More Than An Object

The Seventh Layoff

"Your incompetence has truly succeeded my expectations, Pearl." She sneered, managing to make the name sound like even more of an insult. "I have told you time and time again about the consequences you would face should you 'mess up' again. Get. Out." She stood still, head bowed and body curled in on itself in a show of submission, to her it seemed like yet another one of the endless tests given by Chrysoberyl in her anger; she always waited, hit her, calmed down, and they each resumed their day. This time, however, was different.

"Well?! What in the name of the stars are you waiting for, leave you-you defective hunk of rock!" Mauve remained silent as she exited without turning, backing out with a still-steady posture until her (former?) owner was out of sight before leaving the building. The purple gem stopped short of leaning against the wall as she let out a breathy sigh, ready to wait out the long hours with diligence; she was to be sold tomorrow if Chrysoberyl followed through with her threats… Thoughts clouded her mind and prevented clear thoughts of what was to come as she contemplated her troubled circumstances, several times let go for clumsy mistakes unbecoming of a pearl and only kept intact due to the frequency she was bought; probably due to her color if she was being honest. Mauve looked down to lavender hands and long sleeves covered in little bits and bobs, colored flowers and stars, that jutted out from see through sleeves and a similar skirt; even her short, pinkish hair was coated in the little accessories. It made her feel daft, to be so awkwardly dressed for the sake of another's opinion, though what was the real difference to any other keeper of hers, they all had treated her like a dress-up doll; the yellow nailpolish still felt like too much though. The purple gem shook her head with a short sound of indignation at her own thought process, it was thoughts like these that made her a screw-up in the first place! Desires were unbecoming for a pearl such as herself, as were words, opinions, disagreement…, the list goes on.

Her hands moved to idly mess with her earrings, enjoying the small swinging that resembled that of a pendulum, endlessly being pushed and pulled by anything that dared move it. She felt like that swinging stone at times, when even the wind felt like her commander and she never got anything right. Mauve had forgotten something so simple that it was immensely important, sure Chrysoberyl had been one of the harshest owners she'd ever had to serve but wasn't that meant to be a pleasure to her? At the very least it was a way to keep busy. Yet she felt an immense rebellion inside herself that told her not to do as she was told, to follow instincts that were equally frowned upon as the other ideals that her kind was meant to conform to. So long as the gem on her forehead had the same smoothness and sheen it did, this was her life, she just couldn't understand why it was so hard to accept it; nor why she couldn't seem to do anything right...

"Second-hand pearls! Price reductions by up to forty percent what's paid to order!" The shopkeeper yelled out, showing off the gleaming gems and, when a customer asked, the form of the pearl. The zircon was charismatic, Mauve would give her that after what she'd seen, she had done well for herself in a world that hated her; the pearl did not resent her for it. Besides, the resentment of a gem such as herself would mean little to anyone but even more meaningless to a zircon, she must be used to such treatment; it was something the purple gem could respect, having lived with a similar circumstance so they tolerated each other; even when pearl was repeatedly sent back. Besides, it wasn't like she had painted a 'no refunds or exchanges' for nothing, it basically supported her business to get yourself given up but not incompetent enough to shatter.

"I'm looking for an inexpensive servant, actually, something about rewarding good behaviour for some lower gems…" The agate spoke, eyes forward and confidently placing her hands on her hips, she was oddly polite to the zircon, she was one of the good ones, Mauve decided, "Have any that are presentable enough for a gift?"

"But of course, missus! In fact, Mauve here is in excellent condition," She gestured to the purple gem who served as a display of physical form due to being unpopular with more noble gems that hoped to save some currency. It was probably due to this very reason that she still wore the dress from her last owner, hair still pinned up and pointed straight back in the typical fashion for pearls.

"Hmm," The agate circled her with a predatory look that made the gem being subjugated so thoroughly suppress a mass of shudders, "A bit on the fancy side, that'll surely save me some grief...yes, she'll do nicely!"

"May I have your information then? Just your gem typing and commanding officer is necessary; no need for anything else, missus."

"Condor Agate, Yellow Diamond's command; and just Condor is fine."

"Everything seems to be in order then, just swipe your payment card please." The transaction went off without a hitch, almost as if it was a simply exchange involving nothing more than material clothing or hair pins. Such was life. "And...you should be all set, thank you for coming!"

"You're a zircon, right? I'll make sure to recommend you to others, thanks for making this so easy!" The gem in question was blushing deeply, pulling down her hair to cover chubby cheeks inflamed with darker dues as she waved the agate off, who had been followed by Mauve without any interaction necessary. The purple gem kept her head down as the orange one led her forward, intertwining her hands and keeping them in front of her and raised as she walked carefully. Others stared as Condor led her forward with confident steps and an easy smile with a hint of cockiness easily back up by her profession; the odd thing was her being sent out on a fetch quest. The city disappeared without her even looking at it, hours then passing in a silent bubble that seemed to suffocate the poor gem, even whilst surrounded by chatter. It reminded her of a time with Chrysoberyl, the darkness of that room she used to blow off steam, it wasn't wrong of her to preserve these emotions and take them out on her as she had. Better to hit a used pearl than break anything of value or lash out at another that wouldn't simply sit by and take it. Still, it bothered her sometimes, the silence that made her recall too many voices yelling out insults and little words of terrible meaning; praise that could be called off-putting too. This was the third time she had been returned for clumsy mistakes but that was only three of seven different circumstances.

It went in a terrible pattern, abuse had been discovered and she had been taken from the first, quickly followed by another account. Third being the start of trembling fingers and actions not taken quick enough for a gem's liking as she shakes and refuses to be put in the dark by herself. Forth a crippling matter of oddity that had one gem convicted and the other proved innocent, came onto without permission in an act not meant to be taken. Clumsiness followed again and once more before she was at her sixth encounter. She was shut in a room by herself quite a lot that time, two gems in the other room engaging in certain acts until they were caught and she was relieved of their ownership. It was almost like she was cursed, though it didn't happen all too frequently if she was been honest; she'd simply lived a long life of differences in servitude, each centuries apart. It had scarred her, this never ending sameness and epic bout of survival rather than life; since she'd lived a long time...but had she really lived? It was something she scarcely took the time to even consider, though it wasn't, like much time was allotted for such thoughts, not when your purpose was to serve and anything less was either lazy or able to bore her to to tears. Nowadays, however, she was much more prone to enjoying the precious moments of standing around when silence did not claim the room and fill it with mistakenly heard whispers of sultry words and angry insults. Pearl would expect an agate to start with such things yet...she had been rather pleasant to stand with if she put aside the silence; it was probably preferred by her anyway.

"Follow me, 'kay?" She nods, stepping off the train and sticking two steps behind until her hand beckons you forward. Normally, Mauve would know to ignore the baiting but she was supposed to be different, right? The pearl had obviously taken too long as she followed with, "Come one, walk with me." It was probably just to make sure she didn't run off or become lost whilst trying to maintain her disposition; smart. Her arm stretched in front of the smaller gem and her body ceased movement immediately, eyes resisting the urge to look up at the large building and its entrance as an elevator slid open. Rebellious eyes jerked upwards for a short moment as beads of sweat formed on the smaller gem's face, Condor was the opposite of her, thicker lines where hers were thin, kind eyes but a face resting with a look of constant resentment if unaccompanied by a smile. When the room brightened, metal doorway sliding open in two directions, her face did in turn.

"Hey! Squad 08!" No response, "Come on, guys! I brought someone-" Not something...someone- "*sigh* XJ, I can see you." It was rather sudden, one small triangle of yellow moving outwards until it revealed a short gem with a playful smile, one arm brushing her neck and a blush lining her cheeks.

"I thought I had it this time!

"Gonna take more than that to get past me, XJ, where's the rest?"

"Olive's downstairs, ...hmm, I haven't seen Dove in awhile but I know she's with Peri!"

"What about short-stuff?"

"I'm pretty sure she hates that nickname, ya know. Gem's- uh...whatta call it-? Inventining!"

"Inventing, it's inventing-"

"Pomato, pomatoe! The point is-" She had a look of shock, "-Condor! Who is she?!"

"Get everyone together, would ya? I'll explain everything."

"With divine pleasure-!"

"-Doesn't exist-!"

"Hey guys! Condor's back and she brought her girlfriend!"

"WHAT?!"

"WHAT?! I'm gonna shatter you!"

"Not if you can't catch me!"

What had Mauve gotten herself into…? ...And what the heck was a girlfriend?!