They threw us in a cage and there's no key

[talkyourwayout]

It was a fair set of questions - what was Louie doing in Unca Scrooge's garden, and why were there tripped traps lying around? Louie had started off by explaining how the other Louie had told him about a rather unique kind of Demon called a Fraggle, and how easy catching one had seemed - low-effort, even.

"...At least, that's what I thought!" Louie groaned, taking a seat in the grass, leaning back against Scrooge's legs. "But I just had to set up, like, my third trap! I wanna see one of these Fraggle-things, but I'm not sure it's worth the work." A beat, and then - with wide eyes - he glanced up at Scrooge. "You don't think Louie's pranking me, do you?"

He wouldn't be entirely surprised, in part because it sounded something like he, himself, might do to one of his brothers.

Comments

[moneymatters]

"No, Louie's not pranking you, Fraggles exist." He glanced up from Louie to the sprung traps, raising an eyebrow. "I just don't think your traps are- eh, entirely simple for catchin' them? They're very elusive and wily, you know."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie huffed and rolled his eyes. "Look, I didn't know about Fraggles until this morning! How am I supposed to know what to do to catch them?" he pointed out as he got back up to his feet. "Do you have any ideas?"

[moneymatters]

"All this has only been since this mornin'?" He glanced up again and nodded, impressed. "Well here, let an auld master at traps and snares help you put the perfect one together."

[talkyourwayout]

"Thanks, Unca Scrooge!" Louie said brightly. Sounded like he was off the hook for some trap work, at least for the time being. "And yeah, it has. I'm really curious about them."

[moneymatters]

"So I see. Well, hopefully this'll help your curiosity." With that he and Louie headed to another part of the yard, one near a large tree and a few heavy rocks. Here the two of them set out a cloth on the ground with ropes at the corners, hidden in the brush until it led to its trigger point, where it'd spring up and form a bag to hang from one of the tree's sturdiest branches. The bait was laid in the center, some extra brush at the edges to cover it all, and then the two of them found a hiding spot in the shadows to wait.

[talkyourwayout]

As he crouched down in waiting, Louie found it a little hard to keep quiet - always a talker, after all. "So," he whispered, glancing over at Scrooge for a moment before returning his attention to the trap, "have you seen one before?"

[moneymatters]

"No," Scrooge whispered back in kind. "Though I am a bit disconcerted that all these traps have been sprung in the span o' one morning. They're bad for gardens, and I don't like the idea there's multiple Fraggles underneath the plots."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie had to stifle a laugh at that. "Face it, Unca Scrooge, you're a magnet for weird stuff."

[moneymatters]

He snickered as gently as he thought he could manage. "I suppose so."

A small jerk gone through him signified that, on looking up, he'd spotted something, and this proved to be true as he lightly elbowed Louie to look as well. Out ahead of them, in the taller grasses at the somewhat wilder part of the landscape they were in, what looked like a pink puffball was lightly winding its way ever closer to the hidden trap.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie blinked a few times, staring out at what he didn't know was a Fraggle's tail. "Is that... It? I mean, Louie didn't have any pictures, but I definitely wasn't picturing a pink dandelion."

[moneymatters]

He carefully moved a hand around to gently clap Louie's beak shut, hissing a "Wait" into his ear. As they watched, the puffball paused, and a pair of eyes appeared between the shadows in the grass. Eeeever so carefully a small, furry thing in a- shirt and vest? -wound its way out over the edge of the trap, the bobble following it on the end of its tail. Once it was good and in the center Scrooge pulled on the trigger rope, and the creature, the Fraggle, let out a startled cry as the bag closed around it, yanking it up into the air.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie beamed as he ran over to stand beneath the bag. "Ah, we got it!" he cheered. "Cool! Man, these things look weird."

It was also a bit bigger than he'd thought it would be, judging by the wriggling mass in the bag. The other Louie had said these things were small, but it couldn't have been much smaller than Louie himself...

1/2

[moneymatters]

He snickered softly as he walked over to him. "Aye, that was certainly a Fraggle. Colorful, aren't they?"

2/2

[gobetween]

You know, someday he was going to stop falling for these, really. It'd seemed fun, spring a few traps, get some free food, until one just wasn't as obvious as the rest. He struggled in the bag a bit, though paused at an extremely near voice, turning a bit toward it- not that that was obvious from outside the bag.

"Y'ever think from my perspective, you're the weird looking one?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie - who had been laughing at Scrooge's words - stopped to scowl at the Fraggle's accusation.

"Well... Hey, shush," he muttered. "You know, I have to admit, I didn't have a plan for what to do if I caught one..."

[gobetween]

"That sounds familiar," though he had to note it with some amusement. When he heard Scrooge explain "Fraggles are worth a lot of money" he snorted through his nose. "So does that."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie glanced from Scrooge to the bag and back again, frowning a bit. "You did say 'worth a lot of money,' right?" he asked Scrooge. "Because you don't seem very... You about that idea."

[moneymatters]

"Aye, they're quite valuable." He walked over to the bag and untied it, taking it down from the trap without letting it open. "In the same way that some might think a leprechaun valuable or, to be more exact I suppose, the horn of a rhino or the hide of a prize deer. Not exactly processes I approve of."

He turned to Louie, and gestured at the bag in his other hand. "But it's up tae you what to do with him. I certainly don't want him in my garden, but I know you were only satisfyin' curiosity. The decision is up tae you."

[talkyourwayout]

"What."

Well, that was... Not what he'd been expecting. Maybe it was for the best, though; he was trying to be less greedy now, anyway.

"Wait, people seriously do that? Ew. Here, let him down. I'll talk to him."

Hopefully, he could talk the Fraggle out of returning to Scrooge's garden.

[moneymatters]

"Unfortunately, they do." He stepped to Louie and handed him the bag, opening it enough to let One (1) Extremely Worried Fraggle pop his head out. "It's alright wee one, neither o' us will harm you."

Once Louie had his hands on the sack, he stepped back and turned, lifting a hand. "I've gottae check on some things inside, but I won't be far if you need me."

[talkyourwayout]

"Sure thing," Louie called to Scrooge, not taking his eyes off the Fraggle. He regarded the odd looking eyes, nose and hair for a moment, before smiling.

"Okay, Fraggle, I'm sure we can work out some kind of deal, right? I'm Louie, nice to meet you."

[gobetween]

"Gobo," he answered somewhat hesitantly, his own gaze flipping over the weird beak, the feathers, the shape. "My name's Gobo. A deal, huh?"

[talkyourwayout]

"Yeah, you know, it's kind of my whole thing," Louie said with a shrug and a smirk. "Gobo, then. Okay, Gobo - my friend says you guys like vegetables. I'm guessing you've been nabbing stuff from my Unca Scrooge's garden all day, then?"

[gobetween]

"Today? Only what's been in the traps. I've been here once or twice before, but- never in a way people would've noticed, I swear!"

Louie seemed friendly enough, but he still hadn't forgotten the knowledge from only a few moments prior.

[talkyourwayout]

"Hey, Gobo, chill. I'm not going to skin you or whatever. Really," Louie said, his posture relaxed but not uncertain - confidence was always key in cutting a deal. "I'm just trying to figure out a way we can all work this out."

[gobetween]

He breathed out a sigh at that, nodding once. "Okay..." Then he looked up at him. "Work it all out, huh? Like how?"

[talkyourwayout]

"Like... Well, do you guys only eat vegetables? Or will any plant work? I bet everyone would be okay if you ate the weeds out of the garden instead of the stuff they're actually trying to grow," he mused. "And sometimes vegetables get too ripe, or there's just too many of them grown. It's not an exact science, I don't think. Maybe if you kept up with the weeds, I could convince Unca Scrooge and Jinji to throw some of that your way when it comes up."

[gobetween]

"Well, we don't eat weeds, but if it'll make the vegetables better then I could get rid of them, sure."

[talkyourwayout]

"Hey, there you go!" Louie chuckled. "And then the excess vegetables can be your payment for your work. I'm sure it'll be fine, I'll just bring it up with Unca Scrooge later."

[gobetween]

"Yeah, alright!" He had cheered considerably, even laughing a bit. "That'd be great!"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie smiled, and nodded. "Alright, now... I can let go of you if you promise not to run away. Don't worry, I just want to ask you some questions about Fraggles."

[gobetween]

He nodded, offering him a smile. "I promise! I won't go anywhere."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie only hesitated briefly before setting Gobo down, loosening up the bag so he could climb out. "Alright, so you guys really don't have any other forms? Just this?"

[gobetween]

He hopped out once he was released, taking a moment to straighten his shirt down over his furred body better.

"Nope! Whatcha see is whatcha get."

[talkyourwayout]

"That's pretty cool... But...What do you guys do? You live underground, right? I mean... Not much to keep you busy down there, is there?" Louie asked.

[gobetween]

"Oh, there's plenty to keep us busy! There's songs, and games, and celebrations, the Storyteller, and all kinds of things. And I myself explore, making new maps that I bring back to Fraggle Rock! Heh, when I can manage the long road home anyway, eh?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie chuckled. "That sounds pretty fun. Is it always just a big party down there, then?"

He paused, then added, "Having a Storyteller sounds nice, too. I guess my family has those, too - they're called Scrooge," he snickered.

[gobetween]

"'Scrooge,' what a funny word for it. I like it!" He giggled again. "And yeah, oh it's a blast down there. You get enough Fraggles together, and you've got a whole celebration."

[talkyourwayout]

"H'oboy," Louie sighed - but why bother corrected him, really? It was fine. "Well, the fun stuff sounds great, sure! What about the rest, though? You know, work, danger... There's always work and danger."

[gobetween]

"Well sure, there's danger sometimes. Like going out to collect food, or running into threats deep, deeeep down in the caves. But that's usually what having someone with you to watch your back is for! And as for work, every Fraggle's got a job to do. We put in our 30 minutes to help everything go smoothly the rest of the time."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie's eyes widened as he stared at Gobo. He... He needed to sit down, and did so.

"Did you just say 30 minutes? Man, I would have been okay with being a Fraggle!"

[gobetween]

Oh, they were sitting down now? Sure, he could do that, so he did.

"Well, you're definitely small enough to visit, if you ever felt like it. You might frighten the other Fraggles at first, but you're no worse than a dog."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie laughed at that, in spite not being fully sure how to take being compared to a dog. "Thanks? I might take you up on that offer."

[gobetween]

"It's definitely been a while since I've been back. To tell ya the truth, I kinda miss it." He half-shrugged, looking up some. "I went out to explore, just like my uncle. Besides, I'd mapped every inch of Fraggle Rock, and I wanted something more. I hear plenty with postcards, but I couldn't tell you the last time I saw my friends."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie nodded in understanding, although he couldn't help the amused quirk to his brow. He'd never understand these adventurous types, not fully.

"Well, maybe you ought to go visit them. How long does it take to get to Fraggle Rock? Maybe next time I visit Unca Scrooge here, we'll both go..."

[gobetween]

"A while, but not as long as you might think!" He brightened out of the contemplative mood, shaking it off easily. "You can never leave the magic, after all."

[talkyourwayout]

"Never leave the magic? Huh... Okay. I'm not sure what that has to do with it, but let's plan for that."

[gobetween]

"It's hard to explain." He rubbed his muzzle, apparently attempting to do just that. "We Fraggles, well we kinda are magic. And I've seen it spread out to other people myself, and I know Fraggle Rock definitely goes places and distances that a cave system doesn't normally."

[talkyourwayout]

He'd figured Fraggles had to be magic, as Demons. Not that he fully understood it all, even now. But it's the "places and distances" comment that catches his interest.

"Hmm... What kind of distance are we talking? I mean, I'm not really from this whole- this whole world, you know. But my uncles have a thing that lets people go between here and home. Can Fraggle Rock do that much?"