//------------------------------// // What to do? // Story: Gem-Cord // by Discorded SheepcityUSA //------------------------------// It took a while for Steven to calm everyone down after what’d just happened. Discord was close to crying his eyes out in fear at the mere sight of Garnet, and Pearl had been in near-hysterics trying to figure out what was even going on. Nevertheless, Steven seemed to be good at getting everybody to relax, Discord included. Steven managed to calm him down by putting him back on Amethyst’s head, which he seemed to find a lot more comfortable than Steven’s considering how long it was. Unsurprisingly, Amethyst wasn’t entirely happy about this, as she was crossing her arms now. “Is everybody alright now? Everyone’s perfectly calm?” Steven asked the group. Pearl was the one to answer that question after taking a couple of deep breaths and trying to let the scenario sink in. She’d managed to recover from the initial shock Discord had presented with his ability to bend reality, but it still baffled her. “Y-Yes Steven, we’re all j-just fine…it’s just that everything I’ve ever known about logic and physics has been completely thrown out the window, n-no big deal, ehehe.” Pearl said with a little bit of an uneasy smile. “You’re welcome.” Discord said, stretching out on Amethyst’s head and letting out a quiet little yawn. “That isn’t a good thing.” Pearl groaned a little putting a hand to her forehead in annoyance. Regardless of the creature’s intentions for being on Earth were (After being on Earth for so long and never seeing anything like this, there is no way she would be convinced this was native to this planet.) “Well at least your name is somewhat fitting.” “So, you’re saying you’re a spirit of chaos but that doesn’t answer a lot. What species are you?” Garnet asked in an ever so slightly questioning tone of voice. Discord looked Garnet over a little, as he had been trying to avoid facial contact with her the entire time. He was hoping over a few minutes that his fears of her size and strength would hopefully subside. Nope. Instead of answering right away, Discord sank into Amethyst’s hair to hide from her, much to the obvious displeasure of said gem. “Did I say you could go back in there?” Amethyst asked with a little bit of a sour look. “Well excuse me for being so untrusting with things I’ve only just met.” Discord said from inside in a sarcastic tone. “I’d rather appreciate it if I could stop being grilled about this. I can’t tell you my life story if I don’t even KNOW about my life; and believe me, I’d love to sit here for hours and tell you about all my amazing accomplishments and feats. But I can’t.” Steven frowned a little. “…Well you make a good point. But scared of Garnet? Come on, she’s not going to hurt you, she’s as nice as can be.” Steven responded with a little smile. “Unless you try to kill us. Then you’re out of luck.” Amethyst added. Understandably, this didn’t exactly reassure Discord much and Amethyst could feel him shaking a little in her hair. If Discord wasn’t afraid of Garnet before, he was now. If he posed any kind of threat to her friends, even unintentionally, Garnet would probably squash him. All it’d take from his perspective was one single misunderstanding, and he would probably be pounded into a bloody pulp. Discord’s fear was actually really starting to make him lose some of his focus, as displayed by a little white flash of light. When said light cleared, Pearl was shown to now have an oversized pair of beaver-like teeth. Pearl’s headache grew ever stronger. “Amethysth, don’th do thath! The lasth thing we need is for his powers tho be even more unstable!” Pearl scolded Amethyst. Making this sound somewhat firm was a little difficult though, seeing as how Amethyst was now trying not to snicker. “I-I dunno Pearl, I think it’s an improvement.” She said, desperately trying to contain her laughter. Just then, Amethyst felt something nudging and tugging a little at her hair. Whatever it was had managed to pull Discord out onto the floor. When Discord looked up at what had dragged him out of his hiding place, the absolute last thing he’d expected to see staring back at him was a big pink lion with the most unreadable expression he’d ever seen. The Gems didn’t look to be all that disturbed by the lion’s presence, so it looked like he was a regular around here. It didn’t stop him from being slightly worried though, because for all he knew, this thing could be contemplating over whether or not Discord would taste good. “…U-Um…nice kitty.” Discord said, petting the big cat’s mane. The lion didn’t really seem to pay attention to Discord’s petting in particular but instead turned his attention to the limb Discord was using to do the petting. His lion paw. In which the lion wasted no time in gently pushing his entire face up against it, whether out of affection or any other instinct, pretty much nobody outside seemingly Steven could tell. Discord though, seemed very not okay with this. “H-Hey…buy me dinner first.” Discord said with a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. “Awww, I think Lion likes you.” Steven said with a smile coming to his face. Discord, while he appreciated any form of attention, was really not familiar with this world and its life, but he knew a predator when he saw one. For all he knew, this might not even be affection at all, but just Lion taking in the smell of a future meal. Those teeth were NOT made for eating grass. Discord didn’t think twice before quickly climbing up Pearl’s back and onto her head and away from the huge pink lion on the ground. ‘Suddenly the giant one doesn’t seem as terrifying. At least I can say she won’t try to eat me.’ he thought to himself. Pearl looked annoyedly up at Discord and then pointed to her newly-formed beaver teeth his magic had given her. “Oooh whoops. Sorry bird-lady.” he said, trying to keep his cool again. He snapped his fingers and with a slight “poof”, Pearl’s teeth were back to normal. “Mmmph” Pearl groaned a little, feeling her teeth with her tongue. “Well it’s obvious your magic is very strong, but unstable and…the obvious definition of ‘chaotic.’ You realize we can’t just let you go anywhere on your own like this.” Discord looked down at her with an annoyed and yet adorable scowl. “And why not? Like you said, I’m a tough guy. I can take care of myself.” “You’re a child, Discord. One of the most emotionally unstable things to exist. If things get too rough out there for you, it’s likely that your magic could go completely out of control and you could tear apart reality itself. It’s for everyone else’s sake too that you remain here, not only yours.” Garnet said with some sternness to her voice. “I’m pretty sure that’s the complicated way of saying there’s a chance the sun could blow up if you cry too hard or something.” Amethyst added again. To be honest, Discord kind of got on even her nerves. She didn’t really want him there that much due to their first encounter resulting in a scorched set of hair, but it was probably for the best for everyone. Like it or not, Discord probably wasn’t going anywhere. “Mmmph…fine. Sooo I take it I’ll be staying with one of the short ones?~” Discord suggested. While Steven looked to be enthusiastic about having Discord live in his part of the temple, Amethyst very visibly cringed at the thought of it. If Discord was this random and weird already, he would probably eat all of the trash she had in her room. That’d be the worst thing possible that could come out of it, besides the fact that he somehow managed to actually annoy her of all gems. Pearl though shook her head. “Ooooh no. Not a chance. I don’t trust you quite enough to let you around Steven full-time yet. And I don’t think I want Amethyst giving you any ideas about what to do with that magic of yours. You’re already a handful as it is.” She said. “No, you will be staying in my room where I can keep an eye on you.” Discord shrugged a little. “You know what? Fine. I don’t really care…just do me a favor and keep me away from the tall one…she’s fricking terrifying.” “…Well that was rude.” Garnet said, not much real offence being found in her voice. Not even a full ten minutes after Pearl introduced Discord to her room in the temple, and Pearl was already regretting having Discord stay in there. She probably should have just let him stay with Garnet or Amethyst when she had the chance, but no she just had to open her big mouth. For Discord had already turned all of the water in Pearl’s room into orange cream soda and was now jumping in and out of it while making dolphin noises. Pearl meanwhile, was not amused in the slightest, and was losing her grip on reality as she watched this unfold, trying and failing to figure out a way to fix this. “DISCORD THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT WHEN I SAID TO MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME!” Pearl screamed, pulling her own hair. For a moment, Discord popped out of the orange soda water with a pair of swimming goggles on and floated above it. “But…I’m in my element.” He said with a pouty face. Just then, out of the sugary and orange abyss came forth an enormous whale that looked to be made out of living white chocolate. The whale let out a loud “meow” as a spout of orange soda erupted from its blowhole and headed straight for Pearl… Pearl came out of her room, now completely soaked and sticky from the soda and holding Discord, who was equally soaked. Her face displayed she felt a mix of annoyance, horror, and utter defeat. Steven, who was still sitting on the couch with the other gems, Lion now by his side, was in awe at the sight of this. “Woah, Pearl what happened?!” He asked. Pearl didn’t even answer, but instead walked right over to Amethyst, and put Discord in her lap. “…Amethyst, take him.” She said, her eye twitching slightly. Amethyst’s eyes widened and she looked down at Discord, who looked back up at her with a big grin and a wagging tail. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME, WHAT?!?!” Amethyst yelled. Garnet didn’t say much, but adjusted her visor upon seeing this. “I saw this coming a mile away to be honest.”