Meeting Her Brother
“My sweet Poe… my sweet, darling, dearest, sweet, lovable brother..” Magica spoke with an exasperated tone to her voice. Her beak was stretched far up at the corners, her fake smile and her eye twitching. She took a deep breath, clapping her hands together.
“How many times must I tell you…that I have a guest coming over and I NEED MY UTMOST PRIVACY!” She bellowed out, the volume practically filling and bouncing off the walls, the last word repeated itself into a fading echo, until the room once again fell to silence, except for the harsh, heavy breathing of Magica, who stared daggers at her brother.
Poe tilted his head to the side, cupping a hand to the side of his head. “I apologize, can you repeat that dear sister? I think your little outburst there might've blown out my ear drums.”
His sister only snarled in return, her beak blushed red in frustration and her arms folded tight against her chest.
“Gladstone will be here in any minute, and when he is I expect you to have left long before!”
Poe tsked a bit, clicking his tongue against the roof of his beak a few times as if he was pretending to consider her statement. That was until a small, sharp exhale of a laugh broke through the silent tension, and he shook his head at his sister. “Magica… come now, my sister. Don't you think you've kept your boyfriend away from me for too long? I'm starting to think perhaps you're embarrassed of what I'll think of him.”
It was Magica’s turn to laugh, though hers was expressed in a far more strained, annoyed manner, her feathers ruffled in both the figurative and literal sense.
“I could care less what you think of him, Poe. I'm embarrassed of YOU.” She raised her voice once again, though nearly not as loud as last time. “Who knows what ridiculous drivel you'll say about me, convincing him to stay away?”
“Now sister, you can't be upset at me for simply expressing all that I can about you, even if some of that stuff might tend to scare off that little boyfriend of yours.” Poe chortled, brushing his hair back with the push of his hand. Despite his teasing, however, he knew how important this date was to her, and did plan to make his exit at the last minute as possible to get on her nerves. He was her brother, it's what they do.
“But, if you insist. I should head out anyways before you decide to shatter my ear drums for good. So, if you excu-”
The male twin stepped past his sister, but his voice was caught in his throat when he noticed that the doors to their entrance had opened, and an unfamiliarly handsome figure sporting some green attire stood in the entrance, fluffing his jacket as he approached with a confident gait.
“Magica!” Gladstone exclaimed with open arms, standing in front of Poe with his arms outstretched into an inviting hug, looking him up and down. “You've got a new ‘do! And the outfit looks a little different, but I'm into it. A lucky surprise for me, huh?”
“Ahem.” Magica stepped from behind her brother, raising her eyebrow and tapping her foot against the hard floor. She made her place next to her brother, giving him a hard nudge to the shoulder with her own. Poe seemed too stunned to say much of anything, his eyes never leaving Gladstone since he first arrived.
The lucky duck looked between the both of them, feeling rather confused himself, and a little sheepish. “Well, it seems like we have a bit of double trouble here! I knew that, I knew that.” Gladstone cleared his throat, unable to meet Magica’s gaze.
“The only trouble here is the one you'll be in for not recognizing that my brother isn't me.” She remarked, coldly.
“Well, Magi, you can't exactly blame me. I mean, I never even knew this guy existed until today!” Gander retorted, gesturing to Poe in front of him, who finally snapped out of his daze with a shake of his head and a couple blinks.
Magica paused. She looked at her brother, before her eyes trailed over to her lover. A deep, defeated sigh escaped her, knowing she could no longer delay the inevitable.
“Fine. I suppose you're right. Gladstone Gander, this is my twin brother, Poe de Spell. He's…”
“... pleasured to make your acquaintance.” Poe finished the sentence for her, gently grabbing her boyfriend’s hand firmly in his. He'd raise it to his beak, planting a long kiss to the back. He'd glance up at Gladstone with a charming twinkle in his eyes.
“Ooohh..” Gander would whistle, rather impressed but mostly trying to distract himself from the way his heart was now beating fast in his chest, and the tickle of flattery that traveled up his spine and caused him to shake his head, regaining his composure. “Wouldn’t have guessed that your brother here was kissing the back of the hand as a greeting type, Magica.”
“He isn't.” She’d narrow her eyes at her brother, swatting their hands away when she noticed that Poe still held his hand, and she scowled.
“Heh, I do apologize if I might have made you uncomfortable with that.. Gladstone, was it? I usually only allow that type of greeting toward someone who I think is worth my time, or someone who has caught my eye. And let me just say, I could spend all my time staring at you forever.”
There seems to be almost a purr to his voice when he said it, leaning closer to Gladstone as if his sister wasn't even there. Gladstone only opened his beak silently in response, stuttering for a moment and his face tinted pink.
“Wow. Guess they don't call me the luckiest duck in the world for nothing.” He'd say at last, rubbing the back of his neck and returning a rather flirtatious smirk toward Poe, before his eyes happened to glance over and meet Magica’s, who was practically fuming.
“You, I'll deal with later.” She pointed an accusatory finger at Gladstone, before yanking Poe by his cape and pulling him away until she was sure that they were out of ear shot.
“OW, Magica! I was just trying to get to know your boyfriend.”
Magica growled, spinning her brother around and pushing him hard on the chest as he stumbled backwards, nearly losing his footing.
“If by getting to know him… you mean FLIRTING WITH HIM RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!”
Poe took a deep breath, opening his mouth to say something, before he was interrupted again.
“And here I thought the reason I wanted to keep him away from you is because I thought you'd say something bad about me or drive him away with you being… you! Not because of you trying to steal him away from me! And the fact that he appeared into it as well.. you're despicable! Both of you!”
“MAGICA! I'M SORRY!” Poe exclaimed, surprising Magica and even himself with the sudden volume of his voice. Even Gladstone, who had been staring at the ground in shame, jumped a bit at the sound that echoed throughout the room.
“I'm… sorry. Okay? You're right, I shouldn't have flirted with your boyfriend. But I don't know… he's just so… I've never felt this way before, not for a long time. Something about him.”
“Yes, well, why did you have to feel that way toward the only duck I've ever grown to love? To the duck I've spent many romantic days and nights with?! .. Poe, this isn't fair. On either of us.”
“I know, I give you my sincerest apologies. But as they say, the heart wants what it wants.”
“Yeah, well, that heart of yours should stay out of our business. Now, please.. I need to have a talk and a long overdue date with Gladstone while you get this sorted out.”
Poe managed to muster a smile, nodding his head. “Of course, you two enjoy yourselves. Don't let me keep you.”
Magica seemed to look at him with a hint of sympathy for a split second, before sighing and turning on her heel, making her way back toward Gladstone.
He watched as his sister talked to her lover, their conversation seeming tense at first until it melted into something more apologetic and tender, until finally Magica pressed a kiss on his head, and Poe turned away so he didn't have to see.