides hypnotic singing?"

"I bet they're gonna be something cool!" Amethyst smiled optimistically. "Hey, if they're part fish, then they've gotta have water powers, right?"

Pearl hummed, sounding uncomfortable. "If that's the case, we should contact Lapis to teach them on water control. We can't have them throwing water around all willy-nilly."

As Amethyst snickered at the idea, Steven winced, as he found himself feeling increasingly uneasy with the conversation. While part of him knew they were right about self-defense, the mention of powers made him feel oddly tense.

"I don't think we should worry about all of that now..." Steven suddenly blurted, prompting the Garnet and Amethyst to look at him quizzically.

He smiles to himself, as he holds you closer to him. "Let's just... focus on taking care of them now. We'll worry about the powers and the combat stuff later." He said softly.

"Of course we will." Garnet said after a pause. "We still have plenty of time before we get to that point."

"Well, it still wouldn't hurt to try and figure out before their powers come in..." Pearl advised as she finished mending your onesie. "Just so we can be prepared."

"Y-Yeah, I'll... I'll be sure to look into that..." Steven assured, keeping his eyes on you, as you drifted into a semi-deep power nap.

~~~~~~~[Later on that night]~~~~~~~

After putting you back into your red onsie and ensuring you fed one last time, he laid you in your bassinet, smiling as you stretched out all of your limbs, letting out a long, squeaky yawn.

"Heh... yeah, me too, bud." Steven mused, pulling the blanket up over you slightly before stretching his arms over his head, letting out a yawn of his own. "Today was pretty crazy..."

His smile faded, recalling the events that happened, as he started to prepare for bed. "I still can't believe I let you slip away like that..."

He shakes his head, looking for a pair of pajamas to wear. "Those gulls really had the jump on you..." He directed his gaze to the sliding glass door with the faintest grimace on his face. "I should've known something would've happened with you all on your own..." A moment of silence comes over you as steven just looks outside for an extended period of time, contemplating. He then looked down at you. "You're just so..."

Helpless.

Powerless.

Defenseless.

"Small..."

Steven's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly in contemplation. "...Too small to be on your own." His voice was nearly inaudible, sounding like he was saying it more to himself than you.

And you were. If seagulls were able to mistake you for prey, he could only imagine what other animals can assume you were prey.

Not to mention other humans and Gems catching sight of you... they could mistake you for a threat or worse...

"I.... don't think... you should be left by yourself anymore." He suddenly stated out loud, prompting you to look up at him. "I need to keep a closer eye you, so you could be safe..."

There was a pause as he held your gaze. "...so now, you won't be going outside anymore. At least... not without me there. Okay?"

You simply yawned in response, curling in on yourself and shutting your eyes.

Steven chuckled, pulling the blanket up over your shoulder. "I'll take that as a yes."