LOG-042.

  She didn't know how to feel at the moment. Especially considering she was currently being squeezed in between a Quartz and an Opal. Or rather a Quartz and a Pearl-Quartz combo that somehow made an Opal.

  However that worked.

  "Here you are, madames. Feel free to select anything at your leisure!"

  Vermilion accepted the menu from the organic silently, slowly bringing it up to inspect the strange scribbles that covered most of it. Beside each alien text, a small picture likely indicated just what she was ordering.

  The concept wasn't...entirely foreign to the Gem. She knew that a similar process existed for Pearls like herself, allowing various high ranking individuals to request a custom made servant from the Reef, entirely made to order so that they fit their various needs and desires. Her Sodalite had mentioned it once, back when she'd been in a slightly better mood while conversing with a Morganite being relocated from one of the colonies.

  "I'll take the deep dish cheese pizza. And a glass of sidra please."

  Her eyes peeked over the edge of her menu as she watched the Garnet make her order first. She still wasn't entirely certain just what to make of the visored rebel, especially considering she was also a cross Gem fusion.

  ...But Viridian...or rather Slate had said it was okay. And Viridian was a part of Slate, just like both of them had been a part of Honey Lemon, so that was practically the same as her Batchmate saying so as well.

  Probably. Regardless of her thoughts, a scribbling sound followed before the human servant turned away, glancing at his newest target.

  Rose Quartz, legendary rebel and infamous Diamond shatterer went next, glancing through her own menu with an excitement that seemed far more suitable for an overexcited Ruby than some ancient leader of rogue colonists.

  "Oh! Ah, could I have the uhm...the classic fish stew, please? And I'll also have a sidra!"

  A small contraption in the human's hand (the source of the scribbling noise, it seemed) scratched against an incredibly thin sheet of some sort of material. For just a moment, she thought to question why he didn't simply use a dataslate to record the information, before she remembered this wasn't Homeworld, nor was it even a proper Gem territory in even the loosest sense.

  She didn't know how to feel about that either, beyond being glad that she was still with Viridian. Even if her fellow Pearl wasn't actually present right now, considering she was busy being fused with some overcooked Quartz instead of her-

  ...

  Vermilion slowly untensed her hand, carefully doing her best to straighten out the slight bend in the menu she'd made without making it look obvious. Thankfully, no strange looks were directed her way, so she'd probably gotten away with it.

  Besides, she wasn't being entirely fair to the Quartz. Slate had even suggested that she should try to fuse with Amethyst when she got the chance. Sure, some part of her flinched at the thought of doing something so personal with a soldier of all Gems, but...well maybe she'd just try it out?

  If she didn't like it, she could always just leave that whole process to Viridian. She was better at all this complicated rebel stuff anyway.

  "And for the red madame?"

  Blinking, she glanced up at the servant, hurriedly bringing up her menu as if it might shield her from judgement.

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  "Ah...I would like the uh...the..."

  What was she supposed to choose? She didn't know how to eat! And she couldn't read any of this either!

  "Madame?"

  She felt just about ready to discorporate from the embarassment of it all, hands shaking slightly until a near identical copy laid itself atop the menu.

  Pearl. Just Pearl (she was ever so slowly getting used to that designation, even if it didn't seem very appropriate for her to say such a thing, considering she wasn't Pearl's owner), gently plucked the selection from her grip, smiling kindly.

  "She and I will both just have glasses of water, thank you."

  Barely holding back a massive sigh of relief, she shot a thankful look towards her counterpart, fingers twitching ever so slightly.

  'Thank you.'

  For a second, she received a confused blink back, before Pearl visibly lit up with understanding. Then the renegade's fingers were smoothly sliding back and forth, drawing Vermilion's intrigued eyes as they wove a small gesture together.

  'You're welcome.'

  It was strange or even just outright wrong in a few spots, but the general meaning was still fairly comprehensible despite the more...elegant nature of the fancy looking gesture. For a moment, she wondered just how a Pearl could shift so far away from the known language they all shared, before she rather abruptly remembered that this one had been most definitely produced during Era One.

  Gemish didn't have any true form of language drift. It was as eternal as those that spoke it, after all. But their own little method of communicating without disturbing their owners had likely changed throughout the eons as different generations of Pearls probably produced their own variants.

  Honestly, it was a miracle that they could even understand each other to any real degree at all. Much less actually speak to one another.

  Regardless, Pearl clearly knew what she was doing, especially considering her own comments outside. She didn't like organic food, and clearly had some plan in mind for avoiding it.

  Naturally, Vermilion was more than willing to follow her lead.

  "Very well. And for you?"

  She glanced up just in time to see Slate's eyes gleam with intent, the Opal leaning forward to pour through her menu as the human servant nervously stood next to the table, awaiting her order.

  Stars, it almost felt like she was back at the Reef before Viridian had been taken away for private training. Back when Nacre would have them play out various songs and dances, silently judging them based on their performances.

  "I think...I'll leave that up to you. What would you recommend, Kofi? I'm looking for the absolute best you have."

  The man tugged at his collar quickly, nervous eyes darting towards the kitchen as he visibly contemplated just how he was going to answer the question.

  "Well...I would say I have always been partial to the mega fish dip pizza supreme."

  A smile flit across the fusion's lips as she tilted her head, one hand coming up to scratch at her cheek.

  "Then I suppose I'll have that. Do you do chocolate milkshakes by any chance?"

  A nod and another scribble later, and they were once more alone. Well, as alone as five Gems (technically seven, if one really thought about it) could be anyway.

  The silence continued for a little bit, before Slate set her hands on the table, sighing happily.

  "This is nice, thank you for bringing us here, Rose."

  The Quartz was quick to wave it off, a slight blush lighting up her cheeks as her smile widened into a grin, her fingers tapping against the top of the table. "Oh it's nothing! We don't really tend to use the local currency anyway, so Pearl has a decent surplus stashed in her storage space."

  The Gem in question allowed a slightly prideful look to flit across her face, even as the gemstone on her head glowed for a moment, followed by several thick bundles of tightly packed green bundles landing on the table with a thunk.

  "Well I figured it was best to save any we managed to come across during our various encounters. I'm still not quite sure how to use the 'banking' system the locals have made available, but physical money is just as good as digital, possibly even better according to them!"

  Ah, so the green bundles were their equivalent of currenza then? Fascinating.

  ...Maybe she could purchase things one day? If she managed to find some of her own to use. Some of the glowing bands sitting in her own storage were beginning to slowly die out, so she'd need to either find replacements or some way to recharge them for the next time Honey Lemon came out to play.

  Her thoughts generally followed that direction, even as the entire group slowly began to get a little livelier, with Rose and Slate practically bouncing off of each other and Garnet occasionally interjecting with sudden opinions or remarks. Eventually, Vermilion allowed herself to relax a little, before finally glancing back to Pearl and mustering up the courage to ask a question.

  "So...when we get the water, what...exactly do we do with it?"

  The renegade smiled slyly, glancing at her distracted leader before leaning over and whispering.

  "Oh you just pretend to put it in your mouth. You can store it away to make it look like you're actually drinking it, but usually the humans don't even notice that your drink never seems to get empty."

  For just a second, it felt like she was back in the Pearl quarters sharing tips and tricks on how to avoid angering Nacre Three. Back with the rest of the Batch.

  "Oh, how clever of you!"

  Vermilion enjoyed that feeling. It was nice.

  Not to mention it was something to mentally cling to, rather desperately in fact, considering when the food finally arrived Slate started erasing it from existence faster than a Nacre could say "dance."

  She chose to agree with Pearl. The process was utterly horrifying to witness.