#twdg duckley

[ericsonclan]

Babe, Wake Up, It’s Pride Month

Summary: Clementine gets a friendly call from Duck kicking off Pride Month.

Word Count: 924

Read on AO3:

Clementine yawned as she started to make her way towards the bed. She was ready to get under the covers and watch the latest episode of Rupaul’s Drag Race with Louis. Her husband was currently completely absorbed in whatever was on his phone. He kept typing away while Clementine got into bed and kissed him on the cheek.

“Whatcha up to?”

“Getting the text ready for midnight.” Louis mumbled and before Clementine could say anything he spoke again. “It’s time! Send!” He whacked his thumb against his phone then went back to frantically typing. “Aasim, you’re next!”

Clementine’s lips parted, ready to ask what was on his mind when suddenly her phone started to ring. With a quick glance she saw who it was.

“Hey, Duck,”

“Happy Pride! How’s my favorite bi doing? Feeling gay? Because I sure do!” His voice blew up her phone, making Clementine hold it back from her ear.

“Hell yeah I’m feeling gay! And happy pride to you too,” She glanced over and saw the mountain of a text her husband was preparing. That’s why he was so glued to his phone. “So, you just calling to say ‘gay rights’ or are you wanting to party?”

“Seriously?!?! Hell yeah! Yo, Knox, wanna party at Clem and Louis’?”

Clementine could hear Duck’s partner say something but it was too quiet to tell what.

“Tell Oakley we won’t be too loud,” Clementine added.

“Okay, they said yes anyway but I’ll let them know! I gotta call one more person and then the pan squad will be there!”

Duck hung up without another word and Clementine shook her head. Oh yeah - maybe she should make a few more calls.

Violet grumbled as she kept hearing her phone ding with texts. She tried her best to ignore it and instead burrowed her face further into the crook of Prisha’s neck. She knew what those texts were gonna be. Pride celebrations could wait; all she wanted to do right now was be with her wife. Fate didn’t seem to agree with those plans though as there was a knock on their front door. Violet sighed but ignored it until it kept going and going.

“Mmm, what’s that sound?” Prisha mumbled as she tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. Whoever’s there is gonna go away,” But Violet was proven wrong when the knocking continued.

“I’ll go check who it is,” Prisha slipped out of bed before Violet could say otherwise and blindly wandered through the apartment. She double checked to make sure her pepper spray was within reach if worst came to worst. Unlocking the door, she opened it and was immediately surprised when colorful confetti of pinks, oranges and white hit her directly in the face.

“Happy Pride, ya gay!” Renata beamed at Prisha who looked completely exhausted and confused. Her feelings only deepened as Sophie popped her head into view.

“Whoa! Congrats on being gay!” Sophie blew into a rainbow party horn causing it to shoot out and whack Prisha in the forehead.

“Why are you two here at three in the morning?”

“Because it’s Pride Month! Now we gotta hurry - to the Everett household!’ Renata declared then was off like a shot with Sophie right behind. Prisha stood there for a moment then silently closed the door. It was too early in the morning to deal with this.

“Minnie, Min!”

Minnie heard her wife’s voice as she was shaken awake.

“Babe, wake up, it’s Pride month!”

Minnie groggily opened her eyes and saw Renata’s bright smile.

“Yay! You’re finally awake!’ Renata started to kiss all over Minnie’s face while the ginger started to wake up.”

“Ren, what time is it?” Minnie looked over at the clock and saw that it was five AM. Way earlier than Renata usually got up but not so much for her.

“Come on, we gotta go!” Renata pulled at Minnie who was still waking up.

“What? Where?”

“To the first of many celebrations!” Renata wiggled her eyebrows playfully then kept pulling her wife along. It took Minnie a while before she realized they were heading to her old family house. When she arrived she was met with a flurry of confetti to her face.

“WOOO! You’re gay!” Sophie grinned then disappeared back into the kitchen. Minnie followed behind Renata who was busy helping Tenn make colorful pride pancakes.

“Hey there, Firefly,” Walter walked over and gave his daughter a hug. “Happy pride,”

“Thanks,” Minnie was still a bit groggy. “Oh yeah, happy pride,” She watched as her dad let go of the hug and wandered back into the kitchen.

“Matthew, we’re gonna need some more coffee,”

“You got it!”

Minnie watched her family for a minute before she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Glancing down she saw that she had a ton of texts with the most recent being from James. As she opened it she finally registered what it said.

Happy Pride 🏳️‍🌈 I hope you have a great start to the month. Also I was wondering if you wanted to join me on a walk later today. I found a great new hiking spot

Minnie smiled down at the message then sent one back.

Happy Pride 🏳️‍🌈 and yeah sounds good

She clicked through all the messages and worked to reply to some when she heard her wife’s voice again.

“Minipie, come on, you gotta celebrate too!”

“Okay, okay,” Minnie smiled then put her phone away. She could tell this was gonna be a great Pride month.

[ericsonclan]

Oakley: Last week, I asked Duck to buy some paper towels, but instead, he came back with novelty cookie cutters. Now everything we eat is dinosaur shaped

[ericsonclan]

Oakley: I feel like I can be myself around you

Duck: You’re weird and quiet around me

Oakley: Yes

[ericsonclan]

Duck: Remember when Oakley made that romantic dinner for me?

Clem: They microwaved you a pizza, Duck

[ericsonclan]

Oakley: I could marry that granola bar

Duck, later, on his computer: How.. to..turn..into.. granola.. bar

[ericsonclan]

Clem: What flavor do you want?

Oakley: Blue flavor.

Clem: You mean blue raspberry?

Oakley: Blue flavors.

Clem: Blue is not a flavor

Oakley: BLUE FLAVOR

Duck: Clem, give Oakley the blue flavor!

Clem:

[ericsonclan]

Happy International Non-Binary People’s Day!

Since it’s International Non-Binary People’s Day to celebrate we thought we’d share some more about our non-binary oc, Oakley!

Oakley is a middle child who has an older sister and a younger brother.

They enjoy exploring the forest and searching for fairies.

Their favorite foods are granola and salad.

They are somewhere on the autism spectrum.

They enjoy cloudgazing.

They show that they care for others through actions more so than words.

They don’t emote that much but once you get to know Oakley you get used to their particular body language.

They are more quick to hide than to fight.

They are more of a day person and like to spend that time in nature.

Oakley’s birthday is April 21st.

Their significant other is Duck.

[ericsonclan]

Duck: Why are you staring?

Oakley: Oh, it came off as staring... sorry thought I was looking at you lovingly

[ericsonclan]

hello, can I see the full picture you have of duckley?

Sure thing! Here's the full picture of them!

Art credit goes to @rrosiepetals who was kind enough to draw our ship for us!

[ericsonclan]

Another Understand My Ship we’ve been holding onto for a while. Thanks so much @rrosiepetals for the beautiful art!

[ericsonclan]

Chestnuts Roasting on An Open Fire

Summary: Duck and Oakley try roasting chestnuts to see if this holiday snack is any good.

Word Count: 1422

Read on AO3:

Duck strolled through the house whistling a happy tune as he made his way to the living room. When he walked in he spotted Oakley who was staring at a chestnut with fascination twinkling in their eyes. Slowly they turned the chestnut in between their fingers, finding the texture of the shell comforting.

“Hey there, Knox,” Duck jogged forward causing the knives to bounce slightly in the cast iron pan. “I got everything we need,” He sat down crisscross applesauce and beamed over at his love. “Pan, knives, special gloves, cutting boar-” Duck paused when the realization washed over his face. “Shit, I forgot them,”

“I grabbed them,” Oakley causally lifted up the wooden cutting boards that were shaped like ducks.

“Whoa, you’re amazing,” Duck kissed his spouse on the cheek then focused back on the task. Oakley was definitely not as focused; the surprise gesture made their nerves feel all tingly but in a good way. Their brain was on a temporary high until their significant other spoke up again.

“Okay, so according to my mom, you gotta score the chestnuts. It didn’t make any sense to me at first, I didn’t know why you had to score a chestnut because what if one looks funky but that's its charm, like does that one get a lower score or-” Duck paused for a second, realizing that he was going all over the place and figured he should get back on track. Not that Oakley minded at all, they seemed completely fine whenever he went on a talking spree. “Anyways, it was score in the food kinda way so that's why we have knives and cutting boards,”

Oakley nodded along then set up their workstation their own way. Duck got to work on his prep too and made sure to distribute the chestnuts evenly. The fireplace crackled with the flames as the couple got to work. Duck happily hummed a Christmas song as his knife slid across the chestnut shells. He noticed Oakley bopping their head softly to the tune as they made quick work of their task. Their green rubber bracelet slid down their wrist as they went through the motions of scoring the Christmas treat. Duck felt a smile pull on his lips; he was glad he had chosen a day that had worked out for Oakley. His eyes had been glued to that bracelet all day making sure it didn’t change to yellow or red. If it had, he knew that Oakley would be too much in a funk to enjoy this holiday activity.

“All done,” Oakley began to brush their thumb across the scores, enjoying the sensation.

“Okay, I’m almost done!” Duck rolled up the sleeves of his Christmas Batman sweater though they immediately fell back down. With a determined grin, Duck got to work once more and made quick work of the rest of the chestnuts. A little too quick though as he accidentally sliced part of his thumb. “Ow, fuck,” Duck shook his hand and blew on it, thinking for some reason that would stop the pain.

Oakley studied their spouse’s hand for a second, an emotion flickering in their eyes before they got up. After a minute they returned with the first aid kit which Duck and them had decorated for the holidays. A single red bow was pressed on top of the box. Silently Oakley worked to get a reindeer bandaid on Duck’s finger.

Leaning forward Oakley kissed the bandaid. “Gotta kiss to make it better,”

Duck’s eyes widened at that, sparkling with appreciation. “Thanks!” He turned his attention to getting the chestnuts in the seasoned cast iron pan after making sure that the scored side of each was face up.

“Okay, just gotta find some hot embers and get my gloves on and then we’ll see if chestnuts are tasty,” Duck’s smile faded for a second as he noticed Oakley was fidgeting with their fidget ring with a bit more force than usual. “Hey, it's just a little cut, no big deal. Besides your kiss took the pain away,”

Oakley stared at Duck, taking a few moments to fully comprehend his facial expression. After a minute their fidgeting lessened. Their thumb gently brushed against the blue ring again and again, this time with a slower rhythm.

Duck’s shoulders relaxed at that and he put the special gloves on his hands. When he had successfully found a good roasting spot Duck placed down the pan, humming “The Christmas Song” as the seconds ticked by. Oakley watched their love work on the holiday treat before looking out at the snow slowly falling down onto the reindeer decorations displayed in bright lights on their front lawn.

After about five minutes Duck began to stir the chestnuts; a small sigh left his lips. Patience wasn’t always his strong suit and those five minutes felt like forever but he had done it so far. With a small victory tune Duck proceeded to stir the chestnuts some more for another five minutes. The smell of chestnuts filled the air along with Duck’s humming making Oakley smile, nearly overwhelmed with the positive feelings coursing through their veins.

“Alright, finally done!” Duck pulled the cast iron pan away from the embers. “Mind putting some salt on the chestnuts, my paramour?”

Oakley nodded and sprinkled a little bit of salt over the nuts. Duck immediately placed down the pan on a cooling rack then worked to build the fire again. After a minute he tossed off his gloves and plopped down beside Oakley. He watched the fire, listening to the gentle crackling sounds it made and smelling the comforting scent of chestnuts. Duck reached for his phone and started the Christmas playlist that he and Oakley had made. Putting it on shuffle he tossed it to the side and closed his eyes, enjoying the warm, fuzzy feeling that Christmastime always brought him. A few moments passed when suddenly Duck felt something on his lap. Opening his eyes he noticed that Oakley had decided to sit there.

“I want to be closer to you,” Oakley whispered as they started to trace their finger over Duck’s knuckle bones then on his veins. Duck lifted his arms and slowly wrapped them around Oakley’s waist. Gently Duck rested his head on his spouse’s shoulder and exhaled happily. Oakley closed their eyes, leaning back into the embrace. The feeling of pressure that Duck’s hugs brought always felt so nice. The two stayed like this for a while, enjoying the perfect holiday setting until Oakley stirred. “Chestnuts should be done,”

“Right!” Duck worked to free himself then put the chestnuts in a bowl. The couple worked together to remove the shells.

“Cheers to hopefully a new favorite holiday treat!” Duck held up a chestnut and clinked it against Oakley’s. Popping it in his mouth, Duck was hit with a buttery, nutty flavor as the warmth tickled his throat. The taste was so addictive that he had eaten a second one before he’d even checked to see if Oakley liked chestnuts. They were particular when it came to foods and their textures. Silently Oakley threw the chestnut into their mouth and chewed thoughtfully, their gaze focused as they carefully ate the holiday treat. After a few seconds, they swallowed it which was a good sign. If they hated it they would’ve spat it out.

“So, was it good, Knox?” Duck leaned forward, excitedly hopeful.

A smile pulled on the corners of Oakley’s lips as they made faint happy sounds in approval.

“WOO!” Duck pumped his fists in the air. “New holiday tradition made!” He shared a smile with Oakley. It was always a ton of fun discovering a new thing that made his spouse happy. Soon the two returned to eating chestnuts. Once they had their fill Oakley sat back down on Duck’s lap. Grabbing his arms, Oakley positioned them comfortably around themselves then turned their head and stole a quick kiss. The romantic gesture made Duck beam like a total dork.

“Christmastime is the best,” He pressed a kiss to Oakley’s cheek.

“You make it the best,” Oakley traced on the top of Duck’s hand again then looked back with a soft smile. Duck felt his heart flutter like mad at that, melting in the happiness that Oakley brought him.

“Nah, you make it the best!” Duck held onto his spouse and let himself get lost in this moment of holiday bliss. It was a moment that would stay in both of their memories for years to come.

[ericsonclan]

Falling For You

Summary: A part of Duck's past is revealed while on a date with Oakley. Oakley gives the address where Duck can meet them for their next date but no further details.

Word Count:

Read on A03: 3407

Life was good. That’s what Duck thought to himself as he contentedly chowed down on a burger while sitting in the corner booth at Ericson’s Diner. Across the table from him sat Oakley who was chewing upon a grilled cheese sandwich rather thoughtfully. Duck’s eyes pulled away from his burger to look over at his paramour. That’s what he liked to call Oakley. They both agreed it sounded gender neutral and romantic at the same time. Aasim had mentioned something about it not meaning what they thought it did, but Duck had never gotten round to looking into the exact meaning. Gulping down his current mouthful of food, he caught Oakley’s eyes. “How’s the food?”

“Crunchy,” Oakley took another bite, nodding in approval. Duck knew that was one of their favorite textures; the sandwich looked to be a success. He was glad. Some thought of Oakley as picky, but Duck always found it fun to try and guess what they would enjoy. Between the cushy booth seats and the enjoyment they were finding in their sandwich, Duck figured Oakley would be down for having more dates here. It was good news for him. Ericson’s Diner was usually one of the last delivery stops Duck made and besides he loved the people and the food here too. Making the diner a regular date spot when it was the first place they’d met sorta felt romantic to Duck too.

“Well, I’ll be damned. If it isn’t ol’ Duck Callaway,” The voice made Duck flinch. He looked up to see his memory had served his well. Roy Fortner stood before him, a girl Duck didn’t recognize on his arm. The young man smiled at Duck. No, not a smile. It was more of a knowing sneer. “Whatcha doing these days, Ducky?”

“Having lunch, same as you probably,” Duck mumbled. He looked over to see Oakley was still intently focused on their sandwich, seemingly unaware they had company. Good. Hopefully Roy wouldn’t say anything to them.

“Whatcha up to these days, Ducky? My old man got me onto the force just like I always said he would,” Roy flashed a smile over to the girl on his arm who seemed enchanted by his boasting. “How bout you? You flying airplanes now? You were always blabbing on and on about them,”

“No, I…” Duck cleared his throat, crumpling up his napkin. “I drive a delivery truck,”

“Huh. I guess that is more your speed tho. Get this, Carrie,” Roy turned to the girl on his arm with a devious grin. “We used to have another nickname for old Ducky here in school. I bet you can guess what it was,” He paused for a moment but not long enough for her to answer. “Dumbo! We called him that cause of his ears, see? Big as dinner plates! And cause he always talked about flying. But I guess you never did, huh, Ducky?”

Duck wanted to say something. Flying school was expensive; he was still saving up. He still had a long path ahead of him but he’d get there someday. But nothing came out. It was like he was stuck back at the lunch table at school, waiting for the teasing to pass.

“Anyway, it was good seeing you again. Later!” With a two-fingered mock salute Roy ended the conversation and strolled away with his girl on his arm, leaving Duck in an overwhelmed stupor.

After a few seconds though Duck looked up and saw Oakley’s eyes were on him. “Sorry about that guy, he’s a real jerk. I was hoping I’d never see him again but I guess the town’s not big enough for that,” Duck looked down at his half-eaten burger, his appetite gone. “He told that girl about the nickname as if I liked it, like it was a nice thing. But it wasn’t. They wouldn’t just say it when I talked about airplanes or even cause of my ears though they did that a lot too. They’d say it…”

Duck paused, his emotions from those days coming back. “I’m not the smartest. Not at life and not in school. So whenever there was a test or the teacher passed back papers they’d grab them and see how bad my grades were and tell the whole class. The teachers would tell them to shut up but they never did. Just kept calling me Dumbo every time,” He glanced up, suddenly growing self-conscious of his candidness. “Sorry, that was probably oversharing. Not like we’ve been going out long enough to say heavy stuff like that. I’m just…” The word ‘dumb’ drifted through the air between them, unspoken.

Oakley finished the last bite of their grilled cheese sandwich then carefully wiped all the crumbs off their hands. “I get to choose the next date spot,”

“Oh. Do you have something in mind?”

“I’ll text you.” Oakley looked round the diner before returning their gaze to Duck. “Good choice for this time. I like it here,” The small smile on their lips would normally brighten Duck’s day, but the encounter with Roy had left him in a bit of a funk. Oakley held out their hand, waiting for Duck to join.

Duck held out his hand too. He gave Oakley a down low high five then held out his hand for the same. On the second one their fingers drifted apart from each other then their firsts met in a fist bump. Their customary goodbye cheered Duck up a bit. He looked up at his paramour fondly. “Thanks, Oakley,”

“See you Friday,” With that Oakley got up from their seat and headed out.

Duck sat a minute longer, thinking back on what had just happened. Oakley hadn’t really reacted to any of that stuff with Roy or to Duck’s story from the past. Maybe they didn’t care about any of it? At least it hadn’t made them uncomfy. Rising up from the booth, Duck left a tip on the table as thanks for the free meal Clem had given them and headed out as well.

---

A week later, Duck drove out to the location Oakley had texted him. They hadn’t provided any details, only an address. It certainly wasn’t anywhere Duck had been before. The fact that he was driving outside of the city made him wonder if Oakley had some sort of picnic or hike planned. He never knew what to expect with Oakley; that was one of the things that made them so fun to be around.

As Duck neared the end of the directions on his maps program, his eyes widened as he saw what he was approaching. That was a plane on the tarmac! This was an air strip! Were they going flying today? It was a beautiful day for it, bright and clear, tons of puffy clouds. Duck quickly found a parking spot and hurried toward the main building, nearly bursting with excitement.

Once he was close enough to the building, Duck noticed a sign above the entrance: Wellington Skydiving Adventures. Skydiving! Duck had never skydived before. What an awesome date idea! Duck strode through the doors and toward the front desk where a friendly looking woman with goggles atop her head stood reading a flight schedule out of a blue binder. Her eyes brightened when she noticed Duck. “Well, hi there! My name’s Edith. Welcome to Wellington Skydiving Adventures! Do you have a reservation?”

“Uhhh maybe,” Duck scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile. “My name’s Duck Callaway and-”

“Oh, Duck!” Edith’s eyes brightened in recognition. “You’re Oakley’s boyfriend!”

“Yeah! Are they already here?”

“I should hope so! Otherwise they’re late for their shift,” Edith chuckled. She turned round and called toward the back room. “Oakley, Duck’s here!”

At that news Oakley emerged from the back room dressed head to toe in what looked to be a bright blue and orange skydiving jumpsuit. They walked over to Duck with a small smile and gave his hand a squeeze. “Surprise,”

“This is an awesome date idea! I didn’t know we even had skydiving around here!” Duck looked round the facility excitedly, taking in all the people and equipment. “So are we gonna join a group for training or is it gonna be more of a one on one thing?”

“One on one,”

“Oh, did you meet our instructor already?”

“It’s me,”

Duck looked over at Oakley in confusion. “Wait… you know how to skydive already?”

Oakley nodded. “It’s my job,”

“Oakley’s one of our best instructors,” Edith said proudly, tucking away the binder she’d been looking through. “They’re always patient with their clients and great on the jumps. I bet you two will have a lot of fun!”

Duck looked at his paramour in disbelief. Of all the jobs he’d pictured for Oakley, skydiving instructor had never even made the list. This was so badass. A grin broke out on his face as he swung their joined hands back and forth in excitement. “This is so awesome! I can’t believe I’m dating a professional skydiver! Does that mean we get to skydive just the two of us, holding hands and spinning in circles and doing flips while we freefall?”

“Maybe next time. You’re gonna be strapped to my chest this time. This way,” Oakley motioned and walked toward the training equipment, not noticing that their boyfriend had gotten a bit flushed at that prospect.

Duck followed Oakley into the training room. There were various stations reflecting different levels of difficulty and training. Oakley took Duck over to the workout mats first. The first training steps consisted of learning the proper posture and positions for jumps. Since they were going to do a tandem jump Duck didn’t need to know as much about how to control his movements as he would on a solo jump, but he still asked plenty of questions even though for this jump they were solely theoretical. He already knew he wanted to master skydiving or at least be good enough to jump with Oakley as an equal, not just as a student.

Oakley was patient and calm throughout the entire process, answering all of Duck’s questions simply and succinctly. Their hands were steady as they guided Duck in maintaining his core strength and changing his shoulder and arm positioning. It was great to see them so comfortable. Usually unless it was just the two of them Oakley was fairly standoffish, preferring to keep within their own world. But as Duck continued his training with them, he realized this was Oakley’s world. This was where they excelled.

Once they were done on the mat, Oakley and Duck headed over to the indoor skydiving tunnel. According to Oakley this was an alternate attraction for people who didn’t want to go as far as jumping out of a plane to skydive just yet but still wanted that thrill. The tunnel was reserved for training purposes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings though, so for now they had it to themselves. Oakley led Duck through a short series of hand signals since speaking wouldn’t be possible within the tunnel then helped him get suited up with a helmet, goggles, gloves and a bright green and yellow jumpsuit that matched Oakley’s in design.

Indoor skydiving was a ton of fun all in itself. Edith stepped into the wind tunnel with them to help Duck get started, lifting him up so he was horizontal to the floor and wasn’t simply knocked over by the wind. It certainly wasn’t as simple as stepping in and flying skyward. Duck started on his stomach upon the tunnel floor, trying his best to follow Oakley’s hand signals to move his body in such a way that he could lift off the ground. It took many, many attempts. An hour passed before Duck even felt himself fully levitate off the ground. But the glee he felt in that moment and the full-fledged smile on Oakley’s face made all the struggles worth it.

Edith placed a sticker upon Duck’s chest after helping him out of the wind tunnel, a fluffy cloud with pilot wings upon it. “Well done, Duck. You’re one step closer to becoming an officially licensed skydiver yourself should that be something you’d like to pursue,”

“Oh, definitely! This has been so much fun!” Duck beamed as he reverently traced the sticker.

Edith smiled proudly. “Wonderful. We can talk future lessons later, but for now I think it’s time for you to make your first jump. The plane is ready to go when you are, just waiting for its last few passengers,” With that she headed off to her other duties, leaving Duck and Oakley to their own devices.

Duck felt a soft pressure upon his hand and looked down to see that Oakley was holding it. His paramour looked up at him expectantly. “Ready?”

“Absolutely!”

---

It was a small plane that took them up in the air, a Cessna 182. As Oakley had explained, they would ascend until they were at 10,000 feet then make the jump. The freefall portion of the jump would last about a minute before Oakley pulled the chute and they’d float down from there for 4-5 minutes before reaching the landing zone. There would be a bus waiting for them there to take them back to the main building.

Duck’s heart pounded as he sat on the plane, strapped in front with Oakley behind him. It was rather loud within the plane, the sounds of wind rushing against the sides of the plane a constant background noise. Pilot Pete was calm at the helm, checking in with his passengers from time to see that everyone was doing well. The plane only held a handful of people: two other skydiving instructors and their clients waited in relative silence to reach the drop zone.

Duck wished he could look back at Oakley and talk with them. Instead, he settled for the calming warmth of their hand in his. This whole time Duck had been riding off of the high of excitement at the thought of the jump. Now that they were actually approaching it though, he could feel his heart doing belly flops within his stomach. He was about to jump out of a moving plane. His mother would have a heart attack if she knew. Duck tried to calm himself by focusing on the sound of the plane and its engines. Who knew, maybe someday whenever he got his pilot’s license it could be him flying the plane while Oakley led the jumps. They could be at work together, take breaks and lunch together, and he could fly every day. The charm of that daydream made the time drift away till suddenly Duck heard the announcement.

“We’re approaching the drop zone,” Pete announced over the mic. One of the other instructors got up and opened the airplane’s door. The rushing sound of the wind filled all their ears as the passengers’ hair tousled back and forth wildly. Duck and Oakley would be the third ones to jump. Duck bit his lip as he watched the first instructor position themselves by the doorway, their client strapped to their front. This was real. They were going to jump.

A gasp inadvertently left Duck as he saw the first pair drop. Moments later the second pair was standing by the open door. This was all happening so fast. Oakley’s steps nudged him forward, positioning them as the next and last in line. Before Duck could mentally prepare himself, the second pair had jumped. It was their turn. A few steps forward and he stood at the front of the open plane door, gazing down at the patchwork of green so far below them.

“Ready?” Oakley shouted in his ear, giving Duck’s hand a final tight squeeze.

He couldn’t back out. He didn’t want to. He wanted to be brave for Oakley, no matter how scary this was. And they’d be together the whole way down. He wanted to do this, for himself too. “Y-yeah!”

“Remember to scream!” With those final words, Oakley jumped out of the airplane.

They were falling, plummeting faster than Duck had ever gone before. Air rushed past Duck’s ears as the canopy of green so far beneath them stretched as far as the eye could see. Duck let out a loud, prolonged yell, forcing the lump out of his throat and grounding him back into reality. He could breathe, just like Oakley had said. The yelling worked to remind him. He wasn’t even short of breath and he didn’t have that dropping feeling in his gut like rollercoasters and water park slides gave him. Instead everything around him was quiet and peaceful but also beautifully exhilarating: a moment of pure, unbridled joy. It was almost like he was floating. No, more than that… All of a sudden, the parachute was pulled. They shot upwards into the sky for a moment and with the rush of the wind gone, Duck heard Oakley’s words as they leaned towards his ear.

“You can fly!”

Duck felt his heart swell at those words. He’d been flying. Euphoric excitement coursed through his veins, an amalgamation of joy and love. The words Oakley had said reverberated in his mind. With three words they had said so much. That last date when Roy had embarrassed him and Duck had let his past spill out to Oakley he’d wondered if it had been too much to share then wondered when they gave no response if Oakley had even cared. But they’d heard it all: the pain of that nickname, the long-forgotten dream. This had been their answer. They’d helped Duck fly.

“Wanna try?” Oakley offered Duck the handles of the parachute.

Duck quickly took them, smiling to himself as Oakley’s hands came to rest on top of his own. “I can see why you like it up here!” he called back as they drifted down peacefully, gently guided this way and that by the pull of the handles.

“Everything makes sense in the sky!” Oakley’s words were shouted, but their quiet tone was the same as always.

“That’s why you brought me up here, right? So, the words Roy said wouldn’t matter anymore!”

“I did it because you belong up here, with me!”

Duck wished he could hug Oakley right now. Instead, he settled for squeezing their hands, knowing that hug would be coming soon enough once they reached the ground.

It was silent between them as they gently floated down, their focus on the beauty round them as the patchwork of greens slowly grew larger beneath them, eventually settling into one uniform deep green tone as the landing zone came into sight. Oakley took control of the handles once more, guiding the parachute to turn and angle into the wind to help slow their descent. The brake lines were pulled and their speed slowed more and more as they neared the field until all that remained as they touched down was to slide along the grass to an easy stop.

“Wow, I-” Duck was about to say more, but a quick kiss from Oakley upon his cheek froze him in his tracks. He was left sitting in stupefied joy as his paramour undid the straps connecting them and began the process of removing themselves from the parachute. He turned slightly to watch them work. Dating a skydiving instructor really was the coolest thing ever.

Once they were done, Oakley took Duck’s hands and helped him up. “The bus is over there,” They nodded in the direction of it, moving to head out when Duck squeezed their hands lightly, causing them to look up at him.

Duck was grinning from ear to ear. “This was the best date ever! There’s no way I can beat this one!” He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his love’s cheek. “Thank you,”

“You’re welcome,” The smile was clear on Oakley’s face even as their eyes were locked on the ground. “You’ll come again!”

“Oh, definitely! Like I said, I’m gonna become a skydiving master! Just you wait, soon we’ll be able to do all the badass skydiving tricks together!” Turning toward the bus, Duck continued to gush about all that he wanted to learn to do in skydiving while Oakley happily followed along, listening quietly. It had certainly been a date to remember, one that felt like the beginning of something entirely new.