Donut Family
AU
[Rights go to Rebecca Sugar, plus Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu. At least half of the dialogue in the entire story is straight from the show.]
Greg ends up working at the Big Donut instead.
-This is dialogue heavy, as it follows the episodic format. But I will put links to my tumblr which will have background art and the blueprints for the Old Wash on my profile.-
Tid-Bit Notes: This story, strangely, has flowed like hot butter. Probably since the story line is already established and I don't have to worry about the setting that much; readers will most likely remember all the settings I pose for them.
-artisticRadifyer
Ch. 1 Gem Glow
"NOOOOOO!"
"We aren't that far away, Buddy."
"Lars! Lars! Tell me I'm dreaming!" Steven clung to the employee.
"You're dreaming," the lanky boy deadpanned, "Now get off; I'm stocking."
"But, how can they get rid of Cookie Cat? You took out the cooler, too! That means they're gone for good!"
"I guess they just," Sadie faltered in the face of Steven's briefly hopeful look, "stopped making them."
"Why would they stop making them, though?! They're the best ice cream sandwiches ever made! Don't they have LAWS for this?"
"Tough Bits, man. Nobody buys them anymore. They just couldn't compete with Lion Lickers..."
"Ugh. Lion Lickers? Nobody likes those! They don't even look like lions! Kids these days..."
"I think you mean 'teens these days' with how much the trio gets them," Greg commented.
"If you miss them so much, maybe you should bring them back with your Magic Belly Button!~"
"That's not how it works, Lars... The gems say I'm supposed to have a weapon."
"Because you can totally fight the Lion Lickers to let the Cookie Cats have their spotlight back."
"Lars, stop being mean to him. -"
"Still," Steven gently overrode Sadie, "will I ever get my weapon?"
"We don't know, Ste-man. Now, you two, you said you wanted to tell him. Do it before I do."
"Yeah. Come on, you weird Belly-Gem."
Steven followed Lars and Sadie to the break room, where the freezer he thought was missing and thrown out stood in the corner, full of the discontinued treat.
"WHAAAAT?! You still have some? Yes!"
"We bought a few grocery stores' stock of them."
"You mean I did," Greg corrected from the doorway to the front, monitoring for customers.
"We all thought about it though," Lars re-pitched.
"You weren't even here when we got the notice," Sadie pointed out.
"Eee! I'm so glad you got me these!"
"Well, they are your favorite..."
"OOOHH~," Steven began a note.
"I'm manning the front. Bye," Lars scrambled to get away from the song.
Sadie, being left sole audience to the performance until Greg came back in the middle of it, sang back-up chorus with him. The father and female friend both congratulated the boy on it as he declared he would save them all after enjoying the first of the last batch of Cookie Cats.
He sat on a platform of napkins that made a chair, "I like to eat the ears first!" The first ear was dismembered and Steven hummed his joy. His gem grew bright under his junior donut shirt and the others noticed it.
"Uh, Bud?"
"What- Ah! My gem!"
"Didn't you say something about a weapon earlier?!" Sadie stood, ready to dodge.
"BUT- Ah! Uh? I don't know how!" The glow began to fade. "It's fading! How do I make it come back?!" Steven panted as he jittered in place.
"Whoa, Steven! Calm down! Breathe..." Greg soothed.
"Let's not make a vein pop or something..."
"That'd make the third visit to the Barrigas this pay period for doctoring."
The glow dimmed out.
"Awww..."
"It's ohkay, Ste-Man. You'll learn it."
"Learn?" Sadie caught, "Is there a technique he needs to be taught?"
"Like, from a teacher?" Greg paused as he thought it out, "...The gems could probably do it. I don't think you want it popping out randomly, huh?"
"I don't wanna hurt anyone!" Steven put the rest of the treat in the freezer it came from.
"Sadie, go with him to the Temple. If there's a monster around you both leave as quick as you can. Understand?"
"Sure. Come on."
The two grabbed their things and Steven led the way through the front.
"Going already?"
"You missed it, Lars! My gem was glowing!"
"Uh huh." The young man addressed the young lady, "Why are you two leaving early?"
Greg implied his blessing on the impromptu trip, "She's taking Steven to the gems."
"Y'all are crazy."
"See you tonight, Lars, Dad!"
"Later, Stew-Ball!"
Outside, Sadie began to walk to the beach's cliff-peninsula, but Steven called her towards the Old-Wash, "They seem to feel better when I wear one of my Star shirts. That way you can change too!"
"Why do you want me to change?"
"You said last time you fought a monster that work clothes were hard to fight in. And, you never know in Beach City.~"
"Alright, you goofball. You give a good point."
They approached the Temple, all three of the gems were out in the open, rounding up huge bugs that Pearl yelled out were ''Centipeetles,' not 'Milipeetles'' at Amethyst. The last few were almost stomped out, so Steven and Sadie waited for them to completely dispose of them. The gems noticed the two organic bodies because a hiding bug popped out of its hiding spot to lunge at the two.
Garnet snagged it by the tail-end and tossed it over her shoulder onto the spear Pearl still held without looking, "Sorry, I thought you would wait at the bottom longer."
"...That's alright, ma'am."
"Garnet! Can one of you guys explain how to summon a weapon?"
"Why do you wanna explanation?" Amethyst scoffed, "It's so easy."
"He may not even be able to make one at all; since he's organic, Amethyst. But! Don't worry, Steven. You'll be fighting in no time. I'll even go first!~"
Sadie and Steven were told to follow Pearl up a hill to a large, blossoming tree. Pearl's lesson was very short, with not a single, true explanation, but there was a mini physics lesson and a demonstration that was a bit impressive on Sadie, simply because she's never seen a gem summon their weapon.
Next was Amethyst, and on their way back to the Temple, they found her outside The Big Donut. Her demonstration was destructive and short, with no explanation because it was so 'natural.' The destruction was, fortunately, normal enough that the company knew to set aside a small budget for Beach City's store for random repairs and replacements; in this case, the dumpster again.
The last was at the Temple with Garnet, whom gave an explanation, but one that possibly only applied to gems. Steven could not feel the 'energy of all existing matter' with conscious knowledge of the physics he was touching or sensing. It barely made sense to Sadie and she had gone through school already.
The boy and young woman bid goodbye and Sadie contemplated each lesson, "I think you just do it one day and it'll be peaches."
"Pearl said she worked really hard, though."
"She does it super easy now, after getting it the first time through work, right?"
"Maybe? What about Garnet?"
"I think she tried to explain it with logic and physics. Two things that I know more of than you do, but I still don't quite understand what she meant."
"Uh..."
"Wait for it naturally, Steven. It'll come."
"Ohkay." They shared a pleasant silence until they were in sight of the street the Big Donut was down again, "Can I go get a Cookie Cat?"
"We have a box in the Ol' Wash. You can have one with dinner."
"Ooooh! What about the cooler?"
"If Greg is ohkay finding a spot for it in one of the curtains, then I don't see why we couldn't bring it home."
"WooHoo! Cookie Cat! Cookie Cat!"
"I'm done eating!"
"Go grab ya one, then," Greg allowed.
"Eeee!"
"He's gonna be so disappointed when those run out," Lars predicted.
"I think they're making a movie for the mascot," Sadie pulled out her phone.
"Cookie Cat: the Movie? You're joking."
"Nope." Sadie shows the two men the screen, "I was looking for one of the toys you could win from the box package, and I found a bunch of merchandise for an upcoming movie."
"So, Christmas? His birthday? Another holiday you get presents on?"
"Where are they?!" Steven shouted from inside the building.
"They're hidden kinda deep!" stated Greg. "Just put everything back in the right way! Alright?"
"Yeohkay!"
"His birthday," Sadie answered, then continued, "And, yes, they're cheap enough for any of us to buy; or we could lump like we did last year."
"Anything we do," Lars said, "he'll be happy with."
"Heh," Greg chuckled. "That's true. Not like he seems to care for material things that much."
"I got em! I'm puttin' em close to the top middle!"
"Good job, Steven!" both Sadie and Greg called.
Steven rushed out with an idea, "I think my best bet would be to do the same thing that happened last time my gem glowed."
"So, singing and eating?" Lars asked with some skepticism. "You do that all the time."
"It's still a smart idea," Sadie defended the boy.
Steven began to sing again, but in his earnest, didn't try for quality, but rather speed: ending after three spliced lines from the song.
"Aw."
"Sheesh, Steven. It sounded better a whole room away earlier today. You shouldn't be so impatient."
"Hypocrite," Sadie growled.
"I mean, taking your time helps you enjoy the small things in life."
"Maybe I'm not a real Crystal Gem."
"They will still let you help on any missions if you ever want to, Bud. I'm sure of it," Greg reassured his son.
"And, you know:" Sadie said softly, "You still got us."
"Even if some of us didn't plan on it, you're good to have around," Lars admitted.
Steven smiled, "Yeah. Even if I don't have powers, I've still got: Cookie Cat!" He ate the ear off of the treat and his gem glowed once more.
It grew brighter and brighter, until out materialized his weapon.
"Whoa!" Lars about broke the chair he was sitting in, "Is that a frisbee?"
"His mother's shield…"
"What are ya- Whooooaaa..." Steven admired the shield protruding from the light in front of his stomach. "Cool!" His shield, at the movement made with the exclamation, shot off to rebound a few times against the building-until sticking out of the small TV on a small table.
"Well, at least it's also offensive," Sadie broke the shocked silence.
"Stew-Ball, you're gonna be like Captain America!"
"Was Mom like that?"
"You bet. In fact, better!"
"Sadie! Lars! Captain America!"
"Yep," Sadie agreed, "Good job, Steven!"
"That was...very bright," said Lars.
"Can you do it again?" Sadie referred to the conversation from earlier that day, "Now that you did it once?"
"Like we said earlier? Ummmm..." Steven concentrated for a moment, "No."
"Hm. Still, you'll get it. And now we know you don't not have powers."
A rumble sounded through the city, and after looking around, it was another monster near the Temple. From the angle the Old Wash was at in the city, they could only see a brief glimpse when the monster curled around the lighthouse.
The group went inside, Greg muttering, "I'm so glad he doesn't fight yet."
"HEY! Where were we gonna but the Cookie Freezer?!"
Bonus:
"THIS THING IS GETTING ACID EVERYWHERE!"
"WHY IS EVERYTHING MELTING?!"
"WE NEED TO ELECTROCUTE IT!"
"WHERE ARE WE GONNA GET ELECTRICITY?!"
"Oh. WRONG FUTURE!"