starlightcafe | All I want to know is how the world goes 'round...

Worming information out of her youngest son was not easy, but nothing could stop Della Duck. It may have taken about a month to ease him into opening up about just who - and what, as it turned out - his new friend was, but it was well worth it; Louie brought up Gobo comfortably around her now. It was clear that the Fraggle'd had a strong impact on him - not that briefly being the Richest Duck in the World hadn't, but still, there was definitely more to Louie coming into his own lately than that whole adventure. In fact, Louie wasn't like Della, or most of the others in the family. Adventure didn't have the deep effect on him it did on the rest.

Della loved her boys unconditionally, even when they were causing disasters. But Louie... He didn't just seem to have grown, he seemed to be happier lately. So, if nothing else, she wanted to meet Gobo. Louie had rolled his eyes and protested a bit - "Mom, you don't have to run checks on my friends, that's such an Uncle Donald thing..." - but he'd shared the location of the nearest Fraggle Hole with her. Now she stood outside, hands on her knees so she could get a better view inside, calling down. "Hello! Is there a Gobo Fraggle down there?"

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"Huh, that's cool - sounds like a fun way to live, really!" Della said brightly. She leaned in to take a closer look at the gourdtar. "And you make the instruments yourselves, huh?"

He smiled, lifting the strap over his head and passing the guitar up to her to look at personally.

"Yep, sure do! From gourds like that one, or whatever wood, cloth, or other things we can collect around Fraggle Rock."

"Skilled and adaptive?" Della ran a hand over the back of the guitar. "Fraggles are great! Hey, you gotta teach me how to play something like this. Could you?"

"Fraggles make do," is what he said, but he was clearly glowing from the praise.

"You wanna learn how to play an instrument?"

"You bet I do!" Della exclaimed, handing him back his guitar. "Donald always said I wasn't allowed to touch his guitar - he was convinced I'd break it, or something."

He threaded himself through the strap and adjusted it until the gourdtar rested well around his shoulders.

"I can see where he's coming from, bein' protective over a guitar or something. Mine's been with me for years! And, I'm not much of a teacher, but I bet I could at least help you find out what instrument to play. You might be surprised, something completely different than a guitar could be waiting to sing inside you."

"I like the way you put that... Waiting to sing inside me," she repeated. "Well, I'm willing to try 'em all out!"

Or maybe she'd lose patience after three instruments, but hey, points for enthusiasm, right?

"You know, I betcha Bridge can help out with that. He's got a lot of instruments, and he might be willing to let you experiment!"

"Oh, well... Maybe!" Della said, her words a bit stilted. She liked Bridge, and they got on well now that he'd opened up to her, but she didn't want to push his comfort level with her, either. She chuckled, awkwardly, and shook her head. "I didn't know you knew Bridge."

"Yeah, I know a few of them over there. Scrooge lets me raid his garden for spare vegetables." He strummed the guitar, then laughed. "After Louie, your Louie, caught me in a trap one day. Did he tell you how we met?"

"Caught you in a trap? He mentioned he set you up with Scrooge's garden, but nothing about that, no."

He laughed again and nodded. "Yeah! I don't hold it against him, a'course. He'd heard about Fraggles from the other Louie, and I guess something he heard must've appealled to him because he 'borrowed' Scrooge's yard to set up a few traps. I was actually having fun springing them, but then Scrooge stepped in to help, and that one was the one that got me."

"Makes sense! The Scrooges didn't get to be so rich without being sharper and smarter than the rest," she laughed, nodding. "But man... What did Louie think he was going to do with a captured Fraggle?"

"I don't think he figured that far ahead, honestly." He snickered some. "Scrooge wanted me caught because, according to some, Fraggles are garden pests." Dismissive sniff. "But I think Louie was just curious?"

"Aw, Louie!" Della laughed, clearly delighted. "What a chip off the ol' block he can be!" She shrugged, then. "But garden pests? That seems like it sells you guys pretty short."

"Thank you!" He laughed some. "We're definitely more than something you've gotta guard your radishes against, though you wouldn't know it from the stories you hear."

Della grinned. "Hey, sometimes people are gonna make their assumptions - that just means you've gotta prove them wrong!"

"Oh I'm definitely doing that! Scrooge's opinion has turned around at least. He's even helped me out of a jam or two."

"There you go, 'atta boy!" She grabbed Gobo in a noogie. "You know, if Louie ever feels like bringing you around to meet my Uncle - or my other boys! - you're more than welcome. I think you'd have fun meeting them."

"Ah, hey-!" He laughed, pushing against her side until he was released. Shaking his head, he snickered and looked up at her. "Louie's told me a lot about them, I'd definitely like to meet them sometime!"

"Well, I hope it happens soon."

It was definitely going to have to be Louie's call on the timing. He might not be ready to share his new friend with his family - especially with his brothers - just yet, and she could understand that. She'd grown up with a twin brother, after all. "Ah, and you can meet Penny, now! Ooh, man, I haven't even had a chance to tell her about all this dimension stuff now, boy is that gonna blow her mind!"

"I dunno, it's not really that difficult to understand." He paused a moment, then snickered some. "Then again it took me a while to even understand Fraggle Rock itself could do dimensional stuff in the first place."

"Oh, sure, not if you're used to it - and Uncle Scrooge has been to the demon dimension Pandemonium before, and all that, so I am. But Penny? She's more... Well, she's got certain ideas of how things work, I guess."

Gobo snorted softly. "Sounds like my Uncle Matt. He gets ideas in his head and won't listen to anything but those ideas."

"Well, sometimes you need a bit of that!" Della laughed. "I mean, how else do you go out on an adventure when everyone else is telling you how crazy it is, right?"

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