Hi! Could I request a Steven (Steven Universe future) x reader, where he feels lonely and asks to come over to the reader’s place? Bonus points if they cuddle together and the reader comforts him 🥺
Of course honey! Thank you for the request, I love this prompt! I apologize if its late, work and school have been keeping me busy! Sorry if it's short!
A listening ear...
It had been a long week for Steven. He had been dealing with all sorts of things. Bluebird trying to hurt his dad, his gem powers acting up, Connie rejecting his proposal. He felt on edge, and he needed company outside of the crystal gems.
Who better to go to than you? His best friend, and brother figure! He remembers the first time you two met! He was 12, and you were 16. He was walking on the beach when he saw you, a tall teenager dressed in a grunge style. You were new to town, almost everyone recognized you as the new kid.
Steven was lured in, he was really curious about you! Who knew that one simple introduction would've lead to years of friendship and bonding.
He remembers all the times you stood up for him, protected him from corrupted gems, cared for him when he was sick. Yeah, he had the crystal gems to do that too, but it was different with you, you were pretty much his brother!
In fact, your the one he felt like he could unload his problems with. He remembers the first time he was overwhelmed with the things in his life. You comforted and listened to him for as long as he needed.
Safe to say he trusts you, and needed you now.
With all the recent things in his life, he needed your comfort. So, with shaky hands, he called you, nervous about your response.
When you pick up the phone, he smiles, still feeling a bit nervous.
"Hey (Name)...uh...could I come over? I just...i really need to talk to someone right now..."
He hears your chuckle on the other side of the phone, and that seems to ease his nerves.
"Of course you can Steven! You don't have to ask, I'm always there for you when you need me bubs."
He sighs with relief and informs you he'd be over in a few minutes. True to his words, he arrived at your house in a few minutes. The stressed 16 year old quickly hugs you, needing the comforting warmth of your embrace.
"Hey bubs...tough week huh? Wanna talk about it?"
You rub his back, hugging the youngster back. He briefly nods, and lets you sit him down on the couch. He watches as you put a blanket on him, make him his favorite snack, and provide him his favorite drink.
"Alright then, let's talk. What's wrong Steven?"
He takes a sip of his drink and rests his head on your shoulder.
"... Everything. Everything is wrong. I feel so overwhelmed, it's like I'm a kid again. I don't know if something is wrong with me, or, or if I'm doing something wrong. It just feels like I can't talk to anyone. I'm so used to letting others talk to me about their problems, that I've forgotten how to talk to them about my own problems."
You nod and frown, not because of his words, but out of empathy and pity.
"Nothing is wrong with you Steven, you're still a kid, and you've been through so much. It's okay to feel how you feel, and I understand how it feels like everyone doesn't understand what you're going through. And in a way... you're right. You're the first being to do the things you do, be a mix of a gem and a human. You've experienced things you shouldn't have had to experience at that age, and for that I'm sorry. But, despite all of that, you'll always have people who care about you. People who'll listen. I may not understand what you've been through, what you're experiencing, but I will always listen and try to help out."
Steven goes quiet, and he smiles softly, feeling a bit better. For the next few hours, you listened to him talk about his problems. You listened intently, and occasionally gave suggestions to help with the problems. Eventually, he fell asleep on you, and for the first time in a few weeks, he slept without having a dream....
i've never really submitted to a blog like this before, but seeing a confession come in from a steven kinda jostled me, emotionally… to any stevens who may be reading this, who are okay with who your mother ended up being and would like to hear it: i am so incredibly proud of you, wherever you may be in life, whatever you're up to… my heart is with you and i wish you all the best.
to my son, specifically, wherever you may be in the multiverse: i love you, and i miss you, even though that doesn't make much sense, does it? ah, but when did anything ever make sense with us? i had no idea giving you my gem would cause you to dream as me and stuff like that, i'm so sorry for the identity issues there… i'm so sorry for everything, actually. all the impulsivity, all the things i never told you or the others that i really should have, all the people i hurt that you had to deal with… i was irresponsible to the very end, huh? i really thought the earth was in the diamonds' rear-view mirror. i had no idea about the cluster, that they would ever come back… i thought i had done everything to make sure you'd have a safe and content life, but i was wrong. and you had to pay all the consequences of my mistakes. and i'm so sorry.
i love you so much. i can remember bits of things through your eyes— don't worry, i wasn't influencing you, you are steven! i was more like a ghost, that's all. and i am so incredibly proud of you for all the things you accomplished. you bridged gaps that i was too scared to face. and you shouldn't have had to. i recognize that. but i can also tell you how proud i am of you that you did. i wish i could have been there to protect you from everything. i'm not sure what became of you after the events of future, but i hope with my whole being you healed from everything and went on to have an amazing and beautiful life. a human life… that's what i wanted for you. you should have never had to deal with the problems of gemkind.
i hope your next life is easier. i doubt we'll ever meet again… but i hope we do. and even if you never see this, i hope you know that your mother from a past life is rooting for you.
Steve is laying on his bed wearing his pyjamas, his eyes droopy and his mind hazy with tiredness but still, he insists on texting his friends. A normal tuesday, it appears.
Until suddenly, a big blue ring light starts to shine out of nowhere in the middle of his room. Steve sits on the bed, eyes wide. Suddenly a person gets out from inside the light. A boy about his height, his big honey eyes hiding behind his dark hair that was covering almost all of his freckled face. He was wearing black pants, a white button up and a coat. He looked drenched but still, he looked very handsome.
Is Steve too sleep deprived? Is he dreaming? Is he imagining this? He doesn't know.
"Oh thank god, it's you" the boy holds Steve's shoulders and kisses his cheek quickly, dropping a little device on the bed beside him.
"Um. Hello? W-who are you?" Steve freezes, trying to understand what just happened. He's not imagining it then, since the kiss felt very real. He would've blushed if the situation wasn't really scary.
"What? It's me. I guess I might look a little different, I've been traveling around for a while. Ugh my clothes are gross. I'm just gonna change real quick, okay?" the guy rambles walking to Steve's closet and opening the door. He searches for something, getting all his clothes out of the way. Steve frowns. What the fuck is this dude doing?
"Did you move my stuff again?"
"I literally don't know what you're talking about." Steve slowly gets up and walks towards the door.
"C'mon Steve, stop messing around, they were right here" he half laughs and keeps searching. A shiver goes down Steve's spine. He knows his name. Is he a spy? An alien? Is he here to harm him? Steve grabs his bat carefully and places it on his neck.
"I'd appreciate if you stopped messing with my stuff and left. I don't know who you are and why you're here! Just leave me alone!" he says with a rough voice.
Eli turns to face Steve, ready to laugh and ask 'what is this, a prank?' but his smile drops as soon as he sees Steve with the bat and a serious expression.
"Steve, calm down! It's me, your best friend, Eli Pepperjack. Do you seriously not recognize me?"
"Wrong! My best friend is Jim Lake and everybody knows that. I've never seen you before in my life!"
Steve and Jim being best friends??? Something is definitely Not Right. Eli looks around in disbelief. Now that he notices, Steve looks... younger. The room looks different too. It's the same style, but the colors are all wrong. He peeks outside the window and the street is slightly different too. Oh my god.
Did he just travelled to a parallel universe? One that Steve doesn't know him? He knew the wormhole could do that, but only on command! How did it malfunctioned so badly??
Steve adjusts his hands on the bat, getting Eli out of his thoughts.
"Wait! Wait! I can explain! I can prove that I know you!"
Steve considers, still not moving from the position he's in. The boy seems scared but somehow his eyes are shining, inviting. Steve sighs.
"Ok. Go on." he raises an eyebrow, curiously.
"Your favorite color is blue. You favorite food is pancakes. You can't have spicy food. You had a crush on Claire Nunes"
"Those are really basic and you could easily be lying. Or spying on me! And everybody had a crush on Claire!" Steve shouts, losing his patience.
"Okay, look." Eli reaches for his back pocket, taking out his wallet and handing Steve a picture of them hugging and smiling, doing the Creepslayerz hand gesture to the camera.
"You like nerdy movies like Gun Robot and Earth Invaders in secret because you don't want people to know. You don't know basic math but that's alright because you're a really great actor and you're very good at sports. Sometimes you let your insecurities get to you and that's why you act like you're superior to everyone else. But you're actually a really nice person. You care a lot about people, so much that you saved my life a thousand times before. You're funny and brave and I love you for that" Eli blurted out without even thinking.
"Wow, okay, that's scary. How is all of this possible?" He puts the bat down and stares at the picture, not believing what he's seeing.
"It's possible because I was traveling through that thing" Eli points to the wormhole device on the bed. Steve reaches it and throws it his way.
"Thanks. It's a wormhole, it's extraterrestrial technology. I've been living in another planet but I try to visit as much as I can. It malfunctioned this time. I'm guessing I ended up in a parallel universe" Eli says matter of factly, clicking the device on his hand. A blue hologram appears in front of them. Steve doesn't recognize the language on it.
"Hold up, are you telling me I'm dating an alien?"
"I literally just told you I'm from another universe and you decided to focus on that?"
"Well yeah" he shrugged.
Eli sighed, smiling.
"No, I'm human. I'm Earth's ambassador on the planet Arkiridion-5."
"Ok but are we dating...?" Steve blushes at him.
"Yes. We are."
"Oh sweet! Point for the Palchuk!" He punched the air. Eli laughs through his nose, shaking his head but still focused on the device.
"Can I ask you some questions?"
"Yeah, go on"
"How did it happen... How did we even... do it?" Steven didn't know how to ask this, but as if he was reading his mind, the brown haired boy answered quickly.
"Well, when we started getting close people just assumed. But our families are okay with it, if that's what you're asking"
"Cool. Alright." Steve knew he was bi for a long time now. He was just afraid of telling his family and friends. What if they got disappointed? What if they couldn't love him? What if he was left behind?
"How will I know if they're like this here too?" Steve asked in a quiet voice after a few seconds of silence and just the bleeping of the device.
"I'm pretty sure they love you in every universe. I know I do." Eli sinceraly stated, not even looking up. Steve had a hard time believing someone cared about him and loved him enough to say something so soft like that. He looked at the picture on his hands again. They were sharing a smile so genuine, their eyes meeting in such a sweet way, like they meant the whole world to each other.
"And how did we meet?" he leaned on the closet, crossing his arms. Eli just kept clicking away.
"At school. We didn't like each other at first, but we figured it out" he exhaled. "Took a while, but we did."
"Why? What happened?"
Eli thought about the years his Steve used to be mean at him and shove him into lockers. It was sad, but he knew there was good in him. Maybe this Steve could do it differently.
"Just... be nice."
"I am nice!" Eli stopped what he was doing, raising an eyebrow on Steve's direction. "Alright, I'll be nicer."
"Good. What year is it?"
"2018"
"Woah, okay, I'm so far off." he clicked a few more times, the big blue ring light popping up in the middle of the room again.
"Wait, you're leaving already?"
"Yeah. My Steve is waiting for me at home."
"But I still have so many questions!"
"Don't worry, it's gonna be alright. Nice to meet you. I hope I see you soon." And with that, he disappeared with the light, leaving Steve alone in his room. He looks down to his hands, still holding the picture strongly. He smiles.
"I hope so too."
Steve didn't remember his name. He tried to think back but at the time he was panicking at the thought of "CUTE BOY IN MY ROOM!" and focusing too hard on the fact that said boy was from another universe. So of course his ADHD brain would forget his name.
But this didn't keep Steve from looking. He was never this excited to go to school before. He started paying more attention to his surroundings, hoping he would spot the mysterious boy somewhere.
Instead, he spotted a fight. "Just be nice" he thought. The older boys being mean to the smaller ones does seem like a good moment to be nice. Also, it was just not fair.
"Hey, why don't you pick someone your size?" Steve approached the bully, tapping him on the shoulder with his eyebrows pinched.
"Ugh. Why do you always have to ruin the party, Palchuk? You had potential but you insist on being on the wrong side" he tries to push Steve, asking for a fight. Steve scoffs and holds the boy's wrist.
"Just let them go. You know you can't win against me." The bully grunts and shakes his wrist from Steve's hold. He nods to his friends and they leave, muttering amongst themselves.
Steve turns to help the other boys out of the ground, offering a hand. The first boy refuses, getting up fast and running away. And that's when finally, Steve sees him. He looks smaller than the boy in his room, his hair is shorter and he was wearing nerdy glasses. But it was definitely him. He would recognize that smile and those eyes anywhere.
"Thanks. Steve, right?" the boy said, holding his hand and getting up. Steve was at a loss of words. He nodded, smiling.
"That was very nice of you. I'm Eli, by the way." he shook his hand. He was real and he was right here, holding hands with him. Ok, this is happening!
"Nice to meet you. That was no problem really, if you ever have any trouble with them again just tell me" Steve blunted out nervously, scratching his neck. Eli smiled, picking up his books and leaving.
"Again, Steve?" the teacher asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm starting to think you're not even trying. Go to detention!"
Steve sighs, walking with his head down in shame. But this time, when he enters the classroom he sees someone that make his eyes light up.
"Eli! Hi!" Steve sits on the table behind him, excited.
"Oh, hey Steve"
"What are you in here for?" he asks confused.
"I was breaking in. And you?" Eli says as if it's a normal occurrence.
"Woah what???"
"I was trying to study at the lab during recess."
"I didn't know that wasn't allowed"
"Well... I kinda was using their equipment to try and communicate with aliens... Which isn't allowed..." Eli says a little embarrassed.
"Oh" Steve laughs, finding the story very endearing. "So you like space, huh?"
"I do. Imagine if I got to do it. It would've been so cool!" he exclaims, and Steve has to hold back the urge to tell him about the parallel universe.
"It really would. Don't lose hope though" he winks at his direction.
Eli smiles and keeps working on his assignment.
"Y'know, I didn't expect you to be here. You're very... um... nerdy?" Steve admits after some minutes of silence.
"Oh so we're doing stereotypes? Alright, jock. Why are you here? Got into a fight?"
"What? No. I'm a nice person! I just didn't do my homework. Again."
"Because you didn't want to or...?" Eli asked confused, tilting his head. Steve had a genius idea. He felt like those cartoons when a little lamp lights up.
"I'm having a lot of trouble, actually. Are you any good with math?"
"Of course. Why?"
"What do you say you help me with homework and I help you by staying on look out when you're in the lab?"
Eli considered, as he heard the bell ring. He gathers his books and hands Steve a piece of paper before leaving.
"Sure. Text me later so we can talk about it"
"Sounds good" Steve smiled. If this went anything like he wanted to, he better start cleaning some space in his closet.
Magnus didn't look over at her, but he did pause his wood carving. It was three AM and Julia had been ninety percent sure that someone had been breaking into the shop after someone shuffling around had woken her up. About halfway down the stairs, Julia had remembered that Magnus lived here now. She was glad she had because seeing a big, hulking man huddled near the fireplace with a knife wasn't exactly comforting. It was a little better knowing Magnus was a giant softie, anyhow.
He didn't look good, though. Usually, Magnus had his shit together and acted halfway between asshole and being a golden retriever in a human body. Now, he looked... gross, for a lack of a better word. Sweaty. Anxious, maybe, if the gritted jaw and tense shoulders were anything to go by. He had a satchel sitting next to him.
"Couldn't sleep," he said. His lips twisted a bit, like when they did when he lied. Julia may not have a lot, but she had a very high passive perception. "Wanted to try carving again."
"Hm," Julia said, walking over. Magnus cringed. "So that's a lie."
"It's- it's not," Magnus lied more, looking over at her. She pulled a chair up towards the fireplace. Magnus was sitting on the floor. When she finally settled into the chair, he wasn't looking at her anymore. He was fiddling with the wooden carving. It was nearly a duck, but already much better looking than the things he had made with her dad.
"You're not gonna tell Steven, are you?" he asked.
"That you 'couldn't sleep'?" Julia asked. "No, dude, that's none of his business. And if it affects your work, then it's your problem, not mine." Magnus made a little noise. "I do wanna know why you're actually out here, though."
"Had a bad dream," Magnus said, much more truthfully. "Didn't wanna be in my room. Now I'm here."
"Ah," Julia said, not sure what to do with that information. Magnus was staring at his hands. Julia stared at the duck. "Is that a duck?"
"This?" Magnus asked, holding it up. "Yeah."
"Why?"
"Why?" he repeated, frowning. "I don't know."
"It's a lot-" she paused for a second, thinking of a way to phrase this nicely. "...neater than the stuff you do with my dad."
"Yeah?" Magnus said, looking from the duck to her. "You think so?"
"Yeah," she said. "You gonna finish it?"
"Uh-huh," he said. "I can make you one if you want. Look, I have-" he undid the latch on his satchel and pulled out a finished duck. And then another, and another. Until there were five finished ducks in front of him and one unfinished one in his hands. Julia blinked. "I've got some finished ones, but there's a little sloppy."
Indeed they were. The first duck looked incredibly ugly and she could only vaguely tell it was a duck. They got better as they went on, duck number five not only being recognized but a little detailed. Its little duck face, however, was very upsetting to look at.
"What's wrong with the middle one?" she asked and Magnus scoffed, picking up the duck and holding it up for her to see better. It was even more unsettling up close. It had three eyes and no bill.
"It's perfect," he said defensively, turning it as if to show off its good angle. Julia was pretty sure this duck had no good angle. The side she could see now was somehow burnt. Addressing the duck now, Magnus said, "you're perfect."
"You do have a stupid little face, don't you?" Julia said to the duck, lightly like it was a compliment. When she looked back at Magnus he looked deeply offended. But not as tense, or anxious. He cradled the duck to his chest.
"Don't listen to her," he told the duck. "She doesn't know what she's talking about."
"I'd love for you to make me one," Julia interrupted. "I'll pay you."
"Oh I don't- these are just for fun," Magnus said, blushing slightly. "I can just give you one when I'm done with it, like a gift? It's a gift."
"It's not a gift if I'm asking for it," Julia said. "I'll pay you."
"You don't have-"
"Ten gold?" she asked and Magnus's eyes widened. "Fifteen?"
Hi, so I came across Escapism from Steven Universe and this question came up "what if this was what Hange was thinking throughout s4 as commander that lead to her fate in ch 132?" (or at least, that's what she convinces herself to think). Especially when Hange would say "I'm tired."
AO3 link here
I guess I have to face
That in this awful place
I shouldn't show a trace
Of doubt
"I'm saying the next commander of the Survey Corps, will be you, Hange Zoe," Erwin announces.
Hange looked at him shocked and a bit unsure.
"Eh? Me? But I don't understand.....do I even have the qualifications to even lead a whole military branch? Is there anyone else you could've picked? Like Armin!" Hange says, feeling unsure if he made the right choice choosing her for this role.
Erwin shook his head and gave her a serious look.
"Hange, you are more than capable of taking on this role. You have a brilliant mind, the experience of leadership, you're calm under pressure, you trained with the Scouts the longest therefore our soldiers know and respect you. I have great faith and confidence you'll lead humanity to victory."
"Oi, Hange."
Hange snaps out of her thoughts and looks around her office to see Levi standing at the doorway, making his way towards her desk.
"Oh Levi hi. Sorry, I've been caught up with all this paperwork. It's a lot more work than being a mad titan scientist researcher," Hange says letting out an exhausted chuckle. Levi knows that look all too well, so he lets out sigh, went in front of where she was sitting and leaned back against her desk.
"When was the last time you slept? Or bathed? You smell like shit, not like that's new," Levi commented. Hange chuckled a bit at his usual sarcasm. "Good to know you're still your usual grumpy, clean freak self," she says as she lets out a sad smile but then returned to a frown when she felt the stress get to her.
"Hey Levi, do you think....maybe Erwin made a mistake? That maybe-"
Hange felt him grab onto her shoulders and looked into his eyes in shock.
"Listen here four eyes and listen well, if anyone can take Erwin's place it's you. I don't know who told you or if someone said anything, but the Scouts need you! Paradis needs you! We need you...." As Levi finished his little speech, he felt Hange face planting into his chest. He sighs and rub his hand over her greasy head.
A few minutes has passed and Hange wasn't saying anything. Levi was starting to get concerned.
"Oi, you better not be asleep!"
Hange grumbled a bit," but I feel so comfortable right now, just a few more minutes please."
Levi pushed Hange's shoulders back away from his chest, "tch, not with your hair all gross and filthy, go take a shower."
"But the paperwork-"
"Will still be there when you're done, plus you need a break."
Hange pouts but gives in, "fine." However, an idea sparked in her head as she got up, so she gave Levi a mischievous grin and he knew exactly what that meant.
Before she could say anything, Levi found a towel and threw at her.
"Don't even think about it!"
Hange bursted out laughing as she took the towel off her head and left. She didn't notice Levi softly smiling to himself when he heard her genuinely laugh for the first time in a while.
--
But pulled against the grain
I feel a little pain
With Eren grabbing her by the collar screaming if she has a plan, the whole island doubting her leadership, trying to figure out Eren and Zeke's true plan, Levi being away technically babysitting Zeke, and the sudden rise of the Yeagarists, it was all too much for her handle, not to mention, she’s still grieving over the loss of Moblie and Erwin, but here she is, locked up in a jail cell with the remaining 104th squad, Niccolo and Onyonkapon.
After hearing more about the Yeagar brothers' plan to enable the rumbling, she was furious! 'Are you fucking kidding me?! Mass genocide?!!!’
After all the sacrifices, all the countless lives risked just to keep him safe, it all leads up to this. She needs to get out of here and come up with a plan to stop this.
Luckily, she and everyone else were able to get out of jail, only for her to stumble upon a lying body in the grass, who happens to be Levi.
Panicked, she ran straight to him and felt his pulse, praying to God she’ll feel a pulse, but she did and allowed herself to relax a bit.
“I have no idea what happened, but we’re lucky, our number one threat here is all bloodied up,” Hange heard Floch said.
“Lets shoot him in the head!” a Yeagarist exclaimed.
“He’s dead,” Hange announces after hearing the Yeagarists wanting to kill Levi. ‘Like hell they’ll lay one finger on him.’
“He got caught in the explosion of a thunder-spear point blank range. I’ve seen similar accidents during training, but beyond external wounds. Internal organs would be ripped into shreds and death would be instant,” Hange tries her best to convince Floch, but he doesn’t buy it.
“I can also take his pulse. Let me check,” he says eyeing her suspiciously.
Hange looked at him in panic and had to think quick. She spotted the river next to her and quickly dove in.
That I would rather do without
She emerges from the water with Levi in her arms. She laid him down and began the CPR procedures.
“Come on Levi! Don’t die on me please!” She screams as she continues giving him CPR. Tears were falling down her face and when she felt hopeless, Levi started coughing up water and Hange flipped him to his side as he catches his breath.
When he was able to breathe a little bit easier, Hange wraps her arms around his neck and starts bawling her eyes out. “Thank god you’re alive!”
Levi turned to look at her, caressing her hair as he laid back on the ground to allow his body to relax a bit, despite the pain he feels on his face and hands. As he feels Hange’s sobs die down, he felt her head get heavier on his chest. He smiles and quietly whispers to her “thank you” as they both slip into unconsciousness.
I’d rather be free
“I’d rather the two of us just live here, right Levi?”
Free
“If we keep running and hiding.....where will that get us?”
“Oh, so you heard me talking to myself?”
Free
“I know you four eyes. You won’t be able to stay out of the action.”
‘Fuck, he’s right. Looks like that dream has to wait I guess’
“You’re right.....I can’t.”
Hange’s voice cracked a bit as a tear slides down her cheek.
I’d rather be free
There’s no way the plane will take off in time, and the colossal titans are close!
"The plane! It won't take off!" Onyonkapon exclaims.
"We don't have much time left! The rumbling is getting closer! We need to hurry!" Hange hears someone yell.
"I'm doing the best I can!"
More panicking ensues as Hange is thinking of a plan.
"Your death is the only way the Alliance will survive and save the world."
'My death?'
"You've been suffering for so long Hange. The sudden responsibilities of being commander, while on top of that, grieving the loss of Moblit and Erwin. Don't you want that all to disappear?"
"Wouldn't you rather be free?"
'I can't....'
"It's either you die or everyone else dies."
"What will it be Hange? You have until then to decide."
Hange gripped her hair and gritted her teeth, frustrated with the stressful situation situation she's placed in. The voices in her head, everyone panicking outside, and the sound of the rumbling, it's driving her crazy, she feels her head is about to explode.
'Wouldn't you rather be free?'
'Sacrifice.....myself.....'
Hange takes a look at the colossal titans coming closer, and the plane is still struggling to take off. 'This is the only way huh?'
She thinks about whether she should go through this or not, knowing she'll be leaving the Alliance behind, leaving Levi behind.
They only had each other left. She wanted them to live together when this was all over, but looks like that won't be happening, after all, he did say they couldn't.
"What's the point if we just run and hide?"
"I know you, you won't be able to stay out of the action."
'You're right, Levi. I can't.......we can't....I'll do it.'
After Hange formed her suicide plan, she went to the deck to find the Alliance. She appoints Armin as the 15th commander of the Scouts and headed towards the colossal titans, until she heard footsteps following after. She didn't need to turn around to know it was Levi.
“You understand. It’s finally here, you know? I want to look as cool as possible right now, so please, just let me go will you?”
'I'm sorry Levi."
She waited for his response, scared of what he might say. She saw Levi coming close to her, eyes loosing his color. They look so cold and dead. He raised his right fist and bumped it onto her chest, where her heart is.
“Devote....your heart.”
Hange felt herself about to cry with the way her lips are quivering. Before she could think about changing her mind, she took off, but not without saying one last thing to him.
"Wow, I never heard you say something like that before!" she says as she tries to maintain her positive aura, but who was she kidding?
She ran towards the colossal titans, and flew up in the air with her ODM gear.
She looked below her, feeling their heat.
‘Is this what you wanted right?’
She took a deep breath and smile sadly.
“Titans.....are truly wonderful.”
'I hope you'll forgive me.'
Free
All the emotions she was feeling right now, all that anger, pain, sadness and despair, she let all out as she knocks down every colossal titan one by one.
"What are you really doing this for? To save the alliance or yourself?"
Hange paused for a minute to look at the plane that looks like it's about to take off.
'Am I?'
"Are you?"
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt her cape catch on fire and spreading throughout her body. 'Fuck....well, there's no stopping now.'
With what little strength she had left, she kept fighting, screaming out her emotions with angry yet sad tears spilling out of her eyes as she slices as many colossal titans as she could until she couldn't anymore, falling to her death.
Free
She wakes up to a plane noise, and sees it flying in the sky.
“The plane!” she exclaims to herself.
“It took off,” a deep voice said.
Hange turned around and saw Erwin, Moblit, Mike, Nanaba, the rest of the veterans, and even Marco and Sasha was there to greet her.
“You did your duty well,” Erwin says with a proud smile.
Hange was still in shock to see everyone again, but lets out a soft smile as Erwin helped her up.
‘But, I just got crushed by-‘ she pauses herself and decides to meet up with her comrades to tell them everything, only for the moment to pass by in a blink.
"There's so much to talk about...I don't know where to start..."
"We have all the time in the world," Erwin says as he reached out his hand and helped her off the ground.
From here
(If you want to stop here, you can, but I'm a sucker for happy endings and I also have my own speculations with how love is perceived in AOT that I want to write about or why Ymir chose Mikasa to be the one to decide the fate of the world pretty much, and i was think 'how about both eremika and levihan both be living proof that love isn't a like shackle or something to be a slave to?' and this whole thing I wrote is basically like a test for Hange, if she genuinely wanted to kill herself or actually did die not just for humanity, but for the Alliance to survive, also I kind of wanted Hange to have a bit of a conflict with what she really wants. Anyways, this got a lot complicated to write than I thought so hopefully, it's not too messy)
--
“So this is it then. This is how the great 14th commander of the Survey Corps Hange Zoë dies.”
Hange opens her eyes and sat up, only to see nothing but darkness. She swore a moment ago she was telling her fallen comrades about what happened after the battle to take back Shiganshina.
She stands up and walks around trying to find anything that can help her figure out what’s happening, but it’s no use.
“What’s going on?! What’s happening?! Where am I?! What are you?!”
Suddenly, she’s no longer stuck in what looks to be a dark void. There’s somewhat of a galactic sky above her, sand beneath her feet and in a distance this light that’s in a form of a giant tree. 'Am I in paths?'
She turns around and sees a little girl with blonde hair, eyes closed and a frown staring at her.
"I assume you must be Ymir Fritz. The original founder of the titans."
“Indeed I am. And as I stated earlier, you're Hange Zoë, 14th commander of what's left of the Scouts and leader of the Alliance. Everyone views your death as a noble sacrifice for humanity, but is it really a sacrifice for humanity or was it something more personal? Perhaps, even a little selfish?”
Hange gritted her teeth and clenched her fist. She did not want to deal with this right now, but deep down, what she's implying might be true.
"What are you trying to say? I had no other choice. They all would've been dead! This was the only way!"
"Even if it meant leaving that Ackerman behind? You did say you wanted to live with him when all of this was over. I envied what the both of you had for each other. You both could've been something more if you stayed. You say you sacrificed yourself for humanity's sake, but I sense there's a more selfish intent. I could tell in the look of your eyes you didn't truly want to die, perhaps because you had strong feelings for that Ackerman. But he wasn't enough....wasn't he? Your desire to free yourself from your responsibilities as commander and grief were much stronger."
Hange felt anger surge into her veins, so she grabbed Ymir by the collar and looked her in her closed eyes as she gritted her teeth in anger. However, in the back of her mind, Hange knew Ymir was kind of right about her. She did had a selfish reason, she was tired, and frustrated. She couldn't handle the responsibilities that just kept on coming, along with learning the politics and general information of every new country discovered and having to rely information from the Marlayans that showed up, along with the books Grisha left in the basement.
The more paperwork and planning she had to do, the more she started loosing herself. Everyone saw it but didn't say anything, that included Levi, but she couldn't blame him, she was too far gone. There were so many times she wanted to die, but stopped herself every time.
'Not the right time. They still need me,' she would tell herself. It wasn't until Eren started getting rebellious and the rise of the Yeagarists that really pushed her on edge. She felt so hopeless, and was lost. When Eren started provoking her in the cell, it was a sign to her that she wasn't meant for this position. She lost control of the situation and felt it was her fault. Hange felt that she wasn't useful anymore, even if they've managed to save the world and prevent Marlay from attacking Paradis.
However, without her sacrifice, the Alliance would have died with her. She didn't want to drag them down with her when they had a chance of saving humanity and living a peaceful life after the war. Even if it meant abandoning her dream of living a peaceful life with Levi.
She calms herself down and lets go of Ymir.
"You're right about one thing, I did have a selfish motive. I wanted to be free from the responsibilities and the grief I've been feeling while I was still alive. I know I'm a coward for wanting to die, but that's not the sole reason why I sacrificed myself. Not only me, but the Alliance and the rest of humanity would've been killed because of the rumbling the Yeagar brothers started! As much as I wanted to stay for Levi, I wanted him to experience a life of peace, same with the Alliance. And even if that means sacrificing myself, and giving up my future with him just so he and everyone else can live a better life after this war, then so be it." As Hange finishes her long speech, she started feeling tears streaming down her eyes.
Ymir just stood there, looking at Hange with her eyes still closed. It was silent for a bit, and then Ymir spoke up, "Very well then."
In a blink of an eye, the two appeared on what happens to be the top of Eren's spine in his founder titan form.
Hange looked below them to see the Alliance fighting past titan shifters and more titans forming. She already picked up that it was probably Ymir's doing. 'Looks like my sacrfice was worth something.'
"Why are you showing me this?" Hange asks suspiciously.
"Your friends succeeded into coming here to stop Eren from flatting the Earth with the rumbling. Everything is all going according to Eren's plan," Ymir explained.
"Why are you willing to help Eren? What is his plan really? And why is he doing this in the first place?" Hange asks, super confused on what's going on.
"You'll see if he succeeds or not. It's all up to what Mikasa decides."
"What does Mikasa have to do with any of this?"
Ymir doesn't respond and turned into some sort of a pig creature. Hange looked at her shocked and is really confused of what's happening. 'What the hell?!'
The pig creature took off and went to search for Armin. Hange sighs, knowing she can't do anything, but watch it all unfold.
'What's your true motive, Eren? And how does this connect to Mikasa?'
She winced a bit when the Alliance were struggling to keep up with the fight, and was itching to go in there and help, until, she saw something fly by. ‘What is that?’
Her eyes widened with joy when she saw Falco’s titan.
"Oh my god! HE HAS WINGS?!!! HE CAN FLY!!!! OH MY GOD THAT'S SO COOL! I CAN'T TOO- oh right.....I'm dead....." Hange sighs and continues watching over the Alliance.
Eventually, the events played out as it should and as Mikasa took the final blow (cutting Eren's head off), suddenly Hange ends up in front of Levi who's slumped against a giant rock and behind are their fallen comrades. 'Where did they come from? Ymir has to stop doing this...'
She takes a good look at Levi and can't help but feel sorrow. She regrets not being mentally strong enough, and not being a part of the fight, even if she did her part, but she doesn't regret doing what she had to do in order for everyone to survive.
It still hurt her that she couldn't be there for him physically, and experience what life would be like at the end of the war. She wasn't ready to move on, but she had no choice, this is the last time she'll see him again. She put on a sad smile, and saluted him as she and their comrades slowly faded away.
--
It was dark again and Hange couldn't see a thing. 'Not again.'
"Hello?!" she calls out to into the void. No response.
"Anyone here?!" she calls out again. Still no response.
'Am I in hell?'
"You should know by now this is not hell," a familiar voice says in a distance.
'That voice.....it sounds....familiar.....'
"Hange, it's me, Eren."
Hange's eyes widened in shock. "Eren?! What the hell is this? What's going on? Why are you doing this?!" Hange responds in anger.
The dark void suddenly transformed into some sort of starry night, galactic scenery. She's back in paths except, Eren is standing in front of her.
"I know you're upset. You remember our conversation back in the forest right? Where you and Levi settled for the time being."
Suddenly, the conversation started playing like a film in her head and she shouldn't have listened to him.
"In order for the Alliance to succeed in stopping me, you must sacrifice yourself by fighting the colossal titans."
"You've been suffering for so long Hange. The sudden responsibilities of being commander, while on top of that, grieving the loss of Moblit and Erwin. Don't you want that all to disappear?"
Hange grits her teeth as anger flows through her veins and punched Eren in the face.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! This was your plan all along?! All of these deaths I've experienced throughout my years in the Scouts.... my death......it was your doing all along?! OUR COMRADES EREN! AND 80% OF HUMANITY!!! I hope you're fucking happy because your plan fucking worked!"
"I know, I don't expect you to understand, but I brought you to apologize for the things I've said to you when you locked me up in the cell and in paths while you were in the forest was uncalled for, so I'm sorry about that and I haven't really given you a proper thank you either. For teaching me how to use my titan powers, and being like our second parent...same with the captain."
"Thank you? Seriously? What the fuck Eren?! You just destroyed 80% of humanity and committed mass genocide! This will take more than a mere 'thank you' and sweet talk to make up for all the cruel things you've done!" Hange says with anger in her tone.
"I understand you're angry, but I did this in order to free the world from titans. For the Marlayans to stop seeing us as 'devils' rather, I set them up to be heroes. Actually, it was more thanks to Mikasa's decision to kill me that convinced Ymir to left the curse of the titans."
Hange calmed a bit, but is still fuming with anger, 'what the fuck is wrong with this guy?!' However, she is curious about something, "I have a question though. What does Mikasa have to do with this? Why her?"
"That's something I'm not so sure either. The only person who knows is Ymir Fritz herself, however I do have a theory." Before Eren can continue, he walked towards the tree and motioned Hange to follow.
She hesitantly followed him into the tree only to end up in what looks to be a snowy mountain with these greenish blue light waves in the sky.
"The Northern Lights," Hange whispers in awe. She's read about them before, but seeing it in person was an experience, but she's starting to get distracted. "What's this theory of yours?" Hange asks getting straight to the point.
"I assume you know the true story of Ymir right?" Eren asks.
"Yes, you told me in paths back when Levi and I were camping out in the forest. Ymir was not actually the goddess cults worshipped her to be, she was a slave to the Eldian king. 2000 years ago, Ymir Fritz set a pig free and was caught. As punishment, the king set her free, but was hunted by his soldiers. One day, she stumbled upon this tree for shelter, but fell and gained the powers of the titans, thus she becomes the founding titan. She then went running back to the king despite him doing the cruelest things to her, and bore his daughters, Maria, Rose and Sina. She then sacrificed herself for him when a surviving Marlayan soldier threw a spear at him, and the king forced his daughters to eat Ymir in order to gain her powers and here we are now. Am I missing something?" Hange sarcastically asks.
"No, and good to know you remembered. I encountered this in paths when I met her, that her submission to the king, must be because she was in love with him, as hard as it is to believe in, but that's the true reason why after all this time, she continues to submit to him. For 2000 years, she's been in pain, a slave to love wishing for someone to set her free from it. She kept waiting, and waiting until finally the person arrived. And that person, was Mikasa." Eren finished explaining, but Hange was still confused.
"Hold on, so you're telling me it was all because Ymir was in love with her abuser? You've got to be kidding me....but after listening to that, I'm guessing that Mikasa killing you, despite having feelings for you is the result needed in order for Ymir to lift the curse am I right? Ymir needed to see proof that you just because you love someone doesn't mean you're a slave to them, and Mikasa killing you but still loving you was proof of that," Hange said and paused for a moment before asking a question that's been on her mind for a bit, "just wondering, did you love her too?"
"I still do. As much as I want her to be happy and be happy with someone who truly deserves her, I don't want her to move on from me," Eren says as he's tearing up. "I didn't mean anything I said to her, nor Armin. I told Mikasa that I've always hated her when that was the biggest lie I ever said in my life, but I needed her to hate me so she can kill me. I remember when you said you wanted to run away with Captain Levi and live together in the forest, I wanted to do that with Mikasa. I wanted to abandon everything and spend the remaining years I had left with her in the mountains."
"Well that makes two of us. Those Ackermans are strong aren't they? Then again, they don't call them humanity's strongest soldiers for nothing," Hange coldly chuckled a bit.
"Yeah, they really are," Eren agreed. "By the way, were you and the captain dating? What's your story with him?"
Hange sighs, she really doesn't want to talk about it, especially to Eren of all people at the moment, but since she's technically stuck in here, might as well entertain him.
"Our relationship is......complicated to say the least. We don't have a label, and we didn't need one. We knew we love and cared for each other, why do we need a label for it? At the end of the day, we're just Hange and Levi. However, I believed after that night in the forest together, I started thinking about our future. I thought to myself, 'what would life be like for me and Levi if we decided to settle down here?' I wondered if Levi ever felt the same way. Instead, he snapped me out of reality, reminding ourselves that we're soldiers first, and he was right." Hange paused a bit to wipe her tears only for Eren speak up.
"How did you first meet?' he asked.
Hange started reminiscing the moments and memories she had with Levi. She told Eren how Levi, Farlan and Isabel joined the scouts and how he almost stabbed her when she first approached him because he thought Hange about their plan to kill Erwin at the time. She went into some detail about how the deaths of Farlan and Isabel impacted him, how Hange handled it and how their relationship with one another grew. 'I miss him so much.'
"Do you still love him?" Eren asks.
"I never stopped loving him, even if it meant parting ways with him just to save humanity from the destruction you caused and also freeing myself from my personal baggage. It hurts that we can't be together, but I don't regret my decision. As long as he's alive and not alone, even if it meant I'm not there, then I fulfilled my duty. That's all I ever wanted, " Hange answers.
"I see. That's all we needed to hear."
"We?"
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed, they were back in paths. Hange was now faced directly at the tree with Eren and Ymir standing on both sides of the tree.
"Mikasa isn't the only Ymir chose. It's obvious both you and Levi have something special that could blossom into something more, and you both could've ran away together, but you didn't, instead, you gave that up to ensure him and the Alliance would save humanity and finally live in peace, while Levi gave you up because he knew you wanted to be free, so he let you go. We can't bring back someone from the dead, but there is something I can do."
Suddenly, the light from the tree grew even brighter and before she could react, the light engulfed her body as she felt herself fading away from paths.
--
"Hange"
"Hange!"
"HANGE!"
Hange's eyes instantly opened as she woke up in a cold sweat and heavily panting. She looked around the room she ended up in and saw that she's in a bedroom.
"Oi, four eyes, how long will you be staring at the wall for?" a familiar grumpy voice asks.
Hange turned to her left and saw it was Levi sitting next to her. The right side of his face was scarred and his right eye turned white. She looked down at his hand to see it was holding hers and his two fingers were still missing. Suddenly she felt tears coming down her right eye, leaving Levi confused and worried.
"Hange? What's going on-"
Before Levi could finish his question, Hange instantly wrapped her arms around him and buried her head onto his shoulders, sobbing her heart out. Levi, despite being confused, stayed silent and held her close, comforting her as she cries.
A few minutes passed and he felt Hange's cries die down to sniffles.
"So, you want to tell me what was that all about?" Levi says.
Hange pushed herself back up to wipe the tears from her face.
"I missed you so much Levi! I'm so sorry I left you behind. The truth is, I did want to kill myself back there, at least, that's what I thought I wanted. I guess what I really wanted was for you and the Alliance to survive and live in peace once the war was finally over, but when I saw you against the rock, I couldn't help but feel sad. I wanted to be with you and we were so close, only for me to die at the last second. But where am I? What is this? I thought I died, did I die? Are you dead as well? I swear to god please tell we're-"
"Ok, one thing at a time four eyes. First off what do you mean died?" Levi asks. Hange was genuinely confused, "Didn't you see me die when I was fighting off the colossal titans? There was no way I was going to make it."
"Hange, did you hit your head or something? Or just somehow forgot 3 years worth of memories?"
"THREE YEARS?!!" Hange exclaims. 'Have I been asleep for three years?'
"Hange what has gotten into you? Was your nightmare that bad?"
Hange was so confused at what's happening, was she dreaming this whole time? Or sent to another universe of some sort- wait a minute.
"Hey Levi, where are we?" Hange asks attempting to stay calm.
Levi looked at her concerned and a bit nervous that she might be going crazy.
"Our bedroom? In the house we've living in ever since the war ended. We found an unused cabin near Odiha. Hange, are you sure you didn't hit your head last night?" Levi nervously asks as he grabs her head to examine it, seeing if there's any bruises.
"No I didn't! It's just that, one moment I was watching you guys fighting titans on top of Eren's spine, and then I was with our comrades seeing you for one final time, only to end up in paths with Eren and Ymir standing next to a tree and then suddenly, a bright light appeared....wait a minute," Hange mumbled to herself.
"We can't bring back someone from the dead, but there is something I can do."
'Is this some sort of dream or am I actually in an alternate universe... wait, did they send me into an alternate universe where I didn't die?'
"Oi, four eyes!"
Hange snapped out of her thoughts, theories still developing in her mind.
"Levi, what happened back when the plane couldn't take off in Odiha 3 years ago?"
Levi gave her a really confused look, but answered anyways.
"I saw you running out of the deck and overheard you appointing Armin to be the 15th commander of the Scouts. Those brats knew about your suicide plan so they convinced you into letting them help you take down as many colossal titans as they can to buy time, and you caved in. Luckily the plane took off in time before you and those brats started getting exhausted. I assume you know the rest."
'So, they did send me to an alternate universe. The one where I didn't die....'
"Sorry Levi, it's just that, in my 'nightmare' I fought those colossal titans alone. I burned to death and got trampled on. To be honest, back then, I did want to die. I thought being free from my responsibilities as commander was what I really wanted, that death would set me free, but it didn't. Instead, I started feeling more regret that I left everyone I care about behind, that includes you Levi, but even if I realize that now, my death was inevitable. Either I go, or you guys die with me, and if my sacrifice was the price, then so be it."
Hange felt Levi pull her close and felt his hand caress her hair.
"We're here now Hange. It's all over, we can finally rest and live the life we've always dreamed of. And for the record, you were a great commander, without you, the world would've been flattened."
Hange eyes glistened with tears when heard that. She leaned in closer to Levi's embrace, taking it all in.
They stayed in each other's arms for a few minutes until they heard knocking on the door.
"Must be Gabi, Falco and Onyonkapon, maybe you can explain to them your dream. Can you get my wheelchair?" Levi asks as looks for his shirt and pants on the ground.
"You're in a wheelchair now? Awee Levi, is age catching up to you?" Hange asks teasingly.
"Just get the goddamn wheelchair Hange! And for the record, I permanently broke my left leg saving your guys' ass three years ago," Levi grunted.
Hange went to get his wheelchair that was lying against the wall in front of their bed, and helps him sit.
"You should change or at least fix your hair," Levi suggests.
"Do I have to?" Hange whines.
Levi glares at her and Hange rolls her eyes and pouted.
"Ugh, fine," Hange grunted.
As she made her to way the bathroom to get dressed, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and she felt genuinely happy to see her reflection. A reminder that she's alive, and she can finally experience a peaceful life with Levi and the Alliance, not to mention, traveling around the world.
"Hey Levi!" Hange calls out.
Levi was about to wheel his way out of the bedroom to answer the front door, but paused when he heard Hange calling him.
"What?"
"I'm so glad to be alive."
Levi was kind of stunned with the sudden out burst, but he found it endearing and didn't care, as long as she's happy.
Hi! If you’re doing those fluff sentence starters, maybe: “Mmmphf. Snicetoseeyoutoo.” For stevetony please? Thank you! ❤️
PEACH! Oh my gosh, I was very very very excited upon receiving a prompt from you. I have been such a big fan of your writing, especially your fluffy ficlets. They bring me immense comfort and joy when I feel down.
I’m sorry it took such a long time. I hope I did the prompt justice. Here you go!
sorry not sorry
steve/tony, au: office, fluff, getting back together, 1502 words
(prompt from this list)
The first thing Tony does after dropping his briefcase on the desk in his cubicle is to head to the pantry for some desperately needed morning coffee. He had been running late and didn’t have the time to make himself a cup of coffee at home. The only thing keeping him barely functional as a human being at the moment is the fact that he took an unforgivingly cold shower.
The moment he steps into the pantry, however, he starts to wonder if his dependence on caffeine has truly reached concerning levels to the point of causing hallucinations because standing right there in the pantry of the New York office is one Steve Rogers.
Tony’s ex-boyfriend is standing right there, arranging some boxes on the kitchen counter, like he’s been there all along and not living in Germany for the past two years.
His hair is longer and he has grown a beard—the sight of which is doing things to Tony’s poor and overworked heart—but there is no mistaking that it is indeed Steve Rogers, whom Tony had broken up with because Steve was being transferred to the understaffed Berlin branch of the company with no guarantee of how long he would stay there and long distance relationships always crash and burn, Steve.
“Steve,” he says breathlessly, like the word has been punched out of him. His knees feel weak, like they are threatening to give out under him.
Steve looks up, his eyes widening. His lips bloom into a wide smile that reaches his blue eyes. “Tony. Hi.”
Tony’s heart clenches at the smile he has only been able to find in photos for the past two years. Absently, he thinks that those photos really do not compare to the real thing; the latter is so much brighter.
So much more beautiful.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m back.”
“How come?”
“I requested a transfer after they recruited some new people for the Berlin office. It took some time, but they finally approved my transfer this year. Today is my first day back.”
Tony continues to gape at him, his eyes greedily drinking in the sight of Steve after being deprived of it for so long. He resists the strong urge to reach out and touch, just to make sure that Steve is there, solid and real.
“Donut?” Steve offers, holding out an open box of donuts to Tony. It is then Tony realizes that there are multiple boxes of donuts alongside a huge bag of what appears to be assorted German sweets, all courtesy of Steve, who had apparently decided to spoil the people in the office with tons of sugar and carbs to announce his return.
“How the hell did you manage to smuggle donuts from Germany?”
Steve chuckles, still holding the box of donuts. “The sweets are from Germany. The donuts are from your favorite place down the street.”
Tony steps towards Steve and upon closer inspection, he is able to confirm that Steve is indeed holding a box of glazed donuts that Tony can usually inhale at an alarming speed if left to his own devices.
The irrational desire to refuse anything his ex-boyfriend offers him warring with the intense temptation of delicious donuts eventually ends up with him gingerly taking one donut from the box and shoving it into his mouth hurriedly before making his way towards the cabinet situated above the kitchen sink to find a mug for his morning coffee.
“It’s nice to see you, Tony,” Steve says, his voice low and familiar. It stirs something in the pit of Tony’s stomach and he chances a look at Steve. He regrets it almost immediately because Steve is looking at him with something that is way too soft and tender in his eyes. The look in his eyes is one that Tony sees in his dreams and memories. The fact that that look is ingrained in his mind is only one among the various ways Steve’s presence continues to linger stubbornly in his life, preventing him from moving on despite his best efforts.
One simple look and all his defenses crumble in an instant, a house of cards against the force of the tornado that is Steve Rogers.
Tony looks away, determined to avoid Steve’s eyes.
“Mmmphf,” he says with the donut lodged in his mouth. He eats the donut quickly as he pretends to rummage around in the mug cabinet before releasing his next words all in one rushed breath: “Snicetoseeyoutoo.”
Eventually, he picks up a random mug that doesn’t belong to him because he can’t seem to find one of his own. Before he can pull it out, however, he feels Steve take hold of his other hand, pressing something into it.
“Here,” Steve says. Tony looks down and sees a mug of hot coffee in his hand. Steve has somehow managed to find one of Tony’s mugs somewhere in the pantry. This one in particular is a personalized one given by Rhodey as a gift for his birthday a few years ago. It is a navy blue ceramic mug with the words “Tony Stank” printed on it.
“One packet of sugar, right?” Steve tears open a packet of sugar and pours it into Tony’s coffee without waiting for an answer, putting a teaspoon in the mug afterwards.
Tony stirs his coffee with the spoon, watching the dark liquid swirl around in the mug.
“Dinner tonight? To celebrate me being back and all that.”
“Uh, I’m not... free. I have, um, something to do. Something very important,” Tony says eloquently, attention still focused on the incredibly important task of making sure all the sugar dissolves into his coffee. “You go ahead and celebrate with the team, I’ll just join you guys some other time.”
“Who said anything about the team?”
This time, Tony does look up. Steve is looking at Tony with eyes that are brimming with mischievous defiance, eyebrows raised and lips twitching, daring Tony to address the elephant in the room.
Tony sighs, already dreading where the conversation is heading. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to schedule our date night,” Steve says, as if he were stating the obvious, bringing his own mug of coffee to his lips.
Tony glares at him. “We broke up.”
Steve’s smile only grows wider around the lip of his mug as he drinks his coffee. He licks his lips afterwards, grinning gleefully at Tony.
“Correction. You tried to break up with me and you failed. I did agree to give you some space, but I also made myself clear that I wasn’t letting you go.”
“Steve—”
“So, dinner? I’ll even be a good boyfriend and let you pick the restaurant.”
Tony inhales deeply through his nose. “Look, I’m seeing someone else, okay? I’m over you.”
It’s a blatant lie, but what Steve doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
Steve just nods calmly, eyes flitting down to the mug of coffee Tony holds in his hand before looking into his eyes again. “Uh huh. Sure.”
“I’m serious,” Tony says, very seriously.
Steve continues to smile warmly as if Tony hadn’t said a thing, eyes searching Tony’s and looking incredibly pleased at whatever he finds in them. “I’ll come find you after, okay?”
With that, Steve walks out of the pantry, his gait easy and light, a spring in his step.
Tony sighs heavily, feeling utterly drained. He brings the mug of coffee to his lips and closes his eyes as he lets the comforting taste flood his taste buds.
When he opens his eyes, he catches something glinting under the bright pantry lights and nearly drops the mug, choking violently on a mouthful of coffee, because—
Around Tony’s ring finger—one of the fingers curled around the handle of the mug—is the promise ring Steve gave him for their first anniversary, and it hasn’t left his finger ever since. It isn’t something super expensive, but it was the best thing Steve could afford during their college days.
Tony thought about taking it off during those first few days after Steve had just left for Germany, but he never really could bring himself to do it. Steve was miles and miles away in an entirely different country and wearing the ring felt like carrying around a piece of Steve. It brought him immense comfort.
He curses his own stupidity as he recalls the triumphant look on Steve’s face after he had undoubtedly caught sight of said ring on Tony’s finger just moments ago.
Stupid Steve, who decided to grow a stupid beard and somehow manage to look even more beautiful than the last time Tony saw him.
Stupid Steve, whose smile still has the power to make Tony’s heart beat double time like he is running a marathon, even after all this time.
Tony squeezes his eyes shut as he proceeds to hit his head repeatedly on the cabinet door in the hopes of regaining his sanity.
Steven Grant Rogers is truly going to be the death of him.
Welcome! Well, this isn’t really made to entertain. I’m just doing this to recover from trauma and get a good grasp of the show’s lore while having my girls react with me. Feel free to tag along.
We’ll be watching four episodes a day and react only to the major events as tackling all of them is a toughie.
Sharpie: “I want to see real tears, Wilt.”
Wilt: “Tears? At the very first episode?”
Sharpie: “Yes. Otherwise I’ll make you cry by some other means.”
Wilt: “I have these tear marks. Those count, yes?”
Sharpie: “Real tears, I said.”
Wilt: “Ahh, how iconic.”
Spinel: “The area around the lighthouse is lacking a lot of flowers. That’ll change someday!”
Sharpie: “Yes, after a lot of blood, ink and tears had been shed first.”
Spinel: “Here we have a shot of the show’s hero, lamenting the discontinuation of a certain ice cream snack brand.”
Sharpie: “Is this triggering your PTSD yet?”
Wilt: “Not really. I thought it would but surprisingly I’m still okay.”
Lars: “Well, if you miss your wimpy ice cream so much, why don’t you make some with your MAGIC BELLY BUTTON?”
Spinel: “Hey Sharpie, let’s make foodstuff with just the energy in our gem.”
Sharpie: “And you still owe me 86 years’ worth of happiness.”
Wilt: “What is this civil conversation you’re having? That’s not how I wrote you two.”
Sadie: “Uhh Steven? Do you want to take the freezer with you?”
Spinel: “Think what would’ve happened if Sadie didn’t let him take that freezer home.”
Sharpie: “Does… does the cat’s face looked different to you?”
Spinel: “I love the lighthouse. The view up the top is always so breathtaking.”
Sharpie: “I’m not so happy with our roommate though.”
Wilt: “…I might have to draw this someday.”
Spinel: “Don’t you just love it when your pets greet you as you enter your house? I wish you would greet me whenever I fall asleep.”
Sharpie: “You’re just my nightmare.”
Amethyst: “’Sup, Steven.”
Spinel: “AME!!!!”
Spinel: “I AM IN LOVE.”
Sharpie: “You can stop replaying this 5 seconds worth of Pearl now.”
Spinel: “It’s 4 seconds worth of Pearl, you heathen.”
Spinel: “HOOO MAMA. Remember when Garnet kicked our ass?”
Sharpie: “She kicked your ass. She kicked your ass so much I had to start a switch to intervene. Now that I think of it, I shouldn’t have done that.”
Sharpie: “Being sliced open is one thing. Being pulled apart is another.”
Spinel: “It’s good that we’re stretchy.”
Sharpie: “I can disable that function and tear you apart like that, actually. Ever wondered why it doesn’t hurt when others pull at you like taffy but I can?”
Spinel: “I can do the same and prevent you from escaping my hugs.”
Sharpie: “*sigh*… I hate you.”
Spinel: “Ahaha! Pearl is so cute!”
Sharpie: “Ahaha! I love this technique.”
Wilt: “It’s good for breaking a hole through walls in maximum security prisons, yeah.”
Amethyst: “Uhh you guys, these things don’t have gems.”
Garnet: “That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby.”
Sharpie: “That’s a fascinating thought.”
Wilt: “It’s similar to how Pearl can project figures that can maintain itself while independent of the source. In this case, the main centipeedle can project independent but smaller versions of itself.”
Sharpie: “How come 2nd Projections aren’t like that, I wonder. Like we can’t have separate bodies or anything…”
Wilt: “Probably because the 2nd Projection has a personality of its own and it stems from the original gem, while Pearl Projections and mini-centipeedles are pre-programmed projections that would act accordingly to the original’s commands. Like, if Spinel makes a projection separate from her, it wouldn’t be you.”
Sharpie: “Fair enough.”
Spinel: “Speaking of Pearl Projections…”
Sharpie: “No.”
Pearl: “Steven, until you learned to control the powers in your gem, we’ll take care of protecting humanity. Okay?”
Spinel: “I want Pearl to snap my neck like that.”
Sharpie: “As if impaling you wasn’t enough.”
Spinel: “PFFFTT-“
Amethyst: “We went out and stole a bunch!”
Spinel: “That’s my Ame.”
Pearl: “I went back and paid for that.”
Sharpie: “That’s…. that’s very Pearl of her.”
Steven: “He left his family behind!”
Spinel: “AHAHAHAHAHA”
Sharpie: “What’s so funny about that?”
Sharpie: “Oh my stars. I hope we don’t have to bear another one of those.”
Wilt: “It’s catchy. I like it.”
Sharpie: “What a happy little family. It’s a shame that they’re doomed to a life of madness onwards.”
Amethyst: “Quick! Try and summon your weapon!”
“Awww, no weapon.”
Wilt: “He’s struggling. A sign of a well-rounded character. The progress is dramatic if we compare this episode to the last ones. And it only took him a few Earth years.”
Sharpie: “And it took us like what, 86 years to get this far and we’re still inferior to most we meet in our travels.”
Spinel: “God I love Pearl.”
Sharpie: “Can you even pay attention to anything that isn’t Pearl?”
Spinel: “I’m capable of paying attention to a lot of things and to nothing at the same time, Sharpie. Be amazed.”
Steven: “Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?”
Pearl: “Oh! I’ll go first.”
Wilt: “I love Pearl.”
Spinel: “I love Pearl.”
Sharpie: “…”
Spinel: “AUUGH! Pearl is so beautiful.”
Wilt: “This is so anime.”
Spinel: “This scene makes me wanna stand underneath a cherry blossom tree with her in a Friday afternoon and confess my love.”
Sharpie: “God both of you disgust me.”
Pearl: “Pay attention to these petals, Steven.”
Pearl: “The petal’s dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real-time based on the physical properties of this planet.”
Wilt: “HELL YEAH, I LOVE PEARL.”
Pearl: “With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem, and perform your own dance.”
Pearl: “Like so.”
Spinel: “HELL YEAH, I LOVE PEARL”
Sharpie: “So… Pearl’s approach is tuning into the technical reality of the universe to tap into her gem’s energy,”
Amethyst: “Listen Steven. All that practice stuff is no fun. Whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens.”
Sharpie: “And Amethyst’s approach is just winging it. Considering Ame is a gem made for war, of course summoning a weapon is natural instinct. Pearl however… She had to learn serious fighting, something most Pearls aren’t made for.”
Spinel: “We’re the same, ain’t we? Spinels ain’t made for violence but we can whoop butt just fine.”
Sharpie: “We just got lucky… and incredibly unfortunate at the same time.”
Sharpie: “Gems are such nuisances. So much that in other places of the world, a group of humans actually built little Distortion Bombs capable of disorienting corrupted gems to a point of repelling them away. Unfortunately those things are powered by tiny bits of gem shards, which is obviously not an easily obtainable source of power. The project was discontinued.”
Spinel: “The invention worked on us, too, which is kind of impressive!”
Sharpie: “The best those little bombs done to us were to irritate us, or temporarily disable our senses. Corrupted gems have warped sentience I think, so they would rely more on instincts and run away from the source of irritation as much as possible.”
Sharpie: “They say if enough energy is given into the device, it’ll have high enough amplitude to potentially dissipate a gem’s physical form. But this is just a fever dream. There’s no way they have access to that amount of energy without slaughtering a Diamond first. Still, props to the engineer who thought that was a good idea.”
Spinel: “So instead of using gem shards, he decided to use us by writing the function into Springy. If we poof, we can give bad gems nearby a head ache and make them go away. We can protect people even if we die in battle! He basically turned us into heroic suicide bombers against corrupted gems.”
Sharpie: “Necessary, considering every time we poof we somehow cause part of a building to catch on fire, killing the people we’re supposed to protect in the process.”
Spinel: “Uh huh… yeaaahh….. I mean, where else is the excess energy supposed to go?”
Sharpie: “I dunno. Some other harmless form of energy apart from heat? The sparkly dust clouds were already perfect and you just had to change it into something deadlier. Thanks to you, seven people that stood close to us turned into soup.”
Spinel: “Well, there was that one time where the fire storm actually saved us from a meanie who wanted to crush us. We can’t just ignore that.”
Sharpie: “Seven people died, Spinel. Seven people that happened to be our allies.”
Wilt: “Please stop. We have to finish this episode.”
Steven: “So I’m supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time?”
Garnet: “Yes.”
Garnet: “Or…”
Garnet: “You can link your mind with the energy of all existing matter, channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem.”
Garnet: “At least that’s my way of doing it.
Spinel: “C’mon, kiddo. It’s not that hard to understand. It’s how Springy lived for the past 40 years. If she can do it, so can you.”
Sharpie: “I bet this makes the most sense to you, huh Wilt?”
Wilt: “It does. Considering we are all just ripples of energy on the surface of the large lasagna we call the observable universe.”
Sharpie: “What a nerd. Also we’re half-way through the episode. You better cry, Wilt.”
"Do you ever think about which half of you stuff comes from?" Connie asked around a clementine slice. Every single slice that had burst on their tongues were perfectly sweet and ripe. January was a bit chilly, and the cold bit at them through their jackets, but catching their mutual favorite citrus at the end of the season was always a treat.
"Pretty sure my shield comes from my gem. Uh, gonna say the bubble is the same. The floating could be from any-" He rambled, then giggled as she playfully pinched his cheek. "I don't know! Sometimes. Do you think of which one of your parents gave you stuff?"
"Ooh, yeah!" she said eagerly, catching him by surprise. She shrugged as she chattered on, "I mean, it's probably all pseudoscience or how I'm raised or something, but being studious comes from my mom, and loving bad puns comes from my dad, and-"
He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Okay! I guess it's not that weird. Um. I guess I always thought of creativity coming from my human half."
"That's a good one. Your dad's super creative too." Her legs swung slowly over the edge of the porch as they looked out at the warm evening sun, the waves crashing gently on the beach. "Your mom sounds like she only got clever ideas once every few thousand years."
"Yeah," he agreed. He thought, popping a slice into his mouth. "I'm good at aiming stuff? Angles? I don't know how to explain it, but I think it might be gem stuff."
"Like you'd be good at pool?" Connie asked.
He nodded. "I am good at pool."
"We could go scamming," she said longingly. "Chester and Angel. Why, you've never played pool in your life, Chester! You're gonna throw in the whole kitty on this game?"
"Why is it suddenly the past?" he giggled.
"Everyone knows the scam now. We'll have to time travel." She giggled back. "Music's easy. That's human."
Steven blinked. "What? No way. That's gem."
"Singing's really human!" she protested, looking very insulted at the idea that it wasn’t. "And your dad's a musician! It's gotta come from that side of you. No way. It’s gem stuff. Singing is a human trait."
"The gems sing all the time!"
"So?" Connie stuck out her tongue and he quickly dropped a slice onto it. It vanished into her mouth with a wrinkled nose and a smile. "Their music on Homeworld is terrible. Humans obviously taught them how to sing. Gems can learn to sing, but humans are born singers."
"Born singers, huh?” he asked slyly, his hand already fishing in his jacket pocket. “It's just natural for humans to sing?"
She nodded, not paying him any mind."Mmmhmm. Instinctual. All cultures have music. Most have instruments. Still, we definitely all sing. And it's all better than what we heard on Homeworld, even polka. Even nightcore."
"Oh yeah?" he teased, holding up his phone as he tapped the recording app on. Instantly her eyes were wide, her face flushed from the prospect of her voice trapped on his phone as long as he wanted it. "Sing something."
She giggled and ducked her head, holding out her hand in front of the microphone. "Oh, gosh, shut up! That's not fair."
"It's instinctual," he said, gently pushing it on her. "So just sing something!"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Human imposter! You're some kind of robot!" He dropped the phone into his pocket and eyed her suspiciously. "No wonder you had time travel technology, Angel. I never should've trusted you and your pool shark scamming."
She tapped her chin at that. "Robots… I guess singing can be robotic. Mathematical. You said Peridot picked it up right away. But the Homeworld singing was missing something. Passion, I guess?" She took a sip of her juice box, swallowing thoughtfully as she didn't respond to his tease. After a moment, noting the recording app was gone, she poked his knee and asked, "So, um, if I sing something, will you admit I'm right?"
"Yeah! Do it!" He shook her shoulder a little. "No one's heeeeere. Do it!"
"Pressure pressure pressure," she muttered.
She closed her eyes, leaning back on her hands, and Steven waited expectantly for something short and easy - Twinkle, Twinkle or the birthday song. But when she finally sang, her finger tapping on her leg to keep rhythm, it was a very quiet rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. He tried not to stare because Connie hated staring, and immediately failed as Connie stumbled her way through. It was rare for Connie to sing without a lot of pressure - rarer still for her to sing anything with the slightest bit of a challenge to it.
A few bars in, his own musical instincts kicked in, and he let his voice fall under hers in harmony. It felt so wrong to him to hear her voice without his own, trying so hard at something she found so big and scary - especially when it was something he found so natural.
Sweet and soft, they sang about dreams and wanting, and Steven wondered if the easy harmony came from his gem. He wondered if the logic of music, the patterns, was something his organic side was gifted with, or if something was innately programmed into the gem on his belly. Like Connie's studiousness or bad puns, he could never really know.
Still, singing with her on their quiet snack break, cold wind twisting down the cliff behind them, Steven felt truly human.
