Love Like You (A Pearl x Reader) (Sequel to 'SEN')

Act 11: Your Corruption

Quick Author's Note:

Happy New Year, everyone!

I wish you all the best. I strongly and most sincerely hope that you're all able to accomplish your most desired goals and aspirations, and that – if you're currently going through certain struggles – you're able to recover from them much stronger than before.

Take care, and be seeing you! :-)

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"I. . . I have a disease?!" You questioned, each word leaving your lips with a startled and disbelieving tone.

After roughly four hours of investigating the screenshots of the essay Peridot had gone through the trouble of composing, you – along with everyone else surrounding you – were able to determine that the reason for the explosion had been due to a disease you'd contracted from the flower gem.

"I wouldn't label it as a disease, but more of a corruption." Peridot responded, her eyebrows knitting together as she inspected your visage for any sort of physical sign that would alert her of your condition. "This appears to have some correlation to what Jasper experienced when fusing with a corrupted Gem."

"Th – That's even worse, then!" You exclaimed, finding the word 'corrupt' to carry more weigh than the previous concept. "Is this something deadly?"

For a brief moment, you hesitated, remembering all the people that'd been near you when the explosion occurred. You worried it could pass on to others, yet your lips refused to part in order to say those thoughts out loud.

"Is. . . Is this contagious?" You managed to choke out, not wanting to be too direct in regards to that unfortunate possibility.

"If treated properly, I believe not." The green Gem replied, breaking her focus on you in order to return to analyzing her essay. And it's contagious to a certain degree – most likely to pass on through means of fusion."

She looked back towards you for a moment, and – noticing your quiet self and preoccupied expression – she spoke up again. "If you're worrying that you might've passed the infection on to someone else, don't worry. You can't contaminate anyone solely by living near them – or by being close to them, either."

"Uh. . . Guys?" The youthful voice belonging to Steven broke you and everyone else away from the investigation.

You turned to face him, spotting him standing next to Garnet with a concerned smile and empathetic eyes. It seemed he'd been watching long enough to hear about the unforeseen disease being something more than a trifle.

"Can I try healing her – to see if works?" He offered, his left hand balling into a tight fist as hope bubbled up inside his chest.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Garnet agreed, nodding her head as she looked down at Steven.

"I do believe it wouldn't hurt to give this an attempt." Pearl added, uneasiness present over her expression as she forced herself to look away from you and center her gaze on Steven, instead.

She'd been moving back and forth – from looking at you to staring at a Peridot ever since the investigation began – and it seemed her restless actions weren't going to level down anytime soon.

"Do you think you could explain her what you'll do – just in case she doesn't get caught off guard by the healing procedure?" The pale Gem spoke again, wanting to finish with wording out her thoughts before letting the boy carry on with his plan.

"Sure!" Steven chuckled, the sound breaking away the worry and tension surrounding everyone, if only for a while. Afterwards, he looked towards your direction, smiling in an encouraging manner as he gestured with his hand to follow him somewhere else. "C'mon! We can have some durian juice and watch something fun on TV while we wait to see if you heal. . . Worrying too much's not good for your health!"

With those final words, the boy took you by the hand and led you back up the stairs leading to the household. He made sure you were keeping up with his pace until you reached the front of the door, where he stopped to open it and make a dramatic gesture for you to enter first.

Appreciating his attempt to lighten up the mood, you followed with his game and gave a curtsy before thanking him and heading inside his home.

Once he arrived next to you, the both of you walked towards the living room's couch, where you both sat down to begin the healing procedures.

"This'll probably sound weird, but. . ." He began, trailing off for a minute as he searched for the right words to explain what he was about to do. "I can heal people with my drool."

His words had come out quick and rambled, almost as if he'd failed on saying the right words. You could see him shake his head lightly afterwards, though he quickly returned back to his normal self as he faced you again. "I know it sounds weird and all, but that's how it works."

You stayed silent, assenting to his words every once in a while to let him know you were listening.

Despite the method being indeed strange in your perspective, you wanted to hear what Steven had to say and not shoo the option away without so much as letting him explain himself.

The boy stood up from the couch, heading over to the kitchen and rummaging inside the refrigerator until he found what he'd been searching for. He promptly retrieved a bottle of water from it and later proceeded to open it. Once removing the cap, he drank half of the water and walked back to your side, still carrying the bottle with him as he sat back down on the couch.

"For Gems, I just licked my hand and placed it over their gemstone. . ." He began to explain, handing you over the water bottle as he continued with his words. "For Connie, drinking from the same straw as me worked, so I think you can try this out!"

Processing his explanation for some time, a small smile in gratification spread across your face as you procceeed to thank him verbally and grab the bottle in your hands. "Thank you, Steven."

Before you took the first sip of the water, you looked back at him, the previous smile returning to your features as you looked back at previous memories involving this place.

Months before this day, you were only a tourist being lent a hand by an enthusiastic boy wanting to show you all the wonderful locations belonging to Beach City. Now, you were considered a friend of his – to the extent of which he revealed one of his powers in an attempt at healing you. He could've done so without so much as revealing his methods of healing, yet knowing he chose to do otherwise made for a wide, happy grin to spread across your face.

"You've been a great friend."

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