Boober sat on his bed, blushing out of pure embarrassment while Jessa sat behind him and untangled his tail.
"That's one knot undone," she said calmly before moving on to the next.
Boober didn't say anything, aggravated that he had to be in such an undignifying position. At least they were both in the privacy of his hole as he couldn't bear to have anyone else see.
"How are you so calm about this?" He asked her.
"What do you mean?"
"You're untying my tail."
"So?"
Jessa untied another knot and continued.
"I don't see what good this did you anyway."
"Jessa, when you tie a knot in your tail, it protects you."
"Whether or not the superstition had anything to do with mine and Gobos' safety can be up for debate, but I do know that you've been cutting off the circulation in your tail."
"Speaking of which, I've got that pins and needles feeling. It hurts."
Jessa sighed.
"I'm working on it."
Boober let her detangle the knots, still blushing. With each one untied, he felt the blood flow return.
"How many knots did you put on here?"
"A lot."
"I'm going to let you know right now, Boober, you don't have to tie your tail in a bunch of excruciating knots just for me."
"But you're alive, aren't you?"
"That still doesn't justify mutilating your body. And to tell you the truth, my tail hurts looking at yours."
Boober felt yet another knot being untangled, the pain slowly disappearing. Jessa went to loosen the next one when she grabbed his tail in a way that sent a shudder down Boober's spine, prompting her to immediately let go upon seeing his reaction.
"Looks like I struck a nerve somehow."
Boober felt his heart racing, still flustered.
"It's very sensitive in that area," he managed to say.
"Sorry Boober."
If he were being honest, he wasn't mad. Sure, he hated it when other fraggles touched his tail. But having Jessa touch it made him melt. This is what was humiliating though. Boober had to keep his cool while she was handling the knots in his tail. It was a miracle that it didn't wag. Maybe the weight of the knots prevented it?
"While we're on the subject of superstitions," Jessa began before removing the bracelet and handing it to Boober. "Here's your bracelet back."
He looked at it for a minute before replying.
"You can keep it."
"Don't you want it back?"
"I have other bracelets just like it. Also, it wasn't just for protection."
Boober blushed even deeper before continuing.
"It was a gift."
He sounded so shy admitting this and Jessa couldn't help but blush. She looked down at the bracelet in her hand before speaking.
"I don't know what I did to deserve it, but… thanks."
Jessa put the bracelet back on her wrist before untangling some more knots in Boober's tail.
"So you take superstition seriously?"
"I do. I even have a book about it."
Boober then got up to retrieve his book of superstitions and sat back down on his bed. Jessa continued untying the knots while he flipped to the superstition about tying knots in tails.
"Here it is," he began before reading out loud. "When someone you know goes somewhere dangerous, tie a knot in your tail so that nothing can harm them."
"Sounds painful."
"It is. But it helps."
Boober then grunted in discomfort.
"Sorry, this particular knot is being stubborn."
Boober turned the page in his book while Jessa worked with the knot.
"Here's a superstition on flower pots. I can read it if you want."
Jessa didn't believe a word of any superstition, but him reading his book was better than the awkward silence.
"As long as it takes your mind off these knots."
"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"
Boober read the superstition while Jessa worked to untangle the difficult knot in his tail. After a few tries, she got it loose and undid it. Boober kept reading his book out loud, almost forgetting about his tail being in knots, only to remember it when Jessa unlooped his baloobius through each knot. Soon enough, his tail quit cramping and she was down to the final knot.
"Last one," she said to Boober.
"Good."
Boober paused his reading to feel his tail being untied, sighing in relief once Jessa loosened it.
"My work is done here," she announced after letting go of his tail.
"Thank you, Jessa."
"Anytime."
"Now where was I?"
Boober looked back at his book before continuing to read. Jessa remained quiet while he read, not having any input whatsoever. She then glanced around at his belongings, wondering how he could fit so much stuff in his hole. It wasn't until Boober got to the bracelet superstition that he had her attention.
"Give this bracelet to your…"
He then blushed before skipping over the next word, which was 'crush,' instead replacing it with 'friend.'
"friend when they wish to venture into spooky places."
"That's why you gave it to me, isn't it."
"Yeah."
Boober didn't dare go into further detail about the bracelet and moved on. Jessa listened as he read.
Meanwhile, Gobo and Wembley were in their room, hanging out. Gobo was strumming on his guitar while Wembley was relaxing in his hole.
"I wonder how Boober is taking the fact that Jessa is getting those tangles out of his tail," Gobo wondered out loud.
"Gee, I don't know, Gobo. What do you think?"
"To tell you the truth, Wembley, he's probably very flustered."
"Yeah, I bet."
Gobo strummed away before Red came in.
"Alright Gobo, last chance. Do you want to do the High Five Swing with me?"
"Red, I already told you. It's too dangerous."
"Oh come on, Gobo!" Red pouted. "Who doesn't want to high-five someone while swinging from a vine?!"
"Not me. That's who."
"What's this about high fives and swinging?"
They all turned around to see Jessa leaning in the archway of their hole, Boober walking in past her and sitting down. Red then looked at her and back at Gobo.
"Jessa," she began while walking toward her. "How would you like to partake in the High Five Swing?"
Jessa raised an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Go on."
Boober and Wembley were sitting in the Great Hall about to watch Red and Jessa perform the High Five Swing. By this point, Boober had moved past being flustered by Jessa untying his tail.
"Alright Jessa, here's how it's done," Red began. "We both run to the top of those boulders, grab a vine, swing on it, and we high-five each other when we cross paths."
"Simple enough," Jessa answered. "I'm game."
Boober sighed nervously.
"She's going to hurt herself," he whimpered.
Red and Jessa took off running in separate directions, Jessa using her sword and morphing it into a pole vault to parkour over the gap between the boulder and the place she was at. Boober blushed and felt his heart race watching her. As soon as Jessa was on the boulder, her sword changed from a pole vault to a boomerang and she threw it. Boober's tail began to wag as he watched Jessa's boomerang snag a vine and return to her. Feeling the impact of his tail, Wembley grunted before scooting away.
"Anytime you're ready, Red!" She called out while holding her vine, her sword being changed back and safely tucked away in her holster.
"How did you get there before I did?!" Red asked, baffled that somebody outran her.
"I don't know, you tell me."
Red rolled her eyes before grabbing her vine.
"Ready, Jessa?!"
"Ready!"
They both swung from their respective spots, Red shouting 'Whoopee' while Jessa swung in silence. Wembley looked over to Boober, whose attention was solely on Jessa as he blushed.
"Boober, your face is redder than a radish," Wembley pointed out.
Boober only made a lovestruck noise in response. Jessa and Red were close enough to extend their arms and high-five each other and they did it so perfectly. Afterward, Jessa made it to the other side and kicked the wall to swing back. As soon as she was at a safe enough distance, she let go of her vine and landed on her feet, sliding and leaving a dust trail behind her.
"What's up!" She greeted the other fraggles in front of her.
Red landed in the Fraggle Pond with a big splash, rising a second later and smiling.
"Way to land in the water!" Jessa called out in amusement before being approached by Boober.
"Jessa, you could have broken your bones landing from that height," he said while holding her hand.
She shrugged.
"Not the first time I've done shit like this."
"Too bad Gobo missed it," Wembley said to her.
"I'm sure Red will tell him about the stunt later," Jessa replied just as Red made it back to where they were.
"Now that was fun!" She said before shaking herself dry.
Some of it got on the others, Boober blanching and stepping back a little, letting go of Jessa's hand.
"Get us wet, why don't you," Jessa said to her.
"Eugh, Red! You got it all over me," Boober complained.
"Boober, the water is perfectly clean," Red replied to him.
"Not with all those germs in there. And there's no soap!"
Boober then went off to cleanse himself of the phantom germs while Jessa, Red, and Wembley watched him leave.