Chapter Text
Ramb was a patient man. At least, he liked to think he was.
In a way, his entire life was one long ongoing test of his patience. Materializing in Cyber City by complete accident after a Library Volunteer ordered the wrong regional model of a power strip (which Ramb thought was near impossible for a teenager to do in the first place, but hey- even technological illiteracy can transcend generations), he spent much of his early life in an awkward headspace.
Ramb was just different enough for one to notice at a glance. Well, he looked far different from other Plugboys for one. But whether it was the way he spoke, his worldview or his sense of humor... he always came off as a little odd to others. It didn't make him a complete outcast, don’t get him wrong. There was a whole catalogue of names in his head of acquaintances he had in Cyber World. But there always seemed to be an issue- some kind of bridge that stood between him and true friendship with the other party.
The other Plugboys? They were nice enough, but it was clear they saw Ramb as an outsider; something that he couldn’t shake off no matter how hard he tried.
Sweet Cap’n Cakes? Sure, he spent an awful lot of time at their music shop- sometimes a plug can’t help but get a tune stuck in their head. But the three of them all had their own quirks that’d find a way to make them clash with each other whenever Ramb hung around them. If the plugboy ever had the burning urge to have a certain type of conversation with someone, he’d almost instantly have to remove them from the list of possibilities.
Swatch? Probably Ramb’s closest thing to a friend- both had their secretive judgemental sides and they spent a fair amount of time together as Ramb would sometimes assist behind the scenes in the Color Cafe. But, Swatch always seemed to be in twenty different places at once. Burdening him with anything too heavy just felt like a dick move, even if they were friends.
Queen? Well. She was a character, alright. A fun one, but a character nonetheless. Enough said.
Hell- Ramb even saw eye-to-eye with Spamton, but he wasn’t an option because (as the other Addisons so charitably put it nowadays) he always seemed to have a stick up his ass; putting all his energy into finding his next big break rather than form any meaningful relationships. And trust him, Ramb found that one out first hand.
Well, hey. Even if life wasn’t perfect, it could be a whole lot worse. He had a good routine going here if nothing else. Walk around Cyber Fields, take a pit stop at the music shop, sit down in the north to watch the fireworks, and end it all off at Color Cafe…
Well. At least that was the routine.
Until one day.
- - -
To this day, Ramb wasn't quite sure how it'd happened. All he knew is that one moment he was sitting in the middle of the Cyber Fields, staring into the distance. And the next? Everything went dark. His senses were cut off one by one as static fogged up his vision.
Well- all but one. Sound. After they finally stopped ringing, two distinct voices hit Ramb’s ears.
“Hey, Noelle! Look! This strip’s so weird-looking! Its holes are in different places!”
“Kris, don’t be mean! What if the plug can hear you? Maybe it has feelings!!”
“Hey, I’m not being mean! It’s kinda cool! C’mon! It’s coming home with us!”
“Wait– KRIS?! ARE WE SERIOUSLY GONNA STEAL LIBRARY EQUIPMENT??”
“Azzy and Dess have done worse!! It’s not being used anyway, who’s going to know?”
All of a sudden, Ramb felt himself be shoved into a spacious jacket pocket- assumingly the one that belonged to this Kris, before the last traces of Cyber World slipped out of his grasp. It took a couple minutes of suffocating sensory deprivation, but at last, he felt himself being pulled out once more.
A house.
Instead of Cyber World, Ramb found himself in a house. Specifically, a living room. Comfortable chairs, a semi-worn carpet and a well-used T.V surrounded him. While it was far different than the endless realms of green and 16-bit skyscrapers he was used to, he certainly wasn’t complaining about a chance of scenery.
After a couple minutes, Ramb felt two pairs of eyes on him; a pair of figures coming into his view. A blonde deer with brown antlers and a brown-haired figure with a red horn headband. Both of them were looking Ramb up and down until the deer decided to speak up.
“We’re not gonna get in trouble, right, Kris?”
“Calm down, Noelle! Who’s gonna tell?” The other figure chuckled, “Berdly? Half the town constantly forgets his name! Even your Dad and Dess!”
“I... guess you’re right about that! Fahaha... But... what if someone needs it?”
“Does it even fit anything? Grab your Gamer Boy from upstairs. I wanna test something.”
‘Noelle’ disappeared out of Ramb’s line of sight, leaving him alone with ‘Kris’. The latter of those two scooped the plugboy into their palms- looking at him with a soft and curious expression.
“You’re so… different.” Kris whispered with a chuckle. “Just like me.”
Ramb wasn’t entirely sure what they meant by that. But after years of isolation in a world where he really shouldn’t have felt isolated, having someone get it on such a basic, yet fundamental level… It felt pleasant. Albeit, it was a little strange too, but that didn’t take much away from the comfort of it all.
After a short yet comfortable silence, Kris and Ramb heard Noelle come back into the room, handheld gaming console and accompanying wire in hand. What followed afterwards was a rather awkward session of Kris and Noelle trying to jam different wires into Ramb, though the plugboy saw that the little glint in Kris’ eye never seemed to fade. If anything, it seemed to grow a little brighter. Even when Noelle eventually went home, the plug never really left Kris’ grasp.
Eventually, this extended to the plugboy being involved in every part of Kris’ life. It was a little strange to be treated more like a toy than an electrical plug. Even more so when Kris pilfered the orange marker from Noelle’s box to doodle on Ramb. And even more so when Ramb could actually feel fabric surrounding him after the incident.
It wasn’t just Kris, either. Their older brother Asriel ended up roped up in it all- playing with Ramb by his sibling’s side. Noelle and her older sister frequently joined whenever they came over, finding a way to incorporate the power strip into their activities.
Yes, Ramb had ended up becoming part of the family in a way. He never really left the safety of Kris- be it their pocket, their hands or their nightstand. The company was nice. Especially on the rare periods where the faintest hints of homesickness would seep into the back of his mind. Kris would talk to Ramb rather frequently, and if he had to stay behind on a particular day for a particular reason, the human was more than eager to recount the entire thing to him the second they got home.
…home. Yeah, this was home, wasn’t it?
That was a nice thought.