Work Text:
Soft Sleeves
💚 💛 ❤️
There are many side effects to sharing souls with Pearl.
Well, see… It’s not sharing, technically? This was a gift. Freely given by means of securing their Day 1 alliance, though Scott will admit he may have, ah… come on a bit too strong. Just a bit. He can’t heeeeelp it! He was yellow, out in the open, vulnerable, and dark green Pearl just looked so very tasty walking beside him as they trekked this world for a good place to set down roots. That’s all.
Pearl is sleeping now in the other room. Scott’s still up, and it’s getting late. They don’t have much by way of walls and floor, but they’ll survive the night in this little hidey-hole. There’s no kitchen. They’ve got no chicken for morning eggs. Might start putting down seeds so they can get some wheat coming in; yeah, that could be could.
And Pearl is sleeping. Goo sort of tugs at his eyeballs, luring him to join and touch and snuggle as if returning a missing piece to the larger whole… but he ignores. Because, you know. He’s in control of his own feelings. He’s a strong, independent man who don’t need no Dark Green. Still, he sits outside the little hole they carved in a hillside, picking at an invisible sleeve hem squeezing at his wrist. It sort of feels like there’s a loose thread hanging there he can’t quite see.
Why do I feel like I have Pearl’s hoodie on? Huge sleeves envelop his arm. Invisible, but there’s no denying the feeling’s there. See, at first he thought, “I’m imagining that.” Guess not, though. Damn. That’s overstimulating. He keeps picking at his wrist, pulling skin in place of the fabric he can’t find. To be fair, he and Pearl were snuggled close when crammed in their hole for the night. This mystery feeling could be some leftover imprint of that.
I feel warm. Safe. Secure. Did it feel like this on 3rd Life with Jimmy at his side? Scott holds up his hands, turning them back and forth. He checks for any kind of mark, glowing or otherwise, in the dim light of just one torch. Hm. It would be cool to see some copy of Pearl’s hoodie hanging off his skin, but he really doesn’t know how that would work. It might give secret alliances away down the line. Scott ticks his tongue against his teeth regardless, stretching out his arms. It’s be sort of nice to see what’s behind this phantom sensation. Maybe he could roll the sleeves to his elbows and they wouldn’t bother him so much. My hands are far too pretty for her giant sleeves to engulf. Pearl sometimes rolls her own up, but when she forgets, they hang so low that a wolf may as well have chomped her hands.
Tch. He should duck his head, crawling back to Pearl tonight. Spiders squeak in the woods, and in the distance, zombies groan. Yeah, let’s go. It’s late. The moon’s a sliver lurking in the distant sky. Scott presses on his knee, pushing to his feet. Hhhhhhh.
Maybe in the morning, the aftereffects of absorbing someone else’s life beneath his skin will fade away to normal. And maybe tomorrow night, he’ll actually feel like he can wander from her side.