Still Here

There have been three seasons of the life games now. Each season of the game lasts five to nine weeks, depending on who would survive to make it to nine weeks. Everyone in the games joins willingly. Anyone can leave after each game ends; most choose to stay. In the game you have 3 lives, Green, Yellow, and Red, once you're on your last life you go rogue, forgetting every alliance, everyone that ever mattered. When on your last life your only focus is to win the game, whatever the cost. After you die, you wait in an exact replica of the world, with everyone else who had died. Waiting for the rest of the players to die so you could move on past the waiting room and onto the next game.

The games were made by The Watchers, gods in their own sense, the most powerful beings in the universe. They had made these wretched games, devices of torture for whoever chose to join. This season is different, not just from the fact that there are far less players. But from the fact that this season, you'd have a soulmate. Someone tied to you, soulbound, whenever your soulmate got hurt you would feel the pain and vice versa. Things got complicated this season, while The Watchers only meant for it to be a game, they hadn't meant to cause such pain for the players, but they couldn't say they didn't enjoy watching them suffer.

Jimmy woke up, laying in the lush grass, staring up at the sky. The sky was a dark, melancholy gray, giving off the feelings of despair and distress, how fitting. Jimmy thought as he sat up and looked around at the surrounding trees; he was at the center of the arena, where they were placed before the game started.

"Tango, are you here?" Jimmy stood up and spoke into the trees; there was no answer. Then he slowly realized, he died, he was in the waiting room. He lost the game, Tango lost the game, all because of him. The only thought circling Jimmy's head was to find Tango, his soulmate, his rancher, and apologize for losing the game, if Tango was still here that is.

Jimmy left the center in the direction of the ranch he built with Tango; hoping that his soulmate was there. Finally emerging from the forest that surrounded the center of the arena, Jimmy could see the ranch, it was distant, but he could see it. Running towards it, he stumbled through the ruins of the once beautiful ranch, wood, and crumbling stone crunching beneath his feet. There sitting near the edge of the cliff, was Tango; he had his legs dangling off the edge of the cliff, gaze focused on the bottom.

"You're still here?" Jimmy asked as he sat down next to him.

"It's over," Tango said without moving his eyes from the bottom of the cliff "go home."

"go."

"No, I need to say that I'm so sorry-"

"Don't be," Tango held Jimmy's hand, his gaze never leaving the bottom of the cliff, "it's not your fault, we were going to die either way."

Tango whispered, "We had a great time, but nothing lasts forever."

"I wish it could, I was happy," Jimmy whispered back, looking at Tango.

Tango finally lifted his gaze from the cliff to Jimmy's eyes. They both sat in comfortable silence, as the game continued; hands held together, offering some sort of comfort to the other. Even when the game concluded, they sat there, as if they were waiting for something. Then suddenly, the silence was broken.

"I don't want to go, I don't want to forget," Jimmy mumbled. Tango knew that he was referring to when The Watchers would slowly erase their memories of the game, they claimed it was to stop them from remembering the pain and suffering they had to endure during the games. Tango lifted his hands and cupped Jimmy's face.

Tango pulled him into a kiss, when they broke apart, he spoke softly "You'll always be my soulmate, my rancher."

Notes: I know i mixed up Jimmy's and Tango's lines but im too lazy to fix it rn