Chapter Text
"Gem, did we go the right way?"
"There... isn't any other... way to go..." Gem murmured, staring in horror at the breathtaking sight in front of them.
Down the hill there was their city. Lights glimmering and shadows dancing... beneath the murky water. The cliffs surrounding it had huge chunks broken off, landing right at the foot of their cliff bed. Pearl could discern the airplane warning signals from the background of mud and foreground of a white water wall still pouring down.
"And there's no one...? Do you think?"
"I don't know, Gem. I really don't know."
The warmth of Gem left her side and she heard a muffled slam of a door. Pearl turned around as well, slowly getting in the car, unable to take her eyes away.
"Surely it's just some kind of... illusion." Pearl murmured, finally breaking contact to look over at Gem,who was hiding her face in her hands. "Yeah. It's just the rain, we should sleep here tonight and tomorrow it will be okay. We will go to your place and put away our stuff.”
“Okay. Yeah, definitely.” Gem murmured, but didn't move.
“Come on, you got rained on. Let's get you some fresh clothes.
Pearl dropped back her seat, giving her enough space to crawl over to the back and get their bags. It would be much easier for Gem, but Pearl left her to process this turn of events. She herself was still chalking it up to being tired and nearly blind in the heavy rain, but part of her dreaded what they might wake up to.
“We should have brought more rain gear other than an umbrella.” Pearl chucked, gently nudging Gem and helping her take off her hoodie. “The wind really carries the rain under it.”
Once Gem was set in motion, she also reclined her chair and started changing her damp outer layers. She didn't bother putting pants back on, simply crawled between their chairs and started unpacking their sleeping bags. They did plan on sleeping in a tent, but well… the weather decided otherwise. And honestly Pearl was scared to start the drive down the bendy mountain roads, so they decided to park off the road for the night.
“Help me with the chairs, please.”
Snapping back to present thoughts, Pearl turned her attention to Gem, who was trying to flatten out the seats at the back. Pearl, unlike Gem, put on pants for the night and reached around to adjust the front seats before helping Gem at the back.
They cushioned the converted chairs and trunk bed with a blow-up mattress, using an air compressor to save their own energy. Meanwhile Gem arranged their pillows and got bundled up in her sleeping bag.
“It is cozy with the rain,” Gem said, scooching away from the mattress to allow it to expand. “Maybe a bit loud, but I'm sure we'll get used to it.
“Cozy” wouldn't be the word Pearl would use, as the rain did sound like pebbles hitting a tin roof, but she agreed nonetheless. Once she'd be laid down next to Gem, she was sure she'd feel cozier about it.
Soon they were huddled so close together their foreheads almost touched. Pearl could distinctly feel Gem's body through their layers, her knees touching Pearl's, her hands keeping the sleeping bag tucked under her chin. There was a haunted look in her eyes, but she pulled her lips in a small smile.
“What if we wake up and it was just a nightmare? There's no way to sleep peacefully in these conditions.” Gem stated, pulling the hood of the sleeping bag over her head.
“It'd be weird if we shared the same nightmare.”
“We linked our brains in our sleep. Knocked our heads together and swapped nightmares.”
“Now that I can get behind!”
They both giggled and exchanged good-nights. Gem closed her eyes and pulled the sleeping bag tighter around her face. Pearl was stuck watching her.
She could tell Gem didn't fall asleep quickly. Even if she was good at pretending, Pearl knows how an asleep Gem breathes. She even breathed almost frantically, only calming down when Pearl removed an arm from her warm cocoon and placed it around Gem's waist.
“It'll be okay tomorrow, Gem. You're gonna sleep well and have energy to go to the park too.”
There was no response. Assured Gem will fall asleep too, Pearl closed her own eyes.