Work Text:
In the living room late in the evening, Garnet looks at her girlfriends. Slumped at opposite ends of the sofa, Pearl and Amethyst are absorbed in their gadgets, paying little attention to the movie on the TV and even less attention to Garnet. With the deadline of her book deal rapidly approaching, Pearl is trying to finish her novel, typing rapidly with her laptop perched on her lap; there is a permanent frown on her face, her body tense with anxiety. And Amethyst is equally busy, texting her colleagues at work; from what she has told Garnet, it appears no one is cooperating and they’re all in danger of getting in trouble with their boss. Basically, her girlfriends are busy and stressed, and Garnet knows things have been like this for a while now.
Not wanting to disturb them while they stress over work, Garnet doesn’t talk to Pearl and Amethyst for the rest of the evening, watching the movie with her feet tucked up under her legs. And she can’t help but sigh, unfortunately used to this.
---
When everyone finally goes to bed, Pearl and Amethyst notice Garnet’s gloomy expression. Pearl pulls her pyjama top on over her head and wanders over to Garnet, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Garnet, is there something wrong?” she asks, clearly confused.
Garnet smiles. “Not any more than usual.”
“I… I don’t understand,” Pearl says. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s that, P?” Amethyst says, wandering back into the room with her toothbrush in her mouth.
“There’s something wrong with Garnet,” Pearl says, walking over to Amethyst.
Amethyst stares at Garnet like she’s studying her, and then nods. “Yeah, there’s something wrong. Come on, Garnet, tell us all about it.”
Before Garnet has chance to change the subject, Pearl grabs her arm and she and Amethyst pull her onto the bed, sitting either side of her. Amethyst is still brushing her teeth, and smells strongly of mint.
“It isn’t anything, really,” she says. “I just… well, when was the last time we spent time together properly? We’re always busy with work and you two work so hard – some might say too hard,” she adds, shooting a look at Pearl and her badly bitten fingernails. “And we never go on dates anymore or even just spend time together as a…” Garnet trails off. “What do you even call a couple made of three people?”
“A triad?” Pearl suggests.
“Yes, that. We don’t do anything as a triad anymore. And it sometimes makes me rather sad, especially when I consider how our relationship used to be. I think something needs to change.”
When Garnet finishes talking, her girlfriends stare at her.
Amethyst tries to speak, but instead mumbles unintelligibly through her mouthful of toothpaste and has to make a dash to the bathroom. Returning without her toothbrush, she says, “Sorry about that. But… you’re right, Garnet.”
“Yes, you are,” Pearl says, despite looking slightly like she wants to cry. “And I don’t mean to spend so much time writing but it just stresses me out if I don’t write enough each day and I have to reach my deadline and—”
“Easy, P, calm down,” Amethyst says, cutting off Pearl’s increasingly distressed babbles.
Garnet puts her arm around Pearl and she leans against her, calming her breathing.
“Don’t get stressed out,” Garnet says. “It’s not worth it. And I don’t resent either of you for working so hard, especially you Pearl, even though I wish you wouldn’t overwork yourselves. I just wish we could have some time to ourselves that isn’t work related.”
“I wish I was as organised as you,” Amethyst says, reaching across Garnet to hold Pearl’s hand. She doesn’t say it, but Garnet knows she is talking about how Garnet never needs to take work home, because she is organised and methodical in her research work. But what isn’t fair about that comparison is that the medical lab doesn’t give Garnet ridiculous amounts of hours, whereas poor Amethyst is desperately overworked at the office. And Garnet doesn’t reply, but she gives Amethyst a smile which she hopes conveys all of these thoughts.
Once Pearl has calmed herself down, she smiles firmly and holds onto both of their hands. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t we have a date night this Saturday? You know, just like we always used to?”
Garnet smiles, remembering how, when they first started dating, the three of them had an ‘official’ date night every Saturday (the perfect day, because Garnet and Amethyst don’t work on Saturdays and Pearl happily does two days worth of writing the day before to have the day off also). They alternated between their personal favourite restaurants or had a takeaway or went to the cinema and just spent time together. She loves date nights so much.
“Yeah, that’s a great idea, P!” Amethyst says, grinning. “A date night, just like the old days!”
“I would like that very much,” Garnet says, and Pearl gives her a kiss. “Thank you.”
A while later, Garnet lies in bed with her girlfriends asleep on either side of her, thinking about their relationship and the upcoming date night. Pearl is curled up in the foetal position, her head nudging against Garnet’s arm. On her other side, Amethyst spoons against her back, her face pressed against Garnet’s neck. She isn’t uncomfortable being squashed like this (in fact, she finds it quite soothing), but it still takes Garnet the longest to fall asleep.
But when she finally drifts off to sleep with Amethyst snoring against her neck, Garnet wonders if they might finally be getting their relationship back on track.
---
Just as they promised, Pearl and Amethyst plan out a date night for that Saturday. And when Saturday comes around, they instruct Garnet to go and change into a smart outfit whilst they phone a taxi. Giving them a funny look, Garnet heads off and changes into her best dress (a knee-length purple dress with a sparkly black belt and purple boots). And when she goes back downstairs, she finds that Amethyst and Pearl are also dressed – but wearing outfits she has never seen before.
Amethyst looks smart and tidy (for once) in a dark purple suit with a lilac blouse, while Pearl looks elegant in a long, flowing turquoise dress. They both smile and Amethyst says, “Ta-da!” as Pearl hands her a wrapped present.
“You look beautiful, Garnet,” Pearl says. “We thought we needed a new outfit each, because ours were looking a bit…”
“Shabby?” Amethyst suggests.
“Yes, shabby. Do you like our outfits?”
“You look beautiful, both of you,” she says, smiling.
She unwraps her present and finds herself looking at a handbag. Made of soft black leather, the bag has gold clasps and a keyring attached to the strap.
“Do you like it?” Pearl asks.
“It’s… lovely,” Garnet says, incredibly grateful to have received such a special (and clearly expensive) gift.
“Look at the keyring!” Amethyst babbles, clasping her hands together in excitement.
Garnet turns over the keyring, and sees that it contains a photo of her, Amethyst and Pearl. It’s from a date night over two years ago, when Amethyst took a selfie of them in their favourite restaurant. In the photo, the three girlfriends are squashed close together, grinning broadly at the camera and looking so happy.
She smiles, not ashamed to find her eyes filling with tears. “Thank you… thank you, both of you. This is so wonderful. This is all so wonderful.”
Amethyst pulls her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad.”
Pearl kisses her. “Me too.”
Outside, a horn honks.
“Hey, that’s the taxi,” Amethyst says.
Garnet is reluctant to leave the hug, but she smiles and holds both of her girlfriend’s hands. “Right, then. Let’s go on this date night.”
And, together, they head off to have a date night just like they always do. And Garnet hopes this isn’t going to be the last one, because going on date nights with her girlfriends is one of her favourite things in the whole world.