(i didnt watch season 8 tango is season 9 ranchers reunion okay?)
Jimmy catches the glint in his eye from a mile away, (or at least from the other end of the tunnel), and if there's anything he knows for sure about a regressed Tango, it's that he is going to cling to him like a koala to a tree and nothing can stop him.
"Jimmy!" Tango breaks into a sprint, and Jimmy braces himself for impact.
Tango launches himself into Jimmy's arms, and Jimmy catches him, laughing brightly when Tango's massive hat knocks his own right off of his head. He's excited as a puppy, light as a cat, fits in his arms comfortable as ever.
"Hey, bud!" Jimmy beams, "Look at us! A couple o' Ranchers, together again."
"Yeah!" Tango beams, ears perked up and tail flicking back and forth excitedly. The witch hat flops down over his eyes.
Jimmy chuckles, shifting him onto one hip and helps push the kid's hat back up, then reaches down to retrieve his own. Their audience laughs at them, but Jimmy can't bring himself to care too much.
"To Tumble Town," he tells them, nodding down the tunnel and returning his hat to its rightful spot atop his head.
Their audience continues on. Jimmy watches them go, letting Tango fidget with the buttons and pin at the front of his shirt.
"Hey buddy," he says again. He feels lighter than air, mentally flicks the phantom wings at his back. If he thinks hard enough he can imagine a phantom heartbeat like a shell around his own, and his smile becomes harder to hold onto.
"Hi," Tango answers, tail still flicking, slower now, more content, "hi, hi, hi."
Jimmy's smile becomes a little bit forced, "hey, I'm uh, I'm really sorry about- about Double Life. That uh- that enderma-"
Tango puts a hand over his mouth and stares him down. The brim of his hat shadows his face, his eyes almost glowing.
"No being sad," he tells him, soft and stern wrapped into one, "We're together again, you're nod'allowed to be sad."
Jimmy stares at him. Tango stares back. Jimmy nods, and Tango removes his hand.
"Okay," Jimmy nods, "no being sad."
Tango beams, loops his arms over Jimmy's shoulders and lays his head down, "where are we going? Did you build this?"
"I did!" Jimmy answers, tilting his chin up with pride, "everything you see here was built by yours truly."
"Thought you weren' a builder," Tango teases.
"Yeah, well I thought you weren't a builder either, Mr Five Levels Of Ice Dungeon."
