I don't want you to worry about what I've just seen, about where I've just been.

[noimpulsecontrol]

Boy, had she been this tired since returning to Earth? Della was pretty sure she hadn't. While she was the sort who could stay up late adventuring and get up early the next day, ready for more, the little sleep she got needed to be quality. Lately? It hadn't been. Memories from the Moon, along with general insecurities about her time away - the mistake she made and all she had to make up for - were an on-and-off problem she dealt with, but since the Moon had invaded, it had been far more "on" than "off," and her sleep was suffering from it.

Of course, being so tired made it harder to focus on tasks during the day; tasks that normally provided invaluable distractions. It didn't matter how much she enjoyed something, her mind... Her heart... They just weren't in it. She had already had to back out of a fishing trip with Donald that day, offering the excuse that someone had to make sure the boys behaved while Donald fished and Scrooge did Binventory. Instead, though, she'd left the task to Beakley, and was taking a walk around the Manor grounds to try and clear her head.

Comments

[gobetween]

"...He did, yeah. He mentioned that when he found out about how my uncle had raised me."

Sensing the seriousness of the talk ahead, he put his guitar aside and pulled himself a bit closer to her, looking up at her.

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della nodded. "I'm glad he was able to talk to you about it, even if it was just a little." After all, Louie had once hated those kind of sentimental talks, and was still quite uncomfortable with them. He needed to have someone he could open up with.

She supposed, right now, so did she.

"I was on the moon for ten years, and I spent most of that time alone. It was... Really hard, you know? No one to talk to or even just be with. Unless you count the creatures I had to fight off," there was a weak attempt at a laugh, there.

[gobetween]

"The moon??" He might not know much about outer space- the other outer space -but he did know about the moon, and that admission got a wide-eyed look from him that immediately swung right back into concern.

"Wow, I... I can't even imagine how that must've been..."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"It wasn't so bad!" she said hurriedly, her knee-jerk reaction being to reassure Gobo. But- Well, she'd already gone this far. "Not at the time... I was so focused on getting home to my boys. I didn't have the time or the energy to be scared until I got home. That's when I started realizing how upsetting some things had been, and... I don't know. They've been coming up when I'm sleeping, now."

[gobetween]

He looked up at her quietly, unsure of asking his next question. But... she needed to talk about it, didn't she? That was one of the best ways to work through difficult memories, was getting it out. So, with a little breath beforehand to steel himself for whatever the answer might be, he asked, his voice quiet, serious.

"What kind of things?"

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della had to think about how she wanted to answer that one. Talking about this so far had - somehow - not gone badly, but that could change so quickly and easily now. "Does it matter?" she asked after a lengthy silence. "I mean that. For me, it's more about the way things made me feel. 'Cause usually, I don't get scared, but beneath everything, I was, I guess, so..." Her hands fell into her lap. "Fear and loneliness - that's what comes up in my nightmares."

[gobetween]

His eyes dropped to her hands, then down toward the ground as he sat in silence for several long seconds. Then he moved forward, crossing the small distance between them and crawling into her lap, where he could get an arm around her for a quiet snuggle of a hug.

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Oh," Della breathed out as Gobo hugged her, and a smile formed on her face. She wrapped her arms around Gobo in return, giving him a little squeeze as her bill rested atop his head. "Thank you." She snuggled him close, in quiet awe of how he understood; had known what she'd needed even when she herself hadn't.

[gobetween]

He lifted his head a bit up under her beak, and tightened his hug. When he spoke, his voice was gentle and soft.

"I know that... fear, and loneliness, aren't easy to deal with. I've never been alone like that for so long, but... I still know what it's like, to be afraid, and to have no one around."

He snugged up a bit closer to her, his size making him seem like a child in his mother's lap. "But you've got people around now, eh? A whole bunch of people, like me, who can help with all of that."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"I do... And I'm so glad to have you guys." It was hard to discuss with her (immediate) family, because it caused her guilt over having left in the first place to resurface, but... Still, they were there. And she knew she could talk to them about it, if she chose to. That in and of itself helped, now that she'd been reminded of the fact.

After a moment, she gave a little "heh" of contentment and adjusted her position just a bit, pressing a kiss to the top of Gobo's head. "Love ya, squirt."

[gobetween]

He glanced up a little at that, then leaned back to look at her with a surprised smile.

"Y'do?"

[noimpulsecontrol]

Well, if that wasn't a smile fit to melt a mother's heart... Della laughed a little, nodding.

"Of course I do. With the fun we have together? And the way you're always there when someone needs you? You're family, Gobo." She paused for a second, to lightly tweak the end of his snout between two knuckles. "Besides, it's not every day I find someone crazy enough to take on the wildest adventures with me."

[gobetween]

Gobo laughed softly at her gesture, then smiled and nodded.

"Yeah.. Yeah, I guess so! To all of that." His smile sweetened some, then he hugged her again, both arms going around her middle. "Love ya, too."

[noimpulsecontrol]

She chuckled warmly, giving him a squeeze. "I'm glad to hear it."

Then, she leaned back a bit, placing her hands on the ground behind her for support. "And you were right. Talking about it did help."

[gobetween]

He got back off her lap to sit in front of her, if only because it made conversation easier. Resting the bottoms of his feet together and his hands in his lap, his tail behind him provided a bit of his own support.

"I'm glad it helped! I had a feeling it would, it definitely helped me."

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della frowned, looking Gobo over. "Yeah, you mentioned you recently were having trouble sleeping... Gobo, what happened?" she asked.

[gobetween]

"Oh, well..." He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing off somewhat. "It's a... long story."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Hmm, I get that," Della said with a nod. "I mean, obviously I know how hard this kind of thing can be to talk about. But I'm here for you, if you want to say anything."

[gobetween]

He smiled at her for a moment, then sighed softly.

"See, over with the other Duckburg, apparently Fraggles are valuable catches, and then sold to whoever wants them, because we're so rarely seen above ground, even though to most people we're just garden pests. And, one night, a bunch of thugs captured me and some others I was with..."

He went on from there, explaining the whole poaching incident to her, from the initial "earthquake" and the electrocution that knocked them out, to waking up in a cage lost until being able to send out word, their breakout with Fraggle magic, and the rescue, trailing off some at the end.

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Oh..."

She felt sick to her stomach at his story, and- and angry, too, at the idea of people doing what could only be described as Fraggle poaching. but she tried to tamp that anger down for the time being. She breathed in and out deeply to calm herself, then put a hand each on both of Gobo's shoulders.

"I am so proud of you."

[gobetween]

He'd fallen quiet after finishing what was, honestly, only the first half of his story, when Della reached out to him. He looked up with a bit of subdued surprise, blinking once.

"You are?"

[noimpulsecontrol]

"I am," Della said with a nod. "You're still doing the things that make you, you. That must have been- So scary. I can't imagine it, I really can't, even with all I've seen and done."

She gave his shoulders a squeeze. "But you're a fighter... I'm sorry, I had to interrupt. To say that."

[gobetween]

He inhaled softly, looking at her for a long, silent moment. An argument had been on his lips, that it was the others who'd done the real magic, even if that argument would've only been half-hearted at best. But whatever there was of it died as Della spoke, and he nodded after a moment.

"It's okay, I- Thank you."

[noimpulsecontrol]

"Any time," Della said. "Just don't forget it, okay?"

It was alright if he did, of course. She'd be there to remind him.

"So, what happened after?"

[gobetween]

"After, well, we went back to the home. The next couple days were kinda difficult, but I bounced back, like I always do."

He sighed softly, shrugging a bit. "Or, I thought I had. Yeah, I was always a little nervous going around or meeting new people, but I've always been cautious, ever since I was a kid. But it wasn't long after me and my friends, Fraggles from the Rock, decided to move out into Outer Space together that the nightmares started.

"I started... reliving the whole night. Except sometimes the other Fraggles were my friends, and sometimes it was just me alone. And no rescue ever came. No matter what I did I couldn't get rid of them, and after long enough I started losing sleep over them."