Child's Play - A Hermitcraft 8 AU

Rage Quit (on a friendship) - Tango

Summary: It's after Last Life session five s(the session in which Bdubs boogey kills Tango after Tango gave him two lives), and Tango's angry. Angry small Tango isn't fun... not for himself and not for Bdubs. 

Requested by BlockWobble on AO3.

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Tango found solitude in the jays of Fifi. It was quiet there, cold and dark too. And far enough away from the other members, that no one would look for him here.

Last Life was hard, overwhelming. And this past session had included more lossage of lives than Tango would've liked (well, nobody liked losing lives, but the amount of times he was asked to give himself up for the team—).

And it was fair that he was angry.

Because he'd seen red.

And it wasn't fair.

What Bdubs did wasn't fair.

And Skizz just–

"UGH!" Tango punched one of Fifi's dripstone teeth, making it crack a bit, along with making his fist extremely sore. But that small surge of energy, large enough that all the other hermits would disapprove of it, went away as soon as it came.

"He just—he EXPECTS me to just forgive him?!" And yeah, maybe a ten-year-old should be able to grasp the concept of loving their friends more than themselves, but this...

Tango had done his part, and Bdubs just–

What kind of friend kills you after you've already given up your life for them?

"I–"

Tango slumped down, squeezing between two of the teeth, leaning his head against one of the points.

"Why would he–?" And maybe his voice broke there, but nobody besides himself knew or heard. And maybe he was struggling—rather failing—to hold back any tears from falling down his face, but nobody else could testify.

For all they knew, all Tango felt was anger.

From outside, a few fireworks whizzed. Two in succession, then another one much quieter, then four more going from nearly unheard to most definitely getting closer.

Tango almost had the mind to tell them to go away, but he was still in his hiding spot, and whoever it was would more than likely not listen anyway.

And if whoever this was did find his hiding place, his silly crying would be noticed, and he didn't want his pride to hurt. Not anymore. So he did what he could to take deep breaths, only minimally calming himself down. And after he wasn't making too much noise, he cowered to the back of Fifi's mouth, keeping watch of the entrance to the cave.

A few more inconsistent rockets went off, then Tango saw Keralis fly by, dropping a small Bdubs off at the entrance of the cave.

Great.

Lovely.

Things couldn't get better.

(Well hey, at least he didn't have the giant Perry the Platypus plush in here. Humiliation wouldn't be that great in regards to whatever comfort items he had. That said, Bdubs was still climbing up, obstructing Fifi's path forward with scaffolding... messing up all the work Tango put into this.)

"Hey Tango?!" Bdubs called, a slight worry in his voice. "You here?" He continued to place and climb up the scaffolding, until he made it to the top... until he saw Tango cowering in the corner of the creature. "Tango! You're alright!" He ran up, as if to wrap his arms around Tango—as if to embrace the one he killed.

"Yeah. No thanks to you."

The comment got a flinch out of Bdubs, which in some ways, seemed like a success. "Look, I'm sorry Tango... I really am."

"Yeah, sure you are." And maybe he was pouting–maybe he was acting his age–but since when did Tango care about maturity?

"I didn't mean to—"

"To kill me? YOU DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL ME?!"

And for once, Bdubs actually looked frightened. And maybe that was what being younger did to him, but Bdubs genuinely was afraid.

And Tango smiled. "Yeah, sure you didn't. Didn't mean to hurt my feelings. To break up the team. Didn't mean to betray your only provider of lives?!" Tango stood straight up and paced the small area in Fifi's mouth. "It was "just an accident" and it was the "boogey curse" or whatever— I'm familiar with curses–like this stupid one Ex created–and there are ways to fight back. It's a lame defense."

"I– Tango, I'm–"

Tango shook his head, giving a small laugh, a laugh nearly choked with tears.

"Why can't you just forgive me? I said I was sorry!"

Tango looked Bdubs in the eye, for once face revealing how hurt he was. "It's not fair. It's not fair. NOT FAIR to ask me to just FORGIVE you after ALL you've done for me is TAKEN MY LIVES. WHY SHOULD I! WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU!" And now hot, angry tears flowed down his cheeks as he gave one last look at the other.

"I'm done being your friend. DONE. NO longer my friend. I'm moving." Tango pulled on his elytra in the harshest manner he could, not caring if the straps were hooked on properly, and took off to the skies at the most alarming rate. Any calls Bdubs tried to make were lost.

"I'm moving," Tango said resolutely, as he flew into his house to pick up any items he actually cared about. "I'm going far far away."