Author's Note: This is a follow-up to my fanfic 'Dinner for Too Many'. Although this story can stand on its own, it is still recommended that you read that one first.

I do not own Steven Universe.

"Is it just you two?" Jamie asked.

Steven and Sour Cream looked around, and silently nodded. They were on the Beach City stage for the auditions for the inaugural show of the new community theater program. In fact, those three were the only people on the stage.

Jamie considered the situation. "This may be a bit difficult," he said. His musing was interrupted, however, by two more people rushing up the stage.

"Sorry we're late," said Sadie. "It just took a lot of convincing to get Lars to come along."

"It's just not the kind of thing I'd normally do," Lars said, somewhat apologetically. He perked up when he saw Sour Cream. "Hey! You're doing this too?"

"Yeah," said Sour Cream. "It's not DJing, but I figure it'll at least get me some exposure."

"Well, five's a more workable number, at least," said Jamie. "I'd prefer it better if Mr. Smiley or Ronaldo or someone else with a bit more show-biz experience showed up, but I guess it's for the best; after all, if the entire town was in the play, there would be no one in the audience. Anyway, I would like to welcome you all to Beach City's new theater program! Now, what better way to start off than by performing a play from the greatest of playwrights, William Shakespeare? And what better than his more popular play, Romeo and Isabelle?"

"Oh yeah, I've heard Connie talk about that," said Steven. "She would have loved to be in it. Too bad the practices conflict with her schedule."

Jamie passed out the scripts. "Let's decide on everyone's roles," he said.

"So are you going to Romeo, Jamie?" Steven asked.

"Well, that may be the main role, but it's not the best one. That would be Romeo's best friend, Tybalt. Plus, with so few actors, there will be people who will have to play more than one role—and though I don't want to cast aspersions on your abilities, I believe I am the strongest actor here, so I think it'd be best that I handle as wide a range as a I can. So Lars," he said, turning, "you think you can handle Romeo instead?"

Lars gave a little chuckle. "You mean the guy whose name is synonymous with romance? Sure, I think I could give it a shot."

"Great! And Sadie, you can be Isabelle."

"What, me?" said Sadie. "Sorry, but I don't think I'm ready for a role that big. I was hoping to be like a spear carrier or something."

"I understand," said Jamie. "There are still plenty of parts with only a scene or two that you can have. The nurse. The apothecary. The fairy godmother."

"Wait, then who'll play Isabelle?" asked Lars. "I mean, Sadie's the only girl here."

"That's not a problem," said Jamie. "After all, this play was first performed by a troupe that was entirely male! Sour Cream, do you want to be Isabelle?"

Sour Cream shrugged. "Sure," he said.

"Okay, so he'll be Isabelle, Lars will be Romeo, and Steven, Sadie, and I will divide the other parts between ourselves."

"Er, Jamie," said Lars concernedly, "don't you think that casting lineup could be a bit… awkward?"

"Maybe," said Jamie, "but we have to work with what we've got. I may have to truncate the play a bit, perhaps consolidate a few of the minor roles, but as long as there aren't more than three onstage at the same time, and their costumes are able to be changed quickly, we should be fine."

He skimmed over his own copy of the script, noting which secondary characters shared the stage and crossing out the ones that could be eliminated altogether, then assigned them among Sadie, Steven and himself.

"Now then," he said, "I hate to cut our first meeting so short, especially since we have only two weeks to rehearse, but I need to go home and check that the way I cast everybody is feasible. Start memorizing your lines, but be aware that they might not be final. We'll do a dry reading on Wednesday to see how everything goes."

"I'm back!" Steven announced as he entered the beach house.

"That took less time than I was expecting," said Pearl. "Did something happen? Did they cancel the play?"

"Nah, Jamie just needed to make sure it would work with just five actors."

"Only five?"

"Yeah, me, Jamie, Lars, Sadie, and Sour Cream. That means some people, like myself, have more than one part."

"So, what play ya doing?" Amethyst asked.

"We're doing Romeo and Isabelle," said Steven. "It's the story of two people who fall in love despite being from different, disapproving families!"

"I can relate," remarked Garnet.

"So," said Peridot, "this… play… it's similar to your Earth television programs, except performed live?"

"Yeah," said Steven, showing off his script. "See? We all have certain lines we have to say, and certain things we have to do, and together they make a story!"

"Intriguing," said Perdiot, taking the script from Steven and thumbing through it.

Pearl started reading over Peridot's shoulder. "It appears that the text of this play is slightly antiquated. Are you certain you can handle it?"

Steven waved his hand dismissively. "Of course I can," he said. "And I'm sure the rest of the cast can handle it too. I don't think anything in this play will give us any real trouble." He frowned. "Hey, Peridot? Can I have my script back? I need to start memorizing my lines."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

On Wednesday, the five cast members sat around the stage, reading out the parts they were given, occasionally being given tips from Jamie on pronunciation and tone. And it seemed as if, even though three of them had multiple roles, Lars and Sour Cream still had the most lines, with Romeo and Isabelle dwarfing all the other characters in stage time.

Presently, Sour Cream was finishing up a soliloquy in which Isabelle pined for her Romeo. "Romeo, oh Romeo," he said, "why must you be such? Why must you be of the name Viraldi while I myself am called a Capulet; or why must I be a called Capulet while you are of the name Viraldi?"

This was the cue for Romeo's entrance. "A lovely flower in this garden blooms," Lars read. "Tis Isabelle, a rose without a thorn."

"Oh, Romeo!" said Sour Cream. "I thought I'd never see you e'er again! And then it says we kiss."

Lars blushed. "Right! Kiss. We kiss. Erm…" He turned to Jamie." We don't actually have to kiss, right?"

"No, that can wait until the dress rehearsal."

"I meant—er, nevermind." He looked at his script. "So we kiss, then I say: And how the nectar of your lips is sweet."

And it went on like that, with everybody reading their lines and making note of their entrances, exits, and other actions.

"Alright, everybody!" Jamie said. "The way I've set it up seems workable; keep memorizing your lines, and on Friday, we'll practice any scenes you may find difficult."

"Hey, Steven," said Sadie, stopping him before he could get too far. "Do you want to help me practice our scene in act four together? I think that's going to give me some problems."

"Sure! Unless the Gems need me for a mission, you can count on me!"

"Well, if they do need you, I can always get my mom, or Lars, to read your lines…"

"Hey, Sadie," said Lars, coming up to them.

"Oh, hey Lars," said Steven. "You want to practice with us?"

"What? No," said Lars. "I can practice with Sadie any time, since we're, you know, coworkers and dating. Speaking of which… um… Sadie? You're not… jealous of me and Sour Cream, are you?"

"Why would I be jealous?" asked Sadie. "I mean, it's just a play."

"Of course I know that," said Lars, "but I was wondering if you know that. I mean, Sour Cream is my love interest. In the play, I mean. I mean, he's a guy, you know that, I know that, but he's portraying a girl… whom I'm in love with… and I wanted to know if you were okay with that."

"Of course I'm okay with that! I can tell the difference between fiction and reality!"

"Well, yeah, I know," said Lars, "I just wanted to make sure you weren't jealous that we, you know, kiss and stuff."

"Do you want me to be jealous?" Sadie said. "Should I be jealous?"

"Of course not!" Lars sputtered. "Why should you be jealous? I mean, it's just a play! It doesn't actually mean anything!

Sadie frowned. She turned to Steven. "Steven? I think Lars and I need to talk privately."

"No we don't!" said Lars. "Why would we? I mean, there's nothing I have to say about this that I don't want to share with Steven. Steven can stay." He gave a nervous chuckle.

"Huh," said Steven. "That's not like you. Usually you'd jump at the chance to get me to go away."

"That's not true," Lars protested. "I can tolerate Steven in small doses. In fact, I'd rather kiss Steven than Sour Cream."

Sadie raised an eyebrow.

"Er, that's not what I meant," Lars said. "Obviously, I'd really rather kiss Sour Cream… uh, no! I mean, um…" His mouth tried to find the right words, but none came out. So instead, he got angry. "Why couldn't you have just been Isabelle?" he yelled at Sadie before he stomped off.

"Oh, Lars…" Sadie murmured sadly.

Steven held her hand comfortingly. "Lars may be acting really weird right now," he said, "but it's still clear that he likes you a lot."

"I know," said Sadie with a sigh. "I just hope he knows it."