Well, for the first chapter of this book, I bring to you some TIES hurt comfort (ft the Clockers and Mean Gills and Jimmy (all the bad boys r mentioned tho) and some gay (tangtho mainly, but impdubs referenced as exes))
AKA this oneshot is a mess but its TIES centred.

THIS HAS SPOILERS FOR SESSION 7 OF LIMITED LIFE!!! LIKE, HEAVY AS FUCK SPOILERS!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!!

There's also a lot in here that might be triggering or just need a content warning so: LITERAL CHARACTER DEATH, Panic attacks, SH, mentions of feeling sick (no actual vomiting mentioned though).
If I've missed any lmk :)

[I forgot pronouns when I orginally posted this]
Pronouns (of very included people):
Skizz - He/Him
Impulse - He/They
Tango - He/Him
Etho: They/Them
Cleo: She/Her
Bdubs: He/Him
Scott: He/Him
Martyn: He/Him

WC: 3000 (according to Google Docs, and I like the round number thanks)

Skizz stood at Windsor, staring out to the server, which was devoured in chaos and destruction. Death was inevitable, he knew that, but he wasn't expecting it to be so soon. He wasn't the first out, no, that was Jimmy, once again. Yet, he still knew he'd be next. He leant against the handrails, not noticing Impulse arrive behind him.

"Skizz?" Impulse's voice was barely above a whisper, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "How much time you got, buddy?"

"Not enough." Skizz's voice was low, a tear rolling down his cheek. "But I don't want it to go to anyone else, Impulse." He turned around to look at the other, trying to pull himself together. "Truth be told, I have 24 minutes. I'm not going to survive here, Impy."

"We can go get you a kill! You don't have to die, Skizz. You can't die. I can't lose you again." Their bright, golden eyes staring into his closest friend's dull, broken eyes.

Skizz cupped the other's cheek, wiping his falling tears. He let out a small sigh, letting Impulse completely collapse into his arms. He choked back his own sobs for the other, knowing that they needed the comfort more than him. He hummed a gentle, familiar tune to the both of them, a hand gently running through Impulse's hair. His other hand was wrapped around their waist, holding them close together. Impulse's arms were around his torso, head resting on his shoulder.

"I don't want to kill, Impulse. I'm never going to get it and I'll die in the process. I want one of you to take the kill, not anyone else in the server. You, Tango and Etho deserve the world, and you deserve my final few minutes of time. I don't care who takes it, but my final order to you three is one of you kills me." His voice shook as he spoke, letting out a gentle sob once he had finished.

"Promise me, Skizz."

"Hm?"

"Watch over us. Protect us. Please. I need you there, even not physically."

"Of course, Impulse. Why would I just leave? I want to see you win."

The two stood, holding each other in silence (apart from their occasional sobs). Skizz let himself glance over to the rest of SkyNet, eyes locking on the familiar figure approaching. He smiled slightly, giving the other a slight nod as he showed up.

"Woah, woah. What's happened?" Tango's voice was softer than usual, clearly concerned for them.

"I'm almost out, Tango." Skizz's response was just as soft, a sympathetic smile on his face. "I want one of you to take my time, as my final order."

"You'll still be with us in spirit, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't ditch you guys for the world."

Tango nodded, trying his best to keep smiling, despite not wanting to see Skizz go. "How long?"

"23 minutes."

He nodded again, looking at the duo in front of him, both still crying (Skizz less than Impulse). He kept himself together, barely holding on to his smile.

Skizz noticed this, and moved his hand from Impulse's head to offer the netherborn a hug, smiling through the few tears. The other just broke, immediately accepting the hug. He knew they'd be together again, but it still hurt to see Skizz go. He leant against the other, arms wrapping around both Skizz and Impulse. He knew this was inevitable, but Skizz calling them together for his last minutes is what really broke him.

Meanwhile Skizz was watching SkyNet, waiting for Etho to arrive. He smiled when he saw the other, giving them the look of 'you know what's happening'. Etho pulled their mask down, a soft smile on their face. They stood behind Skizz, arms wrapped around his waist, chin resting on his head.

"Alright guys, I think it's time for me to go." Skizz's voice was soft, tears still rolling down his cheek. "I'm at 22 minutes, and if we wait much longer, the others will find and kill us."

The group reluctantly left the hug, and Skizz looked Etho in the eye. "You're at the lowest time of you three, right?" Etho nodded, and Skizz smiled. He handed them his axe and crossbow, giving a slight nod. "I'll let you do the honours then, Etho."

"Skizz?" Their voice shook, looking into his eyes.

"Yeah?" He was smiling, despite the tears falling gently from his dull eyes.

"Tell me something. Tell me that you'll be with us. Tell me we'll see you again. Tell me I'm not losing you forever. I can't do this without knowing, please Skizz."

"I'll be with you, Etho. You'll see me again. You're not losing me forever, I promise. I'll be with Jimmy, watching over all of you. I'll be relaxing, hyping you on from the sidelines. I need one of you in at least the top 3, and I'll help you from the side as much as I can."

Etho nodded, a tear rolling from their cheek. "I'm sorry, Skizz.."

And they used Skizz's axe, slamming down on his shoulder again and again until suddenly, he was gone.

Skizz was eliminated.

~

Impulse watched it happen, eyes darting back and forth. He knew the other two were just as broken as him over this, yet he couldn't bear being here with them much longer. He felt sick looking at Etho, who still had Skizz's blood on their hands. Tango gently tapped him on the shoulder, looking sympathetically at him.

"Impulse, buddy? You alright?"

"Yeah dude, you don't look too great."

Impulse shoved Tango out of an impulse decision, and dashed away. Where to? They weren't sure yet. They knew the others would probably follow them, so they pearled away, landing outside Entertainment Mountain - the Clockers having a meeting inside.

They must have heard his arrival, Cleo being the first one out to find him. He felt her pick him up and bring him inside, placing him on one of their dining room chairs. Everything was a mess of colours and everything was too much, and it made him feel sick. Their right hand landed on their arm, scratching at it aggressively in an attempt to ground himself.

Suddenly, he felt a hand in his own, and another in their hair, both gentle and soft. They hoped it was Bdubs, but at this point they weren't sure. Everything was slowing down, and everything was less overwhelming, but he still felt sick to the core. Once his vision was somewhat normal, he made out the scene in front of him. He was sitting on a chair in the Clocker's base, Bdubs stood closest to him while Cleo and Scar stood further away, looking extremely worried.

Why was he even here again? Skizz is dead. He started panicking again, but he forced himself to calm down, knowing the others were already burdened with him being here.

"You alright Impulse?" Cleo spoke up, tilting her head slightly. They froze, nodding ever so slightly, knowing it was a lie. Bdubs let go of his hand and crouched down in front of him. They looked at him in confusion, eyes landing on his upturned palms that were resting on their thighs.

"How verbal are you, hun?" Bdubs' voice was soft, eyes locking with Impulse's. Impulse shook his head, looking away with an ashamed look on his face. "No need to be ashamed, bud. You know I'm okay with this."

Impulse smiled slightly, nodding.

"Now, would you prefer to stay here or go to your base?" With each option he gestured to each of his hands. Impulse gestured to his right hand, which was on Impulse's left, meaning he wanted to stay here. "Alright. Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Another shake of the head. "Is it because of Skizz's death?" A nod. "Is there anything we can do to make you feel a bit better?" Another nod. "Do you want us to let Tango and Etho know you're safe?" Again, they nodded. "Cleo could you-"

"Already on it."

Bdubs smiled, looking at Scar. "Could you try to find Grian and get him to pause timers while we calm down Impulse and let the other two calm down from this as well?"

"Will do!"

Bdubs sighed slightly, looking up at his ex-husband. He knew how much Skizz meant to them, and now Skizz was gone, he knew Impulse would be more on edge.

"You ready to talk about it, Impy?"

"I guess.." He muttered, barely loud enough for Bdubs to hear.

"You don't have to yet. Don't force yourself to speak."

Impulse smiled softly, nodding. Cleo was moving around the room, which led him to assume she was planning something for later. It didn't bother him much, he just was glad he wasn't being much of a burden. Until, it hit him what he did up at SkyNet.

"Shit- holy shit I'm an idiot. Fuck-"

"Calm down, darling. What happened?"

"Okay so long story short, Skizz let Etho kill him, I was panicking because you know, he's my best friend and then Tango asked if I was alright and so did Etho and then I pushed Tango and ran with no explanation fuck-"

"It's alright. They know you're safely with us."

"But I don't know if they're safe."

"Scar's gone to find Grian to pause this and send people to check on them."

"But they probably hate me now!"

"Impulse, buddy. I'm sure they know it was just a decision you made because you were stressed and panicked. They don't hate you. One small shove because you needed some time away won't break a whole friendship. Admittedly it wasn't the best way to show that, but I highly doubt you would have been able to speak your thoughts in the moment. Once we know they're calm and stable, we can visit them and check on them, alright?"

"Mhm."

Bdubs grinned, pulling his ex into a hug, which was quickly reciprocated. Cleo joined the hug, gently messing up two of her sons' hair. She knew she'd always let Impulse in the family, because despite them being Bdubs' ex, she knew that they still had that soulmate bond that she wished she had with someone.

~

Tango hit the floor, feeling a slight hint of pain. "Impulse wait!" He shouted, but it was no use. He sighed, forcing himself back up, eyes locking with Etho's.

"You alright, bud?" He asked, looking at the other.

Etho shook their head, body shaking and tears threatening to fall from their eyes. "It's my fault he hurt you. It's my fault he's upset. It's all my fault. You can't even go to anyone else because you'd go to Jimmy because you had a close bond with him in Double Life but you can't go to him because I killed him! God, I just mess everything up."

Tango immediately froze, not knowing what to say or do. He took one of Etho's hands in his own, looking them in the eye.

"See, you can't even deny the truth! You should just go before I kill you too. It's not fair on you to be around me anymore. I'm a mistake and a failure and I mess everything up."

"That's not true, Etho."

"Yes it is. Just ask Cleo or Bdubs or Scar or Joel or anyone on this fucking server."

Tango sighed slightly, looking at the other sympathetically.

"Is there anywhere you're not okay with me touching other than the obvious spots?"

"Uh- I don't think. Why'd you as-"

He nodded, his spare hand going to cup their cheek. They flinch slightly, before leaning into the touch, ignoring the few tears rolling from their eyes.

"It's not your fault, okay? We were shoved in this shitty game, and you're just trying to survive. If it's anyone's fault why we're upset, it's Skizz's."

"Blaming the dead man? Really?" They giggled slightly, looking at Tango with love in their eyes. They wouldn't admit it was love though, because it's idiotic to fall in love in a game where you're all going to die.

"I mean, it's the truth!" He retaliated, bursting out into laughter, glad to know he cheered the other up.

Etho smiled, wrapping one of their arms around the netherborn's waist, their other hand going to his cheek. Tango froze slightly, a light blush covering his cheeks. His eyes landed on the other's expression, which was impossible to read.

"Tango I-" They started, before taking a moment to pull themself together. "I've been figuring how to say this for too long, and honestly, this is the worst time to do it, but I have confidence and we're alone so here goes nothing. I like you. A lot. Like, a lot a lot. Like, more than I like everyone and everything else. You know? God, I sound like an idiot."

Tango snickers slightly, before standing on his tiptoes and locking lips with the other, arms moving to lock around their neck. They eventually pulled away from each other, blush covering their faces as their breathing was in sync.

"I love you too, Etho." Tango whispered, placing another kiss on the other's cheek before standing back down normally. He smiled, looking up at Etho with his signature cheeky grin.

"God, you're chaotic but adorable, I hope you know that." They sighed, planting a kiss on the netherborn's forehead.

"Yeah, I know." He teased.

"Does this make us partners?"

"If that's what you want, Etho."

They nodded, smiling like a dork. "God, I can't believe this has happened because Skizz got me to kill him-"

"ETHO!"

"What? It's the truth!"

"Mood breaker much."

"Sorry, sorry."

The two were too focused on each other to notice the two others arrive. Martyn sneakily got a photo of the two of them and sent it to Impulse while Scott was busy fangirling over them.

"Oi, lovebirds." Martyn spoke up, watching the duo panic to let go of each other, causing him to burst into a fit of laughter.

"H-hi you two. Haha. Funny seeing you here." Tango started, clearly awkward as shit.

Etho gave a slight wave as they sorted out their mask.

"Grian sent us here to check on you two as we were the closest to you two." Scott explained. "But it seems you're both alright now, so we'll take our leave and let you be gay in peace."

Scott gave them a smile and a wink, before dragging Martyn by the collar away, leaving Etho and Tango standing there, heavily embarrassed by what just happened.

"The whole server probably knows by now."

"Yup."

"Ah shit."

"You can say that again."

~

Skizz felt himself at spawn, but this time nobody could see him. He knew he was invisible, but it kind of sucked. What he wasn't expecting, however, was a familiar figure crying nearby.

"Jimmy?" He asked, causing the other to look up at him.

"Skizz? You died? How?"

"I let Etho kill me. Besides, I couldn't leave you lonely for much longer."

"But you could've survived!"

"Not for much longer."

"I'm bringing you down with my curse, aren't I?"

"This was my decision, Jimmy. Besides, your curse doesn't define you, idiot. You'll always be my little brother, alright? No matter what."

Jimmy nodded, smiling through the tears. Skizz sat next to him, wrapping an arm around his brother.

"Do you want to go look around now we're technically free?"

"Yeah. I just want to stay away from Grian and Joel."

"That's fine, we can do that. I want to check up on the rest of the TIES, I mean, I did just kind of die in front of them."

Skizz helped Jimmy up before walking towards the base, not before seeing an enderpearl fly past. He swung his head over to where the pearl landed, seeing a crying Impulse appear.

"Skizz? You coming?"

"Yeah. I just- I can't do anything to change anything can I?"

"Nope, unfortunately."

"I just feel so upset that I caused them tears, you know?"

"Hey, at least you have others crying over you! Nobody gave a shit about me dying, well apart from you, but that's because I'm the little canary who always fucking dies first."

"Jim.."

"But hey, let's go check on the others, yeah?"

Skizz shook his head. "I don't think I have the guts to. I mean, they're crying for fucks sake. I didn't think I meant that much to them."

"You mean the world to basically the whole server. You dying is a big thing, you know."

"Hey, at least I can also technically claim the canary curse too."

"I don't think you want that, Skizz."

The two let out a laugh, before deciding to take a stroll around the server, watching all the chaos go down. Skizz knew it's not what he wanted to do, and he knew he'd rather be comforting his friends, but it's not like he could do anything while a spectator in their world.

At least he had Jimmy at his side.

Right?

Jimmy wasn't going to leave him, right?

When Joel was eliminated, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"I mean, as long as Jimmy's happy, I'm happy." That's what he told himself.

Yet, he found himself watching over his friends instead, trying to help in silence, despite them not even being able to see him.

Or, at least he thought.

It almost seemed like Martyn saw a ghost to the others, but in reality, standing next to Impulse was him. He waved to Martyn, who slightly waved back.

Honestly, he had no clue why Martyn could see him, but at least he had someone who could acknowledge his existence. He spent his time with Martyn, who almost mentioned him one too many times, but when Martyn was busy, he went to watch over the rest of the TIES.

Yet, Martyn would always talk to him when they were alone together because he knew that Skizz was lonely.

It was almost a perfect solution for now.

wooooo that was an emotional rollercoaster of a oneshot damn

okay i dont have much to say here but if you do go ahead xoxo

-Jett (Any pronouns, They/He Pref)