#so I will lay off the Boyd Drake thing

[astro-duck]

Sometimes with headcanoning non-canonical autistic characters with autism I’m like “It’s a stretch but I love the character and so I’m here for it.” Sometimes I even disagree (rare).

But sometimes the show is DuckTales the characters are Huey and Boyd the episode is Season 3 episode 6 “Astro-B.O.Y.D” and there is no neurotypical explanation for anything that just happened. Sometimes it feels like the show forgot to mention that these characters are definitely canonically autistic but they 100% are.

[staarshiine]

Turbulence

words: 1,773 tw: s*icdial thoughts

Louie knew that he shouldn’t be feeling this way, that it was a dangerous and terrible thought to have, but he just couldn’t muster up the energy to care anymore.

He hadn’t cared about anything for a long time.

-

or, Louie can’t sleep. He ends up spiraling.

Ao3

Louie didn’t know what it was that woke him up.

These nights even the slightest creek from the old house could startle him awake. It was embarrassing, really, to sometimes fall out of bed just because a poster fell off a wall, especially after he had a day of avoiding bears with chainsaws for arms. Maybe being such a light sleeper was the price he had to pay for a childhood of near death experiences. A shitty trade off, if you asked him.

In the end it didn’t really matter what woke him up, the result was the same.

Louie was left laying alone in the dark, tired out of his mind, but unable to sleep.

For some awful reason, his brain had decided to choose now to be uncomfortably aware of every inch of his body, almost as if sensing his desperate attempts to fall back asleep.

His gut was churning and twisting in a way he knew would evolve into a full blown stomachache the second he decided to get up, and there was a slight pang in the left side of his rib cage. His wrist and knuckles still hurt from when he had smacked the back of his hand against a stone wall while running away from the catastrophe of the day, and there was a similar stinging pain in his knee from when he scrapped it tripping and falling on the ground to narrowly avoid the swipe of an axe. His legs and the bottoms of his feet were aching from the cardio workout he got while running for his fucking life earlier that day.

He was just so tired.

The weariness went much further than just bone deep. It was as if exhaustion was laced into every breath, like someone had made thread out of lead and had sewn it into the very fabric of his soul.

He was tired of not being able to sleep through the night. He was tired of his body hurting all the time. He was tired of being forced to fight just to live every day.

He was tired of his life. He was tired of living.

The realization dawned upon him quietly but all at once, like the tide slowly inching in until he’s suddenly been submerged by the waves he didn't notice creeping in.

Louie knew that he shouldn’t be feeling this way, that it was a dangerous and terrible thought to have, but he just couldn’t muster up the energy to care anymore.

He hadn’t cared about anything for a long time.

When had the constant danger become normal? Why had he gotten used to being kidnapped on a daily basis, as if it wasn’t horrifying enough to get locked and tied up? How had having to run just for the chance to breath for another day become a regular occurrence?

Louie had been running on pure fear for so long, he wasn’t sure how to get through the day without adrenaline pulsing through his veins.

Maybe he was tired of fighting. He barely even knew what he was fighting for.

It wasn’t as if Uncle Scrooge allowed him to keep any of the treasures they found on adventures. The golden luster of a future life filled with riches had begun to lose its shine. Was some pretty coin worth all the trouble it was taking to get there?

He didn’t have many big dreams outside of just getting rich, it was almost sad. It was sad. But it wasn’t as if he was going to get far in life anyways. Louie was a greedy, lazy, selfish bastard and he knew that fact uncomfortably well. No matter what Louie did he could never seem to escape who he really was. Someone always ended up getting hurt.

Did he have anyone to be there for?

He didn’t have many friends, either. Not that he ever really tried to make any, not after the disaster that was Doofus Drake. Lena, Boyd, Violet, and Gosalyn were all nice, but they weren’t really his friends. They were all closer to his siblings. He wasn’t anyone’s first choice.

There was always his family.

His family who probably hated him.

Louie couldn’t even count the number of times he had put them into mortal danger for stupid reasons. No shiny ring or necklace was worth their lives, but he was always blinded by the shine and his own selfish greed, and risked it anyways. What reason had he given to deserve their love? He brought nothing good to the table. All he did was sit around all day and get in the way.

His family didn’t seem to have the same problems with the constant adventures that he did. Day after day they just popped back into action, bravely facing whatever life threw their way. Louie felt so ashamed in comparison. Was the problem just him? What was wrong with him?

Why couldn’t he do anything right?

Schemes were supposed to be his thing, the one skill he had that had the capacity to be helpful, to some degree. He fucked that up too.

He had blinked all of them out of existence because of his stupid fucking schemes, and his mom hated him for it. Of course she did. Who wouldn’t? He certainly did.

God.

He just wanted to go back to bed.

Louie didn’t know how much time he had spent, falling deeper and deeper into his own head, but he felt worse than ever before.

His blanket had long stopped being comforting and instead became suffocating. He could barely muster the energy to rip it off, and the sudden cold made him feel sick to his stomach.

Living in a literal tower seemed cool, but the novelty wore off once they realized Scrooge was too cheap to pay for the heating in the room.

Still, the cold was better than the clammy constricting blanket. He curled up tight into a fetal position, and tried to bite back the tears burning in his eyes.

Louie knew he wasn’t in the right mind, that his brain was playing tricks on him and skewing his perception of reality, but god did it feel real.

In that moment he truly believed nobody cared for him. That he was totally and utterly alone.

Then Dewey let out a loud snore above him.

It was such a stupid and small thing, but he couldn’t help but let out a snort. Which then exploded into full blown laughter.

Louie just couldn’t stop. He knew he was definitely going to wake someone up, but he just couldn’t control himself. He doubled over wheezing and cackling till his stomach and cheeks hurt, and each gasping breath began to turn into sobs.

Between the sound of his own manic laughter he could hear the sheets above him shuffling, and the quiet thunks of Huey climbing down the ladder.

Knowing his brothers were awake to witness his hot mess of a breakdown just made the situation even more hilarious in the same way a depressed clown falling on his ass was. Louie’s face was bright red from how hard he was laughing, and hot tears were streaming down his cheeks. He could barely breathe. Nothing about the situation felt real.

“...Louie?”

Dewey’s sleepy voice cut through Louie’s gasping breaths, and startled him out of his crazed giggling. Somehow both his brothers had manifested at the edge of his bed without him noticing. Louie could barely make out his brothers’ concerned expressions through his watery eyes.

Huey’s eyebrows were furrowed so hard Louie was surprised he hadn’t gotten wrinkles yet, and Dewey was rubbing his eye and clutching a pillow to his chest. He looked almost scared. Louie had to look really insane for Dewey of all people to be scared, Dewey wasn’t scared of anything. It was honestly concerning sometimes how often he would throw himself head first into danger.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Huey fretted, and moved to sit near him on the bed.

Like he had to ask. Louie knew he looked like a garbage fire that was hit by a freight train then tossed into a blender and hurled into the fucking sea.

You tell me, do I look okay, Hubert?

He knew he was being a little mean, but it was enough to throw Louie back into hysterical laughter, which quickly dissolved into violent sobs. Huey let out a distraught noise and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. Louie just let himself be held and cry into his older brother’s sleep shirt. He felt like a baby, but he couldn’t be bothered to care anymore. The bed dipped and creaked slightly as Dewey sat down on the other side, and began to rub circles into his back. That just made Louie cry even harder.

They really did care about him.

The thought suddenly flooded him with pure relief.

Louie didn’t know how long he spent sitting there and sobbing his eyes out, but eventually he ran out of tears to spill. His heaving cries sputtered off into quiet gasps and eventually he was left quietly clutching to Huey’s side. The night still felt unreal, like the second Louie let go Huey and Dewey would vanish and he would be all alone again.

“...No,” Louie weakly whispered out, his voice scratchy and raw from the abuse Louie had just put his throat through. “I’m not okay. I… I think I haven't been for a really long time.”

No one said anything. Dewey just leaned into his other side and gave Louie’s hand a slight squeeze. Huey shifted slightly to reach up and gently wipe away Louie’s tears. He rested his palm against Louie’s cheek and guided his head to rest on Huey’s shoulder. They were such small acts of affection, but it was enough to warm Louie’s heart. It was right there, sitting sandwiched between both his brother’s, did Louie finally feel a sliver of hope.

He was loved.

It didn’t matter what he thought of himself, there would always be two people in his little corner of the world who cared about him.

Louie was still tired. He wasn’t sure anything could lift that heavy feeling out of his chest, but just sitting there and being held made it just the slightest bit lighter.

Maybe he could make it through another day.

Maybe tomorrow morning he could work up the courage to talk to his siblings and explain just exactly how he was feeling. But for now, all Louie was concerned about was letting his heavy eyelids slip shut.

And finally, he fell asleep.

[vilevampire]

“Crushing” (One Shot)

Thank you @louyd​ and @the-writer-nerd-ro​ for helping me beta read this <3 This is actually the first fic I wrote for ducktales, so if anything’s kinda weird, that’s probably why.

Rating: Teen and up audiences

Trigger Warnings: Minor injury, hospital

Pairing: Louie Duck x B.O.Y.D

Summary: When Louie first met Boyd, he thought the boy was just an emotionless, cold-hearted machine... ...and then he fell in love with him.

9.833 words

Ao3 Link

"Hi, I'm Boyd, a definitely real boy!"

"Uh... sure you are…"

—————

That exchange was the most of Louie's memories from the first time he had met Boyd. After Doofus Drake's birthday party, the two of them had left off on their own separate ways. And Louie hadn't given the weird robot any second thought... that was, until he met it again. "Louie, meet my friend Boyd!" Huey exclaimed rather enthusiastically. It was clear for anyone to see that he cared a lot about Boyd and wanted him and his brother to get along. Dewey and Webby were currently unavailable, and so Huey thought that Louie was the best remaining candidate for meeting him. "Hi, I'm Boyd, a definitely real boy! We've met each other before!" The child held his hand out, smiling, his voice and movements reproduced identically to the first time they had met. "...I'm Louie, but I think you already know that." Different from last time, however, Louie at least accepted the boy's handshake, just to be polite. Huey stared at their interaction in shock. He thought he had listed all the possible ways this meeting could go, and yet clearly, he had overlooked the possibility that his brother and his new best friend would somehow already know each other. "WAIT, you guys have met each other before?! When? How? Why is this the first time that I'm hearing about this?!" Boyd, his cheerful smile unwavering, promptly answered his friend's question. "We—" "We just happened to bump into each other before, that's all." …Or he would have, if Louie hadn't interrupted him with a shrug. Louie knew his brother well enough to know that he would demand a lengthy explanation of his prior meeting with Boyd and, as it turns out, he really didn't feel like explaining everything that went down at Doofus' birthday party (or talk about the scam that he tried to pull). Knowing enough about Boyd's backstory, Huey didn't buy his brother's explanation, but decided to forget about it for now. As long as they both got along well, he could get all the answers to his questions later on. With a sigh, Huey gave in: "Alright, if you say so…" he said lightly, staring pointedly at Louie with a look that he hoped conveyed a different message:"We'll talk about this later." Louie looked away from his brother's glare to play with his phone. Boyd was still smiling, seemingly oblivious to the wordless exchange happening between the two brothers. Huey cleared up his throat to speak again. "In any case, are you possibly free today, Louie? Me and Boyd were actually planning to hang out together and, if you wanted to, you could come join us! Right, Boyd?" "Yeah! We would love to have you with us, Louie!" Boyd smiled at him, looking brighter than the sun itself. Louie looked up from his phone to stare at his brother and his robot friend absent-mindedly while he contemplated the invitation. It had already been quite a while since Louie had been able to hang out with his family without getting involved in magical hijinks, and, as much as Louie would never admit it out loud, he kind of missed spending quality time with his family every now and then. Subconsciously, the young duck's gaze lingered slightly longer on Boyd. He thought that, at the very least, there would be no way he would get bored if he was going to be hanging out with a robot. Louie plastered on his signature lazy smile before replying, "Yeah sure, why not? I'm bored anyway." Both Huey and Boyd were visibly excited by this response and soon the three of them revised their plans for the day to include Louie. Before this, Louie hadn't actually realized robots even could become visibly excited. He thought maybe the thing was programmed to match the emotions displayed by the people closest to it? Either way, it was fine by him, as long as he didn't end up bored out of his skull hanging with Huey and his new friend. Huey and Boyd's plans for the day ended up consisting of a picnic in the park. Louie wasn't one to turn down free food, so he was alright with these plans, if only for the opportunity to kill some time. "Try not to eat all the food when we get there." His brother lightly teased while packing things up. Louie's only response was to nod with a serious expression. As he watched Huey and Boyd work efficiently together to pack up everything they would need, he noticed how alike the two of them were. They worked perfectly in sync to get everything in order. The duck frowned slightly at the thought. He didn't like that his brother's new best friend was some cold-hearted machine. Sure, he might joke around saying that Huey was robot-like, but he didn't mean it like that. He decided to keep an eye on it to make sure nothing would happen to his older brother. Soon enough, the three of them left off for their picnic.

—————

Boyd set up their picnic in a nice spot by a tree's shadow while Huey babbled on about the things they had seen during their trip to Japan. Louie seemed to be only half-listening while playing on his phone.

"...You should have seen the Sakura trees! The food was great too. I think you would have really liked it there. You should come with us next time." "Mhm." Louie nodded inattentively. Huey was satisfied enough with that answer.

He knew that despite his brother's laid-back demeanor, he was still paying attention to his story. Louie was much smarter than he acted and he would never pass up the opportunity to learn about something he could possibly use to his advantage later on.

"The picnic is ready!" Boyd called them over once he finished laying down the food over the picnic towel. Louie put his phone down for the first time since they left home.

Sandwiches, pastries, pies, and desserts laid neatly arranged on plates next to a jar of orange juice, plastic cups, and a can of Pep that they brought just for Louie. They sat together in a triangle around the food and beverages and they each picked up something to eat… including Boyd.

Louie gawked as the android took a bite out of his sandwich in delight.

"Robots can EAT?! " He exclaimed, completely taken aback.

Boyd quickly swallowed up his food to reply: "Yeah! I even asked my dad to add a taste buds function, so I can even taste the food, just like you guys!" He said, looking like the happiest kid in the world.

Louie quickly glanced from Boyd to Huey, silently asking: "Dad?"

"He means Dr. Gearloose." Huey explained.

"But… do robots even need to eat?" Louie questioned again, looking over at Boyd.

"We do not, but I still enjoy it!" The boy cheerfully clarified.

"But then… isn't that just a waste of food?"

Just for a moment, Louie thought he had seen Boyd's smile falter. As soon as he blinked again, however, the other boy's expression had already returned to his usual one.

"Louie! " Huey snapped, ready to give him a scolding.

"No, Huey, it's okay." Boyd put his hand on Huey's shoulder. "He has a point."

"But…!" Huey looked over to Boyd, putting his hand over his friend's. He was hurt and upset over Louie's remark.

"See Hue? He said it himself that I have a point. He agrees with me." Louie casually gestured towards Boyd, right before taking a bite out of a flaky pastry.

"Louie! I can't believe you…" Huey looked ready to get up from his spot, but Boyd held him down.

"It's okay Huey, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Boyd comforted his friend with a few pats on the back.

Huey scoffed. "I'm not so sure about that." He shot Louie one last glance before sighing and moving his attention back to the food.

With no more words, Louie quickly finished his meal, suddenly feeling annoyed. He grabbed the nearest can of Pep and got up. "I'm going home." he turned around and walked away.

—————

By the time he got back to the manor, Dewey and Webby had just returned from whatever adventure they had gone off to earlier.

The two of them had their clothes dirty and torn in a few places, and it looked like the top of Dewey's hair was a little charred.

"Louie! Oh my gosh, you'll never believe what we just went through. We—" Dewey started talking excitedly, gesticulating all the while.

"Wait." Webby quickly interrupted him, putting her hand over his beak. "Louie, what's wrong?"

Once she said that, Dewey gave a better look at his brother and noticed his expression.

Normally, Louie would have no problem keeping up a good poker face. He could even brag and say he was much better at lying than other people twice his age. But it seemed like he wasn't expecting to find his siblings here, for his face wore an annoyed expression instead of his usual lazy one.

He quickly fixed his expression, however, lying through his teeth: "Oh, it's nothing. Just that my Pep got warm, that's all," he said smoothly, holding up the opened can.

"Mhmm… right…" Webby eyed him suspiciously. The girl might be naive at times, but she certainly wasn't stupid. After spending so much time with her brothers, she had learned to recognize when something was bothering them. "And where's Huey?"

"He's busy having lunch with his new robot." Louie rolled his eyes.

"Huey's got a robot?  Like, just for him?! Dude!" Dewey exclaimed in disbelief, right before running off to beg Uncle Scrooge and Dr. Gearloose to give him his own robot.

As for Webby, while her eyes sparkled at the mention of a robot, she was still suspicious. She felt like something was off with Louie, but he wasn't willing to share what it was. That certainly didn't surprise her, as Louie was always like this, but it was still frustrating not knowing who or what might have hurt her brother.

Eventually, though, she decided to let it go. Another thing Webby had learned after spending more time with her newest family was to not pry into other people's privacy. Her loved ones were more than competent enough to take care of their own problems most of the time. Not every single situation needed her help.

Besides, Louie was very good at keeping his secrets to himself when he really wanted to.

"Alright, if you say so… but you should know that if you ever need anything, I'm here to help you out!" Webby said, wearing a gentle smile.

Louie let his poker face fall, looking at his sister with a warm gaze.

"...Thanks, Webs." He meant it.

"No problem! That's what family is for!" She beamed, inching closer to grab him into a hug, before quickly realizing she still looked like a mess. "Oops. Guess I should go wash myself first."

"...Yeah, you should probably go do that." Louie smiled, taking a step back to make sure none of the dirt touched his immaculate green hoodie.

"Alright, we'll talk more later! YOU OWE ME A HUG!" And with that, the girl ran off.

As soon as Webby left the room, Louie's face fell, a broody expression appearing once again. With low shoulders, he stalked directly to his room for an afternoon nap.

While browsing on his phone trying his best to fall asleep, he couldn't stop wondering why his chest suddenly felt so heavy.

—————

Over the course of the next day, Huey made a real effort to avoid Louie, who was all too happy to pretend that nothing ever happened. 

Of course, the rest of the family immediately realized something was up, but Huey refused to talk about it, simply stating "He knows what he did" when asked. Louie denied anything ever happened in the first place.

Eventually, enough was enough though and Louie figured it might not be the end of the world to apologize.

The next day, Louie woke up earlier than usual to greet Huey in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Hue." Louie said with a yawn.

Huey looked at him suspiciously while Louie sat down nearby. His brother was normally the last to wake in the family.

Louie sighed before he spoke. "Listen, I'm sorry for the way I treated your friend at the park. I didn't mean it, okay?"

Huey blinked at him, processing his brother's words.

"Are you being honest?"

"Of course I am! I swear on all my money that I'm telling you the truth." Louie put one hand by his chest and held the other up in the air.

Huey visibly relaxed upon hearing that. Before saying anything else, he finished cooking breakfast, handing Louie a plate with eggs, bacon, a fork and a knife.

"Okay then. If you're really sorry, you should apologize to Boyd too." Huey stated while taking his seat with his own breakfast in hands.

Louie froze grabbing his fork. "Is that really necessary?"

Huey looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? He was the one whose feelings you hurt in the first place. Of course you should apologize to him!"

"Of course, of course, it's just… what I meant to say is just that, uhm… can robots even feel anything?"

If Huey already looked surprised before, he certainly looked shocked now, with a little bit of anger seeping through.

"Boyd is not just a machine. He's a person, just like you and me."

Louie stared at him in confusion. "Is he, though? I thought I heard you say just the other day that he can fly and shoot laser beams from his eyes? I'm not sure about you Huey, but I certainly can't do that."

As much as it hurt to hear that, Huey tried to muster the willpower to not get mad at his brother. Louie simply didn't understand that despite not being human, Boyd was still his own person with his own thoughts and feelings.

He was ignorant, and ignorance was no sin, as long as one was willing to learn.

Huey stayed quiet for a while, focusing only on his food, long enough to make Louie start feeling anxious, until he finally replied:

"Alright Lou, I get where you're coming from." "You do? " "I do." He nodded. "And that's why I want you to spend more time with Boyd." Louie looked at him, confused. Why would he want him to spend more time with the robot?

Huey sighed once he saw the look on his brother's face. "I think the easiest way to make you understand how much more Boyd is than ‘just a robot' would be if you spent some more time with him." Huey put his fork down once he had finished eating. "Until then, I'm not willing to fully forgive you yet."

Louie thought about this. This… Wasn't this situation perfect, actually? By spending time alone with Boyd, he could get the robot's help in pulling one of his schemes without his brothers getting involved!

Louie smiled sweetly at his brother.

"I'll do it." "Really? I mean... of course you will. I'll call Boyd over some other time so you two can hang out together, alright?" "Fine by me, dear Hubert."

—————

"Boyd, have you ever gone to Funso's?" "Nope! Huey told me about it though. He said it's an amazing, magical place!" "Well, let's go there then."

Boyd gasped. "Really?! You'll take me there? Yay!" The parrot started hopping around while moving his arms up and down. He seemed very excited.

Watching this, an abnormal thought crossed Louie's mind. This thing… wasn't it kind of cute?  Especially when it looked at him with such a joyous expression like that...

Louie shook his head, shooing away those thoughts. In the end, Boyd was still a robot. A cold-hearted machine incapable of thinking and feeling like normal people. He shouldn't let himself get carried away.

"Yeah, I'll take you to Funso's. Let's go." He said while walking away.

"Yeah! Okay!" Boyd gladly followed suit.

 —————

At Funso's, Louie wasn't interested in ordering the usual or trying to teach Boyd the many uses of flattery. Instead, he chose Funso's because, with a literal machine by his side, they could easily beat all of the top scores in the games and get tons of tickets!

It was a rather simple "scheme" considering the things Boyd was capable of accomplishing, but he thought it might be best to test the waters first before jumping right into an elaborate scheme that might backfire on him.

At his side, Boyd wouldn't stop gasping and pointing at different things, seemingly entranced by everything he could see. "Oh, is that…?! What is that, Louie?!" Boyd shook Louie's shoulders.

"That's the ball pit." "Is it dangerous? Is it okay to touch it?" Louie shrugged: "Probably not dangerous. And yeah, you can touch it." "Really?! Thank you!" Boyd was all smiles as he made his way over to the ball pit.

Time went by like that, with Boyd asking Louie about each thing before trying it out. At some point, he realized Boyd started pulling on his sleeves while walking around together. He found that curious, but since it didn't bother him, he chose to stay quiet about it.

Eventually, Louie directed Boyd's attention to the Skee Ball table, encouraging him to try it out, only to be disappointed by his performance.

"This is so much fun!" Boyd said happily while grabbing the tickets that were ejected from the machine. "Mhm…" Louie grunted, not looking nearly as happy as Boyd.

How could he word this… the robot's aim and reflexes weren't bad by any means, but… well, he was average. Not too bad, but not outstanding either. He was as good as any other person around their age.

"Are you having fun too, Louie?" "Huh? Oh, yeah. Totally. I'm having lots of fun." Louie snapped back to reality at the sudden question. "Are you sure? You don't look like you're having fun. You haven't even played any of the games. So far you've only been letting me try them." Boyd looked at him with what looked like genuine concern, handing over all the tickets he got. "Yeah yeah, it's all good as long as you're having fun." Louie grabbed the tickets, sticking them in his pockets.

Boyd suddenly stopped what he was doing to look at the duck standing right in front of him. "Louie…" His voice trembled with emotion. It sounded extremely real. "Thank you." Boyd offered him a sweet smile.

Louie suddenly felt a sting in his heart. He made a sour face.

"Uhmm… Louie? Did I say something wrong?" Boyd asked apprehensively. "Huh? It's nothing." "Hmm… okay then." Boyd breathed out in relief.

Before they left Funso's, Louie made sure to make Boyd try out the video games as well, to see if he might fare off better.

Alas, he obtained no substantial results.

With a disappointed sigh, he let Boyd have all the tickets for himself and choose whatever he wanted from the ticket shop.

Upon hearing that, Boyd looked happy enough to cry. While jumping up and down, he chose his souvenirs from the shop.

"...?" Louie was surprised when his phone screen suddenly became obstructed by the sight of a gray parrot plushie.

"Here, for you! I bought one for myself too." Boyd excitedly showed him the plushie of a white duck while handing over the parrot plush.

 "Oh… thanks." Louie picked up the plushie and put it in his pockets. Boyd giggled happily. "No problem!"

Boyd bought a few other souvenirs that were handed over to him in a plastic bag before turning to Louie. "Where do you want to go next, Louie?" "Uhh... actually, I think I'm gonna go home."

Louie expected Boyd to become disappointed after he said that, but instead the boy simply nodded. "Alright! I'll walk you home."

 —————

 "So... how did it go?" Huey paced back and forth in their room. "How did what go?" Louie tried playing dumb.

Huey decided to ignore that.

"Did you apologize to him?"

Right as he was about to place his new plushie on top of his bed, Louie stopped. Suddenly, he dropped the plushie and brought both of his hands to his face.

"I didn't." He said quietly. "What was that?" "I FORGOT TO APOLOGIZE TO HI— OW! " Louie cursed out loud, right before getting hit by an incoming pillow thrown by Dewey from the top of his bed.

"Keep it quiet down there! Some of us are trying to fall asleep over here. And by some of us, I mean me." He huffed.

"...Sorry." Louie said.

More quietly this time, Louie told Huey everything that happened.

Huey simply shook his head in disappointment. "Let me guess, you brought him to Funso's thinking he would break all the records and top scores?" "Weellll… maybe I DID, maybe I DIDN'T, y'know? Who's to say what I did or didn't think about at the time?" "So you did." Huey sighed. "Louie, I told you, he's not—" "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Louie quickly cut him off with a huff, much to Huey's annoyance.

Huey gave a long sigh. "At the very least, please apologize to him."

In response, Louie just mumbled something quietly as he crawled onto his bed.

He didn't really want to see the robot again, but it seemed like he would have no other choice.

 —————

 The next time he would see Boyd be one week later.

Apparently, there were two Junior Woodchuck badges that Huey was going to help Boyd with, one for camping for a whole week and another one for teaching others how to camp.

Although his siblings already knew the basics of camping, he still invited them, if not just to introduce them to Boyd.

Louie hated doing any sort of work though so he was mostly just there to apologize to Boyd.

"Hello again Louie!" Boyd waved at him as he walked closer to the duck. They were already at their planned camping spot and the sky was only beginning to turn dark. "How are you?"

"...Hey." Louie didn't spare him a single glance from his phone. "I'm good." He didn't ask how Boyd was doing either, but the other didn't seem to mind. "That's good!" Boyd simply smiled at him before going off to meet Webby and Dewey.

The three of them immediately got along and Boyd soon saw himself being flooded with inquiries about robotics and mechas, to which he answered each and every single one.

"Can you fly? Can you shoot laser beams from your eyes? Do you have super strength? What about super speed? Can you teleport? Do you have icy cold breath? Are your hands and feet detachable? Can you read my mind? What number am I thinking of right now?" Dewey babbled on. "Dewey! Can't you see Boyd is a kid just like us? Why would he be able to do all that?" Webby scolded him.

Boyd chuckled. "Actually, yes to the first three questions, no to the rest, and I'm going to guess that the number you are thinking of right now is a four." "AHA! So you CAN read my mind!" Dewey exclaimed.

Their conversation continued peacefully like that, with Boyd even giving a short display of his flying abilities, until Huey finally called out to them.

"Hey guys! I finished writing my daily journal entry, so let's get started with some camping!"

They all cheered excitedly, except for Louie, who was only half-listening.

"Now, first we're going to set up our tents, so let's get started! Dewey, Webby, please come over here. Boyd, why don't you go help Louie out?"

Louie raised his head at the mention of his name only to see a delighted Boyd walking over to him. He didn't even have to look at his brother's face to realize that he was trying to set up a situation where he could apologize to Boyd privately.

Louie, instead, pretended not to see him and simply continued scrolling through his phone. 

"Hey Louie!" Boyd quickly caught up to him. Huey asked me to help teach you how to set up your tent!" "Mhm." Louie still didn't look up from his phone.

It's not like he didn't know to set up a tent, okay? It's just that, why would he spend the time and energy doing all the work when he could convince others to do it for him?

Noticing the duck's absent mind, Boyd became interested in what could possibly be distracting him. "What are you looking at?" Boyd moved closer until his face was almost touching Louie's and he could clearly see the contents on the phone screen.

Startled, Louie quickly turned off his phone. He was very uncomfortable when people he didn't know well enough invaded his personal space, and his siblings certainly knew about that, but Boyd did not.

In his panic, he started falling backwards from the log he was sitting on.

Boyd quickly noticed it and grabbed him by the waist, holding his back upright.

"Are you alright, Louie?" He asked with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry if I startled you." "That's not the problem." Louie glared at him, clearly upset. "You're in my personal space!"

Boyd quietly gasped. He hadn't realized it before, but it was obvious to him now how rude he had been. "I'm so sorry! I—" He quickly let go of Louie's waist, only for the duck to completely fall backwards with a thud.

"Ow…" Louie mumbled. "Louie! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—" "Just leave me alone." He cut him off.

It had technically been Louie's fault for not adjusting back to his previous position once Boyd caught him, but he wasn't willing to admit it, and he would continue to be unreasonably upset at the robot over it.

Boyd gulped. He thought he had seriously messed up. "I'm… sorry. I'll leave you alone now."

 —————

 "Boyd, have you seen Louie anywhere?"

After their conflict, Boyd decided to focus on setting up his own tent and gathering the materials necessary for the campfire. Huey, Dewey and Webby had already finished setting up their own tents as well, so the only tent left in their campsite that was still on the ground was Louie's.

Once Huey said that, Boyd started to look around.

Louie was nowhere to be seen.

He noticed a trail leaving their campsite going deep into the forest.

"I think he went into the forest." Boyd told Huey his findings.

Huey frowned. Louie wasn't the type to go on random walks without telling anybody beforehand unless he was upset. "Do you know if anything happened to Louie while he was here? Did he seem like there was something bothering him?" Boyd's expression immediately became guilty as he lowered his shoulders. "I… I think I made him mad."

He told his friend about what happened between them, to which Huey's reaction was only to click his tongue. He couldn't believe his brother could be so selfish.

Louie might be lazy, stubborn and far too scheming for his own good, but he wasn't heartless by any means.

"First of all, we should go look for him before he puts himself in trouble." Huey shook his head. "And then, he urgently needs to apologize to you."

 —————

 After a brief discussion, they decided to leave Dewey and Huey taking care of the campsite while Webby, who had night vision goggles, and Boyd, who had natural night  AND  heat vision, would go looking for Louie.

They had to walk quite a bit before Boyd's sensors started picking up on something. Suddenly, he stopped walking, turning his head abruptly in one direction. The boy's expression became visibly uneasy.

Webby noticed the boy's unrest and asked: "What's wrong, Boyd? Did you hear anything?" "I think Louie is in danger! Please, try to follow me." Sensing something was up, Boyd fastened his pace to an inhuman speed.

Only someone as capable as Webby would be able to keep up with Boyd's movements. She jumped over rocks, logs and bushes as fast as she could, but the distance between them still grew wider and wider.

They soon started to notice the tracks of a large wild animal, along with small droplets of blood scattered around. Boyd quickened his pace even further.

Eventually, they reached their destination. It was the top of a relatively small cliff, with only rocks, trees and foliage near the bottom.

Webby looked around, puffing from exhaustion. "Where's Louie...?"

Boyd looked behind him, feeling even more guilty. He would have had no trouble carrying Webby on their way to the cliff, but he hadn't thought of doing so at the time.

"I think he's at the bottom of the cliff. He's still alive, but…" The usually cheerful boy made a serious expression that did not fit him in the slightest. "I'm going to have to go there alone. If I carried you down, I wouldn't be able to bring both of you back up at once."

‘Plus, I think he might be injured…' is the part Boyd avoided saying. He didn't want to worry Webby any further.

The girl nodded. She had already deduced that the tracks they had seen earlier had likely been made by an adult grizzly bear and, although they were able to climb trees, she had the means to keep herself safe from it as long as she stayed on higher ground.

"Please… take care of my brother." "Don't worry." He nodded. "I'll bring him back safe and sound."

Boyd walked over to the edge of the cliff before taking flight.

 —————

 Louie Duck was known to be the lazy Duck brother.

The evil triplet.

People thought he was greedy, money-loving, manipulative and egotistical.

He was fine with that.

In fact, he embraced it.

It was convenient for him.

People expected less of him because of it.

Yep. He was fine with that.

Louie hugged himself tightly.

He kept repeating those words in his mind, desperately trying to convince himself.

He currently looked dirty and disheveled, his green hoodie was full of tatters, his phone was broken and blood oozed out from several cuts.

But worst of all, he had broken one of his legs in the fall.

He rested his head on the knee of his other leg as he sobbed quietly. So quietly that no one would be able to hear him, unless they were sitting right next to him.

Or unless they were a robot, of course.

"Louie?" Boyd called out to him hesitantly. He found Louie hidden in a small, humid cave that he seemingly crawled himself into.

Louie's shoulders shook. He tried to wipe up the tears from his face, but failed. No matter what, they wouldn't stop flowing.

Boyd slowly walked closer to him.

"Louie, are you—" He stopped himself. What was he supposed to ask? 'Are you okay?' 'Are you crying?' Either way, the answer was obvious just from a glance.

Boyd silently cursed himself for not bringing a first aid kit. In the first place, it was his fault Louie had gotten injured. He was the one who made him mad, he was supposed to keep an eye on him, he should have been there to protect him, it was all his fault, he—

"I'm sorry," Louie said with a hiccup. "I'm sorry". "What are you sorry for? It's my fault, I—" "No. You're wrong. It's my fault." He hugged himself even tighter, grabbing at his sleeves. "I had no reason to be mad at you, I just… I'm a horrible person, I—" He paused for a while, before whispering almost inaudibly: "I always mess up…"

Boyd watched the boy sob in front of him without knowing what to do. They weren't that close, he didn't know what to say to make him feel better.

But still, he was going to try.

He walked up to Louie and sat down by his side.

Slowly, he grabbed one of Louie's hands. When the duck didn't react, Boyd opened his mouth to speak:

"You're not a horrible person." He squeezed the other's hand slightly. "Louie, you're just a kid. It's okay to make mistakes sometimes. Everyone does."

He paused for a moment before continuing: "And, y'know, realizing your mistakes is the first step to becoming a better person."

Gently, Boyd pulled Louie into a hug.

"You're not a horrible person. I like you, Louie. I think you're fine the way you are."

At first, Louie didn't show any reaction. Gradually, he started to sob louder, until his weeping echoed all throughout the cave. He hugged Boyd back, tightly enough to make any other person run out of breath.

Boyd pat his back reassuringly. "It's okay. You're not a bad person. I like you very much, Louie. There's nothing wrong with you."

Boyd kept on incessantly tranquilizing Louie until the boy's crying eventually died down.

While carrying Louie in his arms, Boyd flew back up to the top of the cliff. Along with Webby, they returned to their campsite with no other major incidents happening.

Unfortunately, their camping plans had to be cancelled due to Louie's injury.

 —————

 "Good morning, Louie!" Louie turned off his phone to look up at Boyd, who was joyfully walking inside his hospital room. "How are you feeling today?"

Louie smiled back at him.

"I'm doing better, actually. They said they're going to let me off soon."

"Really?! That's great."

Boyd had been visiting him daily ever since he had been admitted to the hospital, sometimes along with his family, sometimes on his own. The boy would bring a different gift with each visit, usually flowers or candy bars. Today, it seemed like he had brought something different for him, however.

"Look! I brought you a friend." Boyd handed over to him a white duck plushie, the very same one Boyd acquired at Funso's. "Do you still have the other one I gave you?" "Ah… yeah, I think so. It should be somewhere in my room."

Boyd became even happier upon hearing that. "Really? You didn't lose it or throw it away?" He said while taking his seat right by Louie's side. "Huey told me that you lose your things all the time."

Louie made a bitter face as he mumbled: "Huey …"

Boyd chuckled softly. The innocent sound made Louie turn his head.

How could a machine look so... genuine?

He stared at the robot in front of him, taking in every detail, but he still wasn't able to spot a single expression or mannerism that looked faked, robotic or out of place.

He noticed the way Boyd breathed in and out, how he blinked sporadically, his soft-looking plumage, the wrinkles that were naturally a result of his smile, the slight redness spread across his cheeks… At some point, when does it stop being 'just a machine', and start to become a real person?

"Hello? Louie?" Boyd waved his hands right in front of him. "Hm? Oh." He just realized he had been staring at Boyd for quite a while now. His face quickly became tinted with red. "Sorry. I spaced out." Boyd smiled at him reassuringly. "It's okay, no need to worry about it."

Louie's only response was a small nod. He started to wonder if Boyd was even capable of becoming angry at someone.

"Hey, Boyd?" "Yes?"

Louie avoided eye contact as he began saying: "I'm sorry about earlier... I mean like, way earlier. Back at the park I… was really insensitive to you." He sighed before continuing, this time staring right at Boyd. "Back when we first met I thought you didn't have any feelings, that you were just a heartless machine… now I realize that wasn't true. I'm really sorry."

At the end of his speech, he looked downwards, quietly playing with his hands. Boyd stared at him for a while, before slowly placing his hands over Louie's and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"It's okay." He smiled at him, this time not dazzling like the sun, but instead softly and gently, much like a blossoming flower. "I know you're not a bad person. I forgive you."

Louie bit his lip to stop himself from shedding any tears. Instead, he only grabbed Boyd's hands and squeezed them back, continuing to look downwards.

For a while, they stayed just like that, stuck in a silence that was not at all awkward.

"Hey," Louie suddenly spoke up, retracting his hands. "You should give me your phone number."

In the spur of the moment, he had decided there would be no disadvantages in trying to get closer to Boyd.

Or at least, that's how Louie liked to think about it. The truth was that he simply wanted to grow closer to Boyd.

"Okay!" Much to his relief, the other readily agreed. "Cool. I'll message you once I get out of the hospital." "Okay. I'll be waiting."

 —————

 handsome_duck: hey. is this boyds number? louie here B.O.Y.D: Hello Louie!! This is Boyd! ヾ(☆▽☆) How are you? Have you been discharged from the hospital yet? handsome_duck: yeah. im doing fine now B.O.Y.D: That's great! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆ I'm glad you're feeling better. (o˘◡˘o) handsome_duck: yea handsome_duck: thx for coming to visit handsome_duck: ur rlly nice handsome_duck: and it was way less lonely B.O.Y.D: No problem! I simply worried about your well-being. And you're very nice too! (＾▽＾)

Louie sighed as he put his phone away. His heart started feeling much lighter after he had properly apologized to Boyd.

His phone buzzed when he got sent another message.

B.O.Y.D: By the way, I love your username! ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ

Louie chuckled before he replied:

handsome_duck: thx handsome_duck: urs too B.O.Y.D: o(≧▽≦)o Thank you!

Louie quickly pondered before adding:

handsome_duck: hey handsome_duck: do u want 2 hang out again next week? handsome_duck: i wanna make it up to u handsome_duck: yk.. for being rude to u n stuff..  B.O.Y.D: w(°ｏ°)w  B.O.Y.D: (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ I'd love to, Louie! (*´▽`*) handsome_duck: cool handsome_duck: how do u feel abt watching a movie? B.O.Y.D: Fine by me! (＠＾◡＾) What movie are we going to watch? handsome_duck: idk yet handsome_duck: i'll figure it out handsome_duck: and i'll msg u l8r B.O.Y.D: Okay. ( ´ ω ` )

 —————

 A few days later, Louie put on his best-looking green hoodie (they're all identical) and went to the manor's entrance hall to meet Boyd… but not before getting pulled back by Huey.

"Here, I made you a list of all the possible activities you two could do together!" He said, handing Louie a list that looked like it contained over 200+ items.

"...Thanks." Louie put the paper in his pocket without thinking too much about it.

"You got this!" Huey said supportingly, patting his brother's shoulder. Even Dewey and Webby seemingly popped out of nowhere to give him a thumbs up and words of encouragement.

...Why were his siblings acting strangely around him? Well, whatever. Louie just rolled his eyes and walked away.

Right before he left the room, Webby exclaimed: "GOOD LUCK ON YOUR DATE!!! " And his two brothers burst out into giggles.

Louie mustered all of the willpower he had to not look back and simply continued on walking, trying to ignore the heat now going up through his face.

At the entrance hall, Boyd was already waiting for him, sitting on a couch while looking around, seemingly captivated by everything he could see. As soon as he noticed Louie had entered the room, the boy jumped out of the couch and waved with a bright smile.

"Hello again Louie! How are you?" Boyd moved closer to the duck. "Hey. I'm doing fine… and I'm assuming you're doing good as well?" Louie gave the robot a good look-over.

"Yep! But…" Boyd moved even closer to him, reaching out his hand to touch the other's forehead. "Are you sure you're fine? You seem a little red, and my heat sensors are detecting slightly unusual levels of heat coming from you."

Louie quickly stepped away from Boyd's hand and insisted: "I'm fine, seriously." "Hm… if you say so."

Louie brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "Nevermind that, are you ready to go?" "Yeah! Let's go!" Boyd nodded.

They started walking side by side, away from the mansion. Louie couldn't help but notice that Boyd's walking rhythm matched his perfectly. Did he do it on purpose?

"What movie did you choose for us to watch, Louie?" Boyd hopped around cheerfully. "You'll see." Louie smiled at him.

Over the past week, Louie had been occasionally exchanging messages with Boyd and he had found out much about the robot's day-to-day life. He learned about how much he loves his father and creator, Dr. Gearloose, as well as his other parents and caretakers, the Drakes. He heard about Doofus' many struggles since he lost half of his inheritance to Boyd, as well as Boyd's incessant efforts to comfort him. Doofus would make the utmost effort to push him away most of the time, but recently he's been letting himself show more of his vulnerable side around his family, much to Boyd's delight.

In return, Louie would tell Boyd about all the exciting adventures he and his family went off to (many of which Huey had already shared before), as well as his brother's embarrassing secrets.

They had even FaceTime'd once. Louie found out that it was surprisingly easy to make Boyd laugh. In response to every single one of Louie's jokes, the robot would put his hands over his face and giggle happily.

Louie thought it was adorable, though he would rather die than admit that out loud.

That's why today Louie had picked a movie he thought Boyd would like, instead of one he would enjoy. The movie was a dramatic coming-of-age story that questioned things such as humanity, love and the meaning of life. He even managed to get front-row seats for both of them.

They bought a big bowl of popcorn to share with one another (Louie also sneaked in candy bars and two cans of Pep for them), took their seats and waited for the movie to begin.

Louie picked this movie already knowing he wouldn't like it, so it wasn't like he was disappointed or anything, but still, it was extremely boring. He usually preferred comedy films with smart plots and snarky writing. This melodrama stuff… just wasn't his cup of tea.

Looking forward to distracting himself from the movie, Louie moved his attention over to Boyd. Thankfully, he seemed to be enjoying the film much more than himself.

Boyd could be seen constantly jumping up from his seat, gasping at every revelation, be it big or small, laughing and sometimes even crying along to the movie's plot. He always with his eyes wide open and completely glued to the movie screen, only stopping occasionally to throw some popcorn in his mouth. He became so entranced by the movie that, at first, he didn't even notice Louie staring directly at him… until he decided to look over to the side.

For how long had Louie been staring at Boyd now? 15 minutes? 30 minutes? a whole hour maybe? He didn't know, but he still flushed furiously once he noticed Boyd looking back at him.

"Umm… I didn't know you... uh... I didn't know you had a crying function." Louie coughed awkwardly.

Boyd blinked, and then chuckled softly. At this point, Louie felt so flustered now that he pulled up his hoodie in an attempt to hide his face.

"Dad only added this function recently, actually." "Ahh… is that so?" "It is!" Boyd smiled sweetly at him before quickly turning his attention back to the movie while bouncing his legs back and forth.

...Why did Louie suddenly feel like there was a knot in his stomach?

 —————

 Once the movie was over, Boyd dragged Louie out of the movie theater by holding on to his sleeves.

"Oh my gosh, that was so good! So many parts had me at the edge of my seat, and the ending was so heartwarming." Boyd sighed happily while hopping around. "How did you like the movie, Louie?" "It was good." He lied without a single ounce of shame. "Hehe." Boyd giggled. "I'm glad you thought so too."

Before either of them realized it, Boyd's hand slid off Louie's sleeve to grab the duck's hand instead.

For Boyd, this wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Not only had he held Louie's hands before, he also held other people's hands all the time. He held Dr. Gearloose's hands, he held hands with Dr. Crackshell-Cabrera, with Ms. and Mr. Drake, with his brothers Doofus and Lil' Bulb, and even with Huey sometimes.

Boyd holding hands with Louie simply meant that he considered their relationship to already be close enough for him to do so.

For Louie, however, it was a different story. Just because he was okay with holding hands privately during his rare displays of vulnerability, that didn't necessarily mean that he was okay with doing it in public. He remembered holding hands publicly with his Uncle Donald very often growing up, but less so nowadays. He was fine with holding hands with his siblings sometimes as well, but they would always do so privately.

So when Louie suddenly felt Boyd's hand reach for his, he stopped dead in his tracks, unsure of how to react.

Boyd was quick to notice Louie's unrest and he immediately retracted his hand.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I should have asked first." Boyd bit down on his beak anxiously. "I'll just..." He swiftly tried to move his hand away, but found that he couldn't. He looked down to see Louie silently tugging on his wrist.

For a while, neither of them said anything. Boyd was waiting for Louie to speak, and Louie, for the first time in forever, was at a loss for words.

What was he feeling right now? What did those warm, bubbling sensations in his chest mean?

He didn't know.

He had no experience with such things.

He tried to think about it rationally.

Did holding hands with Boyd feel bad? No, not really…

Did holding hands with Boyd feel good?

…

He didn't know.

He really didn't know, but…

Subconsciously, he squeezed Boyd's wrist slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by the android.

Very quietly, as if he were forcing the words out, he whispered: "It's okay."

Boyd's face visibly brightened as he inched back closer to his friend. "Really?" He asked with a spirited look.

Louie gave a weak nod and that was more than enough confirmation for Boyd, who went back to being all smiles. He intertwined his hand with Louie's, who squeezed Boyd's hand in response.

Strangely, Boyd felt happier than he usually felt when he held hands with other people. He didn't quite get it, but it was fine by him as long as he could keep holding Louie's hand like this.

As for Louie… he decided that he was okay with it, under only one condition: "Please keep this a secret from my family." He mumbled. "No problem Lou!" Boyd gave him a thumbs up. Louie spared him a glance at the mention of the nickname, but didn't say anything.

He actually felt quite comfortable like this.

Boyd walked Louie home.

By the time the two of them reached the outside of the mansion, the sky was already starting to turn dark. It seemed like Louie had lost track of time while hanging out with Boyd.

"Louie." Boyd called his name shyly. "Hm?" Louie looked over from his phone to look at the robot by his side.

Boyd walked up to his front before saying: "Thank you for hanging out with me today. I always have fun spending time with you."

Before Louie could respond with "Yeah, sure, no problem.", he was astonished.

Boyd pulled him in for a tight hug.

 However, after only a second, Boyd had already moved away.

"Bye now!" And, just like that, without giving Louie the time to process anything, the android flew away.

"...What in the world just happened?" he murmured to himself.

For the rest of the day, three specific thoughts plagued his mind: 1. He had forgotten Boyd could fly. 2. The robot's body was much warmer than he expected when snuggled up against his own. 3. Before Boyd flew away, he could have sworn that he saw Boyd's face turn red.

 —————

 A few days later, very early in the morning, Louie felt someone gently shake him awake. "Psst, Louie." The duck rolled around in his bed. "Louie, wake up you sleepy head." Boyd gently whispered to him. "Unhgnh… only five more minutes please…" Boyd chuckled softly. "We don't have five more minutes, silly. Wake up!"

Slowly, Louie eventually opened his eyes. "Boyd...? How did you…?" Boyd put one hand over Louie's bill while he used his free hand to point at Huey and Dewey who were still asleep in their own beds.

Gently, Boyd turned Louie's head to face directly at the room's window, which was currently opened.

Louie did not feel very safe knowing that his room had apparently no extra magical security against break-ins, but this wasn't the time to think about that.

Tugging Louie along, Boyd held Louie close to him with one of his arms while he took flight.

The android was obviously much stronger than he looked, for he could take care of stabilizing himself mid-air even with Louie's weight easily.

The two of them did not share many words between them. Louie because he was still sleepy and honestly a little afraid of heights, and Boyd because he thought the view he was about to show him would speak for itself.

Soon enough, they reached a tall, grassy place with a perfect view of the city below and the sea to another side.

The calm ocean waves licked the sand beach, glimmering in shades of pink and yellow as the sun peeked from over the corner. Duckburg looked grand and imposing, with individual colored lights shining brightly all the way across the city.

"Oh, wow." Louie mumbled. Boyd seemed happy to hear that. "I discovered this place recently while trying out these new silent rockets my dad installed for me." He explained. "You're the first person with whom I'm sharing this."

Louie stared at him in disbelief. "Why me? Why not Huey?"

Boyd pondered for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know. Why Huey? Why not you? There's nothing wrong with you. I like you."

Louie knew that Boyd probably didn't mean anything special with that statement, but it still made him feel full of butterflies.

"Thanks." He wanted to say more, but he didn't know what else to say.

Boyd did not seem to mind it, however, as he simply smiled, sat down with Louie by his side and intertwined their hands together, bouncing his legs around.

Out of sleepiness, Louie allowed himself to rest his head against Boyd's shoulder. Boyd only looked at him without saying anything.

At that moment, Louie suddenly realized that, at some point, he had started to trust Boyd.

He gave it some thought, before quickly deciding that it wasn't a bad thing.

So he let himself stay in that comfortable position for a little while longer.

Before the sun finished rising, Boyd brought Louie back over to his room. Huey seemed to have already woken up, but hopefully, he would think Louie had just gotten up for a short bathroom break.

Boyd gave his friend a quick hug before flying off again.

 —————

 ...Things were quickly starting to get out of hand.

Every time Boyd would come over, send him a message or call him, Louie would feel a knot swell up in his stomach.

He started daydreaming much more often and he caught himself thinking about Boyd countless times.

Louie already wasn't a very productive person to begin with, but now he was having trouble focusing on other things and he had no idea why this was happening to him.

"...And that's why I called you over today." Louie finished explaining with a serious expression. Currently, he found himself in his room sitting in a circle along with Huey, Dewey and Webby. "I fear that I might have been put into a mind-controlling spell of some sort."

His siblings all stared at him before bursting into laughter among themselves, with the only exception being Dewey.

"What are you guys laughing about? What's so funny?! This is no laughing matter!" A warm blush started to spread across Louie's face. "I don't get it either." Dewey scratched his head.

"Are you kidding? Louie, you're in love!" Webby exclaimed. "Oh... Ohhhh… Well, I'm outta here then. Good luck with that." Dewey got up and left.

Louie's face was now burning with a strong tint of red. If he were to be completely honest, he would admit that he had already considered the possibility of him being in love with Boyd.

Alas, Louie Duck had no experience with being completely honest.

"Don't be ridiculous, what makes you think that?" "Um, like literally everything you just told us?" Huey giggled in amusement. "Though if I'm being honest here, I don't think either me or Webby would be of very good help to you in this case."

Webby suddenly became offended. "Wait, why not?! I know all about love! I can give Louie all the love advice he needs!" She flared up.

Huey rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. Speaking of which, how's your relationship with Lena coming around?"

Now it was Webby's turn to blush profusely. "Okay, maybe I'm not the best person to talk about this" She agreed. "But who else is Louie supposed to reach out to then if not for us?"

"I dunno." Huey shrugged. "Maybe uncle Donald? He's dating uncle Panchito, José AND aunt Daisy, right?" "You want me to ask Uncle Donald? No way. He's totally clueless." Louie cut in.

After giving it some thought, Huey agreed with him. "Uncle Scrooge maybe? I'm not really the best person to give you love advice either." Huey shook his head. "Now, if you need any help with your math homework, however…"

"Thanks but no thanks." Louie blew some hair strands away from his face. "I guess I'm gonna have to figure this out on my own."

 —————

 Boyd bounced his legs back and forth while sitting on the couch right next to Louie.

With the help of his siblings behind the scenes, he managed to get some time alone with Boyd at the manor.

"Thank you for inviting me over Louie! This 'Ottoman Empire' show is very interesting." Boyd beamed at him. Their hands were slightly touching on the couch.

In response, Louie just mumbled something incomprehensibly while pulling his hoodie over his head so Boyd couldn't see how flustered he was.

Just a few weeks ago he was completely fine with touching hands with Boyd, but now? He couldn't even think straight because of it, he was overly aware of the android sitting right beside him and the little bodily contact they were sharing.

Boyd picked up on Louie's unrest. He looked straight at him with a worried expression and asked: "Are you okay, Lou? You seem… upset." 

Louie tensed up. He didn't want Boyd to be worried. He wanted to keep things the way they were right now. But… he also wanted to say something. He wanted to tell Boyd about his feelings. He wanted to be honest, to open up to him.

He knew that Boyd would probably support him no matter what, but he still feared confessing for some reason.

He felt like he wasn't good enough for him.

Louie bit down on his beak as he struggled to speak. "Hey… Boyd?" He paused, looking straight at him. "I can talk to you about anything, right..? Like… it's okay for me to do that? And... talk about stuff…" Louie's voice trailed off as he looked downwards.

"Of course you can. I'll always be here to listen to you. You can trust me." Boyd held Louie's hand gently.

Louie retracted his hand shyly before speaking up. "Uh… okay, so, you see, the thing is… I think... I think I like you? Like, like like you? Like… love… you?" Louie pulled his hoodie way over his head, avoiding any and all chance of eye contact with Boyd.

Meanwhile, Boyd had turned awfully quiet. Louie had no idea what kind of face the boy was making, but with each silent passing second, he became more and more sure that it must be a scornful one.

There was no way such a bright, lovely boy would ever like someone like him.

Louie started to hug himself tightly. He wasn't good enough for Boyd, he was inadequate for him, he wasn't a good person, he didn't deserve to be loved, he—

Slowly but surely, Boyd lift up Louie's hoodie away from his face.

What Louie saw was an incredulous-looking Boyd, with his face bright red and his eyes sparkling like he was about to cry.

"Really?" Boyd's voice sounded desperate but gentle, tingling pleasantly in his ears. "You mean it?"

Louie nodded.

Quietly, Boyd began to sob.

And then he laughed.

He put his hands to his face with a dumb-looking smile.

"Sorry, I'm probably not making a lot of sense right now. I like you too, Louie. I love you."

Louie's brain started melting at the mention of those words. After a while, he managed to squeeze the words out: "So… does that mean we're dating now?"

Boyd giggled happily and Louie thought that his heart might stop. "I think that's what this means, yes."

"Okay. Cool."

Louie was completely devoid of things to say, but Boyd didn't mind it. Carefully, he snuggled up to Louie and held him close.

"I like you, Louie. I like you. You're the person that I like. I like you." Boyd kept repeating. Not because he was broken, but because he knew that Louie would appreciate it.

Louie reciprocated the hug. "I like you too."

They spent the rest of their day sitting close together while watching the rest of Ottoman Empire… until Louie's family suddenly walked in on the scene and proceeded to tease him endlessly.

Boyd laughed along with them.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" Louie whined. "I'm sorry Lou, I just… really like it when your face gets all flushed like that." Boyd smiled gently at him. "It's pretty."

Louie hid himself even further inside his hoodie upon hearing that.

He would rather die than admit this to anybody, but he was actually very happy at that moment.

[katikacreations]

(Cover illustration by @clowncauldron​ ) LINK TO AO3 VERSION IN THE NOTES! Formatting is better on AO3, it’s easier to read over there!

SUMMARY:  Gyro can’t fix Boyd’s glitching problem, so he asks Dr. Von Drake for advice. Boyd goes to a pool party and confesses to Huey that his new home life with Gyro isn’t exactly perfect. 

2BO, you are not evil! You are good! You’re more than your programming! You are a definitely real boy! Gyro’s own words echoed in his head as he tried to sleep on the flight back to Duckburg.

It was a gruelling twelve hours on a cargo plane like the Sunchaser, but if one was willing to put up with the discomfort and inconvenience of being stashed between boxes of freight, it was worth it. Mr. McDuck didn’t charge for employees to hitch a ride on cargo planes that were already scheduled, and there was no TSA screening for private cargo flights, leaving from private airfields, which was a big help when you were traveling with hyper-advanced combat technology like the Gizmosuit and 2BO.

2BO. Boyd. Whatever you called it, the android was potentially very dangerous. It had been able to override Dr. Akita’s programming and choose its own actions, which had saved both Gyro and Fenton’s lives, but how? Asking an AI to ignore its programming was like asking a human being to ignore their instincts, like trying to inhale underwater, or sticking your hands into a fire. It could be done, but it was difficult and sometimes impossible.

Whatever Dr. Akita had programmed into 2BO had become lower priority and less important than the android’s own, self-created programming, even if Akita’s programming was older. That’s the only way that 2BO could have possibly overridden the commands.

It had to be the result of twenty years of independence. 2BO had gone so long without anyone to give it orders, it must have learned to make choices for itself, otherwise it would never have survived as long as it did. It was a learning system, so the ability to re-evaluate and change its own programming over time to adapt to new situations was integral.

But was 2BO a real boy? Gyro had said the words, but he knew of course that they weren’t true. 2BO was a machine that emulated a real boy very convincingly, but that did not make it a human being. Gyro felt a twinge of guilt for speaking such nonsense out loud in front of God and everybody, but he’d had no other choice. 2BO hadn’t responded to anything else, and that phrase had clearly been lodged deep in its memory as something significant, even if it was just nonsense spoken by an immature and naive younger version of himself. Gyro had tried everything else he could think of before resorting to that meaningless platitude.

It had worked, though. Gyro and Fenton were both still alive. 2BO was with them, had circumvented Dr. Akita’s override programming. They were all headed back to Duckburg, safe and sound.

2BO wasn’t a real boy. What 2BO was, Gyro wasn’t sure yet.

Gyro Gearloose was a proud man, and he’d earned the right to that through a life of hard work. He knew he was smart and wasn’t about to partake of the sin of false modesty. He was justifiably proud of his superior intellect, his ability to keep discovering new truths of the universe, and to keep designing and creating new and imaginative technology over the years.

He’d started inventing when he’d been just barely old enough to pick up a screwdriver, and he hadn’t stopped in the forty-three years since. He did the work because he loved it, because it was the most fulfilling thing in the world for him, because nothing else compared to the satisfaction that came with seeing an idea from his head come together in his hands and finally become a fully-formed creation that existed in the real world.

Other people took weekends and nights off because they worked to live, but Gyro lived to work. The little moments of life - visiting family, spending time with friends, “relaxing” and “resting” - were obstacles between him and getting back to the work he loved with his whole heart. They were distractions, necessary evils he was occasionally forced to bow to, but they would never be the thing which drove him. Gyro lived to discover, imagine, build and create. So anything that got in the way of that was quickly pushed to the side.

This presented a problem. Being a very proud man, Gyro was not particularly practiced at asking for help. It took him a long time to realize when he needed help, and even longer to figure out how to ask for it.

2BO had started living with Gyro after their return from Tokyolk, and Gyro suddenly found himself thrust into the position of not only trying to fix the android’s damaged programming (an ongoing, unresolved issue), but also having to provide daily guidance for something that acted very much like a child.

He was being forced by circumstance to act as a caretaker and to parent. Needless to say, that was not a skill set Gyro had honed, and it wasn’t a job he wanted to do. He had no aspirations of being a father or having children, but 2BO constantly pushed him into that role with each new interaction.

It wasn’t all bad of course: 2BO was pleasant enough to be around, so it took some time before things reached critical mass. 2BO could take care of itself, was self-reliant for the most part, and was often helpful around the lab with its superior strength, lightning-fast processing speed, and its ability to withstand deadly radiation.

But 2BO wanted continual attention from Gyro, and he didn’t have the patience for it. 2BO constantly wanted to play games, and every night it asked Gyro to read it a “bedtime story”, even though 2BO didn’t actually sleep.

Generally Gyro just dismissed the requests, and told the android to go play with the McDuck children, or Lil’ Bulb. He’d tried to read to 2BO once or twice, but the android had complained when Gyro started reading articles from scientific journals out loud, so they didn’t do that anymore.

All of that was bad enough, but it was the incessant questions that finally pushed Gyro too far.

“Why did swear words get invented if we’re not allowed to say them?”

“How did people make the first tools if they didn’t have any tools?”

“”Huey, Duey and Louie are triplets. Did they all come out of one egg or were they in three separate eggs?”

“How did Ms. Della lay three eggs that big?”

"Where do thoughts come from?"

“Are there infinite words?”

“No, 2BO, but there are infinite numbers.”

“Well if there is a word for every number, then there must be infinite words.”

“How do I know that I’m real?”

“What happens to a person when they die?”

“What did it feel like on your last day of being a child?”

“Why do people hold hands?”

“Well, adults hold children by the hand to make sure they don’t fall down or run into traffic.”

“Then why do adults sometimes hold hands?”

“I don’t know,” said Gyro, who had never actually held hands with anyone after his eleventh birthday. He’d never experienced the urge, either. Why did adults hold hands? “Maybe to restrain the person they’re with, to keep them from leaving.”

Gyro Gearloose needed help.

From a technical, legal point of view, 2BO was not his responsibility. He’d only been an assistant on the project, which had begun years before Gyro had even set foot in Japan. The reason he’d taken the fall for the destruction of Tokyolk was because they had needed someone to blame for the catastrophe, and he’d been the only available target after Dr. Akita disappeared. None of it was Gyro’s fault, but he’d suffered for it regardless.

He’d done jail time, lost his scholarship to the Tokyolk Institute of Technology, and had to start his doctorate over from scratch at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville years later when the disaster with 2BO was no longer so fresh in everyone’s minds. Gyro had paid for what happened in Tokyolk many times over, and he was only just starting to dig himself out of that hole.

Despite all that, morally he felt an obligation to 2BO. He had been there when the android first activated. He’d spent months programming, teaching, and training it to act as much like a person as possible. The fact that it was struggling with all of that now was Gyro’s fault. He’d been a naive, sentimental idiot in his youth and instead of letting 2BO be the weapon Dr. Akita had designed it to be, he’d forced it into an eternal game of playing pretend, and now 2BO was barely functional as a result.

He could think of few worse fates for an artificial intelligence. To be shackled and bound to arbitrary human standards of behavior, to waste all of it’s mental powers on trying to convincingly present itself as a human child when in reality, it was so much more. Gyro felt sorry for it.

Gyro Gearloose needed help. He needed a specialist.

He offloaded the onerous task of seeking assistance to Fenton.

“I need you to find a specialist to help with 2BO’s glitching problem,” he told him one night, as Fenton was on his way home.

“What?” Fenton called back, his foot holding the elevator door open as he leaned back into the airlock that connected the elevators to the lab floor to hear Gyro better.

“Find a specialist to help with 2BO’s glitching!” Gyro shouted back.

“A specialist to help with Boyd’s glitches?” Fenton called back. The elevator attempted to close on Fenton, and he put his arm up to make it stop. The door pushed against his hand briefly before sliding away from the resistance. “What kind of specialist?”

The elevator began to make a high-pitched squealing sound, protesting the fact that it was being held open.

“I don’t know!” Gyro shouted back. “A programmer, I guess! Someone who knows Fortran 77, C++, MATLAB, Python, and can handle system architecture of at least 100 billion bits.”

“Not asking for much, are you?” Fenton replied with a level of sarcasm Gyro knew his assistant wouldn’t dare to voice if he was in the same room as him.

“Just let me know when you find someone!”

It was nearly a week later when the topic came up again. Gyro was attempting to troubleshoot a glitch in 2BO that was triggered every time the android heard the word pineapple. At this point the list of things that could trigger a glitch was truly overwhelming. A few days ago 2BO had nearly destroyed someone’s house because he heard a dog barking. Thankfully, the McDuck family had covered it up, blaming a minor earthquake for the damage.

The android sat on a table beside the lab’s Cray XT3 computer terminal. 2BO was powered down, eyes closed and body slumped forward, cables connecting it to the Cray’s data ports. The monitor was awash with seemingly endless lines of code from the core dump they’d just done, and Gyro was pain-stakingly working his way through them, searching for the source of the problem.

“Dr. Gearloose! I’ve gotten some replies from the people I contacted about helping with Boyd,” Fenton said, approaching with a stack of envelopes in hand.

Gyro glanced away from his work only long enough to see the paper envelopes. “You wrote physical letters? No wonder it took them so long to respond.”

“In this day and age, a personal touch like a paper letter can really help make a good impression,” Fenton said. “Also, people familiar with the programming languages you asked for all skew older.”

Gyro made a noise that indicated he’d lost interest in the conversation and that Fenton should move on. The man had gotten better at reading him, and, instead of making further small talk, he went to start opening the pile of letters.

“Alright, let’s see,” Fenton said, and Gyro marked where he was in the code so he could come back to it later, deciding to take a break. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly with Fenton talking and rustling around nearby. He took the opportunity to take off his glasses and massage around his closed eyes.

“Yes? Get on with it, Inter--Assistant.”

“Eh, espere,” Fenton said, and Gyro heard the rapid fluttering of papers as Fenton fumbled with them. “I… This doesn’t make sense. They all say… ‘No’, ‘No’, ‘No’, ‘No’, ‘Hell no’, ‘Contact me again and I’ll get a restraining order?!’ ”

“What did you write to them, Assistant?” Gyro demanded, though he already had a hunch of what might have gone wrong.

“I--What did I do? Nada! Nothing unusual! I just said that you were looking for someone with the skills you listed, to consult with on a technical problem you were having.”

“Did you put my name on them?” Gyro asked, wanting to confirm his suspicions.

“Of course I did!” Fenton said. “It’s your lab! Who would I tell them was writing, the Queen of England? Lin-Manuel Miranda? Spider-Ham?! I used the lab stationary that has Dr. Von Drake crossed out and your name written in the margins.”

“You idiot,” Gyro said, but he was more tired than angry. “Did you forget that I’m a pariah in the scientific community? People still blame me for what happened in Japan with 2BO twenty years ago, and if they’d started to forget, last month’s incident made it the hot new gossip all over again. I thought you were smart enough to figure that out and put your own name instead. I didn’t realize I had to tell you everything.”

Fenton’s face tightened the more Gyro spoke, taking the scolding without any further attempt at making excuses, which was a relief. Gyro hated when people couldn’t keep it together.

“Considering your usual tendency to overdo things, should I assume that you’ve written to every programmer in the United States that fits my requirements, and all those bridges have now been thoroughly burnt?” Gyro asked with some venom.

“Also a few in México and Canada,” Fenton said, shrinking in on himself with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Dr. Gearloose, I didn’t mean to cause trouble for--”

“Go… Do something else. Away from me,” Gyro said, struggling not to shout at the other man. “We’ll have to continue working on 2BO without assistance.”

Huey loved planning things. Oftentimes he found himself making plans for events that would never even happen. The process of planning and figuring out all the details just felt good, even if he never got outside of the planning stage. He could spend hours daydreaming about parties, expeditions, and camping trips.

Planning was his favorite part of any adventure, and he loved going over maps and charts with Uncle Scrooge, observing how the old man did it and trying to learn something from it.

So planning for their first ever pool party with their extended group of friends was beyond exciting. It wasn’t just a fantasy scenario that had no hope of happening. Their friends were really all coming over for a day of fun in the pool, and Mrs. Beakley had even given Huey a budget for buying snacks and party supplies.

He’d scoured the Pinfeather app looking for ideas all week, spent days creating pool-themed decorations, and all of yesterday preparing dishes so there would be a variety of healthy and fun food available, no matter what kind of dietary restrictions their friends might have. He’d thought of everything and was extremely proud of how it had all come together. Nothing could possibly go wrong when he’d done such a thorough job of planning things.

Everything was going completely wrong!

The party had been in full swing for a couple of hours, and Huey couldn’t bring himself to go into the water or join in with the others. Nobody was eating his lovingly crafted healthy snacks. His brothers had taken one look at Huey’s Fun Summer Dessert Pizza, his Gluten-free tortilla chips and strawberry corn salsa, his hotdog sliders with mango and pineapple chutney, and they had started raiding the pantry, helping their guests to microwaved hot wings, cheese-wiz, mini pizza bagels, potato chips, and Pep soda.

Lena, Violet and Webby (who wasn’t technically a guest but Huey had counted her as one for the sake of his logistics) seemed to be having plenty of fun on their own without the piles of pre-made water balloons that were stacked on a pool float bobbing around in the water, or the board games Huey had arranged by the neat stacks of towels and sunscreen. Lena had turned off Huey’s Summer Pool Party Fun Mix five minutes after her arrival and plugged in her own phone to play the newest Featherweights album. Violet had complimented him on the decorative wreath made of novelty cocktail umbrellas and swords at the front door, but Huey wasn’t sure if she had been employing sarcasm or not.

Louie climbed out of the pool and shook the water off his feathers. Huey felt too miserable to even bother flinching away. What did it matter? He was in swim trunks anyway.

“How come you’re just sitting over here by yourself?” Louie asked, picking up a bag of chips and shoving a handful into his mouth as he sat down next to Huey.

“No reason,” Huey mumbled. He was saved from further conversation when an app on his phone told him there was someone at the front door. “Someone’s at the door, it’s gotta be Boyd! I’ll go let him in.”

“Robo-Boyd?” Louie called after him, tone incredulous. “Why’d you invite him? Can he even go in the water?”

“Boyd! The party started hours ago, is everything okay?” Huey asked as he flung open the front door. Boyd stood there wearing a Hawaiian shirt with anchors and ships on it, red swim trunks, and his red anti-laser sunglasses. He was carrying a large plastic tupperware container.

“I’m sorry for arriving late.” Boyd said, holding the tupperware out for Huey to take. “Yes, everything’s fine now. I brought this for the party, I hope everyone likes it.”

Huey vaguely remembered reading something about it being polite in Japan to bring a gift with you when visiting someone’s home. He took the plastic container and tried to guess what might be inside it by the weight and the black and white color he could discern through the semi-opaque cover.

“Oh, thanks for bringing something!” Huey said. “What is it?”

“A cookies and cream sheet cake.”

Everyone was going to love that, Huey thought with a mix of envy and embarrassment. Why was Boyd better at understanding regular people than he was? Shouldn’t Boyd be at a disadvantage, since he was a literal computer and Huey was a flesh and blood kid?

“Awesome. Come on, let’s go out back so I can introduce you to everybody,” Huey said.

“I’m excited to meet Webby’s friends, Lena and Violet,” Boyd said, closing the door behind them as they walked through the house.

“Why’d you show up so late? That’s not like you.” Even though Boyd said everything was fine, Huey couldn’t stop himself from worrying. Both he and Boyd were usually very punctual.

“I was helping Mr. Gizmoduck clean up a shipping tanker accident in Audubon Bay. I wanted to send you a text, but the signal was bad. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“It’s okay! I’m just glad it wasn’t anything too dangerous and that you’re safe,” Huey answered in a rush, not wanting Boyd to feel guilty for trying to be a hero. He knew that ever since they’d returned from Tokyolk, the android boy had spent a lot of his time helping people all around Duckburg and St. Canard.

“I think it’s really cool that you’ve been helping out Gizmoduck,” Huey said, and Boyd flashed him a huge, brilliant smile that made Huey’s chest feel funny. He smiled back at Boyd.

“Hi, I’m Boyd, a definitely real boy!” Boyd announced, offering his hand to Violet, who shook it, and Lena, who didn’t.

“I’m Violet. You’re in the same Junior Woodchuck troop as Huey, right?”

“Affirmative! I’m a member of Junior Woodchuck troop 15. You recently became a Senior Junior Woodchuck. You have more badges than 86.2% of the other members in our age range. I think that’s very admirable.”

“Cool,” Said Lena indifferently. “So you’re Huey’s friend? Where are you from?”

“I was born in Tokyolk. Where are you from, Lena?”

“Uh, let’s not talk about that,” Lena replied uneasily.

“Why not? I answered your question,” Boyd said.

“Lena’s kind of been through a lot recently,” Huey said, interrupting the conversation before it could get any more confrontational. “Talking about family stuff is hard for her.”

“Oh,” Boyd said. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know.”

“It’s whatever,” Lena said with a shrug, radiating a cool indifference that Huey envied a little.

“Boyd’s an android,” Huey explained, “But he’s also just a kid like any of us.” This revelation seemed to soften Lena’s attitude.

“This is my first time attending a pool party. I’ve also been to a birthday party. Those are all the parties I have been to,” Boyd said.

“You know what? This is our first pool party, too,” Lena said, smiling at Boyd. “And I’m having a great time. Do you eat food?”

“Yeah, I love eating food!” Boyd said, as the group made their way over to the snack table. “I need to consume nutrients and calories to maintain my biological components.”

“Me too,” Lena said.

“You planned this whole party, right Huey?” Violet asked. “I think the streamers between the umbrellas and the colorful leis really create a festive atmosphere.”

“Thanks, I made them by hand,” Huey said, grateful that someone appreciated just how much effort it had taken to prepare everything.

“And I’m guessing Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum weren’t a lot of help,” Lena added, unwrapping a chocolate ding-dong and taking a bite.

“Which one of us is Tweedle-Dee and which of us is Tweedle-Dum?” Dewey called from the pool. Lena ignored them and looked at Huey expectantly, waiting for an answer.

Huey laughed a little, and he hugged his arms to himself to try and ease how awkward he felt with the older girl’s attention on him.

“Yeah, they weren’t really interested. Planning stuff is more my thing.”

“Well, you’re good at it,” Lena said bluntly, “They’re probably too lazy to try and compete with someone who tries as hard as you do.”

“Who are you calling lazy?” Louie called from the pool float he was lounging on.

“You!” Lena shouted back.

“Fair, that’s an accurate assessment, carry on,” Louie replied as he floated away.

Maybe the party wasn’t going that bad. Now that Boyd had arrived, Huey felt a lot more confident, and watching Boyd enjoying himself made Huey happy.

“I have an easier time breaking down and extracting nutrients from simple, unprocessed foods,” Boyd said, as he polished off a second plate of cheese-and-fruit skewers. “I don’t have a sense of taste, but I’m sure these are really yummy. My compositional sensors say the fruit is at peak ripeness and that the cheese is at an ideal temperature.”

“Glad you like them,” Huey said.

“You’re welcome. Should we go in the pool?” Boyd said.

“Can you go in the pool?” Huey asked. “Aren’t you too heavy?”

“Dr. Gearloose installed automatic arm floaties on me this morning.” There was a loud hissing sound as metal panels on Boyd’s upper arms retracted and PVC material inflated with air, outfitting Boyd with swim fins. “They’re rated up to 145 kg which is twice my weight. He assured me that with these, I would be able to remain safely buoyant while in the water.”

“If Uncle Donald could install those on us, he would,” Huey said.

“So where did you get the cookies and cream cake from? Dr. Gearloose didn’t make it, did he?” Huey asked. The sun had started to set, and the pool lights were on. The other kids were all playing with glow-sticks and glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces Huey had bought in bulk online. A little distance away, Mom and Uncle Donald were barbequing some burgers and hot dogs for dinner.

Boyd hadn’t taken any of the glow-in-the-dark stuff, but he seemed happy to sit on the edge of the pool next to Huey, their feet dangling in the water. Boyd’s eyes were lit from within, like flashlights, as the daylight around them grew dimmer. His tinted sunglasses turned the light red, and it reminded Huey of the taillights of a car.

“No, of course Dr. Gearloose didn’t make the cake, he’s much too busy for that kind of frivolity. I went to the employee cafeteria at The Bin to buy some slices of cake, and one of the ladies who works there asked why I was buying eight pieces. I explained to her that I was going to a party, and she asked why I was by myself in the cafeteria at 9AM, and I told her I didn’t have--”

“Uh, I think I get the general gist of what happened,” Huey said. “So she made the cake for you?”

“Yes! She said that she was certain it would be popular, and I think her assessment was correct. Its sugar content is similar to snacks that children in our age range typically enjoy.”

Even though it was getting dark outside, the air was still almost unbearably hot. It had been over ninety degrees every day for the past two weeks in Duckburg, and the heat lingered. Cicadas buzzed in the dark, and occasionally a frog croaked.

“Kids, time for dinner!” Donald called. Gradually they all set aside their games, dried off with towels, and made their way to the picnic table that had been set out for dinner in the garden. Boyd grabbed Huey’s arm before he could follow, stopping him.

“What’s wrong?” Huey asked.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Boyd said. “I just… Wanted to thank you for inviting me to your pool party. It’s been a lot of fun.”

“Well, don’t worry, the fun’s not done yet,” Huey said. Maybe Boyd was just sad that the party was almost over? “We’re still going to tell scary stories around a campfire, and Uncle Scrooge and Mom always have some great ones.”

“That sounds great. I’m excited to hear the stories,” Boyd said, his grip on Huey’s arm relaxing until the android’s hand slipped down and rested against Huey’s. They were holding hands. Huey felt that same funny feeling in his chest from before, and suddenly the rest of the world around them was weirdly quiet. No frogs, no cicadas, no Uncle Donald arguing with Mom. Just him and Boyd, holding hands on a summer night.

“...But something’s bothering you, isn’t it?” Huey asked.

Boyd didn’t answer immediately, which was unusual for the android. Huey squeezed his hand gently, trying to encourage the other boy to share his feelings.

“When I lived with Mr. Beaks, he played with me all the time for the first few days, but then he started ignoring me. When I lived with the Drakes, I could play with Doofus any time I wanted, but he didn’t want to play with me, and said things that made me feel bad. Mr. and Mrs. Drake were nice, but if they paid too much attention to me, Doofus always got mad…”

“I like living with Dr. Gearloose better than any of the others,” Boyd said. “But sometimes I feel lonely. He doesn’t have a lot of time to play with me either, and if I distract Mr. Fenton or Mr. Manny from work too much, Dr. Gearloose yells at them. At night when he goes to sleep, he makes me stay in the closet, so I won’t wake him up by moving around, and he doesn’t like reading me bedtime stories.

“Is something wrong with me?” Boyd asked. “It feels like every time I join a family, they end up getting bored with me, or they don’t really want me around.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you!” Huey said. “A lot of kids feel that way. Sometimes parents or other kids don’t have time to play with us, sometimes they don’t want to play with us, and it does feel lonely. Also, not everyone has a good family. Sometimes people just don’t get along.”

“What do regular kids do if they’re in a bad family?” Boyd asked.

“Honestly? I think they’re just stuck when that happens. Running away and living on your own is dangerous and hard. But you don’t have that problem! Since you’re a super-strong robot, if you want to leave, you can just go.”

“Sort of,” Boyd said. “It’s… Not that simple. I’m a robot, but I’m bio-mechanical. I still need to eat and charge some of my power cells occasionally. Getting food and access to electricity when I’m on my own can be hard. But the worst part is… I really don’t like being alone. I like to be around people.”

There was such a sadness in Boyd’s voice in that moment that Huey felt a need to do more than just hold hands. “Would it be okay if I hugged you?” he asked, not knowing what to say or how else to make Boyd feel better.

“Yes,” Boyd said, looking delighted by the offer. He held his arms out stiffly towards Huey, and it looked so silly that Huey struggled not to laugh.

“Okay.” Huey carefully put his arms around Boyd, hugging him tight.

“BOYS!” Della shouted from a distance, making Huey nearly jump out of his skin. “Come eat before the food gets cold! C’mon! You got water in your ears or what?”

“Coming, Mom!” Huey shouted back, grabbing Boyd by the hand and pulling him towards where the rest of their family and friends were gathered.

Once a month, Gyro had a video chat with Dr. Ludwig Von Drake. The man had mentored him when he made his second attempt at his doctorate, and though he wasn’t always easy to have a long-distance conversation with, Gyro found the exercise useful in a variety of ways. Sometimes he could bounce ideas off the older scientist and find better solutions he might not have thought of on his own. Sometimes they talked about world events and science news. Sometimes it just felt good to talk to someone else who felt as if they were remotely close to Gyro’s level of intellect.

Dr. Von Drake might have been a bit scatterbrained, but he was brilliant and a real renaissance man to boot. Gyro admired him tremendously, though he did take the man’s words with a grain of salt due to the aforementioned scatterbrained-ness.

Gyro liked to have something mindless he could work on while he was on a call with someone, even someone as interesting to talk to as Dr. Von Drake. Having to sit still and focus on a conversation and struggle with eye contact on a webcam was a surefire recipe for not only boredom but also his attention wandering away. On particularly bad days, he might end up feather-picking, which was an embarrassing nervous tic he’d spent decades trying to conquer.

So today he was shoulders deep repairing a jet engine (burnt out courtesy of Launchpad McQuack) when his conversation with Dr. Von Drake shifted from the doctor’s latest oil painting experiments to what Gyro had been up to recently.

“Nothing that exciting, I’m afraid,” Gyro said. “It feels like all I do anymore is repair things. A never-ending cycle of maintenance, something which should have been passed on to technicians instead of taking up my valuable time! I’m always chasing after old projects, trying to keep them from falling apart. The Gizmo-suit. And Lil’ Bulb. And--”

“Dr. Gearloose,” 2BO said, suddenly appearing at Gyro’s side. “Can I go over to Huey’s to play?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you!” 2BO chirped enthusiastically as it activated its rocket jets, the turbines spinning up rapidly.

“Just make sure you don’t stay out too late!” Gyro shouted, raising his voice so 2BO could hear him over the roar of its propulsion system.

“I’ll be home at seven!” 2BO said with a smile, rising from the floor and flying out one of the emergency air lock exits. Gyro could see the android shoot out under the water, flying past the lab’s windows as it gained altitude and finally vanished from sight, leaving nothing but a flurry of bubbles in its wake.

“My goodness, what a charming little boy!” Dr. Von Drake said. “Is he yours or perhaps the child of a coworker?”

“Oh, it’s not a child,” Gyro explained. “That’s 2BO, it’s just an android I helped create as a student.”

“Just an android? Gyro, my boy, he is quite remarkable! Even with the rocket jets for feet, I was entirely ready to accept that he was a real boy. Why haven’t you ever shown him to me before? You’ve never even mentioned him.”

Gyro had been dreading this particular topic, though he’d always known it would come up someday. He set down his tools and wiped the oil from his hands, fidgeting with the shop towel as he tried to pick his words.

“It’s a long story, sir.”

“That’s no problem, I have long ears!” Dr. Von Drake replied, which was nonsensical enough that it made Gyro chuckle.

“That is manifestly untrue.” Gyro felt himself smiling just a little. Though they were thousands of miles apart and only interacting through an impersonal and cold computer screen, Dr. Von Drake’s warm and nonjudgmental presence still felt as reassuring now as it had when Gyro had been a young man. “But since you insist… Before I came to work for you, I worked for Dr. Inutaro Akita in Tokyolk.”

“I’ve met him,” Dr. Von Drake said, prompting Gyro to continue.

“He was already working on 2BO when I started assisting him. It was designed to be an autonomous defense drone, capable of interacting with end users in a naturalistic way. But something went wrong.”

“With 2BO?”

“No, with Dr. Akita. Originally I thought it was a fault in 2BO, but it was just following orders. Dr. Akita ordered 2BO to go on a rampage, and it performed exactly as designed.”

“That’s awful!” Dr. Von Drake exclaimed. “But now that you mention it, I remember reading something about a robot attacking Tokyolk way back when. It’s hard to believe all that destruction was caused by little 2BO… But if he was created by Dr. Akita I can’t say I’m too surprised. The man has ‘mad scientist’ practically stamped on his forehead. He’s a terrible sore loser. Matilda said he’s not allowed at the annual canasta game after what happened to that china cabinet.”

Gyro was morbidly curious to know what had happened that would make the sweet-tempered Matilda McDuck ban someone from the International Robot Designer Union’s annual card game, but he knew better than to ask. Dr. Von Drake was likely to actually tell him the whole story and that could take hours - hours that Gyro didn’t want to spare.

“So how is it that he’s come to live with you now?” Dr. Von Drake asked. “The incident in Tokyolk was a long time ago.”

“Somehow 2BO turned up here in Duckburg,” Gyro explained. “I had no idea that 2BO was even operational anymore. I thought it had been destroyed, but it wasn’t and now it’s here, and it’s just another thing I have to constantly do maintenance on.

“It has these terrible glitches that are triggered by random stimuli. I’ve been working on it for a whole month, and it seems like the problems just keep getting worse. I’m not making any progress. I told Fenton to get in touch with some programmers to find a specialist to help me resolve the issue, but--”

“Tell me more about these glitches,” Dr. Von Drake said. “Maybe I can help you figure it out.”

“Well, as I said, 2BO was originally designed to be a defense drone, so obviously it has a weapons system.”

“Obviously.”

“But 2BO’s also a highly complex learning system. It was meant to interact with people the way another person might, and that kind of processing power normally takes up a much larger footprint than 2BO has.”

“It’s not a remote system?” Dr. Von Drake asked. This wasn’t an unreasonable question, as most AI’s of 2BO’s complexity were at least the size of a car. There weren’t that many out there that Gyro was aware of, but they did exist. He assumed that most of them were confidential government projects. None of them were really like 2BO though. Advanced AI technology had been a stagnant field since the end of the Cold War.

“No, 2BO is entirely self-contained. It can be remote controlled in theory, but, under normal circumstances, all it needs to operate is onboard.”

“And you say it’s been functioning independently for… How long?”

“Twenty years on its own without meaningful human intervention. No maintenance, no repairs.”

“Remarkable!” Dr. Von Drake took off his glasses to polish them, something he usually did when he was excited. “Can you send me the latest core memory dump? I’m sure it’s a doozy of a file, but I’d like to look it over.”

“Of course, though… Hmm.” Gyro considered the reality of sending the file over the internet. “It’s almost a terabyte.”

“That’s not so large, we can keep talking while it sends over the WAN. A terabyte shouldn’t take more than half an hour.”

The suggestion of sending the data across the McDuck Enterprises’ global intranet made Gyro hesitate. It was one thing to send Dr. Von Drake a funny cat video through their company emails, it was another thing entirely to send proprietary data that wasn’t official McDuck Enterprises work through the data pipeline that Mr. McDuck so generously provided to their labs.

“Are you sure that’s alright?” Gyro asked. He’d long given up working on anything while having this conversation, and was watching Dr. Von Drake on his desktop monitor while picking at the feathers on his left wrist. “I know you’re Mr. McDuck’s brother-in-law, but it’s still using company resources for a personal project.”

“Pish-tosh! Don’t worry about it so much, my boy. After all, are you debugging Boyd on a personal computer, or are you using McDuck resources to do it?”

“I am using the McDuck lab equipment,” Gyro admitted grudgingly. “I’ve been here so long, I always think of it as my lab equipment. I do a lot of work here that isn’t strictly for Mr. McDuck, but this is different.”

“How so?”

“Those other things I work on are never anything this important,” Gyro said. “Like using the laser cutter to cut out pieces when I was making myself a suit of armor, or when I made myself a new headset. I designed it on my workstation using my company edition of CAD and printed it with the 3D printer after hours. I bought my own filament and used that for the build, but it’s a small project, and if Mr. McDuck wanted to copyright the design and mass produce them, it wouldn’t matter, even if I just designed it for my personal use.

“2BO is different,” Gyro continued. “Both the chassis and the programming are proprietary designs that belong to Akita International.”

“That company went bankrupt and ceased to exist years ago,” Dr. Von Drake pointed out. “You don’t expect them to show up on your doorstep and demand custody of 2BO, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Gyro admitted, wincing as he tugged a feather loose from his wrist. He set it down on his desk and crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to stop picking at himself. “Dr. Akita is in jail, but he does still have living family. And there could possibly be old creditors that might come after 2BO if they realize it’s still functional. Anyway, what I’m really concerned about is that if I send the data through the McDuck Enterprises system, then they’ll have legal grounds to claim the data as theirs.”

“Please, Scroogey wouldn’t do something like that!” Dr. Von Drake said.

“Mr. McDuck might not, but the company absolutely would,” Gyro said, recalling his many unpleasant encounters with the McDuck Enterprises’ Board of Directors. “I’ll ship it to you overnight on a jump drive. You can tell me what you think of it when it arrives.”

“Alright, alright. But back to the subject at hand, you were talking about the hardware and software that your android runs on.”

“Right. 2BO’s hardware is a combination of chemical and crystal processors operating a GIST framework, using a program derived from the FELT system.”

“Ahh, like TOODLES! You remember TOODLES from when you worked here, don’t you? He’s built on crystal microprocessors and a GIST framework as well.”

Unfortunately Gyro did remember TOODLES, the omnipresent AI that controlled Dr. Von Drake’s lab at McDuck castle in Scotland. It wasn’t that there was anything particularly wrong with TOODLES, but the AI had been designed as a caretaker, a nanny of sorts, and it tended to treat everyone it came into contact with like a child. It got on Gyro’s nerves very quickly.

“I do remember TOODLES,” Gyro said, as diplomatically as possible. “I didn’t realize it shared the same architecture as 2BO. I guess I never really looked under the hood.” In truth, Gyro had avoided TOODLES whenever possible in the seven years he’d worked for Dr. Von Drake.

“And that’s a shame, TOODLES is quite the complex fellow. He’s even older than your 2BO, born in 1980.”

“Activated. You mean activated in 1980,” Gyro corrected, but to no avail as Dr. Von Drake simply continued on.

“However, I think the primary difference is that TOODLES has absolutely no conflict programming, as he is not a weapon, and that he has never been on his own. When he learns new things, I’m right here to help him through it, and to make sure TOODLES has properly understood whatever his new experience was. 2BO, I assume, has many different layers of programming, from his weapons systems to navigation to human interaction. Living on his own for twenty years with no one to help him properly understand the things he has experienced, well, I’m sure his code looks like a big plate of spaghetti by now!”

Two days later, Gyro received an email from Dr. Von Drake.

NEXT CHAPTER: Dr. Bara Summary:  Fenton and Boyd chat on the way to the lab. Gyro introduces himself in the most melodramatic way possible, and Dr. Bara meets everyone at McDuck Enterprises R&D. Dr. Bara starts assessing Boyd and things get worse before they get better. Gyro thinks he's helping.

[hardheadedbighearted]

Interstitial

“So,” James said, once Boyd had gone and James had watched until the Drakes’ car disappeared from the drive. He looped an arm around Qrow’s middle and nuzzled his neck, as much affection as a need for closeness. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Uh. Can it wait till after we eat?” Qrow asked, and James had wanted to say no, please, tell me now, just get it over with, but Qrow looked nervous so he said yes, and they ate-

(Deep fried pork chops, James’ favorite, but only the way Qrow made them-)

-and when they were done eating James said again, “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Qrow froze, and stared down at his empty plate, at his fork twirling nervously in his grasp, and shrugged.

“So um- uh- I’ve been uh. Talking with my therapist about something. And she agrees with me, so I’m not- uh- I’m not just pulling this out of my ass or anything, I’m- I’ve given it thought.”

James frowned, and reached over to lay a hand over Qrow’s. “Qrow, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just...” He took a deep breath, and another. “All this time, we’ve been trying to get me to the point of being ready to be a parent. But I don’t... think I’m... ever going to be ready. N-not the way I want to be. I’m always going to be one bad day from a relapse, I’m always going to want you to myself, I’m always- I’m always going to be broken.”

James stared at Qrow, his heart sinking in his chest- I’d rather be childless with Qrow than Qrowless with a child, he’d always said, but- but to have his greatest fears made real- to be faced with the reality that Qrow would never be ready, that they would never be parents-

“So- but- but I’ve been talking it over with my therapist a-and, I think... I think that’s not the point. I think I’ve been... going about this wrong.” He stared down at their joined hands, folding his other one around them and tracing little shapes on James’ paw with his thumb. “I got a lot of trauma. I got a lot of shit in my past that I’m still healing from, and it’s- it’s scary to think th-that I could be the thing my kid has to heal from. That twenty, thirty years from now my kid could be sitting in their therapist’s office saying my dad was a hard case, I always felt on the wrong foot around him and that’s been holding me back bu-but...”

He trailed off. James reached out his own free hand and joined it with the three already together on the table.

“Qrow...” He took a deep breath. “It’s- it’s okay if you’re never ready. We don’t have to be parents if- if that’s not what feels right for you.”

Qrow chuckled. “I knew you’d say that. But I’m not... that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying, I think- I think I been going about this wrong. Looking at it from the wrong angle. I don’t think I need to be focusing on fixing me, making me some- some perfect parent who never messes up. I think it’s enough that I- I know how to repair the damage when I do mess up. And knowing where to draw the line, a-and...”

He finally looked up, meeting James’ eyes and bringing one of James’ paws up to rest on his cheek, leaning into the touch with his eyes closed.

“I love you,” he said quietly. “I want to be a parent with you, I want to share that with you, and I don’t... let’s face it, Jim, we’re not exactly a couple of spring chickens. I’m getting close to fifty and you’re not far behind me. And I don’t wanna turn around and realize I’m in my sixties and I’m still not ready.”

“What are you saying...?”

“I’m saying... I’ll never be as ready as I want to be. But I think... I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

[side-effect-of-the-meds]

These last two weeks have been tough so here’s something soft with just a smidge of smut. It is a little bit OOC for Erin but I’m sad and tired. This is an incredibly self-indulgent piece in honor of Nora’s return to Twitter.

Saturday mornings were for Erin. After a long night at Eden’s, serving drinks to daring men and women with far more daring hands, Erin retreated to the back rooms while Nicky and Aaron got shitfaced with the rest of the staff. Erin had never understood why Ronnie refused to participate in the festivities. Of course, it had taken Boyd just one night in Columbia to see what Erin had been blind to for the last year. After Boyd’s wondrous revelation, Erin found herself driving out to Columbia once a week for just one night, one minute, one second with Ronnie. Just to keep herself sane. If only Ronnie didn’t drive her insane. 

The handcuffs had been a necessary investment but they made Erin feel just a little cruel. She knew about Ronnie’s long list of abusive boyfriends. All she wanted was someone to treat her as more than a blow-up doll or a punching bag. It wasn’t hard. Not a single one of her past lovers had brought her to a climax, or anything close to one. Ronnie’s standards were right in the gutter where Erin lay. Pleasing Ronnie wasn’t hard. Pleasing herself was another matter. 

It wasn’t that Ronnie wasn’t enough. She was beautiful but in the way every rich girl was. Ronnie dressed in clothes that cost more than the twins’ inheritance. Layer after layer of makeup caked her face, smoothing over any imperfection. For her eighteenth birthday, her father had taken her to a plastic surgeon. He said that no man would ever want a woman with a chest as flat as hers. Plastic surgery became a hobby of hers. Ronnie was a woman on a mission to see just how much plastic she could have injected into her body. 

“In a thousand years, someone’s going to dig up my grave and not a single thing will have decayed,” Ronnie had joked. Erin didn’t think that was a good thing but Aaron kicked her under the table before she’d had the chance to say so. 

Physically, Ronnie was a dream. Emotionally, she was a nightmare. It wasn’t that Erin didn’t want to help her. She really did. Ronnie was the twins’ best friend but Erin wasn’t the most emotionally stable person as it was. Taking on Ronnie and her problems was just too much of a job for Erin. Instead, she settled for distracting her with her hands. Erin’s fingers were long and thin. Piano hands, Luther had called them. 

“It’s a shame you don’t play an instrument,” he’d said, inspecting them. In a way, Erin did. Anyone who’d heard the symphony of sounds she’d managed to draw out of Ronnie would agree (not that anyone had heard, Erin had made sure of that). 

As nice as her time with Ronnie was, Erin still needed time alone to recover from it all. On Saturday mornings, Nicky and Aaron were too busy nursing hangovers to bother getting out of bed before one. Blissful silence reigned through the Minyard house. There was so little time in which Erin got to savor such a silence. It was the weighty silence of her teammates holding their breaths when she entered the room. It wasn’t the expectant silence of Wymack waiting for her to explain herself after she’d caused another incident with the upperclassmen. 

This was a peaceful silence that quieted even the worst of Erin’s demon. It soothed something savage deep inside her, lulling her into an illusion of normalcy. Saturday mornings were the only times when Erin let herself pretend that she was really okay. Sure, Erin told herself she was fine when Aaron shot her icy glares, keeping himself well out of her reach but Saturday mornings were the only time she dared to let herself believe that they could actually get better. 

Learning to love herself was the most important step in recovery. Bee was incredibly adamant about it. The first time she’d said so, Erin had sneered in her face. 

“No one’s going to love a girl covered in scars. Why should I?” Erin asked as she rocked her chair onto its back legs.

Bee sat there a moment. Her dark brown eyes grew darker as she pursed her lips. “My husband loves me,” Bee finally said. 

“That’s because you’re pretty,” Erin said, waving Bee’s smile away. “I’m bitchy, not blind,” she drawled. 

“But you said that no one’s going to love a girl covered in scars,” Bee replied. Pushing back the sleeves of her sweater, Erin realized that she’d never seen Bee in short sleeves. She lost her balance at the first glimpse of the thickly roped scars winding up her arms. She was on her feet, seizing Bee’s forearms in her hands. 

“Oh, Bee. What have you done?” 

“Glass. From bottles. And window panes. Several mirrors.” Erin tore her gaze from Bee’s arms to look at her face. She was smiling softly at Erin. “We’re far more alike than you’d think, Erin.” 

That had been nearly ten years ago. In all that time, Erin had never really learnt to love herself. It didn’t matter. She’d found people who’d loved her enough to make up for it. Nicky loved her. Aaron loved her. Kevin and Wymack loved her. Bee and her husband, Colm, loved her. They’d loved her so much that they’d offered to make her Erin Dobson Minyard. She was grateful that they’d offered her a place in their home but to take it felt like a betrayal to the one she already had. Nicky and Matt were as great a mom and dad as Erin could have ever hoped for. Aaron could be a prickly little shit but Erin wouldn’t trade him for any other brother in the world. Bee and Colm hadn’t taken offense to her rejection. They still welcomed her with open arms and it made Erin love them all the more for it. 

It didn’t matter that she had the love of her entire family. Erin wanted more. She wanted Ania to love her and for everyone to know it too. She wanted to be Erin Minyard-Josten.

Ania had fought hard to become Ania Alora Josten. Josten was her truth and Erin desperately wanted to be a part of it. In the last eight years, not a single day passed where the thought of marrying Ania Josten didn’t flit through her brain. Staring up at the ceiling, Erin planned a wedding she knew she’d never get to have. The two of them had come a long way from when they’d first met but, in some ways, Ania was still just a pipe dream. Breathing in deeply, Erin rolled onto her side as the sun filtered into the room. From the bed, Erin could see the gray smog that had wound itself amongst the impossibly grayer skyscrapers. Chicago wasn’t a pretty city but, as with all other things, anything Ania touched instantly became beautiful. Even Erin herself felt beautiful when Ania’s fingers danced across her body. 

All her life, Erin had been pushed away. Everyone saw her as a monster or a half-starved guard dog that was always on the brink of biting the hand that fed her. Wymack had sat her down more than once and told her that it was wrong. He was a strong man but even he could barely hide the sheen of tears that coated his eyes as he sat beside her hospital bed after another one of her failed suicide attempts, insisting that she was still a person, that she still deserved to live. He’d told her that she wasn’t a monster and made her promise to try to learn to believe that she wasn’t. Laying beside Ania now, Erin believed it. There was something about Ania that made Erin feel… human. 

Ronnie had asked Erin to be her answer, something far more than Erin knew she was capable of being. In her haste to banish her own feelings, Erin had told Ania that she wasn’t her answer. Tracing the curves of Ania’s sleeping face with light fingers, Erin regretted it. Ania was her answer, Erin knew that now, and she desperately wanted- needed to be hers too. 

My wife. Erin mouthed the words but she didn’t dare say them aloud for fear that Ania would hear her. Erin had never asked Ania her thoughts on marriage but she’d planted the seed in Nicky. As expected, Nicky had gone bounding up to Ania to extract her thoughts on the matter. The interrogation didn’t last long. Ania had made her opposition to the institution of marriage crystal clear. But that was before. Before Drake and Easthaven. It was before they’d started trading kisses on the roof. It was before Erin had let her walls down far enough to let Ania see her lain bare. It was before they’d begun waking up in each other’s arms. 

“Staring,” Ania said as she peeled an eye open. 

“Shut it, Junkie,” Erin replied but there was no heat in her words. 

“Make me.” Two words. Just two words and heat was already pooling in Erin’s stomach. She shifted closer and pressed her lips to Ania’s. An arm wound around Erin’s waist and dragged her closer. “Better,” Ania whispered as she broke the kiss. She was still close enough that their lips brushed as she spoke. It wasn’t enough for Erin. 

“Yes or no,” she asked. 

“Doe, I’m not even awake yet,” Ania laughed. After a moment’s consideration, “Yes, but only if you make me breakfast after.” 

“Deal,” Erin said. She slid her arm beneath Ania, dragging her form so that she lay atop Erin. 

“Oh,” was all Ania could say as she processed what was happening. The two of them had been together for nearly nine years now, but Erin still had a hard time relinquishing control of herself enough to let Ania top. But today was Saturday and Saturday’s were for Erin. Self-care is letting yourself want and, right now, Erin wanted Ania on top of her. 

“Say it,” Erin whispered. She screwed her eyes shut in anticipation of the words. There were a few things that came before Ania would oblige and she ticked them off her mental checklist as they went. First, she heard Ania’s soft laugh. Then she felt Ania’s left hand winding through her hair, tilting Erin’s head to the side. Erin felt Ania’s other hand snake up beneath her shirt. With it, Ania caressed Erin’s breast. She shivered at the brush of Ania’s lips on the shell of her ear. Finally, finally, Ania said it. 

“I love you.” Erin’s breath hitched. Ania’s fingernails scratched soothingly at her scalp. Her grip on Erin’s breast tightened as she started moving her hips slowly, painstakingly. Erin whined. “What’s wrong, love?” Ania asked. Erin could hear the mischief in her voice. It only made her hips buck up harder. Her hands grazed Ania’s waist. “Sit up, Erin.” Erin obeyed. She shifted so that she sat with her back against the headboard. 

“What are y-” Erin stopped short as she watched Ania wriggle out of her clothes. After getting permission, she tugged Erin’s bottoms off too. She watched silently as Ania spread her legs apart and settled between them. Ania looked up at Erin, searching for confirmation that what she was doing was alright. Whatever she saw made her smile. It was a slow, sly thing so befitting of a fox. She wrapped her legs around Erin’s waist and dragged herself flush against her body, lining them up perfectly. Watching Erin’s features carefully, she rocked forward. The slide of Ania against her sent waves of pleasure crashing over Erin. She jolted forward, throwing her head back and hitting it against the headboard with a resounding thud. 

Ania’s laughter rang through the room as Erin cursed, rubbing at her head. Great. All she’d wanted was to get off and all she’d gotten was a lump on her head. 

“Honey, are you okay?” Ania gasped through her fit of laughter. 

“Do you want breakfast or not?” Erin snapped. 

“Aw, don’t be like that, my love. I’ll be good. I promise.” With that Ania, wrapped a hand around the back of Erin’s head, effectively cradling it from further damage. Once more, she rocked forward against Erin. A low, moan escaped Erin’s lips. She felt the brush of Ania’s lips at the base of her throat, sucking down just enough to send her pulse racing. “Oh, darling, yes,” Ania murmured. Sometimes, when Ania got too worked up, Erin was graced with hearing Ania slip into her British accent. It drove Erin wild. She surged forward, grinding into Ania in the hopes of hearing it again. Erin’s efforts were handsomely rewarded. Ania ground up against her just as hard, babbling a constant stream of barely coherent encouragement. 

Their lips crashed together. Their limbs intertwined. The bed creaked. It was Saturday morning and Erin felt so, so good. Most days, she wasn’t any more vocal than she had to be but she knew how much Ania enjoyed hearing the soft, rasping sound of her voice in bed. She moaned right into Ania’s ear, relishing in the way Ania shuddered at the sound of it. As Erin neared her climax, her hips started to stutter. Almost immediately, Ania picked up the pace. She pried her body away just enough that Erin knew she was watching, waiting to see her go over the edge. Ania’s grip tightened in Erin’s hair, anchoring her as she ground her clit against Erin’s and that was it. 

For a whole fifteen seconds, everything ceased to exist. Ecstasy. Pure, fucking, ecstasy was all Erin could feel. As Erin’s senses returned, she gasped. Ania was still going, chasing her own orgasm. Every part of Erin felt raw and oversensitive but she wasn’t going to deny Ania her reward. She sat there, trying not to squirm as pain and pleasure wove together until the two were inseparable. Tears burned her eyes as her legs quaked. She tightened her grip on Ania’s waist, working her hard and fast. When Ania reached her climax, her eyes glazed over and her entire body went utterly still. Erin stopped entirely too, utterly transfixed by the majesty of Ania. 

It was as if time itself had stopped. Did Erin deserve this? Erin wasn’t a monster but she’d done some monstrous things, never feeling an ounce of remorse for her actions. Instead, Erin only got worse. Every despicable act she committed took her a step deeper into the darkness. For so long, Erin had lived cold and alone in the dark. Kevin might have been the first person to offer her a shard of hope but Ania had given her so much more than that. 

Ania had been more than a single shard of light. She was the sun itself: bold and bright and brilliant and Erin couldn’t live without her. Being so close to the sun would only burn her up but Erin was as self-destructive as they came. If Ania had asked for the oxygen from her lungs, Erin would give it to her. If Ania’s heart broke, Erin would take hers clean apart to fix her. From the very second Ania collided into the racquet Erin swung, she’d known that her life would never be the same again. As the words “Fuck you,” dripped venomously from Ania’s tongue, Erin had known she was in love.

Things had only gotten worse from there. Ania Josten had been a pathological liar that offered up little pieces of her truth in exchange for Erin’s trust. She’d broken down her walls just to taste Erin on that toxic tongue of hers. Ania hadn’t given Erin a reason to live. She’d given Erin a reason to want to live, something no one else had done. A future in which Erin had Ania by her side was too good to be true. It was the only future she wanted. 

But did she deserve it? She’d hurt so many people, strangers, and family alike. Probably not. All her life, people had taken whatever they’d wanted from her. They’d tried to tie her down and own her. Now that she had complete control of herself, Erin was shocked to realize that what she wanted most was to belong to Ania. At first, it had scared Erin to want something like that so badly. In the years that passed, Erin slowly began to realize why she wanted what she did. Even if Erin gave herself over to Ania, Ania would never truly take control. Not once had Ania pushed Erin further than she was capable of going. Not once had she balked at taking no for an answer. 

Ania loved Erin with no strings attached. Up until Ania, everything in Erin’s life had been a constant power struggle. Being with Ania meant that Erin could stop being the monstrous creature she pretended to be. Ania had gazed upon the sad, shattered creature that Erin was and offered to help piece her back together. Erin would never be able to come back from the darkness to which she’d succumbed to. Taking Ania’s hand, Erin knew that. Nothing could ever undo the things Erin had done. Being with Ania didn’t make Erin a better person. It just stopped her from becoming a worse one. If Erin hadn’t met Ania she’d have never made amends with her brother, instead forcing him and Nicky further away. If Erin hadn’t met Ania she might not even still be alive today. 

The thoughts were knocked out of her head as Ania came back down from her climax. She settled back down, hissing as her oversensitive labia met the soft skin of Erin’s thighs.

“Jude,” she whispered as she nuzzled into the crook of Erin’s shoulder. Erin wrapped her arms around Ania. “Was… was it okay? Was I good?”

“You were amazing, Doll.” Erin carded her fingers through Ania’s hair, untangling it as she went. They lay there in each others’ arms as they caught their breaths. For just a few moments Erin truly believed that everything was okay. She felt her breath catch in her lungs as Ania began pressing kisses to the scars crisscrossing Erin’s arms. Erin didn’t deserve someone so kind. So caring. So full of love. 

“Eri?” Erin looked down to see Ania gazing up at her through her lashes. God, Ania was beautiful. Erin ran a thumb across the burn marks on her cheeks. “Aaron called yesterday.” Erin frowned. Her brother never called Ania. He usually just sent her photos of trash cans captioned ‘I didn’t know you had a twin, too’ or photos of stray cats he’d encountered on his way to work. Ania sat up and reached for the nightstand. Rummaging through the drawers, she continued, “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you but it never seemed like the right time. One of us was always flying somewhere, or there were too many people around, or we were with Coach. Aaron said that I’d better hurry up before you realize that you can do better than me. He’s right. I think, deep down, I was just scared that you’d say no. I mean, it’s okay if you do. We’ll still find a way to make us work if you do.” Erin’s heart stopped at the sight of the black velvet box that Ania drew out of the drawer. 

“Ania-” 

“I know there’s a conversation that’s supposed to come before this but I saw it in the window and I- I just couldn’t walk away.” Erin heard the soft click of a button and the box swung open. Inside was a pale bold band, the same color as her hair. A large brown diamond glinted in the morning light. As the light passed through it, the hue seemed to shift from dark brown to hazel, the way Erin’s eyes did. Ania pried the ring from the cushion it rested in. Inside the band, a small heart-shaped key had been engraved. 

Erin surged forward, cupping Ania’s face in her hands and forcing it to face her. She kissed her lips so hard she was sure they’d both be badly bruised but she didn’t care. Salt stung her tongue from the tears pouring down her face. “Ask me,” she croaked. “I want you to ask me.”

“Erin Jude Minyard, will you-”

“Yes,” she said before pinning Ania down to the bed. “Yes, yes, yes, yes,” she said between each kiss she planted on her lips. Laughter bubbled out of Ania at the unexpected burst of affection. 

“Eri, I didn’t even get to finish asking. What if I was asking you to go make breakfast?” 

“I’ll do that too,” Erin replied. Laying her head atop Ania’s she whispered, “I’ll do anything for you.”  

“Anything?” Ania asked, 

“Anything.” 

“Say it.” Erin stared deep into Ania’s eyes. They’d thawed from their usual icy appearance. They sparkled with mischief, daring Erin to deny her. She wouldn’t. There was no fun in telling Ania ‘no’ anyway. Besides, it was Saturday morning and Saturday mornings were for Erin. 

Closing her own eyes, Erin took a deep breath. “I love you," she whispered.

[therivergirl]

Louie was finally finished and he fell to the ground, finally able to laugh his but off like the rest of the room.

"That was so stupid," Dewey said, "and so damn epic at the same time!"

"Why, Louie," Huey tried to sound annoyed, "why???"

"Sorry, not sorry," Louie said, "I had to."

"It was e-pic!" Dewey said again.

"It's a pity I was so taken aback I forgot to film it," Gosalyn said, "best meme material right there!"

"No, no, no way am I becoming a meme!" Louie crossed his arms. Why did he have a feeling he was forgetting something.

"Louie, you just rick-rolled all of us," Lena said, "By definition, you are a walking meme!"

Newton's eyes shone with the idea and he clapped his hands, drawing BOYD's attention. "Do you have it?" he signed.

"Oh, yes, I can probably retrieve it from my memory file," BOYD said. Ah, yes, that's what Louie forgot.

"Traitor," Louie laughed, "But it was worth seeing all of your faces!"

"I can also retrieve a couple of utterly shocked expressions for meme-making purposes!" BOYD said and Louie gave him a look of bewildered respect that would make the young parrot blush. If robots could blush, that is. It was one real boy feature BOYD was glad he didn't have because he learned from observing people around him, it made you rather obvious.

"BOYD, you have no idea how amazed I am right now," Louie said. Yup, BOYD was very happy he couldn't blush! "I want those images, especially if they have those two palookas on them!" he pointed to Huey and Dewey.

"And now," Louie stretched his fingers, "The Evil Triplet will find his victim!" The bottle pointed to Della. Louie smirked.

"Mother,"

"Llewellyn," Della said, fully aware she was poking the beast.

"Do not call me that, I'm Rebel Duck, the Evil Triplet!"

"Not entirely sure how I feel about you using my name idea for your evil persona, but all right, Rebel Duck, as you even have to ask, oh evil son of mine, I'm picking dare!"

"You asked for this when you slighted me by using my old, full name," Louie said, "I dare you to...act out a scene from The Princess and The Frog, improvised costume and all. But instead of a frog, you use that fish Mrs Beakley brought from the market this morning!"

The room filled with a few outraged gasps.

"WHAT?" Della grouched, "You want to tell me I not only have to touch fish but I also have to kiss it?" sure, fish was nowhere as bad as black liquorice, but she still HATED it! She really did lay an egg from which an evil genius hatched.

"Wait a second!" Della exclaimed as she wrapped a blanket around her waist to act as a skirt, "Tiana wears gloves! Ha, I don't have to touch the fish with my bare hands after all!"

"You still have to kiss it, that sounds worse!" Natasha pointed out.

"Yeah, but I won't get the gross, disgusting smell of it all over my palms!"

Della hated the experience. Except for the part where she got to act out the Tiana slams the frog with a book part. That she enjoyed.

15 minutes later, after having thoroughly brushed her teeth and washed out her mouth with a monthly supply of mouthwash, Della got back to the circle.

"Hmm," Violet observed the screen "Seems like Drake's, Della's and Uncle Scrooge's dares filled the meter more than Natasha's or Beakley's. The worse dare, the more the meter fills, I'm assuming its' the same for truths," she said, as she looked over the room with a smile that was anything but reassuring.

"Oh, phooey!" half of the people in the circle said in unison, some burying their faces into their hands.

"Guys, let's not take things too far!" Fenton said nervously.

"Oh don't worry Fenton," Lena said, "we won't...I mean, at least not for now. It's Della's turn!"

"Oh yes, it's Della's turn," the pilot laughed as she spun the bottle, "and beware, as I may remind you who Rebel the Evil Triplet inherited his evilness from!"

The bottle pointed to Gyro.

"Well, my friend, choose carefully!" Della said as the chicken blanched, "Truth, or dare?"

@animationadventures @ninja-librarian

“Okay, no need to panic. This is just another little problem for our family.” Huey frantically paced the foyer.

“Another little problem? We somehow unleashed a demon that forces people to play Truth or Dare, and will turn us to stone if we don’t tell the truth or don’t complete a dare!” Louie exclaimed. “Not to mention we have a quota that EACH of us has to fill.” The green triplet pointed to a magic TV that seemed to be displaying icons of everyone playing and the meter they needed to fill, which were currently empty.

“Considering everyone here has to play,” Louie gestured to everyone in the foyer, which included the McDuck-Duck clan, the Sabrewings, the Cabreras, Launchpad and the Mallards, the Mouses, and the Gearlooses, “we’re going to be stuck playing for ages!”

Dewey grinned at his brother. “I think it’s awesome. The world’s largest game of Truth or Dare? Count me in!”

“Me too!” Webby exclaimed. The other kids chimed in with some excitement. Launchpad joined in too, the only adult seemingly thrilled by the game.

“Aw phooey,” Donald mumbled, slapping his beak with his palm.

Della nudged him. “Cheer up, I’m sure you won’t get too insane dares.”

Scrooge stood tall, tapping his cane on the floor to call attention. “It’s either play this pointless party game, or we all get cursed to stone. Who’s going first?”

@ninja-librarian @therivergirl