"Hey, everyone! Steven here! Back with another TubeTube tutorial video!"

Steven backed away from the laptop, though not before checking to make sure the video "Live" icon was under the feed. Steven couldn't help but smile. This was the first live video he was doing for his channel. He was both nervous and excited, but luckily he had some help.

"So, prom season is coming up. Not that it really affects me," Steven rubbed the back of his neck. "But, I know it does a lot of you guys, so I'm going to try and help you out. This is my live Q&A and demonstration session."

Steven noticed a flicker on the screen. Someone had said something in the videos chat feed. Steven leaned into the screen to read it.

TomatoModest77: "youre not gonna try and demenstrate by yourself are you"

"Oh. No, of course not," Steven said, smiling into the laptop's camera. "I have some help today." He gestured off to his side, signaling said help. "This is my friend Connie. She's going to help me."

Connie slowly walked into frame, smiling bashfully as she waved at her laptop. "Hi, everyone," she said, before realizing that the microphone probably didn't pick her up. She repeated, louder, "Hi, everyone."

"Unlike me, Connie does go to school." He turned away from laptop and looked at her. "Have you been to a prom, Connie?"

"Um, no Steven. Proms are more a high school thing. I'm still in middle school."

"Oh."

Another message appeared on the feed.

Buddywellows: "problly should of fig this out beforehand huh"

Steven and Connie exchanged looks.

"Well, that's okay," she said. "Even though I've never been to a prom, I still know how to dance… Kind of, anyway."

"Yeah, we've danced before." Steven nodded. "We can do this."

Connie nodded back. "So… do we begin now?"

"Yeah, I'd say so. Come over here, Connie."

They both walked into the middle of the room, the laptop still pointed at them.

"Okay, what's important to dancing is your footwork," Connie said as she glanced down at her and Steven's feet. "As long as you know what your feet are doing, you're halfway there, just like with sword fighting."

The feed lit up:

Buddywellows: "sword fighting? Wat"

Omnicron: "yeah, its a running thing. Just go with it."

gcmaria: "It's not just a thing. I've seen her sword."

Omnicron: "Ah, it's not real. Who would make a sword that large and that pink?"

"Since our theme is prom, why don't we start with a slow dance?" Connie asked.

Steven's face flushed with color. "A… slow dance? You and me?"

Connie smiled at him, her cheeks beginning to fill with color as well. "Sure. I mean, unless you don't want to."

"N-no! I mean, that's why we're here right? To dance?" Steven asked nervously.

CodyZZ: "Aww… They like each other."

CompletelySimilar: "yeah, connie's been in a few videos already. they totally crushing."

"Anyway…" Connie said, trying her best to ignore the comments. "Slow dances are actually pretty easy to do. It's just about keeping rhythm to the music and with your partner."

"Really?" Steven asked. "On TV and stuff, it's always the slow dance that everyone is most nervous about."

"Well, the dance isn't hard. But while you're doing it, you're… um, very close to the other person."

Steven gulped. "O-oh…"

SpearthePerson: "hehe yea they tote crushing."

Steven grimaced. "That doesn't sound too hard. How do we get started, Connie?"

"Well, give me your hand." Connie took his hand and placed it around her waist, trying her best not to think about what the color of her face was right now and what the chat feed saying about it. She placed her hands on his shoulders and said, "Alright. Just keep your hands where they are and follow me in rhythm, okay?"

TomatoModest77: "geez looks like they about to combest"

Vertical_Centipede: "What?"

TomatoModest77: "they both so brite red they look like gonna on fire"

"Connie, you need to stop looking at the computer," Steven said. "You're about to step on my-"

Steven tripped, as he tried to move his foot, but found that Connie was right on top of it. He did his best to try and catch himself, but Connie was still distracted by the comments on the computer, causing her to trip over Steven's misplaced feet and begin to collapse into Steven's arms.

Steven did his best to catch her, but he was off balanced as well and soon the two were falling to the ground in each other's arms.

Both of them fell, but only one of them landed on the ground.

Stevonnie landed on their back. They hit the floor with a dull thud and a sharp exhale. They quickly sat up, shaking their head.

"This isn't quite the dance I had in mind…"

They blinked, before they realized that the live feed was still on. Their eyes shot to the laptop as they quickly scampered over to the coffee table. Their gaze was on the comment feed first.

SpearthePerson: "uh… what happened to stev and con?"

"Uhh…" Stevonnie hummed as they twiddled their fingers. "Well… um, my name is Stevonnie. And I'm… well, Steven and Connie's fusion."

Vertical_Centipede: "Fusion?"

CodyZZ: "like in dragon sphere?"

"Well, sort of," Stevonnie said as Connie's knowledge of the show began to fill their mind. "Didn't need any earrings, though."

CompletelySimilar: "man the effects are pretty good."

"Well the show was made in the 80's so…"

CompletelySimilar: "nah your special effects"

Stevonnie blinked at the screen. "My special effects? What do you mean?"

CompletelySimilar: "for your artificial reality game. the arg thing. Your even wearing copies of stev's and con's clothes."

Omnicron: "Oh yeah. I didn't notice that. Nice catch."

"W-wait. ARG? What-" they shook their head, again the knowledge in their mind shifting. "This isn't an ARG. Steven and Connie were just giving a dancing tutorial… What makes you think it's an ARG?"

SpearthePerson: "uh all the magical stuff"

CodyZZ: "and the monsters"

Vertical_Centipede: "And the multicolored women."

"W-well, yeah. But all that stuff is real. It's my life. Or, it's Steven's life. And Connie's when she's around."

TomatoModest77: "right"

Stevonnie furrowed their brow. "No, it is. And I can prove it! Here…"

They closed their eyes, focused, and felt themselves split back into Steven and Connie.

"See?" Connie asked as she opened her eyes. "We actually fused."

SpearthePerson: "hmm… pretty sure i saw you two and the bigger person switch places during the light"

gcmaria: "yeah i totally did."

Steven frowned. "No… You didn't. We actually can fuse. It's because of my gem." Steven lifted his shirt, revealing his bright, pink gem to the laptop's camera.

Buddywellows: "Is that a piercing"

Steven was beginning to grow frustrated. "No, it's not a piercing! It's my Mom's!"

His declaration faded from the beach house as even the comment feed grew silent. Until finally it was broken with the 'ding' of a new comment.

CompletelySimilar: "hey, uh… I'm sorry about breaking character or whatever"

"Character? What character?" Connie asked

CompletelySimilar: "the storyline you guys are crafting. I shouldn't have said anything about the special effects."

Steven and Connie exchanged silent, exasperated looks.

TomatoModest77: "usually their episodes are better"

SpearthePerson: "well why don't you guys take a mulligan on this one?"

"A mulligan?" Steven asked.

SpearthePerson: "yeah. wrap this video and all try this again next time."

CompletelySimilar: "yeah and I'll keep my mouth shut."

CodyZZ: "that might be a good idea"

Connie was about to say something, but Steven laid a hand on her knee, gave her a sideways look.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea, guys." He put on the best smile he could and waved at the laptop. "I'll see you guys in the next video."

gcmaria: "see ya!"

CompletelySimilar: "next video then! and like I said, I'll keep my mouth shut XD"

CodyZZ: "Yeah, I like how the storyline is shaping up"

Vertical_Centipede: "It is good."

Connie reached over and pressed a few keys on the laptop's keyboard, ending the live feed.

They both sat there in silence for a few moments, before Steven asked, "When did life become an ARG, Connie?"

Connie paused a second, before answering simply, "The day I met you, Steven."