"I don't think this is a good idea."
Blue gave her a look that clearly said This was your idea, Yellow. The quiet repetition of the words from her lips was practically redundant.
"Yes, but I didn't think you'd actually agree with me. Neither of us know how human food works!"
"It's not too hard; they have instructions."
Yellow sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Okay, fine, we'll do it. But only because I can't think of anything else to give her."
Blue smiled. "I'll look for a recipe."
Cooking was not nearly as simple as the instructions made it look, but Blue figured they were managing.
She looked over just as a poof of flour burst into the air, coating Yellow's face with white powder. Blue laughed at the displeased look on her face and swiped a finger through the flour on her cheek.
"Maybe you should let me do this part," she said, voice lilting with amusement.
"Gladly," Yellow returned, pushing the bowl in her direction. "This is such a mess."
"It's for Pearl," Blue reminded her, taking over with the flour.
"I know, I know. I'll start working on the other part." She grimaced at the recipe for the umpteenth time. "You think she actually likes this?"
"That's what Steven said."
"I'm blaming him if this goes horribly wrong."
"No, you won't," she laughed. The other Pearl had a soft spot for the small Quartz, however much she hated to admit it.
"I will," she insisted. "I'll blame you too, so quit giving me that look."
"What look?"
"That one." She smudged a bit of flour onto Blue's nose. "Like you think this is adorable and you're never going to let me live it down."
"It is adorable." Blue smiled brightly, layering her hand over Yellow's. "I promise I won't tease too much."
"Oh, go on," Yellow sighed. "But if anyone asks, you were the one who wanted to try this."
Pearl returned a few hours later, as expected, and the two of them quickly intercepted her at the door.
"Hello," she said, looking between the two of them suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Blue replied, the picture of innocence.
"Get over here," Yellow said impatiently, pushing Pearl forward by the shoulders into the kitchen while Blue walked backwards in front of her and covered her eyes carefully with one hand.
"Why does it smell like smoke?"
"Don't ask questions."
"You didn't burn anything, did you?"
"I said no questions!" Yellow replied irritably. "Okay, stop. You can look now."
Blue pulled her hand away from Pearl's eyes, hovering in front of her with an eager-to-please expression for a moment before withdrawing and allowing her to get a look at the gift. "For you," she said softly.
Pearl blinked in surprise. "Thank you. You…made a pie?"
"Steven said you were fond of this particular human concoction," Yellow answered haughtily. "As such, Blue and I took the liberty of preparing one for you."
"That's very kind of you," Pearl said, strained expression not quite matching her words.
"It's apple," Blue added. "Is that alright?"
"Of course. Yes, of course that's all right!" She shook her head quickly and smiled. "It looks lovely."
"We had to make the filling twice because Yellow didn't measure the ingredients properly," Blue said in a conspiratorial whisper.
"At least I wasn't the one that burned it!" Yellow snapped defensively.
Pearl stifled a laugh and sat down on the nearest chair. "It sounds like it was quite the experience."
"We had fun," Blue said happily, sitting down next to her.
Yellow snorted and joined them, crossing her arms as she sat down on the opposite side of Pearl. She set out three plates and forks that had been stacked on the table, one in front of each of them.
"Thank you," Pearl said as she looked down at the plate, small frown pulling at her lips. She carefully carved out three slices of pie, her efforts to be neat foiled by the gooey conglomeration of pastry and filling. Once all three of them had been served, she stared down at her slice like she was preparing for battle.
Yellow and Blue were likewise looking down at the mess of a dessert they'd made, Yellow's nose wrinkling and Blue leaning away minutely.
Absolute silence.
Pearl opened her mouth to speak, then closed it quickly, not wanting to belittle all the effort they'd put in for her sake.
"Um," Blue began hesitantly after several long moments, "we got this wrong, didn't we?"
"No, no!" Pearl said quickly. "It really is an excellent gift. I just…would rather not eat it."
"Oh, thank the stars," Yellow said, looking immensely relieved. "It looks disgusting."
"Yellow," she chided, shooting an anxious look towards Blue.
Blue had one hand clamped over her mouth in silent laughter, the other waving away Pearl's concern. "It really does," she managed between small gasps.
"Oh, honestly," Pearl said exasperatedly, unable to hide her own growing smile.
"Why did Steven say you liked this stuff?" Yellow asked, poking at it cautiously with her fork.
"I like baking pie," she clarified. "I still don't care for any kind of eating."
"I knew this was a terrible idea," she huffed. "If you were going to make an exception to your dislike of consuming food, it certainly wouldn't be for this."
Blue doubled over laughing, shoulders shaking silently.
"Oh, shut up, I know it was my idea."
"It was?" Pearl asked in surprise. She smiled at the blush that spread across Yellow's face.
"Stars, I don't know why I put up with you two," she muttered, looking pointedly away.
"Because you're sweet. And Blue," Pearl said, sparing Yellow from the attention briefly, "don't do that, you have a beautiful voice." She eased the other's fingers away from her mouth gently. "It's alright to laugh."
"Sorry," she apologized, a shy giggle escaping her mouth. "I'm not laughing at you, Yellow, I swear, it's just—we really should have known better."
"Oh, it's fine," Yellow sighed, reaching across the table to give her a small flick on the forehead. "At least we all equally hate the idea of eating it. What are we going to do with all of this?"
"I'll put it in the fridge; I'm sure Amethyst will eat it," Pearl decided. She transferred the three messy slices back into the rest of the pie as best she could and took it over to the refrigerator. As she was closing the door, slim arms slipped around her waist from behind.
"Sorry it wasn't a very good present," Blue said, resting her chin on Pearl's shoulder. Her voice was still inflected with the echoes of laughter.
"You don't need to apologize," Pearl said warmly, reaching behind her to place a hand on Blue's head. "It was very thoughtful of you both to try. Perhaps we can all make a pie together next time."
"We still have the ingredients," Yellow offered from the table.
"Another time," Pearl replied quickly. She slipped out of Blue's arms, taking her hand as she flitted back towards where Yellow was sitting. "Why were you doing it anyway?" she asked. "Today's not any kind of special occasion."
"Does it have to be?" Yellow asked with an embarrassed twist of her hand.
"No, but—"
"We wanted to do something nice for you," Blue said. "That seemed like a good enough reason to try."
"Oh," Pearl said, a blush rising to her cheeks. "Well, it was very nice of you. Both of you."
"It didn't really work though. Is there something else you'd like instead?" Blue asked hesitantly.
"No," Pearl said with a gentle smile, brushing Blue's hair back from her eyes. "I don't need anything. But," she suggested, placing a hand on Yellow's shoulder, "I would appreciate your company."
"Sure," Yellow said, expression softening a little as she let Pearl help her to her feet.
Blue nodded quickly in agreement, hair falling back over her pale eyes.
Pearl smiled and led the way back to her room, ushering the other two in ahead of her. She kept a bed off to one side for when they stayed with her—a big, spacious one because, on the rare occasions that they all slept, they had a tendency to wake up in unusual arrangements that took up all the available space.
Yellow joined her on the bed first, sitting up straight with her back pressed to the numerous pillows Blue liked to stack at the head of the bed. She tugged Blue over as well, gentle as she took the other Pearl's hand and brought her closer, an arm settling around her waist as she leaned against Yellow's shoulder.
Pearl touched the edge of Blue's skirt where it had fallen across Yellow's knee. "We have the afternoon to ourselves, I think," she said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Blue wasted no time in getting comfortable, kissing Yellow on the cheek before slipping away to lie down next to Pearl. "You're in the middle today," she declared in a soft voice.
"Now I really feel special," Pearl teased, settling between them happily.
The three of them found a cozy position and stayed there, only moving to share small gestures of affection—fingers moving softly in soothing patterns, the press of lips on bare skin.
After some time, Pearl's hand slid into Yellow's, squeezing it gently as her body curved against the other Pearl's, fitting together perfectly. Blue, behind her, stretched one arm out to hold both of them, her free hand stroking Pearl's hair.
"I love you," Pearl whispered into the comfortable silence. It had just struck her that she had never said it aloud, just thought it constantly and tried desperately to show it in everything she did for them.
Blue's hand stilled on her head and Yellow seemed to freeze up entirely.
"…I'm sorry I haven't said it before now. I thought I had."
Thin shoulders hitched in front of her, while fingers slipped down to tangle in her sash from behind.
"You're so silly," Yellow muttered, voice uneven. "It's not like that kind of thing matters."
"It does," Pearl argued.
"Well, fine, I love you too then."
Blue nodded, tucking her face against Pearl's back. "Love you," she repeated softly.
Pearl answered them both with a kiss to whatever part of them was nearest—Blue's hand and Yellow's shoulder.
They lay there for a moment until Blue prodded at both of them so that they'd turn around. She smiled as they did, reaching out to touch their faces one at a time. "I love you too," she added as her slender fingers brushed Yellow's cheek.
"You don't have to say it twice," Yellow said under her breath, averting her eyes.
"I wanted to make sure you knew I meant you too."
The other Pearl looked caught between a smile and a scowl. "Got it," she said, tousling Blue's hair fondly and very nearly elbowing Pearl in the face in the process. "You too."
"Be careful," Pearl huffed, catching Yellow's arm.
Blue laughed softly and pulled both of them closer to her, sandwiching Pearl between her and Yellow snugly.
Pearl sighed and hummed in contentment as Yellow joined the effort by slipping one arm underneath Pearl and wrapping it around her waist, while the other was draped over her to tangle her hand in Blue's skirt, which had fallen awkwardly to bunch up at her side. "You know," Pearl said serenely, barely able to move her arms to hold onto them, "I'm happy with just this; you don't have to bake me things. In fact, it's probably safer if you don't."
"Be quiet," Yellow mumbled into her shoulder stubbornly. "We'll bake for you if we want to."
"So…probably never again," Blue interpreted. "At least, not without you around to enjoy it as well."
"Thanks," Pearl laughed quietly. "And thank you, for today. It means a lot that you were thinking of me."
She could feel Blue's smile and the way Yellow's grip tightened and held them both close, unable to find any words that would express how wonderful and loved she felt being next to them. She'd just have to find a way to show her own appreciation later, she decided. Preferably with something that didn't involve food.