Steven woke up the next morning after the previous night, Greg went home, Thean said he would go to his motel room to get a few things and the Gems would be doing some other stuff. There was a commotion going on outside the beach house. A lot of banging, drilling, and blowtorch being used could be heard coming from outside. Steven got up, with bags under his eyes as he was still tired.
"What's going on?" He asked himself.
He looked out the window and saw Thean was making what appeared to be multiple tents in a pattern of a five pointed star. Five tents served as the edges surrounding one in the center. Each tent was black with neon blue lights outlining them. The one in the center was slightly bigger than the rest. Steven decided to ask Thean about his tent. He put on a jacket over his pajamas, and a pair of fuzzy slippers. It was really cold out in the mornings in beach city this time of the year.
Steven walked out of the house and made his way to Thean, it looked as if he was finished with each tent.
"Good morning." Steven said. Thean turned around and saw Steven.
"Oh Steven, you're up. Good. I wanted you to see this." Thean said. "As you can see, I have six tents set up here." He paused to let Steven ask a question.
"Why do you have six and why did you need a hammer, drill, and blowtorch." Steven asked while rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, you see Steven, these are no mere camping tents, these are state few years art' tents. Watch." Thean pulled out a remote with a single button on it and pressed it. Suddenly the five external tents grew hollowed 'arms' and attached themselves each other as well as the one in the center. It resembled Stevens Gem design.
"Behold! The multi-unit tent-house. The center is large enough to fit 3 people. The other tents are like rooms with different purposes. There's a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a storage room, a weight room, and, most important of all, a power room." Thean explained to an awed Steven. Steven was fully awake at this point and bouncing with excitement.
"What, else does it have?" Steven asked, being overwhelmed with how awesome the tent looked.
"I'm glad you asked. It runs on its own power so I have air conditioning, a heater, clean and running water, etcetera, etcetera." He explained. "The only downside is that it is very high maintenance and the power is generated from the exercise I do in the weight room. Kinetic Energy is exhausting." Thean said.
"Wow, how did you build this all. I thought you had a motel room?" Steven asked as if criticizing him but still being amazed.
"I got it this morning, plus, I'm not spending another day in that cheap motel room, not when I have this." Thean explained excitedly. "Well I'm going in it now, I was up the last hour setting it up and am very much tired." Thean said as he yawned. He patted Steven on the head. "Take the morning off and spend it however you want, I will be enjoying myself here." Thean said as he walked inside one of the outer tents. "Also, no one is allowed in here." He quickly said before walking inside. Steven looked so amazed. At just the mere sight of the multi-unit tent.
The Gems ran out of the house and saw Steven in front of the tent.
"Steven! What is that?!" Pearl yelled in worry. The gems jumped off the balcony and landed next to Steven.
"Whoa. Check out this guys crib." Amethyst pointed out. "It looks so...future-y." She added.
"It's Thean's tent." Steven responded to Pearl. "Pretty cool, huh Pearl?" He said.
Pearl frowned at the tent. She walked toward one of the doors and knocked.
"Thean, may we have a word with you?" Pearl said. She knocked again. "Should we try knocking harder. Garnet approached the door and punched the door, unfortunately, it opened at the last second and she hit Thean in the face. He fell down to the ground and held his face.
"Ack! What the heck was that?!" He yelled.
"Sorry." Garnet said nonchalantly.
"Look we came to ask you about your...home." Pearl started. Thean was still rubbing his nose.
"What about it?" He asked with an annoyed look.
"Well for starters, what's it doing on the beach?" She started.
"Yeah well for starters, I have to be near Steven at all times. Contract says its mandatory. But since I'm not allowed in the house, well I'll let you figure that out." He said holding his nose. "Yes well, we're going to need you to move elsewhere, preferably back to where it is you came from." Pearl said as if he would oblige.
"No." He answered.
"What?" She asked surprise that he would deny her.
"I will be staying here and look for Steven in the afternoons for tutoring. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some sleep to catch up on, not all of us have unlimited energy to spare." He said with finality, and closed the door.
"Gee Pearl, you're such a buzzkill." Amethyst said.
"I am not!" Pearl said defiantly as she crossed her shoulders.
"Garnet will you guys still be here for a while?" They all turned toward him.
"Yes Steven, we have a few hours before we leave. What do you wanna do?" She asked nicely. Stevens eyes shined like stars.
"Steven tag!" He tagged Pearl first. "You're it." He said as he poked her leg. Pearl sighed. Everyone waited to see what her response would be, as last time she didn't want to play.
"Alright." She transformed into 'Steven' but with her pointy nose still intact, "Ready or not, here I come." Amethyst, Garnet and Steven began to try to get away from Pearl, who was fast, even with Stevens body. This went on for a few hours Steven and the gems were playing their game, at which point everyone was Steven.
After a while, Garnet said.
"It's almost time." She transformed back into her normal form. "Steven we need to go." She said as Pearl and Amethyst changed back into their original forms.
"Ok, I understand." Steven said with sad face. "I hope you guys are safe. And that you find her quickly." Steven said to lighten himself up.
"No prob little guy, we'll be back every two days to check on you." Amethyst said while grinning an assuring smile at him. Giving him the thumbs up as she did so.
"Plus you have everything and everyone you need." Reminded Pearl. "Even if some are on short notice." She mumbled referring to Thean. Garnet spoke up again.
"Steven, whatever happens we will come back for you. There's some of your favorite snacks in the house. And," she pulled out the warp whistle. "We leave this in your care. In case of emergency." She grabbed his cheek motherly. "You've grown up so much and we know we can trust you with it." She bent down and kissed his forehead. Steven's eyes widened and he smiled in excitement.
"Did you give me future vi-" He started.
"No." She stopped him and stood up.
"Crystal Gems, fall out." She said as they all ran back toward the house.
"Take care Steven!" Pearl yelled.
"We'll be back before you know it." Amethyst yelled as well.
"Bye guys, I'll see you guys later, or sooner!" He yelled back at them. From where he stood, Steven saw a bright light going off inside the house, signifying they left on the warp pad. Steven was about to take out his phone, to text Connie, when, seemingly, out of nowhere Thean grabbed him by the arm gently but quickly.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't have electronic devices when my class is in session."