Pearl was meditating when she heard a noise from Steven's room.
Throughout the years, Pearl had perfectly attuned her senses to detect any disturbance within the Temple from her cross-legged perch in her chamber. When Steven was a young boy, she was the first to hear the whimper of a nightmare, the cough of illness, or, occasionally, the yell of a Gem monster attack in the night. Garnet had Future Vision to foresee trouble in Steven's room, and Amethyst had her frequent trips to the fridge for late-night snacks to check up on him while he slumbered, but Pearl prided herself on knowing exactly when trouble struck.
She opened her eyes and tilted her head toward the sound. Gems didn't have the same mechanisms that humans did for detecting directional noise, but she had picked up certain mannerisms from the natives of Earth through hundreds of years of proximity. What was the human saying, "When in Italy…"? Pearl shook her head. Human language changed so often, she seldom burdened herself with knowing all of its idioms.
As Pearl rose from her meditation fountain, the Temple Gate materialized before her. She stepped forward, and a beam of light slid across its smooth surface, parting the Gate evenly along its center. The pale Gem slipped delicately through the Gate before letting it close silently behind her. She squinted toward the loft that served as Steven's bedroom and heard the noise again. Was that a… grunt? A snore? She tiptoed forward noiselessly, then delicately climbed the staircase toward Steven's bed.
For a moment, Pearl wasn't sure what strange human act she was looking at. Steven was hunched around the bright rectangle of his phone, earbuds wedged firmly in his ears. The thick mop of black curls shadowed his face, bright with sweat and dotted with the blemishes of puberty. His body heaved and squirmed, and his right arm shook vigorously. Pearl abruptly realized what she was seeing.
"Steven!" she gasped instinctively. The boy's head jerked up, ripping the headphones from his ears, as he flung his blanket over his naked body.
"P-Pearl! I, ah…" he stammered. Face red and eyes wide, he watched mortified as his guardian staggered backward in shock. A second later, Amethyst and Garnet barreled through the Temple Gate, Gem weapons drawn and eyes darting around, ready to attack.
"Pearl, what's happening?" Garnet barked, holding her gauntlets aloft in a battle stance. She scanned the room behind her mirrored glasses, before resting her gaze on Steven. She lowered her fists and frowned quizzically. "Steven, what's going on?" she asked him impatiently.
"I think Steven needs a little alone time," Amethyst piped up, her Gem whip dissolving into a shimmering cloud. "Right, guys?" she growled, jerking her head toward the inner Temple. Amethyst grabbed the other two Gems around their waists and pulled them toward the Temple Gate. "Have a good night Steven!" she giggled, turning her head and winking at him as she shoved the other two Gems through the Temple Gate.
"We'll… see you in the morning, Steven," Garnet called. The Gate then closed, leaving Steven alone and sweating in his room.