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It was a quiet autumn afternoon, just as busy as all the others this month. A long set of train tracks sat sheepishly still. Past that, and past the smaller lake in the server, and finally past a rather fish-heavy stream, laid a particularly lonely red house. There was a well-kept garden out front and plenty of shady trees to hide it from view—not that it did much to cover up the cherry red wood.
It’s easy to assume that such a quiet house would be ridden with spider webs or mud tracks, but the floors and windows were frequently swept clean of dirt and dust. Any bugs that snuck in through the front door or through tiny cracks in the walls were quick to be swallowed up by the old wolfdog, who could frequently be found resting at the feet of her owner.
Today, this silver mutt hadn’t moved from the queen-sized bed upstairs since dawn. Pearl, the human of the house, was still sleeping. This wasn’t much of a surprise—most days went like this.
Eventually, a loud ringing started up, waking both of the sleepy heads. Pearl groaned as she turned off her alarm, groggily pushing her head off her pillow. She loosened the congestion in her throat with a phlegmy cough. She always hated the uncomfortable transitions between sleep and wakefulness.
Slowly, Pearl’s feet made their way onto the hard wood floor, finally dragging her out of bed. Changing from her pajamas to her work uniform was hard with drooping eyelids and heavy limbs. She felt a bit better after splashing her face with cold water in the bathroom, but her muscles were still tired.
While brushing her long hair, Pearl couldn’t quite feel proud of her reflection. Her face looked dead, her eyebrows were uneven from her compulsive plucking, and her shoulders were… “Unfeminine,” her mom had always barked, “Un-lady-like.” Pearl shook her head, leaving the bathroom before she could spend another second looking in the mirror.
Down the stairs and into the kitchen; Pearl snatched a small overripe banana to ease the pinching in her stomach. Despite her heavy exhaustion most days, she was never one for coffee. After eating, she dropped a cup of kibble into Tilly’s bowl so she wasn’t left hungry.
With the rest of her outfit on, she slipped on a pair of tan socks and some worn black boots; but before she left the house, she made sure to wash her hands thoroughly so she wouldn’t feel as anxious the rest of the day.
Finally—Pearl let out a sigh—she was outside. She had always loved the outdoors: the fresh air, the gentle breeze, the tunes of the birds and the bugs. It was perfect. Well… nearly perfect. The sunlight hitting her face made her sneeze and it was a smidge chilly. But it was tolerable, everything was tolerable.
A part of her wished she was back home in Australia, with the warmth and familiarity. But she knew she couldn’t go back.
It was a short bike ride to the post office. Hermitcraft was far from any big server so Pearl knew it wasn’t gonna be busy. Walking in, Etho was already at the front desk, a pile of letters and newspapers stacked next to the computer.
“Finally up?” Pearl’s coworker asked, playing with his long, bleached hair. Pearl rolled her eyes at the redundant question. “You look tired. How late did you stay up?”
“Not that late.” Pearl answered as she grabbed her work bag from the hook behind the front desk. “I’ve just had a hard time sleeping lately. I don’t know why.” She took a handful of letters from the delivery pile and slipped them into her bag.
“Gem stopped by earlier.” Etho commented, clicking the computer mouse a few times. Glancing at the screen, Pearl could see him playing solitaire. “You should stop by her place if you don’t already have a package for her.”
“You know you actually have to work sometimes, right?” Pearl scoffed as she made her way out the door.
“Yeah, yeah,” Etho chuckled, continuing his game. He always got all the work done by the end of the day, so it’s not like it mattered anyway.
Pearl breathed in the humid autumn air before getting on her bike, her messenger bag comfortably hung over her shoulder. The dirt roads were far from smooth but it wasn’t too bad. The scenery was nice at least.
Through the shade of the forest and the open fields, Pearl made it to her first delivery. It was quick: just place the envelope in the mail box and flip the red tab. Then she was off again, riding down the trail.
Pearl found the routine quite cozy. There weren’t any crowds, she rarely had to talk to anybody—not that there was a single stranger in this teensy server—and the songs of the birds were plenty welcome. Sometimes she got sore, though, from all the exercise. Her body was getting awfully close to 30. But at least then she wouldn’t have to work her body in her free time to stay fit.
By the time she got to Gem’s house, there was already another bike by the entrance. Pearl recognized it as her brother’s from the red macaw stickers all over it. She parked her bike right beside his before knocking on the front door.
After a few seconds of dog barks past the door, the lock clicked. “Pearly!” Gem cheered as she swung open the door, letting Pearl inside. A chocolate lab was panting by her feet, wagging her tail wildly.
“Hi, Winnie!” Pearl greeted, crouching down to stroke over her head and a scratch behind her ears. Pearl’s knees hurt a bit but that was pretty expected at this point.
“Oh, yeah,” Gem complained as she closed the door. “Ignore me and go right over to the dog. I get it.” Pearl laughed, quickly stepping away from the dog to offer a hug. Gem smiled, soon embracing the Australian warmly. “I missed you.” she whispered.
After parting, Pearl giggled. “You always say that. Etho told me that you even stopped by at work.” Her dirty blonde hair was a bit messy from her bike helmet, so Pearl combed her fingers through it to keep it neat.
“I just love you.” Gem responded simply like it was fact. Her emerald green eyes squinted as her freckled cheeks tensed with a fond smile.
Pearl scoffed. “You love me too much.” She spun around, starting to explore the house in search of her brother. His house wasn’t a far walk from here so sometimes he left his bike at the front; but he wasn’t always that forgetful.
Gem gasped, quickly following behind. “No ‘I love you’? No ‘I love you more’?” The living room was empty so the search continued. “Do you not love me anymore, Pearl?”
Pearl laughed, blushing a bit as they entered the kitchen. “I love you more than the sun.” she complied, meaning it with all her soul. She spotted a familiar red jumper placed on the counter. The back door was open so she had a clue of where the owner might be. Satisfied with her hunt, Pearl opened the fridge to steal a snack.
“Finally—took you long enough.” Gem sighed, enjoying their banter. “Ugh! Are you stealing my pickles again?”
Pearl paused midway through pulling out a cold jar from the fridge. “... Maybe?” Strangely, these calories didn’t count like the others did.
“Pearl!” Gem yelled, making the other burst out with laughter. “This is why I’m always running out! You’re stealing all my pickles!” Pearl had to set the jar on the counter to stop herself from dropping it, she was laughing so hard. “And then you complain when I’m out! You thief!” Gem’s tone faded into giggles, losing all the fake anger it tried to hold before.
Pearl loved this. Being able to just love and bond with someone else. Her chest shook with every breath, bouncing with a shared joy. It felt like a dream but it was a real memory. She wished she had more of this when she was younger. Maybe then she could finally believe it wasn’t so out of the ordinary? That it could be and should be common.
“Hey!” a deeper voice interrupted their laughter. “Yall are distracting me from my fishing.” Grian grumbled from the backyard door despite the smile on his face at the sight of his sister. Finally, Pearl could breathe easy knowing her brother hadn’t disappeared again.
“Oh, yeah, okay.” Pearl agreed sarcastically. “‘Cause your fishing is just so important, isn’t it?”
“You’re scaring the fish away, Pearl.” Grian stuck his tongue out childishly before walking back to his line by the stream. Slipping outside with him, Pearl saw his setup on Gem’s dock: there was a black fishing rod standing next to the water, the line thrown far out into the stream. Grian returned to his foldable chair next to it, setting his gaze on the red bobber dancing in the water.
“I thought you weren’t looking for fish?” Pearl teased, ruffling Grian’s dirty brown hair. It was greasy, in desperate need of a wash.
“Hey!” Grian batted Pearl’s hand away from his head, gaining a frown. His off-white undershirt had small dots of blood on the sleeve from dabbing his picked wounds on it. “And—by the way—the fish can carry treasure, alright? Sometimes they eat it. I just have to get lucky.”
“Sure,” his sister coughed, not truly believing him. She could never understand why he was so drawn to water; but she could at least be glad that he was sticking to land now. “We’ll see about that.”
“I’m sure you’ll find some, eventually.” Gem replied, suddenly appearing behind them. Pearl yipped, easily spooked; one of her teachers once said that she flinched the most out of all of their students. She hated people sneaking up on her.
“Oof~,” she huffed, letting out a long exhale as she relaxed her shoulders. “I didn’t realize that you had followed me.” She placed her hands by her neck, wanting to make her body as small as possible so nobody would bump into her.
“You also didn’t realize that you left my pickles out on the counter.” Gem remarked, brushing away some of the red curls covering her eyes. “This time, I’m hiding them. You can buy your own.”
Pearl subtly stepped away, giving herself a more comfortable amount of room. “Don’t worry, I’ll just find them again.” She stretched her arms above her head, yawning long. She clicked her tongue in satisfaction as she relaxed. “You’ll never get rid of me and my thieving grippers.”
The pitter patter of dog paws made the worn wooden dock whine; Winnie stopped next to Grian’s chair, looking up at him. The fisher rolled his eyes before giving in and pampering the pet. Despite his unkept beard and weathered appearance, he was still nothing more than a grown child at heart.
“Hey, Pearl? Aren’t you supposed to be working right now?” Gem’s eyes squinted at her best friend, judging.
Pearl made a suspicious expression, caught red handed. It’s not like she was trying to hide her uniform or work bag at all. “Um… yeah?” Her voice was squeaky and nervous as she squeezed her eyes in preparation for backlash.
“Pearl!” Gem rebuked, placing her hands on her hips. “Get back on your bike! You’re meant to be delivering mail right now!”
“I am delivering mail!” Pearl retorted before dipping her hand into her messenger bag and fumbling through it until she found a letter belonging to Grian. “Here! A delivery for Griba!” she announced as she handed the mail over to her brother.
Grian looked at the envelope in his hands for a minute before snickering. “You wanted to hand deliver me my water bill?” He looked up at her questionably.
“Um- Yup! Super important mail!” Pearl defended, feigning confidence. Gem was still glaring at her, so Pearl added to her defence: “It- It’s not like it’s ever busy anyways.”
“Come on, Pearl.” Gem grabbed Pearl’s bag, careful not to let it spill or be too rough—and began dragging her back towards the house, determined to remove the trespasser. “You can’t stay here forever.”
“No~,” Pearl whined, desperately trying to keep her bag in her grip. “Gosh, you just can’t stand me, huh? Of course, you never really loved me.” she teased, knowing the truth.
“Yeah!” Gem agreed jokingly, giggling along. The years shared between them had allowed for this kind of banter to be comfortable—comforting even. “You’re such a bugger, Pearl.”
Once the front door was slammed and locked behind her, Pearl just sighed and laughed. It was better than feeling guilty. She was a worker, she was meant to be productive. But she was allowed to have fun sometimes, right? Etho wasn’t much better, so…
She wasn’t gonna get fired… right? Right?
Pearl hurried back onto her bike, worried that someone might catch her breaking the rules. She shook for a bit while she rode away, looking over her shoulders. She was fine. She was safe. No one was watching.
The evening was starting to rest, letting the night set in. Pearl’s front door creaked as she stepped in, letting out a groan as she slipped off her work boots. Tilly was quick to greet her, tail wagging, smile panting. “Hi, girl.” Pearl whispered as she brushed the mutt’s head briefly.
She grumbled as she climbed the stairs, immediately throwing her work uniform in the laundry and hopping in the shower. The hot water was a relief, making all the uncomfortable tension in her muscles melt away.
Once she was out, she wiped her body dry with a towel and changed into an oversized hoodie and pajama pants. She collapsed onto her bed, sinking into the mattress with all her weight. Tomorrow was going to hurt.
A few huffs of wolfdog breath brushed her face before a wet nose pushed into her cheek. Pearl knew that Tilly wanted attention after a whole day of being alone, but she simply didn’t have the energy to play with her. So she resorted to crawling over and using Tilly as a pillow before closing her eyes and trying to get comfy.
After a while, she heard the whine of her front door. Apparently, Pearl had left it unlocked earlier and a horrible beast had crept in. The house shook as it stomped up the steps, making its way towards the bedroom.
From the dark corner of her bed, Pearl could only see the shadowy silhouette of the figure looking in from the hallway. Tilly growled low, prickling her fur. The creature stepped forward. Tilly jumped up, kicking Pearl’s stomach as she leaped towards the intruder.
The quiet of the night was quickly filled with defensive barking and desperate yelping until the figure flicked on the lights.
“Tilly! It’s me! Come on!” Gem yelled as she tried to ease the wolfdog. Tilly wasn’t very humored, letting out a low growl before returning to Pearl’s bed. “You know me, silly Tilly,” Gem grumbled as she followed the wolfdog. She found a seat on the edge of the bed, making the mattress sink down.
“She just thinks you smell bad.” Pearl mumbled sleepily, playing dead on her bed. She didn’t care to move, glued down by gravity. “You’re stinky.”
“No, I am not.” Gem giggled, gently smoothing down Tilly’s back fur. “Anyways- How was your day, goof bug?” Pearl just groaned, low and tired. “... Huh, got it.” Gem replied, making an uncomfortable expression. “Well, at least now I’m here to give you company.” She smiled, trying to cheer up the other.
Pearl usually wanted anything other than to socialize after a long day. But Gem was a strange exception. “September is hard.” she murmured, taking deep breaths with her tired lungs.
“Yeah… Anniversaries suck.” Gem agreed. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
Pearl was quiet for a minute, stuck thinking. “It’s just…” She wasn’t used to sharing things about herself to anyone. She was a chronic quiet kid. “I don’t know. It’s just tough.” The anger begged to slip out of her mouth but Pearl bit her tongue out of habit.
Gem hummed, not prodding. “Just a bad day?” she guessed.
“That damn night just won’t get out of my head! It keeps looping over and over and won’t leave! Maybe it’s trying to find some sort of explanation; maybe a place where I had control, where I could’ve done something to change it?” Pearl sighed, relieved of some weight from her chest.
Gem waited a second until she was sure Pearl was finished. “Sometimes my brain does that too.” The ginger stared down into her lap. “Such silly things they are, always worried and frantically thinking.”
Pearl laughed in agreement. “Yeah! So silly!” Her snickers faded out into a low hum. “So annoying, too. Can’t shut up.” Her voice bubbled with a quiet rage, steam seeping out through her teeth.
Gem tried to reassure her best friend, knowing the guilt never fully left. “You know, it wasn’t your fault-”
“I know!” Pearl interrupted, yelling. She exhaled some of the anger built up in her chest, deflating until her lungs were empty and she had to suck in air again. “I know…” She crossed her arms and rested her chin on her forearms. “But he was missing for so long and I just don’t want it to happen again.” The atmosphere took a breath. Gem was still brushing Tilly’s fur and Pearl started tracing circles on the sheets. “It still feels like Griba isn’t home and I’m to blame.”
“Pearl.” Gem was expecting to get spoken over, but Pearl stayed quiet, just staring into the bed sheets. The ginger glanced around the room, familiar with this scene. “Pearl, I’ve known you for a long time. You are the kindest person I know. I am certain that if you helped Grian get to the End with the intent to get him taken by Watchers, then you wouldn’t be you.”
Pearl spread out over the bed, melting like jelly. “But… then… who’s fault is it if not mine?”
“Nobody’s,” Gem answered like it was obvious. “It’s just something that happened.” Pearl grumbled, struggling to accept it. She crawled up to Tilly and wrapped her in a hug, angrily kissing her forehead to help ease the frustration. Gem just rolled her eyes, letting the calm quiet seep in between them.
For a while, they simply rested together in silence. Tilly was gently pampered with pets and kisses the whole time. After a couple minutes of letting her thoughts swirl around her head, Pearl had to speak. “Why do you like me so much?” she inquired, her voice hoarse and slow.
Gem hummed. “Because I love you.” she answered for the millionth time. She could never get bored of repeating it—she’d say it a million times more if Pearl needed it.
Pearl blinked at her, still stuck on her confusion. “Bu- Why?” Nothing made sense. Her worth felt dead.
“Because you’re fun to be around,” Gem replied, simply. She wiggled her legs over the side of the bed, content in just being there.
“I’m not that fun.” Pearl continued. “I’m unproductive and slow. I annoy you all the time. Like, that can’t be the only reason… Why do you really love me?” She wanted to know the truth. She wanted to be told something that made sense—like hatred and judgement.
“What? Do you think you’re not fun?” Gem asked, concerned. Pearl stayed quiet—an answer itself. “Fine. You wanna know the real reason I love you?” Gem watched Pearl’s blue eyes widened, staring up at her, waiting for the truth.
Gem continued, “I don’t love you for what you do, Pearl. I don’t love you for the gifts you give me or the service you provide—it’s nice, but it’s not why I love you.” Pearl visibly soaked in the words, a slurry of emotions mixing into an unfamiliar concoction in her head. Her ears were finally open.
“Pearl, I love you because you’re lovable.” Gem stated with confidence. “Duh—you’re a lovable fool, and I love loving you.”
Pearl still looked stuck by the answer, but Gem could see the gears turning. “So, you just love me… for me? Like, as a person? You- You enjoy it?”
“Yup!” Gem cheered, unhesitant. “Not for what you do, but for who you are. Just because I can.” She smiled—Pearl was getting it! “Because you make me happy just for existing—just for being yourself. I love you for you.”
Pearl slowly got up and scooched closer, dropping her legs over the edge of the bed. She rested her shoulder on Gem’s. “Well—” She smiled— “I love you for you, too.”