#when I originally found out how they got it (I think from their hi jinkx podcast?) I was like …. yeah this def checks out for them lmao

[jinkxndela]

I’m so glad the whole world knows how jinkx got their chipped tooth now lol

#a precious nerd baby #when I originally found out how they got it (I think from their hi jinkx podcast?) I was like …. yeah this def checks out for them lmao #time to mcfuckin sleep enjoy the new episode yall~ #jinkx monsoon #rpdr as7

[artificialqueens]

🏳️‍🌈 Bitch Fight Ch.18 (Multi; JeLa) - Lita

Welcome to the world of Femme Fatale Wrestling. The future is female, and we’re here to prove it.

A/N: Heyyyyy….So, I’m still alive. Sorry about the nearly-a-year posting break, I changed jobs irl, got side tracked with an original fiction project, and have been generally super busy - but both I and this fic are very much still alive. I’m aware that it’s been a minute, so if anyone needs a refresher, the fic in its entirety can be found here. 

Anyway - this is the long-awaited Jinkx Chapter™ and the point at which the story (imo) reeeaaalllyyyy starts to get good. So I hope you all enjoy, and to those of you who are still here and sat through the nine month hiatus: Thank you <3

______

CHAPTER 18: YOU’VE STILL GOT IT

Dela had already left the house before Jinkx woke up. That was weird. Usually she didn’t leave to do anything without pestering her to get out of bed first. That did drive her a little insane - not that she’d ever say that out loud. Dela was trying. The fact that Jinkx hadn’t come with some kind of post-injury instruction manual made things difficult for the pair of them - she felt guilty about it. But acting on that guilt required effort that she didn’t have the capacity for. 

She’s been bizarrely cagey and quiet since the show on Saturday, honestly - reluctant to talk about work, distant, inside her own head. Jinkx wants to help, but the part of her that knows how to is miles away; trapped behind some impenetrable wall held in place by surgical screws. 

Regardless, Dela is god-knows-where, and Jinkx is alone, which she doesn’t deal well with. Being awake when she’s by herself is unpleasant - seconds drag on forever into minutes, and she feels agonizingly conscious of the time that she’s wasting. She’d set up camp in the living room, and more than likely wasn’t going to move until it was an acceptable time to go back to bed - coffee on the table, and Macho sitting on the couch a few feet away from her, stirring from his nap every few minutes to claw at the couch or glare at her like he wants her dead. The TV is on, but she isn’t exactly watching it. She scrolls through her texts, blankly waiting for Dela to respond to her and tell her what exactly she was doing, and trying her best to ignore the litany of unread messages from Bill. She’d deal with him later. 

‘Later’ was becoming an increasingly nebulous concept. She missed him, in a way - it was like he’d stopped caring when she got hurt. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him face-to-face, and the text correspondence she got from him to report back from the events of shows tended to be curt and impersonal - a couple of words, nothing more. Well, he was busy. And he was serving his purpose, she guessed. She hoped. In all honesty, she wasn’t really sure. She felt guilty about that too. 

She feels like her body is constantly heavy; doing anything is difficult, in a way that she struggles to justify. On the days where she’s physically in pain, it makes sense at least. Or when she’s depressed - when something’s happened, when she’s actually struggling. She hates feeling like this - like a shell of a person, but without an excuse. On paper, she should be okay. 

She’s spent the bulk of the last year mentally torturing herself like this. Being angry with herself when she feels like shit, and equally angry when she doesn’t and yet still can’t bring herself to function. The promotion had become a real point of shame. A few months of absence felt understandable - but a fucking year? She knew that she was letting people down, and in some way or another she’s lulled herself into thinking that maybe they’re  better off without her. She didn’t have much faith left in her abilities as a promoter, or a booker - and if she couldn’t wrestle, then what was the point in her? She’d fucked up before. 

She didn’t know how she felt about Manila being back, even if it was just for a night. Her gut said she didn’t like it. 

That night barely held a coherent shape in Jinkx’s memory - the blood pooling on the mat, Raja’s seizure in the hallway, the unblinking terror on Manila’s face. Jinkx had gotten home from the emergency room at four in the morning, after spending all night picking up the pieces as best she could. She’d sat staring at the living room wall until the sun came up - still in her ring gear, blood that wasn’t hers drying in her cuticles, feeling like the walls were closing in around her. She recalled this horrible sense of foreboding overtaking her, like she knew that this was only the shitty start of something that was about to get much, much worse. 

Her last exchange with Manila had been awful - Manila had been angry with her, and she had every right to be. She’d been on her way out the door regardless, but that didn’t change how terrible Jinkx felt about the way it ended. The situation with Magnolia was an embarrassing, shitty mess. Going off-script like she had was a problem on its own, even without the state she’d left Raja in. And yet a month down the line, she’d still been under contract. 

Moreover, Magnolia had been holding the title - a position that Manila was furious about. She had made an absolute point of refusing to listen to any excuses Jinkx tried to give. They’d been flimsy at best - maybe it was a good thing that she’d been unable to get a word in edgeways. Anything she could have said would have been far too easy to poke holes in. 

Jinkx has been put in a shitty position; being strongarmed by her talent, apparently incapable of growing a backbone and doing the right thing. She didn’t have any concrete proof that what Magnolia had done to Raja was deliberate, and Magnolia had made it crystal fucking clear that if Jinkx fired her, pulled a screwjob, or interfered in any other way, she’d go straight to every dirt-sheet that would listen to her and drag both her and the promotion’s names through the mud. That had terrified Jinkx to her core. 

About five years ago, someone had put it together that the Jinkx Monsoon who now had tits and ran an all-women’s promotion was the same one who’d appeared as an acne-ridden sixteen-year old boy in an ancient TLC documentary about pro wrestling bootcamps. Maybe using the same ring name since she was a teenager had been a bad idea after all. There’d been a minor shitstorm on R/SquaredCircle - apparently it had been a slow news week, because then Pro Wrestling Insider ran a story about her. That had sent a few assholes in her direction but equally gave the promotion some free publicity. Then WWE had fired Jim Ross two days later, and everybody moved the fuck on. 

It hadn’t been a big deal - she couldn’t exactly be outed if she’d never been in the closet in the first place. Her being trans had always been something of an open secret. For fuck’s sake - she’d used ‘Dude Looks Like a Lady’ as entrance music for years, she’d never exactly been subtle. 

And then some mid-tier ex-WCW guy had started a Twitter rumor that she was lying about her gender identity, and she’d only founded FFW to enable her to perv on women. The allegation effectively ruined three months of her life. Some of the things she’d read about herself were downright fucking vile - they’d been forced to cancel two shows; she’d had to shut down all of her social media, and even then found herself getting death threats sent to her business email. Femme Fatale had been in its infancy, up and running for a little under three years, and it had nearly killed the entire promotion. 

She’d had an awful, terrifying gut feeling that it would only have taken one bit of crappy press to reignite that level of public hatred, towards both the promotion and her personally - crappy press that Magnolia was clearly more than happy to provide. If it came straight from the mouth of someone who’d worked with her, rather than unsubstantiated crap from some bastard she’d never met with too much time on his hands, then Jinkx would have been definitively screwed. She’d learned the hard way how fragile her standing was. The threat had gotten to her, in a really fucking horrible way. She wasn’t sure if that had been Magnolia’s intention, but it had definitely worked. 

So, she’d spent weeks handling the situation with kid gloves and waiting to see if a solution jumped out. It didn’t - and in the end, she’d fired her anyway, and lived to tell the tale. 

Not that there hadn’t been consequences. Bianca, Morgan, and Detox - the three people originally tasked with trying to get the belt off of her before Courtney eventually succeeded - had all threatened to quit; her relationship with Manila had been irrevocably damaged. Raja’s career was over, and Jinkx hadn’t been able to look Courtney in the eye for weeks after that fucking massacre of a match. She couldn’t unsee the blood trickling from her nose, or the missing front tooth. It only twisted the knife in further. 

Not to mention the guilt over feeling relieved that Magnolia had been stupid enough to shoot on someone twice. Maybe on some subliminal level, that had been her intention in letting the whole mess fester for as long as she did. Jinkx had known it would only be a matter of time before she tried it again. Firing someone over a botch wasn’t the done thing; deliberately injuring an opponent was entirely different. It was an easy out; one that didn’t put her neck on the line. 

But it was her failure that had gotten them there in the first place, and her price to pay to fix it - not anyone else’s. It should have been Jinkx in that match instead of Court. It should have been her blood on Magnolia’s hands - her tooth on the ring canvas. Her pound of flesh. 

Jinkx been reckless, and stupid. She’d endangered her talent by putting them in the ring with someone who had shown their capacity to be deliberately fucking evil, and for what? 

Every stupid mistake she’d made in that couple of months had been haunting her for the last two years. It was undeniable proof - she sucked at her job. She’d put people in harm’s way to save her own skin. And if that was how she’d been before everything had happened, she didn’t even want to think about all of the ways in which she’d probably fuck it up now. Back then, she wasn’t a miserable shell of her past self. She’d still had passion; she still cared. 

She glances over at the TV, trying her level best to fucking distract herself. UFC. The fight looks pretty bizarrely matched, a dark-haired beast of a woman with a shaved head getting the shit knocked out of her by some skinny kid with bright green hair. Buzzcut is bleeding all over the place; there’s barely a mark on Green Hair. Jinkx winces.  

MMA had never made a lick of sense to her; she’d been in her share of messy matches, but that damage was always superficial. Busting someone’s face open with your bare hands is a completely different ballgame, and it’s always made her feel a little bit sick to watch. Plus it just seemed boring - maybe that was the sports-entertainer in her. What’s the point of having a cage there if nobody is gonna jump off of it? Where the fuck was all of the pomp and circumstance? What she was getting here was glacially-paced punching and kicking - no flair, just blood-sport. 

Buzzcut takes a kick to the head and immediately hits the deck. Jinkx shuts the TV off. 

Legitimate knockouts scared the shit out of her. She hated watching them happen; hated thinking about what kind of state they left people’s brains in. Jinkx had suffered through two concussions in her career - one when she was a rookie; the second the night she broke her neck. Dela had had four. Every time it was terrifying, and thinking about it for too long kept her up at night. 

Watching Dela get hurt had been a kind of pain that Jinkx hadn’t been fully prepared for. Every time anything happened, she found herself wracked with a sense of sickening guilt for being the one that led her down this path in the first place. The night she’d come home after the hardcore match with Morgan - broken nose, swollen lips, tears cutting streaks through the dried blood all over her face - Jinkx had barely been able to look at her. 

Jinkx had been in the ring with Dela the night she broke her leg - she’d watched it happen, horribly aware of exactly how bad it was, but glued to the spot, unable to do anything. Everything about it - the sound of snapping bone; the twisted, terrified look on her face as Bill trying to cinch in that stupid fucking ankle-lock - had haunted her for weeks. The sound of her voice was what had cut her the deepest; the pain and the panic behind her words, thumping the mat with the palm of her hand, screaming ‘I quit, I quit’ over and over. 

Jinkx hadn’t spoken to Bill for almost a month after that. Dela had been the one to insist that they patched things up - she was okay, it had been an accident, he didn’t realize. Given that she’d been the one that had to go through three hours of surgery and six months of recovery because of his stupidity, she’d been the authority. Jinkx had been furious; after watching him treat Dela like an inconvenience at best and a personal affront to him at worst for as long as they’d been together, her patience for his shit had worn thin. 

Bill and Jinkx had turned up at the same run-down training school for the first time on the same night, and had been joined at the hip for about four years as perennially single high-schoolers. He was a little abrasive, and had a tendency to talk over her - but underneath it all, Jinkx had sensed a kind of insecurity in him, veiled by this performative, hypermasc bravado. He’d clung onto her from the moment that they met and refused to let go. She didn’t mind - he’d never cared about the fact that she was a little weird, and he didn’t make her feel like an outcast the same way that other guys did back then. 

He’d been the person responsible for the chip in her front tooth; a slightly overenthusiastic superkick during their first match in front of a crowd had taken a diagonal chunk out of it, which she’d then proceeded to accidentally swallow. She’d refused to get it fixed - in the first instance because she hadn’t had the money, then later because her response to Bill ribbing her for her fucked-up smile had always been to remind him that it was only like that because he was a shitty wrestler. It was a part of their personal history. 

Bill and Dela had never exactly gotten along. Well, Bill had never exactly gotten along with Dela, and had never tried to. He’d never really learned how to share Jinkx - he got jealous and clingy in the locker room when she tried to talk to other people for god’s sake. Dela gatecrashing their little bromance had seriously rubbed him the wrong way.

Dela hadn’t been a wrestler when they first met - a recent college graduate, she’d worked in the bar that Jinkx and the other guys frequented after shows, since the staff seldom kicked them out for being too rowdy. They’d both crushed on her for weeks, from afar - Jinkx had been the first one of the two of them to make a move, and it was like Bill resented Dela for picking the wrong guy. Not that he’d ever said that out loud; not that he’d even really tried to pursue her. She’d just been supposed to telepathically know that he’d wanted her too - he was the better man, or rather the only one that succeeded at being a man. It was like he hadn’t even viewed Jinkx as competition. 

Once he got to know her, besides thinking she was hot, he couldn’t stand her, or at least he claimed he couldn’t. Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard; she was too fake, too immature. Before she became a wrestler herself, she didn’t understand ‘their’ world - he called her a ring-rat more often than he used her actual name - but when she started, she sucked at it and wasn’t trying hard enough. She was pretty much incapable of doing anything right. For fuck’s sake, he even hated the fact that she didn’t argue back when he tried to start shit with her. It had always driven Jinkx quietly insane, but Dela insisted that she didn’t mind. 

Jinkx feels bad for Dela more than anyone through all of this shit. She tried - she fucking tried, so hard. With everything; with him, with the promotion, with her. Jinkx still felt just as consumed by that incredible, overwhelming love for her as she had back when they first got together, and that made the guilt and the pain so much worse. Dela was suffering because of her - she could see it. Knowing how much of a horrific, draining burden she’s become on everyone she cares about disgusts her. 

Five-percent survival rate. That sentence had haunted her since she got injured. Why did she get to be one of that five percent? It doesn’t feel fair. Better people have fucking died because of the same shit, and the ones that lived didn’t waste the time they’d stolen by rotting away in their own misery and self-pity. 

Jinkx’s phone starts vibrating in her hand, jolting her back into the real world. The name on the caller ID makes her stomach drop. MANILA LUZON. 

 “Manila? What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Manila’s voice on the other end of the line is clipped and guarded. Jinkx feels uneasy. “Look, I’m gonna cut to the chase - Mateo got a developmental deal with WWE, so it’s looking pretty likely that we’re gonna be moving back sometime soon. I need somewhere to work, and I-“

“That’s kind of not my area anymore. Dela said you were at the show on Saturday, did you talk to Bill?” Jinkx says. Her voice feels like an answering machine; verbally shitting out the exact same thing she has to tell Dela, or any of the girls, when they try to come to her about shit, without any kind of conscious thought. Talk to him, I can’t deal with this right now

“No, I didn’t - why the fuck would I? I’m not asking a referee about a new contract deal. It’s your promotion,” Manila’s tone spikes. 

“It is, but-“

“Jinkx, come on.” Jinkx can practically hear Manila rolling her eyes. “I didn’t see you around once the other night. What the fuck is going on?” 

“What?” Jinkx says absently, barely paying attention. She doesn’t want to deal with this right now. Manila had always been spectacularly talented at being a bitch when the situation necessitated it, even before the whole horrific mess with Raja. That had just honed her ability to focus said talent in Jinkx’s direction. 

“You were at the show, right?”

“No,” Jinkx says flatly. 

“What the- why?” Manila sounds astonished. Did she really not know? How the fuck did she not know?  

“I’m retired, Manila,” Jinkx feels like she’s stating the obvious. Manila pauses for a second. Jinkx hears her swallow. 

“As of when?”

“I…Shit happened last year,” she doesn’t feel like explaining herself right now. Manila doesn’t respond, leaving a pause in the conversation that begs for an explanation. Jinkx grits her teeth. “Botched piledriver - I broke my neck, triple fusion surgery, whole career down the toilet in five minutes.” 

“And how is that stopping you from being backstage?” Manila asks pointedly, moving straight along from what Jinkx had just said without any kind of feeling. Jinkx feels like she’s smacking her head against a brick wall. She stays silent. “I’m serious, Jinkx. It’s a mess - how did you let things get this bad?”  

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I told you that you had a goddamn laundry list of issues to work out two years ago when I left. It’s bad enough that you let Magnolia stick around after what she did to Raja - it’s bad enough that you let her keep the belt. I’d thought things would have improved by now, and somehow they’re worse.”

“You’re still mad about that?” Jinkx groans, exasperated. She wasn’t about to give away the fact that she herself wasn’t even remotely over it yet - the only person who didn’t seem to be holding onto any resentment or guilt over the whole thing was Raja. Though that was probably because she didn’t remember most of it. 

“Raja nearly died, and you let the person responsible get away with it - I care about her, of course I’m still fucking mad. You can’t do that to somebody.” 

“How the hell are you guys still not fucking?” Jinkx mutters under her breath. She really hopes Manila hadn’t heard her - that would do less than nothing to help her case. 

“You know that Courtney went off-script on Bianca, and that Adore kid, right?” Manila asks, sharp and confrontational. 

“I- what?” Jinkx sits up - pretty certain that she’d misheard something. “What the fuck did she do?” 

“Ran in during their match - she hit Bea with a chair, slapped Adore around a bit, then demanded a title match. Dela and Bianca tried to convince me it was a work, but it was super obvious.”  

“Manila, I- look, are you sure? Like, this was definitely Courtney?” 

“I’m not stupid, Jinkx.”

“I never said you were, but Courtney’s the champ. Why would she need to-”

“Uh, no she’s not,” Manila says disbelievingly. She pauses for a second. “Jinkx, do you seriously not know who your world champion is?” 

“I thought I did - there was a bit of a hiccup a few weeks ago, Adore botched the finish and accidentally won the belt, but Courtney got it back.” Jinkx pauses. Someone isn’t telling her something. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m fucking serious. This is ridiculous, Jinkx. You’re in charge, and you can’t let any of this crap fly. You can’t let people run around shooting on each other, you can’t not pay attention to what’s going on in your own company.” 

Jinkx nods along with her. She’s fucking right, and she’s the only person around Jinkx right now who can’t see the ‘HANDLE WITH CARE’ sticker that’s been plastered on her forehead for the last year. Slowly, quietly, she feels that heavy lead ball of depression she’s been carrying around within her chest for the last year starting to crack.�� 

“You need to get your information from someone who wasn’t just there for a night. All I’m saying is I’m looking to re-sign, and I’m there if you want me - but not if something doesn’t change,” Manila sighs. “I know how much all of this means to you, and I don’t wanna see it fail, but this is not the promotion I left two years ago. Half of the locker room is gone - the audience is barely there. You need to fucking do something.”

“You’re right,” Jinkx says. She chews the new information over in her mind; still reeling from the well-timed sucker punch to the jaw that Manila had just landed on her from miles away. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I’m gonna get this shit in hand. Give me a call once you’re back home and we can talk about you re-signing. I mean, if you decide that things are up to your standards.”

There’s a little hint of the old bite in her voice. Hi, Jinkx Monsoon - nice to see you. It’s been a while. 

Manila gives a surprised little laugh. 

“Okay,” she sounds taken aback, before adopting that serious, stern mom-tone she’s been using for the rest of the conversation. “But seriously though, figure-“

“You’re laboring the point,” Jinkx says. “Thank you - clearly I needed someone to kick me up the ass.”  

Manila chuckles. 

“Look, I have to go - I’m in a fucking bathroom stall at Epcot, Mateo is with the kids, but I couldn’t stop thinking about everything, and I had to talk to you,” Manila says. “I appreciate it. And I’m sorry about everything that happened to you. It sounds like it sucks.”

“Yeah, it does.”

Manila ends the call. Jinkx stares at her phone screen, a wry smile on her face. More cracks start to form. She’s not sure what this emotion is, whether it’s good or bad - but she’s gonna ride it out and see where it goes. That sea of unopened texts from Bill catches her attention. 

BILL SCARGILL:

UNREAD (14) 

Rematch sucked. One with the red hair keeping title. Courtney can’t fucking wrestle 

D throwing bitch fit about decision. Tell her to get her shit together. 

SERIOUSLY. Get your wife in check 

Jinkx??? 

Adore feuding with Bianca. Rest of show sucked - where tf did you find those jobbers?? Trinity Fame and the other blonde one can’t wrestle. Time to downsize?? 

Had to talk to Courtney about her attitude btw. Entitled as fuck. None of these girls have any respect for authority. 

Show was fine. Good crowd. Courtney no showed btw 

Courtney no showed again. 

Don’t know what’s going on with her and don’t care. Unreliable bs. No professionalism. 

If she doesn’t turn up tonight she’s fired. If you don’t answer this I’m assuming you don’t give a fuck. 

Call me ASAP 

Jinkx 

Jinkx?????

CALL ME 

That horrible, heavy ball in her chest explodes.  

She needs to talk to Bill. Wait, shit - no, she needs to talk to Dela. Find out what’s really going on, because the picture that this is painting from texts and Manila’s account alone isn’t fucking pretty. She can feel long-unused gears within her brain slowly, stiffly grinding into action again; powered primarily by the white-hot anger that’s sitting between her lungs where the bomb just detonated.  

Now that she truly thinks about it, Jinkx can’t say with absolute certainty how Bill ended up in the position of ludicrous roided-up power he’s currently in. Only that, when she eventually awoke from the walking coma of memory loss and painkillers her injury had sent her into, that was just the way of things. And then the depression had kicked in, and so too had her lack of desire to do anything. Dela had seemed to go along with it sans protest, but she’d been going along with his shit sans protest for years - that wasn’t an indicator that he was any fucking good at what he was doing. 

She pulls out her laptop, typing out a frenzied plan of action, trying to curate some of the mess in her head into something usable. Talk to Dela. Figure out what the fuck his problem is. And for how long it’s been a fucking problem. And then…

“Everything okay?” 

Dela’s voice breaks through the silence - she’s standing in the doorway in her gym gear, bag over her shoulder and stray hairs stuck to her brow with sweat. Her phone is in her hand, and she looks shaken. Macho barrels across the couch, using Jinkx’s chest as a launch-pad to greet his favorite mom at the door, mewing with his tail in the air until Dela picks him up.  

“I- uh…what?” Jinkx stumbles over her words after she gets done choking on the lungful of air that Macho had knocked out of her. She half-closes her laptop, putting it down on the coffee table. 

“I asked if you were okay,” Dela sits down on the couch by Jinkx’s side, putting a hand on her thigh as she cradles Macho like a baby. There’s a concerned little knot in between her eyebrows. 

“Yeah,” Jinkx nods solidly. Dela pulls a face that Jinkx can only describe as alarmed. “Are you?”

“Uh - not really, it’s a long story, I won’t bother you with-”“Please bother me with it.” Jinkx claps Dela’s hand in both of hers. Dela laughs nervously. 

“Well, I just narrowly avoided getting murdered by Bianca in the parking lot of the gym for one thing - I’ve never seen her that pissed, it was fucking terrifying. I’m…” she pauses. “Courtney got fired. Supposedly on your orders, which obviously isn’t true but it’s still…” Jinkx clenches her teeth. Dela sets Macho back down on the couch, turning to face Jinkx. “What is going on with you? You seem really…” Dela searches for a word, which Jinkx can only imagine is ‘insane’. She eventually settles on: “…Energised.”

“I, uh…I just got off the phone with Manila. Between everything she told me and now this, I need to take care of some business. The next show is this Saturday, right?”  

 There’s an unfamiliar kind of certainty to Jinkx’s voice. Dela looks at her with her eyes alight; her mouth hanging just open in surprise. 

And then, Jinkx is returning to Femme Fatale. 

Pride Challenge Points: 3589

#rpdr fanfiction #jinkx monsoon #bendelacreme #manila luzon #jela #trans character #femme fatale wrestling au #glow au #lesbian au #angst #fic challenge #bitch fight #lita #tw discussion of severe injuries

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 19: Change your Heart (originally published on July 19, 2021)

AN: So, trying to reform Kevin. Might be a Herculean task to some, but for me, I think I'll try my best. And given that this is almost directly after last chapter, Steven might find this just as challenging since he would continuously resist the urge to go pink and break Kevin's face. But more to the point, let's get things started.

Synopsis: Kevin comes back wanting to become a genuinely better person, but Steven gets suspicious.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven, Cactus Stevens

Andrew Kishino as Kevin

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Jennifer Paz as Laz

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Deedee Magno-Hall as Volleyball

Auli'I Cravalho as Orange Spodumene

Michaela Dietz as Crazy Lace Agate

Colton Dunn as Mr. Smiley

--

A few days after Steven's faithful visit to the doctor, he went about today trying to keep a lid on his emotions as much as possible as he strolled through the boardwalk, passing by his Beach City friends and tourists along the way.

"Just gotta find something that always makes me happy to take my mind off all that trauma," Steven muttered to himself. He could go to the Big Donut, but something told him it just wouldn't be the same with Dewey running the counter instead of Lars and Sadie. He could also go to Fish Stew Pizza or the docks, but then he would just be reminded of Sadie Killer and the Suspects breaking up. However, there was still one local hangout associated with a friend that hasn't drifted apart from Steven just yet. "Maybe I could give the arcade a shot."

Walking towards the Funland Arcade, Steven found Mr. Smiley just getting done with carrying some new games into the arcade while a poster advertising those games was hanging outside the building. "Just came in: multiplayer version of beloved video game series Undiscovered." Steven read the poster. "Come one, come all."

"That's not all, the good folks at Sumy also have a ton of other classics downloaded too!" Mr. Smiley said to Steven. "Champion of Conflict, Pressure Scramble, Distorted Plastic, all of them GameStation legends! Come try one of them once in a while."

"Well, maybe Undiscovered could help me blow off some steam after the past two days." Steven realized as he stepped into the arcade to play some Undiscovered and pick the series' rugged, hot-shot leading man William Vespucci to play as. However, what he didn't realize until it was too late was that someone else had picked Vespucci's friendly rival Columbus.

"Well well well, been a long while, hasn't it….uh…." Kevin greeted Steven, only to stop short while trying to remember his young one-sided enemy's name. "Ben, was it? You look like a Ben. Or maybe a Finn."

"Hello, Kevin." Steven greeted the bad boy in a strained voice, resisting the urge to put the controller down and punch him in the face. "What brings you here?"

"Well, word on the street is that you've been teaching Gems that once tried to kill you how to be nice to others." Kevin stated. "And I thought, 'hey, why don't I have a slice of that pie?' So that's why I found you."

"Are you sure this is not another excuse to see Stevonnie again?" Steven asked as the game continued. "Because Connie and I are currently abstaining from-"

"Look kid, you were able to get a bunch of sexy galactic terrorists to stop being terrorists, so why not do the same with me?" Kevin suggested with a smarmy grin. "Well, minus the terrorists part. You still get what I mean, right?"

Steven paused the game and turned to Kevin suspiciously. On one hand, the older boy did seem genuine in his offer, but on the other, it seemed like just another excuse to hit on girls. However, Steven did give the likes of Peridot and the Diamonds a second chance, so as Kevin said, he could probably do the same to him.

"Alright, I'll help you." Steven accepted the offer. "After this round of Undiscovered, I'm gonna take you to Little Homeworld to show you around and teach you some basic kindness. But know this, I'm keeping an eye on you."

"Oh, don't you worry, I'm going to be 100% respectful of others the whole way through." Kevin stated confidently. "Now let's get back to gaming."

The two then returned to playing Undiscovered, and they kept on playing for most of the morning until Steven decided it was time for them to go.

--

"So, this is where the magic happens, eh?" Kevin asked Steven as he was driven out of Beach City and taken to Little Homeworld, where he watched many Gems of all shapes and sizes learn how to fit in on Earth and let go of their oppressive pasts. "Is it true that most of these babes were monsters at some point?"

"Yes, they were monsters." Steven answered. "And please don't call them babes, we discussed this."

"I know, but who's to blame for making them all women?" Kevin tried justifying his earlier comment while they got out of the Dondai.

"You know, I never once asked about where the Gem race came from." Steven came to a realization. "Might have to make a note of that later." As Steven looked around the Gem village to see who he can introduce Kevin to first, he could hear a certain voice crying for revenge.

"LET ME GO YOU TRAITORS!" Emerald shrieked while Demantoid and Pyrope tried to keep her from reaching the Warp Pad at the center of Little Homeworld. "I must find our master, she is the only one that can save me!"

"She's been like this ever since we were unbubbled and enrolled here." Demantoid revealed. "While Pyrope and I have slowly gotten more acclimated to the place, Emerald here hasn't."

"Can't you see this tiny slave driver has brainwashed you all?!" Emerald declared with a finger pointed at Steven. "I will never submit to your concentration camp, never!"

"Yeah, she's going to be one tough nut to crack." Pyrope remarked before she got a look at Kevin. "Oh, and who could this be?"

"Name's Kevin, nice dress." Kevin greeted the Garnet with a kiss of her hand. "And I see your little screaming friend's got one eye. Not gonna discriminate, I like that in a girl."

"Kevin." Steven scolded his rival. "I'm teaching Kevin here how to be nicer to folks and less of a pervert. I think he really wants to change, but I'm still keeping an eye on him."

"But I complimented Pyrope's dress. That's gotta mean something, right?" Kevin asked Steven.

"That's a pretty good start, I'll admit, but you gotta do more than that." Steven advised. "Try striking up a conversation with her."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." Kevin said before turning back to Pyrope. "So, how did you first get here?"

"Well Kevin, it all began when my partner Demantoid and I attempted an uprising against Era 3 using the Light Prisms we owned." Pyrope began explaining her backstory to the human. "We believed the Gem race would be lost without order and sought to install ourselves as the new rulers in place of the Diamonds. However, that would turn out badly and we were poofed & imprisoned, at least until Black Rutile broke us out of our prison to recruit us into her own uprising. But that turned out badly too and we were poofed in the ensuing battle for Earth. Since then, the only other member of Black Rutile's resistance that remained beside the three of us was a belligerent Lapis Lazuli who decided to come here after a Jasper saved her from shattering."

As Pyrope went on, Kevin, out of boredom, rolled his eyes and began to walk elsewhere while Steven crossly looked at him and Pyrope realized too late that Kevin was gone. "Um, where is he?" she asked.

"I'll find him." Steven groaned exasperatedly and walked off after Kevin.

"Pyrope, while you were talking, Emerald had made her escape." Demantoid stated to Pyrope. "I was able to keep her from using the Warp Pad, but that didn't stop her from hiding."

"Oh dear, how could I be so distracted?!" Pyrope exclaimed and raced off with the other Garnet to find Emerald.

--

"Hey cutie, like your curls." Kevin said while trying to hit on a very confused Laz. "What's your name, Baby Blue?"

"Um, Gems here call me Laz." Laz awkwardly introduced herself. "And you are?"

"You can call me the boy of your dreams!" Kevin declared with a flip of his hair, but his advances would have to wait.

"Kevin!" Steven yelled crossly. "You shouldn't have just walked out on Pyrope like that! And you were making good progress too by asking about her story."

"Hey, sorry, she just went on a bit too long." Kevin stated defensively. "And hey, I'm even making a new friend too."

"I was just minding my own business when he walked up and started smooth-talking me, honest." Laz added.

"Well, how about we use this opportunity to give you another lesson?" Steven suggested. "Say you're crossing the street and a woman is in front of a big puddle. What do you do?"

"Tell her to just walk around it?" Kevin answered, causing Steven to facepalm.

"No, you gotta take off your jacket and drop it over the puddle so she can cross." Steven corrected Kevin. "Like in the super old movies. Laz, could you make a puddle?"

"Okay then." Laz complied and generated a small puddle that looked ready to be stepped in with some water nearby. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked Kevin. "Just toss the jacket!"

"Seriously?! This is expensive, ya know!" Kevin grumbled while taking off his jacket to spread out on the puddle. "I didn't sign up for this." Once Kevin shed his jacket, he dropped it on the puddle and allowed Laz to cross.

"Thanks, I guess." Laz thanked the human awkwardly before turning to Steven. "See you around Steven."

"You're welcome." Kevin replied with a bow while Steven picked up the jacket. "There, I learned basic politeness. How about that?"

"Yeah, that's a good start." Steven complimented. "Good job Kev."

"Yes!" Kevin cheered. "Wait, did you just call me Kev?"

"Yeah, I didn't know what just happened either." Steven admitted. "Let's go for one more trial for today."

--

At the greenhouse where Peridot usually had her classes, the Cactus Stevens, now freed from Black Rutile's control, were helping Volleyball, Little Larimar, Orange Spodumene, and Crazy Lace Agate with some gardening when Steven & Kevin walked in.

"Oh, hello Steven." Volleyball greeted Steven. "Haven't seen you in a while, how are things?"

"Doing fine, just had a little meltdown a few days ago, but I'm recovering." Steven replied. "And by the way, I heard what happened at that trial on Homeworld. How long were you spying on us for Black Rutile?"

"Since not too long after you faced White Diamond." Volleyball revealed shyly while tears began to leak. "I was only forced to do it by Black Rutile and Holly Blue, though. But can you still forgive me?"

Before Steven could answer, Kevin pretended to loudly clear his throat to get everyone's attention. "It's cute that Cyclops here wants to apologize for whatever, but remember me?!"

"Sorry, Kevin." Steven apologized before introducing him to the Pearl. "I'd like you to meet Volleyball. She was Pink Diamond's former Pearl before getting her eye cracked and later brainwashed by White Diamond. Volleyball, meet Kevin. I hate his guts, but he wants to become a better person so I'm giving him a chance."

"So, your eye is cracked." Kevin gestured to Volleyball's damaged eye. "What's it like seeing with one eye? Does it, like, affect your sense of direction or whatever?"

"Oh no, I get around pretty fine, especially after fusing with Pearl." Volleyball answered brightly. "Ever since then, the crack still's there but you can barely see a pupil now too."

"Cool, cool." Kevin responded, trying to sound interested before he started looking around the greenhouse. "So let me guess, you grow plants here?"

"Exactly Kevin," Larimar said while holding a potted plant in her hands. "Look at the hydrangeas I'm growing!"

"And my daffodils." Orange Spodumene added as she showed off her flower.

"Watching them all grow is the best part!" Crazy Lace Agate cooed while intensely watching the hyacinths growing in her pot.

"Wow, you are all really into flowers, huh?" Kevin wondered while looking over Crazy Lace's shoulder. "I mean, Steven's teaching you all how to be crazy for Earth, so I won't judge."

"See, you're getting interested in what they're doing, and no sign of hitting on them." Steven declared. "Good job Kevin."

"I mean, after you yelled at me for getting bored during Pyrope's story, I just thought I should wise up a little bit." Kevin stated. "Isn't that what humans do or something, learn from mistakes and grow from them?"

"Yeah, that's pretty profound." Steven answered. "Especially coming from someone like you."

"You're right." Kevin realized. "Did I really just change that fast? I mean, I heard you were able to get those Diamonds to play nice with a silly one-liner and they changed just as quickly!"

"Well, not quite." Steven said. "They still got a lot to work out. Everybody does, even you. And me."

"Uh, what do you mean by that, and why do I have a feeling I'm not going to get a good answer?" Kevin asked nervously. Steven sheepishly looked around at the Gems in the greenhouse before taking Kevin away.

"Let's take this outside." Steven declared.

--

Steven took Kevin back to his car and the two drove away from Little Homeworld all the way back to Beach City in complete silence. A silence that Kevin found a bit concerning before the two returned to town before he finally spoke up. "Uh, anything the matter?" he asked. "You've been quiet since we left the greenhouse."

"It's just about what I've been through lately." Steven finally spoke up while stopping the car. "Ever since we last saw each other at that party, I've learned that my mom Rose Quartz was Pink Diamond, went to Homeworld where I saw the Crystal Gems get turned into extensions of White Diamond, nearly got killed by Spinel while all organic life was at risk of being killed by her injector, learned that a sociopathic revolutionary wants to kill me & conquer the galaxy and nearly got thrown off a cliff to my death. And that's only a few notable incidents."

"Wait, thrown off a cliff?!" Kevin exclaimed while the two boys emerged from the Dondai Supremo. "Sociopathic revolutionary? Dang, you been through a lot."

"Yep, and after all that, I learned that I basically have PTSD and my body has been acting really weird lately." Steven continued. "I sometimes turn pink when I get real angry, and more recently my body started inflating out of control a few days ago."

"Yeesh, am I lucky to not have a mom who's a Gem, no offense." Kevin sardonically sympathized. "My parents are usually off doing business or going to fancy parties."

"You know, that reminds me." Steven said as he sat down on the front of the Supremo. "What was your life like? I don't think I ever bothered to ask. Or maybe I hated you too much back then to even think of asking."

"You want my backstory? Well, here goes." Kevin answered and sat down next to Steven. "Just like me, my old man Winston was a real player and a pretty well-off guy. His philosophy of using the right words and moves to win hearts was what won him a wife, my mom Venus, and then came yours truly." He explained. "I was kind of a bit like you as a kid, really sensitive and sweet. But when my girlfriend Sabina ditched me, that was when my dad decided to teach me how to be a charmer. But unfortunately, that didn't win me many friends, especially you. But after spending time with you and helping you get back together with Connie, I just thought it would be time to make a change, but you were too busy to hear me out."

"So, you been wanting this ever since that night?" Steven gasped in realization.

"Yeah, right." Kevin replied. "Then again, like you said, I still got a lot to work out. Which reminds me, what's the status on you and Connie?"

"That's the thing, Kevin." Steven blushed while curling up into a ball. "I tried proposing to Connie so that I'd know what my future would hold, but she said no, and I let it bottle up until the next day at the doctor."

"Wait, you proposed to Connie?!" Kevin exclaimed in shock. "I mean, like, marriage proposal?! Aren't you a little young to get married?"

"Yes, yes I am." Steven replied solemnly. "But still, it was nice getting to talk about it with someone, even if it was with someone I hated in the past."

"You got that right." Kevin declared. "We sure got off on the wrong foot, but even I know you've been through a lot."

"And I know you can be different from your dad," Steven responded. "like how I want to be different from my mom."

"Yeah." Kevin stated before looking at his watch. "Whoo, look at the time!" he realized before hopping off the Dondai's hood. "Got places to be, but maybe we can do this again sometime!"

"If you ever want more niceness tips, you know who to call." Steven said goodbye to Kevin.

"Likewise." Kevin grinned as he walked away. "Catch you later!"

After the two boys waved each other goodbye, Steven got off the hood of his car and began driving it back to the beach house while monologuing to himself. "If I can change Kevin, maybe I could change Black Rutile too." He muttered, but the mere thought of Black Rutile turned Steven's optimistic grin into a tense frown. "Maybe."

--

Well, this has been a more low-key chapter compared to the two chapters before it. But next time, we kick things up again as we move onto Gems' Night Out, which I am so excited to write! We got Amethyst & Lapis as Bond girls, Garnet & Bismuth solving mysteries together, Steven being gaslit by Black Rutile into believing no one ever cared for him & that he must fight back against his loved ones, and Pearl & Peridot mingling with some of the most unique kinds of human known to man: nerds. Like I said, I'm real excited for this.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #kevin steven universe #emerald #demantoid #pyrope #mean lapis #pink pearl #orange spodumene #little larimar #crazy lace agate

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 9: Little Graduation (originally posted on March 15, 2021)

AN: It's good to be back in business! Steven Universe: Alternate Future has returned at last, and with it, the plot begins to thicken. If I were to compare all four parts to RWBY, the previous one is Volume 1 (goofy fun times with some fighting), this one will be Volume 2 (a fine mix of both), Part 3 is Volume 3 (everything goes to hell), and finally Part 4 is a mix of Volumes 4 & 5 (dealing with the aftermath of Part 3, but things will get much better at the end.) Anyways, can Steven keep a lid on his negative emotions? How long before he learns what Black Rutile has planned for him? And will he be both physical and mentally strong enough to fight one last evil Gem? Tune in and find out!

Synopsis: As Steven prepares a party for Little Homeschool's first graduating class, his fears of growing apart from his friends slowly become reality.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Matthew Moy as Lars

Kate Micucci as Sadie

Indya Moore as Shep

Brian Posehn as Sour Cream

Lamar Abrams as Buck

Reagan Gomez Preston as Jenny

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Deedee Magno Hall as Morganite's Pearl

Charlyne Yi as Morganite's Ruby

Laura Bailey as Titanite

Michaela Dietz as Blue Lace Agate

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

--

"Teens by day, hey! We're all right." Steven began singing along to Sade Killer and the Suspects' hit song as he drove away from home one relaxing day in Beach City. "Teens by day, but every night we're Sadie Killer and the Suspects! Whoa, Sadie Killer and the Suspects!"

Steven continued singing as he drove through Beach City until he made a stop at Lars's interstellar pastry shop Spacetries. Today was a special day, and Lars was going to be an essential part of it.

"Hey, Blue Lace." Steven greeted the Agate as he entered the shop.

"Hey, Steven." Blue Lace replied with a wave. "If you're looking for Lars, he's right over there." She added before getting back to rolling some dough.

"Hey Steven, here to pick up the cake?" Lars asked while looking over the order Steven placed.

"Yeah," Steven answered. "but I also wanted to check up on you. How are things?"

"Oh, y'know, same old same old." The pink man replied just as the door opened behind the pair. "Wait, is that-"

"Hey Steven, hi Lars!" Sadie Miller cheerfully greeted the duo. When Steven and Lars turned around, they saw that Sadie had changed a lot since they last saw her. Sadie's hair was now fully blonde again and in a ponytail. She wore a pink headband, had a white shirt with a blue one tied around her waist, and black pants. "Long time no see, you two."

"Sadie!" Steven cheered at the sight of his old friend. "Oh my gosh, I can't remember the last time we were together in a pastry establishment!"

"Yo Sadie, I got your moon cakes." Lars said, presenting a box with a moon symbol on the sides to his former co-worker and handing it to her.

"Thanks, Lars." Sadie responded gratefully as she took the box of moon cakes.

"So, how are things going with you and Shep?" Lars followed up.

"What?" Steven asked, completely confused about who the pair were talking about. "Who's Shep?"

"Shep's my new partner." Sadie said to Steven. "They're real cool & chill, and I can't believe we've been dating for two months now!"

"That's cool, I guess." Lars said awkwardly. "Tell them I said hi for me."

"Will do, Lars." Sadie replied as she left the store. "See you again someday."

"Shep, someday?" Steven continued asking, still unaware of what was going on. "Is there something I'm missing?"

"As Sadie said, Shep's her new partner." Lars reiterated for his ex-girlfriend. "They met while the Suspects were touring, and love was just in the air for them from there. I met them myself, and I find it nice Sadie fell for someone who isn't a real piece of work like I was back in the day."

"Yeah, you were kind of a jerk back then." Steven chuckled nostalgically. "Which reminds me, why did Sadie say "see you again someday"?"

"Oh, that." Lars said, nervously rubbing his neck. "Really wish I told you earlier, but I'm gonna be going back to space once the Off-Colors graduate tonight."

"Wait, you're leaving Earth so soon?!" Steven gasped at the shocking news. "But what about the shop?!"

"Don't worry, Steven, I'll cover for him!" Blue Lace called from her counter.

"Thanks, Blue Lace! I always could count on you." Lars said to his employee before returning to Steven. "I'm just ready to move on, cause that's just life. You get what I'm saying, right? I mean, now that Little Homeschool is all finished, what do you wanna do now?"

"I, uh…" Steven began stumbling over his words at the thought of thinking about what to do next now that he's saved the universe from the Diamonds' tyranny and resolving most of his issues with his family.

"Hey, graduation cake's ready!" Lars declared, derailing Steven's train of thought. "See you tonight, Steven, okay?"

"Okay." Steven replied.

--

"When me and my partners first discovered fusion, it was the most wonderful experience any of us had shared, and couldn't bear to be torn apart from then on." One of Fluorite's components, a large green Gem named Titanite, said to an audience of fellow Gems and humans later that night at the big graduation ceremony. Behind her stood her lovers, Lavender Jade, Iolite, Rubellite, Indicolite & Verdelite, along with the Ruby & Pearl that make up Rhodonite, the Rutile twins, and Padparadscha Sapphire. "Even when we declared pariahs for our love, we refused to let it get us down. Now, centuries later, we're finally free to express ourselves without fear of persecution, and we couldn't be happier. Thank you, Steven, for everything."

The audience began cheering as Titanite bowed and returned to her partners to give them all a big hug, which resulted in them all forming Fluorite once again. "Oh my." She said slowly. "It really has been so long since we've been apart."

As Fluorite took her place alongside the other Off-Colors, Ruby and Pearl were next. "As Titanite said, fusion was the most wonderful time we spent together." The Pearl stated. "In fact, Fluorite was the first cross-Gem fusion just like us that we encountered, and our little Off-Color family grew from there."

"The Morganite we formerly served refused to let us fuse because she feared it would endanger her status until she finally had us replaced." The Ruby added. "When we got the news, we fled as soon as it was broken to us while Shattering Robonoids chased us down. But thankfully, we were able to survive, and now, here we are."

The audience cheered again as the pair of Gems kissed on stage, once again merging into Rhodonite before she took her place alongside the Off-Colors. Next to make a speech were the Rutile twins.

"My sister here and I popped out as one Gem due to some incident with the Injectors that created us." The left Rutile explained. "We weren't even supposed to live, but we did anyways because all the other Rutiles ran from us."

"We were nearly shattered right then and there, but Fluorite found a way to help us escape, and there we stayed." The right Rutile added. "At least, until Steven and Lars came into our lives, on the run as well. We helped them out, and they helped us in return. And we couldn't be more grateful."

As the Rutiles left the mic, Padparadscha Sapphire became the last Off-Color to give a speech. However, hers was a lot shorter. "I'm going to give a grand speech at the graduation ceremony tonight!" she declared brightly. "Oh, what fun!"

The crowd began laughing before Steven took the mic for himself and led Padparadscha away. "Thank you, Paddy, that was very moving." He joked, prompting more laughter. "We're all so proud to see our graduates grow and stay together as everyone goes their separate ways while moving onto bigger and better things. Well, besides me, of course. I'll be staying right here in Beach City, teaching the next generation of Little Homeschool graduates. Okay, now move those tassels!"

The Off-Colors each moved the tassels on their caps.

"Now, let's give a hearty con-grad-ulations to our first alumnae of Little Homeschool!" Steven exclaimed, prompting everyone to cheer.

--

Soon after, the Off-Colors left the stage while a party celebrating the ceremony commenced. Steven wandered around the beach, looking around at Gems and humans interacting before seeing Sadie interacting with someone he never saw before. They were dark-skinned and wearing a backwards cap, a crop top, nose ring, purple joggers, blue and white high-tops, four colorful bracelets, and a dark green backpack.

"Oh, hey Steven, I never got the chance to introduce you to my new partner." Sadie called for Steven. "I'd like you to meet Shep."

"It's nice to meet you, Steven." Shep greeted Steven.

"So, is it true that you and Sadie have been dating for almost two months?" Steven asked Shep.

"Yeah, that's true." Shep replied. "We met during one of Sadie's concerts a while back, and after exchanging numbers, things just fell into place."

"You know, some people say you don't really get to know them until you get stranded on an island with them." Steven chuckled, though Shep didn't get his joke.

"Uh, do people really say that?" Shep wondered. "Whatever. Sadie and I are going to get cake; then we'll perform at 7."

"That's right." Sadie laughed before the two of them left for some graduation cake. "See you then Steven."

"Wait a sec; I thought you were performing with the Suspects?" Steven halted Sadie for a bit.

"Actually, Shep and I are planning to do a song together." The ex-donut girl said, gesturing to her non-binary partner.

"Uh, cool. Can't wait to get it." Steven replied nervously.

"Cool." Shep smiled as they left with Sadie. "Catch you later."

Steven noticed Lars was also going to get some cake and tried to block his path. "I wouldn't go over there if I were you."

"Is something the matter Steven?" Lars asked his younger friend. "I mean, the cake was just what you ordered."

"No, it's about Sadie and Shep." Steven revealed while gazing at the couple.

"Oh, nice." Lars grinned. "I'll stop by and say hey."

"But, aren't you okay?!" Steven tried to call for the pink man.

"Aren't you?" Lars repeated Steven's question, causing the half-Gem boy to put on a fake grin.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Steven replied before he spotted Jenny Pizza sitting on the stage, having herself a drink. "'sup, Jenny?"

"Hey Steven!" the Pizza girl greeted Steven. "Looks like everyone's enjoying the graduation so far."

"Yep, everyone but me." Steven said sorrowfully. "I guess it looks like everyone's got something new going on."

"Yeah, it's not a bad thing, though," Jenny replied before she began pointing at both of her fellow Cool Kids. "Sour Cream has regular gigs as a DJ in Empire City." She explained while Sour Cream laid on Fluorite's massive head, and Buck conversed with Rhodonite at the refreshments. "And Buck's got into medical school, so he's gonna be saving lives in like, 20 years. Meanwhile, I've been going all out on my new phone jackets."

"What's that?" Steven asked before Jenny pulled out her phone, which was wearing a miniature coat to demonstrate.

"It's my new online business," Jenny explained. "We, and I'm using the royal we here, make the finest jackets suited for your mobile device."

"Aw, it's got little pockets!" Steven cooed in amazement at the jacket's features before he made another discovery. "And it's got its own little phone too! How are you going to find time to make and sell these?"

"Well, I'm gonna have a lot of time now that the Suspects are breaking up." Jenny casually revealed to Steven's alarm.

"Seriously, what?!" Steven yelled in shock.

"I suppose Sadie didn't tell you." Jenny guessed, just as Sadie and Shep returned from eating cake.

"Hey Steven, you ready for us?" Sadie asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Steven suddenly remembered and walked over to the microphone. "So, is everyone having a good time tonight?" he asked the audience, and they cheered in response. "Who here's a Sadie Killer and the Suspects fan?! Cause tonight's performance only has one member."

"Oh boy." Lars muttered.

"So, please welcome to the stage," Steven continued, but then stopped to ask the two musicians. "Uh, what's your band called again?"

"We haven't thought of a name yet." Sadie admitted.

"Uh-huh, well, could've asked me." Steven giggled nervously before he began to walk offstage. "I'm really good at naming bands."

As Steven left, Sadie turned the microphone to her. "This is a little something Shep and I have been working on lately." She announced. "We hope you all like it."

"We will accept any criticism afterward." Shep stated when Sadie pointed the microphone to them before playing their recorder, cuing Sadie to sing.

"When I was younger and I hated fun," Sadie sang. "I was always looking back on what I should've done. I used to live my life in fear, of all the bad performances that led me here. But, I'm looking forward, I'm looking forward. I'm looking forward now."

While the song continued, Lars turned away from his ex on stage and proceeded to walk away.

"Lars?" Steven said to the donut boy turned space hero.

"Oh, hey Steven." Lars calmly greeted his friend, who began to run after him.

"Lars, wait up!" Steven called. "Hey Lars, where are you going?"

"I'm just gonna bounce, only wanted to spend time with the old gang before the Off-Colors and I go off-world," Lars answered. "Big parties really ain't my thing."

"But, you're leaving Earth tomorrow!" Steven cried as his body began taking on a faded pink hue. "When can I ever see you again?"

"You can see me whenever." Lars tried to assure Steven. "I've got the same powers as that lion of yours, so you can just pop out of my hair whenever you want."

"W-w-w-wait, please don't go!" Steven begged the space captain.

"It's been real Steven." Lars said farewell, or so he thought.

"Lars," Steven muttered before he fully turned pink. "STOP!"

Suddenly, Lars found himself bumping into a pink wall that slowly grew into a massive dome that trapped everyone at the ceremony.

"Steven, what's happening?!" Lars yelled as he pounded on the wall of the dome.

"I have no idea either!" Steven exclaimed in response.

"Really, you got no idea where this dome came from?!" Sour Cream yelled.

"Let's hope it doesn't end up like in that book!" Buck replied.

"I think this dome was created by someone having some powerful emotions, and I think we all know who it is." Steven declared before pointing to who he thought it was. "Lars!"

"Wait, what?!" everyone else gasped in shock.

"I don't think that's right!" Lars said defensively.

"No, I'm sure I'm right!" Steven lied to get out of opening up about his own feelings. "We won't get out of here until you work things out with Sadie! I'm pretty sure you guys haven't even talked since you got back, Lars!"

"We actually did, a few times." Sadie revealed solemnly. "Look, Steven, we did try to reconnect, but things just didn't work out between us. Plus, there's also the fact that despite how much we changed, we just weren't right for each other."

"Sadie knows I miss her, and I'm just too happy that she found someone to love herself." Lars added, prompting a touched reaction from Shep.

"And I know Lars is happier being with the Off-Colors in space." Sadie said.

"But when did this happen?!" Steven cried in disbelief. "I wasn't there for any of that!"

"That's because it was private!" Sadie answered.

"Yeah, I mean, you can't just stick yourself into other people's lives like the universe revolves around you and things only happen with you around." Lars pointed out. "Trust me; I know what that's like. Mostly the universe revolving around you part."

The crowd inside the dome was silent for a tiny bit, except for Jenny letting out a cough.

"But, I thought you were leaving because you were jealous of Shep." Steven broke the silence.

"I'm leaving because traveling through space is tons of fun." Lars declared. "Adventure is out there, as they say, and there's still tons of adventures for me and the Off-Colors to go on. Heck, we can even teach other planets what you taught us!"

"Okay, so there's nothing to work out then." Steven realized, but then he noticed something. "Hey, is it getting claustrophobic in here, or is it just me?"

The dome began to shrink more and more, despite everyone's best efforts to push it back.

"Steven, you want to get rid of this dome already?!" Rhodonite panicked while helping the Cool Kids try to keep the dome from shrinking.

"I'm trying, okay?!" Steven yelled anxiously. "Just gotta concentrate real hard!"

"Hey, Steven?" Shep stepped forward to comfort Steven.

"Not now, Shep, still concentrating!" Steven tried to ignore Shep.

"Please, listen to me." Shep urged the boy.

"Look, if I don't get rid of this dome quick, all my friends will die!" Steven screamed, now on the verge of tears.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Lars quipped in the possible face of death.

"Okay, but your magic's connected to your feelings, correct?" Shep theorized as they looked around them. "This is just a hunch, but it seems you made this dome because you're sad your friends are leaving, and want them to stay with you."

"I don't see what you're talking about." Steven replied.

"No, listen, you'd be surprised at how observant I can be." Shep assured Steven. "I think maybe you're figuring yourself out, and you want some friends to help you."

"Okay, you're right!" Steven confessed. "I've always been trying to help my friends, but now it seems like they don't need me anymore! I don't know who I am without them!"

"Aw, Steven, you're great. But you still need to let us go and live our own lives." Sadie convinced him while the dome began to squeeze them all together.

"I know, but I don't want to hold any of you back." Steven let out his current feelings as he felt himself get crushed between the dome and Fluorite's body. "I just can't help it if my big ol' heart still loves you all."

"Awww, Steven!" Jenny squealed in delight.

"We'll all still be friends." Sadie assured her little friend.

"Even if some of us are lightyears away." Lars added hopefully.

"You guys." Steven giggled before he returned to his normal color, and the dome finally disappeared.

"Hm, that wasn't the worst party we've been to." Jenny stated before she began to leave.

"Yeah, see ya Steven." Sour Cream added, beginning to walk away as well.

"At least there was no toxic air involved." Buck concurred.

"It was nice seeing you again." Sadie said, hugging Steven.

"Yeah, it was nice seeing all of you again too," Steven replied, now happier than he was earlier. "You two make a good couple."

"Hey, thanks." Shep replied gratefully. "You want a CD of our song?"

"How about a tape?" Steven suggested to them.

"Got your back." Shep said, handing Steven a tape of the song they just played. "Okay, take it easy."

As the couple left, Steven was now left alone with Lars. "Uh, Lars?"

"Gotta make this quick, Steven." Lars answered. "Me and the Off-Colors gotta," He stuck his tongue out and made a raspberry sound.

"First off, I'm sorry for what happened," Steven said meekly. "And second, do you think I can be a bit too controlling?"

"This coming from the guy who took over my body because you wanted me to be a nicer person." Lars chuckled. "But it's still cute you didn't want me to leave."

"I don't want you to leave!" Steven exclaimed.

"Hey, buck up Steven." Lars comforted the half-Gem. "As I said earlier, you can visit me anytime."

"It's just, for a second, we were all together on Earth again." Steven sighed heavily. "Maybe I just don't like graduations. Maybe I should leave Little Homeschool."

"Hey, come here." Lars then brought Steven in for a hug while the Off-Colors stood by watching. "Are you going to let go anytime soon?"

"Just a couple more minutes." Steven replied.

--

The next day, the Crystal Gems had begun welcoming new students to Little Homeschool. But Steven, having now quit teaching at the school, was still a little gloomy from last night.

While Sadie and Shep's song played in Steven's car, he drove out into the woods and then laid down on the roof, gazing up at the night sky. Just what was next for him?

--

"Lars of the Stars is back in business, baby!" Lars cheered as he once again made himself comfortable in the captain's seat of the Sun Incinerator. "So, what should we do now gang? Something good? Something bad? A bit of both?"

"You lead the way, captain." Rhodonite turned back to her human captain with a smile.

"Y'know what, let's just fly around and see what happens!" Lars declared after giving it some thought and ordered the Incinerator to blast off into the starry yonder.

Close by, another spaceship loomed behind the Sun Incinerator, and its captain had the Off-Colors by the tail.

"Finally." Emerald declared to herself as she spied on her prized ship flying around. "After so much waiting, I have you in my sights."

Emerald then pulled up a holographic screen that presented her with Black Rutile, and she eagerly awaited further commands from her cape-wearing master.

--

So opens the curtain on Part 2. Will we see Lars and the Off-Colors again, and will Emerald finally get her precious Sun Incinerator back? But enough about them for now, wait until later this part while we start dealing with more Earth-based matters, like plants for example! See you then!

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #lars barriga #sadie miller #shep #fluorite #rhodonite #rutile twins #padparadscha sapphire

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 8: Black and White (originally published on January 25, 2021)

Author's Note: At long last, the long-awaited conclusion to Part 1 of Steven Universe: Alternate Future is upon us! This may seem like an innocuous love letter to the mockumentary genre (I even watched This is Spinal Tap on HBO Max for inspiration), but the ending will change everything you will see in this chapter! But I'm through being dramatic, let's boogie!

Synopsis: A Black Rutile and her partner White Topaz want to get answers from Steven.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven, Onion

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Ocean Jasper

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Black Rutile’s Pearls

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Jennifer Paz as Lapis Lazuli, Zuli, Mean Lapis

Shelby Rabara as Peridot

Kimberly Brooks as Cherry Quartz, Jasper

Ian Jones-Quartey as Snowflake Obsidian

Michelle Maryk as Little Larimar

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite

Grace Rolek as Connie

Crispin Freeman as Doug

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Priyanka

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Zach Steel as Ronaldo

Eugene Cordero as Jamie

Joel Hodgson as Mr. Dewey

Reagan Gomez Preston as Jenny, Kiki

Brian Posehn as Sour Cream

Lamar Abrams as Buck

Matthew Moy as Lars

Kate Micucci as Sadie

Alastair James as Rainbow Quartz 2.0

Shoniqua Shondai as Sunstone

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Olivia Olson as Black Rutile's Citrines

Featuring Noël Wells as Black Rutile

And Lauren Ash as White Topaz

--

"Is the camera ready, Topaz?"

"It's ready, my Rutile!"

"You idiot, you forgot to turn on the lens!"

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, my Rutile, let me fix that!"

A camera was turned on inside a black-colored dropship, where a matching-colored Rutile in a green visor and white cape sat down in a captain's chair, confident and charming. "Hello, universe!" the Rutile greeted. "My name is Black Rutile, and welcome to Eye on Era 3, the special interview show where we discuss with Gems about the changes a certain Steven Universe brought to our proud culture!"

"And I'm White Topaz!" the Topaz operating Black Rutile's camera turned the lens to herself and cheerfully waved to the audience.

"Uh, Topaz, over here." Black Rutile ordered.

"Oh, sorry!" White Topaz muttered and turned the camera back to her superior.

"Anyways, we've traveled across the stars to chat it up with all sorts of Gems." The Rutile continued ecstatically. "From Pearls free from slavery, to proud Emerald pilots! Agates with no one to order around, Lapis Lazulis thinking they're lost in the world, and even a few fusions here and there! But today, we're gonna get answers straight from the mouth of this so-called "new Pink Diamond" himself!" she stated, making air-quotes while calling Steven the new Pink Diamond.

"My Rutile, we are closing in on Earth." A Citrine piloting Black Rutile's ship announced. "Is there any good spot you'd like to land?"

"Let's try that Little Homeworld place I've heard so much about." Black Rutile suggested. "We're bound to get tons of special guests there."

"Yes, your clarity." The Citrine complied, and she returned to her station.

"In case you were stuck in a Kindergarten for the past couple hundred years, Little Homeworld is where tons of Gems formerly corrupted by the Diamonds at the end of the Rebellion have made their home." Black Rutile narrated over footage of Little Homeschool. "The number one hotspot of this little bit of home is Little Homeschool, where Gems from all over come to learn how to mingle with the life on Earth and let go of the old ways."

"Hey, you think maybe we could go to that place, BR?" White Topaz grinned eagerly.

"Don't forget about our plans." Black Rutile said under her breath to her Topaz bodyguard. "I mean, we should be nearing Little Homeworld any minute now, so stay tuned!"

--

Gems began to gather when Black Rutile's ship made its landing in Little Homeworld, and the landing door opened to reveal its owner and her sidekick strolling out.

"Oh my, we already have quite a crowd here!" Black Rutile laughed into a microphone. "Now then, I'll pick a few lucky Gems from our audience here to answer some questions about their experiences on Earth." Looking around, Black Rutile managed to pick out Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli from the huddling Gems. "Ah, you three, over there!"

"Us?" Lapis asked.

"Could you care to tell us how life has been on Earth for you?" Black Rutile asked, sticking her microphone out to the trio.

"I've actually been on Earth about as long as Lapis here." Bismuth answered, gesturing to Lapis. "I was one of the original Crystal Gems under Rose Quartz, chosen because I wanted to build whatever I wanted, with no uppercrusts to order me around! But my methods of dealing with the enemy was a bit more extreme than what she was used to, so Rose took one in particular a bit personally and had me poofed & bubbled. In hindsight, maybe Rose was worried that her cover would've been blown."

"As Bismuth said, I was on Earth for a very long time." Lapis began speaking into the mic. "I was supposed to be there for only a little bit to assist in terraforming, but then I got caught in the war and was poofed before being confused for a Crystal Gem. I was interrogated while my gem was stuck in a mirror, but that kind of got cut short when the Diamonds unleashed their final attack and forced everyone to flee. I was left behind by accident, and someone cracked my gem by stepping on it, and years later, I was found by Pearl, who kept me in her gem until Steven freed me."

"Aw, what a happy ending!" White Topaz cooed.

"Yeah, no." Lapis sardonically corrected White Topaz. "After I was freed from the mirror, I nearly drowned tons of people because I wanted to get home, but then home turned out to be a lot different from when I left it. I was once again made a prisoner by Peridot and Jasper, who then invaded Earth because I met the Crystal Gems that everyone thought were defeated in the Rebellion, then I fused with Jasper to protect Steven, which took a number on both of our mental states, I was freed yet again, then I left Earth because I was told the Diamonds might be coming, before coming back only to get poofed by Yellow Diamond."

"Much like Lapis, I was only supposed to be on Earth for a short while to perform my duties." Peridot began telling her story. "I was supposed to check up on the old Galaxy Warp, but then the Crystal Gems kept getting in my way no matter what. Before I knew it, I was without help, without any working technology, and then without my limb enhancers. I don't think I even bothered to ask where the Gems put them."

"A Lapis, a Bismuth and a Peridot. What an unlikely trio." Black Rutile mused. "Tell me, what was it that made you three decide to work alongside each other in the first place."

"Well, it all began when Steven and the Crystal Gems left Earth to convince White Diamond to help them cure corruption." Bismuth said. "I elected to stay behind on Earth to watch over these two."

"Ooh, ooh, can I do a reenactment?!" White Topaz asked, to which Black Rutile responded with a sigh.

"Proceed." Black Rutile muttered, tapping on her camera to produce a light shining on the surface of the dropship. White Topaz began to shapeshift her fingers into various characters, and started a shadow puppet show.

"Bye Bismuth, I'm gonna go to Homeworld and hope we can convince White Diamond to help us save the corrupted Gems." White Topaz said, imitating Steven. "You do you kid. I'm gonna watch over those other Gems while you're away." She continued, now impersonating Bismuth. "Have fun!"

Steven's shadow puppet was raised into the air as White Topaz made rocket sounds, followed by turning more of her fingers into Peridot and Lapis. Black Rutile just gave an annoyed glare to the camera.

"Hey, where's Steven?" White Topaz's impression of Lapis asked. "Oh, him? He ran off to Homeworld with the Diamonds." Her mimicry of Bismuth answered. "Oh my stars, are we too late?!" an aping of Peridot cried out.

"Do I really sound like that?" Peridot muttered as the shadow play went on.

"No little guy, he's fine!" White Topaz's impression of Bismuth continued. "Just something about corruption or whatever."

"Okay, I think we've seen enough!" Black Rutile laughed awkwardly as she interrupted the puppet show.

"Aw, but I was getting to the good part!" White Topaz moaned sadly.

"To be fair, you were almost spot on." Bismuth stated. "When Steven told us through some weird watermelon creature that looked just like him that trouble was indeed brewing on Homeworld, Peridot and Lapis reformed not too long after and we came together out of a desire to help him out."

"United by a common goal, how quaint." Black Rutile smiled and folded her hands behind her back, trying to hide their fidgeting. "Now then, would anyone else like to come up and chat?"

"I would, I would, I would!" Teal Zircon cried as she pushed her way through the crowd. "Hi, name's Teal Zircon, nice to meet you!" she greeted Black Rutile while rapidly shaking her hand. "So, you wanted to learn about my time here on Earth?"

"You're awfully excitable." Black Rutile pushed up her visor by the bridge with a grin. "More to the point, I'd like to hear your story Ms. Zircon."

"Gladly!" Teal Zircon exclaimed. "Like many of the Gems here, I was once corrupted by the Diamonds and became a long-tongued speedster that Peridot tried to capture no matter what, through hell or high water. Eventually, she did succeed, and I was stuck in the barn she and Lapis called home, until the Crystal Gems took me to their place. One day, I was healed by Steven along with a Cherry Quartz and shown around Little Homeschool. That same day, Steven took me along to see a Jasper who didn't want to go to school, and I was willing to become her friend, but I'm pretty sure she hates my guts."

"I'll have to check up on this Jasper sometime." Black Rutile commented. "Now then, anyone else care to share?"

"I'd like to." Zuli answered as she flew up and touched down next to Black Rutile. "I only came here a few weeks ago after Steven recommended the place to a former friend of mine and me. We were terraforming this moon called Aozul 2, but Steven and this other Lapis that we were buddies with back in our terraforming days told us that wasn't cool anymore, so they taught us new ways to express ourselves. I was a lot more accepting, but my ex-friend didn't want to change. To this day, I still don't know where she's at."

"May I go next?" Cherry Quartz asked Black Rutile.

"Sure, go ahead." Black Rutile answered, passing the mic to the Quartz.

"I was an average Quartz soldier made to fight in the war, but then I got corrupted, of course." Cherry began. "Then Steven came along and healed me along with TZ, and introduced us to Little Homeschool. I was a little nervous at first, but while Steven was away, I met up with some fellow Quartzes who told me all about how great it was here."

"I was the first corrupted Gem Steven helped defeat." Nephrite said, taking the mic from Cherry Quartz. "I was actually brought back out a few times, the first was a complete accident & I was poofed soon after, but the second time was when Steven thought he could try to heal me, but instead he reunited me with my old crew."

"Okay, we're running out of time here folks, I got other people to interview, and I haven't got all day!" Black Rutile yelled. "Which one wants to cap off this part?!"

"Little Larimar and I wanna talk." Snowflake Obsidian answered. "Hi, I'm Snowflake Obsidian. This is my buddy Little Larimar."

"We were corrupted Gems too." Larimar said. "I remember when Steven dropped us into that fountain, and we were all right as rain. Then years later, he helped us all find jobs that he thought were right for us, but then hilarity ensued."

"Wow, pretty much everyone here has such nice things to say about Steven." Black Rutile commented while putting on an eerie fake smile. "Isn't there anyone on this planet that doesn't love him?"

"Well, there is Jasper, kind of." Bismuth answered. "I say kind of because I have no idea what's even up with her ever since she was uncorrupted. I mean, she does express a teeny bit of gratitude for it, but she still would rather stay as far away from us as possible."

"To be frank, I wouldn't blame her." Lapis agreed. "Anyway, if you want to interview her, she's in a cave in the woods nearby."

"Good to know, Lapis." Black Rutile thanked Lapis. "I do hope we can see each other again sometime." She laughed as she and White Topaz began leaving Little Homeworld. "Perhaps even sooner than you think."

--

"We've all had our fun in Little Homeworld, but there's still a Gem we've yet to cover as we move on with our tour of Earth." Black Rutile continued narrating while walking in the woods. "This Gem, in particular, has been living in the woods ever since she was cured of an unfortunate case of corruption, and refuses to join her fellow Gems at Little Homeschool! Well, let's see if she can tell us why."

"Is that where she's living over there?" White Topaz asked as she pointed the camera to a cave with a tarp over the entrance.

"I think you might be right!" Black Rutile exclaimed as she raced over to the cave. "Excuse me, does Jasper live here?!"

"No she doesn't, now get out." Jasper's voice grumbled from within the cave.

"If Jasper isn't here, then who are you?" White Topaz asked, forcing Jasper to emerge from her cave.

"Someone who's going to pulverize you if you don't leave me alone." Jasper snarled.

"But we just wanted to ask about your time here on Earth!" Black Rutile nervously explained.

"Guess what, I'm not interested." Jasper added. "Now let me repeat myself, beat it, or I'm gonna beat you!"

"I think we should do as she says, my Rutile!" White Topaz began sweating nervously and slowly stepping away from Jasper.

"Righto." Black Rutile agreed before they ran away from Jasper. "But trust me, I think she might be useful to us."

--

"Well, that went horribly." White Topaz commented the farther she and Black Rutile got from Jasper. "Now where are we?"

"I'm not sure." Black Rutile answered while gazing at a terraced house. "But I do believe we have our next interviewee!"

"Which is?" White Topaz asked her superior.

"The residence of one Connie," Black Rutile declared, bringing up data on Connie on her visor, but then stopped at her last name. "Moo-hee-swear-ann. Seriously, how do you pronounce that?" The reporter decided to brush that off with a shrug and proceeded to knock on the door. "Good day Ms. Moo-hee-swear-ann, my name is Black Rutile, here to interview you about your experiences on Earth."

"It's Maheswaran, in case you're struggling to pronounce it." Connie's mother Priyanka corrected the Rutile. "Now, can I help you?"

"Oh, my apologies." Black Rutile said. "You look a lot taller than my data says."

"I believe you have me confused for my daughter, I'm her mother." Priyanka stated. "If you wish to speak with Connie, she's busy with college preparations, so you can only speak for 15 minutes."

"Uh, question!" White Topaz raised her hand. "What's college?"

--

"So you're doing all this for a TV show?" Connie asked Black Rutile moments later in the living room.

"You could say that." Black Rutile answered with a grin. "I'm working on an investigative report chronicling everyone's experiences with Era 3, and I'm working towards interviewing all the Crystal Gems and their allies, you included little girl. Now tell me, how did you first meet little Steven?"

"Well, it all started a few years ago." Connie began retelling her first meeting with Steven. "I was minding my own business, Steven was trying to get my attention because he wanted to be my friend, but one thing led to another, and we were stuck in a bubble together."

"Not how I'd expect your species to make new friends, but you do you." White Topaz commented with a grin.

"Anyways, it's all thanks to him that I was able to get out of my comfort zone a bit over the years." Connie continued. "I learned sword fighting from Pearl, became able to fend for myself, and we even fused!"

"Yeah, we still find that a little strange." Her father Doug interjected.

"Fusing with humans, just like they said." Black Rutile whispered to herself.

"Did you say something, miss?" Priyanka asked.

"Oh, nothing." Black Rutile covered up what she just said before moving back to Connie. "It seems like you two are just inseparable!"

"Well, mostly." Connie stated. "When Steven let himself get captured by Aquamarine to save everyone, we were all so worried sick for him. And even when he came back perfectly fine, I still felt like this all could've been avoided if we fought together."

"Oh, poor little girl." Black Rutile comforted Connie, though with a secret hint of condescendence in her voice. "It must be hard to lose someone so dear only for them to come back and disregard your feelings by acting like everything's fine."

"It's okay." Connie said. "We did get back together eventually, and now our bond is stronger than ever!"

"Woo, love wins!" White Topaz cheered, inciting yet another angry glare from her boss. "Um, can I do the shadow puppets again?"

"Go ahead." Black Rutile frowned in embarrassment.

"Wait, your documentary has shadow plays?" Priyanka wondered aloud.

"Don't ask me; this was all her idea!" Black Rutile replied grumpily. "What a childish clod."

"Hey Connie, I'm back from Homeworld! Hope no one missed me." White Topaz began another puppet show, this time of Steven and Connie's brief falling out, while trying her best to mimic Steven. "We did kinda miss you, you could've died!" she continued while imitating Connie's voice. "I don't see what the problem is, I'm standing right here!" the Steven puppet replied carelessly. "Well, we could've stopped Aquamarine together, but you gotta make everything about you!" the Connie puppet declared. "So screw you Steven, I'm going home!"

"Wait, I didn't say anything like that!" the real Connie said nervously.

"Sorry kid, I'm just making this up as I go." White Topaz apologized, and just as she was about to continue her show, Black Rutile cut it short. "Aw man!"

"Well, I think we've just about wrapped up here, friends!" Black Rutile announced. "We've got places to be, people to meet, and more opportunities for me to be humiliated by you, Topaz."

"Well, it was nice to see you." Doug said goodbye as the two Gems left the Maheswarans' house. "Hope your documentary is a big hit!"

"Thank you; you're too kind!" Black Rutile waved back and closed the door, allowing some privacy as she scolded White Topaz. "Was it really necessary for you to go all "love wins" on us, you softhearted fool?" she scowled as they began walking away from the house.

"I'm sorry, I just think they're so adorable together!" White Topaz tried to justify her actions, before Black Rutile pulled her down by her collar.

"We have no time for sappy romances!" the Rutile yelled in her bodyguard's face. "We are here to gather information, and that's final! Are we clear?!"

"Yes, your clarity." White Topaz bowed her head in shame.

"Good, now where were we?" Black Rutile tapped on the side of her visor and pulled up a map of the surrounding area. "Ah, yes! Beach City!" she declared while the map began pointing to the little seaside town.

"Ooh, that place sounds fun." White Topaz commented. "Think maybe we could take a vacation there some time, just you and me?"

"Apologies, but we're on a mission." Black Rutile declared as she put the map away. "We'll have time for fun later, but it'll be my choice of fun. Understand?"

"Yes, boss!" White Topaz gave a comical salute, and the two began setting off for Beach City.

--

"Now then, this place should be full of Steven stories!" Black Rutile announced as the duo strolled into town. "And maybe we could find some of his weaknesses too."

"Hey, check out this funny sign!" White Topaz said while gazing at the sign for It's A Wash. "What do you think is a wash?"

"Hey new Gems, welcome." They heard Greg greet them. "If you came here to sign up for Little Homeschool, you should take it up with the Gems first."

"Oh no sir, we already saw that school." Black Rutile said. "It's all part of a series of interviews I'm doing for my show, Eye on Era 3. Which reminds me, how would you describe your experiences with the Crystal Gems?"

"My experiences?" Greg wondered. "Well, it all started one night when I was just a young rocker on tour. I had arrived in Beach City for a show, and Rose Quartz was the only one who showed up."

"Ah yes, Pink Diamond always had a fascination with humans," Black Rutile interjected. "often at the expense of her own kind."

"Yeah yeah, Pink kinda stunk, but don't we all sometimes?" Greg philosophized. "Like I was saying, Rose was the only one who came to my concert at Beach City, and from then onward, I felt like it was destiny. I even wrote a song about it!" He then walked to his van to search for his guitar, and began to play. "Do you believe in destiny? Close your eyes and leave the rest to-"

"I'm sorry, we have no time for a song." Greg's interviewer cut him off. "Could you please continue, sir?"

"Sorry if I was any trouble." Greg apologized, putting away his guitar. "The Gems didn't have a very high opinion of me when we first met, especially Pearl, but we were still able to get along with each other. Amethyst in particular took a liking to me."

"Speaking of which, are the Gems in town today, or are they off on some magical mission or something?" Black Rutile asked Greg.

"Oh, they kinda retired from going on missions now that everything's at peace." Greg answered. "But, Steven's still at home over there." He then pointed over to the Crystal Temple not too far away from Beach City itself.

"Yes, pay-dirt!" Black Rutile grinned eagerly. "Come along Topaz, we shall hit ratings dynamite!"

"Coming!" White Topaz cried as she raced after her master. "Hey, maybe we can chat with some of the people here along the way! They might give us some good info!"

--

"It was kinda thanks to Steven that I died and came back to life." Lars admitted to Black Rutile. "But also thanks to him, I came back as a completely new man with my own awesome spaceship, a serious attitude adjustment, and ever since I came back to Earth, I've taken up some combat training in case I ever go back to space and fight new threats, like I learned musti-yuddha from Connie's dad for example!"

--

"Lars's disappearance got me kind of depressed for a while." Sadie said while her band prepared for practice. "But I found a new way of expressing it with horror-themed rock music!"

"We had trouble finding our sound before Sadie became our frontman." Buck Dewey stated.

"And since then, we became an overnight hit!" Jenny Pizza exclaimed.

"But I have a feeling our differing paths might cause a break-up." Sour Cream admitted.

--

"Steven had good intentions when he helped me run for re-election," ex-Mayor Dewey said. "but ultimately I lost. But hey, I did find a new calling at the Big Donut!"

--

"I was having stress dreams about my sister making me do her work, which took the form of a giant pizza monster, until Steven used his crazy dream powers to help me out." Kiki Pizza said.

--

"I'll admit, I had a crush on Garnet once upon a time." Jamie declared. "But really, can you blame me?! She was just so stoic and radiant and-"

"Get to the point!" Black Rutile sternly ordered.

"I'm sorry, got a little distracted." Jamie apologized. "But I had since moved onto better things, like my future career in the theater!"

--

"Okay, that should be all." Black Rutile sighed in exhaustion. "Now then, let's not waste any more ti-"

"Wait, I want to talk to you!" Ronaldo cried out as he raced to the Gems with a notebook in hand.

"What do you want?" the reporter grumbled. "We're wasting daylight here!"

"You've been going around asking people questions about Gems, but this time I want to ask you for a change." Ronaldo declared.

"Okay then, fire away little guy." White Topaz said with a smile.

"There are still tons of unanswered questions about your kind that I must inquire about!" Ronaldo said while flipping through his notebook. "Like, for example, do you know who created the Gems in the first place? How was Homeworld first colonized? When did they start colonizing other planets?"

"I don't believe we have time for your questions." Black Rutile snidely shut Ronaldo's questions down before making her way to the Crystal Temple. "Come Topaz, we have work to do."

"Yes, my Rutile!" White Topaz obeyed and followed behind, leaving Ronaldo in the dust.

"You can run, but I will get my answers!" Ronaldo declared loudly, but he was too late. "And they're gone."

--

"Okay, Topaz, we have to make a good first impression here, so no silly games or shadow puppet shows." Black Rutile commanded as they ascended the beach house's front steps and reached the front door.

"Aw man." White Topaz moaned in disappointment.

"Quit being such a child you moron." Black Rutile exhaled in disgust as she knocked on the door. "Hello, is anyone home?"

"Just a minute!" a voice the two Gems were eager to hear answered as its owner raced downstairs.

"Oh my stars, the moment has come; he's finally here!" White Topaz squealed happily before she received a slap to the face.

"Hello, what brings you here?" Steven greeted Black Rutile.

"Steven Universe, at long last!" BR exclaimed. "I'm Black Rutile, host of Eye on Era 3, and this is my camera-Gem/bodyguard White Topaz! We're here for an investigative report on the state of Earth in this new era, and have been interviewing many of your family and friends."

"You're a bit shorter than I expected." White Topaz commented.

"I see my reputation precedes me." Steven declared. "Come on in."

"Nice place you got here." White Topaz complimented the house as she and her boss were shown inside.

"Thanks, the Gems helped build this place." Steven accepted the compliment. "Hey, I got a question. I've met a Topaz and a Rutile before, but they sound nothing like you. Why is that?"

"We're just special Gems. Comes with being former members of White Diamond's court." Black Rutile answered while sitting down on the couch. "But enough about us, let's talk you! Could you give us a little life story first?"

"If you want." Steven answered while sitting across from the Rutile. "I remember first discovering my powers like it was yesterday. I was super bummed that my favorite brand of ice cream was discontinued, but then the Gems told me they got tons of it from other stores, and taking a bite out of one coincided with me summoning my shield for the first time, which led me to believe I could do so by eating Cookie Cat."

"Hahaha, oh the innocence of youth!" Black Rutile chuckled nostalgically. "I remember when I first emerged for White Diamond. A real young hotshot, a little arrogant even. Could you tell us more about these powers, kid?"

"Over time, I learned tons of Gem powers." Steven regaled. "Like shapeshifting, control over plant life, making bubbles, telepathy, sticking my mind in others' bodies, but fusion gave me tons of new abilities. This reminds me of a story."

"Ooh, shadow time!" White Topaz exclaimed, but her happiness was immediately put to rest.

"What did I tell you?! No shadows!" Black Rutile yelled strictly at her sidekick, and then immediately changed her mood. "Please continue."

"All right." Steven was a little taken aback by Black Rutile's cold behavior towards White Topaz before he began his story. "Anyways, it all started when I had to take care of Onion for the day, and Pearl helped out."

--

"Thank you Explorer Gal for saving us from that dastardly Bandit Guy!" Rainbow Quartz 2.0 said, taking the role of one of Onion's toys. Onion was playing with Explorer Gal, who thanked the other toy in Onion's unintelligible matter.

"For your heroic efforts, please accept money." Rainbow continued while handing Onion a dollar bill. "Our city was a mess before you came along, but now…." Rainbow then began to break character as they took notice of Onion's messy room. "Well, I suppose it's still a mess." They commented. "It's been so much fun playing, but now we have to clean, which is also fun!" they declared while making a rainbow with their hands. "Are you ready to tidy up?"

Onion stared blankly while slowly sticking a piece of broccoli out of his mouth.

"Oh Onion, don't you be that way." Rainbow 2.0 chuckled. "Your best friend Rainbow will help you tidy up!" Just then, they pulled a parasol out of Pearl's gem. "Let's make things a little more animated in here!"

With that, Rainbow made Onion's toys come to life, and they began marching to their proper places in his room while Rainbow started a song. "Stick by stick, the little blackbird makes a nest." They began singing while making Onion's clothes fly into his dresser. "A mess to some, but the little blackbird isn't stressed."

Rainbow then allowed Onion to give the umbrella a try, making one of the boy's toy cars come to life and race away. "Stick by stick, the little blackbird makes a nest." The fusion continued while Onion marveled at the parasol's powers. "And then he naps, cause even blackbirds need to rest. The fun won't stop if you have a friend around. The fun won't stop if you have a friend around."

As Rainbow began to finish the song, Onion kept playing with the umbrella, making more of his toys come alive, along with a Venus flytrap. "And when you laugh, it is my favorite sound." Onion then discovered some darts in his drawer, and used the parasol to make them fly. "And that's what life is all about."

"What the?!" Rainbow stuttered before dodging the darts, making them land on a dartboard. With that, they finally decided to take their weapon back from Onion while noticing a stack of dirty dishes. "Next time, please wash your dishes." They instructed before sending the dishes off to be cleaned, and then taking notice of a stuffed toy in Steven's image hidden near Onion's bed, eerily waving to them. "And could you please explain what this is?"

Onion didn't answer, aside from blowing Rainbow a few kisses.

"Alright, thank you for the kisses." Rainbow thanked Onion before Steven's phone began to ring. "Just give me five or so minutes."

Rainbow un-fused into Steven and Pearl, and Steven answered his phone. Garnet was on the other end, holding her cellphone extremely close to her face. "Steven, you're late." Garnet said. "I need you for the Sunstone Safety Geminar."

"Oh no, that was today?!" Steven began panicking. "But Rainbow Quartz promised to hang out with Onion today!"

"Don't worry; I'll handle the Geminar." Garnet stated confidently. "I'll explain every possible future where they could get hurt around the house."

"I don't know if that'll be a good idea, I'll be right there." Steven responded before hanging up and turning to Pearl. "Pearl, I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised. "Could you watch over Onion for me while I'm away?"

"Of course." Pearl agreed. "Onion loves Rainbow, I'm sure he'll love me as much."

--

"In hindsight, that wasn't my best idea." Steven took a break from his tale to confess. "Onion can be a real handful."

"Like, how much of a handful?" White Topaz asked.

"Let's just say, he's a real oddball who loves causing trouble." Steven stated. "I can never really get a read on that guy, no matter how much of a good friend he is. Heck, he doesn't even seem to age normally!"

"So, about this Geminar." Black Rutile began. "You said Rainbow Quartz is a fusion between you and Pearl, but who is this Sunstone running that event?"

"Oh, Sunstone is the fusion of Garnet and I." Steven answered. "They're all hip and radical and like giving important life lessons, kind of like those old PSA characters from the 90s. Speaking of which…"

--

"I slip on the stairs?" Ocean Jasper wondered while watching a television screen with Garnet, the Heaven & Earth Beetles, and a Nephrite.

"Indeed, and you shatter on impact too." Garnet bluntly replied, causing Ocean and the Nephrite to scream and hug each other in fright.

"Garnet, I'm here!" Steven called as he entered the house.

"Thanks for coming, Steven, but I need help." Garnet stated. "I think I'm scaring our guests."

"It's okay; we got this." Steven assured. "Let's get this safety Geminar started with a very special guest!"

Garnet got up from the couch, and the two began to dance, eventually forming the totally cool fusion Sunstone.

"Your rockin' pal Sunstone's here to shine!" Sunstone announced merrily.

"Watch out Sunstone, it's dangerous here!" Ocean Jasper cautioned Sunstone.

"Not unless you guys practice home safety." Sunstone assured the scared Gems. "Don't slip up. Clear objects off the stairs." They instructed by taking a water bottle off the steps to Steven's bedroom and throwing it like a ball. "Foul shot!"

The bottle landed in a trash can near Lion, which prompted another tip. "Be sure to cover up your trash, or else you'll attract bugs or hungry animals." Sunstone demonstrated as they shooed Lion away from the garbage. "Come on, let's go!" they declared. "Don't waste water. Turn off any faucet still running." Sunstone then shut off the sink. "Put protective covers over your electrical outlets, especially when kids are around." They added while doing just that. "And don't even think about sticking a fork in there! But most importantly, turn off motion smoothing on the TV."

Sunstone then used the remote to operate the television, allowing clearer picture and sound for everyone. "Okay, hold tight gang, gotta take a phone call." They said. "In the meantime, check out this commercial."

--

"Well, seems like you had things handled." White Topaz remarked.

"Famous last words White Topaz." Steven gravely informed. "Pearl later called me on my phone because Onion was giving her a serious headache, so I came back to her to calm Onion down. Then Garnet was trying to do a home safety obstacle course, but that went horribly wrong."

"Okay, color me wrong." The Topaz guard said. "I suppose hilarity must've ensued?"

"Oh so much." Steven declared. "I tried merging both the Geminar with playing with Onion, but one thing led to another."

--

"It's important to keep in mind that all of these horrible things did happen to you in alternate timelines." Garnet instructed her seminar attendees near the lighthouse. "Safety rules."

"Hey, Garnet." An exhausted Rainbow 2.0 called for their fellow fusion as they flew in via umbrella, with Onion in front. "Would you mind taking on another student?" they asked as Onion was let off the umbrella. "I'm feeling a mite PLPBBT."

With one last raspberry noise, Rainbow un-fused into Steven and Pearl. Steven just groaned tiredly.

"You shouldn't have brought him here Steven." Garnet forebodingly scolded the boy as Onion took a seat in front of her with the Gems.

"No, no, it's fine. It's good." Steven stuttered, having had enough of the stressful day he had. "No one needs safety training more than Onion! I'm combining all of my responsibilities into one responsibility! It's brilliant, it's brilliant! It's fine. I'm fine. Really, it's fine. I'm fine. I'm fine."

Onion wasn't paying attention the whole time, and instead picked up a blade of grass to play like a musical instrument, hypnotically commanding the other Gems to follow him. And Steven was too busy assuring Garnet and Pearl that he was fine to notice too late what had just happened.

A madcap chase soon ensued, with the three Crystal Gems following Onion and the Little Homeschoolers throughout Beach City, into the woods, and finally to a hill, where Onion let go of the leaf. Despite that, Ocean Jasper, the Beetles, and the Nephrite continued marching to the point of falling over the edge.

"Oh no!" Pearl cried as the Gems fell off the hill.

"Steven, we need Sunstone to save them!" Garnet urged Steven.

"Okay!" Steven yelped, and they fused into Sunstone.

"No, we need Rainbow to save them!" Pearl began arguing with her de-facto superior as she swiped Steven away to form Rainbow Quartz.

"I'll catch them with this!" Rainbow declared as they presented their umbrella.

"Can't all three of us fuse to save them?" Garnet wondered just as Amethyst raced up to them.

"Hey wait!" Amethyst cried. "I need Steven!"

Rainbow un-fused so Steven could speak. "What is it Amethyst?!"

"I miss you, man!" Amethyst yelled. "I haven't seen you in like, eleven minutes! But it felt like even longer!"

Steven couldn't take it anymore, and without a single word, he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

"STEVEN!" Pearl screamed as she raced to Steven's side.

"I shouldn't have overbooked my schedule." Steven groaned one last time before passing out from exhaustion.

"Nooooooooo." Garnet unemotionally cried out in despair.

--

"Oh-hohohohoho, I know what it's like!" Black Rutile cackled as Steven finished his story. "Must be so hard to be so overworked at such a young age."

"Guess that's what happens when you're running a whole school." Steven chuckled in reply. "So, guess that should be it, right?"

"No, I'd like to speak with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl first before we wrap up for today." Black Rutile answered, just as the Warp pad began glowing. "Oh, and look who should show up now!"

The core Crystal Gems stood at the Warp Pad, ready to kick back after the long day they had today. "Good thing it was so easy to get that crowd under control." Pearl exhaled. "Still, who was that interviewer they were talking about?"

"I believe that would be me." Black Rutile answered as she stood up from the couch to meet the Gems. "Hi, Black Rutile, intelligence officer of White Diamond turned news reporter. Pleased to meet you."

"I wasn't aware White had a court." Garnet said as the Rutile shook each of their hands. "Pleased to meet you too."

"I just got done interviewing Steven, and he told me the most hilarious story about his troubles with balancing two things at once." Black Rutile said.

"Yeah, things went kinda crazy that day." Amethyst reminisced. "But thankfully, everything went back to normal after that."

"Oh good, the way Steven ended things left me on the edge of my seat!" White Topaz exclaimed while positioning the camera to face the Gems. "One more question before we go, what would you say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?"

"A little oddly specific, but okay." Pearl remarked. "I pride myself on orderliness, swordsmanship, and intelligence. But I can be a bit doting and perfectionist at times."

"I can be kinda foolish and impulsive, but I'm pretty much past that." Amethyst added. "I'm also more street smart than book smart, and super tough too!"

"I'm a very stable fusion, which especially helps in battle." Garnet said. "My future vision is also seldom wrong, unless the current timeline becomes too unpredictable."

"Well, that should be enough for now." Black Rutile said as she entered all of her data into her visor. "Apologies if we couldn't talk anymore, but I've got places to be and missions to go on, so toodles!"

"Hope we can see each other again, Black Rutile!" Steven said goodbye as the two visiting Gems took the Warp Pad back to Little Homeworld.

"Maybe sooner than you think." Black Rutile smirked before they disappeared.

"She's right, we'll be seeing her again many times." Garnet predicted with an adjustment of her glasses. "But none of them will be friendly."

Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl just laughed at Garnet's prediction, ignorant at what could be to come.

--

Upon returning to Little Homeworld and boarding their ship, Black Rutile and White Topaz finally left Earth and launched into hyperspace.

"Wow, those Crystal Gems really are swell!" White Topaz commented while her superior sat down in her chair. "I don't see why we're plotting against them."

"It's because they've become far too powerful." Black Rutile answered gravely, a far cry from the persona she put up on Earth. "Does Steven really think he can change our entire society with just hugging, crying, singing, and a cheeky one-liner? Bah, I've done so much better without any of those!"

"My Rutile, we should be exiting hyperspace above Revanche 666 in approximately 15 seconds." One of the Rutile's Citrines confirmed. "Would you like to inform your allies of your coming?"

"Bring Emerald up." Black Rutile commanded, cuing a video screen to appear, showing the tall, green Gem pilot on the other side. "Hello there, Emerald."

"Your clarity, has your reconnaissance ended well?" Emerald asked with a bow.

"Indeed it has." Black Rutile answered with a grin. "Those clods never suspected a thing!"

"And we got it all on video too!" White Topaz added.

"Excellent, we'll soon have everything we need." Emerald declared. "We're all waiting for you at the base, hoping you won't disappoint."

"Oh, don't worry, Emerald, I won't." Black Rutile replied. "That will be all." With a clap, the screen disappeared, and the ship exited hyperspace to reveal the skull-like planet of Revanche 666 before them. "Prepare for landing."

--

When the dropship finally landed at Black Rutile's headquarters, two rows of Pearls patiently awaited their master's return.

"Ah, my Pearls." Black Rutile announced as she disembarked. "When I ordered Shell to create all of you, I knew it wouldn't disappoint."

"Thank you, my Rutile." The Pearls thanked in unison while one of them took the camera from White Topaz. "Your minions await."

"Perfect." Black Rutile purred before beginning her stroll to her meeting room. "Come Topaz, we have much to do."

--

"Geez, what's taking her so long?" Lapis Lazuli 1J9G-5KL complained as she, Holly Blue Agate, Morganite, Emerald, Aquamarine, and Eyeball kept on waiting for their boss while seated around a round, white table.

"Patience Lapis." Aquamarine soothed her fellow Gem's annoyance. "She did say that she'd be arriving soon."

"The sooner, the better!" Eyeball yelled, pounding her fist on the table. "I want revenge on Steven for making me a pariah, and I want it now!"

"You're awfully eager." Emerald muttered to her fellow eye Gem before turning to Holly Blue and Morganite. "So, how goes that Zircon's democratic campaign?"

"That navel gem Ruby we planted as her campaign manager has been feeding her lies, and the Zircon doesn't suspect a thing!" Holly Blue answered excitedly.

"More and more Gems have been unknowingly swayed to our cause." Morganite stated. "Soon, we shall have an army strong enough to topple even the Diamonds."

Just then, Black Rutile and White Topaz finally arrived in the meeting room, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and salute her. "Welcome, your clarity."

"You're all too kind." Black Rutile thanked them sarcastically as she took a seat between Aquamarine and White Topaz. "I suspect your missions have been going well too, no?"

"Indeed it has my Rutile." Holly Blue revealed.

"That brat has been controlling us all for too long." Aquamarine declared. "Now it's time we take back our planet from those tyrannical pacifists."

"Are you all sure this is a good idea?" White Topaz asked the other Era 3 insurgents. "I mean, the Crystal Gems have become far too powerful to be challenged, and the Diamonds will no doubt come for our gems if they find out!"

"The Diamonds are yesterday's news!" Black Rutile roared, forcing her Topaz into silence. "And speaking of which, Steven may not realize this, but he's no better than his brat of a mother! Thinking he can force all of Homeworld to obey him by being a controlling twerp! Thankfully, he doesn't do so by throwing tantrums left and right until the Diamonds do what he says to shut him up. For now at least."

A Black Pearl entered the meeting room with White Topaz's camera in her hands, and she set it down on the table.

"Thank you my Pearl." Black Rutile thanked the Pearl before turning it on to reveal all the information that she collected on Earth.

"Is this all we need to know about the Gems in time for Phase 2?" Morganite asked her black-colored superior.

"You bet it is." Black Rutile declared with a sociopathic grin as she gazed at one of the holograms of Steven and plucked it out to hold in her hands. "You can have your happily ever after as much as you like, Steven." She declared evilly. "Cause your little Universe will soon be mine."

END OF PART 1: LITTLE HOMESCHOOL

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2: GRADUATION

--

At last, Part 1 is finally complete! And here, unfortunately, is where I must go on hiatus. Second semester of college and all that, and I think my classes might be harder than last semester. But hopefully, this cliffhanger should tide you over until we come back. Anyways, Black Rutile is finally upon us! A character that I think I'll have fun writing since I consider her to be like the Lex Luthor to Steven's Superman, the Frieza to his Goku, the Megatron to his Optimus Prime, the Aku to his Samurai Jack, etc etc. In other words, Steven's got a new archenemy coming and he doesn't even know it yet. Stay tuned! (evil laughter)

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #garnet #amethyst #pearl #black rutile #white topaz #rainbow quartz 2.0 #sunstone

[artificialqueens]

don't play the fool now (multi) - chapter 3 - lily2

[ summary ] : aquaria is having a ball of a time with her new mission though sharon can’t help but be worried for her daughter and shea has definitely bitten off more than she can chew.

[ authors note ] : I’m not dead! just busy, I’m not trying to neglect this au, I hope y'all enjoy, can you tell I’m struggling to write characters that aren’t sasha / katya / adore ?

— ✧*。

Sharon nervously sat in her chair, attempting to play it off by staring at her phone though she quickly put it down and turned, sipping her drink in the seclusion of her office, the anxiety in her face must’ve clearly been showing as Alaska snickered, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Jesus, I can smell your worry from about a million miles away, she will be absolutely fine.”

“You think so?”

Of course Sharon trusts Aquaria with everything in her, that was her own teammate and more importantly her daughter. Sure, there wasn’t any official paperwork truly stamped and saying in bold print that they were related or that she was adopted but never did she feel so strongly about someone in a motherly sense, Aquaria came when she was ten and when Sharon was twenty two, a hopeless and homeless child who was tossed place to place constantly until her parent’s rotted in jail and she had nowhere to be but the streets.

Sharon couldn’t get all the credit for finding and raising Aquaria, it was really Alaska who first found her, passed out and extremely cold in the dead hit of winter and took it upon herself to take the risk and bring her back to the underground, Bianca was of course furious but now she kicked herself for it: Aquaria was loyal, she was beautiful, she was intelligent and didn’t once speak of her old life, thankful for what she was and where she was brought into.

“Of course, she’s your daughter, with quotes around the word.” Alaska smiled brightly and stole a sip of her alcoholic drink, “Jesus that’s something.” She coughed out the words before clearing her throat, “Besides, she’s been asking Bianca for a mission for who even knows how long, she’s trustworthy and just as good as her mother I’m assuming.”

The flirtatious nature of her tone didn’t sit too well in the moment with Sharon who was just stressed, wanting to hear from her atleast a text but she knew she could ruin the entire mission if she did, her nerves would have to spike down for the moment and luckily the best distraction was Alaska since Bianca was also gone but more to see Katya, that wasn’t a major concern.

It had been three hours, Alaska counted for Sharon she had waited in her office, staring at the clock and occasionally laughing at some weird joke or story the blonde had beside her to tell, to get her a bit out of the mood and herself again.

Curling a piece of hair around her fingers Alaska gave a kiss to Sharon’s head, “Relax.” She whispered, she repeated it as she gently grabbed her shoulders and crouched a bit to be at eye level with her, “I know, I know, it’s an assignment and I should know she’s trustworthy and trained well, I know.”

Sharon had been with Bianca from the beginning of it all, they met at fifteen, Bianca raised well into the underground markets of hitmen, mafia, druga, violence, all that— it didn’t take long for her to absorb all of it and own it, all under her fingertips and so oddly at peace and calm with it, almost as if it was boring and the expected. When a dazed Sharon begging for something to do, definitely having a few kills under her belt even with her age, a job, Bianca quickly jumped on it and here she was: thirty two and still changed her hair color every three or four months.

And then there was Alaska who joined right after Sharon, at nineteen she had just come from escaping the cops and her own problems, hearing about the underground from Jinkx who knew her since they were kids. She was definitely Sharon’s favorite and anyone could sense it from a mile away, their relationship however was a bit complicated. Not complicated but maybe strained— Alaska didn’t want commitment or a relationship in a business where she could be killed or targeted at any moment and Sharon could only nod and let whatever happened, happen.

Multiple times of kissing, sharing a bed, sleeping together, everything possible had happened to them already. Alaska didn’t ever mind the affection or them being obvious in front of the rest of the teammates, it was really just when Sharon tried to make things permanent that Alaska had a problem, never wanted to go on a date, no cutesy romantic gestures allowed.

Alaska didn’t want commitment.

It wasn’t them playing around either, the jealously that boiled through Alaska’s veins whenever Sharon spoke about men or women flirting with her on various missions was enough of a satisfaction to her, seeing the blonde so winded and so aggravated.

Bianca, Sharon, Alaska, Jinkx and Bob were the original five who had met, become engulfed in the business and really built the team up but it was Bianca (who always had the final say regardless), Sharon, Bob and Raja who had the power and leadership tendencies with their own circles and ranks though it always all boiled back to the throne, as Alaska called it, which was Bianca unsuprisingly to everyone.

A sudden burst of the door had Sharon completely jump from her seat and dust off her dress, looking at Alaska who looked around and shrugged, unaware of who it was though Aquaria or Violet seemed like the most viable options.

“Mom!”

Sharon heard it in a voice so clear that she ran out her office, Alaska shaking her head. “Aquaria!” She yelled out her door before the two made eye contact and quickly collapsed at the couch into eachother, “Fuck kid, you can’t just not text me.” She kissed her head and smiled, gasping once she looked at her face and noticed the dried blood from her nose and the skin open on her neck in three slashes, “I’m fine, I’m fine, really!”

The panic running through Sharon was enough for Alaska to widen her eyes looking at how deep the cuts actually ran and went to go out the door, “I’m getting some stuff, hang on.”

Aquaria sniffled and groaned as Sharon was quick to take a tissue and brush the dried blood off, “I’m fine, really!” She insisted, her rose gold sequin dress was stained with blood at the sides but she ignored that, usual part of the job, focusing more on her face and looking at her neck, “No you’re not, what happened?” She spoke as she bit her tongue, they looked awful and battered.

“Well we killed him, Violet took the shot because he punched me after I tried to hold him down, I should’ve thought through the fact he was about five inches taller than me and definitely twice my size.” She laughed though Sharon didn’t find it too amusing so she continued with a small grin, “Basically we brawled and fingernails got involved but—” she showed her hand that had perfectly sharp and studded long stiletto nails, “I think we know who won that.”

She had to grin a bit at Aquaria’s clean and primed nails, “I’m fine, I’m fine.” She muttered to Sharon who worriedly hugged her and sighed into her shoulder, pulling back and nodding, she was okay just bruised up but they got the target, Aquaria held up a wallet and smirked wildly, Sharon laughed and clapped, “So even is he, Bianca didn’t tell me too much.”

“So originally we needed to find his daughter, more for finding out who this original person was, Bianca said he was Alaska’s old laywer who betrayed her and all that jazz but instead, we found something else, his daughter was far too busy with poker to notice that his own assistant was there.”

Now I’m starting to see why Bianca didn’t want to tell me too much.

“So we flirted around, got drinks, acted normal, all of that preliminary shit.” Aquaria ran a hand through her straight hair, “Long story short we got to a private area, reserved for special members, killed him, grabbed his wallet and ran.”

“So this isn’t the father? Just his assistant?” The disappointment in Sharon’s voice quick to make Aquaria stand and pull out some of the cards in the wallet, “Yes but guess what? He has a copy of every ID and identification of the father since he was his personal assistant.”

Slowly she puzzled it together, “Because of security measures, they’d never let him carry it since he is so desired and wanted and easy to rob let’s face it, the man is beyond his years, but the assistant would be a smart choice since no one really gives a shit, no one would show up at his house thinking he had any good information or valuables of the guy but he does, all in his leather wallet.”

She threw it on the table, it was slightly perfectly clean and Sharon couldn’t help but groan, smiling and hugging her daughter, “I’m such a proud mother.” Aquaria’s eyes glimmered with nothing but pride, “I’m so glad, it was fun and sometimes a bit tense but, I’m glad.”

The door opened again and they both sat, Aquaria laying down and putting her head in Sharon’s lap, beyond tired. Alaska nodded once more, “I’m back and with the best medic!” She winked before Peppermint presented herself and carried her in her two boxes, all full of supplies.

“Sorry to intrude so late.”

Peppermint was far too soft for her own good, it was almost suprising she was still here though she was definitely the best medic they had, she had a damn bachelor’s of science in biology until she decided to drop out, school and especially nursing school far too much to handle. Her real name was Agnes but no one really used it, Peppermint was her nickname and it stuck with everyone for years. The lingering risk of hospitals and having to expose identities was why they all were so thankful for the medics they had with them.

“Oh c'mon, you’re acting like your job isn’t important.” Aquaria sweetly replied, “I know it is, I hear it everyday.” Peppermint gently moving Aquaria around and crouching so she should look around at her nose, “Okay, are you currently having any difficulty breathing?”

“I did when being driven back home but once I cleaned out all the blood that was dried I’m breathing easier, it’s just a bit more difficult.” Peppermint nodded and glanced from back before coming in close again, “Well, it’s not good if you’re not breathing easy and I can tell from a mile away your nose is crooked, you broke your nose is what I’m trying to say.”

As expected, Aquaria didn’t find it much of a surprise though Sharon almost wanted to collapse to which Alaska sat right next to her and latched onto her arms, “It’s fine, she’s fine.” She muttered close to her ear before nodding at Sharon’s uneasy glance.

“As for these around your neck, these are awful, I say we do these as soon as possible because they look open and god forbid you get an infection, do you mind doing it now or would you rather wait in the morning? You’ll sleep through it or pass out either way with the medicine.”

Aquaria looked at Sharon who only shrugged and left it up to her, “Yeah, let’s do it now.” No hesitation in her voice from the reply as Peppermint smiled and helped her up, taking her by her arm and making sure she didn’t touch anything and told Aquaria to lift her head a bit. “I’ll take her back when she’s finished, don’t worry about her, she’s in good hands!” The door closed and Sharon was left with Alaska, she completely had all faith in their medics but nothing could really make her worry less about Aquaria, it was the “motherly instincts” as Bianca would tell her when she was far too paralyzed about Aquaria being hurt or bruised up.

“She’s an adult, she knows what she’s doing, don’t worry.” Pressing a kiss to her head before shaking her hair, grabbing Sharon’s hand, “It’s late, let’s sleep please.”

For once she didn’t refuse and nodded, getting up knowing it be better to just rest and wake up with a more clear mind in the morning, Aquaria would be fine, she would be fine and getting all the stitches done meant she wouldn’t have to worry about infection or other underlying problems.

She will be okay.

*.✧

“Pep, I met the most gorgeous girl yesterday during the mission.” Shea whispered, hitting her close friends shoulder, Peppermint rolling her eyes, “You’re playing with fire if you’re trying to win a girl over especially one you met while on a damn mission.”

Completely lovestruck Shea flushed, laughing and feeling all her nerves come out. “Well about that…” She begun as Peppermint crossed her arms, extremely curious to where this conversation was going as they sat and ate, the food from the small Chinese market across the block, there was absolutely nothing Peppermint loved more than Asian food and if ten dollars meant twenty five dumplings then she and Shea were sold.

She plopped one of the dumplings into the soy sauce before waving a hand, wanting Shea to continue, she covered her mouth to speak, “And?” She said on the edge of what exactly Shea wanted to say.

“You know Katya right?”

Peppermint glared, “I would hope so after being here for five fucking years!” She yelled laughing as her friend shook her head, trying not to laugh at how stupid the question was once she said it a dumpling in her mouth, she swallowed before continuing, tapping the marble table that they sat in, biting her lip, knowing she couldn’t possibly lie or get out of this.

“It’s her sister.”

The second the three words left her lips Peppermint gasped and almost dropped her entire bowl of dumplings, quickly catching herself and slamming her plate on the table before looking around, knowing no one would be up at seven anyway, they all slept in until noon unless Bianca called for it.

“Please tell me you’re joking.” She whispered as she stared at Shea square in the face, “I need to know everything and anything!” She yelped, clapping her hands before pointing, “But don’t get it twisted, I don’t support this, you’re putting yourself in real danger here messing around with her sister who Bianca said is now a detective.”

Even Shea’s face bleached white at that point, “She— she’s a what?” Her face and tone unclear and confused, Sasha hadn’t brought it up at all though in retrospect why would she? In a casino, late at night, that seems a bit too much to give away. “She’s a detective Shea, Bianca told me when I was getting Aquaria stitched up.”

Suddenly everything became more clear to Shea: why she hesitated to speak more about Katya, keeping the questions closed on her job, why she seemed so anxious someone had spoken to her, why they exchanged numbers— Sasha was a detective and of course blissfully unaware of what Shea was doing as a job, seeing her as a normal human which was refreshing to say the least but this was a bad combination already.

“But she’s so gorgeous and intelligent and she just oozes personality and wit.” She whined to Peppermint who could only sit and laugh at her misfortunate encounter gone right and also wrong.

“Well, I’m not going to snitch, that’s not my job.” She paused to laugh before clearing her throat and extending a hand to Shea who grabbed it and frowned, “But I’m going to say this, she might be Katya’s sister but that doesn’t mean we can be soft and nice to her, she’s still a detective and from what Bianca told me, Katya understands that we’d do what we have to if circumstances rise and she tries to play us out and locate what we do.”

God, you are playing with me too hard right about now.

“I understand.” She swallowed her words hard, knowing that dammit there was something there! Shea hated to sound like a romance novel and blinded by her emotions but Sasha was different and interested in her just as Shea was interested back.

“Good morning!” Yelled Vanessa who quickly stole a dumpling from Shea’s plate, as expected. “These are fucking great, I should start waking up earlier to actually go on food adventures with you guys.” Peppermint smiled sweetly, “It’s the perks of insomnia that comes with the job.”

The Pureto Rican cackled, “Okay but seriously, this is from Bianca.” She tossed the black file to Shea as Peppermint leaned back into her chair, offering her more food which she graciously accepeted, going at it immediately.

“I’m gonna go.” Shea stood up and grabbed her bag and phone, leaving the file after she skimmed through it and landed on what she needed to do, immediately getting up. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” She replied quickly to a confused Vanessa and Peppermint who glanced with furrowed brows, not even getting a word in before Shea shut the door and was running down the building.

She knew she wouldn’t but Peppermint grabbed the file anyway and opened it, beyond bewildered by Shea’s response, staring at Vanessa out of curiosity who only shrugged with innocent hands, “Hey now, I only delivered this, I didn’t take one peak.”

Putting the file down she sighed, shaking her head, completely unsurprised at what the file entailed for Shea.

“She has a lot of trouble on her hands.”

#rpdr fanfiction #aquaria #sharon needles #alaska thunderfuck 5000 #peppermint #shea coulee #vanessa vanije mateo #shalaska #sashea #lesbian au #hitman au #detective au #dptfn #don't play the fool now #concrit welcome #submission #roza

[artificialqueens]

Red Delicious (ch. 1) - Emerald - Jinkx/Dela

Summary: Dela’s getting the lay of the land in her new school, but it turns out that the teacher’s lounge isn’t that different from a regular school cafeteria. Featuring everyone’s favorite gossipers: The Haus of Edwards!

Author’s note: It’s been so long since I properly wrote anything so this is a little short and not that good but i’m getting back in the swing of things. Hopefully the more i write the better it’ll be. The likes and comments were much appreciated last time, thank you so much. I hope this isn’t too bad.

The room was almost full already when Dela tentatively stepped in. The free seats were few and far between, most of them situated between pairs of colleagues already in deep discussion that she wouldn’t dare interrupt. Clutching her lunch bag tight, the new teacher hovered for a moment at the door, weighing her options, when she felt something cold against her neck. A breath. “How you doin’ so far, sunshine?” The texan accent was easy to recognize and Dela knew she’d be met with a familiar grin the moment she would turn around. Without a second thought, the dark haired beauty spun around, throwing both arms around her friend’s neck, the relief of a familiar face in this unfamiliar and new environment clearly showing on her face. “Shangie! I couldn’t find you this morning, where were you?!” She asked excitedly.

Before the smaller woman could answer, they were both interrupted by a loud sound. For a moment, Dela thought a balloon popped somewhere, but didn’t remember seeing any… Looking to the sound’s point of origin, she saw a woman rise from her seat at a table, fierce thick mane of luscious blonde hair teased to the heaven (somehow just looking at her, Dela knew she was the kind of woman who would very unironically say that the bigger the hair, the closer to god), and wave energetically in their direction. “What in the name of the father, the son and the holy son of a gun are you doing all the way over there miss Shangie Angie?! Get your busted rotted gutted ass over here now!” There was something both fascinating and terrifying about the blonde and Dela found herself dragged towards her against her will, eyes wide, wondering how to even react to such an apparition. Before she knew it, Shangela had pushed her down on an empty chair at the table.

“Who’s your little friend?” One perfectly arched eyebrow raised in her direction sprung the new teacher to action, and to her feet, hand out to shake the woman’s. “Hi, hello, I’m Dela. I’m the new first grade teacher. And Shangela’s friend.” she offered with a massive smile. The blonde glanced up and down before shaking the hand extended to her. “Friend? Oh you mean Friend. I remember, I remember. I’m Alyssa. Welcome to the fucking crazy cuckoo land.” Almost immediately after they all sat back down, Alyssa sucked Shangela in to what seemed like a very heated and important conversation about song selection for the dance troup’s christmas show, leaving Dela alone with her chicken salad. Not that she minded though. It gave her some time to cool down and reflect on her morning, and to observe the various dynamics amongst her new colleagues.

Two tables down, she recognized the perfectly coiffed auburn hair and loud laugh of the vice principal, Bianca, who was sitting by a petite blonde woman (Dela thought she could’ve easily been a model) and a young woman who couldn’t be much older than her mid to late twenties with the messiest mass of cascading down the back of her plaid shirt. “So,” the voice broke the new teacher out of her observations.The woman beside her, perfectly manicured with a glossy mane of long, straight dark hair, interrupted. “Any juicy gossip for us?” Dela frowned a little, confused by the question. She never really thought of first graders as people you would gossip about. Or had she just misheard the question? From the other side of the table, Shangela sniggered. “Gia, baby, that’s now how you do small talk.” she then turns back to Dela. “She just wants to know how your day’s going.” The asian woman gave a dismissive hand gestured but didn’t disprove the statement. “Oh! Good, great. The class is great. I do have this one kid that’s–” she was suddenly interrupted by Alyssa. “Is it that Aquafina kid? I heard she was trouble. Her sister wasn’t much better.” She punctuated her sentence by another loud tongue pop, while Gia nodded. “Um… Aquaria, yes…” the brunette answered, suddenly uncomfortable.

Dela had always been proud of her work ethics, she never judged a child or did anything to incriminate one or make them feel different or less than. So hearing the other teachers suddenly speak that way of children, one of her kids too, got her a little squirmy. But she had to admit she was curious. If there was a sister out there, that was useful information. “Who’s her sister?” There was a collective movement of everyone at the table, leaning forward, arms on the table, conspiringly. She guessed it wasn’t the first time this particular table had been the place of gossip and stories about everyone and anyone within the school’s walls. “What was her name again? Blonde, white… Bree?” Alyssa tried to remember before getting interrupted by the other texan “Brianna. I think she’s in Jinkx’s class this year…”

At the mention of the name, Dela’s head snapped up from her plate, suddenly even more engrossed in the conversation despite herself. She couldn’t help it. Her very strange encounter with the redhead this morning still baffled her. Maybe now was the best time to get the scoop on the other teacher without arousing too much suspicions. There was this strange feeling in her gut when she was thinking about the other teacher that she couldn’t quite place. She didn’t trust her, not one bit, yet she wanted to know more. She tentatively tried to get some dirt. “Oh, I met her this morning, she’s next door to me. She’s really, umm… ” she paused, hoping to get the chatty women to finish her sentence, and they didn’t disappoint. “Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Alyssa. “I could NOT work next to her. Have you ever seen her purse? I swear there must be a dead rat int here… that overdosed on whatever mix of pills she has in there and eats like m&m’s.” Gia was next, perfectly painted face scrunched up in a disgusted grimace. “Last year, I saw her and Adore smoking under the bleachers and they drew a pornographic cartoon of Ms Visage under there. Filthy.” Shangela was last to speak, seemingly finding this funnier than the other two, who always took their gossiping and rumors spreading very seriously. “I heard she used to be on Broadway but got fired for getting the kids on the show drunk.”

Dela’s jaw fell to the floor. Usually not one to believe rumors, she found all those stories to be absolutely in sync with the brave face to face meeting she has had with the redhead. As she was about to answer, two hands appeared each side of hers on the table, a body pressed close and heavy against her shoulder, flaming ginger curls cascading into the brunette’s line of vision. “It was off broadway and I didn’t get any kid drunk…” Jinkx interrupted with a smirk. “I fucked three of the producers… and two of their daughters. I did get them drunk, but everyone was of age and consenting. Any other questions?”

Everybody, gobsmacked, stared at the teacher who glared down, satisfied to have finally shut them all up. Her glance landed back down to Dela’s for a bit, almost challenging her to ask something else. Seeing that no one else was about to talk, Jinkx pushed herself back up and headed away to join Bianca’s table. At several occasions during lunch, when Dela let her gaze move from Alyssa trying to grab everyone’s attention and turn back to the mess of curly red hair, she would find Jinkx staring right back at her, that defiant little twinkle in her eyes still in full force. The brunette would feel her cheek redden some. It was unsettling, and Dela didn’t like it. She liked order, she liked knowing what was wrong and what was right, who belonged where. In her head, everything had it’s own space, it’s own label. But not Jinkx. She still couldn’t decide where she fit and it was starting to bother her.

#Jinkx Monsoon #BenDeLaCreme #Alyssa Edwards #Group Fic #Lesbian AU #Red Delicious #Emerald #Jinkx/Dela #shangela laquifa wadley #jela

[artificialqueens]

We've Got Tonite (Pearlet/Trixya/Jivy/Shalaska/) Part 1 Prologue - Saiphl

A/N: Hello again, I’m sharing this work again and maybe many of you have already read it cause it was previously published in AO3, recently some anon asked for some fluff involving one of the shipings of this story, so, I decided to bring it to AQ.

Remember I’ve written this one more than a year ago, and was my first job in this fandom, so I hope you find it good.

Don’t forget to leave your comments and reviews, that helps to finish the new project I’m working with.

WE’VE GOT TONITE

Part One: Look at the Stars so Far Away

No one all over US knows how to throw a party like RuPaul, the legendary drag queen, original supermodel of the world, especially when it comes to the official crowning of her new Reigning Child. Everything was ready to receive the top of the top, with a carefully designed guest list at the Stage 48 in New York City, something really ambitious even for the Drag Race Project. Especially for those legendary children, the queens that had taken for granted that they were drag race royalty, and the fourteen newcomers that will be remembered for the worst acting challenges in herstory.

All of the former competitors were invited, in order to celebrate seven years of runways, partying and the rising of great stars like Bebe, Tyra, Raja, Chad, Sharon, Jinkx, Bianca and last but not least, the young Violet Chachki, who proved to be fiercer than her fellow queens. In the end, all the Drag Race family was invited to gather together and celebrate the reigning queen and this… this is the story of how one night can change everything and make reignite old fires or tear some ways apart.

“Deep in my soul, I’ve been so lonely,

all of my hopes, fading away…”

Ivy had been working hard as ever. Within tours, gigs and her work as seamstress, she simply didn’t have the room or time to give her mind a time to think of anything else than work. Maybe she was constructing herself some kind of safe place to avoid thinking on the last conversation she had with Keith before leaving Michigan to go back to NYC.  For the past year Keith had been travelling with all the girls on tour, helping with this or that, spending every available moment with Ivy, and after all that time together, he known something was bothering her. Keith didn’t understand at all why Ivy asked him to go back to the house they bought few months ago in Michigan before the tour scheduled a couple of shows in LA and he didn’t understand why Ivy forced herself so hard to smile thinking of those bookings.

They actually had been very happy in the previous year and a half, which led Keith to gather his shit together, and ask Ivy to marry him. He was totally sure that Ivy was his soulmate and they were back at their home in Michigan - when the madness of LA and tour closure were behind - he will ask her and they’ll have their happily ever after. It had been three or four weeks when Ivy went back to Michigan, and Keith asked her and she said - with a carefully disguised sadness and confusion tears filling her eyes - that she needed time to a very surprised Keith, who still can’t understand what had happened on that stupid trip to LA, and starting to regret his early return to Michigan.

“Still here we are, both of us lonely

Longing for shelter from all that we see…”

Sharon hated to go back to the crowning parties, hated to having signed that contract, hated to be there - with the shame of her stolen crown - and hated - most of all - the idea to meet again with Alaska. It wasn’t because her life had been miserable since the last time she saw Alaska off camera and out from the stage. She was walking away from her, and they agreed to keep working together, even when those gigs were tortuous. She started over again, she found somehow a new path, new fresh air, and most of all a new companion to share a life with… but wasn’t the same, it would never be the same.

It had been more than three hours that she had been looking at the ceiling convincing herself to get out from the bed, to unpack some t-shirt and a pair of jeans and go out from the room. To get something to soothe her hangover, most importantly. But she knew inside of her that she was there, nearby at someplace partying with Willam and Courtney, or just having a Starbucks with Detox. Sharon wondered if Alaska was thinking of her, missing her the same way she was missing her since the very first moment she walked away from their house in Pittsburgh. That dark place she suddenly felt unable to call home again… and sudden as that idea came, she jumped out of the bed, took a shower and then grabbed her room key - feeling not so ready to face NYC and the chance to find Alaska face to face.

“Still here we are, both of us lonely

Both of us lonely…”

Katya hated so much to fly, hated the way she was so conscious about the airplane movement. She hated to wait for her luggage on the conveyor belt too. Hated most of all leaving Boston and the warm safety of her brand new vodka bottle looking at her, daring the queen day by day to drink it. Also serving as the small victory of keeping herself sober. By the moment she arrived to the NYC hotel, she felt dizzy and blurry. Wanting to curse that damned flight from Boston to NYC out loud and needing something to put her shit together, she played nervously with her phone. In her head, she did the toss-up of playing her chances on meeting Fame and have someone to chat with, or throwing herself to the bed and wait for the time to come and get ready to the party.

She always preferred to travel light, with not more than the basic to go through, and to have a quick way to escape if needed. All because she knew very well that life is never a wish granting factory, and for sure, she will never get what she wanted. So she kept with her not so subtle reminders of that certainty, this time shaped as a half done scrap photo frame of an old picture taken back in LA, the precise night where they filmed the season finale. There was no one but them on the backstage, one in a bright pink sequin gown, herself in a red sequin catsuit, both of them smiling and a mixture of pink and red lipstick smeared over their faces.

“Why should we worry, no one will care girl

Look at the stars so far away…”

Violet was pacing on the lobby of the gigantic suite the production reserved for her, twisting her hands together. She had finally gotten her hair undone from the bun she was wearing, although it seemed that nothing could soothe her on that evening - not even her tedious habit of running her fingers through her hair. She was there, and she was all alone, wondering where the fuck Fame was and what the hell was taking her so long to get to that damned hotel room.  

Violet had always loved her body and frame, always loved to watch herself with her boy body, because she felt so comfortable in her own skin that almost nothing was capable of cracking down her confidence. But that evening everything was different, and she wanted… no, she needed a friend to hold hands with and cry all her concerns out of her before the damned show started.

Back in time, when she was so young and restless and rising as a star in Atlanta, she wasn’t able to understand why Sharon Needles was so concerned about her partner and lovers opinion on her chances to win the fourth season. She used to think that was an overreaction from her - if your soulmate isn’t able to understand and support your success, then they don’t deserve you.  She had been so naïve and she knew it now. While she’s waiting for her friend to come, for the stupid season be over at last… to have a chance to hold her beloved in her arms without fearing what the audience, the production or goddamned RuPaul would have to say about them. Fuck the show, fuck the season, fuck everything. Violet had wanted so much to win, but she also wanted so much to be with her, the beautiful gem with sleepy eyes that occupied most of the space on her head and her heart.

“So there it is girl, I’ve said it all now

And here we are babe, what do you say?”

Jinkx had been having the worst time of her life. Too many changes, too many people, too little time to be herself in or out of drag. She just wanted for that vorágine to end as soon as possible, she craved some time to put her head together before she did something stupid… and she was so close to it, too.

Everything started four weeks ago. Many queens had booked a couple of gigs in LA - for the closure of the Battle of the Seasons Tour - and everything had been really good. She even thought that she was ready to go back to Seattle and give a second watch on that guy that she had been going out with, he was cute, and funny but most of all, he didn’t gave a rat’s ass about her being a drag queen. Something that won a bunch of brownie points on his card according to her. But only time, destiny and that awful Murphy guy with his laws about what will go wrong or not right, messed everything up in the worst way possible.

Jerick was literally a mess, looking at himself with his makeup half done, the revolted red hair and that sad smile that decided to make a permanent feature on her face. They sighed - both Jerick and Jinkx - heartbroken about knowing that not-so-important-thing of their old well known crush on some Ivy Winters. Even thinking of her name gave Jinkx the chill. Seattle’s cute guy or not, Ivy would always be her weak point, that breaking truth that she had worked for two long years to leave behind for the sake of the both of them. And it had been working until four weeks ago, when they performed together on the gigs, and she was told that Keith, the funny and charming boyfriend asked her to get married.  Jinkx’s world had felt - and still feels - torn apart, and just thought that desperate times require desperate measures, so she did what she wanted to do for far too-denied-long: she kissed Ivy and was kissed back by her. After that, Ivy ran away looking just as heartbroken as Jinkx.

“I know it’s late, I know you’re weary

I know your plans don’t include me…”

Huge. That was the only word to describe the full body mirror where Alaska were looking at her boy body in the oversized suite that Willam upgraded to hold the three of them for the couple of days that they were going to stay in New York. After that, they had some booked show in Vancouver and then, some time to go back home for a couple of weeks.  Alaska had missed so much to spend time with the girls on the Haunted House - they loved and embraced her as one of them when she moved in with Sharon more than six years ago. Sometimes it was too hard for him to remember who he was when he moved out to Pittsburgh, and who Alaska became when Sharon and Aaron put her world on the edge to re-create the concept of her own drag persona.

Alaska knew so well where the disaster started for them, and it wasn’t when Sharon made it to Drag Race on her first attempt. Neither was it when she snatched the crown. It was then she decided, after having her own chance to snatch the title and getting so close to it but watching her chance dissolving into Jinkx’s golden-haired crowned wig, after getting the recognition and fame she was looking for… to let her loose into the easiness and dizziness of being wasted, or high, or both at the same time. The temper and egotistical stubbornness of the both of them just cracked the most beautiful love she had ever had into slips of loneliness, sadness and the feeling of perpetually numbness that followed her leaving the house they’d been sharing for what it seemed an eternity. And somehow she still woke up in the middle of the night stretching her arms, looking for the warm body that used to sleep at her side and crying silently until she fell asleep again.

“Let’s make it last, let’s find a way

Turn out the light, come take my hand now…”

Trixie had the exact time to take a shower, dry her boy hair and start to prepare her face for the make-up needed for the party. And she was pissed. Trixie, as everyone had well known, was a control freak and the delay on her flight from LA to NYC was just the cherry on top of the huge disaster’s ice cream that she had been tasting all day long. She was grateful that her drag luggage was sent via UPS to Fame on the previous week, and that Fame was careful enough to make sure that the big pink case was expecting its owner where it must be intended. Trixie sighed - almost feeling dizzy from the calm when she found the huge makeup box and the beautiful blond wig that she had carefully styled for that night.  After getting all her things ready to get dressed, she stood up to the shower and while the relaxingly hot water started to slide her back, she couldn’t keep herself from sighing. Not for the high temperature colliding with her tired muscles, but a memory that had been coming to her head over and over again, as vivid as the time when it had happened.

Katya just came back from the stage after filming the last crowning - Pearl’s crowning - and all the girls were leaving the backstage to go to the cocktail at the theatre’s lobby. Trixie wanted some rest before her feet became alive and decide to kill her for confining them to those really high heels.  She remembers how the Russian queen came down taking off her wig, sighing of tiredness. She begun to stretch her arms from one side to another and then asked Trixie to help stretch her legs. Playfully Trixie helped her friend pushing her legs to one side while she twisted her waist the opposite way and then to the other side.  She didn’t have a clear memory of how did it happen, but next to the last joke she played to Katya, she found herself rolling on the floor, her wig flying off her head and feeling Katya’s lips on hers. The aftertaste of cherry lipstick and the note of a cigarette. They came up together, still touching the hands of the other until they got the wigs to its place and before they could correct that, Katya - with a devilish smile - took a selfie of them with the smeared lipstick on their faces.

It was too much for Trixie, was too much for her fragile emotions, was too much for her body - that got a hard on to make proud any man - was too much for the complicated situation she had in front of her eyes.

“I’ve longed for love like everyone else does

I know I’ll keep searching even after today…”

Pearl had been awake for far too long. Or at least, she felt that she hadn’t slept a single bit for a long while. She was so conscious and aware of her environment that when she caught what was really happening, she found herself starting with her makeup. This made her feel a bit more comfortable by having her hands busy and her mind out of the thoughts that had been harassing her since she, Ginger and Violet took that stupid flight from LA to NYC. This way was easier, keep her mind and her body out of any kind of risk that could take her feet to the room at the end of the hallway a couple of doors from her, where a good part of her secureness were entangled in Violet’s hands. She had a huge knot installed in the pit of her belly, like a feeling that something was about to get really bad and she was tearing out her hair in strands trying to figure out what could it be. Back at home everything was okay. Or at least, as good as it had been since she left for the filming of the season, and she knew that everything was carefully planned for the event at the Stage 48. The announcement, and the crowning of the new reigning drag superstar…

RuPaul would never allow that her event might turn into an epic disaster, but the uneasiness on Pearl’s chest was growing with every minute hearing the ticking of the clock. The car was supposed to pick them up two hours from that time, and she was almost ready. She just had to tuck her junk, put on the hose and the tight dress, get on the heels and make sure that the wig is in place.

Everything was going to be fine.  

She keeps repeating that to herself until a soft knock on the door breaks her concentration. When she goes to answer it, the vision in the door sends her confidence back to the tray in the precise moment when she sees Violet. Smiling at her with that sweet glance she reserved just for her. They were about to entangle their fingers when a third door opens, and Ginger slips out from her suite, mocking Pearl about not being ready yet. Some minutes later, the three of them are on the way to the Stage 48, where Pearl’s uneasiness gets infectious and invades her whole body with every time she craves to touch and to be touched and can’t get what she needs.

A couple of hours, a red carpet and some backstage drinks after, the airing of the season finale was reaching the end. RuPaul’s voice was announcing clear and loud that the new reigning queen was Violet Chachki, and she made her final walk at the runway holding the scepter on the big screen back on the stage. Michelle Visage appeared, presenting the new queen - who was crowned by her predecessor Bianca del Río and shouting “Come Through!” one last time. She thanks everyone for the time, the experience and the things she learned from her competitors. After the brief and playful hug she shares with Pearl in front of the crowd, the after party on the club really started.

“We’ve got tonight, who needs tomorrow?

We’ve got tonight babe

Why don’t you stay?”

#pearlet #shalaska #trixya #jivy #fluff #saiphl #pearl liaison #violet chachki #jinkx monsoon #ivy winters #sharon needles #alaska thunderfuck #romance #season 7 timeline #rpdr fanfiction #canon compliant #we've got tonite

[artificialqueens]

AQ Admin Q&A

Thank you guys for all the questions! 💕

How old are you? 

Vixen: 22, going on 60 👵

Tiffany: Old enough…👀

How did you find out about Drag Race? 

Vixen: So I found Willam’s Beatdown on a livejournal called ONTD, watched compilation clips of Willam and then moved to Season 6 clips and got into it at the beginning of Season 7.

Tiffany: Through Michelle Visage being on CBBUK omg, I saw her promotion clips for the show and was just totally in awe so I watched some videos of her on the show and fell in love with the whole thing.

What’s your gender identities? And what’s your sexual preference?

Vixen: Cis female and I guess bisexual?

Tiffany: I’m cis-female with absolutely no sexual preference whatsoever. 

When was the first time you’ve seen a drag queen and what were your thoughts about it? 

Vixen: I saw my first queen at Pride about 5 years back and I thought they were fabulous and shiny and bearded and got a picture with them.

Tiffany: I haven’t met a RuGirl yet, one of my friends is a baby queen and there’s a small drag scene where I live but that’s all really, I live in the literal butthole of England so nobody really comes anywhere near me (Trixie’s coming here soon so here’s hoping!) 

And what is your favorite pairing and how did you started shipping it?

Vixen: My favourite pairings are Trixya and Katlaska. I actually started shipping Trixya after Season 7, through their tweets and things. I was a Pearlet girl originally. I shipped Katlaska after their chemistry on Can I Assk You A Question. I also love Bitney and Witney.

Tiffany: I’m still a Trixya girl but I’ve started really loving Katlaska too, also Bitney and Famelet! I started shipping Trixya during S7 and didn’t really stop from there. 

Who’s your all-time favourite queen?

Vixen: Alaskuhhhh.

Tiffany: Bendelacreme! 

What are your hobbies? 

Vixen: I love going out to eat, and bingewatching shit like Auction Kings on Netflix. Spending time with my dogs and fiance too, but that’s not really a hobby. Cooking as well, I love to cook. Honestly I am boring as fuck, I just got a sewing kit so maybe I’ll try to learn sewing.

Tiffany: I’ve been a trained and taught singer since I was about eight so there’s that, I’m a kayaker, a film nerd, I’m massively political, and if spending too much money on day-drinking with my stupid friends is a hobby, I do that frequently too 😏

What got the both of you into fan fic in the first place and what made you two decide to make AQ ?

Vixen: So we didn’t make AQ, I think it was Lucy that originally made it actually. Bandom was my first experience with fanfic, I wanted to read Frerard and Ryden fic after watching Frerard Moments on YouTube and it’s been going ever since.

Tiffany: This is so embarrassing omfg why, so I started fanfic with One Direction when I was literally 13, and then went onto writing Phan and reading Frerard (I’m trash, I know) and then found AQ and here we are. 

Did you ever meet one of the RuGirls?? Which ones and how was the experience??

Vixen: I’ve been very lucky to meet a lot of RuGirls. I’ve met AAA Girls which kinda sucked because I was so nervous I didn’t speak to them and I ignored Alaska when she said hi to me 🙈 I’ve met Jinkx, Sharon, Violet, Pearl, Alyssa, Latrice, Trixie and Katya 3 times. Honestly, every queen I’ve met has been absolutely lovely. Meeting Katya has been a highlight though, the first time we met I grabbed her tit and she slapped my arse as I left. I’ll be going to DragWorld and Drag Queens of Comedy in August & September so I’ll be adding more to my list 🙌

Tiffany: No RuGirls for me 😭 I’ve had video messages from Trixie, Alaska and Michelle though so that totally counts right?

What fandoms are you guys in?

Vixen: My main two are kpop and wrestling but I’m also into Dr Who, Buffy, Sherlock and Harry Potter.

Tiffany: I’m honestly not really in any, I guess HTGAWM and Sherlock but I’m not a huge fandom person tbh.

What’s the best thing about being an admin?

Vixen: When people say that this is their happy place and distracts them from whatever shit they’re going through. That makes me feel like it’s all worth it.

Tiffany: I absolutely adore when you guys are genuinely appreciative and support what we do, and tell us what’s going on in your lives like meeting queens or when you’re having good days. AQ is such a family, I’ve met some incredible people here and love that I can be a part of what we’ve built. 

#admin post #q&a

[artificialqueens]

New Man Pt. 6 // Latch (Biadore) - Fucking Awful.

A/N: Just leaving the songs for you up here – real A/N will be at the end.

Latch (Acoustic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUK6HlzNWEg

Latch (Original): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93ASUImTedo

Without further ado, the end of New Man…

“You know, you could just go out there early. You’re making me nervous stomping around like that.”

Shane – who had now fully transformed into Courtney – drew Roy’s attention to the fact that he was pacing back and forth across the dressing room, checking his phone every few seconds to see if the clock had changed. It was 5:58.

“Sorry, I’ll stop.” Roy lied and checked again, still 5:58. “I just don’t want to go sit out there on the stage by myself.” Again, still 5:58. Fucking time, go faster.

“Besides, it’s not like Danny has ever been early. Anywhere. Ever.” He checked again – it finally turned to 5:59.

Roy was waiting for the clock to strike 6:00pm, the proverbial midnight for his and Danny’s relationship. Through some messages from Shane, who had harassed them both to somehow be a part of this, it was communicated to both Roy and Danny that they would meet at the club at 6:00pm. Well, they would if they both still wanted to be together.

And this was why Roy was pacing. He knew from the moment he proposed this that he’d be waiting in that theater for Danny, ready to dive right into what he knew in his heart would be the great love story of his life. But he wasn’t sure – couldn’t be sure – if that was also true for Danny.

He thought he saw it in his eyes, that he was committed and in love and ready to tackle whatever numerous hurdles that they’d inevitably come up against…but Roy didn’t want to get his hopes too high. He wasn’t sure his broken heart would ever recover if he was wrong.

And so he spent 17 hours and 59 minutes in the throws of the deepest anxiety of his life. This was nothing compared to waiting for the call from Logo or even the night the Season 6 winner was crowned. He was certain his blood pressure had shot up to dangerous levels and he was burning all kinds of calories from sheer stress.

What if he doesn’t come? Do I lose him as my best friend, too? Will I ever see him again? Will we be able to work together? Can we still talk? Will I ever stop feeling like I’m out of breath and my heart is pounding out of my chest and I –  

“Christ, Roy. You have to stop pacing and take a deep breath.” Shane stood up and grabbed Roy by the biceps, Beauty Blender still in hand, just to stop him from moving. He then engulfed him in a Temple Grandin-style hug. In that moment Roy realized how crazy he must look, chest heaving and checking his wrist like it was an OCD tick.

Roy whined into his friend’s shoulder, appreciative of the fruitless attempt to calm him. “Shane, what if he doesn’t come? I might actually die, just fucking dead on the stage. I swear to God, on Joan Rivers, on Chita Rivera, I think I’ll just crumple over like when that bitch Tyra won Season 2. I will be passed out and you’ll have to drag me off before you –“

“Sweet cheeks, stop.” Shane stepped out from the hug, still gripping Roy. “What is it Latrice always says? Good God…”

Roy interjected in his favorite Latrice Royale impression. “Good God, Get a Grip Girl. The 5 G’s.”

“Well do that, because I’m pretty sure it’s after 6 now and you have a boy to meet before you turn into a pumpkin.” Shane whipped Roy around and pushed him toward the door.

“FUCK! You made me late!” 6:03, SHIT.

After a moment of panic, Roy turned to the mirror and made eye contact with Shane in the reflection. “Do I look ok?”

Truth was, he looked damn good. He knew a beard suited him, and he was wearing his favorite all black blazer-t-shirt-jeans combo. Hot was an understatement, but Roy was always one to be insecure.

“I’ll tell you again – your face is your face. It’s been that way for a very long time.” Shane saw the callback didn’t go over well. “And it’s the face Danny loves. Now go get ‘em, tiger.”

With that, Shane slapped Roy on the ass and pushed him out the door, slamming the door behind him.

Here goes nothing…

—

“I guess you were right. A drag queen who’s early, that never fucking happens. Jesus Roy, it’s 6:04!”

Immediately as he walked out onto the stage, Roy could hear Danny yelling at him from the balcony where they were supposed to meet. His heart swelled so big in his chest that he couldn’t even clock the kid for a terrible impersonation of his entrance line. He ran to the middle of the stage, in front of a piano, and looked through the bright lights to see Danny standing at the center of the balcony and leaning over the railing.

“You came. You’re really here.” Roy couldn’t hide the joy and sincerity in his voice, despite the decades he’d spent mastering the ability to do so.

“Baby, I would’ve stayed here all night to wait for you if I could’ve.” Danny smiled in the way that only Danny could, melting Roy from chest to knees in a split second. “But I had to shoot today so” – Danny gestured to his made-up face and long black wig, which Roy had just noticed – “I just got here as soon as I could, half-drag and all. I would change but – ”

Roy cut him off. “You look handsome. Beautiful. You always look handsome and beautiful.”

He could hear how fucking cheesy and gross he sounded, but he couldn’t stop it. Not even his own strong internal bitch censor could stop the outpouring of love for this human.

“You sound fucking ridiculous, but I’ll take it. Why are you all the way down there?” Danny finally asked the obvious question. “We said we’d meet up here.”

Deep breath, Haylock. You did this for years, you can do it now. Time to get your man.

“Well, I really loved what you did last night. The song…music…I know how much it means to you.” Roy took a pause. Never in his life had he been this tongue-tied before.

Good God, get a grip girl. Even in his own head he sounded like Latrice.

He started in again, sticking to his planned speech. “Music is a big part of our relationship, what it has been before and what I believe it can be. I think the first time I heard you sing was when I fell in love with you, even if I didn’t know it then. Music is something we both love, it brings you so much joy, it’s been a thread in what we’ve been together so far – I think it’s fitting that a music can kick off our future.”

He saw Danny was confused and amused. “Ok, I’m with you so far…but actually I’m fucking lost. What are you talking about?”

Another long inhale. “I know I’ve always joked that I’m the one drag queen who never sings – and I swear on Jinkx’s dead fucking career that I will never release a goddamn album – but I know how much you like when I play –“

“Oh my God!” Roy could hear the excitement in Danny’s voice as he realized what was going to happen. He made his way over the piano bench and took a seat. “Oh my God, Roy are you going to –“

“This is my gift to you. I love you so much, Danny.” He lowered the mic next to the piano and switched it on, finally able to stop shouting. Roy opened the sheet music he’d bought that morning and did a quick pass to check the piano’s tune – and then he started playing.

Music was the one talent that Roy insisted on keeping to himself. His parents had put him in piano lessons when he was little, learning the basics on a little Casio keyboard before becoming a real musical talent in high school – it gave him an easy way to be involved with theater without raising too many eyebrows in a conservative town. Roy continued playing in college with classes here and there, playing for his friends when they’d wander into a bar or end up in a fancy house with a Baby Grand. It became a great conversation point as he started working in musical theater, making him a sought-out party guest to bang out tunes during a drunken cast party or a night out in NYC.

But no one knew he could sing. Well, no one but Danny, really. Roy was a musical theater nerd after all, and while he certainly wasn’t coming for any Broadway leading man roles he could do much more than carry a tune. He’d faked near tone deafness during the Rusical challenge, seeing no reason to break his persona or story line when he knew the moment belonged to Adore and Courtney.

Once, during BOTS, Danny had heard him singing in the shower when he thought everyone else was asleep. The kid had pulled open the shower door, yelled “Holy Shit!” and spent 20 minutes trying to convince Roy to sing in public. He refused repeatedly, and after a year of bugging him Danny finally gave up. Roy’s argument was that if it wasn’t perfect and polished, *the* Bianca del Rio would never do it – which Danny understood was a non-negotiable fact. But he would still bring it up every now and then, telling Roy how beautiful he thought his voice was and begging him to sing.

Knowing how much Danny loved it (and hoping he hadn’t been lying when he said so), Roy decided that singing for him would itself say a lot. It would show he’d gotten over fears, that he was ready to try something new, that he wanted to dive into this head first…

Roy made it through the complex piano opening seamlessly, never taking his eyes off the sheet music. He launched into the melodic version of the Sam Smith and Disclosure hit “Latch”:

You lift my heart up when the rest of me is down

You, you enchant me even when you’re not around

Roy felt the lyrics in the marrow of his bones. He had known Danny for something like a thousand days, and he’d thought about him and smiled for each one of them. To him Danny was magic, the person that reminded him life can still have surprises and fairy dust and goddamn mermaids.

If there are boundaries, I will try to knock them down

I’m latching on babe, now I know what I have found

Truer words were never spoken – or sung, he supposed. Fuck everything that’s kept us apart, fuck the things I’ve been afraid of. Roy was ready to grab Danny, catch them both as they fell and never let go.

I feel we’re close enough, could I lock on your love

I feel we’re close enough, could I lock on your love

As he hit the bridge, Roy got a little nervous. Danny hadn’t said anything, hadn’t made any audible reactions since he started playing or singing. Maybe Danny had been lying, maybe he hated his voice. This was too cheesy, so not Roy. Maybe this was a terrible mistake….

“Don’t you dare stop.” As Roy paused a bit too long before the chorus began, he heard a choked up Danny squeak out the words from behind him. He whipped around to see the love of his life with tears rolling softly down his face and his favorite giant Danny smile brimming wide. Guess it’s working after all…he played on.

Now I’ve got you in my space, I won’t let go of you

Got you shackled in my embrace, I’m latching on to you

Roy barely got through the chorus before he felt Danny sit beside him and rest his hands atop his own. He stopped him from playing, gently grabbing Roy’s hands and lifting them up to kiss each knuckle.

“How did you even get down here?” Roy was bewildered by that, among other things.

In between each peck, Danny spoke barely above a whisper: “Side stairs in the theater, I’m not actually a bruja.” He continued he soft pecks, moving from the knuckles up to Roy’s neck and cheeks. “I’ve never actually been speechless, but you might have done it. God, I just love you so much.”

And with that, Danny swung a leg over Roy and pulled himself into his lap. He grabbed Roy by the face, looking him so deeply in the eyes that Roy felt his heart stop beating and his synapses fire all at once. Then Danny kissed him deeply, hungrily, passionately – everything Roy had ever wanted.

After a solid 2 minutes of making out – and Danny grinding needily into Roy’s stiffening lap – Roy gently pushed him off for air. “So, does this mean you’re my boyfriend now?” He smiled, laughing a little bit at how silly that sounded in this moment. What would Bianca think of me now?

“I’m not just your boyfriend, I’m the love of your goddamn life. You’re mine. And don’t you forget it.”

Roy was so intensely turned on by the fire and honesty with which Danny said those words – the love of your goddamn life – that he nearly slammed Danny into the piano as he rejoined their lips to go another round. He had just begun slipping his hands under Danny’s pink sweatshirt, fully ready to flip him onto the piano bench when –

We Found Love started playing over the theater speakers, and suddenly Shane came through like the voice of God. “Guys, I’m so happy for you!”

Roy and Danny both looked up, confused. After a pause: “But as much as I adore you lovebirds, you need to get off my stage. I need to clear out this piano and sound check, and I’m not hiring a crew to clean up the bodily fluids your about to spill.”

Danny looked at Roy, confusion turned back into a concentrated combination of love and lust. “He’s not wrong.” Roy felt Danny grind against him and move back in for a kiss, but he had another idea.

“I cannot believe I am actually saying this – really, I know this is insane –“ Roy punctuated each pause with a kiss on Danny’s cheeks, jaw, neck – “but I think – I would really like – to first – take you out – on a real date.”

Danny laughed – scoffed, really. “Wait, what?”

“I would like to woo you, Daniel. Would you please have dinner with me?”

Once again, Roy couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his own mouth. But he wanted to do this right. He wanted to make sure Danny knew this was the real deal – not just about sex or a momentary whim. He was in for permanence, for slow burn, for life.

Danny smiled back at him – he knew in that moment that he would never get tired of Danny smiling at him like that – and dismounted. They both hissed a bit at the loss of contact, but Roy knew he would make up for it later.

“I would love that.” Danny held out a hand for Roy and bowed to him ever so slightly, indulging the cheesiness of the moment. “Shall we?”

Roy popped up and kissed him once again, deeply and tenderly this time. There was no rush, he knew they really had forever.

—

With a couple hours to kill before Shane’s show, Roy and Danny left the theater to grab dinner nearby.

Roy pulled up Yelp, looking for a spot. “I would suggest pizza, since I know how much you love it –“

“You think you’re getting into my pants with pizza, Haylock? I thought you wanted to woo me.” Danny feigned offense.

Roy stopped himself from launching into a Bianca rant– Bitch you’ve put out for Totino’s Pizza Rolls, you’d suck a dick for a Hot Pocket. Again, that wasn’t for this. He knew Danny had shown up and committed, but he still felt he needed to prove that he was ready to take this seriously and be a ‘good’ boyfriend.

“What, no jokes? I practically teed that up for you!” Danny slapped him on the arm, snapping Roy out of this thoughts.

“Well I was trying to –“

“Don’t try to do or be anything. You should know by now I love you just the way you are, and if you don’t tell me right now that I’d probably fuck someone for a Hot Pocket then I’m taking you to a hospital because you’ve been body snatched.”

Roy couldn’t help laughing, but he felt a little relieved. He relaxed, unclenched all the things he didn’t realize he was clenching. “I was gonna say Pizza Rolls, you cunt.” And he sealed the quip with a kiss.

—

Danny ended up picking the restaurant, a little bistro-type café a few blocks from the venue.

They spent the next two hours desperately seeking some kind of physical contact – hands intertwined, playing footsie – while they caught up on all the things they’d meant to discuss in the days before: Roy talked about his tour; Danny talked about the move and his new life in Seattle; Roy talked about doing some freelance costume design; Danny talked about how the new album was going; Roy talked about the dogs; Danny talked about experimenting with makeup videos. They drifted into family shenanigans at the holidays, vacations they had been mentally planning, TEDTalks they had watched, how much they loved Get Out and Beauty and the Beast…

Roy could’ve talked with Danny and never stopped. He genuinely didn’t understand how he could be so physically entranced – addicted, even – to Danny, but still be content to just talk with him about everything and nothing for hours. It was reassuring to know their relationship was built on genuine interest and affection for each other, in addition to wanting to fuck each other’s brains out at any given moment.

But as the time ran closer to Shane’s show, Roy knew they needed to get something off his chest before rejoining the real world.

“Before we leave, I just want to say one thing: All the things we talked about yesterday –“

“Roy, I know. Really, we both know what we’re up against – from ourselves and from other people – but I don’t care. I am so in love with you and –“

Roy smiled. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that. I just need to say that everything we talked about before, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m ready to tell the world exactly what you said to me at the piano – you’re the goddamn love of my life, I’m yours. Fuck anyone who has anything to say about it.”

Danny leaned across the table to kiss him. “I know baby, I do. And we can say it as loud as we want, but whenever you want. I know I may’ve made it sound like I’m in a rush to tell everyone, but I’m not going to push you to do anything you’re not ready for. I know this is a big deal and we should probably be measured about how we do this publicly. You probably want to be…strategic.”

Roy could see Danny looked a little sad as he said it, but he wasn’t wrong. Both their personal lives had been a source of great scrutiny, and he’d just finished a decently public relationship. Even if they were both ready to shout it from the rooftops, they probably needed to think through the announcement. Talk to managers, talk to Michelle…there was a lot to do.

“Well, that’s not going to stop me from kissing my boyfriend on our first date.” Roy leaned over this time, kissing Danny. “We can talk about the rest of that – the big announcement or whatever – later. For now, let’s go see our sister?”

—

Back at the club, Roy insisted they watch Shane perform as Courtney from backstage. He wanted to be able to dance, hug, kiss – everything obnoxious couples do – at the show without turning it into a circus of drag fans who were coming to see the last-minute show.

As the night wound down, Danny stood behind Roy with his chin resting on his shoulder. Roy turned to kiss him – already feeling his lips getting chapped – when Shane announced the final song of Courtney’s show.

“Thanks for turning up tonight gang, I had an incredible time with you all. No wonder Adore loves it so much here!” Shane glanced into the wings. “Speaking of Adore, she requested I do this song for you guys tonight. I used to sing it all the time when we went on our first tour together, it was a massive hit at the time, and it was always her favorite.”

Roy looked back at Danny. “What’s he singing?”

Danny smiled mischievously. “You’ll see.”

In that moment, Shane shouted the opening “Na Na” and the synth line of the original Latch track dropped.

Roy’s eyes went wide, and he whipped around to face Danny as the track played on. He sang it for Danny because this was their song, what they used to huddle up and listen to in his giant fucking Beats while they were in the Werkroom or for the months they were on tour.

“When did you ask him to do this? We’ve been together this whole time – did you call him for the bathroom or something?” Roy was baffled by how sneaky Danny must’ve been do ask Shane for this after their moment, how quickly he must’ve prepared the song…

“Actually – you’re gonna love this, I can’t believe I’ve kept this a secret for this long without actually exploding – I asked him to do this last night. When you sang for me earlier I thought he had told you?”

“No! I had no idea. That wombat is learning tricks from Willam.” Roy was impressed by Shane, and touched by Danny’s gesture. “You had him play our song.”

“Oh, this is our song now? Have we decided?”

“Babe, I think the universe just decided for us. And in that case, may I have this dance?” Roy held his hand out for Danny as Shane launched into the first verse. He took Danny’s hand and whipped him into his chest, full on ballroom dancing his boyfriend around the tight backstage area.

“What the hell, when did you learn to dance like this? This is fucking hot, like Dirty Dancing or some shit.”

“You’re so eloquent.” Roy had to laugh. “Like any good Southern boy, I did Cotillion growing up. Taught us all about manners, dancing, dinner parties – world’s greatest drag training ground.”

“You never cease to surprise me, baby.” Danny purred into his ear as Roy pulled him closer.

“And I promise I never will.” To Roy, this was the perfect moment. They were perfect.

It can’t get better than this.

—

But Danny was about to prove Roy wrong. He pulled away from the dance as Shane built towards the first chorus. The breakaway surprised Roy, who was only vaguely paying attention to what Shane was droning on about during the music’s instrumental bridge.

“Well, I hope you don’t mind I have a few surprises of my own.” Danny kissed him gently on the cheek and started walking towards the stage, grabbing a handheld mic from the stage manager as he went.

In that moment, Roy caught the tail end of what Shane was saying.

“…and she’s here to join me herself, your new hometown favorite, Miss Adore Delano!” The crowed roared as Danny strutted on stage in time to catch the chorus, singing in harmony with Shane.

Of all the things Roy loved to watch Danny do, performing was easily what he loved the most. When he was onstage, no matter who he “was” at that time, Danny was in his true form. It was rare for someone to clearly be so comfortable and confident in front of a crowd, but Danny was rare. Every single time he went out there he lit up in a way that few people ever do once in their whole lives, energized and impassioned by the music flowing through his veins and the way he made people feel with his performance. Danny was magic, but he was most magic in moments like this.

Roy watched as Danny moved into the second verse. His sultry, soulful voice stirred Roy from romance mode to fuck mode with the flip of a switch.

I’m so in-captured, got me wrapped up in your touch

Feel so enamored, hold me tight within your clutch

How do you do it, you’ve got me losing every breath

What did you give me to make my heart beat out my chest

Roy had been so distracted watching and listening to Danny, thinking about everything he planned to do as soon as Danny got off the stage, that he didn’t notice Shane barreling towards him. It wasn’t until Shane grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out onstage that he realized anything was happening.

“What the hell are you doing?” He whisper-shouted at Shane. Danny, lost in the trance of his last note and the instrumental bridge, turned to see him standing there – and looked equally confused.

Shane give them both a coy smile and said into the mic, “Look who else is here tonight, gang. The lovely Bianca del Rio!”

Roy turned to the audience, who cheered for him with the same vigor as Danny. He smiled and waved before turning back to Shane, who just handed him a mic and winked.

Taking the mic, and still not sure what the fuck was happening, Roy began to vamp. This he had done a million times before, and damned if he was going to let the next 10 seconds of instrumental (he had memorized the song down to the key signatures) pass awkwardly as hell. I am a fucking professional.

In full Bianca voice, over the music: “If y’all think I’m gonna sing. You must be crazy. I ain’t Sharon Needles.” He paused to purse his lips and roll his eyes at the crowd, knowing he’d get the usual laugh.

“But how about a round of applause for these two idiots, clap for these hookers.” The audience cheered on cue.

The vocal part of the song picked back up, and Danny and Shane (who had somehow gotten another mic) began singing the “I feel we’re close enough” bridge.

In that moment, Roy had a brilliant idea. Well – brilliant or dumb as shit, but he was inclined to believe the former.

Talking over the two singing, he began: “Alright, alright. Who here has Reddit? Facebook? Twitter? Some other shit you lazy ass gays and hags are using these days? Whatever it is, pull out your phone and make sure you get this.”

Danny and Shane were coming up on the last line of “Could I lock on your love.” The song was about to hit it’s peak, so Roy took his risk

“What is it that bitch said? Oh ya’ll wanted a twist, eh?”

And in the moment that Danny would’ve hit the song’s crescendo, Roy ripped the mic out of his hand and dipped Danny into a big, showy, dramatic kiss.

He could hear Shane screaming in the background, and felt a hundred smartphone camera flashes go off as he wound his fingers into Danny’s hair.

Roy came up for air for a moment – just long enough for Danny to smile and bite his lip – before plunging back into an upright make-out session for the remained of the song.

Danny whispered in between kisses: “What are you doing?”

Roy replied: “Fuck being measured. I love you. You’re the goddamn love of my life. I’m yours. I shouldn’t be the only one who knows that.”

Danny smiled.

—

The End

[A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for being so welcoming on my first foray into AQ or fan fic at all, I appreciate this community of ship trash weirdos like myself. All feedback is welcome, even at the close. XOXO Fucking Awful]

#bianca del rio #adore delano #biadore #new man #angst #fluff #rpdr fanfiction #submission #fucking awful #canon compliant