"How's the mystery going?" Nutmeg asked as she pushed herself upright in the bed that Blue and Yellow had placed in their room for her. She'd been offered her own room, but then everyone had realized that all the free rooms were downstairs, so Blue and Yellow offered to let her stay in theirs temporarily. On the two new gems' arrival, they'd had to do some quick reshuffling of rooms for them as well.

"I'm not sure Yellow's made much progress," Blue said, coming over to sit next to her. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mm-hm, had one of those dream things you were telling me about! I don't really remember it now though."

"Sometimes they're like that." She smiled as Nutmeg combed her fingers quickly through her sleep-mussed hair. "Yellow, Nutmeg's up," she called over to the other side of the room.

"I know, I can hear you."

"Just checking. Sometimes you get super focused." Blue brought Nutmeg's wheelchair a little bit closer to the bed, holding it steady as Nutmeg maneuvered herself into it. "Good?" she checked once the other Pearl was settled.

"Yep, thanks, Blue." She twisted around to give Blue's hands a friendly bat away from the handles, then rolled over to where Yellow was surrounded by about half a dozen robonoids in various stages of disassembly.

"Watch it," Yellow said, quickly tugging one of them away when the wheelchair came a little too close for her liking.

"I'm watching," Nutmeg argued. "Lemme see that one? It looks different."

"It's older," she explained, passing it over.

"Huh."

"Chroma's running some experiments on a few of the others, so hopefully we'll have some results soon. I haven't made any progress here."

"Besides learning a whole bunch about how robonoids work," Blue pointed out kindly.

"Besides that." A small smile curved Yellow's lips. "Anyway, I'll stop for now. I have something to give you, Nutmeg."

"To give me?" Nutmeg asked curiously. "What is it?"

"A present!" Blue said excitedly. "Yellow worked on it all night."

"By which she means approximately an hour."

"Approximately three hours."

"I was making sure they were properly calibrated!"

"Sure you were."

Yellow clicked her tongue, standing up to go retrieve a small box on the bedside table. It was plain, unwrapped, but Blue had written Nutmeg's name across it in stylish cursive. "Here," Yellow said, handing it over to Nutmeg. "I thought it might be useful until you get your enhancers."

Nutmeg's eyes lit up as she accepted the present. "It's tiny enhancers?"

"Well…of a sort, yes. Go on, open it," Yellow urged her.

"Okay!" She opened it up immediately and scooped out the contents, curiously rolling the three gold finger-like cylinders in her palm. "What's it do?"

"Here," she said, reaching for the other piece, a circular device. "You can wear this on your neck or on your arm, whichever you prefer."

"Hmm…neck, it'll get in the way on my arm," Nutmeg decided. She clicked it into place. "Okay, got it."

"And now you'll be able to move these," Yellow explained, loosening Nutmeg's grip on the fingers so that they could float up to rest in a curve along the necklace, a couple inches of space between each of the devices. "It might take some getting used to, but you'll have as much control over them as you have over your own hands."

"This way you'll be able to reach things on your own," Blue added, smiling. "If you want to open doors and things."

"Aww, this is the coolest door-opening present ever," Nutmeg said, tugging Yellow into an awkwardly angled hug. "Thanks!"

"You're—You're welcome," Yellow stammered, startled. "Do try them out, I want to be sure that they'll receive signals from your gem."

"From my gem? This isn't even close to my gem," she said curiously. She tugged at one of the fingers curiously, watching it drift smoothly back into place when she let go.

"It doesn't need to be. As long as it's securely in contact with your body, it'll know to accept commands that you give it. That you think, I mean."

"Ohhh, got it. So I just think really hard and it moves?"

"Basically."

"Okay, lemme try." Nutmeg tilted her chin down to stare at the necklace. Almost immediately, the fingers twitched into action, moving away from her in short, stilted bursts.

"Just focus on one for now," Yellow suggested. "And one thought to guide it. You don't need to force it."

"Got it." Nutmeg didn't try to focus her energy on just one though, she gave all three a firm push away from her. "Like that!"

"Exactly," she said, pleased. "It appears to be in working order then."

She grinned, sending them over in Yellow's direction until they smacked lightly into her arm, then boomeranged back towards Nutmeg. "It's perfect," she said. "Thanks, really. It was kinda annoying having to ask somebody else to do all the door panels for me. Or to be like…" She mimicked stretching her arm up above her head like she was reaching for something. "This'll be a lot better."

"Good."

Blue came over to sit beside Yellow, giving her arm a squeeze. "And I'm happy to help you practice with them if you want," she offered to Nutmeg.

"Sure!" she agreed happily. "You can't stay too, Yellow?"

"Not if you want the rest of your enhancers completed on a timely basis," she replied bluntly as she got to her feet. "Though you're welcome to stop by if you require any changes."

"Will do! Thanks, Yellow."

After training was over for the morning, Silver was quick to make her way to the common room to talk to their two newest recruits. She wanted to be sure she still helped them settle in as much as she could, even if they'd both politely declined coming to training.

"Hi, you two!" Silver greeted them. "Still liking 'Coffee' and 'Clover' as names now that you've slept on it?"

"We do," Coffee—the coin Pearl—answered. "Silver is here," she added with a light touch on Clover's arm. "She wants to know if we're still happy with the names we picked yesterday."

"Oh, yes, definitely!" Clover said, smiling happily. "Though I would like to learn more about what a clover is. Steven said it was this shape," she continued, touching the four-leaf clover that rested in her hair, "but that's all we know."

"I guess whoever made you had been to Earth," Silver said, waiting patiently for Coffee to repeat the words for Clover. "Since they knew to tell your gem to wear one."

"It's not an accessory," Coffee replied once she had finished.

Silver tilted her head curiously.

"It's a part of her body. You can't remove it like you would a hairpiece."

"Really?" She leaned in curiously, but didn't touch. "I've never heard of something like that before."

Coffee nodded. "Even in the Courtosphere, such an occurrence appears to be entirely undocumented. All we've managed to discern is that she maintains a small amount of sensation through it."

"Mm-hmm, Coffee did experiments to gather evidence!" Clover touched the object on her head. "Kisses on the 'clover' feels the same as kisses on my hair, but different from kisses on the cheek or lips."

"Sounds like a very cute experiment," Silver said, smiling as Coffee blushed a darker shade of brown.

"It was!" Clover agreed brightly after Coffee mumbled out Silver's words. "Maybe Coffee can come up with some experiments for you to do with Chroma and Aura later."

Silver laughed silently, giving Clover a gentle pat on the head.

"Yes?" she asked with a smile.

Yes, she confirmed, with a tap of her knuckles on the center of Clover's chest. "I'd love to have such a scientific reason to give them lots and lots of kisses."

It was a slow process, but Silver was searching for ways to communicate with Clover. Right now, the most she could manage on her own was yes and no answers, though Clover was able to pick up other things from the sound of Silver's movements. So Silver made sure her footsteps fell a little heavier than usual around Clover, letting her track where she was, or reminded herself to breathe during any extended silences so Clover would have something to know she was still there even when the rest of her wasn't moving.

"I wanted to ask you something," Clover added after a little while of slightly stilted three-way conversation.

"What's that?"

"Do you think it would be alright to take a closer 'look' at everyone here? I can't see you, but it'd help me remember everyone if I have something concrete about them in my head." She reached out, finding Silver's shoulder and sweeping her hand down her arm. "Like this."

"Well…I can't speak for everybody, and there'll be some Pearls who can't do it—you remember my friend Prism I was telling you about, she'd be one of them. But I'm definitely okay with it if you want to see me."

Clover nodded seriously. "I won't do it without asking. But it's okay with you?"

"Definitely." She gave her a firm yes.

There was something reassuring in the way Clover touched her, in the way she was considerate but not cautious with each sweep of her hands over Silver's skin. Silver had no qualms about physical contact—in her experience, it was something to be associated with friends instead of an owner, and she was grateful now that her past had included very little of it. Touch was for the gems she cared about, or who she hoped to care about in the days to come if Clover was patient enough to want to be friends with her.

When Clover had finished mapping out her body, her hands fell away, settling on her legs, where she pulled at the top of her stockings after a few seconds of silence. "Silver…"

Automatically, without thinking, she projected "Did you see me?"

But she quickly waved off Coffee when she opened her mouth to repeat the words. This was something she needed to say for herself, even if it was difficult. Even if she didn't quite know how to say it to Clover.

"I don't… I'm sorry…" Clover said softly, expression serious and focused as her body inclined forward slightly as though she was listening closely.

Figure it out, Silver told herself. You figured it out for Crimson in the beginning, so you can figure it out for this gem too.

"I can't hear… I can't tell what you're saying."

She knew that Clover could—to some extent—interpret her body language when she was moving, so she tilted her head to one side in hopes it would register as a question.

"You're…curious, I think? What are you asking?"

Silver beamed, relieved, and cautiously reached out to take hold of Clover's hand, layering her own over it loosely. It went lax in response, acquiescing to Silver's silent request, so she raised it up, bringing Clover's fingers to brush over the bangs that covered her eyes, then brought them over to cover her own. She closed them just before Clover's hand touched, welcoming the brief, surface level similarity with Clover's own lack of sight.

Silver repeated the motion a few times—Clover's eyes, then hers, Clover's eyes, then hers—until she saw understanding quickly settle into Clover's previously hesitant smile.

"Did you see me? Is that it?"

Silver nodded quickly, then remembered she ought to be answering that in the beginnings of the language they were trying to build between them. She tapped her knuckles on Clover's knee twice, and the smaller gem's smile got even bigger.

"Yes?" she asked. "Yes, yes, I did! I got a great look at you, you're so strong and sturdy, I think handsome would be best? Yes, handsome and sturdy."

Silver let out a small breath she didn't know she was holding and leaned forward to meet the hands that had come up to find her face again. They settled on her cheeks firmly, Clover's skin cool against hers.

"So handsome and sturdy," Clover repeated, patting her cheeks. "No wonder all those Pearls fawn over you."

She laughed a little at that—had Millie already tried to recruit Clover to the "fan club"?—and reached over to ruffle Clover's hair, careful not to let her fingers catch on the gem hiding on her forehead.

Maybe there wasn't so much distance between them after all. She just had to find her own way to reach out, like Clover had.

After Silver, Clover went around the common room to ask a few of the other Pearls there if she could do the same with them. Some turned her down gently, but others welcomed the gesture. Caddy in particular was delighted to entertain her with shapeshifting once the initial once-over was finished, laughing happily as Clover utilized the beginnings of her new knowledge to try to guess at who she was each time or teasingly called her out for cheating when she shifted to Pearls she hadn't seen yet.

Eventually, Clover's attention was caught by a new sound, and she turned towards where Nutmeg had just entered.

"Oh, yeah, you wanted to meet Nutmeg, right?" Caddy asked. "That's her!"

"Is it alright if we go say hello?" Clover asked. "I'm having a lot of fun, but I want to make sure to meet everyone I can."

"Yeah, for sure, no worries." Caddy gave her a quick hug. "See you later!"

"See you," she laughed.

It was easy to follow the unique sound of Nutmeg's wheelchair, so Clover led the way with Coffee just a step behind her.

"Hello," she greeted Nutmeg when they got close enough.

"Oh! You're Clover, right?" Nutmeg swiveled a little to face her. "Viri was saying there were two more gems like me now!"

"That's me," Clover said happily. "And this is Coffee. Are you Nutmeg?"

"Yep! Hold on, let me just—there." Nutmeg pulled at the wheelchair's brakes to keep it from moving, then held out her arms to Clover. "Come forward a little bit? Yeah, that's good, stop. Now hold onto me and come around this way." She guided Clover to stand beside her, placing her hands on the armrest before releasing them. "Hi," she said cheerfully. "It's really cool to meet you. You can feel around or whatever if you want to see what the chair's like."

"Thanks," she replied, already beginning to move her fingertips carefully across the surface. "Oh, some of it is made of shooting stars," she said as she reached the metal.

"Shooting stars?"

"The robonoids," Coffee offered helpfully.

"Ohhh, gotcha. Yeah, they're sort of like that! Kinda clunky though, so I'm looking forward to the enhancers." She gave a soft dissatisfied hum as Clover reached her legs, making the smaller gem pause. "S'alright, it's just weird seeing it and not feeling it. So, are you getting enhancers too?" She directed the question at Coffee, tilting her head pointedly towards her missing arm. "I can ask Yellow for you, if you want. She's cool, she might complain a lot but she always says yes in the end."

"Um…" Coffee looked like she didn't know what to say. "That isn't necessary."

"You sure? Oh, you know what? You can try out this!" Nutmeg tugged her necklace with the enhancers attached from her neck and offered it out to Coffee, who took it automatically but made no move to put it on. "It's like having an extra hand, so it'll be perfect," Nutmeg encouraged her.

The coin Pearl was getting increasingly anxious now that she was holding it, so Nutmeg kept going, hoping to assuage some of her concerns.

"It's okay, Yellow told me that Homeworld usually gives them to Peridots, but we're free Pearls, so we can have whatever we want! Or almost anything, you do have to give those back when you're done."

"Nutmeg," Clover said, tugging at her arm gently to get her attention. When Nutmeg leaned towards her, she cupped her hands to whisper something to just her. "Things are a little different for coin Pearls than they are for us. Coffee doesn't really like to have gems talk about her gem. Okay?"

Nutmeg nodded, opening her mouth to reply, but Clover was drawing back with a smile and continuing at a normal volume.

"Isn't she the prettiest though?" She reached out for Coffee, pulling her a couple steps closer and reaching up to place her hand in the center of her chest. "And her little cut-out is so cute! Have you noticed? It's really nice to rest my cheek on when we snuggle, especially now that we have a bed instead of rocks so it's easier on her back!"

"Clover," Coffee protested fondly, the beginnings of a blush rising to her cheeks.

"It's super cute," Nutmeg agreed with a grin. "But ouch, why were you laying on rocks? Makes my gem hurt just thinking about it."

"The ravine offered us very little to work with," Coffee said with a faint smile. "Would I be safe to presume your gem is on your back then? Given, the evidence is inconclusive."

"Yep, you got it! You can see if you want, it's a cool shape."

"Alright."

"May I see it too?" Clover asked.

"Yeah, go for it, I'm not picky about people touching it." Nutmeg scooted forward using her arms as leverage, then leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees so they had better access. She smiled to herself as the two of them moved closer, Clover's fingers trailing down her back in a weaving back and forth pattern until she reached the gem just above Nutmeg's waist.

"Your gem is so beautiful," she said after about a minute of examination and learning the way it curved up into its flame-like shape. "Don't you think so, Coffee?"

"Definitely. It's very unique."

"Thanks!" There was a warmth that filled her gem at the compliment—it was special when it came from gems that were like her. Special when it came from Viri too, but Viri was Viri. "I hear you've got a pretty unique gem too, Clover? Can I see? Or if you don't want to, that's cool too, I'll just imagine it!"

Clover laughed, pushing her bangs up off her forehead. "It's right here. It has some of the same kind of bubbly bits as yours does, but the shape is different."

"Ooh!" Nutmeg's eyes lit up. "I love it, it's super bubbly cute." She gave Clover a sideways hug. "Thanks for showing me."

"Anytime!"

"You can poke around mine anytime too," she said, genuine happiness in her voice. "It's really nice to know more gems that aren't 'little circles.' Or, uh, gem singular?" She shot Coffee a brief apologetic look. "Anyway, you know."

"Is it just us and Viri?" Clover asked.

"Yeah, right now. I bet we'll meet more though." She settled back into her wheelchair contentedly. "Here, you want to come on up to finish looking?" she offered, holding out her arms, ready to pick her up.

"I'd love to, if that's alright."

"Yeah, for sure."

"I'll hold onto the chair for balance," Coffee said quickly, going around behind Nutmeg.

"It's fine, it's fine. Here, watch. And…up!" Nutmeg lifted Clover easily off the ground and brought her into her lap to sit. The wheelchair shifted slightly but didn't show any inclination to tip. "Yellow made double sure the balance was good, 'cause she's real into safety. Anyway, get comfy, you won't hurt me."

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome! But yeah, like I was saying, we're the only ones right now. Viri used to know more Pearls like us though, has she told you yet?"

Clover shook her head. "There's more?" she prompted hopefully.

"Yep, definitely. And if there's that many just where Viri lived, then there's got to be more out there somewhere, right?" She grinned. "Or maybe other Pearls in ravines, like you."

She giggled. "Maybe so." There was clear joy on her face at this new knowledge.

"By the way, I wanna see your ravine sometime. Chroma's really been talking it up, so I want to check it out. You know Chroma, right?"

Clover nodded. "The one with all the soft, pretty hair who likes the shooting stars."

"That's right! Hey, is there anybody else you wanna see? I mean, while you're here, I might as well give you a free ride."

"Wait, wait, I'm not finished yet," Clover laughed.

"And the court has yet to examine all the witnesses in this room," Coffee added. "If that is still the plan?" she checked with Clover.

"It is!" She gave Nutmeg's shoulders a gentle pat as she finished up looking at her. "I want to see everybody here first, but maybe I could take you up on a ride later?"

"Yeah, just let me know whenever." Nutmeg resettled the pillow that provided a buffer between her gem and the back of the seat. "So who's up next?"

"Hmm…how many gems are here that I haven't talked to yet?" Clover asked Coffee. She'd been doing her best to keep count of anyone coming and going, but she didn't yet have the experience in recognizing each set of footsteps to know with certainty each individual that had moved.

"Three Pearls," she answered easily. "Two of them are Sky and Fruit Cup, the third we have not been introduced to."

"Which one?" Nutmeg asked.

Coffee tilted her head to the right. "The red one."

"Oh, that's Quin! She's cool, she hangs out with Viri sometimes."

"We'll definitely go introduce ourselves then," Clover said with a smile. "But first, how about Fruit Cup? We didn't get to talk to her much before."

A sudden reluctance passed across Coffee's face, but she agreed quietly and pointed her in the right direction.

"Hey, Coffee, wait a sec," Nutmeg said before she could follow Clover.

"Yes?"

"Is something up?" she asked curiously. "Did Fruit Cup say something to you guys?"

"No. She doesn't have to say it." Coffee's eyes stayed on Clover. "Her expression alone is evidence enough that she finds gems like Clover distasteful."

"Really? I mean, yeah, she gives me weird looks sometimes too, but she usually notices what she's doing and stops. She said she's unlearning stuff her owner taught her, which I don't really get, but at least she's upfront about it."

"Hmm…" Coffee frowned slightly. "Excuse me."

"Yeah, sure, see you 'round. Sorry about earlier."

The coin Pearl had already started walking, but she glanced back over her shoulder at Nutmeg with a tense but genuine smile. "That testimony will be struck from the record. No need to worry about it."

Nutmeg laughed, confused. "Thanks."

She watched as Coffee went over to join the other two Pearls, and was startled to hear Fruit Cup's slightly-too-loud "No" in response to whatever Clover had asked her. She did sound genuinely repulsed, which surprised Nutmeg, because she'd never heard her be purposefully mean when she was uncomfortable.

Clover flinched away at the sharp word. "Th-That's okay," she stammered, crestfallen. "You're still learning…"

"I…" Fruit Cup looked like she wanted to say something else. "Sorry," she managed softly.

Clover seemed as if she was frozen in place, and Coffee quickly took her hand up in a tight grip. "Excuse us," she said sharply, and pulled Clover away towards the door.

"Coffee," Silver said quickly, running over to them from where she'd been watching a few yards away.

"We will be returning to our room now."

"Alright. I'm sorry."

She'd messed that up. She'd definitely messed that up.

Fruit Cup's face was hot with humiliation as she felt several pairs of eyes on her. Coffee and Clover had already disappeared, and she wasn't sure if it would be better or worse to try to follow them. She hadn't meant to be mean about it, she'd just been surprised, and…and not ready. Not so soon.

You're still learning felt like a stab in the gem. Because she was, and she wasn't learning fast enough.

"Hey," Viri said, startling her with her sudden nearness. "Want to talk for a minute?" she asked gently, her eyes softening.

"I…" Fruit Cup hesitated, her cheeks coloring. "Yeah, I guess so."

Viri pulled her up to her feet with a steady hand and then continued holding on as she led Fruit Cup out of the common room and over to Viri's room. "You've been pretty uncomfortable around some of our new friends," she prompted her, though there was no accusation in her voice.

"I-I have," she murmured, sitting down and curling her hands together in front of her gem. "I'm sorry. I don't want to be."

"I know, Orange Cup."

Fruit Cup laughed a little at the slightly-too-literal friendly variation on her name. "I, um, I have really been trying to do what you said," she added. "Finding the good things that are unique?"

"Yeah? How's it working?"

"Okay, when I'm on my own. But if someone comes to talk to me, like Clover did just now, it's like…" She scrunched her hands into her ponytail, then tugged out one of the knives she'd been storing there so she could busy her hands with peeling an apple. "It's not that I don't want them to talk to me. But I wish I could put it off until I can trust myself not to say anything bad."

"That makes sense," Viri said with a soft smile. "But I think refusing her like that didn't make her feel very good either."

"I know." Fruit Cup looked conflicted. "But my prejudices are my problem, you know? I don't want to make her deal with them when they're my job. It's…It's probably better if I keep my distance from her anyway. Then when I'm ready, I can have her see me like I want her to see me."

"I don't think Clover wants you to be perfect," she countered cautiously.

"No, but I've seen enough of how her 'seeing' goes to know she'd be able to tell I'm…not seeing her the way I should yet. So I'm going to wait."

She seemed firm in her declaration, so Viri decided it was best to leave it alone. "Okay," she said. "But really, you should try to talk to her more. Her and Tangy and Nutmeg and Chroma, everybody. It's better to say the wrong thing and learn not to do it than to keep your distance and not ever be sure, right?"

"…I guess." Fruit Cup frowned down at the peel that was coming off in a near-perfect spiral. "I have been talking to Chroma. Or, well, she comes to talk to me sometimes. I think Crimson asked her to maybe, but I still appreciate it. Silver and Aura always tag along with her and it's really obvious on their faces if I say or do something bad, so it's kinda helpful?" She laughed a little, unusually quiet. "I still worry though."

Viri patted Fruit Cup's head lightly. "About what?"

"I don't want to make you or Crimson regret…looking after me the way you do. Helping me, not looking after, that doesn't sound right."

"What's wrong with looking after?"

"Too Pearl-y." She flashed an uneasy smile. "I'm responsible for me. That's—That's something that's really important to me right now."

Viri returned her smile, bright and full. "Well, I'm really proud of you for being responsible for you. And don't worry, okay? Me and Crimson aren't regretting anything. We're still learning things too, remember? The important part is that we're all working on ourselves together."

"…What are you working on?"

She hesitated, voice faltering slightly. "Trying not to miss where I came from. Not the gems there, I'll always miss them, but just how things were. Homeworld didn't seem as scary back then, and things were easy."

"Isn't that good?"

"I don't know." Viri shrugged. "It was good for me back then, I guess. Not so much now, because I want to be able to understand the world that everyone else has been living in."

"Oh." Fruit Cup gazed up at her for a long moment. "What kind of help can I give you for that?"

"Honestly, just this is wonderful." She leaned in to give Fruit Cup a warm hug. "Talking to me about the way you think, and the things that are hard to talk about."

She laughed quietly. "I'm glad they help then."

"They do. And I'll be here to help you too, if you need it."

"Thanks."