Ch.1- Lost at Night
word count: 3,902
Chapter summary/Author’s comment: “After a tiring game Wildwing and Duke decide to grab some grub and just hang out...whoa was that a kiss right now?” ----Soooo I finally got that chapter done, it’s not something to take seriously so sorry not sorry.
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Honestly he thought that game would never end.
By the time the team had all showered and made it below the Pond it was going on midnight. It was an additional tick mark to another night of them going to bed without dinner. At least that's what Wildwing thought, but when his side felt as though it was being pinched it was obvious that it's just better to get something to eat after all. No use trying to get some sleep when everything else in your body begs for some food. Wildwing contemplated for a few moments if he should cook himself something, no, it'd make too much noise and too much of a mess. He quickly made it to his room and grab a jacket to put on, stopping in the doorway to watch a very drowsy Tanya hobble by.
"I was thinking of heading out and getting some food." Wildwing began, loud enough so that the rest of his team can hear. They all seemed to be moving in slow motion, making it their mission to make it to bed or crash in the middle of the hallway trying. "I was wondering if anyone else wants to tag along."
"Sure thin'." Duke's voice called from the other side of the hall, Wildwing couldn't make out what he had said but it came out as annoyed grumbling, maybe he too as looking for a jacket to wear. He eyed the blonde teenager that bellowed a yawn while slipping by, Wildwing asked if he wanted to come as well only to be greeted with a tired jumbled sentence. Well that was rare. "Just us, huh?" Duke asked zipping up a bronze leather jacket,
"Yeah, I'm sure they won't even know we're gone." the team captain joked side glancing the last teammate to close the door, the only one who watched them out was Grin who insisted that he was going to make himself a cup of tea before bed. Usually it doesn't get cold in California, but, given that it was in August and close to midnight the temperature was just barely under sixty degrees. The two mallards decided to walk despite being tired but Wildwing kind of liked it, the cool breeze and the lights that reflected on the street made it seem like they were walking through a scene in a movie. A silly thought, but a nice one. "So, know any good places around here?"
"Walking distance? Not really." Duke admitted scratching the side of his bill in thought, he let out a small hum and scoped out the area to see which street they stood on. He knew there was a outlet mall just a few blocks down so he took the lead, Wildwing followed close behind him, A street light, two alleys and a cross walk later a small store caught Duke's eye. The tacky large neon signs hung up inside against the window made sure everyone on the street know they were open, the equally large and gaudy sign above the door read 'Pasta Palace'. "How 'bout there?"
"Honestly, I'll take just about anything right now." Wildwing sighed, looking back and forth before jogging through the street and onto the sidewalk on the other side. As if he was a gutter minded teen, Duke let out a quick chortled laugh.
"Anything?" When Duke had caught up, Wildwing scoffed and nudged the ex thief's chest with his elbow.
"What's that supposed to mean, Duke?" 'Nothing, it's just late is all' was Duke's excuse, Wildwing let it slide for the time being though he was going to remember it. The two walked into the tiny restaurant without having to open the door, since it was being held open with a can of what looks like to a bucket of paint. One person stood at the counter, arm propped on top and chin in hand while watching a TV as big as a radio just next to them, another person can be seen in the large window peeking from the back of house, also watching the game highlights. The one at the counter, a young man wearing a black knit tee and apron didn't bother looking up from the tv, instead he stood straighter and used both arms to hold himself up on the marble.
"Welcome, let me know if you need anything." he called leaving Wildwing and Duke pick out what to order. The goalie he looked up at the large menu hung to the ceiling by a few metal clips, there was a good thirty to forty different meals--appetizers too, but, instead of trying anything new Wildwing just went with the safest bet. 'Might as well go with the lasagna.' Wildwing shrugged taking a step closer to the counter to order, the kid looked up, finally catching eyes. He looked from Wildwing to the TV and then back to the goalie. "Hey, you're Wildwing Flashblade of the Ducks--it's, uh, nice to meet ya."
"Thanks," Wildwing grinned sincerely and made a quick glance to the menu once more, "I'll take the number three and him--" he turned to Duke who was now resting a closed fist under his chin, Duke blinked hurriedly seeing that the attention was now on him and he cleared his throat into his fist.
"The number 8 meal for me."
"What kinda drinks, guys?" the kid asked, Duke ordered a pepsi while Wildwing shrugged and told the employee to surprise him, they nodded, writing down the order and nodded over to the metal and hard plastic seats and tables near the door. "Ok, it'll take about 15 minutes." Wildwing paid for their meals and when the kid handed the paper over to the guy in the back he prepared and served up Wildwing's mysterious drink and Duke's Pepsi in medium size styrofoam cups. They picked out a table closest to the open door and the large windows, the only one in Pasta Palace, with a thanks Duke grabbed the cup his friend held in front of him, asking what he got.
"Lemme see." Wildwing stuck the plastic straw through the lid and took a small sip at first, only getting bubbles he took a second larger sip and made a face. "Dr. Pepper apparently."
"We could switch." Duke offered grinning at the team captain's soured face, Wildwing kindly declined the offer, his soda his suffering. "Suit yur'self." he shrugged taking a long and much needed sip of the fizzy drink. Wildwing sighed when he sat down next to his teammate, man it felt so nice to finally get a seat, even if the chair only had a few inches of plastic for a cushion. "Tonight was one hell of a game, huh?" Duke asked after a satisfied gasp from his drink, Wildwing nodded with a small grin on his face.
"No kidding. I'm just glad we're good until next week."
"Not if Phil decides to throw a curve ball of some kind at us, per usual."
"Ugh, I don't even want to think about that right now." Wildwing rested his arm against the table and leaned over to take a sip from his straw, he examined the painfully bright neon lights at the window that blocked their view. The window was just a few feet away and he can feel the heat of the lights on his face, Wildwing glanced at Duke realizing that he was closer than himself to the window, should they sit at the high table near the wall? No, not after he got so comfortable at this seat, speaking of seat, how old were these chairs? They look like something from a 70's movie diner.
"Do I have somethin' on my face?" Wildwing's eyes snapped up to match's Duke's and he sat up straighter, what? Without removing his gaze Duke pointed at the pale mallard with two fingers before crossing his arms again, sliding down a little in his seat so his legs can stretch out before him. "You were staring at me, I was wonderin' if I had somethin' on my face." Whoops, Wildwing's mind had wandered off and left him staring out. The goalie laughed nervously then rubbed his closed eyes with the palms of his hands,
"Ugh, sorry about that. I...was just thinking about stuff."
"What kinda stuff?"
"70's Chairs." 'What?' Wildwing laughed again at Duke's tone then removed his hands from his face to his lap with a sigh, "I don't know man, it's late. Sorry if you thought I was staring at you specifically, I zone out around this time." Duke shrugged his shoulders, sitting up some more so he can take off his jacket and toss it onto his shoulder to leaning back again.
"I hear ya, just give me a few hours an' I'll be in the same side of the rink." 'I should've known you're more accustomed to this then me', Wildwing commented back making Duke give a slanted grin. "I guess you can say that, I just prefer the night is all." 'Mornings for me' the other said and the thief's shoulders shook as a chill ran down his spine. "Yeah, well ya can keep your mornings." Wildwing smiled back a laugh and looked over when a high pitch bell interrupted their conversation, two aluminum containers with clouded plastic lids sat on top of the counter, white plastic utensils and a couple napkins on each one. Wildwing was the only one who got up and grabbed the two containers, thanking the employee when he distinguished Wildwing's meal from Duke's, he walked over and set Duke's container in front of him before sitting down himself. Now it was Wildwing's turn to ask Duke what he got. "Cheese ravioli with zucchini, you?"
"Lasagna." Wildwing popped open the container quickly setting the steaming lid on the side, he took a small forkful and blew on it a little before taking a bite, then watched as Duke removed the lid from his meal and mixed the contents around. "Wow, that smells good. Lemme know how it tastes, we could try to make that for everyone else." With a nod the other mallard balanced a ravioli square and a slice of zucchini on his fork before taking a bite, he let out a huff.
"It's alright, the zucchini is--fried? Roasted? Something." when Wildwing pointed to the other's food with his fork Duke just slid the container closer so he can try. Wildwing managed to spear a ravioli and the vegetable, when he took a bite he ate it slowly, it did have a very unique taste. "See? Something." Duke commented seeing Wildwing's perplexed expression, the pale mallard swallowed.
"I'm pretty sure the zucchini roasted." Wildwing slid his dish over closer to Duke to offer some but his friend just waved his free hand to decline, making him shrug and get back to eating his own 'normal' lasagna. "I think with some breading and frying it, it might be a little better."
"Well, in the words of your brother 'everything tastes better fried'." they were silent for a moment, Duke picked at a trio of zucchini that were stuck together against the wall of the container, looking up at Wildwing again seeing that he was now staring off at the tile floor that glowed purple from the neon lights. "Ever wanted to be a chef, Wing?"
"Nah." Wildwing answered after a few seconds of added silence, he sat up straighter and grabbed his styrofoam cup. "I just enjoy cooking, food, all that stuff. That was more of my folk's dream." Duke nodded, knowing just as well how that felt. "What about you? With the whole 'brotherhood' thing."
"Kind of." Duke replied very slowly, twirling some pasta around before taking another serving. "I liked it an' all, but it wasn't the first career choice I wanted. My father knew a guy and--well, things fell into places and I became a member when I was around Nosedive's age. Maybe a little younger than that, there's other reasons too but I don't regret them or anything." Wildwing nodded slowly, asking what was it he wanted to do as a career. "Well, something with music actually. I was really into writing lyrics and stringin' together notes. I woulda maybe made my own album or just be a producer. Manager even."
"Whoa, really?" Wildwing asked leaning a little forward. "That's incredible."
"Eh, anyone can make lyrics. But it takes much more to make em sound good." Duke laughed gently as he pointed accusingly at his friend with his fork, "Believe me, there's a biiiig difference." Wildwing shrugged and they got silent to catch up on eating their very late dinner, Duke had already finished his meal but being a slow eater, left Wildwing with still half a plate full of pasta. "So what did you wanted to do?"
"Actually, rather be an actor or join a professional hockey team with Canard." Wildwing smiled meekly and shook his head shamefully when he remembered the times he and Canard talked about becoming famous hockey stars and playing for a galaxy league. Duke rested his chin on his palm, realizing that he was being watched Wildwing looked away and used his fork to cut off a piece of lasagna. "It was something we always talked about when we were kids."
"You an' Canard were really close huh?" Wildwing just nodded his head, he really didn't know what else to comment about it, he's been Canard's friend since they just grown out of diapers. It'd be odd if someone had hung out, pranked with, and pretty much lived with someone else and they didn't consider the other as their best friend. "Did you two ever..?" Wildwing looked up not hearing the end of it, or rather, noticing that Duke didn't finish the end of that sentence. 'Ever?' Wildwing copied in a similar dragged out tone, Duke rose and lowered his eyebrows and threw another slanted grin. "You know, gotten really, really close?" Â
"If you're implying if we ever dated or banged then no, no we didn't." Wildwing said with a single raised brow, "He was the one always dating someone, anyways, and I never saw him like that." 'Alright' was Duke's only reply, and Wildwing watched Duke carefully. Remembering the comment from earlier Wildwing hummed and leaned back in his seat, "Ok, I'll give." he began flipping a piece of pasta into the sauce and twirling it around to gather the loose contents. "What did Dive say? We know each other better than anyone so he might've said something he shouldn't. It's kinda hard for him to keep anything a secret honestly." The eyepatch wearing duck remained quiet, he wasn't one to admit to anything off the bat, though a few awkward silent minutes passed between them. Wildwing continued to watch Duke, and he with him, he grinned.
"Not givin' up are ya, Wing?"
"Not at all."
"Alrigh', alrigh'." Duke began holding his hands up as if he was surrendering nonchalantly, he pretended that pulling his straw out and pushing it back into the lid was entertaining before continuing. "Nosedive might've mentioned that you--fancied guys." 'ok' Wildwing questioned making Duke look up at him surprised, though the goalie just copied his raised brow and crossed his arms. "So he was telling the truth?"
"Yeah." Wildwing said "So, what?"
"So, nothin'." Duke shrugged, "You asked, and I told you. So you didn't lay with Canard--I guess your brother was lying about that, then huh?" Wildwing huffed and stuffed another serving of lasagna into his mouth, planning how he was going to carry out his revenge on his brother. Leave it to a teen to just ramble off about things because he liked to hear himself talk and make jokes. "Sorry if my comment earlier was buggin' ya, I was just having a bit of fun that's it." 'Well,' Wildwing thought with an amused smirk on his face. 'I might as well have my own bit of fun with him, since he started it'.
"Have you ever kissed a guy before, Duke?" 'What?' Duke gawked stared at him now, a troubled expression on his face as Wildwing just continued to smile at him. If Duke had answered him then Wildwing would automatically assume it to be a lie, there was no way his friend would admit to anything as personal so freely. As if on queue Duke just leaned in a little closer, asking why it mattered. "Well, 'cause you can kiss me." oh man his expression was priceless. Wildwing wished he had someone taking a picture of Duke's face, his brows were furrowed, squinting at him and then the cup right in front of him before returning his gaze to the team captain.
"What's in your Dr. Pepper, man? Are you sure you don't want to switch drinks?"
"No, no." Wildwing said resisting the urge to laugh by grabbing his accused 'spiked' drink and hiding the grin behind the rim, he pulled the lid off so that he can drink the trapped liquid underneath the ice that kept it at the bottom. "I was just curious, you insisted you were trying to have a little fun." Duke sat straighter, resting his chin on his knuckles, with the look in his eye you can tell that he was deep in thought, though it was kind of hard to pinpoint what he was thinking about. 'Do you care if I kissed you?' Wildwing wondered now if he should keep playing along or not, he bit on his cheek in thought, tapping the bottom of the styrofoam cup to an unknown beat. "Not really, no." He wasn't lying, he's had relationships before where he kissed others platonically, it wasn't a big deal to him if they kissed or not. Actually, the only known surprise here was Duke asking if he'd mind. Duke had a bit more secretive thoughts before answering back,
"Sure, I'll kiss you." Wildwing blinked hurriedly in surprise, he did not expect that at all. Was he serious? Wildwing felt that if he asked him then Duke would automatically know that he was just messing around with him, it wouldn't be a bad if he found out but...well, it was just a kiss. The team captain got up from his seat, tossing the container he had into the trash with the now empty cup. He looked at Duke who watched him, he peeked at the door then back to his teammate hoping he got the point. It's better if they began to head out, just in case the employees there were eavesdropping on them. Duke seemed to have understood because he got up and threw his tray away, though when they walked out of the small restaurant he held the half filled cup just under the lid by his fingertips.
"I didn't want anyone in there seeing and then we have Phil complain about an Anonymous tiper claiming there's 'gay ducks on the team'." Wildwing explained, a small laugh easing the seriousness in the sentence. Duke nodded , casually looking over his shoulder when they were outside to ensure no one was watching them leave. Seeing they were alone for the most part, he looked over at Wildwing who was watching from the other direction, he didn't seemed too worried about it though and without a warning Wildwing slid on over closer to Duke, pressing his bill to the other's for a kiss. Nothing fancy, something small and quick with the brush over the other's bill, he then pulled away just enough to read Duke's reaction. Though, Wildwing couldn't see it because as soon as he finished the darker mallard had leaned in again with enough force that gently pushed the goalie back in a single step. His back press against something, though he couldn't tell what it was it felt warm against his back and the back of his head, the complete opposite from the cold dry air that surrounded them in the late city street. Wildwing had realized that his eyes had closed when he fell back but he swears he was seeing colors behind his closed eyelids, the back of his neck tingled at the willing tongue that pressed against his, a shiver down his spine when he smelled the cold air and leather from Duke's jacket. Wildwing opened his eyes, Duke watched him with his arm besides his head, the bright red and blue from the neon lights bouncing off of him and giving him almost a completely different color. A slanted smile grew on Wildwing's face, "Heh, wow." He didn't mean to have it come out as a whisper, but his mind felt really fuzzy. "That was nice."
"Was there any doubt?" Duke smirked making the pale duck smile some more, he guessed not, "We should really get back though, it's pretty late as is." Wildwing nodded in agreement, and after getting his space again, Â finally got off the glass that belonged to another store the two of them walking side by side back to the Pond. They didn't get far from the pasta restaurant, a block and a half at least in silence, their thoughts and footsteps muffled by the sounds of cars driving by and the cool atmosphere. Not wanting the walk home to be completely silent the goalie looked over and gently pushed Duke's arm with his,
"Thanks for coming with me to get some dinner, I was starving."
"Hey, thanks for letting me tag along." Duke shrugged back the thanks and nudged the other player with his elbow, "Lemme guess, keep this whole kiss thing a secret when we get back to the Pond?" Wildwing couldn't help but make a face, it didn't really mattered to him but at the same time, what if the other members on the team did find out? 'Eh' was his only answer at first and Duke rose a brow at him after a moment of not hearing anything else. "Eh what, Wing? You don't care if they know?"
"I mean, if they ask what went on we just tell 'em we got pasta at that place. If they don't ask then hey don't go boasting around that we sorta made out in the street."
"That was making out to you?" he scoffed, Wildwing tilted his head a small smirk on his bill.
"Considering it was a 'kiss', it was close to a make out. But if it was considered making out wise--I think it could've gone better." 'Even if it was good.' Wildwing thought though didn't change his expression when Duke just shrugged back, commenting that he'll remember that for next time. "Next time, huh?" he bit his tongue to resist mentioning that he'll be looking forward to it. The ex thief grabbed his jacket and flipped it over to his other shoulder, gripping it still so it won't slide off, the styrofoam cup he still held by his fingertips he brought up so he can take another drink from it.
"Sure, maybe next time we can go somewhere with some good food." Wildwing pretended to give the offer some thought, when he was about to reply Duke interrupted him, "And next time, we'll make sure you don't get any Dr. Pepper, either."
"Sure." he laughed dropping his hand after rubbing the tingling from the back of his neck, "I'd like that, Duke."