Chapter Text
The moon was rising over the top of the garish blue walls surrounding Tumble Town, bright rays of moonlight shining down on the wooden houses and the empty streets. Most of the town’s citizens had gone to sleep already, all except one: on the other side of the mesa’s walls, the resident Sheriff was still working on paperwork he probably should have already finished days ago.
Unfortunately, Jimmy hadn’t. So now he was up much later than he would have preferred, hand cramping as he squinted at the tiny writing on the document he had been attempting to read for the past half-hour. Looking at the time again, Jimmy sighed, giving up and letting his pen fall on his desk, making no move to grab it before it rolled off the edge. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. If there was one thing he hated about being the only Sheriff around, it was the paperwork. At least before he had his deput- Ex deputy. Now, it was just him. Which was fine! Completely fine. He could deal with a bit of paperwork.
Buuut- he looked at the time again. Maybe I can deal with it tomorrow .
Jimmy slowly got up and stretched, his wings shifting as his back let out a satisfying crack . He looked around his office/bedroom (after one too many times he fell asleep at his desk, it was the most convenient idea to combine the two), gazing tiredly at his bed.
He was about to start taking off his outer layers to crawl into it when he heard a set of hurried knocking on his door.
You’ve got to be kiddin’ me.
Jimmy grumbled as he went for the door, running a hand down his face. If it’s Joel, or void forbid Fwhip , I swear-
But when he yanked open the spruce door, it wasn’t either of them. Instead, Jimmy was met with the nervous face of Pirate Joe.
“... Joe? What are you doin’ here?” The Forgotten Cove was practically on the other side of the world compared to Tumble Town. Jimmy wondered what Pirate Joe could possibly want at this hour that he had to travel all the way here. Not that he had anything against the man. Joe was a thief, but after the disastrous (and admittedly hilarious) attempt by him and Katherine to arrest the pirate, Jimmy thought he’d somewhat learned his lesson. Joe seemed like a nice enough guy, a little oblivious definitely, but not malicious. Jimmy would go as far as to call him a friendly acquaintance.
Which… probably said a lot about Jimmy if that was good enough for him. Though he considered all the emperors somewhat friendly acquaintances. Except for, of course, Joel. And… now Fwhip he supposed. It came with the title of ruler and all the subsequent obligations and magic. When only a select few other people understood what you were going through, you tended to keep them close.
Joe was now shifting uncomfortably on his feet, hands twitching at his sides in a motion Jimmy was intimately familiar with, curling around a pistol that wasn’t there. He looked- well. Jimmy wouldn’t lie and say Joe hadn’t looked better. His dirty blonde hair was pulled back half-heartedly, strands curling around his face, framing his sunken eyes. He looked tired , dark eyebags under his sea-green eyes and rumpled clothes. His back was slumped, nowhere close to the overconfident pirate Jimmy knew. Joe opened and closed his mouth a few times, gaping like the fish his empire had an overabundance of before finally speaking.
“I was just-” He made a vague noise as he waved his hand around. “Passing by?” Jimmy could tell not even Joe believed that Jimmy would believe that.
He gave the sheepish pirate a look . “‘m not up for any games right now Joe. Whadya want?” Jimmy stated, tone bland.
Joe winced, clearly fighting with himself. “Uh- Sheriff- I was wondering if I could… stay for the night?”
Jimmy stared blankly. “ ‘m sorry, what?”
“...Forget it- it was stupid.” Joe’s face fell, and he immediately started spinning around ready to leave before Jimmy grabbed his arm. He flinched slightly, sharp enough that Jimmy let go.
They stared at each other for a few more awkward minutes. Jimmy finally broke the silence:
“Come in then.” He moved out of the way, gesturing. Joe stood rock still for a second, before stiffly walking the few steps into Jimmy’s house. He looked out of his depth, examining the wooden interior with a glint in his eye. Not judging, like Jimmy expected from many of the other rulers, just… observing.
“Take off your shoes please.” Jimmy indicated, the other man quickly doing so.
When he was done and had left his boots next to the door, Jimmy moved in front of the pirate, gesturing at the table in his kitchen. Joe got the hint and sat down, grimacing as his back brushed against the chair, flinching forwards like it burned him. Jimmy took the second chair, turning it around to leave space for his canary wings.
He looked at Joe for a few more seconds, said man looking more and more nervous the longer the silence lasted.
“So why’d ya come all the way to Tumble Town to stay the night?” He decided to ask, eventually. “It’s a bit far off from the Eversea no?”
Joe fidgeted with the edges of his frayed coat. It was definitely well made, but time and use and a clear lack of skill at sewing ripped fabric had deteriorated it. His face was more serious than Jimmy had ever seen it, a distinct lack of bitchy quips and loud noises that was uncharacteristic for the blonde pirate.
“The Forgotten Cove… isn’t the safest anymore. Maybe it never was! I don't even know.” Joe curled his fists around his coat, pulling it tighter around himself. “Skel- my enemy knows I’m there, and he left… signs. And stuff. And I can’t exactly… sleep. Knowing that he could just walk in! There’s no one to stop him from doing that- There’s no one to stop him from doing anything! From sneaking in at any time! ” By then, Joe’s volume had increased, paranoia and exhaustion clearly catching up to him. “There’s no one else , and nowhere's safe, and I feel like I’m constantly being watched and I don’t know how much of that is in my head and how much is real! ” The fight drained out of Joe as quickly as it came, the man slumping forwards to rest his head on his hand.
“I’m just so, so tired Sheriff. My head hurts, my back hurts, I just want to sleep without worrying I’m going to wake up in a cell. You were the farthest person I could think of that I was on moderately good terms with.” Joe looked miserable, curled up on a shabby wooden chair in Jimmy’s home. Said Sheriff was definitely concerned for his fellow ruler, to say the least. But from Joe’s rant, he could tell the pirate wouldn’t appreciate an interrogation at the moment.
“Joe- how long has it been since you’ve slept?” He asked, though he already could guess the answer.
The pirate looked up, a pensive expression crossing his face before being replaced by exhausted irritation. “I- I don’t know, maybe a few days? I can’t remember.”
Jimmy nodded, getting up. He pulled Joe up by the shoulders, steadying him when he stumbled. “Follow me.”
He opened the door to his bedroom, gently pulling Joe inside. Once again Joe looked around curiously, barely registering that Jimmy had moved next to the bed.
The sheriff removed his vest and outer layers, leaving himself in just his shirt and under layers. Joe’s eyes widened but he said nothing, even as his face gained a bit of colour.
Jimmy sat down on the bed, patting the spot next to him. “It’s not a permanent solution, but you can stay here for the night. No offense man, but you look terrible. ” Joe hesitated, but moved closer. Slowly, unsure, the pirate removed his multiple belts and buckles, a few weapons too. Eventually Joe was left with just his coat as an outer layer. He stopped, clearly contemplating, before slipping it off, leaving himself in just his shirt and pants.
Jimmy couldn’t help it, he gasped, horrified. Joe hunched his shoulders, and that motion made the colourful wings tightly bound by belts to his back twitch.
“Joe-”
“I know.” Joe shifted, wings twitching in a painful looking manner. He was determinedly looking forwards.
‘... Please tell me the truth- Did you do that? ” Why?
The pirate hesitated, debating with himself. “...yes.”
The sheriff slowly crawled a bit closer, examining. He hadn’t even known Joe was an avian, just like himself. Definitely different species however, as Jimmy’s golden canary wings were nothing like Joe’s rainbow parrot ones. At one point, Joe’s wings had definitely been bright, probably beautiful too. However, it was clear they hadn’t been taken care of for- weeks, at the very least. Broken feathers dug into the flesh, sand and grime lodged in between. The belts were pulled tight around Joe’s torso, crushing his wings into a flat enough shape that his coat hid them from view completely. How he could even breathe properly, Jimmy had no idea.
He felt sick. An avian’s wings were- extremely important to say the least. Avians took great pride in their wings, most seeing them as a blessing. They took great pride in keeping them in good shape, not just because of how painful and uncomfortable unpreened wings were. An avian flock normally helped with preening, as it was difficult doing it alone. To see a fellow avian’s wings like that…. Not to mention how tight the belts were around them, and Joe’s torso… It was horrible.
Jimmy brushed his hand against Joe’s wings, and immediately the avian (!?) flinched away, wings pulling against their bindings. Joe whimpered, curling into himself away from Jimmy’s touch.
He immediately removed his hand, trying to get Joe to look at him. “I- I’m Sorry. …Joe, why would you do this?”
Joe turned away. “... parrot hybrids are too recognizable. Too- easy to hunt. Skeltron would’ve been after me like a pack of hounds if he knew. I- we were already drawing too much attention by attacking his ships… if he knew he’d probably want to rip my wings from my back with his bare hands. Or well,” Joe chuckled mirthlessly. “With whatever bony appendages he has left at least.” Jimmy stared in horror.
“Skeletron as in… the guy you’ve been saying is after you? Your rival?” Joe nodded, still resolutely not looking at him. “Joe- if you have a fuckin’- hybrid hunter after you why didn’t you tell someone?” Finally, the pirate turned to look at him quizzically.
Hybrid hunters were the worst kind of hunters. They were extremely rare these days. But they were dangerous. They’d hunt down hybrids and magical creatures, cutting them up and selling their body parts, commonly to pillagers.
Jimmy stared back at Joe, familiar red hot anger rising inside of him. “ Most of us are hybrids too, our citizens are hybrids, we wouldn’t let a fellow ruler- scratch that, we wouldn’t let anyone deal with a magic eating hybrid hunter! Especially not one that seems to have that much power-” A realization struck him suddenly. “... Joe, do all skeletons work for him? Are there hybrid hunters in my empire? !”
Joe looked dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open. His mouth opened and closed a few more times as he watched Jimmy rant. Eventually, he seemed to pull himself together, as he answered.
“I-Uh- No I don’t think so? Only skeletons wearing his symbol work for him. It’s how he controls them.”
Jimmy suddenly gripped Joe’s face, making direct eye contact.
“...Joe, from now on, I’m killing every single skeleton I see. Skeletron- I can’t believe you’ve had to deal with a magic using hunter like that- alone! ” By now Jimmy had let go of him, waving his arms around.
“I wasn’t.”
That stopped Jimmy in his tracks. “Huh?”
“I wasn’t alone- I had my crew.”
“... had?”
“... It’s how I founded the Forgotten Cove. Our ship… it was attacked. I got blasted off. I-” Joe wiped his eyes ferociously. “I don’t even know if they’re still alive .” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“... Void, Joe.” Jimmy couldn’t resist the urge anymore, pulling Joe into a hug. The pirate stiffened at the contact before melting into it, hesitantly grabbing onto Jimmy’s shirt. Joe’s eyes filled with tears, before he began to sob into Jimmy’s shoulder. Big, ugly sobs, the result of days of paranoia and exhaustion and grief and pain mixing into one horrible stew of emotions.
Jimmy gently rocked Joe back and forth, still holding onto the pirate. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
…
After a while, Joe’s sobs subsided. He loosened his grip on Jimmy's shirt, his breathing slowly going back to normal.
Jimmy quickly went to get him something to wash his face, bringing back a towel. As Joe cleaned off the dried tears, Jimmy spoke.
“... It’s been a long day, and I doubt you want to keep talking about it right now,” at this, Joe nodded, exhausted. “But please Joe, before you go to sleep, please take off the belts. Its- Its hurting you. ”
Joe paused. Jimmy went on. “I swear Skeletron won’t see you in here. It’s just me. Please Joe.”
“...Alright.” Joe felt around the belts to find the first buckle, Jimmy taking over since Joe couldn’t reach it. He undid the first belt, Joe gasping as a bit of the pressure on his chest and wings was released. Jimmy paused, but Joe just nodded and gestured for him to go on.
One by one, the belts were removed, slowly lessening the pressure until finally, the last one was off. Jimmy could tell Joe would have bruises on his chest, similar to the ones he could see on his wings, but for now Joe seemed to be able to breathe normally. He inhaled and exhaled, getting used to the feeling of his lungs not being constricted anymore.
Then, for the first time in a long while, Joe tried to move his wings. The immediate pain that hit him made him regret it immensely, and he made a sound almost like a sob.
“Don’t!” Jimmy said, a bit too late. He looked apologetic. “Since you haven’t used your wings in so long- it’ll take a while to get them back in shape.” Joe nodded as best he could through the last stings of pain.
Somehow, Jimmy manoeuvred them so that Joe laid on his front, so that his wings didn’t bother him. After that, Joe didn’t remember much of anything, since the moment his head lay on the pillow, he was asleep.
Jimmy smiled softly at Joe’s sleeping form, before pulling out his communicator. A small frown made his way onto his face as he opened a chat with all the rulers-except for Joe.
SolidarityGaming: We need to talk.