Connie gasped much louder than anyone else when she heard the bloodcurdling roar.

At moments when something seemed to be wrong with Steven, the polycule turned to Connie to know what to do. She was wise and poised, confident and brave. What she said went, but all she could do was start to panic.

It had happened again.

A massive shadow darkened the house and she booked it out the door as fast as she could and (like an idiot) jumped over the balcony to fall twelve feet onto the sand.

Adam came out right behind her and told her she'd be getting punished like a motherfucker for her recklessness, then tipped his head back and went ashen. "Whoa."

The rest rushed out after them to see another one of those gem things they couldn't begin to understand.

Hazel grabbed the nearest hand and squeezed. "Is this bad? I-," His voice cracked and his knees buckled so hard he had to lean against the railing. "I can't tell if this is bad."

Jacob cleared his throat as the beast backed away from the house to sit on its haunches and lick a paw. "It's not trying to eat us... it doesn't... I don't think it's hostile."

Anna peeked out from Adam's arms as the creature roared louder, more insistently. "What is it? And... who?"

Adam snapped his eyes to Hazel as he scrambled over the balcony and screamed, "Hazel, don't you dare!"

He stuck out a hand and Hazel looked up at him lovingly, then down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Steven needs me."

It was only 12 feet, but Hazel was nearly 295 pounds of muscle and height, so it was easily more like 24 feet. He'd hit the ground hard. The creature raised its hackles and paced along the shore with an annoyed chuff.

Adam glanced down at the hand he couldn't use, the hand connected to Jacob's, his Ruby... and he leaned down to kiss Hazel. "I understand."

Alex laughed nervously as he watched Hazel fall to his knees but force himself up to hold Connie against him. "It's a giant pink tiger, who do you think it is?"

Indeed it was.

A 20 foot tiger with long, deep pink and black stripes sat outside their houses on the ocean side with an amused look to it.

It knelt down on his stomach and scooted closer to Hazel and Connie.

Connie swallowed. "He doesn't seem... upset." Wiping her face she slipped her hand into Hazels. "I think... I think he wants us to pet him."

Hazel choked on a laughing sob. "Are we overreacting?"

She tugged him forward and as soon as they got within five feet, the tigers ears pinned and it shrunk to a more reasonable size, a foot or so bigger and stronger looking than even Lion.

Connie wrapped her arms around the creature right off the bat. If it ate her, game over. But it didn't, it nuzzled her over and when she fell it laid partially on top of her purring. "St-Steven! You shapeshifted!"

He snorted as if to say, "Really? I hadn't noticed!"

Hazel laughed and scratched behind his ears to a healing lick and headbutt. "Whoa, bratty kitty," He scolded playfully, then turning to the rest. "Come on! He just shapeshifted, he's fine!"

They clambered down the stairs quickly to surround the feline. The first thing Jacob did was climb on top of him and lay down. "Good job, Steven. I know this shit is hard."

Steven grunted and turned to sigh tiredly in agreement. He nosed his cheek and purred at him lovingly, clearly a, "Thank you, that means a lot."

Adam scratched under his chin as his eyes closed and shook his head. "Punishments are redacted for now. I'm far more interested in if Baby's okay. You scared me, Steven."

Steven licked at his fingers apologetically and stood to shake out his fur. The only thing not like a tiger was the thicker, slightly longer fur than a tigers, and he patted at some near his face with his paws in frustration. Anna giggled and shuffled over to rub his cheeks. He just laid back down and huffed a forlorn sound.

Connie hummed softly. "He's stuck."

Steven sort of shrugged and got up again to trot around anxiously. He couldn't seem to figure out if he was exhausted or wanting to explore, everything must have looked and felt different to him.

"What's he doing?" Jasmin mumbled. "He looks like he's looking for someone?"

Steven sat, tail flicking against the ground thoughtfully with his back to them. He tipped his head this way and that, then turned to them glance at them again. He looked possibly remorseful before he stood and roared a fierce, terrifying sound that rippled the water and blew sand away in the force of the blast.

They waited with bated breath but nothing happened.

Adam chuckled. "Wait, I think I know what he's doing." He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "사자!"

Like a charm it worked and Lion came charging out of the portal to slide against Adam protectively. He panted when Adam scrubbed behind his ears before he trotted to Connie and sniffed at her curiously.

"I don't know!" She protested weakly. "I think he's stuck."

Lion tipped his head then yawned.

Her jaw dropped. "You little shit! I think he's waiting for you!"

He growled and went up to Steven to sit. They sat in silence and Jacob mumbled, "Pecking order?"

Sure enough Steven circled around to sit in front of Lion regally, pink eyes boring into him. Lion tried to roar at him but Steven jumped up and let out another, stronger snarl that made Jasmin mutter, "God, our boyfriend is so cool."

He sat a giant unsheathed paw on Lions head and pressed him down to a submissive stance with his face in the dirt and chuffed his amusement when he whined.

Then he started going around to bat at the polycule with claws sheathed more playfully. Alex stumbled but reached out to run fingers over his fur. "It's so thick and soft. Like his hair," He murmured shyly.

Adam, Hazel and Anna got a playful pounce and flick of his tail, making them giggle and turn to follow him as he went towards the warp.

"Where are you taking us?" Alex asked nervously. "I've never been to space."

Steven tossed a look over his shoulder but didn't reply.

Jasmin leaned over. "I think he said to shut the fuck up, you big crybaby."

He scoffed. "He did not! He's one of my Daddies, you fucking—,"

Jacob sent him a stare that rendered him silent for a second and Steven turned to give them a beastly snort of laughter. It made Jacob smile too. "He's definitely in there."

When they were all standing in front of it, Connie tried to step on first only to be nudged back by Steven. "Excuse me, Mister! I don't give a fuck that you're an awesome beast! You are going to—!"

Steven croaked lowly and approached her to sit at full height. She was around 5'10, he was easily eight or nine feet tall sitting like that, and weighed even more than he usually did between baby fat and muscle. He could crush her with a paw but she was stubborn as his knight. When she huffed he huffed right back, complete with a sassy toss of his head. It made her smile big even though she was annoyed. "You do that as a human, you don't scare me."

He ignored her but whipped her butt with his tail, then turned her to pick her up by the back of her shirt and toss her on his back. He then got on the warp and looked to the rest expectantly as if to say, "Come on! We're burning daylight! Let's go!"

Jasmin was the first to climb on. "Adventure. We're going on an adventure with Steven and I'm going with or without you losers. This is an opportunity most humans will literally never get."

Anna climbed on next. "The adventurer in Stella is me, so as long as Steven isn't upset I'm going too."

Hazel chuckled and rubbed at Steven's ears some more. "You're so cute. Can't you just eat me?" Steven nipped at him playfully and he yelped, "Geez, okay! I'm going!"

Jacob was the last to get on, he glanced behind him and then whipped out his phone. "This is the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. Can I?" Steven nodded and he snapped a picture then pumped a fist. "God I fucking adore you, mate!"

Once they were all on, Connie warned them to hold on tight. "Alright guys, here he goes."

When Steven roared this time, the warp went off and the wind was knocked out of them as they traveled at light speed to an undisclosed location.

Jacob buried his head in his hands and mumbled, "I'm in space," with an awed and tearfully happy voice.

"Oh god don't say that!" Alex cried as he held onto Jasmin for dear life.

Adam grabbed his hand as Jacob's lack of grip made him begin to float up. They made eye contact in the short moment before they landed and Adam, wind flowing through his hair, gave him an adoring smile that made him breathless. "I'm here."

Then they landed.

Steven charged off, Jacob fell and Adam went with him to cushion his fall.

Steven let the rest off and padded up to the two with an annoyed stare. He nosed all over Jacob until he was squealing he was ticklish and fine, then batted at the back of his head. "What are you, new to this? Get your head out of the clouds!"

Then he went to Connie, pressed his nose to her forehead and in a flash Steven, human Steven, had his lips pressed there adoringly.

Connie grabbed his arm and judo flipped him as hard as she could and Steven landed it so he could twist and get both arms behind her back after a wild wrestle flat against the ground. "Nice try."

She growled and wiggled under him. "Had me worried sick! That was so cool!"

"I was trying to tell you guys I was fine but I needed you out of the house first and there's no way I would've fit. That's as small as I get." He sent the others a grin as they all surged over to start teasingly kicking his ass with weak hits and smacks. "Ow! Ow! Guys, but wasn't it cool?!"

"Yes it was cool!" Anna cried, pinching his thigh. "It was so cool!"

Adam spanked him with every word, "Warn. Us. About. Magic. Stuff. So. We. Don't. Think. You're. Dying!"

Steven whined and turned over to let Connie wiggle from under the pile and high five Adam. "Serves you right!"

Steven chuckled as they eased off and took turns hugging him. "I was kind of stuck, but it was the kind of stuck that I could've beat if I put any effort at all into it. Then I thought of Lion and how he thinks he's the shit so I figured I'd put him in his place while I was at it, then I was having fun fucking with you guys."

Then he backed away and spread his arms. "I know what you're thinking, 'But Steven! This is a cave! Our futile human minds can't comprehend why you'd bring us here! God you're so sexy!'" He giggled at their half amused glares and jogged to the corner to press his hand to a pedestal. "And I'd probably say something really sexy like, 'You ain't seen nothing yet, baby'."

They gasped as the walls simply disappeared and suddenly they were on an island with the whitest sand, the bluest water, and the most gorgeous fauna. A pod creature ran up to Alex and he jumped into Jasmin's arms, scaring it away.

Jacob hummed and got down on one knee, enticing it closer with intelligence hungry eyes and a wiggle of his fingers. It got closer and bloomed like a flower, bright pink and red petals made him gasp in wonder as more came out to check out the commotion. "No earthling has ever seen anything like this."

"None but me and Ni," Steven laughed as a few climbed his arms. "There's more too, like little pixies but they're actually tiny birds and cute little insects that are sparkly and like music. All of the nature here is docile and friendly," He explained as he picked up Alex out of Jasmin's arms and held him so he could stare at one of the creatures on his shoulder. "But they're more afraid of us than we are of them. Just have to give them a reason not to be."

It bloomed in cyan, Alex's favorite color, and scuttled carefully into his cupped hands. "Wow, I think I'm gonna cry?" He sniffled but grinned. "These are so pretty, I'm definitely gonna cry."

"Well, it's our island," Steven revealed. "I'd imagine we can do whatever we'd like here."

He tossed Alex up and turned into a tiger again to catch him on his back. The creature flew away and Alex reached for it painstakingly. It came back and he grumbled at Steven. "I'm naming him Anthony. And he's a... A flower beetle."

Steven seemed to approve of the species name and turned toward a sulking Connie.

She pouted harder and upturned her nose. "This is so cool, I can't believe you kept this from your wife."

Steven rumbled and started to circle around her like a predator ready to strike. She kept complaining and complaining that they basically never got to go on gem missions anymore and she hated being left behind because she was trained and she just knew he'd had to clear the island of the rogue gems that were coming out of the woodwork lately and how mean he was to not include her because she was his knight and didn't that mean anything?!

Steven stopped at that and sat in front of her to scratch at his ear with a hind paw, clearly bored. "Are you done yet?"

She blew a raspberry. "Suck my dick and lose my number!" She giggled ruefully. "I'm mad at you."

The tiger started openly and obviously flirting with her and Adam pulled out his phone. "I have to keep this to hold over her head forever."

She squealed when he knocked her over and purred in her ear. "Steven, this is so wrong! Stop it!" She cackled, trying to kick at an animal even worse than an actual tiger; her husband's ego.

He was certainly letting it out to play after finding out she was in fact a monster fucker something terrible since their teens. When he sniffed her perfume and she whined through laughter she was going to wet herself, he made a sound similar to a laugh and licked up the length of her. "Ow, that was moderately uncomfortable! Felines have hooks on their tongues, Steven!"

He croaked and slid a claw over her shirt just a bit to tear it.

Adam barked out a laugh when Steven started sniffing at her breasts expectantly as Connie yelled for him to knock it off before—, "Connie are you leaking for a tiger?" Adam said as if he were shocked.

She sure was; her shirt got saturated and she wrapped her arms around her chest to hide it. "It's my husband, not a tiger."

Jacob, ever the instigator, smirked and protested, "Well, from an academic point of view I'd definitely have to agree with Adam because he's hot. Also like, what kink is—,"

Adam shook his head. "Shhhh... the monster fuckers are talking."

"That they are," Hazel hummed to himself, adoring a more antagonistic side of Steven. He kinda liked to see him being a little naughty sometimes, it always turned him on.

Hazel laughed when Steven got smacked and raised his nose to the air with a starving purr as he turned to him. He could practically hear the violins playing as he pinned his ears and dropped his head low as if he were sad. He mopily lifted each paw to stroll past Connie and bunt into Hazel heartbrokenly. Hazel squealed and squished the creatures cheeks, somehow it felt the same and he choked up. "You're beautiful. She's just being a snotty little brat."

Steven moaned and sent puppy dog eyes that stopped Hazels heart in his chest. For some reason they were exactly the same, even pink and on an animals body Hazel would have recognized the sweet gloss anywhere. "Awww, you're still my big baby, aren't you?"

Adam laughed and pointed. "Look at his tail."

Hazel grinned and massaged over his whiskers as it started to wag. "Who's my big old tiger baby? You're sooooo cute! Look at how big my sweet baby is!"

"He just loves to baby Steven," Adam mused happily. "Him and Anna."

Jacob squealed and flew into Adam's arms at the smack he got against the back of his pants as Steven got more excited. "O-ow."

Adam watched his blush spread and buried his face into his neck. "Are we allowed to sneak off on an island?" He mumbled, pressing into him. "Cause this feels like a place where we could be teens again..."

Teens, that talk they'd had. They'd wished they had met as teens, that somehow their paths would have converged then. Things would've been the same but easier if they'd had each other, they would've lost themselves in each other and fallen in love even then.

Jacob swallowed and licked his lips before pulling him into a romantic, longing kiss. "I needed you."

Adam put a hand to his cheek. "I needed you too."

"I'm all for it," Anna giggled, shaking her head adoringly at their intense infatuation with each other. "Jasmin, Alex and I are gonna find more animals, and then maybe uhm, look at nature."

They dispersed save for Connie, Hazel and Steven, and after awhile of being babied Steven growled and tossed his head back. He picked up Hazel by the back of his shirt and set him on his back, but insisted Connie climb up for the seat of honor.

She stuck out a lip. "I hate that you can make me think questionable things." He sent her side eye that would've been identical on her husband's normal body, smug as if he already knew he was attractive in all forms, and she climbed on to avoid ever thinking again.

Hazel snuggled her against him and she snuggled against Steven's neck with a satisfied purr of her own. Being surrounded by her two main boys was so safe. She was intensely proud of her husband past the initial scare, and Steven would grunt when there was something he wanted them to see.

There were fireflies there as the sun began to set, but of all colors and far brighter than the normal Earth ones. They could tell they'd reached a part of the forest that exuded magic, and Steven stopped at a forked trail.

"You want us to pick?" Hazel asked to an affirmative huff.

Connie looked back at him and he blushed a little, she wanted to know his opinion because her strong willed one was already formed. She grinned and leaned forward to kiss him for a moment before they set their eyes on the task.

That's when they felt it. An unmistakable pull to go to the left, the brambles trail with difficult terrain and low hanging trees. It was getting dark and they should reconvene, but they still had time for now.

"Left," They chorused softly.

Steven didn't hesitate.

As soon as they set foot, the plants started to glow and move themselves out of their path and illuminate ahead of them where they should go. It was so bright it attracted the fireflies and what Hazel called Harmony Beetles, because they flew in little groups and glowed a color based on which note they were hitting, creating a beautiful harmony.

When Steven got closer to a clearing they saw the rest there frozen staring up at the sky and visibly in childlike wonder.

Steven let them off and sat beside the standing humans to gaze up at them too thoughtfully, and after a few minutes a voice with a sweet baritone spoke in their minds.

"Sometimes I can feel Diamond missing Homeworld, and those three big stars are it. I came here for you guys but... I think he needs something nice. So this is his island, and he wants you guys to be here too."

Steven un-shapeshifted then unraveled more until Diamond and Star were staring up at the sky while Diamond cried silent tears of happiness.

They huddled close to the Diamond and for the first time any of them could recall of the cold and callous stone, he smiled, and it was just like Steven's.

*

After he'd reverted back for the time being, Steven was a little off kilter still.

Adam tsked him when he found him in the kitchen eating a popsicle right before lunch. "Hey, shame on you," He chuckled.

Steven turned and growled at him menacingly, and Adam's blood rushed to his face at the identical sound to the tiger. "I'm at the top of the pecking order now, and I want a popsicle. Unless you can tame tigers, let me be."

Adam raised his eyebrows. "Oh?" He snapped his fingers twice. "Relax baby, you're stressing yourself out," He crooned lowly, slowly reaching for his cheeks to rub. Steven got a hazed look to his eyes and pushed into his touch more until he was against the fridge. "There we go." Steven bunted into him hard and purred deeply, a real feline purr. "You know, I think I could get used to this."

"Really?" He mumbled. "I feel suddenly... like I want to be snuggled." Adam gasped when he lightly nibbled at his neck, then a bit harder as his curiosity grew. "I wanna bite you."

Adam groaned under his breath. "You're tense, come to bed with me. I'll grab your wife."