Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Hey Anne, can I ask you a question?"

The Thai woman looked up from her phone at the pink frog standing next to her. Polly paid him no mind, she was too busy examining Anne's mechanical hand.

Sprig fidgeted with the hem of his sleeve and he avoided her eyes, clearly nervous about something.

"Sure thing dude, lay it on me." 

"You sure? Polly might not want to hear it…"

The purple frog sitting on the table in front of Anne stopped her tinkering to lift her goggles. "Depends on what it is."

"It's about Ivy and Maddie."

She rolled her eyes and brought the goggles back down. "Gross, get out."

Anne snickered and released the clip of her harness through her shirt, awkwardly maneuvering to get it off without disturbing her adoptive sister's work. With a final click the arm released and was left lifeless on the table.

Anne and her adoptive brother said their goodbyes to Polly and left the shack, the former wincing from the bright sun setting in the sky.

They walked around the borders of Wartwood for a while, saying hi to the citizens, paying a quick visit to Bessie, nothing out of the usual. Anne was starting to get impatient, though. 

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to an old tree stump. They both sat down and Anne patted his shoulder.

"Okay man, you gotta stop with this whole avoidance thing. What's on your mind?"

Sprig sighed. "Okay, you're right. It's …I love being here in Wartwood, but I can't help feeling like I should be out traveling instead! Of course I want to be with Ivy and Maddie, but I just can't stay here."

"I would love it if they came with me and Ranger, but Maddie has her business here and Ivy is out doing their own thing with Felicia. If we spend all this time apart, can we really make this work?"

Anne looked up, watching the clouds lazily float across the bright orange sky.

"Y'know, me, Sash and Marce had talks like this. I'm working on Earth, Marcy spends all their time in Newtopia and in school, Sasha's off doing Frog knows what, it can get pretty confusing. We thought, 'how will we maintain a healthy relationship if we rarely see each other?'"

Sprig absent-mindedly kicked the little rocks and pebbles under his feet. "How did you fix it?"

"Well," Anne began. "The first thing we had to do was accept the fact that we would be apart often, especially Marcy. They spend days, sometimes weeks working in Newtopia, it can be pretty taxing when we can't see them for that long."

"Me and Sasha found ways around those feelings by finding things to distract ourselves with. Of course it doesn't replace having Marcy around, but it makes it more, y'know, manageable."

"But what does Marcy do? How do you know that they still want to be with you?! I- I mean, them, you want to be with… them-"

Anne glanced over to him and realized that this might not just be about traveling.

"Sprig, Ivy and Maddie will still be there for you, even if you're out traveling." She said with a smile.

His face flushed a bright pink, how did she see through his hypothetical disguise so quickly? 

"That's the thing! How will I actually know that? Sure they might seem happy when I get back, but how do they feel when I'm gone?! How do I tell them that I want to spend even more time away from them?!"

Anne, being the level-headed and sensible woman she is, shut him up with a hard punch to the shoulder before he could go on a tangent, ignoring his cry of pain.

"Sprig, listen to me bud. I know it can be scary and confusing. Having one partner is hard enough, but having two? It adds an entirely new layer of problems. If it's getting to you this much, the best thing would be to talk to them."

"But what do I say?"

"Say what's on your mind! Having a relationship like this is all about honesty and communication, you need to talk about these things, even if it's hard."

Sprig made a 'hmph' sound, not satisfied with her advice.

Anne groaned and leaned back, sprawling out on the tree stump. "Don't tell her I said this, but Sasha struggles with that a lot."

He perked up, staring at Anne like her hair turned blue. "Really?"

"Hah! Are you kidding? We've been together for months now and she's still apologizing for Toad Tower. It's not her fault, though. She just needs a little reassurance is all."

Sprig flopped down next to her, resting his hands on his chest. "What about you?"

Anne turned her head to the side. "Hm?"

"You told me how Marcy and Sasha feel, but what about you?"

She looked away awkwardly from being put on the spot, clearing her throat before continuing.

"Well uh, I just tell myself that they still love me and I still love them. The distance between us doesn't matter, as long as we still have each other."

She glanced back at Sprig, who had a playful grin on his face. "Ew, Anne. That's so cheesy."

"Shut up, I know!" She cried, ruffling his orange hair as he laughed. She eventually gave in and laughed with him, giving him a flick on the forehead for good measure before resting beside him.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, watching the sky turn a dark teal and the fireflies come out from the grass and fill the air. Soon, the sky was filled with just as many stars as there were bugs, which told them it was time to go home.

Before returning to the farm, the two stopped by Maddie's potion tent. Sprig gave Anne an anxious look, to which she just waved him on, mouthing 'you got this!' from her hiding spot in a bush nearby. Taking a deep breath, he peered through the entrance, smiling when he saw his partners.

"Hey Sprig!" Ivy called, signaling him over to the bench they were sitting on. Maddie smiled as well, silently waving to him as she continued to take stock.

"Hi guys," he said, trying to control the waver in his voice. "Can we talk about something?"

Maddie stopped writing in her journal, turning to give him her full attention. "Yeah, what's wrong?"

He waved her off. "N-nothing's wrong, there's just been something on my mind lately…"

He went back to shuffling his feet, trying to summon the courage to start the conversation. Ivy elbowed him gently. "Well? We're waiting!" They teased.

"Right, yeah-" he said with a forced laugh. 

Come on Sprig, just spit it out. Be honest.

"I think… I need to leave Wartwood."

The blue and yellow frog looked at each other, then back to him. "Okay? That's nothing new." Ivy said flatly.

"No I mean, I think I want to spend more time away from Wartwood."

"I don't want to leave you guys!" He quickly corrected, "I just- feel like I need to be out there more. I know you two are happy staying here and I love this place so much but… I can't settle down like you guys can." 

He sighed and looked down shamefully. He shouldn't have brought this up, why did he have to be so selfish?

"Sprig, that's fine." Maddie replied, crossing the room and bringing a hand up to wipe his watery eyes. "We know you have a restless spirit, if you feel the need to leave then we understand." 

Ivy nodded in agreement, resting their head on his shoulder. He looked between the two of them, stunned. "R-really?"

"Of course, silly! Me and Mads can keep each other company, plus- we can still send letters to you!" Ivy interjected, rubbing his hand with their thumb.

Sprig tried to blink his tears away but that only made them spill down his cheeks, squeezing Ivy's hand a little tighter. "Sorry, I uhm- I don't know why I'm crying," 

"Because you're a sap." Maddie said with no hesitation. Ivy and Sprig giggled, scooting over so she could sit on his other side. 

The three sat close and talked, occasionally laughing but saying things too quiet for Anne to hear. The Thai girl smiled and wiped a tear from her eye and wriggled out of the bushes. She was almost out when…

"Hey Anne?"

She jumped and turned her head to see Ivy sticking their head out of the flap.

"If you're gonna hide in a bush, make sure you're actually hidden." 

She looked behind her and realized that her scabbard was sticking out the entire time in perfect view of the tent.

"Frog dammit!" She exclaimed, scrambling to stand and dragging her sword with her. Inside the tent Maddie and Sprig were cackling at her misfortune.

"Oh ha-ha, how dare I try to be a good person and supervise my brother while he spilled his heart out." She pretended to be annoyed but really, she was just as amused as them.

With a couple goodbyes and tips about stalking from Ivy, Anne made her way to the Fwagon, whistling a tune and satisfied by another successful romance quest completed.