Part 2:Another Try
On the little blue planet several light years away from Homeworld, Mr Greg Universe was just climbing up the stairs to the temple where his son lived with the Chrystal Gems. Wheezing he stopped and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Have it always been that many steps?", he asked himself as his gaze wandered further upwards, past the little house the gems had built for Steven. All the way up to the strange gem godess that was carved out of the cliff. He could spot something pink waving to him from up there and realized it was one of Steven's shirts. That was where they hung his laundry to dry?! Suddenly Greg was more than happy to climb the remaining steps to the little wooden house as long as it meant he never had to climb the stairs that lead up there.
He hardly ever visited the gems at home, but today was different. He wanted to take Steven and Connie to their first ever Monster Truck Palooza. The kids really deserved a little break after what had happened with Jasper. Greg hadn't fully understood what's up with this corruption business, but what he had understood was that the kids – and the gems for that matter – were going through a rough time and a good old Monster Truck Palooza was exactly the kind of distraction they needed.
He knocked on the door. While he waited, the smell of salt water that was inherent to Beach City mixed with another smell. Greg took a sniff and wrinkled his nose. What was that stench? It was a stench that bit his nose and made his stomach sob, just like... "Someone's burning pancakes!", he exclaimed in horror and hammered on the door, demanding to be let in.
A moment later the door was torn open and a very irate Pearl stood in front of him, glaring. "What is it?! I am very busy!" Something behind Pearl loudly blew up. "Oh no, what now?" she hurried back into the kitchen, Greg following.
What he found was a mess of a kitchen. "Looks like the flour and egg department had a war with milk and sugar...", he picked the remains of a pan up from the floor, it had a hole blown into it, "...and a nasty one too."
Pearl wasn't listening, she was busy trying to damp down the fire that was rising from the stove and slowly burning the shelves above. Considering that she was using her apron for it she was doing a fairly good job.
"Don't just stand there!" she shrieked at Greg. "Do something!"
Greg jumped and seized the faucet. He aimed for the burning stove but still managed to flood most of the kitchen including Pearl. When the fire had died down he expected her to glower at him, but she simply sighed and slumped down on a chair at the counter.
Awkwardly, Greg put the faucet down. Ever since their trip to Empire City his and Pearl's relationship had somewhat improved. They could spent time alone together without that hostile silence that usually prevailed most of the time. That didn't mean they actively sought out each other's company either. Steven had helped bridging the gap between them, but the bridge looked fragile and neither Greg nor Pearl had dared using it very much in case it might not hold out.
"So", Greg started slowly, "you were... cooking?"
"Obviously", Pearl replied, not unfriendly.
Greg rubbed his neck. He glanced at the burned stove, trying to come up with something else to say. Finally he said, "well, I always tell Steven-", at the same time Pearl started, "it wasn't as successful as I hoped-" and both of them blushed.
"I didn't mean to interrupt you", Pearl spluttered.
"No, no. Go ahead!" Greg tried and once more they cut each other off. Eventually Pearl gestured for Greg to start so he said, "why were you trying to cook?"
"'Trying' sounds about right", Pearl said, looking down. "It is usually Steven or Amethyst who do the cooking. And it looks so simple when Amethyst does it too, so I thought", she shrugged, "why not give it a try?"
"Well, of course it looks easy when Amethyst does it", Greg said. "She just puts together whatever and ends up eating the packaging." Pearl gave a weak smile so Greg felt it safe to ask, "what were you trying to cook anyway? Never thought you were a big fan of eating."
"Oh, I'm not! I wanted to make pancakes for Steven and Connie. They are out on their first training mission by themselves and I thought they might appreciate the treat. Also... since Steven made me absolutely-not-cheating-pinky-promise that I wouldn't follow them to keep an eye on the mission... and Garnet locked the warp pad after them... I kind of needed a distraction."
Greg smiled. That the gems were so worried about Steven all the time was one of the reasons why he managed to survive thinking about his son being out there, doing all that magic-stuff. "That's ni- Wait, that mission is today?!" Greg hit his forehead with his palm. "I really am getting old. I forgot all about it... Looks like the monster truck palooza will have to go down without us."
"Monster... Truck... Palooza?" Pearl repeated, slowly, as if trying to figure out if those words made any sense if used together.
"Yeah, it's a big thing, if you're- uhm, if you're into monster trucks. Steven and Connie have been wanting to go for ages. I guess both of us thought the kids deserve a little break after... everything really. Well," he pushed up his sleeves and grinned at Pearl, trying to encourage her. "Just because they won''t be here in time for my palooza doesn't mean we can't give yours another try and save it."
"But I burned all the required ingredients", Pearl argued.
"Who needs milk, eggs and flour to make pancakes? We'll just improvise like all the great chefs do!" Greg fetched a new pan. "What do you say?"
Pearl squirmed in her seat, unsure. Finally she shrugged and joined Greg at the stove, mimicking his pushing-up-the-sleeves-motion. "Sure, why not give it another try?"