Chapter Text
Exhaling a breath she didn’t know she was holding, Ribbit sighs. She gives Kaumfo a thankful smile as he pulls his head back and slowly shuts her room door. Gosh, you always say just what I need to hear.
Eyes jump down to the hardwood floor. The second her bare, webbed feet touch the ground, shots of cold ring through her. It feels oddly good.
She makes her feet move for the door, but they pause the moment they start to pass by the big bookshelf. On top sits her beloved camera, glowing from the lamp over by the bed.
Leave it. You don’t need to take your emotional support camera around with you...
But webbed fingers know to disobey the head when it’s arguing with the heart. She swings the cooling camera strap over her head and instantly calms just feeling it touch her neck.
Okay. I’m ready. I think.
Before she can change her mind, Ribbit forces her room door open. She can smell the flames in the fireplace still burning from down the hall.
Standing as far as she can on her webbed feet, the frog tiptoes down the corridor. She freezes when she reaches the mostly dark living room. She can’t see their outlines distinctly, but she knows the lumps on the pillow pallet are Jax and Ragatha facing the crackling fireplace.
She ventures slowly, swearing each step on the floor is a mine. The wood flooring creaks with every movement she makes. Gosh, they’re both gonna wake up any second now.
But she’s shocked to find neither stirs. Wow, they must both be really exhausted… maybe I shouldn’t wake-
No! Her mind fights back. This might be my only chance to tell him!
But so what if I tell him?! It’s not going to magically change how he feels about Ragatha! He’s still going to be in love with her, not me!
All this confession is gonna do is make things awkward for everyone!
She pauses in her steps. Eyes stay glued to the sleeping couple. She watches as each of their chests rises and falls. Slowly, their breathing becomes naturally in sync. It feels invasive, but her breathing lines up with theirs too. Maybe not so naturally. Especially given the stinkin’ panic attack I’m about to have over this.
No… just…
She gives a shaky sigh and closes her eyes. Suddenly, Kaufmo’s words bounce into the light inside her dark mind. She smiles, finding herself whispering under her breath.
“No matter what happens, everything will be okay.”
The mantra calms her enough to take a deep breath. The smell of Jax’s damp fur hits her nose. Gross. Yet oddly endearing, she decides as she opens her eyes.
Feet finally carry her closer to the sleeping pair until she’s standing right before Jax’s head. She carefully bends down into a sitting position, wincing as the floor creaks even more.
Holding her breath, she leans over. The fire beside them illuminates one side of Jax’s face, seeming to light it on fire. She can’t help but want to touch his red cheek-
No. That’s a line, Ribbit. Don’t cross it.
She sits back on her legs. Okay, so...now what? Just somehow shake him awake and not Ragatha? Yeah, 'cause that's real possible. Then I'll say, “Hey Jax! I know we’re best friends and that you’re dating Rags, which is cool and all. But yeah. I’m in love with ya. Just wanted you to know so we both can’t do anything about it! Please don’t hate me or let Rags hate me, either! Sweet dreams!"
She winces. No, there has to be a better way than that. She eyes the fire. Got any ideas that won’t go up in flames?-
Pathetic puns halt when Jax gasps. Suddenly his face starts to twist, his eyes under his eyelids jumping around. His hand lying on the blanket starts to grasp it roughly, twitching like the rest of his body.
“No, pl-please,” he starts quietly sputtering. “St-stop...stop the c-c-car-”
Instantly, Ribbit feels her heart jump up to her throat.
Oh no! It’s that awful nightmare again!
Her hand reflexively stretches forward. She starts to open her mouth, willing to do anything to give Jax the comfort he deserves-
“Shhh, it’s okay…”
Her heart twisting, she halts.
“I’m here…”
And slowly, she pulls her hand back into her lap.
“I’m here…”
She silently watches as Ragatha, still half asleep, gently rubs Jax’s face. She watches as his face gradually softens, his body loosening at her touch and assuring words. Instead of a whine, a comforted sigh escapes his now-smiling lips.
Time freezes when Jax suddenly rolls over onto his side to face the fire. He pulls Ragatha with him and cuddles her at his side. Wrapping his long arms around her, he hugs her to his chest and rubs a cheek against hers. The two start breathing again, ever in sync- completely out of sync with the silently hyperventilating frog just inches from them.
The moment thaws, leaving Ribbit shaking. She’s forced to accept a truth she’s known since the second Jax confided in her so long ago- one she’s denied so hard up until now.
He… he doesn’t need me anymore. Not as a comforter. Not as a warmth to melt nightmares away.
Not even as a best friend.
Tears leak down her eyes as she struggles to compose herself. Webbed hands catch her silent weeping, making her wipe her large eyes in a misery she didn’t know was possible.
She’s gasping for air, avoiding looking at the rabbit she pines for. Eyes instinctively avert down to her chest, landing on her beloved camera- the one thing she feels she can hold and no one can take from her.
She picks it up. The square camera usually feels smooth, comforting in her hands. Now, it feels like another burden she’s forced to carry.
Still, she mindlessly crawls on her knees until she’s sitting between the sleeping pair and the fire. Her shadow is cast over them, dancing with the flames she could almost feel scorching her back.
Hands take over, fingers moving with expertise over the control panel on the camera, and she switches off the flash. She shifts to the side and sits on her bottom, watching in agony as her shadow follows. With her out of the way, the glow of the fire returns to the faces of the sleepy couple. It creates a blinding light no flash ever could.
Unable to stop, she lifts the camera to one eye. A blink, and a silent photo is taken- one the subjects within it don’t even notice.
The instant snapshot quietly prints. Usually it takes a millisecond. Now, a million years tick by, and it’s still not completely out of the device. My own camera wants to torture me.
The picture finally pops out. Hands feel like they’re being sliced with glass as she reflexively shakes the photo. Her camera is a newer model; the old technique of needing to dry the wet picture isn’t needed. Still, there is comfort in a repeated motion from the past. Especially right now.
She shakes. And shakes. And shakes until her wrist starts to hurt more than her heart does. She doesn’t need to, but she looks at the photo anyway.
There they are. Jax and Ragatha. Small smiles on their cheeks as the glow of the flames spreads across their faces.
The lighting is immaculate, framing the couple even within the white borders. The darkness behind them is haunting, yet one barely notices it. The eye is too focused on how the lens captured every tuft of fur, every piece of fabric, every ounce of love shared between the photo’s focal points.
By all definitions, it’s Ribbit’s best picture yet.
Ironic, isn’t it?
Tears start rolling again, making her quickly tuck the photo away. Any drops of water -from melted snow, from sobbing eyes- would ruin the picture.
And how she doesn’t ever want that to happen.
Left in shards, she slowly stands up. Feet quietly yet quickly carry her away from the couple until the heat coming off them isn’t felt anymore.
She slips into her room and softly shuts the door. Leaning against it, she collapses slowly to the ground. She pulls off her camera and sets it down beside her.
She finishes melting, sobbing into her webbed hands. She tries to tell herself the mantra she wants desperately to believe. But just like her camera, the comfort just isn’t there anymore.
No matter what happens, everything will be okay…
Right?