Light Grey and Purple Pearl

This meeting, Pearl has been told, time and time again, is very important.

All meetings are very important, to Calcite. Calcite's image is very important. Calcite is a very important Gem.

Or so she says, again and again and again. And Pearl knows that while this is true, in comparison to herself, she's not sure how important Calcite truly is in the grand scheme of things. Pearl feels that no matter what failings she may have, she at least possesses the virtue of perspective.

This meeting is particularly important, apparently. It is identical to every single other, as far as Pearl can tell. Nonetheless, Calcite is standing at the front of the chamber, proceeding through her presentation with such intensity that one would think she was presenting to Yellow Diamond herself. The small audience watches her impassively as she rants on about 'quarterly projections' and 'synergy' and 'project goals' and 'cost reductions'.

Nobody is watching Calcite's Pearl, posted in the back corner. Nobody, aside from the other pearl. This one is pale purple, with her gemstone at the side of her head, half covered by hair. Pearl does not know who she belongs to. She is bored, but hiding her boredom in the expert way that only a fellow pearl could.

Pearl catches the other's eye. Glances towards Calcite, still blabbering on. And even though it is risky, she opens her mouth. No sound comes out- instead, she opens and closes it in a pantomime of her master. Discretely, she mirrors the movements with one of her hands. Open, close, open, close. 'Blah blah blah blah.'

The purple Pearl cannot react, not openly. But the light grey Pearl catches a slight wrinkle around her eyes, a twitch of the mouth. She is snickering on the inside.

At least they're stuck in this tedium together.

oOoOoOoOo

Author's Note: I like Pearls. A lot. And I have a lot of different ideas about Pearls that I want to write about, but unfortunately, neither the time nor the patience to string together a coherent plot about them all. So here's what I'm going to do instead. A collection of one-shots, each about or from the perspective of a different Pearl (or Pearls), looking at the different ways they cope with the shit hand Homeworld has dealt them.