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“How embarrassing,” Tango murmured, teeth chattering as he tugged his leather jacket tighter around him. “This has to be the worst timeline.”
He knew he was being dramatic, but whose idea was it to include so much fucking water this season? Team T.I.E.S. was set up by the shore, Mean Gills created the Coral Isles in the middle of a body of water, and The Bad Boys’ Woodland Mansion was absolutely flooded.
Water didn’t kill him, but it wasn’t his favorite thing to be submerged in. Being a blazeborn with his blonde hair turning into fire whenever it felt like it and his body temperature consistently hot enough to cook steak on, water didn’t tend to agree with him.
In fact, he was steaming, much like what would happen if one tried to place water down in The Nether. Water attempted to escape by rolling off of him, but much of it sizzled away before it had a chance to drop into the ground.
He was cold and shivering, straight to his core. It was like a winter’s frost nipping right past his skin and working straight to his bones, gnawing away at his insides. The fluff of hair at the end of his tail was trying its best to spark, but it was rather pitiful to watch. His clothing clung to him, heavy and noticeably darker from the fabric holding the water.
Still, Tango continued to stagger further, blindly making his way through the terrain. He just needed to get back to T.I.E.S. Tower. There, he could change into a backup outfit and sit by the furnace. Maybe, if he was lucky, Skizz or Impulse would be there when he arrived and give him their famous platonic cuddles. And, void, did they give some good-ass cuddles–
Maybe even Etho would see how necessary it was to get Tango to his typical body heat again and cuddle him. Tango knew Etho wasn’t huge on touch, especially casual touch, but perhaps he would make an exception? That was to say if he was even here and not checking in on the Clockers. I still don’t understand what is going on with that dysfunctional “family”...
A coughing fit forced itself from his throat, wheezes rattling within his lungs. Spots continued to pepper Tango’s vision and each step took far too much energy. How long had he been under for the water to affect him this badly?
Tango had tried to go see Jimmy at The Bad Boys’ base, but he was acting weird, for lack of a better word. He had been all game! It was like some switch got hit the second they spawned into this world because Jimmy wouldn’t even give him the time of day.
Everyone knew, including Tango, that Jimmy never processed dying very well in these games– and he’d died a few times already, hours slipping away in a moment– but there weren’t even any reds on the server yet! What was his deal?
Even if there were reds, couldn’t Jimmy see how bad he was hurting? How much he was thinking about him? Tango had thought their relationship was better than that. They were boyfriends, soulmates, ranchers, yet it somehow didn’t matter to him?
Tango was generally confident in his standing within relationships, but Jimmy’s behavior had caused him to doubt himself. Had he thought that allowing their relationship to become romantic was a mistake? Tango knew he wasn’t Scott, but that was something Jimmy had told him he liked. Jimmy’s relationships with each of them were different, but he loved them both. At least, that is what he claimed, and Tango believed him!
Did he believe him?
Of course he did!
What sort of question was that? This was Jimmy! His funny, charming, caring Jimmy! This was just some weird funk he was in for some reason. Maybe he should plan an intervention of some sort. He was sure Scott would join him if he asked.
Tango had previously pulled Scott aside to talk about their boyfriend’s recent behavior, so he knew that he was having some issues with Jimmy too. They counseled each other about their shared partner, and it honestly made their relationship stronger.
He and Scott weren’t together romantically (yet), but they had discussed that possibility after Double Life ended. They hadn’t wanted to rush it, but if something happened between them, everyone involved was okay with them exploring it. If anything had come from Jimmy’s bizarre behavior, it was that Tango has got to spend more time with Scott than he might not have otherwise.
Besides, Tango had his team as his support system! He wasn’t reliant on only Jimmy, after all. They had their own lives and relationships outside of each other, naturally, but whatever was happening still hurt quite a lot. Tango missed Jimmy, he missed his rancher…
Yet, here he was, soaked to the bone from escaping through the waterlogged mansion in order to avoid The Bad Boys’ blades.
If had the energy to cry, he would.
Tango staggered over to a tree before harshly throwing himself against it, using it as a crutch. Where had he even ended up?
“Tango, is that you?” a voice– Scott, he recognized– asked, tone infused with concern and worry. “Void, Tango! I thought there was a forest fire or something with how much– What the fuck happened to you?”
“Too long,” Tango started before another coughing fit contracted his lungs, forcing him to hunch over. His arms wrapped around his stomach, a mix of water and spit expelling from his mouth. “Too long in water. Cold.”
Scott hesitated reaching out to him with his webbed hands, ear fins twitching. The lore effects of the server had taken a liking to Scott, gradually turning him more and more fishy as the tattooed timer on his forearm clicked down. “Will I hurt you? I’m not as warmblooded as I used to be.”
“Uh,” Tango responded unintelligently, his brain as jumbled as a beginner’s trying to figure out an expert’s redstone contraption, “who knows, so, uh- I think I’m gonna, uh, gonna go nini, sleepify, faniticate-?”
He placed a hand against his forehead and squinted his eyes as he continued to babble. What was he even saying? Whatever it was, it was utter nonsense, even to himself. His energy was so low as the fire within him struggled to keep up. Next thing he knew, everything went black.
.
.
.
When he woke again, everything was warm. It was so warm and so unlike that before that he couldn’t convince himself to open his eyes. Tango snuggled further into the blankets, cocooned by the layers. A blissful purr rumbled in his throat, not used to such comfort during one of these games.
A soft mumble that sounded sort of like the word “cute” and that reminder of the games jerked him awake, arms flailing out to help push him upright. The blankets fell with him, leaving the upper half of his body exposed. He had been sleeping with bare skin against blankets, no longer wearing the clothes that he had been wearing last.
Tango squeaked, pulling the blankets up to cover himself, not used to casual nudity. The commotion alerted the other in the room (could he even call this little shack a “room”?) that he had awoken. He blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to focus. “Who’s there? Where am I? How– ugh, my head– how long has it been?”
“We aren’t far from where you passed out,” Scott answered nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “And don’t worry about your time; it hasn’t been that long. I convinced Grian to give us our mid-session break early. And, hm– and sorry for removing most of your clothes, but you weren’t going to warm up if I left you in them. If it helps, I set up this place by myself and didn’t invite anyone else to help so you could have your privacy.”
They were in a simple six by six room composed of oak planks, clearly tossed up in a short amount of time. The walls and furniture were fairly bare with Tango only making note of the bed he was on, a furnace that acted like a fireplace and a place to cook, and a few stray fences that his clothes were draped on.
Scott was standing in front of the furnace with an iron pot he must have pulled out of his inventory. There was no way he had time to do all this and go mining while he was unconscious, right? He stirred whatever was inside, not looking towards Tango in the slightest, supposedly to respect Tango’s privacy. “Soup’s almost ready. You’re okay with fish in it, right? Living over water and being able to swim really fast has given me access to a lot of fish. Like, a fuck ton of fish. An insane amount of fish. I do understand why Jimmy enjoyed swimming so much on the first Empires home server now, though.”
“Uh, yeah. Yeah, fish is good.” Tango stared at the back of Scott’s head, gaze trailing the long, cerulean (or was it more cyan?) blue waves of his hair. The fire inside him was very pleased with the affection for the other man sizzling within his mind.
Yes, the blankets and removal of the wet clothes helped tend to his inner fire, but Scott was just… so good. Was this what Jimmy saw in him? Someone who would convince Grian to stop a session early and start the break simply because Tango got a little too wet? Someone who could easily be a force of nature to be reckoned with, and often was, when he felt like it? Someone who cared less about winning and bragging rights, and more about having fun and playing fair?
If Scott had wanted, he could have slain Tango in his weakened state, and no one would have held it against him. It was part of the game, after all! Scott could have taken Tango’s time for himself, but he didn’t. Why didn’t he? Tango wasn’t sure he would have been so kind… They weren’t even on the same team, yet Scott was taking care of him, practically nursing him back to health.
Scott left the soup to cook a little longer, moving over to the fence posts. He sang softly to himself as he checked the state of Tango’s clothing, assumingly to decide if they were dry enough to give back to Tango or not. Deciding it was sufficient enough, Scott removed the clothing from the fence posts and folded them neatly. “Are you decent enough?”
“Yep,” Tango confirmed, pulling the blankets tighter around him to preserve the pleasant burning temperatures it managed to capture. His hair was a joyfully content flame, lighting his area of the room better than the torches. “You, uh, you didn’t have to do any of this careificating stuff, Scott. You could have just dropped me off at T.I.E.S.”
“I could have, but I didn’t want to,” Scott dismissed with a shrug, acting as if it were no big deal. He set the clothes down at the foot of the bed before turning back to the soup to let Tango change. “You clearly were suffering outside of what is to be expected for these games, plus I care about you. Not only as Jimmy’s other boyfriend, but as a friend of your own right.”
Tango tried his best to ignore what Scott’s words did to him and, instead, focused on the fact that he didn’t want to leave the blankets. He truly didn’t want to, but he knew he should take the opportunity to get dressed while he had it.
The last thing he wanted was to end up having to streak back to T.I.E.S. Tower, almost completely nude, because Grian had decided that was a long enough break. He pulled on his shirt first before tugging on his pants and then the jacket last. They were nice and toasty from being near the furnace, another happy purr rumbling softly within him as his tail flicked idly behind him.
Scott summoned two bowls from his inventory and scooped a hearty helping of the soup into both. He picked up one with both hands to carry it to Tango, pressing it into his hands when he was ready. Their hands brushed against each other briefly, barely any contact at all, but it was enough to get Tango’s heart racing. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Scott flashed him a smile, his lore-magic-sharpened teeth on display. Tango’s teeth were naturally sharp as well, but it wasn’t often he saw it on other people. He found that he liked it, wanting to know what Scott’s teeth would feel like against his skin, against his neck, against his lips…
Tango ducked his head as if to hide from the daydream, swallowing down roughly as his gaze fell to the soup. He took a spoon and shoved some of it into his mouth, not trusting himself enough to not say something stupid.
Scott picked up the second bowl he had prepared for himself and settled down on a nearby chair that Tango hadn’t noticed before. “Eat up. I’m not sure how much more time Grian will give us before he starts the session again.”
Tango didn’t need to be told twice. Not only was the soup spectacular, dancing happily on his taste buds, and it especially heated him from the inside. Scott had done a fantastic job warming him from the outside so far– where had he gotten so many blankets, actually– but this was on another level. The flame on his head grew larger as a grin widened on his face.
“Do you like it?” Scott asked, raising an eyebrow with a satisfied and somewhat smug twitch of his lips, his very kissable lips…
“Like it?” Tango scoffed as if he were baffled at such a simple descriptor. “Scott, I fuckin’ love it! I haven’t had such a good soup in awhile, not usually bothering to put in the time.”
“Good.” Tango wasn’t sure if he was just seeing things, but he swore that Scott puffed out his chest slightly and straightened his posture, head held high. “I’m glad.”
Tango placed his mouth around the bowl’s rim and drank the soup like it were water in a cup, not able to get enough of it fast enough for his taste. He shot back the remaining broth before setting the bowl back down in his lap. “Can I have more?”
Scott laughed, extremely amused, but he stood up anyway. “You can have as much as you want until it’s gone.”
“Woo!” Tango cheered as Scott took his bowl to fill it up with more soup, kicking his dangling legs excitedly. “You’re the best.”
“I know,” Scott claimed lightheartedly with a wink over his shoulder. He approached the pot, gathered Tango more soup, and then brought it back. “Now that you’re awake, how about we catch up some? It’s been a few several timer-hours since I’ve seen you.”
“Oh, don’t I have a lot to catch you up on!” Tango started, promptly rambling about all that has happened since they last caught each other up. His mouth moved as fast as he could think, which was extremely, for his brain was always all over the place. Still, no matter how many tangents he went on, Scott looked at him the same, listening intently and asking questions when Tango would shut up long enough for him to have room to.
Void, I love him.
The thought hit him, coming and going in a flash, but the sentiment stayed. Tango loved Scott, and Tango loved Jimmy, and that was okay. He loved them both, his affections for Scott not taking away from his affections for Jimmy. Tango could only hope Scott felt the same, but he didn’t dare to disrupt their friendship, not yet anyway. Not when everything with Jimmy was still up in the air.
Sometime soon, Tango promised himself. I will tell him soon, but not now. Now, I’m just going to enjoy what we have… and enjoy what they had, he did. They talked all the way up until Grian alerted everyone that the session was going to continue in five minutes or so through their communicators.
As a way to display his gratitude towards Scott, he helped take down the small building Scott had thrown together, tucking the bits into his inventory. Between the two of them, it didn’t take long to deconstruct the building and make it like it was never there at all, ignoring that there were a few less trees in the area.
Tango pulled the blocks and bits out of his inventory, handing Scott the floating, shrunkified versions of the blocks for him to tuck away. His communicator buzzed, and then buzzed again, and Tango could practically see Grian counting down in the server’s chat.
“I need to go find Martyn,” Scott told him like it was his excuse to leave, but he didn’t actually make any moves to leave. He stayed standing where he was, right in front of Tango, close enough to touch him.
“I should check in with my guys too,” Tango agreed with Scott’s plan of action, but also didn’t move. They stared at each other like they were studying the various hues and shades of color in their eyes. Scott’s eyes weren’t their usual blue because of the color indication of their lives, but they were still Scott’s.
Perhaps Tango should work on not being as impulsive as he was, but that was difficult to do when he wasn’t even sure what he was going to say until he said it half the time. No real thought or consideration went into his actions as he rocked up onto his heels, greeting Scott’s cheek with a kiss, before stumbling back. “Thanks again! Bye Scott!”
If his heart was racing previously, his heart had skyrocketed far into the sky based on how hard it was beating in his chest. Tango hadn’t expected himself to be so forward, for he had thought he had agreed with himself to wait. Apparently, he had other plans and didn’t even know it!
Tango tried to flee, not wanting to face the possibility of Scott’s wrath. When Scott got angry or upset, he was scary! Tango may even say that Scott was scarier than him when he got like that, and Tango was the one perpetually on fire!
Despite Tango’s nerves, Scott wasn’t angry or upset. In fact, Scott must have taken the cheek kiss as some sort of sign. Scott reached out to Tango, managing to pull him in and prevent him from leaving. Before Tango could say anything in response, Scott brought their lips together for a kiss. A needy, beautiful, desperate kiss… it was everything Tango had daydreamed about and more, and he wanted nothing more than to have these kisses on the regular.
Scott grazed his sharp teeth against Tango’s lips, who moaned in response. Being this close to Scott– this intimate with Scott– was addicting. He attempted to deepen it, but Scott pulled away instead. Tango attempted to follow his lips, only managing to stumble forward.
The only reason he didn’t fall flat on his face was because Scott caught him in his arms. Tango would have loved to stay in his hold, but Scott only helped him stand on his own two feet before removing his touch.
Scott ran his tongue against his teeth as he tilted his head, satisfaction clearly displayed on his features. He didn’t stay there long though, stage whispering “See you around, firefly.”
In between blinking, Scott managed to slip away without Tango knowing which direction he had gone. Scott was frustratingly swift and quiet at times, making him a hard man to find when he didn’t want to be found.
Tango was left where he stood, dazed as if drunk on Scott’s kisses. He raised a hand to his lips, brushing his calloused fingertips against the sensitive skin. His tail swayed giddily as giggles grew in his chest, a wave of triumph overtaking him. Scott had kissed him! Tango rigidly shook his forearms tight to his chest, jumping up and down as he attempted to keep himself contained. It didn’t work and he soon didn’t care, allowing himself to stim happily all the way back to T.I.E.S. Tower. Maybe today wasn’t such an awful day after all.