This chapter is more filler than anything; I needed a chapter to separate plots in multiple occasions, so I came up with the idea of little slices of life chapters whenever I need them, featuring two characters each chapter. This chapter is Lars and Sadie. Hope you enjoy!
"SADIE! It's time to wake up!"
Those were the words Sadie woke up to every morning, rain or shine, work day or off day (not that she got many of those). Almost a complete hour before she had her own alarm set to wake her, Sadie's mother called out those words, for even though it wasn't time for Sadie to get up, it was time for her mother to. Sadie did as she always did, trying to ignore her mother's far-too-cheerful calls as the warmth of the covers engulfed her once more in the dark realm of sleep.
"Sadie!"
She groaned and pulled the blanket tighter on herself. The blinding brightness of the light flicked on, and her mother practically ripped the blanket off of her body to let the cold air shock her awake.
"It's time to get up Sadie!"
"Ugh! Mom!" Sadie tried to snatch the blanket back, "I told you I don't have to be up for another hour!"
"And yet you always get up around this time!"
"Yes, but I don't need to."
"Of course you do sweetie! I've seen how long your showers are!"
Barbra's pat on Sadie's back was almost enough to toss her forward.
"I only take such longer showers because I have nothing better to do! I don't need two hours to get ready!"
"Well maybe you could take those two hours to put on some makeup, huh? Maybe some nice foundation..."
"Mom."
"A little blush never hurt anyone!"
"Mom!"
"Some lipstick, maybe some maskera! We have the same complextion so you can borrow some of mine!"
"MOM!"
"Oh, yes sweetie?"
"That's really nice of you to offer, but I don't wear makeup."
"Oh, but you'd look so cute though!"
"I don't have anyone to look cute for, mom."
"Well, what about youself?"
"Mom..."
"At least let me style your hair!" Barbra was already playing with her daughter's hair before she got an answer, running her fingers through it and feeling its softness, "You never let me do that anymore! I remember when you were little I'd always have your hair up in little buns and braids!"
Sadie laughed. "Yeah, I remember. I also remember I hated it! You always pulled it too tight!"
"Well I had to make it tight enough to stay in place!"
"I'm ninty percent sure that was the cause of my migranes."
"Oh, don't be so dramatic!" Barbra swatted Sadie on the head, "You'd look pretty with your hair up!"
"Mom!" Sadie shoved her off, "Don't you have to get to work?"
"Right! Right! Uh!" She kissed her daughter on the head, "Have a good day sweetie!"
"Bye mom!"
Barbra was barely at the first step before she stopped. "Don't forget to call if you need anything!"
"I know mom!"
A few more steps up. "I make some breakfast for you! It's wrapped up on the counter!"
"Thanks mom!"
"Love you sweetie!"
"Love you too."
"See you tonight!"
"Okay!"
"Have a good day!"
"I will!"
"I'm bringing home taco's for dinner!"
"Sounds good!"
"Love you!"
"Love you too!"
"Love you more!"
"Love you most!"
"Bye Sadie!"
"Mom!"
"Right, right, right! Going!"
She finally closed the door, and Sadie was able to collapse onto her bed. She tried to embrace sleep again for nearly ten minutes before accepting that the blissful realm had escaped her grasp and she was stuck in the waking realm. She got up, got ready, and ate the breakfast her mother had laid out for her. It was. as usual, far more than she could eat and over half of it still remained when she put it in the fridge for later.
The walk across the boardwalk was just as lively as ever. The other restaurants were getting ready for their days; Fryman heating up his first vats of grease in preparation for the inevitable arrival of Steven, while his sons raced around with camera's chasing some nonexistent alien race. The Pizza twins working hard on preparing tables and getting their shop in order, and down by the Funland was opening everything. She waved to the gems on the beach as they practiced doing whatever it is they did; she didn't get paid enough to care, and as long as they kept their business confined to the beach she wasn't worried.
She barely paid attention to her auto-piloted body as it unlocked the back door of the bakery and got to work cleaning, taking out the garbarge Lars was supposed to the day before, and putting fresh donuts on display while the older ones went on discount. Then, as usual, she waited. Not many people wanted donuts so early in the morning, so for the first few hours, she was alone. She filled the silent void with her phone, scrolling through the same things, post after post, as the hours flew by. Almost two hours in, the doors opened and gave her the first hope of human contact, only for it to be completely shattered.
"Hey Lars." She stuffed her phone in her purse and leaned into her hand. "You're late."
Lars didn't respond.
"Gee, rough day?" Sadie prompted.
"You wouldn't believe the morning I've had..."
"Oh yeah? Try me."
Lars woke up feeling just as tired as when he'd gone to sleep. Same old room, same old blankets, same old headache already starting its inevitable increase into agony. He didn't want to get up, didn't want to move. He just wanted to be sucked back into the welcomed release that sleep offered from everything. Absent of mind, absent of thought. Just actions with no true consequence, doing what he wanted, being who he wanted. He closed his eyes to beg it to come back and it did, but only in short intervals before he was jerked away and those same ill feelings flushed back with a vendetta.
The minutes passed. Staring at the ceiling, thinking of nothing. Just laying there until his mind started to writhe in the boredom. He forced his body to work, and to throw the covers off his body was enough to exhaust him. He sat there even longer, just staring down at his body, trying to regain the energy lost as he focused on every protruding rib and every inch of olive skin clinging tight to his thin body. He stood slowly, taking the time to sift through every potential outfit, knowing he would wear none of them and, once there were no more options left, slipping on his work uniform and his familiar gages. The trip downstairs was as exhausting as ever, but at least the house was empty. He made himself a quick bowl of cereal and sat down to eat.
"Laramie! There you are!"
Lars dropped his spoon. "Mom. Aren't you supposed to be at work?"
"Well, I wasn't feeling well so I took off this morning. Thought you and I could have a little mother-son bonding time!"
"I have to work today." Lars suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. He got up from the table.
"Oh...? I... figured since you didn't get up this morning that it was like, a donut holiday or something..."
"Nope. Alarm didn't go off." The lie slipped off his tongue like butter, "Gotta get to work."
"Oh well... have a good day at work, Laramie..."
"LARS!"
That was all he said before he stormed out the door and into the town filled with life. The little terror Onion running rampant while his brother did little to stop him. Mayor dummy driving his van down the boardwalk with a loop of 'Vote for Mayor Dewey' repeating through the megaphone. Jenny and Kiki in the back of their shop, no doubt debating whether or not the former had to work that day. Looking to the beach, he saw Steven and the other freaks playing in the sand, making it dance in spiraling shapes. None of it mattered. All of it was average and boring, just like the town itself.
"Lars Baringa!"
Lars nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice just feet behind him. There was a camera shoved in his face, held by the younger Fryman sibling while the older sibling stood to the side with a microphone, while his girlfriend Sabina hung on his arm; just another one of the freaks.
"Ronaldo! Don't do that!" Lars grabbed his head as the loud Fryman's voice seemed to boom twice as loud in his head.
"Lars Baringa," It was Sabina to speak this time, "Exactly how close are you to Steven Universe?"
Ronaldo held the microphone out to Lars.
"Not at all, he's just some annoying kid who refuses to leave me alone!"
"And what do you know of his rock powers?"
"Rock powers? Uh. He can, I dunno, summon a bubble I guess."
"And you have seen this bubble?" Ronaldo asked.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go now." Lars turned to try and quickly escape.
"Wait!" Ronaldo ran out in front of him and blocked his path. "If I wanted to see this 'bubble' in action where would you, someone who witnessed said bubble, suggest I go?"
"To Hell. Goodbye Ronaldo!"
That time, he was able to escape to the Big Doughnut.
"Hey Lars." Sadie stuffed her phone in her purse and leaned into her hand. "You're late."
Lars didn't respond. He took his place beside Sadie.
"Gee, rough day?" Sadie prompted.
"You wouldn't believe the morning I've had..."
"Oh yeah? Try me."
Lars explained as quickly as he could, only for Sadie to laugh. The reaction almost made Lars genuinely hurt.
"You're telling me the only thing you had to deal with was two seconds of mom and five of Ronaldo? At least you didn't have to get up an hour early or have to say 'i love you' twenty times in the first hour."
"I honestly think I would die." Lars gave a weak chuckle, "No doubt, instant death."
Sadie snickered along. Half way into the hour of solitude that followed, the two snuck away into the back room together. Sadie always brought tapes to watch on the old TV (which had belonged to her before she'd gotten an upgrade) and, whenever there wasn't a customer, they would spent the day watching whatever Sadie had brought. It wasn't like they could get fired- they were the only people in town dumb enough to work there!- and everyone still got their donuts, so there were no complaints. If there ever were, and both of them got fired, Beach City would be without their most accessable form of sweets. No one wanted that.
Sadie was sat against the wall on a pile of boxes while Lars rested his head against her legs. When she started to play with his hair, he didn't shout or fuss. Not when it was just them. Not when no one could see them, and no one would know just how much he was melting into the soft touch and warm affection. Not when Sadie never told and wouldn't tell.
The bell jingled, foretelling a customer that, seconds later, made a second announcement to his prescence.
"Lars! Sadie! I want doughnuts!"
Lars groaned.
"Come on Lars." Sadie said in a sweet voice, giving a final twirl of Lars' curls before pausing the movie. "it's just Steven."
She stood up, and Lars did too.
It wasn't just Steven; there were three others with him, two of which Lars recognized. The tall, pink one and the short purple one (Lars couldn't mother to remember their names) and a green and red one he didn't recognize.
"Hi Steven." Sadie said pleasently, "Hi Spinel, hi Amethyst! Whose your friend?"
The red-hooded lady ducked behind Amethyst with a whimper, scarlet eyes wide with apprehention. Lars started to look her up and down, his eyes settling on the gemstone embeded in her stomach. Great, he thought, another freak to mess up his day.
"This is Desert Glass!" Steven introduced, propping his head on the counter, "She's been living in Amethyst's room since Christmas."
"Oh that's nice." Was all Sadie said, "It's nice to meet you, Desert Glass, I'm Sadie."
The gem stared at Sadie's hand and tilted her head before quickly whispering something to Amethyst.
"Oh!" Spinel laughed, "Like this!"
She stuck out her tongue and took Sadie's hand, shaking it violently enough to make the older teen lift off the ground as her body struggled to follow the motions.
"I'm Spinel! Nice to meet you!"
When she let go of Sadie, the blonde dropped like a rock and landed like one, too. Spinel stepped aside with a bow, motioning to the counter with her hands.
"Now you!"
The desert glass only approached, and Lars backed up at the same pace. Sadie, however, stood her ground and held out her hand for the (hopefully) gentler Desert. Desert meekly took Sadie's hand and gave it a mild shake.
"I'm Spinel. Nice to meet you." She mimicked, her voice heavy and laden with mispronunciations.
"No, no!" Spinel corrected, quickly running up to join her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You say your name!"
"Oh!" Desert Glass pulled her hand back, and then reached forward once more to try again. "I am your name, nice to meet you!"
"Yup." Spinel's eyelids drooped. "Set myself up for dat one didn't I? Introduce yourself as Desert Glass, Dezzy!"
"Right. Right." She attemtped again for the third time. "I am Desert Glass. Nice to meet you."
"It's eh. Nice to meet you too!" Sadie responded.
Desert glass beamed her pride and turned running to Amethyst, grabbing the purple gems hands. "I did it!"
"Good job, Treasure." Amethyst approved. The green gem cirlced back to stand behind her.
"So, I'm guessing you want donuts?" Sadie asked.
"Yeah!" Steven cheered, "We're celebrating Desert! Our usuals, please! And uh... Desert, what do you want?"
Looking up at the wide selection of options, Desert looked hopefully lost.
"Just point to which one you want." Amethyst encouraged.
Steven and Spinel followed up with praises of their own.
"Come on!" Spinel gave a far-too-realisitc whistle, "You can do it!"
"They all taste good so there's no losing!" Steven offered.
Sadie was already packing away the other three donuts, waiting patiently and smiling as the new gem struggled with her decisions. Lars just wanted her to hurry up already.
"Erm... that one...?" She pointed to a blue doughnut adorned with pink sprinkles.
"Right away miss." Sadie packed up the last doughnut and then handed the bag over to Steven. "There you are!"
"Thanks!" Steven pulled away from the counter as Spinel stepped up to pay, running around the length of it and crossing over to the other side. He practically crawled over Lars to get to Sadie and pull her into a tight hug. "Huggies!"
"Aw, Steven." Sadie returned the hug without a fuss for as long as Steven kept it going. "Enjoy your doughnuts!"
"We will!"
Lars growled his dissaproval as Steven crawled back over him, "Bye Lars!" and quickly ran out the door with his gems in tow.
"Ugh! What is wrong with that kid?! He snarled.
"It's Steven." Sadie said sweetly, "what else did you expect?"
I have been having some technically difficulties with accessing my current account. I have an alternate account made called Remmus the Wolf, and in the event of me no longer having access to this account, I will be continuing to upload on that one.
Oh another note, I will be taking a short two-week hiatus to catch up on some private work, as well as catch up on my plans for this story and others. I will still frequently check for any messages or questions you may have concerning the story. Thank you all very much! Lots of love, and I hope you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy.
