#there is a GIANT painting of him in my local coffeeshop for some reason though. like huge
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#there is a GIANT painting of him in my local coffeeshop for some reason though. like huge#callie speaks#asks#i just think its funny to occaisionally trap him in atlanta#but its gonna be REALLY funny to see europeans encounter american transportation infastructure when the world cup is at METLIFE#italians migrating to their ancestral homeland of new jersey.......
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Scholars
A connverse fluff/slow-burn fic.
Steven's in his second year of college, at Empire City University, and in the local coffee shop, comes across a girl by the name of Connie.
Also on Fanfiction.net
Overall Rated: T (Mild language, nsfw jokes/mention, nudity)
Note: There’s a lot of small details about this “coffeeshop au”. First note is Steven is still a gem in this! Although he attended regular schooling (moderated by the Crystal Gems) so he had a frame of reference, and aged “normally” alongside his classmates as he went through school. In addition to school, the Gems taught him everything they knew. Pearl taught him how to use his mother’s sword, her shield, all that. His first fusion was with Amethyst, not Connie (he’s in college in this fic, and it’s their first-time meeting). The reason I used coffeeshop au in quotations is it kinda strays out of the coffee shop as time goes on. In this fic, Steven is in his sophomore year of college at age 20 (he took a break year). Meanwhile Connie is a sophomore in College at age 19.
2nd Note: Huge thank you to @Abel-Quartz for beta reading and helping make this chapter into what it is!
Steven rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his free hand as he lumbered towards the doorway to the coffee shop near his dorm room. Ducking slightly to avoid the top of the doorway, he combed his hair back with his left hand to keep the curly mane out of his eyes.
His hands fished in his pockets, reaching for a hair tie. All he found was a couple dollar bills, some coins, a packet of gum, and the rubbery texture of an eraser. Steven bit his lip to keep from cursing, and attempted to control the kinky mess with both hands, enjoying a brief moment of clarity before the jungle obscured his reddened eyes once again.
Why did I agree to go on the “short” gem mission yesterday? I barely got 2 hours of sleep, he thought to himself, ordering his usual—large mocha, no whip. He moved to the nearest table and sat down, legs bent out slightly to avoid tilting the table with his knees.
With a yawn and a stretch, he leaned back in his seat and pulled out his phone, checking for any assignments that might have escaped his watchful eye. There were the usual sounds of the coffee machines, buzzes, whirrs, and occasional screeches from the old timey machinery. The place seemed to have one foot in the past, and one in the future. There were old paintings on one wall, and T.V. screens showing the news on the next. Faded green paint filled the walls, and wooden floor that creaked with the slightest movement. Eggshell white crown molding worked its way around the room, curving along the walls and riding the corner between the ceiling and the wall. Next to the cash register, there was a bright silvery frame that held glass in place, displaying every food that the coffee shop had to offer. Muffins, cookies, cakes, toasts, waters, juices, coffee beans, it was a wonder that the smells in the container didn’t seep through the glass. While the front of the store was entirely of glass, it was early, and in the last breaths of summer; dim sunlight poured into the room, bathing the milky white tables in golden color. The cursive letter art reading “Empire Espresso Coffee,” the brown letters blocking sunlight from passing behind them. The barista leaned back into the counter for a moment, giving an exasperated sigh.
As Steven’s arms laid down on the table, phone in hand, he glanced above the little screen to see a girl about his age. She rummaged through her bag worriedly, squinting as she pulled a glasses case out, breathing a sigh of relief.
She wore slightly torn skinny jeans that revealed sepia skin underneath. A baggy hoodie several sizes too large hid her arms almost to the fingertips, and a beanie concealed much of her dark brown hair and held it out of her eyes. The girl prodded her glasses into place with a fingertip, nudging the frames up and down, side to side until the light refracted on the lenses, hiding her eyes from the world.
“Large mocha for Steven?” the barista called.
He hadn’t realized he was staring, and chastised himself–how many times had Pearl told him staring was rude?
Steven looked away from the girl to the barista holding the large cup. He got up and strode over quickly, grabbing the cup and raising to his lips to take a sip. The barista deadpanned at Steven’s gratification, and simply turned away and brushed coffee grounds off of his charcoal apron. Steven walked back to his seat and plopped himself down, the chair creaking under his weight as he adjusted.
Quickly, he raised his phone to the table once again, and began hurriedly texting friends for advice, but to no response. After waiting for what seemed like hours, the barista called the next name.
“Tall latte for…Cone-knee?” the barista called, staring at the scrawled writing on the cup.
The girl rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh, walking up to get her latte. She received her coffee in a hurry, giving a shy nod and a quiet thank you, then sat down at the table next to Steven, and pulled a laptop out of her bag and began to type.
Steven sat frozen, unsure of what to say–or whether he should even talk at all. Thoughts raced through his head, his heart pounding a mile a minute. He wasn’t even entirely sure if this is what romance felt like–if it was, what did he do? Act on impulse? Out of the question! Where would he even start? Was he too big? Did that make him look scary? He slumped in his seat, but then what if that made him seem shallow? Was he even sure about what he thought of her? What’d she think of him? How would he–
“Uh...hello? Your foot is on my shoe…”
He felt something shimmy out from under his sandal.
“Oh! I–so sorry, um...hi–I’m Steven. Uhh, the barista uh–really butchered your name, didn’t he. Cone-knee, am I right?” He reached out his hand and forced a laugh.
That was…horrible. To his surprise, she gave a shy smile, reaching out her hand, mostly hidden by the sleeve of her mint-green hoodie, and gave his hand a tentative shake.
“It’s pronounced Connie, but with how many people pronounce it wrong, I might as well change it..” she responded quietly, tilting her head and giving a polite smile. Steven grinned involuntarily, shocked at how warm his face felt at the simple gesture of kindness. Her shoulders hunched, as if she was trying to make herself smaller. She turned her face away towards her laptop and long black hair fell away from her ear. Steven noticed several piercings along the her ear; two studs of black-gray metal, and a thin rod of steel going in a diagonal line along the outside of her ear.
Steven felt himself blush as he laughed at her joke, nerves making his hair stand on end. Incomplete thoughts bubbled under the barrier of his lips as he muddled through what he could say, beginnings without endings, jokes without punchlines, answers without questions. In a rush, words spilled out of his mouth without purpose.
“So…what have you–er, what’re you studying here?” Steven asked, leaning his elbow on the table. He fidgeted with a lock of hair between his thumb and index finger.
“Oh, I’m here for la—“
The table underneath Steven’s elbow tilted under his weight, and he slipped out of his chair, crashing to the ground on his side, the table falling right beside him. His coffee cascaded down to the ground, spilling all over him, and the ground. People around the shop quickly turned towards him, staring at the giant of a man twisting on the ground as he sat up, staring at the coffee stain all over the front of his shirt.
“Steven! Are you okay?” Connie asked worriedly.
“Y-yeah—it’s more comfortable down here, anyways,” Steven laughed, hastily getting up, then stumbling for a moment from the coffee all over the ground.
“I’ll help you out a bit, are you alright with that?” Connie asked as she raised from her seat slowly, and took half a step around the table.
“Yes, th-thank you.”
Both the students knelt on the ground, wiping up the spilt coffee.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch what you said you were studying, because of the…table malfunction.” Steven said nervously, spreading napkins all over the bamboo flooring.
“Law, you?” Connie responded, giving a slight grin at Steven’s terminology for the accident.
Steven was staring at the floor as he cleaned, hands dropping napkins over where the mocha had spread along the ground, then bundling them in a cautious grip to bring them to the trash. Instinctively, his arm moved to push hair out of his eyes, but he stopped when he remembered the sticky bittersweet drink covering his hand and sleeve; he resorted to blowing his hair out of his eyes, then tilted his face up to look at Connie to answer the question.
“Astronomy, you?”
Steven returned to cleaning the coffee immediately, continuing to spread around the napkins. There was a brief moment of silence between the students–neither of the students realized the error at first. Steven’s movements came to a halt, and blush washed over his face.
“N-never mind, I already asked that.”
Connie gave a slight giggle. “It’s okay, I do stuff like that too.”
She adjusted her glasses slightly, the light refracting and highlighting the flecks of hazelnut-gold color amidst her dark brown eyes. Steven couldn’t help but stare or a moment, it was like stargazing to him.
“That kinda surprises me, though–most people are here for the law program.” She said.
“I’ve always had more interest in what’s up there than down here in a book, honestly. I’ve...always loved stargazing. P-probably something to do with my last name..” He exclaimed with a point towards the ceiling, then toward the ground beneath him.
“And what would that be..?”
“Universe, I know, I know–it sounds fake, but it’s my actual last name, I swear.”
Steven raised his hands jokingly, although he couldn’t help but smirk as he realized there were things much harder to believe about him than a weird last name. For just a moment, before he busied his hands cleaning the floor again, Steven’s eyes lingered on Connie.
“Why does that name sound familiar…?” Connie mumbled, gazing off towards the tiles by her hand.
“Last year, I won nationals wrestling for the school–you might’ve read it in the campus newspaper, or the yearbook or something.”
“Did you get a scholarship for it?”
“Yeah...it’s a bit hectic juggling studying with the practice schedule, though.”
They both gathered the coffee-scented napkins in their hands, cringing at the stickiness, and rose to walk them to the garbage.
“I bet it would be...I’m on a scholarship, too–well, a partial one. And for nothing nearly as impressive.”
Steven reached for a few more napkins, and raised his shirt a bit to wipe it off, revealing the colorful gem where his naval would be, and the treasure trail going along his stomach underneath.
“What for?” he asked, pulling his shirt taut with one hand, then scrubbing with a napkin, to no avail. He tossed the napkin into the trash as he gave up on cleaning the coffee stain on his shirt.
“Academics…”
Connie trailed off as she noticed the pink glint of Steven’s gem, but before she could ask, his shirt was lowered over it again. She assumed she had been seeing things.
“You gotta teach me some study habits, I’m barely keeping my grades up as is.”
Steven and Connie shared a light laugh, and Connie turned partially away, looking at the napkin container.
“Ah...I’m pretty sure you got better things to do.”
“Not much, actually.”
Connie’s eyes widened in surprise a little bit, and she looked up at Steven. Their eyes met as they looked up from the napkin container, hands slowing to a halt as both students shifted to mimic the other, falling into a sort of rhythm.
“W-we should...probably finish cleaning the coffee…” Connie broke the pattern with a mutter and a look away.
Her voice was barely audible over the sounds of machinery, making caffeinated concoctions of every kind. They both walked back to continue cleaning. Neither noticed the other’s blushing.
Both their heads raised as phone notifications danced in their ears. The simple songs jingled simultaneously, and both of the students hurriedly cleaned the last of the spilt coffee.
“I gotta go to class,” they said in unison.
Both students paused for a moment after, realizing what had just happened. Steven stood, a bit shocked with himself. He didn’t expect things to go so horribly–yet work out so perfectly. He pondered if she was feeling the same way–or if not, something similar, at the least. They both gave an awkward smile, and walked quickly to the door.
“After you?” Steven said, holding the door for Connie.
“Uhh...yeah, thanks.”
Steven tilted his head, admiring the girl in front of him for a breath. He raised a hand to avoid looking aimless in looking, but only achieved an awkward half-wave.
“It was nice meeting you.” Steven said.
“Y-you too!” Connie said a little too abruptly, and waved back.
Steven stood still for a moment, gazing as the girl shouldered her bag, textbooks rubbing against each other as the sack moved around. She brushed her hair out of her face, tucking it neatly into her beanie, then pulled the beanie down on her head slightly.
She seemed almost calm, comfortable. At ease...did he do it right? Does she like him back? As a friend, or as something else? Or was all this wrong and she was just tolerating him..
Connie turned away, walking with her bag pulled close over her shoulder, arms tucked close to take up as little space as possible. She walked quickly, with purpose–to get somewhere, without being seen. But Steven noticed what he thought was a skip in her step. He gave a wide grin and spun on his heel.
He silently thanked his lucky stars that the coffee spilled–if he drank the coffee and had that encounter, he’d be bouncing off the walls for days. Steven blew a couple stray locks of hair out of his eyes, and walked towards his class.
Steven laid in his bed, unable to fall asleep. Situations ran rampant in his mind–what’d he say the next day? Would he even see her again? How did he forget to get a clean shirt? Thoughts buzzed in his head. He hadn’t even payed attention in class–not that he had wanted to. His head was high in the clouds–hell, he had to stop himself from floating down the stairs to his dorm. A flash and a clang sounded as the young man summoned his shield, tossing it up above him and catching it while he laid.
He dissipated his shield, and with his hands reached up over his face, he couldn’t help but squeal.
Steven’s roommate, Nicki–and best friend since his freshman year of highschool, turned towards him. Confusion played on her face for a moment, and he noticed her lips shift to the side as she chewed the inside of her cheek. Brow furrowed in thought, she laid on her side, staring at the cloth of a glove on her hand. Her face brightened and she sat up as realization struck like a match.
“So who is it?”
“Her name’s Connie, she’s...amazing. I barely talked to her, but she...she’s kind, and smart, and beautiful, and–” Steven stopped himself, and pushed his face into a pillow, giving another loud squeal.
Nicki gave an incredulous look. He was just as surprised as she was. Him? Talking to a crush? The only person he could comfortably talk to without a bit of nerves was Nicki. She was a sibling to him.
“And how’d talking with a big ball’a nerves like you go?” she asked with a sly grin.
“I–I uh..tipped a table leaning into it. My coffee spilled everywhere–” Steven pointed towards the brown stain “–and we talked as she helped me clean it up.”
“I bet your gem glowed.”
“It did not–at least I...don’t think it did.”
Steven slipped his shirt off over his head, inspecting the medium-sized rose quartz stone inside his body. The mechanics of however the gemstone worked still confused him to this day, and while he’d learned to control it with the Crystal Gems, but there were still times where his gem had a mind of its own.
“You think I’d have a shot with her?” Nicki asked jokingly.
Steven gave a sarcastic look, and laughed.
“You would never.”
“Don’t test me.”
Steven gave a low laugh, and tilted his head. Steadily his giddy demeanor faded, and he laid back, eyelids heavy and hands under his head, hidden by the long locks of curly hair. As the adrenaline of the day faded, soreness from wrestling practice and the gem mission leapt to the forefront. He shifted in his bed with a low groan.
“In all seriousness, though–you talk about having a shot with her...but I’m not even sure I have a shot with her.”
“Steven–do you have any idea how many girls had crushes on you in highschool?”
“Still.”
Both the students laid in silence for some moments, thoughts buzzing through their heads. Before Nicki could think of anything else to say, quiet snoring came from Steven’s bed. She sighed, a bit annoyed–she had been hoping to get more details out of him.
The room fell into a rhythm, Nicki’s breaths slowing as she fell asleep as well. Creaks were heard overhead as students in other dorms walked around the building, and a couple unnerving thuds from neighboring rooms. Though through it all, students continued to sleep–not quite peacefully, too much stress from school for that. But sleeping nonetheless. Nicki’s framed photos with friends, family, and pets. Steven had loved playing with her dog Molly, and the “playdates” he arranged between her and Lion made the two animals become fast friends. Her bedsheets were a mess, half the blanket hanging off of the mattress as Nicki slept. Her arms were wrapped around a pillow, her face buried in the softness.
On the other side of the room, there were photos of Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and his Dad. Along with Rose’s Sword hanging on the wall, disguised as part of an eccentric samurai sword set. The only person who knew it wasn’t plastic was Nicki. His left leg hung off the foot of his bed, his foot in the air, right bent slightly, foot resting up against the calf of his left leg. His right hand laid on his chest, fingers covering the body hair, sticky from the mocha-covered shirt. His left still laid beside his head, hidden in the swirling mess of hair.
#steven universe#connverse#connverse fic#my son#connie maheswaran#college au#coffee shop au#steb writing#writers on tumblr
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