Boober, Jessa, Mokey, and Wembley made it to the kitchen and he watched his friends set it down. Jessa was the first to slump down to the floor.
"Dang," she began. "I must be out of shape if I can't lift that radish above my head."
"How do you think I feel," Wembley griped before resting at the table with Mokey, who was too tired to speak.
Boober glanced at Jessa, still panting from hauling the radish. Even after fighting the gorg and helping him get dinner, she still looked all dolled up in her long skirt and halter top. He then glanced at the sword in its holster. Boober couldn't even begin to imagine what all Jessa could do with it. So far, he had witnessed her sword shapeshift, change size, and shoot out lightning bolts, but not much else.
"Jessa is much stronger than we are," Mokey said at last.
"You guys still helped," Jessa replied, sitting up from leaning back against the radish. "So it counts."
"True."
"And besides, as long as I'm out there, he isn't going to bother us."
"I hope not," Boober said before brushing Jessa's hair out of her face, taking her by surprise.
Before anything else could be said, Gobo and Red showed up chanting the hip hip hooray song. Jessa watched them in confusion, wondering what they were celebrating.
"What are you two hip hip hooraying about?" She asked them when they finished.
"Red just broke her swimming record," Gobo answered her.
"Yeah, you should have seen it, Jessa. I swam faster than anyone in Fraggle Rock can say 'gorgs suck.'"
"Speaking of gorgs," Jessa began. "I finally encountered one today."
"Oh?"
"Let's just say that you and Gobo missed a lot."
Jessa had finished filling them in on what happened in the gorgs garden, Boober preparing the radish for supper while everyone else sat at the table, though he listened to every word that came out of Jessa's mouth.
"So let me get this straight," Gobo began. "You can shoot lightning bolts out of your sword?"
"Gobo, there's a lot of things this sword can do," she answered him. "Most of which I won't demonstrate right now because it will cause collateral damage."
"Wow, that must be one powerful sword," Wembley said.
"Oh, it is, Wembley. Very powerful."
Boober finished what he was doing and joined everyone else, taking a seat next to Jessa and letting his soup simmer.
"The deadliest form being the flaming arrow of trauma," Jessa continued.
"What's the flaming arrow of trauma?"
"When the wielder of the sword has any type of trauma or internal pain, they can transform it into a crossbow equipped with a flaming arrow containing every struggle from their lifetime. Whoever is hit with said arrow slowly dies of extreme trauma. They feel what the holder of the sword feels."
"That's so awful," Mokey said.
"That's a very gruesome death," Boober added.
"Yep."
"Have you used the trauma arrow on anyone?" Red asked.
"Only on those who did or said something that got under my skin. It's not a weapon I use loosely."
Boober rested his head on his hand and gazed at Jessa while she continued to tell them more about her sword. If he were being completely honest, he thought Jessa looked better with her hair down. The way it rested on her shoulders and covered most of her back made him blush and smile. He then felt his heart beat faster while his smile morphed into a lovestruck grin and his baloobius began to glow, though Boober kept his tail hidden out of sight the best he could. While he watched her, Jessa had struck up another conversation with Gobo about something else. Mokey looked at Boober knowingly just as Jessa noticed the warmth from under the table.
"I don't want to freak you guys out, but is anyone else's feet getting warm?" She asked.
"Mine are a little bit," Red replied.
"Mine too," Gobo added. "I wonder what's causing it."
Jessa looked under the table to see Boober's baloobius glowing brightly. Boober froze and blushed even deeper, but this time out of embarrassment.
"Woah, that's new," Jessa said casually, though this didn't help his case.
"What is?" Wembley asked before peeking under the table.
Boober got up before anyone else could have a chance to see his glowing baloobius.
"I think the soup is done simmering," he stammered. "I better go stir it."
God, how embarrassing! If his tail wasn't wagging in Jessa's presence, then his baloobius had to glow and vice versa. Sometimes, it would do both, much to Boober's chagrin. Jessa stared at him sympathetically before changing the subject to something else. Boober listened to her talk to his friends while trying to recover from the humiliation.
"I've got to get this under control," he thought while watching the chunks of radish float around in the soup as he stirred.
It was after dinner, but Jessa visited for a little while longer instead of heading back to the Terrible Tunnel. They were all gathered in Gobo and Wembley's room as Gobo read everyone the postcard from Uncle Matt. Red and Mokey were sitting in one hole together, Gobo in his, Wembley on the floor next to Boober, who was sitting in another hole with Jessa as they all listened. Boober had calmed himself down to the point where his tail wouldn't wag or his baloobius wouldn't glow, but he tried to not glance at Jessa too much. He couldn't trust himself not to.
"Dear nephew Gobo,"Gobo read out loud."During my time here in outer space, I've noticed a particular social norm among the silly creatures. They go to these scenic places and do very romantic things with each other. Kind of like how Fraggles go on dates, except not in the way that the silly creatures do. For example, the males ask the females to go with them and if met with a yes, they both go sit near a large body of water and laugh about nothing for hours. While this mating ritual is vastly different, it is also apparent that in some ways the silly creatures have similar mannerisms as us. Sincerely, Uncle Traveling Matt."
"Wow," Jessa began. "I didn't know the silly creatures were capable of said feelings."
"Neither did I," Wembley added.
Boober stole a glance at Jessa, blushing while she listened to Red and Mokey discussing what they just heard. He then imagined himself asking her out. Would she say yes? Probably not. Boober knew for a fact that she would say no. He then sighed sadly as everyone else just chatted away. This went on for a while until Jessa got up to leave.
"Well, today was fun. But I gotta be heading back."
"Wait, Jessa, what about your clothes?" Boober asked her as she stopped in her tracks.
"Oh, that's right," Jessa replied while facepalming herself. "I forgot. How close are they to being done?"
"They won't be dry until morning."
Jessa looked away, not knowing what to do or say next.
"You could spend the night, Jessa," Wembley suggested as everyone else agreed.
"Where am I going to sleep though?" She asked.
"Jessa can bunk with us," Mokey suggested.
"Yeah, we have an extra hole in our room she can sleep in," Red added.
"Cool, thanks," Jessa thanked them.
Boober blushed at her grateful smile as the girls left the room to get the hole ready for her. Once it was just the guys, Gobo turned to Boober.
"Boober, if I didn't know any better, I think you have a crush on her," he said to him.
"On who?" Boober asked, trying not to let it slip.
"Who else could it be? It's definitely not Red or Mokey."
Boober groaned in annoyance.
"Can we talk about something else?" He pleaded.
"I thought I was the only one who noticed it," Wembley added.
"No, I've noticed it too. Boober, you like Jessa."
"Gobo, change of subject. Please?"
"It's okay if you like her, Boober," Gobo replied as Wembley agreed. "The fact of the matter is, it's obvious. I've seen what she does to you."
"I'm going to bed," Boober griped as he walked off, leaving Gobo and Wembley in their room.
"So Boober really likes her," Wembley said to him.
"Oh yeah, I figured that out while we were in the kitchen. While Jessa and I were talking, I noticed he was gazing at her the whole time."
"Yeah, I saw it too."
"Poor Boober. Well, goodnight Wembley."
"Night Gobo."
Mokey, Jessa, and Red had gotten comfortable in their holes and spent the rest of the time chatting.
"I'm sorry we didn't have enough pillows for you, Jessa," Red apologized.
"Don't sweat it. If anything, you guys nailed my preferred level of comfort perfectly."
Jessa lounged in her hole, covered up with a blanket and having herself a good time with her new gal pals.
"That's good to hear, Jessa," Mokey replied to her.
"Now I just can't wait to have my clothes back."
"So how bad was that smell anyway?" Red asked Jessa.
Boober happened to be walking by the girl's room when he heard Jessa talking. Perking up at the sound of her voice, he hid behind the wall and listened to their conversation.
"Red, if I had to describe just how nasty the box of smelly objects is, let's say you have about 10,000 people and you feed them pork and beans. Then you lock them up in a small room together and they simultaneously start ripping ass."
"Ew," Mokey replied with disgust as Red laughed.
"Ripping ass," Red repeated before laughing again.
"I swear to Ragnarok, that Fearsome Beast has some nasty ass breath," Jessa continued. "It's so vile that I can't distinguish which end I'm facing. The front or the rear."
This made Red laugh even harder, and Jessa couldn't help but laugh along with her. Boober, despite not being much of a laugher, couldn't help but snicker.
"Seriously, it's like nobody ever told it about toothpaste," Jessa went on. "Goofy cheese smelling thing."
Mokey began to giggle a little as Red and Jessa laughed to their hearts' content. After a while, they all began to talk about other things and Boober continued on his way. He didn't go to his hole though. Instead, he went to where the laundry was and watched Jessa's clothes dry. While most Fraggles thought of this as tedious, for Boober it was loads of fun. He could still see the dampness in some areas of her shirt as well as her pants. Though he didn't understand why Jessa wore a full outfit since Fraggles didn't need to cover up, then again, Uncle Traveling Matt was fully clothed along with shoes. Maybe it was a personal choice. Boober then glanced at her combat boots. Jessa's entire outfit was black. Black like her hair and her baloobius. Speaking of which, Boober had noticed that Jessa's baloobius wasn't very prominent, though nothing seemed to frighten her at all. And he knew for a fact that whenever a Fraggle was scared, the baloobius would flare out. Boober then wondered what Jessa was afraid of if she even had any fears at all. As he pondered on this, his eyelids began to feel heavy and he eventually fell asleep. At first, the sleep was dreamless. Boober found this relaxing, but the serene sleep was short-lived when a familiar laugh echoed from his subconscious.
"Oh no, not Sidebottom," he complained.
The last thing Boober wanted was to be bothered by his alter ego.
"Boober, old pal! It's been a while!" Sidebottom greeted him.