Living in a Frog World (Male OC x Anne Boonchuy)

Part 1: Chapter 22: Night of the Living Spore

She was both the first, and last of her kind. No warship in the history of Amphibia's navy gave more to the kingdom's prosperity than the Green Lady. Built among the finest ships of the line and meant to go head to head against enemy giants in ocean duels, she's a full-rigged frigate used during Amphibia's old wars. She featured a brown hull made from wooden planks, and lined with gun ports on two desks. The top half of the ship was primarily mossy-green, with an anchor attached and her name painted in fancy letters on her side. She also featured an emerald-green figurehead in the shape of a frog-mermaid at the front. The two sails of the ship each feature an illustration of a frog's foot.

The Green Lady earned her place through hard-fought battles, and in the end, gave the ultimate sacrifice for her country. She will rest at the bottom of the sea, while her legend would inspire so many amphibians on the surface.

One such person that was inspired was the patriarch of the Plantar household. Hop Pop was blowing on the sails of a small-scale ship model of the Green Lady.

"Hop Pop, stop blowing on the sails. You're getting your breath all over it," said Frank, sitting next to him in Hop Pop's study, working on the model together. Turning back to the boat, he applied glue to a piece of tiny wood and placed it on the ship. Frank then cleaned the hull with a towel, making it shine.

Hop Pop sighed as he leaned back to look at the model. "Well, after five years of work on this gal, I might actually finish," he said, smiling at the nearly completed ship. "Thanks for your help, Frank."

"Eh, no big deal. I'm more of a Lego kind of guy, but this is still cool," Frank said, placing another wood on the ship's hull.

"I have no idea what Lego is," said the old frog.

The two of them were about to continue working on the boat. However, Frank stopped and paused for a moment. He looked down with an anxious frown before looking up at Hop Pop. "Actually...there's something that's been on my mind."

"Oh? Would talking about it help?" Hop Pop asked, not taking his concentration off his model ship.

Needing to know what was wrong with him, Frank took a deep breath and started to explain himself. "I...I think there's something wrong with me, and it has to do with Anne. When we woke up, and Anne said good morning, I felt my heart beating fast and my face getting hotter. I don't know why it happened. And this wasn't the first time. The last time it happened, I was working with Anne in the field, and she said, 'looking good.' And before that, it was always when she fell asleep when we were watching a movie, and Anne's head fell on my shoulder. What's more is that whenever she hugs me, I don't want her to let go—"

"Sounds like you have a crush on Anne."

Frank stopped talking and looked at Hop Pop. The elderly frog stared at him with an expression that said it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What?"

"You have a crush on Anne." Hop Pop repeated.

There was a pause before Frank started chuckling. "That's a good one."

"I wasn't joking."

"B-But how do you know?!" Frank exclaimed, looking anxious.

"Frank, I've been in love—twice." Hop Pop said, holding up two fingers. "And everything you just described is what I felt when I fell in love with Sylvia."

Hearing that, Frank started to panic a little. Standing up, he said, "There's no way I can have a crush on Anne! We're just friends. Not to mention she can be so stupid, which I love." Frank smiled at the thought of Anne, before quickly trying to correct himself with a big blush. "I MEANT HATE! She's always putting us in terrible situations, and I'm always having to save her, which is pretty sweet. I mean, I hate it, and it's dumb!"