#novelvember

[ickmick]

Novelvember week 3

prompt: yet another incorrect quote, which is at the end of the fic :3

duo or ship: tango/grian with plenty of impulse & grian interaction!

A certain pesky bird goes poking through the local dungeon master's storage unit. After getting caught red handed, he flees to tell a fellow hermit, seeking advice for his rising feelings.

OR

Grian has a gay panic over Tango making out with him and tells Impulse all about it before promptly deciding physical touch is not currently Fun.

ao3 link | week one | week two

pssst... wanna see the full drawing? click here! <3

breif warning for a sort of anxiety attack at the very end. its not described in much detail, mostly just discomfort with physical touch.

Pacing the length of the entry room in Impulse's base, Grian grumbles a bit and checks his communicator again. The device was silent, cold metal pressing into his palms as he gripped it. Where is he? It's already been ten minutes, and the avian had thought Impulse was nearby. 

As he starts typing out another DM, the sound of rockets got close. Grian perks, wings raising as he looks for the source. There, incoming fast on glossy metal dragonfly wings, was the man of the hour.

“Hey! Sorry for taking a while, you know how Zed gets after cuddling,” The daemon calls with a chuckle when he's close enough. Through Impulse's many mentions of it, yes, he did know. There had been a few times he'd seen it himself, too.

Distantly, he recalls years long past where Tango had teased both Zedaph and Impulse for it. An uncomfortable jealousy rises, despite not having any reason to be. Not only was Tango very much not dating the two anymore, but Grian didn't have a connection like that to any of them. So it didn't make much sense to feel this way.

Impulse lands with an oomph next to Grian, furry whip-thin tail stretching out in an instinctive balancing act. It brings the avian back to the now relatively quickly. “How are you?” 

Frowning, he stays quiet for a second as the taller man closes his elytra and pushes his flight goggles up. “I think you know that,” Grian replies finally, a whine in his voice.

“Is it that bad?” Impulse asks, furrowing his brows while trying not to look too amused. When the avian just groans and turns away to keep pacing, he rolls his eyes fondly. “Come in, come in. Do you want a drink or something to eat, maybe?”

They go inside, and Grian hops up onto the island counter in the kitchen while the taller man gets out two glasses. Swinging his feet lightly, he sighs again. Heavily.

“Grian… buddy, I can't help you if you don't talk to me. I may give decent advice, but only when I know the situation.” Pouring water for them, the daemon walks over and holds one glass out. “Come on, what'd Tango do?”

The amused look on Impulse’s face only serves to make him more pouty. But after taking a long sip of water, Grian indignantly flaps his ear wings and looks away. “Well, it's confusing! He's confusing! He kissed me!”

Raising a brow, his friend sat in one of the bar stools. “Doesn't he, uh, always do that?” Pointing a finger limply at Grian, he adds, “I thought you two were in a loose QPR or something?”

“Yeah-!” Exasperation laces his exclamation, and his wings poof up. “But this was different!” His cheeks got warm, and he quickly took another gulp of water.

“How so?” Impulse tilted his head, elbow leaned on the counter as he looked up at him.

Flustered, the avian set his glass down and waved his arms about. “Usually it's an agreed on moment! He just went for it!”

This seemed to surprise Impulse, as he sat up straighter. His expression got a bit dark, voice serious. “Wait, went for it? He didn't disrespect your consent, did he?”

Face blanking briefly, he quickly shook his head. “Coders, no! That was- I didn't word it right. I promise it's not like that.” As the daemon relaxed- glad his pseudo brother wasn't causing actual problems- Grian looked away and traced the lip of his cup. “I mean that usually I'm like… Usually I'm there with intentions of garnering affection. But I was just, uh, sort of there this time.”

“Sort of there?” The taller hermit tilts his head. “Oh,” he smiles, “you were stealing from his storage again, weren't you?”

“Borrowing,” Grian sniffs, wings relaxing behind himself. “Those eggs weren't going to-” he realizes he's mumbling and stops, indignantly chirping.

“Eggs?” Impulse grins, all teasing words and smile-narrowed golden eyes.

Swatting at his arm, the avian groans. “Shut- forget I said anything!” He hops down from the counter, frowning deeply, only to be caught around the middle by a laughing man. A little gasp escapes him, but then he turns to glare heatlessly.

“No, I'm sorry,” He pulls him over to his side, words warm, “Tell me what happened. I'll try not to tease more.” Impulse carefully tucks a bit of fluffy hair behind his friend's ear, admittedly making the avian feel much more at ease. It was easier to talk when he wasn't in ‘playful older brother’ mode. 

He supposed the habit must be pretty strong, seeing as Impulse had both a little sister- Gem- and a little brother. Albeit, Tango wasn't actually related to him- that'd be really weird considering their past- and was only a month younger, but the point stood.

“I doubt that,” Grian mumbles in response, getting onto the stool next to him anyways. “But fine. Since I'm already here.” That, and they both knew even Zedaph didn't know the two's ex well enough to tell what he was up to. If Grian wanted in-depth advice regarding Tango, Impulse was the only one to ask.

“Sure,” the daemon hummed, arm falling to the side as Grian sat. His smile softens, and he urges him to go on with a brief hand motion.

Thinking about where to start, he stares down at his nearly empty glass. “Well, I just needed a few more bits and bobs for a build. And obviously, Tango has a lot of those.” As he speaks, he moves his hands about animatedly. “So, I figured, ‘ why not skim off the top? ’” His voice is hesitant, and he shrugs casually. Yes, this will do, easing into just what happened.

Impulse offers no response outside a little nod, allowing Grian the space to speak. So naturally, he does. “I've done it plenty, and he doesn't ever care because, you know, it's just little things.” Pausing, he hums and adds nonchalantly, “Even then, he never seems to mind when I take anything.”

It was probably a bigger deal than he'd assumed, as Impulse gave a big grin. Still, he says nothing, so with a nervous little chirp, Grian continues. “Anyways, he's been busy, so I let myself in and went downstairs…”

✮✮✮

Grian had hummed a soft, happy tune as he'd gracefully glided down into the belly of Tango's base. It had been a little hard to navigate with all the redstone, but he'd been down there enough times to narrowly avoid imminent death. At least for today.

The avian landed in the large doorway, and shook out his wings before folding them. He looked around, thinking over what he'd come for. It took a minute, dark brown eyes scanning the signs. Having recalled it, he set out for the chests he'd been sure had the right little things.

Something thudded a few minutes later, the distant sound of metal whistling through the air following it. The avian had frozen up, mid looting of some less than useful chests. As far as his build went, Grian had no use for the things he'd been grabbing.

He'd glanced between the room's entrance and the armful of eggs he'd currently held. Amongst them a few bits of gold shone, and a decently sized chunk of lapis had been tucked against his side. Conflicted between knowing he should get the hell out and his own instinct to take the precious items, he remained kneeled in front of the chest.

As the metallic elytra clinks a few times and makes a soft scratching as it shuts, Grian frowns and slowly scoots towards the bag he'd dropped on the floor for whatever he ‘borrowed’. It was his own bag, at least, empty outside of a few little miscellaneous items. That and the copper he originally came here for.

Carefully unloading his last haul of mostly eggs and shiny bits with a pleased chirp, he wonders why the other man hasn't walked in yet. He had heard him land, right? That wasn't his imagination? Admittedly, it should figure that he'd make it up.

So after another pause to listen, he shrugs and continues, poking into a few other chests. A soft trill leaves him as he finds some red wool, and he gently tucks it around the eggs. Can't possibly blame him for obeying his bird brain. 

He does some more back and forths between tucking a myriad of items around the eggs and snagging half slabs of copper. At some point he'd resumed his delightful tune. Then, someone clears their throat. Grian freezes, wings poofing up. As he hears a familiar snort, he scrambles up onto his feet and turns around.

Tango is leaning on the door frame, arms crossed. His metal elytra is folded behind himself, golden yellow magma-filled sections glowing in a way that imitates the man's own fire. “Whatcha up to, G?” The blaze watches him, raising a brow. There was a faint amusement to his tone, but he seemed a bit too tired for this.

“Uh,” looking down at the near full bag, he smiles, “Just helping you clean your storage, of course!” Over his shock and now in his usual mind of mischief, Grian puts his hands on his hips, inclining his head playfully. “There were some weird things in weird places, Tango.”

Seemingly giving him a moment to process what he's said, Tango offers a sharp grin. “Oh really?” He inquires in an unamused tone that says; ‘I don't believe you for a minute’. “The automated storage unit that I built myself is broken?”

The avian falters, glancing around at the room. It didn't feel like banter suddenly. “Y-Yes.” Confirming his shoddy alibi, and therefore sealing in another task for the other, he nods. One of his ear wings moves to cover part of his face, feeling shameful.

“Hm,” Tango hums, pushing off the wall and slowly walking over. He glances down at his bag and snorts again before turning to the open chests. “And which parts would you say are broken? I'm awfully tired, but if you say it's acting up…” The blaze spoke in a quiet sneer, knowing very well that his friend was full of it. But he didn't seem angry per se. 

Hesitating, he slowly turned around to look at the chests he'd raided. “Uhm, you see,” Grian trailed off, nibbling at his lower lip. He could feel the taller man stare down at him, and slumps a bit. Stealing ultimately unimportant items was one thing, they all did that regularly. Giving another hermit more work to cover up a lie though, that made his stomach twist. It just wasn't right.

Tango didn't say anything as the avian processed, tail idly flicking back and forth. He didn't speak up when said man leaned down and started to close the chests either. “Nothing is broken,” Grian quietly says, guilty. Hearing Tango cross his arms more than he really saw it in his peripherals, he cringed. “Sorry. If you'd like I can put everything back, I know you've been busy.” 

And yet he still swung by. He wasn't at all surprised to have been caught either. Rather, he'd been surprised by the sour turn of events. Tango seemed much more exhausted than one would imagine. Then again, he did build an entire game so… maybe it hadn't been a good idea to come pester him.

“I don't care about the items,” the blaze says after a moment. He grabs the back of Grian's sweater and pulls him back into a stand, making him look up at him. Behind Tango's irritated expression, he could see fatigue in his icy blue eyes. “What I care about is that you lied about it.”

Feeling rather small under his gaze, Grian looks away again. “I was only joking,” he weakly defended. It had in fact been another tease, one he knew he'd see through. Although– 

“That doesn't change the fact that you lied after, when I asked about it.” Tango’s voice lilts up towards frustration, arms crossed again. He'd practically spoken the shorter man's thoughts aloud. “Obviously I knew it was a joke, Grian.”

“Then-!” The avian tosses his hands up, cutting off his own shout to groan. “Why are you scolding me, then?”

Furrowing his brows at the weak glare, Tango's soul flame tail swishes in annoyance. “I just told you,” he says firmly, clearly attempting to remain calm. “Can we not do this right now? I have things to do.”

Now agitated as well- despite not having the right to be- Grian rolls his eyes and puffs his wings up to seem bigger. “You started it! Come on, shout back! You're clearly upset!”

The blaze stares, clearly riled if the crackling flame on his tail tip was anything to go by. After processing, he stepped closer, purposely looming over Grian now. “You should stop while you're ahead, birdie.” The nickname was startlingly out of place in the moment, said with such strained warning.

“And why is that,” he prods, feeling a bit childish for how he essentially was throwing a fit. It wasn't clear even to himself what was going on at this point.

“You're in my base,” Tango reminds him, grabbing his chin, “and you've stolen my items. I couldn't think of a better reason.”

This had all turned weirdly intimate, their faces inches apart as they seethed at each other. Deep down he sort of knew it was going to be fine, somehow finding warmth hidden in the other's gaze. Tango's voice had lowered, but not in the dark and angry way. It was almost sultry.

Flustering, the avian taunts, “Oooh, you wanna kiss me so bad!” It's entirely immature. And very out of line, had either been angry enough. But he desperately wanted to soothe the tension, chest tight from even the vague argument. So he did what he did best, make stupid, borderline flirtatious, jokes.

And for a second, Tango stares at him as if he was a fool. Which, he really was, so it fit. But then the blaze's cheeks warm and he seems to have an internal conflict of sorts. “What?” He finally mutters, brows furrowing again. 

Grian stares right back at him the whole time, utterly embarrassed but sticking by his own idiocy. “I said, ‘Oooh,’” he speaks slower, and a bit low, “‘you wanna kiss me-’”

He doesn't finish his echoed sentence, being grabbed by the arms and pulled close as Tango all but smashes their lips together. The taller hermit makes a noise akin to a growl, tail lashing. At first he's frozen, bewildered. It wasn't exactly the expected response. 

It seems like Tango is about to pull away, seeing as the avian had yet to do more than stare. But then Grian shuts his eyes and tosses his arms around his neck, kissing back. The blaze makes a quiet purring in response, tail moving to wrap around Grian's ankle instead of aggressively thrashing.

The kiss brimmed with burning passion, a shocking thing to occur between the two. This was so unlike their usual soft and gentle affections that Grian could feel his skin buzzing. His wings were spread out behind himself, twitching a bit as Tango nipped at his lower lip. Even his significantly smaller ear wings were raised, doing small flaps now and then. He tilted his head a bit, both to pursue a deeper kiss and to wordlessly try and figure out what the blaze wanted.

Another nip, then a hand grabbing the sides of his jaw and lightly pressing in a silent answer. Tango licks the avian's lips this time, making it even clearer. So with a muffled chirp, he parted his lips, letting him explore his mouth.

Simply holding his arm apparently was not enough. The blaze wrapped one of his own around Grian's waist, pulling him flush against his chest. He moved the other to rather gently pet the spot between his wings. It was a melting bliss. He made a mix of a groan and a trill, hearing a responding pleased grumble.

His own hands moved to grasp at Tango's hair, gentle but firmly there. Thankfully he isn't on his tiptoes, since the taller had been the one to initiate the kiss and had leaned down for it. Otherwise he may have accidentally tugged, what with how his legs felt wobbly. Though with how heated this all was, it may not have been an unwelcome action.

Tango occasionally catches Grian's lip between his teeth, rather pointy canines digging in before he'd let go and pass his tongue over the offended spot. Each and every time he earned a whine, and could hear the shorter hermit’s wings flap.

Then finally they break apart, lung capacity spent. They only leave inches between their faces, panting breaths mixing in a humid puff. Grian's eyes are lidded, staring up at the blaze with a befuddled mix of wonder and confusion. All that he gets in return is a huff and the electric look in Tango's gaze.

Flustered and red in the face, the avian sputters out a few breathless syllables. He wants answers to the many questions in his head, unsure when their energy went from purely frustrated to almost charged. It's a bit hopeless as his mind is reeling, and most of his noises are little trills. The blaze grins at that, like it was a victory on his part.

And then, Tango much more calmly leans down further to kiss his jaw softly. Grian gasps, fingers flexing in the other's hair, then tilts his head to the side as a go ahead. Safe to say this was all unexpected. It wasn't even that they'd never done any of this before. Just that the energy was so different, so much more intense.

Feather light kisses are peppered down his neck until Tango can't pull his turtleneck away any further. So he trails back up, pressing just a little more. Grian's hands are gripping tightly to his cape covered shoulders, thick fabric bunched between his fingers. He gasps as the blaze nips at his jaw, then lightly whacks him in the face with one of his ear wings. Mostly by accident.

“Hey-” Tango grunts, frowning a little as he pulls away enough to meet his gaze.

Taking a moment to regain coherent speech, Grian looks to the side. “Hey yourself,” he mumbles, a complaint in his voice.

“Too far?” The blaze asks, softening. He glances between Grian's blown pupils, smile a bit too smug.

He slowly nods, cheeks still hot. Then he looks at Tango again, taking in his red lips and heavy stare. “A bit. I'm not even sure where that came from.”

“Oh,” Blinking, he seems to think back, then snorts. “Probably from you saying I wanted to kiss you. Because I did.”

Wings puffing up in embarrassment, Grian makes a shrill noise, glaring heatlessly. “It wasn't an invitation.”

“You sure don't seem to regret it though. Can't say I do either, you look pretty all red lipped.” The blaze easily replies, smirking and leaning a bit closer.

Grian surges forward to hide his face against the taller man’s shoulder, grumbling as his face flushes all over again. He doesn't reply, hiding away as he ignores the festering pool of emotions in his chest. And the other doesn't seem to mind, rubbing his shoulder idly.

The moment is disturbed by Tango's communicator pinging, making the blaze pull it out from his robes. Grian pulls back slightly, then folds his wings carefully so he can turn in the man's arms and look at the device with him. He'll happily latch to a distraction.

It's a message from Zedaph, having another trophy challenge for him to participate in. Grumbling a bit, Tango starts to type a decline, but the small avian catches his wrist.

“Go, I have things to do too.” He leans his head on his friend's arm, looking up at him with a small smile. “And I know you want to, underneath your foggy instincts.” 

The funny thing is, Grian was easier to fluster and get entranced, but also returned to normal faster. This wasn't the case for Tango, who lingered in his emotions longer. Admittedly, this was mostly because the avian tended to ignore said emotions, but still.

Frowning, he stares at him before realizing he's right. So he deletes the draft and instead confirms he'll come. “Only because you're busy.”

“Liar,” The avian teases, narrowing his eyes. But then as Tango blushes, he looks away and sighs. He may want to ignore how he feels about a lot of this, but the guilt was returning. And that he didn't want to leave untended. “Hey uh, I'm sorry for lying. And generally for getting annoying about it after.”

Tango doesn't reply at first, putting his communicator back into some hidden pocket. But then he gently pulls Grian off of himself, turning him around to look at him properly. He's got two fingers under his chin, tilting his head up to meet his smiling face.

“It's fine, I already forgave you. I know you didn't mean anything by it.” Then, the blaze leans down and presses a chaste kiss to his lips. This is what their intimate interactions were usually like, soft and comforting. And yet this simple kiss serves to fluster Grian beyond belief.

“O-Oh!” He had chirped when his friend pulled away. “Great! Then, uh, have fun! Bye!” The avain promptly fled, just barely remembering to grab his bag on the way out.

✮✮✮

“And then I messaged you,” Grian finished, hands falling into his lap. He had tried to explain in as little detail as possible while still properly retelling the event, yet still felt a bit winded.

Taking a second to really soak in just what he's been told, the daemon takes in a breath. He smiles, sounding a bit surprised, “That's a lot to unpack, isn't it?”

“Yeah! It is! If you somehow missed that part, we all but made out!” He had left out the intimate details, of course. But it was hard to not mention how Tango had certainly wanted to continue. Grian's cheeks got warm just thinking back on it.

Now seeing just what was going on in the avian's brain, Impulse grins widely. “We? So you kissed back?” Grian flushes, silent aside from a nod. “Did you enjoy it?”

“What kind of question-?!” He squawks, eyes widening as he whips his head to the side. Getting only a smug look, he wrings his hands. “I mean, yeah? I wouldn't kiss him near regularly if he wasn't good at it.”

The daemon snickers, shaking his head. “That's not entirely what I meant.” Seeing as Grian still didn't get it, he sighs and takes a small sip of his water, finishing it off. “G, when you two usually kiss, does it feel the same as today?”

He thinks about it, brows furrowed in confusion. “Um, I mean, no. But we haven't ever made out. Not fully, anyways. Our relationship is…” Grian trails off, waving a hand idly as if beckoning his thoughts forth. “I don't know, softer? This was more aggressive.”

“Well you did bicker seconds before,” Impulse points out, leaning on the island counter. “So then, was it a good different?”

“Um,” The avian squints at him, as if expecting the taller man to have an ulterior motive. That one he had to properly consider. He'd been so caught up in the why that he hadn't even considered how he felt about it. 

Tango had held him so close, grip firm yet somehow still gentle. And there had been a fierce passion that sparked between them for the first time. Sure, there was always affection and genuine love in their usual exchanges, but… that was always platonic.

It hit him at about the same time Impulse waved a hand in front of his face. Blinking rapidly, he looks up at his grin and flushes a bright red. “I suppose it was,” he finally answers.

“Looks like you have it figured out now,” Impulse murmurs, a spark of pride in his eyes. “Knew you'd get there eventually!”

“Yeah,” the avian breathes. It's been a very long time since he's fallen for someone. It all feels so bizarrely foreign, complicated and messy. It's a bitHe doesn't have the time to fully let it sink in, wings puffed up in embarrassment. “Thanks, Impulse.”

“Anytime, bud,” he easily replies, patting his shoulder. “I'm more than happy to help out, you know that.”

They have tea, easing into unrelated topics. Grian keeps zoning out as his friend rattles off The Soup Groups latest goof. He doesn't mean to, genuinely interested in what Impulse has to say, but he's a bit weary after all the emotional processing he's done today. 

There's a lot of questions in his head. Namely, does he feel the same? A dreadful sort of itching crawls up his spine at the idea of it. It takes hold just under his wings, making him drag his clawed fingers over the spot over and over.

When he'd confessed to Doc a while back it wasn't anything like this. The creeper hybrid had gently turned him down, and that was that. They just returned to being purely platonic friends. And they still are. So why was Tango so different? Was he really so attached to the blaze already? 

“G?” The daemon taps his arm gently, thin tail folded over on his lap. He's smiling softly, a concerned twist in the corners. His brows furrow as Grian jolts, warm hand remaining on his arm. It feels like it's burning.

Taking a breath, Grian looks up from his empty tea cup, meeting the other's gaze. “I'm okay, don't worry.” Then the combination of burning and itching is too much and he pulls his arm away.

The avian looks out the window behind Impulse. “Sorry. I should get going,” he shakes out his wings a little, then hops down from the stool, out of the other's reach.

“Oh, well alright.” Standing as well, Impulse refrains from stepping back into his space. He's not totally sure what's wrong, but it isn't the first time Grian's gotten like this. He trusts him to self regulate, and he doesn't seem to be doing horribly.

“Thanks again for the advice,” He smiles, tone warm and genuine despite the unsteady shake in it. “See you.”

“No problem,” The daemon replies, idly itching at the base of one of his short horns. He frowns slightly as it makes Grian shiver. But before he can say anything else the shorter hermit is leaving the room, footsteps gaining speed as they become fainter. 

Maybe he should have Mumbo check in with the avian. Scar would be too quick to try to hug him, and Tango is… well he's out of the question for now. 

Nodding slightly to himself as he distantly hears Grian take off, he picks up his communicator and sends a quick message to the lanky redstoner. Then he gets to cleaning up the kitchen, brows pinched.

-

heres the quote of the week! I laughed so hard when i found it, I couldn't just not use it

a few things as well, incase i didnt make it obvious in the fic! tango used to be in a triad with impulse and zedaph a while back... things happened and now hes purely just friends with them! impulse became like an older brother to him, and zedaph got back with impulse ^^

and this is (clearly) set before scar, tango, and grian got together LOLL

more is to come on all of this, im very normal about it! (lies) and i have a lot of ideas for their relationships and everything :D

anygay, thanks for reading!! have a great week!! I'll be back on Sunday!! <3

[ienjoywallpaper]

So November is NaNoWriMo (y'all really missed out on the opportunity to call it Novelvember, just sayin'...), And while I am not dedicated enough for *that*, I *am* considering this month posting one-offs and in-progress chapters that will eventually end up on Ao3, but I'm just not ready for that sort of commitment yet. My hope is to spark my writer brain back to life and get back to creating. This is probably just yelling into the void, but you know what, I'd rather yell into the void than yell at my dying writer brain inside my head.

[random-jot]

It begins.

[ickmick]

Novelvember week 1

prompt: used an incorrect quote, I put it at the end of the fic!!

duo or ship: tango/grian (with a hint of scar as their third)

The sound of rockets is fairly common at The Frozen Citadel, as Hermits swing by frequently to play Decked out 2. However, fireworks themselves are not so common. So when Tango hears them clearly from the belly of his creation, the blaze investigates.

OR

Tango finds Grian crash landed after trying to use fireworks mid flight. They get a laugh, and kisses are shared before cuddling inside.

ao3 link

pssst... this is just a close up! wanna see the full two (2) drawings? look here! <3

-

"Annnd… that should work better," Tango mumbled to himself, stepping back from the tweaked redstone. Decked Out may be complete, but there's plenty of upkeep to manage. That and he wanted to increase the difficulty in later levels just a smidge. They're meant to be harder, yet his players were having a breeze. 

He nods a bit, as if agreeing with his own thoughts. Soul flame tipped tail flicking, the blaze paces to both sides of the contraption, scanning it for imperfections. Just gotta be sure it works, and all that.

As he's turning away to put away his spare redstone, there's the distant sound of fireworks going off. But not the usual flight rockets of someone arriving to play. Instead, it sounds like full on regular fireworks. The semi familiar noise of loud pops of color following its release are obvious enough.

Furrowing his frosty brows, he tries to listen for it again. "Is somebody celebrating out there or something…? What the heck?" 

When the sound comes again, ending with an equally muffled scream, his eyes widen. Tango immediately takes out his rockets and takes flight, dodging contraptions and closely built walls from memory as he types out a message on his comm.

[Tango] is someone outside the citadel?

[ImpulseSV] not that I know of

[GoodTimeWithScar] nope!

Landing outside the massive icy structure, he puts his communicator away after a few more negatives from others. Scar expresses concern beyond a surface level, and so Tango quickly promises in a whisper to let him know what happened if he finds out. It's clear the man knows more than he says. 

This was definitely weird, but maybe it's a prank. Or a Hermit paused to do a bit and just happened to be here? The blaze looks around, making a hum of confusion as he searches. Why did they scream, though?

Walking to glance over the edge of the entrance, the dungeon master is surprised to find one of his partners sulking in a pile of snow. The avian had his arms crossed, wings splayed awkwardly underneath himself. 

"Uhhh, hey Gri, whatcha doin' there?" Tango smiles a bit, head tilted a bit as he plays off his concern.

The shorter man looks up at him, sighing. "What's it look like? I crashed." His tone was bitter, perhaps a bit annoyed as he threw his hands up. But then he weakly smiles back, a hand moving to straighten his glasses on his nose. The sight soothes Tango slightly, who relaxes upon the realization that Grian must be fine if he's playing up the drama. "I ran out of rockets, so I used the fireworks Scar gave me yesterday."

"Doesn't seem like it was very helpful, yeah?" Snorting, he leans his elbow on the ledge of the walkway, cheek rested in his palm as he watches his partner get up and shake snow from his wings and hair.

"No, no it wasn't." Grian confirms, trying not to snicker as he climbs up the slope to try and get up onto the half wall the other was behind At some point, he grumbles to himself and looks up into the others blue eyes, frustrated by the slippery surface. "Mind giving me a hand?"

Laughing loud enough to make the avain scowl somewhat fondly, he nods. "Oh sure, come here." Tango leans down over the wall, reaching a hand out to Grian.

It clearly hadn't been the expected offer, but he takes it anyways. And with the combined effort of Grian jumping and Tango leaning backwards with a good chunk of his body weight, they manage to land in a heap on the snow packed, stone pathway. The brunetts wings puff up, his glasses coming off and skidding nearly a foot away from them.

Tango is laughing, hand still in the others as his free arm wraps around his waist. Not bothering to keep up the act for more than just another pout, Grian giggles a bit as well.

After they've both caught their breath, Grian sits up on his stomach, looking down at the man. His brown eyes narrow a bit, before his brows raise as if impressed. "Wow…"

What's that look supposed to mean? Cold tinged cheeks turning a deeper blue, Tango offers a melty smile, flustered. Unlike Scar, he hasn't seen Grian without his glasses before. "Wuh… What?"

"Pfft," the avian beams trying not to laugh. He reaches a hand blindly to cup Tango's cheek. "You're so blurry."

Blinking up at Grian in surprise, his whole face flushes. This time it's from embarrassment. "O-Oh! Really?"

"Yeah, like you're just a blue blob." It's incredibly funny to the shorter man apparently, less so for Tango. But at least someone's amused, giggling and leaning closer and squinting.

Ice cold wind ruffles through their hair- or, for Tango, brushes over his ice frosted hair- and Grian ends up leaning close enough that he can nudge their noses together. They both laugh a bit, expressions softening. "There you are," the avian jokes, voice quieter. 

"Yep," Tango hums, squeezing his hand, "here I am." 

Despite not being particularly heavy- avian genes, or something- Grian shifts so that his free hand holds him up a bit. "I have to be ridiculously close to see you clearly," he hums, voice quiet.

"Sounds like a you problem," the blaze teases, pulling him back in gently. A small reminder that the other doesn't have to strain himself. "It's pretty convenient for me, though."

This time it's Grian's turn to blush, flustered by the raw affection in his partner's voice. "Really now? How could my invading your space to see you be convenient?" He keeps up the joking manner, shaking their joined hands lightly.

"Well, I get to see your cute face real close up," Tango says without hesitation, grinning at the little chirp the avian makes. "And it's easy to do this."

Moving his hand from Grian's waist, he instead cradles the back of his head and pushes it closer so he can lean his own head up a bit. And then he presses a chaste kiss to his lips, able to feel just how warm the other is. After it, they stare silently at each other, one smug and the other awed. Every time Grian is kissed is like the first time, in that he always gets incredibly flustered. It's cute.

A moment later, he hums and whispers against Tango's lips, "good point."

The blaze snickers before being pulled in again, Grian having given up on taking some of his weight off him. He tugs the dungeon master in as close as possible, hand grabbing at his robes as they kiss again.

It lasts longer, and after Tango glances over at the citadel. "Let's get out of the cold, yeah?"

Grian was admittedly shivering, but he still hesitates before nodding. "Alright."

Glasses picked up off the icy floor, the two go inside with the smaller tucked under his partner's cape and against his side. At some point between making tea and pressing soft kisses to Grian's cheek, the blaze remembers to message Scar. With their third assured of everyone's well being, Tango curls up with Grian, content with cuddling the cold avian to keep him warm.

-

week two's fic

heres the IQ! so maybe grian didnt 'seductively' take them off but... its fine!!

i havent posted a fic on tumblr in ages... and it was only once before, on an old account... so forgive if its formatted weirdly!!

this fic was actually so fun to write- i love it a lot. i hope you do too!! (and i hope next week i get my post out on time... =w=)

anyways... peskyblaze lives rent free in my head and therefore im stuffing it into everyone elses brain too!! /silly

[ickmick]

hehe...

*passes you a preview of tomorrow's drabble*

its almost done

and its just fluffy nonsense

[ickmick]

aha... it is sunday... i slept in, but the drabble is almost done! here is another preview for your viewing pleasure <3

(I also need to finish up my sketch! sketches... i might have more than one part i want to draw... we'll see!!)

its only a paragraph this time because its not a particularly long oneshot pfft- i might end up posting tmr instead

[ickmick]

HAPPY (one day late) BIRTHDAY RANBOO !!

@ranboolivesaysstuff (is it okay to tag? i dont actually know- if theyve said not to please let me know!)

(alts, timestamp and rambling words under the cut!!)

obligatory I dont really post ranboo content often!! I may post one or two more pieces at some point of their vtuber model, but outside of that I mainly do hermitcraft fanart!! just as a heads up!!

I also posted this to twitter!! (you guys got it first though hehe)

I started this day of, I promise I didn't forget- it just took way longer than expected LOL

Im actually so proud of this drawing, ngl... the eyes!! i love detailing eyes now its actually so fun, esp because I don't really have a certain way to do it, I just do what looks neat to me! which... might not be great art style wise but... ITS FINE XD

I also like the lettering details- not only the highlights, but all of it! because I hand lettered! it was kinda hard! but worth it! the entire drawing was worth it, I think its the happiest I've been through an entire work time... I dont think i ever got frustrated or wanted to give up, so thats really awesome!

OKAY OKAY... now for the promised alts and timestamp hehe

anyways, thank you as always for the support!! 💜

please come back on Sunday if youre interested in reading my first Novelvember post of the year!! (pssst... it will have a drawing of some variety! i cannot promise it will be digital or refine, but it will be art! thank you!)

[ickmick]

Novelvember week 2

prompt: used another incorrect quote, its at the end of the fic!!

duo or ship: tango/scar (with a hint of grian as their third and various hermits in the bg) doc, cub, and impulse have dialogue!

A good old game of hide-and-seek is just what they all deserve right now. Tango had hinted at it way earlier in the season, so why not? It'll be a good time, and plenty other hermits can relax and just... enjoy some time. Sure, it's really cold around The Frozen Citadel, but you don't really notice when hiding away in an alcove with one of your partners.

OR

Tango invites a bunch of hermits to play hide-and-seek at his base, and the results are better than expected. A bit of playful teasing occurs with Scar, and plenty of kisses are shared.

ao3 link | last weeks fic

pssst... wanna see the full drawing? check here! <3

"Tango?" The tall brunett seemed to perk up at the sight of his partner, Jellie in his lap as he drew up plans for the next ride in Scarland. 

Smiling, said blaze leans over his shoulder and kisses his cheek, giving Jellie a pat on the back for good measure. "Hiya! Whatcha up to?" Hands rested on the back of Scars chair, he looks over the plans with a hum.

"Hey now-" Scar gets that usual amused tone to his voice, covering the blueprint with his roughed up hands. "No peeking! Top secret park plans are happening!" He grins, eyes glinting playfully. There was that slight blue tint to them, the vex part of him always pushing for mischief.

Laughing, he nods and puts his hands up. "Alright, alright." Tango steps back, letting his partner slowly get up from the table. Slightly miffed, Jellie sits on the table instead and starts grooming behind her ear. 

"So, what can I do for you, Mister Tango?" He grabs his walking cane from beside his chair, leaning on it a bit as he grins.

"Oh," the blaze says, brows raised as his voice lilts in over dramatic surprise, "I didn't know we were on such formal terms, Mister Goodtime!" Both of them are grinning, and his partner can't help but titter, trying to suppress a full laugh. 

Stepping closer, he takes Scars unoccupied hand and leans down, kissing it's back in a clumsy copy of a formal greeting. Tango looks up to meet his eyes, seeing a faint blush over his amused face. "Would you honour me with your presence at this afternoon's game of Hide-and-Seek?" 

Scar lightly squeezes the hand holding his, nodding along. "Why of course! Thank you for the invite, fine sir!" The vex stares him down with a delighted look, then pulls him closer and kisses his cheek. "Where's it happening?"

"The Deepfrost Citadel," he hums in reply, scanning over the other's scarred face. "Grian will be there too, and a handful of the other hermits. Impulse, Ren, even Doc was convinced. Though, I'm pretty sure he just wants to be a seeker." Chuckling, Tango glances down as Jellie rubs between their legs.

"It'll be too cold for you Jellie! Sorry!" Scar soothes, as if she were concerned in the first place. He beams as the blue haired blaze bends down and scoops her up, petting her head. "Awww… look at you two! If Grian was here, it'd be my whole family!"

"Oh really? And here I thought the whole server was our family?" He teases, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"Well-!" Flushing slightly, he beams and looks away, waving his hand dismissively. "They are!" His voice softens from its defensive tone, and he smiles warmly, "but you three are dearest to me."

Tango is blushing as well now, leaning into the hand placed on his cheek. He stares fondly, then quietly teases, "Playing favorites, are we?"

"So what if I am?" The vex replies without hesitation. He leans in, humming, "I think I have the right."

Pretending to think it over, he shrugs. “Probably…” Tango trails off, sighing contently as they silently hold eye contact.

Jellie takes the opportunity to leap back onto the table, supposedly fed up with their nonsense as she's no longer being pet. “There she goes!” Scar snickers a bit, both of them startled out of their equally love struck trances.

Starting to make some joke or comment, Tango goes wide eyed and makes an alarmed noise. “Oh! I need to go check with a few more hermits.” He smiles, quickly kissing the vex's cheek. “I'll see you later, yeah?”

“Yep!” Scar reaches out and brushes some cat fur off of the others robes, “Wouldn't dare to miss it.” He looks down 

There's a brisk wind at The Citadel, being fairly more pleasant than the usual snowstorms. It's a good day for outdoor games, all things considered. All the participating hermits were gathered by the entrance, in various mishmashes of warm clothes. Some borrowed, some old, some newly crafted.

“Alright! Everyone ready?” Tango looked to their seekers, Cub and Doc, then grinned. “No peeking you two!”

Crossing his arms, the tall scientist gives an unimpressed look. “As if I'd need to.” Doc huffs, a whisper of a smile playing at his lips. It makes the creeper far less imposing.

Next to him, the shorter vex simply rolls his eyes. He looks faintly amused as well, but makes no promises. Typical of a vex, really. But they know he won't cheat anyways. Unless it gets desperate.

“Okaaay-! Then turn around and let's get started!” The blaze beams, waving a hand at them incessantly until they did so, counting to 100. The hermits begin to scatter, laughing and lightly shoving each other a bit here and there.

Some of them trail off on their own, but a surprising handful of the group takes off in pairs or trios. Granted, there isn't actually all that many of them. Grian and Mumbo scurry off together, the shorter insisting that his friends dark clothes could hide his bright wings better against the rocks. Impulse, Gem, and Pearl all trudge towards lower slopes, giggling and wondering who would last longest. Ren ran off faster than anyone could follow, and naturally Bdubs dragged Etho by the hand towards the underside of The Citadel's bridge. 

This conveniently leaves Tango with Scar, who is looking around with a look of great concentration. “Scar,” he begins, still grinning.

“Oh! Tango! We need to go, come on!” The taller hermit smiles, as if that wasn't his partner's intention to begin with. Seeing no point in arguing his case, Tango nods sagely and follows after him. 

Together they venture out into the stark white expanse, the blaze occasionally directing Scar towards less open areas. He does know this land well after all, seeing as he lives on it. After a few more cuts between an outcrop or two, he's dragged down to the floor.

Now sitting side by side under a block and a half high ledge, they both shiver a bit. There's less snow down here, but it's colder when they aren't moving. Tango pulls his fur lined cloak closer, tail tucked over his feet. He looks over at the vex, seeing him slump down in his old aviator jacket. It looked fairly warm, but not entirely ideal for this kind of year round snow.

“All good?” Tango asks, blue eyes slitted in amusement.

He perks, looking over at him before pouting. Oh, the ‘woe is me’ face. Scar scoots slightly closer, their knees bumping together. “It's very cold out here!”

“Well yeah,” the blaze snorts, nodding, “this is a snow biome after all. I'm not exactly surprised.” Appraising the others' outfit, he quirks a brow. “I sent a message to everyone an hour beforehand to dress warm, Scar… is this the warmest outfit you have?” 

There's no judgement in his tone, just pure curiosity. And perhaps a little concern. Who could blame him? They were dating after all, a little concern was warranted. Especially considering this is Scar. Are even winter activities not Scar Safe? 

Crossing his arms- or possibly just hugging himself, as he rubs them and huffs- Scar frowns and cues the drama. “Yes! I don't exactly get much snow at either of my bases!” He holds his hands out quickly, “Just feel how cold my hands are!”

Obliging, he takes his partner's hands in his own. It's actually a bit shocking how cold they already are. Maybe it's just because Tango is a blaze, plus he's already used to the climate here.

“Here, how about I hold them? Then they won't be so cold.” He smiles, clasping them near to his chest, seeing as that's where he generated most his body heat.

Sighing happily at the lessened chill, Scar nods. “If you insist!” He hums, as if he hadn't practically shoved them into his partner's arms. 

“Oh, trust me I do.” Tango rolls his eyes, but doesn't mind a bit. In fact, he'd rather hold onto his hands the whole round than let him shiver helplessly. Sure, he'd be fine either way, but it's the principle!

After a moment the vex grins, mischief in his eyes. “Hey Tango?” Faintly bluish green eyes meeting his, he leans a little closer.

“Yes?” He queries, soul flame tipped tail flicking a bit. This sounded an awful lot like a certain silver-tongued tone Scar liked to pull.

“My lips are cold too,” the taller murmurs. He's got a proud look on his face, clearly aware of how smooth that was. Or meant to be. Tango can never tell, too easily flustered over his sweet words either way.

Considering it, he glances to the side before taking a hand from Scars. Tango leans ever so closer, as if he were going in for a kiss. And then he covers his partner's lips with his newly freed hand, chuckling at his bewildered expression. His cheeks are still faintly flushed a deeper blue than usual, despite the quick halt.

It takes a moment to process for Scar. The blaze can practically see the loading wheel over his head, and tries his best not to laugh more.

Then finally his pointed ears twitch and he leans away enough so that Tango removes his hand. “Hey now! That's not what I wanted, and you know that Mister TangoTek.” He pushes his lip out in a little pout, playing it up again. But there is a small glint of worry in his eyes.

And coders, Tango isn't usually one to cave so quickly to playful schemes of this sort, but… it makes him feel guilty. The anxiety doesn't belong anywhere in his partner's expression, especially not now. 

Letting go of his other hand, he instead grabs the collar of Scar's wool lined jacket and pulls him into a kiss. The vex seems startled, but then Tango feels him smile into it, and feels his lashes flutter against his skin as Scar closes his eyes. He holds him there for a moment before pulling back. 

“Any less cold now?” He asks once they're both over the suddenness. Laughing at his partner's dazed nod, the blaze presses a chaste kiss to his lips before taking his hands again.

Scar blinks, then leans his head on his shoulder and hums. “Oh definitely. I think they could be warmer though!” Peeking up at Tango, he grins, “Maybe if you held me and kissed me?”

“Oh, making demands now, are we?” He teases, nudging him a little. “Didn't you know beggars can't be choosers?”

Gasping, he sits back up, nearly crashing the top of his skull against Tango's chin. “I'm no beggar! I'm simply making an educated guess!”

Snorting, he leans in closer again, “Sure, sure… and what could've tipped you off to that, then?” Tango stares with lidded eyes, smirking as the vex flusters. 

He glances between the other's icy blue eyes, then swallows thickly. Offering a weak smile, he dares not move, unsure if Tango was going to initiate or not. The only sound for a brief moment was the chilly breeze and their warm breaths.

“Scaaar?” The blaze drawls, possibly a bit too smug. It was cute to see him choked up. It was a pretty even score between them as far as flustering the other goes. Grian, somehow, had them both beat out on that front. But Tango had a decent second place. Usually.

As Scar opens his mouth to reply finally, their noses mere inches apart, the distant crunching of snow makes them both freeze. Expressions dropping, they slowly turn to the opening of the stone hollow. Neither moved otherwise, waiting with bated breath to figure out who's lurking.

After a long pause, they hear a hum and some more footsteps. They grow distant, enough so that the two sigh and relax, leaning against each other. 

“That was close,” Scar murmurs, beaming. He turns and presses a quick kiss to Tango's lips. “A victory celebration is in order.”

Tango grins, but pauses to consider it. It isn't technically a win yet, seeing as there hasn't been a ping on their communicators yet. But of course his urges win out, as he pulls Scar in again and presses kiss after kiss upon his lips. 

Arms around each other, they laugh between every few pecks. They slow until it's only sweet little nothings, lips meeting for increased periods but not quite moving against the other's. It's probably not the best idea, but it keeps them occupied while they wait. And with Scar all but in the blaze's lap, they're both warmer too.

“Hey now,” a voice interrupts, the small space suddenly darker. Neglecting to keep quiet or at least listen for other sounds, it seemed they'd been found.

Scrambling to part, Tango sheepishly meets Impulse's best attempt at an unimpressed look. It's clear he's amused, but they both flush in embarrassment, and Scar ducks his head. “Uhh, you wouldn't happen to be a seeker, would you?” He asks, the taller hermit too flustered to make anything but stuttered syllables.

The demon tsks, crouched in the entrance. “Unfortunately I am, my friend. We got caught first, I'm pretty sure.” He smiles warmly, winking, “But I could warn the others away from here if you don't wanna come seek. We're still looking for Ren, Grian, and Mumbo.”

This makes Scar sober, brows raised. “Grian!? Goodness, how has nobody seen him? He's bright red!” He's scooting towards Impulse, who moves out of the way so they could get out.

“Beats me. Maybe his little tactic of using Mumbo as a shield worked?” The shorter brunett laughs and shrugs, “I take it you'll help?”

All three of them now stood outside, Tango nods quickly. “Of course! We can't let him win!” The blaze grins, adjusting his ribes to sit properly before setting off in the direction that he felt was best.

Scar scrambled after him after waving to Impulse. “Hey! Wait up, Tango!”

Crossing his arms, he watched them go, thin tail swinging idly behind himself. “What a pairing,” Impulse muses, shaking his head fondly before setting off in another direction.

-

heres the IQ! def did a lot of rewording, but lets be real it feels more fluid (hopefully)

yall the brainrot is REAL!!! I meant to do another quick and cute thing but no. I spent so much more time on this and I have 0 regrets. they're gay and adorable.

next fic will either be all three of them or something with impulse and maybe scar (platonically), i havent fully decided. guess you just have to come back next sunday to find out mwehehe

ooh, and I do silly and cute song names/lyrics as the titles... so if you wanna see, then... ao3 link is up top XD

ALSO SHOUTOUT TO A REALLY VERY COOL PERSON (*cough* mossfeathers *cough*) WHO FOLLOWED ME AS I WAS DRAFTING THIS /silly /vpos

I really like your text posts so Im glad you liked the last fic :3c

[ickmick]

crawls from the depths

hello, you (with illness)

i am partially sick i think? and have some writers block happening- so i dunno when this next fic is getting posted lol

and I may or may not do a drawing for it? we'll see, we'll see. I'd like to aim for Thursday at the lastest, so it's still within November for the whole *vauge hand gesture* Novelvember thing (not that i even used a prompt list)

after this one goes up i think I'll take a weeks break or so, in the sense that i take a week to genuinely not work myself, then the next week i still don't post so i can have longer to write, and then the week after (3rd week, so onnnn.... December 16th!) I'll post again, starting bi-weekly posts! (every other sunday)

I'll make another post once that starts, idk if im actually doing it... i just feel too tired to write properly, and i absolutely refuse to chunk out low quality fics for my beloved rarepair (and in general)

so yes!! if i have started my bi weekly posts then itll be in my uh *another vauge gesture* in my bio thing. yep. words are... theyre hard yall lol