webbiigaiil

[webbiigaiil]

Webby sharply inhaled. She could have told them. She really could have, and yet, she didn’t. And the thing is, it wasn’t as if the blonde hadn’t considered that choice before. She has, on multiple occasions whenever Dewey would refuse to tell his brothers about what they were doing, Webby has considered going behind his back and telling them herself. But she never did. It’s no wonder that Louie thinks that she only cared about being loyal to Dewey, or that she didn’t care enough about how he or Huey would react once the truth finally came out. But it wasn’t like that. She never choose Dewey because she preferred him over his own brothers, nor was it as if she cared less about them compared to him. Webby loves the triplet. Being around each of them and having all three in her life had made her see what it really was like to have a sibling. To finally know what it was like to have a sibling of her own since she viewed all three of them like a brother to her.

But that was the thing, for as much as Webby viewed Huey, Dewey, and Louie as her own brothers—a part of her couldn’t help but feel she wasn’t good enough to be their sister in return. Like she didn’t belong with them. “Because,” the blonde began, the tone of her voice already starting to shake. “It didn’t feel like it was my place to tell you guys, and it— It wasn’t my place to do so.” Webby claimed, as she finally glanced back at Louie, meeting his eyes. “Don’t you get it? I was never meant to be part of knowing about any of this, and the only reason I did find out was on accident! Dewey tried to keep it a secret even from me, then I caught him in the act, so in a way, I became the reason why he never ended up telling you or Huey sooner. I got in the way of what should’ve otherwise been a Duck triplet adventure, and despite you guys calling me your sister— I’m actually not. So how could I have told you two about what Dewey was doing?" her voice broke. "This was a family matter and I’m…..not family.” 

As he suspected the moment the words left his mouth, they were fruitless. Snarking at Webby to imply that she had basically chosen loyalty to Dewey over the other two triplets for nothing, considering where their relationship stood now, didn’t achieve anything. Louie was still hurt by that decision, and she still didn’t have a good excuse as to why she’d made it. She had tried to tell him the last time they talked that she hadn’t been more concerned with a mystery than his and Huey’s feelings, hadn’t been favoring Dewey by choosing to keep the secret for him instead of letting the others in on it—but she’d yet to explain her side of the situation in a way that proved anything else was the case. Even now, she said she‘d hated it, but didn’t know what else to do, as if the answer wasn’t blatantly obvious.

 “You could have told us.” He stared hard at her, wanting her to look back and meet his eyes now. “You could have told Dewey that you would tell us if he didn’t. Or—how about this—you could have told us. Why was that option so impossible for you to consider?” He may not have felt better from calling her out, but he couldn’t help it. Even knowing he wasn’t going to hear any answer that would make it right, Louie kept pushing for one, wanting Webby to finally say something that made sense of why things had happened the way they happened. Some answer that wasn’t that she chose Dewey over him and Huey, and that Dewey chose their absentee mother over all of them—and that because of their choices, his life was altered forever.

[webbiigaiil]

After being so focused on her own self pity, it surprisingly took the blonde much longer to consider why Buttercup was trying to cheer her up in the first place. After all, it’s as she had just said, the brunette was Louie’s best friend, and so as his best friend, shouldn’t the Powerpuff be angry at her too? More so at that, considering how badly injured Louie was because of the fact that Webby had helped Dewey lie for so long, resulting in the youngest triplet getting severely hurt. Yep, Buttercup should detest her for that, not be trying to cheer Webby up and trying to convince her to go out with her. So imagine Webby’s surprise when she heard the older girl say it wasn’t her fault. “You don’t?” The blonde repeated, shocked, only for her to then shake her head. Actually, she hasn’t seen Buttercup talking with Dewey. But then again, Dewey had recently moved out of the mansion, so she couldn’t say for sure who was talking to him still or not. Besides Morty and Ferdie that is, since he’s living with them. Webby still continued to frown, not believing that Louie’s anger was displaced because he did have a reason to be angry with her even if Buttercup wasn’t. But she didn’t say anything about that, instead, listening to the rest of the brunette’s words before she attempted to slightly smile with gratitude. “Thanks for not being mad at me, I wouldn’t have blamed you if you did but— thanks.” She made out, realizing how much she really needed to hear this. “I don’t want Louie to be even more upset with me for going out with you tonight though, but getting out of the house to distract myself does sound really nice.” 

Buttercup had attempted to keep the mood up and still get Webby to come along despite the damper in her spirit, but the blonde seemed to be dead set on changing her mind. Just moments ago she was practically jumping up and down in excitement of the idea of throwing an axe, and now it was as if she’d never been excited about it at all. Buttercup’s attempt at another smile fell again. “And why is that?” The brunette asked genuinely, wanting to understand why Webby was being so hard on herself. Just because of what happened with Louie? Buttercup wondered if Louie himself was being hard on Webby to make her feel that way — as the blonde continued, it answered that question without Buttercup needing to ask. “... I don’t think what happened was your fault,” she answered Webby’s question honestly. “It was Dewey’s. You don’t see me talking to him, do you?” She pursed her lips, pausing before continuing. “I think … Louie will ease up eventually. He’s going through a lot, and he's probably just letting his anger out in the wrong places… he is my best friend, but sometimes we don’t always agree on everything.” She knew Louie would probably be mad if he knew she was trying to give Webby the benefit of the doubt and spend time with her, but he would get over it. She wasn’t afraid of him, and she still believed that Webby really needed a night to feel normal again. “Trust me, if I was mad at you, I wouldn’t be here trying to do this. Despite everything, you’re still my friend too," she reassured her. "I really think you should get out of the house and try to have some fun tonight.”

[webbiigaiil]

She winced at Louie's words. They had definitely hurt—after all, she would think that Dewey would’ve gone and told her he was dating Tiffany now. Even if the last time she wasn’t so thrilled about the fight he had gotten into at the ball, she thought he would at least message her about it. Instead, she knew nothing, having very little updates about Dewey’s life since he left the mansion. Since he left Webby to fend for her own and try to find some kind of way to make things right again with Louie all by herself. Yet, she was scared to. She was afraid that anything she tried to say to the youngest triplet would make things even worst between then. Heck, she just responded to his question, and his initial reaction was to make a dig at her! 

The blonde clutched a random couch cushion against her chest, choosing to keep silent instead of responding back to Louie. She wanted to tell him again how she didn’t mean to keep such a big secret from him. How it wasn’t her intention to keep or even know such a huge secret. How the only reason she knew was because Dewey had snuck into her bedroom to find some kind of clue because he thought that if anyone would’ve known what happened to Della, it would’ve been Webby. But then how if she had known what happened, she would’ve mentioned that to them much sooner. But the blonde didn’t want to throw Dewey under the bus, and she had a feeling that even if she tried to put the blame onto his brother, Louie still wouldn’t have forgiven her. Saying none of that would resolve things between them. “…..I hated keeping that secret from you guys.” She ended up mumbling, breaking the silence between them. “—But I didn’t know what else to do.”

While he had started this conversation in hopes of talking a little shit about Dewey—as petty as that already was—hearing that his brother hadn’t even told Webby of his recent relationship development gave Louie’s permanent bitterness a new outlet. Instead of trying to indulge in the gossip with Webby, he couldn’t resist picking on the fact that she hadn’t known of it. “He didn’t tell you? Wow, I thought you were his best little secret keeper.” As soon as he said it, he was glad Webby wasn’t looking at him; he almost wanted to look away from himself. The thing was, as upset as he still was over everything, being nasty to Webby didn’t make him feel better about it. The schadenfreude of seeing Dewey beat up on Halloween, finally facing consequences to some of his impetuous actions, was real.

He felt the same sick satisfaction knowing that Dewey and Webby weren’t apparently as close as they used to be—another consequence of their own mistakes. It made the world feel just a little more fair, to think that he wasn’t the only one suffering (and also that there would be no more scheming and secrets between two of his siblings.) But that was something natural, beyond his control. When Louie found himself lashing out and trying to hurt Webby’s feelings like she had hurt his, it didn’t feel fair. It just felt…pointless. It just reminded him how broken everything still was and that it might never be whole again. Why did he keep poking at the pieces?

[webbiigaiil]

There was a part of Webby that wanted to go out and do things so she could forget about how she’s been feeling. But whenever she thought about doing so, the guilt would once again strike her as a reminder of how she shouldn’t be cheering herself up. How she didn’t deserve to be cheered up after holding such a deep and important secret from the people she cared about. And yet, by staying home and not doing anything, the blonde continues to be miserable. She was torturing herself, and Webby didn’t know how to break out of it, which in return is causing other people to be worried about her. They shouldn’t be. She doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy— definitely not Ferdie’s. Despite her own closeness with him, he’s always been closer to Louie, the two going as far as even dating each other in the past, so if anything, it really was a wonder why Ferdie wanted to do anything with the blonde after she had a part in hurting someone he cared so much about. “…..Okay.” The girl gave in with a small half smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I can’t promise I won’t be such a downer but— i can do small.” 

“I know,” Ferdie replied softly as Webby confessed that she hadn’t been knitting after all. She was a terrible liar when her heart wasn’t in it—and right now it didn’t seem like her heart was in anything. Based on what she told him and the general air she was exuding, Ferdie imagined her wandering the halls of the mansion aimlessly, haunting her own home like a ghost. Only the real resident ghost of McDuck Manor actually did quite a lot, so the simile wasn’t perfect. Still, it was an unfortunate mental image, and he couldn’t bear to leave her at it even as it was clear she wasn’t interested in his company right now. Webby was too polite to tell him to leave directly, side-stepping his offer to do something together by saying that it was hard for her to do much of anything lately, and it left him a huge amount of room to weasel his way in. “Having someone to drag you into activities should alleviate some of that ennui,” he said. “We can start small, but we’re going to do something, okay?”

[webbiigaiil]

At the redhead’s affirmation, the blonde beamed. From an outsiders perspective, this entire conversation about trying to flirt and make random pick-up lines may come off as strange to them, but Webby was appreciating this entire thing. Not only was she learning how to potentially flirt with someone in the future, but this whole thing was helping distract her from her pervious state of mind. Things back at home had been getting better—she’s been going out more and doing her own things instead of wallowing at home all day—but Webby’s still be feeling kind of out of place at home. So this moment she’s having with Darla definitely helped her a lot. 

“Oooh, Granny has told me that the best way into someone’s heart is through their stomach, so baking makes a lot of sense!” The blonde commented, already getting excited at the prospect of going into step two of this flirting lesson she was getting. She also heard that making a personalized mixtape was also a way to whoo a person, but had thought that doing so had gone out of practice now that streaming had became a popular thing. “But isn’t making mixtapes kind of old-school though? Like, I guess we can burn a CD, but at best I know that people curate and share playlists with others instead of giving them an actual mixtape.” 

“Pretty good,” Darla reaffirmed when Webby sought assurance that she had done well on her second flirting attempt. With practice, she could definitely become a pro. It seemed she wasn’t trying to put the moves on anybody just yet, which was good—it gave her time to develop her flirting skills before it actually mattered and she needed them for a real crush. When she did have her eye on somebody, however, Darla wanted to be the first to hear about it! She bounced a little in excitement at the thought.

“It’s always good to be prepared! When you do find someone you want to woo, we can progress to step two. Baking and making mix-tapes.” Darla was convinced her method of making a crush fall in love with you was valid, only it wasn’t exactly foolproof. She had done her best with Finn up to this point, but he still didn’t want to be with her. It wasn’t a matter of him not having feelings, though—it was just…complicated. She sighed. Well, if Webby found someone who was ready to be in a relationship, the tips to making them fall for her should still work.

[webbiigaiil]

Webby didn’t actually believe that Dewey was lying to her. Deep down, she knew he was telling her the truth about missing her, and honestly, so did she. Ever since he left, the mansion has felt much more emptier and quieter, as if the home knew there was someone rightfully missing and couldn’t function the same without him here. She couldn’t function the same without Dewey here. In fact, if she dared to truly think about it— the mansion felt like how it used to feel when it was only just Webby living here—cold, dark and lonely. The only exception was that whereas before she knew how to spend her time making up games and activities to relieve her boredom, nowadays, even with more people living here with her, all the blonde wanted to do was stay locked up inside her bedroom until she shriveled completely away. 

Yet that was the thing, she didn’t want to shrivel away. She wanted things to go back to how they used to be, back when all four of them were living here together, and going out on miscellaneous McDuck family adventures that she was lucky enough to tag along even though she wasn’t really part of the family. But the boys always included her feel like she was, and after a while, Webby felt like she actually was their family. Now she can’t say if that was true anymore. Dewey must’ve thought otherwise, claiming how she’s his best friend and his sister, those reasons alone being why he missed her. Those words only made the blonde cry even harder, wanting to believe him so desperately, only for her to think to herself on how can she be a sister to any of them with the way she had hurt them all. Dewey was right about one thing though— she never told him she wanted him to stay since she’s been refusing to talk to him. She never even tried to stop him once she found him all packed, nor when he walked out the front door. She should’ve. She wanted to. But she couldn’t. 

“I’m not going to punch you in the face.” Webby responded, whipping away a few tears. As much as doing so might relieve some of the tension she’s been feeling lately, there’s no way she could punch Dewey. She was mad and hurt, but she wasn’t going to take it out on him like that. After whipping away a few more tears, she let her arm drop. “…..I guess I can’t be too mad about you leaving when I never told you that I didn’t want you to go. It just hurts like crazy that you did. Like, yeah I know I wasn’t talking to you back then, but when you left it felt like you were abandoning us just because things became tough around here. Like you were abandoning me.” She emphasized once again, the reminder of the lonely reality she once lived and how recently she’s been living it once again, only worse than before. “Do you know how terrible and lonely that made me feel? Especially when Louie barely wants to look at my direction? And fine, Huey has been diverting most of his anger towards you than me which I get is a factor on why you left, but there are even days where he doesn’t want to be in the same room as me either because he remembered that I had a part in everything that happened. But I’ve been trying to own up to my part in the keeping the secret about Della— I didn’t run away from it. But you did.” It almost felt completely unfair that Dewey left her to deal with all this while he got to live a happy and separate life apart from the family drama. Webby didn’t get that kind of luxury. “I’m sorry that I’m treating you like all of this is your fault— it’s not. But I don’t know if I can forgive you for leaving. Not just yet.”

Despite the harshness in the glare that Webby shot in his direction, he would take it — she was acknowledging and listening to him. Before, he may as well have been invisible. Between the way everyone started to treat him after what happened, it felt like he was beginning to disappear within the manor the longer he stayed. Dewey had always been the triplet who needed the most attention, but sometimes he couldn’t figure out which was worse — the negative attention he received from some of his family lately, or being ignored completely by the others. They both stung in different ways, but right now he wanted Webby to finally listen to him. He wanted to try and fix what he broke.

Webby looked away from him, the hurt in her eyes replacing the anger, but Dewey continued anyway. He had to keep trying. Webby’s tears were quick to fall by the time he was finished, and Dewey felt his heart break as he heard the hurt in her voice. His mouth fell open momentarily, stunned by her words. She really didn’t believe him. “Webby, why would I—“ but then he stopped himself. Of course she thought he was a liar; she watched him lie to his brothers the entire time they were looking for Della. Instead of finishing his sentence, he explained sincerely, “You’re my best friend. Our sister. Of course I miss you. The only reason I left was because I feel so unwanted here. I was becoming a ghost.” You’ve become a ghost, he wanted to add sadly, but he didn’t — because the truth was that in some ways, they all had: Louie, Huey, even Donald. Not only had Dewey’s mistakes crushed Louie’s leg, his mistakes crushed their entire family — their trust in him and their spirits. “You wouldn’t even talk to me while I was here, so how would I know that you wanted me to stay!?” The truth was that Dewey may have stayed if he knew that they didn’t want him to go. He felt even more awful — like once again, nothing he did was right. Like everything he touched, he destroyed.

“The only reason Louie finally talked to me again was because his friend punched me in the face,” he continued with a hint of desperation in his voice. “Is that what you need? To punch me? To hurt me back?” He knew Webby was strong, and the thought of her punching him was a little scary but he’d let her anyway, if that genuinely would help them mend their relationship. He sighed. “I’m sorry that I left, but I couldn’t keep living like this. I wasn’t trying to hurt you more by leaving.. I was trying to make things better, because apparently when I’m around I make everything worse..”

[webbiigaiil]

Since her encounter with Louie a few weeks back, it seemed like Webby had tried to bury herself even deeper within her self-isolation. She hasn’t exactly been staying locked up inside her bedroom like she’s done before, but she hasn’t being staying much around the mansion either. Instead, since she was given a job at the House of Mouse, the blonde has been using up most of her time working there until it was finally late enough for her to head back home. Once she was back at the mansion, she would always hope to not run into Louie like she had done the last time— still wanting to give the youngest triplet his space until he felt ready to be around her again, but also as an attempt to not wound her spirits again. The last time had been a lethal blow, and Webby was scared to tread the waters in the risk of making things fatal between the both of them. 

Unfortunately, today was one of the days where she didn’t have any shifts, and for once the girl wasn't hidden inside her room. She had been so confident that Louie wasn’t home—having not seen or heard of him since she got up earlier in the day—the blonde thought she could take the risk in sitting at the living room. But then someone had plopped themselves besides her on the couch, and at first Webby thought it may have been Huey. He was the only triplet talking to her right now, but as she shifted her gaze, she sharply inhaled. She should go, the blonde thought, figuring that Louie wanted the living room all to himself. But then he began speaking, casually bringing up Dewey and Tiffany and what her thoughts on them were. Webby’s eyebrows furrowed together, confused over many things all at once. The name Tiffany ringing a bell to her before she realized that was the same name to that girl Dewey was talking about months ago. The same girl from the Halloween Ball. But why was Louie talking to her so normally as if the two of them hadn’t been avoiding each other for many weeks now? Should she actually answer him back?

Hesitantly, the girl looked away from Louie. “I’m not sure…..” The blonde finally said, the realization that she hadn't even known that Dewey was dating someone. Last she knew, he had gotten into a fight with Tiffany’s (ex)boyfriend at the ball, and Dewey wasn’t exactly living at the mansion anymore for her to know of what happened after that. Guess Webby wasn’t important enough for him to at least try and contact her to tell her about that either. “…..I didn’t even know that Dewey was finally dating Tiffany…… But that’s great that they are now, I guess?”  

@webbiigaiil

It had been a couple of weeks since the last time Louie and Webby had spoken. After confronting her and coming to no mutual understanding, things had gone back to the status quo of late: not talking to each other despite living in the same house. Even Dewey, who had moved out after the Halloween debacle, had reached out to talk to Louie since then, but Webby was still keeping to herself. She knew he hadn’t forgiven her yet, and it occurred to him that she still probably thought she was “giving him the space he needed,” but he knew that space and silence wasn’t going to fix anything any more than their terse conversation in the kitchen had. He would actually have talked to her again if she had tried, like Dewey was lately.

Speaking of the devil—it was something he had confided in Louie recently that prompted Louie to end Webby’s self-imposed exile and speak first. It wasn’t exactly an olive branch, but it was…something. “What do you think about Dewey and Tiffany?” His tone was performatively off-hand, too casual as if this was a regular gossip session between siblings who hadn’t been in a cold-shoulder stalemate for weeks. “Obviously I think he’s still an asshole, but I do think it would be worse if they hadn’t gotten together after all that. At least there was a point to the melodrama, you know? Sometimes shitty things just happen for no reason.”

[webbiigaiil]

As soon as her gaze landed on Dewey, Webby felt a range of emotions. First and foremost, she was most definitely still angry at him. Angry at the fact that not once he took her concerns to heart whenever she tried to convince him to tell Huey and Louie the truth about what they were doing, and how it was not until after everything literally blew on all their faces is when he’s finally realizing how he should’ve. But then the blonde felt a wave of envy at the sight of Dewey— envious of the fact that despite it was the both of them who had lied and hid everything from their brothers, Dewey was the one Louie had decided to forgive. That flash of envy in return had then changed into guilt, as the fact remains that for as angry as she was at the middle triplet over the situation he had put the both of them in— Webby couldn’t one hundred precent put the entire blame onto him. Because at the end of the day, she had gone along with Dewey’s antics, from the very start to the very last second of when harm was thrown at Louie. Which is why she’s been beating herself up way too much over the last few months.

But among all the emotions, the one she ends up settling into wasn’t anger anymore— it was hurt. That wave of anger she had displayed had dissipated as quickly as it came, yet the blonde continued to glare at him even as he sighed in defeat and apologized to her. This wasn’t the first time Dewey had tried to apologize to Webby. In fact, he’s been trying to apologize to everyone here, that much she knew. And yet, as much as she would have liked to turn back time and go back to when she and Dewey were like two peas in a pod, thick as thieves, and overall the best of friends— she wasn’t so sure she could forgive him. Not just yet. Hearing his apology of how he should’ve listened to her from the very start, the girl finally broke her gaze and looked away from him. She didn’t turn back around, although she wanted to, but she did stay where she stood and continued to listen as he went on to admitting how he keeps screwing up over and over again, but how he was trying to be better. At that she blinked, eyes slowly starting to swell as she shook her head with disbelief. Oh yeah, he was trying to be better alright— seems like being as far away from all of them was doing him some good, she bitterly thought. Webby didn’t say anything in response to that, the urge in wanting to start crying overwhelming her as he decided to continue on. But what broke the damn was when Dewey said he missed talking to her, for tears finally started to fall down the blonde’s cheeks before she shook her head at him. “You’re lying.” Webby finally spoke, her tone coming broken. “Please stop lying, I can’t take anymore lies. You don’t miss talking with me. In fact, you don’t miss me at all, do you?!” Her voice started to raise once more as tears continued to fall. “Because if what you said is true, then you wouldn’t have moved out! You would have stayed here at the mansion but instead you took the easy route and left all of us behind! So of course you miss ‘talking to me’— You left me!” 

There was a distinct difference in the way Webby and Dewey interacted with each other since the hotel bombing. The two were once best friends, but now they may as well have been strangers. It was even worse now that he was staying with Morty and Ferdie, which wasn't Dewey's intention at all when he agreed to the idea. Even if he was grateful for the opportunity, thankful for a chance to leave the depressing walls of the manor that he used to love so dearly (it didn’t feel the same now that everyone who lived there didn’t want him around), he still understood that the choice only added to the tension with his family. It was partly why he attempted to apologize again, as he had a backpack on his back that indicated he was stopping by the manor to grab more of his belongings from his bedroom. It was easiest for him to do so at night when most of the family was already in bed, but tonight he accidentally timed it as Webby got home from a late shift. Watching the blonde attempt to go by him as if she hadn’t seen him at all made him break the silence — he didn’t want to be astray like this from his best friend forever.

Webby’s reaction to his apology stung, but it was to be expected. No one seemed to accept his apologies anymore. He sighed in defeat, removing his backpack straps and letting the bag fall to the floor to emphasize that he wasn’t leaving yet — not until Webby heard him out. “I have a lot of things I want to say Webby, but no one will even give me a chance and listen,” he answered. “And even then, I don’t really know what else to say because I don’t think anything I say will make it better.. I just want you to know I’m truly sorry." He met her gaze, desperately trying to get her to look at him and understand. It wasn't the first time he'd apologized, and it certainly wouldn't be the last — though this was his first attempt again since staying with the twins. He continued before she could walk away, "I should’ve listened to you from the very beginning, and I know it's too late to change that.” He’d managed to somewhat be on talking terms with Louie again after Halloween, but the fight between him and Randy that night didn’t do him any favors with Huey and Webby’s feelings toward him. “... I keep screwing up and screwing other people over in the process, and I know I need to be better. I’m really trying..” He sighed again. If things were different, if he and Webby were on good terms, he’d be excitedly telling her about his new relationship with Tiffany, how fun it is to live with Morty and Ferdie, and how Dewey was finding his place in the world despite that other parts of his life had fallen apart. It was unfortunate that it took feeling out of place in his own family home for him to start being more independent. On their current terms though, he knew better than to seem like he was bragging about how his life was doing since moving out. He was lucky that he even got Webby to stop and listen to his apology. The triplet didn't know what else to say for a moment, unsure if Webby had anything she wanted to get off her chest — if she wanted to get angry or upset with him some more, it was at least better than silence. “I don’t expect you to forgive me right now... Or ever. I just, I miss talking with you.."

[webbiigaiil]

Despite his attempts to be gentle with her, Webby could see it written all over Ferdie’s face that he didn’t believe her when she said she had been knitting. And in fairness, she hadn’t believed herself when she said it either. While she did in fact already knew how to knit (as her Granny did enjoy the art of knitting from time to time, so that was a thing she had taught her to do at some point), it also wasn’t exactly something the blonde did most of the time. She needed to be in a special kind of mindset in order to get herself to want to knit, and currently her mind was far off from wanting to display such a skill. Hence why as soon as she said it, the girl sighed. “…..I wasn’t actually knitting.” Webby admitted, only saying that she was to see if that would convince Ferdie to go away. It did not such thing, the brunette proposing they could do something else together instead if she wanted to— she wasn’t sure if she did. “I do know how to knit, I just wasn’t actually doing that. I haven’t been doing much of anything lately honestly. I’m trying but— it’s been hard.”  

“Knitting,” Ferdie repeated. He had heard the nothing before the knitting, but he wasn’t going to call Webby out on the obvious lie. Usually, his penchant for sarcasm would kick in and he’d ask if that was the best she could come up with, but not today. She was clearly out of sorts and needed a gentler touch. “If you want to take a break from all the…knitting, we could do something together,” he suggested. Even if it was as simple as watching a show or quietly reading together, he hoped that might help her feel a little less alone. It was better than her sitting in a dissociative funk all day, in any case. Hell, if she actually was knitting by some chance, she could go ahead and teach him how—he wouldn’t mind.

[webbiigaiil]

Okay— Nothing else was said than just a simple “Okay,” and Webby found her chest shattering all over again. Somehow, she was hoping that he would end up saying something else, something more in response to her apology than a “Okay”, yet it was Louie saying that single word was enough to tell her everything she needed to know. He still couldn’t forgive her. Even with her apologizing without any excuses or explanations on why she did what she did, but rather the blonde taking full accountability for the part she played within lying to him and Huey, Louie hasn’t forgiven her. 

Feeling the incoming of tears starting to happen, the blonde just nodded. Clearly they still needed more time apart from one another. There wasn’t much else the blonde had to say, already saying her peace earlier with the ball now being in Louie’s court for whenever he wants to forgive her for all that she’s done. If he ever wanted to forgive her. That was the one thought that broke her the most, the reality that maybe he could never forgive her for the lies and all the pain he had to suffer because of it, and the thing is— Webby couldn’t blame Louie if he didn’t. Still didn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, but what can she do? This was the price she had to pay and so she has to deal with it. With no other words left to be uttered, the blonde watched as he wheeled himself out the door, leaving the her alone inside of the kitchen. Tears started to fall as she nodded yet again. “Okay.” She repeated, voice hushed yet broken. 

For the first time, because Webby wasn’t trying to explain how she hadn’t meant for anything to happen the way that it did, how she only tried to do what she thought was best, or how she wanted to tell them but couldn’t—Louie believed her apology. It felt like she finally understood that there was no explanation he could accept for why she had helped Dewey keep the secret about their search for the triplets’ mom from two of them, even as he demanded justification for it. He just realized himself that knowing her motivation wouldn’t help him understand it nor forgive her, because intentions and actions and outcomes were all what they were and no amount of comprehending it all would put him back together. His injury would heal and he would try to move on, and one day he might be able to forgive her and Dewey, but it wouldn’t be because he understood why they’d done it. It would only happen if and when he felt like his life wasn’t over because of this accident, and they had nothing to do with that.

“Okay,” he answered. Not ‘It’s okay,’ because it wasn’t. He wasn’t accepting her apology yet, just acknowledging that she’d given it and meant it. With the broken glass cleaned up and as much of a conversation as he was willing to have spoken, Louie felt like there was nothing left to do or say here, ready to return to his room and dissociate for several more hours. If Webby had anything else to share, she only had one lingering moment before he wheeled himself out the door. Once he did, he wasn’t sure the next time he would be emotionally ready to talk to her again.

[webbiigaiil]

“Huh, well when you say it like that, I guess not.” The blonde admitted after some thought. Then again, it’s not like Webby’s been paying attention to whoever the boys kisses or has been actively around whenever it happens. Sure, they’ve had girlfriends and boyfriends whom she’s met before, but even she knew when to give them privacy for things like kissing. So for all Webby knew, maybe talking about nausea had prompted someone in wanting to kiss Huey! But the more she thought on it, the girl doubted it, which is probably what Darla was trying to tell her. Talking about nausea or puking while trying to flirt with someone was not the way to go. Noted.

Hopefully, her next attempt had been better than her first one. Webby’s heard the saying of someone wanting to drown within another person’s eyes, especially if their eyes were blue, but the blonde wanted to use a line that could be more versatile. So when Darla told her it wasn’t the worst, she immediately perked up and smiled. “Yay! So I did good this time around?” Webby asked, as she admittedly was a bit worried of being told that she needed to come up with something else. Who knew flirting with someone can be so hard? And she wasn’t even actively trying to, but just practicing at that! “Oh no, there isn’t anyone.” The blonde replied, now shaking her head. “I just wanted to practice because….well, I’ve never flirted with anyone before, so I might as well learn how to be prepared to do so when the time comes, right?” 

“Has saying that ever prompted anyone to want to kiss Huey?” Darla retorted, trying to make Webby see that certain topics—like nausea, for example—just because they could be involved in romantic feelings, that didn’t make them good things to talk about in an attempt to flirt. (And as an aside, if one was to mention it, a more romantic turn of phrase for that concept might be considered having butterflies. She might have to make notes for Webby. A glossary of appropriate terms.) After listening to the younger girl’s attempt to craft a pick-up line about eyes, Darla opened her mouth to give feedback but paused, somewhat confused. 

“It’s…not the worst,” she offered, trying not to be too negative or discouraging in this coaching session. “It’s not the best either…I could see someone liking it,” she decided, shrugging. Webby was quirky, and that kind of line could work for someone similar to herself. It wasn’t the safest bet to give any random person a line about their eyes being like black holes, but at this point, anything was better than puke, so Darla felt like they were definitely making progress. Besides, she realized, some people would say they were drowning in someone’s ocean-blue eyes which was just as morbid, so it was only fair for there to be an equivalent for dark eyes, right? “Okay, I think you’re on the right track! So…Is there someone in particular you’re trying to flirt with, or is this just for general practice?”

[webbiigaiil]

Closing the door behind him after he stepped inside, the blonde paused when asked what she had been up to before he arrived. Nothing. That’s what Webby had been doing. Well, it was more like she had been locked up inside her bedroom the entire time until he came— just like she’s been doing every single day since they all returned back home from the hospital. It was the best thing the girl could do since Louie started to avoid her, and because she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by seeing her or accidentally running into her, Webby figured the best way to prevent any of that from happening was for her to stay inside her room. Even during days like today, where Louie wasn’t even home so she didn’t have to. The blonde didn’t want to run the risks or cause any more awkwardness between them. But could she say that to Ferdie? “I was doing noth— er, knitting?” She randomly ended up saying, blinking her eyes just as she did so. “Yeah, knitting. That's what I've been doing the entire time before you stopped by." Knitting.

Seeing the hint of a smile on Webby’s face, however quickly it disappeared after, Ferdie felt he had definitely made the right choice to visit her. She deserved to smile as much as anyone else—indeed, it had been strange lately to see her go so long without one—so Ferdie vowed to himself to make her smile again today. He wouldn’t go home until he did. “What were you up to before I dropped in?” he asked as he stepped past Webby to enter the manor. He assumed if she was doing anything terribly important, she would have told him so before letting him in, but she did seem very surprised by his presence, so maybe the distraction made her forget herself. Either way, he was here to stay, so she’d just have to make room for him in whatever she was doing before he showed up.

[webbiigaiil]

KIERNAN SHIPKA. "Nina Le Parfum" Campaign.

[webbiigaiil]

"I'm sorry.. please don't be too mad at me." -Dewey ( @deweydewdrop )

As the door leading into the mansion closed behind her, the blonde let out an exhausted sigh. It was a pretty long and rough day at the House of Mouse, and all Webby wanted to do right now was migrate back into her room and sleep. With that thought set it mind, she turned around to start making her way towards the direction of her room, when her eyes caught the sight of another. Dewey. Instantly, her body began to tensed up, and as quick as her gaze had latched onto his, the blonde looked away from him. What was he doing here? Ever since a couple of weeks ago where he decided to move out and into Morty and Ferdie’s apartment, Dewey hasn’t exactly stopped by the mansion to visit as often. Or maybe he has? Webby wouldn’t know, she’s barely spoken to the middle triplet since the aftermath of the hotel bombing.

‘Maybe he tried to talk to Huey again?’ She thought, knowing that she wasn’t the only one who has been avoiding Dewey lately. Huey himself had been keeping a good distance away from his brother, the only one outside of the older adults who seemed to be willing to give him the time of day being ironically enough, was Louie himself. Webby had caught the two talking among each other once not too long ago before, and not going to lie— it had stung when she saw that considering how Louie still refused to talk to her, much less look towards her direction. But Dewey was his brother, so she should’ve known that he would forgive him sooner. Pretending like she hadn’t accidentally caught his eye, the blonde started to walk towards the staircase, needing to cross Dewey’s path as she did so, and when she did, all it took was for Webby to make it up a single step when he spoke up. Hearing him apologize and plead for her not to be too mad at him, something within her snapped and she turned around. “Please don’t be too mad at you? Seriously?” Webby glared. “That’s all you’re going to say to me?”

[webbiigaiil]

It was only when he took a step back was when she realized that she had broken the glass she had been holding. With her own eyes widening, the blonde shifted her gaze towards the ground and stared at the shattered pieces of glass. She then glanced back at Louie, the youngest triplet being completely frozen in place, his own gaze now focused on the broken glass as well. Great, as if there wasn’t enough tension between them already, now she had to go and freak him out by accidentally breaking the cup and triggering him with the noise of it shattering. It wasn’t on purpose, Webby praying that once Louie snapped out of it, he wouldn’t take it to the heart because freaking him out was on the very last thing she wanted to do. The fact that she had broken the cup in the first place goes to show just how out of it she was— clearly the girl wasn’t taking Louie’s avoidance well to focus on these kinds of things.

He was able to snap out of it, retorting back at her by asserting how she should’ve told them the truth if she knew. At that, Webby had shrunk back. Louie was right, she should have told him and Huey the truth on what Dewey was doing, but for so long she had been convinced that it wasn’t in her place to do so. Della wasn’t her mom—she was Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s, and in some way, the blonde felt like spilling the beans on what the middle triplet was doing would be intruding within something that she shouldn’t be involve with in the first place. She wouldn’t have been involved if it weren’t for her catching him sneaking around her room, but it didn’t matter because Webby had known that once Huey and Louie found out, things wouldn’t end well. With a sigh, the girl didn’t say anything in response, instead accepting the broom and cleaning up the mess of broken glass she had made. It was silent for a good few minutes a she cleaned, and once she finished, the girl walked towards the trash. “You’re right,” Webby finally spoke, dumping the glass inside. “I should’ve told you and Huey the truth when Dewey wouldn’t…..” Turning around, she turned back to look at him. “I’m sorry I never did.” 

Louie startled at the sudden cracking sound of the glass breaking on the ground, his heart hammering in his chest. Unexpected loud noises had been triggering him lately, an automatic anxious tension sparking. He froze in place momentarily, before carefully wheeling himself back and further away from the side of the kitchen where Webby had dropped her cup; he didn’t have to worry about stepping on broken glass, but he didn’t want it in his tires either. It was like Webby didn’t even notice the damage herself, too focused on countering his assumptions. Wasn’t she going to clean that up first? Louie kept looking at the broken shards on the ground, hardly hearing her rebuttal until he tuned back in to catch the end of it. “If you wanted us to know the truth, you should have told us,” he said, his tone uncompromising. “Telling Dewey to do it doesn’t count for anything—you know he doesn’t listen to anyone.” Especially considering she had told him over and over again. “Stay there.”

He turned around and went to get a broom, coming back and tossing it to Webby so she could sweep up her mess. Louie was still feeling flighty and tense, but he wasn’t going to leave her to pick her way out of the glass alone, even if it was her fault. Even though a little glass in the feet would be nothing compared to a missing leg…Still. He couldn’t turn off caring about his family no matter how much he was hurting or how angry he was. He waited and watched her sweep, trying to gather himself before speaking again. It was just as hard to talk to Webby as he knew it would be, which was part of why he'd avoided it for so long. What was there to say? Nothing could fix this. They might as well try to put the shattered pieces of that glass back together.

[webbiigaiil]

For a moment, the side of her lips had lifted into an almost smile as the realization that Ferdie was here for her finally settled in. While it’s not to say that no one else has tried to check in on Webby since the bombing at the hotel happened because some people has— her Granny, Huey, Donald, and Daisy, just to name a few, most who had were all her family so it was to be expected. At the same time, since neither she or Dewey had gotten as badly injured like Louie did, the two coming out of the accident with scratch wounds at best, it also made sense that most of everyone’s focus would be on him. She get’s it and the blonde wasn’t about to start complaining over the lack of attention. But as Ferdie confirmed that he in fact was here for her, Webby not only felt confused but also felt kind of happy to hear that. Happy enough where she almost smiled, but as soon as said smile had appeared, the girl then dropped it. Should she even be acting happy right now? “Oh right, yeah, of course you can come in.” Snapping out of it and not realizing that she may have been blocking the doorway, Webby moved aside from her position, giving him enough space to walk in. “Sorry, about that.”

“Well, here I am,” he said, standing on the stoop with his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels casually as proof that her expectations were off-base. “May I come in?” He glanced past where she leaned against the doorframe into the house and looked back at her. He wondered if she was actually going to turn him away. Despite saying that she was glad to see him, there was still something dissociated about Webby, like she was entirely lost on what to do now that he had surprised her by showing up to see her. She must have been so stuck in her head lately over everything that had happened, it was like trying to shake her from a trance to do something non-routine. It was actually quite worrying…Wasn’t anyone looking out for her mental health during such a tumultuous family event? Ferdie was no therapist, but as a friend, he wanted to show he cared, and apparently showing up for her was something that was uncommon enough to have surprised her so deeply.

[webbiigaiil]

As her attempts to not accept the donut—despite every fiber of her being wanting nothing more than to do the exact opposite , the blonde let out a heavy sigh. She should have figured that Donald would buy enough donuts for everyone within the mansion. Even for Scrooge and her Granny despite the two of them not bothering to touch any, the blonde was sure that there was a donut for everyone here and then some. Which meant that even if she tried to refuse the one Donald was offering her, it would be hard without Webby outright saying “no” to it. And in hindsight, that is all she needed to say, but with the man staring at her encouragingly and with concern, she couldn’t find it within herself to say it.

“Okay…..” Webby decided to give in with a slight nod of the head. “I’ll take the extra sprinkled donut, Donald— thank you.” She added, not forgetting her manners that her Granny had taught her despite a part of her now screaming foul words to herself for accepting. She didn’t deserve any sugary sweets or even Donald’s kindness in getting some of these for her. Maybe she could pretend like she’s ate the donut and throw it away in secret so he wouldn’t have to no? But then that would be a waste, and she didn’t like the idea of throwing something away at the same time. The blonde then forced out a smile. 

There was no doubt that all the extra sugary, extra sprinkled donuts were meant specifically for Webby and the triplets. Scrooge and Beakley likely wouldn't go near the donuts at all, and Donald got himself some classic glazed that he much preferred. Daisy had yet to get here, but he picked a few just for her, too. Donald was being more than generous, getting plenty for everyone so no one felt left out. Still though, Webby resisted. Donald wondered why that was.

"I'ʅʅ ɱαƙҽ ʂυɾҽ Hυҽყ ɠҽƚʂ ʂσɱҽ αϝƚҽɾ I ƚαƙҽ Lσυιҽ ԋιʂ ρʅαƚҽ," Donald reassured her, holding back the annoyance that began to bubble inside him. He knew he had to be patient with her considering the circumstances. "I'ʋҽ ɠσƚ Lσυιҽ'ʂ ɾιɠԋƚ ԋҽɾҽ," he added, nodding to the plate beside him on the counter along with the glass for his drink. He almost said I don't think Louie will want yours, knowing Louie was still not talking to Webby or Dewey, but that likely would only make Webby feel worse. Neither of them brought up Dewey in the moment, and an awkward silence followed. Donald cleared his throat. "Tɾυʂƚ ɱҽ, ƚԋҽɾҽ'ʂ ρʅҽɳƚყ ϝσɾ ҽʋҽɾყσɳҽ. Jυʂƚ ƚαƙҽ σɳҽ."