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Gem tugged at the weeds that lay scattered around her barn, eyes and body heavy after a long day’s work of cleanup. The Finale was in a few days, and the least they could do was make the place somewhat presentable for the show.
That was her way of justifying it. Between her, the grass and the Listeners above, she was terrified. This was her distraction.
She wasn’t quite sure why she was terrified. She had no interest in winning these things, really. Maybe it was the lingering feelings from last winter’s dance, where a twisting blade of betrayal left her vision swimming in bronze. Maybe her chest was tight from the thought of watching her closest ally die before her, to her own hands.
Maybe she was nervous for that ally. Maybe she wanted him to win.
She’d seen his struggles, after all. Through her time hopping through the worlds these games reside in, she knew how desperately he wanted that win, even if he wasn’t hungry for it today.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the aforementioned ally cursing under his breath as he slammed into the dirt and grass below his car, likely from once again forgetting he no longer had those powers of his. She huffed a laugh, and pulled herself to her feet. She could sympathise with him there, her own body felt like it shouldn't be glued to the ground right now.
She carefully made her way over to him and helped pluck him off the ground, swiping at the grass that clung to his shirt with the back of her hand, “Don’t break a leg before the Finale, idiot.” She teased, which earned her an eyeroll and a huff in response.
Joel playfully shoved her off and straightened out his vest again, “It's not my fault these blummin’ powers left like half of us scrambled.”
This was true. Since the end of the seventh wildcard, almost everyone was left with lingering side effects from the powers temporarily gifted to them. Tango physically couldn’t keep himself in one place, Jimmy seemed to have issues with keeping himself in one piece, and Joel… well, can’t help but throw himself off high structures while under the assumption he can still leap through the air. Grian assured the effects would wear off before the Finale, but that didn’t make the leadup any less rough.
Still, they pushed forward. Gem stretched herself out, her body still heavy. “Yeah, well. I’d rather not have to see you be the first one out next session. That’d be kinda embarrassing.” she joked, kneeling down by his car to start making work of the weeds there instead. To her surprise, he joined her.
“Not happening. This time- this time it’s mine. The win, I mean.” He didn’t seem sure of himself, Gem noticed. She didn’t blame him, she didn’t know how much of past games he remembered but she sure as hell knew those built up feelings lurked somewhere, locked up in the back of his mind.
She cracked a smile, turned her head towards him with a laugh, “Of course it is. Look at how far we’ve come!”
Joel copied her laugh, tugging at the weeds that brushed his hand, “Don’t get sappy on me yet, we still have a few days for that.” He spoke with a slightly bigger hint of confidence. It didn’t take much to bring up his ego sometimes, but of course she meant it.
The next few hours were spent plucking weeds and bickering away as visitors came and went from their little central point within the world border. The Bamboozlers, more notably, came by for a few visits. Lizzie seemed rough, the voided ends of her hair flaring up from time to time from the side effects of her own power. Gem felt for her, taking her off to the side at one point to offer her comfort while the flares seemed to be at their worst. Lizzie leaned into the embrace, and Gem’s left eye ached.
Night approached fast, and all the factions eventually dispersed back to their own bases. Gem ended her day by feeding the surviving animals in the pen by her barn, waving a goodnight to Joel, and climbing up to the battered hayloft of her barn to settle.
Her body slumped hard into the makeshift bed and with it, her head spun. Her vision rolled like her head had fallen off her neck, and she found she couldn’t pry herself up from the ground again. Her world rotated around her, spiralling down into the abyss of unconsciousness, her eyes were open yet unfocused, awake but asleep all at once. She couldn’t tell if she was drifting off to the world of dreams, or if her mind was even really here at all.
The next day it rained, and Gem had a headache.
Her hair and clothes clung to her skin as she made her way over to Joel’s car, its owner clanging around inside the large structure. She couldn’t help but laugh at hearing the man once again cursing out, prompting her to climb inside.
“Stupid, stupid mobs!” Joel growled as he patched up a worn away gap found in the roof of the car, leaking in rain water as the sky dripped away. Gem guessed one of the mobs from the wildcard before had decided they also wanted a piece of Joel’s build.
She brushed her damp hair out of her face before tapping Joel’s leg and holding up some materials for him to use, “Good morning to you too.”
He seemed to flinch at the sudden contact, snapping his head down to look at her but immediately softening up after realising who was in his company. He hesitated, then reached for the materials offered to him, “Thanks. Can you help me check out the rest of the place for missing pieces?”
And so there their morning was spent, circling round their base, patching up any gaps in their builds while the sky poured onto them. Gem didn’t really mind the rain, the change in atmosphere was actually sort of refreshing to her, and it seemed like it was raising Joel's mood too.
With a devious smirk on her face, she kicked up a puddle in his direction. Joel let out a strange sounding yelp as the rainwater soaked into the sleeve it had landed on. He rolled his eyes playfully and so gracefully returned the gesture, almost slipping on his own feet in the process.
“Don’t get cocky, you know I’ll win this fight.” Gem teased, brushing her hair out of her face. Her stomach dropped suddenly, but paid it no mind. Her focus was locked on Joel, now circling around her.
“Oh, is that so?” he clapped back, suddenly rushing towards her with the clear intent of splashing her with the puddle near her. All it took was a simple side step and a foot sticking out to trip him in his tracks and cause him to tumble into the muddy water. Her laughter howled through the open air as the brunette plucked himself up from the ground again. No further words were spoken, and Gem relished in the silence of victory.
Eventually it got to the part in the day where they were in a struggle for things to do. Most of the others had opted to stay in their own bases for the day as the rain passed, which left Gem and Joel without the usual ragtag crew poking their heads into their base. Gem looked up at the ever darkening sky, not from the passage of time in the day but from the rain that grew heavier. Still, the duo remained outside.
As they walked around the perimeter of the base, they talked about all that had happened so far and what was still to come. The thought of what could possibly have been conjured up for the big Finale of the games left the air around the two hanging heavy, but neither seemed to want to address it today. Instead, Gem listened to Joel talk about- well, to her it sounded like nonsense, but she listened all the same. Her head still pounded, but she was enjoying the break from talking on her part.
She noticed Joel was starting to get a few paces ahead of her, and realised her own footsteps had started to slow down. Still, she hummed in acknowledgment to whatever Joel was talking about- she couldn’t… quite place the words he was saying. Her steps felt heavy against the waterlogged mud clinging to her shoes, and each step felt more and more like she was dragging herself along.
Eventually she felt herself draw to a stop. The static of the rain before her made her vision swim, the moving pixels pulling her away from the world that sat before her. She heard something muffled, her name, maybe, as her world began to spin.
She felt a weight around her shoulders that suddenly seemed to pry her up into the sky, plucked from her own body while her vision still swam in static. Nothing- she couldn't see anything, hear anything, yet there she sat unfazed as the world spun around her. She couldn't find a name for this feeling, or find any sort of familiar memory to cling onto, so her mind continued to soar. Was it peaceful?
It was quiet.
She couldn't tell if she was still here, really.
For a few, quiet, dizzying moments it was just Gem and the static that flew in front of her eyes. The green of the grass and the odd texture of the mud had vanished, the barn and the car were just shapes. Shapes, simple and flat that made up each piece of a puzzle. Her eyes didn’t avert to pay them any mind, but she felt like they were there. Her eyes didn’t really move at all.
And it was quiet.
After a few, quiet and empty moments, slowly she realised she wasn’t in the sky at all. Quite the opposite, actually. The sound of static began to quiet down, and the dead pixels before her eyes began to morph back into comprehensible shapes. Rather than being up there in the void of nothing, she found herself in the lap of… Joel. Of course. Where her arms hung limp and heavy, his were wrapped tightly around her form, chin resting against her head as she lay against him. Rain fell around them still, making Gem’s hair stick to her like glue. They hadn’t moved from the same spot as before.
She slowly moved her arms to return the embrace, and realised the static seemed to project itself onto her physical form. Joel almost gasped at the movement, loosening his grip on her like he was suddenly scared of breaking her.
“Gem?” He asked carefully, his voice still muffled to her ears. Still, she gave a small nod of recognition, and felt herself melt into his embrace. She didn’t realise how cold it really was until it was picking at her skin.
“..’m okay.” She mumbled in response, which undoubtedly didn’t satisfy the brunette. She felt herself begin to lift up to the sky once again, in which she clung slightly tighter to her companion in response. Joel let out a quiet, shaky sigh.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you. We’re getting out of this rain.” He stated, and began to carry her off in the direction of the barn.
Before long she felt herself getting lowered down onto a bed, and she released one arm from clinging onto Joel to rub at her eyes. Despite the rain, they felt dry. How long had she had them open for..?
Realising she wasn’t letting go with her other arm (god she felt so- pathetic like this), Joel slowly sat down to join her on the bed. He breathed out a sigh, not meeting her eyes.
“You- it was like you were using your power all over again. Eyes all wide and spaced out,” he began. Gem pushed herself to sit up again as he spoke; her headache still remained, she noted.
Eventually he turned to look at her, worry evident in his eyes, “Is that the first time that’s happened?”
Gem carefully shook her head, “Not really. It’s been mostly happening at night, so I can catch it. I guess it just decided to be different today.” She let out a weak laugh, leaning against his shoulder. She felt him wrap his arm around her again, “Blummin’ powers, as you’d say.”
Joel copied the laugh, rubbing the rest of the worry out of his eyes. He didn’t say anything else on the matter, and Gem didn’t feel like he needed to.
A few more days until the Finale.
A few more days until it all blows over.