junior woodchuck rule 727

hubert "huey" duck "this is the only book I trust. if it's not in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, then it's not a thing." private rp blog

[hubertducck]

NAME:   Hubert "Huey" Duck  AGE:   Twenty-Three  SEXUALITY:   Bisexual HEIGHT:   5′10″ and a half 5'11" and a half thank you very much! PRONOUNS:   He/Him OCCUPATION:   Future Park Ranger

[dellacacy]

Della had so many questions as she took in the sight of the two boys in front of her. They were obviously identical, though they each had their differences especially in their demeanors. The first one who caught her attention was the one who spoke up first, staring at an unfamiliar-looking device in his hand as he bluntly responded to her in a very Scrooge-like manner. No solicitors. Well, that was offensive. She also noticed that he, too, had a prosthetic leg, though his was much fancier than the one she’d gotten while lost within the portal and on his opposite leg. She only got a quick glimpse at it though before the other stepped in front of him. They all stared at each other in confusion as they tried to connect the missing pieces.

Her eyes lit up as the second stranger confirmed she was at the right house. Hallelujah! Still, it didn’t explain who these two were, especially answering the door instead of her brother or uncle. Perhaps they were babysitting the triplets for them while they were busy… That would explain who they were, why they wouldn’t know who she was, and why she didn’t know them! What else could possibly explain this strange interaction? “Great, are they here? Does that mean my boys are here too?” She asked eagerly before she began to answer his own question. “It's me, Della! You know.. the triplets’ mom? Donald’s sister? Please tell me they’re here, I’ve been dying to see them!”

[llouieduck]

When the stranger dropped the name Della—not only mentioning her but claiming to actually be their missing mother—a chill ran down Louie’s spine. That was fucking haunting. He was almost impressed by the sheer audacity…but mostly he was aggravated. He’d pulled his fair share of shady schemes in the past, but pretending to be somebody’s long-lost family member was something else entirely. He immediately wanted to say, ‘Hey crazy lady, leave us alone!’ and shut the door in her face. Instead he offered her some sardonic advice, leaning around Huey’s shoulder to stare her down. The crazy thing was—now that he had it in mind, the woman actually did resemble that old photo of their mother Dewey probably slept with under his pillow, only a few years older and like she’d been through some shit.

“This might have worked twenty years ago, but Della Duck would be forty-five now, if she’s still alive. You should pick a missing person in your age range next time you wanna try to scam a grieving family.” As soon as he said it, though, Louie doubted himself. Would his uncles have even reported Della as a missing person if they knew she had gone into a whole other dimension? He tried to think about that fateful day at the hotel as little as possible, but he couldn’t forget the note she had left, saying that she was going through a portal with no other explanation or goodbye for the babies she was abandoning. It was possible she wasn’t actually on any missing persons list, which meant this imposter would have had to already know about her personally to choose Della Duck to impersonate, in which case she should also know how old Della was. It didn’t make any sense. Louie stayed half-hidden behind his brother, mentally calculating the chances that this woman wasn’t as much a would-be scammer as someone who had lost touch with reality.

[hubertducck]

As she introduced herself to them, the look of curiosity he had now switched into that of disbelief. She couldn’t be serious, Huey thought. Della? Their Uncle Donald’s sister? Their mom?!? Aka the same mom who disappeared over twenty years ago where neither their Uncle Donald or Uncle Scrooge has ever seen or heard of her since? That Della Duck!? His eyes narrowed in suspicion. There’s no way this woman could actually be their mom. It would’ve been too coincidental that she’s now suddenly showing up after everything that’s happened lately. With the revelation that Dewey and Webby has been searching for any sorts of clues and answers about her whereabouts, to the point where the one place that apparently held the biggest clue yet about what happened to her being what tipped everything off— now their mom was back?! Huey couldn’t believe it. He didn’t believe it.

Louie’s words echoed as his brother spoke over his shoulder. And that was another point, even if this woman was their mom, she physically couldn’t be due to her looking no more than a few years older than them. For one, he remembered Donald telling them how young their mom was when she had them, and since she definitely hadn’t been that young when she got pregnant, that alone made it impossible for this woman to be her. And secondly, Della was Donald’s twin sister, and their Uncle Donald very clearly wasn’t a man in his twenties anymore. Plus, the fact that not only was Scrooge away on business, but the fact that both their Uncle Donald and Aunt Daisy had recently left the isle on a birthday trip for their uncle as well, leaving the McDuck Manor mostly devoid of anyone who could confirm the truth on who this woman was, didn’t help ease the elder triplet’s suspicion. If anything, Huey crossed his arms at her before speaking with a tone of distrust. “First thing, what he said— you should’ve picked someone more believable if you want us to think you’re Della Duck.” Huey began. “Secondly, this scam would’ve worked best if you showed up when both Dewey and Webby were searching for you, so you’re months too late for that. And thirdly, it’s just us here.”  

[deweydewdrop]

Dewey knew it was a long shot, but he was determined anyways to be a better brother and make amends. On top of the bombing and the fight, Dewey had topped angering his family by moving in with Morty for awhile, something that had intended to be temporary to let his family cool off from the anger but only seeming to irritate them further. He couldn’t do anything right. Not even a gift that was a genuine gesture. 

Ever since the middle triplet moved into Morty’s, the manor felt so quiet and empty when he’d stop by — it was obvious his family was avoiding him at all costs. He could see it in Huey’s eyes as he got his attention that he wished he had time to dodge Dewey and leave the kitchen. The last time they talked in there together, they had been fighting about Dewey’s actions at the ball. Dewey’s heart sank as the present was pushed back in his direction, though he didn’t plan to give up that easily. “If you don’t want it now, save it for Christmas then,” he insisted as he pushed it back toward Huey. “Seriously, it’s yours.”

[hubertducck]

It was safe to say that Huey has yet to let go of his anger towards Dewey. No, he wasn’t raging anymore over everything his brother had caused, but the older still couldn’t stand to be in the same room as him without his blood starting to boil. So, the fact that Dewey not only decided to randomly show up at the Manor—after he decided to move out—but he really had the audacity to show up in front of him. With a present.

As Dewey pushed the gift right back towards him, claiming that it was a Christmas gift for him, Huey scoffed. “I don’t want it.” He repeated, this time around not bothering to even look at the gift. It didn’t matter to him if this was a Christmas gift, or even some kind of apology gift, he didn’t need it nor did he wanted it. Besides, it wasn’t as if Huey could be bought out of his forgiveness anyways if this was some kind of tactic into getting him to forgive his brother. “Handing me a gift is not going to do much in getting me to forgive you.” He claimed.

[buttercuppg]

Buttercup couldn’t hold back as she rolled her eyes at his reaction — he was so dramatic, knowing the punch was as light as possible and probably didn’t even hurt at all. She’d hit Louie way harder than that before and he still handled it better. “That’s what you think,” she answered simply as she made herself comfortable on the counter.

The snort Huey made in response made Buttercup smirk in amusement — so they did have at least one thing in common, and it was poking fun at Louie’s new relationship. “I should start charging Davis for every time he interrupts our hangouts,” she thought out loud, though she already did get some benefits to their relationship when Louie would buy stuff for them with Davis’ money. Buttercup’s eyebrows quirked up as Huey tried to say he wasn’t up to nerd stuff, when his actual answer clearly said otherwise. “So… nerd stuff,” she confirmed, giving him a knowing look. Buttercup didn't play video games very often, but it would help the time pass if Louie was going to be awhile. “Depends… does it include any violence? Gore?”

[hubertducck]

Bemused, it didn’t take Huey much to imagine Buttercup charging Davis for the constant interruptions he caused whenever he wanted Louie’s undivided attention. “Go for it.” He remarked in response. “Davis wouldn’t care. Heck, he’ll even pay you a hefty amount just to consume all the time he could with Louie.” Though the joke would still be on the young millionaire because if there was anyone who would fight him for his brothers attention, it would be the green Powerpuff before him.

With a half-hearted roll of his eyes, the eldest triplet then shrugged. “It’s nerd stuff.” He ended up repeating, figuring it was best to agree with her, and not wasting the time trying to argue or explain why playing Legends of Legend Quest Dereznaroth wasn’t nerdy. If anything, that made him more of a geek, but that conversation could be saved for another time. Instead, she seemed somewhat interested in playing the game with him, and in return, Huey grinned at Buttercup. “There’s so much violence! The game allows you to go on various quests, where all sorts of vicious monsters can be encountered that you need to fight and destroy! And if you want, you can even raid multiple cities and places too.” 

[dellacacy]

Finally being back in Destiny Isle was so surreal, Della could hardly believe it. She took a deep breath as if to take in the familiar air, hands on her hips as she observed her surroundings. Things seemed a little more different than she anticipated, but that didn’t discourage her. All that mattered now was that she returned to her family. She knew exactly how to get back to the manor, anxious to see her family and especially her sons. She wondered who would answer the door first and what their reaction would be, smoothing out her hair as she thought of her initial greeting. Should she play it casually? Spice it up and add her special Della charm? If Scrooge or Donald were to be upset by her absence, she’d have a lot of explaining to do — her mind was running wild with possibilities of how this would play out. She had no idea that she’d instead be greeted by Huey and Louie, all grown up and none of them recognizing each other. Della already flopped her first impression as the front door to the manor opened, impulsively beginning with a “What’s upppp!” until she realized she had no clue who these two were. “Oh!” Della interrupted herself, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Uh, heyyy? I’m looking for Scrooge.. or Donald … they still live here, right?” @hubertducck @llouieduck

[llouieduck]

Even nine months after The Incident, when most of the dust had settled—things hadn’t returned back to normal between the Duck siblings. Dewey still hadn’t moved back into McDuck Manor, and the triplets and Webby had never returned to their regular sibling lunches they’d enjoyed together before everything went down last September. That left only Huey and Louie heading out to eat today and opening the door on an unexpected visitor. It was an awkward moment with her overly-familiar greeting and subsequent confusion at seeing who had opened the door, but Louie was only half-paying attention anyway (the other half of his attention focused on looking up restaurants on his phone.) He didn’t have much interest in strangers on the doorstep, and answered bluntly the way they’d all been coached by their great uncle in childhood: “No solicitors.”

It was weird that she was apparently on a first name basis with his uncles, though, without even being certain if they still lived here. So maybe he was a little curious about the stranger on their doorstep…Louie finally looked up from his phone long enough to get a look at the woman. She looked a bit familiar, but in a distant way—like she’d been a side character in some movie he watched a few years back. Maybe she was some second cousin a few times removed that Webby had shown them in explanations of their family tree? He noticed her leg next. Did he recognize her from physical therapy? He didn’t remember seeing anyone with such a makeshift-looking prosthesis—his own, the best money could afford thanks to Uncle Scrooge, stood out in stark comparison. The fact that it was her left leg and his right made them almost a clumsy mirror-image of one another as they stood across the threshold from each other. Who was she?

[hubertducck]

Throughout the past couple of months, the eldest of the Duck trio had gone through a range of emotions. Concern, anger, confusion, self-blame, blaming others especially that of their middle brother, loathing, more anger, and so on until he eventually settled on being forced to accept that this was the reality they were all living in. The once lively and close knit family that resigned within the McDuck Manor was no longer the same as they used to be, with Huey now being closes to Louie while his relationship with Dewey still being as strained as ever. He didn’t harbor as much anger towards him as he used to, but even with the lack of Dewey’s presences within their home, Huey hasn’t been able to find it within him to forgive his brother just yet. He’s forgiven Webby, but even the blonde wasn’t as bubbly and cheery as she used to be nor has she been spending as much time with him and Louie like she normally would She wasn’t avoiding them anymore, but she still kept her distance, which meant things like their once regular sibling lunches of four now became exclusively a regular sibling lunch for two. As two thirds of the Duck triplet was about to make their way out of the mansion, Huey being the one to open the door leading to their exit from the Manor, the pair came to a halt at the sight of an unexpected visitor. 

At her sudden greeting, Huey stared at her with sheer confusion, but then that transformed into curiosity once she took note of the both of them before questioning if either their uncles was home. That confused Huey even further. It was one thing for her to know this was where his Uncle Scrooge lived— everyone within the isle knew this was the McDuck Manor, but it was the way she formed her question that confused him the most. ‘They still lived here, right?’ Who was this woman, and what connection to their uncles did she have? Taking a step towards the side, his body shielding Louie behind him before Huey inspected her. Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why. Had they seen her before? Was she an old colleague of Uncle Donald’s back when he tried working for an office? But how did she know their Uncle Scrooge if she was? Maybe she conducted a past business deal with him? Somehow, neither of those suggestions felt right to Huey, which is why he instead cocked his head at the woman. “You’re at the right house….” He slowly responded, before narrowing his eyes at her. “I’m sorry, but who are you and how do you know them?” 

[dontgiveadonald]

By the blank expression on his nephew’s face, it was clear that he wasn’t getting through to him like he’d hoped. Donald sighed. Huey was more like him than he ever thought before. He wouldn’t wish his anger issues on anyone, feeling bad for his nephew but knowing all he could really do was be supportive and ensure that he didn’t let his anger take over his entire life. 

Just like Huey was used to Dewey being selfish, Donald had grown used to Della being selfish after so many years too, though that never erased the anger he felt when she had disappeared and left her sons behind. Even to this day, Donald still would have dreams of Della coming back and Donald letting out all his anger in an argument with her. There was the childish selfishness, and then there was the selfishness that changed the lives of their family forever, and Della and Dewey had both crossed that line by now. To an extent, Donald and Huey would never fully comprehend their siblings thought processes, which was why it was best to accept the damage already done and move forward. It would drive them insane to try to make sense of it otherwise.

The uncle could see Huey biting back his bitterness as he listened. He knew it wasn’t easy. He nodded silently at his question, expecting the triplet’s stubbornness to continue — he couldn’t be angry at Huey for it. “You need time… and that’s fine. I’m just saying you can’t hold onto this forever.” If he did stay angry forever, it would tear him apart — tear them all apart. They didn’t need more damage than they already had in this family. Listening to Huey explain, Donald could understand where he was coming from. He had countless situations in the back of his mind that he could think of where he also was the last to be known about something. Donald was left out pretty often. He wondered if Huey understood why Dewey had left him out of it though, why he was smart enough to keep it from the eldest triplet. “I know… he probably only did that because he wanted to protect the truth, which we all know was stupid and selfish. It wasn’t anything personal to you, or Louie. And Webby…” he sighed again as he continued, “He obviously took advantage because he knew she wouldn’t want to betray him.. If I were you, I wouldn’t put any blame on her. She was caught in the middle and she shouldn’t have been put in that position in the first place.” Unfortunately, none of them should have been put in the positions they were in, yet here they were. He eyed his nephew carefully to gauge how he was feeling about all of this. He wished he could do more. “Don’t let this eat you alive, Huey. It may seem like Dewey was trying to push you away, but he wasn’t. He just … he doesn’t think before doing things, and he’ll sneak around if he knows anyone would try and stop him. That isn’t any of our fault but his. But I think he’s starting to learn his lesson.” Or at least he truly hoped so.

[hubertducck]

He should’ve known. That’s what he kept on thinking. He should’ve known. About the fact that Dewey was trying to find out what happened to their mom even if he hadn’t bothered to tell either him or Louie about it. About how Webby found out and had secretly been aiding Dewey the entire time despite her having every chance to tell him and Louie the truth herself. And even on that fateful day where they thought they landed on a huge break in discovering the truth about their mom— He should have known. But above all else, what Huey hated the most about not knowing about any of this was how completely blind he was in seeing just how much Dewey missed their mom. Despite neither of him or his brothers ever knowing her outside of the few things Uncle Donald had told them about, it never crossed Huey’s mind to miss her like that, nor did he consider either of his brothers would miss her too. Sure, he harbored some curiosity about their mom, but it was never enough for him to truly miss her nonexistent presences within their life. 

They had their Uncle Donald and Aunt Daisy to fit that parental role within their lives. Their Uncle Donald was pretty much their actual dad since he was the one who’s been with the three of them since he could remember. And even then, they had their Webby, Great Uncle Scrooge, Ms. Beakley, Launchpad, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Morty, Ferdie, Millie, Melody, Felicity, and Amely— he and his brothers had so many people within their lives that filled the void their mom had left them. How could Huey miss someone he never knew and yet have her be the founding reason to the destruction of his entire family? How could she be the motivating reason for Dewey to cause all of this, when all he had to do was let them know how he felt. Where they just not good enough for his brother? Is that it? Is that why Dewey kept all of this a secret?

His uncle was right, Huey did needed time, a lot of time. Time to really mull all of this through, and maybe then he could stop being so angry over all of this. Or maybe thinking all of this would end up pissing him off even more, he didn’t know. “…..We never kept this big of a secret from each other before.” Is what he began to say “At least— I thought we never did, but clearly I was wrong about that.” It was always one thing whenever he and his brothers, plus Webby, would know something that they didn’t tell their Uncle Donald or Uncle Scrooge about. That was them keeping a secret among each other—among siblings—but that was also a testament of how much they trusted one another to not tell anyone else. Even if that secret was a truth that could otherwise hurt to some degree, they would still tell one another about it, so Uncle Donald’s suggestion of Dewey wanting to protect the truth didn’t make any sense to Huey. “This was more then wanting to protect the truth, he was holding out on his own feelings— from us.” Was he and Louie bad brothers towards Dewey? Maybe that was it? Sure, he and Dewey fought more times than he can count, but Huey never tried to make his brother feel like he wasn’t necessary to their family. And he knew for a fact that Louie never did so himself. He sighed. “I know Webby’s not completely at fault. If it’s this hard for Dewey to tell us the truth, then no doubt it was even harder for Webby to do so, but still, it’s hard to wrap it around my head that they both kept things hidden for so long.” At his uncles following words, Huey snorted. “I won’t lie to you, Uncle Donald, I don’t think I can let this go anytime soon.” He confessed, though this time there wasn’t as much bite to his words as there had been before. “But I’ll try. For our families sake. I just wished I knew what has been going through Dewey’s head before any of this happened. I mean, he never even expressed missing our mom before, but now I’m wondering for how long? Just recently? Always?” 

[deweydewdrop]

“Of course,” Dewey muttered, unsurprised by his brother’s refusal to believe him. If the middle triplet wasn’t so stubborn, Dewey probably wouldn’t have even bothered. Huey would never understand — which was probably true even if the siblings didn’t have tension from the bombing. It was one thing to not understand though, Dewey was well aware how different he and Huey were — but to completely dismiss Tiffany? And, even worse, to accuse her of tricking him? Dewey was fuming now, almost more so than when he was fighting with Randy. It felt much more personal when it was his own brother who was against him.

“Seriously!?” He asked at first, dumbfounded by the accusation. Why would she trick him? What would be the reason? “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he answered, his anger becoming more obvious from his tone. The truth was that Dewey didn't owe Huey any explanation when it came to this situation — he didn't know Tiffany or Randy, so he wouldn't know how closely tied they were together, how they shared a house and a dog and an entire friend group. Even their jobs were intertwined! At the end of the day, Louie had finally talked to Dewey again, so did anything else really matter? It seemed like Huey just wanted to be mad just because. “You know what, I’m starting to think that you just don’t want me to be happy," he continued. "You can be pissed about everything that happened before, that's completely valid, but Tiffany is the one thing that has helped me get through all of this. She's a good person. If you can’t accept that, and you’d rather believe your own twisted version of what happened tonight, then I don’t even know why we’re still arguing and wasting each other's time."

[hubertducck]

“I know everything I needed to know.” Huey snapped right back. He didn’t need to know the personal life about this girl and her boyfriend or why his very own brother decided to get involved with them. The truth of the matter was that she was already with someone else, and if she had been so unhappy with her current relationship that she looked at Dewey for refuge, then she should've done the sensible thing and break up with her boyfriend first before getting his brother involved even more. After all, if her relationship had been so terrible, why was she even with this guy in the first place? Why hasn’t Dewey ever mentioned her before or explain sooner on why she couldn’t just leave her boyfriend even if she wanted to? If he liked her so damn much, why couldn’t he have just waited until things were okay so there wouldn’t have been anymore unnecessary problems! That’s what Huey couldn’t get. Dewey already found himself in hot water and instead of making things better, he had to made things even worst because once again, he couldn’t take the moment to stop and think before doing something completely selfish.

Then at his brother’s following words, Huey’s eyes darkened. “You think I don’t want you to be happy? Me? Oh that’s fucking rich coming from you!” He humorlessly laughed. His siblings happiness is all Huey ever wanted for them. Why wouldn’t he want them to be happy? No amount of past disagreements or fights would ever make him wish any ill towards his siblings, not even Dewey himself, and he was the one Huey was often at odds with. And deep down—deep, deep, deep down—he still didn’t wish his brother any ill. Of course he was majority pissed off at him and he was finding it difficult to even look at his brother’s direction, but Huey did wanted Dewey to be happy. He wanted all of them to be happy. Louie and Webby included. But it seemed like in his middle brother’s pursuit in happiness, it caused lasting damages in return, and all for what? Because he couldn’t even bother to let him or Louie know how he was actually feeling until it became too late? “I’m not stopping you in being with her.” Huey began. “If she makes you happy, great! Keep doing what you’ve already been doing! This is not the first time you’ve acted out of selfishness and i wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t your last. But all this makes you happy right? That’s all that matters— only your happiness. Right?!” At this point, Huey didn’t even look mad anymore, just done. “If you want to go live your new happy life with your new girlfriend, then just go.” 

[llouieduck]

Louie echoed his brother’s laugh with a quiet chuckle at the mental image of Scrooge offering a pile of scrap to build with rather than the ready-made birdhouse kit—it was funny because it was true, the idea really not being too far-fetched for their great uncle’s character. The Duck boys would never forget the old man giving them nothing but a bag of marbles to play with the first time they met him—a bag of marbles they weren’t even allowed to keep at the end of the day—let alone the other inexpensive gifts he’d gotten them for every birthday and holiday since. For the richest man in the world, he was a true cheap-ass bastard. Louie took after him in some ways, being just as money-loving, but he prided himself in being more generous with his earnings...Although Uncle Scrooge might consider him to be careless with money, always spending more than he saved, Louie felt like the whole point of having money was to use it, not to hoard it. The way they’d grown up, he never wanted to see his family lacking anything again. From the beginning of his original arrangement with Davis he’d started treating his siblings to nice meals and random gifts; it was a way to show his love without having to say it. Though he’d naturally stopped giving Dewey and Webby anything after the incident in September, and even now they were only on the shakiest foundation of partially-rebuilt bridges crossing the chasm that had opened between them. They had gotten rather Scrooge-ish gifts from Louie this Christmas, unlike his favorite brother.

“But mine is still the best gift, right?” he asked, not-at-all-subtly prompting Huey for praise about the present he’d gotten him: a super-fancy, super-expensive telescope. He could probably see life on other planets with that monster. Maybe the moon was a better place to live. More peaceful. Louie mixed colors on the palette until he reached his favorite shade of mint green, perfect for grass or flower stems. A nice shade of red for the petals would be next, one that was bright but still soft, not glaring. Huey was right about this being a good distraction from everything else; it was why he had been drawing so much since his injury. Not only because he couldn’t go anywhere or do much else for a long time while recovering, but because art quieted his mind for a while and gave him something else to focus on.

[hubertducck]

It really was nice doing this little project with his brother. Not only was this a great distraction from everything else that has happened lately, but the eldest of the two has also came to realize that this was the first time in a while where both he and Louie did something like this together. Granted, ever since the accident, the two of them has been sticking to one another more than usual, especially with both of them harboring their own respective feelings towards Dewey and even Webby, so it wasn’t as if they hadn’t spent any time together until this very moment. However, this was the first time where the both of them seemed to be hanging out with some kind of peace and calmness surrounding them. Maybe because of the fact that they were both purposely ignoring bringing up the bombing issue at large outside of the oldest former statement of building this birdhouse being helpful at distracting him, but Huey truly had to admit, he found this sudden quality time with Louie really nice. Very enjoyable even, despite his youngest brother’s refusal to help him actually build the birdhouse, but at least it would end up looking very pretty once they were finished. Maybe they should do something like this again sometime soon.

Using his hammer to put the two new pieces together, Huey snorted. Of course Louie would want to know if his Christmas gift had been the best among all the ones he got. And truthfully, he couldn’t even say it wasn’t, Louie’s gift had been one of, if not, was the best gift he received. “It was.” The oldest admitted, letting go of the hammer in order to reach for the screwdriver. Placing the nail where it needed to be, Huey twisted the screwdriver against it as an amused smile now made it’s way onto his face. It’s actually kind of funny how since all three of them were kids, both he and Dewey would clam that Louie was the ‘evil triplet’ among the three of them and their youngest brother wouldn’t even deny it. Yet, despite how things may seem, the truth was that Louie was anything but evil— he was the softest one between them. Case and point, no matter how money hungry and greedy his brother may get whenever it came to money, one things for sure is that Louie would never miss the chance to splurge on him or any of their siblings. Although, it didn’t go unnoticed by Huey how gracious Louie was towards Dewey and Webby this past Christmas, not that he could even blame him. Still, the high-definition and extremely expensive telescope that his baby brother had gifted him this year was a total surprise for him, but one he would definitely cherish for years to come. “Then again, you didn’t have to drop that much money on a telescope for me, you know? I would've been okay if you had bought me a regular telescope instead. But I won’t lie, your gift did top all the rest, including this one.” Huey held out one of the random pieces of the birdhouse before grinning. "Kind of puts my own gift for you to shame though."

[blossomu]

The mental track Huey was stuck looping around wasn’t helpful for his processing of the situation, and it wasn’t logical either—to the point where Blossom worried about how she was supposed to break him out of it. He was always the kind of person who favored facts and logic, but this time his emotions outweighed his sense. How could she validate him and convince him that his feelings were wrong at the same time? While she wanted him to feel comfortable opening up—especially knowing how rare it was for him to actually express instead of bottling up those feelings—she couldn’t allow him to keep thinking in a way that was only serving to hurt him instead of aid his healing journey. “Hue…The fact that you weren’t given a chance to be there makes you even less at fault for anything that happened,” Blossom insisted. “You didn’t choose not to be involved. Everyone knows you would do anything for your family. But you can’t change the past; what’s done is done and we can only move forward from here. What do you think will happen if you get stuck in the past?” She looked deep into his eyes again, trying to impress this point. “Because I think it will keep you from enjoying the present with the people who care about you.”

[hubertducck]

Deep down, he’s aware that her words were meant to be comforting, and even deeper than that, he knew she was completely right. It would’ve been totally different if Huey had been given the chance to go to the hotel alongside the three and yet had decided to reject the offer. That would’ve been a huge reason for him to feel guilty and blame himself over all of this— But he was the oldest brother. These were things he should’ve just known without needing to be told about in return, and yet, he’s been so out-of-the-loop and none-the-wiser about it all. “I should’ve just known.” He replied, albeit with a more softer tone. “I’m their older brother. I’m supposed to be the one who looks out for all three of them, who should’ve noticed that something even more stranger was up, and yet…” Huey’s words trailed off before he once again let out a sigh. He was going in circles with his words, and quite frankly, he was getting tired of it. But at the same time, he couldn’t help it, yet hearing Blossom’s following words about him getting stuck in the past and how it would keep him from enjoying the present, his shoulders sagged. “I know. I know that nothing good comes with being so stuck within the past.” He admitted, and he should try to move on from dwelling so much about all of this. He just didn’t know how. But as he stared back into her eyes, a new thought of maybe he needed a distraction to calm himself down from all this, the eldest of the Duck triplet tried to half-heartedly smile. “Maybe a some kind of distraction would help me enjoy the present?” 

[llouieduck]

Louie sent Huey a withering look as he uttered the words sugar daddy in response to the mention of him paying people to do things for him. “Boyfriend,” he corrected, first and foremost, reminding his brother that he and Davis had started dating a few weeks before Christmas, so the whole sugar labels and arrangement no longer applied to describe their relationship. Louie also wanted to retort that the money he’d earned from that arrangement in the first place was his to do with as he pleased, the same as anyone’s salary from a regular nine-to-five, but more lucrative—but it wasn’t a point worth arguing now. He didn’t have to be so defensive over his former occupation. He really could say the word and his boyfriend would have done anything he wanted. A little too self-satisfied with that thought, Louie smiled as Huey moved to gather a bunch of paints for him to work with.

“Do you have a palette?” He accepted the bottles of paint from his brother, piling them on his lap and picking through the colors to see what he was working with. He’d get started on mixing more appealing shades than the bright primaries available while Huey worked on building the birdhouse. Now that he knew he didn’t actually have to build anything, Louie was content to participate in the activity, finding more solace in art than anything else lately. He mostly drew digitally these days, but painting was always a peaceful pastime. “I definitely got the better part of this D.I.Y. But as a Christmas gift, this really kind of sucks. Uncle Scrooge really couldn’t shell out on a present that came in one piece?”

[hubertducck]

At his younger brother’s correction on his status with his sugar daddy, sorry— boyfriend, the elder of the two half heartedly rolled his eyes. “Right, he’s you’re boyfriend now. Sorry.” Huey commented, still unable to wrap it around his head on the sudden arrangement change between Louie and Davis. He never thought he would see the day where Louie would voluntarily be with someone like Davis, especially not after all he’s done back when all of them were kids. Then again, with everything that has happened lately, Huey was realizing more and more how he should really be expecting the unexpected— Louie’s dating status with a formally psycho child billionaire who was ready to entrap his brother being one of them. And yet, it’s also ironic how this wasn’t the biggest news to drop on them as of recently and one where the eldest found easier to accept at that. But only because it seemed like Davis would genuinely take care of Louie. 

“Here,” at his brother’s request for a palette, Huey produced it out from the pile and handing it over to him. A part of him still thought that his brother would find enjoyment in helping him build the birdhouse if he put himself into it, but the older was content enough with the fact that Louie had decided to stay with him and paint. Besides, with his artistic addition, this birdhouse would end up looking immaculate once they were done with it! As Louie started off with his mixing of colors to paint, the red colored brother moved back to his former spot and picked up two more of the pieces he needed to put together along with his hammer. “It’s Uncle Scrooge— I’m just grateful that he even bought me an entire set to built from instead of handing me a pile of scrap and saying to create a birdhouse from that.” Huey replied as he let out a laugh. “And I really don’t mind getting this as a Christmas gift anyways— having something to build helps with the distraction from everything else.”

[buttercuppg]

Buttercup grinned mischievously instead of answering, still motioning for him to come over with her pointer finger despite his obvious disinterest in being punched. He was such a baby — it wasn't like she used her actual strength on him! No, she just enjoyed bullying the triplet for fun because that was her own way of showing affection. Louie was her best friend, so she saw the other two Duck triplets a lot over the years. Of course, Dewey was on her shit list ever since the bombing happened, so Huey was automatically the second-best triplet by default. Besides, it felt like she hadn't seen Huey in a while — this was her way of checking up on him.

As Huey began to critique her usual greetings, even offering an alternate greeting that was simple and lame, Buttercup faked a loud yawn and stretched her arms above her head dramatically, emphasizing just how boring his suggestion was. She rolled her eyes after. "Yeah, that would work if I wanted to put us both to sleep. A hello punch keeps you on your toes." As he slowly made his way to where she stood in the kitchen, she floated closer to him just to make sure she got the punch out of the way (very light, of course). The brunette smiled in satisfaction after, floating up to sit on the counter as the triplet asked about Louie. "Yeah, his boyfriend called," Buttercup answered with another eye roll, obviously referring to Doofus Davis Drake, "So I came to the kitchen to give them their privacy or whatever." She shrugged it off, despite that it was obvious she was still a little annoyed about the whole sugar daddy thing. She was happy Louie was happy, but it was the who of it all that Buttercup was still adjusting to. She was quick to change the subject. "Anyway, what kind of nerd stuff are you up to?"

[hubertducck]

As Buttercup floated closer to him, Huey braced himself for the incoming punch. Once she did it, he pretended to react like it had hurt despite the Powerpuff not hitting him as hard— he expected that she wouldn’t. He could complain all he wanted over the way she prefers to greet him, but at the end of the day he was aware this is how she liked to say “hi” to him and that she truly wouldn’t hurt him even if she wanted to still punch him. Letting out a quick “Ow,” in reaction, Huey reached over and pretended to rub the place where she had punched him. “I still think a ‘Nice to see you” is adequate enough greeting compared to punching.” He replied, with a pout. Yet Huey dropped it a second later, watching as Buttercup floated towards the counter where she sat down. 

At her confirmation that she was hanging out with Louie, only for his boyfriend to have called him hence why she was in here with him, the eldest triplet couldn’t help but snort. “Of course his boyfriend called.” Huey commented, still finding it quiet shocking that Louie had voluntarily decided to date Davis. It was shocking enough finding out that he had been his brother’s sugar daddy of all thing, but now the two of them were officially dating? What next, an invite to their solid gold wedding in the next couple of months? No, he didn’t think things would develop that quickly between them, but then again if it meant sealing the deal on Davis’s fortune, Huey may not put it past Louie. Not that he thought his brother was dating him just for his money because he’s seen how Davis made Louie happy, but who knows. That said, it didn’t surprise him to hear how Buttercup didn’t want to be stuck that room as Louie talked to his boyfriend, and knowing how long their phone calls usually lasts, it’ll be a while before they’re finished. Meaning, it was up to Huey to distract Buttercup himself. “Not to classify this as nerd stuff, but I was planning on loading up Legends of Legend Quest Dereznaroth to play.” He replied, walking up towards the fridge to pull out a few drinks to keep himself hydrated as he played. “You can watch me play if you want— I know it’s going to take a while until Louie is done with his phone call. Or I can put it in two player mode if you want to play alongside me?” 

[xxxknee]

[hubertducck]

“Nerd, come over here. I wanna punch ya” -Buttercup [ @buttercuppg ]

“Why!” With a frustrated sigh, Huey threw his head back. All he wanted to do was go into the mansion’s family room and load up Legends of Legend Quest Dereznaroth where he can tend to his in-game garden in peace. And that was exactly what he was going to do, having to catch sight of Buttercup within the kitchen as he began to pass by, and like the polite thing to do whenever he saw a friend, the eldest of the Duck triplet smiled at her and did a half-hearted wave. He figured that she was here for Louie, the Powerpuff and the youngest triplet being best friends so it wasn’t that difficult to conclude. He even figured that the reason she was alone at the kitchen was maybe even before she was getting something for the both of them before heading back towards his brothers bedroom so that they both can chill. But just as Huey was about to exit the room, Buttercup called him over with the request of wanting to punch him. Such a request had caused him to halt and groan.

“Why is it that whenever you see me, this is the kind of greeting I get from you?” Huey questioned, turning around to glance at her. “Can’t a simple “Hi Huey! Nice to see you!” work?” However, despite his words, the eldest didn’t actually seem to be as annoyed with her as he came off. Because for all intent purposes, this was the typical greeting he often would get from her, which is also why he had slowly made his way towards her. “It’s nice to see you too, by the way. Hanging out with Louie like usual?” 

[deweydewdrop]

Dewey was slowly trying to make ammends with everyone after the hotel bombing, but his fight with Randy at the Halloween masquerade sort of put a halt to that temporarily. He was already on most people's shit list and was only making it worse, yet he still didn't have any regrets. He just layed low afterwards, his face almost completely healed by now but still eager to fix things with the rest of his family. Dewey and Louie were seemingly doing better, though Dewey still thinks that Louie only caved and talked to him on Halloween just to get the tea on the fight .. Unfortunately, Huey wasn't as easy to crack. Dewey had tried to apologize countless times already, tried being nice and acting like things were normal .. then, he gave his space. The holidays were his excuse to try again though, attempting a peace offering a few weeks before the holiday season as a way to test the waters with their relationship again. Talking to Huey again felt like he was walking on eggshells, but Dewey knew better than to complain; he just had to accept it as it was and keep trying, this time starting with an extra early gift: a brand new notebook and fancy compass resting in a nice, red gift bag. He had to time it for when he knew Huey would be around, lucky to catch him at the table as he sat the gift bag in front of him. "You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to give you this." @hubertducck

[hubertducck]

Sitting by the table within the kitchen, he had his junior woodchuck guidebook opened against the counter as Huey’s gaze read through the passage of the page he had flipped to; the eldest not paying much attention to anything around him. If he had been, he would’ve been able to look up on time and notice when Dewey had walked inside the room, much less when he started to make his way towards him. Huey would’ve also had ample time to close his guidebook, stand up, and leave. Doing so would’ve been better than staying within the presences of the one person whom he still hasn't forgiven— despite everyone else seeming to have done so.

It has been a good amount of weeks since the hotel bombing, and yet despite the duration of time since that event, the eldest of the Duck brothers still felt like the bombing had happened only yesterday. So whenever he were to catch sight of his middle brother, Huey would immediately start to flare up. And the fact that said middle brother had also gotten himself into a fight not long after at the Halloween Ball, only enforced the anger and frustration the eldest felt towards him. Dewey knew that— his brother being smart enough to avoid him for a good while. Seemed like he wasn’t smart enough, because as he noticed the red gift bag being placed before him, Huey finally looked up. And just like that, he frowned, pushing the bag away from him before looking away from his brother once more. “Whatever it is, I don’t want it.” 

[ferdiefields]

@hubertducck said: “Sometimes I just get really, really mad and…but I'm working on it, okay?”

The situation in the Duck family was still tense months after the incident at the hotel. Though things had seemingly started looking up for Louie lately as he recovered and got accustomed to his new prosthetic, and for Dewey as he got a new girlfriend, that didn’t mean everything was perfect between them—hell, Dewey had even moved out to stay with Morty and Ferdie—or that other members of the family weren’t still struggling with their own emotional turmoil. Huey had the particular torment of an eldest sibling who felt he had somehow failed to protect his triplet brother, as impossible as it would have been for him to have done anything to prevent that situation.

Anyone could see that stress had been building up in Huey for a long time with no apparent outlet—probably because he continued to bottle it and push it down as much as he could instead of letting his anxiety and anger out in regular measured doses. This was a thought Ferdie had first had when he checked in on Webby a few weeks after the incident, but the word therapy kept running in his head when he saw what the family was going through. Have they sought family counseling yet? It felt intrusive to ask, judgmental to suggest, so Ferdie tried to sound as neutral as possible when he said, “It’s okay. You wouldn’t be human if you never got angry. Do you…have somebody to talk to about it?” That seemed an indirect and inoffensive enough way to get at what he meant.

[hubertducck]

Months has passed since the accident, and yet there was a certain Duck Triplet who still couldn’t let things go. Even with Louie healed and adjusted to his new prosthetic, Webby leaving her bedroom more often than she’s been doing, and Dewey not even living within the mansion anymore as to give space within the family, Huey still felt tormented over the incident. He was the only one between the four of them who wasn’t even at the hotel during the time of the incident, and yet with the way he’s been acting, one would’ve thought otherwise. Truth has it— it was because he had been the only one not at the hotel is why Huey has been so hung up over everything. He couldn’t get over the fact that he had been the most helpless. He had been so incapable and unsuccessful in protecting his loved ones like an older sibling should do.

But during the past couple of weeks, the eldest triplet has been trying to find ways to calm himself. Venting to others who weren’t his siblings had been the first step, and though at first it had been relieving to express how he’s been feeling, Huey realized that talking about Dewey only made him angrier, whereas talking about Louie made him more frustrated— so he sought out other alternatives. Like the D.I.Ying he did the other day, but even that only had been distracting enough for the moment before his thoughts started to get the better of him once again. But he was being truthful to Ferdie when he said he’s been working on it, even though the expression on Huey’s face clearly indicated how tried and drained he’s been feeling as of late. “I’ve been talking to Uncle Donald.” He admitted, being as frank and open with his uncle more than usual throughout these past couple of months. “Blossom too— but I haven’t said so much to her as I don’t want to burden her or my Uncle Donald anymore than I need to. But it’s fine! I know how to handle my emotions on my own.” 

[blossomu]

“Huey…” Blossom’s heart ached for him as he spoke of fearing what would happen if he wasn’t there next time somebody got hurt. She knew exactly what that was like, to a scale that she wasn’t even sure Huey himself could understand. She could never leave Destiny Isle or take vacation when some monster or supervillain could wreak havoc the moment her back was turned; she could never relax and turn off the hotline, because lives were at stake any time the Powerpuff Girls weren’t there to save the day. They had to remain ever-vigilant, or else be saddled with the guilt of any losses incurred during their absence forever. “Listen,” she prompted, making eye contact with Huey and holding it so he would focus on the importance of what she was about to say. “Do you really think that if you had been there, you could have stopped Louie from getting hurt? There were explosives. Part of the building collapsed. Your siblings were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but there’s nothing you could have done, and if you were present, you might have been hurt, too.”

If anything, it was Blossom and her sisters who should be taking the blame for failing to protect their friends from danger—but the bombing plot had come as a surprise to the police and the island’s resident superheroes, and the Powerpuff Girls weren’t involved in such investigations anyway. They always came at the call, but with no prior intelligence brief to alert them about certain criminal plans, they came for cleanup instead of prevention. “If I was there, I could have caught the wall before it fell on Louie. Do you blame me for not being there?” she asked Huey, trying to prompt him to see it from that perspective so he could at least absolve himself of that guilt, even if it didn’t take care of every problem. “If not, then you can’t blame yourself.”

[hubertducck]

Huey was aware that the way he’s been thinking and feeling lately was a little illogical. For as much as he wished he had been there at the hotel to prevent that wall from falling onto Louie and crushing his leg, he couldn’t be so sure that anything different would’ve happened if he had been. But the fact that he wasn't there was haunting him— the reality that he not only was the last one among his siblings to even know about what was going on or why Dewey, Louie, and Webby were all inside that hotel in the first place but also the fact that he wasn’t even given a choice to have been there in the first place or not. So hearing Blossom ask him if he really thought he could’ve stopped Louie from getting hurt if he had been there at the time, the most Huey did was take in a deep breath as he stared back at her. “Maybe.” He replied. “Maybe I could’ve been able to push Louie out of the way in time, or notice the sound of the bombs ticking before they had set off and could’ve warned everyone we had to leave…” Even saying that out loud, the eldest Duck triplet could hear how farfetched that sounded. 

Huey could’ve gotten hurt himself if he had been there, but the way he’s been feeling, his mind has been telling him that getting hurt would’ve been a risk he was willing to take because at least he could’ve still tried. That’s what he wanted Blossom to realize in where he was getting at. The fact that he had been stripped away of ever even having that choice of being there— because Dewey was so selfishly focused on this mystery about their mother without bothering to even tell him or Louie about it…. Once again, he shook his head at her. “Of course I don’t blame you for being there. But this is different, Bloss— I was never given the choice to be at that hotel! It’s one thing if I had been asked and I had decided to reject the offer,” Though that would’ve been a whole different kind of feeling he would’ve ended up feeling if that had been the case “—But I didn’t know about any of this! And I should’ve! I should've been there……yet I wasn’t even aware of when they all left for the hotel that day.” 

[llouieduck]

Louie narrowed his eyes at the look Huey gave him and the comment about their Uncle and Aunt not doing everything for him forever. Like it was his fault he had been injured in the partial building collapse after an explosion? Donald and Daisy had been overly attentive of him ever since his amputation, and Louie had admittedly been enjoying the benefits as far as they would stretch—so sue him. He didn’t rely on their parents for everything…He also leaned on other people for physical, fiscal and emotional support. But did Huey really think he wouldn’t enjoy being able to do things for himself? It was frustrating and embarrassing not to be capable of the same things he used to be, to feel like he had lost all independence for the foreseeable future. He could find a new normal eventually, learn how to live and move around with one fewer limb, but until then…Well, Louie was just irritable lately, depressed and angry a lot of the time. But Huey was still his best sibling right now, even after he’d started talking to Dewey and Webby again, so he sucked up his aggravation and played it off like he usually would.

“Yeah, I know they’re not. That’s what money is for. So I can pay people to do things for me,” he said, rolling his eyes and rolling his chair over to the clear spot beside Huey. He definitely had no intention of helping—despite his internal insistence that he did want to be able to do things for himself, he still only wanted to do the things he wanted to do, which did not include building birdhouses—but he would sit and watch while his brother worked. “No, no,” he protested the offer placidly, “I couldn’t possibly take your fun, therapeutic activity that you enjoy being able to do yourself from you. You go ahead and finish it.” He paused and then added with more actual interest, “But I could help paint it after.”

[hubertducck]

Despite what he said about their Uncle Donald and Aunt Daisy not being able to do everything for Louie forever, it wasn’t as if Huey hadn’t been catering to Louie lately himself. He may not have been fussy over his youngest brother the same way their uncle and aunt has been doing, but that could be because the eldest triplet has been dealing with his own emotional turmoil over everything that’s happened. He would still cater to him from time to time though, because not only was Huey still furious with Dewey to the point where he couldn’t even stand to be within the same room as the middle triplet without the both of them getting into a fight with each other, but because the eldest of the three wanted to keep making sure that Louie was in fact doing okay. To double check and make sure that he was still alive and breathing,…and that none of this wasn’t actually one huge nightmare in which Huey somehow can’t break out of and is forced to live through over and over again (and considering the types of adventures and experiences he and his family had endured, it wouldn’t be shocking if he was in fact trapped within a never-ending nightmare). Although, if all of this had in fact been a nightmare, Huey sure couldn’t wait to finally wake up from it and see that everything and everyone was in fact okay— that Louie was okay and had two working legs, and that Dewey wasn't holding a deep dark secret from the two of them.

Gathering two of the parts he needed to build together, the eldest shook his head at his brother. “Don’t you mean your sugar daddy would pay people to do things for you?” Huey remarked, glancing at Louie with a little bit of humor written on his face. “Though, Davis would most likely do anything for you himself if you asked him to.” Huey picked up a nail and a screw driver, placing the nail into the connecting holes before drilling the screw driver through. All he did in response to his brothers following words was snort, not surprised that Louie wasn’t interested in helping him built this birdhouse despite his offer for the two of them to work on it together. “You’re missing out~” Huey sang, now staring proudly at the two connected pieces as he was starting to get excited over the end results. He thought that maybe Louie would just watch him work in silence, so at the offer to help paint the birdhouse, the older of the two glanced back at him and smiled. “Sure, whatever you find most exciting to do. Here—” Putting the pieces down, Huey stood up and went over to the stack of outdoor acrylic paint, gathered them up into his arms and turned back towards his brother. “You can decide whatever colors we’ll use!”