You stirred awake at the sound of a familiar, uncertain voice sounding at the edge of your nest. Despite being groggy, you lift your head up to smile warmly at the thin gem peeking in through the thick brush of your nest wearing a sheepish expression. "Mmn... hello pearl."
Her smile grew slightly as she steps in, carefully as to not mess up the lining or step on one of Centi's limbs. "She's right on time, everytime." Centipeedle idly chirped, watching pearl as she made her way over to you, who was resting against her body.
This routine has been happening so frequently that Centi has long since grown used to pearl's presence. Even if she still had her guard up, watching the pearl's every move, she didn't growl as much or brandish her pincers as much as she used to the first few weeks.
Pearl fiddled with her hands nervously as she knelt down next to you, looking at you for a translation, to which you snorted with amusement. "Don't worry. Centi's impressed with pearl's punctuality."
For a moment Pearl's eyes flashed with a look surprise but she quickly beams with pride, letting out a soft giggle. "Well, thank you." She then rubbed her hands in preparation, letting out a soft huff as she psyched herself up like she normally did. "Here we go." And with that, the checkup began like usual.
After running a hand over your soft fur, she started her inspection on your gem, which was a (color) (gem) that was located on your (location). She'd not only check for cracks or scuff marks, but she'd also make sure its glow was bright and vibrant which was like a health monitor to both you and the gemlings. "A perfect glow, as usual." Pearl noted, running a thumb over its smooth surface. She smiled in satisfaction. "Centipeedle truly is a good sire gem."
Centi preened at this, a rasped purr rumbling in her throat. "Of course! Only the best for my beloved!" She trilled in satisfaction, to which you let out a soft chortle in amusement and give her a lick on the muzzle. "My Centi."
Pearl smiled at your tender moment, feeling said smile slowly wilting at a sudden weight in her chest. "You both truly are something..."
"Hrm?" You turned to look at pearl, and you find that her expression had suddenly become sullen. "Pearl okay?"
Once you asked this question, she tensed up, feeling her face heat in modesty. "O-oh. I... I-It's nothing." She her voice trails off. Her cheeks suddenly flushed a light blue as she looked down at her lap, to avoid your now very concerned gaze. You frowned slightly at this. Amethyst said she was not very good at hiding her discomfort. "Pearl? What's wrong?"
She shrinks slightly, biting her lip in hesitance as she idly began to fiddle with her hands. "I... uhm..." After a moment of hesitance, She draws in a long breath. "I... About how I acted towards you when you first came to live here..." she started awkwardly, her face becoming more blue by the moment. "It wasn't... because I didn't like you."
Your eye squinted slightly in suspicion. She... never hated us? Pearl seemed so aloof with you both, that one would think otherwise.
"It... it was just... because I wasn't sure about your... sentience." She explained steadily. "I mean... we've dealt with unstable corruptions for so long... not even steven's mother was able to heal them. I... I wasn't sure how long it'd be until you'd... snap." She said with a wince.
"Ah." You replied dully. While you were glad to have had your suspicions about her skepticism about your control over your corruption confirmed, that didn't make it hurt any less. Pearl must have caught your face of discomfort, because she released a soft whimper of shame, bringing her knees upto her chest.
"I-I know... it was an awful assumption to make... I underestimated you both and I..." she takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, (name). To you and Centi."
"She... called us by our names?" Centi whispered, sounding almost stunned.
"You both are truly different from any corrupt gem we've come across. Your gemlings will be proof of that." A light blue tint suddenly spread across her cheeks as a small smile appears on her face. "And Rose... Rose truly would have loved you both. Loved you all."
There was a period of silence as you and Centi exchanged glances between each other.
"Pearl." You rolled onto your back, resting your back against centi's body which caught pearl's attention.
"Mm? Something wrong, (nam- oof!"
You wrapped your forearm around pearl's back and pulled her into a gentle side hug. "(Name) and Centi forgive pearl." You purred lightly. "Yeah. You're not as much as a nuisance as I thought you were." Centi trilled softly. Of course, pearl looked up at you, and you simply smiled. "She said pearl is a good gem."
Pearl smiled sider, letting herself sink into your chest fluff as she returned your embrace. Centi then wrapped herself around you both, in her own form of a hug. Pearl hummed contently at the warmth. "Hm... I can already tell you're both going to be excellent parents."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
You just smiled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the beach house, steven was playing video games on his TV and Ameythyst was doing her routine snack search.
They both heard the sound of the front door opening, and they both smiled upon finding pearl walking through the door, wearing a very large smile on her blushing face.
"Hi pearl!" Called steven, pausing his game to wave at her.
"Hello you two." Pearl greeted, her tone oddly lighter than it was when she first walked out.
Ameythyst took note of this, and regarded pearl with a curious smile. "Yo P, where have you been?"
Pearl chuckled, making her way over to the temple's door. "Just a simple check up." ~~~~~~~~~~
Kudos to whoever manages to recognize the way the dialog is written.~
