Hermitcraft/Empires oneshots/drabbles

Yet another creeper (Rancher duo)

Some double life rancher duo!!

Tws: Broken arm

Tango was on the roof of the ranch house, trying to repair a leak in the middle of the night.

Boy, was that a bad idea.

As he hummed quietly, working on the shingled roof, he heard a hiss behind him. Heart fluttering, Tango turned to see a brightly flashing creeper behind him. Panic seized him, and he threw his shield up. Tango had lost his first life to a creeper. He didn't want it to happen again.

A loud bang, and he was thrown backwards, wings flapping uselessly at his side as he plummeted off the roof.

*****

'Tango!' Timmy had woken up early and was searching the ranch for his soulmate. 'Tango, where are you?' He called in a singsong voice. A few minutes went by, and he was getting worried. Breaking into a run, he combed through the grounds, even looking over and going down the deep valley and the river at the bottom, carefully avoiding the floating warden. 'Tango!' He yelled, tearing through the ranch. For the first time, he realised he couldn't feel anything through their soulmate bond. Tango was cold.

After a few minutes of frantic searching, he found the firebird sprawled unconscious on the ground behind their house, hidden by a screen of bushes. 'Tango, what happened?' Timmy yelped, dropping to his knees and shaking Tango. He woke up, gasped, and Timmy pulled him into a hug.

'T- Timmy?' He croaked, flinching at Timmy's cold hands.

'What happened?' Timmy asked, cradling Tango's head. He didn't seem hurt... At least not mentally.

'I was on the roof- This creeper blew me off.' Tango shifted and winced. 'Owwww...' At the same time, Timmy clutched his arm as pain lanced through it. 'Ouch! Did you break your arm?'

'Y-yeah... It only hurts when I move...' Tango wriggled his fingers and grimaced. Timmy carefully picked him up and made his way inside the house, laying the phoenix on the bed. 'Why were you on the roof?'

Tango pointed his wing at the half-patched hole in the ceiling, as Timmy pulled his sleeve up to exposed his injured arm. 'I was trying to fix that.' Tango murmured.

'Alone? At night?' Timmy asked dubiously, poking the arm, where it was bent unnaturally.

'Mmm... Yow!' Tango yelped as Timmy straightened his arm and wrapped a bandage around it, using a stick as a splint.

'Dang, I'm sorry-' Timmy tried to be gentle, but resetting a bone wasn't a painless job. Tango bit his tongue as Tim carefully finished splinting his arm. 'Did you get hurt anywhere else?'

'I dunno.' Tango looked down at himself. Nothing else seemed broken, although there was some bruising here and there. He could, however, feel exhaustion dragging him down. He had been lying prone on the ground for the entire night, and had barely gotten any sleep.

'Do you need anything else? Food? Water?' Timmy fretted.

Tango reached out with his good hand 'Cuddles?'

Timmy perked up, sitting beside him. 'Cuddles yes. You want to be the little spoon, I take it?'

Tango nodded, and Timmy wrapping his arms around Tango's waist, pulling him into a close hug. Tango chirruped and cuddled into his chest. 'Timmy,' He said with a little grin, 'My arm hurts, can you kiss it better?'

Timmy huffed, his breath warm against Tango's neck. 'Do I get a kiss in return?' He asked.

'Of course! I feel like you're hurt as well.'

Timmy leaned down and gently pressed his lips to the makeshift cast on Tango's arm. Tango twisted and planted kisses to Timmy's neck. He giggled, pushing hair off his face. 'You're so warm!'

Tango nuzzled his jawbone. 'You're cold.' He replied, trailing kisses down his face. Timmy stroked his hair. 'And you're wet.' Tango added. 'Why?'

'I went swimming in the gorge looking for you, featherbrain. I was making sure you hadn't fallen into the water!' Timmy snuggled into Tango's warmth. 'You're like a little radiator.'

Tango was perfectly content to stay wrapped up in Timmy's arms, despite how cold his skin was. The pain in his arm began to slowly dull as he kept it still, and tucking his head under Timmy's chin, he began to nod off.

Ack you can tell I still can't end these