Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ranboo only can hear the squeaky galloping from Sneeg’s shoes and the echoed stomps of the tile floors. They were nearly blind, due to their initial execution for the masses.

The eldest held his friend for dear life while limply running towards the chained exit. Thankfully for them, they took a visit to the cabin set and salvaged the bolt cutters. Sneeg’s issue at this moment had been, how am I supposed to cut these out before security and employees find out? How am I supposed to cut these out when I have Ran in my arms? He didn’t want to give the time of day for his anxieties and went at it. With the teenager still in his arms, Sneeg went ahead to attempt on using the cutters with his hands. By doing this, there was barely any strength put onto the large pilers — all of his strength was onto carrying Ranboo. The man observed the chains closely as they would slowly snap off, he would also notice his friend’s steady breathing.

It is a true miracle that Ranboo survived at all. For a teenager like him, they have been through a lot. Sneeg sighed in relief, they were getting some proper rest and most importantly; they felt safe with him. It was heartwarming, the man smiled to himself as another snap came from the broken chains. It took some time, no alarms were set off yet, but Sneeg managed to get the chains off after a few snaps from the bolt cutters. Once the pair of doors were forced open, the older one ran for his and Ranboo’s life. Never in his life has he seen a dystopian civilization right outside of his supposed prison. Sneeg took a wide gander of his surroundings, it was almost blinding because of the obsessive usage of the white color and electronic billboards.

Showfall Media took over a whole city, not just a flimsy abandoned mall. Propaganda is smeared all over the walls of buildings and sites, missing people notices flooded the billboards. They already realized that two of their actors had vanished and displayed Sneeg’s and Ranboo’s face. The man squinted at the massive billboard as he ran to find an exit to this society. He couldn’t help, but appear to see that his actual name was up there. Ranboo’s name had been completely scrapped from the record, that was the creepiest part. Brendan , Sneeg mouthed quietly to nobody in particular. That was his name, that was his true name. He never thought that they even knew it, he never thought that he would be Sneeg forever. Thoughts scramble in the eldest’s mind, running off into a forest. Ranboo’s small and slow breaths kept him at ease, the teenager keeping themself safe and happening to be decently well and alive was like pure glory to Sneeg. 

The forest is vast and wide, like you would expect from it. Birch trees acted as claustrophobic and scattered walls, rain came pouring and stung open wounds. The water caused Ranboo to awaken, his vision became dizzy and foggy. It felt like the world was spinning, despite them resting in somebody else’s arms. The teenager weakly wrapped his arms around Sneeg’s neck to keep themself steady, this action made Sneeg closely sob. He couldn’t imagine how much pain this kid was in, even after saving them from that wretched box contraption. His injuries were ‘just fine’, he thought whilst still limping around at a fast pace. The hero mattered most throughout everything, if he didn’t save them — they could’ve been left there all alone to slowly bleed out and die. The two of them knew that they were both hurt and broken for the sake of twisted entertainment. That fact needed to be fixed as soon as possible, they needed to get help.

After running at a slight slow pace, Sneeg came across a decently small local city. He smiled in complete disbelief, it was probably luck that they would find this sudden city near a maze of a forest. The man walked calmly within the safety of a quiet town, looking for something that could help them both. Ranboo’s glassy eyes attempting to get a glimpse of everything before them. Everything in the boy’s vision was so poor, he could only make out blurs of light, shapes, and colors. Eventually, they both made it to find an open hospital. Sneeg struggles and hesitates, emergency or urgent? He thought frantically and anxiously as he stepped side to side, trying to figure out what to do. Ranboo with barely any strength in his body, raised their arm away from Sneeg to point at the emergency section. The eldest gave a nod, bolting towards and inside the building. 

A decently aged woman sits at the front desk of the emergency department, clacking a keyboard upon noticing the afraid and panting, hurt man holding what seems to be a severely injured boy. She gets up immediately, ordering doctors to come by at once. “Are you okay, sir? Your leg,” the lady queries, coming close to the man. Sneeg’s face contorts more as Ranboo is taken from his arms by many doctors, he proceeds to back away slightly from the nurse. With an attempt to stand up better, he guides himself towards where the boy was being rolled to a room nearby. The nurse frowns, “Sir?” She repeats herself, finally reaching Sneeg. The eldest peered at the woman with dull eyes, “I’ll be fine, miss. We don’t even have money to even afford things here and we don’t even know our true identities or — hell, even remember anything.” She bit her lip as she went off back to her station. Sneeg limped his way to find where his friend resided. “Just help them, instead of me. I’ll be okay,” he said as the lady made a note in the newly made documents for Sneeg and Ranboo.

The North Star shined brightly that night.

Ranboo awoke to a sudden touch. Their eyes opened up slowly, fortunately his eyes cleared in just a short amount of time. He turns to see Sneeg by their side, he smiles gently beneath his bandaging. The man had his head resting on top of the teenager’s hand as he held onto it softly, “How you feelin’, bud?” Ranboo met his gaze, their hand clinging onto their friend’s. “I’m fine, I don’t remember much from yesterday,” they croak with a solemn glint in their tired eyes. Even though the bandages around their face suppressed a fraction of his voice, it was audible enough for Sneeg to hear and respond to. The eldest felt the youngest smile, so he returned that soft grin. “That’s good to hear. The nurse kept on pestering me a lot last night, so it resulted in me being hospitalized too,” Sneeg said bluntly.

Ranboo frowned upon hearing that, “But you were hurt too. I’m happy you got some help too because you matter a lot more.” What they said was true, Sneeg had to admit. The duo were so broken down by that god-awful company, nearly making them immobile. The man chuckled as he brought his other hand to bring it up to Ranboo’s cheek, “You matter a lot more to me, bud.” There was a moment of silence between the two, Ranboo nuzzled his face into the other’s palm. The calm, quiet environment of the hospital felt safe which made them feel safe too. After nonverbally bonding together for a short while, Sneeg got up from his chair near the bed upon leaving Ranboo’s hand all alone on his own lap.

“Where are you going?” Ranboo said with anxiety laced around their tongue. They didn’t want him to go so soon, what’s going on? The older one patted them on the shoulder as a form of reassurance. Sneeg calmed his nerves, “I’m going to ask to get breakfast. I’ll bring you a plate too.” The boy thought to themself before his lips curled back up to a small grin. A small signal of ‘okay’ to the other, Sneeg caught onto this and began to walk out of the room with a single crutch. Before the man strolled on out, he blurted out. “Do you want anything specific for breakfast,” Sneeg smirked. Ranboo’s eyes widened with excitement, “Could you get me pancakes and French toast? And soup?” Their hands balled into fist as he shook them around, releasing positive stimuli. The older one gave a thumbs up, finally heading out of the room and onwards to find food.

As Sneeg left their room, Ranboo took a closer look at the surroundings displayed in front of him. It was a nice, typical white hospital room. Accompanied now with a nurse call button, a television, curtains that could cover the bed, and much more features. He felt like he was living in a palace, a room just for him. Upon realizing the silence, they knew it was a good kind of silence. It felt heavenly, but the hero wasn’t dead yet. The fact that Ranboo could’ve died in that server room loomed over his brain, picking at it. They felt his knuckle start to have an itch.

They felt themself sinking into a dark pool of water. Scratch. They felt himself drowning in his own blood. Scratch. They felt like they deserved this after all he has done to the people in the warehouse. Scratch. They deserved to die after leaving Charlie like that to get mauled to death. Scratch. The teenager stopped harshly itching his hand, subconsciously seeing that a pale red hue is forming into a rash. Ranboo looked around to erase the fog in his wandering mind once more until he noticed flowers on the bedside table. He squinted at the tag as they carefully grabbed it from the drooping flowers, Lily of the valley, please keep in protective case. The boy looked back up to the lilies, their teardrop cups seemingly appearing pure and innocent. A faint memory came to mind, these symbolize Eve’s tears. Every once in a while, she cried and her tears formed into these lilies when her sorrow reached the ground. 

Ranboo didn’t know where this quiet memory came from. Now fully awake in both sides of his brain, they set the tag hanging back on the flowers. The warm, savory scent came with the slight breeze as their friend returned with two plates and one bowl full of soup. Sneeg laughed, “I had to make them make soup for you.” The teenager giggled upon hearing this obviously as they were given his meal. “Promise that you didn’t threaten the nice ladies,” Ranboo says upon setting his dishes on a bed table tray. The man smirked, making his friend laugh even more. They snort, “Sneeg! It’s okay if they say no!” 

“Nope. I’m gonna make them treat you like a luxurious piece of gold, bud. They are gonna have to get through me first throughout everything, alright?” Sneeg is dead serious about this, even if he was sort of stuffing his mouth with an omelet. He kept his comforting smile for Ranboo, it made the younger one giggle again. They wiped a tear from their exhausted eyes, “Okay. I get it, Sneeg.” “I’m not just saying all of this — you really deserve all of this nice treatment, Ran. After all what happened in that shitty place we came from,” the man held onto Ranboo’s hand once more and rubbed it.

Sneeg kept his promise.

Chapter Text

After a few days of hanging out together and nights of falling asleep on each other, the doctors decided to let the two men stay until they got better.

It’s rare to see a small agency of health professionals all agree to shelter people like this. This must’ve been one of those near impossible scenarios that suddenly just happened. In this special case, Ranboo and Sneeg were kidnapped by an unknown entertainment company named Showfall Media . The duo were brainwashed, controlled, and had all of their memories stripped from them both — the nurses could not believe it. All that the men were saying felt like they came from a horror sci-fi show. Of course, everybody employed in the building agreed that this stuff is no laughing matter and truly decided to house the amnesiacs. They all even shelled out some money to get them both new clothes and such things like that.

Sneeg was making the people’s jobs even harder. He refused help constantly, telling the nurses to assist Ranboo instead of him. The man refused to acknowledge that he was hurt too, since he used a single crutch to help him walk. Eventually, Sneeg had to give in and let them bandage him. The teenager was given a lot of sedatives which worried him quite a bit. Upon even entering Ranboo’s room, they were either asleep or very loopy. It hurt Sneeg to see them all bedridden and paranoid to leave their room, but Ranboo felt bad that they couldn’t even walk in general. Everytime the boy said that he was fine, it made the worry grow even more than before. Of course, Ranboo had been doing pretty good physically. But the mind is a strange mistress at times, indeed. 

There had been a morning where the boy saw beautiful sunlight piercing through their room. Sunlight always had been so awakening and gorgeous. Ranboo attempted to reach it by getting out of bed, still being hooked up to machines and IVs. It resulted in him falling to the floor, he couldn’t reach the call button. The teenager sobbed as they weakly stood up and held onto the side of the bed, his legs hurt so bad . It felt like their legs were on fire, consistently burning every time they tried to hold up any sort of strength. He was screaming now at this point because he couldn’t reach the call button. They began to feel hopeless and alone before Sneeg came running along with a few nurses. “I want to go home! I want to go home!” Ranboo wept uncontrollably, the hospital women and men tried to bring them back to the bed.

The teenager only sobbed more, flailing around. Reaching for the sunlight, God’s sunlight. Sneeg didn’t know what to do, other than hope they didn’t sedate him again. It got to the point where Ranboo did give up on trying to escape the nurses’ grasp, going completely limp on them as he silently cried. Once the nurses dispersed and only one stayed to make sure the youngest was alright, Sneeg came to his side. The eldest looked at the other’s wet eyes, “Are you doin’ okay? You can tell me if you aren’t, it’s okay.” Ranboo didn’t want to look at their friend, they felt embarrassed that he had to witness him crying like that. The boy responded by hanging his head low, looking down at their lap. This broke Sneeg’s heart deeply.

The hero didn’t want to show any negative feeling or weakness in front of their friends or peers. Their friend saw this and stayed by his side quietly, letting Ranboo have a moment to recollect himself. What seemed to be a few minutes, they managed to croak out. “I just want to go home. But I don’t have a home anymore. I don’t remember it anymore,” the boy held sobs in between his speech. Sneeg thought to himself for a moment before giving the younger one a solemn smile. His hand moved over to their shoulder, “We’ll go find a home together whenever they say that you are okay to go. Alright, bud?” 

“…Okay,” Ranboo nodded. 

It has been nearly 4 weeks at the hospital. Unfortunately, Ranboo’s mask couldn’t be removed but they succeeded in swift recovery of other wounds. Doctors determined that if they were to remove the mask, it would mess up his blood veins and nerves due to the fact that wires were literally merged with them. If it were to be extracted, it would kill Ranboo. When Sneeg heard this news, his hatred for Showfall Media rose by every detail that the doctors found in his friend. He wished he could’ve at least had the chance to punch the Founder in the face. The best course of action will have to be as far away from the company’s dystopia. As Ranboo rested, Sneeg and many professional, along with officials conversated among each other. 

Many ideas and suggestions were spread everywhere. Some reasonable, some not so great. Since most of the people working at this small, yet gigantic hospital agency had not the best wallets — they figured that Ranboo and Sneeg would have to live in a truck designed like a camper van. The eldest agreed on this idea. It could work as a temporary home along with being a permanent device of transport and travel. Due to everybody’s generosity and kindness for the duo, they shelled out a large amount of money for them to survive on their own. Sneeg also suggested if it was available for him to get a job while not remember his previous work experiences. The staff indeed said yes, and would write alibis and many more paperwork in order for him to work for a few jobs. Sneeg picked out to work at a vintage video store, work and customer reviews were good. With the pretty good wage, he was set.

As the man begun to leave the meeting among everybody who worked at this very hospital, they told him that Ranboo was able to leave whenever they are ready. All of that they could do for them was done and covered, and the teenager is ready to go. Hearing this gave Sneeg a confident smile, running off to go get his friend immediately. The meeting ended on a good note and the staff members went back to their usual work schedules. 

Sneeg entered Ranboo’s room quietly, pulling up the same chair he used everyday to beside them. He gripped onto the other’s hand and shook it, causing his friend to awaken. Ranboo hummed, “Sneeg…” “Hey, bud. I have two surprises for you,” the eldest gave them a soft smile. Sneeg picked something out from his cardigan pocket, handing it to the youngest. Ranboo received the gift slowly whilst trying to get rid of the sleep in his eyes. They unwrapped the small slab box, it revealed to have autumn colored wool gloves with dark brown and green stripes. 

The boy’s eyes brightened almost instantly. He put them on and wiggled his now gloved fingers, “These are so cool! Thank you.” Sneeg got up from his seat, releasing his grip upon Ranboo’s hand. “Of course. Now, for your other surprise — you need to get dressed for it. It’s the best one, in my opinion,” the man said with a grin. The youngest gasped in a dramatic tone, “The gloves are the best and the next one is gonna be the best too!” They said once he hopped off the hospital bed, rushing to grab a bundle of clothes. Ranboo came back out of the nearest restroom with a more fitting attire to go wherever his friend planned to go. Sneeg laughed, “That looks good on you than the lame gowns. Nonetheless, you ready to see your next and last surprise of the night?” “Ready for anything, Sneeg,” the hero decided to follow behind him. Being led away from the blinding white hospital room like going to see a birthday surprise.

It felt nice to properly walk upon the floor again. Finally back control from what seemed like forever. Ranboo held onto Sneeg’s right arm as they both walked out to the main office in the building. The hero admits that they were nervous to see this surprise yet very excited to see what lies ahead. After hearing a few of female and male nurses talk for a bit, they led the duo outside. That is when Ranboo and Sneeg met their new truck-camper van vehicle and saw the stars for the first time.

Finally outside. Finally home.