Chapter Text
37. “Wanna dance?”
“Wanna dance?” asked Garnet.
Pearl looked up from the intricate structure she was arranging out of the junk scattered across the room. “Dance?”
“Yes. Dance,” Garnet repeated. “Steven gave me songs and music to dance to. I would like to dance with you.”
Pearl carefully set down a soda can on top of a crumb-filled plate. She kept her face angled away from Garnet’s line of sight, aware of a blush creeping up her face. “Oh. Garnet. That’s very nice of you…to think of me.”
“You can arrange that later.” Garnet picked the next piece of trash out of Pearl’s hands. “I have already set up the music.”
“You have?” Pearl struggled to keep a calm composure—Garnet had been thinking of her already when she received the songs from Steven—and stepped away from the lopsided statue.
Garnet picked up the radio off the counter and pressed a button on top. She set the radio back down on the coffee table. Music unfamiliar to Pearl smashed through the air. Garnet began to dance with her usual style, hips moving, hands upturned—
Pearl couldn’t dance to this. She awkwardly tapped her feet, and tried to get a word into Garnet: “Garnet, are you sure this is the right music? I don’t know how to dance to this.”
“Just go with beat,” said Garnet. “Here.”
She stopped for a moment and took Pearl’s hands in her own. “You need to let go of sticking to a routine.”
They stepped back and forth for a few seconds, and just as Pearl was beginning to find a rhythm, Garnet spun her around and dipped her so far Pearl was certain her head brushed the floor but just as the sensation registered, they were off again. It didn’t take long for Pearl to adapt once she had let go of conformity to her usual style—
And then the song was over, and the next one started, and Pearl was certain her face must be a light blue shade by now because Garnet was an astounding dance partner and something was bubbling up inside Pearl like the soda in the soda can.
Their two styles blended together in a seamless combination of classical and modern—around and around the room they went until the music ran out and silence hung heavy over the suddenly quiet house.
Pearl stepped back, fingers still intertwined with Garnet’s. She flushed even bluer, and averted her gaze from the taller gem’s face.
Then, suddenly, Garnet leaned forward and gently kissed Pearl. A brief kiss that lasted an eternity—then Garnet said: “Thank you for being my dance partner.”
“You’re welcome.”