Chapter Text
“But, Garnet, why do you guys get to go and I don’t?” Steven asked, on the verge of tears. The unfairness of the situation wrenched a stubbornness usually not seen in the normally tame boy.
Garnet sighed and looked to Pearl and Amethyst, both dressed in fine silk and lace gowns, ready and primed to hopefully distract and seduce a Prince. They both had similar expressions, uncomfortable and stiff.
Garnet turned back to Steven, voice soft. “This is not for fun, Steven. There is a Gem in that castle, and we have to stop it from causing trouble before the people notice something wrong.”
Steven’s eyes went watery, “And you don’t think I can help? Because I can, promise!” he pleaded.
Garnet struggled with the words she said next, not wanting to hurt the boy, but also not wanting him to know just what they would be attempting on the mission. “No, Steven. This isn’t something you can help with, only adults are accepted into the castle this night. Stay here and don’t leave the temple before we get back.”
Steven opened his mouth to protest, but was ignored as the Gem’s quickly made their way out the door and to the ball.
All the gems.
Except him.
Steven dejectedly made his way back into his room and fell limply into bed, muffling his frustrated scream into a pillow, knowing full well no one would hear him anyway in the large empty Temple. Why were they being so unfair!? It wasn’t like he was going to get in the way or anything, he knew better than that! And he had been doing so well on missions lately. He could make a bubble, a shield, shapeshift, heal, and even fuse! Everything they could do! They were just being jerks…
Steven sighed, feeling miserable. He really, really wanted to go to the ball. He wanted to see the people dancing, he wanted to see the lavish royalty, and he wanted most of all to be there to help the crystal gems.
Would they start treating him like a kid again? A pang of hurt rippled through his chest.
That’d be awful. He was already 14! What was the problem? That was about the same gem age Pearl had been when she had started fighting alongside his mom.
Steven was sure, so sure that he would be able to handle this. He just needed the chance.
Steven’s eyes hardened in determination.
“Connie!” Steven whispered loudly from the outside of the girls window, throwing a few pebbles when she didn’t respond.
“Hush, Steven, I’m going as fast as I can without making noise. Mother would kill me if she knew I had taken one of her dresses.” Connie whispered back as she raised one leg out of the second story window and began climbing down. The dress she wore was overly large and was obviously tailored for someone much older. Still, it was the prettiest shade of blue he’d ever seen on a dress before. And the shoes that slipped off of Connie's feet, nearly hitting him on the head, were very pretty too.
‘Glass’ Steven realized as he caught the delicate shoe before it hit the ground and shattered.
He turned to Connie with a delighted smile, “I never knew your mother had such nice things. I mean, not that she’s, um..-” Steven trailed off, unsure of where he was going with this.
Connie watched him struggle with his words with a smile on her face, “Yeah, I had no idea too. I guess she’s too busy to wear them all the time.”
Steven let a relieved grin spread across his face, “I’d bet she would look pretty it. But really, we should go before she realizes you're not in your room and tries to kill us.”
Connie shivered in dread. “Let's go.”
Prince Onion watched the hags attending the ball fawn and throw themselves at his elder brother, Sour Cream, with mild disgust.
Their faces were painted with Jester-like make-up, white powdered faces and ridiculous bright red lips. Their bodies curved at odd unnatural angles, as if the corsets they wore had reconstructed their body-type and squashed their organs, so that they would look as small as possible while still managing to showcase their breasts.
Onion sat by his mother's feet, fiddling with the hem of her fur robes in boredom. Really, this was a waste of time. Most of these women were trashy commoners who had scraped together all their saving to buy a half-decent dress to seduce the eldest prince. They weren’t royalty, so why did his parents insist that Sour cream pick for himself? They were dirtying the line unnecessarily.
If Onion had the privilege of being future king, he wouldn’t waste his time looking among the peasants, even he knew that would result in less power. Sour Cream should marry a neighboring princess to form alliances and treaties to strengthen the kingdom.
But no, love. So very much important.
He couldn’t wait for this to be over.
Sour Cream was having a horrible night.
At least until he met some wonderful multi-colored ladies. The red one was the most beautiful, yet not much of a talker, the purple one had a laid back demeanor with a sense of crude humor that he liked, and the opalescent one was the most refined with a grace in dancing that he had never seen before.
Though they paled in comparison to the beautiful creature that attempted and failed to sneak through the large ballroom doors unnoticed. The doors reached up towards the impossibly high ceiling, of course people would notice something so large moving.
She was wearing a pale blue dress that was admittedly was not her color, but still managed to make her look beautiful anyway, and her long rivulets of dark curls tumbled over her shoulder and down her back in almost wild way. Sour cream also took notice of how, unlike many of the women here, she was not wearing one of those back breaking corsets, her stance was tense, but not as much as it would be if she was wearing one of those death contraptions. Her tanned skin was almost golden in its complexion, and it was clear in that respite that she was a commoner.
But the most charming looking girl he’d seen all night.
He watched the girl as she frantically searched the ballroom packed with women until her eyes fell on him and stayed there. Sour cream felt his breath hitch as the girl nervously wrung her hands and she avoided his gaze. She then faded into the chatting crowd purposefully hiding herself from him.
Well, that just wouldn’t do.
Stevonnie felt her heart go into overdrive as she spotted the gems next to the future king, and she quickly tried to merge into the crowd to remain undetected by them.
‘Holy crud! Did they see us? No, we’re good, calm down.’
Man, that was close, and she was sure that the Prince had seen her. He had been staring. Could he tell that she didn’t belong here? Oh god, she hoped that he didn’t mention it to the gems.
A hand on her should made Stevonnie jump a few inches off the ground and her heart freeze in her chest. She turned around so quickly that she stumbled on the slippery glass slippers and was forced to gain balance from the body in front of her.
Stevonnie was encircled by a pair of steadying arms, too warm for the gems usually cold skin. Her eyes snapped up to this persons face and she had the horrible premonition that she was going to be sick all over the ballroom floor.
The Prince.
The face that had been ingrained into the people’s minds since his birth, your soon to be king.
“I am so sorry! Oh my god, I fell on you, are okay!? Oh my gosh, I so did not mean to do that, did I tear anything, I can’t believe I grabbed you!” Stevonnie’s voice continued to grow more panicked the more she spoke. Sour Cream watched her ramble and fuss in amusement.
He placed his arm across his chest and bowed slightly, “The fault is all mine, fair lady. It was I who startled you. It was just that I was wondering if you might join me for advance… or two.” His eyes sparkled in mirth
Stevonnie however, frowned in confusion, “Oh, um. A dance? I think I’ll have to decline that offer. The most I’ve dance is with a friend, and not that very well.” Stevonnie let a smile cross her face, “thanks for the offer though.
Sour cream felt his good mood dampen some, “Well, why come to a ball if you do not wish to dance?” Was she not interested in becoming a queen
Stevonnie twiddled her thumbs and looked down at his feet, “Well… I’ve never really been to a party before. I wanted to… see what it was like?” that was a half-truth, but good enough.
Sour Cream felt a warmth bloom in his chest. ‘How adorably innocent. Never having been to a party.
“Well, since it is your first party, don’t you think you should honor it with a dance? I’ll be the best lead you’ll ever have, promise"
‘Okay,’ Stevonnie thought, ‘I am not taking the risk of a three-way fusion in a giant ballroom filled with people.
Stevonnie stepped back, biting her bottom lip in an accidental way that drew the prince’s eyes straight to her mouth, “Okay, I’m going to let you in on a secret…I am technically not really supposed to be here. My family said I wasn’t allowed, but they are here right now and if they saw me, they would undoubtedly drag me back to the house.
The young prince felt a spike of indignation and pity for the girl, “How unfair and hypocritical! Do they really think they can control your life like that, regardless of how you feel or what you wish? If you were my queen, you would be-“ The conversation was interrupted by a swooning young woman who sauntered between them and very subtly bumped Stevonnie out of the way.
“Oh, Prince Sour Cream, how nice it is to finally meet!” she crooned, fanning herself with a gloved hand
Stevonnie took this chance to tiptoe away from the seen, and by chance, looked over to where the gems once stood.
Oh no... They had seen her.
Their eyes were glued on her in silent disappointment that felt like a needles in her heart.
Garnet waved her over and Stevonnie tripped over her own feet to get to the place she stood. Pearl was looking especially anxious, while Amethyst looked mostly amused.
“Stevonnie.” Garnet sighed. “You are in so much trouble when we get home.”
Onion's interest had been undeniable sparked the moment the girl in the blue dress arrived. She had looked so comically suspicious that he wouldn’t have been surprised if she had been planning attack that featured the assassination the eldest prince…or at the very least, a plan to steal all of the silverware.
Sour Cream had apparently been interested too, seeing as he gravitated towards her like the hormonal teenager be was. The girl was pretty, he supposed.
But that was hardly enough to make up for the social class difference.
But the she had done something strange. A number of odd things actually.
-
Refusing a dance from royalty.
-
Sneaking away from Sour cream when he wasn’t looking
-
Talking to those strangely colored women and then leaving immediately afterwards.
The girl had barely been there for a few minutes. Had she gotten what she had come for? Onion itched to find out. What had she taken in the short amount of time she had been here? Or what was she planning to take?
The young boy silently removed himself from his mother’s robes and went maneuvering through the dancing crowd to search for the girl. Maybe he would get to witness a Thief/Assassin in action. It would certainly disperse the negative emotions rattling around in his head and bring some fun to the party.
He was not disappointed.