CW: Mentions and slight depictions of physical and verbal Bullying.
Wilbur floated above the Slimecician and Nikki as the pair ripped the slimes in the swamp biome apart. When Charlie had asked the two of them to come with him to hunt down slimes, Nikki had initially been apprehensive, and was a bit concerned about Charlie killing what was basically his own kind.
"There are the smart slimes and the dumb slimes. With slimes, while some group up for protection, they are usually the weak ones that would otherwise not survive. Why not hurry along their demise? They'll regenerate quickly if the core is exposed to water for long enough." Was Charlie's response, along with a shrug.
So, Nikki and Charlie were killing slimes, while Wilbur was compacting the balls of goo into blocks.
"Hey Charlie, I was wondering." Nikki started, when they had a lul in the slime farming.
"What's up, Nikki?" Charlie asked, cocking his head with a slight wobble.
"I've noticed that you often refer to Ranboo as your father. I was wondering if there was a particular story on how that happened?" Nikki asked softly.
"Hmm? Oh! He found me when I was an itty bitty slime and I looked up at him and asked for food, and he gave me food!" Charlie said, wobbling in amusement. "Then, he adopted me!"
Wilbur snorted. He had actually heard the full story of the meeting, and what Charlie claimed just now was both an under-exaggeration and almost a complete lie.
The Phantom's amusement did not escape Charlie's notice. "And what was that about, hmm Danny?" Charlie snarked.
Wilbur smiled and flipped upside down. "While it's really hard to tell when you are lying, Slimecicle, I know that you are lying." He drawled.
Nikki looked between the two, confused. "Wilbur, can you explain, please?"
"Well, that persistent little shit," He indicated toward Charlie. "Basically harassed Ranboo into adopting him." Wilbur drawled.
"No I didn't!" Charlie snapped back. He paused and sighed quietly, looking a bit ashamed. "Well, maybe a little."
Nikki cocked her head.
Charlie sighed. "Wilbur is one of the few people who know the full story, and yeah. It was a bit of bullying on my part." He mumbled, looked away from the Merling.
"You see, we met not long after Ranboo arrived in the overworld. He-he had been wandering a little, and eventually wandered into my homeland."
Charlie took a steadying breath, and began telling the story.
-oOo-
Charlie was curled up in a wobbly little ball as the younger, but much larger Slimecicians kicked him and laughed at his pained yelps. He had always been on the smaller end, size wise, but had always refused to merge with the other weak Slimecicians and lose his individuality.
One of the biggest kids held a small ball of goo that barely wobbled with awareness. "Why not just give up Char~lee and merge already!" He taunted. Those sorts of taunts were old hat, but being faced with the possibility of losing himself was absolutely terrifying every single time.
Charlie tried to wriggle away from the ball of goo. But, the other kids blocked his way. He was in his divided size, having no other choice due to the harassment and bullying of the kids.
A deep, yet firm voice broke through like a knife. "Alright, break it up!"
Charlie ducked his head, as the other kids yelped and took off running. He curled into a ball, expecting the walking stick the elder carried to come swinging down and disperse him. It was something that happened quite often. The elder would chase off the bullies, then disperse him and toss his core into the water until Charlie could pull himself back to his full size.
Instead of the harsh stick, a gentle and concerned voice asked. "Are you good?" The tone was a bit childlike, and when Charlie looked up, he was faced with a very odd and admittedly scary face.
The being was tall. Like really tall. If Charlie's full size and his divided size stacked on top of each other, they would be able to look this person in the eye, but what was really creepy was it's odd coloring. It's skin was a shiny black. It's eyes were mismatched, bright green on the right and deep purple on the left, both glowed with an eerie otherworldly light.
As Charlie looked up at the being, he was seized with a terror greater than any he had felt around those bullies. He pulled himself up, turned and bolted, leaving the terrifying being behind.
"Really? You saw Ranboo as terrifying?"
"He kinda is! Picture me at my small size and then picture Ranboo beside me. He is basically three times my height! Who wouldn't be scared of an unknown giant!"
"Point taken."
He hid in the woods, in his usual hiding place. The place he went when he needed time to be alone and recover.
Night came and went, and Charlie snuck back to the community, wary of the bigger kids. But as he crept from alley to corner, a familiar figure in the center of the town market drew his attention. The thin lanky figure towered over the village elder. They indicated, saying something. They seemed...aggravated? Charlie crept closer, his curiosity pushing down the fear he had when he was first face to face with the strange, otherworldly being.
Just as he got into hearing range, the conversation seemed to be ending. "...stand. I'll speak to the kids and see if I can smooth things over. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience." The elder was saying.
Charlie scowled. He had heard something to that effect before, and the elder had done nothing. All the elder did was cover it up by letting the bullies push him around until he was just a core. The elder never stopped them.
The tall being crossed their arms, and took a slow breath. "Okay. Good to know that you are planning on doing something. I will be on my way." They nodded politely, turned on their heel and began walking out of town. Charlie crouched behind the crate, watching. The being reminded him of those endermen monsters that occasionally appeared, but different.
Curiosity nibbled at him, so he quickly began ducking back through the alleys, following them. He had always been an impulsive person, but when he settled on a goal, he pursued it to the end.
He observed the tall being, noticing that the purple and black particles that surrounded them seemed to bunch up periodically, and that the being would wave their oversized hand at them to make them disperse. The being seemed annoyed and after they were a decent way away from the town, they burst. "Look! It was just a little kid! I was right there and couldn't let the bigger kids hurt them! I didn't hear you guys offer any better ideas!"
Yup. Charlie was pretty sure they were probably crazy.
"Hah! The few of us that can understand do look crazy sometimes!"
"Dude. Shut up. Let me finish."
Night crept up quickly, as it tended to do sometimes. Charlie followed the being, cautious. They settled down in a sheltered grove and set about setting up a tent and fire pit. Charlie snuggled into a tree root to continue observing, thankful that he hadn't taken a detour to a body of water.
The being settled into their tent, wrapping a blanket around their shoulders, but they didn't close their eyes. Charlie had to wait. And wait he did.
-oOo-
There are side effects to being made mostly of slime. A positive is that one does not get muscle cramps. A negative is that one has a tendency to melt and slide around a little when not fully awake.
Which is exactly what happened to Charlie. He was now a slightly melted Charlie in full view of a very awake Enderian. He froze as soon as he realized, but it was too late. They were already leaning over them with their head tilted in curiosity. "You followed me." They stated.
Charlie gulped and prayed that this would work. He pitched his voice as high as he could stand, and took a risk. "You saved me, Mister! Others tried to make them stop before, but they didn't stop. When you told them to stop, they stopped! I-I wanted to thank you!"
The Enderian's expression softened, and a slight smile tugged at the corners of their mouth. "It's okay. I-I know how it feels to be pushed around and beat up by those bigger and stronger than you. But, what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be with your family?"
Charlie shook his head. "I don't have a family. Slimes come from the water. Some smart. Some dumb. I'm a smart slime. The other smart slimes you scared think I should be a dumb slime. I don't like them. I can't stay there any more." He looked down at the ground, praying that this would work.
"It's okay." The Enderian repeated. "Do you want to come with me until we reach a different town?"
Charlie looked up and widened the grin that stretched across his face at the words. "Yes, please!" It worked. Thank god. He was leaving and there was no looking back now.
The Enderian held an oversized hand out to Charlie. "You can call me Ranboo. What's your name?"
"Charlie." He replied, placing his much smaller hand against Ranboo's. "Nice to meet you."
-oOo-
"Well." Wilbur stated. "What happened after that?" He prompted.
Charlie sighed, smiling fondly. "We traveled around for a month. It was fun. Actually, this is the point where Ranboo started calling me his son, cause I was small and often rode on his shoulder because, well short legs." A sad look crossed his face.
"Then, I slipped up. I had briefly separated from Ranboo and was arguing with a vendor because they were selling stuff for way too expensive. I had dumped a bucket of water on me so I was up to my full size, and wasn't talking all child-like." He sighed. "Ranboo snuck up behind me, said my name. I froze. He sounded so disappointed. I-I bolted. He didn't follow."
Nikki shuffled up and gave Charlie a side hug. "You don't have to finish," She started.
"No. I can finish." Charlie shook his head. "I'll keep it short though. I hid in the forest overnight. Ranboo stayed in town. The next morning he found me in the tree I hid myself in. I-I apologized for hiding information from him. I told him that if he wanted to just leave me and travel on his own, I understood."
Charlie smiled slightly. "You know what he told me?"
Nikki giggled. "He probably said that it's okay, didn't he?"
"He did. We sat and talked. He didn't mind me going with until I found a place." Charlie smiled. A thought occurred to him and he chuckled. "Oh god. Soon after that whole thing, Ranboo told me how old he was. Up until that point, I thought he was older than me! Let me tell you, when I found out, I was shook!"
Nikki giggled. "Oh, I understand that feeling. When I first met him, I thought he was an adult too."
Charlie nodded.
"But, how does all that long story relate to you calling Ranboo 'dad'?" Wilbur needled, leaning forward.
"Oh! I jokingly referred to him as 'dad' and he didn't stop me. He just doubled down on referring to me as his 'son', so I just kept going." Charlie shrugged.