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Snufkin wasn't comfortable with physical touch. He wasn't sure if it was part of his nature or something he'd developed from all the time on his own, all the time when physical touch almost always led to pain.
But the more time he spent in Moomin Valley, the more he wanted it.
It was strange, to crave something that made him so uncomfortable at the same time.
And he was so, so grateful to the people who'd come to be important to him for how patient they were being about it. With how he would want it and then draw back, and even he couldn't tell just yet where his limits were as they were changing always.
It would have driven the more patient to awful scenes, he was sure. They'd come fairly close to a few by now, there was no doubt, with the looks he'd gotten from some – Snorkmaiden and Little My and, on occasion, even Moomin.
He could only thank whatever might be out there looking after wayward mumriks that he'd had time enough with them to be able to find the words to explain, somewhat, and to get them to understand. For them to have dealt with Ninny as well, and to understand at this point that progress wasn't a linear progression and that he would have days that fluctuated so much.
It was a minor miracle and he knew it.
Joxter and Mymblemamma had been so happy to see him, to know he'd made it...and Snufkin couldn't forget the feel of their hugs.
Mymblemamma was affectionate with all of her kids – too much so for Snufkin, who was still getting used to all of it.
She seemed to take the fact that he ducked away from her affection early easily, noting that Little My and Joxter were similar – they liked affection, but on their own terms and their own time. And it took a lot of time for Joxter to be used to the amount of affection the two of them showered each other in.
“Give it time,” she said easily, three children in her lap and the rest rampaging around them chaotically as she sat on the Moomin's veranda. “Your father needed time, and you've got a lot of time to make up for. Some things can't be rushed.”
For all she could be aggravating, Snufkin thought, sometimes his mother could be pretty wise.
She had to leave soon after, and though Snufkin wanted to get to know her, he couldn't help but be relieved as well.
Little My brought it up as they sat on the bridge and watched them go. “I love them, but...still kind of glad when they leave. How awful is that?”
“It's not. I feel the same. They're a lot,” Snufkin said, waving to them as they cheered once more, leaping up and down for his attention before disappearing into the trees.
Even so, he could still feel the great, warm hug Mymblemamma had wrapped him in before she'd left, hefting him off his feet.
He'd never thought he'd want or need a family...there were lots of good ones out there, but traveling as he did meant he saw the best and worst of people, so he'd known very well there was a chance they had abandoned him like people had said, that they were awful people.
Snufkin had never been so happy to be wrong in his life.
---XXX---
After Mymblemamma and her horde left, Joxter stayed.
The relationship between him and Snufkin was...well, not strained, but neither of them quite knew what they were doing.
It didn't help that Joxter still blamed himself for Snufkin being lost, despite the fact that he was the only one who blamed him for it.
Moominpappa was the one to come up with the idea of a father/son trip. He had taken Moomin on them before, it was a sure way of bonding!
Joxter and Snufkin glanced at each other, neither quite sure this was a good idea, but somehow found themselves caught up in Moominpappa's planning. That is to say, Moominpappa planned a trip and the two of them watched him plan it without their input.
Joxter managed to nix it. It was an interesting idea, he pointed out, since they both enjoyed travel, but that particular trip wouldn't have worked given the timing and weather.
But a week later, when Moominmamma needed something from a supposed secret meadow, a place in Grandmother's book, she remembered how fun it had been to go with Snufkin and asked gently if he and his father might want to come along with her.
It was for medicine, she said. She hoped she would never need it, but she'd been reading Grandmother's book, and it looked like conditions were shaping up for a summer that was just right for people to catch it – and she needed supplies to deal with it if that happened.
Moomin and Moominpappa, Snorkmaiden and Little My, all wanted to go as well, but Moominmamma handled them all in her own gentle way. Pointing out to Moominpappa that it was a chance for he and Moomin to bond, to Moomin that it was a chance to see how they got on for a day or two on their own.
Snorkmaiden and Little My agreed at that point to stay behind, Snorkmaiden to help and Little My for the enterntainment.
Apparently they had realized last time Moominmamma went off just how much she did around the house and didn't want to let her down this time.
---XXX---
The trio set off early in the morning, before anyone else was awake.
Getting there required quite a bit of climbing, and it wasn't an easy path.
Also, Grandmother Moomin seemed to have a thing for taking the most...exciting way to get anywhere.
Not that the three of them had any objections to that, but as Snufkin pointed out, they should probably look for an easier path in case they needed more of the medicine in a hurry.
The trip itself was...interesting.
Moominpappa was right, in that a trip could be a bonding experience – or one that tore people apart.
It was, Moominmamma thought, like watching a pair of cats try to get to know each other. Cautiously approaching, trying not to overstep while both almost aching to have a relationship.
It was a good thing she was here, actually, as they used her as a buffer between them, smoothing things over when they threatened to go wrong.
She had a feeling things would have gotten rather awkward quickly without her there before, but now...now they could use a little time to themselves, just Joxter and Snufkin, once they were back to Moomin Valley and had each had a little time alone to process and recharge. And this time the awkwardness would be smoothed over and they could really get to know each other.
Of course, she really had needed these plants – she hadn't lied about that. It was looking to be a wet, hot summer, perfect for the things Grandmother had warned about, and she hoped she wouldn't need them but didn't want to make this trip while people were back in Moomin Valley waiting for them. But she was very pleased that this had worked out the way she'd hoped for all three of them.
Moominmamma was feeling very happy right up until the path gave out from under her.
It crumbled from the outside, and she gave a little cry as she felt it start to go.
The next few seconds were a blur, a tangle of falling rocks and dust and confusion and fear.
Moominmamma found herself dangling over the edge, blood trickling down her arms from where Joxter and Snufkin hung on, their claws digging in as they clung to her.
It took both of them to pull her back up over the ledge – they were far too high off the ground, the cliff much too steep, to try the other way.
Her wrists were torn up by the time she was back on steady ground, but there was no time to tend them. The three of them made their shaky way to their feet and limped away from the edge, down the path, as quickly as they dared.
There was a spot up ahead, not far away, where the path widened out into a level field. The three dropped down there, panting and shaking.
It took Moominmamma a minute before she could raise her head. She exclaimed when she did, reaching out to Snufkin, who was covered in dirt, and whose cheek was already bruising, a scrape coloring his face red over the darkening spot.
He reached her first, throwing his arms around her neck and clinging.
“We almost lost you,” he said softly.
A second set of arms came around them both, squeezing.
It was a minute before any of them could move, and it was Joxter, reaching for his pack.
Snufkin pulled away, taking off his hat and flicking it to get the worst of the dust off.
“Oh, Mamma, your wrists!” he said as soon as he could see.
She looked down and winced. “They barely hurt,” she said. “It looks worse than it is.”
Joxter was already rinsing her wrists and arms off, using his canteen, and carefully looking over the wounds.
Snufkin dug into his pack and brought out some soap, and the two of them washed off the tiny wounds before bandaging them, each handling a wrist.
It was a bit overkill for the small punctures, but Joxter glared at Moominmamma when she ventured to say as much.
“They went deep enough to be a worry. Just let us take care of you. We put those marks on you in the first place. I guess we both panicked.” He softened and touched her snout gently, brushing a bit of dirt off of her. “That was too close.”
“I'll set up camp,” Snufkin said softly. “We're all too sore and shaken to keep going today.”
“Probably be worse tomorrow,” his father warned. Still, he got up and started helping his son. “No, you stay there,” he said when Moominmamma started to get up.
She planted her paws on her hips and huffed at him. “Just for now,” he said, paws raised. “Just...let us know you're okay for a minute.”
The camp was set up quickly, even with both of them doing it – all they really needed was a fire and to get food ready and the bedrolls out.
Moominmamma had a few things in her bag for emergencies, but she hesitated. “Probably best to save these for the morning,” she said at last, carefully putting them back in her bag. “We'll be much more sore then.”
There were winces from the other two, breath sucked in as they both remembered similar experiences.
Dinner was subdued, with both Joxter and Snufkin reaching out to Moominmamma now and again.
There was a small stream, and they all took the opportunity to clean themselves off. Quite a bit of how bad they all looked turned out to be dust and dirt, though it also revealed bruises and scratches on them all from falling rock and scraping across the ground.
---XXX---
Moominmamma woke during the night to a strange warmth against her back.
Blinking slowly, she carefully turned over, going soft at what she found.
Snufkin had, at some point, crawled over to lay against her, curled up tight. His father was curled up around Snufkin, his arm over his son.
A blue eye cracked open, looking over at Moominmamma. She smiled softly and nestled back down, carefully laying her arm over Snufkin before going back to sleep.
It had been a very bad scare indeed.
---XXX---
It took them extra time to get back to Moomin House. They were all sore and aching from the near fall, just as Moominmamma had predicted.
The cries of welcome turned to ones of concern as soon as they were within closer view, and the three were ushered into the house to be fussed over.
It was a little strange for Moominmamma to be the one fussed over, rather than the one fussing.
Moomin was fluttering between her and Snufkin, who was tolerating the attention much better than Moominmamma had expected.
Moominmamma caught Snufkin's eye, and he rolled his, careful not to let Moomin see, and Moominmamma hid her giggles behind her paw.
They were fine, just shaken up and sore, so once they were settled with tea and snacks and comfortable, there was little else that could be done.
Save for listening to the story of their adventure, all curled up on the veranda to hear everything that had happened.
The proper end to an adventure in Moomin Valley.