#Couldn't unsee the adorable thought; had to quickly draw it

[jeeaark]

Lae'zel in the middle of her inner monologue...LONGING to return to her love and the friends she made along the way. Being super emo and melancholy, having her sad music video moment......and reality comes crashing down. Love it.

[chronological-knight]

Day 2 of @mcyt-aro-week was way harder for me for some reason. I decided to do the prompt "loveless" so for context, in this headcanon Gem is a loveless aromantic, however she doesn't actually know it yet. ALSO, i am not actually a loveless aro, I am in fact the opposite, so if I got anything wildly wrong please tell me <3

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Gem had never liked romance. Even as a kid, she'd wrinkle her nose at kiss scenes, complain when her parents called each other pet names, and gag whenever anyone asked about “her future boyfriend.” Back then, though, it was less apparent. Easier to ignore. Sure, it was a bit strange, but she'd been a kid, and kids do strange things all the time.

The first time she remembers being aware of this, is also the first time she got in trouble at school. She was eating lunch with a group of kids, when one of them started bragging about how he'd kissed a boy. All the other kids were oohing and aahing, asking him what it was like and acting all together more impressed then she thought was deserving. If she was honest, she had thought it was gross, so when it came her turn to speak she said as much.

The reaction she got for that was surprising, even to her child mind. Up until then she'd been under the impression that romance didn't appeal to her, so why would it appeal to anyone else? The boy had started crying, and someone got a teacher involved, which all led to a very reluctant apology from Gem and a very awkward ride home with her parents.

Even that, though, was quickly forgotten. Sure, it was a bit strange, but strange things happen all the time, and for now Gem could easily go about her day talking to her friends, and drawing, and definitely not thinking about romance.

As a teenager she was well and truly sick of it.

She didn't get it. She'd never gotten it, and if her luck held she never would. She didn't know how, or why for that matter, but even with their exams only a few weeks away all anyone ever talked about was love, love, love. She didn't know where they got the time.

One day, while she was complaining to her parents on the floor of their living room, and working on an architectural sketch for her portfolio, her dad told her something that would stick with her forever, though not for the reason he probably thought.

“Everyone falls in love. It's what makes us human.”

He'd said it with a patronising grin, like he thought her feelings were childish, and her childish to feel them.

She took it as a challenge.

From then on, she stopped referring to her feelings as love all together. It was a subtle change, one you didn't notice until you did, but once you did you couldn't unsee. She adored it. She'd always felt divorced from what others called love, and being able to reclaim that discomfort, that disconnect as her own? It was nothing short of delightful.

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“Hey, Gem?” Pearl asked.

Dappled light shimmered though tree leaves, spreading across a stepping-stone path as if someone had splattered the ground with paint. Gem and Pearl walked slowly, enjoying the view and each other's company. A bittersweet atmosphere stuck to them like glitter, since this would be the last time they could talk before Pearl left to her new server, the Empires SMP.

“Mhm?” Gem hummed

“Are you aromantic?”

Huh?

Gem cocked her head to the side, her red hair flowing over her shoulders. “What's that?”

“It's where you don't fall in love”

Well, that was unexpected. Neat.

“Huh. Guess I am.”