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Hey, my train trekkers, my main men, my wonderful women, my koo-koo kids, and everyone and everything else in-between! This is Della Duck, reporting to you live from her cabin with a chance to feel super good about yourself! First, a bit of background info. In my world, there's an organization called - drumroll, please - theeeee...

[ She holds up a slightly tattered and worn-out book with several post-it notes on almost every page. ]

Junior Woodchucks! The BEST group ever for kids to learn all the skills under the sun and prepare them for all of life's challenges and beyond! When you accomplished something major, you earned a badge! And, no big surprise, I earned a lot of them when I was that age. And I feel like you all have accomplished SO MUCH! Whether here on the train, back home, or in other worlds we've been to, you've all got a lot to be proud of!

With that in mind, I decided to make you guys the Junior Woodchuck Badges you all deserved! I'll be going all around the train and handing them out! Even if you're a total stranger, I want to hear the things you're proud of! Because there are things we should all feel great about ourselves!

For example!

[ She fishes out some of the badges she's already made, and shows them one by one. ]

The first time you made a campfire! Or, making a new dish that's actually edible! Or putting out someone else's campfire that went wildly out of control! Master of treating injuries, making twenty friends, craftsman extraordinaire... And if what you're proud of doesn't exist in the guidebook, then phooey, I'll make it up myself! BECAUSE YOU ALL NEED TO LOVE YOURSELVES A LOT MORE!

... A-hem. See you around, guys!

[ if you'd like, feel free to go right to Action to meet her all over the train! ]

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It is! Now, tell me something you're proud of!

[ While she does have badges in mind for him, she does want to see if there are nice things he can say about himself first. ]

[wait what]

[Somehow, despite Della's insistence that everyone should love themselves more, he somehow hadn't considered that 'everyone' included him, and he looks at her, wide-eyed. He definitely does not have an answer ready.]

Um- I- Uh-

[What is he proud of?]

[Well, nobody here has died on his watch, and only one person had gotten badly injured, and he'd been healed, and that's a record for any healer to be proud of, and...well, he doubts 'no one died' is what Della wants to hear here.]

[But what else is there? What else does he even have to be proud of?]

[It seems the only answer he has at the moment is a perfect deer-in-headlights expression and a pause that goes on for far too long.]

[ Boy, that is worrisome for SEVERAL reasons. But therapy later, badges now. ]

All right, in that case...!

[ She digs into her sewing kit to extract several badges! ]

First off, the Cool Head badge!

[ the badge depicts an ice cube atop the figure of a shadowy head. ]

When you arrived, you handled things way calmer than others around here... and you still do! You've got a good head on your shoulders, and you're someone we can count on!

[He hadn't thought himself getting a badge was on the table at all, let alone several of them, which Della evidently thinks he deserves-]

[It gets him back on track, at least, though he nearly laughs when Della says he'd handled his arrival calmly. If a full panic attack and a crying breakdown are Della's threshold for calm...]

[But Della probably doesn't want to hear that either, and honestly, she's not wrong about the rest of it. Keeping a cool head in a crisis is part of being a healer, and he's managed that for the most part. He tries for a smile, and while he doesn't quite manage a full one, he gets partway there.]

Thank you.

[ Hey, he didn't go around threatening people and screaming and hurting folks! So, if you see it THAT way, he totally had a cool head.

Look, she's trying.

Once she puts the badge in his hand, she fishes for another one - this one's symbol is a guy's shadowy head opening up to release the sun. ]

And, fitting, the next one is the Open Mind badge. Willing to hear new ideas and stuff about other world without judgement, and willing to try new things!

[ Is she really stretching that one pizza conversation to make him feel good? Yes, dammit. ]

[She is, for the most part, succeeding. It's hard for his anxiety to stand in the face of such relentless positivity. He accepts the second badge, though he looks a bit puzzled.]

Isn't everyone?

[How does anyone survive here if they're not willing to adapt and learn? That can't be that unique, right?]

You'd be surprised! There are people who refuse to accept other people's ways could be different, or even better, than their own. Do you have ANY idea how many people have had mental break-downs because I'm a duck?

[ she tries to understand it, but boy, it can be annoying. ]

[...she makes a good point.]

I'm assuming more than one.

[Admittedly, he'd seen more than one humanoid animal or human with animal features back home - demons and half-demons were a thing, and while Della isn't either, she's not that much of a surprise either.]

[...plus, he'd already had a total breakdown upon meeting Willow by that point. That had shifted his metric for 'weird' by a lot.]

Then again, after I met my first god, I figured nothing could get weirder than that.

[It's a bit of a lie, but he'd promised to keep Willow's secret. Also, meeting a god is weird, never mind being friends with one (or several).]

Yeah, the first god meet is always kinda awkward. But after you meet the second and third, things get pretty chill.

[ Selene and Storkules were pretty awesome. Zeus sucks, though. ]

Well, I met Persephone first and then Thanatos, so I think I did this backwards.

[Wait, was that too much- oh gods that was too much. He shouldn't have said that-]

[Whatever calm he had found during the conversation drops from his expression, leaving a nervous anxiety in its wake, like he's expecting to be yelled at.]

Please don't tell them I said that.

[ Mom Mode, activated! ]

I - all right, I won't, but... are you okay? What's wrong?

[The reassurance helps, though it doesn't assuage his anxiety entirely. He'll need a bit more time for that. For now:]

It- i-it's nothing. It's- fine.

[Just the sudden, overwhelming fear that making even the smallest joke about his friends will give them good reason to abandon him. You know - the usual.]

... Okay, but... y'know, you ever wanna talk? You can't see my ears, but I promise you they're always open. No judgement here. I've pretty much been banned from judging anyone ever.

[ A light joke with some good truth in it. ]

[For a moment, he's tempted to tell her everything. He's so tired of nobody really knowing him - he wants someone to understand, and Della seems like she would-]

[But-]

[But she's...in the middle of something. He wouldn't want to take her away from that.]

[It's a weak excuse, but it takes hold anyway. He's not as strong or sure of himself alone as he'd like to be, but he can't fully reach out for fear he'll lose the friends he has - it's a vicious cycle, and he can't find it in himself to break out of it.]

Okay. I...I'll let you know.

[He looks down at the two badges in his hand. If nothing else, they're proof that Della cares.]

Thank you for the badges.

[It's quiet but entirely sincere.]

... Would you also thank me if I gave you a hug?

[ Because Mom Senses tell her this kid could use one - but she's also been learning, albeit slowly, not everyone likes the touchy-touchy, so doesn't hurt to 'ask' first. ]

...yes?

[Is she offering? Because he wouldn't ask, but he definitely needs one.]

Atta boy.

[ And she goes right on in, holding him gently, even lightly patting his back. ]

... I gotta bunch of badges to deliver. But let's catch up soon, okay? I bet you'll be earning even more before we both know it.

[She's a gentle hugger, and he tries to reciprocate in kind, to be calm, like nothing is wrong, and-]

[He doesn't quite succeed.]

[He might be clinging, just a bit, in this hug that he's needed ever since he'd gotten on the train and never known how to ask for. He doesn't cling hard, or for long, but...Della's a mom. She can probably tell the difference.]

Okay.

...thank you.

[Both because he said he would and he means it.]

You're welcome.

[ But she won't end the hug until he does. He clearly needs it. And she's got all day for badges and lovin'. ]

[He doesn't want to let her go, honestly. He wants to stay here, in this hug, and not have to move - not when he feels secure for the first time in so long-]

[But...Della has other places to be. She'd told him so herself.]

[Slowly, he lets go and steps back, trying to smile. He mostly gets there, but there's no denying that his expression is still a little sad around the edges.]

Good luck with badge delivery.

Thanks. And... hey.

[ She lightly touches his cheek. ]

... Don't be afraid to call me anytime, anywhere, for anything. Especially for more hugs.

[ With another warm smile, she walks off. ]

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