Chapter Text
Scott wakes with a start due to the loud talking happening down the hall. Both sides of the bed are empty next to him where his husband and spouse usually lie, which means the voices could only belong to two people. Two people who had woken him from his much-needed beauty sleep.
With a moan, Scott dragged himself up, hanging his feet off the side of the bed and rubbing his eyes in order to adjust them to the morning light invading the room with its unwelcome brightness. He would have at least TRIED to fall back asleep, but Tango and Jimmy were arguing over something very loudly, and if he didn’t stop them, they would wake up the entire apartment complex.
He could hear vague shouting, but somehow his dreary mind couldn’t make out many words other than ‘crocodile,’ ‘impossible,’ ‘fire,’ ‘rock,’ and ‘puppy.’
With a sigh, he finally stood up, blinked a couple of times just for good measure, and then took one step forward before face-planting directly onto the floor, narrowly missing any furniture on his way down. He fell with a crash, which got the attention of both Tango and Jimmy, who both came running at the exact same time, shoving through the doorway.
Jimmy was wearing a literal bird onesie, bright yellow with little wings under the arms that you could flap (he loved to show that part off to anyone who would be willing to see). Tango wore fire-themed pyjamas with wisps of flames coming up the sleeves and pant legs. Makes Scott feel a little underdressed in just a plain t-shirt and random mismatched pyjama pants.
Jimmy was the first one to spot the fallen man, who groaned in pain and clutched his head.
“Oh my Void! Scott! Are you okay?! What happened!? How did you end up on the floor?” Panicking, the blond rushes over. And frantically checks Scott’s bleeding head to check out how bad the wound is and what it might need. He’s rather good at first aid considering the number of injuries he’s had to tend to as an elementary school gym teacher.
Stifling a laugh, Tango pointed at the bedsheet, which was wrapped around the cyan-haired man’s foot. “I think he might have… Erm… Tripped.” He says, a giggle slipping out. “You okay, Flower?”
“Right as rain.” Scott replies, though with the way he winces at Jimmy’s feather-light touches near the bleeding area, it’s clear he isn’t. There's a bump already beginning to form on the right side of his forehead, though it’s not too big. Nothing a Band-Aid can’t fix up.
“That doesn’t look too bad… Hey, Jim?”
“Yes, please.” The blonde replies without looking up.
“On it.” Tango rushes out of the room, leaving Jimmy alone with Scott.
“Okay, first things first, while Tango is getting the first aid kit, I just have to check and make sure you don’t have a concussion.”
“Jim–”
“Don’t you ‘Jimmy’ me, mister. You know as well as I do anyone can get a concussion; you are not excluded just because you aren’t a kid anymore.” Jimmy scolds, no real heat behind it. “Besides, Poppy, you know I care about you, and I don’t want that beautiful face of yours broken or hurt.”
A light blush dusts Scott’s cheeks before he gives in, allowing Jimmy to perform the standard concussion protocol. It only takes about two minutes before Scott is given his diagnosis, “Well, you seem to be mostly okay, although you do seem to react a bit negatively to loud noises and have a bit of a headache. All of which is completely normal after such a large fall. I’m sure it will go away in a bit, definitely by the end of the day. Just try and get some rest this morning, for me.”
“Alright, golden bird, I’ll take it easy just for you.”
Jimmy smiles brightly before pausing. “Hey, where is T–”
Tango rushes into the room, “Oh my Void, I am so, so sorry I couldn’t find it anywhere, but then I remembered that I cut my finger yesterday, and I must have moved it to the laundry room afterwards because I had to do the laundry and–” Tango rambles, not noticing Scott flinch at the loud volume.
“Hey, hey, it's alright! Don’t worry, Tango! But try and keep the volume down a bit? Scott’s got a bit of a headache.” Jimmy whispers, covering Scotty’s ears lightly.
“Oh, I am so sorry; here I have the med kit, but we did run out of gauze…”
“That’s fine, I don’t think this needs it anyway! Thank you for letting me know, though; I’ll drive out and get some on my way to the school.” Jimmy sighs, running his hand through his hair. It was a nervous habit he developed as a child to help himself calm down.
Pulling himself up to a sitting position, Scott inspected his knee before responding.
“You know, I still can’t believe you landed a job at that school.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jimmy squawked.
“I think what he means is that it’s such a prestigious school! He means it in a good way; there were so many other candidates, and our favourite birdie came first!” Tango pipes in, causing Jimmy to flush red.
“Yeah, yeah, just pass me the Elsa Band-Aid,” grumbles Jimmy.
“Hey, wait a minute–” Scott tries to interject before being cut off.
“Nope! You're getting the Elsa one! It fits your personality perfectly .”
“What does that mean?!”
Tango deadpan stares at him, causing Scott to grumble. However, he doesn’t do anything to stop them except for glare harshly at Tango when they start singing ‘Let it Go’ under their breath.
“Tango, please, for the love of Void, stop singing that damn song! How do you even remember all the lyrics so well?!” Jimmy begs, giving an approving nod at the bandaid and standing up.
“I memorized them just to torture Flower.” They reply smirking, helping up Scott, who was still sitting on the ground.
“Pesky blaze!” the blue-haired man says, sticking his tongue out at the other.
“Overgrown weed!”
“Fire starter!”
“That was one time!” Tango groans.
“We had to evacuate the building.”
“How was I supposed to know metal doesn’t go into the microwave?”
“There is literally a warning label right on the front!”
The two glare intensely at each other before bursting out into a fit of giggles.
Jimmy fondly rolls his eyes at the two of them. “Come on, you two, I'm hungry, and I think it’s time I work on making those pancakes I started before someone decided to start an argument while attempting to fix the microwave!” The three make their way to the kitchen, still talking all the while.
Tango raises his hands defensively in front of him. “Hey man, it's not my fault you don’t see the beauty and power that is Fuecoco!”
“He’s literally just a fire-shooting baby alligator!” Jimmy argues.
“First of all, rude; second of all, he's a fire-shooting baby crocodile . That is so much cooler than a rock dog!” Tango fires back. The two of them make their way behind the counter while Scott sits on the stool in the front.
“Hey! Rockruff is so cute, I'll have you know! Besides–”
Scott interrupts before they can start up their argument again. “Wait, so you both woke me up because you were arguing about Pokémon at 8 in the morning?! Again?!” Scott yells exasperatedly. Jimmy starts working on the pancake mix in the background.
“It's not my fault! Besides, didn’t you say that your favourite was Snom?” Tango shoots back with a snicker.
“Hey now, opinions have changed since the first date all those years ago! For example, I used to think you were loud, annoying, and a real piece of work!”
…
“And what about now?”
“Maybe that was a bad example…”
They playfully smack Scott while Jimmy laughs, turning on the stove.
Tango huffs in faux annoyance, prompting Scott to lean forward and peck them on the lips. “Yeah, well, guess I'm stuck with you now, Ember.”
Tango flushes red before picking up the wrench and turning to get back to work on the busted microwave. “Well… At least now you agree with me on the fact that Fuecoco is the absolute best Pokémon of all time.”
“Hey, when did I say that?” Scott smirks.
Both Tango and Jimmy whirl around before speaking at the same time.
“You think the dog is better?!”
“You think Rockruff is better?!”
Scott laughs, “Well… to be fair, the second stage of your little alligator–”
“Crocodile,” Tango corrects automatically.
“Fine, the second stage of your crocodile line is really ugly–”
They gasp, about to interrupt before Scott cuts them off.
“And puppies are really cute… Plus it reminds me of the golden bird over here!” Scott finishes. Jimmy does a little victory dance while Tango pouts.
“However…” Scott begins, causing Jimmy to pause and Tango to perk up a bit.
“I also like Glaceon and Chimchar. Glaceon is so elegant and diamond-like. They are literally the best ice type. They are so elegant! You can’t not love them! For Chimchar, they are a fire monkey, literally the best combo. They are so goofy and lovable, and their final stage evolution is so cool-looking! Plus it just reminds me a lot of you, Tango.” Scott says, a soft smile on his face.
Jimmy is nodding in thought, turning over the idea in his head while Tango grumbles something about how “you’re not beating the Elsa allegations…” much to the amusement of the other two.
Jimmy suddenly stands a little taller, smiling brightly. “I've decided,” Tango turns to look at him. “All three are my favourites because they remind me of us!” Jimmy declares. “Yeah… you know what? That crocodile dude has nothing compared to a little fire monkey. He's perfect!” Tango agrees.
The three bask in the soft silence, a comfort enveloping them in a warm embrace as the three of them admire one of them under the soft glow of the morning sun.
The silence is suddenly broken by Tango, “Hey… Is it just me, or is the air starting to feel a bit… stuffy?”
“Oh shit, the pancakes!”
Jimmy panics, whirling around to see what once was pancake mix, now somehow in flames.
“How high did you set it?!” Scott yells while Tango rushes to grab the fire extinguisher.
“I set it to the maximum so it would cook quicker!” Jimmy yelps. Moving to the other side of the counter with Scott.
“That’s not how cooking works! Tango! Why didn’t you stop him! You know he can’t cook to save his life!”
“I was trying to fix the microwave! I wasn't paying attention!” Tango yells, rushing back over with the extinguisher held like a weapon. They fiddle with it for a couple of seconds before a jet of white foam rushes out. Holding it up and aiming it at the stovetop until they absolutely cover it and it stops smoking. They grab a spatula and poke out the flames until they are absolutely certain they are gone before sighing in relief.
There's a minute of awkward silence where the three of them are simply standing, gaping, and processing what just happened.
“Well… At least I can finally say your cooking almost killed me.” Scott says, as Jimmy grumbles.
“How about… I order some McDonald’s?” Tango proposes, holding up their phone with the delivery app open.
“Might I remind you it is 8 in the morning?” Scott chides.
“So…? They have really good pancakes.”
“He’s not wrong… Besides, clearly ours are not really all that edible anymore.” Jimmy chuckles, staring at the charred remains still dripping with foam.
“Great! I’ll start cleaning up, and Scott can use my phone to make the order.” Tango says happily.
“No, no, no! I started the fire, so I will pay for it!” Jimmy begs, deploying puppy dog eyes on Tango.
“Hey, Birdie, It’s all right. You paid for the food when I accidentally destroyed this damn thing trying to reheat some lunch,” Tango shoots a glare at the microwave. “It’s only fair I return the favour.”
“Can I at least help with the cleaning?”
Tango pretends to think about it for a moment before letting out an exaggerated sigh, “Alright… Besides, it’s not like you will let Mr. Concussed over here do any work either.” Tango says, making Scott roll his eyes.
“Damn right.” Jimmy huffs, shooting a sympathetic look at Scott, who simply shrugs. “Okay, now that that’s settled, I’ll get the cleaning supplies from the bathroom.” He says, scurrying off.
“Void, I love him.” Tango mumbles.
“Yeah, where would we be if we didn’t have our golden bird?” Scott chuckles.
“Well… It’s not just him. I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t met you either. I have so much love to give, and I'm so happy I get to share it with the two most amazing people in the world.”
“Yeah, same goes here. I love both of you so much. You are the exact amount of energy I need in my life, always inspiring me to do and try new things. Without you I would still be trapped in my shell. Jimmy has always been such a calming presence. He knows exactly what I need when I need it and how to help; without him I would be so lost and still so angry.” Scott says, voice filled with love.
Jimmy comes back into the room just as Scott finishes, “Why are you both staring at me like that…?”
“Just enjoying the view,” both reply at once. Jimmy flushes red and holds up the box of supplies he found. “Alright, quit you’re flirting…” he grumbles, placing down the box onto the counter. “You don’t have to help me clean, Tango. You’re already paying for breakfast–”
Tango cuts him off, “No, no, I will be having none of that! Scott?”
“Hm?”
“Order three pancakes–”
“They're called Hotcakes, love.”
“Oh, come on, they are the same thing!” Tango yells, throwing his hands in the air, “Fine. I'll have your hotcakes. Get three of those, one orange Fruitopia–”
“Oh no, you don't; it is way too early for a sugary drink like that. You can have orange juice. I’ll take one chocolate milk!” Jimmy says before pecking a pouting Tango on the cheek.
“Great! I’ll get myself some apple juice and some hash browns.”
“Wait, we want hash browns too!” Jimmy yells.
“Alright, six hash browns then.”
“SIX?!” Tango jumps in.
“Please, Ember… I’ll pay you back for them!”
Tango sighs, “No, it's fine. Place the order. I just won’t check my bank balance until I get my next check from the fire chief.”
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic! It's only…” Scott pauses, his mouth falling open before he quickly recomposes himself. “You know what? I don’t think the price matters! All that matters is that we love each other very much!”
Tango groans and dramatically covers his face in his hands. They aren’t actually upset; they would be willing to give anything for those two, and they know both men would do the same in return.
Scott places the order while the other two begin cleaning the mess, providing verbal support from his stool out of the way of the other two. At one point he begins to hand them supplies that he can reach, passing them over and receiving a kiss from whoever needed them each time.
It only takes about 20 minutes for the food to arrive, and by then everything, including Tango and Jimmy, has been cleaned up.
Scott thanks the delivery woman as she hands over the food, calling over Jimmy to help him carry the massive pile of stuff. He has no idea how that girl managed to hold all of their food at once without dropping anything.
The three of them sit on the couch, Tango setting aside fixing the microwave for now so he can eat with his husbands. The three of them enjoy their food while cuddling on the couch, careful not to let any syrup drip.