Chapter Text
“So, what exactly are we doing again?” Shelley asked as she and Mara were walking down the street. Several neat houses stood next to each other, reminding Mara of her old town. It had been a week since the Ocean Moon incident, and Mara had spent that week trying to get Shelley used to life on Earth, while at the same time trying to get used to life in Beach City.
“We’re going to meet our neighbors.” she explained. “Velvet said this area had a huge Pearl population which would be perfect for you.”
“I still don’t understand all this.” she stated, looking down.
“Don’t worry, it’ll take some time.” Mara assured her. “Remember that discussion we had about change?”
“I know what you told me.” she said. “But I still find it hard to believe. First you tell me all these new rules, and then you say you’re ‘half human’, whatever that means.” She kicked a rock and watched it fall into a sewer grate. “It makes no sense.”
“It only doesn’t make sense because you’re just finding out about it.” she told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “All the nice Pearls living here had sixty years to get used to it.”
Shelley turned towards her. “That’s easy for you to say, you were made on this planet.” she crossed her arms in annoyance.
“Not made,” Mara corrected. “Born.”
“You’re gonna have to explain that concept to me again.”
Before Mara could respond, a shiny, golden car drove down the street. It was of the roofless type, and the driver was clearly shown. The two got a good glimpse of her.
A tall, slim figure almost twice Mara’s height stepped out, holding a golden retriever puppy in her arms. She wore a clean, light yellow suit, and her golden hair fell in light curls down to her lower back, a part of it being held up by a shell shaped clip on top of her head. A shiny golden shell sat atop her forehead, revealing what kind of Gem she was.
“ I wonder what her favorite color is… ” Mara thought to herself.
“My! You must be the new residents!” she exclaimed, her voice full of energy and confidence that could be seen in a lot of talk show hosts. She placed her puppy down where it followed her happily as she walked towards the two with a sort of peppy stride. Her high heels clicked against the pavement as she emitted the aura of a savvy businesswoman. “I’m so glad I had time to welcome you to our lovely community!”
“It’s nice to meet you too! I’m Mara!” Mara greeted with a smile. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Mayor Goldie, the current mayor of Beach City.” she explained proudly.
Unlike Mara, who was impressed, Shelley stepped back behind her and didn’t say anything. She stood still as if the mayor’s presence intimidated her.
“Is she okay?” Goldie asked, a bit worried.
“I’m sorry, you have to forgive her.” Mara told her. “She’s new to Earth and has a lot to learn. I don’t think she knows what a mayor is.”
“Well, my job is to make sure things in this town run as smoothly as possible.” she said to Shelley, putting emphasis on the last three words. “And to make sure the people of Beach City feel happy and safe!”
“Do you always greet people when they move here?” Mara pet the puppy who was playfully jumping at her.
“No, but I had time today so I figured why not.” she smiled.
“Your dog is adorable!” the hybrid squealed in excitement, bending down to get a closer look at the pup, who was wagging his tail happily.
“Thank you, his name is Bubby. He’s real friendly, too.”
“Shelley, how about you try petting him?”
“Pet… him?” she responded, studying the pup like it was an unknown creature from another planet.
“Just take your hand…” Mara demonstrated, placing her hand on the puppy’s head and slowly moving down to his back. “And gently move it down like that.”
Shelley looked at the puppy, and it looked back with a happy expression.
“He won’t bite, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Goldie assured them.
The Pearl slowly moved her hand towards the puppy, hovering over him for a few seconds before petting him lightly. “Oh, that’s not so bad.” She pet him again carefully. “It’s soft.”
“See?” Mara said as Bubby rolled over and let Shelley give him belly rubs. ”He likes you.”
“He’s a social puppy, he loves people.” Goldie added. “He’s like the dog version of me! Well, almost, I-”
SNAP!
Shelley jumped back at the noise and Mara looked around. Bubby stood up and hid behind Goldie, who seemed concerned.
“What was that?” Mara questioned aloud.
SNAP!
There it was again, that noise.
“For the love of… Charcoal!” Goldie exclaimed, slightly annoyed.
Mara turned around and saw a forehead Pearl sitting on the roof of one of the houses, throwing snaps and watching them fall onto the driveway below. She had a dark color scheme, with curly black hair and dark gray skin. One could easily notice the baggy black pants and the lack of shoes(the inner fashion expert in Mara winced a little at this, but she didn’t judge).
“What? Snaps aren’t dangerous, they just make noise.” she defended.
“ Noise is the reason I banned fireworks in the first place.” Goldie huffed, crossing her arms like a disappointed mother.
“But it’s still day time.” Charcoal defended. She jumped from the roof and landed on her driveway. “No one’s asleep now.”
“You scared Bubby.” the mayor told her. Bubby was leaning against her leg and shaking.
“Sorry, Bubby.” the Pearl apologized. She turned towards Mara and Shelley. “But Mayor Goldie, aren’t there more important things you should be concerned about? Like your car?”
“What about my car?”
Charcoal pointed towards Goldie’s car. On the side, there were faded cursive letters that spelt “Mayor Go die”. It appeared as though the L had faded to the point where it disappeared.
“Ah! How long has that been like that?” she panicked, picking up Bubby and swiftly walking back to the car. “I’m sorry, I have to go get this fixed before anyone else notices. It was nice to meet you two, by the way!” she waved to Mara and Shelley before starting the car and driving off. “Stay safe!”
The two stood in silence for a while before Shelley broke it.
“I’m confused...”
“Welcome to Earth.” Charcoal deadpanned. “You’re the new neighbors, right?”
Mara nodded. “Yeah. I’m Mara, and this is Shelley.”
“I was gonna introduce myself, but I guess Miss Mayor did that for me.” she told them, taking out a pack of cigarettes from her pearl and lighting one up. “Goldie’s actually a pretty good mayor, we just get annoyed at each other. She can be a bit too motherly at times, but what can ya do? She’s a Nacre, that’s just her nature.”
“Do people still use cigarettes? I thought they went obsolete decades ago.” Mara commented.
“They did, but I like the smoke. That Vyst shit doesn’t do it for me.” she explained. “It’s not like it can hurt me anyway, being a Gem and all. Speaking of which, I brought y’all a gift.” Her pearl glowed again and from it she took out two lighters and gave one to each of them. “You never know when you might need one.”
“Uh, thanks?” Shelley responded. “I don’t know what this is.” she attempted to flick it to life, getting a bit spooked when a small flame showed up for a second.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Charcoal?” a smooth voice interrupted.
Another Pearl walked toward the group with a confident smile, this one much neater than Charcoal, with a purple dress that went down to her knees and black kitten heels. Her shoulder length hair was a different shade of violet, and she seemed to wear dark purple lipstick and a plain black bracelet.
“Hey, Candy. I was just introducing myself to the new neighbors.” Charcoal said, taking another puff.
“Nice, I’ve been excited to meet you all.” she shook Mara’s hand and smiled.
“This isn’t all of us.” Mara explained. “The others are busy at the moment.”
“Can’t wait to meet them.” she told her. “I live in the house next to you, by the way. So if you need anything , feel free to let me know. ”
“Great! I’m Mara, and this is Shelley.” Mara gestured towards Shelley. “She’s the one new to Earth.”
“Shelley? That’s a cute name.” Candy complimented. “I hope you enjoy your time on Earth. It might get a little confusing at first, but once you get the hang of things, you can have a pretty good time.” she winked at her, causing Shelley to blush a little.
“What is this feeling I’m getting? ” the Pearl thought, unsure of what just happened. “Y-you too.”
Charcoal tried not to laugh at Shelley’s response as Candy chuckled a bit.
”You’re cute.” she complimented. Shelley just blushed and turned the other way shyly.
“So what’s it like here in Beach City?” Mara asked. “I’ve always wanted to live here.”
“Oh, it’s pretty great…”
It was at this point Candy began telling Mara about Beach City. As the two were talking, Shelley glanced over at another house. She could have sworn someone in one of the windows. Upon looking a bit more, she saw a Pearl with blue hair looking out at them, an annoyed expression on her face.
“Who’s that?” she asked, pointing toward the Pearl in the window.
She noticed Shelley and the others looking back, and closed her curtains quickly.
“Ugh, not again.” Candy muttered, placing a hand on her forehead. “I’m sorry, that’s Ocean Pearl. She was made with a pole up her ass and can’t seem to mind her own business.”
“She didn’t look happy...” Shelley commented, a bit nervous about having possibly bothered this other Pearl before she had the chance to meet her. Were most Pearls on Earth like this?
“That’s ‘cause I’m talking to you guys.” Candy explained.
“What’s she got against you?” Mara asked.
“It’s a long story. She’ll probably nag you about it later. Just... don’t listen to her, okay? She can be a bit… judgemental...” she looked at bit sad for a moment. ”By the way,” Candy continued, trying to lighten the mood. “Yellow Pearl wants to meet with you two at the shop tomorrow at 1. Something about wanting to get you acquainted with the place before working there.”
“I’ll be free then, so I can definitely drop by.” she accepted. “It was nice to meet you, but we better get going. It’s almost lunch time and I wanted to introduce Shelley to food.”
“See you around, then?”
”Of course!”
”It was nice to meet you!” Candy waved.
”Right back at’cha!” Mara replied, already walking back.
As Mara and Shelley walked back to the house, Mara couldn’t help but giggle at how Shelley reacted to Candy’s compliment.
”What’s so funny?” Shelley asked, confused.
”Oh, nothing.” Mara smiled. Shelley had a lot to learn…
Meanwhile, Shelley couldn’t get that nice purple Pearl out of her mind...