I Can't Remember

[4] Clay And Ranboo Get a Cute Bro Moment

Ranboo took Quackity upstairs to show him a makeshift storage room. There were chests and old decorations all over the floor, haphazardly arranged into a pile. They walked over to the area which mostly stored supplies, with labels on the chests like 'pickaxes', 'potion bottles', 'bone meal', 'wheat seeds' and so many more. Quackity opened a chest labelled 'Ender Pears' to see it had one slot empty. Every slot, full of a whole stack of pearls, except the last one. One part of the story matched up.

"Why didn't he take all of your stashes? Looks like you have tons of stuff that would've made his life, if he's planning to be on the run," Quackity wondered aloud.

"Maybe he was in a hurry?" Ranboo pushed some chests out of the way to reveal a blackened wall. There was a huge mark on the wall, as if there was a knife in the wood. There were also some scratch marks and blood, which had an uncomfortable resemblance to Ranboo's claws and Ranboo's blood. He looked at Quackity, who was staring at the stain. Quackity had never felt so nauseated by blood before.

"This was where the fight happened. I don't feel like patching it up, so my cleaning was just hiding it behind chests," Ranboo chuckled, one hand on his neck and he looked down on the floor.

Out of instinct, Quackity hugged the teen and patted his back.

"I should go. Get some rest man, and if you ever need anyone, I'm here, alright?" Quackity started climbing back downstairs. Ranboo followed. "Call me up if you need some of my happy flour," he said. Ranboo scrunched his nose up in teasing disgust.

"I hope I don't need that, but thanks for the offer." Quackity laughed at that and nodded. They were at the door now. He patted Ranboo arm again (he would've patted the shoulder but he was too short,) and started to leave the house. Just as he was closing the door, Ranboo called out for him.

"Yeah?" Quackity asked.

"Don't ever call me a freak again," Ranboo spoke, with a tone of finality in his voice. Quackity hesitated for a moment. He looked like he was going to give a sarcastic reply to the boy, but changed his mind.

"It won't happen again.'' With that, he left the house.

A few minutes after Quackity had left, Clay dug himself out of the hole he was in and slowly climbed out.

"Just so you know, I didn't mean any of that," Ranboo spoke as Clay filled the hole back in with blocks. He didn't respond to Ranboo at all. In fact, he seemed to be in a daze.

"Clay?"

Clay stepped back, as if suddenly remembering where he was. He nodded at the younger fellow as he sat on the floor, exhausted from being alert for so long. Somehow, the tiredness felt... familiar. As if he was well versed in this act.

"I know you didn't mean it Ranboo, you were trying to sound realistic. If you hadn't said all that, Quackity wouldn't have left you alone." Clay stood up but almost fell. Before he could hurt himself though, Ranboo caught him.

"Hey man, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Clay said, laughing slightly. "I must still be disoriented from that hole. I thought we were dead for sure! How did you sell him your story?"

"Oh! That was pretty easy actually!" Ranboo let out a proud yet shy smirk. Clay smirked back, but his smirk was teasing.

"Ranboo...?"

"Clay...?"

"How did you convince him?"

"Before visiting you, I had taken out a stack of Ender Pearls. That covered the 'you looting me' bit," he spoke.

"What about the fight?"

"Oh, that's um... A little more complicated to explain." Ranboo rubbed the back of his neck with his hand again. "I um... I think I really was attacked, but it was not by something I could recognise," Ranboo spoke, his voice beginning to shake. Clay guided him to the living room, making him sit on a chair nearby.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me," Clay said, trying to comfort the teen.

"I do, it's deeply connected to why I broke you out," Ranboo countered. "Besides, this memory is stuck in my head."

"I thought you wrote down everything in your memory books? To help you when you don't remember? How come you naturally remember this?" Clay kept the lad steady as he slowly nodded.

"I do, yes, but I don't know why this one won't go away. Besides, there wasn't any point in writing it down anyway, i remember it vividly. It's been happening every week and I remember every time it happened without even looking at the memory books. I think... I think that's also one of the reasons I wanted to break you out of prison."

"What do you mean, Ranboo?"

"You were in a physical prison, but me? I was trapped in my own head, and another consciousness constantly came and took away my memories. It always strikes at night, and it strikes every week, same day, same time. Every day, I wake up, scared that I'm going to find out that I killed someone I know, I hurt someone by accident, I helped someone evil, I did something bad. It's terrifying.

The... the Enderman side of me is very unstable. When I was attacked, it didn't try to protect me, it tried to hurt me even more! I don't understand what my thoughts were that led me to the decision... but in my panic, I decided you were the only one who could help me." Ranboo finished his rant, running his fingers through his hair. Clay sat next to him, in a pensive mood.

"So you broke me out? Look, I'm very happy you did that, not gonna lie. But, couldn't you have gotten your answers with me in prison?" he finally asked.

"I just told you I can't explain it. Maybe there were many other factors involved, I just don't remember them. All I knew was that you could help me, and..."

"And?"

"And that you are innocent."

Clay sighed. He patted the teenager's head soothingly as he let his thoughts run wild. A comforting silence set in the living room.

A few minutes later, Clay stood up from his position and kneeled in front of Ranboo. The latter, who had fallen asleep on Clay's shoulder, looked down at the older man drowsily.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked in a slurred voice.

Clay lifted his hand towards Ranboo, offering it for a handshake.

"I'll help you understand what's wrong with your memory. You will help me understand what's wrong with mine. Does that sound like a deal?"

Ranboo sat in his chair silently for a few moments, letting his tired mind register what was just said. As soon as that was done, he nodded at Clay, an ecstatic glint in his eyes. He shook the offered hand firmly.

"It's a deal," he said, smiling widely. Clay grinned in response, hugging the boy tightly.

As the two separated from the hug, Clay's eyes fell back on the memory book, which still lay open in the nearby room.

"What is it, Clay?" Ranboo tried to follow his gaze. Clay looked back at Ranboo, who wore a worried and scared look. Ranboo somehow knew that face. Clay had a plan and he wasn't going to back out of it.

"We need to talk to Tubbo," he announced.

[26-03-2022]