It was a beautiful day in Beach City. Clear skies, shining sun, crashing waves of crystal blue water, and not a gray cloud in sight. It was everything that the Beach City chamber of commerce had promised. It was a great day to go out and have fun, and coincidentally that was exactly what a young boy by the name of Steven Universe had planned on doing that day (just as he had done every other day).

The light of the early morning sun gently stirred him from his slumber and, eyes still heavy with sleep, he slowly began to rise. Sitting up in his bed Steven had a clear view of the beach through his window. He smiled at the sight. It was one of his favorite parts about waking up in the morning, second only to breakfast. Speaking of which...

growl

Steven looked down at his gut and chuckled. "I guess it's time for breakfast. But what should I have? Doughnuts?"

growl

"Yeah, doughnuts."

Quick as a flash, Steven was out of bed and dressed. His stomach demanded doughnuts and he knew exactly where to get them. He was nearly out the door when a voice called out to him,

"Good morning Steven, where are you off to in such a hurry?"

He stopped and turned to see Pearl busy reorganizing all of the books on the shelf.

"Oh, hey Pearl. I was just about to go get some doughnuts."

Thud

They heard the refrigerator door slam shut.

"Did someone say doughnuts?" Amethyst asked, racing to the door.

"Hey, Amethyst. I was just about to go to the Big Donut. You want me to get you anything?"

"You know it!"

"Alright then, be back in a bit!" Steven called as he ran out, the door swinging shut behind him.

"Oh yeah!" Amethyst cheered, flopping down onto the couch to take a nap. "I can almost taste those doughnuts already. This is gonna be great."

"Really now Amethyst," Pearl said disapprovingly. "I just don't understand how you can eat those things."

"What? They're good." Amethyst replied sleepily, already starting to doze. "You don't know what you're missing."

Pearl could only sigh to herself as Amethyst began to snore before returning her attention to the bookshelf.

Things were a little slow at the Big Donut. Of course, it usually was slow early in the morning. This, naturally, was totally fine with Lars who wasn't a morning person to start with and didn't really care for dealing with customers in general. He never understood how Sadie could stand doing it every day and still be so positive all the time. Even now she was in the backroom doing a final check to make sure that everything was ready for the day with a smile on her face.

Lars sighed to himself while he stood alone at the counter. Everything was quiet as he stared disinterestedly at the door, waiting for the first customers of the day. His eyes darted over to the clock. Barely even two minutes had passed since the last time he checked. He had the sudden feeling that this day was going to drag on very slowly.

"Here we go." Lars groaned to himself as he heard the door open. He turned his attention back to the front of the store just in time to see one of Beach City's more interesting residents enter through the door.

There in the doorway, stood a man in his mid-forties wearing a pair of old blue jeans and a white T-shirt under a green windbreaker. This man was Quentin Moon.

"Good morning, Quentin!" Sadie called out as she returned from the back room.

Now, Quentin Moon was a bit of a reclusive individual. To a number of people in town, he was known simply as the Beach City Hermit. Though he had been a part of the Beach City community for many years, he did not actually reside within the town itself, choosing instead to live somewhere out in the Beach City woods. He was very private, almost secretive, and tended to keep his distance from other people. He really only made trips into town when he needed to for food and supplies or to do the occasional odd job.

A large number of Beach City's residents knew him by name and reputation, although a good portion of his reputation was built upon rumors and speculation. Some suspected that he was homeless and lived in caves and in trees, while others claimed he was secretly an eccentric billionaire that built a mansion hidden out in the woods. Only a select few knew for sure.

Most people were hesitant to approach him. He always looked as if he had slept in his clothes, and his long, unkempt hair and beard contributed immensely to his disheveled appearance. This combined with the ever-present frown on his face and his solitary and quiet nature often made him come across as more than just a little intimidating to people who didn't know him well.

Sadie's cheeriness quickly faded as she took in Quentin's appearance. For as long as she had known him he had always looked a little rough around the edges, but on this particular morning, he did not look at all well. As he made his way towards the counter she noticed that his clothes looked as if they should have been washed days ago. But more important than that was his face; his skin lacked its usual color and looked pale and sickly. And although his sunglasses partially concealed them from view, she could still just barely see the exhaustion in his eyes.

"Morning, Sadie," he returned the greeting, "Lars."

"Quentin, are you alright?" Sadie asked.

"I feel fine."

"Dude, are you sure about that?" asked Lars, actually looking concerned. "You don't look too good."

"I'm fine, really."

"Well if you're sure. What can I get for you?" Sadie asked, totally unconvinced.

"Coffee please."

Quentin sat at the table. The cup of coffee stood, steaming in front of him as he slumped forward in his seat. He rested his head in one hand while the other massaged his tired eyes under his sunglasses, groaning quietly to himself as he did so. After a moment, he pulled a small bottle of aspirin out of his jacket pocket. Removing two pills from the bottle, he put them both in his mouth and washed them down with a large drink of the hot, black liquid.

Sighing in a mixture of pain and relief, he placed the coffee back onto the table and rested his head in his hands. He stared deeply into the coffee drifting into and out of consciousness as he struggled to stay awake.

As Quentin began to doze, Sadie watched him anxiously from the counter.

"So are you just gonna stare at him all day, or what?"

"I'm worried, Lars. Just look at him; I've never seen him this bad before."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure he'll be fine by tomorrow."

"You think so? How can you be so sure?"

"Coffee and aspirin."

"What about it?"

"My uncle told me once that when he was in college he'd take coffee and aspirin after late nights drinking with his friends. He's obviously hungover. He must've had a pretty wild night last night," Lars chuckled.

"Lars, please."

"What? He said he's fine. And besides, unless you have some freaky mind-reading powers you've never told me about, I doubt just standing here staring at him is going to do much good. Why don't you just go talk to him, if you're so worried about him?"

"You don't think I've tried that?" Sadie said fighting the urge to scream in frustration. "You know what he's like."

Lars looked back to Quentin, who was practically sleeping at the table and sighed to himself. She was right, he did know what he was like; practically everyone in town knew. Quentin was the ultimate loner. He had always kept everyone at an arm's length. Out of everyone in town, Sadie was probably one of the few people who Quentin ever let into his life at all.

Lars opened his mouth to say something but was cut short when a harsh metallic rattling sound began to fill the air.

"Oh no," Lars groaned, "that stupid air conditioner again!" he whined.

"It's still broken?" Sadie asked finally prying her eyes from Quentin.

"I'm gonna call someone to come fix it," Lars said as he walked towards the back room. "If I have to stand around listening to that all day again, I'm gonna lose it!"

Alone at the counter again, Sadie's thoughts once again returned to Quentin. She anxiously resumed watching him as he slowly sipped on his steaming cup of coffee. She considered what Lars had said, maybe she should try talking to him. She nervously tapped her fingers against the countertop as she thought of what she would even say when the sound of the front door opened signaling that another customer had arrived. A welcome distraction.

"Oh. Hi, Steven." Sadie greeted the boy as he walked through the door.

"Hi, Sadie."

"What can I get you? The usual order?"

"That would be great! Thanks, Sadie. Oh, and a couple extra chocolate glazed for Amethyst." Steven leaned against the counter and looked around the room as he waited. He froze in surprise when he noticed Quentin seated alone at a table by the window.

"Oh, I didn't know that Quentin was going to be in town today," Steven remarked. "I've been meaning to invite him to hang out with the Gems for a while."

"Right now might not be such a good time for that Steven," Sadie said while she loaded a paper bag full of various doughnuts. "I think he's having a pretty rough morning. When he came in he looked like he might collapse at any moment. And he's been just sitting there in total silence for like the past fifteen minutes. I don't think he's up for hanging out with anyone today."

"Hmmmm" Steven hummed in thought as he looked upon the tired man staring vacantly into his coffee. Sadie was right, he looked pretty miserable.

"Here you go." Sadie placed the bag on the counter.

"You know what, Sadie? I think I'll get just a few more doughnuts."

Quentin continued to stare into the dark void of the coffee cup. His mind was a total blank. He was starting to feel a little better, but not by much. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there when suddenly he noticed a small plate of doughnuts sitting in front of him. Directly across the table from him stood Steven, with a big, friendly smile.

Quentin picked up a doughnut and took a small bite. Jelly-filled. A small trace of a smile began to form on his tired face.

"Hey there, kid."

Steven and Quentin sat eating their doughnuts in relative silence, speaking only to exchange brief pleasantries. When the two were finished Steven took his remaining doughnuts, reserved for Amethyst, and went on his way with a smile and a wave. Quentin quietly reciprocated the gesture before returning his attention to the dregs of coffee remaining at the bottom of the cup, finishing it off with one last swig. He sighed quietly as he leaned back in his seat. He took a small, red leather-bound notebook, which he was rarely seen without, from his pocket and began to thumb through the pages. Sadie smiled sadly at the sight; Quentin was smiling. Granted, it was a very small one, so small that most people probably wouldn't even notice, but she could see it.

Getting Quentin to smile was not an easy feat to accomplish. Steven, as annoying as he could be at times, had a true gift.

Sadie sighed as Lars' words echoed in her mind as she worked the controls on the coffee machine.

'I doubt just standing here staring at him is going to do much good. Why don't you just go talk to him, if you're so worried about him?'

She poured the coffee into one of the standard insulated paper cups, adding the usual one packet of sugar, and grabbed a couple of extra jelly doughnuts before making her way over to the man seated by the window.