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Louie was halfway through the latest episode of Ottoman Empire when his brothers found him. They looked frazzled, covered in gribble fur and scratches. A slight smile twitched at the corners of Louie's beak as the two ducklings dragged themselves onto the couch on either side of him. Scrooge had tried to make him join in the cleanup effort, but one mention of his encounter with Doofus and his loving, thoughtful brothers had offered to complete the task for him while he recovered.
"Hey, uh, Louie...?" Huey hesitantly started. "Are you okay?"
Louie waited until the next commercial break before pausing the DVR and rolling his head towards his eldest sibling. "Yep."
A moment of silence passed.
"...did you want to talk about it? Uncle Scrooge told us what... what happened."
"Yeah," Dewey chimed in. "I can't believe you had to apologize to that slimeball Doofus!"
Louie shuddered slightly at the name, but quickly composed himself and shrugged. "Eh. It worked, didn't it? He dropped the case, we got to come home, and if he really does consider bygones to be bygones then maybe he'll stop hyperfocusing on me. It's the perfect win-win scenario."
"It's still not right," Dewey protested. "Aren't you, y'know, upset about it? After all he did to you, you shouldn't have to be the one apologizing!"
Louie lolled his head the other direction and gave his middle brother a confused look. Dewey was staring him straight in the eyes, cheeks scrunched up as if trying his damnest to convey sympathy and understanding in the Deweyest way possible. Louie looked back at Huey, who was likewise staring, but with an expression of concern and worry.
Oh.
He burst into laughter, which caused the other two to quickly glance at each other, silently simultaneously wondering if the stress of dealing with Doofus had finally cracked their little brother.
"Guys!" Louie gasped once the chuckles died down. "I'm fine! Really! It sucked having to face him again, but this time I got out of it unscathed. Well, maybe a little wet. That's still a win in my book."
Huey seemed unconvinced. "But..."
Louie held up a hand, cutting off the protests. "Look, during the trial, I realized something. Uncle Scrooge made a lot of enemies during his life, some of them deserved and some not. But regardless of whether or not it was deserved, the fact was that they kept coming after him. And... and it looked like I was heading down the same path with Doofus. He'll keep harassing me as long as he thinks I've wronged him. So I just said what I did to stop that snowball before it started rolling. Doesn't mean I actually meant it. As long as Doofus thinks I'm being sincere and leaves me alone, that's all that matters. I mean, he's intense and psychotic, but luckily he's also gullible."
The other two had to take a few seconds to let it sink in. "So..." Huey started. "You're NOT brooding in front of the TV because of something potentially traumatic and psychologically scarring...?"
"Nerp."
"So..." Dewey added. "We let you have some space and cleaned up YOUR gribble mess for nothing?!"
Louie flashed a cheeky grin at his brothers. "I'm sorry." And was immediately pelted by throw pillows from both sides.