Before she met Rose Quartz, Pearl didn't have friends. Gems, especially worker gems like her, were mostly forbidden from socialising or making friends, and training taught them that hard work came before everything else. Of course, that didn't stop gems from talking amongst themselves and making close bonds in between shifts or when supervisors weren't near, and most gems ended up making at least one friend where they were working.
Except Pearl.
She never made friends. No one wanted to talk to a defect, let alone be friends with one. Most of her coworkers treated her like she was contagious, only talking to her if they absolutely had to, but she knew they talked about her, and they never said anything nice.
The concept of having friends, or even having someone who cared about her even just a tiny bit was so alien to her, so much so that it takes her a while to get used to Rose being so nice to her. She doesn't treat Pearl like a servant, or a pet, or an 'asset'. She treats her like a friend from the moment she first steps into her office. Rose actually cares about her, and it's a hard concept to grasp at first.
But Pearl is certain it's because Rose just hasn't realised how annoying and irritating she can be. She just pities her, because that's the kind of gem Rose is. Pearl waits for Rose to get sick of her. She waits for her to snap like Larimar did, to lose her patience, for the pity to wear off.
She waits for the day Rose tells her to shut up, the day she grabs her or shoves her to stop her from fidgeting or yelling at her for getting files mixed up, the day she sends her back to Blue Topaz to be crushed, but it never comes.
Weeks, months, then years go by, and Pearl is almost certain Rose isn't capable of even raising her voice. She's the most kind, patient gem Pearl has ever met and she can't believe she's actually real. She doesn't scold Pearl for talking too much, instead she listens intently, with interest, never rolling her eyes and shushing her for giving too long of an answer like Larimar did.
She has casual conversations with her, talking to her about things that aren't work related, and it's so new to Pearl she doesn't know what to do. She wasn't taught how to talk about herself, her feelings, her interests, only that those weren't important. She scans her mind for the right answer to Rose's casual questions about how her day has been going, about her interests, stuttering out vague replies uncertainly, terrified of being reprimanded for giving the wrong answer. But Rose doesn't seem to really mind, only giving her a worried look when she notices how nervous she gets when she asks her such things. She prefers to listen to Rose talk, and eventually Rose catches on to that.
Rose is very open with Pearl, which is another thing about her that she finds confusing. Larimar never told her anything, the only time she really talked to her was when she was barking orders at her or scolding her. She never said anything about herself or about her past. She had overheard her talking to gems she was friendly with, but around Pearl she never got too personal.
Rose is the exact opposite.
She leaves files marked 'CLASSIFIED' open on her screen for all the world to see as she casually talks about the Diamonds and other infamous gems as if Pearl knows them personally like her. When Pearl meekly tells her she finds history interesting, her face lights up, and she spends hours talking about things Pearl never read about during her training, things she's certain Rose shouldn't be telling her at all.
But as open as she is about her coworkers and how she used to work in the military during some of the greatest battles in gem history, it takes Pearl a while to figure out what her current job actually is. Rose avoids the topic of her specific career, only vaguely alluding to it, but Pearl is certain she has something to do with the council Larimar worked on.
Her job mostly remains a mystery to Pearl until one day she tells her that she needs her to travel off planet with her.
"I need you to come with me to check on some of the kindergartens we've built, Pearl," she says to her, her voice unusually flat.
Pearl raises an eyebrow in confusion, "The kindergartens…?" Why would such an important gem like Rose be going to a kindergarten? Pearl didn't know too much about them, except that they were bleak, dark places, where only the lowest ranking of gems were made. She'd never met a kindergarten gem before, seeing as most never left the planet they were made on, and if they did, they never came back to Homeworld. Instead, they usually stayed working in their kindergarten, mass producing more gems to work with them and immediately crushing any that were defective like her, but it was rare for an artificially created gem to be defective, it was more common in naturally occurring gems like her.
"Yes, but we won't be going far. We'll just be checking up on the older ones nearby to see if the injectors need repairs or replacements."
"But… why?" she asks, still wondering why a gem like Rose would be sent to such a bleak place to do a lowly job like that, but she immediately regrets it when Rose looks up at her and frowns. "S-Sorry! I was just-"
"It's alright, Pearl," Rose flashes her a weak smile, "Well, it's my job, that's why! Somebody has to do it."
"But I thought… aren't you one of the heads of the council Larimar worked on?"
"I am, interstellar colonization does involve the building and running of kindergartens, and I just happen to be in charge of that," Rose gives her an odd look, "You don't mind coming, do you?"
"No, of course not! Is there anything you need me to prepare?"
"I've sent you a general overview of the things we'll need to document, but for the most part you have nothing to worry about," Rose gives her a comforting, but forced smile, "We should be leaving in a few hours."
Pearl smiles back at her nervously in response. While the thought of going to a different planet for the first time in years and getting away from Homeworld for a while was exciting, it terrified her too. She can still vividly remember her first time travelling off planet, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. She doesn't want Rose of all gems to see her getting in a state or potentially having a meltdown over how loud or stuffy the ship could be, or from how different whatever planets they'd be visiting were.
She stays a nervous wreck even as Rose gently guides her up the steps of their ship, placing her hand on her shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly, and it makes her wonder how scared she must look if Rose is able to notice it. The ship itself isn't as bad as the last one she was on. She familiar with the model, it's smaller and more modern, practically empty in comparison to the first one she'd been on, built for only high-ranking gems to use. It makes her feel even more out of place. She shouldn't be on a ship like this.
Rose leads her down a few small corridors and into a closed off room. Pearl gingerly steps in and briskly walks to the back corner, standing upright, head bowed. Rose chuckles and gently grabs her by the wrist, pulling her to sit down in the seat across from her.
"You didn't think I'd really make you stand for the whole trip, did you?"
Pearl gives her a bewildered look and quickly shakes her head as she quickly pulls the seat belt over her shoulder and fumbles with the diamond shaped buckle, blushing when Rose reaches over and fastens it for her.
"Is everything alright, Pearl?" Rose asks as she sits back, looking concerned, "You have travelled off planet before, right?"
Pearl nods, "Yes, I have, it's just…" She looks down at her hands and sighs, "I find it a bit overwhelming. I know it's immature, but-"
"Oh, it's okay, it took me years to get used to it! I used to hate travelling."
"Really?" Pearl asks in disbelief, "But I thought you used to travel all over the universe when you were a medic…"
"I did, but back when I was your age, the ships were awful, nothing like the ones we have today. They were mostly just metal containers with engines, so they weren't the most comfortable things. Some gems were poofed from the sheer force of just taking off! It's so strange thinking back on it now," Rose smiles at her, "And to think of all the battles we managed to win off planet with our battered old ships, stuffed to the brim with gems and weapons, compared to what some of the other planets had..."
Pearl listens to Rose intently as she continues to talk about the older models, mesmerised. In training the older models of ships never came up, and they were taught that Homeworld has always been the most advanced society in terms of technology and space travel. It's almost hard to believe that they used to be as primitive as Rose is describing them, and even though Rose isn't the best when it comes to using the proper terminology, Pearl still gets sucked into her little stories.
She isn't sure how long she's been listening to Rose talk when Rose's eye wander to the window behind her and light up. "Oh, we're up already," she says with a smirk.
Pearl frowns and swivels round in her chair, her eyes widening as she sees that they aren't on Homeworld any more. The window is filled with star-studded darkness, and it's breathtaking.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Pearl can only nod in agreement.
"That's another thing I love about the newer models! They have windows," Rose unbuckles her seat belt and comes to stand beside Pearl, "You look as though you've never seen space before."
"I haven't… Well, not like this. Just in pictures," Pearl unbuckles her own seatbelt and pulls herself to the edge of her seat so she's closer to the window, "And the last ship I was on was just a shuttle container. It's so… vast…"
Rose giggles, "Well, it is infinite space. Don't they teach you about space? Or did they take it off the syllabus?"
Pearl shakes her head, "They only taught us about the nearby planets and the crystal systems, but nothing else. I'd have liked to have learned more though," she looks away from the window to look at Rose, "How much do we know about all this?"
"A lot, but I'm no expert," Rose smiles awkwardly, "But I did used to be close to with one of the head astronomers on Homeworld before she went off to some other galaxy a few years ago, so I know a bit about the stars."
Pearl's face lights up, "Could you tell me about them? Only if you want to, of course. I know you probably have better things to be doing now but-"
"Of course I'll tell you!" Rose reaches down to playfully ruffle Pearl's hair, "Just don't quote me on any of this, my memory's a bit fuzzy."
Pearl absorbs everything Rose tells her like a sponge, muttering the names of all the different stars under her breath, not caring about how vague some of Rose's facts and explanations are. She can't help but feel disappointed when Rose has to leave her side to finish filling out some documents, but Rose lets her stay practically pressed up against the window, until the stars start to fade as the ship begins to descend.
The planet they land on is bleak and depressing, almost as bad as the first planet Pearl worked on. The ground is dry and desert-like, and as they walk towards the main kindergarten their footsteps kick up more dust, creating a haze around their legs. The sky is dark, blocked out by dust and light pollution from the artificial lights that cover the planet. Pearl stays close to Rose, keeping her head down as they make their way through the endless lines of towering incubators. It feels as if all the gems working the injectors are staring right at her and it makes her skin crawl.
A gem soon runs to greet them with a small bucket of cracked gems in hand, and Pearl quickly steps behind Rose as she approaches. "Ah, Rose Quartz! It's nice to see you again. Sorry I'm late, there was a bit of an accident," she says, shaking the bucket.
"Nevermind that, you're here now, aren't you?" Rose smiles at her, and then steps aside, turning to look at Pearl, "Pearl, this is Aquamarine, she's the operations manager here."
Pearl keeps her head bowed, feeling Aquamarine's eyes scanning over her.
"Oh? I thought…," Aquamarine clears her throat, "Rose, you know we don't take defects here…"
Rose forces a nervous laugh, "I'm not asking you to let her work here! She's my assistant. She'll be the one documenting your report. Isn't that right, Pearl?"
Pearl just nods, though she wonders how Aquamarine knew she was a defect. Rose always told her she didn't look that defective.
"And I'll see what I can do about those faulty injectors we sent you, and I'm supposing you need me to heal those gems too?"
"Yes, sorry about that. Our last medic was shattered when one of the incubators collapsed, but I put the details of that incident in the report," Aquamarine hands her the bucket and then swivels around, calling to another gem, "Ametrine! Come here! Show Rose Quartz the injectors we can't get working!"
Pearl watches as Ametrine, a very small gem, emerges from the dusty fog that hangs in the air and dashes towards them, and she wonders why the gem looks so terrified when Rose smiles and waves at her.
"Pearl, you'll be going with Aquamarine to collect her report. I'll see you back at the ship!" Rose gestures for Ametrine to lead the way, and then she's off, quickly disappearing behind the dusty haze.
"Well, I suppose we should get going too," Aquamarine says, "I'll take you to my office, just follow me."
Pearl is amazed that Aquamarine is able to navigate her way through the vast kindergarten, especially when it's so hard to see where they're going. Pearl has a hard time keeping up with her as she walks down each narrow path and turns each sharp corner quickly, as if she's forgotten she has an outsider following behind her. It feels like they've been walking for hours when they eventually reach a more open area with a small, square metal building in the middle, which Pearl guesses is Aquamarine's office.
There's a few gems hanging around outside, leaning against the walls, but they quickly run off when they see the two approaching. Aquamarine tuts and shakes her head, reaching for the ring of keys attached to her belt and opening her office's door.
The office is stuffy and almost suffocating. It's dusty and cluttered, and Pearl can't imagine it's somewhere Aquamarine would spend most of her time. The piles of boxes and broken parts of injectors surrounding her small desk look as though they haven't been touched for years, and even some of the things on her desk look like they haven't been used in a while.
"You're very quiet for a defect," Aquamarine says as she sits down at her desk, "Usually I have a hard time getting them to shut up, but you haven't said anything."
"I-I'm not supposed to speak unless I'm spoken to," Pearl responds, blushing and keeping her head bowed as she stands before her.
"Ah, I see Rose has trained you well then," Aquamarine laughs, "I do have the report ready, it's just my 'assistant' forgot to put it onto a disk for me and this computer's been giving me trouble since day one. I should probably add that to the report too…"
She bangs on the top of the computer and sighs, tapping at the screen impatiently. Pearl looks up, wondering if she should ask if she needs any help, but she remembers how Larimar reacted when she did that and keeps her mouth shut. Her computer is a very old model, one Pearl hasn't seen since she first started training and she isn't even sure if she'd be able to fix it even if she was asked.
Aquamarine gives the computer a few more bashes until it boots up, and then slides a disk into it. "Knowing this computer we could be here all day," she says with a sigh, "Especially seeing as the report is very long, so while we're waiting, why don't you tell me how a defect like you ended up working for a gem like Rose Quartz?"
"Oh, w-well, it's a very long story and…" Pearl frowns and looks down, "How did you even know I'm defective?"
Aquamarine looks surprised, but answers her anyway, "Your gem's an oval instead of a circle. Pearls are supposed to be circular, and you aren't. It's a tell-tale sign."
"But I'm a naturally formed pearl? A saltwater, I'm not artificial or cultured. I thought it was normal for us to not be perfectly circular…"
Aquamarine smirks at her, "Ah, so you do have a voice, interesting."
Pearl's face heats up and she quickly ducks her head again, "S-Sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that I-"
"It's fine," she says dismissively, tapping at her screen, "I didn't know you were naturally forming, I've only met kindergarten pearls and cultured pearls, and I thought Homeworld shut down their natural pearl farms years ago, but clearly not. You don't even look that old. I also haven't seen the projections of that many defects, seeing as we usually just crush any misshapen ones before they reform, but I was right, wasn't I?"
Pearl nods and doesn't look up. She doesn't say anything else, and neither does Aquamarine, but she can feel her staring at her as they wait.
Eventually Aquamarine takes the disk out and puts it into a case, tossing it at Pearl as she stands up to leave. Pearl clumsily catches it, startled, and then runs to keep up with her as she walks out. They walk back to the ship seems shorter than the walk there, and even though she must have been standing there for ages, Rose is waiting outside the ship for Pearl.
"My apologies, Rose Quartz, there was a problem with my computer so it took a bit longer than expected to get the report ready. You weren't waiting for too long, were you?," Aquamarine asks.
"Not at all," Rose says, shaking her head as she takes the case from Pearl, "We'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. I'll mark you as an urgent case, so hopefully you'll get a response before Yellow Diamond comes to check up on you. Oh, and I left the healed gems with Ametrine by the way."
"Thank you," Aquamarine nods at them both and turns to leave, "I should probably get going myself. I'm sure I'm needed somewhere. Thanks for your time."
"It was good to see you again!" Rose calls after her as she briskly walks away, gesturing for Pearl to step on the ship ahead of her.
"You really didn't have to wait for me," Pearl whispers as she steps on to the ship and they begin walking down the hall to their quarters.
"I wasn't waiting for that long, and I didn't want you getting lost on the ship looking for me."
Pearl gives her a grateful smile
She doesn't turn to face the window as the ship takes off once they're seated. Rose is too busy scanning over Aquamarine's report to distract her from the unnerving sounds the ship makes as it takes off with a conversation, but she's too occupied with her own thoughts to let it get to her. She can't stop thinking about how lucky she is to not have to work in such an awful place. She thought the first planet she worked on was hell, but compared to that kindergarten, it seemed more like a safe haven. She can't imagine what it's like to have to work in such terrible conditions, and for once she's grateful for her defect.
"Are you alright, Pearl?" Rose asks, looking up from her screen, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Pearl stares at her in confusion, dazed.
"You just looked so deep in thought, scared almost. Is everything okay?"
"Yes! I'm fine. Sorry about that, it's just..." Pearl gulps, "Um, are all the kindergartens like that?"
Rose frowns, "What do you mean?"
"Are they all that… that bleak and dangerous? I know it's none of my business but it wasn't very… pleasant."
"Of course not," Rose says, laughing, "All of the older ones are awful, and that planet is way past its expiration date at this point. I think it's our oldest off-planet kindergartens, but we have no where else to send the gems, so we're keeping them there for now. The newer ones are much nicer! Well, as nice as a kindergarten can be, but unfortunately all the ones we'll be visiting on this trip are pretty depressing."
"I see," Pearl shifts in her seat and stares at the door behind Rose, "And I was also wondering… Was Aquamarine right when she said they don't take defects?"
"Only the older ones don't. It's too dangerous and hectic for them, they'd probably crack from just the stress of working there. The older ones don't have the time or resources to fi- I mean, help them either. But the newer ones definitely do take them."
Pearl gulps and tenses up.
"You don't have to worry, Pearl!" Rose quickly adds, reaching over to pat her leg, "As long as you're working with me, these little trips will be the only time you'll be seeing a kindergarten. And you'll probably be with me for a very long time anyways."
"Are you sure?" Pearl asks, wanting to be certain. She had guessed that her position as Rose's assistant would be permanent, and after seeing the kindergarten, she prayed it was. Even if the newer ones were nice, she liked working for Rose. It was the nicest job she'd probably ever have.
"Yes! You're the best assistant I've ever had work for me, I'd never just send you away like that."
Pearl's eye light up and she smiles, trying to resist the urge to fling herself at Rose and hug her, "You really mean that?"
"Of course I do," Rose smiles back at her, "I'd never tell you any lies, Pearl."