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Scott's ranch was better than Jimmy and Tango's.

It was something the two of them hated to admit. Their ranch was built with love and unity. Scott built his all on his own, no soulmate in sight. That spiteful fact allowed Jimmy to reclaim some morsel of dignity in the face of what was obviously a superior build.

It wasn't that Jimmy was mad that Scott had outdone him, but the memories that came with the build were almost too much to bear. When he looked across the chasm that separated them- a gaping ravine that seemed to not only embody their physical distance but their metaphorical distance, too- and saw those wooden walls, memories flooded through him all over again. A pair in unison, chopping down wood and lifting it up together. Scott's icy eyes yet warm face like sunshine as he doled out instructions. Fortification for their base. Wooden walls that soon burned down at the hands of boredom.

These walls were thin yet sturdy. He had laid them out himself, no help from any blue-haired, green-eyed boys with warm hands and teasing laughter. Tango was a lot different from Scott in that way. His eyes were like bubbling lava. There was no sunshine, there was the nether and a simmering rage underneath his skin. But there was earnest kindness, too. His smile was sharp and his laughter was jagged- completely different from the soft, loving yet mocking laughter that tipped from a large, sunny grin.

Both were beautiful in their own right.

Tango was like a wildfire. Efficient, destructive, and bouldering through everything in his path. He treated Jimmy like an equal with a different job- someone he could count on to be useful while he was the brains of the operation. In that way, he wasn't completely different from Scott who trusted Jimmy to some degree to be good on his own.

Scott was conniving like a fox. Unlike Tango, who was barely contained in his rage, Scott had patience and was sly in planning. Both were alike in their meticulous skill in carrying out their tasks. Tango was fast to revenge and made it clear to everyone that this was what he sought. Scott was better with negotiation, quiet in the way he whispered his plans to those he trusted and only those.

He thought through his alliances carefully and looked to Jimmy as someone to protect, someone to keep safe. Tango let Jimmy stand beside him as a capable partner. Scott stood before Jimmy, granting him a life in his protection. Jimmy was reckless and brash and didn't think before he acted and spoke.

Scott knew him well enough to know what his limits were and thus reigned him in and kept him organised so that he wasn't left to his own devices to cause trouble for himself and them both. After all, that was how Jimmy lost his first life. Scott let him go forward, grinning, rolling his eyes, and pointing out the pattern to the flow of lava as Tango watched on. Then he died. He lost his second life (and the other lives of those around him) to Grian after ignoring Scott's advice to shoot the minecart after Scott had trusted him to stay behind at the trap.

And after that, Scott tried to stop him from starting a war with Dogwarts. He tried to stop him from sharing with the world the location of their cows. He tried to protect him from the battlefield of the desert. And each day, they met up between their hobbit holes and spoke about their schedules before going off to do those tasks, and they kept Jimmy with a goal in mind so that he didn't go off course and cause trouble without Scott to protect him.

Tango let Jimmy run wild like a loose cannon and didn't reel him in, rather joining in on the fun of stealing Scar's horse and burning bridges with others. It was a while before Jimmy even realised that Tango had taken his first life again. It was strange how events like that came full circle. And again, Scott was there as his first life was cast away, giving iron to them and setting off on his own adventure, holding hands with a red-haired girl with flowers and leaves in her hair. She had given him a dandelion with cold fingers brushing against his, and it wasn't red with smirks and decisive words and warm hands plucking red petals from his grip.

It wasn't Scott. 

Jimmy wasn't mad at him then. He wasn't even upset- honest. He was just... disappointed. He had hoped to create an alliance with the two of them. Part of him wanted the familiarity of the routine Scott and him worked together to create. With it, they managed to make a life that could keep them both safe, for a time. They survived pretty far into Third Life, after all, and Scott had managed to win Last Life, in turn. Tango's routine was looser and more dynamic which was sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. Like when the Warden plan backfired on them.

Scott was smart and a survivor. He knew how to do these things and his way of life had helped him live. Maybe it could've been good for all three of them. Plus, they could've grouped up with Pearl and worked something out with her, as well! They could've been a four person alliance and then he wouldn't have needed to do all that unnecessary stuff, like be tortured by Pearl in ice baths or axe crit Cleo at the start of every session, like he'd heard Martyn say they were doing.

How thoughtless towards Martyn, right?

When Jimmy found out Scott and Cleo weren't soulmates, he was indignant. Tango and him had been getting along swimmingly since their warped reunion. He couldn't understand Scott and Cleo's decision to leave their soulmates behind. More than that, some part of him was hurt Scott had picked Cleo and hadn't even thought to ask him. Not to be fake soulmates or anything, but at least to alliance. If he was going to join up with anybody that wasn't his soulmate, he thought that maybe he'd be one of Scott's first choices.

At the time he'd thought that Scott was just going to combine his soul-bound pair with Cleo's and that they'd be a four-person group. He had hoped that of all people, himself and his soul-bound would be included in that. But no. He hadn't handed Jimmy the flower. He hadn't laughed that joking laughter or spoke with that barely contained smile on his face, inviting him to join his side. He had looked to Cleo and declared the pair of them were off together.

Seeing the wooden walls around the fake ranch made Jimmy wistful and aggravated. He remembered good times, of Scott talking about terra-forming the hill so that the wall kept more people out. He remembered Scott rambling about cobblestone slabs and stairs at the base of the wood and declaring that they'd make an entrance in the valley between two hills, and then folding his arms and being positively disgruntled at the sight of people climbing over their walls or mining through them when the entrance was right there.

Scott's ranch was better than Jimmy and Tango's.

Scott was a builder. He made everything pretty. Even Jimmy's house. He remembered Scott's snide, joking remarks about building a well-placed bridge to block out the ugliness of his build, and the gentleness of his voice when he admitted that he'd wanted to finish building the front of his home before Jimmy got back. There was almost no smile on his face as Jimmy admired it. There was almost no joke in his tone as Jimmy thanked him. There was almost insecurity there as he waited for Jimmy's confirmation. Then, when he received it, he went right back to teasing him about how ugly it had looked.

Truth was, Jimmy didn't mind because he had only wanted to make it fit with the aesthetic for the sake of pleasing Scott. He was more practical with his builds. If they were functional, they were fine. Being pretty was just a bonus. That was why it meant a lot to him when Scott did make it cute. It showed him that he really belonged by Scott's side. It showed him that even though Scott thought he was a bad builder, he didn't want something like the ugliness of his build to get in the way of their alliance, and even said he didn't mind what he did with the inside- because it was Jimmy's, and gave him advice about wood to use on the inside of his base when he had asked.

Scott was a good builder and those walls brought back too many memories. He was also pretty upset with the obvious copying of their ranch and the teasing that Scott put forth with how better his was. Because it was true. And he wasn't building with Jimmy anymore. He was building with Cleo. And he was building something to rival him and Tango simply for the hell of it. There were no more 'pretty-fying' gestures or well-placed cakes or walls they built together. There were cobblestone walls, rebuilding in the ashes with stair-rooves and a whole monopoly in their basement.

It was strange, being the holder of a monopoly after fighting so hard against them. But he couldn't deny the power it gave them, even if it wouldn't be secure for long. After all, Jimmy had found Tango's cow monopoly eventually. Someone was sure to thwart their chicken monopoly.

He was happy with Tango. He would've been even happier if he had both Tango and Scott on his side. And what enraged him more was that Scott was using his pretty building skills to copy their idea.

Everything reminded him of their first alliance. Cleo's yellow flower. The wooden walls. The windows he put into their house, pretty-fying it all over again. It was a kind gesture. A nice gesture. And his nonchalance that he addressed their visit with. Jimmy knew what was under the surface though, just barely. He'd been close enough to Scott to hear the way he schemed, honing his sights onto people to keep them at bay enough to at least hesitate when attacking them. That's why he didn't antagonise Joel or why he scolded Jimmy for antagonising Dogwarts.

Scott wanted to keep them at arm's length enough to redirect their wrath for the ranch idea somewhere else. Yet, Jimmy couldn't help but be touched by the gesture, even still. Deep down, he was still pleased. But not pleased enough to forget. Not pleased enough to stop.

It was just one life. He wanted one of Scott's lives for it, that's all. For stealing their ranch idea. And Scott was on green, so it would put Tango, Jimmy, and him on equal footing. That was revenge enough, to knock him down a peg.

(Quietly, Jimmy thought about Scott's rage as he knocked back a bow and aimed for Skiz. He thought about Scott sprinting through the woods after Ren, a halo of red around his soft, blue hair. But there was a laugh there, broken and terrified and bleeding with vengeance. With Skiz, there was stone-cold misery.)

(Scott was quiet and calculating in his revenge until the very moment he struck.)

And when they changed the sign to 'L', and Scott embraced it with a shrug, he didn't mind either. It was just a bit of mischief. It wasn't like they were enemies. All he wanted was one life and to annoy him a little after he had annoyed them. Like with the goats (which he was mad about at the time but let it go because Scott had helped them when the ranch was burning down).

When they gave him a six-star review, he really meant it. Because Scott's ranch was better. Because Scott had let them in as a show of trust. And when Jimmy was scared that Tango would kill them both in the human snow cone, Jimmy recognised Scott's praise of their relationship. Though he sounded vaguely apathetic and mostly dismissive, he wasn't actively rude and he didn't act as though they owed him anything for the windows. All of it was a show of good faith, so he showed good faith in return and acknowledged his good building, his kind gesture, and their past alliance.

And he hoped that once they were equal again- with Scott on yellow just like himself and Tango- that they could be friends again. That Scott would choose them out of everyone else to stick with. He wouldn't have minded merging their ranches. He wouldn't have minded Scott joining them both.

When he died and became yellow from Pearl being slain to Joel, he had frozen in shock, gazing at the comms. Of course, he didn't expect it. Pearl was unhinged but unhinged enough to get killed? And Scott... he knew what it was like to be alone and confused and then suddenly dead and gone and coming back with nothing. But Jimmy had been able to forgive and regroup with Tango at spawn. He'd been able to forge a relationship. The bonds between Scott and Pearl were already frayed. He'd be alone.

ZombieCleo: Scott?

No. He had Cleo. He nearly forgot about that. Cleo. The one he chose.

He didn't choose to align himself with Jimmy and Tango. He chose Cleo. Cleo, who was also at odds with her Soulmate. Cleo, who was also alone. Cleo, who couldn't protect him. Cleo, with whom he barged in, flat expression, side by side with, and a glare in his resplendent eyes.

Golden eyes.

Jimmy's breath was knocked out of his lungs. He had seen him die in chat and when he came in, he looked more icy than usual. The green in his hair, and on his jacket was gone and he was as sunny as always. Yellow hung over his shoulders, embroidered on his chest, decorated his shoes, and adorned his eyes. He was... beautiful. Long lashes framing molten yellow that blazed like the sun.

Tango was boiling, bubbling lava. Hot, flowing, strong. Scott was warm sunshine. Burning, blinding, bright.

Beautiful.

Gulping, cheeks warmed and heart softening, Jimmy remembered waking up in a cold sweat, fading pain in his back and arms. He remembered loss and confusion and then relief when he saw those crimson eyes like blood. He felt comfort when they embraced and talked and teased each other. Tango had frantically explained himself, apologised and nervously they'd stayed together, and forged a friendship built on trust.

What did Scott have when he woke up? Pearl surely wouldn't stick around. She'd become demented.

Jimmy looked at golden eyes and a small, unimpressed frown and felt something go cold inside of him. He stopped at the bottom of the incline up to his and his Soulmate's shared house and he looked almost regal- sanctimonious- as he spoke in a tone that oozed with superiority.

"I'm here to request that you do not threaten my soulmate, thank you very much."

'What soulmate?!' He wanted to scream and shake the blue-haired boy's shoulders as he looked into his eyes that gleamed like candlelight.

Cleo wasn't Scott's soulmate! He had no soulmate! He could've had Jimmy and Tango if he'd just asked! If he'd not annoyed them! If Scott was in the business of picking people that weren't his soulmate, then why didn't he pick them!? They could've been good together, like before. Tango and Jimmy could've been good with Scott. They could've protected him. He could've woken up to them and their goats and a friendship that would welcome his building and his weird ideas of relationship counseling. They could've had a monopoly for once.

Now he was defending Cleo who had stolen from them?

Didn't he defend you when you wanted to steal from Tango? A voice whispered in the back of his mind.

Jimmy chose to stay with Scott when Martyn offered a home to him in Third Life. Why didn't Scott choose to come with Tango and him? Didn't he want to? He helped them, back then. When they had nothing and had just reunited, he and Cleo gave Tango armour and iron. But he left them. And he didn't come back with the intent of being an alliance.

What did Cleo do that Jimmy didn't? Just... not have a soulmate? But that shouldn't have stopped Scott from aligning himself with the Ranchers. He could've. He even built his own ranch, showing he wanted to make a ranch. Even if it was to outdo the RancherDuo. He could've been part of them. He wouldn't have had to outdo them if he was part of their group!

So... why?

Why did he choose Cleo?

"Well, she walked straight in and stole- stole our chickens!" Jimmy accused, with Tango's noises of affirmation backing him up, encouraging him.

Scott raised an eyebrow with that familiar frown that told him that he'd been checkmated. He was beautiful, hair swaying in the gentle breeze. The sound of the animals could hardly block out the sweet melody of his lilting voice.

"Oh, you have chickens now?"

He feigned stupidity, a clenched fist under his chin as he pondered, his golden eyes glittering with calculative composure. Jimmy noticed the way his eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks. He noticed the way his hand had curled in, concealing his pretty nails and his slender fingers. Hands that were warm. A hand that he had held at one point. A hand that would now hold Cleo's. He noticed the softness of his skin and the pressing of his plush lips together into a thin, passive-aggressive line. His handsome face scrutinised them with condescending inquisitiveness. He was charming and graceful... and so cunning, too.

The look on his face of certainty muddied by faux confusion had instantly clued Jimmy in, as it dawned on him just how he'd just messed up. He told Scott (at his Relationship Ranch) that they had no chickens. Scott had mixed him up, using their lie against them to turn them around. But he wasn't aiming to de-escalate any conflict between them and Cleo. Just like before, when they checkmated Tango, he wasn't going for a negotiation. He was blackmailing them.

"We could just tell everyone," Scott had threatened- but it had been playful and self-assured with Jimmy by his side.

This time, it was personal. Scott cared about Cleo more than any chicken monopoly. It only annoyed Jimmy more. He felt like a scolded child. He'd been caught in a lie- an embarrassing lie. And it didn't help that Scott seemed to glow with some sort of protective aura and those stunning, yellow irises that swirled with apathy.

Jimmy remembered when that was a shield protecting him. Now he stood beside Cleo, glowering up at the true RancherDuo.

"That's interesting. That's different from what you said to me earlier," He continued, speaking over their denials as Jimmy's face burned from humiliated distress.

"Mhm!" Cleo added.

Jimmy hated how Scott could always make him feel like this. Like he knew better. Like he'd done something wrong.

Hadn't you thought Tango keeping the cows to himself was wrong? A voice whispered, one that Jimmy desperately wished would keep quiet, Hadn't you thought it was wrong to scam people out of diamonds in exchange for dark oak saplings? Hadn't you thought it was wrong to monopolise sand? Hadn't you? Hadn't you?

He hated how in sync they were. Their faces were twin-images of casual belittling. What made it worse was that some part of Jimmy acknowledged that he deserved it, which only made him more defensive. He was a hypocrite. Even back when Martyn had offered him a home on the mountain, he had said he'd come back if things went side-ways with Scott.

That was before the Red Army. Before the Red Winter. Before they became close. He never would've thought of turning his back on Scott after that. But Scott was effectively turning his back on Jimmy now.

How was that fair?

"Are you saying that you told a bold-faced lie to me?" His tone was clipped and Jimmy shrunk in on himself.

He didn't understand this- why Scott had to be so against them over this. It was one thing to banter about making another Ranch. That karma caught up to him when he lost his first life and that's all they wanted from him.

But this was different.

He'd been willing to turn his back on Scott at one point. But that was before the bonding, the working together, the attachment- two hobbit holes opposite each other in a grotto with wooden walls surrounding them and flowers blooming across the grass. Tulips and alliums and poppies. The stem of a poppy tucked behind the delicate shell of his ear- the petals pressed against cyan and silk-like skin- as he grinned with a glowing green halo hovering around his head.

Scott had never thought of leaving Jimmy or being disloyal during that time. Scott never even considered it. Back then, when Cleo came to him, he rejected her invite and only agreed on the grounds that Jimmy had passed on despite having no intention of allowing such an event to occur in the first place.

(It still did, in the end. Cleo died before that, though, leaving Scott all alone.)

Why now, just because things were slightly different, was Scott willing to let him go to be with her? How was this even fair? At least in Last Life, Jimmy and Scott barely had any contact. They were neither against nor with each other, so it was easier to ignore. But this was Scott purposefully stepping forward against him to defend someone he shouldn't even care about!

They weren't soulmates! How did Cleo deserve his protection, his warm hands, a bridge between them, a wooden wall protecting them? How did Cleo deserve his worry for her health, his food, and his resources?

"No..."

Jimmy was quiet as he spoke, avoiding eye contact. Avoiding looking at the way his eyelashes flitted, revealing alluring, gilded irises. He couldn't help sounding like he was being rightfully told off. Some part of him knew that he was.

So, he avoided looking over his sunny jacket and the warm heart on his chest. Because that sun wasn't shining on him. That heart wasn't sewn there for him. It wasn't even for someone justified like Pearl- his actual soulmate.

It was for Cleo. Someone he claimed as a soulmate. Someone he picked.

Was she there for him when he woke up, shivering, alone with fading pain in his chest from an axe slash? Did she have a cake hidden somewhere around her house by him, too? Did she have a cow hidden underground that he only entrusted her with?

"So, then, we don't have a problem, do we?" Scott stated with finality in his tone.

It was okay for you to invade Tango's cow farm when nobody had cows? It was okay for you to grow a dark oak tree in front of Grian and Scar when you could've stayed quiet? It was okay for you to sneak into the village people's base and make a plan to steal or kill their villagers? But it's not okay for Cleo to take when she needs it, like how you needed leather for bookshelves in enchanting, or dark oak simply to put the desert hippies in their place, or trades?

Jimmy cut in, another wave of affronted defence rolling over him. This wasn't just his stuff. It was Tango's. Tango, who had stood by his side, tried to get revenge for the both of them, built the Foot with him. Tango, who had matching horns with him.

Scott wasn't just picking a fight for Cleo. He was picking a fight with Jimmy and Tango.

"You're the one with the L, I'm not gonna lie."

It was a weak attempt at deflection as he talked over Scott who stood by Cleo. She was looking at her partner, pleased that he came to her aid. She was looking almost proud of him. Like the way Scott looked at him when he found the cow monopoly underground, or when he helped to finish the wooden walls around their valley. He felt validated every time.

He looked to Tango.

Tango stared dead ahead at Cleo, bunching up his fists with blood swirling in his scheming, red eyes. He could feel something push down the soul bond, an ebbing and flowing feeling of building annoyance. Jimmy shot a string of it back at him.

I know, he told him, through feeling alone. Tango relaxed a little, knowing that they were in this together. A string that bound their hearts, their bodies, their minds. Scott and Cleo couldn't possibly know of the wonderfulness of that feeling. The feeling of being complete and entirely relying on someone else.

(Scott could've had some form of it with them. If he'd chosen team Rancher.)

"I'm sorry- so you're saying that she stole something that you didn't have, which means that she couldn't have stolen it? So am I correct in believing that we don't have a problem here?"

Patronising. Straightforward. It was the very tone he gave others when they challenged him and Jimmy. The cold, aloof tone he gave to Tango, though all mirth was gone now.

Tango came up with something on the spot, about how they had no chickens because of Cleo's invasion. Cleo barely acknowledged it, only really rolling her eyes in exasperation. She'd seen the chicken coup. She knew they were lying. Scott didn't even acknowledge it, placing fire in the grass with his glare only becoming sharper, repeating himself as Jimmy put it out.

Scott didn't even question Cleo's story. Obviously, Tango was lying- but that should've only been obvious to the RancherDuo. Scott hadn't even seen the chickens, as far as they knew. Maybe once when he was inputting their lovely windows (which Tango had even preened with respect in his tone for Scott at the sight of them when they returned). But since then, he couldn't have seen the chickens, so surely it was a possibility that Cleo had killed all the chickens. He couldn't know that for sure. Yet he believed her, unequivocally. He believed her over Tango and Jimmy.

What did she do to earn that level of trust?

What had Jimmy done to lose it?

There was nervousness in Jimmy, now. But mostly anger. His gaze swept over Scott's perfect form, encapsulated in the golden rays that he exuberated every time he smiled and teased and joked with Jimmy. Every time he lightly knocked his shoulder, or laughed, pointing at the pufferish of peace. Now there was nothing. The only sign he ever smiled was the yellow that nicely contrasted the blue in his hair.

He was beautiful.

He set fire to the grass.

"She pushed me off a bridge."

"You probably deserved it, you threatened her."

Tango spoke loudly and Jimmy followed him with his gaze as he moved, prowling like an inferno spreading across the forest. Jimmy was silent, shame bubbling over him.

He tried to fight it, telling himself it didn't matter that elegant, sunflower Scott was glaring at him, protecting and defending Cleo who hadn't defended him against a tyrant threatening to sacrifice him at an altar- who hadn't built the wooden walls with him- who hadn't earned her place by his side, or fought in a war, or given him red poppies.

"No, he was threatening you."

And- oh, he forgot about that. He had been doing that, hadn't he? He only wanted Scott's first life. That was all. He wasn't going to threaten Scott anymore now that he'd gotten even with him for stealing the ranch idea.

"She came in here, all rude-like! She didn't even try to bargain-" Tango explained, and it was true, she hadn't, she'd just waltzed in and invaded their home. 

"He was threatening me?"

Scott's eyes darted from Cleo. They were wide and almost disbelieving. Something lodged itself in Jimmy's heart at the sight as Scott swivelled over, honing directly onto Jimmy. It was like the pair of them were the only people in the world, facing off.

"-Just tried to steal," Tango finished, with conviction and stabbing chagrin in his tone.

Tango was gyrating back and forth, moving erratically at his side. Jimmy was still, locked in Scott's surprised gaze. He almost saw something deeper sinking behind those glowstone-like eyes (the only safe lightsource in the nether turning sharp like broken fractals and shards scattering between singed palms). There was no glowing halo, like sun rays. There was no inviting, amused smile.

Jimmy didn't look back at Tango. He was right. She had just barged in. She barrelled through their door, laughing, taunting and not taking 'no' for an answer. Even he and Scott had tried to sneak around, but she'd been so blatant on her frontal assault, it had actually stunned the pair of them. She walked all over them. Scott and Jimmy at least had the decency to act a little too intimidated to go in head-first. But Cleo- she didn't take them seriously. She didn't care. And she didn't stop, either. Plus, Tango made a good point. They wanted feathers for arrows that would be used against them later.

Just like how Grian wanted sand for TNT that would be used against you and Scott- that WAS used against you on your second death.

The mild shock that froze Scott's face was quickly replaced with a disappointed frown. Like he'd been hoping for something. But Scott entered their ranch hostility, what had he been hoping for? An apology? A compromise? He came in, leading and pushing with a punishing frown that hurt Jimmy right in his chest. As if he'd been the one Scott cursed with frost and not Gem so long ago.

Jimmy met Scott's derisive leering which seemed to scan over the blonde-haired, brown-eyed boy once from his perch towards the bottom of the hill. There was still that shard of something there inside of Jimmy. And then there was the fractals that littered Scott's eyes, in turn. Hurt that seemed to seep through Scott's warm, glistening gold before it hardened into something. Something spiteful. Something sneering deep inside of him.

A pretty face, marred only by a biting glare.

"Yeah, he was threatening you," Cleo confirmed.

Jimmy still didn't have the words to say, his eyes falling from helplessly admiring the curve of his nose across the soft apples of his cheeks along his delicate face to his lips which were pulled into something only mildly irritated.

He stepped forward up the hill, getting up close to Jimmy but still not close enough to be on the same level. There was no direct anger in his expression, but that hardly fooled Jimmy. Before, he saw laughter twinkling in green eyes like moss. As he teased them about his ranch being better than theirs and joked back and forth about their ranch rivalry, there was the understanding that they were kidding around, even if it upset Jimmy deep down, it only went deep enough to consider taking one life from him.

But threatening Cleo had pushed Scott to a direct confrontation- something he hardly considered without considerable back-up when under the threat of Dogwarts. Apparently, despite not caring about the one who held his life in their hands, he still somewhat cared for lives. He still cared about making it through this. And he cared enough to be upset with Jimmy for wanting to take that life away.

(Briefly, Jimmy wondered what the conversation would've been like if he'd spoken to Scott about this. He wondered why Scott hadn't spoken to him about this if it meant so much to him.)

Then, he realised he ought to at least make an effort in denying it. Maybe some distrust would do them some good.

(Maybe Scott would join them if he didn't like her anymore.)

"What? I never said a word like that, Cleo!" He spoke in the same tone he had when denying the existence of their chickens.

"Yes you did!" She bickered back, turning away and looking towards the sky as if she couldn't even bear to look at him, "I was with Mart- you were telling Martyn!!"

"Bro you-" Jimmy seethed inwardly but it came out in a wave of something deeper than skin-light aggression over some unnamed threat that he definitely made, "You ain't even real soulmates!"

He leaned down towards Cleo specifically, unable to lock back his brash distaste of her. Because really, his problem was with her, wasn't it? Not Scott.

If Scott had to pick someone to join up with in the absence of his soulmate, why did it have to be her? Didn't they have something great before? Why did he have to pick Cleo? Surely, Tango wouldn't have minded an alliance. Scott was really resourceful, he could earn his keep. Not that Tango even cared about that- he knew the extent of Scott's loyalty and knew that no betrayal like BDubs would happen with Scott.

Scott couldn't even kill his allies when he turned Boogey. Tango respected Scott for that. Tango would've accepted him. Jimmy would've accepted him. Especially after he'd offered them help in the beginning. They could've even accepted Cleo and gotten past all the resentment, as long as Scott was there. As long as Scott was with them.

Just-...

Just why didn't Scott come to him, first?

"And this is what you go to? That's pathetic!" Cleo raised her voice, but her expression hardly changed.

Jimmy caught on fire from Scott's nonchalant tap of the flint and steel. When he burned and Tango fussed over him, Jimmy looked back towards the culprit, seeing only a stoic expression painted over his sun-kissed face.

He couldn't even bring it forth in him to argue with what Cleo said. She was partially right, wasn't she? The argument was never about the fact they weren't soulmates, he was just saying it because it'd been on his mind from the very moment they admitted they weren't soul-bound and yet had started to build a life together. He had bottled it up for so long- not even saying anything to Tango, who he told everything to these days- that when he got mad it all came rushing out at once. His grievances with Scott's choice flooded out because he needed to get it off his chest. He'd yelled at them: "fake soulmates!" and retreated the first time. Ever since, the thought had been lodged in the back of his mind like a splinter.

It was a needless and tactless comment, and not at all related to the conversation. But he felt the need to say it- he had to say it! Scott had no obligation to this woman! He didn't need to fight for her! So why! Why did he put himself in harm's way for her? He opened his heart to someone who could very well use it to further her own goals.

What obligation did she have to him? Scott was loyal, someone good to have on your side if you wanted to win. He had already won before. Scott's obligation was in a pact of friendship, but Cleo was willing to drop BDubs to some degree for Scott. Cleo wasn't good enough. The RancherDuo could offer him so much more. Yet he stood at her side, the side of a thief, of someone who didn't take them seriously enough to even wear pants to their confrontation!

But to Cleo and Scott it looked like he was just saying the thing that he thought would hurt them the most. It didn't. Neither looked remotely bothered by his words. That almost hurt more. If Scott really didn't care about this soulmate stuff, then he should've come to Tango and Jimmy! Didn't he know that there was still a place for him, here? Didn't he know that he could still trust Jimmy, even if things were different now??

His eyebrows scrunched together, teeth clenching. His fists balled up as he pushed his aggravation through the soul bond, and Tango seemed to subtly nod as he circled the unwelcome pair like a vulture. It was as if measuring them up, finding weak spots. His rage was barely dipped into, Jimmy could feel it. It was growing from a small ember.

They're the worst, Tango insisted, those feelings of rage trickling through their soul-link.

It's not fair, Jimmy's disgust wavered back.

I've got your back, Tango insisted, pushing comfort and encouragement towards him.

It gave Jimmy exactly what he needed to step forward. He came down to their level, getting up into Cleo's face and only barely looking towards endlessly beautiful, kind Scott.

"When you go to bed at night, and you fall asleep, just remember, the last thought in your head is: 'oh! We're not really soulmates!'," Jimmy spoke quickly as if to shove all the thoughts out while he still had them.

In support, Tango glared through a spyglass directly at Scott. It was as if he could tell all his hatred had been for the sunlight-branded boy's decision and Tango could feel envy leak through the bond. He could feel bitterness flow through, seeing them together. He could feel it all. The distain and the betrayal. The feeling that it was all finished and there was nothing to salvage from this. Yet the hopeless hope that they really could repair this. Jimmy then backed away slowly as if to let that sink in. But the two didn't even look at each other. They didn't seem affected in the slightest.

Scott just placed his hands on his hips while Cleo smacked her lips and examined her nails. That bothered him most of all. They didn't care. Scott didn't care. He should've cared. But he didn't.

Tango shoved reassurance through to him, again, hoping that it made it to Jimmy's heart. And it did.

(He wondered if Pearl ever reassured Scott. He wondered if Scott ever reassured Pearl, or if they ever said sorry to each other. He wondered if they'd ever make amends, or if they'd die from a grudge by which he didn't even know the roots of.)

Jimmy ran back towards his and Tango's house- the house that could've been shared with Scott if he'd cared enough, if he'd wanted them-

"Just remember-"

The sound of Scott's voice called Jimmy back. Even though he wanted to ignore it all, he still came back. Partly because the opportunity to have the last word was too good for Jimmy refuse. Partly because he missed Scott's voice. He missed having reminders of Scott's presence all over the place. He missed the pretty builds, the flowers, the gestures, and the banter. Windows weren't enough. He wanted something more tangible. Like mismatched blocks of similar colours across the walls or a roof of different wood types, not lined with cobble. Or a compliment of the change in shape of the house into something more interesting, with a wall pulled a little more forward so that it wasn't quite box-shaped like he'd commented was bad for building before. Like Scott's warm hands between Jimmy's, a poppy tucked behind his ear, and peace and quiet from their little corner of the world.

He missed Scott's warm hands, his flower crowns, his teasing jabs and inviting grin. He missed his certainty and the excited yell of his voice as he called for them to run.

(Not that he didn't appreciate Tango. Of course, he loved Tango's presence, his eccentric whispers, the clap of his hands, and his innovative ideas. Their bond was special and irreplaceable. But he couldn't deny that he wished Scott was part of their group. Ever since the beginning, he'd been sort of hoping...).

"Just remember when you kill one of us, you're angering four of us. And those numbers don't look good for you."

"Hmmm," Tango's voice was soothing, deep, velvety, and grounding as Jimmy barrelled ahead.

"Well, just remember if we kill one of you-"

"The other one is here," Cleo looked straight ahead at Jimmy as he looked between them, gesturing to both of them in what was supposed to be a mic-drop moment.

But Cleo's expression was disinterested and unbothered. And she spoke so factually, like she already knew and had the whole situation planned out. And Jimmy nearly forgot how hard she held a grudge. How she went through hell and high water just to get back at BigB or how she shoved Scott off the ledge the moment he turned red from the Boogie curse.

And Jimmy felt that upset rise again. Didn't Scott care about that? About how easily Cleo discarded him, yet Scott was still willing to stay on good terms with her even as a red? Or how he welcomed her in and yet she threw him away?

But he couldn't find the words to articulate that, so he charged ahead with everything he'd been bottling up since he first saw them. He just wanted Scott to know he disapproved. So, the words that had been bothering him and itching to get out since he first saw them and their dirt and cobblestone, one-block wide bridge across the open ravine and their pitiful farm and hole filled with cows beside the ugliest house that he'd ever seen Scott build (which still looked incredible in his eyes, yet he knew from the get-go would not be up to Scott's standards) tumbled through.

"-You don't die together! Because you ain't soulmates!"

He wanted Scott to feel as hurt as he felt when he didn't come to their RancherDuo for help and reassurance and guidance. He chose Cleo over their life-long friendship. But he wasn't hurt. Neither Cleo nor Scott seemed troubled by his comments, both content in their places, both intent on defying destiny for each other. 

Why couldn't Scott defy destiny for him and Tango? Why did it have to be her?

Maybe it was the Widow's Alliance agreement that had him most annoyed about the situation. They agreed to team up- just the two of them- only upon Jimmy's death, only when Jimmy and him couldn't be together anymore. And so this was almost confirmation that, no, they couldn't be allies anymore. They couldn't build hobbit holes together, or thwart monopolies, or build walls together, or unite their ranches, or exchange poppies and pufferishes.

Their alliance had run it's course. Their hobbit holes were gone. Their afterlife had faded away. There were no poppies, only a dandelion in the grass. Only red hair and emerald green eyes beside sunshine that blazed with unspoken fury.

"The other one is here," Cleo affirmed with Scott's drawling 'yeahs' that twanged with his accent like the string of a guitar, "The other one survives and they kill you." 

"The difference is if we were to fight you right now we would win because you take the damage that I deal to you and so does Tango."

Scott's hand inched towards Cleo's as Jimmy got on his feet again, moving around only to come back into their faces. His eyes momentarily drifted to the pair's linked hands and Scott's lingering flint and steel. Scott's eyes were ignited with confidence as Cleo squeezed her grip on his and he squeezed back. Scott made it clear, then, that he'd be the one fighting them. Not Cleo. He'd be defending her. He'd be at her beck and call.

(Wasn't this the very thing he'd worried about with Dogwarts? The very reason he'd encouraged Scott to stay away? He was afraid Scott would be made red for them. Cleo would be his undoing. It wasn't fair.)

"One health bar," Cleo chimed, not even arguing it.

She might not have noticed. Or maybe she had.

(Why was Jimmy so nervous about that? Scott made it clear who he cared about, why did he care if that person didn't really care about him?)

(Did Cleo care about him? They weren't soulmates...)

(Would Cleo be the one to shove Scott away from their shared bridge, like she had when he turned red in Last Life?)

(Would Scott look as good in red as he did in sunshine yellow? Like he was shining down upon him like a shimmering star, so far away that he couldn't touch him, but feeling so close that everything else around him seemed to fade to blue?)

"We have two health bars to play with here. You have one," Scott agreed, retrieving his sword.

"A-All I hear right now is: 'I'd like a Warden in my base!'," Tango mocked, "That's all I hear."

That seemed to change the course of the conversation as Jimmy leaped down towards Cleo and exclaimed in the air as if egging Tango on. As if challenging them. Scott produced his flint and steel again, barely acknowledging Jimmy as Cleo let go of his hand and waltzed forward.

"All I hear is: 'I wan- I would like to rebuild another ranch'."

"Oh! Is that a challenge? Is that a challenge?"

Tango perked up at that, and Jimmy could feel the barely contained rage festering within his lava-like partner. Spreading and infecting the air with sweltering wrath. And things weren't so easy to argue with anymore as Scott maneuvered around Jimmy and headed towards the wall of the house.

Scott had them in his ranch, knowing they changed his sign from an 'R' to an 'L'. Jimmy and Tango were on half a heart of HP from the human snow cone after Jimmy urged Tango to leave- and he didn't until the very last second. Scott could've killed them. He could've sent them to red. But he didn't.

Scott had given them window panes. He hadn't disturbed their chickens directly if he heard them. Scott had given them armour and iron when they first turned yellow.

Scott's eyes were beautiful and there was a threat in his gaze. His eyes still looked past him towards Cleo. He still wanted her to be safe, even in the wake of impending destruction. He was willing to risk himself for Cleo. He was willing to defy fate for her.

"You are not a challenge to me Tango, look at your teammate."

Cleo stepped in front of Scott, leaning towards Tango. It was easy to push past her and get to Scott as he set a small flame against the house, which was easy to put out. A warning.

He set another fire as Tango and Cleo bickered in the background. Jimmy glared him in the face. He had so much to say. So much he wanted to do.

He wanted to grab Scott by the shoulders and shake him. Scott was endlessly loyal to those he followed. His kindness was stark and strong like the sun powering solar pannels. But that light could be manipulated. Jimmy wanted to say that to him because Scott was good, kind, and lovely. So lovely. He deserved better. But... he was also the worst right now.

But... he was also someone Jimmy cared about more than anything right now.

Scott protected Jimmy and blamed himself for being unable to save him from death. He made him a grave. He decorated the porch of his house. They built walls together. They forged an alliance with the sand people because Jimmy liked them. He turned away Cleo the first time she came to him with an offer to abandon Jimmy. And when Cleo said she would fight for Scott, Scott had never reciprocated that sentiment, only insisting on aligning himself with Jimmy and the people that Jimmy wanted to align with.

In Last Life, Scott protected, built with, and cared for Pearl. He never turned his back on her. They fought together. They defended each other. Scott comforted her when she died. When Cleo turned red after agreeing to join them, he still gave her items, advice, and information. He still looked out for her, even if he was weary. He and Pearl made plans together and hid their base underground. And when he became the Boogie, he didn't betray Pearl or Cleo. He told them immediately that he was the Boogie, unlike Pearl who tried to hide it. He made an agreement to kill people that were already on the verge of death and being hunted, all for the sake of their alliance. And in the end, he didn't kill anyone. He ran out of time and was swiftly kicked to the curb.

By Cleo.

Yet he stayed loyal. And in the final moments, he vowed to kill Ren for Pearl. Even though it was a deathmatch and everyone was free game. He still defended Pearl's honour. And he won in her name.

Scott was good and kind. Scott was loyal above all else and he always kept his word. Sure, he stole, he plotted and he made mistakes. Sure, he was spiteful and bitter at the worst of times and sometimes his jokes went too far. But he still deserved better.

Yes, he built a rival ranch that was better than theirs and reminded him of good times: heists and poppies, laughs, and random cakes hidden behind a painting. But Pearl had become deranged. She wasn't safe for him to be soul-bound to anymore. He died because of her. He woke up alone with only Cleo's message in the chat checking on him with no urgency to it- no deep concern for his health. Jimmy had been worried and typed: "WHATS GOING ON" and Pearl had said it was worth it.

Worth it, even though it hurt Scott. Worth it, even though she should be protecting him.

And Cleo- if she really cared- she should've been there, protecting him and being by his side. She should've been there. She certainly wasn't with Martyn. She was somewhere else, doing whatever and not by Scott's side when he respawned. When he came back from death, feeling pain fade from his chest, catching his breath again after being unable to breathe until respawn, who was there for him? No one. He was alone.

Jimmy and Tango could've been there. If he'd wanted. There was still a place for him with them.

Instead, Scott wanted a place with Cleo. Cleo, who betrayed Scott in Last Life. Cleo, who didn't even try to defend Scott against the RancherDuo just then. Cleo was the one he chose.

He didn't come to Jimmy, who would've been there like he'd always been. He didn't come to Jimmy and Tango, who would've gladly taken him in and protected him from Pearl and understood why he turned his back on her. Scott's loyalty was utterly invaluable. He would fight to the end for those he cared about. Tango and Jimmy would've been able to trust him with everything. He would've had endless access to feathers for his arrows. He wouldn't have had to build a jokey rival ranch that they'd later deface.

It could've been them three, against the world.

But it wasn't.

Cleo handed Jimmy a yellow-petalled dandelion. Yellow like Scott's eyes, the heart on his chest, the jacket that clung to his body, hugging the form of his stomach and highlighting his lithe arms and soft outline. Yellow like the wisp of hair trailing from his scalp, flicking over his devious eyes that dared Jimmy to say something- do something. Yellow like his shoes, steadfast and still as he held his ground.

Yellow like his life, which he lost alone with nobody their to hold his hand or embrace him when he woke up.

And now, there was a smile on his face. Wolfish and sly like a predator eying his prey. Jimmy felt something stir in his heart. The hostility lingering within Scott's gaze tampered only by the amusement of a bee escaping and the happiness that came with seeing Cleo light up with devilish glee as it bumbled off. But Jimmy wasn't watching that. He glanced at Cleo briefly, before brown eyes stumbled over someone he once called a friend, a husband, a close ally- someone he couldn't call that anymore...

He was beautiful like this. The sun reflected from him, illuminating his molten gold gaze, fluid and warm like a sunlit river, glinting within the summer heat. His smile could almost be mistaken for friendly if it wasn't for the crinkle in his brow- daring him to try something.

"Don't threaten my soulmate, Jimmy."

Scott jabbed at him with a sword that clinked against his armour. The impact still stung, but not as much as the realisation that Scott was burning this bridge with him. Over Cleo. Not even over the change in the ranch sign. Not even over the threats and accusations after the goats went missing.

It was because of Cleo. Because he trusted Cleo more than him.

That hurt more.

They'd been together before and Jimmy defended him and stood by his side, only thinking of leaving at the offer of someone else once because of an incident with Renchanting and Martyn's honey-covered offer. Scott's eyes were honey-coloured. Sweet and homely. Gentle and thick and oozing with politeness and kind words. Beautiful. Jimmy was close enough to reach forward and touch Scott's face, cup his cheeks in his hands and ask: "What are you doing, Scott? You can't seriously trust her with your life, can you?"

Cleo turned to leave. Scott followed because he trusted Cleo with his life.

But Cleo didn't deserve that trust. Jimmy knew that she didn't. Jimmy had earned Scott's undying affection and trust. He protected him from the 'allegiance' (aka thinly veiled sacrifice) offered by Dogwarts. He'd stood by Scott's side in the midst of a war. He'd sided with Scott during the best of times and the worst of times. He'd built the walls with Scott. He'd offered the poppy. He'd brought the cow and shown Scott the secret cow vault. He'd snuck around with Scott in the village and rejected Martyn's offer.

They'd been close. So close. So why didn't Scott come to him when he was alone? Surely he'd earned that level of trust? Surely he'd proven himself to be a worthy alliance? Surely Scott knew he'd do anything to protect him, and that Tango would welcome him, too?

Cleo didn't deserve to be Scott's chosen soulmate. What had she done to earn that level of trust? Had they built the bridge together? Had they built the walls together? Did he make her house pretty? Did she protect him from some psycho who wanted to kill him? Like Pearl? Was Cleo by his side when he woke up from death, with the coldness of the hands of decay still grasping at his throat and only just fading away like frost in sunlight?

Did she even tell him how beautiful he looked covered from head to toe in yellow?

Did she offer him a flower? Did she tell him she'd die for him?

Something deep inside him screamed to chase after Scott as he left, to make amends, to please, please, please, invite him to turn back around. Maybe, if he asked, Scott would leave her and turn to him and Tango. Maybe if he tried, Scott would consider it and at least repair relations.

But another, bigger, more impulsive, more angry part of him was upset at what he saw as a betrayal. For Cleo. What had she done to earn his trust except happen to be in the same area as him while he was looking for Pearl? What had she done to earn his devotion except agree to be his soulmate? What actions had she done to earn that trust? Or was it all just built on words that were easy to deceive with?

Scott was kind and loyal and he deserved better. But Scott already chose where his loyalties lay. What could Jimmy do about that, except see where it led him?

Scott was his own person, just like Jimmy was his. Scott let Jimmy make his own decisions as any normal person would. Even though he was initially unreceptive, he conceded in showing people where their secret stash of cows were and agreed to trade for them eventually.

Scott was good.

Jimmy just hoped one day that he'd see Cleo wasn't- that she was a traitor, that she wasn't worth his time. Jimmy hoped that Scott would come back to them when he inevitably became red because of her.

(Privately, Jimmy knew he wouldn't. This had become a matter of pride, now. Scott didn't cower or beg like Grian or Joel when running from his wrath. He took it head-on.)

There was still a place for him. If he wanted it. Scott always had a place with Jimmy.

Always.