Work Text:
Ruby wasn’t really supposed to be in here. Pearl knew that. So did Ruby. But Morganite wouldn’t be back for hours and she never bothered checking her security feeds.
Besides, Ruby was technically still doing her job, guarding Morganite's chambers although that was supposed to be done from outside them. Pearl liked having Ruby here. It was better than being left alone.
Pearl shut off the screen, two hours of reorganizing useless computer files finally complete. It was boring an dull and that was exactly why Morganite always gave the task to Pearl. It was what Pearls were for after all.
Pearl turned around in her seat, smiling to see Ruby laying on the floor, mindlessly playing with her chakram.
“Ruby?”
Ruby sat up, her weapon dissipating, “Hey! Are you done?”
“With the files, yes. I have a few other tasks before Morganite gets back but… they can wait a bit.”
“Are you sure?” Ruby asked, standing up, “I mean, I don’t want you getting in trouble-”
“I have plenty of time,” It was always possible Morganite could return early. It wasn't likely. Her schedule was full and it was only partially Pearls fault.
Ruby smiled, glancing at the window as though you could see anything out of it, regardless of the fact that they were thirty floors up, the windows covered by real cloth curtains.
“Where did Morganite get her curtains?” Ruby blurted.
Pearl blinked, “What?”
“Her curtains,” Ruby repeated, feeling incredibly stupid. She pointed towards the window. They were old, pink in a way that matched Morganite although Ruby thought it matched Pearl better.
Pearl looked over to the window. “Oh, um..” her hand twitched, Pearl forcing it back into her lap. “I, uh, don’t remember.” She said quickly, turning back around, forcing herself to think about something other than Morganite's sodding illegal curtains.
Ruby’s shoulders slumped. She rubbed her arm. “I was just thinking… they're kind of pretty. Like you.”
Pearl blushed. She turned back around to see Ruby blushing as well.
Ruby had fixed her eyes on the floor, “I mean, of course you're pretty- just- I didn’t mean like-”
Pearl got up, kneeling in front of Ruby, nearly placing them at the same height. “I think you’re very pretty too.”
Ruby blushed even deeper if that were possible. She looked back up at Pearl. “Nah, I just look like all the other Rubies. You look like-”
“I look however Morganite wants me too,” Pearl finished for her. She felt her own blush deepening as she took Ruby’s hands. “You don’t look like every other Ruby. You look like you.”
Neither one of them was entirely certain what happened next. Ruby’s gem glowed, so did Pearls. And then neither of them was there anymore, everything suddenly bigger and wider an different. There was a small shriek and then they broke apart, staring at each other in shock.
Pearl let out a gasp, splayed on the floor with her eyes locked on Ruby. “Are we- oh stars…”
“M-Morganite is going to shatter us…” Ruby mumbled, finding herself unable to move at all.
Pearl spun away from Ruby, staring very pointedly at the wall. “No. No, she won’t. Not if she never finds out and we never ever do that again.”
Ruby nodded, her own gaze still locked on Pearl. “Right- we- d-doesn’t she have security feeds-”
“She never checks them. They aren’t even monitored,” Pearl pulled her knees up to her chest wrapping her arms around them. “I can go delete it. Before anyone sees and then no one will ever know.”
“What if someone stops you? Or-”
“They won’t-”
Their voices overlapped, both falling silent before Pearl began to speak again. “It’s surprising what you can get away with when you act like you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”
Ruby nodded slowly. She copied Pearl turning away and staring at the wall.
“Is fusing always like that?” Pearl asked.
“No!” Ruby said quickly, turning back to her. “I mean… I’ve never… never become a new person before… I’ve never had four eyes…”
“Or four arms,” Pearl added.
“Yeah,” Ruby agreed, smiling a little. It had felt different than fusing with other Rubies. Instead of just them whatever it had been had been something else entirely.
Ruby shifted, nervous about getting too close to Pearl again, who still had her eyes locked on the wall. “Have you… have you ever heard those stories? About, um, Rose Quartz-”
“I don’t want to talk about Rose Quartz.” Pearl said quickly.
“Right yeah. I just meant… The stories about that… fusion monster she fought with…?”
Pearl gnawed on her lip and nodded. “Yes… it was… it was part Ruby wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Ruby said. “And something else. A Lapis or something. I’m not sure.”
There was a long stretch of silence, Pearl staring at the wall while Ruby stared at her.
“I didn’t know Pearls could fuse,” Ruby blurted.
Pearl blinked, finally looking at Ruby, “What?”
“I mean,” Ruby shrugged, “I don’t know why you wouldn’t. I had just never thought about it before.”
“It’s not like we need to,” Pearl said, turning to face her, keeping several feet in between them. “Besides, we aren’t around each other the way other gems are.” Pearl ran a hand through her hair, mostly for something for her hands to do, her other arm wrapped around herself. “There are… other stories too…”
“About… fusion monsters?”
Pearl nodded, her fingers now twisting at a lock of her hair as she refused to make eye contact with Ruby. “It’s… I don’t think you would have heard this one- and it’s kind of stupid anyway-”
“What is it?”
“That um… the…” her eyes flicked up to Ruby’s, “that the Renegade Pearl could fuse with Rose Quartz on the battlefield… into a monster-” Pearl looked away again. “It’s stupid, Rose Quartz wasn’t even a gem-”
“Do you think the Pearl did?”
“I don’t know.” Pearl admitted, making eye contact again.
“I didn’t feel like a monster,” Ruby said. “When we were together.”
“I didn’t either.”
Pearl steadied herself as well as she could, somehow finding the energy to stand up. “You- you should go. Before anyone realizes you aren’t at your post. And I need to get the security footage deleted before someone decides to check it-”
Ruby stood up, knowing that Pearl was right. “Yeah, of course.” She didn't move any closer to Pearl, not wanting to try and touch her again. She tried to find something else to say, finally pointing across the room, back at the window. “The curtains are torn.” It was just a small tear. Ruby couldn’t remember if it had been there earlier.
Pearl nodded, “They’re old. I should fix it before Morganite gets back.”
Ruby nodded again. She turned to the door, pausing right as she was about to leave. “Pearl?”
“Yes?”
“It felt nice, didn’t it? The fusion?”
Pearl smiled. “Yeah. It did.”