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The cold air of the desolate world outside the studio invaded the green room, along with an immense darkness, accompanied by the absence of living beings, leaving only a Pippins and the bartender of the place. The two stood behind the bar, Ramb still polishing glasses as if hoping someone would come to order a drink, while Pippins judged with a piercing gaze from his side. “No one’s coming, you know that?” Pippins mumbled meaningly, Ramb nodded, not saying a word. “So why do you keep doing that?” Pippins added, resting both arms on the bar table, staring at the door in front of him. “Habit, I guess.” Ramb sighed. “I’m waiting for Kris; they are still out there.” Pippins turned his head to look at the plug. “You know they don't care about you, right? I doubt they are even thinking about you right now,” he commented coldly, not doubting his words, maintaining a neutral expression. “Well, that's what we Darkners are for. We're not here to live, we're here to serve.” Ramb simply smiled, causing Pippins to look at the door again, hating having to deal with a Ramb who was always acting depressed.
A few minutes passed in silence. Ramb finally stopped polishing glasses, so he now also turned to look toward the door, waiting for Kris to arrive. “Are you done?” Pippins questioned, looking down at the glasses. “That's right,” Ramb commented excitedly. “Pour me something,” he added with a satisfied smile, clearly intending to annoy. “Right away.” Ramb shared the same expression as the dice, causing it to sigh. “It's impossible to make you angry…” Pippins remained silent for a few seconds, watching Ramb take some bottles of liquor. “I stand corrected, it's impossible to make you feel anything.” Ramb looked up. “Why do you say that?” The dice moved its finger in circles on the bar, as if bored. “You never get angry, you never get happy, you never get surprised, you don’t cry, you don’t laugh, you don’t scream, you feel absolutely nothing.” Ramb nodded as Pippins spoke, listening intently to each of his words, a small smile on his lips. “Here you go.” Ramb handed a drink to the man, who looked at it again, noticing that his chest had begun to turn gray. Instinctively, he reached out with his hand for a closer inspection, pulling Ramb’s blue shirt down to see what it was, immediately smiling expectantly at the sight. “You’re already turning to stone.”
Ramb looked down, noticing that it was indeed true. “Can you take your hands off me now?” he pleaded with a bit of an embarrassment as he tried to push him away on his own. “Even with death so close, you’re incapable of showing any emotion. You really were unable to fit in here.” Pippins stammered, moving his hands away from Ramb, returning his gaze to the door. He didn't want to admit it, but the fact that Ramb's end was so close disgusted him. Knowing he couldn't do anything about it made him feel even more powerless. It wasn't just the fact that he was going to turn to stone, but that no one was going to remember him after the fountain was closed. No one was going to stop and ask, "Remember that guy who used to be at the bar?" Everyone will simply pretend he never existed, because when something isn't important, they tend to turn a blind eye. That will be the end of Ramb, someone who is unable to exist in the memories of others. Someone who didn't do anything important, someone who only filled a space that never needed to be filled. Who would remember something irrelevant? Pippins stared back at Ramb; from his neck down, his body was stone. He was afraid to admit that he feared this would also be his fate, but they would most likely close the fountain before that happens. "Hey, can I make a selfish request?" Ramb kept his gaze straight ahead, still waiting for Kris's arrival, only thinking about them now.
Pippins sighed disappointed. "Are you really still going to wait for that kid?" He commented, disappointed in Ramb's hope, though he granted him his ear for a moment, wanting to know what he had to say. But there was only silence. "Ramb?" The die flipped to its right, almost falling off his place when it saw that the man was nothing more than stone now. He didn’t even have time to know what his last words were. He wanted to act like he didn't care, but he really would have liked to hear him speak one last time. Pippins composed himself, bringing his hand up to Ramb's cheek, stroking the rough stone surface, completely unlike the soft fur he used to touch sometimes. "I suppose I could wait for them to come... I assume that would have been your last wish." There was a certain weakness in his voice; at some point it was going to break, maybe not now, but the way he was breathing indicated that he wasn't at his best, affected by the sudden “death” of Ramb.
“I'm a little jealous,” Pippins confessed, resting his hand on Ramb's shoulder. “Even in your last moments, you were probably thinking about someone who didn't care about you. Don't you feel like an idiot?” It was a kind of scolding. He fully recognized that Ramb would never know what he was saying. He's incapable of listening or speaking, and even if he were, he'd never understand, because Ramb didn't want to understand feelings, neither his nor his own.
Pippins did nothing but stare at the statue in front of him, looking longingly at it, slowly sliding down until he was face to face with it. He cupped Ramb's face in his hand, stroking what used to be his fur, slowly bringing his lips close until they met the statue. Even though it tasted of nothing, he still treated it as if it were something sacred. “I wish I'd been able to do that when you were still here, alive.” The sound of doors sliding open interrupted the dice, accompanied by the voice of a monster. “Are we interrupting something?” Susie asked with some discomfort. Pippins simply returned to where he had been before, acting as if nothing had happened. “No, nothing, not at all.” The group of three heroes approached the bar. Kris still showed no emotion, while Susie and Ralsei were skeptical.
“This guy?” Pippins questioned doubtfully, seeing Kris nod at his words. “He wasn’t anyone important, no one will remember him, but… would you like to hear more?” Pippins squashed his pride to fulfill Ramb’s last wish, but Kris shook their head, not caring enough about it, making the Pippins sigh. “That’s a relief.”