𐐪𐑂 honey & puddles 𐐪𐑂

Blossoming Friendship?

Grime spends more time with Hoppop.
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Grime was pacing back and forth around his room, feeling his hands getting a bit jittery. He grabbed the rim of his kilt and stood there. "Okay, Grime, what is your problem? It's Hopidiah, for frog's sake. Why are you even nervous? He's the real old softie here, just-" A knock on his door caused him to scream and throw his hands up before he opened it.

"Dude, you okay?" Sasha replied, staring at her startled friend as Grime just let out a sigh. Sasha was putting away some maps & other stuff for the next mission. "Phew, I thought you were Hopidiah." He said, causing Sasha to turn her head away from the drawers. "You're scared of Hoppop?" Grime blushed with embarrassment. "Absolutely not! I just... don't want him bothering me today like he did yesterday. He totally wasted my time, making me show him around the place." Sasha was barely paying attention to him now, closing the drawers as she stood up. "Riiight, well, don't give yourself nightmares now." She said, leaving. Grime let out a soft sigh, flopping down into his chair.

After a while, Grime realized he couldn't exactly hide himself in his room anymore and got up, doing his usual duties. The day was going good and everything was normal. Until, he was walking and felt someone tap him. "What?-" He turned around to see an excited orange frog, choking for a second. "Hey Grime, I hope I didn't catch you at a busy time, you got a second?" Grime just stared, soft pink cheeks once again, seeming slightly startled as if Hoppop was some sort of bug. Hoppop had bags full of different vegetable starters, and many of them were too heavy for him to possibly lift. "You think you could help me carry these bags to the greenhouse room?" Grime just nodded. "Uh, sure." He grabbed them and started walking there.

He noticed many things about Hopidiah that he never really noticed before. Like how weak and small he was. He was practically half the toad's height and size, and barely any muscle on him. He'd usually find that pathetic, but he couldn't really focus on that. I mean, in a sense it was a little cute. Wait, what? "Grime?" He snapped out of his thoughts as he realized he'd just blanked out for 2 minutes, putting down the bags of starters on the softer soil. "Sorry, I'm a bit busy. Do you need anything else?" Hoppop smiled softly. "Not at all, let the farming pro take it from here." He said, stretching his fingers as he happily trotted off to grab his gardening gear. Grime just smiled softly, against his own will anyway. He quickly shook his head and huffed, walking out of there.

Grime went back to his room, collapsing onto his bed as he exhausting huffed. He felt like he was under some curse, some trance. He never even liked Hopidiah before, he wanted to kill him, so why was he always weaker around him now? He knew what it was immediately. He was getting too soft and letting Sasha take over everything, he grumbled to himself with anger. 'Great, just great. You're weaker than Sasha, Beatrix, even that little runt, Sprig. And now you're even weaker than Hopidiah. What's gotten into you, where's your rage? Your strength?' He stared up at his ceiling, thoughts racing.

He decided to get up and go to the training area in the underground, prideful now as he remembered how he used to be. He was strong, but he wasn't as strong as he'd normally be. He could bench-press 2 boulders, but the old him could do 4. With everything he did, he felt as if it wasn't enough to make a difference in his mental state. He was still soft, still weak, still vulnerable. He turned his head, and through the hallways and doorways, saw something interesting.

Hoppop was sat with Sylvia in the garden, explaining to her about the different vegetables as he was all blushy and nervous. Sylvia would usually respond with a smile or a chuckle, appreciating every word. Absorbing all the info like it was nothing, and giving it all back in her responses. Harmonious. Perfect. Grime felt an intense whirlpool within him, a fire, a flame, the thing missing from within him for a long time. He grit his sharp teeth as he slammed his hand down, shattering the equipment he was using. All the other amphibians turned their head with concern as Grime stared off and quickly made his way out.

His head was truly spiraling now, even more confused where he even got that from. He remembered what it felt like to be angry, but what was there to be angry about? So what if Hoppop talked to some girl? It didn't mean anything. Not that it's important if it did... or whatever. God, get your ass in the game, Grime. He knocked on Sasha's door, asking for some help.

"Grime, are you okay?"
Sasha asked, now taking care of a mentally distraught toad as Grime laid in his mossy bed.