Butterfly Reign | Dream SMP & Remarried Empress fusion

Ch27. But it's completely fine

"Is somebody here?" Ranboo calls. Echo of his voice travels along the wall and into the nothingness, and when it dies down it's just him and the sound of his heart speeding in his ribcage.

Thump thump thump.

Thump thump thump.

Meow.

Wait, what was that?

But it isn't just Ranboo's imagination traveling to wild places; the meowing repeats again, and when he brings the lantern closer, a pink nose juts out from behind a shelf. Covered in white fur, fluffy tail piped up, the cat blinks at him with eyes the color of freshly sawn summer grass.

While Ranboo stands in a stupor, wondering how an animal could have gotten in here, the cat jumps on the desk and nonchalantly paces across it, peering into the manuscripts as if it could understand anything from them. Ranboo's hand, attempting to gently scoop up and remove the cat, is promptly batted away with a warning hiss.

No touching, he got it.

Ranboo sighs, slumping back. "Just a little, harmless kitty," he mutters.

"Hi, Ranboo from Esempi," someone says. "What are you doing?"

Ranboo jolts, screams, and swivels around, accidentally swiping all the books and scrolls from the desk. The startled cat makes a beeline off the edge and into Ranboo's arms. He barely manages to catch it, the noise of all the other objects crashing and scattering making him physically cringe.

Charlie blinks, unbothered, at the mess. On his head, drooping from the side and chiming with a tiny copper bell, is the most ridiculous nightcap Ranboo has ever seen. While Ranboo holds his breath, too afraid of spooking the cat into jumping out of his arms, Charlie crouches down and picks up one of the books.

"Oh." The sound that he makes is small and soft. "If you wanted to know more about me, you could've just asked."

"About... about you?"

But Charlie seems to be too lost in his own world to notice Ranboo's confusion; he brightens up and holds the book closer.

"About me," he cheerfully agrees. "I was lost for a very long time, and then Quackity found me and I didn't have to be lost anymore. That is what he is good for! Finding lost things and giving them a new purpose."

"Did Quackity send you here, then?" Ranboo asks, accepting the book Charlie readily offers back to him.

Charlie falls into deep thought, as if Ranboo has queried him on the biggest secret of the universe.

"No," he finally decides, raising one finger up. "I have a mission from Quackity of L'manburg, but this was not it. I just wanted to check up on you, Ranboo from Esempi!"

"Thank you? I guess?" Ranboo winces, setting the book down. "I'd really appreciate it if you talked a bit quieter, though."

The cat stirs and looks up at Charlie. Charlie seems surprised first, jumping to the toes of his heels, and then claps his hands excitedly with a broad smile.

"What a coincidence," he exclaims. "You're here, too!"

"You mean," Ranboo looks down, perplexed. "The... cat?"

Charlie stays unbothered. He rocks forward and nods without hesitation, as it seems, both at Ranboo and the cat.

"I'm gonna show you something," and without a warning, Charlie takes Ranboo's hand, snatches up a lamp, and drags him off into the darkness.

Charlie knows the archives better than he does, or at least it appears so, given the confidence that he charges forward with. Ranboo has a few close calls with shelves that suddenly jump at him from the dark, Charlie yanking him out of the way each time, encouraging him on with a cherry, 'almost there now!' every five seconds. Ranboo was predetermined to fail against Charlie's quirks, but part of him is also curious to see what has gotten the guy so riled up. Which is why he's slightly disappointed when the two of them – three, counting the cat – run into a dead end.