Part of my Unbroken Ties series, but a one shot on the side. Unbroken Ties is over on Ao3 and on Tumblr for those interested!
Pearlnet PWP.
Having no need for sleep was a boon for all of the Crystal Gems, but Pearl considered it doubly so when there was time to relax. Dreams were complicated and uncomfortable, brought Rose into focus when she wanted to let her memory rest, and sometimes—often—turned nightmarish.
Pearl much preferred being awake.
Staring at Garnet's fine features at close quarters was unquestionably more enjoyable than the alternative, she thought, settling in comfortably with her cheek resting on the other Gem's bicep. Garnet was watching her through her visor—Pearl could tell, knew without having to see her beautiful tri-colored eyes, that she was staring right back at her as her slender hands slowly explored the panes of her torso. The Fusion was smiling lazily, idly twirling the tips of Pearl's strawberry blonde hair in her fingertips.
"You've spent three hours touching me," Garnet told her gently. "Aren't you bored?" She knew the answer, but the flush the question brought to Pearl's face was worth it.
"O-of course not." Pearl ducked her head, cheeks blazing, hands briefly leaving Garnet's abs before she hesitantly returned them, this time to the swell of the other's hips. Garnet shifted appreciatively, and Pearl's fingers danced along her sides. The smaller of the two stared downward for a long moment, transfixed, watching the way Garnet's muscles shifted beneath her ministrations. "I don't think I could ever be with you here."
They were on the couch, mercifully alone for the first time in weeks; Steven had a play date with Connie, and Amethyst had mysteriously volunteered for a mission to Mexico to retrieve an artifact. Garnet had approved her request to go alone, but admitted privately to Pearl that she suspected that Amethyst was both trying to give them space and taking advantage of a festival and the food (and trash) that would be widely available. Pearl hadn't argued, despite suspecting that Amethyst would be stealing most of the food; she couldn't very well counterpoint when Garnet had kissed the exposed skin on her neck and shoulders, promising some well-earned alone time.
So the following afternoon had come to this, with the two lazily resting together, and Garnet mysteriously keeping her hands to herself while Pearl explored her partner's body slowly, reverently.
"I'm sure I could bore you eventually," Garnet said dryly, "You'll run out of places to touch someday."
"You know that's not what I mean!" Pearl huffed, peeking up through her fringe of bangs to frown at the Fusion. "Just… you. Being here with you. I'll never get tired of this."
The Fusion laughed, leaning in for a quick peck that made Pearl splutter, but her mouth open gave Garnet the opening she really wanted, angling her face to kiss her much more deeply than they usually did; neither needed air, and Pearl was easily coaxed into a sensual battle between tongues that Garnet knew she would win. Pearl whined into the kiss, gripping Garnet's hips tightly, and Garnet took the invitation for more contact. Before she pulled away, she tugged the smaller Gem flush against her breastplate, rolling onto her back to bring Pearl down on top of her.
"Gah… Garnet…" Pearl panted, having been completely caught off guard. Garnet's hand had left her hair, slid down to her narrow shoulders, where she could trace the edges of her tunic along with the dip of her spine.
"Yes," Garnet whispered in kind, "That's me. We're the only ones here."
Pearl groaned, but whether that was at her teasing, or at the fingers playing down her back to unknot her sash was uncertain. The sash quickly found its way to the floor, loosing the Gem's tunic, and Garnet slipped a hand up along the slight curve of Pearl's hips, ducking under the tunic to splay across her stomach. Pearl gasped at the sudden warmth there—Ruby's Gem always ran hot, a reminder that they weren't quite as alone as Garnet liked to call this—and Garnet pushed gently down against the small of her back as her right hand traveled downward, hooking into her shorts. Pearl angled her hips forward for easier access, and Garnet's opposite hand reached the small curve of her breasts.
"Here…?" Pearl whimpered, but it wasn't an objection. She spread her knees, and Garnet hummed as if really giving it thought. But between Pearl's eagerness, and Garnet's own long-ignored needs bubbling to the surface, she didn't really see any likely futures where she didn't soon have the other Gem at her mercy, writhing against the couch.
The undignified noises Pearl was making at Garnet's stilled hands drew her out of her revere, out of appreciating what was soon to be, and Garnet nodded. "Now," she finished for her, kissing Pearl again and easily divesting her of her shorts. They vanished in a flurry of light motes once she'd pulled them down to the other Gem's knees, leaving her bare from the waist down, and Pearl gasped as the crisp air of the beach house met her exposed skin.
Garnet drew back to get a glance at her handiwork, but Pearl's tunic hung between them, offering one last show of modesty. The light from one of the open skylights shone through, just barely, offering a glimpse of silhouette, and Garnet licked her lips. Yes, this was a fine way to pay Pearl back for her three hours of unintentional teasing earlier.
"You can move your hands, Pearl," Garnet said, voice a low rumble close to Pearl's ear. The dancer shivered, and when she complied her fingers shook as they languidly drew up along Garnet's familiar sides, settling hesitantly at the seam of her breastplate. It might have been nervousness; they'd done this so infrequently that it was an entirely new experience every time, fresh and raw and exhilarating. But it might also have been Garnet's unrelenting attention to her right breast as the darker Gem plucked at the small bud, pinched and soothed it with Ruby's warm magic. Pearl bit down on the inside of her cheek to stifle a moan.
With another flurry of light motes, Garnet phased her breastplate away, leaving her ample chest bare, and Pearl's wide eyes went impossibly wider. Garnet's breasts were much more humanlike than hers; her nipples were a dark purple, rimmed with a faint hint of blue around the areola, and—she knew from experience—were remarkably sensitive despite their size. Still, getting an eyeful was a pleasant treat, and Pearl felt her elbows buckle, earning herself a face full of warm, supple skin. She yelped, but the sound was drowned in Garnet's bust.
She laughed again, crisp and clear, and Pearl gave her a playful nip—and for her brevity, was rewarded with an abrupt rush of icy magic against her most private areas. Pearl yelped, and Garnet moved her opposite hand from her breast to trail downward, soothing her handiwork with warmth again. Pearl rocked back against her palms with a groan, spread wide and ready, slick and trembling with want.
"I want to try something," Garnet whispered headily, peppering kisses across Pearl's brow and Gem. The questioning noise Pearl made was hardly dignified, and Garnet went on all the same, continuing to alternate hot and cold against her shallow folds. "But you might think it's weird at first."
"Please…" Pearl begged. Garnet always asked before trying something new, and Pearl never denied her. The asking intensified the experience. It was empowering; she could say no, could reject an idea if it were too strange, but they both knew deep down that she never would.
The bigger Gem hoisted Pearl off of her effortlessly, reversing their positions so that Pearl lay on the couch, legs spread and tunic hiked up to reveal most of her thin torso, and Garnet settled in between her sinewy thighs. Pearl immediately raised herself up on her elbows, curious and out of breath and thoroughly confused by Garnet's distance. The Fusion removed her visor, and it vanished in hand.
"I want to get you off without using my hands," Garnet explained, and Pearl could hear the strain in her voice to keep it steady, but was distracted by the rare opportunity to see her entire face. The first few times they had done something like this, the visor had stayed firmly in place, like some kind of safety protocol. Pearl hadn't objected, and she hadn't questioned it; Garnet took it off afterwards, for basking together in their afterglow.
This was going to be entirely new.
"How…?" Pearl asked, reaching for Garnet's offered hands. They were slick with her juices, and Pearl flushed, but Garnet didn't release her hold. Instead, she threaded their fingers together, leaning up for a deep kiss that left Pearl's world spinning.
Settling back after breaking the kiss, Garnet's gaze traveled downward appreciatively, watching as Pearl's erratic breathing quickened and hitched. Garnet found her prize easily—she was in no hurry, but Pearl seemed to understand exactly what she was after, canting her hips upward for easy access.
Slowly, teasingly, Garnet leaned down to pepper kisses along her flat stomach, keeping her hands pinned at her sides as she worked. Pearl squirmed, but there wasn't strength in it; it was another plea to hurry, to show rather than tell since Garnet clearly wasn't interested in explaining her methods any other way.
Pearl hadn't expected Garnet's lips or tongue anywhere near her privates; she yelped, but the protest that escaped around her choked gasps was unintelligible, even if Garnet was sure she'd caught most of something to do with propriety. Undeterred, she set herself to the task, applying both to the shallow folds that served no purpose outside of pleasure.
It was only moments before Pearl had dissolved into an almost incoherent mantra of Garnet's name, gasps and pants interspersed. Garnet's tongue moved in patterns that alternated between swirling and sharp, and Pearl gripped her hands, trembling with desperation, when she'd pull back to whisper cold air over her skin before returning again with her warm lips and hot tongue.
"Ga—ahh—Garnet!" Pearl choked out, arching almost out of reach, and Garnet released one of her hands to secure her hips, clamping down and steeling herself to see her lover through to her finish.
Pearl didn't last much longer, and Garnet could see her orgasm coming even before Pearl herself did. The darker Gem drew back, knowing that further stimulation would be more than Pearl could take, and watched Pearl's flushed face as she tried to regain some semblance of awareness. Her Gem glowed a hot white, and Garnet grinned, leaning up to cradle her face for a moment while Pearl's eyes relearned how to focus.
"I take it you liked it?" Garnet asked, leaning in for a tender kiss that didn't give Pearl time to respond. The bitter taste of her own essence on Garnet's lips almost had the alabaster Gem drawing away, but she ignored it in favor of trying to kiss back. It was sloppy; Pearl was still reeling from her orgasm, and Garnet reveled briefly in her ability to reduce her otherwise insanely meticulous partner to this.
Pearl managed a nod, reaching up with shaking fingers to wipe Garnet's mouth clean. "And you? Do you want me to…?"
"It's fine. I can't feel some of my jaw," Garnet admitted, kissing Pearl before she could try apologizing. "But if you'd like to finish me off, we both need a shower."
Pearl flushed, always taken aback by how straightforward Garnet could be about such delicate… matters. But she nodded, turning where she sat to set her feet on the ground, only to find in short order that her knees wanted nothing to do with walking. "I don't think I can stand," she whispered, ears blazing a brilliant teal.
Garnet laughed, easily scooping her lover up in her arms. "I'll carry you," she said firmly, leaving no room for protests.
Pearl's arms slipped around her shoulders, and she settled comfortably against Garnet's bared breasts. For a moment she said nothing, then, quietly; "Thank you."
As Garnet made her way easily to the bathroom, the Fusion glanced down, smiling warmly, and Pearl felt her heart skip several beats. "Anything for you," Garnet said, and Pearl knew in that moment that she meant it without reservation.
The smaller Gem leaned up, planting a kiss on Garnet's cheek, then another two along her jaw. "I love you," she whispered, "More than I know how to say."
Garnet chuckled, reaching behind them to lock the bathroom door out of habit before gingerly setting Pearl on her feet, careful to keep an arm around her middle in case her knees gave out again. This time, they didn't. "I think we both know showing is better than telling," Garnet teased, phasing out of the remainder of her battle suit. She pulled Pearl's tunic over her head, letting it vanish before it hit the floor. The Fusion tugged her lover forward, kissing her again, and Pearl wound her arms around her neck, pressing flush against her bare skin as if even the air between them had to go.
They stayed that way for a long moment, and finally, Pearl drew back, licking her lips nervously. "I'll show you, then," she said, earning a delicious shiver from he partner. It was a rare thing for Pearl to be forward, but when they were well and truly alone like this…
Garnet gripped her sides, slipping past her to start the water. "I look forward to it."