Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Is that really necessary?” Guy asked as Dawn was laying out the next phase of plan get-Dawn’s-parent-back-together

The three of them, Guy, Eep, and Dawn were eating breakfast seated in the branches of the couple’s super secret treehouse which was becoming not so super secret with each passing day

“Yes!” Dawn chirped as she ate a mango-papaya, “if mom and dad had to work together to build our treehouse, you should ask them to work together to build a hut in your super secret tree,” and she gleamed with pride at the new addition to her plan

Eep reached for some fire roasted pine-apple

Guy huffed, “but I could…” he looked around the branches of the tree as if trying to imagine how he would even begin to construct a hut in the first place and sighed, “well...at least we’ll have a home of our own right next to a babbling brook,” he said to Eep,

“Great!” Dawn chirped, “and I’ll visit every day!”

“Right in time for our mooniversary” Guy added

“Ooooh, what’s a mooniversary?” Eep asked and both Eep and Dawn leaned in to hear Guy’s answer

“Oh, you know,” he smiled his cheeks turning a rosy pink, “it’s been almost 7 moons since…” he trailed off and took Eep’s hand “I found my tomorrow,” he continued, “I thought we could celebrate?”

“Ooooh that does sound exciting!” Dawn said in Eep’s place with a little squeal

“Like a date?” Eep said excitedly

“Something like that,” Guy said with a smile, “we could celebrate with a new treehouse,”

Dawn looked at him sharing his thought, “so it’s settled!” she chimed, “a treehouse for a mooniversary gift!” then she paused for a moment in worry, “...now all we have to do is...” she gulped, “convince my parents…”

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“Guess what everyone!” Dawn said bursting into the dining room as the rest of the pack was finishing breakfast, everyone turned to look at the overly joyous girl, “it’s Eep and Guy’s mooniversary tomorrow!”

Mr.Betterman nearly spit out his shark milk and looked at Ms.Betterman as they were suddenly reminded that an upcoming date the two of them shared once every four seasons was also arriving in a few days

Ms.Betterman looked at her husband and the two stared at each other as if in an unvoiced conversation

Grug brought them out of their shared mental state, “who told them they could have a mooniversary?!” he groaned

“It was Guy’s idea!” Eep said lovingly looking at her boyhog

“Your idea!” Grug roared and Guy jumped into Eep’s arms as if he would be safe in her embrace

“Oh quit your roaring!” Gran yelled from over the table,

“Dad what’s a mooniversary?” Thunk asked

“We are not ready for that talk yet!” Grug responded to his son nervously

“Gruggers” Phil said trying to soothe the caveman, “have some more bananas,”

Gran with a smirk and wanting to cause a little trouble having noticed how the Bettermans had looked at each other a moment before, asked “when is your mooniversary Bettermans?”

Hope looked at Phil
Phil looked at Hope

“Oh that?” Ms. Betterman tried to shrug off, “Can’t seem to remember,”

“Indeed,” Mr.Betterman agreed joining his wife’s charade, “doesn’t come to mind,”

Gran looked at the couple unconvinced, “then what’s that night sky painting mean?” she said pointing her staff towards a nearby wall

“I should’ve taken that down,” Hope muttered under her breath in regret

“Wait,” Guy said being quite familiar with the night sky from his world travels, “that sky pattern only happens once a year…” Guy turned his hand from the painting back to the Bettermans, “...is this your…”

“Yes,” Phil grumbled, “that’s the star pattern the day of our mooniversary,” he sighed, “why do we still have that up?” he asked of his wife

“Because you would always forget it,” Hope muttered arms crossed

“Nonsense!,” Phil said “I’ve memorized the stars-!”

“That star pattern arrives in a few moons’ time!” Dawn said excitedly, interrupting her parents, “we can celebrate two mooniversaries!” she finished

“Absolutely not!” The Bettermans said together

“Then at least give the newlyweds a gift for theirs!” Dawn suggested persuasively

“Well…” Phil said pondering that persuasively suggested suggestion, “alright,” he sighed perhaps wishing he could be making a mooniversary gift for someone else instead...

“What would you two like?” Hope asked

Eep and Guy looked at each other and smirked, then turned towards the Bettermans, “a new treehouse?” they said in unison

“Another Hut?!” Grug roared, “just for the two of them?!”

The Bettermans looked at each other fully knowing they would need to work together on such a project, “Anything But-!”

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“That!” Guy said pointing to a section of branches in the tree’s foliage, “is where we want a craft cubby,”

“And here,” Eep said gesturing to another section of the tree, “could use some shelves,”

“Intuitive counters!” Thunk gasped

The Bettermans huffed. It had taken some bitter bean bribery for Phil and some bitter tea leaves incentive for Hope for the Bettermans to agree to making the mooniversary hut.

“Can we add a window?” Thunk asked, “A bigger one!”

“Well, there goes our privacy,” Guy muttered

“Anything you want,” Phil said patting Thunk’s shoulder

“Excuse me, are we forgetting this is our tree-!” Guy started

“And can we add a mirror here,” Ugga suggested, “it really opens up the space,”

“Right?” Hope said in agreement to Ugga’s suggestion.

“I say we add tribe symbols!” the Queen Matriarch bellowed, “every Thunder Sister had their tribe marks painted on their homes!” she bellowed as if telling another one of her stories

The family was becoming increasingly invested in the couple’s mooniversary gift

Guy sighed taking Eep’s hand, “well at least Grug-”

To speak of the caveman, Grug appeared in the tree holding a growling Sandy, “well this place looks perfect for,” he glared at Guy, “Family Friendly Activities,” he emphasized each word in that phrase, “let’s add a small door so Sandy can easily come in and out,” and Sandy howled in agreement

“That would be perfect for Douglas too!” Thunk said, “right Douglas?” and the crocopup barked in agreement

“Great idea Gruggers,” Phil said

“I think Ugga’s idea was better,” Hope said back

“Well I-!”

“Enough,” Dawn said, getting between her parents, “Pack, why don’t we head out? Give my parents some...privacy” she said a little suggestively, “you know, to work on the tree hut?” she then quickly chimed in

The rest of the pack climbed down the tree following Dawn’s suggestion, leaving the treehouse to two glaring Bettermans

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“Pssst,” Guy called out quietly in a rare moment he wasn’t with Eep, “pssst,” he whispered again to a nearby Dawn

She heard him this time, “oh hey Guy!” she exclaimed, then lowering her voice, “Why are we whispering?” she asked as she was finishing her morning chores

Guy looked around the central hut, “can you keep a secret?” he asked

“Sure!” Dawn chimed also glancing around the central hut to make sure no one was around, then she grabbed Guy by the wrist and pulled him into the panic cubby, normally two people would be a tight fit but he was skinny so…

“What’s on your mind?” Dawn asked shutting the cubby door behind them

“I want to surprise Eep for our mooniversary,” Guy started, “at first it was going to be the hut but now...everyone knows about that, do you think...” he trailed off for a moment, “could you distract her today? So I can make her gift in secret?”

“Ooh la la,” Sash said from around Dawn’s waist

And Belt, clung to Guy, made a sound that mimicked the flirtatiousness in Sash’s comment

Dawn nodded, then unwrapped Sash from her waist and handed her to Guy, Belt cooed in happiness as the two sloths embraced each other around Guy’s torso, “Sash can help you make the gift” Dawn said, “she’s very creative,”

Guy smiled and high-fived the two sloths, “Alright, let’s do this!” he whispered in excitement and the two sloths made a noise in unison that sounded equally as excited

“What are you going to make her?” Dawn inquired excited to know what Guy would make for her friend girl, “a giant painting...on a giant rock, she likes rocks,” Guy chuckled, “I’m thinking of calling it a mural,”

“I love it!” Dawn chirped

“So you can keep Eep off the farm today?” Guy asked in confirmation

“Don’t worry,” Dawn grinned, “I know just the thing,” and the two hopped out of the panic cubby just as Eep walked into the central hut

“Hey you two!” Eep called out with a smile

“Hey…” Guy said as if he was hiding a secret

“Hey!” Dawn chirped to her friend girl

“What were you two just talking about?” Eep asked

“Oh,” Guy started glancing at Dawn, “we were just talking about uhhh...hay!”

“Hey?” Eep asked confused

“Hay?” Dawn questioned too

“Yes, yes,” Guy tried to reason, “for the moomoths, I think they’re coming down with hay fever,”

“You can get a fever from saying hey?” Eep asked a bit concerned

“Oh no, no, no” Guy took Eep’s hand and kissed it trying to dissipate her concern, “well I gotta get going, these moomoths aren’t going to do these morning chores themselves,” he said, slowly backing away, “gotta go,” and just like that he quickly headed off

“Hey!” Dawn quickly said trying to distract her friend girl from the boyhog’s weird behavior

“Hey!” Eep said back

“Wanna do something fun?” Dawn asked a little mischievously

“What’s on your mind?” Eep asked back equally as mischievously

“I was thinking we could make some new clothes,” Dawn suggested
I call it shopping!” she said giddily

Eep pulled in Dawn’s face close to hers so that they’re foreheads were almost touching, “I have a better idea...let’s go hunting,” she said and the two girls looked at each other with a fire in their eyes

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“You stay on your side! I’ll stay on mine!” Ms.Betterman huffed

“I couldn’t agree more,” Mr.Betterman concurred using his neck rock to draw a line segmenting their workspaces in the tree hut in half

“I guess we can agree, to disagree,” Ms.Betterman said as she began twisting hardened vines this way and that around the tree’s branches to create the base of the hut

“Indeed,” Mr.Betterman nodded his head as he used a dried leaflet to begin sketching his design for the craft cubby the couple wanted

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“Okay, Sash and Belt, what do you think?” Guy asked the sloths as he began painting his mural on a giant boulder

The two sloths burst out laughing

“Okay, I know, I look skinny…” Guy said looking back at his start of a painting

Belt cooed something to which Guy responded, “you really think I still look like the stick figure in my famileaf album?” and Belt nodded, “Well, then what would you suggest?”

The two sloths huddled together and began murmuring, a coo here, a purr there, an “ooh’, and a “la la” came about in conversation then they faced Guy again, “dun dun dun!” they said together and Sash picked a flower from the ground and handed it to Guy

“That’s a great idea!” Guy said taking the flower from Sash’s paw and dropping the painting idea, headed to the Bettermans’ flower garden

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“Come on mom and Gran!” Dawn called out to Ugga and the Queen Matriarch. She was seated on top of Chunky with Eep steering their joy ride

“Where to?” Ugga called out

“Doesn’t matter where to,” Gran proclaimed, “I smell an adventure!” and thrusted her staff in the air

Sandy growled in agreement and jumped up onto Chunky and Ugga and Gran followed suit

“Now…” Eep said, “anyone know where we can find some sky snakes?”

“Wait!” a voice called out and the women turned to see a Thunk running towards them holding a travel window, “Douglas and I want to watch an adventure!” the caveboy pleaded to come with them

Eep reached out her hand to him, “hop on,” she said smiling and Thunk with the tail-wagging croco pup took her hand and were swung onto the death cat

“Hold on!” Eep called out to everyone as Chunky purred and then with a light tug of the cat’s fur by Eep, Chunky ran at full speed into the wild

“Hey, what’s shopping?” Thunk asked picking up the tablet next to Eep

“Stop reading my diary!” she called out

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“Well, that should do it,” Phil Betterman announced inspecting his side of the tree hut which now had flooring, walls, a craft cubby, and half a window (the other half of the window was on Ms.Betterman’s side of the hut,”

“There,” Ms.Betterman announced, also having completed her side’s walls, flooring, some shelves and her half of the window, as well as having added a mirror and an indoor hammock with a neck pillow just to put an emphasis on the better

“Well then,” Mr.Betterman huffed, “looks like we just need to add a…” he trailed off looking directly at the line he drew that divided the hut, “a loveseat…” he paused, “to put in front of the window!” he announced

“Are you still calling them that?” Ms.Betterman asked flatly, “I prefer the term sofa...” her voice also trailed off

Phil rubbed the back of his neck nervously, I did name it...after you,” he said quietly, “just like the ones we built together in our first tree house…” he continued recalling a memory and Hope looked down recalling the same memory

Then she raised an eyebrow with a little smirk, “the one that broke the first time you sat in it?”

“It was my first model!” Phil tried to defend, and started to walk out of the tree house, “I’m going to get some bamboo!“ he said with a huff

“And I’m going to get some more vines!” Hope announced with the same huff

And the two left the treehouse in separate directions

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“Belt, how does this look?” Guy asked the sloth as he finished weaving a set of flowers in a loop, “Sash, do you think she’ll like it?”

“Ooh,” Sash cooed

“La la,” Belt finished as Guy placed the loop of flowers on top of his head, “it should fit perfectly!” he exclaimed taking it off

The sloths were just finishing making their set of flowers and placed them on each other’s heads

In a sloth like tone, Sash touched Belt’s nose and said ‘boop’ and Belt blushed

“What should we call these?” Guy asked the sloths, the sloths responded with a few different whirs and purrs, “you really think so?” Guy asked and the sloths nodded, “okay, flower crown it is,” he said, “Eep’s gonna love it!”

“So then I told her, it all started with some bamboo, and an idea...” Phil suddenly appeared in the flower garden holding a stack of bamboo shoots and telling his bro a story

“How interesting,” Grug huffed clearly not interested

“Yep, Gruggers, I’m telling you after I make this loveseat, I’ll make us a bronana seat, I say it’s a perfect new installation for the mancave, oh-” Phil said suddenly noticing Guy, “it’s Guy,”

“Hi Mr.Betterman and…” Guy looked at his cavedad and tried to hide the flower crown behind his back, “hi Grug,”

“What are you doing here?” Grug asked Guy

“I think the better question is…” he gulped, “what is Phil doing here?” Guy asked sheepishly, trying to evade the question, “the tree hut is on the other side of the farm…”

“Oh,” Phil said as if caught, “I was just - I um,” he paused and now both Grug and Guy were looking at the modern man for a reply, “I thought Ms.Betterman would like some of these…” he sighed walking over to a patch of white flowers with a seagreen hue, “moonlillies I call them” he said, “they’re her favorites…” he trailed off picking a few of them then looked back at the men, “don’t mention this to Ms.Betterman,” he huffed then proudly walked away, “so as I was saying Gruggers…” and continued his story of new installments for the mancave

“Here,” Grug said picking an orange flower with black and white stripes and handing it to Guy, “she likes these,”

“Tiger lilies” Guy whispered to himself and Grug nodded

“By the way, where is uhh...everyone?” Grug asked

“I think Dawn took Chunky out for a joyride,” Guy answered

“My ride!” Grug exclaimed in shock and ran off and Guy watched as the caveman jumped on a wolfspider and rode out into the wild

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“Okay,” Eep began to explain as the women were perched up in a tree, “you see that sky snake over there?” Eep asked Dawn with a smirk motioning her head to a nearby branch

“Yeah,” Dawn grinned

“You wanna catch it?” Eep asked with a large grin

“YEAH!” Dawn responded

“Looks like it’s shedding season” Ugga commented

“Yeah it is!” Gran exclaimed ripping off her lizard pelt to reveal her two-piece Thunder Sister outfit

“I meant for the sky snakes, mom…” Ugga commented

“Okay,” Eep said, getting into a crouching tiger position, “observe,” she quickly gave Dawn a smile then, “RAWR!” she called out, loud enough to scare a sky snake which caused it to fall from the tree branch and Eep pounced on it midair and disappeared as she and the scared snake descended. Eep came back a few moments later with the snakeskin the sky snake had shed away out of fear and showed the rest of the women, “perfect for sky snakeskin boots” she proclaimed

“Oooh!” Dawn said giddily lightly clapping her hands in delight, “ I love them!”

“Ugh…” Grug groaned who had caught up with the women, “why is shopping taking so long…” he huffed, “we’ve been looking at different sky snakes for the past hour!”

“We just need a few more snakes to shed!” Eep whined back, “Sandy!” she called out, ”your turn!”

Sandy howled and followed Eep’s example, coming back with a sky snake skin a few moments later

“Woah,” Thunk exclaimed watching the women leap from the branches and come back with the sky snake sheddings, “this is the best hunting I’ve ever seen!”

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“Well Ms.Betterman,” Phil said coming back with the bamboo shoots and flowers, “seeing as the love seat will be on both sides of our agreed line, seems like we’ll have to work together to make it,”

“Yes, it seems so,” Ms.Betterman agreed, crossing her arms, she had noticed the moonlilies Phil had attempted to hide under his arm, “I have the vines to tie the bamboo together,” she then paused, “what are the flowers for?” she asked with a slight smile

“Ah-!” Phil said thinking she hadn’t noticed, “these are…” he paused to think, “for the newlyweds mooniversary!” he finished taking them out from under his arms, “see, we can decorate the hut with them,”

“I see,” Ms.Betterman said taking a step towards Phil fully aware that he was lying and taking one of the moonlillies, “they’re lovely...,” she said leaning her head a bit closer to his and the two looked in each other’s eyes for a moment, then she took a step back and smirked, placing the flowers in a vase on one of her shelves, “...for flower arrangements,”

“Precisely what I was thinking!” Phil said, rubbing off the sweat that had formed on the back of his neck

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“What do you think about this?” Guy asked the sloths, “You don’t think it’s too much do you?” he had just finished planting a patch of tiger lilies around the base of Eep and his tree

The sloths made a few purrs and Belt picked up a rock and handed it to Guy

“You think so?” Guy confirmed with the sloths, “Yeah, I should paint some rocks and add those around the tree trunk too! Great idea Belt!” the boyhog said happily and Belt blushed on being complimented for his idea
“Dun dun dun!” The sloths said together as they picked up stones and placed them in the shape of a heart around the tree

“Now that’s how you make a mooniversary gift!” Guy said looking at Sash and Belt proudly, “now we should probably hide these,” he said taking off the flower crowns he had made for himself and Eep and the sloths also took theirs off and hid them under some moss at the base of the tree’s trunk, “the night will hide the patch of tigerlillies,” Guy said “don’t want Eep to see her surprise until tomorrow…” he sighed for a moment then whispered, “...my tomorrow…”

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“Can I drive?” Dawn asked as the women, Thunk, and Grug were making their way back to the farm on Chunky

“Sure!” Eep said switching places with Dawn

“These new sky snakeskin boots are just what I needed!” Gran announced still in her two piece Thunder Sister attire, “great idea to go shopping smart girl!” she called out to Dawn

Grug, hipporcupine quill in hand, was finishing up piecing together the last of the snake skin pieces into a…

“Oh!” Grug exclaimed excitedly, he had come around to the idea of shopping, “Phil would love this!” he added as he finished stitching together his creation

“Ummm, should we really be letting Thunk drive the Wolfspider?” Dawn asked glancing over at her little cave brother who was not so much riding the woldspider as just being carried in its mouth

“It’s hugging me with its teeth!” Thunk announced happily, “are you seeing this Douglas?” the caveboy asked and Douglas barked in content carrying the travel window in its teeth seated atop the wolfspider’s head

“He’s fine,” Ugga assured, then “we’re coming up on a ravine,” she announced, “let me drive,” and she switched places with Dawn

Eep and Dawn switched seats and sat down on the saber teeth of Chunky

“Now,” Eep said with a smile at Dawn, “are you going to tell me what you and Guy were really talking about in the panic cubby?”

“Oh!” Dawn said cheerily, “he’s making you a surprise for your mooniversary! Isn’t that so exciting?!” she chimed

“So that’s why he was acting weird,” Eep muttered under her breath then she leaned in closer to Dawn, “well, two can play at that game...” she said to her friend girl as an idea was brewing in her mind, “Sister Sunset,” Eep called out to her friend

“Yeah Fireheart?” she responded

And Dawn grinned as a shared idea entered both of their minds

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“Those knots are atrocious!” Hope called out looking at how Phil was using the vine to tie bamboo shoots together to construct the loveseat, Phil was about to protest but then-

“Here,” she said, taking his hands and weaving her fingers between his, guiding him on how to properly create the knot, “just like that,” she finished her explanation slowly taking her hands away

Phil stared at his wife, then snapping out of his daze stroked his chin and stated, “well, you seem to have used some sort of intricate weaving,”

“They’re just hitch knots,” Ms.Betterman said blandly about to turn away to work on another section of the sofa

“Wait,” Phil said taking his wife’s hands and gently stroking them with his thumb, “I’ll admit…” he began slowly, “I’ve never been good at-” he bit his lip as if finally admitting to something that was obvious to everyone else, “making knots…” he paused for dramatic effect, “so can we please... tie the knots together?” he asked

Ms.Betterman looked at her husband, a smile slowly creeping across her face, “very well,” she said slowly with a little huff and as the two began making the loveseat together, Hope guided Phil’s hands with their fingers interlaced

Once they completed the sofa, they sat down together on their creation and looked out the window. The sky was dimming, night beginning to make its appearance and the beginnings of the moon’s light shone on the Betterman couple.

“Well, I’d say we did well wouldn’t you...Hope?” Phil asked looking around the hut they had spent the entire day making

Hope glanced around the room, “yeah,” she agreed, “we make a pretty good...team,” and leaned in toward her husband

“The Better team?” Phil offered also leaning forward

“The best,” Hope stated with a smile and lightly stroked Mr.Betterman’s beard

Phil took her hand and held it gently, “you know…” he began, “I meant what I said earlier today…” then realizing that most of his conversations with his wife today had been argument, quickly corrected himself, “I mean, that I do follow the stars,” he said looking out the window at the shifting sky patterns that stars form, “I always remember our…” he trailed off for a moment, “...mooniversary,”

“You forgot last year,” Hope muttered,

“It was cloudy that week,” Phil said defensively then recovered, “come,” he said getting up and offering his wife a hand, she took it and they walked over to the window, “you see that star pattern?” he asked pointing to a cluster of seven bright stars, “I call it the Big Dipper” he said as he placed a supporting hand behind his wife’s back and the other at her waist and slightly leaned towards her as she slightly dipped back as if the two were dancing. Hope smiled and Phil gently raised her body back upward

“Then, that one,” Hope said motioning her head towards a different cluster of bright stars near the Big Dipper, “must be the Little Dipper,” she said now putting her arms around her husband’s waist and back and slightly leaned towards him as now he was the one that dipped back in their little dance

“Precisely,” Phil said softly as Ms.Betterman pulled him back up, he leaned forward towards her, their faces close to each other, she smiled, as did he, and then…

They felt a slight vibration from the ground and from the window saw the rest of the pack return to the farm on the backs of the macawnivore and the wolf spider and make their way towards the treehouse

Hope sighed and gently released Phil’s hand. Both wished they had had more time…

“Well,” Phil said rubbing the back of his neck, “looks like it’s time to add these,” he said picking up a creation of his Hope hadn’t seen before

“What are those?” she asked

“Scented candles!” he announced extravagantly

“Okay,” she said, “and what’s a candle?”

“I made them from rhinobee wax! They come in a variety of scents!” Phil began his explanation excitedly, and took two flint stones out of his pocket to light them and placed them throughout the hut, the flames creating flickering shadows on the walls as if in a dance, he immediately regretted lighting them as soon as he saw the look on Ms.Betterman’s face

Hope glared at him, “is that…” she began and Phil already knew what she was about to say, “flowers and soft rain!?” she asked, the new official scent of the mancave that Hope had grown to despise

Mr.Betterman bit his lip, “well,” he began trying to change the topic, “don’t they look nice?” he tried “really set...the mood?” he suggested persuasively raising an eyebrow which only made Hope more angry and he cowered as he saw a familiar fire in her eyes

“Set the mood?!” she demanded “Listen here Mr. Mood man” Hope said pointing an accusatory finger at him like an arrowhead at his chest, “you won’t be setting the mood tonight, or any other night!”

“Well, someone has to set the mood,” Phil defended, “and since we’re not having a mooniversary this season-!”

“Are we...interrupting something?” Dawn asked just arriving in the hut and seeing her parents looking awfully heated. The rest of the pack arrived after her

“Hi Mr.Moody dad!” Thunk exclaimed walking in

“These nicknames are getting ridiculous,” Phil muttered under his breath

“Oooh, what are these?” Eep asked picking up what looked like to be a fire in a jar

“They look like fire babies,” Ugga said also picking one up

“Looks like I’ve seen it all,” Gran said coming in with her new sky snakeskin shoes, “they’ve caught shooting stars!”

“I call them candles..” Phil said proudly, then added, “or moodlights”

“What’s a mood?” Thunk asked

“NO ONE IS SETTING THE MOOD!” Grug roared bursting into the treehouse

“Wow,” Guy said just arriving into the hut, “what are these things that carry a flame and smell nice, they really set the mood in this hut, don’t you think…?” he said looking around the treehouse in appreciation and the sloths around his waist cooed in awe, the rest of the pack went silent for a moment and stared at him, especially Grug, “did I say something wrong?” Guy muttered

“See Ms.Betterman?” Phil began directed at his wife, “at least someone appreciates my inventions…” and he grew silent seeing the look in his wife’s eyes as if she was about to pounce on him in a fury

“Stop it!” Dawn yelled, pulling her parents apart, “and you too!” she directed towards Grug and he shrunk down in surprise, “my friends here have their mooniversary tomorrow,” she said wrapping one arm around Eep, and the other around Guy, “and you three are going to mess it up, just like you mess up everything and I’m not going to let you mess up this beautiful teenage romance again!”

Dawn took Eep’s hand and Guy’s hand and brought them together so that the couple would be holding hands then backed away, “Happy early Mooniversary Eep,” Guy said blushing

“Happy early Mooniversary babe,” Eep said back and for a moment, it seemed as if the family chaos had settled

…
…
…

“Phil made banana scented candles,” Hope said breaking the peace

“You made bronana scented candles without me?!” Grug exclaimed hurt

“Well, I got this sky snakeskin satchel!” Grug said pointing to his creation

Phil gasped, “you went bronana shopping without me?”

“Are these bitter bean scented candles too?!” Hope exclaimed picking up another batch

“Well, I had to at least remember the scent! I haven’t had fresh bitter bean juice in over two moons!” Phil defended

“I can’t believe I almost kissed you!” Hope exclaimed and a silence fell over the hut with a small “Ooh la la” that came from Sash

“They almost kissed?” Gran said in shock

“You almost kissed!?” Dawn chirped happily, clapping her hands together, “the plan is working!” she chimed

“What plan?!” Hope asked

“Uhhh, nothing!” her daughter quickly responded

“We danced too!” Phil added in happily

“You danced?! That’s so romantic!” Dawn asked equally as happily

Hope glared even harder at Phil and without another word, stormed out of the hut

“Wait, mom!” Dawn called out chasing after her

“I’ll go talk to her,” Ugga said and also left

“Wait!” Phil called out to Hope and ran after her

“Bro!” Grug called out to Phil and ran after him

And Sandy chased after all of them

“Well, I gotta see this,” Gran said with a chuckle and followed after all of them

The only one left in the treehouse with the couple was Thunk

“No fair you two get your own window in your hut,” Thunk whined, “that means you can window and chill whenever you want!”

Eep and Guy glanced at each other then back at Thunk

“Wait here babe,” Eep said, “there’s something I need to ask the Bettermans…”

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“You two!” Dawn called out to her parents pushing her way into the middle of the argument outside the hut and grabbed both of them by the ears

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow” the feuding couple said in unison

“Mind if I talk to my parents alone?” Dawn asked still holding onto her parents ears and to that query, the rest of the pack quickly dispersed

“We’re not done yet,” Dawn said letting go of her parents ears and crossing her arms, “you two couldn’t hold your fire for one moment!” she began scolding them as Eep walked into the conversation

“Actually, they’re called candles,” Phil began in reference to his new fire holders, “quite innovative wouldn’t you say?” he urged in his usual manner of asking rhetorical questions

“It’s just a wick and wax, Phil,” Ms.Betterman scoffed

“Just wick and wax-?!” Mr.Betterman began to protest but was cut off

“The bulbfrogs also glow,” Ms.Betterman added “and are less flammable,” putting an emphasis on every syllable in flammable

“Eep has a favor to ask!” Dawn chimed in quickly before her parents could begin another argument and grabbed her friend girl by the arm “and you two kinda almost ruined her mooniversary so you should make it up to her,” she chimed in a tone that sounded far too happy for that kind of statement

Hope sighed, “what would you like Fireheart?” she asked

“The hut where you two keep all your half finished inventions,” Eep began

“That old place?” Hope sighed looking at Phil

“Yes,” Eep confirmed looking at Ms.Betterman thinking back to the day Hope had shown her where they kept the paint pigments, “could you give Guy his own workspace in there too?” she asked

“Yeah! Guy’s own invention space!” Dawn repeated excitedly

“A mooniversary hut for an invention hut?” Phil inquired stroking his beard pondering the tiger girl’s request

“It’s the perfect idea!” Dawn chirped looking at her parents wide-eyed, “a truly great idea, right?” she coaxed

“Well...we haven’t used that room in ages,” Phil sighed rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Hope as if the room contained memories between the both of them

Hope turned away from his gaze trying to not share the memories he was recalling, “Sure,” she said resting a hand on Eep’s shoulder, “we’ll have that room ready by tomorrow,” then added, “it’ll be good to clear it up a bit anyways” she said looking sharply at Phil

“The bitter bean grinder wasn’t that bad of an idea-!” he began to protest

“It woke me up before the chicken seals did and-!” Hope began

Eep grabbed both Ms. and Mr.Betterman by the waist before they could carry on their argument and gave them an embrace, “thank you for our mooniversary treehouse,” she whispered and the bickering couple looked down at her and smiled

“Even though it’s hard to believe,” Phil started, “we know what it’s like to be young and in love,” he said extending a hand to Ms.Betterman

“Not now Phil,” she said flatly although with a slight curl at the end of her lip, “Let’s just get the room ready,” and began walking toward the central hut

“Ooookay,” Phil muttered and a bit slumped over, followed after his wife

Eep and Dawn watched the feuding couple disappear into the night, when Eep looked back at Dawn she was grinning and Eep sensed she had noticed something within her parents that Eep didn’t

“Thanks for taking me hunting today,” Dawn said showing off her sky snakeskin armband and Eep doned a matching one, “now,” she said grabbing Eep’s wrist, “let’s get back to the treehouse, you have a mooniversary tomorrow!” and the two girls took off towards the hut as they squealed in delight

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“So then the turkeyfish said, Toucan play at that game,” Thunk was saying as the girls were returning to the hut and Guy and him burst into laughter

“Oh, have you heard the one about the sad hippodonkey?” Guy asked, “I asked him, why the long face?” and the two boys exploded in laughter once again as Eep climbed back into the treehouse with Dawn wrapped around her gatorpiggy-back style,”

“Eep!” Thunk said, running over to his big sister and Dawn, “can Douglas and I spend the night with you and Guy?” Thunk pleaded

Eep looked over at Guy who gave her a warm smile and the sloths around his waist also cooed in agreement, and then looked over at Dawn who was nodding her head excitedly, she crouched down in front of her little brother, “only if you can answer this question,” she said with a smile, “ why did the chickenseal cross the beach?”

“Because I threw a stick in its eye?!” Thunk answered and the three of them laughed

“Alright,” Eep said firmly, “you can spend the night with us,”

“Alright!” The caveboy said excitedly. On the loveseat, Dawn sat down next to Eep, Eep sat down next to Guy with two sloths curled around his waist, and Thunk sat between the couple with Douglas in his lap, “time to watch some late night window!” he announced and the seven of them curled their bodies together then Thunk glanced over at the shelves in the room, “you have flower arrangements!” he said excitedly, leaping out of his seat for a moment to grab them and then sat back down, taking a bite out of the moonlillies and watching the last remnants of the sunset disappear he announced, “we should window and chill every night!”