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Wels hummed softly, gentle hands undoing her braid behind her. He closed his eyes peacefully and he could almost see Pearl’s face perfectly even though she was sitting behind him. The two of them were sitting in the center of Wels's base, the sun setting over them making everything glow with a warm tint.
They had just had dinner and it was perfect if you asked Wels. Pearl brought over some food that smelled amazing and they had a picnic, talking about various projects and latest builds. Pearl spoke a lot about the mail system and how much of a pain in the ass Tango and Etho could be though she loved them both dearly, Wels chuckled in response.
“Aren't you gonna take off your armour, mate?” Pearl had asked him with an amused yet confused smile, which made Wels remember he had it on and in turn made him feel a lot more uncomfortable as he could feel every piece of chainmail and iron that dug into his skin. Though it wasn't always a problem due to the layers of fabric he had underneath, after a long day like the one she had that day, it ended up feeling like it was digging into her skin and weighing her down.
Wels gave a nod and a smile, Pearl smiling in return and putting her hand in his, he squeezed it gently. “Can you help?” He asked, voice quiet. Pearl nodded with a smile, gesturing for him to turn around as she got to work on loosening the straps of his chestplate while he took off his gauntlets.
Her helmet was taken off last, the armour laid out neatly on the picnic blanket they were just sitting on a couple of minutes ago since Pearl knew how much Wels cared about it and would die if she saw a single mark from the grass on it.
They opted for sitting on the grass instead, Pearl raising an eyebrow at the sight of Wels's hair without the helmet.
“Is it really that bad?” He asked her with a nervous chuckle, Pearl frowned in dramatic disappointment and nodded, leaning forward and sitting up to fix his bangs.
“Hair everywhere I tell you… I bet your braid's an absolute mess, Wels.” She said as she fixed a strand that was behind his ear to be in front, framing his face neatly.
Wels laughed softly in reply, giving a closed and crooked smile. “I'm sure you've seen worse.” He joked, Pearl let out a long drawn out sigh as she moved around to sit behind Wels, speaking as she moved.
“Void, you have no idea! Y'know the whole Mooners thing the rest of Boatem was doing in season 8 somehow meant no showering too, they were filthy I tell you.” She joked with a laugh, pushing down loose strands of hair as she did so.
Wels laughed along, melting into her touch as she closed her eyes with a soft hum in reply, encouraging Pearl to continue speaking.
She could feel Pearl’s fingers trailing down her braid, about to remove the tie at the end but pausing.
“You don't mind if I redo your braid, right? And if so, how do you feel about French braids…” The brunette trailed off with a hum.
Wels shrugged, “I don't mind.” She replied, opening her eyes to try and glance behind herself to see Pearl, though failing.
Pearl let out a hum of delight, removing the tie and putting it around her wrist as she got to work on undoing his braid which led them to the present moment.
Pearl’s hands worked quickly yet carefully, not pulling as she undid the braid that Wels had done quickly that morning.
She finished undoing the braids, her fingers combing through his long hair making him relax even more than he was already.
It was peaceful, the two of them sitting in the grass, surrounded by the walls of Wels's castle. She couldn't ask for anything more or less. Her hair slowly being braided by her partner, someone she not quite loved in the way one would think.
Wels could remember when he thought he loved her, romance was normal on Hermitcraft, so he thought it was something he had to experience and that it was weird of him to not understand it properly. Even when he asked Jevin, it was still such a foreign concept to him.
She could remember talking to Pearl, she told herself that she was in love with Pearl, because wanting to be around Pearl a lot and wanting to hold hands meant love, right? He didn't want anything more though, maybe a few other things but kissing and anything physical besides hugging felt weird and wrong. The thought of kissing someone made Wels's skin crawl, even when he thought of kissing Pearl. But she was still in love, right?
He can easily recall the way he showed up to her base with a bouquet of blue and white flowers, telling her “I think I'm in love with you.” with as much confidence as he could manage. He heard that's one thing people did, and he and Pearl both like flowers so it was perfect.
Wels remembers the way the brunette took the bouquet, looking at it and then looking at Wels with a smile. She asked what he meant by “He thinks he's in love with her.” and he explained everything. The way love was confusing to him and that everytime he thought of doing more than hanging out and maybe holding hands made him feel wrong.
Pearl listened to it all, she told him about how she'd love to try something out with him, then she explained something called a queerplatonic relationship. That sounded nice, that sounded something like what he wanted.
They never officially told the Hermits about their relationship, some caught on when they'd be seen together so frequently. Few asked if they were dating, to which they'd glanced at each other and Pearl would simply smile in response and say, “Something like that.” Then they’d go back to whatever they were doing.
Wels remembered when he had tried to cut his bangs with his sword, ending in him showing up at Pearl’s place with a cut on his palm, a nick on his forehead and a chunk of his bangs uneven and missing. Pearl had laughed, but it didn't feel like she was laughing at him. It felt like she was laughing at the situation, which she was. Her partner showing up at her house mildly injured with a bad haircut? If it was the other way around Wels would've laughed too. She invited him inside, hand in hand as she used a pair of shears to give him a proper haircut.
He remembers the feelings of Pearl’s hugs. After a long day of building when she'd show up at his castle and hug him by surprise, on the brink of sleep. She'd insist on sticking around, watching him build. He'd stop everything he was doing to get her to at least sit down if she wasn't going to sleep.
One night, Wels wasn't able to sleep. A lingering fear of sleeping and not waking up for months kept his eyes wide open. He didn't want to tell Pearl at first, the only person that knew about his occasional fear was Xisuma.
Though he didn't want to, he sent Pearl two messages, one asking if she was awake and another asking if she could come over. She heard rockets near her base about 20 minutes later, and a familiar face walked into his room with a look of concern. They hugged, Pearl sitting across him on the bed as he explained his struggle with sleeping and the time in season 6 where he woke up alone. Pearl wasn't there, she never knew about it, but she understood completely. She promised to wake him up when she woke up, to make sure that he wouldn't sleep for that long again. He woke up early that day, Pearl still asleep at his side.
Wels was brought back to reality when he heard a hum behind him and the feeling of a hair tie being wrapped around the end of a second braid. Pearl must’ve been braiding fast if she managed to finish them both in that time… or Wels was zoning out for a while.
“Done!” Pearl said after making a few finishing touches, scooching to be in front of the knight again. “If I had a mirror I’d show you them, so we’ll just have to wait to see them.” She said, sounding proud of herself as she adjusted Wels’s bangs again.
Wels gave her a warm, closed smile, the corners of his eyes wrinkling slightly. “I bet they look great.” She replied, confidence in her tone though she spoke softly.
He knew Pearl was good at braiding, he had let her do his hair once in the past, this time was different though considering she did French braids instead of regular braids. But judging by Pearl’s tone, she could tell they turned out nicely.
Pearl smiled at him and he let out a small content sigh, holding her hands in his. Her gaze trailed away, looking around the interior of the castle.
“Have you ever considered putting sunflowers in your base?” She asked him with a hum. Wels shrugged, the brunette continued to speak.
“I think some even just outside around the shore could look nice.” She said, letting go of Wels’s hands so she could continue to adjust his bangs.
Wels laughed softly at the action, the feeling of his own hair moving around so much on his face making him slightly ticklish.
“Maybe I will.” She replied with a warm, closed smile.
No words could express Pearl’s excitement at the sight of sunflowers when she came to visit the next day.