Chapter Text
Gems ginger head was titled down towards her Jean covered leg, a familiar green notebook rested on the knee she stared at. A pen could be felt between two fingers as she bounced it back and forth.
“Still struggling to find writing ideas?” The ring of a familiar voice questioned, Gem’s gaze left the paper in front of her and rose to face the familiar brunette, Pearl, as she sat herself crossed legged next to Gem
“ -...yeah im starting to believe I've got writer's block or something” sighed gem as words of disappointment left her lips
“Maybe you should take a break then” as the suggestion left Pearl's throat, Gem could be seen quickly shaking her head, a few ginger curls falling to a place in front of her face.
“I promised my followers I'd get something out new out every month”
“Gem they'd understand if you di-”
“Pearl! I don't want to take a break.” Gem snapped out an interruption, unintended frustration heard at the tips and edges of her voice. “Sorry I didn't mean to snap," Gem added on the sheepish apology with an unapologetically pathetic and weak smile.
“No it's fine- I'm just worried about you, if your stressing yourself out and all”
“Pearl- …if I was like- properly and actually stressed I'd take that break.- so don't worry about me”
“Mm okay” Pearl hummed quietly, soon getting wrapped and entangled into thoughts kept to herself at the time.
The two briefly fell into a comfortable silence, Gem went back to grasping at thoughts and brainstorming, Pearl focused on her roaming thoughts before she felt herself suddenly gasp out an interruption to the quiet.
“Gem, maybe it's not writer's block- maybe you just don't have any inspiration! Maybe your uninspired” her face filled with a bright smile
“Oh…yeah- why didn't i think of that” Gem mumbled in response
“So all you need is inspiration right” Pearl beamed her smile somehow growing - brighter? As the excited words left her mouth
“And how do you suppose we do that?’ Light-hearted chuckles left the ginger's throat
“Um good-” a quick buzz from her phone was softly heard, and Pearl's head immediately shot down to the phone she slipped up into her hand.
“Who's that?” Gem smiled, her words escaping her throat in a sing song tone
“Grian” Pearl sighed out, her head shaking as she spoke “What does he want?” Gem questioned, the tips of her ginger eyebrows lifting In curiosity
“Crush advice” Pearl lifted her blue eyes up from her phone's screen and down to gem's face.
“And he went to you?” “I'm the only one who knows about his cru-” Pearl cut herself off with an awkward cough and eventually a rough laugh could be heard emerging from her throat, presumably at Pearl's earlier mess up.
“I was the only one who knew about his crush” The correction left her lips as her smile continued to grow, her blue, almost sky coloured eyes rolling to the roof and then back to the face to the ginger in front of her.
“Guess I'm not anymore,” she added in through another light-hearted chuckle.
“is there any chance I can catch her name” Gem nudged her brunette friend softly and slyly
Pearl lifted her hand over gems and danced the black inked pen from gems hand to her own, using it to tap the ginger's nose as the correction left her throat “his name”
“- and no- grians already going to kill me now that you know, I can't imagine having to break it to him you also know who”
“he would not be happy” Gem hummed out her words of agreement with a tiny, quick and small chuckle.
“- wait you said that he likes a guy?” Gem looked at Pearl with a curious look - a spark seemingly brewing in her emerald striking eye - a glint in the ginger's eye that Pearl couldn't quite figure out what Gem was thinking.
“yeah - why?’ the previous vibrant smile Pearl held on her face faltered and was replaced by a face full of confusion and maybe a slight bit of curiosity.
As if Pearl's words of confirmation was a cue, switching in a bright vibrant light bulb in Gems brain, Gem short stature removed itself from her cross legged sit on the ground and quickly shot herself up. “I have an idea!” The smile that filled Gem's face was bright and confident - and Pearl couldn't have been more confused as she scurried her hand down to the ground to find the book and pen Gem dropped.
"And that would be?” Pearl raised a brunette coloured eyebrow at Gem as she left her spot on the library's floor.
“i'll explain soon- my place- give me like an hour” Gem turned to face Pearl and the ginger almost immediately and instantly swiped the notebook and pen from Pearl's grasp.
“Wh- okay?”’ Pearl felt as if she was almost in awe at the new perky and sharp ginger walking away from Pearl with a new found determination in her striking steps.
Hand placed on the wooden door to Gem's room, Pearl pushed it wide open and batted confused eyelashes at the sight before her. Gem stood in front of a corkboard that Pearl couldn't quite see, Gem's short stature facing the opposite direction to Pearl, she covered up most of the corkboard, her ginger hair tied up in a messy bun on top of her head. From what Pearl could see at a glance from her place at the door, pictures of two blokes and a brunette were connected to - whatever picture sat in the middle of the board. After hearing the door creek open, Gem whipped her body around to face Pearl, a few pictures Pearl couldn't quite see were held in Gems two gentle hands
“Hi” Gem smiled, her smile so undoubtedly shining proud of herself.
“Hey” Pearl closed the wooden door behind her as she walked further behind her as she walked further into Gem's room, her blue eyes glancing over and around Gem's room.
“- Okay, Uh- you know how like- I need inspiration” Gem tried to remind her brunette best friend and reboot Pearl's memory - who didn't particularly need a reminder. “Yeah I was the one who said you mi-”
“Okay yeah” Gem interrupted with a sharp nod of ginger locks “so - this might sound - weird” Gem continued, slow steps approaching Pearl.
“- Grian has a crush right- on a dude.”
“Yeah?” “Well- if I can find out who he likes mayb-” “Gem you know I can't tell you who is its” eyes lingering down to Gem - who was now stood in front of Pearl - Pearl crossed her arms to her chest
“No I know- thats- I'll get to that” Gem stammered out interruptions to herself - her tone still full of that spark of joy
“- so if I find out - maybe I could write something about how the two go together-”
“But they aren't together?” brown eyebrows could be seen scrunching in and burying in Pearl's face, the tall brunette skeptical and confused.
“Wait, you're gonna write about real people?”
“Well - why not? People write about real events all the time” “Gem's there's no real events to write about they aren't together!”
“- Yet! - Once I know grians crush I can set them up!” Blue eyes following gems movement, the short girl could be seen pacing as she excitedly explained her plan/idea.
“- and once they're together I'll write about how it happened- how I set them up! Whoever he likes technically they would count as yaoi so” Once the ginger had finished her explanation mixed rant she froze, putting a stole to Gem's pace and turned her body back to face pearl with a massive, adorable dorky grin, clearly proud of herself - and while Pearl was probably the most confused she's ever been, she couldn't help but also be mildly intrigued- and gems smile - who could say no to gems smile.
“and how are you going to do that - any of it” the smile that crept up on Pearl's face couldn't be hidden, even with the sigh that left her throat, she still, unfortunately found the ginger cute and weirdly charming.
“That's what I need to figure out- I didn't think about it much” “then why did you need an hour?”, Gem left her freeze to approach the gingers bed, slumping her body down onto her green blankets
“to try to figure out the crush…”
“And did you?’ As opposed to Gem practically attacking her bed with a “flounch" onto her light/pastel green sheets, Pearl made sure she was more careful when she placed herself next to Gem.
“uh…no” gem admitted with a sheepish flash of a smile. Pearl felt her blue eyes drifting to the corkboard previously covered by Gem's body “Is that what the corkboards for?’ Pearl smiled, finally being able to make out the pictures Gem put up.
Grians photo sat/was put up in the middle and currently had lines connected to the 3 other pictures put up. The brunette Pearl saw from the door earlier was Scar, grians best friend, one of the blondes with Jimmy and the other was Martyn.
“yeah uh- those arent- all the pictures, ive got like- Bigb, Mumbo, Etho-”
“Do you just have pictures of all our male friends?”
“No! - I don't have-.. Joel! - Cause you know he's straight..” “Joel being straight wouldn't stop people from liking him”
“does grian like like Joel?” “no’
“yeah thought so”
“So how does this work- how are you going to figure it out”
“Okay firstly- I'll put up any potentials on the board - and over the next few weeks and I eventually gather hints and clues, I'll take down any photos that don't fit the clues” Gem explained.
“Right so what- you're gonna like stalk grian or something?’ Pearl chuckled at her joke - well half joke, there was a part of Pearl that was curious what Gem meant by “gather clues and hints”
“No, I'm just gonna hang out with him like a normal person.”
“What if he's busy” “Pearl if he's busy- he'll probably tell me what he's busy with- and maybe who he's with…you know…maybe who he's ditching me for is a hint”
“Right okay that might make sense”
“- plus if it's confirmed to be a guy that's when I stalk him!” “Gem seriously..?’
“I'll try avoid it I really will - but Pearl if you're not willing to tell me I have to find a way to figure it out myself” Pearl could be seen briefly glancing Gem a look of - bewilderment? Gem wasn't quite sure - before softly shaking her brunette locks ‘I'm not going to convince you not to am i”
“No’ “great.’
Gem placed a hand down reaching to the end of her jeans, cuffing them up with a smile. Straightening her stance and glancing in the mirror, Gem examined her outfit's reflection, ditching her usual overalls. Gem wore a light green short with white lace ruffles at the shirt's bottom, her shirt was paired with blue jeans, now cuffed at the bottom. Gem felt her emerald eyes leave her mirror's reflection and onto a bright phone screen that was held in her hand. Checking the time, Gem couldn't help but realise a new text from her friend Grian, who had made plans with Gem for - in about 45 minutes. The text read a simple “see you soon’, a reply to gem's goodbye message from before. Gem couldn't help but smile at his message, the ginger girl briefly considered replying to him, but she decided against it, switching her phone off and sitting it in her Jean pocket. Gem scanned her room's floor for black sneakers, slipping them on and typing them tight once Gem had located them.
Gem sat at the cage table, her head placed in two hands, elbows rested on the table. The ginger knew she was early - about 10 minutes early to be exact, but Gem preferred to be early rather than be late - being late stressed her out. Emerald eyes glancing down, Gem was happy for now reading the menu as she awaited grians - probably late - arrival.
“Hey’ a whisper surprised Gem from her side, her gaze leaving the paper menu abruptly and darting grians direction.
“You scared me’ Gem's hands left her twos
cheeks and instead landed cross-armed on the table.
“Good!” Grians iconic cheeky smile was plastered all over his face as he pulled out his chair and sat in front of Gem. Gem watched as Grian spotted the paper menu under Gem's crossed arms, causing Gem to briefly lift them and slide the paper menu over to Grian.
“Found anything you want?’ Grian asked, not bothering to look at Gem as he asked his question, his brown eyes focused on the menu Gem gave him.
“Yeah I found something - what about you?” “I was considering trying something new- but I might get my usual”
“Your usual? You've been here before?’
“Yeah I go here with Scar often - sometimes Martyn or Mumbo too” Grians gaze left the menu to look at his canadian friend
“- oh- oh okay- I haven't been here before”
Gem resisted a big smile at the idea that maybe - maybe that could be a hint and clue in her case in some way. The - admittedly awkward addition to her sentence an attempt to not seem obvious or pry much - Grian would definitely catch on to her plans if she was basically blatantly excited about seemingly random things.
“I've become a regular at this point - this place is great” “I'm guessing that's the case for Scar too- that he likes it- since you take him here a lot”
“- Scar likes that I pay for his food when we go here-” as grians response escaped his throat, Gem could feel a spark of curiosity hit her core
“You pay?’
“yeah he ways forgets his money everytime we go here- on purpose no doubt” “Why do you let him get away with that- why not call him out”
“I don't really care that much- I've got the money so it doesn't really matter”
Gem could feel more questions tingling and tugging at her throat and mind, the main question she could feel echoing off the walls of her mind was “would you pay for anyone else” or something of the sort - but Gem pushed her questions to the back of her mind, she has quite a while to talk to Grian, she didn't need to rush her questioning - if she did she'd definitely be considered suspicious to Grian. Hopefully she can find a place in later conversations for her question, because she knew she couldn't ask now - she had already asked a few questions - and she didn't want it to seem like she was investigating the British man in front of her.
Lost in the twos conversation, Gem had to make sure her focus didn't leave her main goal - gathering clues to Grians crush. From what Gem had recently gathered from the two's current conversation, a lot of the hints had pointed to Scar - not all of them did, sometimes Maryn would also come to mind, same for Mumbo - but most of them are seemingly pointing to Scar.
Almost forgetting her previous question, Gem could feel herself almost miss a new opportunity to ask said question - rushing to blurt it out before the conversation continued and left the conversation topic.
Lifting a dirty blonde eyebrow at Gem's question, Gem could feel herself almost grow nervous - maybe she fucked up with the timing- was it not actually relevant to the twos conversation - she thought it was -
“Not really - Mumbo's the only other person I think I would- why?’
“Uh no reason? I was just curious - conversation you know…?”
“Yeah, yeah…” Grians glance could be seen distancing off Gem's face and off to his side
“You don't believe me do you?”
“No I do- sorta…” Grian looked back at Gem again.
“I guess it's just - a weird question…plus my theory-’ “what theory?”
“Gem- your quest- You know I have a crush, and your questions kinda seem like you're trying to figure out who it is”
Gem felt a gold down her body as she froze, her only movement (besides movement caused by her breathing) being her slowly batting her eyelashes.
A chuckle emerged from the sudden silence, Grian subtly shaking his pale head.
“Gem” he muttered in a jokingly disappointed tone.
“I wa- I have a-” Gem stammered out, words untimely failing her.
“Yeah” Gem let out a weak and subtly nervous chuckle with her reply. “I'm just curious!”
Grian laughed at Gem's stammered words and continuous and pathetic struggle “I can tell”
“Hey well I mean now that you know…can you tell m-”
“No” he interrupted with a slight smile creeping up on his face, his hand/palm landing on his cheek as he rested his elbow on the table.
“Why not?” Gem desperately questioned
“Where's the fun with that- you were willing to gather clues and figure it out yourself weren't you?” “Yeah but- …can I have a hint at least?” Gem looked at Grian with a slight plea in her emerald eyes, desperate for - anything at this point.
Grian didn't reply right away, taking his time to think about Gem's pleading words
“Hes not blonde.”
“Pearl code red”
A buzz of her phone could be heard from the brunette's nightstand. Raising her glance from book to phone, Pearl reached over to read the message Gem sent her. She felt herself grow confused as she grazed her finger over the keyboard, typing out a simple “what”
A few minutes ticked by, enough time given for Pearl to close her book and properly put her phone in her grasp, but not too much time that Pearl had to wait for Gem to reply, after the phone was in her hand.
“Grian knows I'm trying to figure out his crush” Pearl read the text, a sigh Keating her throat after fully reading what Gem said - well, what Gem texted.
“How did that happen”
“I'll explain soon- can I come over?’ Before Pearl typed her reply, her blue eyes lifted from the phone screen, glancing around her room. It's not like Pearl was going much, her book could wait. “Sure” she typed into her phone, pressing send with her thumb. Pearl switched off her phone once the message had been sent, placing it screen down on her nightstand.
“In here!” Pearl shouted out when she heard her front door creek itself open - assuming the person entering her apartment was Gem. Pearl's assumption was pretty quickly confirmed as her glancing blue eyes spotted the adorable ginger creeping open the bedroom door. Once Gem had closed the door behind her, she sat herself to the side of Pearl's bed, close to Pearl. Pearl has briefly noticed that Gem's hanging feet couldn't reach the whole way to the floor, causing a quiet chuckle to escape the brunettes throat
“Grian Knows”
“Yeah you told me that’ Pearl rolled her eyes with a sarcastic tone, a smile could be seen on her - definitely amused by her own remark - this was, unlike Gem; who shot Pearl a look of disappointment.
“How did that happen” Pearl finally asked
“I was asking questions- and I guess I asked too many questions- or maybe I asked too many oddly specific ones and he basically pointed that out- and…” Gem drifted out her explanation; adding a fake lip pout to her disappointment and exaggerated upset
“So it's entirely your fault”
“No it's his fault for being smart!”
“Sure it is”
Gem's face lit up at a new realization, ditching her fake lip pout.
“he gave me a hint!” “- He what?”
“Once he found out - he gave me a hint’
“Why?” Pearl questioned in blatant confusion at Gem's words/Grians actions
“Cause I asked?” Gem shrugged at Pearl, glaring at her like that was obvious
“What was the hint?”
“Hes not blonde.’