Work Text:
"Why are we doing this again?" Gert asks, still confused. "I mean, I know we’re a team and all now, but is this really..."
"Necessary?" Nico continues, completing the thought.
"I just think that if we’re going to be a team, we should make sure we’re a good team," comes Alex’s reply. "Besides, it’s not that big of a deal; just some exercises I found online that are supposed to help us be a well-oiled machine. And look, some of this stuff is actually fun."
Chase scoffs at that. "How could any of this team-building crap be fun?" Alex, in response, simply turns his laptop screen towards Chase, showing him the page he’s on. Chase's eyebrows perk up and he smirks. "Two truths and a lie? Alright. I’m down."
"Fine," Gert sighs, rolling her eyes. "But if you guys think I’m doing trust falls..."
So that’s how the runaways spend their day. Playing games and getting to know each other again. For a moment, they almost forget the world around them. That their parents are evil and currently hunting them down. Because in this moment they’re safe, and they’re enjoying each other’s company in a way they haven’t in a long time.
Towards the end of the afternoon, it’s Karolina’s turn to decide the next activity. She scrolls through one of the websites Alex has open and smiles when she sees what she wants. "Okay, so for this one we need to get into a circle." The others oblige, sitting on the floor, legs crossed. "Now, everyone has to look into the eyes of the person on either side of you and give them a compliment."
Gert, who is in between Molly and Chase (a seating choice she would have desperately avoided, had she known the task), groans. "This is a personal attack, Karolina. You know I hate being nice."
"Which is exactly why this will be good for you!" Gert huffs, knowing full well there’s no way she’s getting out of this. They decide to go clockwise, starting with Karolina, which means Chase will go last.
Karolina starts with Chase, looking into his eyes and telling him how trustworthy he is. Everyone knows now that she’s gay, but Gert still feels that pang of jealousy, knowing that Karolina will always be his first choice. Even when she only wants him platonically. She knows it’ll illogical — that it’s horrible of her to feel this towards Karolina when it’s not her fault — but at the same time, she can’t stop it. Her stupid, stupid crush on Chase is, in Gert’s opinion, the worst thing about herself.
Before Gert even knows it, Molly is paying her a compliment, which means it’s almost her turn. Almost her turn to tell Chase something she likes about him, without giving away the fact that it would be harder to come up with something she doesn’t like about him.
Once Molly has finished talking about how she likes Gert’s singing a lot, Gert knows what she’s going to say.
She starts with Molly, telling the younger girl how she adores her strength, not just physical. Gert tells Molly how tough she is, how she doesn’t know that she would’ve been able to handle what Molly has when she was Molly’s age. Then, after a quick hug from her sister, she turns to her other side.
"Chase..." The look in his eyes is one of bemusement and teasing. She can almost hear him in her ear, What’ve you got for me, Yorkes? She hates that she thinks she knows him so well. "Despite, well, everything I’ve said before..." She looks down for an instant, shameful of all the mean things she’s said to him in the past. "You really are smart. You’re basically a genius. I mean, you made those fist-guns of yours!"
"Fistagons," he interrupts, lightly.
She can see as his features relax. She sees his eyes soften and his smirk go from playful to thankful. Gert wonders if he thought she was going to say something ironic. She feels almost delighted that she subverted his expectations. In keeping with that notion, she suppresses her instinct to make fun of the name Chase chose for his weapon.
"Right, fistagons," she says instead. "But, yeah, you’re... you’re a really intelligent guy, Chase Stein. Don’t let anyone — especially not me — tell you otherwise." Gert gives him a small smile and finally, finally, breaks eye contact with him.
"Thank you, Gert," is all he responds, then he turns to Karolina and begins complimenting her on her kindness.
Now Gert is left to wonder what he will compliment her on. Within thirty seconds, though, she has to be looking into his goddamn eyes again. They look gentle again, which calms her nerves a little.
"Gert — Gertrude?" Chase gives her a questioning look.
"Gert is fine."
"Right. Gert. You are... so interesting." She’s worried by the vagueness of his statement. She’s not sure how to feel. He continues. "Everything about you, from the purple hair to the way you see the world, is so fascinating. I’ve never met anyone like you,
and I don’t think I ever will. You’re an enigma." Gert doesn’t know when it happens, but she’s smiling. She doesn’t know how, but hearing Chase talk about her like that makes her feel more special than she ever has — makes her feel almost precious. She hates the effect he has on her.
She’s about to say thank you and look away, but he has one final thing to say. "It also helps that you’re really pretty." The sharp smirk is back on his face, but it doesn’t feel harsh. It’s more pointed; like this is something he needs her to know.
Or maybe Gert is just projecting because this is something she’s always wanted to hear from him.
Regardless, her smile wavers slightly. She isn’t used to positive regard about her appearance, even from herself. And despite her constant preaching that beauty subjective, and that, contrary to what the patriarchy would have you believe, women are worth more than society’s Western ideals of what constitutes physical attractiveness, Gert can’t help but think... something about her is appealing to Chase. She’s pretty in his eyes.
It’s pathetic. She hates herself for allowing him to have this effect on her. But Gert refuses to let herself be the pining girl, so she pushes to a corner of her mind — a corner that’s almost full to bursting — and moves on.
"Nico," she says, the sound surprising her. Her voice feels almost too loud, compared to the whispering in her head. "Now that the kind torture is over, it’s your turn to choose an activity, isn’t it?"