#geoffjack

He tried to tell Geoff once. To take the royal aside and explain that there was something wrong. That there was something beyond his control. Something that wasn’t him. Something that was gaining more power with each day spent in his brain because he’d found himself sleep walking a few days before. All he’d manage to tell Geoff was that he couldn’t be trusted, but failed to be able to explain why.

It wouldn’t let him- it made him choke over his own words and left him with nothing but the feeling that none of them were safe.

Jack managed to fight it off for a year. An entire long year before exhaustion beat him and the voice won the control it wanted. It didn’t care if he needed sleep, it only had one thing on it’s mind. Kill him. It whispered into his ear, as if standing next to him. It’s been long enough already, kill him. He didn’t have the strength to fight it off any longer. Trapped in his own mind, he watched as his body picked up the dagger Geoff had originally given him as a courting gift. He immediately regretting keeping it sharp.

Forced to watch, he could do nothing as his feet made their own way to a bedroom he was far too familiar with. It was odd to watch your hand knock on a door when you were not the one who raised it. A minute or two passed by before Geoff answered, looking just as exhausted and miserable as Jack felt. Yet, at the sight of his bearded knight, his face lit up like it was the best present he’d ever had. It was what gave Jack the strength to fight back- he didn’t win much, but at least now he could talk.

"Geoff, run.” Was all Jack managed to get out before his right hand drew itself up, clasping tighter on the dagger.

"Wha-" Geoff didn’t have a full response before the blade was thrust into his chest. The King slumped forward, trying to find purchase against the pain in Jack’s shirt. Despite the blood, he smiled and leaned up- giving Jack a kiss that was far too weak.

"No! Fuck, Geoff!" Jack barely noticed that the voice had left until he was able to move his arms on his own. Until he was able to sink down to his knees, bringing the man he loved with him, and watch as the blood soaked them both.

"Jack.." 

"Fuck, just hang on okay? I’ll call for Caleb. He’ll fix you up. You just got to hang on until he gets here. Just until he gets here."

"Why?"

"I’m so sorry Geoff. I’m so sorry."

"Love you."

"Don’t you fucking dare. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t fight it. I’m sorry I didn’t stop it. I’m sorry, you had so many fucking years left. I’m sorry I didn’t just leave the kingdom. I should have. I should have just gone the moment I started worrying. I knew I was putting you in danger. I fucking knew there was something wrong with me but I didn’t want to leave you behind and now.." Jack held Geoff close, ignoring the way the handle dug into his chest. Tears flowed freely as he grasped tighter, fearing the moment he actually looked down he’d have to accept what he’d done. 

The guards found him passed out with their king’s corpse in his lap. No one asked him what happened, no one gave him any comfort. He didn’t want any. Instead, they sent him to the dungeons. He went without a fight, his will to do much of anything having left him the moment a dagger met skin. Jack has no idea how many days, how many months, how many years he lost down there. He didn’t care enough to count them because nothing mattered. How could it? The only thing worth shit in the world had been lost at his own hands.

A new King came to visit him one day, staring at him with pitying eyes. He didn’t bother to greet them, just curled further into himself in the corner of his dark, damp cobblestone cell. They left without a word, but came back the next day. And the next. Eventually they were visiting him every day, just staring at them. Until, when the moon had raised high and shone it’s pity upon a murderer in a cell, they finally greeted him.

"Jack Pattillo. An ex-knight, a few months away from being the Consort when you stabbed your betrothed in the heart." The voice was familiar- so similar to his, and so definitely the one that had plagued him in the first place. Jack wanted to be mad. To get enraged, shake the bars open, and tear the man’s throat apart until he felt just as much pain as he did on that day. He couldn’t. He didn’t have the fight in him, the will in him, he just didn’t care anymore. About anything. "You’re going to see the sunlight again, my dear friend. I could use a cold blooded killer like you."

When the prisoner stood up to accept, he wasn’t Jack Pattillo anymore. The newest king smiled at this, opening the door himself to bring him under a possessive arm. Carefully he led them up into the castle, explaining exactly why he would need an assassin no one would expect. Exactly why he had to set free a criminal so ‘horrible’ as him. And- when he explained why he had needed someone Geoff would trust explicitly- nothing of Jack Pattillo was left in the world. 

MB: Geoff I think i’m owed an explanation.

TB: About

MB: About Why my dreamself is on derse.

MB: One Of our friendly neighborhood hackers made sure to tell me that having a dead dreamself is normal.

MB: But Having a dead dreamself on the opposite moon?

MB: Not Usual.

MB: Why Is my body in your tower?

TB: Im not really sure i can explain this

TB: Its confusing as dicks dude

TB: I promise i didnt do anything with your body

TB: Well anything youd mind

MB: What Do you mean?

TB: Respawn

MB: Oh.

TB: Yeah sorry man

TB: I know you were probably waiting for someone else to come sweep your dead body off its feet

TB: And save you from danger

TB: But to tell the truth im not really sure how you got to derse

TB: I just know that when i woke up

TB: There was a dersite in my tower and

TB: Jack if you hadnt been there id be dead

TB: Not respawnable type of dead

TB: He came after me

TB: You stepped between us and

TB: Id rather not talk about what happened next

MB: I Did what?

TB: You saved me

TB: Like a regular knight in shining armor

MB: I’m Still just a seer, Geoff.

TB: Yeah I know

TB: But you would have been a great knight

TB: I think the game just fucked you over on that end

TB: Bet youd look great in some silver too

TB: Beard rustling in the breeze

MB: Yes, I would have loved to be your knight.

MB: But I’m a seer and that’s what it decided.

MB: It’s Also not what we were talking about.

MB: Why Is my body still there?

TB: How did you even find out it was there

TB: Its not like you can visit either moon

MB: Joel Told me my body floated away from prospit.

MB: When I tried to ask him what that meant he just told me to talk to Miles.

MB: Who Said you’d been keeping it as a fucking ornament.

MB: I’m Not some winning of war you know.

TB: Thats not why its up there

TB: You died for me jack

TB: You fucking died without even thinking about it

TB: You dont even remember it and it sucks because you should still have a dreamself

TB: You should have your extra life and not have to worry about the orges that are hounding down your land

TB: Instead youre fucked all because of me

TB: I couldnt just

TB: Toss your body out of a window or something

TB: And derse wouldnt let me get a coffin for you

TB: Which i guess upset prospitans quite a bit

TB: They seem to have really liked you

TB: I should be dead

TB: But im not because of you so i just kind of rolled you over

TB: I tried to yknow

TB: Help with the bleeding but i couldnt save you

TB: I fucking suck at first aid shit

TB: Its up there as a reminder of what happens to those i love when i fuck up

TB: Because theres no escaping this game

TB: Theres no running away from it

TB: Or hoping that well beat it

TB: Theres only wishing and praying that we dont fucking die trying

TB: I cant keep letting people get killed for me

TB: Especially not over some fucking frog bullshit

TB: No frog breeding is as important as you dickheads

TB: Jack

TB: Be careful please

TB: A king needs his knight

TB: Jack

MB:  You Can be one stupid motherfucker sometimes you know that?

MB:  The Frogs are the end game.

MB:  They’re The new universe and our only chance at getting everyone out alive.

MB:  They’re Also the safest fucking thing to be around.

MB:  They Won’t attack you.

MB:  I Want you with the frogs because I don’t want to see you dead.

MB:  But Please get my dead body out of your tower.

MB:  That’s Just creepy.

TB: Tell you what

TB: I wont leave the frogs

TB: As long as you come here too

TB: I cant see you die again jack

TB: I cant have to watch you die in front of me when ive never even

TB: I just cant have you die on me

TB: No dying

TB: Its officially against the rules

TB: Now come help me with these fucking frogs

Every once in a while he'd sit down in the booth in the corner, and wonder what it had been like. Or how their date would have gone? Would Geoff still be the same man when he got back? Would he be traumatized like some? Would he have some major injury? He'd lose himself in thought and widdle away his break thinking about things that didn't matter. Geoff was dead- all Jack had now was tags with cold metal and letters that would never see another response.

It was during one of his breaks that Joel sat down across from him, and even managed to get something in his beard before he snapped back to attention. Jack pulled his hand up to feel what could only be a bow and stared down his friend, awaiting the explanation. He hadn't worn one since the day he met Geoff- had he hadn't planned on wearing one ever again.

"It looks good on you." Was the man's only response, shrugging his shoulders.  Jack didn't care enough to fight it, he could just take it off when Joel left anyways. Shaking his head was apparently good enough for them to leave that conversation and begin a new one. "So, still not listening to the news anymore?"

"I...I just can't." Jack managed to force out, sagging in his seat. "I know there's  not a chance I'll hear something worse, or that they'll repeat the same report but I just. Can't."

"You're not missing much, gold went up 33%. That's the only really important news." Joel got up, giving Jack a one armed hug. "Well, that and they've found some soldiers who had been pronounced dead. I figured you'd want to know. Don't get your hopes up too much- they haven't stated any names yet and they still have to get them home but. I still thought I should tell you."

Joel left and Jack had to take a moment to let it sink in. For the first minute or two he found himself smiling- with the hope that maybe it'd just been a misinformed news caster. But then the cold metal against his collar bone shot that away. If they hadn't found his body, they wouldn't have been able to send 'home' the tags and the bow. He felt foolish for the rest of that day, but he couldn't shake the wish that his own soldier had made it out alright.

Jack didn't think anything of it when a man with full sleeves of tattoos on his arms and a tank came into the cafe and claimed the corner booth for his own. He walked over and asked for the man's order, internally trying to place why he was so familiar. The man scratched at his chin before smiling and Jack's heart speed up in surprise.

He had never expected to be asked to sit down with the soldier. He'd shaken his head immediately- he couldn't sit down when work was still so busy. At the sight of the man's sunken shoulders, he found himself adding that he got off in a hour and knew exactly where they could go though. The man with the intricate tattoos introduced himself as Geoff then, and he had the prettiest smile.

They went to a deserted desert area and laid out in the back of the pick up truck, side by side. Staring at the stars together, Jack listened as Geoff talked about everything. He even found himself talking about shit himself, feeling comfortable around the other man as he got to know him a little better. When the stars started to disappear, and the sky began to lighten, Geoff said he had only one question for Jack.

"Listen, I know you probably have a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Or something. But I don't care. I don't have anyone to send letters to. Do you mind if I send letters to you?" Geoff inquired, staring at the rainbow colors slowly taking over the sky as the sun rose higher.

"Yes! Yes..I'd love that." Jack gave Geoff his address scribbled down on the back of his receipt and they went back into town. Geoff dropped Jack off by his work, but before could drive off the bearded man spoke, "And, just by the way, I don't have a significant other." and then pulled Geoff into a kiss through the truck window. The stupid bow got in the way, and Geoff ended up taking it with him when he drove off.

Jack waited for two weeks before he was sure that Geoff had forgotten about him. Or maybe had found someone better to talk to. It hurt, but he understood. The day after he accepted that, he got a letter from the man. It was in a small envelope, and it had three stamps across the upper right. Jack nearly tore the return address on the front in his rush to get it open.

He cried and he laughed when he read it. Apparently, Geoff had lost the receipt with the address on it. So it was late because he had been tearing his things apart to find it. Best of all, it wasn't just one letter. It was more along the lines of five. Just all sent together. They talked about his day. About the things that scared him. About how he couldn't wait to be shipped out just so it meant he got back sooner- he planned to take Jack on a proper date.

Jack responded to each and every care with love and all the attention he could. He made sure to write the address with the fanciest, most legible handwriting he could muster up. Because it was important that it got to Geoff. They sent so many letters between each other that Jack had a stack he'd go through and re-read each one when he felt lonely waiting for the next one.

Right after the shipped Geoff out, he got a letter about how when things got harsh over there, Geoff liked to think about that day under the stars. About how the dumb bow was in his pocket when he could carry it. About how it was always in his pack when he couldn't. It made Jack laugh, and he smiled when he read that Geoff promised to return it to him in person. On Jack's worse days, he'd return to that letter and run his fingers along the ink.

The worst letter Jack ever got was one telling him not to worry. That everything would be fine. That Geoff wouldn't be able to write him for a while, but it'd be alright. He'd sent three letters in response because he needed to hear back to Geoff. He needed to know the man he'd fallen in love with through these beautiful letters was still alive. That he was still coming back and going to give him back that stupid fucking beard bow.

The cafe Jack worked at always played the news on the radio. Ever since Geoff had left, Jack made sure it was news all through his shift because he had to listen to every single newscast. Every single last one, even when he'd gotten a letter that day already. In the middle of Jack's shift, he had to leave suddenly. He hadn't said anything to his boss, just tried to push the tears out of his eyes as he went out the back door.

Jack fled to their desert patch and stared at the stars, waiting for them to tell him it was a joke. Waiting for them to tell him it was all a stupid joke and the newscaster had been misinformed. But he already knew that it wasn't going to be. Every letter he'd ever gotten from Geoff had at least one sentence promising that Geoff would come back. Every single last one. Jack got his dumb bow and a new set of dog tags, but he never got the date he waited every day for over two years for.

The only answer he could come up with wasn't one he was fond of. Because it meant a lot of things that he wasn't sure he could commit to.

The week after the short was recorded, the jokes about Team OG being the new Mavin wouldn't stop. They were literally in every let's play they recorded, in every VS, in every GO, in every behind the scenes videos..It'd even gotten to the point where they were in every podcast Jack was on. Geoff was never on the podcast, he simply didn't have the time for it anymore.

The most surprising thing about them, was that neither Jack nor Geoff actually seemed to mind them too much.

Geoff could always tell when something was bothering Jack. The man had been his friend for years, it was pretty easy to tell after a while. So watching Jack get a bit flustered and smile or laugh at the jokes was a huge weight off his chest. It gave him hope he didn't know he needed. Though he wasn't planning to do anything with that hope. Everything was fine as it was now, and nothing could possible make him take the dive. 

Except Jack and his dumb ass mouth.

He'd been listening to the podcast while working, just to give him comforting voices in the now-empty office. To be completely honest, Geoff had been mostly tuning them out. The background noise made him more comfortable, and listening required a lot of focus he couldn't afford to pay if he wanted to actually work. But then he heard his name.

"My goal in every lets play is to get Geoff to laugh. If I get Geoff to laugh at something i said then I'm good." 

It was unmistakably Jack and he felt all focus drain away. Jack felt the most important thing in a let's play was making him laugh. Geoff felt numb as he let the realization wash over him. A few minutes later they were on to some other topic and he felt the small glee rise from somewhere deep within his heart. Clearly, he'd been an idiot this entire time. As had Jack, if that statement meant what he thought it meant. His cheeks hurt from smiling the entire time he'd been working after that, and he knew it was time.

The moment Jack got to work, Geoff pulled him aside. Or, more accurately, he dragged him outside since no where inside was really private anymore. Geoff steeled himself, trying not to let Jack's confused face break his confidence. He was Geoff Lazer Ramsey, damnit, and he was fucking awesome. 

"Listen, Jack..I uh." Yet, he found himself still tripping over his words.

"Is everything okay, Geoff? Did something happen? Is everyone okay?" Jack sounded worried and kept glancing back to the Achievement Hunter window like any moment it'd open and one of the lads would be behind it and hurt. It made Geoff want to laugh, cry, and helped him relax- because he was getting worried over confessing to someone who was honestly just a big teddy bear.

"Something happened. I'm just trying to figure out how to say it and it's hard as dicks. No one is hurt though." Not yet, anyways. Geoff added mentally, having to bite his lip back from letting that slip through.

"Oh thank God. Alright, what happened?" The relief that washed over the man was so physically visible that Geoff found himself chuckling under his breath.

"Well. Fuck it. You know how Team OG's been a fake relationship joke since the damn Blaine short?"

"Oh...Yeah. Is it bothering you? We could get the lads to stop it, I mea-"

"No, shut up and listen. If it bothered me, I would have put an end to it long ago. It's kind of the opposite. I brought you out here to ask you something about it."

"Ask away."

"How do you feel about making Team OG a real thing?"

"What?"

"I mean, it's fine if you don't really feel that way. We're old as dicks and can maturely handle this but I guess I just needed to ask." Geoff shrugged and looked up at Jack, biting the inside of his cheek.

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"Shittily, yes."

"That was the worst pick up line I've ever gotten."

"Nah, you've had worse."

"Only in Let's Plays."

"Want me to give you worse?"

"As long as it means we're making Team OG..uh, what do they call it? True? Canon?"

"Fuck if I know, but definitely." Geoff shared a smile with the other man and just as they leaned in towards each other, they heard tapping on glass. Geoff sighed and didn't bother to turn around. "The lads are saying hi aren't they?"

"Yeah. I think Gavin is recording too."

"Want to give them a show?"