It makes sense that Earth would be the colony for Pink to weasel out of the Big Three. Of all the Diamonds, she's the most inquisitive, the most likely to develop a passion for something seemingly mundane. As Bismuth begins to investigate the planet in the guise of constructing monuments, she finds Earth to be bustling with life and color and change. There's a lot of change, and it occurs far too often for Bismuth's liking.

"We're not supposed to like it", Beryl points out, watching as Bismuth hammers an iron rod against an anvil.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't." Bismuth lifts the rod to scrutinize it. "Just when I think I get used to this place, BAM, ice starts falling from the sky. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?"
"Ignore it and finish your forging. And it's not like it'll last. Before you know it, the ice'll turn into water, and you won't even remember it."
"Beryl, that's exactly my point." Bismuth thrusts the searing rod into the circular pot jutting out from the wall, her breathing coming out in frustrated huffs as steam rises around them.

Beryl watches with an arched eyebrow; she sidesteps her as Bismuth turns to rumble through the far too small desk in the left hand corner of the room and rears back. "What's your problem?"
Bismuth snatches a tablet from her desk, slamming the drawer shut. Her fingers scroll for several moments, then pause, skittering over the screen in an intricate yet heated dance. "My problem", she seethes, voice thick and terse. "Is that the Diamonds have trusted us to do something big, something important, and yet we're doing the same shit we were doing on Homeworld!" The tablet shatters in her grip, and she hurls it against the floor; shards of glass hop about the ground, scattering between the both of them; a few land on Beryl's feet, but she's too startled by the frantic hands taking hold of her shoulders to register their presence.
"Doesn't it bother you", Bismuth is saying, eyes wide with desperation. "That we've left home, left our Diamonds, but are still living by the same rules? I know Pink's still a Diamond but fuck." She gives Beryl a jarring shake and groans. "Things were supposed to be different here. Even if it was only for a little while, but, B, they were supposed to be different. And they aren't."
For a moment, Beryl can only stare. She stares with a confusion so overt, so genuine, that the little fear Bismuth feels quickly trickles to nothing. It's an expression Bismuth has grown to treasure these last few decades because it's the one that most closely resembles understanding, even if its owner can't comprehend its friend's delirium. "Sweetie." Beryl wraps her fingers around Bismuth's arm, holding firm when the latter attempts to pull away. "Of course they aren't. We left home, but we're still who we are; we're still Gems. And Gems don't get to live."

"Beryl. We are inhabiting a colony that's more full of life than any other colony in the history of Diamond Imperialism. Shouldn't we get the chance to live, too?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because we're not even alive!" Beryl pulls her arm back, placing her hands on her hips. Her nose twitches, and she scowls, shaking her head in disappointment. "We were sent here to complete a mission, and that mission was to stop thoughts just like those."
"Well, why should we?" When this only incites a look of disgust from Beryl, Bismuth scoffs, wipes a hand over her face, and mutters, "They just wanna be free. What's wrong with that?"

Beryl lifts her hands in front of her, fingers connected to form a stiff tent. She closes her eyes, rocks back and forward on the balls of her feet, and exhales. Then, lids slowly pulling back over her eyes, she gives Bismuth a quick once-over, and sighs. "I thought this would be good for you", she says. "Helping to stop these rebels before their influence spreads. But you're even worse now than ever."

"Now, that?" Bismuth turns to the pot protruding from the wall; fists clenching at her sides, she stares at the broiling pot of water and stares. "That we can agree on."

Beryl grabs hold of her upper arm, eyes intent and a stormy shade of grey. She tugs, once, twice, and stands on her toes, her boney fingers digging into Bismuth's arm. "Bis. Come on. Don't fuck this up."
"This mission was fucked up the moment Blue made it seem like this would be anything different from Homeworld", Bismuth returns, reaching into the nook in the wall; she weighs the hammer resting there in her hands. She scowls, head tilting backwards, and closes her eyes. "'Only you lot can stop these traitors and restore the honor of the Diamonds and their loyal, loving subordinates'." The hammer dangles in her hand; she turns back to Beryl and slicing it through the air. "But it's just business as usual."

"So what are you gonna do?" Beryl's fingers sink further into the impenetrable skin, and her words taken on a serrated edge. "Join their fucking cause? Plot? Rebel?"
"I never said-"
"Well, you might as well have!" Beryl hops in front of her, cheeks tinting grey; her shoulders rise and fall with each jagged breath, and her hands come before her, fingers splayed in uncertainty. "Do you want to be shattered", she asks. Her voice cracks, and she shouts, kicking the wall beside Bismuth, before she takes her head into her hands. "They already suspect you, Bismuth."
"They suspect us all", she retorts, twirling her hands beside her head. "It's the reason why they chose us for this in the first place."
"Yeah. But that don't mean you should give em a reason to recycle you."

Bismuth flicks her eyes to meet Beryl's. Before, a statement like this would have left Bismuth speechless and embittered. A few decades back, she might have heeded the advice and taken the heat behind those words to gem. But this is now, and this is Beryl; Beryl, who stands at half her height but nonetheless manages to fill up the room. Beryl, who represses her spirit when in Bismuth's presence to keep attention off the latter. Beryl, who's staring up at her with eyes so struck with fear that it almost renders Bismuth weak.

And regardless of what she preaches, Bismuth knows that Beryl cares.

She tugs Bismuth closer once more and closes her eyes. "Please", she pleads, forehead pressing into Bismuth's stomach. "Please, don't do anything reckless."

"Beryl."
"Please!" Her eyes fly open, and she glares, eyes wet with yet to shed tears. "Protect yourself."
Heat flares in Bismuth's chest. Protect, protect, protect. Every grain in her being has been designed to protect, with the subject being her Diamonds: protect them from unconquered planets through the construction of containment facilities; protect them from boredom by building arenas for her kind to butcher themselves in; protect them from petty squabbles by designing torture devices for uncooperative colonies. Broken down, it's nothing but static and nonsense because no one is really being protected. Through each act, the Diamonds' egos are stroked and the Gems and other species are further oppressed, but no one's really safe. Everyone's on edge, waiting for the first big something, and there's no telling who'll be lost when the first shot rings out.

"I'll try", Bismuth eventually cedes, wrapping an arm around Beryl's back. She leans her chin into the mossy head of hair and sighs. "But I ain't gonna be happy about it."
Beryl sighs as well, tangling their fingers at their sides. "You're such a fucking idiot."
"And you're a raging bitch."
"I know."
Soon after, Beryl leaves, wrenching a promise from Bismuth that she'll keep sight of the mission. Bismuth swears to it, arms forming a stark diamond against her chest, and sees the smaller Gem out.

Neither mentions the blatant lie that this is, but it's still too comforting for either to comment on it.

. . .

Bismuth first sees the rebels during an unsanctioned leave from work.

Her chosen place of respite was a cliff adorned by budding lilies and daisies. She hadn't strayed too far from her forge, but it was enough distance that she felt comfortable enough to lounge and simply stare at the clouds touching the bottoms of her feet. The sky was a powdery blue with flecks of orange and pink scattered throughout. It was the same sky Bismuth had always seen from down below, but it seemed different from this height; there was something empowering about the proximity, like she was capable of reaching out and pulling the blue blanket from beyond saving it for her own eyes.

All at once, she can't help but reaching out, fingers flexing out, to press her hand against the sky. Understandably, nothing happens. But it feels so right to be able to test something to her own curiosity rather than someone's demands. It feels good to drop the facade and admit that, yes, she does exist outside of being a tool for her Diamond.

It feels nice to be alive.

Bismuth curls her fingers around a patch of grass around her and sighs. When she lifts her hand and opens her palms, the wind picks up the thin strands and tosses them over the cliff to parts unknown. They disappear with relative ease, and, soon, Bismuth finds herself enraptured by the rays of sun dancing against the stream that borders their research center. She's mimicking crushing said center between her fingers when something snaps from behind her.

Bismuth hops to her feet and squares back her shoulders; she watches as a multicolored Gem falls from an oak tree and squeals, drawing back her own shoulders as a pair of gauntlets surround her fists.

"All-All right now", the other Gem begins. "We don't want to hurt you. We-We're just trying to get back to our friends."

"Okay." Bismuth gestures her palms towards her and lifts her eyebrows. "I won't stop you-yall." Her eyes dart to the golden stars sitting atop her gauntlets. The tension in Bismuth's shoulders dissipitates, and her expression softens. "Oh", she says. "You...You're one of them aren't you?"

The Gem straightens their arms, and their gauntlets hum. "Just stay away from us. We don't mean you any harm."
"Look, I'm not looking to hassle y'all", Bismuth explains, marvelling at the display of weaponry. "I just came up here for a little time off; I didn't know this cliff was taken." When the other Gem doesn't relent in their stance, she exhales and brushes a few locks of her hair over her shoulder. She offers the frazzled Gem a gentle smile, gulps, and says, "My name is Bismuth."
The other Gem stares, unyielding in their posture, before blinking rapidly and allowing their arms to fall near their sides. A flash of light engulfs them, and their gauntlets turn back into hands; they give Bismuth a brief scrutinization, then return the smile with one of their own. "I'm Garnet."

"Garnet." Bismuth takes a hesitant step forward and shakes her head. "I've never met a Garnet before. At least, not one that wasn't a singular anyway."

A blue blush rises to their cheeks, and they duck their head. "Well, I am one of a kind. Literally."

"Gosh, I'm sorry, that-that was weird, wasn't it?"
"A little bit."

"Sorry. Uh, again." Bismuth kicks her foot against the ground, watching the resulting cloud of dust that rises from the earth; she clears her throat and says, "I'm a decent person. I'm just a bit of a dumbass sometimes."

Garnet laughs, sheathing their smile behind a hand. "Well", they begins between chuckle. "I thought spying on someone when I'm supposed to be in hiding was a good idea, so I think the dumbass is pretty evenly spread." They then step forward and tilt their head to the side. "I've never known a Gem to take time off. Did you...win the free time or something?"

"No, I kinda just took it." Bismuth scratches the back of her head and turns to look at the research center; it's at the center of this particular stretch of land. Within a few months, though, the center will expand with several facilities and consume the greenery surrounding it. She's seen it happen before, has even constructed facilities of the sort. But something about this land, about this planet, makes this fact all the more disturbing. Sighing, Bismuth tosses her legs over the cliff and stares ahead, hands once again pulling at the grass.

"You seem troubled", Garnet notes, crouching beside her. "Is something the matter?"

"No. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you've taken off from work without permission. That alone is grounds for a shattering, depending on the Diamond. Not many Gems would take the risk. But you have."
Bismuth kicks her feet back and forward; her lips pursed, she spares Garnet a quick glance, then turns back to the landscape. "Yeah. But you're a rebel. I'm sure you know the spiel."

Garnet smiles. "I do. But I don't know yours."

"And you want to know?"
"Color me curious. But yeah."
"I'm no expert", Bismuth says with half a smirk. "But I don't thinking chatting up random Gems is the safest thing to do in your position."

"You've abandoned your Compound. You definitely aren't an expert."

Bismuth chuckles and rolls her eyes. "You're cool", she admits, slapping Garnet on the ankle. Then, lowering her hands back to the ground, she takes a deep breath and bites her lip. "Being in that place, being a...a slave just…" She pulls a layer of soil from the earth and huffs, the whites of her eyes taking on a orange hue. "I just had to get away. Even if it was just for a minute, but I had to get away."

Garnet takes a seat beside her. They finger the grass beneath them and nod. "That's how it was for us. Before."
"Did it get any better?"

They beam. "Yes. In all the ways you can and can't imagine. It's so much better." She places the heel of one foot into the ankle of their other and follows Bismuth's line of sight. "It was scary at first, no doubt. But we were ourselves, and that was okay. We were allowed to be us, and people, other rebels, didn't really care because they were just as non-traditional as us. And it was all just amazing. Terrifying, and life-threatening if we're ever discovered, but amazing. Utterly and irrevocably amazing."

"So it's worth it? The risk, the fear, the uncertainty?" She turns to Garnet, hands resting in the lap of her apron, and looks up at her. "Being free makes it all worth it?"
Garnet nods. They hold her eye for a moment before proceeding to ask, "Are you...considering...withdrawing from the Courts?"
"Yeah. No. I don't know." She drops her chin into the palm of her hand and eases her legs onto the cliff. They fold beneath her, and she leans closer to Garnet, eyeing her with an overt frustration. "I hate existing for someone else's benefit", Bismuth reveals. "But I don't know how to do anything else. What else could I do?"
"Live."
"Yeah, but I mean what would I do with that? Life, I mean."
"Well, no one said you had to know." Garnet tugs at the frills of her skirt and smiles. "Rose says that's one of the best things about Earth. That you don't have to know. That you can just fuck about until you find what suits you. And we have to agree." Their hands meet against their stomach, and she breaths, eyelids falling over their eyes in bliss. "If there was ever a planet for us to develop on, I do believe Earth to be the best." Their eyes open once more, and they rise to their feet. "It's your life ultimately, but we see no reason why the same wouldn't apply to you."

Bismuth blinks. Her hands bawl the leather fabric of her smock, and she shakes her head. "No way", she scoffs. "I mean, I'm just me."
"And we're just us", Garnet persists, reaching out to lay a hand across Bismuth's knee.

"Come on, you know what I mean. I've read about you guys. The Pearl fighting to be something other than an object. The Rose Quartz fighting to save this planet and give Gems a purpose. And you guys, fighting for each other, for love." Bismuth tosses her arms up in exasperation. "I just wanna be free to sit on my ass all day and stare at clouds."
Garnet chuckles and raises their eyebrows. "Is that such an issue? If it means you possess free will, then go for it."
"'Go for it'? You mean rebel?"
"Well, yes. What are your other options?" When Bismuth doesn't respond, Garnet gives her knee a gentle pat and stands. "It was nice speaking to you. But I have to leave. My friends will start to worry."
"Right." Bismuth extends a hand, letting out a surprised, "Oh!" when Garnet surges forward and pulls her into a crushing embrace. "This is...what is this? What are you doing?"
Garnet chuckles and pulls away to smile at her. "The humans call it a hug", she explains, smile widening when Bismuth sinks into the embrace with calculated apprehension. "It's like a handshake but better."
"It's weird."
"It's a good weird."
Dark grey peppers her cheeks, and her shoulders draw up towards her ears. "Yeah." Just as she's wrapping her arms around Garnet's waist, a shrill bell pierces the air and startles the two from their hug. Garnet stumbles backward, summoning their gauntlets once more, and stares over Bismuth's shoulder. Bismuth turns, muscles turning taut at the sight of an approaching Red Eye. It casts a beam at her, scanning the left side of her body, before Garnet tackles her to the ground and sends them tumbling down the mountainside. They crash into a thorny thicket of bushes, but they stay down, chins brushing against the earth until the hovering craft dips over the cliff. Even then, they remain hidden, waiting until the mechanical shrieking dims to a faint hum. When the two finally feel safe, they crawl through the bushes and stand, heads darting to the east and west.

"It's gone", Bismuth assures, scraping aged leaves and soil from her thighs. "I think we're safe."
Garnet frowns. "It scanned you. Maybe not all of you, but it was enough to get most of your ID."
"No way. They didn't even know that I'd be coming here."
"Doesn't matter. They knew you didn't clock in, and there aren't many places to hide in in this section." They flick their eyes away from Bismuth to the sky, the skin above their eyes concave. "If you had to guess", they prompt, attention still on the sky. "What's the Diamonds' perception of your loyalty?"

Bismuth pulls her lower lip between her teeth; warmth crawls up the back of her neck, slithery like a dancing snake, and she makes a so-so gesture with her hand. "Uh, on the fence. I guess. It's actually why I was sent here; said they needed someone with 'rebel-like qualities" on the case to understand why you guys like Earth so much", she explains, rocking on her heels.

"It's logical, we'll give em that", Garnet murmurs, fingers pinching their chin. They turn back to Bismuth and sigh. "They already know your true nature. With that scan, there's little chance of you escaping this alive."
"And you know this how?"
"Call it a gift our ours." They reach forward and take hold of her shoulders. "We're afraid staying in the Courts is no longer an option."
"So what, I'm just supposed to join the cause now?"
"If you want to live, then yes. You won't survive on your own, not with Pink colonizing this place. We've been avoiding their Red Eyes for nearly a century now. We know how to do this."
Bismuth scowls. She stretches her hands out beside her, eyes wide with defeat, and admonishes, "So I'm just supposed to tuck tail and hide in caves and trees for the rest of my life?"
Garnet shakes their head. "We're not just hiding", they correct. "And either way, it's better than going back and hoping they don't shatter you."
"This is crazy." Bismuth kicks at the shrub of periwinkles beside her. It ruffles from the attack, slender stems bending and snapping from the attack; several of the purple heads glide to the earth, and Bismuth stares, chest heaving as the life fades from the flowers. "I can't just leave", she says, eyes lifting to meet Garnet's.
"Why not? You said yourself that you aren't happy with the way you were living."
"For fuck's sake, of course I'm not happy, but I wasn't actually considering leaving. I'm not that type of Gem!" She places a hand against her chest and shakes her head. "It's amazing that you guys and your friends got out, but I'm-I'm not like you. I was terrified to come out here today, and y'all think I could help with a revolution? Are you serious?" She shifts her attention to her gauntlets and huffs. "I don't even have a weapon. How in the galaxy do you expect me to contribute anything?"
Garnet stares at her. They shrug, shift their gauntlets back into hands, and sigh. "Everyone's good at something. I won't tell you where to go from here but, please, do consider us." All three of their eyes blink, and they turn around, walking back to the tree that they had fallen from. Before darting from their tree to the next, they turn back to Bismuth, smile, and wave. "It was nice meeting you." And then she's gone.

And Bismuth has a job to return to.