Boober was almost finished with his laundry, though it did nothing to soothe him. Instead of feeling happy from the suds in his wash tub and the satisfaction he got from knowing the fraggles had clean clothes, he was angry at himself. Angry that he couldn't say anything to Jessa, instead standing there like an idiot and gawking at her. And on top of that, he got clumsy and dropped his favorite laundry basket right in front of her. After ringing out somebody's shirt and hanging it up on his clothesline, Boober glared at his reflection in the soapy water. He then growled and slapped the water, making it ripple.
"Coward!" He ranted. "Why didn't you say anything?!"
"Hey, don't take your issues out on me!"
Sidebottom appeared in the water where Boober's reflection had been.
"Why are you in my washtub?" he asked his alter ego.
"Why are you moping about in your hole while Jessa is out having fun?" Sidebottom asked in frustration. "If you want her, go get her!"
"You don't understand, Sidebottom. It's complicated."
"You don't think I understand the conflict you're going through?! As I've said before, we're the same person."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to grow a pair of balls and get out there."
"Sidebottom…"
"Go and ask Jessa to dance already, damn it! And tell her I said hi."
"I won't make any promises in that regard."
"Come on, Boober! I haven't seen Sugar Lips since we went out into the gorg's garden that one night. I want to see her again."
"I wish you wouldn't call her that."
"Why not? She's gorgeous."
Boober then heard Wembley coming, prompting Sidebottom to vanish from the sudsy water.
"Boober, are you in here?" he asked.
"Wembley? What are you doing back so soon?"
"I wanted to talk to you about something."
Boober stared at him in question.
"What is it?"
"What you said earlier about Jessa possibly dancing with other fraggles."
Boober sighed in aggravation.
"This is what you came to my hole for?"
"Hear me out, Boober. Please?"
"Alright."
Boober prepared to be lectured on his cowardice, but Wembley knew he had to be tactical on this subject.
"Jessa had a bunch of fraggles ask her to dance, including Zeevo. But she turned them all down."
Boober perked up upon hearing this.
"She… rejected Zeevo?"
Boober knew of Zeevo's reputation as a popular heartthrob, so for Jessa to not want to dance with someone like him was surprising.
"Yeah, Zeevo asked her to dance and she said no. She paired him up with Mokey instead."
"Why did Jessa not want to dance with Zeevo of all people?"
"She wants you, Boober. That's why."
Boober felt shock throughout his body when hearing this.
"What?"
"Well, Jessa didn't say your name, but when I asked her why she didn't want to dance with Zeevo, she said she wasn't into him. She also said that her interest lies somewhere else."
Boober stared at Wembley in disbelief.
"I knew she was talking about you when she said that."
"Jessa wants me?"
Boober couldn't believe it. Out of all the fraggles in Fraggle Rock, Jessa wanted him. Not Zeevo, the Fraggle that all straight women, gay men, and bisexual people wanted. No, she wanted Boober. The fraggle who was a pessimistic Debbie downer. The fraggle who loved anything boring and mundane. The fraggle who believed in superstition. The fraggle who was melodramatic about the most trivial things. The fraggle who feared death and pestilence. Jessa wanted him out of all the 10,000 fraggles that existed. She wanted the anxiety-ridden, laundry-loving superstitious fraggle himself. As it was registering in his head, Boober's tail began to wag.
"Where is she?" Boober asked.
Jessa had finished her first round of wine and waited for Wembley to return, but he was nowhere to be seen. No matter, that gave her the freedom to wander over to the bar and have some more alcohol. Jessa got up and walked past the couples dancing, completely ignoring them and eyeing the bar. While her friends were slow dancing, and while Boober was skipping out on the summer solstice, Jessa could drink her cares away.
Wembley and Boober, now clad in his tuxedo, headed back out to the party to find Jessa.
"She was here a minute ago," Wembley said upon seeing she wasn't in her seat.
Boober had caught sight of Jessa, who was being harassed by Marlon. Seeing him grope his crush and be such a creep filled Boober with an ungodly amount of rage. His fists tightened as Marlon kept pulling Jessa closer to him when she tried to get away. Without thinking, he stomped over to where they were.
"Get the hell away from me you deranged messiah!" Jessa snarled.
"That's no way to talk to a king." Marlon gripped before squeezing Jessa's breasts.
"A king of what? Delusion?"
"You're gonna dance with me, Sweet Cheeks."
"No, she won't!"
Marlon and Jessa turned to see Boober, Jessa using the opportunity to stomp on Marlon's foot and break free of his grip.
"Did your mother ever teach you how to treat women with respect?!" Boober spat.
Jessa was shocked at his tone. She had never seen him so angry.
"Don't ever touch Jessa like that ever again!"
By that point, Wembley had seen what happened and rushed to Jessa's aid.
"Jessa, are you okay?"
"Fine now that you guys are here," she answered as nonchalantly as possible.
"Why don't you go home and stop being such a creepy pervert!" Boober barked at Marlon.
"Who's gonna make me, huh?!"
"Marlon, you are a vile and disgusting piece of-"
"Boober."
Boober paused and turned towards Jessa, who put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him in concern.
"He isn't worth it."
"But he was groping you."
"Yes, he was. But I don't want you to get in a fight and not be able to have fun should you end up with broken bones."
Boober simmered down, her touch so comforting. Without saying another word, he, Jessa, and Wembley began walking away.
"Get your sexy ass back here," Marlon griped while grabbing Jessa's tail.
Jessa yelped, and Boober and Wembley were shocked at what just happened. But before either of them could react, Jessa growled loudly and punched Marlon so hard he flew back. Boober watched in astonishment but felt no sympathy towards Marlon. Even Wembley didn't feel sorry for him. Marlon had a reputation for not only trying to start a sadistic religion that nobody had any interest in but also for being a horrendous incel towards the ladies. With that in mind, they felt he deserved it.
"You fucking shithead!" Jessa roared. "If I had my sword on me right now, I would slash you to bits!"
Marlon coughed helplessly, unable to breathe as Jessa punched him in the lungs.
"You deserve to be tortured to death."
Jessa then walked away, still fuming over having her tail grabbed. Boober and Wembley followed her, but not before Boober gave Marlon the middle finger. The commotion caught the attention of a few nearby fraggles, who saw what happened and alerted security as Marlon was supposed to be banned from festivities due to his behavior. Jessa sat back down where she was before, Wembley and Boober joining her.
"I didn't think it was possible to hate someone so much," Boober said, still in disbelief that he went off on Marlon.
"Tell me about it," Wembley replied.
Jessa said nothing, which Boober noticed along with her 1000-yard stare.
"Jessa?" He asked while gently holding her hand.
She didn't reply or look in his direction, which worried him.
"I'm sorry," he murmured.
Wembley watched with concern as Boober tried to get Jessa to snap out of whatever trauma was going through her head. After a while, Boober planted a soft kiss on her cheek, which slowly brought her back to reality.
"He shouldn't have grabbed you like that," Boober ranted while holding her.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Jessa said at last.
Boober remained silent, still holding Jessa as she began to speak again.
"If anything, you saved me from being that guy's plaything."
Boober and Wembley both shuddered at that thought.
"I thought Marlon was supposed to be banned," Wembley commented.
"He is," Boober said while caressing the back of Jessa's hand. "But he keeps sneaking back in."
"Maybe the council should consider letting the gorgs thump him," Jessa added.
"I don't condone violence, but that would be very satisfying to watch."
"Yeah, that Marlon is such a creep," Wembley added in agreement just as a female fraggle approached him.
"Hey, would you like to dance?" She asked him.
"Sure!" Wembley said, eager to get away from the bad vibe caused by Marlon.
He walked off with her, leaving Boober and Jessa alone with each other. He glanced down at her, pained that she was still uncomfortable from what had happened.
"I'm here for you, Jessa," he said sweetly while holding her face. "I'm not leaving your side for the rest of the night."
Jessa tried not to cry while snuggling closer to Boober.
"Good, because I need your company."
Boober held her tighter, burying his face into her hair. They both sat there in silence as the music played on and the other fraggles partied on. Jessa relaxed into him as Boober kissed the top of her head and played with her hair.
"I love you," he said though Jessa couldn't hear him over the loud music.
But that was just fine with Boober. He meant to say it at a volume that was impossible to decipher in such a noisy environment. Despite what Wembley had told him, he wasn't ready for Jessa to hear his declaration just yet. Plus, he wanted her to hear it in a quiet place.