#interaction | abner

[tunnagan]

" Hey Abbie, catch! " And then Gladstone is throwing himself at Abner. | @dollhousemuses​

“Fuck.” There goes his coffee, replaced by an armful of cousin. “You know, one day I’m not going to catch you, Gladstone.” He’s lying, of course. Abner will always at least try to catch his cousins when they fall. Or, in this case, throw themselves bodily at him.

[tunnagan]

Abner tags

about | abner, headcanon | aber, interaction | abner, ic commentary | abner, the estranged cousin | abner

[tunnagana]

isn't it hypocritical to hate scrooge for not being there for family, abner? | anon!

“I stayed away from my family because I couldn’t trust myself to be with them. I know what my anger is like. They deserved to have better than that.” Or maybe that was just his excuse. He wasn’t sure anymore. And- “I know I let my family down, I don’t need anyone to try and tell me exactly how and when I’ve failed them, I do a damn good enough job at that myself, and when I don’t, Della’s usually there to fill me in anyway.”

[tunnagana]

{ Gladstone at his coz Abner XD } “That’s why I take pictures of you, to prove to the world that you really exist.” | @bitofthisandthat​

“I’m not the goddamn Bigfoot, Glads.” Abner deadpanned, rolling his eye at his cousin. “Or any other kind of cryptid. I have a drivers license and a house. There’s a paper trail. It’s the rest of you we need photographic proof of.” There’s an undercurrent of pure amusement in his voice, though, and the constant tension in Abner is absent in the moment.

[tunnagana]

❝  Oh look— he DOES exist.  ❞  Gladstone says with a sniff of disdain, brow raised and eyes condescendingly lidded as he regards his cousin. He’s not sure how long it’s been since they last saw one another, but he feels secure in claiming that it’s both been too long and not nearly long enough. Leaning against a nearby surface, arms crossed and a foot flat against his support, he huffs,  ❝  I was startin’ to think you were pushin’ up daisies ‘cuz.  ❞  

Despite the following words, tone is far from relieved…  ❝  Nice to know I was wrong.  ❞  Feathers slightly ruffled with a frustration he contains to a mere bite in his voice— something Gladstone had worked long and hard to achieve, considering the formidable tempers on both sides of his family —the gander adds in a testily-joking tone,  ❝  Although if you were dead, then you’d at least have an excuse for leavin’ everybody high an’ dry. Of course, ol’ Ducksworth isn’t exactly of this realm anymore, an’ he’s still puttin’ in more hours with the fam than present company combined, eh?  ❞ | @ducktales-wco-oo

The condescension hurts - of course it does, all Abner has ever cared about is his family, but it’s an impossible argument to make with how he’d spent his last decade. He deserves ever ounce of anger and frustration that Gladstone feels toward him. He’s let them down, he knows just as much as any of his cousins do that that’s true. “I’m alive, obviously.” He finally manages, gruffer than Abner means to be.

His own feathers ruffle in his agitation, though the older duck does his best to keep that tapped down. “I know I’m a failure, Glad, so go ahead. Tell me all the ways I’ve failed you all so that I know the details of my sins.” It isn’t derisive, there’s a genuineness that Abner can’t keep out of his voice. He doesn’t want to know all the pain he could have protected his family from, but he needs to. Because he was selfish to wallow in his own grief while there were other people who needed him. He shouldn’t have let himself put his own feelings first in his life when he still had family hurting just as much with the loss of Della. “Please, Gladstone.”

[tunnagana]

How long has it been since he’s last seen Abner? Long enough for the loon-duck to take pause, ruby-rose hues wavering slightly as they briefly flit up and down as if trying to discern whether it actually IS his older brother he’s spotted. That’s a troubling fact; not knowing for certain from a glance. But frankly, it’s not as if he can be blamed for it… Does Abner know it’s him? He should, right? Yeah… He should…. Kind of like how Fethry shouldn’t have needed to silence his initial uncertainties.

Then again, Fethry does cut a distinctive form. With a heavily-speckled face and neck, big bright red eyes standing out amongst petite features, the loon-duck scrawnier and smaller than someone of his breed or age should be. But it’s always been that way… Blinking dumbly like a deer in the headlights, mouth opens to say something- anything… But to his dismay, words refuse to come. Instead a few rapid hoots slip out in succession, an instinctive call he hadn’t used since he was a child; calling for his brother to come over and be near him again. —  ( *shoves Fethry @ Abner  jgbkuhgghj ) | @ducktales-wco-oo​

It’s an instinctive shift, a low hoot leaving him in response as Abner’s body moves on autopilot toward Fethry. He knows Fethry’s calls anywhere, even after all this time. How could he not? His little brother had been the center of his world since the moment his egg was laid, Abner’s absences in his life recently only in his own misguided attempts at protecting Fethry first from the sight of their mother wasting away, and then from Abner’s own explosive emotional state having lost her and Della too close together for his heart to handle.

As soon as he’s close enough, strong, calloused hands wrap around Fethry, holding him close as if he’s the only thing tethering Abner to reality. And perhaps, in this moment, he really is. There’s an ocean sent clinging to his brother and he has questions, but no doubt that he’s the same but with the sent of pine sap and sawdust. Words that build in Abner’s chest die in his throat and it’s all he can do to just hold Fethry close for the first time in a decade. Longer? Too long, either way. He just needs his brother, now that he’s found him.

[tunnagana]

" i'm just so tired of pretending everything's fine! " - (Fethry @ Abner) | @ducktales-wco-oo​

“Feths...”

He doesn’t know what to do. How long has it been since Abner’s been in a position to actually help his brother through anything remotely serious? Too long. Far too long. And he can’t say he’s ever been an expert at emotions or expressing them. A hand runs through his hair before he takes a step closer to Fethry.

“Maybe the first step’s to, uh...” Fuck, how did anyone do this? “Shit, if you want to go off, Feth, go off. I’ll listen. You know I will.”

[tunnagana]

❝ ah think ah saw him. ❞ matilda says out loud — but she wasn’t expecting much of a conversation; after all, they had to speak their thoughts out loud anyway, right ? ❝ scroogie ah mean. ❞ she then shakes her head, ❝ but — that was a little boy. no way et could be him. ah think ah really do need to get some sleep before somebody repor’s me. ❞ / to abner, tbc au (-: | @warraigoe

“but we both know he’s not with us.” but the fact that there’s a kid resembling him running with the kids that keep sneaking around at night is a problem. “he could have a kid out there somewhere that’s come to find him. but it doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t, we need all of them to stop fighting and listen. otherwise we’ll never see the world as it can be.”