The question had come seemingly from nowhere - at least, there were no clear indicators as to what could have triggered such an inquiry.
"Pearl?" Steven had come down from the loft to where she sat on the sofa, perusing a battered book of sword techniques. You could never learn too much, right?
"Yes, Steven?" She mentally marked her page before setting it on the coffee table and watching as he pulled himself up to sit by her.
"Can fusions change?"
"Change?" She echoed him for a brief moment, trying to make sense of what he'd asked. "What do you mean, Steven?"
"Like... Can they go from two arms to four arms? Or four arms to two arms?"
She allowed herself a quiet chuckle. "Where is this coming from?"
"I'm not sure. I just remembered that little Opal you made from sand the one day. She had two arms."
Pearl froze. Two arms? Had she really? A quick glance back through her memory confirmed that. How had she slipped up like that so easily? More importantly, how had Steven been so observant? Then again, Opal had been an interesting concept to him from the moment she and Amethyst had mentioned her. The fact that he'd paid such close attention to her explanation and tiny sand demonstration wasn't really surprising in hindsight.
"Well, Steven... You see, Opal, she... Th-the connections between Amethyst and I are... I-" Speaking of Amethyst, the purple gem had chosen that moment to walk out of the temple and into the small beach house. In Pearl's opinion, she couldn't have had better timing. "Oh, Amethyst!" She quickly got up and walked over to her, gently nudging her toward the sofa. "Steven was just asking some questions about Opal, and well, you seemed so eager to tell him about her before! Surely a few more questions couldn't hurt!"
Before she or Steven could ask her what was going on, she had already darted into the temple. The sound of water rushing off her fountains was quite calming as she slowly slid down the wall next to the door. As she held her knees to her chest, her mind continued to analyze the question Steven had asked.
It didn't take her long to affirm herself that she was right in leaving the situation to Amethyst. Her answer would have been much too complicated and emotionally biased for him to have understood.
"Well, that was weird... even for Pearl." Amethyst took a seat where the alabaster gem had been moments before. "So, what'd you want to know?"
"Did Opal used to have two arms?"
Steven took on a look of slight disappointment when Amethyst had a reaction similar to Pearl's. Instead of darting off however, she simply looked away.
"It's not my place to say anything about that."
"Come on, please? It's just a yes or no, can you at least tell me that?"
She seems a bit conflicted for a while, the air taking on an impatient tension. She eventually caved after glancing over and seeing the eager glint to his eye. "Alright, a yes or no couldn't hurt. Opal might have four arms now, but a little while back? She was rivaling Garnet on fusion scales."
"Really?"
"Mmhm."
"Wow... But if she used to have two arms, why does she have four now?" He knew Amethyst didn't want to say anything, but perhaps getting her to answer on a yes or no basis could have coaxed her into answering something else.
Amethyst put her feet up on the coffee table - being careful of Pearl's book of course, she'd hear nothing but nagging for weeks if she so much as scuffed it - and allowed her posture to relax into a slight slouch. "Sorry Steve-o, we'd need Pearl for that answer, and from the look of things I'm not sure she's ready to handle that. You'd think she would be with all of the stuff she has at her disposal, but whatever. Anywho, want to join me on the boardwalk? We can grab some frybits on the way, maybe scare a few seagulls."
"No thanks, I think I'm going to go see my dad for a bit. Have fun with that, though!"
He hopped off the sofa and quickly started making his way down to the beach and toward the car wash. His dad had told him about the time he'd tried to fuse after meeting Stevonnie, and he'd clearly known the gems before he was born. Amethyst's answer told him it hadn't been long since Opal had gained a set of arms. Maybe he'd have some more answers.