you're a pond & i'm an ocean

Summary: It's been almost a month since the avalanche.

Word count: 3867

Warnings: None

1897; White Agony Creek

DAY TWENTY-ONE

They hadn’t spoken in several days. The confrontation, the freezing, the night of cuddling together next to the fire and awkwardly waking up in each others’ arms, the two days of Goldie sneezing and coughing and sniffling and then...nothing. Not a word was said about it. Despite the sweet moment between them, the tension and awkwardness still hung in the air.

Scrooge had caught her trying to steal his nugget again, he had screamed at her, he had kicked her out into the cold. It was an uncomfortable reminder of how little power she had out here in the middle of nowhere. As much as Goldie had been trying to pretend she was in control of herself, her life was still in McDuck’s hands. His calloused, dirty hands that she could still feel wrapped around her arms when she thought about it hard enough. And she’d been thinking about it more often than she’d care to admit.

Goldie had spent the days going through an odd range of emotions. She was angry and terrified, but also guilty and ashamed. And her chest hurt for a variety of reasons and she couldn't stop thinking back to that night. She’d finally gotten her hands on the nugget that she’d been searching for, but then she just...let him catch her. She could’ve put it back and waited until the path back to Dawson cleared and then run for the hills, but instead she just sat there. Like a chump. Like a moron! There was absolutely no reason for her to just sit there staring at him, and yet that’s exactly what she did.

Her hand still felt cold from the way the gold felt against her palm. It reminded her of that night, almost a month ago, when she’d first stolen it.

Scrooge, meanwhile, was grumpier than usual. After three weeks of cohabitation, he’d been starting to think they were on friendly terms. Not friends, he could never be friends with an associate of Soapy Slick's, but friendly enough. After everything that had happened, he should’ve known better. Saving her life didn’t change who she was.

A thief was always just a thief. That was the end of it.

So for days, they ate their meals silently. They mined for gold silently. They slept silently (save for Goldie’s snoring, which Scrooge could hear from all the way in the wood bin). And if he was being completely honest with himself, it was exhausting. He’d spent months in that cabin, silently working and never dealing with other people. Barely even thinking. And he’d had no problem with that! Other people were liars and cheaters and thieves. He didn't want to deal with them. But having Goldie there with him and not speaking to him was even more tiresome than when they were arguing.

On their twenty-first day of living together, Scrooge felt like he was getting to his breaking point. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he had to: he missed talking to someone.

...he missed talking to her.

Even if she was frustrating and single-minded and backstabbing, she was also smart and charming and mysterious in the most interesting ways. Scrooge found himself thinking about her even when he didn’t want to be, and though it hadn’t been too distracting so far, he was a little worried that would change. For whatever reason, not hearing her voice or talking to her made him think about hearing her and talking to her more than usual.

Even that day, when he was cleaning up in the cabin after a hard day’s work, he found his mind continuing to drift back to Goldie. He’d seen her working outside near him, but despite his efforts to get her attention, they didn’t interact. And since they weren’t talking, he wasn’t waking her up in the morning, and she was starting later and continuing to work later. Scrooge accepted that, so long as it didn’t get in the way of his work.

After another hour of eating and cleaning around the cabin, Scrooge realized that Goldie still hadn’t returned. He sat at the kitchen table and angrily tapped his fingers against the wood.

She was an adult. Perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Of course, he did watch her use dynamite incorrectly and ignore a tree falling right towards her and almost freeze to death (though that was on him)…

Scrooge sat up and grabbed his coat, shuffling out the door towards where he remembered seeing Goldie a few hours earlier.

He didn’t say anything or shout her name, just in case she was fine. He didn’t want to embarrass himself by letting her think he was worried. Finally his ears caught a familiar noise in the distance.

Scrooge followed the sound - he was pretty sure it was singing, and the gentle melody could only be coming from one source - out the cabin and down the hillside a bit. As he got closer, the words became clearer, and he realized it was the exact song that Goldie was singing that first night he saw her at her saloon.

Despite the lack of amenities in her current life, her voice didn’t falter once. She still sounded every bit as beautiful as before. And he couldn’t deny being enchanted by the sound.

The view wasn’t hurting, either. Scrooge took a seat and watched her (from a respectable distance) as she sang and danced as if she was on stage with several dozen men watching her move. He didn’t really understand theater and wasn’t a dancer or a singer himself, but he knew he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Hearing her voice again after so many days was a treat by itself, but he’d certainly never expected to get a show.

As she continued to sing, he thought about how many times she’d mooned about missing her saloon and missing her work. He still didn’t really think of what she did as real work, but watching her do it reminded him of how passionate she looked on stage. She was not only talented, but she seemed to love it, and Scrooge had to admire that.

Goldie did one more spin as she hit the last note, and struck a final pose before curtsying. She was still facing away from him, but Scrooge couldn’t stop himself from clapping as the creek went quiet once again.

With the sound of his applause, Goldie’s eyes widened and she whipped her head around to stare at her unknown audience. Her cheeks burned a little and Scrooge was surprised - considering he’d seen the exact show once before - and then he finally noticed the family of squirrels that were situated right in front of where she’d been performing.

Scrooge couldn’t help himself and he smiled - a really big, nice smile, bigger than he’d had in quite a long time.

Goldie’s blush got even redder and she quickly waved her hands at the squirrels, shooing them away. She brushed her hands on her pants and glared at Scrooge. “My shows aren’t normally free, sourdough,” she said finally, breaking the several-days’ silence as casually as possible.

The cuteness of the situation was still filling Scrooge’s head, and his cheeks had a bit of pink to them as he chuckled and stood up. “It was free for all of them, wasn’t it?” he asked sarcastically, pointing to where the squirrels had been.

She glared at him for a moment, but as soon as their eyes locked, Goldie felt her anger fade away and she didn’t fight the smile that came to her beak.

Then the two of them laughed at the exact same moment, and though neither wanted to think about it...it felt like something had changed. It almost felt like they were old friends.

Goldie waltzed up the hill to elbow him in the arm. “This was my first ever audience where no one interrupted me. Maybe I should sing for wild animals more often.”

Scrooge smirked at her as he rubbed his arm - not really hurt by her nudging, but feeling a little weird about the contact. “...why were you singin’, anyway? Practice?”

“Yeah,” Goldie said with a shrug. “It’s been almost a month, so...figure I’m gonna head back to Dawson soon and I don’t wanna be rusty for my big return. I’m hoping my absence will mean even more customers than usual when I make my comeback!” She motioned into the sky with her hands, making the shape of a rainbow over the last few moments of sunset.

Scrooge followed her hands and stared off at the darkening sky. “...just make sure everyone knows I didnae kidnap you, alright? I dinnae need that kind of scrutiny.”

“Eh,” she replied as she continued uphill towards the cabin. “I’m sure they’ll all be so happy to see me they won’t even care where I’ve been. It’s gonna be all about the money I’ll be making that night!”

He slowly trailed after her, glancing up at the sky as the sun was leaving and the Northern Lights were starting to be visible again. One of his favorite things about the Yukon (besides the gold, of course) was the Lights. They were beautiful and breath-taking and awe-inspiring…

...and as he looked up at Goldie, who’d finally reached the top of the hill, Scrooge saw how the Borealis shone around her head and made her look like she was glowing. He blushed and looked away just as Goldie turned around to look back at him.

“What’s wrong, slowpoke? Get your foot stuck in the mud?”

Scrooge huffed, her familiar teasing making him feel normal once again. He picked up speed and quickly caught up with her, not looking her in the eyes as he started mumbling. “Just thinkin’ about how once you’re back in Dawson, I can finally stop worryin’ about havin’ a thief in my midst.”

Goldie froze as he continued walking and loosely crossed her arms. It wasn’t as if she thought he trusted her all-of-a-sudden, but come on. There was literally nothing she could do to keep him from insulting her at the end of the day. She’d thought something happened between them back there, but in the end they were still just...Scrooge McDuck and Goldie O’Gilt.

And they couldn’t change who they were.

---

DAY TWENTY-SIX

Since Scrooge watched Goldie’s practice performance so many days earlier, their relationship had gotten a little better. She practiced at least once a day, and Scrooge watched her every single time. He didn’t always clap or let her know he was watching, but he had a feeling she knew.

Five days of enjoying free shows and listening to her voice and Scrooge was starting to get a little frustrated at himself (and her) once again. If she properly seduced him with her singing and dancing, then how could he keep his guard up for when she decided to steal his nugget again? He had to be careful. He had to keep a close eye on her literally all the time, since he was sure the snow was almost melted to the point where they could get back to Dawson.

That day, while doing his usual gold mining, Scrooge wondered if he should go check. He hadn’t checked the path in a while and it’d been very sunny the past two days. If Goldie could leave, she’d probably like to know the option was available.

As he was mining and thinking about getting rid of her, Goldie was mining and thinking about how weird it was going to be to get back to civilization. She was excited to take a real bath and use a toilet and sleep on an actual mattress and eat real food! But there was a little part of her that thought she was going to miss Scrooge. She’d still see him every once in a while, of course, but...she’d still miss him. Going from 24/7 cohabitation to occasionally waving at each other from opposite sides of the street would be quite the change. No matter how much he frustrated her and insulted her, their almost-month together meant a lot to her.

Goldie sighed and shook out her sluice box, hoping to find some significant amount of gold in her (potentially) last few days at White Agony Creek.

That’s when she heard an odd noise.

She glanced up towards Scrooge, who didn’t seem to notice anything, and then looked back towards the cabin. She definitely heard something come from there. Maybe an animal broke in? That wouldn’t be good, it’d probably steal the small amount of food they had left. And Scrooge refused to kill any of the animals by the creek, so they’d starve right before she had a chance to go home.

Goldie put down her tools and started towards the cabin to check and maybe chase out whatever was in the way. As she got a little closer, she noticed the front door was wide open. Good thing her almost-incident with the tree taught her to pay more attention to small noises.

She kept walking towards the cabin when probably the most unexpected thing happened: Soapy Slick emerged from the doorway, holding Scrooge’s lockbox in his hand and a vicious smirk on his face. He looked up and saw Goldie not-too-far away and simply responded to her stare with a tip of his hat as he started back towards the path to Dawson.

Goldie genuinely felt like she was dreaming. If Soapy was there, that meant...she could go home. But if Soapy was there and stealing Scrooge’s gold, that meant Scrooge was going to think they were working together and then he’d go back to hating her the same as he always had! Even after everything they’d been through, it’d be just as bad as their first night.

After a moment of hesitation, Goldie decided to rush towards Soapy and see if she could get the box back. He was huge and tough and probably had a weapon on him, but...she had to try.

“Soapy!” Goldie yelled out, running closer. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

The hog turned around with a raised eyebrow and shook the lockbox back and forth. “What does it look like, O’Gilt? I’m just gettin’ what I deserve.”

“You can’t take that!” she yelled again, hoping Scrooge would overhear and come over. “I...I’m the one who's been working her ass off out here - that box and everything in it is mine!”

He laughed loudly and stepped closer, getting right in Goldie’s face. “You know first hand that I’ll take whatever I want. I don’t care if it’s yours, or your Scottish boyfriend’s, or the Queen of England’s! It’s mine now, and if you don’t want to get hurt, you’ll just have to learn to live with that.”

She clenched her teeth and glared at him. “You’re an ass! Don’t act like you can just-”

Goldie was cut off by Soapy pinching her beak closed, smirking as she started scratching at his wrist to free herself. He laughed again and lifted her off the ground, ignoring her squeak of pain. “Maybe it’s time for you to come back to Dawson, honey. All this fresh air can’t be good for a woman’s brain.” He turned around and started back towards the path. “Everyone’ll be real excited to see Glitterin’ Goldie back on sta-”

“HEY!”

Soapy turned around with wide eyes at the sound of Scrooge’s voice. He still had a grip on both Goldie and the lockbox, and Scrooge felt himself getting angrier and angrier as he took in the scene before him.

“Well hey there, McDuck,” Soapy said with a grin, roughly tossing Goldie to the ground so he’d have use of one hand in case he needed it. “It’s too bad, I was hopin’ to grab your stuff without you findin’ out, but I s’pose...here we are.”

Scrooge didn’t even acknowledge Goldie on the ground as she rubbed her aching beak. He was looking directly at his lockbox - the box that contained the culmination of twenty years of painstakingly hard work. “Put the box down and leave if you don’t want to get hurt.”

Soapy laughed again, agitating both McDuck and O’Gilt. “Just try ‘n stop me! I’ve got-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish before Scrooge was on him - rushing around the hog’s shoulders and head and beating at him every which way. Goldie could barely keep track of what was happening, Scrooge was moving so quickly and angrily that it was like a blur around Soapy Slick’s head.

After a few moments, Soapy started punching at the air - which Goldie thought looked idiotic until Scrooge managed to get hit - hit very, very hard - and knocked right down to the ground a few feet away. Soapy wiped at some blood dripping from his lip and started walking towards Scrooge, clearly ready to beat him with the metal lockbox.

Goldie didn’t realize what she was doing until her feet were already moving. She rushed towards Soapy and tackled him from the side - despite her small stature, with enough speed and power she was able to knock him over and get him away from Scrooge.

Soapy glared at her as he stood back up and reached out instinctively to grab her by the hair. She screeched as he lifted her off the ground again - her short blonde locks bunched up between his fingers and her hands gripping and scratching at his giant hand to let her go.

“You’re such an annoying little whore,” Soapy grumbled as he held her face closer to his. “You think you can play me like some kinda sucker? I’m Soapy Slick, the richest man in Dawson!”

He swung the lockbox right at Goldie’s stomach, making her gasp and hiss in pain as he spoke.

“The cleverest man on the north side of America!”

He hit her again and Goldie held her arms out, punching towards him in an attempt to defend herself.

“You’re just some trash whore from nowhere who thinks she can act like a man,” Soapy mocked, hitting her again. “You’ve spent a month fucking some ugly foreigner and you think that means you deserve anything?” And again.

Goldie kicked out towards him, trying to ignore the pain in her stomach. “Shut up, Soapy! Let go of me!”

Soapy pulled her higher in the air and laughed in her face. “Not on your life, O’Gilt! I’ve got you right where you should b-”

Once again, Soapy’s insults were cut off thanks to Scrooge’s intervention. But this time Goldie felt like she experienced it all in slow motion.

The miner didn’t say anything as Soapy was beating on Goldie, his anger simply grew as he watched the scene and decided on his next course of action. Scrooge reached into his pocket and grabbed one of his knives - throwing it directly at Soapy’s hand.

Thank God for his good aim, since Goldie’s head was just an inch underneath. But as the knife sliced through her hair and stabbed into Soapy’s fingers, Scrooge felt a surge of pride and relief. Soapy screamed out and dropped Goldie and the lockbox, choosing to focus on his bleeding hand instead.

“You-you stupid sourdough! This hand is worth more than your life!” Soapy cradled his bleeding hand against his chest and glared before running off towards the nearby woods.

Goldie looked in front of herself to see clumps of blonde hair scattered on the snowy ground and slowly brought her hand up to feel her hair. She didn’t pay any attention to Scrooge as she breathed a sigh of relief at the amount of hair she still had left. It was probably a nasty, uneven cut, but since her hair was pretty short, it wouldn’t take long to grow back out.

Scrooge glared towards where Soapy had run off and glanced down at both Goldie and the lockbox before deciding to stay put instead of follow. He exhaled loudly and took off his hat, running his free hand through his hair.

Goldie watched him, the light from the sun glowing around his head as he stood there. She’d heard about the Buckaroo of the Badlands. She knew he was the same duck who’d been seen lifting weights beyond his own and taking down men five times his size. Everyone in Dawson was aware of his reputation and almost everyone was afraid of him for it. But there was something so intimately different about actually seeing his skills up close. Seeing his accuracy with that knife, hitting so close to her head that he chopped out a chunk of her hair. Seeing his strength as he punched Soapy so hard a few teeth flew out…

It was incredibly sexy. She’d already been having odd, conflicting feelings about him in the past few weeks, but watching him like that - for her, especially - brought everything up to the surface.

He grabbed his lockbox before rushing over to her side and Goldie knew she should make fun of him for it but she couldn’t speak.

“Are you alright?”

There was something so intense in his stare that Goldie couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly to her. No one had ever put their life in danger for her before. Not her family. Not her friends. Not even a lover.

After a second of hesitation, Scrooge wrapped his arms around her middle and hugged her back. It hurt like hell, but Goldie didn’t care one bit. He laid his beak on her shoulder and Goldie felt his sigh tickle her hair.

They both took a few moments to catch their breath and feel happy to be alive. Goldie knew Soapy wasn’t above taking a life, and she was sure after that encounter, Scrooge realized it, too. He wasn’t just a conman, he would do anything to get whatever his eyes were set on.

Scrooge loosened his grip around her and Goldie followed suit, but as they started to pull apart she felt a tug on her heart. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure what was happening with her feelings...a nice face, a cute accent, and visible abs weren’t enough to make her stray from her goals. But there was something with him. Something that she hadn’t experienced since she was a little girl. And she didn’t know any better way to express those feelings.

She closed her eyes and started to lean forward, grazing the tip of her beak against the tip of his. She had a feeling he’d be a sloppy, amateur kisser, and she couldn’t find a single problem with that.

Instead she heard a sharp intake of breath and felt his hands shove against her shoulders. When Goldie opened her eyes again, she saw that Scrooge had not only pushed her away, but had fallen back onto his butt and was staring at her like she’d just grown another head.

Their eyes locked and Goldie felt a humiliating heat rise up to her cheeks. She definitely hadn’t expected that.

You can see the full comic to go with that last scene right here: https://lettheladylead.tumblr.com/post/654577205587984384/scroldie-week-day-one-kiss-happy-first-day-of

DEFINITIONS:
- sluice box: a trough of boards with riffle bars to capture gold.

DUCK FRANCHISE REFERENCES:
- Scrooge really really loves Goldie's singing
- Ok so in the comics Soapy doesn't do all this nonsense, but I didn't want to include all the 4-6?? other characters involved in the story. So it's Soapy's time to shine
- Scrooge slicing Goldie's hair with a life-saving knife throw! It's a classic comic moment