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Jimmy was disappointed, to say the least. Being told there was going to be a reroll on whoever his soulmate was gonna be made him feel.. as if all he had done now at the ranch was all for nothing. After bringing up a warden, too.
Jimmy and Tango stood across from each other, the two of them having sheepish smiles on their faces as they pulled each other into a hug. "This changes nothing between us, right?" Jimmy asked, still nervous about this. What would happen if it was Jimmy and his soulbound against Tango and his soulbound? Jimmy sighed, shaking the thought away.
He was sure he wouldn't get that far in the game anyway. The yellow, nearly golden wings that were on his back reminded him of that.
"Of course not! We're still friends, Jim. Even though we aren't soulbound anymore, it doesn't mean we aren't soulmates." Jimmy smiled at the reassurance. "Thanks." And as if on cue, a message in chat read that the soulmates had been rerolled.
Jimmy pinched himself and looked up to see if Tango felt it. With a sheepish smile, Tango shook his head. "Well, good luck on finding your soulbound." The man said as he began to walk away, leaving the canary to stand in the middle of the ranch, alone.
"Good luck to you too, Tango." Jimmy replied, even despite how much it hurt him to say.
_____
Pearl sat up in her tower, and despite getting the message that told her the soulmates had been rerolled, she didn't bother getting up and looking out for them, if anything, she felt bad for the poor soul who was bound to her. She knew that they wouldn't want to be her soulmate, so why bother going and looking out for someone who didn't even want anything to do with her?
She flinched when she felt something pinch her arm.
Though it's not like she had much of a choice when Jimmy suddenly barged into her tower, making her jump up in surprise, Tilly growling and ready to pounce at whoever decided to grace her withe their presence. Pearl calmed but quickly glared when she noticed who it was.
"Jimmy. What do you want?" The woman asked, her dog barking along with her words as she stood up, her red cape gracefully wrapping her figure. "Well- Er, I come here peacefully, don't worry, I'm just trying to figure out my new soulmate, and you just happened to be close by after I checked with a few people, so I thought-" Pearl cut him off with a sigh.
"Alright then, I'll do it." She said, pinching her skin and biting her lip as she did so, but her shot up when she heard Jimmy suck in a breath. "Ow!" Jimmy whined, rubbing where she had pinched herself on his own arm. "Oh!" Jimmy suddenly realized what that meant, eyes wide. "Were soulbound!" He laughed out, a smile on his face.
"Oh." Pearl mumbled.. unsure how to feel about this. "That's great?" She asked rather than stated. "So.. this where ya stayin'?" He asked, hands on his hips as he checked out the place, whistling. "Seems pretty small for the two of us." Pearl's brows furrowed. "What? You're not moving in. Are you?" She asked, confused. She wanted someone here with her, sure. She hated being isolated, but.. did Jimmy actually want to be with her?
"Do you want me to?" Jimmg asked, suddenly frowning and stepping back. "No!" Pearl shouted and gave a soft gasp, covering her mouth. "No- I just meant.. you actually want to be here. With me. Aren't you.. disappointed?" Pearl asked, hands balled up at her sides, nails digging into her own skin before realizing that Jimmy could feel it too, stopping quickly after.
"No? Why? Are- Are you? I know I've always died first, but -" Oh void, this is what Jimmy was scared of. Everybody thinks he's just dead weight, an anchor that'll inevitably drag them down. "No! Oh void, no, not that. It's just.. I'm me, Jimmy. I'm the Scarlet Witch, I'm a mad-woman!" She said, hands in the air, emphasizing what she's saying.
"Says who? You? You don't seem mad to me." Jimmy said, tapping his chin, and she groans. "No, I mean - to everyone else, I'm a curse, Jimmy." She sighed, and Jimmy hummed. "Oh." He said, finally getting it. "Well, I am too." Pearl's eyes snap forward yet again, meeting Jimmy's strikingly green eyes. She shook her head. Green? Didn't he.. oh, right, the reroll.
"Canary curse?" She asked.
"Canary curse." He echoed back, solemnly nodding.
"Well.. seems like the perfect match to me." She mumbled, smiling a little, and for once, it wasn't because she was causing harm to others. Tilly had calmed down by this point but still stood her ground until Pearl called her over, petting her fur.
"Yeah." Jimmy says, smiling, and Pearl smiles back.
Finally, she thinks, a soulmate.
Pearl watches Jimmy as he looks around the place, scouting where everything was, his eyes meeting Tilly, and he was quick to ask her to pet her. She nodded and let him, smiling when Tilly quickly warmed up to the man despite being so hostile towards him earlier.
Pearl isn't even mad when he knocks them down a life, or when they get to red, just happy to have someone there with her, to have someone to share her bloodlust with, to have someone to kill with.
Surprisingly, they aren't the first to die, nor the second, or the third. And eventually, it's just them two. Pearl is confused. Did they both win? It's only when she sees Jimmy with TNT in she scared, her eyes wide as she sucked in a sharp breath. "Jimmy." She said, voice shaken, her red eyes staring into Jimmy's own red, they used to be green her mind supplied. When they first found out the were soulbound.
"You deserve to win, Pearl." Jimmy said, lighting the TNT.
Pearl brought her arms up to brace herself for the blow, the pain it would bring.
Only when she was met with nothing did she open her eyes, her clenched fist now clenching a timer.