These were a new breed of human the Diamond had (once again) never seen before! Her sister must have commanded this Topaz to visit the "dangerous planet" and retrieve them before its demise.
While this act of kindness did not make Blue miss her wonderful Joy any less, she couldn't help but feel flattered by her sister's kind gesture.
The three animals were so much smaller than Joy too! Stars! Her clarity was concerned she might lose or step on them!
As the Topaz put the creatures down, the trio began to wander with a new found curiosity. They wattled rather awkwardly- as if their balance was not quite calibrated correctly.
Blue Diamond's heart melted as the trio made the most adorable squeaking sound. The cats mewed as they searched for milk.
"Yellow requested to give you naming rights for this breed." The Topez interrupted Blue diamond's train of thought. "What shall they be called my Diamond?"
The monarch thought for a few minutes, and watched the creatures closely- attempting to come up with a decent name...
"Hope. They will be called as such because they have renewed my own." She decided.
Fortunately, all three "Hopes" had a different color- so "Brown", "Grey", and "Orange" became their more permanent namesakes.
While the trio immediately enjoyed sharpening their claws on the curtains, it was evident that they were much less destructive than Joy had been.
Orange rubbed against Blue Pearl's leg. The servant was going to rear in disgust, but soon found that the creature did not smell foul at all. The small kitten mewed, and patted it's front paw on the Pearl's shoe in hopes of being picked up.
The Blue Pearl obeyed, and a smile spread over her face as the baby kitten snuggled into her armpit and fell asleep.
Blue Pearl looked up, and saw that her Diamond had witnessed the entire charade. While the leader smirked with amusement, the servant blushed in embarrassment.
Once the kittens began eating solid food, a new challenge presented itself. The "humans" had no interest in the fruit, and were constantly complaining of hunger.
It took the Peridots several tries to come up with a synthetic dish that the animals would eat. Apparently, this type of human had no interest in eating plant life, but preferred foods that were high in fat and protein.
Once a meal was prepared and taste tested successfully by the kittens, a new batch was created and wheeled into Blue Diamond's chambers on a daily basis.
Unlike Joy, the kittens were quite content living in Blue Diamond's room. They had absolutely no interest in wandering through the halls of Homeworld. Why bother? There was a massive sleeping pillow right here in the middle of the room...just for them!
Blue Diamond found herself standing much more frequently. The kittens would use their talons to climb the wall of the pillow, and had an interesting habit of sleeping in the direct center of it. The Diamond had attempted to sit on it's side one day, and the kittens mewed in distress as the leader's added weight made the three tumble toward her from the center.
Another massive pillow was made to avoid this situation- but this only resulted in the kittens spreading out. Two were asleep in the center of the first one, and Orange was asleep in the center of the second.
Two more massive pillows were made, and while the room was quite snug with fluff at this point, it seemed to fix the initial problem.
When the Diamond was busy with her duties, she instructed her Pearl to entertain the "humans".
...a chore Blue Pearl was all too happy to perform!
The servant had found that the animals absolutely loved chasing small inanimate objects that moved. Blue Pearl had a piece of ribbon stored in her gemstone that she would flail about to amuse the babies.
They would give chase, bat at it with their paws, and tumble on top of one another in a playful tussle...before wearing themselves out, and falling asleep again.
At one point, the Diamond came home to the most adorable of panoramas. Blue Pearl had fallen asleep on the floor-ribbon in hand. The three kittens were curled around the servant for warmth- also asleep. She kept a digital copy of the scene, and (to the embarrassment of the Pearl), had an artist commission the photograph into a mural for her chambers.
Blue Pearl blushed every time she glanced up at the massive mural hanging on the wall. "My Diamond?"
"Yes, my Pearl?"
"Is the mural really necessary? It makes me look...lazy..."
"Nonsense! You and the Hopes look absolutely adorable!" The Diamond smiled. "It's a rare moment of real life! Most Gems pose for portraits, but this piece displays a calm and gentle atmosphere!"
The Blue Pearl's brow furrowed in frustration. She made a low moaning sound, knowing every Gem that entered her master's chambers would see this god-awful piece of art. Nevertheless, she dropped the subject. There was really nothing she could do about it.
Indeed, the new "human pets" were much more popular among the masses than Joy had been. Lots of the citizens found amusement in watching the creatures play in the background of their dictator's announcements and videos.
Yellow Diamond was most pleased. The S.O.S. signals had stopped entirely. It was obvious that her gift had been a major success!
...little did she know the chaos that would unfold from her good intentions...
