One-Shots | Steven Universe: Past

Gemma Corrupta

"Centiii~"

        Steven called out to the Gem as he swung through the door. It had been a close call since Centipeetle's bodily scrimmage. Upon finding her crew (which a very tense Pearl had promptly poofed) the corrupted Gem's physical disturbance had somewhat calmed — at the very least, Steven had thought, she didn't seem to be in pain anymore. Unfortunately her memory lapses continued, but he was grateful that she always seemed to remember him.

        He stood and surveyed the open-plan room. He couldn't see her anywhere. . . but one of the cupboard doors hung open, and he could hear a crinkling sound coming from his loft.

        "Centiii, where are you?"

        He dropped his bag by the door and ventured up the stairs to find her sitting in front of the TV, captivated by the menu sequence to a game he had recently put in. She was clutching a microwaveable bag of popcorn and chewing intently at the packaging.

        "Hey!" he waved to her despite the fact that her back was turned to him.

        She tensed a little at hearing his voice, but upon turning, she gave a friendly little squawk. He ambled up and sat beside her.

        "Whatcha doin'?"

        She looked down at the bag in her hands, squeezing and crinkling it a little, and back up at the TV. She blinked and let herself fall forward, beak clinking against the screen.

        "Uhh. . . would you like me to cook those for you?" he asked, setting a hand on the bag. She turned her head, cheek now pressed to the television, and gave a little chirrup. Steven took this as an affirmative and gently pried the bag from her hands, hopping up and hurrying down the stairs.

        A few minutes later he came back up with the inflated packet and handed it back to her. Only then did Centipeetle lean back and focus, squeezing the packet again. Bad idea. The thing gave a loud bang! and she shrieked, flinging it off the loft.

        "Oh— sorry Centi," Steven said apologetically, leaning over to search for the bag. "I should have opened that for you."

        Again he stood and went down the stairs to fetch the popped corn and returned to sit beside her. She shifted over a little, wary eye on the bag in his hands.

        "It's okay. Look." He reached in and grabbed a handful of popcorn which he promptly shoved into his mouth. "See?" he mumbled through the food. "It's good!"

        Still Centipeetle didn't make a move. Swallowing, Steven picked out some kernels for her and held them out. She examined them for a moment, looking confused, and finally chose one to pop into her mouth (beak?).

        On the first muted crunch she shook her head and spat it out. Steven watched disappointedly as the chewed kernel flew through the air. "I guess you prefer Chaaaaps, huh?"

        She seemed to perk up at that, staring at him intently, almost encouragingly. He gave a good-natured sigh and went down to the kitchen. A minute later he was back again, a little out of breath, Chaaaaps in hand. Centipeetle squeaked excitedly and waved her arms, reaching out. Steven was careful to open the bag before he gave it to her this time.

        The Gem happily chowed down on the chips, giving happy gurgles as she returned to watching the TV. Steven stood for a moment, thinking, and then sat, taking one of the controllers into his hands.

        "Would you like to watch me play?" he asked, flicking the cursor.

        Centipeetle's eyes followed the winking icon excitedly, and she gurgled to him in agreement. He chose his current chapter and began to play.

        After a few minutes, the Gem was tapping in the screen, following his avatar, trying to poke it, block it, pick it up. Her eye flicked to the controller in Steven's hands, and then to the dormant one of the floor in front of her, and picked it up. Her thumb easily circled the joystick and the chirruped.

        "You wanna play too?" Steven put down his own controller and leaned forward, plugging something into the television. "Might help to have it connected, first."

        And soon there were two avatars onscreen, moving and jumping about. While Centipeetle's character was aimless, running in circles, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

        "Steveeen!"

        Downstairs the door latch clicked and Steven turned to see Connie in her tennis clothes. He waved to her. "Hey! How was tennis?"

        She dropped her own bag next to his and began the hike up the stairs. "I won two sets!"

        "That's great!" he paused. "How many sets are there?"

        "Three. Six games in each set." Connie stopped at the top of the stairs, gaze landing on Centipeetle. "Uh. . . who's that?"

        "This is Centi! She's a corrupted Gem."

        Centipeetle turned and squawked, player still running onscreen.

        "Oh!" Connie's eyes shone. "I didn't know corrupted Gems could play video games! . . . But, uh, aren't they usually . . . aggressive?"

        "Not Centi!" Steven declared happily, giving her gem a quick kiss. It immediately began to shimmer, and he gasped.

        "Are you healing her?" Connie sounded excited.

        "Yeah! Uh, maybe. . . it hasn't always worked."

        Centipeetle began to paw at her eye-gem, and the shimmer travelled onto her hands and down her arms. Soon her whole body was sparkling.

        Steven jumped to his feet and grabbed his best friend by the arm. "It's never gotten this far before!"

        In a flash, the Gem's form was completely whited out, and then it began to shift. Slimmer, a little taller, a little more humanoid. . .

        Until the glow dissipated, and a confused, one-eyed Gem stared back at them.

        Steven's and Connie's eyes sparkled in wonder.

        The Gem looked around nervously. She didn't seem to know where she was.

        "Hey, Centi!" Steven said softly. His smile was so big it was beginning to hurt.

        The Gem only gazed at him, silent.

        Connie decided to take a gentler approach. "Hey. . . you're safe. I'm Connie, and this is Steven." She spoke slowly, enunciating her words. "Can you tell us your name?"

        The Gem was silent for a few moments.

        "Nephrite," she finally said. Her voice was soft but clear. "Facet-413, Cabochon-12."

        "It's nice to meet you, Nephrite," Connie smiled. "Welcome to Earth!"

PROMPT: "Centipeetle x Steven, please dont use design in recent episodes. Well, could you possibly do a T rated romance between the two. He cures her by kissing her." — for a Guest on Fanfiction.net! I'm sorry, friendship was the furthest I could go with these two. xx I'm so sorry it took foreverrrr... Hope you enjoyed! :)