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]

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.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie returned the nod, and then just stood there for a bit, eyeing Gobo as he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say. When he finally spoke up, he still didn't wasn't sure, however.

"Hey... I didn't know."

[gobetween]

At first, Gobo's only reply is silence. Then a deep sigh, and, "Didn't know what."

[talkyourwayout]

"About your Uncle Matt. You never... Said anything about that."

[gobetween]

"Sure I did. I talk about my Uncle Matt all the time."

[talkyourwayout]

"No, Gobo." Louie sighed before going on. "I don't mean just- I mean that he raised you."

[gobetween]

The silence after that was deafening, and it was hard to tell what Gobo's reaction was. Louie couldn't see it, but he was staring at the wall wide-eyed, and after a moment he turned enough to look over his shoulder at him.

"...Yeah. He did."

[talkyourwayout]

"Yeah," Louie echoed. "...Look, I won't ask about your parents. I'm sure you get that enough, and I... I don't like it when people ask about mine. Even if Mom's back now, it's just... Not cool. But that's the thing, Gobo - my mom was already gone when I hatched. Uncle Donald raised me and my brothers for, like, ten years. So, you know, I- I get it.

"And for what it's worth? I would've knocked someone out, too, if they'd talked to me about Uncle Donald like that. Or at least, I'd have tried." A beat. "You can't tell anyone that, but it's the truth. I have tried, before, because some people are jerks about him. So I know how you feel, Gobo." He glanced away, but raised a hand to place on the rock wall alongside Gobo's head, leaning. "And I wouldn't say that if I wasn't sure it was true, because I don't like it when people think they know how I feel. But... This is different. Or maybe I'm wrong, but it sure feels like I'm right."

[gobetween]

His expression dampened as he watched Louie, turning to see him better. His own uncle had raised him-? That... was something he hadn't known either, hadn't even thought to ask about. The sudden connection between them took him a bit by surprise, but just as it had for Louie before, it was like something clicked into place now that he knew that.

And there was just one thing to do. He sat up in bed, took Louie by one arm and pulled him into a tight, warm squeeze.