Lavender Pearl
It began with a little bit of blackmail.
The Pearl slipped into the Bismuth's workshop, same as she did every five Cycles, all curtsies, polite smiles and averted eyes. Bismuth had waved her in off-handedly, pulling out a tablet to record the usual recited order Pearl relayed for her Master. There was a fancy new Star Spire being built, and there was a constant need for new chairs, benches, railings and light fixtures to furnish it with.
Pearl listed off her Master's commissions, then said, "Oh, one more thing."
"What's that then?" Bismuth asked, a titch impatiently. She was a busy Gem and wanted to get started on her work.
"You will tell me a way to get out of White Diamond's Sedimentary System Base undetected."
Bismuth laughed, huge and hearty. "And why would I tell you that, little one?"
"Because of this."
The Pearl held her arm, exposing the gem embedded in her wrist, and conjured a small hologram. Small, but more than enough. Bismuth froze at the sight of it.
It was an image of her. An image of her, holding another Gem in her arms.
"Tch tch tch," the Pearl said. "A Bismuth, consorting with a Pumice? How unprofessional! And a Pumice who'd been scheduled for Harvesting, at that. She disappeared, didn't she? Authorities never were able to find her. Strange, that."
"How did you get this?" Bismuth demanded.
"That hardly matters."
Bismuth grabbed a hammer from the nearest anvil, and towered over the tiny Pearl. "I could shatter you right here."
The Pearl didn't even blink. "You could," she agreed. "But my Master knows where I am. And don't assume I'm without other friends. Ones who know the same things I do."
The Bismuth gripped her hammer tight. The Pearl had her, and knew it. Somehow she had a recording— a recording of something that had happened dozens of Cycles ago, in private, when she had been certain no one was looking…. For the Pearl to have that, then surely she had some dangerous connections.
So Bismuth went over and dug out her old files, the one from before everything had gone digital, when building plans had still been drawn out on parchment. She hadn't touched any of it in millennia, but it was still there, all perfectly ordered. She found her original plan for the White Diamond Sedimentary System base, its paper yellow but otherwise well preserved. It presented a perfectly clear layout of every room, every door, every corridor, big and small. Bismuth had held it to her chest, and eyed the Pearl wearily. She knew very well what could be done with this information. But there was no getting out of it.
Finally, she showed it to the Pearl, if only for a moment. Pearl didn't need any longer. The blackmailer scanned over it once, then nodded, having committed it to perfect pearl memory.
"Now leave me alone," the Bismuth snarled.
The pearl just smiled sweetly, and said demurely, "Pleasure doing business with you."
She'd flounced gracefully out of the workshop.
And after that, the Pearl left Bismuth alone, for a little while, at least. There were still regular meetings on her Master's behalf, but Pearl acted as if nothing strange had ever happened. Again she was nothing but curtsies, polite smiles and averted eyes.
But then, after seven of those tense meetings, the Pearl finally said, "I need a way to get into L46-97J's moon base."
And Bismuth gave the information.
Next: "A map of the support tunnels of the Terraforming Hub on Radiance System Planet C6J-27R."
And Bismuth gave the information.
And after that, "Entrances and exits to the Triple Star Cluster's Spaceship Hangar."
And Bismuth, still with no choice, gave the information.
Once the Pearl was safely gone, the Bismuth wiped her brow with a rag, and headed into the back of the workshop. Here behind the old forge the walls and floor was caked with coal. The dust was so thick that someone would see the trapdoor tracks unless they knew to look for it. Bismuth did. She dug her fingers in at just the right place, then gently, carefully opened the door up. She slipped inside and closed the door above her head.
Pumice looked up as she entered, putting down the knife she was carving. She grinned.
"How was work today?"
"The Pearl was back again."
"Ah," said Pumice. Her grin faded.
"Wish she'd leave me alone," Bismuth grumbled, as she took a seat besides the other Gem. She rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes. "I don't know what she and her 'friends' are doing, but I don't appreciate her dragging me into it. Dragging us into it."
Pumice leaned into Bismuth, wrapping her small grey hand around Bismuth muscular arm. "She's helping others find shelter, same as me."
"I don't care about other Gems. I care about you." Pumice smiled, and snuggled closer. Bismuth didn't snuggle back. She was too tense. "What if the Authorities track her down, and she send them right too us?"
Pumice didn't have an answer to that. So the pair just clung to each other in silence.
"Wouldn't it be nice though," Pumice began eventually, "if I could get out of this hiding place? Stretch my legs? Walk around out there, with you? Maybe whatever this Pearl is doing will help that happen."
The Bismuth sighed. "There's a nice thought."
oOoOo
Author's Note: I have literally been planning this particular one shot since the first "Bismuth" sneak-peak dropped. At the time, I was going under the assumption that bismuths were all going to be smiths, and the plot was a Pearl blackmailing a Bismuth for weapons. Then we discovered that while our Bismuth's a smith, most are architects, so the concept shifted somewhat. (Also, originally Pumice was actually gonna be a Ruby, who used her heat to provide off-the-grid power, but that turned out to be clunky to implement).