Stars and Diamonds

Chapter 3: Troublemaker

Yellow had been deep into her work, going over reports from one of her many asteroid mines. Repetitive complaints and acceptable results of minerals harvested from the head Agate filled her view, when she distractedly noted it had been some time since she had heard a single noise from the tiny gem in her care. It took her a moment to decide if this realization was worth her precious time, ultimately deciding it indeed was, before she looked up from her screen to where her ward normally stayed in the general view in front of her. Expecting to see her still staring through the panel, transfixed on her colony and the Gems under her command, or at least beside her being entertained by Pearl, she was annoyed to instead be met with the sight of decorative stone and the planet surface beyond her base. Looking to her right, her Pearl was doing work of her own, but no gemling to be seen.

Yellow would never admit to the small burst of panic that bloomed in her chest at the lack of bright wild orange hair somewhere in her sight. Standing up quickly, her screen fizzing away as she knocked them out of her way while ignoring her pearl's startled reaction at her sudden movement, she used her superior height to her advantage as she looked around the room. There wasn't much to obstruct her view except her chair in the center and Pearl's own tiny seating next to it, so there was no place for the gem to hide. She took the two steps it required for her long stride to reach the side of her chair and look behind it just to be sure, it wouldn't be the first time Orange had hidden behind it just for something to lean against, or to play some ridiculous game only she found amusing. When she came up Orange-less, Yellow moved for the stairs, that small feeling of panic growing. If she had made it down the stairs without her seeing, then she could have possibly made it outside the base. It's not like any of the gems that worked inside her personal base would try to stop her, though she would have hoped those idiots would have informed her she had left the base! Stars help her if that brat had left the safety of her base and had wandered into the untamed wild of the nearby forest. Blue would have her ass on a silver platter for 'letting her out of her sights', as if she didn't have anything more important to do besides wasting her time babysitting.

Descending the winding staircase in quick strides, Yellow came to a halt halfway down. Below her, at the center of the room, lay Orange on her side, her head resting on an outstretched arm and long orange hair spread out around her. The large observation orb was lit up and projecting a view of one of the kindergartens planet-side. The blue light it cast around the dimmed room gave Orange a softer tint than her normal bright hue and long shadows were drawn from her body across the floor. Now knowing Orange was still safe inside the base, Yellow's panic subsided into anger. She didn't have time for this, and she had explicitly told the young gem that, and yet here she was, on a hunt for her supposedly missing ward.

Completing her decent of the stairs, Yellow made a b-line for her, "Orange! What I have I told you about touching-" her voice trailed off when she saw her tiny face up close. Soft, chubby features scrunched up, her cheeks were wet with tears, but she appeared to be inactive. Yellow's first instinct was to find out what had made Orange upset enough to cry and destroy it, but she pushed this aside quickly, it was the erratic and over emotional actions she expected from Blue or Pink. She had more self control than that, and it was most likely a simple dream that had made her cry, it's not like Yellow Diamond could punish nightmares. Just as well, she did not dare wake her up to find out and Yellow was sure Orange had exhausted herself in her fit, and she was in no mood to deal with a cranky child. Turning off the orb, uninterested in the view it offered her, she bent down and gently picked Orange up off the floor, cradling the smaller gem in her hand. She straightened slowly as not to jolt her awake and set her against her chest, pausing when she felt the odd sensation of warmth against her gem as Orange's cheek rested on it. As quietly as she could, she went back up the staircase to return to the control room, one hand protectively holding the tiniest diamond's unconscious body to her, soft whimpers making her look down occasionally to ensure she was all right. 'Bad dream', she thought again.

It was still such a weird thing to her, dropping into an unexpected state of inactivity and dreaming. What use it served and why Orange needed it still baffled the gem matriarch. Dropping out of unconscious for bits of time like that without retreating into her gem was alarming at first, but she chalked it up to being a part of Orange's weaker organic nature and thought perhaps it was something she might outgrow, like a bad habit, given the time and correct guidance. Though, for the time being, it meant a much easier way to watch Orange and Yellow didn't find it so unfavorable as she first had when she initially had to accommodate for it.

When she finally returned to the control room, she was greeted by her Pearl standing up and giving her a confused and curious look as she took in the sight of her Diamond holding the smaller one.

"My Diamond?"

Yellow silenced any other words she had with an intense glare. If she woke Orange up she would pay dearly. This was, after all, an opportune time to get work done. That is to say, there were no unending questions, distracting laughs as she and Pearl drew absurd things together, or even long stretches of silence when she wanted to simply watch the compound at work with its many gems moving about, which often ended up with Yellow looking up constantly just to make sure she was still there. It just so happened this time she had not been. A first, and what she hoped to make the last.

Sitting down, she carefully angled her upper body forward, using both her hands to gently remove her from her chest and placed her in her lap after she had comfortably crossed her legs, watching as Orange curled up and pressed her face into her thigh, a small hand grasping the fabric of her pants. Orange had once sat there when she was two centuries younger, when she had been much smaller and more helpless than she was now, unable to really move around on her own and almost dangerously small for a gem of her size to handle, but almost too big for Pearl to properly carry. She had been growing in size rapidly, enough that she wondered if she would only be as tall as Pink when she stopped, or would she remain smaller, too inhibited by her organic side to be like the rest of them.

Yellow pushed the thought away, currently it didn't matter, for that question would only be answered in time, and the gemling in question was fast asleep and resting in her lap where she could keep watch and finish her work in peace. She was already behind schedule and would scold Orange later for it.

[Updated and corrected 1/1/21]