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Oh... [Her offer catches him by surprise. It's a lot more than she's given him in the past, and it's certainly more than he expected.] Um. Yeah, that'd be great, thanks.

[A pause. Okay, he can do this. This is his house, dammit. He shouldn't feel awkward in his own house, especially when he agreed to this arrangement. And especially when he feels it's his fault things are so awkward in the first place.]

H-hey, um, Pearl. Listen, I... [Breathe, Kor, breathe.] ...I'm sorry for the way I flew off the handle like that at you before. I let my emotions get the best of me, and I shouldn't act that way towards anybody. Especially not Steven's guardian.

[ She wasn't expecting to get a proper apology. She pauses and listens with hunched shoulders. She's still angry about some of the things Kor said, and she can't stop it from showing on her face. ]

Yes, you shouldn't have.

[ But then she sighs and starts to heat their kettle, setting out a cup for him. It feels like her fault it got so out of control in the first place, and she does appreciate what he's saying. ]

But I should have handled the situation more sensitively. I just didn't realise that you two had become so close as to... talk about things like that.

[Kor takes a seat at the kitchen table, in front of the cup she'd set for him.] Steven... doesn't usually talk about that kinda stuff. He'd rather bottle it up and pretend everything is fine. [But Kor doesn't need to tell Pearl, since he's hoping she realizes Steven's tendency to do that.]

It led to a pretty bad situation once where those feelings overwhelmed him, and I had to go inside his Spiria to set things straight. [...] That's how I learned about that stuff.

[ Her silence is telling. Of course she knows Steven does that. And she can make some solid guesses about where he gets it from, because the Gems aren't great at knowing how to help him open up. Especially not Pearl. Steven is the one who taught it to them.

She waits until the kettle whistles and the tea is poured to speak again, using her hand to guard him from any backsplashing. ]

What is a Spiria? I never knew Steven had one. There's... He's never mentioned it to me.

[ She actually sounds kind of anxious. None of the child rearing books she's read mentioned the importance of Spirias. Is this another thing Steven has been hiding from her? ]

[Kor shakes his head, trying to dismiss Pearl's concerns.]

Everyone's got a Spiria. [He picks up his cup, blowing on it a few times to attempt to cool it down before he takes a sip. ...Blech, too bitter. He makes a face, before reaching for the sugar, hoping to sweeten the tea before drinking it further.]

People, animals, robots... Even you. The Spiria's the part of your self that makes up your emotions, thoughts, and feelings. [...] But only people in my world know about it.

[ Although she rolls her eyes at his needless sugar consumption, she pushes the plate of cookies over his way too. If he's going to go looking for sweetness, he might as well have something decent for it. ]

..No. I'm sure I'd know if I had one of those.

[ She crosses her arms, leaning her hip against the counter. Gems are superior to humans and robots. She certainly wouldn't have something inside her that she didn't know about. How could that even happen? ]

But this one of Steven's, you went inside his emotions? What... [ 'was wrong with him' she wants to ask, but that's rather invasive. ] Was Steven alright afterwards?

[Kor would refute Pearl's claim that she doesn't have a Spiria, because he knows that's not true. To claim you don't would be to claim you don't emotions. And Kor's pretty positive Pearl has those. ...But that's a conversation for another time.

He gratefully takes one of the cookies, offering Pearl a smile before he bites into it.]

Right. He wasn't in good shape, but... I managed to get him straightened out.

[There's a pause.]

He... had a lot of hangups about his mom, y'know.

[ She nods. Whatever else she feels, she's grateful that Kor cares so deeply. At least she can trust that he'd watch out for Steven if there was trouble.

But he brings up Rose and Pearl goes stiff. The temperature in the room drops like a plunge into a cold ocean. Steven's "hangups" are something that have sat in the background for years now, but Pearl has only very recently discovered how deep they run, when it's far, far too late. But it could never be Rose's fault that things ended up this way. Which means it has to be Pearl's.

She's trying to think of how to explain this all to Kor, how to ask him if he knows why Steven feels this way, or if there's something she could do... And still the first thing out of her mouth ends up being: ]

Rose Quartz was wonderful. I keep thinking Steven finally understands, but then we have the same arguments again and he... he gets so upset.

She was. --Err, I mean, she seems like it! [Totally not suspicious at all, Kor.]

I think... I got him to understand, though. [He can't be entirely sure about that, or at least he can't be sure Steven won't backslide, but... he feels confident that he got through to him.]

You made him understand? What could you possibly know about Rose?

[ She narrows her gaze across the table, because no, Kor, it's not escaping her notice that you keep talking about Rose like you're BFFs. ]

Huh? Oh, uhh... You know! [...

He heaves a sigh. He knows he's really inept at lying, and he's got a sneaking suspicion even if he did try, Pearl is too perceptive to buy into it.]

...I met her before. Here, that is, a long time ago.

You met her?

[ She's on a borderline between outraged and astounded, gripping the edge of the counter like she’s about to keel over. ]

Wha... Our Rose Quartz?

Uhh... Yeah? About this big, [He gestures with his hands around his torso] with this much hair, [and now he gestures around his head] with the same look in her eyes that Steven always has? That Rose Quartz.

[He can tell Pearl looks really frazzled by this revelation. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything after all. ...Oh well, too late to regret it now.]

This place is weird, you know. People get pulled here from different points in history all the time.

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