Steven Universe: Return of Cinnabar

The Date: Part 3

"Daaaad," Steven whined in embarrassment. Greg chuckled.

"Sorry sport. Sometimes I just forget how old you are." Greg placed his spare hand on Steven's shoulder. "Spontaneous growth spurts sort of messes with my sense of time."

Steven and Greg broke into laughter as Greg continued combing Steven's hair back.

"I ever tell you about the first time I went out with your mother?" Greg said nonchalantly. Steven shook his head.

"I don't think so," Steven said, looking back. Greg straightened Steven's head before continuing.

"Well, I took her to Fish Stew Pizza and Kofi accidently dropped a soda on me. I thought I basically had struck out at that point, but Rose thought it was so funny, she dumped her own drink on herself."

"Hehe," Steven chuckled. Sarcastically, he said, "I guess it went well then?"

"Worse than I hoped, better than I expected," Greg said giving Steven a playful shove. "Let's just say you try to give that lucky girl a better time than I did Rose. Or lucky guy, ya know."

"It's a she, dad," Steven said with a laugh. Greg placed down the brush and put his hands on Steven's shoulder. He looked at him through the mirror.

"Whoever it is, have a good time. And don't worry if things go south." Greg's eyes met with Steven's in the mirror as the two smiled. Greg was unsuccessful at taming Steven's hair, leaving it in a slightly neater curly mess.

"Thanks, dad," Steven said, stepping away from the mirror. Greg grinned.

"You're welcome. Now, go get 'em, tiger."

Steven stood at the southern corner of Beach City, on the road next to the Big Donut. He was visibly anxious, waiting for Peridot to turn the corner of the cliff. He wanted to make a good impression. This was their first real date after all. But after a few minutes of complete silence, he began to grow bored.

Steven's mind drifted as he looked off into the distance. But rather than wandering to old favourites like Dogcopter or even Unfamiliar Familiar, he only had one topic on his mind: Peridot. Steven closed his eyes as his cheeks lit up with a warm blush. He pictured her coming down the beach side, skipping towards him. There was an elated grin on her face and her arms were outstretched. She was adorable. Her smile, her size, her everything. She was just so...

Cute!

Steven opened his eyes as he felt his hands become warm again. This wasn't going to work. In panic, Steven whipped his arms around in an attempt to cool them down. Moments later, however, Peridot came around the cliff face. Steven hid his hand behind his back. Hopefully, it'd cool in a bit. Steven began running to Peridot.

"Peridot!" He called, catching the attention of the green Gem. Peridot looked up and gained a small smile. The two met in the center of the beach. Steven lifted her up in a hug and spun her around. They laughed for a moment before Steven let her down.

"You look good," he said, noting the lack of splits in her hair. Peridot nervously scratched the side of her neck.

"Thanks," she replied, blushing. Her hand fell to her side. "So, what exactly do humans do on these 'dates?'"

"Well, I thought we could grab something to eat first." Steven pointed over to the store behind them. "I know you don't like donuts, but I wanted you to try something. You know, if you're okay with that."

"Pff, please. I can handle anything," Peridot said, rolling her eyes.

"Awesome!" Steven cheered. He offered out his hand. "I'm really excited for this, Peridot. Let's go."