Needless to say, all three Gems were speechless. They starred blankly at the kids' smiling faces before Pearl finally spoke up.
"Well…thank you, Steven," she said awkwardly, "but…uh," She turned. "Garnet, help me."
The leader Gem got up. "Thank you, Steven, but you were still right to be upset."
"We promise not to keep stuff from you, dude," Amethyst added.
"And we will truly try and take some time off," Pearl finished.
The three leaned down and reached out, expecting a group hug, but Steven and Connie merely exchanged glances and giggled to themselves.
"Okay, now I'm confused," Garnet said as they stood back up.
Steven looked up at his three guardians, hands on his hips. "We're glad you guys are sorry for everything, but you're not getting off that easy."
"Yep," Connie added, "We're still going to punish you."
"Punish us?!" Pearl said incredulously.
"Yep," Steven said, loving the control. "You can forget about any missions for the rest of the day,"
"Or hiding out in the Temple," Connie added.
"Because you're going to be spending the rest of your day here," he handed them a flyer and they all looked at it.
Beach City Ocean Breeze Spa!
Wash off all the stresses of life!
Book you appointment today.
"Steven," Pearl asked, "What is this?"
"Only the greatest spa in Beach City," Steven replied. "Connie told me about it."
"But what exactly is a spa?" The white Gem asked.
"It's a building that offers heath and beauty treatments," Connie explained. "My mom's a regular there. It's the only way she can recover from her long shifts at the hospital. Anyway, she took me a couple weeks ago and it was amazing! They have everything: manicures, pedicures, massages, mud baths-"
"Mud baths?!" Amethyst cried. "I'm in!"
"Hold on there, Amethyst!" Pearl said. Looking back down at the flyer, she said, "Kids, this is incredibly generous of you, but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be-"
"Around other humans?" Connie asked.
"No, of course not," Pearl said, "It's just-it seems to involve a lot of…intimate contact and I-"
"Oh please!" Steven said, "You guys fuse all the time."
"Yes, but that's with Gems."
"You danced with Dad in Empire City," Steven pointed out, "You have no excuse."
"And it's incredibly clean, Pearl," Connie explained, "Everything's super clean and spotless and they actually have you shower in between appointments. It's actually very fancy. You've got nothing to worry about."
"And even if you did, it wouldn't matter. We already booked appointments for all of you, starting at noon. Dad's paying for everything." Smiling smugly, the boy folded his arms. "No way out."
Pearl opened her mouth, possibly to argue again, but Garnet cupped a hand over it.
"Pearl, you really should keep your mouth closed," she advised. "Bugs could nest." The Gem leader turned back to Steven and, to his delight, she was smiling. "Steven, we'd love to."
"Yeah we would!" Amethyst agreed.
"But what about Beach City?" Pearl freed herself from Garnet. "We can't just leave it unguarded."
"Leave that…to us." The kids took each other's hand and were instantly engulfed in a pink flash of light.
In their place stood Stevonnie, sword at the ready. The fusion saluted the Gems.
"Stevonnie, Beach City protector, reporting for duty! And look!"
They whistled and Lion barged in and bowed before them. "We've got our own trusty stead."
"Well, that solves that," Garnet stated.
"Whoo-Hoo!" Amethyst cheered, "Mud baths, here we come!"
Pearl stared, then opened and closed her mouth in thought before straightening up and giving a small sigh. "Well, I guess you do have everything covered," She cupped her hands, even giving a small smile. "And I did say I would start trying out new things, didn't I?"
"Sure did," the fusion said, "And the Pearl we know can handle anything a mere human could." They shot her a sly grin. "You are a Crystal Gem, aren't you?"
"Well, OF COURSE, I am!" Pearl scoffed, acting as though she felt insulted. Putting her hands on her hips, she added. "And you know what? I'm actually lookin forward to this spa. I've got nothing better to do and frankly, all these missions have left me rather tarnished."
"Then, we better be on our way. Our appointments start in an hour," Garnet said, leading them to the door. She stopped for a moment to address Stevonnie. "Good luck you two. Remember to keep the harmony."
Amethyst shot them a wink as she walked past. "Slick."
As they left, the fusion turned and gave their steed a pet. "Great job, Lion. We totally won them over."
Lion sniffed and nudged at their owner's jean shorts, causing them to roll their eyes.
"Oh okay," they took out a Lion Licker and threw it to their pet. "but no more until we're off-duty."
