Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4224349-20150212230234/@comment-24917712-20150213150556

People are freaking out over Steven's new ability but honestly it shouldn't really be a surprise. My theory from reddit:

 Pearl states "Rose could see the beauty in everything." This could be why Steven sees Lars as his friend even though he's an ass to him. He empathizes with everyone, so him feeling the Gem's pain and suffering although is new, isn't as surprising as it should be.