"I want to open up a bakery."
The words come out too fast for either Briar or Cupid to understand, and so he repeats them. Slowly, delibrately, both like he is tearing the words out of himself and like he needs to speak them to make sure they're real. Then, he speeds right back up.
"But, of course, that would be impossible. I'm a prince. I'll be a king. I have responsibilites and duties and a kingdom to run. I won't have time for it. Plus, where would I run a Bakery? In Book End? Then I'd have to compete with Hocus Latte for customers. Plus, Ginger'll probably want to open a bakery, too. And it would make sense for her to open one here. And my kingdom isn't hexactly that close to the village. Besides, my baking skills aren't really good enough for a bakery. Plus, baking? What kind of a prince does that? And don't get me started on-"
"Hopper. Breathe."
And suddenly he is gasping for air. He can't get enough into his lungs. He feels a hand on his shoulder. It helps to ground him, and he focuses on the light pressure to calm himself down. He's surprised that, with all of the stress, he hasn't turned into a frog.
Poof!
He croaks in despair.
Cupid scoops him up and deposits him into her lap. And although he is at his most eloquent when he is a frog, words escape him. He croaks again.
"Well, I won't fall asleep until I've eaten at your bakery, so you'll just have to have one," Briar announces. Fiery determination replaces the sleepiness in her eyes. "We'll figure this out. Together."
Cupid lifts him up and stares into his little froggy eyes. "And you are good enough. Have you been baking the food you bring to our hangouts this whole time? I thought you just had a secret spot you wouldn't share or were importing them from your kingdom or something? They're so good."
"Really?"
Briar nods sagely. "Yes, and then I'll have you cater all of my parties. Ooh, I can even through food-themed or pastry-themed parties there."
"And you'll make all of our birthday cakes, and wedding cakes, and anniversary cakes, and all of the other necessary cakes of life," Cupid adds.
"For sure, for sure. Ooh, I've got an idea! What if you target nobles and run a more high-end bakery?"
Hopper smiles the best a frog can smile. He should have told them about his plans earlier, when he first hit a wall. Climbing up them was always so much easier with Briar and Cupid supporting him. Everything was better with them. Sure, they're already going a little overboard with their ideas (He swears he hears one of them mentioning a frog-themed bakery. No.), but they are fun.
Yeah, the future has some major suck factor in it, and it can be pretty easy to get lost up in it when you try to tackle it yourself. But, maybe, working together they could make it fun.