starlightcafe | I will be waiting, time after time

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I will be waiting, time after time

It had started off as concern about her garden. Sure, Gobo had been on Perdita's mind when her garden started failing, but mostly it had been her flowers and vegetables she'd worried about. But time went on, the source of the problem was revealed - a breakdown of the city's pipe infrastructure that resulted in lead in the water supply - and weeks passed without hearing from or seeing her little friend.

She was checking the mailbox - knowing it would likely be a fruitless search - once again, her cellphone held in place against her ear by her shoulder. "I don't care if the city's working on it, Roberta!" she was snapping. "I- Yes, I'm worried! ...No, I've been boiling water. I'm fine, but that doesn't mean I can't be upset! ...Yeah. Look, I... I'll talk to you later."

Pumpkin circled her owner's feet a few times, whimpering, and Perdita sighed. "I guess I could tell her, girl, but you know Bob. I'm not sure if she'd get it." She flipped through junk mail and a few bills on her way back into her home, but paused on the front steps, glancing around the front lawn.

"You better be okay, you dumb twerp."

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Once he was done with the round of dry heaving that'd followed up that, he sat back with a moan.

"I think we'd better..."

"Come on, you little twerp. I've got you," Perdita sighed, carefully picking Gobo up. "Try to hold onto my arm, okay?"

"Mmnh, careful..." But he did as she was asked, shutting his eyes at the motion.

"You got it."

This was one of those rare times she really wished her car worked. It was a bit of a walk to the beach... But off she went, periodically glancing down to make sure Gobo was- Well, okay wasn't the right word. Just alive, really.

Eventually, Gobo would hear her footsteps fade away as she walked through the sand, but only briefly. Soon after her shoes were plodding up wooden steps.

"You with me, Gobo?"

While being carried, he honestly went in and out of consciousness, some of the same sleep from before but not entirely. He was at least aware of motion and of being outside, but not much more than that. The difference in her steps was curious, but it was lost in the sea of sickness he felt himself in.

"Mm-hmm."

"Good." She took a deep breath in, then shouted as she pounded on the door with her free hand. "STEVEN! STEVEN!"

Fortunately, the teen was quick to answer the door - and even more fortunate that it was he who answered it. Perdita wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone who wasn't going to be able to help.

"Peridot, what's wr- Peridot?" Steven quickly took in her distraught face and the condition of the little creature - he was vaguely aware, Amethyst had a joke about Fraggles she liked to tell, though it went over his head; not important right now anyway - and nodded once.

"I'll help him."

Perdita took in a shaky breath, the bolster from screaming all gone. "Please," she whispered, holding Gobo out. Steven carefully took him in one hand. He didn't even bother stepping inside just yet, much less inviting Perdita in.

"Hey, little guy. I'm Steven. Just relax, okay? I'm going to fix this."

Gobo had half glanced up when the door was opened, taking in Steven at a look and then slumping down again. When he was moved he nodded somewhat vaguely, but didn't react much more than that. Seemed he might've been lapsing back into the state Perdita had first found him in, which was anything but good...

Steven took a deep breath in as he held his free hand over Gobo, his expression intensely focused on the Fraggle at first, before his gaze shifted to something unseen - or maybe nothing at all. A warm, pink glow emitted from his hand, growing ever stronger and brighter.

Perdita didn't like it. Gobo still looked to be on death's door, and after a few solid minutes of working his healing magic, Steven wasn't looking very good at all, himself. Sweat beaded along his browline, and he was starting to squint as if dizzied, or suffering a headache. She made a light, whimpering noise, but Steven just breathed out a quick, faint, "It's okay, Peri."

If nothing else, it could be said that the color came back to him, what could be seen through his fur anyway. His breathing eased and some of the tension went out of his body, but he didn't stir, still unconscious. Steven's magic was doing something, but it didn't seem to be enough, not to bring Gobo back to his usual level of activity anyway.

Wordlessly, Steven handed Gobo back to Perdita, but just so he could work with both hands. He rubbed his palms against one another, getting the energy readied, and went back to work. Several minutes passed, and Perdita could start to see... Some sign of improvement, but it didn't do much to soothe her nerves.

Then, Steven's legs seemed to briefly give out, and he sank down to his knees, panting as the light faded from his hands.

"Steven!"

"I-I'm okay! I can try some more, I just... Need a second."

Thankfully for those involved, Gobo finally shifted some. ...It was to curl up a bit tighter with a sucked in breath, but it was movement at least. Then he opened his eyes and looked up and around, then at Perdita. Sighing lightly, he faintly tugged her shirt a bit closer and leaned toward her, closing his eyes again.

"Thanks... just need to rest...."

It was faint and easily missable, but soon after he did indeed seem to fall back asleep, though by an occasional shiver he still wasn't well yet.

That was... A relief, to a degree anyway. Once she had made sure Steven was okay, and helped him get to his feet and into the house, Perdita placed Gobo on a sunny windowsill ledge.

For a long time, she was back to watching him, as she had been the night before. Eventually, though - when he was back to his normal self, more or less - Steven managed to coax her into the kitchen with the offering of a bagel sandwich, and from there on, Perdita found it helpful to move around the Steven and the family's house, doing anything that would keep her mind occupied.

Gobo didn't seem to change for the rest of the day, despite being checked in on multiple times. At some point he'd been given a blanket and some pillows, where he mostly slept, with intermittent periods of harsher breathing or feverish murmuring. Between periods he could keep a bit of water down, but little more than that.

It wasn't until nightfall and the house quieting well, well down that he finally roused. He remained wrapped in his blankets, feeling utterly miserable, but could sit up a little against his pillows. There he sat, looking up at the open nightsky, in which sat the silvery moon. His eyes slid down to where he could see it reflecting in the ocean, and he sighed softly, tucking his blanket up a bit tighter.

Perdita was the only one awake - she wasn't falling asleep on him this time, even if it meant sitting on the less-than-comfortable island counter in the kitchen - when a soft voice hit her ears. It was immediately recognizable as Gobo's voice, and yet, it sounded different than it had in the past. If he'd sounded like he was in physical pain, she would've had her feet on the floor in an instant and hurried over to him.

But this wasn't a sick and hurting sort of sound, so for a moment, she just listened.

The longer he stared at the moon, both in the sky and in the ocean, the more he felt a song stirring in him. And quietly, mindful of those undoubtedly sleeping around him, he sang it.

♪ Remember when, now and then
Everything went wrong
And then our friends would sing
The friendship song

You and I, we'd nearly cry
To know their love was strong
And by and by, we'd start to sing along
We sang

Try a little longer, for your friends
Try a little stronger, for your friends ♫

When he shivered, he tucked the blanket up again, resting his chin down against the folds of it, and upper head against the cooler window.

♪ You work all night, you work all day
You still can't keep those worried blues away

Try a little longer, for your friends
Try a little stronger, for your friends

Life comes up, life goes down
There's just one way to keep it goin' 'round

Try a little longer, for your friends
Try a little stronger, for your friends
Try a little longer, for your friends
Try a little stronger, for your friends

Remember when, now and then
Everything went wrong
And then our friends would sing
The friendship song... ♫

As the last bit of the song faded, he let his eyes close the rest of the way, though he didn't go back to sleep yet. There were too many thoughts now, too many mixed up emotions to let him sleep, worries that'd been impatiently waiting while he'd been too ill to give them time. Well, now they came.

Perdita did get to her feet when his singing faded off into silence, and quietly padded over to the ledge where Gobo was resting.

She wished she was better in this situations, but she'd work with what she had.

"That was pretty."

"Thank you." His voice was weak from disuse and the hoarseness of his illness, but at least he answered readily enough. "There's a happier version, but..." A weak, humorless laugh. "...I don't much feel like it."

"Ah," was Perdita's only response at first. She knelt down and put her hands on the sill, resting her head against them. She gnawed at her lower lip for a moment, before speaking up again.

"Is it... Something besides being sick?"

"Not really. I mean, sure I miss home but that's a constant." He shifted a bit, just enough that he could look out at the moon again.

"...I don't want to die."

"You-" She sighed. "Steven's going to try to do more in the morning." A beat. "I don't want you to die, either."

"I don't want Steven to wear himself out, either." He may not recall much from arrival, but he remembered that.

He lifted his chin slightly, seeing some shadow splash out in the distant waves, wondering idly what that was.

"I should've left the underground as soon as I knew something was wrong. I'd been through it before, I knew what it was like... But I didn't, I persisted, and now..."

Perdita couldn't help a(n admittedly bittersweet) smile at that first comment, though that smile faded as she listened to his regrets. "Right. You don't know Steven. He won't give up on you... And neither will I."

His chest moved as he heaved a deep sigh, the exhale briefly fogging the glass.

"Why.."

Perdita's brow furrowed at that, matched by a scowl.

"Because you're my friend? Because my life's better with you in it? Because..." She sighed, and the rest was said in a soft and sad, but deeply caring voice. "Because I love you."

He sat up some, looking at her in surprise for a moment. There's a ghost of a smile, then he leaned back against the window as he had been before, closing his eyes.

Sometimes he wasn't the best at returning bald emotion, not like other Fraggles anyway, and certainly not when preferring to remain a blanket lump. But still, he had his ways, and his motions. He didn't speak, but his tail snaked out from underneath the wrap and found her wrist, wrapping around it a loop or two with its soft, furry warmth.

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