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Garnet drags her feet as she makes her way home, eyes blinking in an attempt to stay awake. She’d been roped into a late shift at work and was exhausted, unable to think of anything but collapsing into her bed, which she would mercifully be able to do if she could just keep herself moving for a few more minutes.

She’s so concerned with not falling asleep on her feet that she’s barely paying attention to where she’s going. She’s paying so little attention that she fails to notice anything blocking her path until suddenly she’s falling forward. Adrenaline kicks in just in time for her to awkwardly stay on her feet, stumbling forward but not hitting the ground. She wheels around, ready to glare at whatever object was blocking her path… until she gets a good focus on it and realizes it’s a person.

Panic sets in as she scrambles forward, rushing to get a better look at them. She’s even more horrified when she realizes it’s a young woman, looking incredibly out of place lying by the side of the road. “Oh shit,” she breathes, suddenly very awake as she falls to her knees down next to her. “Are you okay?”

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Garnet fights to keep her shock in check, staring down at Pearl’s hands for a long moment before looking back up to her face. She’s not sure why she’s surprised by anything anymore tonight, but she certainly wasn’t expecting that.

“I think it would work,” she says after a beat, “Do you need me to come with you?” She’s not certain if it would only attract any possible attention or if it would be helpful to Pearl somehow, but she feels the need to make the offer. It’s the least she can do after offending her.

Though the shift is subtle, Pearl can see the widening of Garnet's eyes, and the swirl of guilt in her stomach has her quickly retracting her claws.

"I-- I'm not sure," she answered, surprised but oddly flattered by the offer. "I imagine it'd take a while, and I don't think you could do much to help with the digging... but thank you." A beat, and then she perks up-- "Oh-- but do you have an empty shoebox for him?"

Edited 2015-08-06 20:35 (UTC)

The request of a shoebox at least is easy to help with, especially if it will please Pearl. Wordlessly Garnet disappears down the hall, emerging again with an old box. It looks to her like it should be big enough, at least. She unceremoniously dumps its contents onto the couch, various papers and old mail falling out. She doesn't give them a second glance, instead turning to right back to Pearl. “Here,” she says, holding it out to her, “There’s an area out back with some trees. I'll start cleaning up inside.”

If she’s being honest, she’s somewhat glad that Pearl doesn’t want her to tag along. There’s still a lot to do, after all, and Garnet is holding out hope of getting to sleep before the sun comes up.

"Oh-- uh." Pearl blinks at the pile of documents scattering on to the floor, her eyes squinting slightly. That wasn't quite what she'd intended when she asked for an empty box, but-- well, she supposes it's empty now. "... We can sort this out later," she concludes, accepting the box.

She lowers herself onto her knees, reaching for the body with shaky fingertips. There's no warmth left to it when she picks it up between her hands, but then, of course there wouldn't be -- she had sucked out every last drop of it.

Pearl's expression darkens with quiet guilt, and she places the lid down.

"I'm not sure how long this'll take," she apologizes, box hugged to her chest as she pushes herself back upright. "I promise I'll do my share of the cleaning when I get back."

And then she's gone.

It ends up taking the better part of an hour. Pearl returns with empty hands caked to the wrists in soil, her posture slouched and lips thin.

"I did it," she offers needlessly, and though her voice is just a quiet murmur, there's still a slight strain to it.

By the time Pearl returns, Garnet is nearly finished cleaning. Or at least, the kitchen is about as clean as it previously was, and she’s almost done mopping up the blood in the living room. It’s fairly evident where the blood previously was, because those spots are still wet and slightly noticeably cleaner than the rest of the floor.

She raises her head, looking Pearl up and down before dropping the old sponge mop back into the bucket of dirty water near her feet. Given the time it took and the state she's in, Garnet feels no need to ask how the task went. Unsurprisingly, Pearl looks even filthier than before, and she can’t imagine that digging a hole with her bare hands could possibly have felt dignified.

“Why don’t you take a shower?” she suggests, gesturing down the hall. “I’m almost done anyway.”

From the way Pearl stares at her, you'd think the words were in a foreign language. She stands planted in place, slumped like a wind-bent tree, and her filth-covered fingers tweeze and pick at each other as she finally answers: "Could I?"

"Yeah," she replies, blinking back at Pearl. She's filthy, why wouldn't Garnet allow her to take a shower? It's not like she would be likely to find one if she went back on the streets. And considering the streets, Garnet certainly wondered how long it had been since she'd had one, anyway.

"There should be a towel in the bathroom," she adds after a moment, "I'll find you a change of clothes." Anything of Garnet's would be a little too big on her skinny form, but at least they'd be clean.