"What do you mean, 'I'm not asking'?! We made this!" Jimmy hissed. "I need that stuff. You don't understand!" protested the girl.
"Hold up! How do I know you're not one of the authorities?" questioned Gem, causing Jimmy to fall silent. The girl laughed bitterly, "They're the reason I need that potion. If you could just give it to me-"
"Prove it."
"Haha... what?"
"Prove to me you're not one of them."
The girl sighed, obviously annoyed, "I go to your school and I'm in Lizzie's class. As to how I'm not one of them... well..."
She stared into Gem's eyes, "See anything yet?" Gem stared back, seemingly entranced. Jimmy backed up by one step, not wanting to get involved.
"Alright," huffed Gem, handing over one of the smaller bottles, "This should be enough for the month." Jimmy shook his head, trying to figure why Gem gave this strange girl some of their extra supply.
"OH! One more thing. Tell Scott dying isn't the worst that can happen to him. Say it's from his dear friend, Lauren."
With that, she walked off, disappearing way quicker than she should have. "Oh, how delightfully cryptic," grumbled Gem. "Gem, you know I trust you but why did you give a bottle to her?!"
"Lauren's a... deer galaxy bread queen... person with... birthday powers? I'm not sure but if that's what my magic is telling me, we go with it." Jimmy shook his head, "Wait, wait, wait. You can see what hybrids other people are?"
Gem nodded. "I never told you?" Jimmy shook his head. "Huh. I thought I did. Moving on, to Scott's."
"Speaking of Scott. What did she mean by 'dying isn't the worst thing'? What could that entail?" Gem shrugged, "Many things. For one, he could get tortured in the future or if you prefer something sunnier, an afterlife of sorts."
"An afterlife? Like a second chance?"
Gem's voice dropped to a low whisper, "You and I both know what an afterlife is. After all, this is your second chance." Jimmy sighed, knowing that trying to hide this from her would be fruitless. He nodded, "And I'm already screwing up."
"You are not screwing up! I've seen the way Scott looks at you and he knows you look at him in the same way."
Jimmy nearly squawked, "He does?!" Gem laughed, an obvious refusal to answer his question. Jimmy huffed and they continued walking.
"Have you thought about it? How does Scott know Lauren?" asked Jimmy, glancing over at Gem. Gem hummed in thought, "Mmm, they could've met at the orphanage or while Xornoth and Scott recently escaped it or somewhere when they were hopping around the country..."
"True."
"We're here," announced Gem with a grin. "Do we climb through the window?" Gem raised her eyebrows in amusement, "With this sack of potions? We do need to get it to Lizzie, Katherine and Shrub without breaking it, y'know."
Jimmy shrugged and rang the doorbell. Shuffling noises emerged from behind the door before a familiar purple-haired head peeked out before its stern face switched into one of glee. "Jimmy! Scott's been waiting for you for a long time." An indignant 'oi!' resounded from somewhere inside the house.
Gem laughed and entered as Xornoth opened the door further. Jimmy followed close behind, smiling as he saw Scott's familiar face. "There you are! It's been a while, hasn't it?" The younger elf laughed, "Too long," he agreed.
Gem handed over the bottles of potion, signaling for Jimmy to come along. As Jimmy was about to grudgingly leave, Scott called, "Wait! I've got something to show Jimmy."
Gem made a face before sighing and nodding her reluctant agreement. Jimmy brightened up and followed Scott up the set of stairs and into his room.
It was much cleaner than the last time he'd been here, whatever bloodstains he'd forgotten to clean up, gone. "Over here," he beckoned.
Scott led Jimmy to his desk, nearly bouncing with excitement. "What is it?" asked Jimmy with growing curiosity. "I may or may not have made us something..."
Jimmy's eyes searched the desk before landing on something that wouldn't be there normally. Two rings, carved out of wood, sat on the table. One of them looked like a cod, the head and tail meeting to form the loop, looking more graceful than Jimmy thought a fish could look. It was obviously made of wood but it was painted silver, the colour reflecting the sunlight. The other one looked like a pair of antlers, the branches curving in, designed to hug the finger snugly. This one was painted gold, causing the ring to look oddly like Scott's own antlers.
"I didn't know your size..." started Scott, picking up the the second ring and holding it out for Jimmy to try on, "...so it might not fit..." Jimmy took the ring and slipped it on his finger. It fit better than most rings he owned.
"So this is where your artistic talent went," murmured Jimmy as he marveled at the ring that graced his finger. "Excuse me?" asked Scott, puzzlement twisting his elvish features. "Nothing," amended Jimmy, "It's just... how did you know the normal sizes don't fit me properly?"
"I think you told me once."
"Not in this life, no."
Scott smiled, "I never said which life." He knows. It's useless to hide it from him. Jimmy didn't know whether to laugh in relief of not needing to hide it from him or cry because of what was to come.
Instead, Jimmy threw his arms around Scott's shoulders and let out a strangled choke. "I never wanted to hide it from you," he whispered as Scott's arms wrapped themselves around his body, his hands digging into his hair.
"It's alright. I'll always forgive you."
"Why?"
"We were husbands once, you and I."
•~•~•~•
Word count: 972
Flower husbands, my beloved.
<RubyBlueWrites left the game>
YOU ARE READING
Hidden Worlds (EmpiresSMP)
Fanfiction"So show it to me," The people said their kind was gone, lost to the sands of time. Never to return. They said these magic-users were evil. They said all that lay in their chest was a heart of stone. They said not to worry - their kind was now nothi...
