Chapter Text
The feast was a success.
All the emperors had gathered in Rivendell, at the invitation of the Elven Lord of Rivendell himself Scott Smajor. It truly was a great feast. Delicacies from all empires had been gathered on the table, large enough to fit all twelve rulers and the food that was being served. Half of the present emperors knew why Scott threw this feast; the other half were waiting to figure out what exactly had happened.
They didn't have to wait long for an explanation. Scott let them enjoy their first course before he broke the news to them. The demon was dead. Xornoth was gone. The corruption had receded from the land and everything was beautiful once again. Scott in his allies had defeated the demon and Joey was good now. The lost emperor still seemed saddened by the defeat of his boyfriend, but he too could appreciate that he was freed from the demon's grasp. Sausage sat next to him. Nobody knew possession quite like them, and Scott figured they'd be leaning on each other for their recovery.
That wasn't the only news shared at the feast. Apparently, Jimmy and Lizzie were siblings. Or seablings, as they called themselves. Soon, everyone was joking about Jimmy being the small damaged egg and Lizzie being the big pristine one, and Jimmy would claim he was the big one. Nobody really believed that. Scott was just surprised that, for the first time ever, he might be trying to date someone who was older than him. Which was a weird feeling, especially because he was an Elf and always thought he would outlive his partner.
Scott raised his glass and the other rulers followed his example. He toasted to their victory, to newfound family, to peace between the empires, however long it would last. Then the main course was served and everyone celebrated the victory and the family and the general camaraderie between these twelve rulers.
As was usual during these large gatherings, things didn't always go as planned. Sausage and fWhip were arguing about something stupid again, while Gem giggled and shot feigned annoyed glances their way. Joey couldn't quite believe that Pearl was that strong, and challenged her to an arm-wrestling contest. Pearl had to beat Joey at least four times before he conceded (fine, Pearl is strong). And then, of course, there was Joel, who was glad that people finally got over the demon, congratulating them for finally opening their eyes and seeing that the demon didn’t exist.
Though Scott lived for drama, he was content to just watch this all unfold. Glad that it was over. Satisfied that no evil power and broken them apart, no corruption had taken their land, nothing bad would happen in a very short period of time which would hopefully be prolonged for however long as possible.
At one point, after desserts, Jimmy excused himself and walked away from the table. Scott figured he was going to the bathroom, but he was going the wrong way. Jimmy had been here before, he should know where the bathroom was. Scott excused himself as well and followed Jimmy out of the great dining hall.
Jimmy had found his way outside, overlooking Rivendell and the mountains and the sunset. A beautiful place, where Scott often found himself lingering before he entered his home. Scott walked up to him.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked. Jimmy nodded.
“Oh, yeah, sure.” He turned his head to Scott. “I'm good. I'm good. I just, er, I just wanted to talk to you in private, and I figured you to follow me if I left the room and went to wrong way, so...”
Scott hadn't thought of that before. It was a clever trick, word why did Jimmy do that? If you wanted to speak in private, he could have just asked Scott.
“Well, I'm here now,” Scott said. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Jimmy fidgeted with the rim of his shirt while he spoke.
“Look, this is gonna sound crazy but… you know I, er…” he paused, scratching his head. Scott waited patiently – he had seen Jimmy flustered before, but never this much. He said nothing, so Jimmy could regain his ability to speak and articulate with words what was going on.
“Remember when you brought me through the tunnel, into the underground cave?”
Scott nodded. Not a day passed by that he didn’t think about that day. The day he and Jimmy became allies and Jimmy didn’t seem to think beyond the alliance part. Despite this, Scott hoped – why would Jimmy bring it up if he didn’t think about it?
“How could I forget that?”
“I've been thinking about that moment,” Jimmy said, his anxiety clear in his voice. “I mean, Xornoth is gone so… I didn't want to ask right away because of the demon, because I thought you didn't want something else to potentially care about – potentially lose - I didn't want the demon to know so…”
“Jimmy, what are you saying?”
He was dancing around his announcement. Jimmy had led Scott away from his feast, away from the guests, to rant a little about Scott’s brother. Scott was getting nervous, too – he wanted Jimmy to just spit it out.
Jimmy stared at Scott for a moment and took a deep breath.
“What I’m trying to say is… we're good allies right?” He let the question hang between them for a moment before he continued. “A-And we never really got to do much else because of Xornoth. So I've been thinking… maybe we can strengthen our alliance? You know, the basic stuff: regular meetings, alternating between our empires. Maybe with dinner?”
Did Jimmy just ask him on a date?
Scott had to remind himself Jimmy wasn’t as gullible and naïve as he sometimes acted. He had noticed the romantic atmosphere Scott had tried to create when he popped the question. He hadn’t pushed Jimmy any further when he only used the word ‘ally’ – if Xornoth knew, he’d certainly use it against them. But now, Xornoth was gone, and the threat had gone, and maybe they could start considering things they previously hadn’t considered for safety reasons.
Scott took a little too long to answer, though.
“Look,” Jimmy said with a sigh, “It's fine if you don't want to do it, but…”
“Jimmy. I'd love that.”
The Cod beamed. His face almost physically lit up as an incredulous smile appeared on his face. “Really?”
“Of course!” Scott answered. “Yeah. We should definitely get to know each other better.” A whole lot better.
“Well, that’s great!” Jimmy exclaimed, now a stupid grin on his face. A beautiful, charming, cute stupid grin. “Maybe we should talk about it. I mean, when are we gonna do it, who’s hosting first, and—”
“You know what?” Scott interrupted him, barely able to hide a smile of his own. “Why don’t you stay the night? We can discuss the details when everyone else has gone home.”
Jimmy nodded – the idea excited. “Yeah. That seems like a good idea.”
They stayed out a little longer, looking at one another. It was such a small moment, just the two of them in a beautiful Rivendell sunset. A simple moment. One of those moments you look back on when time has passed.
“Maybe we should go back to the others,” Scott suggested. “Before they start to wonder where we’ve gone.”
Jimmy at first didn’t register the request – what others? Then he remembered the feast, and his sister and brother-in-law and the others. They weren’t alone.
Not yet, anyway.
“Yeah, we probably should,” he said.
They returned to the dining hall side by side, almost unable to hide their excitement and adoration. Though they tried to play it cool before the others – nothing much had happened yet but the promise to try it out – the other rulers knew something had changed for the better.
For the remainder of the feast, Scott and Jimmy barely glanced away from one another, their gaze trained on the other.