A Pearl’s Point of View (Steven Universe)

A Pearl’s Point of View (Steven Universe)

A/N: A Pearl's Point of View was a commissioned one shot originally written back in April of 2021. Posting it up here and now for people to enjoy!

Summary: This one is a bit of an odd duck. A look at Pearl's point of view, how she was unthinkingly NTR'd by Greg Universe, and how she ultimately came to love his and Rose's son, Steven Universe.

Themes: No Sex, Character Study, NTR

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At the start, Pearl doesn't think too much of it all. It's a familiar pang of pain by this point for her. No matter how much she loves Rose Quartz, she will never hold ALL of her Diamond's heart in her hands. And that... that made sense to her, regardless of how much it hurt. Pearl was Rose's Pearl, and Rose was so much more than Pearl could ever be. The other Gem was too big to ever be happy with just one love, just one... intimacy.

Needless to say, in the thousands of years since the end of the Gem War, Rose had had many, many flings with humans. On the bright side, Pearl knew she wasn't doing it just to spite her or anything like that. In point of fact, Rose is very obviously oblivious to the emotional harm she does to Pearl each and every time that it happens.

Still, given how much Pearl loves her Diamond, given how much she's always loved her Diamond, it still hurts every time it happens. She comforts herself with the thought that it's always just a phase, and that the relationships are always doomed to end eventually. Humans don't live very long lives to begin with, and their flighty nature leaves them as nothing more than a passing fancy most of the time.

Despite fighting a war to save them and their planet, Rose didn't really understand humans herself most of the time, and so Pearl could always comfort herself in the knowledge that Rose would come back to her, that she would HAVE to come back to her. After all, Pearl would always be there for her Diamond. No measly human could ever hope to say the same.

Still, as much as it helped that Rose thought humans to be funny little things most of the time, it didn't mean Pearl could simply not care. It hurt a little less though. As much as Rose loved humans, she was never IN love with any particular human like how she loved Pearl. Or so Pearl always was able to tell herself.

And then Greg 'Universe' had to come along. The human musician was no different from the many other humans that the Gems had interacted with over the years, at least at first. Rose liked his songs and decided to wear his shirt. If it had just been that Pearl might not have even cared to remember the man's name.

But then he came back, he came back, and he sung on their doorstep until Rose herself went out to send him away over Pearl's protests and offers to do it herself. Perhaps some part of her had known then and there that something was going to happen, that something was amiss. Before she knew it, Rose's quest to send 'Mr. Universe' on his way resulted in Greg sticking around seemingly indefinitely.

Pearl well-recognized the look in the human's eyes, of course. How could she not? He wasn't just fascinated by them; he was in awe of them. He was in awe of Rose. He worshipped her with his gaze and with his words, wanting nothing more than to be close to her, wanting nothing more than for the chance to simply touch her, to interact with her.

How could Pearl not recognize that look, when it was the same look she no doubt had in her eyes, day after day? When it was the same way she'd regarded her Diamond for millennia at this point.

But regardless, what starts off of complete disregard for this latest human in their lives forms into jealousy as he and Rose get closer and closer. Pearl can't do anything about it of course, she won't go against her Diamond and try to drive him away, at least not too harshly. But that doesn't mean it hurts when they have certain... interactions.

"You and uh... Pearl was it? You both seem pretty close. What's going on there? J-Just wondering!"

"Oh, Pearl and me? Hehe, well, we go way back of course. But you don't need to worry about Pearl. She's always forgiven me for my love of humans, haven't you Pearl?"

It hurt so much more that Greg apparently had the emotional capacity to recognize that she was in love with Rose, that he had the observational skills to ask about it. Because then Rose fed him the same line that Pearl had been feeding her Diamond for thousands of years. Namely, that it was FINE if Rose played around with humans. That she didn't MIND her Diamond's obvious love of polyamory.

Neither of which were true, of course. It ALWAYS hurt. But... Pearl was quite good at compartmentalizing. Always had been. And besides, she would sooner poof herself then hurt Rose by confessing her true feelings to the other Gem. Making Rose choose between her and every human that her Diamond might ever come across going forward? Pearl would never force that issue. Not least of which because she wasn't sure if she would come out on top or not.

And so she keeps her mouth shut, because it makes Rose happy. Even as she sits right there, watching Greg's confusion and concern easily fade away under Rose's justifications and placations. Even as she watches the two of them get closer and closer...

It comes to a head a little while later, and Pearl does something that in her eyes could be described as quite... inadvisable. She just can't help herself though, and as her jealousy gets the better of her, she goes a little too far.

Still, it's Rose's choice to agree to her suggestion that they fuse during the music video the Gems are making with Greg. Her Diamond is all too happy to do so, taking Pearl's word for it that it's only because she thinks it will make the video even better. The look on 'Mr. Universe's' face as Rainbow Quarts does a pirouette is to die for, and it's even better when they un-fuse and Pearl is left holding the microphone, allowing her to drop it and smirk smugly at him.

Even that part could all be... dismissed. But Pearl's next words, after Rose has walked away, will haunt her for years to come.

"You do know you're just a passing fancy for her, don't you?"

"No, Pearl... I don't know that."

"But you are. You humans never last long. How can you?"

"And... w-why can't I be different?"

"Well that's obvious, isn't it? Humans can't fuse with Gems."

"Have any ever tried?"

"Well... no. Why would they?"

"Then I'll be the first!"

Looking back on it years later, Pearl might have wished that Greg's attempts to fuse with Rose HAD worked. At least then, perhaps, what ended up coming to pass instead might not have. As it stood, Greg tried and failed, and yet, his efforts to fuse with Rose, and the heart to heart conversation that the two of them had afterwards, successfully managed to bring them closer together then ever before, much to Pearl's horrified dismay.

It was shortly after that moment that Pearl had gone looking for her Diamond, only to find her in the worst possible place. Greg's van had been shaking and moving quite strangely, and Rose had been nowhere else that Pearl could find. As the Gem had approached however, she'd heard it... her Diamond's wanton moaning, coming from within the van.

Greg might not be the first human in multiple millennia to drag Rose down to their primitive levels of copulation, but he certainly joined a very select few in that regard, a number that could be counted on less than one hand. After freezing up in shock for a moment, Pearl had fled from the van with a familiar heartache, knowing now that this human would likely last for a while longer and his presence would continue to hurt until he was finally gone.

The one upside, as time went by, was that he began to run out of money. This was another case of Rose not quite understanding humans. To this day, Pearl's Diamond didn't fully understand human currency, didn't understand that the humans had developed into a society called 'capitalistic' which relied on the exchange of money to get things.

Pearl however, as Rose's Pearl, was on top of such things like that. She didn't trouble her Diamond with lessons on human currency or anything like that, of course, but she knew what it was, she knew how it worked... and she knew that 'Mr. Universe' could not survive for long without it. Unlike the Gems, humans needed sustenance, and Pearl watched as Greg rapidly ran out of any form of cash and began slowly starving himself just to stay near Rose.

It brought Pearl no pleasure to see the man wasting away, but she knew it wouldn't come to his death or anything as silly as that. Humans... humans had an impressive set of survival instincts. In the end, Pearl believed with every fiber of her gem that Greg would eventually reach the point where he would HAVE to break things off with Rose just to survive and stop bumming off of that friend of his.

Really, it would only be a matter of time, or so Pearl thought. And then the best and worst part of Rose's interactions with humans would arrive. Greg's departure would result in her Diamond being quite beside herself and miserable. Pearl never liked seeing Rose sad, of course... but she certainly liked playing a part in making her Diamond happy again. She was an old hand at it too, and after thousands of years at Rose's side in both of her incarnations, Pearl was more than ready to be there to pick up the pieces when this short-lived human abandoned her as well.

... Unfortunately, as was rapidly becoming the case, this was not meant to be it seemed. Instead of moving on and continuing his life as an on-the-road-musician, Greg surprised Pearl by buckling down and getting a job. For a heartbeat, when Pearl had overheard Rose and Greg talking about it, she'd actually been excited. Rose had sounded so confused, and a little downtrodden. But then Greg had explained, and Pearl had realized what was actually happening... and just how bad it was.

"You... can't hang out today?"

"No, sorry Rose. I had to get a job at the local car wash, so I'll be busy until later tonight. We can totally hang out then though if you like!"

"Ah, that would be fine... you got a job?"

"Of course! We've all got to grow up sometimes. And us humans... we require a lot of things that you Gems don't. Things that cost money. Look, I've been... well, sort of immature all this time. But if I want to be able to stay here, with you... I needed to grow up and do some of the things that human adults have to do."

"Greg..."

There's no doubt in Pearl's mind... that's admiration she heard in her Diamond's voice as Rose spoke her current human lover's name. That interaction, it proved that Pearl was in for it, that she would be stuck with 'Mr. Universe' for far longer than she initially expected. Weeks had already turned into months by that point, and Pearl had been looking forward to it ending soon and things going back to the way they were when Rose wasn't currently fascinated by some human.

"Alright, but please try to be safe..."

Steven cheers and Pearl turns away, not wanting to watch him leave. Her shoulders slump, and she wrestles with her own sadness and anxiety. Memories of similar events with Rose, of her advising her Diamond against something dangerous only for Rose to do it anyways, flit through Pearl's mind before she ruthlessly suppresses them. She is, after all, quite good at compartmentalizing.

She expects to hear the door of the beach house opening and slamming shut behind her rambunctious young charge in the next handful of moments. Instead, she finds herself shocked when that doesn't happen, when instead young Steven breaks the narrative that Pearl had resigned herself to thousands of years ago and calls out to her instead.

"Pearl? Are you okay?"

Blinking owlishly, Pearl straightens up, feeling oddly caught out for the first time in her long, long life. Flustered and more than a little flummoxed, the Gem whirls around and plasters a bright, yet incredibly fake smile on her face.

"I'm f-fine, Steven. Weren't you going to go and play?"

Brow furrowing, lips curling downwards into a different frown now... Steven shakes his head.

"If you're not comfortable with me going and sledding... then I won't do it. I don't want you to be upset, Pearl!"

It's moments like these that make the loss of her Diamond almost worth it. Pearl's heart melts a little and her bright smile softens into something more real as she lets out a chuckle.

"It's fine, Steven. You know what, how about I go with you, alright? Just to watch over you."

It's certainly not what she might have wanted to spend her time doing. Even if it does turn out to be safe, sledding through mud is certainly going to be a messy endeavor and Pearl would normally want no part in it. But she'd done worse for Rose back in the day, just to be close to her Diamond and to stay by her side as a Pearl should. She could do this much for Steven.

However, once again, her young charge bucks the narrative. If he was truly his mother, he would have leaped into the air with another cheer and then grabbed her by the hand and dragged her off sledding with him without another thought. Instead however, Steven's frown grows a little, and he almost seems to peer at her for a moment.

"... Do YOU want to sled with me Pearl?"

She hesitates for a moment too long, and before she can fake a positive answer, Steven crosses his arms over his chest with a solid nod.

"We don't have to go sledding today. It'll be better with snow anyways, you're right Pearl."

"I..."

Pearl trails off, at a loss, and once again reminding her a little of his mother, but at the same time so very much not, Steven steamrolls over her.

"Lets do something that you like to do instead, Pearl!"

He steamrolls over her in order to suggest that they do something she wants to do, and Pearl is left completely flabbergasted, unsure of how to respond. In the end, she lets out a little laugh and shakes her head.

"While that's very sweet, I'm fine Steven. You'll be trapped in lessons with me again soon enough once the weekend is over. Don't you think you should have fun before then?"

"No."

Pearl blinks as Steven crosses his arms more tightly over his chest and shakes his head resolutely.

"Your feelings are important too, Pearl! And you're not just my teacher, you're my friend! I want to do something with you... something that you want to do too! I don't want to make you feel bad doing something just because I like it!"

... As far as things that cause a breakdown go, Pearl has to admit that this one is pretty pathetic, even as she finds herself breaking down and slumping to her knees in tears, crying as she thinks of all the times Rose had just... assumed that Pearl would enjoy some activity or another, when the only reason Pearl was even remotely happy about the things they were doing was because she was with her Diamond. Or even how Rose would just assume how Pearl felt about things without ever asking how Pearl felt, and never picking up when Pearl was hurt by something Rose had done without consulting her.

It's in that moment, as Steven doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her kneeling form, that Pearl finds herself contemplating the last thirteen years. Of how she had to force herself to interact with Steven in the first place. Of thinking of him as Rose's child and not Greg's, and the little ways in which he reminded her of Rose. And then of thinking of him as her Diamond, falling back on old thoughts and frameworks to try and tend to Steven's needs without falling apart.

And then... having that feeling evolve, when she'd started to think of him as more than Rose's son, as more than her Diamond. When she'd started to think of him as simply Steven... and then beyond that, going as far as to start thinking of Steven as her baby. As her own child, rather than R-Rose's...

"Um... Pearl, what's wrong? If I did something wrong, l-let me know. Please don't hate me!"

With a sob, Pearl finally returns Steven's hug before the boy can pull away, wrapping her arms around him and shaking her head as she cries into his shoulder.

"I-I could never hate you, Steven, I swear it!"

He hugs her more tightly, and Pearl freezes for a moment before really leaning into him and returning that tightness. As she does so, all of the times where Steven looked up to her and told her she was amazing or that he loved her without expecting anything in return flit through Pearl's mind. She thinks on how Steven makes her feel important, how he makes her feel valued in a way Rose... Rose had oft times failed to accomplish.

Rose Quartz might have freed her from bondage, might have shown her what it meant to rebel... but Steven was the one who made her FEEL free. He made her feel like more than just a Pearl, like more than just a servant.

For the first time in her life, Pearl can admit to herself without any guilt that she's come to love Steven even more than she loved her Diamond. It was a different kind of love, but also a greater kind of love. A... a TRUER kind of love.

In the end, Rose was right, Pearl can't help but thinking happily... and perhaps just a little vindictively as well. In the end, her Diamond really had brought someone better than herself into the world. Someone who shined brighter than she ever did.

"I know!"

Snapping out of her inner monologue, Pearl blinks as Steven pulls away with a conniving sort of grin on his face.

"You wanna come help me prank Amethyst? We could clean and organize a part of her room and see how long it takes her to notice when she gets back!"

The idea is not without merit, considering the messy Gem in question. More than that, it's something that the rebellious Pearl would actually enjoy doing, especially with her... with her son. Smiling back at Steven's beaming face, Pearl dries her tears and stands up, feeling like the weight of planets has lifted off her shoulders.

"I'd like that, Steven. I'd like that very much."

And as the two of them head off to prank their fellow Crystal Gem, Pearl finally begins the slow, slow process of leaving the past behind her, where it belongs.

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