It seemed to be early for Steven when Aura went to knock on his door, but his tired eyes perked up as soon as he saw her. "Tea party day?"
"Yes! I'm sorry, I hope I didn't wake you."
"Nah, it's okay, I was just having a lazy morning."
"Okay." Aura brightened. "I'm about to go get Tangy and Cyan, if you want to come with. Or if you want to go straight to the common room, Silver and Chroma are there."
"I'll come with you!" he volunteered. "Can you give me a minute to change?"
"Oh, sure." Aura sat down gracefully at the unused desk in one corner.
"Um…I meant can you wait outside?" Steven asked awkwardly.
"Oh, right, right!" She jumped up. "Sorry, I forgot."
Steven waved away her apology easily and waited for her to leave.
Aura leaned thoughtfully against the wall outside as the door closed again. Material clothes still seemed such a strange concept, even just the idea of being able to change them whenever you pleased, no energy wasted, no time put into thinking about what you wanted to reform in. She wondered if Chroma might like that, though she was proud of her partner for designing and wearing the outfit she had now. Aura thought it suited her and had no desire to obscure it, but maybe it would be nice to add something extra for special occasions. The material clothes weren't so unlike some of the broken jewelry pieces Aura had in her collection of stolen trinkets, and she'd been dying to see Chroma in some of those.
"All set!" Steven announced as he came out to join her. He was wearing the same thing he'd worn every other day prior, but Aura thought it was cute. Alien as he was, his half-gem side showed.
The two of them set off for the infirmary on the other side of the building, Aura's light, airy steps matching well with Steven's smaller strides despite their differences. He smiled up at her as they left the living quarters.
"So what kind of tea is your favorite so far?"
"Hmm…" Aura pressed a hand to the gem on her stomach thoughtfully. "I don't know. They've all been lovely. The white, maybe? It's subtler, but it's nice…"
"I'll make sure and get you some more when we have the warp pad working then," Steven said earnestly. "Oh, and you could come to the store with me and pick out some more flavors to try too! It'd be really fun!"
"Okay," she agreed, not fully understanding. "What's the store?"
"It's where you buy things." Steven frowned, thinking. "You exchange what you've earned to get something you want. Does that make sense? Do gems do that here? I guess not, since Blue and Yellow didn't know either."
Aura shook her head. "The Diamonds sometimes give other gems gifts if they do a good job at something, but I don't think anyone would dare give those away…" Not to mention Pearls were frequently some of those "gifts."
"It's not giving it away, it's like trading. Like if I had something you wanted and you had something I wanted, then we could swap."
"We could?"
"Yep. I can ask Pearl to explain it later, she'd probably do a better job!"
"No, you did a good job too," Aura said quickly, not wanting him to feel bad.
"Thanks," he laughed. "But seriously, Pearl can tell you more. She doesn't really get humans themselves, but she understands how some human things work really well."
Aura nodded.
"Oh, it's this door, right?" Steven asked, running ahead a little.
"That's right!" she said happily. She knocked at the door. "Good morning! It's Aura and Steven, may we come in?"
"Yeah, feel free!" Cyan called, and Aura opened the door to find her and Tangerine straightening the sheets on the bed, putting everything back the way it had been before their arrival. "Morning, Aura."
"Morning!" she repeated. "Oh, you don't need to worry about tidying up, I'll take care of it later," she added, gently shooing Tangerine's hands away from the bed. "Right now we're celebrating."
"Okay," she agreed, smiling shyly. "Thank you for putting together this, um, tea party?"
Aura nodded.
"Tea party. Yeah, thank you." Tangerine's gaze moved to Steven. "And thanks for coming," she added. "I didn't expect all this."
"Well, you have to celebrate getting better, right?" He grinned up at her. "Plus you haven't gotten a chance to just hang out with everybody yet."
"Everybody?"
Aura could hear the nervousness in Tangerine's question, and she was quick to reassure her. "Just me and Silver and Chroma and Viri and Azalea, like we talked about. And Steven, of course!" The latter had been a late addition, as he'd heard about the tea party and asked if he could join in. Aura had quickly gone to check with the two Pearls in the infirmary to see if she could invite him and they soon ended up with a total of eight guests. "Is that still okay?" she checked. "I asked the others to give us some space since you're getting adjusted."
"Yeah, that's okay," she said quietly. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Aura gestured fluidly to the door. "After you, whenever you're ready!"
Cyan touched Tangerine's hand lightly, smiling, just as Steven offered up one of his as well. Tangerine blushed, accepting Cyan's first and then extending her fingers for Steven to take.
Steven didn't hesitate to do so, then reached out for Aura on his other side, and the four of them shuffled through the doorway in a line.
Aura politely offered her hand to Cyan once they were in the hall but was refused with an amused "I don't think we'll get anywhere if we're all in a circle." It was a fair point, and Aura instead took the lead of the line as they made the short walk to the common room.
"It's nice, being able to stretch my legs again after so long," Tangerine commented quietly as they walked.
"Yeah, I bet, after being cooped up in the infirmary!" Steven said, squeezing her hand. "My friend Connie always says staying in bed when you're sick is no fun. Or it's fun for like a day and then even secret Under the Knife marathons start to lose their appeal. It's terrible."
"Oh, ah, yes," she said nervously. "The bed was a nice change though."
"Oh yeah, I guess you guys don't usually get those," he said, sobering. "Sorry."
"It's okay," Tangerine replied. "I'm, um, appreciating it more this way."
Aura led the way into the common room, waving to Chroma, Silver, and Viri with her free hand. "We're here!"
"Hello!" Viri greeted them happily. She got up from her place on the floor beside the short, round table and made a beeline straight for Tangerine. "Tangy, it's so great to see you! How are you feeling?"
"Better," she answered with a smile.
"Can I give you a hug?"
"A hug?" Tangerine seemed startled by the request.
"Viri's the unofficial welcoming committee," Chroma explained with a smile. "Complimentary hugs included."
"Yep! I've been waiting to ask forever. I usually give gems their welcome hugs right away. If they like hugs. Would you like one?"
"I…" She hesitated.
"No is okay too," Viri said quickly. "I can give you an air hug."
"A what?"
"Like this." She spread her arms and mimed hugging enthusiastically.
"Um…" Tangerine couldn't help but smile at her sincerity. "Actually, a normal hug would be okay."
"Oh, awesome!" Viri stopped waving her arms and held them still, outstretched in silent invitation.
The other Pearl slowly extracted her hands from Cyan and Steven's, then took a couple small steps forward. Before she got within reach, she drew her arms up to her chest to cover her gem anxiously, and for a moment Aura thought she'd changed her mind. But Tangerine continued forward carefully until she was right in front of Viri, who closed her arms around her with care, hardly squeezing at all.
"Welcome home," she said softly. "I hope you like it here."
"I-I'm sure I will, thanks…"
Viri only held her for a few seconds, arms slipping back to her sides as Tangerine looked up to see her brilliant smile. "Now it's Cyan's turn," she said with a wink.
"You already gave me one!" Cyan protested, backing away.
"But you should have another one, to celebrate!"
"No thank you!"
"Viri, what did you do to the poor Pearl?" Silver asked with a grin.
"She doesn't like heights," Tangerine volunteered quietly, before quickly looking away when she made eye contact with Silver.
"I didn't know that when I picked her up," Viri said. "Anyway, I was just teasing, I'll give you a regular, totally on the ground hug. Promise."
"…Fine." Cyan smiled begrudgingly as she came over to accept the hug.
"Yay! Welcome home again."
"Thanks."
"Here, take a seat," Chroma urged them as Viri let Cyan go. "Anywhere you like," she added when Tangerine looked around the table uncertainly.
"Thanks." She tentatively sat down opposite Chroma, smiling when they made eye contact.
Cyan took the space to Tangerine's left, nodding gratefully to Chroma. "Good to see you."
"Yeah, you too. Um, I wanted to thank you again for yesterday. Especially for having Aura and Silver be there when we were finished."
"It's alright, you don't need to thank me."
Settling in next to Chroma, Viri gave her a sideways hug. "It's great to see my favorite gem," she said cheerfully.
"Better not let Azalea hear you say that," Chroma joked, returning the hug. "Where is she, by the way? I thought you were going to invite her."
"Ah, she's working." Viri's smile faltered. "I think she just needed some time to herself after all the excitement yesterday."
"That's alright, we understand," Aura said, sitting down in the gap between Tangerine and Silver. "We'll give you some treats to take over to her afterwards."
"That would be great!" Viri said, perking up again.
"I can go find her a few extra things from the food supplies," Steven volunteered. "I don't think she's gotten to try much yet."
"Thanks!"
"Don't tell Pearl though, she keeps worrying even though we brought enough food to last me, like, five years." He laughed nervously. "Though I'm hoping it won't actually take that long to get back home…"
"I'm sure Chroma and everybody will have the warp pad up in no time," Viri said reassuringly, giving him a careful pat on the head. "But you should save the food if you're worried about it."
"No, no, I believe you."
"Yeah, no need to worry. Why don't you help Tangy pick some tea?" Silver suggested with an encouraging smile.
Steven looked at her projection uncertainly, then smiled when Silver gestured to the little collection of teas Aura had pulled from her gem only moments earlier. "Oh, you want me to make it?"
She shook her head, then pointed to him and Aura and then Tangerine. "You and Aura should make recommendations, since you know the most about it."
"Um…"
"Is it alright if I translate for you?" Chroma asked Silver.
"Sure, thanks." She moved her gem hand so it would be closer to Chroma.
"Okay, I'll repeat it word for word."
Silver smiled gratefully. "Steven, you and Aura should make some recommendations for Tangy, since you two know the most about it."
Steven waited patiently for Chroma to read Silver's words and then nodded. "Okay! I don't drink a whole bunch of tea at home, but I'll do my best. Plus Aura's already an expert!"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Aura laughed.
"If you're not now, you will be soon."
She blushed prettily, cupping one of the mugs she'd borrowed from Steven between her palms. "Thanks. So, um, you haven't tried any food yet, right, Tangy?"
Tangerine shook her head.
"Hmm…" Aura picked through the little box, carefully picking out a few options and setting them on the table. "Here are some of the different floral teas. Oh, and fruit teas, you might enjoy those."
"The flowers are the best," Viri said. "They're so cute on the packaging."
"They're pretty stunning in person too," Tangerine said softly.
"Oh, have you seen them? You're so lucky! Can you tell me about them sometime?"
"Sure."
"Maybe you'd like to pick out one you've seen in person then?" Aura offered, taking out a few more florals to show her. "I don't know all the names yet, but…this one's chamomile, like Millie. And lavender over here. And this one is rose, right?" She held one up for Steven to read.
"Yep! Want me to tell you the names of the others?"
"That'd be great." Aura gently passed over the box of teas, a mixed selection pulled from the assortment of teas the Crystal Gems had brought with them.
"Okay," Steven said, pointing to the ones on the table first. "That one's jasmine, and that one's chrysanthemum. Aaaand…" He rifled through the box. "That might be it, actually. Oh, here's a mint one, if that counts. Yep, that's the last one. We didn't bring—oh!" His face lit up as he found another tea bag. "Look, there's tangerine!"
"There is?" Aura, Tangerine, and Cyan asked simultaneously.
"Yeah, right here." He slid it in Tangerine's direction.
"It is," she mused, touching the little packet with one finger, eyes wide. She picked it up carefully, bringing it closer to her to be able to smell it. "It's just like I remember…"
"You should have it then," Steven said warmly. "It's perfect."
Tangerine nodded slowly. "I-I'd like that."
"Tangerine for Tangerine it is then," Aura said happily, beginning to prepare it for her immediately.
"I hope you taste good," Cyan commented lightly.
Aura was very, very grateful she wasn't drinking tea yet, or she might have choked on it. As it was, she just tried to look busy and not like she was going to burst out laughing. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, what about you, Cyan? What would you like?"
"Oh, me?" She thought for a moment. "I guess I'll try a fruit one too then."
"Okay," Steven agreed. "Let's see, we've got apple, spiced plum, blueberry—" He cut himself off, holding up the tea bag triumphantly. "Blueberry! It'll match!"
"Definitely that one," Cyan decided immediately. "Please."
"Not everything has to match, you know," Tangerine giggled, patting her hand lightly.
"It's nice if it does though," she replied, blush creeping up on her cheeks.
"It is, it is." Tangerine exchanged an amused look with Aura as Steven handed over the tea bag to be prepared.
"Okay, Viri next?" Aura asked. "Or did you already choose the one you're holding?"
"Chrysanthemum." She nodded, having already picked out her tea of choice to admire the flower on the label.
"That was easy," she laughed. "Okay, Steven?"
"I'm going to try apple!"
"Alright, just you left, Silver." Aura smiled at the gem beside her. "What would you like?"
"I'll take whatever you're having."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, you have pretty good taste, after all."
Aura giggled. "Okay then."
She set about preparing everyone's tea in their separate mugs, passing them out one by one and reminding them to let it steep for a little while before trying to drink it, just as she'd learned from the instructions Pearl had given her.
"So what are you looking forward to the most, Tangy?" Viri asked excitedly, leaning forward a little. "Training? Getting your own room? Sharing a room?"
"Viri's super jealous of that last one," Chroma laughed.
"Roommates are great," she sighed.
"Viri, please tell me you of all Pearls know they aren't just room—"
"I-I know that! I just meant in general!" Viri stuck out her tongue at Silver, while Cyan and Tangerine shared a quick smile.
"I'm looking forward to that especially," Tangerine offered.
"Me too," Cyan agreed.
"And here I thought you were looking forward to training," Silver teased, "after all that enthusiasm when you stopped by to watch the other day. Your eye was all lit up. Figuratively, I mean."
"I know, I'm looking forward to that too," she said, embarrassed. "All of the above, really. But I want us to get settled in our room first."
Tangerine nodded happily.
"I'm sure you'll love it," Aura said. "And I'd be happy to help you find ways to decorate sometime too."
"That'd be great," Cyan said. "We hadn't even considered decorations, we're just happy to have any room at all."
"That's how I was too," Aura laughed. "I think all of us were. By the way, there's still an open room too in case you need it."
"I thought you guys—I mean, I thought we were running out of space as it is."
"We are, but not just yet. And Crimson says it's important you have the option, you know?"
"Yeah, okay. Thanks."
"Is there anything else you need?" Chroma asked.
"Oh, not that I can think of, but thank you. Although…" She hesitated. "Tangerine wasn't able to take the tour with me. I'd be happy to show her around myself, but—"
"We'd love to take you around," she agreed immediately. "We could even do it right after tea if you want to."
"That'd be nice," Tangerine murmured. "Thank you."
After a few more minutes, the seven of them were happily drinking their teas—or in Chroma's case, holding a mug of hot water to warm her hands on.
"You know what we should do?" Steven said after a moment, once he'd opened up all the snack foods he'd brought along for everyone to try.
"What?"
"A toast!"
"Oh," Aura said, startled. "I know that's supposed to go with tea, but I haven't tried making it yet. I didn't realize I was supposed to—"
"Oh, no, no, not that kind of toast," he said quickly, before she could worry too much. "A toast like…like we all clink glasses and drink to whoever or whatever we're celebrating!"
"So we…hit things together to celebrate Tangy?" Silver asked, confused.
"Pretty much?"
"Works for me!"
"Gently!" Steven said quickly when Silver grabbed for her mug rather enthusiastically. "More like a teeny tap for you guys since you're strong."
Silver didn't look at all disheartened, especially not with the compliment attached. She raised her mug up carefully and waited for Steven to show them how to do it.
Soon, all seven of them had raised their glasses to the center of the table, Steven leaning in farther than the rest to reach, and clinked their mugs together gingerly. An unsynchronized chorus of "Cheers" was shared, and then they all relaxed, settling into conversation again.
"So, what do you like to work on in training, beyond the basics?" Cyan asked Silver.
"Sorry to disappoint, but it's mostly basics. At least right now."
"Oh, yes, of course. I just meant in the future…?"
"Well, there's loads of stuff I want to try. Especially since we've got the Crystal Gems here, you know? I'd love to start up a summoning practice of some sort, if they're willing to help out."
"I'm sure they would!" Steven said quickly. "I mean, uh, they might make things pretty confusing, but they'll definitely try and help. Speaking from experience."
"Awesome! Who should we ask? Pearl?"
"Is it gem type specific?" Cyan asked curiously. "I mean, would all Pearls be able to summon using the same methods or…?"
Steven shrugged. "I don't know, maybe? But you guys are all really different, so it'd be kind of weird if you summoned exactly the same."
We're all really different. It was a sentiment familiar to Aura, one she appreciated when she watched all the Pearls around her, but it was even nicer to hear it said aloud.
"Hmm, it'd be really interesting to test it out. Maybe have groups that rotate between instructors until they find the method that suits them?"
"That could work," Cyan agreed excitedly.
"Cool. I'll talk to them about how best to do it later, since I'm not going to be able to help teach at first."
"I'm a little surprised you haven't summoned already, with how much regular practice you've been doing."
"Oh, no, I don't think that's got very much to do with it. Besides, Crimson and Chroma have been training just as much as me over the past few years."
"Doesn't change the fact that you're definitely going to be the first to summon out of the three of us," Chroma laughed.
"Hey, be a little more competitive!"
"You and Crimson have that side of things covered. I'm too busy keeping this place together to be competitive," she returned good-naturedly.
"And you do a great job of it."
Chroma beamed, nearly forgetting to translate the sentence.
Silver grinned back, then seemed to get distracted by Tangerine, who was looking intently at Silver's currently unlit gem with squinted eyes and a small frown. "Hey, you okay?"
Tangerine jumped when Chroma repeated the question, presumably before she was able to read it herself. "Oh! Yes, I'm fine, sorry."
"Do you need me to make it bigger? You've been squinting a bunch."
She let out a breath of self-conscious laughter. "No, no, I'm okay, really."
"I don't mind. I don't want it to be hard for you to read."
"It's not," she said hastily. "I mean, I can see it, sorry. It's just…"
Silver waited patiently for her to continue.
"I'm a little rusty," Tangerine said softly. "Cyan's been trying to help me catch up with the changes, but I'm not quite accustomed to Era 2 writing yet."
Silver nodded, but it was Steven who spoke first.
"That's okay! I barely know any at all." He leaned forward excitedly. "All I know how to do is write some names like Blue and Yellow showed me. I've been trying to memorize all the letters—symbols?—but it's pretty different, so I'd love to have somebody who I could study with. Anyway, I brought some cute stationary with me to practice on, and fancy gel pens, and you could pick out some to use too. It'd be really fun!"
Tangerine gave him a kind smile. "That sounds nice."
Aura was fairly certain Tangerine was just as confused about that suggestion as she was, though it didn't show.
Steven's face lit up. "Great!"
"In the meantime," Silver chimed in, "I'll slow down a little for you. Keep the words up longer."
"Oh, you don't have to—"
"Yes, I do," she replied, smiling and leaving the simple phrase up for far more time than was necessary to prove her point. "You can consider it a favor to me if it makes you feel better. Much as I love Chroma, I'd rather use my own voice."
Tangerine nodded slowly.
"Okay?"
"Okay," she said, a little bit more confidently. "Thank you."
It did make Silver happier, knowing that Tangerine and Steven were both making an effort to learn. Aura knew that it was important to her, being able to speak for herself after centuries of having no semblance of voice at all, and she was glad everyone was being so accommodating for her.
She smiled as she watched them drink their tea, and a part of her wished they could sit there all day, learning about each other.
The common room wasn't terribly busy, but there were a few Pearls that came in and out. After a while, Aura noticed one particular gem who had entered, taking up an unobtrusive spot against the wall.
"Hi, Violet!" she called, waving. "Did you just get back?"
Violet looked up from the small item she'd been cleaning. "Yeah."
"Do you want to come join us for tea?"
"Um, sure, if that's okay," she replied, brightening at the invitation.
"Is one more gem okay, Tangy?"
Tangerine nodded, automatically moving to make space for another person to join them.
"Thanks. Violet, here, you can sit next to me. Can everybody squish in a little more?"
Aura began to move the opposite direction from Tangerine, widening the space for Violet. Across the table, Steven happily accepted an offer to sit on Viri's lap, giving Cyan and Tangerine more space to move over too. Chroma and Silver happily scooted closer to Viri and to each other, and Aura joined them, her shoulder pressed warm to Silver's.
Violet, who'd just walked over, suddenly looked a little intimidated by the large, nearly-half-the-table space that had been left for her. She sat down all the same, cheeks flushed as she clutched a small drawstring bag to her chest. "Um, hi."
Aura couldn't help but smile when she looked at the odd setup and quickly scooted in again so Violet wasn't quite as far away.
Tangerine soon followed her lead, murmuring a "Hello" to their new guest.
"Hi," Violet squeaked out. "Um, I don't think we've met?"
Tangerine shook her head.
"My name's Violet."
"Tangerine."
"Tangy just got out of the infirmary, that's why we're celebrating," Aura explained.
Violet nodded, whispering a small "Congratulations."
"Thanks."
"And Violet here is the best scavenger on base," Chroma added, smiling gently when said Pearl dropped her head down to partially obscure her face in the bandana tied around her neck. "She finds me some really useful bits and pieces."
"I'll have some more for you later actually," Violet mumbled. "Found some of those…" She held up her fingers to demonstrate the size of something. "The ones you wanted last time."
"Fuses?" Chroma suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds right."
"That's fantastic, thank you!"
"What else did you find?" Steven asked curiously.
"Um…"
"I'd like to see too," Aura said encouragingly. She moved to pull the tea-making items out of the way so Violet would have more table space to lay out her finds. "Please?"
"They're not cleaned up yet."
"That's okay."
Violet chanced a look at Tangerine to make sure she was okay with it too, receiving an inquisitive smile.
She quickly but carefully spread her finds out across the table before her. There wasn't anything particularly big, but a nice selection of smaller items that ranged from scraps of technology to old pieces of jewelry, all coated with dust and dirt. Violet fidgeted a bit as she watched the others lean in to look at everything.
"Ah, there's so many nice things!" Aura was quick to reach for a few of the fancier scraps, rubbing a careful thumb over them to get rid of a little dirt. "Did you go somewhere new?"
Violet nodded, pleased. "Went a little farther north."
"No trouble, I hope?" Silver asked.
"No, nothing."
"That's good. If you ever want someone to watch your back on your solo runs, let me know, okay?"
"Thanks." Violet inclined her head slightly.
"Oh, but before we do this," Aura said suddenly, wiping her hands daintily on a napkin, "I should ask if you want tea."
"Um, sure, thanks." She made a vague effort to clean her own hands on her shorts, then gave up.
"What kind would you like? There are lots of flavors."
"Whatever you think is best."
"Hmm…" Aura flicked through the box and pulled out a purple packet. "Well, we have a bit of a color theme going, so how about Spiced Plum?"
"Okay."
"It might not actually be purple," Cyan warned her. "Mine was meant to be blue and it's just reddish."
Tangerine laughed, patting her hand sympathetically.
"I'm sorry," Aura said earnestly. "I'll let you know if I find a blue one."
"Thanks…"
Aura hid a small smile as she poured a cup for Violet and dropped the plum tea bag into it. "Here you go. You have to let it sit for a little while."
"Okay." Violet carefully set it to the side so she wouldn't accidentally bump into it as she rearranged her findings.
"I bet it's really fun going scavenging, huh?" Steven asked.
"Definitely!"
"Do you think I could come with you sometime? If it's somewhere deserted, it'll be safe, right?"
"It is safer," Chroma agreed. "But you should probably stay closer, where we know the patterns of the robonoids and such."
"Robonoids? Like the things Peridot had?"
"Oh. Uh, they're probably a different kind than you're thinking of. They're about this big," she said, holding up her arms to demonstrate, "and they scan for gems. And then attack. We try and avoid the areas that have them."
"I still think we should try fighting them," Silver projected.
Chroma repeated the sentence aloud, raising her eyebrows. "I think it'd be more of a race to shut them off than a real fight, Sil."
"That works too. At least it gets some of them out of the way when we want to explore."
"Crimson said she smashed one once," Cyan volunteered.
"We were there for that!"
"'Smashed' might be a bit misleading. She got lucky and knocked out one of its sensors, so it crashed into a rock and broke."
"And then Chroma took out the parts she wanted and told Crimson and me we could smash the rest."
"I thought it might have a tracker in it, so it wasn't worth bringing home the whole thing."
"I think we could totally do it again."
"What for?"
"It could be good practice," Cyan said, making both Chroma and Silver turn to her in surprise. "It would be a good challenge for experienced fighters, I mean. Something with potential consequences, but controllable ones. If we make sure to have backup to take out any escaping drones, it would be safer."
"That's perfect!" Silver exclaimed.
"It is," Chroma agreed. "I'm not sure about right now, but…when everyone's able to protect themselves a little better."
"Oh, of course. I just thought it might be useful on multiple levels that way." She gestured to Violet. "It would be easier for you to locate more secure places to scavenge, and everyone could practice the skills they're learning too."
"That sounds good," Violet said shyly. "Both parts."
"Definitely," Viri agreed. "And then maybe me and Steven could tag along." She leaned down a little to whisper conspiratorially. "I have to stay in base 'cause everyone says I'm too noticeable too."
Steven nodded sympathetically.
"Can't you shape—" Cyan cut herself off, shooting an apologetic glance in Chroma's direction.
"You don't need to avoid talking about it in front of me," Chroma said with a faint smile.
"I can shapeshift," Viri volunteered, not allowing for any awkwardness to settle in. "I think."
"Viri, you're drinking tea as we speak."
"Oh, yeah, the inside stuff seems to be fine! I just haven't tried that shape-changing part of it, you know?" She touched her gem, smiling. "I don't want to change how I look though."
"No reason to change," Chroma said fondly, chin resting in her hand.
"Right?" Viri gave her a little pat on the head, a few inches away from her gem.
Chroma grinned sheepishly. "Anyway, we're getting distracted. Aren't we supposed to be looking at what Violet's found?"
"Oh, right! Let's look at the cool stuff!"
While they were talking, Violet had discreetly started brushing the dust off of one item at a time, letting it fall into her lap. She glanced up when she heard her name mentioned and quickly placed the fuse she'd been cleaning back on the table. "Feel free," she offered. "Aura, can I drink this now?" she asked, pointing to her tea.
"It's up to you! The longer you leave it in, the stronger the flavor is, so you can taste it and see."
Violet hummed thoughtfully, picking it up and taking a sip. "It's really nice," she said. "I'll leave it in so it gets even nicer."
"Good plan," Aura said with a smile. "I'm glad you like it."
She nodded. "You can take what you like from all of this in return," she said, pointing to the scattered items. "Oh, and here's some of your fuses, Chroma," she added, passing them to Aura to pass around to Silver and then to Chroma so they didn't go rolling all over the table. "I'll clean the rest up while you guys look."
Aura was always happy to browse through the things that Violet brought back to base—the biggest challenge was picking just one or two small trinkets to add to her own collection that she kept tucked safely in her gem. To her delight, this time she discovered there was a little piece of ancient Era 1 pottery that matched one she'd put in Crimson's office not so long ago. "May I?" she asked, holding it up, and Violet nodded. Her choice made, she continued looking just for fun, and the others did too. Steven and Viri kept oohing and aahing over each thing, and Violet's bandana couldn't hide the smile on her face at the praise.
Viri politely shook her head when offered her own choice of item, saying she just liked looking, but Steven carefully picked out an intricate hilt from an old sword. "I bet Pearl will like it," he explained. "Unless you guys need it for something."
"No, it's fine," Chroma said. "It's a common metal, and Azalea would probably only be able to get use out of it if she melted it down."
"Okay!"
As he settled back into his spot, Aura saw Violet's gaze flick to Tangerine and Cyan, who'd been leaning in to look but not touching. "Um," Violet mumbled, "you can pick something too if you'd like. Since we're celebrating you."
Tangerine just looked at her for a moment, then whispered a quiet "Thank you." She focused intently on the choice she'd just been offered, and Violet focused equally intently on her, following her eyes as they traveled from item to item.
After a few minutes of quiet, everyone recognizing that they shouldn't distract her, Tangerine parted her lips slightly. Her hand grabbed for Cyan's after a small struggle to get the words out, and she had just managed to begin with "I" when Violet picked up the bracelet she'd been looking at and tilted her head.
Tangerine nodded gratefully. "If it's okay."
Violet smiled, no doubt in her eyes, and Tangerine began to reach for the thin chain that was still being held out.
Before she could though, Violet quickly tugged her bandana loose from around her neck and began to vigorously polish the bracelet. Tangerine was startled by the sudden movement, but she just watched wide-eyed as Violet made quick work of making the metal shine.
It was offered to her again, freshly cleaned, and Tangerine smiled as it dropped into her palm. "Thank you."
"No problem."
"Would you like me to put it on you?" Cyan asked gently.
"Yes, please," Tangerine said, and she looked amazed as the delicate treasure was fastened around her wrist. She shook it a little, and a warm smile crept up on her lips at the sound and feel of it.
Violet watched the other Pearl take in the gift, moving it around, running her fingers along the chain in fascination. One of the first gifts in her life. After a moment, Violet's gem began to glow softly on her chest.
Aha. Aura smiled, finding something very sweet in the honest reaction, even though she was surprised. It wasn't a commonly occurring thing, she'd thought, but maybe it varied from gem to gem. Aura's glowed a tiny bit sometimes when she was really happy—and also around Silver and Chroma, in most cases, so she'd assumed it was love-related.
Well, Tangerine did look very stunning now that she was back to full health. Who could blame Violet for having a crush?
Aura touched Violet's arm, hoping to spare her the embarrassment of pointing her gem out verbally. But when she gestured to the light, Violet immediately scrambled to cover up her gem, slapping her hand over it and managing to knock over the entire teapot, her and Aura's cups, and at least a third of the miscellaneous items in front of her along the way.
Tangerine quickly backed up to avoid the spill, while Aura was a little too close to get away unscathed. Thankfully the tea, while hot, didn't feel too bad, it just soaked her clothes and made the gossamer fabric cling oddly. Chroma and Silver hastily grabbed the fuses to keep them from getting wet.
"I'm so sorry!" Violet exclaimed, rushing to pick up everything that had fallen despite the fact that she had even more tea on her. "I'll clean it up!"
"It's okay," Aura said soothingly.
"I'll go get something to clean with!"
"But I have—"
Violet dashed off immediately, hand still pressed over her gem, and Aura sighed.
"…Is she okay?" Steven asked worriedly. "Her gem was lit up weird."
"I'm sure she's alright, it was just an accident," Aura said, righting the teapot. So much for going unnoticed. Sorry, Violet.
Tangerine and Cyan reached for some napkins to help clean up, but Silver waved their hands away. "We got it, we got it. You're our guests."
"But—"
"Guests," she repeated, Chroma nodding as she echoed her.
Aura quickly pulled out a few cloths from her gem that she didn't mind using to clean up—she'd feel bad if she wasted a bunch of napkins that couldn't be reused. Steven was quick to help them too, and she was surprised by how little hesitation he had doing what would usually be a Pearl's task. "Thanks," she told him as he handed it back upon finishing. It had been quick work, with four of them.
"No problem! Is Violet going to come back though?"
"I'm sure she will eventually, she's probably just embarrassed…"
To her surprise, Violet came rocketing back in before she could even finish her thought, deposited about ten duplicated towels beside Aura without even looking at the table, blurted out a quick "Sorry!" and took off once more.
"Ah."
"I didn't do something to upset her, did I?" Tangerine asked uncertainly.
"No, no, it's definitely not that!" Aura said hastily. "She's shy, that's all. It's difficult with strangers, you know? Even I get intimidated sometimes with new gems. She's really, really sweet though. I'm sure you'll get along well!"
Tangerine nodded, looking relieved. "I get that."
"Right?" She smiled. "Besides, a little extra excitement is alright. And it gives me an excuse to get a second round of tea ready, if you're interested?"
"Definitely. Cyan?"
"I'll stop at one cup, but you have as many as you want," she answered with a smile.
"Still disappointed about the blueberry?"
"I am not!"
"You definitely are." Silver grinned, passing Tangerine another tangerine tea bag. "Here you go."
"Thanks," she murmured, blushing.
Aura soon had more water boiling via the makeshift apparatus Pearl and Chroma had thrown together for her to power the kettle with. Second cups were poured out for Tangerine, Viri, Steven, and Aura herself this time, and they sat in comfortable silence this time as they waited.
Silver squeezed Aura's knee gently under the table, a silent good job on the tea party.
She was glad it had worked out, in its own way.
After tea, Aura, Chroma, and Silver started Tangerine's tour while Steven and Viri went to pick out treats for Azalea. The tour was fun to do—usually the three of them weren't able to conduct them together, and Aura found it gave them a nice balance. Cyan and Tangerine were attentive too, Tangerine even confident enough to start asking questions towards the end to get to know the place better.
When it was finally time to take them to their new room, the three bade them farewell so they could get settled in on their own. Chroma lingered behind for a moment to talk to Cyan, and Aura was proud of her for doing that, for not getting too self-conscious of yesterday's mistake to let that keep her from getting to know the other Pearl. She gave the two of them a little wave and tried not to eavesdrop as she waited a few rooms over outside her own door.
"Already got more missions to plan?" Chroma was asking.
"Always going to be the case, it seems like." Cyan's eye fixed on her steadily. "I might ask you to go on one I'm working on now. How are you at stealing?"
"I'm okay, but Silver's the one you want."
"Silver?"
"Mm-hm. Don't ask me how, she was cooped up in this place her whole life until recently."
"Everyone always refers me to White when I ask about stealing," Cyan mused.
"Ah, I should rephrase. White's who you send when you want something done fast. Silver's who you send if you want something done carefully."
"What if I send both of them?"
"Sending White with anyone is a bit of a challenge, but…I guess it could work? That's uncharted territory."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Anything else I can help you with?"
"Not that I can think of but thank you."
"You're welcome." Chroma took a small step backward. "Um, let us know if you do. We're just down the hall, and we don't mind interruptions from friends."
"We…" Cyan blinked slowly, then smiled. "Okay. Thanks."
"See you soon?"
"Yeah, see you soon."