"Where the stars did they run off to?"
Flint only had that question in mind as he kept going around Beach City. He tried plenty of times to figure out where Stevonnie and Lapis had ran off to, but no such luck. He tried the countryside all over the place, top to bottom, but he didn't had much luck there really. It wasn't until then that he decided to try Beach City, and so far it was as successful as his search through the countryside - nothing for it. He tried the Beach House, but found nothing. He tried Greg's carwash, but nothing. He tried the lighthouse, but nothing. This pattern kept going for a while, everytime with Flint's camouflage on so he wouldn't be too much of a burden towards everyone else around as he searched. He felt this as a familiar feeling, mainly because he used to do this sort of thing back at the Crystal Empire already, the only main different being the world they're in. Still, at least Flint was left alone as he kept going along. Flint was getting impatient with this task, not to mention peeved how Stevonnie just disappeared on him.
Where'd she go?
Flint eventually took a moment, standing over by one of the buildings, still having his camo cloak on to avoid detection. As he just stood there, leaning back on the wall and trying to think on what to do, he soon picked up a strange sound close by down the road. Looking up, he soon saw a familiar magic door open up. A bit unexpected, but, he'd seen more crazy things before. And low and behold, stepping out from the door and onto the Earth, was the very two girls he was looking for; Stevonnie and Lapis Lazuli! Luckily he had his cloak on otherwise he'd get caught the second they showed up. The two Gems went straight off towards the nearby movie theater, peaking Flint's interests and curiosity on what they're doing. He watched them both head right into the theater, and so (keeping his camo cloak on) Flint went on in himself.
As far as the next hour and a half was concerned, it mainly went off as boring from Flint's point of view. Stevonnie and Lapis, with a pair of 3D glasses on their eyes, got their front row seats to the epic Dogcopter 4 movie. Flint stood far off, near the exit, and keeping on his cloak so he wouldn't get caught and thrown out. As for the movie, it was as epic and action-filled as people would expect from the other movies, and maybe a bit more so. Stevonnie enjoyed every bit of it, and while Lapis was confused with bits here and there - after all, she didn't see Dogcopter one through three - she still enjoyed the interesting presentation that the humans had made of this, especially considering the main character was, of all things, a robotic dog with a propeller jutting out of its back. A normally silly concept, and somehow it worked out to the best of its capability. As for Flint, he glanced between the movie, and the two people he was supposed to be watching over. He couldn't care less about the movie, all things considered.
When the movie was finished, Stevonnie and Lapis began to head out of the theater, along with the rest of the crowd. Flint kept himself hidden, but the crowd exiting made it hard to single out the two Gems. As for Lapis and Stevonnie, the two were happy on catching the flick.
"That was impressive, I have to say. Who knew humans could make a small earth dog so strong?" Lapis said, walking alongside Stevonnie.
"You should see the three other movies. Though seriously, this installment really went all out this time," Stevonnie replied. However, the two ended up walking further from the main crowd, and so, into Flint's sight. He saw what the two had done the whole time, but at this point he had enough of waiting around. If he was going to watch them and protect them, spying on them like a creeper wasn't going to make it any better if they do catch him, so, he might as well get it over with. When no one was looking, he got the cloak off and became visible again.
"Hey, you two!"
Stevonnie and Lapis jumped on hearing Flint's strong voice suddenly come up from nowhere. Stevonnie and Lapis turned back around and the two saw Flint standing right behind them.
"Oh, hey Flint," Stevonnie said, slightly awkward by the sudden appearance.
"I've been looking everywhere for you two, where have you been?" Flint demanded.
"Uh ... In Ponyville? Why?" Lapis asked.
"Because I've been assigned to watch over Stevonnie here, and I can't do that if I lose you," Flint answered firmly. A guard? Why did they need one? Stevonnie and Lapis glanced to eachother, not remembering asking anybody or anypony to do that for them.
"... So ... Like a bodyguard?"
"If that's what you humans call it, then yes."
"Oh, come on I'm fine," Stevonnie said, playfully punching Flint in the shoulder armor. Flint wasn't going to change his view on this anytime soon, especially not from a single playful hit.
"Stevonnie, do you really know what you're doing? Anything happens, you got a guard," Flint stated, mainly referring to himself. This was when Lapis felt a bit annoyed with him; she can fight, much better than Flint ever could. Flint had his Gem pistols, and she can control the ocean and fly if she wanted to. Seriously, Flint didn't think she was enough of protection?! It was like comparing one soldier to a one-Gem army!
"Wait a minute, what about me?" Lapis asked judgingly.
"You know what to do with her?" Flint retorted, eyebrow raised. Lapis felt insulted, but there was no point in arguing with him. Flint made up his mind and he was going to stick around to watch them ...
Oh joy.
~~~~~~
As the afternoon went on from there, the fun time the dynamic duo had going since this started was kinda drained because of Flint's presence. It wasn't that Flint being there ruined their fun completely, but their new guard seemed to be unnecessary. Course there's the prementioned fact that Lapis was good enough of a protector if things were to go wrong, and also Flint seemed to wreck what they had going on because of his own protection. Lapis and Stevonnie both tried a number of things only to be stopped by Flint quite a number of times. For instance, the two went off to the docks, but Flint didn't allow Stevonnie to go more than two feet down the docks, mainly for him seeing a number of boats (one with a harpoon no less), that might put Stevonnie in more trouble than they'll anticipate. And, when the two tried the arcade, Flint did leave them alone, but made them leave after just fifteen minutes. What a bummer. As for Flint, he basically played off as the parent of the two rather than just the guard, and he hoped that Stevonnie will be split up soon, and he wouldn't have to worry anymore. It was getting late, the sun just half an hour away from fully setting for the night to begin. Flint began to figure that it was close to Stevonnie's deadline, and so far nothing's happened. It was a nice thought for him, and when they're done here, they can go right back to the Beach House, they'll split up, and things will go back to normal. Stevonnie wasn't ready to split yet though, and she wanted to have some real fun soon. Her good experience was being tainted at this point.
Eventually, their next stop was the Big Donut. No one else was there except for Sadie and Lars inside, behind the counter and quietly talking to eachother. As the door chimed, the two coworkers didn't see Stevonnie until after she went right over to the counter, right next to Lapis. Flint, not wanting anything or needing anything, was told to wait outside, the Gem sitting on a bench just out of sight from the front windows. The second the coworkers saw Stevonnie, they both were stopped cold, wide eyed and flustered on seeing this new beautiful girl coming into their donut shop.
"Ha-ha-how can I - help ... me?" Lars stammered, his face a shade of red. Lapis found Lars's reaction simply cute, giggling quietly as Stevonnie looked over what was available.
"Two doughnuts, please," Stevonnie stated with a smile. Both Sadie and Lars were blushing up, a bit unsure on what to really do. While Sadie was left with her mouth slightly open and eyes on her, Lars reached down and pulled out a bag of two doughnuts, as said. After that, Stevonnie moved even closer to the counter, going through her money, though Lars was at a loss of words.
"How much do I owe you?" Stevonnie asked. Her beauty alone made Lars simply lost on what to say. To him and maybe even Sadie, it was like an angel had stepped in through their door. Eventually though, Sadie helped Lars out.
"N-Nothing, it's on the house," Sadie got out, pushing the bag to her, and looking away, still blushing. Lapis, although finding it humorous, wondered how much Stevonnie's looks were actually doing. Yeah, she was beautiful, but both workers seemed to be put under the same affect, which Lapis took a mental note on.
"Really?" Stevonnie asked incredulously. All Sadie and Lars did was nod in unison. Eventually, Stevonnie just smiled, and turned to the table and chairs close by. Lapis and Stevonnie sat down, and Stevonnie gave the donut over to Lapis. From where Stevonnie sat (after taking a bite of her donut), she saw Flint sitting just outside, staring off in the distance with his foot impatiently tapping the ground under him. So long as Flint was there, the Gem fusion was pretty restricted on what to do next. Especially considering the time. Lapis could see the look on her face.
"Hey, everything alright Stevonnie? Something wrong with the food?" Lapis asked. Non-noticed by either of them, Sadie and Lars were worried on that answer.
"Oh, no, no, they're great," Stevonnie replied - Lars and Sadie breathing a sigh of relief. Stevonnie glanced back at Flint again before continuing.
"Well, it's Flint. Between you and me -" she leaned in and whispered to Lapis "- I liked it better with just you and me."
"Oh yeah, that, well I'm not feeling any better about it, honestly. Can't protect you indeed - I can make a tidal wave if I wanted to, and he thinks he's better at protecting than me? Who does he think he is?" Lapis groaned, playing around with her donut with her finger, rolling it like it was a wheel. Not exactly the same issue as Stevonnie, but revolving on the same Gem anyway. However, it was rare for seeing Lapis upset, or at least while she was with the Crystal Gems anyway. Stevonnie just sighed and slumped over, resting her elbow on the table.
"Maybe we can convince Garnet to change her mind after this?" Stevonnie suggested.
"Is she the one who did this?" Lapis wondered, suspiciously. Stevonnie straightened up, looking in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Garnet was the one who let us both go and have fun, remember? Why would she suddenly get Flint to watch us when she got us freedom in the first place?" Lapis had a very good point there, leaving Stevonnie with her hand to her chin in thought. Before the two could conclude anything, the door chimed again. When the two looked though, it wasn't Flint this time. He was a young man, with pale platinum blonde hair styled into a point, ice blue eyes, and a long, angular face. He wore a blue-grey hoodie over a grey-blue undershirt, orange phat pants, and bright sea-foam green tennis shoes. Stevonnie recognized him (the Steven part of her anyway) as Sour Cream, and he was considered one of "the cool kids" of Beach City, and he looked oddly like a particular spear-using Crystal Gem. He noticed both beautiful ladies as the two went by, heading to the donut shop, and he wanted to ask them both something.
"Oh, hey so - er uh. Stranger. Cool pants!" Stevonnie said, almost blowing her cover as a fusion. Odd move, but, calling him by his name when Sour technically just met her would make things a bit weird to do. Besides, this was the first time Lapis had met Sour Cream, so, making an awkward first impression was not going to happen if Stevonnie could help it. Like Lars and Sadie nearby, Sour Cream felt a little nervous himself, but not as loss on words as the other two.
"Cool," Sour Cream said, nervously. Glancing away, Sour Cream then placed something on the table for both of them to see; a flier of sorts.
"Rave, tonight," Sour Cream then informed. Stevonnie and Lapis looked over the flier. It wasn't very much; purple and green striped with the word "RAVE" on it. Lapis never really heard of a rave before, and both sides of Stevonnie never been to one.
"You mean, like a dance?" Stevonnie asked after a bit.
"Yeah, at the warehouse. I'm DJ-ing, and a bunch of my friends from the internet are going to be there. There's going to be free ... glowsticks ..." Sour Cream was blushing at this point again. Stevonnie and Lapis looked to eachother for a moment, thinking about the situation. Basically, this 'rave' was a celebration - a party, if you will. It will surely make up for the trouble already, so, it was obvious on what choice was made. Stevonnie and Lapis smiled to eachother before answering Sour Cream.
"We'll be there, count on it," Stevonnie decided, Lapis giving a thumbs up to sour Cream. Sour Cream was glad to hear that, as Stevonnie and Lapis got up.
"Cool. Meet me at the Boardwalk, and we'll give you a ride. If you want to," Sour Cream said.
"Sure thing."
Short time later, Sour Cream left off to the warehouse, Stevonnie and Lapis leaving the big donut. However, there was one factor that did cause some trouble; Flint. Flint wouldn't agree to let them do this in the slightest, so, they had to figure this out before leaving. Flint saw them leave, and got up from his own seat.
"Satisfied, you two? Let's start heading back soon," Flint advised, awaiting a response from either of them. Stevonnie and Lapis tried to think on what to do. They wanted to go, but Flint wouldn't let them. However, suddenly Flint noticed the flier in Stevonnie's hand. Flint took it from her hand, and looked it over. All it appeared to be was a piece of paper with RAVE on it, but nothing else ...
"What's this?" Flint asked, judgingly. Then though, Lapis got an idea that could benefit her and Stevonnie.
"It's a Gem item. We found it in there, and we're not sure what it can do," Lapis informed, her explanation she hoped will work. Flint looked quizzically to the piece of paper.
"This is a Gem object," Flint repeated.
"Yes, it is! How about you give it to Garnet?" Lapis suggested. Stevonnie began to understand what Lapis was trying to do, but Flint didn't know if it was a good idea.
"I saw Garnet bubble these things a number of times. Can't you two do it?" Flint asked. If they can just bubble it for later, then that problem will be over and done.
"W-We don't know how," Stevonnie answered. At least in Stevonnie's case, this was a lie - Steven had bubbled a few things before - and she hoped it'll work for Flint. Flint just groaned, hand over his Gemstone. He didn't know how to do it either, so, what else could he do other than bring this "gem object" back to the Temple?
"Seriously? Ugh, fine. Wait here," Flint informed. Stevonnie and Lapis smiled innocently, as Flint began to go off. Lapis and Stevonnie watched him go off until he was out of sight. Once they were sure he was gone, the two happy Gems smiled mischievously to eachother, Stevonnie playfully fluffing Lapis's hair. With Flint finally out of their hair, the duo could only wait for him to come back ...
~~~~~~
Psych!
Stevonnie and Lapis wasted no time in going off from the Big Donut, and heading towards where Sour Cream had mentioned. Stevonnie, with Steven's knowledge of the city, knew exactly where the warehouse was, though they went off towards the Boardwalk either way. At this point, it was just past sunset, but not nighttime just yet. As Stevonnie and Lapis were going along, they soon noticed something further down; Sour Cream, two other humans, and a 1985 Cabriolet that looked a lot like a pizza, down to the pointed end of it and the patterns of mushroom and pepperoni.
As for the other two, again, Stevonnie recognized them from the Steven side of her. First there was a teenaged girl named Jenny, sitting in the driver's seat of the car. She wore large gold earrings, a bright red and white striped crop top, a black mini-top underneath, and pale sea-foam green jeans. Then there was Buck, sitting behind Jenny. He had dark brown hair, and light brown-coral skin. He wore a pair of sunglasses, an overly large red button-up shirt with unbuttoned cuffs, a white shirt with a yellow lightning bolt design, dark blue slim-fit jeans, and cyan and blue sneakers with white soles. Lapis was more taken aback by seeing Buck more than most, as she and Stevonnie approached them. Jenny happily waved to the two, though was surprised by Stevonnie's beauty (as it had that effect on everyone). Buck though surprisingly kept his cool, not appearing flustered or anything, which was impressive really.
"So she's the one you invited?" Buck said, turning to Sour Cream.
"Hey girl! Glad you can make it," Jenny said. Stevonnie nodded, as Sour Cream went over.
"You ready to go?" Sour Cream asked. Lapis and Stevonnie smiled.
"Yep we are. You have enough room for us?" Stevonnie asked. It was clear that there was room once things got settled. After some debate, Lapis Lazuli got the front seat while Stevonnie sat in between Sour Cream and Buck. Sour Cream tried to keep his own cool, an angel sitting next to him and all, though Buck had no problem with it whatsoever. They properly introduced eachother before Jenny started up her car (without Stevonnie screwing up), and began driving off towards the warehouse in question. Since it was late in the day, it was pretty relaxing and no other cars to worry over.
"So, Lapis, right? You new around here?" Jenny asked at one point during their drive. Jenny technically didn't meet Lapis face-to-face yet, despite the year she was around.
"Well, no, I've been living here for about a year actually," Lapis said, looking alongside as they drove along.
"Oh. How come I haven't seen ya round town then?" Jenny asked.
"I've been too busy," Lapis said. Really she was just used to the Gems and ponies, but pulling the 'too busy' card was a alright one far as she was concerned.
"Busy huh? I feel ya - sometimes my dad's got me stuck at the pizza shop all day long, it's a pain," Jenny sympathized. Lapis just rolled with it with a nod, and continued watching the world pass by. Meanwhile, Stevonnie was enjoying the ride, and Buck looked over to her.
"Smell the night air, Stevonnie. The smell of freedom," Buck said, taking a deep breath. Stevonnie took a good breath of the air herself.
"Smells like cheese and tomato sauce."
"That's just the car," Jenny chuckled.
"Makes sense I guess - the car does look more like some food than a vehicle," Lapis noted.
"Just the design; my dad uses it to deliver our pizzas. He lets me use it after work, so long as I don't crash it," Jenny joked, though Lapis hoped she didn't crash the thing on their way.
"So, Sour Cream, you got the Rave all set?" Stevonnie asked. Since Sour was who invited her anyway, she might as well ask him.
"Yeah, got the boom box set, lights up and everything. Even got an extra DJ for some collaboration DJ-ing," Sour Cream said, keeping his composure.
"Another DJ?"
"DJ-PON3. She's been in that pony world, and is pretty good at the DJ stuff," Sour Cream said. The name kinda ring a bell, and she must be a pony by what Sour Cream had said. As they went along, Buck had been rather quiet (per usual), but took notice of Stevonnie's belly button Gemstone, which looked oddly familiar. Even with the glasses over his eyes, he could very well make not only that out, but also the very slight sight of Lapis's back gemstone as she leaned on the rim of the car. Even after seeing this, Buck said nothing of it, but kept it in mind.
~~~~~~
It took sometime before the two managed to get the warehouse in question. The place itself looked abandoned; a severely dilapidated brick building with a partially caved-in roof, some broken windows, and one of the walls almost completely collapsed. However, thanks to some renovations and preparations, the place was turned into the rave party as Sour Cream had said. Some spotlights were on and shining colorful lights, and even some black lights, making some parts of the teenager's clothing glow a bit. Any lighter piece of clothing glowed a neon blueish sort of color. A huge boombox was set up on the side of the wide open dancefloor. After getting up on a raised platform, Stevonnie and Lapis could see Sour Cream working out the DJ-ing, actually making the beats out of some Game Boy systems he had on hand. Pretty impressive. Next to Sour Cream was actually another pony; a white unicorn with light blue and dark blue hair, headphones over her ears and cool DJ glasses (the extra Warp Pad made it possible for her to come and visit). Stevonnie and Lapis came in through the opened wall, the black lights already making Stevonnie's top shirt glow a bit. It didn't had that sort of affect on Lapis Lazuli though, her not wearing much of bright colors. It was also clear that many other teenagers were there, and having fun themselves. Amongst these teens was a few faces they recognized - even Ronaldo was dancing to the beat himself - Who'd of thought? The only one not dancing was one teenaged boy, who was just chilling out with his back to the wall, yet the two didn't worry over them too much.
"Sweet, this looks awesome," Lapis said with a beaming smile. Stevonnie and Lapis both went on over to the dancefloor, Stevonnie unsure how to proceed. Lapis began to dance to the music after a bit, so eventually, letting the music take its control, she did the same. Stevonnie closed her eyes, and began moving her hips to the beat. While Stevonnie began to dance away, many of the other teenagers started to take notice of the arriving beauty. Lapis Lazuli was getting quite some attention too, the water Gem dancing alongside her. Stevonnie, letting the beat take control of her body, began to go all out, at one point even jumping in the air, expert corkscrew spinning mid air before landing on her feet! Unfortunately, Stevonnie took a moment to regain her breath, and saw how many people were watching her.
"Uh, eh - uh." Stevonnie couldn't get any proper words out. Even with Lapis there, the Connie part of her started to get Stevonnie worried. Lapis's dancing had accidentally made her move away, leaving Stevonnie alone for the moment. Stevonnie began to panic more and more.
"I-I thought this was a dance party, why isn't anyone dancing?"
no response. That didn't help her at all.
"This is what being cool at a cool dance is, right? This is how it's supposed to be... Why isn't it like it's supposed to be?"
At this point, her anxiety was taking its toll on her even more, Lapis only then starting to see the problem. In her own head, Stevonnie was seeing everyone as looming, giant shadows, feeling trapped within herself. So much so, she began to feel disorientated! Stevonnie kept looking around more and more, not seeing a warehouse, and seeing the shards of glass of a disco ball circling her instead. She kept looking around, but then something else happened.
Someone phased through the wall.
"Hey baby."
In an instant, she was back to the warehouse, staring face to face with this sudden new person. The other people at this point were just chatting with eachother, though Lapis watched on in confusion and concern. As for this newcomer, he looked to her with a smug grin and a look that would make any girl fall for him. he had brunette hair and black eyes that met right up to her own. He wore a reddish-brown jacket over an orange shirt with a hot pink stripe down the middle, and a bright-turquoise infinity scarf. He also had pale-turquoise skinny jeans and short reddish-brown boots, with the colors being mostly the same as Stevonnie's outfit. He was also as tall as Flint and even herself, easily meeting eye-to-eye with her.
"Uh ... Hi," Stevonnie said, trying to regain herself. The boy gave her a wink.
"Get ready," he said, his voice seductive and soothing, as he moved past, his finger pointed out like a gun, and his seductive eyes meeting hers. "It's Kevin time." Well, on the bright side, they got his name, but his behavior towards Stevonnie wasn't the same as the others. While Sadie, Lars, and Sour Cream were flustered and more shy towards her, Kevin was not afraid of her in the slightest, as the music picked up the pace again. Suddenly, Kevin began to dance to the rad beat, both index fingers pointed, and catching the attention of the others, including Lapis. Kevin seemed to have the same affect on the crowd as Stevonnie (strictly to the other girls, of course). Lapis was watching Kevin dance too, and while she was slightly put under a similar spell as the other girls, she knew his intentions were towards Stevonnie. This became even more apparent when Kevin began to move closer and closer to Stevonnie, the fusion getting more worried as he did. Pretty soon, Kevin was right next to her, and it was more than she could stand. Panicked, she raced away from the dance floor, and to the warehouse wall. Lapis went over to her.
"Stevonnie, relax, relax, breathe," Lapis encouraged, as Stevonnie tried her best to calm down. The two didn't expect this to go south like that.
"That was too much," Stevonnie breathed. Soon, Stevonnie rested her back to the wall, Lapis staying by her side. They didn't come to this party for this to happen.
"I'm sorry, Stevonnie, I didn't want this to -"
"No, no, Lapis, it's not your fault. I'll be okay," Stevonnie said, trying to not put the blame on Lapis for Stevonnie's own idea. Sure, Lapis helped, but Stevonnie also got the idea as well, and agreed to come here in the first place.
"More than okay," a voice suddenly cut in, a hand right next to Stevonnie's head, resting on the wall. Looked like Kevin wasn't done here.
"Hey, baby. Why'd you leave me on the dancefloor?" Kevin asked, still in his cool and flirty voice. Lapis didn't know how to really react to this, though she was more worried over Stevonnie's well-being, since Kevin was focused on her more than most.
"I don't want to dance anymore," Stevonnie managed to say, swatting his hand away.
"What're you talking about?" Kevin cooed, his fingers going through the bangs of his hair. "We're the best thing that's happened in this place. Come back out with me," Kevin insisted.
"Why should I?" Stevonnie asked defiantly.
"Because we're angels amongst these garbage people. We're perfect for each other," Kevin answered, his voice in a patronized tone. Lapis finally took it on herself, and got in between Kevin and Stevonnie. Kevin felt just mildly bugged.
"Eh, can you excuse us for a moment, Kevin?" Lapis insisted, beginning to move Stevonnie away from Kevin. The cool kid rested his side on the wall, winking to Stevonnie, as Lapis brought her away.
"Stevonnie, do you want to just go? I don't want you to have a bad time."
"Lapis, I'll be fine. I just gotta make it clear to romeo over there that I'm not interested," Stevonnie answered, a thumb aimed to him. However ...
"Isn't he named Kevin?"
Right over her head. Stevonnie just sighed.
"Just a figure of speech, Lapis. Anyway, we don't have to leave. Come on, we can still have fun. After all, it's still your anniversary," reminded Stevonnie, hand on her shoulder. Lapis eventually smiled.
"And it's still your birthday," added Lapis with a smile. Stevonnie smiled back.
"You go on ahead, Lapis, I'll be with you in just a sec," Stevonnie said.
"You both sure you'll be alright now? Steven? Connie?"
"We're sure."
Lapis decided to take her word for it, and went off back to the Rave. Stevonnie didn't want Lapis to have her celebration dulled down because of her. After all, Lapis's celebration came first. When Lapis was out of sight, then Stevonnie remembered Kevin - he was still waiting for her - and what to do with him. What's worse was that Kevin began heading back over to her again. Now what will she do?
"Ready, baby?" Kevin asked, with a smirk and a wink. Time to set things straight. Mixing Connie's brain and Steven's bravery, Stevonnie got her words together.
"First of all, I'm not your baby. Second, I don't feel like dancing again, okay?"
"Why not? I'll give you the night of your life."
"My life can go on just fine without you," Stevonnie made clear. Even after that, Kevin didn't seem deterred. He took that as just playing hard to get, and moved in closer.
"Now, now angel, all I ask is for a dance. Come on, just say yes."
Stevonnie was getting a bit impatient with this guy. Seriously, how forward was Kevin in this flirt game anyway?! Both sides of her couldn't really think on what to do, since they were just kids anyway. However, before their issues could go any further ...
"Am I interrupting something?"
Flint! And by the look on his face, he was not happy at all. Stevonnie took a step back once she saw Flint, and Kevin seemed a bit taken aback by Flint's knight armor. Flint didn't took too long to figure out he'd been lied to, especially after coming back to see Stevonnie and Lapis gone.
"O-Oh, Flint! Uh, hi, great to see you," Stevonnie said nervously. Still, Flint was unfazed, only making her more worried. First though, his anger went to Kevin, who he saw advancing on Stevonnie.
"You, back off!"
"Chill man. You got a problem with -" Flint shut him up by grabbing him by the arm and tossing him aside, Kevin tumbling down onto the floor. This made the others stop for a minute, them all seeing Flint. Then he turned to Stevonnie.
"And as for you; what do you think your doing? I leave you and Lapis alone for two minutes, and I find you at this -... Whatever the heck this is, instead of staying put!" Flint shouted. One thing Flint hated, was being played for a fool, and that was what Stevonnie did. Then another thought struck him.
"And where's Lapis?" Flint added in. When Stevonnie didn't answer, Flint turned to the crowd, spotting Lapis trying to hide from Flint's sight - it didn't work. Flint went over, and pulled her out of the crowd by the arm.
"I had enough of this - we're going back home right now," Flint decided. Of course, Stevonnie was against this.
"Flint, we don't have to go!"
"Yes you do! And who was that from anyway?"
"Doesn't matter; I was having a good time before you showed up, and so did she!"
Flint was losing his patience with her. He went right up to her, and began dragging her away! Stevonnie got herself free when they ended up more secluded.
"Steven, Connie, do you two have any idea how much danger your putting yourselves in?"
"What're you talking about, nothing bad happened to me!"
"No? Then who was that human messing around with you then? And anyway, that's not the danger I'm talking about here!"
"There's no danger," Stevonnie protested.
"Okay then, try and unfuse. Go on, prove that there's no problem with this."
"What?! What's that got to do with anything?"
"It has everything to do with it. Listen you two, Your more human than Gem - humans don't fuse! Now that somehow you two did this, how in the name of the galaxies core can you two split now?!"
Now it was serious. Stevonnie and Lapis never considered that since they were having so much fun all day long. Suddenly, the idea of this fusion was more troublesome than they thought.
"... I - we didn't think of that."
"Well about time you did. Connie, Steven, you both still have your own lives to live, you can't stay this way forever!"
Then s thought hit Lapis.
"Wait a minute; you said earlier you were protecting her from danger right?"
"A Gem can retreat into their Gemstone, and what about a human?! Ugh, you know what, I'm tired of explaining, we're going home, and we're going to split you both up before -"
"Hey."
The new voice got everyone turning to the source of the noise. However, standing there, was actually Buck! Buck had managed to overhear what was really going on, and it seemed a bit unfair towards Stevonnie. Stevonnie, Lapis, and especially Flint were surprised to see him, though Flint was more surprised on how familiar he looked to another fusion he squabbled with earlier. Even so, dealing with another human wasn't going to be something he'll want to handle. Flint turned to face him.
"What now? We were just leaving."
"Flint, is it? You should try to relax a bit and let them have their fun," Buck insisted. Flint felt a sense of Deja Vu, and groaned.
"This does not concern you - you wouldn't understand what's going on anyway."
Buck adjusted his glasses.
"Sounds like a fusion problem to me - first time Steven and Connie ever doing this. You just can't stand Steven and Connie being in a fusion by what I see. And also, sounds like this is something new too, even for you Gems."
There was a pause, Stevonnie especially speechless that Buck was taking this fusion concept so easily.
"You don't think this is weird?" Lapis questioned.
"My friend is DJ-ing with a unicorn."
"... Good point."
"No, not a good point. Look human, this is something beyond your understand, so just go away and we'll go," Flint demanded, ready to go. Buck though felt undeterred.
"Two minds, souls, and connecting hearts fusing to make up another being, basically. Not too hard to understand," Buck said. Flint just stood there for a bit, not sure how to take this. This random kid knew the concepts of fusion like he'd done it himself before. Quite a strange thing really. Flint started to look him over, Buck not saying much to stop him.
"You don't seem to have a Gem anywhere ..."
Buck just shrugged.
"Took a while to figure it out," Buck stated. Flint still was confused, as Buck went over to Stevonnie, who was calmer yet perplexed on Buck a bit. Steven knew Buck wasn't the most talkative, but even this surprised him a little bit. Buck looked up to Stevonnie.
"How about we head back to the Rave? Night's still young."
"Uh, sure."
"Wait, what? No!" Flint said. Sure, Buck knew what's what, but that wasn't enough to convince Flint to change his mind on leaving.
"Give them a good experience," Buck said. Flint looked perplexed with this kid, and another thought came up in his head. To make sure, he grabbed both of Buck's hands to see, only to see no Gemstones on them. This wasn't influenced, it was all Buck by the looks of things.
"There are dangers to this you know - they could be trapped like this forever!"
"And if that's true, what would bringing them back home do? Besides, everyone needs some time to be free, and now it's Stevonnie's turn to have some freedom. They can have fun tonight, you can stay here, and you can help them when they're ready. Good?"
Flint tried to think of a real finisher, but couldn't come up with anything. Buck, a human, worked around both viewpoints, and came to the proper ideal. Stevonnie didn't mind that idea at all, and neither did Lapis. Eventually, Flint took a deep breath.
"Oh ... Alright fine. I'll give you another hour," Flint decided. That was the best they'll get, and they liked it all the same. Stevonnie, beaming, went over and hugged Flint - not something Flint was used to - before starting back towards the Rave, feeling better about things.
For the dancing part however, Stevonnie, although glad Kevin didn't keep on bugging her, still felt a little shy with dancing in front of everyone. Lapis went off to dance, Flint rested his back on the warehouse wall, and she was standing off in front of the crowd. Buck looked back and motioned her to come along. Eventually, Stevonnie took a relaxing breath, and went off in again. This time, Stevonnie made sure to stick close to her friends so she would be caught alone again. Buck and Lapis joined in on Stevonnie's dancing. Sour Cream and DJ-PON3 began to toss down glow sticks at this point, which many of the teens caught at least one. Stevonnie made sure to grab two, each one for each part of her. At this point the fusion didn't worry over the crowd, and just enjoyed the time and music being played.
It was a good time.
~~~~~~
After the hour had past, it was time to head back home. Lapis and Flint were okay, but Stevonnie was pretty worn out from the constant dancing. Rather than take the ride back, Flint insisted they just walk back - the warehouse and the Temple were in eyesight anyway - and figure out the Stevonnie split then. Stevonnie gave a yawn at one point.
"What a day," Stevonnie yawned. Flint turned to her.
"Yeah. Now, Stevonnie, I know it's soon, but perhaps -"
"We know, we know ... Just, give me ..." Stevonnie knew they had to split up, but they were pretty worn out. However, Flint just turned around to Stevonnie.
"Pay attention. You have two options; you can either use your willpower to split apart, or you can be weakened until you split. For the sake of your condition, I'd recommend willpower," Flint said.
"Willpower?"
"Just try to focus on splitting up and your stone will do the rest." Flint and Lapis moved back as Stevonnie took a breath. Whatever Flint meant by "weakened" may be more painful than it sounded, so, using willpower would be much better and safer. Flint kept his fingers crossed, hoping that they can even pull it off at all. Stevonnie closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. She focused as best she could on Steven and Connie, rather than being Stevonnie. At first, nothing really seemed to happen, but then the gemstone began to glow a bit. Soon, it glowed brighter and brighter, until Stevonnie's body was a pure white. Shortly afterward, the one body split into two, and soon, Connie and Steven were back to normal. Flint gave a sigh of relief that they could be able to do that at all, though Steven and Connie looked completely beat.
"We're back."
"Yaaaay ..."
Steven and Connie, tired out, fell down onto the sand side by side. Flint looked alarmed, but he and Lapis quickly figured out the two were just asleep.
"They had a long day," Lapis said, as she gently picked up Connie. Flint picked up Steven and then turned to Lapis.
"Alright then, you take Connie home. I'll put Steven to bed," Flint said. Lapis understood this, got out her wings, and taking off into the air. Flint just walked the rest of the way back to the Temple.
Farther away, just out of sight, the other fusion stood there watching Flint go. She had a smile on her face too, with one thought in mind.
"Happy birth-aversary, you two."