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Pearl steps inside her own apartment with such hesitation, you'd think she's a stranger who just happened upon an unlocked door. Her eyes dart around anxiously, freckled cheeks flushed pink, and between her fingers she clutches a bright green flyer -- and has been doing so for quite some time, if its creased and sweat-dampened edges are any indication.

"Garnet? Garnet, are you here?"

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Garnet is in her room when Pearl comes home, and the sound of her roommate’s voice snaps her out of a deep concentration on her laptop screen. She rubs her eyes as if she has been staring at her computer for much too long, clearly relieved for the distraction. “I’m here,” she calls out loudly, abandoning her task without a second thought and walking towards the living room. She blinks when she catches sight of Pearl, eyes darting from the woman’s face, to the paper in her hand and, back again. “What’s that?”

"This?" Pearl blinks owlishly at the question, as if that were not the exact subject she'd hoped to approach. Well, it is, she just had the whole story worked out in her head already, and it didn't start with talking about the flyer.

No matter. She'll just need a moment to retool it a bit.

"W-well, it's a flyer," she begins for now, holding it up and stretching it between her hands to straighten out the creases. The Greenpeace logo sits proudly at the top of the page, accompanied by blocks of smaller text depicting the organization's activities and goals, along with a couple photos of its volunteers. Considering Pearl's always shown considerably greater fascination with the state of the outer solar system than planet Earth, the reason behind its importance must be opaque.

"You see, on the way home today, there were those people handing them out," she goes on to explain, one hand releasing its hold on the paper to gesture beside her with the words. "I had tried to walk past them, of course, goodness knows I hate it when people are handing out flyers-- but one of them stopped me and she was, she--"

Pearl swallows, embarrassment warming her cheeks. Having the story laid out in her head is wholly different to giving it voice. Her voice drops to a mumble as she continues: "--she was different. The way she talked, it wasn't overbearing, it was just-- nice. And her voice was soft, like she cared about getting her message across more than crudely forcing it upon you, you know? And she smiled at me, and she had the silkiest-looking hair I'd ever seen, and..."

By this point, Pearl's face is bright red, and she's speaking to the floor more than she is to Garnet. She turns the flyer over, revealing a string of numbers written in a flowing, curled script at the bottom, and beside it the name 'Rose' punctuated with a small, looped heart.

"She gave me her number," she offers needlessly. "Said I could call her if I had any questions about upcoming activities... and even if I didn't."

A pause. "D-do you think that she was," Pearl sheepishly raises her head to meet Garnet's eyes, "flirting with me?"

Edited 2015-06-21 11:14 (UTC)

Garnet watches wordlessly as Pearl explains, only shifting to get a better look at the flyer in her hands. She’s more than used to her roommate needing time to get out the words she wants, and Pearl’s so expressive when she talks it’s hard to mind. She doesn’t fail to notice that it’s an incredibly odd choice of organization for Pearl (as if her interest in any organization accosting people on campus wasn’t strange enough), but she’s significantly more interested in why her roommate is so flustered about the whole thing. In what seems like it could be a positive way.

When Pearl turns over the paper and reveals this woman-- Rose’s-- phone number, complete with a little heart next to her own name, Garnet only barely keeps herself from laughing in surprise. She’s not amused at her friend’s expense, of course, but the situation just seems so inherently ridiculous to her that she’s not even entirely sure how to react. They’d known each other for some time, but neither had ever given a stranger enough attention to warrant getting a phone number.

However, when blue eyes meet her own she no longer has any urge to laugh. Instead, she gives her friend a supportive and encouraging smile. If Garnet finds the situation is strange, she can only imagine how it feels for Pearl. “She was definitely flirting with you,” she confirms with a nod.

"Really?" Pearl asks in awe, as if Garnet hadn't just confirmed a thought she already had. Pearl has many thoughts, of course, but she's found a certain amount of them only earn her funny looks when vocalized -- but if Garnet, the indisputable voice of reason, agrees? She couldn't have possibly just been kidding herself, could she?

"So what do I... what do I do?" She clutches the flyer to her chest, eyes flickering all across Garnet's face. "Do you think I should call her? When's a good time? Tomorrow? Or would that be too soon?" Her heartrate's rapidly picking up its pace. Cutting herself short, Pearl sucks in a long, wheezing breath.

"Oh my goodness, I have no idea how this works."

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” Garnet says, placing a reassuring hand onto her friend’s shoulder. She's certainly interested to someday meet this Rose, if this is the reaction she's able to elicit from Pearl, of all people.

“If this is something you want to pursue,” she continues, eyes steady on Pearl, “Then you should definitely call her. I think tomorrow would be fine, if that’s what you’re comfortable with.”

In all honesty she isn’t entirely sure how it works either, at least not based on experience. She has dabbled in relationships before, but had never started anything like this. However, giving Rose a call could hardly hurt, right? The woman had freely offered up her number, after all. With a ridiculous little heart beside it to boot.

"Okay. Tomorrow, then," Pearl accepts with an earnest nod. Though she's been in Garnet's life for long enough to rationally know her experience in the area just barely exceeds her nonexistent own, she doesn't doubt her advice for even a second. Garnet is always so sure in everything she says, and in Pearl's experience, she's rarely been wrong. It's a good thing to hold on to.

So if Garnet says she should call, she'll call. All right -- at least that's settled. Pearl lets out a small sigh of relief, only for her shoulders to tense back up as she realizes--

"Wait, when I call, what am I supposed to say?"

Edited 2015-06-22 08:07 (UTC)

“What if you say you were thinking about her, and go from there?” Garnet’s not really sure what typical etiquette in this situation even is, but if she liked someone enough to give them her number, she imagines that’s something she’d be flattered by.

She studies Pearl for a second, eyeing the flyer once more. Why her friend would even stay and listen to anyone’s spiel was still a complete mystery. “What was she even talking to you about, anyway?” she finally asks, unable to contain her curiosity. "Maybe you could talk about that again."

That she was thinking of her? Pearl's cheeks turn a shade redder at the suggestion alone. She can hardly imagine herself saying something like that, but if Garnet believes she should, well-- it's probably the right idea. Garnet might use her words sparingly, but when she does -- unlike Pearl -- they tend to be the right ones.

"--Oh. That." Exhaling, she flips the flyer back around and offers it to Garnet. "She volunteers there. They hold rallies and such to help the environment, and organize activities like-- cleaning up the beach next Friday."

A pause, and Pearl's shoulders droop. "It's weird that I'm actually considering going, isn't it?"

Garnet accepts the flyer, looking it over thoroughly. It doesn’t do much in and of itself to explain why Pearl would care about the organization, so she turns it over, staring at the name and number written there. Here is a much more likely explanation, even if Garnet is getting an increasingly odd feeling looking at the little heart on the paper.

It’s strange enough to her that her roommate would stop to talk to some volunteer for Greenpeace, let alone consider going to volunteer herself. She finds it hard to believe it has anything to do with Pearl wanting to save the Earth, so this Rose really must have left a huge impression on her.

“It’s a little weird,” Garnet admits, tearing her eyes away from the phone number and handing the flyer back. She figures she’s probably just feeling strange herself because it’s not like Pearl to want to socialize. “But weird isn’t always bad.”

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