What I could've been - A version of your muse from a dimension where they never left their original dimension until later on comes to the clutter dimension
This thread will possibly have some triggering details, especially in the Alternate's backstory.
If you want to respond but don't want to experience triggers, please tell me and I will keep them very vague!
⭐
He is alone, has been for a while. He can't remember how long it's been since Pink had last visited, and after Connie had helped him, she'd been—
He shudders, shaking his head to clear his mind of the images dancing behind his eyes. The Zoo is dark, it's artificial night blanketing his small world in darkness, fake grass and trees appearing blue.
The shadows were moving— swirling and growing and twisting, beautiful in their movement and somehow disgustingly unnatural all at once. He doesn't know what to do, this has never happened before, and a strangled cry for help rips from his throat as the blackness reaches for him.
He turns to run and trips, gravity taking hold of him. There's a flash of magenta, and a glowing hand reaches for him, rare panic lighting across Pink's face as they reach for him.
The solidness of touch around his wrists is all he feels before getting pulled backwards, like the darkness is a black hole, and a sudden change in pressure makes his ears pop and sinuses clear and the sudden rush of blood to his head makes him black out.
————
🌺
They can feel the air whistling past their ears, filling them with the sure certainty that if they don't do something to slow down, the life of their precious counterpart will be snuffed like flame from a candle, easier than when White herself had taken to dirtying her pristine nails and destroying yet another precious thing—
Point was, if they didn't do something, Steven would die. The problem here was that their powers had been... Damaged, to say the least, and even if they could dredge up some positivity, it was doubtful that they could slow their descent.
A couple precious seconds of trying to think happy thoughts lost, the darkness had begun to look brighter, as if they'd been in a tunnel and were reaching the end. Well. Nothing to do now but to attempt to take the brunt of the hit, right?
Their musing gives way to grim determination as ground becomes visible, and they scan their surroundings. There— a beach! They should have enough time to at least aim for the sand, instead of landing in water and hoping Steven woke up from the shock and pulled himself ashore...
A quick maneuvering of bodies later, there was only a couple thousand feet from impact, so they had approximately 15 seconds to make any last-minute calculations and try to keep Steven from fatal injury.
Taking a deep breath (though they had no lungs and didn't need to breathe), they whispered a quick prayer for success, and then there was a sickening crunch and a jolt of pain lanced through their body before the void took them in a blinding flash of light.
// @bright-steven @schtu-ball-universe @true-ghost-steeb @pink-pink-steven @blood-stained-steven @gem-diplomat-steven @betrayed-steven @broken-steven @pink-druzy @ anyone. Open RP!
Boba was just walking around, not noticing yet.
// Hey, uh-- I'm confused, do we pick who we're gonna encounter? ( No offense of course, just wondering- ^^' )
//I understand the confusion! But they're both together right now. "Pink" Is poofed and Steven is... Injured. But kinda awake.
⭐
Shapes and colors swirled in his mind, his eyes opening blearily. He winces as he catches a glimpse of the sun, before shutting them again. No thank you— his eyes are used to darkness, so staring at a flaming ball of gas hurts his eyes.
He huffs out a little groan, the throbbing in his head making him want to curl up into a ball and hide from the world.
// Oh! Alright, thank you for explaining!
Boba noticed Steven, and walked up to him.
" Umm... H-Hey, are you alright? "
She sort of tensed at the sight of his injuries, she then noticed Pink's gem. She hasn't met them before so she thought that they were new to the CD.
" Huh... Guessing you guys are new..? "
⭐
Steven blinked open his eyes and stared uncomprehendingly at her, before they widened and he scrambled backwards, face pale.
"What— where— I—"
His head twists around desperately searching for Pink. When he spots their gem on the sand, a muffled sob bubbles up in his chest and he grabs it possessively, wrapping their arms around it and himself in protection.
His gaze lands on the stranger once again, and he bristles. "H— Who- who are y-you?"
" O-Oh, right.. I'm Boba, nice to meet you. "
She smiled, kindly.
⭐
Steven warily sizes her up, and his frown deepens.
"Th-that's not a gem t-type..."
His voice is rough and scratchy from disuse, and he tenses, as though expecting a harsh word or swift slap in reprimand.
If you're honest he doesn't look so hot. His overly pale face has a tint of green, as if he were fighting down nausea, and the odd, almost tribal-like outfit does little to hide the jagged scarring on his body.
She nodded.
" Well, I'm a hybrid, actually. "
⭐
"A—?"
His eyes clear a bit of their defensiveness, and he glances down at Pink's gem in his arms as if he wants to talk to them. Instead, he stares at her and robotically mumbles out,
"That's impossible. Y-you. Can't be p-part gem. You can't... You're not allowed t-to..."
He shudders once more and a dull light pulses from the gem as though sensing Steven's distress.
" I'm not allowed to? What do you mean by that? "
⭐
He stares at her, looking awfully distressed by the conversation.
"You— I'm— it's, it's the r-rules? It can't... It can't happen, I'm— you're not, you're just, just a gem o-or a... L-lower lifeform, y-you can't be... Can't be both at once! You— you—!"
He gasps, moisture gathering in his eyes, and fights down sobs.
"You have t-to, separate, you have to r-rip her out, you— y-you'll be— you can't let— let a-anyone catch you,"
Stevens eyes have taken on a wild expression that's amplified by how dishevelled he is.
"P-please— please, they'll, they'll p-punish you a-and— and, and then m-me, I'm always— always putting i-ideas into their head... Please you can't... We'll all get h-hurt...!"
" U-Um... Please calm down! Nobody will hurt you... Don't worry, but I don't get how I'm supposed to separate from my gem.. "
She tensed.
⭐
He's shivering, now, and suddenly springs from being curled up on the ground to standing, tense, and glancing around himself with feverish, unfocused eyes.
"Y-you— if you can't, you— you have to hide, it it it's—! It'll be, it'll be really bad is sh-she sees you, you, you aren't— aren't, aren't owned b-by a diamond, i- I would know, you, you aren't—"
He shudders, a full-body motion that ripples on his skin, and he's suddenly looking much paler, if that's even possible with his grayish skin.
"She'll sh-sh-shatter— you're in, you're in danger!"
He wails, tugging on his hair and looking genuinely terrified.
She sighed, and pulled him into a hug.
" Look, I don't know if you noticed,, but this is not your world, your in the Clutter Dimension, so I think nobody will hurt you, or me. I get it if you still don't trust me, but I just want you to know that your safe.. "
She was 4'2 so, I think she was shorter than him? Depends on his height-
⭐
The moment that she touches him, he freezes.
His breath hitches and tears start dripping down his face in large, ugly blobs, but he doesn't move.
Noises turn into buzzing and his waist tingles with the feeling of contact, and he can't think and it's hard to breathe and his vision is swimming and if he moves he's going to be hurt—
🌺
All they felt was numb, cold void, and then a buzzing sensation of Steven, Steven was nearby and he wasn't happy, but he wasn't angry or sad or scared either, so maybe they could just go back to sleep a little longer because they felt like something was wrong with them—
But then they burned. Each square centimeter of their faceted surface bubbled with the intensity of the emotion, of the mindless terror—
And they had to get out, they had to protect, because Steven was precious and he needed to stay safe and he wasn't safe something was wrong wrong wrong wrong WRONG!
They screamed and howled and hissed, fighting to be let out of the confines of this bodyless state because they couldn't protect like this, they were useless like this—!
And their gem burst with panicked light, a broken and desperate shape appearing, malformed from the rush job. They were almost humanoid, almost like Steven, but they were melting and horrible and angry.
They tackle the threat to the sand, face twisted in a mockery of human emotion and animalistic rage, and it takes all their self control not to snap and attack the stranger. Instead, without turning, they talk to Steven in a monotone voice which is far cry from the viciousness that they're openly displaying.
"Steven. Are you injured."
Steven mutters a quick response, and whatever it was seems to have angered the pink look-alike even further, because they began to press down on her throat. However, Steven cries out and they loosen up the pressure, still watching the human (was it a human? They certainly took more damage than a gem) with predatory eyes.
"It wasn't— it wasn't her! She just- j-just, um. Hugged me, I got— got hurt from the f-fall..."
