Despite the looming threat of the diamonds and their mass produced corruption weapons, Steven decided to make it a point to destress before having to eventually go back into space, in search of the trio.
In truth, he was overly stressed and needed at least a day to decompress and appreciate the quiet on earth while it lasted.

"Beach party!" He laughed, trying to convince the gems to help him throw a party for Spinel's return.

"Are you sure this is a good time?" Pearl questioned, glancing back at the pink gem who seemed entirely flustered by the proposal.

"What would be a better time? Spinel's back, and she isn't corrupted, I think that's reason enough to celebrate, don't you?" He lowered the ball in his hands, fitting it under his armpit. Amethyst seemed entirely stoked for the concept, already changing her form to look more beach ready.

"Yeah! Come on, with everything going on, we gotta relax a little, Pearl!" She giggled, wrapping an arm around the gem.
Garnet nodded, a content smile on her face.

"If Spinel wants a party, I say we throw her one." The fusion turned to the pink gem.
Spinel rubbed her neck hesitantly, not sure if she even deserved such a thing.

"I guess it's alright?" She answered, glancing back at Steven who seemed to vibrate with joy.

"Great! We can invite Lars and the off colors, and Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis! And I think Sadie might be done with her tour by now, so she and the cool kids can play the music!" The boy seemed to have already planned everything in his head before even confronting the gems, it was as if he was only one phone call away from the entirety of beach city arriving at their doorstep.

"I'll tell Connie, and Dad, we'll make hot dogs!" The boy jumped out the door, floating gently to the ground and excitedly running off to find his dad.

Pearl looked at Spinel who seemed unsure of the whole prospect, but pleased nonetheless.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked the gem, drawing her from her thoughts. Spinel smiled cheerfully, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, I think it will be fun." She laughed, denying the underlying feeling that she in no way deserved such a party.

Steven greeted his friends and companions as they neared his party set up, he had fold out tables with balloons saying welcome back that floated gently in the air, his dad was grilling hot dogs from.the back of his van, while Sadie chatted with the cool kids on what kind of songs they would play.

"Hey Lars, Sadie is back in town," Steven greeted the pink boy as he strolled up with his friends, holding a platter of neatly diced ube. He moved to his next guest, greeting Peridot as she walked with Lapis. He decided not to prod her on the save drive. Today was supposed to be fun, speaking of which, the guest of honor had yet to arrive.

Steven glanced around, Amethyst was chatting with Bismuth, Pearl seemed to be deliberately ignoring Dewey, Garnet was helping set up the stage. Spinel wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Hey Dad." Steven called as he approached, Greg stood at his grill flipping hot dogs.

"Hey Stewball." He replied, turning around with a weenie in his clamps. Steven chuckled.

"Have you seen Spinel?" The boy asked, glancing back at the beach house to make sure he didn't see her inside. Greg shook his head and shrugged.

"Uh, I haven't seen her, maybe she's playing volleyball?" He offered, turning back to his grill.

"You're right, I think Nana Fua set up a game." Steven remarked, heading off toward the court that the Fua's where playing at.

"Oh wait, Steven!" Greg called before he could leave earshot. Steven turned, watching his dad point off at the beach house, Spinel made her way down the stairs looking mildly embarrassed. She caught Steven's eyes, watching as he ran toward her, huffing excitedly.

"Spinel, you excited? We've got volley ball!" He said wish a sheepish grin, the gem glanced around at the guests, and the fun they were having, it looked inviting and like something she would absolutely love to partake in. But, for some odd reason, she didn't feel worthy to.

"Wait- you don't look beach ready." He exaggerated a frown, gesturing at his swim trunks. Spinel looked him up and down, somewhat confused by what he meant before it clicked.

"Oh!" She feigned a laugh, temporarily changing form to match his aesthetic.

"Is this okay?" She said, hoping she got the general fist of earth swimwear. Steven's eyes shined and he pressed his hands to his face in adoration.
The gem wore a simple sailor esque swimsuit with ruffled sleeves and four star shaped buttons on the front.

"Oh my gosh you're so cute!" He squealed excitedly, wrapping his arm around hers and pulling her toward the rest of his friends.

"Hey Amethyst!" Steven called, pulling the gem from her conversation. "You wanna play volley ball?"

"You're on!" She replied, waving for Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis to join them. The four ran to the court.

"We want to play next!" Steven laughed as Connie joined him.

"We can do threw on three!" Connie grinned, pointing at the even number of them as they waited for the Fua's game to end.

"Right! Okay, Bismuth, you Peridot and Lapis are a team, and Connie, Spinel and I are a team, sound fair?" Steven smiled, separating his friends into their designated teams.

"Of course we're a team," Peridot replied pausing in thought for a moment, "what are we playing?"

Her remark.caused Steven and Connie to laugh, Connie turned to Peridot.

"It's volley ball, you hit the ball over the net with your arms, and if it goes outside the court on the other teams side, you lose." She explained, pointing at the Fua's as they played to provide a better representation of the game in action.
Peridot and Spinel leaned closer, watching the game unfold, Spinel couldn't help but be entirely entranced by the game, her eyes shined at the thought of winning, despite having never played before.
Peridot on the other hand didn't seem too excited considering the ball itself was not made of metal.

"Time! Kiki's team wins!" Nana Fua yelled, causing the daughter and parent match to end, kiki and Jenny squealed with joy, hugging eachother as the victors.

"Okay, Steven, you and your friends are up." Nana Fua called, beckoning the group over to join the game.
Peridot's team assembled themselves on the other side if the net, Bismuth bounced the ball in her hand, waiting while Steven stepped forward.

"Okay Bismuth, you set! Thay means throw the ball and hit it over this way!" He directed. Bismuth nodded, tossing the ball into the air and slamming it with her fist sending it flying directly at them. Steven leapt into the air, smacking it back before it left the circle, enthralling Spinel in the game's play tactics.

Lapis hit the ball back, giving her the opportunity to join in, the pink gem sprung into the air smacking the ball back toward them and landing back on the ground with a triumphant gleam.in her eyes.

"That was really good!" Connie remarked, jumping for the ball and hitting it back over the net as she slid through the sand. She shook the sand from her hair, hitting Steven with it and making him laugh, nearly missing the ball as it plummeted toward him.

Spinel stretched out her arm, sending it back over for Peridot to scramble for.

"I got it! I got it!" The gem stumbled backwards, hitting the ball away, it barely created over the net, allowing Steven to smack it into the air and set it to the other side, it zoomed passes the other team, but lapis cracked a smile, pulling the ocean out of its place and sending the ball flying back toward them.

"That doesn't count as cheating right?" She laughed, Connie tried to catch the ball but it bounced past her just outside of the court.

"It kind of does?" Steven replied, shrugging the loss off. Spinel bounced over and grabbed the ball, bringing it back into the court. She glanced at Steven before flinging it into the air and stretching her hand to twice it's size, hitting it hard. The ball popped at the impact, making the gem retract her arm as the rest of them watched it fall to the sand, totally flattened.
She laughed nervously.

"Sorry, got a little intense there." She giggled, picking the flattened ball up and handing it to Steven, he smiled, overjoyed to see his friend enjoying herself.

"It's fine, I think the hot dogs are ready anyways, I'm starving!" He laughed through his words, glancing back at Peridot's team. "Game's on hold for now!"

Peridot grumbled in discontent, kicking the sand, sure that she and her team would end by the end of the night.

Steven and Connie raced to the hot dogs as they were being served, grabbing two for each of them and sitting at the table covered in slowly deflating balloons. This had worked, Steven felt so much more at ease, even though the party wasn't for him, he was content that it happened at all.

It made everything else seem further away, quieter, and that's all he really wanted at the moment.