Work Text:
"You like theatre? what are you, a girl?"
Dewey stopped for a second. This kid had been asking him non-stop questions ever since he saw Dewey beat the high score for Uke and Puke(for the 100th time, of course). Dewey has naturally basked in the affection and praise of being this boy's temporary idol.
Until he found out Dewey liked to sing.
Because somehow, playing an instrument (even a fake one) was cool, but singing and dancing was for girls.
Dewey wondered how something could be strictly for girls.
he wondered, even more, why it hurt to hear that.
Dewey bit his tongue to avoid the urge to deny, to say that no of course he doesn't like theatre that's *dumb.*
He can't do that.
He can't do that because he's a pilot, he knows his place in the world and it's the skies, and on the stage, and on Dewey Dewnite. Not in funsos desperate for random child's approval.
So instead he thinks about Webby who was always there to catch him if he fell, and who kept secrets for him, who was the first person to see him beyond his recklessness.
Who's so unbelievably kind and good and would let him believe he's the hero even when she pulled the strings.
He thinks about Mom. Who taught him to put pride in himself, that he could do anything he put his mind to. Who taught him how to keep a plane steady. Who was worth waiting a decade for.
He thinks about Gosalyn who lets him indulge in his name puns and always watched his streams, Who managed to become a superhero sidekick and still find time to play hockey with him.
He thinks of Lena and her friendship bracelet that he keeps under his sleeve, or Violet who teaches him new words and quietly reads to him when he asks.
Some type of protective anger fills the place where his shame used to be.
Being compared to them is an *honor*
How dare this kid think otherwise.
So Dewey instead starts glaring at the kid the same way he does when Huey corrects his grammar. Clenching his jaw so hard he thinks his teeth might break (maybe he could replace it with a gold teeth and look like a pirate, that'd pretty cool) and speaks,
"I wish, Girls are terrifying."