#this is suuuuuuper late and gonna be rendered inaccurate in 12 hours

[huggywuggysuppy]

Cleo & Gem Drabble WL Ep 4

Conversation/argument about Gem's grudge for Pearl.

Gem journeyed out to chop wood near the new G’s base, several paces from the main river. She needed lots of dark oak wood, and didn’t want to stray too close to the pale forest. As she labored away, she kept looking over her shoulder or hesitating on a swing or even just a gnawing buzz behind her eyes. She was trying to acclimate to the normal game speed, but everything felt off. Too slow.

A few trees in, Cleo approached, picking their way through the fallen branches and bunches of leaves. “Hey Gem! Whatcha up to?”

“Cleo!” Gem paused to greet them, resting her axe on her shoulder. “Just gathering wood. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I’m taking a break from building: need to clear my head.” Cleo settled in, sitting on a stump Gem had left. They pulled out some logs of their own, lazily stripping them as they talked.

“I bet. Pretty ambitious to build a whole new base this late in.”

“Well, we were expecting to have more time. But, y’know.” Clean lines of bark began gathering at Cleo’s feet. They smiled wryly. “At least the Spanners dug out a basement for us.”

Gem snorted. “I’m glad Mumbo succeeded at least once -- he spent most of the session failing to catch me!”

“Aww, I’m proud of him. Scott can handle being a life down.” Cleo pointed their blade at Gem. “He was this close to giving it to one of us!”

“Of course he was.”

They both shook their heads in exasperation. And a little sadness. The tree Gem was working on shuddered and groaned, taking its sweet time as it fell to the forest floor. She started hacking away at it. Cleo sat back, staring up at the canopy of leaves.

“BigB betrayed us.”

Gem took a step back from the trunk, frowning. Cleo was still looking up, throat bobbing as they swallowed.

“I’m sorry. That must hurt.”

“Yeah.” Cleo let out a long sigh. And when they looked back, their eyes were sharp. “But we’ll get him back worse.”

They both went back to their labors. For a while, there was a lapse in conversation. Not quite uncomfortable, but a sort of mutual grief. The air was thick with the weight of the next session, and the one after, and the one after that. They could be kind, but never allies. Not this time.

Cleo’s blade hesitated on the next stroke. “Is that what you’re planning to do with Pearl?”

Immediately, Gem got defensive. Of course, Scott won’t leave her alone about apologizing, now Cleo was trying. They couldn’t enjoy even this moment as friends.

“I stand by my decisions.” Gem narrowed her eyes. “Are you here to call me crazy?”

“No!” Cleo looked a little horrified. “Never.”

“Yeah.” She drove her axe deep into the trunk. “Just look what it’s done to Pearl.”

“…You don’t actually think she’s crazy, right?”

“Of course not.” Gem yanked her blade out with too much force. “I’m talking about her reputation for being ‘unstable.’ Having to ‘control her better’ and all.”

“Right.”

Cleo cut another length off the log, face pinched in guilt. No doubt since they contributed to that reputation. Not that Gem wasn’t enabling it either. Everything felt so layered here: always trying to convince someone they’re wrong or that you’re right. The social game sucked. And here she was playing it anyway.

“It’d be easier if she was.” Gem started. “Crazy, I mean. It’d make things less personal.”

Quietly, Cleo nodded, urging her to continue. The leaves swirled around Gem, drawing slow patterns, crinkling and taking their sweet time falling. She chopped another chunk off the trunk.

“She made her choice.” Gem swallowed. “Really thought it out too, it wasn’t heat of the moment or anything.”

“Mmm.” Cleo hummed. “I’m sure you’ve heard her reasoning.”

“What, that she was closer to Scar? That’s the whole point, Cleo!” Gem inhaled sharply. “She chose him over me, and it wasn’t even a competition. We were never allied!”

Everything felt a little too fast now. The bubbling of the river was near boiling. The birds were too high pitched. Her breath came too quickly.

“No matter how much I thought we were.” She finished quietly.

Cleo looked sadly at her. Gem slumped, wedging her axe in the wood and falling onto the log next to it. She drew her fingers through her hair, taking deep breaths. After a while, Cleo spoke, choosing their words carefully.

“I mean I’m not one to talk about holding grudges, but don’t you think this is a bit… cruel?”

“What?” Her voice was dry.

“She already won. Well, Scar won. But hating her now only hurts you both.”

Seriously? Yeah, Cleo can’t talk. Besides, the only reason they’re trying to calm Gem down is to benefit the G’s. Everyone wants to be allies, part of the family, under her protection, and it’s exhausting.

“I hurt her too badly, okay?” Gem threw her hands up. “Killed her and her allies too many times. I deserved to be backstabbed, is that what you want?”

“No, Gem!” Cleo exclaimed. They dropped their tools and jabbed a finger at her. “Pearl was mad at you from that, and she got her revenge, and let it go that season. You wronged her, she got her catharsis. You’re the one dragging it into the next.”

Her nails curled into the trunk, splinters digging into skin. Gem wasn’t hating her for no reason! Pearl hurt her, and hadn’t really apologized for it, and now everyone was calling her petty and ridiculous for not letting it go!

“So it is my fault.” Gem hissed. “I’m rightfully punished for killing her, but when I’m hurt by her, I’m the villain again.”

“No, Gem, that’s not—“

“I deserve my revenge too.” Gem crossed her arms. “Or catharsis, or whatever.”

“Okay, how?!” Cleo shouted. They’d risen halfway off the stump, steps away from lunging at Gem. Furiously, they sat back down, voice sharp. “What’s your win condition? Otherwise you’re just a bitter, mean--”

“Apologize.” Gem cut them off. How dare Cleo lecture her on forgiveness. “If she actually talked to me about it, genuinely apologized, I’d consider it.”

Cleo scowled. Yet, the tension leaked out of them. It wasn’t like they could apologize on Pearl’s behalf. The violence in the air, charged with electricity, died without the words to sustain it.

Reluctantly, Gem stood, pulling her axe out and half-heartedly resuming her work. Now, the silence was agonizing. A pang of guilt went through Gem. But Cleo had brought it up first.

(But Gem had hurt Pearl first.)

“I’m sorry.” Cleo breathed, picking up her tools. Resigned.

Gem closed her eyes. “She needs to know that she hurt me too.”

“I think she knows that much by now.” Cleo murmured.

A few more chunks of wood split off the log. A few more strips of bark hit the ground. And a few more pained heartbeats, struggling on in anger. Though it was hard to be angry forever.

“But you G’s are stubborn.” Gem smirked. “So that’ll never happen.”

“Scott and Pearl haven't forgiven each other for Double Life yet.” Cleo conceded.

“And you?” Gem asked. “Have you forgiven them?”

They held eye contact. Cleo broke it first, leaning back again, staring at the dirt.

“Scott’s never intended to hurt me. So, if there’s anything to apologize for on his end, it’s been made up for by his help.”

“And Pearl?”

Cleo sighed. “She never wanted to hurt me. At least, she wanted to hurt someone else through me.”

Gem snorted. “What you had in Limited seemed pretty personal.” Gem was only there for a day, not even as herself, and yet the anxiety lingered.

Cleo met her eyes again. “Do any of us want to hurt each other?”

That lingered. As did you. As did the glowing eyes in the skies, matching the stone statue she died under.

“No. But we do anyway.” Gem wrenched her axe out of the remains of the log, resting it over her shoulder. “The least we can do is be honest about it.”

Cleo held her gaze, a quiet challenge. Are you really being honest about this? Gem wrinkled her nose. It wasn’t their business. Finally, Cleo bowed their head, letting out a truly exhausted sigh.

“I don’t know why Scott thinks we can fix things. You and Pearl are so stubborn.”

Gem smirked. “It keeps us alive, doesn’t it?”

“Not at this rate.” Cleo stood. They started walking back towards their base. “I hope I’m not there when you’re Red.”

“That can be arranged.” Sharply, she chopped her axe down, wedging it into a nearby stump.

Cleo laughed, a true cackle, and Gem couldn’t help but smile. The clearing finally felt the right speed.

Right as Cleo passed Gem, they clasped a hand on her shoulder.

“I forgave BigB, once, for killing me. Pearl can forgive you too. Give her the option to try.”

With that, Cleo vanished into the brush, trusting Gem alone so close to their base. Gem stared after them for a while. And then she picked up her axe, and headed home.