She found herself so distracted by the spectacle playing out before them all that the majority of the meeting flew right by her. She could review the minutes her pearl was taking later, easily - that was hardly what weighed heaviest on her mind at the moment, and catching the tail end of Pink's little exposé about some far-flung planet felt like more than enough information as far as she was concerned.
"…thus, the Crystal System seems to me to be the one showing most potential, with several of its planets bearing indications of useful mineral deposits in significant amounts. Ah, yes, there we go. Thank you very much for your help with the holograms, Pearl."
She'd asked for a chair. A chair for the pearl accompanying her. Special separate seating - in the corner of the room, thankfully - if nothing else, it seemed Pink in all her idiosyncrasy wasn't as far gone as to seat a pearl at the council table of the Diamonds themselves.
White scoffed to herself. Small mercies.
"So, to conclude, you suggest a start of exploitation efforts?" Blue drawled in her usual fashion, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Pink was currently mostly distracted by shooting wide smiles at her little pet, and White found herself badly wanting to cringe. Would no one say anything? Yellow was but a small turn to the right away and she met her gaze readily, an annoyed frown to match her own etched into her features, accompanied by a sliver of disgust and a healthy dollop of I'm not going to interfere.
White Diamond cleared her throat, and took the duty upon herself. "If that is all, I'll call the council to a close." A calculated moment for them all to stand and make for the exit, then a firm call. "Pink Diamond, I request a word with you."
"Of course. Excuse me," Pink turned away from White Diamond for a moment, bending down slightly to talk to the pearl. White sincerely hoped her troublesome co-ruler could feel the daggers generously being glared at her back, and harboured a growing outrage that she could be so easily dismissed - in favour of such a lowly Gem, no less! "Pearl, I need to finish up a few things here, would you mind waiting for me in the hallway outside?"
"Oh. Of course not, Rose." Rose. And what an utterly annoying little chirp. White had never felt as grateful as then that most pearls were all too happy to stay quiet and unobtrusive. What was the production irregularity rate for them nowadays? It was a gratifyingly low number - Pink would know the exact figures, of course, and perhaps a pointed question or two were in order.
"Good. I promise I won't be long."
The pearl nodded and smiled, and all but skipped out of the room cheerfully. The entire performance was patently ridiculous, and frankly appalling, and White Diamond decided to let it show very openly as she was finally, finally granted the grand gift of Pink Diamond's undivided attention.
"What are you doing?" She asked in low yet unmistakably aggravated tones. "How can you have yourself addressed so… commonly? You have a pearl calling you Rose, you turn your back on me to speak to her, and request things of her? What is the meaning of all this?"
"I fail to see how my treatment of my own staff is any of your business, White Diamond. I don't recall ever interfering in your internal affairs." The change in tone was striking: from the warm, carefully softened words she'd murmured to the pearl, to this - equally careful, but now with a carefully honed razor edge.
A slightly different approach seemed to be needed here. "Rose, please. I know you've always had a penchant for… oddities like this - but surely now, a pearl, and such a very sad specimen, at that? It would be bordering on embarrassing to have any high-ranking member of the Authority parade around with a defective Gem, but a Diamond herself? Here, I can have one of my own reassigned to you, it's really no great matter-"
"It's an experiment, if you must know," Pink answered coolly, perfectly composed, almost as if daring anyone to doubt her. "I'm looking into alternative Gem conditioning methods. I've had some very interesting results - you'd be amazed at how well some Gems react to a touch of kindness."
Pink Diamond had considerable talent in getting people to believe what she wanted them to, White knew. To an extent, all four of them had their ways of accomplishing this, but it was different with her - it was just so easy and good to believe her. And, as she watched the last traces of pink disappear from her sight, White reflected on how very readily she had done so just now.
Still, it was far less disconcerting to allow herself this than to dwell on the rumours and whispers reaching her with growing frequency, a veritable cloud of them surrounding Pink Diamond, and, increasingly, Rose Quartz.
—
Pearl stood waiting outside, rocking slightly on the balls of her feet in an attempt keep at least some of her discomfort and nervousness at bay - and scrambled into a posture of very definite I-wasn't-listening as soon as the door started opening before Rose. It was, admittedly, a pearl skill she'd never been very good at. Gems had very little qualms about discussing things in front of pearls - most usually hardly registered their presence, but an added layer of presented discretion was both appreciated and expected. It was hardly remarkable, however - merely one more item on the long, long list of her shortcomings.
Rose's entire form seemed to radiate dissatisfaction tinged with worry, and her shoulders slumped as soon as the council chamber doors shut behind her. "Did you overhear all that?"
Pearl answered with a small nod, wondering if this was it, if the jig was up now that she was aware, and the apparent experiments that had made up one of the most pleasant periods in her life would end- but Rose merely paused to heave an unhappy sigh. "In that case, I need you to know it was all completely false."
"W-what?" Pearl stammered out in a tiny squeak of a voice, hurrying after Rose down the long hallway and trying to keep up without tripping over her own feet.
"I lied, Pearl. One day I'll make them understand, perhaps, and get them to reconsider matters. But now is not the time, not yet. I pity them, almost," Rose spoke softly and simply, voice tinged with regret. "Their inability to think in any terms other than useful or useless."
The confusion and reluctance must have shown too readily on Pearl's face, because Rose went as far as to stop in the middle of the hallway, turn them both so they were face to face, and place large but surprisingly gentle hands on tense, narrow shoulders. "Oh, Pearl. I hope you will see as well - you certainly deserve to. There is so, so much more than that."
Pearl nodded, the sudden closeness making forming actual words a strange, distant idea. But the highly unusual and almost incendiary ideas felt like the most natural thing she'd heard in all her life.
It was so easy to believe when Rose Quartz said it.