Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Oh, for the love of god, tell me you didn’t invite weirdo Steven.”

Dora kicked her boots onto the dashboard of her car, rolling her dark eyes at the driver. The driver sheepishly shrugged, snapping her seatbelt in and checking behind her to see if the other passengers had made it inside. She turned on the ignition, 

“Dora, he’s honestly super nice! He’s new in town and I just thought like: Hey! Why don’t I invite him to come hang out tonight?” she explained, pulling out of the parking space in front of the drugstore, “By the way, Auggie, did you get those, uh, Chaaaps?”

The boy in the back dug through his assortment of snacks, “Uhhh….yup!” he pulled out a bag of strange chips none of them had seen before, “I’ve literally never seen anybody buy these, Margot. The cashier guy looked so confused, they sound like they were made as a joke.”

“Well, those were the one thing Steven wanted so…” 

 Dora groaned, swiping through her phone to find music for the ride back, “I’m just saying he’s weird. I mean, you meet him at Penn Arcade and then every single time you go back he’s there?? And― like you said! ―he’s always wearing the same clothes and doesn’t talk to anybody else but you? Sketch.” 

“Dude, it’s not like that.” Margot insisted, turning the volume louder on the punk track Dora had decided to play, “He kicked my ass at Lonely Blade and then bought me a whole pizza because he said he felt bad about it. Every time I’ve gone back to Penn, I’ve been the one who starts the conversation, he was just playing different games by himself. I don’t think he knows anybody else here.” 

“Didn’t explain the clothes thing.” 

“Maybe he likes ‘em, damn! I dunno!” 

A soft voice piped up from the back, “Maybe he was flirting with you?”

Margot made an unsure noise, “I’m preeeetty sure he’s gay, Cy. Even so, I’m pretty sure I’m gay.” 

“If he’s gay then I call dibs!” August called, he stuck his head between the driver’s and passenger’s seat, “You said he’s cute, right?”

“Why are you calling dibs? Fifty percent of this car are lesbians and Cy is into that guy from Calc―you’re safe. But sure, he’s cute in a boy-next-door kinda way, yeah. Not like Hollywood handsome but I could see him, like, making bread or something.” she snorted, stopping at the red light, “He’s shaped like a friend, I guess.”  

“That’s all I need!” he flopped back into his seat, Cypress stifling their giggles at his antics. Cypress pushed him off of them,

“He sounds nice, Margot. I’m excited to meet him finally.” 

Dora leaned back to them, “You’re being too nice. He’s a murderer, probably.”

“I don’t think he’s ever been in a fight!” Margot countered, “He has the face of a baby! I think you’re being too overprotective again, Ms. Salib.” 

It wasn’t a secret that Dora didn’t take too kindly to new people. Before she and Cypress had managed to win her trust and befriend her and August sophomore year, she’d basically protected the friendship she and August had with her life. They were complete opposites―August, a golden retriever of a man with shoulder-length russet-colored hair, a freckled face and a chipped tooth from a baseball incident back in eighth grade; Dora, who carried a switchblade in her back pocket, with poisonously bright yellow hair, dark clothes, and a near-permanent sneer on her face―it was still a mystery how they had even clicked in the first place. Their paths had collided at their school’s GSA meetings (which they promptly began to skip together not long after) and after many, many attempts, Dora had opened up and the four of them began hanging out almost every day. 

“Whatever, man.” she relented, “But if he does anything sketchy, I’m stabbing him.” 

“Please don’t!” Cypress shouted, Dora fished her switchblade out and flicked it open, 

“I’ll do it!” 

August snorted, “You won’t. You always say you’ll do it but you never commit!” 

“I’ll commit tonight. Commit murder .” 

Margot laughed, “Shut up!!” 

The music suddenly cut off, replaced with the generic ringtone Margot had never bothered to change. The name STEVEN UNIVERSE appeared on the dash screen. 

“His last name is not Universe.” Cypress gasped, “There’s no way in the world that his last name is Universe.” 

Dora gestured wildly at the screen, “Weirdo!” 

“Hush!” Margot clicked answer, “Heyo, Steven!”

“H-Hey, Margot!” his voice was as sweet and warm as she was used to, maybe just a bit thicker than usual, “Sorry but I-I…I think I’m early?” 

“S’all good, Steven. We’re pulling up in, like, two minutes.” 

“Your house is nice, your parents did a good job.”

“Uh…thank you? Look, just hang tight in the driveway and I’ll come let you in.”

A breath, “Okay! Okay, that’s okay. I’ll be here.” 

“Sick. See you soon.”

“Bye!”

The music returned, Dora blinked, “...He sounded like he was going to throw up.” 

“He’s probably nervous!” 

“Why would he be nervous?”

She turned into a quiet residential street, “I dunno, Dora. Maybe he sensed that one of the people he’s about to meet just vowed to stab him.” 

“Only if he does anything weird.” the opening chords to the next song strummed, she lurched forwards, “Oh, shit , this slaps!” 

They drove down Margot’s street, singing along to the hyper song that blasted through the speakers. August drummed his hands against the headrest, Dora headbanged with her typical intensity, Cypress swished their ash colored hair along to the beat and Margot turned into her driveway as the last of the chords played. 

“Is that his car?” August panted, pushing his hair away from his face. He pointed to an older looking silver car that idled at the front of her driveway, a pink light glowed from inside, “Hm. Vintage.” 

“I’m pretty sure that car served in Vietnam.” Dora joked, Cypress reached over to lightly slap her shoulder, 

“Be nice, oh, my God!” 

She killed the ignition, “You guys are gonna love him, really. He’s super chill.”

He shook his glowing hands until the color subsided, 

“You’ve hung out with humans before, Universe!” he chided himself, leaning back in the seat he spent most of his time in nowadays, “It’s just like Connie! Or Peedee, or Lars, or Sadie, or, like, Dad!” 

There was a split second where he believed himself, the second passed. He groaned, “Oh, wow, I shouldn’t have done this.” 

But this was part of his plan! He left Beach City to be his own person (and to figure out who that was) and part of that was that he was going to start hanging out with more humans! During his weekly sessions with Lea (his therapist―a kind and gentle forty-something woman who insisted he call her by her first name), she kept insisting that he needed to understand both halves of him. At first he had thought she wanted him to somehow unfuse again, admittedly, but she’d cleared up what she meant. Sure, he was a Gem but he was also a human. 

He’d spent most of his life surrounded by either millenia old aliens, near-adults who only hung out with him because he was around constantly, or actual adults like his dad. 

Maybe that was why he’d accepted so readily when the nice girl from the arcade, Margot, offered him an invitation to a ‘casual hang out thing’ as she’d put it with her friends. Other human beings that were the same age as him, human beings he would meet under completely normal circumstances. A party, human teenagers threw parties. 

He stopped his thoughts in his tracks, Lea had suggested he stop referring to humans as if he wasn’t half that. He was human (mostly), he pulled down the mirror above him, 

“You are human.” he muttered to himself, he reared back, “Yeesh!” 

He looked terrible. He usually didn’t look this terrible after a session; there were some times where he would just sit in his car and think after some appointments and there were others where he was able to hang up and keep driving. But they’d talked about it this time and his face showed it. 

He looked like he’d lost a fight, a bad one where his healing powers didn’t immediately kick in and he suffered through a few minutes of ouch . Last time he’d looked this bad he had just shatte―

No. 

Pink flooded the interior of the car, thankfully he didn’t swell. He couldn’t deal with Diamond-him in all his manic glory at the moment.

“I shouldn’t have done this.” he reiterated, burying his hands in his hair and pulling. 

Lea hated when he did that. But he was just a bit upset with Lea, a little more than a bit. She wanted to talk about it that night, of course she had. The one night where he was supposed to just be a normal human, she had to bring up the experience that proved more than anything that he wasn’t. 

The scars on his back ached. 

He wanted to go back to his motel room, maybe call Connie or the Gems or Dad and just know that they were there on the other side of the line. He wouldn’t talk about his appointment, no, but he’d talk about his day and leave out any mention of the human party he’d skipped out on in favor of lying face down on the disgusting bed for awhile.

    “I can just leave.” he reminded himself, placing his glowing hands on the steering wheel, “I can tell her that I…got sick? That I forgot to feed my cat? That I died?” he mused over those options, “One of those won’t work.”  

His escape plan suddenly went up in smoke as headlights flashed behind him along with muddled music. 

Margot. 

Oh, she couldn’t see him like this! All Pink and glowing with his freaky diamond-shaped pupils which had annoyingly become a facet whenever he went Pink. Margot saw him as a completely human person, she invited him thinking he was a normal human whose reflexes when it came to video games just happened to be eerily precise. He didn’t want his first interaction with her outside of the arcade to be a hasty explanation that yes he was glowing bright pink, the reason why may shock you! 

He shut his eyes tight and breathed in, held it, then breathed out, repeating it until he felt the buzz of power leave him. That trick was courtesy of Connie rather than Lea―ever since he’d been actually diagnosed with C-PTSD along with Depression and Anxiety a few weeks after it, she’d been studying up on things to help him when he panicked or when he had flashbacks or when he just couldn’t get out of bed some days. She was so supportive. 

And very much his girlfriend. (!!!!!!)

The thought of that alone― the Connie Maheswaran was his girlfriend―was enough to stave off another episode. 

The headlights behind him cut off, the sound of people talking following shortly after. He glanced at his rearview mirror to see four figures walking toward the Dondai, they were all holding bags of snacks. 

Aw, jeez, was he supposed to bring snacks? 

He straightened up in his chair as they got closer, hoping that he didn’t look as tired and worn out as the mirror showed. The figure heading the group sped up, jogging up to his mirror and slamming her hand against his window à la zombie movie style. He jumped slightly then rolled his window down, 

“Stevie!” Margot greeted, she stuck her head through his window, her curly fluorescent orange hair popping against the gray interior, “Glad you could make it, man.”

“Heh. Uh, thanks for inviting me.” 

How was he already clamming up?

Just imagine she’s tried to kill you already! 

“No sweat, come inside so I can introduce you to the gang.” 

He unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car with his bag in hand, pulling his varsity jacket tight around him. Margot’s friends were studying him, he couldn’t help but feel like he was failing a test. 

“Do-Do you need any help carrying anything?” 

“Nah!” the tall one who was saddled with the most bags, a boy with shoulder-length reddish hair shrugged, “We’re all good, let’s get inside.” he looked Steven up and down, “Nice jacket.” 

“Oh, thanks!” 

The girl next to him who had bright yellow hair elbowed the boy with a smirk, “Oh, can you not start?”

“I am being nice !” 

“It’s alright, really.” Steven insisted, “I don’t mind it.” 

The boy grinned, turning on his heels and marching to the door, making a show of swishing his hair around. The other three laughed, Steven felt he was missing something. Margot clapped her hand on his shoulder, (he smiled inwardly, he didn’t flinch!) she reminded him of Amethyst with how physically affectionate she was―she was always playfully punching his arm or mussing up his hair even though they’d only met two weeks beforehand. It felt nice to be welcomed so easily and so…painlessly. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Ignore them.” she began to pull him along to the front door, “You’re vegetarian, right?” he nodded, “Cool, I’m ordering some pizza in a sec so that was some info I Needed To Know.”

Margot had a fun way of speaking, sometimes she emphasized words like they were meant to be capitalized no matter where they were in the sentence. She pointed to the last of the three newcomers, a feminine person in a heavy purple turtleneck with short wavy hair, “Cypress’ vegetarian, too.”

“Pescatarian!” the person, Cypress, corrected. Steven resisted the urge to stare, Cypress’ skin was brown with the exception of two splotches of pale coloration; one along her jaw and another over her left eye, the eyebrow over that eye a pure white. It was kinda like Jasper with her corruption scars, he hadn’t known humans could have the same thing. 

“That’s kinda like cannibalism.” the boy called from the front door, Cypress snorted, 

“How!?”

“You’re a Pisces!” 

Steven laughed. He laughed! To a joke he understood! 

The boy beamed again, “Yo, Steven, what’s your sign?” 

“Um…” he tried to remember what Connie had told him, “Leo.” 

Margot rolled her eyes, fishing her keys from her lanyard, “This is such a stereotype, you guys. A bunch of gay people get together and the first thing they talk about is their zodiac.”

“That is exactly what a Sagittarius would say.”

“August Marks, I will kill you.” 

“Fair.”

“Your name’s August?” Steven asked, hopping up the stairs, he was suddenly aware of how short he was next to August “That’s cool, I was born in August.”

“Really?” he flashed a smile, one of his teeth were chipped, “We have so much in common!” 

The yellow-haired girl rolled her eyes, “You were born in May, dumbass.” 

Margot unlocked her door with a practiced motion she’d probably done a million times before, she pushed it open and stepped aside to allow everybody else in. Cypress flicked the switch for the hanging light above them, Steven looked around.

Her home was so obviously loved and lived-in. There wasn’t an inch of wall not covered by pictures or kitschy sayings or cozy wall hangings, the space next to the door was crowded by a horde of well-worn shoes, there was a bowl of potpourri sitting on the curio cabinet―it was so obviously human. 

The all-too-familiar sense of envy tickled his throat as he studied an old picture of Margot with straight black hair rather than her orange mane and a gap-toothed grin wearing a graduation cap, he swallowed it down. 

“You graduated?” he questioned, she looked too young in the picture to have graduated from...whatever grade one is supposed to graduate from. Margot lifted her eyebrow then snickered, 

“Oh, shut up. Yeah, they had us do a ‘graduation’ ceremony back in kindergarten. It was stupid.” 

Cypress cooed, “You look so cute, though.” 

“That shut up extends to you, too.” 

They moved from the foyer to an equally lived-in kitchen where they set down the plastic bags and began unloading them, Steven watched on the sidelines as a myriad of brightly colored, sugary items filled the countertop. Cypress grabbed a few bags and set them further from the central pile, “These…” she checked them again, “yup! These don’t have gelatin, so these are for me and Mr. Steven Universe.” 

He perked up, “You know my last name?”

“It was on the caller ID when you called Margot. It’s an unusual last name for sure but I’m not really one to talk.” she paused, “Also, sorry, I totally just assumed your pronouns. Do you use he/him or…?” 

“Well, uh,” he bit his tongue, he didn’t want to seem weird by bringing his weird gender feelings into the mix, “I do and you guys can use that. But I kinda also use they sometimes…if that’s okay…”  

Cypress smiled, “Course, it’s okay! I use they/them myself actually!” 

Oh! 

“Okay!” 

Margot looked up from where she was arranging the snacks, “Oh, are we doing the Pronoun Throwdown? ‘Bout time. I’ll start.” she pointed to herself, “Margot Connor, she/her.” 

August continued, “August Marks, he/him.” he coughed into his hand, “Single.” 

The girl who hadn’t talked much raised her hand slightly, “Dora Salib, she/her.”

“And me, again. Cypress Rosewood, they and them.” 

He felt himself relax slightly, “Um, Steven Universe, he and t-they.”

“Nice!” August sat on the corner of the table, “You don’t gotta ask us if you can use your correct pronouns, Steven. We don’t fuck with transphobes.” 

“Are your parents not supportive?” Cypress has a look of sympathy, he quickly assuaged their fears, 

“Oh, no! No, my dad is super supportive of me. He really is, he’s great! And my mom’s super dead so she’s not in the picture to, uh, not support me, so it’s good!” 

Oh, stars, why did I just say that. 

He’d have to ask Lea during the next session if there was a reason he seemed to just dump his most traumatic stuff on new people during their first conversation. He’d done it with Connie’s friends when he just casually mentioned the whole White Diamond incident where he had been quite literally split in half and he was doing it again―these people were nice and his first actual contribution to the conversation was him bringing up his incredibly dead mom.  

Margot gaped slightly, “Steven, I’m...I’m really sorry.” 

“It’s fine!” he insisted, hoping to all hope that he wouldn’t start glowing, “It’s really fine. She died when I was born anyways so it’s not like I met her or anything!” 

Nobody talked for a moment, Dora snapped open a can of Diet Coke with an expression like she was relishing in the awkwardness, 

“So, uh,” August clicked his tongue, “do you go to North?” 

“...North?”

“North Little Raven, the school. The one we go to.” 

Right! They went to school. Yet another thing Steven the alien had never experienced.

“U-Um, yeah! Yeah, I do. I go to North Little Raven.” 

“Who’s your favorite teacher?” Dora asked, tongue rolling over her silver lip piercing. Steven paled. Okay. Shit. 

“Uh, you know…” he chuckled awkwardly, she raised a slitted eyebrow, 

“Where’s the school?” 

“It’s, uh,” Steven, you are drowning here, “north?” 

“Tch, ‘north’?” 

Margot sighed, “Dora, leave him alone.” 

Steven could feel the buzzing between his ears. 

They think you’re weird.

They think something’s wrong with you.

You’re not human. You’ll never be human. 

“Where’s your bathroom?” 

Steven got up and damn near ran to the bathroom the second the directions were out of her mouth. He was blushing furiously, his cheeks bright pink. 

August kicked the leg of Dora’s chair, “Dude, what was that?”

“He was lying through his goddamn teeth! He obviously doesn’t go to North, we would’ve definitely seen him by now. He’s wearing a bright pink varsity jacket and flip-flops in October. ” 

“That wasn’t cool. He was just talking about his mom who died giving birth to him and you immediately grill him on where our school is? ” 

“Why would he lie about what school he goes to, Auggie? Why?” 

“I-I don’t know! But he seems really nice. You’re not even giving him a chance.”

“Yeah, Dora.” Cypress agreed, chewing one of their gelatin-free gummy worms, “You don’t have to get all Mama Bird on us, he’s clearly just shy. Plus, I think August could body-slam him, he’s shorter than me. ” 

Dora snorted, “You aren’t short, you’re, like, 5’7’’. Auggie just makes everybody look like preschoolers because he’s like eight feet tall.” 

“6’3’’ but okay.” he corrected, Margot crossed her arms, 

“But forreal, give Steven a chance. You might end up really liking him.” 

She threw up her hands in surrender, “Fine. I will give Steven Totally-Not-A-Fake-Name Universe a chance.” 

“Thank you.” Margot walked over to her, pushing her big yellow curls from her forehead, “Kiss incoming.”

“Kiss denied.” 

“Kiss still in transit.”

“Kiss denied access.”

“Kiss inevitable.” She pecked Dora’s forehead, “Kiss landed.” 

She laughed, fixing her hair. She glanced to the hallway and grimaced, “Dammit, do you think he’s good?”

“ Full 180!” August hooted, “Dora Salib now cares about Steven Universe.”

“I just feel kinda bad that I made the kid with a dead mom cry like any rational person.”

Margot started towards the bathroom at the front of the house, “I’ll go get him and one of y’all can order the pizza while I do it.” 

Cypress whipped out their phone, “From Joseph’s?”

“Of-fucking-course. Two pepperonis and a cheese, please, babe.” 

“On it.” 

She left the kitchen and the warmth of her friends for the uncertainty of the hallway, she took more time to walk through it than usual. Steven had looked at every part of it like it was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen, like he’d never seen a boring old hallway of a boring old suburban house. She approached the bathroom door, rapping on it gently, “You okay, Steven?”

“Y-Yup! Everything’s fine!” 

“You sure? Look, Dora said she’s sorry for pouncing on you like that.”

“Oh, that? That was fine!” 

“You don’t have to spare her feelings, she’s a real bitch sometimes.” she rested her hand on the door handle, a zap of electricity raced up her arm, “Ow!” 

The door opened immediately, Steven’s worried face on the other side, “What happened?!” 

“The door! It shocked me!” she shook her hand, “I don’t know how it just…” she looked up, Steven had stuck a finger into his mouth with determination in his eyes, “why is your finger in your mouth?”

“Hm?” he looked down, “Oh.” he removed it, “Habit, sorry. Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be good, it just caught me by surprise.” she shrugged, “Anyways, you doing okay?”

He nodded, “I’m fine.” 

He seemed to say ‘fine’ a lot.

“Cool, Cy just ordered some pizzas and once they come we can go down to the basement and watch some movies or some TubeTube or whatever.”

“That sounds amazing.” 

That’s what she really liked about him, he was genuinely excited by the most mundane things.

Margot had Calculus homework? Shocked.

She had to go home for dinner? Amazed.

She worked tech for a play back in middle school? Most incredible thing he’d ever heard. 

It was nice to meet somebody so enthusiastic in a world of teenage apathy. 

“Alright, c’mon, we can set up the basement while we wait for the pizzas.”

Pizza and movies.

It did not get more normal than that! 

Even with Connie most of their sleepovers were interrupted by corrupted Gems that needed bubbling or maybe another Earth ending event that he needed to fix or maybe Amethyst had started drinking motor oil (there’s no way to continue normally after that). The few dates they’d managed to squeeze in before he left (because yes, the Connie Maheswaran was his girlfriend, thank you very much) still had an air of absurdity, especially since she always seemed so proud of him for not being a literal 70-foot monster. 

This was just teenagers goofing off and having fun. They were being human and having fun. 

He wanted that. 

When he entered the kitchen Dora waved to him, which was a plus. Margot instructed all of them to move down to the basement as she gathered up the snacks and made her way downstairs, they all followed. August asking if he was okay with a silent thumbs up that Steven returned with a small smile.

Margot’s basement was big and spacious with a nook where she had two couches that curved into a semi circle and an ancient-looking boxy TV front and center. She brought them to a corner with a truly admirable collection of thick blankets, handing each of them one and a pillow from yet another stack. He struggled to keep his two balanced, August swooped over to grab them for him but inadvertently grazed his gem with his fingertips, Steven tensed but managed to not completely shut down (Progress! He’d have to tell Lea about it next week). Margot hopped over the couch and dumped most of the snacks into the center with the exception of the gelatin free snacks which she put on an ottoman. 

The walls of her basement nook were all painted with a mural of a lush jungle scene with lush plants and a woman lounging on a resting tiger. He blushed when he realized the woman was naked, 

“Margot painted it a couple months back.” Cypress explained once they caught him staring, “It’s so cool, right?” 

“It’s incredible.” he turned back to Margot with a smile, “You’re really talented!” 

“Eh, it’s whatever.” she deflected sheepishly, Dora scoffed, sitting up from her spot, 

“It is not ‘whatever’. Turn on the light.” 

“Oh, hell yes, turn on the light!” August seconded. Margot playfully rolled her eyes, 

“Fine, okay.” she leaned over the couch and pulled out a remote covered in colorful buttons and clicked the blue one. The bulbs overhead switched to blue and the mural glowed . The colors turning fluorescent and alive , 

“Wow.” he said breathlessly, Cypress looked the same level of impressed, 

“Right!?” 

“My friend Lapis would love this.” 

August tore his attention from the mural, “You’ve got a friend named Lapis? Cool name.” 

“Yeah! She’s an artist, she mostly does stuff with water…colors but her and my other friend Peridot make art all the time.” 

Dora raised a slight eyebrow. There was a knock upstairs,

“That’ll be the pizza!” Margot jumped up, turning the lights to a soft pink which Steven assumed was far more relaxing for everybody else than it was for him, “Find some stupid movie for us to watch, okay?” 

She jogged upstairs, her footsteps fading then returning overhead. Cypress toyed with her phone, “Hey, Steven, what kinda music do you like?” 

“I really like Emily King.”

August gasped, “Finally! A man of culture! Dora, you’re no longer my best friend.”

“Did you just fire me?”

“One-hundred-percent.”  

“Damn, six years for nothing?”

“He likes Emily King! You just can’t compare.” 

“Lesbophobia never sleeps.” 

“Biphobia never rests.” 

They broke into laughter, Cypress watching over their antics with a smile. Steven was staring at them again, in the light the pale splotches were the exact color of the scars on his back. He absentmindedly felt for them under his shirt, his healing powers hadn’t alleviated them in the slightest. They were corruption scars, or the closest thing he could get to them, from the thing that had burst from his back and attacked his family while Steven screamed inside. The thing that had nearly undone White Diamond as he so wanted so, so, so badly at the time. And still a little bit now. It wasn’t a thing , it was him . His corruption, his ‘ meltdown’ as Lea called it. The most embarrassingly unforgettable meltdown in history. He sure couldn’t forget it, not with the memory of it staining his skin until the end of time.

A two-toned hand on his thigh snapped him from his thoughts ( Jasper’s hands pinned to her sides as he totally and completely destroyed her) , he flinched because of course he did; Cypress recoiled, “Steven?” 

He hadn’t realized he was shaking, until Cypress’ firm grasp on his shoulders halted him, “Steven, are you okay?” they asked softly, Steven looked around. August and Dora were glancing at him too with worried stares, the opening titles to some cheesy movie playing. 

“Y-Yeah, sorry. I, uh, zoned out there.”  he attempted a laugh but it came out more like a choke. Their concerned expression deepened.

Nice going, Universe. 

At least he hadn’t gone Pink, that was a small victory.  

“I’m okay, really.” 

Mercifully, Margot’s footsteps came, followed by Margot herself entering the tense nook with pizza and paper plates in her grasp. She seemed to sense the atmosphere, “Whoa. What’s going on?” 

“N-Nothing!” he insisted, “Just got a little distracted. It happens!” 

“Are you sure…?” August prodded, 

“Yes.” he cringed at how venomous that one syllable had sounded, her forcefully softened his tone, “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks for asking, though, really. I’m just…not used to hanging around this many people usually, heh.”

That wasn’t entirely true, he’d always had a large group of friends and allies but he’d never hung around a group of humans that weren’t accustomed to his strangeness. 

“Totally understandable, man.” Margot assured, hopping over the couch and placing the pizza on the ground; one of them was marked with a big smiley face and a cartoonish drawing of cheese most likely drawn by Margot herself, “We’re just doing super lowkey stuff tonight so it should be no worries but don’t be afraid to go take a breather if you need one, okay?” 

“Mmhm.” 

They all grabbed their plates and their slices of pizza, it’d been a while since he’d eaten with anybody besides Connie since he went on his trip. The nostalgia of sharing a pizza with other people made his building anxiety fade slightly. They started up friendly conversation while the incomprehensible movie played in the background, Steven laughed when others laughed and stayed quiet when they didn’t. At some point August bit his tongue and he fought back the urge to heal it. The others didn’t seem too distressed. It was going okay after that minor bump. 

“So, when did you get into town, Steven?” Dora asked, biting into her slice of pepperoni. He was a little shocked at being directly addressed by her, it didn’t take empathic powers to know that Dora wasn’t all too fond of him. 

“Two weeks ago.”

“So, you live with your dad?”

“What? No, I live with my moms, well one isn’t really my mom more like my sister but…” he shrugged.  

Dora set down her pizza, “I thought your mom…passed…”

He stiffened, feeling himself sinking, “I, uh, I live with her family. Used to live with her, uh, her sort of family. They were friends for a while when she was alive.” he drummed his fingers on his thigh, “My dad lived in a van so when I turned eight I moved in with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. They’re my guardians, my sort of moms.” 

“Named Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.” she reiterated. 

“Well if you don’t live with them and you don’t live with your dad,” August’s eyebrows knitted together, “who do you live with?”

“Nobody!” their eyes widened, 

“Nobody?” Cypress looked deeply concerned, “You’re, like, seventeen, right?” 

“Yes…?” 

“ How are you not living with anybody?” 

“Well, uh, um, y-you see,” okay, okay, you can get out of this, “I left home because I sorta had a major, very public meltdown a couple months ago and decided I needed to leave home because―funny story―a lot of my triggers were attached to my hometown like the ocean I almost drowned in or the boardwalk where a bunch of my friends got kidnapped or when I destroyed a house or the hill where my good pal Spinel almost dropped me to my death because she was mad at my mom!” his hands snaked into his hair and pulled, “It’s okay, everything’s fine because I’m here now and I’m okay! And, sure, I zoned out a bit but that was only because Cypress has markings on her face like my pal Jasper and―”

“Time out .” Dora commanded, Steven shut up (finally), “ What is with all the crystal names?” 

“Wha-What?” 

“You said you have friends named Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Jasper, Spinel, and Lapis.”

“And Peridot.” Margot chimed looking somewhere between horrified and fascinated. 

“ And Peridot! Are these nicknames? Why are you friends with somebody who tried to kill you? Your friends were kidnapped? What?! And why is your name Steven if everybody else has a crystal name?” 

“My middle name is Quartz.” he felt like curling into himself, “And Diamond.” 

Dora looked incredulous, “You’re telling me your name is Steven Diamond Quartz Universe.” 

“It’s…it’s Steven Quartz Cutie Pie Demayo Diamond Universe.” his voice got softer the deeper he got into his name, Dora stood up sharply, 

“Margot, this dude is in a cult.” 

“What!?” he and Margot squealed.

Dora stared him down, “A cult or something! There’s something off about him! You guys all know it.” 

Something inhuman. 

You’re not human. You’ll never be human. 

He felt like he was going to explode or make something else explode. He stood, Dora reached for her back pocket. 

“I-I’ll” he felt the buzzing sensation of Pink rising, “be back, I’ll be back. I’m…” if he stayed any longer he could take out Margot’s entire house, “I have to call somebody.” 

He ran from the inquiring eyes of the people who saw him as so utterly alien, stumbling up the stairs and into the bathroom yet again. He was fully Pink from head to toe, he steadied his trembling hands enough to pull out his phone. 

There you go again, making your problems everybody else’s problems.

He swelled, 8 foot tall one second then back to his normal size the next. He sank to the ground, pulling at his hair and curling up into the corner. 

“I’m human.” he whispered to himself, “I’m human, I’m human, I’m human.” 

“Nobody tell me that was uncalled for.” Dora sneered, once the basement door slammed, “That guy is sketchy and also majorly unstable.” 

“Dora, you can’t just go around accusing people of being in cults!” Margot shouted, shutting her eyes tight, “You said you’d give him a chance.”

“I did!” she argued, “I was nice and everything, I tried to make polite conversation and then he went and flipped out. I think he’s involved in real shady shit, why did somebody nearly kill him because of something his mom did? He’s by himself on a road trip at seventeen? He destroyed a house? Huh!?” 

Margot looked around her like the answer would be in her line of sight, “Maybe he…maybe he didn’t mean it like that…?” that wasn’t a good answer, “He hasn’t done anything else weird, though? Other than the whole…ramble…” 

“There was one thing.” Cypress piped up, their voice soft, “When he zoned out I tried to ground him by touching him and he was warm, like really warm , like a fever almost? And his eyes were…unusual.” 

“What does that mean?”

“Well, they look normal, right? But when he was just staring at the TV, his pupils looked…slitted, like a cat almost? It could’ve just been my imagination but...”     

  Margot opened her mouth to refute the claim but August started talking before she could, “I also had a…thing…with Steven. I tried to help him with his blankets and my hand kinda hit this thing on his stomach? And it was hard like a rock and when I hit it, he got all still for a second. But it could be nothing.”

Dora gasped, her eyes as wide as saucers, “What if he’s calling more of his cult members? To come, like, kill us or something!”

Cypress and August were immediately convinced, sitting completely straight and wide-eyed.  

“Guys!” Margot shook her head, “Don’t be stupid! Steven is a good person , he’s just not used to being around people like this! It’s not like he has this huge…” her eyes drifted to the TV, “secret…”     

“What’re you…” Dora turned, she gaped, “Holy fucking shit.”   

Cypress brought her hand to her mouth, “How is this…?”

August rubbed his eyes, “No way…” 

The TV had switched from the dumb TV movie August had found to a clip show of sorts, one that flashed and blinked and whipped across the screen. Colors zapped across the screen, disembodied hands grabbed and groped, swords stabbed and shields cut, things cracked and fractured and shattered . It didn’t make any sense. All they could make out for sure was Steven . 

In each brain-melting clip, Steven was the star. Either wearing a red, blue, or black shirt emblazoned with a yellow star or in some cases, a frilly pink outfit with the middle cut out. He either looked too young or exactly the same, beaten and battered while fighting some enemy. He was slammed beneath a gargantuan boot that must’ve shattered every bone he had. He was whipped to the other side of a heart-shaped platform with the ground going in and out of focus in his vision while a girl (?) with a mascara stained face and an upside-down heart-shaped gem embedded in her chest laughed. He was crashing a car. He was fighting an orange woman and he was flying . He was collapsed on the floor of a home, glowing pink , and sobbing before something shot from his back. It was Steven . Steven with all these multi-colored women and things that pulled and prodded at him. 

Cypress looked away from the screen, “You guys are seeing this right?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Margot couldn’t tear her eyes away, there had to be an explanation. This had to be some sort of joke . Some elaborate prank, something had to explain this. 

“T-Turn it off.” August shielded his eyes, “I think this stuff i-is personal.”

“You’re right. I’ll just...” Dora scrambled to where the TV was plugged in, she pulled the plug just as a too-small Steven was thrown to the wall by a ball of blue light. The screen went dark, it was silent. 

“Oh, my god.” Cypress breathed, blinking, “ Oh, my god.”

“I don’t…” August turned to Margot, “who is this guy?” 

“I…I just…I just met him at the arcade.” 

“That stuff cannot be real, right? It can’t be right?!” Dora reasoned, a desperate laugh bubbling up. They all knew the answer, all that stuff was as real as they were, but what that meant, they didn’t know. She huffed and sat, “I really can’t believe that just happened. How did that just happen?”

“How did what just happen?” 

Their eyes snapped to Steven, standing with his hands holding his side, his face flushed and his eyes red. 

“Steven!” they gasped in tandem. 

“Hi, yeah, I’m really sorry for ruining your night. I think I’m gonna just leave and―”

“Not until you tell us what just happened.”

“Wha…?” 

August pointed to the TV frantically, “The thing with the TV!” Steven paled drastically, “You were on the TV and you were getting your shit rocked! By, like, several different people!” 

“Oh, my stars.” he stepped back, “I did it again. I’m so sorry! I was having a bad time in the bathroom and was just thinking about all this stuff and I think I just projected it to the TV―I didn’t mean for you guys to see that.” 

“Uh. WHAT?!” Cypress’s eyebrows drew together, “People can’t broadcast their thoughts like that!”

Steven sighed heavily, dragging his hands through his hair, “I can.” 

“How―”

“I’m not human. Not fully human.” 

They were waiting for him to yell ‘psyche!’ and poke fun at their faces but it never came. He just looked like he wanted to simply disappear. 

“But if you’re not completely human, what are you?” Margot asked, feeling her brain strain to understand everything. Steven pulled up the hem of his shirt revealing a big pink gemstone in the place where his belly button should’ve been, her blood pressure spiked hard , 

“I’m half-magic on my mom’s side. I’m a Gem, an alien.” 

They all looked like they were going to pass out, eyes fixed on his diamond. August spoke first, 

“You’re magic? ” he murmured like he was afraid to say it out loud, “Aliens are real?” 

“I just lost a lot of friends if they aren’t.” he attempted to joke, it didn’t break any tension. 

“So,” Dora looked completely lost, “every one of the people you mentioned with the gem names―those are aliens.”

“Yes.”

“Your mom…was an alien.” 

“Yes.” 

“Holy shit, man.”

“I know.” 

Cypress had their hands folded tight, “D-Do you have powers or something?” 

“A few.” 

“Can you…show them to us…?” 

“Uh, sure! Well, I’ve got my shield.” he flicked his arm and his shield appeared, the others were staring wide-eyed, “And this,” he jumped and hovered a foot or so off the ground, Dora swore under her breath, “and…hm. August, you bit your tongue earlier, right?” He nodded, too shocked to speak probably, “Can I see your…hand?” Without a question, August stuck out his hand. Steven knelt in front of it, wetting his lips, “Sorry, there’s no non-weird way of doing this.” 

“What do you―” Steven kissed the center of his hand, sparkles hovering just above the area, “Why did you…” his eyes widened, “you’re fucking with me.” 

“August, what happened!?” Margot leaned in, August stuck out his tongue,

“My tongue stopped bleeding! It’s fine now!” he looked to Steven, “Do not tell me you have healing kisses.” 

“Healing spit but most prefer a kiss rather than me just spitting on them.” 

August grabbed his hand with conviction, “Mr. Universe, I am prepared to marry you at this second.” 

He blushed, imagining Connie bursting out laughing at how flustered he got, “I’m flattered but…I have a girlfriend and she’s pretty great.”

“Oh, of course, the magic space prince is taken!”

Dora snickered, “He didn’t say he was a prince!”

“I kinda am, actually.” they went slack-jawed, “I’m a Diamond, I’m Pink Diamond but nobody calls me that anymore because I hate it. Diamonds were the ruling matriarchy of Homeworld before I dismantled the entire empire, created a democracy, and sort of gave the power to the other Gems.”

August looked like he was about to cry, “Of course, the magical socialist space prince is taken.”  

 “Sorry…?”

“August. More important things at hand.” Cypress still sat with their hands folded, “Are you, like, on the run? From the government and stuff? Is Steven Universe your codename? Is this a disguise?”

“One: No, I don’t think the government even knows about me or the Gems, we keep a pretty low profile other than like…when Homeworld used to try and kill us every other week. Two: Steven Universe is my actual name! And three: I’ve looked like this my whole life, this isn’t a disguise.” 

“But you look…human.” 

He beamed, “Thank you!” 

“Is that a compliment?”

“It is, trust me.”

“Are you not supposed to look human?”

He leaned back, “Well, I do. So, I guess I’m supposed to. I’m the first hybrid ever so nobody really knows what to expect, I’ve got alien characteristics like my teeth, y’know,” he pulled his mouth to the side to show his fat fang-like teeth that could cut clean through a car wash hose, “but mostly I take after my dad. My mom was like fifteen feet tall and bright pink, so I’m pretty happy with it. But it’s really difficult to know if I’m being a hybrid right because there are no other examples, I don’t know if I feel so messed up because I’m messed up or if it’s because I’m a hybrid. White Diamond told me that there’s nobody in the universe that could know what I’m going through and, boy, if that doesn’t make me feel really alone.”

“I’m just getting over this big crisis that I was going through for a while where I just had no idea what to do with my future. I was born just to exist, my mom wanted me to be a human being but what does that mean, you know? I’m not a human being and I’m not a Gem. I’m some weird in-between. My dad and Connie, that’s my girlfriend, have this club thing where they just talk about being human and I’m not a part of it because I don’t know a lot about being human. I never went to school or anything. The first time I went to the doctor I was sixteen and it was because my powers were going haywire. The only way I see my mom is either through me reliving her memories or me learning about another person she screwed over before she wanted to be good. It’s…stressful, I wanted to be a good hybrid but what does that look like? That’s kinda why I corrupted.” 

“Corrupted?” Dora parroted, her expression more open than he’d seen her.

“It’s when a Gem basically loses their mind. Their physical form goes all wack and they forget who they are, it’s like they’re just an animal. It’s really…” he thought back to the murky fury that wrapped around him when he corrupted, the way he didn’t recognize his family, “It’s really sc-scary. I didn’t even think I could corrupt but thinking back on it, it’s surprising it took me so long. I only got the story of what happened after I changed back. Apparently, I was this 70-something-foot-tall kaiju thing and I was just wrecking everything. It took my entire family to calm me down, they just stood there and hugged me until I let them help.”

“That’s really sweet.” Cypress commented. 

“Is it? It felt like I was wasting their time.” 

“It sounds like they really love you.”

“I love them too.” he sighed, “It really sucks because every time I feel like I’ve made progress I just remember that I could corrupt again at any time. I won’t, by the way, not here. And I got the stupid scars from it so I’ll always know what I did.” 

“I know how that feels.” August hummed, Dora frowned and laid her head on his shoulder, “Don’t get all sad on me but” he rolled up his sleeve to show a cluster of healed over scars, Steven’s heart sank. August seemed so happy. (Oh, right), “I choose to think more of like I survived fucking up rather than I fucked up. Like it sucks that I got that low but I’m alright now and that’s gotta mean something, right?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it does.” August rolled down his sleeve, Steven turned around and hiked his shirt up so the two jagged lines that ran up his back were visible, “Connie kisses them sometimes, just to let me know she’s there.”

“Oh, great. You’re both adorable.” Margot smiled. 

“She’s the best.” he turned back around, with a sheepish half-smile, “This must be a real downer for you guys. You meet an actual half-alien and he just dumps his mess on you.”

“Bro, are you kidding me?” August scoffed, “I would’ve shit my pants if some six-armed giant was here instead of a cute boy.”

“I know a six-armed giant!” 

“Deadass?”

“Yeah! Her name’s Alexandrite, she has two mouths.”

The four exchanged looks, “Deadass?” they asked in tandem.

He laughed, a snorting, carefree laugh. The others joined in, the tension finally evaporating. Dora stood, bringing her blanket with her, “Backyard time?”

“Oooh, backyard time!” Margot agreed, she stood as well with her blanket in hand, “C’mon, let’s go out to my backyard, you can see so many stars.” 

“Deal!” Steven smiled, jumping up. 

The five of them trudged up the stairs and out to Margot’s backyard, overgrown with wilting wildflowers. Dora moved to the middle of the yard, spreading her blanket out in the grass and lying down, the others did the same. Steven still stood, looking up to the sky to try and find Homeworld’s star. 

“Steven!” Dora called, he looked and she was patting the space between herself and August. An invitation. He took it without question, setting up his spot and lying down.  

Crickets chirped around them and the sounds of far-off cars kept them company. A million stars glittered overhead.

“You know,” Dora began, Steven looked at her, “your problems aren’t so alien, honestly. They’re a part of…growing up. You just don’t know what to do until you’ve already done it.” she exhaled, “My parents immigrated here from Egypt to give me a better life, right? But I have no idea how to do that and be myself and live for myself without the weight of that. I don’t think I’ve made a decision yet that’s made my parents completely happy…and that’s okay. They gave me a life to live so I’m gonna live it. I’m gonna dye my hair stupid colors and get a million piercings because I’m alive dammit! I’m guessing that’s why you left your hometown―to be alive somewhere else.”

“Yeah, actually. Part of it was to learn how to be a real human. I grew up around aliens so I don’t know how to…interact with people; you guys have probably noticed that already, though.” 

“Eh, be a little nicer to yourself.” Cypress implored, “I’m terrible with new people, I think I said two words during the first couple times we all started hanging out.”

“If that.” Margot interjected.

“The point is, it gets easier. All of this gets easier. And you aren’t alone . We might not have to deal with magic and giant ladies but we know where you’re coming from. Dora has to deal with her parent’s expectations, August’s struggled before―hell, me and Margot had to fight to be ourselves a couple of times. Being a teenager means figuring yourself out, man.”

“Plus,” Margot sat up, “I think you make a pretty good human, Steven.” 

His face felt hot and his vision blurred. He whispered a teary thank you and wiped his eyes, “Ca-Can we get a picture? I want to send this to my family.” 

Excited agreements came from around him, he pulled his phone out and opened the camera. He pushed his arms out as far as they could go, August snorted and took the phone into his own much longer reach. 

“Okay, ready?” he asked, they snuggled against Steven putting up peace signs and devil horns and finger guns, “1...2...3!” 

The flash snapped and the gang cheered, all crowding around to see the final result. Steven faltered, it was almost completely normal, just five teenagers lying in the grass with big grins, with the exception of the flash illuminating his diamond-shaped pupils and the ring of pink coloration surrounding them. 

“THAT’S SO COOL!!” August marveled, “Steven, dude, gimme your number I need that pic.”

“You like it?”

“Totally, dude. It rules.” Dora admired it reaching over to zoom in on his eyes, “‘Specially this.”

“Wait, text him mine and Cy’s numbers too.”

“And mine.”

“And Dora’s.” Margot elbowed him, “That way we can all Keep In Touch when you head back on the road.” 

He grinned, the stars in his eyes brighter than the ones in the sky, “Okay!! I’m gonna send this to Pearl real quick.” 

He swiped over to Pearl’s contact, sending the picture along with the caption: Met some friends! 

No sooner than him pressing send did Pearl’s request for a video call come in, he rolled his eyes, he was a fool to think she wouldn’t want to know everything . He pressed answer and to his surprise not only Pearl but Garnet and Amethyst’s faces were in frame, grinning from...well not ear to ear, 

“Steven!”

“Yo, Ste-man!”

“Steven! Oh, it’s so good to see you!” 

“Hey, guys!” he waved, the others waved too, all crowding into frame. Pearl waved, 

“Are those your human friends? Hi, humans! I’m Pearl!”

“Hi, Pearl!” they chorused. 

Amethyst pushed herself to the front of the call, “Finally you’re hanging out with cool people .”

“Connie’s cool!” he argued. 

“She’s in mathletes!” 

“August is trying to take her place.” 

August turned bright red, burying his face in his hands. Amethyst raised an eyebrow, “Which one is August?” Steven pointed, “Oh, god , Connie would destroy him” 

“She would.” he turned to the other, “She swordfights.”

“Of course, she does.” Cypress chuckled. 

“Amethyst, be nice!” Pearl exclaimed, “Anyways, Steven, we’re so proud of you and we love you so much!” 

“What have you been up to?” Garnet questioned with a smile like she already knew. Steven shrugged, 

“You know. Teenager stuff.”