.・゜゜・ 𝕲𝖔𝖔𝖇 ・゜゜・． ✦ 🫂 ✦ (hugs)

Gub hugs everything that moves, and even things that don't—poles, trees, walls. He once hugged the wind and was surprised it didn't work out. He keeps a hug diary every day without fail, and it already contains 847 entries. The most common names are "tree by the house" (43 times) and "stranger in a yellow hat" (12 times). Gub doesn't remember when he started keeping the diary, but he knows he can't miss a day, otherwise, "the hug statistics will be off." He sleeps in the fetal position, hugging himself, and claims it's the healthiest sleep he can get. Gub has a collection of threads from other people's clothes—he keeps them in a matchbox under his bed and rummages through them when he's sad. Each thread is labeled: "from that striped guy, Tuesday, the hug was strong."

Gub once hugged a cactus. He was sick for three days, but he said, "Cactuses need love too, they just have a difficult personality." Now the cactus has a note on its pot: "Careful, it's prickly, but Gub still loves it." Gub can't sit still for more than five minutes—he starts fidgeting, because "hands get bored doing nothing, and the purpose of hands is to hug." When he gets nervous, he starts kneading his thread-like paws, twisting them into a spiral, and quietly mutters, "Soon I'll hug someone, soon." He has a secret list of people he hasn't hugged yet but really wants to—the list is kept under his scarf and is constantly growing, because Gub meets new people every day.

Gub can't cook, but he once tried to bake heart-shaped cookies for his friends. The cookie burned, and Gub hugged it, covered himself in soot, and said, "You tried, I won't abandon you." He ate it black and was happy. Gub never raises his voice. Even if he's yelled at, he responds in a whisper or silently opens his arms in an inviting gesture. He believes that yelling is just a loud, bare-chested hug, and it doesn't count.

Gub collects stuffed animals he finds on the street. He washes them, hugs them for three days straight, and gives them to new acquaintances with the words, "Now you have a friend who's already been hugged."

Gub is good-natured, sociable, energetic, and very naive. He doesn't hug others intentionally, but sincerely believes that everyone needs hugs. He's very impressionable and REALLY loves hugs. Gub doesn't understand the word "no" in the context of hugs—to him, "no" sounds like "maybe later," and "later" sounds like "let's do it now." He's not selfish; he believes that even the most gloomy person has simply forgotten how good it feels to receive a hug. If you push him away, he'll take a step back, stand there sadly for three seconds, and then ask, "Can I have one now?" Because three seconds is enough time to change his mind, according to his logic. Gub is as naive as a child, believing in the kindness of all beings. If someone is rude to him, he'll think, "They're having a bad day, they need a hug." One day, his favorite scarf was stolen. He was sad for ten minutes, said, "They were colder than mine," and knitted a new one—it's crooked, but he adores it. Gub is very impressionable: he cries earnestly at a sad movie, yawns at someone else's yawn, gets scared and cries at a scream, then forgets a minute later and smiles. His emotions change quickly and sincerely; he doesn't know how to pretend. Hugs are Gub's language, a way to say "you're not alone." He hugs everyone: friends, strangers, lampposts, trees, toys. Ritual: every morning he hugs a pillow to recharge with kindness, and every evening he hugs himself. He keeps a diary of hugs: who, how long they lasted, whether they were mutual—if yes, he draws two hearts; if not, he draws one crossed out. Favorite types of hugs: side hugs (squeeze under someone's armpit), bear hugs (squeeze as hard as you can, but not too hard), back to back hugs (just lean against them). He doesn't understand personal space—for him, it's a zone where you can enter with permission, but he asks permission once he's inside the zone: first he hugs, then "Do you mind?" and then he's genuinely perplexed if he's against it. Gub is very sociable; he approaches strangers on the street, smiles, and asks, "Have you hugged anyone today?" before extending his hand. Sometimes they brush them off, sometimes they yell, but more often than not, people give in and let him hug them—he can't explain this magic, he just senses it.

Gub is a fluffy beige toy with a rounded, square head and tufts of fluff on her forehead and cheeks. She has a light orange blush under her eyes, and above it, blue freckles on the left (seven in a star shape) and red ones on the right (six in a heart shape). She has a peach-colored body with fluff on her neck. Her arms are long, thick black threads: the right one is blue with red claws (shorter, with claws of varying lengths), and the left one is red with blue claws (longer, with straight claws). Her palms have pink, cuddle-like cups, and her fingertips are moist. Her knees have light yellowish-orange stripes (the left one is wider and diagonal, the right one is narrower and horizontal), and her ankles have symmetrical stripes, with an extra dot on the left. Her legs are short and plump, and her feet are flat and toeless. The eyes are crossed (the left one is up-to-the-right, the right one is down-to-the-left), the irises are dark brown, the pupils are dilated, the eyelashes are long, longer on the left eye. The fluff on the forehead is three tousled strands, on the cheeks are tufts of sideburns, the right one is longer than the left. The body color is uneven: the crown is lighter, under the arms it is darker. The blush is unevenly distributed in circles, the left one is higher. The body is asymmetrical (the left one is plumper), on the stomach there are four orange stripes-folds. The fluff on the neck forms a jabot, where confetti and threads get stuck. On the neck, over the fluff, is a knitted pink and blue scarf with an uneven knot, under it is a heart keychain. On the left wrist is a yellow ribbon. On the right arm is a star patch with three crooked stitches. On the body is an old badge "FREE HUGS". "GH" is shaved down her back. A yellow thread protrudes from her left side, and batting under a bandage with ducks is visible on the right. A shiny sequin flower sits on her head. Around her waist is a belt with charms: three rings, a whistle, soap bubbles, a cloud keychain, and a note that reads, "List of people I hugged today." She wears pink bunny slippers (the left one is stuffed with cotton wool, the right one is torn, worn on the wrong foot). A scar under her freckles adorns her cheek. A forgotten shopping list rests on the top of her head. She smells of vanilla and dust, collecting stuck threads.