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novantinuum · 5 years

Text

Ballroom Etiquette

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 2.8K~

Summary: As much as it pains him to admit it amidst all the boring protocol, Pearl is absolutely right. There’s no room for imperfection at a Homeworld Ball.

In which Steven is publicly introduced to the Gems of Homeworld as Pink Diamond, and he experiences the first true stage fright of his life.

(Canon compliant, a missing scene set during ‘Together Alone.’)

You can find the AO3 link in the reblogs! (I have to omit it from the original post these days to ensure this will show up in the tags.) If you enjoyed this, I’d greatly appreciate your support over there as well.

Ballroom Etiquette “Do we have to say all this?” he questions, nose scrunching as he squints at the string of dialogue displayed on the view screen that Pearl’s been so gracious to translate out of written Gem for him.

His guardian wets her finger, and begins the meticulous and daunting task of coaxing his flyaway curls to stand still. For once in his life he doesn’t protest.

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid we have no choice,” she mutters, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear as he continues to commit the mini speech to memory.

“But it’s all so stiff!”

“It kinda feels like we’re in one of the Regency Era dramas my mom watches,” Connie comments, peeking over his shoulder to read the screen, and shrugs. “I always thought they were pretty boring, really.” She’s wearing different clothes now, namely that skirt and blouse she showed up to Kevin’s party in, and her dark hair is tied back. She looks lovely, he thinks, feeling his cheeks grow warm.

“Well, boring or not, it’s very important that we uphold every Homeworld custom to the letter tonight,” Pearl says, and crosses her arms. “And that includes all the stiff dialogue.”

He visibly deflates, his shoulders hunching inwards. “Awww man, can’t we like... adapt it a little or somethin’?”

Any and all remaining color drains out of the pale Gem’s face at his suggestion.

“Not with White Diamond in attendance, goodness no,” she says in a fervent whisper, eyes blown wide. She rapidly scans their surroundings, as if paranoid someone unwanted is listening in to their rebellious conversations. “You have to understand, she won’t settle for anything less than complete perfection!”

“Doesn’t feel like perfection,” Steven mumbles, glaring daggers at the view screen in hand.

“Yes, and I’m sorry for that. I know none of this is ideal, but like you said— we need to talk to White. And I think this may be the thing that finally coerces her out of her head.”

“Hey, it’s just for tonight, right?” Connie says with a reassuring smile. Gently, she rests her hand on his arm. “We’ll be fine!”

He breathes deep, letting her solid presence ground him. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Excellent!” Pearl nods. “I’ll let Blue and Yellow’s pearls know we’re about to begin.”

She spins on her heels and leaves the ballroom’s connecting chamber with such refined, habitual grace that it sends a physical pang through his heart just to witness it. Sure, of course she’s worth far more as an individual than the endless servitude of the place from whence she came, but watching her interact with other Gems here on Homeworld carries a weight far greater than any burden he can imagine. The ease at which she slots back into old routine bit-by-bit— seemingly without thinking, from an outsider’s perspective— it stings.

Inhaling evenly, he eyes the thick curtain they’re set to enter the ballroom through in but a few minutes. Beyond, the Gems of the courts await the return of their beloved diamond. At least, who they believe to be their beloved diamond. Steven genuinely doesn’t know how these Homeworld Gems will react to him. He doesn’t exactly look like the Pink they remember, after all. Nevertheless, their excitement is palpable, hundreds of low chittering voices echoing through the crystal studded rafters despite the usual decorum of such a ball. Frowning, he nervously shuffles his feet underneath him as he tries and fails not to think about the near future. The white pom poms floating at the tips of his shoes follow his motion perfectly. The outfit the Pebbles made him may fit like a second skin, but the longer he wears it the more it feels wrong... in the ‘disrespecting the deceased’ sort of way.

He’s honestly never considered himself the type to get all nervous about crowds until this very moment. Sweat beads at his brow as his mind swims at the thought of their incoming entrance. His fidgeting hands grow clammy. Compared to the number in attendance tonight, his past Beach-a-Palooza performances are but a mere pit stop. The thing is, at least home in Beach City he has the reassurance that everyone personally knows him. At least then he knows he has nothing to prove.

Here? His every word— heck, his every waking breath— commands the sole line drawn between life and eternal corruption. Fall flat in front of this crowd, and he can kiss saving the bubbled Gems goodbye.

As much as it pains him to admit it amidst all the boring protocol, Pearl is absolutely right. There’s no room for imperfection at a Homeworld Ball.

Music begins to chime from inside the ballroom as Pearl, Steven, and Connie dutifully line up behind the opaque curtain, a number of Gems he hasn’t gotten the chance to officially meet yet still skittering around them in a logistics motivated frenzy. The melody is played on no kind of instrument he audibly recognizes— a thought that briefly excites him in its learning potential before he realizes no, no, there’s no time to waste daydreaming about enriching yourself with other forms of Homeworld culture. Regardless, the overall cadence of the piece brings back faint memories of the traveling circus Dad brought him to in Ocean Town once, on his sixth birthday. Which is a rather apt comparison, since that’s exactly what all of this feels like. One gigantic three-ring circus.

“By the way, the Diamonds told me to tell you that they want you to present your aura when you enter,” Pearl whispers, straightening her sash.

His brow creases, newfound worry rising to replace the fear he left behind.

“My what?”

“Aura. Theoretically, all diamonds have one, and they think it’d be helpful in convincing the courts that you really have Pink’s gem. Mind you, I’m just the messenger.”

“But I don’t know how to do that,” he blurts out in a mild panic, glancing from her to his gloved hands. “I barely know what I’m doing at this ball in the first place!”

“I’m sure as long as you try your best, everything will work out fine,” Connie says. “They have to understand by now that you don’t have any of your mom’s memories about this sorta stuff.”

“I’m afraid you overestimate their objectivity,” Pearl mutters, peeking through the curtain briefly before turning back to face the two of them. “But otherwise, yes.” With a reassuring smile, she kneels so they’re at eye level and calms his nervous hands in her own. “Listen… We’re all so proud of you for even attempting this, Steven. Just do the best you can following their customs. You’ll get through it, I promise.”

His heart grows a little lighter as she gives his hands a light squeeze, further reinforcing the sense of groundedness that hangs in such a delicate balance right now.

“All of us will,” his best friend adds, nodding towards the ivory Gem. “Together.”

“Together,” he echoes, and immediately pulls the two of them into a tight embrace. Tears prickle at the corner of his eyes as he focuses his mind on the comforting weight of their arms wrapped around him. “Thanks, you guys.”

“Ahem!” a familiar voice interrupts.

He looks up, their hug loosening, only to see Yellow Diamond’s Pearl looming over him. There’s almost something smug about the way she regards them all, eyes narrowed and pointed nose held aloft. He wonders if Yellow sent her personally. Notably, when her gaze briefly flickers towards Pearl, her mouth curves into a haughty sneer.

“Pink Diamond,” she says to him with a snappy Homeworld salute. “Whenever you are ready to begin, just let your pearl know. Goodness knows we can get ever so distracted. Perhaps the Diamonds should finally have us all replaced.”

Pearl freezes, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. Even Connie covers her mouth in shock at her bluntness.

“No, no, I was just— talking to her, it was all me,” Steven explains, gesturing wide. “She did nothing wrong, a-and…” His eyes snap open wide upon realizing the self-depreciation evident in her comment. Perhaps the Diamonds should finally have us all replaced. And she said it with such nonchalance. Once more, his heart aches for the mistreatment of the Gems on Homeworld. “And neither did you!”

“If you say so, My Diamond. In any case, my Diamond will see you inside the ballroom shortly.”

With this final remark, Yellow Pearl turns on her heels and promptly removes herself from their presence. He watches her stalk off with a pensive frown, a sudden wave of melancholy flowing like ice through his veins. It’s a stark reminder of the truth he doesn’t quite want to admit after his previous starry-eyed optimism: that even if he can mend the bonds between the Crystal Gems and the Diamonds, even if he can heal all the corrupted Gems, there’s still a lot of inequality and unfair treatment on Homeworld they have to sort out. He has a lot of work cut out for him no matter what, that’s for sure.

“Well, guess we can’t stall this any longer,” Connie says. “You ready?”

Despite his currently conflicted emotions, he manages a grin. “As I’ll ever be. Pearl, you’ll be okay, right?”

“Hah, me?” she scoffs, gesturing at herself with a sly smile so befitting of the confident, fearless rebel he’s always known her as. “I participated in hundreds of balls during my time here with Pink. What’s one more?”

Squaring her shoulders back, she passes between the curtains and enters the ballroom. Immediately, their audience falls silent in anticipation.

“I still don’t know how to do the aura thing,” Steven frantically whispers to Connie, cupping his mouth with his hand. “I think it’s what I did in the battle on the beach, when I was stuck in that weird psychic ghost zone, but I’m not sure!”

“Well, what were you thinking during it?”

“Uh… mostly, I was tired of people fighting about it, so… I guess I just really wanted them to finally know the truth?”

“Then maybe you should try focusing on that,” she suggests, smoothing out the wrinkles on her skirt. “You’ll do great out there, I know you will!”

“If I may have everyone’s attention,” he hears Pearl declare from beyond the curtain, and promptly snaps to attention, preparing himself to enter. The almost robotic cadence of her voice as she’s forced back into her former role in yet another fashion is disturbingly jarring. “Presenting, safe on Homeworld for the first time in over five millennia, the kind and charismatic elegance that is Pink Diamond!”

He breathes deep one last time, in and out, and with Connie at his side (not even the stringent customs of the diamonds could scare him into presenting their relationship as anything but that of equals) he slips past the thick curtains. The music cuts off.

Immediately, his heart beating double time, his senses are assaulted by indiscriminate flashes of light and color. These further coalesce into recognizable shapes, into rows of Homeworld Gems of all courts and cuts, Gems as far as the eye could see. His hands jitter at his side. The amount of people watching, it’s- it’s unfathomable, and uncomfortable, and they’re all staring directly at him. Curiously, expectantly. But wait, what are they—?

He finally spots Pearl, his guardian standing stiff in fifth position at the foot of Pink Diamond’s throne, all the way across the vast reaches of the ballroom. A subtle smile curving across her face, the Gem nods at him, and it’s exactly the encouragement he needs.

“They want you to present your aura when you enter,” the Pearl of the past reminds him. “They think it’d be helpful in convincing the courts that you really have Pink’s gem.”

“I still don’t know how to do the aura thing,” he admits to Connie, hands growing clammy.

“Well, what were you thinking during it?”

“I guess I just really wanted them…”

“...to know the truth,” he whispers in completion, steeling his nerves. Even if this doesn’t work the way he intends, he at least has to try. Everything that happens tonight, he thinks, anchoring his mind and soul on all the bubbled Gems waiting for him back at home. This is for you guys.

His eyes flutter shut, and— aligning his thoughts on the same themes of radical light, hope, and love that permeated his sense of self when confronting the Diamonds— he extends his arms. Simultaneously, a strangely familiar rush of energy radiates outwards from his gem. Next to him, he hears Connie let out an awed gasp. Steven opens his eyes.

He… he actually did it! The entire ballroom is bathed in pink, the air nearly shimmering as the Gems in attendance audibly react to the reality of this revelation. Eyes widen in dumbfounded shock all throughout the crowd. Some begin excitedly chittering to their neighbors, while others fall silent in the wake of their slowly receding disbelief. In the front row, a stocky maroon Gem struggles to contain her tears. He can’t help but breathe a soft laugh of relief, knowing this success brings him one step closer to convincing White to help. The throne, however, lies so many steps further.

He and Connie cruise across the ballroom floor as fast as they can gracefully manage, desperate to get out of the spotlight. The fact that everyone’s focus is squared directly on him honestly leaves his skin crawling. In literally any other scenario he’d probably revel in being the center of attention, but here, presented in the guise of his mother, all of this feels wrong. It feels fabricated, insincere. Yes, he may have the same gem, but that doesn’t make them the same person. He’s not Her.

It’s the truth no one on Homeworld seems to understand.

Finally, they climb the steps to the pink throne. As rehearsed, Connie falls in place beside Pearl, demurely crossing her feet. At the foot of the throne, he turns to look back at the diverse crowd. Seeing who they believe to be their diamond standing whole before them once more, they fall silent. Sweat beads on his brow as his mouth bobs open. Words... Oh gosh, what are the words? His short speech?? His breath quickens as the silence drags on far too long. This is bad, this is so, so bad. He’s so sure he had it memorized a moment ago, but now he can barely remember a single syllable of it! His limbs go rigid, frozen in place under the weight of Homeworld’s judgement.

(He can even sense Connie’s eyes pinned on him, and he’s not sure what to feel about that.)

“Greeting,” Pearl whispers from the corner of her mouth.

“Uh... h-hello, loyal subjects!” he stammers, painfully aware how off-script he is, “I—“

A warm hand slips into his, a perfect fit. Connie. She gives his fingers a gentle squeeze. He inhales through his nose, wholly focusing himself on the solidness of the ground beneath his feet. Like a river breaking through a dam, the words surge forth.

“My courts,” he recites in as posh and refined a tone he can manage, “I appreciate having you all in attendance tonight, to celebrate the grand occasion of my return. That’s why, uh… As such, if White Diamond is in approval, this ball will mark the start of Era Three.”

Pearl gives a deep curtsey, gesturing wide at the assembled crowd. “Gems previously belonging to Pink’s court may now present themselves,” she says impassively, and then returns to fifth position.

“Thank you, Pearl!”

Her arms and hands automatically shoot into the traditional salute over her chest. “You’re very welcome, My Diamond.”

And with those very words, the spell over the crowd dissipates. The music resumes. A line of Pink court Gems begins to assemble at the front of the ballroom, preparing themselves for presentation. Nearly buzzing with excess adrenaline, he jumps up to reach the throne’s seat.

“You did wonderful, Steven,” Pearl says from below.

“Thanks for the help,” he grins, kicking his feet to slow his descent. His feet touch down with barely a hair on his head ruffled. “Geeze, am I glad that’s over,” he sighs, and plops down to sit in the massive pink throne with his legs criss-crossed. “I’ve never dealt with stage fright like that in my whole life!”

“Now you probably understand what I felt like at my middle school dance a few years ago,” Connie laughs.

“Heh, yeah! I—” he runs his fingers through the short curls at the nape of his neck— “I just hope it was enough to make a good impression.”

“I’m sure you did,” she says. “Anyways, there’s no use fussing about it now. What happens, happens. And hey, who knows? Pearl said there’d be dancing, right? Maybe the rest of this ball will be kinda fun!”

#su #steven universe #connie maheswaran #pearl #su fanfic #yellow pearl #my writing stuff

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