Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Make sure it's really nice."

"I know, I know. I make these things all the time."

"No! Not there, you clod! Do you know who this thing is going to belong to! There can't be a scratch!"

"Get off my back! I'm a professional. It'll be perfect."

The rock was slowly chipped away. Meticulous, steady hands held the rock encrusted Gem, carefully extracting the Pearl from its prison. It took more time to release a Gem this way, but it had to be perfect. If they let it reach maturity, let it pop from its rocky tomb on its own, there was a chance it would get damaged. Pearls could not be damaged, they must be perfect, beautiful, and elegant. They were going to be owned by high society Gems, after all.

"Is it almost done?"

"Almost..."

With one final tap, the last of the rock fell away revealing a Pearl with exquisite color. It wasn't as fine as it could be though, it wasn't a perfect sphere. It was slightly oval.

The Crafter frowned, but shrugged, picking up her brush to remove the dust from the Gem. It wasn't like this Pearl was going to the very top of society anyway. She was good looking enough, they could polish out any behavioral malfunctions (if any) that may occur because of the deformity, so, for now, it wasn't the Crafter's problem.

"Are you sure it's done?"

The Crafter turned towards the video screen, frowning at the anxious Peridot that filled it. The newly made Pearl was for one of the Peridot's superiors, some warrior type the Crafter couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. It didn't really matter anyway. All of her Pearls were perfect (or, at least, could be taught to be), so she didn't have to worry about remembering the name of some noble that might come charging in there, blaming her for their Pearl's malfunction. User error and all that.

The Crafter sighed, "Yes, it's done. I'll send it right up."

The Peridot looked relieved, as relieved as a twitchy Peridot ever looked anyway. "Good, don't make her wait any longer."

The Crafter didn't get a chance to respond - not that she was going to - before the screen went black, taking away the screeching that had filled the room since she began her work.

"Finally, some peace." The Crafter looked at the box that had been sent to use in presenting the Pearl to her new owner. It was very well made, a blue silken hinged box that would encompass the Pearl until being revealed. By the Crafter's calculations, the Pearl wouldn't emerge for at least another hour, which should be plenty of time to get the gift to its owner before the big reveal. It should be splendid, a shower of light to show off all of her hard work. Oh, she knew no one ever gave praise to the Crafter, but she was a professional after all. She needed to have pride in her work.

She set the Pearl in the box, giving it one last polish before closing the lid.

"Pearl, come here."

The Pearl that had been in the corner of the room walked over, steps quiet and measured. Perfect. This one had never caused any problems. The Crafter was proud of her work on her. The Pearl had steady hands, never once dropping anything she had been handed. She was the Crafter's Pearl, a perk for being in her field of work. She need someone to make deliveries, after all.

"You know where to take this."

The Pearl nodded, as silent as ever, and walked quickly from the room.

The Crafter smiled to herself, another perfect Pearl.

Chapter Text

'Eyes forward, shoulders squared. Do not lean on the wall, keep your spine straight, arms behind your back, hands clasped. Wait, wait – remain attentive. Be prompt, quick, but light on your feet. Don’t doddle, don’t be clumsy, you must be precise, you must be perfect.'

“Pearl.”

Pearl did not startle, she made no outward appearance of being pulled from her thoughts – just ran her hands down her clothes to make sure she was presentable before following the voice to where her owner was sitting. Her owner didn’t look at her, instead looking at some strategies of some sort. They were quite interesting, complex graphs and equations…‘no, I mustn’t let my mind wander like that.’

Pearl bowed deeply before straightening, waiting for orders.

Her owner continued to work for some moments before speaking again, her voice clear and clipped. “We’re to go on an errand. I need you to carry these.” She pointed to a pile of documents on one corner of her desk. They were arranged haphazardly, lazily heaped one page on top of the other. Her owner didn’t seem to care much how she did her sorting, knowing that Pearl would make her paperwork presentable before her meeting.

Pearl nodded, going over to the pile and straightening the mess with practiced fingers. It only took a moment and in that time her owner had already gone to the warp pad.

“Come.”

Her owner was impatient today, but Pearl was used to her moods and moved swiftly, the ribbons of her tunic gliding behind her. She just made it to the pad before the light encompassed them. Whatever her owner’s plans were must be very important if they were warping away from the building instead of having the meeting in one of the many conference rooms.

When the light faded Pearl had to fight the urged to gasp in wonder.

It was enormous, a stunningly white building set atop a pedestal of carved granite. Stairs encircled the building’s throne, each step granting the viewer a little more of the building’s majesty until they reached the top.

Pearl did not have the chance to marvel at the building’s architecture as long as she wanted, but she did get a moment to admire the columns of polished marble. They held a grand arch way bordered with ornate designs, something organic that Pearl couldn’t place, something beautiful and enchanting, something that, for some reason, Pearl did not want to forget.

As they walked, Pearl saw more of the design sprinkled throughout the building. Pearl couldn’t quite decide what the building’s purpose was though. It was grand, stately, like the house of a noble, but the doors were open, like a common building, just allowing anyone to waltz through.

Pearl was perplexed, but kept her questions to herself. It was not her place to question things.

There were many halls, but no signs to direct the walker to their destination. Pearl’s owner, however, seemed to know where she was going as she stopped at a particular door in the hall. It was nothing fancy, certainly far plainer than the outside of the building, but it still carried the carving, the intricate folds and layers of something organic – something that felt almost alive.

“Wait here.”

Pearl was nearly startled by her owner’s voice, her face surely having slipped, but Pearl was lucky, her owner’s back was to her, her front facing the door, and hand poised above a scanner.

Pearl barely had time to utter a ‘yes, ma’am’ before the door opened, allowing Pearl a glimpse of the inside – a flash of pink, a voice like a song – and then the door was closing in her face. Pearl was left with nothing to do but wait, wait and pretend like she wasn’t at all interested in what was going on, not about what the extra planning was about, not about this building, nor the designs adorning it, and certainly not about that woman.

Pearl wanted to know about her most of all.