Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jimmy… Jimmy…

At first, the voices he heard were indecipherable. But then, as his dream slowly turned back into reality, they became more familiar.

Jimmy opened his eyes, the brightness of the sun nearly blinding him. He squinted his eyes, raising a hand above his head to block the sunlight. As his eyes finally adjusted he slowly began to sit up. As he looked around, he noticed large patches of grass, daisies, dandelions and the occasional poppy flower surrounding him.

It had taken him a moment to finally realize that he had fallen asleep in the flower field.

“Hello, sleeping beauty!” He heard a voice next to him.

As he turned his head, he noticed his best friend Scott sitting next to him and smiling. His soft, silver-blue hair and his rainbow colored tunic added more color to the flower field.

“How long have I been out?” Jimmy asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Only about a half-hour, forty-five minutes.” Scott responded.
“What time is it now?” Jimmy asked.
“It should be close to four o’ clock by now.” Scott said.

Jimmy quickly stood up, Scott grabbing his wrist and gently sitting him back down.

“Relax, you still have plenty of time to get to work.” Scott assured him.
“I know…” Jimmy sighed, “It’s just that it’s starting to get really busy over at the tavern and I’d hate to be late.”
“Well, then at least give it a few more minutes to wake yourself up.” Scott suggested.

Jimmy took his advice. Taking in a few deep breaths and soaking in the views from the hilltop. The spires from atop Red Castle stuck out from behind the trees of the forest. It really was a beautiful view, one Jimmy could never get tired of.

Scott had actually shown Jimmy this spot only a few years ago, and it’s been the area they go to every time they need a break. Ever since Jimmy started working at the tavern, he’s needed to come up here more often. With the traveling season having just started, he’d practically run himself into the ground. So even a few minutes to himself up here kept him sane.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sound of a bird flying over the two of them. His face brightened as he recognized the sound and watched as a yellow bird landed in the flowers in front of him.

A canary.

“Hey little fella!” Jimmy smiled, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you!”

Scott watched as Jimmy started talking to the bird, sometimes making soft whistles at it. He couldn’t help but laugh. He knew Jimmy had a fascination with birds ever since they were both kids, but there was something about this bird that stuck out above the rest. Perhaps at how rare it was, how beautiful its musical chirp was. Either way, the bird made Jimmy extra happy, and it made Scott happy too.

After several moments of chirping and whistling, bells could be heard chiming from the castle signaling the new hour, startling both Jimmy and the canary as it quickly flew away.

Jimmy quickly stood up, “Crap! I’ve gotta head to the tavern!”
Scott stood up, following Jimmy down the hill and into the forest leading into town.
“Think we can do this again tomorrow?” Scott asked.
“Yeah! Sure!” Jimmy responded as he continued running down the hill.

Scott watched as he ran down the hill and disappeared through the trees of the forest. His heart felt a sudden heaviness, as if he was unsure whether or not Jimmy had meant what he said.

Jimmy was rushing to get to work, surely he meant it.
———
Jimmy swung the back door to the tavern open, immediately met with an intimidating stare by Joel, his co-worker and who owned the tavern with his wife Lizzie.

Jimmy smiled sheepishly, “Sorry I’m a bit late.”
“Yeah, well I had just finished serving a whole crowd of people and assigning them rooms all by myself!” Joel shouted. “You being here would’ve done some bloody good here about ten minutes ago!”

Jimmy frowned, he knew he shouldn’t have listened to Scott when he told him to wait a few minutes.

But then, he heard a laugh and felt several pats on his shoulder as Joel started laughing. His intimidating stance

“I’m just messin’ with you, Jimmy it wasn’t all that bad.” Joel smiled.

Jimmy glared at Joel. He could never tell at first whether he was actually joking or not. The only person who could tell was Lizzie. People would often call him the ‘maniac’ of the village because of it. He didn’t mind it though, it only caused him to embrace it even more.

After an awkward moment of silence, Jimmy watched as Joel took out a book from the shelf in the back room and handed it to him. He opened it up to show today’s date and over a dozen signatures scribbled on each line. Only three lines remained blank.

“All but three of the rooms have been booked for tonight.” Joel explained, “If anybody else comes in, it’s first come, first serve.”
“What if someone else comes in?” Jimmy asked.
Joel shrugged, "Unfortunately they’re out of luck. Not the first time we’ve had to turn away guests, it’s not going to be the last.”

Jimmy hated the thought of having to turn guests away, especially if it were late at night. But there was nothing he could do. Especially after the king had to enforce a law after stragglers kept coming in and sleeping in the lobby.

“I’m hoping once the traveling season ends, I can upgrade the tavern and add some more rooms, but I’d have to get permission from the king.” Joel explained. “He likes this place as does the captain so I don’t imagine it being an issue.”

The captain. Jimmy’s old friend Martyn. Someone both he and Scott had hung out with when they were younger. He was more of a troublemaker out of the three of them, and that’s maybe why he joined the militia. But he slowly made his way up the chain until he became second-in-command to the king so surely, it had changed him.

“Anyways, I’m heading home for the night.” Joel chimed in, interrupting Jimmy’s thoughts, “Lizzie will be by around midnight to take over.”

Jimmy nodded, watching as Joel left the tavern, leaving him by himself to run the place. He was still technically new, only having worked a few weeks, so he still wasn’t used to being by himself, especially with travelers' season beginning. Thankfully if anything were to happen and he were to mess something up, Joel and Lizzie were the owners, so he wouldn’t get into too much trouble because of it. But he would still hate to disappoint them.
———
It was about an hour into Jimmy’s shift, and surprisingly not much happened. The book remained untouched as nobody came in to request a room. Jimmy had only served some drinks and a dish or two to a few patrons.

Jimmy had been cleaning up those dishes when he heard the bell from the entrance ringing and a knight entered the tavern. He was only a bit smaller than Jimmy, but braun. blond hair, a black bandana wrapped around his head, wearing chain mail and iron with the Red Kingdom logo attached to the shoulder pads.

Jimmy smiled as he instantly recognized his old friend, Martyn.

Martyn gave a warm, welcoming smile to Jimmy before approaching the counter and sitting on top of one of the stools.

“Didn’t think I would ever see you casually stroll in here.” Jimmy said. He gave a small glass to Martyn, which he immediately refused.
“Yeah, well, it’s not because I want to.” Martyn sighed heavily.
Jimmy raised an eyebrow, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, as captain of the knights and second-in-command to the king, I must inform everybody when something alarming is occurring around the village.” Martyn explained, “As of yesterday, there’s been reports of a beast flying around near a neighboring village to the north.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened, “A flying beast? Like a dragon?”
Martyn shrugged, “We can’t say for sure it’s a dragon, but it definitely sounds like it.”

Jimmy was astonished. He almost didn’t want to believe it. It all sounded like something straight out of the stories he would read as a kid. The thought of possibly seeing a dragon got him excited.

But then, the thought of a dragon possibly destroying the village he grew up in terrified him.

“Did… this dragon hurt anyone?” Jimmy asked.
“Not that we know of, but there’s been reports of fires.” Martyn said. “And if the dragon comes near our village, everyone is going to be evacuated into the castle for precautions.”

Jimmy began feeling less terrified and more relieved knowing that there was now a plan.

Martyn got up off of his stool, went around the counter and approached Jimmy. Normally, people weren’t allowed behind there, but Martyn was second-in-command, so Jimmy was quite confident he was allowed. Hell, Martyn could suddenly decide to rob Jimmy of everything in the tavern and Jimmy would probably have to allow it.

“And I’m saying this to you as a friend, and not as a Captain,” Martyn stated, placing a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder, “If you see anything out of the ordinary, you come right to me.”

Jimmy could see the expression in Martyn’s face change from serious and stern, to a more caring and concerned look. That was the real Martyn speaking just then, not the persona of himself he has to put on as a Captain and second-in-command.

Jimmy smiled and nodded, “Will do, Captain Martyn.”
Martyn smiled back, giving a pat on Jimmy’s shoulder.

“It was great seeing you again, Tim.”

Jimmy froze, the name catching him off guard. He hadn’t been called ‘Tim’ in years. It brought back so many memories from when they all were younger. It felt nostalgic, but also bittersweet.

It made him miss those times.

“Please come back to the tavern whenever you can, drinks will be on me.” Jimmy told Martyn.
Martyn nodded, “Will do…”
“And try to stop by Scott’s place. He’ll be glad to see you.” Jimmy continued.
“I will most certainly try.” Martyn agreed.

Jimmy watched as Martyn gathered himself up, leaving the counter and made his way out of the tavern. The ceiling bell chimed as Martyn opened the door, and chimed once again as he closed it behind him.

It was just him by himself in the lobby yet again.

Chapter Text

The skies lit up a bright pink and orange color as the sun began to set over the horizon. After several minutes, the sunset dissipated and the darkness of the night sky began to take over.

Jimmy was struggling to stay awake behind the counter of the tavern. He had gone through the lobby several times, organizing furniture, dishes, chairs, anything to keep himself occupied but nothing was working. No guests were coming down to get any food or drinks, no travelers were coming to check into the last three rooms the tavern had available. Jimmy was beginning to question if traveler’s season really was as crazy as Joel had mentioned.

He thought back to what Martyn had told him only an hour or two prior. He began to wonder if he should go room to room to let the guests know or not. But he wasn’t sure whether that was allowed. Even if it was, he wasn’t sure if it was something Joel or Lizzie did if they were working instead of him. Did Joel and Lizzie even know what was happening?

Either way, he was too scared to say anything to anybody. He wasn’t one to interact with anybody unless he knew them well. And if he had the ability to say anything, it would surely scare the guests and that’s the last thing he would want is to drive anybody away.

DING! DING!

Jimmy jolted as he heard the sound of the bell chiming by the entrance of the tavern. The door creaked open as travelers began to enter.

Jimmy’s face brightened, finally ready to do something. Even if it was to give directions somewhere in town or to the nearest restroom, he actually had something to do.

He watched as four travelers entered the tavern and started looking around. He raised an eyebrow at their appearance. They were unlike any other traveler he had seen.

One traveler had silver hair, wore a navy blue tunic and pants with an army green vest, with a navy blue bandana wrapped around his head and wearing a black mask. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for a traveler to wear a mask, given the amount of diseases travelers get while traveling, it was probably better to be safe than sorry.

Another traveler next to him, wasting no time to sit down in a chair, had jet black hair. His tunic and white undershirt tore up at the sleeves. He looked like he had been through several fights, especially given the scars on his arms. But the thing that stood out to Jimmy was the red necktie he wore, as if still trying to keep himself formal.

The third traveler was a bit shorter than the others, wearing a red bandana around his head, a white long sleeved shirt and black pants, with holes exposing his kneecaps. He also seemed to wear some type of strap across his body, but it didn’t seem to have anything on it.

Finally, Jimmy laid eyes on the fourth traveler, who was only a few feet away from him, staring at one of the framed photos hung up on the wall. His hair was short, but wavy, bright and blond. The ends of his hair were orange, almost like fire. He wore a maroon tunic with a gray, zip-up vest and wore red gloves.

His eyes. They glowed a scarlet-like color. He had never seen anyone with that type of eye color before.

They looked beautiful.

“Excuse me, uh…” A voice said, “Can we check in?”

Jimmy was startled by the sound of a voice suddenly speaking to him. It was only just then he noticed the traveler with the red bandana was leaned over on the counter, giving Jimmy a confused look.

His heart began to race. He looked over at the traveler, his eyes shifting between him and the blond-haired traveler. There was a good chance he had caught Jimmy staring at his companion, friend, family, whoever he was. What made it worse was that he had no idea how long he had been staring. It may have only been a few quick seconds, but to Jimmy it seemed much longer.

Jimmy’s face grew red, but he tried to remain calm. “Oh… uh… no problem… Lemme uh… just get some documents.”

He quickly rushed to the door behind him and went into the back room. The moment the door slammed shut behind him, he slouched down and hid. His face still felt hot as the embarrassment was still fresh in his mind.

What are you doing you idiot? You’ve only just met these guys and you’re making a fool out of yourself! Cut it out, right now!

Jimmy got up and scrambled to find the book with the reservations on it. He took a deep breath and exhaled as he made his way back out into the lobby.

“Right, sorry about that.” Jimmy began, “I have the list of the available rooms. However, I must let you know that there are only three rooms left. We’re quite booked at the moment.”

The traveler with the red bandana looked back over at the others. He then held up his pointer finger, suggesting Jimmy wait a moment. He did and watched as he made his way back over to the group.

He tried not to listen in on his conversation, but the traveler wasn’t necessarily the quietest person.

“Yeah, he says there’s only three rooms.” He told the group, “Are you guys good with that?”
“I mean, I’m good with it.” The traveler with the black mask shrugged. He looked over at the traveler with the torn clothing, “What about you, Skizz?”
Skizz, the one with the torn sleeves, smiled and nodded, “Heck yeah! Tops and I can share a room!”

Jimmy watched as Skizz jokingly hugged the blond-haired traveler and made kissing noises at him. He was quickly pushed away and met with some awkward laughter by the others.

Tops… was that really the blond-haired traveler’s name?

The traveler who had originally approached Jimmy before came back up to the counter and nodded, “We’ll take them.”
“Okay.” Jimmy said. He opened up the book and handed him a quill, “Just sign the names of each person staying in a room.”

He watched as he signed a name on the first line.

BDubs.

He then looked over to the traveler with the black mask.

“Etho… come over and sign your name for the second room.” He said.

Etho, the traveler with the black mask, nodded and walked over to the counter to sign his name. After he finished, he looked over at Skizz and Tops, both of them making their way up to the counter.

Jimmy’s eyes fixated on Tops once again, drawn especially to his eyes and his hair. He looked amazing, and very much stood out compared to the other travelers he’s come across.

Jimmy… whatever you’re doing… however you’re feeling you’ve gotta knock it off…

He quickly listened to himself and drew his eyes away as Tops seemed to make eye contact with him. It wasn’t helping that he began to fidget in place.

“Do you want us to sign both names or just one?” Skizz asked.
Tops quickly chimed in, “I can sign my name, dude.”

Jimmy was almost caught off guard by the sound of his voice. It was much deeper and a bit raspier than he had originally thought. It actually sent a bit of a shiver down his spine.

He knew he needed a getaway plan. His mind, heart and body were racing.

“It doesn’t matter, just as long as there’s a name.” Jimmy responded, almost in a hurried tone.

Skizz raised an eyebrow at Jimmy for a brief moment before looking down at the book to sign his name. Tops then took the quill to write his name. Jimmy watched as he signed, but couldn’t quite decipher what he was writing.

Tops then simply closed the book and slid it over to Jimmy. He quickly took the book back and switched it with three sets of room keys. He gave one to BDubs, one to Etho, and was going to give the third one to Tops, but Skizz jokingly snatched it from his hands. Tops rolled his eyes, giving Jimmy a smile and a wave.

Jimmy froze, his heart racing a million beats per minute. He couldn’t even muster up the few muscles in his arm to wave back; he was just too flustered. He simply stood and watched as the group made their way down the hall to their rooms.

After they were out of sight, Jimmy could feel his entire body give out from underneath him and he almost fell right onto the floor. Instead of getting up, he just sat there, almost defeated after the complete fool he made of himself.

He had only acted like that one another time…

… and that was years ago, when he had first met Scott.
———
About an hour had passed by. Jimmy wasn’t on the floor anymore, but rather sitting underneath the counter. He would occasionally peek out to see if anybody had somehow entered the lobby, but nobody would be there and he would go back under the counter. He didn’t care at this point if he was caught under there, whether it be by a guest or by Lizzie or Joel. He already had his humiliation for the day.

While his body had finally calmed down, his mind hadn’t. It kept torturing him with everything he had said and done the moment he laid eyes on Tops. All the stuttering, fidgeting, scrambling, and flustering. He felt ridiculous.

Finally, Jimmy attempted to shake off those moments from his head.

“No…” Jimmy mumbled to himself, “You’re going to be different this time. Next time you see him, you’re going to say hello to him, maybe offer him a drink…”

“… No, you idiot. Offer all of them a drink. They had to all endure your humiliation. It’s the least you could do to apologize for the way you acted around them…”

“Hello?”

He froze and quickly grew quiet. He recognized that voice, and in that moment everything he had told himself quickly left his mind.

It was him.

His mind and heart began to race again and he didn’t move.

“Anybody there?”

Jimmy still didn’t move or say anything for at least another minute.

“Okay…” Tops said, almost in defeat, “I guess they’re closed.”
“NO!” Jimmy quickly shouted.

He immediately stood up from under the counter but banged his head in the process. Tears filled his eyes as held his head, he couldn’t tell whether it was from the pain or from the embarrassment.

But he had spoken, and there was no turning back now.

Jimmy rubbed his head and slowly stood up from under the countertop. He could see Tops looking, almost in concern, which made Jimmy turn more red.

“Are… you okay?” Tops asked.
“Y-Yeah…” Jimmy fibbed, “I uh… fell asleep that’s all…”
“Oh… sorry I woke you.” Tango said, “I just thought I’d maybe get a drink if I could.”
“Y-Yeah, absolutely, have a seat.” Jimmy responded, gesturing to the table.

As the pain finally subsided from his head, Jimmy took his hand off of his head and watched as Tops made his way to the counter.

“What would you like?” Jimmy asked.
Tops shrugged, “Whatever you guys have, surprise me.”

Jimmy immediately knew what to do. He quickly grabbed a glass that was hanging up behind him, filled it up with a bit of honey juice and poured some whiskey over it. He mixed the drink together and slid it across the table to Tops along with a straw.

“There we go, the owner’s special, but with my own special twist!” Jimmy exclaimed.
“Oooh! Sounds good!” Tango responded.

Jimmy watched as Tango took a sip out of his glass to see his reaction to it, whether it was good or bad he wanted to know. Tango simply gave a small shrug and set the glass back down at the counter.

“Did… you like it?” Jimmy asked.
“Pretty good!” Tops responded, “What was the twist you added?”
“The whiskey.” Jimmy said.
Tango smiled, “I like it! You should add it!”
Jimmy shook his head, "Trust me, if Joel saw I changed it he would want to kill me.”
“Then I gotta make sure to get it when you’re around I guess.” Tango said, giving a wink.

Jimmy grew red again. He laughed nervously to try and play it off.

“Thanks for letting us have the last rooms.” Tops said, “It’ll be nice to have a place to stay the next few days.”
“Yeah no problem, uh… Tops right?” Jimmy asked.

Tango was silent for a moment, raising an eyebrow. Jimmy grew nervous, fearing he completely got his name wrong.

Suddenly, Tango started laughing hysterically.

“That’s a nickname the guys gave me. Everybody gets it wrong the first time.” Tops laughed.

He then stopped laughing and cleared his throat to compose himself. Jimmy watched as he held his hand out over the counter, in a handshake.

“Please… just call me Tango.”

Tango… that’s not the name he would’ve expected out of him. But as he looked at his bright blond hair, tinged with orange at the ends and his scarlet-colored eyes, something seemed to click for the name to make sense to him.

Jimmy then looked back down at the hand. Was he really going to shake it after everything he’s done to embarrass himself? He almost didn’t deserve it.

But it would only add more awkwardness if he didn’t shake it. It’s already been a few seconds since he offered.

So Jimmy shook it. The grip between the two of them is tight, and almost welcoming.

“Jimmy… My name is Jimmy…”
“Jimmy huh?” Tango said, “I like that name…”

At that moment, Jimmy could feel all the embarrassment and anxiety slowly melt away like a puddle. Now that they knew each other, it felt like a fresh start.

“Sooo… Jimmy.” Tango began, “How long have you worked here?”
Jimmy was caught off guard by the sudden change in conversation, “Oh… uh a couple weeks now.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” Tango laughed, “You seem awfully nervous!”
“Yeah, uh… sorry about that.” Jimmy smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, “I-It’s something I’ve still gotta work on.”
“Hey, no worries…” Tango smiled assuringly, “I know it can take a while for people to adjust to their jobs. And I’m sure with the traveling season just starting, it’s probably crazy!”
“It hasn’t actually been that bad for me today.” Jimmy said. “My co-worker Joel, who owns the tavern, says it was swamped when he was here though.”
“Ahh, so you just got lucky then.” Tango said.
“Yeah, until you guys showed up.” Jimmy joked.

He froze, realizing that maybe the joke was too harsh. That Tango may not understand what he meant. But Tango’s laugh quickly changed all of that.

“That was a good one!”

Jimmy breathed a heavy sigh of relief. If he were to have said that to anybody else, they would’ve been insulted for sure.

“Yeah, we’ve all been traveling together for a few years now. And we’ve surprisingly never gotten tired of one another.” Tango explained.
“How did you guys wind up traveling together?” Jimmy asked.

Tango paused, staring longingly into the empty glass. Jimmy quickly regret asking as he saw Tango’s mood shift from happy to melancholy.

Nonetheless, Tango responded, “Our town was destroyed.”

Jimmy’s heart sank, “Tango, I’m so sorry… what happened?”
Tango was silent for a moment before responding, “If I’m being honest, none of us remember. One moment everything is fine, the next everything is set on fire and people are running for their lives…”

There have been reports of fires…

Martyn’s words from earlier. quickly entered Jimmy’s mind.

“The dragon…” Jimmy mumbled to himself.

Tango’s eyes widened as he heard Jimmy mumbling.

“The… what?” Tango asked nervously.
“A friend of mine came by earlier, who is second in command to the king.” Jimmy explained. “Apparently there have been dragon sightings and reports of fires, but they’re not sure if it’s connected…”

Tango began to shift uncomfortably. Jimmy noticed it almost instantly.

“I-I’m sorry if I made you nervous…” Jimmy pleaded, “I wasn’t really sure whether to mention it to the guests or not to begin with…”
“No, no… it’s fine.” Tango responded. “Just… not a lot of good memories, that’s all.”
“I can imagine…” Jimmy stated. “And you and your friends still have yet to find a place to settle?”
Tango sighed, “We just… haven’t been able to fit in anywhere. We’ve only lasted a few days at each place we go to.”
“Well… you guys are more than welcome to stay here for as long as you need to.” Jimmy assured him. “There are a few nice places here where you and the others could settle.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.” Tango smiled softly, “Your hospitality means a lot to me.”

Tango took a coin out of his pocket and slid it to Jimmy. He stared at the coin momentarily, then shook his head and slid it back to Tango.

“It’s on the house…” Jimmy said.

Tango smiled, the two of them seeming to share glances at one another before Tango slowly got off of his stool and began to walk away. Tango stopped by the archway and turned back around to face Jimmy.

“Think we could do this again sometime?” Tango asked.

Jimmy’s eyes widened, as he thought back to Scott and the flower field.

Jimmy quickly snapped out of it to respond, “Yeah, yeah sure! I’ll be here.”

Tango gave a small wave to Jimmy before going back down the hallway.

Jimmy looked at the glass on the counter for a moment before picking it up to wash it. He then wiped the countertop where Tango had sat when he noticed the coin.

It was still there.

Chapter Text

The conversation with Tango helped his shift go by much quicker. Before he knew it, midnight came around and Lizzie came in through the back entrance to relieve Jimmy of his shift.

“How did the night go?” Lizzie asked, “Did anybody take the last three rooms?”
“Yeah!” Jimmy said, “We’re all booked!”

Lizzie didn’t respond, but instead continued to stare at Jimmy, squinting her eyes a bit as she leaned in closer.

Jimmy began to shift uncomfortably, “L-Lizzie? What are you doing?”
“Something is up with you, Jimmy.” Lizzie smirked, “You seem… too happy for this time of night.”
“Too happy?” Jimmy asked.
“It’s one of the guests isn’t it?” Lizzie asked.

Jimmy was caught off guard by how quickly Lizzie got right into it. It was very like her to do something like that, but Jimmy assumed it was more so for work stuff, not just personal gossip.

“It’s okay, you can say it!” Lizzie continued, “That’s how I met Joel years ago!”
Jimmy sighed. He knew at this point he couldn’t get Lizzie to drop the subject.
“Yes, it’s a guest. He was with the last group of people I checked in. And not too long ago he came in to have a drink.”
Lizzie leaned over with her elbow on the counter, listening with genuine interest, “Go on…”
“I just… I don’t know what it was. I just all of a sudden became a nervous wreck and almost couldn’t function. I haven’t felt that way in years…”
“Sounds like you completely embarrassed yourself.” Lizzie responded.
Jimmy laughed, “You either would’ve laughed at me or slapped me across the face to snap me out of it.”
Lizzie shrugged, “True, very true.”
Jimmy continued, “But…he’s only a guest. I can’t feel this way about somebody who might not even be here tomorrow!”

Jimmy frowned as he said that. Lizzie noticed and grew more sincere.

“Well… when I first visited this tavern, I was only going to be here for a night or two.” Lizzie explained, “But then Joel introduced himself to me and decided to show me around town. He was a mess just like you were.”
She nudged playfully at Jimmy, who rolled his eyes. “But because of that, what was only supposed to be a night or two turned into a week. Then I would come down here more, specifically to see Joel. His family would even make sure a room was available for me when I visited. Then, it all went up from there.”

Jimmy grew hopeful as Lizzie told her story. Maybe if he made an impression on Tango, even just a small one, maybe he would stay longer. Even if they couldn’t stay, hopefully he would at least come back in the future.

But then he thought of Scott. The boy he had fallen deeply in love with before only to remain as friends. Now his feelings for him are far gone, having moved onto another. One who may not even feel the same way, or one who he may also end up falling out of love with.

“But…What if he doesn’t like me back? Or what if I lose interest in him?” Jimmy asked.
“Don’t focus on any of that, you’ll only hurt yourself more.” Lizzie said. “Focus on the things that you can do with him now, and try to make the most of it.”
“I just hope I can do it.” Jimmy mumbled.
“I know you can.” Lizzie responded, “You just need to build some more confidence, and it’ll start by going home and getting some rest.”

Jimmy looked at the clock, 12:15am. He really did need to head back home.

Jimmy looked back at Lizzie and smiled, “You’re right, thanks Lizzie.”

As Jimmy walked away from the counter and out the back door, he could hear Lizzie calling for him and he turned to face her.

“What does this guest look like?” Lizzie asked.
“You’ll know right away.” Jimmy said.

Lizzie smiled and winked at Jimmy. He was a bit concerned as to what she may or may not have planned, but at this time of the night, he didn’t really care.

As he left the tavern and made his way back home, he could feel all the energy he felt earlier that evening turn itself into exhaustion. The moment he entered his home, he stumbled his way up the steps and into his bed, where he almost instantly fell asleep.
———
Jimmy…. Jimmy… Jimmy…

He could hear the voices saying his name, followed by more incoherent whispering.

No matter what he tried to do, he couldn’t understand what they were telling him.

He tried looking around through the darkness to try and find an answer, but all that could be seen, or heard rather, were the whispers.

But they finally spoke something other than his name.

Jimmy… He’s coming for you…

“Who’s he?” He asked.

He got no response.

“WHO IS HE?”

Lights suddenly flashed all around him. Through the strobe of lights he could decipher what looked to be a winged beast.

The dragon.

Martyn’s words about the dragon rang throughout his head again alongside the voices…

… And then there was silence.
———
Jimmy opened his eyes. Everything around him was quiet except for the small chime coming from his wall clock. He didn’t move and just listened to the number of chimes.

Fourteen.

He slept until two o’clock in the afternoon.

This was the first time he had slept decently in a while. But the dream he had certainly didn’t feel like it. The shadow of the winged beast still lingered in his mind. Jimmy knew it was a dream, but Martyn’s warning made it seem all too real. The voices in his dream, growing louder and a bit more incoherent, forming actual sentences.

He’s coming for you…

He never got a straight answer, and with the way the voices spoke he probably won’t know until it’s too late.

He got startled by a sudden knock on the door. Jimmy quickly got up out of bed to answer it. As he opened the door, he was greeted by Scott.

It was just then that he realized he forgot about the flower field.

“Hey Jimmy, are you doing okay?” Scott asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jimmy responded, “I just woke up only a few minutes ago.”
“That late?” Scott asked, almost surprised.
“Yeah, it was a bit of a crazy night last night.” Jimmy responded.
“You got a lot of guests, huh?” Scott asked.
“No, actually not really.” Jimmy claimed. “I had four guests but only had three rooms. It was quite the dilemma but I got it figured out.”
“Lemme guess, two of them had to share a room?” Scott asked.
Jimmy nodded, “Yeah, they were kind of joking about it, so it worked out.”

There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Scott shifted around a bit before speaking.

“So… I take it we’re not doing the flower field today?” Scott asked.
Jimmy nodded, "No, I'm sorry Scott. If I had been awake earlier I would’ve been there.”
“I-It’s fine, we can do it some other time.” Scott assured him.
“Alright, just let me know.” Jimmy said.

Jimmy was about to close the door when he heard Scott call his name again. As he opened the door and made eye contact with Scott once more, he could see him grow nervous. Words were meant to be spoken, but they wouldn’t come out.

“I… uh… might stop by the tavern later on if that’s alright with you.” Scott finally spoke.
Jimmy nodded, “Alright, that’s fine.”

Jimmy watched as Scott seemed to have a defeated look on his face, “I’ll see you then.” He simply responded before walking off.

Jimmy closed the door, confused as to why Scott was acting like that. Scott was never the type of person to be scared of anything, at least around him.

He then thought back to the way he felt last night when he first laid eyes on Tango, and when he had spoken to him. That was exactly how he felt.

A sense of dread came over him at the thought of Scott possibly hiding feelings from Jimmy. Not only because he knew he wouldn’t feel the same, but because now he possibly had his eyes on someone else.
———
He entered through the back doors of the tavern. Joel was wiping off the countertop after just having served some travelers.

“Hey Jimmy.” Joel said, “Heard you had quite the night last night.”
Jimmy sighed, “Of course Lizzie told you.”
“Yeah, and she gave those four guests free breakfast this morning before I came in.” Joel explained, “Delivered it to their rooms and everything.”

Jimmy wasn’t surprised at all by that. He knew she would do something like that. However, he was surprised that she didn’t go overboard with it.

Jimmy then felt Joel put his arm around his shoulder, “Listen Jim. I’m all for you going out there to try and impress somebody, but I don’t want it to get in the way of business in the tavern.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow, “I had nothing to do with that free breakfast this morning. That was all your wife.”
“Yeah, but she’s my wife, and I can’t be annoyed with her about it.” Joel said.
Jimmy rolled his eyes and couldn’t help but laugh, “Okay fine, I’ll make sure I don’t do any more freebies.”
Joel patted Jimmy’s shoulder, “Thanks Jim, I’ll catch ya later!”

Jimmy watched as Joel packed up his things and headed out the back door of the tavern.

As the back door closed and Jimmy turned back around to face the lobby, he noticed the four travelers entering the lobby from the hallway. They all stopped and smiled as they noticed Jimmy.

“Hey! That was quick!” BDubs said, “The other guy must’ve been in a rush to get outta here.”
Jimmy shrugged, “Yeah well, that’s Joel for ya.”
“Hey listen, thanks for the free breakfast this morning!” Skizz said, “We really needed that after all the traveling last night.”
“Oh don’t thank me, that was Lizzie!” Jimmy responded.
“Really?” Etho asked, “Because on the letter we got it said it was all from you.”

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, and was almost about to question further when the realization settled.

Lizzie passed off her own idea as his. And now he had to play it out like he knew what they were talking about.

“Oh yeah!” Jimmy remarked, “I had suggested it, and she went through and cooked it all for you, so I can’t really take all the credit.”
“Well either way, we very much appreciate it.” Tango said, “This place has been great so far.”
Jimmy smiled as the two of them looked at one another, “I’m glad you like it, and I hope you can stay for a bit.”

There was a moment of silence as the four of them exchanged glances at one another, almost upset. Jimmy could tell something was wrong, but before he could respond, one of them spoke up.

“Yeah, we’ll have to think about it.” Jimmy could hear Etho respond, “But in the meantime, we’re gonna go and look around for a bit.”
“Okay.” Jimmy simply responded as he watched the group leave the tavern.

He could see Tango hesitate a bit, exchanging a quick glance to Jimmy before leaving with the others.

Jimmy grew worried, wondering if anything he might have said may have upset them. He only said that he was hoping they could stay longer.

… or maybe they knew they weren’t staying long and didn’t want to say anything.

As he kept constantly thinking about it, he could hear Lizzie like a voice of reason in his mind.

”Don’t focus on that… you’ll only hurt yourself more…”
———
As dusk began around the village, Jimmy continued working throughout the tavern. He had served some guests, cleaned some rooms and cleaned the lobby. He looked over at the time, almost seven-thirty at night. Still no sign of Scott, and Tango and his friends still haven’t returned.

As he made his way back behind the counter, he could hear the doorbell ring and the door opening. What he at first thought was Scott or the four travelers ended up being a single traveler. He was a bit shorter than him, had short, light brown hair and wore a simple red tunic, black pants and a dark cloak.

It wasn’t anybody that was staying in the tavern, and Jimmy was hoping he wasn’t about to ask for a room because he would hate to have to turn him away.

But instead, he simply approached the counter and sat on one of the stools.

“Can I help you with anything?” Jimmy asked.
“Just water, please.” The young looking traveler responded.

Jimmy nodded, grabbing some ice and turning the faucet as cold water poured out of it. He slid it across the counter to the traveler.

All he did at first was sit and stare at it.

The traveler spoke again, “You don’t by any chance know of a place to stay, do you?”
Jimmy sighed, “Sadly, we’re all booked up here.”
“It’s just that with this beast lurking around, I don’t want to take any chances.” The traveler explained.
“That’s understandable.” Jimmy said.

He noticed the lone traveler continuing to stare down at the glass of water. Was he going to drink it? Was he scared it was somehow contaminated?

Or perhaps he was nervous…

He didn’t want him to be out by himself, especially when it grew dark out and if he still didn’t have a place to stay.

“Hey, if I were you, I would look around town and see if anybody can take you in for the night.” Jimmy suggested, “And if they can’t, head straight for the castle and ask for Martyn. Explain the situation to him and how I sent you there, and he should offer a place in the castle to stay.”
“The castle?” The young traveler asked, “You really think they’d let me stay there?”
“It’s probably the safest place, given your concerns.” Jimmy nodded.
“Okay, I’ll consider it.” The young traveler said.

Jimmy watched as the young traveler stood up from his stool, giving Jimmy a small coin as a tip.

“Thank you for your help, goodnight.” The traveler said before leaving the tavern.

Jimmy looked down at the glass of water. His eyes widened as he realized the glass was empty. The traveler had never touched it once the few minutes he was there.

Jimmy looked at the coin, a strange inscription on both sides. One side had a drawing of an eye, the other was of a rectangle with two dots on the corners.

He had never seen this type of coin before. He wasn’t even sure if it was real.

Jimmy…

He jolted and looked around, finding no sign of anybody in the lobby or behind the counter who could’ve called his name.

Jimmy…

The whisper was softer this time, but he immediately recognized the whisper.

It was the whispers from his dreams…

They slowly began to trickle into his head, followed by a ringing noise that started out soft, then grew louder as the seconds passed.

Everything around him started to spin, he almost couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore.

Then he felt himself hit the ground, everything growing black around him.

Chapter Text

“Sir? Sir?”

Jimmy opened his eyes. At first, he thought he was dreaming, but then as his vision became clearer he recognized the layout around him. He was laying down in between the counter and the cupboards, staring up at the ceiling and the small fan spinning around.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed a figure approach him. It was one of the guests staying in the tavern. He only knew him as BigB from the short conversation he had with him two nights ago.

“Hey are you alright?” BigB asked.
“I… I think so.” Jimmy responded.

Jimmy slowly started sitting up, the side of his head throbbing and he laid back down.

“Hey take it easy, you had a pretty bad fall.” BigB explained. “Somebody went and got help. They should be here soon.”

Almost immediately, the door swung open and Jimmy could hear footsteps running over to them. He could see both Lizzie and Joel running by his side.

“Jimmy! Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Lizzie asked.
“Yeah, I think I’m okay.” Jimmy responded, “My head hurts though…”
“One of the guests came and told us you had fainted.” Joel explained, “They said you might’ve hit your head on the countertop.”

Lizzie ran to the back room and came back out with a pack of ice, placing it on the side of his head.

“You’ve got a pretty nasty bump right there.” Lizzie said, “Besides the head hurting, do you feel anything else?”
“No.” Jimmy responded.
“Do you remember what happened before?” Joel asked.

Jimmy thought back to the young guest who he had served water to. How he somehow drank water without touching it, left immediately afterwards, and left the strange coin behind before he passed out.

Then, he remembered the voices in his head. They sounded exactly like the voices from his dreams. Before he could only hear them there, but now he could hear them while he was awake, and it seemed to have consequences.

He thought back to the coin again. Were the two of them connected?

“I… had given a traveler water.” Jimmy finally responded, unsure of how long he was silent. “And then right after he left, that’s when I grew dizzy and fainted.”
“I had heard him hit the ground and that’s when I came out and found him and got my friend to get some help.” BigB added.

Joel went and grabbed Jimmy by the arm, hearing Lizzie thank BigB profusely in the background.

“You okay to stand?” Joel asked.
“Yeah, I feel fine.” Jimmy nodded.
“Then Joel can help take you home, I’ll stay here and take over.” Lizzie suggested.

Jimmy looked over at Joel, who nodded in agreement.

“Okay, thanks guys…” Jimmy said as Joel walked with Jimmy out of the tavern.

There was a hint of orange still left as the darkness of the night sky began to take over. The lamps in the village lighting up every pathway.

“Hey, don’t worry about coming in tomorrow.” Joel assured Jimmy, “Lizzie will take over the rest of your shift and I’ll take over tomorrow.”
Jimmy frowned, “You guys don’t have to do that. I’m sure I’ll be fine by the time I have to work.”
“Hey, it’s not like we haven’t spent years running the place by ourselves before you started here.” Joel responded, “This is nothing to us.”

Jimmy thought back to his conversation with Tango last night, and it gave him an idea.

“Joel… last night when I was talking to one of the guests, Tango, he had told me that he and his friends don’t really have a proper place to stay.” Jimmy explained. “Do you think… maybe they could work at the tavern?”
“What? Are you looking for a reason to flirt with him more?” Joel asked.

Jimmy was a bit taken aback by Joel’s response, although he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“If I’m being honest with you though Jimmy, as much as I’d love to help them all out, we can’t really afford to hire somebody else right now.” Joel explained, “I can try to give a good word out to anybody else who may be hiring, but the four of them would have to be okay with it as well.”
“Do you think you or Lizzie could ask?” Jimmy asked.
Joel sighed, “I’d rather not, considering they are guests at my establishment. But knowing Lizzie, she would probably be all for it, so I’ll ask her.”
“Thanks Joel.” Jimmy smiled.

As they finally made it over to Jimmy’s house, the two of them exchanged farewells and Jimmy was about to go inside of his house when he heard Joel call his name once more.

Jimmy watched as Joel reached into his pocket and handed him something.

The coin.

“BigB told us that was apparently a tip that the guest had left you before you passed out.” Joel said. “Thought you would like it.”

Jimmy looked down at the coin again.

Jimmy…

He could suddenly feel his head spinning once again.

“Right, uh… yeah. Thank you Joel.” Jimmy quickly responded before rushing through the front door.

He stumbled up the stairwell and into his bedroom, his mind racing and confirming his suspicions about the voices. If he was going to pass out again, the least he could do was make it to his own bed.

He quickly located his bed through the darkness inside of his house and laid down, waiting for the moment where he would black out once again.

But neither happened. He just kept hearing his name.

Jimmy… look out.

Jimmy sat up in his bed, thrown off at the voice saying something other than his name.

Look out? Look out for what?

He slowly got up out of bed and made his way down the steps to the common area. He stopped as he heard the voice again.

Look out…

The window. It was right next to him. He slowly turned his head and looked. At first, he could see nothing. But as he approached the window closer and cupped his hands to get a better look out in the darkness, he could see something.

A figure.

It wore a dark cloak with a hood over its head and was standing, almost staring at him.

The dark cloak looked familiar. He had seen the lone traveler from before wearing it, but he couldn’t determine if it was him.

He walked away from the window, approaching the front door, slowly opening it and walking out. He took a few steps away from his house to see if he could see the figure, but the light emitting from the lampposts nearby blocked out the darkness ahead.

As he took a few steps further away from his house and away from the lampposts, he could see the figure again. It was still just standing there, although its back was turned this time.

“H-Hey, what are you doing all the way out here?” Jimmy asked.

The figure didn’t respond. Jimmy almost didn’t want to get closer, but he found himself continuing to move.

As he was a few feet away from the cloaked figure, it began to run into the forest in front of them.

No… I can’t go in there, he thought to himself. But he still found himself continuing to walk. He became confused. He still felt in control of his body. He could stop when he wanted and go if he wanted to, but he found himself not turning around to go back home.

Perhaps it was simply curiosity about the mysterious figure keeping him going.

He finally stopped as there was a break in the trees. He had stopped right at the flower field. The place where he was supposed to meet Scott today but couldn’t.

Maybe it was the guilt of turning him down.

But then he saw the figure once again past the flower field, and he kept running.

As complete darkness surrounded him once again from the trees blocking any sense of moonlight, he froze as he suddenly heard shouting off in the distance.

He kept hearing shouting coming from numerous people. As if they may have been arguing. But it was too loud for a simple argument.

Then he heard a roar, and his heart skipped a beat.

The dragon. It was here, and at least a mile or two away from the village.

He needed to go back, he needed to warn Martyn.

But that mysterious figure. What if the shouting came from it? He at least wanted to find it first.

He kept running through the darkness, until he came across an orange glow in the distance. The shouting was louder and it seemed to come from the direction of the orange glow.

He slowed down his pace but kept going in the same direction. The temperature around him slowly began to rise, the shouting continued and grew closer.

Finally, he could actually see the source of the orange glow. Flames. They were spreading slowly, but violently.

A silhouette could be seen near the flames trying its best to douse the flames however he could. But it wasn’t the cloaked figure that he had seen earlier. The person in the silhouette wore a bandana.

BDubs.

“BDUBS! QUIT DOUSING THE FLAMES! WE NEED TO TRY AND HOLD HIM DOWN!” He could hear a voice shout.

He watched as BDubs ran off. Jimmy followed behind him, ever so slightly as to not be seen, then almost immediately froze.

The dragon, it was right there in front of them. He could only see up to its wings but its body was dark, its wings black but with red veins coursing to its tips. Its tail was long, with small, red spikes sticking out throughout.

He looked back over at BDubs, who was now with two other people.

Etho and Skizz.

He watched as they were all pulling what looked like one big, giant chain together. With each pull, the dragon let out a guttural growl, attempting to fight back.

Why were they here? What were they trying to do with the dragon?

And… where was Tango??

Jimmy moved ever so closer to get a better look until he was almost directly behind the others. He almost wanted to jump out and help them, but that would probably ruin whatever plan they may have. He wanted to run back out into the village to warn the others…

But then he got a better look at the dragon.

The top of its head was covered in bright, yellow flames with orange tinging at its ends. Its eyes glowed an almost scarlet red.

Scarlet red eyes, bright yellow hair.

Jimmy’s heart sunk ever so deep.

No… It couldn’t be…

“LOOK OUT!”

Jimmy looked out from behind the tree. Etho, BDubs and Skizz all scattering as a giant ball of fire came out of the dragon’s mouth and was careening right towards him,

Jimmy quickly jumped back as an explosion rang out in front of him, losing consciousness the moment his body hit the ground.
———
Jimmy opened his eyes, barely even having time to process whatever was happening as an unbearable, burning pain ran from his torso down to his abdomen. It hurt to take even the shallowest of breaths, and he knew he wasn’t going to be conscious much longer, maybe even alive.

All he could do was let out moans, which seemed to draw attention to somebody.

“Crap! He’s awake!” He could hear somebody say. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Skizz running to grab something and then knelt down besides Jimmy, “Hey, hey. Try not to move too much, alright?”

All he could do at that moment was let out a loud moan, fighting through the pain.

“JIMMY!”

Jimmy slowly turned his head in the direction he heard his name. Just a few feet next to him was Tango. He was lying on his stomach, his hands tied up behind him as well as his feet. Tears were strolling down his face.

“Jimmy! Please be okay, I’m so sorry that this had to happen!” He heard Tango cry.
“Tops! Knock it off, dude!” Skizz hissed.

Even through his physical pain, he could feel his heart hurting to see Tango chained up like a prisoner, or like some animal.

Jimmy could feel himself start to lose consciousness again, but he tried to fight it off.

He struggled to speak, but could finally let out two words.

“P-Please… stop hurting Tango…”

Everything went black around him.
———
Jimmy opened his eyes. The burning pain that he had felt when he first woke up was now met with numbness. The same type of numbness that he would feel if he accidentally burned himself while working the stove at the tavern. But this was throughout his entire body.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. There was still pain, but it was bearable. He sat himself up, feeling sharp, burning pains as he moved around but quickly subsided after he had stopped.

He looked around, realizing he was still in the forest. It was still dark outside with a hint of sunrise on the east. The trees around him were burnt up, some of them still emitting smoke, but otherwise there wasn’t a flame in sight. The fire hardly did as much damage as he originally thought.

He looked over to where Tango had been laying down before. He wasn’t there, neither was BDubs or Etho.

“They went back to the tavern.” Jimmy heard a voice say. Jimmy turned around, noticing Skizz was still there.
“He wasn’t tied up anymore, was he?” Jimmy asked.
Skizz shook his head.
“Why did you guys do that to him?” Jimmy asked.

Skizz walked over to Jimmy, “How about you explain to me how you ended up all the way out here?”

Jimmy froze. Immediately thinking of the figure he had been chasing. It had slipped his mind the moment he came across the four of them, and saw Tango in dragon form.

Where did it go after he discovered Tango? Did it continue to wander off… Did it sit back and watch somewhere? He couldn’t just tell Skizz he was chasing after a mysterious figure, it would only raise more questions… and there was already so much going on as it is.

“I… went for a walk and wandered too far.” Jimmy simply responded.

Jimmy slightly cringed at his response. There was no way that Skizz was going to buy that. But Skizz actually never questioned it. Instead, Jimmy watched as Skizz paced around the forest, a look of stress across his face as he ran his fingers through his hair and down his neck.

After several moments, Skizz stopped to face him, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Listen, what I’m about to tell you, you better not tell a single soul, not even the others, got it?” Skizz asked.

”If you see anything out of the ordinary, you come right to me…”

Martyn had told Jimmy that before. And he was very tempted to do so after what he saw here.

But he wasn’t going to do that. Not to Skizz, Etho or BDubs, and especially not to Tango… who suffered the most from it all.

“I won't say a single word.” Jimmy nodded.

Skizz helped Jimmy up. The sharp, burning pain made Jimmy wince in pain and stumble. Skizz took Jimmy’s arm and placed it around his shoulder as a crutch and the two of them finally started walking out of the forest.

It took a few minutes of walking, but finally Skizz spoke.

“It was… a deal with a demon.” Skizz began.
Jimmy raised an eyebrow, “A demon?”
Skizz nodded, “Long story short, our town was destroyed along with everybody and everything we’ve ever loved. Tops somehow came across this mysterious figure, who offered him the entire town and its people to be restored in exchange for his soul. He instantly took the deal out of desperation, but neither ended up happening. And not only was Tango’s soul still taken, he was cursed to become a dragon.”
“Oh my god…” Jimmy frowned, “That’s awful…”
“Yeah…” Skizz said, “Every third night, Tango has to transform into a dragon, and the three of us have been the one to try and keep him under wraps so nobody would know. Sadly, it’s only worked a few times and that’s why we’re constantly moving. Because if he’s discovered as a dragon, it’ll be over for him.”
“I won’t let that happen.” Jimmy immediately responded.

Skizz stopped and looked over at Jimmy. He had almost thought he was joking, but he was serious.

“And what do you think you can do?” Skizz asked.
“I know someone,” Jimmy explained, “Someone who works for the Red Kingdom and who can help us, and he’s second in command to the king.”
“Hell no!” Skizz argued, “You may trust those people but we don’t! They will kill anybody or anything that is considered a threat to them.”
“If you can give it a chance, I can talk to Martyn to figure out the best course of action. He might be able to figure out a better way to tame Tango while he’s a dragon. Or better yet, he might be able to find somebody who might have a cure for this curse.”
“There are no cures for curses.” Skizz stated.
“Okay, but even if it’s something that’s temporary. Something that will keep Tango as a human for more than three days, or something that will keep Tango stable whenever he’s in his dragon form. Anything that could possibly give him a better life.”

Skizz was silent for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh.

“Listen, Jimmy I’m just going to cut right to the chase.” Skizz said, “We know that you feel something towards Tango. And I can tell that after everything that’s happened, he might feel a certain way about you as well.”

A lump formed in Jimmy’s throat. He could not have had confirmation over Tango reciprocating his feelings for him at a worse time. He wanted to be boastful, excited, celebrating. But instead, he had to find out through a curse.

“But Tops… Tango… is our best friend.” Skizz continued, “And there is no way we’re going to risk having him killed or treated like some type of animal for an experiment.”
“Says the one who kept him chained up earlier…” Jimmy mumbled under his breath.
“Hey, the others and I don’t like doing it, but it’s the only way to make sure he doesn’t do anything to hurt us or…” Skizz responded, pausing as suddenly choked up.
Jimmy quickly regret his mumbling from earlier, “I’m… I’m sorry, Skizz…”

Skizz was silent for a moment, looking contemplative. He then looked back at Jimmy.

“Jimmy, you might be right.” Skizz said. “We need to get some form of help, but I really don’t know if the higher-ups are a good idea.”

Jimmy paused, seeming to think of something.

“I might know someone else who can help you guys.” Jimmy told Skizz, “It all needs to be arranged, but I think it can be done before his next transformation. I know you guys are probably wanting to leave, but please stay a little longer while I work this out.”

Skizz thought about it for a few moments, but finally nodded.

“Ok, I’ll try and discuss it with them.” Skizz said. “But from here on out, anything we say or do, stays between us, alright?”
Jimmy nodded, “Yes. I promise.”

As they reached the break in the forest by the flower field, Skizz and Jimmy looked over the hilltop, the sky brightening up as the sun was just about to peak over the horizon.

Skizz turned to Jimmy, “You think you could walk a little bit faster?”
Jimmy nodded, “I think I’m okay to walk by myself now.”

Jimmy let go of Skizz’s shoulder, Skizz’s arms still outstretched in case he fell over. But Jimmy’s balance was normal again, both of them breathing a huge sigh of relief.

They both trekked down the hillside and made their way into the village. Nobody was out of their houses yet, so nobody was there to see Jimmy wounded and patched up. As Jimmy approached his house, Skizz was about to part ways when Jimmy spoke up once more.

“I might have to stop by the tavern in a bit.” Jimmy explained, pointing to the bandage on his arm, “I’m gonna come up with something for this.”
“Yeah, you better.” Skizz responded harshly, but with a bit of sarcasm.
“And Skizz… thank you for everything.”
Skizz shook his head, “No… Thank you for helping us.”

Jimmy watched as Skizz turned and ran towards the direction of the tavern before entering his home. He made his way to the sofa in the common area and slouched back in it. He had never been happier to be sitting in his own home again, mainly because he thought he wouldn’t be back.

It didn’t take long for Jimmy’s mind to begin thinking about the plan he had set for Tango.

It was entirely doable. There were only two things that concerned him about the plan.

He had to find the person who could potentially help Tango…

… And that required asking Scott.