The first time was when Buhdeuce ate the love loaf.

"Sorry things didn't work out, babe."

Sway Sway practically jumped at Buhdeuce's comment before he snapped his head in Buhdeuce's direction. Whoops. Guess he must've gotten too wrapped up in his melancholy musings over his failed attempt to get Jenny to like him to notice Buhdeuce talking to him. He gave the duck a smile. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'll get her next time. And if I don't, i'll deal with my emotions like a mature responsible adult by locking myself in a small room and sobbing uncontrola-"

"I wasn't talking to you."

Wait, what? Sway Sway tilted his head in confusion before swerving the rocket van back in the right direction to the swamp pad, not wanting to deal with Rambamboo yelling at them for crashing. No one else was in the van except them so who could he be talkin-

He caught a glance of his front view mirror only to find Buhdeuce (poorly, though it wasn't like it mattered) sweet-talking the reflection in the side view mirror that fell off the van earlier that day. Oh, right. That. He softly chuckled and shook his head at himself. Man, his recent rejection must have had him spacing out hard if he didn't question his best bap calling him babe, though the weirdly familiar slight sting accompanying his acknowledgement of this fact made his smile falter a bit. Weird. No big deal though. He'd just summon the breadmaker to ask him how to reverse the love loaf effects tomorrow afternoon and his bbfl would be rika-rika-right as rain before he could recite the Breadwinner's motto.

Buhdeuce gasped overdramatically. "How could you, Sway Sway? Me and myself love each other more than anyone else in all of Pondgaea! I can't believe you would want to take that away from us." he huffed, holding the mirror close to his chest as if trying to protect his reflection.

Ah crummers, did he say that out loud? Must not ha- Wait, more than anyone?! Oh, he was so calling the breadmaker first thing tomorrow!

"That's quazy talk, I love you way more than that!" he cried, locking his eyes on the road while fighting off the urge to slap his hand over his mouth, since he was still driving, by digging his nails into the plastic ends of the levers. Hard. Jeez, why did that feel like it held more weight to it than usual?

"Not that kind of love, silly goose." Buhdeuce sighed, albeat while donning a playful smile while slightly giggling. Right. Of course. He meant platonically. Anything else would be riduckulous (there was that weird sting he swore he recognized again), after all. And that's what Sway Sway meant too, obviously!

He shut out the voice in the back of his head accusing him of lying and focused on getting home asap. The strange and partially tense atmosphere haunting the rocket van was really too much to deal with that day, especially with how his pitiful failed attempt to woo Jenny left him.

After throwing the van keys onto the couch and muttering a quick "hey girl" to Jelly, Sway Sway immediately ran a hand through his feathers while reaching for his hat to yank it off his head, more than ready to sleep away his (hella freaky, since Jenny ignoring him certainly wasn't anything special) emotional exhaustion.

"I swear, even the stars can't shine as bright as you!"

If Sway Sway had rolled his eyes any harder than he did then, they would've fallen out of his head. Christ, did his Deucer pull that line out of a hallmark movie? He resisted the urge to gag and whoa wait where "his Deucer" come fro-

"I don't think there's anyone in the whole world that means more to me than you, me."

...oucheewawa that stung.

He was calling the breadmaker tonight. No way he was spending anymore time with his Buhdeuce (there it was again!) spouting quazy nonsense like that! No ducking way! As a matter of fact, as soon as he dried off the tears sliding down his cheeks, he was gonna march right up to that duck and giving him what fo-

...wait, tears?

He swiped a hand under his right eye and, sure enough, it's feathers had dampened. "What on Pondgaea?" he muttered.

"You say some'm, bap?" questioned Buhdeuce, not looking up from his reflection and continuing to shoot it a lovestruck grin, hearts in his eyes.

Oh, now he acknowledges his existence.

"Uh, yeah. Can I get that mirror? I wanna hook it back up to the rocket van." Sway really just wanted to get his bap's mind off of his newfound attraction to himself (though he really couldn't perfectly pin down the reason why, no matter how much he racked his small brain) but he didn't exactly know how to put that into words.

Buhdeuce crossed his arms over the reflector and whined. "Can't you get Ketta to do it?" he pouted, earning a forced smile from his bap and a "Yep, and i'm sure she'd appreciate some extra parts to work with." spoken through gritted teeth. After reluctantly forking it over while simultaneously scanning the room in vain for another reflective surface, Buhdeuce threw himself onto his nest and slid underneath the covers while Sway Sway strolled back outside, wiping off the oily kiss stains his partner (why did that term feel like it had a double meaning all of a sudden?) left on the mirror and, consequently, gripping it so hard with his other hand that by the time he made it to the garage, it left its own imprints.

He groaned in frustration and slammed his head into the warm glass while walking. What was up with him tonight? He was never this possessive of his bap, especially when it came to romance! And what was the "his Buhdeuce" and the sudden crying? He was always calm and level headed!

...ok, so maybe that wasn't always true. Or even mostly. And yeah, ok, he was kind've a bit over emotional all the time sometimes, but it was never to this extent! And it was normally just overwhelming joy and excessive hyperactivity. He rarely did any of this stuff, the only instance in recent memory being when that douchebag Hotshot swept Jenny off her feet at the talent sh…wait.

…

"...oh crummers."