Hey! You asked for Double Life one-shot requests? Could you do Jimmy growing his canary wings and Tango being a concerned soulmate? I have no clue how tumbler works so sorry if the formatting of this is a little awkward. :)
Fledging and being... Rising and falling...
It's a game Jimmy plays time and time within this universe. It's cruel and unforgiving, his body being born and ending with every new server he steps into. The canary without a home. Oh how the songbird sings.
The Watchers have been pulling him along for years now. He's an omen to them, a certain sign of death and misery and endings and...
And it wasn't his fault this time.
This world: it’s a story of Life again (what's this their third time now?) and They've changed the rules. No more boogeymen, sure, but no more independence either.
The rules are simple: share your pain. Your soul is not your own but one with another, and what's theirs is yours. Share your breaths, share your hunger, share your winnings.
Share your mistakes.
Grian, the Watcher’ss reluctant voice, explains the rules, and all Jimmy can feel is remorse for the poor being that's been bound to him. He feels remorse for the end he will certainly bring.
The Watcher's omen of death. What a mistake to be tied to another....
But it wasn't his fault this time. He's careful, steady, working to gather his things and then the world is turning. Up is down and his ears are ringing and the world is white and it burns it burns it burns...
And there he is. Spawn again, the heart on his wrist stained yellow.
Tangotek stands before him, scared and panting and eyes wide and a thread tying them together.
Tango. The hermit. Tied to him.
And he opens his mouth, something on his tongue, maybe an apology or an explanation, but there's no time for it.
The Watchers in Jimmy's ear cackle at the familiar burning on his back. Tango's eyes go wide and Jimmy has a moment to consider if Tango's ever seen a fledging before. Has he witnessed this change in form? Does he know how someone gets their wings?
Maybe he should comfort him, or explain, or offer support, but his back is burning. Skin is tearing. Everything is light and fire and sharpness and endings.
The Watchers laugh in glee as their eternal canary sings.
It's over as soon as it begins, and Jimmy crumples forward, heavy with the weight of a transformation. In his peripherals he can see golden feathers draped over his shoulders, and bile rises in his throat at the sight of the gorgeous things.
The canary's fledging is but a symbol for his first death, afterall.
And maybe he would have laid there for hours, days even, if he'd had the chance. Maybe, in a different world he would have pressed his head to the soil and cursed the Watchers for his torment and suffered in agonizing silence until someone joined him at Death's table.
But this world was different...
Share your pain...
A hand presses to Jimmy's shoulder and he gasps, scrambling upwards and away from whatever’s approached him.
Oh. That's right. Tango.
He relaxes, and Tango does as well. He doesn't look calm per se (though who could after witnessing a fledging with virgin eyes?) but he's gathered himself enough to look at Jimmy with sympathy.
"Are you okay...?"
And Jimmy collapses. The weight of his wings, the world, the Watcher's eyes sends him crumpling into Tango's arms, face contorted with the phantom pain of his transformation. He doesn't bother worrying that Tango's a stranger who hardly knows him.
Because in all his years of torment, no one's ever been there to ask if he's okay.
And while Tango may not know what that question means, he accepts it, and holds Jimmy until he has the strength to stand.
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"I've misplaced my horn." "No it's ok!"
"No one's going to set fire to this, we're all fine." "No no, that's definitely not happening."
"You haven't been angry since, right?" "No there's no rage just beautiful memories of happiness here."
"The way I look at it, that is my work, this is my homestead. This is where I rest my head." "I like that a lot."
"I thought you were going to be like "I'm out of here"." "No no I can't pass up Rancher love!"
JIMMY NOT GETTING MAD AT TANGO WHEN HE FINDS OUT TANGO IS STAYING AT GOBLAND.
JIMMY TRYING TO COME UP W A COMPROMISE SO THAT TANGO CAN STILL STAY IN TUMBLE TOWN BUT TANGO SHUTTING THAT DOWN BY SAYING HE KEEPS HIS WORK AND HOME SEPARATE.
JIMMY CALLING TANGO "RANCHER" AS HE LEAVES.
JIMMY TELLING TANGO TO MAKE HIMSELF AT HOME AND TANGO IS SAYING THIS ALREADY IS HOME.
THEM.
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SORRY i know i already wrote about it in tags but it's still on my mind. i keep thinking about how tango presumably has people on his channel who are like--casual fans, maybe. maybe they only watch hermitcraft. maybe they aren't very well-versed in the greater mcyt sphere. maybe they havent seen double life because they either weren't interested or were too busy. maybe they don't know anything about empires or who is on it.
and then this casual fan who has potentially never watched double life clicks on tango's new hermitcraft episode and sees this
like the idea of someone maybe not really knowing who jimmy is and just being introduced to him with hearts all over the screen will not leave me alone i find the concept hysterical
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