Watching and Listening - An Empires SMP AU

One last night

           Everyone turned to see Sausage standing there wearing a frilly pink apron and a matching chef's hat, holding out a tray of something smoking hot and smelling absolutely delicious. Behind him came Lizzie, dressed up in a similar outfit and likewise bearing a tray of something that smelled unbelievably amazing. Apparently while everyone else was 'distracted' with the games, as Lizzie put it, she and Sausage were free to do whatever they wanted to in the kitchen. 

          Joel looked really weird when she said that. "What's the matter, god boy?" Grian teased. "Can't stand your wife's cooking?" Then he noticed that fWhip and Tim also looked pensive. "What's the matter?" He asked, suddenly getting worried too. "It's Lizzie." Timmy said. "And Sausage." fWhip added. "And put them together..." Joel shuddered slightly. "Boom! You get chaos." fWhip said, waving his hands to mime an explosion. 

           "So..." Grian said, still unsure what to think. "So what?" "Well, let's just say that Lizzie's cooking is not for the unprepared. I mean, she's a good cook but..." Joel frowned as he struggled to find a way to describe Lizzie's cooking abilities. "We don't actually know what she puts in them." Timmy admitted. "Yeah, you know the secret ingredient in every recipe? When Lizzie cooks, every ingredient is the secret ingredient." fWhip said. 

          "I still don't get why you're so worried." Grian said, just as Lizzie came around with her tray and passed the four of them some plates of something that smelled even better close up. "Oh, they came across something in my cooking once that they couldn't identify and it made them worried about what I actually put in there." Lizzie said casually. With a smirk and a sly wink she left the four of them poking cautiously at their food. 

           Grian bent closer and sniffed it. "It smells really good." He said, and his stomach rumbled. "Yeah, all of Lizzie's dishes do." Joel agreed. Finally Timmy succumbed to his hunger and started eating. "What does it taste like?" fWhip asked before he touched his own plate. "Like chicken?" Grian asked with a smile. "Uh... I don't actually know how to describe it." Timmy said with an odd face. 

         "Well, that's worrying." Joel said before digging into his own food. Grian and fWhip looked at each other before giving in and starting to eat. Grian suddenly understood what what Timmy meant. The food, whatever it was, tasted so familiar yet unidentifiable. He could see why they were a worried about what went in it. But he was too busy enjoying his meal to really think about that. 

           By the time they were done eating someone had gone and made lemonade and had put a pitcher full of it next to a stack of paper cups on a table. Grian got up and filled up four cups and came back to the UNO group to pass it around. "Thanks," fWhip said. "Yeah, thanks, Grian." Joel added. Grian looked at Timmy, expecting some gratitude, but instead the sheriff was just staring morosely into the depths of the yellow juice. 

           "Oi, Timmy, where's my 'thank you'?" Grian fake scolded, but he quieted down when he realized how sad the sheriff looked. "Tim, are you okay?" Tim snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said quickly. "I'm just thinking about Jimena." Grian nodded in sudden understanding as he recalled those days when Jimena would just show up and make them lemonade. "Yeah, I think about her too." Grian admitted. 

           "Jimena? That girl from Cogsmeade whose name sounds like Jimmy's?" Joel asked, frowning as he tried to remember her. "What's up with her again?" "The Watchers are forcing her and False and Martyn to fight us tomorrow." Grian reminded him. "Oh." Joel said, his face falling. "Poor Martyn." "And Jimena and False." Tim added. 

           "Just when I thought we were out of the game," Joel muttered. "Those Watchers throw us right back into one." "Game?" fWhip asked in confusion. "What game?" "Ever hear of the life games or the life series?" Grian asked him. The goblin shook his head; his ears cutely flapping around like Dumbo's. 

           "It was something the Watchers created. They kidnapped a bunch of people to put in these sick and twisted games with a varying amount of lives until permadeath. The point was to make friends and allies until you're on your last life and then after that kill everyone else until you're the last one standing." Grian said. fWhip's mouth fell open in a perfect 'o'. 

           "Oh." He said. He paused. "Who was in it?" He asked. "Me, Joel, Timmy," Grian recited. "Scott, Tango, Scar, Scott, Lizzie and Mumbo once, Ren, Martyn, Impulse, Bdubs, Cleo, Pearl, and some people you don't know." "Scott, Grian, and Pearl have actually won." Joel said. fWhip looked at Grian oddly. "It's not something you really want, is it?" He guessed. 

          Grian shook his head. "And technically Scott won twice, didn't he?" He asked. "Not really. He still died." Joel said. "Just call him a runner-up." "What's up with his blessing thing anyway?" Timmy asked, pondering. "Oh yeah, Scott's blessing." Joel said. "Yeah, what is up with that?" 

           "You guys talking about Double Life?" Scott asked, walking over. "Yeah." Everyone except fWhip said in chorus. "And about your blessing." Tim added. "Is that a thing you did on purpose or-?" "On purpose." Scott said. "Just used my Listener powers to mess with the Watchers. Double Life was... interesting." 

          "You were very dramatic back then, Scott." Joel said. "And you were burning down everything before you burnt to your death, Joel." Scott pointed out smugly. Then he waltzed off without another word. 

          "I am so confused right now." fWhip said. "And I have so many questions." "Joel was an arsonist and Scott was being Scott." Timmy said. "What's Scott's blessing?" fWhip asked. "It's one of the weird curses of the games." Grian said. "If you team up with Scott, you'll win the game." Joel said. "In Third Life the whole server was basically split into two factions and Scott and Grian were on the same side, and then Grian won."

           "And then in Last Life, Scott won." Grian said. "And in Double Life, Pearl was Scott's soulmate and she won." Tim said. "Soulmate? But Scott's gay." fWhip said in even more confusion. "Uh, not the romantic kind." Everyone said quickly. "Scott likes teaming up with people." fWhip said. "Yeah, I was his husband back in Third Life." Tim said. 

          "You're his what?!" fWhip yelped. "Not anymore!" Timmy said quickly, holding up both his hands to show off the lack of a ring. "But wait, if you were partnered with him, how come you didn't win if Scott's blessing is a thing?" fWhip asked. "That's because Jim has the canary curse." Joel explained. 

           "Canary curse?" fWhip asked. "Yeah, every game Timmy is always the first out." Grian said, grinning at the annoyed look that crossed Timmy's face. "I can't help it if the Watchers hate me enough to make me first out every time!" He shouted. Everyone quieted down a little at the mention of the Watchers. 

           "Uh, why is it called the canary curse? Why canary?" fWhip asked quickly, changing the subject. "You know about the canary in the coal mine thing?" Joel asked. "No...?" fWhip answered. "I feel like that's something you should know since you live underground." Tim pointed out. 

           "Well, when people go mining sometimes they'll bring a canary with them. The canary will either stop singing or die when in the presence of deadly gases trapped in the mines so it will warn the miner to get out fast." Grian explained. "Tim's the canary of the life games because when he dies that means everyone else is liable to dying too. It means that the period of allyship is over and everyone's out for blood." 

           "Oh." fWhip said. He glanced at Timmy as if suddenly looking at him in a new light. "I guess goblins don't need canaries." Timmy hummed in agreement and then yawned. "Maybe we should sleep now." He muttered. "Big day tomorrow." Everyone agreed and soon the lights were out. But Grian couldn't sleep. All he could think about was Tim's 'death' not so long ago. He's the canary and he's already died. Who's going to be next?