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Gramble hammered the last few nails onto his fence and gave the planks a hard shake, ensuring they were stable. He walked back a bit to look at the fencing, seeing it was a little bit crooked. His work was a bit rushed, since his most recently donated bugsnax decided to… Run away. At least he had everyone else in the barn! For now. He wondered how long it would take for them to inevitably leave him as well.
Tears pricked at his eyes before he knew it. Gramble quickly wiped his face and picked up his tools, walking back into his home. “I-I’m back everyone!”
Many different snax were walking about, making the house feel rather crowded. Gramble was relieved to see they were all getting along. Some of the snax tended to pick on each other if he left them alone together for too long. A majority of them were sleeping at the moment, having been in there a few hours while Gramble fixed the fence outside.
“...” Gramble crouched down and pet a peelbug gently. Maybe he was too overbearing to his little ones. Was the barn too small for them, and they wanted a bigger space to go about and explore? Should he take them out on walks? Or make the fencing outside a bit wider to give them more room?
No, he didn’t have enough room to expand the fencing. And they might try to run away if he took them for walks! They did that quite a lot when he was out on the beach with Wiggle. Did they want to run away from him? Did they hate their life here that much?
The peelbug shifted under his shaking paw, unraveling itself and crawling away.
“Ah, s-sorry Silkie!” Gramble’s voice wavered, his vision blurring even more. He was surrounded by his little ones, yet he felt completely alone. He wiped tears away from his face, shaking and crying softly. Why did this always happen? Everybody he ever loved ended up leaving him, one way or another. Was he the problem? Was something wrong with him that just made him utterly unlovable? Did anybody really care about him, or were they just… Tolerating him?
…
Gramble remembered someone he wanted to go visit today.
Tuning her banjo, Wiggle hummed to herself- trying to find a rhythm. Something that really stood out to her.
“Mm mmm, hmmm, oh baby~ ohhh… Eugh-”
She groaned and put the banjo down, laying backwards on her bed. No matter what she did, she just couldn’t get through this music block of hers. She’s tried so many things in her life, just to get that spark of inspiration back. Her holy grail.
Wiggle held her arm up, staring at the back of her transformed paw. Bugsnax haven’t gotten her anywhere thus far in her great journey. Were they delicious? Of course! Did they make her feel good, at least for a certain amount of time? Absolutely! But they were yet to make her feel something. Something that could make the magic happen again. Something that could save her career from inevitably crashing and dying.
After staring at the ceiling for several minutes, a few knocks at the door broke her free of her trance. She immediately sat up and looked over at her open front door.
“Gramble! How are you darling?” She smiled and asked. Just the sight of the sweet grumpus made her feel a tad better.
“Oh, uh, y’know- the usual!” Gramble said and forced a smile. “I just uh… Wanted to pay you a visit!” His voice wavered a bit as he walked into the hut.
Wiggle squinted at him, immediately noticing that something was off. “Are you doin’ alright hun? Did you need something?”
“Oh no! Everythin’s alright. I just wanted to spend a lil’ time ya is all.” Gramble said. He became more nervous the more Wiggle stared at him. She always noticed whenever he got nervous and antsy, he would start messing with the sleeves of his sweater. But then again he was always nervous and antsy to some extent, so it probably wasn’t that big a deal.
“Well then get yourself over here darling~!” She swooped down and wrapped her arms around Gramble, getting a yell out of him as she flopped back onto the bed- the mattress creaking loudly. He let out a relieved sigh and curled up in Wiggle’s warm embrace. He felt so safe and comfortable, her fur brushing against his. He wished he could stay like this forever.
But she ended up pulled away from the hug, laying on her side as she smiled at Gramble. “I’ve been dying to see you as well sweetheart. It gets rather lonely without you here.” Wiggle sighs.
“Yeah, it gets pretty lonely for me too. That’s why I came over! To get away from… The loneliness.” Gramble muttered. Wiggle was staring at him again. She had a soft but concerned expression on her face.
“Is everything really alright Gramble? You seem troubled.” She put her paw over his. Surprisingly hers was a lot smaller. But it still managed to fit, almost perfectly as her fingers slid between his.
Gramble’s heart skipped a beat, his face turning a bit darker. He then decided he might as well open up. “Well… Y’know I’ve been tryin’ to improve trainin’ with my little ones! I asked Buddy if they could donate a few larger fellas to the barn, since I thought they may be… Smarter? And listen to my trainin’ more?”
Wiggle nodded. “That sounds a little dangerous sweetie. I always felt like the bigger ones were more aggressive than anything else.”
“They… Were, actually. I was constantly keeping them from attackin’ the others! ‘Ventually had to keep the little ones from goin outside. Keep 'em safe til’ their new siblings were trained.” Gramble sighed again.
“Sprout was always the easiest one to train. He learned so fast! And he actually retained what I taught him mosta the time. Seemed to have a lotta fun too. Charwee’s been doin’ really well with his trainin’! But he definitely gets more… Distracted.”
He laid on his back and rambled a bit about the training, and Wiggle listened to the whole thing, laying on her side. “Sprout was quite young when you found him, wasn’t he?”
“Uh… Y-Yeah, he was pretty small.” Gramble shrugged. “Maybe I just taught him early…?”
“Well, maybe. But some of them are gonna learn at different paces. I’m sure your big boys will come around eventually! You just gotta goooooo with the flooooow~” Wiggle sung.
Gramble normally would’ve been fine with her breaking into song. But now it just made him more sad. It almost felt… Mocking, in a way. He tensed up and felt tears stinging his eyes again. He looked away from Wiggle so she wouldn’t notice.
“T-That’s the problem, Wiggle. My big fellas… They ran away.” He muttered. “Broke through ma fence, scattered away from me.”
Wiggle’s eyes widened in surprise. “They broke out?? What happened, is everything alright?” She stood up and walked over to the window. She couldn’t see the barn from where her hut was, but she was more worried about what kind of bugsnax they were.
“Oh, I-I was alright! They didn’t hurt me or any of the lil’ ones. They just… Broke out.”
“Uh-huh… What kind of bugsnax were these big ones, darlin’?” Wiggle asked, still staring out her window.
“Oh, um, they were a scoopy banoopy and a praying picantis. I named ‘em Banatalie and Manny. They butted heads a lot, but I did all I could to show em I loved them all equally! They seemed like such sweethearts, even if they did burn and freeze me…” Gramble laid on his side, and started to ramble a little bit about the two of them- why he named them the way he did, and what he felt like he saw under those gruff exteriors.
Wiggle herself was… A bit too distracted to listen to him, as she was watching something really interesting happening outside. Seems like one of his big guys were still around town, specifically the Picantis that was- currently assaulting Shelda over by the campfire.
She was calling the thing several crude things, and eventually Filbo ran over to try and step in. He reached for the bugsnak and- Oh, oh no he was on fire now. Oh dear, that looked really bad. He was running around, flailing his arms and screaming.
Wiggle inhaled sharply and slowly closed her blinds. Hopefully they would figure that whole mess out on their own… She turned around and gasped to see Gramble was actually crying now. He pulled his hat down to cover most of his face, trembling and choking back sobs.
“Oh darling! I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Wiggle sat back down on the bed, pulling the small grumpus into a close hug.
“Shh… It’s okay sweetheart. I’m so sorry your babies ran away… I’m so, so sorry Gramble.” She whispered. Wiggle ran her hand up beneath his sweater, rubbing his back gently. Her soft embrace and reassuring words were the final straw, as Gramble started full on bawling- holding onto Wiggle tightly.
His fingers dug into her back, making Wiggle flinch a little bit. It didn’t hurt all the bad though. Just like a little pinch. She rocked herself back and forth, telling Gramble it was going to be alright. What else could she do? He obviously came here with someone on his mind, and she completely dismissed that- thinking he was just being anxious like usual. There was a guilt weighing in her mind, but she put that aside for now to just focus on helping Gramble.
After a few minutes his sobbing turned into sniffles and soft hiccups. His whole body was shaking as he stayed latched onto the tall grump.
“What’s- W-Wrong with me??” Gramble stuttered. “E-Everyone I- Love and c-care for. They always end up- L-Leavin’ me! All my folks, all my- m-my pets…”
It took a few more minutes for Gramble to calm down and detach himself from Wiggle, still shaking and sniffing. His eyes were red and puffy, and he had to wipe his nose off real quick.
He sighed and stared directly down, unable to look at Wiggle in the eyes. He just felt like he couldn’t. She frowned and him and held his one paw, and put her other paw on his cheek. He finally looked up to meet her eyes. “You poor thing… I’m so sorry you’ve gone through so much.
Gramble leaned against her paw, sighing shakily. He felt awful after all that crying. “It’s only a mattera’ time now…”
“Until what darling?”
“...” He was almost scared to tell her. “What’s wrong with me Wiggle… Why does everyone leave me? Am I the problem? Is there somethin’ about me that… B-Bothers people?”
“Oh course not! Gramble, don’t say that about yourself.” Wiggle exclaimed. “You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met. I love everything about you! I’m so sorry that your family had the audacity to just up and leave. ”
“B-But… Everyone- Everyone seems to just… Not like me. Even my own bugsnax would probably be better off with me.”
Gramble squeaked a little bit when Wiggle grabbed the sides of his head, leaning in close to him. His face warmed up as he felt how close they were to each other.
“Gramble. Listen to me. Untrained bugsnax are bound to wander off. It doesn’t mean they hate you. They are simply animals, who are unfamiliar with your training as of right now. That is the only reason they have ever decided to leave you. And your family? Who decided to just up and leave when you needed them? There is something wrong with them. Not you.”
Her face looked a little bit intimidating, but her voice sounded very reassuring in a way. Gramble sniffed and sighed, putting his paws on Wiggle’s. “I just don’t want you to leave me too… I love you Wiggle.”
Now it was her turn to feel emotional. Wiggle tensed up and blushed a bit when Gramble said that, not sure what to say next. Her chest felt tingly and her brain was like a mush, just from hearing four simple words.
“...I love you too, Gramble. I have always loved you.” She was finally able to put her feelings into words, after being hung up on the subject for so long. There was always that itching feeling in the back of her head, asking her if they were really dating. For some reason she was never sure.
Then it was suddenly time for her flustered mind to absolutely max out, when she felt two paws holding the back of her head, and pulled her in for a kiss. Wiggle’s heart was absolutely pounding, as was Gramble’s. They pulled away quickly, staring at each other for a few moments eyes wide and feeling like their faces were on fire.
“Eheh- Hehehehe!!” Gramble started giggling, gently smacking his hands against his cheeks and kicking his legs. Wiggle squeaked and broke out of her trance once more. She snickered a little bit, cracking a smile. And before they knew it the two grumpuses were laughing and giggling. They weren’t exactly sure why they were laughing. But something about seeing each other smiling, and laughing with joy, was just so very contagious.
They stopped laughing after a while, breathing heavily and just giggling every now and again. Gramble rubbed his eyes and laid against Wiggle again. “Thank you. Thank you so much for lovin’ me.”
She smiled and laid back against her pillows, kissing him on the forehead. “Thank you for loving me too, doll.”
The two grumps laid there for a while. They were ready to fall asleep. Or at least Gramble was anyway- today absolutely sucked the life out of him. Wiggle was about ready to go to sleep as well. But there was still something bothering her. And now was probably a better time than ever, before Gramble decides to fall asleep.
“Darling, can I ask you something?”
“Hm…?” He sounded very tired, but lifted his head up.
“Are we- Um… This is gonna sound a bit silly, b-but-” Wiggle inhaled. “A-Are we dating?”
“...” Gramble took a second to answer that.
“Do you wanna be dating?”
“Yes! But only if you want to-” She felt so afraid asking this for some reason.
“... Yes. I would love to.” He smiled.
Wiggle’s heart fluttered a bit, and her face darkened. “Thank you sweetie. Thank you so much.” She put a paw on her face, smiling happily. Gramble’s sleep deprivation was really getting to him, as he was dozing off while laying against Wiggle’s chest. She wrapped her arms around him and took her glasses off, setting them on the side of the bed. She didn’t want to get up and disturb Gramble, so she just stared up at the ceiling- listening to him snoring softly.
Things may be rough right now, for both of them. But at the end of the day, they were happy to have each other. Gramble was always happy to have Wiggle by his side, and Wiggle felt closure finally knowing she had Gramble by her side. She closed her eyes and shifted her head to the side, drifting off to sleep as well.
Both of the grumps slept peacefully, safe and secure in each other’s arms. And out in Snaxburg, Wambus finally scared the picantis out of town, and Filbo was getting his seven third degree burn wounds treated.