"What did I do to deserve this?!" Tango tried to pull his fingers through his sweaty, tangled hair, matted with redstone dust. He tore off his vest, stomped on it, and took flight violently, nearly hitting a cliff in blind rage.
For a long time, he just flew. The silence, only broken by the howling wind in his ears, was almost calming. He spiraled until he was in the clouds, looking down on the distant community. Everything was so small from this angle.
That is, until he smacked a pillar of Grian's base. He fell 20 blocks to the roof, and laid there in pain.
"Hullo?" Grian popped his head through the water elevator, investigating the strange noise. "Ah, Tango! Are you alright?" Grian made his way over to Tango's still form.
He slowly rolled to his side and sat up, rubbing his shoulder. "I'm fine." He snapped, pulling his elytra out from under him.
He dived off the roof, pulling up just before he hit the sea. He soared low, letting the salty spray cool his nerves. Lining the coast, he came to his rocket shop, and impulsively decided to check in.
He shook off his elytra and wiped his face, smearing the salt water and redstone across his forehead and cheek.
"Well hey Tango, wassup?" Impulse waved from his ender chest. "How're you?"
"Fine." Tango spat out. Embarrassed by his appearance, he quickly checked the chests, before whirling around to leave.
"Hey man, you feeling okay? You look..." Impulse chuckled under his breath.
"Shut up." He said curtly, and stalked away.
He had forgotten why he was mad for a moment, but the sight of the Cherry Store fired him up again. "Who needs freakin redstone away. Stupid!" Tango scolded the store, letting out his pent-up rage.
"What's stupid?" Zedaph giggled as he turned the corner. As he spotted Tango, however, he froze. "You alright?"
"Stop asking how I am! All of you asking if I'm 'okay' or 'good' but clearly I'm not! Ask a decent question, at least! Of course I'm not okay, the world is out to get me! I swear, the next time a redstone project doesn't go to plan, I'm going to quit forever!" Tango raged as Zed's face fell further and further.
"..I'm sorry man, can I help you?" Zed smiled weakly.
"No! Just- leave me alone!" Tango yelled and ran in the opposite direction. He ran as hard and as far as he could, until he collapsed in the dirt. The sun shone beautifully down on him; smirking, taunting.
He sat. He sat for hours in the dirt, wallowing in his misery. He had forgotten all about his redstone, now mourning over his friends. "...they must hate me now... I'm so insensitive..." He punched the dirt weakly. Glancing up, he realized the sun was nearly set, hiding behind the trees.
"-Tango-!" A voice in the distance. Disconnected from the world.
"Tango!" It wasn't his name anymore. Just a word.
"Tango! There you are!" Zedaph cried in relief as he ran into view. Impulse followed closely behind, just as ecstatic.
Tango didn't respond. His friends couldn't love him, not after the way he treated them.
"Tango? Answer me, man!" Zed had crouched in front Tango, slapping him gently.
"You can go, it's fine." He mumbled.
Impulse just grinned blankly, confused. "Dude, you think we're just gonna leave the third member of ZIT out here in the woods while we have his party without him?"
Tango lifted his head slowly. "What...?"
Zed bounced on his toes. "Yeah! We're holding a surprise party for you, because you seem down in the dumps! Surprise!"
Tango looked between the two, the joy evident in their eyes. "Why?"
Zed faltered. That wasn't the answer he expected. "Well, we love you! You're our best friend, and we wanted to make you feel better."
Tango sat for a minute, then took Zedaph's hand. "Alright."
"Yeah! I'll get the popcorn cooking!" Impulse called, running ahead.
"Thank you Zed. It's been a rough day." Tango admitted, finally opening up.
Zedaph just laughed. "I know, silly, that's why we did this! You're really important to us, you know. We care about you, even if you're a little short-tempered."
Tango smiled wistfully, remembering all the amazing things he had done with his friends over the years, and all the wonderful things they had done for him.
What did I do to deserve this?
It's like hurt/comfort except super mild lol
Love you, my little stars!
-RaeTheStar