"See? B Major isn't that bad. It just takes some practice to remember all those sharps." Greg said, clapping Johnathon on the back affectionately. "Thanks, Mr. Universe. I've been practicing that scale all week. It's really hard to remember all of the sharps on the way up and down the scale." He sai, starting to put his instrument away. Greg arched an eyebrow. "Oh? Jet doesn't have you accompany her on missions?" he asked quizzically. Jonathan shook his head. "No. She's been more protective than usual ever since B9 got corrupted. I'm honestly surprised she let me out of her sight ever since she got back from space."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "B9 was one of the gems that took care of you while you were at the Zoo, right?" While Johnathon had only mentioned the gem once or twice, the nonchalant in Johnathon's voice as he explained that B9 had been corrupted surprised him. Jonathan nodded. "Are you…okay?" Greg asked, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Jonathan nodded. "Yeah, it's cool. Honestly, the good thing about all of thai is she doesn't have to worry about trying to take care of me. I could always tell she didn't want to and kinda hated my guts. But now that she's gone she doesn't have to! And Jet likes spending time with me, so I feel way less bad about her taking care of me, so it's a win-win for everyone!" he said, closing his instrument case and starting towards the van door before turning to Mr. Universe, who looked shocked.\

"Johnathon, I-" Greg's words were cut off by a loud banging and Steven's voice coming from the other side. "Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good." Greg murmured, hopping up and going to the door, surprised to see Steven's panicked face. "Dad, I need your help! There's this place I saw in a dream. I know it's real, but the gem's won't tell me anything about it!" he said, holding up a book. "It has something to do with Pink Diamond." he continued. "I know you don't want to get involved in mom's past, but I want to know the truth! Doesn't that matter at all?" he vented, frustration present in his voice.

Greg nodded, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "Of course it does," he said, glancing back at Johnathon. "Give me a second, and we'll sort out whatever's going on." he said, motioning for Steven to go into the van and closing the door. "Listen here, kiddo." Greg said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and looking him in the eye. "I don't know much about yours and B9's relationship, but I do know this - you are not a burden. Not to me, not to Steven, and definitely not to Jet. Here, people take care of each other because the want to- not because they have to. Remember that." He said with a wink and a smile before disappearing into the van, leaving a very confused Johnathon holding his guitar case.

Johnathon stared at the van, mulling over the man's words before turning and starting to leave, still deep in thought. Even though he didn't doubt B9 cared about him at some point, he hadn't forgotten how the Bismuth gem had treated him in the zoo. Like he was nothing - vermin, as she had put it. Even now that they were on Earth, the gem had been avoiding him. He always got the sense that she didn't want to take care of him nor did she want him around, so he had decided to respect that by keeping close to Jet and the others. So…if he wasn't such a burden, then why did B9 treat him so poorly?

He didn't under-

"Woah kid, where's the fire?" Jonathan looked up when the voice drew him from his thoughts, surprised to see Lars standing in front of the Big Donut, keys in one hand and that black box with a screen he liked so much in the other. Jonathan looked confused, not understanding the sarcasm dripping from Lars' voice. The teenager rolled his eyes. "I was being sarca- man never mind. Just kinda shocked me that you looked so down." he said, turning back to the door to begin the arduous process of opening up.

"Oh…" Jonathan said with a frown before piping up with a grin. "Don't worry about it. I know you just got to work so you probably have a lot of stuff to do." he said, turning to continue on his way back to the Barn to see if Jet wanted to hang out.

Lars watched the boy walk for a while before groaning to himself. "Hey. Doesn't Sadie usually get you and the others breakfast?" he said as he unlocked the front door. "If you don't want 'em, I'll sure take 'em." he said, standing in front of the open door. "Sadie would kill me if she knew I ate our stock, so someone's gotta take the fall for it."

Jonathan couldn't help but laugh at that as he turned. "Well, I think I'm good. I'm sure H11 and D13 will take them though, so I'll take them." he said, following the older boy inside.

Jonathan stared off into space as Lars started grabbing donuts for the kids, his eyes flickering over to Johnathon every now and then. As much as the boy's happy-go-lucky spirit annoyed him, he much preferred that over the detached way Johnathon was acting now. "C'mon, liven up a little. A depressed kid at the Big Donut's bad for business." he joked, starting up a pot of coffee for the day and placing a cup next to the coffeemaker. "What's up with you, anyway? You're usually a lot more….lively."

Jonathan hesitated. Lars scoffed. "Look, kid. I'm gonna keep it real with you - I don't know or understand shit about gem stuff. But I can tell you really need a vent session, and I've got about," the boy glanced at the clock behind him "20 minutes before Sadie gets here to start her shift. So." he said, pouring the freshly brewed coffee into a cup and sliding it to Johnathon. "What's on your mind?"

…

Freshwater frowned as she paced back and forth in the living room of the small base she and the Pearls had, Blue Diamond's ords echoing through her head as she waited for the ship to come pick her up.

"We also feel it is a good idea to prepare you for the different conditions of the planet. Along with curb any excitement you might have and decrease your likelihood of becoming interested enough to stay on that colony."

Had she done something to make the Diamonds lose trust in her? Did they think her being defective increased the likelihood of her running off to the dreaded Crystal Gems? Honestly, it wouldn't have surprised her. She was lucky she was allowed to not only live this long, but to serve them in the first place. Of course this wasn't going to be a permanent thing and they would replace her as soon as they felt they had the information they needed out of her.

"Your stress pacing is distracting." Yellow Pearl said from where she and her Blue counterpart sat on the couch, the long haired gem looking up from her place on the couch, blue drawing tablet in hand. Freshwater bit her lower lip. "Sorry. New mission jitters I guess." the gem murmured, looking away. Blue Pearl smirked. "No need to apologize. It's good drawing practice." she said, holding up her drawing tablet with a picture of a frustrated looking Freshwater pacing back and forth.

"So…what's the Zoo like?" Freshwater asked, giving the Pearls a quizzical look. The gems in question exchanged a look before Blue Pearl brought up a picture she had drawn of the Zoo and handing it to Freshwater. "It's…alright. As you know, the place has a rough history. But they've got an Agate working there that's keeping everyone in line." Freshwater looked surprised. "Really? Why put an Agate on babysitting duty?" she asked curiously, looking up at Blue and Yellow, who were avoiding her gaze, each gem having a hand one hand over their mouth.

Freshwater pursed her lips, confused at the Pearls' reaction, but didn't have time to press for details as there was a loud honk outside. "Sorry I brought it up." she murmured, handing the tablet to Blue Pearl. "It's not your fault." Blue Pearl said, taking it and standing. "We really want to tell you everything. But we can't." Yellow said, giving Freshwater a hard look before standing and heading towards the ship.

Freshwater arched an eyebrow at the gem's odd words and behavior. What was that about?

…

"Thanks for walking Johnathon home, Lars." Jet said, giving an exhausted smile at the boy as Johnathon grinned up at her. The teenager in question crossed his arms and looked away. "It's no big deal. Sadie just got to the Big Donut, so I figured I might as well take my lunch breach and walk around a bit."

Jet rolled her eyes at the lie, but didn't push it. Weirdly enough, some humans had a habit of hiding their affection for one another. "Where is Mr. Universe?" Jonathan asked curiously, cocking his head to the side. "We stopped by his van, but him, D13, and H11 weren't there." Jet sighed. "D13 and H11 are staying with the Maheshwarens for a bit. As for Greg he's…at the Zoo."

Jonathan looked shocked. "Aww man, why didn't he invite me? I've wanted to visit the Famethyst for a while." he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. Jet sighed. "I know, bud. But Greg didn't choose to go to the Zoo. He was taken there. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven are talking about a gamelan to get him back right now. I'll be tied up here for a while longer to explain to them how the Zoo works and how they can easily get around."

Jonathan looked surprised. "Don't you want to go with them? Can I co-"

"No." Jet said flatly before softening her tone at the boy's hurt expression. "Holly Blue is still there, and I don't want to risk her seeing you even for a second." she said. In the past, the Amethyst guards had helped hide Johnathon, but after they had poofed her and B9 and given the gemstones to Holly Blue Agate, her trust in them was shattered. Sure, during all the chaos that broke out when the Agate was heading to the Hedge base they had tried to undo their mistake, but it hadn't even mattered since Holly had anticipated that with a fake set of gemstones the Diamonds had provided her with when they had heard of the mutiny that was going on at the Zoo. And even if they had been real, the fact they had turned on her so easily made Jet extremely distrustful. That combined with lying to her about where Buckstar was for hundreds of years? Yeah…they weren't capable fo protecting Johnathon the way he deserved to be protected.

Jonathan sighed. "Oh yeah…Holly Blue Agate. I forgot about her."

"Well like I said earlier, kid. I don't know nothin' about gem stuff, but if ya want some company the Big Donut's still open, and we don't have any rules against loiteri- hey!" Lars' statement was caught off when Johnathon hugged him tightly. Lars look flustered. "Hey kid, don't mess up the shirt." he said, his face heating up as he awkwardly patted the boy's back. "If my uniform is all jacked up, Sadie'll kill me."

"Thanks Lars." Johnathon said, pulling away and grinning up at him and turning to Jet. "Can I at least write them a letter?" Jet hesitated before nodding. "Alright. Make it quick, though. Lars needs to get to the Big Donut, and we need to finish our meeting."

Lars shoved his hands into his pockets. "Eh. I'm already a few minutes late. Don't worry about it." he said, reaching into his pocket and dialing up Sadie as Johnathon headed inside.

"Lars, where are you? You're like an hour late!" Sadie said as soon as she picked up the phone. "Make it an hour 10." Lars said boredly. "Anyhow, I came in earlier. Had to lock out for a bit to take Johnathon home." Sadie started to go on a rant about not leaving the store open, but stopped at his statement. "Wait, walk Johnathon home? Why? Doesn't he usually walk home by himself?" Lars nodded. "Yeah. But he really needed someone to talk to this morning, and I didn't wanna just send him off on his own." he said, the boy's words about being a burden on everyone still ringing in his head.

Sadie looked at the phone in her hand, a little surprised at Lars' kindness. "Well…alright. We can just consider this an example of you going out of your way to help a customer." Lars grinned. "Thanks Sadie."