starlightcafe | It Came From The Basement...

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It Came From The Basement...

Who: Lydia Deetz & Boober Fraggle
Where: Outer Space, specifically the basement of the Deetz-Maitland residence.
When: Once upon a time? Before the start of the cartoon, at least.
What: Discoveries made by both parties.

Lydia had just barely managed to clean up her darkroom and get everything back in working order. She had, admittedly, been avoiding the space since the accident that she'd narrowly managed to escape ... but Adam and her father had put so much work and love into it that eventually she decided that was so much stronger than her fear. Not only that, but she had some choice rolls of film to develop from her field trip to Sturbridge Village... and she was itching to show them off to Bertha and Prudence.

So it was that she went down into the basemebt, which she'd neglected for a few weeks. Delia had co-opted one corner of her darkroom to store a massive bundle of boxes of laundry detergent ... There had been a sale at Costco that she hadn't been able to pass up. It wasn't quite in her way, so Lydia left it where it was and started to clear the dust off her equipment...

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Ever since Gobo had made a connection with Silly Creatures, and Doc had gone from baffling, fearful figure to friend, the Fraggles weren't so scared to venture into Outer Space anymore - for the most part. Boober was still not entirely convinced that heading up there was a good idea.

But, thanks to the T. Matthew Fraggle Room's complex systems of tunnels to Outer Space, it wasn't difficult to get out there... And just under a month ago, when he'd been offering something akin to moral support to Mokey on a trip out, Boober's highly sensitive nose had lead him off down another path. Before he'd really realized what he was doing, a delightfully clean smell had taken him all the way up into the darkened room.

He'd been terrified, of course, but not too terrified to take, in his hat, some of the detergent that had spilled out before he darted back to Fraggle Rock. And, with the support and urging of his friends, he'd been back several times now, just to grab more of that perfect laundry cleaner. He was starting to feel maybe a little bit comfortable in this space, as it seemed unihabited.

Of course, today had to be different, and Boober gave a soft yelp when he spotted the Silly Creature working with some very distressing-looking objects.

Lydia heard the yelp, and put down the cloth she was using to wipe the dust off the negative enlarger. "... Dad?"

She turned around slowly, peering into the darkness. No, it hadn't been her father. And Beetlejuice wouldn't have yelped like that to get her attention: his pranks were a bit more wild than that.

"Is something there?"

Though he'd ducked behind one of the boxes of detergent, he was far too frightened to move more than that. Boober was shaking from head to the tip of his tail - the fur on the poofball there currently splayed in all directions.

"Oh no..."

"It's okay," Lydia said softly, crouching, but otherwise staying still to prove she wasn't a threat. Ghost, ghoul, whatever it was, she really wanted to see. "I'm the only one out here... I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm good at keeping secrets. I just want to say hi..."

Great, the Silly Creature definitely knew he was there. Boober whimpered. Maybe he could still make a run for it! He wasn't the fastest, but fear always helped push him.

At the same time, though, something in this particular Silly Creature's words caught his attention. It wasn't just what she said, but how she said it. She sounded as sincere as Wembley; as heartfelt as Mokey. Boober didn't reveal himself yet, but when he spoke again, it was directed at Lydia.

"You p-promise?"

"Yeah, I do." She remained motionless, the way she did while sitting in the park at the bottom of the hill, waiting to take pictures of the various creatures that scurried and fluttered and begged for crumbs from her bag. Whatever this was was in its own league, though, that much was plain. "My name's Lydia," she said, then held her breath.

She'd be holding her breath for a couple seconds more, before - steeling himself - Boober took a step into view, then another. All the while, he fussed with his scarf, crumpling up the sides.

"Mine's Boober."

"Hi Boober," she said quietly, staying still. She'd never seen anything like him before: he was so tiny, and so fuzzy, like a dust bunny with arms, legs, and a tail. It was no wonder he was afraid - anyone who didn't look twice would have scooped him up in a dustpan or a vaccuum. She imagined that had to be a pretty frightening way to live. "I like your scarf. And your hat."

Though he didn't smile at the compliments, the second one had him lift his head in an interested way. "Oh, um... Thank you. It's lucky. My hat, not my scarf," he explained, while grabbing the aforementioned hat by the brim and pulling it a bit further down over his face.

"Is it? That's really neat. I have a favorite hat, but not a lucky hat." She sat down, settling on the floor with her back to the wall. "How did you find it? Or was it a gift?"

Boober startled when she sat, stumbling back a bit. Once he recovered, though, there was a hint of a smile - not so much on his face, but in the way he spoke. "A gift. My friend Mokey made it when we were younger."

"She was really good for someone young, then," Lydia proclaimed. "My Aunt knits a lot, and she had to do it for a really long time to get good at it. Your friend Mokey must like you very much to make you something like that. Knitting takes forever."

Boober shrugged in a bashful way. "Mokey's very good at arts and crafts. And... She takes care of all of her friends. She's good at that, too."

"She sounds like my friend Barbara," Lydia said with a smile. "She's good at all of those things, too. ... But what do you like to do?"

"Laundry."

The answer came immediately, especially compared to all the hesitating and stammering he'd been doing before. "Laundry is my job, and I take it very seriously."

The change was decidedly noticeable, and Lydia grinned. It reminded her a little, somehow, of her father's fervent fascination with equity. Most people would be bored to tears by it, but it gave him life. She loved him for it, so why would she judge this little fuzzy critter for something so similar?

"Really? Huh! I always have such a hard time remembering what needs cool water or warm water, I take more of the time looking at all the tags than I do actually folding the laundry. ... But ... you don't look like you have many clothes to wash for yourself. Do you work at a laundromat?"

Boober started smiling when Lydia expressed an interest, an appreciation, for what he could do. And at her question, he even gave a little laugh, halting though it was. Laundromats were something Doc had told him about when he'd heard an ad for one on the silly creature's radio.

"I guess you could say I am the entire laundromat. I wash the clothes for all the Fraggles in the Rock- Oh. Fraggles, that's what I'm one of. And Fraggle Rock is where we live."

"All of the clothes? Seriously? For everyone?!" Her jaw dropped. "How? Do you just ... put it all in a lake with a lot of soap, or something? Where do you dry it all?"

It was something she'd dearly love to see, but of course, if they lived in a rock, she was far too big to even fit a camera lens inside. Her mind's eye would have to suffice.

Boober recoiled, appearing affronted at the very suggestion. "Oh, no, I'd never do the laundry in the Fraggle Pond. That could get everyone sick!" Besides which, it might not get clean that way - keeping that water pond clean was Red's job, and he knows she's very dedicated to it! But, as much as he cares for his friend, he does think her approach might be questionable at best. Dive and swim to keep the water clean, indeed...

"Oh - I guess you're right. I'm sorry, I didn't think about the soap, I was just trying to picture something big enough. You must need a lot of washing basins, since ... you don't have a washing machine, I bet."

He shook his head. "You're right, I don't. But I do have many washing basins, and I do several loads of laundry every day. It keeps me very, very busy."

Lydia thought about that for a moment, then her eyes widened as she realized something. "... Oh no. Boober, I'm not keeping you from it by talking to you, am I? I don't want to get you in trouble or make you behind at it. ... Maybe you can use our washing machine."

He can't help the tiny smile. Sometimes he forgets the ways silly creatures and fraggles are different- Because despite those ways, they're also quite alike.

"I won't get in trouble. And if I get behind, that means I'll just have more work to do when I get back- And that's good."

Lydia sighed with relief. "It seems like every time I make a new friend, I get them in trouble with someone, so ... that's good."

She tilted her head at him, curious. "So why are you in my basement? Obviously I don't mind, I'm just wondering."

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It Came From The Basement...

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