Pearl did the cleaning, the laundry, the dishes, and everything else the temple required to stay in excellent condition. As Steven saw it, that was perfectly fine. People liked doing all sorts of things, and if Pearl liked to do the chores, Pearl liked to do chores.
However, when Steven saw Pearl, haggard and weary from a day of hunting Peridot out in the jungle, going up to the sink to start of the dishes Steven forgot to do during the day, he realized that Pearl didn't always like doing chores. After a moment of planning on what to do, Steven climbed down the ladder and walked over to the Gem's door. He pressed his ear against the door pretending to be listening in on something.
"Amethyst? What are you doing in Pearl's room?" he asked, hopefully loud enough to be heard over the faucet as well as Pearl's tired haze.
"What? You're making more living space by moving all of your stuff down to Pearl's room?" Steven paused as if he was listening to a response, "But that'll make her really angry!"
"She's doing what?" Pearl finally demanded as Steven's words processed through her mind. Steven walked away from Pearl's stride and waited until the doors closed to run over to the sink to start on dishes he was supposed to do. It was only lunch, so there wasn't much to do. He even had time to start the dishwasher when Pearl came back with an annoyed look on her face.
"That Amethyst, playing tricks on me on a day like this," Pearl muttered as she walked back to the sink to continue on the dishes, but was surprised when she saw none and heard the dishwasher working beside her.
"What in the world?" she asked, trying to figure out exactly what happened. There was no technology in this house that would automatically clean dishes that she knew of. In the corner of her eye, she spotted a suspect reading one of those fantasy novels Connie loved.
"Steven," she called out, but any irritation she felt toward him immediate dissipated when she saw the boy attempting to hide behind the book. "Steven," she said endearingly and walked over to where he was sitting.
Steven tried his best not to give himself away. Unfortunately Pearl had that ability where she seemed to always know what was going on in Steven's head. While Garnet was absolutely adamant that it wasn't future vision, Steven was sure that Pearl had something like that. When Pearl sat down next to him, placing a thin hand on his head, he knew that she somehow knew as well.
"Is there a reason why you didn't want me to do the chores today?" she asked quietly.
"You didn't look like you wanted to do them," he answered.
"Didn't want- Steven, I love doing these kinds of things."
"But Pearl! Look at you, you're tired, and you've been out in the jungle fighting tigers and lions and who knows what just to find Peridot," Steven argued, now looking at the gem in the eyes. "I love hanging out with Connie, but if I'm tired, I don't want to do anything but sleep, and she understand that. I know gems don't get tired or anything, but still, I don't want you to do work just because you have to. You should do things you like to do that isn't work, like dancing or making those cool gizmos that you hide in your room from the stuff that comes from Amethyst's room."
Going in for a hug, Steven spoke into Pearl's chest, "It's okay if you like cleaning and stuff, but you don't always have to do it, okay Pearl? If you're tired, just tell me, and I'll do it for you!"
Pearl, clean this. It's your job, your purpose.
Pearl's arms wrapped around Steven for a tight hug.
"Thanks for doing that for me Steven. Do you want to join me in creating a new 'gizmo' then?" she asked with enthusiasm. Steven nodded, taking Pearl's hand and walking through her door.
A/N: This is story is going to mainly revolve around Pearl moving on. Because Pearl is amazing and needs to learn that Rose isn't necessary to complete her life. She is strong and can do anything.