Ranboo wasn't sure how long he'd been staring at the wall. It must have been at least an hour. Or maybe less. Or more. Like he said, he didn't know.

It wasn't that he was dissociating or anything- he was better now. Mostly. It was just that he had absolutely nothing to do.

Phil and Techno were going crazy, gathering materials and stuff for their "final showdown" or whatever with Dream. Which was interesting, because Ranboo was pretty sure they had just worked with him to kinda blow up a country- but who was he to judge? At least they were on his side.

Ranboo wished he could help them. And he tried to! But he was just ushered back to his house because "he had been through trauma," like he wasn't already used to that, and that "respawns took time to heal," which was technically true, but he could still do something !

Phil had also pointed out that he had a giant burn scar on his face and that half his ear was missing. After looking in a mirror, Ranboo had confirmed that yes, that was also true. He figured it was from his time with Dream and that it was probably from water, but he couldn't seem to remember what exactly had happened. It was probably good he didn't.

Still, he was bored and wanted to help.

~

Ghostbur was pretty happy, as usual. Ranboo was back! And Techno and Phil were doing something! And somethings made Ghostbur excited. He missed Friend, though. But Friend was a good sheep, and he would find Ghostbur soon. Ghostbur was sure of it.

Anyway, Ghostbur was getting sidetracked. That happened a lot, but it was okay! Friend got sidetracked sometimes too. Like, Ghostbur remembered this one time when he was showing Friend some blue, but then Friend saw a flower and walked over and sniffed it. Then he ate it. It was really funny!

Ghostbur glanced over to the place where the flower had stood and spotted Ranboo's house.

Oh! That's what he was going to do!

Ghostbur hurriedly floated over to the house, right through the wall. "Hey, Ranboo!"

Ranboo jumped about a foot in the air and fell off the bed he was sitting on. He groaned. "Hey, Ghostbur."

"So," Ghostbur floated next to Ranboo, who was picking himself up off the floor. "How are you?"

Ranboo looked up in surprise. "What?"

Ghostbur blushed and looked at the ground. "I had a plan for what I was going to say, but I got sidetracked and forgot it."

"Oh," Ranboo sat back down on the bed. "I know how that feels."

Ghostbur cocked his head. "Being sidetracked? Or forgetting?"

Ranboo shrugged. "A bit of both."

"Oh! So you're like me! That's cool!"

Ranboo laughed. "Except for the dead part."

The ghost looked down at his translucent hands. "Yeah, not the dead part." He paused, thinking. "Why were you surprised?"

"I mean, you sort of floated through my wall-"

"Not that!" Ghostbur laughed. "Me asking how you were."

"Oh. It caught me off guard, I guess. Like, someone I barely know being so nice to me. Or..." He trailed off. "That's not the right way to put it. I think I just wasn't expecting you to ask such a casual question."

Ghostbur shrugged and looked up. "Why does Tommy call you boob boy?"

Ranboo choked on air at the non sequitur. "You're full of surprises today."

"Thank you!"

Ranboo frowned. "We're a lot alike, aren't we? I mean, you and I both forget things and get hurt by water." He paused. "I guess that's where the similarities end."

"It's still pretty cool, though! Did you know Alivebur?"

"No," Ranboo admitted. "But people say he was pretty bad." Ranboo cracked a smile. "If he was anything like you, though, he couldn't have been too terrible!"

Ghostbur's smile lit up his face. "Nobody's ever said anything like that before!" He frowned slightly. "I think people don't like me very much because of Alivebur. They think I'm some sort of replacement. And not a good one either." He looked at his hands. "But I'm not him. And I'm not a replacement either. I'm Ghostbur! I'm a different person! Or, ghost."

"I sort of get that. Not being wanted, I guess? But-" Ranboo shrugged. "I guess we have each other!"

Ghostbur grinned. "And then we'll get Tommy and Tubbo back, and we can all be happy together!"

A knock came. Ranboo looked up at the door, his good ear twitching.

"Techno!" Ghostbur grinned happily as the enderman opened the door, letting a blast of cold air inside.

"Ranboo," Technoblade said, a serious look on his face. "As much as we- ahem, Phil - don't want you to get hurt, we need your help."