"Oh well I wouldn't say it's just for the art," Pearl says immediately. "But we do make rather different use of it on Earth than they do on Homeworld. To us, fusion is... an expression of love. But we also use it to fight, and accomplish things that two gems wouldn't normally be able to accomplish on their own."

She glances away, wincing. "Homeworld doesn't even allow two gems of different types to fuse. It's considered taboo."