May I request Jaspearlnet and cuddling, please? :D
Jaspearlnet post-series cuddles!
There was never enough time.
Life on Earth was paradoxical and strange, and a year after her healing, Jasper didn’t truly understand it. Seven months into folding into Garnet and Pearl’s strangely open relationship, she understood even less. Time was fleeting and days were short, and somehow, Amethyst found time to sleep sprawled out on the floor for Jasper to trip over, but her lovers were always moving. Always working.
Homeworld had been strangely silent, hadn’t sent anyone to Earth, hadn’t sent probes or messages—the reprieve was nice, but didn’t make sense. But that didn’t stop Garnet and Pearl from going out on missions, sometimes with the rest of the Gems now living in the beach house.
Garnet was gone more frequently, but Pearl never slept without prompting. Jasper understood, fundamentally, that Gems didn’t need sleep, and that Pearl wasn’t as defective as she had seemed when they first met, but it was something all the other Crystal Gems seemed to do with some regularity.
Pearl, however, showed her exhaustion more openly than Garnet did. Jasper watched from the couch as she faltered in her meticulous dismantling of some human contraption that probably needed replacing more than refurbishing, blindly digging through her toolbox in search of something primitive.
The warp lit up, a blinding blue light that Jasper should have been accustomed to, but that still made her squint and see stars. She turned her gaze away from Pearl and smiled thinly at the fusion.
“She’s gonna be at it all day,” Garnet remarked dryly, and Jasper huffed in exasperation. She knew Pearl well enough to know that already, but having Garnet confirm it wasn’t comforting.
“I’m bored,” Jasper grumbled, and Garnet knew that, too. “She hasn’t stopped fusing wires and who-cares-what else to that stupid cube since Steven and Amethyst left for donuts.”
“Sit tight,” Garnet said, slipping past the table and behind Pearl without making a sound. Not that the alabaster Gem was likely to notice when she was engrossed in tinkering on the kitchen island. But Garnet waited a moment for Pearl to reach again for her tools before catching her hand, and Jasper barked out a laugh at the undignified squawk Pearl made.
“Break time,” Garnet purred into Pearl’s ear, tugging her gently away from her work. Pearl might have protested if Garnet weren’t guiding her by the hip, might have insisted on more than putting down her goggles before getting pulled completely away from Steven’s game system, but Garnet maneuvered her with an expert hand, guiding her like they were dancing, and Pearl couldn’t tell her no.
Jasper didn’t like to admit that she, too, had trouble denying Garnet. But the fusion was sensual and insistent and knew her lovers very, very well—so much so that Pearl didn’t question the languid dip Garnet leaned her into across Jasper’s lap, and only squeaked when Garnet dropped her the last few inches into the quartz’s waiting arms.
“Pearl,” Jasper’s voice was a low rumble, and the tension in her shoulders faded quickly. Pearl shifted a little awkwardly across Jasper’s knee, reaching up to brush her bangs away from her piercing eyes. “It’s been six hours.”
Color dusted Pearl’s cheeks, and she glanced to Garnet, who sat at Jasper’s side with a broad smirk on her ace. “Oops?” Pearl managed, “I… lost track of time.”
“Time to take a break,” Garnet declared, reaching around Jasper’s shoulders in a loose hug. Jasper never thought she’d be used to the casual affection Garnet displayed, or the ease with which she seemed to make herself comfortable against her side. Pearl, by contrast, was unexpectedly awkward for her caste; hesitant some days and bold others. She was gangly and awkward despite her beauty, and graceful when she danced, but uncertain with her feather-light touches.
It had been months, and Jasper was still surprised on the rare occasions that Pearl made a move. So when her smaller lover leaned up to press a kiss to her cheek, Jasper flushed, instinctively curling an arm around her lithe frame.
“It looks like you have something in mind,” Pearl said, and Garnet chuckled, blowing a tuft of Jasper’s hair away from her face.
“I can think of a few things,” Garnet said, sliding a partially gloved hand over Jasper’s shoulder and down her arm, tracing a familiar vivid stripe. “But I wouldn’t want Jasper to be bored…”
“I swear on the stars, Garnet, if you’re going to tease me and leave me on this couch to deal with the consequences—“
Pearl giggled, rearranging herself in Jasper’s lap to curl closer. Her exhaustion wasn’t forgotten, and truth be told, she didn’t think she could keep up with Jasper or Garnet’s… enthusiasm. “I think I’ll have to owe both of you another time, if that’s what you have in mind,” she admitted, and the look that Garnet and Jasper shared was one of surprising understanding.
“Another time,” Jasper said quickly, although she would have enjoyed that. She leaned down to dust a kiss over Pearl’s lips and cheek, slipping her opposite hand around her lower back. “I can be content with both of you for now. Like this.”
“We don’t have long,” Garnet cautioned them, and Jasper huffed in annoyance.
“We never do,” Pearl admitted, returning Jasper’s kiss before pushing herself up to give Garnet one as well. “But we can make the most of the next few hours, I’m sure.”
Jasper made a show of grumbling about it, but she sprawled across the couch and tugged Pearl into her arms, and Garnet nestled in on top of them without teasing her at all.