Author's note
It's 3rd Life Flower Husbands again. Still crying.

I had an idea. This ended up having the same sort of story formatting as 'Daisy Bell', which won't make sense until you read the story uh never mind OwO-

Also known as: HOW MANY TIMES CAN I WRITE THE SAME STORY BUT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.

Edit: So 3rd Life S2 just got hinted at/ announced. I think I just speedran this story. What. Help? H u h??

(Warning for: implied/ referenced character death and injury. Mourning husband (or should I say widow?)

———

'He wore blue velvet.
Bluer than velvet was the night,
Softer than satin was the light
From the stars.'

———

Jimmy fiddles with his ring.

From a corner in the Crastle, during a time of relative peace, he sits and fiddles with his ring. The conversations and laughter of his companions remind him that he's not alone: it's easy to hide beyond the chatter.

That is, until someone from over there notices him huddled up in the corner.

He looks up as a shadow blocks the light. With a questioning smile, Joel sits down beside Jimmy, patting his friend on the back.

"Hi Jimmy. What's got you all quiet?" Joel asks. Nothing but genuine concern is displayed on his face, confused about what reasons his friend might have for slinking away from the others.

Jimmy smiles (it's a small smile) and glances back at the ring in his hands. "... Nothing, I'm just... Thinking."

"...You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm here if you need it."

"Yeah. I know..."

So they sit in silence for a while. The offer hangs in the air in a way not uncomfortable, but too off to feel normal. In an attempt to alleviate tension, Joel's eyes roam around their various allies and friends, amused as they are with lighthearted banter.

He opens his mouth to point out BDubs huffing over something he's almost sure is a dig at his height, when he catches sight of tears running down Jimmy's face.

Startled, Joel quickly wraps his arm around the other's shoulders. "Jimmy? Are you alright? I don't think I like these thoughts you're having if they're making you upset."

"Joel. Joel, no, I'm-"

"Is someone hurting you? Threatening you? If they are, I'll-"

"I'm a widow."

Joel stops. At the back of his mind, some sort of gear starts to turn; he can't quite pinpoint where the familiarity lies, but it makes him uneasy regardless. He wonders if his friend is joking, but by the defeated, resigned expression on Jimmy's face, he probably isn't.

"... You're... A widow?" He gulps down his apprehension. Then, as Jimmy smiles sadly at the ring in his fingers, it clicks. He's seen a ring like that before.

One of the same design, which he knows now that he's seen Jimmy's for the first time, and Joel hugs his friend a little tighter. As if it could prepare him for what admittance surely would come next.

"To Scott."

Looking back, he wonders how he didn't know. Yet neither did many of the others, too wrapped up in the war to pay attention to relationships, never mind developing ones. Joel doesn't know what his excuse is.

"He's my... Husband." Jimmy confirms, even if Joel's figured it out by now. With the name of his grief exposed to the harsh air, the tears that started to fall don't stop, painting sparkling channels into Jimmy's pained face. "... Can I..."

Joel nods encouragingly, so Jimmy continues with a shakey breath. "... Can I... Tell you about it? ... About him?"

———

'He wore blue velvet.
Bluer than velvet were his eyes,
Warmer than May his tender sighs:
Love was ours...'

———

Scott is on three lives.

Not for the first time, he doesn't think of it as such: he thinks of it as one life, and a bit extra, to spend however he pleases. Before fate chooses a path for him.

Under the beautiful midday sun, Scott closes his eyes against the light and inhales. He holds the breath for a second or two, content in taking it all in.

When he opens his eyes, he catches Jimmy's gaze, and that's what he follows down the rose-edged pathway they lovingly crafted from the ground.

Like a moth drawn to the flame, a bright summer sun of a flame, he loses himself in the familiar warm pools of his love's eyes until he's before him now, weak against the crashing tide of affection within them.

"You look cute." He notes. Jimmy laughs, effectively rendering him speechless in the best of ways.

Funnily enough, he already knew what his soon-to-be would look like, what he'd be wearing, before today. Scott picked out the outfit himself, after all.

It's more than enough to see Jimmy look as handsome as he dreamed in the long, quiet night before.

"So do you."

Jimmy takes his hands; Scott has to focus on the words Jimmy recites lest he forget his own, though this does have the side effect of making him tear up.

'To love and to cherish, for as long as they see fit.'

There it is, the reminder that their lives were more finite than usual. But Scott has a whole life to decide what to do with.

And in this one?

"Jimmy... Look at me."

His love was leaning into his touch when he made the request; without question, Jimmy complies, the adoration in his brown doe eyes unrelenting despite the unasked questions on the tip of his tongue.

It makes him all the more sweeter, Scott thinks. All the more sweeter.

"I love you."

In this life, he confesses his love instead of finishing his speech, unable to stumble over the last few words. The meaning carries through. Jimmy, his (his!) now-husband, smiles at him as if he were the most precious thing alive and kisses him as if to personally prove it.

Afterwards, he'll laugh at the giddiness of it all, though now, he runs his fingers through Jimmy's blond hair and melts happily against his lips.

Scott is married.

This life is good.

———

'Ours a love I held tightly,
Feeling the rapture grow
Like a flame burning brightly.
But when he left, gone was the glow of-'

———

Scott is on two lives.

After being caught off guard in the Nether, Jimmy had insisted for future exploration of the fiery dimension to be left up to him. They'd eventually agreed upon Jimmy taking up some expeditions, with Scott embarking on others once he was ready.

Internally, Scott was glad for the recovery time. Even if he didn't admit it, drowning beneath molten flame, losing his items as well as his life, stung on a greater aspect.

Yet his husband took one look at him, recently respawned, shaking on his bed from some sort of muted shock, and understood anyway.

When the Red King's Hand came to visit their lands, that was why, to Martyn's surprise, he saw only Jimmy performing various tasks in the sheltered valley.

The unexpectedness doesn't deter the Hand for much longer.

Jimmy looks up as he approaches- the look of gentle concern he has on his face morphs into one of surprise, then of hardened apprehension. The Hand watches the way Jimmy's fingers fly towards the handle of his sword, though make no attempt to unsheathe it.

Unperturbed, the Hand clears his throat, more as a formality than anything else. "... Jimmy Solidarity. The Red Army wishes to-"

"I'm not interested."

The bluntness of the interruption catches Martyn off guard. He looks at Jimmy, baffled, and finds himself being levelled by the other's determined glare.

"... Jimmy. You didn't let me finish." Martyn tries again, slowly emphasising each word. Jimmy had to understand this. "The Red Army wishes to offer protection. They wish- no, I wish to offer you protection, as a friend. Joining the Red Army is your safest bet now that war looks to be on the horizon."

At this, Jimmy falters. Such a simple word. One that digs at the fear the Hand knows thrums through each one of the game's participants, has been ticking since the start and only grew as time went on.

A word the Red Army threw around like a pawn on a chess table. Ridden roughshod over like they knew what sleights they were dealing at fate.

The Hand smiles in relief: it seems like Jimmy understands the implications of his offer now. More details that were hopefully enticing spring to mind, and he's about to speak kindly of them when Jimmy, once again, glares at him.

"I said I wasn't interested. Me and Scott don't want your 'protection', and we don't want to fight with you in your... Your silly war." Jimmy says. For a moment, Martyn's taken aback, which Jimmy takes as a need for further explanation. "I'm not agreeing to something I know will only hurt us in the long run. I can't do that to Scott."

Affronted, Martyn whirls around, throwing his hands up accusingly. "Is that why you're afraid? Because if it came down to it, you know you'll lose him?"

The look Jimmy gives is downright murderous. The Hand itches to take out his sword, but Martyn stops, reeling back from the urge in fear of seriously hurting his friend.

"Jimmy, I... I'm sorry. Listen, I meant it when I said I'm doing this as a friend. I don't want to fight against you, but I'll be forced to if you aren't with us. The Red Army doesn't go back on its promises." He starts. It's a poor excuse. Scott would've seen through it; Jimmy pretends it isn't what it is. He doesn't know what else to say.

"... Why are you so adamant about- about this whole not 'throwing Scott under the bus' thing? I know you're allies, but if I'm being honest, I don't think I'm the only one coming off a bit strongly here." The Hand finally settles on, unable to hold onto the anger as he did against the others.

Instead, the meaningless question comes out exasperated. Then he double-takes at Jimmy's quickly reddening face.

The other looks away sheepishly. "Sorry. It's... I-I care about him..." Jimmy mutters, and Martyn grins despite himself.

"... You really do love him, don't you?"

Jimmy doesn't deny it.

———

'Blue velvet.
But in my heart there'll always be
Precious and warm, a memory
Through the years.
And I still can see blue velvet
Through my tears.'

———

Scott is on one life.

His husband is not.

Neither of the first two statements would've been true if Scott hadn't traded a life for Jimmy's own. Risked, perhaps, would be a better word, if his gamble hadn't already resulted in Scott arising on his last life.

His husband is still on his first.

He mentions it in passing once: the likelihood of Jimmy outliving him. The unlikeliness of such a possibility having occurred, for the seeds of fate to have been sown the way they have, but the undeniable consequences. Or the most probable consequences.

In a world like third life, that was all you could put your trust into.

A little too late, when he's already caught a glimpse of the betrayed look on Jimmy's face and his husband has walked out the door, Scott realises he maybe shouldn't have vocalised it so casually.

When he heads outside, intent on apologising before the sun set, he spots his husband almost immediately. It's not like there's many hiding places in their flower valley. Besides, they both knew Jimmy would never abandon Scott; not now, not ever.

Though, framed against the wispy light of the quiet sky, he does paint a particularly pretty image. One that surely softens the harsh blood red of his eyes, reducing their fire to an ember of far different value.

Another time, if Scott felt more poetic, he would remark upon how appropriate it be that, between the two of them, Jimmy was still branded with the innocence of a green life.

As he finds his place next to his husband on the hill overlooking their quaint home, the other allowing Scott to rest against him, head in the crook of his neck where Scott fit oh so perfectly, a light breeze brushes past.

It rustles the leaves and the petals and the blades of grass on the ground, and prompts Jimmy to wrap an arm around his cyan-haired partner. For a while, they simply sit like that in silence. Comfortable silence.

Until Scott decides they've feigned nonchalance for long enough. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You're right, you're... You always are."

On any other day, Scott would retort with shrugged acknowledgment. Now though, he isn't having any of it.

"Jimmy. Look at me."

Wordlessly, Jimmy complies, turning his warm honeyed eyes to his husband, to find a spark of determination beneath that depth of continual bleeding heart. Unable to look away, as if he could've wanted to.

"I love you."

Scott states into the silence between them. "I love you." He repeats, as the world leant in to listen. "I don't regret giving my life to protect you, because that's what I promised you... 'From this day forward until death do us part', wasn't it? I didn't marry you just to watch you die in my arms, not when I'm still here."

Enough of a pause passes that Scott begins to question whether he said the wrong thing, until promptly, he finds his arms full of his husband. Shaking, Jimmy buries his head into Scott's shoulder, embracing with a tighter grip than intended.

Protected by his husband.

"... Not while you're still here." He echoes. Scott hums his agreement, running his fingers through Jimmy's blond hair until the other relaxes in his hold.

"I love you." Scott says.

'And I'll still love you when I'm gone', he doesn't add. They both know it'll prove true anyway.

However long it takes.

———

Author's note

It's not like he wasn't prepared. Scott was always prepared. Though he didn't expect Jimmy to kill him, as his husband did.

He didn't expect himself not to mind.

Dying for his love, he shall think, is not so cruel a death.

Though for now, he is of dwindling pain and dwindling life. Let him die in peace, or else he'll lock eyes with his husband and realise how much he died in vain.