Underneath The Minecraft Tree

My kind of present

Getting used to a new environment was always uncomfortable, especially when it was familiar yet so twisted that it only had a shell of home, the content throwing him off guard. 

Scott wasn't really sure what to do as the Christmas season rolled around. Jimmy and Xornoth were bouncing around the walls, his boyfriend more than his brother, but that didn't make it any less disconcerting. He had never seen Jimmy during the holidays, he had never gotten there, never been close enough to him for the past ones before his world fell apart. 

He was sure Jimmy and Xornoth could tell he wasn't himself. They had since the day he arrived. He doesn't even know what happened to their Scott, he guesses they switched places. It was morbid. Thinking of all the lives he saved, to ruin a singular one. That one being more or less his own.

- - - -

Jimmy was sat on the sofa when Scott came in, looking slightly out of place; unsure of himself. It had been like that for months, but he had never questioned it. 

"Jimmy?" The blonde in question didn't say anything, just made a sound, showing he was listening, waiting for his partner to continue. "What do you want for Christmas?"

That threw Jimmy off guard. They never asked about presents. They didn't really buy each other anything. Pieces of a puzzle were starting to fall into place. He regarded Scott, eyes soft not to worry him or make him uncomfortable, but still subtly piercing. The elven King looked the same as he always had, neat attire, blue eyes, pale skin. Nothing physically changed. 

Not until he looked deeper into the ocean's depth of his eyes. It wasn't the same. He wasn't looking at Jimmy like he had months ago. He looked scared and out of place, when he used to look certain and confident. And there was something else, peaking out behind years of defences. There was an unrest, a trauma his Scott never had. Nothing had called for it. 

This Scott did. It held lifetimes of sadness and pain. It held the self-sacrificial gleam he had seen when he first met Scott, when he was a prince forced into the army, drilled into believing it was Kingdom over self.

"Scott, flower, come sit?" The cyanette obliged, walking towards the couch, sitting next to Jimmy, not touching him, not looking at him. "Scott. You know your secret library out in the hills?" His boyfriend simply nodded, looking even more tense. "There are books in there, all translated, that talk of other worlds, one like this one, that went differently. There was war, and a monster, and battles. There was everyone we know, us two were sort of a thing. But it wasn't the same." Scott looked uncomfortable, Jimmy hated it, but he knew he had to ask the question, he needed to know if his Scott was the man who sat near him, or somewhere else. 

However, before he could continue explaining the other world, the cyanette spoke. "There was an explosion. You and fWhip set it off. It caused that world to start collapsing, the monster free from its prison. There was only ever one death recorded. Mine."

Jimmy didn't need him to continue. He could see from the tears in Scott's eyes his answer. 

- - - -

It was Christmas eve, days after he and Jimmy had sat on the couch, realising their worlds weren't the same. He was sure Jimmy resented him. He hadn't seen him in the days since. He knew the blonde had every right, but it made him miss the blonde's warm smiles and soft looks. It made him realise how much he had put on the line back at home, how much he had missed out on. How much, even back when he was living in his version of this world, he had loved Jimmy, maybe from the start.

- - - -

Jimmy had been avoiding Scott. Not because he was upset or angry, because he wanted to make Christmas special for him. The cyanette was having to learn everything again, meaning Jimmy needed to show him how nothing was going to change. He knew Scott wanted him. The stories of the other world made that clear in every language he knew - he won't admit it's the singular one he speaks in. 

- - - -

Christmas day rolled around quicker than Scott wanted it to.

He had to pretend nothing was wrong. He had to fill shoes already worn-in and tired. He had to fit a life he never had the pleasure of enjoying. He had to worm his way into the lives of people he should already know, the whispers of their mirrors keeping him up at night. 

He knew he had Jimmy and Xornoth, even if his brother was oblivious to the new him - something in him knew his brother had caught on from the start, it was in the Prince's face every time they looked at each other.

- - - -

Jimmy was alone in the living room when Scott arrived, already dressed, compared to the blonde who was still in his sleep attire. Jimmy opened his arms, motioning him, instructing him, to sit with him. He did, almost blindly. He knew there was a connection he shared with the other King. He felt it in every touch and every conversation. He was just too scared to look it in the eye and fully step into that role when his boyfriend had already known a better version of him. 

- - - -

You and me for the Holiday

"Hey flower. Xornoth left to spend Christmas with your parents, it's just us today."

"Oh..." The one word was packed with so much more than it came across as. The obvious was uncertainty. He liked Jimmy, he did. But he had never spent much time with him apart from the date they went on. In his own world, they had never really hugged or kissed or cuddled. They had just looked longingly, saying a thousand words and confessions by saying nothing it all.

They hadn't had the time for anything to come from it. 

The other was that, in his fluster and self-doubt, he hadn't gotten Jimmy anything. Even though he could see presents with his name on, most in his brother's horrible writing, but a couple in Jimmy's scruffy yet more legible hand.

"I...I didn't get you anything, I was too caught up on...you know."

- - - -

Don't buy me anything       

"Flower. You didn't need to."

"But-"

"No." Jimmy moved then, shifting, only slightly, into Scott's personal space. He knew it was a risk. He knew Scott could get skittish and overwhelmed, leading to lash outs and panic attacks - he had seen it too often with the other Scott to know this one was just the same. 

His Scott. Not matter if this world was his or not. He was Jimmy's boyfriend. His love. His anchor. Everything he had was Scott's, whether he realised it or not.

The cyanette could see through Jimmy, could see his intentions, the blonde knew that much. He also knew Scott hadn't moved out of the way. He hadn't said no. If anything, his eyes looked pleading. 

Just put your hands all over me                               

Jimmy moved the rest of the way, kissing Scott. It was gentle. He let Scott lead, taking it as fast or slow as he wanted. The cyanette seemed to find a perfect balance, keeping the intimacy and softness of the kiss, whilst exploring, touching. His hands never strayed from Jimmy's shoulder's, but the blonde didn't complain, it was perfect. 

- - - -

Scott finally understood his place. He would never fully replace his other self, but that was near impossible. Instead, he was filling a hole in his own heart, in his own soul, and healing it with the boyfriend and brother and parents he never got. 

It was Scott's (my) kind of present

~ ~ ~ ~

I had so many different ideas for this and came up with whatever I have created. Hope you like it :)