Steven woke with a start. Crumbs and discarded pizza crusts fell to the floor as he floundered from the couch to the floor in a jumble of food and pillows. He looked around the house from the floor. The light was lower than he remembered, not quite evening yet, but definitely getting there.
His relaxing Tuesday snack session had gotten a little out of hand. A haze of cheese and sugar was the only thing he could remember before the sleep hit. The dreams that came were a disjointed mix of colors swirling into one another. Voices went in and out of earshot as the colors changed. Some sounded sad. Others confused or angry. Steven was pretty sure what it was. The Cluster.
He shuddered at the memory. While Steven was ecstatic that they had been able to deal with the Cluster nonviolently, and that it was seemingly at peace with itself when he and Peridot had left it, it would still pop into his head from time to time. The idea that the Cluster might rip its way through the Earth's crust never crossed his mind, he just felt bad for all of them. Having an entire colony's worth of people to talk to might be nice, but what if they wanted to see the world? Or be what they used to; become whole?
Steven got up from his pile on the floor. He couldn't hear anyone else around the beach house. The Gems hadn't been home all day; a note on the refrigerator had said something about a nondescript "Mission," how it was in an area "unfit for human life," and how they'd be back late.
Getting existential about his Cluster dream was not something Steven wanted to do alone. He cupped his chin in thought, "Hmm. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl are out. Connie said she studying for a 'mid-term.' Not sure what that is…. Uhhh. Maybe Peedee or Sadie and Lars are around."
The Beach City boardwalk was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday afternoon. Both the Beach Citywalk Fries and The Big Donut were packed with people. Well, packed was a strong word; it was more just strange for Steven to see more than three people at once at either establishment.
Steven gave a small sigh, "Whelp that's a bust. Who coulda guessed that a Deerhound Bus broke down right outside of town?" He stopped, "Oh. Garnet, duh."
He continued down the peer until he saw the amusement park, also streaming with an extra crowd of people. "Yeah! This'll take me out of my funk! A probably unsafe rollercoaster or some cheap, fun games!"
Steven was starting to wonder if three buses had been passing by town. Fun Land was filled to bursting with people. Not an inch of the rickety walkway was empty for more than a few seconds as laughing patrons crowded around each other to get to the next attraction. It'd taken him twenty minutes to get his tickets.
Harold Smiley, the manager or maybe owner of the park, Steven wasn't sure, was surrounded by a mass of yelling children, controlling the group like a herd of loud sheep as he spoke over them about the fantastic prizes that they could win if they just made one ring over the neck of a bottle.
The chubby boy shook his head at the other kids with a knowing smile. "They're gonna waste all their money before they even get to the doable games."
Steven moved on from Mr. Smiley. Watching him swindle kids would only make his mood worse. The scrambler ride had a decent line so that was a no, the rollercoaster operator, Mr. Smiley, would be back in five, and none of the other games were really calling to him.
"Aw there's gotta be something!" Steven huffed to himself. As he walked further into the park his dream funk faded slowly into a simpler, but more pressing, boredom.
He'd gotten to the end of Fun Land, a large wire fence was standing tall before him. The back of the park was as devoid of people as it was of good booths and rides. A few porta-potties were stuck up against the fence next to a rusty dumpster and a dilapidated booth with faded lettering that at one point may have said, "Tarot Reading."
Turning back around Steven did see one thing of interest. It was one of those old strong man tests, with a lone figure sitting in a chair next to it. Normally this wouldn't have been Steven's first choice in Fun Land booth, but he was getting desperate. Maybe his Gem powers would actually make him good at one of these?
A lanky young man was sitting in a folding chair, a comically large, wooden mallet propped his hands and chin up. Thick sandy hair hid the man's eyes along with most of his pale face. A thin, toothy smile opened on his face as Steven got closer.
"Hi there, kid," the skinny man drawled out, "What brings you all the way back here? Lost?" His voice was a lot deeper than you'd guess from a guy with his build.
Steven shook his tight curls, "Nah!" Steven laughed, "Just looking for something new to try."
The man rubbed the back of his head, "Aw, I got to tell you kid, this thing aint the best. It's a little…" he motioned with his hand at the iron bell, "…Crappy. Probably won't even get it half way up. Besides the prizes aint the best either." He pointed his long finger at a cardboard box filled with dime-store stuffed animals.
"Could I give it a try anyway?" Anything would better than nothing at this point.
The man shrugged, "I warned you," Gripping his knees the man pulled himself up from the chair laboriously. Seeing him standing, Steven realized how thin he actually was. He could give Pearl a run for her money. The wooden hammer passed from the park worker's bony fingers to Steven's thicker mitts, "Give it a whirl."
Steven pulled out a string of pink tickets, "How many?"
The man waved his hand in front of his face, "Oh I'm not gonna take your tickets for this, kid. I'd feel bad."
"Are you sure?"
Another toothy grin, "Positively."
Steven returned the smile and moved towards the high-striker machine. The hammer probably weighed a good thirty to forty pounds. The boy's gripped the hammer tightly as he easily hefted it over his head, causing the clerk to raise a surprised eyebrow.
Splinters flew off the hammer as it stuck the base of the machine with an ear splitting clang. The dial climbed the high-striker's tower for a short moment before stopping at the paltry "Girly Man" level. Steven's face dropped for just a second before he jumped at the clerk's voice.
"Oh! Come! On!" He yelled, "You had that, kid! You had it!" He looked angrier that Steven lost than Steven did.
"H-Hey it's alright. It's not a big deal. Just a game. Right?" Steven reasoned. He had not expected that.
The man gave him a stern look, "No, kid, it aint a big deal. But it is a rip."
"But I didn't even lose any tickets. See?!" He waved the pink strips with a big smile, "No loss. All good."
The thin clerk tsked the boy with a raised finger, "Yeah you didn't lose anything this time, kid, but what about next time? Or the next kid that comes back here? Could lose those tickets in a flash over a dumb little scam. That aint right." Steven was shocked at how upset this guy had gotten over so little.
A thin arm reached into the box of stuffed animals and plucked out a blue cheetah, "Here catch." The man threw the periwinkle big-cat to Steven, who stumbled to catch it. "After dealing with this," he thumbed to the game, "You deserve something."
Steven frowned, "But I didn't win. I don't even get a lame pencil eraser or anything. Those are the rules, right?"
"Kid sometimes the rules aren't right? If rules aint right kid, don't follow'em. Feel me?"
"Ugh, I guess." Steven wasn't sure what to think of that. He looked at the man awkwardly for a moment, taking a step away from the high-striker, before remembering his manners, "Oh, and thanks! Mr. um…" He looked for a nametag.
The man answered quickly, "Carmichael. And you're welcome…"
"Steven!" the boy responded in turn, "Steven Universe!"
Carmichael grinned his thin grin, "Now that's a name! Well Mr. Universe I hope you have a lovely rest of your day."
Steven's previous apprehension vanished in an instance. He put on a faux business voice, "Please, Carmichael! Call me Steven. Mr. Universe is my father! Haha!"
"You got it Stevie!" Carmichael chuckled, "And really have a good one. I'll catch you around."
"See you around Mr. Carmichael!" he called back as he ran back into the crowd of people, blue cheetah and tickets in hand. Carmichael waved a pale hand at the retreating boy.
Steven was walking down the boardwalk, getting back onto the beach to get home. The blue, stuffed cheetah was eyeing him, or Steven thought it was.
"Don't look at me like that!" he cried at the inanimate object, "I know I didn't earn you fair and square, but Carmichael said it was alright." He didn't sound so sure. "I mean he works there, so if he says it's okay it must be, right?" Steven puffed his cheeks in confusion, "Oh! I'll ask Pearl or Garnet! They'll know. If they say it was wrong I'll take it back. Yeah, that's it!" He looked at the cheetah, "Glad we had this discussion."
Steven finished his walk home in silence. The Gems still weren't home, so Steven plopped himself down on his bed to watch some TV, putting the potentially wrongfully owned cheetah next to the bed. Soon after he fell asleep for a while longer, and several hours later the Gems returned home. They regaled him with what that "mission" was, and he listened in his usual excited silence. The cheetah forgotten.
To be continued.