You gotta be someone, you gotta be strong, when you got the goods y'know you can't do anything wrong

[gobetween]

There'd been a few days since his visit to Bridge after his illness, following dropping by Perdita, and now here he was racing through the tunnels doing it all over again. This time involved a quick vault through the T. Matthew Fraggle Room, one moment spent to get his bearings, and then off he went again.

The world on the other side would require just a bit more caution, but hopefully Louie would be rather close to the Fraggle hole and he wouldn't have to spend time looking for him.

Comments

[scaredsilly]

His request was simple, in a serious tone of voice.

"What was it?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie let out a sharp puff of breath. "Me. They were making fun of me. And then his uncle, you know, Matt? They said some really bad stuff about him."

[scaredsilly]

The thread snapped as he pulled it too tight, briefly bunching up the stitches. He stared at it for a moment, then started correcting the mistake.

"...That explains it. Making fun of his friends is one thing, but- them starting in on Uncle Matt was a bad, bad idea."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie's eyes widened at Boober's slip - that was more of a reaction than he'd expected. (It was also his hoodie, but he tried not to focus on that part. It wasn't... The point, right now.)

"I noticed. So... They're really close, then?"

[scaredsilly]

"Uncle Matt raised Gobo." Once the sewing mistake was fixed back to like it never happened, he set about re-threading the needle and finishing off the repair. "They were already together by the time any of us ever met him. The room you know as Gobo and Wembley's room even used to be Matt and Gobo's, before his uncle went off out into Outer Space."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie sat bolt-upright and stared at Gobo. "He- He raised Gobo..."

That explained it all, honestly - and boy, could Louie understand everything much better with that piece of information. He got to his feet an instant later, and started pacing back and forth. "I didn't know that! No wonder he got so upset, I... I gotta talk to him! I can't believe I just hid."

[scaredsilly]

"I don't blame you! I would've run and hid too. All kinds of terrible things could've happened. Like a black eye, a sprained tail, the activity could've caused a rockslide..."

Another check over the hoodie, then he got up to start the washing.

"But I'd wait a little while before going to talk to Gobo. I recognize that look on his face, and he'll be in no mood for anything for a while. Believe me, depression is something I know a lot about.

"Besides, Mokey may not even be done patching him up yet. If I were her, I'd be going to the Cave of Shadows to get cave myrrh for the bleeding, and perhaps create a comfrey paste poultice to prevent bruising." A soft snort. "As bad as the Cave of Shadows by itself is."

[talkyourwayout]

Okay, he could admit Boober had a point about waiting to talk to Gobo, but... "No, Boober! You don't get it, that really wasn't cool of me! I- I know about this stuff, but I didn't know... Ugh!" Still pacing, he threw his arms up in frustration and disgust.

[scaredsilly]

He watched him as he paced, up to his elbows in the soapy water. Then he sighed softly, and resumed the scrubbing.

"Hiding isn't a bad thing. You could've gotten hurt, even just against other Fraggles. There's no shame in taking the better part of valor, and Gobo will understand. He probably wouldn't have wanted you in the fight, anyway.

"...Sounds like he barely wanted himself in it."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie stopped at that final remark, nodding reluctantly. "I guess not. He... He's going to be okay, though. Right?"

[scaredsilly]

Another of his small smiles. "Of course he will. He's got us."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie managed a little smile at that, too. "Right. He does."

[scaredsilly]

He nodded decisively, then resumed his washing. Once the load was done, he poured off the water and got some fresh from a nearby pipe, to rinse the clothes out and hang them to dry.

"Shouldn't take too long for your hoodie to dry, I make sure this room has good air circulation to prevent mildew. You're lucky you're Fraggle-sized, gives you something to wear in the meantime."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie gave a little snort, but couldn't deny that he was grateful for that fact, as well. Having nothing to wear would've been weird.

"Man, I didn't think any of you guys were this serious about your work," he commented.

[scaredsilly]

"I think you'll find that varies among Fraggles. We've had to remind Mokey more than a few times that she needs to go out to the garden again," he said matter-of-factly, without any real malice behind it. It was just another trait of their friend.

"But with as many Fraggles as there are in the Rock, all I've got time to worry about is laundry. And death. But I enjoy it." He paused, then almost seemed to snicker a little. "The laundry part, I mean."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie paused for a moment - he generally just worried about death when he seemed to be coming up on it. Which was, honestly, way more often than he'd like, but still not a constant thing.

"Uh, that's- Well, I'm glad you like doing laundry. Are you the only one in the Rock who has that job?"

[scaredsilly]

"The official job, yes." Once the rinsewater was empty of clothes, he hauled it up to dump it out as well. "But I've run a couple laundry classes in the past, so there are some other Fraggles who help with the work in their own way."

[talkyourwayout]

"Huh. So you probably do more than thirty minutes a week, then..." But he'd said he liked laundry, so maybe it wasn't so bad for Boober. "Wait, a couple laundry classes? How much is there to know about that?"

[scaredsilly]

"Oh, plenty!" He turned to face Louie, counting on his fingers. All eight of them, as he went along. "You've got to know the best temperature of the water to prevent colors from running, what counts as 'delicates' for sorting purposes, proper scrubbing technique to get out the most stubborn dirt, the best locations for soap, the amount of soap to use in the first place, what additions you need to make for particular stains, how to hang them so you don't crease the shoulders, you have to know when steam cleaning is the best option versus the washboard, and don't even get me started on preventing shrinkage. We may be small but we have our dignity."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie stifled laughter as Boober went on - no ill-intent behind it, just... Wow.

"Okay, that makes sense, then. Guess there's more to laundry than I thought." Honestly, Louie wasn't even sure who did his laundry these days - probably Mrs. Beakley?

[scaredsilly]

"Indeed there is! And there's no one better at it than I am."

He glanced at the clothing, then walked over to take down a few shirts, folding them carefully. It wouldn't take a detective to notice they belonged to Gobo and Wembley, both having a distinctive sense of style.

"Enough time has passed, I think. Come on, I'll walk you to Gobo's room."

[talkyourwayout]

"Cool," Louie said with a nod. He paused before he started to actually follow Boober out, though. "Would you mind - I mean, if Mokey's gone already - do you think I can talk to him alone a little, too?"

[scaredsilly]

"Yeah, of course." It was no question. He remembered how upset Louie was just a few minutes ago, and fully intended to leave anyway once he checked on Gobo himself- er, dropped the shirts off.

[talkyourwayout]

"Thanks, Boober. For fixing up my hoodie, too - I'll come back for it later."

[scaredsilly]

"Anything in the name of a friend." A smile, and he led him on.

Once they reached their destination, they would see Gobo was indeed by himself, Mokey and the others elsewhere in the Rock. He was in his customary bed facing the wall, a blanket pulled up to his ears. He hardly remarked when Boober announced the clean laundry, and the smaller Fraggle lingered a moment, watching him. Then he turned to leave, though he paused by Louie and rested a hand on his arm, nodding gently. With that, he departed.