Chapter Text
“It’s train day!”
Wally tugged on Barnaby’s hand that he was holding, his trademark smile just a tad wider on his face this sunny day. Barnaby looked at him and chuckled.
“Yeah! I know, buddy,” Barnaby replied. “You’ve been saying so all morning.”
“Yes.” Wally nodded, matter-of-factly. He didn’t pick up on Barnaby’s slightly annoyed tone. “Because it’s train day.”
The big dog let out a fond sigh and rolled his eyes. Wally did not notice and continued buzzing with excitement as he and Barnaby made their way to Howdy’s Place.
This was a weekly occurrence in which the only transport near Home, a train that came through the front of the neighborhood, would make its appearance. Mostly, it was to bring stock for Howdy and, every now and then, shipments for Eddie to deliver. Still, Wally insisted on tagging along to say hello to his friend, you.
You were the train conductor and, despite the fact you only came around every now and again, Wally thought you to be a good friend. He considered you just as much of a neighbor as all of his other friends and he was delighted to take up every chance he got to talk to you.
Being from outside of Home, you had lots of interesting stories to tell and souvenirs to bring him. Wally thought this was all fine and dandy but, more so than that, he just loved spending time with you. He wasn’t quite sure why that was. Playing games with Julie did not ignite the same warm feeling inside him as talking to you did. He was not as excited and, for some reason, nervous when he saw Eddie coming to deliver the mail as he was when he waited for your train to stop by Home’s entrance.
Whatever the reason, he made sure not to miss any opportunity he got to see you. Barnaby didn’t mind accompanying him to meet with Howdy and you, even if it meant suffering through Wally blabbering nonstop about you. He made the occasional comment about how “bad he had it” or how “big his crush was” to Wally. The smaller puppet didn’t know what it was that he had or how he was being crushed and just assumed Barnaby was making his funny jokes again.
When Wally and Barnaby entered the bodega, Wally greeted Howdy with a smile and a wave. Barnaby gave Howdy a joke in exchange for his daily hotdog as they all decided to chat while they waited.
“It’s train day!” Wally said again as he hopped atop Howdy’s counter.
“That it is, my friend!” Howdy laughed as he cleaned a glass until it was shiny and spotless. “I bet you’re excited about the new shipment of apples, huh?”
“Something else too,” Barnaby hummed, idly chomping on his hotdog.
“Ah, yes!” Howdy’s smile suddenly became more mischievous. “Wally’s friend!”
Wally’s smile remained on his face but his eyes drooped with confusion.
“Huh? Aren’t they your friend too?” Wally asked.
“Yes but not in the same way,” Barnaby explained. Howdy nodded in agreement.
Wally opened his mouth to question them further but was promptly interrupted by the telltale sound of a train whistle. He practically jumped off the counter with excitement and Barnaby and Howdy gave each other knowing smiles.
They all made their way out of the bodega to walk the small distance to where you’d be handing off Howdy’s packages. Wally clasped his hands gently, all kinds of wonderful feelings greeting him as he watched your train brake on the tracks before your head popped out of the engine car’s window.
Your first order of business was helping Howdy to unload all the new things for his store. Except, Barnaby eventually took over, taking boxes out of your hands and nudging you closer to Wally with an innocent smile. Wally wasn’t sure why Barnaby did that but he certainly didn’t complain when you eventually took the hint and made your way to Wally’s side. You suddenly focused your attention on him as you leaned against the side of a train car.
“Hey, Wallander!” You gave him a cheery smile, which he returned with a dopey one of his own.
“It’s Wally,” he corrected.
He sincerely did think you’d know his name by now but he wasn’t upset. It was nice that you talked to him at all.
“I know!” You laughed. You put a hand on his shoulder in some sort of friendly gesture but all it did was make Wally smile more, plunging him deeper into these fuzzy sensations he was having. “It’s just a funny nickname. You know, between friends?”
Wally hummed at the word ‘friends.’ He loved being friends with you. It was good because it was different from being friends with his neighbors, even Barnaby, who was his best friend. It was so much brighter, so much warmer, always leaving him aching for more.
“Ha ha ha!” He let out that monotone laugh he had practiced with Barnaby and that seemed to make you smile more too.
Wally loved your smile. He wished he saw more of it.
Even more intense than these emotions he got when he was with you were the ones he had when you left. Wally was rarely sad, had heard of the emotion in storybooks, and had seen it in action in Sally’s plays. Yet, feeling it was a rare occurrence indeed. Spilled a bit of paint on his favorite cardigan? No problem, accidents happen! That would come right off in the wash. Trapped inside of Home because of the rain? No matter, he could try baking cookies from the recipe Poppy gave him to pass the time.
The thing was, every problem had a solution for Wally, so there was no need to ever feel sad. Except, with you, Wally had no solution. He missed you when you left but you had to leave, which meant there was no way to fix his sadness. So he thought.
“How’ve you been, Wally ?” you asked, emphasizing his name with a laugh.
“Good,” he answered simply. His half-lidded eyes never left yours. Wally had been told his habit of intense eye contact could be unnerving sometimes but you didn’t seem to mind. In fact, you stared back at him just as much and it made him happy. “How about you?”
“Fine.” You tilted your head. There was a glint in your eyes he didn’t recognize. “Though, I did miss your handsome face.”
For some reason, Wally felt his face become hot. Perhaps the sun was just burning brighter now, summer was fast approaching after all.
“You think I’m handsome?” His eyes widened. “I think I’m handsome too!”
Wally didn’t tell a joke (at least he didn’t think he did) but you chuckled like he did anyway. Even if he didn’t understand, he made you happy and that was more than he could ever hope for.
“You’re really blunt, you know that?”
“Is that a good thing?” He was sincerely asking.
You nodded. “Oh, yes. Don’t worry.”
Of course Wally had no reason to worry! He was here with you, the highlight of his week (every week).
“I got something for you, by the way!”
Wally perked up, watching intently as you fished for something in your pocket, even more so when he saw what it was. You held out an apple for him in the palm of your hand, though it wasn’t a regular apple. Unlike the ones he liked to paint or eat, this one was green!
Wally took it with both of his hands, pupils dilating slightly as he moved his attention from you to your offering. “What is it?”
“It’s an apple!” You shook your head. “Why? Have you never had a Granny Smith before?”
“Apples are red,” Wally answered.
“Not all the time." Your hands came to cup his around the apple and he swore he almost melted. When had it become so swelteringly hot? “I know you don’t get these in Home a lot and I saw some at the store where I’m from,” you told him with that lovely smile. Wally could’ve swooned. “And I thought of you.”
“Me,” Wally repeated.
He liked that, he liked that you thought of him outside of your weekly meetings, as he did with you. Yes, he liked it very much.
“Why, thank you.” He took the apple more firmly in his hands and tucked it away for later. Maybe not to paint or eat this time but just to admire.
“You’re welcome,” you responded and leaned away.
Wally only mourned the loss of your touch for a split second before Barnaby made his way over to the two of you. He rested a hand against Wally’s pompadour, squishing it slightly, though Wally looked unfazed and it made you giggle.
“Hey, kiddos,” he said with a laugh. “Are you two done flirting or are you ready to get all these boxes back to the bug-dega?”
“Sure.” You nodded, remembering the task at hand.
You swept away casually to where Howdy was, leaving Barnaby alone with his confused friend.
“Flirting?” Wally finally asked as though his mind had just processed the word.
“Flirting,” Barnaby affirmed. He pushed himself off with Wally, leaving the yellow puppet with messy hair and a slightly smaller smile.
Wally cast his gaze to where you were. He seemed unable to part with the sight of you for long. It just always felt like there was a wide, gaping hole in him like a void and, when he looked at you, he felt full again. And happy and loved and light, among many other things.
“I don’t know, Barnaby.” Wally talked to him but he didn’t dare move his eyes from you. “They are just a friend.”
“For now.” Barnaby began smoking his pipe.
“It’s all in good fun…” Wally mused.
“Until it isn’t.”
Wally’s face twisted with mild frustration; at least, as much as it could with his smile still intact.
“I don’t get it,” he eventually stated.
“Get what, little buddy?”
Barnaby started to move in your direction, ready to get back to helping but Wally didn’t budge. He just stood frozen, contemplating over his and your words.
“Your joke,” Wally continued. He tore his gaze away from you to look at Barnaby. “I don’t get it.”
Usually, Wally didn’t mind not understanding Barnaby’s jokes, he’d just learned to laugh and get along with them. But he wanted to understand this one because it was about you.
Barnaby gave him a strange smile and then laughed, placing a paw over his belly. When he finished, poor confused Wally still staring at him blankly, he sighed.
“Oh, it’s not a joke, Wally. You really like them.”
Julie gave Wally an odd look before bending to fetch the cookies from the oven. “It’s like… when the thought of them makes you happy all the time.” She reached in as she spoke, Wally hanging onto her every word. “No matter what.”
Poppy stopped her with one giant wing, pushing Julie away from the oven. “You don’t have mitts on,” the bird fretted and Julie laughed at her own forgetfulness.
Meanwhile, Wally mulled over his friend’s words.
“But I feel happy when I think of all of you,” he piped up. Poppy had moved to take care of the cookies, pulling them out with her mitts that were made to resemble chickens. “Does that mean I really like all of you too?”
“No, not in that way,” Poppy chuckled. She set the tray down before turning to Wally. “It’s a different kind of happiness.”
That sounded somewhat familiar. “How so?”
Julie pulled him aside with a dramatic sigh. Out of the kitchen, she guided them to Poppy’s sofa, which was more like a nest with a patchwork quilt thrown over it.
“It’s different because it’s more intense than the way you feel about me or the others!” Julie hummed. She placed both hands on Wally’s shoulders, giving him a serious look. It reminded Wally of how she acted when she played a businessman in one of her little games. “Your whole body tingles and your belly does flip-flops and you get all squirmy like a worm!”
“A worm?” Wally clutched his stomach over his cardigan. My, that sounded unpleasant!
Julie nodded. “Exactly. But it’s a good thing!” She waved off his nervousness. “You feel all hot and anxious but also it's good. It makes you never want to leave their side.”
Wally thought about that. It was very difficult when you went away and most of the rest of his week was spent waiting for you to return. He looked forward to your presence the most when he first peeked out his window every morning and when he resigned to bed at the end of the night. If he could sleep and dream, he was sure it would be about you, since you seemed to occupy his every waking thought anyway.
“I do miss them a lot…”
“Yes!” Julie’s grip tightened and Wally wanted to get out of her grasp, if only she wasn’t so busy rambling to notice. “You miss them and you just want to be with them, talking to them and holding hands with them and hugging…”
“Wally doesn’t know how to hug,” Sally reminded her from her spot on the floor. She was currently poring over her latest script, spread across the rug with a frown. “What is he doing here in the first place? What happened to this sleepover just being the three of us?”
“Oh hush, sourpuss!” Julie let go of Wally, thankfully, to playfully scold Sally. “Wally is always welcome in Poppy’s barn with us! Isn’t that right, Poppy?”
“That’s right!” Poppy meekly exclaimed, popping her head out of the kitchen for a second before disappearing again.
"Besides, Wally needs our help!" Julie explained. "He thinks he might like- like our little train friend but he isn't sure!"
"I thought everyone already knew he liked them."
Julie shot her a look and Sally huffed.
“Well, I say we just throw him to Frank and Eddie!” Sally reasoned. She threw the crayon she’d been writing with to the ground. “Those two lovebirds are bound to have better advice for him than we do!”
Poppy made her way into the room, handing everyone a cookie with a warm smile on her beak.
“But Sally! I have lots of love and I’m a bird!” Poppy pointed out. “Do I not count?”
Sally crossed her arms. “You know what I mean!”
“Sally,” Julie called her name. She took Wally’s hands (who had been watching the scene unfold around him with nothing but a smile and unblinking eyes) and gestured to him. “Don’t you have any advice for our dear friend?”
The star grumbled something under her breath that Wally didn’t catch and she nodded.
“Okay, fine.” Sally sat up reluctantly. She looked at Wally, a tad frustrated but not at all opposed to the attention suddenly being on her. “You don’t know if you like them, huh?”
“Oh, I like them.” Wally nodded. “But… I thought just as a friend. The others are saying it might be something more but I don’t know what that more is.”
Sally tapped a finger against her chin. “That’s something you may need to figure out on your own. Love can be quick, like Romeo falling in love with Juliet at first sight, but it can also take time! Maybe you’ll know once you talk to them more.”
Wally felt that pang of loneliness come again when he thought about how much time he spent apart from you. If that was a sign he liked you in not just a platonic sense, then he was surely done for.
“I can’t,” he replied. “They go on the train and only come back every now and again.”
Sally rolled her eyes. “Yes, but don’t you have their phone number?”
Time seemed to still. Wally’s eyes widened to an almost startling degree and Julie squeezed his hands to try and get his attention.
“Wally, are you okay-?”
“No,” he answered, stopping Julie. “I don’t!”
Sally couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. Even Poppy gave him a look of concern as she huddled into the nest beside him.
“You don’t?” Julie squealed. “Oh, Wally, you need to get their number! That’s how you talk to us all the time!”
“I didn’t think of that,” Wally admitted. “Do you think they’d want to talk more to me?”
“What did Barnaby say they called you this morning?” Sally thought aloud.
“Handsome?”
“Yeah,” she quickly said with a smile. “They’ll want to talk to you more.”
But Wally wasn’t so sure. Even after he left the girls with their sleepover shenanigans to go back to his Home, he felt the tremor of embarrassment just thinking of asking for your number. This surely wasn’t the same feeling he got when talking to his neighbors. Nervousness was a very new emotion for him, just like sadness was and that hot feeling that was apparently… love.
Wally felt his smile crinkle at the corners and his insides squeeze with delight at the word. Love not just in the friendly sense, either, but something much more intimate. One that left him feeling like he was floating on air just thinking about you, ready for cartoonish hearts to appear above him at any given moment. Instead, Wally skipped the rest of the way Home with a little dance in his step, thinking about you all the way.
The following week, Wally was as eager as ever to see you again. With his newfound knowledge of what love supposedly was, he was ready to ask for your number, talk to you more, and get to know you better. Except, he still got all jittery just thinking about you, let alone at the thought of asking you such a question.
When train day finally came around again, he found he was still a bundle of worries, not yet having mustered the courage he needed. He waited for when your train braked on the tracks first and for you to start unloading boxes with Howdy before quietly approaching you. Wally watched as you lifted a crate into your arms, which just so happened to contain apples, and smiled.
You were surprised when the crate was suddenly taken from your arms until you saw Wally behind it. He hid his nerves easily with a calm smile as his yellow, felt fingers brushed yours, causing his face to blush a bright orange. You leaned away and laughed at his familiar face.
"Hey there, the most!" you greeted.
You'd found it amusing when one time Wally described himself as the most and you made a point to tease him about it. Wally just found it endearing.
"Thanks a lot for the help! You're stronger than you look!"
Wally nodded, suddenly unable to say anything to you. He’d opened his mouth but it just flopped like a fish’s, so he closed it, opting to just remain silent. The crate felt inexplicably heavy in his arms out of nowhere.
You put your hands on your hips. There was already some sweat collecting on your forehead from the hot day which you wiped away with a chuckle. It was all too enticing.
“Or, did you just want to steal apples from Howdy again?” you wondered. “He told me about that, you know.”
“Heh.” Wally turned away from you with a sheepish grin. He broke eye contact, which was very uncharacteristic of him. How could he be expected to talk and look at someone as beautiful as you at the same time, though? “It was just one time. A quick snack.”
“Still…” Before Wally could realize it, you brought a hand under his chin and tilted his head to look back at you. “Stealing isn’t very neighborly.”
Wally froze. The ache inside of him grew tenfold as he felt even his ears burning with a blush. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, just relished the way you stared at him so intensely until he finally stammered out, “Y-yes, I know. I learned my lesson.”
You pulled away, eyebrows furrowing as you took notice of his strange expression. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to frighten you. Are you okay?”
“Yes!” Wally quickly answered, stumbling back slightly as well. “I just- yes, I’m okay.”
His insides were twisting up and he thought he might just burst at the seams. He could feel his nerves building again. Barnaby and Julie and all the others were right. He didn’t feel this way around anyone else, this warmth was reserved for you and only you. All of that affection and anxiety… and now this feeling had a name. Love.
“Okay.” You nodded, deciding to believe him. “You know, I don’t mind bringing you apples if you want any. How did you like the Granny Smith from last week, by the way?”
“I loved it,” Wally recalled with a smile. He’d made it the centerpiece of his living room table, staring at it until it went spoiled. “It was green.”
“Yeah,” you laughed. “It was.”
The air suddenly became still and stiff between you. You shifted your weight from feet to feet and Wally continued balancing the apple crate in his arms. Usually, with so many apples in his line of vision, he would be unable to look at anything else, but you were here. Why would he dare look at anything else, even apples?
It was time to ask, he could tell. Yet, he still didn’t feel any braver than he did earlier, looking at you, face flushed. What gave him these feelings anyway? Was it your smile and your laugh, or your kind eyes and stare, perhaps your voice and the way you talked, maybe even a combination of all these things? That must be it because Wally loved every part of you so completely. It made him feel so whole.
In a flash of determination, Wally opened his mouth but was only able to emit a squeak before you interrupted him.
“I-” you started, then heard him. “Oh! Sorry, you first.”
Wally shook his head. “No, no! You go ahead.”
You moved, this time toward him, and Wally leaned forward too. He waited patiently for you to talk again, ready to worship every syllable that fell out of your mouth.
“Ah, okay!” you said, clasping your hands behind your back. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Ask away.”
Wally was naturally observant and was able to clock your own nervousness. That was curious. He watched as your eyes fluttered open and then closed, your body fidgeting ever so slightly. He steeled himself for whatever your question was, still too occupied in his thoughts of what he wanted to ask you as his mind began to wander.
You took a deep breath as though preparing yourself.
“I just thought I’d ask…” you began, then winked. “...if I could have your number? So we can talk more.”
Wally blinked, expression going blank. The crate of apples fell in front of him and all he could do was stare. You asked the question, his question, that he was trying to ask you all morning!
“Or not! That’s okay too!” You started backtracking with a strained smile. “I just thought, you know, since we only see each other once a week and stuff-”
“Yes!” Wally caught one of your flailing hands with his own. “Yes, of course.”
A blush spread across your face at his touch, matching his, and you sighed with relief.
“Oh! Good!” you laughed. “You worried me there for a second.”
“I’m sorry,” Wally mumbled, watching as you took out a notepad from behind you and handed it to him. “I didn’t mean to.”
He used the pen you gave him and scribbled down his digits, his smile growing with every stroke. He could hardly believe he did it, and he didn’t even have to do a thing!
When he handed you back the paper, you leaned toward him so your faces were inches apart. Wally stiffened. He could hardly move as you got that close to him until all his intense emotions felt downright unbearable.
“That’s alright.” You swiped the notepad from him and then stepped away, smirking. “I couldn’t be upset with that cute face.”
Cute?
You thought he was cute! And handsome, apparently, and his face brightened at the thought. He wondered what else you thought of him but he didn’t ask as you began to leave for the train.
Barnaby and Howdy had already finished unloading the packaging without you two, so you were ready to go as you hopped in the engine car. Wally watched you with a lovestruck smile (which he could call it now, knowing it was undeniable that was how felt towards you) and waved. You waved back, leaning out the window just as the train wheels began to come back to life.
“I’ll call you!” You shouted over the sound of the train chugging into motion and the whistle sounding out. In case he didn’t hear, you made a gesture with your hand that resembled the shape of a phone by your ear and Wally nodded.
Soon, you were out of sight as countless train cars passed behind you and Wally stared off into space, mind still working to catch up and process all that just happened. He gave you his number. You asked for his number! Now the two of you could finally talk more and he could navigate his… ‘crush’ on you, as Barnaby called it.
Speak of the devil, Wally was snapped out of his daze when a blue paw clapped his shoulder. He heard Barnaby’s familiar chuckle and turned around to face the big dog.
“You got it bad,” Barnaby repeated, moving the pipe in his mouth to speak and laughing some more.
This time Wally understood and he agreed.
“Yes, I do have it.” He couldn’t help but blush again. “Bad.”