"This is awesome!" Connie said, circling Stars and checking out every single inch of him, which only made him a little uncomfortable. "You're awesome! How do you feel?"

"Not tired at all, which makes this a success, right?" He smirked, plopping down on the couch.

"Definitely! I'm so proud of you! Though this is a little weird, seeing Steven part of a fusion when I'm not in it," she admitted sheepishly. Stars waved a hand, a 'no big deal' gesture. "So you're gonna be doing the presentation instead of Stevonnie?"

"Uh." Just like on the starship ride at Funland, the floor dropped out from under him. "Presentation?"

"Well, yeah! Lars didn't know about it, I'm sure, but Steven did. It took months to get everything ready!"

Stars's face was still blank. Connie crossed her arms. "Steven did remember it, didn't he?"

"I dunno!" Stars abashedly folded his arms across his chest as well, his lip jutting out. "I'm not him!"

Connie shook her head, affectionately sighing. "He never did wrap his head around anything that resembled homework." She plopped on the couch next to Stars, who scooted himself just far enough away to not have his knees in her face. "For the Center. We were gonna do a follow-up speech about fusion and gem-human relations. Bring in a few people who are comfortable around gems and know how to defend themselves, just so the gems can ease into human contact. Remember now?"

That did sort of ring a bell for Stars. "Oh, yeah…" A thought struck him and he jumped up. "I can't do a speech like this!"

Connie stared up at him. "Like what?"

"Like, you know, this! Fused!" His face burned. "I mean, I'm having a lot of fun this way, but I've barely even figured out my own name! I can't get up in front of hundreds of gems and talk about what it's like to be me when I don't even know yet!"

"Calm down, Stars!" Connie said, making patting motions in the air. "It's okay! You don't have to do the talk. I've prepared enough, and if we focus on just the human interaction part instead of the fusion stuff, it should be okay if I'm the only one to do it. And it's probably good for them to see me unfused! All right? You won't need to make any speeches, you just gotta show up."

"Are you sure?" Apparently whatever emotions Stars felt, he felt hard. The all-consuming joy was sucked away by an uncertainty that made his knees shake as he paced. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Would it be better for me to unfuse? Lars would be okay with it." Before Connie could answer, Stars softly answered himself, "But Steven wouldn't like it, would he."

Connie shook her head, gesturing for Stars to sit beside her again. "He's been worried about Lars. I know Lars was okay with being asleep, but it was really scary for everyone else. Even if we know where Lars and Lion go when they disappear, it doesn't mean anyone's used to the idea."

"Steven uses the hair dimension like a storage space for stuff he doesn't use often," Stars agreed numbly. "He thinks that putting Lars in it is like packing him up into storage." He collapsed on the couch again, head in palms. "It's just a nap," he added to himself. "Who cares where it is? Lars probably would have been willing to sleep in a storage pod even when he was still human."

Connie smiled at him encouragingly. "Being a fusion is more difficult than you thought, huh."

"Yeah!" Stars burst out. Steven might have known how fusion felt, but neither he nor Lars knew how being Stars would feel until it happened. "How come we're not unfusing? We're disagreeing!"

"You still feel the same about it, though," Connie said, patting Stars's knee. "Garnet says a fusion is a conversation, right? If you're both still willing to talk about it normally, and if you both don't want to fall apart, you'll stay fused. Right?"

Stars mumbled but nodded, then reluctantly said, "Thanks, Connie. You're… pretty cool. Like, Steven knew that, but Lars didn't."

"So generous with the compliments!" Connie said, nudging Stars in the ribs with her elbow. "When Steven said he wanted to try this when he found Lars, I didn't know you'd be such a gentleman."

"Yeah, well…"

"Who knows?" Connie continued playfully. "Maybe sooner or later we can try making a Starvonnie."

Stars choked.