Gems and Humans. (SeverusX & ICanSeeYourPixels)

[Artificial Sugar]

 

[Artificial Sugar]

Early morning light pushed through the lace curtains Atropa had put on her windows. They were temporary, only place holders for the real curtains she planned on buying eventually. Of course, being lace, they did nothing to keep out the sun. Sighing tiredly, Atropa rolled over, showing her back to the intruding sunshine, and tried to go back to sleep. After half an hour of tossing and turning, however, it was clear she wasn't going to be sleeping any longer that morning. Grumbling to herself, she sat up and looked at her alarm clock, sighing heavily. Eight.


It was almost time for her to get up anyway, honestly, but that didn't mean she wanted to. Pushing herself up out of bed, she padded across the plush lavender carpet to her bathroom, not bothering to shut the door. Her house was her own, and no one else could get in or see in, anyway. Stepping out of her nightgown, she stepped into the small shower and turned the hot water on, closing her eyes as it traveled down her body. She was going to be skipping breakfast this morning. She didn't want to have food stuck in her teeth on her first day at work.


After blow drying her hair and pinning it up in a bun, she dressed in a simple plum colored tank top and dark skinny jeans. Grabbing her maroon leather jacket, she slipped it on before putting on a pair of black ballet flats. She brushed her teeth quickly and grabbed her keys before leaving, locking the door behind her. The Donut Shop was only a short walk away, so Atropa didn't bother getting in her car. She walked to work instead, enjoying the scenery. Once she reached the shop, she took a moment to gather herself before entering, stepping up to the counter with a smile plastered on her face. "Good morning. I'm Atropa, I'm your new employee."

Pearl smoothed out her skirt and then her hair, making sure everything was in place. Walking smoothly into the house, she did a quick check to see if anything had been broken or taken out of place inside, but it seemed everything was nicely in place. Steven had been staying with Connie while Pearl and the other's were out on a mission. A mission he'd wanted to go on, but Pearl had deemed too dangerous for him. Garnet had agreed, and that was that. Amethyst, per usual, had wanted him along, but really, she had no opinion that mattered when it came to Steven's safety.


"Steven? We're back!" Pearl called out, stepping further into the house. Garnet took a seat on the couch, and Amethyst went straight to the kitchen to eat, munching loudly on something. Pearl shot her a look, furrowing her brows, but Amethyst just crunched her food louder. Sighing in exasperation, Pearl crossed her arms and frowned, waiting for Steven to appear. A moment later footsteps sounded on the stairs and Steven's smiling face appeared, and right behind him was Connie. Pearl grinned happily at the sight of the curly haired boy, having missed him.


"Pearl! This is Calista! She's Connie's older sister!" Pearl looked up, behind Steven and Connie, to where another girl was standing. Nodding to her, Pearl took a moment to study her before offering her a hand to shake. "Well, hello! How are you? I'm Pearl." The girl was really quite striking, and Pearl felt herself blushing. She was definitely Connie's older sister- they looked so much alike. Steven began to go on about their mission, asking all sorts of questions, but for once, Pearl wasn't paying attention to him. She wanted to know more about Calista.

 

[ICanSeeYourPixels]

Lars had groaned as the sunlight poured through his window straight onto his face, alarm buzzing as loud as it could go. He wanted nothing more than to just stay in bed for a few more hours but knew if he did that he was going to be late for work. Normally he wouldn’t care too much, Sadie knowing how to cover for him, but this time he definitely had to be on time. There was going to be a new employee. He couldn’t help but be a little excited, someone new in Beach City didn’t happen too often.


He had then groaned, managing to pull himself out of bed only to see the report card laying next to him with a note on it. Lars had only rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what it would say before he even saw it. ‘We need to talk’. He still checked it just in case but he was correct. He’d looked at the grades. “A. F. C. D.F. D. Not as bad as last time” He’d said to himself as he’d put both pieces of paper back down on the bed. He’d quickly gotten dressed then made his way into the bathroom, washing his face and brushing his teeth. He’d then slowly made his way downstairs, seeing his parents waiting for him. He had only rolled his eyes. “Can we do this later? I have work” Lars tried to convince them. His mom had looked like she’d been thinking about what he said as his dad had nodded. He had smiled as he’d figured he would grab breakfast at work and took off on his skateboard towards Big Donut.


When he’d finally shown up he’d been right on time, Sadie had even looked impressed. He’d then put away his skateboard and helmet in the back as he’d grabbed a donut, biting into it. “New girl here yet?” He’d asked. “Not yet, but she still has ten minutes so you never know” Sadie answered. She then looked to him again. “Someone new in Beach City, aren’t you excited?” Sadie asked, actually looking just as excited as she’d seemed. “Yeah I guess” He said, shrugging as Sadie continued. “I wonder what she’s gonna be like” Sadie finished. “Well she’ll be working at the Big Donut with us so she can’t be too exciting” Lars answered, chuckling a bit as Sadie had only glared, eyes immediately going to the girl walking in the door. Lars had completely halted, a slight blush coming to his face as she’d introduced herself. Sadie had then looked at him, giving him a sideways ‘I told you so’ kind of look. “He-Hey Atropa was it?” Lars was making sure he heard her right. “Hey, sorry about him. I'm Sadie and he's Lars. I can get you set up in the back. There’s some videos you’re going to have to watch before you start working” Sadie said, taking over and showing her where she had to go and started to get her set up. Lars was suddenly happy he came in early, feeling his heart beating a little faster.

The hotel had been a good idea. She had already sold her apartment here and the building was within walking distance of the airport that she’d needed to be at. She had even set an alarm for herself much earlier than she needed to wake up, knowing that she would ignore the first few buzzes. She had then gotten her room all packed up and made the bed before taking off towards the airport and easily made her way towards her plane, getting right into her seat. She’d sent text messages to her parents and even her sister, their replies something along the lines of smiley faces and how much they had missed her over the two years or so she’d been gone. She hadn’t even really thought about the time at this point. She’d just let herself get distracted by the book she’d brought, relaxing into it. It had been a book she’d bought, knowing the plane trip would be long. Something about astrology, it’d been one of the few interests that she’d never quite picked up on and fully intended on exploring while back with her parents. Who knows? I might just end up getting my own place in Beach City if I end up liking it enough she’d thought, smiling as she’d turned another page.


She’d nearly jumped when the plane had landed, excited to be seeing her family again. Calista had been wondering what they’d all looked like, especially Connie. It had just been so long since they’d all seen each other so as soon. It had took her a while but she had eventually found a cab that would take her straight to her parents home. “So you’re the Maheswaran’s eldest? Man, I didn’t even know they had any other kids.” The driver commented. She had only laughed, “Yeah, we’ve moved around a bit. I haven’t actually lived here with them before” She answered, blasted into a full-on conversation before she’d finally made it to the house, making sure to give him his money plus tip and to grab her bags. She’d made that mistake before. Calista had then looked at the house, it definitely looked like somewhere her parents would live. She was just about to walk towards the house when she’d nearly been knocked over.


Connie had jumped at her, Calista barely catching her as she’d dropped her bags to do so. The Cab driver had pulled away by now and she saw her parents standing in the door, smiling, along with another little boy standing a bit behind Connie. He’d had black curly hair and looked about Connie’s age. “Calista, you’re finally home!” Connie had shouted when she’d finally put Connie down. “I know, weird right?” Calista joked as she then looked to the boy again. “And who is-” “Oh right! This is Steven Universe, my best friend” Connie introduced as she then looked to Steven. “Steven, this is my sister Calista. She’s back from college.. Early. She’s pretty smart” Connie said, smiling. Steven had immediately went up to her and shook her hand. They had exchanged nice to meet you’s and formalities before going into the house. When her parents had finally gotten a few minutes to greet her Steven had then spoke up. “Oh! I want to introduce her to the others” He said, sounding pretty excited and just like that she was being dragged away from her own home and to Steven’s.


She’d managed to check herself over, making sure she’d been appropriate to meet people. She’d been wearing a pair of worn out jean shorts and a loose black tank top. It wasn’t anything special but she looked ok. When they finally made it to his house it looked like the people there had just been getting home. Connie had written her a few times about Steven and his.. Mothers? Calista still wasn’t sure about everything but she knew they called themselves the Crystal Gems and she knew she knew a lot more than her parents did about them. That’s when Steven went right to the introductions, introducing her Pearl. Calista had finally managed to get herself together after being dragged around, making her way over to Pearl. She had moved her hair to one side getting it out of her way and then had reached for Pearl’s hand for a handshake. “Hello Pearl, my name is Calista.” Calista smiling as she shook Pearl’s hand, basically repeating what Steven had said. “I’m back from college, graduated a bit early and now I might just stick around here for a while” Calista explained herself, looking around at the others. “Oh right! Guys this is my sister Calista! She’s just came back from college and she’s going to be living with my parents and I again” Connie had announced, getting introductions over with. Calista had then just shyly nodded, giving a little wave.

 

[Artificial Sugar]

Atropa smiled at the guy who greeted her. Lars, apparently. Following the girl- Sadie- Atropa made her way to a small room in the back. She was instructed to take a seat and watch a few films that were supposed to be educational and help her with her new job. Of course, these films were almost always ridiculous, and Atropa was sure she was going to fall asleep a few times while watching them. She ate a few donuts while watching them, after Sadie informed her it was fine for the employees to have them. When the films were finally over, Atropa felt like she'd been watching them all day.


Exiting the back room, she made her way behind the counter, where she spotted Sadie and Lars, speaking in hushed tones. When she approached, they shut up. "Did you finish them?" Sadie asked, and Atropa nodded, stretching, feeling cramped from sitting so long. Sadie grinned and handed Atropa an apron, before beginning a small tour of the shop. Atropa needed to know how to bake the donuts and frost them, and how to turn everything off, if she was there at night. The shop didn't say open too late, but even so, Atropa wasn't sure she wanted to work at night.


When Sadie was finally done with the little tour, she left Atropa behind the counter with Lars. "Break time!" Sadie called out happily, taking her apron off and leaving through a door in the back of the building. Smiling happily to herself, Atropa turned to Lars, arms crossed. She was studying him quietly, taking him in. He was definitely cute. "So, Lars, right?" She began, smirking. "Do you like working here? You look like you should work at the mall or something."

Pearl smiled and nodded, taking a moment to realize she was still holding Calista's hand. Letting it go, Pearl felt her cheeks heat up with a blush, and turned around, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Making her way around the house, she cleaned up the numerous small messes that Steven had mananged to create while they were gone. It seemed like he left a mess wherever he went, which really was quite surprising. He was such a small human, but he made such large messes. Sighing as she finished up, Pearl returned to the living room and took a seat on the couch.


"So, Calista, what did you go to college for?" She asked, curious as to what the girl had studied. Pearl didn't go to school, none of the Gems did, but it was an interesting idea for Pearl. She loved learning. Even though she was sure none of the humans knew more than the Gems did, she had always wondered about school. Surely she could learn some human things-- maybe she could even teach some Gem things. It was an interesting idea, at the very least. Even though she knew it would never happen. Looking up at Calista, Pearl wondered what she thought of them.


"Oh! Would you like a snack?" She asked suddenly, shooting up off the couch. Making her way to the kitchen, Pearl opened the fridge to find that it was empty. "Steven? Did you-- did you eat all the food?" She asked, voice high pitched, slightly panicked. Steven let out a sound and frowned, looking guilty. "Well.. Um, I apologize, Calista, but it appears I need to buy some more food before you can have a snack." She sighed and shut the fridge, crossing her arms. "Did you make yourself sick, Steven?" Pearl asked, as he shrugged. She knew he had.

 

[ICanSeeYourPixels]

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<img class="ipsImage" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/imageproxy/imageproxy.php?img=http://ih1.redbubble.net/image.174358041.8074/sticker,375x360.u1.png&key=b2a28a54cf6d924963f20e6e62b72f4d1d07408488dd149d0bb27d029989fa40" alt="sticker,375x360.u1.png" /> Lars had still been shocked, why would a girl like that be working at a donut shop like this? He’d still been trying to get his face to calm down when Sadie had come back by him. She’d only laughed, “You like her” Sadie stated right away. Lars had only scoffed though it was clearly not hiding anything. He’d finally then broken a little. “She’s so.. Wow” Lars admitted, Sadie nodding. “Oh no, I totally get it. I definitely didn’t expect her when we were being told there was someone new. In fact I guess I didn’t know what to expect” Sadie admitted. Lars had only nodded in agreement as he was still trying not to look like some sort of pre-teen idiot. That still hadn’t stopped Sadie from teasing him throughout the day. Lars and Sadie had started work once again, Sadie still teasing him about the crush he was forming on the new girl when they’d heard the back door open. Sadie had went quiet as she’d looked to Atropa and had then went on to give her a small tour of the shop and what she would need to do all the while Lars was dealing with the few regular customers that had come in.Lars kept thinking about the new girl, wondering why she chose to live in Beach city. Usually people would come in the summer but other than that the place was pretty dead. There wasn’t much to do here and Lars spent most of his time wanting to get out of the place. He just kept wondering what she was like, wanting to talk to her. He had then saw Sadie, knowing that Atropa small tour of the place was most likely over. He’d then looked to her as she’d announced her break, giving a light laugh and nervous smile in her direction. He had easily followed her, finding this his chance to finally talk to her. He’d grown nervous under her gaze, wondering what she was thinking when she finally spoke. “Oh yeah, I’m Lars” He introduced himself finally, wanting to punch himself in the face for already acting so awkward around the girl. “Yeah, I mean it’s an ok place. It’s a good job and Sadie is pretty cool to work with. We’re both pretty chill” Lars admitted, trying to explain what it was like to work at the Big Donut. “I mean, it’s better than most other jobs around here” He finally landed on. He then smirked, “Yeah, I probably would be but Beach city doesn’t have much of a mall.. Or much of anything really” Lars had commented. He then decided to ask her a few questions. “It’s pretty dead here, so why did you move here? Undercover witness protection or something?” He’d joked with her.


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<img class="ipsImage" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/imageproxy/imageproxy.php?img=http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.61376546.1983/sticker,375x360.u1.png&key=a1ac7d53e92f27cd31cafac3d043d9bb37179bdd34ce6e875089d6926d1ef5e0" alt="sticker,375x360.u1.png" />Calista had only smiled to Pearl and then had continued to look around the home. It looked very cozy and neat, save for the small messes that Steven must’ve made while home alone. That’s when she’d finally heard Pearl’s question, thinking about what to say. “Well I went to a college for art but I was pretty much all over the place with the classes I was taking. Theatre, acting, fencing, dance, stunts, pretty much anything you can think of” Calista had tried to name off most of the classes she’d taken. She had pretty much packed her schedule as full as it could go any given semester. Calista had then looked at Steven, who’d looked pretty guilty. “Thank but don’t worry about me too much. I pretty much pigged out at the airport” Calista admitted, smiling nervously. Connie had only smiled, happy that her sister was back and was happy to show her off. Steven had usually had all the exciting stuff happening in his life and Connie was actually happy to have something, or someone, exciting to show off too. “Yeah, she’s really good at dancing. Most the moves I know I’ve learned from her” Connie praised. “I don’t know if I would say really good but I know a few moves” Calista joked, chuckling a bit. That’s when Amethyst had finally joined in on the conversation, sitting on the couch. “Oh yeah? I’d been interested in seeing some of those moves” Amethyst said, pretty interested in where the conversation was going. “Oh I don’t know-” Calista had started nervously but soon Connie had joined in, Steven running up to what she’d assumed was his bed, bringing back a stereo of some kind. He was just happy to get the focus off of him after he’d eaten all the food in the fridge. “Come’on it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you dance” Connie had tried to convince. “And I haven’t seen it at all” Steven said as he looked for music, finally finding some. “Fine, I suppose I could show off a bit” Calista said as she’d began to stretch before listening to the music Steven had started to play to determine what style she could dance to. The music had been a soft mix of piano and violin. Calista had taken a deep breath before her body had began to move to the music gracefully. Her body had began to feel weightless moving fluidly along with the music through twists and turns. She had lost herself a bit before she’d soon finished when the music had, blushing and laughing a bit. “That. Was. Awesome” Steven and Amethyst agreed. Calista had only nervously laughed, “Thanks”.


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