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Migraines were not a new experience for Tango. He’d experienced them for as long as he’d lived in the overworld. The sun was far too bright and paired with his finicky emotional state, it was a recipe for debilitating headaches.He hadn’t actually known what they were until Xisuma had caught him in the middle of a bad one and proceeded to explain to him that he was not dying, even though he felt like it. Since that incident, Xisuma had put protections in place in Hermitcraft’s code. Outside of the moon ripping their eighth world into pieces, Tango had been migraine free for nearly a decade.Then the life games started. Grian hadn’t known to prep the server for migraine prevention, but Tango wasn’t too fussed about it. So far, the few that struck him hadn’t really impacted any loss of life or materials. He remained quiet about the topic to prevent his parrot friend from any more stress.Double Life’s beginning was rougher than any of the other seasons’ had been, though. The creeper explosion combined with the guilt of killing Jimmy in the process was the perfect recipe for another migraine. Tango’s vision flashed for a moment as little white floaties passed quickly. He tried to blink them out of his vision as he and Jimmy went their separate ways to try and gather their stuff.Despite not being able to recover anything, Tango tried to stay positive. He met up with Jimmy once again and they started work on the base. Building was not Tango’s strongest suit, but neither was it Jimmy’s, so he agreed to start on something while Jimmy went around and gathered whatever he could.There was a small ache in the side of Tango’s head, but he squinted his eyes and ignored it. He made sure to drink water and keep his food on hand. Building without moving his head too much was difficult, but he managed.He really hoped the soulmate bond didn’t transfer mundane pane, otherwise Tango may never be able to apologize enough.---Jimmy had quickly realized that some of the extra aching in his joints was likely due to his soulbond with Tango. He had no room to complain, though. No doubt his wings would be causing Tango some aches and pains in no time. It was just a side effect of their link, and Jimmy would gladly deal with it.If anything, the little aches and pains were a reminder that Tango was safe and alive. Still, Jimmy kept topped up on his own food so the little pains wouldn’t build up to actual damage too quickly.He was bringing some cows back to where he had left Tango to build the ranch when the mild headache exploded into sharp, stabbing pain along the left side of his skull. With a hiss, Jimmy closed his eyes, crouched, and covered his head with his wings, keeping a shaky grip on the wheat used to lure the cows.Nausea hit him soon after and all Jimmy could do was take deep measured breaths. He downed some water and nibbled on some of his own food, but neither action did anything to reduce the pain.The alarm bells started ringing, metaphorically, of course. Jimmy would probably start crying if he had to listen to something as loud as a bell in the current moment. He continued to focus his breathing and blinked his eyes open. Their base was right up the hill, he just had to make it to whatever Tango had started on so he could the cows away and sit in a dark box until his headache went away.His vision was oddly fuzzy. Not quite doubled like when he got too dizzy, nor was it darkened as if he was dying. It looked almost like static, which only made Jimmy panic more. The only times he’d ever been up close and personal with any type of static, it was always when Watchers were involved.He knew Grian’s Life Games had Watcher influence, but he’d promised Jimmy that he’d be safe and untouched.Jimmy kicked the hill in front of him, the small twinge of pain calming his spiralling brain down. First thing was to get the cows to Tango, then he could message Grian about the static in his vision.The climb up the hill was agonizing as the headache and nausea seemed to only be getting worse. He hoped whatever was happening to him wouldn’t transfer over the soul bond with Tango. His soulmate was already stressed enough after killing them both once, he didn’t need anymore pressure.Reaching the top of the hill, Jimmy smiled at the started house Tango had made great progress on. There was already a spot Jimmy planned to put the cows away. And further in there seemed to be a room already! He needed to have a talk with Tango after sorting this headache out. The build was amazing, and he was not going to let the blaze argue with him about it.Jimmy shuffled towards the cow pen and shuffled the animals inside, closing the gate and leaning against the wall as another wave of pain crashed into him.“Jimmy?” Tango asked, exiting from a hole he was digging at the back of the building. His voice was strained, as if he was in pain.Cringing, Jimmy sighed. He felt bad that the headache was likely affecting Tango as well. “Yeah,” he muttered. He felt like if he opened his mouth anymore, he would vomit. He turned around to face Tango and motioned to the cows with a shaky smile.“Oh nice!” the blaze commented. He frowned and directed his attention to Jimmy. “Are you okay?” Tango tilted his head as he asked the question and another pulse of pain echoed through Jimmy’s skull.Taking a deep breath, Jimmy prepared himself to speak before he was cut off by Tango.“Oh. Oh no, you’re feeling the migraine aren’t you?” Tango asked quietly.Jimmy squinted at his soulmate with curiosity. “The what-now?”“It feels like your skull is about to explodificate?”It took a moment for Jimmy to process the word, but he nodded.Tango bit back a curse and grabbed Jimmy’s hand, gently pulling him toward the side room. There was a bed and a roof with some water and food out on the crafting table. It was pleasantly dark. “I should have known. I’m so sorry, Jimmy.”Jimmy sat down when prompted to. He took another breath before wacking Tango with one of his wings before he started pacing a path into their newly built floor. “Slow down. The reason my head feels like it’s about to explode is because of something called a migraine?”“Yup,” Tango confirmed sadly. “I was hoping it wasn’t going to come through the bond. I should have told you about it when I first felt one starting. I’m so sorry.”“Does that also have something to do with the static vision and nausea?”“Are those also going through?!” Tango asked with alarm.Jimmy jumped at the sudden noise before nodding.Tango put his head in his hands and whacked his forehead a few times, muttering, “Stupid stupid Tango. This is what you get for procrastinating.”“Tango, slow down,” Jimmy pleaded. The hitting of the head seemed to set off little explosions of pain in Jimmy’s own. “I’m not mad at you for getting a headache. If anything I’m impressed you’re not curled on the bed considering you must have much worse pain than what I’m dealing with.”Grimacing, Tango looked away and fidgeted with his vest. “I still feel bad because these things, especially without any warning, are a nightmare. I’ve learned to deal, even if it’s been a while. I’ll stop procrastinating and get X’s help to figure out how he stopped mine.”It took a moment to process what that implied. “Have you been having migraines in past seasons?”Tango shrugged. “Does it matter?”As far as Jimmy was concerned, that was confirmation enough. He sighed, feeling bad that the blaze had suffered so long. “I’m sorry, dude.”“Don’t be,” Tango countered, putting his hands up. “It’s not like they’re a constant issue. Usually just on really bright days or after stressful events, like getting you killed by a creeper and losing everything we had.” The last bit was laced with guilt.Jimmy pat the edge of the bed. “Come here, dude. You’re worrying too much and I don’t think it’s helping either of us.” When Tango hesitated, he continued, “I put the cows away. We have a roof. It’s nearing night time anyways, so everyone else will be preoccupied. And sitting here in the dark has made me feel better, so maybe if we both sit here in the dark, it will go away twice as fast.”Tango chuckled, “I don’t think that’s how that works.” Still, though, he sat down next to Jimmy and let the canary hybrid move so they were both laying down on the pillows.The pain was already starting to ease. Jimmy let out a sigh of relief. “Is this why you were underground when I came back?”“Yeah,” Tango shrugged. “I was also trying to set a chicken-ficator up, but I don’t think chickens and migraines are a good pair.”Jimmy closed his eyes and laughed. “I don’t think anything is a good pair with migraines.”“Except regen potions,” Tango chuckled.Another laugh. “Not healing potions?”“It’s not like there’s an injury to heal.”“Fair enough,” Jimmy hummed. “I’m sure Grian would make a potion exception for something like this, though.”Tango let out a sad sort of sigh. “It’s not worth the hassle when I can usually just ride it out. And when Xisuma knows a coding fix that Grian just has to implement. I’m not worth bending the rules for.”Jimmy frowned, but despite the pain fading, his brain still felt like soup, so he couldn’t build a good argument to combat his soul mate’s self loathing. He did bring up his communicator and pull up Grian’s contact.“What are you doing?” Tango inquired. He leaned his head into Jimmy’s shoulder, but didn’t open his eyes.“Texting Grian to get over here.”“Why?”“Well, are you going to do it?” Jimmy asked snarkily, but without any malice.Tango just hummed quietly.“I don’t think you should have to suffer if it’s preventable.”“But it’s a hassle,” Tango whined.“And? You’re a friend.”Tango made another sad sounding sigh.Jimmy thought for a moment before weaponizing the man’s care for others over himself. “If Grian does whatever this code thing is, then that means I won’t feel the migraine either.”Tango was silent before nodding. He didn’t say anything, but Jimmy knew he got through to him.

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