#c bdubs

He's currently in their locker room, bag all ready packed with his stuff, just waiting for his friends to finish arguing.

"I AM NOT SHORT! I AM AVERAGE HEIGHT!" Bdoubleo screeched and Tango couldn't help but giggle – Bdubs was one of the shortest men among the staff, just a centimeter under Tango, not the shortest but certainly the most reactionary.

"Hmm I don't know Bdubs, that's not what the records say," Etho, one of the tallest men among the staff, teased lightheartedly. He was always wearing a mask, nobody except Bdubs knew why and he had a different answer every time – Tango's personal favorite is the one he got the one time he asked a long long time ago, "He's an eldritch entity and needs the mask so the rest of us don't go die and insane."

"Aw come on you guys cut it out," Skizzleman... the four of them were frequently sent together with Skizz being the de facto leader and it wasn't hard to see why: Tango, Bdubs, and Etho together bring nothing but chaos but Skizz somehow manages to keep a hold of them and actually manages to make them somewhat organized, "Look, Tango Tek's just been sitting there, waiting for forever now."

"Aw it's alright, not like I need to sleep or anything like that—" Tango shrugged lightheartedly before his playful smirk turned into a mock-angry frown, "—also stop calling me that."

"Aw Tango I'm sorry!" Skizz cried out, "Not for the nickname though."

Tango just shook his head and smiled, "You're all idiots."

"You're an idiot!" Bdubs yelled.

"Never said I wasn't."

"Uhhh guys, for real this time, we should get going it's getting dark," Skizz glanced at Tango with Etho and Bdubs following suit.

"Ooh yeah we should probably get going now," Etho said as he packed the rest of his things.

"Ah, yeah, hate the dark," Bdubs said as he put on his hoodie of living moss.

Although there is truth in what Bdubs said, their main concern was of Tango's safety, which couldn't help but make the man chuckle.

He was the only human in their whole department, the Supernatural Emergency Rescue Alliance Snowforte Department, a nonprofit organization of volunteers who rescue people from supernatural happenings. Due to its dangerous, traumatic, and nonlucrative nature, it's not the most popular job prospect for most ordinary people, Tango however was not like most ordinary people...and neither were his former workmates.

Even the tiniest of mistakes could mean the end (or worse) for them in this kind of job, especially when they don't have any sort of magical ability or physical prowess to make up for it.

For now, however, Tango was sitting in the back of Skizz’ pickup truck, staring out the shotgun window as Etho and Bdubs bicker in the passenger seat. The bumps in the road getting more and more frequent the further from the main town they go.

Half an hour later, Bdubs and Etho already left ten minutes ago and now they’ve arrived at Skizz’ house located right outside a dense forest.

“Welp,” Skizz hesitated, “We’re here.”

“Yep, thanks man,” Tango smiled, about to hop off when Skizz stopped him.

“Wait, Tango,” Skizz looked at the night sky nervously, “Are you sure you want me to drop you off here? I can take you all the way home y’know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Tango chuckled lightly, “Don’t wanna risk you getting stuck though, need to get to work tomorrow remember?” he joked.

Skizz hummed, clearly disapproving, “Ok…I trust you, just don’t forget to send a signal when something feels wrong, okay?”

“I will, Skizz,” Tango reassured and hopped off.

“Bye Tango!” Skizz yelled after him.

“Bye Skizz!” Tango waved, lantern in his other hand, crossbow ready at his hip, and all evidence of modern technology shutting off as he walked towards the inky dark forest. Perhaps it wasn’t a wise idea to live where he does, and honestly Skizz probably wouldn’t mind having a new roommate, but he never claimed to be a wise man and so he continued walking.

The trees sway in the silent breeze.

It was quiet, nothing but Tango’s heartbeat and the crunch of dry leaves beneath his feet could be heard. It was freezing cold so perhaps if his teeth weren’t already occupied biting his bottom lip then perhaps Tango would hear them clatter as well.

It was dark, so dark that it almost hurt to look around.

The journey should take around twenty minutes total given that he follows the path he’s got memorized and Tango estimates that fifteen more minutes of walking would get him home safe. It was still 6:37 PM according to Tango’s pocket watch but as much as he’d like to hurry it up, doing so would most likely result in him getting lost or worse.

After a few more minutes of slightly terrifying but mainly mind-numbing walking, Tango hears a sound – a faint sound but a sound nonetheless.

“…oh god.” Tango thought.

It took all his willpower not to hurry his pace, but that sure doesn’t stop his mind from racing which repeated nothing but the words “oh god” over and over again. Tango can hear the sound, which sounds like crunching leaves, getting louder and louder and with each rising decibel he can feel his heartrate rise with it.

A hand on his shoulder, “Oh thank God –”

Tango screamed before quickly muffling his mouth before nervously looking around.

Bdubs liked being useful, liked being needed -- even when it cost him his life.

In 3rd life, he did everything he can to become a weapon for the crastle as quickly as he could. If Cleo and Tango, especially Cleo, weren't so worried about him he might have been less subtle about it. But alas, he got stuck playing the reckless jester, playing upon his perceived incompetence in order to make him an easy target.

And it would have been fine, it was for a good cause and he didn't want to break Cleo's heart. His beloved first day buddy, spawned in roughly the same location, even closer than even Impulse did. Ever worried about him even when she didn't need to be.

And he would have been fine, sure, he wasn't the best PvPer around, but he's been around the block -- he can take care of himself just fine!

But alas, she was slain.

And he wasn't there to help.

How useless.

It was a new season, everything was back to a blank slate.

Supposed to be a blank slate.

And yet Bdubs can't help but regret his losses.

This season he can't be reckless, red lives were automatically cut off from all connections and he didn't want that. This time he spawned near Etho and he intended to make this partnership last 'til the end.

When he became boogeyman, he made sure not to target Etho. When he became red, since he can't take them for himself, he tried to bargain for a life.

On some level, Cleo and Etho were rather similar at times -- neither were as scary as their reputations presented them as once you got to know them better, both were incredibly loyal, and both seemed to care about his safety even more so than Bdubs did.

And, most of all, both of them require some encouragement every now and then.

As Bdubs went back to red, he can't help but be proud of Etho's achievement.