Lapis floated onto Steven's front porch, her toes touching the wood gently before the rest of her foot. Hoping to seek Steven's sage wisdom for another "friend" obstacle— as Peridot was whispering about a Coup to overthrow Lapis from the roof to Pumpkin. Lapis could beat Peridot without question, but Pumpkin? How could she live with herself if she harmed Pumpkin?
The door was closed, but so she had a caution about going in. Lapis through the window, which oddly enough didn't have its curtains drawn. Peering inside she could see Pearl hard at work folding what appeared to be ripped hand towels. Suddenly Pearl's gaze met Lapis who seemed lonesome out in the twilight. Lapis froze, she tried backing up holding her hands in a defensive position. Pearl disappeared into the inner workings of Steven's home. Lapis stood still unsure if she caused some offense, by just being there- Lapis summoned her wings once more, turning to lift off into the night.
The front door swung back revealing the elegant Pearl, she offered, "Would you like to come in?"
The screen door was all that separated them but Lapis felt like it was more than that. There still remained a class issue, associating herself with a Pearl? That was just simply unheard of back home.
Pearl saw Lapis's hesitation and tried to make being in the house with her sound more appealing. She didn't want one of Steven's friends to feel left out and lonely, not on her watch. Pearl always felt the constant need to baby everyone, there was really no exception. She called out again to the water gem, "I was going to make tea,"
"We can't eat."
"I know," Pearl glanced at the floor embarrassed at her previous offer, but thought of another idea," Well, we can, technically," She continued, she suddenly frowned again," But we can't taste."
"So why bother?" Lapis crossed her arms, trying not to pass a look of judgment, but was genuinely curious.
Pearl eased off the door, and muttered insecurely with a small shrug, "Because... as Amethyst puts it... It's just... Fun?"
Lapis, shuffled toward the door, staring through the screen's miniature holes that didn't make it hard to see, they just kept bugs out as Steven told her, but she had seen plenty of earth creatures that could probably fit through the small puncture marks. So seemingly all this door was doing for her was blocking the view of the Pearl's stunning features. The Bluer gem tried to scavenge for words but only retrieved the awkward yet simple, "Fun is good."
Immediately she wanted to smack herself because that response was beyond idiotic... But what did she care? Why would she care what anybody thinks of her? ...Why would she care what Pearl would think?
Pearl beamed happily and propped open the screen door allowing Lapis to pass through, The Pearl scampered to the kitchen sifting through cabinets.
It dawned on her that this place was in no state to show to guests, and called out to the other alien, "I'm sorry about the state of this place! Amethyst sort of did a number in the living room."
Lapis limply plucked a torn throw-pillow, and dropped it back upon the crimson couch," It's alright... She just left you to clean this up?"
Pearl nearly dropped a plate in shock, "No, no, no, nothing like that," she re-stacked the dishes while she was in the neighborhood of teabags, she recalled what an angry state her purple ruffian friend left in, "At least I hope not," she glumly remarked.
The blue gem noticed the broken Tv up above, and commented, "Peridot and I have a tele-visor like that, ours is smaller though..."
The milky white gem replied, "You mean the television?"
"Ah, yes." Lapis quietly sighed," Tele-vision." She put that on the mental list of things she needed to remember for future reference. Her face then grew warm and produced steam as she realized she made another mistake in front of a Pearl.
Pearl noticed how Lapis bowed her head when she was corrected, and offered some comfort to her fellow stranger to planet earth, "Don't be too hard on yourself," she said while grasping two yellow-green mugs," It took me a while to even understand the human invention of the Lightbulb," Pearl twisted the sink on, and stooped down grabbing a 2 quart saucepan.
Pearl good back up satisfied and having confidence in the choice she had made. Filling the pan up with water from the tap, she balanced the heavy object between the pads of her fingers. The Pearl focused her energy upon heat, she let a more concentrated force of warmth pass from her mind, through her body, through her fingers, and finally through the metal of the pot.
"What's a..." Lapis hesitated, and realized that the lightbulb probably wasn't a flower made of raw distilled light, "I'll figure it out later." The water came to a boil within a few seconds, Pearl lessened her mental focus.
Pearl sighed," Earth is a beautiful, complex place," as she poured the boiling water equally between the two mugs," Its good to have friends to help sort it out." Gently placing the tea bags into each.
The water-drop gem nodded, then remembered that Pearl couldn't see her, mistake number three. She exclaimed louder than she intended, "I see your point!"
Pearl strolled into the living room with the two cups, passing one to her guest. Lapis thanked her, again another thing unheard of; especially on Home-world.
Thanking a Pearl? Flabbergasting.
Steven mentioned that 'please' and 'thank-yous' are somehow magic words, 'magic how?' she thought at first. The answer had yet to reveal itself.
The white gem began apologizing "I'm sorry if it's… not really, um, good? I didn't want to use the stove, and I wasn't sure what kind you would like, and I used-"
"I'm sure I'll…love it?" Lapis interrupted cautiously, hoping not to come off rudely while trying to put to bed Pearl's fear of not meeting her standards. She raised the steaming mug to her lips—
Pearl swiftly blocked Lapis from burning herself," Careful! it's— it's a little hot."
"I'm not so sensitive; I'm not a human you know."
Pearl fidgeted her thumb on the handle of her mug,"…yes I'm aware, it's just hard to break the habit. It certainly feels like I have to sort of protect everyone around here, you know?"
"Oddly enough," Lapis agreed," I understand what you mean." to appease the nagging, but well-meaning Pearl, she blew the steam from the cup.
"Oh, before I forget Lapis! … the tea leaves can be a bit confusing at first— see the texture is really not good and it gets stuck on your teeth really easily, so please do not be afraid to slurp to avoid eating the leaf grit."
Lapis gave a cock-eyed glance to Pearl, she couldn't help but fight a smile pulling at the corners of her lips.
"Did I say something funny?" The white gem scratched at her forehead and brushed her peach hair to the side,
"You just have such a way with words— it almost sounds like you care or something."
"Oh… Well yes, I do care— I suppose maybe I care a little too much, Steven and Amethyst both agree that perhaps that's my cross to bear." She ran her finger around the rim of her cup, the tone in her voice slightly reserved and soft.
Lapis smirked," There are worse things, like being a giant jerk who drowns children."
"Thank you," Pearl rubbed her arm, before taking a tiny sip from her tea," I think."