Work Text:
Ramb couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt a lightner’s touch. It must have been years ago by now. He hadn’t felt a darkner’s touch in a long time either, for that matter. It wasn’t like he had any close connections in TV World, stuck behind the bar making drinks for uncaring employees or sleeping off his latest headache. Tenna getting unplugged had only made everything worse.
So when the dark fountain opened, when the lightners came, when Kris of all people, came, he allowed himself to hope that maybe things would change. He could set up the kind of games he remembered Kris liking, facilitate some real fun. Bring a smile back to their face.
He leaned over the counter as the lightners arrived in the green room, watching as they wandered around and spoke with some of the other crew with a fond smile. It was good to see Kris hanging out with friends. They were always such a lonely kid.
Finally, Kris made their way over to the counter for their prize and Ramb handed it over. They made small talk for a few minutes, and Ramb hinted at something special set up in the S-rank room, shooting Kris a wink.
But Kris’s expression never changed from that careful, neutral look. Kris never smiled, never showed any interest. Then they wandered back towards the stage without ever even entering the S-Rank room or acknowledging Ramb further. He felt his core break a little, shoulders slumped as he picked up a rag to polish the countertop.
Well, that was alright. Tenna was clearly intent on making them stick around for a while, for some reason. There would be time after the second, haphazard board.
But their conversation after the second board was even briefer. Kris came by to accept their prize, then they headed towards the exit. Ramb watched the argument with the zapper blocking the door with dull eyes. What was the point of trying? Kris clearly wasn’t interested in him. They weren’t interested in Tenna either; he could tell. They were just going through the motions. He could relate, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
Things didn't get much further than that, though. The lightners were captured, then slipped away. Tenna called for all hands on deck. Ramb sighed and went out the back, but didn't make it further than the green room before Tenna stopped him.
“Ramb! There you are!”
He blinked up at Tenna with a neutral expression, unfazed by the looming CRT, and waited. “Let's make this quick. Come with me.” Tenna spun around and stalked towards the exit, giving Ramb little choice but to follow out into the snow.
As they walked, Tenna ranted to myself. “I can't believe the lightners would just run off like that! I mean, we were having so much fun! They're supposed to be having fun!”
“Maybe they found the boards boring,” Ramb suggested as they stopped under the tree Tenna kept up year round.
“Shut up!” Tenna snapped, whirling on Ramb before his screen flickered. He stood up straight and fished in his coat pocket for a walkie talkie, which he dropped into Ramb’s hands. “What would you know about real fun anyway?”
Not much, apparently, Ramb thought, given his failure to entice Kris. Out loud, he said, “What am I doing out here?
“I'm so glad you asked!” Tenna gestured to a large prize capsule resting against the trunk of the tree. “I need you to keep an eye on dearest Toriel while I and the rest of the crew track down the other lightners. It is imperative that she doesn't wake up!”
Ramb took a step closer, putting a hand on the capsule. Sure enough, he could see Toriel through the clear top, snoring away on a royal purple throne. “You put her in a capsule?”
“Yes, yes, to keep her safe. Don’t worry, it’s got airholes.” Tenna waved a hand dismissively, already rushing back towards the studio. “I’ll be in touch! So don’t dare slack off!” Then the doors slammed shut, leaving Ramb out in the cold with Toriel.
He let out a quiet sigh, getting to one knee before sitting down against the capsule. Snow fell in quiet flurries around him. In the distance, the dark fountain pulsed, the distant glow cycling through different colors.
“Why didn’t you ever take me back?” Ramb asked, addressing Toriel despite knowing she couldn’t answer. “Kris hasn’t played with me in years. They obviously don’t need me anymore…” Although he wished that wasn’t the case. “And it’s not like I’m of any use to you. I’m not compatible with the darkners here, and I’m not useful in the light world either. I’ve known that for a long time.”
He was met with silence, and was content to leave it that way for a while. But eventually he let out a humorless chuckle. “It wasn’t like I didn’t appreciate you Dreemurrs, luv. Kris gave me a purpose in life. A way to be useful, when I wasn’t otherwise. But now?” He looked down at his hands, turning them over. “I might as well just be junk, yeah?”
A heavy feeling welled up in his chest. He tried to force it down, Instead, he let out a sob and rubbed at his eye sockets. He didn’t belong here. He never had. He was always on borrowed time. Always just waiting to be discarded the moment the lightners grew bored of him. He only wondered why he hadn’t realized it already happened.
His foot felt numb. He shifted his position to try and get comfortable and wake it up, but it wouldn’t move. Looking down, he realized it was… harder than it should be. He reached down to touch it, and found it cold and hard. Stone.
He was turning to stone.
Of course. Of course he would. He was never meant to be here. So why wouldn’t he?
The radio in his pocket crackled. “Ramb!”
Ah, right. Tenna.
He couldn’t muster up the energy to fake cheeriness. “What do you need?”
The CRT’s voice crackled over the radio. “How is Toriel?”
Ramb glanced up at the capsule. She still looked like she was sleeping peacefully. “She rolled over in her sleep,” he lied.
“WHAT!? She ROLLED OVER in her SLEEP!?”
“That’s what I said, innit?”
“Did you try the CLASSICAL MUSIC CHANNEL like I SAID!?”
“You didn’t say anything about that, mate,” Ramb replied with a frown.
“Well it was IMPLIED!” Tenna shouted at him. “You know she’ll be in GRAVE DANGER if she wakes up, RIGHT?”
Ramb suppressed a sigh. Tenna was really in one of his moods this time. He was going to be a pain later.
Oh, right. There wasn’t going to be a later for him. He was already turning to stone.
So why was he still putting up with Tenna?
“You know what, mate? I don’t have to deal with this,” Ramb replied, keeping his voice matter-of-fact. “I think I’m done.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m quitting.”
“What? You QUIT!? You can’t Quit!!!”
Ramb tossed the walkie talkie aside, even as he heard Tenna shouting his name. With some effort, he struggled to his feet and began to limp inside, dragging his petrified limb behind him. The stone was slowly expanding, and he didn’t care to be out here when it happened. He could at least make it inside, right?
He left scuffs in the tile flooring as he reached the green room, then shuffled through the S-Rank room and into the entrance to his stand. At least he could have one last drink, maybe.
He tried to lift his left arm, but it wouldn’t move. He couldn’t feel it. It was stone.
Below the stand, he shuffled around glass jars until he found a squirreled away bottle of battery acid, something he saved for special occasions, or for when he was feeling really down.
Well, that certainly described the current moment. He downed a few hearty glugs, relishing the burn, then put it back under the counter. He didn’t want the kids to see evidence of him drinking if they came back through.
Twelve years trapped in TV world, only for it all to come to an end like this. Drinking alone in his bar, without anyone who cared. The pippins would probably raid the bar once they realized he was gone. They wouldn’t shed a tear. Tenna would be glad to be rid of his smart mouth. The zappers and shadowguys? Forget it. He might as well be window dressing to them.
As he felt the petrification reach his neck, he found he wasn’t scared. This was always how it was going to end, wasn’t it? Freedom was never in the cards for a discardable thing like him.
He hadn’t feared something like this for a long time.
He might as well have already been stone inside.