Work Text:
They were up really late. It had to be at least past eleven by now, and that meant it was practically tomorrow. Pearl had never stayed up that late before. Her bedtime was always pretty strict.
Well it was a lot less strict now that Mother wasn’t around, but just because she was in jail, didn’t mean that Pearl could suddenly break all the rules. She understood well enough that some rules had reasons behind them.
She also knew that sometimes those rules didn’t matter, because of other rules.
Like sleepover rules.
Pearl had to ask Mystic Maya about all this, because her sleepover buddy knew what she was doing. She was from the city and probably had lots of sleepover experience. Pearl wasn’t even allowed to watch movies about what you’re supposed to do at a sleepover until last year.
So they watched a whole bunch of Steel Samurai, and it had to be what you’re supposed to do because Trucy knew all about it. She said she watched it a bunch with her Daddy.
But about an hour ago, Mystic Maya got them to brush their teeth and get to bed. Late only went so far before it was too much. So Pearl should’ve been asleep, but being at a slumber party was just too exciting. She just couldn’t sleep no matter how hard she tried.
“Hey Pearl… You awake?” Trucy whispered.
Maybe it was a good sign that she was still awake, and part of slumber parties was getting to decide for yourself just how late late is. That was like unlimited power.
“Yes? What is it?” Pearl whispered back.
“What’s it like to channel spirits? Daddy said it was something that you and Ms. Fey can do.”
Oh! This was a question Pearl could answer! Channeling was something that Pearl could do pretty well, even if she was still in training. “Well… It’s kinda like falling asleep. Except you don’t have any dreams.”
“It doesn’t feel weird? Like it doesn’t make you feel all tingly?” Trucy sounded kinda disappointed. Pearl had to save this somehow.
“Well… It does make you feel all dizzy and floaty before it happens, and then once you’re done channeling it makes you feel really tired.” But there was only stuff before and after. She didn’t know about while it happened, because it was like being asleep.
“I knew it. That’s really cool . It’s just like on tv .” And Trucy would know more about TV. Pearl still hadn’t watched a lot of different shows yet, and Trucy probably had years of watching tv. She probably knew all kinds of things. “Can you show me how to do stuff like that?”
Pearl knew that there wasn’t a way she could avoid letting down her new friend. Normally she didn’t have any problems telling people about how it's a secret technique and only women with Fey blood can do it.
And even then, Mother and her sisters weren’t able to do it. Pearl was told about how special she was ever since she was little. So she was pretty sure that Trucy wouldn’t be able to do it.
“It’s a special technique passed down from the Fey Family. I can’t teach you it.” Pearl could handle it. Her friend was going to be sad and disappointed, but Pearl could do this!
“I see… Daddy’s told me all about special family tricks. He had a whole book from my grandpa about special family tricks.” Trucy nodded sagely. “It’s okay if you can’t share, but it’s still really cool.”
Her new friend thought she was cool. That meant a lot from someone like her. A lot of people would get really upset if they found out she couldn’t teach them, and Trucy accepted it no problem. Because she had lots of tricks of her own that she couldn’t teach because they were family secrets. And a whole book worth.
“I didn’t know Mr. Nick had a book of secrets.” Because if he had a bunch of secrets this whole time, he shouldn’t have had to rely on Mystic Mia coming back to help him all the time.
“Oh, not that daddy. My other daddy. My daddy that did magic.”
Trucy had two dads? Pearl didn’t know that was possible! Was this what life in the big city was like? You could get more dads?
Wait a moment.
“Did? What happened to him?”
“He got in a lot of trouble, so he used his magic and disappeared.”
Pearl shouldn’t have asked. It was too dark to see, but Pearl could feel her new friend was sad. Pearl of all people should know better than to ask about dads. “I’m sorry... If it makes you feel better, my father disappeared too. I don’t think he used magic though, I think he took a bus.”
Mother never liked talking about her father, so she barely knew anything about him. No one in town seemed to know much either.
“It’s okay. I got my new daddy. He doesn’t know magic and he promised that he wouldn’t leave. And I don’t think he has enough money to take the bus.”
Did you need money for a bus? Pearl had never taken one on her own before. It was always with Mystic Maya when they went down to the city.
“And I can make sure that Mr. Nick doesn’t leave you. If he does I’ll kick his butt. ” Because she knew him, he was a nice guy, but she wasn’t afraid to kick his butt again.
“Thanks Pearl, but he made a promise so I trust him.” Promises were very important. And Mr. Nick was a lawyer. He should know that it’s illegal to break a promise. “And if he tries, I’m not gonna help him disappear.”
Trucy was even more powerful than Pearl was. That was so cool. “So you can do magic?”
“Yep. I learned from my daddy. He was a really good magician, but I helped him escape.”
So she was even more powerful than her magic dad. That had to be really impressive. Unless it was just like her family and only the women were good at magic. But she has to be really good if her magic can be relied on like that!
“Can you show me some of your magic? It sounds really cool.”
“Of course, but it’s too late right now. I promised Daddy no magic after bedtime.” And Trucy was Mr. Nick’s daughter. She couldn’t break the law either.
“Right. But you promise to show me in the morning?”
“Of course! It’s gonna be great.”
Pearl wished she got to go to sleepovers sooner. This was incredible.
Though if Trucy was Mr. Nick’s daughter, that meant that she was only gonna get more sleepovers in the future.
And she could hardly wait for more.