Living was a game. But now I seem to walk in dreams...

[talkyourwayout]

It shouldn't require any thought. This was just hanging out with her friend. Alone. Sure, the last time they'd done that, everything had gone wrong, and Gobo had nearly died. But it was okay, now. He was even due to try speaking again soon. And on the mend or not, Gobo was still Gobo. So why did Lexi feel uneasy and a little sick?

She arrived directly inside the Other Duckburg's manor, for once, and was relieved for having that much less to do or think about. She was directed to conservatory, not at all surprised to hear that's where Gobo was.

Comments

[gobetween]

He nodded, other hand waving dismissively. Yeah, he's perfectly fine! Oh but, should put the 'flowers' in the fridge, so that's what he sets to do.

Aaaannnd grabbing a couple more radishes for the road. Looking at Lexi, he quirked a curious eyebrow and made a 'walking' motion. Wanna head outside?

[talkyourwayout]

"We can. I mean, there's a perfectly comfortable and warm couch available, too. It has a tv in front of it, and you can sit," she pointed out dryly, before giving a little chuckle. "But sure, man."

[gobetween]

He rolled his eyes with a snort, waving toward the rest of the manor.

"We can sit if you really must."

[talkyourwayout]

She laughed and ruffled his hair a bit. "We can go outside later, though, I promise," she offered, before leading the way out of the kitchen.

[gobetween]

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly, following her into the rest of the manor.

"I mean, I AM only supposed to stay active and everything."

But that laugh motion after a moment spoke that he wasn't even serious. He rarely was, especially with being on the mend.

[talkyourwayout]

Lexi stopped walking, then gave a snort as she turned around to walk in the other direction. Sure, Gobo was kidding, but that didn't mean he didn't have a point...

"You suck, Gobo," she said in a casual, light-hearted tone, as she headed toward the front door.

[gobetween]

Surprised by her sudden move, he had to duck down through her legs to avoid being trampled, a practiced move that helped with people that were bigger than he was. Trailing in her shadow he laughed again, shaking his head to himself before popping a radish into his mouth.

[talkyourwayout]

"It's fine, it's fine," Lexi said with an exaggerated sigh. "It's not like Ottoman Empire is a thing over here, anyway." She opened the door, motioning for him to head through.

[gobetween]

"I could've sworn Dewey was looking into making that a thing, though."

Bowing to her with a grin, he walked out the door first, pausing on the stoop to wait for her to join him.

[talkyourwayout]

She laughed as she stepped outside after him. "Yeah, he is, that's why he's Smart Dewey. But it's taking forever."

[gobetween]

"Well, I'm sure he'll do it in the end. So, since coming out here was my idea, I guess it's up to me to answer the question about what to do..."

He paused to sip thoughtfully at the soda (which usually got transferred to his elbow when he had to sign, at least the liquid lost earlier made it a bit lighter to hold awkwardly), looking out through the yard. Beyond, the city waited, and if Lexi were watching him, she would see the indecision cross his face. A- rare, these days? -hesitative moment for him. He stared a bit longer, then looked up at her.

"I know it's not very exciting, but wanna hang out in the garden?" Ah, there was the grin. "You can still get to sit, since you seem like you're really attached to that today."

[talkyourwayout]

She considered pointing that out - she definitely caught the moment of hesitation - but... No, why make it harder for him? Instead, she lay a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. Sometimes, these things could be communicated without being spoken.

"If that's what you want, dude, sure."

[gobetween]

Her gesture caused a possibly unexpected reaction in him. His eyes fell and he glanced off to the side, as if shamed. He nodded and signed his thanks, then started walking around to the walking path that wound its way through the garden. The whole space wouldn't be much to look at, but it was outside and on Scrooge's property, and that was all he wanted.

[talkyourwayout]

"Gobo...?"

She didn't like this, and what was worse, she couldn't really get a read on how to handle this. Making a point of bringing it up, that would just make it worse, right? Or... Did Gobo need a push? She really had no idea.

She caught up with him, then passed to stand before him, crouching down to put both hands on his shoulders and look him in the eye as best he'd allow.

"What's up?"

[gobetween]

He looked at her with a blink, though after a moment his expression troubled. His eyes glanced back and forth, and he started to reply, by voice- then he just grit his teeth and looked down and away.

[talkyourwayout]

"Gobo, it's me. And you know I get being scared more than anyone. You don't have to talk, or leave the garden, or anything until you're ready- If you're ready! If you're not, that's okay, too, but... Just let me know what's going on. Please."

[gobetween]

"I AM ready!!" A vehement sign, then a little more pulled back with a sigh. "I am ready... Just something keeps stopping me. I know everything is okay, that I can do whatever I did before and not hurt myself.

Signs a bit slower now, his gaze fairly firmly on the ground. "I just haven't yet..."

[talkyourwayout]

Lexi sighed and knelt down entirely, wrapping her arms around Gobo's back. "Look, I'm sure it's hard. I may not know what you're going through, right now - not firsthand - but like I said, I know about fear. And it'd be weird if you weren't afraid after all of that."

[gobetween]

He simply leaned against her for a bit before he lifted his arms to hug her in return. One hand patted her back in silent gratitude, though it- none of this, really -didn't feel like he had his heart in it.

[talkyourwayout]

She didn't know how to navigate this, and nothing scared her more than situations with unknown factors. Angles she couldn't see. There had to be something she could do, right? But- What?

She gave Gobo a single little nod as she stood back up. "I- Well-" But she didn't know where to go from there, so she just turned around and headed further into the garden.

[gobetween]

He stood where he was, watching her walk off. Then he turned his head away, following her almost automatically.

Once inside the garden, he found a spot to sit for a while. This wound up being something a bit high; one of the ivy walls had lattice work with large holes in it, enough for a Fraggle to scale up six feet or so, thread his legs through one and arms through another. There he sat, folding his arms and resting his chin atop them. At least a third space beneath him provided a little personal amusement, ticking his tail back and forth through it.

Yes, this spot would do nicely. He could see Lexi, his hands were free enough to sign whenever he needed to, and he was high up. It didn't take much for him to figure why he wanted to be high, but that wasn't exactly something he felt like elaborating on even if he were to be asked.

[talkyourwayout]

She wanted to tell him to be careful. She also wanted to pull on his tail, just to be a pain in the butt. But she did neither... Neither felt quite right, after what had just happened. Telling him to be careful brought too much pain to mind, while bugging him was too normal; too much what they'd normally do.

So Lexi just sat, her back to the wall of ivy, and stared ahead.

[gobetween]

Gobo sat like that for a good little while, looking out across the garden himself. Then... While Lexi might have been hesitant to get back to their shenanigans immediately, Gobo didn't have quite the same pause. That bench she was on was certainly close enough...

So, a little while into her sitting there, she's going to get boofed in the head a few times by his tail, innocently swinging back and forth. Oops didn't see you there, Lex.

[talkyourwayout]

Oh, so it was like that, then? Lexi sat through the first handful of hits to the head, but after a point... No, on the mend or not, this meant war. She caught Gobo's tail on the next hit, tugging it towards her.

[gobetween]

That caught him completely by surprise and, precariously positioned already, he lost his balance and fell backwards. This created a quick flurry to grab the edge of his perch, feet snapping to brace against the one below, and with it a quite startled, quite loud, quite vulgar curse.