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The sky was blue, the air was warm and it was an overall peaceful day. The shuffling of feet on pavement did not go unnoticed. Neither did the occasional whistle or song of a bird.
Amethyst pouted, walking out the temple, off the beach, and onto the busy sidewalk.
"Man, getting a break is hard. I don't see why we always have to clean up other people's messes." The purple haired ghoul complained. She yawned as she put both hands behind her head, lazily looking at the people who walked by.
Steven smiled, gasping and grinning at every new thing. It wasn't often that the gems take him outside to explore and see the town.
His eyes sparkled behind his sunglasses and his nose seemed to twitch when they passed a particular building. He frowned at first, but a face full of excitement took over.
He tugged on his friend's shirt. Lifting up his glasses, he spoke."Amethyst, can we visit that café? You know, that smelly one. It kinda reminds me of that g-"
A hand clapped over his mouth. "Sh! Steven. The others will kill me if someone-" Amethyst looked around pedestrians neither stopped nor seemed suspicious. She sighed and pulled his glasses on properly. "Be more careful, Steven."
She continued walking, and so did he. Steven made sure to sneak a couple of glances back to the café. He even seen a brown haired girl wave bye ecstatically to whoever was inside.
He blinked twice. Pursing his lips, he asked. "Hey Amethyst, uh- I already asked the others this and... and they wouldn't tell me but-"
Amethyst froze at what came next.
"Where does food come from, I mean... our food. I know it's different so don't lie to me." He frowned playfully, certain he was going to get an answer.
With a shiver, Amethyst walked again. "I-" why? She was a binge eater. How the hell was she supposed to explain this without him freaking out? "Why? You getting hungry, little man?"
"Un. It's been a while, over a month at least, I think you guys forgot to feed me last week." He smiled, rubbing his tummy and laughing.
Could he seriously not smell it? He must be starving. Amethyst thought. Well, he's hungry and someone's gotta show him sometime.
She smiled excitedly and swung him up on her shoulders. "Then I'll show you."
The half ghoul giggled as he was hauled away.
Steven held tight, watching their surroundings with wide, worried eyes. "W-where are we?"
Broken windows, smashed glass, suspicious (and scary) people, the scent of alcohol and distressed screaming flooded Steven's senses.
"Welcome to what I call the Kindergarten. Born and raised here. We called it that due to how many little stinkers ran around here with no homes. Looks like they feast- fixed the problem though. Can't call it that now." She laughed, a bit nervously. Was this a good idea?
"Well, okay, but I don't think Pearl or Garnet would approve." He tightened his grip on Amethyst.
Seething, Amethyst smiled. "It's fine. They'd just rain on our parade if they were here."
Steven looked unsure. "... if you say so."
There was a beat and an almost familiar scent wafted through Steven's nose... except it smelt richer.
"Hey, quit drooling on me." Came a complaint.
Steven felt a pulse."S-sorry Amethyst. What is that?"
"Hahah. Smell that fresh meat, Steven?" Amethyst smiled. His ignorance was adorable!
"Un." Steven licked his lips. He took a few more sniffs. "It smells so good, Amethyst."
She grinned, stopping at a bridge railing. The only thing lighting the world was the moon. "Just wait until you taste it."
She put Steven down and he sniffed the air. He looked down the bridge. "It's coming from down there."
"Okay. Just don't freak." Amethyst grabbed him and jumped down.
She smiled. "It's still fresh too." Her stomach gurgled. "You first." She put Steven down.
A few corpses lay ahead. One still warm, only an hour ago it was still alive. The body was still in tact.
He didn't move, drooling and looking at the corpse ahead of him.
She smiled, taking off his glasses and looking at his ghoul eye. "Go on, man. Eat. I know you want to."
He still didn't move, stomach rumbling and mouth watering.
His purple haired friend laughed nervously. "Did I break you or something?" crap. She walked to the body and stepped right beside it. She pulled out a few organs. "Steven look. I'm going to eat your food~"
Steven broke out of his gaze and ran aggressively towards Amethyst. Growling, he shoved her away. "Mine."
He ate violently. Slurping, clawing, licking, biting at the body. He barely seemed to chew. It tasted like the food the gems gave him, but richer. Fresher.
"Yeah! Eat it up!" Amethyst cheered.
"Amethyst." She stopped cheering and she froze. Garnet.
"Steven!" and Pearl.
Two hands grabbed on his sides. He barely felt them. All he wanted at that moment was to taste flesh and blood forever. It was only when the hands tried to pull him away from his meal he turned back and bit hard.
A scream. Steven made a face and spit whatever he tried eating out. He was dropped and seemed to immediately snap out of it. He started scraping his tongue. "Yuck. Gross. What was that? It tasted so weird."
Hands wrapped around him again. Bigger hands, and they were more cautious. He closed his eyes tiredly. He could hear Amethyst and Pearl arguing. Wait. Pearl?
He cracked open an eye and seen the mentioned gem standing not too far ahead of him.
"Hi Pearl! When'd you get here?" He looked up at whoever was carrying him. "Hi Garnet."
"Hi. Welcome back, Steven."
He looked back to the arguing gems. Pearl was bleeding, but they hadn't started fighting yet.
"Garnet? What happened to pearl while Amethyst and I were out? It looks like something bit... her. Hm." He put a hand to his chin before gasping. "Garnet. Was that me?"
"Yeah."
Steven gasped again. "Oh no! But- how... is that... I bit her."
He wriggled out of Garnet's hold and ran towards Pearl, wrapping himself around her leg. "Pearl! I'm sorry."
His hair got ruffled and their argument was lost. Steven was picked up and they returned home. The boy spent the rest of the night in his room.
The next morning the gems had to explain things. "It was very wrong of Amethyst to show you that, Steven." Pearl began.
"Oh? Why? Because I'm a nasty binge eater and I don't have self control? Is because I took him to that nasty place where nasty ghouls are raised? Oh, wait. It's probably because you guys think it's a good idea to keep this a secret. What happens when he discovers it himself? What would we tell him then?" Amethyst argued back.
"He wasn't ready!" Pearl shouted.
"If we decided when he was, he never would be." Garnet sighed. "Steven. You know you are half ghoul and- what we eat makes us sound like terrible people. We didn't want to tell you because we wanted you to live happy. Happier than you could be. You may be part ghoul but you're also human. You have the chance to live as both and we don't want to ruin that chance."
Both hands rested on his shoulder as he looked away. "Is that really what ghouls eat?"
Pearl interrupted. "Of course. Don't worry though. We don't hunt anymore but since we need human flesh to survive, we just find bridges or tall places prey like to kill themselves with and gather the remains. Granted, it's not as good bu-"
"So... they were already dead?" Steven rubbed his arm.
"Yeah. So it doesn't matter. You can eat what you want, dude." Amethyst grinned. "Was it good? Probably got your belly all filled up, huh."
Steven's face dusted red. "I guess..."
"Don't worry too much." Garnet pat his head before getting up.
The gems continued on their business and Steven looked down. It tasted so good. He sighed through his nose and looked out the window. His eyes widened. A person. He felt his mouth water slightly. Did different people have different tastes? His eyes widened more. uh oh.
"Amethyst?" He called. He needed more answers.