#꒰➳꒱— writings

[trafficlife]

I Could Even Learn How To Love (Like You)

As the last greens on Limited Life, Tango and Scott are hiding from the yellows on the server. They bump into each other underground and temporarily team up, until they can naturally turn yellow. There is some tension, but not the kind that Tango anticipated...

word count: 2192

AO3 link

(inspired by this artwork)

"He's here! He's here, I can hear him!"

"No- No he isn't."

"Etho, don't protect him! This is for peace!"

"Well, he's not here, so you can just turn around and look somewhere else."

"You know, even with the mask covering half your face, you are terrible at hiding your facial expressions when you're lying."

Tango, several blocks underneath Grian and Etho, threw a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. He kept his low stance, mining through the stone, his fiery hair being his only source of light. He didn't think being one of the last greens on the server would be so intense. But at the same time, it was pretty hilarious, hearing Grian shout in frustration whenever Tango squeaked "polo" in response to hearing his name.

The commotion from Joel, Grian, the clockers, and the rest of team T.I.E.S. changed in volume several times, giving Tango's heart constant whiplash. If anything was going to kill Tango at this moment, it would be these heart attacks.

Tango heard stones breaking from above and bit back a gasp, deciding to move down. Unfortunately for him, his pick broke and he didn't have a spare on him. He cursed and sets down his crafting table, quickly crafting a new pick as the stone-breaking noises became louder and louder. 

Just as he was about to pick up his crafting table, he heard a hushed scream from above, then a thud as someone fell directly onto him. 

"Ow..." Tango opened his eyes and found Scott sitting on him, smiling sheepishly. Tango almost forgot how exquisite Scott's new outfit was. As one of the "mean gills," he went above and beyond with his aquatic theme. Coral and seaweed wrapped around his cyan hair and arms. A couple of scales were visible on Scott's skin as well. Tango assumed they'd be more prominent once Scott became yellow or red. He always went above and beyond with his designs, which was something Tango never really appreciated until now. "Ah, hey Scott. Nice to see you dropping in."

Scott rolled his eyes, crawling off of Tango. "Haha. Come on, we need to move. I have no idea where Martyn is but he's covering for me..." He took Tango's hand and helped him up, took out a pickaxe, and continued to mine. "I am hoping we can find a cave," Scott whispered, "and that nobody is in the cave ready to ambush us."

Tango nodded, following close behind, and covering their tracks with the blocks Scott mined. He and Scott never really talked in these games, save for some hellos. But Tango always wanted to talk to Scott, to apologize for taking Jimmy from him last season. He knew about the flower husbands, and how much Jimmy and Scott loved each other. But Double Life came along. And Tango was bound to Jimmy. And they fell in love as if 3rd Life never happened. Though Scott didn't seem to care, he was good at hiding his emotions, masking them with a smile. Who knows what Scott thought about the situation? 

But it was a terrible time to apologize now. Any noise they made would've alerted the group. It didn't help that they were outnumbered. Yet, Tango knew he couldn't hold his tongue much longer. And what if they never got the chance to be alone again? He took a deep breath, his tail flicking behind him. "Scott..."

Still mining, Scott turned his head to face Tango, making his face burn up. Void, he was pretty. But he couldn't get distracted this fast—just apologize and get it over with. "I'm sorry." 

Scott arched a brow. "For what?"

"You know... Jimmy."

"Ah." There was silence, save for Scott's pickaxe (which was much slower now) and the muffled commotion coming from above. How was it that Jimmy's name held so much weight? Scott managed a smile. "You don't have to apologize for that, you know. It was just the mechanics of the game."

"Really?" Tango was surprised. "I thought you'd be upset about that. It was kind of a shitty thing I did, taking Jimmy from you..."

Scott sighed. "Tango, if we were still at the beginning of Double Life, and I saw the message of you and Jimmy dying, I'd probably make it my mission to cause you hell."

"So... You hated that we were soulmates at first?"

Scott nodded, a little embarrassed to admit it. "I was upset, for a while. But then I learned I was teamed up with Pearl..." He shuddered, as though trapped in powder snow. Fitting imagery for the woman who often froze herself to spite Scott. "You know how that ended; I went off with Cleo and I felt good. And then I realized I have no reason to hate you. Yes, you 'stole' Jimmy from me, but you still made him happy. And I think that's what matters more—that Jimmy is happy."

Tango nodded slowly, his tail swaying behind him. He remembered watching his former soulmate go off with Joel, shouting "Sorry, rancher!" as he left. Tango would have been mad if Jimmy didn't look so happy. Tango always adored it when Jimmy smiled and he wanted to make sure that smile was permanent. And if it meant a slight change in scenery, so be it.

"Besides," Scott continued, "it's a new season and it's fair that Jimmy wants a change in pace. It's the only way we can grow."

"Right. We can't stay stuck in the past."

"Exactly!" Scott put his pickaxe away and leaned into Tango, his breath gently tickling the blaze's lips. "And, not to be self-indulgent, but I like to think I've grown." 

"I think I can agree with that," Tango whispered, eyes flicking down to Scott's lips.

"You know, Tango, I used to think about why Jimmy loved you so much. At first, it was because I was jealous. But now, I think I understand better now. Except..." There was a mischievous glint in Scott's green eyes. "There are still things I want to know about you."

Tango raised a brow. "Well, what do you want to know about me, Mr. Major?"

Scott leaned in closer, barely closing the distance between them. Tango's eyes widened, his tail curling up in anticipation. "Are you as good of a kisser as I've heard people say you are?" He whispered.

The blaze chuckled, cupping Scott's face in his warm hands. "Only one way to find out." 

Once their lips connected, Scott and Tango completely forgot about the yellow army coming to hunt them down. Tango could only focus on the softness of Scott's lips, the taste of sweet bread and saltwater—which tasted much better than Tango would've anticipated—and the slight roughness of the scales on Scott's cheeks. One of Tango's hands slid down to Scott's lower back, grabbing it tightly to pull him closer. He felt Scott's lips part in a gasp but he made no effort to break the kiss. Neither of them did. It was so intoxicating and passionate. The area felt much warmer, all thanks to Tango, but Scott didn't seem to mind.

Scott threw his arms around Tango's neck, and one of his legs around his waist. Tango flinched at the sudden motion but smirked against Scott's lips. He grabbed both of Scott's thighs from underneath and hoisted him up, gently pressing him against the stone wall. If Scott wanted to be this fiery, Tango could easily match him.

That was a similarity between him and Scott, Tango noticed: their fire. But the main difference was that Scott's flames were more suppressed, or at least less expressive. So when he did let the flame ignite, it was definitely a moment to remember. It was probably how he got so far in both Last Life and Double Life. Tango always admired Scott's passion and his desire to survive, as long as he could. He often played by his own rules to do so: refusing to kill the second time he was boogeyman in Last Life, choosing his own soulmate in Double Life, and killing Skizz much earlier than he should have this season. Tango loved that.

Tango loved him.

He wasn't sure what Scott thought of him now—he didn't elaborate on that—but he was confident that Scott felt the same way.

The two pulled away once they were short on breath, taking heavy breaths. Scott appeared dazed and his eyes were half-lidded. His face was flushed and he managed to smirk up at Tango. Tango pressed his nose against Scott's and whispered "Did that answer your question?"

"Yes," Scott gasped breathlessly. He played with Tango's green tie, loosening it slightly. "And suddenly, I find myself a bit jealous of Jimmy. He was definitely lucky to be soul bound to you." He huffed playfully. "I like me a man that can kiss me breathless."

"Well, now you got one," Tango rasped, going in for a second round.

Since they were hypnotized by each other's lips, neither Scott nor Tango were aware that the yellows were getting closer to them by the second. Even though the talking slowly crescendoed in volume, the two managed to tune it out. Scott was nipping at Tango's bottom lip, a muffled groan escaping the blaze's lips. He continued to hold Scott, refusing to let go of him, because nothing mattered more than what was happening now.

Until Grian's cackling disturbed the two, interrupting their moment. They quickly broke away and turned towards the noise. Of course Grian had to be the one to catch them. "Oh my God!" The avian poked his head through a hole in the wall, his wings flapping behind him. "Guys, I found Tango!" He called out in a sing-song voice, still giggling.

"Grian—" Scott's face was redder than Tango's eyes.

"Well, this also explains where Scott was the entire time," Grian teased. The rest of the group came over to Grian, who completely broke through the wall, so they could see the whole picture.

Joel leaned against Grian's shoulder, whistling softly. "Oh, Tim's going to love knowing that his exes hooked up." He smirked a bit, peering at the two over the rim of his glasses. "Though he might be upset that you didn't think to invite him." Tango bit his lip at the thought. That'd be something to look forward to.

"Oh, you guys found Tango?" Martyn was the next to show. He gasped upon seeing Scott and Tango before smirking. "Ohoho! Well, now I feel a little bad for interrupting."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Martyn, we all know that's not true."

Then, Skizz's voice could be heard from the distance. "I don't get it, why won't he just give me his time?!" He showed up with Impulse and Etho behind him. Skizz's eyes scanned the two, up and down. He pursed his lips and put his hands on his hips. For someone who was an angel, Skizz had quite the devilish look on his face. "Well, that makes sense now, he's clearly occupied with Scott."

"Skizz!" Tango laughed nervously, finally putting Scott down. "I-I was going to give your my time, I just wanted to get away from... Everyone else."

Impulse snickered. "Well it's clear you got distracted." Tango's tail flicked behind him as confirmation. "Alright, let's go back to the surface so Skizz can kill you, Tango."

"Well, who's going to kill Scott?" Grian asked.

"Me," Martyn declared. "I'm also low on time. Besides... I'd like to get some more details about what happened, in private."

Scott and Tango looked at each other in embarrassment. They should've seen this coming and they probably should've put up more of a fight. But they were already caught. Besides, it wasn't entirely a loss: they got to kiss each other, which was definitely their highlight of the season so far. "I guess I'll see you later? With Jimmy next time?" Tango asked, his voice a husky whisper.

Scott nodded. "Yup! Though this time, we'd like some privacy." He glared at the interrupters who just smirked and put their hands up defensively. Scott went back to the Coral Isles with Martyn, while Tango went back with his team. As for Grian and Joel, they had a lot of news to spill to Jimmy.

For Scott and Martyn, their trip back to the Coral Isles was silent. Until Martyn asked Scott a very important question.

("Does he kiss well?"

"MARTYN!"

"I mean, you were gone for a while, and you seemed to enjoy it! It's a valid question!")

Meanwhile, Team T.I.E.S. was quick to tease Tango for his moment with Scott.

("So you like fish, huh Tango?" Skizz said with a smirk.

"Fraternizing with the enemy... I wasn't expecting it but it's an interesting twist," Etho chimed in.

"Listen... I can explain," Tango said sheepishly.)

After Tango and Scott became yellow, Grian announced "IT IS TIME FOR YELLOW PEACE!" in the chat. Tango and Scott spent the first hour of their yellow peace with Jimmy, giving him many of the kisses that he missed out on.

[lesbinewren]

we need to make using chatgpt embarrassing bc sorry it really is. what do you mean you can’t write an email

[pierog]

i'm so glad goncharov happened when it did, right before prolific public use of AI. that was pure honest gaslighting straight from the heart. real human whimsicality and trickery thru blood sweat and tears. we were a family. and we all gonched, together. you cant replicate that with any machine.

[animentality]

[derrypubliclibrary]

the fanfiction in my head is soooo good wish you guys could see this

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

I firmly believe that some stories can never be translated into a different medium and that's okay

[sleeplessv0id]

what doesn't kill you makes you weird at intimacy

[blueboxbeagle]

By LabradoriteKing on Pinterest

[sourdough-seal]

“omg you’re so creative. how do you get your ideas” i hallucinate a single scene in the taco bell drive thru and then spend 13 months trying to write it

[trafficlife]

Kiss Me Quick, Steal Every Secret I Keep

Etho sees his hard task as a test of skill more than anything else. He thinks it's time he shows Tango what he learned.

Word Count: 3041

A gift for @acolorboom

The reward is none.

Etho stared up at the darkening sky, a collection of whispers flooding his mind.

The risk is great.

He held his breath and closed his eyes. He could only hope that the task wouldn’t be completely impossible.

Let me open the door.

At least, for the most part, Etho was good at completing his tasks. How bad could this one be?

Accept your fate.

The scroll appeared in front of him, an ominous aura radiating from it. He walked away from the Secret Keeper—it’s been a few weeks, yet it still gave Etho chills—to read his secret privately.

A few words stood out almost immediately: Grian, wither, warden, battle, deep dark. And surprisingly, Etho actually felt excited for this task. Would it be chaotic? Absolutely, but that’s what these games were made for. He was also very happy that Grian was tasked with the summoning wither—the last time he tried to bring a warden up to the surface, he ended up dying. 

Etho grinned behind his mask. An idea was already forming in his head: he wanted another person to come with him. But Etho didn’t need help. What he needed was an audience. And he knew exactly who would be interested in watching this.

****

“.... Hold up, you want me to do what?”

“I told you: I want you to come with me and see me bring the warden up to the surface.”

Tango blinked several times at Etho, trying to process the absurdity of this situation: Etho had walked onto the Heart Foundation island and almost immediately grabbed Tango’s sleeve and pulled him away from Skizz and BigB. Then, he tells Tango this plan, which pretty obviously seems to be a task. Tango slowly lowered his rose-colored glasses for extra flair and chuckled. “You- You realize this is a crazy idea, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you realize that this could go either very right or very wrong?”

“Yes.”

Tango pursed his lips, tail swaying behind him. “Well, lucky for you, I do like me some chaos! It would be very impressive if you also succeeded to lure the Warden up.”

“I hope I will. I don’t want to disappoint you.”

A surprised noise escaped Tango’s throat and he felt his face burn. The way Etho said that, with a voice sweeter than honey, coupled with a stare so intense but still so gentle, made Tango short-circuit. And Etho, the smug bastard that he was, knew about this. He walked over to Tango, leaning over his ear and whispering “I want to show you what I’ve learned from your game.”

If dying from being too flustered was a thing, Tango would’ve exploded then and there. However, he was already very close to doing so: his face, neck and ears exploded with heat and his pupils were blown wide. His tail dragged across the cherry blossoms, setting them on fire, but he was too flustered to notice. 

Etho chuckled softly and, oh, he was doing this shit on purpose wasn’t he? He stomped on the flames, leaving black petals on the ground. Tango blinked to look at Etho again, trying to hold on to what was left of his resolve. 

“Fine, then.” Tango purposefully ignored the way his voice wavered and he hoped Etho did too. “Show me what you got.” 

****

Somehow, Etho knew exactly where to go when heading to the Deep Dark. Not once did he turn around or hit a dead end; he kept going, as if the directions were seared into his mind.  He was so confident, it was both impressive and suspicious.

“How do you even know where to go?” Tango asked, as he set up a ladder for them to return to the surface later.

“I stumbled across the Deep Dark at one point while I was mining,” Etho said. “I figured I’d save the location, in case I felt like doing something… Well, crazy.”

Tango raised a brow. “Really… Sounds like a task to me.”

“Does it, now?” Etho turned to look at Tango again, the fabric of his mask twitching as he smiled underneath it. “Why don’t you guess what it is?” The question came out a soft, tender whisper that faintly echoed off the cobblestone walls.

Tango sucked in a breath.

Fuck.

That was the only way to summarize Tango’s racing mind: Fuck.

He was green so he couldn’t guess—both he and Etho were aware of that. But even if he wasn’t, would he want to guess? Absolutely not. 

Etho came to Tango, wanting him to see Etho bring the Warden up. And Etho wanted to make Tango proud and not disappoint him. The thought of it made Tango giddy and his stomach swarmed with butterflies. However, in the very back of his mind, a condescending voice hissed at him: This is only a task. He doesn’t really mean what he says. He wasn’t going to listen to that voice. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t having doubts.

“Tango?” Etho’s voice brought Tango back to Earth. “Tango, you good? You’ve been staring at me for a while… Are you thinking about what you want to guess?”

Tango slowly shook his head, swallowing thickly. “No… No, I’m not going to guess,” he responded slowly. “You know that I can’t guess either way, I’m still green!”

“Fair, fair. But if you had to guess, what would you say?” Etho asked, as he went back to digging.

“I don’t know, you have to bring the Warden up to the surface and make sure it kills someone? You do have a hard task and it’s not like this”—Tango gestured randomly— “is a piece of cake.”

It was time to summon the Warden.

Etho sighed. “That’s not it. If only it were that simple—” Sculk coated Etho’s pickaxe and the stone that he had mined. He raised a brow, shaking the sculk from his pickaxe. “Well… Maybe this’ll be easier than we thought.” He made a larger hole for Tango and himself, and the two of them crawled into the Deep Dark.

As expected, it was pitch black, the only light coming from Tango’s tail. Sculk was everywhere, creating web-like patterns on the ground and crawling up their legs. There were some shriekers visible, along with sculk sensors that were barely obscured by its surroundings. They swayed slowly in the distance, similar to how kelp does underwater. Tango took a deep breath, heart pounding against his ribcage. He met Etho’s gaze and they nodded in sync.

But before Tango could leap down, Etho gently grabbed his sleeve. “Are you going to be okay?” 

“Huh? Why?”

“We’ll need the water elevator.”

“Oh. Right…” Tango grimaced a bit at the thought. He couldn't take damage from water but it didn't make swimming any less unpleasant.

“We could also make stairs,” Etho suggested, “if that makes you more comfortable.”

“What, and risk getting stuck and dying to the warden? I don't want that happening to either of us. I'll…” Tango took a deep breath. “I'll take my chances with the water.”

“Are– are you sure?” Etho asked hesitantly. His concern was very touching, Tango has to admit. But the water was far less risky than the stairs. 

“I'm positive.” Tango smiled. “But, thanks for worrying about me.”

“Of course. Why wouldn't I? Now c'mon, let's go.” Etho leaped down from the ledge he made and crouched down. But Tango still sat there, Etho’s sincere words looking in his mind.

Why wouldn't I?

That was a good question, why wouldn't Etho worry about him? Tango couldn't even say he hated Etho, though they'd had their differences in previous games. Tango didn't know if he loved Etho either but, with how eager he is to spend time with Etho, it was becoming more and more obvious.

“Tango!” Etho whisper-shouted. “You coming?”

“Yeah- Yeah, hold on.” Tango leaped down, one of the sensors picking up on his movement. Thankfully, the shrieker didn’t set off prematurely. They lurked closer to a shrieker, like wolves stalking a sheep. Only they knew that the sheep could strike anytime. He met Etho’s gaze and nodded, communicating with his eyes. I’ll watch your back.

The ground cracked. A dark claw emerged from the fragmented sculk, followed by a low growl. Etho whipped his head towards Tango, handing him a water bucket and making sure none of it spilled. “Get up the ladder- pour down the water when you reach the top.”

Etho understood instantly and went closer to a sensor, making a swift movement.

The shrieker activated in sync with the sensor, the wail bouncing off the walls. Once it faded away, there was tranquility for a moment. They knew very well that the calm wasn’t permanent.

Tango nodded, holding the bucket with one hand and climbing the ladder with another. He shouldn’t have been worried about Etho; he was essentially an expert at this and was already on his way to winning Decked Out. But still, there was a lingering fear that Tango just couldn’t shake off. Maybe it was the nature of this game. If Etho were to get hit—which Tango doubted would happen—he couldn’t recover easily. And if Etho died, it’d set their progress back. Tango knew Etho was strong. Strong, quick-witted, charming, sensible… For goodness’ sake, Tango, this was a life-or-death situation, it was not the time to fawn over Etho.

Tango could feel the ladder shake underneath him, the heavy footsteps of the warden sending shivers up his spine. He knew Etho could avoid the warden but he didn’t want to delay him. The moment he reached the top, Tango took his bucket and poured it down, creating an elevator for Etho to go up. Tango leaned over the edge, eyes wide with anticipation. “Please, come up all in one piece,” he murmured under his breath, despite his confidence in Etho’s skill.

Suddenly, there was an explosion. 

It was mostly muffled but still loud enough to make Tango jump. And it sounded like it came from underground.

Tango physically felt his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach. No, no, no, no, no, please don’t let Etho be dead. Etho was only green but the thought of him dying made Tango sick with dread. He pulled out his communicator, frantically looking through the names, and-

He was honestly torn between sighing in relief and continuing to hold his breath.

Good news: Etho didn’t die. Bad news: Lizzie did. And Tango felt incredibly bad, especially since she’d be alone the entire game. 

 In the water, he saw a figure slowly rise to the surface and heard a low growl from below. Etho’s head popped out of the water, brushing his soaked hair back (which wasn’t hot at all, thank you very much!) and swiftly climbed out. “Warden- warden’s on its way. Stay close to me, I don’t want to lose you.”

Tango nodded, tail flicking behind him. The warden crawled out of the water, outstretching his limbs as its tendrils clicked. Tango felt Etho grab onto his wrist and pull him away, paying attention to make sure the Warden was following them. “We’re bringing him to spawn,” Etho murmured against Tango’s ear, his breath lightly tickling his skin. Tango’s own breath hitched but he still managed to nod. “By the way… What was that explosion sound?”

“Lizzie. She died.”

Etho winced a bit, some remorse flickering in his eyes. “Oh, gosh… That really sucks. We probably should’ve gone to her party, huh?”

Tango nodded solemnly. “Yup. But hey, we can make it up to her after the game ends! That’s the least we could do right?”

Etho chuckled a bit. “Ah, Tango, you’re always so thoughtful.”

Tango beamed proudly. “I try to be!” 

The warden was right on their heels, stumbling about and flailing its arms around. Somehow, Tango and Etho didn’t run into anybody for a long while. The moon was high in the star-speckled sky, shining down ominously as if it knew the chaos that would follow. Eventually, they saw Grian talking to Scar. Grian saw Tango, Etho and the warden waddling behind them, a mischievous smirk on his face. He was hugging something black to his chest and- wait, was that a wither skull?

Tango blinked several times, trying to make sure that he was seeing properly. What was that pesky bird planning? BigB, who had just approached Scar and Grian, seemed to notice what Tango and Etho were planning because his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. When Scar turned around and saw the warden, he was so startled he was pushing back on his wheelchair.

“Etho! Is this- is this central enough?” Grian asked, trying to stifle laughter from Scar’s reaction. He moved closer to the firepit, setting up soul-sand in a very suspicious position.

“Wh- Grian, what are you doing?!” Scar asked, having now noticed the wither skulls that Grian was holding. Scar scrambled to take the skulls from Grian before he placed them down but Grian was too feisty to let go. Tango watched the spectacle, eyes wide. He then turned to Etho, who had a mischievous glint in his eyes. Clearly, there was much more than he was letting on.

“Wait, Etho, did you know about—?” 

Tango was interrupted by a loud, raspy hiss, as a wither emerged from the soul sand, growing in size and flying into the sky, obscuring the moon. There was absolute chaos. The warden had stopped following Etho and Tango and went to chase the next player it detected, wither skulls rained down from the sky, and everyone was screeching “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” at the instigators.

Grian had the largest shit-eating grin on his face and Etho definitely had a similar expression under his mask. Tango, on the other hand, was biting his lip to keep himself from mirroring that expression. He should have been more scared by the wither but he really wasn’t. Partially because he was so close to Etho and that mattered more than anything. 

Mumbo and Jimmy seemed to be running towards the warden rather than away from it and they because of it. The sonic boom rang in Tango’s ears, in synchrony with the lighting that struck. First Jimmy, then Mumbo right after. The flash made Tango’s heart jump but Etho remained completely calm. 

“Where’s the wither?” Tango asked, running alongside Etho.

“Guys- guys, please.” Scar, in his wheelchair and somehow outpacing the wither, rolled up next to Etho and Tango, scared shitless. “Please, do- do you want to give me a hand?” The skulls rained down behind the trio like a meteor shower, plummeting into the Earth and creating rather large holes. The grass and the flowers began to wilt, shriveling up and dying as the skull drained the life out of them. “Please- I don’t know how much longer I can keep up with this—” 

Before Etho or Tango could respond, the two of them fell into a pit that Scar narrowly avoided. Scar went back to being chased by the wither, begging for others to come out and help him, by leading the wither directly into their bases. Honestly, the fact that Scar was able to avoid the wither for this long was incredibly impressive. 

Tango groaned a bit, bringing his hand up to his hair, accidentally elbowing Etho’s chin in the process. “Oh, sorry, I-” He immediately shut up when he noticed the position they were in. Etho was directly on top of Tango, nearly laying on his chest. Etho’s eyes were piercing through Tango’s, as if he wanted to read his soul. And Tango couldn’t help but wonder, would Etho know how Tango feels about him? 

Tango didn’t really want to get out of this position. And, since Etho didn’t move, neither did he. Their bodies were flush against each other, and Etho’s face was so close, his white hair was brushing against Tango’s skin. The mask slipped off of Etho’s face and-- if he lowered himself any more, their lips would be touching—

Oh, void, the realization that he was so close to kissing Etho made Tango’s face bloom bright red.

“Tango.” Etho’s voice was a hushed whisper and, to anyone else, it would’ve been completely muffled by the wither’s explosions. But Tango kept all of his focus fixated on the man who was laying on top of him, ignoring the wither and the world that was falling apart around them. And it was all because Etho was here, his world was right here. “I didn’t let you down, I hope.”

“Never,” Tango gasped instantly. “You could never let me down.”

Etho chuckled. “I’m glad to hear that.”And then he leaned in, closer and closer and closer until it was finally enough. His lips were warm against Tango’s, and it made him melt almost instantly. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been waiting for this forever. Tango’s hand snaked up into Etho’s hair and oh goodness, it was so soft. 

“Etho- Etho, the wither killed the warden!” 

“Etho, stop making out with Tango, and come press the damn button!”

Grian was shouting at them from… somewhere. But they were too busy to care.

 Tango, dizzy from suffocation, reluctantly pushed Etho off of him. “Gah… I had a feeling that part of this was part of a task.”

“Well… Not the part where I asked you to come with me,” Etho murmured. “I did that voluntarily. I was serious when I said I wanted to impress you.”

Tango couldn't stop the giggles climbing up his throat, a large smile on his face. “You did, Etho, you really did!”

“Are you talking about my warden wrangling, or the kissing?”

“... Yes.” Tango smirked. “I'm not going to elaborate. Go press that button!”

Etho nodded, lightly kissing Tango on the cheek, putting his mask on and leaving with Grian to the Secret Keeper. Tango lay there in the withered grass, hands on his cheeks and grinning. Nothing could ruin the happiness and satisfaction he felt at this moment.

… Not even the fact that Tango forgot to complete his own task. 

He'd make it up next session. But now he just wanted to make out with Etho for the rest of this session.

[out-of-jams]

REVERSE TROPE WRITING PROMPTS

Too many beds

Accidentally kidnapping a mafia boss

Really nice guy who hates only you

Academic rivals except it’s two teachers who compete to have the best class

Divorce of convenience

Too much communication

True hate’s kiss (only kissing your enemy can break a curse)

Dating your enemy’s sibling

Lovers to enemies

Hate at first sight

Love triangle where the two love interests get together instead

Fake amnesia

Soulmates who are fated to kill each other

Strangers to enemies

Instead of fake dating, everyone is convinced that you aren’t actually dating

Too hot to cuddle

Love interest CEO is a himbo/bimbo who runs their company into the ground

Nursing home au

[i-used-to-be-a-spy]

"you should be at the club" I should be working on my fanfic

[cityelf]

this poem is about being nonbinary.

[arynneva]

wait do people read first person stories and think they're the ones in the story???

Saw people talking about not liking first person, which is fair, but their reasoning was like "I would not do that" and I don't understand that mindset.

First person stories are still about a character. A character making their own decisions. First person isn't about you???? At least I thought it wasn't. What am I missing? I've always seen first person as just a more in-depth look into a character's mind and stricter POV. Not as a reader stand-in.

[ad-wills]