After spending an hour with Boober, Jessa snuck off to the gorg's garden. Not to visit the Trash Heap or pick another fight with Junior, but to fly since it was another pretty day. Boober had gone to hang with Wembley for a bit, which gave Jessa plenty of privacy to fly outside. But she was going to fly far away from the garden so if any fraggles were to come out they wouldn't see her. Who knows, maybe she could see what the rest of the property looked like.
Jessa turned invisible after exiting the rock so she could casually waltz past the gorgs and the Trash Heap. She hadn't taken her sword with her though since she didn't want to carry it around. She safely made it to the front of the castle, which looked no different than the garden, (sans the Trash Heap), but beyond it was a plain-looking field. Jessa remained invisible until she was off the gorg's property, again turning visible before summoning her Shazzlin wings. Two black bat-like wings with violet outlining appeared behind her before she flapped them. Jessa's core strength was going into gaining altitude, but since she had done this before, it was a piece of cake. Most shazzles developed wings at the age of 3, but due to Jessa being a half-breed, her wings didn't come until she was 7. Despite the ability to fly being a blessing, the process of wings sprouting was extremely painful, which is why it was recommended for young shazzles to get a numbing shot before age 3. Jessa winced at the memory of how sensitive her budding wings were. She remembered her mother having to rub numbing cream all over her back and how restrictive her movements had to be because even a slight shift was enough to make Jessa yell in pain. Luckily, the process left as fast as it came, and eventually, Jessa could learn how to fly. Once she was high enough off the ground, she smiled before flying forward. The wind carried her hair as it danced around behind her, tickling her wings a little. Up ahead was a forest, which looked to exceed the horizon. At least until Jessa flew further ahead, it felt so good to be up in the air, flapping her wings and admiring everything below.
"I should come out here more often," she said to herself before doing a loop-the-loop. "Ha! Now a barrel roll!"
Jessa did just that, having fun performing all these maneuvers. She kept this up until reaching the end of the forest, a gorg village nearby.
"Woah, a village? With gorgs?"
Jessa was intrigued so she flew to investigate, but from a distance above to not be spotted. Unlike the gorgs in the castle, these gorgs were more boorish and dressed poorly. Like rednecks in the South and Midwest. They even behaved as such.
"They sure don't act like the other 3 in that castle," Jessa said to herself before speeding up, her wings flapping rapidly.
She observed them some more, weirded out by their behavior. Jessa then wondered if the Fraggles knew about the gorg village. Given that they all feared Junior and his parents, she doubted it. Feeling her wings getting tired, she landed on the roof of what appeared to be a market and rested. Jessa watched the impoverished gorgs, finding them boring as they weren't doing anything interesting. This led to her daydreaming about Boober. While Jessa didn't have much of an opinion of him at first, that all changed when Sidebottom kissed her on the roof of the gorg's castle. Remembering this made her blush and smile and her tail started to wag. And despite not being big on pet names, Jessa grinned remembering being called Sugar Lips. She then remembered when Boober comforted her after her nightmare. The lavender tea and the cuddles. Though she didn't mean for the latter to happen, for some reason it felt… right. Being there with him helped her feel better, regardless of how many details of her past she left out. Boober held her and played with her hair, which helped her fall back asleep. Then there was the conversation from an hour ago.
"Move to Fraggle Rock, huh?"
Though Jessa would be more than happy to accept that offer, she couldn't. She couldn't because of her Shazzlin heritage. If she were to leave the Terrible Tunnel, then the fraggles would have to know the truth about her.
"They wouldn't want me there if they knew."
Thinking about Boober again, Jessa blushed and sighed, but her thoughts were interrupted by two male gorgs arguing intensely over a female.
"You son-of-bitch! You've been sleeping with Bertha again!"
"You've been taking her to the pond and showing off all those fish you caught just to impress her! Real manly."
Jessa got up and walked closer to eavesdrop, smirking the whole time.
"Finally, some entertainment," she said while leaning against the chimney.
"Yeah, manlier than you, bucko! Bertha wants me."
"No, she wants a man who is good in bed."
"Are you saying I have a small weiner?!"
Jessa snickered at the vulgar insults being thrown back and forth, enjoying how stupid they looked. When it was about to get physical, Jessa used her telepathy to get inside one of the gorg's minds.
"You're really about to get into a brawl with this guy over a girl?"
The gorg froze upon hearing Jessa's voice.
"Challenge him to a game of drinking ipecac. And whoever can go the longest without throwing up wins the heart of your beloved Bertha."
Jessa escaped his mind and watched the event unfold from the rooftop.
"How about we settle this over a battle of strong stomachs."
"What are you talking about?"
Jessa used her telepathy again with the other gorg.
"He wants to challenge you," she said. "Drink ipecac with him and try not to barf."
Jessa exited his mind to watch the interaction.
"How is this going to help me win Bertha?"
"Because…" the other gorg paused before Jessa intervened.
"Because women desire a man with guts. Guts to ingest something meant to harm you. The more strength you have, the better chance you have at finding a mate."
The gorg repeated this and Jessa slipped out to wait for the other's response.
"Let's do it!"
The two gorg's walked off and Jessa laughed, knowing what was really going to happen. Her wings flared out and she flew off the roof, following the gorg's at a distance. They purchased two bottles of Ipecac and walked to the fountain in the center of the village to gulp it down, all while glaring at each other. Jessa watched them smugly from the roof of another building, anticipating an extreme puke fest.
"Just you wait, Bertha is going to want me."
"No, it's me she'll want."
"Come on, puke already," Jessa whispered impatiently.
The gorgs chatted for a bit until one of them gagged, trying to hold back his vomit. But a second later he puked.
"Yeah! In your face, sucker. Bertha's mine! She's all-"
The other gorg began barfing, making Jessa laugh wholeheartedly.
"This is some funny shit."
Soon, the commotion attracted the attention of the other gorgs, who were baffled by their behavior.
"Why does love have to be so nauseating?" One of them said before hurling.
Jessa couldn't contain her laughter and started cackling. Luckily, nobody paid her any mind as they were watching the vomit session happening. This went on for another 10 minutes before the gorgs regained their senses and felt like fainting. They had puked into the fountain, all over the ground, and even on some other gorgs, who were less than pleased with their clothes being ruined. Jessa was just calming down from her laughter when a female gorg with long brown hair done in two braids walked up to them. But before she could say anything, one of the guys threw up all over her dress, causing her to scream in disgust. Jessa was shocked until learning her name.
"Bertha, come back! It was an accident!"
This made Jessa hysterical and she laughed some more.
"This is even more fun than shooting fire at Bloodwraithes."
It wasn't long until the crowd disbanded, and soon everyone went back to what they were doing. Jessa thought about messing with some other gorgs when she heard thunder rumbling in the distance. Jessa looked up at the sky and saw subtle flashes of lightning and ominously gray clouds building up.
"Time to bounce," she said while taking off.
She flapped her wings and gained enough altitude to fly back. The gorg village was eventually a mile behind her, but she still had a long way to go before she could even spot the gorg's castle. Jessa flew, flapping her wings and watching for oncoming birds to avoid. But the incoming storm made it hard to see clearly. By the time the rain started pouring, Jessa began to regret her decision.
"I should have teleported back instead."
Jessa grunted at the raindrops hitting her wings as they were very sensitive. To avoid any injuries, she free-fell to the ground before landing with a slow glide. Once she was on her feet, Jessa's wings disappeared out of sight and she looked ahead, trying to figure out where she was. But the rain was coming down hard, pelting her and making everything hard to see. It was also cold, which didn't help.
"If I get sick from this, Boober will have a field day."
But Jessa wasn't about to put that burden on him, so she immediately started going back on foot. This proved to be counterproductive however as she seemed to be getting nowhere.
"Where is that castle?!" She growled while shivering.
Jessa walked a few more steps before stopping.
"Screw it, I'm teleporting."
She vanished into thin air and reappeared behind the radish patch. At least she was back in the gorg's garden. And no gorgs. No surprise since it was raining. Before Jessa thought to walk back to the rock, a loud crash of thunder boomed in the sky and the rain poured down harder. Jessa ran back to the rock, but before she could step inside out of the rain, she heard the voices of Boober, Wembley, Mokey, Gobo, and Red.
"Rain sure is relaxing, isn't it," Gobo said to his friends.
"Sure is," Wembley agreed.
"Not to mention gloomy," Boober added before sipping his tea. "I wonder where Jessa is."
"Maybe she went back home?" Mokey assumed.
"Nah, I saw her around here an hour ago. She was heading out to the gorg's garden." Red pointed out.
"What is she doing out there?" Boober asked.
"I have no idea, Boober. I got busy with my job while she was out there doing who knows what."
Boober had a sinking feeling in his stomach. What if Jessa got thumped by a gorg? Jessa could hear Boober's whimpering and felt bad. But how could she just show up and explain what she had been up to? Not to mention that they were all right in front of the entrance to watch the rain. Jessa began to feel some strain on her scalp from the water buildup in her ponytail from getting rained on. As soon as Jessa saw that their heads were turned, she walked slowly to the rock and stepped in, hearing the tail end of their conversation.
"If Jessa stays out there any longer, she'll freeze and get sick," Boober said with concern before Jessa made her presence known. "If she already hasn't been thumped."
"Don't worry, I was only out there for an hour."
Boober gasped when he saw how drenched she was from all the rain. Her clothes clung to her and her hair was weighed down by all the rain. Jessa was also dripping.
"More like 2 hours," Red replied to her. "You're soaking wet!"
"What can I say, the storm is intense," Jessa replied nonchalantly while ringing out her ponytail.
Boober watched her do this and blushed when she flipped her damp ponytail behind her. Jessa rang out her clothes before responding to Gobo, who was asking her why the hell she was out there.
"I found a river not too far from here and started skipping some rocks," she lied while taking a section of her pants and squeezing them hard enough to force the water out of the fabric. "The only mistake I made was walking too far from the rock."
A puddle began to form around Jessa the more she squeezed her hair and clothes. Once she was sure all of the excess moisture was out, she went to grab her sword and holster, turning the former into a brush to get all the tangles out.
Jessa sat in front of a fireplace, her hands extended outward to absorb the warmth. Even though her hair and skin were close to being dry, her clothes were still damp. Boober watched her while everyone else sat around and chatted about a different subject. Jessa didn't so much as speak for the rest of the time, which Boober had noticed. He then wondered what she was thinking about. Boober thought about sitting next to Jessa when he heard Gobo mention Sweet Water Lake.
"Since Boober will be cooking pastries for the summer solstice, we'll have to make a trip to Sweet Water Lake."
Boober got giddy when hearing this, and then an idea came to him. Sweet Water Lake would be the perfect place to take Jessa on a date. There would be no gorgs to thump them, or any other fraggles to interrupt them. Boober and Jessa could be alone together in one of his favorite places. While he was fantasizing about the date, Jessa had overheard their conversation but didn't interject. She was still trying to warm up from flying in the rain. The sight of the fire was soothing as the flames danced around and crackled periodically. She sighed and stretched her arms, her elbows popping loudly. Had she been entirely alone, Jessa would fire bend. But she couldn't do that here in Fraggle Rock. She didn't even hear the other fraggles leave the room while she was rubbing her hands together. Boober stayed, now seeing an opportunity to ask Jessa out. He sat next to her, but nervously tapped his index fingers together. What if he choked on his words and sounded like a gagging cave creature? What if he stuttered too much? What if he got rejected and laughed at? What if-
"You look nervous about something."
Boober turned to see Jessa now looking at him. Though her expression was unreadable, he could see concern in her eyes.
"Aren't I always nervous."
"This is about that summer solstice party, isn't it."
Boober turned towards her.
"I couldn't help but overhear you complaining."
Boober noticed the light from the fire on Jessa's face, making her violet complexion appear much more vibrant. He felt his heart race and his cheeks heat up.
"Sweet mother of radishes," Boober thought. "She's so gorgeous."
This made him even more nervous about what would happen if he could even find the courage to let it happen. Boober then felt his tail wag once again. Jessa glanced at his wagging tail and raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, much to his relief. At least for a second.
"Does your tail always do that?"
"Not usually," was all Boober could say.
"So it only happens in certain situations?"
Boober didn't answer, instead turning his attention to the fire in front of him and Jessa.
"It's because I love you," he thought, too afraid to say it out loud.
Jessa glanced back at the fire, extending her arm forward to warm it since she was still cold from the rain. Boober snuck another glance at her, trying to not get overwhelmed by her beauty, before taking a deep breath and exhaling.
"So…" he began slowly. "Have you been to Sweet Water Lake?"
"Can't say that I have."
Jessa rested her now warmed-up arm and raised her other one to warm it.
"Maybe, I could… I don't know, take you there sometime?"
Boober was a nervous wreck while asking this. Jessa didn't move from her current position but gave him a side glance. Her expression revealed a hint of flattery and surprise, but not much else. Boober began to regret what came out of his mouth when she finally responded.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind a tour."
His heart skipped a beat and he was so dumbfounded by her reply.
"R-really?"
"Why not? I heard you making all sorts of happy noises when it was brought up in conversation. If something is capable of making you this happy, then it must be truly amazing."
Boober couldn't tell if Jessa was hinting that she liked seeing him in a good mood or what, but either way he couldn't help but grin as he looked down at his lap, blushing and letting his tail wag and his baloobius glow.
"In other words, yes?"
"Yes."
It was an effort to not kiss Jessa right on the spot. At least now he was making progress. He had a date with her! Boober made a mental note to celebrate by baking a radish cake later. For his friends and maybe for Jessa if she decided to stay. Boober grinned at her before noticing that she was still warming herself. She held her hands out to gather enough heat before rubbing her biceps to warm them up. Seeing this, Boober got up and left the room, catching Jessa's attention and confusing her.
"Where are you going?" She asked him.
"I'll be right back."
Jessa sighed before resting her face on her fist, still drawing heat from the fire. At least her clothes were dry now. Granted, they were still damp in some areas, but it wasn't anywhere sensitive. Jessa then closed her eyes, only to open them again when a blanket wrapped around her body.
"You should've asked for one earlier," Boober said softly to her.
"And get your blanket all wet?"
"Just remember to check the forecast next time you decide to venture out in the gorg's garden."
Boober then hugged Jessa from behind, the same way Sidebottom did, but this was more compassionate and less grabby. Jessa had noticed the difference and felt more at ease.
"You should be at least happy to know that I don't have a cold," she said while smiling.
"You would if you stayed out in the rain any longer."
Boober rested his chin on her shoulder, making her blush.
"Good thing I have plenty of medicine for that."
Jessa held his hand and Boober immediately returned the gesture. His baloobius glowed and his tail wagged, but more slowly as he tried to control it this time.
"So when do you think is a good time to go to Sweet Water Lake?" She asked him.
"After the summer solstice party since I'll be busy preparing the food."
"It's a shame you won't be attending though."
Boober was silent, feeling almost guilty for not wanting to go in the first place. But he could not stand it. The loudness, the excitement, and the overall energetic vibe of the gathering. It was too much for him.
"It's just… too loud. All that noise. The screaming and the cheering."
Jessa looked at him sympathetically as he ranted.
"I don't know if you noticed, but I, I'm not like other fraggles. Fun, games, and parties aren't my thing."
"I figured, given your lack of interest in the Hidey-Ho game the other day."
"And I always worry about doom and despair."
"Why?"
"It's a Boober thing, I guess."
Jessa then ran her fingers through his hair, which made him melt.
"Whatever doom and despair comes your way, I'll end it before it before it ends you. The same applies to everyone else here in Fraggle Rock."
Remembering her killing the plant that tried to eat Gobo, Boober's anxiety simmered after Jessa mentioned obliterating future threats. And she had a magic sword powerful enough to do so.
"And when you get hurt, I'll treat every wound."
Jessa grinned before leaning back and resting her eyes. Unbeknownst to both of them, Gobo was lingering in the archway and heard their entire conversation. He even heard Boober ask out Jessa, to which Gobo smiled wholeheartedly, proud of Boober for coming out of his shell a little bit.