What Is The Main Ingredient of WD-40?
Before you read to the end, does anybody know what the main ingredient of WD-40?
No Cheating.....
WD-40 ~ Who knew!
I had a neighbour who bought a new pickup.
I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray
painted red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown
reason).
I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news.
He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do ....
probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open.
Another neighbour came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off.
It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint
job that was on the truck. I was impressed!
WD-40 who knew?
"Water Displacement #40".
The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and
degreaser to protect missile parts.
WD-40 was created in 1953, by three technicians at the San Diego
Rocket Chemical Company.
Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'Water
Displacement' Compound.
They were finally successful for a formulation, with their fortieth
attempt, thus WD-40. The 'Convair Company' bought it in bulk to
protect their atlas missile parts.
Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40
that would hurt you.
When you read the 'shower door' part, try it. It's the first thing
that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic,
it works just as well as on glass. It's a miracle!
Then try it on your stove-top.
It's now shinier than it's ever been.
You'll be amazed.
WD-40 Uses:
1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4. Gives floor that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps the flies off of Cows, Horses, and other Farm Critters.
6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewellery chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic/terracotta garden pots from oxidising.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on both home and vehicles doors.
18. It removes that nasty tar and scuff marks from the kitchen
flooring. It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to
scrub nearly as hard to get them off. Just remember to open some
windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Remove those nasty bug guts that will eat away the finish
on your car if not removed quickly!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gearshift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on
riding mowers.
22. Rids kids rocking chair and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well
as vinyl bumpers.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons and bicycles for
easy handling.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes grease splatters from stove-tops.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve
arthritis pain.
37. Florida 's favourite use is: 'cleans and removes love bugs from
grills and bumpers.'
38. The favourite use in the state of New York , it protects the Statue
of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you
will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than
the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose. Keep
in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing
are not allowed in some states.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and
stops the itch.
41. It is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray it on the marks
and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed
and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the
lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The lipstick is gone!
43. If you spray it inside a wet distributor cap, it will displace the
moisture, allowing the engine to start.
My discovery, Ants don't like it..................
P.S.
As for that Basic, Main Ingredient.......
Well.... it's FISH OIL....
Now This Is Definitely Worth SHARING!!
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Trapped - 5k words
Jimmy is trapped in his jail cell, and has quite the unfun time.
Or: A more angsty reading of the stream Fwhip was fired on.
A03 Link
When The Sheriff built the Tumble Town jail, he was not expecting to be the one locked inside it. It was quite ironic, an authority figure jailed like the criminals he swore to catch. Or maybe he was just like those people, deep down. But that wasn't the point, he was just like any other upstanding citizen. And it wasnt why he was locked behind bars. There wasn't even a reason, really. Jimmy’s fellow rulers thought it was quite funny to mess with him, and today that had apparently involved trapping him in the empire's jail.
It had started with only a few people coming over, not with the intent to tease him originally. Fwhip has stopped by for a visit first, saying something about the Gobland's prisoner and that he needed to be dealt with today. After they'd worked out the details of the agreement the two restored to friendly chatting as they walked through Tumble Town. Fwhip offered to donate some iron and anvils for Jimmy’s railroad, as he had collected plenty in the caves and would continue to find more. (Isn't it funny, the same iron that Fwhip offered Jimmy would later try to steal) If Jimmy was really in need of the ore Fwhip also said he could get the Sheriff in contact with False. The blonde had been meaning to meet the mysterious ruler of Cogsmeade. Though she seemed pretty skittish and Jimmy didn’t want to give a bad impression, so he'd avoided showing up at her empire randomly. Scott, her neighbor, said she was friendly enough when you got to know her. But Jimmy had been so busy in his own empire, and with Joel becoming a constant nuisance he hadn’t had the time to schedule a meeting with False.
As they were discussing this, Jimmy expressing gratitude over the offer and trying to work out a time to meet False, the flap of wings were heard overhead. The Sheriff and his deputy looked up to see Gem swooping down, butterfly wings shining in the bright sun of the mesa. She landed a few feet away, more graceful than most of them could, though natural wings were probably more reliable than elytra. Jimmy tipped his hat at his ally with a "Howdy!" while Fwhip ran over to Dawn's Princess, tail swishing in joy as he greeted her.
"Hi Gem!" Fwhip smiled his toothy smile, running around her legs like an excited dog. He acted like a dog a lot actually, now that Jimmy thought about it.
Gem laughed at the goblins' antics, folding her wings against her back. "I missed you too, Fwhip." The smaller beamed at that, jumping onto Jimmy’s shoulders when they reached where he was standing. The Sheriff paid no mind as Fwhip perched on his shoulder like some kind of bird. It wasn't an unusual sight, as Fwhip had begun doing it a few weeks into their partnership. It was one of his quirks. He might be the tallest goblin, standing at over four feet (which was apparently rare for his species) but he didn't weigh much, he was only the size of a human child after all. He didn't weigh much to Jimmy anyways, someone like Shelby might have a harder time supporting several pounds of extra weight on their shoulder for more than a few minutes.
"Jimmy, do you have some orange terracotta? I need some for roofs." Gem asked, only glancing at the other person now on his shoulder. "I can give you some honeycomb in return."
"Of course!" He responded, glad to do another trade deal. The Sheriff liked trading, it made him feel helpful. "Lemme go get it for you, doll." He added a bit of southern twang into his voice, winking with a tip of his cowboy hat. Gem fondly rolled her eyes at the nickname, it was one of the many he'd given her jokingly once. They’d ended up sticking and it was common to hear Gem be called things like "sweetheart" and "sugar" by her ally.
Fwhip's tail flicked in amusement, then he jumped down from Jimmy’s shoulder without a word, understanding the Sheriff probably wanted him off now. It wasn't that Jimmy couldn't carry him, he could. It was just a bit too much weight to carry on his shoulders sometimes, and it tended to leave him more exhausted than, say, carrying Fwhip bridal style. Not that he'd done that. The goblin wanted to talk to Gem anyway, since he ran to her side instantly.
His two friends chatted about something as they followed Jimmy to his storage room. The building was a work in progress, and took a while to find anything, but it would get better in time.
Jimmy found the orange terracotta within five minutes, which is faster than he'd found something the other day. Either the chests were becoming more organized or he was just getting good at shifting through the mess.
"Are you sure honeycomb is okay? I've given you that a lot recently." Gem asked once he returned with the terracotta, five stacks in his arms.
"It's fine Gem, really." Jimmy smiled, handing her the trade items. Gem returned his smile, beginning to shift through her inventory. After a few seconds of looking her brows furrowed. "Shoot!" Gem exclaimed.
"Did you forget to bring honeycomb?" Fwhip asked, snickering.
"Yes!" Gem sighed, earning a chuckle from The Sheriff.
"I'll be back." She said, spreading her monarch wings. Gem was quickly airborne again, flying back to her empire to retrieve her side of the trade. Jimmy knew it would be a quick trip, the flight to Tumble Town to Dawn and back only took about thirty minutes. It was also a sunny day, and Gem got more powerful in sunlight. The journey was bound to be a lot quicker today.
While they waited for Gem to return, another person saw it fit to visit.
The next visitor was more colorful, a man claiming he’d just wanted to see what his favorite sheriff was up to, and was totally unaware of the guests he had. Scott also said he was sick and sounded horrible, so he wouldn’t be chatting much. Jimmy was glad to hear that, thinking maybe his visit would be short; even if the man ended up lying out of his ass about the no talking part. Jimmy didn’t exactly believe Chromia’s ruler on, well, anything he’d said; but decided there was no harm in his friend staying for a while, having people over once in a while could be nice.
That was until Sausage showed up. Yep, having people over wasn’t nice anymore. The brunette had ruined the whole concept by just existing in Jimmy’s biome that day. Sausage seemed intent on staying too, flirting up a storm with Scott at his newly built saloon. Chromia’s ruler flirted right back of course, Scott being, well, Scott. Jimmy watched them from the entrance of the tavern, sighing internally. There went his afternoon meeting with False.
Gem arrived shortly after the other two’s entrance, finding the small group in the tavern. She gave the Sheriff what he was owed for the trade, before going to join the little conversation.
He was honestly getting a tad annoyed with his fellow rulers. He had plans today, and all the unexpected company was interrupting it. He was The Sheriff , he had responsibilities and a job to do, for Cod’s sake!
The only person to not annoy him was his deputy, his oh so wonderful deputy. Fwhip had been by Jimmy’s side the entire day, offering conversation to distract him from any annoyances plaguing his mind. He was quite grateful for the little goblin, who even tried to help with the railroad when Jimmy tried to work on it. They didn’t get far though, as his empire’s guests interrupted the work pretty quickly to tease them about whatever. The Sheriff didn’t know what they were saying, he was tuning them out a bit. Fwhip seemed to be doing the same, giving Sausage a very unimpressed look after a particular comment Sanctuary's ruler made. The blonde vaguely wondered why the little goblin seemed to be turning red.
Jimmy wished they didn't use elytra, so he could shove his friends through his nether portal and then break it. It would've gotten everyone but his deputy out of his hair. Hell if they didn't have elytra none of them would be here right now
He was barely functioning correctly a few hours later, a bit exhausted by the constant social interaction. Jimmy wanted to get somewhere today, so if the troublesome trio wouldn’t leave he’d just try to work around them.
He beckoned Fwhip over, and the goblin dismissed himself from the conversation immediately. His deputy followed him until they went behind the storage room, Jimmy taking his hat off once they were out of sight from the others. He always wore the hat, but it did get hot sometimes. As long as it didn't leave his person, Jimmy would be okay.
"Can you bring Oli here?" Jimmy asked, running a hand through his hair. Fwhip opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when he saw the face The Sheriff was making.
"Sheriff, are you okay?" A familiar gentleness seeped into Fwhip's tone, a small hand reaching for Jimmy’s. He let his deputy hold his hands in his, letting the action comfort him. The other's tail began to flick worriedly, throwing up small puffs of dust from the terracotta below.
Jimmy gave a weak smile. "Yeah, just wasn't expecting everyone today. Kinda ruins my plans." Fwhip's gaze became less concerned, his tail occasionally flicking across Jimmy’s lower leg. "I was kinda excited to meet False."
"There's always next time." His deputy reassured. Jimmy hummed in agreement. "So you want me to bring Oli over here, then I can bring him back to Gobland for..whatever his sentence will be?" The plan had originally been to see the Goblands prisoner in the cage he was currently being held in, and maybe bring him to Tumble Town if the crime called for it. They were supposed to be doing that now, but Jimmy couldn't exactly leave his empire with one other ruler visiting, and certainly not with more than that. It was impolite. Gem turning up was a surprise, but if the others hadn't shown up she'd have been gone right now. Yet here they are, with half of his fellow emperors parading around his town for god knows what reason.
Jimmy gave a small nod of agreement at his deputy's suggestion, the smaller beaming at this. "Alright, I can do that!" Fwhip smiled, relaxing Jimmy’s hands. His tail had a happier flicking to it now.
"Thank you." Jimmy’s smile widened. "Have I ever told you what a great deputy you are?"
Fwhip giggled, ears twitching in amusement. "Nope!"
"Well now I have!" The Sheriff began to walk back to the group, hat being placed atop his head once more. He straightened it as he watched Fwhip pull out some firework rockets, waving a curt goodbye to Sausage as he took off.
"What were you and Fwhip doing back there, hmmm Sheriff?" Scott asked when he rejoined the group. And dear god he did sound terrible, not that the Sheriff had had a real chance to hear him speak. They were stood off to the side a little ways, as Jimmy wasn't feeling very social at the moment.
"Talking." Jimmy responded simply, ignoring how his friends' multicolored eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Just talking, nothing else?" Scott smiled, nudging him. Jimmy flicked his stupid ferbora up, though the action held no real malice. Scott tipped his hat down with the same air of lightheartedness, and Jimmy let out a small huff as he fixed both of their hats.
"Such a gentleman, fixing the hat he messed up." Scott teased. "But you're avoiding my question, Jimothy."
"Yes, we were only talking, Scott." Jimmy said, with a roll of his eyes.
"Nothing else? Nothing at all?" Jimmy flushed at what Scott was implying, but chose to act like he didn't quite understand what the other man meant. "Nope, no idea what you're talking about." Scott clearly didn't believe him, if his smirk said anything.
"Sure, okay" Scott drew out the last word, turning his attention back to the group. Jimmy studied his friend for a second, seeing his gaze stayed fixed on Sausage despite Gem being there as well.
"You haven’t been doing anything with Sausage now have you?" Jimmy teased, smirking as the faintest blush spread across Scott's cheeks.
"Why would I be doing anything with Sausage?" Was the other man's smooth reply.
"Didn't you call him your Wood Daddy-"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Scott’s voice raised as he cut Jimmy off, earning a glance from the other two. Jimmy just snickered, Gem beckoning them over and Sausage loudly calling both their names.
"Well, we're clearly wanted elsewhere." The Sheriff tipped his hat upwards on his head.
"Then let's go see them, Sheriff." Scott was no longer visibly flustered, his voice becoming smooth once more. Chromia's ruler walked over, shouting a greeting at the group. Jimmy giggled to himself, following right behind Scott. Maybe this visit wouldn't be so bad
It did not take Fwhip long to return, his prisoner in tow. He introduced Oli to the group, though all of them but Scott had met the man before. He shoved the taller forward, Oli stumbling and almost falling to the ground. He gave an offended yell in response, the others giggling at the two’s antics.
Oli was quite the unique person, with an inclination for singing, Jimmy noted. Gem did catch him performing in her tavern and did call him a bard. Oli insisted he was not a bard, but no one really believed him. He certainly acted like some sort of performer, regardless of whatever he claimed to not be. Most people would be uncomfortable under all the attention he was currently under, with several almost complete strangers crowding around him, but Oli seemed to thrive in it. He made banter with the others easily, Sausage in particular. Jimmy knew the two had already met, but it seemed like the banter that you would share with an old friend, not some random weird guy that washed up on your empire's shore. Maybe that was one of the weird things about Oli, maybe he just had that effect on people. The Sheriff didn’t mind if he did though. The other man was a tad weird, but other than that he was lively and friendly. Jimmy liked him and was sure they could come to a reasonable agreement about his charges. Even if Oli spouted nonsense half the time he seemed like he'd be reasonable enough when it came down to it.
His clothes were torn, more torn than when Jimmy had last seen him. It was probably due a few more weeks in the cave. He knew Fwhip maybe hadn’t been treating the prisoner the best, and he felt a bit bad about not stepping in, but it was too late now. He just hoped he could make it up to Oli after the latter’s community service ended.
Everything seemed determined to go wrong that day, as the discussion with Oli was put on hold once more. Somehow Scott’s hat had been stolen and Jimmy, determined to do his duty as Sheriff, diligently tried to give it back. Chromia’s ruler, despite claiming he was ill and wanted to avoid much talking, thanked him all the while. Looking back on it later, Jimmy would realize just how much of a joke the whole thing felt like. How even his own deputy had joined in on humiliating him.
He wasn’t sure how the worst moment of his life happened, everything became a blur after that. Everything mixed together in his mind, and the one thing that stook out the most was a stolen badge and Fwhip blabbering something about a promotion. He wasn’t getting one, that wasn’t planned. So that had to have been just a joke right? He didn’t really steal the badge did he? Well… whatever, it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t even be considered for a promotion anymore.
The Sheriff had ended up trapped in his own jail cell, the memory too fuzzy and the moment too full of chaos for him to remember how. He thinks he may have been trying to usher everyone from the building, and they’d turned the tables on him instead. His threats, his promises , of firing his goblin deputy were met with only laughter, because this was supposed to be a joke . He wasn’t actually serious, that was ridiculous of course!
It wasn’t a joke to the Sheriff, not when he’d been struggling to get free for over five minutes. When the obsidian walls started to close in around the edges of his vision. When he was killed and respawned, trapped again, for at least the sixth time, it was no longer a joke. They’d put him in a bloody death loop and thought it was funny .
Memories started to replay in his head, of the last time he’d been trapped like this. It hadn’t happened too long ago, but wasn’t in this lifetime. He was in a box of cobblestone instead of obsidian, a box much smaller than his current one and soft grass instead of wood underneath his feet. He could tell he had wings, because they were taking up too much space, space he desperately needed. The outfit was similar to his current Sheriff’s one, though now he wore a blue bandana; a nice one at that. It looked as if it had been crafted by loving hands.
The people who had trapped him would momentarily break the top block of his cell to jaunt and tease him, ignoring any cry to be freed; no matter how desperate it was. Jimmy could not see their faces, for the memory was fuzzy and fleeting, but he could recognize the striking blue of Scott’s hair. The brown haired woman looked familiar, like the woman Sausage worshiped, while the blonde man and the redheaded zombie only bright him the vaguest sense of knowing. His only comfort in this memory was that they couldn;t kill him, the only thing that could be done was keep in the small space. Killing him there was irreversible, and would take another person with him.
He could feel that other person’s heart beating in tandem with his, and the worry coursing through them. Soulmate . That was his soulmate. Jimmy knew the information almost instinctively, and wished whoever the person was would be here in the present. They saved him in the memory, but weren’t there in the present. He wasn’t there to save him when the obsidian turned to cobblestone in his mind, and the Sheriff’s breathing began to pick up. No one was there to save him when SolidarityGaming was slain by fWhip began to repeat endlessly in chat.
Jimmy scrambled back to his feet upon his next respawn, determined to end this. He was the Sheriff, he was respected and didn’t show weakness . He wasn’t hyperventilating over a prank, he wasn’t having a panic attack over a stupid memory. Dodging arrows, he ended the five emperor's little game by breaking the jail cell’s bed. They couldn’t put him in a death loop if he couldn’t respawn.
He stumbled out of the building to the slightly disappointed chatter of his friends. Their faces weren’t clear to him, just blobs of color as he regained his composure slowly. Scott gave him his items back suspiciously quickly and he hoped the other didn’t see the beginnings of tears Jimmy blinked away.
The Sheriff roughly snatched his hat off of Fwhip’s head, finding that the little goblin had fled to the railroad once more. The other shrunk beneath his stern, disapproving gaze, and Jimmy felt a small bit of satisfaction bubble up inside him at the action.
“I’m really disappointed.” He said, not paying any mind to the crowd of so-called friends that formed around them. Sausage’s exclamation of surprise was distant to the blonde���s ears. “I’m very, very, disappointed in you,” The Sheriff saw it, how the light died from Fwhip’s eyes as he stood in front of him. It was very subtle, the goblins body language, and one would only pick up on it if they were close with the small king. “You’re fired.” Jimmy almost growled.
Fwhip’s body language became less subtle at those words, and regret mixed with shock started pouring into his pretty blue eyes. His tail dropped to the floor, no longer flicking idly behind him, and his big ears started to droop as well. The Sheriff opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Sausage.
“You two should kiss!” Sanctuary’s protector called. The other four around him made words of agreement, all that fell on the blonde’s deaf ears.
“What?”
Before he could process what was happening Jimmy felt himself be tugged down slightly and the press of lips against his own. Fwhip kissed him quickly, sweetly, and the Sheriff desperately wished he could say it was bad. He wished it didn’t make his pulse quicken and his cheeks flush. Under any other circumstance, Jimmy would’ve dared to lean into it and kiss his deputy back. Fwhip pulled away just as quickly as he’d pulled the Sheriff downwards, and Jimmy’s lips felt like ash. Part of him wished it had tasted sweeter.
"What did you just do?" Jimmy exclaimed, staring at Fwhip. The goblin said nothing, just looked at him. It was a sad look, one a kicked puppy might have. He shoved down how painful it was too see Fwhip like that. It wasn't painful it was pathetic, that he had the gall to look sad after…..what just happened. "What did you just do? "
"He kissed you!" Sausage helpfully chimed in, and all the love Jimmy held for that man momentarily vanished. He bit back a response of "No shit" and resisted the urge to punch Sausage. He loved that man, but his giggles and joyful demeanor were out of place for the turmoil occurring inside the Sheriff, and Fwhip took from the looks of it. The Goblin still had those kicked puppy dog eyes.
He caught a small concerned look from Scott, the man was always a little too intune to people's emotions. (Maybe an upset Jimmy was a familiar sight to Scott deep down. No matter how hard Jimmy tried to hide his feelings. Maybe he’d been able to read Jimmy like a book once upon a time, maybe they'd been something.)
Other than Chromia's ruler everyone had joyful expressions still, they still laughed. It fully dawned on the Sheriff then, what was happening. Almost everyone in front of him thought it was a joke, they thought the cage had been a joke. He was always the joke, the punching bag, wasn’t he? In every life he lived he was the one who was teased and outright bullied until people got bored, or a war started or something. The Sheriff couldn’t remember past lives clearly, but he knew regardless, the teasing felt all too familiar not to know. And Jimmy never broke, he never did. He always held his head high and pushed forward.
(Though the Sheriff didn't know it yet, one day in this life he wouldn't be able to push forward anymore. He would finally reach a breaking point.)
He'd always been a plaything in a sense to some people, long before he'd been called a toy by that nuisance of a God. A toy. In every life he was nothing but a toy to pick on until it wasn’t funny anymore. (But Joel hadn't thought of him like that once, but now he did. Maybe that was why Jimmy’s soul ached so much when the God continued his Toy Sheriff jokes)
One more look at Fwhip and Jimmy knew he had to leave, especially because the goblin was masking his inner torture with a smile. "I kissed the Sheriff!" Fwhip giggled. He was hurt as well, they'd hurt each other and Fwhip still treated it as a joke. (It was always Fwhip, in every lifetime they shared. His deputy, wasn't that funny? Wasn't that cruel?)
Jimmy had to leave. He couldn't stay in this mesa right now, he couldn't stay in his own town right now. And he had an excuse to leave as well. The one good thing the universe had granted him today, or maybe ever. The blonde wouldn't know, he couldn't remember. He wished he could.
He had to keep his voice from wavering when he spoke again, he was The Sheriff. The Sheriff was respected, he didn’t let things like this get to him. "Come on Oli, we're leaving." Jimmy turned abruptly without a word to the others, walking down his half finished railroad track. He heard no footsteps following him, only small laughs from his friends. "Oli, we're leaving." He repeated, a bit harsher this time. The other man was at his side within seconds. He didn’t even have a funny quip to say as he walked along The Sheriff, taking a small look over his shoulder. Jimmy didn’t see the look Oli had, he hoped it wasn’t one of joy. (It wasn’t)
In the darkness of the train tunnel Oli grabbed his hand. It was surprising, but Jimmy didn’t protest. Oli gave it a comforting squeeze. It was like he had known the Sheriff for a long time, the touch having the comfort only an old friend could give. Which didn’t make sense, they’d only met once, they weren't friends. But Jimmy didn’t care right now, maybe Oli just had that effect on people. After a moment Jimmy intertwined his fingers with Oli's, a short Thank You, I need that and Everything Hurts . The Sheriff didn’t want to let go. For once in his life he wanted to lean on someone, physically and metaphorically.
They let go when they heard the sound of Fwhip’s footsteps behind them. No more ideas needed to be spread after…what just happened with the Gobland ruler.
The trio made their way to Gobland in silence. It was rare for Oli to be quiet, but hey, at least he could read a room. Jimmy would give him that. He didn’t mind how Oli hovered at his side the whole journey, avoiding Fwhip like the plague. Oli let their arms occasionally brush, his way of giving comfort at the moment, and Jimmy didn’t mind at all, he damn near leaned into it. Fwhip took the lead at one point during the journey, not even glancing at Jimmy. He didn't care that his dep-ex deputy- wouldn't look at him. It didn't hurt at all, everything was fine. (Maybe if he said everything was fine, if he played pretend, then it would be.)
It would be fine. He would sort everything out at Gobland, like originally planned, then he would go home and try to forget this day ever happened. ( But the universe never let him forget, and it had proven just as much earlier.)
His stay in the cave empire was abrupt and far shorter than it normally used to be. Oli was indebted to eighty diamonds for his thievery from Gobland, and Fwhip could add interest to it when he so pleased. When the debt was paid off Oli’s crime would be acquitted, and besides that he was free to do whatever. The Sheriff had chosen something quickly, something likely to satisfy both parties. Fwhip and his proinser were almost as silent as he was, and the former didn’t even wish the Sheriff goodbye as he walked out the door.
Oli walked with him until the two left the goblin empire, their hands intertwined again and Jimmy squeezing back tighter than he had before. The man muttered something about setting up on a beach next to Gem, before parting ways. The Sheriff walked home slowly, forgetting about his elytra. His thoughts were scrambled, and he barely noticed the sun moving above his head
When Jimmy returned home it was dusk, the sun setting. He couldn't see the sunset from the fishbowl Tumble Town was located in, but he could see how the sky turned purple. The color seemed fitting, more so with the dark blue hues mixing into the sunset as the yellow, brighter and happier ones died out and the stars started to shine. Sadness and indifference is what these colors represented, and it was what Jimmy felt. Well, somewhat. He wasn't really sad, he just felt a numbness all over. It wasn't a good one either, it was the numbness you felt when you'd taken all you could take. The numbness that came with the bone deep tiredness Jimmy felt running through his veins.
His friends had left already, and it had been a few hours ago at best. Most footprints or other evidence that a small crowd had gathered was gone. The wind had blown sand and dust over them, a normal occurrence in the mesa, and now only vague imprints remained on the ground. It had been midday when Fwhip arrived, so the whole debacle had regrettably taken up his whole afternoon.
He would later learn that Scott was the one who shooed their fellow emperors home, not long after Jimmy had left. He felt grateful for Scott when he did. The man was a thief and a lawbreaker, but when it really came down to it he knew when to hit the breaks.
But for now Jimmy didn’t know that, nor did he care how they had left. He just hoped he could muster the energy to face them when they inevitably met again later in the week.
The town was now fading into its night time calm, its few citizens already having retired to their houses for the night. Jimmy ignored how he thought more of them were probably going to leave after today, thinking that his empire couldn't stand up for itself. He walked back to his house in silence, the only sounds were the faint snorts and neighs of stable horses and the crunching of his boots against the ground. He hoped his people were inside, not wanting to be seen like this .
Jimmy shut the door to his home with a loud slam, a noise that probably the whole town could hear. He could care less though, especially if more people were going to be gone by morning anyways.
Two feline figures appeared from the darkness, as Jimmy wasn't even bothering to turn on a light. The biggest cat, Norman, gave a plaintive meow while the smaller one pawed at the food bowls.
"Alright, alright." Jimmy mumbled fondly, hanging his hat in its usual place. He walked over to where the cat food was stored, picking up the littlest one as he went. Flick gave a few mrrows of protest but seemed content when his owner scratched behind his ears. Norman followed the two, footsteps sounding against the wooden floor.
He deposited Flick on the counter, reaching into an upper cabinet to retrieve their dry food. It had been moved up there after the two troublemakers opened a bottom cabinet and eaten almost the whole bag. Norman rubbed against his legs, purr filling the air.
Their food bowls were filled less than a minute later, both cats now munching down on their dinner. Jimmy felt bad about getting home to them late, but he couldn’t have helped it.
The cats were left to their own devices as Jimmy walked down the small hallway into his bedroom. He threw his sheriff badge on the nightstand with a loud clank , watching it as the metal gleamed in the moonlight streaming in from his window.
Jimmy sat down on his bed with a sigh, removing the blue bandanna he wore around his neck. Blue. He thought over the color, the piece of cloth now resting in his hands. He'd had a blue bandana then as well, in that stone hole. He wondered if his soulmate had had one as well. He wondered if the color had complimented his, if it had been orange. No, orange would look stupid. It would've been red. His soulmate wore a red bandanna, and his was blue.
The Sheriff sighed, deciding to stop thinking about bandannas and soulmates. It was bringing faint memories to the surface, and his already wrecked brain didn’t have the energy to decipher them. His head was beginning to throb with the start of a headache. But just because you wanted to stop thinking didn’t mean your brain would let you, it almost never worked like that.
He fell into a fitful sleep replaying the day's events in his head, which almost sent him into a panic at several points. Norman and Flick were always there though, their presence bringing him much needed comfort. It was hard for Jimmy to stay panicked with a sleeping cat at his side.
He might’ve dreamed of the life he led before, but he couldn't remember. Jimmy’s dreams alway seemed to be important but he never remembered them for more than a few minutes. Dreams were not something to be remembered, and for once Jimmy was glad. He wanted to put everything behind him for a little bit. Everything was going to be fine, it had to be, so he should start acting like it and stop dwelling on silly memories. He was the Sheriff, he had respect to earn and a job to do.
Jimmy stepped out of his house the next morning, tired still. This time it was from lack of sleep and not mental anguish. But he wasn’t dwelling on that anymore, no, he had work to do today. He had a railroad to finish. Yet before he’d even set sight upon his beloved down he’d pulled an old piece of cloth out of a bottom drawer, an item he hadn’t even known he had. A blue bandana was now tied around his neck, covering the collar of his shirt and vest.
As the Sheriff looked at his town, at the empty plots that had not yet been filled, he decided one of them would have a ranch.
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