Chapter Text
The warm summer sun shone over Beach City, blanketing the entire town in its humid embrace. All throughout town, people moved sluggishly, the summer heat making them tired and lethargic. To most, the sleepy atmosphere was a welcome respite. Between alien attacks, ‘natural’ disasters, and rebuilding crumbled buildings, the slow day proved to be incredibly relaxing.
That is, unless you were Pearl.
Whilst everyone else spent the day lounging or enjoying the fine weather, Pearl had spent the better part of the day gathering up every ounce of courage she could muster. Whether it was due to Steven’s pep talks, Amethyst’s teasing, or her own growing sense of yearning, Pearl found herself shakily holding her cell phone to her ear, her heart pounding as it continued to ring. Pearl sat herself down next to the kitchen counter as the other gems watched, her mind growing numb to the seemingly endless ringing.
“Hello?” a voice on the other end answered.
“Oh! H-hello!” Pearl jumped, “This is Pearl, from the concert. Is this…’S’?”
Pearl could hear the voice chuckle a bit before responding, “Yeah, but most people just call me Sheena.”
“Ah yes that uh...makes much more sense.” Pearl said, silently berating herself for honestly thinking this woman’s name was one letter long.
“So, tell me Pearl,” Sheena hummed, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“W-well…” Pearl stammered, “I was hope-er...wondering, if you’d like to..get together sometime?” Pearl could feel her face flush as the words left her mouth.
The other end was silent for a tense moment, “Yeah, sure.” Sheena responded, “Wanna meet up at The Big Donut? Say...in an hour?”
“That sounds perfect!” Pearl cheered immediately.
“Cool. I’ll see you then.”
Pearl hung up the phone, promptly breathing a heavy sigh of relief. Amethyst threw herself onto the counter, eyeing Pearl with a mischievous smile, “So, how’d it go?”
“I’m meeting her in town in an hour.” said Pearl.
“You did make sure to actually get her name this time, right?”
“Yes I did, her name is Sheena.” Pearl said matter-of-factly.
Amethyst turned towards Garnet and Steven, “You hear that guys? Pearl’s got a date with Sheena!” she hooted.
“Oh...please Amethyst. We’re just meeting up. That doesn’t mean anything.” Pearl blushed.
“Pearl, you could have gotten us arrested on the way to that concert, just for a chance to talk to her. The least you could do is admit that you like her.” Amethyst groaned.
Pearl’s eyes drifted to the painting of Rose above the door. A sharp pain shot through her chest as the tried to organize her thoughts, “I don’t know what I’m feeling.” she whispered.
“Aw cheer up Pearl,” Steven chimed in, “she obviously likes you enough to wanna see you again. Just go have fun!”
“Oh...I suppose. Garnet? Does your future vision see anything worth telling me?”
Garnet adjusted her visor slightly, silently gazing into unseen possibilities. After a quiet minute or two, she shivered and shook her head, “Uh...no. Not really.”
“Well...I ought to get going.” Pearl said as she stood to leave.
Pearl took a final fleeting glance at Rose’s picture before heading out the door. Pearl left behind a tense air that hung on the other gems like a lead vest. They shifted silently where they stood, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with one another. They each had a similar thought or two rattling around in their heads, but refused to let them out in the open. Steven whimpered quietly as he watched Amethyst’s cheerful expression drop.
“Aw come on…,” he said, “it can’t go that badly.”
“I don’t know,” Amethyst sighed, “Pearl’s still...getting over Rose. I’m happy for her but…” her voice trailed off for a moment, “Garnet, what did you see?”
“We need to head into town.” Garnet said simply.
“Is Pearl’s date really gonna be that bad?” Amethyst asked.
“No. We need to stop it from being that bad.”
*
Pearl moved at a brisk pace, the hot, muggy air making it somewhat of a chore. Her mind raced nearly as fast as her heart, her stomach tying itself in knots. Sheena’s voice still rang in the back of her mind, clear as a bell. The bemused laugh, the confidence flowing from her words, the relaxed way she seemed to say...well, everything. Pearl was almost envious, she could never seem to relax properly. Her growing anticipation mixing with sense of dread certainly wasn’t helping matters. Her legs felt like a rotting pair of stilts, barely supporting her as they struggled to move. She caught herself taking a few trembling, unnecessary breaths to try and calm herself down.
“What would Rose think?” Pearl chuckled weakly, “Seeing me, trying to...court a human?”
Pearl tried with every ounce of her being to push the thought away, but it refused to dwindle, even for a moment. Would Rose be supportive? Jealous? Would she have even cared? Pearl pondered these thoughts for the remainder of her trek, before finally arriving at The Big Donut. Her eye caught a glimpse of Sheena’s motorbike sitting in the parking lot, a black helmet perched on her handlebars. With a deep breath, Pearl made her way inside. She immediately heard a familiar voice.
“Hey Pearl! Over here!” Sheena waved.
Sheena had sat herself down at a table by the window. She held a cup of coffee in one hand, another one placed on the table. Pearl sat opposite of her, “Hello Sheena...is..this for me?” she stammered.
“Yeah,” she laughed, “I didn’t know how you liked it, so I just left it black. I can grab you some sugar or whatever if you want.”
“Oh no no! This is...fine.” Pearl said as she awkwardly took a sip of the bitter beverage.
“If you say so.” Sheena smirked, “I gotta admit, I was afraid you weren’t gonna call me.”
“Well I was planning on calling sooner, but I ended up having to help Steven recover his father from outer space.” Pearl explained.
Sheena slapped the table a few times as a fit of laughter overtook her, “Oh right, of course. I hate when that happens.”
The sarcasm soared over Pearl’s head like an out of control airplane, “Oh yes it was quite the journey. But I’d do anything for my little Steven.” Pearl chirped happily.
“Steven is like...your little brother, right?”
“Oh heavens no! I’m one of his guardians.”
“Woah, hold on. You’re...a mom? How old are you?” Sheena asked in bewilderment.
“About eleven-thousand, give or take a few hundred years. It gets tough to keep track after a while.”
Sheena snicked again, nearly spitting out her coffee, “Heh, right. I should’ve guessed.”
A tingle of unease ran down Pearl’s spine. Sheena didn’t seem to be taking her very seriously. Pearl brushed the thought away, “So...tell me. What do you do with your time?”
Sheena leaned back in her chair, “Well, when I’m not bustin’ my ass working, I’m riding around on my motorcycle or chilling in my room. Tryin’ to enjoy life, ya know? What about you?”
“Well, mostly I help defend the city from monsters.” Pearl smiled.
Sheena buried her face in her hands, growing red with breathless laughter, “Oh my god! You are too much!” she howled.
Pearl raised a confused eyebrow, “What are you-”
A heavy bang against the window cut Pearl short, forcing her to whip around in surprise. Her eyes widened at the sight of a gem monster writhing in pain on the sidewalk, Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven in hot pursuit of it. The creature resembled a spider, standing at about the size of a large dog. It was a deep blue, with a large gem sitting in the center of its back. The creature jumped to its feet, spewing a silver webbing from its mouth towards the attacking gems. The sticky substance entwined itself around Garnet’s legs, forcing her to trip and fall, knocking Amethyst over in the process. Steven skidded to stop, turning to help his fallen allies when the spider leaped for him. It pinned him under its many legs, baring its bladelike mandibles at him. WIthout hesitation, Pearl barreled through the door, spear in hand. She thrust her weapon into the monster’s body with all her might, causing it to wail out in agony. With a flick of her wrist, Pearl smashed it against the side of the building, poofing its physical form into nothingness. Pearl bubbled the gem with a sigh of relief.
“Are you all alright?” Pearl asked as she sent the bubble away.
“Yeah...we’re fine,” Steven said, “but uh...she might not be.”
Pearl turned around to see Sheena standing behind her, her eyes open in shock. Pearl sheepishly sent her spear away as she began to explain herself, “Oh my...Sheena, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know-”
“You’re...actually an alien? All that stuff you said...about going to space...fighting monsters….being made of light? That’s...real?” she stammered.
“You...didn’t believe me?” Pearl questioned.
“That...that’s….awesome!” Sheena bellowed.
“It is?”
“Are you kidding me?! Of course it is! I..I didn’t know what you were talking about at first but...you’re actually like...a smokin’ alien babe!” Sheena said with childlike giddiness.
Pearl began to blush, feeling herself melt under the human’s enthusiastic green eyes, “Uh...babe?”
Sheena threw a hand to her mouth, her face growing a deep red once she realized what she had just said, “.....Uh..ahem. I uh...lost my cool for a second there...heh..”
“It’s too late dude!” Amethyst called from a few yards away, “You can’t save this!”
“Amethyst, hush!” Pearl shouted back before turning her attention back to Sheena, “So you’re...not intimidated by this? Most humans are either frightened or generally apathetic of us. In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t heard of us.”
“I’ve only lived here a few weeks….I didn’t know all that stuff about “alien girls” living here was true! I thought it was like...a tourist trap thing!”
“Well I assure you, we’re very much real.” Pearl chuckled.
Sheena was still noticeably trembling, “This is….the coolest day of my life. H-hey, do you wanna...go out sometime? Like..on a real date? I’d love to get to know more about you….i-if you’re not too busy saving the world or something.” she said hopefully.
“O-oh!” Pearl flushed, “I...I would love to!”
Steven waddled over to Garnet and Amethyst, sitting on the ground next to them as Pearl and Sheena worked out the details of their date, “Looks like we stopped their date from being a disaster, right Garnet?”
Garnet looked down at him with a smile, “Mission accomplished.”