In the Shadows We Fight (for justice and ourselves)

Was there a time when you felt like you belonged?

"Well, I finally put Charlie to sleep," Quackity said as he walked into the combined kitchen and living room. He sighed as he opened the fridge. He stared at it for a long moment, wondering if his standards had changed since the last time he checked. When he found that, in fact, his standards had not lessened, he grabbed a bottle of water from one of the bottom shelves. He closed the fridge with his heel while opening the water. His eyes searched the room to see the people he was romantically involved with lazing around on the couch. SapNap was scrolling through the TV with the disinterest on his face growing sharper at every channel change. Karl was sitting sideways in SapNap's lap with a book opened in his lap that he seemed to be concentrating on if the tension in his brow was anything to go by. Even though neither of them looked particularly happy, there was an air of relaxation in their body language that shone through when they were together.

Quackity leaned against the countertop with a melancholic look appearing in his face. Despite his better judgement, Quackity cared about those two, and if he was drunk enough, he would admit that he loved them. There was a reason he wouldn't say it while he was sober. Several actually, some more rational than others. For one thing, SapNap and Karl had been in a relationship for far longer than Quackity had been with them. Quackity had met them at a bar. He had seen Karl first, the brunette flushed bright red from alcohol and hanging off Quackity's arm. Quackity and Karl ended up talking about how hot some raven haired guy on the dance floor was, and when that guy came over to kiss Karl's cheek, Quackity had spit out his drink. He was too drunk to remember what immediately happened next, but in the long term, he had been invited into a polyamorous relationship. Another reason that he didn't acknowledge his feelings is that even though SapNap and Karl made it clear that they wanted him, it wasn't difficult to notice that they had something unapproachable. There was something in the way they loved each other that formed some sort of barrier between them and the world. It was beautiful, really, but it also kept Quackity from feeling like he was meant to be there. The most prominent reason, however, was the fact that he was technically a villain. He didn't consider himself one, but hero society painted him a criminalistic light. He was regarded as Croupier, the sinister card dealer of Las Nevadas, the district that never sleeps. Las Nevadas was the real criminal considering it was known as a safe haven away from heroes. It was a place untouchable by the police where heroes, villains, vigilantes, and civilians could hide from the darkness that threatened their livelihoods. In that same vein, SapNap was a well-known superhero and Karl was an infamous vigilante. The three of them weren't supposed to mix. A hero is meant to put a villain and vigilante in jail. A villain is meant to kill a hero and vigilante. The vigilante is meant to ignore the hero and villain. They aren't meant to be dating one another.

"What story did you tell him tonight?" SapNap asked as he gave up on the TV. He let it turn off as he focused his attention on Quackity, tilting his head back and sideways in an uncomfortable position that way he could see the duck hybrid. Quackity huffed as he walked over that way SapNap didn't have to strain himself. Quackity leaned against the back of the couch, faces pointed down while SapNap's faced upwards that way their eyes met. SapNap's face morphed into a sedated kind of happiness as his hand raised up to touch Quackity's cheek with his fingertips. Quackity felt his cheeks blush red. He spent his days in casinos with half-dressed gamblers and strippers trotting around without turning the barest amount of pink. SapNap softly caressing his cheek is what turned his face from a poised businessman to that of a school-girl with a crush.

"You say story like I tell him fairytales. Tonight we talked about something he saw in Las Nevadas. It was fireworks, but damn, did he have trouble putting that into words. For a second, it sounded like he had seen someone get shot, and I was about to teach him what to say in court," Quackity replied once he had pushed down his embarrassment enough to speak properly. Quackity didn't know what Charlie was. The ageless, masculine presenting thing showed up at Las Nevadas one day while Quackity was trying to get a restaurant up and running. The thing proclaimed himself to be human even though it was clear that he was a full-on slime, not just a hybrid but a sentient slime. Quackity had been planning to ditch the green eyed glob, but Charlie stuck to Quackity's body until the man took him home. Quackity told everyone that Charlie was his assistant from another country that would only stay with him until Charlie got back onto his feet. The truth was that Charlie had become something of a son to Quackity, the man trying to teach Charlie all about the world while keeping him out of danger. Charlie did wear a business suit while following Quackity around at their workplace, but he didn't have any actual responsibilities. He merely did random things that made Quackity give an exasperated smile while shaking his head.