starlightcafe | The rain rain rain came down down down...

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The rain rain rain came down down down...

It was a good day to be inside, that was for sure.

"Sorry about your trip, Unca Scrooge..."

Although Louie was very glad it at least wasn't a thunderstorm. The rain was coming down hard, but without thunder and lightning, they were okay to stand by the kitchen window and watch - it was kind of cool-looking, in a way, everything blurred by the rainfall. Even inside the manor, though, the cold of the day's weather could be felt, which was less than cool. Louie pulled his hood up over his head - it still kind of smelled like the soap Boober had washed it with, and that got a nostalgic smile out of him. Sure, that day had been stressful, but all's well that ends well, right? He pulled the hood further down his face, until it was nearly covering his eyes, and inhaled deeply.

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"Ach, that's alright, Louie lad." He stood by him, watching out the window. There had been a planned trip of the whole Manor family out to Birchpointe, and they had gone ahead to allow Scrooge to stay behind and finish up helping Huey with some last minute work. Of course, that was when the storm decided to roll in, and he elected to wait for it to blow over before joining them. There was no way he was going to make Launchpad fly through this mess.

Not if he didn't want to arrive in a full body cast, anyway.

At least there was a silver lining though, in that he was here when Louie quite literally popped in, saving him trying another trip with the transporter. So, here they stood, watching the rain; he turned his head some to smile alongside at him.

"They'll understand why I stayed behind, and I'm just glad the bairns aren't here in this mess, too."

Louie peeked out from beneath his hood with a little laugh. "I mean, sure, but watching Jade try get out and set the rain on fire would've been pretty cute."

Wait, had he really just admitted that? He groaned, shaking his head. This place was really making him soft, and he really should have minded more...

He didn't, though. It was weird, but not entirely bad.

Scrooge laughed as well, a warm sound of his own. It wasn't bad letting walls down, now was it?

"Oh believe me, she's tried. Now come on, I'll make us somethin' warm to drink while-" He'd been turning to go further into the kitchen, but stopped and lifted his head. Immediately his expression quirked a bit, and he glanced around.

"Do you hear that? Listen..."

Louie stilled, lowering his hood and tilting his head to the side. "...Actually, yeah, I do. Is that- Is someone screaming?"

At first, it was just the rain pounding the roof and flooding through the gutters. Then, as they listened, something else sounded through the storm-

"I think it is. It's coming from the garden-??"

The points connected in a flash and he practically sucked in his own tongue with the sharp gasp on that realization. Quick steps back and then he took off running.

"Come on!!"

Louie reached the realization right about the same time as Scrooge, and gave a start when he did so - he gasped as well, and was quick to run alongside Scrooge, pulling his hood back up as he went. It wasn't that rain alone was generally a problem for him, but it was a lot of rain...

Which couldn't be good for that tunnel.

As they got closer, and especially once they practically leapt through the door leading out to the back terrace and the garden beyond, it was obvious that the screams were cries for help. And once outside, even through the driving rain Scrooge saw exactly what he feared. Movement, and a brilliant shock of fuschia, by the slickened, half-flooded entrance of the Fraggle tunnel.

Thankfully he was fully awake, and he went nearly limp with relief when he saw not one, but two ducks come running pell-mell across the yard. His voice was hoarse from the shouting, but he could still manage as they came over.

"The rain, it- Lots of mud started down the tunnel-!"

Indeed, he was absolutely caked with it, still half-buried in the sludge. Scrooge locked hands with one of Gobo's and started pulling him out, though the slickness made it difficult- and his other arm lagged back behind him, as if caught on something, or clinging to something.

"Gobo!" Louie shouted over the pouring rain. "It's okay, man, Unca Scrooge is gonna take care of this!"

It might've sounded like Louie being lazy - and that was a small factor - but mostly he just didn't know what to do. He was panicked, the only thing he could think that might be helpful would be grabbing Gobo's other hand, but it was pulled back in the other direction by... Something... Purple and...

"Oh jeez, Mokey!!" Louie gasped. He didn't think it through, not consciously, but... Yeah he and Gobo were closer, but Mokey had named him an honorary Fraggle. That meant a lot to him - and this gave him a way to help, anyway. He crouched down, ducking under Scrooge's arm, and reached for where Mokey's hand met Gobo's. "I've got you, Mokey! I've got you!"

Another Fraggle-?? He doubled down and squared his stance, one hand remaining on Gobo's and the other grasping the front of his shirt.

"Alright Louie, with me! One, two, three, PULL!" He dug in and heaved backwards, slipping only momentarily before he found his footing again. "One, two, three, PULL!" Another yank backwards, and the mud gave a little. "One- two- three- PULL!"

Every time back freed them a little bit more, and as Gobo was freed entirely he went to help Louie haul Mokey up the rest of the way. With two soaked, coughing Fraggles on the lawn, he gave them a moment to recover and then bent by them.

"Come on, we'll get inside faster if you let us carry you." Without a pause for argument, he nodded to Louie and then, gingerly, scooped Mokey up into his arms, waiting for Louie to get situated before rushing inside back to the kitchen as quickly as he dared.

Edited 2019-10-22 20:45 (UTC)

As he was tugging and pulling to get the two free, Louie felt awful for Mokey - she'd just left Fraggle Rock not long ago at all. What a welcome to the rest of the world...

Once Gobo and then Mokey were safe, Louie nodded in response to Scrooge, and hoisted Gobo onto his back - man, he would not do that for just anyone. Dumb Fraggle, he thought with a smile, despite everything.

Mokey had nearly passed out, back there, but regained full consciousness while being carried inside. She opened her eyes and glanced up - it was a little bleary, but she could make out enough of Scrooge's face to recognize him as a Louie-like Silly Creature who wasn't Louie. She'd heard of Scrooge, of course, although it wasn't until they were in the kitchen that her mind was quite awake enough to make the connection. She coughed a few times when she tried to speak, before finally getting out, "You must be Scrooge... Thank you..."

"Aye, I'm Scrooge." He and Louie set them on the floor beside each other, and he stepped back a bit before kneeling to look them over. "Are you hurt?" When Gobo, still coughing, shook his head, Scrooge sighed a bit in relief.

"Good. Louie, get them some water to clear their throats. I'll be right back with some towels." He paused, looking down at them both. "Your clothes, and you, are goin' to need a wash... When you're ready, o'course. Right now, just rest. I'll be back in a flash."

Mokey managed a quiet 'no', but neither that nor Gobo's gesture made Louie feel much better.

Louie had seen the Fraggles drinking from pools of water, so when he instinctively went to grab two glasses, he corrected himself and filled a bowl with cold water instead, placing it between Gobo and Mokey. He tried to give them their space to drink, but it was hard; he was worried. He found himself hovering right nearby, practically on top of the Fraggles.

Edited 2019-10-22 21:12 (UTC)

Gobo drank gratefully, though he left plenty for Mokey once he was done. Sighing, he attempted to push his hair back out of his eyes, but with so much mud covering him it didn't make that much of a difference. Noting the close presence, he glanced up at Louie with an attempted smile.

"We'll be alright. Just got surprised by the sudden rain. All that lush dirt in the garden makes a whole lotta mud really quickly."

As Louie nodded and backed off a bit with a hesitant smile of his own, Mokey drank up from the bowl. After clearing her throat, she smiled over at Louie, as well, then turned to Gobo, and the smile faded a bit.

"It's not always quite like this, is it?"

"No, no! Of course not. You guys would hear about it if it were. It was just a freak storm that caught us by surprise."

Still, all the same he was quite relieved when Scrooge returned with towels, not the least of which because he was starting to shiver. He didn't even try to clean off any mud yet, just wrapped the towel around himself and buried his snout in it.

Mokey nodded, her smile returning. If Gobo said this wasn't the norm, she trusted him. The fluffy towel also boosted her mood, and she took a moment just to rub it against her cheek, then her snout.

"So soft..."

Finally feeling completely sure that his friends would be okay - Scrooge being back in the kitchen helped a lot with that - Louie spoke up, because now that he wasn't worried to the point of feeling literally sick to his stomach, he realized that Gobo had just been on his back, all muddy.

"Uh, I'm going to go wash off my hoodie," he said. He knew there was too much going on for Scrooge to draw attention to the fact that he was actually doing... Laundry? But he still got out of there quickly, a little embarrassed.

He wasn't about to let Boober's work the other day be for nothing, though.

"Wait out there just a moment, Louie." He glanced back at the Fraggles, leaning down. "We'll put the clothes you're wearin' in the wash, and then I'll draw the bath. Alright?"

He nodded, and it was with some reluctance that he moved the towel enough that he could slip off his vest, then everything else. He handed it all up to Scrooge- "Careful, there's.. stuff in the pockets..." -and then returned to his towel wrap, even chillier now.

Louie stopped and politely looked away - although did it really matter? Huh... - as Gobo undressed and Mokey shed her sweater and wrap, then curled herself up in the blanket, seeming a lot less phased by it than Gobo.

"That's very kind, thank you."

Scrooge dipped his head, smiling. "Of course. Sit tight, and I'll be right back."

With clothes bundled up in his arms, he walked over to join Louie. "Come on, we'll throw it all in together. With all that the children get up to, a little mud won't faze the washer at all."

In her little towel cocoon, Mokey scooched over closer to Gobo.

"Well, it was an adventure - not the kind I'd like to repeat, of course," she said softly, "but an adventure."

Gobo laughed weakly, leaning against her as she came closer. He lowered the towel to his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess." A pause, then, "I'm glad you're okay, Mokey."

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