Work Text:
“Can you tell me something, J?”
This sudden question popping up made Joxter perk up, looking back at the Muddler curiously. The two had just been going on a walk together, in a comfortable silence. They enjoyed taking these strolls, they did this almost every day together. Sometimes they talked about things, other times they didn’t.
“Mm?” Joxter nodded, turning to face forward again, arms idly crossed behind his head and pipe hanging out of his mouth.
“How is it that- um- that you know you’re in love?” Muddler asked nervously, then pursed his lips and fiddled with his paws, pausing in his walking. “I mean-! You and Mymble- how is it that you know that you love each other?”
“Ah,” Joxter nodded, stopping when he noticed that his friend had halted. “We-ell,” Joxter turned towards his friend, but looked up at the limbs of the trees around them. They were orange and gold, signs of mid autumn, and the island was quite beautiful in the autumn. After a moment, Joxter resumed his walking and the Muddler followed nervously behind him.
“When you love someone, there’s a special sorta feeling in your chest, I think. Whether you’re
in
love with that person or not, you’ll definitely be able to tell if you love them. Sometimes they give the sensation of butterflies in your gut, other times they just can’t help but make you smile,” Joxter smiled back at Muddler and took his pipe out of his mouth, then cocked a brow, noting the Muddler’s flushed face. He continued their previous silent strolling for a while longer, taking a drag on his pipe and sighing it out before he stopped again and snickered, pulling the pipe down from his face.
“Ahhh, I see now.” Joxter grinned his big, sly grin, then put his hands on his hips. “Who exactly have you met, you silly bastard?”
Muddler sighed out a deep sigh of relief when he finally asked first, then grinned like a fool at his dear friend.
“Oh, Dear Joxter, I’ve met the most wonderful woman in the whole world today!” Muddler spun around, then put his paws to his chest, giggling.
“Really, now? My, my, even more wonderful than my dear Mymble?” Joxter chuckled, biting the end of his pipe idly.
“Hush, Joxter, hush!” Muddler waved his paw at him, then looked up at the golden trees with a dopey smile, tail wagging. “Her name is Fuzzy- and- and she is just so kind and enchanting! She’s a collector, Joxter, just like me!” Muddler grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him excitedly, causing the mumrik to laugh. “She loves buttons , Joxter!! Like me!! And- and- and her eyes , J, they’re like so kind and- and dark and shimmer with wonder that made me feel like I was someone special that she was talking to! Her fur is so shiny and her smile was so pure! She- BUTTONS , Joxter!! She loves my buttons, she’s got her own collection that’s almost equal in size to mine , it was wonderful!!”
“Oh, wow, what’re the odds of that!” Joxter snickered, then patted him on the shoulder. “Hmpuff. You’re certainly a lucky lad for finding someone as crazy as you are about collecting.”
“Oh, yes!” The Muddler nodded, blushing. “She, well, she made me feel the way you described before! With-with the butterflies, yes? I was so nervous to speak to her, yet I couldn’t shut my mouth! Oh, how muddled my words were, but she found it charming, she said! She said I was charming, J!!” Muddler nearly screamed as he wiggled his paws in little fists in pure joy.
“Aw,” Joxter snorted. “I’m glad to see you’ve found someone other than me and your uncle who finds it charming.” His long, black tail flicked behind him.
“Oh, hush!” Muddler smacked his arm and laughed.
“Hmmmpuff…” Joxter sighed and shook his head.
“What? Oh, I’m so sorry! Did I hit you too hard? Please tell me if I did, Joxter!” Muddler looked panicked for a moment.
“No, no, it’s not that, Muddler,” Joxter shook his head with a dramatic sigh. “I’m just… afraid…”
“A… Afraid?” Muddler frowned worriedly.
“Afraid… to see what a lovesick fool you already are, you bastard!” Joxter burst into laughter, which made the Muddler freeze and turn as red as the coffee can he called home.
“Hey! You- YOU-!” Muddler couldn’t come up with an insult, so he just ran after the Joxter, who sprinted away from him, cackling.
“What was that?” Joxter shouted over his shoulder, grinning and hurrying up when Muddler was gaining on him, laughing too.
“I’m gonna shake all the last apples from your tree when we get home!” Muddler huffed as he ran, giggling.
“Oh, really? Why thank you, that saves me from much trouble picking them!” Joxter cackled some more to rub in that the Muddler’s attempt at a playful threat didn’t work out. Muddler snorted, then leapt forward, tackling the Joxter to the ground in a fit of laughter between the two as they rolled down the side of the grassy hill they’d made it to the top of, the Muddler’s pot and the Joxter’s hat being left behind in the grass on the way down.
The pair finally stopped their childish, playful rolling, in a flat spot at the bottom of the hill, Muddler having landed on top of Joxter, still laughing. Joxter had landed on his back under the Muddler, chuckling. Muddler froze when he realized that he was sitting on top of his friend’s stomach, looking down at him with wide, surprised eyes, and his face went back to that same red it had been before, like his beloved coffee can.
Joxter stared up at Muddler, his dark, curly hair looking charmingly messy as always, and his eyes calm as they always were. He snorted, reaching up and pulling his pipe from his mouth, which had somehow remained through all the rolling. He puffed a breath of smoke in the Muddler’s face.
“Comfortable, are we?” The Joxter cocked a brow, then narrowed his eyes and grinned. Muddler yelped and quickly threw himself off of him, a nervous wreck.
“Ah! I’m sorry, terribly so!! I’m not sure what came over me, pushing you like that, forgive me! I- I didn’t mean any harm- I- are- are you alright? Oh my goodness, I-” Muddler shut up when Joxter shushed up and waved his paw towards him. The mumrik tucked his paws under his head comfortably, sighing and letting his tail curl over his outstretched legs in the grass.
“No need to apologize, Muds, it was funny,” Joxter chuckled, closing his eyes. “Feel free to go on, by the way. About the girl, I mean.”
Muddler nodded, sitting dumbfounded for a moment before he let himself fall backwards in the grass beside Joxter, his ears flopping out beside his head without his pot to keep them in place. Muddler went on a bit about how he’d run into her at the outdoor market in town, and how he promised to be back tomorrow morning to talk to her again. Joxter just listened, occasionally chuckling or letting out a little “hmpuff” to let him know that he was listening.
Then they found themselves in that silence again, that silence that two friends so close could share together. Joxter continued to smoke what little bit was left in his pipe, and Muddler stared at the clouds and thought. He watched the setting sun fill the sky with bright, wonderful colors, warm colors that made his heart feel warm and safe.
“Have you anything to talk about, Joxter?” Muddler asked quietly, looking over at the Joxter, who’s eyes were closed.
Joxter sighed as if he’d taken another drag on his pipe, but there was nothing left in it. He didn’t reply for a while. Finally though, the mumrik spoke up in his low, calming voice.
“I had a dream last night.” Joxter peaked his eyes open to look at the orange and pink sky. “A rather nice one.”
“Oh?” Muddler perked up, raising his brows.
“It was almost this exact scene,” Joxter blinked calmly, taking his pipe from his mouth and setting it in the grass beside him, laying his head right in the greenery and having his arms idly by his sides.
“Goodness me! Really?” Muddler’s eyes brightened and he looked back up at the sky with Joxter.
“Mhm,” Joxter nodded. “It was just you and I in all the world, but it was a swell world. The grass was tall, much taller than this, I think, and we laid on top of a mountain at the very top of this world together.” Joxter recalled this memory fondly. “We just laid there, as we are now, and it was a nice dream,”
Muddler smiled at Joxter, fiddling with some grass and finding his cheeks had flushed a little bit, and he hoped that his friend wouldn’t notice.
“Another difference though,” Joxter said with a hum. “It was a sunrise, I think. Yes, it was certainly a sunrise, because, though this sky is lovely, nothing is more beautiful in nature than a sunrise.” The Joxter stared up at the pinking sky with his electric blue eyes, eyes which pulsed with constant thought, constant curiosity, yet also, a constant calm. Joxter perked up when he heard Muddler mumble something. “What was that?”
The Muddler reached his paw over, placing it on Joxters and sitting up.
“Let’s find it then, Joxter.” Muddler smiled.
“What? Find what?” Joxter cocked a brow, sitting up as well and looking confused.
“Let’s find a sunrise.” The Muddler clutched his paw. “Just like in your dream. We’ll lay there and forget the troubles of the world.” He smiled warmly, a warmth that radiated brighter than the sun itself.
“Huh…” The Joxter thought. “That’d be real nice Muds, but that sunrise I saw didn’t exist.” Joxter shook his head, chuckling. He dared to look at his friend, and blue eyes locked with dark eyes, eyes that shimmered with a constant wonder for the world.
“May… May…” Muddler couldn’t find the words and he flushed.
“Hm?”
“May I have butterflies for multiple people, J?” Muddler couldn’t look away, but he was so nervous that he couldn’t help but quiver.
“One can have butterflies for as many people as they’d like, friend.” Joxter chuckled, starting to look away, but he jolted when Muddler suddenly shouted.
“ You give me butterflies!” The Muddler blurted out, face red, and paw gripping tightly onto Joxter’s. “You… You… You give me butterflies, Joxter.”
Joxter raised his brows, just blinking in surprise. He thought for a moment, then chuckled, then laughed. “Thank you, Muddler,” Joxter smiled his charming smile that could sweep any creature off their feet, and the Muddler gulped, moving closer.
“M… May I..?” The Muddler whispered, paw moving up to Joxter’s whiskered face. Joxter’s eyes fell half lidded and he nodded, then closed the distance between the two, eyes shutting. The Joxter’s paws cupped the Muddler’s cheeks as they kissed, and Muddler’s paw trailed back to Joxter’s hair, running through it, the other atop one of Joxter’s paws. After a moment, they separated, Muddler’s dark eyes twinkling. The Muddler grabbed Joxter’s paw again and yanked him up, pulling him up to his feet.
“Hm?” Joxter looked surprised, his face even a bit flushed.
“I don’t care what you said before, Joxter,” Muddler tugged him back up the path from which they’d rolled to retrieve their hats.
“What?” Joxter let himself be dragged, taking his hat when it was handed to him.
“Let’s find a sunrise.” The Muddler demanded, looking at him with an adventurous, wonderful grin, and the Joxter couldn’t possibly refuse him.