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“this is weird.”
it’s all tango can think as he surveys himself in the mirror, dressed in rivendell formalwear. fur-trimmed shawls, flowing robes, neat shirts and trousers. it’s all very weird. not bad weird! it’s just- well, tango doesn’t think he’s worn anything fancy since he was, like, four. even then, it wasn’t close to the standard of intricacy rivendell seems to somehow consider casual.
he likes it though. it protects against the harsh weather like magic (which it may very well be), and it’s nothing if not comfortable. tango feels like royalty in it—like he can ask for anything and it’ll be delivered on a silver platter.
also- okay, he’ll admit it: he likes how he matches with scott. whilst the pattern is different—fire motifs instead of ice, yellows and oranges woven into the cyan fabric—its so obvious where it came from. tango likes the idea of everyone knowing he belongs to rivendell- to scott.
“good weird or bad weird?” scott is hovering behind him, clearly using all his self restraint not to start pacing again. “I can have it altered if you like. or something entirely different made, if you don’t like it, it’s no trouble at-“
“scott,” tango cuts him off with a grin. “I love it.”
the anxiety in scott’s face melts away a little. “are you sure?”
“of course!” tango spins around, smile widening as his robes billow around him. “it’s just weird being in fancy clothes, y’know? besides-“ he takes scotts hands. “I match you.”
scott gives a huff of embarrassed pleasure, a small smile working its way onto his face. tango wants to kiss it. “you are far too charming for your own good. I hope you know this.”
“oh, I absolutely do.” tango winks, and he swears he sees scott blush.
“well, i’m glad.” scott says, stepping closer. “it’d be a waste if you didn’t.”
tango is about to make a witty comeback, or maybe flirt a little, until every thought he’s ever had is wiped from his mind when scott spins him, like you would in a waltz.
“it suits you.” scott says, catching him easily as he stumbles.
“what does?” tango tries not to squeak as scott’s hand comes to rest against his waist.
scott’s eyes glitter. “the outfit. you look good.”
tango manages a grin. “I see i’m not the only charmer around here.”
“you’re too kind.” scott says, clearly smug. somehow, it’s endearing.
“when’s the meeting anyway?” tango turns back to the mirror to watch how the fabric flows around him.
“uh- well, it’s. in twenty minutes.” scott says, trailing off into a mumble.
“twenty-“ tango snorts. “cut it a bit close with the outfit, huh?”
in the mirror, tango can see scott smiling sheepishly. “well, I was hoping you liked it.”
“and you would be right.” tango does a mock bow. “man, I feel like a princess in this.”
“we can certainly have that arranged.” scott says, and tango watches himself go pink. oh, he’s really not as subtle as he hoped he was.
luckily, scott doesn’t seem to notice. “c’mon, we should probably get there early.”
“y’know, I don’t think i’ve ever met any of the other rulers.” tango says, walking alongside scott. “should I be worried?”
scott laughs to himself. “ah, I think you’ll be alright. just don’t mention demons and we’ll all be fine.”
“oof, yeah.” tango chuckles. “when is your brother getting back, by the way? i’d love to meet them.”
scott had explained his brother a few days after tango was made his advisor. xornoth used to be a demon, but they started out human. exor, an evil god (the whole aeor and exor thing took a while for tango to even somewhat understand. he still doesn’t really get it) had corrupted them the same way aeor had taken over scott. neither of them remembered each other as brothers until after the connection between them and their respective god was broken.
tango still hasn’t gotten over the fact that scott stabbed himself in the chest to save the rest of the empires—especially considering that he had every intention to die. surviving, scott had told him, was a fluke.
“very pointedly after the meeting.” scott smiles. “I think they would rather have a little more time to practice the apologies they’re going to make.”
“to be fair, they were possessed.” tango points out. “something similar, at least.” he adds hurriedly as scott opens his mouth, undoubtedly to correct him on the technicalities of goddy not-actually-possession-but-very-close whatnot.
the look in scott’s eyes makes it clear that he knows tango doesn’t actually care about specifically what made xornoth go all evil, even as the corners of his mouth twitch up. “you’re a menace, y’know.”
“so i’ve heard.” tango grins. “okay, tell me what the other rulers are like?”
“I have noticed you changing the subject,” scott says, a note of fondness in his voice that makes tango’s heart swell. “but I guess you should probably know.”
as they walk to the meeting room, scott explains how joel is smarmy and smug until you get him talking about his wife, and he gushes like a kid with a crush; how lizzie will protect those she loves with her life, whilst never missing an opportunity to tease them; how jimmy talks the talk, but when faced with actual confrontation he folds like grass in a gale.
tango feels fairly prepared for the meeting—something he hasn’t felt in a long while. he’s not exactly a fan of public speaking, but these rulers seem nice- familiar, almost. relatable at least. besides, scott has assured him that he won’t need to speak much anyway, only to introduce himself and maybe if one of the rulers asks him a question.
when they reach the door, scott pauses and takes a breath, as if to compose himself, before pushing it open. tango watches curiously as he takes his place at the head of the table, and gestures for tango to sit in the seat adjacent. tango has to keep from smiling to himself; he gets to sit next to scott.
it takes a little while of sitting and waiting (and pretending not to be looking at scott) until people turn up, but after the first group does, it’s as if everyone arrives all at once. scott had briefly described everyone’s appearance, and so tango can just about make out who’s who.
joel and lizzie arrive first, hand in hand, practically disregarding scott and tango entirely. tango, on the other hand, notices the distinct features of a fellow blazeborn in joel’s eyes almost immediately, and sees the recognition mirrored on joel’s face as he glances over.
jimmy arrives a few minutes later, chattering away to fwhip, who looks like he’s poorly disguising a lovestruck expression. jimmy seems completely oblivious to this. just at their heels, comes an equally smitten shubble and a clearly oblivious katherine. tango can’t help grinning at the four of them.
sausage arrives, accompanied by pearl and gem, all three of them discussing.. soup? sure, okay. sausage winks at scott, and for the first time since they entered the meeting room, scott smiles. something in tango’s stomach twists with jealousy, and he turns back to the door.
when joey and pixl arrives, tango has to put a hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter. pixl seems entirely amused and somewhat bored as joey tries and fails to flirt with him, though it’s clear his heart isn’t in it. tango wonders if he knows any other way to talk to people.
“thank you all for coming.” scott’s voice cuts through the low hum of chatter as easily as a knife through butter. “of course, today’s meeting is hosted here as to introduce our new arrival.”
tango resists the urge to wave as 11 sets of eyes turn to him. he focuses on joel, who seems the least intimidating—at least, for the moment.
“hey, um. i’m tango.” he says, and immediately wants to kick himself. maybe waving would have been less awkward after all.
“what is his relation to you, smajor?” lizzie asks. as she speaks, she reveals the scarily long fangs where her canines would have been, coupled with her staggering height. tango hasn’t seen too many gods in his time, but he recognises the aura radiating off lizzie immediately. hoo boy, scott wasn’t kidding about lizzie being intimidating.
“he currently resides in my palace, alongside myself.” scott says, and- did his voice get fancier? “he is under my name and my protection. you needn’t concern yourself further.”
tango stares straight ahead, determined not to let the flush rise on his face. okay. scott is very formal and fancy now. tango is being incredibly normal over this newfound information. this is fine.
“I think my wife meant, smajor,” joel starts, apparently extremely proud to call lizzie his wife. lizzie seems equally proud to have joel as a husband. tango has to admit, they’re a cute couple. “what is to be the situation with your relationship, regarding your kingdom. if you were to pass away, for instance-“
“if I were to pass away, despite being fundamentally immortal, the kingdom would be ruled by my brother. it is only to minimise complications that they do not rule it now.” scott interrupts, voice piercing and firm. tango might be in love.
from joel’s expression, he also did not expect that response. he composes himself almost immediately though; smirk back on his face surprisingly fast. tango thinks he would have liked joel, if he weren’t so bent on antagonising scott. “your brother?” he raises an eyebrow. “as in, the demon that almost destroyed the server?”
scott gives a quiet huff of laughter. “i distinctly remember you insisting my brother was a fantasy we were all playing into, joel, so you will pardon me if I do not take your concerns as seriously as you suggest.”
joel looks mildly offended. he opens his mouth to say something, when-
“when is your brother returning?” joey says from across the table. “it’s rather rude for them to disappear, isn’t it?”
scott gives him such a withering look, tango is shocked he doesn’t wilt under his gaze. “they will return when they see fit. you, contrary to your demands, will not be the first to know when that is.”
joel catches tango’s eye, and tango looks over. he’s smirking a little, and gestures subtly to tango’s hair. tango feels his eyes widen as he processes what that look means—as he realises that his hair is on fire.
stifling a yelp, tango pats down the flames as subtly as he can, which- yeah, it’s not all that subtle. joel, however, winks and shoots a singular jet of flame from his own hair, grinning as joey gives a yelp of fear.
tango decides to go ahead and like joel.
“that cannot be safe.” joey says, glaring at joel.
“joey, we are in rivendell.” scott says placidly, though he looks like he’s trying not to smile—his eyes are crinkled ever so slightly in the corners and the ends of his lips twitch upwards as he speaks. “the only place as safe as this would be the ocean empire.”
“tango, are you a blazeborn?” joel says, still grinning.
“that I am.” tango says, slightly more confidently. “I think i’d be right in assuming that you are too?”
“indeed you would.” joel says. “it’s been a while since i’ve met another. i’m glad you’re here, dude.”
judging by joey’s expression of outrage (and similarly, lizzie’s expression of smug amusement upon glancing over at joey), tango assumes that this isn’t entirely because joel wants to make tango feel welcome. he can’t help the grin, though.
“thanks, man.” tango says, something akin to butterflies in his stomach. happy butterflies, though. fireflies maybe.
“ohh, I thought I recognised your eyes.” jimmy says from across the table. tango does a mental double take—it seems scott had failed to mention that jimmy is also a god, albeit lesser in power than lizzie seems to be. then again, if you’re around this group for a while, tango supposes you’d get used to the low-level goddy-ness that surrounds the two fish deities.
“well, if you’re ever interested in some cauldrons of lava, be sure to stop by.” pixl smiles. tango likes him already—he reminds him of xisuma a little. maybe it’s all the x-es.
“you absolutely should.” scott tells him, and tango is almost too focused on how gentle his voice has suddenly become to process what he’s saying. “he’s the resident mad scientist here; you’d love it.”
“lava in cauldrons? mad scientist? sign me up!” tango grins. “i’ve spent so long tryna figure out how to do that.”
“it’s all in the technique.” pixl says, looking pleasantly surprised at tango’s enthusiasm. “nothing to do with the cauldrons at all.”
“seriously?” tango feels his eyes widen. “just- regular iron cauldrons? they don’t melt?”
“well, it certainly took me a long while of melted cauldrons to figure it out.” pixl chuckles. “i’ve wasted a considerable amount of sausage’s iron.” he adds apologetically.
“oh don’t worry, I have so much iron, I don’t know what to do with it!” sausage says gracefully. tango thinks it has less to do with his forgiving nature and more to do with boasting over his riches, but he thinks it bodes well regardless.
“I can think of one thing you could make with it.” scott mutters, and sausage stifles a laugh.
tango feels his smile drop off his face, stomach souring with that same jealousy he felt when scott had smiled at sausage when he walked in—only this time, it’s as if he swallowed a lemon. he can see some of the emperors looking confused over what the joke was meant to be, but tango didn’t become friends with ren and doc to not notice a handcuff innuendo when he hears one.
“alright, if you guys are going to flirt in front of us all, at least do it because you actually like each other.” joel complains, and tango turns to him so quickly, he hears his neck pop. joel shoots him a subtle smile. oh yeah, he definitely likes joel.
“how do you know he doesn’t? after all, I am a snack.” sausage winks, and tango can’t help grinning.
“oh, I can answer that one.” jimmy says, and he sounds like he’s smirking. it’s honestly hard to tell, what with the fish hat-mask.. thing he wears all the time.
“jimmy,” scott says, almost like a warning, and jimmy laughs. tango glances over at scott, and is taken aback to find his face flushed pink. it’s pretty.
jimmy, apparently, does not care for whatever scott is warning him about, and continues as if he’d not said anything. “he’s never that confident if he actually-“
before jimmy can finish, scott waves his hand and his fish head freezes, taking his full attention. jimmy pulls it off and pouts at scott, though it’s anything but genuine. it’s- okay it.. might be kind of cute. objectively speaking! very objective. the most objective speaking you’ve ever heard.
jimmy seems to be unable to hold the pout for too long, as his mouth twitches up into a grin within seconds. “well, look at you!”
“only you would be pleased that I froze your face.” scott teases, but he sounds very pleased. tango has to agree—even though scott has been becoming more confident in his powers, it’s a huge step for him to use them on someone else without being terrified he might harm them.
“that can’t be safe either.” joey says, glaring at scott with absolutely no fear in his eyes—just disgust.
tango gives him an annoyed look, and snaps his fingers. immediately, the codhead thaws in a burst of flame, leaving it unharmed. “it’s fine, joey.”
holy shit! he just did that! that was so cool.
scott makes a noise that sounds a little like a stifled giggle, and tango glows—quite literally, as he watches his warm light reflect off the quartz table in an orange hue.
“joey, you have a crush on an ex-demon who nearly destroyed the whole world.” lizzie deadpans. “not to mention, you tried to kill us all, and imprisoned both scott and gem. scott, on the other hand, froze a fish head.” she finishes, glaring at joey with such intensity, tango is genuinely shocked he hasn’t spontaneously combusted. y’know, tango thinks he quite likes lizzie as well.
“excuse me! i was possessed!” joey exclaims. “how dare you-“
“you weren’t possessed when you kidnapped my subjects.” lizzie says, eyes cold.
joey scoffs. “I was helping them. your enclosure is so large, you couldn’t have been giving them all adequate care-“
“joey, their enclosure is very large because I rescue injured axolotls and their enclosures need to be large enough to simulate the ocean.” lizzie says. “if you are fool enough not to understand this-“
tango glances over at joel, who is watching this exchange with a lovestruck expression to rival tango’s own. he grins. oh man, those two are kind of perfect for each other. he resists the urge to look up at scott, wishing that, if he ever got the courage, scott would be looking down at him with the same affection tango feels for him.
not that he ever would, of course. it’s only a wish.
“-n’t you think they deserve more than that?!” joey slams his hand on the table, jarring tango out of his thoughts.
“if you truly believe that dressing wild animals up in frilly costumes and keeping them tied up for your own amusement is better than allowing them to heal in a safe environment before being released into their homes again, I don’t think I want anything to do with you.” lizzie storms. quite literally as well; the air in the room seems to have condensed, crackling with tension. tango finds himself growing angrier at joey by the minute, and he’s tempted to join the argument—but he doesn’t think that would help scott at all.
“how dare you!” joey stands—still shorter than lizzie by far. “as if you could have any idea what land animals need!”
lizzie’s eyes are deadly as she stands to her full height, slow and ever-threatening. she towers easily over the other emperors, and tango watches as joey shrinks back into himself. “joey, I have been around since before land existed. i watched the earth remake itself, I watched your land animals evolve to adapt, and I watched as your ancestors built your kingdom from scraps.” her voice is cold and crisp and holds the power of all the oceans behind it. “so please, tell me again what I don’t know.”
the silence following is so loud, tango wants to cover his ears. joey sits back down, but lizzie remains glaring at him until she seems satisfied. the rest of the rulers are varying levels of scared and appreciative—pearl’s eyes are glittering and joel’s expression is nothing but mesmerised.
lizzie sits back down, and the tension dissipates as she smiles at him. “and, it’s been lovely to make your acquaintance, tango!” she says cheerfully, as if there had been no interruption.
“you- you too.” tango knows he’s grinning, but he can’t help himself. you’re lucky he’s not clapping and cheering right now.
“well, I think that sums this meeting up very well.” scott says, sounding amused and somewhat awed. “thank you all for your time.”
the majority of the rulers (led by a frantic joey) leave fairly quickly, however lizzie, joel and jimmy hang back. tango is pleased; he would love to talk to them without an audience of world leaders.
“you did so well!” scott grabs his hand and squeezes, and tango could fly.
“seriously?” he asks, eager. “I wasn’t- i didn’t know if I did anything wrong or-“
“messing with joey is absolutely the right thing to do.” comes joel’s voice, and tango laughs.
“I think I can see now why you don’t like him.” tango grins, nudging scott.
scott seems to have bounced back to semi-formal, but he allows himself a smile. “what’s to like?”
“that was so cool of you to do the whole- goddy thing on him!” tango bounces a little on the spot, and lizzie cackles. “i’ve never see a guy so scared!”
“or lovestruck.” jimmy teases, poking joel in the shoulder.
joel swats his hand away, a fond look on his face. “well, can you blame me?”
“love you too, babe.” lizzie says, and all of a sudden, she shrinks to joel’s height and gives him a kiss on the cheek.
tango squawks in surprise, jumping back a little. “woah! you can do the whole- shrinkimajig?”
“yep!” lizzie says. “of course, it’s a lot easier to be intimidating when you’re ten foot tall.” she grins.
“I can imagine.” tango chuckles. “oh- dude,” he turns to joel. “thanks for covering me with the whole-” he makes a whoosh sound, gesturing to his hair.
“anytime.” joel winks, looking very unsubtly between him and scott. lizzie elbows him.
“why did your fire go off, by the way?” scott asks. “I remember you saying strong emotions set it off sometimes—are you alright?”
shit. “oh- it- it does that sometimes!” tango says hurriedly, trying not to dwell on the fact that scott considers his emotional wellbeing a higher priority than the sanctity of his fairly flammable palace. “y’know- still not entirely used to the overworld. not- not everything is on fire here!”
joel is giving him a look that very expressly says ‘I know exactly how full of shit you are right now’, but scott seems none the wiser as he nods thoughtfully. “i’d never considered that.”
tango breathes a silent sigh of relief. “speaking of- I didn’t do too badly in there, did I?” he asks.
“you did far better than jimmy did on his first time.” joel teases, and tango gets the impression that this is a running joke.
“wh- you-“ jimmy splutters, and lizzie laughs. “okay, I am not to blame for that-“
“you sent a drowned in your place!” lizzie grins. “you could have just said you were ill.”
“honestly, the stench took weeks to go away.” scott laments. “I was half tempted to kill you simply for the emotional damage it caused.”
jimmy looks practically outraged. “the emotional damage-“
tango smiles as he watches the four bicker over formalities and the smell of wet undead, something warm and fuzzy blooming in his chest. they’ve clearly been friends for so long—even as joel and scott seem entirely determined to passive aggressively insult the other into oblivion, and as lizzie and jimmy keep threatening to bite each other. it’s the reassurance that it all really is just jokes and teasing between people who have been through too much together not to be friends.
subconsciously, he leans a little closer to scott as he jumps into the conversation at random intervals, grinning whenever his teases are met with laughter and fake outrage. to his surprise, scott—apparently instinctively—wraps a wing around his shoulders and pulls him closer without even batting an eye. tango tries very hard not to set on fire.
“well, it’s reassuring to hear that I could have done a lot worse.” tango says when he regains the ability to think straight (ha). “I hope I didn’t ruin your reputation in an hour.” he grins at scott.
“oh, hardly.” scott smiles, and man. what tango wouldn’t do to see him smile like that forever. “we’re a lot to deal with, i’ll say that much.” and then scott does something entirely unexpected. he leans down a little, and kisses tango on the cheek, still smiling that gorgeous smile. “i’m proud of you.”
tango seems to forget how to do anything other than laugh breathlessly, half-whispering a, “oh- thanks- thank you!”, and scott’s pale complexion is suddenly replaced with a pink blush. it’s kind of beautiful.
“I- yes, um- jimmy! I need to discuss- uh. private matters, with you.” scott stammers, all formalities dropped. he grabs jimmy’s arm and walks hurriedly out of the room, practically dragging jimmy along with him. “terribly sorry!” he calls over his shoulder.
tango stares at the closed door through which they left for a solid ten seconds, still processing—barely. if his brain was a redstone circuit, he’d be shooting out sparks at a very worrying rate. upon zoning back in, tango notices that he actually is shooting out sparks at a very worrying rate. tango quickly pats his hair out.
“he absolutely would not want me to say this—but if I know scott, and i think i do,” joel says from somewhere over tango’s shoulder. “i’d say that he is completely smitten for you.”
“wh-“ tango squeaks, spinning around on the spot. “seriously?”
“I haven’t seen him look at anyone like that since- well, since jimmy.” lizzie nudges him. “and scott was prepared to kill himself if it’d save jimmy. odds are in your favour here.”
tango huffs to himself, a mix of surprise and hope. “oh.” is all he says. because- well, yeah. oh.
maybe he does have a chance.