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The first one to feel something was off was Beakley, though she didn’t want to be the first one to bring it up. She… had a very rough start with May and June, and the girls were still clearly scarred by it. The housekeeper could tell they deliberately avoided her most of the time, and she didn’t blame them one bit for it. Still, she couldn’t help but notice, on the few occasions they interacted, how close May and June were. A bit too close.
She’d seen it at dinner once, the way the twins would sometimes hold hands under the table. It wasn’t particularly suspicious… or at least, it wouldn’t be, if it weren’t for the way the girls would send small glances at each other from time to time, with almost inaudible giggles and near invisible blushes. But Beakley was a spy, her eyes were trained to pick up on the tiniest of details.
Still, she opted not to say anything. She had already caused these two girls enough trouble, after all.
If someone is going to say anything, it won’t be her.
The second one to notice was Scrooge. There had been a few… oddities regarding the girls. It all started when he’d come to call them for dinner one time. He knocked on the door to their bedroom, and then made his way in, but when he looked over at the girls, he noticed they seemed weirdly nervous, as if the man had almost walked in on something he shouldn’t. There was a faint smell of sweat permeating the air, June’s collar was slightly crumpled as if she were fiddling with it moments before, and both twins seemed to have trouble looking Scrooge in the eye. They were on the same bed, and the sheet stretched between them, painting a clear image of the girls putting distance between each other in a hurry.
At the time, Scrooge just shrugged it off. He didn’t wanna dwell on it too much. But he found, at night, that the thought simply wouldn’t leave him alone. What had May and June been doing when Scrooge came in? …No matter how many other possibilities the old duck tried to come up with, the details he’d noticed all added up to one conclusion, one which he’d elected to — with a lot of hesitation — leave well alone. Scrooge McDuck was a man who was always getting where he had no business being, which might make his decision seem odd, but the idea of confronting May and June about what they’re up to genuinely sent a chill down his spine. For perhaps the first time in years, the man was truly afraid of something.
Besides, Scrooge knew he was prone to emotional outbursts. He’d shunned Donald for a decade due to a tragedy that, as he’d come to accept, was in part his fault, and then later on said something horrible to Webbigail when that same tragedy came up again. Those words still often came to haunt him, no matter how clear it was that the young lass had forgiven him. Perhaps it was because May and June reminded him so strongly of Webbigail that he was so afraid of confronting them. Maybe… it’d end up doing more harm than good.
So, he decided, if someone is to say something, it won’t be him.
The next one to notice was Webbigail herself. She had asked May and June if they wanted to sleep in the same room as her, like Huey, Dewey, and Louie, but they had refused. It did upset her a little, though she understood their decision. Even if Webby truly did already consider them to be her sisters, May and June might need time to come around the idea. So, she let it slide. But… there were a few things about May and June’s bedroom that she couldn’t help but notice. Mainly, the fact that June’s bed seemed almost unused. May’s looked like it was slept on every night and made every morning, but June’s was… static, almost. Webby could make out a faint layer of dust forming atop the sheets and blankets.
The question was, where was June sleeping? And the answer was all too obvious: May’s bed. In and of itself, that was pretty innocent. But when Webby brought it up, the twins quickly dismissed her, saying she was mistaken and looking too much into it. The way they reacted, Webby was pretty sure that, were their feathers not already white, she’d have seen the color drain from their faces. May and June spoke like Webby had mentioned some deep dark secret of theirs, and that was the first sign that something was wrong.
The second sign was the cyan-colored pair of panties that she spotted under May’s bed once. It was lying there, almost hidden in the shadows, definitely forgotten there on accident. Webby was with June at the time, but she doesn’t remember what she had been talking to her about at the time, only that she ended up trailing off as her stare focused on the piece of underwear, her brain slowly working out the implications of its color and location, and it all clicked into place as she remembered her hypothesis that May and June were sleeping on the same bed, as well as the way the twins had reacted to that.
It all solidified nicely when June took notice of what Webby was looking at, and immediately got in front of Webby in order to block her sight of the panties, before suggesting they should find someplace else to talk and hurriedly take Webby out of the twins’ bedroom. And Webby knew, because she’d been in that situation before. Once, Dewey caught sight of Lena’s black bra lying near Webbigail’s bed, the morning after the girls had a sleepover with just the two of them. Dewey didn’t seem to get the implications, or at least, he showed no signs of it, though he did appear to have been stunned once he’d noticed the bra. And, like June, Webby blocked his line of sight and took him out of her bedroom as quickly as she could.
Webby was just… shocked. She tried to deny it, tell herself it was impossible, but that only lasted about a few minutes. A little after June had taken her somewhere else, the girls found themselves alone. June looked around, sweating, before turning to Webbigail, and whispering.
“Please don’t tell anyone.”
There was no denying it, not anymore. Webby just gave her a quick reply.
“I won’t.”
And that was that. If someone is going to tell anyone, it won’t be her.
The next ones to notice were Donald and Della, though of course, Donald was first. He was the one with more parenting experience, after all. That didn’t mean, however, that he was exactly prepared for how to deal with May and June’s… troublesome relationship. He’d spent a good few nights awake, reading articles, browsing the internet, reading books, anything that might help him get an inkling of what to do. He could understand why May and June might pursue a relationship with each other — they’d been through a lot, after all, with only each other to rely on for most of it.
Therapy was out of the question. Donald knew well that it just wouldn’t work out. Therapy was for normal people with normal problems and normal traumas, something that simply didn’t apply to May and June — or anyone in the Duck family, to be fair. A therapist would, at best, be unable to help, and at worst, go mad. So, Donald had to find a solution all on his own, which he believed he’d done at some point.
In and of itself, it seemed simple: get them to develop their relationship further with the other kids, let them see that they have more than just one another. That sounded easy in theory, but in practice, Donald was quick to realize that the problem ran deeper than just dependance: May and June were the only ones who truly understood each other. Webby might have also been a clone made by F.O.W.L, but she hadn’t been raised by them. Lena might have been created and raised by an evil sorceress, but she hadn’t looked up to Magica the same way May and June had looked up to Black Heron, and she certainly hadn’t seen her aunt be killed right before her eyes.
The truth was, May and June could like and rely on others, they could grow and be surrounded by people they knew they could count on, but there wasn’t anyone besides each other that they could manage such a profound connection with. Not in the whole world. So, eventually, Donald just… gave up. He’d berated himself internally for not being a better parent, but the only thing he could truly do was keep May and June’s secret. It’d spare them all the embarrassment, at least.
In the end, he decided that if someone is going to expose them, it won’t be him.
Della didn’t want to give up so easily, though. Donald might have the most parenting experience, but she had the most spirit! She didn’t mean to brag, but Della always thought of herself as the braver of the two. Maybe Donnie was just overthinking this, maybe what May and June needed was just a clear cut, old-fashioned talk.
So, Della asked the girls to meet her at the hangar where the Cloudslayer (she refused to call it “Sunchaser”) was kept. She’d been doing some maintenance on the plane to pass the time while she waited for them, and then she heard a pair of footsteps approaching.
“...Ms. D– Aunt Della?” May was the first one to say anything. Della had told the girls to call her aunt, and even though they still had some trouble, they were getting there.
Well, time to be a responsible aunt, then! Della slid her way out from under the Cloudslayer and got up on her feet, looking down at the two little girls in front of her. May and June looked up at her expectantly as they held hands, and Della wondered if they already guessed what this was about.
“Did you need something…?” June asked.
“...Yes.” Della said, mentally preparing herself. “Girls… we need to talk.”
The twins exchanged nervous looks, their grip around each other’s hand tightening. Della figured it’d be better if they all sat down, so she gestured for the twins to follow her as she walked into the Cloudslayer. Once inside, they all sat down on the airplane’s seats.
Della took a deep breath. “...So.” She began. “You two are… pretty close, eh?” May and June nodded. So far, so good! “Alright, um, yeah, maybe a bit too close.”
Both girls visibly tensed up. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about–!” June stammered.
Okay, so, here comes the difficult part. “Look, girls, I get that you’re very attached to each other, but–”
“We’re not!” May retorted before Della could even finish.
Della put her hands up defensively. “Okay, okay, look, I’m just saying…” She tried to speak in the most soothing tone she could manage. “...there is such a thing as loving your sibling too much, alright?” She said. “It’s just–”
“A-Are you gonna separate us?”
June’s voice cut through the air, and it stunned Della. “...What?”
The cyan-clad duckling was gripping her sister’s arms, brow furrowed as she stared at Della. Her body was trembling, and it looked like she was on the verge of tears. “I-I know it’s wrong.” She began, her voice shaky. “But– But–” She stammered, and finally, a few tears ran down her face. “May is– She’s– She’s the only one I… the only one that…”
Her voice trailed off into silence. May moved her free hand to wipe the tears off of June’s face, and then gently caressed her hair, before shooting Della an icy glare, and it sent a chill down the older woman’s spine. She was appalled that June was reacting this badly, that she thought Della would separate them. But then again, maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the twins wouldn’t be having a secret relationship if they hadn’t been extremely attached.
…It was then that it began to dawn on Della just how badly this whole situation could go. She knew that, as the adult here, it was her responsibility to put her foot down and tell them to stop, take action the same way she’d done when Louie put everyone in danger with that time-travelling scheme of his. But, as shocking as it may be, she found that May and June’s situation was somehow more difficult to deal with than Louie nearly tearing the fabric of space and time apart for a quick buck.
If she did tell everyone about what May and June were up to, there would definitely be a fight. May and June weren’t gonna take it lightly, and it had the potential to end with them either being shunned from or deliberately leaving behind the McDuck family, which… it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but as someone who’d gone through both family fights and armageddons, Della knew how much worse the former could be. Was she ready for the emotional fallout of exposing May and June? And, more than that, was she ready for it to be her fault?
…Oh boy, okay, yeah, she definitely wasn’t equipped to deal with this.
“Tell you what!” Della clapped her hands together. “Change of plans, you girls just… keep doin’ your thing, I keep my mouth shut, and we both pretend we never had this conversation. Sound good?” She gave them an awkward smile.
June let out a hefty sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you…” She muttered under her breath, bringing a hand to her chest.
May’s glare didn’t cease, however. She just grabbed June’s hand and began walking away, dragging her sister along. “Thank you, Ms. Duck.” She said as she left, and her words stung harshly, making Della flinch.
Once she was alone again, Della just kicked the ground in frustration. “...Aw, phooey.”
She met back with her brother in the manor’s living room. Donald was reading a magazine to pass the time, and Della grumbled all the way as she sat next to him, crossing her arms.
“...So?” He asked, not even looking away from the magazine. “How’d it go?”
“...Don’t wanna talk ‘bout it.”
And so, despite being very frustrated with herself, Della chose to pass on the responsibility to whoever else wanted to take it. If someone’s going to deal with May and June, it won’t be her.
Following in their mother’s footsteps, the next ones to realize something was up with May and June were Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Naturally, the first one of the triplets to notice was Huey.
He’d been paying close attention to May and June as they went on about their day. The twins had been chatting as they walked through the garden, unaware that Huey was stationed inside the manor, looking through a window high up with a pair of binoculars. He couldn’t help but notice the droplets of sweat rolling down their faces. It wasn’t a particularly hot day, nor were the twins doing something physically demanding. They were walking at a leisurely pace, a calm little stroll, nothing to sweat over.
“...Anxious perspiration…” He muttered, scratching one item off his list.
May and June sat down by a tree. They locked eyes, and for a good few seconds, they just stared at each other. A smile slowly formed on both their beaks, and May said something that prompted June to giggle. After that, they both just… looked at each other with a smile for a little while more.
“...Prolonged eye contact…” Huey checked out another item.
They went back to talking, giggling, and… holding hands. They blushed, and June ran her thumb across the back of her sister’s hand. The two girls looked down at where their fingers intertwined, and June moved to lean on May’s shoulder. Huey’s breath hitched.
“...Coy body language…” Huey’s breath hitched. He checked off another item. “The only thing left is the…”
May and June got up, ready to go somewhere else, but June ended up tripping. She held onto her sister as she fell, and ended up on top of her, straddling May as she looked down at her. The twins just stared at each other in shock for a few seconds, before giggling again.
“...The awkward yet adorable accident.” Huey said with a sense of finality. He checked off the final item, before putting the binoculars down. “I… I don’t even know what to make of this. Or how to feel about it.”
Beside him, Louie looked up from his phone. “Oh, come on, you’re just exaggerating.” He said. “Not every romance follows these dumb guidelines. Besides, they’re sisters.”
Huey furrowed his brow, turning to look at his brother. “First of all, the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook’s entry on meet-cutes is not just a bunch of dumb guidelines!” He said. “And secondly, that’s exactly what’s gotten me so concerned! They are sisters!”
“I’m with Louie on this one.” Dewey interjected. “I don’t know, you can be kinda… weird about romance sometimes. I think you’re just seeing things, and that sorta makes you the weird one.”
The red triplet’s mouth was agape. “I’m the weird one?!” He shouted. “I’m– I’m not crazy! You’re all the ones who don’t wanna see what’s right in front of you!”
Louie rolled his eyes, getting up and making his way to where his brother had left the pair of binoculars. He picked them up with a teasing smirk on his face. “Honestly, Hubert, I didn’t expect you to be this type of freak. Projecting such nasty things onto–” He put them on, and looked out the window. His smirk fell. “...Nope. Forget everything I said, they’re making out.”
“WHAT?!” Huey and Dewey yelled in unison, with the latter running to snatch the binoculars off of Louie. Once he put them on, Dewey’s eyes widened as he realized that his brother wasn’t just making some sick joke. May and June were making out, right there in the garden.
“They’re… wow. They’re really going at it.” Dewey muttered, shocked.
Neither of his brothers paid attention to what he said. “See, I told you they were up to something!” Huey said, pointing a finger at Louie.
“I still don’t get why you got so obsessed with that!” Louie replied.
“...Huh? They’re going behind the bushes…” Dewey squinted.
“Wha– It’s incest!” The red-clad duckling retorted. “It’s weird and gross and wrong!”
“I just don’t think it’s any of our business!” His brother replied, putting his hands back in his hoodie’s pockets. “Besides, this family is not normal. May and June dating is like, really tame compared to the stuff we see every Tuesday, all things considered.”
“Are they fighting…?” Dewey instinctively leaned in closer in morbid curiosity, before recoiling in shock, though he never once dropped the binoculars. “Oh, no, wait, they’re–... they’re… wow.”
“Tame? Tame?!” Huey seemed appalled.
“Oh, come on, we almost die five days a week!” Louie said. “I got cursed! Twice! Yesterday!” He pointed at his sibling. “Besides, are you sure your obsession was just because you were grossed out?”
“Wha– WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!”
“Oh, come on, Hubert. Are you sure you’re not into some freak stuff?” Louie raised an eyebrow. “I get being weirded out, but you’ve been downright creeping on May and June these past few days! And I know you’re a sucker for romance!”
Huey fiddled with his fingers uncomfortably, his eyes darting around the room as a bead of sweat ran down his neck. “Ah… Well… Um– Dewey!” He called for his other sibling. “Come weigh in on this! …Dewey?”
It was only then that Huey and Louie noticed their brother was paralyzed, completely stunned as he still looked through the binoculars. They approached, and Huey snatched them from Dewey’s hands — who didn’t even react — and then looked through them himself. He looked just in time to see May and June fastening the buttons of their collars, looking around the area as they smoothened out the wrinkles of their clothes, pulling out a few sticks and leaves from their hair.
“...Oh my god.” Huey muttered.
“I will never see either of them the same way again.” Dewey proclaimed forlornly, looking the most perplexed as either of his brothers had ever seen him. He then turned to Huey. “...Yeah, I think it’s best that we leave this alone.”
Louie just gave a sly smirk, to which Hubert sighed. “...Fine.” He said.
Dewey and Louie left the room to go somewhere else, get their mind off of this whole endeavor, though Huey remained for… research purposes. But despite the fact that each triplet each had a vastly different reaction to May and June’s relationship — ranging from shock, to indifference, and… “interest” — all three of them unanimously agreed on one thing.
If someone’s going to tell the others, it won’t be them.
The next person to find out was Lena.
It happened during a sleepover. Almost everyone was there — Huey, Dewey, Louie, Violet, even Boyd and Gosalyn, and Webby as well of course — with the notable exception of the twins. Lena hadn’t really thought much of it at the time. It wasn’t the first time that May and June skipped a sleepover, though the one time Lena tried to ask Webby why, the girl just giggled nervously and changed the subject abruptly. But still, the young sorceress just figured it was none of her business, and she was quick to forget about it.
…However, there was this one time where she’d woken up in the middle of the night, feeling a bit thirsty.
Everyone else was sound asleep, and Lena didn’t want to disturb anyone, so she just carefully got up and made her way out, as quietly as she could. She was just going down to the kitchen to get a cup of water, then come back and go to sleep again. But then she passed by May and June’s bedroom. Lena just barely noticed it, the way the door was slightly open, and in and of itself, that was something she could just shrug off, but what made her stop dead in her tracks was the faint moan she heard as she passed by. Lena whipped her head to look at the door, completely silent, and a few seconds later, she heard another one.
After hesitating for a brief second, Lena decided to step closer, and as she did, she could make out the noises more clearly. And yep, those were moans. Hushed, out-of-breath whispers, the same kind that Lena herself had gotten out of Webby a couple of times when they’d had their private sleepovers.
…
“M-May…”
Lena just barely managed to make out June’s voice, moaning her sister’s name.
There’s no way they’re doing what Lena thinks they’re doing, right? In a mix of shock and some feelings that Lena didn’t want to dissect right now, she grabbed a hold of the doorknob, turned it, and swung the door open.
The twins were together on May’s bed, and though they were mostly under the sheets, Lena could still tell that they were naked. Both girls had their hair down, feathers ruffled, and May was on top of June, holding her wrists down on the mattress. Both girls were staring back at Lena, wide-eyed.
“P-Please don’t–” June pleaded.
Lena cut her off before she could even finish. “I won’t. Don’t worry, I, uh… I won’t. Your secret’s, uh… s-safe, with me. Yeah.” She stammered out, doing a zipped-up gesture over her beak before she backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. After a few seconds, she heard the sound of running from inside the room, then a soft click as the door was locked, and whichever twin had moved to lock the door hurried back to the bed.
Lena just went down to the kitchen, drank her water, and tried to forget what she’d seen as she made her way back up to Webby’s bedroom, while trying to push down that… funny feeling that she got when she saw a pair of twins having sex. She tried to distract herself thinking of… Webby! Yes, Webby, and all the things that make Lena swoon. Her cute little smile, her sweet laughter, her weird quirks, her deadpan tone, her matter-of-fact remarks, her… weirdly extensive knowledge on a bunch of stuff and… wait. Is this Webby that Lena is thinking of?
Lena shook her head. Geez. This was doing some really weird things to her, and dwelling on it would probably only make it worse. So, if someone is going to bring it up, it won’t be her.
The last one to discover it was Launchpad.
He wasn’t the brightest, but he also wasn’t helplessly stupid, especially not when it came to romance. In fact, the man was surprisingly savvy about it. Which is why he had a bit of a weird feeling about May and June — he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it yet. The idea seemed so absurd that Launchpad hadn’t even contemplated it at all.
Of course, however, came a moment where it was undeniable.
He’d realized it after an adventure, when he was fixing the Sunchaser. The girls had offered to stay and help, which was appreciated. Launchpad could fix it all on his own, but it was nice to have company — usually it was Della, but it kind of seemed like there had been… something off with her and the twins. When the two had offered to help, Della almost immediately excused herself and left.
“...What’s happened between you and Della, anyway?” He asked while he worked on the engine. He heard May huff in annoyance.
“...Nothing.” She said, dryly. Even Launchpad could tell it was a lie, though he decided not to push it.
What he didn’t miss, however, was the way June looked at her sister, with a look that Launchpad would describe as pleading. She walked over to May, and grabbed her hand. The two sisters exchanged looks, and May’s cold expression softened, her body relaxing, as she smiled again. In response, June smiled herself.
It kinda reminded Launchpad of this one time when his then-girlfriend fought with her mother, because she didn’t approve of her daughter’s relationship. It’d been a pretty intense situation, but Launchpad had been there to comfort his partner all the way throughout, and he was the one who helped mother and daughter make amends.
…Huh.
A few more minutes passed since then. Launchpad was working on the damaged wing, bolting down a new metal plate, replacing the airplane’s damaged shell. “Can one of you girls get me a hammer?” He asked.
“Got it!” May and June both answered in unison, and reached into the toolbox at the same time. Their hands brushed against each other as they both moved to grab the hammer, and they stared at each other before giggling embarrassedly, a faint blush on their face.
This, too, reminded Launchpad of an interaction he’d had with a previous girlfriend. It was when the two of them had met, in fact. The both of them had reached for an item in the grocery store shelf at the same time, and accidentally touched hands. It was like in a romance movie — not that Launchpad knew from experience. He was more into action-packed stories himself, but he once told the story to Huey, and the duckling nearly fainted, going on about it being “a staple of romance” or something.
…Huh.
“Alright, I think that’s it!” Launchpad announced proudly as he looked at the fixed plane. He turned to the twins. “Thanks for the help, you two!”
“No problem, Launchpad!” June replied.
“See you later!” May added, the two girls waving goodbye before leaving the hangar while holding hands.
May and June held hands very often, he’d noticed. It was kinda cute. May and June did all sorts of cute things, like lean on each other’s shoulder while sitting next to each other, look very lovingly and longingly at one another, and he’d even seen May kiss June’s cheek once out of the corner of his eye. It was funny, it kind of reminded him of this one woman he’d dated–
…
“...Oh.” Launchpad muttered to himself as it hit him. He pondered on it for a few seconds, if he should tell anyone, before he ultimately realized that if he had noticed, surely the others had — Mr. McDuck and Mrs. B were especially attentive, surely something like this wouldn’t escape them. And hey, if they hadn’t said anything, he definitely wouldn’t. Besides, it wasn’t really his business, was it?
So, Launchpad just shrugged. If someone’s gonna tell, it won’t be him.
May and June were, overall, not very good at hiding their relationship, despite being trained agents. Maybe they just loved each other too much to be able to hide it properly. But still, the McDuck family simply decided to keep their mouths shut. Perhaps they’d simply grown desensitized to it due to all the constant adventuring and near-death experiences they’d had, or maybe they were just a weird family. Maybe both.
But one thing was for certain.
None of them was going to say anything.