Dust and Shards (Steven Universe X UNDERTALE)

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It was only a few minutes later that the Monsters and Gems were in the Crystal Gems' Beach House, located just outside the Gems' home of Beach City. Most of the Monsters and Gems were now eating Hot Pockets and donuts, silently chowing down on whatever food they could procure from the Steven's fridge. The exceptions were the food-hating Pearl and the skelebros, who couldn't eat food thanks to their lack of stomachs. Oh, also Napstablook and Mettaton. Ghosts and robots don't eat very much food, as a general rule.

Other than despising human food, there was a second reason Pearl wasn't enjoying a meal with the others, that being that she was fuming in her room. She was furious, humiliated, and confused. She simply didn't understand why Garnet was being so trusting, even after these mysterious newcomers had poofed her with hardly a bit of provocation. She sat atop one of the multiple pillars of water that made up her individual room in the Gem Temple, trying her best to calm down, but failing. These monsters had appeared out of nowhere, bringing a literal mountain with them. All the gem technology on earth had malfunctioned when they did so, and they'd even confessed to having warred with humans in the past, and yet here they were, in the middle of Beach City, capable at any time of turning on them and dealing tremendous damage to the humans AND the Gems.

Their leader was apparently capable of poofing her in one hit, so if the others were anywhere near that power level, and if the Gems didn't have the chance to fuse, then fighting all ten of them would be certain defeat. Presuming that was their intention, every Gem on earth save Peridot and Lapis could be shattered in a matter of seconds, minutes at the most. After a disaster like that, there would be no recovery. But evidently Garnet had been put off by Pearl's attitude, though, and now it seemed like she was completely ignoring her.

Pearl sighed. She was worried. And that was exactly why she couldn't keep hiding. If the monsters attacked, they needed Alexandrite as quickly as possible, and that meant she had to be out there with the rest of them. She steeled herself and left her room.

Garnet, meanwhile, was not nearly as complacent as Pearl thought she was. Though she appeared absorbed in the food she was eating, in reality, she had a watchful eye on all ten of the newcomers, watching for the slightest hint of aggression. Unlike Amethyst, she hadn't once turned her back to them once, and she was under no illusion that she had a reason to trust them. Unfortunately, she couldn't back down on this either. She was the leader of the Crystal Gems, and she couldn't allow Pearl's insubordination to be immediately accepted. It was already clear that Amethyst was tugging on the reigns of her leadership, and Garnet didn't want anything to give her any more reason to rebel. She wasn't very verbose, of course, but sheer experience had proven that the combined wisdom and intelligence of Sapphire and Ruby was exactly what the Crystal Gems needed.

Unfortunately, she wasn't sure of that herself at the moment. She was worried about Pearl. Fortunately, though, she didn't have to worry much longer, as Pearl stepped out of her room, putting on a weak smile.

"Hi. I'm back."

"Nice to see you."

"Yeah."

Frisk nodded to her, the look on their face neutral, but friendly. They had mastered the art of showing their intentions in their facial features, but never giving away their emotions. Emotions were a weakness. They were a symbol. They couldn't be weak, not ever. They were unbreakable, physically and mentally. They weren't a rock, they were the individual atoms that held that rock together, impermeable and indestructible. So they didn't smile, and they didn't frown. They didn't laugh, and they didn't cry. They just stood, never moving and never seeming to struggle or resist, yet always putting their all into everything they did. They never hurt anyone, yet they always won fights. They never took hits, but they never seemed to dodge. They just survived, they soldiered through. They were the incarnation of mercy, of peace, of pacifism. And because of that, they didn't smile.