For the goodbye prompts! Either 6 for the dad trio or 10 for ratty and mole (whichever one takes your fancy!)
I went with 10 “I’ll see you when I get back”
—
“Alright, I think that’s the last of it,” Mole said after double checking his bag for the umpteenth time. Ratty stood off to the side, looking slightly forlorn. He’d been acting strangely for the past few days and Mole was hesitant to leave when his friend was in such a mood, but his mothers had been fussing at him to visit for weeks, and there were a few forgotten knick-knacks that he’d left in his burrow that he wished to retrieve. He even (albeit, quite begrudgingly) planned to tidy the place up a bit—not finishing the spring cleaning he started a year ago, but simply making the place more welcoming for guests. The visit in the winter had reminded him of too many cleaning supplies strewn about the place in a way that made him a bit embarrassed for Ratty to see where he had lived.
“I guess this is goodbye, then,” Ratty said. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets and there was a defined slump in his shoulders.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” Mole offered. Ratty blinked a few times.
“When you get back?”
A huff of a laugh escaped Mole. “What, you didn’t think I was leaving forever, did you?”
Ratty laughed in a forced, sheepish way that showed exactly what he had been thinking.
“No, of course not,” he said, rubbing behind his ear self-consciously. “I didn’t—no, of course I didn’t think that. Have fun.”
Mole hesitated only a moment before he stepped forward and gave Ratty a hug that was readily returned.
“You silly animal,” he scolded, unable to keep a laugh out of his voice. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, for a good long while.”
“I don’t think I’d mind that,” Ratty said, so quietly that Mole wasn’t sure if he was supposed to have heard it. He gave his friend a squeeze and pulled back to grab his bag.
“I’ll be back in a few weeks,” he said firmly. Ratty nodded, finally looking at ease for the first time in almost a week.