So much for my happy ending.

[talkyourwayout]

He'd thought coming here would help. Home sure wasn't doing him any favors, with most people trying to get him and Huey to make up. So he'd come to the Other Duckburg, but he'd been venting to Unca Scrooge and he'd revealed that he'd punched Huey first. He hadn't even known that Unca Scrooge didn't know that... And while he hadn't gone right to the other end of things and sided with Huey, Louie definitely felt like Unca Scrooge wasn't on his side anymore.

He'd excused himself, some excuse about getting some soda or something, he couldn't really remember, and he'd just... Left. He couldn't be with anyone else who didn't understand. It wasn't fair. Nobody ever understood - for a while, he thought... Well. Back home, things had been getting better, but now with the whole Huey blow-up...

He just felt so alone. And Louie was really sick of feeling alone. He wanted someone to be there for him, to hug him, to care and get it... But he could hardly even admit that to himself, much less anyone else. Instead, he'd been thinking about how he just wanted to be somewhere safe where no one who was mad at him - or at least, he thought was mad at him - would find him.

He was in the park when he noticed the large hole in a rock. Sure. It wasn't like anyone would see him in there, he figured, so he crawled in and curled up on himself. After a moment of silence passing, he took in a hitched breath, which lead to a sniffle, and the next thing he knew, he was breaking down, bawling into his arms folded over his knees.

Comments

[gobetween]

If there was one thing he wasn't expecting today, it was to hear crying. Unbeknownst to Louie, part of that hole in the rock led to a windy tunnel, down which sound travelled a good ways. He was just polishing off an apple when he picked up the noise, and traced it back to its source. And when he saw what it was-

"Louie?"

[talkyourwayout]

God, but he was too upset to even care that he'd been found crying - especially since it wasn't by part of Unca Scrooge's family. He took a few very shaky breaths, until he could talk decently.

"Hey... Gobo."

[gobetween]

He didn't think twice about going over to him and sitting beside him, and well if his tail happened to rest so it was curled around Louie, that must've just been the closed quarters.

"You're crying." He reached out a hand as if to touch his face, but stopped before doing so. "What's wrong...?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie took one last deep breath, wiping his eyes roughly with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"Right now? It feels like everything is. I... I don't really know how to explain it all. I'm..." His voice wavered, and he started to cry again as he went on. "I-I don't know, I just d...don't know what to do."

[gobetween]

He picked up Louie's closest hand, holding it and patting the back with his other. "It's alright. I know things can get pretty confusing out there, but there's nothing that a little talking, or a little thinking won't solve."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie had needed that gentle show of affection and caring far more than he'd realized, and it caused his tears to ramp up to sobs. "Maybe? I don't... I-I don't want to have to wait, though. I just want things to be how they're supposed to be."

[gobetween]

He nodded, understanding. "I get that, more than you might think. It's not fun to feel like you've lost your way, or worse, lost everything you care about."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie nodded, as well. "Y-Yeah. It really isn't. And... And honestly? I'm not even sure if I ever had what I thought I did."

[gobetween]

"You know... There was a song I came up with once, about that. That's- kinda what Fraggles do, we make music. I dunno if it'll help, but... maybe it'll find the right spot, anyway."

He breathed in, then out, swaying gently before he starts singing.

♪ Once I knew just what to do
Once I knew my name
Far and near, the road was clear
Living was a game

But now I seem to walk in dreams
And nothing stays the way it seems
How I long for then
Easy once again
Once upon a time, I knew my name...

Maybe yes, maybe no
Questions on my mind
Do I know which way to go?
The answer's hard to find

I know that no one's made of steel
I sometimes think that nothing's real...

And then I wake at night
I can't tell wrong from right
Once upon a time, I knew my name

Once upon a time
I knew my name... ♫

[talkyourwayout]

Louie winced a bit, because the song certainly did hit close to home. However, once Gobo was done singing, he found the nerve to put an arm around his little friend, pulling him in closer.

"Yeah. It's just like that, Gobo. Y-You get it."

Oh.

"You get it."

Abandoning all pretense, Louie wrapped his other arm around Gobo as he swept the Fraggle up in a hug. "I guess I'm not totally alone, then."

[gobetween]

He wrapped his arms gladly in the hug, squeezing a little at the end.

"Yeah, that's what I learned too. That we're never as alone as we think we are." Sitting back from the hug, Gobo offered him a gentle smile. "And- you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, eh? That doesn't change me being your friend, or me being here for you."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie managed a little smile as he dried his eyes once more.

"I don't want to talk about it. I... I like this, right now. Just being with you."

[gobetween]

"Well, I like being here with you, too. It's a good thing you found the hole when you did, or that I heard you crying. I'd hate for you to be all alone."

[talkyourwayout]

"Thanks. I'd hate that, too..." Louie sighed, then smiled at Gobo. "I'm glad you're the one who got into my trap that day and not, like, a bunny or something. Wouldn't be as good company."

[gobetween]

He had to laugh a little at that. "That's true! Though you were also specifically baiting for a Fraggle, so I guess you got what you wished for."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie nodded again. "Yeah... I guess I did."

In more ways than one, too. Louie didn't have many friends outside of his family - mostly just Lena, Violet and Webby, with the former two being more Webby's friends and Webby kind of considering herself family to him. It was nice to have someone like Gobo in his life.

[gobetween]

He smiled a little wider at that, then pushed forward before standing up. "Hey, I was on a walk through the tunnels when I heard you. You wanna join me? It might help ya clear your head for a while, and there might even be some surprises. You never know what you'll find down here."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie got to his feet and nodded. "Sure, why not? It'll be fun to see what we find."

Of course, the kinds of surprises Louie was imagining were more along the lines of sparkling jewels. Look, he may have been less greedy by a good stretch now, but he still liked expensive-looking, shiny things.

[gobetween]

"Now that's the spirit, eh!" His tail was practically wagging at the prospect of a walking partner, and once Louie was ready to go, he started off and set the pace.

"I think I've found a little bit of everything down underground. New tunnels, new creatures, new songs, just about whatever you could think of."

[talkyourwayout]

"Well, that's pretty cool. Except, uh... How do you find a song?" Louie asked, fiddling with the zipper on his hoodie absent-mindedly.

[gobetween]

"You know, my friend Red had asked the same question. She needed to find her song for the Great Medley that was being put on by our most sage of minstrels, but was getting outpaced by other Fraggles finding theirs. At least, until she learned how. "What you do is you stop, and you listen. Every Fraggle's got a song, and you know I bet everyone else does, too! It's... kinda like meditating for a minute, you listen to yourself and your surroundings, and your song will come."

[talkyourwayout]

"Meditating, huh?" Louie shrugged. "Pass."

Not a hard pass, at least. He was all for the idea of doing nothing at all that seemed to go with meditation. It was the idea of self-inspection that was unappealing to him.

"I'm not sure I do have a song, anyway," he said idly. "But my brother Dewey probably could come up with one."

[gobetween]

"If Dewey comes up with a song, it'd be his. The only one who can find your song, is you." Which came with a gentle, but deep point to Louie's chest.

[talkyourwayout]

"Really? I can't even get his help? 'Cause I don't play an instrument or anything," Louie pointed out, with a little chuckle and a smile down at Gobo's hand. "But hey, way weirder things have happened."

[gobetween]

He snickered softly through his nose. "Like meeting a Fraggle?"