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Drake was falling in love. He had to stop lying to himself that he saw Launchpad as nothing more than a friend. The way Launchpad would catch his gaze and smile at him made Drake weak in the knees. The way their hands clasped tightly as Launchpad helped him to his feet after a fall.
He came to crave nighttime. When Launchpad made his way to St. Canard and met up with him in the tower. The way his arms wrapped around Drake’s body for a hug despite just seeing each other the night before. It never failed to send Drake into cardiac arrest. It never failed to make him swoon.
Drake resisted, kept trying to push away and not let himself ruin the one good thing in his life. He didn't know what would become of him if Launchpad left him. If Launchpad discovered his feelings. Drake’s anxiety spiked at the mere thought. His nerves freezing over and his head dizzy. His heartbeat erratic as it pounded mercilessly against his bruised chest and his lungs screamed for oxygen.
“Drake?” the sound of his name knocking Drake back into the present, pulling him out of spiraling into mania. And of course Launchpad saves him still. He’s come accustomed to the taller man beside him.
“Sorry, LP.” He replied, hoping his voice didn’t tremble like his knees, “I was thinking about something. What was that?” he asked, hoping to shift the focus of conversation anywhere but to Drake’s current fragile mental state.
“I uh.” Launchpad began, swallowing almost forcefully as he rubbed at the back of his neck. And Drake couldn’t help but smile. The way Launchpad looked off to the side, his face burning with a beautiful blue. “I was wondering if. Um. If you want to go out sometime?” He asked, and Drake's brain screeched to a halt. The words playing over in his mind. Surely Launchpad didn’t mean it like that? Right?
Drake’s silence made the other man cringe, “I mean, ya know.” Launchpad tried to get out, his words stumbling over each other as he tried to make his beak move. To produce any kind of actual sound and coherent sentences than whatever he was saying now. “Like. as a more than friends type thing. Not that you’re not my friend. You’re my best friend and Uh.” Launchpad's eyes squeezed shut as his hand came to rub roughly at his forehead.
Drake decided to bite the bullet. If it wasn’t what Launchpad meant then well, he’d find a way out of it. He was Darkwing Duck after all. If he had to deploy a smoke bomb and jump off the roof he would. “You mean as a date?” he asked.
“Yeah!” Launchpad replied, almost too enthusiastically, his smile returning for only a moment before it faded. “I mean. If you want it to be a date.” He added on, “It doesn’t have to be. You could forget I said anything and-”
Drake cut him off, closing the distance between them and grasping Launchpad’s hands in his. The words dying in his throat as Drake smiled softly at Launchpad. “I would like it very much.” He replied and Launchpad's grin was brighter than any studio light he ever worked under.
“Can I kiss you?” Launchpad asked, and instead of replying Drake closed the distance between the two of them as their lips met in the first of many kisses they would share for the rest of their lives.