Work Text:
When Pearl asked Lizzie to fill in for her, she hadn't expected to feel so nervous. She'd been in one of these games before, but for some reason it was a lot more nerve-racking to play for someone else.
She tugged the brown wig into place, sighing as she put on a smile when BigB entered the tower to talk to her.
This was going to be a long session.
🩷💜🩷💜
Gem grinned, laughing as Scar and Bdubs ran from a skeleton. Being their "mother" was proving to be more fun than she imagined it would be when Cleo asked her to fill in for her this week. She glanced down at her arm, where some green paint had began to fade. She scrubbed away to fill the spot back in and sighed in relief once she had it looking normal again.
Across the way, she spotted Pearl, her best friend in another server. Only, she wasn't acting like her usual self?
That's when Gem noticed it. A slip of pink beneath brown hair.
Lizzie.
Her heart skipped as the name crossed her thoughts. But it couldn't be Lizzie, right? What were the odds that Pearl and Lizzie swapped the same week Cleo and Gem did?
She shook her head, returning her gaze to the boys vying for her attention with a tight smile.
💜🩷💜🩷
Lizzie stared in shock at the girl before her, watching as "Cleo" used her wrist to swipe some blue-green from her face to reveal human skin in its place.
She felt a laugh bubble up in her chest, relieved yet anxious. Why was Gem here? Why were either of them here? The last thing she wanted was for Gem to get hurt, or to cause Pearl any harm while taking her place.
Why did she agree to this, again?
"What are we even doing here?" Gem asked with a quiet giggle, and Lizzie felt her cheeks heat slightly at the sound.
"I have no idea." She answered with a grin, pulling Pearl's spare cloak further around herself to try to mask the tint in her cheeks.
Gem stepped closer, and Lizzie felt her heart race when the other girl reached out and brushed a hand against her cheek.
"Your wig." She whispered with a wink, and Lizzie wondered if Pearl could die from her heart stopping. Gem quickly readjusted the brown over Lizzie's pink hair, tucking it with care behind her ear before stepping away without the pink haired girl ever looking away.
"Thank you." Lizzie nodded, then reached out hesitantly to rest her fingertips against Gem's cheek. "Let me fix your paint." She offered, watching Gem smile and close her eyes.
Lizzie hesitated a moment, admiring the other girl's face from up close before gently wiping the paint back into place where it had clumped and smudged together during Gem's reveal. Once she was finished, she kept her hand against Gem's jaw gently, unable to make herself pull away just yet.
"Looks… Looks good." She whispered.
Gem blinked her eyes open, and Lizzie swore she could see her cheeks change color beneath the green. "Thanks." She whispered back, earning a grin from the pink haired girl.
"What's going on in here?" Scott's voice called, Lizzie jerking away and craning her neck up to see her friend watching them with an amused smirk.
"Scott!" Gem called out in a warning, hand hovering over the hilt of her axe.
"Careful, Cleo, we're allies, aren't we?" Scott teased with a chuckle before disappearing from the hole in the wall he'd created.
Lizzie cast one more glance to Gem before sneaking out of the Clockers tower, ignoring Bdubs shouting about "Cleo" letting their prisoner escape.
🩷💜🩷💜
Seeing Pearl's name come up with Jimmy's in chat made Gem tense. Lizzie had died, which meant Pearl was down an hour. How many did they have left? Would she lose Lizzie before the session was over?
"Pearl! Pearl, what happened?" Gem asked as soon as the girl was in sight. She watched Lizzie look around before making her way over, moving with a limp from the fall she'd just taken. Gem knew the pain would fade soon after respawning, but it still hurt to see her injured like that.
"Grian pressed the blummin' button's what happened!" She huffed in annoyance, shifting the wig that'd come loose upon impact.
Gem sighed and fixed it in place for her before holding Lizzie's face in her hands. "You've got to be more careful." She scolded quietly, pulling her in for a hug as gently as she could.
She sighed softly when she felt Lizzie's arms circle her back in return, holding her just a moment longer before letting go to grab her by the shoulders instead. "Don't get hurt again." She said with a frown, watching Lizzie look away sadly and nod.
"Okay. I won't." She promised.
Gem would just have to hope she could keep it.
💜🩷💜🩷
Lizzie gasped, eyes wide as she read the chat in horror.
Cleo exploded. Gem exploded.
She made a quick excuse for herself before racing off towards the Clocker tower, flying into the building just as Gem respawned, coughing up a bit of gunpowder smoke.
"Cleo!" She called out, just in case anyone was listening in. "Are you okay?" She asked, stepping closer cautiously before resting a hand on the girl's lower back for support.
Gem smiled shakily. "I'm fine, I'll walk it off." She shrugged, letting out a sigh as she brushed back some singed hairs. They'd return to their normal state soon, but Lizzie still hated to see Gem in such bad shape.
"Your paint." Lizzie noticed, glancing her over to see more than a few splotches had come off in the blast.
Gem frowned as she glanced down and let out a frustrated whine. "Seriously? I just touched it up!" She said, grumbling incoherently as she staggered over to a chest hidden in the ground to pull out some more body paint with shaking hands.
"Hold on, I'll get it." Lizzie offered, taking the can and applicator from Gem while her friend sat down on a bit of cobblestone. She worked carefully, even after Gem's injuries faded away, until there was no noticeable Gem beneath the Cleo disguise.
"Thanks." Gem said, rotating her arms a bit to inspect them herself while Lizzie watched.
"No problem." Lizzie said, handing the supplies back to the other girl for Gem to put away. She lingered for a moment, nervously tugging at the hood of Pearl's cloak as she watched Gem mutter to herself. "Gem?" She called out at last.
Gem looked up at the sound of her name. "Yeah, Lizzie?" She responded.
"I just-" Lizzie paused, shaking her head to restart her spoken thought. "Be safe."
Gem smiled. "You too."
Lizzie smiled back before turning to leave.
🩷💜🩷💜
Gem sighed in relief as Cleo appeared at their secret meeting point, scrubbing the last of her paint away as her friend apologized for the inconvenience.
Gem smiled and waved as she watched Cleo jog over to her tower, sighing as she turned to leave before spotting something just across the way.
Pearl. Or, she could only assume it was Pearl, since her cloak was down and she couldn't spot any hints of pink among the brown in her hair.
That's when she noticed another "Pearl" nearby.
Lizzie.
Gem watched, sneaking closer as she faintly heard the two trade words before Pearl hugged Lizzie and raced off to take her place in the Nosy Neighbor tower to await next week's session.
"Lizzie." She called out once the real Pearl was out of sight, startling her friend until she turned around to see Gem was alone and that they hadn't been caught.
"How was your session?" She asked, hoping for just a few more moments with the other girl before they'd have to leave the server for good.
"Joel caught me, of course, but I think he was the only one." Lizzie admitted, rubbing her neck with a sheepish grin.
Gem giggled. "I think Etho caught on when I kicked his butt, too." She said, delighted at the pretty laugh Lizzie let out.
"I'm glad I wasn't alone in this." Lizzie said softly, cheeks slightly red as she looked up at Gem from her head tilted towards the ground.
"Me too. I'm glad you were with me." Gem said, stepping closer as she heard a chime signaling the server would close for the week soon.
"I guess that's time." Lizzie mumbled, stepping to Gem's side as she looked up as if searching for the source of the warning chime.
"Yeah…" Gem muttered. "Lizzie?" She called, waiting for her friend to face her. "Do you think we'll meet here again?" She wondered, something she'd thought about all day.
Lizzie held her gaze for a moment before responding. "I don't know. But I hope so." She said softly.
Gem opened her mouth to speak, only to be instantly silenced by the press of Lizzie's lips to her cheek.
"S- See you around?" Lizzie said with a nervous smile, logging off before Gem could even respond.
"Yeah… See you…" She muttered to no one, cheeks flushed red. She smiled, logging off for the night to dream of a day where she and Lizzie could meet again in the Life series.
Impossible, right? At least she could dream.