"A-5-6-7-8!" Pearl clapped her hands to set the beat, "Synchronize!"
Amethyst took the lead and Steven followed. She had her hands at her side, swaying her hips left, right, left, right. Back-step, step forward, hip swivel. Hands traced up the length of her body, up over her shoulders and past her head into the air. She stuck out her chest, wiggled her hips, and stepped to the left, then the right, then the left. Steven was always one step behind her, yet still he could hear the chime begin to surround them. A steady knocking and warping that faded into a quick-paced tune with the same beat, only faster. Amethyst spun around, and Steven spun around, and then when they came back to face each other Amethyst held out her arms. Steven ran to her, and once he was in reach Amethyst grabbed him and lifted him above her head- and behind it. Then they were both falling with the momentum, Amethyst landing on top of Steven and knocking the air from out of him.
Steven sucked in a deep breath, and the first thing he did with it was laugh along with Amethyst. The fun was quickly drained from the situation was Steven was dragged out from under her by Pearl.
"Steven! Anything broken?"
"I'm fine!" Steven laughed through the dull pain.
Garnet huffed, but not at Steven. Amethyst immediately swallowed her laughter.
"Be serious." Garnet said.
"I am, geeze." Amethyst said, looking away; her voice sounded so sad it stopped Steven's laughing too, "It was an accident."
"Garnet's right!" Pearl agreed, "You need to be more carful Amethyst!"
"Actually," Garnet followed up, "I was talking to myself."
Pearl blinked slowly. "Oh. Well uh, back to starting position both of you!"
"You're doing great Steven." Spinel gave a thumbs up.
Steven smiled at Spinel's encouragement as he returned to his position in front of Amethyst and the fusion dance began again. Hips left, hips right, and repeat. Back, forward, swivel. He began to anticipate Amethyst's moves, and the musical beat surrounding them helped to keep the rhythm. Instead of matching his dance to Amethyst, he found himself matching to the beat. A graceful, surrounding presence that told his feet where they needed to go. Flowing through his body and guiding his arms and hips and every part of him to match. He was ready when Amethyst completed her spin and came back around arms out, and Amethyst was ready to catch him when he came running. She grabbed him by his side and lifted him not quite as far as she had the first time. That's when Steven made the mistake of opening his eyes.
He and Amethyst locked eyes, and them something in that situation just seemed so funny to the both of them. Amethyst's calm, relaxed face cracked a smile and Steven couldn't fight doing to the same, and neither could fight back the laughter that came after and overrode the musical tone.
"Sorry, sorry!" Amethyst put Steven gently back on the ground, "He looked at me funny!"
Pearl raised her eyebrows and nodded over to Spinel over on the couch. Steven and Amethyst took the hint and let Garnet and Pearl have control of the floor.
"Pay attention now, Steven."
Garnet and Pearl interlocked hands. Together they swayed side to side as a new tune began to take control; a long, whining build up that that lead to a few elegant, steady piano notes and then settled into a harsher, jarring sound and then repeated again. Garnet then spun Pearl around and placed her right hand in the small of Pearl's back while Pearl held her free hand out to the side. Garnet stepped forward, Pearl back. Pearl put both her hands to Garnet's chest while the larger gem grabbed her by her waist; the song was only growing more powerful by the second. A swoop, a dip, and then Garnet shoved Pearl against the wall and slammed her hands down on either side of her. Pearl turned to look at Steven.
"See?"
Steven hummed in thought.
"Maybe it would be easier for him to try with Spinel." Garnet suggested.
"WHAT?" Pearl's voice grew high-pitched and sharp, "Are you kidding? Spinels eh... dance... is way too extreme for Steven!"
"Okay, then you go."
Steven joined Pearl while the others watched, and he tried his best to remember and copy Garnet's movements. He tried to spin Pearl once the time came, but Pearl went too far back and her legs nearly slid out from under her. He tried to reach Pearl's back and, though Pearl kneeled to help him, when Steven went to tip her she hit the ground and Steven fell on top of her.
"Ah! Sorry Pearl!" Steven struggled to get up. Garnet lifted him with ease into one arm, and helped Pearl to stand with the other.
Spinel and Amethyst didn't even try to hold back their laughter.
"You say my dance was bad?" Amethyst chortled.
"Well it's a bit different when he's dancing with someone of average height."
"Hey, don't go there."
Spinel propped up her arm and leaned into her fist. "Now that's just mean!"
"Amethyst." Garnet said, "Let's try you and Steven again. You two seemed to be getting somewhere. But perhaps try something more simplistic."
"Sim...simp.. that word is my middle name." Amethyst threw herself off the couch and pushed Pearl out of the way, "Beat it, bird-nose. Let the master try."
"Oh." Pearl gave a fake smile and a shocked look, "But your name's not Garnet, is it?"
Amethyst rolled her eyes. She took a few steps away from Steven. "Follow this dude!"
Amethyst stuck out her arms palm-down, and Steven followed. She flipped her hands over and so did Steven. Then she touched her hands to her hand, folded them over each other to touch the opposite shoulder, pulled them back and place them on her hips. Steven did as she did. The music inside him and all around was blaring so loud it blocked out all thought that weren't directly linked to the dance. It pounded in his ears and inside his skull and through his entire body, stuck on the threshold of something amazing but night quite pushed over the limit. Then Amethyst started to sway back and forth, bending her body as if there were no bones inside, because there weren't; she was just light. But Steven had bones, and when he tried to replicate the move all that happened was an awkward, and frankly painful, shimmy.
"Ow."
Amethyst flinched. "Oh. Forgot you had bones. Sorry dude."
Garnet picked up Amethyst by her head and placed her gently to the side. "It was unavoidable."
Matching Garnet was even more difficult than matching Pearl. She started off slow, but just as their song started to speed up, Garnet did to. The song itself was a lot less intense than the other two songs, but had a lot more depth and complexity to it. Warping and whirling and sounding like something that Sourcream would play in a rave. Steven stopped trying when he could no longer process where Garnet had put her hands before she had already moved them to three other positions.
"Um."
Garnet stopped and looked at him. Steven shrugged.
Spinel extended her arms to lift herself off the couch and then streched out her legs to right in front of Garnet before she pulled the rest of her body along.
Garnet bowed her head. "Go ahead."
Steven took Spinel's hand, and they immediately started a fast-paced shuffle. Spinel put her hands to Steven's back and started to spin, not like a spinning top as she usually did but instead in a circle around the floor pulling Steven along with her. Steven felt his feet leave the ground, then return for a few quick steps, and leave again. His vision spun and he felt vulnerable; one wrong move, one misstep on either of their parts, and he didn't want to know the outcome that would arise. Spinel's arms slivered from his back to his shoulders, and when they finally stopped spinning it was clear Spinel wasn't done with him; she pulled him between her legs, and then pulled him back with a quick momentum and launched him into the air.
Steven panicked. The only relief of his situation was when he didn't bang his head on the ceiling and instead fell fast toward the ground. He remembered himself, caught himself, and opened his eyes to the blissful, slow descent he had fallen into. He hadn't even heard a song that time! Spinel reached up and grabbed Steven by his ankles to pull him down faster.
"Yeah." Spinel admitted, "Maybe I shouldn't have done that inside."
Many tries later, many attempts where the music took control of him in a way nothing else could, and there was still nothing. Nothing beyond the tilting threshold he felt, there on the edge and about to fall over it until something drew him back to reality and back to the ground where he stood. The gems finally gave him a break, and Steven collapsed on the couch.
"I really thought I had it that time!"
Pearl returned from the kitchen with the glass of ice water she had promised to Steven, sitting beside him and handing him the drink. Steven chugged it quickly, and then the precious salvation was gone as fast as it had arrived. He popped one of the ice cubes into his mouth.
Pearl rested her hand on Steven's knee and gave him a patient smile. "Steven, no one expects you to be able to fuse on the first try, or even the first hundred! You're not failing, you're practicing!"
"Yeah!" Amethyst pulled herself onto the counter, "It's hard sometimes, even for us!"
"Amethyst! Off the counter!"
"Who are you, my mom?"
"Gems don't have moms, but we did we all know it would be Garnet!"
Garnet nodded solemnly. "It's true. Off the counter Amethyst."
Amethyst groaned but didn't argue. She went limp and her body slid off the counter and into a pile on the floor.
"Well, anyway..." Spinel started slowly, "It took Amethyst a few hundred years to learn how to fuse!"
"That doesn't make me feel any better!"
"And if I remember correctly," Pearl talked over him, "It took Spinel a few thousands to even attempt it."
Spinel raised her brow. "I seem to recall you having the same issue."
"Guys?" They continued to ignore him.
Garnet crossed her arms and sat back. "I didn't have that issue."
"Guys? Come on! Listen to me!"
Pearl waved her hands in surrender. "The point is that with a little practice..." Her smiled faded, and her features squinted as she went from talking to Steven to talking with herself. "Though... I wonder if Steven's body is capable of fusion. Fusion combines the light forms of gems, but Steven's organic."
"Come on! It's Steven!" Amethyst pulled herself onto the arm of the couch with her legs dangling off, "Who knows what could happen?"
"Amethyst! Off!"
"What? Can't sit on the counter, can't sit here! Where can I sit?" Pearl pointed down, and Amethyst gave a long, exaggerated sigh. "Okaaay."
She hopped off on all fours like a dog and settled on the floor. Pearl gave a satisfied smile.
"I think he can do it." Spinel said, making herself even skinner than Pearl to fit on the couch.
Garnet sat down beside Amethyst on the floor, though she sat criss-cross while Amethyst sprawled. "I know he can."
Steven and Connie sat on a blanket on the beach, each holding peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so generously provided by the latter. They weren't doing as much eating as they were talking, but in between the conversation they would periodically take such a small bite as to not impede their discussion.
"Maybe they could write the move down for you?" Connie suggested, "That's always worked for me."
"I don't think so." Steven admitted sadly, "I do better just seeing them do something instead of reading about it."
Connie hummed and took the chance to take a bite of her food while she thought. "Well, why do they want you to fuse anyway?"
Steven thought. "They didn't say. Maybe they just thought I was old enough or something. I am a teenager now, after all!"
"Seems kinda convenient..."
"Huh?"
"I just mean that, with everything going on, don't you think it has something to do with Peridot? Like they want you to be prepared in case they need to fight someone?"
"But they have Opal and Sugalite and Sodalite if they need to be bigger!"
"Yeah, but your mom was the leader. It make's sense that she must have been pretty strong."
"Oh yeah! Pearl says that she was never poofed once!"
"Exactly! Maybe they think you'd be just as durable in a fusion. It's just something to think about." Connie looked away and traced her fingers in the sand, "I didn't mean anything by it. Just some outside perspective."
"Well I have inside perspective! And... I'm not even sure I can fuse. The gems get all glowy and stuff, and I'm organic. Whatever that means."
"It just means you're made of living tissue and they aren't. I think it's amazing you're even able to dance in front of them at all!"
Steven blinked, and leaned closer to his friend. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing!" Connie was quick to look away, "It... it's dumb."
Steven put his hand on hers and Connie looked to him as if he had lost his mind.
"No it isn't!"
Connie stared, and it seemed the entire universe was reflected in her hazel eyes. "I could never do something like that."
"I'm sure you could! You're probably a great dancer!"
"It's not that I can't dance, it's that I can't dance in front of people. There was this dance at my school a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to go but... just the thought of all those people staring..."
"Well, no one's staring now."
"Um. You are."
Steven broke the staring contest he hadn't even realized he was in.
"Oh uh. Can I borrow your phone?"
Connie gave a suspicious look but unlocked her phone and gave it over to Steven. Steven went to the first music app he saw and clicked on the first song he saw: Alone Together. He turned the volume all the way up, placed it in the sand, put his arm over his eyes and said:
"What I was trying to say was..." He held his hand out to Connie. "Come dance with me?"
At first, nothing happened. But then Steven felt Connie's hand in his and that was his cue to stand and to pull Connie along with him into the open sand as the song started to pick up. A long whistle followed by the steady drum of a snare, and then fading into a whole array of instruments that Steven couldn't differentiate from. It wasn't like the songs that came on when he tried dancing with the gems; this song was already there, no build up necessary, and no focus on keeping the beat. Just him and Connie, there on the beach, with the song fading in the background.
Steven opened his eyes and they met with Connie's. They both smiled wild smiles, and it was Connie who lead the first dance. Intertwining her fingers with Steven's and working into a motion of pushing his left and pulling his right, then pushing his right and pulling his left. It only took a few seconds for Steven to learn the rhythm and add something of his own. He tightened his grip and dug his heels into the sand, Connie keeping him from falling while he also kept her from the same fate, and they started to spin. When the spinning stopped, Steven reached up as high as he could to be just barely tall enough to spin Connie on her own. He spun her once, twice, and then stopped and they both laughed.
Steven let go of her hand, and Connie watched him curiously as he backpedaled a few paces and started to dance on his own. Connie followed his example and started her own dance, much more reserved and delicate than Steven's. Steven couldn't remember ever seeing anything so beautiful as the sun reflecting off of her dark skin or her dress swaying with her motion and with the breeze, or with her beautiful curls bouncing along to the rhythm. Her eyes were closed so she couldn't see him staring, and he couldn't break the spell. Connie danced closer to him. Her features became clearer, her movements more confident and filling with more energy in each passing moment. Steven was barely aware of his own body's distant attempts to continue dancing to the beat, closer and closer and closer until...
They collided.
Connie's eyes popped open. She spun around and grabbed Steven before he could fall any farther than he already had, one arm around his back and the other his neck. They came nose-to-nose. Steven could feel Connie's breath on him and was certain Connie could feel his, but all that mattered in that instant was the chocolate pools just inches away from his face. There was a pink light that surrounded them, and everything became clear.
The first thing that came to them was sound. The crash of the waves at the shore, the song (their song!) replaying. Somewhere in the distant, a seagull gave a cry, and that was what made them open their eyes and sit up straight, only to flinch and close their eyes again against the painful brightness of the sun.
"Ugh. What is that?"
They smacked their hands to their mouth, but then was quick to pull it away again.
"Is that... my (our) voice?"
Their eyes scanned down their body with mounting horror. The slightest curve of their chest, covered in an almost too tight red star shirt (My shirt?); their legs, constricted within a pair of jeans [My pants?]. Their hair fell long around their shoulders and down across their chest in beautiful, dark brown curls. A pink stone, Steven's pink stone, in their stomach where their belly button should have been.
"Wha!"
They tried to stand, but their legs gave our beneath them. Too big, too tall.
"What... Steven? Connie? Where..." They blinked, and the booming thoughts inside them started to settle as both came to a decision. "I, you! We?"
They struggled, and fell. Then struggled and fell. Struggled to get their feet under them, to stumble toward the water.
"We, you- fused? No, I- please it's- I don't like- no! This... this is great."
The voices in their head argued and screamed, fighting for their voice to be heard, even if it wasn't their voice. We can't, we can. It's okay. It's fine. Just breathe.
They closed their eyes, and sucked in a deep breath. In, out, in, out. Calming their minds- both of them- and considering their next words. Slowly, thinking, collaborating.
"We did it! We're a fusion!"
Just those short sentences were enough to make them feel exhausted; exhilarated too, but in a way that tired them after a time.
(We fused!)
[Steven, calm down!]
(We! Us! Here! Oh...)
They hugged themselves.
[Steven I... I feel so... wow...]
(We need to tell the gems!)
[First we need to get there.)
They let out a sigh. They took a deep breath, gathered their remaining strength, pushed off the sand. They nearly fell forward with the momentum but, waving their arms, they were able to sway back and catch themself. They didn't immediately move; just standing was a trying task, and their visions began to tunnel. Easy... another breath, and the first shaky step toward the beach house. Nearly falling, catching themself, and then repeating the process again; sometimes, they did fall, and it would take all their effort to get back up again. But never once did they stop. Then, they came to the stairs.
"Okay, we can do this, we can-"
One part of them tried to step forward while the other didn't move, and it resulted in a painful half-step that caused them to the ground.
"Ugh..." They struggled to breath, "Why... did you- I- we... Ugh!"
(We need to move.)
[I can't... Steven... I'm so tired...]
(Then let me.)
They forced themselves to stand. Connie gave control to Steven, and Steven forced their fusion forward and up the steps. Half way up, stregnth began to flow through their legs, and when they finally reached the top, it came as a relief to both halves.
"We really need to invest in a ramp." They opened the door.
The moment they entered, they felt a sudden rush of bewilderment seize them, as forine as their new form, but within seconds both remembered the senswation, even if only one had ever felt it before.
Pearl, Garnet, and Spinel were matched in their confusion, but Amethyst's wide eyes and gaping mouth were from a completely different emotion.
"Excuse me." Pearl said, "I think you..."
"PEARL!"
Pearl was suddenly pulled to Amethyst's height, and, after giving an exclamination of alarm, she snapped.
"Amethyst, why did you...!"
Her words faded away when she followed Amethyst's finger to see she was pointing at the rosey gemstone in the fusion's bare stomach. Her mouth dropped.
The fusion stood up straight and put their hands on their hips.
"Pretty cool, huh?"
Spinel blinked, then glanced down at the gemstone and back up in a rapid succession. "You fused? With Connie?!"
Amethyst covered her grin and began to laugh, but her eyes were no longer on the stranger. "Guys, look at Garnet."
Everyone looked to the leader. Garnet had her hands pressed to her mouth, but that didn't hide the spliting grin; it couldn't, even if she tried. She was laughing, kind of, but the laugh sounded weak, like it hadn't been used in over a thousand years.
Pearl finally broke her stunned daze and stood up, dusting off her pants and her sleeve where Amethyst had grabbed her. She strutted quickly over to them and started to circle. Steven and Connie did their best to follow her path.
"This is unprecedented!" Pearl pulled and tugged at their clothes, "A gem fusing with a human? It's impossible! Or at the very least innaproperate."
Steven and Connie grabbed their shared head. All the words soaringing through their head, their thoughts, their memories. Together, but seperate, all combined into one tangled spiders web of good, bad, and embarrasing.
"Steven? Connie?"
"Huh?" They looked around, "What?"
"You zoned out for a bit..." Spinel said, "Are you okay?"
"Oh uh, yeah, just..." They rubbed their head, "Just... a lot of thoughts. Hard to concentrate."
"Yes." Pearl said absently, "That sensation takes a while to get used to..." She tugged at Steven and Connie's shirt, but they were quick to cross their arms over their chest.
Spinel glared. "Pearl, stop being a perve."
"I'm just curious on their anatomy! And how this is even possible!" She fell into thought and started to mutter to herself, "What would their organs look like...?"
"Like organs!" Amethyst exclaimed, "Duh! Whatever they look like, they look good together!" She walked over to the fusion and took their hands in hers, swaying them back and forth. "So how does it feel, Steven? And uh. Connie. Stevonnie?"
Stevonnie grinned wide. "It feels amazing!"
They ran their hands along the length of their body to take in every curve and flawed imperfection in their form. Pearl took a step back and gave them a dissaproving look.
"Yes, well I'm... glad... you're enjoying yourselves, but do me a favor and unfuse this instant!"
"Wait, what?"
"Come on, Pearl!" Amethyst exclaimed.
"I..." Stevonnie settled on their words, "I thought you'd be happy."
"I am! But... Garnet, you've been quiet. What do you think of this? Surely you can see how inappropriate it is!"
Garnet slowly approached Stevonnie. It was strange being face-to-face with her.
"Steven, listen to me." She took Stevonnie's hands gently, "You are not one person, you are not two. You are an experience. Make sure it's a good experience." That smile returned to her face. "Now go! Have! Fun!"
Their first stop a simple place that they both agreed on. One that, while it might not have been as popular as the similar ones in Gold Crest, never failed to make either of them smile: The Big Donut. The journey down the stairs had been a lot easier than the journey up, and the walk across the beach was even easier as they started to work out the kinks of their new form. They opened the door and stepped inside.
They were met with two similar waves of awe that made their chest flutter and, almost immediately, their palms started to sweat. They tried to casually wipe it off on their jeans as their approached the counter. Lars and Sadie both had to look up at them, stars dazzling in their eyes and, most percularly, it was Lars who gave the first greeting.
"How can I... help... you?"
Stevonnie considered themself. "Two chocolate donuts please."
Lars only stared, and it was Sadie who made the first move in gathereing the donuts and handing them silently over to Lars, who passed them over the counter to Stevonnie. The two workers didn't even look like they were blinking.
"Thanks." Stevonnie checked the bag despite the fact she was seen Sadie fill it, and then reached in their back pocket to produce Connie's wallet. "What do we... I owe you."
Lars went red in the face and looked to Sadie, and Sadie became even redder. She loved Lars aside so she could be right in front of Stevonnie, and Lars was quick to pop right back up and kneel at Sadie's side.
"Nothing!" Sadie blurted out, "It's uh on the house!"
"Really?"
Sadie and Lars both nodded in perfect sync.
"Mmmhmm!"
"Yeah, uh huh! Totally!"
"Okay." Stevonnie went to walk away, then stopped and looked over their shoulder to say, "But just so you know, that's not a very sound business practice."
They walked out the door and stopped to make up their minds and decide where to go. Both agreed on one place, and tbhey settled down on a bench to enjoy themselves.
"Sweet! Two donuts." They pulled one of the donuts out from the bag, and then went back for the other, "One for me, and one for..." They turned, but no one was there, "Me. Oh."
[Are you okay?] They broke the donut in half, [We... we can stop.]
(No, it's okay.) Stevonnie put the two halves back together.
Stevonnie let out a breath. "Okay. It's okay."
"Hey."
They looked up at the familiar voice. "Hey Sourc-." Stevonnie cut themself off, "I mean. Sour-face stranger." Their eyes glanced down. "Huh. Nice pants."
"Thanks." A small twinge of color came to Sourcream's face, "There's like, 27 pockets."
His blue eyes scanned over Stevonnie and paused at their stomach and the gemstone imedded there.
"Oh." Sourcream laughed at himself, "Sorry. Nice fusion, though."
"What?" Stevonnie stood of quickly and nearly lost their balance as the other half of them strugged to follow, "How do you know about fusion."
Sourcream didn't flinch. "Eh, don't worry about it. Buck, Jenny, and I are totally having a rave at the warehouse tonight. You should like, totally show up. There's gonna be uh. Glowsticks."
"I love glowsticks!" Stevonnie covered their mouth, "A rave? Like... like a dance?"
Sourcream stuck his hands in two of his many pockets. "Yeah."
"Great! We'll be there!"
Stevonnie went forward to hug Sourcream, but Connie held both of them back.
"Uh." Sourcream took a step back, but was quick to brush off the awkward encounter. "Well, see you there...?"
"Stevonnie!" They said quickly, "Our name is Stevonnie!"
Sourcream winked. "See you there, Stevonnie."
He left.
"Great!" Stevonnie said to themself, "A dance! This is your, our, chance to go a dance! We should probably call your parents though.
There was silence.
"Oh NO I FORGOT MY PHONE ON THE BEACH!"
The moment Stevonnie entered the warehouse, It immediately felt far too humid and far too packed, with voices ringing words in all directions, all lost on them. Their heart (hearts?) started to race. They wanted to run away, to hide in any less populated section, but looking for such a place was almost impossible through the crowd. They tried to turn their focus on anything other than the noise and the constructive feeling in their chest that made it hard to breathe.
"Steven I... no... it's okay... no it's not... we need to... just..."
Stevonnie pushed through the crowd, through the noise and thundering beat of the music. They covered their ears and the world around them seemed to spin and spin and spin, until a hand on their shoulder stopped them dead in their tracks.
"Hey." The friendly face, illuminated by the light of glowsticks and glow-in-the dark t-shirts, gave them a familiar, gentle smile, "You alright?"
"Um." Stevonnie wiped their eyes; it was hard to know which twin it was through the dark and through their tears, but the tone of their voice was enough to cue the fusion in. "I just... need to find a quiet corner."
"Here." Kiki took them by the hand, "I gotcha. I can take you up by the stage; it's less crowded there and Buck and Jen can take care of ya."
The sound of the familiar names made a sense of renewed calm wash over Stevonnie as they were lead through the crowd to the crowd to the, as promised, less-crowded stage. Sourcream was sitting on the stage, managing the music as he always did, while a stranger with an admittedly gorgous voice sang a rendition of the song Firework. Buck Dewey and Jenny were there too, as promised, both leaning on the counter and nodding along to the music as the latter had a conversation with the pale-faced Ronaldo.
"Come on, Ron! I'm sure you got a great voice! Get up there and sing!"
"I dunno." Ronaldo said hesitantly.
"Hey." Buck Dewey's voice was quiet, but more than enough to catch everyone's attention, "Look. Kiki's got a friend."
Sourcream looked up and smiled, leaving his station and jumping off of the stage to say, "Hey Stevonnie. Glad you could make it."
"Stevonnie?" Jenny said with grin, "Wow. I ain't ever heard that name before. I'm Jenny."
"I'm Buck Dewey."
"So." Jenny leaned back against the stage and gave her sister a knowing look. "How do you know my sis?"
"We just met." Kiki said in a similar tone.
"I'm sorry." Stevonnie said, "It's just... all the people and the noise..."
"Hey." Buck Dewey raised his hand, "Say no more miss."
Stevonnie flinched. "Actually... I um... go by they and them..."
"Oh." Buck Dewey stopped leaning and stood up straight, "Sorry, friend. Won't happen again."
"No sweat."
The stranger girl ended her song, and Sourcream took that as his cue to jump back on the stage and take the microphone for himself.
"Alright, alright! That Sunset Phonix and her rendition of Firework! Now, before we start in on requests, we have time for one more karoke!"
Jenny bumped her butt against Ronaldo. "Get up there and sing your heart out, Fryman!"
Ronaldo took a let out a breath and tried to jump on the stage, except he didn't quite make it up and had to do an awkward crawl to pull the rest of his body on.
"Um. E... excuse me, Kiki?"
Kiki turned to face them.
"Is there anything to eat?"
"Well sure there is! Want me to go get you some?"
"No, could you just uh, point me in the right direction?"
"Course I can. Just over there, sweetie." Kiki pointed off to the left.
"Thank you."
"Call if you need anything."
Stevonnie walked off. The thought of eating didn't really appeal to either of them, but neither did the thought of standing around doing nothing. If they could at least get used to the noise and the flashing lights and the crowds, maybe they could enjoy themselves. They just had to take it slow. The table laid out was plentiful with snacks of all kinds, and plates and cups of four matching colors, each one of them labled. Stevonnie read them slowly out loud.
"Pink is for single and searching... blue is for single and not interested... purple is for taken, but open to multiple partners... black is for taken and not open... huh. Nice layout."
Stevonnie picked up a blue plate and began to load it up with chips and pretzles before pouring themself a glass of sprite.
"Now we just gotta find somewhere quiet..."
Looking through the crowd, 'somewhere quiet' was easily spotted; in fact, it was lit up. An EXIT door, and Stevonnie made a beeline for it. Leaving the hot, stuffy building for the cool night air was the best choice they made that night, and they weren't the only one who made it. There was an older teenager leaning against the wall, with umber skin and dark brown hair so reflective Stevonnie could almost see their reflection in it. He was half way through huffing a cigarrette, but when he saw Stevonnie, he froze.
"Should you be smoking?"
The man grinned. "Should you be eating all that junk? Wouldn't want to ruin that pretty little body of yours."
Their hands went immediately down toward their stomach and they felt sick for two different reasons. Their food dropped to the ground, and a small part of them was saddened by the loss, but another part told them they could always get more. They immediately turned away from the stranger and tried to go back inside.
The door was locked.
A hand slammed down on one side of them, and Stevonnie spun around to come to face him.
"Hey baby. My name's Kevin. What's yours?"
Stevonnie tried to duck away, but Kevin was faster and stepped in front of them.
"What? So lost in my eyes you forgot your own name?" He brushed his hair back, "Happens all the time."
"Do I know you?" Stevonnie said suddenly, "You seem familiar..."
"Obviously not. I would've recognized someone like you, and I'm unforgettable."
"No! I do know you! You're the guy that bought a watermelon from m... my brother, Steven. I saw you from inside the car wash."
"Oh." Kevin's smile turned into a scowl, "That thing came to life and tried to kill me!"
Stevonnie gave a slow laugh. "Hahaha yeah... we got a... lot of complaints about that."
"Hey, I should probably get back inside... it's getting pretty cold..." Stevonnie faked a shiver and rubbed their arms, "And my friends are gonna be wondering where I went, so..."
Kevin didn't stop them from leaving, but his eyes didn't leave them as they made their quick escape around the edge of the building. A sick feeling had grown in their stomach from the interaction, but they tried to push it away. This was meant to be a good experience, but so far it had been nothing but sour. They had to change it for the better. The first time was everything, and if the first time was bad, then so would all the other times they tried. They could still salvage the night, and when they entered the building again, the solution practically hit them in the face.
"Oh, I love this song!"
Stevonnie ran into the middle of the crowd, and the people faded away as the music took their place. The crowd, the people, the blurred faced. It would be enough to to make either of them flee if they were apart, but together they had something else to focus on: each other. Each others presence and comfort and reassurance that they weren't alone.
For the first few blissful moments, it could have almost worked. Them holding their own hand, spinning, kicking out a leg. Laughing and dancing and enjoying being themselves! But then the fragile harmony within them shattered. The people around them turned black. Inky shadows rising and falling and rising again, enclosing and entrapping. Closing in all around them like a sea of black, grabbing at them to drag them under.
The only way they could break the vison was to run through it. It was like they were running through a way that gave way to their pressure, and they left the wall behind them with all the other walls. Why did they go back inside? Why, why, why! They were fine when they were outside, they were happy when they were outside. Their mind was clear when they were outside. Why weren't they outside? They had to be outside!
Without the walls to hold them in an ever-tighter grip, air flowed freely into their lungs. Shadow monsters turned back human, trees rustled beside them and in front of them and all around them. They could breath, they could see. They could think.
"I don't understand what's wrong." They looked down at their hands, "You have fun dancing." They closed their fist. "But this dance isn't fun! You're suppose to like this! Why- don't we like this. I wish you were here."
They crossed their arms around their own body and hugged themself.
"If we were together, it would be okay. But we are together!" Their body gave a jerk with the sudden burst of anger that was quick to simmer back down, "and it's not. I'm alone."
"Not tonight."
The voice made Stevonnie feel cold.
"Hey baby. Why'd you leave the dance floor?" He gave them a toothy grin, "You didn't even give me the chance to ask to join you."
Stevonnie turned their back and focused on the grass at their feet. "I don't want to dance anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
A hand grabbed Stevonnie's shoulder tight, fingers digging into flesh, and forced them to turn around.
"I saw you dancing. You and me? We could be the best thing to ever happen in this town. Let's go back inside and prove it."
"Please let go. You're hurting my shoulder."
"I'll let go if you dance with me."
Stevonnie pulled away, ignoring the pain that was left in the place where they had been grabbed. "Why should I?" They snarled out.
"Woah, woah!" Kevin took a step away from them, "I'm just asking for a dance. Don't get crazy."
"HEY!"
The one who shouted came running out of the warehouse, and for a second Stevonnie was seeing double as Jenny's twin was right behind. The two teens took a postion on either side of Stevonnie.
"Hey." Kevin looked and sounded annoyed. "We were having a moment."
"You okay, Vonnie?" Kiki asked gently.
"Yeah... I'm fine..."
When Kevin tried to advance again, it was Jenny who stood between him and Stevonnie and Kiki. When Kevin tried to duck around, she didn't let him. She just kept blocking the way while Kiki took Stevonnie gently by the arm and lead her inside.
"No, no..." Stevonnie started to shake just at the thought of being trapped again, but Kiki just kept on walking and Stevonnie didn't try to resist. They were too shaky, too unstable. They knew what was going to happen seconds before it did, feeling themself split apart, fall apart. And then they were apart. There was Steven, and there was Connie, but there was no Stevonnie. Not anymore.
"Steven!"
Before Steven could stand, Connie was upon him, pulling him into a tight hug.
"Connie!" Steven couldn't quite reach to return the hug, but he tried. "We... unfused."
"Yo what the fuck?"
They both turned to Kiki, looking scared beyond her wits and standing more than a few paces back. All Steven and Connie could do was laugh.
