Jasper was furious.

For so long.. she'd been stuck.. under that stupid ocean.. made her sick just thinking about it.. well now she was out, and were these stupid traitors gonna pay. She eyed the technician. Another stupid star. Another stupid traitor.

"So many traitors..," Jasper snarled. "You all make me sick."

"We're not traitors!" Pearl yelled back.

"Steven," Connie said urgently. "Who is that?"

".. you know how I told you Lapis was fused at the bottom of the ocean with Jasper about a year ago?" Steven asked. "Well, um, meet Jasper."

"Your face makes me sick." Peridot sighed.

"Yeah, I'm with Peridot." Amethyst nodded.

"Shut up!"

"Big, angry." Dot said, eyes wide.

Jasper blinked. What the hell was this? For a second there, she thought she saw another Peridot. Hold on.. she did see another Peridot. "..What?" Jasper said finally.

"No."

"You can't just dismiss me, you pathetic, puny-"

"I'mma stop you right there," Dot said. "Before I get mad."

Jasper snorted. "Like that scares me."

"It should." Dot smiled.

Jasper hated when gems smiled like that, like they knew something Jasper didn't. It downright infuriated her, filled her with a fiery rage that couldn't be quieted...

"Whatever," Jasper spat, turning to Lapis. "You. The.. queen of the traitors."

"Yes, I am," Lapis said. "So please, bow down. Treat a queen with respect."

"I would never bow to you, you pathetic, low-life, good-for-nothing-"

Pearl aimed her spear at Jasper and fired a blast of energy.

The gem scowled and dodged the blast.

"Jasper, you're severely outnumbered and overpowered," Garnet threatened. "Surrender, or we'll take you by force."

"Just because they abandoned their mission doesn't mean I will!"

Lapis made a giant fist out of the water and attempted to slam it down on Jasper, who scrambled out of the way.

It was like wack-a-mole, with Lapis repeatedly slamming down the fist and Jasper moving literally each time.

"That isn't working," Garnet said. "Stop."

Lapis stopped.

"Now to end you!" Jasper summoned her helmet and ran towards Lapis.

"Other way, Jasper." Peridot said with a smirk, picking Jasper up in a beam and throwing her backwards.

"Yeah, Peridot!" Steven cheered.

Don't mess with her girl.

"It's a shame we have to meet on such unfortunate circumstances," Dot said in mock sadness, cracking her knuckles. ".. nah, not really."

"What's a puny little thing like you going to d-"

"Jasper- what are you- 87? I command you to leave Rose Quartz and the Crystal Gems be, forget about the forced fusion experiments and do something actually beneficial to this planet." Dot said.

Peridot furrowed her brow, and then grinned.

"What is she-" Pearl started.

"She outranks Jasper," Peridot explained. "She has to take orders from her."

"I don't," Jasper spat.

"I'm your section leader," Dot said. "Of course you do."

"I don't know how insane you must be, clearly Yellow Diamond is my section leader-"

"-yes, and I'm her kid, and she's dead, which makes me the section leader, and can we skip these details and you just play nice?"

The gems all exchanged glances and all had a huge moment of 'holy shit I never realized that' except Peridot who realized this about 3 minutes ago.

"Yellow Diamond doesn't have any children," Jasper said incredulously. The striped gem looked as if she had been personally offended. "None of the Diamonds have.. children."

It was kind of funny, because Jasper said 'children' like it was a bad word.

Jasper stared at the Crystal Gems who looked as if they had literally been tickled at the statement. Mostly because 3 of them were children of the Diamonds. Legit.

"Yellow Diamond hasn't been.. exterminated!" Jasper added.

"Uh, yeah," Dot said. "I crushed her gem with her own evil glove thingies. It was a beautiful moment of poetic justice, and also death."

Jasper could not grasp this at all. How could someone so small defeat someone so.. well, big? Was small the new.. thing, now? With Lapis's puny frame, to Rose Quartz'z new minuscule form and now.. what appeared to be this.. essentially Peridot with better fighting skills and a bigger ego?

"Great Diamond Authority," Dot snickered. "You look so confused."

".. I have to avenge Yellow Diamond!" Jasper growled, as Dot stared her down.

"Sit." Dot said simply.

Jasper paused. Yes, technically the thing to do was obey her higher-ups, but this higher-up also happened to be a traitor.

"Not sure if you have some sort of superiority complex you're trying to overcome or if you're just straight-up not listening," Dot said. "But sit. Seriously. Just.. sit. Right there. On the sand."

Amethyst snickered at 'superiority complex'.

Pearl summoned her spear, having a feeling this wouldn't end well.

Jasper eyed the Crystal Gems, and then looked down at Dot, who looked up at Jasper.

"I could crush you." Jasper sneered.

"Try it." Dot challenged.

Connie had seen Dot fight before. Dot always liked to provoke and push buttons before she fought, but she always had an ulterior motive. Hardly anything Dot ever did was for no reason, even when not doing any fighting of any sort. There was always some outcome she was working to achieve while she was planning it consciously or not. She wasn't all bark and no bite, either. She had the skill to back up her words.

"I'll even make it easier for you." Dot said, turning around.

"What are you doing?" Lapis asked, narrowing her eyes.

Clearly this gem was just a liar, trying to intimidate Jasper with elaborate tales of destroying Yellow Diamond and being a section leader.

.. that made Jasper mad.

The large gem stomped forward, raising a foot, preparing to literally step on this annoying miniature nuisance.

"What are you doing?!" Steven didn't want to watch Dot get crushed.

Dot turned around, summoned her shuriken and drove it into Jasper's foot.

"Argh!" Jasper yelled, hopping back, with a wince.

Ah, yes, Dot always had an ulterior motive.

"Would you like to try again?" Dot asked innocently, tilting her head.

Jasper growled, reaching out and roughly grabbing Dot by her hair.

"Oww," Dot said. "If you're going to violently pick me up without warning, please don't do it by the hair."

Peridot was currently trying to figure out how to shoot Jasper without possibly hitting Dot in the process.

"Jasper!" Garnet yelled, summoning her gauntlets. "Put her down!"

"Yeah, can you please put me down?" Dot asked. "I mean, yes, this is fun, but uh, I belong on the ground."

"I'll put you down if you all agree to come with me back to Homeworld!"

"And how exactly do you expect to get there?" Peridot asked.

Jasper froze.

"Way to think ahead." Amethyst clapped.

".. the more you know." Dot laughed.

"I have got you exactly where I want you," Jasper snarled. "So, I wouldn't talk if I were you."

"Then.. good thing you're not me, am I right?"

Jasper growled, looking like she was about to severely injure the warrior.

"Okay, please don't hurt me?" Dot said. "That's not very nice!"

"Now you're scared." Jasper grinned maliciously.

Pearl clutched her spear defensively.

"Not really, I just don't want you to punch me or something!"

"Too late." Jasper grinned, punching Dot's face.

"Owww!" Dot exclaimed, rubbing her cheek with a grimace. "I thought I told you not to hurt me! I asked nicely, I don't know what else you want!"

Pearl facepalmed.

"That's enough." Garnet said with a glare, running up to Jasper, gauntlets in hand.

"Oh, it's you again." Jasper said off-handedly.

"Gahh, look at this!" Dot complained, gesturing to her face. "You dented me!"

"What?" Jasper furrowed her brow, Garnet and Jasper both turned to look at the small dent in Dot's metal.

"You dented her, Jasper," Garnet sighed. "Nobody dents Dot and walks away to talk about it afterwards."

"I'm not 'nobody'." Jasper grinned.

"My point exactly," Peridot said. "You're not anyone."

Jasper turned to Peridot with a scowl. "Keep talking and I'll do more than just dent your.. annoying.. twin.. thing."

"Hey!" Dot said angrily.

"Good luck with that," Peridot said. "She has a record of constantly coming back."

Garnet punched Jasper.

"What are you doing?" Jasper said, moving her head in the nick of time. "Oh, so you wanna play that game?"

"Just so you know," Dot said, rolling her eyes. "You can't fight very well if you're holding me!"

Jasper dropped Dot on the ground.

"Geez, you young people have no respect." Dot stood up, brushing her sweater off.

"I'm older than you by a lot," Jasper said, aiming a punch at Garnet. "You're 8,000 at the most."

Dot snickered. "Sure."

"Dot is 35,000." Garnet said coolly, trying to smash Jasper into the ground.

"She's what?" Jasper asked incredulously.

"I know, right?" Amethyst asked.

"Anything else I should know?" Jasper asked sarcastically.

"Steven isn't Rose Quartz." Peridot said.

"She is!"

"He isn't." Dot said.

"If she isn't Rose Quartz, then what exactly is it?!"

"He, is Steven." Pearl answered, glaring at the buff gem.

"Hey, Jasper, what are your thoughts on electrocution?" Dot asked.

"I find it an interesting but simple way to torture others." Jasper answered, almost getting kicked in the face and fully intending to scare the green warrior.

"Oh, I wouldn't say simple," Dot said, sliding between Jasper and Garnet. "There's a whole lot of preperation behind it."

"No there isn't." Jasper said flatly.

"Oh, yes there is," Dot responded. "You have to know exactly how to distract the person you want to electrocute, and then you have to refine the energy and then send it out in controlled waves.."

"What are you talking about?" Jasper growled.

"What are you talking about?" the green gem shot back.

Garnet took a few steps back.

"Had enough?" Jasper grinned.

"No, she's just letting me do my thing." Dot said, cartwheeling up to Jasper because she's a show-offy little creature, and whirling around to delicately tap Jasper's bicep.

"What are you doing?" Jasper scoffed.

Dot poked it again curiously. Jasper eyed the warrior with suspicion.

"Ahem." Peridot said.

"Oh, sorry." Dot said, swiftly electrocuting the angry striped gem, who poofed.

Dot handed the gem to Garnet.

"Are you going to bubble her?" Pearl asked.

"I'm not sure," Garnet said. "For now we'll keep her as our prisoner."


A week later, Jasper had still not regenerated.

Dot was currently sending Peridot a bunch of snapchats of Lapis's butt just to annoy the technician.

"i bet u got some of this last nite ;) ;)" she sent along with another picture of Lapis's butt.

"Stop." Peridot sent back immediately.

"im not doing anything wrong tho :p" Dot replied with a picture of her innocent face.

"Find something better to do." Peridot responded.

"What are you doing?" Amethsyt peered over Dot's shoulder.

"Trolling." Dot responded.

"The green bean?" Amethyst asked.

Dot nodded and pressed her home button, opening iMessages.


"( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)" Dot texted Pearl.

"Stop that immediately." Pearl texted back.


"Are you gonna troll, like, everybody?" Amethyst asked.

"That's the plan." Dot nodded firmly.


'is it ethical to enjoy elf criminals' Dot texted Lapis.

"dot. wtf." lapis responded.


"i love to sin and support the void ;)' Dot texted Peridot.

"I honestly thought you were done with this when you stopped snapchatting me, but then you decided to send me ridiculous texts on iMessages. If you don't have anything important to say, don't say it you CLOD, I didn't exist just so you could send me your IDIOTIC musings. I do not care whatsoever if you love to sin or support any sort of void, i'm sure your PURPOSE IN LIFE IS NOT TO DISTURB ME."

"u didn't have to send me an essay but ty anyways" Dot replied.

"I'm blocking you."

"k i will get squawky to hack ur phone l8r"

"Do NOT get Pearl to hack my phone."

read - 3:42 pm

"Dot."

read - 3:42pm

"DOT"

read - 3:43pm


"i illegally torrent the feelings of others" Dot texted Amethyst.

"that's real nice dude but i'm right beside you" Amethyst texted back.


"let us savor the rapturous caress of hell :)" Dot texted Garnet.

"I see multiple futures, destiny and fate entertwining endlessly in a delicate dance" Garnet answered.

"i manipulate death"

"red and blue make garnet"

"don't give me your rupphire i just told you i manipulate death"

"lizard is my aesthetic"

"date a vintage cactus ;) ;)"

"i saw a future where you fell in love with amethyst"

"k bye"


Dot put down her phone, looking severely distressed. "I can't do it!"

"Do what?" Amethyst said, rolling her eyes. "Illegally torrent the feelings of others?"

"Troll Garnet!" Dot sighed. "She is just so.. untrollable! She's the master of counter-trolling, I don't know what to do with this."

"Let me try."

"You are but an amateur," Dot said. "But okay."


'hey dis is ame' Amethyst texted

"you have your own phone' Garnet responded. 'can't you attempt to troll me from there'

'no'

'red and blue make garnet'

'yeah ok' Amethyst rolled her eyes. 'what kind of messed up future was that did you see'

'hellfire is my aesthetic'

'idk wut that means'

'can u pls tell dot garnet wants to know if dot will call her mom'


"Dot, Garnet wants to know if you will call her mom."

Dot raised an eyebrow. "M'kay."


'idk if she said yes or no' Amethyst said.

'what did she say'

'idk man'


"What's taking you so long?" Dot asked. "Trolling is supposed to be quick and simple, you troll and then you leave."

Amethyst gave Dot her phone back.

"What the frick frack, Amethyst?" Dot stared at the screen. "I said yes."

"You said 'm'kay'," Amethyst said. "I don't know what that means."

Dot sighed deeply. "It means yes."

"Dot," Pearl said, looking severely annoyed, holding up her phone. "What is this?"

"Oh, can you hack Peridot's phone for me?"

"No."

"I won't text you for a week."

"No."

"A month."

"No."

"A year."

"No."

"What do you want, Pearl?" Dot asked.

"For you to stop sending me this ridiculous looking face!"

"The.. lenny face?" Amethyst snickered.

"Did you know hellfire is Garnet's aesthetic?" Dot asked.

"I don't.." Pearl groaned. "Ugh."

Dot opened snapchat, took a quick selfie, and sent it to Pearl. "can you pls hack peridork's phone tho'

Pearl stared at her phone, and then looked back at Dot.

"I'm going to confiscate your phone." Pearl said.

"Ooooh!" Amethyst grinned.

"No." Dot said stubbornly.

"I will," Pearl said. "Give me your phone."

".. no." Dot repeated.

"Give it to me," Pearl said. "You'll get it back in a week."

"Noo."

"Hey, Dot," Amethyst said. "I just realized your phone is always at 100% or 99%. I've never seen it below that.."

"Uhh.." Dot said, looking guilty. "Really?"

"It's because of that big hole in it." Pearl said flatly.

"I don't get it," Amethyst furrowed her brow. "That just means it's broken."

"No," Dot shook her head. "Peri did it for me."

"Why would she break your phone?" Pearl asked.

"It's not broken," Dot said. "It's new and improved!"

The warrior crossed her arms defiantly.

"Well, at least it's not completely broken." Pearl said with a smile.

"Yeah, you can still use it." Amethyst reassured.

"It's not broken," Dot said, visibly frustrated. "it just lets me charge it."

"You know there's a-" Pearl began.

"I mean charge it, literally, charge it myself, like, put my finger inside and shock it."

"That's what she said." Amethyst snickered.

"Amethsyt!" Pearl admonished. "That's actually quite.. fascinating, Dot. It never occurred to me that you could charge it on your own!"

"Oh my gosh," Amethyst laughed. "That's priceless! Dot is literally her own phone charger! Hahahahaha!"

"It's convenient, okay?"

"If I altered my phone," Pearl said. "Do you think you could-"

"Absolutely not." Dot interrupted.

'garnet what's good' Dot texted the fusion.

"hot fire on water nice nice taste good smell good feel good yum" garnet replied.

"What the frick frack?" Dot said out loud.

"What?" Amethyst took Dot's phone and read it out loud.

"Garnet, what's good? Hot fire on water nice nice taste good, smell good, feel good, yum," Amethyst gave Dot back her phone. "You two need to stop."

Dot eyed her phone.

"also will you or will you not call me mom"

"i will" Dot said. "purple does not know what m'kay means'

"nice" garnet replied.

"Purple." Dot said.

".. that's a dumb nickname."

"M'kay," Dot shrugged. "Anyways, Purple, Sour Cream said I could bring two people to the rave tonight but you're the only one who would want to come. You gonna come?"

"Sure." Amethyst shrugged.

"I would come!" Pearl said indignantly.

".. Pearl, you're not exactly a ... rave person." Dot said cautiously.

"Yes I am!"

"It's a place with loud music, bright colours, wine, glowsticks, and dancing."

"I like that sort of place!"

"Either there's something you're not telling us or you've never been to a rave before." Amethyst said slowly.

"Eh, whatever," Dot shrugged. "If you wanna come, you can come, but don't blame me if you don't like it."

"Yeah, don't blame me either," Amethyst said. "I tried to tell you."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, of course.. Dot, are you ever going to fix that?"

Pearl pointed vaguely at Dot's face.

"Not anytime soon," Dot said, fingers lightly grazing over the small dent. "It's cool. It's like a battle scar."

"It's like a dent and you should fix it."

"Why you gotta hate, P?" Amethyst asked.

Pearl sighed dramatically.

"Have you seen Peridot?" Lapis demanded. "She just texted me something about 'stupidity, 'it's not even an essay', and 'tell pearl not to hack my phone', and I need her to explain."

Dot's eyes drifted to the robonoid on Lapis's forearm and grinned. "That would be my fault."

"..," Lapis made the connection. "Seriously?"

"Yes." Dot nodded solemnly.

"Nice." said Lapis, walking away.

"Dot," Garnet said. "I need you to charge my phone."

"I don't-," Dot sighed. "I don't get it. It's like suddenly that's a community service- get Dot to charge your phone instantly, It's literally frickin' magic! I'm seriously going to start charging. Thi-"

Dot's phone rang.

"Because they took our love and they filled it up,

Filled it up with Novocaine and now I'm just numb!

Now I'm just numb!

D-d-don't mind me I'm just the son of a gun

So don't stop, don't st-"

"What does she want?" Dot muttered, answering the call. "Hi! Bye!"

"Wait you clod, I didn't even say anything yet! I just want you to know I won't be tolerating this harassment anymo-"

Dot hung up.

"Way to go." Amethyst applauded.

Dot's phone rang again.

"Because they took-"

"Do you need something?" Dot asked.

"AAAHHHH!" Peridot screamed, and it was faintly audible to the three gems present.

"GREAT DIAMOND AUTHORITY," Dot shrieked, holding the phone away. "Are you trying to deafen me?!"

Pearl raised an eyebrow.

"You are so annoying!" Peridot complained.

"You literally just screamed into your phone! Who does that?!"

"I'm trying to tell you something important! You know, the ridiculous and utterly pointless messages you keep sending me won't be tolerated-" Peridot ranted.

"You know what won't be tolerated? Your ear rape!" Dot retorted.

"They're just like sisters or something." Amethyst said.

Pearl nodded.

"My ear rape? What about your eye rape?!"

"That's not a thing!" Dot exclaimed. "I'm only trolling you, Peri! Jeez!"

"I've had enough of your ridiculous.. trolling! Someone should confiscate your phone! You don't deserve it!"

"You don't deserve a phone either! You don't just scream into a phone!"

"It can't have been that bad!"

"AAHHHHH!" Dot screamed, to prove a point.

"AGH! Dot, what the f... rrruit?! That was completely unwelcome and unnecessary!"

"Exactly my point!"

"Dot-" Pearl began.

"This is ridiculous! You are ridiculous! First you put those invasive plants in our room, then you get speakers and blast that dumb metal screamer song when you know I'm working, and now you're constantly interrupting me when you know I like to program my phone! I can't do that with these constant notifications, and for such trivial, unimportant things too- this is becoming a problem, an-"

"It sounds like you just have a problem with me!"

"I do!"

"Ouch." Garnet said.

"Then I'll just add you to the list!" Dot scowled, hanging up and stomping off, muttering to herself.

The three remaining gems exchanged glances, having a silent conversation.

"Alright, I'll go after her." Pearl said finally, walking in the direction Dot went.

"Well-played?" Amethyst asked.

"Well-played." Garnet agreed.


She found Dot in the new Beach City Art Gallery, staring at some paintings.

It surprised her. Dot struck her as the type of gem to punch things when she was mad, but no, here she was, just staring at these paintings.

Pearl was familiar with abstract art. She described it as 'emotions on a canvas: thoughts, feelings, the senses, all captured in colours and shapes'. Dot described it as 'colourful blobs that probably mean something, but whatever it is, I don't get it'.

And here Dot was, staring at six colourful blobs that probably meant something.

"Hi." Pearl said.

Dot turned around, looking as if she had been caught stealing something. "Hi."

"What are you doing?"

Dot shrugged.

"Interesting paintings." Pearl said.

"They are literally just random splatters of random colours. Like, someone could throw up in different colours on a piece of paper and it would legit look the exact same."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "No, look," she explained. "Each painting has different colours in it, but there's always grey and green except for the last one. It's like a story."

Dot looked over at Pearl, pursing her lips. "A story."

"A story. Here, look," Pearl said, pointing at the first one. "There's grey, green, and olive green. They're touching, mixing together and complimenting each other perfectly. They used bright shades for this one- like happiness."

Dot stared at it with an unreadable expression.

"And then this one," Pearl said, getting excited now, yay, she was educating and talking about art. This was fun. The slim gem pointed to the second one. "This one.. the olive green has been darkened severely. The grey and green are darker shades, and the shapes are much less wild and appear more subdued."

Dot raised an eyebrow.

"And then this one," Pearl continued, and Dot turned to look at the third one. "The grey and the green are bright again, complimenting each other like they did before, just without the olive green."

The warrior smiled ever so slightly.

"In the fourth one," the slim gem added. "The grey is still bright but the green is darker. The shape of the green looks slumped and defeated, but the grey one is wild and looks somewhat angry."

"Look at the fifth one," the pale gem gestured towards the fifth painting. "This one is so striking. The grey is so dark, it's almost black, and the green is dark, but not as dark as the grey. You can see the green looks like it's going to drip off of the canvas. That can be interpreted many ways, but I see it as despair."

"And then in this sixth one," Pearl said. ".. there's just.. green."

Dot stares at it impassively. "I can see that."

"See? Whoever painted this is brilliant. Some humans have a lot of talent. This person just told a whole story using what you call 'random blobs'. I'm not surprised the art gallery accepted this, even though the artist is mostly unheard of. It's.." Pearl squinted, looking at the cramped writing at the bottom. "By someone named Tod."

Dot stared at Pearl and shook her head. "Not brilliant. They probably just.. remember a lot."

"Yes, they are brilliant," Pearl says passionately. "Even if this is a true story, it's actually incredibly hard to turn a whole experience into.. this masterpiece. But do you get the meaning behind it?"

"Of course I do," Dot said simply. "Pearl, what's Tod backwards?"

The warrior turned and walked away.

Pearl paused.

Tod.

T-O-D.

D-O-T.

Dot.

.. Dot.

It hit Pearl harder than Garnet spiked the volleyball over the net that one time.


"How much money do you want?" Garnet asked.

"How much money do you have?" Peridot asked.

"Ugh, how much do you want, green bean?" Amethyst rolled her eyes.

"500. Even." Peridot said.

"What?! You just had to say what we told you to say." Amethyst said incredulously.

"She screamed in my ear," Peridot reminded her. "Also, she's probably going to hate me for a month for this."

"100." Garnet said.

"300." Peridot said.

"Deal." Amethyst said, giving Peridot 150 dollars.

Garnet gave the technician 150 dollars as well.

"Thank you very much." Peridot ginned.

"Wait, Peridot-" Pearl said, running in, looking out of breath. "Does Dot ever paint in your room?"

"No," Peridot snorted. "She thinks painting is stupid."

The technician left.

"But.." Pearl furrowed her brow, confused.

"P," Amethyst said. "Where's Dot?"

"I don't know, she walked off somewhere." Pearl said.

'where are you?' Amethyst texted the green gem.

read- 4:52pm

'i know you're reading my texts, you better answer me'

read- 4:52pm

'dot seriously where are you'

read- 4:52pm

'dot where r u, we're getting a little worried'

read- 4:53pm

'dot seriously'

Amethyst sighed in relief as she saw that Dot was typing back a reply.

'I'll be back before the rave starts' the green gem said vaguely.

"What did she say?" Pearl asked.

"She'll be back before the rave starts."

"Well, when does the rave start?" Pearl asked.

"9 tonight." Amethyst answered.

"You should go look for her." Garnet said helpfully.

Pearl didn't say anything for a moment. "Alright."

She left.

"This is gonna be great." Amethyst gushed.

"I know." Garnet agreed.


She saw Dot sitting down quietly on a bench. She didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular.

"Hi." Pearl said.

"Back again?" Dot teased.

Pearl flushed slightly. "I suppose so. I, ah, didn't know you paint."

"Neither did I," Dot shrugged. "Until I did."

"Mind if I sit down?"

"It's a public bench." Dot replied.

Pearl sat down.

"You said that.. abstract painting was just-"

"Colourful blobs that probably mean something," Dot finished. "Yes I did."

"Right, and whatever it did mean, you didn't get it."

"That wasn't a lie." Dot interrupted.

"That doesn't make sense," Pearl looked at the warrior. "I don't understand."

"Welcome to the club."

"Why'd you paint them?"

"I was.. curious," Dot said. "I just couldn't grasp the appeal so I tried it myself. I found a bunch of canvas and I found some paint and it.. happened."

"The green is you isn't it?"

"..," Dot was silent. "Yes."

'is everything okay?' amethyst texted Dot.

Dot looked down at her phone.

'no' she typed. she held the backspace button longer than necessary. 'everything's fine purple, chill lol'

Send.

'k just checkin' was amethyst's response.

Pearl pretended not to notice. "The grey and olive green were your friends right?"

"The grey was a little more than that."

Pearl paused. Oh. Nepheline. Pearl had heard about her before. She had asked about it once, Dot had given her some sort of lazy summary, and after Lapis had told her not to bring it up again. So she didn't.

Pearl, being who she was, noticed everything. So she noticed the way that sometimes Dot would take a breath she didn't need, the way Dot's left foot twitched excessively, the way her right fingers drummed on the back of the bench.

".. I get it." Pearl said.

"Uh," Dot said. "You're going to have to be a little more specific than that."

"I get that.. it hurts."

"Yeah, you're still going to have to be a little more specific than that."

"You know.. that she's gone." Pearl stammered. She wasn't good at talking about things like this.

And she noticed how Dot automatically tensed slightly, the subtle shift in her facial features. Dot was good at hiding it.

But Pearl was very observant.

Dot gave a quiet 'hm'.

"Sometimes you just want to scream, or sometimes cry, or sometimes both. And.. sometimes you close your eyes and you can see her there."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Dot pressed her lips together.

But Pearl noticed how she held her arms slightly closer to herself, as if trying to become smaller, how she blinked though she didn't need to. The way the twitching of her left foot increased, how her right fingers hit the back of the bench with more force.

"Sometimes it hurts inside, but sometimes it hurts physically," Pearl continued. "And you can just feel it. How much you miss her and it just burns and eats away at you and-"

"You're honestly just confusing me." Dot said.

"I tried for so long," Pearl told her, voice trembling ever so slightly. "To pretend it was okay, but it all started spilling over. I hit things. I yelled. I-"

"Well, thank you for the nice story," Dot interrupted. "I have one to share too."

Pearl looked at Dot.

"I got over it a long time ago," Dot said flatly. "I was over it then, and I'm over it now. The end."

"You cried on the ship." Pearl gently reminded her.

"That's different. I was angry, not sad. Weeping tears of promised vengeance for the fallen, if you will."

"I won't." Pearl said.

"That's cheesy."

"I know."

A small 'ding' could be heard, and Dot groaned in annoyance.

'anything going on i should know about?'

Dot stared at the text and sighed.

'no. squawky is lecturing me. that's all. seriously, chill'

'k' Amethyst texted back.

Dot seemed to be considering something before giving a 'well, why not' sort of shrug and playing some music.

"I hope you don't mind," Dot said. "But I didn't bring headphones or anything. Thought it was just going to be.. me here."

"No problem."

They sat there, listening to the music for a while, before Dot started looking visibly distressed at a particular song.

"Dot-" the slim gem began.

"I have a rave to get ready for-"

"It's only 6." Pearl protested.

"To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail." Dot said.

"That has never been your motto."

"It's pretty much the same thing as 'tell the puns, tell all the puns'," Dot snickered. "Which is actually my motto. So."

".. You're crying."

"Liquified amazement," said Dot. "Powerful song or something."

"Really?" Pearl deadpanned.

It was some sort of maternal instinct from taking care of Steven that led the pale gem to gently brush away the tears on Dot's face. Yeah, probably some sort of maternal instinct. I think.

".. what are you doing?" Dot asked, more curious than anything else.

Pearl flinched, drawing her hand back as if she had touched fire. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking!"

"It's not.. a big deal." said Dot.

There was an awkward silence, and then 'ding' went Dot's phone.

"If this is Amethyst again.." the warrior muttered.

"you should be more open' ..

Nope. It was Garnet.

Dot stared at the fusion's vague text. '?' she texted back.

'you'll know sooner or later'

Dot sighed, powering her phone off. Sorry, but no more messages. It was getting annoying.

"Come on," the green gem said. "Lets go get ready for the rave."

"It's only.."

"6:30," Dot said. "But me and Amethyst will have to lay down some basic rave rules for you."


"Are you sure this attire is.. completely appropriate?" Pearl said, eyeing the tight, light blue sleeveless dress she was wearing with nervousness and hesitation.

"If you want you can stay home." Amethyst shrugged, wearing a purple, sleeveless dress similar to Pearl's, it made her curves stand out that much more.

"That won't be necessary," Pearl said, determined to prove her point and trying very hard not to lowkey check Amethyst out. She was, as the humans say, a massive raging lesbian. "I will enjoy this.. rave."

"One sec, gotta go tell Garnet we're going." Amethyst walked away.

"Sure, Purple." Dot said.

Pearl stared at the green gem, who was wearing a sleeveless black dress that highlighted the curves of her form.

Now- sorry for the interruption- but Pearl is so. Freaking. Gay.

"Don't give me that look," Dot stuck out her tongue. "I'm only wearing this because it's a rave."

Pearl blinked. "I didn't think that you'd actually wear a dress."

"Rave rules." Dot said simply.


"So... this is a rave." Pearl said slowly.

"Told you you won't like it," Dot said smugly. "Hey, Jenny, you guys bring out the Bud Light yet?"

"Be patient, girl." Jenny giggled.

Amethyst crept off to request a song from Sour Cream.

Sour Cream stared at Amethyst with a grin. "Got it."

"Hi, Dot," Ronaldo said, wiggling his eyebrows. "I know you live by the beach, but I didn't think I'd sea you here."

"Sorry, Ronaldo," Dot sighed. "I'm here to make a splash, not drown in your... ahem, 'charm'. I'm afraid I gotta wave you goodbye."

Dot wiggled her fingers and walked off in a random direction.

"Oooh," Amethyst said. "How does it feel to get beaten at your own game?"

"I will win over my fair lady." Ronaldo said.

"I'm out of your league, Ronaldo!" Dot called.

"See how she flirts with me?"

"I am positively certain she is as far from interested from you as possible," Pearl said firmly. "And has chosen to let you know by making bad puns."

As the room filled, Sour Cream began to play the music.

"This song was requested," he said. "But we can all rave to this!"

I Won't Say I'm In Love from the Hercules movie began playing.

If there's a prize for rotten judgement,

I guess I've already won that.

No man is worth the aggravation,

That's ancient history- been there, done that!

The slim gem crossed her arms, trying to assume a casual pose.

"Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'," Amethyst sang. "She's the Earth and heaven to ya."

"Try to keep it hidden," the crowd joined in, because hey, flash mob. "Honey, we can see right through ya."

Pearl turned around to face something else.

"Girl, ya can't conceal it," Amethyst winked, tapping Pearl on the back. "We know how you feel, and who you're thinking of."

Amethyst subtly pointed towards the warrior, who was currently waiting for her Bud Light to return from the war. Pearl scowled.

No chance, no way,

I won't say it, no, no.

"You swoon, you sigh," the crowd sang. "Why deny it, uh-oh."

"This is so cliche." Pearl muttered under her breath.

It's too cliche,

I won't say I'm in love.

Dot winked at random attractive-looking humans, and Pearl felt a pit of unknown emotion form deep within her.

I thought my heart had learned its lesson,

It feels so good when you start out.

My head is screaming get a grip, girl

Unless you're dying to cry your heart out!

"You keep on denying, who you are and how you're feeling!" Multiple voices sang the chorus.

"Baby, we're not buying, Hon, we saw you hit the ceiling." Amethyst sang, dancing a little.

Pearl rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Face it like a grown up," Amethyst continued, grinning. "When you gonna own up? That you got, got, got it bad."

No chance, no way

I won't say it, no, no

"Give up, give in," Others joined in Amethyst's singing. "Check the grin, you're in love."

This scene won't play,

I won't say I'm in love

"You're doing flips, read our lips," the crowd sang, except Dot, who never joined flash mobs. She preferred starting them. "You're in love."

You're way off base,

I won't say it

Amethyst elbowed Pearl pointedly.

Get off my case,

I won't say it.

"Girl, don't be proud," Amethyst crooned. "It's okay, you're in love."

Oh, at least out loud,

I won't say I'm in...

"Love..." Pearl let her voice join the others.

Pearl sighed, and looked at Amethyst, who looked over at Dot, and then back to Pearl. The slim gem understood the gesture but refused to acknoweledge it.

"Listen- Jenny," Dot said. "Is there Bud Light or is there not?"

"Hold on, Dottie," the teen rolled her eyes. "I'm just about to bring it out."

"Yes," the warrior beamed. "You're a lifesaver."

"Who doesn't love that song? But now it's time to groove!" Sour Cream grinned, playing down a more electronic instrumental track.

"Awww, yus." Amethyst grinned, totally grooving.

"That's what I'm talking about," Dot said, taking a bottle of Bud Light and pouring it into a glass. "None of that Disney crap, you know? Life is not like a movie. I'm not gonna get locked up in some cell somewhere and some dashing prince is not gonna come save me. I'm gonna kick ass and then rescue a princess myself, and then you know, make out with her or something because I'm really gay. And talking to myself apparently. Which I'm going to stop. Right.. now."

"Hey! Mariane, is that you?" Dot asked, waving.

The woman in question, Mariane, turned to face Dot with a wide smile.

"Dot! It's been a while since you last hit the rave."

Dot shrugged. "Duty calls."

"Geez, this intense beat dropping gives me eargasms." the dirty-blonde woman gushed.

"Be free," Dot said." Let the music take control."

Mariane snickered. "I know you must be dying just standing there. You're secretly a huge party animal."

"I am not! I am strictly a huge party conversationalist." Dot grinned.

"You won't be once you get drunk enough."

"True that." Dot said.

The beat dropped particularly loudly this time.

"Great Diamond Authority." Dot said automatically, nearly dropping her glass.

"Right?" Mariane agreed. "Finish that, we're going to dance."

"If you say so." Dot smirked, downing the beer.

"How much will it take to get you drunk off your ass?"

"Getting intense and you haven't even touched the beer yet," Dot 'tsk'd, and as an afterthought, "Prolly more than they have here."

"We got a Ms. Steal Yo Girl." Amethyst whispered urgently.

"Amethyst, I don't-"

"Pearl. Seriously." the purple gem said flatly.

The pale gem rolled her eyes and walked up to the drink table. She took a bottle of the.. 'Bud Light' and tried not to cringe.

Dot stared at her in surprise. "You're actually going to drink that?"

"If I don't like it, you can have it." Pearl said.

"Sounds good to me," Dot grinned. Pearl opened the beer bottle and took a sip. It was disgusting. But she could feel Mariane watching her.

"Dot, aren't you going to introduce me?" The woman asked.

"Pearl," Dot said. "Mariane. Mariane, Pe-"

Dot widened her eyes at the literal intensity of the music right now. The bass drops were reaching epic proportions. Sour Cream had talent. Pearl shivered with delight at the what humans called.. 'sick beats'.

"Are you guys okay?" Mariane joked. "I mean, I know that was great, but."

Gems connect through the arts- more specifically dancing, singing, and music as a whole. When music was exceptional, their instinct was to move. To do something, at least. To be honest, usually fuse.

Dot laughed weakly. "Ha- yes."

Amethyst gave in to the music. She let loose. She danced, and danced, and danced.

"Care to dance, m'lady?" a human offered his hand to Mariane, smiling kindly.

"Sure, Sam," Mariane grinned. "See you guys around."

She allowed Sam to pull her through the crowd.

Pearl bobbed her head slightly to the beat, tapping her fingers on the table, and Dot balanced her weight on the drink table idly. But Sour Cream kept upping the game.

"Haha," Pearl laughed nervously. "That's a little.."

Dot nodded in agreement, tapping her foot.

Pearl's fingers instantly synchronized with Dot's tapping. Two taps for every one.

Pearl blushed. "Um, sorry."

"S'not a problem." Dot said dismissively.

The speed of Pearl's finger tapping increased to match the beat, and Dot's foot matched it beat for beat.

They both widened their eyes at the unexpected bass drop.

Pearl exhaled.

It took every ounce of their self control not to get up and dance that second.

Alas, that wasn't enough.

Pearl tried to escape, tried to walk away, but she almost tripped and accidentally twirled into Dot.

Dot stared at Pearl.

"L-look," the warrior said urgently.

Pearl looked up at Dot with confusion.

"-at Amethyst! She has no regrets." the green gem grinned.

Pearl looked over at.. Amethyst, who was dancing freely.

"Let me just-," Dot said, attempting to help Pearl into a more dependable standing position, but somehow ended up twirling Pearl around. Pearl spun gracefully into a solid stance. "Oops, sorry, that wasn't-"

Dot flushed, slapping her arm as it started to move, free of her own will.

Pearl turned around, gently rolling her shoulders back. "S-sorry, I-" she stammered, blushing a light blue.

"It's fin-" Dot lightly and fluidly swung her hips around. "D-diamonds, I-"

The warrior bent over slightly, her hands on her knees, as she moved, practiced, controlled movements, perfectly moving in sync to every complicated beat of the dubstep part of the song.

Amethyst widened her eyes, grinning.

"Sorry!" Pearl gasped, lowering herself to the ground and spinning, neatly flipping backwards. "I didn't mean t-"

Please stop saying sorry to each other, Amethyst groaned. And just dance already!

Dot pivoted on her toe, falling into slow motion as the dubstep transitioned to slow and smooth. "Gah, sorr-"

Pearl moved forward.

Dot weaved around her as Pearl spun, elegantly twisting around. "Sorry fo-"

"Be quiet and dance." Pearl interrupted, finally aware that apologizing was not going to do anything.

It fell into a sort of cinematic theme, and Pearl gracefully twirled and twirled around the warrior, spinning and leaping.

Then came the glitching, repeated sounds, and Dot dropped, her hands on her knees again.

Transition.

Robot, move your arms there, do a wave. Spin, leap, slide. Pearl twisted elegantly, still dancing individually, and then the music blended together.

Pearl spun, Dot moved jerkily but precisely as the electric part of the beat repeated sh-sh-sh-sh, du-du-du-du. Dot moved herself in a fluid arc as the speed of their dance increased. Pearl spun faster and faster. She let herself fall backwards, and Dot caught her.