By the time Pearl had returned to the Temple, the solid blanket of night had fallen. The shimmering beam of an activating warp pad briefly illuminated the beach. Steven should be asleep by now, and warping directly into what was essentially his bedroom would surely wake him. She didn't want to have to explain herself to him, or to anyone else for that matter.
Sliding down the crystal arm as quietly as possible, she hoped that the others were to busy getting Peridot settled to notice she was gone. Silent as a mouse, she tiptoed up to the screen door of the beach house.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side tonight. On the kitchen counter sat Amethyst, munching away on a sandwich, seemingly without a care in the world. Pearl cursed under her breath. If it were Garnet, she probably could have gotten away with a quick nod and been back in her room without incident. Amethyst, however, was not the type to forgo a conversation.
With a sigh of reservation, she opened the door.
"Oh, hey P!" Amethyst said with a grin. "How was your date with Lapis?"
Pearl's face flushed. "What? I didn't go on a date with Lapis! I didn't even see her! I mean…"
Pearl snapped her mouth shut, stopping her rambling from digging herself an even deeper hole. Embarrassed, she covered her face with her hands. Amethyst hopped off the counter and gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.
"Aww Pearl, you don't need to hide anything from me. Everyone already knows you have a massive crush on her."
"I do not have a crush on Lapis!" Pearl cried, before something dawned on her. "Wait, everyone?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure even Peridot knows, and she barely understands what an emotion is." Amethyst giggled. "I can practically see the hearts in your eyes every time you look at her."
Pearl let out a groan. She thought she'd done a decent job of hiding her affection, but apparently Amethyst payed more attention than it appeared. She just couldn't help it, something about the ocean gem made her feel…whole. The thought of being with her felt warm, felt right. The fact that Lapis hated her only made the ache worse.
Amethyst threw her arm around Pearl's shoulder. "Aww P, don't be upset. I was only teasing. I'm very happy for you and I'm sure the others are too. But really, what were you doing out so late?"
"Trying to reconcile with her. She still resents us, especially me, and I can't say I blame her." Pearl sighed dejectedly.
"Lapis certainly does know how to hold a grudge…" Amethyst frowned. "But she's really come around since we first met thanks to Steven. I'm sure she'll understand once you explain."
She gave Pearl a friendly punch on the shoulder with her free hand. "Besides, no one can resist your good looks and charm!"
Pearl looked up at the grin on her face and smiled. "Thanks Amethyst."
"No problem P. I'll be the best wingman you could ask for. You two will be dancing all twirly together before you know it." Amethyst said.
"It's called ballet." Pearl huffed, unable to help herself.
"Whatever." Amethyst said, turning back to her sandwich and waving her hand dismissively. "By the way, Peridot was looking for you. Said she wanted to ask you about something she found in your room."
"You let her into my room?" Pearl asked incredulously.
Already chewing away, Amethyst apparently didn't feel the need to swallow before responding. "Don't look at me. Steven was the one giving her the tour."
Pearl huffed again, making her way to the temple door. She made a mental note to have a talk with Steven in the morning about the importance of privacy. He was a sweet kid, but he still had a lot to learn. Not everyone was as open as he was.
Pearl shone her gem into the star emblazoned on the front of the door. It lit up as the gems on the door resonated with the gem on her forehead. One moment of sparkles and shimmering later, and the door faded away to reveal the familiar fountains of her room. She took a moment to breath deeply, allowing the gentle colours and flowing water to relax her.
Her relaxation was short lived, however, as the nasally voice of Peridot called out to her from atop one of the fountains.
"Ah, Pearl. Good. I figured if I waited here long enough you would show up. Come up here, I wish to ask you something."
Pearl rolled her eyes, but nevertheless she took an artful leap towards the fountain. With the grace of a swan she corkscrewed through the air, before landing daintily on her feet.
"You couldn't have waited outside?" Pearl asked, walking over to Peridot.
Peridot shrugged. "Steven said this was the best place to wait for you."
Making a mental note for her talk with Steven, Pearl decided to get straight to the point. "So, you had something you wanted to ask me?"
"Yes," Peridot nodded.
Before Pearl could react, Peridot leaped backwards and twisted off what Pearl now realized was a fake arm. Underneath, Peridot was wearing what appeared to be a makeshift arm cannon. It was crudely made from salvage and scrap metal, but it seemed to work just fine judging by the glow and hum of the charging energy blast pointed straight at her.
Out of reflex Pearl too leaped backwards, drawing one of her spears out from the gem on her forehead.
"Tell me why you're planning to attack Lapis." Peridot demanded.
Pearl relaxed her battle stance slightly, mostly out of confusion. "What are you talking about? That's the last thing I want to do."
"A likely story," Peridot scoffed. "I've seen your hate filled stares directed towards her, and just a few hours ago I found these paper rectangle weapons in your room next to a note that said 'For Lapis!'"
"Paper rectangle weapons…?" Pearl asked herself aloud. "Do you mean the tickets?"
Peridot let out the blast of energy she had been charging. It screamed through the air, and Pearl just narrowly dodged it by twirling to the side. It struck somewhere behind her, sending a massive geyser of water into the air.
"Call them whatever you want, I won't let you use them to hurt my barn mate!" Peridot said, charging another blast.
"Peridot, those are baseball tickets. I'm going to take Lapis to a ball game, like the one we played against the Rubies. Remember?" Pearl asked, ready to dodge another blast if need be.
Peridot lowered her arm cannon as comprehension dawned on her. "So…these things aren't weapons, then?"
She drew two tickets from behind her back, holding them out to examine them again. A moment of scrutiny later and Peridot relaxed, going to retrieve her false arm. Pearl let out a sigh of relief.
"Could I have those back now?" She asked, letting her spear dissipate in the air.
"Oh yeah, sure. Here." Peridot thrust the tickets out to Pearl, who took them gingerly to look for damage. Aside from a few creases, they seemed okay.
"You know you could've just asked Steven, right?" Pearl said.
"The Steven is far too naive to recognize a weapon when he sees one." Peridot replied, twisting her fake arm back on. "Besides, last time I asked him about you, he just told me 'it's like Camp Pining Hearts,' which makes no sense. You're not a television show."
Peridot was tapping away on her tablet, as if she hadn't just tried to vaporize Pearl mere moments ago. Didn't even offer so much as an apology. Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose. Dealing with Peridot was a full-time job, how on Earth did Lapis do it?
"Well next time, would you mind at least talking to me first before trying to destroy me?" Pearl asked, exasperated.
"Noted," Peridot replied clinically. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a log to fill out."
Pearl waited for the door to dissipate before letting out a huge sigh of relief. Finally, a moment of peace and quiet to herself. She tucked the tickets away safely in her gem. She closed her eyes, listening to the soothing sound of running water and dreaming about the day of the ball game. Eventually, she found herself drifting off into sleep.
