#I was gonna do another page today full of sketches but I’m kinda experimenting with my style rn and would rather make it a full piece

[xiibalba]

You know what? Lloyd Garmadon Doodle Dump Time

[uwuch9n]

hey !!! today i’m gonna be trying to write some fluff to calm myself down and also try out something new in the process ! hope whoever reads this enjoys it :)

characters: kenma, nb y/n (self insert or oc) and a bit of kuroo :D

warnings or possible triggers: ear biting, neck kissing, wrists/arms being touched, stressed/overworked/anxious reader, and a thunderstorm/heavy rain ! please do not continue reading if any of these things could trigger any unwanted reactions ! maybe the next time i write some fluff or sfw fanfics you’ll be able to read ‘em !

a nice welcome home.

after a long day at your new job, a manga artist, you decided to end your shift for the night and head back home. you wiped the sweat off your forehead but the stress wasn’t easy to get rid of. the office wanted the manga to be done as soon as possible and you couldn’t get the last few pages right. it was very obviously a hard week for you. luckily it was a friday so you’d get saturday off, but sunday you had to go back.

after getting yourself together you stuffed your things into your bag and walked out to get in your car.

“hey there y/n! lookin great huh, i see you’re ready to go home to lil kenken right?? how you doing?” said kuroo as he ran into you right outside the establishment. he worked near that area and decided to stop by, luckily he walked into you at the right time.

“im doing well,, i guess.. i just was overthinking a bit but i’m sure tomorrow, or even tonight, i’ll be able to refresh myself and relax..” you said almost trying to avoid contact for the time being. kuroo noticed you didn’t seem to excited about things and so he decided to give you some words of encouragement.

“i’m sure whenever you get to relax you’ll be ready for work again! and besides you got a lil pal waiting for you at home, don’t you look forward to that?? he’s pretty good at comforting,, and i should know”- he chuckled. you gave him a smile and nodded in agreement. you let out a sigh and walked off to your car right before kuroo grasped your left shoulder and pulled you in for a hug. he patted your head with his hand and reassured you. you got a little flustered,, but kept it in.

“you’re doing amazing, really. i know you work really hard, so make sure to cool off, ‘kay? you got this in the bag!” he said, you clearly being able to sense his smile through his decently raspy voice. he let you go and gave you a little push to get you back together after the short hug, and you both waved goodbye.

well that was quite an experience. you knew that kuroo wasn’t a homewrecker, especially when it came to kenma’s s/o, but he was getting much more comfortable and supportive with you. that made you happy, but after thinking about what had just happened, you refocused and started your car.

you drove through the freeway and noticed all the billboards promoting businesses that you knew you’d rather be working at. you meet a stop sign and let out a sigh while other cars drive by. when it’s time to go, you go, as one would normally do, but you noticed that some water droplets were gently hitting the windshield of your car. it started getting a bit rougher and even more water droplets starting hitting your windshield, only this time they got louder.

you could hear all the other cars driving by thanks to the water that was slightly flooding the streets. you make a swift turn into your apartment complex and slowed down as you arrived at your apartment. you park at your designated spot and turn off your car. you adjust your bag straps that had fallen off your shoulder without you realizing, and reached into the back side of your car to get your umbrella. unfortunately it wasn’t there so you’d have to get wet, and it was raining pretty heavily. you sighed and reached into your cup holder for your apartment keys and got the right key ready in your hand for when you got to the door.

you slam your car door and lock it.

“goddamit” you let out as you start feeling your clothes getting humid. your shoes were hitting the floor inundated by the rain. you started running towards your door which fortunately was on the first floor. you inserted the key into the keyhole and turned your wrist gently as you peeked into the window. you could see the flashing lights of the tv. kenma was probably playing games again.

you closed the door and brushed yourself off as you glanced at kenma who had turned to see what that noise was. he knew it was you but he still wanted to see your pretty tired face. you gently took of your shoes and put your jacket and bag on the racks on the wall next to the door. you pushed your shoes with your foot and went to put on your favorite slippers.

“hey love, how did today go..?” asked kenma in a soft gentle voice, as to not startle you while you still were trying to shake off the water that had been absorbed by your clothes. you look up at kenma with an exhausted expression. “today was very stressful,, my manager told me to hurry up,, the artwork is due literally wednesday of next week and i can’t even get the stuff i’m working on now finished and-” kenma stopped your rambling by gesturing a hug and making gentle movements to come here with his small hands. you looked at him with a surprised expression, and then quickly changed it to a pleasant smile.

by then you realized that he had paused his game and the music of the game was still playing in the background, only a little quieter then when it’s actually on. you head to his little pile of blankets and pillows, and saw your favorite stuffed animal and a few snacks already set up for you for when you came home. that made you feel a lot better than before. “hey kenken, what’s all this stuff?” you asked acting clueless, but also trying to hear what he had to say about the setup. “it’s just a few things for you to pick out from,, i even brought you your little frog plushie; i know you like it..” he said while grabbing it and handing it to you. he blushed a little as you took it from his hands, gently caressing his as you did.

you took a look at a frog plushie but before you could get a full 360° look of it you saw kenma’s slender hands covering the two small black eyes of the plush. he set the plush down on your lap and grabbed your wrists. he knew your wrists were probably tired and sore after all that nonstop sketching at work, so he started gently rubbing them with his thumbs. he looked at your hands as he did, and then looked up at you. you had a cute shocked expression which he loved to paint on your face. he giggled and then went in for a kiss on the cheek.

after his soft tender lips were lifted from your cheek, you felt a bit of rustling and then a little blow on your ear which made you squirm. he bit it gently and kissed the side of your neck, while you sat there a bit flustered. kenma was usually the type to just give you a kiss on the cheek and continue playing his game, but recently you were getting much more attention from him. you didn’t mind it though, you kinda enjoyed it rather.

“you don’t have to give me neck kisses y’know..” you said hoping that he wouldn’t listen and just continue for a good minute. he of course didn’t stop and completely brushed off what you had just said. he moved to your shoulder and started kissing it, and then he pulled away. he look at you and gave you a smile, leaning in for a kiss afterwards. you kissed back and then grabbed him by the shoulders. both of you were blushing intensely, his blush just a little more calmed down, but it was there nonetheless.

“let’s eat some snacks, shall we?” you say after pulling away from the kiss and sitting there being a hot mess. you could hear the rain only getting rougher and rougher, and at one point you heard thunder. it was gonna be a loooong night. “let’s do that then” he said smiling as he reached over to the bowl full of strawberry pocky and small chocolate chip cookies. he fed you a stick of the strawberry coated biscuit and you nommed down on it happily, while he pulled away the excess pocky stick and brushed crumbs off of your lips with his thumb. his hand grasped the side of your face and he went to kiss your cheek once again before feeding you the rest of the pocky.

kenma turned to face the tv and then slowly got up to grab another controller for you to play with, since he was already playing a game and he wanted you to play along as well. you watched his flimsy self get up and come back to the floor in front of the couch. he sat down criss cross apple sauce style and handed you the controller, all while the thunder was still alive and the rain was still pouring.

��do you want to keep playing this game or... another game i have in our room...?” asked kenma in hopes that you’d say you wanted to continue playing the game he was already playing. he didn’t want to get up when he was right next to you. “this game seems fun, i’d love to play it with you” you said happily as you took the controller he had handed you and held it correctly so that he could get the multiplayer setting on and you’d be ready when he did.

you heard silly sound effects from when he switched the setting to multiplayer, and it filled you up with motivation for some reason. the thunderstorm and heavy raining didn’t bother you anymore because you knew you’d be safe with kenma. the music of the game got louder and kenma slowly lowered it a bit as to not disturb the apartment building. “you have to jump over the brown mushrooms and then jump into the green tubes and-” “..super mario bros..? don’t worry baby i know how to play this one” you winked at him and he let out a giggle.

he layed his head on your left shoulder which made you blush, and you followed it with a wide-eyed expression. he didn’t look too into it though, he was just focused in the game, and for him it was only nature. you rested your head on top of his and continued to play. time passed and it was around 2 AM. you and kenma had played for hours, and kenma was seemingly getting pretty tired, just as you were. “hey bub do you want to maybe go to bed now?” you suddenly paused the game and asked. “bed..?” he looked confused. he directed his eyes to the couch behind you two and you followed, quickly looking back at him.

“do you want to sleep on the couch tonight?” you put the puzzle pieces together. he nodded his head. “you don’t have work tomorrow so i figured you wouldn’t mind sleeping with me on the couch....” he said quietly in hopes that you would. you grabbed his face with your warm hands and kissed his forehead. “yeah of course i do!” you said trying to be enthusiastic, although your tired face barely allowed it. you both got up and he laid on the couch. you tried getting the bowl of snacks from off the floor and bring them to the kitchen but kenma quickly pulled you into his arms.

“tomorrow.. tomorrow we can clean up...” he said exhausted as you now were covering his body with yours. you adjusted yourself as did kenma and you both got into ‘cuddle mode.’

his arms wrapped around your body and you slowly started to kiss him all over. he laid his head back onto the arm of the couch. you relaxed your stiffened body, and closed your eyes as the music from the video game slowly faded away into nothing. kenma’s arms rubbed your back and moved to your head and shoulders. he gave you a final kiss on your head before drifting off to sleep.

that’s all ! i hope you enjoyed this self insert x kenma fluff fanfic ! if this does any good i’ll consider writing more fluff in the future :))

[legendofzeldaalinktothepast]

Pathetic, Clinging Poetry - Chapter 17 (of 25)

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter 

I'm told the storm is on its way. I put the batteries in my flashlight. The clouds make their way over the horizon. I grab the blankets from my closet. Rain patters just down the street. I search for a good book to read. The wind pounds against the door. 

* 

Peony rubbed her eyes as she awoke, cringing at the stiff feeling in her back. Her sleep had been on-and-off throughout the night; no matter how much she adjusted, sleeping in a car seat just wasn't comfortable. She turned her sleepy eyes towards the screen of the GPS; less than half an hour left til they could finally get out of the car and lay down in a real bed. Stretching her arms and yawning, she turned towards the woman in the driver's seat and gazed at her lovingly. "Good morning." she whispered, her voice a little raspy as she was still waking up. She reached for her hand and stroked the fabric of her white fingerless gloves.

"You get enough rest, Peeps?" Spinel asked.

"Not quite. But it's alright, I'll catch up once we're there." Peony sighed. She smoothed her hair out with her fingers with her free hand; now that it was so short, it stuck up all over the place in a way that seemed to defy gravity. "May I steal a sip of your coffee?"

"Go for it."

Peony reached for the travel mug in the cup holder and took a tiny sip -- very sweet, with a hint of chocolate, and still a tad warm. Spinel probably bought it recently, during one of Peony's sporadic naps. "I know I've asked this a million times, but... They won't mind that I'm coming with you, will they?"

"Pfft, hell no." Spinel said. "I promise, cutie pie, they couldn't be more excited that we're coming over. My aunties have been sufferin' from empty nest syndrome ever since their little Pinkie moved out. If anything, they'll be the ones driving you crazy."

Peony giggled. "Oh goodness. At least I have some experience with that." she said. Setting the coffee back down, she gave Spinel's hand a little squeeze. "I hope Pearl will be happy to see me... She tried so hard to have me come along with her, but... In the end, I think it's better that I waited." Peony said, pressing a kiss to Spinel's cheek.

A blush spread across Spinel's freckled face. "Aww... I think your sis is gonna be thrilled that you're alright. She's probably been thinkin' about you ever since she ran away." she said, stroking Peony's knuckles with her thumb. "I promise, the minute we're settled in at my aunts' house, we'll take a lil roadtrip to try and find her. You're sure she's in Beach City, right?"

"I'm sure of it. She told me she was moving in with her friend Jasper. And since it's only been a few months, I can't imagine she'd already be living on her own or somewhere else." Peony said. "And if I know my sister at all, she's probably spending a lot of time at the library. So when we go over to Beach City, we should look there, first."

"Sounds like a plan." Spinel said, giving Peony a reassuring pat on the back.

Peony felt a flutter of excitement in her chest; before she knew it, they were going to be reunited! With a sigh of content, she turned her gaze back towards the window, watching as they drove past what seemed like miles of grassy fields. Occasionally, Peony would see herds of cows or horses grazing, and she'd excitedly gesture for Spinel to look. "So cute... Didn't you say your aunties used to have horses?"

"They still do." Spinel grinned. "And they got a crapload of land to ride around on, too. Maybe one day I could show you how to ride -- though my skills are a little rusty -- and we could go for a walk through the nearby woods."

"Whoa..." Peony said, her eyes wide. "I've never touched a pony before. Whenever I saw one at the fair or at the zoo as a little girl, my mom always told me they were gross and dirty."

"Heheh! Well, she's not wrong, but God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt." Spinel snorted.

Peony burst into laughter. "I guess that's true, huh?" she giggled, leaning towards Spinel and resting her head against her shoulder. She glanced at the GPS again; fifteen minutes.

Spinel ran one hand through Peony's hair, keeping the other firm on the steering wheel. "Almost there, cutie. I love ya..."

"I love you too.” 

* 

It had been a while since Amethyst set foot in the library; every now and then, she'd walk over to get some quiet time after a fight with Jasper, flipping through the monthly fashion magazines or reading the first few chapters of some cheesy romance novel, only to realize that it sucked ass before placing it on the return cart. These past few months, however, she'd been getting along a little better with Jasper, so she didn't have much of a reason to go there... But today, she was joining Pearl to help out with story time. In all honesty, waking up before noon to spend time with a bunch of drooly kids wasn't really her cup of tea, but Pearl seemed really eager to bring her along, and she figured it was probably better than painting alone in her room all day.

"Good morning!" Pearl greeted as she led Amethyst into the activity room, approaching a short, elderly woman sitting in a chair. She wore a teal polka dotted blouse and a ankle-length skirt, and had a cane sitting beside her. "This is Mrs. Fluorite! Mrs. Fluorite, this is my friend Amethyst." She could hear Pearl hesitate on the word "friend", and admittedly, felt her heart sink -- but she didn't blame her for playing it safe. As nice as she seemed, she had no idea how tolerant this lady was.

"Hey." Amethyst greeted, awkwardly extending a hand towards the old woman. She gave it a gentle shake, smiling warmly at her. "Thank you for joining us today, Amethyst! It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure the little angels will be excited to make a new friend today."

And just like that, a tiny pair of arms wrapped around her. "Hi Amanda!" Steven greeted.

"It's Amethyst." she smirked, ruffling his hair. "Nice to see ya, kiddo."

"Am... a... fist. Got it!" Steven gave her a thumbs up. "I didn't know you came to story time!"

"I normally don't, but I thought I'd come and help out a little today." she said, giving her girlfriend a knowing grin.

"Why don't you go and wipe down the tables while I make copies of the coloring page?" Pearl suggested. "There's a sink in the back of the room, and some paper towels and bleach spray!" she said.

"On it!" Amethyst said. As she made her way towards the back, however, she could feel herself growing slightly anxious. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been around kids -- especially a group this big. And from her experience, kids could be pretty cruel...

'Ugh, snap out of it.' she thought, shaking her head. 'Worst case scenario, one of the munchkins calls me an ugly doodoohead. I think I'll live to see another day if that happens.'. Pulling out a few paper towels, she reached for the bleach spray and began to make her way back towards the cluster of round tables.

By then, all of the kids had arrived and seated themselves on the carpet in a circle; as she sprayed the bright red colored tabletops with some bleach and wiped them down, she glanced at the doorway every now and then, eagerly waiting for Pearl to come back with the coloring pages.

"Alright, kids, we have a new friend joining us today!" Mrs. Fluorite announced, turning her gaze towards Amethyst. "Say hello to Amethyst!"

"Hello, Amethyst!" "Hi, Amethyst!" "I like your purple hair!" the kids greeted, waving their little hands at her. While she was still feeling pretty nervous, the warm greeting eased her nerves. "Hey, kiddos. Nice to meet you all! And uh, thanks!"

Once the chatter in the room settled down, Mrs. Fluorite reached into her handbag and pulled out the story of the day. "Today we're going to be reading Corduroy!" she announced, holding up the picture book in her hands so they could see the cover. It had a picture of a teddy bear in a pair of green overalls. "Do any of you have a stuffed bear like him at home?"

"I do!" "I do, too!" "I have three teddies, Mrs. Fluorite!"

Soon enough, all of the tables were clean. Once that was out of the way, Amethyst tossed the paper towels in the trash, looking around the room for something else she could do... It seemed relatively clean, and with the kids sitting down for the story, there didn't seem to be much else that needed done. 'I wonder what's taking Pearl so long...' she thought, nervously biting her lip as she seated herself in one of the tiny chairs. 'Heh, they're me-sized.' she silently remarked, amused by how comfortably she fit in a piece of furniture clearly made for toddlers.

"Amethyst, would you like to join the story circle?" Mrs. Fluorite asked with a warm smile. "You're free to sit wherever you're comfortable, but I thought I'd let you know there's plenty of room for you on the carpet."

Amethyst smiled nervously. In all honesty, she really didn't want to; she was already feeling pretty anxious, sitting in a room full of little kids she didn't know, especially with Pearl still out of the room. But she also didn't wanna seem rude... especially when Steven looked at her with those big brown eyes. So she needed some kind of excuse. "Ah, I'd love to, but uh, my knees are kinda sh- bad. Sitting on the floor kinda makes them hurt. I'll listen from over here, though!"

"Alright." Mrs. Fluorite nodded in understanding. "Let's begin the story, then, shall we?"

As Mrs. Fluorite began to read, her voice gentle and very slow (which was ideal, considering she was reading to people whose brains weren't fully formed yet), Amethyst realized she needed to keep her hands busy. So she reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a little pad of blue sticky notes and a mechanical pencil. She clicked the pencil and placed the sticky notepad on the table. A little doodling always kept her mind busy when she was feeling jittery.

She sketched out the shape of a head, and then began to fill in the details; Amethyst was almost tempted to look at Pearl for reference, only to remember she still hadn't returned with those damn coloring pages. 'Taking her time, huh...' she thought. 'Oh well. Guess I'll have to go by memory... Not like I don't stare at her face for hours on end, heh.'

Amethyst eventually got sucked into her drawing, and before she knew it, the story was over and the kids were getting up from the carpet. "Oh, huh, guess it's time for you kiddos to do your coloring pages, huh?" she said, rising to her feet so one of the kids could take her chair. She turned to Mrs. Fluorite. "Want me to see what's taking Pearlie so long...?"

"That would be a good idea, yes." Mrs. Fluorite said with a smile. "Perhaps she was having some trouble with the printer..."

"Whoaa, Miss Amethyst, this picture is so cool!" one of the kids said, grabbing the sticky note she'd left on the table. "Look at this, Mrs. Fortnite! Miss Amethyst drawed Miss Pearl! She's so good!"

"Oh my..." Mrs. Fluorite didn't even bother to correct the kid's butchering of her name, putting on her glasses and taking the sticky note in her hands. "Did you really draw this?"

Amethyst blushed. "Aw, yeah -- just did a little doodle to pass the time, heh..."

"It's beautiful!" Mrs. Fluorite beamed. "You have a lot of talent, Amethyst. How would you like to draw a coloring page for us one day?"

"Oh man, really?" Amethyst shoved her hands into her pocket. "I don't see why not... Just tell me what to draw, and I'll sketch it up for ya, ma'am!"

The door to the activity room suddenly swung open, causing Amethyst to jump. "I'm back!" Pearl exclaimed, holding a stack of papers in her arms. "Please excuse me, Mrs. Fluorite! The printer was all jammed, and I panicked because I thought it was my fault, and I had to go to the information desk and --"

"Shh, it's all okay, I promise." the old woman reassured, resting a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "What matters is it's all figured out, and that you're here, now."

"Ah, alright..." Pearl said. Still catching her breath (she had clearly sprinted down the hallway), she handed the stack of coloring pages to Amethyst. "I'll go and fetch the crayons. Would you mind passing those out?"

"Aye aye, Pierogi." Amethyst said. She placed a coloring sheet in front of each kid -- it was a picture of a teddy bear with a pair of overalls, just like the one from the book. 'Cute but simple, with an extra thick outline. If that's the kinda stuff she wants me to draw, I'm sure it won't be too hard!'

Once the coloring pages were all passed out, and Pearl had given each table a few boxes of crayons, Mrs. Fluorite approached Pearl with the sticky note in her hand. "Pearl, did you know that your friend was such a talented artist?"

"I certainly did!" Pearl said as she took the drawing and admired it. Her expression softened even more once she realized who was the subject of Amethyst's drawing. "You sure made me look pretty, huh?"

"She's going to be drawing a coloring page for us one day!" Mrs. Fluorite said.

"Is that so?" Pearl beamed with pride.

"Yeah, I'm gonna try my best, anyway!" Amethyst said with a shrug. "B-but hey, my art's got nothing on your poetry!"

Pearl huffed. "Well, when I'm not suffering from a decade long writers block, I do a decent job... You, on the other hand, are constantly creating stunning artwork!"

"Well, if you ever want to bring in some of your writing to read to the kids, you are more than welcome!" Mrs. Fluorite said. "As much as I love sharing classic stories with the little ones, I'm sure they'd love to hear something of yours!"

"That's true..." Pearl said, tapping her chin. "P-perhaps. I'll have to see if I can wipe the dust off the part of my brain that I use to write."

"Hey, if you write a little story or poem, I'll draw the coloring page to go with it." Amethyst gave Pearl a playful nudge.

Pearl giggled. "I guess... It wouldn't hurt to give it a try."

"We totally should!" Amethyst said with a grin.

"That would be wonderful!" Mrs. Fluorite clasped her hands together. "I'll be looking forward to seeing what you girls come up with!” 

* 

Bzzzt. Jasper's phone vibrated in her pocket; with a sigh of annoyance, she kept one hand on the steering wheel, fishing for her phone with her free hand. She quickly glanced at the screen, rolling her eyes once she saw who it was. 'For fuck's sake, when will this lady lay off?' she thought. These past few weeks had been nonstop calls from Pearl's obsessive mother. She'd tried her best to keep it a secret, knowing that Pearl already had enough on her plate, but damn, was it starting to get annoying. In a fit of frustration she chucked her phone into the passenger seat. It continued to vibrate, shimmying around on the leather cushion and falling onto the floor. The buzzing eventually stopped, and a minute or two later, she heard the little ding that her phone made whenever she received a voicemail.

'Huh, that's new.' Jasper thought. Normally when Whitney called, she never bothered to leave a message; she clearly wanted to speak directly to her daughter, nothing more, nothing less. Maybe she was starting to get desperate; part of Jasper knew she should just delete the message without even listening to it, but... She was morbidly curious, too.

She pulled into the driveway and parked behind Pearl's car. If she was going to listen to that voicemail, she'd definitely have to do it before she went into the house... With a sigh of defeat, Jasper leaned over and grabbed her phone from the floor.

The message was less than a minute long. Jasper contemplated for a few more moments before finally pressing "play".

"...Hello, Miss Jasper? I know the chances of you even listening to this are slim, but... I'm getting desperate. I've... I've come to the realization that Pearl doesn't want to speak with me anymore..."

'No shit, Sherlock.' Jasper rolled her eyes.

"...And I'm sure you aren't very fond of me yourself, either, but... If you don't mind, I have one small request to ask of you. Next time you speak to Pearl and Peony... Could you please tell them that I love them very much? And that if they ever want to come back home... I will welcome them with open arms, as if they never ran away in the first place. I pray that you'll make the right decision and pass this message on; God bless."

Jasper's thumb hovered over the "delete" button as she listened. She had no intention to pass it on, that was for sure... But for a reason she couldn't parse, she couldn't bring herself to delete the message, either. After a few moments of contemplation, she decided against it and locked her phone again, shoving it back into her pocket and stepping out of her car. 

* 

Steam rose from Pearl's green tea as she placed it down on the coffee table, putting a newspaper beneath it so the mug wouldn't leave a ring. She'd showered and changed into a pair of Jasper's sweat pants (she had to pull the drawstrings very tight to keep them from falling down), and had just finished doing the laundry. With all of her daily responsibilities out of the way, and the house peacefully quiet, it was the perfect time to write.

Amethyst was up in her room, probably working on her most recent painting. The only sound in the house was the clinking of dishes in the kitchen as Jasper prepared dinner. Pearl seated herself on the couch and tucked her legs beneath herself -- then realized that wasn't very comfortable, and decided to sprawl out on her stomach instead, propped up on her elbows. She grabbed her new notebook from the coffee table, as well as a purple gel pen, and placed it in front of herself. 'Alright... Let's get to work.' Pearl knew that the longer she thought about it, the more her creativity would dwindle, so she brought the tip of her pen to her paper without any sense of direction.

She started with something simple, yet incredibly cliche; Once upon a time... And before she knew it, she'd filled one page, then two, and finally a third, where her story came to its conclusion.

Pearl sat upright and shoved her pen into the notebook spiral, unable to resist the grin spreading across her face. "Finally!" she giggled to nobody in particular, jumping to her feet and spinning around. "Thank goodness! Ah, I can't believe I've finally done it!"

"What are you so giddy about?" Jasper teased, and Pearl immediately froze up. For a moment, she'd forgotten Jasper was downstairs and could hear her. Her cheeks bright red, Pearl closed up her notebook. "Ah, well -- I wrote something!" she said, her smile returning once she reassured herself that Jasper was merely curious, not judging. "For the first time since... God knows when!"

"Aww, that's awesome!" Jasper said, playfully ruffling Pearl's hair. "Want me to read it?"

"Goodness, no!" Pearl said, clutching her notebook against her chest. "Not yet, anyway. This is merely the first draft -- it should never see the light of day. But once I do some heavy revising, then yes, I'll definitely let you read it!"

"Ah, right, I forgot about the elusive first draft." Jasper chuckled. "Well, regardless, I can't wait to read the finished work."

"My skills are still a tad rusty, so don't expect anything too high quality... But I'm just proud I wrote anything, and I think you'll enjoy it for what it is." Pearl said.

"I'm so proud of you, Pearlie girlie." Jasper said, giving Pearl a little hug. "So hey, you ready for some dinner? I'm making blueberry pancakes and home fries."

"Ooh, yes!" Pearl had gotten so lost in her story that she'd lost track of time; she'd definitely worked up an appetite during her intense writing session. "I'll go and let Amethyst know it's time for breakfast-dinner!" And with that, she turned and skipped up the stairs.