A short looped musical jingle rang as Steven booted up Skype. After a few seconds, the screen went black and then flickered to the image of Steven's three old friends gazing back at him.
"Hey, guys," Steven greeted.
"Steven!" exclaimed Pearl, obviously very excited to see him, and pushing herself in front of the other two. "How have you been!?"
It had been about a month since Steven Universe had moved out to the open road. It had been hard saying goodbye to his friends and family, but he had promised to keep in touch. His days of living in the Temple with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl may be over, but that didn't mean they were no longer family.
"Pearl, we wanna see him too," Amethyst complained, pulling Pearl away from the screen so that the others were visible again. "How have you been, Steven?"
"It's been great," Steven replied, very excited to talk to his friends again. "The world's so big; I never realized how much so. I went to this one diner that had cats sit with you while you ate! How crazy is that?"
"Sounds like you're having a great time out there," Amethyst smiled.
"How about you guys? What's been going on back at home?" Steven asked.
"Well, Amethyst has been trying to sleep in your bed," Pearl answered with a quick glance at Amethyst. "But I've made sure it's staying preserved, aside from whatever Greg does to it, as it was your wish for it to be his."
"Steven, do you care if I sleep in your bed?" Amethyst sighed with a grin.
"No, not really," Steven said with a smile.
"I told you he wouldn't care," Amethyst remarked to Pearl, who looked distraught.
"My Steven's room will be preserved," she grumbled. "Anyway, everything's been fine, Greg is loving your room despite Amethyst trying to steal the bed. There was a little incident with a corrupted gem at Little Homeschool, but we got her all fixed up."
"That's great," Steven said.
"Well, Steven, we should be going," Amethyst mentioned sadly. "This isn't really a good time to talk. We have some summer school classes to get to soon."
"Oh, right, my bad," Steven apologized. "Can I maybe call you later?"
"Of course, anytime!" Pearl cheered. "Except right now, obviously."
"Steven," Garnet spoke up. "We'll be seeing you soon. Don't open the package in your car. We love you."
"Um, okay, bye," Steven said with a raised eyebrow. He hung up the call. What did Garnet mean by that last sentence?
Steven picked up his room key and went downstairs. It was nice not having to sleep in the car at night, and being able to rent a hotel. His dad was a millionaire after all. Steven turned in the keys and went out for the day. He hopped in his car, excited to see where the day would take him this time. That's when he noticed a large brown package sitting in the seat next to him.
