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"It was stupid of me to think that-" Jimmy cut himself off abruptly, looking away from piercing red eyes. He shouldn't say that. Even if they're fighting. He shouldn't say that to his… to his soulmate. Soulbound. Whatever.
"To think what?" Tango's voice is still sharp, still angry, daggers flinging themself at the canary in a desperate attempt to rile him up so they can keep yelling. Jimmy flinches at the tone.
"To think what, Jimmy?" Tango repeats, moving closer. Jimmy still won't make eye contact, staring at the Netherborn's boots like they'll open up the floor for him and allow him to fall from this conversation. Tango's gone dangerously quiet now, even closer than he was a second ago.
Jimmy finally finds his voice, choking on the words for a second before letting them spill out of his mouth messily. "To think that we could ever be more than a stupid soul bond." The sentence falls to the floor heavily, catching on Jimmy's lips before it finally clunks to the floor.
And he is stupid. Stupid to think Tango could like him, maybe even love him, stupid to want a fairytale romance, stupid to hope that anyone might want to get close to him, despite the canary curse. Despite the danger it's always been to be his. How could he let himself hope? It's always been a dangerous game for him to play, love has, and this time is no different.
The silence tears away at the canary. He hates it when there's no noise. It grates on his ears. Eventually, words start clawing at his ribs, in his throat, leaving burning imprints of the thousands of things Tango will say to reject him. He couldn't handle that, he can't do it. He can't.
"I should go," Jimmy whispers bitterly, teary eyes rocketing up to Tango's and then away, anywhere else, darting around the room. He moves to grab his - something, to grab something that's his, just so his hands don't feel so horribly empty, and he's halfway across the room to grab his satchel when he feels a claw on his shoulder.
Tango whorls him around so they're facing each other. His face is contorted, angry, and Jimmy tries to pull away. But the blaze's grip on his arm is tight. Fearfully, Jimmy looks him in the eye and almost recoils from the hurt filling them. And then Tango starts talking.
"What did you want me to say, Jimmy? Seriously? Did you want me to bare my soul to you? Tell you things I never tell anyone? Tell you that I love you so much it hurts my heart and that's why you feel so much pain all the time?" He releases Jimmy's shoulder, but then he's pacing in front of the canary, gesturing angrily with his hands. But the anger isn't directed at Jimmy, it seems, but at himself.
"That I thought an avian would never want to even team up with someone who has intense anger issues and can't…" Tango falters for a second, stopping in his tracks. His eyes trace the floorboards with the same intensity he always looks at Jimmy with.
"Can't process his emotions? Goes through miserable heats that make him completely useless and susceptible to every dangerous thing? Jimmy, I don't want to hurt you! I would do anything to keep you safe, don't you see that?"
The words don't register for a second. Jimmy feels all floaty and weird, and then his brain catches up to what Tango just said. For a moment, Jimmy is speechless. Thoughts flit around his head, bits and pieces catching together to form barely coherent worries. Why hasn't he said anything?… how could he love someone like Jimmy? But… every single reason that Tango shouldn't even come close to him runs through Jimmy's mind, and the sheer number of them weighs him down.
"Why wouldn't you say this before?" Jimmy flinches at the crack in his own voice, clutching the back of the desk chair. He digs his nails into the wood, minor pain sparking into his fingers that grounds him, makes him feel more real.
"B-because I wanted you to not feel obligated to be with me just because we were soulbound!" Tango's voice is panicky now, like he's trying to reason to himself that it was a good decision. "There were so many ways this could have g-gone wrong! I never wanna force you-"
The words are cut off by a muffled noise of surprise from Tango's mouth. Jimmy's found himself wondering lately how they would taste, his lips and mouth and tongue. And now he knows.
Tango's lips are warmer than Jimmy was expecting, but it isn't uncomfortable, it's nice and soft. And he tastes like chocolate, kind of, and a spark of redstone that makes Jimmy feel like he's buzzing. Tango is melting against him, sighing into the kiss like the avian is oxygen and Tango's been deprived until now. There is want radiating off of him in a way that makes Jimmy dizzy. He's never been wanted like this.
And then it's over and Jimmy is standing there, light-headed, touching his lips with a shaky hand. He just kissed Tango. He just kissed Tango. Jimmy glances up at the blaze, who looks like he feels the same: loose and ruffled and in shock. "I'm sorry." Jimmy says quickly, reading his silence as rejection. Sure, it felt like he was leaning into the kiss, but maybe he was processing, and Jimmy's always been bad at body cues like that, and he really shouldn't have done that, he shouldn't have, what was he thinking -
Tango's hand comes up to rest warmly on Jimmy's cheek, and the canary's breath tumbles out in uneven gasps. "You think too much, rancher." Tango says softly, moving their heads to rest against each other. Jimmy huffs out a soft laugh, arm gripping Tango's wrist unsteadily. He might fall over from the sheer overload of everything that's happened in the last 10 minutes.
"You should shut me up more, firecracker." He manages to say, reveling in the feeling of Tango's breath on his cheek when he laughs. "Is that an offer?" The Netherborn asks, voice suddenly husky. Jimmy almost misses the way the blaze's beautiful red eyes are trained so hungrily on his lips.
Warmth floods Jimmy's gut, and he's sure it's on his face as well. It's hard to contain the smile that spreads as he bumps their noses together. "Absolutely." The avian replies, hoping against hope that that means Tango will kiss him again.
Tango smiles at his response, moving one hand from his cheek to the belt loops of the jeans Jimmy's wearing, tugging them closer. The other hand that's been on his face as well moves down to hold the canary's chin gently, guiding their lips to each other. This kiss is just as soft as the first, only now Jimmy's the one melting. Jimmy's the one folding against Tango like a house of cards felled.
Gasping slightly, the canary tries not to smile against Tango's lips. It's all just too perfect. His brain can't handle this level of goodness all at once and still be expected to function properly. Tango takes advantage of Jimmy's barely parted lips to push them further apart and slip his tongue in. Void, he tastes good and he feels good and how could Jimmy ever think that wanted this was wrong? All of it feels so right, all of it feels good and perfect and Jimmy never wants to leave.