For the prompt from airamcg: Rupearl, grocery shopping

oOoOO

Grocery Shopping

Garnet did not get poofed often.

At least, not since the early days of the war. Back when she'd still been getting her bearings, Garnet's unending clumsiness had resulted in more than a few destroyed bodies. But as Ruby and Sapphire's relationship had strengthened, and their experience as a fusion had lengthened, Garnet had reached a point where she was practically unstoppable.

But not actually unstoppable. Sometimes a threat came along which was too much, even for her. Which was why Pearl found herself doing something she had not had to do for quite some time: distracting Ruby.

"We need… let's see, milk, butter, and cream cheese. Steven likes the kind with the garlic in it," Pearl read from the list.

Ruby just grunted in acknowledgement. Pearl leaned down to reorganise the items in the cart, both to improve symmetry and better fit the incoming items. Though, those incoming items seemed to be coming rather… slowly.

When Pearl turned around to find out why, she discovered Ruby practically climbing up the freezer racks, one arm full of milk and butter cartoons, while the other reached desperately for the cream cheese, which was a good few feet above Ruby's head. Ruby strained and strained, but it still remained stubbornly out of reach. "Just— come here— you stupid food!"

"It's alright, I've got it." Pearl easily plucked the cream cheese off the shelf.

"I had it!"

"Ruby—" Pearl began, but then she noticed the smoke rising from Ruby's head. A moment later, she was hit with a wave of pure heat. "Not in here, Ruby, all the food will go bad—!"

"Everything's already bad!"

It came out half-scream, half sob. The heat vanished as Ruby drooped, the food tumbling out of her hands onto the floor.

Pearl was at her side in an instant, crouched down low at eye-level. "That's not true. Everything's going to be fine."

"She got cracked," Ruby sniffed. "Garnet— I — we let her get cracked. And then we poofed, and if— if—"

"Sapphire could have gotten very hurt. You both could have," agreed Pearl, placing her hands on Ruby's shoulders. Ruby wasn't actively smoking anymore, but she was still hot enough that her skin was painful to the touch. Pearl didn't draw her hands away. "But we protected you. We got you to safety. Steven healed Sapphire. She's going to be perfectly fine."

Ruby didn't say anything. She was trembling.

So Pearl kept talking. "Sapphire's always been a rather slow regenerator. Almost as bad as me. She'll probably take a little longer this time, to recover from being cracked. But she will come back."

"I know. I just— just wish I could See. That I could know, for sure." Ruby sniffed, burying her head into Pearl's chest. "I miss her."

"Me too," said Pearl, holding her friend close. "But I'm glad you're both safe." She pressed a kiss onto Ruby's forehead. "I'm glad you're here."

Ruby made a muffled sound into Pearl's chest, and pressed in a little closer.

They stayed like that for a while— at least until a shopping cart rounded the corner, and the human steering it made a pointed cough. Pearl's cheeks flushed, but she didn't straighten. Yes, she knew they were blocking the aisle somewhat, but couldn't the human see that they were in the middle of something?

Ruby was the one who pulled out first. "Sorry," she said to the human, picking up the food she'd dropped. She carried it towards their cart, and gave Pearl a brave, watery smile. "C'mon. We gotta go make sure Steven gets his dinner."