Of More to Come
The plate lay uneaten, mostly. About half the sandwich had been consumed, as well as half the plate. Her belly rumbled for more.
A dark room expanded with their breaths and contracted just the same. She didn't dare take more than a shallow breath herself though. Not this night. That, she felt would be to selfish, too…yeah, let's just stick with selfish. No use trying to pretend she could get all fancy with words. No, that was Pearl's forte.
And she could share…sometimes. Maybe not always the best and maybe not always aware, but tonight she was, and fully. Aware of how hard she needed to try to hear the ocean even with all the windows open. She was aware of just how hard her eyes strained to see the hands of the clock and the couch across from her seat in the kitchen. Their shapes. Intimately intertwined. Dependent at the moment, dependent for comfort. For warmth. For…salvation?
Those lips grimaced, drawn and quartered unpleasantly, Geez P. A reddish fat tongue licked a bit of mayo that remained. For the briefest of moments, the room swelled with a tired sigh. And of course, your still awake. Not that she could blame the other. The dreams would have probably been unpleasant. Chunky fingers dug into the rounded joint of a fat knee. Played with the pliable skin. Fretting? No, feeling, yes. Feeling not so much anxious as a longing to give comfort. But I'm not the one who could do that right now can I? Was that jealousy swelling in her chest, right at the point just beneath her clavicle where the round and often clunky presence of her true self lay. She felt the rough cut of the edge of a gem; as purple as the skin on the fingers that touched it.
She strains her eyes, strains them in that way that Pearl would admonish her for. You'll hurt them. Pearl would say in that know it all voice, yet so nice to her ears at the same time. After all, she was talking to her in that way. Thoughtful, if annoying and unnecessary. Kind'a hard to hurt something if it's made of light, Amethyst rebutted to the Pearl in her mind as she leaned over the stool. Teetering, and threatening to spill onto the floor.
A pale shin comes into focus. The muscles underneath seems relaxed more so than Amethyst has probably seen them in a while. As if the weight that had been held back by those sealed lips had finally been allowed to be shed.
In a way Amethyst was happy. In another, a little miffed that she hadn't told her this big secret. Well, wasn't like she could tell me anyway. Amethyst shrugged stiffly as her arms acted as structs to keep the rest of her planted.
That long nose was obscured by a wave of curly brown hair. The pale opulent gem in Pearl's forehead twinkled even with the absence of any light. Lanky arms wrapped like a rope jacket around the ever-widening body of a boy. It seemed everyday Steven was getting bigger. Maybe one day he'd catch up to Garnet. When, she got back that is.
Amethyst spared no glance to the silent door, outside the frame that cordoned off Steven's room, and behind the warp pad. The red ruby gem still seemed to glow with a fire, even hours after it had been opened, and subsequently shut; hard. Only one part of the whole was inside the temple at the moment. Sapphire would take a while to come back, Amethyst reckoned, but she'd be back.
Steven began to move, squirm, like a worm, it looked uncomfortable. Was he asleep? That was a little harder to tell. Those long arms around him grew tighter. More comforting. With the hope to chase away the bad dreams, or waking thoughts.
A gentle hum glided into Amethyst's ear, and she couldn't help but smile.
Those knees tucked themselves against the bottoms of Steven's bare feet as Pearl fettled herself around the boy. Cocooning him in a warm gem sandwich. Amethyst did spare a glance to the half-eaten food and plate; licked her lips but thought against it. She wasn't feeling peckish. The humming grew shallow as the boy's body began to melt from the others affection. Fingers curved around his face, maybe she had hopes of taming his curly hair, or maybe she just liked the feeling it filled her gem with. Amethyst knew giving the kid a noogie was what calmed her the most. The contact, unwelcome though it might be, she just wasn't good at asking; or to shy too do so. Amethyst played with her lip out of embarrassment. Stretched it wide like she was preparing to swallow something larger than should be possible by this planets standard.
She let go, the skin falling back into place, picked up her sandwich and made for the temple door. As she swung around the warp pad she marked it ethereal glow, even in the darkness of the room. Her purple gem glowed the same color as one of the five gems on the door, which opened with a sloshing gooey sound. Tossing a glance over her shoulder she gave a sympathetic look to the couch. Amethyst wasn't jealous of the comfort she was unable to give at the moment, only understanding. Dark days happen, but hopefully they don't stick around for long. They'd been through worse, and they'll get through this. After all, they were always good at finding a way.
The End