Chapter Text
Ranboo looks from the map in his hand to the house before him. There is no way that this is the right place. There’s nothing inside, he thinks, tapping his foot impatiently.
“Uh, hello?” He yells, knocking on the door. It swings slowly inward, emitting a creak of disuse. He lets out a small surprised noise and peeks inside. “Mr Awesamdude, sir?”
He clears his throat and fidgets with his gloves. “Anybody home?”
A loud shifting of what sounds like pistons and stone comes from his left, and he leans back out.
The cliff seems to be moving.
The cliff IS moving.
He reels backwards, gawking at the grinding of earth. A giant doorway yawns where a cliff once was, and a man with bright green hair and hoodie steps out casually. The cliff begins its ascent.
“Hello?” Ranboo yells, striding over to the grass beyond his nether portal. “Mr Awesam?” He says awkwardly. “Dude… sir. Did I need to add that?” He mumbles, an afterthought to an afterthought.
Sam is inspecting a netherite axe when he catches wind of Ranboo’s voice. He looks up, seeing the lanky teen standing awkwardly on the patio.
Ranboo never got used to looking at sam’s face. Not really. It’s not that scary. It’s just that the mottled green of his skin and the full black of his eye is… something he’s never really seen before. Well. He’s never seen someone have it on display so casually. He’s a little envious of Sam in that regard.
“Oh, hey, kid.” He waves, settling the axe in its place by his hip.
“Uh, kinda forgot you had the whole…” Ranboo makes a circular motion with his finger, the other hand playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck. “Secret… base thing going on. Anyway,-” He inhales, pocketing his gesturing hand.
“You want something?” Sam smiles, walking past ranboo.
“Uh, yes, actually. You see-” Ranboo inhales awkwardly. “Uh, it’s kind of about…” He makes a vague gesture to his face.
Sam blinks. “Are you talking about my eye?” He says, not quite getting what Ranboo is gesturing to.
“Yes. I mean, no. But also yes,” Ranboo overcorrects and flounders over his words. “Yes and no. I mean, it is about your eye… and face- but it’s also about… my face. It’s a face-related issue.”
Sam tilts his head, squinting slightly in confusion.
“Let me start over,” Ranboo sighs, rubbing his eyes from under his glasses. “Listen. I think you told me about how your face is like that-” he points at sam’s eye and patch of green skin.
“Yeah,” Sam laughs, remembering the story. “That witch was pissed.”
Ranboo laughs too, but awkwardly and in a way that sounds like he’s pressed for time. “How’d you get it to stop?”
Sam thinks. “Took a long time. I’d bore you if I told you all of it. Why?”
Ranboo fidgets with the ear strap of his mask, unhooking it. “Uh, it’s gonna be very important for me to know, because-” He pulls the mask away, revealing a patch of black skin that covers the lower left side of his face. “I think I’m having the same problem that you did.”
---
Ranboo sits on the marble steps next to Sam’s auto-brewer.
“When did this start?” Sam asks, looking from ranboo to the chests.
Ranboo shrugs. “Dunno. I was probably six when she marked me, but it didn’t start spreading until a year or two ago,” He feels slightly uncomfortable without his mask or gloves. He tries not to look down at his hands. “But even then, it wasn’t even that bad. Just small patches that took a while to get big enough to notice.”
Sam nods and squats down, inspecting the patch on ranboo’s face. “Did you know which mob they did? Because it looks like it might be an Enderman but we can never be sure-”
Ranboo covers the patch with his hand. “Yeah, it’s Enderman."
Sam hums in acknowledgement and gets up. “It’s gonna be a similar process, I think.” Sam taps a knuckle to his upper lip, scanning his brewing stands. “But I’m gonna have to rework it for you. There’s going to be a lot of stuff that’s not gonna work, so we’re just gonna have to be patient.”
Ranboo scratches absentmindedly at his hand, which is the same creeping black as the patch on his face. “Okay.”
“I think a fully functional remedy will take anywhere from a week to a month,” Sam sits down next to him.
Ranboo feels his heart sink a little. “A month?”
Sam nods and exhales through his nose.
“At least when it’s finished, all this will go away, right?” Ranboo gestures to his face and the patches on his arms and hands.
Sam sighs sadly. “I don’t think it will, Ranboo. If it did, I wouldn’t have this,” He points to his eye, whose black surface shines brightly. Like a polished pool ball, Ranboo notes randomly.
“Right,” He whispers, the fear of having to hide his blackened skin all his life just setting in.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Sam reassures cautiously, setting a hand on Ranboo’s shoulder.
Ranboo adjusts his tinted glasses. “I know it’s gonna be okay,” He says, a little too fast.
Sam looks at him, a little worried. “Okay, you just seemed worried.”
“I’m fine! This is fine, it’s all going to be perfectly fine!” Ranboo stands up and starts pacing around.
Sam stares at Ranboo blankly, his eyebrows curving in a confused manner.
“This is,” Ranboo stops walking and looks down at sam. “This is fine.”
“You just gotta wait while we figure something out,” Sam gets up as well, dusting off his hands.
“Just a month,” Ranboo pulls on his gloves. “It’s just a month. How bad could it be?”
Sam gives a thumbs up. “It’s all gonna be fine, Ranboo.”
Ranboo swallows. “Yup!”
A feeling deep down in his gut tells him that it won’t be easy. He forces a smile. “It’s gonna be fine!”