Author's Notes: Here it is! My first Steven Universe fic! I'm going to try to keep it as close to canon as I can but I'll probably have to take some liberties here and there. This story starts shortly before the events in 'Cry For Help'.

Obviously, I don't own Steven Universe nor did I create the games that Kinzie plays on her Tubetube channel.

Happy reading!

Steven smiled to himself as he walked toward Beach Citywalk Fries. He had spent the day with the Gems attempting to track down Peridot but none of their leads had panned out. He could tell the others were getting frustrated so he did his best to keep their spirits up, but he couldn't deny that between having Peridot on the loose and constantly worrying about what was going to become of Lapis and Jasper, he was starting to feel a little worn down himself.

'Nothing some Fry Bits can't take care of,' he thought as he came closer to the shop in question.

Upon reaching the window, however, he was surprised to see a girl with long, straight black hair leaning against the wall of the shop's interior, talking to Peedee. The girl glanced up and, upon noticing Steven at the window, gently nudged Peedee and nodded in Steven's direction.

"Oh, sorry about that, Steven," Peedee apologized as he set about gathering up the Fry Bits.

"Don't about it, Peedee," Steven replied good-naturedly as the bits were handed to him. "I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation with..." He trailed off, glancing at the girl.

"Kinzie," the girl replied, a small smile on her face as she pushed herself off the wall. It was at this point that Steven noticed the red and blue streaks in Kinzie's hair. "I'm Ronaldo and Peedee's cousin." She glanced back at Peedee. "I think it's about time for me to head home, anyway. I promised Grandma I'd call her tonight."

"Okay, well, be careful going home, Kinzie." Peedee replied, hugging his cousin as she made her way out the back door of the shop. "Come by tomorrow, okay? Dad and Ronaldo will be here and I know they'd want to see you, too."

"You got it," Kinzie agreed. She glanced back to Steven and gave him another small smile. "It was nice meeting you, Steven. It's about time Peedee made a friend his own age."

"Hey!" Peedee yelled indignantly as Kinzie ruffled his hair and disappeared out the door.

"Bye, Kinzie! It was nice meeting you too!" Steven yelled as the door was closing. He turned his gaze back to Peedee as the boy set about closing up the shop. "I didn't know you had family in town, Peedee."

Peedee quirked an eyebrow. "'In town'? Kinzie's not visiting, Steven. She lives in Beach City."

Steven gasped. "Really? That's awesome!"

"Yeah, she rents a small house not too far from the boardwalk," Peedee said.

Steven thought for a moment. "But... I can't remember seeing her around town..."

"Sounds about right," Peedee replied. "She tends to keep to herself most of the time. Besides me, Dad, and Ronaldo, I'm not really sure who else she interacts with on a regular basis."

"But hanging out with people is so much fun!" Steven exclaimed. "How could she not enjoy it?"

Peedee sighed. "Once upon a time, she did. Dad and Ronaldo say she was really social and outgoing before her mom passed away. After that, she just kind of...shut herself away and hasn't been herself since. I was little when it happened so I can't really remember a time she wasn't the way she is now, but I do know that she doesn't laugh nearly as much anymore."

"That's awful. She seems so nice," Steven remarked, a frown marring his features for a moment before he brightened up again. "Where does she work? I bet I can make her laugh tomorrow!"

"She works from home, for the most part," Peedee replied. "She makes most of her money recording Let's Plays and posting them on Tubetube. She also DJs part-time, which is why she dyes her hair with those streaks."

"Wait," Steven said, holding his hand up. "She makes money by playing video games?" His face lit up in a big smile when Peedee nodded. "Best job ever!"

Peedee chuckled. "She really seems to enjoy it. We're happy she's found a way to make a living doing something she loves. With all she's been through, I think she deserves a break."

"'All she's been through'?" Steven asked.

Peedee shook his head. "Not my story to tell, man. That's something Kinzie will have to fill you in on. If you want, you can swing by here tomorrow. She said she'd be back, so you can talk to her then. And if you feel like checking her out on Tubetube, her username is Marble Onyx."

Steven nodded. "I'll be sure to check it out tonight! And I'll be here tomorrow! You can count on it! See ya later, Peedee!" he yelled as began jogging home.

"Yo, Ste-man!" Amethyst greeted as she flopped down on Steven's bed.

"Hey, Amethyst!" Steven replied, glancing up at her briefly before returning his attention to his phone. He'd been watching Kinzie's Let's Play videos from the time he'd arrived home and he'd become addicted quickly. Kinzie's online persona was much different from the more reserved one he'd seen at the fry shop; she seemed much more jovial and immersed in the games she played, snarking and joking about whatever was happening. Steven had watched her playthrough of Final Fantasy VII and had just begun watching her ongoing playthrough of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

"What are you watching?" Amethyst asked, craning her neck to get a better look at the screen.

"I'm watching Marble Onyx!" Steven exclaimed. He continued when he noticed Amethyst's confused look. "She's a Tubetuber who makes videos of herself playing different video games and then puts them on the internet for everyone to watch."

"Okaaaaay...," Amethyst replied. "Earth gets stranger and stranger every day." She scooted a little closer to Steven, glancing at Kinzie's face in the top left corner of the screen. "Oh wow, I really like her hair. So...is she some type of Gem? I've never heard of a human being named Marble Onyx."

Steven shook his head. "No, 'Marble Onyx' is just a name she goes by online. Her real name is Kinzie and she actually lives here in Beach City! I met her when I was getting my Fry Bits."

"You went and got Fry Bits without me?!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"Sorry, but you guys were all in your rooms and I was really hungry," Steven replied. "I'm going back there tomorrow, if you want to come. Peedee said Kenzie was going to be there again and I wanted to talk to her some more."

Amethyst nodded before turning her attention back to the screen. Kinzie was currently trying to decide what type of vampire she wanted to be for the playthrough.

"I'm really torn here, guys," Kinzie commented. "The Malkavians are insane which, y'know, really speaks to my heart but the Toreadors only real ability is that they're all really attractive. And trust me, I'd love to be that shallow and one-dimensional." Kinzie flicked back and forth between the two before eventually settling on the Toreador. "I'm going with the Toreador. Now I can finally live out my lifelong dream of being a pretentious douche-bag. As for the sex... I think I'm going to be a guy this time around. You don't have to be a girl to look gorgeous in makeup. If you viewers take anything away from this video, I hope you take that."

"Oh man, this girl's a riot," Amethyst said, laughing along with Steven. "I'm definitely coming with you tomorrow. I've gotta meet this chick."

The next evening saw Steven and Amethyst making their way to the boardwalk for Fry Bits.

"Hey, Steven! Come to get your bits?" Fryman asked when noticed the two making their way up to the window.

Steven nodded. "Yeah. And I'm here to see Kinzie, too! Amethyst and I watched a ton of her videos last night! We haven't missed her, have we?"

Fryman chuckled, handing Steven the bits. "No, no. She hasn't been by just yet but hang around for a bit and you'll be able to catch her soon. She normally tries to avoid coming in during the busiest parts of the day."

"Actually," Peedee began, leaning out the window and looking off into the distance. "I think I see her now. And it looks like she brought Dante with her this time."

Steven turned and, sure enough, he saw Kinzie making her way to the shop. Steven smiled when he noticed that she had a long-haired German Shepard walking on a leash beside her.

"Marble Onyx!" Steven shouted, running over to Kinzie with Amethyst in tow.

Kinzie blinked. "Umm...yes?"

"Peedee told me all about your channel so I started watching and then I couldn't stop and now I'm a huge fan and I think you're awesome and your videos are awesome too!" Steven said quickly, holding his Fry Bits out of the way of the dog's mouth.

"R-Really?" Kinzie asked after taking a moment to decipher and then process what Steven had said.

"Uh-huh!" Steven replied, nodding profusely. "And I'm not the only one! Amethyst watched with me and she really liked them too!" He gestured toward the purple Gem as he spoke.

"What's up? I'm Amethyst but you probably already figured that out," Amethyst greeted. "Steven's right, you know. Those videos were awesome! Also, I'm really digging your hair."

"Umm... Thank you." Kinzie glanced at the ground, her cheeks turning a light pink, when she noticed Dante trying to take Steven's Fry Bits. "Dante!" she commanded, the dog immediately snapping to attention. "Lay down!" The shepherd whined but did as he was told. "I'm sorry about that, Steven. He can't really help himself around food."

"Aww, it's no problem!" Steven said, petting the dog.

"I don't know why you seem so surprised, Kinzie," Fryman said, stepping out of the shop and hugging his niece. "You've been gaining a steady stream of subscribers, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah," Kinzie agreed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as she stepped away from Fryman. "But I don't normally have people come up to me and tell me they like what I do. Oh, but that reminds me!" She moved a little closer to the window of the shop. "Hey, Ronaldo! Got any good horror games for me?"

The shop's front door was flung open almost immediately. "As a matter of fact, I do, my dear cousin. Have you ever heard of a PC game called Scratches?" He paused, only to continue a moment later when Kinzie shook her head. "It's a puzzle-based game and the pacing is a bit slow, but it does a really good job of building the atmosphere and suspense and even after you beat it, you still won't be entirely sure what happened. I think it has an epilogue expansion too. I haven't played that one yet but it's supposed to shed some light on what happened in the game."

"Can I get them together?" Kinzie asked.

Ronaldo nodded. "Yeah. I think they're being sold as a bundle together on Smog."

Kinzie smiled. "Alright. Then I'll make it happen. That'll be the next horror game I play."

"Does Ronaldo give you all your horror game ideas?" Steven asked.

"Not all of them," Kinzie replied. "But his word is law when it comes to horror games, as far as I'm concerned. If he recommends it, I'll play it."

"And in return, she plugs my blog whenever she plays a game I recommend," Ronaldo threw in, pulling Kinzie into a one-armed hug.

Steven couldn't help but smile as he watched the two of them. Between her genuine respect for Ronaldo and her actions with Peedee the evening before, Kinzie seemed more like a sibling to the two of them than a cousin.

"I've got a question now," Amethyst piped up, breaking her staring contest with Dante. "Why do you go by Marble Onyx? Is there a reason or did you just pick two words that sounded cool together?"

"A little of both, actually," Kinzie said. "The 'Marble' bit comes from the Marble Hornets video series on Tubetube. Slenderman is one of my favorite urban legends and I plan on playing the games based on him once more of them are released. As for the 'Onyx' part...," Kinzie held up her arm to reveal a bracelet with a large black onyx gemstone dangling from the band. "My mom gave this bracelet to me the last birthday I had before she died. Onyx has always been one of my favorite gems and this is my way of both reflecting that and honoring her memory."

Amethyst was silent after that. She was all too familiar with losing a mother. She'd never say anything for risk of upsetting Steven but a part of her was still reeling over Rose's death. She wasn't entirely sure why but she felt a sort of kindred spirit in Kinzie, someone who shared her pain and could relate with her.

After talking with Kinzie and the Fryman family for a while, Amethyst and Steven made their way back to the temple.

"That was fun!" Steven chirped as he bounced along the beach. "It was really cool to see Kinzie again."

"Yeah, it was," Amethyst agreed. 'I'm not really why but I'm really hoping I see some more of that girl.'

Ending Notes: I hope this makes for a decent enough introduction. I feel like I should warn you all that Peridot's not going to appear until around chapter four or five. I wanted to establish Kinzie as a character and build up her friendship with Amethyst before introducing Peridot to the story.

Also, in case anyone was confused, Smog is my epic fail SU equivalent of Steam.

Please let me know what you think! Feedback is always welcome and appreciated!

Geekinthepink, out!