👑 || Queen of Hearts

l o v i n g

"Folks, I'm goin' down to St. James Infirmary..."

"For like, the fifth time," Peridot whispered to Amethyst.

"Hey, I can't help it if the song is amazing!" giggled Spinel as she playfully punched the green Gem.

The three of them were in Steven's bedroom occupying themselves with some old DVD's. Steven had retrieved the artifacts for Spinel, as he'd hoped they'd cheer her up, and Peridot and Amethyst had agreed to accompany her in a day-long marathon. In that time, they had learned something fascinating about Spinel: she loved cartoons.

At present, they were re-watching Fleischer Studios' surreal adaptation of "Snow White", and despite Betty Boop's role as the titular protagonist, all had unanimously agreed that the real star of the show was the rotoscoped Cab Calloway. Spinel had practically memorized the song, "St. James Infirmary Blues", and was now singing along with the legend.

"Let her go, let her go, oh bless her, wherever she may be. She may search this wide world over, but she'll never find another sweet Gem like me."

With a dramatic flair, Spinel fell back into Peridot's and Amethyst's laps, and the two of them snickered as she rolled off the side of the bed. In a fashion not unlike a rubberhose cartoon, she sprung up from the floor and launched into a nearly identical imitation of the dancing ghost on-screen.

"I think you've taken your obsession just a tad too far," smirked Peridot.

Amethyst shrugged. "Let her have her fun, P; no one judged you when you started acting like Zim."

Peridot rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I suppose you could say Invader Zim inspired me, but I'd argue that my liking of the show has more so to do with the fact that I can already empathize with the protagonist. Even then, it's irrefutable that I was more like that clod in the past than I am now!"

Amethyst sighed. "Whatever, nerd."

The cartoon concluded with the ceremonious defeat of the Queen, and Spinel applauded the spectacle until the words "The End" faded from the screen. Her enthusiasm incited the others to elicit the same reaction, and while Amethyst fist-pumped the air, Peridot attempted an airborne somersault off the bed. This resulted in her landing on her face as opposed to her feet, but she stood up nonetheless, beaming and high-fiving Spinel before collapsing again in a fit of laughter.

Spinel's cheeks ached from smiling, and in that moment, she couldn't feel any happier; she'd forgotten how stupidly fun friendship could be...

"So, Spinel, how's it feel to be an honorary Shorty?" asked Amethyst.

Spinel threw her hands in the air as she cried, "FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!!"

Steven rushed up the stairs and flipped through the air, drifting leisurely back down to the floor; Spinel caught him in a tight embrace.

Amethyst nudged Peridot with her elbow. "Hey, P, looks like you've got some competition!"

Peridot scoffed. "No fair; Steven can make anything look easy!"

Steven chuckled as Spinel broke away. Her pink hue was brighter, her demeanor livelier, than it had been in thousands of years.

"I take it you like the cartoons?" he asked.

Spinel nodded exuberantly. "That's right! I've watched the stories over and over again!" She gestured to Peridot and Amethyst as she added, "Gee, it's swell to finally make some other friends!"

Steven smiled; he knew introducing Spinel to the Shorty Squad had been a wise move, and seeing her this happy among real friends was refreshing to say the least. Spinel had yet to inform him, or any of the others for that matter, of how she had spent the entirety of the day prior with Pink Pearl, and she wasn't quite sure if she was ready to. For the time being, it was best to keep her new friend a secret, lest she create a new issue for Steven: one regarding yet another of his mom's innumerable mistakes.