Chapter Text
Pearl felt like she was going insane.
She knew she had no right to feel that way. It was her who kissed her, not Gem. But it tortured her all the same. How she immediately listened to her instincts instead of talking. She couldn’t believe she had the gall to just kiss her! Like some sort of depraved loser. She needed some room to breathe.
-
Gem was plenty aware that everyone knew what happened. In a town like hers, it was expected. And it's not like either one of them was hiding it well, Pearl left small gifts whenever she passed Literature Lagoon, which seemed to be a lot more recently. And Gem kept her hair grey even though she said she’d dye it immediately, it also didn't help that she was avoiding her like the plague. She’d force the new employees to deal with her while she’d hide. Today was different though, she was closing and Pearl didn’t drop anything off, didn’t even pass the store! Gem pushed it to the back of her mind and locked the doors, walking to her house the long way, just to catch a glimpse of Pearl's apartment.
She woke up early to a text from her brother, well, noon wasn’t early but after her week anytime was the wrong time. She groaned as she reached for her phone on the nightstand, opening the text before nearly throwing her phone in shock. Pearl was gone! Well, Grian said she “totally blew up on the phone and turned off her location” and no one’s seen her since! And apparently, she didn’t go to work yesterday either, odd. She kept reading the wall of text he sent her before he rang her, and she picked up reluctantly.
“Heyy grian, whatcha need?” She got up out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom as he talked.
“Oh nothing much, just the fact that your girlfriend pulled a Houdini and vanished!” She tried to protest but he talked over her. “I’ve texted everyone that's ever talked to her and Lizzie says she probably knows where she is so go over to TerraTethered and go ask her, bye!”
“Grian what do you mean?” Gem wrestled with her phone as she brushed her teeth, “You can’t just send me on quests like a- Grian? Grian!” she looked at her phone and was met with the lock screen of her and Pearl, that fish hung up on her! She got dressed and headed out the door, Lizzie's shop was on the far side of town by the post office, it’d be a while.
She pushed open the door to the shop and was hit in the face with the smell of leather. The fox waded her way through people, crystals, and other odd knick-knacks before she found the woman she was looking for. Gem tapped her shoulder and she jumped back and hissed loudly at her, knocking over a few amethyst
“Oh greetings, Gem!” She relaxed as she shook her hand “What guided you to TerraTethered this afternoon?”
She sighed and explained, stopping multiple times because of Lizzie snickering at her misfortune. Once she eventually got to the end, the pinkette finally gave her some advice. “She’s probably chilling in that little strip of forest by the train station man.”
“Why on earth would she be there?”
Lizzie giggled, “We used to go there all the time in high school to, um, think!” She pushed Gem aside and rearranged the amethyst. “And after what went down with you two, she’s probably thinking big time.” she walked next to her and picked up a small moonstone, looking over its description.
“Well, where in there is she? That forest has to be bigger than the shopping district!” She looked over at Lizzie pleadingly. She gave her some directions on where she might be.
“Look for a grand river just north of the rails, skip across the ancient stones and you should find this towering boulder! Climb to the top, perchance you shall find her.” Gem thanked her and left the store, buying a small bottle of hair dye, she’d be needing it anyway.
-
Pearl swam through the river, carrying her bag in her mouth. A nice swim in moving water helped soothe her nerves. But she still had plenty of walking ahead of her. She was just out for a change in scenery, but a change in scenery quickly changed into an all-day self-loathing party. She kept walking until she found the boulder and clambered up the side. She got to the top and sat down, looking at the view. The sun was already low in the sky.
She rummaged through her stuff, finding a couple of joints, she hadn’t touched them since high school but she lit one and smoked while she thought. It didn’t seem as dire now, she was still wrong but it was manageable. She could always say sorry, make it up to her, run away to Ghana and never look back.
Pearl was still thinking when she heard a rustle in the bushes, she turned back and shined her flashlight at the bottom of the boulder, trying to see the perpetrator. After exhaling she thought it would be a good idea to yell at the person, “Hellooo? Anyone there?” she was met with no response and went back to thinking, it was probably just a deer anyways. But then she heard more noise, like someone climbing the boulder, and then she saw a peek of silver hair. And quickly scooted over to help Gem get to the top.
“What are you doing here?” Pearl giggled as she made room for Gem to sit.
“Lizzie said you would be up here thinking,” Gem replied, dusting herself off before coughing. “What’s that?” She gestured toward the joint, and Pearl took another hit before responding.
“It’s some of TerraTethered patented ‘catnip’, but it’s really old” she giggled and passed it to the silver fox, “You want some?”
She looked at it for a moment before taking it “I’ve never, uh, smoked before. Do I just breathe it in or..” She looked up at Pearl sheepishly for guidance, which she happily delivered.
“Yeah but make sure you actually inhale it, you know?” She did as instructed, breathing in deeply and holding it before exhaling in a coughing fit. The two started laughing before Pearl was able to get to what she was thinking about before. “Gem I'm really sorry for what happened at the eclipse, it was my fault, really.” she took the joint from her and took a lazy drag before turning away and exhaling. “I’ll stop talking to you if you want, I'll stop delivering to your shop, I'll even move if that makes you comfortable!” She put her hands up before relaxing, “I shouldn’t have kissed you without asking, what do I have to do to make it up to you?”
They sat in silence for an eternity, the only sounds coming from the river and Gem’s tail slowly wagging. She grabbed her hands and looked Pearl in the eye, “You could kiss me now.”
She laughed nervously and looked around at the nonexistent witnesses “Gem, are you sure I mean what if-” She was cut off when the fox pulled her into a kiss. They melted into each other's touch, Pearl fell back onto her elbows as Gem put her hands on the fish’s hips. The brunette felt hyper-aware of all of her senses. The roughness of the stone, the softness of Gems lips, the smell of weed still sticking to their clothes. She whined as the fox lay on her, pushing the two of them onto the hard surface. Her lips parted as she let Gem deepen the kiss, before they could get far they broke apart, breathing erratic pants and gasps.
Pearl laughed, and then Gem laughed. They were both in hysterics, laughing over nothing, everything, anything. “What’s so funny?” The fox wiped tears from her eyes before looking at the other and giggling again.
“It’s just that,” She took a deep inhale, trying to look serious. “We were making out and the river you probably had to pass to get here is called Makeout Creek.”
“That’s not even funny!” She put her hands in the air and then resumed laughing. She grabbed her phone and looked at the time, 8:14, they’d probably have to call someone to pick the two of them up. “Pearl call Grian, there’s no way we can make it back alone.”
"Nah, I’ll call Lizzie. She and Joel are the only people who know this place exists." She tossed her backpack to Gem so she could clean up as she rang Lizzie. They sat there for about 15 minutes until They heard Lizzie calling for them. They walked to her car without a care in the world, laughing with her.
-
They were halfway to the fox’s house before Gem realized something, "Hold on, why does Joel know about the boulder?" Pearl and Lizzie erupted into laughter, and Gem joined in, still waiting for an explanation.
“In my heyday, Joel and I had quite the crush on each other, and Miss Fish over here, or should I say, Mrs. Fox, thought it would be a great idea to set us up!” Pearl and Gem blushed as the cat cackled. “But your guy's house is up here so I’ll tell you all about it when you come to TerraTethered tomorrow to tell me about what happened tonight!” The two tried to protest but she shooed them out of her car and into Gem's house.
-
“Sooo..” Gem said, laying in Pearl's lap while they watched a movie on the couch, “What are we?”
“According to Lizzie we’re married!”
They giggled, still getting off their high “But, genuinely, are we dating, best friends, friends-with-benefits-but-not-really-but-totally-will-they-wont-they-yuri-alchemists?”
She yawned, stretching wide, “Let’s save that conversation for the morning, right now I wanna go to sleep.” They rose from the couch and made their way to the fox's bedroom, settling in for the night.
Together.