#team rancher fanfic

[vivitheanimaxen]

Tango really needed to stop waking up in strange new places. At least he didn't seem to be beaten black and blue this time. Or maybe the jerks who'd kidnapped him weren't as rough as the pounding surf.

His head was still all fuzzy, but he wasn't dizzy or nauseous and he was lying on the floor of some sort of tidepool. Maybe? it wasn't sandy. And he was underwater. Probably. Tango couldn't help but let out a soft warble as he rubbed at his face, squinting up at the surface.

The water was deeper then where Impulse and Skizz and Zedaph had been keeping him, maybe two body-lengths deep, instead of only half of one. The ground sloped up off to the far end of the tidepool, with a shelf that made up a large part of the height. Tango twisted over to lay on his front for the time being, hopefully his dorsal fin hadn't gone to sleep.

There were other people, at the shallow end of the pool. He could see a-- a yellow and blue mer's tail, but only part of it. The angle was wrong, and they must've been sitting on the edge, like Tango often did when he would talk with his humans--

Impulse would be fine. Probably. Right? Impulse had to be fine, otherwise he was going to drown the humans who'd done that and taken him away and-- Well it wouldn't be pretty.

Tango couldn't see who the humans were-- that the yellow mer was talking to-- everything was too fuzzy around the edges still, and the distortion of the water just made them two blobs of color. Well, as long as they weren't going to be paying any attention to him, then he would simply curl up and--

They'd even changed the splint on his wrist. Why would they do that?? Tango huffed out a mouthful of bubbles, frustrated to no end but not really having the energy to get properly mad about it right now.

So instead he just curled up on his side, watching the yellow mer and the blobs above the water and wondering how long it would take them to realize that he was awake.

Turns out, Tango managed to doze off before they noticed that he'd woken up. He only knew this because he startled back awake when he felt movement in the water.

Well, it certainly burned away the last of the drowsy fog clinging to every bit of him.

And it certainly let the other mer know he was awake.

"Oh, hey--"

Tango jerked, twisting around to face the voice, almost toppling over. It was the mer he'd seen earlier, staring at him with bright blue eyes.

"I'm glad you're awake. How're you feeling?" The mer pushed off the shelf where he'd paused, drifting down to Tango.

"Who are you." Tango narrowed his eyes, coiling his tail underneath himself. It would probably be a bad idea to try and take them in an outright fight, but Tango was quick, and the tidepool here was much much larger than the other one. He'd be able to maneuver better.

"My name's Jimmy. It's-- uhm." Jimmy flicked his tail, settling on the tiles a little ways away from Tango, "There's probably been a misunderstanding, yeah? You're safe here, nobody's gonna hurt you. What's your name?"

Tango let out another mouthful of bubbles, "Did the humans steal you too? Where are we?"

"We're at a house, a safehouse-- the ocean is about fifty or so meters that-a-ways--" Jimmy pointed in what Tango assumed was the ocean, "I wasn't stolen-- well. I was stolen but that was like years and years and years ago, but no. The human here is nice, and so is Scott. They're my pod, they're here to help."

Tango blinked, a little put off by just how relaxed Jimmy was. He believed what he was saying, but that didn't mean Tango did.

It-- wasn't that Jimmy had a human in his pod, because admittedly, Tango had started to consider Impulse and Zedaph and Skizz a part of his pod, if only for the fact that they had been the only way for him to get food, and medicine, and companionship--

Well, now that he thought about it, considering those three as part of his pod probably wasn't a good thing. His pod would call him crazy, surely.

"You-- thought I was in danger. . . ?" Tango frowned, "With the other humans-- is that why yours stole me? They thought I was in danger?"

"You're hurt! And they were keeping you in such a small pool--" Jimmy was mirroring his frown now, "Didn't they take you from the sea in the first place?"

"No! No-- I mean, yes, they took me-- but there was a storm. I got separated from my pod and caught in a fishing net, and Impulse found me on the shore. I would have died if it wasn't for them!"

Jimmy let out a puff of bubbles, "They wouldn't have let you go. Humans don't let mer go."

"So you're here against your will too?"

"No!! No. If I wanted to I could leave. I can leave any time I want--"

"Then how do you know that my humans wouldn't have let me go?" Tango was posturing now, he knew that he was, all puffed up and fins out wide and Jimmy was reacting in kind, even if the other mer wasn't aware of it.

"Because they don't!! Look at you, you're practically all healed already and yet they still had you in that dumb little fishbowl."

"I'm not stupid. There's a reason i didn't tell them about my pod." Tango bared his fangs, trying to get Jimmy to back down, "They hadn't put me back yet because my wrist is still broken and a lone mer who can't hunt or defend themselves is a dead mer. They didn't want me to end up dead--!"

Jimmy threw up his hands in frustration, "Fine, whatever. You don't have to get so snippy about it. It doesn't matter anyway, it's not like you're going to ever see them again. We'll stick you back in the sea tomorrow and you'll never see any of us again if that's what you really want."

Jimmy's words hit Tango like a slap to the face. He turned away, pinning his frill back and ignoring Jimmy as the other mer swam back up to the shallow end of the pool.

Tango didn't move until the water had stilled again. But when he did, he couldn't see Jimmy anywhere. Even when he'd mustered up his courage to poke his head above the water, Jimmy wasn't to be seen. Had he dragged himself off somewhere? Tango didn't know, and he almost didn't care. He mostly didn't care.

They'd taken him from his humans, without asking if he was in danger or needed help! They'd maybe killed Impulse! And now he'd pissed off the first mer he'd seen in what felt like moons.

Great. Nice going Tango, your temper sure has come in handy once again.

#tango tek #jimmy solidarity #team rancher #team rancher fanfic #team rancher au #viviwrites #emberfish au #dont mind me #misunderstandings #tw sedatives #finally the ranchers get to meet! #wait-- #wait no-- #why are you fighting--

[pixiemage]

Coming, Coming Home

It's an hour past sundown when a dot of light streaks across the sky. Nobody is there to see it (nobody but a young demigod child at his bedroom window, who points excitedly to the "shooting star" and babbles to his godly father, who simply smiles indulgently at what he believes to be nothing more than a child's imagination). Nobody sees it, nobody notices, and there's nobody there to stare when it breaks the atmosphere. It's something from beyond the stars, something foreign, and it's careening toward the ground at impressive speeds.

It goes unseen but not unheard, especially when it lands. The collision is monumental, the red sand of the mesa flying outward from the crash site while the meteorite - the ship, it's a ship - struggles to hold itself together in its destructive skid across the landscape. It's wishful thinking to hope it won't fall apart with the force of the crash...and then the engine explodes.

In a small town built in the protection of a bowl-like canyon in the mesa, the Sheriff jerks his head up from the reports he'd been filling out. His eyes narrow and his ears perk up and his golden-feathered wings grow tense against his back, the distant sounds of immense destruction reaching him through the silence of the night. When he ducks his head out of his office and catches sight of plumes of smoke rising in the sky against the backdrop of the glowing moon, there is no hesitation. There's no second thought. He abandons his paperwork and spreads his wings and takes to the skies.

Jimmy doesn't have to look hard to find the source of the noises he'd heard. Once he rises above the canyon walls the glow of a burning fire is easy to spot.

And, gods, it's unlike anything he's ever seen.

There's a ship, a spaceship, one like he's seen in toy stores and sci-fi books. There's nothing like that in the real world, he knows that, and yet he's looking right at one. Or...the remains of one. The white hull and dark red detailing are scorched and marred and cracked, chunks of metal and wire and other materials scattered around the crater it had landed in, scattered along the long scar of a path it had gouged into the red dusty earth. An entire fin (wing? He doesn't know-) lies off to the side, and the entire back half is partially detached, and Jimmy...Jimmy isn't sure how safe it is to approach when half of the ship has been caught ablaze by the explosion he'd heard from Tumble Town.

Jimmy lands a few meters off with his wings tense and twitchy behind him, the heat rolling off the fire making him take a step back. He raises a hand to his hat and tugs at the brim, curiosity and worry both clawing to the surface as his eyes rake over the wreck.

It's a ship, and ships normally had captains or pilots. Didn't they? So where...who-

There.

Jimmy's eyes fly wide and his breath hitches and he circles around the wreck to the front, where a window near what he assumes must be the cockpit has been blown out by the crash. And there's a person. Someone in a white soot-tarnished spacesuit is hanging halfway out of the window, and the moment Jimmy spots him his pulse skyrockets. Oh gods.

Ignoring the heat (and grateful that the flames are mostly sequestered to the back of the ship for now) Jimmy lurches into action, clambering up the wreckage on careful feet to try and reach who he can only assume is the pilot. He doesn't give himself time to think. It could be a matter of life and death here and he's not about to let someone die on his watch. Not like this.

(And he knows, he knows, that Empires has respawn mechanics in place. He knows this. But there's that little worry at the back of his mind that this new stranger might not be able to take advantage of that if Jimmy can't save them from the wreckage. What if they're not on the whitelist? What if it doesn't work? Or, maybe worse, what if they respawn back in the wreckage of the ship where they had probably slept last, and they get stuck in a death loop they can't escape from?)

Jimmy pauses in the midst of hooking his arms around the stranger's torso to shudder, the memory of the prank at the jail coming back for a moment.

No. No, he won't let that happen.

He all but drags the mysterious astronaut from the cockpit, waiting until they're on more stable ground before lowering them both to the cool mesa sand. He moves quickly, almost frantically, rolling the stranger over to check for vitals.

Their helmet is broken. His helmet is broken, Jimmy realizes, eyeing the pale face behind the broken glass with ever-mounting concern. The man he's looking at has narrow, pointed features and he looks human enough, though Jimmy has had enough experience with human-ish people on the Empires server to take that observation with a grain of salt. More importantly, it looks like some of the glass from the helmet caught the pilot's face on impact, tiny cuts just barely bleeding...though there could be more he can't see. Jimmy squares his jaw and takes a breath. He can't waste time.

It takes a few minutes for him to figure out how to unlatch the helmet from the suit, but once it's out of the way and he can see the stranger fully, something catches in his chest. He's bleeding. Oh, gods, he's bleeding, red standing out in stark contrast against the blond of his hair and the pallor of his temple. Jimmy yanks at his neckerchief and tugs it off, pressing the wad of fabric against the side of the stranger's head, trying to figure out a plan, trying to think.

Potions. He needs potions. He needs potions, and he knows he doesn't have any back home.

Summoning his communicator from his inventory, Jimmy struggles to type out a message one-handed, not wanting to take pressure off the pilot's wound.

<SolidarityGaming> shelby do yoiu have heasling pots

Jimmy can't help but wince at his own spelling mistakes, but there's not much he can do about it. He's in too much of a hurry to care. It takes a minute or two for Shelby to even see his message, and in that time Jimmy tosses his comm aside, his focus on the astronaut. He's breathing - thank god he's breathing - and when Jimmy presses two fingers to his throat the guy's pulse seems steady, though he's not exactly a doctor. He wouldn't know if it's slow or sluggish without something to compare it to, and his own heart rate is far too rapid to be a good comparison.

His communicator beeps and he scrambles for it, his eyes dancing across the brief message quickly.

<ShubbleYT> I do :) are you looking to trade? <SolidarityGaming> no time <SolidarityGaming> emergency <SolidarityGaming> how fast canb you get to tumnbl town <ShubbleYT> oh wow um maybe ten minutes? <ShubbleYT> is everything okay? <SolidarityGaming> someome crash landef outside of town <SolidarityGaming> cant talk now sorry <SolidarityGaming> meet me at my housde? <ShubbleYT> oh gosh okay I'll be there soon

Okay. Okay.

Jimmy casts a look over the astronaut in front of him and nods decisively. Okay. He needs to get this guy inside, preferably on a bed, so he and Shelby can do a better job of making sure he survives this ordeal. He digs into his inventory and pulls out a spare block of wool, shredding a piece into soft padding and swapping his bandana for the new fluff. Tying it around the stranger's head is a little trickier to do but he manages well enough, and once he's sure the makeshift bandage is secure he does his best to hoist the stranger into his arms without jostling him too much. This time when he spreads his wings, he takes much more care in his liftoff, and the return trip is a much gentler one than the one he'd taken to reach the crash site in the first place.

A soft landing, a fumbled doorknob, the creak of worn hinges. Careful steps across a wooden floor and the quiet squeak of mattress springs and gentle hands adjusting pillows and worry concern panic unease and the scrape of a chair across the floor.

Jimmy settles at his guest's side with a crease in his brow and a frown on his lips. In the warm light of torches and lanterns the astronaut's features are easier to make out than they were by the light of the moon and the burning ship. He isn't human. Not that it's too surprising, of course...at least half the members of the Empires server are inhuman, or less human than they appear. But the pointed ears and sharp teeth and the way Jimmy can swear he'd seen flames flickering in the stranger's hair on the flight over - it's new. Unfamiliar.

Or...maybe not.

There's something about this so-called stranger that makes Jimmy feel as if he's seen him before. He seems familiar in the strangest way, though he can't be sure why. Jimmy certainly doesn't know any spacemen. His eyes catch on the patches and lettering on the man's spacesuit as he's wringing out a damp cloth over a bowl, and as he gently begins to clean away the blood from the smaller cuts across the stranger's face, he squints at the text.

The word H.A.S.A. is stitched on a round patch at his shoulder, though the logo isn't one he recognizes. And there's another string of letters across the man's chest - something Jimmy can only assume must be a name.

T. TEK

That, too, feels like something he should know, and it tugs at his mind, at a memory just out of reach.

"...of the Tek variety. Nice to meet ya! So he dragged you into his game too, huh? Heh, should be a good time..."

There's a cocky sort of grin hovering out of sight, and eyes he can't make out the color of that sparkle with a chaotic sort of mischief. He pauses and pulls the cleaning cloth away to stare at the still and expressionless face of the man on the bed. He swears he knows him.

"...welcome, contestants! This is Dare to Flare..."

"...called You Bet Your Life. Basically, what it is..."

Jimmy reaches out against his better judgment and runs his fingers over the nametag, the stitching raised beneath his touch. He frowns, chewing his lip, a flurry of familiar words and voices running through his head as he puzzles over what that first initial might stand for. Then–

“Noooo! No, I’m sorry–” “What happened, Tango? Walk me through it…”

Tango.

Tango.

Tango Tek.

Jimmy lets out a breath with wide eyes, tracing the letters again with his fingertip and letting that revelation sink in. He doesn’t know how he knows it’s right, he just knows. He can’t explain it. He’s still staring in wonder at the soot-dusted nametag when he hears the sound of approaching rockets and jolts from his thoughts.

Oh, void, right. The crash. Shelby. Potions. Gods, he’s being an idiot–

Jimmy carefully cleans the rest of the blood and soot from Tango’s face with all the gentleness he can muster, and he’s only just depositing the cloth back in its bowl when he hears Shelby calling from the front door.

“In here!” he returns, his eyes lingering on Tango. “Bedroom!”

Now that Shelby’s here, he feels a little (a lot) more confident that Tango’s going to be alright. For now, he can focus on helping patch him up. For now, he can shove the odd familiarity of the not-stranger from his thoughts. Later, he can ponder at why he even knows Tango’s name and why his face feels so achingly familiar…but later. Later. Maybe when Tango is finally awake. Maybe he’ll gain some answers to his questions then. Later.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the maw of a glowing purple rift that cuts a jagged shape into the wall of the massive cave it calls home, an avian with macaw-colored wings stands gaping at its purpureal light. A pair of well-worn goggles is clutched in his grip, flecks of redstone dust rubbing off onto his skin. He’s quiet. He’s quiet, and his eyes mirror the rift before him in both color and luminescence.

Almost half an hour has passed since he arrived to find a friend standing where he now stands, his blue hair ablaze and an untamable emotion spilling off of him in waves. Tango had looked so upset, so desperate…and Grian hadn’t quite been able to talk him out of his insane idea.

“You said it’s a portal to other worlds. Plural. So one of ‘em could be his.”

“Technically, maybe, but - but it’s unstable! Why d’you think I’ve been experimenting with–”

“Screw unstable! You said you sent stuff through, right?”

“Yes, but I haven’t gotten anything back. And I haven’t even tried to send a player through–”

“Then send me.”

“What?! Tango–!”

“I’m going through either way. You might as well collect the data when I do–”

“No! Absolutely not! Xisuma would have my head - Impulse would have my head if I let you–”

“You’re not letting me do anything. I’m going.”

The rest of the conversation had spiraled, had exploded, had careened out of control - and Tango had thrown himself through the rift before Grian could stop him. He hadn’t been able to stop him. So…he’d Watched. He’d kept an eye on his friend, as well as he could when following a speck through an endless and unpredictable schism in space, but he’d Watched.

He’s still Watching.

He sees the connection, the transformation, the way the narrative of the Empires server brings Tango into her fold, morphing a piece of his past into the form he takes in the present. He may have been acting as a dungeon master on Hermitcraft, but on Empires he becomes a pilot. He becomes an astronaut. He becomes the desperate not-quite-hero he’d been at the end of the last season, and he crashes.

Grian keeps his Eye on Tango for as long as he can, or at least up until he watches Jimmy salvage him from the wreck and bring him home. It’s only when Jimmy and a witch from a neighboring empire are arranging potions on the bedside table that he pulls away, letting out a breath and massaging the bridge of his nose.

Voidammit, Tango.

At least now Grian has more reason to rush and finish fixing the rift. They’re going to need to get Tango back eventually…he can only hope the narrative doesn’t affect Tango’s memories too much in the meanwhile. At least he found his soulmate again. He’ll be happy there until the Hermits can reach him. Jimmy will make sure of it, Grian knows.

Soulmates don’t ever stop being soulmates, after all.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[A/N: Hi! Uh - I know I'm supposed to be writing other things, but. Um. I saw art from a while back joking about S8!Tango being the Buzz to Jimmy's Woody, and - hah. Well. Things happened. Spaceman Tango! Wheeeee!]

TITLE from "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling

Earth below us Drifting, falling Floating weightless Coming, coming home

#Team Rancher #TangoTek #Jimmy Solidarity #SolidarityGaming #Solidaritek #kinda #Team Rancher Fanfic #Rancher Duo #<- for the heathens #Pixiemage Writes #Spaceman Tango #Astronaut!Tango #HASA!Tango #Hermitcraft #HC x Empires #The Rift #Empires SMP #Double Life SMP #DLsmp

[tinks-forbidden-elixirs]

Flocks & Pyres - An Excerpt ("Shovel Talk")

(...) At least [Tango] wasn’t the only one on the server who seemed to realize that he’d managed to find himself a gem of a soulmate, despite the Jimmy’s poor track record with the Life games. It was around two weeks into the game now and Tango and Jimmy had decided to make the rounds, resorting to begging and pulling the pity card as a means to get some extra resources. Tango had found his way to Scott’s base, and after he’d struck out a bit with Scott, Cleo, Ren, and Big B, Tango had been pulled aside by Scott to chat. Scott leaned back casually against his half-finished house, Tango trailing after him and cyan eyes tracking Ren and Big B’s path as they made their way back up to their box of a base. It was a moment before Scott spoke.

“How’s Jimmy?”

Tango blinked at him, the question coming a bit out of left field. To be fair, it was the same question Joel and Etho had asked almost a week ago when he and Jimmy were still barely recovering from their first death, but from Scott it seemed a bit odd…until he remembered that he and Jimmy had been partners during Third Life. More than that, even, if rumors were to be believed, though Tango hadn’t been close to anyone but the other Hermits back then so he hadn’t really kept up with the goings-on of the newcomers as well as he probably should have.

“Uh…good, I think,” Tango shrugged, joining Scott in leaning against the stone wall. “At least he was when I saw him this morning.”

“I meant,” Scott drawled, rolling his eyes, “how is he as a partner?”

“He - oh.” At that, Tango couldn’t help but grin. “Honestly? He’s been amazing. Don’t get me wrong, Team BEST was pretty great last game, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a teammate in this game who’s been so genuinely proud and excited every time we accomplish something. Even the small stuff. You’ve gotta know this already but I swear he’s like a walking ball of sunshine. And he’s more than pulling his weight too, I mean - the cows!” He pushed away from the wall, his eyes alight and his hands moving animatedly with his words. “I think half the server knows we’ve got ‘em by now, but - last week we had next to nothing. And then a few days ago? The guy shows up with an entire herd of cows trailing behind him, like - like - I dunno, some sort of cow whisperer! It was amazing! And the smile he got on his face when I told him so…”

Tango trailed off, realizing he was chattering a bit more than he intended to, but when he glanced in Scott’s direction the man was smiling knowingly at him.

“...what?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at the other player. Scott simply tilted his head and tucked his hands into his pockets.

“So you’re getting along?” he asked without answering, his words carefully casual.

“Well - yeah, of course we are,” Tango nodded, puzzled. “Probably better than I would’ve with anyone else on the server, except maybe Impulse…” He squinted at Scott, suspicion mounting. “What’s this about?”

“You know, Jimmy’s got a bit of a curse hanging over his head,” Scott carried on as if he hadn’t heard him.

He cast his glance out over the ravine, where it was only now that Tango spotted Jimmy standing over the ravine on some sort of narrow bridge. He couldn’t quite tell from here but he thought he recognized Scar’s familiar brown jacket as well, and what looked like Joel along with him. Scott hummed thoughtfully, drawing Tango’s attention back to him.

“Or that’s what some people say,” he drawled, almost mocking. “That’s what Jimmy seems to think. The first to die in the last two games. It’s a bit of a pattern, isn’t it?”

Something about Scott’s tone set Tango on edge, his hair crackling and his core feeling a bit heated. He’s heard people tease Jimmy from a distance a few times by now, all playful banter and friendly mocking, but this felt different. This didn’t feel like a part of the game. This felt pointed, somehow, and he wasn’t sure what to think of it.

“What are you implying?” he asked sharply, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

“I’m implying,” Scott went on, finally pushing away from the wall to step up to Tango, getting close enough to stare him in the eye and not caring for boundaries, “that there’s a chance you’ve ended up tied to a losing horse. People might target him because they think he’s weak. There’s a chance you’ll get dragged down by that so-called curse of his. So the question is…” Scott grinned, a sharp and wicked thing that had Tango’s blood boiling. “...are you going to go down with a sinking vessel? Or are you planning on abandoning ship to save your own skin?”

Tango snarled, a sharp grip coming up to clutch at the front of Scott’s shirt, pinning the man to the wall behind him with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

“I don’t know what kind of history you’ve got with Jimmy, and frankly I don’t care,” he said hotly, his tail lashing at the air behind him in his agitation. “Just because he’s gone out first the last two games doesn’t mean he will this time. There’s a hell of a lot more to him than people seem to think, and I’m getting a bit pissed off that one of his friends seems to be laughing at his expense. And even if we do manage to get eliminated before anyone else, I won’t even care! He’s my soulmate, my partner, and I’m not about to leave him behind just because of some stupid superstition. I’ve had enough betrayal in this game to last me a lifetime.” He leaned in closer, smoke curling past his teeth. “And it may just be a game, but I won’t hesitate to knock some heads together if people go out of their way to make his life difficult after we’ve stopped playing around for the day. Understood?”

For a moment, there was silence. Scott stared Tango down without any fear, without even an inkling of trepidation, something calculating in his eyes that was almost more infuriating than the silence. But then…then whatever animosity had been in his expression melted away and he smiled, a gentle and knowing thing that took Tango aback with how different it was from the smirk he’d seen only seconds before.

“Good,” Scott said brightly, managing to get an arm up to pat Tango on the shoulder. “Happy to hear it.”

“...what?”

“Sorry, by the way,” he went on, looking rightfully apologetic. “You’ll have to forgive me - when I found out we were going to have our lives tied to someone else this season, I felt the need to make sure Jimmy’s partner wouldn’t be the type to hurt him. He deserves someone he can rely on.”

Tango stared, gobsmacked, the fire and fight in him slowly petering out. His tail drooped against the grass.

“Why…why would I hurt him?” he asked, shaking his head slowly.

“Well you wouldn’t, clearly. That’s the point.”

“So…so this–” Tango gestured between them. “–this was, what, a test?”

“Precisely,” Scott smirked and winked. “And you passed with flying colors.”

“I–”

“You can let me go now, Tango.”

What? Let him - oh. Right. Tango was quick to obey, instantly releasing Scott’s shirt and taking a step or two back, his cheeks tinged pink while he avoided Scott’s gaze. He cleared his throat.

“Uh...sorry man.”

“You don’t have to apologize, I riled you up on purpose,” Scott waved him off, straightening his clothes. He eyed Tango with a knowing sparkle in his eyes. “Though I have to say, that was a rather impressive display. You’re quite protective of him for it being so early in the game.”

At that, Tango flushed to the tips of his ears and swallowed, folding his arms over his chest and shrugging.

“Yeah, well, he’s my partner, isn’t he?” he muttered, ignoring the fact that his glowing hair was probably giving him away regardless of whatever tale he was trying to tell. “He’s got my back and I’ve got his.”

“Mhmmm…that’s all it is.”

Tango risked a glance in Scott’s direction and saw the way the other player was watching him, saw the smirk that danced across his face and the mirth in his eyes.

He knows, was all Tango could think, his pulse leaping and his jaw tensing. He has to. It wasn’t his fault he’d gained a bit of a crush on his sweetheart of a soulmate. Who wouldn’t? Jimmy was sunshine incarnate, and handsome to boot. Cute, even, when he smiled that million-glowstone smile. Could anyone blame him?

“Was there anything else?” he asked, aiming for nonchalant and missing by a mile. “Or, uh…or was it just the shovel talk from his ex-partner?”

“Ex-husband,” Scott corrected casually, as if that little revelation didn’t send Tango reeling with the implications of what exactly he was getting himself into here. “But no, that was it.” Scott cast a wayward lookout across the ravine and sighed. “...though you may want to go assist your soulmate. Scar and Joel might not be red but they seem to be pestering Jimmy a bit over on that bridge.”

“They what?” Tango’s head snapped around to the little one-block-wide path in the distance, where Jimmy was balancing precariously between a crouching Scar and Joel’s laughing form. Something hitched in his chest, something like concern, and he let out an aborted sort of sound as he started off around the ravine’s edge to reach them.

“Tango!”

Tango stopped and turned back to find Scott smiling warmly after him.

“Jimmy’s had a bit of bad luck the last two games, but I think he could do well if given the chance.” He tilted his head in Tango’s direction. “You seem like a good match. You might just be able to turn his luck around.”

Tango was quiet, still, the words rolling over him and making some of the tension in his chest soften at the implications. He smiled back.

“I’ll certainly try,” he promised, before leaving Scott behind to find his way to Jimmy. (...)

= + = + = + =

(That moment when you're really proud of scene you wrote and you'd love to post it to your main blog, but you know full well it's from an AU that you're trying to keep slightly anonymous so you can't share it there, so you just have to resign yourself to your self-imposed anonymity so that others can enjoy the scene that's been living in your head for a week...)

#trafficshipping #traffic shipping #trafficblr fanfic #team rancher #team rancher fanfic #work in progress #flocks & pyres #tink's tales #solideritek #past flower husbands

[tiny-minecraft-rabbit]

Read on AO3 here: The Gold in the Coal Mine

Tango works in a coal mine as the resident explosives expert and as the self-proclaimed caretaker of the canary. He does his best, but some how the little guy keeps escaping his cage.

Warning: Near Death Experiences (via carbon monoxide) (also there are probably a lot of scientific inaccuracies)

His speciality on this mining expedition was the explosives: a half ton of TNT, piled high in crates and a spool of fuse. There was no need for matches when he could snap his fingers and a flame will dance across it. Some people thought he was a bit insane for handling explosives when one slip of the fingers or uncontrolled emotion could send the whole place alight, but he just loved the kaboom. Besides they trusted him just enough to let him keep lining the tunnels with it so who really cared if someone thought he was a bit insane. And if his giggling and sharp-toothed grins and constant jokes about going up in the flames he created only encouraged that thought, well who cared about that either.

The second job he had, unassigned and self proclaimed, was the caretaking of the canary. The little songbird he had affectionately named Tweeters was a brilliantly bright yellow, it shined in the sun and glistened like gold in fire light, almost like it was coated in magic. It was smart too. It managed to unclip the lock on its cage twice now and each time they found it just a couple days later, dehydrated and screeching up a storm. He kept the cage tied shut now, but he didn’t think Tweeters had made another ture escape attempt since then either.

The canary had been caught half a continent away just in the edge of the mangrove swamps (which were said to be invested with witches, so why anyone would risk going in there for a bird, he had no clue, but he was glad for it). They said it was singing up a storm and hopping right up to people. It must have been a pet that got released, though with it being an escape artist it was more likely it had released itself.

He did try to keep the bird entertained. He was sure it couldn’t be fun just staying in a wire cage all day- and then the oxygen box when traveling through the tunnels had to be even less fun. So he’d catch little bugs and stick them on the bottom, a little something for it to watch and pick at. He peppered the bird seeds with a bit of his red pepper flakes he brought along for his own meals, a little flavor that it seemed to enjoy. He talked to it a lot too, and to Tweeters’ credit it did seem like it listened and talked back a lot of the time.

Over the last few weeks he and the canary had gotten pretty close, he thought. It no longer screeched bloody murder when being moved to the oxygen box at least.

It was a cool day in the tunnels. The oxygen box sat off to the side, Tweeters chirping periodically. No one paid much attention to it as they continued with their work, it was just a nice tune to hum to as mine carts were filled with coal. He was loading crates of TNT onto a cart, ready to push it further into the mines.

There was a clatter of wire and just as Tango turned he got a face full of feathers. As he sputtered and swiped at them, and just as soon as they were there they were gone and the chirping was echoing off the tunnel walls. The oxygen box wire door had been picked open.

"Shoot! Tweeters!" He cursed and scrambled to race after the canary.

He didn't get a step before his friend and expedition leader, Impulse, grabbed his arm and pulled him back in place. "It flew further in, Tango, not out. We'll catch it later. I'd rather not have you leave a precarious stack of TNT out here."

Tango hesitated, glancing down the tunnel and Impulse's large hand on his arm. He knew he could probably out run him if he needed; could honestly probably talk him into letting him go, however he could also still hear Tweeter even as it was flying down the tunnel. He could track the bird down in an hour or two when the work was done.

"Alright, Impy," He agreed. Impulse nodded and let him go. He went back to measuring out the TNT.

It was twenty minutes later when he started to realize something was seriously wrong. The song that was almost constant had slowly petered off to nothing. He placed the TNT he had in hand down and held still, hoping to make out the tiniest tweet. When still nothing he stood and started quieting the others, the laughter and picks and general commotion slowly coming to a halt as each man strained to hear the canary. Still nothing.

“Which tunnel did it go down?” He asked, pushing down the growing panic.

Impulse set his pick down, his big hand setting on Tango’s shoulder with the weight of brick, “‘Down in the south tunnel. We’ll go seal it off so no one else gets hurt, why don’t you go back out and-”

“You’re not going to get it?” Tango interrupted, hands curling tightly, nails digging into his palms, “We can’t just leave it, it’s-”

“Oh bud,” Impulse sighed, sounding like he’s comforting a child about a broken toy and not telling his best friend that their beloved little bird was being left for dead, “I know you two were close but I’m not sending you down a tunnel with potential carbon monoxide. That’s why we had Tweeters in the first place, I’m sorry but we’re not going down where it went all by itself. Let’s get you out of here, okay?”

Tango stared up at Impulse, looking for the joke, for the “Got, you! Let’s go get your friend back before he dies”. There was no break in the sympathetic eyes and tight lips, the butthead was being serious. They weren’t going back for Tweeters.

A flame flicked across his knuckles. He let out the breath of anger and dropped his head, “Right. Great. Let’s.”

The hand left his shoulder, “Come on, we’ll-”

He turned on his heel, ducked under Impulse's arm, and sprinted down to the south tunnel.

He could just hear Impulse curse behind him before shouting down the tunnel for someone to grab him. It was easy to duck out of the way of swinging arms. He was one of the smallest ones in the mining group and it made him slippery in instances like this. One person did get a hold on his arm, though they pulled back in an instance, and Tango barely registered it was because yellow flames were dancing up his arms. Perhaps he should take a moment to calm down before something that's not supposed to catch on fire does, but that involves holding still and he’d be grabbed and dragged out in a second.

He could hear pounding steps coming after him and he made a really bad decision and grabbed up small piece of coal off the ground, flaming it, and tossing it into one of the mine carts. Immediately there was popping and several people stopped to put it out. Though that did not stop them from cursing and shouting at him, (a water elemental was already attempting to drench them with their canteen). Impulse was still following after him, but the man was big and broad and it took one swift turn to get him at least out of sight for another minute.

As he came closer to the south tunnel he took a deep breath and held his breath. Immediately his flames went out, even as his face turned red quickly. He struggled with pulling his respirator over his face, stumbling as the tunnel got rockier and smaller as it was newer. There was supposedly a natural opening back here, they had said they had sealed it off but apparently not well enough. This was way too close to where everyone was working, they’d have to completely close off this section of the mines. He held his breath and pushed down his flames as much as could, not wanting the tunnel to blow. He may want to save Tweeters but it'd do no good if he killed everyone doing so.

“Tweeters, buddy! Come on, sing me a little tune, buddy, let me find you,” He called, letting out the rest of his air and taking a big gulp through his mask. A spark traveled down his back as he started having to crouch through the tunnels and he winced and hoped his next breath didn't light the air on fire. He didn't expect to hear his bird, not really, the poor little guy had stopped singing for a few minutes now. He would be lucky if he found him still breathing.

It surprisingly didn't take long to find Tweeters once he reached the end of the cart track. A mine cart that rested on the track stop, the tunnel went on for another few hundred feet, getting smaller and smaller. He was supposed to blow this section wide open a few days from now, though that was definitely not happening anymore.

Under the cart wheel was a golden glow. He immediately reached under and cupped the little bird in his hands. He was pretty certain that normal birds did not glow in the dark, nor that Tweeters had ever glowed this way before, but it wasn't the time to question it.

He pulled the mask off his face as he started racing out the tunnel, tucking the entirety of his bird inside of it. He didn't think too hard about how still Tweeters was.

He met Impulse coming his way and the larger man immediately grabbed his arm and started pulling towards the exit. He was yelling at Tango, lecturing him and reprimanding him- Tango didn't hear a single word, letting himself be pulled out as fast as possible. The others followed them as they passed, a group accumulating after them. Impulse started relaying information about what had happened and that the south tunnels, and likely this whole mine, was compromised.

They all made it out and Impulse immediately pushed Tango down to sit on a closed crate. He was being lectured some more, but all he could think now was the bird in his hand. He ran a finger down his back, the usual sunshine feathers were still giving off the golden color, even while covered in dirt and dust. He couldn't feel the rise of breath or the tiny pitter of a heartbeat, and the more he stared the more the color was fading, even the yellow was dulling around the tail feathers and climbing up his body.

"Tweeters, buddy, please," Tango choked out, continuing to pet down his back.

Impulse went quiet then, finally looking down at Tango's itty-bitty friend, "Tango, I-" he sighed "-I'll give you a minute." He patted his shoulder and stepped away.

Tango didn't acknowledge him. Instead he felt a sob crawling up his throat and then tears dripping down his chin. He whined as he felt his chest seize up, "Please. Please don't go, little guy." His head dropped, his forehead touching the top of Tweeters' head.

The glow around him completely went out and Tango couldn't hold back his sobs anymore. Whatever the glow was, he knew it going out had to be the end. He gasped on his breath as he lifted his head just enough to press his lips to the top of his head. Then he pulled him to his chest and leaned over his little body, head on his own knees and soaking them in seconds, letting himself break down.

He missed the glow returning. Didn't see a thing, but he did hear the sudden stop in chatter around him; the gasps and then growing whispers. It took a second to get the energy to lift his head again and was immediately met with the glow- the light, bright has his own flames. It encompassed Tweeters, bright and pulsing.

There was a twitch. The wings shuffled. Then the light grew brighter, until he couldn't see any of his little friend at all. It grew larger and larger, and the weight on his lap grew heavier and heavier. It eventually slipped off of him, standing on the ground and growing taller from there, until the light was the size of a person and behind them a wingspan to match.

As the light faded features came more prominent. A hooked nose, a light speckling of freckles, bright yellow feathers clumped around where ears should be, and big brown eyes crinkled at the corners from his smile. Giant canary wings fluttered and settled behind the new man. He took a deep breath, locked eyes with Tango and immediately launched himself forward to tackle pull him up and into a hug (and gosh he was a good few inches taller).

"TANGO! You did it! I- Oh thank you. Thank you!"

"I-" Tango gasped, hands curling into the back of the new man's shirt, processing the warm body around him, "Tweeters?"

The man laughed, pulling away to grin in Tango's face, "Jimmy, actually. Oh, it's good to finally talk to you. You're a godsend, Tango. An absolute gem."

Tango's cheeks turned red and flames flickered through his fair, "I- thank you? I don't know what I did."

"You just saved my life, for one," Jimmy chirped, hands resting on Tango's arms and giving them a light squeeze, "Several times actually. I was a bit dumb flying about in the desert like I would get anywhere."

"You- You were a bird. You are a bird? What is going on?" Tango asked, looking around like anybody else would be able to explain it to him.

To his credit, everyone else seemed to be just as confused and completely speechless to what they were witnessing; at least he could ask the questions. Jimmy only laughed more, "A curse! I was cursed. I can bore you with all the details later. The important part is that I'm standing on two feet with two arms and I can hug you," he exclaimed and ended the sentence by pulling him right back into a hug.

Tango stared over his shoulder a moment. He felt over the fabric of his clothes and the thick muscles of the giant wings and focused on the feathers tickling his cheeks and the smell of gunpowder and sweat was heavy in his nose. He took in the mere presence of this person in his arms; the person who he had talked to for hours at a time and shared his favorite food and ran into a tunnel of poisonous gas for, and he closed his eyes and sobbed into his shoulder.

#jimmy solidarity #tango tek #team ranchers #canary jimmy #double life #life series #double life fanfic #mcyt fanfiction #team rancher fanfic #rabbit writes

[talonwolf2]

I've been writing a Team Rancher fanfic for myself based on what if double life had a randomized number of lives and Tango is on his last life while, Jimmy unknowingly has one more life than him. This is my favorite bit so far and it's like the early intro, where Tango almost gets himself killed falling off the Ranch's little porch into the revine and Pearl scaring the shit out of already freaked out Jimmy, like Tango is still (mostly) alive at this point lol

Jimmy swears he hears a faint giggle, but with his bound's pain shooting through his body, he knew he couldn't do anything for whatever was there, he couldn't fend for himself off from it. "Tango do something," he shouts down as a feeling of dread fills him.

   "What!?" Tango yells back trying to get up, which only causes him to stifle another pained sound.

   All the confident footing Jimmy had made simply crumpled under him, "Whatever is there go away," he screamed covering his face.

   A familiar voice spoke out, "oi what's all this for," he looked up only to see a girl in a red hood with torn moth-like wings, she giggled at how useless he looked, "You really do need a hand."

   "Pearl! You scared the life out of me," Jimmy looked down gesturing, "again." She wasn't looking at him, but rather the condition of the Ranch, "are you gonna give us a hand or what?" Jimmy hushed.

   "What's in it for me," she said in a deepened voice, "I gotta get something in return," she smiled.

   "Pearl we are dirt poor," he said shakely standing up trying to make himself look bigger. She simply gave his shoulder a small shove, causing him to topple back, "fine, fine whatever you want!" His voice shook.

   "I just want a promise of safety for my Tilly," she crouched down next to him.

   "Is that it?" He furrowed his brows as she towered over him, "like your dog, really?"

   "Mhm" she responded innocently.

   "Then come'er," he becened her to the bridge, "the problem is very clear." he pointed down at Tango who gave a half-assed wave.

   "Is that Pearl?" He shouted shifting how he lay.

   Pearl looked at Jimmy who stiffened, "Bet you're happy I am a makeshift medic," She leaned over the edge getting a good look at him, "I'm gonna jump down to you."

   Before Jimmy could get a word in, Pearl had already backed up and started running off the edge, "you really are crazy!" he shouted out. 

#dlsmp #double life #pearlescentmoon #tango and jimmy #tangotek #double life tango #tango #solidaritygaming #double life jimmy #jimmy solidarity #jimmy #team rancher #life series #traffic smp #traffic series #trafficblr #double life smp #life series smp #double life fanfic #team rancher fanfic

[briarlovesginny]

(c!s not cc!s!!!!)

Scott knows a lot of things.

Now, this isn’t to say that Tango is dumb-- on the contrary, he could do redstone that could blow Scott’s socks off-- but the cryptic man always seem to know things he didn’t. 

Specifically, about Jimmy.

It only took a short while into the game for Tango to realize that he was falling head over heels in love with Jimmy, and vice versa. Of course, Tango didn’t know that at the time, but it was true nonetheless.

As a thank-you for their windows, the ranchers were holding a little campfire with Scott as the sun went down. They talked and laughed, and at one point the chatter died down enough that, in the warmth of the fire and Tango’s arms, Jimmy drifted off. The silence was comfortable, Tango humming softly, and Scott looking at them with a sort of gentle heartbreak that Tango didn’t know quite what to do with, so he ignored.

“He likes you, you know.”

Scott’s comment broke Tango out of his head, heart immediately pounding as he looked across the fire to meet his blue eyes. 

“What? What do you mean, like me?” He managed to get out, tongue tripping over its own words as he scrambled to catch his bearings.

“It’s obvious, really.” Scott drawled with a smug smile, leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees and keeping the eye contact. “Really, Tango, do you think he acts like that with everyone?”

Tango looked down at the man sleeping peacefully in his arms and blushed.  “We’re just buddies, Scott. This is what buddies do!”

“Mmmm-hmm. Yeah. Okay.” Scott was obviously holding back laughter, and Tango felt a brush of indignation. How dare he! Scott obviously had no idea what he was talking about.

Except...

Except Jimmy did smile at him a lot more than at other players, maybe even too much for just being soulbound. And those times Tango had noticed his own heart speeding up randomly, only to look and see Jimmy staring at him. But that was just platonic stuff, right? Scott must be insane. And besides--

“How would you know, anyways?” He snapped lightly, quickly looking down to check that he hadn’t woken up his partner. Scott’s eyes seemed to dim for a moment, smile slipping slightly, before his face lifted back up to normal.

“Because I know everything.” Scott said, and Tango could swear he heard a slight tremor in his voice. But before he could press further, the other was standing up and wiping off his pants to leave. “Well, I must be going now. Thank you for the lovely campfire. Tell Jimmy thanks as well, of course.” Tango opened his mouth to say goodbye as Scott turned away, but paused when he turned back for a moment. 

“Oh, and really, it’s getting annoying watching you two dance around each other. Just get on with it.” And with that, he whisked away. 

It was infuriating that Scott was right.

Tango told Jimmy two days later, and was surprised at the speed in which he found himself in his soulbound’s arms, pressed tightly against him as Jimmy squealed in joy.

“Really?” Jimmy asked breathlessly, looking up at him with gleaming eyes.

“Yes, really.” Tango chuckled, holding him in a bone-crushing hug and spinning him around.

He never told Scott or Jimmy that that night had given him the confidence, only jokingly confessing to his partner later that he couldn’t resist his sleeping face, but Scott knew. 

So when Scott walked up to him after a gathering and whispered in his ear, “kiss him,” Tango did, not even hesitating to wait for privacy. 

(And if Scott tried to keep his smile from being bitter with middling success, no one was looking at him to see it.)

inspired by “I love that for you (but I love you too)” by lexiconks on ao3!

#wow this got........... Long #double life fic #okay to quickly clarify. i have a post that talks about remembering when u win a game and it explains #how scott kind of remembers 3rd life but no one else does #ik it doesn't make a lot of sense but go check that one #tldr: scott remembers being in love w jimmy and last life and jimmy and tango dont remember either #double life #double life smp #double life smp fanfic #jimmy/tango #trafficshipping #traffic smps #past flower husbands #rancher duo #team rancher #soulbounds as romantic #for them specifically #team rancher fanfic #rancher duo fanfic #solidaritygaming #tangotek #scott smajor #scott #tango #jimmy #jimmy fanfic #solidaritygaming fanfic #smajor fanfic #tango fanfic #tangotek fic

[voidratwrites]

i’d take all the hurt and give you the rest

MCYT Febuwhump 2023 Day 1 - Touchstarved

Tango’s got a backache that’s not his. But getting Jimmy to open up about what’s wrong isn’t an easy thing to do.

or; I am not kind to characters with wings

or or; I’m posting my febuwhumps on here as well as on ao3! content warnings and full fic under the break!

cws: self neglect, mild unintentional self harm (jimmy binds his wings, which causes him a lot of pain). Stay safe you guys.

Tango thought the worst part of being soulbound were the random aches and pains throughout the day. Not the danger of sharing a life, not the fear of accidentally killing your soulmate (though he knew well enough how much that sucked), but those little aches that had no clear origin. And that no clear origin thing? That was what made it the problem!

If he knew where they were coming from, then surely he’d be able to fix it. Tango was pretty good at fixing things! Except he couldn’t fix the pain if he didn’t know where it was coming from. It definitely did not help that he couldn’t even tell if it was actually him who was hurting.

Jimmy was not very forthcoming about the whole “taking care of himself” thing. Which was okay! Tango didn’t hold it against him, even if he wished Jimmy would be kinder to himself, and not just for Tango’s sake. Jimmy also wasn’t a fan of speaking up when something was wrong or when he was hurting. Again, Tango wasn’t mad about that, it just made things a bit, well, difficult.

Especially when it came to determining whether an ache was his, or one he shared with Jimmy. Like currently, Tango had a wicked ache in his back that wouldn’t go away. It had been building for a while now, bugging him to no end, and now it was getting close to unbearable.

He wasn’t sure what he could have done to himself to have caused it! It didn’t feel like he’d pulled a muscle or lifted something wrong, and it was definitely getting worse than just soreness from sleeping wrong or running around. It was almost like something heavy sitting against his back, something both incredibly irritating and painful.

Which meant it probably wasn’t his pain, and that meant it was Jimmy’s. That solved one problem, at least, but now there was another one entirely: getting Jimmy to tell him what was going on. Jimmy, who apologized for stubbing his toe and had to be reminded to drink water, who was most definitely hiding whatever this was.

Well. Tango was good at fixing things! Hopefully, he could fix this with minor stress for both of them.

He didn’t bring it up for a while. Really, he was trying to figure out what to do. He knew he needed to ask Jimmy about it, figure out how to heal whatever was wrong so they’d both stop being in pain. At the same time, though, he sort of hesitated at the idea of actually asking. He didn’t want to upset Jimmy, and worried he’d think Tango was mad at him, think Tango thought he was a burden. And Tango most definitely did not want Jimmy to think that.

It was actually Jimmy that finally said something about it.

They were making dinner, Tango chopping up carrots while Jimmy added them to the stew he was stirring. Bread was baking in the oven, and honestly it was really a really cozy moment. That is, until Tango bent to pick up a fallen chunk of carrot, and cried out as the ache in his back decided to very painfully complain about the movement.

Jimmy was by his side in a second, his gold eyes frantically scanning Tango like Tango had managed to get stabbed in the back while Jimmy was focused on the soup. “Are you okay?” He asked, finally meeting Tango’s eyes. “What happened?”

This was really not how Tango wanted to bring this up, but even in his own pained state, he could see the jerky way Jimmy moved like he was hurting just as bad. Tango knew he was, and that made all of it worse.

“I’m— yeah, I’m okay, I just—“ Tango hissed as he tried to straighten back up, “my back just hurts.” He looked back up at Jimmy, and yep, that was what he was trying to avoid, because the moment he said that something guilty flashed in Jimmy’s eyes.

Those eyes immediately flicked away from Tango as Jimmy backed up a bit, his mouth opening and then closing like he was trying to figure out something to say. Tango could relate, as he was also desperately trying to figure out words that would make this better, would help them figure out how to be okay.

Jimmy figured out what to say first. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his voice small. Tango tried to protest, but Jimmy cut him off. “That’s— that’s probably on me, I didn’t realize— I should’ve known you could feel it, too.” The back pain was momentarily forgotten, Tango standing up a bit straighter, waiting for Jimmy to continue.

He didn’t, and gosh, Tango really did not want to pry or make him feel worse, but he needed to know what was wrong. “Feel what?” He asked gently, reaching out to take Jimmy’s hand with his. “I’m not upset with you, man, really, I just wanna make sure you’re alright. And not just because I feel what you feel! Genuinely dude, I want you to be okay.” Jimmy’s eyes met his again, and something shifted there, like a door opening, or a dam breaking.

“I— I think I need to show you something.” Jimmy finally said, gold eyes glittering with tears, and the pain in Tango’s chest had nothing to do with the hurt in his back. “Is that okay?”

“Of course, Jim!” Tango responded immediately, squeezing Jimmy’s hand for emphasis. “But, like, only if you’re comfortable with it. I really just want to make sure you’re alright.” Jimmy nodded, and Tango felt something loosen in his chest.

Jimmy let go of his hand, and moved to shrug off his jacket. Tango avoided making a joke about undressing in front of your soulmate, because that would definitely not fit the mood and would probably just make Jimmy annoyed, and Tango did not want that when Jimmy was finally opening up.

All thoughts of joking were forgotten, though, as Jimmy’s jacket fell to the floor and his back was revealed.

At his back were a pair of small wings, as golden and bright as Jimmy’s eyes, bound to his back with a thick cable. They were beautiful, feathered and delicate looking, but Tango couldn’t help but cringe. That was obviously where the pain was coming from; he could feel the heaviness of the bounding causing his own back to ache in more than sympathy.

“I know,” Jimmy said, voice small and as pained as his wings obviously were, “they’re ugly, aren’t they? I— I keep them bound cuz they’re really just a target, in the games, and I’ve gotten used to the pain and all but I guess I didn’t, well, I didn’t think you could feel it too.”

Tango’s chest hurt again, and he ached to reach out to Jimmy, to hold his hand or gently remove the binding from his wings, but he worried that would just make Jimmy recoil. “No!” He answered earnestly, flinching as Jimmy turned to look at him in distress, “no, no I mean— they’re not ugly.” Gosh, he was just saying all the wrong things today. “I— I think they’re beautiful.”

Maybe that was a right thing, because the distress and Jimmy’s eyes softened to something flustered. “You— you think so?” He asked, avoiding Tango’s eyes.

“Yeah, yeah of course man! They’re— they’re really beautiful, actually.” Tango fumbled, his own cheeks flushing. “I mean, they’d look more beautiful if they weren’t, like, tied up.” At Jimmy’s flat look, he kept talking, cheeks burning now. “I’m not just sayin’ that because it’s hurting us with them tied up, though that is, like, sorta a concern. You’ve had them like this the whole game?”

Jimmy’s shame was different than his embarrassment, something defeated that left Tango feeling hollow instead of flustered. Maybe that was another wrong thing, and Tango was apparently better at that than at fixing things.

Jimmy spoke up again, though, and some of the tension fled from Tango’s shoulders. “Could you help me take it off? I— I don’t want to do it, now that I know it’s hurting you.”

That was a start, at least. Tango hated that the only way Jimmy would take care of himself was if it was affecting someone else, but that was something for another night. For now, he needed to remove a cable from these wings and save both of their backs. “Of course, man. I got it.”

He kept his touch gentle, unbuckling the buckles that kept the straps in place, removing the cables and trying not to cringe at the indented and broken feathers. He focused on the softness of the feathers, and the way Jimmy melted into the touch. He could feel the relief in his own back, and it was absolutely wonderful.

“Thank you.” Jimmy whispered, his voice thick, wings trembling slightly under Tango’s hands.

Tango smiled, a little, the relief in his back reaching his chest. “Of course, Jim. Anytime.” His hands hadn’t left Jimmy’s wings. He was still marveling at their soft texture, and at the way Jimmy seemed to relax. “You know, they’d probably feel even better if, like, they were straightened and stuff.”

“You’d do that for me?” Jimmy asked as his voice broke slightly, breaking Tango’s heart a bit. He sounded as fragile as the feathers under Tango’s hands, so different from the brashness and bravery Tango admired so much in his soulmate. There was more to admire, he realized, about the vulnerability Jimmy showed, something stronger than Tango had ever seen from him.

“Of course.” He answered again, dropping his hands from Jimmy’s wings so he could face him and take his hands instead. “Thank you for letting me.”

The smell of burning bread distracted the both of them, breaking the moment. Tango let out a curse, and, with a promise to groom Jimmy’s wings after they ate, went to attend to the bread while Jimmy frantically tried to make sure the stew hadn’t messed up either.

Later, though, when they were full and in bed, Jimmy spoke up. “If you want, you can— you can preen my wings, now.” He was quiet again, like he was suggesting something awful, and Tango wished he could take whatever it was that made Jimmy feel that awfulness away.

He couldn’t, but he could at least fix his wings. “I’d love to!” He replied, sitting up behind Jimmy. Jimmy unfolded his wings, and Tango couldn’t help but marvel in the beauty of them once more. He reached out to touch them with a reverence, gently removing any broken ones and rearranging the ones that had been bent out of place.

Jimmy melted into the touch, and Tango ached seeing him so relaxed, so at peace for really the first time since they had known each other. It wasn’t perfect, Tango would accidentally pull at a feather that wasn’t broken and make them both flinch, but it was still wonderful.

Even after all the broken feathers were removed, after all the remaining ones were made to lie straight, Tango didn’t stop stroking Jimmy’s feathers. He relished the moment, took in the safety and comfort they had in one another, letting himself appreciate the relationship they had built here.

Jimmy was asleep by the time Tango finally removed his hands, slumping against Tango before he readjusted Jimmy to be laying on the pillows. His cheeks were wet from tears, and Tango’s own eyes burned, but tonight wasn’t time to get into that. Tonight was not for thinking about what might have caused Jimmy to bind his wings, to cry when someone touched them gently.

No, tonight was for laying down beside Jimmy, for letting him wrap his wings around Tango like a blanket, for falling asleep with a pain-free back and a love-filled chest.

Thank you so much for reading! If you wanna leave a comment and kudos, this is crossposted on AO3! my AO3 is VoidBrat

#team rancher #team rancher fanfic #jimmy solidarity fanfic #tangotek fanfic #whump fic #febuwhump #febuwhump 2023 #double life smp #double life fanfic

[majickth]

Future-Tense Ghosts • [1] [2] [3]

--

The walls of the ranch greet him like an old friend. The stone walls aren’t the sturdiest, rocks only held together by mud and gravity, but its the imperfections that put an ease to Jimmy’s anxieties. It’s home like a battered kettle, like an unmade bed that’s still warm, like earthy dandelion tea.

“Tango!” Jimmy runs to the gates, practically leaping over them in his haste. “Tango, are you here?!”

Jimmy’s heart crawls it’s way up to his throat. Pinpricks of worry bite at his spine, growing sharper as he nears the door of the cabin. He can hear Etho and Joel calling out behind him, but they are muffled by the deafening silence of an empty ranch.

He’s not here. He’s not here. He’s not—

“Rancher buddy?”

It’s like being plucked from an ice patch and sat in front of a hearth. Ultimately jarring, but Jimmy clings to the warmth, dizzy.

“Tango, it’s me!” Jimmy’s head whips around. “Where are you?”

“Here, here! I’m over here!”

It takes a while, but Jimmy sees it — a pair of red eyes, wide and glowing in the darkness, peeking out of a haystack in the empty stables. They flash like lit redstone, cat-like pupils dilating, and before Jimmy can blink, straw is sent scattering across the barn.

Tango is a blur of red and yellow. He rolls out, hay caught in his fiery hair, before landing on all fours like some feral raccoon. Acts like one too, because soon he’s launching himself at Jimmy, dragging him into a tight hug that smells of fire and soot and dust -- and hay. Definitely hay. He’d been hiding in the stables for far too long. Jimmy doesn’t care. He just closes his eyes and sinks into the hug.

“You’re not going to believe the night I’ve had.” Jimmy’s voice is muffled in Tango’s shoulder, and it shakes with reverberations as his partner’s laugh

“You kidding? I could feel the night you had.” Tango lingers in the embrace, tail curled until Jimmy finally pulls away. “What happened? One moment I’m just strolling along, the next it feels like there’s a knife in my gut!”

“You see—“

“Jimmy is what happened,” Joel pipes up from behind.

Oh. Right. Them.

Maybe Joel didn’t notice the private moment or, more likely, he just didn’t care, because he’s sauntering up to the ranchers with his usual smug grin. But there’s a pause; briefly, but its there, eyes flickering from one rancher to the next, and something almost seems to shift in his expression.

“We got ambushed on the way here.” Joel punched Jimmy in the shoulder, causing both ranchers to yelp and rub their arms. “Luckily this sod managed to beat it off before any real damage could happen.”

“I, uh, huh?”

“He did? But I’m pretty sure—“ Etho grunts as Joel smacks him the shoulder. There’s a stare-off between the two, a silent conversation exchanged, before something finally clicks into place. “… Oh! I mean, yeah. Jimmy totally fought it back on his own. With an axe and everything.“

Jimmy blinks. “I did?”

“Oh, yeah.” Etho nods sagely. “Remember? We got spooked. Joel ended up crying.”

“Hold on,” Joel frowns. “That’s a bit—“

“Just absolutely wailing like a baby.”

“Etho!”

“Too much?”

“But I…” Jimmy stops at Joel’s pointed stare. Ah, well. Mouths and gift-horses and all that. “…Yes! I did fight it off! That’s, uh, what they call me. The Enderslayer.”

“It’s got a nice ring to it.” Tango cracks a smile. “But I still prefer to call you my rancher.”

“And I prefer to have candle lit dinners for my double dates. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like we’ve got time for that.” Joel crosses his arms. “I do believe you owe us a little…?”

Oh. Right. Alright, so Jimmy regrets the promise a little bit.

“A deal?” Tango raises an eyebrow.

“So I may have promised them some sugarcane if they helped me get home.” Jimmy offers a sheepish smile. “And by some I mean, um…well, all of it, really.”

“What.“

“It was important!”

“All of it?” Tango runs a hand down his face, grimacing at the thought. “…Alright. Wait here. I’ll see what we have.”

“Ah-thank you.” Joel grins as Tango turns to head into the house, his smirk widening as his eyes meet Jimmy’s. “You know, I should charge you extra. ‘Enderslayer’?.”

“It sounded cooler in my head. And I’m already giving you all my sugarcane, what more do you want?”

“Sand, gunpowder, the heads of all my enemies.” Joel shrugs. “But I doubt you can give me any of that, so sugarcane will do for now.”

“That’s—“ Jimmy’s eyes narrow. Paper, sand, gunpowder. “You’re planning something. An explosive something.”

“Me? I would never.” Joel’s faux appallment doesn’t last long. His smile is too big for it. “I mean, obviously I would, but it’s not for you, rest assured.”

Etho sidles up to Joel, easily leaning on his shorter partner’s head. “We need traps. Big ones. At some point, everyone’s gonna wanna kill everyone, and we’ll be ready.”

“I think we’re already past that point. I mean, not us, I hope, but…” Jimmy pauses, his brow furrowing. “Hey. Shift from topic, sorry, but why did you cover for me? I know we’ve got a red alliance, but you’re…Joel.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

“No no no! I mean, usually you jump at every opportunity to make fun of me. So why?”

“Dunno. Too easy, I suppose. Maybe I just want something from you in the future.” Joel shrugs, and for once his smile sobers ever so slightly. “Regardless, your soulmate obviously thinks the world of you, ‘Enderslayer’ or not. Try not to let him think otherwise?”

Jimmy glanced back over his shoulder at the house, his heart fluttering as he catches a flash of yellow in the window. Tango pokes his head out the door, pointed teeth peeking out of a wide grin. His red eyes gleam brightly in the night, sparking like the dust he’s so fond of, and for a moment Jimmy feels both their hearts beat just a little bit faster.

“Don’t worry,” Jimmy says quietly. “I don’t plan to.”

“I’ve got the stuff!” Tango holds up a small, carefully wrapped package in his hands as he approaches the group. “It’s not much, but…”

“But it’s now mine. Yoink.” Joel is quick to pluck the sugarcane, any hint of previous tenderness gone. “Thank you very much. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be off plotting…things. Maybe you can stop by in the morning when we’re all set up. Come on Etho!” With a whoop of laughter, the two are gone, propelling themselves over the gate and into the the forest beyond. Their glee is slightly concerning, given their apparent plan or lack of, but Jimmy shrugs it off. He’s got other thing to worry about.

“You didn’t actually give them all our sugarcane, did you?” Jimmy glances back at Tango. His partner gives a derisive snort.

“Not even half.” Tango laughs and slaps Jimmy on the back, his hand lingering in his partner’s shoulder. “Let’s get you inside. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do Enderslayer.”

#hark! part 3 be upon ye #so this is the last of what i originally wrote #but hey i might have a hankering to write more #especially with all that crossover stuff going on mmm yes feed me the content #maybe just gonna write more in general #trafficshipping #trafficblr #double life #double life fanfic #double life fic #team rancher fic #team rancher fanfic #rancher duo #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #tangotek #mcyt #mcytblr #mcyt fanfic #mcyt fic #majickthwrites #future-tense ghosts au #ground hog day au

[thedialup]

as the miner loves the canary

words: 2179

content warnings: mentioned death

summary: jimmy has a problem- he needs help preening his wings. luckily, his soulmate is more than happy to help him out.

please reblog if you're going to like!

#jimmy solidarity #tangotek #team rancher #rancherduo #solidaritek #dlsmp #double life smp #trafficshipping #dlsmp fanfic #team rancher fanfic

[hybbart]

Day 1904: The spread of sculk is too much to just clean. After salvaging what they could, the ranch is taken down...

Bonus short story below.

Jimmy watched as the last of the house blazed in the twilight. Around the edges of the flames Pearl and Sausage marched, searching for anything flammable that might catch. It was the beginning of winter, and the constant rains had kept everything soaked, but they couldn’t risk it in the middle of the forest. Lizzie had stayed closer as well, securing the last of their belongings to take away in the morning. It was only a few metres down the driveway, but the ranchers couldn’t even get that far.

Tango let out a low growl. His grip on Jimmy’s sleeve tightened, pulling the thick fabric further over his eyes. Puffing up his feathers, Jimmy pulled his rancher closer into his side. Tango only stayed because of Jimmy, and because he couldn’t bring himself to leave the ranch behind. It was what he’d said yesterday, before the first burning. But he couldn’t watch. He could barely help them clear it out before the sledgehammers came in. Sparks flickered through his hair in lieu of tears in his eyes as he kept his face buried.

Jimmy, though… He was entranced. Every crack in the beams that cause a burst of sparks or shift in the wind that billowed the smoke in a new direction. The smoke made his eyes water, but none fell. Maybe he’d finally grown numb. Maybe it looked too different. There was a pile of flaming rubble where his home once was, his first home, but his chest only felt hollow. All that was left with a twitch in his wing, the desire to run and keep far away.

Pity in her eyes, Lizzie approached them from the trailer. Reins were pushed into Jimmy’s hand against his protest. “Take a horse and head back to my house before it gets dark.” She said.

“But-”

“No arguing.” Despite the firmness of her words her voice was low and sad. “You need to sleep in a real bed, Sausage is going to stay here tonight. The last of your things will be fine overnight with us.”

Even after years, Jimmy was never able to argue with Lizzie when she said something reasonable, and he’d given up trying. Jimmy glanced to Tango, who was still hiding from the world in Jimmy’s sleeve. A small tug on his hem was all he got in response. “We’ll be back in the morning with more water.” He assured. They rounded up Bullseye and began the long, quiet ride to Lizzie’s. 

By the time they arrived it was dark, the home illuminated from within the kitchen. Though half the house was cloaked in tarps to save unfinished work from the rain, they’d moved into the completed half already. A bit of smart planning on Scar and Joel’s part.

One of the kids must have spotted their lantern, as the door opened before the ranchers could get down from their horse. Tom came rushing up with Revy on his tail. He took Bullseye's reins from them and led him to the cow pen. It was more cramped than it should be, since the rain had flooded the rancher’s outer pastures. Revy whined and licked at Tango’s hand until he gave the dog a weak pat.

Joel shouted something after him before guiding the men inside. “We just started eating if you want to sit down.” He explained as he took Jimmy’s coat. One glance at Tango was enough to answer.

“I’ll grab some in a bit.” Jimmy tried to smile gratefully, but it came out as a grimace. Joel let them be with a nod, hand held out to the hall down which Sausage’s room awaited.

It was colourful, though the furniture was rudimentary, with a mattress stolen from Scar’s hospital. The bed so much smaller than they’d gotten used to, but Jimmy doubted it would matter for tonight. Norman and Flick waited on the windowsill, and Joel had already set up Jimmy’s breathing machine. It took some coaxing to get Tango to change out of his coveralls - which went into a plastic bag to be washed separate - and take off his arm. Even more coaxing was needed to get him to let go long enough for Jimmy to also change. When Jimmy turned back around the blazeborn had Revy wrapped up in his lap instead. The dog’s tail beat against the bed, happy to be held, but whining, nonetheless.

“Do you think you can eat?” Jimmy asked quietly. Tango didn’t respond. He grabbed only one bowl from the kitchen, unsure he could eat much either without it coming back up. Smoke still clung to their skin and hair, dragging them back to the ranch every time it filled their nostrils, but it was much too dark to run a hot bath. Still, Jimmy knew he had to eat something, even if it was in silence.

Tango migrated behind Jimmy at the end of the bed, tail wrapping around the avian’s waist. Its tuft flicking with agitation. Jimmy could feel the heat rolling off his rancher. “It’s not fair.” He rasped.

Jimmy’s wings flattened. “It was an old wood house. It would have had a mold problem eventually unless we rebuilt completely.”

“But why did it have to be sculk!” He snapped, tail sparkling in Jimmy’s lap. Jimmy tried to smooth it down, but it had little effect. “Why’d it have to make it here?”

There wasn’t an answer, not one Jimmy could provide. Maybe Doc or Zed could explain. It was probably in the well and washing into the surrounding water supply now. Would it be washed away? They should have listened to Grian’s worries back when Jimmy’s feathers had been infected somewhere. Or, maybe, back when they’d first found that infested corpse, they should have done something more. It didn’t matter now that their home was already gone. When nowhere felt safe.

His wings itched while his rancher bristled. Tango couldn’t cry, but he was made to fume. “Why aren’t you angry?”

“There’s no one to be angry at.” Jimmy shrugged. 

“The stupid sculk! The idiots who let it loose! The world!” The bed creaked as Tango kicked off it to pace the small room. Revy whimpered, shifting his nose into Jimmy’s lap. “It’s been half a decade. It was supposed to get better. We live out in the middle of nowhere. And the end of the world still found us! We build our own home and make our own food and do everything we can, and it still comes and finds us!” The blazeborn was consumed in his spiral. Flames burst like firecrackers along his tail, startling Flick when it whipped past the poor cat. 

“Tango…” Jimmy sighed, giving the man a miserable look. When he continued to pace, threatening to scorch their hosts’ possessions, Jimmy finally put a hand up in front to stop him.

A hiss escaped Tango, narrowed eyes glaring at the hand which proceeded to latch onto his shirt and drag him off course. Tango tried to shake it off, but Jimmy kept his hold. “It’s not fair that there’s nothing to fight back against.” He lamented, voice cracking. “I just have to sit here and hope tomorrow it doesn’t get in your wings, or start growing into Revy’s brain, or infest another basement! That it doesn’t get everywhere and take everything. At least the stupid zombie I can punch in the face!” By the end his voice was so shrill and watery Jimmy could barely understand it.

“Me and Revenge are okay. We’re right here.” Jimmy assured, pulling Tango back down beside him. 

It made something finally break. Tango curled into himself across Jimmy’s lap, heaving dryly. Talons raked gently through the blazeborn’s hair. Between sobs Tango mumbled incomprehensibly while Jimmy cooed to keep himself from crying as well. There were too many things roiling just beneath his impulse control. If he let one out, the rest would follow, he was sure. So, he focused on Tango. His rancher needed him.

“I don’t think we’d win if it was someone you had to fight, to be honest.” He whispered half-jokingly as the sobs died down.

Tango stilled, then slumped further into Jimmy’s chest. “I could at least try, instead of this.”

Jimmy hummed. Even if they could, Jimmy wasn’t so sure he would in the moment, and he knew Tango wasn’t all that dissimilar. Unlike Joel or the downtowners, their talent was for running and hiding. That wasn’t the point though, Jimmy knew, so he didn’t argue. “What do we do in the spring?” He asked instead.

“… I dunno.” Tango mulled, head tilted out to look at his thoughts. “It’s not safe to rebuild there.”

“Scar has most of the grain safe, and Lizzie has our animals. We could find another plot, there’s plenty around.” Though, most of them had been stripped of their valuable supplies and building materials over the years or rotted away from lack of care. But the land was still good, and they and Pearl didn’t need much room. 

Would Pearl stay with them? They’d lived with her much longer than without her – if the time before her arrival weren’t so chaotic, he might not recall so well what it was like without her – but she always seemed to keep her distance. A guest, even after she was given her own room. Having someone there to take care of things even when they couldn’t let them grow the ranch to almost thirty cattle, but without her...

That Lizzie’s family would have their own ranch soon was the only thing that calmed the nervous itch in his wings recently.

“We’d have to move closer.” Tango’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“Huh?”

He was no longer curled up, though he hadn’t bothered to remove himself from Jimmy. There was that look in his eyes, where his brain was moving far too fast for Jimmy to keep up. At least it had occupied him with something other than the sculk and fire. “We can’t rebuild around the ranch, we won’t know how bad the infection around it is until next winter, and the water probably isn’t safe. If we rebuilt we’d have to move further west down the mountains towards the city, OR-” Tango raised his hand before Jimmy could protest. “We move closer to the hospital, somewhere around here, or maybe further into the interior on the other side.” 

Jimmy clamped up. They’d all had more than a few conversations about this, between them and the hospital, other settlements, and over the radio. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Keep spread out. Far enough that, if something happens, everyone else is safe, but close enough to reach neighbours relatively quick. Like a long chain snaking across the mountains. By now everyone had horses or bikes and access to the recap radio, and it helped them cover more resources. A farm needed land, anyways, especially to keep up with how many people there now were within the network. 

That thought seemed too much right now, though. He could feel the ash in his wings turning to lead. Losing the ranch didn’t just affect them. The cattle were saved but almost all their stores were gone, including two cows’ worth of beef that was to be sent out. It would take weeks, if not the whole season, to get things back in motion, in the months they were relied on most. Would people starve? Would the sculk spread from the ranch? It was a responsibility that seemed natural and seamless just weeks ago, but now felt suffocating.

“I’m not sure-” Jimmy finally replied. “I’m not sure I can rebuild the ranch right now.” Flashes of the burning rubble filled his mind, along with that numbness he’d felt. There was at least three months before they could begin, plenty of time to get over it. But right now… “I don’t even know if I want to.”

He expected perhaps a gasp or shouting from Tango. ‘We’re the ranchers!’ Maybe. But the blazeborn, to Jimmy’s surprise, nodded. Laughed, even. “We’ve been running one for years, why’s it feel impossible now?”

It was probably just nerves. Anxiety. In a few weeks it would wear away. But for now, Jimmy leaned his head against the top of Tango’s and entertained other things. “We could move back to the hospital.”

“That’d drive you insane, and Revy would kill Grian.” Tango chuckled. 

So would you, Jimmy thought. He was sure if Tango had to see more sculk every day he would lose it. “What about visiting Gem and Impulse then?” He suggested instead. “I heard they’ve been doing a lot of forestry. It might be good to learn from them. Or we could finally go to the coast.”

“We never did make it that far, did we?” Tango recalled. “… Why not both? Go back up the mountain and race back down until we hit the coast. Maybe find some more people outside the recap’s range and bring them in.”

“If they’ve survived this long then I doubt they’d want to move now.” 

“They might. Or maybe we can help extend the radio range for them.”

Jimmy smiled. “Maybe we should go east, instead. Find a ranch in the prairies. Be real cowboys.”

“Never been out there, even before all this.” Tango relaxed back against Jimmy, patting his leg for Revenge to come lay across. “You could stretch your wings.”

“That sounds nice.” He admitted with a sigh.

The pair continued to chatter, naming everything and everywhere. Making plans they’d likely never use. Anything to take their mind off the ranch. Just for one night.

#solidaritygaming #tango tek #ldshadowlady #pearlescentmoon #mythicalsausage #rancher apocalypse au #team rancher #fanfic #fanart #bioppunk #spooky #character #scene #background #writing #art #sketch #colour #Hybbart

[gumzau]

I drew fanart of a fanfic by @deityoftherain !!

Go check them out !!! They have such well written fanfics

[Also this is quite rushed so the designs might look slightly wonky in the last page-]

Title :

isn't that jimmy's hat? (Ao3)

Summary :

Tango accidentally grabs Jimmy's hat when trying to grab the hat Shubble gave him and puts it on... oops?

Here’s the link to it :

#art #digital art #fanart #joel smallishbeans #smallishbeans #empires smp #bird grian #avian grian #grian fanart #grian #jimmy fanart #jimmy solidarity #canary jimmy #tango fanart #tangotek #tango tag #grian tag #jimmy tag #joel tag #fanfic fanart #ranchers my beloved #team ranchers #team rancher #rancher duo

[vivitheanimaxen]

Jimmy didn't really expect to have to get in between Joel and Tango the moment they laid eyes on each other, but-- well.

He wasn't surprised.

Jimmy had been chatting with Tango up at the surface, after they'd eaten and Jimmy had taken the plates back inside. Tango was absolutely fascinated by the wheelchair, but unwilling to try and haul himself up into it to really see how it worked. Jimmy had to admit he must look at least a little undignified as he wiggled up into the seat, but normally the only ones to see him were people he didn't care about looking silly in front of.

Not that he cared about looking silly in front of Tango. Nope.

Anyway. He'd slipped back down to the ground, pulling the chair close so Tango could inspect it. Tango had actually hoisted himself up onto the edge of the pool. Jimmy saw it as progress. A curious mer was one less likely to lash out.

Jimmy perked up his ear fins at the sound of Martyn's voice coming from the house, maybe Lizzie and Joel were here?

Yep, there was Joel's voice.

"Joel-- Joel wait--" Martyn caught the back of Joel's wheelchair, stopping it from tipping into the water-- a moment too late to stop Joel himself from slipping down out of it.

Tango had disappeared from the edge the moment Joel and Martyn had appeared from out of the house.

Jimmy had thought that Joel was going to tackle him-- after all, Joel was definitely one to pin Jimmy down as his way to say hello. But nope.

In a flash of bubbles and a twist of fins, Joel was on top of Tango. Neither seemed to be getting the upper hand, but if Joel was really trying to hurt Tango, there would have been blood in the water--

Jimmy spoke too soon.

"Hey-- hey hey hey hey!!" Jimmy whistled sharply, knocking into the writhing pair of mer, pushing Joel off of Tango and spreading his sails to block the line of sight, "Joel-- both of you-- calm down-!"

Joel let himself drift back, and Jimmy glanced back to see Tango push himself up off the tiles, his colors fired up dark. Great. Tango was the one bleeding, red lazily billowing from along his gills.

"I didn't--" Joel had his mouth open, surely he could taste the blood in the water, "Jimmy I didn't mean to hurt him--"

"Didn't mean to?" Tango chirped, pressing a hand to his torn gills, "You don't get to just say sorry after attacking me, jellyfish-for-brains."

"I said, both of you, calm down--" Jimmy twisted, keeping between them. It was getting to be way too often that Jimmy had to take charge like this. At least Joel was listening. "Joel, go tell Martyn to get Lizzie, I'll help Tango up so she can look at him."

Joel darted away, so Jimmy turned back to Tango, reaching out to grab him.

"No-- no." Tango bared his fangs, shifting back away from Jimmy's reach, "I'm not going anywhere near your humans."

"Tango, please. You're hurt, they can help." Jimmy pleaded, holding his hand out and letting himself sink lower in the water so he wasn't floating over Tango. He was doing his best to seem non-threatening. He needed Tango to trust him, to accept their help. "And I don't think Martyn is going to feel comfortable with putting you back in the ocean unless he's sure you're healed. That's what Lizzie is here for. She's a healer, and she knows how to help mer."

Tango just sat there, blood still seeping into the water from under his hand.

Jimmy hadn't gotten a good look at what'd happened, but it probably wasn't on purpose. Not with how quick Joel backed off. Jimmy knew that Joel's plating was rough in places, but normally his podmate could keep it from doing any damage when they were wrestling. But Tango had thought it was a proper attack.

Tango still didn't trust them.

Jimmy let out a mouthful of bubbles. Even if he promised that he wouldn't be hurt, Tango likely still wouldn't believe him, and even if Jimmy had been able to overpower Tango before-- that had onl been after the other mer had been stung by sedatives. Jimmy could probably get close enough to sting him again, if Martyn had more. It'd be easy to corner him with Joel's help. The pool wasn't that big, and with the way Tango pushed himself further from Jimmy, he knew it too.

"Look. I want you to be able to go home as much as you do. But the others won't let you if you can't survive out there on our own." Jimmy tried, "And if your gills heal wrong. . ."

Tango pinned his fins close and turned away.

Hopefully he'd allow them to help.

It took longer than Jimmy would've liked, for Tango to reach out and take Jimmy's hand, allowing him to pull Tango up to the surface o the pool where the others were waiting. Joel was back in his wheelchair, over by the door leading back into the house, with a medical kit in his lap. Lizzie and Martyn were waiting by the edge of the water, out of lunging range, but still close enough to watch what'd been happening.

"Tango, meet Lizzie." Jimmy said, gesturing over to her, before switching to English as he swam to the edge of the pool closest to them, leading Tango by the hand, "Lizzie, this is Tango."

#jimmy solidarity #tango tek #joel smallishbeans #team rancher #team rancher au #team rancher fanfic #viviwrites #emberfish au #dont mind me #have some emberfish #as a treat #maybe one day i'll come back and make this a proper longfic. #rewriting it and everything. #i'd wanna finish Dragonfrost or voiceless or one of my other longfics first though. #hermitfic

[pixiemage]

A "There's Not a Word Yet" chapter update going live in the next 24 hours?!

It's more likely than you think 😏

#NO JOKE I JUST WROTE THE LAST SENTENCE #EDITING TIME BABYYYY #TNaWY AU #Team Rancher fanfic

[tinks-forbidden-elixirs]

Flocks & Pyres - An Excerpt ("Early Morning")

(...) A familiar fuzziness tingled at the back of his mind and Tango smiled to himself, his eyes trailing past the debris of his craft project over to the ladder leading downstairs. Jimmy was waking up. It was a sensation he had come to recognize, one he usually had the pleasure of experiencing while lying by Jimmy’s side in the early hours of the morning, watching his soulmate’s nose twitch and his feathers fluff up as he slowly worked his way toward wakefulness. It was always fuzzy, to start with. Fuzzy and buzzing, the first sleepy feelings of awareness dancing across the bond…then a gentle comfort as the soulbond settled more firmly into place now that they were both awake. Usually, Jimmy would open his eyes drowsily and catch Tango staring, and a flustered and affectionate kind of warmth would flood his chest…but today was a little different.

Today, Tango had gotten out of bed early, which meant he got to feel the momentary confusion that tugged at him whenever Jimmy woke up without him there. He smiled wryly to himself and got to his feet, slowly picking up scraps of leather and wool while he waited for Jimmy to come looking for him.

Because he would. He always did.

Tango had just finished tossing his leftover supplies into an ash-coated chest when he heard the ladder creak behind him, and he glanced back over his shoulder to see Jimmy’s sleep-mussed hair pop up over the edge of the half-burned flooring.

“...Tango?” Jimmy murmured, squinting at him sleepily. “It’s early. What’re you doin’ up already…?”

Tango slipped away from the chest to crouch by the ladder, offering his hand to help Jimmy climb up out of the hole in the floor. He stifled a laugh at the way Jimmy yawned and swayed on the spot once he was upright, immediately reeling him in to let Jimmy lean on him for support.

“You good there, sleeping beauty?” he teased softly. His grin widened at the way Jimmy immediately nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck.

“...tired,” he mumbled. His wings drooped behind him, his primary feathers brushing the floor and picking up bits of ash as they did so. “Didn’t answer m’ question. Why’re you up?”

Tango ran a hand through Jimmy’s hair with a weary sort of sigh, his posture softening at the sleepy, warbled chirp that met his ears.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he admitted sheepishly. “I, uh…I had a bit of a nightmare. It woke me up.” (...)

= + = + = + =

(Am I counting this as proof that I'm working on the next chapter of From the Ashes? Maybe. This is from closer to the start and I'm further in than this point, but this is just too damn cute and I wanted to share. And also - you know. Prove I'm writing things. Because I am. Definitely. I swear.)

#traffic shipping #tink's tales #flocks & pyres #F&P AU #trafficshipping #team rancher fanfic #team rancher #work in progress #I'M MAKING PROGRESS it's just SLOW #solidaritek

[slooopes]

Inspired by the fic Dirges in the Dark by @twodiamondhoes

#tango fanart #tangotek #mcyt fanart #tango tek fanart #traffic smp #team rancher #rancher duo #fanfic #jimmy solidarity fanart #solidarity fanart #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #my art #proportions are hard #i love them

[tangosyourtek]

Hey Rancher Fans

Just posted my first ever fic to ao3!

Title: The Sun in my Hands

Words: 1,578

Summary: Rancher deal with the awkward sleeping arrangement of only having one bed, but it seems there's a lot more on Jimmy's mind than sharing a bed together. Tango gets Jimmy to open up about things that have been plaguing his mind for a while and reassures his rancher they’re okay.

Just a little something to satisfy the ranchers enjoyers while I cook up a big AU.

#tangotek #solidaritygaming #team rancher #rancher duo #team ranchers #hermitcraft #jimmy solidarity #ranchers duo #double life ranchers #double life #life series #fanfic #solidaritek