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Zooble didn’t particularly like being paired with Gangle on adventures. It wasn’t that they disliked Gangle, it was that the ribbon girl somehow always found a way to break her comedy mask in as little as five minutes. But it was always a better experience than when she got paired with Jax. Because after an adventure with him was over, Gangle tended to follow Zooble around like a sad dog, complaining about what the rabbit had done to her during the adventure.
Today was one of those days. Caine had created a horse wrangling adventure for the group, and Jax had decided to use Gangle as a lasso to get ahold of the horses. As Zooble trudged their way back to their room, Gangle sniffled and whined and mumbled behind them. Despite them paying no attention to what she was saying, she was really beginning to get on the zolo toy's nerves. Finally, they whipped their head around to face the girl.
“Why does my opinion matter to you anyway?! Why do you always come to me?!” That came off harsher than they meant it to, but it was too late to take it back now. Gangle shrunk back slightly at their words before wrapping her arms around herself in a loose hug.
“I...don’t know...” The girl muttered. Zooble let out a quiet grumble and turned away from Gangle. The only thing worse than listening to Gangle be upset is being the reason Gangle was upset.
“You don’t treat me like a kid.”
Kinger had a bad tendency to treat Gangle as much younger than she really was. With her typical crybaby demeanor and his...Kinger-ness, they couldn’t really blame him for thinking she really was a child.
“You don’t lie to try to make me feel better.”
Ragatha was always telling Gangle little lies. Oh, Jax won’t bother you tomorrow, you helped plenty enough during the adventure, you’re not annoying! They could understand that it was in good faith, but the ragdoll really needed to figure out when to just shut up and listen like they did.
“You don’t bully me.”
Jax. They need not say more.
“I trust you.”
That caused them to whip their head back around. Out of all people, they were the one she trusted? All they did was listen to her whine. And sit with her when she’s in a bad mood. And get Jax to leave her alone. And let her wrap herself around them, threatening that it was the last time they were letting her do it. Oh...
Zooble tried to respond, but nothing they could think of saying felt right. Eventually, they just let out a quiet sign and looked down.
“It’s ok...you don’t have to say anything.” Gangle said.
Great, now they feel like a piece of $#!%. Not wanting to stand in the middle of the hall any longer, Zooble reached out and grabbed Gangle with the two arms on their left side. Gangle let out a quiet “eep!” but didn’t fight against them. Wow, she really did trust them. They walked a few doors down until they stood in front of Gangle’s, turning the doorknob with their free hand and walking inside.
They practically threw the girl down onto her bed before making their way over to her tv show collection. Zooble picked out what they knew was Gangle’s favorite anime (she had made them watch it with her countless times) and inserted the VHS tape. Making their way back to the bed, they flopped down onto it next to Gangle. The girl wrapped a ribbon around Zooble’s waist, earning a quiet grumble from them but no retaliation to the action.
I trust you.
That made Zooble happy. They’d never tell her that though.