#hulou

@the-coolest-mallard 

So the party had been Louie’s idea — which wasn’t exactly a surprise. Huey loved throwing parties, which maybe was a surprise, but it was about the logistics. The planning. Do you know how long of a to-do list you could write when you were planning a party? And he always made sure to tick everything off, in the right order. It was almost as satisfying as having the party itself.

But Huey did actually enjoy parties, in general. They’d had a few at the Mallard house now, and he had yet to actually regret one. School was beginning to wind down, which meant it was the perfect time for a party, too — what better way to kick off his Summer Of Fun (which he should probably stop calling it, ‘cause it was probably lame, or something) than by celebrating his own eighteenth birthday?

Though to be honest, Huey didn’t really see his 18th as a big deal. He’d felt like a grown up pretty much as long as he could remember, so he didn’t really know why all of a sudden he was one in official sense. Like right now, for example, pushing the cart and looking at the carefully printed list in his hand whilst Louie threw things into the cart with reckless abandon.

@the-coolest-mallard

So Huey had news.

Huey had big huge news and no one to share it with cause Mei and been there and so had like, everyone else, and his brothers—

His brothers still weren't speaking to him.

Which was fair, he really couldn't blame them, but now he was just— he missed them. He missed the way they would elbow each other going up the stairs or the fight over the shreddies in the morning or the way they, or more like he, would burst into their rooms unannounced with something to show them, something cool. He wanted to talk to them, and not just because he had news — right now he would gladly sit and talk about the weather or their English homework if it meant he could talk to them.

The house was just so quiet these days. Before, Huey thought he would like the quiet. Now he knew he didn’t like the quiet at all. At least, not this kind of quiet, creeping into every corner of the house until it was suffocating.

Anyway. He was standing outside of Louie's room, thinking. Contemplating. Should he knock? Louie hadn't been at the wedding, he didn't know... still, it felt kind of bad, going to one brother and not the other, and Huey didn’t want to start another fight...

Huey: You know Urchin, right?

@the-coolest-mallard

Huey was severely lacking on the details right now, and that was why he was... fidgeting. Straightening books that looked vaguely wonky on his shelf, pulling his bed sheets into place, glancing out of the window every three seconds. He was waiting for Uncle Donald's car to pull up, because in Uncle Donald's car would be Louie, and then Huey could go and get the details he needed to stop worrying.

Louie had been punched. Louie had a black eye. Louie'd gotten detention. Those were the only things Huey knew, really, though Huey did his best not to listen to gossip in the first place. He would wait and here what Louie had to say — he was just mad that he hadn't been there himself.

There was the sound of tires on the drive, and then car doors slamming. He waited, listening to the footsteps come up the stairs and then, when he thought that Louie was safely in his room, Huey all but jogged into it with his first aid kit in tow.

"You gotta tell me— oo, ouch." Huey stopped in his tracks, blinking when he saw his brothers face. Well. At least everyone would know which one was Louie, for a while. "You okay?"

@the-coolest-mallard

Huey was a super good listener. And so yeah, sometimes when he was in class and he had finished whatever exercise they were doing, he tuned into the conversations happening in whispers around him, if there were any to be heard. He wasn't like, spying — it wasn't a bad thing! And most of the time he tuned back out anyway, when he realised it was nothing interesting and they were just asking each other for answers or trying to hammer down weekend plans, but there was an exception to every rule.

Much like today, in his English class. Huey had ended up hearing something that was not only shocking and hilarious, but also noteworthy. He carried it around like a little note in his pocket all day, through the journey home, through dinner, and through homework time sat at his desk until he was in his pyjamas, teeth brushed and hair still damp from the shower. Huey walked into Louie's room after a brief knock on his door and made a beeline for the bed, not even bothering to look around because he knew it was going to be messy and if he looked at the mess he'd never get to the point of his visit because he'd end up cleaning, so. Huey flopped down onto his brother's bed and looked at him with a wide grin and a strange glint in his eye (that kind of mischievous glint was reserved for Louie, most days, but Huey got his turn every now and again).