my hero (L/St) (sfw)

>>111276876
>Almost a week, and he hadn't called her. Hadn't messaged. Hadn't visited. As if she hadn't been home tearing her hair out, pacing the boarded floors for hours on end, being physically restrained by Peridot so that she wouldn't spread her wings and zip off to Homeworld to bring him home herself, as gem-chillingly terrifying a prospect as that would have been. But she wouldn't wait any longer.

>Though she couldn't specify why at the height she was flying at, something about Beach City seemed more dreary that night, more suffocating about its atmosphere. it brought a grimace to her face, and made her that much more eager to find who she was looking for.

>The temple was ahead, and Lapis divebombed down at the steps leading indoors. She didn't knock, and thankfully, none of the Crystal Gems were present to balk or gripe at her for it.

>In a bed upon a suspended second floor, a figure sat beneath a blanket, a little light illuminating the space around him. With a flap of her wings, Lapis launched herself at him, landing facefirst with little grace in what she could only assume to be his chest and sending the light source clattering onto the floor. The covers were printed with stars, which bulged and rustled about as the one beneath them squirmed to surface. "A-ah! Lapis-?"

>"Steven! You're back!"

>All in once piece, from what she could tell. Cute, pinchable cheeks, curly hair, and big, bright eyes. Cupping his cherub-like face gently, she could only stare at him in utter relief, before they both fell into a tight hug together at the exact same time.
He was warm to the touch, but also warm inside, in a contagious kind of way that made her own lukewarm core feel toasty. Nothing compared to it, really. Steven's stubby arms roped around her in turn, and they spent a moment in silent embrace, during which Lapis only barely restrained a tear prickling at the corner of her eye.

>"I'm so glad you're okay."

>>111279639
>They talked. For hours into the night, Lapis closed her mouth and let Steven talk, because even at a glance she could see that he needed to vent. Being abducted by an Aquamarine, an attempt at an escape, and then, the Diamonds.

>The speed at which she felt urged to flee just hearing him recount his meeting with Blue disgusted Lapis. Knowing what Steven had come face to face with was enough to make her breath shorten, to make her eyes twitch in the direction of the nearest window, to make her mind race with thoughts that threatened to drown her in her own fright and self-loathing. Steven's voice, however, cut through it like a ship through the water, and kept her rooted to his bed. This wasn't about her. It was about him, and what he'd been through.

>"But do you want to know the worst part?" Steven laughed, because laughing off how much of his world was just, just so messed up in retrospect was always his first instinct, and it made her figurative heart break each time she saw it. "I don't even think I mind any of this as much as I mind what's happening with Connie."

>The Connie. Lapis did not like The Connie. For how much emotion that her name usually brought to his eyes (detestable emotion that she craved more than she ought to), it seemed to be a mournful mention that night.

>"She's mad at me," he mumbled, before jumping a bit in his bed. "Oh, oh! Maybe she's called back now!" Scrambling for the object that had fallen off the bed earlier, Steven excitedly flipped it over, revealing it to be his phone. No messages or calls received, Lapis could barely make out, and she watched his face droop with misery at the realization in real-time.

>"Guess not."

>A small part of her was selfishly glad to hear that. But she would endure, and inquire about why, to let him get it off of his chest. She would do it for him. "Do you know why she would be mad at you?"

>>111279946
>Steven climbed back into bed to join Lapis, eyes forlorn and locked downward. "She said she's mad at me for giving myself up, so that no one would get hurt."

>...what.

>"What."

>The bluntness of her voice took Steven aback. "I-I mean, I think she thought we could win if we fused together, and fought back." He hesitated. "But if I can be really honest...I'm still not sure we could have..."

>Of course they couldn't have. So much of the hell Lapis remembered from Homeworld was beyond the minds of Steven and The Connie, beyond what they could even imagine. This little twit-not Steven, of course, never him-thought that fighting back against the Diamonds was as easy as fusing together and swinging a sword at them? That if they just hoped and WISHED really hard, being dragged back to stand trial would go well for them?! "And she's mad...at you." The words strung together, but made no sense to her, misaligned and incompatible. Steven must have sensed Lapis' growing tension, and backpedaled a bit.

>"Well, I think she's just a little hurt. Like I made her feel like she wasn't good enough to be my fighting partner. I think I still did the right thing, but...maybe I wasn't considerate enough while doing the right thing? If that makes sense.. Do you think I should maybe just go over to her house and apologize...?"

>So highly he thought of others. Always trying to present their best side forward, even while they twisted a knife in his back, and made him feel responsible for it. "Let me get this straight," murmured Lapis, with narrowing eyes. "You were willing to toss yourself at the feet of the Diamonds to keep people from getting hurt, after they sent soldiers to take hostages to use against you, and her first thought is to call you inconsiderate?!"

>Steven had no answer.

>>111280572
>Fury boiled in her like water whipping inside of a kettle, but before it spilled out and scalded anyone, Lapis slowly inhaled, and settled. It was not the time for anger. Not again, not while he was so distraught. "I think your friend," she spoke in one fluid breath, "Is unappreciative. And I'm sure she'll...come around," the words slipped between slightly gritted teeth, "She just needs to do some thinking on her own, I guess. Give it time."

>Though his worry had been growing with her souring mood, he slipped into weary relief upon hearing her answer, even turning off his phone and putting it aside. "You're right, I'm worrying about nothing. Me and Connie will always be friends..."

>Of course they would. She suppressed an urge to roll her eyes, barely. Until The Connie decided that some other gesture of total devotion was 'offensive', and she threw another tantrum. What did he even see in h-

>"Thanks, Lapis."

>Her internal brooding was interrupted by a sheepish chuckle from Steven. "I'm not sure anyone else would have made me feel this much better about the whole thing. As much as I don't like seeing people get angry on my behalf...it's a little flattering when it's someone I really care about."

>Doki, doki, doki, pounded Lapis' nonexistent heart. "Uh, no problem, Steven."

>The jittering in her chest only intensified when Steven's head flopped onto her shoulder. Up close, she could see the heavy bags under his eyes, and it reflexively drove her to pull him in for another hug, which he limply but happily reciprocated.

>"She doesn't know what she's missing."

>"Lapiiiiis..."

>A soft chuckle was shared between them. Her eyes fluttered open after a minute, and she was just in time to meet Steven's face hovering barely a few inches from her own. A hair more, and their noses might have bumped together, pondered Lapis' very distant sounding thoughts, as she focused in on the ruddy cheeks and bright sunbeam of the lad she was holding-

>...oh fuck, she wanted to kiss him.

>>111281038
>Was that bad? Steven was her friend, and the worry of crossing a line with him had until now kept her relatively in check. She was here though, and he was here, and she wanted their faces pressed together, enough to make her hands begin to jitter, and to make her gulp in hard. She just needed to be gentle about it.

>Steven could be oblivious once in awhile, but he wasn't a stupid boy. He grew every bit as flustered as Lapis did when he realized their distance. His breath audibly hitched, but he didn't move a muscle from where he sat, eyes flittering back and forth between she and his discarded phone.

>He was thinking of Connie, she could tell. Stupid damn Connie, and the reasons that he should be saving himself for when she stopped being upset with him, all the reasons why he shouldn't be macking on his ocean Gem, none of which seemed to be tangible enough for him to recall immediately. Gently, she nudged Steven's chin back in her direction with one of her thumbs, and when he didn't at all resist the guidance, she reeled him in accordingly. "She doesn't know what she's missing," she repeated much more softly, before craning in to land a little peck upon his lips. It was hardly two seconds of contact between them, but that was all it took to send her to cloud nine. 'Mwuh', came a little noise between them, and it sent a gratified shudder down her spine.

>The minute she pulled back from their kissu, Steven melted and slid along Lapis' torso with a dopey grin on his face, hearts practically dotting the pupils of his eyes as though he was in one of those old cartoons Peridot had shown her. She couldn't help but snigger, and twirled a finger around a lock of his hair hanging next to his ear, a gesture that got him bashful enough to let his head sink down into her chest. Face only slightly hidden beneath her modest bust, Steven cast a shy, wobbly smile up at her, a sight that could probably make Lapis bring the moon crashing down if it meant protecting it.

>"I've never gotten a smooch before..."

>If he kept this up, her teeth would be rotted out by the morning. "Don't say it like such a goober..." Lapis pulled him close again, and when their lips crashed together, Steven let slip a soft moan into her mouth; that was the very instant that she realized she was hooked on him.

>>111281935
>Smooching and talking filled the rest of the night that Steven could manage to keep his sleepy eyes open, and Lapis was happy to oblige him when he begins to nod off. She promptly pulled the covers back up over them and sidled up close to Steven, and stars above, she could have died right there when his arms wound around hers. He didn't seem at all self-conscious about being the little spoon between them, and Lapis was thankful for that.

>"You can go do something else when I fall asleep," he offered, tongue mushing up into drowsy talk. "I know Gems don't enjoy it as much as we do..."

>"Shhh," Lapis hushed. "I'll be right here when you wake up." She would hardly be letting go of him now, after all, not so soon after finally getting him. The answer brought him some comfort, and he looped one of his legs around hers in response, which she was happy to accommodate.

>How fast things changed; just a year ago, he was releasing her from her imprisonment in the mirror, and they were locking eyes for the first time. Now, here they were, and Lapis couldn't imagine feeling more at home anywhere than she did with her arms wrapped around him. Maybe certain others didn't appreciate what he did for them, but she would never never again take him for granted, even if that meant staring Blue Diamond down and fighting back. Hugging him tight, taking care not to squish his gemstone, Lapis buried her face in his hair, letting out an oh-so faint mumble of, "My hero."

>Steven mewled affectionately, and for the first time in what seemed to be forever, everything seemed like it was good in the world.