"So... are you feeling any better?" Sadie warily asked while she watched Quentin drink his second cup of coffee.

"Sadie, I can only say 'I'm fine' so many times before the words start to lose their meaning," Quentin said placing the cup back down on the table and picking up another jelly doughnut.

"But, yes, the coffee and doughnuts did their job. Thank you."

"Quentin, please, you're obviously not 'fine.' You looked like you were about to drop dead when you walked in."

Quentin froze, doughnut near his mouth, as he looked to Sadie seated across from him and saw the pained look of concern on her face.

"Listen," he sighed. "I just had a little trouble sleeping last night, alright? Nothing to worry about."

"Trouble sleeping?" From her voice, Quentin could tell that she was unconvinced.

"Yeah," he said before taking a bite of the doughnut. He chewed it slowly, savoring the tart flavor of the raspberry jelly.

Sadie wanted to press the issue further and she fully intended to do so. But just then she was interrupted by a certain ill-tempered teen.

"Gah!" the sound of Lars' shouting could be heard from the backroom, followed immediately by him storming into the room and leaning up against the counter in frustration.

"What is it, Lars?" Sadie asked turning in her seat to face him.

"It's the air conditioner repair people; they're impossible! They were supposed to fix the stupid thing last week! Now, they put me on hold for half an hour just so that they could tell me that no one was available to fix it! Apparently, no one's gonna be able to even come look at it until sometime next week! I couldn't even schedule an appointment because the guy who does that was on his break!"

"Well, now that's no way to run a business," Quentin said as he finished another doughnut.

"You're telling me," Lars grumbled. Suddenly realization flashed across Lars' face. "Wait a second. Quentin, you're here!"

"You certainly have a firm grasp of the obvious," Quentin said dryly, prompting a small chuckle from Sadie.

"Yeah, yeah," Lars grumbled, "could you take a look at the air conditioner?"

"Well, I suppose so. I've got my toolbox out in the jeep."

"That would be totally awesome of you. I really didn't want to have to call them again."

"Are you sure about this?" Sadie interjected. "I mean are you sure you're up for this right now?"

"Sadie please, for the last time I'm alright. I just need something other than doughnuts in my stomach. And besides, it will probably be a simple fix. So I'll tell you what we'll do. You two buy me lunch today and we'll call it even. I'm thinking pizza."

Sitting on the ground behind the building, Quentin looked over the air conditioning unit. He wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with it. From what he could see it should have been working perfectly.

"Nothing looks broken and nothing seems to be missing. Well, at least that's something." He thought aloud to himself before helping himself to a piece of the pineapple and bacon pizza that Lars and Sadie had bought for him. "It should be working now. Maybe there's a problem with one of the vents."

"Hey what do you think you're doing?! Get back here!" he heard Lars yell.

Curious, he poked his head through the doorway to see what the commotion was. "What's going on?" he asked Sadie.

"Some kid just ran off with all the ice cream sandwiches."

"I guess I'd better go see if we have any left in the back." Lars groaned. "Those better not come out of my paycheck!"

"Right. Well, back to work then," Quentin remarked as he returned to the task at hand.

Things were hardly ever dull in the Universe household. There was usually something going on; good or bad, and sometimes just straight-up bizarre. Unfortunately for Pearl, today was the second of the three. The Gems had heard that Steven's favorite ice cream treat, Cookie Cats, was going to be discontinued. Knowing how much he loved them, they had planned on stocking up on them so that he could continue to have them for a little while longer. Amethyst had volunteered to go get them herself, but unfortunately, her method of obtaining them wasn't exactly legal. Instead of buying a large supply of the frozen treats, as Pearl had suggested, Amethyst had gone out and simply took as many as she could carry (which was all of them) from multiple stores all over town and ran off with them without paying and now it was once again Pearl's responsibility to go and clean up after Amethyst's shenanigans.

Having spent the majority of the morning revisiting every place that Amethyst had robbed, Pearl had finally reached the final location; the Big Donut. Upon entering she noticed only one person at the counter. Sadie, she believed her name was.

"Um, hello." Pearl began nervously. "I believe this is yours," she said placing some money on the counter.

"Uh, what for?"

"For the ice creams that Amethyst took earlier today."

"Oh!" Sadie exclaimed in realization. "That was Amethyst?"

"Yes, it was. Sorry about that." Pearl apologized looking more than just a little embarrassed. "I hope this won't be a problem."

"Oh, no. No problem at all." Sadie replied as she counted out the money. "We haven't reported it yet and, seeing as everything has been paid for, I really don't see any reason to."

Click, Click, Click...

Whoooosh

"Aha! There we go!" a voice came from the back room.

Pearl felt an uneasy feeling wash over her. She knew that voice.

Suddenly a man emerged from the back room carrying a pizza box in one hand, and a toolbox in the other. He set them both down and leaned up against the counter lazily. It was Quentin. It seemed that Pearl's bad day had just gotten worse.

"Quentin! You fixed the air conditioner!" Sadie cheered.

"Yes, no more of that obnoxious clicking as I'm sure you've noticed. There actually wasn't anything wrong with the unit itself..."

Pearl stood in silence watching the two talk. She was always a little awkward around humans; she just didn't understand them, and as a result, she always felt more comfortable with as much distance between her and them as possible (with very, very, few exceptions). But this man was something else.

The two of them never saw eye to eye. He was perhaps one of the few humans she had met, in her very long life on Earth, that she actually had a strong dislike for. Now, of course, she wouldn't say that she outright despised him (she was far too polite for that) but it came very close. He was an uncivilized, ill-mannered slob who seemed to lack even the most basic of social etiquette skills. His hair was always a mess, his clothes were always dirty, and he could hardly ever maintain eye contact when he was talking with someone.

All of that combined with his cold, antisocial nature and his near-constant gruff and sullen attitude made him, in Pearl's opinion, the absolute worst possible role model for an impressionable, young adolescent like Steven. But unfortunately for her, just about everyone else disagreed and Steven saw him as a part of his family and nothing that she ever said or did seemed to make a difference. It also didn't help matters that Steven's father, Greg, regarded him as one of his oldest and closest friends.

As the conversation between Sadie and Quentin wrapped up, and he turned to leave, for a brief moment his eyes met hers. She felt a wave of what she could only describe as an electric surge wash over her. It was a peculiar and uncomfortable feeling, but one that she was very familiar with.

"Um, hello," Pearl offered a greeting, not wanting to be rude.

"Hi." he returned the greeting coldly, quickly averting his gaze and putting on his sunglasses. He slid up his sleeve and examined his watch. "It's getting late. I have to go now, I have things I need to do." He picked up his things and started towards the exit.

"Oh, right," Sadie said awkwardly, "see you later, I guess. Take care of yourself, okay?" Sadie called after him. "Get some sleep."

"Right, right. See you around." He said absentmindedly stepping through the door.

Not long after he had left the building, the sound of an engine could be heard starting up outside before fading to silence as he drove away. With Quentin now gone, and the uneasiness leaving Pearl, for the time being, she returned her attention to Sadie and noticed the downcast look on her face.

"Is everything alright?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Sadie sighed sadly as she wiped down the counter with a damp cloth. She wiped the counter back and forth for a moment before turning to face Pearl, nervously kneading the cloth in her hands, "Actually, do you think you could do something for me?"

"What is it?"

"It's Quentin..." she sighed. "Do you think that maybe you could talk to him for me?"

On the way back to the temple, Pearl thought about what Sadie had said about Quentin. It had all taken her by surprise at first; According to Sadie, Quentin and her mother had been friends since before she was born. Pearl wasn't even aware that they were on a first-name basis with each other. She always saw Quentin as the kind of person that didn't really have the time, nor any actual desire for friends (or social interactions of any kind for that matter). Sure, Greg and Quentin were friends, but being friends with Greg is hardly a challenge. Greg was one of the most laid-back and easy-going people in the world, unlike Barbara.

Barbara Miller was one of, if not, the most cheerful and outgoing person she had ever seen; a stark contrast to Quentin's somber and introverted nature. It didn't make any sense; they were practically polar opposites, and yet Sadie claimed that the two of them had a very close relationship. Or at least they used to.

Sadie went on to say that they had been seeing less and less of Quentin lately. They didn't think too much of it at first, bearing in mind his reclusive lifestyle, but eventually, they began to notice that something wasn't quite right. However, whenever one of them brought it up, he always said that he was fine and that they shouldn't worry so much about him.

"I know he's lying", Sadie said. "I know there's something wrong with him and it's getting worse, but no matter what I say or do he just shrugs it off and changes the subject. Do you think that maybe you could help?"

Now talking to Quentin wasn't an activity that was very high on Pearl's to-do list. The two of them weren't really on speaking terms, to begin with; a fact that she was quick to point out. If there was someone who could get him to open up, it definitely was not her. But Sadie already had a backup plan; Pearl may not be on good terms with Quentin, but Steven was.

Now, Pearl really didn't like that idea. She took great care to ensure that Steven had good role models in his life, and Quentin was definitely not one of them. She may not have had much choice back when Steven was a great deal younger and needed twenty-four-seven supervision (she could still hardly believe that the others thought he was a suitable choice for a babysitter), but now that Steven was old enough to be left on his own, she saw no reason for Quentin to be involved in Steven's life any further.

Pearl was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that she had already made it to her room, the door now closed behind her. She sighed anxiously. She was conflicted.

She wanted absolutely nothing to do with Quentin, yet she couldn't find the strength to deny Sadie's request for help. She had no choice but to desperately look for an escape, a loophole, any way that she could find to get out of this, and she believed she found one; she told Sadie that the next time she and Steven crossed paths with Quentin, they would try to talk to him. Now all she could do was hope that moment never came.

"Shouldn't be a problem," she reasoned, "we hardly ever see him as is."

She did her best to Quentin out of her mind. But something that Sadie said stuck in her thoughts.

"I know there's something wrong with him and it's getting worse..."

Suddenly Pearl remembered his eyes. She always felt unnerved whenever he looked her way. His gaze was intense; it always felt like he wasn't looking at her, but rather through her, to her very soul. But this time, there was something else in those eyes beneath the usual cold fury; a weariness, and perhaps just a trace of something else. Guilt perhaps? She, however, was quick to dismiss this thought. Surely, she imagined it. She had never known Quentin to be the remorseful type from what she could see. He wasn't the kind of person to hold on to regrets, was he?