Progressive

That had been harder than she had originally thought it would be.
In fact, it had taken a lot more strength than she could have ever anticipated not to sprint back down through the sand, grab her by the hand and insist that she follow her to work for the day.

Sadie leaned forward, folding her arms and resting her chin upon perfectly peaked point where her wrists crossed over. A small sigh escaped her lips as her pretty hazel eyes flicked from empty table to empty table.
This was absolutely typical of early morning shifts in early spring, almost to the point that Sadie wondered why exactly they even bothered opening before nine on weekdays.

It wasn't exactly the most profitable of business decisions.
Then again, who was she to debate the virtue of early starting hours with a manager who still used a VHS tape to train new employees.

Her hand patted the little tell-tale lump in her pocket.
She had unconsciously scooped up her little gifted diamond into her hands before she had left the house. Having established that keeping it would not only preserve Kimberlite's peace of mind but also that it officially made her the most highly-tipped employee to ever have worked in Beach City.

Maybe she was the most highly-tipped employee on the whole Eastern Sea Board.

Kimberlite.

As much as she tried to focus on cleaning the countertop, she couldn't think of anything but the gawky, grey-skinned gem that she had left on the beach.

As they hid under the rock, completely uncertain as to whether they were safe from that gem-beast-bird thing, she had felt a great sense of comfort squatting down next to her.

Even though Kimberlite was in the apparent grip of terror, she was whispering apologies all the while.

"I-I'm so sorry…I'm sorry, Sadie…"

"Kim, it's ok," she managed to say back, hesitantly placing her arm around the gem's back. Her shoulders were so broad that they were slightly harder to reach even when the two of them were crouched side by side. "You couldn't have had any idea that this was gonna happen." A loud crash from above turned the gem's body from quivering to rigid.

"I have th-this special trick I could do," she told Sadie. "Sometimes, I can make things disappear- like the coffee liquid- but I can't do it whenever I want! Never when it counts…I feel so useless…"

"Hey, you're brave for even wanting to fight back," the human assured her, feeling a little flutter in her chest when Kimberlite's big green eyes were suddenly on her, a faint smile on her thin lips.

"…and you're even braver for being able to provide such comfort to others even when faced with peril." The gem placed her arm around Sadie's back in return, shaking but deliberate in her motions. "I should try to be like you…"

The gem didn't really provide any body heat but at that moment in time, the human woman had never felt warmer from the inside out. No one had ever told her that they wanted to be like her before.
It held her with such surprise that Sadie almost forgot about the winged beast above their heads. Suddenly sitting in damp sand with her arms around an alien seemed like a completely worthwhile way to pass the time.

Sadie didn't particularly care about the slightly stained, sandy patch on her pants as she leaned on the counter a little bit more. She stretched her arm out a little to let the little diamond catch a little more of the sparse, early morning sunlight.

Kimberlite's scent was still heavy in her nose.
It was about as strange and unearthly as everything else about her, seemingly composed of something coppery and something grassy and something else entirely that Sadie could not even begin to put a name to.

Lars was saying something to her now but her co-worker's ramblings had never seemed less important.
Her heart was sinking as she thought of her newest friend's face in the distance as she'd been departing from the beach.
She'd stolen glances at Kimberlite's shrinking figure over her shoulder as she walked and each time she looked, the gem's expression became increasingly… fearful.

As strong a word as "fearful" was, it was the only term that Sadie could think of to describe the gem's wide eyes and arching brows.
Sure, she was disappointed as Kimberlite was that their hang-out time had been cut short but she'd never seen a person react so negatively to a simple rain check.

Something in Kimberlite's eyes had been begging her to stay.
Moreso than simply petitioning her out of petulance.
There was fear there.

But that of course led her to ask just what Kim had been so afraid of.
It couldn't have been Steven and Amethyst…could it?

Steven Universe didn't have an intimidating bone in his body and if anything, the boy only ever seemed to inspire comfort in everyone he met.
Plus, Amethyst- loud and proud as she was- was possibly the friendliest of Steven's guardians and she certainly didn't do anything that Sadie could recall to frighten the other gem.

The thought beckoned Sadie to remember the initial unease of countenance Kimberlite had expressed when she'd originally mentioned Steven.
"It was as soon as I mentioned that there were other gems here," she recalled, frowning slightly to herself.

The only logical conclusion was that she was afraid at the prospect of being left alone with other gems.
Why, though?

Sadie remembered the time she and her mom had taken a vacation to Empire City to celebrate her graduation from high school. It had only been a week and when it came to R and R, there was nothing like some unashamed, touristy fun- as far as the older and younger Ms Miller were both concerned.

Empire City, nonetheless, was an intimidating place when it came to both size and atmosphere. Between pulsing strobe lights and a cacophony of noise from sunrise to sunset, it was easy to feel a little overwhelmed. Empire citizens were also some of the brashest, bossiest individuals that they'd ever had the (dis)pleasure of meeting. For a fellow tourism-based economy, the serving staff in most places were decidedly of the unwelcoming types.
Sadie and Barb had never felt so relieved to meet some Beach City locals in the hotel bar. Even just chatting to some of her mom's old co-workers made Sadie feel like less of an alien.

Why would someone be so frightened to meet people from their home?

Sadie's brow furrowed as she drew the diamond close to her chest to cup it in both hands.
Perhaps she should have given a little more thought to the fact that Kimberlite had chosen to run away from her planet?

Lars was still talking.
Something about a game? Or a song? Or maybe it was a movie?
In truth, she had no idea what he was talking about but nothing that was currently coming out of his mouth seemed all that (a) urgent or (b) interesting.

What had originally seemed like a harmless bout of rebellious tomfoolery was now starting to seem a little more serious.
Just what was Steven's mother's home world really like?

Steven.

Sadie patted the outline of her phone in her pants as she was reminded of one simple though comforting fact.
"She's with Steven," she told herself, relieved. "He'll keep an eye on her and if something happens, he'll let me know." She exhaled, slowly placing the diamond back into the top pocket of her polo shirt. "We'll meet up later and the gems will have helped Kim out and everything will be ok…stop worrying…"

"Earth to Sade! Come in, Sade! Are you even listening?!"

"No," thought Sadie, swallowing back a long sigh as she turned to face her slightly red-faced fellow doughnut-peddler. "Hm?"

"What the heck is wrong with you this morning? It's like your brain's on another planet or something."

"That's a pretty tempting fate," she muttered in response, feeling strangely irritated. Normally, if Lars had decided to talk to her at all, she'd only be too happy to lend him every drop of her attention but this morning, having to even look at him felt like a chore.

"What?" Lars asked, slightly incredulous at her flippancy. "What's gotten into you?"

"I've just got a lot on my mind right now," she said, trying to wave him off as she made her way over to the register.

"Oh…"
Sadie was actually quite surprised to hear Lars sounding so concerned for once. "Uh…do you wanna talk about it? Or…?"

His offer dangled vaguely for a moment and his co-worker looked up from the cash-drawer, looking as genuinely surprised as he was.

"Uh…ok…" Sadie was a little amazed. Lars offering to help her with anything was a rare occurrence but she couldn't remember if he had ever actually wanted to talk about her worries or what was on her mind. "Well, it's kinda to do with that woman who I brought in here yesterday…"

Before she could say anything else, the main door of the restaurant opened and Jenny Pizza strode in, flanked by Sour Cream's long-legged stroll.

And just like that, in the blink of an eye, Lars' concerned countenance dissolved to a kind of passive, pompous mask.
"Oh, hey guys," he drawled, pushing his way to the main part of the counter- not excusing himself to Sadie or bothering to promise to talk about it afterwards. " 'Sup?"

"Of course," the young blonde woman thought, her shoulders slumping. "I'm only important until someone better comes along." Her fingers drifted over the diamond in her polo shirt pocket. "Or maybe he's the one who's not worth my time…"

"Can I get you guys the usual?" she said aloud suddenly, not caring that she was cutting across Lars. "One strawberry jam, one chocolate glaze and one rainbow sprinkle and cream supreme and three coffees?"

"Just two coffees, the strawberry and the supreme, thanks Sadie," Jenny told her with a bemused smile. "Buck's out on official "campaign business" with his dad so he won't be around…"

"Did Kiki say anything to you about going to the beach ball with me?" Lars asked suddenly, practically elbowing Sadie out of the way as he sat up on to the counter. "I texted her last night."

"If customers aren't allowed to do it then neither are you," she hissed between gritted teeth as she went about prepping the doughnuts.

Jenny, to Sadie's delight, sounded as though she felt Lars was some kind of cockroach crawling around her feet. "Yeah, she mentioned it. To be honest, you should probably be asking her about it, seeing as we're not the same person…but I don't think she's interested."

"She's going with someone else?"

"I don't think she's going with anyone," Sour Cream chimed in.

"Like, she's going alone? Like, by choice? Why?"
For the second time that morning, Lars sounded a little taken aback.

"Hey, it's a new world, man," the DJ informed him, leaning back in the seat he'd taken, his usual laid-back drawl imbued with a kind of sagely air. "Guys go with girls… and guys can go with guys… and girls can go with girls… and I guess anyone can go with no one if they want…it's a staple of our times…" He finished his proclamation with an affirmative nod.

"Have you asked anyone yet, Sadie?" Jenny asked kindly, helping her out with the tray as she placed it on the counter top.

Sadie was about to reply that she hadn't…but then she thought about it for a moment and replied: "No but I've got someone in mind…"

Lars scoffed a little, leaning back on the counter-top.
"Is it someone we all know? How do you know he doesn't have other plans?"

"Not really," she said coolly. "And I don't know…I'll ask her later…"

Sadie had to admire the manner in which Sour Cream and Jenny managed to withhold a torrent of laughter when Lars almost fell right off the counter top.

"Her?!"

The next update should be fairly quick.
I just wanted to alter one or two things about the next segment- I figured Kimberlite's first meeting with the entire Crystal cohort should be well attended to.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

Thank you Mr/Ms/The Honourable Crowley for pointing out that typo in the last chapter! Sorry, I must have missed it during my proofreading!

Also, this may be quite ambitious but due to me not wanting to saturate the story with my own OCs, I was wondering if anyone would like their gemsona to make a little cameo in an upcoming chapter centered on Kimberlite's Jasper and Pearl and what they're currently up to back on Homeworld.
Of course I'd credit you wholeheartedly and if you'd rather nominate a friend's gemsona, that's also peachy with me too. :) I can base the cameo on whatever role or occupation the gemsona has on Homeworld but it would effectively involve them being very friendly with either Jasper or Pearl.

Either way, if you're interested, please drop me a line via PM or via review. ;)

(By the way, I actually don't hate Lars, believe it or not! (^_^') )