Notes: Written for Lambielizard on tumblr, who gave me the prompts Randall & Henry and "Cry". Set sometime after the flashbacks in Miracle Mask, but long before the "current day" plot, featuring heavy spoilers for that game.
There was a young farmer called Lando. A fit, healthy man who was respected far and wide by all, because of how hard he worked each day on Tannenbaum's farm. Truly Lando was an asset to the farm and to Craggy Dale itself.
Lando knew that he owed a great deal to the people around him, who had taken him in as one of their own when he'd washed up on their shores one day. He had no memory of where he came from or how he'd gotten there, but that had never mattered. Tannenbaum cared for him like a father would and the people took to him right away.
He worked on the land because he felt that was how he could repay them for their kindness and also because doing so made him happy. It felt better to eat the food knowing that he had helped to grow it.
The name Lando was nothing special. He'd come to them without one and everyone had seemed reluctant to give him a new title. Until one day, a girl no older than four had said she thought he looked like a Lando. So he'd smiled and said that if she thought he was Lando, then Lando was his name.
From then on he'd been Lando, a proud resident of Craggy Dale, who knew there was no more joy in life than the joy he'd found here. Every day he worked and smiled and loved and laughed.
Until one day, when out on the fields, he heard a voice calling out.
"Randall! Randall, get back here, confound you!"
His head jolted up and he looked in the direction of the noise. There he saw a lanky man dressed in a dapper green suit, chasing after a dog. In the distance, he could just make out a woman laughing at him.
"Let him be, Liam! Randall will come back when he's ready. He always does," the woman called over to the man.
"But he'll be dirty and I'll have to wash him. Honestly, that creature has no self-respect, Sharon," replied the man called Liam.
Sharon hurried over to him, carrying the hem of her dress so that it wouldn't brush against the soil. Once they were together, she let go of the hem and the two of them embraced.
"That's because you're so soft with him. He knows he can get away with anything as far as you're concerned," Sharon scolded.
"As if you're any better," chuckled Liam.
Sure enough, once he was no longer the centre of attention, the dog bounded over and started yapping around the couple. Just as muddy as Liam had expected him to be.
"That's enough play for one day. I think we should get you home now, Randall," cooed Sharon, kneeling down to put the dog back on his lead.
The three of them walked away, having no idea that Lando had been watching them. In the same sense, Lando had no reason to believe that a couple walking their dog was of any importance or even a rare sight to see out on the fields.
But for the first time since he'd arrived in Craggy Dale, the young farmer found stray tears creeping down his face. Truly, he was experiencing sadness for the first time.
