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“Well,” Duck said from his position on the forest floor, “That sucked.”
“You can say that again.” Ned groaned, patting himself down gingerly for bruises.
“Okay. That sucked.” Duck said again, still not getting up.
“Duck Newton,” Beacon drawled from where it was held loosely in his hand, “What kind of a warrior are you if you cannot take a little beating? Someday, you’ll-”
“Beacon, shut up.” Aubrey’s head appeared in Duck’s line of sight, looking a little worse for wear herself. “Duck, you need a hand?”
“Please.” He grabbed her hand and used her as a bit of leverage to pull himself up. A wave of dizziness swept over him, a reminder of the very solid tree he’d hit his head on. He must have visibly swayed because Aubrey put her hands out to catch him.
“Whoa now! You okay?”
“Yeah just- just gimme a second.” He said, squeezing his eyes shut. He could practically hear Aubrey frown next to him.
“Ned, you know where Duck lives, right? Mind driving him home?”
“No, really, I’m fine-”
“No, you look like shit, my friend.” Ned announced, already unlocking the back of his treasured car. “Concussions are no joke, trust me.”
“We should probably stay with you and make sure you don’t, like, pass out and die.” Aubrey added. Duck looked at them, the two most stubborn people he knew, and sighed. He was too worn out to put up a fight.
“Alright. Don’t go blamin’ me if my cat scratches you, though. She doesn’t like visitors.”
Aubrey grinned in that way that made it impossible to be mad at her and quickly ushered him to the passenger side of the car. He must have zoned out somewhere between putting on his seatbelt and pulling into his apartment complex because it seemed to take no time at all. That probably wasn’t a good sign. Maybe it was a good thing they were sticking with him.
He unlocked the door with only mild fumbling and flicked the light on. “Fig, I’m home.” A soft “mrow?” answered him and a fluffy tortoiseshell appeared from under the dining table, freezing as soon as she saw the two guests.
“Kitty!” Aubrey gasped, immediately dropping onto her knees to get closer to the cat.
“Now, watch out, she doesn’t like new- Huh.” Fig was already rubbing all over Aubrey, covering her dark jeans in fur. Aubrey was absolutely delighted.
“Is her name really Fig? Like Fig Newton?” Aubrey scooped the cat up in her arms before Duck could tell her not to, but Fig just purred happily.
“Uh- Yeah, my sister named her. She doesn’t even let me hold her, how’re you…?”
“I’m an animal whisperer.” Aubrey said very seriously.
“Right. Is that one of your magic powers?” Duck asked, lips quirking in a smile.
“Mhm. I’m very powerful.” She nodded, but she was definitely holding back a laugh of her own. Duck snorted softly and walked further inside, dropping his keys on the table.
“Alright, well, welcome to my apartment. Y’all make yourselves at home, sit wherever. Hope you don’t mind if I get changed?” He asked, gesturing to his uniform, then to the bedroom.
“It’s your house. We’re not here to judge.” Ned shrugged, already strolling over to the couch.
“Just don’t fall asleep! And grab some ibuprofen while you’re in there.” Aubrey added.
Duck reemerged a few minutes later in sweatpants and a t-shirt, carrying the bottle of ibuprofen, to find Ned on the couch cautiously trying to pet Fig and Aubrey poking around in the kitchen.
“Is it cool if I make some tea? You’ve got beer, but it’s like 4am and you’re probably concussed so… I dunno if alcohol’s the greatest idea.”
“Yeah, go ahead.” Duck sat down on one of the extra chairs and sighed as if it had been some great exertion. Ned looked at him with amusement.
“You know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen your place. It has not really changed much.”
“Yeah, well, you know me.” Duck gave him a wan smile. “Not really much of an interior decorator.” Ned laughed, and Aubrey joined them with three carefully balanced mugs of tea.
“Your only decaf stuff was raspberry zinger, hope that’s okay.”
“That’s perfectly alright, thank you Aubrey.” Duck said, taking one of the mugs and answering her bright smile with a tired one. He took a few ibuprofen and washed it down with swig of his tea, wincing when it burnt his tongue. He started to tip his head back, drowsiness overtaking him, but Aubrey’s boot connected with his shin before he could.
“Don’t go to sleep yet. I dunno all the concussion rules, but I’m pretty sure you can’t go to sleep immediately afterwards.”
“I’m forty-five, you don’t have to mother me.” He said, as close to petulant as he could get.
“We might not be your mother, Duck, but we’re your friends.” Ned shrugged. “We’ve gotta look out for you sometimes.”
“Yeah! I mean, I know you’re hard to kill ‘n all that, but we’d be pretty shitty friends if we let a concussion be the thing that takes you out.” Aubrey said, untying her shoes and tucking socked feet underneath her.
Duck stared at the two of them for a moment. It wasn’t that he didn’t have many friends - he had plenty, he was on friendly terms with most of Kepler - but it had been a while since he’d had someone looking out for him like this. The three of them were as unlikely of a group as it gets, but he had to admit, it was nice having them around.
“Alright.” He gave in and smiled at them. “Y’all’re gonna have to keep me awake, though.”
Aubrey dove right in to a conversation, chatting about whatever it was that she could think of and kicking him gently whenever he looked like he was about to drift off. Ned carried most of the conversation with her, but it was clear the exhaustion was getting to him. He was the first to fall asleep on the couch, snoring softly with his empty mug in his hands. Aubrey didn’t last much longer than he did, trailing off in the middle of her sentences and shaking herself awake to keep talking until she just couldn’t anymore. And then Duck was the only one still awake, leeching the last bits of warmth out of his mug. He watched his friends with a soft smile - Ned snoring, and Aubrey’s cheek squished against the side of the couch - friends that were practically family at this point.
He couldn’t ask for a better team.
Slouched in his chair, Duck fell asleep too.
At 7:00am sharp, his watch went off, startling both him and Aubrey awake.
“Wh- What’s happenin’?” Aubrey jolted upright, the indent of the couch still on her cheek.
“Nothing. Just the alarm to take my hormones, go back to sleep.” He hushed her, silencing his watch and getting up. She nodded sleepily and looked like she was about to fall asleep again, then jolted upright.
“Shit, my meds! They’re back at the Lodge.” She immediately started shaking Ned awake, much to his displeasure. “Ned, you gotta drive me back to the Lodge!”
“Now?” He groaned.
“Please? I’ll get Barclay to make those muffins you like as payment! Please, please, please, if I don’t take my ADHD meds I’ll die.”
Duck snorted softly at her melodrama and waved at the two of them as Ned reluctantly pulled himself upright. “Y’all give Barclay the rundown of last night. I’ll swing by after work.”
“Yeah, see you there! Don’t get any more head injuries without us, got it?” Aubrey gave him what was probably supposed to be an intimidating look, but it only made him laugh.
“You got it. Go get your meds.” He gave them a half salute as Aubrey pushed Ned outside, and then the door was shut. Duck walked to the bathroom as silence fell over his apartment, and realized he could probably get used to a little more noise in the house.