Me, last night: you should really work on studying for your biology test or go to bed because you have work tomorrow.

Also me last night: There was a scene in Day of the Only Child! when Dewey compares Huey to a robot and knowing now how Huey feels about that it needs to be addressed so I need to write a fanfic and I need to finish it and I'll edit it tomorrow when I'm done with all those things I should've been doing tonight

Anyway, enjoy. I hopefully have a lot of Ducktales things coming because I have a lot of ideas rn and I'm working on several things.

This story references Astro B.O.Y.D.! and my story Louie Listens.

Go read Time by darknessarrives165 because you better believe I'm going to inhale chapter three the second I get off work tomorrow.

It was late afternoon and the sun cast harsh shadows on the room as Huey stepped in. The lighting felt ominous to him, and he was nervous, but he pushed through, looking at his brothers, who didn't seem to notice that he'd come in. Huey grabbed his hat, held it in his hands, and fiddled with it a moment before clearing his throat. Louie and Dewey finally looked up at him from their spots on their individual bunks.

"What's up?" Louie said coolly, spinning the wheels on a toy truck that had been sitting idly on his bed while Dewey dropped down to the floor to better join in on the conversation, kicking Louie in the head a bit on his way down.

Huey cleared his throat again, commanding their attention and getting up the nerve to say what was on his mind, "Um, I wanted to talk to you guys about something, something really important to me. So I need you both to listen and not zone out. I'm worth your attention." Dewey and Louie exchanged a surprised look before fixating on Huey.

"Say whatever's on your mind," Dewey encouraged, "we're all ears." And Louie sent him a thumbs up.

Huey took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes closed, and gathered all his strength, then blurted, "I'm not a robot!"

"What?" Dewey asked in confusion, "Are you okay, bro?"

"No, I'm not okay! I know that you make jokes about me not being human. I know you guys have called me a robot before. I'm sick of it! That doesn't fly anymore. You have to treat people like people, even if they're different."

Louie got up and put a hand on Huey's shoulder, "Hey, Hue, listen to me, I'm sorry if we ever made you feel like less than human. Of course you're not a robot."

Dewey looked upset, "Dude, I'm so sorry, it was always a joke, I didn't realize that upset you… I won't joke like that anymore. I didn't mean to make you feel different."

"I am different," Huey said, "but that's okay. I just want people to treat me like they know that different is still human. I'm still a kid, I don't wanna be rushed to grow up because I think differently and I don't want to be dehumanized. More people should be humanized, not less. And…" He paused, clenching the hat between his fingers. This part felt even harder to say. It almost felt selfish.

"And?" Louie prompted.

"I kind of, um… I want to be listened to. I know I go on really long tangents sometimes but it makes me feel bad when you guys beg me to shut up or say that my interests are boring and I have friends to share those interests with now but you guys are my best friends so it would just really mean a lot if I could just talk to you and be listened to and not have to like pay you a dollar to have you actually listen."

Louie winced, "I only did that once…"

"You still did it."

"Yeah, not my finest moment. I'll try to be better about listening to you, okay, Huey?"

"Okay," Huey agreed, glancing at Dewey.

"Everyone wants to be listened to," Dewey said, "I know how that feels. I'll try to be better about listening to your nerd stuff. Is that mean? I won't call it nerd stuff if you don't want me to."

Huey laughed out loud, "As long as you're actually listening to me, you can call it nerd stuff."

Dewey laughed too before turning serious, "Listen, man, we love you. We never ever meant to dehumanize you or ignore you or shut you out. You can talk to us any time we mess up or say something hurtful."

"I think we could all be a little more mindful. I'm not always the best brother either. What's the point of having siblings if we're not going to support each other?" Outside they could hear Donald and Della arguing. Dewey glanced at the window and laughed.

"We can support each other a little quieter and a little less violently than mom and Uncle Donald," Dewey said, and his brothers all agreed.

"Hey, Huey?" A thought suddenly occurred to Louie.

"Yeah?"

"Has someone else been calling you a robot?"

"Just a couple of kids in my troop, it's not too much of a big deal-"

"They're getting their butts kicked!" Dewey declared, clenching his fists.

"No no no no no!" Huey grabbed Dewey's hands to stop him from doing anything, "I don't want you attacking my peers!"

"Then I'll have Webby do it!" Anger burned in Dewey's eyes.

"I don't want Webby attacking my peers either! She'd kill half the troop!"

"If half the troop is making you feel bad maybe that's what they deserve!"

Louie held up his hand, "No, no, Dewey, Huey's right-"

"Thank you-"

"-There are smarter ways to destroy them."

"Neither of you is going to destroy anyone! I just need to talk to them the way I talked to you guys. And if they understand, good, and if they don't, well, I'll still have people who do understand me."

"That's probably for the best," Louie admitted, "Louie Inc. isn't prepared to deal with another lawsuit."

"Another?" Huey raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing!" Louie said quickly. Huey laughed and lightly pushed him.

"You guys want to hear about my trip to Tokyolk?" Dewey and Louie exchanged a look and nodded.

"We'd love to, Huey. Tell us everything."