"Hey, it's okay." Steven's voice pulled her from her thoughts, she hadn't realised that she'd been crying, it was something new to her she didn't really understand. Everything she felt was so big, now it was really easy for her to cry. She never used to do that before.

Spinel looked up to see the boy had sat down next to her, Pearl sat on her other side, staring at her as though she were seeing a memory.

"Let me try something." Steven's eyes drifted down to the gem on her chest, it was a long shot, or at least he thought it was. Her gem wasn't cracked, maybe very poorly kept but that was the extent of any damage. So he would try it.

Steven stuck his finger in his mouth, coating it in his healing saliva and  placed it on her gem. Spinel jumped out her her seat at the action, did he not know how important a gem was? Steven yanked his hand back, feeling a little awkward at her reaction.

"I'm sorry, my spit heals- I just thought.." he trailed off, but Spinel's eyes her trained on his finger, still coated in spit. Pink could do that.
Her tears healed gems, there were numerous occasions where Spinel played a tad too rough and got cracked and Pink would come to the rescue.
Before she left at least.

"Try to say something?" He requested, Spinel blinked in confusion until the realization that she could once again speak took over.
What should she say? How could she show her gratitude?

Steven felt his heart pick up pace just slightly while he waited for the gem to answer, she opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened once more.

"Hch."

It was a hoarse noise like all the others and Steven wouldn't have known it wasn't real at all. Spinel knew, though she decided to wait. She had nothing to say. For so many years she had no one to talk to and no reason to talk, but now she did and she wanted to make those first words count.

Steven slumped back into the couch letting out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry, I thought it might work." His reaction made Spinel second guess her decision, he looked so hopeless, but it was all for naught, when she was ready. Really, truly ready, she would talk.

"Hey, man, it's alright, you tried your best." Amethyst nudge him slightly, pushing him out of that mild depression.

"Yeah.." he sighed, "in the mean time, we can show you around town? And see Little Homeworld- it's still under construction." He perked up at the idea, surely Spinel would adore Little Homeworld, and maybe make new friends, he could show her to Peridot and Lapis, they could even go to the boardwalk.
He turned toward the gem in question, waiting for her approval. Spinel nodded with a smile, setting down her cup and bouncing somewhat giddily.

"Alright! We can take the warp!" Steven smiled, waving her over. Spinel quickly latched onto him and followed him back up the stairs to the warp pad, letting him lead her wherever he wanted.
Really, she only wanted his company, maybe because she only really knew him, and he was so sweet and kind, but also because he talked to her, and she liked listening.

"We built Little Homeworld for gems who don't want to live with other gems, it's a place where fusions and off colors are safe, I think you'll really like it." Steven explained as they appeared on the warp pad that was hoisted in the air via crane.

"Steven! You're back!" A voice bellowed from a distance, Spinel peeked over Steven's shoulder to see the speaker, a gruff and large Bismuth grinned from atop the crane controls. "And you brought a new friend!"

Steven grinned widely at the welcome sight, wrapping his arm around Spinel's waist and hopping off the pad, floating gently to the crane platform.
Spinel clutched him tightly, this boy wasn't normal. He said he was part gem, but this was eerily similar to something else. She decided it would be better to ignore.

"Hey guys!" He beamed, "this is Spinel, she can't talk but she's really cool. I found her in m- a garden." Steven caught himself, glancing to see if his companion had noticed at all, she was more preoccupied giving a deep curtsey to his friends.

"I'm showing her around, how's construction coming along?" Steven asked, glancing at Peridot who was stabbing in numbers on her pad.

"89 percent, at this rate we should finish before the week is out." She answered, glancing up for a moment. "I've never seen a Spinel before- aren't you supposed to be for entertainment?"

Spinel's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly replaced it with a wider grin, bouncing over toward Peridot and cartwheeling around her.

"I think that's a yes." Steven chuckled, "we were going to take the long way back so Spinel can meet some of the townsfolk." He smiled back at the pink gem, watching her kick her feet together while handstanding.
It was good to see her move, in the palace she didn't stray from Pink's room, and mostly avoided the other gems. Here she was like a bouncy ball, hopping all over the place looking at anything and everything that offered interest. She was happy, she deserved this.

"What do you say Spinel?" He gestured widely at Little Homeworld, pulling her attention from the crane controls to the scenery beyond. Spinel bounced off the crane and trotted up to meet him, leaning over the edge to take in the view before turning back with an enthusiastic nod.

"Awesome!"