Pearl blinks widened eyes up at Garnet, unsure as to what triggered this shift, the sudden intensity behind her gaze. Even without understanding, she can feel heat creep to her cheeks at the tender brush of fingertips.

And then Garnet speaks, and that single word makes the heat flare up so sharply that Pearl's convinced she's letting out steam. She was only joking, but when Garnet says things like that, looking at her like that, touching her like that, Pearl can feel her reach into her very chest and just-- God, she doesn't know. Release an en entire swarm of butterflies.

The first response she can think of is to cover her burning face with her hands. "Garnet, you're embarrassing me," she manages with a laugh from behind them, though the way her voice shakes is altogether too telling.