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Gramble wasn’t a hateful person.
He was defensive. Easily agitated.
He took a breath as he looked down at the various Snax he had gathered in their pens, a sense of pride filling him.
He finally had something to care for, to cherish. It was a shame that the others didn’t agree.
He reached for the key, inserting it into the lock and turning it, securing his barn and everything in it. He let out a breath of relief, knowing his kin were safe for the night. Passing by each of them, he cooed soft words to them, receiving a response that just warmed his heart.
‘This is somethin’ that I yearned for. I finally have a family, after so long.’ He grinned to himself, watching as his little ones finally started to fall asleep, letting out various cries of their name as they got comfy within their pens.
After double-checking that every window and door was closed and locked, he made his way to bed, flopping under his blanket, slowly drifting away to the sound of his family.
He slept soundly for once that night.
Gramble wasn’t a vengeful person.
He just wanted to ensure that his family was safe, that was all.
Wambus Troubleham, though… He was the one that made him reconsider his forgive and forget policy. His stubbornness combined with the craving for Bugsnax that everyone else shared caused a lot of conflict between the two of them, from day one.
‘Just suppose there’s no pleasin’ everyone…’ A small frown etched his way onto his face, looking out of the window across to said farmer. Admittedly, Wambus was a hard worker, and he could respect that, but his stubbornness was almost to comical levels. It was sad, honestly.
No wonder his marriage was strained, if Triffany had to deal with that every day.
He shook his head, walking away from the window, beginning his daily routine of cleaning up any mess left during the night, ensuring there weren’t any leaks in the barn, making sure all the locks were still there and untampered, before finally unlocking everything, and letting some of them out for a walk outside.
Today was training day, and he wanted to let them show their love, and with a little guidance, anything was possible as a parent.
Gramble wasn’t one to give up easily.
Love is tough, after all.
He grimaced as he took off his sweater, the stench of sauce reeking from it. Idly, he wondered why he didn’t take it off first, but that didn’t matter.
At least they were actually paying attention when he did this to himself. No matter how… affectionate they got.
It would all be worth it in the end, no matter how humiliating it would get. First, though, he had to clean himself up. He did not want to have to air out his barn after sleeping with his stench.
He’d have to find Lizbert beforehand though, just to make sure no one panicked.
As he passed by the Snax, a Fryder he’d yet to name eyed him from his pen, akin to how a predator eyed his prey. If it weren’t for the fact that they were family, he would have stopped in fear, but as they were his young, he felt safe.
Besides, what could one little Fryder do?
He smiled as he approached, paws raised to pet the Snak.
“Hey there, ‘lil fella…” He patted them on the head, affection flowing through him.
He did not expect them to lunge at him, yelling out “Fryder!” and sinking their little fangs into his arm, dragging themself along his fur.
Thankfully it wasn’t enough to pierce, but it startled him bad enough that he lept back, a cry letting itself out from his throat.
Once the shock wore off, he was left with a Fryder desperately trying to take in the sauce that wasn’t there anymore, leaving them disappointed.
“No, you don’t do that! That’s gotta be the rudest thing I’ve seen any of you do!” He snapped, eyes conveying his disappointment. They just stared back, chirping out their name as they stopped gnawing at his fur for sauce.
“Yeah, that’s right, you don’t do that to your papa!” He scolded, pointing a finger at them. “I love you all, but you gotta learn some manners!” He looked around, turning to each pen in disappointment. “That goes for all y’all!”
There was no response aside from the idle call of their names, not even paying attention to him.
He sighed, shaking his head in acceptance. “Alright, then, I’ll figure this out…”
Gramble wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover.
First impressions weren’t everything, after all.
But ever since both Lizbert and Egg disappeared, it was like everyone’s true colours were showing, arguments erupting more and more, even before the pair left.
He barely let his Snax out anymore, now that things were getting desperate, and as a consequence sleep was a rarity.
He couldn’t lose his little ones again…
Unfortunately, though, sleep was a need for a reason, and he tended to forget things when he was tired.
That was his first mistake in hindsight.
He awoke suddenly to the rustling of something on the bottom floor, which snapped him out of any grogginess he may have had at being woken up early. Adrenaline was already pumping as the fear set in at the sound.
Someone was trying to break in.
The click of a lock echoed out quietly, as the door slowly crept open, the moonlight flooding in.
As his eyes adjusted, his stomach dropped at the sight.
Wambus had a sack over his shoulder, expression hungry. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he was there for.
Thinking quickly, he hopped down from his bed, making a mad dash down the stairs, causing as much noise as possible, hoping to scare him off before he started taking any of his Snax.
Instead, all he got was a tense Wambus Troubleham, sack already open.
“What’re you doin’ here, Wambus?” He said, teeth clenching.
“Out of the way, Gramble.” Was all Wambus had in response, already marching over to one of the pens.
He couldn’t let this monster have his way. So instead, he’d have to make a sacrifice.
He’d have to let them go. For their safety.
Thinking on his feet, he tackled Wambus from behind, toppling him over, and started rushing to each pen, screaming all the while to startle his little ones, gesturing for each of them to leave as he did so. It hurt to do this, but if it meant that they’d be spared the fate that would have befallen them anyway, he’d always be willing to do it.
As he opened the last pen, Wambus was finally getting up, still dazed from where he impacted the fence.
“What…” He let out once he realized what he’d come for was leaving the barn. “What the grumpin’ hell did you just do !?” Wambus' voice raised significantly, anger twisting his expression into an ugly sneer.
“I… I made sure you didn’t go up an’ murder my kin , Troubleham.” He said, tone firm. “I am not about to let you take my young like that, what the grump do you take me for?!” He glared up at the taller grumpus as he approached, not about to back down.
He learned when he was young to not show fear to those bigger than you, and that one of the few things that his Ma helped him with.
“I’ll tell you what you are, you just took away our only food source, you little devil!” Wambus snarled, leaning down closer to him, clearly to intimidate him.
Unfortunately, he was all too familiar with this tactic.
“They’re my kin, not some… some market where you can just pick out whatever you want!” He stomped his foot angrily. “Get it through your stubborn skull!”
That was the last straw, in Wambus’ eyes.
Before he could process it, he was on the floor, his cheek flaring in pain.
He had just punched him, didn’t he? He did, and the taste of blood was alarming.
“Get it together, Gigglefunny, they’ll never love you, you’re just makin’ a fool of yourself.” He huffed, turning away. “I hope you know the magnitude of what you’ve done, you grumpin’ idiot.”
Gramble spat in his direction, tinted red from the blood in his mouth.
Gramble didn’t like to dwell on the past, but as they all flew away from the island turned disaster zone, he couldn’t help but think about how it had come to this.
He looked over to everyone else, all in various states of disarray and Snakification, all staring off in shock at what they saw. Could things have gone better? Could Lizbert and Eggabell have been saved?
He shook his head, refusing to dwell on that train of thought. He’d had enough happen in one day already.
Still… He’d only just gotten over seeing Bugsnax as a replacement to what couldn’t be replaced, then within the week everything goes wrong and they’re forced to leave for the sake of their lives.
He looked at his single Snak limb, a Strabby which he had eaten during one of his nightly sleepwalks. He clenched a fist, and sure enough, the leaves moved accordingly.
He felt disgusted with himself. With how he saw them, and what they did to him.
How could he have been such a grumpin’ idiot? He let out a breath, agitation and self-hatred eating at him as they flew away from Snaktooth Island.
Gramble was happy to admit when he was a fool, and what a fool he was.
Bugsnax weren't a substitute for family, no matter how much he tried to trick himself into thinking so.
Wiggle had moved in together with him, for the time being, partially to test the waters with what they had and to take a small break from the hectic lifestyle of a star after everything.
Despite her lack of ideas, she still kept trying in her off time. It brought a smile to his face as he sat there, knitting away.
He finally had something to cherish, and while it wasn’t set in stone, he knew Wiggle would be there, no matter how they saw each other.
That was what family was about.