"Guys. I just had the best idea in the world," Connie whispered to the girls conspiratorially. "A song. Watch this." She turned to Steven, who was currently playing rock, paper, scissors with Jacob and Adam for the last beer. "Come here, Playboy."

His hands dropped from the interaction and he glanced to the side bashfully. "As in... Playboy Bunny?"

The way he'd grown up to be: broad, and a little built along with that natural resting trauma smolder, he could definitely be a model. And that feminine grace and beauty? Oh yeah, she could see him in the outfit too.

"Yes."

He seemed to stand straighter and sauntered over to pick her up and kiss her into a dip. Stevonnie came to life and burst out into a surprised giggling as they unfused again almost instantly.

Connie had his shirt bunched up in her fists and Stevens hands were planted on her cheeks as she shook him slightly. "All that to say that?" She laughed.

"Yes." He nuzzled into her neck and rumbled his content, giving Connie a moment to glance at the girls and mouth, 'Nicknames.'

*

Later on, Jasmin wrapped her arms around Jacob and he turned in surprise. "My tomboy girlfriend is pining for attention?"

"Of course, Nutter Butter." She giggled as his face started reddening.

"Hey." It seemed to be all he could say for the moment past his surprise. He did that thing again; he started staring at her emotionlessly like he couldn't tell if she was real. She smirked and his arms wrapped around her tenderly. "I like when you do this, Jasmin. You're such a good girl."

She rolled her eyes and he grabbed her chin. "I think you've gotten to be more of a Dom than a switch."

He darkened more but shrugged. "Maybe. I guess I decided I wasn't going to lose you again and got all... grabby." His hands slid up her sides and he pulled her into a longing kiss. "Sweet nicknames hit different. Come to bed with me."

*

"Lollipop." Anna crooned as she nuzzled into Hazels lap on the floor.

He made a series of flustered faces and ruffled her hair. "Are you saying you're in need of some TLD?"

She shrugged and Adam walked in, rifling through their mail. "Hey guys. I'm home."

Anna jumped up and squished his cheeks, earning an unamused stare. "My little honey bunch."

He wrinkled his nose and grabbed her wrists, locking eyes with her. She could never withstand his eyes for too long, they were so light blue that they seemed purple. "I love you."

She blushed and teasingly turned him away, huffing when his eyes stayed on her. "That's a lot of energy you're putting out there."

He chuckled and patted her ass so he could greet Hazel. "Girls never make sense."

Hazel locked their lips together and chuckled in agreement.

*

"Switch date!" Connie hollered, running in with the other girls in matching outfits.

Steven raised an eyebrow and licked his lips in appreciation. "You guys look adorable. What's a switch date?"

"We're going to the carnival!" Anna bounced up and down so fast she was a complete blur of energy. "Daddies come onnnnnnn!!!!" She raced forward to pull at Hazel and Adam; Hazel letting her try but Adam staying planted in his spot.

"Anna..."

She kept excitedly spewing ideas and shouting back to Jasmin and Connie to help her. "OMG, can we get cotton candy? I wanna ride all the rollercoasters and–,"

"Anna!"

Nothing. She let go and groaned into her hands, pushing a giggling Jasmin in front to show off her outfit. "And Jasmin let me pick out her outfit and she looks adorable!"

Jacob exchanged a look with Adam and he gestured to the girl as if to say, 'Fine then, you try.'

Jacob cleared his throat and sat up straight. "Anna! Correct yourself."

She mouth snapped shut as a heavy blush flooded her face.

Connie giggled and twirled in her skirt. "Come on, give her a break you guys! We're so cute you can't get mad at us and she's got every right to be excited."

The men were not paying attention to the girls anymore and instead were slack jawed at Jacob, who stood and brushed off his shirt. "What?"

"Where did that come from?"

He seemed confused until Jasmin poked his chest and replaced her finger with a kiss. "Oh, the 'correct yourself' thing? Uh... dunno. I tell Jasmin to all the time and it just works." Jacob turned to her with a twinkle in his eye and she shook her head frantically.

"Not here," She whined. "You're going to embarrass me."

Steven raised a hand and grinned. "I dunno, I'm tuned in. I've been wondering if Connie doesn't need more intense training."

Connie scoffed at him. "Fuck you, I don't need to be trained."

"You're probably right. I don't think you're very... capable~."

The gasps came at the same time as her diving for him. But then she was being caught midair, flipped and promptly smacked on the ass less than playfully. "Stop that."

She sulked and crossed her arms. "Now do Jasmin."

"You bitch!" Jasmin cried, her previous grin of satisfaction dropping. "Steven, spank her aga–,"

"Jasmin, correct yourself."

It was like a switch turned on and her posture straightened as her mouth shut. Her hands even went neatly behind her back. It was perfection. Jacob was delighted and patted her head, tossing a cocky look back at his friends. "You guys should learn more from me. At least my baby knows how to listen."

The three men tried to find an argument but between the silly grin and Jasmin's obedience they could find none except a, "Fuck you."

Anna raised her hand. "Can we please go to the carnival? Pretty please?"

Adam chuckled. "We get manners on top of 15 seconds of quiet?! Alright, I'm sold."

"Also," Connie said as she opened the door for them. "A switch date is exactly how it sounds."

Steven brushed a hand over her neck and dipped down to catch her eye as the last one to leave. "I do like the idea of training you, Mrs. Knight. I think it would do you some good to have tasks and behaviors preset for you like any good servant of a Diamond should have. Is that something you'd be okay with exploring?"

She nodded, turning into his hand to disguise the blush there. "Of course. Anything."

*

"Okay, meet you guys back here in... let say 45 1/5 minutes," Connie said, pulling out a tablet from her bag. As easily the most organized, she liked to keep everything important on there like birthdays and appointments and pictures. But they wouldn't need pictures today with all the hidden camera crews around.

Jacob suddenly craned his neck to the left and stumbled over Adam. "Is that Jester?"

"Watch your step, these shoes cost more than you do."

"Nope, you didn't see Jester." Jasmin tilted her head. "Why, did you see a black man?"

Jacob whirled and stared at her, the command right on the tip of his tongue but he had no right to. "No, they just genuinely looked like him."

That nipped it in the bud and Anna tossed her wide, victorious eyes that made her giggle. "Now that we have made sure that Jester isn't for some reason stalking us, we move clockwise."

Steven was a bit distracted now, eyes searching for more suspicious coincidences. "Clockwise? In the car–,"

A child that was no older than three zipped by them and toddled to a stop, staring up at the giant among men that was Steven in awe. Steven, awkward as always in public, crouched down slowly as to not scare them. "Hey... you. Where's your Mommy and Daddy?"

Tiny chubby hands pressed against his cheeks then into his hair. "Daddy."

Connie choked on air and tried not to melt on the spot. "You're such a freaking baby magnet."

Steven's smile turned lopsided. "I'm nearly seven feet tall and still kids run up to me like I'm the least scary person of all time." He picked them up after watching the grabby hands and turned back to the gang. "How do we find their parents?"

"Hey! That's my baby! I oughta kick your ass straight into Hell myself!"

Steven whirled and stuck them out towards the voice. "I wasn't stealing your baby, I promise! I'm too tall to get away with it anyways, not that I'd try! Please don't be mad at me!"

"Steven!"

"Sadie?"

The child squealed and wiggled for their mother. "Hey TiBNAALD! Ugh, I'd love to stick around but Shep is in need of baby snuggles and won't stop blowing up my phone. We'll plan something." Sadie giggled and hooked an arm under the child. "Nova, say bye-bye!"

"Holy shit," Adam muttered, awkwardly waving back. "Their name is Nova."

Steven stared after them longingly, mentally making a note to hang out with them soon before Anna tugged at his shirt. "What's up, sweet girl?"

"Us! Carnival! Now!" She demanded through a laugh. "I'm trying not to be a brat about it but if we stand here too long you'll run into another 80 people you know and be in this exact spot till tomorrow's carnival!"

They joined in her laughter as Steven gasped in offense. "Is this why you guys say you hate grocery shopping with me?"

"Yes!"

He rolled his eyes. "Fair. Who are we going with first?"

"Mains, left, left, Mains," Connie recited, pointing to each relationship.

"We start and end the same, that way we all get a turn loving on all our sweet partners," Jasmin slipped her hand in Jacob's and winked. "That sound good?"

Jacob turned red from either the sun or a blush and nodded silently.

"Good," Anna exclaimed, "Let's go!"

*

The boys gawked at the rough edit of the music video while the girls brushed each others hair. It was a rather cute visualizer of all of them together and a more comprehensive look at how the dynamics changed.

"Is this why you guys called us so many sweet nicknames lately?" Adam asked as Hazel nursed aloe vera onto his torso. "Cause I look like an apple."

"The chocolate and the apple," Anna mused. "I'd hit that."

"Would that make Anna the rainbow sprinkles?" Jasmin giggled. "Now I kind of want a chocolate covered apple with sprinkles on top."

Jacob tore his eyes away from the screen, heart swelling. "I'll make you anything you like."

"Simp," Steven coughed into his arm.

The silence only lasted a split second before they were crowing in laughter.

"You're a way bigger simp than I am, asshole!" Jacob accused with a middle finger his way.

"Hey, it takes one to know one." He pointed a finger at Connie and motioned for her to come and sit on his lap. "Were you the mastermind behind all of this?"

She nodded bashfully, fiddling with her fingers. "How'd you know?"

He pulled her in for a kiss. "Cause it's shmaltzy."

"And we kinda figured it out around five minutes in," Jacob added to a shocked few gasps. "You guys were all bouncing off the metaphorical walls."

"And we saw Jester again and he winked at us," Hazel reminded them. "By the dunking booth, remember?"

Adam chuckled. "How could I forget? He was holding a camera pointed directly at us. It wasn't rocket science."