I said I wouldn't write with either of these two, but the idea was just too wholesome to skip god damn it
Grassy was lonely.
There was no denying it. Everybody who saw him knew, was aware he was missing something: a spark between him and somebody else, or even a single neuron connecting them together. Sure, he had Blocky and Basketball, but they were more like his parents than his friends. With a very minimal amount of younger contestants competing for the prize, Grassy mostly stuck to playing by himself, or occasionally alongside Golf Ball as she tinkered with a new contraption. He had only so far attempted to build a friendly relationship with Gelatin and Firey Junior, but Gelatin had been too careless with him, and Firey Junior had been generally hostile. Both objects had caused Grassy to die multiple times. He didn't want to play with them anymore. Woody was too scared for him to approach, let alone with any of his toy boats that he loved so much. He would settle for sailing them over the lawn that he tried not to think about too much, it being made of the same stuff as him and all. The blades parted to let the hull of the icebreaker past as it zoomed past the blooming flowers and back again, swerving around a small anthill to come to a halt at the other side. The young object sighed.
"Nobody wants to play with Grassy today." he wheezed sadly to himself, letting his hand slip away from the toy. For a moment a cloud sailed over the sun and plunged the whole area into depressing shade. All was grey, and a few chubby raindrops plopped down from on high to taunt him. Grassy was chilled by the sudden shower, and (making sure to remember his boat) hastily retreated for shade. Bumbling under a small pine tree, he set his ship down and sank onto the clump of roots. Brushing a few droplets off his leaves and trying to relax against the sounds of Firey screaming at the rain in the background, he closed his eyes. A deep sigh escaped his lips.
"Grassy is lonely." he mumbled, the wind picking up over the meadows, shaking the creaky trunk above him and rustling the needles.
"Mhmm!"
Grassy's eyes flew open, focusing immediately on a tiny lump of elephant grey in front of him. Darker than the clouds, it grinned at him happily as it stood there on two feet watching. Astounded, Grassy shot up onto his feet in hope, grasping his boat in one tightly closed fist.
"H-hello!" he shouted, waving at the other object, trying to get it to react again. It didn't.
"Do you like boats?"
The smile didn't change, but one thing did: the small object advanced towards him to take a closer look at the vessel. Grassy proudly held it out in front of him for it to inspect.
"It's an icebreaker! It's very pointy so that people can get through ice in the sea. It's very tough. Grassy's favourite boat is an icebreaker."
"MhhhHM!"
Grassy lowered the toy down onto the pine needles to let both of them inspect it closely.
"Your name is Rocky? It is Rocky?"
Rocky nodded and smiled even wider, making Grassy feel as if butterflies were dancing in his tummy. A friend! This could be a friend. Grassy was happy.
"Let Grassy show you all his other boats!" he cried excitedly, leaping up and down in exhilaration and starting to run over the field. Rocky stood there under the tree grinning, only once spewing his characteristic vomit.
Grassy soared into the pack of his teammates sitting under a large gazebo Tennis Ball had built to keep the rain off, seeing Blocky and Basketball talking quietly in one of the corners. When they both spotted him running, they smiled and beckoned him in welcome.
"Hey Grassy! Why are you going so fast, you madlad?" Blocky joked, sweeping the little object up into his arms and swinging him around. Grassy screamed with delight.
"Grassy is getting his boats to show his new friend! He is waiting for Grassy under the tree."
"A friend?"
Basketball gave a delighted gasp.
"You have a new friend? Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you!" she congratulated, rushing to search for where the toys might be under the giant awning. Blocky placed Grassy back down on the tarpaulin ground, talking to him in an almost silent voice so nobody else could hear.
"You see buddy? I told you that you could do it. People will love you! You'll get friends your own age! And even if those friendships don't work out, you always have me, ok?"
Grassy beamed and nodded furiously.
"Now go get that friend!"
His bag of toys in hand, Grassy rushed round the periphery of the forest, spirits flying high as a kite. Rocky was going to love these. He could just imagine him now, smiling and making those little squeaky noises whenever he agreed with something. The boats grated against each other in the carrier bag like pebbles.
The root caught him by surprise.
The loop of wood grabbed his ankle and twisted it over like a gymnast on the bars. Launched to the ground, Grassy tried to put out his hands to protect himself, but it didn't work. He fell flat on his face, the boats launching their way out of his hands and spilling out everywhere in the leaf litter. Shocked for a second, then tearful, Grassy began to sob. Raindrops made their way through the canopy to season his fallen body. The boats slowly started to fill up with rainwater, mimicking his tears spilling down their sides. Grassy really hoped none of them were damaged or broken.
Footsteps on the leaf litter. He turned over.
"Hmm?"
Standing there, with the toy bag in his mouth, staring at him with those big ol' eyes, was Rocky. He was no longer grinning, but his mouth was a straight line in which he grasped the handle, chewing on the plastic. He dropped it down with a soft crinkle, then proceeded to move over to one of the boats, taking that in his teeth instead. Slowly but surely he moved over to the bag, and placed the small ship within it. He didn't break eye contact the entire time.
"Rocky - Rocky helps Grassy?"
Grassy's low whisper carried through the forest as the wind stilled. The sun burst back through the clouds, sending mist glimmering from every leaf in the woodland. Rocky placed the boat back into the carrier bag and looked up expectantly.
"Mhm?"
Grassy blinked the beads out from his eyes and sniffed, picking himself up to
his feet and standing at his full height. Bending down tearfully, he began to help tidy up. Ship after ship lept into the bag, all the while the puddles around them dried up. The sun sailed high in its chariot once more. It struck rays over the surrounding land as a promise of hope and friendship in the future. Or at least that's what Grassy began to hope. Had anybody ever cared for him like this before? He didn't think so. He couldn't lose this one chance at a best friend.
The icebreaker was the last one to rest on top of the pile of boats. The corners of Rocky's mouth curved up once again, as if all in the world were suddenly set right. Grassy smiled along with him, cheering up even more.
"Wow! All Grassy's toys are back! Grassy thanks Rocky."
He grinned and jumped a few times with excitement as he clutched the bag tightly to him, before calming down a little and blushing.
"You... can you be... can you be Grassy's best friend?"
Rocky gave an overjoyed squeak, closing his eyes into happy slits. Grassy went over to hug him tightly, stroking his hard head and body.
They spent hours playing in the forest, neither of them alone or ostracised anymore for being too childish. They had their toys and each other, adventuring everywhere. Grassy more than made up for Rocky's muteness with his narrations of the games they played, and each revelled and thrived in the other's company. All throughout the competition they spent their hours on the docks in their imagination, anchoring and scrubbing and sailing, off into the ocean blue.
Happy Love day everybody!
(Captain Holt voice) get some get some get some get some get some get some g