#because what is a friend for if not to senselessly debate the legitimacy of a word they're 80% certain does not exist

[cocoa-rococo]

Hello fellow Rayman author :) I keep wanting to write some Rayman and Globox friendship fluff but can never come up with the scenario required to properly do so. Maybe you'd like to take that up. I also love the idea of a Rayman 2 AU, where Globox just earned the power that was meant for Rayman by accidentally eating his silver lum :D But that feels like a bigger project.

(holy shit, THE levy120? aka one of the best rayman fanfic authors of all time? i re-read your stuff constantly, my dude, it's an honor.)

first off, oh man, that au sounds so cool! i already got a lot of rayman fics in the work already (the price of lightning-bolt inspiration bursts at midnight, i suppose), but that sounds like a ton of fun with a lot of potential.

secondly, i am ALWAYS down for writing friendship fluff. these two are so delightful to work with, so i hope this suffices!

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"Okay, a little higher! Good! Now, left, left, leftleftleftleftleft too far! A little more to the right, aaand… perfect!"

The summers in the Glade of Dreams were a time of plenty, with blooming flowers, flourishing greenery, and the trees all but bending under the weight of the produce they bore. Berries clustered together on the vine, little jewels in the daylight awaiting the brief harvest of those passing through. The weather was flawless for a few hours of picking berries; bright skies, warm sun, and cool breezes that passed through the shadows of the jungle canopy.

It was well known, however, that the most tender and delicious fruit waited at the very top of the trees, where the sun was strong but speckled through the leaves. Succulent and ripe, they surrendered easily to teeth and burst with flavor on the tongue. The only trick was learning how to get up there. Alas, it was a trick few knew. They contented themselves, then, to wait for the load to get too heavy on the branches and fall to the floor, where they were turned into pies, tarts, juices, and other treats.

Rayman was one of the lucky few who did know the ways up. To do that, however, he needed an assistant to help him climb and a friend to share the spoils with.

"Hey, Rayman?" Globox said, trying to both hold the thingamajig's feet steady and shuffle to the perfect picking spot. "I don't wanna be rude or anything, but do you think maybe we could hurry this up a little? My face feels squished."

"It's just for a little longer!" the limbless promised, swaying on Globox's lip, floating hands straining to reach for the closest branch to start the trek up. "Once I get up there, I'll drop the berries down, then you can catch them in the baskets."

The thought of food put the frog's complaints to rest as he straightened. "Can I eat the first one?"

"Sure, if you want. You have to take the skin off, first, though."

An attempted grab at the branch resulted in a miss. He had to readjust.

"Rayman?"

"Yeah?"

"What's so special about these berries, anyway? I mean, can't we just wait until it falls?"

"They're not just any berries, Globox, they're — oh, maybe move forward a little more — thanks — they're whiplicks!"

"Lick-whip-what?"

"Whiplicks!" The floating hand strained up again, fingertips grazing the bark. Rayman wobbled on his perch, hands out, and centered himself. "Need to get higher — Ly told me about them. They only grow once every few years, and the perfect time to harvest them is right before midsummer."

Globox grappled his sneakers in a new hold. "Huh. Are they any good?"

"I don't know, I've never had them. But supposedly, once you peel the hard part away, the insides taste like melted chocolate."

"Oooooh! Scrummy!"

"Yeah, it sounds neat, and —" Rayman stopped. The floating hands returned to his sides as he turned back to the frog with a raised brow. "Wait, what?"

"What is it?"

"What did you just say?"

"Uh," Globox blinked, one eye after the other. "Scrummy? Why, did I say something wrong?"

"What? No," Rayman shook his head, face scrunched in confusion. "It's just that — Globox, is that even a real word?"

"Sure it is! I read it myself!"

Confusion slid into suspicion. "… Where?"

"In a dictionary."

"Which one?"

"Oh. I don't know, any one. Is there even more than one kind of dictionary?"

"Maybe? But in any case, I'm almost positive that's not a word."

"Scrummy's a real word!"

Rayman's suspicion melted in the presence of their usual banter, and a smile crept onto his face. He shook his head with a laugh. "No, it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Alright then, smart guy, where in the dictionary does it say that?"

"Under the 'S', where it always is!"

"Since when?!"

"Since forever, probably!" Ahhh, there it was; Globox's smile in kind. That's what confirmed it in Rayman's head that he knew they were teasing. "And the way I learned it, you wanna know? Lila's getting to be real big — you know her, the one who makes you read those stories with all the nice pictures?"

"Yeah, I remember her. Nice kid."

"Well recently, she's been reading words, real words, all by herself! And she likes it a lot. So me and Uglette got her a few easy books to go through, and when she doesn't know what a word means, we look it up together!"

Looking back, Rayman could confirm that yes, his heart might have melted at the image of Globox being a loving father, but that still didn't mean he was wrong about this being an illegitimate string of letters. "Alright, fine. If you really did look it up, what does it mean?"

"Oh, that's easy. It means tasty! Delicious! You know, when you eat something good. It rhymes with 'yummy', after all."

"Then what not say that?"

"What, yummy?"

"Yeah!"

"Gosh, I dunno. Why does anyone say anything?"

… Huh. Why do people say anything, really? Ly could probably find some truth in that, if he remembered to repeat it to her.

"I guess," Globox shrugged, making Rayman sway on his feet, as he smiled once more, "maybe it's to make it sound more appetizing?"

"Globox, no offense, but that's the least appetizing word I've ever heard — scrummy? Seriously?"

"What's wrong with scrummy?"

"It doesn't even sound like a word anymore!"

"Yeah, because you keep repeating it!"

"Me?!" Rayman's cheeks burned from grinning so much. "You're *the one who keeps saying it! And anyway, what *isn't wrong with it? It sounds exactly like another, even better word, doesn't sound appealing at all, and doesn't even feel like an actual —"

"Hey, Rayman?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk about this a little later? My arms are getting tired."

It was then that the limbless realized he was still balanced atop his friend, with no fruit to show for his efforts.

"Oh," he blinked, large grin shriveling into a sheepish half-smile. "Sorry! Maybe… I can try jumping up instead? Count of three!"

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When the sun fell and evening arose, and the berries were reached, picked, washed, peeled, and taste-tested for chocolatey perfection — and found to be true — Globox brought Rayman to his house and had Lila show him a certain term in the 'S' section of the dictionary. Rayman studied it with a shrewd eye, burned red, and admitted, in the face of the blue frog's triumph, that perhaps he needed to read a little more. Lila was all too happy to assist in the matter.

Father, daughter, and thingamajig sat in a circle, the youngest reading aloud to them as best she could between bites of — as they all agreed — positively scrummy whiplick berries.