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Pearl sat on her bed in the small, cake-shaped base she shared with Cleo, Scott, and Impulse.
She breathed heavily, trying to calm herself down.
She could still feel tears edging the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks.
She didn’t know why, but she felt so… alone. Empty. And it wasn’t like she didn’t have allies, either—she had Scott and Cleo and Impulse. Sure, Impulse had been in the mines for a long while and Pearl didn’t have the best history with Scott or Cleo, but… it was like there was a hole in her heart that couldn’t be filled by just an ally.
Only by a real friend.
And she didn’t seem to have many friends right now. No one seemed to really like her, to be perfectly honest.
And, of course, it wasn’t like she never tried. Pearl attempted to befriend the Spanners, but they weren’t exactly the most loyal faction. She then had tried to be open to Ren and Martyn, but, sheesh… that went horribly wrong when Martyn took the lives of the wolf hybrid’s allies. She was so upset with him, in fact, that she sacrificed herself to kill him for the sake of revenge.
She shuttered at the memory.
And the Bamboozlers… were complicated. But she didn’t think that she’d find a friend there.
She tried not to let her mind race back to the Family (aka, Joel and Gem). She knew that it would only hurt her worse to think about her ex-best friend…
Well, it was too late to stop herself from thinking about that situation.
Pearl already had tears streaming down her face.
That was the ‘hole’. That was the gap in her heart she missed so badly.
It was Gem.
Pearl heard footsteps. She quickly wiped her tears away.
“Pearl?”
Cleo stood at the open doorway, leaning in to see the still-sobbing wolf hybrid sat on her bed.
Pearl half-smiled nervously, slightly embarrassed to be caught like this.
“Are you… okay?” Cleo sputtered.
Pearl looked away. “Yeah, sure, of course I’m okay!” She replied, voice thick with sarcasm.
She didn’t mean to sound rude, but… the last time Cleo had witnessed Pearl cry… she probably was the reason Pearl was crying.
Cleo put her hand on the back of her neck awkwardly. “Yeah. So… uhm, what’s wrong… you don’t have to tell me, I…”
Cleo cut herself off after a moment.
Pearl chuckled to herself softly. “I’ll be fine, Cleo,” she murmured, trying to make her tone seem less angry.
Cleo huffed. “You don’t look it.”
Pearl narrowed her eyes in annoyance. “Yeah, well, I’m sobbing on my bed about how cruel this world is, of course I don’t look it.”
Cleo blinked, a grin tugging at her lips. “Do you want some tissues?”
Pearl smiled halfheartedly. “Nah, I’ve got sleeves for that.”
Pearl and Cleo both stood in silence for a moment. An uncomfortable silence, too.
“Is there… ugh… something I can do to… help?” Cleo choked out at last, as if the thought of comforting her frenamy made her a bit uneasy.
Pearl shook her head. “You’re good, Cleo.” She assured, although the tears echoing her voice said otherwise.
Cleo raised an eyebrow, frowning. “No, no, you’re still upset, Pearl. Don’t lie to me. Allies don’t lie to one another,”
Pearl rolled her eyes playfully. “Do you ever stop gaslighting people,” she groaned, smiling.
Cleo laughed her usual, maniacal chuckle, but her smile faded when she realized that Pearl was still hurting.
Pearl wished that she could reassure Cleo that she would be fine, but that’d be a lie—at least, in Cleo’s book.
The truth was, she still grieved over Gem. She tried so hard… and was still trying, actually, to do whatever she could to get her best friend back.
But Gem was so difficult! And if she didn’t want Pearl back, what even was the point?
“You’re—like, sad again…” Cleo muttered.
Pearl knew that if she replied, she would have probably sounded sarcastic or rude. So she kept her mouth shut, despite wanting so badly to take her anger out on Cleo. She knew that would be wrong; Cleo hadn’t done anything this Life to hurt her.
The wolf hybrid simply looked away.
“You look betrayed, Pearl.” Cleo whispered.
Slowly, she walked over to the wolf hybrid and sat down beside her uncomfortably.
The zombie hybrid just stared into the abyss.
Pearl smiled. “Wow, Cleo, you’re so soft,” Pearl exaggerated jokingly.
Cleo growled under her breath.
“Does it hurt you that much to be within a foot of me?” Pearl smirked, not taking any real offense.
Cleo roughly grabbed Pearl’s hand, trying to show her comfort in some way or another.
Pearl startled at how cold it was.
“Better?” Cleo spat.
Pearl giggled to herself. “Better,” she affirmed.
After a moment, Cleo sighed softly in defeat. “Come here,” she muttered, wrapping her arm around Pearl.
Pearl couldn’t hide her surprise, and didn’t exactly feel comfortable being this close to someone who was once her worst enemy.
Alas, she was too depressed and exhausted to argue. She hadn’t slept in days, and Cleo’s embrace seemed sincere.
She let her head fall on Cleo’s shoulder as her few tears quickly became a gentle sob of both fear and relief.
”Oh, don’t cry,“ Cleo whispered, the abrasiveness of her tone lessening.
”You do know, I can and will burn down Joel’s whole base for you, if that makes you feel any better.” She added.
Pearl sniffed, smiling again. “Thanks, Cleo.” She murmured, her tail wagging loosely behind her.
”Yeah, yeah.” Cleo looked away awkwardly.
“Now, just stop being lonely.” Cleo commanded, as if it was that simple.
“Uh—o-okay,” Pearl stuttered.
Cleo went dead silent once more.
Honestly, Pearl did feel a bit better. Cleo’s disgust of affection contradicting her desire to console the wolf hybrid was kind of amusing.
“You can let go now,” Pearl whispered, sparing Cleo from having to support her any longer.
“Yep,” Cleo mumbled, standing up.
It wasn’t too easy to tell, but the zombie hybrid was blushing ever so slightly.
“I really am all good, Cleo.” Pearl laughed heartily.
“Great,” Cleo sighed, seemingly relieved.
Pearl shook her head at her friend, smiling.
“I’m going to go help Scott,” Cleo reported.
Pearl nodded. “Have fun,” she sniffed.
Surprisingly, Cleo had helped. A lot.
Pearl stretched, getting ready to get back to building.