Glittering Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Five

After Steven finished betting with Amethyst, I felt mental exhaustion fall upon me, as did my body due to the time I spent underwater with Malachite.

Sluggishly, I settled down on the sand, letting my shoulders drop as I heaved out a sigh. I felt as if bricks had been thrown on my shoulders, and I sensed the need to 'sleep' more than ever now.

"Are you alright?" The pale Pearl asked, noticing my sudden change from shock to tiredness as she stood kneeling on one knee right in front of me.

I felt her hands settle over my arms in attempt at getting me to face with her. I did just that – offering her a weak smile as I nodded to her question.

"Yes. . ." I trailed off. "I am just a bit tired."

"A bit?" Amethyst chimed in, arching an eyebrow. "You look like you've been through Hell and back."

I could see Pearl send a glare at her direction before turning back to me, empathy prevalent over her features. Carefully, she took my chin in her hand, lifting my gaze to meet with hers as her eyes squinted in observation.

Her short hair tickled my cheeks as she continued to get closer, her focus seeming to have moved on from inspecting the state of my health to something else.

Everyone around us kept silent, the sudden and strange tension between Pearl and I growing as one of her hands proceeded to reach out for my cheek, the warmth of her touch making my already weak state hazier than before.

As she continued with her proximity, she was interrupted by a loud ringing noise, followed by a familiar voice interrupting the silence that had suddenly grown between everyone.

"You've been staring at (Y/N) for the past thirty seconds." Peridot's voice spoke, making us turn towards Steven, who held a communicator in his hand, the image of the green Gem present to our eyes. "Do you require an expert on Diamonds for assistance, Pearl? Or is this the way Earth has taught you? Is this that flirting tactic Steven's told me about? . . . And the reason why Garnet is mumbling to herself right now?"

I could see Pearl retreat her hand as she stood up from kneeling over the sand, taking in a breath before turning to Peridot, embarrassment present over her stare.

Though I was not exactly aware of what the term 'flirting' meant, I figured this meant a great deal for her to react this way. It seemed that Pearl was not too happy at the teasing.

As for Garnet. . . I wondered what her expression was, as it seemed that she was blushing herself, too.

"Peridot, hush!" Pearl exclaimed.

I noticed her face was still flushed, though it made me wonder about this 'flirting' thing and wondered if it had to do with something personal.

"Not so sure about Amethyst, however. . . Maybe flirtation is in decline for her? Further testing is required."

"No way I'm flirting with this dork." Amethyst replied, a grin playing on her lips. "No offense, (Y/N), but I'm not into that kinda stuff."

Though I still did not understand what the terms 'flirting' and 'flirtation' meant, I figured Peridot was saying that Amethyst did not have the skills to do so, which she clarified in the conversation. It caused the purple gem to gape at the smaller one – speechless – not sure of what to say in that moment, before she grumbled to herself, saying something along the lines of 'I'll show her and that dorky green jelly bean'.

***

After exchanging a few conversations with the green Gem, Steven hung up on her with one final goodbye, allowing for Pearl to focus back on the task at hand.

Unlike the first time she began to inspect me, she now appeared more firm and serious in her actions, her hands keeping away from reaching out too much for me as her eyes scanned me for any harmful or dangerous wounds. This lasted until she locked her gaze on my wrists, which were covered by the sleeves of my outfit pulled firmly over them.

Raising an eyebrow, her hand reached out for them, revealing my gemstone, which had lost some of its natural colour. In contrast to the deep black it usually carried, it was now paler – almost grey, even.

The sight seemed to shock her as she leaned back, eyes growing lightly with surprise.

Before she could say anything about it, Steven rushed over to my side, his expression showing off panic as he knelt down in front of me, taking my wrist as he furrowed his eyebrows while inspecting it. My Pearl and the rest of the Crystal Gems surrounding us remained in tense wait for the boy to speak up.

"No wonder you got exhausted – You need to let your gem breathe!" The boy spoke, genuine concern showing off through his voice as he stared at me with a frown. "That's dangerous! Why'd you do it?"

"I did not think it would've affected me that much. . . " I admitted, looking down at my gemstone. "To be truthful, I was never taught over how to care for my gemstone, as I was always kept bubbled from danger."

I tried not to bring up the reason why I covered it up in the first place, not wanting to surface the topic of how I'd been hiding away from almost everyone I caught sight of, in fear that they might discover me and attack me for the diamond engraved in my wrist.

Everyone present seemed to relax a little when hearing my confession, apparently relieved to know that the sickly, pale tone of my diamond was mainly due to me keeping it hidden under a cloth.

"You need to rest for a while now." Steven advised, offering me a hand to assist me with standing up.

Once I was back on my feet, I smiled at him and curtsied before speaking up.

"Thank you." I began. "And I apologize for this – I did not intend to make you worry."

Shortly after me saying those words, Steven smiled back at me, keeping his hand over mine as he gestured with a cheerful tone that I followed him to his home until I was fully able to recover from the aftermaths of today's events.

"You and BP can stay at our house until you're feeling better!" He encouraged, leading us both to a route back to his home.