The new Pearl was very impressed with her new wheelchair. Yellow was very unimpressed with it, mainly because it wasn't nearly as complex as she'd anticipated. Connie said there were others that were, but they were expensive and the hospital couldn't loan her one of those, especially not to take off-planet. Yellow supposed that was fair. At least the simplicity would allow for a wide range of adjustments and add-ons, if needed.

Whether she'd actually get the chance to do that was another story, seeing as the new Pearl had pretty much been in constant motion since they'd lifted her into it.

"I need to finish measuring you," Yellow said tiredly, watching her practice her turns at what was probably an unsafe speed.

"In a minute!" Nutmeg—she'd chosen her name quickly after Aura had presented her with a list of options—spun the wheel on her left, then grimaced as one of her fingers caught painfully. "Ow!"

Yellow took advantage of her pause to quickly run her measuring tool down Nutmeg's shin. "Perfect."

She grinned and yanked Yellow forward so that she ended up sprawled halfway across Nutmeg's lap. "Great, now we can go have fun!"

She yelped, grabbing onto the front of Nutmeg's leotard as the wheelchair shot forward. "We aren't going anywhere; I still need to double check everything so I can start drawing up plans for—"

"Later," Nutmeg laughed, lifting her hands away from the wheels so she could pick Yellow up and set her more comfortably atop her. "C'mon, take me to see the forge or something. Now that sounded cool."

"I don't see how I'm supposed to take you anywhere like this," Yellow grumbled.

"Right or left?"

"Right."

Nutmeg smiled triumphantly and steered them awkwardly in that direction.

"All the way at the end there," Yellow told her, resigned.

"Alright!"

When they reached the door, Nutmeg strained to reach up to the door panel, her fingers just clearing the bottom of it. Yellow quickly got up and flicked her finger across it to open the door. "There."

"Hello!" Nutmeg called, already on her way in.

"O-Oh! Hello…" Azalea looked startled by their sudden appearance. She paused, looking down at the sword she'd been shaping. "Can I…help you?"

"I just wanted to come see," Nutmeg said easily. "You're Azalea, right?"

She nodded.

"Yellow said you were gonna help build my enhancers."

Azalea nodded again shyly. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too! I'm Nutmeg, by the way."

"Nutmeg," she repeated softly. "That's a food, right?"

"It's a tree!"

"It's also a food," Yellow said before Azalea could start to apologize.

"I haven't had food yet," Nutmeg said brightly. "But the tree looks cool, so I bet it tastes good too."

"Uh huh." Azalea looked a little overwhelmed.

"Anyway, can I watch you work?"

"You can. It might not be very interesting though…"

"Sure it will." Nutmeg rolled herself right up close, her eyes wandering all over the room before settling back on Azalea as she began shaping again.

"I did want to look through what metals you have available," Yellow said after a moment.

"Sure. Everything I have is right over there…" Azalea pointed.

"Thanks."

While Yellow was often pleasantly surprised by the amount of scrap that was retrieved to be melted down, there wasn't as much variety as she'd hoped. And though what was available was fine for swords and other weaponry, it would likely end up too heavy for enhancers. If nothing else, Yellow at least wanted a few different options to try.

Azalea made no attempt to ask if she'd found what she needed, so Yellow awkwardly rejoined her and Nutmeg. "We'll need to gather some more types to test out. Any suggestions for good materials?"

The blacksmith blushed slightly and shook her head. "I…I don't know. I've never made anything like that before. Maybe…something like this?" She set aside the sword she was working on and hurried off to one side to pick up a small dagger that was resting next to her blade sharpener. "Violet found it yesterday…"

Yellow took it by the handle, surprised by how little weight rested on her palm. "This seems promising. I don't suppose you have any more?"

Azalea shook her head. "And, um, Crimson doesn't really want to melt down weapons that come to us intact."

"No, I suppose not," Yellow sighed. "Well, it looks like it could be similar to what's used on some of those robonoids that roam around out here, so maybe we can find something like it."

"Yeah…"

"Where do you go to find stuff?" Nutmeg asked curiously.

"Outside," Yellow replied, gesturing vaguely. "We have to be careful though, so the scavenging teams generally don't go too far."

"Can I go scavenging?"

She glanced down at Nutmeg's wheelchair. "Outdoors is a lot more…uneven than the floors in here."

"Oh."

"Though I suppose you're welcome to try it," Yellow added, not sure why she disliked seeing Nutmeg disappointed. "I'm sure Blue or Viri could take you out on a short trip."

Nutmeg brightened. "That sounds great."

"But in the meantime, I need to ask Crimson to get a more experienced team together to try and gather up the supplies we'll need for your enhancers. Are you coming with or staying?"

"Hmm…I'll hang out here for a while, if that's okay."

"That'd be cool," Azalea murmured, giving her a small smile.

"Thanks!"

Leaving Nutmeg with Azalea, Yellow made her way over to Crimson's office to arrange the scavenging venture. Crimson and Sky were both there when she arrived, clearly in the middle of something, but Crimson smiled and beckoned her inside.

"We're just about finished, you aren't interrupting anything. What can I do for you, Yellow?"

"I was just coming to talk to you about the parts we'll need for Nutmeg's enhancers."

"Right, of course. I'd actually been considering sending some Pearls out a bit farther than usual anyway," Crimson said. "Out by the old kindergarten, since we haven't searched through there very much and it's sure to have some good stuff. Azalea's resourceful, but she is becoming a bit starved for good materials in the quantities that she needs. We can certainly combine that trip with one for what you need for the enhancers."

"Sure, that sounds good. I can draw up a list of what to look for."

"Thanks. Just get it to me…in the next couple of days, I suppose? Better to get to it sooner rather than later, I think."

"I can do that."

"Maybe you should go with them," Sky commented after Yellow had left.

"Me?"

"You go scavenging sometimes, don't you?"

"Well…not much."

"You cut through that kindergarten area all the time when you're recruiting though," Sky pointed out. "I bet you know where all the good stuff would be."

"Oh?" Crimson swiveled to face her, smiling. "Is this some kind of coup? You're trying to get rid of me for an easy takeover?"

"No, of course not! I'll be much more subtle when I do that." Sky laughed as Crimson flicked her lightly on the arm. "No, really, I just thought you might like to get out of here for a bit. You've been a little…restless?"

Crimson opened her mouth to protest, then shut it again quickly. "Sorry," she said finally. "It happens sometimes, when I… Never mind. Yeah, I'll go with, I could use a change of scenery."

"Okay," Sky agreed hesitantly. "There isn't something wrong, is there?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong," she said with a quick smile. "Don't mind me, I'm just an old gem who's stuck in her ways."

"I'm pretty sure that's the last way I would describe you," Sky laughed, "but alright."

She didn't ask for any kind of elaboration—she never had, and Crimson was grateful for that. "I don't suppose you'd like to come along too?"

"Huh? Aren't Caddy and I supposed to be keeping a low profile for a little while?"

"We're not going as far as central Homeworld," Crimson countered. "I think you'd be safe as long as you disguised your appearance."

"Hmm…"

"Or was that a polite way of saying you aren't interested?" she asked when Sky spent a little too long trying to come up with an answer.

"You caught me," she said with a sheepish grin. "Even though we collected stuff for the rebellion all the time when we were in service, I don't think that's really my thing. Though I bet White would like to tag along."

"You think?"

"Mm. She likes changes of scenery too."

"I feel like I haven't really gotten to know her very well yet," Crimson admitted. "Maybe I'll invite her along then." She toyed with one of the trinkets on her desk thoughtfully. "Violet should come along, of course. And Chroma, because she'd never forgive me if I didn't invite her."

Sky laughed, nodding, then turned quickly when there was a lively knock. "Hi, Caddy!"

"Hi! What's Chroma not forgiving you for, boss?"

"Leaving her out of scavenging for enhancer parts," Crimson answered.

"Unthinkable," she gasped dramatically.

"Which is exactly why I'm not thinking about it," she said with a smile. "Did you need something, Caddy?"

"Yep, I came to get Sky!"

"You did?" Sky asked. "Did I forget something?"

"Nope, you just get spontaneous best friend cuddles because I don't have anything to do right now."

"I'm honored. I do happen to have things to do though, so can you let me finish that first?"

"Aww, can't it wait?" She spread herself out atop the available space on Crimson's desk, pouting as she inspected the papers in front of her. "What is this, chore assignments?"

"Someone does have to schedule these things, Cadmium," Crimson said, tugging some of her notes out from under Caddy firmly.

"It'll just be like five minutes," Sky promised. "We're nearly done."

"Five minutes?" Caddy clutched at her gem. "Shatter me, why don't you."

Sky rolled her eyes. "I swear you never used to be this impatient. White is a terrible influence on you."

"Oh, I know," she said with a mischievous smirk. "But fine, I'll wait." She kicked her legs back and forth lazily as Sky moved to look over Crimson's shoulder. "Hey, Crimson?"

"Yes?"

"You wanna come too?"

"To what?"

"Cuddles."

Crimson glanced up, startled. "I…"

"I've seen you cuddle with Silver and them, so I know you like it."

"I don't know that I'd call that cuddling. We just sit together."

"It's definitely cuddling."

She chuckled softly. "Alright, it is, but I wasn't expecting you to ask me something like that."

"Why not? You're a friend, so you qualify for friend cuddles too." Caddy reached out to poke her. "Anyway, you can come if you want. We usually just lounge around and talk, it's nothin' fancy."

"I'll think about it."

"Okay!"

Sky smiled as she passed Crimson a couple more papers. "We'd be happy to have you. We were thinking of inviting White along to them soon too."

"Yeah, she's been a little shy about joining in, it's cute." Caddy tinkered with another one of Crimson's little desk decorations.

Crimson smiled. "Speaking of White, do you think she'd want to come along on a scavenging mission?"

"Ooh, definitely! C'mon then, once you're done, we can go ask her!"

"Alright, alright," she laughed. "Five minutes."

"Five more?"

"You'll survive, Cadmium."

"Just barely."

"Azalea! You busy?" Viri poked her head into the forge, then realized there were two Pearls inside. "Nutmeg, I didn't know you were here!"

"Azalea's showing me how everything works," Nutmeg said, awkwardly twisting around so she could see Viri better.

"That's super sweet of you," Viri said, ruffling Azalea's ponytail fondly as she made her way over to join them. "Ow, hot."

"Her hair caught fire a minute ago, it looked really cool," Nutmeg volunteered, and Azalea nodded sheepishly.

"She does that," Viri laughed. "Need any healing tears, Azalea?"

She shook her head quickly. "No…I'm good. Hi, Viri."

"Hi! I just wanted to check and see if those new swords were ready for practicing with? Me and Silver want to try them out if they are."

Azalea smiled shyly. "Yeah, I just finished them earlier…" She went over to pick up the swords in question, giving each of them a few swishes to test out the balance. "Let me know how they do?"

"Definitely." Viri thanked her for the new weapons and tucked them carefully into her gem. "Hey, do you want to come watch?" she asked Nutmeg. "We usually have a pretty fun time on testing days. And Fruit Cup's coming to watch too."

"Sure," Nutmeg agreed eagerly. "Thanks for showing me around, Azalea."

"You're welcome…"

"See you around!"

"Bye, Azalea!" Viri added. "I'll stop by after training!"

The two of them made their way out of the forge, cool air sweeping over them as they stepped into the hallway and the door whisked closed behind them.

"She's pretty quiet, huh?" Nutmeg commented as Viri pushed her down the hall.

"She is, but it's good to have all different kinds of gems around, don't you think?"

"Definitely! She talked more to you though."

"Well, we've been friends for a while now, so I think she opened up a smidge," Viri said with a soft smile. "And we used to date."

"Date?"

"When you share your love with someone and they share yours with you," she explained. "Like…hmm, you've seen how Blue and Yellow act when they're together, right? It's like that."

"Ohh, okay. But it's not like that anymore with you and Azalea?"

"Well, we still love each other, just not the same way as before. So I just started dating somebody else and hopefully Azalea finds someone who's just as sweet as she is to date too."

"Who are you dating?"

"Drini? Have you met her?"

Nutmeg shook her head.

"She's kinda quiet too, but I'll take you over to her room to meet her sometime!" Viri paused, letting go of the wheelchair to come around where Nutmeg could see her. She did a little flourish to show off a bracelet that had been sewn out of colorful floral fabric. "She made me this! Or, well, she made it and I asked if I could borrow it for a day, and she got all cute and happy about it. She likes making things, and she lets me pick out fabrics for her sometimes!"

"Huh." Nutmeg reached out to run her fingers over the bracelet. "That's cool."

"It is! I should take this off before training though." Viri slipped it off and placed it in her gem before pushing Nutmeg the last little way to the training room entrance. "Here we are!"

"Hey, Viri," Silver greeted her. "And Nutmeg! You joining us?"

"Yeah." Nutmeg looked around the room, spotting another Pearl. "And you're Fruit Cup, right? We said hi yesterday but I haven't really seen you again."

"Oh, yeah." The orange Pearl laughed nervously, her eyes darting down briefly to take in Nutmeg's wheelchair, which she hadn't had during the initial introductions. "Sorry, I was kind of busy." She turned her attention to Viri. "Azalea had the swords?"

"She did! Here they are." Viri pulled them out and passed one each to Silver and Fruit Cup.

"They're so nice," Fruit Cup sighed. "Are you sure I can't help with the testing?"

"Well…" Viri glanced over at Silver.

"Positive," Silver said firmly. "You haven't been training long enough yet, and I don't want you getting hurt. Besides, you've been doing better with smaller weapons."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't want to try," Fruit Cup argued as she handed the sword back to Viri. "How much more training do I have to do before I can help?"

"Hmm…" Silver smiled, considering it. "Let's say when you can beat me in a sparring match."

"So pretty soon then," she said with a grin, taking a step back to avoid the friendly punch Silver aimed at her. "Kidding! I'm going to catch up fast though, so you better watch out."

"I look forward to it." Silver nudged Viri. "Ready to get started?"

"Sure!" Viri gave Fruit Cup's ponytail a gentle tousle and then nodded over to one of the benches. "You and Nutmeg can keep an eye on us from over there! Let us know if you notice anything, okay?"

"Will do." She glanced over to Nutmeg, but she was already moving and Fruit Cup had to jog to catch up to her. "So your name's…?"

"Nutmeg."

"Nutmeg, got it. Is that a fruit?"

"Maybe?"

Fruit Cup smiled slightly. "Nice."

"Are you new here too?" Nutmeg asked curiously.

"Uh…new-ish, I guess? In terms of when I got here, not when I was made."

"Cool! Maybe you can show me how to beat Silver too."

"You're going to train?" Fruit Cup blurted out, then immediately looked like she regretted it.

"I don't know, maybe," she answered, giving her an odd look. "What, you think I shouldn't?"

"Never mind," she said, shaking her head quickly. "Sorry."

"S'alright. But just so you know, Yellow says I'm very dangerous in this chair, so don't count me out just yet."

Fruit Cup laughed awkwardly. "Okay. I won't."

"Good."

After checking in with Chroma and Lavender and giving them Nutmeg's measurements so they could start thinking up designs, Yellow made her way to the warp pad. She wanted to make sure she wasn't overlooking anything Peridot might have on Earth before they went out searching for more supplies. And, well, a second opinion certainly couldn't hurt.

"Hi, Yellow!" Connie called as she entered the barn. She, Peridot, and Lapis were all sitting comfortably inside. "I was just telling them about Nutmeg in case Peridot has any ideas for her enhancers."

"Oh. Well, I guess that negates part of my reason for coming. Did you have any then?"

"Of course I do," Peridot answered, as though she was offended that was even a question. "I have lots of ideas!"

"Of course." Yellow smirked as she seated herself in their little circle. "I'm going to put together a list of items for the scavenging team to look for—maybe I could have your assistance in compiling it?"

Her eyes narrowed behind her visor. "That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it?' What did you want me to say?"

"I expected you would come beg—er, ahem, make a heartfelt request for my expertise in this matter. Not ask me to make a list."

Yellow raised her eyebrows.

"I'm literally the only person you know who's worn enhancers!"

"I'm aware," she said, enjoying the annoyance plainly written on Peridot's face. "Anyway, your expertise is certainly welcome, but I don't want to waste time on ideas we can't execute. We should get all the materials we can first, and then work within those bounds."

"…Okay, I guess that's a good point," Peridot agreed reluctantly. "List first."

"Thank you." Yellow made to get up.

"You're leaving?"

"Um, yes?"

"You've barely visited since the warp pad got installed," Peridot argued. "If you don't come see my new projects, I will be forced to retract my offer to help."

"That means she misses you," Lapis said lazily, getting up and stretching. "C'mon, Connie, we'll find something else to do while these two catch up."

"Okay! Have fun, guys!"

The two of them disappeared outside almost instantly.

"Lapis' statement is entirely inaccurate," Peridot said immediately when she caught Yellow's curious stare.

"Obviously." Yellow smirked as she followed the smaller gem over to her workspace. "You know, there's nothing stopping you from visiting the rebellion, if you're that eager to work with me again."

"Ignoring that blatantly false assertion…Lapis."

"Lapis?"

"Lapis is stopping me. I mean, not really, but she gets…weird when anybody talks about going to Homeworld. I am attempting to be sensitive to her recovery process."

"Ah."

"Perhaps with this new project, I can begin to make some small trips back and forth. I assume you're still collaborating with those other Pearls too?"

"Chroma and Lavender? Yes. And Azalea, the rebellion's blacksmith, since we'll probably need her experience on this one."

"She has experience with enhancers?" Peridot asked skeptically.

"She has experience with metals and other materials at least. But yes, it would be convenient if you could come to the base to meet with us."

"I'll work it out then. Now come over here, I want your opinion on this…"