#dm!au

Joxter and Fuzzy were enjoying dinner together in sweet silence, just the feeling of enjoying each other's company. At least that’s how Fuzzy felt. Meanwhile Joxter's mind was plagued by a million 'what if’s, after a bit it was apparent to Fuzzy that Joxter seemed a bit off and was picking at his food rather than eating it. Fuzzy looked over at him and finally broke the silence “I’m sorry, I know I’m no good at cooking.” she said, assuming that Joxter was picking at his food because he didn’t like it that much.

“Hm? Oh no, it’s great, Fuzzy, really! Just- I’ve been thinking alot about something.“ he said and rushed trying to brush it off like nothing was wrong as he took a few bites of the fish on his plate, chewing rather loudly trying to drown out his own thoughts.

“Well what's been on your mind…?” asked the Fuzzy curiously, also wanting to stop hearing the loud and slightly rude chewing.

“Oh uhm…” he swallowed his food before thinking of a lame excuse he could use, he tapped his fork on the edge of his plate as he thought and Fuzzy's ears went down, not really a big fan of the clanking noise.

“Joxter-?“ she said as she gently put a paw on his arm, Joxter froze up and looked up at her.

“Yes…?”

“Oh dear, I’m sorry but- pardon me, but could you please stop tapping the fork? It makes such an upsetting ringing noise I’m not a fan of…“ she said shyly.

“Oh! The fork, right, sorry, my bad-“

“No no, it’s alright, it’s just a not too pleasant sound to hear, at least for my sensitive ears- but what’s been on your mind? You can tell me, I assure you.”

“It’s alright I was uhm…” then the perfect excuse struck him, “I was just wondering if I could see what’s in your basket of things…?”

“You really want to see my collection…?”

“Well- I mean if you're ok with it. If not I understand, I suppose!“

Fuzzy smiled and put her paws to her cheeks “Nobody sincerely wanted to see my collection before! Hold on a moment!” She skipped over to the tin and grabbed her basket and went back to where they were sitting. “Ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Replied Joxter with a smile.

Fuzzy opened her basket and started taking things out, handkerchief or two, both with her initials on them. Then some buttons and shiny little rocks, a shiny shell from the beach, a few fake glass crystals as well in an array of colors, there was some jewelry in there as well, she wasn’t sure if they were real or fake of course but most of the jewelry was busted or broken some way since she did find most of it in the trash or in lost and found bins from places here and there. But there was one necklace it was a blue sapphire pendant that was in the shape of a teardrop, it was beautiful, she loved it but she also hated it because she stole that one from a lovely lady while making dress alterations for her back when she worked at her parent's shop, not to mention there where a few other random little things such as scraps of fabric, some sewing supplies and of course buttons she took from the shop as well. A blanket she had completely forgotten about, some dried preserved flowers in a small glass jam jar along with some other things she jammed in there, some fascinating bird feathers and lastly the button Joxter gave to her on their first meeting. The one that was shiney and looked like a tiger's eye gem! All her knick knacks and oddities she happily explained where she found them and such, but she didn’t explain how she got them.

“Wow, quite a bit, eh?”

“Indeed- but I must admit I’m a bit ashamed…”

“Why’s that Fuz?”

Fuzzy looked down guiltily at some of the items “Well, some of these I snatched myself. Stolen rather! And no lady should ever steal its unlady-like and icky!”

“Oh! Well that’s not a bad thing per se! And I’ve stolen before! Do you think I’m icky?”

“Well no! But it’s- it’s not! It’s unlady-like and awful of me! I’m so gross that I've dug around rubbish for my other things and swiped a lot of them! What sort of person am I? Oh, no man will ever love me like this!” Said the Fuzzy, spiraling into guilt and covering her eyes with her paws.

“Fuzzy! There, there! It’s ok! Calm down, and really, there's no difference between a man stealing or a lady stealing and remember what I told you before? Most people are more fortunate than others and it seems like no one is missing these things! Otherwise there would be missing flyers for these missing things everywhere, but there aren't, which means they would have ended up lost or in a dump somewhere if you didn’t take them in a way…?” He said cheerily as he tried to spin it into something more optimistic to make her feel better. “But… no one could love a thief could they…?”

“I don’t think that’s true, you're lovely if you ask me and any one would be lucky to have you as their partner! So what if you take from people from time to time? It’s in the nature of some creatures.”

“You… really think so…?”

“Well yes! I have no reason to lie about it! You are a rather great thief and I find that to be a good thing! Perhaps admiring in a way?”

“Oh don’t say that!”

“But I mean it! You’ve even stolen a heart without realizing it!”

“A heart?” said Fuzzy, puzzled. As she realized what that meant her face turned red.

“I mean- I can only, uh- a-assume! I mean look at you-!“ replied Joxter, sort of panicked by his own words and Fuzzy's uncertain reaction.

Fuzzy held her paw to her cheek and smiled a little bit “Thank you Jox, it means a lot to me hearing that…” and so she felt all bubbly after he said this, it gave her a sense of hope but it also made her sad when getting Joxter's 'clarification', she simply wished he meant she had his heart, she simply hoped that one day he would feel the same for her as she felt for him, but little did she know he already felt the same, they were Just two awkward souls not ready and not sure how to share feelings like these. Joxter went back to eating and changed the subject.

“Anyway, you really did good with cooking the fish, though it could use some seasoning- maybe we can get some in town tomorrow?”

“Seasonings? Oh yes that would make it better! Though we still don’t have any money, Joxter...“

“Oh right well… hm… oh! I know I have a friend who might need some tailoring work done, you sew well and such right? I bet she’d pay us a bit to help out, possibly?”

“Oh? A friend…? What’s her name?”

“Her name's Mymble and she lives on the outskirts with her children. She's really jolly and quite a remarkable woman!” Joxter said happily.

“Oh I see- are you close with her?”

“I uhm… well yes you could say that, it’s a bit complicated though.“

“O-oh I see... Well, I'd be happy to meet her tomorrow if it means having some sort of pay!”

Joxter smiled “That’s the spirit! Though you do look worried... Don’t worry! She doesn’t bite! Some of her kids though...“ he joked around.

Fuzzy tried to smile a bit but suddenly felt saddened and put her food down, only half eaten “I see- uhm, pardon me but I think I’ll go to bed now if that’s alright with you long day tomorrow after all!“

“Oh? Uhm- alright, good night then, Fuzzy!” He tried to act casual but he could tell he messed up some way or another.

“Good night Joxter…“ she said in a quiet sigh before going into the can and curling up on her pile of blankets and pillows and other soft things, her mind swarming with thoughts and questions.

“What does he mean by complicated…? Are they dating…? Does he… love her? He must if he said it’s complicated- oh but he said she has children! So she must be married, that's why it’s complicated! Oh goodness he could never love me if he has her in mind could he? And that’s where this dress I’m wearing now came from isn’t it? She’s such a big lady- she must be strong and intimidating, probably more beautiful… goodness I could never compete!” She was overwhelmed by her own thoughts and tried to sleep it off to prepare herself for tomorrow.

Meanwhile Joxter took his and Fuzzy's wet clothes from before and shook them a bit before hanging them up on a nearby tree branch to dry for the next day, he wondered if he was going about all of this wrong. He knew he was going about all of this wrong but how else was he supposed to do it! It’s so hard to read such a shy person's emotions after all! Joxter needed some space to think, he needed something familiar, something that wasn’t Mymble or Fuzzy though something familiar that wouldn’t judge him like Moomin or Hodgkins, he needed silence but a sense of company, so he went to the very last place he thought he would go. First he went into the can and grabbed a familiar saucepan making a clanging noise as he did that alerted Fuzzy.

“Joxter is that you…?” She mumbled tiredly

“Sorry Fuz, I’m just grabbing some things, there’s something I have to do but I’ll be back later, I promise.“ he said as he lit a lantern

“O-oh…? Ok then…“ she was confused but watched Joxter leave the can with saucepan in hand, curiosity got to her as she waited a few moments for him to walk away from the can before following him from a distance. It was a good thing he had the lantern with him otherwise fuzzy would have gotten lost from him herself. She watched as he picked flowers and put them in the saucepan and in the hole on the handle as well. She wondered “Are these for the mymble lady he was talking about before…? Could these be for me…? No, not a chance- why is he out so late? I mean he isn’t an early bird so…” she thought more and more until…

She saw him get to a clearing near the outskirts of the forest, he walked far to a big rock and sat next to it leaning his head on it, putting the saucepan down in front of the rock.

“Sorry I haven’t visited in a while, Muds…”

Fuzzy heard him talking but couldn’t hear what he was saying too clearly so she crept closer quietly.

“I brought you your old saucepan at least. I mean- not like you can wear it in the state you're in… and well I brought flowers too. I would have made it into a flower crown but you know how it is you were always better at those things then I was.” He then gently set the lantern next to the stone and when Fuzzy looked closer she noticed there were candles and a few other things at the rock including some buttons and then she realized what this was, she realized she was intruding on someone visiting a grave. She felt awful after realizing.

“Things are so… complicated recently! And you're the only one I can turn to-! I know right now you would tell me that I can always turn to Hodgkins but it’s harder than it seems and I’m just so stuck… you’d want me to move on and be happy I know, but I need a sign that things will be ok! How am I supposed to… to even tell someone I love them…? I’m pathetic! I waited for you to tell me how you felt but I know that if I wait with her it won’t work. Even if she has feelings for me she’s too shy to ever tell me!“

Fuzzy got caught up on what he said “shy…? Is he talking about me…?” She felt worried so she listened a bit more trying to figure out who and what he was talking about.

“How can I tell her I love her… should… I even tell her…should I just settle for Mymble? I mean not that Mymble is settling, after all I love her too… am I just selfish?”

“So he is in love-“ thought the Fuzzy, still stuck on 'who' he's in love with, she thought for a bit longer and figured out a bit of it “So he’s having trouble picking between Mymble and some other lady… is there a possibility he was talking about me…? Golly… wait no no what’s wrong with me! I followed him and intruded on his privacy! I'm awful!” She spiraled into her own thoughts a bit as she watched Joxter lay down on the ground next to the grave.

“Mind if I spend the night here with you? Hah- I didn’t think so… thanks Muddler.” said the joxter then putting his hat over his face so as not to be disturbed.

Fuzzy looked saddened by all of this, mostly worried for Joxter and how he was feeling. She quietly went over and took a stick and poked it into the fire of the lantern to catch fire so she could hopefully re-light the candles that were at the grave site. It worked and then she took the lantern with her to guide her through the scary darkness of the night, she was so terrified with every sudden noise, she was practically tripping on her tail as she scuttled back to the tin!

When she got there she jumped back into the tin and sighed in relief before grabbing her basket and taking the blanket out of it, wrapping it around herself for some comfort, shivering with fear from the long scary walk she had just taken. Her mind quickly wandered back to Joxter, sleeping out there alone in the dark next to a grave, probably cold since there’s no blanket around him, and since he had no pillow or anything either! How was she to leave him there?! She already felt guilty for eavesdropping. She felt more guilt well up in her chest and she knew what she had to do, or rather what she had to force herself to do for him “Do it for him. Grow a spine and stop being scared for once, Fuzzy!” She said to herself trying to hype herself up a bit “You love him so you should do this! He would probably do the same for you!” She then emptied out her basket onto the floor of the tin, she re-packed it with the blanket that she had, a pillow from the tin, some of Muddler's buttons that she decided would be a good idea to leave at the grave, a few matches from Joxter's side of the tin so she could re-light the lantern if needed and she took two more things, a bird feather that was part of her own collection and a shiny glass gem that was blue and part of her collection, deciding she wanted to leave something of her own at the grave in return for the button she took.

She took a deep breath as she picked up her basket and the lantern and made her trek back to the grave, shaking and jumping at every slight noise. When she got there she saw Joxter was still asleep and snoring soundly, she quietly sat next to him and put the blanket over him, she was debating if he should lift his head to put the pillow under it or if that would wake him, so she simply put the pillow next to him and he ended up grabbing and hugging the pillow instead, he mumbled something under his breath while he slept.

Fuzzy quietly and cautiously placed some of the Muddler's old buttons back in order on the ground in front of the makeshift grave stone; she even organized them by color and size while there, occupying a bit of her time. Her lantern then went out from a gust of wind and she re-lit it quickly with a match but when she did that there was a figure sitting next to Joxter, it was a friendly looking creature, one that Fuzzy had never seen before, and for once she wasn't… frightened? Usually when someone appears out of nowhere it would scare or frighten anyone, especially Fuzzy who was prone to fright! But she wasn’t scared. Which was a surprise, the figure had such a friendly soft glow to him, Fuzzy looked over and saw the figure was just staring at Joxter with a paw over him as if to comfort him while he slept. Fuzzy then asked quietly in a whisper.

“Who… are you?”

The creature looked up with wide eyes and blinked, looking surprised and then shy.

“Sorry, I’m uhm… I'm a friend, let’s just say that.” He had such a soft smile and pupils shaped like U’s, he seemed almost like an illusion.

“Are- are you a friend of Joxter's…?” Asked the fuzzy

The creature nodded yes "And you're fuzzy right?” he asked back

“Yes I am- excuse me but… how did you know that-?“

“Well Joxter told me of course.“ he closed his eyes for a few moments and Fuzzy took a moment to look at him a bit more to notice details about him, he had whiskers and dog-like ears that covered the side of his face, he was hunched over with terrible posture, he wore a long sleeve shirt and a vest of some sort over it along with tattered oversized pants with patches on it that was being held up by a belt, and lastly he had gloves on his feet like they were socks or shoes.

“You did a lovely job organizing the buttons, I wouldn’t have done it any differently myself!” Said the figure as he smiled and leaned over looking at the buttons “It’s nice that someone brought these over here.”

“Really…? Do you think Joxter's friend Muddler would think the same?”

“Of course.” replied the figure looking down at Joxter with a melancholy look “Miss Fuzzy, I don’t have much time to say this but Joxter really took a liking to you.”

“W-wait, really?” Replied the fuzzy.

“Oh please do trust me on this one… I know we just met and I’m afraid this is the last time we will meet but he does think very fondly of you.”

“Fondly…? Does that mean he loves me?”

“Well I won’t go into detail because it's up to him and you to figure that out for yourselves of course.“ replied the friendly figure seeming to become more foggy by the second, fuzzy assumed it was because she was tired so she squinted a bit.

“Excuse me, but what does that mean?” She asked

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give too much information. Let me just say he’s loyal to the people he cares about. If you're there for him he will always be there for you so please stick by him alright?”

“I don’t plan on leaving his side unless he pushes me away- but please I just want a clear answer!”

“I’m sorry- just tell him…”

“Tell him what? I don’t know what you mean!”

“Tell him I said go for it.” The figure then moved over closer to Fuzzy and hugged her out of the blue, she wasn’t sure what to do so she closed her eyes and before she knew it, the figure simply vanished and the words that were carved into the rock seemed to glow. Fuzzy felt her heart skip a beat so strangely as she looked over to the stone and read the name on it, suddenly connecting the pieces still in disbelief. She knew she wasn’t in danger. She knew not to be scared at least of what just happened, rather she was just baffled and felt tired and serene.

“Thank you, mr. Muddler...“ she mumbled before placing a feather and the glass gem on to the top of the grave stone, she then looked over to Joxter and decided to fall asleep there with him because it felt safer than making the walk all the way back to the tin and because the words rang in her head to stick by his side. She fell asleep and in the morning woke up close to Joxter under the same blanket practically being spooned by him, Fuzzy froze up at this realization and quickly rolled away not to make things awkward just in case joxter was to wake up.

She sat up and thought back to last night, wondering if it was a dream or if it was reality, or even if it weren't a dream she had of seeing a ghost of some sort. Even if it was a figment of her worried mind it still felt… better. She felt like she had an idea of what was going on, of how things were going to be, that she had a chance with Joxter, she felt as long as she followed her heart for this she would be alright she then looked over to Joxter and lightly tapped his shoulder to wake him.

“Jox wake up-“ she said softly.

“Hmmmmm?” the Joxter hummed, slowly waking up first rubbing his eyes to wake up. When he opened his eyes he saw Fuzzy and looked confused then he stretched and grabbed his hat, putting it on “Fuzzy…? Oh uhm... Good morning…? Wait, I fell asleep here?” He said as he noticed he was asleep next to the grave “Wait, how’d you know I was here?” He said rather confused

“Oh well… I-I’m sorry but I followed you last night because I was worried about you and where you were going so late…” she seemed nervous as she said it as though she was expecting him to be angry.

Joxter then looked at the blanket covering him and how the things that were left at the grave were nicely organized “Fuzzy, I’m not mad, it's alright…” Joxter said calmly before looking over to her

“You're not…?”

“No, it was nice of you to bring me a blanket and you even organized the stuff here, honestly you organized those buttons just like Muddler would have.” He said in a sort of melancholy tone “But next time you want to follow me somewhere just ask alright? It wasn’t very nice of you to spy on me!“ he poked her nose “Though it was rather brave of you to follow me at night so I’m proud of you for that.“ he said with a smirk.

Fuzzy blushed and looked away “thank you- oh wait! Before I forget, something strange happened last night.”

“Something strange? What might that be?” Replied the Joxter, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure if it was a dream… or if it was reality but, well, I know you’ll think I’m crazy after I say it but… I think I saw Muddler last night?”

Joxter furrowed his brow and tried to laugh it off “But you’ve never met him before when he was alive! You don’t even know what he looks like-“

“I know! It sounds insane but…'' Fuzzy went silent for a moment then mumbled “Well it just- it must have been a dream based on what you said to me about him- but he seemed kind and wanted me to tell you 'just go for it'. Even if it was just a dream I feel like you needed to hear that part for some reason? Like you have the right to know about it…?” She said shyly

Joxter looked puzzled and looked at the grave stone, "Just go for it, huh…?” He gently gave it a pat before getting up.

“‘It must have been a strange dream, but… thanks for telling me Fuz. Do you Want to head home now?“

“N-no problem- but sure let’s head home, I’m meeting your friend Mymble today, right? I still need to put on my normal dress, it should be dry by now I hope, I would look rather silly walking around in such a big dress as that.”

“I think you look rather cute in it, makes you look tiny!“ Joxter teased.

“Oh hush! I’m not that tiny!” She stuck her tongue out at him in playful retaliation

“Wow I’ve rubbed off on you quite a bit huh! Never thought I’d see you sticking up for yourself like this.” He said lightheartedly

“Well- maybe I could say the same about you, you're definitely different from the first time we met.”

“You think?”

“Certainly! You're much kinder and even a bit more polite, rather nice.”

“Oh, calling me a softy, I see?”

“Possibly- not that it’s a bad thing though.”

Joxter picked a flower while they walked back to the can. It was a yellow one and he put it behind Fuzzy's ear. She was a bit surprised by this and blushed.

“What did you do that for…?” Asked the Fuzzy as she took the flower out from behind her ear to look at it.

“Well I was wondering how you’d look with a flower behind your ear so I wanted to see.“

“Well…how do I look?” She said as she put it back behind her ear.

“Well, I was right you look lovely with a flower behind your ear.“

“Lovely…?” Squeaked the fuzzy surprised “Oh you're a flirt, what’s gotten into you?“ she mumbled thinking this was just one of Joxter's jokes

“I’m just being honest you look nice.“ he put his paws in his pockets and walked on ahead silently.

Fuzzy was so… confused with this situation and caught up with Joxter.

“I’m sorry if I… came off as defensive…? I just- I’m not used to getting compliments-“

“It’s alright, I was just being silly.“

“No no it honestly made me happy I just wasn’t sure how to react- and I was wondering… you know how you said things with mymble are complicated…?“

“... guessing you want details of what I mean by that.“

“Pardon me but- I mean only if you're comfortable of course!”

“I was planning on telling you eventually but I’m sort of in love with her…? And well another person at once you see, Mymble isn't really that traditional of a person, she is happy and fine with having multiple partners.“

“Multiple partners…?” Said the puzzled Fuzzy

“Well yes, she falls in love with more than one person and has relationships with them, sadly those don’t last long for her but she’s still so jolly, it's also the reason she has so many kids.“

“Oh my- I see,” mumbled Fuzzy.

“I mean, I think I want something like that to…“

“...like what?” asked Fuzzy, not getting it right away.

“A relationship like that- with more than one partner.“

“It seems complicated doesn't it?”

“I mean it sure does but it doesn’t stop how I feel, I can’t just pick one over the other because those feelings I have for the other will still stay and last.“

“May I ask who the other one is…?”

“Does the other person I have feelings for, you mean…?” Said the joxter looking down at his boots as he walked, looking anxious for once.

“If you don’t want to it’s alright-“

“I think I’ll wait a bit before I disclose that, after all I don’t think she would be ok with this sort of thing, then again I can’t assume.”

“Well, if you were going to go about this sort of thing how would you go about it…? You know, splitting your time…?"

“Oh well… I’m not sure, I don’t even have a set plan in life let alone a plan for relationships. It's stressful.”

“I see…well I feel like you should first confess your feelings to the other person so you, Mymble and the other person can all discuss these things together. that’s if the person likes you back…? Sorry if I pushed too much- but uhm… pardon me but I’m still very curious as to who it is you like…“

Joxter smirked and looked her in the eyes “oh you’ll know soon enough so let’s just leave it at that.”

It was a Sunday afternoon, Joxter was shining Muddler's buttons and dusting knick knacks when he heard a knock on the other side of the can's wall.

“Joxter? Are you in there?” said the familiar voice of the Moomin

Joxter popped his head out of the can “Oh, hey Moomin, what’s new?”

“What’s new? Oh, nothing... besides the fact that Hodgkins sent us invites to come aboard his new invention, the Amphibian!”

“Wait, what? That’s surprising-“ said Joxter as he struggled to get out of the can “Goodness I need to loose some of this weight... or at least get a stool- mind reading the invite for me?”

“Of course - AHEM; 'You are cordially invited to attend the launching of the royal inventor Hodgkins' flying ship, the Amphibian, as one of the few special passengers allowed on board. We hope for your attendance. Please arrive at king Jones palace at 12:00 pm on Monday.” Moomin then passed Joxter the fancy letter to keep hold of.

“Huh... welp, I'll have to think on it.”

“I know! This is amazing ri- wait, what do you mean 'think on it'?”

“You know exactly what I mean! He hasn’t talked to us in months and now he just sent a letter for this big thing out of nowhere! And... I don’t know... I think I might stay here with Muddler-“

“Joxter, come on, he seems to be making an effort! And I believe you mean Muddler's things.”

“Yes his things but I like to imagine he’s still with me in some way. Let a man dream, will you?”

Moomin sighed and shook his head “Please deeply consider it, maybe things can go back to normal again- or atleast normal as it can be.”

“I’ll think about it but I believe I know my answer already.”

“We all have to move on and face life the way it is sometimes, Joxter. Just remember; Monday- 12:00 pm, alright?”

“What day is it today?”

“Saturday, so you have about two days to decide.” Moomin answered then began to walk away.

“Thanks Moomin.” Replied the Joxter as he looked over the fancy letter just looking at how it was written and squinting at it before putting it inside the can. He closed the lid of the can and sat on top of it for a moment before flopping over on his back.

“What do you think, Muds? Should I go?” asked Joxter to the silence of nature.

“... I know you would probably tell me to go... wouldn’t you...?” he sighed. “But you have to understand... it’s just... difficult.”

He felt guilt well up in his chest and decided to curl up on the lid of the can and take a nap.

Hodgkins was in his work area in the palace, he was nervously wondering if Moomin and Joxter would attend the launching ceremony or not. One part of him regretted asking them to come but he would have been an awful person not to ask for their attendance. Muddler would have wanted them to be there. Muddler would have wanted everyone to get along still. And Hodgkins knew this. And Hodgkins thought of this now more than ever now that he had 'free time' now that his main project was finished. It was an unfair feeling he had. He decided to occupy his time once again, drawing up blueprints for extra un-needed things just to keep his mind somewhat away from the thought of other's feelings and his own.

Moomin was just thrilled with the news of the launching ceremony, and so was Miss Moomin since Moomin was planning on taking her as his plus one.

Two days passed and it was the day of the Amphibian's launching, Moomin and his new girlfriend got there to the palace an hour early out of pure excitement, preparations were being set up by the rest of the kingdom for the launching. when they got to the palace Moomin showed a guard his invite and they where escorted to Hodgkins' work room where he resided most days. The guard who walked them over knocked on the door for them. Hodgkins stood by the door when there was a knock thinking “That time already?” He opened the door and greeted Moomin. “Moomin.” was all he said as his greeting.

“Hodgkins! It’s wonderful to see you again! And on such a momentous occasion!”

“Good to see you too Moomin.” Hodgkins managed to force a little smile.

Miss Moomin then did a little bow with respect “Hello mr. hodgkins, I’m Miss Moomin!“ she looked up and smiled kindly.

“Oh? Nice to meet you aswell, Miss.“ he then looked back to Moomin wondering how much had happened without him.

“Uhm... oh where are my manors? Come in, both of you. You know if Joxter will be joining us for the launching today...?”

“I’m not to sure.” replied Moomin “But I think he decided on not coming- you know how he is.”

“Hm...” replied Hodgkins looking at his pocket watch “You came an hour early, so he still has time to get here.”

“Hopefully you're right- and, uhm, sorry for being so early!“ said Moomin, a bit embarrassed.

Miss Moomin added “Oh, I hope we aren’t intruding by coming early! He was just so excited to see you again! He was telling me how you two haven’t talked in ages and-“

Moomin looked over to Miss Moomin, flustered, and held her arm “Dear, please!”

“Oh sorry-“ she let out a small giggle “I didn’t mean to make you embarrassed, sweetie.“

“A-anyway, what have you been up to, Hodgkins?” Moomin asked.

“Work.” He replied simply.

“... What kind of work...? I mean besides inventing- like what kind of inventions have you been working on?” Said Moomin, trying desperately to start a real conversation with Hodgkins.

“Hm.” Hodgkins went to his desk drawer and pulled out some blueprints “These.”

Moomin and Miss Moomin looked over them, a lot of them commissioned by king Jones, mostly silly childish pranks, then different engine designs and such for the Amphibian, nothing too unexpected.

“How amazing!” said Miss Moomin, stunned by the designs and craftsmanship “It must be exciting to be a royal inventor!”

“I suppose.” replied Hodgkins plainly.

Meanwhile, Joxter had been wandering around the woods picking berries and putting them into his hat, still pondering the thought of attending the ceremony today, he thought and thought until he circled back to Muddler's can but when he got to it, he noticed the lid was off. He knew he didn’t leave it like that- he quickly kicked the side of the can as he suspected intruders “Hey! Whoever is in there, get out now! This can isn’t yours!” he said aggressively.

A frightened “Squeak!” Came out from the can, Joxter then peaked over the rim of the can and saw a fuzzy sitting there curled up looking scared “Oh pardon- pardon me! I’m so sorry! I thought this tin was abandoned!”

“It’s not abandoned so get out!” replied the Joxter, his pupils constricting with anger like a cat.

The Fuzzy stood up and dropped some buttons she had in her paws, they clunked and clanged as they hit the bottom of the tin. “I’m sorry! So sorry! Please don’t tell the authorities, I didn’t know!”

“Oh no not the buttons! They where organized a certain way! Look what you did! ... and I’m not going to tell the authorities, I hate authorities of any sort, especially park keepers, alright?”

“Oh thank goodness- I’m still so sorry, I could help you sort the buttons back if you would like- it’s the least I can do for causing trouble for you, sir.”

“Gosh don’t call me sir I hate that- the name's Joxter and goshdarn it you are going to stay here and put the buttons back in place just how you found them.” He ordered and proceeded to climb into the can with her.

“What did you want with this old junk, anyways?”

“Old junk? Some of it is junk but most of it seems like interesting treasures to me- very shiney! I’m guessing all of this is yours?”

“Yes an no.” replied the Joxter, carefully picking up the buttons and sorting them by color.

“How is it yes AND no?”

“It belongs to my friend the Muddler. But... he asked me to keep watch and take care of it for him while he’s gone so I’m keeping that promise.”

“How noble of you...!” replied the Fuzzy with an awkward smile.

“Not really noble, just sad that I’m this stuck-“

“Stuck?” squeaked the Fuzzy quietly.

“Oh nevermind that. What’s your name, anyhow?”

“Oh, my name is just my species' name, so Fuzzy is just fine.”

“Easy enough to remember. So Miss Fuzzy; what are you doing here in the middle of a forest alone digging through a giant coffee tin?”

“Oh-well- uhm- you see-“

“You know what? I don’t wanna know. Just- if I ever catch you stealing anything from here ever again I won’t hesitate to bite you.“

“Bite?!” the Fuzzy repeated, suddenly panicked.

“You heard me!” replied the Joxter who was in fact all bark and no bite “... ok I wouldn’t literally bite you but you get my point.” he admitted.

“I do get it-! Again, I’m so very sorry-“

“Hey, stop apologizing- okay, maybe I came off as to rude at first... but I am really curious as to why you're here. There’s an important ceremony for the royal inventor's Amphibian today, I heard everyone's going to be there.”

“Well... I could ask the same to you, why aren’t you there either, Joxter sir?”

“I’m trying to avoid it I suppose. Rather not go into detail.” replied the Joxter while he was polishing a particular button with his sleeve.

“Ah, same reason here...”

“Well er... yes and no-“ replied the Fuzzy

“Yes and no? How could it be both?” he teased

“I mean that... yes, I’m sad I can’t see the launching but also no, because, well... what I’m leaving behind won’t be missed by me and I won’t be missed by them, it’s for the better I think.“

“Me too but I’m guessing you're talking about some other folks and not who I’m avoiding but uhm- hey, cheer up! At least you got... uhm... Hm... I don’t know what you have actually-“ Joxter looked down at the buttons and thought sadly about Muddler “Miss Fuzzy, what button catches your eye the most?”

“What one? I... well I suppose this one that looks like a tiger's eye gemstone- it’s rather shiny and interesting.“ she said and pointed to the one she was talking about.

“Well then, you can keep it...” replied the Joxter with a tinge of hesitation.

“Wait, what? Are you sure? But won't your friend be upset if he comes back and finds that it’s missing?”

“He’s never coming back and I know it but it’s alright, he was a kind man, he would have happily given you one of his buttons.” said the Joxter in a melancholy tone “So just take it and stop questioning me before I change my mind.” Fuzzy smiled and took the button and admired it for a moment before putting it in her pocket and fixing the rest of the buttons in order “Thank you mr. Joxter.“

“Oh whatever, now run along! I've got things to do.” he lied, he really just wanted some time to himself.

Fuzzy got out of the can and did just that, she ran along to some other part of the forest trying to find a decent place where she could somehow camp out, she didn’t think through where she was going to go after leaving her family. She ended up settling for curling up in a hollowed out tree for the time being. She looked down at the button Joxter gave her and smiled as she admired it a bit while she thought of what to do next “Maybe I can find a job on the outskirts of town where my parents won’t find me... it’s not as if they would look for me... I hope...” She pondered sadly to herself.

The Amphibian launching went on without Joxter naturally and things remained a bit awkward with Moomin and Hodgkins, but Hodgkins told Moomin “You can always write to me if you want... don’t know when I’ll get to the letter but I’ll respond to them when I can.”

Moomin loved that idea, he decided on doing that of course, because he hoped it would help Hodgkins back into interacting with people again.

Fuzzy had woken up bright and early from the hollow tree she spent the night in. It was rather uncomfortable naturally, so she stretched and took a few moments to really wake up. She brushed herself off to make sure no leaves or bugs were crawling on her dress, then she opened her basket and took out a comb brushing out her fur a bit. She put it back in the basket before trying to hype herself up for the day.

She was starting to feel the regret of leaving home sink in and she REALLY didn’t want it to sink in “Alright Fuzzy! You got this! All you have to do is get a job! That can’t be that hard...” she tried to reassure herself.

She walked into the outskirts of the kingdom far away from where her family lived and looked around for job opening signs, she sadly didn’t have any luck, and she was too embarrassed and nervous to go into shops herself and ask if they were hiring or would be willing to hire her. After a while she leaned against a stone wall and sighed trying to come up with a better game plan but came up with nothing.

Meanwhile, Joxter did what he normally did every day; he slept in. But when he did wake up his stomach growled and decided it would be a good idea to visit Mymble, hoping she would have leftovers from breakfast to give him. Ussually he would just stick to picking his own fruit and catching his own fish to eat but he was beginning to get sick of having that everyday.

Joxter made it to Mymble's home, he managed to knock on the door once before an avalanche of kids opened the door and trampled him. It was like a wave crashed over him and he was drowning, the kids were shouting and laughing and eventually Mymble came over asking loudly:

“What’s with all the commotion, children?” it wasn't an angry sort of loud, more of a normal sort of loud just so the kids could hear her.

The smallest child of the bunch spoke up “Mamma, your boyfriend Joxter is here!”

Joxter managed to reach a hand out from the pile of kids as though he was waving for a life preserver and Mymble was that life preserver in this case. She easily picked him up from the pile with her strong arms and chuckled.

“Are you alright, dear?” Mymble asked, Joxter was naturally gasping for air before he managed to say. “You should really get a leash for your kids-“ half jokingly, Mymble then laughed

“As if I haven’t tried! They chew through them to quickly.” She (hopefully) joked, she then put Joxter down and the kids went back to playing somewhere else “So what brings you over this time, Joxter? Do you want food or do you want to spend time with me?”

“A bit of both, of course...” replied Joxter

“I'm so sorry Jox, I did save you a plate of leftovers but I ended up eating them since you took so long to get here!”

“Darn.” replied Joxter disappointedly with a shrug, he wasn’t too disappointed about it but he was still hungry.

“Oh wait Joxter! While you're here, there's something important I wanted to tell you-”

“Just in a bit Mymble, you know how I am on an empty stomach, I can’t remember anything. I’m going to go get myself something to eat then I’ll come back later.“

“Oh! Alright then, if you say so, see you later darling.” said the Mymble as Joxter snuck off quickly so that the kids didn’t notice him leaving and try to trample him again.

Joxter walked around town trying to think of what to do to get something tasty around here until he caught a whiff of something sweet and delicious, he looked around and saw a pie sitting on a windowsill, most likely to cool down. Joxter thought to himself

'It's just a pie it won’t be missed to much...'

He casually walked closer to the windowsill, it seemed as though no one was there to witness him so he took his gloves out of his pocket, put them on and grabbed the pie (he put the gloves on just so he wouldn’t burn his hands if the pie was still to hot), and lastly he casually moseyed off with it so he wouldn’t seem suspicious- that is until the person who baked the pie came running out of his house with a rolling pin in hand shouting

“GIVE THAT PIE BACK RIGHT NOW YOU FILTHY JAY!”

Joxter's eyes widened and his casual walk turned into a fast sprint, he went faster than the guy chasing him but he still knew he had to get away somehow, he turned a corner and ended up running into a dead end of a stone wall. He could either run left or right along the wall until getting somewhere but he decided that both solutions were stupid, he'll just climb it! No one would expect him to climb over! He carefully put the pie on top of the wall and tried to climb it- the Fuzzy happened to be there, she was surprised and said “Mr. Joxter?”

Joxter turned his head “You're the fuzzy from yesterday, aren't you?”

“I am! But why are you climbing over the wall?”

“There's no time to explain! If you see an angry man with rolling pin tell him I went somewhere else!” he then said and climbed over the wall, taking the pie with him. Fuzzy was very confused for a moment but then the man with the rolling pin saw Fuzzy standing there at what seemed like a dead end, he looked at her and said

“Did you see where that scoundrel went with my pie!?”

“S-scoundrel?” She replied

“YES! THE BUM WHO WENT BY THIS WAY! THERE'S NO WAY YOU DIDN'T SEE HIM!” Shouted the man. This startled Fuzzy and she pointed at the opposite direction.

“He- he ran along that way!” she lied in a shy voice.

The man fell for it and that’s what mattered but of course it dawned on Fuzzy that Joxter was stealing that pie.

“How hypocritical... That Joxter got mad at me for trying to take a few buttons from a tin but here he is stealing a pie!” She was curious as to why joxter was stealing a pie so she tossed her basket of belongings over the stone wall, climbed over aswell and went ahead to where she thought he might be, she made her way to the forest to the Muddler's old tin and looked around.

“Joxter sir? Are you around here?” She said as she cautiously walked around the tin looking for him, she didn’t think to look up until he replied.

“Up here.“ the familial voice said, she then looked up and spotted the Joxter sitting in a tree branch with the pie tin in hand and a fork.

“Oh-! Pardon me but be careful! You might fall!”

“I never fall! And if I do It’s on purpose. So it shouldn't be a problem.” He said casually before jumping down with cat like reflex, not dropping a single crumb of the pie. Fuzzy was startled by his sudden jump down and she stepped back a little.

“What brings you back here? Trying to steal more buttons?” asked the Joxter in a menacing tone.

“Oh! No no pardon me! Sorry! I just uhm... wanted to say I told the man you went the other way to get him off your track, l-like you told me to.”

“So you did?” replied the Joxter raising an eyebrow before walking over to the tin can and sitting with his back to the wall of it before taking another bite of pie “Thank you. But that still doesn’t answer why you're here. There must be some other reason.” Joxter said in a rather foreboding manner.

“I’m sorry but- I just... I wanted to ask...” the Fuzzy stammered “You stole that pie, didn't you...? I’m sorry but I only want to ask why...”

“I was hungry, that’s why! Why else would someone steal a pie?” the Joxter asked rhetorically and laughed.

“Oh-! I mean of course! I just- well-“

“What? Did you want to share the pie with me because you helped me not get caught? You can go ahead, I’ve had my fill.” He offered her the other half of the pie.

“Oh no thank you Joxter sir-“ she said as her stomach growled a bit on account of her not having dinner last night, or even breakfast for that matter.

“You sure, miss?” replied the Joxter.

"... Maybe just a nibble if that's ok with you...” she sat down a few steps away across from Joxter as he passed her the pie tin.

The Fuzzy took a bite before continuing to talk.

“What I really meant when I asked you why you stole the pie was... well... you got angry with me for trying to take a few buttons from your friend's tin but here you are stealing from someone aswell...” she said sheepishly before taking a few bites of the pie.

“I stole a pie from someone who is alive and well, someone who could easily bake another pie. Some one who has a roof over their heads and most likely enough money to go out and get more ingredients. It was dumb of him to leave a pie on a windowsill anyway, I’m pretty sure anyone would know the chances of a pie getting stolen if left on a windowsill like that, and lastly food is a necessity for most living things. YOU on the other hand? You tried to steal from a dead man- then again you didn’t know the details but you where stealing things that were far from necessary for living. Things that are more or less frivolous in its own way.”

“... Hm... I suppose that does make sense... and I'm sorry, again, for the trouble I caused you yesterday Joxter sir.”

“Alright hold on, so two things I need to say real quick; one, stop saying sorry, it’s fine, if anything it’s rather nice that I met you-“

“Really?”

Joxter nodded “Gives me someone new to talk to. And you remind me of someone close to me- but besides the point the second thing is if we are going to keep talking you need to stop calling me 'SIR', just call me Joxter! Or Jox! Or anything that isn't so formal!” he said sir dramatically in a funny mocking way.

Fuzzy smiled a bit “what ever you say jox-sir.“ she giggled and Joxter laughed a little too.

“Oh ha ha, a play on words on my name, real cute.“ he rolled his eyes in a lighthearted way.

“Sorry, sorry, was it to much?” asked the Fuzzy, a bit worried.

“Too much? Not at all, I can get used to that nickname I think, just until you can get used to calling me Jox or Joxter.”

The two ended up chatting and getting to know eachother a bit while Fuzzy finished the rest of the pie, after that they took a walk around the forest and Joxter told her all his happy and funny stories from when he was younger, his stories of pulling pranks on Hodgkins and digging through dumps to find things Muddler would like, and so on, the Fuzzy liked to listen to the stories, she wasn’t much of a talkative lady herself but she was enjoying the company and time with Joxter. After a while Joxter wanted to hear some more about Fuzzy.

“So, what about you?” asked the Joxter after finishing up one of his tales.

“Me?” asked the Fuzzy in slight surprise that someone would ask about her.

“Yeah, you must have atleast some interesting stories to tell, don't you? Or at the very least tell me a bit more about your childhood, you’ve been so quiet.”

“Oh, well... my childhood wasn’t to interesting like yours seems to be. I just did a lot of errands for my parents and worked a lot with them, they never even took the time to name me properly like they did with my other siblings...“

Joxter looked over to her a bit saddened by what she said “I’m sorry then, but look on the bright side! You have the rest of your life ahead of you to make your own path in life and find things or people who make you happy!”

“But that seems to be such a difficult thing to do! I don’t even know what I want in life! I just want to be stable, I suppose... live somewhere peaceful where people won’t take my things. I never got to keep many things to myself and all, and when I did get things of my own it was usually junk I stole or found- I hate to admit it since it’s so... un-lady like of me to steal.”

“Is that what the basket is for, then? Holding your little collection of things?” He said as he pointed at her basket.

“Yes it is! I carry it with me everywhere for that reason.”

“Even when you sleep...?”

“Especially then! Someone could take it from me otherwise!”

“Why don’t you find a hiding spot for it?”

“There are no good hiding spots..."

“I could watch over it for you if you’d like.” suggested the Joxter “Don’t worry, I don’t want more junk added to the tin pile so I won’t take anything from your basket.”

“That’s very kind but no thank you. I believe I’ll figure something out eventually.”

The Joxter shrugged “So... since you don’t have a lot of happy stories you want to share, how about you think about what you want to do with your life going forward and tell me about that, like a dream home and such?”

“Hm... I have thought of that plenty of times before... I want to get married someday to the perfect man, someone who will hold my paw and not get mad at me when I make mistakes... I want to live somewhere calm where I can have a garden and we’ll probably have a mostly self sustainable life but a comfortable one for sure. Maybe have a kid or two as well...”

“That sounds nice, so how would you want that how would you want that 'perfect man' to propose to you? I know most people want some sort of fancy elaborate proposal.“

“Oh I’m not one for anything too fancy, someone could give me a button on a twist tie for a ring and I would be happy.” She joked “But in all seriousness I think I would just want something thought out but not too extravagant. I wouldn’t want to think of the 'perfect proposal' because as long as it’s well thought out it would be perfect to me.”

There was a quiet but nice moment between them as they walked back to Muddler's can where they saw that the sun was starting to set.

“Oh goodness, it’s so late already...!“ mumbled the Fuzzy

“Would you... like me to walk you home? I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, it’s a bit scary to be walking alone at night, or so I've heard.” he said kindly

“Oh, but I wouldn’t want to bother you!” replied the Fuzzy

“It really wouldn’t be a bother, it’s not like I have anything better to do and spending time with you was rather... 'refreshing', I suppose. I haven’t talked to someone for an entire day like this for a while.”

“Oh well... that’s sweet of you but may I be honest...? I don’t have anywhere to go... I left my family during the flying ship ceremony thing- last night I sort of spent the night in a hollow tree and today I was supposed to find a job but I couldn’t find anything until I ran into you-“

“Wait, you're living in a hollow tree-?“

“It’s not that bad! I’ll get on my feet eventually, I’m just lucky it hasn’t rained at all yet.” said the Fuzzy trying not to seem worried about the situation.

Joxter was thinking to himself for a moment and in his head it was like he heard Muddler talking as though he was being part of his conscience 'you can’t just leave her to sleep in a tree! Thats rather sad! Just because you're okay with sleeping in places like that doesn’t mean a lady like her should have to sleep in a tree!' Joxter furrowed his brow a bit before saying “Do you know how to pick berries or forage?”

“Well... no...“ answered the Fuzzy, slightly embarrassed

“Do you atleast know how to fish?”

“No, not that either...”

“I’ll have to teach you some time then, just so you can survive in the forest you know. And... if you want I suppose you can stay in the tin until you find a place of your own.”

“Oh goodness Joxter, I can’t just invade your privacy like that! That's just... Impolite!”

“I insist it’s better than you sleeping in a tree or getting rained on, you would catch a cold and I would feel guilty!”

“Can I really stay with you...?” Asked the Fuzzy

“Sure- as long as you don’t steal anything, I’m fine with it.”

The Fuzzy then started to tear up and hugged Joxter, that took him by surprise so he froze up.

“Oh thank you Joxter! This is the nicest thing anyone's done for me!”

After that, they moved some of the clutter in the can around so one half of the can was designated for Fuzzy. They made a makeshift mattress for her out of soft fabrics and blankets that were in the can and she slept the most comfortable she had ever slept in a while and Joxter was... surprisingly thrilled to have someone around again, when Fuzzy slept he sat outside the can and whispered to the calm noises of the night as though Muddler was there with him “I know I said before I shouldn’t be wrapped up about her but... I feel like you sent her my way a second time as a sign... so... thank you, Muddler.“

“Goodness, please tell me you're not talking to yourself again!“ said the Moomin catching Joxter by suprise.

“Can you not sneak up on me like that?! You damn near gave me a heart attack!”

“Well pardon me, no need to be so defensive! Just wanted to tell you that you missed a lot by not coming to the launching ceremony yesterday.”

“Missed a lot? Well to you, sure. But I had other plans yesterday and I had a lovely day today so I would rather you leave me be as to not ruin my mood.”

“Yes you missed a lot! Hodgkins actually asked if you were coming- I have a feeling he was bummed out when you didn’t come. And what were you doing yesterday, anyway? Going out with Mymble or something?”

“I wasn’t out with Mymble but that’s none of your business, anyhow!”

Fuzzy heard the racket outside the can so she poked her head out with tired eyes and saw the two talking “Pardon me, but what’s going on? Is everything alright?”

“Oh sorry Fuzzy- just a friend of mine coming to say hello. But I think he’ll be taking his leave right about now.”

“It’s alright, I’m going back to sleep now... good night..” She said tiredly before going back to lay down in the can.

Moomin was a bit surprised by the random fuzzy he had never met before

“Oooohh... a lady friend? But what about Mymble?”

“Just a friend. She has nowhere else to go.” said Joxter dragging Moomin away from the can by the arm to not bother Fuzzy's sleep even more.

“Just a friend?! Joxter just a friend wouldn’t be sleeping in the same tin you sleep in! Mymble actually loves you I thought you were actually going to start setting up a life with her based on what she had told me!”

“I never made a 'relationship' with Mymble. So stop looking so deeply into it! Fuzzy's just my friend and Mymble is just... a person I care deeply about."

“Deeply enough to have flings with her but not to actually date her?”

“Shut up, Moomin! Just because you were ready to date some lady who washed up on shore doesn’t mean I should be ready to date Mymble just because she loves me! I don’t know how to feel, alright?! So leave it be-!“

Moomin sighed “Whatever you say Joxter, the reason I really came over was to tell you that I plan on moving away to London soon.”

“London? Really?”

“Yes! Turns out I have family over there! I have an aunt and she heard of me when hearing about Hodgkins' ship and she sent a telegram saying she was going to come out this way to bring me to London with her!”

Joxter looked down a bit not sure of what to make this 'oh look another person leaving you- first Muddler died then Hodgkins cut contact- oh wait then you had the chance you had at fixing your relationship with him and you ruined it and now Moomin's leaving too, you have no one now.' he thought to himself

“Great for you. Go home, pack your bags, do what you need. You leaving us won’t affect me in the slightest.“

“Well you don’t need to be rude about it, Joxter! Good luck having a sad little life in a can! GOOD DAY!” He started to leave dramatically