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<Grian> break time
Cleo’s communicator buzzes at the same time as everybody else’s. She reads the message, scans the room, and -
Gem presses her eyes shut tight for a couple of seconds, just letting herself relax from the charade.
It’s been a difficult first hour or so. Cleo didn’t give her a lot of instructions - Scar and Bdubs are your kids, Scar’s your favourite, Etho’s your bitch wife so kill him if you get the chance, don’t die, enjoy! While it’s not like Gem has never been thrust into similar situations where she was expected to know a lot more than she did before (first diplomatic assembly of the Empires as the Monarch of Dawn, she’s looking at you), this is certainly the most high-stakes and dangerous of them. That don’t die weighs heaviest of all; sure, GeminiSlay is a name known and feared throughout Hermit lands, but at least on Hermitcraft when you die it doesn’t ultimately matter. Here, Gem has this bone-deep certainty that death is going to hurt.
At least she’s not the only one who’s new here.
Pearl came to the Clockers’ door earlier, full of false bravado and a British accent, her hood pulled firm over her hair to hide the pink that hid brightly underneath it. She’d been accompanied by BigB, but when the boys had all left the room for ransom negotiations, Lizzie had admitted that she had even less of an idea of what was happening than Gem did.
They’d needed to cut the conversation short when Scott fell through the roof, but that small moment of connection had given Gem a sense of comfort that had carried her through the rest of the morning until this moment.
Now she has, apparently, about half an hour to chill before the clocks start ticking again, and she knows exactly where she wants to spend it.
It seems that Lizzie’s had the same idea, because she’s not all that far out the door before she spots her pink-haired partner in deception approaching from the bottom of the hill. “Hello!” Lizzie calls in the distance.
“Hi, Lizzie!”
“Oh, you have no idea how nice it is to hear that. Well, I suppose you do.”
“Yeah!” She kicks a warmer-ed leg demonstratively. “I’ve never had two kids before, and I’ve certainly never had to look after Scar and Bdubs. You’d be surprised how incapable they are of fending for themselves.”
“Isn’t Scar on red?”
“Yes, which makes it worse!”
Lizzie giggles, and finally comes up to meet Gem face to face. It’s weird; she normally expects Pearl to be taller and lankier than her by far, but she’d expect Cleo to match heights with Pearl just fine, so she guesses it would track that she’s not too far off right now. They pause in the doorway, Gem lingering by the threshold, not sure if she’d rather retreat into the building or come out and let Lizzie lead her somewhere else.
“But we’ve got a little time now,” Gem continues, “which means no more mothering my colleagues for a little while.”
“Yes, it is very weird, isn’t it? BigB’s still giving me all these rituals I need to follow, I’m not keeping up any better than I was before. And it doesn’t help that I - er - actually, never mind, don’t worry about that, I shouldn’t tell you that.”
“Keep your secrets, yeah!”
“So… are you coming?”
“Coming where?”
“I don’t know, out? I thought we might just… sit by the water or something. It’s a nice day.”
“It is a nice day,” says Gem, “and I do like sitting by the water.” It was something she did a little more often back in the glory days of her Empire; Dawn sat by the docks, and it was both easy and refreshing to have a little splash on the shores if she had an afternoon free. She hasn’t really had the time to come down from the base on the hill yet during her presence here, though.
“Well, come on then!”
So she does, allowing Lizzie to take her hand and lead her to a nice grassy patch where the land meets the river. Most of the “mountain” is stone, but here the ground gives way to dirt and softness, perfect for the pair to sit and relax. Lizzie lays the red hoodie out under her, left in just a tank top and shorts. Gem stops for a moment and looks down at herself; she can’t really get out of Cleo’s fancy outfit as easily.
“Oh - let me -” Lizzie moves aside and fluffs out the fabric of the hoodie a little farther.
Gem chuckles. “You shouldn’t! I don’t wanna get Pearl’s things dirty.”
“She’s got a spare,” says Lizzie, “I don’t even know why she’s wearing the red already, but she can absolutely put the black back on if she wants to get this washed. Come on, we’re not here for long!”
“I guess we’re not!”
She sits. It’s cosy; they’re very close. Lizzie’s warmth runs all up the side of Gem’s arm, a comfort in an unfamiliar situation.
Which reminds her - “How’ve you been? How is Animalia?”
“It’s good, it’s good! Honestly, I think things are sort of winding down at the minute. Have you been feeling that?”
Gem considers it. “I think I have. I don’t know if there’s a lot left for me to do in Dawn. Which is gonna be a shame, because I love Dawn, but at the end of the day I guess you can’t just keep doing one thing forever.”
“Unless you’re Grian,” Lizzie laughs.
Gem nods along. “This whole game thing seems pretty cool; I don’t know why nobody ever brought it up to me before. Maybe when I get back to Hermitcraft I’ll ask if I can be invited to the next one.”
Lizzie sucks in air through her teeth - “I think it’s a memory thing? I think you don’t remember much about them when you’re not inside. Like, I know I’ve done this before, but I don’t know how it went. I think there were fairies.”
“In the death arena?”
“I think!”
“Huh.” Gem scans the skyline. “Still, worth me asking, if I remember to ask. Maybe I can leave myself a note.”
“On Cleo’s arm?”
“Eh,” she shrugs, “I’m sure they’d pass it on to me if they saw it. If it lasts that long.”
“If you’re really that invested in coming back for a proper round, I’m sure somebody will hear about it. Pearl and BigB apparently have this thing where they’re always watching; makes me wonder if there might be somebody out there who wants to see what you’re capable of.”
“Oh, I’m capable of plenty!”
Gem throws an arm around Lizzie, who startles and squeaks. “Like what?”
“Like that, I guess,” she giggles. “Come on. Relax - it’s break time! I’m sure we can make great use of the time we’ve got left.”
“You know, most people use this time to - I dunno - go to the toilet?”
“I’m new! They can’t expect me to follow convention,” Gem says. “Besides, we’re outta here, like, this afternoon, right? It’s three hours.”
“Give or take.”
“Then I can hold it. And anyway, I think this is a much better use of my time.”
“If you say so,” Lizzie sighs. “Y’know - I have this weird feeling that somebody else here might not be too happy with me cosying up to you like this. Maybe it’s BigB.”
“I have no idea!”
“Yeah, me neither. I’m sure it’s fine, though. Memory blocks and all.”
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” says Gem, smiling, sly - and, apparently, her argument’s too good for Lizzie to refute.