#gempearl

Since vsmp, Pearl has.... days. These days are a bit (read: a lot) disassociative, and she spends a lot of time just staring at the sky or sitting with xyr feet in the river. She also resembles a wolf more than a moth those days, and it takes a lot for xem to not go hunting. Whenever these days happen, though, Cleo and Gem can tell, and it doesn't take long for one or the other to show up.

They both have different styles of calming xem too - Cleo usually sits with Pearl as a solid presence (who may not fully remember everything, and it's obvious that Pearl does, but what matters is that she's there), and envelops Pearl in some of the best hugs xe've ever gotten. Cleo also grounds Pearl in that presence aspect - having someone just to breathe with often slowly brings her back to the ground.

Gem, on the other hand, prefers to do things. Usually that's repetitive tasks, or some form of art (sculpting is the go-to, and Pearl makes... oddities, on these days, a lot of things with teeth that scream of brutal hope) and the hands on things drag xem out of the trance and into the work at hand. Usually, it gets Pearl talking too, and she usually feels so much better for it.

And yeah, both of them turn up half the time, and it usually ends in a gentle discussion over baking, or brewing home-made tea and talking about constellations, or stargazing while working the fields.

As for Pearl, well. She's eternally grateful that they ever show up. Those days are filled with vindictive visions of past horrors, and just because they got worse after vampires, doesn't mean they weren't always happening... and for a long time, she told herself xe could weather it alone, make it out fine - but stargazing with muddy hands next to two people she loves? That's a much better end to those days.

~ 🫁

“You know, I never believed people when they told me to be careful with what I was doing off the track,” Bdubs admitted once they had sat down. “I figured I wasn’t an actual celebrity, just an athlete. But this is barely my second year in F1, and now I’m a homewrecker.”

She wanted a friend