"Connie! Check us out!" Steven ran along the beach toward his friend. Except the creature running towards Connie didn't sound or look quite like Steven. But it knew her name, somehow. It sprang forward, tackling Connie and licking her face.
"Hey stop! We- I- should stop!" Whatever it was pulled back, talking to itself in a strange way.
"Steven?" Connie questioned, though obviously whatever was before her was not. At least, not all of it. There was something oddly familiar about the shape and form of the being before her, and though it sounded a bit like Steven, it also sounded a bit not like Steven. In the same way, it looked a bit like Steven, even walking on two legs, and yet it certainly was not Steven at the same time. But Connie knew that magical things happened all the time in Steven's world, and most of it could be easily explained.
"I'm Stevion now! I fused with Lio- RRRRRRRR." Suddenly a snarl ripped from its jaws, interrupting mid-sentence. "Woah. Sorry, Connie. That seems to happen every once in awhile."
Connie looked both shocked and excited at Steven's announcement. "But how? I thought you could only fuse with gems and humans?"
"Lion is a gem! It was hiding under his mane the whole time!" He went to lift the indicated area of hair, but his head swooped down, teeth bared and seeming intent on biting himself. "Hey now, you behave!" He said, pointing to himself.
"Have you told the Gems yet?" Connie asked. Something didn't feel right about this. Something about Steven fusing with Lion felt wrong. It wasn't that Steven was fusing with an animal- no, Connie knew that gems could shapeshift, and weren't ever really human or animal or any type of material that existed on Earth.
"Nope! I wanted to tell you first. We just fused this morning." Suddenly, the fusion fell over onto its side, closing its eyes and seeming intent on not moving. "No, we're- I'M not napping here. Not right now!" The fusion pulled itself up, very evidently in a struggle against its opposing wills. "Come on, you can still ride on my back!"
Still a little unsure, but always willing to trust Steven, Connie hopped aboard, as Stevion raced across the beach to his home.