starlightcafe | Boys and girls of every age, would you like to see something strange?

Entry tags:

Boys and girls of every age, would you like to see something strange?

Honestly, Perdita usually wasn't big on celebrating holidays, much less decorating for them. But there was something different about Halloween. She felt it gave her more freedom of expression than any other holiday she might observe.

It was October 20th, and it certainly felt close enough to Halloween to start decorating - so Perdita had dedicated her afternoon to doing just that. She'd hauled out the box of spooky decorations and a short step-ladder, so she could reach up to... Well, any point on her house that was above five feet.

And of course, she was on the step-ladder, stringing up cotton cobwebs, when she heard a hideous shriek. She leaped down before she could fall down, and whirled around toward the motion-activated skeleton she'd set up earlier. Indeed, the ghoulish figure was waving its arms menacingly, but she didn't see anyone around to have activated it at first glance...

"What the heck?!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was hard to tell if the shriek had come from the skeleton, or the poor soul that it had been startled by. At first it does indeed seem like no one's there, although... that one bush is strangely shaking.

It won't take much investigation to know who it was from there. She could probably see most of his backend where he'd DUCKED FOR COVER, but even if she doesn't see his body, his tail is in full view. It's sticking up behind him, fur frizzed and poofball flared out almost comically so, and you could almost picture a bell jingling with how much he's shivering.

"...Oh. That's what," Perdita sighed when she spotted the tail sticking out of the moving bush. She shook her head and crouched down, picking him up by the tail - did it always look like that?

"Sorry about that, Gobo."

"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!!"

Once he lays eyes on her, he flaps his arms with that frazzled exclamation.

"You scared the radish resin outta me, putting that- that thing in your yard!"

At first, she almost dropped him because his shout startled her... Then she almost dropped him because he was being a dummy. Perdita rolled her eyes.

"Gee, Gobo," she said flatly, "I'm sorry. It's not like it's almost Halloween, or anything."

He grumbled words under his breah likely way past his rating, and gave her a confused look.

"And what is Halloween??"

"Hmm? You haven't learned about it yet?" Perdita shrugged. "It's a holiday we celebrate up here in... Outer Space."

She was still adjusting to that one. It sounded a bit dumb to her, even now.

"There's two main aspects to it," she went on, shifting her grip on Gobo until he could sit in her hands, cupped together. "Trick or treating - where little kids dress up in costumes and go door-to-door getting candy - and just... Getting scared silly."

"A holiday, eh?" He exhaled a little, finally coming down from the spook. "I guess I've heard weirder traditions..."

"You've probably heard of weirder traditions that you think are normal," she pointed with a smirk.

"No, I'm talking about more Outer Space traditions. Like leaving boxes under a tree."

"Oh, you mean Christmas. Yeah, that's a thing," she said with a shrug.

"It's a weird thing. At least there's still plenty of bells during the holiday, we have that in common."

He snorted softly, then looked up at the decorations she'd put up already.

"So, when is Halloween?"

Perdita followed his gaze and made a little "hmm" sound as she surveyed her own work. "A little over a week away. How do you think it looks so far?"

"It looks like a spooky mess, but if Halloween is about scaring people then I guess you're going for that."

Speaking of scares, he turns a bit to pull his tail around from behind him, smoothing the poof through both hands while talking.

"But I don't know what it's supposed to look like, so I may not be the best judge of things," he added with a bit of a laugh.

"Spooky mess is a start," Perdita responded idly, as she looked at his tail. Yeah, that looked normal. Earlier hadn't. Had the shock made his tail fur stand on end? Man, he really was like a cat, in a couple of ways.

Which reminded her...

"Hey, you wanna go inside for a bit? I want to show you something."

He glanced up first with a small "Hmm?" in his throat, then nodded. "Sure. What is it?"

"I got you something," she explained after a moment's pause. Then she set him down on the ground, gesturing for him to follow her into the house.

Okay, now that definitely added promise to this visit, rather than losing a couple years of his life to a spooky, scary skeleton... thing.

"You did? Aw, you didn't have to do that!" Not that he'd say no, mind.

"I know," Perdita responded simply, as they stepped inside. She lead the way into the kitchen, where a little box had been sitting by the sink for the last couple of days.

But... How did she want to play this? She was aware Gobo wasn't exactly an actual pet. She just needed the peace of mind... That didn't mean he wouldn't be insulted, though. Hmm...

"Do Fraggles ever wear jewelry?"

"Yeah, plenty of Fraggles wear jewelry. Usually necklaces or bracelets; Mokey's got one she made herself out of thread, beads, and this neat little metal loop she found with the Trash Heap once."

"Alright, good," Perdita said with a smile. She scooped Gobo up once more and placed him on the counter, in front of the box. "Go on, open it."

Gobo was well used to being picked up and moved around by Perdita by now, so most of his focus went on the box when he spotted it. He glanced at her, then picked it up and opened the lid, looking inside.

What he'd find inside wasn't exactly your standard necklace... Because it was a cat collar. It was made from soft material, with a pendant hanging off of it. Her phone number was inscribed on the back, and there was an eight note design on the front.

There was also a tracking chip within the metal, but that wasn't something she planned on telling Gobo. At least not yet...

"So... What do you think?"

He picked it up and looked over it curiously, turning it around in his hands. He'd seen this sort of thing before, but where...?

"I'm not exactly sure what to think, to be honest." But he didn't sound offended, which was good (so far), just perplexed.

"Don't be rude," Perdita said with a huff. "I had that custom-made, you know."

"I'm not being rude. It looks nice, I just can't think of where I know this kinda thing from."

Gobo picked it up out of the box and looked at it closer. Hearing footsteps, he glanced up to watch Pumpkin stroll by- then he knew where he'd seen it before.

"This is something for dogs!"

"And cats!"

...That. Wasn't helpful. She sighed and shook her head. "Okay, so usually p- animals wear these. Yes. But there's a good reason for that: It's so if they're hurt or in trouble, people know who to contact to get them help. Imagine if you hadn't made it to my yard when you were sick!"

He'd folded her arms, though still holding onto the collar, to give her something of a short look at her first reply. The more she went on though, the more that irritation leaked out of his face, and he glanced down and off.

"Well... I would've been in big trouble, that's what."

"Exactly. And... You know, it's not that different from some of the things people like me do. Not really. My wallet has my ID, and my phone has "in case of emergency" contacts. You don't have those things, so- And hey, some of us even have to wear jewelry on our ankles and wrists! To let doctors know what kind of medicine we're allergic to!"

Gobo listened to her, then glanced down at the collar again. Sure it was something for dogs and cats, but what was so bad about that? Pumpkin, Sprocket, even Lanford were all treated like the people they were in their own right, and he could see the sense of carrying information with him in case he couldn't give it himself. It didn't make him a dog to wear it- not that there's anything wrong with dogs of course, he just isn't one -and if even the Silly Creatures have their own versions, well.

"Alright, I'll wear it."

Perdita positively grinned. "Good! It's a nice one, anyway." She flicked his snout. "And not a cheap one, either."

He wrinkled his snout at that, and snorted a bit while he unhooked the collar, slipping it on.

"I'll be careful with it."

"Thanks, Gobo," Perdita sighed, relieved to see him put the collar on. "I'd hate for you to be in another bad situation and not be able to... Well. Thanks."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed a bit, then looked up. "I wouldn't want that to happen, either."

She gave him a couple of little pats on the back, nodding.

"Hey, are you hungry?"

That pat made the tag jingle, and he glanced down at it with the noise. Guess he's going to have to get used to that, barring putting it beneath his shirt.

"I am, actually." Looking up, he snickered a bit. "That's why I came by, to see if you had anything good I could take. I just got distracted what with the everything else that happened."

"That's why you came by? Gee, thanks, Gobo," she laughed, turning away and to the fridge. "I've got some leftover broccoli slaw. Sound good?"

He snickered, watching her as she walked over. "Broccoli slaw sounds great, eh. Should just hit the spot!"

She pulled out the bowl and placed it on the counter in front of him. Then, after a moment, she grabbed herself a fork so she could have some, as well.

"So, have you been anywhere interesting lately?"

He snorted softly, before starting to eat.

"Got to check out a hotel room with a new friend, which was pretty cool. Oh! And saw some parts of a new city. Gotta be a good distance from here, given the length of the tunnel there, but it's big like if you stacked about five of this city all in a pile."

"Huh. Well, I guess if most Fraggles stay at Fraggle Rock, hotel rooms would be a pretty interesting concept to you." She shrugged. "Do you know what the city's called?"

Gobo paused, thinking a moment.

"It's a tree name, I know that much. Butch... Bi... Birchpointe, that was it."

"Oh, sure, Birchpointe. Steven takes trips there sometimes, but I've never been to visit. Did you like it?"

"From what I saw, yeah! It's just really big, and that's taking some time to get used to." Which it always does; must be part of being so small (and small-town).

Perdita nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

The bigger cities were certainly cool, and had their share of exciting things to do see and do. Heck, she'd grown up in a bigger city. But ever since she'd left, she'd realized she was much more of a small town sort of person.

"Maybe we could a daytrip there sometime, though."

"A trip together there?" He considered that a moment, then smiled and nodded. "Sure! I think that could be a real adventure."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Boys and girls of every age, would you like to see something strange?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject