Solivagency - Empires SMP

the end

TWO YEARS LATER

"Checkmate!" Jimmy yelled, bringing his arms up in the air to celebrate.

"That's my bishop." Xornoth gave him a look. Scott, Joey and Joel all collectively lost their shit.

"I-" He took a closer look at the chessboard. "Wait. Wait. Wait, wait, wait. But that means you took my king several rounds ago!"

They barely suppressed the hysterical laughter that threatened to drag itself out of their mouth. In all honesty, they really had expected him to notice sooner. "I was wondering when you would notice."

"Oh, Jimmy." Scott laughed harder upon noticing the shock on his husband's face and scooted towards him, draping his wing (the prosthetic one, half of a salvaged elytra) over his shoulder. "Are you being bullied?"

He pouted. "This is so unfair."

"Poor Jimmy, losing in chess." Joel chuckled, slapping him on the other shoulder with enough force that he winced. "Imagine. Couldn't be me."

"You thought the queen could teleport anywhere on the board." Xornoth frowned.

"Shhhh- They don't need to know that-"

Joey's giggles continued and they grinned at him, then gave him a mock gasp as he knocked over some of the pieces with his wing. They couldn't really protest though, because then he was swaddling them with his feathers, and in their defence, they were very fluffy.

"Aha!" A scuffling noise jolted them to pay attention to their surroundings, and they saw Jimmy frantically grab for the pieces on the floor. It was only then that they realised Joey had knocked the king onto the floor, and they shrieked as he picked it up and waved it in victory. "I win!"

"Look at his skills!" Joel cheered. "He's so good and amazing at Chess!"

"That's cheating." Joey furrowed his eyebrows. "At least I think it's cheating. It's cheating right?" He looked at them for confirmation.

They nodded. "It's cheating."

"I think we're all forgetting that Xornoth already took Jimmy's king about eight rounds ago." Scott pointed out unhelpfully, a shit-eating grin on his face as his husband whacked him.

Joel hurriedly shushed him. "That didn't happen, though!"

"Are you trying to gaslight me?" His mouth sprung open in shock. "Aeor above, how could you do this to me?"

"Shut up loser, you're the one that gave me a permanent dye job." He grumbled, shoving the significantly taller elf to the side. Although the effects of hypothermia had disappeared, nothing that he or Lizzie did managed to restore the original green. Then again, he didn't really care that much.

"My hair magically turned purple and I'm not complaining Joel." They teased him.

"That's because it looks so incredibly hot on you." Joey leaned against them, curling his wings around them further. He reached up to stroke it and they squawked as he ruffled it around. Although he mostly succeeded in tipping it all over their face due to how long they had grown it.

"No flirting at the chess table." Scott snickered.

Jimmy dramatically sprawled across his lap, forgetting the chess piece and dropping it on the floor. "Not even from your beloved husband?"

"Well, it's okay when it's you." He grinned, flaring his wings a little. He was getting better at moving them both in sync, but the prosthetic still slightly lagged.

"Blegh." Joey shuddered. "I would never sprawl across Xorny's lap like that, would I?" Saying that, he sprawled across their lap.

Their heart almost burst as he snuggled up against them, practically curling up in their lap. They cuddled him back, making a quiet trill. He chirped back lazily, taking the opportunity to not allow them to try and steal their king piece back as they had originally planned, but it was all okay.

Everything was okay.

It had been two years since everything had happened, and maybe they still woke up in cold sweat and flinched at the strangest at things, and maybe they'd never be okay, but there was the possibility that they would be okay, and they were taking it.

the end