When I come in, I think I catch the tail end of an important talk or something. There's no one around and everything feels tense and sacred. Maybe Greg's in his room with the girls because he doesn't greet me either. I just have to walk in like I own the place.

I'm also, admittedly, just a little bit drunk. Maybe more than a little, but I know factually that I am not sloppy drunk because I drove my car here.

On the way to his room a picture catches my attention in the living room. I enter and grin. Steven, probably no older than five, wearing a huge black and pink star shirt and strumming a uke while his father strums a guitar. His two front teeth are missing. It's adorable. Even then his smile is not as unburdened as a child's should be, he seems regal in his joy like a golf clap. Around them are people, people with purple earrings and loincloths swaying along to the beat.

I'm hesitant to go in his room without permission, so I stand in front of the door like a trained Pearl.

"Connie." Hands slither around my waist and hold me close, but there's not so much force behind it. He picks me up bridal style, but avoids looking at me altogether. "Don't be stupid. You're always welcome in my quarters," He grumbles lowly. Of course he'd be cross after my little show leaving him with Hazel. I'm actually surprised he's being so soft.

I got jealous, really jealous, seeing Steven held like that. I stormed off to drink (and get off) and think. I'm starting not to even care about the taking him out part, I just want him to love me. A crush isn't enough to take him out anyways. I'm seeing pink with frustration and Hazel keeps getting in my fucking way.

So, I'm starting my own mission: I'm taking Hazel out first.

To do that, I need to switch to distracting Steven but not with sex. He'll be expecting sex, and the faster it happens the faster he will dismiss me.

He sets me on his bed and I reach up for his face. This may be even easier than I guessed it to be. As soon as I reach he slumps for my touch so hard I fall back and he's straddling me, glaring with no direction. "Is this more affection?" He raises an eyebrow with weak criticism.

I shrug. "You deserve it." Anyone else on this planet would disagree, but I have been thinking about his lack of a feminine, human touch, and how I can use mine to my advantage here. People don't fall in love during sex, the oxytocin rush they get during afterglow snuggles is where it happens. I need to break his guard down before we get to all of that.

I'm so sopping wet that it'll be a struggle for me too. I crave the attention of this man more than I care about college at this point. He's misunderstood, right? Aren't most dictators born into immense power?

Something in me calls for him. I see tiny parts of him, his genuine smile and softer touch, and I believe there's something more than the callous fuckboi of a dictator.

Somewhere in Steven Universe is a heart.

He squints at me in annoyance but a tiny smile breaks through. "Do I?" He rumbles deep in his chest when my thumbs start rubbing circles along his hairline. He's so touch starved it's almost sad. "Why did you want to meet?" Steven tugs my hands away and studies them as if he might find a microphone or camera. Suspicion crosses his face as he lifts his eyes back to me. "Could you not stand to stay away?"

I can almost feel his walls going back up at his cold observation but dammit, I brought gear to scale that bitch. "I figured I would come to keep you company like any good pet would when it's Master is alone. I'm doing my role." He starts and I almost want to shout with victory. I'm confident I can't go wrong here if I'm smart about it.

And despite the bullshit I've been feeding Hazel, I am very smart.

"You're no pet." Suddenly his face is in mine and my sureness wavers to panic. "You don't walk like a pet would walk with its Master. Any pet worth its while stays afraid of its Master in some way. Any pet worthwhile does not test its Masters limits of compassion at every given turn. You are no pet of mine," He snarls.

For a moment, I think I have crossed an uncrossable line. He's so angry sounding that I think he might actually tell me to leave. But then he utters,

"You are a Queen."

His accusation (is that an accusation?) makes my stomach drop and fill with warmth. I would maybe be able to process it a bit more if his hands weren't shoving up my top to expose my naked breasts and squeezing. "Wh-what?" Everything I think I know about how Steven thinks and acts is for naught now. Everything goes on hold. "What do you mean?"

Is... is he asking me what I think he's asking me? "How? How do I prove myself?" How do I get him to leave Hazel for me?

His eyes flicker to pink. "Satisfy me."

I'm pretty sure I have, because I can't stop thinking about the way his cock fills me past my limits and punishes all the right places. He came in my mouth, and then he forced me to buy a morning after pill after cumming deep inside of me. It was hot and I felt the magic pulsing through me. "Doesn't Hazel satisfy you?" It's out before I can stop myself and suddenly he's pining me down at full force and his cock is brushing up against my thigh. Is he dying to fuck me 24/7 or what?

"There you go again, royally pissing me the fuck off. That smug little expression is going to turn into a full blown ahegao if you don't check your attitude."

I make the brave and purposeful mistake of asking, "What's an ahegao?" I can guess. I can put the pieces together in my mind just fine, but he likes it when I clarify to understand him better. He likes teaching me and I like letting him.

A look of absolute and unadulterated fury overtakes him. "You're using me."

I am too slow to stop my reaction, I know I look guilty. Steven studies me for three minutes at least, I count to 180 in my head. And then he leans down to kiss me, still pining my wrists down with unnecessary force. He's angry, and soon after he bites my lip so hard I whimper, I realize his breathing is shuttering. Before I can wonder why he pulls off and slams his fist into the wall. The dry wall crumbles and breaks apart like styrofoam.

"Do you think that I am stupid?" He asks me, articulating every word like he thinks I might be. "Did you think that I was oblivious this whole time?"

I scoff and stand clumsily, my own temper flaring as my head rushes from the fast movement. "Do you think I might be? Do you think I don't know things?"

"You've been drinking, haven't you?" His tone is so cool it washes away my anger. He surges for me and I turn my head to the side, hoping to dull the impact of being slammed, and I mean slammed, against the door. It rattles so hard I know if anyone had heard it, they would've known I was in here with him. "You're loose. Unsteady. You can't even control your temper. You're yelling at me. At me!"

"Maybe I have been drinking," I lowly admit. "A glass of wine or two." I decided not to drink heavy alcohol anymore. My mental breakdown after Steven took Hazel back could've been a lot less pitiful if I wasn't so drunk. I needed to keep my head on my shoulders, and avoid word vomiting altogether.

His grip loosens a bit. "A drink befitting a Queen. Look at me." I do and though he doesn't smile, his thumbs start stroking against my lower stomach. "Did you think I didn't know you're in kahoots with Peridot, Connie Maheswaren?"

I swallow and stay silent.

"How many gems before you do you think have tried to overthrow my rule here? Hm? How many?" He leans in until his lips are brushing against the lobe of my ear. "Guess."

"A lot." Now that I think about it... I am not the first. I already met the first.

"On Earth. How many on Earth since I came here do you think have tried? Who was the first? You're a smart girl, can you guess who?" His tone holds cruel humor to it. He thinks this is funny. "I'll give you three guesses, but you'll only need one."

"Peridot." He leans his weight against me and now I couldn't fight him off if I wanted to. I don't need to though. I don't want to. "Peridot was the first."

His eyes glow in confirmation and he smirks. "The choreography you learned for the show as Stevonnie? Peridot came up with it. Your perfume? Peri wore it first."

"Then what made her think I would be different?" I demand quietly. "What made her think I could take you out?"

Anger flashes in his gaze and he lowers until our noses are touching. "Foolishness is everywhere. I am all powerful. I can do things to you that will destroy your sanity forever. I could eat popcorn while I watch you tear yourself apart." He stops and searches my face. "Ideally. But you're a human. You're not programmed to fall to my feet in submission, you have to earn your place in my palace. You have to earn your place at my right side."

The wine makes me frisky, and unafraid. If I was sober, I may have been scared at what he was hinting at.

Or maybe I wouldn't have. Maybe I would've been as bold as he has taught me to be. Little by little he has been building me up.

He protected me from the predators at school. He bared his teeth once, and since that moment I have been safe.

He made me a beautiful, more confident version of myself. He took care of me and clothed me.

He built me up sexually and awakened the dormant womanhood I was lacking. He satisfied me and taught me how to satisfy myself.

He took me to Homeworld, he took me to space, and he showed me to his lessers. He damaged one in my presence not just because she spoke out of line, but to show me he could. He tried to scare me.

He knocked me down and showed me pain when he took Hazel back and rubbed my face in it to see if I would break.

And I am still standing.

"I've earned it," I tell him again. "The Crystal Gems need me too now."

The way he begins to glow makes me want to smile up at him. "You're stupidly brave. I could kill you right now."

"You won't."

"I could harm you. Kidnap you. Enslave you. This glow makes it so I don't care."

"You couldn't bear to because you care anyways."

"You wanna bet?"

"Yeah," I whisper. "I do. I dare you to lay a single hostile finger on me." I lean forward and he leans back. That only fuels my rage. "Go on." I push my chest against his and to my minor surprise he lets go of my hands. I push him hard and he stumbles back just a little. So I take a step. And he takes a step back, eyes a bit wide and face flushed as he returns to normal hue. "Come on, Steven Universe; all powerful tyrant and dictator; King of Earth; Pink Diamond. What if I'm not afraid? What if I'm not as weak and easy to manipulate as you thought I would be? What if I want you to hit me? What if I want you to try?" Logically I know if he did, I wouldn't be able to do much but block it. But I don't care. I back him against his vanity and catch a glance of myself in the mirror.

Brave.

Beautiful.

Mean.

I lock eyes with my reflection and he turns to see what I'm looking at, a shaky smile lifting his face a little even past the awe.

I, Connie Maheswaren, am a mean girl.

A Mean Gem, if you will.

"Whoa." I blink rapidly and my reflection does too. That's me alright.

"We found her. I told you I would bring her out, didn't I?" When I don't respond, he asks again louder. "Didn't I?"

My eyes finally land on his. "Credit where credit is due, Pink."

"Are you really unafraid?" Under his flat tone I hear an inflection of hopefulness.

I back away to let him stand fully, and he towers above me, eyes glowing cruelly as he takes me in all over again. "I am."

"Hello, you two! Having fun?" Pearl asks, standing in the doorway with a package of Cookie Cats.

We look at her and then at each other.

"Pearl, message the school and tell them I will not be attending tomorrow. Come here." He motions for her and I step out of the way. He pulls her in for a lingering kiss, but he doesn't break eye contact with me.

I look him in the eye, straighten my posture, and raise an unconcerned eyebrow over a smile. The box is still in his hand so I grab it and slap Pearls ass on my way out to put them in the freezer.

The way he laughs into the kiss has me glowing from head to toe.