Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"You tease that girl, Gem," Cleo remarked, idly fiddling with the handle of her coffee mug. Gem looked away, trying not to blush.

Gem had invited Cleo over for tea in her new home in the village, as a sort of introverted housewarming party. Cleo had gladly accepted, and the two had had a lovely conversation so far, about friends and buildings and the best applications of prismarine, but then eventually the topic had turned to Pearl, and Gem's recent... visits to Pearl's house. Because of course it did. At least Cleo didn't seem to expect Gem to be responding to her remark anytime soon.

"I don't entirely blame you, of course. Pearl's a very pretty girl, and relationships on this server do tend to - how should I put it? – have a lot of miscommunication. But cuddling without pants? Really?"

"It was an accident," Gem mumbled, staring down into her tea.

"How the f- heck did you manage to accidentally lose your pants?"

"There was a stray, and some powder snow, and I was trying to put some leather armour on - look. It was a whole situation, okay?"

"I see." Cleo took another sip of her coffee. "So what are you going to do?"

"The stray's dead now."

"Aw, come on, you know I'm not talking about the stray! You need to talk to Pearl. What are you gonna say to her?"

"What do you think I should say?"

Cleo shook her head. "I can't answer that for you, Gem." Gem stared out the window, placing her tea back on the table.

"You're right. I guess it's not that I don't know what to say. It's that I don't know how to say it without risking what we already have."

"You can't have any love without a little risk."

"True." Gem smiled. Cleo was no Joe, but her direct way of talking had a poetry all of its own.

"And anyway, I really don't think it's as much of a risk as you think it is. You're young and gorgeous, she's young and gorgeous, you have chemistry together. You'll figure it out."

"Still. You got any tips?"

"Hmm, well, Pearl does love being caressed around the inner thigh area, and-"

"Cleo!" Gem exclaimed. Cleo grinned cheekily, but then reached across the table to grab Gem's hand.

"You're a strong girl, Gem. You can do this."

Gem nodded. She hoped Cleo was right.

-----

Pearl exhaled hard, and rubbed her sore hands on her overalls. Terraforming was fun, but oh boy, it could be a lot of work!

Still, she was glad for the work. Because it was almost done now, and soon she could start thinking about making a shop, and later she could contact her team for MCC and start practicing soon after, and... If she was being honest with herself, she liked it because it stopped her from thinking about Gem.

And oh void, if she had been thinking a lot about Gem before, she was thinking about her non-stop now. Ever since that night, when Gem had stumbled into her room and crawled into her bed and... and slept next to her, all night...

Naturally, Pearl had taken the coward's way out of her feelings, and avoided Gem as best she could. Of course, on Hermitcraft, that usually wasn't very difficult. Probably the only way in which the server lived up to its name. Everyone was always engrossed in their own massive projects, and despite technically basing right next to Gem, their bases were so big that Pearl had barely seen Gem anyway.

And that was good! That was how it should be, really. Pearl was getting far too attached to someone who probably only thought of her as a friend, and had her own stuff to do, had other people that she cared about far more...

For some reason that thought made her feel terrible, cold all over despite the scorching midday sun.

"No one's fault but your own, Pearl," she said to herself, sighing. "You just had to fall in love with her, didn't ya? Just stop thinking about her and focus on building the rocks."

She unloaded another shulker box of andesite, shook her head as if to shake out all the remaining thoughts of Gem, and shifted her focus back to building.

-----

A couple thousand blocks away, though neither of them knew it, Gem was having the same problem.

It would be so easy to just stick to the status quo, she pondered. To let everything stay as it is, and run away from her feelings and never come back. Why did it have to be like that?

She sighed. It was the easy option, but not the right one. So instead, she was taking the next easiest option, and writing a letter instead of confronting Pearl directly.

Hey, letters were fun! Gem liked to do things the old-fashioned way, every once in a while. And letters were very cottagecore indeed, though she was more elfcore this season. If that was even a thing. All the same, it was easier than trying to have a direct conversation.

She quickly thought over what she wanted to say, and got her pens out from the drawer under her desk. Picking up her favourite, a sturdy black pen with flowers painted on the side, she began to write in a neat, delicate hand...

Dear Pearl,

Long time no see! I feel like I haven't seen you for a while now. We haven't even been in the same world recently, in more ways than one. So I wanted to write you a letter, because letters are fun!

I guess I just wanted to tell you that I want to catch up. It's actually my birthday quite soon. I don't tend to make a huge fuss of it - I usually just spend the day with my family & friends back home, or just tell everyone that runs into me that day that it's my birthday. But I don't know, even though twenty-six isn't a special milestone like 21 or 30, it still feels like something special to me. And I feel like I should do something different, just for fun!

I've been really admiring your new terrain, and how our bases come together with Impulse's. So I was wondering - do you want to maybe have a birthday picnic with me? I was thinking we could keep it low-key, just the two of us, having a picnic in the sun. Sounds fun, right! I'll bring the cake, you don't need to worry about bringing food or presents or anything. Just let me know if you can come, and I'll try to pick a nice spot. Maybe by the river, in the taiga?

Love,
Gem xx <3

-----

Pearl opened the letter curiously. Who on the Hermitcraft server would send her a letter? Perhaps it was an invitation to a new shop, or a notification for a new event, or something like that.

She recognised the neat handwriting as Gem's before she even read the signature. That was even more curious - why would Gem write her a letter instead of leaving a sign or just talking to her? But as she read the letter, things started to fall into place.

A birthday picnic? Just the two of them? That did sound like fun. But it also sounded terrifying. What if she messed it up, made it awkward when Gem was just trying to be her friend? Gem was so nice, so kind, so pretty... She deserved the best birthday that she could ask for. What if Pearl ruined it...

Stop catastrophising, thought Pearl, running a hand through her hair. Whatever happens on the day, happens. But in the meantime, you'd better reply back, and you could work on getting her a present...

She grabbed a couple planks for a sign, and launched herself into the air, heading towards Gem's elven village.

-----

Sure! A birthday
picnic sounds like
fun to me :) See
you there! - Pearl

Chapter Text

22nd of May. Gem's birthday. This is it, Pearl thought, anxiously fiddling with the buttons on her shirt. She'd changed out of her mock-janitor's uniform, and opted for a nice blue shirt and some simple black jeans. She grabbed Gem's present and a shulker box (who cares what Gem said in the letter, Pearl was definitely bringing a present), and stepped outside into the sun. She looked over at the taiga biome, scanning it for any sign of Gem. There she was! Sitting on a picnic rug below a tree. Gem waved, and Pearl glided down to her, landing a couple blocks away from the picnic rug.

"Hello!" said Gem, with a bright smile. "You made it!"

"Hey, I couldn't not come to my best friend's birthday," replied Pearl. "Happy birthday! I love your outfit, by the way."

Gem wore a pretty dress that Pearl had seen her in a few times before. The dress was crimson red, and it hugged her figure well. A simple pendant hung from her neck, and she'd brushed her hair out, her bangs framing her face prettily.

"Thank you! It has pockets," beamed Gem, sticking her hands in the pockets and twirling in a circle. "I like your outfit too. Matches your pretty blue eyes."

Pearl looked down, trying not to blush. She was expecting to have trouble hiding her feelings for Gem, but not this early. Why did she have to be so damn nice all the time? She fumbled for Gem's present as a distraction.

"Here, I got you this," she said, handing the package to Gem. Gem's eyes lit up instantly.

"Oh, you shouldn't have!"

"Aw, come on, you can't just go to someone's birthday picnic and not bring a pressie! Go on, open it."

"Now?"

"Why not?"

"Alright then! Come sit on the picnic blanket, I'll unwrap it there."

Pearl followed Gem over to the picnic blanket. It was a very nice picnic blanket - made of soft pink gingham. Very Gem, she thought. She watched Gem unwrap the present with glee, tearing apart the tissue paper.

"A speaker!" Gem exclaimed, holding it aloft.

"You can connect it to your communicator and play music from there," Pearl explained. "I don't know, I just figured you might want a good quality speaker so you can listen to music while you build your megabase."

"I love it. Thank you so much," said Gem sincerely. She leant forward to gently kiss Pearl on the cheek. Fortunately, she then looked away to fiddle with her communicator and connect it to the speaker, so she didn't notice if Pearl was blushing.

"There we go," murmured Gem, and upbeat music started to play out of the speaker "Right, snack time!"

"About that," said Pearl, getting out the shulker box that she'd packed earlier.

"Come on, I told you that you didn't have to bring anything!"

"Technically, you only said I couldn't bring food, so I brought drinks."

Gem giggled, and rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."

"I know."

Together they unpacked the snacks and drinks from the shulker boxes. Gem spread it all out on the picnic rug.

"Want a sandwich? I made a couple, they've got carrot and chicken."

"Sure. Would you like some peach iced tea?"

"Absolutely, thank you."

For a while, they just sat together eating, in contented silence except for the music coming from Gem's new speaker. It had switched to something acoustic, softer. The sandwich did taste pretty good - fresh bread, crunchy carrots. The iced tea washed it down nicely.

"The sandwiches are very good," said Pearl approvingly. "Did you make them yourself?"

"I didn't know that you liked any foods other than soup," teased Gem. "But yeah, I did. I made cake as well, we can have it later."

"Ooo! Cake! I like cake and sandwiches, as well as soup."

Gem laughed, and it echoed across the canyon.

"We'll have the cake soon. Let's just talk for now, seeing as we've just eaten the sandwiches. How have you been recently?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I've been working on my shop a lot lately..."

They talked for a little while, about how their shops and megabases were going, their excitement for 1.19, their plans for the rest of the season. Eventually, Gem yawned.

"Is it cake time yet?" she asked, stretching.

"Well, you're the birthday girl. Your choice," replied Pearl.

"Then, as the birthday girl, I hereby decree that it's time for cake," said Gem, smiling. She opened the picnic basket, and pulled out a large cake from within it.

"Wow! That looks amazing, Gem," exclaimed Pearl approvingly.

"Oh, you know, it's just a basic recipe with buttermilk icing..."

"No, I mean it. You're a great cook."

Gem smiled and looked down, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Thank you. Um, do you have a flint & steel to light the candle? I may have forgotten to bring one."

"Yeah, I've got one somewhere in my ender chest. Hold on..."

Pearl placed down an ender chest and rummaged through it, before grabbing a flint & steel and holding it aloft triumphantly. "Here! Right, let's light it..." She carefully lit the pink candle on top of the cake.

Gem grinned. "Are you going to sing for me?"

"I'll give it a try," said Pearl sheepishly. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear GeminiTay..." Gem's smile lit up the whole canyon. "Happy birthday to you! Hip hip hooray!"

Gem blew out the candle, still grinning.

"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed.

Then she got out two plates and a cake knife, and moved to cut the cake.

"Careful not to touch the bottom when you cut the cake!" teased Pearl. "You know, in Australia we say that if you touch the bottom, you have to kiss the nearest boy."

"Wait, actually? Weird. Oh well, Impulse is offline, and the next nearest boy is probably several thousand blocks away, so I guess I'm safe."

Gem cut the cake, and handed a slice to Pearl. She accepted it gratefully, and took a bite.

"This is delicious," she murmured approvingly.

Gem just smiled, and took a bite of her own slice. They finished their cake in comfortable silence.

"You have frosting on your face," giggled Pearl, reaching across to wipe it off of Gem's lips. Then she froze. Oh no, she'd overstepped. They were sitting so close to each other, maybe she shouldn't have reached out like that when Gem could just get it herself...

"Pearl," murmured Gem, breaking her train of thought.

"Yeah?"

"...would kissing the nearest girl also count?"

And suddenly Gem's lips were on Pearl's, and her kiss was everything that Pearl imagined it would be, and yet better. Her lips were so soft, and sweet from the cake frosting, and she rested a hand on Pearl's cheek. Then Gem pulled back with a soft smile, before Pearl leaned back in and kissed her again, more confidently this time. Pearl tangled her fingers in Gem's strawberry blonde hair.

Gem broke the kiss. "Can you hear that?"

Pearl couldn't focus on anything except for Gem. "Hear what?"

"The song that's playing! It's about dancing." Gem stood, and reached out a hand. "So come on, then. Dance with me, Pearl."

In a haze, Pearl took Gem's hand and stood up. Gem didn't let go of her hand, and placed her other hand on Pearl's shoulder. Pearl wrapped an arm around Gem's waist, and the two of them began to gently sway back and forth to the song. They locked eyes, sky-blue eyes meeting forest-green ones.

Pearl wasn't very good at dancing like this, so she let Gem lead, trying to step at the same time as Gem. She found her feet pretty quickly, raising her arm to let Gem spin around, before doing a little spin herself.

"Hey, you're good at this," said Gem. Her smile was dazzling. Pearl couldn't say anything, so she just kept moving back and forth, Gem's hand still firmly in her grasp.

As the song wound down, they found themselves in a close embrace, arms wrapped around each other.

"I can't believe this is real," breathed Pearl.

"Me neither,” murmured Gem, with a giggle. Then a look of sincerity crossed her beautiful face. "Pearl, you know what?"

"What is it?"

"I made a wish when I blew out the candle on my birthday cake. You wanna hear what it is?"

"Oh, you can't tell me. Then it won't come true," laughed Pearl.

"No, Pearl - It already has come true." Then Gem stood up on her toes to move her face closer to Pearl's. "I wished for you, Pearl. I wanted more of you."

This time, when they kissed, Pearl cupped Gem's face in her hands, like she was the most precious thing in the world to her. And in that moment, she really was.