dragonfly + apple haha get it

Gem never gets his name when he walks in with Bdubs and Nicole, but she’s been keeping a close eye on him as she picks her way through a few platters of snacks in the kitchen.

He’s tall — taller than Skizz by a good couple of inches — but he’s not as broad, and Gem likes his gangly nerdiness.

He has mousy hair and enough stubble that Gem thinks he'd leave a fair bit of beard burn across her body if she got him alone.

She presumes he’s been given details about why they’re all there. He must be trusted enough to be invited. Perhaps he’s a close friend of Bdubs.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Tango asks from beside her, and she pops a carrot into her mouth and chews.

She’d seen Tango disappear with Pearl and Karn earlier, and Pearl had made it back downstairs an hour later, looking like her life had been changed.

“Who’s the new guy?” Gem asks, tipping her head in the direction of the stranger, and Tango’s brows go high as he takes a sip of his beer.

“You haven’t been introduced yet?” he asks and Gem shakes her head.

She’d caught the guy staring a few times after he’d shown up, but he'd never made his way over.

“Not yet.”

Tango takes another mouthful of beer, swallowing before he says, “Go say hi. I think you’ll like him.”

“You know him?” she asks, surprised. “Is he a friend of all of yours?”

“Something like that,” he agrees. “Want me to come with you?”

“No, that’s fine,” she says, not sure she wants an audience for when she inevitably embarrasses herself, and Tango grunts quietly. “What’s up next for you?”

“Ren bought mushrooms,” he admits. “We’re gonna chill downstairs for a few hours.”

Gem had thought about joining them when Ren had first given them a heads up in their Discord server. But she likes the thought of the house being quieter for a little while. Maybe long enough for her to see if the new guy wants to disappear to one of the bedrooms with her.

“Have fun,” she tells him, taking a quick sip of her water, and Tango offers her a conspiratorial smirk, like he knows exactly what she's planning.

“You, too,” he replies, grabbing another handful of chips for his plate before he turns to disappear.

Gem waits for him to leave the kitchen, trying her best to casually watch the stranger across the room, wondering what she could possibly say to him as an introduction.

It’s been a long while since she last tried bringing someone home, and she feels rusty.

But she takes a breath, brushing one hand over her mouth to make sure she doesn’t have crumbs everywhere, before turning and heading in the man’s direction.

“Hey,” she says, leaning her hip against the counter, “I haven’t seen you at one of these before.”

The man startles, turning to look down at her, and Gem feels a little bad for taking him off guard. That hadn’t been her intention.

“Sorry,” she apologizes, “I didn't — I thought I'd finally say hi.”

He watches her, gaze darting around her face as though trying to take in all of her features, and Gem's just glad he's not running for the hills.

“Sorry if you're only here for Bdubs and his wife,” she continues. “I just — everyone else has already kind of paired off together.”

The man lets out a breath through his nose, and for some reason it sounds familiar.

“I'm what you're left with?” he asks, and Gem's eyes widen in surprise before she freezes.

For some reason, this man — Bdubs’ friend — sounds like Etho.

A low sound escapes her and when he laughs, it's unmistakable. It has to be him.

“Etho?” she whispers, half afraid to say it aloud, but he tilts his head and offers her a smile, like she's not wrong.

“I heard that what happens at the cabin, stays at the cabin.”

It makes sense why he would choose to face-reveal here. Phones are banned from common areas, which means fewer chances for something to get leaked.

“You're insane,” she whispers, to his apparent delight, because he grins, cocking his hip just a little more as though gaining confidence.

“Does who I am change your plan?” he asks. “Would you rather go and be with someone else?”

Gem swallows thickly, shaking her head before she even realizes.

“No,” she says too quickly, too loudly, and she can see the way Etho fights back a smile.

“Want to find somewhere a little quieter?” he asks, even though the kitchen is now almost empty.

But there's no doubt. That's exactly what she wants.

Reaching for his arm, almost afraid he'll change his mind, Gem curls her fingers into the sleeve of his flannel shirt and holds on tightly.

Gem knows she’s caught the sun — she can see it across her nose and cheeks whenever she glances in the rearview mirror as she drives. Etho has too, and she wonders if he’ll let her smooth aloe across it later.

“Storm’s getting closer,” he murmurs, staring ahead at the dark clouds forming, which look as though they’re almost directly above her house.

“Got back just in time,” she agrees, but her windscreen wipers switch on automatically as the rain grows steadier.

They’re still a few miles away from home, and Gem gets the impression that they’re about to get soaked in the run from the driveway to the front door.

She steals a glance over at Etho, still learning how he looks in real life, watching the way he chews on his lip when he’s quiet and thinking. She kind of wants to bite it for him and see how he reacts.

He hasn’t made any kind of move since arriving — something she’s been curious about. She’s not sure she’d consider them close enough friends for him to come out of hiding just for her. So far as she knows, she’s the first, and she has a sneaking suspicion that he’s been lured by some kind of crush.

He looks over, as though sensing her stare, and Gem offers a tentative smile that he returns, and Gem can’t tell where his sunburn starts and his blush ends, but he glances away, caught.

The first of the lightning streaks across the sky when Gem turns onto her street, and the rain is so heavy her windscreen wipers are almost on their fastest settings.

“Is it usually like this?” Etho asks as she carefully pulls into her driveway and puts the car in park.

“Definitely not,” she says around a laugh. “Not this bad.”

Rain drums against the roof of the car and Gem reaches into the backseat for her bag, knowing everything is about to get wet.

“Ready to run?” she asks and Etho glances between her and the direction of the front door.

It’s barely visible through the rain, and Gem digs out her keys, knowing she’ll have to be as fast as possible.

“One,” Etho says, “two — ”

Gem throws open her door before Etho even finishes saying three, hopping out and closing it before sprinting for the house. She hears Etho behind, and she thinks it’s his long legs that have him catching up before she even makes it to the front steps.

“Hurry up,” he complains, even though she’s already halfway through turning the key in the lock, and she can hear the smile in his voice.

She hesitates, just for his noise of frustration, and she laughs as one of his own hands reaches up and settles over hers to force her to finish unlocking the door.

He gets it open, nudging her through the doorway before following after, and it slams behind them with enough force to sound like the thunder outside.

Gem’s still laughing when Etho reaches for her, dipping down enough to kiss her — and there it is. What she’s been waiting for.

She drops her bag and keys right there in the front hall, reaching for him as she returns it with a carefulness she’s never felt before.

She doesn’t want to ruin this. She wants to stoke this little ember of theirs and see what kind of flame ignites.

He’s gentle with her — his hands on her waist; the way he kisses her — and when a soft noise escapes her, he pulls away just as gently.

“Sorry,” he says, and Gem laughs again, lightly patting her hand against his chest.

“Don’t apologize,” she warns, pushing up onto her tiptoes to kiss him again, just once, before dropping back down and taking a half step backwards.

He stares at her, the shoulders of his t-shirt darker from the rain, and Gem’s chest feels tight from how much she enjoys the sight of him right there in her house.

“I’ll get some towels,” she says softly. “Unless you’d rather shower?”

Etho rakes his fingers through his wet hair, offering a tentative smile as he shakes his head.

“A towel is fine.”

She nods in agreement.

“I can make us coffee,” she adds. “I’m not sure how long the power will last if the storm stays like this.”

As though to make a point, there’s another crack of thunder overhead, and the sound of wind and rain against the windows gets worse.

“Sure,” Etho agrees, his smile growing more confident, clearly realizing he hasn't ruined anything.

“Though,” she says, starting to turn away before he can see her flush, “if the power goes, I have a few ideas for what we can do.”

From the choked noise Etho makes, she knows without a doubt he knows what she’s implying.

“What was that?” Grian asks, voice pitched higher with his surprise. “What did you just call Gem?”

The rest of the voice group goes silent, but Etho makes a noise of confusion, like he has no idea what Grian’s talking about. Though it's not at all convincing and not even Gem buys it.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Gem tries, because in all honesty, she hadn’t been listening.

She’s not even playing near the rest of them on the server, deep in her strip-mine, just trying to gather resources without losing her mind. She’s barely paid attention to the conversation topics. It’s not like they ever talk about anything important.

“He called you Gemmy,” Grian retorts and Gem lets out a laugh.

“Everyone calls me that.”

“Etho doesn’t,” Grian insists. “He calls you Gem. He still calls Bdubs bdoubleo — he’s famously known for not doing nicknames, Gem.”

Gem’s gaze flicks over to her second monitor, where she has Discord open, and her DMs shift as a new message comes in from Etho.

sorry, is all it says, and Gem finds herself smiling, knowing he probably means it.

“Maybe he’s trying something new,” she says, muting herself just long enough to type out a reply.

It’s fine. Did you really call me that?

“Again,” Grian insists dryly, “not a man known for trying new things, are you, Etho?”

“New year, new me,” Etho deadpans, and Gem’s almost certain everyone in the call laughs — including Grian.

I slipped up, Etho DMs her almost immediately after and Gem finds herself smiling, pinching her tongue between her teeth as she types her reply.

Soft <3

She doesn’t get a response to that, unsurprisingly, and in her ears, Grian starts making noise as though about to keep pushing the issue.

Maybe we should tell them, she suggests.

Aloud, Etho says, “I don’t know.”

Gem laughs loudly, unable to mute herself beforehand, and she can almost hear the way Etho locks up.

“Okay, Grandpa,” she exhales, continuing to laugh. “Let’s get you back to the home.”

“What?” Grian asks, confusion clear in his voice, and Gem exhales loudly.

“He was meant to type that. He wasn’t supposed to say it out loud,” Gem tells the group, ignoring the half-hearted noise of protest Etho makes.

“Are you two DMing right now?” Grian asks, and she feels his attention switch to her, like he smells blood in the water.

“I was trying,” she jokes, and Grian starts to splutter.

“There is something going on,” he says. “Have you met him?”

“You think I’m the first person to meet Mr. Mysterious?” she deflects and Grian exhales.

“Oh my god, you have,” he says, and Gem tries her best to laugh, even as her face heats from the truth of it.

There’s more noise in Gem’s ears as the others seem to catch on to what Grian's suggesting.

“There’s no way,” Scar laughs, like he doesn’t believe it.

“You said you were visiting family,” Skizz complains, as though her telling a little white lie is the worst part about it.

“Gem? Is it true?” Impulse asks, scandalized, and Gem rests one hand over her eyes as she continues laughing.

Meanwhile, Etho says nothing, and she half expects him to log off from the server, just to avoid the chaos.

But when she looks up and checks the tab list, he’s still there, and still in the voice group, too.

“I didn’t say that, Grian” she tries, and Grian makes a strange kind of hissing noise.

“I’m not talking to you if you’re gonna lie,” he argues. “Etho, did you seriously agree to meet Gem?”

Gem lets out an offended sound at the way he says it — like Gem should be at the bottom of the list of people Etho would want to meet.

There’s a long silence, where Gem wonders what Etho’s planning to say, when their DM finally shifts with a new message.

OK, it says, and Gem finds herself bracing for impact as she hears Etho gently clear his throat.