Chapter Two: Need a Little Change

The Korean spring was beautiful.

Truly, truly it was. The last of the winter's chill had finally faded away, and in its wake it left a world not just of soft greens, but the most brilliant pinks and yellows and whites.

Greg's main theme was cosmic stuff, but it was beautiful enough to inspire a couple of songs. He'd spent the entire car ride out to the mountains filling his note book with scraps of lyrics and chords, trying to string them all together in his head.

Unfortunately, once he arrived at the Palanquin, he discovered an unexpected side effect of the spring flowers. Or, well, maybe not unexpected. He'd only known Blue Diamond for a few short months, but already discovered how sensitive she could be about the color pink, how it would plunge her into painful recollections of the one she'd lost.

It was more than that, too. The other flowers brought the other Diamonds to mind as well. As they sat in the Palanquin's shade, or else wandered among the hills, Blue told Greg about them. Sometimes she cried as she spoke; sometimes she would grow distant; sometimes she'd become hard.

She'd talk about Yellow's fury. The hatred that had festered there. How she wanted nothing but to put Pink Diamond's death behind her, so that it would stop hurting. To get rid of anything that reminded her.

"And White… all she does is work. She barely speaks to us at all anymore. Not about Pink, not about anything."

Greg would hold her hand (or, well, a finger, actually), say understanding things, let her talk through it. He'd share about his own troubles with family. How his Dad had always hoped Greg would have more of a thing for business and finances. How Mom had always fostered his love of space, had dreamed about him one day becoming a famous physicist, maybe even an astronaut. How they'd both died in a car-crash, unexpectedly, when Greg had been only seventeen; how it had felt like his heart had been ripped out of him. How his extended family had stepped in to take care of him, but how that hadn't been without its own share of problems. They'd been a pretty conservative lot. They'd reacted even more badly to his musical aspirations than his parents had. And he'd been one of the luckier ones. When Aunt Deb had come out, the reaction had been so bad she'd ended up moving halfway across the country. Greg had felt a bit of a coward— dropping out of community college was nothing like what she'd had to put up with— but he just hadn't been able to take it anymore.

"I suppose that we are similar in that respect," Blue had commented once.

Greg had given a lopsided grin. "Well, that's good. We've got at least one thing in common!"

She'd laughed at that.

Greg loved those laughs. They were rare, and so he treasured each and every one of them.

He could tell, though, that dwelling on all these problems was only stifling that laughter. So while they shared in these things, Greg also sought ways to distract Blue. He'd sing songs to her. Tell her funny anecdotes about his concerts and TV interviews. Read her camp sci-fi. Tell bad knock-knock jokes that she only got about twenty-five percent of the time. Take her for long walks through nature, telling her the names of whatever plants and animals he knew.

Today, he'd been hoping to bring her down into the village.

They walked along the road towards town, always careful to keep behind the trees or the hills, where anybody who happened to be following the country road would be less likely to spot them. They chatted as they went.

Or rather, Greg and Blue did. Pearl came with them, but was silent as a shadow, usually only speaking if Blue asked something of her.

Blue had gone a bit ahead— something that happened a lot, since her strides were easily five times longer than theirs— but Greg didn't mind too much. While she was off examining a cherry tree, it gave him a chance to talk to Pearl. He figured it was about time they got to know each other.

"So," he asked her. "What's up?"

The alien's head tilted upwards. "Tree branches."

That was Greg's bad. He'd already learned that the Gems tended to take things literally. "I mean, how are you doing?"

Pearl was quiet for a few moments, before responding, "Is there anything you require, Greg Universe?"

"Nah, I'm fine." Greg waved his hand; he had enough yes-men in his life. He liked Blue because it gave him the chance to just talk with someone. "So, how're you liking Earth?"

Pearl practically froze, and said nothing.

From up ahead came Blue's laughter. "Pearl can become easily overwhelmed."

"Apologies," Pearl whispered.

"Hey, it's cool. I get it." Greg gave her one of those soft, gentle smiles he used on his shyer fans. Slowly, Pearl returned it.

By then, they had caught up with Blue. The giant woman was peeking out over the canopy of the trees. "That must be it up ahead."

"Probably," Greg agreed. He couldn't see it from the ground, but they'd been walking for nearly an hour, so it had to be close. "What do you think?"

"It is very small. But also quite lovely, in its own little way."

"Yeah, well, it's a country town. Being picturesque is practically its job," said Greg. "I wish I could take you in for a closer look…"

Blue bent down from the trees and tilted her head at him. "Can you not?"

"Well, sure, I could, if I wanted to spark a panic." Blue Diamond only looked politely confused, and Greg was reminded again how little the aliens knew about Earth. "You're huge. If people saw someone the size of you, they'd freak."

"Stars," said Blue.

Greg scratched his chin. "If only there was a way you could be smaller…"

"There is a way, yes," said Blue. Greg couldn't suppress his grin. He'd been hoping she'd say that. The Gems had a lot of really cool powers, and he loved any chance to see them. "However, it is rather… unbecoming."

He raised an eyebrow. "'Unbecoming'? What do you mean?"

"To become smaller…" Blue shook her head. "It would be improper."

"And uncomfortable," added Pearl. Blue nodded.

Greg rubbed his neck. He didn't really get it, but it was just one of those species divide things. The Gems didn't get why he needed to sleep; he didn't understand what was wrong with changing size. "Well, I don't want you to be uncomfortable…"

He sighed. He'd really been hoping for the chance to show them more of human culture.

He was about to suggest they head back, when Blue said, "Perhaps you could go into town without me. Pearl can accompany you. You can both tell me all about it when you return."

Greg wasn't sure about that. It felt pretty rude to just leave Blue alone, but she assured him she would be fine. "Perhaps I will see another one of those… herons, you called them? With the long legs? They were very beautiful."

"Well, okay then," said Greg. "What do you say, Pearl? Wanna come?"

She gave a curtsy. "Of course."

They headed off.

Pearl wasn't the most talkative of company, but Greg didn't let her silence deter him. He chatted amiably as they went down the road proper into down, pointing out this and that. Occasionally something would catch her interest and she'd actually ask a question, which somehow felt like a reward in of itself.

As they came along the town's main street, Pearl garnered some looks because of her odd dress, blue skin and hair. Greg had been kind of afraid of that, and scared that the shrinking violet wouldn't take the attention well. She didn't even seem to notice, however. She simply carried on, and asked what kind of vehicle the kid ahead of them was riding.

"Oh, that's a bike," Greg said, and the explanation for that lasted him until they turned the corner.

It was, all in all, a relaxing afternoon. They stopped for lunch at a cute little restaurant, and while Pearl didn't eat anything, she did hold a hot mug of coffee in her hands and savoured the smell, which she said was 'quite pleasing'. Afterwards, they strolled the shops. Greg bought some locally made candy, plus a couple pairs of new socks since he was running out. He wasn't just looking for those kind of basic knick knacks, however. He wanted to get something special for Blue. Something to show he cared.

But what? Chocolates were the obvious thing, but Gems didn't eat. Roses would've been very romantic, but considering the reaction flowers had gotten so far, he was afraid that might backfire. Something touristy, like a magnet or postcard? No, that was stupid.

"Hey, you've been friends with Blue for a long time, right?" he asked Pearl.

"I have served at her side for millennia," Pearl answered.

"Right," said Greg. "What kind of things do you think she'd like?"

Pearl considered for a long moment before answering. "Something pretty."

Something caught his eye as they passed a what looked to be a stationary shop. A traditional Korean print of herons flying.

No, not a print, Greg realized, when they came inside to get a closer look. It was a sketch book. A really nice, large one— or large for a human, at least. It would look ridiculously tiny in Blue's hands.

Still, it was the thought that counted, right? So he grabbed that, and a set of coloring pencils as well.

He noticed Pearl standing near the door, in front of a spinning rack of little jewelry and hair accessories, and felt his stomach flip in embarrassment. Sure, he wasn't dating Pearl (well, technically, he wasn't sure if he was dating Blue either) but it would be pretty rude to just buy presents for Blue Diamond right in front of her, and leave her out completely.

She was looking at a display of hair clips. "You like those?" Greg asked, pointing at the nearest one, a pair of sparkly gold stars.

"They are quite nice," she said.

"Sweet." Greg grabbed them, and put them in front of the cashier with the rest. Once he'd paid for them, he'd pressed them into Pearl's hands.

"For you," he'd explained, when she'd looked rather baffled.

"Oh. I see. Thank you."

(Greg tried not to feel to hurt when instead of putting them on, she stored them in her gem. Somehow. She was an alien. Surely she didn't mean anything by it.)

If Pearl's reaction to the gift was a let down, Blue's most certainly was not. Her whole face lit up, as she turned the book over and over in her massive hands. "It's absolutely lovely! What stunning art! I didn't know humans were capable of such things—"

And then, with a flash of blue light, she shrunk. Down and down and down. When it was over, she wasn't quite Greg's height— she still towered over him by a good head— but she was close enough that he could reach up and touch her face if he wanted.

And oh. He found he really, really wanted to.

Instead, he just laughed. "I thought you said shrinking was 'unbecoming'?"

"I'm a Diamond," she proclaimed. "Everything I do is inherently becoming. Besides. I wanted a closer look."