gobetween | IC Inbox | victory

Oh, stop that. Here.

[Boober scoffs as he hands the round, green squash over. He's not sure if he's exasperated or touched by Gobo's reaction. Maybe both in equal measure. Either way, he's still going to the kitchen.]

Put it on the counter. After tea, maybe between the two of us we can cut it up.

[Boober has found that kabocha can bring very pleasant notes of sweet flavor to the right soup recipe. But getting through the skin is no easy thing!]

[Gobo blinked, looking at the weird thing he'd just been handed. Looked kinda like a spotty, green pumpkin. Was it even ripe yet? Then again, Boober had just mentioned cutting it up. Maybe it was good unripe...?]

Erh, sure Boober. I'll help however ya need me.

[At least investigating the squash kept him from trying to help Boober with the tea.]

[With a satisfied nod, Boober sets to brewing tea. Conversation from him all the while is limited - not due to any upset feeling, he just feels like his brain is still too cold to fully work right - but Boober's not so much one for small talk at the best of times. Case in point, after he places a mug of tea down in front of Gobo and sits down with his own, he goes right to asking:] How long are you here this time?

[The lack of conversation is fine with him, considering he spent the whole time tossing the squash up and down in his hands. Up, catch. Up, catch. Up, catch in one hand and toss to the other. Hey, wonder if it'd hurt it if it got used as a ball-]

All month! [Putting the squash down, finally, he picked up the tea instead. Sip- OHOWOKAYIT'SHOT now he's lisping a little.] I wanna check out the market. Plus, it's too cold to travel much.

[Oh yeah, this would be Gobo's first Outer Space winter, wouldn't it? Boober would have - try - to make sure Gobo was smart and careful about it. After all, there's just something different about the cold weather up here, in Boober's opinion. Not that the tunnels of Fraggle Rock didn't see their fair share of frost and chills...]

Too cold to travel much? [The tone is incredulous, but wryly so. Boober is not holding back the sass. He nudges Gobo's side with his elbow.] For you, Gobo "First Frost" Fraggle? Now how is that the Icy Joe spirit?

[He snorted, giving Boober a look that was part sharp, part amused.]

I had fur then, Boober!

[Boober shrugs, not without snickering just a tiny bit.]

It's going to be colder for a lot more than a month, you know. Believe it or not, this isn't even winter yet. It's not considered really winter in Outer Space until after, well, Night of the Lights.

[A small smile.]

If you'll be here for a month, you'll be here for that, by the way. It'll be-- It'll be nice. Not like back at the Rock, but last year Riz and Mando made it a special night for me.

Well...

[He fiddled a little with the handle of his mug, looking down at the tea for a moment. Then when he looked back at Boober, his heart was so clearly in his eyes it almost hurt.]

That's why I'm really here. I mean- it is really cold and I really do wanna help you with the market stuff too, you've been sounding pretty busy with all the prep work.

But I really really want to be with you here on Night of the Lights. It's not like you've missed it or anything, but I guess you kinda have...? And even though I didn't know you hadn't had it yet when I came here, I wanna be with you on it this time, now that I've got the chance.

Edited 2023-12-09 03:29 (UTC)

[Oh. He should have expected that, really. He hadn't, but he should have. Gobo's always been someone to make sure his friends are always having a good time. Boober takes a sip of his tea, and when he puts the mug back down his smile is warm.]

That's kind of you, Gobo. [But of course, like Gobo said, he didn't really miss the holiday Gobo is referring to-- He was there, or will be, it's all just the way this place makes time and memory awful, complicated things.] And I'll like you being here for it, too, but... It's okay, really, about the other one. It's not like I'm the holiday guy or anything, and there have been plenty of Nights of the Light back home before.

[Gobo leaned on one hand, listening to Boober talk, his answer already locked and loaded almost before he finished talking.]

Yeah, but last year's was really special! Jamdolin was there, and World's Oldest took us all to see that- that weird super light in the sky, "wigglers in the goopy goop" and all that. And- and there were lots of special moments under that light, too...!

[He took a sip of his tea, savored it a moment.]

I know you're gonna see it, and you know you're gonna see it, you just haven't yet. But that doesn't mean that your Nights here can't be special too, right? No, um, no offense to anything Mando and Riz did for you last year, a'course.

[Boober takes another, longer, drink from his mug to cover that his smile fades. He knows Gobo doesn't mean anything rude! It just leaves him a bit prickly, hearing that on top of thinking about his time here eventually ending. That, itself, is something so complicated and muddled that he tries not to think about it at all, and frankly, he's not about to change that.

So after a moment, he asks:] What made those moments so special?

[...Okay, probably not the best way he could've worded that. Maybe he should've waited a little longer. Boober sighs.]

What I mean is, I'd like to hear more about it.

[He pauses, thinking maybe he's said the wrong thing again. Maybe he didn't see the actual fade of the smile, but something about the air between them seems to change. Sighing internally, he half-shrugs, again idly toying with the mug.]

Well- Well, Red and Mokey had this whole little heart to heart. It was super sweet...! Y'see, Red hadn't gotten her a gift, but Mokey had, so she was feeling bad about it the whole way, until they got to talking and came to see their best friendship as the gift.

Then me and Wembley, well... Well at the start, Wembley had wished to see the biggest light ever, which was what the whole expedition was about. I'd wished at the start too, but I kept it secret until the very end, when I revealed to him what it was: that his wish came true. [The memory of this got a warm smile out of him.] It was really sweet and nice! His whole reaction. A little... best friends hug there.

[He lingered there in whatever thought for a moment, then shook his head a bit and looked back up.]

And you had your root cake! Brought it with you for the whole trip. Even had a wish to, well. [Pause.] To make it through the night. Which of course that came true! And I mean, who.. doesn't wish that, right?

[Oh... Well then. Boober had asked to hear more to distract himself from worries about leaving his home here behind, and well-- In a sense, it worked. It's easy to think about the whole of Fraggle Rock - noisy and busy and crowded - and feel in no rush to be back. Hearing about those from the Rock he's closest to being, in a sense, at their best? That does stir up homesickness. It's hard to sort out his emotions right now, much less to know what to say. Even hearing about his root cake - which surely, everyone enjoyed - feels small compared to the rest.]

I miss them. I mean, of course I do, but Iii- I don't always realize how much.

[It's always been this way, though, since he got here: Whenever he talks about his fraggle friends, he remembers how much they really mean to him, and it feels strange they're not here.]

Well I mean... Yeah! I miss them too. I miss them a lot.

[He leaned up a little, looking at Boober almost imploringly, absolutely certain now that he'd hurt his feelings and had to fix it.]

But I have you right now, and you have me! It's not us and also Mokey and Wembley and Red, or any of the others, but it is us! We're each other's little pieces of home right now, and maybe it doesn't seem like a lot but it is!

So... So I'm gonna be there for Night of the Lights, and the market, and whatever else! I promise.

[Oh, that... Wait. Whatever homesickness he's feeling, he can't imagine how much more it is for Gobo. Gobo, who does fit in back home, and who thrives there. Who hasn't over a year to adjust, unlike Boober. And yet, it's Gobo who's trying so hard to soothe him... Boober rests both his hands on one of friend's.]

Gobo, it is a lot-- And it seems like it, too. I'm very glad you're here! But you don't have to promise me those things. I've been here, and besides, I'm not the--

[He sighs and draws his hands back, though he does so slowly.]

Last year, Riz and Mando gave me the best Night of the Lights they could. Well, I'm going to do that for you this year.

[Best Night of the Lights sounds nice, it really does! But there was something else there that drew his curiosity.]

You're not what, Boober? Because you're a lot of things! Whatever it is.

Gobo, it's fine. It wasn't a sad thing, actually... [With a scoff, Boober lightly baps Gobo's shoulder with his hand.] Although with me, that's never a risky guess.

I just think it's not such a bad place for me-- I mean, right now it feels harder to be here, but it always does when I think about our friends. And there are plenty of bad things about this place, of course!

But there's a lot about this place that, well, suits me. And a lot of things and people that make me happy.

[He shrugs.]

It's just how things are. And we should be sad together when we miss our friends, but the other times, you can worry about yourself, okay?

IC Inbox | victory_road

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