A/N: Not my first story by a longshot, just my first SU piece. Self-edited by a sleep deprived human.

If there was one thing that Pearl knew was that not everything was as black and white as homeworld liked to pretend it was. She knew that she had been designed to be a delicate ornament at the arm of her owner. Pretty, placid, quiet. She knew her role and played it well, a slight lackadaisical smile on her face as she performed her daily duties for Pink Diamond. A tremor ran through her slight frame as she remembered what happened to Pink's last pearl. She shook her head slightly to clear it of those uncomfortable thoughts and thumbed through the latest plans for the beta kindergarten.

At the sound of the door opening she turned quickly to stand at attention, eyes on the floor and smile still in place. "My Diamond," she chirped as Pink approached her.

"At ease, Pearl."

She dropped her hands and turned to follow the bigger gem's gait with her dusty blue eyes. "I thought today we could perhaps go over the newest plans for the beta kindergarten, My Diamond. You see, there have been a great deal of updates."

Her fingers connected to the control panel in front of her, eyes filling with code which projected images and files in front of her Diamond. She went on and on about the updates, trying to ignore the fact that her Master was becoming bored and losing interest. It made her feel awful. Like her duties as a pearl were not being appropriately fulfilled. In short, she felt like failure. After her presentation, she pulled her thin fingers from the panels and the code faded away, leaving her eyes their usual color.

Pink Diamond thanked her dully and said something about needing to get ready for an event that evening. One that she would be attending solo. As Pearl headed to her quarters, she couldn't help but wonder if the reason her Owner was going alone was because she was a bad servant. It caused a wave of tension to roll through her lightform. What if she were to suffer the same fate as the last one? Or worse yet, what if she was shattered?

She flopped down unceremoniously onto the pile of pillows in her chambers, deep in thought. Maybe if she asked Pink outright what she could do better to serve her, then perhaps things would change. Though, the thought terrified her a little if she was being completely honest. What kind of pearl was she that she needed to ask her Owner what to do? She worried her lip with her teeth and decided to buck up and do it anyway. Hopefully her Diamond wouldn't think any less of her for being such an awful servant.

The next morning Pearl drifted along lightly behind Pink as they walked through the human zoo. Humans were odd and incredibly primitive beings, but watching them made Pink happy. She didn't notice as her servant anxiously tugged at the hem of her see-through skirts. After a while, Pearl plucked up her courage and cleared her throat.

Pink looked down at her in surprise. Pearl never uttered a sound or spoke when she wasn't being directly addressed. For the first time since she got her new pearl, she smiled down at her. "What is it."

A faint blue passed through her cheeks for a moment. "My Diamond," she began. "I know that it is not my place to... to... point out anything but how glorious you are and for my boldness I apologize. I can't help but notice that I do not seem to please you. It brings me great sadness that my shortcomings affect you and your work. I was wondering if there is something I could do to bring you better satisfaction?" Her voice was small and it wavered. It was rather a scary thing to address any diamond, much less her own, about something that could be considered a shortcoming by a gem of her low status.

However, Pink scrutinized her as if this was the first time she had ever really seen her. She tried not to let her knees knock together under her penetrating gaze.

Sure, Pink knew her pearl was sweet and rather docile and she wasn't blind. She was as lovely as they came, maybe more so than her last. She didn't expect this one to be so observant. Not that she really did much to hide how she felt but no one dared breathe a word about it. Another smile crept onto her face. Maybe, just maybe, this was for the best.

"My adorable pearl," she cooed, bending at the knee to come to her eye level. "You are a perfect little gem. I've been a little out of sorts lately and you were sweet enough to notice. You are a wonderful servant. If I need anything more of you, I won't hesitate to ask."

Her large hand came to stroke Pearl's smooth cheek. At this vantage point she really got to look at her subordinate. She really was beautifully made. Pale blue eyes, vibrantly pink hair, thin frame. Her dress was tight to her lightform, also in brilliant colors with opaque petticoats and matching tights. The smaller gem felt the warmth well up in her face and she couldn't quite place why. While it was a well-known secret that high-ranking gems partook in some rather interesting activities, lower-ranking gems didn't quite have the same programming.

"Thank you, My Diamond," she murmured, casting her eyes down.

The pair slowly resumed their quiet stroll around the zoo's viewing area. This time it was Pink's turn to throw out a surprise by speaking directly to her pearl. "They're such funny and wonderful things, humans are."

Pearl glanced up at her Master's face, noticed as she looked at them longingly as they played and splashed and ran. It made her curious to know more about the bigger gem. But that wasn't her place to want to know anything she wasn't programmed to know. She was a little uncomfortable with this realization about herself but kept quiet to see what else the Diamond had to say.

She didn't add anything else, just kept watching with an expression that Pearl slowly recognized as sadness. Why her Diamond would feel sad about humans was beyond her. Perhaps it was because they were so ridiculous and outdated. She turned her eyes to the humans as well, watching intently. These creatures did not have any purpose other than to entertain gems. What an odd life that must be. They probably didn't even realize it because their life spans were so incredibly short. She supposed that would be sad if one lingered on it for a bit, but the look on her Master's face made it seem like it ran much, much deeper than that.