Chapter Text
J
Jimmy stared at the tavern door, it was made out what he could only assume was dark oak, it fit well with the other dark and red woods and stone that made up of the tavern that sat in the middle of town basically, it had vines of ivy crawling up the walls that just fluttered slightly in the evening breeze.
After a good moment of just hyping himself up, Jimmy finally opened the door and slipped in, and he was immediately hit with the smell of food cooking, the sound of people chatting around him. Joel and Lizzie were at a couple’s table just enjoying dinner while chatting. Grian was leaning against a wall next to a table where Scar was sitting with a black haired male in a proper outfit, if Jimmy had to assume that was probably Mumbo.
Directing his attention to the bar stand he could see this brunette with brown eyes, wearing an orange vest that was unbuttoned, over top a white shirt that was tucked into light brown pants, he and Scott seemed to be just happily talking judging by the looks on their faces.
“Hi Jimmy!” Scott greeted with a small smile waving a bit as he turned to face the other, “glad to see you made it!”
“Hi” Jimmy awkwardly smiled as he was quick to wave back at Scott, “and I’ve heard such great things about this place, how could I not?”
“Fair point” Scott chuckled, shaking his head before turning back to the brunette who nudged Scott’s arm with his elbow before tilting his head towards Jimmy, earning a small gasp from the cyanette before the brunette got his arm hit lightly.
Though before Jimmy could even question it, his attention was immediately dragged over to this side room where he could hear Martyn complaining over something , and it immediately dragged his attention over to the room.
When Jimmy walked over to the room where Martyn’s voice could be heard, he leaned against the door frame and he could see Martyn, whose back was to Jimmy currently, just playing pool, or well Jimmy could only assume that he was, as he ate nacho’s, “God this game is stupid!” he groaned, letting his head hit the table.
“Then why do you play it darling?” This brunette asked. His hair was on the longer side with a pair of sunglasses holding it up and he had a bit of a stumble going on. He wore this red button up with some suspenders and a simple pair of jeans. He was just mindlessly reading a book as he relaxed against a faded red couch.
“... because I’m out of quarters for the arcade games” Martyn admitted, eating another nacho with a small sigh, “and I don’t wanna head back home to get some more, it’s such a long walk” he leaned against the pool table a bit dramatically, before looking behind him and immediately perked up and rushed over to Jimmy and pulled him into a hug.
“Jimmy! You made it” Martyn said, his mood immediately changing from the dramatic one just a few seconds ago.
Jimmy laughed a bit, patting Martyn’s back a bit, “yeah, I did, I didn’t expect to see so many people here actually, on a monday”
“Oh yeah, Lizzie and Joel usually have date nights here on mondays, Scott is always here in the evenings because he and Owen are roommates, Scar, Grian, Mumbo, and Cub hang out here for about 45 minutes everyday to just catch up, because sometimes Cub gets busy, and Tango likes to come up here because the ranch is a big further away, so he’ll take any opportunity” Martyn said, walking back over to the pool table and ate another nacho.
“You should see this place on the weekend and fridays, super busy, let me tell ya”
“Well, I can imagine honestly, seems to be like a fan favourite” Jimmy nodded, following Martyn a bit, before nodding respectfully to the one on the couch.
“Only restaurant in this town, but damn does Owen do a good job, let me tell you” Martyn hummed before looking back at the brunette, “Oh!” he clapped his hands together, “Jimmy, this is Ren, my husband, Ren, this is JImmy a childhood best friend of mine” he introduced as he waved his hand back and forth between the two of them.
“Pleasure to meet you Jimmy” Ren said, getting up front the couch, putting the book he was reading to the side, and walked over to Jimmy to offer his hand to shake, “I’ve heard quite the stories about you and Martyn when your were tots” he grinned a bit, and Jimmy noticed that he had a bit of a british accent mixed in with some slight pirate speech.
“Oh dear, what kind of stories? Should I be worried about my dignity?” Jimmy joked as he shook Ren’s hand, earning a laugh from the taller.
“I wouldn’t say so, from the stories I’ve heard about Grian, yours seem quite normal” Ren snorted lightly, moving back over to the couch to sit down.
“Well, that is fair, Grian has always gotten himself into the oddest situations” Jimmy nodded slightly, “and odd ball he is.”
“I heard that!” Grian called out from the other room, “and says you!”
All Jimmy could do was laugh softly, shaking his head, “Like I said, he’s weird” he said at a whisper yell volume with a small snicker.
“Oh my god, I missed having this energy around, best thing ever ” Martyn laughed, wrapping his arm around Jimmy’s shoulder, “so, how did your walk around go? Anything exciting?”
“Other than me tripping over my feet and nearly falling into the river, no not so much, but the walk was nice, visited the beach, checked out the fishing shop there, saw that it was closed, I’ll have to come back to meet, uh, I think the note on the door says Joey runs it, I don’t remember him, and I checked out the old community house, kinda a shame it is in such ruins, I remembering running around there a lot when we were younger” Jimmy frowned slightly, shaking his head.
“Yeah, it is a shame, a lot of people who took care of it left so it just fell apart, we’ve all tried to figure out how to help it out, but… nothing” Martyn sighed, shrugging a bit, “hey, maybe you can do it” he joked, nudging Jimmy’s side.
“Yeah, maybe I can” Jimmy chuckled, shaking his head, “the doors are locked though, not sure how much I can do though.”
“Oh, Gri or Scar should have those keys, I’m sure they’d let you in if you asked” Ren nodded, looking up from his book slightly.
“Huh” Jimmy looked behind him into the other room where he could hear Grian laughing about something, “I’ll have to ask about it actually.
“Yeah, you do that” Martyn said, ruffling Jimmy’s hair, despite Jimmy’s quiet protest, and went back to his game of pool.
After a moment Jimmy stretched out a bit, “I think I’m gonna go see if I can swindle those keys.”
“Have fun,” Martyn said, giving Jimmy a small wave as the blonde turned and left the room and headed over to where Grian, Mumbo, and Scar were, which was only like five feet away from the doorway of the side room.
“Jimmy, glad to see you have joined us” Scar smiled up at the other, “we were just talking about the farm, which is how is everything going? Planted anything yet?”
“Oh, no, no, been wandering around talking to people all day” Jimmy shook his head, “I plan on doing that tomorrow though, might take all day though” he chuckled softly.
“Well, I wish you luck planting” Grian snorted, “I sometimes gotta help Scott plant his flowers every now and then, total pain, but you know” he nodded over to the cyanette who was now joined with a taller fellow with blonde hair that was pushed back, they wore a red button up that was covered in dirt just like their pants, “whatever helps and all of that stuff”
“What great words” Jimmy snorted lightly before glancing over at Mumbo, “hey Mumbo it’s been a while, how have you been?”
“Hmm?” Mumbo looked up from this packet he was looking over, “oh really good” he paused before squinted his eyes at Jimmy, “oh Jimmy! It’s been some years!”
Jimmy laughed slightly, “yeah it has, glad to see you are doing good” he shook his head slightly with a smile, “which, speaking of years, I went over to the community house today, and I was wondering if there was a chance that the doors would be unlocked so I could help clean it up?”
Scar seemed surprised for a moment before looking over at Grian, who just shrugged, and looked back at Jimmy, “Well, you know, if you wanna help out the place, then sure, we can arrange me opening up the doors for you and we check it out.”
“Oh great! That would be awesome, thank you Scar” Jimmy smiled, holding his hands behind his back.
“You are so weird Jimmy” Grian snorted out.
“Hey!” Jimmy looked playfully offended, “rude.”
Grian just stuck out his tongue out at the other, “oops.”
“Grian, I see you are bullying others as normal” A gruff voice interjected from behind Jimmy, and he was met with the gaze of a short man with black hair, sharp blue eyes that were behind a pair of square glasses. The shorter man wore a plain black shirt that was underneath a white lab coat.
“It’s not bullying if it’s family Cub” Grian shrugged out before looking between Jimmy and Cub, “Oh! Jimmy, this is Cub, Scar’s older cousin, he runs the doctor's office by Joel’s general store.”
“Oh! I meant to stop by today, just didn’t have my documents that would be needed and stuff” Jimmy said, nodding a bit, offering his hand to Cub who firmly shook his hand.
“Having your information is very important, yes, be sure to stop by sometime this week Jimmy” Cub nodded a bit, pushing up his glasses, before grabbing an extra chair and moving to sit by Scar.
“I think I’m gonna go get myself some dinner, it was nice to see everyone” Jimmy said with a smile as he started to back up towards the bar as he waved.
“Alright, good luck with your farm Timmy” Grian snorted.
“Yeah, yeah, thank you Grian” Jimmy snorted, turning on his heel and walked up over to the bar, taking the seat to the right of Scott.
“-and I’m just saying, I think some flowers would make this place pop!” Scott did small jazz hands in motions of like glitter.
“You think flowers make anything pop Scott” The brunette, who Jimmy figured was Owen, snorted out, shaking his head as he cleaned a glass before looking over at Jimmy, “oh you're the newbie right? What can I start out with for you to drink?”
“Uhm, just water would be nice” Jimmy nodded, “but yeah, I’m the newbie, though I use to come here when I was kid.”
“Your granddad ran the farm right above my ranch, right?” This blonde leaned over to start talking to Jimmy before holding out their hand to him, “Tango, Tango Tek”
Jimmy laughed slightly, “Jimmy, Jimmy Solidarity” he said, shaking Tango’s hand, “And yeah, that’s my grandpa’s farm, well, I guess mine now.”
“Well, if you are ever looking for some animals be sure to hit me up” Tango grinned, “I got plenty of animals, chickens, cows, goats, pigs, bunnies, ducks, whatever you want I probably got it.”
“They had a litter of kittens a few years ago and they let me have one when I was looking for a cat, so trust me they always just seem to have the animal you are looking for” Scott smiled softly, shaking his head as he messed with his earrings for a moment.
“Expect for llamas” Owen sighed, passing Jimmy his drink.
“You don’t have space for a llama Owen, I am sorry” Tango snorted.
“I do in the tavern; wouldn’t it be cool to have a little buddy just helping me out” Owen grinned.
“And by that, you mean an animal spitting into our food and drinks, nah, it wouldn’t be cool” Tango shook their head.
“Yeah, pretty sure there is a health code about that” Scott laughed out, taking a bite out of his food.
“Oh boo, you two aren’t fun” Owen chuffed out before turning towards Jimmy, “do you know what you want to eat or no?”
“Uhm, pizza sounds good” Jimmy nodded before turning towards Scott and Tango, “you two sound like you’ve had that conversation often.”
“Nightly for me” Scott snorted, “I live with Owen, so I get all of the llama talk, big fun truly.”
“And he stops by the ranch a lot to ask if we are gonna get llamas soon” Tango nodded a bit, “just how it goes these days, you grow use to it and go from there.”
“Oh you two enjoy my llama talks” Owen rolled his eyes as he started to get a plate of pizza situated for Jimmy, “you can’t deny it.”
“Mmm, sure we can, it is really easy to do so” Scott laughed, head going back as he did, and Jimmy could help but just stare at Scott as he did so, before shaking his head, trying to snap himself out of the weird mindset he always seemed to get into whenever Scott was around.
“Oh yeah, we so can Owen, we just gotta talk and then boom, we’ve denied it” Tango grinned, leaning completely against the counter.
“Liar liar pants on fire is all I have to say to you two” Owen chuffed out, shaking his head.
“Aww, you don’t mean that” Scott playfully pouted as Owen passed Jimmy a plate of pizza.
“I do actually, I mean that with my full chest” Owen said.
“Well then, let me just deny that” Scott grinned as he took a sip of a milkshake that was near to him.
“You guys seem to be really close,” Jimmy noted, eyes trained on Scott as he started to eat.
“Oh yeah, been friends since we were teens” Scott nodded with a smile that was towards Jimmy, “it’s like… ten times more chaotic when my sibling was around.”
“Oh, you have a sibling?” Jimmy questioned, tilting his head.
“Yeah! Twin sibling, Xornoth, their older than me and-” Scott started before Tango put a hand on his shoulder.
“And taller” Tango adds on with a playful grin.
“Shut it” Scott rolled his eyes, “they are off living in the city currently, they should be visiting soon, but they are incredibly busy these days, so I am not sure.”
“Oh well, that’s cool, I hope they do visit soon, I am sure that they are just as lovely as you are” Jimmy smiled a bit.
“Depends on who you are” Scott chuckled, shrugging slightly.
“Joey would say Xorn is lovely,” Tango pointed out.
“Ugh, don’t remind me” Scott groaned, leaning back, holding onto the counter so he wouldn’t fall off of the chair, “I try to forget that he has a crush on them.”
“Oh, we will never let you forget that” Owen said with a snort, grabbing Scott’s cup that was nearly empty and refilling it.
“I’m aware, and it is so annoying” Scott huffed out laying dramatically on the counter with a big smile.
“Alright drama queen, we get it” Tango snorted, patting Scott’s back.
“Well, yeah, I hope you do, you’ve had to deal with this for years , if you don’t get it, I would be offended, it’s almost like you don’t know me” Scott lifted his head up and leaned it against his hand.
“I suggest you run while you can, Scott’s an oddball” Owen whispered yelled to Jimmy as he leaned across the counter to the blonde to tell him that.
“Wowww, how mature Owen” Scott chuckled breathlessly before turning to Jimmy, “I swear I am normal, at least compared to these two, trust me.”
Jimmy just chuckled, “alright, alright I believe you” he said, putting up his hands with a small smile. This was nice, the banter that was going on, listening to the three talks, but also including him in, how Tango and Scott would poke fun at each other so carefreely as Owen laughed along as he cleaned glasses and plates.
This.
This is why he moved out here, he just knew it.
To be a part of a community where everyone was close to one another, where everything actually turned out alright, and where he just felt so carefree.
He couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to move out here and take up the farm and meet all of these people, to build something up with everyone.
To belong.
Time past and the entire time Jimmy was laughing and joking around with the three at the bar, over that time, Joel and Lizzie went home, leaving first, followed by Cub, and then Ren and Martyn, who was quickly followed by Mumbo, Grian, and Scar, leaving just Jimmy, Scott, Owen, and Tango in the lowly lit building.
“Alright, you two” Owen pointed at Jimmy and Tango, “out, we’re closed for the night.”
Jimmy yawned as he stood up, patting his pockets for his items, and once he was sure that he had everything he nodded to himself, “Alright, alright sounds good.”
“Yeah, we hear you Owen, don’t worry” Tango snorted out a bit, shaking their head as they got up as well.
“I’ll see you both around” Scott chuckled waving his hand, “I gotta help Owen clean-up”
“Alright, good luck Scott” Jimmy smiled a bit as he started over to the door.
“Thanks, I’ll need it” Scott grinned playfully before looking at Owen, who stuck out his tongue at the blue haired one.
“Let's get going Jimmy, we gotta go the same way” Tango said as they opened the door and slipped out, holding it open a bit longer to let Jimmy out.
“We do?” Jimmy blinked, tilting his head to the side, “oh, right we do, I totally forgot about that path that kinda connects us together.”
Tango laughed as the two started walking down the cobbled path towards a line of trees, “yeah, which, I hope it all cleared up enough to get you to your house, I’ve been cleaning it a bit for a while, but you never know”
“Eh, I’ll live if not” Jimmy shrugged a bit, looking up at the night sky that was just twinkling in stars, something he didn’t get to see in the city, and so it just made him marvel at the sight.
“I hope so” Tango said, “it would be kinda awkward if you didn’t you know, second day here and you’ve accidentally killed yourself”
“Oh god, yeah, no, I don’t need that being my legacy” Jimmy chuckled, looking ahead of him once more, at the barely lit path from the street lights that were spaced out.
“It would be funny though,” Tango pointed out.
“Now that is very true, it would be funny” Jimmy snorted, shaking his head, “not funny enough though”
“Fair point” Tango said as they past the tree line and the town shifted from neatly placed houses and nice cobble and brick paths to a more earthy appearance, sounds of a river flowing near by catching Jimmy’s attention, with only a farm house and a few barns placed among the trees and the path being very worn down, but Jimmy could faintly see what looked to be a tower in the distance of the woods, he couldn’t remember that being there. Maybe he would take some time to check it out later.
“Well” Tango started, clapping their hands together, “here’s my ranch, to get to your farm, just gotta follow this path to the right and you’ll get there”
“Oh wonderful, thank you Tango” Jimmy nodded with a smile as the two started to walk off into different directions.
“Yeah, no problemo, have a good night Jimmy” Tango said as they went up to what Jimmy could assume was Tango’s house in the midnight lighting.
So, Jimmy just kept going up the path he was directed on, putting his hands in his pocket as he just enjoyed his surroundings.
It was loud out, but not like the city where there were cars running by, and people still awake talking loudly on their phones as planes flew by.
It was loud in a way as the wind brushed against bushes making them sway, and the sound of animals running across the forest, or the river that just powered by loudly even if Jimmy was walking away from it.
It was nice.
It was comforting.
It was what Jimmy always wanted.
This is what he would say was peace and quiet.
Just listening to nature being loud while everything else was quiet.
That was the dream that he somehow managed to make true.
Jimmy took in a small breath as he stepped onto his property, and he just admired it, sure it was covered in rocks, sticks, trees were everywhere, and there was so much overgrown grass, but this was his farm, and he was going to make it his own.
Even if it took a few years.
It was all going to be worth it; he was sure of it.