Jessa was already gone by the time Boober woke up, but he did find a note from her in the spot she slept in. He picked it up and read it.

"Went out to the gorg's garden. I hope you slept well. I appreciate what you did for me last night. You're really sweet,"he read out loud, blushing at the last sentence.

Boober felt his tail wagging, but he let it since he was in private.

"Sweet huh?" He said to himself before grinning like a dork, his baloobius glowing.

Jessa had woken up early and ventured out into the gorg's garden, sitting on top of the rock and changing her sword into a bow to shoot some arrows at an apple hanging from a nearby tree, trying to get it down. While she was doing this, she kept thinking about last night. Cuddling with Boober. She hadn't meant for that to happen, but it did. After one of her arrows landed into the apple, another one spawned on her bow and Jessa prepared to fire it when she heard Boober's voice.

"You're up early," he said to her.

"I take it you read my note?"

"Yeah, I did."

Boober blushed remembering what she wrote about him. Jessa shot another arrow at the apple, but it clung to the branch.

"Dang it," she said quietly as Boober sat beside her, his Lucky Walking Stick in his hand.

He wasn't sure how to initiate a conversation with her, especially after last night. So instead, Boober watched Jessa draw back the string on her bow, another arrow intact. He saw the concentration on her face as she let go of the string, the arrow flying across the garden and hitting the apple, but the impact was too light to loosen it from the tree.

"Looks like I'll have to use the crossbow."

"Aren't you worried about the gorgs coming outside?"

"The gorgs are still asleep, Boober. Listen."

Boober listened just as Pa Gorg snored loudly.

"Jeez, sounds like they need a C-Pap machine."

Jessa giggled in response.

"People in China can hear all that snoring," she joked.

Her bow morphed into a crossbow as Boober watched, an arrow spawning out of nowhere right onto it.

"Where do those arrows even come from?" He asked her.

"From within the sword," Jessa replied before firing the arrow. "This thing has a lot of storage capacity."

The arrow pierced through the apple and it finally fell from the tree and tumbled around in the grass.

"Finally," Jessa said before sliding down the rock to retrieve it.

Boober watched Jessa roll her apple back to where he was and haul it up the rock. All of the arrows she fired had disappeared and her crossbow changed back into a sword. When she was close enough, Boober got up and assisted her.

"Thanks, Boober," Jessa said to him.

Boober's POV:

How is Jessa so physically strong?! The apple she shot out of the tree is the same size as her. I helped her lift it back up the rock, but my strength (or lack thereof) is not great compared to hers. Jessa took her sword and carved a small piece of apple to eat as soon as we got it to where it wouldn't roll off the rock. I declined when she offered me some because it had been on the ground. The last thing I want in my system is germs. Yuck!

End of Boober's POV

Jessa took a bite out of the piece of apple she cut for herself while Boober watched her, noticing that her sadness and trauma from last night were gone. As if it never happened. Jessa was back to being the cool and emotionless Fraggle he initially knew her to be. Maybe the lavender tea helped? Still, it was so strange to see her go from shaken to completely fine in the span of a few hours.

"So…" Boober began while Jessa chewed on her apple. "How are you feeling now? You know, after last night."

"Better, I guess," Jessa replied after swallowing her bite. "It's just pathetic that you had to see me like that."

"How?"

"I'm not known for breaking down so easily. Everyone knew me as this hot-tempered fighter who never backed down from anything, so it's incredibly rare that this happens."

"You don't have to be strong all the time, Jessa."

Jessa stared down at the half-eaten apple chunk in her hand and sighed.

"Yes, I do," she thought.

All her life, she had to be the strong one. For her parents. She had to be their protector against the other Shazzles. She had to mask her emotions for the sake of the people she cared about. Her thoughts were interrupted by Boober placing his hand on top of hers.

"It's not good for your health to fight all the time," Boober said to her softly. "You end up with scars and trauma."

"I know."

Boober faced Jessa to see her now fiddling with her apple piece rather than eating it. She stared down at it with discontent, as if she had completely lost her appetite. After a few minutes, she chucked it down in the grass.

"I wonder what's going to be on my itinerary today," she said to nobody in particular.

"I know mine is going to consist of laundry," Boober replied to her. "And if I'm lucky maybe somebody will bring me a huge basket full of socks."

"You sure do like laundry."

"I do. There's just something so safe and comforting about soapy water."

Jessa looked at him as he went on.

"And there's no germs in there. Everything is clean."

Boober began to go into depth about laundry while Jessa listened. She had never seen him this happy about something. It honestly made her blush a little. Boober began describing which soaps were best for certain fabrics when he noticed her expression and paused mid-sentence. His anxiety began to kick in upon assuming she found his laundry talk boring.

"Ah, never mind," he said to her before turning away.

"Who said you had to stop?" She asked him.

Boober turned back around to face her.

"You looked like you were getting bored."

"Hearing you talk about it takes my mind off the other stuff. Feel free to continue."

Boober was quiet for a minute before continuing, albeit more bashfully.

Some time had passed, but Boober and Jessa remained in the same spot. The gorgs have yet to come out of their castle, much to Boober's relief.

"Those gorgs are lazier than Basset Hounds on a summer day if they haven't come out yet," Jessa commented.

"I hope they stay lazy while we're out here."

"Especially that brown one. What's his deal anyway?"

"I couldn't tell you, Jessa."

Jessa ate more of her apple before standing up to kick the core off the rock. Boober was impressed with how hard she managed to kick it as it went soaring almost to wear the Trash Heap was.

"Nice kick," he said to her.

"Thanks."

Jessa sat back down next to Boober and faced him.

"I know I mentioned it in the note, but I can't thank you enough for comforting me. It means a lot."

Boober blushed at the memory of cuddling her but tried to not let it be too obvious.

"I couldn't let you suffer."

Jessa blushed, touched by this.

"Can we keep this between us?" She asked.

"Sure."

Boober wasn't planning on telling anyone anyway. Not only for Jessa's sake, but he also didn't want the other fraggles to get the wrong idea. The cuddling was something he planned to keep to himself.

"Well, that laundry isn't going to wash itself," Boober said while getting up. "I better see to it. Let's get out of here before the gorgs see us."

"I think I'll stay out here a little longer. You can go if you want though."

"Please don't get captured," Boober pleaded.

"I won't. And if I do, I can just use my sword and break whatever trap they put me in."

Boober then glanced down at the bracelet he had given to Jessa, still intact on her wrist. At least she still wore it.

"I'll be washing socks if you need me," he said before leaving.

Once Boober was gone, Jessa stared straight ahead and sighed heavily. Since it was just her now, she had the freedom to explore around the garden. Jessa stood up and glanced at the castle to make sure there were no gorg's about. None. So she slid down the rock and parkoured onto the grass. The wind blew on her face and her ponytail flew behind her while she observed her surroundings, putting her hands on her hips.

"How big is this garden anyway?"