Work Text:
“And what about this?”
“My foot?”
Penumbra leveled her with a glare that was desert dry and just as scathing. Della didn’t look away, giggling when their impromptu staring contest stretched into the seconds.
With an overblown sigh and roll of her large gray eyes, Penumbra was the first to relent. “I mean,” she stressed, poking at the sole of Della’s real foot with a large, alien finger, “why is it...like that?”
Della wiggled her foot in Penumbra’s lap, grinning at the unamused look thrown her way. “It’s webbed,” she explained. “To help us swim better. Y’know, evolution or whatever.”
“Swim?” Penumbra repeated, in the way of someone trying out a new word.
Della pulled her foot back and shuffled forward, so she was sitting in Penumbra’s lap instead. She hummed thoughtfully as she leaned back against Penumbra’s chest and her arms came around to cradle her close.
“We’ll have to take you to the beach,” Della said. “We’re due for some classic Earther tomfoolery. Playing in the water, building sand castles, not fighting anything — you’ll hate it.”
“It does sound infuriatingly ridiculous,” Penumbra agreed quietly. She threaded her fingers through Della’s hair, brushing her knuckles against Della’s temple and cheek. “Perhaps we could go before I have to leave again.”
Della tilted her head into Penumbra’s gentle ministrations, a bittersweet weight settling heavily in her stomach.
“Course, Pen. We’ll make the time.”
With Penumbra on Tranquility more often than not, these moments were rarer than either of them would like.
Elevated to the rank of general in the wake of Lunaris’ betrayal, Penumbra was both leader and ambassador to her people. On the moon she was guiding them into rebuilding the infrastructure that had gone to seed during Lunaris’ rushed campaign. On Earth, she was meeting with world leaders, aiding in the rebuilding efforts and offering apology after apology for the invasion in the first place.
And after all that, when time allowed, she visited Duckburg to spend time with the kids and hold Della close.
“So what do you call these again?” Penumbra asked, running her hand up Della’s arm and mussing her feathers.
“ Feathers ,” Della retorted, batting Penumbra’s hand away with a smile she failed to disguise as a stern expression, “and you knew that already.”
“Really?” Penumbra said, the picture of innocence if it not for the way she pressed a kiss to the side of Della’s neck, and then another. “And do only ducks have these fee-athers?”
“You’re pronouncing it wrong on purpose,” Della singsonged, and snorted when Penumbra dug her fingers into her side. She’d made short work of discovering Della’s ticklish spots several visits ago as a tactical advantage.
This game they played was part practical and part apology. Penumbra didn’t know anything about Earthers, and she couldn’t exactly be asking the leaders of the free world why some of their inhabitants had beaks and others had snouts, why some were green and others were pink. So the entire family had taken it upon themselves to teach Penumbra about Earth customs and people and manners, with varying degrees of success. Of the children, only Huey’s information was always factual and Beakley’s lessons on decorum had certainly prevented Penumbra from starting another war, and Donald was always good for common sense problems.
Her questions for Della were to make up for her ambivalence and cruelty on the moon, and a vehicle for the love she felt now.
She asked about the kids, as an apology for not taking them into consideration when she tried to sabotage the Spear of Selene. And because she cared for them as much as they terrified her.
Why did Huey always wear that red fabric on his head? Why did Dewey always climb tall structures only to leap off them and shout for Penumbra to catch him, stopping her heart every time? Why did Louie always try to sneak pieces of her ship when he could just ask her to bring him a crateful of gold? When Webby challenged her to a fight was it to the death or just for fun?
For her harsh words and shenanigans on the moon, she asked questions to know Della better. What were feathers? Was her leg hurting her? Would the children mind if she and Della held hands?
In the dark of her bedroom, Penumbra’s questions were of a different sort. In the beginning there was fear and guilt in every gentle touch, hesitation in the lines of her embrace. But Della wanted her and Della loved her and she countered every doubt with assurance. And with every one of Penumbra’s visits, Am I hurting you? became How does that feel? Can I touch you? became Can I kiss you again?
What are feathers? didn’t change, though.
It was hard, sometimes, not having Penumbra there. Her presence at Della’s back whenever they went out, with the kids and sometimes not, was not unlike having a bodyguard.
Albeit, a bodyguard who let Della jump on her back when she complained about Earth’s gravity weighing her down and thus spurring the rest of the kids to ask for piggyback rides. A bodyguard who pressed a hand against the small of her back when they waited in line at the store and the sheer number of people began to overwhelm her. A bodyguard who kissed Della’s forehead when it was just them in a room, or thought it was until the giggling behind the partially open door gave their audience away and Penumbra chased the kids around the manor with cheeks gone blue in embarrassment.
Penumbra’s time on Earth was limited, and her time with Della and the family even moreso.
But while the endless stream of meetings and televised interviews to show the world that the alien threat isn’t really that bad, and it was really just a misunderstanding fueled by one bad egg who’s forever stuck in Earth’s orbit, really, would eventually come to an end, Penumbra’s presence on the moon would never not be needed. Unless she were to step down and give up leadership to Palus, which neither she nor Della wanted to ask of her. Palus already felt guilty enough for being the Moonlander to fire the first shot, and at Gizmoduck no less, who all of the Moonlanders seem to have a deep affinity for, even the ones he tossed around and let get carried away by harpies.
It didn’t help that Della couldn’t go to the Moon to visit Penumbra herself.
Climbing into a ship to fight a massive space battle that would determine the fate of the planet was one thing, flying to the moon was quite another. Della could barely bring herself to dismantle the few ships that remained, much less board one and return to the dusty rock that served as her prison for the last decade.
But guilt dogged at her, and she was ashamed that it was her ridiculous fears which put all the pressure of visiting on Penumbra’s shoulders. Della knew the trip was safe. There was no threat of her getting stranded again because everyone would know where she was. Gyro invented new communication devices that could get signal from the moon (it was how she and Penumbra stayed in contact), and she had all of Tranquility waiting for her. But she still couldn’t do it. And she hated herself for it.
There was a warehouse near the harbor where they were storing the spare Moonlander ships. One night, Della went as far as to start the launch sequence on one of them. The sound of the engines igniting sent her into a state of panic so intense she jumped out of the cockpit without ending the count down, and the ship surged into the air for a few seconds before plunging harmlessly into the bay.
Gyro was the one who found her curled up, shaking in a corner of the warehouse and immediately called Scrooge.
Uncle Scrooge took one look at her and banished all employees from the warehouse. Then he sat down beside her and took her into his arms, rubbing her back like he hadn’t done since she was a child, home sick with the flu, or a young mother hoping to do right by three little unhatched eggs. He murmured platitudes that she heard with half an ear as he wrangled the inter-space communicator from his pocket.
With a bit of doing, Penumbra appeared before them in blue-toned hologram like something out of a Planetary Wars movie, which Della would have to tease Gyro about later.
“Ah, there’s my favorite daughter-in-law,” Scrooge said only a little shakily.
Della had enough presence of mind to swat at him, even as she kept her face hidden against his chest. Penumbra had no idea what he meant the few times he’d said it within her earshot, and they hadn’t talked about —she didn’t know if Penny even wanted to—
“Uncle Scrooge,” Penumbra acknowledged solemnly. “Della,” she murmured, voice gentling in way it almost never did in the presence of others. “What’s wrong?”
“H-hey, Penny!” Della cut in, speaking with as much faux positivity as she could muster, pulling away from Scrooge’s embrace as she scrubbed at her red-rimmed eyes with the heel of her palm. “Is this a bad time? We can call back if it is.”
“We will do no such thing—!”
“Della,” Penumbra said again, forcible but not cruel. The hologram couldn’t capture the gray of her eyes, but the intensity remained.
She ducked her head. “I tried to take a ship to the moon.”
“Lass!”
“I know it was stupid! Believe me, I know,” Della muttered harshly. “I’m just so sick and tired of being scared and making you all accommodate me. Uncle Scrooge, you’ve gotta cover all the mirrors in the mansion so I don’t go around breaking them and Penny, you have to schlep over from the moon if you want to see me, and I just,” her voice broke, pathetically, “I wanted to be able to go to you.”
“I don’t know what ‘schlep’ means, but I do know that you are not blaming yourself for something outside of your control,” Penumbra snapped.
“Aye, that’s right,” Scrooge added. “Della, lass, what you went through defies definition. It stands to reason that you’d come through changed on the other side. There are things you used to be able to do that you can’t anymore, and so many things you can do now that you wouldn’t have been able to before.”
Della shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. “I used to not be afraid of anything,” she muttered.
“No offense, but the old you sounds like an idiot,” Penumbra said shortly.
Della snorted tiredly, leaning against Scrooge’s side. “Just on principle?”
“It’s good to be afraid,” Penumbra went on like she hadn’t heard her. “Fear keeps you alive. If you weren’t scared of anything, Della, you’d be ten times as insufferable as you are now.”
“I love you too, Pen.”
Penumbra rolled her eyes. “What I’m saying is that fear’s nothing to be ashamed of. You think I’m not scared for you and the children, down there on that insane planet of yours? I’m out of my element on Earth; I don’t know what is and isn’t a threat to your safety and until I do know, everything is a threat.”
“Don’t I know it,” Della said, smiling a bit as she looked up at Scrooge. “Remember when she tackled that clown?”
He closed his eyes with a sigh. “I remember the medical bills.”
“He was wearing war paint. That’s on him,” Penumbra retorted at once. “But, Della,” she said, visibly sobering, “in all seriousness. Don’t try to go to the moon again. Not until your ready. And that could be tomorrow or next cycle or never. And it would be okay, no matter what. I’ll come to you until you decide you don’t want me around anymore.”
Della’s laugh was choked and thick with tears. “Yeah, fat chance of that happening. You’re stuck with me, roomie.”
Penumbra’s smile was small and her nod curt, and Della almost laughed again. She was even more awkward about PDA over video chat.
There was what sounded like a voice speaking distantly on Penumbra’s end of the call, and she turned toward it with a sour look on her face. “I’ll be right there, Counselor,” she said after a moment.
“Are they in need of your expert leadership skills?” Della asked cheekily.
Penumbra rolled her eyes. “Hardly. The council’s just trying to decide how much gold should go with our ‘Sorry We Almost Turned Your Planet Into an Icy Wasteland’ care package, since I guess it’s some sort of rare metal for you guys.”
Scrooge made a strangled sort of sound.
“This shouldn’t take long,” Penumbra went on. “I can be home later tonight.”
Embarrassment immediately suffused Della. “Oh, no, Penny, you don’t—I know you’re busy up there with-with moon stuff—”
“I’ll be there tonight,” Penumbra said firmly.
“I’ll let Beakley know to set out another plate at breakfast,” Scrooge added.
“Alright, I can tell when I’m outnumbered,” Della groused, a smile belying her ire. “I’ll see you tonight, Pen.”
“Tonight,” Penumbra affirmed.
The hologram flickered before powering down altogether. Scrooge stood with an exaggerated groan, cracking his back. “Alright, lass, let’s get you home. If you’re still up for it, I believe there’s a movie night planned.”
Della let out a groan of her own as she accepted the hand Scrooge offered to pull herself to her feet. “I almost forgot. Do you think—” she stumbled, nearly falling on her knees had Scrooge not caught her by the elbows.
“Della,” he barked, sharp with worry, “what’s—”
“Home,” she whispered.
“What?”
Della looked up with wide eyes. “She called the mansion home . Penny,” she added, as though the identity of the ‘she’ in question might have escaped him.
“Aye,” Scrooge said, around a heaving sigh of relief. “And I reckon that as long as you’re there, it will continue to be home. Now find your feet, lass, I’m certainly not carrying you to the limo.”
Della was teetering on the verge of sleep when she heard her bedroom door open. She opened her eyes a sliver and in the dark she watched Penumbra step inside, closing the door behind her.
She turned to rummage through the chest of drawers where she kept the soft Earth clothes she preferred during her stays at the mansion. In the span of a few heavy blinks, Penumbra had changed into a loose shirt and sweatpants, and not a moment later the bed was dipping under her weight.
Della closed her eyes and remained still as Penumbra slipped under the blankets. She wound her arms around Della’s waist from behind and tangled their legs together, before propping her chin on Della’s shoulder.
“I know you’re awake,” Penumbra muttered, and Della snorted inelegantly.
“You caught me,” she whispered, turning in Penumbra’s embrace in order to face her. Penumbra’s features were shadowed, and not just by the gloom. Her gut prickled with cold. “Penny, is something wrong?”
She pulled Della into the infinitesimal space that remained between them, a three-fingered hand coming up to cup her jaw. Penumbra kissed her, soft, steady, and insistent, and Della clung to her with newfound desperation. The three weeks since they’d seen each other in the flesh seemed a gulf in that moment, and tears burned under her closed lids.
When they parted, neither of them went far, breathing heavily and pressed close together. Feeling the rapid rise and fall of Penumbra’s chest under her hand was almost heady.
Della blew out a breath. “That was some good night kiss.”
“I’m just...I’m glad you’re alright,” Penumbra said gruffly.
“Hey, no complaints here,” Della replied. “I missed you. And I’m...sorry for getting hysterical earlier and interrupting your meeting.”
Penumbra was shaking her head before Della finished speaking. “Don’t apologize. I miss you too. I know the separation’s been hard, but it won’t be this constant back and forth forever. That’s...that’s actually what a lot of this council meetings have been about.”
Della leaned back to see Penumbra’s expression better, but she was avoiding her gaze. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Penumbra sighed harshly. “We didn’t always have military leaders. Before the Mites, an elected council ran Tranquility. We’ve been trying to put that system back in place.”
Della’s breath caught in her throat. “What does that mean for you?”
Penumbra shrugged a little too casually. “Well they’ll still need a military consultant, but I don’t necessarily have to stay on the moon for that. And I could be ambassador to your Earther governments, since I already have so much experience with them.”
“You can stay here,” Della murmured in dawning realization.
“If —if you want,” Penumbra said quickly. “Or I could stay somewhere else on Earth.”
“Of course you’re staying here!”
“It’s not a sure thing,” she said, terse. “We’re still working out the logistics.”
“Bullfeathers,” Della retorted confidently. “You wouldn't have said anything if you weren’t sure.”
Penumbra frowned, looking away again. “Well I didn’t want to just...presume. I’ve been visiting so far, and I didn’t know if you’d want to make that more permanent. I mean, I was awful to you when we first met. I tried to kill you, Della, like, a lot . I trusted Lunaris even when he wanted to throw our people, civilians, into a war without reason. I let Gibbous beat up your brother.”
“Hey,” Della soothed, her brow pinched in worry. She propped herself up on her elbow. “Where’s all this coming from, Penny?”
She looked back up at Della, swallowing thickly. “I want to be the right sort of daughter-in-law for your family.”
Della froze. She didn't think she was even breathing. “I thought you didn’t know what that meant.”
“I did research.”
Della’s body trembled along with her exhale. Tears blurred her vision. “You really want...with me?”
“Do you see another obnoxious Earther around?” Penumbra replied, but a small smile gentled her severe features. She tugged on Della’s arm, and she returned easily to Penumbra’s embrace. “It’s been a long day. Forget I said anything until I ask you properly.”
Della barked a wet, incredulous laugh. “You really have done your research.”
“Your ‘internets’ is a terrifying place.”
“I know.”
They were pressed flush together, breaths mingling and heartbeats slowing in tune. With her temple against Penumbra’s shoulder, she closed her eyes to the sensation of Penumbra stroking her knuckles with her thumb. Her worries seemed to fade with every slowing breath as sleep began claiming her. She was only distantly aware of Penumbra picking up her hand.
“Remind me why you have four fingers again?”