That was not much of an answer, Opal decided after a moment of thought. It was true, it was an answer and it was obviously the truth, and she did appreciate that he hadn't lied to her. It would bother her a lot, she realized, if he'd lied. But while it was honest, it wasn't very informative, and she still had no idea what he was doing at all. “Out” covered a lot of places, didn't it?
Before she could ask for clarification though, he was touching her. And like every time he touched her, all of her focus went to the place he was touching. This time it was her hand. His skin always felt so warm when it was against hers, and she could feel hot shivers travel up her arm. Was that a thing? Hot shivers? She didn't know what else to call it. Her arm felt like it prickled up when she got goose-bumps, but she wasn't cold at all, not with him holding her hand like that. She so liked it when he touched her. Opal swallowed hard and tried to think.
Which was when she realized he hadn't taken the pearl. That's why he was touching her. He was making her hold onto it. He didn't want it? Was it not the right kind of gem? Were there only certain ones that were good now? Were the others going to be thrown out like the flowers? Maybe she could save the not-good gems for those that had less than she did now. Opal remembered, though the memory was not as sharp, the dull ache of hunger when she hadn't gotten supper. She could try to give away the gems that weren't wanted. Like pearls. Apparently pearls were now bad. She'd remember that.
She didn't move her hand though. Not as long as he was holding it. It was hard to think very clearly when he was doing that. Which was why, when he asked the same question of her that she had of him, she gave him his answer back in kind. “I'm going out.”
Her free hand, the one that had handed him the bag, automatically caught the flowers and gems that tumbled out, but a sapphire slipped through her fingers to clatter onto the floor. “Sorry,” she mumbled, spitting out ruby. Opal sighed. She tried not to resent the gift given to her by the kind fairy, but really did get tiresome sometimes.
Henry was staring at her, though, so he must not have liked her answer. Though she didn't want to have anything else come out of her mouth, Opal knew she couldn't displease him. She wanted him to like her. Her hand lifted to catch was was about to tumble out, then said, “The stars are falling tonight. I like to watch them.”