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“Webby, Lena, you two can get the firewood,” Huey instructs, reading from the list in her hands she presumably made ahead of time for this trip. Nerd.
“Alright!” Webby cheers, turning away from where she was poking at something on the ground with Dewey.
Lena shifts her weight to one side. “Why us?” she asks, shoving her hands into her coat pockets. It’s a bit too cold to be camping in her opinion, but with the incoming meteor shower there was no room for debate. At least Louie seems to agree with her. He’s still stubbornly laying inside one of the tents, wrapped in a swath of blankets.
“You two are the least scared of the dark, and if something attacks you you’re both strong enough to fend it off,” Huey explains with a wave of her hand. She turns to her left, muttering something to Violet, who’s cozied up against Huey’s side.
Reasonably, Lena knows it’s because Violet has never been a fan of the cold and likes to seek out warmth from others, but also reasonably she knows Violet is doing it with Huey specifically because they like each other. She gives Violet a knowing look, who shoots back a glare.
“Let’s go, Lena,” Webby smiles, tugging Lena’s sleeve.
She smiles back, following Webby’s lead into the surrounding forest. The two of them instinctively hold hands, which would be inconvenient if it weren’t for the fact Lena can simply make the wood she gets float alongside her. Webby opts to shove everything into one arm, picking up nearly any stick they pass by.
“She might have shunted us aside because the group didn’t wanna deal with our lovey-dovey couple things,” Lena says, mildly amused at the thought, considering everyone’s insistence for the two of them to date.
“That’s too bad! I think our lovey-dovey couple things are cute,” To accentuate her point, Webby leans up and pecks Lena’s beak.
Lena hates that she still blushes when Webby expresses such obvious affection, but she can’t hate it too much when Webby’s commented on it being cute before.
“They are,” she agrees, the heat in her cheeks doing nothing to keep the cold away. “Think anything will kill us out here?”
Webby leans down to pick up a particularly hefty looking log. “They wouldn’t be able to try!”
“Cause you’d beat them with your fists,” Lena pauses. “I think this is enough now. We should head back before we test our luck and run into, like, I dunno, a pack of cursed wolves.”
“That’d be fun, though, I haven’t seen any before. Wolves, cursed things, but not cursed wolves,” Webby says, a puff of cold air leaving her beak. She lets Lena lead her back the way they came from despite her comment.
“What kind of cursed are we talking here? Cursed at birth? Werewolves? Wolves that can inexplicably speak Spanish?”
“That last one’s weirdly specific.”
“No, I’ve never met wolves that can speak Spanish. Once a bird, though.”
“I can speak Spanish,” Webby comments, loudly crunching the leaves under her boots. “And German, and French, and—”
Lena nudges her. “Basically everything, I know. It’s impressive. I’ve picked up some Spanish from Vi and our Dad’s, but not a lot. I can speak ancient Sumerian, though, but I’ve always known how to do that.”
“That’s cool, though! No one’s born knowing a language.”
“I think it just makes me weird. But I guess it is cool.” Lena shrugs. What she says is light, without any weight behind it, and it’s… nice, for everything she says to not be coated in self-deprecation.
“Weird is cool, too. I’m weird and super cool. According to you guys, at least, but I don’t think I’m not cool. I just don’t like saying it.”
Lena barks out a laugh. “Ah, humble Webby.”
“I’m allowed to say it! You agree with me,” Webby grins.
“I do! I just think it’s funny. You— well, I guess you don’t like saying it, because I’ve never heard you say you’re cool before. You should say it more. Build up confidence,” she leans down, smirking.
“Is that a challenge?”
“Everything’s a challenge for you, pink.”
“Because challenges are fun and I’m great at them!” Webby huffs, placing her free hand on her hip.
“Humble, humble Webby,” Lena snickers.
“You told me to say it more,” Webby defends, but she doesn’t seem genuinely upset, so she understands Lena’s just teasing.
“And I was right to.”
The camp comes into view, and Webby and her step back into the clearing. The moon shines overhead in a clear sky, stars twinkling with the knowledge of the soon-arriving meteor shower. A time like this wouldn’t be anything special to her years ago, but now it feels comforting. Everything is clearer, more fun with her family.
Absently she observes the scene in case someone blew something up in the ten minutes they were gone. Dewey is holding a pack of marshmallows, one hand stuffed into it while arguing with Huey who’s trying to push their arm out of it. Louie seems to have come out of his cocoon for the promise of smores, sitting like an angry cat on one of the logs. Della sits beside him, an arm wrapped around his side while she talks to Donald. It seems the adults are back from getting the rest of the celebration snacks they accidentally forgot.
Off to the side, a curious pair stands. Violet is showing a paper to Scrooge, him pointing out something on it, a wistful look on his face that indicates he’s telling a when I was a young lad story.
“Oh, hey kids!” Della waves. “Thanks for getting the wood, you can put it here.” She gestures to the pit in front of her.
Lena promptly dumps her wood into it, her magic dissipating into the air with a snap. Webby follows suit, the clunking noise satisfying to hear.
“We are not making that fire the old-fashioned way,” Louie hisses, visibly shivering. “If anyone even suggests that, I’ll snap.” Della reassuringly pats his head, pulling him closer.
“More like you’ll cry,” Dewey throws over their shoulder.
“I can multitask, Dewey.”
“Nah, that’d be too much, even for me,” Della admits. “We’re gonna use a lighter.”
Scrooge wanders over, grumbling. “The old-fashioned way is a good experience to have. Sitting in the cold, scraping away to create your own fire…”
“Boring!” Louie shouts.
“I agree with Louie. That sounds lame,” Lena jabs. Scrooge mutters something, plopping down onto a log. “Anyway, I could just use my magic if you guys wanted? It means I’d be able to change the color of the fire too.”
“Oh! That sounds so cool, Lena, we’d love it!” Webby smiles, bright and sunny even in the dark. “D’ya think you could make it pink? Rainbow?!”
Lena softens. “Anything for you.”
“Oooh? Rainbow fire?” Dewey makes their way over, sitting beside Louie and snuggling up against him. Huey follows, sitting next to them, holding the poor bag of marshmallows with a disgruntled expression. It’s a good thing they got multiple.
“That’s a great idea, Lena!” Donald exclaims, absently swatting away a fly. “Be careful, though.”
She’s gotten better at understanding Donald, and feels a private sense of accomplishment at it. He deserves to be heard. “I will.”
Channeling her magic into her outstretched hand, she sees the outline of a glow in her vision, the magic enveloping herself and coming to a ball in her hand. With some effort, she shoots it out, the fire immediately catching flame on the pile of wood. The smell of ash fills her senses, and the sound of fire crackling drives away the haze.
She squirms when the group claps. Getting used to such positive reactions is still… hard, but it makes her happy.
Getting herself out of the spotlight, she ducks her head and sits down onto the nearest log. Almost immediately, Webby is against her side, offering a roasting stick and a few marshmallows. Lena takes them, letting her stick hover just over the fire so her marshmallow doesn’t burn. She doesn’t understand people who think that tastes good. The fire chases away the cold, almost too hot at times, but largely comfortable.
“Hey, pink,” Lena whispers after a moment of sitting in silence, the others talking fading to background noise.
Webby smiles. “Hi, Lena.”
“I can show you something I think you’ll like,” she proposes.
“What is it?”
Lena takes a breath, steeling herself. She’s been practicing this for awhile now, and contrary to how simple it seems it’s difficult to pull off. Slowly, she reaches out her hand, willing the fire to move under it. Steady, steady, and…
The fire shifts and moves, until pieces of it break off, forming into burning stars.
Webby gasps. The stars dance in her reflection, fire illuminating her face and making her brown eyes almost look orange. Lena almost gasps herself. Somehow, Webby still manages to catch her off guard with just how beautiful she is, and it only makes Lena want to hold her forever.
“Lena… this is beautiful,” Webby breathes out, staring in awe. “This must have taken you so long.” She turns, beaming and pulling Lena into a hug. “I love it so, so much! Thank you for showing me.”
“Wait,” Lena says. Webby pulls back with a questioning but excited look.
Lena brings forward one of the flaming stars, and makes sure it’s at a temperature that won’t burn. One of the many pros of fire-magic. Then, she hands it to Webby. “It’s safe to hold, don’t worry,” she reassures.
Webby slowly cups it in her hands, staring in wonder. “My own star,” she whispers shakily, grinning and wiping away a few forming tears.
“I’m glad you like it.” Lena gently holds Webby’s arms, brushing their foreheads together.
“I love it.”
Webby reaches up to kiss Lena, and she thinks it’s better than any glowing stars.