Breaking Free

by Lopson

Summary:

After settling down in the Pearl Dorm, nestled away in a corner of Little Homeworld, the protagonist Coral must now face her internalized insecurities if she's to continue to grow as a free and independent gem in Era 3, as well as interacting with gems other than pearls. She also has to deal with the crush she's developed on her best friend!

Chapter 1: No Eternal Honeymoons

Summary:

Recommended reading: “Head Full of Pearls” (prequel), “Facet 23” Chapter 2 (for background on Chicory, Millie, and Char).

I hate mornings. I kind of always have, this isn’t something new I’ve discovered after getting to Little Homeworld. I’m the kind of person that has dreams on end while sleeping, and mornings are when they’re freshest in my gem. Many of these tend to take me all the way back to the past… Like the one I had tonight. We pearls sure are good at memorizing things, one piece of information at a time. We’ve got sooooo much space in our many layers… Ugh, I absolutely dread it.

So, of course, with all of this storage space available inside us, it’d be kind of a waste to not put things in it, right? Actually, it is! Okay, I mean, it’s good that we’re putting it to some kind of use, but, as I’ve come to realize, it seems that me and everyone else in the Pearl Dorm have made the same, horrible decision, which is to fill it up with nothing but bad memories. Maybe that’s just a sign of how all of us were collectively treated in the days before Era 3… That’s got to be it, of course. I just wish we had some way of deciding what to commit to memory and what not to. Guess the folks who made us didn’t think that far ahead, or maybe didn’t want to.

There’s ways to erase things, of course. Some of the gems here have been hit with rejuvenators! Time and time again, I’ve learned. I believe Pearl mentioned one of their previous students had been hit a grand total of seventeen times. Seventeen! How did her gem not shatter at that? The stupid rejuvenator didn’t even work correctly for the most part, and she was proof of that as she just kept falling in love over and over again with her ruby partner. So I guess that’s not exactly a good way to go about it.

Then, there are ways of reprogramming our gems, which go a lot deeper than rejuvenation. This actually changes the memories in our gems for good, with no way of getting any of them back. The problem with that is… Let me see if I can recall what Chicory, a good friend of mine living here in the Pearl Dorm told me. I believe it went something along the lines of reprogramming not only erasing memories, but also making the spots in which those memories were stored unusable. Forever. Having black, gaping holes is really not the kind of thing most gems want… Plus, I can’t even imagine what that would do to physical items stored in our gems.

And that’s it! Two methods for keeping what we store under ‘control’, and both come with severe side effects. Won’t be using either any time soon. At this point in my life, I’ve accrued so many different memories that erasing a few is in no way going to stop me from having awful dreams. If I don’t go with the terrible, floating creature from that potential Blue Diamond colony with three little red dots for eyes and a vicious appetite for light energy, I’ll just end up using the horrific one that would spit gobs of acid so corrosive that if one small drop of it were to fall onto my gem it’d instantly vaporize me. I’ve got quite the selection of scary things to pick from… Maybe I should talk to the folks from the Horror Club, I’m sure they’d be interested in some of it. Actually, scratch that, I should instead find something to keep these dreams in check… Wonder how humans do it.

Another thing that has ruined this particular morning was all of the water that I accidentally drank while surfing with Melo yesterday. I’m super happy that I took her up on her offer, it’s been a wonderful way of getting back inside the seas of Earth. There’s something about its chemical composition that makes them feel very cozy and welcoming. Might be the amount of salt in it? Regardless…

The surfing is great, no complaints, but the thing I wasn’t expecting was having to keep my mouth shut while inside the water now that I have a (class two) digestive system, (it’s basically the same as a human’s). And I’ve never, ever had to do that before coming here, which means I now have a millennias-old habit that needs to be suppressed! Very annoying. Because if I don’t actively do that, I end up with an incredible amount of water in my stomach, which then finds its way into my… which then wakes me up and forces me to go to the toilet! Which is where I’m at right now.

I was very surprised when I first got here about us having facilities for disposing of… digestive waste. I thought that they were here in case some random human came around visiting a friend, (maybe even a lover!!), and needed to… get it out of their system. But nope, it’s here mostly for us! Us pearls! I was the one who had to leak something from within me, not a human! Cherry calls what I just did ‘urinating’, but I prefer ‘pissing’, which is a vastly more useful verb than Cherry’s. (Thank you Melo for teaching all of its possible uses.)

The flushing mechanism of the shared toilets is the loudest thing in the world, louder than some of the volcanic eruptions I’ve witnessed while exploring seabeds of alien planets. When I used it for the first time, I thought something had gone wrong, like I’d broken yet another item of this dorm by accident. (Sometimes my strength gets in the way. [Understatement of the day. {Or past few weeks.}]) But no, when I got out of the stall covering my ears, Periwinkle, one of the pearls living on this floor, (the intrepid leader of the Official Pearl Fanclub), told me in a voice almost as loud that it was normal for it to sound like this. This poses a significant problem…

Should I or should I not flush the toilet at night? So far I’ve been lucky, it’s basically already morning whenever I’ve had to make use of the toilet. But what if one of these days I need to come here in the middle of the night? Do I just… flush it all away? Let everyone know that big old Coral here, the strongest pearl in town, the pearl that lacks any and all grace that others possess and is way too strong for a pearl and way too tall and has a gem weapon of her own and… Do I want them to know that I’m also the kind of person that has to take a piss while everyone else is asleep?

I wash my hands. There’s a handy little pamphlet on the wall, next to the sink, instructing us how to wash them properly. You get some water on your hands first, obviously. It feels weird to be asked to do that, I’ve spent most of my life in the water, so being asked to get some on my hands is a bit unreal… You then have to get some soap on one of them. You rub palm to palm, I’ve got to get as much soap spread out on my massive hands as possible. You rub the back of both of your hands next, my slender, pearl-y hands, with long fingers, trimmed nails, always have to have those trimmed, especially the ones on the middle and index fingers, (or so I’ve been told by Melo). Got to rub soap in between my fingers, can’t forget to do that… and then I lose interest in the rest of the process and just rinse the hands. The diagram has 6 more steps or something, I can’t be bothered, all of this… feeling myself just makes me uncomfortable. In a way that is hard to put into words.

I leave the toilet room and walk into the 3rd floor’s (my floor’s) main corridor. Not wanting to go back into my mostly empty room that has a bed, (a water bed, Bismuth was eager to indulge this request of mine and I’m very thankful for that), and not much else, I start to make my way to the common area. Each floor has one; they’re not all that fancy, just a bunch of tables with a TV off in one of the corners. (Still don’t understand why humans named this type of screen like that, but it doesn’t matter, it’s a funny name. Teevee. Teevee!) It also has some cooking appliances for the more adventurous pearls who want to… well, first of all, for those who feel comfortable with eating, which already narrows things down a bit, and then for those who are comfortable with preparing food by themselves! Which is even rarer! That’s a whole new skill set to learn that simply didn’t exist in gem society before Era 3! I think.

I fit in that first category. I like eating! It’s fun, if a bit messy. And let’s not get into what happens after the food’s gone through the class two digestive system! Thank the stars there’s toilets on every floor here in the dorm! It’s one of many things that separates me from the other pearls… One of many, many things. I wasn’t sure what a ‘good’ pearl was supposed to be like when I first got here, after all it’d been so long since my last time in a pearl-centric place, (the last one was my Reef, Reef number 9), but now that I’ve spent some time here… It’s become abundantly clear that…

I’m not one of them. I’m not a ‘good’ pearl.

I’m taller than most, I’m stronger than all of them, I do things and act in ways that are antithetical to most other pearls’ existence. Like, for example, (and I know that it’s a small thing), I can’t really use most of the mugs around here, the ones they keep stored in the cabinets of the common room for drinks. They’re all clearly handcrafted, made out of clay, with little flowery patterns on them, and they’re honestly gorgeous, all of them, unique in their own ways, each with its own imperfections… And whenever I try to use one, I just end up breaking it into pieces. It’s gotten to a point where I had to ask Rose to bring me one of the metal mugs that they’ve got in the Quartz Dorm after she told me about them. (Rose is such a wonderful gem, so glad she spends so much time here in our dorm.) I keep it stored in my gem, not only in case Rose asks me to give it back to her, but also because I don’t want the pearls here to think that there’s a quartz living amongst them. More importantly, I don’t want them to figure out that I’m that quartz! That’d be mortifying, don’t even want to think about it.

And it’s so frustrating… To feel this way. Bismuth and everyone else who built this dorm worked so hard to make sure that it was inclusive. The doors are much higher than the average height for pearls, much wider too. The beds follow that rule as well. Areas like the common showers and toilets all have plenty of extra space to move around in. And it’s not just about the ways they’ve managed to accommodate larger gems like me, but also how everything’s so accessible for all kinds of gems, even those with disabilities. Elevators, shower benches, overall height of tables and cabinets and lockers… A lot of work was put into making this place feel… like somewhere I can fit into. But… I don’t, I just… And I really want to be a ‘good’ pearl. I really, really do, but…

I let out a sigh, it muffles my immediately recognizable heavy steps that reverberate from the floors and into the walls around me. At least I’m not making the chandeliers above me swing this time! I guess that counts for something…

I think the closest I got to feeling like a ‘good’ pearl was back in my first day here on Little Homeworld. Everything was so new and different from what I’d known all my life that it kind of… ‘rejuvenated’ my feelings about myself. I was at the top of my performance on that day: met lots of new folks, got very close to nesting with another pearl… With Cherry! (Cherry!!) Who, coincidentally, is also an Era 1 pearl! We can sign at each other just fine (using a secret language only known to pearls: Pearlspeak), but she’s admitted that she’s not the best at teaching Era 3 gestures, (the language changed over time), so I’ve been working that out with Chicory and Daffodil… Anyway! That first day was perfect! Couldn’t have asked for a better first impression! And then, when things started to settle down… it all kind of went… down the toilet.

Pearl themself told me how my first day had been a complete anomaly, that it had been unlike anything that other pearls had experienced upon their arrival! What am I supposed to make of that? I know what: it was not the kind of day a ‘good’ pearl would have.

I let out another sigh, which this time is itself muffled by some other noise. It’s a weirdly synthetic voice that sounds like Pearl’s, coming from around the corner. Guess I’m not the first one to get to the common area today? With a swift turn to the left, I find a ridiculously big box in the middle of the corridor, and next to it is… Chicory! I start making my way towards her with a spring in my step! She can’t speak, her gem is where pearls tend to form their mouths, which explains why the voice sounded so robotic to me.

“Hello, can anyone help me move this box out of the way?” Chicory was using her phone’s text-to-speech functionality, (or, as most people call it, TTS), to call for help. She usually gestures her way through all the conversations she has with other pearls, but in cases like this where she’s alone and needs to draw attention to herself or when she needs to talk to non-pearls, TTS becomes an essential tool for her. It’s honestly incredible how well it works, you just type what you want to say and the app spells it all out for you! You even get to select the base voice you want your TTS to use! There’s Pearl’s, (of course), Daffodil’s, Yellow’s, and Blue’s. Not a bad range of choices.

“Chicory!” I move next to her. Surprised and relieved by my appearance, she locks away her phone and puts it in one of her pockets. Phones have this thing where they need to be outside of our gems, otherwise they can’t interface with the human ‘telecommunications wireless network’ (thank you Cherry for that elongated name). One of the many quirks of living on Earth…

The ever-so-friendly gem then hugs me, grabbing me by the waist. I let her gently place the side of her head on my chest, which, after snuggling itself into place, I carefully embrace with my arms. Moments like this are… indescribable to me. After being starved of the touch of other pearls for millennia, even a simple hug feels like a small miracle. And for her to hug a… pearl like me, it makes it feel doubly important.

The moment quickly moves on, though, (darn, I wanted to savor the hug for just a bit longer), and Chicory begins rapid-firing exasperated gestures at me.

I was going to get some tea going before Millie and Char woke up, (as she usually does every single day), but somebody decided to put this impossibly heavy box in the middle of the corridor!

I look at the box and, yes, it’s ridiculously big. Who on Little Homeworld would come into the Pearl Dorm, drop this off here, and then disappear? More importantly, how did they do it without me noticing it?… Oh, it must’ve been while I was flushing the toilet. The impossibly loud toilet that drowns away all other sounds… Anyway, there’s enough room for Chicory to slip by if she were to go around one of the sides, but that definitely won’t be an option for Char and their hoverpod. I see why Chicory’s so stressed out about this.

Rude. Super rude, actually.

Yes! Coral, would you be so kind as to move the box out of the way? Further down into the corridor so that there’s enough room for everyone to get to the common area.

I nod, Of course, Chicory, give me just a second.

I size up the box again. Why is it so big? I stretch my arms horizontally and notice it goes from elbow to elbow. Pretty tall, too, reaching Chicory’s elbows. It’s made out of cardboard, a weird little reusable material found here on Earth that’s made out of paper. If you slice it, you’ll see small little ridges between the inner and outer wall, giving it a healthy dose of rigidity. It might also be good for absorbing environmental humidity, keeping whatever’s inside of it safe? But I don’t know for sure anymore… Cherry gave me a detailed analysis, but I was only able to memorize so much, (though, side note, I love it when Cherry does her best to explain stuff to me). What I do know is that it’s got two little cut-outs on each side that I can use to grab it.

I lower myself with a simple squat and ensure that my hands are holding on to those holes on the side. With ease, I focus all my energy on my heels, then bring my body up with one smooth upward arc, back kept straight. As soon as I get to the apex of that movement, I finally get a feel for how heavy it is, and wow… There has to be some sort of machine in it, or maybe it’s just a bunch of construction materials?… Regardless, it’s not something I can’t handle on my own, so off I go. I try to bring my hips forward to stabilize the box a bit, and while it does work, it’s really hard to keep it going, the box is just too big.

Chicory watches in awe, as if I’m performing the most difficult task in the world. I swear it’s not! It’s just that my freakishly strong body can handle this sort of stuff. I blow some hair onto Chicory’s face to break her stare and that seems to get her to help me with moving the box. She puts one of her hands on my back, pushing me forward ever-so-slightly, while looking ahead on my behalf. With small, hesitating steps, like those of a turtle on an unknown beach, I slowly start carrying this thing to the very end of the corridor. When we get really close to it, Chicory gives me a light, but decisive tap, and I take that as a sign to part ways with the box. No, I don’t unceremoniously drop it or anything like that, I actually do my best to slowly put it back on the floor. I may not be as good as the other pearls at being “refined”, but I’m not a brute.

With a puff, I raise myself from the squatting position I had to assume to put the box down. That was fun! Good morning workout! With hands on my hips, I turn to Chicory, stars in her eyes. She grabs my hand and blinks at me an emphatic Thank you! Not wanting to let go of it, she entangles her fingers into mine and, with a tug as light as a breeze, guides me to the common area, now unimpeded. It looks the same as ever, minus the newspaper on the table closest to the entrance. The early morning light gives the whole place a pink-ish hue, making it feel more comforting somehow, more welcoming, certainly more than my own room. I really need to figure out what to do with it… I’ve managed to take a peek at Cherry’s room and have been to Melo’s and they’re both full of seemingly random stuff. I’m sure there’s a reason behind every single one of the things they keep in their rooms, I just need to find my own reasons, just like they did. Need to motivate myself to do that, too, which, as it turns out, is hard.

Chicory moves me to a specific table in the room, the one closest to the TV (Teevee!!!) hanging from the wall. The screen’s not too big, so being next to it makes it easier to read the closed captions. I don’t think neither she nor Millie and Char have trouble hearing things, but the truth is that the captions just make understanding what’s going on easier for everyone. This train of thought reminds me of my confusion early on in my stay here in Little Homeworld: I didn’t know what ears were for and couldn’t understand why they’d want us to shapeshift some into our forms. Turns out, ears make it easier for us to wear hearing aids of all kinds! There’s normal ones that they call ‘headphones’, then there’s some that boost every sound around you significantly… I think the latter ones are precisely for folks with hearing problems. It’s genuinely incredible how the gems running this place have thought so much about accessibility!

With the sweetest and calmest of gestures, she drives me down to a seat on the table with her hand, which, by the way, is still holding on to mine, (I’m loving all of this touch early in the day). Afraid that if I sit too fast I’ll break the wooden chair, I lower myself gently and let my arms rest on the tabletop, avoiding the napkin dispenser close to me. When she finally lets go of my hand, I try to ask her if there’s something she wants, but she stops me with a question.

Do you want to eat something? She knows I like food. I appreciate the fact that she memorized that.

I do, but I don’t see—

Don’t worry, I’ll find something! Chicory might get lucky and stumble upon someone’s forgotten dessert in the fridge? (Some folks buy ice creams at the boardwalk, don’t have the stomach to eat all of it, and leave them in the freezer? Cone and all. Why?!) Oh, okay, she’s pointing at the cooking counter, on which lays a bowl full of fruit. It’s got apples, the name of which was easy to memorize seeing as one of the 2nd floor Resident Assistants, or RAs for short, is called Green Apple… Heck, even her gem is somewhat shaped like one! There’s bananas, which some pearls around here call “the funny fruit”. I get a feeling Daffodil was the one that came up with that… Oh, I spot some oranges! I want that!

“Chicory! Orange… please.” I had to speak this one out as her back was already turned at me, she’s making a straight line for the counter. She glances back, looks at where I’m pointing at, goes oh! and moves for the fruits. With a bit of effort, she picks up the whole bowl, (which is preeeeeetty big), and brings it over to our table. She didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate the effort, because now I get to pick which orange I want to go for. With broad movements, she places the bowl down on the table right next to me and puts on a proud little smile. (So cuuuuuute…)

See, I can lift heavy things, too! Chicory gestures at me excitedly. I can’t help but laugh at her remark. The joke makes me feel a bit better about myself, for some reason.

Thank you for bringing this over. Don’t forget to get the water going for the tea.

Oh, right! As she starts moving back towards the counter, I realize that she forgot to give me a plate. Not wanting to make a mess and to bother Chicory any further, (also, let’s be honest here, I’d probably end up breaking the dish if she were to give me one), I greedily grab onto as many napkins as I can in one go from the dispenser on the table and lay them down in front of me, making a square shape out of them: a nice, strong formation that won’t flutter away easily. I focus on the bowl now, with its weird topology, made up of the sweetest things I’ve ever been able to taste in all of my life, a far cry from all the salt I’ve had to endure for two whole Eras. I deserve a few sweets, I worked hard for them, just like the trees that grew these fruits.

‘Click’, the electric kettle is activated. Soon, the water will begin to boil. It won’t be as spectacular as water being boiled by underwater volcanoes, but spectacle is not the point here, the point is to make tea, hopefully enough for 4, no, make that 3 gems. Not wanting to look back down to the fruit bowl just yet, I track Chicory’s movements for a bit. She’s going to get mugs for her and Millie and Char, but before doing so she looks back at me and asks if I want some tea, too. I decline, simply because I don’t want them to see me neither shatter another ceramic mug nor do I want them to see my (loaned?) metal one. Betrayed by myself once again… I love Chicory’s teas, too, but I don’t want to—

Coral, indulge me here and accept my offer. Chicory is not going to take ‘no’ for an answer… I guess she’s seen me break enough mugs by now to know it’s a likely event. I gesture a simple yes. With that, she takes four of them out of the cupboard, (really hoping she’s boiling enough water for all 4 of us, (of course she is, we’ve ‘danced’ this same ‘dance’ a few times by now)). With swift and precise movements, she brings them all onto the table before I can offer any help of my own. Chicory gives me the kind of look that makes it clear she doesn’t want me getting up without a good reason. Okay, fine… Instead of simply going back to the counter to keep an eye on the kettle, she sits at the table, which I guess is the smart move to make here.

Before she gets a chance to say anything to me, the familiar sound of Char’s hoverpod, a captivating hum heavily leaning towards the basses, makes itself heard from the corridor. I can also make out Millie’s light footsteps. Me and Chicory turn our heads towards the sounds and, as soon as we do, the other two pearls come into view, with fresh faces, ready to face a brand new day. They’re a bit taken aback at first by the sunlight that’s hitting them straight in the eyes, but they quickly adjust to it. Their crumpled up faces, now staring at us, quickly unfold and begin to beam with their own special kind of glow.

Chicory, Millie, and Char: the RGB trio, (as I like to call them), is now fully assembled in the common area. I met all three of them back on my first day here at Little Homeworld, while Cherry was giving me a tour of the dorm. I first saw them at the rooftop pool, where me and Cherry wondered why we were the only dorm with this kind of amenity. They were enjoying the afternoon sun with an eagerness that of someone who had been denied the simplest of pleasures in life for the longest of time, letting time pass them by all the while absorbing and savoring every second of it. I have no clue what their background is… To be honest, this is not that kind of place. If they want to tell me their stories, that’s great, but I’m making an effort to appreciate the folks here for who they are here and now.

Chicory waves at the other two pearls with a levity similar to that of seaweed swaying with the movement of the sea. Her beautiful blue color contrasts neatly with the overall pastels and slightly warm tones that surround us. She reminds me of water, of gentle, embracing pools of brine tucked away inside dulled out beach-side rocks, the kind that makes you want to sit inside because of how warm they are. Her little bun on the back of her head slowly bounces from side to side whenever she moves, it’s super cute. Ever since I’ve gotten here, she’s done her very best to help me fit: she’s got this keen awareness of when a pearl is feeling down and is in need of a shoulder to lean on for emotional support, almost as if she’s been helping pearls for the longest of time. Maybe she has, but again, I don’t want to think about it too hard. What matters is that she’s one of the few pearls that still knows how to perfectly gesture Era 1 Pearlspeak and I can’t begin to explain just how grounding it’s been for me to talk to her every morning, just like this, in this very same common room.

Millie greets Chicory back with a tiny bow, jutting forward the leg with her hip-placed two-colored gem, red and orange. Is she trying to show off her ankle boots? I can see a smile hiding behind her hair that’s trying its best to obscure her face. She carefully tries to reach for one of Char’s hands. She and Char live in the same room, while Chicory lives next door, all three being part of this floor of the dorm. Char reciprocates with a nod of their head and grabs their partner’s hand in between the palm and thumb of one of their own; after some caressing, the two of them intertwine their hands, fingers locking into one another, Millie’s red-orange skin color contrasting beautifully with Char’s mint green. They’re trying to feel each other, let their love manifest itself before gems they know are perfectly safe to be around.

“Hello, Coral.” Millie’s voice is but a whisper, almost inaudible for those not expecting it, like the tiniest of bubbles bursting once it reaches the water’s surface. That, plus her being very skittish makes it hard for me to hold a conversation with her. Turns out two gems who have difficulties expressing themselves do not make for good talking partners! (It’s kind of a shame, she’s got the loveliest of voices…) She often manages to get around it all by simply relying on her partner, Char, to do the talking, and gosh does Char talk a lot!

Char’s one heck of a pearl. They’ve got very debilitating disabilities, stopping them from physically interacting in general, that includes their own hoverpod sometimes. (Good thing the pods can interface directly with a person’s gem.) Some days, they have enough strength in them to move their arms around more or less freely, to be able to adjust themselves in their own hoverpod, and to hold Millie’s hands or caress her cute little face. Today is clearly one of those days, thankfully. There’s also the bad days, when even getting on their pod is difficult, when things hurt and no amount of love from Millie will stop the pain. I believe Millie and Char stick to their room in such days. Chicory did mention once that they have their own little bathtub in it, so I’m guessing they got their bases covered.

Before I can greet the two of them back, Char, grinning happily, lets out a loud “Good morning!”, maybe a little too loud for this time of the day, but I don’t mind, I like seeing Char like this, brimming with energy. With a bit of effort, Char brings Millie’s hand to their mouth and kisses it — their hair, long and wild, of a deeper green than their skin tone, hides away this little gesture of passion. Char’s eyes dart to Millie’s face, obviously expecting a reaction, and when they see their partner blushing in that very same red that’s on her gem, they smooth it all out with a “Good morning to you too, love”. A gasp, quiet, escapes Millie’s mouth, taken aback yet again by the affection. Char has made a habit of making their passion for Millie known first thing in the morning, as if they could be taken away at any moment, to somewhere far, far away from their partner. Is that how they feel? Does Millie feel the same?

Char and Millie allow themselves to end their little moment. Millie moves her hand to Char’s forearm, fingers tracing its length along the way until it finds grip by the wrist. She guides the arm back down into the hoverpod in a very trained and precise manner. Char doesn’t complain, and soon their hand is back on its resting place inside their mobility aid. The two gems then move towards us. Chicory stops me again from getting up and goes for the spot on the table to my right, removing the chair resting there. I’m sure Millie would’ve gladly made space for Char’s pod, but Chicory couldn’t help herself. On the way back to her chair, she caresses the side of Char’s face — they lean into it, savoring the touch. She also makes time for placing her hand on Millie’s good shoulder, and they look at each other fondly. I guess this is Chicory’s way of returning the others’ greetings. Which reminds me I haven’t done so.

Hello you two. In a bit of a panicked frenzy, I gesture so fast that the napkins in front of me move ever so slightly away. Too strong, moved too much air, I drag them back to their place. This gets a little giggle out of Char.

“You two must’ve really slept in today, huh? No mostly-eaten fruit on the table, no boiling tea anxious to burn our tongues…” Char’s inquisitive look darts from my face to Chicory’s.

We had a bit of an issue this morning, actually. Chicory seems unwilling to explain what actually happened, so I do it myself, (and I bet this is Chicory’s way of getting me to talk a bit more).

“There was… a box. Big one. In the middle of the corridor. Chicory couldn’t get past it.”

“Oh yeah, that huge thing over there?” Char points with their nose towards it.

“Yes…”

I tried calling for help, but unfortunately everyone else was still sleeping.

“Hah! I know of at least one pearl on this floor that was for sure awake.”

You mean Cherry? Char, come on, there’s no way she could’ve moved it, it’s too heavy for her.

“You just wasted a perfectly good opportunity to make her squiiiirm.” Char’s little dastardly smile elicits some nervous little laugh from me that sounds both embarrassed and disagreeing.

Now, now… Lately, she’s been trying very hard to be…

“Likable.” An unexpected intervention from Millie.

Chicory lifts her arms in agreement. Exactly! Thank you, Millie, you get it.

Char is not having any of it. “Well, I’m not so sure I buy her act! But… I can tell you two want me to play along, so…”

During my time here in the dorm, it’s been made abundantly clear that folks don’t really like Cherry all that much. The only chance I got to know what she used to be like before I arrived at Little Homeworld was back in my first day. As the 3rd floor’s RA, she had to give me a tour of the dorm. During that, she was kind of smug, kind of abrasive… Liked teasing others to get them to see her way. Not a pleasant person to be with overall... And while some of these traits still pop up every now and then, Cherry is definitely keeping them under control. Heck, even on the very first day, she herself let her little facade drop when I pushed back. Maybe I hit the right buttons at the right time and the others simply never bothered to try that… Maybe nobody lent her an ear. I’m not sure, seems to be the case, she felt to me like someone that had a lot of needs unmet. I’m glad that…

That at least she’s got me now.

“She’s a good gem.” I let out, cutting off the accepting silence that settled after Char’s last remark.

Millie picks up on my rebuttal. “She did help us get a bathtub installed in our room.”

“That was ages ago!”

She’s been getting our favorite tea for the past few weeks.

“Bah, easy peasy, every other RA is doing that.” Says Char, as if they knew that for a fact.

“She approved the mega-slide a few days ago.” The mega-slide! The thing that will connect the rooftop pool to the baths down in the basement!

“Pfff, whatever, doesn’t mean a thing.” Char’s just being mean now.

What about making sure we always have a copy of the latest Little Homeworld newspaper? That’s definitely a new addition in her repertoire.

“Ugh, I don’t even like that stupid thing,” they say while taking a glance at the little black and white, unbound book full of reports.

(That’s a lie, they absolutely like it. Millie and Char do this thing with it where Millie sits next to her partner, with one arm around the backrest of their pod, and somehow opens up the newspaper in a way where both can read it at the same time. Char tells Millie every so often that they can simply check the online version, but Millie will have none of that, thank you very much.)

“She’s helping me a lot…” I say as I get up from my chair briskly, but not aggressively. Fuck, I wish I was better at communicating what I think about Cherry…

Regardless, what I said is true, she’s been helping me from my very first day here. It started with her wanting to give me a more in-depth tour of Little Homeworld, then progressed into her wanting to prepare me for what’s in store for me in Little Homeschool and its curriculum, (‘You’re a very smart gem, Coral, that’s why I want to help you find success!’), then turned into her checking up on me at the start and end of every day, (with those cute eyes of hers and her eagerness to give me recommendations, despite my telling her that I already knew this and that — she sometimes doesn’t listen to others I’ve noticed). Right now, me and her at a stage where she found a way to officially become my point of contact for anything related to my life here, something called a Guidance Counselor, or GA.

Oh yeah, she’s also my best friend on top of all of that.

“Of course she’s helping you, she’s—” The electric kettle that Chicory had left running on the counter is now letting out a simple little chime, which promptly interrupted Char. The water is ready, heck, more than ready, it’s visibly trying to jump out! Chicory joins in my getting up, but takes this chance to shoot a mean look at Char. Not wanting to give them a chance to talk back, she scurries over to the kettle. Next to it is a drawer with a neat label on its face, ‘Tea’. I’m still not quite sure what the RGB trio’s favorite type of tea is, but whatever it is, Chicory unpacks it and lets the tea bag drop unceremoniously into the kettle.

Char sighs. “Okay, fine, she’s actually been really cool lately…” They make their eyebrows wiggle about while staring at me. “Wonder what got Cherry to change up her game.”

While I was distracted by Char’s comment that flew right over my head, (or did it?), Chicory made her way back to the table somehow without me noticing it. She didn’t make a single sound, even while carrying a kettle full of soon-to-be tea. I can’t say I’m surprised at how silent she was, I know Chicory has this knack for moving in and out of others’ attention span, it’s clearly something she’s had to hone in the past.

Chicory puts the kettle down, (its base is heat resistant and won’t damage the tabletop), next to our four cute little mugs. Wanting to help her a bit, and seeing as Millie’s busy grabbing the newspaper, I try to line the mugs up so that it’s easier for Chicory to pour tea in them. While I did manage to do that, eliciting a sympathetic smile from Chicory, she still felt it was necessary to rotate them so that the handles were all facing the same way. I let my body fall back down onto my seat, frustrated at myself for failing yet another small test on something that should’ve been obvious for a ‘good’ pearl.

Millie, who’s also back on her seat, snaps me out of my self-absorbing pitying. “Coral.”

“Y-Yes?”

“You changed Cherry.” She adds, deadpan.

“M-Me?”

“Yes! Ugh, it’s so obvious, Coral! Come on!”

Char, not everyone’s as ‘clued’ into stuff like this as you are.

Millie raises the newspaper’s cover to Char’s head height, who gives it a quick glance and remarks “Don’t worry, love, I’ve seen the cover on the online version”. Millie lets the thing drop onto the tabletop while scooching over to Char’s side, dragging her chair along the way. “Anyway, that can’t be right, Chicory, Coral has a partner from before getting here.”

Oh. “I do. Although…”

Char gestures to Millie with their nose to not open the newspaper yet, who places it down on the table. “Yeah?”

“We never really did… most of the things? That the folks here do?”

They motion me to spill it out. “Like what?”

“I don’t know… We never showed—” Chicory moves two of the mugs across the table to Millie and Char. “We weren’t supposed to. And… Even the little things…” Millie grabs one of them and places it in a previously-hidden cup holder on the outside of the hoverpod. “We had bigger problems, relied on each other to survive...” Millie materializes a metal straw from her gem and places it in Char’s mug, letting the other end land smoothly on Char’s lips. “I was her pearl… Was made for her. Was only hers and hers alone.”

That last bit visibly crashed the whole conversation, like the carcass of a whale dropping onto the bottom of the ocean, with the sand lifted by the impact making their faces painfully crumple. Not knowing why that happened, I stop myself from continuing my train of thought.

The truth is that… My relationship with my Emerald is kind of unique, and this is something that started to dawn on me after getting here, you know, after observing the different kinds of love Daffodil and Pearl sold to me on my first day here. All these types of it on public display in Little Homeworld and not a single one fits into what I have with my Emerald. I can’t help but notice that, can’t help but think about that.

For some reason, Cherry’s face pops up inside my gem for a split second.

Nobody wants the awkward silence to sit around forever, and Millie makes an effort to break it up. “It’s complicated.”

“Yes, it’s… different.”

And you don’t know how it’s different, Chicory adds while picking an orange from the bowl and placing it on my little napkin square.

“Not yet,” I take the orange and start caressing its pleasant, porous surface.

Char takes a loud sip of tea through their straw and gives me a regretful smile. “Sorry, Coral, sometimes I forget that you’re a bead here on Little Homeworld…”

I let my fingers find that little green dent that all oranges seem to have. I’ve said something that upset them and I need to apologize. “I’m sorry, too.”

Chicory touches my foot with one of hers. Don’t worry, Coral. We’re all still getting to know each other.

Not wanting to press the matter any further, (because honestly I don’t have the courage to do so right now), I focus on the orange. With my well-trimmed nails, I somehow dig into the green dent from which its spherical form seems to have originated from. Little droplets of juice come flying from the hole I punched in it, some making their way into my own mug of tea, like seawater that has crashed against rocks and doesn’t know which direction to take. I put my finger inside and pinch whatever peel I manage to grab on to. I drag it top to bottom, making the innards visible, squishy and vulnerable. In a fairly trained movement, I grab both sides of the gash and tear the fruit wide open with a rather violent jerk. Doing stuff like this always awakens something in Coral that she doesn’t like, but she keeps doing it anyway. I discard the peel, which by now is a complete, ruptured mess, onto the napkins in front of me. Now is when my precision work begins: I slowly separate each section of the insides of the orange into 8 slices, for no good reason other than to calm the part of my gem that insists that I have to make sure that it’s dead, as if ripping all of its skin wasn’t enough. I splay it out on top of my napkins. It looks beautiful.

As I take the first slice of orange of the day into my mouth, Char grabs my attention. “You may be a newbie, but… You’re already big news around here!” As if on cue, Millie grabs and raises the newspaper and shows its cover to me. That’s… a photo. Of me and the others, in the central plaza, immediately after the encounter with the corrupted gem monster! The one I fought on my first day here in Little Homeworld, which was made up of two different quartzes. Didn’t take long for them to be cured of their corruption, I think I’ve even seen them walking around together! If I was a bit more courageous, I would’ve already gone up to them and asked for their forgiveness for getting them stabbed by a multitude of swords… I guess that’s something I’ve been lacking for a while, though, so it’s nothing new, definitely not something my Pearl Power classes can help me fix in the short term.

Millie pushes the newspaper forward ever so slightly, signaling that she wants me to take it.

“But don’t you two want to…” I point at Millie and Char.

Char answers for both of them. “Don’t worry about it, we can go through it later.”

Not wanting to let their offer go to waste, I gently, (I’d like to think that I’m getting better at keeping my strength in check), take the newspaper for myself. Millie’s dangling it from the top, accidentally hiding the name of this publication. I take it with both my hands, grabbing it at the sides. My thumb ends up awkwardly covering my own face in the photo. As soon as Millie lets go of it, I rotate my chair to the right and cross my left leg on top of my right one, leaving a wide gap in between them. With my hands resting on my hips, I finally straighten out the paper and get a chance to read its name. (But not before downing another slice of orange.)

LITTLE HOMEWORLD NEWSPAPER

Edited and published by Yellow Pearl and Blue Pearl

The photo occupying most of the cover shows me talking to Cherry, fussing over my wellbeing. Back then, we weren’t as close as we are now, so she kept wanting to physically check if my gem was alright but not knowing how to do so without ‘shamelessly’ touching me. Glad things are different now... Champ, Peach, and Ruby can be seen in the background as a tiny little cluster, discussing what they could’ve done better if I recall correctly. Pearl is further back, talking to Periwinkle, the current leader of the Official Pearl Fanclub. Everyone that’s in the fanclub is clustered together behind Periwinkle, trying to listen in on their leader’s conversation with Pearl. Bismuth is shown looking at the remnants of the central plaza’s warp pad, clearly sad over the loss. Immediately under the photo, I can see something written in fine print: ‘Photo graciously ceded to us by Daffodil’. There’s also a page number, a neat little 2. I’m guessing that’s where the actual article on the event is at.

Before turning pages, I lick the orange juice that’s on my fingertips so as to not leave any smudges on the paper. I may not be as neat and tidy as the other pearls, but I can at least do this much… Or so I thought, because instead of leaving an orange juice smudge, I left a spit one. Sigh.

Time to read the article. All three pearls take a sip of their tea.

ATTACK ON LITTLE HOMEWORLD STOPPED BY CORAL PEARL

Reported by: Orange Spodumene

Little Homeworld — As the sun began to set on our little town, a thundering roar was heard. It was the kind of sound that the veterans of the Crystal Gems know very well, along with the members of the Rescue Guild, but one that had been kept out of other gems’ ears in hopes that the peace they’ve enjoyed here remained unbroken. Unfortunately, fate had other plans, as a corrupted quartz fusion found its way onto the central plaza, making its presence known and leaving a trail of damage along its path. Its appearance was so sudden and so nestled deep inside Little Homeworld that, ironically, no fighting gem was capable of reaching the fusion in time to stop it from causing further destruction. That’s when one brave pearl named Coral stepped up to the challenge. On the very same day she arrived, Coral singlehandedly rallied the Pearl Dorm’s inhabitants and, with only her strength, stopped the beast from thrashing about, giving her comrades a chance to join in on the fight. With the help of her fellow pearls Champ, Peach, Jet, Lemon, and the members of the Official Pearl Fanclub, the fusion was quickly poofed. Shortly after, the Crystal Gems arrived on the scene, bubbling the corrupted quartzes and making sure everyone involved was unharmed.

“It was all so unexpected,” told us Pearl, long-time member of the Crystal Gems, who at the time of the attack was teaching a class, “we’d never actually had a corrupted gem reach our settlement. We know that gems in this condition are naturally attracted to other gems, but our security perimeter had always detected their presence before getting close to us. I’ve already instructed the Rescue Guild to patrol the town day and night until we conduct a complete review of our perimeter’s sensors.”

One of the RAs of the Pearl Dorm, Cherry, gave us her account of the events. “I was doing a standard guided tour of the dorm for Coral and we were at the dorm’s library, down in the basement. When we first heard the roaring and the stomping of the corrupted fusion, we quickly went for the windows, and that’s when we saw it. Coral didn’t even hesitate, valiantly grabbing me and guiding us back to the entrance! With few words, she asked me to gather as many able-bodied gems as possible, which I did. When I returned to the entrance with help on my tail, I could barely believe my eyes: Coral was keeping the fusion in place, all by herself. Her strength and courage is beyond anything I’ve ever seen! I’m extremely happy and thankful that she’s here with us now!”

The attack was especially difficult for the inhabitants of the Pearl Dorm, many of whom lack any sort of fighting skills. While there’s been an effort to fix that through voluntary pearl-specific self-defense classes like the one Pearl was teaching at the time of the attack, many in Little Homeworld fear that the dorm will remain a sitting duck until the root cause for this attack is uncovered. It remains unclear for now why the corrupted fusion was visibly focused on attacking the pearls of Little Homeworld and their dorm.

Green Apple, another of the RAs of the dorm, talked to us about that. “Our dorm sits at the very edge of Little Homeworld. Our isolation has a purpose, as most pearls across the galaxy need this kind of physical distance to help them feel safe in this mixed environment, for reasons that should be obvious to all. That, unfortunately, also means that if another of these corruptions decides to storm into our town and come for our dorm, we’ll stand little chance against it. While we have a few expertly-trained members of the Combat Club living here with us along with the Official Pearl Fanclub, it’s neither enough nor is it their responsibility to keep us safe. This also goes for our heroic bead, Coral.” [Bead is the term used by pearls to refer to new arrivals to the Pearl Dorm]

Asked about the Pearl Dorm’s self-defense capabilities, the RA Cherry stated that “I’ve asked Pearl of the Crystal Gems time and time again to work with me in creating a pearl-only security detail for the dorm, and my hope is that this latest incident will at least get us to talk about it in earnest again. While I appreciate the work that our Ruby friends have put into securing the dorm, it’s probably in the interest of our most vulnerable inhabitants to let them see that we pearls can stand up for ourselves without having to rely on others.”

The idea of pearls forming their own security team has been in the minds of many for a while. Once the most oppressed type of gem in the previous Eras’ caste system, pearls now enjoy a freedom that they were denied for too long. Some think that, because of this troubled past, pearls should be given the means and training to defend themselves from everyone else in gem society, while others disagree, believing that all gems should work together in securing a better future for everyone. The paramilitary aspect of the Official Pearl Fanclub, a recent addition to the club’s offerings that was concocted by its newest leader, the pearl Periwinkle, currently stands as an example of how such a force could be organized, but time will tell if this will end up being a successful experiment.

It is unclear as of now how the corrupted fusion managed to slip through the Crystal Gems’ security sensors and their final report on the matter has yet to be made public. We have confirmed, however, that the Rescue Guild, along with volunteers from the Combat Club and the Official Pearl Fanclub, have been working to keep us safe around the clock. Here’s hoping that nothing like this happens again.

I remember Spodumene, looking like somewhat of a mess, trying to get something out of me, but I was too wound up to be able to say anything coherent. Cherry, seeing me in a state of disarray, stepped in between us and did all the talking for me. I appreciated the gesture back then and I still do now… Cherry can be such a great gem sometimes…

I don’t know if creating a pearls-only security team would be a good idea, but if Cherry’s interested in it… Might be worth bringing up in one of our conversations.

There’s another article after this one.

ANCIENT PEARL ARTIFACTS DISCOVERED

Reported by: Aubergine Pearl

The Reef, IDH37 — Last week, two of the most esteemed contributors of the Museum of Pearl History, the pearls Griddle and Harry, returned from their expedition to the abandoned Reef Nine with items previously-thought impossible: artifacts supposedly created by pearls predating the start of Era 1.

Even though this one mentions my Reef, it seems boring, along with everything else in the newspaper. I start skimming through the other pages and they’re filled with stuff I don’t really care about for now: human art, predictions by a cute orange sapphire, a section dedicated to helping gems and humans find one another after chance encounters… On the back cover is a little comic strip, (turns out that the common name for sequential art), that’s drawn by none other than… Pimple McGee? Who’s this, a human artist? Bit of a waste considering how many artistically-inclined gems there are here in Little Homeworld… It’s called ‘Beach City Zits’, it’s crudely drawn, and its punchline is some kind of horny joke that only quartzes would get. Can’t help but laugh at it!

I eat another orange slice, I want to get through them all first before going for the tea. Never was a big fan of piping hot water, and I doubt my having a digestive system will change that. I swipe my fingers on my napkin base, (licking them was clearly not a good idea), fold the newspaper in half and fully turn back to the table. The other three pearls are sipping tea and discussing something that I can’t wrap my brain around as they’re using gestures that are unfamiliar to me. With a startling thrust, I try to give the newspaper back to Millie, in part because I genuinely want her and Char to go through their usual ritual, but also because I want them to stop using those gestures. I would like to be able to follow conversations after all! Millie, who’s facing me head-on, was the only one that didn’t flinch at that, she was kind of expecting it already. Unexpectedly, though, she pushes the paper back to me!

“Keep it,” she says, “as a memento.”

“Great idea, me and Millie can just go through the online version or something!” I try to store it in my gem while gulping down another slice of orange, but Char stops me. “Not in there, you bead, put it somewhere in your room! You don’t have to keep things in there anymore! You have your own space, make use of it!”

… So that’s how everyone else fills up their room! I place the newspaper on my lap.

You two can get another one on your way to the volleyball arena.

Oh yeah, they do tend to be there whenever I go to play with Champ and Peach. The arena has pearl-specific hours, and those are the only time slots I’ve gone there thus far. Sometimes it’s hard to find a fourth player, not many pearls are into the game and even fewer are willing to play it, especially with us three, (we’re kind of ‘hardcore’), but thankfully there’s gems like Biggs, Bismuth, Jasper, you know, folks who get along with pearls just fine that sometimes fill in the spot.

“Yeah? What do you think, love?” Char turns their head towards Millie without dropping their straw, big grin on their face. They honestly make such a cute couple! Ugh!

“Games might get boring.” Millie’s right, games can get boring. She sips some more tea.

“Then it’s settled! Now to find someone to bring with us to watch some games… Bet the arena’s going to be full of quartzes at this time of the day.”

Maybe Jasper is free.

Char closes their eyes really hard while drinking, (they’re thinking), and says “I think she’s got Human Tech classes.”

Hm… Champ?

“No.” Millie cuts the option down immediately.

“Yeah, let’s say Mx. x420SuxDeezNuts69x is not the most entertaining of companions when it comes to volleyball…” Wait, is this one of Champ’s nicknames or something? I’m so confused right now… “… When it comes to a lot of stuff, actually.” Ouch! Poor Champ… I think they’re pretty great!

What about… Coral!

I wouldn’t mind, but… “It’s my first day… Little Homeschool. Official day, anyway.”

“Official… Oh yeah, you’ve already had a few Pearl Power classes, right?” asks Char.

“Yes,” I know they’re going to ask about how I feel about them, so might as well get it out of the way, “they’ve been okay.”

Everyone at the table shoots an inquisitive look at me, like my answer wasn’t good enough. I scramble for more words.

“They’re… both hard and easy. At the same time. Not sure I… My ‘previous’ circumstances… They were different,” I take some air in to fill the silence between us, “Unique?” I’m not making much sense, Sorry.

Pearl Power is a class taught exclusively by Pearl. It’s supposed to help beads warm up to the idea that they can be independent, that they can say ‘no’ to things they don’t want to do, that they can hold their heads up high amongst the rest of gemkind. These are all important lessons, for sure, especially for pearls, but…

All three of my friends have this look of pity on them. I appreciate it, honestly I do, because they get it. I don’t know how, it for sure has to do with their (obviously) shared background, but they get what it’s like to come from circumstances that would lead to a pearl not exactly fitting into the curriculum of this class. Truth be told, I don’t feel like it’s helping me become a better pearl, which is something I’d like. Chicory reaches out to me with her foot again and cleanses my soul with a look sweeter than any orange ever made.

“Nothing to apologize for.” Millie says, curt as ever.

“Exactly! It’s fine if the class isn’t working out, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to this sort of stuff.” Char winks at me.

You should talk to Cherry about it, though, to let her know. She might have some ideas on what to do.

Just the thought of talking to her makes me feel things I don’t think I’ve ever quite felt before getting to Little Homeworld, so I swallow another bit of orange and try to steer the conversation away from that.

“A-Anyway…” Am I blushing? Why is everyone suddenly giggling? “Why me? To go with you two… Volleyball.”

All three are taken aback by my question, as if I’d just asked something extremely obvious. They don’t seem to know how to explain this one. Chicory frantically looks at Char, who simply wrinkles their nose in befuddlement. Char then looks at Millie, who seems to not have taken this question lightly at all. I can’t believe I’ve stepped on their gems not once, but twice in the same conversation. I’ll have to find a way to apologize about this…

It’s Millie that breaks up everyone’s hesitation. “Protection.”

“From…?” I ask.

An unbearable grimace plants itself on Chicory’s face. Not all gems know how to behave around pearls.

“… Oh.” (Did I say that out loud?)

Char loudly lets go of their straw. “Me and my big mouth have gotten us two into trouble in the past. And, honestly, I don’t feel like shutting up! So instead of doing that, we just try to take someone along with us that can shut them up instead.”

Millie caresses Char’s arm and, with her other hand, guides the straw back into place. Char’s lips want something else, though, and they make this kissing motion that Millie takes no longer than half a second to reciprocate. Okay, now they’re willing to receive the straw back. It seems like they’re both aligned on this. It’s exactly the kind of courage that I still lack, that I desperately want, the courage to be myself without hesitation, the courage to pay the price for doing that. Did they learn this from Pearl Power I wonder…?

Slowly, Millie brings her hands back onto her mug. She and Char drink some more tea at the same time. It’s cute to see them synchronized like this… Seconds go by and the sunlight coming in behind us through the windows is suddenly covered by a cloud, plunging the room into relative darkness, a stray manta ray swimming above us. As soon as it happened, it went away… But in that smallest of moments, I couldn’t help but wonder how much trouble they’ve gotten into.

“Do you… feel safe?” I ask.

Sip from Char. “You mean here in Little Homeworld?”

I nod.

After thinking for a bit, Char speaks on behalf of all three of them. No funny looks, no gestures, Char simply went for it, like it was the only possible outcome. “I don’t think any of us will ever feel truly safe regardless of where we live, but having said that… This is definitely the place I’ve felt the safest in all of my life. At least the bits I can remember.”

Chicory nods in agreement. Do you feel safe, Coral?

“I…”

…

… I take too long to answer. Char comes in with the save. “Well, if any gem gives you trouble, you let me know! I’ll run them over!” The other two can’t help but laugh at that. “Remember that time when a quartz tried to get your attention, Millie? And then, bam! Drove the front of the pod right into their belly and lifted it all the way to their chin! Didn’t bother us anymore after getting their ass handed by me!”

Sometimes I forget how insanely cool Char can be! Wow… Millie leans her head on Char’s shoulder while silently laughing, letting the vibrations she’s making jostle Char, to the point where their straw goes flying. Char seems to love that, showing their appreciation by carefully placing their head on top of Millie’s, which gets a long, deep sigh out of her. Chicory seems content with just watching these two cherishing one another’s touch, like a treat that she’d long been denied and was now finally getting around to enjoying. This brief moment of peace and quiet is the perfect opportunity for me to down another bit of orange. Down it goes! Still not super used to feeling stuff go down my throat though…

Before we could continue our conversation, I hear someone coming our way. Their steps are long and heavy, vibrating the corridor’s walls, they sound extremely familiar and the other three seem to be thinking the same. The closer they get to the common room, the more colors seem to be shining from their gem, reds and yellows and greens and purples… There’s only one person capable of bringing so much energy to one room in all of Little Homeworld, and before I can call her out, she instead loudly whistles at the sight of the big, nasty box sitting by the entrance of where we’re at.

“Whoever moved this around did a fine job!”

One single step into where we’re sitting is all it takes to get the other pearls to squeal out her name in unison.

“Bismuth!” “Bismuth!” (The echo was Chicory furiously tapping her name as fast as she could on the TTS.)

This early in the morning is when Bismuth looks the best! All polished up, with not even a speck of dirt on her gem, all her muscles gleaming under the sunlight and her hair flowing freely behind her head, with not a single lock sticking to her skin. Her gem genuinely looks made out of nacre right now… Something about the way it’s making all these colors materialize around us. Maybe that’s why pearls seem to love her?… Hah, who am I kidding, that comes down to her magnetic (hah!) personality and her willingness to help us pearls with no questions asked.

Bismuth’s eyes are pulled away from the box, landing on all four of us, this little gaggle of pearls nestled together in the corner of the common room. It’s a small audience, but that doesn’t seem to bother her at all as her enthusiasm for being with us is riding as high as ever. A smile sunrises on her face, with all of her teeth coming up in the little horizon line of her mouth.

“Well well well, if it isn’t my favorite trio of pearls!” Bismuth goes first for Chicory, holding her hand and giving it the most delicate of kisses, which gets her to turn her face a deeper shade of blue — first time I’ve ever seen Chicory embarrassed! Then, Bismuth does this little polite bow at Millie, who retributes her kindness and respect with a small nod. Finally, she sees it fit to mess with Char a bit by putting her big hand on their hair and absolutely jostling the stars out of it, leaving it a complete mess of spiky strands pointing every which way. Char absolutely loved it, they even moved their head around at the same time to make sure the mess was maximized! Both Chicory and Millie get up in unison while laughing to go and fix their loved one’s hair. Seeing Chicory, Millie, and Char bunched up together like that takes me back to my very first day here at the dorm…

“Aha!” Bismuth points at me while moving for one of my flanks. “Now I know who moved the box out of the way! Nicely done, Coral, that must’ve been a nasty piece of bismuth!” One of her strong hands plants itself firmly on my shoulder. (Stars almighty, if you think my shoulders are good, wait until you take a look at your own in a mirror, Bismuth!)

Giggle giggle giggle, Bismuth and her horrible little puns… “It wasn’t that bad.”

That gets Bismuth to tilt her head down and look at me funny, like she was looking over a pair of glasses. Disbelief, the good kind of it. She laughs out loud, slapping her knee through it all. “Coral, you really are something else! Even I had issues getting that thing up here! I hope your form was good while lifting it off the ground!”

Chicory interrupts her hair combing operation to write something on her TTS. “She was wonderful, didn’t even break a sweat!” More typing, Bismuth patiently waits for her to finish. “Please don’t leave stuff like that in the middle of the corridor, you know how Cherry gets when gems do that.”

Bismuth, completely unbothered by hearing Pearl’s voice coming out of Chicory’s phone, winks at her. “You know not even Cherry can get mad at me!” Which is actually true, I’ve seen it with my own eyes: Bismuth has had to come to our floor a couple of times outside normal visiting hours and all Cherry could do was blush her way through vehement nods of approval at Bismuth’s presence. And honestly, who can blame our RA for doing so, Bismuth is just a joy to be around!

Millie lets out a tiny snort. “Thank you for the bathtub.”

Bismuth clicks her tongue and winks at Millie. “Hey! The pleasure is all mine, pearl bismuth is my favorite kind of bismuth after all.”

“You know…” Char is hesitating... “I feel kind of bad about the bathtub, you went out of your way to make the showers more usable for me and then I turned around and…”

“Hey! You know that’s no problem at all, making sure you’re nice and comfortable in your own room is more important to us.”

“But…” Char bites their lower lip ever so lightly.

“No buts! That’s just the kind of bismuth I run!”

“T-Thank you, Bismuth…” Char’s turn to blush!

“Speaking of bismuth… Hey Coral!” Bismuth raises the hand she had on my shoulder and slams it back down. “Want to help me unpack the stuff that’s in the box? You know what they say, two gems get things done faster.”

I nod. How could I say to? But before I do that, let me get through my breakfast first. I ravenously take the last two pieces of orange and eat them faster than a hungry shark takes bait. I don’t completely chew them, but that’s a problem for my (class two!) stomach. I then quickly take the mug sitting right in front of me and swallow its now lukewarm contents down. In my haste, I try placing the mug back down on the table, but I unfortunately do it so furiously that as soon as the mug makes contact with the tabletop, it fucking shatters into a million little colorful fragments! No! Not again…

Everyone does a tiny frightened jump once the clattering sound of the pottery hitting the ground reaches their ears, even Char’s chair bobs up and down ever so slightly. Me, I’m completely frozen in time, afraid that I’ll make things worse if I move even half a finger. I hate this… No matter how hard I try to compensate for my strength, all it takes is a fraction of a second-long distraction for me to mess something up. I don’t want to destroy more things! That’s pretty much all I’ve done all my life and I don’t want to do that anymore! Especially not here, of all places…

In an attempt to save me from my quickly spiraling out of control mental state, Bismuth tries to lighten things up. “That’s the kind of enthusiasm I need! Let’s go, Coral!” She picks me right up from the chair and plants me on her shoulder. (OK, being this close to her is calming me down, gosh is she warm…) She didn’t notice the newspaper sitting on my lap, but I somehow manage to grab it in time and store it in my gem. Sorry, everyone, I’ll be sure to actually put it down on my room’s desk or something later today… Bismuth’s taking me to the box, and before I lose sight of the RGB trio, I shoot a pleading glance at Chicory, who manages to gesture to me a Don’t worry, Coral, we’ll take care of it. See you later!

Thankful for her understanding, I finally relax, like a fish that’s given up on struggling to get back into water. It doesn’t take long for us to get to our destination, the box is just outside the common room after all. There’s enough distance between us and my three other friends to not make out their conversations anymore, which means they also can’t really hear us from here. Bismuth takes this opportunity to, (after placing me back on the floor), whisper “Do you want me to get you a metal mug? I can grab one for you next time I—”

I show her the one Rose loaned me.

“Then why—”

I put the mug away. “You know gems here don’t…” Pause. “I don’t want them to think strange things about me.” Bismuth is so easy to talk to, it’s like a floodgate opens in my mind and the words just come pouring out.

“Coral…”

“I’m a pearl, and I have to use a pearl’s mug. Please understand.”

Bismuth looks at me in the eyes, then outside the nearest window, then back at me. “No, Coral, you don’t.”

“Okay, well, you’re right…” Champ. “I don’t have to do it. I… I don’t have to do anything.” Breathe in, breathe out. “But I want to.”

Bismuth is not convinced, but I grab her hand. “Please…” And the look on her face, stars, of bewilderment, of frustration, of surrender, understanding, acceptance. There’s really no one else like her in all of Little Homeworld. It’s true that I haven’t met that many people outside of the dorm, but… I can tell Pearl’s lucky to have her.

She lets out a sigh amidst some low, slow laughs. “I know what that feels like! I felt so out of place when I reformed a few years ago…” The pipes of downstairs’ showers reverberate all the way up here, a whale’s song. “You know what helped me get back on track?” I shake my head sideways. “… Pearl.” Bismuth clumsily makes a very specific Pearlspeak gesture with her hands, one that I’d never seen before.

Oh.

“The bigger the love we felt for each other grew, the more I started to fit in. They helped me so much, Coral! They made everything that had happened since the time I was put out of commission make sense…”

She takes a deep breath and squeezes my hand back. I can feel her wedding ring.

“Coral, I hope you find someone that can do what Pearl did for me.”

---

After bidding goodbye to Bismuth and my three friends who were still in the common room, I start to make my way down the corridor to Cherry’s room. Bismuth told me how not that long ago there was this red and gold carpet with scallop-shapes in all of the dorm’s corridors, and that’s honestly hard to imagine when looking at the pristine floor. I prefer it as-is, without it. Yes, a carpet makes moving around the dorm that much quieter, I understand that, (I’d directly benefit from having it back, it’d hide away my heavy footsteps), but it apparently also made the dorm less accessible. Hoverpods can move over carpets without a problem, but humans don’t have those, instead relying on chairs with wheels attached to their sides, and the carpet made it that much harder for a guest with one such thing to meet their friend living in here. That got the RAs talking, and word reached Pearl eventually, prompting them to look up human construction rules, and… the carpet was quickly removed. Interesting how one small event can have a profound effect.

I wonder if my helping Bismuth unload the contents of that gigantic box will also have a profound impact, somehow. I doubt it, but at least it was fun and stimulating, a great way to ensure that I’m ready to face my very first day of Little Homeschool, my actual first day. I can’t help but feel a little bit nervous about it… While spending time with other pearls has been wonderful, there’s limits to what I can get out of this environment… I am bad at being a pearl after all, so I’m hoping that the mixed classes I’m about to participate in will help me meet gems with different life experiences, ones I can relate to a bit more. I lived a very sheltered life, and ever since I’ve gotten here I’ve realized just how sheltered I’d been. Meeting gems of other types will hopefully continue to broaden my horizons, and, who knows, maybe it’ll show me different types of friendships that are simply not possible within the Pearl Dorm. I don’t know, I have to give it a try.

My cloistered life spent in constant naval exploration or servitude inside my Emerald’s ship, (The White Lady is actually OUR ship now, officially), kept me ignorant of most of the typist inclinations of the previous Eras. On one hand, that means that I’m in the privileged position of being able to approach gems of other types with a clean slate, with little to no prejudice. On the other hand, that puts me in disadvantage as I won’t be able to detect typist attitudes while they’re unfolding right before my gem. It also means that I don’t know much about the shared history of gems living in our society, which is very troubling. There’s such a big gap in my knowledge and it’s going to take me so long to fill it up… Thankfully, I have someone in my life that’s been helping me with that: Cherry.

The support she’s given me so far on navigating life in Little Homeworld has been all-encompassing. I kind of understood from day one that she was an incredibly smart person, but not only that, she perfectly understood my background and has been slowly chipping away at my utter ignorance. I know all the different types of gems that exist out there now, I know what the caste system was, how it worked, and how it had been laid out. I obviously knew it existed, it was impossible to shield me from that, my Emerald and I had some… conversations on why I couldn’t do certain things, especially outside the ship, but Cherry explained the gritty details of it, something my Emerald was not willing to do even after Era 3’s arrival… Wonder why.

Regardless, Cherry has been… She’s honestly been an essential part of my life here and it’s becoming harder and harder to imagine… being here without having her around, in one way or another. Is it because I’ve pretty much been confined to just pearl environments so far? Will that change once I start expanding my horizons beyond the Pearl Dorm? I don’t know, but I guess I’ll partially know the answer to that by the end of the day.

… I’m finally in front of Cherry’s room. I’m feeling a bit nervous, I always feel like that when I know I’m close to her. Breathe in, breathe out… Okay, time to knock on her door. Three taps. Doesn’t take longer than a second for the door to slowly open just the tiniest of cracks, through which I can make out…

A yawn. “This better be important.”

“Hi, Cherry.”

“… Oh!”

Cherry opens the door wide in a frenzy, as if she’d caught a fish and was desperately trying to reel it in. The lazily-worn robe, half open, flows along with the door’s movement; her ponytail follows. With starry eyes, wide open, and mouth agape, she greets me by looking at me intently, trying to absorb every little detail of my form. Another stray manta ray outside covers the sun for a split second, and the sudden lack of light, the obscuring of her gem of interest, snaps her out of whatever trance she was in and spurs her into action. With a decisive swipe, she grabs one of my hands and gleefully smiles at me, excited beyond belief.

The sensory overload of not only being Cherry’s siren, willing her out of her rest to get her to shipwreck onto me, but also being touched so blatantly by her finally catches up with me, making my face turn a darker shade of red. I don’t need a mirror to figure that one out, I can feel it on my cheeks. While I manage to muster enough strength to cover my face with my free hand, I simply forget to reciprocate Cherry’s hand-grabbing, leaving my hand limp and unresponsive. Cherry takes these bodily cues as a sign that she should take a step back from me, disappointed, fearful that she’d gone a bit too far, with a profoundly sad face and hands clasped together in front of her chest. It’s far from that, though, and I tell her as much by raising my fingers ever so slightly in her direction, letting them caress the knuckles of hers, coaxing her out of that defensive position, which eventually works. I’m holding her hand, (or is it the other way around?), and all is well again.

With physical contact re-established, Cherry regains her voice. “Coral! Thank the stars it’s you!” Cherry hears her own voice echo throughout the corridor, sparkly and bright, completely unlike her normal one, and winces a bit. “Uhm, let’s get you inside my room.”

With the lightest of pushes, (by now I understand what the different intensities of her pushes mean), she brings me into her own little space, like a moon exerting tidal force on me. Her room, next to mine, which I’d only seen in passing thus far, has the exact same dimensions as my own, but is absolutely full to the brim with… stuff, most of it being binders and books. The standard-issue bookshelf has long been stuffed, with its shelves bent concave by the weight on them and the passage of time, and alongside it are more and more shelves with mismatching styles. Up against one of the side walls is a sizable desk where a human computer sits, stars knows what it’s connected to. What does she need that for, anyway? On the other side wall sits her bed, barely used by the looks of it, and yet she still makes an effort to keep it nice and tidy. Doesn’t look like she has a water bed… There’s a table in the center, with papers neatly stacked, an open notebook with… my Little Homeschool schedule for the day? And a pencil that’s been slightly chewed on. They’re not… edible, right?

Just like my room, there’s no bathroom in here. I think this is a deliberate choice: if folks living in individual rooms need to pee or… do something more involved, they can use the common one of their floor. I don’t mind it too much, and Cherry probably doesn’t mind it either seeing as she’s not the kind of pearl to be drinking and eating without a good reason for it. We’re a fun contrast in that regard!

By the table are two chairs, one that looks like it came from the common room and another that’s a lot more elaborate: the backrest is a net whose purpose is to catch Cherry instead of fish, and its feet are like a five-tentacled octopus whose head shoots straight up into the underside of the seat. Seems like it has a set of customizable options, (a limited set for sure), as there’s two? Three? Different levers coming out of the seat’s sides… Why does this chair seem familiar… Right, it’s just like the ones in the Housing Office!

Cherry lets go of my hand, (why, please don’t), and motions me to close the door shut behind me. I oblige: I tilt my chest forward and my leg back and, (can’t put too much strength behind this), with one light push using my foot I force the door to click back into the lock. As I move my eyes away from the door back to Cherry, I notice that my leaning action put my body very, very close to her face, (insanely close and I can’t believe I just did this). The way she’s looking at me is indescribable, and her breath on my chest is giving me the jitters, from my gem all the way to the back of my head.

Chatter chatter chatter on the corridor makes my body snap back into its usual vertical position. I take my eyes off of Cherry for one second, but as soon as she starts giggling, I let them rest where it feels the most comfortable: her face.

“Apologies for the mess! You even caught me with my robe on!” (There’s absolutely zero mess in here.) She starts walking towards her clearly favorite chair. “I’m not much of a sleeping gem myself, so what I do instead is I try to make myself comfortable at night. It helps put my form at ease while I work.”

“Where did you get that robe?”

Cherry sits down. “Oh, you mean this old thing?” She opens both arms in an attempt to show it off. “It was a gift I was given by a fellow pearl back when I first got here. Since then, I’ve learned that they tend to be used by… less respectable gems to walk around the dorm after they’ve had their way with one another, that’s why I only use it in the privacy of my own room.”

Uuuuuuuh, uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh, uh, ok?

“C-C-Coral! No, you’re getting it all wrong! Stop it! I’m using it because it’s extremely comfortable! I’m not enticing you into some depraved act! Ugh…” She takes the robe off, (which, by the way, is clearly a size or two too big for her, making things worse for me personally), and throws it onto her bed, revealing her usual set of clothes: a one-piece dress that has zero wrinkles to it, with a split that runs top to bottom; it’s got a fold along the collarbone and, from its corner, a little cherry pin is dangling; the beautiful sash surrounding her waist closes out in a neat bow that extends beyond the width of her body.

Not wanting to let this go, I add more fuel to the fire. “Some gems have fun on their own.”

Her eyes grow unnaturally large and, just as quickly, snap half shut in a sign of disapproval. “Coral! I’m your Guidance Counselor, what will the other GAs think of me if you go around talking like that! Oh, stars, what if Green Apple hears you…” She shrugs at me. “Bah, you’ve ruined the mood.”

I invite myself into seating on the other chair across the table, if only to get a better look at her pout. “Don’t understand why you don’t like Green Apple... She seems alright.”

“Well, you’re not an RA, so you wouldn’t know. You’re right, she is quite good, and we would be able to get along much better if not for her partner, Tiny, always getting in between us! I swear, that Tiny always finds a way to make things… Oooooh, what’s the word I’m looking for…”

“… Right?”

Cherry looks insulted. “What?! No! She always devises some sort of wishy-washy halfway measure which, of course, Green Apple spares no idle second to defend it to Homeworld and back. Ugh, we’ve been too lenient when it comes to a lot of stuff partly because of her…”

“Millie told me…” I put my arms on the table and nest my head in them. “You accepted the mega-slide proposal.”

Scoff. “Are you implying I’m going soft? Well, I’ll have you know we’re still the only floor of this dorm where no debauchery takes place during quiet hours! Green Apple can’t say the same about the second floor!”

“Well, she does have… You know.”

“… Okay, fair, she’s got that gang of pearls that just doesn’t know when to keep it quiet. All you hear at night down there is the five of them going at it with one another, taking ‘bites’ out of Rose Quartz, and the other residents going shh, shh… As if that’d stop that little pearlycule!” Cherry sighs. “At least Green Apple is consistent, I suppose… she herself engages in that very same type of behavior frequently… minus the biting part, I hope.”

“And… you don’t?”

She tilts her chin up and looks at me with the strength of a thousand suns. “Don’t what?”

“… Don’t want to ‘engage’ in that type of behavior?”

All I can get out of her (unfortunately) is a single, solitary, arrogant laugh. “Nooooo...” Her bravado quickly dissipates; she lets her eyes drop onto the notebook on the table. “What I do want is…”

From the open window, a fresh maritime breeze comes into the room, alkaline, attempting to clear the conversation. For a second, I close my eyes and focus on the distant sound of waves undoing themselves against the nearby beach — a futile attempt to give my friend some mental space to think about what she wants to say next. Done waiting, I open my eyes back and try to understand if I should raise my head from the table. (I decide to do it, even though this little headrest I’ve created with my arms was quite comfortable.) Cherry’s ponytail, tied up by a small, blue ribbon, same blue as her waist sash, moves ever so slightly towards the door, almost as if Cherry herself is trying to run away from what she’s about to say next.

She looks at me. “What I want is for people to listen to me!”

Unsurprised by her answer, I try to help her out. “If you keep pampering them… Food, tea, newspaper… They just might.”

“Do… Do you really think so?”

I shrug. “Seems to be working on Chicory, Millie, and Char…”

She begins to nod in acceptance. “Hmm… Then my strategy to bribe everyone is the one to pursue moving forward.”

“It’s not bribery... if you’re doing it because you care about them.”

“Well!” She’s acting indignant now. “How would you know how I feel about the others living on this floor?”

“Well… Because we’re friends.”

As soon as the words escape my mouth, I suddenly realize: I’d never actually told her that. Not this explicitly, not this openly… What’s gotten into me? Cherry looks at me like she hadn’t heard these words in a very long time, tilting slightly backwards on her chair while filling her lungs with air. That, however, was not enough to stop her from madly blushing.

“It-it-it-it’s good that’s the case! That we’re… friends, that is.” She readjusts herself on her chair and assumes a working position. “Then as the good friend of mine that you are, I need you to come to this side of the table, we have to go through the list of classes you’ll be having today. I want to ensure that you’ll get through them without a hitch! You will be graded by the end of the semester, after all, and we have to work together if you’re to get the best ones in these classes!”

Without removing my butt from the seat of my chair, I lift the chair itself and start going around the table to get to her side. Doing it in the silliest, slowest way possible immediately sets something off in Cherry and she starts protesting about it with snappy “Come on”s and “Faster”s. Let me do my little pale imitation of a turtle! I slow my steps down in response to her complaints, which nets me a frown so intense that I swear it could ignite an underwater fire! When I finally get within grabbing range for her, she nabs me by one of my wrists, but puts no strength into pushing me towards her, instead using the physical link to guide me to get as close to her own chair as possible.

When I finally finish my runaround, I turn my attention to Cherry’s face, (her frown’s gone, quickly replaced by an expecting smile), then to the notebook on the table with my schedule for the day. The words ‘Coral’s LHS First Day!’ are written out loud at the top of the page she worked on, with little fishies surrounding it. The list itself is quite short, but full of first-times.

“So,” I start, “what do you want me to know about my classes?”

Cherry clears her throat. “Well then, let’s go over them and what they’re about. First…” She picks her phone out from inside one of her dress’ discreet pockets with one of her hands and shows it off brazenly. “Human Technology. This class is going to be all about learning how to use some of the most mainstream pieces of equipment employed by the humans living on this planet. The first thing you’ll learn how to use is going to be…” Cherry waggles her personal device. “The phone, humans’ not-so-approximate equivalent to our own communicators. They sport a lot more features than ours, though, hence why there’s a whole class dedicated to them.”

I nod. “Right, I’ve seen other gems use them.”

“Well, just because you’ve seen others use them, please don’t assume you know everything there is to know about them…”

I pout and poke the face of Cherry’s hand that’s sitting on the table right now. “I know.”

“… Because—” She freezes for a second, pleasantly surprised by my reaction. “Oh. Oh, okay, good. Yes, good! That’s the spirit!” (She… she’s really not used to folks going along with her.)

Cherry opens up an app on her phone and goes through some kind of document until she finds two photos in it. She points the phone’s screen at me and continues. “The class is currently lectured by two gems: Pearl and Airpod. I’m sure you already have extensive knowledge on Pearl after going through all of those shameful—”

I clear my throat in protest and she blushes at that.

“… Those pretty OK Renegade Doujinshi comics we have down in the dorm’s library. And, well, you and Champ seem to spend a significant amount of time together, so I’m assuming they’ve told you all there is to know about Pearl. Anyway—”

“Hold on… First, I’ve read the Renegade comics you wrote the script for. They’re the best ones.” Hah, I knew that’d get her going, (although I’m not lying, they’re really good, also, Lisa, the librarian, agrees.) She slowly drops the phone onto the table without letting go of it, with lips sealed tight in embarrassment. “Second… How do you know about Champ’s special interest?”

“Coral…” She gently taps one of my hands with the side of her phone. “I’m a pearl whose job was to gather and organize information! I did that for two Eras! I have my ways… And I’m not about to share them with you!”

I throw her the meanest ‘Oh come on’ face I can come up with and she relents. “Don’t give me that look, Coral! It’s not like they’re keeping it a secret, much to everyone’s chagrin… Although, to be fair, there’s plenty of pearls in this dorm who share the same… fascination.” (Says the person that wrote pornographic comics about Pearl.) “At least they’ve got a clearheaded view of Pearl unlike the members of Periwinkle’s little deranged operation.” Cherry twists up her nose. “Also, their room is full of posters of Pearl. I saw it with my own eyes, I had to go in there to help Green Apple out with a burst pipe once. There, satisfied?”

With no audible complaints from me, (although it kind of makes me sad to hear Cherry so openly insult her ex-friends of the Official Pearl Fanclub), she resumes her discourse on Human Technology’s teachers. “Right, so, the other person giving lectures is Airpod. You’ve probably seen her around on this very same floor, she’s… Periwinkle’s (ugh!) partner. Her being part of the class is a very recent change, I believe today’s going to be her first day lecturing, so… be nice to her, but also be sure to run her classes back to me, I’m not confident that she’s cut out for this type of job yet and I want to ensure that you’re not affected by her potential incompetence.”

Airpod… She’s a nephrite, slightly taller than me by juuuuust a bit. Her gem’s on the left side of her head, (her left), the same spot where one would go about shaping an ear. Because of that placement, she can only really hear from the right side. Not sure that’s how it works for everyone with similarly placed gems… But that’s how it goes for her. I’ve seen her plenty of times here in the dorm, but she’s the kind of gem that leaves her (Periwinkle’s?) room at the start of the day and only comes back to it at the very end. I guess she’s busy? Like, all the time? Wonder how Periwinkle feels about that…

“She looks nice…” She really does. Spiky hair going whichever way, an energetic, kind eye, she’s got a real go-getter kind of look.

Cherry proudly turns one of her cheeks to me, eyes closed indignantly. “Well, her looks are of little importance here, Coral, please keep up.”

“Not like that, Cherry…”

She looks at me sideways, a suspicious little glance. “Well, I very much doubt she looks better than me.”

“Sure.” Cherry’s not wrong.

Like a fish gasping for nutrition, her eyes open as wide as possible, they’re staring directly at me. Her free hand goes directly to her chest, quelling a rebellious heart that I don’t think Cherry ever took the time to shapeshift. “Do you mean it?”

My turn to be a tease. “I think we have… more important things to discuss?” Wait, am I blushing again?

Not really knowing what to do with my very mixed signals, she lets herself reset back to her pensive frown and continues to educate me. “Y-Yeah… okay, so one last thing: you’ll be given a phone during this first class. One of the apps in the phone is dedicated to communicating with others in Little Homeworld, but you have to ‘add’ others to your list of contacts in order to talk to them personally. Here’s my unique identifier on that app.” She hands me a rectangular piece of paper, perfectly cut out. There’s something written on it: ‘cherry#0009’. I guess I just have to punch this in to get a direct line to Cherry! I store the paper in my gem.

It sounds nice… To be able to talk to someone special to you remotely. Makes you feel like they’re with you all the time.

Cherry points at the next item on her list. “Next, you’ll have the chance to… get actually dirty in Horticulture. This class is for learning about the vegetable lifeforms that inhabit this planet alongside us, both gems and humans. I believe you’re familiar with… plants, right?”

“Yes, mostly familiar with underwater ones though.”

“It’s fine, they’re all the same anyway.” I roll my eyes, not a fan of the subject I see. Cherry keeps going. “And the dirt! So much of it and so hard to get it off your clothes! Honestly, I have no idea how folks find these classes enjoyable.” Called it. “However… this one’s taught by the Crystal Gems’ Peridot.” Cherry pulls up a photo of Peridot on her phone and shows it to me. “She’s… pretty nice, you know… For a peridot.”

Cherry’s eyes drift towards the nearby window, taken away from me by the tides of her own memories. I don’t know Peridot and I don’t know what kind of relationship Cherry had with other peridots in the past, but that comment still felt a bit too much for me. I try to fish her out with a simple “… Uhm.” An almost imperceptible shiver runs down her form, a jolt that brings her back to me. These kind tides have given her back, as she was.

“Right, apologies, Coral… Peridot is nice, she built Little Homeworld and has worked very hard to help us pearls out. That was uncalled for…” She finally lowers her phone and lets it sit on her lap. “In fact, she’s a really good teacher. She went out of her way to come up with lots of clearly laid-out goals and activities for the class, with both normal and off-site lectures… And her grading system is very impartial and fair! Witnessing all the work she’d put into the curriculum is what pulled me through the class to be honest.”

I can still see Peridot’s face through the fingers clutching the phone. Her triangle-shaped hair can barely fit in the frame, cut in two slanted halves by her protruding glasses. Behind them are eyes teeming with life, wishing nothing more than to get stuff done and with no restraints holding her back from doing so. She’s got a mischievous smile, that of a schemer concocting a new plan on the fly. Little bits of cutlery float about her, no strings attached… Is she keeping them in the air by herself?! The Crystal Gem’s star is barely visible on her chest, cut out by the camera.

Cherry lets out a heavy sigh, lets go of the phone. “Sorry, now I’m the one who has ruined the mood.”

I grab both her hands with mine. “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

“It’s not and I owe you an explanation!”

“… Later. When you feel like it.”

With a shaky smile that’s leaving dimples on the corners of her mouth, she nods. “Okay.” She gasps for air. “You’re a good friend, Coral, I really appreciate that.”

We exchange a… look. All the tension in her dissipates, blown away by the breeze coming from the window. “Right,” Cherry picks things back up, “there’s something else I want to tell you about Horticulture.”

“Go on.”

“It’s very like that you’ll find Daffodil helping Peridot out.” She winks at me. “I know you and her have been getting along quite well, so hopefully that will make things easier for you.”

“She’s been helping me learn Era 3 gestures.”

Letting go of my hands, (oh come on), she brings a closed fist to her open palm. “That’s right, I did tell you to talk to her about that! How have her lessons been coming along?”

I guess it’s a good thing that our hands are apart now as that lets me gesture the word human, a word that I didn’t know before getting here.

Cherry nods approvingly. “Yes, good, what else have you learned?”

I gesture the word sexy.

“Coral!! Oh my stars, I knew Daffodil was going to teach you some… inappropriate vocabulary. Ugh, I shouldn’t have let her do this for me. But, then again, she is really good at getting pearls up to speed…”

I gesture the word sexy again.

Cherry stares at my hands for a good few seconds, blushing madly, and quickly uses her own to break the sign apart. “No! Nononononono.” She pushes my hands down onto my lap and doesn’t let go of them. “Okay, enough about Daffodil. Argh, that pearl is so… so…”

“Cool?”

She sighs. “She’s really hard to read, you know? I can never tell what she’s going to do next. And she’s always steering pure, innocent gems like yourself towards…”

“Cool things.”

“No! Oooooh, Coral…”

“She’s cool.”

“Ugh, yes, I get it, you and her are friends! Are you trying to make me jealous or something? Because if that’s the case, I’ll have you know that I’m fairly confident that our relationship runs deeper than whatever you have going on with her!”

I shake my hands away from her clutch and gesture the word friend. That makes her blush even harder, somehow.

“Ooooh, alright, I guess she’s taught you some useful words too…” She points one of her fingers at me. “Just… don’t ask her about the worms during class.” Cherry hugs herself. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

Noted. I let my eyes go back to the schedule on Cherry’s notebook. Upon further inspection, it was carefully drawn as a long, vertical rectangle, with lines crossing it horizontally, each corresponding to a time of the day. On its upper half are Human Technology and Horticulture. Breaking the two halves up is an hour-long block for ‘Resting’. After that is a big block that’s called ‘RJ Session - RQ’. That one’s immediately followed by another one, ‘Pearl Self-Defense’, with a tiny little caricature of Pearl next to it. Then, at the end of the day is something called ‘Pearl Mixer’.

Cherry notices what I’m looking at. “‘RJ’ stands for ‘Restorative Justice’.” She clears her throat. “It’s a kind of justice that, quote, seeks to forego traditional punitive systems in favor of cooperation, dialog, and collective decision-making. Repairing the harm done is prioritized over retribution for the act. Victims have a voice, and offenders a chance to change.” She looks a bit embarrassed by the end of the explanation. “… At least that’s how our fellow pearl DOT defines it. What matters is that Rose Quartz has been helping the pearl community out by working with us on some… ‘sticky’ topics.”

“Hah.”

Cherry rolls her eyes so hard that her pupils seem like they’re being fished out of her eyes. “Yes, okay, sometimes they’re quite literally sticky… I swear, your uncouth imagination is starting to seep into my gem! But… What I meant by that is…” Cherry starts fidgeting with her fingers. “Some pearls need help with long-standing personal problems, and those who instigated said problems aren’t always around to help with the healing process. Rose has made her ‘mission’ to be there for us, which I do believe is quite the noble undertaking.”

Is… Is that why I asked for this session?

Seeing my face getting complicated, Cherry intervenes. “You’ll be in good hands, Coral, worry not. I do have my issues with Rose… Always have, but she’s good at this, like actually good. And the pearls in this dorm trust her, they uh…” She rotates her hand briskly. “They even offer themselves to her? Honestly…” Click of the tongue. “I don’t expect you to do the same, you’re much wiser than most other pearls around here.” Okay, she’ll get mad at me if I go for Rose, noted.

“… What comes after that?”

“Oh, Pearl Self-Defense? There’s not much to it, Coral, it’s just a pearl-specific class for teaching us how to defend ourselves from other gems… In case they get frisky with us. It’s important that we know how to conduct ourselves in such situations!” She makes a futile attempt at showing off her bicep, which is quite literally non-existent. “I know you’re a capable fighter, but it’s a good opportunity to mingle with other pearls! Also, it feels good to throw pearls that have been annoying you down onto the ground in a safe environment!”

…

Cherry’s worried. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t like fighting.”

“It’s not actual fighting, Coral, it’s perfectly safe, and besides—”

I clench my hands into fists, all angular and ugly. “Cherry. I don’t think I should take this class.”

Sensing a sudden change in the currents, Cherry is taken aback by my unusual interruption. Her fidgeting returns and her eyes sway left and right like a rocking boat, biting her lower lip in an attempt to not go seasick. After making her mind up, she covers my hands with hers, like a new layer of sand brought from distant lands by the wind.

“Coral.”

Our eyes are tidally locked together now.

“Coral, that’s the point of these classes, to teach you how to avoid fights. Please… Can you at least try it out? For me?”

Sensing an opportunity to be a good pearl, I nod. That puts her at ease. Our hands interlock each other, like a door desperately attempting to stop water from coming through it. Our bodies relax and find their way back to more comfortable positions.

There’s one last thing in the schedule.

“Pearl Mixer?” I say, in an attempt to get her to talk again.

“Oh! It’s one of those dreadful parties where everyone’s invited and we’re all expected to talk to one another and get to learn what people have been up to and… Well, to be honest it’s quite the exhausting affair for me, as an RA I have to help organize it and then I absolutely must attend it from start to finish. I guess it would be easier to spend all that time at the event if I had…” She’s cringing, for some reason. “If I had someone to keep me company?”

I shrug. “I’m sure someone will take you up on that offer if you ask around.”

I don’t know why, but my very simple and innocent words have made her face a turbulent mess of emotions, like her gem has been thrown into deep waters and is being slowly crushed by the pressure. Not wanting to let me see her in this sorry state, she quickly gets up while putting her phone in one of her pockets and goes for the window behind me. Did I just do something wrong? I’m not courageous enough to voice that question… Hope that won’t come back to bite me.

After a few seconds of silence, she turns back to me. I can’t quite make out her facial expression anymore as she’s against the incoming sunlight. She seems taller than usual, like a big monolith, casting a shadow that almost reaches the table. Then, she speaks.

“Coral, you have a long day ahead of you, I think it’s time for you to go and prepare yourself. But before you do that… Listen, I’m not trying to put additional pressure on you, but I beg of you to keep in mind that Human Technology and Horticulture are mixed classes, both of which are almost exclusively attended by newcomers to Little Homeworld. You have to understand that it’s very likely that some of them will not know how to behave themselves around pearls, so… Please be careful, okay? And… promise me that if anybody bothers you, you’ll let me know about them?”

Char’s face flashes before my eyes. “Okay.” The word comes out easily, somehow.

“I know you can take care of yourself, you’ve proven as much, but…” Cherry lets herself fall onto the windowsill. “Ah, what am I saying…”

I get up and go straight for her, landing all of my body against her, softly, like a calm ocean’s leaf. I embrace her, making sure to not do so with too much strength behind it.

“I promise. Thank you… for worrying about me.”

Cherry reciprocates the hug and we stay like this, together, enjoying each other’s touch, our breathing, a desperate attempt at nesting while standing, each one fidgeting our hands over the other’s back to feel all, all of it, all of us, her gem on the palm of her right hand putting anxious, sweet pressure on all of my sensitive points. She takes as much air into her lungs as possible, like a diver about to go back into some horrible water, and pushes herself away from me. I can clearly see her now, first biting her lip, now a bit more relaxed.

“Before we go, is there anything you’d like to discuss with me? I think I’ve done my fair share of talking this morning.”

Should I tell her about my feelings towards my Pearl Power classes? No… No, that’ll only make her more anxious. What about…

“Did you read the newspaper?”

“No, I honestly forgot to, I was simply too focused on… Well, you.”

Not wanting to dwell on her words, (because I’m sure that’d make my light flutter and I don’t want to think about why that is), I get the copy I got from the common room out of my gem. Cherry lets go of me so that I can get enough space to open it up onto page 2. I scooch over to her side on the windowsill, sit next to Cherry, put one arm around her back, and hold the newspaper between us two. She quickly scans the contents of the article about the corrupted fusion with her eyes, tracing every line a million times faster than Spodumene. She winces at the paragraph where she herself talks about a pearl security force, but pushes onward. Funnily enough, the only thing she reacts to is the article that comes immediately after the one I’m trying to show her, and stars does she react strongly to it.

She snatches the newspaper from my hands and puts her nose as close to the thing as physically possible, as if she’s tracing the lines with its tip.

“Uh… All good?”

Caught off-guard by my presence somehow, (even though our butts are literally touching one another), she goes “Oh! Oh oh! All good, don’t worry. Actually, I do believe you had to get going, yes?”

Sensing I’ve completely lost her to something much greater than me or my first day at Little Homeschool, I cross the full length of her room and open its door.

“See you later, Cherry.” One last attempt to get her to notice me. She hums. I close the door behind me.

… Well that was anticlimatic.

Notes:

Hey folks! I’ve finally started writing out the newest story set in the Pearl Dorm universe me and some other writers have going. The theme of this new story is inadequacy. Now that the protagonist Coral has settled down in Little Homeworld after the events of the first story, she’s starting to get a feel for some of the social normative attitudes that still linger even after the end of Era 2. She wants to break free from them and be herself, but doesn’t really know how to yet. Good thing she’s surrounded by wonderful gems that want to help her!

As we’re now a bit further along in Coral’s story, I had to start drilling down some of the more specific aspects of what it’s like to live in Little Homeworld. There’s a significant amount of exposition in the first chapter, for which I apologize, but hopefully it’ll all give you a better idea of what the overall social environment is like, not just inside the dorm but also outside of it.

Just like last time, many thanks to the INVALUABLE beta reading of The_Knight_of_Roses and
gimmeshellder for helping me drill down the details. Stuff always slips by, even after running the text after a million different grammar checkers, even after re-re-re-reading your own fic, and this chapter wouldn’t be the same without their feedback! 🥰

Thank you The_Knight_of_Roses for Cherry, the Reef Niners, for helping out with Airpod, (who will show up later in the story), and for helping brainstorming stuff in general. Thank you a_big_apple for creating Chicory, Millie, and Char, plus Green Apple and Tiny. Thank you gimmeshellder for your wonderful pearls Melo, Julep, Champ, Carmine, and South Sea, you know I love them all. And, as always, thank you, Reef, love you all!!

On top of the fics I've recommended in the previous story that will help you get a feel for the current state of affairs of Little Homeworld, I'd like to also recommend the following ones.

a_big_apple:
. For this reason the sadness too passes
. Steven and Pearl Have Lunch
gimmeshellder:
. Describe Yourself in Five Words