Fic: Devil's Advocate
Title: Devil's Advocate
Rating: For Older Kids (10+)
Fandom: Disney Cartoons
Summary: Max isn't easy to get along with; Louie isn't much easier.
They had decided to stay in to watch movies in Max's apartment when Louie had glanced up from 'Killer Zombie Vampire Aliens XI', and said, "We should move in together."
Max honestly hadn't thought about the prospect, but given that on most days, they could be found together either in Max's apartment or Louie's dorm room, it made some amount of sense. And he liked Louie a lot; that much was a given. He didn't respond immediately, but thought about it carefully. In the end, he decided it was a good idea, and cheerfully agreed with Louie that they should find a place together.
In the end, everyone had to offer their input. Huey warned them that if they were more than fifteen minutes away from his dorm room, he'd never visit. Dewey told Max to make sure they were near a park, because Louie needed space to run around. Louie's great-uncle Scrooge warned them to bargain hard for low prices. Donald wanted Max to make sure Louie ate his vegetables.
And Goofy sat Max down the night before they moved. "I know you're excited about movin' in together, Max, but livin' together takes a lot of work. If y'ever need advice, feel free to call me."
"Sure, Dad. Whatever you say."
Goofy frowned. "I'm serious Max. If anything's upsettin' you, just come over."
"I know. Anytime. But I gotta go."
Max had gone through life finding that again and again, his father, as goofy and clumsy as he was, knew a lot more about life than Max did. So he shouldn't have been surprised that Goofy was right about this.
Louie had grown up a triplet, sharing a room, sharing lives, never really apart from his brothers. He was predisposed to sharing a living space.
Max, on the other hand, was an only child who had spent his entire teenage years fighting for a world of his own, starting with the boundaries between his bedroom and the rest of the house, and ending with the fight over Max's college life. It had taken him twenty years to work out the boundaries in his and his father's lives. He and Louie weren't going to work it out in a month.
The argument hadn't really been about laundry. The apartment had one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen. So when Max came home on Thursday to find his laundry done, it was with a surge of annoyance that he couldn't even take the hour doing the laundry he would get to himself.
"Did you have to do this tonight?"
Louie glanced up from his musicology textbook. "What, studying? I've got a test tomorrow, dude."
"The laundry."
"I'm...sorry. I wasn't aware you didn't want me to do you any favors. Is making dinner off-limits, too?"
"You don't know how I need my stuff washed."
"Dude, I know how to do laundry. Whites in one machine, colors in the other."
"How do you know that? Everything you wear is green!"
"What? When did this become a discussion about my fashion sense?"
Max growled and stalked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. However, a moment later, Louie followed him.
"Max, what's wrong? Did you have a bad day at work? I do know how to give a wicked back massage." He waggled his fingers, giving Max a sly grin.
"I don't want a massage, Louie. I want fifteen minutes when I can be by myself in my own apartment."
"Your?" Louie asked. "Your name isn't the only one on the lease, Max."
"Yeah, I know!" Max snapped. "This place, every room, every bit of space, is yours and mine. I can't get an inch of space to breathe. Maybe Dad was right. Maybe this was a mistake."
"What? Max, you don't mean-"
Max shoved past Louie, growling again. "I gotta go."
*
"I did try t'tell, you, Maxie." Goofy poured a cup of tea, sloshing about half of the liquid onto the plate. "But you're young, and still don't listen to yer old man. Cookies?"
Max shook his head.
"It's like...he expects me to be there with him every second I'm home."
"And you don't want t'be?"
"I like him a lot, I really do. And I love-spending time with him. But there's...liking someone, and then there's having to share everything with them."
"That's yer problem, Maxie. As long as you think you have to, you're goin' to resent it."
"I don't resent him!" Max protested.
Goofy shook his head. "I know you don't want to, Max. But it's hard lovin' people." At Max's incredulous look, Goofy laughed. "Louie was your friend a long time before you two got together, Max. Of course you love him."
"So what if I do? Shouldn't living with him be easier?"
"Ya love me, don't you, Maxie?"
"Of course I do, Dad," Max muttered. "But I don't see what that has to do-"
Goofy raised one eyebrow, and Max trailed off. Goofy grinned. "Livin' with someone ya love is harder than livin' with anyone else, because it's harder ta leave. Even yer mother and I had our problems, Maxie, and I loved her more'n anything. 'Cept you, of course."
"Daad," Maxie groaned, but Goofy just shook his head and ruffled Max's hair. Max ducked his head, worry giving way to a hesitant grin. "So...what should I do?"
"Well, if ya can't stand livin' with Louie, ya ought ta move out."
Move out? Max frowned. Had he ever really wanted to move out? No; he wanted a little space, but...Goofy was right. Whatever else was going on, he loved Louie. And that made leaving hard. Unless, of course, Louie couldn't put up with him any more.
"I don't think I want to move out."
"I figured that, Maxie. So d'ya want to stay the night here, or head back and try to fix things before tomorrow?"
"Do I have to go back now?" Max asked.
"I didn't say you had t'do anything, Maxie."
Max shook his head. "I know you didn't. But you've got this way of telling me what I have to do, even when you don't."
"D'ya want me to get your bag?"
Max shoved his chair in and shook his head. "I'm all right. I'll...call when everything's settled?"
"Good t'hear, Maxie. I love you."
Max paused at the door, and looked back. "I love you, too, Dad."
*
Max looked up from the lock to double-check the apartment number. No, it was 1966. He sighed, and knocked on the door.
It swung inward a few inches and then stopped, held by the chain. A duck peered out the gap.
"Yes?"
"Huey? What are you doing here?"
Huey narrowed his eyes. "The better question is what are you doing here?"
"I live here."
"Not from what I heard," Huey retorted. He growled, just a tiny bit. "I heard you stalked out of here with all your stuff and left a poor, sensitive duck in a heartbroken heap in the middle of the living room."
"What? Is Louie OK?"
"I don't have to answer that." Huey slammed the door.
Max stared at the closed door in front of him for a long moment. Finally, his whirling feelings burst out of him. "How did you change the locks? I was gone for two hours!"
He stood outside the room for ten minutes, before the door finally swung open far enough to admit Dewey.
"Dew-"
Max shut up when Dewey gave him a hard, angry glare. Dewey closed the door forcefully and leaned back against it. He stared at Max for a few moments and let the silence stretch out uncomfortably before he spoke.
"When you two started dating, who did Lou introduce you to?"
"Huh?"
"Who did he introduce you to?"
"Ah-well, we told Donald, and Daisy. He took me to meet your Uncle Scrooge..."
"Did you ever meet our parents?"
"I think I'd remember that." Max paused, considering. "Are they...dead?"
"They dropped us at Uncle Donald's one day and never came back."
"They-what?"
Dewey shrugged. "They decided we were too much trouble. Huey thinks they're coming back someday. I don't have the patience to convince him otherwise. I came to terms with it...well, a while ago."
"Louie didn't?"
Dewey snorted. "Louie doesn't get over things. Louie lets them get to him, and if he can, he rages and yells and fights until they go right. And if that doesn't work, he cries until Hue distracts him long enough for Lou to compose himself."
It was too much. Max lunged for the door. "I gotta get in there!"
Dewey caught Max's arms, and despite the height difference, kept Max back away from the locked apartment door.
"Hue's not gonna let you in there, Maxie."
"You just told me Louie's in there crying his eyes out! I'm not going to sit out here doing nothing while he's in pain." Max struggled half-heartedly for a few more seconds, and then decided to give up.
He let his shoulders slump, and at that, Dewey let go of his arms. "What do I have to do to get in there?"
"Huey, he's irrational right now, and isn't going to let you in for love or money. And Louie...well, all you'd have to do is walk in the door, and he'd be all smiles again."
"Then why-?"
"Because there's one of two ways this can go. If you leave now, and don't come back, Louie will be miserable for a month, maybe two. But if you waltz in there like you can come and go as you please, he'll get hurt worse. He'll forgive you if you walk back in there, and the next time you leave, it'll hurt him worse."
"I'm not going to leave!"
"Really? You were annoyed because Lou did the laundry. What happens when the two of you have a real fight, about, I don't know finances, or who sleeps on what side of the bed?"
"I-"
"I'm not going to let you in there, because it'll only be bad for Louie."
"I'm not going to leave just because you think it'll mean less pain in the long run," Max snapped. "I love him! And I've been talking to my Dad; it's not-I know that doesn't make everything all right, but it means I'm willing to make the effort. To do whatever it takes to make Louie happy. To make us happy?"
"Like I said, that might be enough to win over Lou, but I'm looking out for him, now."
"I didn't know!" Max wailed. "About your parents, or Louie, or-do you think I'd be that cruel if I knew? I didn't want to hurt him; I just needed some space!"
"I don't know," Dewey replied. He sighed and slid down against the door until he was seated on the ground. "It's not like I can be sure you're not going to hurt him again."
"To be honest, I probably will." Max slid to the ground next to Dewey. "I'm an impulsive, hare-brained idiot, and Louie's an impulsive guy with abandonment issues."
"Then what am I supposed to do with you?"
"Let him in, Dew." Max jerked around at Louie's muffled voice.
"Louie?" It was a faint, tired-out hope, but it still warmed Max's chest.
"Where's Huey?"
Max heard the sound of the latch being opened, and then Louie opened the door. His eyes were red and feathers tear-stained, and he looked exhausted, too. "I told him to hit a pillow or something if he was so worked up."
"How about I get Hue and we get out of here, huh?" Dewey asked. When neither answered, he stood up and maneuvered past his brother in the doorway.
"I'm sorry. I was...sort of a jerk. A lot of one, really. I'm not used to living with anyone I didn't have to. And like my dad said, it's hard living with someone you love."
Louie nodded, slowly. "I don't exactly have a lot of experience, either. But I did-I do-" With desperation, he threw his arms around Max. "What you said-you're not planning on leaving, are you?"
"I-I can't promise I won't storm out if I'm mad. But I do love you. That's not going to change. You are worth the trouble, Louis."
It wasn't perfect. But it did bring a smile back to Louie's beak. And it did give Max the opening to kiss Louie. He tasted of salt, and his shirt was moist, but it was still sweet.
"Whoa. Out of the way, dudes. We gotta get back to our own rooms." Huey shoved Max out of the way and gave Louie a brief hug. Then he tugged Max by the ear, and whispered, "One more chance, buddy. Then you're dead meat."
He then gave Max a surprisingly toothy smile, and left, followed by Dewey, who, watching Louie with a carefully neutral look, at least didn't look worried any more.
This left the two of them in a slightly awkward silence. Finally, Max nudged Louie back into the apartment. "Did you eat, or do you want me to make something?"
Louie shook his head. "I'm not that hungry. I'd just sort of like to go to bed."
"I'll be there in a minute?" Max gave the brightest grin he could manage feeling as drained as he did. Louie smiled weakly in response.
"Sure...love you." He gave Max a light kiss on the cheek and wandered towards the bedroom. And Max got himself a glass of water and stared at the refrigerator. It wasn't perfect. But he loved Louie; and Louie loved him. The best he could do was try.
He dropped his empty glass in the sink and went to bed, turning the lights off as he went.
*
Max stared at the ceiling, which was still dark, reflecting the early morning sky. A deafening snore echoed through the room. He considered covering his head with a pillow, but he knew from experience that wouldn't work. Louie had a vise-like grip on Max's torso, so leaving wasn't an option. That left smothering his boyfriend and just letting it be.
He wished he could say he didn't seriously consider the smothering, but no one said sharing your life with someone was easy.
However, when Louie finally woke up, Max did inform him that he snored. Loudly.
"I do not!"
"I bet Huey'd back me up on this." Max pulled away from the loosened death-grip to climb out of bed.
Louie scrambled out after him. "Don't you dare ask Hue about this!"
"Or what?" Max retorted, darting for the door.
The bundle of feathers that was his boyfriend, while not very heavy, was still enough to drag him to the ground. Louie sat on top of Max, smirking triumphantly.
"Or that."
"Oof. Louis, get off."
"Why? I'm comfortable like this." The duck wriggled on top of Max.
"If you stay there, I'm not going to be able to make breakfast, and you didn't eat last night."
Louie shrugged. "I think it can wait a bit." He nuzzled Max. "If you don't mind."
Max grinned. "I don't mind at all."
Rating: For Older Kids (10+)
Fandom: Disney Cartoons
Summary: Max isn't easy to get along with; Louie isn't much easier.
They had decided to stay in to watch movies in Max's apartment when Louie had glanced up from 'Killer Zombie Vampire Aliens XI', and said, "We should move in together."
Max honestly hadn't thought about the prospect, but given that on most days, they could be found together either in Max's apartment or Louie's dorm room, it made some amount of sense. And he liked Louie a lot; that much was a given. He didn't respond immediately, but thought about it carefully. In the end, he decided it was a good idea, and cheerfully agreed with Louie that they should find a place together.
In the end, everyone had to offer their input. Huey warned them that if they were more than fifteen minutes away from his dorm room, he'd never visit. Dewey told Max to make sure they were near a park, because Louie needed space to run around. Louie's great-uncle Scrooge warned them to bargain hard for low prices. Donald wanted Max to make sure Louie ate his vegetables.
And Goofy sat Max down the night before they moved. "I know you're excited about movin' in together, Max, but livin' together takes a lot of work. If y'ever need advice, feel free to call me."
"Sure, Dad. Whatever you say."
Goofy frowned. "I'm serious Max. If anything's upsettin' you, just come over."
"I know. Anytime. But I gotta go."
Max had gone through life finding that again and again, his father, as goofy and clumsy as he was, knew a lot more about life than Max did. So he shouldn't have been surprised that Goofy was right about this.
Louie had grown up a triplet, sharing a room, sharing lives, never really apart from his brothers. He was predisposed to sharing a living space.
Max, on the other hand, was an only child who had spent his entire teenage years fighting for a world of his own, starting with the boundaries between his bedroom and the rest of the house, and ending with the fight over Max's college life. It had taken him twenty years to work out the boundaries in his and his father's lives. He and Louie weren't going to work it out in a month.
The argument hadn't really been about laundry. The apartment had one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen. So when Max came home on Thursday to find his laundry done, it was with a surge of annoyance that he couldn't even take the hour doing the laundry he would get to himself.
"Did you have to do this tonight?"
Louie glanced up from his musicology textbook. "What, studying? I've got a test tomorrow, dude."
"The laundry."
"I'm...sorry. I wasn't aware you didn't want me to do you any favors. Is making dinner off-limits, too?"
"You don't know how I need my stuff washed."
"Dude, I know how to do laundry. Whites in one machine, colors in the other."
"How do you know that? Everything you wear is green!"
"What? When did this become a discussion about my fashion sense?"
Max growled and stalked into the kitchen to get a drink of water. However, a moment later, Louie followed him.
"Max, what's wrong? Did you have a bad day at work? I do know how to give a wicked back massage." He waggled his fingers, giving Max a sly grin.
"I don't want a massage, Louie. I want fifteen minutes when I can be by myself in my own apartment."
"Your?" Louie asked. "Your name isn't the only one on the lease, Max."
"Yeah, I know!" Max snapped. "This place, every room, every bit of space, is yours and mine. I can't get an inch of space to breathe. Maybe Dad was right. Maybe this was a mistake."
"What? Max, you don't mean-"
Max shoved past Louie, growling again. "I gotta go."
*
"I did try t'tell, you, Maxie." Goofy poured a cup of tea, sloshing about half of the liquid onto the plate. "But you're young, and still don't listen to yer old man. Cookies?"
Max shook his head.
"It's like...he expects me to be there with him every second I'm home."
"And you don't want t'be?"
"I like him a lot, I really do. And I love-spending time with him. But there's...liking someone, and then there's having to share everything with them."
"That's yer problem, Maxie. As long as you think you have to, you're goin' to resent it."
"I don't resent him!" Max protested.
Goofy shook his head. "I know you don't want to, Max. But it's hard lovin' people." At Max's incredulous look, Goofy laughed. "Louie was your friend a long time before you two got together, Max. Of course you love him."
"So what if I do? Shouldn't living with him be easier?"
"Ya love me, don't you, Maxie?"
"Of course I do, Dad," Max muttered. "But I don't see what that has to do-"
Goofy raised one eyebrow, and Max trailed off. Goofy grinned. "Livin' with someone ya love is harder than livin' with anyone else, because it's harder ta leave. Even yer mother and I had our problems, Maxie, and I loved her more'n anything. 'Cept you, of course."
"Daad," Maxie groaned, but Goofy just shook his head and ruffled Max's hair. Max ducked his head, worry giving way to a hesitant grin. "So...what should I do?"
"Well, if ya can't stand livin' with Louie, ya ought ta move out."
Move out? Max frowned. Had he ever really wanted to move out? No; he wanted a little space, but...Goofy was right. Whatever else was going on, he loved Louie. And that made leaving hard. Unless, of course, Louie couldn't put up with him any more.
"I don't think I want to move out."
"I figured that, Maxie. So d'ya want to stay the night here, or head back and try to fix things before tomorrow?"
"Do I have to go back now?" Max asked.
"I didn't say you had t'do anything, Maxie."
Max shook his head. "I know you didn't. But you've got this way of telling me what I have to do, even when you don't."
"D'ya want me to get your bag?"
Max shoved his chair in and shook his head. "I'm all right. I'll...call when everything's settled?"
"Good t'hear, Maxie. I love you."
Max paused at the door, and looked back. "I love you, too, Dad."
*
Max looked up from the lock to double-check the apartment number. No, it was 1966. He sighed, and knocked on the door.
It swung inward a few inches and then stopped, held by the chain. A duck peered out the gap.
"Yes?"
"Huey? What are you doing here?"
Huey narrowed his eyes. "The better question is what are you doing here?"
"I live here."
"Not from what I heard," Huey retorted. He growled, just a tiny bit. "I heard you stalked out of here with all your stuff and left a poor, sensitive duck in a heartbroken heap in the middle of the living room."
"What? Is Louie OK?"
"I don't have to answer that." Huey slammed the door.
Max stared at the closed door in front of him for a long moment. Finally, his whirling feelings burst out of him. "How did you change the locks? I was gone for two hours!"
He stood outside the room for ten minutes, before the door finally swung open far enough to admit Dewey.
"Dew-"
Max shut up when Dewey gave him a hard, angry glare. Dewey closed the door forcefully and leaned back against it. He stared at Max for a few moments and let the silence stretch out uncomfortably before he spoke.
"When you two started dating, who did Lou introduce you to?"
"Huh?"
"Who did he introduce you to?"
"Ah-well, we told Donald, and Daisy. He took me to meet your Uncle Scrooge..."
"Did you ever meet our parents?"
"I think I'd remember that." Max paused, considering. "Are they...dead?"
"They dropped us at Uncle Donald's one day and never came back."
"They-what?"
Dewey shrugged. "They decided we were too much trouble. Huey thinks they're coming back someday. I don't have the patience to convince him otherwise. I came to terms with it...well, a while ago."
"Louie didn't?"
Dewey snorted. "Louie doesn't get over things. Louie lets them get to him, and if he can, he rages and yells and fights until they go right. And if that doesn't work, he cries until Hue distracts him long enough for Lou to compose himself."
It was too much. Max lunged for the door. "I gotta get in there!"
Dewey caught Max's arms, and despite the height difference, kept Max back away from the locked apartment door.
"Hue's not gonna let you in there, Maxie."
"You just told me Louie's in there crying his eyes out! I'm not going to sit out here doing nothing while he's in pain." Max struggled half-heartedly for a few more seconds, and then decided to give up.
He let his shoulders slump, and at that, Dewey let go of his arms. "What do I have to do to get in there?"
"Huey, he's irrational right now, and isn't going to let you in for love or money. And Louie...well, all you'd have to do is walk in the door, and he'd be all smiles again."
"Then why-?"
"Because there's one of two ways this can go. If you leave now, and don't come back, Louie will be miserable for a month, maybe two. But if you waltz in there like you can come and go as you please, he'll get hurt worse. He'll forgive you if you walk back in there, and the next time you leave, it'll hurt him worse."
"I'm not going to leave!"
"Really? You were annoyed because Lou did the laundry. What happens when the two of you have a real fight, about, I don't know finances, or who sleeps on what side of the bed?"
"I-"
"I'm not going to let you in there, because it'll only be bad for Louie."
"I'm not going to leave just because you think it'll mean less pain in the long run," Max snapped. "I love him! And I've been talking to my Dad; it's not-I know that doesn't make everything all right, but it means I'm willing to make the effort. To do whatever it takes to make Louie happy. To make us happy?"
"Like I said, that might be enough to win over Lou, but I'm looking out for him, now."
"I didn't know!" Max wailed. "About your parents, or Louie, or-do you think I'd be that cruel if I knew? I didn't want to hurt him; I just needed some space!"
"I don't know," Dewey replied. He sighed and slid down against the door until he was seated on the ground. "It's not like I can be sure you're not going to hurt him again."
"To be honest, I probably will." Max slid to the ground next to Dewey. "I'm an impulsive, hare-brained idiot, and Louie's an impulsive guy with abandonment issues."
"Then what am I supposed to do with you?"
"Let him in, Dew." Max jerked around at Louie's muffled voice.
"Louie?" It was a faint, tired-out hope, but it still warmed Max's chest.
"Where's Huey?"
Max heard the sound of the latch being opened, and then Louie opened the door. His eyes were red and feathers tear-stained, and he looked exhausted, too. "I told him to hit a pillow or something if he was so worked up."
"How about I get Hue and we get out of here, huh?" Dewey asked. When neither answered, he stood up and maneuvered past his brother in the doorway.
"I'm sorry. I was...sort of a jerk. A lot of one, really. I'm not used to living with anyone I didn't have to. And like my dad said, it's hard living with someone you love."
Louie nodded, slowly. "I don't exactly have a lot of experience, either. But I did-I do-" With desperation, he threw his arms around Max. "What you said-you're not planning on leaving, are you?"
"I-I can't promise I won't storm out if I'm mad. But I do love you. That's not going to change. You are worth the trouble, Louis."
It wasn't perfect. But it did bring a smile back to Louie's beak. And it did give Max the opening to kiss Louie. He tasted of salt, and his shirt was moist, but it was still sweet.
"Whoa. Out of the way, dudes. We gotta get back to our own rooms." Huey shoved Max out of the way and gave Louie a brief hug. Then he tugged Max by the ear, and whispered, "One more chance, buddy. Then you're dead meat."
He then gave Max a surprisingly toothy smile, and left, followed by Dewey, who, watching Louie with a carefully neutral look, at least didn't look worried any more.
This left the two of them in a slightly awkward silence. Finally, Max nudged Louie back into the apartment. "Did you eat, or do you want me to make something?"
Louie shook his head. "I'm not that hungry. I'd just sort of like to go to bed."
"I'll be there in a minute?" Max gave the brightest grin he could manage feeling as drained as he did. Louie smiled weakly in response.
"Sure...love you." He gave Max a light kiss on the cheek and wandered towards the bedroom. And Max got himself a glass of water and stared at the refrigerator. It wasn't perfect. But he loved Louie; and Louie loved him. The best he could do was try.
He dropped his empty glass in the sink and went to bed, turning the lights off as he went.
*
Max stared at the ceiling, which was still dark, reflecting the early morning sky. A deafening snore echoed through the room. He considered covering his head with a pillow, but he knew from experience that wouldn't work. Louie had a vise-like grip on Max's torso, so leaving wasn't an option. That left smothering his boyfriend and just letting it be.
He wished he could say he didn't seriously consider the smothering, but no one said sharing your life with someone was easy.
However, when Louie finally woke up, Max did inform him that he snored. Loudly.
"I do not!"
"I bet Huey'd back me up on this." Max pulled away from the loosened death-grip to climb out of bed.
Louie scrambled out after him. "Don't you dare ask Hue about this!"
"Or what?" Max retorted, darting for the door.
The bundle of feathers that was his boyfriend, while not very heavy, was still enough to drag him to the ground. Louie sat on top of Max, smirking triumphantly.
"Or that."
"Oof. Louis, get off."
"Why? I'm comfortable like this." The duck wriggled on top of Max.
"If you stay there, I'm not going to be able to make breakfast, and you didn't eat last night."
Louie shrugged. "I think it can wait a bit." He nuzzled Max. "If you don't mind."
Max grinned. "I don't mind at all."