Chapter Text
Bobby called the Smiling Critters to her home for a special surprise event. Everyone sat down in the bear’s living room in excitement and anticipation.
“Oooooo, I wonder what Bobby planned,” Crafty said, clapping her hooves. Bobby’s surprises were always something fun.
“Yes, I do wonder what Bobby has in store for us this time,” Bubba commented. And while he didn't show it, he too was looking forward to whatever event Bobby had come up with.
“I bet it’ll be something super fun!” Hoppy exclaimed. “Maybe like some sort of secret exchange like the one she did during Valentine’s Day.”
DogDay perked up at this. “Wait, you guys had an exchange?” They all nodded. Odd. Then why did he get gifts from everyone?
Before he could ask more, Bobby arrived, pulling a blackboard with her. Nine different slips of paper were taped to the board. One large piece on the top, 4 smaller ones beneath it, each connected to another small piece of paper through a white line.
Making her way in front of her friends, Bobby cleared her throat. “ Good afternoon, everyone. I have gathered you all here today to present my new Bobby’s Surprise Event.
“For those of you who are new or have not participated in my events—” She turned to CatNap, who blinked tiredly as she spoke, “— let me explain what it is.”
She gave a brief recap: her Bobby’s Surprise Event was a surprise event she planned. No one but her knew what the event was, but the goal was to build and strengthen their bonds as friends.
“Today, I will show you my latest event, and if all goes as I plan, maayybeee you will all be inclined to do it again?” She said hopefully.
Shaking her head, she grabbed onto the largest piece of paper. “Alright, without further delay, my dear friends, I… Bobby BearHug… present you…” She pulled the paper. “... Friend Dates!!!”
The other 7 critters looked at the words. Friend Dates?
“Um, Bobby, I’m sorry, but I’m lost,” DogDay said, raising a paw. “What do you mean by friend date?”
Bobby merely giggled. “It's what it sounds like, my lovely vanilla pup. A date but with a friend.”
Pointing at the small pieces of paper, Bobby explained that behind each piece was the name of one critter; the line connecting the papers indicated who would go on a date with whom.
“Oh, is that why when I came over, ya had me write my name, and why there were already pieces of paper on it?”
“Precisely, my sweet Citrus. I could let you see who wrote their name, but then that means you are most likely to pick someone you want to have the date with.” She subtly eyes DogDay while speaking. “Some of us don't hang out as much or are as close, so by doing this, I am hoping that it will lead to us all growing a little closer.”
They all nodded, all but Kickin, who had one doubt. “But B.B., since you made the whole thing, doesn't that make you the only one who knows who you're going with?”
“Nope. I had someone else write my name and cover it for me. I’m going in blind as all of you.”
Kickin nodded in acceptance. “Alrighty then, with all that out of the way,” she sang, “let's see who the first lucky friends are.” She finished with a small giggle.
She grabbed the piece of paper closest to her… to reveal…
“…PickyPiggy!”
“Oh? So which one of ya is gonna be my lucky ‘date’?” Picky said, eyeing her friends playfully.
This was met with laughter or a roll of eyes. Bobby brought her paws up to her face, hiding her giggle. “Ok, let's see who the lucky critter to go with Picky is…”
She pulled the piece of paper connected to Picky's name to reveal…
“... DogDay!”
A date with Picky? That sounded like fun! DogDay's eyes sparkled as ideas ran through his mind. Picky was also sparkling. She had some ideas herself that she wanted them to do. They both turned to each other, waving.
“Alright, on to the next lucky pair.”
Bobby pulled the next piece, revealing…
“…Hoppy Hopscotch!”
Hoppy's ears stood up straight, and her nose twitched rapidly. Who would she go on a ‘date’ with? She watched in anticipation as Bobby pulled the paper connected to her name.
“ And Hoppy, you’ll be going with…
…CraftyCorn!”
Hoppy gave a weak fist bump. Crafty was not who she had in mind, so she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Crafty, on her part, was nervous and unsure. She and Hoppy rarely spoke outside of group activities and the occasional greeting, so she didn't know how to feel about it. Still, they each thought at the same time, I will do my best to make the date great.
Clapping her paws, Bobby pulled their attention back to the board. “Our third contenders are…
“… KickinChicken!
She pulled the name connected to the chicken…
…and Bobby BearHug, me!” She squealed, laughing at the odds.
Kickin jumped at this. “Just you wait, Bobby. I’m going to make sure you have the best date ever.” He winked and gave her a finger gun.
Bobby laughed. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”
In the back, Picky rubbed Hoppy's back in consolation.
“Alright, and our last duo is…
“…Bubba Bubbaphant! And his ‘date’ is…
Pulling to reveal the last name
“…CatNap!”
Bubba was intrigued. He enjoyed CatNap’s company when it was time to sleep, so a friendly date with him could prove to be quite enjoyable. CatNap, on his part, had fallen asleep during the explanation and had no idea what was happening.
With all the critters paired up, Bobby let them know they were free to discuss with each other what they would do and when they would meet up. Ideally, it would be good to do it during this month, but she knew with the school year coming to an end, some of them would be rather busy, so they could do it whenever they were free.
And with that, Bobby’s Surprise Event came to a close.
“Well, if that's all,” Bubba said, standing up, “I must head back then. I have quite a lot of papers to grade.”
“Bubba, but what about your friend date?” Bobby asked.
Bubba turned to look at his “date”. CatNap was still sleeping, so DogDay told Bubba that it would be fine, and he’d inform CatNap about everything later. Bubba thanked DogDay, and with that took his leave.
Picky ran toward DogDay and threw an arm over his shoulders. “Listen here, DogDay, you and I are going to have so much fun. I already have a great idea for a date.”
“Oh? What idea did you have in mind, Picky?” DogDay was very curious about what the pick pig could have chosen.
“Well, strawberry season is upon us, so I thought a strawberry-picking date would be fun.”
DogDay gasped. That was a great idea. “And then we bake or cook something with them!” he shouted.
“You read my mind, DogDay. This is gonna be great!!” Both critters’ tails were wagging with excitement for their ‘date’. DogDay was moving at rapid speed, and Picky was bouncing lightly.
While the two of them were happy with the arrangement, two of the eight critters were a bit uneasy. Deciding that she couldn't let herself drown in disappointment, Hoppy stood up an approach her shy friend.
“Hey, Crafty?” The unicorn jumped at the sound of Hoppy’s voice. Turning around, she found Hoppy rubbing the back of her head. “Think we could talk about what to do sometime- I don't know, next week?”
“Oh, um, yes… Yes, we can do that,” she said softly.
“Cool, cool. Well, I’ll see you then.” And with that, she left.
Picky followed right after her. She and DogDay had been discussing their plans and had agreed to do it near the end of the month. After a few moments, DogDay left as well, carrying a sleepy CatNap and thanking Bobby for hosting the event as always.
Kickin had followed soon after. She and Kickin already had a plan set for their ‘date,’ and she was very excited for it. The only ones left were her and Crafty.
“You excited, Crafty?”
“I guess… I'm not sure, really.”
“And why’s that, Crafty?”
Rubbing her arm, Crafty told Bobby she was worried that she and Hoppy wouldn’t have fun; they were very different… “And what if she doesn't like my ideas, and everything goes horribly, and we stop being friends?”
“Oh, Crafty…” Bobby pulled her into a tight hug, running her fingers through her mane. “That's not going to happen.”
“She’s right, ya know.”
Both girls turned to find Picky with bags at the entrance to the living room.
“Really? You’re both sure?”
“Yep. Hoppy’s not that type of critter, trust us.”
Crafty smiled, relieved. Bobby then asked Picky why she had returned.
“I just went home to grab some snacks. Figure we could have a sleepover, the three of us…but if you two don't want to…” She slowly turned around before being pulled back by Bobby and Crafty.
Thought so, Picky laughed out loud.
“And that’s the gist of it.” At DogDay's place, the orange dog was finishing up explaining to CatNap what had happened. The feline was paired up to go on a friend date with Bubba.
CatNap tilted his head slightly. A date. With Bubba? Any ‘dates’ he had gone to in the past were set up by his grandma looking for a ‘suitable partner’ for him. All individuals she thought would make for a perfect half, individuals CatNap was neither interested in nor cared about. Always so boring and uninteresting.
He wrinkled his nose. DogDay laughed. “Does going on a friend date with Bubba sound that bad?”
Oh! CatNap shook his head; he hadn’t meant it toward Bubba. DogDay continued to laugh. “I know you didn’t, bud.”
Turning so he was facing CatNap completely, he encouraged his best friend to tell him what was wrong. He thought about it for a moment, then told DogDay that he never really had gone on a date before. Not really a lie, but he really didn’t consider his grandma’s attempts to set him up as dates.
‘So I’m not sure what to expect.’
DogDay hummed. “Well, when critters go on dates, as in the ones who have crushes on each other… they normally have lunch or dinner together… they… uh, might hold paws or whatever they have, hehe…
DogDay clasped his paws together, “…they might also cuddle and kiss. Chase each other in a field of sunflowers. Talk about their dreams and what they want to be in the future… and how they want to be there for each other… always… promising to… love… each other… no matter what…”
DogDay’s voice trails off, and his face becomes blank. He stares into the distance. It’s a nice promise to make, but one that’s hard to keep. Mentally shaking himself out of it, he quickly turns his attention back to CatNap. He grasps the purple paw midair, smiling, and entwines their fingers together. “But you and Bubba aren’t going to be doing any of that since it’s a friend date. So it’ll be more like a fun hang out.”
CatNap looked at DogDay, worried. He had been staring in CatNap's direction, but not looking at him, but… through him. His best friend had looked… he looked like someone else CatNap knew. Someone who no longer had their special someone with them. He frowned.
In response to this, DogDay only smiled; he brought CatNap’s paw, the one he was holding, to his cheek. And then placed his free one on CatNap’s cheek. “None of that, buddy. Only smiles.”
“But…you’re sad…” he whispered.
“How can I be sad when I have you here with me?” DogDay responded softly. His smile was kind, but didn’t hold the warmth it usually did. CatNap looked away.
Because the one you love more than anything isn't here, he wanted to say, but couldn't. And it bothered him that he couldn’t. If it were one of the other Smiling Critters, they probably would be able to help. They would know what to do.
(Because he didn’t. He couldn’t help. He couldn’t help his best friend with his sadness. He couldn't make his best friend's dream come true.)
“Hey, what did I say?” DogDay was now nuzzling CatNap's cheek, hugging the feline close. “No sadness, only smiles.”
Right. He rubbed his cheek against DogDay’s, purring. His best friend only laughed at this, but at least his smile had returned to being wide and bright.
…He can make it happen. He will make it happen. Even if… for only a moment, he didn't want DogDay to be sad.