It was almost sunset, and Steven and Connie, and the Gems and Greg had all gathered on the beach for a cookout. Garnet was leaning against the van while Greg was sitting out the back of his van, playing his records. Steven and Connie danced to them, and tried to get Lion to dance, too, but, well, that didn't happen. And Pearl became the tyrant of the grill because Amethyst insisted on eating the meat she tried to cook raw.

As Pearl cooked, they were listening to Purple Exodus. Then there was a wild guitar solo that sung to the ocean, and Steven and Connie tried to dance to it, but all they did was throw their arms in flowy ways. Greg laughed because of them, and Amethyst came over to join them, slinging her long hair to the music. Pearl didn't much like this kind of music.

"Can you play like that, Mr. Universe?" Connie asked Greg.

"Well…" said Greg.

Steven jumped in, overenthusiastically, "Of course he can! He can play anything! Show her, dad!"

"Well, I don't know about anything."

"C'mon dad! You're the Audio Daddio!"

Garnet said coolly, "Show them what you've got, Mr. Universe."

Greg sighed, smiling, accepting his fate, and got up like an old man.

"Ok! Let's do this!" Greg said, and he flipped the switch on his amp. And Greg strummed and out came a waving riff—a thrill-filled echo from his glory days as a wannabe rock star. Steven and Connie and Amethyst cheered, throwing their fists into the breezy air. It totally wasn't hipster, and was something that came from the 80s, and involved leather and lots of hair.

Then Greg started to sing:

"We sail through weary skies

Find our two eyes

Sighing in the dark

Looking for that spark

Green money, golden fame

Red power, all the same

Blackened in the end

You were once my friend

I won't give up, I'll never fall

I'll find what I want and lose it all."

The song ended with a final note from Greg and his guitar that wavered into nothingness. "Dad! That was amazing! You're the Audio Daddio!" Connie and Steven and Amethyst whooped for Greg, and even Garnet clapped.

Pearl just harped up, "The food's ready!"

They had vegetarian hot dogs and hamburgers.

The next day, Steven made his way up to the lighthouse again. He had spent all morning trying to figure out how to approach Topaz today, and finally, by the time lunch was long gone, had decided to bring nothing, as she'd likely throw it away, and just try talking again. This time, he thought of talking about Connie from last night and using that to slyly Segway into asking her about her friends from Homeworld-Peridot, maybe-like the clever little devil he was. But, when Steven made it up to the lighthouse, he discovered Topaz was gone! And so was Peridot's foot!

Steven's heart dropped. He ran around the gallery three times like a turkey, scoured the inside of the lighthouse and all over the hill for Topaz. He started to scurry back home, until he remembered the Gems had gone out on a mission. Steven fidgeted on the hill looking out over Beach City. Then he saw the car wash and ran for it.

Steven was drenched in sweat by the time he made it into town. Approaching the car wash, he started to hear music. It was the guitar, electric. It was offbeat though, and untalented. But, Steven barely took notice, and started calling for his dad as ran up to the van. The back doors were open, and Steven ran around them—to find Topaz in the van with his dad! "Steven!" said Greg awkwardly. Topaz just looked at Steven.

She had a guitar in her hands.

"Dad…" began Steven, "what's going on?"

"Well…" he said. At that moment, Topaz opened the side door to the van-a little more forcefully than Greg would have wanted-and clomped out with the guitar, going as far as the amp's cable allowed (it wasn't long). She leaned against the van, and returned to strumming unprofessionally.

Greg shuffled forward and moved the amp so that it faced out the door and turned it down a little. Steven crawled into the van. Topaz turned the volume back up. Greg sighed. He looked tired. "She wanted me to teach her how to play."

"Oh my glob!" said Steven, his heart fluttering.

"Yeah, she… well… she knocked on the van early this morning. She scared me to death."

"Oh my grob!"

"She's catching on pretty quick."

"I am immortal," said Topaz, then she strummed all the strings at once, letting them sing.

"Oh my grarsh!" said Steven with stars.

"What time is it?" said Greg, rubbing his eyes.

"It's almost 3," said Steven.

"Oh my glucose! I've missed lunch! AND breakfast!"

So, Steven and his dad left Topaz with the guitar while they went to get some food in the office of the car wash. Greg had a big sub sandwich in his fridge that he'd been cutting portions from, and he got a piece for Steven and himself and brought a bag of Chaaaps, BBQ flavor, to the couch.

"I can't believe Topaz actually came down from the lighthouse," said Steven, "To learn music of all things!" If he concentrated, he could hear Topaz playing outside. "I thought she hated music!"

"I can't help but feel a little honored," burbled Greg with a mouthful of sandwich. "I've needed a boost to the ego for a while now."

Steven agreed, "I've been trying to connect with her for some time, maybe get her to come down. But, you do it in one fell swoop! You're magic!"

"You're the one who's magic!" said Greg, poking his son in the belly. Steven giggled. "Sometimes, when people wanna be left alone, you gotta wait for them to come to you." Greg took another bite o' sub, and a thought came to him. "I can never get over how… colorful Gems can be."

"They do come in lots of different colors. Double rainbow!"

"Neurotic rainbow," said Greg. Then he smiled. "Don't tell them I said that."

After Steven finished his sandwich, he asked, "Dad. Why do you think Topaz wants to find Peridot so badly?"

Greg had gotten what was left of the sub. He hummed a little because of his son. "From what I've heard from you, and for Topaz to go so far as to rely on the Gems for help, she obviously cares about Peridot. In what way, I don't know. This is the only interaction I've had with Topaz (if it can even be called an interaction). And I've never even seen Peridot."

"She's green," said Steven, "and her hair is kinda like the shape of these chips. Also, she's missing a foot."

"Yeah, I saw that. Crazy. ...This is the only thing Topaz has taken an interest in since she's been here. She's very determined. (She won't take no for an answer.)"

"No kidding," agreed Steven.

"Speaking of which, did she actually stop playing?" Steven listened as hard as he could, but he couldn't find a guitar. "I hope she didn't break another string."

Outside, Topaz had left. With the guitar, the amp, and with some of Greg's records and record player. Greg looked about ready to start biting his fingernails. "Oh, boy," he said. "Please, tell her to be very careful. She even took my record of Purple Exodus."