Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jimmy sat on the soft, cloud-like hotel bed, and although the bed was everything he could’ve dreamed of, he was unable to sleep. His mind was a flurry of nerves, excitement and fear, and he didn’t know how to calm it.

He turned to his close friend Joel, the green streak in his hair catching his eye immediately.

“Joel, are you awake?”

“Whats up loser? Can’t stop thinking about Scott?”

“I- Also that, but I can’t sleep. I’m too nervous for tomorrow.”

“Well, you’d better find a way to sleep, or else your wedding day is gonna be hell.”

Joel paused, then added “You can borrow my headphones, but I will murder you if you forget to charge them after.”

Jimmy sighed with relief - he wouldn’t be totally sleep deprived for the ceremony.

“Thanks Joel. I’ll give them back tomorrow.”

“You better,” Joel said with a chuckle. “Good night nerd.”

“Good night, Joel.”

“Dude, you good? You are NOT looking your best right now.”

Scott took in several deep breaths, trying to calm himself, but to no avail.

After a moment, he said “Yes? No? My hands are shaking right now Martyn! Help me! I can’t find my bow!”

“You mean… your bow tie?”

“Yes!!!”

Martyn sighed. “Scott… you’re wearing it. Right now. Like, it’s on your shirt as we speak. You want a KitKat or something? You are a MESS.”

Scott ran to the nearest mirror to check, and sure enough, it was there. Feeling like a fool, he turned to Martyn, dumbfounded.

“I think I’ll take your chocolate.

Martyn cackled with glee, and threw the KitKat at him. “Best not to work yourself up before the big moment, ey? Try to have fun with Jimmy!”

Before Scott could respond, the churchyard bell rang. The wedding had begun.

Jimmy locked eyes with Scott from across the pews, his beautiful blue hair and all, and felt butterflies rush through him. “This is it,” he thought, “this is the moment. Our moment.”

Scott’s black polished boots tentatively stepped down the aisle, nearing Jimmy. His face began to flush slightly as they both came closer to the podium - he would finally be marrying the blonde haired sheriff that he loved.

From just behind the podium, Joel and Martyn watched in awe and pride, seeing their closest friends up on that stage, about to be together forever. Joel was getting close to tears, although he would never admit it, and Martyn was smiling - from ear to ear - at Scott; he was watching his best friend’s dream come true.

“Scott Smajor, do you take this man, Jimmy Solidarity, to be your husband for life?”

Scott grinned at Jimmy and winked. “I do.”

“And Jimmy Solidarity, do you take this man, Scott Smajor, to be your husband for life?”

Jimmy glanced shyly at Scott, before letting out an quiet, yet loving smile. “I do.”

The congregation of friends burst into applause.

Chapter Text

They were in a field of flowers, surrounded by ochre dandelions and rich blue cornflowers - there were even some poppies, Jimmy’s favourite.

The grass around them was as lush and green as could be, acting like a soft, fuzzy carpet for the two newlyweds, and the sky chirped with birdsong and danced with the purest white clouds.

The air had the sweet scent of honey and the feeling of fresh love - it was perfect.

Scott turned to Jimmy, only to catch the sheriff staring at him already. Embarrassed, he turned around, but Scott grabbed his shoulder before he fully faced the other direction.

“It’s alright to stare, I know I’m just so dazzling,” he said with a wink.

“I-“

“I’m too handsome to resist, I get it” Scott replied before Jimmy could speak.

Jimmy let out a dramatic sigh, followed by the chuckling of: “Wow. You are VAIN!”

Their laughter filled the flower field as any feelings of worry or regret faded away.

After a while of laying in the pasture in complete and utter peacefulness, Jimmy turned back to his husband, his expression more serious.

“Scott… have we ever properly considered where we’re going to live? Like actually?”

The blonde sheriff glanced at Scott worryingly, hoping that he would have the solution to this problem.

And in true Scott fashion, he did.

“You see those houses over on the far side of this field? Those tiny shacks built into those mountain walls with a good view?”

Jimmy squinted, and could make out two sturdy, albeit plain small huts in the distance. They were protruding out from opposing cliff sides, two separate hills that merged into one in the background.

In the middle of the two houses, there was a patch of vibrant garden, which overlooked a bright blue lake with the most whimsical stepping stones he had ever seen, and even those led to something - a medium sized rock mound that appeared to be a storage space in the foreground.

Scott was right - it did have a great view.

“Yeah?”

“The owners like, moving in with his kids, so he’s selling it to the next cottage core married couple that comes along for easy money.”

Scott’s eyes lit up. “And that happens to be us.”

“Wait… what?”

“Well, I haven’t actually talked to the owner yet, but look at that place - it’s so CUTE! Plus, I do build stuff, so I could fix those huts up for us! Make them look pretty!”

By the Watchers above, that sounded like a dream.

Jimmy pulled Scott up from his place on the grass. “I’ll talk with the guy and get us that place to stay, don’t you worry!”

Out of earshot, Scott whispered playfully: “He’ll need me to save him at some point. Just wait.”

A blonde, official head of hair whipped around sharply.

“I heard that!”

Chapter Text

The grey-haired homeowner looked the pair of them up and down, with an expression of judgement and despair mixed together.

“Young lads, as much as I appreciate your offer, 10 diamonds for this set of houses is not enough! I’m not a cheapskate, am I?”

“But-“

Scott pushed Jimmy aside gently, with enough force to let him know to stop talking, but not enough to hurt him.

“You’re selling this area to, may I remind you, the SHERIFF of the land, not just some passerby. And also, those buildings are SHACKS - huts at best.”

The owner looked Scott up and down with a look of frustration and defeat. “Look, ordinarily, this would not slide. But, seeing as you’re being so stubborn, and you have a member of council with you, I’ll give you the land for 12 of your fine diamonds.”

Before Scott could protest, Jimmy chirped in, finishing the exchange with a: “Deal.”

“Jimmy, why did you seal it? You know I could’ve gotten us the place for 10!”

An exasperated sigh filled the room. “Scott, we were at that desk for 2 hours. I was going insane. Besides, we’ve got the place now, haven’t we? I think: we settle in and make this our home.”

Home.

This was their home.

Their place, for the next however many years to come.

Scott’s face reflected a guilty look - he was being too harsh on Jimmy.

He took a deep, shaky breath in.

“You’re right, I- I don’t know why I’ve been so focused on getting us a place to live instead of… well, focusing on us.” After a moment, he added, “I’m sorry for shouting at you, and for pushing you away too.”

Jimmy was expecting a harsh reply from him, so the genuine apology came as a shock.

He placed a gentle hand on the blue-haired elf’s fist. “It’s alright, Scott. We have a home now.”

And they did.

Chapter Text

The aroma of scrambled eggs filled his kitchen as Scott lowered the heat on the stove. A new day was here on the Flower Pastures, which he had named for dramatic effect, and he was only waiting on Jimmy to come back with the newspaper.

Noting that the eggs were done, he took out two plates and set them on their individual placemats, making sure it looked neat. From the pan, two equal portions of the eggs were left on the plates, making a perfect mound in the middle.

Scott finished the plates off with a deliberate garnish of parsley, and had just filled two cups with orange juice when Jimmy burst through the door.

He leaned on the table, visibly out of breath and panting, with the newspaper in his hand.

Immediately, Scott’s face fell. He didn’t see his husband like this a lot, so when he did, something was horribly wrong.

“Jimmy! What’s happening?”

“It’s not good, Scott. Not good at all.”

“Jimmy. What is going on? Tell me!”

He stopped to catch his breath. “The watchers. They want blood. There’s going to be a tournament, starting tomorrow. There’s 14 people in it, and we’re both one of them.”

Jimmy’s shoulders were harshly rising and falling, and his head was spinning like a supernova.

“JIMMY! Backtrack! What is this competition?”

“It’s called Third Life. We have 3 lives, and need to kill people when we’re on our last life - our red life. It’s a death game. We’ll respawn here once it’s all done, but we’ll remember everything.”

He dropped himself on the nearest chair, his blonde hair a mix of sweat and panic.

“Oh… isn’t it all good if we respawn though?”

“We’ll remember how we die, Scott. We’ll remember killing people. We’ll remember it all. We don’t have a choice.”

Jimmy paused, then added, “It’s only for the watchers’ enjoyment.”

That night, much like his wedding night, Jimmy couldn’t sleep. But this time, it was for a whole different reason. This… life game, or whatever it was, it terrified him. Even after Scott’s reassuring, that they’d be back where they were before the game, it still shook him to his core.

He’d never been the best at surviving games like these, but then, it was for the fun of it, and he felt nothing.

This? This was fully real.

He took the list of people in the game, and read and reread it.

“Bdubs.”

“BigB.”

“Cleo.”

“Etho.”

“Grian.”

“Impulse.”

“Joel”

“Martyn.”

“Ren.”

“Scar.”

“Skizz.”

“Tango.”

And finally:

“Scott.”

“Jimmy.”

At least he was with Scott though, right?

Right??

Chapter Text

A loud horn boomed from the heavens, sending the delicate foliage hurling in one direction, much like a strong, ruthless wind.

Scott and Jimmy had very different reactions to this sound - Scott covered his ears with his blanket, whereas Jimmy shot up to a sitting position - but both of them were inevitably woken.

Realisation set into Jimmy’s face. “Oh no.”

For a (seemingly long) moment, silence filled the room.

Scott sat up slowly. “It’s started.”

In the remote desert tower, lived in by Grian and Scar, the horn boomed just as loud, sending dust flying everywhere outside their base. Grian was woken immediately, although Scar had to be shaken to wake up.

“Grian- Wha- What’s happening?”

“The game, Scar. Third life. It was in the newspaper! We’re both in it, and it’s just started.”

“What in the world?!”

The walls of their cabin shook with the loudness of the horn. Ren was already up and running, getting himself ready for the game, but the horn startled him even so.

His roommate Martyn was awake and all, albeit still in bed, but the sound of the horn woke him up for good.

“Martyn?”

“I’m awake Ren, I’m awake!”

Even through Joel’s sturdy walls, the horn boomed all throughout the house, upsetting his dogs and sending his bed light tumbling on him.

“Wha- Oh no.”

Joel lifted the lamp off his chest, and opened the blinds as if he were announcing war. “It’s started.”

The same horn sounded in every single one of the participant’s ears - it was time for the bloodbath to begin.

Chapter Text

Scott noticed something above Jimmy’s name: 3 hearts - all of them a light green. He tried to grab them, but his hand phased through them, as if they were a reflection of light.

“So you see them too, right?”

Scott sighed, then nodded. “3 lives. Green, yellow, and red.”

Worry built up in Jimmy’s face. “Oh gosh.”

His face shifted with nervous laughter.

Jimmy had to say, for a death game, things were a whole lot less bloody then he had expected. The watchers - or had they employed admins? - had done a great job of pasting their houses to the game world (albeit with a couple of glitches, but how would those be avoided?!), and things didn’t seem too different from before.

Apart from the wings, of course.

It had been on the second day he had noticed the two small nubs of feathers on his back.

He had tried to tug at them, to pull them off, but they seemed to just… be attached to him.

“Scott?”

The blue haired elf looked up. “Yeah?”

“Theres kinda… something on my back.”

“A stain?”

Jimmy paused. “No, more like… feathers? They won’t come off.”

Scott stood up, seemingly in an instant. “I’m coming.”

The craft scissors cut through the last of the denim, matching the other purposeful hole left on the other side of the jacket.

“Good fit?”

Jimmy stretched the wing-like stubs through the holes in the fabric, the yellow feathers protruding from his back in an orderly, neat manner. “Yeah, it fits better now.” He smiled a bit. “Thanks Scott.”

“No problem! Although, we should probably find out whatever the fu-“

“Oi, language! Watch it!”

Scott tilted his head playfully. “But whyy? Anyway though, we should probably figure out what those wings are ASAP. I’m getting the feeling it’s connected to the game. Which cannot be a good thing.”

Chapter Text

Scott had taken to making the Flower Pastures live up to its name - floral, graceful, and cute - in the chaos of the server.

In the background, a couple players had died already, bringing them down to their yellow, or second lives, but the most memorable of all those deaths was the death of Scar.

A couple of people had watched it happen - they were conversing in the village when Scar’s roommate, Grian, had the idea to lead a creeper to him, as a prank of course. Which actually would’ve been funny, if he didn’t die.

Anyways, back to the building.

Scott took the hammer and chisel to Jimmy’s shack first, carving intricate patterns on the sheriff’s front door.

Hobbit-core, of course.

The wood seemed to bend to Scott’s will when he hammered it, as if he were using magic, and slowly but surely, a pattern started to form.

He hoped it would be a nice surprise for when his husband returned.

“Scott? Oh my goodness-“

“Do you like it?”

Jimmy stared at Scott in bewilderment, eying him up and down. “Do I like it? Do. I. Like. It? Scott, that is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Did you carve that out yourself?”

The blue-haired elf smiled sheepishly, scratching his head. “I didn’t have much time, but-“

Jimmy covered Scott’s mouth with his palm. “This is… incredible.” A shy grin formed on his lips. “No one has ever done that for me, Scott. Thank you.”

Chapter Text

The small clumps of feathers Jimmy had noticed on his back the other day had started to grow, becoming somewhat more noticeable, as Martyn had pointed out when he came to visit.

“Jimmy, what are those feather-wing-things on your back?”

The sheriff grimanced, with an embarrassed look, behind him. “Well-“

“Wait, tell me later, I have a sales pitch for y’all. My roomie, Ren, is starting an enchanting business called Ren-chanting, where our slogan is ‘Don’t be a dog, be a God,’ and I’m basically the publicity…”

Jimmy nodded at Martyn’s speech, and added in a “Woah!” every now and then, but couldn’t shake the question he had asked about the wings. To hell with it, he didn’t even know the answer himself!

Scott noticed the look on Jimmy’s face, and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“…So come to Ren-chanting whenever you please! Also, have you heard about Scar?”

The sheriff furrowed his brow. “The creeper thing? Yeah, everyone knows, Martyn.”

“No, not the creeper thing. He’s died again.”

“What?!”

“He’s a red name.”

Scott chimed in. “He… can kill now?”

Martyn’s bandana swished in the wind as he turned to face the elf. “Essentially, yeah.”

“Ah.” With a bit more thought, his blue head of hair tilted to the side towards Martyn. “I’m not too worried about him. From what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t be surprised if he blows himself up setting a trap or something.”

Jimmy snickered at that.

How ironic that would prove to be.

Scar had respawned in the forest, somewhere in the middle of the map. Falling down a ravine while singing! How dumb could he be!

He thought about Grian, and how the parrot-hybrid was just trying to keep Scar safe.

He slumped on the grass, defeated. That’s when he noticed the flowers; poppies and lilacs.

Grian would love them, he was sure.

Jimmy had returned from enchanting both his and Scott’s gear, exchanging the service for some fresh sugarcane, the main good produced on the Flower Pastures.

He noted that Scott’s hut had been worked on with the chisel and hammer, mirroring the beauty on Jimmy’s side, but that was besides the point.

A head of blue hair looked up. “Jimmy?”

“Scott!”

The elf smiled warmly at him, but then his expression turned slightly more serious. “So… I did some research on your wings.”

A cold shiver went down the sheriff’s back, but he fought it. “Yeah?”

“They’re canary wings. I’m not sure why you’re sprouting them all of a sudden, but I thought you might want to know.”

“Canary wings?” An expression of confusion spread across Jimmy’s face.

“Well, at least we know now?”

Scott smiled weakly.

Chapter Text

Scott had sent Jimmy to the desert, to get sand from Scar and Grian.

However, as Jimmy approached, he seemed to get the idea that the desert was well fortified- there was a massive cactus wall around the exterior, and a sort of… lava moat on the inside.

So in other words, unless he wanted to die a fiery and painful death, he needed to go through the entrance.

“Halt, rapscallion! Who goes there?”

Jimmy looked up, then smiled and waved. “Oh, hey Scar! I’m just here to get some sand, please.”

In the distance, he could see Grian shaking his head and mouthing something on top of the sandy hill, but he paid little attention to it.

“Of course! Now, I have an offer to make you, Jimmy?”

“Oh?”

Scar’s posture and expression changed - it was something more… business-like. “Do you know in video games when you give characters items to get reputation points from them?”

“Yes?”

“Well, I see you’ve got a mighty fine diamond chestplate there, and I’d like to offer you - and Scott! - 100 reputation points for that. Ooh, is that enchanted?”

Jimmy took a step back. “You want me to give you my clothes… for reputation?”

Scar grinned, tilting his head. “Precisely. This is not just reputation Jimmy, this is trust. When you are in a time of need, us desert people will be here to help you. Think of how happy Scott will be when he see’s that you’ve made alliances. Just think about it Jimmy. Think.”

That actually sounded like a decent deal to the sheriff, but he was still a bit skeptical.

Seeing Jimmy’s face change, Scar added: “I’ll even throw in free sand - for both of you!”

“Deal.”

Chapter Text

“Dare to Flare! Dare to Flare! Try my awesome minigame now!”

The server’s blazeborn, Tango, seemed to be more energetic than usual, his fiery head of flames flickering with delight and his thin, pointed tail swishing back and forth.

“The grand prize, you may ask? A FREE pair of diamond boots - enchanted with Feather. Falling. Four.”

Well, that certainly caught Jimmy’s attention.

“What do you have to do to get them?”

Tango’s face lit up. “You just have to dodge the lava, grab the boots, and come back. Simple!”

Well, it certainly sounded simple.

“Has… anyone played your game yet?”

“Oh yeah, Joel did. He nearly won too- but the lava was too quick for him.” After a moment, he added: “My buddy Impulse did give the dude his feather falling boots though, so it wasn’t a total loss for him.”

Jimmy’s canary wings shrunk back in fear.

“Ah.”

“Jimmy, why in the name of the Flower Pastures would you run through lava for some dumb boots-“

“Feather falling 4 boots, Scott! Diamond feather falling boots!”

Those did sound great, and the blue-haired elf was actually considering letting him at lest try, but his logic-based mind got to him before he could respond.

“Didn’t Joel die trying? It’s not worth it Jimmy.”

“Yeah, but those boots could really help us! There’s a red name on the server Scott - and while I’m not exactly scared of him, I am scared of his teammate. Grian can build some serious traps, and if we fall into a pitfall? What then?”

“Well-“

Jimmy placed a reassuring palm on his husband’s hand. “All I have to do is weave through some lava, and the boots will be ours.”

Scott sighed in defeat.

“Please just be careful.”

Chapter Text

“Jimmy! Scott! My dudes! You here to play?”

Scott tried to be subtle about it, but the feeling he got about the whole operation just seemed to… irk him.

But what if they actually won the boots? What then?

The elf, for once, was unsure of what to do - but unless he wanted to ruin the mood, he had to speak.

“I’m only here to watch, don’t worry!”

Yeah, not exactly the best words, Scott.

Jimmy gave him a strange look, before turning to Tango. “I’ll be the one playing - those boots would be sick!”

The blazeborn chuckled, as if in his natural habitat. “Right this way!”

Tango looked down at his wrist, before hollering a quick and energetic “Three, two, one, GO!” at the blonde fool of a sheriff trying his game.

The lava was pouring from the ceiling in a predictable, yet gut-wrenching pattern of flames.

Something clicked, and Jimmy knew he had to make a dash for it.

The first few metres he ran, he seemed to be flying at top speed. The chest with the certificate for the boots in it was getting closer to him every second that passed - this was a challenge? Really? Well, how trivial. To him, it honestly wasn’t that har-

“JIMMY! YOUR WINGS!”

A shot of fiery pain rang in the sheriff’s side. Jimmy took a quick glance on his left, only to see the yellow feathers behind him engulfed in flames.

In a state of agony and panic, he tried to flap his wings to extinguish the flames, but that only caused the fire to spread to his hair and the other, considerably sized, bunch of feathers on his back.

“GET TO THE CHEST, YOU IDIOT! RUN!”

With the last of his adrenaline, Jimmy tried to jump on top of the chest, as a sort of safe zone from the lava.

He was only a block or so short, alas, landing flat on his face.

Scott could only watch as his husband dissipated into the familiar white particles of death, the green light reflections above his head changing to yellow, before disappearing.

Chapter Text

”Burnt alive? HAH! Must’ve been a spectacle to watch!”

“Indeed, Xelqua, indeed. You want the canary gone quick, or you want him to stay in pain?”

“I’ll let him stay in this realm a bit longer, but he’ll be the warning cry, of course. However, the husband bothers me. I want him to suffer.”

“How so?”

“Well, physical pain won’t do anything Kieran, will it!? That man is like obsidian to break! However, if the canary suffers, so does the elf, if you understand me.”

A wicked grin spread on both of their faces.

”This will be fun.”