#abalone tag

[beekissies]

🦪

[beekissies]

so long and goodnight

[beekissies]

good afternoon

[willowenigma]

@fatalcookies have several 3-sentence Abalone and Bliss shenanigans <3 "Gender," Bliss says, rolling the word around on her tongue, drawing out the final 'r' for as long as it takes to get an eyeroll from her companion. "What exactly is a gender?" "Sounds like nonsense to me," Abalone grumbles; even after all these years away from Aquamarine, they're still not sure they trust labels that separate groups into distinct, and discrete, boxes. ---------- "Did it hurt, when you reformed?" Bliss asks. "No," Abalone says after thinking about it for a moment, because they have a soft spot for this too-smiley pearl and they have no real desire to ignore the quesrion, "reforming didn't hurt. But what came before-" They grin, full of teeth, "-/that/ I wouldn't recommend." ---------- They catch Bliss with their gem only once, that engineer that she coddles, that she cares about, that she's- she's /fond/ of. They see them together and they want to pull them apart, pull Bliss /away/, before this gem can hurt them like all gems will eventually hurt pearls. But Bliss is smiling at their engineer, at this gem that could destroy Bliss with a few well-placed words, and Bliss smiles all the time but this is different: softer, kinder, something there that Abalone can't understand when it's directed at a gem but they recognize that look regardless and... they leave Bliss be. Walk away before they say something and ruin this for their friend, because whatever this may be it makes Bliss happy, inexplicably happy, and Abalone doesn't understand but happiness is too rare for most pearls and they won't ruin this, not for Bliss.

[willowenigma]

@fatalcookies for your prompt “...or else anything to do with Abalone Pearl”

Abalone is not permitted to interact with other pearls.

Before ze was taken in by hir Aquamarine ze was kept separated from the rest of the pearls, for fear that seeing Abalone would discourage gems from taking any of the pearls up for offer. But hir Aquamarine wanted hir specifically, wanted hir precisely because ze was flawed, was unfashionable, was already outdated. Abalone would be the thorn in the sides of all those Emeralds who looked down at hir Aquamarine, and hir very presence at hir Gem’s side accomplished that task in spades.

But it means that Abalone is not permitted to stray from Aquamarine’s side, to carry messages to other Gems without an escort or run errands on hir own- and, really, why send a pearl out with a guard at all? Why not just send the guard alone? You will be shattered, if you wander off, Aquamarine warns hir. You are old-fashioned, and an affront to the Emeralds. They will destroy you to spite me if you stray.

So Abalone walks a half-step behind Aquamarine at all times. Ze carries data chips, holds documents, passes them over to hir Gem on command without straying from hir place. When pearls are not permitted in meetings, ze waits outside- but never outside the same exit where the Emeralds’ pearls wait, rows of green in a dozen shades, gossipping so quietly amongst themselves that Abalone can never hear what they say, no matter how much ze strains to listen. Ze stands alone, a single pearl waiting with an Aquamarine’s guards- but ze does not even know if the soldiers would lift a hand to defend hir, should the Emeralds want hir destroyed.

Ze walks behind Aquamarine, holds her things, stays quiet and demure, and studies the pearls that they pass. The pale purple one, trailing after a towering Amethyst, who eyes Abalone with thinly-veiled disdain. The small grey ones that blend into shadows, keeping their presence hidden even as they ferry messages and deliveries back and forth, who sometimes pause and watch Abalone with looks of surprise and pity.

Abalone wants to tell them to keep their pity. Ze is important to hir Gem, ze is the only pearl who can be the precise political pawn that Aquamarine needs. Those brilliant orange pearls, so brightly colored that they can only belong to an Agate, don’t have what ze has. Ze isn’t just a pretty token like they are. Ze is useful, ze has a purpose.

If that purpose becomes blurred, as the years pass and the Emeralds change and Aquamarine’s position gets shuffled around, well, there’s nothing wrong with that. Aquamarine makes comments, sometimes, about wanting to give Abalone more responsibility, but you simply would not be safe on your own, not looking like that!

Abalone stands outside a different meeting room, with different guards, and watches a different set of pearls (they belong to Topazes of all colors, and together they form a shifting rainbow that’s beautiful to watch) whisper to each other, and wonders if ze will be shattered. Or perhaps just forced to reform into something more palatable to current Homeworld standards.

Ze wants to be useful to hir Aquamarine, but the idea of reforming… It’s frightening. Ze’s never known a pearl to reform- the Emeralds used to simply show up to a meeting with an entirely new pearl at their side- and ze doesn’t know what to expect. Abalone takes a half-step towards the Topazes pearls, wondering if perhaps they would know what it is like to reform, when ze is stopped by one of Aquamarine’s guards. She doesn’t say a word, but the look she gives Abalone is chastisement enough, and ze falls back into place immediately.

Aquamarine hears about the infraction, however slight it may have been, and has more than enough words to say on the matter as they leave the meeting. They have to pass by the Topazes’ pearls as they leave, and Abalone can see the sadness and pity in their eyes as Aquamarine threatens to dissipate hir then and there if you’re so eager to leave the protection I have afforded you!

Abalone looks away from the pearls, away from their pity, bows hir head and stays silent as Aquamarine continues to rail at hir. Ze is lucky. Ze is useful… was useful? It does not matter. Ze is flawed, ze will always be flawed. Ze has already been given more than a pearl like hirself deserves.

(It is only a scant few months later when ze makes hir escape, bolting away from hir Aquamarine without truly being convinced that it is the best course of action. Ze disappears, and ze does reform but on hir terms, and ze never hears the whispers of the other pearls on Homeworld, the whispers that eventually become the backbone of an uprising.)

[willowenigma]

@fatalcookies I found the fics they are actually both uh... bliss and abalone being bffs based on some of our conversations i feel like i can’t write bliss well so i never finished either but they’re under the cut if’n u wanted to see?

“I don’t understand how you could even want to work for them!” Abalone says angrily, and getting angrier every second. “They’re monsters, all of them! All of those gems!”

“Not all gems own Pearls though-”

“That’s not the point, Bliss! They all benefit from the subjugation of Pearls anyway, even if they don’t own one themselves! Even if they’re trying to stop the practice, they still benefit! How do you not understand that? By going along with what they want for you, you are contributing to the fate of Pearls everywhere! We have to destroy the system if we want any change!”

“Except for the planets with flowers, we can keep those parts of the solar system. Those parts should definitely stay,” Bliss says cheerfully.

Abalone whirls on her, wanting very much to keep up hir angry screaming, but Bliss has a wide grin on her face like she thinks she’s so clever for coming up with that one- and Abalone absolutely knows what she’s doing, trying to distract hir from hir angry rant, but… Well. It might actually be working.

“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it,” Abalone mutters, but it’s far less heated than hir earlier words.

“…can we still make our own system though? I bet we could make a nice one,” Bliss says, still smiling. Always so cheerful, and that used to annoy Abalone (and sometimes it still does) but it’s nice to have someone around who always tries to be a little more optimistic.

-------

The call came through several days ago, just a ping on Abalone’s cobbled-together receiver. No words, no actual message, but ze knows what it means.

And ze waits.

It’s late at night when Abalone thinks ze hears the quiet footsteps of another Gem approaching, and from there it’s only a few moments before Bliss emerges from the darkness of the forest. Her bright grin flashes brilliantly in the darkness and Abalone, long over hir suspicion of the other pearl’s constantly-cheerful demeanor, even manages a small smile in return.

And then Bliss is there, wrapping her arms around Abalone and, oh, ze’s missed hir friend.

They sit on the cliff’s edge, overlooking the vast expanse of the ocean. “Did you have any trouble getting out here?” Abalone asks.

“No, not at all! I… Well, actually…” Bliss giggles, and if Abalone is reading hir friend right (and ze’s not always sure that ze is) ze almost thinks that Bliss sounds, well… almost nervous.  

[willowenigma]

@fatalcookies (that post has like two replies but its already getting long lolwhoops)

So okay, that first option was the first one I came up with but it wasn’t letting me write it the way I wanted to, and I think you kinda hit the nail on the head with why? Because you’re right, the second story does have more cohesion to it, and makes more sense without having to force it to work? (The only way the first story would work would be if the Aquamarine thought the Emeralds would be impressed by the rarity of an Abalone pearl- but that would require her to ignore the appearances of the Emeralds’ own Pearls and you’re right, that starts to fall apart if you pick at at it too much.)

And... I admit, I’m a sucker for the particular sort of manipulation that the second option lends itself to. And it ties it nicely with the snippets I’ve already written, where Abalone is torn between wanting hir freedom and feeling obligated to return to hir gem because she was the only one who was ever “nice” to hir.

I really want to write that scene with all the Pearls I’m not even kidding I keep trying to start this from where the Aquamarine picks out Abalone but nope, I just want to write Pearls. All the Pearls, all the time. (I don’t know if Abalone would ever have much direct contact with Pearls other than the Emeralds’ Pearls, but I’m kind of liking the idea of... Abalone seeing other Pearls in passing and they never get the chance to really talk to each other, but there’s just this way that they look at hir that makes hir uncomfortable. Because they look at hir like they pity hir, but why should they? When Abalone is lucky enough to have a gem who needs a Pearl like hirself?)

(As the years pass Abalone becomes uncomfortable with the thought of hirself being lucky but ze doesn’t quite know why. Even if ze’s not quite as useful as ze once was, what more could a Pearl like hirself want than this?)

...also tbh I have no idea what the exact politics of the Emeralds and Aquamarines are I just. got sidetracked with the image of Emeralds being like fussy cousins who think they’re so much better than their Aquamarine “relatives”, and this particular Aquamarine just going... nope, screw that, if you want to make snide comments all the time I’m gonna be petty right back at you.

[willowenigma]

Cute headcanon: okay bear with me, I have a Black Pearl whose consistent mood can be described as "not sure why she's alive and is furious about it." She and Abalone could bitch about life the universe and everything. Companionable grumbling, just imagine it.

oh my god the two of them would absolutely be the best of friends. your Black Peal being furious about being alive, Abalone being furious about the life other Gems forced her to live... both of them just angry and grumbling, but enjoying having someone else to complain and rant to who actually gets it.