A Season of Change
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Ships/Seasons/Blurble:
Pearl X Gem
Joel X Lizzy
Grian X Impulse
Jimmy X Tango
Cub X Scar
Etho X Cleo
Skizz X BigB
Bdubs X Doc
Scott X Martyn
Ren X Mumbo
Winter: Pearl, Cub, Etho, Cleo, and BigB
Autumn: Grian, Impulse, Ren, Mumbo, Bdubs, and Doc
Summer: Jimmy, Tango, Skizz, Scott, and Martyn
Spring: Joel, Lizzy, Scar, and Gem
Welcome to the island of Cyclis, an island where children are born with abilities pertaining to the season in which they were born. Those born to the Summer court had power over fire, the Autumn court had power over wind, the Winter court had power over water, and those born to the Spring court had power over plants. Everything was peaceful on Cyclis, so long as its citizens followed one simple rule: they could only marry someone from their own season.
Pearl really doesn’t mind the idea of a lavender marriage. Cub, her court given partner, is her best friend, and while they both swing the other way they’ve discussed building a life together, even having kids if their parents forced them into it. Things all come clattering down however when Cub announces he’s leaving the relationship and leaving the Seasons court to run away with his partner from the Spring court, leaving Pearl alone. Just waiting for her father to find her a new partner who without a doubt will be worse than Cub. Luckily for her, her younger brother Grian has everything planned out in a perfectly legal way.
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Prologue:
“Girl, what are you wearing?” Scott laughed as Pearl stepped out of her changing room. If it was anyone else she would have been offended, but she knew Scott could rock a dress way better than she could, so she trusted his judgement.
“Does it look bad?” She sighed, looking down at the dress she had chosen. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it definitely didn’t suit Pearl. It was a long white dress with long sleeves, a high neckline, and swirling gold detailing, none of which were things Pearl liked, but Pearl didn’t like dresses that much to begin with so she just picked one that looked formal enough for their dinner with Cub and his family.
“On you,” Pearl rolled her eyes as Scott stood up from his chair, going to scavenge Pearl’s wardrobe for a better dress, returning moments later with a small pile of them, “Give these a try, I think they’ll look better on you.” He rather unceremoniously handed all of them to Pearl, and she shuffled awkwardly back into the changing room.
The next dress was a dark grey, sure a red would have looked better on Pearl, but she was a member of the Winter court, which meant she had to wear her assigned colors (white, grey, and black) during any formal events. This one suited her better, ending at her mid calves rather than being floor length and being strapless inside of having the world’s longest pair of sleeves, but it still wasn’t quite right, so Scott shooed her back into the changing room once more.
The following dress was debatably worse than the first one. It was a light grey color that horrifically accentuated the bags under Pearl’s eyes, and it was so tight that it even managed to pull Pearl’s twig of a frame into an uncomfortable pose.
“Yeah no, try another one.” Pearl sighed gratefully before she returned to her changing room, pulling it off and tossing it straight to the floor, not even bothering to put it back on the hanger that she had taken it off of.
Third time was the charm as Pearl stepped out of the changing room looking flawless. The dress was black with straps that were thicker than spaghetti straps without being uncomfortably large. The length was the same as the first dress Scott had given her, but this time there was a slit that traveled up her left leg and ended just below her hip.
“How does that feel?” Scott asked eagerly.
“Good, not super restrictive like the other ones,” Pearl agreed happily, testing her range of motion in the dress by stretching her arms and legs and happily finding that it was hardly restricted at all, “I like it,” Scott nodded proudly.
“I knew I would find you a good one, now come on, I have about thirty minutes to do your hair before everyone gets here,” Scott spun around the chair he was sitting in mere moments ago and patted the seat. Pearl just staired.
“I can do my own hair, you know,” She pointed out.
“Yeah but tonight is important so I’d rather not risk another disaster with the curling iron so I will be handling it for you, you can thank me later.” Pearl rolled her eyes once more at the blue haired man’s insistence, but she sat down anyway, sitting calmly while Scott ran the brush though long brown and blonde hair, watching as he seperated it into three large chunks and began losely braiding it, sticking small silver flowers in when he felt it was appropriate to do so.
“You're more like a governess than an advisor,” Pearl points out, trying to keep herself from yawning and gentle fingers wove in and out of her hair, “Did you know that?”
“That's only because you don’t need anything more than a governess right now,” Scott explained as he pulled a hair tie off of his wrist with his teeth, wrapping it around the very end of the braid to hold it in place, sticking a final silver flower in there with the hair tie for good measure, “May I remind you that I was top of my class for four straight years in college? How did you think I got this job?” Scott asked, Pearl of course ignored the question and laughed.
“I didn’t think you could do anything straight.” Scott resisted the urge to reach down and ruffle Pearl’s hair as someone knocked gently on the door, “Come in!” The middle prince, Grian, pushed open the door. He was in a dark red button up and pressed tan slacks.
“Cub’s family will be arriving shortly, father wants us to greet them at the door,” Grian explained. Scott nodded and ducked into the closet, pulling out a pair of tall black boots for Pearl, who pulled them on before brushing off her dress and following her younger brother to the main hall.
Joel and Jimmy were waiting for them at the door, both in very similar outfits to Grian, Joel’s shirt being a pale pink with green slacks and Jimmy’s shirt being a pale yellow with navy slacks. Pearl took her spot next to Joel at the end of the line, and watched as the castle staff opened the grand double doors of the entrance hall.
Cub was the first one through the doors, followed by his parents, grandparents, and extended family. Cub shook the hands of her brothers before making his way to Pearl. The two leaned close, and Cub kissed the air next to Pearl’s head, a trick the two had worked out some time ago to avoid actually having to kiss each other (though Pearl did wonder if that would change after they were engaged, after all, she knew they were meant to be more touchy with one another leading up to the wedding… and afterwards).
“Lord and Lady Fan, it’s a pleasure to have you and your family here,” Xelqua Equinox walked down the grand stairwell on the opposite side of the room with a flourish, making his way towards Cub’s parents. He shook his father’s hand and kissed the hand of his mother.
“It’s a pleasure to be invited by your majesty.” Cub’s father said, bowing to the king. Pearl noticed that Xelqua wasn’t looking at Cub’s father though, his gaze drifting over to his daughter and her court ordered partner. Pearl tensed upon noticing this, quickly taking Cub’s hand in her own and inching closer to him, which seemed to appease her father.
“If you’d follow me this way, the servants have the dining hall prepared for a wonderful dinner.” Xelqua led the way, with Cub’s parents behind him, and Cub and Pearl behind them, followed by everyone else. Sitting at the table, Xelqua took the head with Pearl on his left and Joel on his right, Cub was next to Pearl followed by his parents, and Grian was next to Joel followed by Jimmy and Cub’s younger sister Kathrine, with everyone else settling down after them.
The food was fairly typical, a light vegetable based soup to start followed by roasts of various different animals, all being at least somewhat rare in the court lands. It was before desert was due to come, that Cub stood from his seat.
“Everyone, if you please, I have an announcement to make,” Cub said as he tapped a spoon against the side of his glass, turning to look at Pearl. Pearl knew this was coming at some point, so she steeled her nerves and braced herself, already knowing what reaction would elicit the best response from her father, “I’m ending my relationship with Pearl.”
Pearl just sat there with her mouth hanging open.
“I’m sorry, truely, this was nice, well it lasted but everyone in this room knows Pearl and I don’t love each other, and to be quite frank with you all, I find this whole proposal you expect me to do to be entirely ridiculous.” Pearl couldn’t deny the fact she was proud of him for being so open about his feelings, but she was still hurt. They may not have been romantically in love but they had made plans, they were going to have a life together, and he didn’t even think about telling Pearl before saying something? “And just to convince you all that I am not making this up for attention, I would like to introduce all of you to my partner, Scar.”
A palace servant who Pearl was fairly certain was Martyn in a dress opened the door, and low and behold someone was actually standing there. He was tall, tanned, and covered in scars, but that wasn’t what caught Pearl’s attention. No, the thing that got Pearl’s attention was his outfit. He had a pale green button up under a dark pink two piece suit, which almost made him look like a watermelon, but more importantly, signified to the rest of the group that he was from the Spring court, not the Winter court.
“Cub, what do you think you’re doing?” His father snapped, slamming his hands down on the table and making Jimmy and Kathrine both jump back in shock.
“Just showing everyone the real me,” Rather than waiting for Scar, Cub made his way over to his partner, taking the brunette’s hand in his own with a level of assurance that he never had with Pearl, and pressing a kiss to his lips.
“Young Lord Fan, you know what is going to happen if you don’t denounce this relationship immediately, yes?” Her father asked, ignoring the outburst of Cub’s father. “You both will be thrown from the court, stripped of everything you have and forced to live in the woods beyond the help of the court and its lands.” Cub just nodded firmly.
“King Xelqua, please let me have a moment to speak to my son, he’s clearly not in his right mind!” Cub’s father began to protest, “I don’t know who this boy is but he clearly has corrupted his mind! Cub should not be punished for whatever this predator has done to him!” Pearl had never seen Cub so pissed, and it made her blood run cold.
“That’s enough, you can speak all you want about me, but you will not speak about Scar that way! He is a good person, better than any of you, and I love him whether you like that or not!” Cub snapped, “And I understand what that means for us, and I’m willing to risk it all for him!”
“Cub you’re being insane!” His father protested.
“That’s enough, if this is how Cub feels I will not have him in any court of mine,” Xelqua declared finally, “Guards, take these two away, you know what is to be done with them.” Guards rushed in from both sides, but Cub and Scar didn’t move to run, instead allowing themselves to be carted away peacefully, all while keeping their hands intertwined.
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Chapter 1:
Despite what it looked like, Pearl wasn’t upset after Cub and Scar were escorted out. Even as she refused to eat after Cub’s family was escorted out of the dining hall, even after a night of restless sleep, and even after crying in Scott’s arms while he washed her hair, she wasn’t upset. She was scared.
Pearl hadn’t ever found herself attracted to the other Winter court members and Cub was a rare exception to that rule, the only other three being her magic tutors. Being paired with Cub was like a saving grace for Pearl, because even if they didn’t love one another, Cub served as a wall between her and the other members of the Winter court. With him gone she would have to pick the least of their evils, or even worse, allow her father to choose her a new partner.
Which was his plan from the second Cub outed himself.
“Father, may we have a word?” Joel asked, leaning through the small opening between the doors of his father’s study. The king was hunched over his desk, looking through lists of other high ranking members of the Winter court, desperately trying to find a new partner for his eldest. Unfortunately for him, most of them were either outside of a respectable age range, or already committed to others.
“Of course my sons, come in,” One by one the boys filed into the room, standing in a straight line in front of their father’s desk. Each of them was in a committed and happy relationship, being given the time to find their own partners unlike their elder sister, and they knew how much she hated most other members of the Winter court, so they wanted to help her out, even if only a little bit, “To what do I owe this visit? Is everything alright with you three?” He asked.
“Everything is fine with us Father, the three of us were actually wondering if we could do something for you,” Joel offered somewhat nervously. It wasn’t his plan, it was all Grian’s, but as the eldest he was in charge of presenting it.
“Help me with something?” The king repeated curiously.
“We were wondering if we could take over the search for a new partner for Pearl,” Their father’s eyes went wide, “It’s not that we don’t trust your judgement, but as we are all closer to Pearl’s age we all believe we have a better grasp on what Pearl would prefer in a partner,” Joel explained.
“This is a very serious matter Joel,” The king’s tone was taut and tense as he spoke, making Joel tense, as he nervously started picking at the hands folded behind his back.
“We’re aware, Father, which is why we want to help you. Another failed relationship won’t look good for Pearl, so we want to find her the best possible partner,” Joel noted. Grian and Jimmy nodded along with his statement, but for an excruciatingly long time the king just stared at them.
“You have one week, if you cannot find a partner Pearl will be happy with before then, I will have to take things into my own hands once more.” Joel nodded.
“We won’t let you down father.” He assured him.
“I’m not ready,” Pearl mumbled into her knees as Scott ran a brush through her hair once more. It had only been two days since Cub had been escorted out of the palace for being in a secret relationship with a member of the Spring court, and she was less than enthusiastic to look for a new partner so soon after she had been left behind, “I don’t want to do this, who even though speed dating would be a good idea?”
“Your brothers,” Scott sighed. While he was glad it was her brothers planning this rather than her father, he still didn’t like seeing Pearl so distressed about finding a new partner, “What are we thinking for the hair today? A braid? Half up half down? Straightened?” He asked calmly.
“Can we just do a ponytail today?” Pearl sighed.
“Can I give it a little curl to look nice?” Pearl nodded so Scott got to work, curling the hair and pulling it into a ponytail before slathering the whole thing in hairspray, “You’re all set to go, what do you think?” Pearl stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror in front of her.
“I don’t want to do this,” She repeated firmly.
“I know sweetie, but give your brothers some credit okay? Even if they don’t have the best ideas, they’re the ones keeping your father from assigning you a new partner,” He pointed out. Pearl leaned into her knees once more (as they were tucked up against her chest) and she sighed deeply.
“I suppose you’re right… let’s just get this over with,” Pearl stood from the chair and walked to the door, her frame still tense as she was very clearly still displeased about leaving.
“You want me there for emotional support?” Scott offered.
“All three of my brothers will be there,” Pearl shrugged.
“That’s not what I asked.” Scott pointed out.
“... Yes please.” Scott nodded firmly and stood up to follow her, taking Pearl’s hand in his own and giving it a tight squeeze. Pearl smiled softly at the gesture, and the duo made their way out of the room and to the courtyard where the princes had set up Pearl’s speed dating event.
Jimmy was the one there waiting for them, Joel and Grian both being tucked away inside managing the visitors that Pearl would be seeing. Jimmy led her to a decorated gazebo that held a table covered in tea and sweets, and Pearl sat in one of the two chairs, while Scott sat down on a bench that was just on the other side of a nearby hedge wall. When Pearl poured herself a cup of tea, she gave Jimmy the signal to go ahead, and he called Grian to send out the first of the twenty some people they had gathered to introduce to her.
Joey was a dick, Fwhip was fine, Pix was nice (and she was prepared to lean heavily into the lavender marriage once more if she had to), Shelby very clearly had a crush on Cub’s sister Kathrine which Pearl wholeheartedly encouraged her to express to Kathrine, Sausage was fun but too flirty for Pearl’s taste, and False was fine if not a little off putting like staring at someone who didn’t know they were human. It wasn’t the easiest way of doing things, but Pearl found herself genuinely having a good time, even if she was bracing herself for the eventual need to decide on a lavender partner.
Little did she know she wouldn’t need to make that choice. The next person to walk into the gazebo was short, with pale skin absolutely littered with freckles, emerald eyes, and long curly red hair that reached down to her mid back. Unlike the others who had entered in one of two ways (one being cocky and confident and the other being professional and closed off as if they were entering a job interview) this girl entered laughing nervously. Face flushed with red as she laid eyes on Pearl and awkwardly made her way to her seat.
“Hello, I’m Gem, it’s really nice to meet you after all this time,” She held out a hand and Pearl shook it, but not without a confused expression crossing her face, “One of your royal tutors, Etho, he’s my older brother, and he talks about you all the time.” Gem explained casually.
“Oh you’re Etho’s sister! I think he’s mentioned you before!” Pearl gasped, remembering Etho and the other tutors getting drunk one night and Etho going on a ramble about how proud and how mad he was at his younger sister, as her magic skills far surpassed his own. “You look nothing like him, and that’s not a bad thing of course.” Pearl pointed out to which Gem laughed, snorting when she did so and metaphorically tying a lasso around Pearl’s heart and pulling her closer as Pearl was so devastatingly endeared by her.
“Oh believe me I know, my brother is more of an acquired taste, if it wasn’t for Cleo he would probably still be single, Gods know what they see in him,” The two laughed and for a moment Pearl found herself forgetting about the idea of a sham partnership entirely. It had been years since she had clicked with someone so instantly (and the last time it was Martyn who clicked with her and that was only because the man was blunt and teased Scott endlessly so Pearl didn’t really see that in the same way she saw this).
“So, why did you of all people decide to come to a: speed dating with the princess event?” Pearl asked curiously.
“You can thank Etho for that one. He was talking with Joel and Joel was complaining about not having enough people for this event, so Etho just offered me up without even asking me first, I didn’t even know what was going on until I got dropped off and Grian sorted me into a line,” Gem explained, “Can’t say I’m mad about it though, as far as surprises go, this one isn’t too bad.” Pearl could feel her face heating up as Gem winked playfully at her.
Jimmy watched them from the bench where Scott was sitting, peaking through the hedge while on the phone with Grian and Joel, trying to relay the events back to them.
“Do we send out the next person?” Grian asked annoyedly after torturously long minutes of silence from Jimmy.
“Not yet, I think we’ve got something here.” Scott scoffed and rolled his eyes at the prince but he couldn’t deny that he was in the same pose, eagerly watching through the hedge and listening to Pearl laugh for the first time in a long time.
“I don’t know how long we have, everyone else has been taken away by now… do you want to take a walk around the castle gardens with me?” Pearl offered hopefully.
“I would love that.”
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Chapter 2:
Gem wasn’t what the king wanted for Pearl’s partner, but with how happy his daughter seemed and how little she was fighting him, he decided to allow her to announce Gem as her new court partner the following day (he would have to turn his need for a grandchild to Joel and Lizzy, but that would be a future problem, and at least they liked each other unlike with how Pearl and Cub had been). Gem was by all other means a perfect court partner, the Taylabs were a respectable family, and Gem had been raised well, she almost seemed like a good influence on his rebellious eldest. There was just one problem with her, not that the king knew that.
Gem was not a member of the Winter court.
~ Two Days Prior ~
“I’m home!” Gem sighed, shoving off her work bag and tossing it rather unceremoniously on the coathanger. She adored her job, working at a quaint little bakery in the town center, but with her boss being out that day and with her being the second highest rank in the company, she had to pick up all of the slack and she was dead tired. Her flour covered work shirt had already been discarded, and she dragged herself to the kitchen where she could hear Etho cooking something, in dirty overalls and a white tank top.
“Hello Gemini,” Gem jumped back upon hearing the u familiar voice. Scanning the kitchen frantically she found Etho cooking at the stove, and one of the princes sitting on their barstool, drinking coffee in a sweater vest, “My name is Grian, I assume you’ve heard of me?” He taunted.
“Etho, why is there a prince in our house?” Gem asked.
“I don’t see what the big deal is, Joel’s over here all the time,” Etho shrugged, not looking up from the stove.
“Okay let me rephrase, why is there another prince in our house?!” Gem repeated, much louder this time. Grian just laughed at how off put she was by the situation.
“He wanted to talk to you,” Etho said plainly.
“And why does he want to talk to me?” Etho shrugged.
“I don’t know, he just said he wanted to.”
“You didn’t think to ask why?” Gem groaned.
“I’m right here you know,” Grian pointed out, “And I came to ask a favor of you Gemini, something very important.”
“Gods at least call me Gem if you're gonna talk to me,” Gen replied snidely, to which Grian had to stifle a laugh.
“You have a lot of gall, back talking to a prince like that,” Grian taunted, but Gem just rolled her eyes at him.
“And you have a lot of gall to sit in my house and drink coffee out of my favorite mug yet here we are.” Gem pointed out, crossing her arms and leaning against the corner of the wall behind her. Grian smiled at the jab.
“Touche, I like you.”
“Gross.”
“Not like that,” Grian sighed, taking his turn to roll his eyes at Gem, “Anyway, have you heard about what happened earlier today? I doubt you have since it was just a few hours ago. Cub left Pearl, being banished from the kingdom with his lover from the Spring court Scar.” Gem gasped.
“Scar… he’s my boss, did you seriously come here to tell me I was out of a job?” Gem asked, Grian shook his head.
“No, quite the opposite, I came to offer you a position, and now that you’re free from your old job you should be more than happy to accept,” Grian explained, “I need you to date my sister Pearl and become her new court partner.”
“Excuse me, what?!” Gem snapped.
“Well I tried to ask Kathrine but she sees Pearl as a sister so that was off the table, I trust Etho so you’re the next best thing.” Grian shurgged.
“I’m from the Spring court Grian!” Gem pointed out.
“Yeah we can fix that,” Grian said, entirely unbothered.
“I’ve never even met Pearl….”
“We’re doing speed dating tomorrow.”
“What if we don’t hit it off?”
“I have a feeling you’ll be just fine.”
“What if I get caught?”
“That won’t happen,” Grian’s tone was firm as he spoke.
“What if I refuse to go?” Gem asked finally.
“I mean there’s nothing I can do to you if you refuse, can’t exactly fault you for not wanting to do something illegal now can I?” Grian sighed, “But it’s an easy job, you would be compensated for your time, and you would get to be a part of something so much bigger than yourself.”
“Dating someone isn’t easy,” Gem pointed out.
“It isn’t?” Grian asked, seeming genuinely confused.
“No!”
~Present Day~
Gem still didn’t know why she agreed, but Pearl was much more bareable to be around than Grian. She had a bit of bite to her but she was sweet, leading Gem around the castle gardens and already making a plan to have Gem visit again at night so she could show Gem her favorite constellations. Even if Gem wasn’t instantly romantically attracted to her, she had to admit that Grian was right, they did hit it off.