[CLICK]

ARCHIVIST

Statement of Oleksy Kishka, regarding an encounter during a diving job. Original statement given August 22nd, 2005. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

Statement begins.

ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT)

I have a job you've probably never heard of. And for good reason, it's rotten work and I think no man should be subjected to it. That said, I only knew this after I'd already worked it.

See, I'm a saturation diver.

Big oil rigs and massive tankers often need work done deep below the ocean surface, up to 1000 feet down. Many people who have only scuba or free dived don't know this, but one of the many dangers of diving so deep is actually going back up. At that depth you have to breathe compressed air from the canisters you carry on your back. Because the air is compressed as you breathe it in, the gasses travel through your blood with no issue while you're down there, thanks to the pressure of the water keeping the gasses in your body from expanding.

Once you start going up however, the gasses start expanding and if you go too fast they obstruct your bloodstream and you get really sick, or even die.

You have to surface slowly over time so that y'know that doesn't happen. But when you're working at that depth, an hour of work at 500 feet would take 5 days to slowly decompress. It quickly becomes entirely impractical.

So we have these things called dive bells. They're like these metal tubes they send down in the water that have living quarters and everything you could need. Food, air, warmth, whatever.

We divers go down in these dive bells and live in them for weeks at a time, going out each day in our dive gear attached to an umbilical cord connected to the bell and then returning after our shifts.

Honestly it sucks living in those cramped tubes, the one I was normally in was barely 10 feet wide and 15 feet long. You're probably wondering why the hell I would work a job so awful, but when you're a naive kid who's also desperate for money, the benefits really seemed to outweigh it all. I had a family to feed, I would make over a thousand dollars a day, and if I worked for 3 weeks I wouldn't have to work again for a month. It seemed like a great deal.

Regardless, the gig I'm talking about today was actually different from my usual schedule. See, the company I worked for is huge. Massive. They have sites all over the world all running at the same time, and I have actually dived in some pretty exotic places for them. Because of this, we had a lot more experience and a lot better equipment than some other companies. So occasionally we would get "freelanced" and do a gig for a smaller company that didn't have the tech or the experience to do whatever it was that they needed.

A little unconventional in the industry, but nothing I haven't done before.

This time me and another guy I've worked with a bunch were supposed to go dive out in the Arctic Ocean for a company called, uh, Lower Bay Shipping? Outer Bay Shipping? Something like that, I have a hard time remembering it now.

They had a small rig out just off of Svalbard, an archipelago in Norway. I think it was mostly just a place to store ships when the waters were too frozen or choppy to reach the shores in the winter, I don't really know. I never worked on the more technical side of things.

They had had something go wrong down at the base of the rig, and while normally their divers would be able to go down, the water levels were a bit higher and due to the weather the conditions were more dangerous than usual, so we were going to go and lead them.

Me and Aleks, my coworker, had been working as saturation divers for about 18 years combined by then, which was impressively long in our line of work. So we were about as senior and as experienced as it got.

We were gonna just go down with 3 of the guys the company already had, and be the main supervisors of the project. This was how it usually went, normally we would use our own equipment because it was suitable for going deeper, but their bell was already set up and was sufficient and there was really no reason to change it.

A few days before we were supposed to go down, Aleks' wife went into labor a month early, he was already apprehensive about doing a dive so close to her due date, so he dropped out and decided to stay. We had all already traveled up to Svalbard, so there was no time to find a replacement from my company. It was fine though, I felt confident since the dive wasn't supposed to be super deep or technical.

From what I understood Aleks' wife labor had been stopped and she was being monitored in the hospital, and the baby didn't seem to be coming at least immediately. Everyone who has willingly worked as a saturation diver had to be really desperate for the money, I was too, so I think his wife told him to stay and get paid. He decided to stay and work, but help topside so that if he had to he could travel back to London for the birth a lot more quickly.

So I met the guys I would be diving with. There were 3 of them, all men. I can't recall any of their names, we only went by last names and theirs were all Nordic and I couldn't even pronounce them when I knew them.

They were also all a little weird. Quiet. Maybe aloof but not quite, especially as I knew they had to be highly intelligent to be a diver.

Saturation diving requires a specific kind of mental fortitude to stay sane down there, so it definitely attracted some odd types. That said, they just had this closed off energy, it always seemed like they were talking telepathically about me or something. I chalked it up to just some social anxiety or something due to Aleks dropping out so late, I had worked with more standoffish people throughout my career.

I got familiar with the bell, practically memorized the operating manual and the layout of every valve and hatch in there. I was also briefed on the work we would be doing. It was pretty much just the usual maintenance needed on the supports of the rig, there just was a bit more wear and tear than expected due to the rough season. We would pretty much just be reinforcing some things and patching up what we could. Very standard stuff really.

When we were all ready to go, and checked out by the doctor, we went down.

As the bell sank and I looked at the readings I started to understand why they had wanted someone more experienced to dive with them, even though they were comfortable in that environment.

The visibility was incredibly low but seemed to erratically clear up or become even more cloudy within seconds. Additionally, the currents were rather strong and also seemed just as erratic. These conditions weren’t abnormal for a particularly unlucky day, certainly nothing that should pose any danger as long as we followed every precaution, but they were enough to be a nuisance and something to remember.

The other thing that struck me as odd was that none of the other men really seemed to be nervous at all. Obviously this is a good thing, even a small panic could be fatal out in the water. But even the most confident divers I knew had their comfort waver at least a little bit when conditions were particularly bad.

I decided to just be thankful they weren't terrified though.

We all properly pressurized to the depth we made sure everything with the bell and our equipment was just fine after our descent. We double checked all the life sustaining equipment inside the bell, as well as the cords that would provide us with air and everything else we would need out on a dive, as well as tethering us to the bell.

As was typical for the start of a gig, one or two divers would go out first while the supervisor or most experienced stayed in the bell. This was because even though I would be the most able to study the conditions and check everything, I would also be the best person to communicate to the people up top if anything went wrong, and I could make whatever judgment calls needed to be made if anything went awry.

Luckily, nothing went wrong and the preliminary assessment of the project went smoothly. We all began to settle into our 12 hour on 12 hour off style shifts. They were brutal but helped distract you from the fact you were down there for 2 weeks.

My first few shifts were mostly uneventful. I was correct that the visibility was incredibly poor. I guess I should explain the conditions of saturation diving, it's kind of important.

Basically at those depths we were working, amongst other things, light from the sun just can't penetrate that deep. There aren't any natural sources of light, so everything is in complete darkness. This also makes the water incredibly cold, often just a fraction of a degree above freezing which makes hypothermia a real concern.

Additionally, at those depths, especially so close to the sea floor, there's just a really high amount of sediment in the water. It's normal, just sand and other matter floating up off the seafloor, or stuff falling from above. It usually makes it so that even with your super powerful headlamp, you can only see maybe 10 to 15 feet out in front of you before everything turns into opaque black dark.

It feels like you're an astronaut out in space, except without the stars, or the Earth or anything really. Often times you can't even see the bell if you're working far enough out, just your cord stretching out into the ink.

It's definitely unnerving at first, but you get used to it. They also usually attach a ton of lights to the bell and to wherever you're working to make things a bit more visible.

That was a relatively new thing though, and many older bells didn't really have any lights except inside of the living quarters. This was true of the bell I was going down in with these guys. Again it was a little odd and not what I was used to, but it wasn't anything unheard of or too strange for a company with slightly older technology. It didn't really pose a safety threat.

So yeah, my first few shifts were uneventful. Work was progressing slowly but relatively on track. There were no major hiccups or anything.

On my fourth shift however, about a third into the gig, well that's what I'm here to talk about.

The visibility was incredibly low that day. Lower than it had been yet. There was a pretty large squall up on the surface a few hours before though, so it was mostly to be expected. Inconvenient and annoying, but expected.

This was actually the first time that the visibility was so bad I couldn't confidently make out the current work site from the bell. As the current shifted I could sometimes make it out, just barely seeing the bottom of the rig, but not always.

I was a little worried because of that, but swallowed my nerves and set out for the day like normal. I exited the bell like normal and began swimming in the direction that I knew the work site was. I mean, I had swam the route multiple times before. And it was only maybe 20 feet of distance.

I swam out, and out, and out. The current was also strong that day but I knew I should be able to see the rig by now. I mean, I should be able to touch it. I swam around where I was, thinking maybe it was just out of reach to the side or something. But I just really could not find it. I was surrounded by the void.

I was beginning to feel nervous, so I decided to head back to the bell. I couldn't see the bell either but all I had to do was follow my tether and it would be no problem. I slowed my breathing, to lower my air intake, and began to swim back in the direction of the cord.

I swam and I swam and I swam. Much longer than it should have taken. I began to freak a little bit again. I mean, how are you not supposed to be scared when you're alone, suspended in a black icy void?

I began to swim more and more frantically, erratically swimming in random directions in the endless dark.

And then it got even worse.

Another hazard of diving at these depths is well, the other creatures. None are really threats to humans, so it's nothing to be worried about. But you often will see large creatures swim by just outside where your light reaches. Or feel the water behind you start to churn rapidly as if something large is swimming just behind you. It often makes it feel like you are being hunted or stalked by something massive just outside of the light.

It was never something I was bothered by. I knew it was just schools of fish usually, maybe a large fish or something. Honestly more likely just the current. But this was different.

This wasn't just a school of fish swimming by, I mean, I felt it.

I felt something massive collide with me. I couldn't see it. It came from behind. But I could feel its long smooth body slide along my back, I could feel its pulse, its breathing. I could feel that it was hunting.

I felt completely frozen in fear. The blood drained from my limbs and my head, I felt stiff and I wanted to scream at my body to do something but I just floated, frozen.

And then it passed.

I was able to pull myself together just enough to be able to move. I began to put my hands on the tether, dragging myself just as much as I was swimming. Pulling as fast as I could. I became desperate, nothing existed other than me, the inky void, and my hands on the cord.

I could feel the water shift and churn as that thing swam around me. It felt like it was circling me, taunting me, sizing me up. I understood what it was like to be prey, to feel the inevitability of your role in the larger ecosystem.

Each pass it took towards me felt like it was about to open its jaws and swallow me whole. I began to tremble inside my suit, making it even harder to keep a firm grip on the tether as I swam.

I just kept swimming and dragging and pulling myself. My limbs were becoming exhausted. Each grip of the tether was getting harder and harder.

I could see where the cord disappeared into the void getting closer and closer. The dark was beginning to swallow me.

The cord was 10 feet long. Then 5. Then 3. And then I couldn't even see where it was attached to my torso.

I couldn't see anything. Just dark.

I could still feel the creature though. It still swirled around me. Chasing and crushing and spinning.

Eventually I felt it pause. I don't know how, but I could feel that whatever it called a face was right in front of me. It was huge. 10 feet wide maybe, just as tall. Just a few feet away from me.

I couldn't see it but I could feel it, I could feel cold radiate off of it instead of heat. It felt like it was sucking the heat out of me.

It became too much to bear. The cold overtook me.

They say when you become hypothermic you feel warm, your senses become warped from the conditions. I don't know if that's true but it definitely didn't feel like that to me.

I just felt colder and colder. I felt the heat leave my feet then my legs then my hands then my torso. I felt it all freeze in place as the life left me.

Before the void reached my head I passed out. Or blacked out. I don't know.

All I know is I woke up freezing, now back in the bell. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so cold.

The divers said when I swam out for my shift I just passed out after about 5 feet. As soon as they realized they pulled me back in and into the bell they gave me oxygen and other medical supplies.

I do remember that. Waking up to an oxygen mask in my face and dry blankets around my cold, wet body. Now, maybe I was just so out of it from whatever happened out there, but my earlier feelings about the other men being slightly off increased tenfold.

I don’t really know how to explain it other than that they looked more alive than they had seemed the whole time I had been with them. They were good about not letting it show but it seemed as though they were almost giddy, it was as if they had just won a great prize, or eaten some filling meal.

And I’ll never forget how even though my body temperature must have been very low, their hands felt so cold. The dive bell was heated and I could feel the warmth from that but whenever their hands touched me there was no warmth to it.

They said I was only unconscious for maybe 15 minutes. Only outside of the bell for less than 5.

Everyone up top agrees with them, says that's what they saw on their end too.

They said that there must have been a mix up with the gasses or something, that the combination had been a little off which caused me to pass out like that.

I looked at the records as well and, yeah, everything shows that's what happened. But I know what I felt. I know that I checked the tanks before I left and that everything was perfectly in order.

I also know that my dive computer, the thing that tracks the time and depth of a dive, has yet to have been found. They said it must have fallen off and gotten swept up into the current. The only thing that could have proved what I know happened.

It's also suspicious this happened the day after Aleks left for his wife and baby. He was the only normal, well, the only person who didn't work for Outer Bay Shipping.

I quit saturation diving after that. I ordered the bell up immediately and though my superiors were unhappy with me there's certain rules that you have to listen to the divers in the bell for calls like that.

And I got the hell out of Norway after that.

I don't dive anymore, I never go further into the water than up to my knees. But even still, on a choppier day, where the water further out is darker than usual. I can feel something watching me. Waiting.

ARCHIVIST

Statement Ends

Hm. Another mention of Outer Bay Shipping. I've seen that company mentioned in a few statements, sometimes with regards to the Montauk family, but this statement yields no new information about them.

They are often based in Ny-Ålesund in Svaldbard, so that does check out from what I've seen in the archives. But I have never found any conclusive information on *what they actually do*. And this statement really only asks more questions than answers.

What was Mr. Kishka working on? Why does Outer Bay Shipping even have a large rig outside Svalbard, why would cargo ships need to stop near somewhere that remote?

Well, regardless. I've looked into what other leads I could piece together from this.

I tracked down Mr. Kishka to Leeds. It appears he moved from Brighton to Leeds, I think it's safe to assume that is because it is further inland. From the records I found it appears he moved a few months after the statement was given, accompanied by his wife and their 2 sons.

When I attempted to further this lead and ask Mr. Kishka himself he refused to answer any questions, citing that he "reported the statement so he would never have to talk about it again."

I tried to find information on the coworker he mentioned, Aleks, but without a company mentioned or even a last name I see no way to further that inquiry.

There are a few different rigs or tankers outside of Svalbard in the general area Mr. Kishka described. However, it seems like the general practice is that in the Winter months they are not used due to the hazardous conditions Mr. Kishka described.

While that in and of itself is suspicious at the very least, it does not suggest any foul play no more than it suggests work safety violations.

I see no reason why this would suggest anything supernatural. While there are some obvious loose ends, I would simply deem this an unsafe work environment that led to Mr. Kishka having an unfortunate situation.

Recording Ends.

[CLICK]

By the time Pearl’s reading group finished up, it was nearing 9pm. Not a terribly egregious hour, especially for PhD students, but considering it was a Friday, and the meeting had been rescheduled from 2 pm to 6pm, it was much later than Pearl had wanted to be walking home.

The meeting had been interesting, her mentor had led discussion on a paper about the Riemann hypothesis, accompanied by a funny story involving the CIA. And as an apology for the scheduling issues, one of her groupmates had brought coffee and homemade cookies. But the shadows now reached down from the branches above, no longer softened by the leaves of Summer. The temperature was still slightly above what Pearl would consider chilly, but the breeze was sharp and cut right through her light jacket.

She knew the trek across campus was short, but she still couldn’t fight the annoyance towards her research group.

Especially when every minute away was a minute spent away from Gem. And, due to recent development, away from the new Minecraft server her friends had made.

One of the few things that had given Pearl solace the previous semester was a DND group she had taken part in. She hadn’t played since undergrad, but her advisor had encouraged her to find anything outside of her program. Pearl knew of many bright and promising students, much brighter than her if she was honest, who had burnt out due to never taking time away from research, and so she looked and found a group that met on campus.

She had met a few other grad students, some post docs, a few undergrads, and one student taking a few classes just for fun. That student had been Gem, taking classes in the mornings before her shifts at a restaurant in the city.

The campaign had been long and fun, but due to graduations, programs ending, and people moving for many reasons, the game had concluded at the end of the previous school year. Everyone had been sad to end things, but running a game online was tough and they wanted to end things on a positive note instead of letting things fizzle out due to scheduling issues and other obstacles.

They all missed each other though and had thus recently started a Minecraft server. Tango was currently the one running it, and they had had a few sessions of everyone playing at once, but over the past few weeks everyone had been chipping away individually at some starter bases and starter farms.

Pearl hadn’t had any time since the fall semester started, only logging on a few times just long enough to learn what any of the farms were doing, before having to leave for some other commitment.

Tonight was the fourth planned session, and Gem had told her that the tentative plan was to work on starter bases. Pearl hadn’t seen the server in over a week, so she was excited to see the state of things. She felt exhausted though had to fight not to just collapse onto the couch as soon as she got back.

She could hear Gem through the bedroom door, laughing lightly. As she dropped her backpack in the hallway and began to take her shoes off, Gem took her headphones off and began to walk over to her.

The pair met in the kitchen, wordlessly Gem opened her arms and Pearl collapsed into them. She was so tired she could barely think, so she just melted into Gem stroking her back. Sinking her fingers into Gem’s hair in return.

“How are you doing?” Gem asked softly.

Pearl groaned in response.

“I’m sorry your session ran late; you don’t have to go on the server if you just want to go to bed.” Gem pulled away, still intertwined, so she could see Pearl’s face, “Everyone would understand.”

“No, I do want to. I just need a minute. I haven’t eaten since 12.”

Gem’s face twisted from a soft, comforting grin to one of shock and exaggerated frustration, “12?!” She exclaimed, “I’m literally a cook, I can’t have my boyfriend starve. That would be bad for my reputation.”

Pearl smiled, “Then I guess you’ll just have to make me dinner.”

“1 instant ramen, coming up!” Pearl laughed.

“You’re a cook, you’re really “defending your reputation” with instant ramen?”

“There’ll be other things too!”

Gem walked into the kitchen to begin cooking. Pearl debated laying on the couch while waiting or going to tease her girlfriend some more. With very little actual thought, she decided to follow Gem.

“Coming to pester me some more?” Gem pleasantly teased.

Pearl just hummed as she wrapped her arms around Gem’s waist from behind, “No, too tired. Backpack instead.”

“Well okay backpack, just keep your hands away from the knife.”

Gem continued cutting up vegetables and occasionally stirring the noodles boiling over the stove. Pearl really had been joking about the instant ramen thing, Gem could make the best ramen she’d ever tasted using the instant stuff, even compared to nice restaurants.

So, Pearl patiently waited, occasionally humming softly, occasionally relaxing so much she felt she could fall asleep standing. Eventually the food was ready, and they migrated to the couch.

Gem had chopped up spinach and green onions and they were now laid on top of the noodles and broth, Gem could also see chopped silken tofu that had begun to soak into the steaming noodles. The broth seemed to be a combination of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and the whites of the green onions. Though Pearl couldn’t be sure what else was present, she knew Gem liked to hide chili crisp and other seasonings and aromatics at the bottom of the bowl. She said it was a “fun surprise at the end!” but Pearl just mixed everything together. She had also added sesame seeds to both, and furikake to Pearl’s.

“Do you mind if I eat this while playing?” Gem asked.

“No, go ahead. I’ll probably do the same thing in a few minutes.”

Gem nodded and headed back towards her desk, not before pressing a kiss on Pearl’s head.

When the two had moved in, or at least when they had secured the apartment, they still weren’t quite together yet. Thus, they had gotten a 2 bedroom apartment, and still maintained the small separation to this day. Even though they slept together in “Pearl’s” bed every night, most of Gem’s things stayed in “Gem’s room” and most of Pearl’s things stayed in “Pearl’s room”. Which was nice on the nights Gem would stay up to play games, or if Pearl wanted to wake up early to watch a show as it aired, even if it was in another time zone.

So tonight they would be playing in their separate rooms, though after they were done, they would both retire to the same bedroom.

Pearl sat on the couch and began to eat her soup, mindlessly scrolling on her phone as well. She could hear Gem laughing through the door that stayed cracked open, and some of the moody red and blue lighting Gem had set up flooded into the warm lights of the kitchen. Pearl’s own room sat dark, no one had probably been in there all day, and it definitely did not look as inviting as the couch felt.

But hearing Gem laughing and knowing her friends would be there playing with her, she eventually finished her bowl and went to go start booting up Minecraft.

She put her headphones on, making sure they were set to let sound in and not use the noise cancellation feature, and joined the discord call.

She was greeted immediately, “Pearl!”

“Scar!” She replied with just as much enthusiasm.

A chorus of other people greeting her followed, and she responded in turn.

“How was your research meeting, Pearl?” Grian asked.

He was the only other current grad student in the group. Scar had mastered out last year, and Cleo had transferred to some institute with more field work.

Grian still studied at the same university, but they were in the same year and both had transitioned from heavy coursework and TA-ing to much more reading and less classes. Additionally, they were studying in very different fields. Pearl was a math student with a focus in graph theory, and Grian was studying English with a focus in translation studies. Both would claim there was more overlap than one might think, but also knew they were completely lying. Because of the changes in schedules and workloads, the two did not feel much closer in distance than with anyone else.

“It was fine, some interesting papers.” Pearl replied, “Though I don’t know why my mentor let us go on for so long.”

Tango interjected, “Well, if I know Etho, there was no way he would let any of you leave until everyone understood all the concepts. Even if it is annoying as hell sometimes.”

“Oh I’m sure, but doesn’t he have other things to do on a Friday night?” Pearl replied with exasperation.

“Nope!” Tango laughed.

The conversation continued in the same fashion, talking about each other’s days, their research, and what they were getting up to outside of work. Pearl enjoyed hearing about the different things people were working on, but she was very done with academic talking for the rest of the day. Thus, she took a back seat in the conversation and went to go work with Gem.

When the conversation dipped into a lull, Pearl asked Gem what she was working on.

“Starter base! We all are really. I’ll show you around.” Gem answered.

They were all situated in a valley. There were tall mountains generated on three sides, and a river that passed by the fourth. It seemed some terraforming was already being done to create some smaller streams flowing down the mountains into a small lake in the center of the valley.

In a loose ring around the valley, people were marking out land and beginning to build.

“So, that’s Cleo over there,” Gem pointed.

Pearl could see Cleo marking out some land next to the small lake they had made, but still situated into the rocky cliffside. It looked like she was digging into the cliff, but on the outside Pearl could see the starts of what looked like a science lab.

“I’m not sure what their exact plan is, but they did offer to make a cool dock or shipyard for the river. Which would be super cool.

“Then, over there, is Skizz, Impulse, and Tango. I could not tell you which building is whose.”

On the rest of the cliff was a sprawling mass of cobble and wood. There were definitely three separate main structures, but with lots of bridges and tunnels connecting them. It looked to Pearl like they were going for an abandoned mine look, digging into the mountain and building lots of minecart rails between their bases. It was big and sprawling and messy, but Pearl could already see Tango working on some complicated redstone.

“We’ve marked this space out for Joel and Lizzie; they couldn’t be on today.”

Pearl hummed in response. The space Gem gestured towards was the side of the mountain the two were standing on. It was a large and kind of awkward space, but Pearl could already imagine the cute cottage or farm Lizzie could build in it.

“Then there’s Scar and Grian over there. I think they’re building a Zoo?”

“Yes, we are!” Grian interjected, “We’ve got all the farm animals, now we’re building the area for the wither.”

“You jumped from farm animals to wither?” Cleo asked, “Okay no actually that is so not the most important point, you absolutely cannot have a wither in a zoo.”

Grian was about to protest, but once everyone else jumped in to object as well, he conceded.

Grian laughed, “Fine. I guess.” He said sarcastically.

“Is Scar still on?” Gem asked.

“No, he went to go lie down but he said he might come back in a bit.” Grian responded, “He’s watching me play now actually.”

A small voice cut came through Grian’s mic, yelling from far away, “Hi guys!”

“Hi Scar!” Everyone responded, it was completely out of sync and more of a garbled mess though.

“And then, lastly, I’m building over on the other side of the lake from Cleo.” Gem began to wander over to said location.

It was the flattest of the area, next to the river but right where the valley opened into a plains biome. Pearl could see the start of small cottage with a large mill poking into the river. It was just an outline at this point, shapes thrown together to compare sizes and scale. Pearl could also see the color pallets Gem was going to use, all laid out in front, and while it seemed like the most outlandish combination of blocks that should never go together, Pearl knew Gem would somehow make it work.

What Pearl didn’t know, however, was where she was supposed to go now.

The couple had only officially gotten together a few weeks prior. They had already been living together for a while, and many of their “hang outs” could definitely be considered dates (especially since they often ended the night together in bed), but they had only just gotten together this month. Thus, while everyone in the group had suspected it, no one actually knew they were officially dating.

Gem had said she had no problem telling them, but Pearl was still nervous. Pearl had known everyone in the group for a shorter time than Gem, and she was still wary of saying the wrong thing or upsetting someone. This was also Pearl’s first real relationship with a girl. She wasn’t sure what things were normal to do and what things weren’t. The two came from very different backgrounds, and so while Gem would grab Pearl’s hand while walking down the street without a second thought, Pearl would never feel comfortable doing the same without a thorough inspection of everyone present around them.

Thus, Pearl was not sure where she should build.

Grian and Scar were building together, as were Joel and Lizzie, but neither of those were a surprise, they were dating.

Everyone already knew Gem and Pearl lived together, and there wasn’t really another obvious spot marked out for Pearl, but maybe they just forgot? She was new after all.

As she contemplated this, standing completely still in Gem’s base, a ping from discord appeared in the corner of her screen.

Gem: you ok?

Pearl: Where am I supposed to build?
Pearl: There isn’t anymore spots marked out?

Gem: wdym
Gem: ohhh
Gem: love obv with me

Pearl: Will people think we’re dating? I mean we are but I’d rather tell them then have them just assume.

Gem: i mean we could tell them
Gem: its been almost a month

Pearl: We could.

Before Pearl could send another message, she heard Grian in the main voice call.

“Okay, Gem, you’re next!”

Grian had been going around to each of the bases to “get tours for Scar”, but really it was just an excuse to say hi and pester people. Pearl had heard this all happening but hadn’t really paid any attention.

“Hi Grian!” Gem immediately replied, “Pearl’s here too.”

“Oh well of course! How have things been shaping up?” He asked

“Alright, I think I’m gonna go for a solar punk watermill type thing. I don’t really know anything about solar punk stuff, but Pearl does, and it always looks cool.”

“Nice!”

Pearl relaxed hearing how sure Grian was that Pearl would be here, and the way Gem casually included her in the house plans.

Gem showed Grian around the beginnings of the build while Pearl began to organize the monster of chests Gem had been accumulating.

“How’s your base going, Grian?” Gem asked.

“Pretty good! Well, all of the animals have escaped but other than that good.”

 

“Grian that sounds like the exact opposite of a ‘good zoo’.”

“It’s not my fault! Scar said he would improve the pens when he’s back on, so until then I just left them as is. I didn’t know they were only half built!”

Pearl could hear laughing coming from Grian’s audio, presumably from a very amused Scar.

She then received a ping on discord, from Gem of course.

Gem: yk we could just tell them
Gem: i can do it, it doesnt have to be a big thing

Pearl thought before responding, listening to Grian continue his banter with Gem, now with the rest of the server joining in.

Pearl: I’ll do it. Gimme a sec though.

Gem: :)

Pearl took off her headset and rose from her seat. She quickly dashed out of her room and into Gem’s, as swiftly and quietly as she can.

Gem heard her instantly and turned, startled confusion spread across her face.

Pearl just smiled, pushed Gem’s headset microphone up and kissed her before Gem really even knew what was going on.

“Hi.”

“Hi” Pearl replied.

“You needed some encouragement before telling everyone?” Gem reached up to thread her hand through Pearl’s hair.

“Yup!” Pearl nodded, “I’ll tell everyone when I get back to my pc.”

Gem smiled up at her, “If you’re not ready that’s okay. We can wait.”

“No I want them to know. I’m sorry I’m so nervous about it.”

“It’s okay, I get it.” Gem pulled Pearl down for another kiss, “If anything bad happens I’ll just pvp them all and win.”

“That definitely won’t be necessary, literally all of our friends are gay.”

“Still.”

Pearl smiled and rolled her eyes, “Ok, I’m gonna head back now.”

When Pearl returned to her pc she heard that the conversation had shifted. Grian had meandered back to his own base, now with even more animals roaming about (presumably spawned in by Skizz). Everyone had conveniently gathered at Grian and Scar’s base to help (watch) the chaos.

Pearl saw Gem run over to join and followed.

She then watched as Grian ran around his base frantically, while Skizz not-so-sneakily continued breeding the animals behind his back. Everyone watching laughing hysterically, and she could hear Grian joining in as well, as much as he was acting annoyed.

In typical Grian fashion, he pretended to “rage quit”, only being coaxed back onto the server when he was bribed with Pokémon packs.

Once all the chaos had subsided, everyone remained at Grian’s base, hanging out and talking while sitting in a small area made to look like a food court, or maybe a monkey enclosure? Pearl wasn’t exactly sure, but it was nice to just converse with her friends.

During a break between conversation topics, Pearl decided now was as good a time as ever to make their announcement. She did her best to calm the nerves she knew were irrational (done by placing a large wolf stuffed animal into her lap) and spoke up.

“Hey guys, Gem and I are dating.” She abruptly blurted out before anyone could respond. It was not as graceful or intentional as she had hoped, but the truth was out!

And luckily, she was met exclusively with positive reactions. Though the only thing that came through the call as Grian yelling “I knew it! I knew it!”

“What do you mean you knew it?” Gem asked, “You’re the most oblivious person I know.”

“Oh c’mon Gem, you’re quite obvious.” Murmurs of agreement came through the channel, “Remember when you showed up to DND with hickeys? And I’ll remind you, that was showing up after a mid-game break.”

Pearl coughed.

“Or when you Pearl cut her hair short for the first time and you forgot you had to heal the party, as the only cleric.” Cleo joined in.

“Or when you showed up in Pearl’s clothes and pretended that you intended to wear clothes that absolutely swallowed you.”

Pearl could hear Gem’s shocked scoffs at each addition.

“Darling, they are right.” Pearl added, “You can be a bit obvious.”

“Oh, you too Pearl! Like we don’t remember when you walked into a wall because you saw Gem wearing her glasses for the first time.”

Pearl could feel her cheeks flush bright red; grateful they were only on audio call and not video.

In response, she could only make flustered and vaguely dissenting noises.

As the laughter died down, Cleo was the first to actually respond to the news, “Well I think it’s lovely you two are finally together. I know you will both make each other very happy.”

“Aw, thank you, Cleo!” Gem responded first.

“Thanks Cleo,” Pearl added. Cleo had been somewhat informed on the proceedings of their relationship throughout its development, mostly through Pearls somewhat incoherent ramblings.

The rest of their friends quickly responded in kind.

The conversation continued to quiet down, gaps between topics growing larger, and Pearl could feel everyone’s energy beginning to wane. It was becoming close to 1am, and after her long day Pearl knew she did not have much more steam.

Before she could even announce her desire to go to bed, Gem got there first.

“This was great guys, but I think my fingers might fall off if I keep typing away on this keyboard. Same with my eyes.”

“Yeah, I agree. I am beat.” Skizz added.

“The Dads are ready for bed!” Grian joked, Pearl could hear a yawn threaded through his words.

“Ha ha,” Impulse responded, “A good sleep schedule is a very important part of a healthy life! Everyone needs their 8 hours.”

“Definitely agree with that.” Pearl responded, “My bed is calling to me.”

“I think it’s calling to Gem too!” Scar teased through Grian’s mic.

“Oh shut up, you’re doing same with Grian anyway.” Gem responded.

“Perhaps!”

Cleo chuckled, “Okay, goodnight guys! We should do this again some time.”

“Maybe make it weekly?” Tango suggested.

“I’d like that!”

“Same!”

A few more assents were voiced, everyone excited by the idea of consistently getting to spend some time together.

“Okay, I definitely do have to sleep though. Goodnight!” Pearl said before logging off the server and the call.

She let out a deep breath and sank into her chair. She loved spending time with her friends, but there was always some part of her that was never fully relaxed unless she was alone. Well, she certainly thought that. But as Gem entered the room, walking over so that Pearl could bury her head against her stomach and let Gem stroke her hair, there was definitely some deep, dark corner of her mind that only really turned off with Gem.

Pearl hummed and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.

“Let’s get you to bed, hmm?” Gem said, leaning back slightly to look down at her.

“No, comfy right here.”

“You’re still in jeans. And a binder.”

“Transphobic.”

Gem laughed, “Homophobic of you not to join your girlfriend in bed then.”

Gem then pulled away abruptly, disentangling herself from Pearl’s arms and making her way over to their bed. Pearl made a few disgruntled noises before trying to follow.

“Nope! No outside clothes in the bed,” Gem told her as Pearl tried to lay down, “Go put on some pjs.”

Pearl relented quickly, anxious to get in bed with her girlfriend. She collapsed onto their bed as soon as she was able, now wrapped up in a large, oversized hoodie and some boxers.

Gem opened her arms, and Pearl happily climbed into them. They ended their nights like this often, Gem was much more of a night owl than Pearl and usually stayed up a bit later. So, Gem would stay on her phone doing whatever, and Pearl would happily fall asleep in her arms, this would be reciprocated in the morning when Gem would be woken in a similar fashion, usually with an accompanying breakfast Pearl had made for the two of them.

So, Pearl felt Gem fix the pillows and blankets around them with the practiced ease of someone who has done this many times before, and begin to stroke Pearl’s hair softly. Pearl could feel her body getting heavier and heavier, somehow sinking deeper into Gem’s arms. She let the fatigue she had been fighting take over her, and quickly fell into a peaceful sleep, filled with gratitude that she would get to do this every night for the rest of her life.