Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     It was a cool morning in the small town of Beach City. The sun’s golden rays warming the town as its citizens begun their morning routines. On this particular morning, Greg Universe was walking along the beach and humming a tune. Greg was an overweight man in his early 40’s. He was wearing a white tank top with ripped shorts which exposed a tan line that showed that he used to wear t-shirts and pants. His curly brown hair ran down to his knees like a waterfall and a beard and mustache covered his lower face.

     As Greg neared the cliffside with the lighthouse at the top of it, he could feel excitement build up within him. He turned the sandy corner and saw the mouth of a cave. Greg suddenly burst forward, unable to contain his excitement any longer. At the cave opening he threw his arm in the air waved it as he exclaimed, “Hey Pink!”

     “Hello Greg,” a lady inside the cave responded. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he could see the crystal filled cave decorated with an assortment of flowers, most of which were pink roses. The lady was holding a group of the flowers as she sat against the wall. “So Pink,” Greg said, “Are you ready for your day out in town?” Pink smiled and began to stand up, “Yes, I believe I am.” As she walked into the sunlight Greg had to look up a bit to see her face. Pink’s face was… well it was pink as was everything else about her. Her hair was a light shade of pink which was round and poofy, with an occasional part of it curled up. She had pink lipstick and long eyelashes, a rounded nose. Her clothes were many different shades of pink and magenta, she wore large shoulder pads, a leotard, grey leggings, elbow length gloves, v-cut boots, and a skirt that pointed downwards with black lining across the bottom.

     But the strangest things about her were her pink eyes, which had diamond shaped pupils, and the large pink diamond embedded where her belly button should be. She was also, if Greg had to guess, somewhere between 12 and 13 feet tall. “So, is there any place you would like to go first?” Greg asked. “I’ve always been curious about the building with a big colored circle on the top of it,” Pink said, “Isn’t it a place that has food?” “The Big Donut? That’s where you want to go?” “Yes,” Pink said with a smile. “Alright. Then follow me!” Greg exclaimed with glee, earning a chuckle from Pink.

     She followed Greg down the beach, watching him until they reached the Big Donut. Greg held the door open for her and she had to bend over to enter the building. She still had to slouch a bit so her hair wouldn’t touch the ceiling but she didn’t mind too much. A human girl wearing a lavender shirt with a donut stylized B and D on it said, “Hello welcome to the Big Donut, how may I he… help you?” The girl had a nervous expression on her face. “Woah, what kind of crazy cosplay is that!?” a taller human with orange hair exclaimed. “Lars be nice,” The girl said. “Oh, come on, I was just joking Sadie,” the human known as Lars said.

     Sadie ran a hand through her sand-colored hair and then said, “Sorry about that, anyways what kind of donut would you like? Also, there’s some Cookie Cat ice creams in the freezer that are super limited since the company stopped making them.” Pink looked to her left and saw a small freezer that held a few ice creams with a cartoon like cat face on them. “Oh, if there’s not a lot left then we might as well get some.” Greg opened the freezer and grabbed two Cookie Cats. Pink snuck a look around the store, spotting some tables and chairs as well as a fridge that held many different drinks for humans. She brought her attention back to the counter in front of her and inspected the circles known as donuts.

     After a few seconds she said, “I want the choo-koo-late donut.” “Chocolate?” Lars said. Pink pointed her finger up and exclaimed, “Yes, chocolate! Greg what do you want to get?” Greg set the Cookie Cats on the counter and said, “I’ll have a jelly filled donut, the cherry kind please.” Sadie pulled out the selected donuts, put them in a bag and calculated the total cost of the desserts. “That’ll be $6.78 sir.” “You can just call me Greg,” Greg said with a smile before handing Sadie some dollar bills. As Pink and Greg left the Big Donut, he turned his head back and said, “Have a nice day you two!” Pink heard a faint thanks before she turned to Greg who was holding out her donut to take.

     Pink grabbed the donut, she only ate food every few years and usually Greg was the one who made it, but she always enjoyed it whenever she had some. She took a bite of the donut. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! The brown stuff, which she assumed was the chocolate was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted! The donut seemed to melt in her mouth as she chewed and swallowed it! Then she took another bite, it seemed better than the last.

     Greg couldn’t help but smile at Pink as she ate her donut. Her eyes had stars in them and she had the happiest smile on her face. He took a bite of his own donut, the jelly filled had always been his favorite. By his fourth bite, Pink reached her hand down, “I want to try the Cookie Cat now!” she exclaimed joyfully. Greg handed her one of the ice creams and watched her open it as he took another bite of his donut. By the time he was done with it and starting to eat his own Cookie Cat, Pink had finished eating and started talking to him. “Those were wonderful, I’ve never tasted anything that good before! Humans are so good at making a bunch of different food!”

     “I’m glad you enjoyed it so much,” Greg said through a mouth full of ice cream, “Is there anywhere else you would like to go?” Pink took a moment to think, “No not really… Maybe I could watch you wash cars for the rest of the day.” “Pink, you know that I have the day off,” Greg said, “That’s why I’m able to show you around town today.” Pink chuckled to herself, “I know, maybe we can just walk around the town, explore it.” “Alright,” Greg agreed.

     They started to walk down the boardwalk but it wasn’t long until they spotted a large bulky figure thrashing around and squawking loudly. As they got closer, Greg realized it was that creepy Frybo mascot and that the squawking was coming from a group of seagulls biting the foam fries at the top of the mascot’s head. It looked like Pink was getting ready to push the seagulls away before a voice cried out, “I AM NOT FRIES!!!” The mascot proceeded to rip off its head and swing it at the seagulls!

     Pink had a surprised look on her face before the boy inside the costume turned to her and said, “Oh, um hello ma’am… and sir.” Greg walked up to the boy, “Are you okay?” The boy had a missing tooth and blonde hair that fell down to his ears, it surprisingly looked very similar to french fries. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said with an annoyed tone, “I just wish that those stupid seagulls would leave me alone.” “What’s your name kiddo?” Greg asked. “It’s Pee Dee,” the boy responded. Greg kneeled down, “My name’s Greg. Is there something wrong?” Pee Dee looked down and sighed, “It’s just that when I asked my dad that I wanted to help out with the fry business. I didn’t expect to be put in this stupid costume and forced to dance around, and the costume probably scares more people away than attracts them since it looks so creepy. I would much rather work at the counter or something, anything would be better than this.”

     Greg could definitely understand the creepy mascot part. Its pale face had a wide smile with buckteeth as well as large plastic eyes that had the classic pie-cut pupils that old timey cartoons had. Greg couldn’t look at the costumes face anymore and took a moment to look away, only to spot Pink trying to keep the seagulls away from Pee Dee. Greg turned his head back to Pee Dee and said, “Have you tried telling your dad that you would rather work at the counter?” “No.” “Well what’s the worse that could happen if you did?” Pee Dee seemed to ruminate for a bit until his face lit up, “Well, nothing bad could happen now that I think about it!” He turned towards the fry restaurant and began to sprint as well as he could in the bulky costume. “Thanks mister!” he yelled before slamming the door behind him.

     Greg smiled, it felt good to help Pee Dee. Pink walked up to Greg, wiping off any feathers that were on her body, “I think I would like to walk around the neeigborrhood. You know, the area where humans live.” Greg noticed the annoyed expression on her face, “You want to get away from those seagulls, don’t you?” “Yes,” Pink said. “In that case the neighborhood is this way,” Greg stated as he began to walk onto a street that headed away from the beach. Pink was quick to follow and soon the air became slightly less salty as houses started to appear.

     As Pink looked at the houses and yards, she noticed all of the differences between each one. Some had vibrant green grass with equally vibrant houses, in others the grass was sparser and the paint on the houses was chipped. Every 3 or so front yards would have a tree in them, some were tall, others were short, and the ones that caught Pink’s attention the most had blossoms growing on them. She also spotted some small birds which thankfully made no attempt to get closer to her. After a couple minutes of walking around she saw a house that, unlike the others, had some sort of large cloth blocking the larger entrance instead of a metal barrier.

     She was about to ask Greg why it was different when a woman with platinum blonde onion shaped hair and a baby blue coat flying through the air behind her ran out! The faded red slippers she wore looked well used as she ran towards Greg and Pink. “Greg!” she called out. “Vidalia? Is something wrong?” She was in front of Greg now and began to roll up the sleeves of her overalls and coat. “It’s nothing too big but I just finished cooking a late breakfast and Onion isn’t anywhere in the house. He usually likes to go outside to play but it can be hard to find him sometimes.” Pink knelt down, “Is he lost? Do you need help to find him?” Vidalia was looking around, “I appreciate the offer but there’s no need to trouble yourself. This happens all the tim- THERE HE IS!”

     Pink was confused, Vidalia was looking directly at her face like she was Onion. “Oh, sweetie sorry! He’s in your hair.” Vidalia explained. Pink exclaimed to herself as a very small child leapt from her hair to Vidalia’s arms. He had a tuft of hair on the top of his head that was the same color as Vidalia’s and he wore a white long sleeve shirt with red pants. “How did he get into my hair without me noticing?” Pink thought to herself. She looked at him wondering how he was able to do it, and the longer she looked at him the more nervous she felt. There was something off about the child but she couldn’t tell what it was. “Does that sound good Pink?” Greg said.

     She broke out of her thoughts, “Sorry what?” Greg smiled, “Vidalia wanted to know if you would like her to paint a portrait of you in her garage. After she eats breakfast of course.” Pink swelled up with joy and excitement, “A portrait! I’d love to have a portrait of me!” Before Greg or Vidalia could say anything, she rushed pass them and into the garage. However, the garage’s light wasn’t on so she couldn’t see the paintings in the room that well. She tried to look around the room for some sort of switch to turn on the lights but couldn’t find anything.

     “What’s the matter Pinkie?” Vidalia walked over to the light switch with Greg and flipped it on, “Couldn’t find the light or something?” “Um, yeah.” Pink responded quietly. “Anyways, your welcome to look around. But don’t touch anything,” Vidalia stated before walking into her house with Onion. So, Pink looked around, some paintings in there were depicting landscapes. But the majority of them were portraits of the citizens in Beach City. Pink didn’t recognize the majority of the people in the portraits, most likely due to barely exploring Beach City. Then she spotted one portrait in that stood out to her. This one had Vidalia and Onion in it, as well as two other people in it. One was the tallest of the four, he was wearing a blue hoodie and orange pants. The other was shorter than Vidalia, he had a bushy beard and wore a raincoat which had a matching hat that he held at his side.

     Pink didn’t look away from the painting and said, “Greg, do you know who these two humans with Vidalia are?” Greg walked over, “Oh, those people are Sourcream and Yellowtail. It must be a family portrait.” “A family Portrait.” Pink said. “Yeah, Sourcream is Vidalia’s first-born and Yellowtail is her husband,” Greg paused, “Do gems have families?” Pink looked towards the ground and shadows seemed to cover her eyes. “Not the same way that humans have families,” she stated bluntly.

     The door opened with a click sound and Vidalia walked in, “So, Pink. Would you like to stand or sit for your portrait?” “Sit,” Pink responded. Vidalia dragged a large stool to a spot under a light and brought out a canvas. While she was collecting her acrylic paints, she asked Pink, “Can you pick a pose? I want to be able to capture your essence as soon as possible.” Pink sat down, the stool squeaking a bit under her weight. She began to play around with different poses, she didn’t really like much of the poses she tried. There was one that she liked a bit, in it she had a knee lifted higher than the other and her chin was turned towards the ceiling as well as her left palm that she held above her head. However, she decided to abandon that pose and instead switch over to having her hands resting on her lap and overlapping one another. She wore a small smile on her face and looked towards the canvas Vidalia was at.

     Vidalia pulled out a pencil and began to draw, “That pose is great, I love the sparkle in your eyes.” Pink sat in silence as the minutes turned into hours. At some point Greg’s stomach started growling and he left to get lunch when Vidalia had started to apply the paint. It wasn’t until the sun began to set that Vidalia stopped painting. She set the paint brush down and let out a sigh, “It’s been a while since I’ve painted for that long in a single session. Why don’t you take a look at the progress?” Pink got up and walked over to the canvas. When she saw what was on it, she was brimming with joy.

     She could see her own figure from the knees up and had a background filled with rose petals. Her body was colored exactly like her own, however it was mostly a smooth surface with no depth or details such as her eyes. “It’s great!” Pink exclaimed. “Pfft, please this is the easy stuff,” Vidalia said, “I still need to finish everything else. Just come back here anytime you want me to work on it. Besides you should go home and Greg is starting to fall asleep.” Greg started and yawned, “Uh, no I’m noooooooooot.” Pink chuckled, “Yes you are Greg.”

     Greg enjoyed the warmth of the sunset during the walk back home and chatted with Pink about her day. She said that she really enjoyed it and looked forward to another day out in town. When they reached Greg’s van, which had the cosmos painted on its sides along with bold letters spelling out Mr. Universe, the sun had just peeked below the horizon making way for the moon and stars. Greg said goodbye to Pink and watched her walk home for a bit until he climbed into the back of his van and walked over any junk or items he had in order to reach the layers of blankets he called a bed. He got comfortable, closed his eyes and thought about the events of the day. It wasn’t long until he fell asleep with a loud snore.

This is what Pink Diamond looks like in this AU.

And here's a link to the Tumblr for the AU where you can ask me questions about it. Varlet Pink Diamond AU (tumblr.com)

Chapter Text

               Greg scrubbed away the thick crusty layer of dirt that was on the jeep. It had been a long day and he was looking forward to finishing this car wash since it was nearly time to close. This customer was a nice fellow and certainly better compared to the lady who berated every single thing he did. As Greg started to wash away the soap on the jeep the guy said that he was sorry for all of the dirt and explained that he was enjoying a drive through a forest yesterday when he got stuck in a large puddle of mud. Greg told him it was no big deal and that he was happy to help.

                He washed away the last of the soap and admired the pristine shine of the jeep. The man walked up to Greg and thanked him for his help. After he paid Greg, the man got into his jeep and wished him a good evening before he drove away to his next destination.

                Greg let out a long sigh before he turned off the open sign and the neon elephant spraying water onto its back which had large yellow letters in it spelling out, “It’s A Wash.” Then he retrieved a lounging chair from inside the building and set it in front of the car wash to enjoy the sunset. After he had gotten comfortable in the chair, he admired the beauty of the sun’s golden rays reflecting off of the ocean and the pink and orange hues of the sky. The sea sparkled brilliantly and almost seemed as if it was dancing with itself. Then Greg noticed something in the sky… a second sun?

                He looked closer; it wasn’t a sun. The large spherical object was glowing red and rotated a few times in the sky until it stopped and looked at beach city. It looked like a giant eyeball, its iris was shaped like a hexagon and the pupil contracted as metal plates slid over it. Greg swallowed. Should he get Pink? Sure, she liked to spend most of her time alone but she was always willing to lend a helping hand. He looked back at the object; it was getting closer. He decided that he should get Pink and got out of his chair, started his van and drove to Pink’s cave. He got out of his vehicle, not bothering to close the door and ran into the cave and called out for Pink. It was empty. He looked around the small cave hoping that it would somehow make Pink appear but she didn’t.  The only things in there were flowers and some books Greg had given to Pink a few days ago so she could pass the time.

                Greg ran back to his van and started to drive to Vidalia’s house; maybe Pink was there getting her portrait painted. As he drove, Greg noticed that the world seemed to be tinted red. He glanced at the object in the sky, it was twice the size it was when he first spotted it and was only getting bigger each second. After driving for what felt like an eternity he arrived at Vidalia’s house, opened the van door and ran into the garage. Nobody was in there either. Greg was having trouble keeping calm and his heart was racing much faster than he could handle. Where was Pink? If she wasn’t home and she wasn’t here, where could she be? He couldn’t call her and tell her about the thing in the sky because she didn’t have a phone. He was pacing back and forth when he spotted her portrait.

                Vidalia looked like she had finished painting the lower half of Pink’s body. Then it hit him, Greg had occasionally seen Pink walking to and from Beach City ever since he met her. Where she went, he had no idea but he figured that if he drove around town and called her name, he would eventually find her. He ran back outside and immediately covered his eyes; the world was covered with harsh red light that hurt to look at. Once his eyes had adjusted as well as they could he got back into his van and began to drive, the eye seeming to follow him. Greg drove as fast as he could down every street in town, calling out Pink’s name the entire time.

                But she was absent from every street, there were plenty of townspeople who had noticed the eye and were staring at it. Some seemed awed, others looked frightened, and a few were trying to run away from the orb despite its now gargantuan size. Greg kept looking, hoping to spot Pink’s tall figure among the people. It wasn’t until he was back on the street his car wash was at that he spotted her on the beach. She was looking up at the red orb when sand started being pulled towards it. Greg parked at the side of the road and got out. The ground was shaking violently and the ocean’s waves were rough with white water. He was about to call out Pink’s name when he saw her face.

                She looked furious. Her fists and teeth were clenched together. Her eyebrows formed a V-shape over her eyes which looked like daggers that could cut through anything they touched. Then she uttered a single sentence laced with the most malice Greg had ever heard anyone say, “A red eye.” She suddenly glowed pink and began to squat. A single moment passed and then Pink jumped, creating a small shockwave that knocked Greg over as she rocketed towards the red eye and hit it! Cracks appeared at the point of impact. Soon after, a rapid succession of thunderous bangs filled the air as the cracks on the red eye slowly began to spread until it eventually shattered! The planet returned to its normal color as the red eye’s debris began to fall to Earth.

                But then Pink flew through the air and started destroying any debris she could before it hit the ground! It was like watching a pink comet fly through the sky, however some of the red eye’s remains still crashed into Beach City. Most of it landed on the beach, but some buildings were not so lucky such as the pizza shop that now had a big piece of metal protruding from the roof.

                Greg saw Pink float slowly back to the beach, the glowing fading away as she touched the ground. Greg was awestruck, he didn’t know she was so powerful. He slowly walked up to her and she looked at him, she still looked mad. “What was that?” Greg asked. She turned her head away, “I didn’t want you to see that.” “See what exactly?” he replied, “The glowing or the red eye thing?” “The glowing,” Pink answered, “I don’t want you to be scared of me.” Greg was surprised to hear this, “Scared of you? You just saved Beach City and everybody in it! Besides, it’s okay to make mistakes; if every porkchop were perfect we wouldn’t have hot dogs.” Pink turned her head back towards Greg, her expression softened and she smiled a little at him. “You’re always able to make me feel better somehow,” she said.

Greg chuckled, “Well, that’s just one of the effects of the Universe charm.” Pink smiled some more and gazed around as if she was thinking about what to do next. Then she knelt down and started to hug Greg. “Thank you,” she said.