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“This is a nice change of scenery.” Amethyst remarked, trailing a fingertip against the brick wall.
“It’s a prison cell.”
“I was being sarcastic, P.”
“How are we going to explain this?” Pearl fretted, sitting down on the cot opposite Amethyst.
“Hmm,” Amethyst stroked her chin, “you can always be honest. Say that you were driving recklessly for the sake of tracking down another mysterious pink-haired beauty.”
“That’s not a good enough reason.” Pearl hid her face in her palm, resting her elbow on her knee. “What will Greg say?”
Amethyst chuckled, “What will Garnet say?”
Pearl groaned at the thought and allowed her body to fall backwards on the thin mattress, covering her eyes with her arm. Amethyst was whistling a random song Pearl hadn’t recognized, and she turned her head to look at her. The purple gem was leaning against the wall as she sat on the cot, her eyes were closed, hands behind her head, looking as if nothing at all were wrong. The toes of her boots swayed back and forth to the tune.
After a few minutes, Pearl sat up again, hands fidgeting in her lap. She bit her lip nervously. “Amethyst.”
The whistling continued.
“Amethyst, I’m talking to you.” she raised her voice, leaning forward.
The whistling continued.
“AMETHYST!”
“Whoa, chill out P. What?” Wide eyes caught her.
Pearl sighed and hung her head. She mumbled something unintelligible.
“Come again?” Amethyst asked, quirking her eyebrows to express her confusion.
“I said,” Pearl picked up her head and looked across the small cell at her companion, “I may never get another chance to say this… but, I really like you.”
“What!?” Amethyst shrieked.
“Keep your voice down!” Pearl scolded just above a whisper. She crossed the room and sat next to Amethyst. “I-I don’t know how long we’ll be in here for, how much trouble we’re in, or if we’ll get to stay together. Last time we were kept in cells, we were separated, I didn’t know then if I’d get to even see you again. I almost told you then, but there was so much else going on.”
“Pearl, I had no idea you felt that way.” Amethyst was blushing slightly. “You’re not messing with me, right?”
“Of course not, this is serious.”
“Wow.” the shorter gem took a deep breath and let it out loudly between her lips.
“Wow what?”
Amethyst grinned sinfully. She leaned forward and took Pearl’s face between her palms, pressing against her for a kiss that surprisingly enough for Amethyst, was reciprocated in kind.
They broke apart, both with cheeks tinged a shade or two darker.
“I would have thought you’d spend the rest of your days pining after-”
Pearl tilted her head, urging Amethyst to continue with a lift of her eyebrows.
“Garnet, Bismuth, Rose. Even Jasper. Anyone but me.” the purple gem stared down at the floor, avoiding eye contact. She felt thin, cool fingers under her chin that raised her head and guided her line of vision back to Pearl. Her face was concerned but so full of warmth and kindness.
“It’s you, Amethyst. It’s been you for a long time.”
Amethyst grinned and surged into Pearl’s arms. “I’m glad you told me.”
Pearl placed her hand against the back of Amethyst’s head, fingertips dipping into the sea of lavender hair. “Me too.”
Abruptly, Garnet appeared at the cell door. “Let’s go, you two.” she stood seriously with her arms at her hips. Amethyst and Pearl froze for a moment with dumbfounded expressions, not sure how to explain the current situation. A thick eyebrow popped up above Garnet’s shades, questioning.
“We can explain!” Pearl cried, the blue tinged blush deepening on her cheeks. Amethyst scrambled away, equally flushed. “Yeah, Garnet! We were just… just… cold… yeah, cold! It’s kinda chilly in here, don’t you think?”
Pearl nudged Amethyst in disapproval without taking her eyes off the fusion.
“I bailed you out. Let’s go home.” Garnet stepped back, allowing an officer to unlock the cell, then he stepped back out of view. “Come on, no sense hanging around this… drafty… place.” Garnet urged playfully, leading the way out of the station. Amethyst and Pearl followed behind her.
“Besides,” Garnet suddenly spoke loudly, when they were outside the building, taking both of her companions by surprise, “you will have plenty of time to talk to each other about what to tell Steven. Your public restitution starts at 7am sharp tomorrow morning.” There was an unmistakable sense of glee in Garnet's tone.
The next morning, 3 hours into their ‘restitution’ as Garnet called it, Pearl sighed, signaling frustration and exhaustion. She threw down the trash grabber. “This is just too much. We save the Earth and defend it from enemy gems and we’re stuck picking up garbage from the side of the road like, like, like... delinquents !?” Pearl flailed her arms emphatically.
“Well, you were the one behind the wheel of the Dondai, Pierogi.” Amethyst grumbled back, handing Pearl back the picker she’d thrown down.
Pearl muttered under her breath and accepted the tool, and they completed the chore in relative silence. Every now and then one would catch the other staring a few seconds too long. Once, Pearl had winked at Amethyst, and Amethyst nearly tripped over herself. They sat next to each other on their break, Pearl trying desperately to clean the dirt off her face while Amethyst ate both their sandwiches. When they got home that evening, Garnet greeted them with a teasing grin, "Welcome home, Jailbirds, or should I say, lovebirds?"
Quickly, Amethyst launched a couch pillow at the tall cackling gem, and Pearl replaced it neatly soon after. Garnet opened her arms to them and they each sat beside her, in a content group hug as the fire blazed cozily nearby.