Disclaimer: I don't own the Ducktales!
Title: Same Hat
Summary: Webby confronts Louie on his rude behavior after conning him with the diamond.
Setting: Right after Sky Pirates... in the Sky!
...
Louie doesn't talk to her for a good week afterwards. Webby wouldn't go so far as to say he did it politely, either; he constantly bumped past her in the hallways, constantly cracked jokes about 'hearing air', and constantly made existing in the same space an annoyance.
Webby wasn't one to take that sort of thing. Well, she was, to some extent, but it was getting stupid. Stupid enough she hauled him into her favorite vent by the back of his hoodie, the metal door clanking shut behind them. Louie was small enough that he could bring his arms around to protect his face, expecting some attack. He whimpered some plea, but it was too muffled to be made out properly.
"What's gotten into you?" she whisper-demanded. "Is your pride that badly wounded?"
"Pride?" he spluttered, eyes wide. "Conning people is my thing! You stole my thing!"
"You implied that learning is dumb," Webby defended, feeling indignant all over again. "Besides, you can't tell me you didn't like the jewel. You liked it even before I made up a story about what it was!"
Louie sniffled impudently. "It was a pretty rock. I like sparklies."
"Then what's the problem?"
"I just told you!" He flailed- or, well, he tried to, anyway. He stopped when he hit metal. "Conning is my thing! You already do pretty much everything else around here- I'm not gonna let you take that too!"
Webby felt herself softening. She was still pretty new to most family dynamics, but she did know that the Duck triplets preferred to fill in very specific ideas and purposes, and found straying from them downright horrifying. Huey needed logic and facts or he couldn't function. Trying to force Dewey to follow a routine or expectations was like trying to willingly get him to accept a rash. Louie needed an angle or he fell apart. It was just how they are.
"I'm sorry I made you feel that way," Webby said sincerely. "I'm not looking to take your place. Trust me." She dug around, pulling the false diamond out of her pocket. Louie scowled at it like it'd personally offended him. "I know it's not anything you can sell, but you said yourself that you think it's pretty. You should have it."
He squinted at her suspiciously, but took it anyway. "You're just lucky I like sparklies." Shifting awkwardly onto his other side, Louie turned the airport nicknack around. "You really can't tell it's fake, huh? I could probably got forty bucks off this baby."
"Louie."
"At least."
"Louie!"
The boy's grin went a little crooked. "Aw, come'n, Webs. You could be my partner in crime!"
"A tempting offer, but... no." Webby finally bothered to look around. "We should probably get out of this vent shaft."
"That would be wise," he agreed.
Author's Note: This is a little eh, but I've been having so much fun with video games I wanted to get some writing practice in. Don't wanna get rusty, y'know? =)
This was originally gonna be a bit longer and more in-depth, with Webby and Louie both realizing they had similar concerns about not being prepared for things (Louie not having money for when Uncle Donald eventually upheaves them, and Webby losing her family when they leave) and the same hat was just me having fun with my memes, but this came out instead.
-Mandaree1