Chapter Text
Drake woke up like he usually did after a hard night on patrol. Sore, groggy, and with an unnatural urge to shove as much coffee down his throat so he’d wake up faster. He groaned, rolling over to the other side of the bed. Drake expected to find Launchpad’s body lying there, but found that apparently, his bed was empty. In fact, Launchpad’s side of the bed was cold, as if he hadn’t slept there at all. Drake didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t unusual for Launchpad to sleep on the couch sometimes. Which meant that Drake wouldn’t have any reason to not confess to him.
He still felt a little nervous, even though most of his fears had disappeared after last night’s fight. Drake still wasn’t sure if Launchpad would want to talk to him after he ran out on him in the middle of the date, but he didn't have time to consider that. Drake pushed himself out of bed and stumbled over to his door, doing his best to open it with his sore arms. Drake took a deep breath, allowing his brain to formulate a sentence, then pushed himself into the living room. “Launchpad can we-”
Drake stopped himself. Where Drake expected a sleeping Launchpad sat Gosalyn, engrossed in her Saturday morning cartoons and eating a bowl of cereal, which Drake could only assume was her second or third bowl.
“G’morning Gosalyn,” Drake said.
Gosalyn's eyes didn’t move from the tv screen. “Mornin’ dad. Feeling any better from last night?”
Drake yawned, “For the most part, yes. I still feel like a zombie though.” Making his way to the kitchen, Drake pulled out a bowl and poured himself some cereal. “Did Launchpad say he had somewhere to go? He’s not usually up this early.”
“Wouldn’t know,” Gosalyn replied. “He never came home last night.”
Now that was a shock to Drake. Launchpad always told Drake when he was going to be out of town. “Then who dropped me off back here?”
Gosalyn groaned, pausing her tv show in what looked to be a climactic fight scene. “Fenton did. Said that you were all tuckered out and whatnot. He didn’t mention anything about Launchpad.”
“Are you sure? Not even a message from him?”
“Not that I know of. Could always check Darkwing Tower’s call records,” Gosalyn said. “Maybe he left you something before he went out of town. Now, will you please let me finish my show?”
Drake sighed, trying his best to not read too deep into the situation. He was sure it was just Launchpad being Launchpad, and not something catastrophic like him leaving. Forever.
Scarfing down his cereal, Drake quickly got dressed and said his goodbyes to Gosalyn before making his way to the tower. Part of him hoped that Launchpad would be there working on the Thunderquack, which made his lack of appearance even more disappointing when Drake arrived.
Drake opened up the computer and quickly sifted through the previous call records he’d gotten days prior. The only notable ones were a call from Fenton about not being late to the auction, a butt dial from Launchpad, a S.H.U.S.H. report from Grylikoff he’d probably go over later, and finally a new message from last night that came from Launchpad. Drake braced himself for the call and pressed play.
“ Hey, Drake. I uh, know you’re probably busy sleeping right now, after fighting Megavolt and Quackerjack.” Launchpad’s nervous voice made Drake’s heart ache. “And well, I don’t really know where we stand since the last thing I did was make you cry. I was meaning to tell you this during dinner but I’ll be out of town for a little bit. Not too long, just need to attend to some business for a little with Mr. McDuck. I’ll be back soon. Try to hold down the fort for me, Deedubuya. ” The soft click of the call ending played, and it took Drake a moment to realize that it was over.
So he was going out of town for a few days. That’s a good thing, Drake thought. Means that he won’t have to wait very long. “A few days without Launchpad,” Drake said. “How hard can it be?”
If “a little bit” was Launchpad code for “See you next never”, Drake felt like a fool for not knowing about it earlier. It’d been a week since he’d last heard from him, the longest Drake had gone without contact to Launchpad in a while. Drake hadn’t realized how nerve-wracking it was to not hear from him for so long, though he blamed his newfound feelings of love on that. The house had been quiet without him, patrols even quieter, to the point where the days began to meld into the same monotonous schedule. Wake up, take Gosalyn to school, work around the house, pick Gosalyn up and take her to hockey practice, take her home, go on patrol, sleep, repeat. Drake thought he’d end up dying of boredom before Launchpad came back.
And then Sunday happened.
Drake woke up groggy again, having stayed up fighting Negaduck again. His nemesis had hurled insult after insult at him, but Drake hadn’t the energy to fire back with anything. The fight ended up lasting for six hours, with Negaduck finally conceding and retreating to wherever he went after fights.
Drake unwillingly forced himself out of bed to take Gosalyn to school, then plopped himself down on the couch and turned on Pelican’s Island. It was a rerun of the third season’s tenth episode, where the gang was trying to cure Pelican’s vision using some berries they found around the island.
“Topsy Turvy? I’ve never been a fan of that episode very much.”
Drake jumped in his seat from hearing Launchpad’s voice so suddenly. He turned around, finding his friend standing behind him with a grin on his face. “Hey there, Deedubuya. Didja miss me?”
In the seconds following, Drake’s mind went through a series of emotions. First came scared, from how much Launchpad’s sudden appearance freaked him out. Second came confusion, wondering how Launchpad managed to even get in the house without his knowledge. Third came anger, an emotion he’d been slowly building up over the course of the week Launchpad was gone. And lastly was happiness, because Drake didn’t care at all where he’d been, just glad that he was back. Which of course translated into a quiet “meh” and an awkward silence as stock laughter played in the background.
“Guess I’ll take that as a no,” Launchpad said despondently. “Mind I sit down with you?”
“Nope,” Drake tried to reply calmly, instead coming off as uninterested. He felt bad watching Launchpad slowly sit down next to him on the other side of the couch, looking like a hurt puppy dog.
Drake knew that he needed to break the silence somehow. He couldn’t have things be this awkward if he wanted to confess anytime soon.
“I’m sorry,” Drake said.
Now it was Launchpad’s turn to be shocked. “What are you apologizing for, Deedubuya?”
“For-” Drake gripped the couch side “-running out on you the other night. On our date. I didn’t mean anything by it, I just couldn’t process all of my emotions at the time.”
Launchpad laughed. “Gee Deedubuya, that’s all you’re apologizing for? Thanks, but I’m good now. No hurt feelings, see?” Launchpad pounded his chest with his hand. “Strong and sturdy as ever.”
Drake smiled. Maybe there was a chance this would work out after all. “And I wanted to apologize for not being honest with you earlier.”
“About running out on the date? It’s really no biggie-”
“About how I feel. About you, Launchpad.”
“Deedubaya?” Launchpad’s voice was nervous.
“I think,” Drake began, “that I didn’t give enough thought to how I felt about you. That you were just Launchpad, my partner, my friend, my confidant. Nothing else. And when I did, and I realized how you made me feel, I got scared. Like it wasn’t right to want to feel that way about you.” Drake began to sweat as his nerves started to get to him. “But ever since we met that night we beat Taurus Bulba, I’ve wanted you by my side and no one else. You were there for Gosalyn’s adoption, you were there to pick me back up after Morgana broke up with me, you’ve even been to all of Gosalyn’s hockey games. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And it’d be wrong if I didn’t tell you how I feel.”
“Make you feel how, Drake,” Launchpad said.
Drake turned to look Launchpad in the eyes. His body felt like it was on fire, every single brain cell screaming at him to turn back before he did something irreversibly stupid. His hands trembled under the pressure, his mouth beginning to stutter under the weight of his feelings.
Launchpad reached over and held Drake’s hand in his own, and Drake realized how big he was. Not just in size, but in heart too. Drake hadn’t been the best friend or partner, and yet here Launchpad sat holding his hand, calming him down for what Drake could only assume was the 1000th time. And somehow Drake knew it wouldn’t be the last.
Swallowing back his fear, Drake finally spoke. “I love you, Launchpad.”
Drake expected Launchpad to be shocked, perhaps even disgusted by the sudden confession. It wasn’t like Drake to admit something so personal. Instead he remained silent, and Drake worried that he’d broken the man. Then Launchpad slowly let go of Drake’s hand and began to laugh.
“What,” Drake said angrily. “What’s so funny!”
“Oh it’s not your fault. Just that I wasn’t expecting you to feel the same, is all.”
Drake paused. “Feel the same?”
“Why did you think I bought you as a date from the auction anyways? And that necklace wasn’t just for show,” Launchpad said. “I was gonna ask you to go on a date with me Drake. A real one, not a fake one.”
Drake’s mind began to put the pieces together. Why Launchpad hadn’t been surprised by the auction, why he’d dressed up so nicely, why he’d brought a gift for him, and why he was almost glad that Drake had said he loved him. They slowly clicked together, until finally Drake realized what he was saying. “You love me too?”
“Always,” Launchpad replied. “It’s been hard keeping it a secret from you for so long, but I finally got the courage to do it awhile ago when Fenton told me you were going to be a part of that auction. Mr. McDuck wasn’t too keen on loaning me the money afterward, but I managed to convince him. It’s why I went outta town, had to work with him to repay all the money I spent.”
“So you’re not mad at me,” Drake said.
“Nope,” Launchpad replied.
“And you’re not gonna leave Gosayln and I?”
“Why would I ever?”
“And you’re okay with this?”
“Being your boyfriend? Of course. Are you?”
Drake smiled. “Yeah. I am.” Drake rested his head on Launchpad’s laugh, taking in his now boyfriend’s beautiful face. “I could kiss you right now.”
Launchpad scratched his cheek, “I mean, you could. I am your boyfriend now.”
Drake laughed, placing his hand on Launchpad’s cheek and leaning up to kiss him on his beak. It was a soft kiss, Launchpad’s hand propping Drake up to keep them kissing longer. For the first time in a few weeks, Drake truly felt at peace.
Yeah. He could live with this.