Friend
When Pearl opened her eyes next, she was alone. If she had been human, she had called out for her family at this point, to let them know she was awake and well, much like how a human child cries for attention after a nap. But, as we've covered, she had no family. She tried to sit up, but her form pulled against a harsh restraint. She was stuck. Her throat emitted some sort of strangled squeaking sound as she struggled, and within moments a short, thin gem had appeared at the entrance of the room.
"Hello, Pearl B8-29027. I am Moonstone, your master's assistant." The gem spoke in a soft, clear voice as she looked Pearl in the eyes. Pearl quickly averted her own eyes, the stare causing her to feel violated and uncomfortable. Moonstone followed her gaze wherever it went, making Pearl extremely aggravated. She wanted to speak up; to tell Moonstone to quit, but, while she could comprehend words, she couldn't make her mouth form around any syllable or sound. No one had taken the time to teach her; most pearls are created with the ability formed into their gem. Because of the defect, Pearl's creator had decided that Pearl must not be able to even retain any speech patterns. And so, she did not try to teach her.
"White Diamond would like me to show you around the palace and to show you your daily tasks. She states that if she should not instruct you to do a different task, you should preform these tasks on a daily basis." Moonstone was dressed in an extremely simple dress, the white bodice being open and not form fitting while the iridescent skirt was so tight it was practically part of her hips and legs. Upon examining Moonstone, Pearl began to wonder what she looked like. Was she small and frail like Moonstone, or was she tall and muscular like Madam White Diamond? Was she dressed as extravagantly as Yellow Jade, or some of the more wealthy gems she had seen on the streets, or was she as simple as the gem in front of her?
"Pearl B8-29027. Will you please speak to me?" The Moonstone inquired, tilting her head to once again meet Pearl's gaze. Pearl huffed loudly, a cross expression coming across her eyes as she looked away for what felt like the eightieth time (But, of course, Pearl had no real understanding of numbers yet.) "Pearl B8-0927, you are showing emotion." Moonstone gasped slightly, taking a step back. She clutched the white tablet held in her arms closer.
Pearl looked away, a blue blush rising to her cheeks.
"Can you not speak, B8-29027? Why is your being expressing emotion? I will have to address this defect with White Diamond." Pearl looked up at this, unsure of what that meant or if Moonstone was even being serious.
Pearl tried to speak once more, to tell Moonstone that, no, she was not defective, not anymore than Moonstone herself was, but she could not get her mouth to form around words. She made instead a low humming sound, sounding much like an angered bee. Moonstone tilted her head and began to step towards Pearl cautiously. She carefully walked around her, eyeing her every particle until her eyes landed on her pearl.
"Is your gem defective, B8-29027?" Pearl's blue blush returned. Was she defective? What did 'defective' even mean? Moonstone gasped. "You are! Your gem is malformed. Is White Diamond aware of this?"
Pearl shrugged, feeling rather hot and embarrassed for not knowing.
"Even so," Moonstone said, trying to brush off the previous events, "I have been ordered to show you around. Come with me, Defective B8-29027." The small gem closed her eyes briefly, her gem glowing with the effort. Within seconds Pearl's restraints had burst into large puffs of light and were now gone completely. Moonstone held out her hand.
"Please take my hand, I must show you around." Moonstone tried, her face showing not annoyance, but curiosity and friendship. Pearl reached out and placed her hand in Moonstone's, the gesture feeling foreign and new. The other gem pulled her up and steadied her on her feet when Pearl began to sway.
"Yes, I do remember, taking the first steps after your first regeneration is rather difficult. I will help, if you would like." Pearl bit her lip, then nodded. If they were going to walk the whole 'palace' or whatever it was titled, she agreed that she would need assistance. And so she allowed Moonstone to continue to support her and hold her hand.
Everything was so new, so foreign. She had only begun living a few rotations ago; thus the world was incredibly hard to navigate and, quite frankly, very overwhelming. How did gems live in this every day?
Pearl was broken out of her thoughts as Moonstone began moving, with Pearl's hand in one of her's and the tablet in the other.
Pearl was shown all kinds of rooms. She was shown the master bath, a large spring residing in the depths of the palace for White Diamond's relaxation, a large, technology-filled office, even an open ballroom with pristine crystal windows and chandeliers hanging from every rise in the ceiling. Any room one could think of was accounted for in this palace, and Pearl was sure by the looks of them that White Diamond used them all.
"White Diamond likes to have the Bath spotless whenever she returns from meetings and has asked me to leave you there to clean. She likes to relax in the springs due to the stressful manner of her meetings." Moonstone said professionally, looking down at the tablet with her hand still in Pearl's. The latter looked around apprehensively as they re-entered the room. Staying alone in this large room rather frightened her, and what if she cleaned it wrong? She had never cleaned before; she was only two rotations old, after all.
"I'll leave you to it, then. I have my own tasks this morning. I enjoyed walking with you, even if you could not speak back to me. I will check on you later, yes?"
Pearl nodded at this, feeling suddenly very nervous about doing her job right. With a small wave, Moonstone left her and exited the room.
Today's meeting had gone on for much longer than White had anticipated. With so much chaos and yelling, the powerful Diamond now wanted nothing more than to go home and relax. She had gone through the pleasantries with Blue as she had left, and had debated once more in a more calm manner with Yellow. But now, after a long day, she wasn't going to wait for Pink and her... Assistant any longer. She was beginning to leave, her long pale cloak draped around her broad shoulders to brace her against the large crowds and cold of the night-shroud city.
"White Diamond." Rose's voice was calm and strong, and that made White nearly sick.
"What is it, Ms. Quartz?" She said, turning to the smaller gem and trying to remain pleasant.
"I really do think that trying to find another planet is a better idea, but I have to ask. Why would we even consider hurting other living beings for our own benefit when we can just use another planet that would work just as well? I wasn't just worried about Luscara's warriors fighting back. Do you know how many of them would be killed? They reproduce, White. There would be young ones that would never know why their parental figures never came home." Rose looked away, her hands twisted in the top layer of her skirt. "As long as I'm associated with the Diamond Court, I can't let that happen..."
White looked down at the Quartz. Honestly, she did not care anything about the lives of those Luscarians, but she couldn't let the facade down yet. She had to remain diplomatic, for the gems' sake.
"Explain your argument to me once more, I will try to understand."
To say the least, Pearl was struggling. She had no idea how to clean this giant room; especially with the water in the spring always being scalding hot and the walls already looking pristine. She couldn't even locate the cleaning supplies she had brought into the room with her now that she had walked around the spring to see what all needed cleaning. She started walking around the circular spring for the second time, trying to find the cleaner and rags again.
She only noticed she had found them when her face hit the floor and she heard laughter.
"Oh, Pearl B8-29027, what was that?" Moonstone giggled, covering her mouth.
She emitted a small sound of distaste and sat up a little, rubbing her gem tenderly. Soon, Moonstone had offered her hand to Pearl once more and had assisted her in standing.
"I have come to check on you; my duties for today have been completed. But it looks like you're having some trouble.." Moonstone laughed again, very quietly as if she were trying to hide it. Pearl blushed and began to dust herself off, not meeting Moonstone's gaze.
"It is alright, B8-29027. I will help you until White Diamond gets home. She should not see me helping you, but before she arrives it should not be a problem." Moonstone smiled at Pearl and kneeled down to pick up the fallen cleaning supplies. "Shall we get started?"
Pearl followed suit, the blush on her frail cheeks not leaving.
The two worked for what felt like hours, scrubbing walls and floors, Moonstone chatting away on the other side of the room from Pearl with the latter listening quietly, never making a peep. The large room was covered in marble tiles, and, with the hot water in the huge spring, was also covered in steam. Giant mirrors resided on the back walls, under which lay racks of lush towels and cloths, along with beautifully scented perfumes to give the room the clean, pleasant smell of lavender and chamomile. Unlit candles sat around the room at different heights, giving the clouded room a look of serenity and beauty.
Frankly, Pearl loved this room. The smell was incredibly calming, and the appearance was breath taking. She was working extra hard to make the floor sparkle so that maybe she would be allowed to clean this room again, just so she could stare at it on another occasion.
"B8-29027, I do believe this room is spotless. The walls sparkle and the floors are-" Moonstone slipped on the still-wet surface, the canister of soap she was carrying spilling onto the wet floor and into the bath water. The highly reactive mixture, created just for extra pizzazz, bubbled up immediately, leaving that side of the room and pool covered in overzealous bubbles. This foam covered Moonstone completely, and she didn't resurface for so long that Pearl wondered if she was even under the bubbles anymore. She poked her head into a position she could see Moonstone's previous location, and leaned in worriedly to see if she could spot any sign of the gem's existence. Still nothing. She bit her lip; these bubbles were an extremely new experience for Pearl. She didn't know whether she should be amused or afraid - was this substance dangerous? She couldn't lose the only gem she knew to whatever these... Things were. She had begun to worry, not knowing what to do, when suddenly Moonstone's head popped out from the foam. She was laughing.
"I'm a mess!" She giggled, a grin spreading across her mouth, but that grin left quickly when she noticed Pearl's wide-eyed expression. "B8-29027, you look afraid. What is wrong? Are you hurt?"
Pearl looked at her, the frightened expression never leaving her features. She opened and closed her mouth once, gesturing to the large mass of bubbles.
"Are you... Are you frightened of these, B8-29027?" Moonstone laughed, a surprised expression on her face. Pearl began to wonder what she had done wrong, and her face flushed a pale blue. She looked anywhere but at Moonstone and tried to make an argument to justify her actions, but no sound came out. Of course.
"No, no! These are called bubbles, Pearl! There is no need to be worried; see?" Moonstone pushed a large amount of bubble at the pearl, who scurried out of the way quickly, her chest heaving. She still didn't trust these... Bubbles. Moonstone only laughed harder.
"Come on, Pearl, throw some back to me! White Diamond does not return for a very long time; after her meetings one of the other Diamonds usually throws a party so they can get their minds off of things. We have plenty of time, and you need to relax. Come along, join me!"
Pearl looked apprehensively at the bubbles, then up at Moonstone. The gem's face was beaming, a grin stretched on her face that reached her eyes perfectly. She hadn't had actual fun in a very long time. And so, Pearl bent down, lifted a small amount of bubbles (wincing as she did so, just in case they actually were dangerous), and tossed them lightly at Moonstone.
"That is the spirit!"
The two began having a war in the bubbles, slipping into the pool on occasion and continuing the fight in the now-soapy water. As they did so, only one word came to Pearl's mind.
Friend.