The agreed-upon date had come. 6:15 arrived and there was a knock at the door. Steven opened it and there stood the mayor; behind him, on the beach, sat his head-bedecked campaign van, which he had managed to maneuver on the sand.

"Hello, Steven," Dewey said. "Is your sister ready?"

"Pearl!" Steven yelled. "Your date's here!"

"Yes, Steven, I can see," said Pearl from the couch, only a few yards away. She got up and walked to the door. "Hello, mayor."

"Hello!" the mayor replied. "For you," he said, presenting a bouquet of roses.

"Oh," said Pearl, taking them. "Well, I commend you on your choice of flower, but, uh…"

She glanced around and saw that Amethyst had come up to stand beside her and was looking up expectantly.

"Here," Pearl said, tossing the bouquet down to her. Amethyst caught it and immediately stuffed the entire thing in her mouth, wrapper and all.

"Well, uh…" Dewey stammered, nervously tugging at his collar. "That's a nice outfit you're wearing."

"Thank you," said Pearl. "It's the default of my latest regeneration."

"I don't know what that means," said Dewey. "So, are you ready to go?"

"Ready as I'm ever going to be," said Pearl. "So yes, let's embark on this professional journey to have a professional dinner and professional conversation together. Professionally."

"Right, professional," said Dewey. "Well, uh, let me escort you."

"That won't be necessary," said Pearl, and she descended the steps and got into the passenger side of Dewey's van without assistance. Dewey glumly got behind the wheel, leaving Steven and Amethyst to watch the giant-head festooned vehicle, which, after a bit of spinning and sliding on the sand, departed.

"I hope they have a good time," said Steven.

Amethyst gave a mischievous chuckle. "You want to go and spy on them?"

"Spy? Wouldn't that be kind of rude?"

"But it'd be fun!"

"I don't know…"

"Aren't you curious about what they could be talking about? Maybe they'll discuss you!"

"Me?" Steven thought for a moment. "Okay, sure, let's go!"

"Great!" said Amethyst.

The two hopped down to the beach. Steven looked around.

"Lion doesn't seem to be here right now. So how are we going to keep up with them?"

"This way!" exclaimed Amethyst, and she transformed into a purple ostrich.

"Cool!" said Amethyst.

"Yep! The world's fastest land animal!"

"Isn't that the cheetah?"

"Yeah, probably. Hop on!"

Steven did so and Amethyst ran off after Dewey's car, keeping just far enough away so not to be spotted. Though they weren't going their top speed, Steven still had to cling to Amethyst's neck to keep from flying off.

They eventually followed the car to the parking lot of a restaurant next to the beach. Still maintaining a safe distance, Steven got down off of Amethyst and let her return to her normal form. They watched Pearl and Dewey get out of the vehicle and enter the dining area of the restaurant, which was on a patio outside, a fortunate condition for those who wanted to eavesdrop on patrons thereof without actually going in. This was further helped by the rows of bushes placed around the patio. Steven and Amethyst took a hiding place among them and watched Pearl and Dewey take a table near the far wall.

It soon became apparent, however, that their vantage point was less than ideal; while Dewey and Pearl were clearly making comments to one another, they could not make out what they were.

"I can't hear what they're saying," Steven complained.

"Wait here," said Amethyst. She shapeshifted into the shape of a bald man with a mustache—a larger version of Li'l Butler. She hopped up onto the patio and made her way to the not-quite-couple's table.

"Hello, may I take your order?" she said in a disguised voice, loudly enough for Steven to hear her.

"Amethyst!" said Pearl sternly.

"Aw, how did you know it was me?"

"You're purple."

"Yeah, that was probably a give-away."

"Go back home, Amethyst."

"Fine, fine." She shifted back to her regular form, much to the mayor's surprise, and hop back off the patio to the bushes where Steven lay.

"Maybe we should just head home," said Steven. "It doesn't really make sense to spy on them if we can't hear them."

Amethyst laughed. "You give up too easy, little man. Besides, I came prepared." She held up a green object.

"Woah, is that the communication device from Peridot's escape pod?"

"You know it is! And when I went over there as a waiter, I stuck the other one under the table! And these things have a whole bunch of settings too. I set these things to one-way so we can hear Pearl but she can't hear us!"

Amethyst turned the device on and Pearl's voice came through. "I don't even know what she was trying to do," she was saying.

"Well," said a voice belonging to the mayor, "it may have just been an attempt to ruin our evening."

"That's what I don't get," said Pearl. "She should know that her presence couldn't possibly make me enjoy this evening less than I anticipate."

"You don't think you'll enjoy tonight?"

"The planned schedule is not something I would call a good time, no."

"Er… Hey, look! It's our actual waitress!"

Indeed, a waitress had arrived at their table. "Here are your menus," she said, handing them over.

"I won't need one," said Pearl, handing it right back.

"You're not hungry?" Dewey inquired.

"Most certainly not."

"Okay," said the waitress. "While you're deciding, can I get you something to drink?"

"I think two glasses of water will be fine," said Dewey.

"No, just the one. I don't drink."

"Really?" asked Dewey. "What if you get thirsty?"

"Look, I know that humans need water to survive, but I am a Gem. My body is an illusion and does not require sustenance. Though I am technically able to imbibe, I find the entire process disgusting. I am not hungry, and I am not, and will never be, thirsty."

"One glass of water, got it" said the waitress. "I'll be right back."

"Well now," said Pearl as the waitress departed, "how about you tell me a little about yourself? That's the only reason I agreed to this."

"You want us to get to know each other better?" said the mayor optimistically.

"My teammate thought it would be a good idea."

"Oh," said Dewey, his hopes falling a bit. "Well, uh, something about myself… Well, I'm the mayor of Beach City."

"Yes, I am already familiar with our position."

"Right, right," said the mayor. "Well, uh, what exactly do you want to know?"

"To be frank, I have no preferences about what I want to know or not know about you, and I have no idea on what sorts of things I should want to know."

"Well, uh…" Dewey paused. "Well, uh, what's your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Mine's red." He paused again. "I'm not very good with small talk. Interacting with voters in campaign photo ops? Sure. But something like this? I haven't really had much practice in quite some time."

"Well, I've never had any practice with it," said Pearl. "It's never come up before."

"Ah."

There was an awkward silence between them. From the bushes, Amethyst snickered. Steven, on the other hand, had a look of sympathy on his face.

The waitress returned with the mayor's water. "Have you decided what you're going to eat yet?" she asked.

"Um…" Dewey quickly glanced through the menu. "The turkey sandwich will be fine."

"With fries on the side?"

"Yeah, sure."

She left again. The awkward silence returned.

The mayor finally broke it. "So, uh… you mentioned your outfit was the default of something?"

"Yes, of this regeneration," said Pearl. "As I said, our bodies are an illusion, and so if they're badly damaged, like if they, say, have a sword thrust through their chest, we can retreat into our Gem to heal and alter our default form in slight ways; clothing, hairstyle, minor superficial attributes like that. That's just the default, though; as you saw with my friend, we can also change into other shapes, within a given amount of parameters."

"Uh, right," said Dewey, not sounding as if he understood a word.

"Now, this only applies to injury to the body itself; if the gemstone itself is broken, it is possible for a Gem to die. Otherwise, they are functionally immortal and can exist for thousands of years, in contrast to humans, who have an expected lifespan of less than a hundred years, and that's if it's not cut short by accident or disease. Incidentally, how old are you?"

"Er…" The mayor was thankfully saved by the arrival of his food.

"Enjoy," said the waitress.

"Huh, prompt service," said the mayor. "I'll have to remember to leave a large tip." He turned to Pearl. "Hey, uh, how about while I'm eating, you explain more about your magical nature or whatever? I mean, I know you're important in protecting the city and everything, but I'm not entirely sure exactly what it is that you do."

"Yes, I suppose that would be an agreeable arrangement," said Pearl.

So as the mayor ate, Pearl gave an abridged version of how the Gems operated, covering topics that Steven had experienced first-hand over the past few years; she left out some of the more sensitive details like the fusion experiments and Malachite, but touched upon the Gem monsters and fusions like Sugilite, which had affected his city before and might possibly affect it in the future. Dewey, to his credit, tried his best to keep up.

"This is all stuff we already know," complained Amethyst. "Can't they talk about something interesting? I mean, even with Sugilite, it was just that we were 'out of control'. Come on, talk smack about us behind our backs!"

"Well, at least Pearl doesn't seem too bothered explaining all of it," said Steven. "In fact, she almost seems to be having a good time."

"Please, Steven. You know I could care less about whether or not Pearl has a good time or not."

Dewey popped the last of his fries into his mouth. "It's…rather impressive what you do," he said. "Uh, thanks for keeping us safe and tourist-friendly."

"You're welcome," Pearl said proudly.

The waitress came back to take away the mayor's dirty dishes. "Would either of you care for dessert?" she asked.

"Uh, sure, I'll have the apple pie a la mode," said Dewey. He turned to his companion. "I don't suppose you'll be wanting anything, will you?"

Pearl gave him an unimpressed look.

"I…I thought not." He gave a small, nervous laugh as the waitress departed. "Well, at least you're a cheap date."

"This isn't a date," Pearl said firmly.

"Of course not," said the mayor. "It's just an opportunity for us to get to know each other." He gave another nervous laugh. Back in the bushes, Amethyst gave a laugh that was decidedly not nervous.

"Actually," said Pearl, "so far, it seems that it's mostly you getting to know me and not the other way around."

"I guess it has," said Dewey. "Uh, like I said, I don't really know what I should say… Oh, I have a teenage son, Buck."

"Buck?" said Pearl, as if she were trying to place the name. "Does he wear sunglasses?"

"Huh? Uh, yes, he does."

"I met him once, I think. He was with his two friends."

"Did he mention me?"

"I only said I met him. We didn't really talk."

"Oh."

The waitress came back, a small plate with a piece of apple pie and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it. She placed it in front of Dewey.

"Wow, really prompt service," said the mayor. He picked up his spoon to begin eating.

"Wait," Pearl said. "May I?"

"Uh, sure," said Dewey. He handed the plate over.

Pearl moved her head close to the piece of pie to examine it. "I may find the digestive process disgusting," she said, "but I do enjoy the skill that goes into preparing certain foods. Pie is one of my favorites in that regard. There's the crust, prepared with the precise ratio of ingredients to prevent it from crumbling, contrasting with the filling, a slurry of fruit and fluids. The entire thing is baked at the correct temperature for the correct length to let the inside solidify so that it can then be divided without the filling spilling out; yet leave it in too long and it'll burn. The result is quite masterful when done properly."

"Er, right," said Dewey. "Can I have it back now? The ice cream's starting to melt."

"Oh, sorry," Pearl said, and slid the dessert back across the table.

This final course was eaten in silence, without any comments from either of them. (Amethyst, however, made comments like 'Why aren't they talking?' and 'Is this thing still working?')

After a few minutes, Dewey finished eating.

Pearl observed the few remains of the pie. "So, now what? Is our outing concluded?"

"Well, I guess it could be," said Dewey. "I was hoping we could walk along the beach for a while, but considering how dinner went…"

"No, that would be fine," said Pearl. "That way we can continue talking without one of us constantly preventing the use of their vocal cords by cramming food into their mouth. I'm referring to you, incidentally."

"Yes I—I got that. Now, let me just leave the money for my dinner, plus a tip, plus a campaign button… Okay, we can go now."

"Alright, time for round two," said Amethyst.

"I don't know; I'm starting to feel guilty about eavesdropping on them. And I don't think they're going to talk about me anyway."

"Come on, this stuff is gold! Later, I can casually mention stuff from tonight around Pearl later, and she'll be all like 'how did you know that?' and then she'll be like 'Amethyst! You spied on us even after the waiter thing!' and she'll get really mad and it'll be hilarious!"

She glanced at Dewey and Pearl, who had made their way down to the beach, where they were silently continuing their conversation.

"Just look at them, talking away… Wait, why can't we hear them?" Amethyst quickly swiveled her head back to the dining tables. "The communicator! I completely forgot!"

She sprang up and ran to the table where Pearl and Dewey had been, interrupting the waitress, who was in the middle of clearing it. "Sorry," said Amethyst as she lifted the table to grab the device stuck underneath, causing the napkin dispenser and condiments to slide off.

She hurried back to Steven, who was watching as Pearl and Dewey strolled down the beach, without any decent hiding places nearby.

"Aw man," she said. "We're never going to get this thing near her again without her noticing. And they keep moving around too."

"Maybe we should take that as a sign that we should go home?"

"Nah, I think I'll just stay here until they come back. See if we can catch the tail end of something juicy."

"Well, you can stay if you want," said Steven indignantly, "but I'm going back home." With that, he walked away.

He came back five seconds later.

"I forgot, you're my ride home."

"Yup."

"You're not going to take me yet, are you?"

"Nope."

Steven sighed and sat down beside her.