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Saying goodbye to Jimmy at the Double Life afterparty had been hard, but Tango had been looking forward to getting back to Hermitcraft, just as Jimmy had been looking forward to returning to Empires. It was good to be home and heading to Zedaph’s base with Impulse to let him know they were back.
Tango also missed Jimmy already and, despite how very many times he’d reassured Jimmy that both of his partners would be accepting of their new relationship, he was now starting to feel … not nervous. There was nothing to be nervous about. But he was feeling so many things, it was like someone had taken all the emotions ever, blendificated them, and poured them into Tango’s head.
“You doing okay there, man?” Impulse asked as they walked toward Zed’s portal.
“What? Yeah. Just figuring out how to bring this up with Zed.”
“You don’t think he’ll be upset, do you? He’s probably the most chill out of all of us, and it’s not like it’s the first time any of us has had another relationship, including him.”
“It’s a little different though. Jimmy’s not a Hermit.”
Impulse stopped walking a couple of blocks from the portal and caught hold of Tango’s sleeve. Tango let the momentum turn him back toward Impulse, who reached over and moved a bit of Tango’s hair back into place. Impulse pressed their lips together briefly, sending a wave of warmth all the way to Tango’s toes, then kissed the tip of Tango’s nose and finally his forehead before backing off a few inches.
“Neither is Skizz,” Impulse pointed out softly. “You guys are fine when I go spend time with him, though, and he’s fine when I come home to Hermitcraft. It’s going to be fine.”
“That’s true.” Tango felt a little tension go out of his shoulders. Not all of it, though. Impulse and Skizzleman had been together since before Impulse had joined Hermitcraft, so it really wasn’t quite the same situation. He wasn’t sure how to articulate that, though, so he just let it go and stepped into the portal.
When he stepped through, he found himself wrapped up in a hug and breathing in the scents of home.
“Welcome back! Welcome back!”
Zed took Tango’s face in both his hands and kissed him, then turned to greet Impulse as well.
“How was the game? You both have to tell me all about it!”
Zedaph’s excitement over hearing about these games was so adorable. He said he had more fun hearing about it from them than if he were to play himself, and the way his eyes were lit up right now, that was easy to believe.
“It was different, that’s for sure,” Impulse said. “This time, we got quote-unquote ‘soul-bound’ to another player and had to share our health and hearts.”
“What, like you and Skizz do with Naked and Scared?” Zed asked.
“Sort of,” Tango said, “but with just a single set of hearts.”
“Ouch. Come on, then, tell me all about it! I’ve got the tea on.”
Zed turned and headed down his hallway of Zedvancements toward the kitchen. Tango stole a glance overhead before following. Had there been that many animals dangling on leads before they’d left? He wasn’t sure. It bothered him that he wasn’t sure.
“Zed, you’ve always got the tea on,” Impulse said. “Here’s the real question: do you have the coffee on?”
Of course, he did. Zed was thoughtful like that, even though he was as bad as the rest of them at getting lost in his work. Soon enough, they were all settled around his kitchen table. Tango closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the spicy cinnamon tea Zed had poured before taking a sip. The warm bite of it grounded him and eased away a bit more of his worry.
Impulse took the lead, telling his and BDubs’ side of Double Life, complete with the zombified pool party, but leaving out anything that directly involved Tango.
“That sounds absolutely wild!” Zed said, once Impulse had finished. “What a way to go out though.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t too happy about it,” Impulse said. “Still, it was fun.”
“So, what about you?” Zed turned his focus to Tango. “Who did you get teamed up with?”
“Jimmy Solidarity,” Tango said, his stomach doing odd flips as he said his soulmate’s name.
“Oh? I’ve never met him. Is he as much of a pesky bird as his big brother?”
Tango had to laugh at that. “No. I mean, everybody’s got their days, but those two couldn’t be much more different if they tried.”
Zed took Tango’s hand and squeezed. His smile said he already knew this story was going to be more personal. “Tell me about him then.”
So Tango did. He poured out all of it, from getting them both killed by a stupid drop-creeper to Scar burning the Ranch, to Ranchers’ Revenge, to their first kiss, to Jimmy being waylaid by an Enderman.
“I did tell him about all of us,” Tango said. “I made sure he knew about our relationship, and that what we were doing wasn’t cheating.”
“I never imagined you didn’t,” Zed replied with a smile. He stroked his thumb along Tango’s hand. “Tango, you are absolutely glowing. I think this fellow’s good for you.”
“He really is.” Tango could just feel the dopey grin spreading across his face. “Don’t get me wrong, you guys are too, just … it’s different.”
“I mean, that kind of makes sense. Jimmy’s a whole different kind of player. He’s really not into the whole tech side of things,” Impulse said. “Or the building side, either, though he’s not as bad at it as everyone says, including him.”
“Well, being Grian’s brother would make a person hard on their own building skills.” Zed picked up their joined hands and pressed a kiss to Tango’s knuckles. “So, when can I meet this amazing avian?”
How did Zed always know the perfect thing to say?
“I’ve got to have a conversation with Xisuma, and he’s got to talk to the admin of his home server,” Tango said. “See if we can visit each other or maybe even set up a small server of our own like Impy and Skizz have. I mean, we’d whitelist you, obviously, but …”
“But Grian’s games aren’t exactly honeymoon material, and you two need a bit of that, I think,” Zed finished with a smile. “That’s a brilliant idea.”
“You’re amazing,” Tango said. “Do you even know how amazing you are? I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you too. Now, what say we get in a good night of cuddling, then you can talk to Xisuma in the morning before you even think of going anywhere near that Citadel of yours. Once you set foot over there, you’ll lose all track of time and suddenly it’ll be next month.”
“He’s got you there,” Impulse said as he got up from the table. “I know I’m pretty tired, so that sounds good to me.”
“Dude, you literally drank like three mugs of coffee while we were talking!”
“I think he’s decided to leave the rest for morning, sweetie.” Zed bopped Tango on the nose with his free hand, pulling him to stand with the other. “C’mon, then. Cuddle time!”
Tango smiled as Impulse took his other hand and they headed for the private bedroom, the one with an actual roof and without all the dangling mobs overhead. There was still a lot to figure out, but it was good to be home.