Little by little [Sadie x Lars][Steven Universe]

Cats

Sadie

"Hey guys!" Steven said happily, unaware of the tension in the room. I pushed down my anger and put a smile on my face. It was a genuine smile actually- Steven had a way of making almost anyone happy. Except Lars apparently, because he still looked frustrated.

"Hey Steven. How are you?" I asked him.

"Good, good." Steven nodded his head and crossed his arms. "Just been doin' some gem stuff." He added proudly.

"Important gem business, huh? Well I guess I shouldn't stall you from your work." I chuckled. "What'll it be, Steve?" I sort of rhymed a little, making Steven smile.

"Uhh, a chocolate donut with tons of sprinkles! It's gotta be piled with 'em!"

"Gotcha, one mound of sprinkles on a donut coming up." I grabbed a chocolate donut with the most sprinkles I could find and placed it in a paper bag. "That'll be a dollar 'o five, Steven." I said and set the bag on the counter.

Steven dug in his pockets. "Ok, here's a nickel..." He set it on the counter. "And a buck!" He held up his other hand, which he'd been hiding behind his back. Instead of his index finger, a little white cat head replaced it. In its fangs it held a dollar, and dropped it on the counter with a meow.

"Whoaaa." Lars and I gasped at the weird thing.

"Aw, Steven, its so cute!" I grinned at the little cat and raised my finger to pet it on the head lightly. It's fur was extremely soft, since all its little hairs were extra small but just as silky. The little cat purred as I pet it, its ears back and eyes closed. Weird. "Uh... Are you making it purr?" I asked.

"It kinda does what it wants." Steven shrugged.

Lars rolled his eyes. "Really?" He scoffed and put his finger close to it. Apparently the cat didn't like his attitude, so it bit down on his finger, causing Lars to yelp in surprise and withdraw his hand.

"See what I mean?" Steven said apologetically. "Bad cat finger!"

"Aw, I'm sure it just wants to play." I felt a little sorry for the tiny cat. It was simultaneously cute and creepy.

"Your right! And he doesn't have any friends..." Steven looked at the cat with concern.

"Oh my gosh!" Lars exclaimed with sarcasm. "It's just like you, Steven." He was obviously sour from our argument, but that didn't mean he should take it out on Steven. I secretly glared at him. Luckily Steven didn't notice his sour comment.

Steven stretched a moment, closing his eyes in great concentration before holding out his hand with the cat on it. Immediately the rest of his fingers transformed into cats as well, each with a unique pattern. "Haha!" Steven laughed, excited about his newfound ability. Lars and I stared in awe. He zoomed out the door with his bag, cats meowing with every step. When the glass door closed behind him, Lars crossed his arms and looked away from me.

"Look, um, I'm sorry if I invaded your privacy or something by asking that... Especially since you let me nap, and opened the shop. It was rude to pry." I apologized sincerely. He'd been nice to me without a second thought, and my first response was to pry into his secrets and question our friendship. I felt terrible.

Lars' expression softened. He turned towards me and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's... It's fine. Really. I shouldn't have been so rude about it." Lars, apologizing? Like, really apologizing? Not just shrugging it away?

"So, we're cool now right?"

"Yea, we're cool." He nodded.

I sniffed the air. Fries? "Why do you smell like french fries?" I asked.

"It's a long story, and a weird one at that." Lars shuddered at the memory.

"Too weird to retell?"

"Well uh, maybe if I told it... I'd feel better about it." He mumbled. He'd taken my advice from earlier- so he was listening! I felt better that he was being more open, but knew not to push it too far.

"Spill the beans, buddy." I poked his arm jokingly and hoisted myself onto the counter to sit. Lars followed my example and sat next to me on the countertop.

"Alright... Where to begin... Oh yea, I remember. I was walking past Beach Citywalk Fries..."