darkwing duck x reader

what if me isn't enough? (steelbeak)

angstangstangstangst-

gn! reader from steelbeak's pov

__

"it all just kinda accumulates over time y'know? the pressure, the inadequacy, the helplessness. eventually you sorta just resign yourself to understanding that you'll never be enough."

we caught each other off guard. i embraced them on accident. they clearly didn't expect the sudden burst of affection, but i could discern their hollow form even whilst holding them plush against me, doing my best to imitate warmth. it wasn't the same as someone with more practice in the field, and yet, i found myself gravitating towards their neck, allowing their hand to enrapture my beak and press our foreheads together. 

we both craved it. 

"well you're more than enough for me, and you're always a welcomed presence," i husked as they stood and folded their arms across the rusted bar of the roof, peering over.

 i found myself following their unrelenting gaze towards the far distance, eyes squinting at the bustling city bridge below and towards the city lights blinking dead. each baited breath seemed to pierce my skull as the milky film of exhaust and smog became painted by the blossoming vapour emanating from their thinly veiled choking sobs. just me and them. y/n has an elegancy about them. eyes warm yet cold. calculating and mysterious, and yet soft as they hold your hand through the latest cut or bruise. not quite the icy sort of cold that you'd expect or associate with handsome, brooding villain such as myself, even if you'd be forgiven for envisioning as such. some people never seem to comprehend them. others just perceive them from all the stories melded from their adventures and encounters with face cars, lasers, and aeroplanes, or all the stories and jokes at their expense. i'm apart of the lucky few who get to see their bared soul, so entrancing, so enthralling, so loud and boisterous and bright. with their brilliant mind and that lethal smirk that could make even the most obstinate of people fall, and that irrevocably radiant glint in their eyes, and that magnificent way that always made me fall to my knees in pure adoration - downright extraordinary. 

"you seem alone."

"you're avoiding your issues again y/n."

"heh, guilty as charged."

an exasperated sigh left my beak as i (futilely) attempted to cover my chuckling, a headpalm quickly following. i didn't have to bore into the depths of their dulled spirit to know that their eyes were closed; contented. 

"y'know, you're not always here when i'm alone, i know how to fend for myself, and i just kind of... scribble what i want to say down."

"why not just say it?"

"..."

"you're almost always alone... well when i'm not following you around"

"sometimes you remind me more of a puppy than a rooster-"

"y/n!"

before i could register it, they were dissolving into a fit of giggles, turning the other way and covering their mouth so i could only make out a slight stretch of skin. i could feel my feathers slightly fluffing and my face flushing, heating up as i whined about how they weren't playing fair.

they shrugged, stifling their former giggles, instead opting to pull out a playing card (no doubt from that jester), 9 of diamonds, flicking it between two of their digits in a motion resembling a revolving door on a foggy day. pensively, i asked "when was the last time you were hugged?", as i joined them at the ledge. inhaling nervously i continued: "you said they hate you now. despise you even, like you're a nuisance... like you have to be erased."

"i have to be erased." they hoarsed, voice breaking and eyes welling up. panicking, i held their hand and lay my head on their shoulder, whispering hushed affirmations and quiet comfort. pulling out my phone and plugging in the earphones, i offered one to them, playing sombre tunes to focus on instead of dwelling on the past.

"i'm sorry"

"what for? you didn't hurt me, they did."

" i brought it up though. i re-kindled it. if-if you don't want to talk to me anymore or-or you want to forget me all together or if you want to- if you want to-" my breath increasing in speed, heart pounding and head throbbing. i messed it up now. now they'll hate me and they're sad and it's all my fault and- and-

"shh, i'm gonna cut you off right there beaksy, you aren't going anywhere, you're stuck with me remember? birds of a feather stay together"

i sniffled as i nodded, burrowing my head further into their side, hearing a soft chuckle as i flushed and burrowed myself into them further. they seemed to register my apology as their wrapped an arm around me and pulled me that bit closer: "god, what would i do without you beaksy?" but they wouldn't look at me, instead peering down at the twisted city below

"are you sure you love me?"

"...there's always someone to comfort," they shrugged. "always someone to hold close and check on. you're the closest i've got to home. you've been here when i've been loud and quiet and nihilistic and angry and bubbly and idealistic. you care. and even if you get some things wrong-"

"a lot of things"

"... some things wrong, you're mine. and i couldn't ask for a better partner of greatness"

"i- did you just quote macbeth at me?"

"yes."

"didn't that guy kill a buncha other guys"

"yeah, but they decapitated him so it's fine"

"but-"

"you're missing the point beaksy. the point is that i care about you, and no mere freudian slip is going to change that. even when i'm old and withered and you don't need me and you forget about me, it's fine. because i'll have had those moments. those few and far between moments where i'm happy to be here. happy to be here because i'm with you, and i wouldn't trade it for the world."

"me too. i'm not going to forget you, or leave you. i'm here as long as you need me. as long as it takes for you to realise that you are enough, if not for anyone else, you're enough for me. and that water-man-puppy, and that joker-looking psycho, and that rat-man with the weird hat, and the photosynthesis bro and the-"

"do you not know their names or are you  being facetious and pretentious?"

"...anyway-"

affectionate smiles and laughs exchanged between us as our nattering continued into the dark shroud of the night, content.

___

ughh cheesy ending, but hope you enjoyed. schedule? who's she?

stay dangerous :0