Everyone stared in shock as reality distorted a bit around them. It felt a little like being torn apart atom by atom and being put back together, but the world simply ceased to be perceived normally. Reality was like glass, they sensed if they moved they might destroy the universe if Adam wasn't already on his way to it.

Steven collapsed like a sack of flour and both Hazel and Jacob were close behind him in terms of consciousness as Adam let out a manic, perfect sound they couldn't have described if they tried.

Screamo was indefinitely his best genre.

The track was over, it was just silence over open space and Adam giggled the sweetest laugh they'd ever heard from him, with the added bonus of him breathing in so hard they came out as hiccups. He was smiling teeth and all, his seldom used smile lines showing. He didn't even seem aware anything had happened as he ran a hand over his face and muttered through more laughter, "I can't fucking believe you guys for making me this."

What could they do but stare?

Finally he took notice of his surroundings, though it was merely a glance and then a massive gasp. "H-holy shit." He could see into the kitchen from the basement, and last he'd checked they didn't have a sky/floor light.

Jacob coughed and tried to sit up. He wasn't pale, but rather blotchy in a concerning way. It almost looked like he was breaking out in hives. His hair was even worse than usual with the way it seemed to be reacting to static. "Holy shit."

He kicked Hazel with his foot a few times and the ebony man gasped in air. "I think my soul was going down." He let that sit before uttering, "Holy shit."

Paralyzed except for the swiveling heads, they took in the damage. The ceiling above the recording booth was blasted to hell and not coming back without serious maintenance. The lights had shattered and so had the glass between the two groups. Thousands of dollars of equipment fizzled and died out, or were already dead to begin with. Everyone's nose was bleeding a bit.

Adam backed into a corner and curled into a ball. He felt genuine terror, something about his body felt massively different. Something wasn't wrong necessarily, but it was changed without his prior knowledge or consent. "Any notes?"

Connie whispered, "Is anyone dead?"

Eyes turned to Steven, unmoving and pale. Adam broke out of his trance to check his pulse and cursed, reeling back to slap Steven across the face so hard it echoed around the destruction. His eyes shot open and he turned them wide to Adam.

They locked gazes for a while. Adam looked ready to either pass out or fist fight, he couldn't tell. Steven blinked and pulled him into a hug. "Are you okay?"

Adam nodded into the hug and tightened it, grateful for the comfort. "I'm so sorry for hitting you but you weren't b-breathing. I'm okay, just extremely concerned."

Steven sighed but it was deep and long, like a burden had been lifted from him. "That was so cool!"

They stared to cheer and Adam was confused as to why. He was out of breath and could feel his veins buzzing (which was metal as fuck) but he had no memory of the last 45 seconds or so. He blacked out, and now everyone was whooping and hollering at the top of their lungs. "What happened?! Was it good?"

"Good?!" Jacob cried. "I'm over here sitting in a bloody puddle of piss and shock!"

Adam shook his head rapidly. "C-can you say it without the accent? I didn't catch that."

Hazel hug tackled him and sent Steven, Adam and himself tumbling backwards. "Babe, you're a fucking rockstar!"

"A-a rockstar?" His heart fluttered at the compliment. "What's going on?" Everyone else was pouring in and clambering so loudly his long fuse burst into flames. No one was listening to him! He got overstimulated and bellowed, "Get off of me, now!"

They scrambled away and went silent, eyes hurt. Adam had never yelled at them, he only raised his voice for music or in bed. He shook out his hair and pushed it out of his face, his anger turning back into anxious confusion. The buzzing wouldn't stop. "Can someone please... please tell me what happened?"

Steven swallowed nervously, his own mind reeling from the last things he remembered. The song had been ending, and they'd been killing it so well that Steven started to overheat fast. The magic was happening on his own, he wasn't even trying. That was the first warning sign that something was not wrong, but off. They were all glowing, yet that wasn't what he'd seen that was so unnatural.

He'd turned his eyes to Adam as the heat begin to take its toll. He was panting and feeling faint, and his gem was unleashing so much power it was hurting his high tolerance for pain. At first he thought he was hallucinating but no, Adam had been glowing the hardest. It was so bright it almost looked... purple. No, it was purple. The shade was rich and deep surrounding him. He looked like he was in pain but a smile was ever present. Then Steven had blacked out for a second and woke up on the floor. Just before he shut his eyes he heard the single most perfect screamo scream he'd ever heard. It was like the screams of hellish demons had awoken inside of Adam, at an octave so unlike his normally low and cool one he typically used. There was a distinct talent to it that almost outshined the haze in the air. Steven's magic was being sucked into Adam like he was a black hole as he let it out.

And then he'd passed out before the track had even ended.

Steven had no idea what to tell him, so he told him the truth. "You used my gem, and then when my gem stopped working you pulled the magic out of the air." He pointed. "Look; no pink haze. And then you made your own, it's why your veins are probably buzzing. You activated the magic in your blood manually."

Adam's brain needed a reboot, so he patiently sat and reassembled the information in order. They were making music, blackout, hurricane. But it was magic that had done it. And it also wasn't Stevens fault. Everyone was saying it was his fault.

That meant it was his fault.

Adam shook his head as the gravity of the situation threatened to make him see his lunch for a second date. "What are you trying to say?"

Connie rubbed at Steven's cheek, feeling the disassociative spell coming before it even did. "Every day we continue having constant and direct contact with magic, we get more likely to take on the traits themselves." Her head was chugging weakly trying to make connections, but she was unsurprised when she could summon her sword from him even after their breakup. "It's like a pathogen, the more you're around it, the more its intent on binding and causing as much chaos as it can."

Adam grabbed the nearest hand, he didn't care whose it was but it squeezed him and he attempted to accept the comfort. "Is there an antibiotic I can take?"

She snorted. "Funny. Your own human mind is the antibiotic." Connie got lost in a thought circling her mind again and again. "Some people are made to be involved with magic. Even in the human way. Allison couldn't handle Steven in Diamond mode, but it hasn't killed you guys yet so maybe it has something to do with trauma and mental health making minds susceptible to abstract things."

Steven huffed out a shaky laugh, still with one foot in his own world. "I love when you talk dirty to me about theories and hypothesizes."

She smiled at him and scratched at his scalp. "You almost became a black hole too, Adam, which I'd recommend not doing."

He nodded, his mouth so dry he had to fight to get it off the roof of his mouth. "Thanks for the tip. Sorry about the ceiling and kitchen floor. And the... tens of thousands of dollars of damage which I will definitely pay for."

"No need, the Bismuths and Peridots will be happy to help," Connie assured him with a nudge.

She pressed a kiss to Steven's forehead and he broke out of the spell to teasingly grin at Adam. "Not such a late bloomer now, huh?"

He giggled at his own joke, which made Jacob start to laugh and then they all were crowing.

Adam's laughter died out first and he sighed. "I have a confession."

They paused and Steven tipped his head. "Okay...?"

Adam sighed again, heavier this time and climbed onto Hazels lap to shield himself from the world. "I think I need to cry about it. I'm scared shitless and embarrassed and–," He sniffled. "P-probably in shock?"

Anna tugged on Connie's hand. "Is he going to be okay? Can you and Daddy doctor him to make sure he's not hurt really bad?"

Connie nodded, and Steven pulled out his phone. "I'm going to text CG Bismuth and give her a lie that I'm going to need you guys to back me up on. I..." His mind went back to the old letter he'd gotten from a previous fan of The Curse Is Calling, then to the vial his magic had extracted from his body. "I don't really want to have to break down the complications of why to Bismuth."

Adam sniffled. "I love you guys."