(Alternate) Steven Universe x Corrupt gem reader Insert

part 45: too close for comfort

After some time, you all finally land, and you let out an abrupt sigh of relief, at finally feeling solid ground, as well as the cool grass beneath your paws and hooves. Finally... felt like ages since I've felt this.

As soon as you were grounded, almost immediately, spinel flopped onto your back, heaving a tired sigh as she released you from her hold, sluggishly retracting her arms back to original length. "Phew! Oh gosh..." he groaned into your fur tiredly. "That... that was... really close." You turned your head to look at her, feeling a jolt of concern. "Spinel okay?" you asked, shrugging your shoulder to jostle her lightly. She nodded, her eyes shut. "Y-yeah." she assured, sounding like she was out of breath. "Don't worry, I'm okay..." you hummed softly, frowning in concern. Now as far as you knew she's only done this about two times. You could almost will yourself to believe she wasn't used to it yet, but she's carried more weight than this; you saw it all when you all escaped the ocean's tidal wave when she managed to carry not only you, but 3 more gems, 2 and a half humans as well as a whole van on the first go... So, naturally, this display had you both concerned but confused. How did this ordeal leave her so knackered?? You then thought for a moment. ...Maybe it was because she was a bit more stressed during this whole fiasco. You thought looking up at the residual cloud that still hung in the air. We did come seconds away from exploding... and that's more worrisome than water on our part. Gems can recover from water. exploding is a different story. Yeah. that's probably what wore on her... poor thing. You nudged her head gently. "Spinel did good." You praised softly, nudging her deeper into your thick back fur. "Spinel rest now... (name) wake spinel up when need to." You pressed your muzzle into her head, urging her into you back, to which she mutters something and shuffles a bit to get more comfortable, after which she sighs and shuts her eyes. You smiled and purred in satisfaction of the display. That's one down... now...

You look up, smiling in relief as you saw steven dusting himself off, as pearl had walked off, to deal with greg and his panicked fury on her. After completeing his self inspection, steven looked up at you and waved at you cheerily. Sweet little Steven.. You purred in relief as you quickly trotted over to him, immediately sniffing and licking his hair, making him giggle and try to push you off. "I'm okay, (name), I'm okay!" You ignored him however, and continued on to do your own inspection, sniffing and pressing your muzzle into his back, belly and sides, making complete sure there wasn't so much as a nick in his delicate skin. Once you were sure he was completely unharmed, you huffed, wrapping a large paw around his back and pressed your cheek into his face. "(Name) so happy steven is unhurt." you muttered, sounding almost tired. Steven must have heard that genuine relief because he embraced your face into a hug, to give some comfort you. "Really... I'm okay." You looked down at his small frame with a grumble, a dash of skepticism barely visible in your eyes. Yeah. And I'm a cow. You cast a brief glance over to pearl and greg, who were still bickering about the faulty ship ordeal, narrowing your eyes at the two before looking back down at steven, lips pursed in contemplation. "(name)?"

Without saying anything, you knelt down and take hold of the back of his shirt, and hoisted him off his feet, making him yelp in surprise which caught the older duo's attention.

"(Name)?" you don't look at the pale gem, and instead, start heading in the direction of the beach house. "Going back to temple now." you simply say, giving a shrug of your shoulder to adjust spinel's position on your back. "For breakfast and then rest." Your tone was matter-of-fact and stern, which made the duo exchange glances with raised eyebrows. "See pearl and greg later." You then lumber off to the direction of the beach, barely hearing pearl reply with a hurried "O-Okay then, see you three at the beach house!" And greg with a; "Be careful!" You snorted gruffly to yourself, rolling your eyes. Oh please... you thought grimly.

I'm more careful then you are...

You strolled your way down the dirt path at a mildly quick pace, occasionally grunting and snorting every few steps as you focused on trying to get your two friends far out of harm's way. Your tension must have worried steven, because he started to nervously fiddle with his hands and try to look up at you without falling out of his shirt. "Are... you okay, (name)..?" His voice was small, as if he was caught doing something wrong. You didn't say anything for a moment, just silently replaying the events of today in your head, which made your lip twitch in a burst of anxiety. "(Name) was very worried about her friends, is all." You said carefully through the mouthful of cloth as you shrugged and shook yourself gently, to readjust spinel's position and sniffed. "Friends came too close to exploding from pearl's faulty space attempt." Steven frowned, looking down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs, like he was the one at fault. "I'm... sorry about that." You grunted, shaking your head in a mild moment of irritation. "Steven has nothing to apologize for." You grumbled, your voice sounding older than usual. "Steven didn't expect pearl to pull such a stunt..."

After that reply, more silence came over you as steven just looked down, not knowing how to respond to your words. To pass the time and possibly distract himself, he took his sandals off and absentmindedly started to bend one of them and tamper with the strap, in an attempt to entertain himself, to try and ignore his anxiousness. During this time, your eyes narrowed in anxiousness.

How safe... is this kid...?
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It appears that certain instincts are starting to kick in... 🤔