[OUTDATED] ☆The Caged Bird☆ Steven Universe x Siren reader

part 35: suspicious

"--And wouldn't you know it? The fifth season turned out to be complete and utter trash!"

Peridot finished with an angry gesture of her hands as she walked along the gem village's path, as you diligently listened. Turns out, there was a lot more to Camp Pining Hearts than you realized. You weren't even aware of the reboot it had. And from the sound of it, it wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Everything that was great about the show was thrown out! The characters, the cinematography, RODRIGO!" Peridot spat the name, like it was poison. "They've warped it all beyond recognition!"

"Wow. That sounds terrible." You noted with a sympathetic frown. "To completely overwrite a character's personality sounds ludicrous. Why couldn't they leave things how they were?"

"Exactly! What a bunch of clods!" Peridot ranted a bit loudly which caused a few gems to turn their heads. "Ugh, me and Steven wanted to fix it, but--"

"Hey, uh, guys??"

Lapis suddenly flew up from behind you both, and landed in front of you with an audible thud in the dirt. She still had the hotdog duffle bag drapped over her shoulder, and the paper in her hands, but what caught Peridot's attention was her poorly masked look of concern.

"Uhm... hey, (Name), Wanna go see Vidalia?" She asked, not giving you a chance to answer as she suddenly picked you up beneath your underarms, causing you to yelp and flutter your wings from the abruptness of the grab and took flight.

Peridot flinched at how quick Lapis moved. She looked uncomfortable. Unnerved, even. "Lapis? Is there something-?"

"We'll uh... talk when we get to Little Homeschool." Lapis flashed a skittish smile to the green gem before taking off deeper into Little Homeworld, barely giving Peridot any time to properly react.

"Wh- H-Hey! Wait for me!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After landing somewhere in the middle of Little Homeschool, Lapis takes a moment to look around.

You squirmed a little in her grip, looking up at the blue gem with bewildered worry. "Lapis, what is the--?!"

"Uh, look! It's Vidalia!"

She was quick to cut you off and point to the art teacher as she set you down. Fortunately for Lapis, her voice was loud enough to catch the art teacher's attention, as she turned at the sound of her name over the soft clamoring of gem students. Once she saw you, her face lit up and she gave a joyous wave. "Heey, little buddy!"

"Ah- Ms. Vidalia!" You exclaimed excitedly, as you raced over to her class, earning a lot of cheerful greetings and head pats from her gem students.

Lapis watched as you mingled with the students with a small smile, before glancing back down at the paper in her hands again, skimming through the contents and frowning again.

"Lapis!"

Lapis snapped her head up, just in time to see Peridot run up to her as fast as her small legs could take her. Once she was close enough, the green gem took a moment to gather herself, letting out a small huff before looking at the water gem incredulously.

"Lapis! Why did you take off like that? Did something happen?"

"Just take a look at this."

She abruptly shoved the paper into Peridot's face, making the green gem flinch back as the paper hit her visor. Grumbling to herself, she took the paper from Lazuli's hands and started to skim over the words on the paper.

"...This doesn't seem so bad." She noted, lifting her brow. "...give them treats when they listen to you... but scold them if they don't..." She scrunched her face for a moment. "Granted, such a technique is quite outdated, especially on a creature like Siren Universe, it's still a solid method to--"

"No, it's not that..." Lapis urged, wringing her hands. "Just... read the dos and don'ts."

Peridot raised her brow, but continued to read on.

Don't let them near small animals. They're still learning self-control.

Don't let them out of your sight. They tend to wander a lot and might get into trouble.

Don't let them address you as milord or milady. They must learn to use proper grammar.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, growing more and more uncomfortable with each word.

Don't let them eat raw meat. It's not healthy or sanitary.

Don't let them talk about hunting. They don't need to hunt, they're not a wild animal anymore.

Don't spoil them; only give them treats and praise when they listen to you.

"...DON'T LET THEM NEAR THE OCEAN!?" She exclaimed the last rule, staring incredulously at the list. "But that's basically part of a siren's natural habitat!"

"Yeah..." Lapis winced, rubbing the back of her head. "You think that... Steven might be going overboard with the whole parenting thing...?"

"Hrmm... perhaps a little bit." Peridot grumbled, re-reading thr list again, contemplating the words. "I suppose he's just trying to keep Siren Universe's feral attributes in check, this seems a bit excessive..."

"Mhmn..." Lapis winced. Part of her wanted to believe that she was overthinking this. That this was just Steven being a bit overprotective of his new mythos "child." But she couldn't help but feel that there was something incredibly... off about it all.

She almost willed herself to believe this was an attempt to keep your feral tendencies at bay, but the look you had when Steven spoke to you struck a cord in her...

You looked so... small.

Submissive.

Scared.

"I... I don't know, Peridot." She said out loud, prompting Peridot to look at her quizzically. "I think it... kinda more than that."

"What do you mean?" Peridot raised her brow, as Lapis avoided eye contact.

"Well... it just... doesn't really seem like Steven to just... be so... restrictive with them, you know?" She crossed her arms, discreetly gripping herself. "It seems... kinda sketchy, ya know? Didn't you see how they looked, when...?"

Peridot scoffed. "Lapis, don't be silly! This is Steven Universe we're talking about! He'd never hurt a fly!" Peridot assured, handing the list back to Lapis. "Most young creatures display submission in the face of authority, but I'm sure one Little Universe matures, he'll let up!"

Lapis frowns, looking down at the list back in her hands.

Maybe Peridot was right. Lapis thought, reading through the list. This was Steven Universe. Her first friend that not only freed her, but all of gemkind from the tyranny of the diamonds. He was Earth's as well as Homeworld's salvation.

She wanted to believe that this was a phase. She truly did.

But the way you shrank under his stare was too prominent for her to ignore...

She then looked back up at the crowd of students around you, her face hardening in a sudden sense of resolve.

I'll have to look into this.