Chapter Text
“I don’t have friends, Gem, I have family,” Joel says with a smirk, leaning on his pickaxe that was propped on the grass.
“Oh really? And what does that entail, Joel,” Gem replies playfully. She wanted to see where Joel was going to take this bit.
“Well, it means if we are going to team, you have to be part of the family,” he says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, picking up his pickaxe and swinging it to set over his shoulder. Gem couldn’t tell if he was trying to be intimidating or if it was just casual movement. Not that he could do much to her with a pickaxe, she could fight off much worse than that.
She giggles in response as she says, “Okay then, Joel, we can be family if you really want.”
A grin spreads on Joel’s face as he puts his pickaxe into his inventory and walks over to Gem, clasping her hand in his. “Great!” he exclaims, pulling her into a quick hug.
~~~~~
“Hey Joel, calm down, it’s okay,” Gem says reassuringly, grabbing the man’s shoulder gently.
Joel lets out a loud huff and frowns at the ground. “I’m gonna go take a break Gem, this is too much,” he replies angrily, shrugging off her hand and strutting away from their base and the guests visiting.
Once Joel leaves the vicinity of their base Gem swings her attention over to the guests. “You’re doing that on purpose!” she growls out, still trying to keep some of her composure.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Martyn says innocently with wide eyes. Clearly he was lying, though.
“You know exactly what I mean! You keep trying to rile him up!” she says as she presses towards Martyn, stabbing a finger at his chest.
Martyn sputters and fumbles backwards from Gem’s intimidating figure before he regains his footing. “Well he makes it quite easy, doesn’t he?” he laughs out.
Before Gem can say anything in retort, Impulse adds in, “Gem, I know you haven’t been here long, but he kind of has a history of being just a super angry dude, like, all the time.”
Gem flips her poisonous gaze over to Impulse at this, his face cringing when seeing the frustration falling off of Gem in fumes practically.
“You! Impulse, I thought you were better than this. You’re riling him up almost just as much as Martyn. We’ve told you multiple times we did not steal your cows, and yet you are still here pointing fingers!” she shouts as she gestures wildly.
“Gem, he has a history of stealing cows. You can’t blame me for not really believing him,” Impulse reasons.
Gem just shakes her head in exasperation, losing her anger quickly as she backs off. She takes a few paces away from the others and takes a deep breath. “Please, guys. Just give him a chance. He’s not always a bad guy. I feel like you’re trying to make him out to be one before he’s even done anything.”
Martyn and Impulse look back at her silently as she waits for a response. None come, Impulse just gives a shrug when she looks at him expectantly.
“Come on Impulse, let’s give them some space,” Scott says from behind Impulse, watching all this go down. Gem gives a grateful nod to Scott as the two wander off back in the direction of their new base.
“You scram too, Martyn. Before you cause any more trouble. Although I don’t need to have been here long to know you’ll make trouble either way,” she says with a smirk, shooing Martyn away.
“Ha! See you around, Gem!” Martyn lets out, laughing while starting to walk away backwards. He spins around then and starts to jog back over to where Gem presumes Ren and him are staying.
Gem lets out a sigh of relief and walks over to their grassy patch of flowers. She lays down in the soft field, digging her hand lightly into the dirt under her. She closes her eyes for only a moment, seeping in the fresh air and beauty of the nature around her. Nature always made her feel a bit more calm. Guess it was the cottagecore lover in her.
She doesn’t know how long she lays there, hopefully not too long, when a shadow is cast across her face, blocking the sun. Gem opens her eyes to see Joel towering over her, watching.
“Seems our company has left,” he says with a small smile.
“Thankfully! Now we can get back to our peace,” she responds, laughing. She’s about to sit up when Joel holds out a hand in pause.
“Wait, let me join you for a sec. This flower field does seem pretty chill.” Joel lays down a bit away from her in the flower field. She hears him take a deep breath as he settles down.
“You feelin’ any better?” Gem asks.
“Oh yeah, loads better. You know, just gotta reign in the ol’ temper of mine. Don’t want to start the new season with making enemies,” he lets out with a laugh. “You okay too?” he adds on.
A smirk creeps up Gem’s face as she rolls her eyes. “Yeah, just had to shoo away the bothersome people. Knocked some sense into them too, hopefully, metaphorically speaking of course. I’m sure it’ll be fine, though,” she says.
A nice silence follows for a few minutes. As the sun begins to set and the two sit up from where they were, ready to prepare for the night.
“Thanks, Gem,” Joel says with a small smile as they head back to their temporary shelter. She nods in reply. She didn’t know how much of the conversation Joel had heard from before, but either way, she would be there to help if she could. That’s what allies do. What friends do, or in Joel’s case, what family does.