"So, what do you think?" Steven glanced back at Spinel who had one arm wrapped around his and the other coiled around a plethora of toys and prizes and popcorn from the boardwalk arcade. She nodded enthusiastically in reply, shifting slightly to allow her face to be seen. Steven laughed and changed direction, veering off toward the Big Donut, the last stop on his little tour.

"Okay, before we get back, I want to show you the Big Donut." He explained, holding the door open for her as she shuffled through. Spinel dropped her load and looked around the establishment, taking it the delectable scent of freshly made donuts.

"Two donuts please!" He called, smiling at Lars as he pulled out two strawberry donuts and stuffed them into a bag.
"Thank you."

He turned back to Spinel, digging out a donut for her to try.

"You'll really like these." He affirmed, waiting for her to take it from him. Spinel grabbed the donut and inspected it quizzically before opening her mouth and chomping down on it. Steven couldn't hide his smug little grin as her face lit up at the taste.

"Told you you'd like them." He giggled as she ate the rest of the donut and gathered her souvenirs. "Let's head back to the beach house."

The two entered through the front door, Steven called to the others to see if they were there, no answer.

"Guess they went to help with Little Homeworld." He smiled, taking a few of Spinel's things and putting the in various locations. "What do you want to do?"

Spinel place her finger to her chin as she thought, she could tell Steven something, a joke.
No, that would be a terrible first thing to say.
They could play a game of hide and seek? What if she hid so well he never found her though? And he just forgot about her and she stayed there playing hide and seek for another six thousand years.
No.

"How about we give you a room?" Steven offered, the only one available was Rose's room, but Spinel didn't know who it belonged to, and it would be better than the last room a guest had. Still, it was not exactly the best place for a gem with..issues to be.

"Nevermind about that," Steven backpedaled, "you can stay in the greenhouse with Lion, that way you're never alone."

It wasn't his best solution, but he tried, and Spinel didn't seem to notice his fumbling.

The silence between them began to stifle the air, making Steven a little uncomfortable, it wasn't her fault though. He grappled for something to say.

"So..uh, I'm gonna put on a movie." Steven nodded to himself, good, that will distract her enough to ease the silence. He shuffled through his DVDs, finding the first in a long line of Lonely Blades to introduce to her and settled down on the couch, prompting the gem to do the same.

"This is a really good saga, with swords and ninjas and samurai, I think you'll like it." He suggested, letting the gem sit next to him as he pulled open the bag of popcorn she had won.
The movie started, but as Spinel sat longer, she felt the inexplicable urge to move and do something, anything but be still. She didn't like it, or the way it kept her mind off the pictures on the screen. Every second she sat still it felt like grass had sprouted into her skin.

She shifted her legs, pulling them up, then sitting cross legged, then leaning, nothing worked.
Spinel squirmed, catching Steven's attention and he gently pat her shoulder.
"We can do something else?"

She shook her head and nestled herself into the couch, steeling herself in his company. She wasn't alone. She could stay here with him and it would be okay, she could trust him.

Dusk fell on the horizon until night finally took over by the end of the movie, Steven had gone from sitting to laying on the arm rest of the couch and Spinel was splayed over him like a light net. She tilted her head to see if he was awake still, in the palace the boy slept.
It was something she was somewhat familiar with, he told her about it the night he brought her back with him. Something about shutting down?

She knew something like that. In the garden she would stand for so long that she saw things, very very odd things and very scary things too. But she would open her eyes and be in the same place and nothing had actually changed. She assumed that was the sleep that Steven talked about.
Steven had dozed off just before the end credits, and was drooling a little on the couch but Spinel didn't particularly care.

"Thank you."