Chapter Thirty: Advice
The afternoon sun was shining down on Steven and Connie as they walked along the street while Connie tried to metaphorically dig her way out of a rapidly deepening hole.
"So it's really only a spoiler after you read it in the story. If that makes sense."
"Uh, sure," Steven said, tilting his head to the side and giving her a wry smile.
Connie laughed, forcing her to suppress a burp. She'd eaten a bit more at brunch than she should have. Her excitement had gotten away from her, and in the flurry of questions she was asking Ms. Buddwick, she hadn't realized she was getting full until she was already completely stuffed.
Steven was pretty stuffed too, based on the way he kept fiddling with the waistline of his trousers. He'd shown up wearing a full blown tuxedo, which had made Connie feel hopelessly underdressed in her nice-but-fairly-plain sundress. It had been a huge relief when Ms. Buddwick had shown up in jeans.
They stopped at a crosswalk, waiting to make sure the street was clear before crossing. Connie could hear the ocean in the distance. "Well, one possible, really small spoiler aside, I think it went really great."
"Yeah! It did!" Steven enthusiastically agreed. "Had a good meal with good friends- er, friend. Dad always says that's one of the best ways to spend a day."
Maybe it was 'friends' plural, though. Ms. Buddwick— no, Theresa, she'd insisted— had been just as funny and clever and kind as Connie had always dreamed. But then, they'd only known each other for a few hours, and she was an adult, so maybe that didn't count.
One day, though. Maybe after Connie had published her own award-winning young adult trilogy.
"Well we didn't really spend a day together," Connie said. "But, yeah. I agree. Hanging out with friends is fun."
"Yeah. Even if the experience is kinda new," Steven chuckled.
Connie chuckled along. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
They soon arrived to the edge to the beach, the salty smell of seawater wafting under Connie's nose. She looked at Steven, not saying anything, instead just fiddling with her glasses— her standard sign of not knowing what to say.
"Well, it was fun today," Steven said. "Do you want to head to the RV with me? I don't have lessons today, so maybe we could… I dunno, watch some TV or something?"
"Oh, well I can't," Connie said. "I had to put off my chores this morning for the brunch, so I kinda have to get home and do those…"
"Oh," Steven said, visibly deflating.
"But I can call you later," Connie quickly added. "So we can still talk."
Steven smiled, small but warmly. "Yeah. That'd be great."
There was a pause, the two of them just looking at each other, smiling and content. Without even really thinking about it, she reached over and grabbed Steven's hand, holding it in her own. As soon as she did this, Steven's cheeks lit up, and she could feel her own doing the same.
Still, he didn't try to pull away. They just lingered like that, for several long seconds. By the time Connie let go, Steven had been holding onto her hand as well.
"I'll… see you later, Steven," she said.
"Yeah. See you later," he said, the color seeming to rise even deepening in his cheeks.
They just stood there still, but only for a moment. Soon, the world around them— the gulls, the surf, the sounds of the town behind them— crept back into Connie's notice, and she knew she had to get home.
They both waved at each other, one final time, before they parted.
The horse's hooves thundered on the ground, sending up thick clouds of dust. Wind whipping at her hair and a sharp grin across her face, Amethyst leaned forward in the saddle. "I'M GONNA GET YOU!"
Ahead of her, Rose just laughed, urging her own horse on faster.
Not far away was a pair of wooden barrels that marked the end of race track.
"C'MON! FASTER!" Amethyst cried.
Her horse whinnied, reared, and put on a burst of speed. The creature leapt forward, and bounded past Rose's stallion. Amethyst whooped, and together they galloped past the finish line.
Rose wasn't far behind, giving Amethyst plenty of time to gloat. "I told ya I'd beat ya!"
"You certainly did," Rose said, tipping the brim of her cowboy hat to Amethyst.
Amethyst jumped from her horse to the ground, and giving it a pat on its rump. "Did you see me, when I did that thing? The horse neighed, and I was like, 'YEHAAAWW', and then we charged?"
Rose giggled as she slid off her own steed.
She had let Amethyst win, and Amethyst knew it. She didn't mind. It had still been really awesome.
Amethyst flopped down, landing on her back with a solid thump. For what was supposedly a dusty dirt road, it was pretty soft. She sprawled out happily, Rose settling down on the ground beside her.
"You look good in that hat," Amethyst informed her.
"Why thank you. You look good in those boots."
"I know, right?" Amethyst stuck her feet up in the air, and reached out a long, noodly arm to spin the spurs on the heels. "Don't know why humans ever stopped wearing these things."
"Probably because most of them don't ride horses anymore," Rose said.
"Still." There was a heavy thwak! as her feet hit the ground. "Never got why humans just stop wearing so many cool clothes."
"Oh, yes. Remember the— what were they called? Kraftins? Kraftans?"
"Those long robe things? They were pretty awesome."
"Such lovely, bright colors," Rose agreed. "They suited Pearl very well."
Amethyst giggled a little.
The horses were gone. So was the western town. While the land remained yellow and dusty, the buildings had transformed into low stone huts and terraces. Green scrub and palm trees dotted the landscape, and there was a camel.
The world outside was always changing. It was part of what Amethyst loved so much about it. Always something new to do or see. But it was still nice to know, that no matter what things disappeared or died or got destroyed, you could always find them again here. Heck, you could even find things that had never even existed in the first place!
"Hey Rose," Amethyst said abruptly. "Would it be okay if I brought Connie in here some time?"
Rose blinked at her, and Amethyst felt her hope sink. But Rose smiled and said, "Well, I don't see why not!"
"Really? You don't think… like… Well, she's human, so I thought she might not be allowed in the Temple, you know."
"Yes, the Temple can be dangerous for humans." Rose nodded. "But I don't think that will be a concern here. With the two of us present, I'm certain we can keep Connie from coming to any harm. And besides," she continued, eyes twinkling. "I want to get to know the human who's captured your attention so thoroughly."
Amethyst grinned, but her smile faded quickly.
Connie would like this, right? She was super into fantasy and junk, so Rose's room would have to be able to make something Connie would think was cool.
"Amethyst?" asked Rose. "Are you alright?"
"Huh? Y-yeah, sure." Amethyst shrugged. "'Course."
"You're frowning," Rose said gently.
"It's nothin'. It's stupid," Amethyst said, sitting up.
Rose tilted her head. "Now, I highly doubt that. Please, Amethyst, if something is upsetting you, I would like to know. Hopefully I can help."
Amethyst huffed. "Fine, fine. It's just...it's about about Connie. I'm afraid that…" She looked down, letting her long hair fall down in front of her face. She mumbled, "I'm afraid that she doesn't like me as much as I like her."
A soft weight settled on Amethyst's head as Rose began to stroke her hair. "And why would you think that? It seems to me that you've been spending a great deal of time together."
"Well, yeah. But she's also been spending a lot of time with Steven."
"Steven?"
"Yeah!" Amethyst jerked her head upwards at a sudden flash of anger, or frustration, or she-didn't-even-know-what. "I was so excited to introduce them! Thought it'd be cool, ya know? But now they're hanging out all the time! Steven drew this awesome picture about her, and I can't do anything like that. And Connie picked physics class over me, but I have magic while she goes to boring old school all the time, so it's not like classes are anything special, so—"
"Amethyst," Rose said.
Amethyst's mouth clamped shut. She was breathing heavily, and she didn't even need to breathe.
"I think I see what is happening here," said Rose.
"You do?"
"Yes." Rose nodded. "It's something we've all felt, at times. But I can assure you, there's no need to worry."
"...you sure?" Amethyst asked, voice laced with skepticism.
In response, Rose opened her arms in a silent invitation. Amethyst carefully crawled into her lap, letting the soft pink hair fall around her. A curl fell in front of Amethyst's face, tickling her, and she suppressed a giggle. There were bigger things to think about.
"Pearl was the first Gem who ever accepted me as me," Rose explained. "And for quite some time, it was just the two of us, living free and unrestrained in Earth's wilderness…"
"I know," Amethyst rolled her eyes. "You've told me this story, like, a million times."
Rose's whole body shook with laughter. "Sorry, sorry. I just meant, we were alone together for a very long time. And then suddenly, Garnet appeared. It took some adjustment, suddenly having a third with us."
"Or a fourth," joked Amethyst.
"Now, don't let Garnet hear you say that," said Rose, but there was no real admonishment in her voice. "But it was rather strange, suddenly having someone else to split our time with. Still, it didn't take long for me to care for Garnet very deeply. Did that cause my love for Pearl to weaken?"
"No…"
"And how about Pearl's love for me?"
"No."
"And did any of us stop caring for each other, after we'd found you?""
"Nooooo."
Amethyst knew it was true, but she couldn't help think that that was different. Maybe it was 'cuz Garnet was a fusion, and Ruby and Sapphire had this whole different thing going on. Maybe it was just because it was Rose and Pearl, but—
"But my point is," Rose continued, stroking Amethyst's hair. "Love isn't like a… physical object, where there's a set amount, and the more you divide it, the less there is for each individual. Love is infinite. In fact, I think it only gets stronger the more it's shared."
Amethyst said nothing as she turned those words over in her mind.
Rose waited some time before asking, "Besides, you're friends with Steven too, aren't you?"
"Yeah."
"Then you're lucky," said Rose. Amethyst bent her head backwards, and looking up, found Rose smiling in a way that was almost giddy. "The three of you get to be friendstogether. A Quartz, a Diamond, and a human." Rose shook her head from sheer excitement. "That's something just— completely new!"
Amethyst looked away. "I guess."
The two of them sat in silence, neither of them feeling the need to add anything else. Slowly, the desert around them dissolved from yellows to pinks, the big, fluffy clouds returning.
Rose thrust her hand into the cloud she was sitting on, and pulled out the containment cube. Amethyst watched with interest as she moved her hand in a complex sequence across its six sides. It had taken her, Pearl, and Garnet a long time to figure out the code to open it, but now that Rose had it memorized, her fingers practically blurring as she input the security code. It opened with a flash of purple light. From it, Rose took out the various scrolls stored within.
"What'cha doing?" Amethyst asked, as Rose unfurled the first.
"I'm seeing if there's anything in here that might help me find a cure to the corruption," said Rose, voice a little distant.
Amethyst stretched up her neck. She wasn't super good at reading Gem, but she knew enough to tell the scroll was apparently about what kind of Earth stones made the best building materials.
Rose was back on one of those fixations she got, every few hundred years. Amethyst didn't entirely get why she kept trying. Pearl and Garnet had given up ages ago, but Rose refused to.
But then, if anyone could get all those crazy monsters back to normal, it'd be Rose.
Amethyst quietly slid out of Rose's lap, deciding to leave her to it. She found the main-vein which led down to the Temple's Heart. She slid down it, feeling weighed down by something heavier than gravity.
The walls of the Beta Kindergarten echoed with the metallic clank, clank, clank of tools, sending heavy vibrations through the old, tired stone. Amethyst paid it no mind, except as a beat to draw to, her pencil scratch-scratch-scratching in time. She was sprawled out on her stomach, legs kicking in the air, and tongue sticking out as she stared at her paper in uncharacteristically intense concentration.
She didn't even notice that the clanking had stopped, or the shadow which had fallen over her, until Pearl said, "Oh that is looking lovely, Amethyst!"
Amethyst started, panic flaring and then immediately subsiding as she processed Pearl's words. "Ya think so?"
"I certainly do," Pearl said, nodding. "Some very nice, bold lines, and a very interesting perspective."
A satisfied smile spread across Amethyst's face— partly from the praise, partly from the fact that Pearl had noticed her art at all. She'd been spending pretty much all her time on the drill lately. Not that Amethyst was complaining or anything. She wasn't exactly super hyped about the destruction of the planet.
But still. Pretty much the only things that could tear Pearl away from her new project was another, more immediate mission. Or making googly eyes at Rose. It felt good to know she could be counted as one of those things, too.
Amethyst traced the lines of Connie's face with a finger. "Any way ya think I could make it better?"
"Pardon?" Pearl let out a high laugh, curling a strand of her otherwise perfect hair around a finger. "I don't know why you'd be asking me for advice, I can't even draw a straight line!"
"Aw, c'mon Pearl! You're awesome at art! Give me some tips!"
"Oh, if you insist," she said, sounding more than a little pleased. She bent down next to Amethyst to get a closer look. "Hm… The proportion of your legs are a little off. Make the thighs a little wider. And here," she pointed at a rock, "the shading is a little out of place. Make it darker here, and lighter there…"
There were a couple minutes of frantic erasing and scribbling, with a few more pointers and suggestions from Pearl.
"Yes, yes, that's coming along very nicely," Pearl said, stepping back and giving a satisfied nod. "But I haven't see you so interested in art since we met— oh, who was he, the man with all the cubes?"
"Picasso?"
"Yes, him."
"Yeah, he was awesome."
"If you say so," Pearl replied. "He didn't know basic human anatomy! He kept putting noses on sideways."
"It was his style, Pearl," Amethyst protested.
"Yes, well." Pearl sniffed. "His style or not, that's not what you're drawing right now. You're going with something far more… realistic."
Amethyst fidgeted with her pencil. "Yeah. Well… I've been seeing Steven's drawings…"
"Steven," said Pearl flatly.
"Yeah, Steven! He's really good!" Amethyst met Pearl's eyes on those last words, as if daring Pearl to challenge them.
She didn't. She'd watched Steven drawing plenty of times during guard duty, and couldn't deny his skill.
"So, Steven has… inspired you?" Pearl asked carefully.
"Well… not exactly…"
Amethyst sat up, shifting uncomfortably on her butt. She'd felt stupid about this before, and even more so after Rose's reassurances. Still, the worry was there… so the story spilled out of her again.
Pearl listened very carefully, expression focused and serious, as though Amethyst were explaining the objectives of a mission.
Finally, Pearl said, "I see. Well, Amethyst, I don't think you should worry. If I were your human friend, I would be very touched to receive such a lovely gift."
"But what if Connie likes Steven's better?"
"So what if she does?" said Pearl. "Steven Universe may have some talent at drawing, I'll admit. However, he's simply an undersized Diamond who can barely glance into the past without walking into a wall. You, meanwhile, are a skilled Crystal Gem warrior who has protected humanity for millennia."
Amethyst bit her lip. "But… what if Connie still wants to hang out with him instead of me?"
"Then it's her loss," said Pearl firmly. She began to say something else—
BANG!
The two Gems leapt to their feet. The explosion had come from the drill, which was now spilling dark, almost metallic blue smoke into the sky.
"The gravity engine!" Pearl screeched, rushing towards it. "What could have possibly gone wrong with it now —"
Amethyst hurried after her— but paused to hold her paper down with a wrench, just to make sure it didn't blow away or something. Then she scrambled after Pearl, eager to see what had blown up.
Human garbage dumps were maybe Amethyst's favourite of their inventions in the past few hundreds years (besides maybe phones, and RocksPop, and those weird vibrating belt things that humans thought could make them lose weight but just made them jiggle like jelly in an earthquake).
When Amethyst went dump-diving, usually her goal was just to find the coolest and weirdest stuff to add to her collection. And while she hadn't been completely ignoring that, she had found herself almost subconsciously distracted by another aim. She wiggled out of the latest trash pile, jumped easily down the slope, to drop her latest haul of electronics at Garnet's feet.
Three cell-phones, half of a fridge, and something with some sort of engine joined the collection.
"So whaddya think?" Amethyst asked. "Will any of this help Pearl with the drill?"
"I don't know. I think she will appreciate the help," said Garnet.
A peek into the future and Garnet could have known, but Amethyst didn't press. Better to keep Pearl's reaction a surprise.
There were now about twenty items of varying sizes in the pile, which was stretching their ability to carry everything to the warp pad in a single trip. Unless Amethyst found a box or a bag or something.
She craned her neck around, trying to see if anything jumped out at her immediately. Nothing did. She began considering if it was worth going for another dive. She had a lot for the drill project, a couple things for herself (a sweater that LIT UP ), but she was still wondering if maybe…
No, no. She already had that drawing. Connie wouldn't want some trash, too.
…Unless it was really cool trash?
"Tell me what's wrong," Garnet said.
Amethyst whirled. "Huh? Nothing's wrong!"
Garnet didn't move, or show any expression. But Amethyst knew that just meant Garnet knew something.
Amethyst sighed, but there was no fighting this. If Garnet knew something, she knew something, and if she thought she could help, she probably could.
For the third time, Amethyst shared how she was feeling. By the time she was finished, she was staring down at the ground, feeling very small and cold and shivery.
Garnet stepped closer, compelling Amethyst to look up. She said, "Tell them how you feel."
The cold disappeared quickly as Amethyst's face flushed. "I can't! If I do that, they'll think I'm being stupid!"
"If something is bothering you this much, it's not stupid," said Garnet.
Amethyst looked back down at the dirt, and kicked at one of the phones.
Garnet bent down to meet her eyes. "If Connie does truly cares about you, then she'll want you to be honest with her."
" Pfft. Easy for you to say. Rube and Sapph are literally in each other's minds all the time."
"If we weren't honest, I couldn't stay fused." Garnet placed a hand on Amethyst's shoulder. "Communicating your feelings are important in any friendship or relationship. If you sit on your worries, they could just keep getting worse. Sharing them now will ease them."
"But I already shared it with you, and Rose and Pearl!"
"None of us are the source."
Ugh. Garnet just made it seem so- so-
Amethyst exhaled a breath she didn't even know she had, and frowned off into the distance.
How would you even bring it up? "Hey, Connie, Steven. I don't like the two of you hanging out because I'm the worst friend ever!"
Yeah, right.
"Just try," Garnet said.
"...fine," Amethyst mumbled.
Garnet nodded, removing her hand and stepping back. She picked up half a fridge in one hand, and a massage chair in another. "Let's bring these things to Pearl."
oOo
Authors' Note: Hey folks! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
We've got an announcement to make: this Saturday we're going to be hosting a writing stream, in celebration for reaching 500 followers on our blog. It'll be an experiment for all of us, but a fun one, we hope. If you're interested in checking it out, you can find the details on the teamfadedblue tumblr.
