Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe!

Title: Absquatulate

Summary: Amethyst is a local legend at the Ocean Town college. She's looking for a new place to crash after the arrest of her sister, and her cousin, Carnelian, is there to help with a party. Peridot, an awkward robotics student who's just barely old enough to strike out on her own, is the one who ends up taking her home for the night.

Setting: Human AU

Warnings: Cursing, sexual themes, etc

...

Peridot picks at her jeans irritably, trying to decide whether to bail or not. The blaring music is neither hip-hop nor dubstep; but, rather, a jazzy cousin of the two. It's more tasteful than she expected from a freshman party, but she's not sure if that means she likes it or not.

For that matter, she's not sure if any of this is tasteful. Peridot only recognizes a handful of the college students here, and that's counting the kids who walk past her apartment on the weekends for work or shopping. Most of her studying was done at home, over the internet, giving her a remarkable disadvantage socially.

Her only lifeline in this world of strangers, Pearl, is off dancing with a large black woman she seems to know personally. Peridot could have asked her to stay, of course, and Pearl would've, but the point of partying is to have fun, isn't it? She doesn't want to be a killjoy. The partygoers are nice, but also incredibly drunk, and Peridot isn't sure how much she likes that combination. She's been cradling a cup of beer herself, sipping at it when her tongue gets dry, but she's not aiming to get drunk.

She should probably be getting home by now, but she dressed up for this, and it'd be a waste of energy to give up already. Nothing fancy- it's just a party, after all- but Peridot personally thought she looked fairly decent in her green blouse and ski hat. She'd wanted a look that screamed "I'm casual but also incredibly gay." Nothing in her closet quite fit that motto, so she choose just casual.

Peridot jumps when a hand parts her on the shoulder. She has to crane her head down a little bit to meet mahogany eyes. The woman's skin is a creamy brown, stark against her bright red bikini top and skirt, which is open along the side. Her necklace, full of turquoise stones, looks real. Topping it all off is a river of black hair, tied up in a pony tail. "Hey howdy, ya'll! Need anything? Beer? A hook-up? Any of you smoke?"

"I do." One of the ladies lounging around the speakers with her growls. Part of her face is mutilated, missing an eye; a run-in with a bear as a child, she'd explained. The others addressed her by the nickname of Eyeball, which she thought was a little mean, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Not on the carpet, okay?" The woman laughs, tossing her a box of Marlboros. "Anybody else? Wanna leave my party bros satisfied."

"A better look at that outfit, maybe!" Eyeball's sister squeals. She manages to pull off a gayer look than Peridot without even trying. "You look lovely, Carnelian."

"Thanks, babe. Maybe we can take it off together later." Carnelian winks. "It's my house, after all."

She giggles. "There's always hope."

Eyeball snorts at her, tossing her box back with one less cigarette to its' name. "Treat her nice."

"Eye, eye, captain." She saluted, lightly bumping her forehead from moving too fast and too carelessly. "Anywho, ya'll're gay, right?"

"Carnelian," Lapis observes. She's only in a tanktop and shorts. "Everybody you invite to these parties is gay."

That explains the lackluster turnout, then.

"Hey, I gotta make sure, Bob." Carnelian raises her hands in surrender, shrugging. "I'm trying to set my homegirl up. Any of you lookin' for someone to crash with?"

"Who's your girl?" Lapis takes a long drink out of her cup. "If it's Jasper, I'm going to cut her balls off."

"Nah. Didn't you hear? Stripy got arrested on drug charges. I'm talkin' my littlest sis- Amethyst."

There's a quiet intake of air from all of them, Peridot included.

Amethyst Puma is a legend in Ocean Town. Granted, most of what Peridot has heard has come straight from Pearl, who's known for being a bit dramatic, but even then she was still an intimidating character. Thick-knuckled, big-lipped, and incredibly forward- Peridot has yet to meet a person on campus who didn't claim to know the woman on an intimate level. The idea that she was in the same district, let alone the same house, made a knot of anxiety curl in her belly. She didn't know how to feel about this. Unknowns never typically lead to good things.

Eyeball whistled. "Been awhile since I saw her. How's she been?"

"Why? You interested?"

Her lip curled a bit. "The girl of my dreams is locked up right now. I'll pass."

"I wouldn't waste my breath." Lapis warned. "Jasper's rough at best."

"I like rough."

"Kink talk aside." Carnelian butted in. "Am I wasting my breath, or what?"

Eyeball, her sister, and Lapis all exchanged a look. Then they glanced at Peridot, who was quietly keeping her mouth in her cup, a red tinge decorating her face. She can't help that she's vanilla when it comes to this sort of talk.

"What the hell," Lapis shrugs. "Bring her over."

"Score!" The woman cheers, then jogs away, shoving her Marlboros into her bra as she goes. Eyeball watches her suspiciously and lights up.

"You really wanna bang that, Navy?"

Her sister- Navy- shrugs daintily. "She seems nice."

"And pushy."

"I'm stronger than her. She can't push me."

"We don't know that for sure. She could lift."

Navy grabs her wrist in a consoling gesture, an easygoing smile on her face. "I'm not Leggy, sis. I can hold my ground, should I feel the need. Don't worry so much."

Eyeball grunts, but doesn't push the topic. Peridot wonders if perhaps sobriety wasn't her wisest decision.

Carnelian pushes through the crowd a few minutes later with a woman Peridot can only assume is Amethyst. Peridot puts her cup on the stereo to insure she didn't stain Carnelian's carpet with a shaky hand.

Amethyst is almost a head under Carnelian, with much darker skin. Her brown hair is wavy, almost curly, hugging her chin and half her face like a lover's embrace. She has plump facial features and stubby hands, just as the rumors say, but Peridot focuses more on her voluptuousness. The pleasing curve of her belly; her thighs; and, yes, admittedly, her breasts, though she doesn't stare. Peridot doesn't want to come off as a creep.

Her visible eye is drooped and shadowed with rich purple eyeliner and sparkles. She wears black sweatpants and a light gray hoodie. A star has been stitched onto the chest area, left side. Amethyst holds her hands behind her back as they approach, leisurely on the prowl.

"Heey, pretty eye." She coos, wrapping her arms around Eyeball's shoulders and lacing her fingers together against her neck. She hardly spares the others a glance. Peridot admires her utter nonchalance in spite of the lit cigarette mere centimeters away from her nose. "What's shakin'?"

"Not my bed." Eyeball returns, but sounds earnestly disappointed, even with her earlier statements. "Family's coming over tomorrow."

"Aw." Amethyst says, but she doesn't sound sad as she pulls away. "So, you're the gals my cuz decided to dump me on."

Peridot can't help herself. "I thought you were sisters?"

Amethyst looks at her. The kind of look where you start from the toes, pause at the crotch and boobs, then end on the face. She's still smiling. "Technically, we're not. Carnelian just calls me little sis 'cause I'm the shortest in the fam." Her eye drifted to the woman in question. "Who's this cutie? She's got killer taste in colors."

Peridot splutters. Everyone laughs.

Shame burns her, and she forces herself to straighten, wiping the sweat on her bad hand onto her jeans. It'd only make things worse if she needed Carnelian as an interpreter. "Peridot. I'm Peridot."

"Nice to meet you, Peridot," Amethyst sidles on in, hooking her arms around her like she did Eyeball. She feels her neck start to get warm as her half-lidded eyes droop further. "I'm Amethyst. You like to dance?"

Peridot swallowed. "I-I can't. Dance."

"Everybody can dance, Peri." She has a thick, powerful set of teeth. "S'just a matter of how comfortable you are with it."

("She's doomed." Eyeball whispers with a rough chuckle. Navy makes an indecisive sound and doesn't reply.)

"And you complained about setting you up," Carnelian laughed.

All at once, the heat and softness drew away from her. Peridot immediately missed it.

"Peri's a new friend, cuz." She says, one hand lounging on the speaker beside Peridot, the other on her hip. "What she does or doesn't want is up to her."

"I wouldn't mind trying to dance." Peridot is surprised she can make full sentences. "Just… not here."

Amethyst's slow smile- and attention- is back. "There's a backyard of possibilities."

Peridot doesn't complain when Amethyst excuses them and takes her outside. It's late- or early- and the dew tickles her ankles. Amethyst upheaves a bottle of booze on two teenagers making out on the grass and they both laugh as they go inside, grumbling.

"I should probably warn you about my hand." Peridot hesitantly holds out her right hand, showing off the weak grip. She can't even make a fist. "I had an incident when I was a child."

"Okay." Amethyst nonchalantly grabs her wrist, guiding it to rest on her wide waist, which it cupped perfectly. "This work?"

"Yes." Peridot squeaks. The crook of her midsection is hot and soft to the touch, just like the rest of her, and maybe she's a little tipsy at this point. "This is fine."

Amethyst laughs, long and low. "Dude, I just saw you as that dog in a burning room. It was cute."

"Uh… thanks?"

Her smile is sharp with affection and something humid. "Yer a nerd, aren'tcha Peri?"

"Well, I am getting a degree in robotics."

Something flashed in her eyes. "You gonna make Wall-E's for a living?"

"No!" She defends, but the gentle way she says it makes her reconsider. "But I do have a replica in my closet, I think. Or maybe I left it at my parent's house?"

"Haha, neat." Amethyst locks their free hands together. "Normally, I dance like a boss, but a nerd like you needs somethin' more simple. Let's just move."

They twirled in the grass, legs streaked with dew. Amethyst presses their bodies together again, rolling and moving like water. Whatever her jokes, it's increasingly obvious that Amethyst knows what she's doing. She could even give lessons.

Peridot jumps and stumbles when Amethyst spins her, but her touch is firm. A sense of unreality is beginning to set in. Is she really dancing, tipsy, with this random woman she hardly knows? More importantly, can they keep doing it?

She twirls her in silent revenge, but Amethyst just goes with it, spinning with laughter in her eyes. She grit her teeth and made the split-second decision to dip her, watching in horror as her hand gave out mere seconds after feeling it cramp.

Amethyst seemed to drop in slow motion, jaw open with surprise. It's not a long fall- they're both short people- but she still lets out a little 'oof' when her ass hits.

She messed it up.

She ruined this.

Amethyst bursts out in vicious peals of laughter.

Shame pricked at her wet eyes. It was an easy task, forgetting her weak hand. She hardly ever used the stupid thing, and, when she did, it was for simple reasons. She'd never thought to use it to dip a full-grown woman before. She should've realized it wouldn't work.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Forget it." Peridot says, and just barely manages not to sniffle. Her good hand wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm going back inside."

The laughter stopped. "Wait, Peri, no…"

The nickname had been cute before. Now, it only worsens the blow to her pride. Peridot turns and stomps away, jerking against the stubby hand that grabs her wrist. She hadn't noticed the crickets chirping before now.

"No more dancing." Amethyst promised. "Let's just chill on the porch and have a drink."

Peridot finds her composure weakening. Honestly, Amethyst could have any woman in this party, depending on their orientation. Lapis had said that almost everybody was gay. "Why?"

"You're cute and I like Wall-E. Also, I'm kinda hoping you'd be up to banging later, but that's totally voluntary."

Peridot's face flames, but she can still find it in her to laugh. She can practically see the tension melting off her own shoulders.

"Okay."

"Have you lived here long?" Peridot asks as she takes the offered red solo cup. Amethyst squats a bit to sit down. "I hear about you a lot, but I've never seen you."

"Nah. I'm new here." Amethyst shrugs quietly. "I moved to Ocean Town to hook up with the fam. My ma gave me and my sis away when I was just a baby, so it's only now I get to meet all my cousins and nieces and shit. We call each other sisters to make it easier."

"Your blood sister is Jasper, right?"

"Right." Amethyst smiles toothily at her. "Before you ask; yes. The rumors are all true. Ex-gang, drug dealer, stone cold bitch. You couldn't pay me to go toe-to-toe with Jasper."

Peridot swallows some spit, then sweetens the deal with alcohol. "Should I be concerned about the mafia?"

"Ha! It wasn't anything that deep. Jasper wasn't stupid." Amethyst shrugs. "I can get you some wicked good pot, though."

"No, thanks."

"'Kay."

Amethyst drinks half her cup in one go. "How 'bout you? Any sibs?"

"Hardly."

"What happened to your hand?"

"Car crash. It went through the wind shield."

"Ouch."

"I don't remember much of it. I was maybe five, at the time. My brain blocked the memories. My mother tells me I begged someone to chop it off, which is weird, seeing how sharp objects scared me as a child."

"I mean. You did kinda go through glass."

Peridot shrugs. It's long been accepted- the fact that she'll probably never remember. "What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Your hand."

"Oh." Amethyst holds her right palm out to her. A tattoo of what looks to be some sort of handle spirals around her wrist and disappears under her hoodie. "I like whips. Got a puma on my other shoulder, too."

"I hope that comment wasn't an innuendo."

"Nope."

"Good." Peridot sets her cup aside with a sigh. "So, what now?"

Amethyst smirks a bit at that. Her eye is half-lidded again. "What're you up for?"

"To stop this weird, half-assed game between us."

"Not a game, Peri. I've been real since this shindig started." Amethyst swung her stubby legs. Somehow, Peridot felt more comfortable speaking her mind now that she'd dunked the woman on the dirt. It made her more human, somehow, even if it was her mistake that put them in this position. "You seem nice. Wanna be pals. Maybe fuck and take you out for dinner tomorrow, if you're interested."

"I don't know you."

"Ditto. Let's learn."

Author's Note: Let's have some fun with this, ya'll.

Fun aside, this is gonna be a story about coming to terms with loss, moving, and your sexuality. Yupper-do.

-Mandaree1

Edit: This was just gonna be on AO3, but I figured why not.