The long day continues onward. Steven turned over in his sleep groaning softly as his eyes opened to stare at his buzzing phone. "... Dad?" He noticed that his father was calling. He sat up slowly so that he didn't wake up Ven. He walked downstairs answering the call. "Hey, Dad."
"Hey schtu-ball, just checking up on you, I couldn't help but notice that the Diamonds' ships were on the beach. Is everything okay?" Greg asked.
Steven laughs nervously as he sat down on the couch. "Y-yeah, everything is cool. Nothing to worry about. But um I do have a question for you though. What are you doing later?" He looked at the time seeing that it was 3:30 p.m..
"I don't think I have any plans for the rest of the day. What's up? Need to hang around your old man again?" Greg chuckled.
"Not exactly, I should be relaxing for my recovery but things came up and I need a favor. There's something, well I should actually say there's someone, not even one... Ugh." Steven sighs out a little frustrated and nervous about his father meeting Blue and Ven.
"Is everything okay Steven?" Greg asked.
Steven takes a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm just stressed out. Like I said before I really should be recovering from my coma, but something came up. There are some new friends that I want you to meet. Can you come by the house in about a half-hour? But before you come here, go to the store and get things for burgers."
Greg chuckled. "Are these new friends of yours going to like burgers?"
"I've mentioned the burger to them before but we got sidetracked. I'll pay you back." Steven stood up slowly seeing the Warp Pad activate. "...?" He gasps dropping his phone to the floor seeing White Steven standing there with his hands in his pants pockets.
"Steven? Steven are you there?" Greg asked. "Steven?"
Steven kept his eyesight on White Steven as he bent down frantically looking for his phone. "Y-yeah! I'm sorry I um... Accidentally kicked the table. See you later." He hangs up quickly. "Please tell me I'm still asleep and this is all a dream."
"I would if I knew what this dream thing was." W.S. chuckled lightly stepping off the Warp Pad. "I'm really here in front of you, surprise~!!" He laughs doing Jazz Hands.
'What the hell?' Steven noticed the extreme change of behavior in him. "But how are you here?! You were poofed not even two hours ago!"
W.S. looked down at himself with a smile. "Oh, my sudden reappearance has you confused and scared." He walked closer to Steven. He placed a hand onto Steven's shoulder. "That's the power of having a Diamond as a mother. Regeneration is a snap." He snapped his fingers laughing.
Steven quickly slapped the hand away. "Don't touch, you aren't on my good side, unless forgot."
"Oh no dear brother I remember, and I'm sorry." W.S. frowns.
Steven gasps lightly hearing this. "What? Y-y-you're sorry??"
W.S. nods his head. "I am, after my mother reformed me and the other Diamonds told me of my actions I... I was aware that there was something missing from me that my other brothers had. Human emotions, and a heart." He lifts Steven's hand up to his chest and placed over his new heart.
Steven smiled softly feeling the faint heartbeat. "Wow, so... White actually made you without any human emotions. And you were just acting like her, cause you were her. She didn't make you into a Steven, she made a clone of herself in my image." He laughs lightly. "That's crazy."
W.S. nods his head in agreement. "I want to start over with you and the others. Even Yell-." He clears his throat quickly. "Sorry, I meant to say Ven... And Blue Steven." He shuddered feeling disgusted calling his brothers by their chosen names.
Steven laughs lightly at this. "Okay... I can see you're still your usual arrogant self, and we'll work on that. But it's not going to be easy for the others to forgive you."
"I'm aware of this." W.S. smiled softly. He looked down at the floor sighing softly. "I was wondering if we could sit and talk. Maybe... About what I could do here on Earth."
Steven groans softly rubbing the back of his head. "Okay... Um, what are your interests?"
W.S. thought for a moment and hums to himself. "I'm not really sure..." He looked over his shoulder as the Warp Pad activated again.
"Oh God, what now?" Steven looked over expecting the worse. And he was somewhat correct.
Standing on the Warp Pad with a bright smile was Blue Steven. "Big Brother Steven, I came to h-...." His eyes filled with shock than anger. He growls and quickly summoned up his bow and arrow. "WHY ARE YOU HERE!?!" The anger he had in him made his aura surround his body.
W.S. clapped his hands together excitedly. "So aggressive, I hope this new form of aggression isn't because of me." He chuckled.
"Blue no!" Steven stepped between them.
Blue Steven yelled out and fired the arrow. The shot left a trail of thin ice as it traveled rapidly towards the two.
Steven quickly summoned his shield and groans when the powerful arrow collided. The shards of the arrow scattered around the room. "Blue, that's enough! He isn't here to fight!"
"What's going on down here?!" Ven walked down some of the stairs confused until his eyesight met W.S. "You!!"
"Hello." W.S. smiled brightly at Ven. He even waved his hand in a friendly manner.
"Oh for fuck sakes!" Steven kept his shield up seeing Blue Steven summon another arrow but turned his attention to Ven. "Please don't." He begged.
Ven clenched his fist sending his destabilizing energy through them. "Fuck that, I'm gonna punch this guy right in his damn face!" He jumped off the stairs straight towards W.S.
Steven pulled up his bubble shield getting pissed off. A shockwave goes throughout his body as Ven's attack hits the bubble. He groans feeling the destabilizing energy affecting him. "Stop it!" He yelled out in pain keeping the shield up. "That's enough guys, come on. He isn't here to hurt you. Just listen to me."
W.S. laughs lightly. "Look at how angry they are. This is so exciting."
"You brought this upon yourself! You deserve everything that is about to happen to you!" Blue Steven walked over holding his shot, ready to release.
Steven glared up at his brothers with anger in his eyes and growls. His body slowly turned pink as his anger got to him. "I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH!" He lets out his own wave of energy causing the house to shake.
Ven, Blue Steven, and W.S. brace themselves from the violent shaking of the house as Steven stood in the middle of them angry.
"Are you going to listen to me or am I going to have to get even more pissed off!?!" Steven glared at all three of them as they fell to the floor from the shaking.
"W-w-we'll listen, just calm down man." Ven stumbled onto all fours looking up at his angry brother.
Blue Steven hugged himself as he fell to his knees. "Big brother..." He trembled in fear.
W.S. smirked brightly from where he sat on the floor as he watched Steven get angry. "Now that is interesting."
Steven looked down at himself and closed his eyes taking a few deep breaths to calm down. His pink glow slowly vanished and he dropped to his knees sighing out with annoyance. "Look, I know what happened a few hours ago was life changing and a huge problem, but White isn't the same guy that did all of those things earlier. He was reborn with human emotions and has a beating heart now, just like you guys."
W.S. pulled his knees to his chest nodding his head. "It's true, I begged for mother to give me what I didn't have that you both did. She was reluctant at first but after enough begging, well, here I am~." He said in a sing tone voice.
"See, you can't sit there and not even notice that he is completely different from before. He's smiling an actual smile. He even apologized to me too." Steven looked back and forth at the three of them. "This is the chance to start all the way over. The four of us can be a family, but only if you apologize." He narrowed his eyes at W.S.
W.S. looked up at Blue Steven and Ven. "Guys, I completely understand if you don't want me around. I know what I did your whole lives have been nothing but pain and suffering. But... I need you guys." He tears up. "You guys were the best thing to wake up to every day on Homeworld, even if it was to torment you and make fun of you. I enjoyed hearing your laughing but I never understood what those feelings were, at least not until now. Please... Please forgive me."
Ven looked at Blue Steven frowning lightly. "What do you think? Is he lying?"
Blue Steven crawls over to W.S. and slapped him in the face.
W.S. yelps lightly holding his cheek as he stared at Blue with tears in his eyes. "..."
"That was for being a jerk." Blue Steven narrowed his eyes. He then hugged W.S. gently. "And this is for being my brother again." He smiled.
W.S. blushed lightly when he was hugged. His pale white skin turned bright pink as he hugged Blue Steven back laughing happily.
Ven chuckled as he playfully punched Steven in the arm.
"Ow." Steven rubbed his arm looking at Ven. "You really need to work on your strength."
Ven chuckled lightly before standing up. "Well, I think today turned out to be quite eventful. I got to meet my new brother, kick ass, meet new friends, and reunite with my other brother." He walked over to W.S. holding out his hand.
W.S. looked at the hand and takes it. "You don't want to get a punch in? Maybe even run that beefy sword through me?"
Ven shakes his head. "I think that slap from Blue was enough. Seeing you cry like that man... It hit me, it hit me right here." He placed W.S. hand over his own heart.
W.S. smiled softly feeling the heartbeat. "This was the thing that made me so different... A heart."
"Well, you have one now. Things should be changing for the better. For all of us." Blue Steven smiled.
Steven looked at the time. "It's almost 4:00. Why don't you guys sit down at the table and I'll introduce you to some drinks. Do you want coffee or tea?"
"That sounds great and all but I'm gonna go get my jacket." Ven ran back upstairs.
"Tea and what?" W.S. asked as he sat down in a chair.
"What is the difference between these drinks?" Blue sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Well... They can both be hot or cold. They both usually help people stay awake but one can also be used to help you fall asleep. They both can have things added to them to make them taste better. And they come in multiple flavors." Steven explained. He turned to look at his brothers. "I'll just surprise you with a drink. I think you'll be surprised with what I give you."
"If you say so. As long as it's not going to poison my body." W.S. laughs lightly.
"I just hope my drink won't be too hot, or too cold. Oh, what if I don't like it at all?" Blue Steven frowns lightly thinking about this.
W.S. sighs out. "Oh come on, you can't possibly still be to chicken about things."
Ven came back downstairs with his sandals and jacket on. He zipped it up and takes a seat next to Blue Steven. "What are we talking about?"
"How our dearest brother is making us things to drink." W.S. looked over at Steven before turning his attention to the front door hearing footsteps. "Someone is approaching the entryway of the home."
"Oh, that's probably my dad." Steven looked over feeling nervous. "Can you guys just stay calm and let me do most of the talking."
Greg knocked on the door before walking inside with bags of groceries in his hand. "Hey Steven, I brought ov-...." He went silent seeing the group of boys at the table.
Steven chuckled nervously. "Daaaad, meet my new friends, the Steven's."
"Sup?" Ven smirked leaning back in his chair.
Blue Steven waved at Greg. "Hello."
W.S. blinked a few times before looking at his brothers. "What do I say?" He giggled.
Greg slowly closed the door behind him as he stared at the boys. "I must have hit my head or something because I can see three colorful you's."
Steven walked over to his dad and takes the groceries. "Nope, you can see them, and you're not going crazy and losing your mind. These are sons created by the Diamonds."
Greg ran his hand over the back of his head looking at each individual Steven. "This is weirding me out more than the Rose Quartz thing."
"I know, it took me a while to get used to it. Why don't you sit down and introduce yourself. I'll get some coffee going." Steven takes the bags to the counter and sets them down.
Greg takes a deep breath as he took a seat next to the White Steven. "W-well, I'm Greg Universe, Steven's father."
"Ohhh, you must be the dad thing that Steven mentioned a few times." Blue Steven smiled softly.
Ven leans forward resting an arm onto the table. "He was pretty nervous about you meeting us."
"Oh gosh, are we making a horrible first impression?" W.S. asked.
"No, of course not. I'm just... I'm usually only around one Steven, my Steven. And now there are four of you." Greg laughs lightly rubbing the back of his head again. "Do you guys have names? Or do you all go by Steven?"
"Actually, it was made pretty clear by the original us that we can't all have the same name." W.S. laughs putting a hand onto Greg's arm. "He was so frustrated that we had to come up with ridiculous names right on the spot."
Greg smiled softly at the gentle touch of the White Steven. "Ridiculous? What did you guys think of?"
"I decided to go by the last part of my name, Ven." Ven explained.
"I'm just Blue Steven." Blue Steven giggles lightly into his hand cutely.
"And I of course couldn't think of anything and got stuck with my initials, W.S., so boring~." W.S. said the last part in a singing tone again.
"Well, names are never permanent. You can change them to whatever you want. Even nicknames are sometimes used as a persons real name. Heck, I'll name you kids." Greg offered.
"You will? But I like my name." Ven folds his arms at this.
"And you can keep yours. But I'm sure you don't want to be called Blue Steven your whole life. And I know you don't want to be known as W.S. either." Greg thought for a moment. There is a different way to spell the word Blue if you want to keep going by that."
"A different way? What is it?" Blue Steven asked.
"It's spelled B. L. E. U. But when you pronounce it, which means to say it, it sounds like the color blue." Greg explained.
"That's so unique, I love it. Thank you for my new name, Greg Universe." Bleu smiled.
"I-it's just Greg. And if you want you can call me dad. But no pressure. But a nickname is also acceptable, like pops or daddy-o. Father is okay too." Greg laughs lightly.
W.S. leans in closer to Greg. "What about me?"
"Oh, well... You go by your initials. W.S..... the closest human name that is close to your color would be the name Wyatt, and your last name can be Stevenson, Wyatt Stevenson." Greg gulps lightly hoping W.S. would like it.
W.S. hums lightly as he sat back into his seat. "Hmm.. Wyatt... Why-yat..." He giggled. "When you say it long enough it does sound like white, Wyatt... Hm." He nods his head.
Steven looked over his shoulder at his dad. He was extremely surprised that he was handling this so well. "I like your new name white. Wait, I mean Wyatt. You sound so sophisticated and important." He chuckled.
"That's because I am important." Wyatt laughs at his own personal joke.
"Hey pops, I couldn't help but noticed that you brought a lot of things with you. What did you bring?" Ven asked.
"Steven asked me to bring some stuff to make burgers for you guys." Greg stood up to look inside the bags. "I also brought chips and some sodas. I didn't know what to expect when he asked me to "meet his new friends" so I just brought things that I would eat with burgers."
"Oh wonderful, Steven offered to take us somewhere that had those burger things. I can't wait to try one."
"Well, you're in luck. My dad makes some pretty good burgers." Steven walked over with a tray of drinks and sets them down on the table. "I've got a sweet raspberry ice tea for Bleu, a hot cup of black coffee with vanilla bean creamer for Ven, and one of Pearl's favorites, an Earl Gray with a pinch of sugar and a swirl of honey for Wyatt." He set down each glass, cup, and mug in front of their designated hosts. "Dad, I have the rest of the coffee in the pot right here for you." Steven sets the coffee pot with an empty mug and other addable items in front of Greg's seat.
"What are you going to drink Steven?" Bleu asked.
"I'm gonna just have water." Steven set his glass of water down. "Hang on, I'm gonna run inside the Temple and see if Amethyst has any spare chairs, be right back." He walked over to the Temple Door and used his Diamond to open it up before disappearing inside.
"Whoa, that was interesting." Wyatt watched the Temple doors open and close.
Ven shakes his head chuckling. "You think everything is interesting."
"What is interesting is how do we consume these drink things?" Bleu gently tapped his glass.
Greg looked over his shoulder. "You guys don't really know how to do stuff on Earth yet do you?"
Ven shakes his head. "Nope, the last thing that I learned about was a photo on a phone. And I'm still confused about how those people shrunk themselves into it."
Greg blinked a few times to process what Ven had just said. He nods his head somewhat understanding. "It's easy to learn how to drink from your glasses. I'll teach you guys." He walked back over to the table and thought about how he could teach all of them but be mindful of their personalities. "When I taught Steven how to hold things I first taught him the finger hold."
"The finger hold?" Bleu looked confused.
Greg placed his hand onto the table. "First you need to know how to count to five, then you number each finger. Your thumb is one, your pointer is two, the middle is three, the ring is four, and the pinky is five. You guys each have different glasses so each hold will be different. Wyatt, we'll start with you."
"Okay." Wyatt looked down at his teacup.
"So you want to take your thumb, number one, and rest it on this side of the handle. Then you take fingers two and three and place them on the other side of the handle like this." Greg helped him get his hand in place properly. "Then you lift the cup up towards your mouth with your other hand holding the plate of was on, I don't know why people do it this way but they just do. The plate can be held at this level before you lift up the cup." He continues to move and position Wyatt's hands to demonstrate. "Now all you have to do is take a sip. Allow some of the liquid to enter your mouth, close it shut and swallow." He laughs lightly. "I forgot to tell Steven to take in a little at a time and close his mouth. It was messy. I regret that day I didn't use a sippy cup for fruit juice."
Wyatt laughs lightly before takes a slow sip of his tea. He gasps lightly when he swallowed. "Oh, well, that is interesting."
Ven facepalms himself. "God, I'm going to kick you every time you say that word."
Wyatt smirked. "That just means you love me."
"No, it means I'm gonna kick you." Ven narrowed his eyes and pouts.
"Hey now, no need to be violent. Wyatt has every right to say that. This is an interesting thing to learn. Sure there are other words that could be used but he uses that word most." Greg moved over to Ven. "You're next buddy, now your glass is known as a mug or coffee cup. You can hold it multiple ways but I do it like this." He maneuvered Ven's hand to hold the mug. "Now just like Wyatt, lift up to the mouth, take a sip, close, and swallow."
Ven lifts his mug up to his mouth and takes a sip of his coffee. He blinked a few times looking at the drink afterward. "Huh... Weird."
"Coffee is an acquired taste. That's why they have so many." Greg pats Ven's back before going over to Bleu. "Alright kiddo, ready?"
Bleu shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so."
"Yours is the simplest holds of all. The glass has no handles, so what you do is gently but firmly grab it with all five plus your palm." Greg demonstrates with his own hand first. He grabbed the glass and lifts it and slowly set it back down. "Now you try."
Bleu slowly wrapped his hand around the glass and lifts it. "You were right, it was simple. So I just take a sip?" He slowly lifts the glass to his lips and takes a drink. His eyes widened at the flavor. "... I like it." He giggled setting the glass back down.
The Temple Door lights up and Steven came out holding a chair. "Got it, what I miss?"
"Pops taught us the finger hold." Ven lifts up his mug to show Steven.
"Wait, you guys didn't know how to hold your drinks?" Steven asked as he set down his chair.
"Nope, but don't worry. Your old man was able to pull out some tricks from the old baby teaching skills I taught you. And they responded well." Greg smiled patting Steven's back.
"Wow, thanks Dad. I wouldn't have any clue on how to teach them... Hey, can I ask you a favor?" Steven asked as he sat down.
"Sure thing schtu-ball, what's up?" Greg asked back.
"Instead of going through the trouble of getting these guys enrolled into Little Homeschool, can you teach them here? I have all the material you would need in order for them to be taught how to live a normal life, I think it would just be easier and less stressful if you did it." Steven smiled softly. "What do you think?"
"I wouldn't mind showing these boys the ropes. I'll be glad to teach them." Greg walked over to the stove and grabbed a pan. "It will give me something to do when I'm not at the car wash, heck I'll even go out tomorrow and get you boys your own cellphones, that will be your first lesson."
"Cool! I can get one of those phone things that the Jenny lady had?" Ven sat up in his seat excited.
"Yup, just think of it as an early Christmas present." Greg smiled turning the stovetop on.
"What's a Christmas present?" Wyatt asked.
"That will be something you'll learn down. I wouldn't worry about it too much." Steven chuckled. "How do you guys like your drinks?"
"It's wonderful. I love the way it tastes. And I like it cold like this too." Bleu smiled.
Ven takes another sip of his coffee and shrugged. "What pops said, acquired taste."
"I feel so elegant." Wyatt smiled brightly.
Steven chuckled. "So I guess I made the right call. Glad you like them."
"If you boys are so fascinated in those drinks then wait until you try these burgers." Greg said as he got the ingredients ready.
"Steven, are you also going to be choosing what these burgers will be for us?" Bleu asked.
Steven thought for a moment and nods. "Why not." He looked at each other them before turning to his dad. "Bleu will have a single cheese with ketchup, Ven is gonna love having a double-decker with bacon with ketchup, Wyatt.... If possible make a turkey burger with lettuce, and I'll have my veggie with lettuce and pickles."
Greg plopped the first meat patty into the pan. "Coming right up." After about ten minutes of preparation, he served the boys their burgers. "Here you go guys."
"Thank you... But how does one consume this?" Bleu laughs lightly.
"I had a feeling you would ask that." Greg chuckled and demonstrates to them how to hold the burger and eat it. Each of the Steven's take a bite and we're delighted with the taste. The family of five sat at the table enjoying their meal. Once it was over Greg sat back in his seat and pats his stomach. "I sure am stuffed after that. I'm starting to feel a little sleepy."
"Thanks for coming over dad." Steven stood up to clear the table.
Ven stretched out his arms. "That was so good, can't wait to have more of those."
Wyatt nods his head. "Indeed, I was surprised that I didn't hate anything."
"Same here." Bleu smiled as he looked outside. "Oh dear, Lapis wanted me to come back when the sun started to go down." He stood up slowly.
"It's okay if you have to go, you can come back in the morning if you want." Steven looked over at Bleu. "Just be careful walking around New Homeworld at night, some of the pathways aren't lite well."
Bleu nods his head before looking at Greg. "It was nice meeting you. I hope to see you again soon." He waved bye to everyone as he walked to the Warp Pad. "Bye." He smiled brightly and left.
Wyatt sighs standing up from his seat. "Seeing that I don't have a place of stay here on Earth I'll be returning to Homeworld."
"What?" Steven frowns putting his dishes in the sink. "Wait, I'm sure I can find you a place to stay here."
"Are you sure?" Wyatt asked. "I don't want to intrude."
"I'm sure, even if it's temporary I'll find you a place. You can even stay in my bed with Ven until I figure out what to do." Steven smiled walking over to Wyatt and placed a hand onto his shoulder. "Earth is your new home now, but you can go back to Homeworld if you want too."
Wyatt thoughts about it for a moment before nodding his head. "I'll stay here for now."
Greg grunts lightly as he stood up. "You guys work things out. I'm gonna go crash in the van." He walked to the front door.
"Okay, take it easy dad." Steven smiled.
"Later pops." Ven waved bye.
"See you boys later." Greg waved back and left.
Wyatt looked at Steven. "What is this bed thing you mentioned."
"Ven, care to take him upstairs while I clean up? Show him the bed and how to sleep?" Steven asked.
"Sure thing, come dude." Ven stood up and made his way upstairs with Wyatt. Steven sighs out softly as he looked at the table and remembered a time when the Gems would sit here with him before he got older and started to push them away. He frowns clearing off the rest of the table. "Today is just one hell of a long, stressful, but happy day. Wonder what will happen tomorrow." He chuckled as he continues to clean. the next day connie called him and told him she would be home in 3 hours he said ihave 3 surprises to show you she said what he said you well see later she hears to voices in the background he said it is something the diamonds made he said see you in 2hours and 30 minutes she said ok then hung up the phone he said my girlfriend is going to be here in a while so you to stay here well i go get blue and a cake they said ok he got in his car then went to get blue and lapis from little homeschool then a cake from the backery then went home just as connie got there he ran and kissed her she saw 2 other people get out of the car 1 she knew but the other she did not she went up to lapis lazuli and said long time no see and hugged her blue said how are you she went up to him and said I'm connie and I'm stevens girlfriend just like you are her boyfriend he said nice to meat you they went in side she saw the other 2