starlightcafe | 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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"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.

Perdita's expression softened at the contact. "Wow. Thanks."

She was perfectly content just to stay like that, for the time being.

He certainly seemed content to stay like that too. Even when he glanced out again, he kept his tail wrapped around her arm.

"You know... Fraggle Rock has its own 'moon,' down in the pond. It's just a reflection of the Gorgs' moon through their well directly above, but it's still really pretty." A pause for a deep inhale, exhale. "Every Fraggle looks forward to when it's full..."

"Huh, yeah? That does sound pretty," Perdita agreed, her eyes following his gaze. "When's the last time you were there?"

"Not that long ago, actually..." He smiled, and this time it stuck. "I was able to go with another friend of mine, a kid, and spend a couple days there. It was really great getting to see everyone again..."

"Well, that's good. But you know... There's a full moon at the end of the month. Maybe it would be a good time to visit again."

He thought about that a few moments, then nodded.

"I think you're right. I bet Mokey and the rest would be overjoyed to see me again so soon..."

"Of course I am," she said, although her tone was playful as she did. "Which one is Mokey, again?"

She'd heard a few stories, but the names were fuzzy.

"Aw, Mokey's the best." A soft, genuine chuckle. "She's a little older than the rest of us, and she likes to take care of us as a result. She's the really dreamy, artsy one, who painted that picture I showed you once."

"Artsy, huh?" Perdita asked with a smile and a nod. "Oh yeah, I do remember that. My friend Bob... She's really into that kind of thing, too. I've dabbled," she added with a sheepish shrug.

"That's pretty cool, eh." He didn't lift his head much, but he did give Perdita a small smile. "I'm not very good at artsy stuff, or cooking, or most of the other things that Mokey does. I'm better suited to Red's races, jumping the gorge, things like that. But she doesn't mind, she just encourages what I do, and I do the same for her."

Perdita returned the smile with a light laugh. "Sounds like you two are really close, then."

A pause, as she glanced over her shoulder at the couch, where Amy was snoozing away. She'd tried to help Perdita stay up for a while, but it was Amy and sleep. They were like magnets. She looked back over to Gobo, then, her smile widening.

"That's good. That you have someone like that."

"Yeah, it's really nice. I appreciate her a lot."

He fell silent then, looking up toward the sky with a faint smile on his face. At least, until his stomach growled, and he sat up some to glance down with a bit of surprise. Hungry...? Now that he thought about it, he was. And he didn't need to take as deep breaths anymore. So does that mean-?

Perdita couldn't quite hear the little growl, but she noticed him look down like that, and quirked a brow in cautious hope.

"Gobo...?"

He said it with pause, hardly daring to hope. "I think... I want somethin' to eat." He held up his hands, still enshrouded in the blanket. "Not a lot! But... something."

Perdita smiled warmly. "I'll get you something," she said, her tiredness starting to show now that she dared to relax a little. With a stretch, she got to her feet, and headed into the kitchen.

His tail flopped down against the ledge with her departure, though he hardly noticed. While waiting, he watched out the window, smiling a little to himself. Sure, he still felt weak and woozy, but he could feel the illness staring to ebb. Already he was a bit stronger than he was when he first woke up.

Maybe, just maybe, in another day or two of quiet, he'd be just perfect again.

I will be waiting, time after time

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