Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Okay, have fun with your friends,” Mack called after Dax and Gwen as they headed out of the nest to meet up with Kim and the others.

“We will,” Dax said.

“Don’t worry Dad,” Gwen assured them.

“And make sure to be safe,” Pam called after them.

And then the two of them flapped away.

Once the kids were out of sight, Pam sighed in the silence that followed, “Peace and quiet,” she said.

Mack turned to Pam, a romantic look in his eyes. “Now that we got the nest to ourselves, maybe we should try something new.”

“Oh my,” said Pam, eyes going wide, before falling into a flirtatious return, “and what exactly are you suggesting?”

Mack looked at her, all serious business “Well, you know how when a girl duck like you gets kicked in a certain place, nothing happens, but when the same thing happens to a boy duck, like me…?”

Pam’s eyes went wider, “And you’re suggesting that we… That I…” she flicked her webbed foot demonstratively.

Mack nodded.

“And you really want that?” Pam asked in shock. She had never thought of doing that, but she couldn’t hide the fact that the thought amused her.

“You know me, Mr. Adventure Duck, I’m ready for anything,” Mack said, spreading his wings and looking all noble.

“And being…” she demonstrated again, “does that count as ‘anything’?” Pam asked.

“Well, you know how anytime a guy gets hit in the… you know,” Mack said, suddenly awkward to be explaining it, but determined to press on, “how he instantly collapses and starts moaning and stuff, haven’t you ever wondered what it must feel like for it to gather such a response?”

“Well, I’ve never had to wonder about that,” Pam said, plopping down into her nest.

“Well I have,” said Mack, refusing to let this go, “And I want to try it. With you. Because you’re beautiful.”

“Okay,” Pam said, standing back up, “but isn’t that a little extreme?” She looked at him, halfway torn between concern and amusement.

Mack straightened up, standing tall and strong, “Nothing is too extreme for Mr. Adventure Duck.”

Pam’s eye’s lit, now fully amused. “Well, okay…” Pam looked at him curiously, “But what on Earth makes you want to try this in the first place?”

“Because we’re in a relationship, and that means sharing my weaknesses with you as much as my strengths.”

Pam narrowed her eyes flirtatiously, “And it has nothing to do with how you find my tail feathers attractive, and me showing off you’re differences will remind you how I’m different from you,” she shifted her tail feathers behind her suggestively.

Mack went red, “Well, that too.”

“You know I can show off my tail features to you any time you want,” Pam said, continuing to give her tail feathers their flirtatious ruffling.

Mack shook his head to clear it, he would not let her distract him from his goal; she certainly was attractive… “But this time I want to show off to you,” he said, “show off to you how I’m special.”

Pam took a step back in confusion, letting her tail feathers relax, glancing down at Mack quickly, then back up, “so the ability to knock you to your knees in one kick, a move that, let me remind you, does not work on me, is something you consider special about yourself?”

“I know,” Mack said, “I mean, isn’t that cool? Or whatever young ducks say these days instead of cool. Do they still use ‘cool’ anymore?”

Pam gave him those eyes, feeling a sudden attraction for him all over, the thought of actually doing this suddenly feeling more appealing than it probably should, “okay, but if I do this, you have to promise to let me take care of you while you recover, and later, I get to show off my tail feathers to you all I want.”

Mack’s eyes brightened, holding out a wing, “Then it’s a deal.”

So they shook on it.

Then, Mack backed up a few feet and stood with legs slightly apart.

“Okay, I got my legs apart and ready to go!” Mack said, looking down at himself, ruffling his feathers, self-conscious of the vulnerability he suddenly felt. But this was Pam, he shared everything with Pam, even his embarrassment. “That is enough room for you to get through, right honey?” Mack asked.

Pam looked him up and down, “I think that’s wide enough,” she replied with amusement in her eyes, “never underestimate the aim of a hen ‘trying something new’.”

“Okay, I’m ready,” Mack said, standing straight with determination, filling himself with confidence in his decision before the nervousness of the pain he was about to face could hit him.

“Okay, here comes,” Pam said. And with that, she lifted one foot off the ground, and shot it straight at Mack in as hard a fancy side-kick she could.

TW-CRACK!

Instantly, a quack of sudden shock erupted from Mack’s throat as the pain hit him.

Pam stood there for a second, trying to process what she had just heard… And then she collapsed in laughter. She couldn’t help it, that quack was so unexpected and hilarious (and maybe even a little cute), she just lost it, before she could even see what happened to Mack next.

Mack on the other feather felt such pain, his mind couldn’t even process it; for a second, he could only stand there stunned, his body hunched inwards on itself, feeling nausea rising up within him; he knew instantly that this was a bad idea. “So that’s what that feels like,” he said with no more than a squawk.

But he was wrong, that’s only what the initial shock felt like, the full force of the pain wasn’t far behind, and it fully hit him in an instant.

And thus Mack collapsed, crying out in absolute agony, grabbing himself with his wings, clutching himself, trying helplessly to ease the pain in his most sensitive regions, “I take it back! I take it back! I’m not up for this anymore! Please take it back!”

Pam, who had just recovered from the quack, finally managed to regain her feet, as she watched Mack writhing, she couldn’t help but feel a growing humor and attraction toward him. “Well I don’t, I think this is hilarious,” she said. Nobody told her seeing her husband like this, cradling his “special” place so desperately would be so attractive, “I thought you were Mr. Adventure Duck.”

“This isn’t an adventure,” Mack squawked, wings clutching himself desperately, “this is torture! Mr. Adventure Duck isn’t cut out for this!”

Pam couldn’t stop herself, she burst out laughing again, “I’m so sorry,” she tried to apologize, “this is just too funny! I can’t believe you asked this of me!”

“I can’t either,” Mack moaned. He knew this had been his idea, but he hadn’t expected it to hurt THIS bad! At least he now knew what it must feel like to make a duck act like this. How could he feel something this painful that Pam couldn’t even understand? She must think he looked so ridiculous right now! He had thought that the fact that she knew everything about him would make this any less embarrassing, but he guessed there were just some male secrets too awkward to share with a she-duck, even if she already did know everything about you…

Though in some strange way, he was still almost glad to have shared this experience with her. If it hadn’t HURT this bad!

Still, despite her amusement in it all, Pam couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her husband, he was acting so adorable right now, but she knew it must also be painful. “Here, scoot over,” she said siding up next to him and laying down beside him, cozying up close. “Let me take care of you right now.” So, Mack pressed tight against her, her soothing feathers helping to distract him from the pain he was feeling. “There, now isn’t that better?”

“A little,” Mack said weakly, “just let me…” then, with one wing still clutching himself, he grabbed one of Pam’s wings with the other, brought it to his beak, then screamed into it.

When he was done, he let go of the wing, and Pam let it rest over him, patting him lightly. “There, all better,” Mack said, the pain he had felt finally beginning to subside; snuggling next to the one you love can make all the difference, even when the fact that your partner is female and you are not is an embarrassing reminder of why you’re here in this situation in the first place.

They sat side by side for awhile, when Pam finally spoke up, “I just can’t believe that worked,” she said, still in stunned amusement over what had just transpired. Then she looked at him, “I’m so sorry, you must feel so embarrassed right now.”

“Yeah,” said Mack with a blush, waving her off with a wing, “But you’re my wife, I’ll get over it.”

“I mean everywhere you go,” Pam said, getting up, “Just taking a step outside, how do you know you’re ever safe? How do you live with your life knowing that you’re capable of being so weak?” She turned to him with realization, “Is that why you were so worried about leaving the pond?”

But Mack didn’t answer, still caught up on the thing she had said before that. “Wait, you think I’m weak?” Mack asked, ruffling his feathers, suddenly self-conscious.  He had known Pam wasn’t prone to the same situation as he was, but that didn’t make him any weaker, right?

“No no,” Pam corrected, “I just think it’s easy to make you weak. Too easy...” She looked at him in confusion, “How are you males able to be so confident in your strengths when it can all be so easily knocked out of you with one hit?”

“We don’t really have to worry about it much,” Mack said, feeling a bit awkward by this conversation.

“Well you must get lucky,” Pam observed, “Real lucky. I mean it’s right there, anything could hit it, and there’s nothing you can do about it until it’s too late!”

Mack looked unimpressed.

“Well, I’m feeling better now,” Mack said, getting to his feet; he still felt a bit of pain, but other than the uneasiness of being on his feet after such an incident, he could make do. “I think I’m going to go get some berries.”

“Oh no need,” said Pam, heading for the nest’s opening, “lay back down and recover, I’ll get them for you.”

“The pain has mostly faded now, I’m not that helpless,” Mack said as he made his way past Pam.

But Pam stepped in front of him, holding a wing out gently to stop him.

“No, I promised I would take care of you today,” Pam said.

“We never shook on that,” Mack protested, “We only agreed you’d take care of me until I recovered.”

Pam looked at Mack, quickly glancing down, then back up again.

Pam didn’t know what came over her, but before she could stop herself, her leg shot out once again, shooting upward, and connecting with the place where Mack’s legs connected, hard.

Mack’s eyes went wide; he was already still feeling delicate down there from the first kick, and as the pain exploded inside him once again, nothing could explode out of his mouth again but another “ Quack !”

And then Mack collapsed, once again in absolute pain. Every nerve was reminding him how fragile he felt down there, and nothing this fragile could be ready for this kind of pain!

Pam covered her mouth with a wing to cover her laughter; despite her guilt, Pam couldn’t help but feel another charge of amusement washing over her, Mack looked so adorable when he was in this state, “See? You’re still recovering,” she said, “Now let me get you those berries, it’s obvious you can’t do it yourself now.”

“Ugh! Why did you have to do that!?” Mack cried, clutching at himself helplessly, “now I do feel like I’m weak!”

“Oh, relax,” Pam assured him, “I still haven’t forgotten what a strong and capable father and husband you are.”

“Well, I don’t feel strong,” Mack moaned.

“I thought you wanted to try this,” Pam said.

“ONCE!” Mack cried, “Now I feel like a weakling seeing how I can obviously be taken out of commission anytime with just one simple kick!”

“Well…” Pam said with a chuckle, “that sounds like something you’ll have to work out on your own. All I know is that you are a strong competent father and I completely trust you to do your best to take care of your family. Except when you happen to be hit there. Then you’re apparently totally useless, and we both know now that can all happen too easily for comfort, so… Just don’t get hit there. Unless you have no choice of course, and in that case…” She stopped as if suddenly realizing the potential faultiness of leaving the sole protection of the family in the wings of the man of the nest.

Mack just groaned.

“Don’t worry,” Pam said, turning back toward him, “we’re a team, we work together; I’ll always be there to step in when you so inconveniently can’t.”

“Well that makes me feel a lot better about myself,” Mack said without enthusiasm. How could he see himself like this? He didn’t see himself as this vulnerable.

“Well you just rest, I’ll get you some berries while you recover,” Pam said sweetly.

Pam retreated out of the nest leaving Mack moaning there to himself, and came back in a few moments later with some of Mack’s favorite Jamaican berries. She laid them down in front of him, “There you go sweety, all for you.”

“I don’t think I can eat them now,” Mack said through his nausea, “I think I’m going to throw up.”

“Well, just take your time, maybe I can show off my tail feathers while you’re recovering.” Pam turned around, parted her wings slightly, and adjusting her tail, began flexing her feathers. She looked back at him sweetly, “How’s that sweetheart?”

“As good as it can be when I’m in excruciating pain,” Mack groaned, “Do you have any idea what that feels like?”

Pam bent her head down and looked at him through the opening in her legs, “Seriously? I’m literally showing off my tail feathers to you. Do I look like I would know how that feels if I got hit through here?” She couldn’t hold back a laugh.

Mack blushed; she was absolutely right, that’s why this whole situation was so appealing. Hens were such amazing ducks, and Pam was the most amazing hen of them all. Even through the pain, it suddenly felt good to be a drake if that meant being able to appreciate how a beautiful henlike Pam was different from him. Feeling as vulnerable as he did now in his unmentionable spot was just an embarrassing reminder of what he admired so much about Pam.

Plop!

Pam went still as something white and gooey landed unexpectedly in front of Mack’s face. Pam went red.

“Well, I guess that’s what happens when you flex too hard,” she said flustered, “I did not mean to do that. Don’t mind the offering do you?”

Mack looked at her in shock for a moment, and then he burst out laughing. He was still in a lot of pain, but he couldn’t hold it back. Pam stood there a second, now in her own share of embarrassment, but in a moment, she couldn’t help but join in the laughter too.

A little bit later, Mack and Pam were huddled in their nest, cozied up side by side together once more, the nausea finally toned down enough in his fragile-feeling embarrassing place for Mack to enjoy the berries with her a little.

“So, now that you know all about males, what do you think?” Mack asked.

Pam looked at him, amusement once again lighting her eyes, “What do you want, the complement or the roast?”

“All of it,” Mack said, “remember, I’m Mr. Adventure Duck, I’m ready for anything!”

Pam laughed, “Well, I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” She turned to him lovingly, “Well, I can’t deny it, how do you males manage it? Being so strong but yet so vulnerable, so admirable yet so amusing at the same time. And how you never fail to be so attractive either way you go, I have to say, I can’t help but be a little impressed.”

“Well, us males are pretty great,” Mack said proudly.

“I suppose you are,” Pam said with sweet eyes.

“And so are you,” Mack said, resting his head gently on his partner’s head, wrapping his feathers around her.

And so the two of them rested, cozied up together until they dozed off. Though Mack still felt a slight ache where he would not mention, right now, with this moment of bonding, maybe it had kind of been worth it.

Chapter Text

Dax and Gwen met up with Kim and the other at the top of the small waterfall the ducklings enjoyed riding down. As Dax alighted beside Kim, she looked at him with amusement lighting up in her eyes.

“Are you ready?” Kim asked Dax.

Dax shifted his feet awkwardly, “Let’s go.”

Gwen who's attention had been on the waterfall, anticipation for the ride ahead of her, looked up at them curiously, detecting something they weren’t saying in their tone.

“Okay, well I hope the rest of you have fun,” Kim said, “but me and Dax are going to step away for a bit if you don’t mind.”

And with that, she pulled Dax into the trees, disappearing out of sight.

Where were they going, Gwen wondered suspiciously. She was going to follow.

So, as quietly as she could, she slipped through the trees after her brother and his girlfriend.

Kim pulled Dax into a small clearing with a giggle, and he looked at her nervously.

“You think this is far enough from the others so they won’t hear us?” Dax asked self-consciously. It was just him and the girl he liked, and they were about to do something… interesting to say the least, so of course he was feeling a bit awkward.

“Relax,” Kim told him assuringly, “Nobody’s going to hear you.”

Dax looked around the clearing, at the green leaves, the sunbeams shining through the canopy, they were standing beside a gentle quiet creek, it's trickling calming to the senses; so this is where it was going to happen. There could be worse places he guessed, “I hope you’re right,” he said uncertainly.

“I still can’t believe you agreed to this,” Kim said, “I mean, are you sure you’re up for this?”

Dax shifted nervously. He knew this whole thing was stupid, but he wanted to do it. He knew he was strong and capable, he knew Kim knew that - he didn’t feel intimidated by what was about to happen - but now he wanted to show Kim his more sensitive side, he wanted Kim to be able to experience the reality of his weaker self, to be able to stand over him and know it didn’t apply to her, that in this one embarrassing way, he was different than her.

No he didn’t know why, he just really liked Kim, and the thought of her seeing him so fragile after she already knew he was so strong… he just wanted that, don’t question it, okay? He just thought she was pretty, okay, and he wanted her to enjoy his weaknesses as much as his strengths.

Still, he couldn’t help but shudder as he wondered how it would feel. Obviously there would be some pain, but would it really hurt so bad it’d knock him down completely? Would he be in too much pain he wouldn’t even be able to appreciate Kim’s being there? He shook out his feathers nervously.

“I just hope it doesn’t hurt too much,” Dax said.

“Don’t worry,” Kim laughed, “I’m sure it will be excruciating.”

Dax felt his stomach knotting.

“I KNEW it,” Gwen shouted, bursting suddenly from her hiding spot in the bushes accusingly, “You two are planning something weird.”

Dax and Kim went still, faces going red as they looked at eachother, even more aware than they had been before of the ridiculousness of what they had been planning to do.

But Kim regained her composure first.

"Oh, it's nothing," Kim said, throwing a wing off to the side dismissively, "me and your brother were just about to have a little bit of fun, that's all, why don't you come over and watch?"

"What!?" Cried Dax, spinning toward Kim. He was embarrassed enough with Kim around for this, but she was the girl he had a crush on, (which actually was even more embarrassing he supposed, when you think about it - but it was embarrassing in a good way,) but Gwen was his sister , she didn't need to see him embarrass himself the same way he would around his girlfriend.

"Come on Dax," Kim said, "she's harmless." She turned to look at Gwen, opening a wing in invitation, "Come on over."

Gwen narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but flapped over to join the two in the center of the clearing anyway.

"If you two do anything weird, I'm telling our parents," Gwen said.

"Go on," Kim said, "I'm sure they'll get a kick out of it." She chuckled at her own pun.

Gwen didn't look convinced.

Rustling her feathers, Kim turned to look at Dax, "Okay, is there any certain way you want me to do it, or do you just want me to come at you plain and simple?"

But Dax was still taken aback by Gwen's presence.

“Does she have to watch?” Dax complained.

“Why not?” Kim asked, “She might learn something.”

Dax groaned, irritated at the thought of Gwen being here, but not wanting to turn Kim away as well.

"So what exactly are you doing?" Gwen asked.

Kim looked at her, all too ready to explain, “You know how all birds go, right?” she asked Gwen.

Gwen’s eyes went wide, “But that’s gross, isn’t it?” Gwen asked.

“Exactly,” Kim said, “But guys have it a little bit differently from us girls, which can create some… inconveniences for them.”

“I don’t understand,” Gwen said, looking confused.

“Let me demonstrate,” Kim said, looking over at Dax and giving him a sweet smile. She glanced down as if measuring for her target, then back up at Dax’s face. Dax suddenly felt awkward, his legs feeling long and lanky under him, like he was just standing there, so exposed and unprotected. But that’s how he wanted to feel around Kim right now, wasn’t it? What was the purpose of having the ability to be embarrassed if you weren't going to use it in front of a cute girl? He just hoped Gwen’s presence wouldn’t cause him too much unwanted embarrassment.

Dax’s mind went back to the moment the other day that had led to all this, him and Kim were sitting by in the water watching a couple of their peers playing around as they kicked a small coconut back and forth, all was going well when suddenly-

CRACK!

It flew right into one of the boys, right where his legs connected at the surface of the water.

He gave a quack as he folded in on himself at the surface of the water and started moaning in agony, the other ducks started laughing.

“Oh, that must’ve hurt so much!” Kim laughed hysterically, this somehow making Dax blush.

“You know about… that?” Dax asked.

“Of course I know,” Kim said, eyes filled with amusement, “you didn’t think I would?”

He knew a lot about girls and how it all worked differently for them, but somehow it all felt strange to him that Kim would actually share in this knowledge of male vulnerability when he felt so naturally that he should try to be the opposite of vulnerable… Still there was a strange appeal to the fact that he was and she…

"And that really doesn't happen when it happens to you?" Dax said awkwardly.

"No, not at all," Kim replied.

"That's so cool," Dax blurted, before suddenly going red, "I mean not that..." He suddenly didn't know what to say, feeling extremely embarrassed in himself.

Suddenly, Kim's eyes lit up, "We could try it if you want."

"Try what?" Dax asked, confused for a second, then understanding, "wait, you mean like, on me?" He said, really going red.

Kim nodded, "If you want. But only if you want. It’s not like I want to…"

Dax didn't know what to say, he shifted his feet awkwardly; on the one wing, this was Kim, and she was the prettiest girl he knew, on the other... showing his weakness to a pretty girl that she would never have... He felt himself blushing.

"Don't worry, it's not a domination thing," Kim said assuringly, "I know you are plenty capable in your strengths, it's just... this will be just for fun."

Dax shook out his feathers, trying to hide this sudden self-consciousness he felt, "You mean our differences," Dax said shyly, "it'll be fun to poke fun at our differences."

Kim smiled brightly back at him, "Exactly."

So now here Dax stood, on his long and lanky legs underneath him, feeling awkward at the vulnerability he was about to display to her.

As Kim moved in front of him, preparing her legs for the kick, stretching them out for practice, she stopped and looked at Dax seriously, sensing his uncertainty; he shifted on his webbed feet.

“You ready for this?” she asked.

“My feet are wide enough, right?” He said, shifting again nervously, looking himself up and down, knowing all of this he saw now was about to be subject to all the insecurity he was going to feel in a moment, “I don’t feel like they’re wide enough.”

“They’re fine,” said Kim, “Just stand still, and I'll do the rest." She looked at him intently, "You sure you’re up for this?” She asked again.

Gwen peaked from behind Kim curiously, and Dax caught her eye, he forced himself to look away and focus on Kim instead; he wanted to do this. With Kim. So that’s what he was going to do.

“Ready,” Dax said, nodding firmly, determined to get this on before he could… chicken out for lack of a better word.

“Okay, there’s no going back,” so with that, Kim pulled back her leg, readying it…

Then swung it forward.

Right into where his legs connected, contacting hard.

Dax quacked in shock as the pain hit him. The very same moment his father did, two male ducks, father and son, simultaneously hit with the same pain in front of the girl of their lives.

Panic rose as the pain shot through him; oh gosh it was way more real and intense than he could’ve imagined. Queasiness; his body felt like a black hole suddenly, wanting to implode in on itself to contain the pain within his most uncertain place.

He crumpled, inward, crying out in his hormonal teenboyish angst, wings fumbling to grasp himself, knees clinching inward, anything he could do to close himself off from the pain of the real world. But it was all for nothing, his entire body felt wrong, every nerve felt disconnected from his body as he struggled desperately to grapple for the pain inside and unable to reach it, as if his entire body was simply an illusion with no way to truly contain what was really real, the exploding pain in the weakest part of himself; his wings, his legs, no matter how desperately they flailed to close himself off from the pain, they felt like a loose flabs, as if he was controlling them from a completely different plain of existence then his true self and the pain which resided within the most fragile part of himself he could imagine, the only part of himself that felt real, because because oh gosh this pain was real.

So, he could only lie there and writhe and moan on his knees, trapped within the pain of his body to which he had no control over.

“Oh my gosh!” Kim burst with laughter, “It actually worked!” Kim knew that in all technicality, it could happen to any boy, but seeing it come through so reliably on the handsome boy she liked, it just hit her in a way that was different than how she had experienced it before seeing it happen to other boys.

But Gwen’s eyes however, were round with horror. “HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO DAX!” she cried, suddenly going after Kim. Fortunately, Kim held her back with her wing.

“Relax, it’s alright,” Kim said in amusement.

“He doesn’t look alright!” Gwen said, her protective fury overflowing her.

UGH! Why did Gwen have to be here, Dax moaned to himself inwardly, Kim was one thing, but Gwen... Despite the pain, he couldn't hold back the blush; in the end, either way, both of them were girls! UGH! Embarrassment!

“No really, he’ll be okay, it’s just his male weakness,” Kim said, “All boys are like that.”

“Dax isn’t weak!” Gwen exclaimed indignantly.

Kim released her wing and let Gwen come at her, first Gwen body slammed, and then she turned and repeated the move on Kim that Kim had performed on Dax.

“There!” Gwen cried, “Just like you did to my brother!”

But Kim merely flinched, and stood her ground. Gwen’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“It doesn’t work on us girls,” Kim told her confidently, “Try it.”

Curiously, Gwen tried tapping her foot against herself, testing to see if she felt anything. Nothing happened. Then suddenly the realization hit her.

“Wait, that’s my…”she began to turn self-conscious.

“Exactly,” Kim said at Gwen’s discovery, “And boys have it even more embarrassing down there,” she gestured toward moaning, crumpled Dax with a wing, “though not too much more, remember, us girls have to lay the eggs,” she chuckled, "Pretty cool, right?"

“But Dax is not weak,” Gwen said again, firmly.

“No, he’s not weak,” Kim admitted, “But he is male, which puts him at certain… disadvantages,” she turned towards Dax’s moaning figure, watching with amused pity for a moment, then looked back at Gwen, "if you do it safely, it's all the pain and embarrassment, but none of the damage. It's fun," Kim said brightly.

Gwen stopped and turned to Dax confused, "Is it fun?"

"Do I have to answer?" Dax moaned miserably. In truth he really didn't know the answer to Gwen's question. On the one wing he was in excruciating pain, on the other... Kim was watching him do it. He blushed.

"See, he doesn't like it," Gwen said, turning back to Kim accusingly.

Kim laughed, "Do you have any idea how much pain he must be in? If he didn't like it, he would've flat out said so.”

Gwen looked at Dax. "Is that true?"

Dax just laid there moaning, too much pain to answer anymore.

“Okay,” Gwen said uncertainly, turning to go, giving Kim one last glance, “But I’m watching you,” she gestured with her wings, then turned to flap away.

When Gwen was gone, Kim sympathetically stepped up to Dax, “How are you holding up?”

Dax just moaned horribly, every part of him felt so fragile here at Kim’s feet, crumpled in pain like this, it was a huge contradiction of how he had been growing to see himself, as a brave coming-of-age leader; he felt himself as the weak, scrawny, insecure teenager he had once seen himself as, all of it gravitating toward the pain he felt in his weakest spot as he tried to cover it, and all the fragility he felt, desperately with his flabbily useless wings.

But in all this insecurity, there was a sense of elation, Kim was seeing a side of himself he would’ve felt too embarrassed to show off to her otherwise, but because of the pain, he had no choice, he couldn’t stop moaning, laying here crumpled, holding himself where he was most embarrassed if he wanted to, Kim could right now only see him in this weakest, most personal state of his boyhood fragility, neither able to understand how this could feel so bad and so good at the same time. If knowing that this is what it meant to be male, then how was Dax suddenly so glad to be male in this much pain, humiliated so much besides the girl he liked?

"Is it true that only males are really this weak?" Dax managed finally, finally managing to pull himself to his feet a little, though still shielding himself with his wings. Kim blushed, he looked so cute standing like that.

"Don't worry," Kim laughed, waving it off, "I know what you're capable of, you boys are just unlucky, that's all."

Dax felt himself blushing, weak on his feet, and still feeling his body gravitating toward where he had been kicked, but the pain was slowly starting to ease, "How can that be both so cool and so embarrassing at the same time?"

"Because you boys are both so cool and embarrassing at the same time," she said, nudging him playfully, "And us girls are just here for it."

Dax blushed yet again. Why did girls have to be so cool?

When they returned to their waterfall spot, a commotion had arisen among a few of the ducklings. Gwen stood over another duck about her age, crumpled on the ground in front of her, crying out in pain.

"I'm sorry!" Gwen cried, "They told me it was fun!"

"Well they lied ," the poor boy duckling cried out in angst.

Dax and Kim exchanged a quick look at eachother, and then looked away, agreeing they had no idea what was going on.

When the two rejoined their friends, the others looked at them curiously "How was it?" One of them asked.

"Did you have fun?" asked another.

"Where did you go?" asked a third.

Dax waved them off, "Oh, nowhere really, Kim just wanted to show me a certain... spot." He looked at Kim and blushed, he wasn't going to tell their friends that he wasn't talking about the same kind of "spot" they were probably thinking of.

Gwen landed beside them a moment later and looked at Dax and Kim accusingly. "It didn't work," she said upset.

All the friends looked back and forth at eachother in confusion.

When Dax and Gwen returned to their nest later that day, Gwen rushed immediately to greet her parents with a hug. As she crashed into her father, Mack flinched a little, "Woah, careful," he sputtered, "I'm still a little... sore down there... for reasons I'll not mention" He looked over at Pam, and she exchanged a sweet look with him. Dax couldn't help but notice his dad was standing unevenly on his feet, just like he himself had been just a bit earlier. Obviously they had been up to something he didn't know about.

As they all went inside to their eating place, Pam proudly produced a clump of berries, "While your father was down in the nest 'resting', I went out and found us all some berries, so dig in."

The two grown ups exchanged another set of romantic looks again at the word "resting", and Dax knew something definitely had been up between them while they'd been gone.

As they all started plucking at the berries to eat, Mack looked at his kids curiously, "So, how was your day," he asked, "did the two of you get up to anything interesting today?"

"Dax made Kim kick him somewhere weird!" Gwen blurted out accusingly before Dax could stop her.

"Gwen!" Cried Dax in horror, trying to cover her beak with a wing unsuccessfully, fumbling out his berries as he did so.

The nest went silent for a moment, and Mack and Pam looked at eachother, stunned.

And then the two of them burst into spontaneous laughter.

"Like father like son I suppose" Mack said, looking at Pam with humor. "Just the embarrassing consequences of being male I suppose," he let himself blush in Pam's direction.

Pam held a wing to her beak to contain herself, but it was no use, "You boys these days," she sputtered, "What is it with you guys?"

Dax's face went red.

Gwen just stood there confused, no idea to what had triggered these sudden hysterics.

Boys, they were just weird, girls? They were just here for it.

THE END

Chapter Text

"Here you go sweety," said Pam, laying down some berries at Mack's feet, giving him a quick peck on the cheek "these are for you."

"Why thank you Pam!" Mack said gratefully, "What's the occasion."

"Oh, don't you remember?" Pam asked, "Today is your day for nestrest."

Mack looked confused, "Nestrest? But I'm feeling fine today."

Pam glanced at the children, playing around together in the pond, and cleared her throat to signal Mack's attention, discreetly lifting her foot and giving it a flick to imitate a kick. Mack's eyes went wide in the realization.

"Wait, today? Are you sure?"

Pam gestured to the kids and called out, "Dax, Gwen?"

The two of them came up to them, looking at their mother expectantly.

"Why don't you two go and spend the day with your friends," Pam suggested, "Me and your father are going to spend some time together."

"Yes!" said Dax, turning to leave.

"You better not be planning on having Kim kick you somewhere weird again," Gwen said to him, following behind.

"None of your business," Dax said, getting on the defense.

And before the two adults could gain any more context on the conversation, the two of them disappeared into the brush.

Pam smiled and took in the warm Spring air. As much as she'd loved their Migration to Jamaica and then to the Antarctic, and looked forward to their next one, it was nice to spend some time at home. The Spring air and the scent of growing life bought new energy to her.

It was the perfect weather for a kicking.

She turned to Mack, who shifted on his webbed feet uncertainly.

"You know Pam, I'm not sure I'm sure about this."

"Why not?" Pam asked, curious.

"Why not?!" Mack exclaimed, "Because it hurts! "

"Oh relax, I'm sure it's not so bad."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to feel it!"

"Exactly, now you're getting into the spirit of it," Pam said, eyes lighting up joyfully, "You don't have to do anything, you just have to wait there to feel it, I'll be the one doing all the work! Before and after."

"Wait, that's not what I meant-" Mack began, unable to find the words to express to her how truly painful it was.

Pam could see the uncertainty in his eyes, as if he was not sure if he was ready to commit to that sort of pain. "Here, let me make it easy for you."

Before Mack could react, Pam lifted her webbed foot, and drove it right into the spot where his legs met, as hard as she could!

Mack's eyes went wide, he let out a stunned " Quack! " that only a duck like him could give.

And then Mack dropped, pain splattering through every nerve of the most vulnerable part of his body, worse than he ever could've remembered. He gave a squawk of pure agony.

Pam hadn't been sure if it was possible to really give a drake a full day of nestrest with just one move, but when she'd asked Uncle Dan about it, he seemed pretty confident in his reply.

"Oh sure," he'd said, "If you hit him just right, you'll get nothing else out of him for the rest of the day. That's what happened with me and my old friend Barbara. Hmm, I wonder what she's up to these days."

And it seemed as if he was right, the way Mack remained crumpled there, folded in on himself, Pam didn't think he'd be able to fend for himself for quite awhile.

"How about now?" Pam asked, "Do you feel you're up for a day of nestrest now?"

"Well I don't have much of a choice now!" Mack squawked harrowingously.

"Then it's settled," Pam said, turning to set to work on her tasks, making sure to give Mack just the subtlest demonstration of her tailfeathers as she went, "don't worry sweetheart, I'll make sure you're well taken care of."

"If only you could take care of stopping this pain," Mack moaned as she walked away. Pam could only give a slight snicker at this.

Pam's first task was to find some nice padding for their nest; the best way for a hen to take care of a downed husband was to make sure he had plenty of soft down to lay on.

She gathered some reeds and leaves, and brought them into the nest. Laying them down in a cozy fashion, she plucked some down feathers from herself and arranged them lovingly into the nest with the rest; it was a sacrifice, but for the fact the love of her life wasn't feeling good today, the sacrifice was worth it.

When she was done, she went to retrieve Mack. He was still laying there where she'd left him, moaning pitifully; the pain would just not stop!

"I prepared the nest for you," Pam told him sweetly.

"Good," Mack said, "Good luck getting me to it."

Pam hadn't thought of this.

"You can't walk?" she asked.

"If I was able to walk, I'd be walking right now," Mack pronounced.

Pam thought about this, "I suppose if you could walk, I'd just have to kick you again when we got there anyway to make sure your restday's been done efficient." She thought another moment, "Don't worry Mack, I'll figure out a way to get you to your nest, don't you worry."

At first, Pam tried picking him up, but the drake was just too heavy for the hen to manage. She tried to bring him to the nest by dragging him by the tail, but this just caused the moaning duck even more strain on his fragile male body.

"Ugh!" Mack cried as his barely wing-shielded underside hit a bump on the way to the nest, "If someone could just let me turn into a hen right now."

"Well that would take all the fun out of this," Pam, said through a beakful of his tailfeathers. But she couldn't blame him, her husband was clearly in a lot of pain, and being out here like this clearly wasn't making his situation any more comfortable. Realizing this wasn't working, Pam stopped and looked at him. 

"You know, I'm going to roll you," she decided finally, and proceeded to give her husband the duckroll treatment all the way to the nest.

She got him into the nest, and looked at him lovingly.

"There," she said, "you roll beautifully, of all the fluffy balls out there, you're in the top three."

"What are the other two?" Mack asked in pain-clouded confusion.

Pam just gave him a playful look, "Oh, I think you already know."

Mack's face went red.

Pam turned her attention back to the nest, and tucked him in gently with the leaves and her own down.

"Comfy?" she asked.

But Mack barely even noticed, he could still feel the exploding pain radiating in his most sensitives, and comfy was not the word he'd use to describe that. "How can you kick so hard?" He bawled out.

"It's a gift." Pam said, fluttering her eyes.

Mack could only moan.

"Let me go get your berries." Pam said sweetly before exiting the nest.

As Mack layed in the nest in the silence only broken by his own moans, Mack burrowed himself deeper into the nest. Despite the pain he still felt, he had to admit that focusing on the coziness of the leaves and of Pam's down she had so lovingly laid, helped to take some of the attention off the pain he felt in his-

"Pam kicked me in the ***s!" Mack cried, suddenly overwhelmed by the humiliation of this revelation.

Pam was outside, returning to the spot they had left the berries, when she noticed how silent it all was on the shore; out in the pond, the ducks were acting normal, but here...

Tsk!

Pam turned to look to see Kim hiding in the reeds. She gestured slowly for Pam to join her.

Pam slunk into the reeds beside the duck she knew would probably be her future daughter-in-law, and looked at her anxiously.

"Where are Dax and Gwen?"

"They're safe," Kim said, "Gwen's just making sure Dax doesn't lose that gag he has in his mouth."

Pam spun around to look at the young hen, too at shock to even ask what her and her son had even been up to. But Kim just pointed to the open space Pam had just come from, and Pam could see what the problem was. A mischievous looking fox was slinking out of the brush toward Pam and Mack's nest, drawn to the sound of Mack's pitiful moaning inside, the only sound that could be heard in the entire area.

Oh Mack! Pam thought, You really had to choose the worst of times to become incapacitated . Mack would've known how to take care of the dangerous fox without a problem, but Pam was a hen, what did she know about the dangers of the world and fending for one's family. Drakes, always becoming incapacitated at the worst of times.

Drakes.. . Pam paused, as the fox slunk toward her home and her unfortunate husband, something caught her attention with the flick of the fox's tail. She didn't think they were called 'drakes' in the fox's terminology, she didn't know what they were called, but she knew this fox was something similar to that word.

"Kim?" Pam said, "What do you know about the weaknesses of males?"

Kim's eyes lit up, "Oh, me and Dax practice that all the time."

Pam narrowed her eyes at her would-be-daughter-in-law, "We'll talk about that later." But despite her tone, she was secretly glad for her son, proud that he'd get to experience all the fun and entertainment her and Mack had been having as male and female.

She turned back to the fox, parting the reeds slightly with her wing as she once again took in the scene, the plan already fully formed in her head, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I believe this fox is a drake."

Kim's eyes lit up once more, "You mean...?"

Pam nodded, a sly look appearing on her face, "That's exactly what I'm thinking."

Kim was already on board, "This is perfect, there are two of us, and you know what drakes have two of?"

Pam could already feel herself running with it, feeling the enthusiasm rising, "So we can come at him from an angle, once from each side..."

The two looked at eachother, a silent agreement forming between them.

"Let's do it." They both said.

The fox made his way toward the nest, the subtle moans of the misfortune duck still making themselves heard. What did someone do to this poor creature to make him sound like that?

It didn't matter, he was about to be put out of his misery anyway.

But then the fox heard a sound, rustle in the bush; he flicked his head to look.

But then suddenly from the other side.

Before he could comprehend what was going on, two ducky hens were charging at him from inverted angles.

And then, as if in sync, the two hens flung themselves from the ground and shot out their forward webbed feet in a flying kick!

Now normally, duck feet would be nothing to a fox - if the target had been anything else, it would've been just a mere nuisance - he was a strong fox, he could take a blow - but they weren't aiming for anything else, and for that, it didn't take much.

Plus, there were two of them.

He knew he should've lowered his tail, but he didn't have time, and in less then a second, the two hens made contact, one left, one right, hitting him with perfect precision where only a tod could feel so sensitive.

The fox gave a pitiful yelp as he watched all his foxy dignity crumple away in a moment as he crumpled to the ground.

Pam and Kim landed on the ground giving upbeat cheers; Pam extended her tailfeathers victoriously, proudly showing off her inability to meet the same fate as the fox.

"Dax will be so proud when he hears about this," Kim said enthusiastically, also giving a shake to show pride in her tailfeather status.

The fox just moaned in masculine embarrassment as the two hens cheered in feminine pride.

Then, Pam turned to address the fox, ready to make a deal.

"No need to be ashamed, I'm sure you are a strong and abled young man," she said, "It's just a design flaw." She pointed to the nest, “My husband's in there going through the same thing."

"And my boyfriend in the brush," Kim piped up proudly.

"Tell you what," Pam told the fox, resting a wing on him, "You leave me and my husband- actually, this whole side of the pond alone, and we will keep quiet about this whole situation- except with my husband, I'm definitely telling him."

"And Dax," Kim added.

"What do you say?" Pam asked, glancing back at the fox.

"Nobody but you?" The fox asked.

"Nobody but us girls and our guys," Pam said, flexing her tailfeathers again, "And probably the whole pond. But no foxes."

The fox blushed, and unevenly rose to his feet.

"Make sure never to see me again," the fox said, "The name's Fink."

And then he dashed off into the woods, as quickly as he could with his newfound limp.

Pam turned to look back at Kim, "You better go and take care of my son now."

Kim nodded, and took back off for the trees.

Pam went back to where the berries were, and picked them up.

When she got back to the nest, Mack was there, easing himself up as best he could, given the situation, it could've been worse.

"Up for a few berries." Pam asked.

Mack took a few moments to consider, then, "I think I can manage a bite or two now."

Pam brought the berries over and laid them down for him, Mack began to pick at them, as best as he could with this kind of pain in mind, flinching whenever he moved himself too much.

"What took you so long?" Mack asked.

"Oh, I was just taking on a hungry fox," Pam said simply.

Mack's eyes went wide, "A fox!" He cried, "Here!?" He started to fret about, but the pain in his lower region was still too intense, it leveled him right back into the nest with a moan, he couldn't deal with a fox right now if he wanted to.

"Don't worry Mack," Pam said, laying a comforting wing on the folded up Mallard, "I took care of him."

Mack looked up at her, suddenly feeling the comfort of her presence, but the guilt of not doing more, "But protecting the family is my job," he said.

"And you do a great job," Pam said truthfully, "But I was aware of your unfortunate condition today- which is quite inconvenient I have to add."

Mack gave a weak chuckle, "How do you manage to make a kick to my you-know-whats so comforting?"

"You think it's comforting?" Pam asked, "You drakes have some biological issues you really need to figure out," but then her teasing expression softened, "But I'm willing to put in the extra work for you. Within reason. I'm not doing this every day, so don't be going out and having any other accidents."

"Not that those accidents would be a problem if you had saved your kicks for something a little less vulnerable in the first place."

"What's the fun in that?" Pam replied, shifting her tailfeathers once more to demonstrate the complexities of having to go through life without those kinds of vulnerabilities. Mack blushed knowing she knew full well how attractive that made her.

...

"I am a little thirsty," Mack admitted finally from inside his defensive ball.

Turns out, a good kick can do that to a duck.

"Of course sweetheart," said Pam, getting to her feet, and giving him a peck.

Pam went outside and retrieved Mack some water on a piece of curved-out bark, and returned to his side, giving him room to drink.

When he had finished:

"I found you some food, made your nest, got you water to drink... Is there anything else you need sweetheart?"

"I wouldn't mind the comfort of the hen I fell in love with," Mack decided weakly.

"Scoot over," Pam said, nesting down beside him; Mack moaned at the effort to move.

Feeling her warmth, Mack rested his body into her, and she rested her body back into his; even with his vulnerabilities, she felt the comfort of his strength and determination to protect his family, while also feeling the pride of her newfound knowledge that she could fend for herself. It was the two of them and they could rely on eachother both in their best and in their worst.

Then, Pam began to hum their song to him, a song she sometimes gave to him on days when he was down and not feeling well, to remind him how much she still loved him, to remind him that even on his weak days she would choose him again and again.

And in the warmth of Pam's soft feathers, Mack could feel just the smallest portion of his pain receding (it still hurt unbelievably massive, but ever less the so). Pam gave him another gentle peck on the cheek.

After awhile, after they had cozied up just enough, Pam shifted her tailfeathers and looked back at them thoughtfully.

"With all this talk of male vulnerability, I don't think we give nearly enough attention to what we hens have back there."

Mack went still.

"Well we could," he replied finally, "But I think you'll have to kick me again."

Pam's eyes lit up, "Wait, really?"

Mack regretted his words instantly. "Wait, I don't mean right this-"

But it was already too late, even slumped down in the nest like he was, Pam somehow managed to find her target and give it a swift kick. Mack gave a horrendous quack, and slumped down even further in his nest than he had been before, all the progress of recovery he'd been making shattered into something worse than before.

"Why does that have to hurt so much!" Mack cried.

"Because if it didn't you wouldn't have to be reminded why it doesn't hurt me at all," Pam said, jumping up and shaking her tailfeathers at him, slapping them in his face. Mack could only moan, no way to hide from the truth of his masculine angst.

Then, once again, Pam cozied up next to Mack, but making sure this time to position herself in a way that abled her to plop her tailfeathers onto him, a helpful constant reminder of why he was in this state and she was not.

But as they snuggled themselves together, they were again able to find a coziness in eachother's warmth, that though he was him and she was her, and he was in massive pain and she was not, they were here together, together in their differences that only made them want to draw closer together as one.

"Let me just say," said Mack when he had recovered again enough to speak, "You have beautiful tailfeathers."

Pam brightened up as she looked back at him.

"But the most beautiful thing about you," Mack continued, "Is you."

And then he bent forward and gave her cheek a peck.

Unfortunately, the shifting of his bodyweight caused another sharp pain to shoot through his vulnerables.

"But seriously, do you have to kick that hard?" Mack moaned, doubling over.

"Yes," Pam answered tersely.

Chapter Text

Kim and Dax burst through the brush into their usual clearing, Kim pulling Dax enthusiastically along behind her.

Pulling him to a stop, she spun him around to face her, "Are you ready?" She asked brightly.

"I don't think 'ready' is the right word," Dax said, feeling suddenly awkward in his anxiousness.

"Yeah, but that's the fun of it, right?" Kim replied.

That was true, Dax realized.

"The less prepared the better," Dax admitted, trying not to flinch at the thought of what they were about to put him through.

"How's your fun place feeling?" Kim asked.

"Wait, my... fun place?" Dax asked, feeling himself blush.

"It's the nickname I decided to use. Don't you like it?"

Dax could feel himself going red. That wasn't exactly the term he'd use to describe it, but he wasn't about to argue, "Yeah, that'll work," he said. Besides, even if what they were about to do wasn't exactly that, this was fun adjacent, right? So wouldn't it be fitting that the place that caused that be called a... he shifted on his webbed feet... a fun place? The idea that such a lighthearted term could be applied to such an awkward aspect of himself was so outfield, that in an ironic way, it kind of worked.

"So, how is it all feeling?" Kim asked again.

Dax winced, already feeling a sense of how vulnerable he was down there, his instinctive urge to use his wings or legs to protect himself almost as overpowering as his excitement that Kim had agreed to do this again in the first place. Kim really did have a way of bringing spirit to this thing that should be beyond dreadful. He was just glad she was going to be here to enjoy it.

"Normal, I guess," he said. Wait, did being a boy actually feel normal? He was so used to it, he didn't even know; "If I was feeling good about this, that'd wouldn't be the point here," Dax said. "You're not going too hard are you?"

"Oh Dax," Kim laughed, "You don't want me to ruin the surprise, do you?"

Dax's face flushed all the more, knowing full well how much at her mercy he really was putting himself. His wings nervously went to cover himself, but that didn't help with the vulnerability he felt inside.

"I guess not," Dax said, ruffing his wings and returning them to their place at his side.

"Alright then," Kim said. She bent down and gave a quick walk around of her target to make sure everything was in order, then looked at Dax, "The usual drake routine," she said enthusiastically.

...

Dax had questions, "What's it like?" he asked, "Not... experiencing what I experience, and knowing that you don't have to, even while I'm..."

Kim's eyes lit up, "Believe it or not, it's exactly like what you'd expect being a girl to be like," she said.

This managed a chuckle from Dax, "I have no idea what that's like," he said.

"And that just means you get to be intrigued by the mystery of it all," Kim said supportively. Despite wanting to get this thing started, she wanted to give Dax the chance to see what it was like. She pulled her wings back behind her and took a step forward, presenting herself, "Go on, give it a try."

Dax looked at her awkwardly, not wanting to hurt her, but knowing he probably didn't need to worry. He cautiously took a step toward her, and kicked forward, whapping her a couple times right between the legs. Kim barely flinched.

"See, not even a problem," Kim said.

"I don't know how you do it," Dax said, stepping back impressed.

"The mysteries of a woman," Kim said, "Even I'm only 50% sure how it works."

"That is so cool," Dax said.

"Alright, now it's your turn." Kim said, fluffing her wings out in preparation. "Are you ready?" she asked again, knowing full well his response.

Dax felt himself going hot with heat again. No he was not. Suddenly, a rush of panic shot through him and he began to have second thoughts, knowing full well of the amount of incapacitating pain he was about to be in, his entire sensitive region suddenly feeling overwhelmingly vulnerable wanting to cover at protect itself before it was too late, "No wait, give me a moment!" He said panickedly.

"No time like the present," Kim said.

Dax's eyes went wide as he realized it was too late, that he was about to be in more pain than he was prepared for.

Before he could brace himself, Kim rose her webbed foot, and drove it straight into where his legs connected as hard as she could.

Dax's quack turned into a strangled cry instantly as he dropped, wings clutching at his most sensitive place.

"How do you like it," Kim asked, "As you can tell, I've been practicing." Kim lifted her foot and kicked out powerfully in demonstration. "Fun, isn't it?"

"No!" Dax moaned horrifically, all humor forgotten. He faceplanted into the ground and wailed out angstily, the structural integrity of the entire Universe completely shattered from its most vulnerable point and him having to feel it all. The pain had torn a hole in his entire reality sucking everything around inside, everything within him trying squirm itself free of its pull, his wings clutching uselessly, his legs clinching tight, fighting to protect it all from imploding to where it was most sensitive; the collapse of the entire Universe in his wings, just flimsy flabs that did nothing to make his Universe remotely bearable, and he could only wail out.

"ARGGGGGGGG! WHY ME!" How had he thought this would be fun!?  Dax's faced burned, knowing full well that in the eyes of the girl who was too awesome for the malfunctions that could totally annihilate a Universe, this could be nothing but funny; not having to share the embarrassment of a ridiculously inept design, malfunctioning could only be perceived as hilarious. And somehow he had known all this before-wing and still wanted to do this, somehow knowing he'd instantly regret it only increased the appeal, because he knew if he was female, he wouldn't have.

"I hope this is entertaining," Dax faltered, looking up at her from his fetal position on the ground?

"It is," Kim assured him.

Dax just flopped back down and continued moaning. He pulled his legs in, arching his wounded end in the air as if that could help him pull above the pain, it didn't. Kim couldn't help but laugh.

"You make yourself so adorable when you do that," she patted Dax's tailfeathers with her wing, making him turn red in his vulnerability.

"WHY!?" Dax cried, "A duck is not meant to be in this much pain!"

"Well, you boys are apparently," Kim replied good-humoredly.

Dax just cried out once more, arching his tail end again into the air. Kim covered her beak as she tried to contain her laughter.

"I KNEW IT!"

Kim nearly jumped as she turned to see Gwen once again bursting from the brush.

"You two are being weird again!"

Gwen gave Kim the glare-eye.

"What are you doing here," Kim asked a little annoyed.

Gwen paused, regaining herself, then. "Oh yeah, I just saw a fox heading over to our place, I thought you should know."

Kim looked at Dax, crumpled on the ground moaning, worry filling her eyes.

"Oh no, Dax will lead it straight toward us."

Gwen's eyes went wide. "Seriously, out of all the times you had to do that, it had to be now?! We need to cover his mouth, we have to make him be quiet, we have to do something."

Gwen rushed to Dax and grabbed his mouth, forcing it closed. "Quiet you," she demanded. Dax gave a miserable attempt at a horrific moan through his suppression, arching his back as he did so, and Gwen's face softened, "I'm sorry!" Gwen cried, "But I can't let you moan until the fox is taken care of. Okay?"

Kim was thoughtful, finally, she gathered herself.

"Okay, good, keep him here and quiet, and I'll go take care of that fox."

Dax's eyes went wide at these words, nearly forgetting his pain, Dax pulled away from Gwen's grip, and managed to pull himself to his feet, his knees still locking close together as he stepped up to Kim.

"I can't let you do that!" Dax said, "Not alone at least."

"Oh Dax," Kim said sympathetically, "You're in no shape to take on a fox at the moment," She glanced down then back up again quickly, "but it's cute you still think you have that choice."

Before Dax could register her words, Kim pulled back her foot and drove it once again straight into the same place where he was already aching.

Dax gave a guttural quack of agony, he sounded like a dying duck. Without a second's hesitation, he dropped.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO KICK THOSE WHILE WHILE THEY'RE STILL IN PAIN FROM THE LAST TIME!" Dax cried out in absolute hormonal angst.

Immediately, Kim realized her mistake.

"He's even louder than before!" She rasped frantically.

"On it!" Said Gwen, flapping back over to her brother and grabbing his beak with her wings, holding it closed as his muffled moans reverberated from inside it. She struggled to keep her grip as his writhing body struggled underneath it - Oh, the pain was just too much! - Gwen could only think to pick up a leafy gag from the ground, and shove it in his mouth. There, that should make the job easier, as long as he doesn't spit it out.

Kim still had a wing to her beak, trying to supress her laughter. "I'm sorry Dax, but your boyhood problems make you too vulnerable to handle this type of thing, you'll have to let us girls take care of it. If it's any consolidation, I find it adorable how quickly you boys forget how easy it is to hit your turn-off button. You got this Gwen?"

"Yes ma'am," Gwen saluted, realized the mistake, and quickly regrabed Dax's beak before another sound could escape."

As Kim went off to do all the cool stuff, Dax could only lay there in the brush, made completely useless by his male susceptibilities. Miserable moans tried to escape his beak, but Gwen's grip was fortunately solid.

"I know it hurts," Gwen said sympathetically. She paused, "Actually, I don't know how it hurts, does it really hurt as bad as they say? How can you even begin to imagine?" She tapped her foot against herself testingly, "How does just that hurt so bad it totally incapaci-incapacitizies-something you?" She looked at Dax under her. "Anyway, I'm sorry, but I can't let you make a peep out of you, you understand?"

Dax nodded pathetically as his eyes continued to swelter.

"Good," said Gwen proudly. But at that moment her grip slipped, and Dax's squirming body broke free; Dax didn't try, didn't mean to, but sputtered out the gag, and suddenly moaning escaped his beak again for all the pond to hear.

Gwen strated to panic, tried grabbing his mouth again, but his writhing body pulled away.

"Sh! Sh!" She said, "I thought we had an understanding!"

"I did!" He cried, "But that doesn't mean I can control it!"

Gwen did the only thing she could think of and jumped, landing flat on Dax's beak, her own body weight holding it closed onto the ground, legs spread on either side.

As Dax's moans were once again muted, Gwen looked around cautiously to make sure nobody had heard, but they were in the clear.

"There, that was a close one," she said, looking again into Dax's impained eyes. She saw the gag was off to the side and tried to reach for it with her feet, but her legs were just not long enough.

And then Gwen realized a new problem. "Uh Dax, I think I have to go."

Dax's eyes managed to go wide as he saw the struggle begin to gradually take shape on his sisters face as she stayed planted on his beak.

Yep, she was certain now, before she just suspected she needed to go.

"I hope Kim gets back soon," Gwen said anxiously.

But Kim was starting to take a while, and it was getting worse. She couldn't go right here on Dax's beak! Not only would it be SUPER GROSS, it would also be embarrassing.

She could only squirm, trying to hold in her whimpers, as Dax squirmed and whimpered equally beneath her. She could just about feel his pain. Except maybe not, because he was a boy, and boys had it different down there, and Gwen was still trying to process how anyone could have any of it down there when any of it meant what it did. It certainly wouldn't do to have Dax in on her "different down there". But it seemed Kim had already spoilt that for all the girls out here by not getting hurt the same way and making sure he knew all about it. It wasn't right, she was supposed to be the proper one, so why should she be the one to be unproper enough to do something as gross as need go to the restroom on her brother's beak?

But this wasn't helping; Gwen whimpered again as she tried to keep it in. Nope. This wasn't doing for her at all.

Nearby, Gwen heard what sounded like a loud yelp from a nearby fox. Oh, they must've gotten him like Kim got Dax, Gwen realized. It was crazy how all boys were like that. Way too weird for her, that was for sure.

That meant Kim would be back quickly, right?

It took a little longer than she hoped, but fortunately, Kim finally came back with a look of victory in her eye.

"Situation averted," Kim said proudly.

"Is it okay to get off now?" Gwen asked weakly, "Because we have another situation we need to avert."

Kim nodded, and in an instant, Gwen leapt off of Dax's beak, and grabbing a leaf, dashed into the brush.

All that remained was Kim and Dax's weak body. Kim went up to him sympathetically.

"Why?!" Dax moaned as Kim helped him to his unsteady feet.

Kim made sure he had his footing before replying. "Why?" he repeated with a laugh, "It's like you said, us girls are cool."

Dax's face went red, his feathers ruffled self-consciously.

Then Kim gave him a friendly shove with her wing, "You boys are kind of cool too."

And at these words, Dax felt himself warmed; being a boy could be embarrassing, and having nosy sisters didn't help it one bit, but having a cool friend like Kim showed how cool both boys and girls could be even when some of them had weaknesses.

"Just next time," Dax said, still flinching from the pain, "Don't let me be a boy ever again, being a girl has got to feel better than this."

"But were'd be the fun in that," Kim said.

The worst part, Dax knew she was right, being a boy could be painful, yet he wouldn't have taken life any other way. He moaned, not prepared for the kicks he knew his future was certain to hold.