Ranboo looked over at the endless ice covering the land. It was warm inside, but it wasn't like he really minded the cold outside that much either. Steve the polar bear was resting downstairs, but Ranboo could still hear his snoring through the thin wood floor between them. Polars bears were hard to talk to, and Ranboo was getting lonely. Philza and Technoblade had said they were going to be gone for a few short weeks as a vacation, and told Ranboo to hold down the fort he called home. Ranboo was happy to agree, seeing as they let him live with them for so long for free, but after a few days of cleaning up and wandering around, he was getting a little antsy.

"A small visit to the hub wouldn't hurt anything right?" He said to no one but himself.

"No no Techno and Phil said to stay here and watch the house. It's only a week more right?" He shut down the thought.

"Well it wasn't a clear date. For all we know it could be 3 or 4 weeks!"

"No, no they would leave u- me alone for that long."

"But a step outside for some fresh air that won't freeze your lungs might be really nice! It wouldn't be more than a day away from the house and some walking could do me some good." He reasoned.

"Ok, one day to walk around the hub and stuff, but that's it." He told himself. He walked over to the mirror in the room he was in.

"I'm going mad. I think I need to talk to another person before I go full on insane." He sighed and smiled at his reflection.

He combed his hair, straightened his suit, and grabbed a small satchel with money if he needed it. He wasn't planning on buying anything really, buuut if he came across a bakery on his way, he might just have to get something to be polite. Only to be polite, nothing more, not that the bakery in the main area of the hub had irresistible goods or anything. Just to be nice.

Before leaving, his anxiety got the best of him and he wrote a quick note to his "aquantanice"(best bud) Technoblade to tell him what he was doing. It's not like Techno said he couldn't leave, but he wanted to be extra careful anyway. He patted Steve goodbye and dashed out the door before the polar bear could wake up and bite his hand off from the sudden not-so-welcome wake up.

Heading through the portals always had him feeling a bit dizzy, but at least he didn't have to duck through it like he did with most normal doors. He shook off the feeling and happily walked around the hub. He didn't have an exact plan on where he was going, but he already felt better seeing so many people just walking around, even if knew none of them personally.

His feet had walked him over to the bakery, which was surprisingly pretty empty. A pink haired girl was behind the counter and looked happy to see Ranboo as he walked in the small store.

"Hey Niki!" Ranboo called after ducking through the door.

"Hey Ranboo! How are you doing?" She asked.

"Eh, pretty good. I just needed to get away from the ice-place for a few hours and my feet happened to walk me here!"

"Heh, must be the smell!" She laughed.

"Yeah maybe!" He said laughing a little too.

"Though sadly it's not as busy today." She continued.

"Why is that actually? There are less people around the whole area too. What's going on?"

"The Earth gate is closed for a day or two. No one knows why."

"Hmh? That's weird. Well while I'm here could I get a cinnamon roll?" Ranboo asked very slyly. He definitely hadn't been planning to say that the whole way there.

"Coming right up!" Niki smiled, "The warm ones are in the kitchen still; It'll only take a second." She said as she looked back, before disappearing behind the staff door. Ranboo started to pull out some change as Niki was coming back with the cinnamon roll in a paper bag. Before Ranboo could grab his treat, a familiar fox slammed open the door and rushed through.

"Jeez buddy what's the rush?" Ranboo asked, handing Niki the money and grabbing his cinnamon roll excitedly.

"IT'S FOR SCIENCE!" Fundy yelled before realizing he was very out of breath from the running.

"Fundy, are you ok?" Niki asked in a slightly worried tone.

"I'm fine, but I need to ask some questions really-" He took a breath. "-quick.-" And another breath, "It's-" And another, "-for-..."

Ranboo interrupted him to finish the sentence "Science?"

"Yes..." He panted.

"I'm going to get you some water, Fundy. Take a moment to breathe." Niki said, walking to the back once more. Fundy held onto the counter with one hand and took a slow breath. He made a mental note to run slower and workout more. When Niki brought the water he downed half of it in a gulp.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Now what were you trying to say?" Niki asked patiently.

"I need to ask you, and Ranboo since he's here, a few questions about a certain person." He grabbed out a notepad and pencil. Niki and Ranboo gave questioning glances to each other before Fundy continued.

"First, do either of you know Dream? Green vibe, tall, kinda cute?"

"Nope, not me." Ranboo said, ignoring the last part Fundy had said. Niki just laughed to herself silently when Fundy wasn't looking. Fundy scribbled something into his notepad and glanced at Niki so she could give her answer.

"He's been here and my other shop a few times, but I haven't seen him for a day or two at least."

"What's your other shop?"

"A flower shop me and Puffy run together, a few portals that way and to the right." She pointed out the window as Fundy scribbled more stuff down in his notepad. How he would read the notes later, no one knew.

Ranboo noticed Fundy's face fall a bit before he continued. Fundy knew he had to focus, even though he wanted to ask more questions about the flower shop and Dream going to it.

"Did he act strange at all?" Fundy continued.

"Well what do you mean?" Niki asked.

Fundy flipped some pages looking through his previous notes.

"Fidgeting, weird noises, twitching, glowing eyes, or really any abnormal behavior?"

"He had his mask on last time he came, which isn't abnormal since he switches between forms pretty often, so I wouldn't know if his eyes were glowing. But he was a bit more nervous and fidgety. He spilled his last coffee and ran off before I could offer a new one." Niki said. She didn't question the glowing eyes thing, since she knew a person or two who normally had glowing eyes.

"Is that all?" Fundy asked.

"All that I've noticed, the shop has been doing well since before this temporary shutdown of the Earth gate, hard to keep track of so many customers."

"Thank you so much Niki, I gotta run!" Fundy said, stuffing his notebook back into his bag. The door was open before Niki could say much.

"Don't run too fast this time!" Niki yelled after him with a laugh.

When Fundy was well out of the door and a good bit away, Ranboo started to talk. "Well this was weird. I better get going though, thanks for the cinnamon roll!"

Niki nodded, "See ya later Ranboo! Say hi to Techno and Phil for me!"

"Will do!" He said. "In however many weeks it takes for them to get back." He thought to himself as he ducked a little under the doorway and the bell on the top hit him in the head.

"Hi Ranboo!" Another voice said walking by.

"Oh hi Wilbur!" Ranboo said, turning towards Wilbur Soot himself.

"Just going in to get some coffee, see ya around!" Wilbur said, walking past. Ranboo nodded and went on his way.

"Well that was odd," He mumbled to himself about Fundy, taking a bite of the cinnamon roll. It was absolutely amazing, and every doubt about going out vanished instantly. He mindlessly walked towards a building he didn't think he'd seen before. Or he hadn't noticed it at least. There were a few posters on the walls and Ranboo had to squint to read them from a distance. A man with golden armor, a dark green mask, and green blotches on his face near his eyes walked out of the building with a ring of keys twirling in his hand. He whistled and only stopped the tune when he saw Ranboo.

"Oh hi Ranboo!" The figure said. He was tall, but not as tall as the ender-boy Ranboo. Ranboo gave up trying to read the posters from so far.

"Hey Sam!" Ranboo said and waved.

"What brings you around here? I normally see you around the bakery or the ice biome portal."

"Oh I'm just taking a walk around. I needed to get out a bit."

"Ahh I see, bored now that Techno and Philza are on a vacation?"

"Yeah but.. How did you know that?" Ranboo asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"I saw them a bit ago and they told me on their way to the Earth portal. Me and my friend Ponk are going on vacation for a bit too, looks like everyone's having the same idea!" Sam laughed a little.

"Oh cool! Where are you two heading?"

"Somewhere warm I hope! Ponk said it's a surprise. But first I need to find a temporary guard replacement for the prison." Sam pointed to the building behind him with his thumb over his shoulder.

"Oh so that's what this place is; You work here?" Ranboo asked.

"Yep, pretty boring most of the time but it pays well." Sam shrugged. "I saw you looking at the flyers, are you interested in the job?"

"Hmm..." Ranboo thought about it. On one hand, he might be gone longer than the few hours he had planned, but on the other hand, it would give him something to do while Phil and Techno were away, and it would make him a little money of his own!

"Actually maybe yeah! How long would it be for though?"

"Only about a week or week and a half. But you'll get paid for the hours so the longer it is the more you'll get."

"Oh about a week is perfect actually!" A week would be just enough time to work before Philza and Techno came home with plenty of time to spare, and Sam said it paid well too!

"Do you want an interview? I can get you one in about 4 hours if you'd like." Awesamdude offered.

"That'd be amazing! Uhm- thank you!" Ranboo said a bit awkwardly.

"No problem! You're actually doing me a favor, since now I don't have to go looking for someone! Just meet back here in 4 hours and we can start. I'm in a bit of a rush to find a replacement.'' Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward smile.

"Ok, bye Awesamdude!" Ranboo waved to Sam and turned around.

"Bye Ranboo!"

Ranboo skipped along home to the ice portal. He had planned to talk to a few people and maybe get a yummy bite to eat today. Not be part of some random conspiracy sciency stuff from Fundy and an interview for a potential job from Awesamdude! He was a little excited and nervous at the same time, but he just decided to get home quickly, make sure Steve was okay, write a more thorough note just in case Philza or Techno came home early, and mentally prepare to possibly get a new job so quickly!

-----------

Thanks for reading! Next scene has a movie reference and the first person to say what it is gets an imaginary gold star. Have a good day or night!