Steven grinned as he looked around the pink cloud filled room, making sure everything was prepared perfectly. Thinking that made him chuckle as he realized just how much Pearl had rubbed off on him in that way. "Let's see now…giant bed?" He glanced over the bed he'd conjured from his imagination, heart-shaped with pink sheets. He'd tried for different colors several times, but His Room in the Temple had trouble making anything that wasn't pink unless it was based off a specific, non-pink object. Since he liked pink anyway, he'd let it be. "Check."
"Floor?" He glanced down to where he stood, making certain that yes, that was a pink carpeted floor in a cloud pattern rather than a carpet of pink clouds. There were limits to the amount of focus he and The Room could bring to bear, and he preferred to keep the focus on more important details. "Check. Rose petals strewn about everywhere?"
His smile wavered slightly as he stared out at the rose petals covering the bed, the floor, and swirling around in the distance. Sure, they were traditional for what they were doing and fit the décor…but roses were always associated with his Mom in Steven's mind, with good reason. His smile managed to steady when he reminded himself how he'd chosen to think of it…as a sign that his Mom was – as always – with him for the most important moments of his life. "Check," he murmured softly, his hand going briefly to his Gem before looking around again. "Scented candles?"
The curtained off area of His Room had candles of various scents designed to mix pleasantly together scattered around, chosen by design to help set the mood and give illumination. He took a sniff…only to wrinkle his nose. "A little strong…" With a thought, he made about half the candles vanish in poofs of pink cloud. Taking another whiff, he smiled. "That's better…now to test illumination." Raising his hands above his head, he slowly lowered them.
The light outside the curtained off area slowly dimmed as though the sun were setting, even creating a brief fiery display in the distance before the pink was dimmed to dark purple, with stars glittering far above. He pushed from his mind the fact that, despite all his attempts, His Room still showed stars in patterns he'd never seen. They were his Mom's stars, after all, the ones she had looked up at when she'd first emerged from the Earth. Turning his attention back to around him, he saw the candles' glow now gave the perfect amount of illumination amongst the curtains.
"Check," Steven confirmed with a wide grin. "Music?" As he asked, soft mood music began to play from everywhere and nowhere, having the exact quality of music played on a phonograph despite the absence of any phonograph present. His Room was truly a marvel in its own way.
"Check," he purred happily. "This rockin' bod?" He glanced down at himself as he flexed playfully. Around the time Connie had hit her first growth spurt from puberty, Steven had started shooting up like a weed and out like a tree. He was still a bit chubby, but now he looked less like a beach ball and more like a somewhat out-of-shape linebacker, with thick limbs and broad shoulders. Of course, he was pretty certain that was the result of subconscious shape shifting keeping him 'soft and cuddly' for when he and Connie were relaxing together, as he became visibly tougher while in combat. In one such combat, his shirt had been torn off and Amethyst had commented that she could grind meat on his abs. Despite his best efforts, though, Steven had never seen that definition himself. He was 'soft and cuddly' right now, plainly visible with him only wearing his pants. "Check," he stated proudly. "All that's missing is-"
"This 'rocking' bod?" Connie purred teasingly as the curtains parted for her.
Steven turned towards his girlfriend and couldn't help but stare. She had grown beautifully as puberty hit her in full. The diet her Mom had designed for her 'Gem War' activities had ensured she grew tall, and the training and battles ensured she stayed lean but well-muscled. The only fat on her was in rather pleasing areas, as she'd grown quite curvaceous. Right now, that full figure was barely contained by an 'outfit' – if it could be called that – she'd obviously conjured out of the Room, as Dr. Maheswaran likely would have had an aneurysm if she'd ever seen a bill for it or found it in Connie's closet. Steven let an incredibly goofy grin cross his face as he turned fully towards her. "Check…" he responded.
Connie couldn't help but giggle as she stepped up to him, placing her smaller hands in his larger ones. "Ready?" she asked him softly.
"Definitely," Steven responded eagerly. "You?" he asked gently.
In response, Connie lifted one hand from his, put it to his slightly stubbly cheek, and guided him into a deep kiss. They slowly spun around each other as they pulled closer and closer before finally tumbling to the bed, Steven landing on his back as Connie sprawled on top of him. The gentle kissing continued, but their hands ceased to be content in each other's. They started to run their hands over each other's bodies, feeling every inch and curve as the moment they were eager for approached. As Connie's hands started to tug on Steven's pants, they both felt this moment was totally, perfectly right…
Until Stevonnie opened her eyes. "Oh, come on!" she declared angrily as the music stopped, the candles went out, and sunlight returned to Her Room. "This is the 13th time we've tried to get this right, and the 13th time we've wound up fusing! This is so-"
In a flash of light, Stevonnie separated back into Steven and Connie.
"-confusing!" Steven finished his thought.
"-frustrating!" Connie concluded her own, the difference in emotional states – and their own lack of desire to remain fused at the moment – having triggered their separation.
"Everything was perfect this time!" Steven complained. "What went wrong? What do we still need to do?"
"Why the heck is it this hard to make love?" Connie demanded angrily. "We just want to-" She paused as she turned towards Steven, only to start giggling.
"What's so funny?" Steven demanded, turning towards Connie…only to discover she was now wearing his pants, instead of the 'outfit' she'd picked out. Looking down, he realized just how ludicrous said outfit looked on him, and he quickly joined Connie in laughter as they fell against each other in the bed…
Stevonnie sighed as she pushed herself off the bed. "Well, that's one way to get back in the right clothes," she murmured ruefully. "Still, maybe we should-"
"Really?" Steven demanded as the pair once more were in their separate bodies, and back in their proper clothes. "You really think we should ask the Gems?"
"Can you think of anyone else to ask?" Connie countered. "Fusion is a Gem thing, so if we want to know how to stop it when we don't want it, we should ask them!"
"But…" Steven began awkwardly. "They're like my Moms! It's…awkward."
"Come on, Steven!" Connie nudged playfully. "You've never had a problem asking them about odd things. Remember when you asked Pearl why you were growing hair on your-"
"Don't remind me!" Steven groaned, burying his face in his hands. If there was one thing he'd classify as a drawback to spending so much time fused with Connie – other than its interference in their present endeavor – it was that she had access to all the most embarrassing moments of his life, whether she was there for them or not. "But even so, it's…well, how would you feel about asking your Mom for advice on your sex life?"
"Gyak!" Connie let out as she tumbled back. "Don't even go there! Ever since she accepted that she can't keep me from going to war with you, she's determined to 'keep me safe' in all other ways by teaching total abstinence! I swear, if she weren't a doctor she'd probably be like those stereotypical 'if you have sex you'll get pregnant and die' matrons!"
"…okay, maybe asking the Gems is a bit better than that," Steven allowed with a rueful chuckle. "But who should we ask?"
"Uh, duh?" Connie pointed out as she grabbed the clothes she'd brought into the Room to get changed. "We want to know about Fusions…we ask Garnet!"
Steven smacked himself in the forehead, feeling like an idiot. "Duh! Of course Garnet's the one to ask. How did I not think of that?"
"Because Stevonnie obviously gets her brain from me," Connie teased playfully, pressing her back against Steven to lean into him.
Steven lovingly wrapped his arm around her. "Then it's a good thing I'll always have you to keep me in line, isn't it?" he whispered affectionately.
Connie grinned impishly up at him. "We should probably get going before we end up fusing again."
"Good idea," Steven agreed with a chuckle as he grabbed his shirt.
