In the days following her reformation, PB found herself acting contrary to everything she had been instructed to do as a pearl just to better serve Jasper.
Be unobtrusive.
When she had to be in close quarters with Jasper, she made sure Jasper never forgot where she was. Whether by staying within Jasper's line of sight as much as possible and occasionally locking eyes with the quartz to be sure she wasn't terribly lost in thought or by knocking before joining Jasper in a room, PB drew more attention to herself than a pearl deserved. Jasper's senses were always keyed into the space around her and beyond anyway; every noise and rustle of motion pinged something on her mental radar. The least PB felt she could do was make it easy for Jasper to know when those pings were merely her pearl.
Be silent.
Jasper avoided silence the way she avoided inactivity. As far as PB could tell it crept into Jasper's core and agitated her, causing her to imagine sounds or become nervous. Of course, some noises did the same thing to her so PB had to tread with caution when keeping silence at bay. She took to humming. While she worked, while tending to Jasper, any time it didn't get her a scathing look from her gem.
All of it helped. Jasper stayed calmer for the most part – not that anyone but PB would know. These things seemed only to crop up when they were alone. Even so, PB found her new habits bleeding into her behavior in public. She hummed a marching tune as she brought Jasper a report meant for her agate and only realized she was doing it when the agate snapped that pearls ought to be seen and not heard. Another time she looked up from the floor and locked eyes with the same agate for a terrifying moment.
"Your pearl is awfully bold to be meeting the gaze of her betters," Plume Agate told Jasper as she stared PB down with a withering glare.
PB felt frozen in place and like her chest was collapsing in on itself. Beside her, Jasper stiffened at the criticism but rather than turn to chastise her pearl, she gave a half shrug and told the agate, "How else am I supposed to know she's listening?" Plume Agate scowled at the both of them in disgust but it seemed she couldn't find fault with Jasper's answer because she didn't mention it again. PB could have fallen to the ground and sobbed with nerves and relief. Her knees were shaking violently. She had never been more grateful to Jasper.
When they returned to Jasper's quarters following that incident PB spent hours combing Jasper's hair and then massaging her hands and feet while Jasper recounted war stories. It was the only way she knew how to thank her gem for defending her misstep. Every day her lack of skills felt more obvious and limiting and PB knew it was time for her to improve.
She didn't have to wait long for an opportunity. Jasper frequented Homeworld's arenas which meant that PB frequented them as well. A buzz followed Jasper where ever she went but the next time they made their way between the pits where gems bashed against each other to the chime of heavy applause an unfamiliar undercurrent of chatter drew PB's attention.
A couple of pearls pressed together at the edge of the crowd whispered to each other behind their hands with their eyes fixed not on Jasper but on PB. One was the pearl who had greeted her after Jasper's honors ceremony who PB had since learned was known as Mags – because she was a Magnetite's pearl. When Mags saw that PB had seen them she gestured for PB to join them. The attention made her face grow hot and the thought of leaving Jasper's side to brave the crowd sent a jolt of terror from her gem down to her toes. Still, Mags was insistent and the other pearl was nodding along with her so PB gave them a curt nod. Once Jasper found a fight to join she would be preoccupied for hours anyway.
PB followed Jasper from pit to pit with her head high, the red capelet fluttering around her shoulders. Jasper finally stopped and watched one of the open fights for a few rounds before queuing up to join. Ever an attentive pearl, PB waited through the first round to be sure that Jasper was staying put for some time. And she was.
PB was all but forgotten.
Carefully she crept to the back of the crowd that was suddenly thronging to see the Earth Quartz in action. Standing separate from all of the spectators was Mags and the other pearl, a severe, green tinged gem with flecks of blue and gold freckling her cheeks and known by other pearls as Jey, and they waved PB over urgently.
As soon as she was close enough, Mags grabbed the edge of her capelet to examine the subtle changes in the hemming. "I knew it!" she declared. "You reformed. What happened?" Jey watched her from over Mags' shoulder with a creased brow and pursed lips.
All of the eyes on her, even just the eyes of fellow pearls, made PB tremble with anxiety. "It...was an accident," she admitted and looked away.
Mags put an arm around PB's shoulder and tutted, "It always is."
Somehow PB got the impression that Mags didn't quite believe her but before she could decide whether correcting her would shame Jasper, Jey piped up, "Think of it as a learning experience." PB's stomach twisted into knots at the advice that Jey clearly thought was helpful.
"Sure, sure," Mags said and brushed Jey off. "But you're back! And Jasper seems…placated?" At the moment she said that, Jasper could be heard hollering at her opponent from across the arena and PB recoiled from the sound. Mags cringed at that and reached out a comforting hand for her.
Embarrassed and red-faced, PB shied from the touch and smoothed her hair and capelet to compose herself. Her skittishness was an embarrassment to her gem. "Jasper's great!" she insisted with too much eagerness. "She's all shine now, it's actually getting easier." Mags and Jey exchanged a dubious look. "Really, I just feel my skills are...lacking. I'd like to do more for her."
Jey gasped and her face lit up. Beside her, Mags pulled away cautiously. PB did the same – everything she had heard about Jey made the freckled pearl sound like a beacon for trouble.
"You ought to learn music! Learn an instrument!" Jey burst out before Mags could say anything.
"Why, that's actually a splendid idea, Jey..." Mags beamed, clearly pleasantly surprised. She pulled PB in close and confided to her, "Jey's gem oversees Blue Diamond's orchestras. She's a talented musician in her own right."
Jey nodded proudly, puffing out her chest. "I could teach you right now."
"Right now?" she asked dubiously. Surely an impromptu music lesson in the arena would create an unseemly disturbance.
"Absolutely," Jey assured her and threw her arm over PB's other shoulder, nearly making PB's knees buckle from the weight of both pearls. She held up her hand and from the gem on her chest she projected a series of images onto her palm–musical scores and notes and a variety of wild instruments. "You've got an ear for music don't you? I've never met a pearl without it." PB shrugged noncommittally. Satisfied with that, Jey conjured the image of a gem with a stringed instrument tucked under her chin. PB could tell the music it produced was airy and delicate—she could almost hear the soft notes in the air. It wasn't the sort of music that jumped to mind when she thought of Jasper.
"Violins are the height of sophistication," Jey told her but stopped when she saw the skepticism painted on PB's face. "...What? It's not too complicated for you, is it?"
"No, no," PB assured her. "It's just… bigger would have a more robust sound, right?" Mags and Jey agreed that it would. "So...does it come bigger?"
It did. Jey showed her three other versions of the same instrument. The largest of the group would have dwarfed PB dramatically. In truth, it looked nearly as broad as Jasper herself though not as tall. Jey called it a contrabass and PB's eyes lit up as soon as she saw it.
"It's perfect," she breathed.
"That one?" Jey balked.
"I think it would be the most fitting, yes," PB insisted.
Jey looked up at Mags and then shrugged and closed her hand. The hologram she had projected disappeared into a cloud of sparkling light and then was gone. After a moment of thought she said, "I do like a challenge… How long will your Jasper be preoccupied?"
"She—she could be down there for hours," PB told her nervously. "Why—?"
"Excellent!" Jey squeaked before she could finish her question and yanked PB toward the arena's warp pad. Mags waved quietly before turning away as if none-the-wiser as they disappeared into the crowd. "Mags'll cover for us, let's do this quick."
"What are we doing?" PB hissed as she tripped over her feet to keep up with Jey. They were lucky that no one turned around to catch two pearls dashing from one end of the arena to the other, though the possibility made PB feel faint.
"My Jade is in a private meeting that should carry on for a while," Jey explained as they set foot on the wide warp pad.. "We're getting you a contrabass."
