Chapter Text
｀、ヽ｀ヽ｀、ヽ ☂️｀、ヽ｀ヽ｀、ヽ
The walk home, or to Louie’s home at least, was silent, the tension palpable in the air. The lack of conversation between the two left Louie’s mind swirling with unwanted thoughts, and the duck desperately racked his brain for a subject to talk about to distract himself.
“So… who are you guys playing against tomorrow?”
Ty jumped at Louie’s voice, eyebrows shooting up. “Uh, Saint Canard. Why?”
Louie ignored the question and pressed on. “Hmm. Are they good?”
“Yeah, they’re pretty solid. One of the best in Duckburg, actually.”
Louie smiled. “Not as good as us though, huh?”
Ty chuckled. “I’m not sure I’d say that.”
“Well, you’re pretty good.”
Ty’s eyes widened, the ghost of a smile dancing on his lips. “You think?”
“I mean… when you’re not hitting unsuspecting ducks in the head and giving them concussions? Yeah, I’d say you’re not bad.”
Ty scoffed. “You did not get a concussion.”
“I could’ve.”
“Maybe if you were anyone else, you could’ve. But like you said, McDucks gotta be built durable.”
Not durable enough, apparently.
Louie shook his head in an attempt to push aside his thoughts as they continued to walk quietly. “Are you nervous? For tomorrow, I mean.”
Ty considered this before shrugging, feigning indifference.“I mean, what’s the worst that could happen if we lose? Sure, it’ll be really embarrassing, but lots of teams have lost against them before. As long as our score isn’t too bad… like, I don’t know, 9-1 or something.” He took in a shaky breath as a strained smile crept onto his face. Louie watched as Ty discreetly tugged on his shirt in worry.
And yet here he was, walking Louie home at 3 in the morning instead of getting a good night’s rest. Other people would have felt grateful, but for some reason, guilt instead was the emotion that gnawed at Louie. He should have just walked home alone—
“Lou, are you okay?” Ty’s gentle voice interrupted his spiralling thoughts.
The simple question was enough to make them tear up. sh*t.
"I'm fine," Louie snapped, before immediately regretting his outburst as Ty flinched. An awkward silence followed before they continued to walk in silence.
“Sorry,” Louie mumbled, then sighed. “Just… had a little disagreement with someone. That’s all, It’ll be fine.”
“…Huh.” Ty, who had been staring at his feet as they walked, now jolted up to study Louie for what felt like an eternity. “Did you get another boyfriend?”
“What?” Louie squawked, heart suddenly racing. “N-No, I—” They stuttered, before sighing again as his head hung low. “Yeah, maybe. Don’t— please don’t tell anyone.”
Ty sighed but said nothing. There was nothing that needed to be said, his disappointment was more than evident. Too evident.
“Did you guys break up?”
“I said it’ll be fine—” His voice started to rise before he stopped, bottom lip trembling. “I mean— No... It’s just another little disagreement, he wouldn’t—” He paused again, letting go of Ty’s arm to hug himself as he attempted to steady his ragged breathing. “We’ll be fine. We’re gonna be fine, everything’s gonna be fine! It’ll be fine.”
It was quiet. Too quiet. Louie hated it. “Aaron— my, uh, boyfriend— he wouldn’t just… leave. Sure, we’ve… we’ve disagreed but he cares. He’s different. It’ll be different this time.”
Louie stopped in his tracks and stared into Ty’s eyes, seeking for an answer. “Right?”
Ty’s eyes widened as he straightened, gripping the umbrella tighter. “Huh?”
Louie held back for a moment, not quite sure if he wanted to hear Ty’s reply. He decided to press on. “You think he’s different? You think this is gonna be different?”
Ty’s mouth opened as he started to speak, but stalled as Louie’s pleading eyes bore into him. Waiting, begging for an answer.
Ty took a deep breath, speaking carefully. “I… don’t know. I— but you know him best, what do you think? Do you think he’s different?”
“I—” Louie’s voice was small and cracked when he spoke. “…I don’t know.”
Ty flinched as he heard the crack in the duck’s voice, before visibly panicking at the tears now streaming down Louie’s face. “Hey— hey wait, I’m sorry I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t know, I don’t know I don’t know—” Louie was too far gone now, struggling to breathe as sobs racked his body. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
That was a lie.
“Hey, stop. Don’t say that, It’s not you, alright?”
He did know what was wrong with him. He just didn’t know how to fix it.
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Louie.”
He wouldn’t even know where to start. There were just too many things wrong with him.
“Listen, Lou, you’re… cool, you know?”
He was stupid,
“You’re sharp,”
He was cowardly,
“you’re brave,”
He was weak,
“you’re tough,”
He was selfish,
“you’re kind,”
He was a horrible, unlovable burden—
“You’re… really great, Lou. You’re a great person.”
“What?” Louie jolted up to look at Ty, bottom lip trembling. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Of course. Just gotta find a guy who sees that, ya know?”
“Heh, well, that’s what I’ve been trying to do for the past few months, but I’m kinda starting to think there’s nothing about me that’s worth anyone’s time or effort or god f*cking forbid, love—”
“Oh, Lou—”
Louie started howling with laughter as Ty’s hand lingered warily over them. “God, I’m— I’m sorry, I’m such a f*cking mess right now. I’ll be fine, don’t worry bout me—”
“Hey, hey hey, it’s alright.” Ty cautiously wrapped an arm around Louie’s trembling shoulders as he continued to laugh. “Let’s get you home alright? You should get some rest—” Ty froze as he was interrupted by Louie burying his face in the bear’s shoulder and starting to bawl.
“Oh.” Ty’s hand hovered awkwardly over the duck, before moving to rest it gently on Louie’s back. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ll be okay, just let it out, yeah?”
“I’m sorry—”
“Don’t be. Stop apologising, alright? You’re okay.” Ty started to rub Louie’s back in a circular motion as he babbled incoherently. Ty’s ears flicked back as a particularly high-pitched wail escaped Louie.
“…That’s a bit high pitched though, no?”
There was a snort before Louie started to laugh softly. “Sorry, I’m just… not doing too great, I guess. I… haven’t been okay in a long while, actually.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Ty’s hand moved to cradle the back of Louie’s head. “But it gets better. It always does.”
“I don’t know—”
“It will,” Ty told him firmly, cupping Louie’s cheek as they looked up at him. The bear spoke again, voice gentler. “Promise.”
They stood together in silence for a while as the once heavy rain began to ease into a drizzle.
Suddenly, Louie jumped as Ty suddenly pressed a thumb to his cheek to wipe away a fresh tear. The hand pulled back quickly as Ty began to stutter. “Uh— Sorry, I… I didn’t—”
“Oh, no I… I don’t mind actually.” Louie let out a nervous laugh before snapping his beak shut, gaze dropping to the floor.
“Oh.” Ty blinked. “Really? You’re sure?” Louie nodded.
Ty hesitated for a moment more. Tentatively, He moved to cradle Louie’s face and rubbed at the tear tracks on his face, wiping it dry. Ty started to withdraw from them but stopped as he noticed Louie unconsciously leaning into the warmth of his hand. Louie closed his eyes, sighing as his shoulders relaxed.
Ty smiled in relief, before tilting Louie’s chin to look up at him. “Hey, You’re gonna be fine. Hang in there, yeah?”
Louie stared up at him, dumbstruck. “Okay.”
Ty withdrew his hand, gazing at Louie softly. “Alright.”
Louie sighed and leaned into Ty once more, his body suddenly heavy with exhaustion. Ty wrapped his arm around them and wavered, before gingerly resting his chin on Louie’s head. They stayed like that for a while in stillness as the rain began to ease off.
Ty lifted his chin to peek out from under the umbrella. “Oh, hey. Looks like the rain is letting up.”
Louie hummed in response. Ty looked down at the duck and smiled tenderly, chuckling as he patted them on the back. “Heh, you look like you’re ready to drop. Let’s get you home, yeah?”
There was silence as Ty waited for a reply. Louie took a deep breath and nodded. They pulled away from the bear and hesitated as Ty raised an eyebrow. Louie shifted his hoodie to one hand and held out the other to Ty questioningly, uncertain. Ty’s eyes widened and cheeks coloured. “Oh. Uh—”
Louie retracted his hand quickly, embarrassed. “Sorry, I just— you don’t have to—”
“Wait, no—” Ty moved to grab Louie’s hand, before moving back as the duck looked at him in surprise. “Uh— no, I mean… It's fine. Fine with me, I mean.”
Louie looked at him doubtfully. “You sure?”
“Yeah.” There was a pause before Ty offered out his hand to Louie. The duck hesitated for only a beat before accepting it, attempting to ignore the fluttering in his chest as Ty clasped his hand tenderly. They stood silently for a moment, unsure what to do next.
“So, uh.” Ty started casually, his free hand fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Shall we go?”
Louie smiled to himself. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
｀、ヽ｀ヽ｀、ヽ ☂️｀、ヽ｀ヽ｀、ヽ
