LOG-079.

  Things were finally looking up.

  Not in any way that she'd expected, that was for certain, but still.

  If she'd been told by someone that she'd be spending her time casually strolling around a terrestrial planet free of the Empire a short time ago, Quille would have laughed at them.

  Or at least she would have done that pinched half gasp whenever she tried to laugh, thanks to the everpresent obstruction keeping her lips firmly shut whenever she wasn't bothered to form an irregular mouth to get past the disability.

  Nonetheless, life had been...eventful, as of late. Construction of what some of the younger survivors were calling the Enclave was...proceeding as well as it could, really. The locals were helpful enough when it came to giving them space to settle, and had even shown up with a few primitive ground bound vehicles to deliver supplies at the behest of the Rose Quartz...or rather just Rose Quartz, in this particular case anyway.

  But from there...well, it was hard to actually feel all that useful just sitting around watching things progress. Brim (for all her time spent getting distracted by this or that small detail) had proven her value more than a hundredfold at this point, mostly by assisting in construction and ensuring their adopted brothers and sisters had a steady supply of fresh water, carefully filtered and treated by the Lapis Lazuli from the nearby ocean. In turn, Talon simply did what she usually did, leading the remaining warriors in constant drills whenever she wasn't keeping in contact with the so called Crystal Gems.

  But Quille? Quille wandered. Somewhat aimlessly perhaps, occasionally daring to get close to the human settlement ever so charmingly named Beach City (a city founded near a beach!) before inevitably going back to watching from the sidelines. Yes, she could be counted as a warrior, when times called for it. She'd had plenty of training, after all.

  But...engaging in drills had never interested her, and anyway, her true role had always been that of a caretaker first and foremost, even before the clods at the colony she'd emerged from had tried to twist her into being something she most certainly wasn't.

  "Just dance and sing! It can't be that difficult, you're practically already a Pearl after all, given how small you came out..."

  An entire Atoll, hers by right of station. And they'd taken it away, trying to repurpose her just because she wasn't as cracking tall as-!

  ...Calm. Breathe. Just like she'd learned from some of the calmer elders, back when they'd been the old ones, and she'd been considered a youngling alongside the other Gems the organics had brought along with them.

  Her fists clenched tightly, clawed fingers scraping against the surface of her palms as harsh memories coupled with phantom tingles of a destabilizer calibrated for punishments teased across her lightform, then slowly loosened as she blew out air from the sides of her mouth in a long, drawn out sigh.

  She was thinking too much. Getting caught up in old memories.

  Besides, it was all in the past anyway. Her birthplace and those who'd abused her were long gone by now. Little more than burned planetary crust and overgrown ruins at this point, with all she had left to remember it by being the organics she'd somehow adopted herself into in the midst of their ancestors' evacuation. And the lessons she'd learned, of course. But those weren't as positive of a note.

  Regardless, a teacher required students to teach. Perhaps had she been on one of the habitat sections aboard the old colonisation vessels repurposed to act as the fleet's homeships, she'd be caring for a batch of hatchlings right now. But circumstances had dictated her position on one of the vessels geared more towards direct combat at the time.

  All of which led her to...here. Standing around and wasting her time even as she finally decided to stop loitering and outright make her way into the settlement proper. It was bright outside, with plenty of human beings eagerly soaking up the sun as they went about their business. For a moment, she worried at their potential responses, but aside from a few stares here and there, the runt of a Gem proceeded forward unmolested.

  Natural dirt eventually gave way to some form of road and pavement as she moved past this or that structure, pausing for a singular instant to glance at her own reflection from a nearby window.

  The figure on the other side of the glass frowned around the gemstone keeping her mouth locked shut, eyes inspecting Quille's lightform.

  It was her natural configuration, of course. Her projected body, sleek outfit and all, albeit with any Diamond imagery replaced with the icon of the fleet. But she still felt...exposed, without the medical robes she'd gotten so used to wearing over the centuries.

  Robes that were likely still stored somewhere aboard the Imperial (or former Imperial, now that she actually thought about it) vessel submerged near the statue the local rebels had chosen to live within, and enemies converted into allies or not, she wasn't going to approach the ship's captain nor her crew without a damned good reason.

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  So, getting her old coverings was out...though the humans all seemed to have their own...

  A small noise that might have been a hum escaped her mouth as she glanced around, eyes finally settling on another nearby structure, this one with several different figures standing at the windows, each garbed in their own outfit. Every now and then, an organic or two would enter the building, only to come back out minutes later either wearing new accessories or carrying them in containers.

  ...Hm.

  ---

  She was having fun.

  Sure, her little adventure had escalated a good bit, considering she was passing close enough to the Crystal Gems' supposed temple at this point. But hey, at least she had actual clothes to wear over her lightform again. So that was nice.

  "I just would like to speak to her alone for a mo-"

  Her head tilted ever so slightly, gemstone softly brushing against the cute little mask (whiskers! Like on some of the old fauna from her birthplace!) she'd appropriated as she turned to face the direction of what sounded like a pending argument.

  "Well can't it wait? We were-"

  Those voices were...familiar, actually. She recognized the usual lilt of a Pearl. The local one, to be specific. And she could also hear the deeper tone of what she assumed was a human male.

  "Why don't you two just-"

  Ah, and that was Rose Quartz.

  Well...she had nothing better to do. And anyone who said Quille was beyond snooping was a filthy liar. Gossip was always fun to collect, especially considering how rarely anyone paid any real attention to the 'mute' Gem.

  Striding forward and adjusting the jacket and 'sweater' she'd also gotten a hold of, the lithe Caretaker silently stalked forward, before creeping past a section of the large hill holding up the rebels' big old statue.

  Her head peeked around a rock, allowing her a chance to actually see what was going on.

  "You're just a phase anyway, so don't act so full of yourself!"

  The Quartz of the trio gasped, even as the organic amongst them turned red in the face. "Like heck I am! Listen I don't know how it is where you come from, but around here when two people want to go on a date, you leave them to it!"

  And on and on the squabbling went, the rebel leader watching helplessly as her two apparent paramours traded barbs between one another.

  Stars, it almost reminded her of Brim and that first organic lover of hers. Well, before he'd grown old and passed away, at least. That hadn't been a very fun time.

  Still, this all seemed so...silly. Sure, she wasn't exactly an expert on romance and relationships, but even she'd figured out the basics of a person engaging with multiple partners while living amongst the fleet. Seriously, someone really ought to have taught these three how to-

  ...Hm.

  Clap clap!

  Her palms slapped together twice, halting the argument and drawing three pairs of eyes her way as she stepped around the corner entirely, giving the trio a little wave. The Pearl and human blushed cyan and red respectively, but the Quartz just seemed happy that her counterparts weren't yelling anymore.

  Getting closer, the caretaker glanced between all three of them, before reaching into her storage space.

  ---

  "Where did you get those clothes again?"

  Rose Quartz's worried question drew Quille's attention for a second or two, before the lithe Gem turned back to the little presentation she'd set up. Though she did make the effort to morph her mouth a little large behind her mask so she could give the pink rebel an actual response.

  "Found them."

  Now...let's see if she remembered this right...ah yes.

  The Pearl (or just Pearl, as she liked to be called) remained seated on a small rock nearby, legs neatly folded towards one side. The human, Greg Universe, chose instead to lean against the side of his personal vehicle, a colourful looking thing.

  From her position standing in front of the large slate Quille had pulled out, Rose fidgeted with her fingers, stepping out of the way as the quiet Gem got closer to the makeshift screen.

  "Well yes, but where did you find them-"

  Click.

  The snap of her fingers shut the purpose built warrior up, allowing Quille to pull a small carver from beneath her mask (and out of her gemstone, obviously) and begin the initial drawing of a few simple enough pictures.

  Now...focus. She needed to keep her mouth shapeshifted just so, otherwise her words wouldn't come out right. They'd turn all mumbly if she slipped up for even a second.

  Pointing towards Greg, Quille tilted her head.

  "You love Rose?"

  The organic nodded firmly and without hesitation at that, prompting a scoff from Pearl and a slight smile from the pink Gem in question.

  Nodding, Quille noted it down on the slate. Then she turned towards Pearl, repeating her gesture.

  "You also love Rose?"

  The renegade blinked at the near identical query, but nodded quickly as well. Rose's smile was accompanied by a small blush, even as Greg glared daggers at his rival. Noting down the second line, the caretaker finally turned towards the Quartz, poking her in the chest with her carver.

  "You love Pearl?" A nod, with the mentioned Gem visibly turning triumphant.

  "And Greg?" A second nod, blowing the triumph away even as the human pumped his fist into the air.

  Smoothing her hair back slightly, Quille turned in place once more, noting down the piece of information below a pair of neatly drawn hands.

  "I-I'm sorry but what does this have to do with anything?"

  Turning back around, she stared at Pearl, long enough for the rogue servant to shrink back slightly.

  The attention span of hatchlings. Honestly.

  She brought the carver back up, and tapped the flat end of it against the slate.

  "Lesson one. Polyamorous relationships."

  Greg quirked an eyebrow. Pearl seemed uncertain. Rose looked curious. Flicking her hand slightly, the caretaker leaned up next to the slate, resting her back against the cliff face behind her and bringing both of her hands up to gesture for emphasis.

  "Learned about it while living with what you call the Avians. Not that complicated. Pay attention."

  It wasn't exactly what she'd been made for. But she was teaching. And there was technically a Pearl involved...

  Eh, close enough.