#quartzscn

“Okay, you got me,” Steven said, letting a small nervous laugh escape him. Why was his younger self trying so hard to get him to loosen up? It was something that escaped him, honestly.

Following a loud gasp as stars formed in her pupils, Black Star grabbed Steven by the shoulders and said. "Listen, you get the donuts and I'll get the bits! Let's make this dream a reality!" She beams proudly, giving her young friend a couple enthusiastic shakes before releasing him.

“You weren’t supposed to tell anyone me and Stacks are dating yeeeeeet!”  The younger child screeches, swinging her sword at Steven.  Which thankfully, the younger boy was able to evade her attacks.  Otherwise his back would be covered in welts.  As Kelsey pursued him, a look of fury was in her eyes.

Turns out Kelsey had crafted Steven a present!  Precisely, it was a shield made out of cardboard, with little rose and gemstone-esque designs from smaller cardboard bits glued on top of the base layer.  “I know it’s not like your Gem weapon, but I thought you could use it when you’re at the Creek with us!”

               ‶  alright . . .  and  how  does  this  “ gem “  of  yours  work ,  anyway ?  is  it  just  a  part  of  you  or  is  it  some  removable  tool  or  power - up ?  ″  he  wasn’t  a  stranger  to  weird  thing  such  as  this ,  but  even  so  this  was  a  bit  of  a  new  one  for  the  operative .  and  when  nigel  found  something  he  didn’t  understand ---  well ,  naturally  he  needed  to  understand  it  fully  as  soon  as  possible .

   “ like.. even if there’s health benefits? crying just kinda.. sucks. it doesn’t exactly feel good. ” 

    “ what’s a... cat cookie? ” alberto knew what cats were, and he’d recently been introduced to the concept of cookies, but.. he didn’t know you could combine the two. did humans eat cats now?         ---- he thought they were pets!          “ why would you make cookies out of cats? ”

“Oh, ah.. a-another Ruby?”  Stammered the defective Gem, nervous to talk to the boy.  “I-Is it true that.. ah.. y-you have a Gem?”  Asked 9XB, surprised that an organic being possessed a gemstone.  “C-Could I see it?”