Steven tries to help Connie with her fusion powers.
fucking 50000 words of this trash are you kidding me
The outdoors is afflicted with an endless grey, marking the arrival of a storm, blanketing Beach City with a thick, but manageable rain. The half-gem doesn't feel like getting wet today, so she's opted to remain indoors, seated on the couch with her bowl o' popcorn nestled in her lap, rewatching her favorite Tubetube videos, reminiscing of times now gone.
Which scares her. She's supposed to be thirteen.
"It's happening!"
She's been around her long enough to know who that is. Shaken from her line of thought, she instinctively jerks her head back around to look at the source of the alarm. Falling from the loft above is Peridot, who manages to land on all fours, before scampering towards her new host.
The gems, having left on a mission, appointed Connie to be in charge of the entire temple, a mostly nominal position. The duty of watching over Peridot however, was one that was assigned seriously.
"What's happening?" The half-gem asks, setting her bowl o' popcorn down to stand.
"I don't know!" Peridot admits. "Your organic atmosphere is… is doing organic things, and it's…" She tries to illustrate whatever she's seen with her hand gestures, but ends up looking like she's having a seizure attack. "I don't know what it's doing, but it's making that horrible sound! AARRAGH!"
The half-gem raises an eyebrow. The green gem buries her face in her shoulder, and begins to whimper in fear. Tuning her out, the half-gem focuses her ears to the environment outside to see if anything's wrong-
Only to be answered by a loud crash of thunder, which makes Peridot jump again.
"...Oh!" She realizes, trying to keep from smiling, and failing. "That's just thunder."
The green gem looks up at her, dumbfounded. "What?"
She stifles a laugh, and rolls her eyes. "It's just thunder. You… you don't know about thunder?" She asks, suddenly remembering that Homeworld likely approaches this particular facet of planetary ecosystems… differently. Wondering if Peridot has ever experienced weather variation before.
"...I don't know anything without my screen." The green gem admits reluctantly, humbling herself.
The half-gem snickers, hitting pause on the cast. "Let me explain. First let's begin with the oceans outside. You do at least remember that liquid evaporates into vapor when it reaches a certain temperature right?"
The green gem hesitates, before nodding vigorously.
"You see, the water vapor is stored in the atmosphere, taking form as clouds. Like…" She tries to come up with words to describe clouds, but then figures that a picture will do more than all the imagery she can conjure up. Whipping out her phone, the half-gem produces the first image from The Googol. "Here."
The green gem narrows at the image, as if trying to study it. "What a strange form…"
"And when the water vapor condenses, it falls to the Earth below. But sometimes, these clouds become electrically charged, and they discharge an electric plasma material into the atmosphere below, called lightning. The sound of thunder, is what results from this discharge."
Peridot sighs, rubbing at her visor. "You see on our systems, we regulate our atmospheric climate…" She grumbles. "Why does the electrical charge occur?"
She isn't that quick this time to open her mouth. "That's a bit more complicated, and I'm not the best at teaching. You'll have to go to Pearl for that one."
Another groan escapes the green gem's lips. "Go to Earth they said… it'll be easy they said…"
She finds her eyes rolling on instinct. "Rain itself isn't harmful," she explains, "just as long as there's not too much of it. Here," she starts towards the doorway, Peridot in tow, "why don't I just show you?"
Parting the thin screen separating them from the outside world, the Earthling steps aside for the Homeworld gem, though both remain hesitant to go out, for different reasons.
"Why aren't you going out?" The green gem asks in suspicion.
She shrugs. "Because I don't want to get wet." Extending her bare arm into the torrent, she allows the Homeworld Gem to witness the water droplets condensing on her skin, who scrutinizes the natural phenomenon as much as time will allow her. Experimentally, she drags a finger across the soaked skin, wincing at the feeling of 'wet.'
Her green arm is caught in the rain, and she observes the sensation to be cold and prickly, but not unpleasant as she expected to be. The condensed vapor is gently brushing against her physical form leaving her feeling… wet. Staring dreamily at the grey clouds above, she comes to realize...
That it isn't bad.
oOoOo
"These rules make no sense!" Pearl squawks, setting down her Citchen Calamity card.
"Pearl…" The half-gem murrs softly, "you said that last time!"
"I'm beginning to become scared at how much I find myself agreeing with the Pearl…" Peridot interjects, "I also have failed to understand the objective of 'fun,' that the Connie posited would be the end result of these primitive Earth symbols."
"Just because an arbitrary amount of time has taken place in between games, does not mean the rules have suddenly started to make sense." Pearl sighs, setting down her card and moving her piece the correct number of spaces.
Amethyst raises her hand, but is quickly shot down by Pearl.
"And we are not doing your 'house rules,' Amethyst, they just serve to make this game even more confusing!"
The purple gem brushes her hair from her eyes. "Not what I was going for but if you're going to be whiny and all, whatever…" She mutters lowly.
Connie sighs. She had hoped family game night might help everyone get along better with each other like in the books, but for that to happen, what's required is something… more.
"Garnet, your turn." Connie admits.
Garnet nods at Connie's bequest, and draws a card. "I'm now the owner of the Golden Can Opener." She produces this all in monotone, "yesssss."
Everyone finds themselves suddenly laughing, save for Garnet, and the Homeworld gem, who slams her arms on the table, knocking over and causing all the game pieces to go astray. "Alright, I'm at my limit!"
Garnet addresses her, though showing no visible change in posture, or readability. "What is it Peridot?"
"Explain it to me fusion!"
Everyone goes silent at the utterance of the last word.
"I can at least understand your rationale for keeping me imprisoned on this rock. I can, with a great many leaps in logic, understand why a Pearl might want to act so out of her place as she's doing right now! But you?" She waggles an accusing finger at Garnet, "you're just… there… fused… without a functional purpose!"
Garnet decides to parley, if just a little. "So?"
"So!? You… you're… just doing nothing! It's wretched!"
Connie speaks up. "What is Peridot talking about?"
Pearl places her hand on Connie's shoulder, though it's obvious she's grating. "Peridot-"
"Isn't it obvious?" Peridot continues, oblivious to the mood she's created, "She's a fusion!"
A cold silence is what follows. Peridot seems to be aware of this, and begins to agitate visibly in the pregnant pause.
Garnet, after what seems like an hour, adjusts her visor before standing up. Everyone takes notice. "Peridot." Her voice is calm, yet steely. "Leave."
The green gem shrinks several sizes. "B-but-"
"Now."
She's all too quick to nod. The green gem acquiesces by tripping over her panic and ends up scampering off on all fours outside.
"Watch her." Garnet directs to the remaining gems.
Pearl and Amethyst nod in an unaware unison. "On it." The two gems follow after Peridot, leaving the half-gem and the fusion alone, together.
They sit in yet another uncomfortable silence. Uncomfortable for the half-gem at least. The supposed fusion continues to be as unreadable as ever. So she supposes she'll have to make the first step forward, as typical in these Garnet-esque situations.
"...So…" she starts meekly, "...you are one."
Garnet smiles. "And so you knew."
She's quick to nod. "It… was an educated guess, and I figured you had your reasons for keeping this from me-"
Garnet smiles. "We were planning for your birthday."
She smiles. "Thanks for planning ahead."
Another uncomfortable pause, led by Garnet, who seems to be content with letting the half-gem continue the interrogative.
"So…" She starts again, "what are you?"
Garnet purses her lips. "That's your question? I'm Garnet. That's who I've always been."
"No, no… as in, who are you made of?"
"I…" Garnet stalls, "am made up of my experiences. My experiences with you, with Pearl, with Amethyst-"
The half-gem shoots her an accusatory look. Garnet sighs, and for the first time in what must be forever, Garnet looks… a bit off.
"Ruby and Sapphire." She holds out her hands, revealing the two differing gemstones in each. "They deeply care about you, just as much as I do."
She feels like she should be excited, but the heavy weight in the air sustains itself, choking the mood. "So… why did Peridot… react like that?"
Garnet sighs. "I suppose you're old enough to know."
"On homeworld, gems of different types aren't allowed to touch each other, let alone fuse with each other. And it isn't just taught to us. When gems are formed, when gems are made… they hard-wired as much coding into our minds as they possibly could. Peridot… I don't expect her to understand."
She nods. "How did you become… well… you?"
Playfully, the fusion pokes her nose. "You mean the story of how Ruby and Sapphire? That's a story for another time."
She squints at the fusion, stifling a groan. "So… what about Ruby and Sapphire themselves? Can I meet them?"
A smirk forms on the fusion's face, just a little. "Not yet."
Connie nods. "I understand."
Garnet ruffles her hair. "No, not entirely. Not yet."
oOoOo
"What exactly is this… image?" Peridot asks, staring at the television in Connie's loft. Displayed on the screen, was a dramatically poor representation of Earth, in terms of graphical capabilities.
"It's Mineshafter. It's a video game." Steven elaborates, having brought over his Lastation console, alongside three controllers upon hearing that Connie was chaperoning Peridot again today. Grinning, the plucky musician tosses Peridot a controller to try and rope her into the game, who ignores the throw and lets it fly past her.
Connie sighs. "I'll go get it…"
"What is this… video game?" Peridot demands, confused by the foreign terminology.
Steven narrows. "It's… a game, where you control the stuff on the screen."
She stares at him blankly, as Connie places the controller in her hands before sitting back down next to Steven after making sure Peridot at least has a firm grip on it. The green gem is all too slow to grasp it, but when she does, her grip is ridiculously excessive. "Okay…"
"And there's this person you play as, and you're put into this world,"
"You mean this poor representation of Earth?"
He can't really disagree with that statement. "Yes, and uh, you just… spend your time gathering resources. And you can use them to make tools… which you can use to gather more resources. And you can use those resources to… do whatever you want!"
"Whatever I want?"
"Yeah! You can make a house… and uh, an even bigger house…"
"Can I build a ship that will allow me to escape this planetary prison?"
"On the PC, with mods."
"Mods?"
Steven groans, before handing the spare controller over to Connie. Reminded of the counterpart in her hands, the green gem stares at her controller in utter confusion.
"Is…" She points to the black controller, "this a weapon?"
He shrugs. "Some people get really angry and throw them-"
She recoils, dropping the weapon. "So it is!"
Steven sighs. "Please don't damage my stuff… Look, it'll be much easier to explain if you're holding the controller, and learning by experience…"
...
One hour later, the controller is jossed to the floor by a defeated green gem. "I refuse to continue." Eliciting two dissapointed 'awws,' from her co-players.
"Why!" He asks, "we really had so much going on in that world!"
"Really?" Peridot asks, "We had something going? I remember you planted these flowers, alongside something called a cactus the Connie's character lost her life to, you were blown up by an entity known as 'Creeper,' and I fell into a hole and drowned! That's what we had going!"
She grinds her feet against the floor to communicate her complete loss of patience. The floor below complies by creaking and groaning in protest, as if a fault line had decided to erupt right under Beach City.
"Gyah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry-how do you make it stop!" Peridot panics, suddenly curling up in a ball in an attempt to make herself smaller.
"T-that's not you!" Connie answers, jumping off the loft and rushing outdoors, to the beach below. There to greet her, is Pearl.
"Pearl!" She calls out. "What's happening!"
Pearl desperately motions to get away, forcing the half-gem to abruptly stop in her tracks, kicking up sand. "Run towards the town! Now!"
"B-but!"
"Now!"
Steven runs up from right behind her, panting. "W...what's happening!?"
Her eyes zero in on whatever Pearl's watching out for. She ends up greeted with a familiar, yet unfamiliar sight, far off in the distance.
"What is happening now you clods…" Peridot muses as she scrambles to catch up, Steven in tow, "...IS THAT ANOTHER FUSION!?"
Steven glows, starry eyed.. "Giant Woman." He whispers.
"Pearl! Is that a monster!?" Connie tries to get an answer from the pale gem, but gets no response.
"Connie! Get out of here!" Pearl repeats.
It's of no use. Even if Connie wasn't stubborn enough to stay, the giant woman's sheer size allows her to close the distance between the beach and the horizon in seconds, preventing any sort of escape.
As the giant woman closes in, her size simply becomes all the more colossal. Four arms, lavender skin, and a stocky build contributes to the inherent feeling of inferiority Connie has whenever she tries to stare into her visor. Her mouth is twisted into some sort of twisted grin, her dark-purple hair is a wild, untamed mess.
"I'M… BORED!" The giant woman's uproars, voice threatening to tear apart Steven's eardrums through vibrations alone.
"Who is that!" Steven panics, covering his ears..
"I don't know!" Connie confesses.
Pearl gulps. Audibly. "Y-you're back!" The pale gem stutters, attempting to play off the current situation as normal.
The giant woman points an accusing finger at the Crystal Gem. "YOU LEFT ME BEHIND!"
Pearl nervously laughs, trying to defuse a bomb which is destined to go off. "Oh, I-I just thought you didn't need any help. Now why don't you separate, and we can all just sit down and relax?" She suggests, voice quivering as she does so.
In that moment, the half-gem sees the gemstones located on her chest, and two of her palms respectively. From this, she inducts that the giant woman is a fusion between Garnet and Amethyst. Or is it Ruby-Sapphire-Amethyst…?
"You… you're Garnet and Amethyst right!?" Connie asks, shouting at her.
Sugilite grins. "Yup. Sugilite. IN THE LIGHT, BABY!" She boasts, putting an arm to her hips. "Hey Connie, you wanna see something?"
She isn't sure how to respond, so Sugilite decides for her, by kicking the pale gem and sending her flying, without any sort of elegance to her flight.
"Pearl!" The half-gem calls out, unsure of whether to prioritize her, or Steven.
Pearl's lithe form lands in the sand, kicking up clouds that obscure her vision temporarily. Picking herself back up, and using her psammokinesis to clear her form and vision of unwanted sand, her outer physical form remains intact, if not scratched up. "Listen to me!" Despite the vast difference in raw physical prowess, she keeps most of her composure, and her voice remains defiant. "You've been fused for too long! You're losing yourselves!"
"I AM MYSELF!" Her anger augments her voice, doubling the decibels, "AND I'M SICK OF BEING SPLIT UP! So you better get used to me, baby. AND LEARN, TO, LISTEN YOURSELF FOR ONCE!" The giant fusion enunciates her last syllable by stomping and kicking up more sand, which Pearl is quick to disperse, before summoning her spear.
Sugilite laughs at this display of defiance. "WHAT!? YOU WANNA FIGHT!?"
"You'll thank me… LATER!" At the last word, the pale gem leaps towards the fusion's visage in an all-out assault, before being swatted away, minimal effort from Sugilite needed.
Connie panics. "Pearl!" She tries to do summon her sword to help, but finds that she can't. Because she knows that won't be able to do anything. She isn't skilled enough, she isn't fast enough to possibly have a chance of fighting that monstrosity of a fusion, and she knows it.
The pale gem lands in sand once more but manipulates it off her, and throws herself at the fusion once more. This time, she manages to catch her by surprise, being just fast enough to land a solid hit on the giant's visor, revealing five eyes.
Sugilite is angry. Not angry because her enemy managed to land a solid hit on her. Angry because her prey managed to embarrass her in front of an audience. "YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING!?" She roars, causing the earth under them to shake. "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN US, ABOVE US! WELL GUESS WHAT! YOU!" With her full force, the fusion uppercuts the pale gem, knocking her up into the sky- "AIN'T!" smashes her into the ground when she comes down- "NOTHING!" and unleashes her weapon; an enormous flail, matching the fusion's color scheme. It appears to be a combination of two weapons; that of Amethyst's whip functioning as the handle, and that of Garnet's fist functioning as the bludgeon.
The pale gem impacts on the sand, throwing up more of the granularity everywhere. This time, it doesn't disperse through magic, but the state of her physical form is visible through the shroud of sand; being very visibly bruised and bloodied, false teal blood everywhere. Before she can even have any time to recover, the flail comes down on her, and she's forced to throw herself forward, trusting that the sand will catch her as she just manages to evade the coming deathblow.
When the flail impacts the sand, the resulting shockwave is strong enough to send all in a three-meter radius flying, including the three onlookers to this incredibly lopsided duel of strength.
Connie coughs, hacking up sand. "Everyone okay?"
"This is why one doesn't just fuse…" Peridot protests.
"My eyes…" Steven protests, "I can't see…"
When the sand clears, through natural air gradation this time, the outcome of this battle is clear; Pearl is one blow away from poofing. Using her spear as a support, the pale gem puts forth one last endeavor to stand up, her physical form wounded and bruised everywhere, her throat coughing up false teal blood. And just for the briefest of seconds, her physical form flickers, her gem struggling to keep up the projection.
"Connie!" Her physical form flickers again, and Pearl's limbs begin to harden like molten cast iron. Her legs begin to give way, forced to kneel in submission, and though her eyes refuse to acknowledge the victor, her voice suggests otherwise. "I'm sorry… Connie, Amethyst…" She sniffles, whimpering at Amethyst, "I wasn't strong enough, to protect you. I'm not strong enough to do anything…"
"Yes you are!"
The pale gem turns her head to the voice.
"Pearl! I know what Amethyst says about you sometimes. That you're stuck-up, insensitive, arrogant, and uncaring… but don't listen! Don't listen to any of that! I know sometimes it seems like I think of you that way, but none of that matters! You've…" She points to herself, "you've taught me so much about magic, and… everything I know about the natural world! And if there's one thing I've learned from you Pearl, is that we don't have to be big in order to be strong! We can be strong in other ways too Pearl!"
"Yeah!" Steven joins. "Like my mom always said! Strong in the real way!"
Though the pale gem's eyes begin to grow hot and wet from their words, she puts forth one last endeavor to stand up, only to discover that she has plenty of fight left inside her.
"What are you all doing!" Peridot. "We need to run! We're clearly doomed!"
The pale gem realizes her mistake; that she gave into her internal jealousy, and was baited into a contest of physical strength alone, a contest where she was doomed to fail, no matter what.
Sugilite is a amalgam of Garnet and Amethyst, two naturally physically talented gems who have always formed the core of strength, passion, and power in the team. But where the two excel in those qualities, they fall behind severely in matters of tactics and strategy, Pearl having always been defaulted to such matters (and being typically ignored whenever she tried to voice her opinions in.)
Her eyes fall towards Beach House, and she tries her best not to be horrified by the damage sustained by the patio. Repairs can come later. Analyzing the environment comes now, she tells herself. She'll have just a few seconds before Sugilite starts up the fight again.
Her thoughts fall back towards her foe. Sugilite is a fusion of raw power and passion, two traits which threaten to overwhelm and swamp the tactician gem whole. But she also lacks control. Her Sapphire component is now overwhelmed by that of Ruby and Sapphire (or perhaps just encouraged,) it's natural she ended up losing all sense of her past, and her responsibilities. If she can make her lose control in battle...
In no way is this lack of control better represented by Sugilite's choice weapon; the flail. Powerful, destructive, though armed with the ability to quickly turn against it's wielder. If she can use her weapon against her…
"WHAT?" Her planning time has ended. "YOU WANT SOME MORE!?"
She'll have to taunt her. "ANY TIME! You're no match for me! Not even CLOSE!"
She sidesteps the oncoming, predictable blow, and runs, pushing her physical form to it's limits. She'll bait her into a trap. She knows what to do.
"GO PEARL! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!"
She aims her body away from her foe, towards the town, past the magically-augmented fence, and pushes her physical form to the theoretical maximum as she does so, leaving Sugilite scrambling after what's supposed to be her prey.
"What is the Pearl doing!?" Peridot asks.
Connie smiles. "Trust me. She'll win."
"No she won't!"
The pale gem turns a sharp angle when she veers towards the hill, and runs up towards the lighthouse, her enemy in tow. Sugilite has perfectly taken the bait. Upon reaching the end of the cliff, the pale gem vaults forward, into the air.
Sugilite laughs. "Nice try." Swinging her flail, the purple fusion stands at the precipice of the cliff, right where Pearl had calculated she would be. Naturally, Pearl closes the trap, hurling her weapon at the footing with calculated precision.
The impact breaks her footing, sending Sugilite crashing to the sand below, kicking up yet another storm-
"Is that all you GOT?" The fusion taunts, standing herself back up with ease. "You think that's enough to beat—"
It was a perfect trap. Sugilite's flail impacts her skull, flattening it completely and unnaturally. Her form poofs right after, signalling the end of the fight.
Pearl has won. The defeated Amethyst and Garnet lay in their loss, groaning from pain.
Pearl isn't one to waste time, shifting gears from tactician to mother hen. "Amethyst! Garnet!" She cries, rushing over to them, "Are you okay!?"
"Yeah…" Garnet groans, receiving the pale gem in a rare moment of deference to her physical state. "Sugilite just overworked our bodies. It's... a little painful."
"You see what happens when you Crystal Clods fuse…" Peridot grumbles, only to receive two death glares from the former components of Sugilite, and… pretty much everyone else.
"I've got a monster headache and I'm not in the mood for dealing with you…" Amethyst groans.
Pearl embraces the two of them in a bone-crushing hug, although technically harmless, serves only to aggravate the soreness the two gems are being subjected to as of now.
They both moan in absolute agony.
The pale gem backs off, dropping them to the sand like hot glass. "Whoops."
"Pearl… you did it." There to properly celebrate her victory, are Steven and Connie, who are there for hugs as well.
Pearl blushes, brushing loose strand of hair from the half-gem's visage. "Connie… thank you. I needed that."
The half-gem beams with pride. "Peridot, you have something to say to Pearl?"
"We have nothing to communicate to each other."
Crossing her arms, the green gem receives a push from Steven, and ends up stumbling forward, eyeing the pale gem with suspicion. "I would rather I must admit…" Her eyes focus on anywhere else but Pearl's eyes, "that I severely underestimated your… intuition, concerning its' application to battlefield engagements."
Pearl smiles. "Thank you Peridot."
"But don't take this adaptation as a sign that you're above your post. You're still just a Pearl." The green gem corrects, ruining the mood.
Having spoiled the moment, Peridot receives a strong punch from Garnet, straight into the water.
oOoOo
"What's fusion?" The musician asks, starry eyed. The two of them have retreated to farther out onto the coastline, away from the temple, with the temple and Pearl preoccupied with caring for the two former components of Sugilite, now out of commission.
The horizon has pinkened with the coming of sunset, in the stead of the usual orange, marking the transition from fall to winter. On the sands of the beach, Steven and Connie lay on a blanket together, their casual talk shifting to a discussion on the the complexities and nuances of fusion, with Steven wanting to learn as much as he possibly can from his friend.
"It's when…" Connie frowns, picking at the sand in her trim nails. "It's when two gems combine together, but it's… much more than that." She frowns. "Pearl said when two gems synchronize their forms, they form a powerful fusion gem."
"Whoa…"
Encouraged that Steven's happy, the half-gem continues. "They become an amalgam of their combined magical and physical attributes into a single entity. Like Sugilite. Or Garnet."
The boy sits up. "So-what whaaa? Garnet's a fusion too?"
She nods in confirmation. "Ruby and Sapphire. She said they were waiting for my birthday to tell me, but Peridot ruined the whole thing, though it isn't really her fault. I still haven't seen the Garnet defused though, she said that Ruby and Sapphire are planning to wait for my birthday for the big reveal.
"Really? That's… that's amazing!" He purses his lips. "Can you… fuse too?"
She darkens, letting out a small grunt. He takes notice.
"You can't?" He guesses to the cause of her change in mood.
"I… I can't. Well, they've said I can. But me and the gems have tried it before, and… nothing." She admits, reluctantly. "I just can't dance."
Steven raises an eyebrow. "Dance?"
"Oh, it's the quickest and easiest way of synchronizing for duos who are unused to it. Garnet said that gems who are really close together can just fuse whenever they want, at any moment."
"Hmm…" maybe I can help you?" He asks, startling her.
"What… do you mean by that?" She raises an eyebrow.
Standing up, he holds out an arm, beckoning her to take it. "Let's dance."
She snickers, taking his hand for him to give her a boost. "I can't dance. Amethyst said I always look like I'm flopping around like a dead fish, and Pearl always scolds me for having no discipline. Dancing just doesn't really seem that fun, you know?"
He sullens in empathy. "I get you. But dancing is supposed to be something you… just do. It's supposed to be fun, even if you do look like you're flopping around like a dead fish."
She sighs, shaking her hand loose from his. "That's what Amethyst says, but I always just feel that way. I just can't stop thinking about how everyone's staring at me."
"Well…" Steven starts softly, "no one's staring except us right now?"
She blushes. "I… suppose so."
He grins. "We'll need music then! And I have an idea!" Whipping out his backpack, he pulls out a black case, containing his ukulele, which he promptly wears.
"Steven, I'm… I'm getting second thoughts-"
"Come on! Even if we mess up, it'll be fun!"
"All… alright…" She frowns. "Wait, how are we…"
He grins. "Just follow." Standing close, they first begin apart. Steven smiles a stupid grin on his face, and she laughs, performing a mock bow, akin to Pearl.
They start, with the half-gem stepping on his heels, and the human trying to establish some form of harmony, spectacularly failing. Eventually though, they find themselves in some form of rhythm, their feet falling into a pleasant, flowing promenade. Their eyes fall into each other, entranced… in some kind of longing.
Steven
Isn't this such a beautiful night,
Whoah, we're underneath a thousand shining stars.
Isn't it nice just to be someone different,
Whoa, why don't we let ourselves just be whoever we are.
Look at this place, look at our faces,
I've never seen you look like this before.
Isn't it be nice just to be someone different,
Whoa, why don't we let ourselves just be whoever we are.
Connie
Look at this place, look at our faces.
To shine, like a thousand shining stars
Would it be nice just to be someone different,
Whoa, why don't we let ourselves just be whatever we are.
Both
Why don't we let ourselves just be someone different.
Whoa, why don't we let ourselves just be... whoever we are.
Lost in the song, it becomes an inevitability that one of them will trip and fall, the first victim being the one without enhanced coordination from her magical abilities. Steven's feel trip over each other, sending him falling over. Lost in the moment, the half-gem grabs him by the hips, spinning him and catching him, in a perfect execution of Pearl's routine. Steven yelps in surprise, his ukelele falling to the sand below, as the half-gem lowers him towards the ground. He grins widely and she just can't help but join him.
They laugh. Blissfully lost in the moment, each blushing accordingly. Resting her forehead upon his, they fall into each other, and complete.
oOoOo
Eyes vault open, and just be .
"That was… lovely… of me?" They frown. "Why am I-? Why is…" Eyes focus on the pair of sandals discarded onto the sand, fingers tepidly feeling the synthetic footwear, minds instinctively drawing comparisons to that of their oversized foot, "your sandal too small for my-your feet?" Feeling their body, they realize they have grown to a height outmatching that of Pearl.
Fists instinctively ball up in their hair. "Steven? Connie!" Their mind is scramble-jumble, both from the unfamiliar sensation of simply being able to think for the first time, alongside the sensation of having two minds im one. "I did it!" They frown. "You did it?"
"Wait." They try to stretch out their back, feeling several bones pop in response. "Ugh, this-no." Interrupting themselves, they wonder whether their thoughts are an amalgam of that of Steven and Connie's, or if they are their own actor.
They're too excited to dedicate any precious time considering this question of the mind. Now is the time for action. "This is gr-great! Oh my gosh, look at you now! Picking themself up, they arise, not unlike a child taking their first steps.
They purse their lips. "I'm a fusion…" Breaking out into elation, they run for the first time, laughing as they do so, until they trip on yet another rogue rock. Which doesn't faze their mood in the slightest.
"I have to show everybody."
oOoOo
Pearl stares, unsure. Amethyst grins, laying on the couch, approvingly. Garnet, laying right alongside her, purses her lips, as if to articulate a thought yet to be processed. Peridot just gawks in horror.
"Pretty cool, right?" They ask, wearing a wide grin on their face.
"She fused?" Pearl analyzes, "With her friend Steven?"
Amethyst pokes her in the wrist. "Pearl, look at Garnet."
And sure enough, the fusion is ecstatic at their success, standing and wearing an expression on her face that they aren't sure anyone has ever seen before; giddy, uncompromising joy.
Peridot lets out an undignified sound. "But… why! And… how! And… why!"
"This is unprecedented." Pearl admits. Starting over to inspect the unorthodox fusion, she first begins with the arms. She startles, when she realizes the full scale of the bulk they possess. "A Gem fusing…" She moves onto the legs, revealing the same results, "with a human... being?" She backs off, wearing an unclear gaze that seems to be a mixture of shock, fear, and awe. "It's impossible!" Frowning, she cups her mouth. "Or at the very least inappropriate…"
Noticing Stevonnie' growing glum, Amethyst hobbles over, as fast as her sore physical form will allow. "Wow! You two look great together! How does it feel Steven? Connie? ... Stevonnie?"
Loving the name, Stevonnie immediately brightens. "It feels amazing!"
"B-but how! And… and why! And…" Flapping her fingers at Stevonnie, as if attempting to convey words that aren't coming together, Peridot stands slackjawed. "This is completely wrong and disgusting!"
"J-just…" Frowning, they try to reclaim the wind knocked out of their lungs 'wait, do we have four now?' "That's just Peridot, don't take anything she says too seriously!" They nod. "Right! Right! Got it!"
"Your fusion is destabilizing…" Pearl muses, "this can't possibly be safe for the two of you, especially just after we've dealt with Sugilite. You need to un-fuse, right now ."
"I, again, agree with the Pearl." Peridot adds, looking unhappy about it.
They frown. "Pearl. I-" They feel themself unstabilizing again, and grunt in response, "you were so worried Connie wouldn't be able to do this. And…" her voice grows soft, "do you think I'm wrong… and disgusting?"
Peridot opens her mouth, only to receive several glares from everyone, shutting her up.
"No!" Pearl clarifies, "I just think that in light of recent events this form of yours is not appropriate for the moment?" Backing up, it's clear to everyone in the room she wishes she could just stuff her words down her throat, "Garnet, help me out here…"
The fusion, now serious, steps up to take Pearl's place, and cups their face. "Stevonnie. Listen to me. You are not two people. And you are not one person. You... are an experience! Make sure you're a good experience." She grins, revealing a smile they've never seen before. "Now... Go!... Have!... Fun!"
oOoOo
They've never enjoyed the mundane as much as they have in this moment. Just… running, running faster than he's ever run before, faster than she's ever run before, then they have… Breathing is a new experience entirely as if Steven's sense of smell has been augmented with something totally new, or maybe the other way around-
Lost in each other, in themself, they find themselves flying off a familiar cliff on the opposite side of the beach; one which they had noticed before, but had found little motivation, or courage to face.
They fall through their own bliss, welcomed by the ocean, the warm waters with a splash below.
Laughing, they just let themself float through bliss, floating back towards the shore wherein they are received by the sound of their stomach growling.
High on self-love, they start the way back up to their familiar donut shop in search for nourishment, their hair still clinging to their eyes, denying them of sight.
It's not like they need sight. The path is so familiar, so well worn by her that before long, they've arrived at the familiar glass door. With a familiar jingle, they saulter the way to the front desk.
"Ha-ha-" Lars sounds like he's been caught a bit off-guard, shirking his work as always, "how can I-help… me?"
Stevonnie performs a hair flip, regaining control over their vision. "Two doughnuts. Please."
Manning the front desk are Lars and Sadie. Who appear… to be a bit off, with Sadie slackjawed, the both of them just… staring. At them? Is their presence just that physically overwhelming?
The poor boy snatches up two doughnuts from the display case, producing their order on the counter in record time.
They approach. They blush.
Counting their money, Stevonnie muses, "How much do I owe you?"
Lars looks like he's about to break down. "Uh-ah-uhhh…"
Two arms slam across the countertop. "Oh…" Sadie stumbles, "nothing! It's…" She blushes, looking away to save face, "on the house."
Pleasantly surprised, they chuckle. "Really?"
The two of them nod and agree in another moment of rare unity. "Mmm-hmm."
Maybe combined together their charisma score just goes up?
"Okay." Grabbing their treats off the counter, Stevonnie saunters off, but not before flashing them one last look. "But just so you know… that isn't a very sound business practice."
The familiar bells chime once more, and the cool ocean breeze greets them, alongside a comfy-looking bench which invites them to rest, just for the moment.
"Sweet, two doughnuts!" Crinkling the bag, they pull out their purchases, ready to devour it with gusto. "One for me, and one for… uh… me."
They frown at their temporary lapse of logic.
"Are you… okay?" She/They blink.
"We can stop if you…" He/They suggest.
They put two and two together, literally pressing the donuts against each other. "No. No. Don't worry." Taking a bite out of their confectionary treats, they decide to just spend this time… just, being themselves. It's not like they can't eat two. They're a growing bodies, after all. Sighing, they… what was it that people said nowadays? Lounging around?
"Mmmm." Taking another bite into blissful frosted confectionery heaven, they notice the presence of some stranger, a young man, ice blue eyes, with platinum hair fashioned into a spike. His hands lie buried in the pockets of his gray hoodie, which complement his orange phat pants well.
"Hey there." They set their donuts down. "Cool pants."
He looks nervous, looking away to avoid their gaze. "Cool." He fishes from his pockets some sort of flyer, with the word 'Rave' printed on it. "Rave tonight."
Their eyes carefully scrutinize the flyer. "Like… a dance?"
Blushing, he nods. "Yeah, at the warehouse. I'm DJ-ing, and a bunch of my friends from the internet are gonna be there. There's gonna be free... glow sticks…"
"Yes! I'll definitely be there! Yes. Thanks!"
oOoOo
They're positive this is the place. It helps that there's obscenely loud music thrumming from the inside. It's a very familiar, yet unfamiliar location, the abandoned warehouse where the pseudo-legal wrestling matches are always held.
Night has fallen upon Beach City, manifesting itself in vibrant fuschia light. The fusion still feels safe, being around six feet tall and having all the strength of their half-gem component, and is able to approach the repopulated ruin with confidence.
Peeking inside, it's all but confirmed that this is the place; Beach City's entire teenage population has shown up on the dance floor, enjoying themselves. They recognize Ronaldo's face from the crowd, but everyone else's is foreign, save for the DJ.
Putting on a brave face, they step forward, and join the dance floor.
Moving with the music, the lights, the people… it's as if they're all flowing through them naturally. Their dancing is an amalgram of the gems', they alternate between pirouettes, twirls, knee-slides, movements of the bold yet brash categories; movements one might argue belonging to the trash.
Whatever they're doing, feels natural. Feels good. Feels right.
Until they notice that they're not dancing with the people anymore. It's the people rather, who are just… staring at them. For whatever reason.
They laugh nervously, and try to clear up the mood. "I-I thought this was a dance party." Nothing. "Why isn't anyone else dancing?"
They continue to stare wordlessly. "This is what being cool at a cool dance is right? This is how it's supposed to be…" They begin falling through, nausea building up- "why isn't it like it's supposed to be?"
Everyone grows bigger and bigger and their eyes grow wider and keep staring and keep staring and won't stop staring and they close their eyes shut to block out the world and stares around them, only to find themselves lost in yet another world one that shines and one that glows and the music's off but on yet off and-
"Hey baby."
The face is recognizable. For all the wrong reasons. "Wha?"
The music starts again. The world starts again, the party starts again, everyone having returned to their own business. Save for the one right in front of them.
Kevin.
He leans far too close for their comfort (they didn't realize they had a comfort zone,) and puts his hand out, as if they're supposed to take it. "Get ready." He slides around their figure, "it's Kevin time."
Kevin dances. Dances differently. Dances like he's lost in something. Between his gawdy moves, his constant pointing at others, and his pelvic thrusting, it almost seems… self-absorbed. As if instead of being about the moment, it's about himself.
Lost in himself.
They run off, abandoning Kevin to the crowd figuring he has plenty of company. Sweltering in heat, they take shelter near a wall, leaning against it as a support.
"I...don't understand what's wrong." They talk to themself. "You have fun dancing but this dance isn't fun. You're supposed to like this. Why- don't we like this?"
They sigh, straightening himself and leaning against the wall as the feeling of nausea subsides.
"I wish you were here." They slump against the wall and allow themselves to fall again. "If we were together, it would be okay. But we are together, and it's not. I'm alone." They close their eyes and shut, trying to reorient themself/ves.
"Not tonight." They grit their teeth, and are greeted with an unwanted sight, leaning in against them once more, at an uncomfortably close distance. "Hey baby, why'd you leave me on the dance floor?"
"I don't-" He offers them his hands again and she swats them away, "just go! We want to be alone!"
He frowns. "Well I want to go back out. We're the best thing that's ever happened to this place. Come back out with me."
"Why should I?"
He grins. "Because we're angels walking among garbage people. We're perfect for each other."
They try not to vomit. "How can you say that!? You don't even know us!"
"Oh, whoa. I'm just looking for a dance!" He shoots them an accusatory look. "Don't get crazy."
They she stands. "No one is crazy. I just don't like feeling alone here!"
"If you're so lonely, then dance with me!" His arm moves to grab their wrist.
She snaps.
A second, and a flash of light. Kevin is sent flying, his cheek pummeled red, someone screams.
She makes out the sound of Steven, groaning. "What happened..."
"I…" She rubs her forehead, and feels a trashing in her skull. She's herself, she's always been herself, and she's never known and still doesn't know what herself is.
Her vision eventually focuses, and when she comes to fully, she finds she's on the ground with Steven.
"What were we doing?" Her eyes grow wide.
This… this is Kevin's fault right? None of this would have happened if he hadn't been such a creep…
"What's going on!?" The DJ has left his post to report on the situation. A crowd has started to form, and with it will go their chance to escape.
She tries to say something, but falters. Swiveling her head around, she finds that Kevin's cheek is bruised nasty and purple. The lights have been killed. Party's over.
In a perfect world, there wouldn't have been a Kevin to deal with. In a perfect world, she's be allowed to defend herself. In a perfect world, she would have just swatted him off. She wouldn't have went and ruined an entire party by pummeling into his face raw.
But this is reality, and she has to face the consequences of her actions, no matter how unjust.
"Connie, we have to go-"
She listens, and just lets her hand be taken, and they run.
oOoOo
They run, seemingly aimlessly. All they know is that they're running away from the dance party, until they come across Beach House once more.
"Connie..." He pants, forehead glistened with sweat, "I don't think I can run anymore."
She sighs. "I can get a water from the temple while you rest here."
He nods. "Are… are we going to be in trouble?"
She waves it off, not bothering to look him in the eyes as she does so. "The gems can take care of it. They'll understand."
"But… that's not right. We could have just talked to someone else, or just maybe called him out, we, we didn't need to actually hurt him… did we?"
She narrows at him. "What do you mean, not right!? He… he was totally being a creep! He was making you uncomfortable! I felt it!"
"Connie," he tries, "I don't want you to do these things for me. I… I don't like seeing other people getting hurt."
Her gaze softens, though a bit unattentive… unaware. "I want to protect you Steven… I at least want to be able to do that much."
"Connie… you're scaring me."
She takes several steps back, and looks down in further contemplation of what just transpired.
Sighing, he looks away, turning towards the night sky, letting the cool breeze wash some of his troubles away. Frowning, he figures he might as well try to cheer up the situation, but instead finds Connie curled up, face in her hands.
"I… I'm bad aren't I? If it weren't for me everything would have-"
Steven kneels down to hug her. "Connie… you were just worried about me. It's okay. Really. Everything's okay."
"No it's not…" she continues, "Pearl would have stayed calm. Amethyst would have talked it out. Garnet would have walked away. If it were anyone else things wouldn't have gotten out of control."
She shudders, tearing up and unwilling to look him in the eyes.
"Connie... Listen to me." He smiles sweetly as he always does, before cupping her cheeks, wiping away some of her tears, and patting her back.
She blushes furiously, nodding.
"You're more than enough."
Leaning into each other, they sigh, and just be.
connie has realized that emotionally, she's in too deep.
next two chapters will be interludes. starring pearlmethyst and amedot. Everyone's in too deep now. Except garnet. Perks of being made of love.
bc the next two chapters are interludes, likely won't take as long to write. likely. school is murdering me with around 100 pages assigned to read per week on average.