I know I said I’d have Little Doses first, but that’s turned into a full story, and I’m going to write that later.
Jasper stared at the tiny half human before her. She didn’t understand a word of what he was saying, but it had something to do with human courting rituals. She was supposed to be taking the tall and slender Pearl on a date later, and regretted asking her every second since she had. Steven had given her these flowers- what were they again?
Oh, right, roses. Even after her death, she still had to deal with reminders of the pink gem. What even was the appeal of these flowers? Curiously, she sniffed the flowers and noted that they smelled delicious, despite the thorns poking her hands. Without a second thought, she bit one of the flowers in half and started chewing.
“And that’s– Jasper! What are you doing?! Spit that out, right now! You’re not supposed to eat them, they’re a gift to Pearl!” Listening to the half human shriek at her, she chewed the flower petals. It didn’t taste as well as she had hoped it would, and she wasn’t sure why she was supposed to even give them to Pearl in the first place.
“Ugh. I don’t understand,” she groaned, because she really didn’t. What was the point of this entire thing anyways? They weren’t humans, so why follow human customs?
“I can see that,” a sharp and elegant voice called, and her attention was grabbed. She looked to the shorter gem and noticed dully that Pearl was standing in the entrance to the temple door. Oh. Part of the rose stuck to her bottom lip, and she did her best to lick it away as the other turned and stormed back in.
“Pearl! Wait, come back! I promise, just give me–!” And Steven was after her. The temple door slid shut behind him, and she growled. Human traditions were stupid, and she hated them. Without thinking about it, she bit into the flower again, chewing it up and swallowing the pink remains. Dates were stupid, and she hoped this one would at least have the chance to take off the ground.