#tillydeath

The gentle tapping on the glass to your right caused you to stir in your sleep. You blinked sleepily. The taps stopped and you almost thought you were imagining it. Your eyes slipped closed again and you yawned as you laid back against your pillow. Then, a hand slipped over your mouth. 

Your eyes shot open and you went to scream. The hand pressed harsher and you heard a shushing noise in your ear. You turned your head, seeing a familiar mop of brown hair. You sighed in relief, smacking his hand away. “You asshole!” You whisper-yelled.

Grian laughed quietly, “I didn’t want you to scream.” He whispered. “C’mon I have something to show you.”

“What time is it?” 

“Doesn’t matter.” You rolled your eyes at his response and glanced across the room where Pearl and BigB were still sleeping soundly. Outside the window, it was still dark. 

You huffed quietly, “Where are you taking me?”

“Bad boys never reveal their secrets, Y/N.”

You blinked tiredly at him but sighed, throwing the blanket off you. “Let me slip my shoes on.” He grinned victoriously, watching as you tied your shoes. He led you out the same way he had entered, helping you climb out the window. When he had, he held out his hand for you to take. The two of you walked hand in hand. Neither of you were in any rush, it seems, despite the way he woke you up.

“I missed you, y’know.” He muttered, glancing at you out of the corner of his eyes. “Jim’s company, but not really a good one.”

You snorted at his little jab at his brother. “Be nice. You know he loves hanging out with you and Joel.” He laughed softly. “Where are you even taking me?”

“You’ll see.” He responded, keeping the mystery. You yawned again, leaning your head against his leather jacket. You glanced at him. His sunglasses were still resting above his head, as they were when the sun was out. “You have to trust me. You trust me, don’t you?”

You rolled your eyes, “You know I do. As much as we’re like Romeo and Juliet.”

He laughed, “And which one is which, huh? Am I Romeo or Juliet?”

“Depends who dies first.” The comment made him go quiet. You hesitated before swallowing, “That’s not what I meant.”

He shrugged, “I know. It’ll happen eventually.” He coughed before leaning over, “We’re almost there.” You hummed softly and the rest of the walk was quiet. Eventually, you found yourself at the entrance of the Woodland Manor. He released your hand and moved to sit on the steps.

You raised an eyebrow, glancing around the dark forest. It was probably crawling with googlies and the thought freaked you out. “What are we doing here?”

“What, you don’t like my surprise?”

You huffed, sitting beside him and pulling your shirt closer to you to shield you from the chill in the air. “You woke me up at a stupidly early time, to bring me to this haunted manor?”

He scoffed, “Haunted? Love, it’s not haunted. Just inhabited.” Grian laughed softly, “It's alright. I know you’re annoyed. It's what the Bad Boys do.”

“Be mean to their partners? You don’t see Joel being rude to Lizzie.”

He gave you a look, “No, pretend to be annoying.” He grinned as he pointed up. “The stars are pretty and I know you like looking at them.”

You looked up, following his finger. Your eyes widened as you saw a clearing in the trees directly above where you were. The stars were stunning. Admittedly, you hadn’t had the chance to view the stars in so long and Grian knew that. He also knew that you loved looking at stars because it reminded you of home. Of before these wretched games. 

You jumped slightly as you felt fabric wrap around your shoulders. You looked down and noticed Grian’s signature leather jacket draped around you. You glanced at him with a smile before leaning against his shoulder. He put his arm around your shoulder in retaliation. 

“You’re happy.” He said smugly.

You rolled your eyes, “Shut up. Let me enjoy this moment with you before your little gang takes you away again.” You had a feeling he also rolled his eyes, but he didn’t respond. His head lolled against yours and he hummed softly. After a few minutes, you felt the need to say something. “I love you.”

He was quiet for a moment before replying, “I know.”

You let out a faux gasp and sat up, slapping his shoulder, “You jerk!” He laughed with you. The sounds of your glee echoed through the forest. “Say it back!”

“What if I don’t mean it?” 

“Too bad, you have to say it anyway.” You said, sticking out your tongue childishly. 

He responded with the same gesture before wrapping you in a hug and pulling you down to your side. You shrieked with laughter and he shushed you while trying to keep his own laughter down. “Stop! You’ll wake them up! The bad boys need their sleep!”

Your laughter faded and you ended up with your arms wrapped around his neck as he laid beside you. There was a grin on his face and a certain sparkle in those dark voids he called eyes. “You know I love you.” He murmured softly, hitting his nose against yours. 

She did not expect to be walking into the university he worked at, glancing around awkwardly as she tried to find her way around. As much as she felt like she was back in college herself, she couldn’t find it in her to care very much. Insider information with someone who was in the school during the attack?! It couldn’t be much better for a reporter like her(who was also very interested in discovering the various mysteries Hot Guy has to hide from the general public).

Pearl brushed her hair back as she glanced at the paper in her hand, telling her exactly where she was meant to meet Tango. She looked at the building in front of her, confirming that it was the correct building and grinned excitedly, hurrying into the room. She quickly found the office she was looking for and peered into the window. Her brows furrowed when she saw two people talking softly in the room.

Tango, who was obvious because of his fiery hair, sat in his office chair, facing his desk. On his desk sat another professor. They were talking, only just loud enough for her to hear their words. 

“C’mon, Etho asked me to do the interview for her.” Tango was saying. He reached over and grabbed the other professor’s hand. “I’m fine.”

The other sighed, “Tango, I don’t want you to relive that moment so soon after it happened. It had to have been traumatic!”

“I’m fine.” He insisted with a grin. “I promise, if I wasn’t ready to talk about it, I wouldn’t have the interview. I don’t mind, really. It wasn’t that bad, really.”

The professor did not seem impressed. They leaned their head back on their shoulders, “You were dragged into a school that was taken over by some kind of spore creature and were attacked, I think-”

“Well, I wasn’t really attacked per se-” He was quickly silenced by a glare. He chuckled awkwardly, pulling their hands towards him for a moment, “Sweetheart,” Pearl’s eyes widened as she heard the pet name. Her brows furrowed. Sweetheart? Isn’t Tango, Etho’s boyfriend? Who is this other person? “It’s fine. I promise. If I wasn’t up for it, I wouldn’t do it. Come on, you have class soon and Pearl should be here soon. I’ll be fine.”

Pearl watched closely as they huffed and nodded. “Fine. Tell me if something happens, promise?” They leaned in, pressing a kiss against his forehead. Pearl gasped, moving away from the window in shock. Her eyes were wide. After a few seconds, she could hear footsteps coming closer to the door. She took a quick deep breath and walked down the corridor for a moment before turning around right as the door opened. She plastered a smile on her face (after all, reporters have to be professional at their first official interview) and walked towards the door again.

“I’ll see you after school, who’s place are we meeting at, again?” Tango asked as he leaned against the door.

The other professor hummed before shrugging, “I guess yours. If that works for you?” He nodded. His eyes glanced to the side and he grinned as he noticed Pearl. The professor’s eyes followed his and they smiled. “Oh, hi. You must be Pearl, yeah? I’m Y/N.”

She nodded, holding back her true emotions. So Tango is cheating on Etho?! That doesn’t sound like the Tango he talks about, but I guess even the ‘best’ people can be shallow. “Yeah, that’s me.” Her voice was professional, offering a miniscule smile.

Tango nodded, “Perfect, you’re right on time. I’m Tango.” He nodded towards his office. “We have about an hour and a half until my next class, so we have plenty of time.” She gave him a smile and a nod, no longer as excited about this interview (though… she was still excited, admittedly).

After Pearl and Tango finished their interview, she was thankful for the insider information she now had. In fact, she almost forgot about the situation before the interview until she got a text from Etho as she was leaving the school.

Etho

how was the interview?

Pearl

uhhh it was good

I do have some bad news for you tho

Etho

yeah?

what’s up?

Pearl

I’d rather tell you in person, are you free today???

Etho

uh sure yeah, when do you wanna meet up

Pearl quickly gave him a place to meet and a time. She met him there with time to spare. She looked over her notes from the interview and the recorded copy she had. Her mind was fighting over being a good reporter and remaining completely unopinionated, and being a good friend and being very upset that her friend was cheated on. She sighed, covering her face with her hands. It’s not like the cheating would be included in the interview, she reasoned. But, would it be okay to publish your best friend’s cheating boyfriend’s interview? What are the morals of this type of situation? Are there any?

A hand came in contact with her shoulder and she jumped, eyes darting to the side as her hands fell from her face. Her eyes narrowed, “Oh, haha.” She deadpanned as Etho laughed softly. He sat across from her and raised an eyebrow.

“You seemed distracted for someone who really wanted to tell me something.” He mused. 

She hesitated, “Well, I was going over a kind-of moral dilemma.”

His head tilted slightly as he peered at her over the edge of his mask, “What morals? You went in for an interview and you came out with questions about morals?” He chuckled, “What did that man say to you?”

“He’s cheating on you?”

Etho paused, brows furrowing, “What?”

Pearl let out a deep breath that she didn’t realize she was holding. The words started flooding out, “I walked into the office, expecting him to be alone. But I stopped outside the window of his door and looked in and I saw this person sitting on his desk. You know how nosy I am, so I was listening! He called them ‘sweetheart’?? And they kissed his forehead! They were clearly close and clearly dating or something! Then- then! They decided on staying over at Tango’s house. Tonight!”

Etho was quiet for a moment, staring at her before he laughed. It was a louder laugh than she usually heard from him. “Why are you laughing? Are you crazy? He’s seeing someone else!”

“Come with me.” Is all he replied. He stood up, gesturing for her to follow him. Confused beyond belief (and questioning his own mental status), she followed him.

“Where are we going? Are you not going to say anything?”

“You’ll see. Be patient, Pearl.” He mused. Pearl sighed, realizing she wasn’t getting anything out of him anytime soon. The walk wasn’t very long. They arrived at an apartment complex. He pulled out his phone, sending a quick text. As he did, he nodded to the call box. “Press Apartment 304.” Pearl hesitated. She knew this was not Etho’s apartment. In fact, she didn’t think she knew anyone in this part of the city at all. When he noticed she didn’t move, he chuckled again, reaching over and hitting the button. Within a few moments, the buzzer made a different noise and the door unlocked. “C’mon.”

“Etho, where are we going?”

He glanced back at her as they climbed the stairs, “You haven’t put it together? And I thought you were a reporter.” He tsked. “We’re going to Tango’s place.”

Her eyes widened, “We’re confronting them?!”

“You could say that.”

Her heart beat with anxiety as the two climbed the final set of stairs. They approached the door with the number 304 on it. She kept glancing over at Etho. He didn’t seem nervous at all. She paused. He glanced back.

“Problem?”

“Yeah, what are you planning? What are you up to?” She accused, pointing at him. “You’re being awfully calm about this whole situation.”

He laughed, leaning over and knocking on the door. She blinked as the door opened, revealing Tango. “Hey, babe.” He said, leaning over with a grin, his eyes darted to the right and he laughed, “Hey, Pearl. Guess we got some explaining to do, yeah?”

Her brows furrowed, glancing between the two. She went to speak when a voice interrupted. “Etho! You’re here! Finally.” Her eyes blinked in confusion as the professor from the school came over, leaning over and wrapping Etho in a hug. He laughed as he hugged them awkwardly. “We’ve been waiting for hourssss.” 

“It’s been twenty minutes.” He said, rolling his eyes and laughing. He gently pulled them back and gestured to the right where Pearl stood. “Sweetheart, this is Pearl. You remember her from earlier, right?”

They pulled back from Etho and glanced over, grinning, “Yeah! Of course! You look so pretty by the way, I totally forgot to mention it because I was running late.”

Pearl couldn’t wrap her head around what was happening. Her eyes darted from Tango to Y/N to Etho. “Okay, what is happening right now?”

Etho chuckled as his partner glanced at him, “I dunno, what is happening, Etho?” They questioned with a small, confused smile.

“Well, to answer both of your questions at the same time. I was invited to dinner with Pearl here because she had something important to tell me.” He nodded, almost gravely before laughing again. “She told me our dear Tango here was cheating on me.”

Tango fully burst out laughing, using the side of the door to support his weight as he practically heaved laughter. Their partner looked taken aback for a moment before they gasped, “Oh! Because of this morning! Oh, I’m so sorry!” They laughed. “No, no, no. We’re all dating. We’re in a poly relationship!” They clarified.

Pearl’s face relaxed slightly as she let out a breath, “Ohhh.” She murmured. “That’s why he wasn’t freaking out when I told him.”

“I thought you knew.” Etho said with a shrug. “Then you came telling me that and I was just so shocked. I mean, you’ve walked up on me and them on a date before.”

Pearl thought about before shaking her head, “I don’t think so, only you and Tango.”

His brows furrowed, “I’m pretty sure- Oh, right! They were in the changing room when you ran into us.” He explained with another chuckle. Pearl glanced over as said partner wrapped an arm around Tango’s waist. His grin seemed to brighten as he glanced over at them before refocusing. “I really did think you knew, though.”

“You never talk about them? Only ever Tango!”

“I rarely talk about Tango to begin with, Pearl. We’ve been dating for a year and a half and you learned I was dating him, what, a few months ago?” He scoffed, “I just don’t like talking all that much about my private life.”

Pearl nodded slowly, her brain piecing together the missing parts of the puzzle. “So, you three are all in a relationship together?” The trio nodded in unison. 

“I would have said something when we met if I had known you didn’t know.” Y/N said, offering an awkward smile. “I would hate for you to think Tango would even be capable of thinking of cheating. Especially since you were interviewing him for something so serious.”

Tango groaned playfully, “Sweetheart, I’m tellin’ you! It was fine! Not a big deal.” They narrowed their eyes at him and he paused as they pulled out of his grip.

“I need to check the food, make sure it’s not overcooking!” They announced as they walked away. Tango had no hesitation to follow, talking about how it ‘wasn’t a big deal’ as they walked. 

Etho glanced over at Pearl, “So?”

She hummed slowly, “So what?”

“What do you think? Y’know about me being poly?”

Her eyes moved to meet his and she looked slightly annoyed, “You don’t think I would think anything different than what I already do, do you? Cause this isn’t a change at all. All it tells me is that you have more people who care about you.” While he didn’t make a noise, she could tell his shoulders relaxed slightly. “Etho, I care about you. This wouldn’t really change much of anything. Promise. I’ll see you tomorrow. Go spend time with your… partners?”

The way your eyes instantly watered made their devious grins instantly fall into the pits of their stomach. Grian and Scar looked at each other in pure horror. They had never meant to make you cry! It was supposed to be a harmless prank. One that simply made everyone laugh, maybe get a little annoyed, but never genuinely upset! No prank they did was ever meant to make anyone upset (especially not you). 

“Y/N! Y/N, what’s wrong? What did we do?!” Grian yelped, running over and grasping your hand in his. He looked at you like a deer stuck in headlights. “Did we hurt you? What happened?”

Your eyes never left the scene in front of you. The despair and anger in your chest bubbled as you watched your beloved stuffed animal burn right in front of your eyes. It wasn’t on purpose of course. The two didn’t even realize it had happened. If you were a bit older, able to think a bit more realistically, you would have known that it was an accident. But, even if it was an accident. Your favorite stuffed animal- the only reminder you had of your biological parents- was gone. Forever. It was impossible to get another one of its kind. 

The prank in itself was a fairly simple one. It was a respawn trap. And it wasn’t even pulled on you. Your dad’s bed was trapped, lava placed beneath the bed without a way out, so the occupant would immediately fall into the lava for an infinite amount of time. The pair of pranksters hadn’t realized that you had slept with your father last night after having a nightmare. They hadn’t noticed that your plushie was still on the bed. 

“Hey, hey, hey, look at me. Doc’ll be fine! He’ll be okay. It’s just a little prank!” Scar was saying quickly. The two were horrified that they had made you cry and they didn’t even know why. It was practically a death sentence for anyone to hurt you in any way. Grian glanced around, looking for the reason for your tears. He was stumped, though. He couldn’t figure it out. The plushie had already rolled off the bed and into the lava, so how would he know?

The scream that left your lips was visceral. It hadn’t sounded like the screams a child would normally let out when they were in need of attention, or tired, or hungry, or any other reason a child would cry. This cry was painful. The sound seemingly shook Grian and Scar. They looked so ashamed and they still had no idea what had happened.

“What’s wrong, Y/N? What happened?” The two kept repeating. When Scar reached over to touch your arm, you recoiled, falling backwards onto the ground. Your eyes burned as your tears streamed down your face. Scar glanced at Grian before shaking his head and typing into his communicator. “Okay, uh, uppsie-daisy, let’s go find your dad, okay? How does that sound?”

You didn’t respond. Instead, feeling hopeless for anything else, Scar scooped you up and brought you outside. Grian followed behind, stressing. His feathers were sticking out as he ran his hand through his hair, thinking about what they did wrong. 

It didn’t take long for the trio to find Doc. After being informed of your current situation, he met you halfway. His eyes were slightly wide with panic as he took you from Scar, hugging you tightly.

“Ah, mein kind, what’s wrong? Talk to me.” He urged, pulling you back and leaning down. His large hands brushed at your cheeks as you cried, wiping away tears as new ones replaced them. He glanced up at the two men who brought you, “What happened? What did you do, Grian?”

Grian let out an indignant noise, “Why do you blame me?! We don’t know! We were pranking your bed and- and they just started crying!” 

“Pranking my- What?!” He huffed, ignoring them for a moment as he focused on his child. “Did they hurt you, mein kind? Are you injured?” Struggling to breathe properly, you shook your head. “Okay, alright. What did they do?”

Your hands shook as you grasped onto your dad’s lab coat. While in the beginning of the adoption, you were terrified of his green skin and the parts of him that were more cyborg, but at this point, nothing about your dad scared you. He was your sense of comfort, especially right now since you didn’t have your stuffie anymore. 

The thought made another onslaught of tears fall from your eyes. Doc was looking between the two above you with a murderous gaze. The unspoken words of if you did anything to them, I will make your life hell echoed in Scar and Grian’s head. His metal arm wrapped around your waist as his creeper arm brushed against the back of your head, shushing you quietly as he petted you softly.

“Cookie.” You murmured into his neck as you cried. Your words were thick with sorrow.

Doc’s brows furrowed for a moment, wondering what you meant until a wave of realization hit him. He glanced at Scar and Grian, “Can one of you go get their stuffed… plushie? It helps them calm-” The wail that left your lips didn’t escape his attention. He paused, glancing at you. “Do you not want Cookie-?” At the second mention of the plush, you looked at him with despairing eyes. You nodded slowly, but your lip shook.

“Oh, uh, we can go get it! Where is it?” Scar said immediately, looking thrilled to have a reason to step away from the crying child. 

“It should be in my bed from last night.”

At the mention of his bed, Grian’s face paled. His eyes widened and he nudged Scar roughly, his hand almost shaking. “Was- Was there a stuffie on the bed when we set up the thing?” He muttered to Scar.

Scar’s face also paled as he followed Grian’s line of thinking. He shook his head, “I- I don’t- I don’t remember seeing one-”

Doc’s gaze hardened, “What do you mean you don’t remember seeing one? It was sitting on the bed!”

“Burned.” You said, through another wail. Grian and Scar froze, horror in their expression.

Doc’s expression turned downright terrifying. He was silent, staring at the two goons with a seemingly malicious intent. As his anger spiked, he could feel a fire gathering in his chest- something that happened because he was a creeper hybrid.

“What exactly did you two do to my bed?” He asked quietly. Terrifyingly.

Scar looked petrified with guilt and fear as Grian responded, “We… set up lava… underneath your bed.”

A shaky breath left your lips as you recalled what happened, burying into your dad some more, as close as you could. You needed his comfort right now. And as much as he wanted to do something, anything to make the two responsible for your despair feel pure pain, he knew they didn’t mean to. They were his friends. It was a mistake. One that was utterly stupid and that infuriated him greatly, but a mistake nonetheless. 

It was quiet save for your sobs until Doc spoke again, “That plushie of theirs was the last thing they had of their parents.” If the pair of pranksters hadn’t looked guilty before, they looked downright shamed now. They felt awful. The stupid prank they pulled was absolutely nothing now, and the thought that they had even imagined it would be funny felt sickening right now. “You two should go. I’ll… deal with you later.”

There was something… off about you. Xisuma could tell. You weren't as… chipper as you typically were. Your smile was wobbly and your fingers wouldn’t stop moving (though, you usually fidgeted nervously, it seemed more extreme recently). It wasn’t extremely noticeable, but it was enough. Already, two Hermits had come up to Xisuma, telling him about your strange demeanor. As your boyfriend, X wanted to do… something, but what? He didn’t know how to ask what was wrong. Were you on those terms in your relationship yet? It had only been a few months.

The opportunity arose when you appeared at his base one day, sitting on top of one of his chests and watching him work. He didn’t notice you at first, as you were quiet. When he did see you, he jumped, not expecting you to be there. “Oh Dear Lord!” He exclaimed, holding his chest, taking a deep, ragged breath. 

Typically, you would laugh loudly at his exaggerated shock. Today, you only smiled, releasing the smallest chuckle. His brows furrowed as he took in your appearance. You were in a large hoodie, one you almost swam in. He knew that hoodie. It was the hoodie you wore when dysphoria was hitting harder than usual. Was that why you had been off lately? Because you had been dysphoric?

He approached carefully, leaning against a pair of double chests, eying you. Your fingers were once again, wrapped between each other, fiddling with each other, occasionally messing with the sleeve of your hoodie. Your eyes flickered over to meet him, the smile on your lips fading slightly as he eyed you. “Are you alright?”

You nodded, humming softly, “I’m fine.”

From the tone in your voice, he could tell you were not fine. “Oh, come on, scootch.” He murmured, using his shoulder to gently shove you to the side to sit beside you on the chest. “I know you, babes, what’s going on?”

You hesitated, leaning your head against his shoulder. His mask hovered over the top of your head. “I’m alright, promise. I just came over to see you. Haven’t heard from you in a few days.”

That also might have something to do with your mood. It’s been a few days since the two of you had the time (or, er, he had the time) to come and see you, unfortunately. “Yeah, sorry about that. I, uh, I’ve been busy.” He laughed awkwardly.

“I know, it’s okay.” You murmured. You offered him a small smile that he reciprocated. You were quiet for a minute and he racked his brain at what to ask. Before he could speak again, someone flew by. Your eyes landed on this new person and your breath seemed to hitch for a moment. Xisuma glanced over at you, but your eyes were fixed on this person. It was a newer member of the Hermitcraft server that was recently added. Distantly, X remembered that she was holed up near where you lived.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She announced, walking over. She noticed Xisuma and grinned, “Hey, X, remember me?” 

He nodded, “Of course, Sarah. I remember everyone!”

You scoffed, “No you don’t.” 

“Yes, I do!” He retorted, grinning and glancing back at you. You laughed softly, but it faded when Sarah’s eyes landed on you again. Suspicion tugged at his head.

Sarah looked between the two of you, eyes widening softly, “Oh, is this your boyfriend?! I didn’t realize you were dating THE XisumaVoid!”

Awkwardly, you nodded, sitting straight on the chest, “Uh, yeah. He is.”

“He, yeah? He does go by that?” Her words seemed somewhat… patronizing or teasing. It sounded off, but he couldn’t determine why.

Butting in, he nodded, “Yep! That’s me!”

Sarah nodded, “That makes sense.” She said, peering at him. Her gaze returned back to you and she smiled, “Well, I was wondering if you would help me with some redstone? You seem to be knowledgeable with that sort of thing.”

You hesitated but nodded slowly, “Oh, uh, yeah. I can help tomorrow.”

“OOh, I was hoping you could now?”

Your eyes landed on Xisuma and you shook your head, “I- I can’t today, sorry.”

Sarah followed your gaze and grinned, “Ah, okay. I understand. A girl’s gotta have some time with her boyfriend!” The words made Xisuma pause. What? His gaze moved to you and he watched as you pulled into yourself some more, hiding under the hoodie you wore. “Oh, well, we can have our girl’s night tomorrow.”

Should he correct her? Or was it something he should stay quiet about? But, it was clearly making you uncomfortable, so surely you wouldn’t get upset about him saying something, right? Deciding it to be the best course of action, Xisuma cleared his throat. “Actually, uh, Sarah, he goes by he/him pronouns.”

Sarah glanced at him in surprise, “What?”

“Uh, yeah, he’s a guy, so he goes by he/him. Honest mistake, it happens. Just be sure to use the correct pronouns next time. Maybe acknowledge to him that you got them wrong and will use the pronouns correctly next time?”

Sarah blinked at him for a moment before laughing, “Oh, you’re silly, X!”

He stared at her in confusion, glancing at you. You sighed, pulling your knees to your chest. He huffed, “I’m not joking!”

“Oh, no?” She hummed, brows furrowing, “But she’s a girl.”

“What? No!”

“No, no, but, like, she has tits? And I don’t know if you’ve seen her naked, but-”

Xisuma’s eyes widened, “I’m going to stop you right there. Don’t talk about him like that! That’s disgusting. He can use whatever pronouns feel comfortable, and to him, it’s he/him!”

“But that’s not correct, is it? Biologically, she’s a female?”

Xisuma stared at her for a moment before scoffing, “Unbelievable. I cannot believe we let such a bigot in our server. Apologize to him!”

Sarah scoffed, too, crossing her arms, “No? I haven’t done anything wrong. She’s a girl. I don’t know what she’s been telling you, but it's obvious. If you were born a girl, you’re a girl. You can’t just change your gender. “

His eyes held a sense of incredulousness, staring at her as if she was stupid. Which… she was. “Okay, I just- wow. I- goodness, what do I even do in this situation?” Without another word, he brought his arm to his face, looking at his communicator. He quickly typed a few words before speaking to her, not looking up. “One last chance? Apologize to him?”

“Why do you-” Without another word, she disappeared. Xisuma glanced up from his communicator.

He glanced towards his boyfriend, who’s gaze was on the ground as your knees were pulled up to your cheeks. “Hey, how long has she been doing that?” Wordlessly, you shrugged. He sighed, moving towards you. He tugged off his helmet, placing it beside him as he pulled your knees away to cup your cheeks. “Love, come on, you can tell me.”

“Since she joined. She’s never-” You cut yourself off with a sigh. “Do I really look like a girl?”

He sighed softly, leaning closer, “Of course not. You look very masculine, sweetie. Sarah’s just… Some people don’t understand how much their words affect others.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Is this what’s been getting you down these past few weeks?” You hesitated before nodding. “Oh, dear. You should have come to me. I would have banned her a long time ago if I knew she was treating you this way.”

“You banned her?” You blinked in surprise, staring at him. “But- what about everyone else? Wouldn’t they be upset?”

Xisuma scoffed, “They’ll understand. In fact, they’d definitely agree with my decision. I’ll talk to them about it.” He sat beside you again, pulling you close to him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. I just… I don’t feel like me right now.”

He nodded softly, pressing a soft kiss onto the crown of your head. “Well, I’m here to help. Let’s just… go lay down or something.”

Your head tilted to glance at him, “I thought you were busy?”

“Oh goodness!” He cried, slapping a hand onto his neck as something bit him. He had been dazed as he walked, but he was surprised when he slapped onto nothing. Something had definitely bit him, but nothing was there. He spun around quickly, brows furrowed as he looked for a culprit. “O-Oh?” He hesitated, thinking he made the entire situation up. It wouldn’t be the first time hallucinating something with how awful his sleep schedule had been.

He thumbed at where his skin thrumbed with a dull pain, he could feel it. Two holes and smaller indentations around those two holes. He could feel it. Surely he wasn’t making that up? The lack of sleep would not have been that bad, surely. He couldn’t have just imagined the bite on his neck.

A sense of nausea built up in him as he walked back to his base, massaging the sore wound. Confusion nipped at him as his eyes started to feel heavy. He felt tired. Well, he had been tired for weeks. But he felt… drained. More drained than he had ever felt. Even though it was fully sunny out, he entered his base. His eyes hurt from the lights, so he flipped the lights off. Despite the darkness he now faced, he could see almost better now. Brushing it off, he trailed to his bed, collapsing onto it, hoping to sleep off whatever had happened.

Mumbo woke the next day with his neck still thumbing lightly. He tapped it with his fingers only to sit up quickly when he noticed, what seemed to be, veins pulling at his skin. He faced his mirror. He blinked. “Blimey, there's- there's no way!” He stuttered over himself as he rubbed his eyes. But, his vision was not the issue. The issue was that he wasn't in the mirror.

He laughed almost deliriously as he tapped on the glass, looking at it from all sides. No matter where he looked, there was no reflection. This must be a dream. He reasoned after a moment of brief hysteria. Of course! What else would it be?

His base’s door opened and his light turned on. He hissed. Hissed? He blinked roughly as the light burned his eyes. “Turn it off, mate, please?” He called out to whoever had entered his home. He heard footsteps returning to the door before the light got flipped off. He sighed in relief as he blinked and his eyes became less watery.

“You alright, Mumbo?” Scar’s voice rang through the building. “You seem a bit tense.” Mumbo sighed, turning to face Scar. He went to speak, but Scar’s face turned a bit shocked and he narrowed his eyes, “Hey, friend, have you been sleeping? You’re really pale. And your eyes are bloodshot.”

Mumbo’s brows furrowed, “What do you mean?” Scar went to respond, but his eyes trailed backwards until his gaze hit the mirror. His eyes widened and he stared at the mirror. “What are you looking at?”

“Do you have a trick mirror?”

Mumbo frowned in response, a bit of panic seeping into his chest as he spun around to face the mirror. “I’m not there, yeah?! It’s weird. I don’t know. I think someone must have switched it out-” His words died in his chest as Scar appeared in the mirror. “What? That’s not- That’s not possible-”

Scar eyed the mirror before looking back at Mumbo, who’s eyes were still searching for his reflection. “Is it a trick of the light or-” His breath hilted in his chest. “Mumbo, buddy, did you get bit by something? You have a large welt on your neck.” He moved his hand over to look at the mark, “It looks like… Did you get bit by a vampire or something?”

“A vampire?! What, no, no, those aren’t- those aren’t real-” He tried to say, wiping his eyes over and over to try to see something in the mirror. 

Scar thought for a moment before grabbing his shoulder, pushing him towards the door, “Look, step outside, see how you react.”

Mumbo scoffed, “Scar, I don’t- I don’t think that’s gonna prove anything-” He muttered before Scar paused at the door frame.

“Humour me.”

Scar opened the door and pushed him out. An inhuman screech left Mumbo as his entire body erupted in pain. He hissed as Scar pulled him back inside, face the same pale as Mumbo’s. Mumbo swallowed thickly as his skin almost bubbled from the exposure to the sun.

“Okay, so I think you are a vampire.” Scar mumbled as Mumbo found a seat. He breathed thickly, on the edge of panicking. “Wait, this could be good! This- It could be a good thing!”

“Scar, how would this possibly be a good thing?”

Scar hesitated before speaking, “You can see him again.”

Mumbo fell quiet. It was true. He could see you again. It would be just like old times except… he would be able to stay with you. The night would be for them. They could finally be together. Like he always wanted them to be. But at the same time, what about everyone else? All his friends?

Scar sighed softly, “Hey, you’ll figure it all out. We all will. For now, just chill out here until it gets dark outside, then you can go see Y/N.”

He nodded absentmindedly, trailing off to his bed. He collapsed into the cushions. It took a few moments for Scar to waddle out of the base, leaving the door with a soft sigh as if he was mulling over something in his mind. Despite the raging thoughts in his mind, Mumbo found his consciousness fading into a deep sleep.

When he woke up, it was dark outside. He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the night sky, deep in thought. He wanted to see you, of course, but would you want to see him? You had broken up with him. And, while you reasoned it was because of his sleep habits, what if that was just an excuse? A way to let him down gently? He sighed, burying his face into his hands. It was now or never, he supposed. He urged himself to stand, his anxiety weighing him down as he swayed to his feet. Taking a shaky breath, he walked to the door of his base. He hesitated. Was he sure that it was the sun that had burnt him earlier? Mumbo's lip twitched as his hand subconsciously rubbed his arm, where the boils from earlier had begun to scar over. With another breath, he stepped out, clenching his eyes in fear of being burned. 

Nothing happened.

His eyes opened slowly, one at a time, and he glanced around him. He was fine. No burns, no boils, no blisters. He nearly laughed in relief as he spun around, staring at the moon in all of its greatness. Maybe he was actually a vampire? The thought was crazy but, at this point? All the evidence pointed to it.

He took his time walking to your base. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say to you. How would he explain that you were all he thought about? That you were the first person he wanted to see after learning of this new… thing he had going on? Would you even listen to him, hear him out? Would you accuse him of doing something stupid even though he had no meaning for this to happen?

Before he knew it, he was outside your base door. From the windows, he could see your silhouette flying around inside, the shadow breezing past the shudders. He held his breath at the prospect of seeing you again. He had longed for this moment ever since you had broken things off. All he wanted was you.

His fist came in contact with the door, knocking once, twice, thrice. He paused, waiting. Mumbo's mind raced with possibilities. Then, the door creaked open. There was a silence as you stared at him, the smile on your lips fading as you looked at him. Your eyes met. Neither of you said a word for a few quiet moments. The cicadas filled the silence, creating an ambience that didn't seem awkward but wasn't fully comfortable.

“You're awake.” Was the first thing you commented, “I figured you'd be asleep.”

“Yeah.” Was his reply. “I thought so too.”

The quiet between them was tough. It felt almost suffocating. “You… don't look alright. You seem pale, and your eyes are all red.” You said, swallowing thickly. “Are- Are you okay?”

He could tell you were wondering if you had the right to ask him that. He nodded slowly, “Yeah, I- I, uh, I think so. I,” He took a deep breath, “I want to talk to you.”

You stared at him, taking in his disheveled appearance before nodding slowly. You opened the door wider, motioning with your head for him to enter. He followed your invitation. You led him to your living room, sitting him down across from you. “So, what's wrong? Are you… sick?”

He laughed breathlessly, eying you, “You could say that.” He confessed. He glanced at his shoes, counting the amount of times his laces crossed before glancing back up, “I got, er, bit by something yesterday.”

“Oh?” You sounded intrigued, but Mumbo could tell it was just an attempt to humour him. His presence was as painful for you as yours was to him. “Like a wolf? A fox?”

“Not exactly. I… I don't know what it was, actually. I just know it… changed me.”

Your eyebrows raised, staring at him, “Changed? How so?” The unspoken question of why are you telling me? went unsaid, but he could tell it was on the tip of your tongue.

Mumbo paused. Would you believe him if he told you? Surely you would, right? You've never not believed him in the past. “I became a sort of vampire?” He said, his voice coming out as if he had asked a question. “I- I can't go in the sun anymore, or this happens.” He lifted his arm, flashing the sores there. You blinked, just now noticing the marks. Your eyes shone with concern that you didn't voice. “My eyes get really sensitive to lighting. I don't have a reflection in a mirror. I haven't tried garlic, but I have to say, I'm kinda nervous to do so.” He managed a small nervous chuckle.

Your eyes scanned his blistered skin, “Oh, Mumbo.” Your words came out so… caring. It was as if nothing had happened between the two of you at all. You moved from across from him to sit directly at his side, cradling one of his arms on your thighs. “I- Are you okay? Does it still hurt?”

Yes. It feels like I've got the chicken pox or something. “No, no, I don't- I don't feel it.”

“And- And this happened from just stepping in the sun?” He nodded. Your eyes shone with concern. “Oh, that's awful. I- How- How did this happen?” 

Wordlessly, he showed you the marks on his neck. While the irritated skin was less red and puffy, the small incisions were still noticeable to the untrained eye. 

“Oh my void.” You murmured, reaching to graze over the mark. He flinched, not from pain but from the unexpected touch. You darted your hand back, “Oh! I'm sorry.”

“No! No, you're- it's okay. Just- Just wasn't ready for it.” He reassured. You nodded slowly, your hand moving to graze his cheek. 

“Is this why you're so pale? Why your eyes are red and bloodshot? The dark bags under your eyes?”

While the dark bags were probably from the severe lack of sleep, he nodded, blaming it on the vampirism. “I wanted to see you. As soon as I realized that I had changed. I wanted to talk to you.”

You stared at him for a moment before speaking, your voice cracking with despair, “But- Why? I broke your heart, why would you want to see me?”

His hand moved to cup your cheek and he smiled bittersweet, “You just wanted to help me. It was the right call. But now- Now, we can be together again. Be happy again.”

You paused, staring at him for a moment before a tear slipped from your eye. You nodded as his thumb wiped away the salty water. “I love you. I haven't- I've barely slept since I broke things off. I couldn't stop thinking about you. About how much I missed you.” 

The First Year

There was a crack of thunder during the night. Loud and obtrusive. You recognized the noise. You always did. The sound made you jolt awake from your bed. You climbed out of your handmade bed in a flash, grasping for the robe you left on the coat rack near your door, throwing the door open and hurrying to the beach. Just as you expected, there was someone laying on the beach.

His hair was tousled and wet. He was blonde. You hadn’t seen a blonde one in centuries. His skin was dusted with sand as he slept. You kneeled beside him, resisting the urge to touch his robe as he laid peacefully. You allowed yourself to hope- to pray that he would be the one who would stay with you. 

His mouth moved gently as he rested. Your brows furrowed and you leaned over him, listening closely to what he was mumbling.

“Tango…” He was murmuring softly, “....’ango…”

You frowned gently, lifting your head back again. Tango. Was that a person? Someone he had waiting for him? Did the gods send another person who would never fall in love with you? Ignoring the tug at your heart, you gently moved his head into your lap, carding your fingers through his hair.

The sun was slowly peeking over the horizon when he slowly blinked his eyes. You leaned over him, blocking the sun from hitting his eyes. You offered a smile to him, your eyes sparkling as you grinned.

“Morning sleepyhead. You’ve been resting for a while. I swore that you were dead when you washed up on my isle.” You saw him staring at you with an odd expression. He pushed away, looking around the island. Your island. “Did you know you talk in your sleep? Tell me, though, who’s Tango?”

Distractedly, looking for something, probably a boat or way off, he responded, “He’s my husband.” 

Your eyes met his for a moment. You stared at him carefully, analyzing his face and eyes. They were hazel. They looked… so pretty in the sunlight. His face was riddled with stubble and sand. You swallowed thickly, caught in admiring his appearance when he stumbled to his feet. “Anyway, this island has everything we could ever need.” You said with a grin. “Food, water, animals. There’s anything you could ever need or want. Just you and me, my dear. You can be my love for life.”

He stumbled back with wide eyes, “What-? I- no, no. I don’t-” You stared at him with a grin for a moment before your eyes noticed blood dripping from a wound on his arm. You jumped up, grabbing his hand.

“Wait, you’re injured! Come on, let’s go get that cleaned up.” You pulled him through the island, leading him through marble pillars until you pulled him into your bedroom, sitting him on the bed. You rustled through your drawers while he looked around in surprise. You found the bandages you were looking for and hurried over to where he was seated, lifting his arm gently. You hummed softly as you wrapped his arm, giving him sweet smiles as you did. As soon as you were finished, you brought the bandaged arm up and pressed a gentle kiss to his arm. He pulled away quickly, blinking at you. 

He stood up from the bed, backing away and shaking his head, “Oh, no, I, uh, I seem to be a bit lost? See, I was looking for Ithaca? And this… doesn’t seem like the place.”

You hummed, “No. Not Ithaca. But, you have me here.” You smiled, standing from the bed and swaying your hips as you walked towards him. You grabbed his hand, tugging him towards the bed, “Soon, into bed we’ll climb and spend our time.”

He yanked his hand out of yours, shaking his head, “Ah, no- no. I’m not your man.” He turned and left the room in a hurry, leaving you behind. You huffed, sitting on your bed. So he needed some time to get used to the idea of you. You could give him that! After all, surely, he’d be here for the rest of his life. You couldn’t- and wouldn’t- force him into anything, so you had to wait for him to warm up to you.

And you knew he would.

Eventually, you walked out of the house and walked the island, looking for the man you would spend his life with. You found him at one point, tugging on a tree branch to get it to fall. You hummed, walking up behind him.

“Are you alright?”

He jumped, spinning around, his sword that he washed up with in his hand. “Who are you and where am I? Where is my boat?”

“You’re on my island, silly.” You huffed softly, “You washed up here. There are no boats here.”

“Your island?”

You nodded with a grin, walking closer and leaning close to his face, “Yes. Which means, you are stuck with me! And that’s a good thing! I’m what you want here- I’m what you need here! Just you and me, my love in paradise.” You closed your eyes leaning forward. You stumbled forward when he moved out of the way, staring at you with confusion. “Now ‘til the end of time, you’re mine.” You said dreamily, opening your eyes and staring at him with your sweet smile. 

He shook his head again, “No. Absolutely not.” He pointed his sword in your direction again and your smile wavered. “You know, I could kill you where you stand. I’m not your pet. I’m a married man.”

You huffed, raising your hands in mock defense, “Last I checked, you can’t kill a god.” You smirked at the look of surprise that dawned his face. He slowly looked more and more horrified at the idea of staying on this island.

“God?”He repeated.

“Yes. You’re so adorable when you make that face.” You walked up to him, pressing a finger against his sword to push it down. Then you trailed your hand over his shoulder, grinning at him, “I’m the god, Y/N. But, don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you. We’ve got all you could want here, all you could need! We’re in paradise! My island stays the same and no one can come and bother us. No one can leave either, if you were thinking about it. My island stays how it is.”

He swallowed thickly, moving to the side. “I don’t belong here.” 

“No? But you are here, are you not? Surely that means you were meant to be here. With me.”

“No.” He said, shaking his head again, “I won’t stay here until the end of time. Paradise to the end of time? No way. I won’t stay here.”

He walked away from me, towards the house. You followed him, peeking over his shoulder to see his expression every few minutes. “You’re mine!” You sang with a smile, humming joyfully, “You’re here to stay with me until the end of time. Isn’t that just great?”

He shook his head with a serious expression, “How do I leave?”

You blinked at him softly, tilting your head. “What do you mean? You don’t.”

The Second Year

Your eyes trailed across the expanse of the beach, searching for the man that had stolen your heart away. When you spotted him, sitting against a rock and staring into the ocean, you grinned, hurrying up to him.

“Jimmy!” You called. He didn’t look at you as you approached. “Are you ready for dinner, my love?”

Jimmy’s face, which had grown a larger beard by this point, shook his head. “I’m not ready to go in.” He responded. “I’m just thinking.”

You hummed softly, moving to sit beside him on the rock. “About what?” You asked, despite knowing full well what he was thinking of. It was what he was always thinking of.

“Tango.” He responded. He sighed, bringing his foot to rest on the rock and leaning against his knee, “You know, he loves it when I bring him flowers.” He said with a small smile. “He would grin and say ‘You’re amazing!’ everytime.” He closed his eyes gently. You watched him gently. “I would bring him all types. His favorites were probably the rare ones I found for him one time. They were…” He thought as if trying to remember what the flowers were called. “Right. They were blue orchids. I remember I bought seeds from a traveling merchant and made a plant bed for him. I wonder if the flowers are still growing.”

You felt a sense of melancholy. Despite the fact that he had been here a year, he didn’t seem any more in love with you. In fact, he seemed even more deeply in love with his husband than you had ever thought. The fact that he held your heart so close to him meant absolutely nothing to him. He didn’t care at all. The thought made your chest hurt. You took a quiet breath. No. He would be here forever more. There was nothing to stop you from getting him to love you. He would never see Tango again, so surely he could learn to love you.

“Well… I made your favorite for dinner.” You said softly. “And I have a gift for you.”

“Y/N, I am not interested in your gifts.” You could tell he resisted the urge to say that you knew that. And you did. He never wanted anything you could ever provide for him. Regardless, you would always try and win him over. “I appreciate the thought but I can’t accept something from you if you do it out of love. It would be a betrayal to my husband.”

His words stung. They always did. You nodded again. Like every time. “I know. I just thought I would do something for you. You’ve been talking about how the island gets cold at night, so I made it so it doesn’t get as cold at night.”

He was quiet for a moment before huffing a small chuckle. He opened his eyes, turning to look at you. “Thank you.” The words made your heart leap in your chest. You grinned, nodding.

“Of course. Anything you could ever want is yours.”

The Third Year

You woke up to an empty bed. It wasn’t surprising. You would usually find that Jimmy had left the bed through the night to search the island. Even after three years, he still remained hopeful for a ship or a way out of the island. His eagerness to leave made you hurt. As usual, you climbed out of the bed, slipping on your robe and heading to the balcony overlooking the ocean. That was usually where he would be found.

Your eyes found his body easily, his robes sitting against him messily as if he had put them on quickly. Your hand graced his back. He didn’t jump anymore when you touched him.

“Come back to bed, Jimmy.” You whispered softly.

Jimmy stayed quiet for a moment, staring off into the distance. “I don’t want to.” He said. His voice was quiet and heavy.

“Did you have another nightmare?” His silence was your answer. “Tell me about it?” You hoped his comfort with you would be enough.

He hesitated before he spoke. “I’ve lost countless lives. Watched people I’ve cared about suffer.” He said. The wind carried his voice. You looked out towards the horizon where his gaze stayed. “My friends. Family. Dead. By my hands or because of me.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, frankly.” He laughed sadly.

You hesitated before taking your hand off his shoulder, stepping a bit away from him. “You can tell me anything.”

“I might not show it, but I’m thankful for your company.”

You tried not to feel giddy. You really did. But it was hard when you were head over heels in love with this man. You didn’t say anything, not wanting to jeopardize this moment, wanting to keep it pure in your mind. 

The Fourth Year

“Y/N!” Jimmy’s voice called for you through the building. You grinned to yourself that he was calling you and hurried over to where he was sitting, sifting through a pile of shells. “Look, I found a seashell that looks like it has a Y/I in it.”

You laughed softly, “Yeah?” He waved you over, handing you a palm sized seashell with a large, wobbly Y/I design in it. Your heart swelled with affection. “Is it for me?”

“Well, yeah. I don’t have a Y/I in my name, you goof.” He chuckled. He glanced at the table, grabbing a thin piece of rope. “Wait, give it here.” You handed it back to him with a curious expression. You watched as he carefully used his sword to put a small hole in the top of it. Already impressed with this, you watched with bated breath as he put the shell onto the string. “Come here, let me tie it around your neck.”

Your breath hitched in your throat. You nodded, unable to speak as you walked closer to him. You felt his hands trailing over your skin as he tied the necklace around your neck. When he finished, he pulled back, but you found yourself standing there for a moment more, savoring the touch he had given you.

“All done.” He murmured, with a quirk of his lips. You nodded, spinning around to face him. He wasn’t too far now, close enough for you to reach out and touch. You did just that. Your hand reached out. You moved to touch his cheek.

A hand met with yours, tugging your hand away from his face. He gave a small smile, “No.” He said softly, squeezing your hand. “You know I don’t love you.”

The common knowledge that was shared made your heart hurt. You wanted him to love you. You wanted him to scream from the rooftops, to serenade you. You wanted him. But you couldn’t force someone to love you back. You hated this curse the gods put on you, making you fall in love with the man who landed on your island. The punishment seemed far too severe for anything you could have ever done. It was horrific and you wished this pain against no one.

“You know, I used to make seashell necklaces with Tango.” He murmured softly, releasing your hand and turning back to the table where all the seashells were. “His favorites were the spiral ones. The ones that are almost like cones? Yeah. He said they were the easiest to put on necklaces, so they were his favorites because they didn’t cause so much hassle.” He gave a sad laugh, shaking his head. “He was-” He caught himself. “He is so stupid sometimes.”

You stared at the man in front of you. Your heart ached with the fact that you knew he would never love you back. He was so aware that his very presence made you hurt so badly because he could never love you. He knew that, but there was nothing to be done. The two of you shared a room, a bed, because the gods never bothered to give a second one to you. The island wasn’t that big either. There was no way for either of you to separate for very long. But, you knew that it was painful for him being so far away from his husband for so long. The type of love you both felt was heavy for both of you. 

“Am I the first?” He asked suddenly.

You peered at him, your heart beating heavily. “The first?”

“The first to appear on your island. The first you’ve loved?”

It was quiet. The only sounds were of the gentle waves outside. “Yes.” You whispered softly.

He didn’t offer a response, only nodding slowly. He paused in what he was doing, staring at the seashells before finally he spoke again. “I’m flattered you decided to love me.”

You scoffed gently, “I didn’t decide anything.” You murmured. He nodded as if he knew. Did he know? He knew you were cursed to be on this island, perhaps he put two and two together. It was quiet again. “Do you think you’ll ever see him again?” You knew it was impossible. You knew he would never be able to see him again, but you wondered if Jimmy held out hope.

“Yes.” Jimmy responded honestly. “I know I will.”

The Fifth Year

The routine between the two of you had gotten easier. Wake up, do some chores around the island, chill out, sometimes you two would go swimming together in the bay. It was simple. Easier, somehow.

But at the same time, everything was so much harder. You loved him more now than you had ever. Every time you saw him, your heart fluttered. When you laid beside him at night, you watched as the stars blew him kisses, dawning him in a pale light. You watched as he would emerge from the ocean with a laugh, mesmerised by the way his hair stuck to his forehead.

You found yourself wanting to be near him at all times of the day. And, while you normally did so without much of an issue, it was harder now because you wanted to talk to him at all times of the day. You wanted to interact with him. You wanted him to know how much you adored his mere existence on this stupid island.

It was night when you shook him awake. He grumbled, asking why you were waking him when you told him you had a surprise. He was tired, but he agreed to do what you said. You walked him to the balcony where you had laid out a meal for the two of you. Glasses of wine and sandwiches and legs of lamb. There were even apple tarts you had made for dessert.

He stared at the scene in front of him before sighing, “Y/N…”

“It’s not a date.” You said softly. As much as you wished it was. “I wanted you to know that I appreciate you helping me with chores and spending time with me. I wanted you to know that I cared about you.”

He was quiet for another moment before nodding slowly. “As long as you’re sure this isn’t a date, we can sit.” You nodded and moved to sit across from him as he sat cross-legged. You tried not to stare into his hazel eyes, but the moon hit them so perfectly that it seemed stars danced in them. “You’re staring.” He murmured softly, taking a sip of his wine.

“You’re the most beautiful man I have ever seen.” You whispered.

He swallowed thickly. He didn’t know what to say, that much was obvious. “You know-”

“I know.”

It was quiet as you took a sip of your own wine, turning away from him to watch the sea lap at the shores of your beautiful island. You wanted him to say something that proved he loved you. You wanted him to love you. You wanted him to… you didn’t know what you wanted. You wanted him. But you also wanted him to be happy and you knew that he would never be truly happy on this island.

“I wish I could.” Jimmy said softly. “If I could possibly love you, I think I would. You are an amazing man. But you are not him.” You didn’t respond. You didn’t know how to respond. You didn’t know if you wanted to respond. It was hard enough hearing that. “You would like him.” He continued. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care how his words cut into you like daggers. “You remind me of him in some ways.”

“Then why can’t you love me?” You found yourself asking, begging.

He was quiet again. “You know why.”

“Pretend I don’t!” You cried, looking at him with teary eyes. “I know there is no way off this island. I have tried time and time again. I have tried everything there is to try. The waters won’t drown me, the ledge is never high enough, I can’t swim away. If I even tried, I would be brought right back to the beginning like a loop I can’t escape! So why do you think you can be with him again? Why can’t you love me instead?!”

Your question hung in the air. It was heavy. You knew you had asked something that was unfair, but at the moment, you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

“I can’t give up hope. I love Tango.” Was all he said before standing from the balcony and returning to the house.

The Sixth Year

Jimmy seemed more and more desperate as the years continued. He would spend hours chopping down a single tree with his thin blade to tie it together to make a raft. He succeeded once and sailed off, rowing away. You watched him with a heavy heart before his journey restarted and he found himself rowing towards the island instead of away from it. He tried that trick twelve times before he finally got tired enough to return to shore.

He collapsed onto the sands. You moved to stand over him. He breathed heavily, his eyes closed. You kneeled beside him, running your hand through his hair. He didn’t stop you, a tear slipping from his eye.

“Why won’t they let me go home?” He whispered as if he was giving up. “Truly, I have not been a horrible soul. I haven’t done anything for this torture. I blinded a giant that killed some of my closest friends and I’m the bad guy? Please. Let me go home.”

Your heart hurt for him. You didn’t want him to leave but you knew he wanted to so badly that it hurt him. He wanted to leave more than anything and you couldn’t do much to change his mind. Even if you wanted to keep him near you forever, you couldn’t do much to dissuade his thoughts. You wanted to be selfish. You wanted to keep him for yourself. But you couldn’t. You wanted him to be happy more than anything else.

“I wish I could let you go home.” You whispered softly. “I am not the one keeping you here. I wish I could make you happy.”

He opened his eyes, slowly moving to meet yours. “Thank you. That means more to me than anything you could have possibly said.” He murmured. He set his hand on your cheek and you stiffened. Your breath paused as your eyes stared into his. He hesitated before letting his hand fall and taking a deep breath. “Suppose we should start on dinner since I’m not getting out of here.” He murmured. He waited a moment longer before moving to stand up. He stretched and let out his hand, offering it to you. You stared at him as if he was the god before gripping his hand.

The Seventh Year

You knew something was wrong the moment you woke up. Jimmy was not laying beside you and the room felt strangely chilly. You rubbed your eyes gently, breathing thicker than normal.

“Well, you’ve looked better.” You jumped, spinning around. You pulled at your blanket, covering your bare chest as you noticed Grian sitting there. He offered you a sly grin. “What? Missed me?”

You stared at him for a moment before gasping and dropping the blanket, getting to your feet. “Where’s Jimmy?”

Grian laughed, throwing his head back as he floated above the ground. “On the beach. What, you thought I took him away?”

“What are you doing here, god of messengers?” You demanded. Relief filled your chest now that you knew Jimmy was safe.

He hummed, waving a hand, “What, skipping all the formalities? Fine.” He sat up straighter, clearing his throat. “Y/N of Ogygia, you should say your sincerest goodbyes to your friend Jimmy because he’s on the first boat outta here!” He swung a fake baseball bat, watching as the pretend ball flew far away.

While you didn’t understand the reference he was making, you understood the gist of what he was saying. “What?” You breathed. Your heart practically stopped in your chest. “That’s impossible.”

“Believe it, sweetheart.” Grian said with a hum. “Seems a certain god took pity on him and decided to let him leave.”

You almost wanted to tell him no, to tell the gods that they couldn’t take Jimmy away from you. But… this was what he wanted. As much as it pained you (and it pained you so much), you knew you had to let him go if you ever wanted him to be happy. Your eyes fell to the window where you saw Jimmy sitting in the sand on the beach, watching the waves. He seemed carefree.

“He doesn’t know.” You said more than asked.

“Righto. The gods want you to tell him.”

You wanted to scoff. To cry. To scream. To do something that would make the gods feel how heartbroken they were making you feel. But, that would probably make them happy. They wanted you to feel pain. Grian hummed softly, peering out the window. “Might wanna go tell him right now. He should be out of here soon. Make your goodbyes count.”

Before he could say anything else, you swallowed your emotions and bolted from your house, running towards the beach. You yelled his name. He turned with a smile, tilting his head. He looked so… at peace despite the want pulling at his chest. Your heart broke thinking about how happy he’ll be to leave this place. How happy he’ll be to leave you.

“Someone just arrived on the island.” You said when you got close enough. His smile faded and he looked confused.

“I thought you said nobody could come or go from the island unless you allow it.”

“Except for the gods.” You said. He nodded slowly. “You’re being sent home.”

He paused as if he didn’t believe the news. “What?”

“They’re setting you free. They want you to go home.”

Utter joy erupted on his face. “Yeah?” He asked breathlessly as if he didn’t fully believe you still. You nodded, your heart aching. He seemed to sense your pain and knew that this was the truth because he let out a breathy laugh, joy and excitement filling his core. “I get to see Tango again.” He breathed out before jumping and yelping in glee. 

You watched his celebration with sadness. You were happy that he was going to be happy, but the bigger part of you felt horrible. You felt selfish for not wanting him to leave but you loved him so much and you didn’t think you would ever love another man as much ever again. In the heat of his excitement, he rushed over and pulled you into a hug.

Throughout seven years, the two of you had hugged before. But this was different. It was conflicting. You hugged him desperately, as if afraid to let go. He hugged you with airy passion that didn’t fully tug you into him. He laughed breathily again, unable to contain his glee and excitement.

It was within his glee that you spoke up. “I love you.” You saw a boat in the distance, heading towards your island. “I will not apologize for loving you. I’m not sorry for loving you. I love you so much that it hurts.”

His smile faded slightly and he stared at you. There were a few feet between the two of you. He stared into your eyes. “I know. And I’m not asking you to apologize.” He said softly.

“I wish that you could say that you-”

“I love you.” You froze, your breath hitching in your throat again. He looked at you kindly, with a smile. “Just… not in the way you want me to.”

You scrubbed angrily at your cheeks as tears slipped down them. You took a deep breath, closing your eyes. Everything was okay. It was fine. You looked around at your surroundings, trying to orientate yourself. You were heading in the direction of your base. Okay, good. When you had left Pearl’s base, you had just stormed off in a random direction. You were mildly thankful that you had decided to run off in this direction. 

You kept walking towards your base. You wiped your eyes as you tried to keep your mind off what had just happened. It was supposed to be a short conversation to pass the time until Gem arrived, something that had been on your mind for a long time that you thought you should mention- the fact that you felt neglected, seeing as you lived on the opposite side of the map to your partners. It wasn’t something too serious in your head, just something you were mentioning because you missed them. Pearl had hummed softly, petting your head gently and saying that you were free to come over any time. Tango, on the other hand, had huffed out a laugh, commenting that it was your own fault that you were living so far away. It was a fair accusation. You had decided to live a bit farther away from your partners than normal. You frowned when he had said that, though, sighing.

“I just wish we could spend more time together. That’s all.” You said quietly, laying your head back against the couch cushions. Pearl nodded absentmindedly, as if she was about to fall asleep. Her eyes blinked slowly as she gave you a soft smile.

Tango rolled his eyes with a grin, “You could always just move back here. I told you not to move so far. It's not our fault you don’t spend time with us anymore. We’re almost always hanging out.”

Again, while it was a fair assessment, you felt a stab of hurt as you thought about it. He was right. He, Pearl, and Gem were constantly hanging out together since they were based so close together. Did they miss you as much as you missed them? You were so lonely where you had based, besides your few neighbors hanging out with you sometimes, but you had already started your megabase. It would be such a hassle to move it now and would send hundreds of hours down the drain. 

Pearl hummed absently, “You are a bit far.” She murmured. “We’ll need to visit more often.” Her eyes drifted closed and she buried her face in your shoulder. I nodded in agreement, turning to press a kiss to her cheek.

Tango scoffed, “I told you not to move so far away.” He repeated. “Your fault now.” It sounded harsher than he probably realized, but he didn’t correct his tone. You blinked at him softly, brows furrowing as you frowned at him.

“It was a pretty area and the things I have planned need a lot of room, you know that.” You said.

He huffed, rolling his eyes, “yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Your base and projects are more important than your partners.”

You paused. Was he serious or was he just making a really cruel joke? “Excuse you?”

Tango glanced at you. He had to be able to tell the sour mood he had inflicted on you. “You heard me! You moved all the way over there, even farther than freaking Joe and you didn’t even consider what it might do to our relationship.”

Pearl’s eyes opened, but you barely spared her any mind as you gaped at him in disbelief. “What it would do to our relationship?!” You repeated. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Am I wrong to assume that we’ll still be a loving couple even if I move a little farther than usual?”

“Oh, please, you had to know that it would strain us.”

You stood up from the couch, staring at him with pain-stricken eyes. Pearl glanced between the two of you with confusion, having not fully payed attention. The door opened and Gem walked in. She went to speak, but you spoke first, glaring at Tango. “You think our relationship is in a strain right now? What do you mean by that?” You hissed.

Gem stopped in her tracks, blinking in confusion. She moved over to the side, placing her things down. “Hey, woah, what’s this about a relationship being in a strain? We’re fine, aren’t we?”

Tango crossed his arms, “We would be if they weren’t so far away. If our relationship fails, it’s all their fault. Honestly, maybe we should just-” He quickly stopped talking, eyes wide as if he had said something he hadn’t meant to. His eyes snapped to yours.

You stared at him, frozen. Tears gathered in your eyes. You didn’t move. You couldn’t. Did he just say that? “Maybe you should just… break up with me?” You breathed, finishing his thought. “Is that what you were going to say?”

The room was tense. Pearl, finally caught up on the situation, looked at Tango with wide eyes. Gem was staring at you in panic. She spoke first.

“What, no! He didn’t mean that.” Her eyes darted to his. “Tell them you weren’t gonna say that! You were going to say something else, right?” He was quiet. His gaze moved to the floor. “Oh, oh, God.” She murmured, her tone filled with horror. 

“You- why would you say that?” Pearl asked quietly, leaning over to Tango. “Just because we are a bit… strained… doesn’t mean we’re going to break up with them.” 

Her words made you stare at her now. Has this been a conversation before? You let out a shaky breath, eyes darting between your three partners, “Have- Have you three been discussing the strain in our relationship?” You swallowed thickly. 

“No, no, no.” Gem assured. “We just- We’ve been talking about how we miss you a lot. Nothing about a strain.”

Pearl nodded slowly, agreeing. Tango pursed his lips and nodded before he spoke again. “We haven’t spoken about it yet.”

“Yet?” You repeated slowly. “So, it is a problem you need to talk about?” You wiped your cheek as a tear hit your skin. You shook your head. Your body moved before you could even react. It was childish, perhaps, running out into the darkness with no light or anything, but you did just that. As you ran, you didn’t even think about the fact that you had left your wings back at Pearl’s house. You didn’t think about how Gem and Pearl called your name from the porch. You did think about how you heard Gem turning on Tango, demanding why he had said those things to you. You tripped over a stick as you ran, slowing to a walk as you caught yourself. You had just messed up everything, hadn’t you?

Your house came into view and you quickly shielded yourself inside. You moved around quickly, completing menial tasks to keep any thoughts about Tango and Gem and Pearl off your mind. When you finished all your inside tasks, you huffed. You needed more to do. You scanned your house before your eyes fell on a blueprint you were working on. It was practically done, just missing a few small parts. You sat at your desk and worked on it diligently.

When you were done, you took a deep breath. Memories of what happened at Pearl’s base flooded into your mind and you bit your lip. More distraction was needed, it seemed. You hesitated before grabbing the blueprint and heading outside. The sun was slowly peeking over the trees around you at this point, providing enough light for you to see what was happening. You posted the blueprint on a post you had and started gathering materials.

Once the shulkers you had were full, you quickly began starting on the build. One block at a time. You worked quickly and diligently, focusing all your despair into your build. Your mind, admittedly, was not on the build at all, though. Your brain flashed with thoughts about the fight. Could that even be considered a fight? Was something like that grounds for breaking up? Were the three- your favorite people ever- going to break up with you? You hated that you didn’t know what was happening in people’s minds. You wished to know what Tango was thinking right now. Was he thinking of how to finally break up with you? Was he thinking about inviting you over and telling you he was sick of having to travel so far to visit you? That wasn’t like him, but you didn’t think he was capable of saying the awful things from last night, either.

Your heart stopped as your foot hit the end of the wall you were standing on. You slid off the side, yelping as your ankle twisted awkwardly. You fell off the wall. Hard. You groaned as you brushed hair from your face. You tried to sit up, but pain flooded your entire body. You laid still, groaning at the pain you were in. Great, now I’m going to die painfully. You thought to yourself. How could this day get any worse?

Apparently, the universe wanted to say a big fuck you. You raised your arm, ignoring all the pain you felt to try and contact someone on your communicator. With a swear, you realized your communicator was broken. A large crack down the glass on the screen that made it impossible to use. The screen was dark, too, so perhaps something else was wrong with it.

You laid there, trying not to cry. This had to be the worst day of your entire life. What could possibly be worse than this?

You had to stop asking yourself that.

The sky above you thundered and within a few minutes, rain started to pelt you from above. The sky, which just an hour ago was fully blue and clear, was dark and stormy. You felt the water soaking your clothes and making your hair wet. This was rock bottom. This was like bedrock, and nothing went farther than bedrock.

You laid there for a solid hour, in excruciating pain. You hoped someone would come by- a mob, even- to kill you. It would possibly take days to respawn, but at least you wouldn’t feel this much pain anymore. Alas, no such luck. Not a single zombie, creeper, or skeleton headed your way. 

You wanted to cry, scream, do something to help the pain. But nothing happened. The world around you was silent.

And then, you heard voices. Familiar ones.

“Tango, you are going to apologize to them so bad. I cannot believe you said something like that!” 

“It was stupid, I know! I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me! I would never want to break up with them.”

“Yeah, well, tell that to them when we- Oh!” Pearl gasped, running over to where you were laying, “Love, what happened?” Tango and Gem’s eyes widened as they saw what Pearl was talking about. The two rushed over, kneeling beside you. 

“I was building.” You mumbled. You were exhausted right now. “I wasn’t fully paying attention because…” You trailed off. They knew what you meant. “And I tripped and fell off. It hurts so bad.” You let out a low whimper.

Pearl scanned you quickly before glancing at her partners. “Gem, grab their legs. Tango, make sure you keep their midsection up.” Pearl instructed. “We’re going to move you inside the house, okay, darl?” You nodded, too exhausted to even respond at this point. The three of them got in their positions and lifted you. The pain was horrendous.

It felt like years before you were placed onto the couch in your home. Gem sat beside your head, petting your hair gently as Pearl hurried to gather supplies to make healing potions. Tango hesitated near the end of the couch, eyeing your situation. 

It was quiet. The only sound was the low whimpering you let out every few moments and Pearl’s use of the mortar in the kitchen. Then, Gem spoke.

“You shouldn’t have done that to them.” She said quietly. You blinked tiredly, trying to figure out what she meant. “You made them leave us and now look, they're hurt.”

Tango was quiet before he sighed, “You’re saying it's my fault?” He didn’t sound angry at the notion. In fact, he seemed to accept it as the truth. “It was. I don’t- I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know why I said those things.”

You wanted to say something. To tell him that it was okay. It hurt to hear him sound so defeated and in pain. But you couldn’t speak. After being in such bad pain for hours, you were too tired. Your eyes drifted shut and you fell asleep.

You woke up hours later to Pearl pouring a healing pot into your mouth. You sat up slightly to help it go down and you noticed a considerable amount of pain had left. You sat up fully, sitting normally. You peered around. Pearl moved to sit beside you and you noticed that Gem was leaning against the couch, sitting on the floor asleep. You bent over, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. She stirred slightly, but ultimately, she burrowed into her sweatshirt. 

You glanced around the room. No sign of your fiery boyfriend. Your brows cinched. “Where is he?” You murmured quietly. 

Pearl hummed softly, placing the healing pot in your hand so you could drink the rest of it. “Outside. Said he needed some space. He… blames himself for you getting hurt.” She hesitated before sighing, “He didn’t mean it. He really didn’t. He told us he was overwhelmed and wanted to be with all of us, and then you started talking about how you missed us too and he just… I don’t know. He didn’t mean it.”

You nodded slowly. You downed the rest of the potion before standing. You wobbled lightly before you headed to the door. You walked out, finding Tango sitting on the steps of your base. His head was in his hands and he was mumbling to himself. You couldn’t decipher what he was saying.

“T?” You called quietly. You trailed over to stand behind him. His ears perked up, but he didn’t look up from his hands. You hesitated before moving to sit beside him. “Tango?”

He slowly pulled his head from his hands, peering at you. His eyes were rimmed with red. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, his voice cracking from crying. “God, I- I don’t- I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any of it.”

“I know.” You replied softly. You moved slowly, leaning your head against his shoulder.

“You didn’t deserve that.”

“I didn’t.” You agreed.

It was quiet again. You heard the door open behind you and the two girls from inside appeared at your side. Pearl sat beside Tango, while Gem sat on the other side of you. Your hand reached for Tango’s. He hesitated before slipping it into his. Your other hand was grabbed by Gem, and Tango’s by Pearl.

“I love you.” Tango whispered. He was talking to all three of you. “I’m sorry.”

Pearl leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to his temple before smiling gently, “We all are.” She looked over at you. “We should have been better partners to you, Y/N.” She murmured. 

Gem nodded softly, “I’m sorry for blaming you, Tango. It was all of us.”

Tango shook his head, “You were perfectly in line to do that. I deserved it. I was an asshole.” It was quiet as we stayed there together. The rain had gone, leaving it slightly muggy, but it was peaceful. Birds chirped in the distance.

“We’ll get through this.” You whispered. “We always do.” Your partners all nodded. Tango and Gem squeezed your hand. “I love you.”

The last thing you remembered was falling from the sky. A curdling scream left your lips that you could barely hear over the sound of the air around you and you closed your eyes tightly as the ground came rushing towards you. Then, it was darkness. Despite the seemingly god-tier armour you had protecting you, the force of hitting the ground killed you instantly. Not even pain was felt as everything went silent.

When your eyes opened again, you shot up from the bed in panic. A hand came in contact with your arm as your breathing quickened rapidly. Your eyes were wide as you glanced around, using your hands to pat your body desperately.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay! You’re okay.” Your eyes shot to the side as your brain registered the words. Slowly but surely, your breath returned to normal. The man at your side nodded encouragingly with you as you began to breathe. “Yeah? You’re alright?”

You nodded slowly, glancing at your surroundings. Your base. Memories flooded back to you. “I… fell?”

Cub nodded slowly, “Yeah. From quite aways up.” He mused. He leaned back in his chair. “You were out for like an hour.”

“How did I fall? I had my elytra.” You muttered to yourself, directing your vision back towards Cub. He shrugged as his eyes ran over you. 

“I dunno. I wasn’t there. I just came over after I saw the alert.” He said. “How do you feel?”

“Panicked? Tired.” You admitted. He nodded slowly as if storing the information in his brain. “Sore, but also slightly numb.” You focused on what your body was telling you before furrowing your brows. “There’s a pain on my back. But I remember falling face-first.”

Cub hummed, gesturing for you to turn. You followed his instructions and he placed a hand on your back. You hissed as the pain flared from his touch. “Here?” You nodded as he gently moved his hand across where it hurt. “Seems like where your wings were attached. Maybe your elytra broke while you were in the air.” 

You thought about it. When was the last time you had checked the durability of your wings? He nodded seeing the look on your face, “I guess the answer is yes?” He mused. 

You frowned, “I was doing so good at making sure everything was good, too!” You complained slightly. You huffed softly as you swung your legs off the side of the bed.

“Woah, where do you think you're going?” Cub said, narrowing his eyes.

You blinked in surprise at the change of his tone. “To go and find myself? I had some really good armour, Cub.”

“Nuh-uh. You need time to recuperate.” He said, pushing you back gently.

“What? I’m fine, Cub, I just need to get my stuff-”

“Pearl is getting it.” He said, giving you a stern look. “Look, for my own sanity, lay back and take a nap. Besides, it’ll help me with my research into the respawn system.”

You huffed, knowing he was making it up as to get you to stay put. “You promise Pearl is getting it?” He gave you a confident nod. You were quiet for another moment before smiling slyly, “Will you stay with me?”

“Yeah, sure.” He said absently. You blinked in surprise. “Wait, what was that last question?”

You laughed, “Stay with me. Take a nap with me. Void knows you probably need it even more than me.”

Cub hesitated for a moment, eying the bed for a moment before sighing, “Oh, why not?” Excitedly, you slid over in the bed, patting the edge excitedly for him. He sighed as he sat down beside you. “I’m not staying all night.”

You glanced out the window, noticing the sun was, in fact, setting. “If you insist.” He laid down beside you, awkwardly staring up at the ceiling. You rolled your eyes, nudging him with your shoulder.

“I’m giving you your space!” 

“I don’t need that much space, Cub.” You moved into a comfortable position and nodded for Cub to do the same. After a moment of hesitance, he moved into a more comfortable position. 

“There? Happy?”

You grinned, leaning your head over towards him. “Very.” He gave a lighthearted scoff in return.