Boober was happily stirring cake batter in his kitchen when Wembley walked in.
"You sure are happy, Boober," he told him before sniffing the air. "And it smells terrific in here."
"It should, I'm baking a radish cake. And I want it to be perfect."
"Oh boy, I can't wait!"
"Wait for what?" Red asked.
"Boober is baking his radish cake."
"Sounds delicious," Gobo answered on behalf of Red. "I can't wait to try it."
"You'll be able to try it when it's completed. In the meantime, I'll need to add a few spices," Boober replied while reaching for some nutmeg.
"We'll leave you to it then, Boober," Gobo said to him while leaving the kitchen, Wembley and Red following him a second later.
Jessa and Mokey were in their room, the former listening to some poetry that the latter had written. Jessa hadn't put her holster back on, but she always kept it and her sword with her. She lounged on her bed as Mokey recited her poem.
"Have you considered songwriting?"
Mokey pondered for a minute before responding.
"No, I never thought about it."
"Because with words like those, it might sound good with some music."
Mokey hummed contemplatively as Jessa grabbed her sword and morphed it into her bass.
"Keep going with your poem."
Mokey continued as Jessa plucked a string on her bass. She played while the former recited more poetry, the music matching the tone. When Mokey sang another poem, Gobo, Wembley, and Red stopped by.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Gobo asked curiously.
"I'm singing my poems," Mokey answered as Jessa stopped playing her bass.
"It was my idea," she chimed in.
"Cool, let me go grab my guitar."
"I'll get my bongos," Wembley added before following Gobo out of the room.
"I think maracas should also be included," Red said before digging around in her hole.
Mokey and Jessa watched her throw random items everywhere until she found them, just in time for Wembley and Gobo to get back with their respective instruments.
"We're back," Wembley announced, holding his bongos.
"Great," Jessa replied while holding her bass. "Let's play."
Everyone sat down somewhere and played their instruments according to the tone of the poem. Red shaking her marcas at the silly ones and Jessa providing a bass solo for the more tragic poems. At some point, everyone began singing, Jessa didn't though, instead just kept playing her bass. Singing in front of people wasn't her thing. Upon hearing her silence, everyone stopped to look at her.
"What?" She asked while pausing her solo.
"You're not going to sing, Jessa?" Wembley asked her.
"No, why would I do that?"
"You don't want to make that mistake, Jessa," Gobo warned her. "I stopped singing for a bit once, and it resulted in a power outage."
"No singing makes the lights go out?" Jessa asked him skeptically.
"You took my word on Outer Space, so you might as well take my word on this."
Jessa glanced up at the slightly dim lights and back at her friends before sighing.
"Fine, I'll sing," she said begrudgingly while picking her bass back up.
Mokey handed Jessa another poem to sing from. Boober had finished putting his radish cake in the oven and went to join the others when he heard Jessa singing. He stopped dead in his tracks when hearing it and went to peek from behind the archway. Jessa was sitting on her bed, playing her bass and singing beautifully.
Boober's POV:
"Be still, my heart!" I said quietly to myself after witnessing Jessa sing.
But I couldn't help but admire her vocal range. I peeked again to see her continue, my heart fluttering in my chest. My face was warm from all the blushing and my tail went crazy. My baloobius also wouldn't stop glowing. I didn't realize I had wandered forward when Jessa finished her song until Red singled me out.
End of Boober's POV
"I think somebody else likes your singing, Jessa," Red said as Jessa gave her a confused look before noticing Boober standing in the archway.
"Oh, hey Boober," she greeted him somewhat bashfully while blushing.
"Hi," was all he could manage to say.
Boober was far too flustered to speak after hearing Jessa sing. She sounded so wonderful.
"Mokey was reciting her poetry and I suggested playing my bass. Next thing I know, we're all jamming in here," Jessa explained.
"Boober, you should get your pan flute and join us," Mokey suggested as Wembley agreed.
Boober acquiesced, still blushing at Jessa's lovely singing voice. It was also the first time he had seen her play her bass. He dug around in his hole for his pan flute until he found it and went back to where everyone else was, taking a seat right next to Jessa as she smiled at him. Boober couldn't help but smile back at her as Mokey flipped through her notebook to find another poem they hadn't sung or played any music to yet. As they did, Boober paid extra attention to Jessa when she played her bass and sang. Red noticed Boober's expression and whispered to Gobo.
"Boober's loving every second of this."
"You think?" Gobo whispered back. "Just look at how happy he looks."
Jessa continued singing while Boober admired her. By the time she was done, his baloobius was glowing ever so brightly.
"Jessa, you have a pretty voice," Mokey said to her. "How come you don't sing?"
Jessa merely shrugged, not wanting to answer the question.
"Fun jam session though," Gobo said as everyone else agreed.
"Not to mention Boober's flute playing," Jessa said while softly elbowing him. "You're really good at it."
"Y-you like it?" He asked while blushing.
Jessa hummed and nodded, causing him to giggle. Seeing this, Red made kissing noises, embarrassing both of them.
"Cut it out, Red," Gobo warned her.
"What?"
"A bit rich coming from you, Red," Jessa began while crossing her arms. "Considering you and Gobo fight like spouses all the time. I'm surprised you two haven't tied the knot yet."
"Hey!" Red shouted while blushing just as Gobo did.
Jessa laughed wholeheartedly, albeit with a smug tone.
"I was just fooling around, Jessa."
"So was I, Red. So was I."
"And on that note, I think my cake is done," Boober said while getting up, wanting to avoid any potential conflict.
Boober watched Jessa enjoy the cake he baked, smiling at her the whole time. By this point, Red had gotten over being called out for teasing them both and was enjoying herself, as was Jessa.
"Perhaps I should bake this cake more often," he thought while feeling his tail wag.
Jessa took notice of Boober looking at her and smiled back, causing him to blush and look away, although he still grinned. Jessa felt a little blush on her face, her heart fluttering a bit.
"Why is he so adorable?" She thought.
While eating her piece of cake, Jessa listened to Gobo and Wembley talk about a cave they both planned on exploring.
"There's this cave I keep hearing about," Gobo began before setting his fork down. "And it's full of singing flowers."
"Singing flowers?" Wembley asked him.
"Yeah, and they sing whatever is on a Fraggle's mind."
"Wait a minute," Jessa interjected. "So these flowers can read minds?"
"Yeah, something like that," Gobo answered her.
"Interesting."
"I wonder what song those flowers will sing," Mokey wondered.
"I'm not sure, Mokey. It depends on what Wembley and I are thinking at that time."
"I wonder if they will sing about Gobo reading his boring postcards," Red remarked.
"You know you love hearing them, Red," Gobo argued.
Jessa sighed indifferently, taking another bite of her cake and watching Red and Gobo bicker. After swallowing her bite, she leaned closer to Mokey.
"They remind me of an old couple," she whispered.
Mokey hummed in agreement before Jessa reclined in her seat. Nobody else bothered to put an end to the arguing. Boober being too shy to say or do anything, Mokey being used to this dynamic between them, and Wembley appearing nervous. Jessa, on the other hand, was thoroughly entertained. After a while, Jessa decided to say something that would get them to stop.
"Do you two care to take your little kerfuffle to Smooch City? Some of us are trying to eat here."
Boober almost snickered, but Wembley and Mokey gasped.
"She's not my girlfriend, Jessa!" Gobo told her.
Red secretly took offense to this but didn't say anything.
"Okay," Jessa began. "So why do you accept her invitation to engage in an argument?"
"To defend my uncle and prove a point to Red."
"Uh-huh," Jessa replied sarcastically before resuming her meal.
Everyone else quit talking after that exchange, save for Boober, who whispered to Jessa.
"Why did you start that?" He asked her.
"Start what?" She whispered back.
"You know, this."
Jessa glanced over at Red and Gobo, who were eating in awkward silence.
"Guilty," Jessa whispered after seeing them blush.
"Why?" Boober asked again.
"Boober, you think I want to see an argument turn into a makeout session while I'm eating your cake?"
Boober was silent before cringing at the mental image.
"Exactly," Jessa whispered, catching his expression.
Not that Boober had a problem with kissing in general, but he didn't want other fraggles to lose their appetite and not finish the food he made for them if something like that were to happen.
"How's the cake, by the way?" Boober asked, trying to change the subject.
"Delicious."
Boober grinned before resuming his dinner, happy to see that Jessa had a healthy appetite.