"Thank you, Lapis," says Pearl, and this time her smile, when she glances back at her, is genuinely warm.

Her focus is still mainly on Sei, though... and the Ba that's always trailing after her. The concept of made-to-order servants is already despicable enough when gems do it, but. Somehow, seeing humans doing it to one another is a thousand times worse.

"I wish I could figure out how to help them, too," she sighs distractedly.