Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember. Things my heart used to know...

[gobetween]

Gobo sighed softly, sitting on the floor of his shared cave with Wembley. He had a small piece of wood with rubber at both ends and was throwing it down so it bounced and he could catch it. Even so he seemed... distracted, with something weighing on his mind-

"Ow-" A stray bounce had popped him in the nose, though he caught the toy after. Giving it a glare, he sighed and shoved it into a hanging basket, then got to his feet and started pacing the room. Arms folded behind himself as he traced a circular path in the middle of the room.

Comments

[funsnofun]

Ohhh, while that song was beautiful, it was so... Painful. For some reason, it made Boober ache, and- Not just for Gobo. He felt unhappy for himself, too.

But when he saw Gobo look like he was tearing up, he gasped, and the moment he was done singing Boober couldn't help it, he had to go to his friend-

[scaredsilly]

-except a hand reached out of the darkness and snared his elbow, dragging him back off his feet. Sidebottom hauled him several feet and then into the first tunnel they came to, not releasing him until a good ways into that.

From there he started pacing around agitatedly, looking more like his counterpart than himself. With this, amid the cacophony of his bells, there was strangled, distressed words as well.

"Oh no, oh nonononono! I knew I shouldn't have seen him again! I thought, it would be a little harmless fun! Getting to really see him again but no, no now he's starting to remember, this is bad! Boober this is BAD, do you know how bad this is!?"

[funsnofun]

Whoa, what was happening-??

Oh great. Sidebottom... Probably didn't want him to hang around with someone in a bad mood, or thought he'd be better spending his time doing something silly and dangerous...

But when Sidebottom was just, well, freaking out in a panic, Boober could only stare as he ranted. "Sidebottom...? You're unhappy? A-About what?"

[scaredsilly]

"About everything!" He threw his arms out, then started pacing again. "Gobo's remembering who he is! And if he remembered what happened and what hasn't happened and-"

Stopping in place, he stared toward the tunnel with an unhappy whine in his throat, wringing his hands together.

[funsnofun]

Boober scowled. "Gobo is Gobo. Sidebottom, what are you talking about?" he demanded, putting his hands on his hips.

[scaredsilly]

He looked over, then huffed sharply. "Right, right, you don't remember either."

Raising a hand he snapped his fingers toward Boober's face, then started pacing again. On his action, everything would come back- everything. The kingdom, the jester job, the royals- the chaos, the night the Poison Cacklers arrived... The conversation with Matt, the hiding. Boober becoming himself.

Everything.

Sidebottom, unknowing and uncaring about the enormous thousand ton boulder he just dropped onto Boober's brain, continued worrying.

"What am I gonna doooo...."

[funsnofun]

"What?" Boober spat out, arms falling to his sides as he looked ahead, dumbfounded. "What?!"

How could this be possible- How had Sidebottom kept this from him for so long? How... How did he not remember a whole different life? How had Matt never slipped up?!

And... Goodness, Sidebottom was the one who was supposed to be out there, then. Not him. That- That was a shock. He felt faint, but he had to take things one step at a time. He just didn't quite have enough control to determine what the first step would be; he was frightened and confused and angry!

"Why do you always have to do this?!"

[scaredsilly]

"ME?!" Even his bells sounded angry as he jerked to a stop, whirling around toward Boober. "Do you think I- wanted to have this little kid shoved into my arms and told to get him to safety??! Do you think I- wanted to leave behind Flock and Leko and everyone else I, we, ever cared about??" Huffing now, he got right up in Boober's face, shoving him with his fingertips. "Do you- think -that I wanted to miss Gobo growing up! Teaching him all my best games and jokes! You don't know how I feel!" A harder shove now, full-handed, and then he whipped around again, stalking across the tunnel. "I've got to go in there. You- you've gotta dreamshare with him and I've gotta get everything back under lock and key! If- if he ever figures out where he came from, that we haven't heard from the kingdom yet-" His voice had started to shake there but he pulled it back under steely control. "Well, he just can't. Nobody can.'

[funsnofun]

Boober recoiled as he was pushed, though it had more to do with Sidebottom's words than being shoved. He'd never thought of Sidebottom as feeling anything but joy and good humor. This was... So strange to see. And far too much to grasp; normally he'd turn to a friend for advice, but- He couldn't. Not this time, because Sidebottom was right. No one could know. He wished he didn't know, that was bad enough! But if anyone else knew... It would change everything.

It would ruin everything. There were a million things that would be broken, but Boober couldn't deny that the scariest part to him was that... That maybe he'd have to let Sidebottom be on the outside; let him take over full-time.

He didn't want that.

Boober took a deep breath. He should apologize, but he couldn't bring himself to - not entirely out of pride, but also because he was still struggling to process this.

"Will... Will I be able to forget, too?"

[scaredsilly]

Sidebottom gave him a long, piercing look, in a way that only Boober would be able to read it. Then he seemed to deflate and he nodded.

"Yes. You'll be able to forget, too. Once I fix Gobo, this whole thing will be like it never happened to you, too."

[funsnofun]

The moment that glare was sent his way, Boober lowered his head and looked down at his feet. "Sidebottom... Iii am sorry that that happened," he muttered. "But I'll find a reason to go inside Gobo's dreams, and then it will all be okay."

It was presented as comfort, but the truth - the truth he feared Sidebottom would know - was that it was rationalization for his own selfishness and cowardice.

[scaredsilly]

He heard it and honestly, he couldn't do anything about it. They were both selfish, weren't they? That was the entire problem between them...

"Alright, go. The quicker we get this over with, the quicker everything'll go back to normal for you."

[funsnofun]

Boober nodded. He felt positively queasy, a mix of anxiety and guilt.

"Right. Uh... Well, you'd better get back in, then."

[scaredsilly]

"Yeah, I know. Just go, okay?" He turned Boober around and pushed him toward the tunnel. "Before I change my mind." One final shove, then the weight on his back disappeared. If he were to look behind him, Sidebottom was gone.

[funsnofun]

He better get this over with - and he did take the task on straightaway, approaching Gobo with claims of nightmares at naptime. He didn't like lying, but this was important, and eventually he got Gobo to agree to share a dream with him, though the other Fraggle was still quite preoccupied.

Waking up from the dream was the next thing he remembered, and things before sleeping seemed fuzzy now, too. But he felt okay now, at least... And that was the whole idea.

Gobo seemed a bit confused as to what had happened, too, and normally that - plus how long it took him to remember he'd been looking for bleach nuts - would have had Boober worried, but there was just a sense of relief right now he couldn't shake.

1/2

[gobetween]

Gobo had indeed been preoccupied, but he was always willing to help a friend in need. Nodding at Boober's request, he settled down to rest with him, reciting the couplet together that would start the process. And afterward...

Well, he assumed he had helped, but he couldn't quite remember the dream. Lots of colors and sounds, and then- nothing. Well, if there was a lot of nothing that certainly was a nightmare, wasn't it? He just had to shake a bit of lightheadedness he had now. A pat to Boober's shoulder and he left him to gather his laundry supplies, and he headed off to... whatever he had been doing before, too.

What was it...?

2/2

[scaredsilly]

Deep within Boober's subconscious, barely more than a thought himself, Sidebottom looked at a small wooden chest in his hands. It had been full of various joke materials but now, now it was very precious. Two orbs of light were within, one goldish and the other a sort of raincloud grey. He was sorry it had to be like this, but he couldn't let it happen again. Not unless... Sighing, he closed the chest tight and locked it, then buried it deep in his corner of Boober's mind. With it he went back to sleep himself, curled up on top of its hiding spot. He'd hold onto it all. He was the only one that could.