All that time never truly seeing the things the way they were...

[moneymatters]

Scrooge walked away from the balcony room, shaking his head lightly and chuckling, faintly, to himself. What an interesting day this had turned out to be.

At a thought he glanced beside him, watching Louie out of the corner of one eye. When he figured they were far enough away from their other guests, he spoke.

"I never would've figured you for a romantic, lad. That seems more Huey's area than yours." A more defined chuckle. "No offense at tha', o'course."

Comments

[gobetween]

He smiled, circling an arm around Louie's shoulders and pulling him in closer.

"That means a lot Louie, thank you."

[talkyourwayout]

"No, I... Thank you, Gobo," Louie breathed. "See, I used to not know what my part in things were, either. And even after I figured some of it out, it kind of got lost in all the other things going on in my life. This, right now? It reminded me."

[gobetween]

He looked at him for a moment, a bit taken aback. Then he smiled and squeezed him that much closer, resting their heads together.

"I'm glad."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie returned the hug, at that point. "You've done a lot for me, man. I think that's what Unca Scrooge was trying to get me to see. Part of it, at least..." He chuckled. "Sometimes I kinda hate how much he's right, but - well, this one is hard not to be happy about."

[gobetween]

Gobo was a bit confused, not having been there for the earlier conversation. But on the whole that didn't matter, and he just laughed gently as he glanced at Louie with a smile.

"Well, you're one of us, eh? Honorary Fraggle."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie nodded, laughing. "That's right, I am." He bumped against Gobo a bit. "You know what you said before? About being like brothers? That's cool, and I'm glad, but I'm really more glad that you're my friend who isn't my brother." He gave one more, sheepish giggle.

Yes, he had friends who weren't his brothers, but they were also his brothers' friends. And besides, he and Gobo had a special connection - he couldn't have put words to it even if he was comfortable trying, but it was there. Even if Gobo did befriend Dewey and Huey, it wouldn't change that.

[gobetween]

He chuckled softly and nodded. Then, one more squeeze and he sat back, resting on his hands some again.

"So, you ready to wake up?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie stretched his arms over his head. "Sure thing," he responded.

Once he'd decided on it, waking up seemed to come almost instantly. It felt natural; there wasn't the kind of awkward shift from dreaming to being awake he would've expected. He didn't even feel groggy as his eyes opened - although there was something that felt... Not wrong, but different... Ah. Louie smiled as he rubbed the familiar shawl between his index finger and thumb.

[gobetween]

He stirred and sat up, hand automatically going to grab something sliding off him. When he realized what he was holding, he laughed softly.

"Oh. Mokey's shawl." It had been draped across him and Louie both, thanks to its size. He blinked, then snickered again. "Oh man, Mokey! I got so involved in our talk, I kinda forgot all about her... I guess she finished her drawing and came looking for me."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie gave a little snort from where he was still lying down. "Gobo, you're bad at this," he teased. "Go find her, man. I'll be fine to just laze around here."

[gobetween]

He gave him a quiet "You sure?" look but when further nudged, he chuckled and slid off the bench, draping the shawl around his own shoulders in a passable imitation of the Fraggle it belonged too.

"Alright, but I'll still be around if you need me, Louie." Waving, he turned and headed back inside the house.

[talkyourwayout]

"I know you will."

Louie did, indeed, just lay on the bench for a good while. He knew what he had to do, but he wanted a little more time to think over what he and Gobo had discussed.

Eventually, though, he got up and headed in, himself. He poked his head into the kitchen, glancing around. "Hey, Unca Scrooge?"

[moneymatters]

He was still in there, having decided to bring a book to wait for Louie to return. Glancing up, he closed it and sat up with a smile, sliding out of the seat at the table.

"Ah, welcome back Louie. Hope you had a good talk?"

[talkyourwayout]

Rather than saying anything at first, Louie crossed the kitchen and gave Scrooge a quick hug.

"I'm gonna figure it out. And... Until then, I'll be okay."

[moneymatters]

Scrooge was momentarily surprised, then smiled and returned the hug while there.

"That's all I needed to hear."