Karl put his goggles over his eyes, surprisingly being able to see through the purple lens with green swirls.

He turned off the bathroom light before walking out.

His book was laying on the dresser- all be had to do was be quite enough to grab it then leave.

Though, he still didn't know if Ranboo was a deep sleeper or not.

He guessed he'd find out soon enough.

He quickly but quietly walked over to the dresser, stepping past the makeshift bed with the, for once, sound asleep child.

Karl sighed in relief.

He grabbed the book and darted towards the stairs, making little noises as he headed towards the door.

Just as he was about to open the door, however, he heard a faint noise from behind him.

Ranboo.

"Karl?"

Karl laughed awkwardly and hid the book behind his back. "Hey their, little buddy. Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

Ranboo looked down at their feet and played with the sleeves on the oversized sweater. "I can't. I pretended to be sleeping."

Karl sighed and kneeled down in front of the child. "Want me to help you sleep?"

They nodded and Karl smiled.

Ranboo had cought Karl trying to sneak out the night prior and made a promise not to say anything to the others.

Thankfully.

"Let's go tuck you back in." Karl took ahold of the childs small hand and lead them back upstairs.

. . .

"This is the story of..." Karl flipped a page in his scrapbook as he read out to Ranboo laying in bed. "The Village that Gone Mad."

"A... story?" Ranboo asked, their voice slightly scratchy from the speaking they had improved on that day.

Karl hummed in agreement.

He flipped open to the first few pages, the rest of the book yet to be filled.

On these few pages were pictures, magazine text, but most importantly, handwritten notes that formed a story.

Karl never specified if it was real or fake, he thought it would have been obvious that these weren't from their world.

But Ranboo didn't know better.

They took everything word to heart, creating their own world in their little brain.

Every word came to life and danced around, each character- person felt like they were in the room with them. The deaths seemed so real, too.

The end of the story came, revealing the killer of the town.

Ranboo had fallen asleep by then, forever not knowing the ending.

. . .

SapNap and Dream decided to hang out that day, collectively deciding that they needed to get something for the new child.

"What do you think they'd like?" SapNap questioned, looking at the shelves filled with toys and different Legos.

"Something soft?" Dream questioned, walking a little ways-away to see stuffed animals on the shelves.

He spotted a stuffed dog with a red collar.

"Think the kid would like this?" He got it off the shelf and brought it over, the stuffed animal probably would be taller than the kid in their current malnourished state.

"I guess we'll have to find out." SapNap smiled. "You'll have to hold it, I don't want to burn a hole in it."

SapNap had been a bit stressed that day and forgot to cover his exposed magma hands, which were constantly dripping.

. . . (Sorry for so many skips, I'm lazy as hell) . . .

The cottage Dream and George picked out was bigger than SapNap's but decent sized for only two people.

A marble path lead up to the white front door. Small white and yellow flowers covered the exterior of the house and the orange leaves from the trees above accented it nicely.

Dream opened the door first and let SapNap in. Quackity had brought Ranboo over to their cottage instead because Karl insisted he needed to do something private.

They walked in to Ranboo drawing with crayons on their dining room table while Quackity and George watching TV.

The inside looked nice as well. The living room had a single couch and chair with a TV and a green rug in the middle. Right next to it was the dining room, which had a walkway to the small kitchen. A hallway in the living room lead to a few backrooms.

The cottage smelled strongly of lavender.

"Nice place." Was the only words SapNap spoke when he shut the door behind him with his foot.

"You guys took long enough." George huffed, getting up from his spot then turned the TV volume down.

SapNap leaned into Dreams ear to whisper something. "Why has George been so moody lately?"

"He needs to go to a doctor." Dream sighed then nudged his confused friend away.

Dream hid the stuffed animal behind his back and snuck up on Ranboo to see what they were drawing.

It was a stuck figure with a dress on, though it strongly resembled and old woman.

"Who's that, bud?" Ranboo jumped in their seat due to Dream putting his hand on the kids shoulder.

"It's.. it's from the story!" They smiled happily, it's little tail wagging happily in between the barns I'm the back of the chair.

Dream pulled out another chair and scooted it next to Ranboo, keeping the stuffed animal hidden. "What story?"

"Uhh..." Ranboo thought for a second, trying to think of the English or hand translation. "Village?"

"Just 'Village'?"

Ranboo shook their head, trying to think of the rest. "Village went bad?"

"'The Village that Gone Mad'?"

"Yes! That!"

Dream smiled, his lips dry and cracked.

Ranboo started trying to explain the woman in the best words they could muster, though sometimes they stumbled.

Ranboo stopped talking to look at Dream, who was now holding the stuffed animal in front of him.

"Mine?"

He nodded, handing the dog to Ranboo. "You can name it."

"What is it?"

"An animal, silly."

"A-Animail?"

"Animal."

"Ani-mal."

"Good. This animal is a dog, or puppy."

The kid had a small growth spurt that night so Dream had forgotten the current height of the kid. The dog wasn't taller than the kid, it was up to their shoulders.

Despite the dog being almost the same size, Ranboo held it close.

So close that if it was real, it would've died within the first few seconds of the embrace.

Thankfully though, it wasn't real.

But Ranboo didn't understand that.

Word Count:: 1056