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tanith-rhea · 1 year

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Only Pretending #2

Alright, you asked and I heard! Here's Only Pretending Chapter 2

@the-bagel24 you have 24 hours!

@regalbootie, @tundra1029, @thoroughly--confused I hope you all enjoy this one just as much ^^

@anti-bright-places you didn't ask but I'm tagging you on your fanfic!

Word count: 3.9k (ooof I did not realise that before)

“It was entirely his idea, principal. I had nothing to do with it,” you had no qualms against throwing Vlad under the bus. It was his brilliant idea and if she hated it or thought it ludicrous he should be the one reprimanded.

You were sitting in the leather chairs in front of Larissa’s table. She was at the other side, looking from you to your backstabbing friend with a calculating expression.

“And why do you think this is a better idea, coach?” she arched an eyebrow at him, they were having a small staring contest and you wished you could understand their silent conversation, but they were friends for about two-thirds of your entire life, so tough luck on that front.

“I believe,” he accentuated the word with an arched eyebrow of his own, “that since our friend here isn’t much more than acquainted with Morticia and vice-versa, she would be a better fit to fool her into believing you’re together.

“Let’s make it a thinking exercise, shall we?”

“You don’t have to speak to us as if we’re children, Vladislav” Larissa drawled, seemingly annoyed. She probably was regretting the entire charade. It hadn’t even started yet but she looked like she could not phantom any more of it.

Vlad smiled and bowed his head minutely, “I’ll be more serious, then. Forgive me,” his tone changed nothing, “But imagine: if you and I appear at the Addams Manor, hand in hand saying we decided to, after twenty years, take a step further and pair off, what would they think? After so long not wanting anything similar and giving others no indication of a potential flame?”

“Flame? Vlad your centuries are showing,” you snorted, trying not to laugh, and could see the glint of humour in Larissa’s eyes as well upon seeing your predicament.

“Shut up, child!” he hissed, but you knew he could take a teasing, “As I was saying… on the other hand, if you appear with a new teacher, young, charming and professionally accomplished, the chances of people believing rise exponentially. You are simply fitter for each other than you think, and other people would agree, thus making it easily believable,” he finished with crossed legs and both hands atop his knee as if delivering the god’s law.

Larissa had a bothered expression on her face again, but she was mulling it over, you could tell. Vlad’s words seemed more as if he was trying to convince you to go on a blind date than to just pretend to be a couple. You had to give it to him, but you also wanted to punch him in the face for painting pictures in your head.

“I admit you have a point,” Larissa conceded in a soft voice, “But you shouldn’t have dragged another co-worker into this without their consent, Vlad, and that is highly unprofessional and disappointing of you.”

Vlad was easily a hundred and fifty years older than her and she still could pull off talking to him like a disappointed mother while making him actually listen and even agree with her fond chiding. You were in awe of her, and nothing would ever change that.

“However, if Razvan is also involved in this and presuming he couldn’t keep it to himself, more people know. Which I’m regretful to acknowledge is a good starting point for our little fabrication to seem real,” at that, she looked at you with a questioning look. You were sure if you said no, she would immediately ask someone to clarify the rumours and wipe away any trace the idea of you two together might have made. You loved her a little for being committed to everyone’s well-being to that level.

“It is,” you stated, looking at your lap for a brief moment before returning her gaze, “And I wouldn’t mind playing the part. I was mad at Vlad for doing it without your consent, you decided on any of this as much as I did, but if you’re ok with it, I can say I am too.”

That was very eloquent. You mentally patted yourself on the back for not mumbling, squeaking, stuttering or doing any of the things fitting of your panicked and excited state. Larissa smiled at you with what seemed to be… relief? Did she actually think you would say no? And loose on the chance to pretend to be hers? As if.

“I’m happy you’re amenable to that. If we’re being honest it would be rather more credible for me to be with a woman, and although Vlad should have asked you first,” at that, she gave him a severe look, “I can’t say I’m disappointed with the results.”

You were a single praise away off screaming like a schoolgirl with a crush, but Larissa only gestured for Vlad to leave, saying thank you and don’t ever do that again before the door clicked shut.

“So,” she started again, you weren’t saying much but, in your defence, it was out of fear of ending up impersonating an overwhelmingly happy quokka, “I think we should meet a few nights to discuss how we’ll be doing this. We leave in a week’s time, on the 30th, so maybe two times before that we could plan for general questions and get to know one another a bit. I’m so sorry this is how you’ll spend some of the time you should be off work but I promise to compensate you for it.”

“No, it’s no problem at all!” you hurried out, “I would just spend it here anyway. This way I’ll go to an Addams’ party,” you shrugged, smiling. Yes, the Addams’ party which wasn’t even near as delightful as spending time with Larissa; that was the good part, of course.

“In any case…” Larissa looked away as if embarrassed, “This situation is far from adequate, and my motives aren’t the most selfless, so I’m very sorry you got caught up in all of this. Even if you say you don’t mind.

“I am aware you don’t feel the most at ease when I’m present and I wish I could fix that, but at least know that I don’t want you to do this thinking I’ll hold it against you if you don’t or out of feeling intimidated, or whatever reason you might have,” she seemed deadly serious, and if that didn’t make you like her even more.

“It is really not a problem, as I said I don’t mind helping if you don’t mind it being me. I’m just happy I can be of use and a party full of outcasts seems like a very fun time,” you smiled fondly at her.

You loved the outcast community, they were far more accepting than the normie people from your past, the close-minded village you were raised in would spit at you on the street if they knew about your work, your beliefs and especially your sexuality. As if liking women would affect the growth of the crops or bring a storm to the town.

“Right. Then I’m very glad it is you who’ll accompany me,” she returned the smile.

“Really? Aren’t you just saying that because you have no other choice?” you said it jokingly, but your eyes searched for anything there that might betray her words. You only found an amused smirk and a playful eyebrow.

“Oh, absolutely. I can never stand being near someone beautiful and funny, they steal all of my attention, and I can’t get anything done.”

You felt your cheeks burn. You asked for it, but the teasing was a bit more than you could take. Damned stunning blondes and their ability to make a mess out of you!

“So, what do you think about we meet the night after tomorrow and one before the day we go?” she cut your train of thought and you only nodded, getting up and preparing to leave.

“I’ll see you then, principal Weems,” you gave her a curt nod and went to the door.

“Ah, and y/n…” she said right before you opened the door, “Thank you for doing this. I am truly in your debt.”

If only she knew she was gifting you the thrill of a lifetime.

The brief conversation might have been the longest you’ve ever had with the principal after your interview, and far more cordial than any interaction you’ve had. When you were admitted, Larissa had a very serious tone and severely set face while questioning you on why you wanted to teach at Nevermore, your previous career, and if you had contacts at the other institutions you’ve lectured at who could vouch for you.

You remember thinking it all a bit much for some time, and then you became friends with Vlad, the fencing coach, and discovered the whole Mexican Soap Operathat was the year before you arrived.

So, you knew Larissa was reluctant to like you and you didn’t blame her for that. What did disappoint you was that after an entire year, she still kept you at arm’s length and weekly visits to discuss your interactions with students were still a thing. You didn’t even have what to talk about at these moments, she just asked how was the week and if someone caused any trouble or if you were still happy in your position. It was as if she was waiting for you to get fed up and leave at any given moment.

But leaving the principal’s office that day was different. She had been in such a vulnerable position, asking you to help her deceive an old… nemesis? It certainly looked more and more like that with every passing moment.

The next day was a blur of picking outfits, researching outcast Halloween parties and freaking out to Vlad in your ridiculous excuse of card game night.

“So I don’t buy a costume?” you place your last chip on the ten of clubs.

“No, absolutely not. This is the normie tradition. Why would a werewolf dress up as a mummy?” Vlad draws a ten of clubs and a three of hearts.

“Goddamn it, I’m horrible at this,” you give up and Vlad seems very pleased at having all your chips to himself. Two of them were dead bets and the other six were just very bad luck.

“For us, Halloween parties are more of a formal gathering with music and canapes,” he explained, shuffling the cards and putting them away. “I remember the actual balls,” his expression turned almost forlorn, reminiscing on who-knows-how-old memories.

“So you’d say a formal dress?”

“Maybe a suit, whatever you’d feel comfortable with, dear.”

You did have a burgundy blazer and high-waisted trousers you’d never gotten around to wearing. Not many occasions at Nevermore for it and the last Raven was themed Mothman’s black and red.

“I’m sure Larissa will be pleased with anything you wear…” he gave you a sly smile before continuing and you were already looking for something to throw at him, “or don’t.”

“Just shut all the way up you… insufferable man!” you got a handle on a stress ball left on your table and missed his face by half a foot. He laughed and you threw yourself on the bed. “I hate you.”

“You love me. And you depend on me,” he sat on the bed looking down at you, “If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be nowhere near getting onto Larissa’s skirt and now you got an entire weekend to do just so.”

“It’s pretence, you madman! We won’t do any of it!” he wanted to torture you; you were sure.

“Yes, and you won’t hold hands in public or casually kiss when you feel like it because that’s not what infatuated new couples do,” he arched an eyebrow at you and laid down at your side.

He had a point. In the back of your mind, you knew from the start that you’d have to keep close proximity to Larissa, and while that was not a problem to you and she was an adult and could deal with the consequences of her decisions, it was still a bit intimidating to think about.

You wouldn’t have to kiss; you were almost certain. You’d love that, but if Larissa draws a line you will keep yourself behind it.

“Why are you acting like she actually wanted it to be me?” your voice was little more than a whisper, “She asked you. You are her friend, she’s comfortable with you. If I don’t annoy her, which I’m almost sure I do, the most I am to her is her employee.”

He didn’t respond for a while, leaning on his elbow to look at you, “I wish you weren’t so horrible at this. You are a very special girl, y/n-“

“I’m almost thirty, c’mon-“

“Still a girl, shush. What I mean is that you are incredible company while also not being too bad on the eyes.”

“Ouch, thanks-“

“Stop interrupting me, insolent child!” you both laughed a bit, and you decided to keep quiet, “Larissa might not know you personally, but she asks about you, she is interested in your well-being and impressed by your achievements. I wish I could say more without spoiling your fun, but what I can say is that I know you’ll get along like a house on fire.”

You only smiled at that. Vlad had a wisdom only someone who lived a very long life could attain. Sometimes he took rash, irritating decisions that turned out to be a lesson in the end, and soon you realized he only did things the hard way to add some spice. Life probably got boring after seeing two centuries of it.

“I trust you,” you conceded, looking at him with all earnestness, “I just wish I could understand you better.”

“You will, soon, my dear.” He kissed your forehead and got up. “Good luck tomorrow and good night.”

Seeing Larissa should not be this nerve-wracking. You did it every day, in some way or another. Passing by in the corridor, bringing the coffee someone asked you to, discussing students’ results or weekly reports. But this time it was different. You were meeting her, purposefully meeting her for wine and planning. It was akin to work but with the added atmosphere of decidedly not work. Your stomach was in a knot.

“Come in,” the gentle tone welcomed you when you knocked.

Larissa wasn’t at her usual seat behind her laptop. She was in front of her fireplace, leafing through a leather journal, a pen gracefully kept between her index and thumb. Another chair had been brought to face her own with a side table where an empty glass sat.

“Am I late?” you walked to her and sat.

“No, I was just going over some questions,” she smiled, putting her own half-drunk glass down on the floor.

So professional. Even to lie. It was amusing how Larissa could transform everything into work. So much for being nervous; she had everything under control.

“Questions?”

“Yes, but that can wait.” She put the journal down on her lap and leant to pour you a drink. “How was your day? Have you rested a bit already?”

“Oh… not so much, I picked some clothes for the trip and graded students’ works to clear my next few days.” You admitted to being restless when there was still work to do, but you were planning on relaxing a bit soon. Even more now that all you had ahead was enjoying Larissa’s company and maybe getting her out of your system once and for all.

“Yes,” she chuckled, “I understand. I just sent my last e-mails for the day and still have some things to figure out in the morning before finally being free.” She picked up her glass and took a long sip, you could hear her swallow, “I confess I can’t wait for a good twelve-hour sleep.”

You smiled at that. Imagining Larissa giving in to leisure and spending an entire morning in bed. In your head, you would be massaging her feet and encouraging her to keep napping however long she wanted.

“So…” she filled her glass again before continuing, steeling herself. “I think we should establish boundaries and discuss a simple but credible set of events for us to be together.”

“Agreed.” You took your first sip, and the velvety sweet taste surprised you. Larissa noticed because a small smile crept the side of her mouth. “This is really good!”

“I thought you’d be the type to enjoy sweeter things,” she seemed proud of herself and nudged you to continue.

You took another sip, and wow it was even better now you knew what to expect. The taste lingered in your mouth, and you felt strangely content.

“As I was saying, I think it wise we discuss boundaries. I would like to know whatever things you wouldn’t like to do as displays of affection go and which you can handle.”

“Jesus, Larissa, I won’t die for holding your hand,” you tried to joke, but she was serenely serious.

“Some people are very sensitive about touch; I just want to make sure.”

This woman was going to kill you. The fire lighted the side of her face, casting the other in a soft shadow, making her eye shimmer in the dark.

“I’m ok with touching. Handholding, sitting close, caressing as long as it’s innocent. I’m not big on public displays of lust, affection I can do.”

“What made you think we would need to-“

“I don’t know, Morticia and Wednesday’s father were a lot the first time I met them. I just can’t do any of that.”

Larissa let out a deep, thundering laugh at that, and god was it a vision. Her exposed neck, head back with a hand covering her mouth.”

“No! No, we won’t do that.” She assured, regaining control and trying to school her face, but she was still looking amused, “Gomez and Morticia are a lot. Their level of love and devotion borders obsession and although sweet it is also nauseating to everyone around them. You are not alone in this, trust me.”

“Oh, thank god! I mean, if they're happy, great for them, but I don’t need to be part of it.” You didn’t realize, but your glass was almost empty, and Larissa arched a brow questioning if you wanted more. You nodded.

“So, touch is fine. What else?” she asked.

“Tell me what you feel comfortable with,” you goaded, drinking some more.

Larissa seemed caught at that, not expecting your prompting.

“Hm… I don’t mind touching of any kind, as long as appropriate. I’m not opposed to kissing-“ she interrupted herself at that, having another sip while looking away and then back at you, “In the cheek, hands, forehead-“

“Mouth?” you let out, immediately regretting it. Larissa was purposefully not saying it, it was obvious she didn’t want to kiss you in public. And in private came without saying.

She stayed silent for a while, looking at the floor in front of the fireplace, where a few of the glowing ambers were falling and dying out.

“I know this is unpleasant for you. I promise to try my best at making you comfortable for the entirety of it, and I won’t ask you to do that.”

“And what if I want to?” woah what? That was a bit too much, backtrack, fast! “I mean, what if I don’t mind? Just like touching. It’s just kissing Larissa, we’ve done more with other people, it’s not a big deal,” nice. Good save.

She took a deep breath and looked at you again, “If the moment arises, I’ll ask. How about that?”

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don’t.

“That’s fine.” You conceded, standing up and taking the bottle from the floor beside her chair. You filled your glass and offered to fill hers. She accepted, and the bottle was empty. “If we’re going to be close, I think we should get accustomed to that, don’t you?”

You could not only stop at the clear fail with the kiss subject. You were a bit drunk, and Larissa was so there it almost ached not to touch her.

“What do you suggest?” she seemed curious, standing up as well.

“We can sit on the sofa together. Come up with our story. Not much, just the casual closeness a couple would have,” for a tipsy fool you were proud of how much sense your argument made.

“That’s reasonable. Very well.” She walked to the sofa, and by her less upright and proper posture, you could tell she drank a bit more than you but also held her alcohol with much more ease.

She sat close to the middle, and you sat right beside her, your bodies touching from shoulder to knee, in your case; even sitting you only got to her bicep.

“When did we get together?” you were tempted to phrase it as how did you fell in love with me, but you guessed her tolerance had a limit and you didn’t want to find it.

“I think good old office cliché. We met at work, spent some time together and our mutual respect and admiration mixed with feelings of attraction and fascination and someday it was simply too plain not to see.”

That was very rational. In a way, it was sweet and simple, and you thought no one would need much more than that.

“Makes perfect sense.” You leant your head on her arm, and to your surprise, she shifted so you were resting on her shoulder and her arm laid around yours.

She smiled, looking down at your stunned face, “Comfortable?” she seemed entertained by you, “If we’re going to do this, we might as well be friends. You are doing me an enormous favour; I think we are past being shy and awkward about physical contact. It will only make things more difficult.”

“You’re right.” You buried yourself further on her chest, catching the fading scent of her sweet perfume. She always wore that one and you loved it.

“So how was our first date?” she prompted, a laugh on her voice.

“Hmm… I took you out for a picnic. You were wearing heels and it was early so it was a disaster to walk on the grass. I regretted making it a surprise because I thought you weren’t enjoying yourself, but when we arranged the things down, you took off your shoes and laid on my chest, saying you couldn’t care less about dirt in your heels.”

The image came to life in your head as the floral scent reminded you of vast fields in spring. Larissa hummed and her fingers came to put a few strands of your hair behind your year.

“That’s a very sweet thought,” she mused, and you smiled to yourself at the gentleness of her voice.

“Do you think we’ll need much more than that?” you whispered; you were feeling sleepy.

“Maybe a timeline and some more getting acquainted with being close. But it can’t be that hard to convince people someone is dating, it’s not like it is completely unfounded that I would have a partner, is it?” her last words were weaker than the rest of her sentence, and you felt a pang in your chest. Of course it wasn’t. Larissa was focused on work, but she was so much more than the principal. She listened, protected and cared for everyone around her. Always trying her best to help everyone succeed and be happy.

“No, it’s not. And I’ll look so in love with you that it won’t even cross their minds for a second.” With that, you leant away, looking at her face, and planted a soft, slightly longer than necessary, kiss on her cheek. “For practice.” You whispered and got up, wishing her good night and leaving to your room.

Chapter Three

#larissa weems x reader #larissa weems #principal weems #principal larissa weems #female reader #normie!reader #teacher!reader #fluff #fake/pretend relationship #vladdy daddy the cupid #principal weems x reader

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softshrimpy · 6 months

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How To Woo A Hot Principal

Step 16: Vulnerability

Summary: Working at the Weathervane was exactly what you needed. The routine, the people, your co-workers. It certainly helped that a certain tall, blonde, fucking gorgeous woman happened to frequent the cafe. Now some may call hopelessly flirting with your customers inappropriate behavior.

But truly, when it came to Larissa Weems, who could blame you?

It's been a rough two weeks and I craved Larissa comfort. So enjoy! 🦐✨

Tags: @variant-2402 @the-bagel24 @autumn-leaves-chasing-breeze @kimiinou @muffintopxs @h-doodles @bbykens @lilfartbox1 @bigolgay @winterfireblond @gela123 @i-like-reading @hopelessly-sapphic @alder-saan @im-a-carnivorous-plant @weemssapphic @barbarasstar

(pls let me know if you want to be tagged/ I missed you!)

Chapter 15

Cross Posted on AO3 Here

HWTAHP Masterlist

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Larissa was busy. Which was fine! And understandable considering all the antics Wednesday has been up to recently. Her dedication to finding the monster that had attacked you was sweet, a little insane, but sweet. However, the way in which she was trying to find it was…unorthodox to say the least.

She had asked you almost a hundred different questions about the night you were attacked, not that you remembered much of use anyway. All you could remember was that you were in the woods (how far from the school you didn’t know), you had been crying so hard you hadn’t heard anything and that Marilyn had showed up very shortly after you were attacked…

Which was bothering you for two reasons. One was that if she had been close enough to be there right after you were attacked, why didn’t the monster attack her? Wednesday had hypothesized(her term not yours) that the monster had probably gotten spooked by a second person. It still didn’t sit right with you though.

And the second reason was that you had barely seen Marilyn since you were brought back to Nevermore. She had popped in briefly when you were unpacking to say hi and say she was glad you were doing better and then all but disappeared off the face of the planet. You know the two of you weren’t all that close but you honestly thought you’d at least see her around a bit.

You knew her and Larissa were close, she had told you about the long chats over many glasses of wine and their morning coffees together. And the two of them hadn’t stopped hanging out, not until Larissa went into full crisis(Wednesday) management mode. And it’s not like you spent all your time holes up in your room (anymore, not that Vlad allowed it in the first place). And with all the fucking walking around the Nevermore campus you were doing you really did not understand why you hadn’t seen her at least once.

So you decided you would try and find her today. Partially because, yes, you were lonely. But also because you wanted to thank her properly for saving your life. So you set out to find the funky lil redhead, vowing to yourself that you would find her before the end of the day.

Surprisingly she was in the first place you checked; the greenhouse. This did make you wonder if you were imagining her avoiding you. She was on the phone when you entered. She seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument with someone, hand gesturing wildly as she whisper-yelled at whoever it was she was speaking with. You stood awkwardly at the door, trying to figure out if you should stay or go.

Before you can make a decision the phone call is over and she's angrily sighing and shaking her head. You knock on the closed door behind you, hoping to announce your presence properly before stepping further into the greenhouse. At the sound she turns, rather swiftly. The look on her face goes from proper anger to shock, then to something you can’t name before swinging back around to anger again. You don’t even have a moment to open your mouth before she storms over to you, poking your chest with her finger.

“You! You just- you had to- and now I- UGH!” She groans, tears gathering in her eyes.

“Marilyn…?” You mumble, staring at her, confused as fuck.

“I-I’m sorry I don’t know why I-“ she tries, stopping when her voice cracks.

She looks moments away from bursting into full-blown sobs. Her eyes are wet with unshed tears and her lower lip is trembling. She opens her mouth to speak again but you wrap your arms around her, enveloping the small woman in a hug. She does burst into tears then, hugging you back while burying her face in your neck. You pat her back, doing your best to soothe her.

She calms eventually, her cries dissolving into the occasional hiccup. She takes a step back from you, wiping at her eyes and letting out a shaky breath.

“Sorry..” she smiles, “I don’t-you shouldn’t have had to deal with that I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. Are you okay though?” You ask.

She nods and sniffs, shooting you what you assume is meant to be a reassuring smile. You smile back at her, squeezing her shoulders.

“I’m fine, I mean I will be fine. Sorry. Is there- can I do anything for you?” She offers.

“I actually just uh wanted to chat to you. And thank you properly for you know saving my life and all.”

“Really you shouldn’t thank me. It was the least I could do…” her face falls for a second before she smiles, “Is there anything else? Sorry, I’ve got uhm-I have to head into town to pick up a plant delivery.”

“Oh…oh no. It’s- no it’s cool! I’ll just- I’ll leave you to it then,” you murmur.

You say your goodbyes, feeling a bit better when Marilyn suggests you get coffee sometime. When you leave the greenhouse you stand dumbly for a bit, trying to figure out what to do now. You figure it would be best to go back to your room. Your mood can’t get that much worse just by vibing in your room.

———

Apparently, it could get worse. Much worse.

As it turns out dissociating in your room actually made you feel so much worse. You had ended up staring blankly at the really nice window you had while thinking back on all the ways life had gotten so fucked in the last few weeks. And then you ended up thinking about how your life had been fucked up the whole time. Which was a super fun little exercise to be doing before a physio session with Vlad.

And really Vlad was so sweet, really. So kind. However you felt like utter shit and he was making you do all these stupid, painful stretches that were making your scars and body ache. Which when combined with your already shit mental state leads to a rather terrible outburst.

“Come on kiddo just a few more of these,” he encourages you.

“I can’t.” You huff, wincing at the pain in your stomach.

“Sure you can kiddo. It’s just three more you got this-“

“No I fucking don’t! So can you just fucking let me breathe?!” You yell.

“Alright, let’s take a breath then-“

“No that’s not going to fucking help! Nothing is going to fucking help because things are just fucking fucked!” You end up kicking the nearest thing which just so happens to be a wall.

Which is how you end up sitting in the infirmary with a fucked foot and a dent in the wall you had taken your frustration out on. Turns out the vampire strength did not save your bones from being obliterated by concrete. The nurse had been very sweet, wrapping your foot and sending you on your way. Vlad had helped you back to your room, not asking any questions and leaving you with a simple ‘call if you need anything.’

And so you lay on your bed, frustrated and angry and hurt. You feel tears welling up in your eyes and get even more frustrated if that’s even possible. Part of you knows you’re just having a bad day, that these feelings will pass and you’ll be okay. But another, louder part of you says this is how things will always be.

That’s how Larissa finds you, laying on your back on your bed, foot wrapped in a lovely bandage, crying your eyes out. She silently takes off her heels, padding over to your bed and sitting herself next to you. She brushes some hair out of your face, smiling down at you.

“I hear you’re going around destroying property.” She hums.

“I’m sorry, I can- I can get it fixed and pay for the damage I-“

“Darling, I’m certain your toe suffered more damage than the wall. And even if you destroyed a wall you would never have to pay for it.” She reassured you, brushing the tears from your cheeks gently. “How’s your foot?”

“It’s fine, I was being ridiculous.” You grumble.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” she frowns, “do you want to talk about it?”

You sigh, squeezing your eyes shut in an attempt to keep the tears from falling. You shrug, biting your lip as you sniffle.

“It’s fine I’m-I’ll be fine,” you croak.

“Talk to me darling,” she murmurs.

“I…” you try, not really sure where to start, “I don’t know I’m just…I just feel like- I just- everything is so overwhelming at the moment. I just- I feel like I’m drowning.”

Larissa taps your arm, gesturing for you to sit up. You do, a bit confused. You feel your heart melt when she shuffles behind you, pulling you to lie back against her. She wraps her arms around your stomach, squeezing you gently and pressing a kiss to the back of your head.

“Go on sweetheart,” she murmurs.

“I just-my whole life has been like flipped upside down. I mean I-I almost fucking died and-and then oh no wait I didn’t because it turns out I’m a vampire! Which is- I mean it’s really cool! And I’m not- I’m not upset or anything but…but my parents hid it from me my- my whole life and I-how am I supposed to feel about that? And my father is all high and mighty about it, pulling the ‘I was doing what was best for the family’ crap. And I can’t even fucking ask my mom about it because she’s-“

Your crying restarts in earnest then. You hide your face in your hands. Larissa holds you tighter, whispering soothing gentle words into your hair. She doesn’t ask any questions, simply holds you as you cry and reassures you that everything will be alright. It’s nice that you can just be with her, that she doesn’t expect anything from you. When you’ve calmed enough to speak again you continue.

“I can’t ask her about it because she’s dead. And she’s been dead for years and it still. I mean I went to therapy for it at the time. And I-it helped. But I-I keep wondering if- if she knew? If she- I mean she probably helped keep it a secret from me but…did she feel the way my dad does? Did she hate who I am too? Would she think I’m a monster?”

You sink further into Larissa’s embrace, grasping her hands with with of yours as you breathe shakily. She shuffles a bit, squeezing you again before she speaks.

“Your father is an idiot and a bastard for the way he treated you,” she whispers, “and I never knew your mother, so I won’t claim to know how she would feel. However, I do know you. And you are one of the kindest, most accepting, most lovely people I’ve ever met in my life. You’re always looking out for others, you’re always trying to help people. There’s nothing even remotely monstrous about you, my love.”

“You thought I was a monster though…” you mumble, bracing yourself for anger.

“I did,” she sighs shakily, resting her chin on your head, “and I-I can’t apologize enough for that. I need you to know that what I said, had nothing to do with who you are. I was-I took out my anger and fear on you. You’re not-there is absolutely nothing monstrous about you darling. And I will spend every moment of every day for the rest of my life trying to show you that.”

Your breath hitches at the sincerity in her voice. You awkwardly manoeuvre yourself to sit sideways between her legs, your foot preventing you from turning around completely. You stare up at her from where your head is resting against her arm, pouting and probably looking like a mess. But Larissa just smiles down at you, her face filled with so much love and adoration you feel the weight on your chest ease a little.

“I’m sorry-“ you start only to be interrupted when Larissa presses a finger to your lips.

“None of that now,” she chides, “you don’t need to apologize for feeling things. I’m so- I cannot express how much it means to me that you shared that with me. I know that one conversation isn’t going to solve your problems, but I promise I’ll be here for you whenever you need me. You know you can call me whenever you need alright?”

“But what if you’re busy I don’t want to bother you…”

“Nothing is more important than you darling.”

She says it with so much authority and sincerity that you genuinely forget how to breathe for a moment. She brushes a few more tears from your cheeks before kissing your forehead. It’s a bit awkward with the way you’re positioned. She chuckles at the noise of protest you let out when she adjusts the way she’s sitting.

“How about we go back to my quarters, get changed into more comfortable clothes and order some takeout? How does that sound darling?” She suggests.

“I-you don’t have to go through so much trouble for me Rissa.”

“I know I don’t. How about you let me anyway?” She grins.

Honestly, you don’t know what to say to that, and her cute grin makes your brain malfunction. So you nod up at her, your face flushing as she escorts you to her room.

And as you sit cuddled up to her later that evening, with her tracing abstract shapes on your arms, you truly feel like everything will be okay.

#htwahp #principal weems #larissa weems #larissa weems x reader #wednesday #larissa x reader #principal weems x reader

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britcision · 1 year

Text

It’s Wednesday again everybody! And the new chapter is neeeeearly ready to go, but not just yet, so today I have selected a segment I think you will all enjoy!

——————

Thinking Shit Through Is Not A Halfa Trait

Tim wasn’t in his office when Bruce rode the elevator up. That was… unexpected, but not unwelcome.

The poor boy had left around when Bruce was seriously considering throwing his communicator, and hopefully would be getting some sleep.

Bruce hesitated, glancing out the windows. Sunlight streamed in, the sun already past its zenith.

Had he really been struggling to contact the League for that long?

No, Tim was probably off with Tucker Foley, information gathering. Bruce wouldn’t disturb him; he was barely in a mood for his own quest for information.

Even the Watchtower hadn’t been able to provide any insight into Constantine’s whereabouts. It was frankly infuriating, though he did feel gratified by Clark’s reaction to his news.

Not that Bruce enjoyed upsetting the other man, but… well, it made him feel justified. Like he wasn’t overreacting.

Clark had hardly believed the scale of the problem at first, and Bruce had had to show him the logs. Which is when he learned another charming little detail.

The official Amity Park logs were purged. Tim had delved into deleted files to pull up the hundreds of missed calls, all of which should have remained in the file if they were hoaxes.

Someone had not wanted them to find out what was going on in Amity Park.

Well, when Bruce got his hands on John “Someone” Constantine, they were going to have a very serious talk about proper procedures.

At.

Length.

For now though, he forced the frown to clear and shook his head a few times. It might take him a minute to pull on his full Brucie smile back on, but he’d have time.

He’d need a full shower and change of clothes before he met with Vlad Masters, after all.

Constantine could try and hide the records all he liked, but Masters had been the mayor of Amity Park for years. Including, conveniently enough, the second year that Amity Park had been calling on an almost weekly basis.

One way or another, Bruce was going to get his answers.

Jason was… well, not fine, which had been the whole point, but he was doing better by the time they reached the mall.

Riding his bike usually helped, narrowed the world down to a destination and the wind on his face.

Did the mall have anywhere he could get that second helmet? He’d been slacking on that one, though since he now needed a lead lined safe (and probably something more portable), he supposed he could work harder.

Danny clearly didn’t care, clutching his back like a koala and whooping into the wind. But not all of his prospective passengers were potentially immortal.

It wasn’t great learning which bad feelings didn’t belong to the pit, at least not entirely. He’d kind of really, really hoped this would mean he wasn’t always angry anymore.

Shoulda been smarter than that right from the start. He’d been angry as a Robin too, had been scolded by Bruce more than once for “going too far”.

Perhaps the seeds for what he was now had always been in him. Just needed the fertile soil of death to grow.

But it was easier to push those thoughts back without the weight of the pit behind them. With Danny’s arms around him, a warm and reassuring weight that kept him grounded.

Because hey, apparently a lot of things flourished from death, and awful jokes were also among them.

So yeah, he was doing alright when they made it to the mall. Tucker met them at the doors, still wearing a mix of hand me downs from most of the Waynes.

Had Danny thought to have him grab extra clothes? No fucking chance.

Tuck didn’t seem put out by it though, grinning as he waved to the pair of them. He also had the promised Fenton Phones, which turned out to be… earbuds.

Jason frowned down at the bud in his hand, turning it between his fingers. It was chunky, hooked over the ear and had a microphone, but he did have one important question.

“How the fuck do you call someone on that? Hell, you fucking told me it could text,” He asked bluntly, looking from Danny to Tucker.

As an accessory for a regular phone? No problem. But if there were more than three fucking buttons on the thing he’d eat it.

The other two blinked at him for a moment, their expressions oddly identical. Then Tucker laughed and shook his head, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, the old versions we only had two or three buds that worked, so you didn’t have to wonder who you were calling. There’s an app now,” he added brightly, holding out his hand for Jason’s phone.

Jason hesitated for barely a second, remembering Danny’s comment about Tucker and technology, then handed over his civilian phone.

He’d already let Danny ectoplasm the damn thing, what’s the worst that could happen. Danny glanced over as Tucker began typing, then looked back to Jason.

“Texting works best with a smart watch. Do you have like a Fitbit or something?” Danny added casually and Jason rolled his eyes, leaning back against the wall.

No point asking what Tucker was doing; it wouldn’t involve an app store.

“Do I look like the kind of guy who owns a Fitbit?” He asked rhetorically. Fitbits were for boogie Heights gym rats, not people who worked for a living, claims of durability or not.

Danny and Tucker very clearly did not agree, sharing another extremely pointed look that made Jason wanna ask if Danny had forgotten to mention telepathy, then looking at him with a pair of raised eyebrows.

“Wwwwell,” Tucker started, dragging the word out like he didn’t quite want to call Jason an idiot. Luckily, Danny had no such compunctions.

“You’re six feet tall, have shoulders like a fuckin’ moose, and thighs that could choke out a tank, yes you look like a fucking gym bro,” he said dryly enough to desiccate.

Wait. He’d been looking at Jason’s thighs?

Jason almost glanced down, shifting from foot to foot as he leaned against the wall. He’d put a lot of work into his thighs, and they did a lot of work for him, but he’d never thought about the aesthetic.

Tucker snickered and snapped him back to the moment, which was unfortunately where Danny was looking at him like he was hopelessly adorable.

Jason looked up and away instead, well aware that the heat singing the tips of his ears meant he’d be pinking up.

He was the Red Hood. Most feared anti hero in the country, not just Gotham. He abso-fucking-lutely was not adorable. He just. Couldn’t tell them that yet.

“So, no Fitbit,” Tucker said finally, still very clearly deeply amused (and yeah, Jason could see how he’d hung out with Steph all night), handing Jason’s phone back, “you can just use the phone, it’s just not as convenient.”

Which… well. Maybe before Tucker went home Jason would have to fill him in on a little secret. Get the app in his mask.

It wasn’t like any of them had hated on Hood at the gala, despite having the opportunity? He just…

Didn’t want Danny to look at him the way Bruce did. Like he was a dangerous disappointment. A loose cannon.

He wasn’t quite ready to face that yet.

He could make do with the phone if he had to. Not like he was planning on calling Frostbite while masked up, or like this’d be the last time he ever saw Tucker.

Unless Tim killed the lot of them. Not gonna write that off as a possibility until they’d all arrived.

Glancing down at his phone, Jason quickly identified the new app and snickered, stuffing said phone into a pocket.

“Oui-chat? Really?” Beat the hell out of talking about… whatever the fuck just happened. And Tucker graciously let him have it with only copious smirking.

“Yeah, well, you can tell people it’s like Snapchat. Or whatever you want, honestly. The interface is all in ghostspeak once you open the app, so humans can’t use it,” he explained magnanimously.

Jason hesitated for a moment.

“When do I learn ghostspeak?” He asked cautiously, thinking both of Danny mentioning Tucker’s liminality, and… well, Cass.

Danny, obviously following, shrugged and began heading for the doors.

“You probably won’t notice you’re seeing it? Which, by the way, was great fun before Sam or Tucker could understand it too. It feels like speaking English but with more… emphasis.”

“Danny doesn’t speak it much,” Tucker added in a stage whisper as he and Jason followed, “it’s one of his king-perks.”

Ahead, Danny groaned and scrubbed both hands down his face.

“It’s not a perk if it fucking sucks, Tucker. Where are Cass and Steph again?” He asked firmly, clearly hoping to avoid the next question.

Jason would die again rather than miss the next question.

“What’s the perk?”

“Ghosts have to obey any command he gives them, or it physically hurts them. And it’s not always intentional, so he’s gotta actually think before he speaks,” Tucker added slyly, with the world’s most innocent smile on his face.

“If only it fucking worked on Cujo,” Danny groaned again, picking a direction at random and heading deeper into the mall. They could make the food court and desired milkshakes in a couple turns, so Jason didn’t correct him.

He remembered Cujo’s file too. Ghost dog. Damian would flip his lid when he found out.

—————-

Tag list: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikoyuii @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @eonic @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan

#danny fenton dead and loving it #wip wednesday #thinking shit through is not a halfa trait #part 2 #new chapter coming sooooon #but for now enjoy bruce being a bitch #and also fenton phones!

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mutable-manifestation · 2 years

Text

Part 2 of The Gotham Puddle Boy: Danny Fenton

Danny wasn't too concerned about getting in a car with a stranger in what may well be the crime capital of the world.

If he got weirdo - or Dash-like - vibes he could just slip out of sight and vanish into the wind. Being half ghost made a lot of human dangers less so.

Plus, perks of being a Fenton: riding in the car with a stranger wouldn't make him nervous about their driving. No one in the world was worse at it than his dad.

So a few minutes of trading jokes and a promise of video games was all it really took to get Danny to say "sure" to going back to Tim's house.

The car was nice, at least, and they bantered over music even as they left city limits, which Danny chose to ignore for the time being.

Around 10 minutes later they turned to approach the gates of a veritable mansion that unfortunately brought forth the memory of his first time approaching Vlad's house.

He was silent as Tim buzzed them in, and as they crawled slowly up the driveway he took the opportunity to ask.

"You live here?”

“Yep! Bruce Wayne is my adoptive father. Welcome to Wayne Manor!"

Not long after the building’s front door was opening before they could touch the handle, with an older man in a suit greeting them. "Master Tim, welcome home. I see you've brought a guest."

A hand clapped down on his shoulder as he was introduced, "Danny this is Alfred, Alfred this is Danny. We'll be in my room playing Damned."

"It is a pleasure to meet a friend of Tim, Mister Danny."

"Ah, you too. And just Danny is fine, Mister Alfred."

Alfred smiled and secured a promise that they'd be down to at least stretch their legs and eat something after an hour had passed before Tim was ushering them through the building to his room.

Sam was a good person, but also openly hated rich people despite technically being one. Her parents, however, were a nightmare hidden behind a thin facade of civility when in public. Vlad was also a nightmare. Axion labs had been run by some tycoon and they killed their innocent dogs. Lex Luthor openly hated Superman - which would be totally understandable if it were because he never so much as glanced at Amity Park’s issues instead of because of his incredibly Xenophobic stance on any and all non-humans. All told, Danny didn’t have a good track record with -illionaires - not the adults, at least.

'...Okay, maybe I should just avoid Bruce,' he thought, settling on the floor at the foot of the bed in the enormous room they'd entered to face the gloriously massive TV while Tim booted it up.

An hour later, Alfred was knocking on the door to herd them to the dining room where he'd prepared "refreshments." It was nice to enjoy homemade food that didn't fight back for once - he hadn't eaten at Sam or Tucker's house in a while and takeout wasn't quite the same. Even if they were unfortunately healthy snacks - the strange slices he'd learned were apricot were surprisingly good.

Alfred had them stretch their legs again two hours later - this time snackless - and Tim decided to give him a tour. The house was immaculate and the kitchen would have made the Lunch Lady greener than normal with envy.

It was also empty.

"Don't you have a bunch of siblings?" he asked on the way back to the room.

"Yeah, but they're all out doing their own things until lunch." He stopped just after closing the door behind him to grin at him. "Speaking of which. Can you stay for lunch?"

Danny blinked at the sudden manic energy starkly contrasting with the incredibly normal question.

"Uh, I don't have to be back at the hotel until like 5, so, sure?"

"How do you feel about playing a little prank?"

Danny grinned, "What did you have in mind?"

---------------------------------

POV Jason

Jason’s patience was running incredibly thin. He had been looking at tubes of water for hours while Bruce kept asking variations of the same question. His only consolation was that Duke took up half of the attention or he might have punched him by now.

The only reason he even showed up was that he’d been told there was potential Lazarus water in Gotham - or something similar. But after hours upon hours of tests by the computer and him and Duke staring at it he was certain; that was water. Bruce had lost it.

Just as he braced himself to try and knock some sense into Bruce, Alfred came to fetch them to lunch.

‘Finally,’ he thought, power-walking to the exit.

“I’ll be up in a minute, I want to set up one more scan to run while we’re eating,” Bruce threw after them.

“It had better only be a minute.” He paused to glower ominously over his shoulder, simmering with rage at all of the wasted time - and using that to smother the concern trying to bubble up.

“Finally,” Duke said once they were out of the batcave. “I thought we were going to be in there forever!”

Jason ignored him as he fished out his phone.

“Oh hey, group text from Tim; he has a guest that fits the family theme so he’s going to try and prank Bruce to see if he’s actually ‘lost the plot.’”

Jason grimaced, “Great, so instead of a productive lunch we’ll be playing house plus ‘guest that definitely isn’t the former Jason Todd, just a very similarly looking friend of the family’ for an hour.” He ran a hand down his face, sighing in frustration. “Count me ou-”

He froze in place, every muscle flinching to a stop.

“Uh, Jason?”

“Quiet.” He hissed, eyes darting to the stairs as voices began to drift their way.

Every hair stood on end as he stood there, something in his blood echoing dissonant signals of danger-run-hide-flee-don’t move-stay still-stop-stop-stop even as his conscious mind demanded he confront the problem head-on. But he couldn’t move - frozen as surely as if he’d been hit by one of Freeze’s ice rays.

As the stranger came into view his mind gave up on the danger signals, finally settling on don’t move don’t move don’t move even as near-unbearable levels of anxiety bubbled up in his gut. He barely registered Tim standing next to the guy as his head turned to stare him down, Jason’s eyes widening and shoulders hunching now that this… person’s full attention was on him.

The person hesitated a moment at the top of the stairs before smiling.

“Hi! I’m Danny, you must be Tim’s brothers?” he chirped, voice friendly enough that the anxiety uncurled just a bit. Just enough for Jason to register Tim staring at him oddly and Duke looking between the two of them.

Tim descended the stairs, done waiting for “Danny” to take the initiative, perhaps, while Duke took his silence as a cue to give the guy his cover story.

“Just me, actually,” he said. “The name’s Duke. J here is a friend of the family.”

“Oh, uh, nice to meet you both anyway. Sorry for crashing you guys’ lunch,” he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck sheepishly before following Tim down to their level, still smiling calmly. “My parents are in town for some engineering convention and Tim kind of rescued me from dying of boredom.”

Abruptly, Jason found himself completely calm - relaxed, even. Suspiciously so; all of the rage and frustration he’d felt ever since emerging from the Lazarus Pit was suddenly swapped out for a level of relaxation he could nearly call “Zen.”

He would nearly suspect a meta had broken Bruce’s rules, but he was the only one to react. Tim and Duke were clearly unaffected and the guy was either one hell of an actor or had genuinely only noticed him when he saw him.

Meaning this was potentially Lazarus related - and even that thought could not cut through the sheer tranquility he was feeling to cause panic. His thoughts, at least, were unaffected.

Also, he kind of just wanted to enjoy not being angry for the first time in ages. Sue him.

So he plastered on a Wayne-family PR smile and ended the second awkward silence of the day.

“Don’t worry about it; any friend of Tim’s is a friend of ours, at any rate. We have maybe two more minutes before Alfred actually manages to wrangle Bruce out of his study, why don’t you fill me in on this prank.”

#I guess there will be a part 3 too #Not me rapidly spiraling out of control #and writing way more than intended #oop #Also not me just stealing various headcannons I've seen other people post for the crossover for myself #Danny's one braincell is dedicated to suspecting rich people of doing something fishy #The Justice League doesn't know about Amity bc the first message got dismissed as a prank #And the GIW suppressed info after that #up until Amity tech upgraded in a weird & self-isolating manner bc of changes made to avoid being hacked by Technus #They don’t assume he’s a meta bc Batman tracks all the registered metas #or something #he has a system #and he has a no metas in Gotham rule and fought Superman once so people tend to respect that #Also they’re all incredibly sleep deprived at this point so #Jason is liminal not a halfa #but like if he were a halfa he’d only be strong enough to turn into a blob ghost #Yes I gave Jason blob ghost instincts #very small therefore very angry at everything ever #(I know the feeling)#also very scared of stronger ghosts (read: all of them)#until proven friendly #because then hey free friend/safety #ghosts eat other ghosts but only when hostilely territorial/power hunger not bc they actually need to eat au #but blob ghosts don't have lairs so they tend to wander/be more at risk until a ghost with a layer adopts them #at which point they're kind of like guard blobs #intruder alert system blob ghosts #anyway #dp x dc crossover #danny phantom au #dp x dc crossovers are my only source of knowledge on dcu characters outside of like

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asjjohnson · 1 year

Text

Part 10 of my poll adventure fic. Links: the beginning, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9.

---

Danny walked with Sam and Tucker toward his first class.

Just as he started to step through the doorway, Sam touched his arm.

"Wait, Danny, I should warn you..." she said, and searched Danny's face as though she was about to tell him bad news. "A new transfer student was introduced yesterday while you were gone."

His ghost sense had gone off partway through class yesterday and he'd spent a long time searching for the ghost before finally giving up, missing the last few hours of school.

Danny tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Okay? And... there's more to this, isn't there?"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other for a moment, Sam giving Tucker a pleading look, before they both turned back to Danny.

Tucker said, "You remember Gregor?"

Danny frowned. "He's back?"

"Well, noooo..."

"But he does kinda resemble him."

"Okay, whatever. One more thing to think about," Danny said with a tired sigh, and then walked into the classroom.

With a quick glance around, he saw a head of white—or maybe platinum blond?—hair. The boy had his head down, writing something in a notebook.

So that's the kid Sam and Tucker were worried about.

He wasn't sure what his friends thought about him—whether they thought he could be a GIW operative, or some other kind of spy, or maybe even a ghost in disguise... or if they'd just wanted to remind Danny that Gregor hadn't been any of the above. But he would be prepared, whatever the case was.

Danny sat in his own seat, and pushed the transfer student to the back of his mind for now.

He talked with Sam and Tucker for a few seconds. Then Valerie came into the room, looking tired.

Just after she sat down, Danny heard something buzz. She tensed and glanced toward the door with a frown, leaning forward slightly, as though preparing to leap from her seat.

"Good morning, class!"

Danny turned to see Lancer walk through the door. Lancer sat down and sorted a few stacks of papers on the desk, before looking up and beginning to call roll.

Danny started paying attention as Lancer neared his name.

"Dan Phantom?"

Danny startled, his desk rising an inch and slamming back to the floor.

He opened his mouth, but before he could say, "I'm not Phantom!" a voice behind him said, "Here."

Danny snapped his head around.

Green eyes lazily met his.

Danny stared, mouth still hanging open. It was like looking in a mirror.

"Danny Fenton?"

One eyebrow, above the green eyes, rose in question.

Danny's shin was kicked and he turned back around.

"Danny Fenton."

"Oh! I'm here!"

"Tucker Foley?"

"Here."

"Valerie Gray?"

"Present—can I use the bathroom?!"

Lancer pinched his nose and sighed. "Fine, but"—Valerie ran toward the door—"be back in fifteen minutes this time!"

Danny wondered where Valerie was going. His ghost sense hadn't gone off earlier.

But his thoughts turned back to the 'transfer student'.

He didn't know what was going on. Danny's eyes kept nervously glancing the kid's way, though he didn't seem to notice. Why did he look just like him?! Why was he here?! Was he him somehow?! What was happening?!

Lancer finished taking attendance and said, "Now, today we'll be reading pages—"

A ghost flew by the windows. And Danny's ghost sense activated.

He raised his hand. "Uh, Mr. Lancer, I also need to use the bathroom." His voice was higher than usual, still freaking out about the white-haired green-eyed kid that looked and sounded exactly like his ghost half.

Lancer looked skyward. "Fifteen minutes, Mr. Fenton. Fifteen."

He let out a sigh of relief as he ran from the room.

---

“Alert me when there’s an update” list:

@charlietheepic7, @chrysanthemum9484, @mymadmedleyw, @dp-marvel94, @aikoiya, @whydouwantmyname, @cinturon-cadena, @freakofyournature, @satanicrutialspecialist, @danphantom80, @kaezer, @chipsyay

(if you want on the list, specifically ask to be alerted for updates in a tag or comment. Ask again if I forget to add you! If I can’t tag you, I’ll send a Message.)

#danny phantom #dan phantom #valerie gray #mr. lancer #poll adventure #poll fic #asj post #asj writing #Danny mishears 'Fantom' as 'Phantom'. (Interesting how I can list names alphabetically this way isn't it? Fa Fe Fo Gr)#Danny's ghost sense didn't go off for Dan because Danny was already thinking of him suspiciously.#Assuming his ghost sense as only going off as an alert. A ghost nearby that he hasn't noticed or a surprise attack or something.#His ghost sense usually doesn't go off more than once but it went off repeatedly with Spectra because Danny didn't register her as a threat #But Danny's already thinking this new kid Could be a threat. So there's nothing for it to alert him to.#So Danny's ghost sense will only go off if Dan is nearby without Danny seeing him.#...But Valerie's tracker doesn't have such conditions. So it's been going off a lot.#But Dan had probably spent time recovering in the Ghost Zone before this so she couldn't pick him up there; only in the human world.#I was going to add a tiny scene from Dan's pov but I thought I'd throw in an extra poll instead.#Did Valerie call Vlad to tell him that she's registering Dan? Or is this ghost just coincidental?#...I can't list every ghost in the poll. Tried to think of who might have a reason to show up at the school. I donno. I'm tired.#It couldn't be Clockwork because he would just pause time and show up beside Danny. And not much reason for other ghosts to show up Here.#So... the poll lists your choices.

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lapetitechatonne · 2 years

Text

Can I have this dance?

i am so obsessed with this ship, so here’s some more content.

ao3 link here

Kate’s Masterlist here!

Dani would never admit it, but she enjoyed being able to dress up on occasion. No matter how much she denied it, her time with Vlad made her like the finer things in life. Now, don’t get her wrong, she didn’t crave it like he did, but she could appreciate it.

Still, it felt odd, looking at herself in the mirror.

Her velvet, emerald dress was a simple silhouette, just slightly hugging her curves and a long slit up the leg. Her favorite part was the straps, which less resembled straps and more resembled a diamond necklace. They were a simple chains with beautiful stones that sparkled when she moved.

She put on the thin necklace that matched the straps, as well as a pair of dangly earrings Pamela insisted on. Not that Dani minded, Pamela was a bit much but the woman liked Dani better than any of Sam’s other friends, so she wasn’t unbearable. That was why Dani was going to the gala in the first place, Sam demanded to bring a friend and Dani was the only one Pamela could stand.

Dani slipped on a pair of long pearl-colored gloves and gave herself another once over. Her dark hair was pinned up, curls perfectly falling to frame her face. She liked the contrast against the white of the gloves.

“Are you ready?” Sam asked, her own silky plum dress catching in the light.

“As I’ll ever be.”

---

Mar’i could think of ten thousand things she’d rather be doing than attending another stupid gala. It was so unfair that Mar’i was the only person in her family who knew how to act at them. Like, get it together people, it’s just embarrassing at this point.

Whatever, not that it would change anything. The press was enamored with her every move as not only the first baby to be born into the Wayne family in how long, but also because she was the daughter of a model. Anytime she didn’t show up there were articles about it. Which, rude, where were the articles about Damian and Tim not being there?

Sexist press, with their stupid double standards and their stupid obsession with her.

She hated it here. But at least she got to wear a pretty dress. She liked pretty dresses, even more so if they twirled nice.

“So, any lucky boy yet?” Gag her with a spoon. “You know, your dad used to be quite the heartbreaker in his day. I always thought he’d end up with that Barbra girl myself. Funny how things work out, isn’t it?”

Mar’i focused very hard on not breaking the glass in her hand. God, didn’t these old women have anything better to do than gossip about her love life?

“No, I’m focusing on my studies right now,” She flashed her charming Grayson smile and the old ladies huddled around her cooed about her being so focused.

Mar’i spotted her dad out of the corner of her eye and excused herself. He was retreating to the snack table—not without her damnit.

That was until she collided with another person and spilled her drink on them. Fuck, this was going in the paper, wasn’t it?

---

Dani had no idea this would be so goddamn boring. She was going to die of boredom, again.

Everyone here was old. And annoying. And Sam had been whisked away the moment they got here, so why was Dani even here.

Dani ate another very small snack that she didn’t even try to pronounce, and contemplated just, phasing through the walls. Would anyone see her? Probably not, and Sam was preoccupied so it would be forever until she noticed. But neither of them had their phones so she couldn’t let her know she left without actually talking to her. Damn.

A waiter with a tray of champagne passed her and Dani was tempted to grab one but decided she should probably just find Sam. Escape plan or not, Dani was tired of being alone with these stuffy losers.

Why did they all have to smell like that? It’s like she’s walking through the worst perfume store ever, honestly, you’d think being this rich they could afford something better—

“Shit—” Dani bumped into someone and their drink spilled on her arm, soaking her glove and almost knocking her over. Damn, they were strong.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” Dani looked up and immediately felt her body freeze.

The girl’s eyebrows were furrowed in concern, her dark wavey hair half pulled up and half falling down her back. Her lilac tulle dress shimmered in the light—she looked like a fucking fairy.

The most beautiful fairy Dani had ever seen.

“Let me help you clean up, gosh I’m such a klutz.” The girl took Dani’s hand, and she could feel herself blushing.

Dani let the girl pull her through the crowd, careful to not trip on her own goddamn dress. The girl weaved through the crowd with practiced ease, her own t-length dress fluttering with each step. Was it weird that Dani liked the way she walked?—she’d have to ask someone later. Probably Tucker. He’d make fun of her the least.

The crowd started to thin, and suddenly they were in a hallway. They made a couple of turns that Dani didn’t retain at all—Pandora would be disappointed—before stopping at a bathroom.

The girl pulled out a washcloth—from where?—and ran it under the faucet. Dani took that as her queue to take her glove off.

“I really am sorry,” the girl pouted, and Dani could feel her heart beat a little faster.

“It’s okay,” Dani let out a strained laugh, “I was looking for a way out anyway. I’m not great in crowds of people.”

The girl looked up, her bright green eye almost seemed to glow while the glitter around her eyes shimmered in the bathroom lighting. Her smile was warm and welcoming, like she had all the love in the world to give.

“It can be a bit overwhelming, it’s it your first time?”

She put the washcloth down and picked up a hand towel, lightly drying Dani’s arm.

“Yeah, I’m here with a friend, well, really, she’s more my brother’s friend—but I um, I lost her. A while ago.”

She laughed, and Dani decided it was her favorite sound. God, she sounded like one of those bad romance books Jazz thought she hide well. She could practically hear Danny teasing her.

“I’m Mar’i, by the way. Hand me your glove?” Dani fumbled for a second before passing it over.

“I’m Danielle, or Dani—with an i—if you um, want.” Dani blushed, again, god what was wrong with her. Surly she was coming down with something because it was way too hot in here.

“My name’s spelled with an ‘i’ too, isn’t that funny?” Her heart skipped a beat. “Well, it shouldn’t stain,” Mar’i said as she ran the glove under steaming water, “but better to wash it out just in case. My dad’s lost quite a few shirts that way.”

“Well, um, thank you. For helping. Pamela would never forgive me if I ruined her gloves,” Dani laughed, and tried not to be as awkward as she felt, but it was hard with the way she could hear her own heartbeat. Usually, she couldn’t even tell if it was beating to begin with.

She was definitely coming down with something. A ghost sickness? Was the Gotham smog just finally getting to her?

“Well,” Mar’i turned off the water and rung out the glove, “that should do it, but you can’t very well put it back on.” She scrunched her nose and Dani had the sudden urge to reach out and soothe the line on her face. Because that wasn’t weird or anything. “I suppose we can hang it in the kitchen for now, we’ll just have to get it back to you before you leave.” Dani’s heart thumped at the idea of seeing Mar’i again. “Is that alright?”

Dani nodded and Mar’i beamed. Dani found herself grinning back.

“I’ll take you there, so you know the way in case you can’t find me later.”

“Lead the way.” Dani tried not to be too excited about going off with Mar’i. It was just because she was more interesting than anything else here. Yeah, that was it.

---

Mar’i walked out into the hallway and waited a moment for Dani to catch up. She adjusted the neckline of her emerald green, velvet dress, and Mar’i thanked the stars that she didn’t spill any on her dress.

It was a beautiful dress. The thin straps were made of gold chained jewels that matched the small pins that decorated her dark hair. Mar’i tried not to let her breath catch as Dani carefully removed her other glove and folded it up in her hand.

Dani joined her in the hallway, and Mar’i realized she was staring. She felt her cheeks heat up as they walked back the way they came.

“So,” Mar’i turned to see Dani looking around the hallway, “you know this place pretty well. Do you come to these things a lot?”

“I should, it’s my grandpa’s house,” Mar’i laughed. Dani blushed, and it made Mar’i want to tease the girl more. She looked cute like that.

“Oh, well, it’s a um, very nice house.”

Mar’i hummed. “It’s nice, but sometimes a bit too big to be comfortable. It helps that we have a big family, but still.” Huh, that wasn’t something she would usually say. God, she hoped Dani didn’t tell the press she said that, they’d label her an ungrateful snobbish socialite or something like that.

But, for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to be too worried. Something about Dani was just. . . it was different. There was something about the girl that Mar’i couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Like, it almost feels wrong to take up space, like you don’t belong,” Dani’s voice was quiet and there was a far-off expression on her face that made Mar’i want to pull her close, until she was completely present with Mar’i.

“Yeah,” Mar’i sighed instead, “but Grandpop does his best. He’s good to us like that.”

The troubled expression on Dani’s face got darker, and this time Mar’i didn’t resist the urge to reach out and hold the girl’s hand.

Her hand was cold, but not unpleasant. Like dipping your hand in a cool river, soft and engulfing. It was nice against her naturally warm skin. She took a moment to admire how their hands weaved together. Dani’s was a soft, cool white compared to her own warm brown skin. It was almost poetic, like those poems about the sun and the moon.

Dani’s eyes snapped to her hand, her focus shifted out of whatever made her look so sad. Mar’i was quite please by that, and even more so when Dani began to blush but didn’t move her hand away. Mar’i felt her inner flame flicker, warmth filling her chest.

They finished their walk to the kitchen in silence, luckily it seem all the staff was out serving leaving them alone.

“We can set them over here,” Mar’i laid the damp glove over the back of a dining chair, breaking her hold on Dani’s hand. The rush of heat back to the palm of her hand was uncomfortable, and perhaps a bit sad. Mar’i didn’t want their time together to end.

“Thank you,” Dani’s blue eyes looked up at Mar’i through dark eyelashes—and oh god, Mar’i was a goner. Yep. She had a big ass gay crush on this girl. “You really didn’t have to go through all the trouble of helping me.”

“Sure I did, I’m the one that spilled my champagne on you to begin with,” Mar’i giggled, “just don’t tell my dad. He doesn’t like it when I have a glass, but it’s hard to get through these things without one.”

“Right?” Dani sighed in relief and finally relaxed. Mar’i hadn’t even been aware of the underlying tension in the girl’s body until it was gone. “It’s so boring. You’d think a bunch of rich people could afford something more entertaining.” They both laughed, and Mar’i felt light in a way she usually didn’t at these events.

“It’s always so stuffy, it’s honestly nerve-wracking. I actually can’t remember the last time I had a real conversation at one of these things.”

The blush was back on Dani’s face, and Mar’i just wanted to kiss her little button nose. God, she was such a lesbian.

“Talking to you,” Dani shifted her weight and rubbed the back of her neck, “has been the most fun I’ve had all night.”

Their eyes met and Mar’i grinned.

“If you want,” Mar’i spoke before her rational thinking could stop her, “I can show you around a little bit. I’m sure no one’s missing us, and the gardens are really pretty this time of year.”

Dani looked at her, her crystal blue eyes wide and cherry lips slightly parted. Mar’i could feel her inner flame flare and she had to consciously think about keeping the flames out of her hair. Dani smiled, and Mar’i almost lost her control.

“I’d love to.”

Mar’i smiled so wide it hurt. She took her hand again and pulled her out the back kitchen door. They walked down the path past the greenhouse to the garden below the ballroom balcony. Alfred always made it look extra special for galas.

The spring breeze was cold, but not unpleasant. Small ground lights lined the cobblestone path and illuminated the rose bushed that had just bloomed. They were a mix of reds and pinks, the scent swirled in the air around them.

“Wow,” Dani said looking around in awe, “this is like something out of a picture book.”

“You haven’t even seen the best part yet,” Mar’i laughed. Dani looked at her with wide eyes, and Mar’i wondered if there was any merit to love-at-first-sight. Or if she was just a hopeless lesbian. Probably both.

They continued down the path until they finally came to the center of the garden. The beautiful stone fountain with a small cupid statue on top rained down water that sparkled in the low light. There were flowerbeds lining the rose bushes, yellows and purples contrasting the pinks of the roses.

Mar’i smiled as Dani giggled and pulled them both to the fountain. They could just hear the music drifting out of the ballroom over the rush of water, and Mar’i thought it sounded prettier like this.

Dani reached out and let the water run over her fingers. The look of wonder on her face was worth any backlash of disappearing halfway through the gala. Besides, it’s not as if it was the first time—and probably wouldn’t be the last.

“You can see the stars much better out here,” Dani’s eyes drifted to the sky, “but still not better than at home. Only a few constellations.”

Mar’i looked up at the sky, and despite being familiar with the stars, she couldn’t say she knew many earth constellations. After all, Tameranian space travel was far more advanced and useful.

“You know the constellations?” Dani’s face lit up.

“I love the constellations. I think there’s something wonderful about the idea of stories written in the stars. Like this cluster over here,” Dani pointed and Mar’i moved closer to see where she was pointing at. Dani smelled like lavender and rain, “that’s the Pleiades. The myth is that they were the seven daughters of Atlas, and Orion ruthlessly chased them. They prayed to be free of him, and so Zeus turned them into doves, and then into stars to keep their father company while he held up the heavens. It’s said that the Orion is still chasing after them in the stars.”

Dani’s eyes lit up when she spoke, her free hand waving in the air to emphasis to her words. The carefree smile on her face made Mar’i want to melt.

“How tragic.”

“That’s not even the worst one,” Dani moved, pulling Mar’i along by their joint hands to point at another constellation, “That’s Cassiopeia, and this one,” She moved then again, but this time she let go of Mar’i’s hand and moved behind her, pointing at some stars over her shoulder, “is Andromeda. They’re mother and daughter actually.” Mar’i found it hard to focus on Dani’s words when one of her hands rested on her waist and minty breath tickled her ear. “You see, Cassiopeia was a queen and she claimed she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs, and the nymphs got so mad that they asked Poseidon to punish her. He sent a sea monster to her kingdom, and the only way to stop it was to chain her daughter Andromeda to a cliff and sacrifice her.”

“That seems a bit dramatic.”

“It’s okay,” Dani laughed, “Perseus saved her. He was walk by after killing Medusa and used Medusa’s head to turn the sea monster into stone. Wild shit.”

Mar’i turned to look at Dani, who was still looking up at the stars.

“You really know a lot about them.” Dani blushed and looked at Mar’i, then looked away.

“I like stories,” she said quietly, “I think because there’s so much to learn from them.”

“I think that’s beautiful,” Mar’i said softly. Mar’i turned around fully, offering a hand to Dani. “Would you like to dance?”

Dani nodded placing her hand in Mar’i’s. Mar’i placed a hand on Dani’s waist, Dani’s other hand on Mar’i’s bicep. Dani’s cool touch was relief from the burning fire in her chest threatening to take her over. As they swayed to the music playing distantly in the background Mar’i had to focus on keeping her feet on the ground.

Dani was looking at their feet, even though they moved perfectly in sync. Mar��i felt time stop as a violin solo played in the background and Dani lifted her eyes to meet Mar’i’s. It was like looking into a swirling galaxy and seeing endless opportunities in front of you. Her eyes, they just held so much hope. More than Mar’i ever thought possible.

It made Mar’i’s heart sing and the solar warmth heat her skin. It made her want to fly above the clouds and just laugh with joy. Looking into Dani’s eyes, Mar’i had never felt so free.

---

Dani had never thought herself the romantic type. Sure, she read all the romance books Jazz kept under her bed, and maybe she liked a good romantic comedy—she was a clone not a heathen—but she never saw herself feeling fluttery because a pretty girl asked her to dance in a garden.

She also never imagined that a pretty girl would want to dance with her in a garden. Vlad made it pretty clear that she was unperfect, unlovable. Jazz and Danny and everyone always told her differently, but sometimes she couldn’t shake that tiny voice in the back of her head telling her she was nothing—that she would never be anything.

But here she was—slow dancing in the most beautiful garden she’d ever seen, with a girl that was way out of her league smiling at her like she was something.

The warmth of Mar’i’s hands took the permanent chill out of her skin, like she was a cat laying in the afternoon sun. It made something in her core purr, it wanted closer, closer, to the source. She wondered how it would feel to curl up in Mar’i’s arms and just be.

Dani looked down at their feet as they moved, too afraid that if she looked up, she wouldn’t be able to stop green from flooding her eyes.

The moment she did, it was like the world stopped spinning.

Looking at Mar’i was like looking at the sun, so bright and beautiful that it hurt. Her green eyes were so bright—too bright to be human almost, but Dani didn’t really mind. Because in this moment, Mar’i eyes refracted like emeralds and her lips shined like strawberries, and the only thing Dani could think about was if they would taste like strawberries.

Dani couldn’t be sure who started to lean in first, or when their lips finally meet, but the moment they did Dani’s heart pulse with her core, a rush of blood and ectoplasm flooding through her. The lips on hers were even warmer than she imagined, and she did taste like strawberries and something sugary. Through the dizziness and captivation, Dani pulled Mar’i closer, a hand on the back of the other girl’s neck, a hand resting on her shoulder.

Mar’i’s hand on her waist pulled her in, her other hand came to rest on Dani’s check, and she thought it might have been the gentlest anyone had ever touched her. Not like she was made of glass, but like you would touch a rose petal, searching and delicate and all at once. Dani decided it was her favorite kind of touch.

She leaned into Mar’i’s hand, pulling her even closer until Dani couldn’t tell where she stopped and the other girl began. The smell of roses and lilacs settled in the air between them, anytime Dani took a labored breath she thought it was magical and hoped it lingered.

When they finally broke apart, Dani could barely breathe. The air felt thinner and her world was disoriented, but Mar’i pressed her forehead to Dani’s and every worry washed away. Mar’i nudged Dani’s lips back to hers with a small movement, and this kiss, it was different.

There was still gentleness, but their grasps were tighter and hearts were beating faster. Mar’i bit Dani’s lip and the sound she let out probably wasn’t human, but Mar’i slipped her tongue inside her mouth anyways. She tasted sweeter like this.

“What the fuck—”

Dani’s eyes snapped open, she pulled back from Mar’i, only noticing a moment too late that they’d been hovering at least three feet in the air. Dani fell to the ground, losing her footing in her heels and falling towards the fountain. Mar’i grabbed her arm, but it wasn’t enough to stop the momentum.

They feel into the fountain, Mar’i’s warm body over hers. Damn—she definitely had water in her ears.

“Jesus, Mary, and fucking Joseph, what the fuck?” Dani peaked out from behind the curtain of Mar’i’s hair—so that’s where the lilac smell was going from, focus damnit—to see a slightly disheveled man running up to them. His tie was crooked and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days—maybe Dani could convince him he had a hallucination.

“Uncle Timmy!” Mar’i’s voice shot up a few octaves and Dani could feel her skin getting hotter. “We were just—i mean, it’s not what it looks like.”

Mar’i fumbled over her, and Dani admitted she was slightly enjoying it, before pulling herself over the edge of the fountain. She reached back in and heaved Dani to her feet, almost causing them to tumble back down. God, she was a mess. And now she smelled like—she didn’t know, stale water and leaves? Whatever it was she didn’t appreciate it.

“I can’t believe—do you know how many reporters are here! You could have outed yourself!” Tim—she thought she remembered Pamela talking about a Tim Wayne—whisper shouted at them. He was turning a concerning shade of red.

“It was just a little kiss—” Dani was going to try the ‘you-hallucinated-the-flying’ route.

“A kiss?! Most people don’t kiss three feet in the fucking air,” he threw his hands up before taking a deep breath. “This is fine. Everything is fine. God, Dick’s going to kill you, and then me.”

But why would ‘Dick’ do that when Mar’i wasn’t the one flying? Wait, could she fly?!

“Please don’t tell dad.” Mar’i walked up to him and gave him the cutest puppy dog face Dani had ever seen. If that girl looked at Dani like that? She’d gladly do anything. “It was just a little mistake, please Uncle Timmy?”

Dani could pinpoint the exact moment he caved in his expression.

“Okay, okay, fine. But you two need to go change, before anyone with a camera sees you. Otherwise, we’re all fucked.”

He ushered them back up the manor like he was expecting a reporter to pop out of the bushes at any time. Soon they were back in the kitchen and being pushed down a hallway that Dani hadn’t even noticed. It was a secluded hallway without much décor, obviously made for quicker and more discreet trips around the manor.

Dani could feel herself growing more anxious with every step. She didn’t know how she was going to explain this, and she couldn’t even think about Sam right now. She was so dead. Again.

Tim pushed them into a room—god, he had more nervous energy than one of those tinfoil hat people, he should really see someone about that.

“Okay, both of you stay here, dry off or whatever. I’ll tell them that you weren’t feeling well or something. Yeah. Something.” He was gone as quickly as he came with a slam of the door.

They both stood there, staring at the closed door for a moment. God, what even was her life? This was ridiculous.

“Um, there’s a bathroom through here,” Mar’i gestured to a different door. “I can grab you some clothes?”

“Yeah, that sounds, uh, good?” Dani said, shifting her weight back and forth.

Mar’i nodded and moved to pull some clothes out of a ridiculously big closet. Dani glanced around, noticing the circus posters and star maps she’d never seen on the walls. There were also pictures hung up on a cork board above a desk, lots of Mar’i with various different people. She noted that Tim showed up in a few.

Mar’i riffed around, throwing a piece of clothes on the lavender bedspread, and Dani realized that they were in her room.

Oh.

She was in Mar’i’s room. A pretty girl. That she’d kissed.

When Mar’i turned around holding out a small pile of clothes Dani was certain she looked like a tomato.

“Let me grab a towel before you get in there, feel free to use anything you need,” Mar’i disappeared and reappeared with two fluffy white towels in her hand. “Here, oh um, I’ll knock when I’m done changing.”

“Thanks,” Dani took the towel and walked into the whitest bathroom she’d ever seen. She closed the door and leaned against it, a little afraid to touch anything because of the sparkly pristineness. That was except for the vanity area around the sink that had a bunch of makeup products sprawled out over the surface.

Still, her dress was starting to itch.

Dani huffed, throwing the stuff Mar’i gave her on the closed toilet seat and began peeling off her wet dress. The body-shaping undergarments underneath were even harder to get off than they were to get on—she was never letting Pamela bully her into this shit again—but soon enough she was standing in the strange bathroom naked.

Somehow this wasn’t how she saw her night going.

Dani toweled down, enjoying the soft fluffy fabric against her skin. Normally she would just phase the water off her, but she already had enough she couldn’t explain. That was just asking for trouble.

After she was dry, she put the towel aside and pulled on the clothes Mar’i gave her. The top was a simple black tank top that fit well enough, but she was swimming in the sweatpants. Dani pulled the strings tight and rolled up the cuffs—three fucking times, god she hated being tiny—but she still looked ridiculous.

Well, at least she looked less like a sad wet kitten now.

Dani felt cool water trickle down her neck and realized she hadn’t dried her hair. She started by taking out the pins holding her curls up, which honestly didn’t look too bad. Whatever these Gothamites put in their hairspray really did the trick. She distantly wondered if it would hold up to ectoplasm too because Jazz would kill for some of that.

After getting the pins out Dani shook her head, shaking the curls from their spot glued to her head. She scrunched them with her towel, trying to preserve them at least a little bit.

Mar’i knocked on the door causing Dani to jump a bit. She was tenser than she thought.

“I’m decent if you want to come out. If you’re ready, that is, no pressure.” It sounded like she wasn’t the only nervous one.

Dani took a deep breath and stepped out. Mar’i was standing in front of a mirror towel drying her hair, only in a sweatshirt and shorts. From this view, Dani could appreciate Mar’i’s long brown legs and solid thighs. They looked like they could crush a watermelon—and that certainly did not have Dani drooling a little, thank you very much.

Mar’i turned around, a frown forming on her face, “If those are too big I can try to find something else, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think—”

“Don’t worry,” Dani found herself grinning at Mar’i’s concern, “they’re nice and comfy.”

Mar’i smiled at her, and Dani felt her heart melt a little.

“I’m glad, I still can’t believe that—well, ya know.” Mar’i slouched, her eyes focused on her feet and it didn’t suit the girl at all. Dani decided that Mar’i should never be unhappy or worried, at least not as long as she could help it. Not when her smile was pure sunlight.

“I’m so sorry about that—” Dani began, only to be cut off by Mar’i’s frantic voice.

“You’re sorry, I’m sorry. You never would have lost balance if I hadn’t. . .” Mar’i gestured to the air with her hands, looking genuinely distraught—which only confused Dani.

“That wasn’t your fault, I’m not very good at. . .” Dani gestured to the ground and hoped she conveyed something meaningful.

“Still, I should have been more careful.” If Dani was confused before, she was lost now. Did Mar’i think she was the one that made them float? It wasn’t like kissing Dani would unlock hidden powers—

Oh.

“Can you—ya know?” Dani gestured to the air again. Mar’i tiled her head, her sad expression replaced with confusion.

“Can you?” Mar’i squinted her eyes at Dani.

They stared at each other, the height difference between them becoming very apparent. It hadn’t been bad when she was in her heels, but Dani will be the first to admit that she got the short gene and Mar’i had very nice, very long legs. The other girl stood almost a whole head taller than Dani.

It was kind of hot. Damnit—dumb gay brain, focus. Flying. Right the flying.

“I mean,” Dani had no idea where she was going with this sentence, “I thought that I did the thing, but if you thought that you did the thing, then we both. . .” Nowhere good that’s where. “Ya know. So that means. . .” Dani trailed off.

She had no idea what she was saying. Why did she start talking again?

“I think I get it,” Mar’i said—which, that made one of them—and moved closer so Dani had to look up at her, “so that means we’re. . . I mean we’re the same, I guess?”

Dani frown her eyebrows and tilted her head. “So you’re a—”

“Alien.”

“—ghost?”

Oh, they fucked up. Dani could tell Mar’i was thinking the same thing by the look on her face. It took seconds for it to morph into a concerned frown.

“Wait,” Mar’i reached out slowly giving Dani more than enough time to pull away and grabbed her hand. She gently turned it over, palm up, like she was examining it. When she looked back up Dani thought her eyes looked mistier than before. “You’re—you’re dead?”

She said it like Dani told her she forgot her inhaler, concerned but not overly worried. It made Dani giggle a bit.

“Half. Half-dead. A halfa.” Dani could see the wheels turning in Mar’i’s head. She reached out and took Mar’i’s other hand. “Don’t think about it too hard, it’ll hurt your head,” She placed Mar’i’s warm hand over her heart, and she couldn’t tell if the warmth was from her blush or Mar’i’s skin, “all that matters is that my heart beats. A little slowly, but it’s still there.”

Mar’i’s face softened at the edges, she released Dani’s hand and brought hers up to the back of Dani’s neck. It felt nice there, warmth spreading through her tease shoulder muscles.

“I’m half alien. Tameranian.” Mar’i’s words brushed over Dani’s cheeks and the taller girl leaned down.

“Guess we’re both halfas, huh,” Dani giggled, and this close she could feel the laughter in Mar’i’s chest.

Dani looked up, and once again saw a soft green glow from Mar’i’s eyes.

“You’re eyes. . .” She trailed off, unsure if she was imagining the glow.

“They glow,” Mar’i laughed again, “we hide them with a holo-projector, secret identities, and all that.”

Dani reached up a hand to cup Mar’i’s cheek, “Mine glow too.”

Mar’i smiled and lifted her hand from the back of Dani’s neck to her ear. She pressed her forefinger against her earing, and Dani heard a soft beep before watching the holograph around Mar’i’s eyes fizzle out.

They were so green. Her eye whites were actually a soft green, her iris was a richer green, and Dani found them endlessly fascinating. They weren’t ectoplasm green, despite their persistent glow, instead, they reminded Dani of fresh grass or pine trees.

Dani blinked, finally letting go of the tight control she had over her eyes. Her eyes lit up and Mar’i gasped, eyes fluttering between both of Dani’s like she was trying to take in every detail she could.

Mar’i moved her to Dani’s waist and lighting pulled her in for another kiss. This one was softer, sweeter, than the others, and much shorter. They broke apart, the green glow of their eyes lighting the space between them.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” Dani said, still a bit out of breath. She wanted this to stay between them. Their own little secret.

“Pinky promise,” Mar’i giggled, lifting her hand from Dani's chest and holding out her pinky finger.

Dani laughed breathlessly, raising her pinky to clasp Mar’i’s. With their clasped pinkies between them, they leaned in for another kiss.

#just some soft girls at a gala falling in love #pure fluff and i'm not ashamed #Space Princess #or Dani Fenton/Mar'i Grayson #Dani Phantom #Nightstar #dp x dc #my sapphic dream #i love them your honor #and they love each other #kate's fanfics #kate writes #dpxdc

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wrapmeinatortilla · 8 months

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Chapter 10 - Overprotective Friends Come in Handy

There are three things Y/n knows for certain:

1.) Danielle is her best friend

2.) Her favorite color is pink

3.) And the seven guys showing up in her dreams are hot as hell

When y/n starts college at her dream university, Decelis Academy, her dreams start to fade into reality. Things that are hidden come to light and she starts wishing some would have stayed in the shadows.

Alternatively, you’re thrown into a world of supernatural beings. Are they friends, foes, or lovers? The choice is yours.

Reblogs are appreciated <3

To put it simply, Y/n was not at all excited to be working on this project. In fact, as soon as she entered the library her body was overcome with dread. As soon as she saw the table that Beomgyu was sitting at, his laptop already pulled out in preparation, she could feel herself break out into a cold sweat.

Y/n felt awful about feeling this way. Beomgyu had been nothing but kind to her and probably even made time in his busy schedule to make sure she wouldn't be working on this alone. So Y/n bit her tongue, shook her head of the silly negative thoughts, and pushed on through towards the table.

Beomgyu looked up at Y/n with a charming smile as she sat down across him.

"I'm sorry that I'm a little late, my friend Mark had a little emergency and he needed some help." Y/n spoke. This was a blatant lie on her part. She couldn't just outwardly say that she was late in reality because she was dragging her feet to get here. Besides it was quite easy to throw Mark under the bus with his tummy issues and all.

"It's no problem," Beomgyu replied "you ready to get started?" he said. Y/n nodded, pulling her laptop and psych book out of her bag.

"So the premise of this project is to analyze psychopathy using a famous serial killer as a model. For our presentation we have to have both a powerpoint and a ten minute speech prepared." Y/n recited, scrolling through the projects guideline.

Beomgyu merely hummed in response. "Do you have ideas on who we should do?" Y/n asked, looking up from her laptop at the boy in front of her.

"I think we should stay away from the popular ones like Dahmer and Bundy because they're pretty overdone and everyone in our class is going to choose them." the boy stated. Y/n nodded, he wasn't wrong but that also ruled out easy sources.

"As for who I think we should do," he began, sending a powerpoint to Y/n for her to open, "I think this is our guy."

Y/n opened the powerpoint that Beomgyu had made. Vlad the Impaler stared back at her in big, bolded text. Y/n gulped, her eyes focused entirely on the subject. Beomgyu smirked before breaking her out of her stupor.

"Unless you have any ideas?" he asked innocently, his smirk changing quickly into an inquisitive smile once the girl looked back up at him.

Y/n gave him a strained smile. "No it's fine with me. I'll get a doc ready for our speech." she responded. Dracula. She was going to research dracula. How ironic considering all the dreams she was having recently.

The two worked silently on finding information to use for their project. Y/n tried to pay attention to all the words she was reading, but every time she read the word 'vampire' or 'blood', she could feel herself grow slightly squeamish. Flashes of her dreams played like movies in her head with every word she read about warlord. The thought of Jungwon with his face so close to hers, his smiling face then turning to one with fangs couldn't be shaken from her head. The girl also tried to ignore the stares that the boy would give her every time she breathed a little to short.

"So do you think he really was a vampire?" Beomgyu asked, his question making Y/n stutter in her typing.

"Do I what?" she replied back. Beomgyu shrugged, "Do you really think he was a vampire."

Y/n could feel her breath hitch, "I don't think so no. Vampires don't exist. Now did you find any sources about-"

"What makes you say that?" Beomgyu spoke almost menacingly. Y/n refused to answer, goading more of a response from the boy.

"I mean one could literally be sitting in front of you and you would be none the wiser." Beomgyu continued, his head tilting like a confused puppy. Before Y/n could do anything, her phone rang.

She pulled her phone from her pocket to see Yunjin was calling her.

"Hey"

"Is everything alright? You haven't responded to the groupchat in like an hour."

"Yeah sorry I'm at the library working on a project with Beomgyu"

"You sound a little off...do I need to arrange an emergency extraction?"

"....yeah."

Sobs quickly filled Y/n's speaker causing Y/n to hold her phone away from her ear.

"I can't believe that he blew me off n/n....I thought we were going to be together forever!!!" Yunjin practically screamed.

Y/n would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact that she needed to pretend to be as concerned as possible to get out of here.

"It's okay yunnie! How about I leave a bit early and grab some ice cream on the way home?"

"Please do," Yunjin wailed. Y/n made eye contact with Beomgyu. Giving a sympathetic smile, she packed up her things and left the library, Yunjin's fake sobs still reverberating through her ear. Once Y/n was out of the library she laughed.

"Stood up by a he?" Y/n chuckled.

"Shut up! I am never acting straight for you again." Yunjin pouted.

"I'll still bring you ice cream, meet me at mine?" Y/n asked her footsteps quickening towards the store.

"Yup and you gotta tell me what happened."

Beomgyu sat at the table, starring at the place that Y/n once inhabited, his face devoid of any emotion. His eyes flashed red as he continued to listen to your giggles.

"Oh Y/n...you are such a liar," he spoke softly to himself, "How fun." Beomgyu pulled out his phone to send a quick text before grabbing his things and disappearing entirely.

Chapter 9 ~ Chapter 11

#enhypen #enhypen smau #jungwon smau #jungwon #jungwon x reader #jungwon x reader smau

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dnpanimationstudioclone · 2 years

Text

If Danny Phantom Got A Reboot👻

* 2D Animation.

* The ghost concept to be dead people like it was originally. Also make less antagonistic and more like people with unfinished business. A lot of the ghosts seemed capable of having redemption. Perhaps more ghosts who become allies or atleast morally grey associated to Danny.

* The Ghost Zone explored more.

* Danny at first to see all ghosts as evil and dangerous because that’s what he was taught and eventually realize a lot of them are people like him with unresolved issues and tries to help them, later becoming allies with the majority of ghosts.

* Have Sam be etheir less judgemental/stubborn or have that be played straight and have her work on that. Maybe a bit of both. There's been a lot of criticism on her character.

* Tucker. Perhaps had been Danny's friend longer than Sam and when he becomes a ghost and they start drifting away, especially after he gets with Sam, making him feel like a third wheel.

* Sam to be a huge fan of horror stuff, ESPECIALLY Ghosts. Have her enjoy reading into legends and myths on the ghosts they face and find out their past and what could stop them. And it would give the Trio more distinct roles, Danny's the one who can fight ghosts, Tucker's the brains and one who can do tech stuff and Sam's the expert on the specific ghosts and figure out what makes them tick.

* Go into Jack’s obsession for ghost hunting. I’m rewriting Maddie here more interested in understanding ghosts rather than hunt them. It be cool to see how they got into it in the first place. Especially why Jack himself specifically hates ghosts and sees them as bad. Perhaps a traumatic experience with one when he was young.

* Jazz to use her psychology learning to try to help the ghosts with their unresolved issues.

* Have the A-Listers should more redeeming qualities. They’re still jerks but develop into better people like Valerie.

* Another thing I wanna change is Mr Lancer. I prefer him to be a jerk with a heart of gold type, him to be a stern guy but cares. He genuinely tries to help Danny and keep jerks like Dash reigned in, Dash isn’t able to get away with as much but being the school’s best player and having maybe parents that help the school or just really important, the school tends to let things slide which frustrates Lancer. With that said, he also wants to help Dash, seeing he has issues he needs to work out.

* Valerie after realizing ghosts aren’t all that evil, help Danny take the badder ones down. Also her dad joins the Fenton’s family and get financial stability back. Perhaps she bonds with Jack about realizing not all ghosts are evil.

* Vlad.

Make it not about trying to get back on Jack by taking his family and destroying Danny. Backstory change. Have it stay almost the same(Jack accidentally opens the portal, hurting Vlad and making him a ghost). Jack wanted to defeat ghosts, where as Vlad felt the ghosts could be used to help humankind under their control. Jack thought was too risky while Vlad felt Jack was overlooking the bigger picture and paranoid They. They had a fight and in the heat of things accidentally opened the unstable portal, causing Vlad to take the brunt of it. Jack tried to reach out to him but the damage was done and things were over. Jack's been haunted ever since by that. Years alone, dealing with the ghost affects made Vlad bitter and stubborn. His motive is to continue and what he wanted to do and show Jack wrong, in the process trying to control things he shouldn’t and going down a dark path.

I want it to be more personal between him and Jack, and more so sees Maddie as a potential ally in hopes she can get Jack to help him. Tbh I want Vlad and Jack to have ex vibes.

Vlad-Join me Danny, ur father will never accept u! He’ll only reject and leave u with a bitter and broken heart.

Danny-…When u said u and my dad were ex-partners, did u mean lab partners or…

Vlad-Ok this got akward, LETS BRAWL!

He still grows a soft spot for Danny and sees him as a son, wanting to take him under his wing, to embrace his ghost side. At the end I want him to realize just how much he put everyone in danger for his goals and reconcile with Jack, both seeing each other’s perspectives and no longer resenting him for the accident, becoming an ally of not just Danny but the Fenton family as whole. This version he still does crazy things but isn't as bad and more dark gray. I see him develop into being better from Danielle’s influence, caring for her in this version.

* Perhaps Jack, Maddie and Vlad could be a dark parallel to Danny, Sam and Tucker, what could happen if Danny closed himself off from everyone, if they didn't fully listen to each other, let their pride get the better of them. The tension's more between Jack and Vlad but Maddie was affected by what happened between the Trio and tried to be the tired peacemaker but just couldn't keep it together.

* WES!!!!!!

* Have Maddie be more interested from a scientist perspective, while Jack’s more obsessed with the ghosts. Perhaps at first she was sceptical but perhaps after meeting Jack and him showing his work to her as well as a IRL experience, makes Maddie curious and want to know more with him. She still continues with other scientific explorations and makes inventions outside of ghost hunting, especially to pay for expenses, but her main interest is in the ghost discovery. At first she assumes ghosts are more like creatures seeping into their world. When she realizes though Ghosts are genuine people and that her own sons a ghost, try safer, non dissection stuff on ghosts.

* Have more struggle about Danny being a halfa. Have that talked about more. Perhaps for an arc he realizes whether he's Fenton or Phantom he'll always be Danny.

* It was said Jack's family has been through the Salem trials, perhaps someone was wrongfully accused as a witch and killed, thanks to one of Jack's ancestors and wants revenge. Perhaps they make Jack realize his own mistakes of letting fear cloud his judgment and hurting people based on ideas based on fear and how he endangered his own son because of his fear of ghosts, thinking they're all evil.

* Perhaps when Jack and Maddie find out about Danny being half Ghost, Jack and Maddie make a vow to never hunt any ghosts, giving up their hunting career and become overprotective of Danny. They'd realize their work can still do good, especially for the more dangerous ghosts. They just try less extreme methods.

* The guys in white to have more screen time.

* Have better build up of a big bad hinted throughout the series for an epic final battle. Maybe Pariah. Say Vlad in his pursuit of ultimate power over the ghostly forces, accidentally unleashed Pariah or some other big threat for an epic finale. I feel like Pariah should’ve had bigger impact.

* Dark Danny.

* Have less emphasis on Danny/Sam hint.

What do u think? Any ideas u have for a rewrite? I’d love to know💖

#Danny phantom #danny phantom rewrite #Dp rewrite #rewrite

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dariaendzhyel · 2 years

Text

Вампирские будни/Vampire everyday life.

Я решила повременить с продолжением истории Двана, чтобы подогреть интерес, так сказать. КСТАТИ!Хочется услышать ваше мнение, почему Дван стал таким "злым"./I decided to hold off on continuing Dvan's story to stir up interest, so to speak. BTW! I would like to hear your opinion on why Dvan became so "evil".

Действия происходят после этого поста/Actions take place after this post.

Vlad: Y-yes... Not a day, but a complete disappointment. I'm tired and I want a quiet life. At first, Batt showed up, then the vampire hunter... And then I resurrected you too... Not life, but don't understand what.

Daria: You're right, no one lets us live in peace...But don't forget about the good moments. Dvan is done, he saw that there is such a magnificent man next to me, and now he will not bother us.

Vlad: You're right, but you know, I was also the same s#um as Dvan, but then you appeared, and I began to change...

Daria: Everyone changes, in one direction or another... You became a good vampire.. .And Dvan, initially, was neutral. He drank a lot, started a “relationship” for one night, sometimes it seemed that he was empty inside ... But it was this person who helped me escape ... of course I don’t know what happened to him then ... But after I left , he became like that ... Then, when I was safe, he called me ... He called me, said that I broke his life with my "escape" and I didn’t hear a word from him, until that time and more I won't hear!

Vlad: I hope so... That's it! I don't want to talk about this person anymore. We need to devote more time to each other, and not to people who bully us. I know how to cheer you up!

Vlad: Do I have to get up?

Daria: Definitely! You can't do without it! Vlad: Hmm, I wonder if you have something in mind, my dear? Daria, you have intrigued me.

Daria: Yes, I thought! Come on, take off everything superfluous! Let's have a romantic evening!

Vlad: Are you sure about this? They plopped down on the bed.

Vlad: Oh, you decided to cheer me up this way? And I don't mind! Just let's be quiet, otherwise we'll wake up Caroline!

Daria: Believe me, this will be the quietest woo-hoo in your life...Let me change.

Daria: Hmm, you can't be quiet.

Vlad: I'm trying to be quiet! And in general, this bed creaks.

Daria: Thanks to us, she began to creak! Just remember how much everything happened on it ...

Vlad: What are you doing?

Daria: I admire your face... Why not?

Vlad: And why should they admire it?

Daria: Yes, it's just... You know, Caroline took the best features of your face.

Vlad: And what is so beautiful in my face?

Daria: Everything! I like absolutely everything about you! It feels like you were specially made for me, and I'm only for you! And believe me, no one, not a single person will separate us ... Not a single person and not one vampire. I love you, Vladdy.

Vlad: And I love you, Daria.

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spooky-fm · 1 year

Text

Phantom Thief

Ao3. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8.

Part 5. Neal Caffrey is technically an alien. Or is he?

The agents perk up at Peter's approach, and he quickly gives them the condensed version of the calls he just made.

"Marshals are happy enough that I have Neal with me and that it was an involuntary destruction of the anklet. We will have to fill out some paperwork, but I think you are pretty familiar with the process," he smirks at Neal, who mock-groans, failing to mask his relief. "Hughes is a little suspicious, but luckily there is a very important meeting today, so he is busy talking to his bosses about budget and supplies."

All four of them grimace at the thought of being stuck in one of those meetings, though Peter tries to conceal it. He is supposed to be leading by example, and he cannot show any disdain for the bureaucracy. Even if he really hates it.

"What about Blake?" asks Jones. "He helped me trace the call and knows that we were looking for Neal. We took most of the suspicious stuff out, but it's pretty obvious that whatever is missing is not standard kidnapper gear."

Diana nods in agreement. "Since we involved Agent Blake from the start, he would have to submit a report to the file, meaning there is going to be a location on file. We can figure out what to put in our reports without putting Neal in danger, but it's going to be hard to explain why we did not search the premises with a dedicated team."

Neal smiles weakly at her, and Peter is reminded that they will also have to solve the glowing skin and green eyes problem.

"Neal," he calls out. Said green eyes snap to him. "I am going to phrase this as delicately as I can, but I need to ask some questions to figure out the plan here." Neal nods. He looks a little resigned and a little anxious, but it seems like the earlier show of support has done wonders to his confidence. "Okay, good. So, first of all, how soon can you look like the picture we have of you on file? I am assuming the fact that you had to show yourself to us like this means that's currently impossible."

Neal smiles teasingly. "What makes you think I have any control over it? Or know how to change?" He seems to be genuinely curious as well, so Peter thinks he should answer properly, instead of waving the teasing off, but Diana snorts and beats him to it.

"Aside from the obvious 'I can explain everything' speech, meaning you know enough to explain, you don't seem too concerned. You want to cover the tracks, yes, but not for running away, but for staying here without consequences. Which means you are counting on being able to stay without anyone finding out about the whole glowing skin situation." Neal flinches, and Diana shoots him a reassuring smile. "Anyone else, I mean. We got you, Caffrey."

Neal is looking a touch wild in his eyes, but she valiantly powers on. "Since you didn't do anything to prevent us from seeing you like that, you either cannot do it without something else that's not here, or you cannot do it yet because of something to do with the events of this morning or your kidnapper's actions," she frowns thoughtfully. "Possibly due to whatever that energy is that you are 'especially susceptible' to," she mimes quotation marks with her fingers.

Neal makes a so-so motion with his hands. "Kind of, but not because of the shields, those are just to contain me. My, ah, abilities are mostly blocked right now. Vlad has this gun with special electrical charge, and I've always been extra vulnerable to electricity..." he says the last part absent-mindedly, like he is talking to himself, which gives the agents a moment to school their faces from abject horror that appeared there the moment Neal, their sweet, caring, carefree Neal mentioned being shot with a gun and electricity with off-handedness suggesting it was a common occurrence for him. They are mostly down to their normal expressions by the time he blinks and re-focuses on them, but some concern is obviously there, because he quickly clears his throat and changes the subject with a hasty 'never mind that!' and they drop it. For now. Peter is going to sic El on Neal the moment this blows over.

"You are right, of course," Neal says quickly, not quite meeting their eyes. "I tried transforming back in the room, before you came here, and then again before we got the door open, but," he grimaces at the memory. "Let's just say it didn't work and leave it at that."

Peter puts that into his 'things to be concerned about' mental list.

"So how do you know you will be able to change again?" asks Jones.

"I may not have seen Vlad for more than fifteen years, but it seems he hasn't learned many new tricks. The gun is mostly the same, with some cosmetic changes. It mostly relies on electricity shorting out my powers and lasts maybe 12 hours at most, though being stuck in this form is new. Usually, I am forced to transform into my human form— "

Neal's mouth snaps closed, and he stares at them with wide eyes, looking surprisingly terrified for someone who has been walking around them with glowing skin and freckles in the shape of Big Dipper and other constellations Peter doesn't quite recognize. He levels his flattest, most unimpressed glare at the CI. Neal shrinks a bit under it. Good.

"Neal," Peter says slowly and clearly, as if talking to a small child, satisfied when Neal bristles in offense at the tone. "If any of us didn't at least consider that you might not be human the moment we saw you come out of that room looking like that, we might have needed to turn in our badges and look for other career options. There is good at disguises, which you undoubtedly are, and then there is having fangs, pointy ears, glowing green eyes, and constellation freckles that glow brighter when you are excited."

Neal dips his head down with a sheepish grin, and his face is suddenly flooded with dark green color. For a second, Peter is afraid that he crossed some kind of line, before Jones breaks the short silence with an awe-filled voice.

"Holy crap, you blush green!"

The green color intensifies and travels down to Neal's neck. Peter huffs out a laugh and makes a mental note to tease him about it later.

Something from Neal's speech digs itself into his mind, though, and Peter takes a moment to go over the words again. "Wait a moment," he says, horrified, "You are thirty-two!"

Neal nods, confused. "Yes, Peter, we have established that before. It's in my file and all."

"Yes, of course, but you said you haven't seen this Vlad for fifteen years, so it must mean that he shot you enough to be familiar with the gun's effects when you were in your teens. And definitely a minor!"

Both Jones and Diana have matching expressions of horror on their faces — again. Neal's face is carefully blank.

"Ah," he says in an even voice. "Yes, I suppose it does."

Peter senses this is not a topic he should be poking at, but he resolves to come back to it later. He pushes his unease down and changes the subject, for which Neal at least seems grateful.

"Alright. Okay. Judging by your previous experiences, we have about ten hours in which you should stay hidden from anyone else. Considering the marshals and the anklet, it's going to be at my house, but it's up to you if you want to tell El or not. She will be home in a couple of hours, so we can easily hide you before then."

Neal looks at him wide-eyed.

"You would lie to Elizabeth?"

"I don't lie to my wife, but she knows I cannot tell her everything. It's not exactly my place to tell anyone about this, so it is up to you if you want me to ask her to keep away from the guest bedroom for today. I'm pretty sure if I tell her it's about you she will even happily find something to occupy her outside the house for most of the day."

Neal nods slowly, then shakes his head a little.

"No, it's ok," he murmurs. "She can, uh, it's ok if she sees- It's fine."

"Alright," Peter agrees easily. "Tell me if that changes. For now, we are all going to my place. Then Neal will make us some tea, because he is the only one allowed near El's tea cupboard and then we will figure out what to put into our reports and how to deal with the rest of the situation."

They nod, finding no issue with the plan. Neal's smile looks a little smug after the comment about the tea, but Peter chooses to ignore that and move towards the exit.

Lugging the shopping cart up the stairs is not an exciting prospect, but then Neal seems to steel himself and mentions that while he may be limited for now, he is not completely cut off from his 'abilities'. Peter is not sure how that is helpful until Neal pokes around the cart for a moment before gripping it carefully around the bottom and lifting it almost above his head. Diana whistles in appreciation, and Jones doesn't stop staring at him in wonder all the way to the top.

Peter falls into step with Neal on their way to the car. "So, when you say 'abilities'," he starts casually. "You obviously mean more than the shape-shifting thing."

He glances expectantly at Neal, who crinkles his eyes at him, face mostly hidden behind Jones's scarf.

"Yes, Peter, I do." He seems to hesitate a little. "It's honestly a lot of things, and I'd rather get the backstory out of the way first, because explaining the abilities without it is a bit like explaining the specific techniques of impressionism to someone who is wearing a blindfold. Possible, but much easier if you can just wait for them to take it off and see the paintings."

Peter huffs at the metaphor but lets it drop.

"Not even a 'short version' for us?" Diana asks teasingly.

Neal shakes his head in amusement. "I can do that, but I don't think you'd be very happy to hear it without getting the long one immediately. I don't think... Well, you guys freaked out about the gun thing, and it really is not anywhere close to the worst or least believable part."

That kills the lighthearted atmosphere pretty thoroughly. Peter tries to not imagine the horrors that his CI had to deal with, apparently as a kid. He is pretty sure he will learn the truth soon enough, and he's going to need his emotional control as strong as it can be until then.

He unlocks the car and opens the trunk.

Neal sighs while transferring the loose tech parts into some bags Peter always has in his car for emergencies and unexpected grocery runs. Peter notices that he keeps one of the bags with him, making sure to not jostle it too much. He makes a note to keep away from it. And maybe lock it from Satchmo.

"Yeah," Neal says quietly after closing the trunk. "Sorry about that. It's not really going to be a very nice day for any of us." He smiles wryly, climbing into the backseat with Jones. "Not exactly the fun 'meeting an alien' experience you might have been expecting," he adds, grinning teasingly at Diana. She blushes a little but doesn't deny it.

"Are you?" asks Jones, unable to fight his curiosity any longer. Neal raises an eyebrow. "An alien, I mean."

Peter keeps his eyes firmly on the road.

"No, no," Neal laughs brightly, before pausing for a moment. Peter's heart sinks a little. "Or, well. That's actually... hmm. I suppose that depends on your definition of an alien."

"How can someone be an alien by one definition and not by another?" Diana asks with a puzzled frown.

They are standing at a red light, so Peter can look at their faces. Neal smiles widely, showing off an impressive array of sharp teeth. Peter has a feeling that whatever comes out of his mouth is going to be very bad for Peter's blood pressure.

"Well, you see, I was born on Earth to human parents, that much is true. I grew up on planet Earth, in the country of the USA. Amity Park, Illinois state to be precise. This would usually preclude someone from being considered an alien when they are on planet Earth."

He smiles even wider, somehow, at Diana's confused expression. "Yes," she agrees. "That is a pretty good indicator that someone is not an alien."

Jones snorts. "I sense a but, Caffrey."

"But!" Neal agrees gleefully, and Diana's eyes narrow suspiciously. Peter wishes he didn't have to watch the road and could just close his eyes and pretend to sleep until they were in his nice home, drinking warm tea and coming up with a plan to falsify evidence in a federal investigation. "But! I was not born on this planet! Neither were my parents or any of my ancestors. In fact, I had never been to this planet, the planet we are on currently, until a little after my 16th birthday."

Peter carefully relaxes his grip on the steering wheel. They are almost 20 minutes away from his and El's house, and he cannot deal with earth-shattering revelations and mind-bending puzzles while driving.

"Now, hang on a minute, Caffrey," Diana frowns. "You just said that you were born and raised on planet Earth! You can't just turn around and claim that you had not set foot on it until you were 16. That makes no sense at all!"

Jones smirks. "Unless you are claiming that there is another planet named 'Earth', somewhere in the universe, with a country that has the same state and abbreviates the same way as ours."

Neal chews on his lower lip thoughtfully, long enough that Jones's confident smirk starts to strain and finally shakes his head. "I don't want to just say no to that, because a universe is so vast and varied that I couldn't be absolutely certain of this, but I highly doubt that another planet that is that similar to ours exists in this universe."

Diana huffs, frustrated. "Meaning you are not from it, got it."

Neal smiles beatifically at her, and she scowls darkly. "I will even amend my statements," he continues. "Fact one: I was born and raised in Amity Park, Illinois, USA, planet Earth, which is the third planet from the Sun, located in the Solar System, in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is part of the Virgo Supercluster. Among others." He grins and licks his lips in excitement. With the fangs, the gesture looks evenly split between adorable and threatening.

Jones mouths the words 'Virgo Supercluster' confusedly.

"Fact two: We are in the US, also on planet Earth, in the Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Virgo Supercluster. And others."

Neal's smile widens. Peter sighs. He is getting a headache, but he is happy to deal with it in silence if that means Neal is smiling and joking around and not shaking apart in his arms. He would also like his agents to be a bit quicker on the uptake, but it has been a long day, so they get a pass this time.

"Fact three," Neal almost chirps. Peter contemplates whether the difference in his biology is strictly external. "I was not born on this planet and did not grow up here either. I arrived here for the first time soon after turning 16 and have lived here since then."

He nods to himself and watches Jones and Diana with an expectant expression. Peter stops at a red light and catches Neal's eye in the rear-view mirror. His CI raises an eyebrow, and Peter smirks, looks at the other occupants of the car, and turns back, smile turning smug. Neal's eyes widen a little, and he practically beams in excitement. Literally, as well, the faint glow around his skin growing slightly more intense, and the constellations on his cheeks twinkling brighter than before.

Peter re-focuses on the road. 10 minutes to home. Diana shakes her head angrily.

"This doesn't make any sense," she cries out finally. "Is this some cosmic edition of '2 truths, 1 lie'? At least two of those are mutually exclusive."

Neal shakes his head.

"Nope."

"It's a special Caffrey version of the game," Peter can't stop himself from butting into the conversation. "Called '3 truths, 1 existential crisis'. You cannot win unless you shatter your opponent's worldview at least once per round." Neal smirks. "He is going to be playing it a lot today, I suggest you get ready for the experience."

Jones narrows his eyes in suspicion. "You figured it out!" he accuses Peter. "You know what he is talking about!"

"Maybe," Peter hedges.

"You absolutely do, you have that look in your eyes, the one you get when you and Caffrey close a case. Man, that's not fair," Jones slumps in his seat. "What am I missing here?"

"Whatever it is, you are not the only one," Diana grumbles dejectedly.

"Wait, that's it!" Jones straightens up in excitement. "Of course! 'Not the only one', 'mutually exclusive', 'existential crisis', it all makes sense together. The planets are the same planet, but you were born on one and came to live on the other, which means that you are not from this Earth, but you are from an Earth. Some version of the planet that is almost identical to ours, but located somewhere else, like a mirror reality, or, or—"

"Or another universe!" exclaims Diana, her eyes wide in wonder. "Is that true? Is the theory of the multiverse correct?"

Neal pauses before answering that one and considers it carefully. "While the theory of the multiverse is not incorrect, the existence of my world has nothing to do with the rate of expansion of matter. Our universes are basically identical, down to languages and modern pop culture. It's maybe easier to call them parallel worlds, or split timelines. The theory of the multiverse, on the other hand, is mostly concerned with universes with entirely different laws of physics and processes of creation. Most of those have no life as we understand it, though I am far from an expert on them." He looks so modest and contrite in that moment that Peter snorts, almost crashing through the door of his garage. Neal Caffrey and humility really don't mix well. Neal winks at him and continues. "I haven't really gone to those places, especially since most of them are uninhabitable or incomprehensible for human or human-adjacent minds."

He looks at them, bites his lip, and adds, quietly, "Which I am by the way."

Neal goes even quieter at that, holds very still and speaks carefully and deliberately. Peter finishes parking the car, pushes the 'close' button on the garage door remote, and gives all of his attention to Neal. This seems important.

"As you have guessed," Neal says, intense in a way they have never seen him before. "I am not completely human. But when it comes to intelligence, I am just as sentient as a human: emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, and in any other way. I am not more or less sentient than any of you or any of the people you know or the rest of the world. Is that clear?"

It feels like a vice grip is squeezing Peter's heart. Did Neal just imply that someone considered him...? Hot fury rises in his chest, and he pushes it down, squashes it mercilessly. He reminds himself that Neal needs him to be supportive right now, not to stalk off to fight unreachable demons.

He's missed Jones's confused but firm agreement and Diana's horrified assurances, and now Neal is staring into his eyes from the rear-view mirror. Peter twists in his seat to look him in the eyes directly.

"Neal," he says quietly, intently. "If anyone implies that you are not sentient ever again, I am going to use every resource at my disposal to ruin their life and make sure that you never have to see them again."

Neal stares at him, as if transfixed. The loud clang! of the garage door closing against the floor makes them both flinch. Neal averts his eyes and lets out a shaky breath. "Yeah," he whispers. "I know." He puts his head in his hands, elbows propped on his knees. "Sorry," he continues louder. "I brought the mood down again."

Peter shakes his head incredulously.

"Don't apologize for standing up for yourself," Diana tells him, pulling off her seatbelt. Peter notices that he is the only one who is still wearing his, and quickly unbuckles it and gets out of the car. Jones puts his left hand on Neal's upper arm and gives him a moment to pull away or protest before draping the arm across his shoulders and pulling the CI into a half-hug. They stay like that for several moments, both losing some of their tension in the comfort of a physical touch. When they break apart and climb out of the car, Peter puts his arm around Neal and draws him against himself, keeping the man close even as they climb up the stairs to the Burke living room and are greeted by over-enthusiastic Satchmo.

Peter looks down and smiles at the younger man. "So, about that tea," he starts. Neal raises his right palm with a laugh.

"Say no more," he answers and disappears into the kitchen.

Peter motions the agents to sit down at the table and goes to grab a set of coasters and some pens and paper. While Jones and Diana freshen up and take their seats, he texts El with a short summary of the day's events, leaving most of the exciting things out, and places a call to Agent Blake who will get the dubious honor of picking up their work for the day.

He hopes Agent Blake has better luck with Catherine Woolridge's expense forms than Peter.

AN: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, is it actually an alien lifeform?

Also, hey, Danny's life is kinda fucked up from the point of view of a normal person, isn't it. But at least he can now geek out about space and physics as Neal Caffrey, who is not supposed to have picked up a handmade realistic scale model of a mars rover in his life. The newfound competency in physics and engineering is definitely not adding to the agents' mental crisis.

#dp x wc #danny phantom x white collar #unnamed dpxwc reveal fic #spooky stories #some good time is had here #a little #as a treat #dw that won't last long #phantom thief

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beesechurgerzz · 1 year

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*hands you dan* i love your headcanons for this sad miserable man. Keep talking pls

aaaa tyyy!!! i find it wildly fascinating how the fandom portrays dan in such different and varying ways, specifically the many ways they translate dan's self into his obsession and all, but sometimes it just feels like there could be something more yknow? and this isn't throwing shade at anyone, i enjoy reading all kinds of interpretations, it's just that at times it seems like dan is viewed as a sort of means to an end kinda thing, as just one more drop to the whump bucket that is danny, and while yes, the whole situation would definitely have had a huge negative impact on danny (even tho the show never acknowledges it again >>) i feel like in some cases it's a bit, misshandled? maybe that's not the best word, so maybe more of a missed potential thing? miss interpreted even

one thing i did see in some posts was that some people expressed a bit of discontentment with the way dan is portrayed as solely a danny thing, and by that i mean that they thought that putting all the weight of dan's existence onto danny was bogus because vlad was in the mix, and like, i understand where they're coming from, i really do, but there's actually a lot going on in TUE that points to this being explicitly danny's ghost half actions.

before fusing, danny's ghost half deliberately took the surgery gloves, he smiled while he wore them, and he, out of his own volition, dug them into vlad's chest to take 'plasmius' out. furthermore, even before the procedure vlad had already been showing signs of remorse for what had happened:

this is vlad's face after seeing danny somberly looking at a photo of his family and friends after the explosion, he'd been, seconds before this, smirking and acting smug about getting what he wanted, but i think this is the start of him finally realizing just what they both had lost for that to have happened, and in my personal opinion, he might've been wondering if it had been worth it. on the other hand:

this is what danny's ghost self looked like before attacking vlad. some people have pointed out that vlad's story shouldn't be taken as truth given his manipulative nature, but honestly i think that he would have no particular reason to lie. he may have lost his ghost powers, but do you think he wouldn't have taken the opportunity to try and take down present danny since the chance was right there? in a way, future danny ruined him, it was a type of violation that people don't really want to talk about since it's vlad, but it's what happened. danny isn't a saint, he's far from it really, he does a lot of learning on how to be a better person through different instances of the series:

- Attack of the Killer Garage Sale- selling his parent's invention scraps and parts for money so he could buy clothes for a party (he gave the money back at the end of the ep but he still went against his father's instructions to not throw the parts out)

-Spitting Image- danny uses his powers against dash after getting bullied (he learns from his mistake but still repeats it later in the series)

-Fright Night- danny steals frightnight's sword with the intent of cheating the halloween competiton

-The Ultimate Enemy- you all know (him cheating the test by stealing the answers)

-The Fright Before Christmas- lack of empathy after destroying ghost writer's story just for it being christmas themed; his stubbornness also ruins christmas for his friends and family

-Eye for an Eye- literally swatting vlad

and so on. the point being, yes danny can be extremely selfless and takes on the responsibility of fighting ghosts since he opened the portal, but he's still human, and most importantly, he's still a kid, he's 14. that being said, it doesn't mean he can't be infuriatingly petty and stubborn to a fault, so while wanting to attribute a part of dan's personality to vlad, it should always be extremely important to remember that danny also has the capacity to do wrong.

i think i went a bit off topic there aqndjwf, anyways-

i think what i want to say with all of this is that dan's an entity of his own. he has neither vlad's nor danny's motivations, none of the feelings either had for the fenton's in their own way: (he had no issues mocking maddie and killing her, something that love obsessed vlad would never do, neither would danny who loves his mother although a bit distantly), he singles jazz out throughout TUE's events, and also has no qualms with making her die ( jazz being danny's most loved familial tie, the one person he trusts outside of tucker and sam), and he also doesn't view himself as danny unless he's taking a jab at someone's feelings.

-"i am your boy" he says to maddie when she asks him what he's done to danny, even though she isn't her son

-"what kind of parents are you anyway?" the world's leading ghost experts, and you can't figure out your own son was half ghost" he doesn't say "you couldn't figure out I was half ghost", he said they couldn't figure out their son was a halfa, which contradicts his previous "i am your boy" line, confirming that he only uses those terms when he wants to hurt

another point for the 'dan is separate from danny' deal is that he exists outside of time. he wasn't worried about danny defeating him in TUE's finale because he said that he was still there, therefore danny still turned into him, but he loses, so that couldn't possible have been true. by his own logic he should be gone, and by the show's logic (as seen by the other time travel instance during Masters of Time), undoing a timeline means it has no impact on its original. (stopping the cause [college portal incident] meant there were no repercussions [plasmius jack, married vlad/maddie]). by those guidelines, danny stopping the explosion should mean no dan at all, but he still exists, so he isn't tied to danny's fate specifically.

he is a possibility. it could mean that the burger joint explosion wasn't the only way he could be created, but the knowledge of that possible outcome should be a sufficient deterrent to thwart it, so it's back to square one. that's actually another complaint i've seen- that danny being afraid of turning into dan doesn't make sense since he made sure that that future couldn't happen, but i think they all miss the principle of it- that being that danny saw his potential to be his own worst self, and that he doesn't want that. but now that he knows he can, he'll always wonder if what he's doing is the right thing, or if it'll have a domino effect that leads him to becoming that, since the exam cheating was such an inconsequential action and all compared to the many other acts danny has pulled off.

tldr for this section is that dan is actually more like dani in that they're derivatives from danny, but still their own person. (i might make another post later about what i think dani's obsession would be [spoiler: i think it's life itself] but i suck at writing </3)

dani was created by vlad, but that doesn't define her, and neither should plasmius aspects define dan. or danny's for that matter. their similarities are mostly physical, and even those are vastly altered, and there isn't much personality wise. on top of havig the trauma of witnessing his family and friends die, living with a man he hated and growing distance with your other half, dan has 10 years on danny, and by the looks of it that decade was spent on his own, wreaking havoc. he's very much not sane. that mental unbalance doesn't mean that vlad is at the metaphorical wheel, it just highlights that the human mind just can't deal with the stress of the circumstances danny went through at age 14. his own death went unprocessed, and that's why i think dan redemption is very viable.

since we spoke of dan redemption, and this will be the last topic since this is getting extremely long (sorry asker 😔), i think jazz could help him. despite holding a large amount of animosity towards her in TUE, jazz could still be the best shot dan has at proper therapy. jazz would have to be convinced i'm sure (she'd have to remember TUE events for her to properly help, and i dont think she'd be too thrilled), but that's still a version of her brother. she'd help not as a sister, but as a therapist. (i actually have a mini fic in the works for that but who know how long that'll take so </3) the trick with therapy is that people need to want to be helped/ they need to accept needing help, and dan is very much,,, not willing. but therapy is nothing if not a work of patience and a space for learning, and if there's one thing to counteract the personification of grief, then it has to be acceptance. and time too :)

once again ty for the wonderful ask ajhdwj, sorry for rambling so much 😔

#ask!!!#oughh i spoke too much maybe;;;;#dp dan #long post #danny phantom

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gunebuggieswriting · 7 months

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Whumptober Day Six: Recording | Made To Watch | "It should have been me."

I've Died But You Can Still Break Me

[AO3]

Danny Phantom, Danny-Centric, Shocks, Torture, Nonconsenual touching (not sexual), Separate Danny and Phantom, Hurt no Comfort, Words: 2152

Danny woke up in a start, fresh beads of sweat going down his forehead. With wide eyes he scanned his dim surroundings, realizing he was sitting upright. He glanced down, and fear bubbled up inside him as he took in the straps wrapped around him.

His brain clicked and he remembered everything that led him here. How he took a nasty hit by a newly created ecto-gun the GIW was using. It had been like every other fight with them before that. He would try to solve his actual problem while actively avoiding the white dressed idiots. They were usually no problem, only a mere annoyance to Danny.

They changed, it wasn't the usual agents that went after him. They were trained, and Danny had never seen them until he was falling out of the sky. The weapon they used was new as well, and he had a sinking suspicion who made it. It became obvious whenever he saw the huge V engraved in the side, and he swore he'd teach Vlad how much the weapons he made really hurt. That not everything was worth money or power.

He couldn't right now though, and he was in a much more dire situation. As to make matters worse for him the weapon hit him hard enough to cause him to go unconscious, and therefore detransform. He knew it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't stayed up the night before studying for his finals, but he also knew he couldn't fail those tests if he wanted to move up the grade alongside his friends.

Not like it mattered now, whenever he was kidnapped by the government and stuck in some secret location. Who knows what the GIW will do to him. With them now knowing his secret identity there was no doubt they'd use that to their advantage. He can already feel dread at the thought of them having revealed his identity to the whole world. If he did get out of here, which he will, he has to, how will he deal with damage control? It's not like he could magically make everyone forget like the time he had the Reality Gauntlet.

It was times like this he wished he didn't destroy the ancient artifact. He couldn't allow it to get into anybody else's evil hands though, having already learned from Freakshow, so he supposed he did the right thing at that moment.

The GIW didn't seem to realize that Danny was awake yet, as they didn't come storming in demanding answers and confessions of crimes he didn't commit. It was only a matter of time before they did, and Danny should use this time to his advantage while he could.

He observed his surroundings with much more purpose, no longer lost in his anxious thoughts, trying to find anything that could help him out. His lips pulled down in disappointment whenever he realized he could see nothing but a mostly barren room. There was a single hanging light above him, a soft yellow glow illuminating little of the room, leaving most of it in shadows. From what he could make out there was a single door to his right, along with a huge window beside it. It was most likely one-sided, like he would see in those crime shows Jazz was so interested in. There was also a screen a few feet away from him, facing directly towards him, feeling pretty out of place. He had a feeling that they wouldn't be allowing him to watch cartoons on the television, and he didn't want to know what they had planned.

With nothing else to go off of, he looked back down to himself. That's when he realized that the straps holding him were just that, normal straps. They didn't seem ecto-infused, no abnormal glow around them. He squirmed and felt that they didn't sting him in any way, except for the way the rough texture rubbed against his skin.

He smirked and remembered just who kidnapped him. They may have hired better hitmen to try and take him out, but they were mostly the same bumbling idiots as before. Of course this would be a piece of cake for him. He would say he was surprised that they didn't remember to use anti-ghost things on him, but it was the same agency he was thinking about.

It was almost too easy, but it didn't matter. As long as he could escape and fix everything before it became too late.

Turns out it was too easy, as Danny soon learned he couldn't go intangible. He tried again, to access his ghost powers, and slightly panicked whenever he didn't even feel the slightest tingle of it. He quickly glanced at his waist, wondering if he somehow missed the Specter Deflector. Only to freeze when he saw nothing, no weird shaped belt that the government could have bought from Vlad.

He tried to go intangible again, hoping for anything. He would even take a shock at this point, something indicating that he was using ghost powers and they were being blocked by something. He still felt nothing, and he tried other ghost powers, nothing working.

His breath was beginning to pick up, and that's when he realized that something felt wrong. Something was missing from him. He was used to his breaths coming out colder than a normal person's, but right now his rapidly increasing breathing was hot. Too hot.

The place in his chest usually full and composed of emotions felt abnormally empty, and oh, his core was gone. His core, the very thing that made him, was gone.

He was too warm, no ice core to cool him down. He was too heavy, no power freeing him of gravity. He was too clear headed, his mind no longer competing with his core. He was too alive, no longer dead.

It all felt wrong.

His head quickly snapped back to the blank television screen, squinting his eyes to combat the dark room. It was then that he could see his reflection. His eyes immediately traveled to the one thing sticking out, a gray streak in his otherwise raven hair.

A clear and visible sign that everything was wrong.

The dim light hanging over him suddenly turned bright, and his eyes burned from the sudden change. He couldn't close his eyes though, too taken with his appearance on the television screen. Until that was taken away too, the screen flashing on, a white screen replacing the black one he could see his reflection in.

"Looks like you finally realized what happened to you." Danny's head whipped around, staring wide eyed at a tall man who had entered the room without Danny realizing it. The man had a smug smile on his face, and Danny gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"What did you do to me?" Danny spit out, venom tracing his words.

"We didn't do anything to you. Though we did do something to that ghost you were keeping around." The agent spoke with his head held high, looking down on Danny.

"That ghost is me." Danny tried, and knew it was pointless whenever the agent rolled his eyes.

"Then how were we able to separate you two? Obviously you've been allowing this illegal beast to use your body as a puppet for it's nefarious deeds. Don't try to stick up for it now." The man fixed his dark tinted sunglasses, something Danny didn't understand wearing inside, and began to move closer to Danny.

Danny watched his every move, suspicion and fear in his eyes. "You were able to separate me because you took my ghost core, which is practically ghost me all balled up in a single thing. If you whole lot weren't so stupid and ignorant maybe you'd understand that." He wasn't in the mood for any witty banter, and without his ghost half he felt like he wasn't in the position to. There were moments where it was more necessary to be serious, and this was of them.

"It seems to me that you're just pulling this all out of your ass. I mean, you could have at least tried to lie a bit better. You have ghost hunters as parents, surely you've picked up a bit from them at least? I suppose if you did you wouldn't be in this situation right now, would you?" The man continued, moving behind Danny and setting his hands on the boy's shoulders.

Danny tensed, now extremely uncomfortable, which was surprising given how uneasy he was to begin with. He shrugged his shoulders, trying to throw off the heavy hands, which only pressed harder. "All of what you and they have to say is based on biased observations, and false information. It's laughable how uniformed you truly are."

The man squeezed his shoulders, enough where it hurt, and Danny struggled against the man's touch. The agent bent over, leaning closer to Danny. "We'll see about that, now won't we? We'll be learning a lot together in these next few weeks."

Danny shivered, the low voice so close to his ear. The blatant threat made him nervous, not looking forward to what would be coming next.

After that the man backed away, instead choosing to move to the television. He pulled out a remote from inside his white jacket, and began to mess with it. Danny's eyes refocused back onto the screen, and watched as the white soon faded into a more pixelated picture replacing it. It was footage from a camera recording and Danny's eyes widened with horror as he realized just what it was.

On the other side of the screen was his other half, his ghost side, Phantom, strapped to a standing table. Shackles held the unconscious ghost in place, and Danny could tell that his ghost half wasn't as lucky as he was, the things holding him down glowing slightly. He was blindfolded as well, a bag covering his head, but Danny didn't need to see his face to know it was him.

"What are you doing? Why are you showing me this?" His words came out more like shallow breaths, his lungs barely working at this point.

"Well, one of you has to talk. Since we can't torture you, being a human still, and a minor at that, we decided to go with the next best course of action. We'll take the illegal being you've been hiding and experiment on it. Since you seem attached to the mindless thing, and it seems the ghost is refusing to cooperate, we'll just allow you to do the talking. That's if you're willing to tell us the truth, and not whatever bullshit you make up." The agent answered, seeming way too proud of himself for something so clearly evil.

Danny wanted to scream, to make these idiots see reason, but his throat was too constricted to do so. Truth? How was he supposed to tell them that whenever he couldn't speak? Any "truth" they were searching for was whatever they believed to be true anyways, so it didn't matter what Danny said, they'd keep going until they got him to say what they wanted. This whole thing was pointless, with the only "truth" they were looking for being what they "know".

"If you don't have anything to say, then let's start." The agent said, and pressed a button on the remote.

Danny flinched as he watched Phantom, him, become ignited in a wave of electrical shocks. The screams of pain was enough for Danny to want to cover his ears, or claw at them, to never hear that terrible wail again. It sounded the same as his time in the portal, and he wondered how many volts were going through his ghost half at the moment. Was it more painful considering that's how he came to be?

Danny tried to look away, to look at any other spot in the empty room other than the terrifying display being shown on the screen. The agent was behind him again, and soon his hands were on the side of his head, forcefully twisting it to look at the screen.

"Don't worry, ghosts aren't sentient. This is nothing more than a temporary reaction of stimuli. All habits to pretend it could feel something, to keep up it's living facade." The agent said, as if he couldn't hear the genuine screams of unimaginable pain coming through the speakers. "Still, if your heart is really that big that it carries compassion even for the most detestable of things, then just go ahead and tell us what we want to know and we'll stop."

Danny continued to breathe heavily, eyes forced to look at the television that had been pushed closer to his face. His eyes blurred with tears as his ghost half writhed in pain, and he began to thrash with just as much force as Phantom, wanting out.

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britcision · 1 year

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Well for today’s WIP Wednesday I had me a dilemma… because chapter 5 is damn near finished, last scene, and I don’t want to give you the whole thing early!

So instead, you get the scene I’m working on, at the end of the chapter >) also, I think I finally fixed the tag lists, but if you have asked to be tagged and still aren’t please let me know

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikoyuii @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @eonic @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy

——————-

Bumping into Tucker and Tim had been a fun coincidence, and Danny wasn’t about to miss the chance to catch up. Sure, they’d not been apart long, but a lot had happened.

First of all…

“What happened to your shoulder Tim?” Jason asked “innocently”, something just on this side of sincere worry in his eyes.

Tim made a face, rolling his shoulder and carefully cupping it.

“Oh, nothing. Just a bit of an overenthusiastic greeting by someone called Vlad,” he said nonchalantly, shooting Danny a sly smile. “He thought I was someone else.”

For just the briefest second, that hot flare of Obsession hit Jason again. Protect-mine-how dare he.

But Danny was used to those kinds of reactions; mostly from personal experience. If he even thought his friends were hurt in an attack, things got… intense.

He let his aura spread enough to stroke across Jason’s again, not moving closer while they were the center of attention. He felt the flash of surprise, and something… else?

Something softer, none of the alarm he’d felt when he’d filled the room. He stroked calm-safe-amused-he’s faking back anyway and watched Jason’t shoulders settle.

Felt a wash of embarrassed-amused-sorry more directed his way, and smiled to himself. Jason was getting good at this pretty fast.

Sam, Tuck, and Tim had kept the conversation going while they had their little halfa moment, chatting just a little louder than they should about Tim’s encounter.

Just so their neighbours could hear them without having to strain, of course.

That would be rude.

Slotting back into the conversation was easy, and honestly? Tim was also a pretty cool guy to hang out with. Danny was a little surprised by how much fun he was having.

It just went to show, the galas of nightmares could be pretty fun with friends.

There was definitely something about to start though, because people were beginning to move more pointedly towards the large doors opposite the stairs. The dining hall, if Danny remembered right.

Right. Dinner.

It was probably that which brought Damian, Dick, and Cass to join them. Dick launched easily into the story of their own encounter with Vlad and okay, being funny as fuck clearly ran in the family.

Damian was a little off though. Until he actually met Bruce, Danny couldn’t say for sure, but for now? Maybe the Waynes were just the unfunny ones.

That or something was bugging him, because he had a tight frown on his face. And… was… kinda staring at Danny.

Half an eye on the kid, Danny casually shifted away to the right. The glare followed, so yeah - gonna say that was for him.

It was kinda cute really. For all the kid wanted to play tough guy and pretend he didn’t care, he basically radiated a protective suspicion for Jason.

Danny had to admit he’d been weird enough when he thought anyone was threatening Jazz or his friends, so he couldn’t complain. Just felt weird to be on the other side of.

Just as they were approaching the wide open doors, the Mansons popped up again, absolutely beaming to see Sam surrounded by the full crop of Waynes.

“I’m so happy to see you all getting along, poor Samantha does get so lonely at these events sometimes,” Pamela trilled happily, patting her daughter on the shoulder.

Sam, Manson Party Smile in place, glanced at the hand like she was seriously considering biting it. Danny hid a grin of his own.

“We’re sorry to break up the party, but we should be getting our two off to our table,” Jeremy explained, giving Sam a beaming smile and pretending Danny didn’t exist.

Jason cut in immediately, bestowing a charming smile on both of them and offering Sam his hand. Which she gave a sidelong look to, then slowly took.

Pamela’s eyes all but whirred like camera lenses as she locked onto the gesture.

“Actually, I was just about to invite Sam to join me at our table? And Danny too of course,” Jason added as an afterthought, also not looking for Danny.

For the best, because he wasn’t sure he could hold in all the giggles. No chance of the Mansons noticing anyway, because they were on cloud nine.

“Oh, how wonderful! It would certainly give you some more time to get to know each other,” Pamela gushed, the hand on Sam’s shoulder giving her daughter a sudden little shove closer to Jason.

As if there was any chance she might have missed the super subtle parental semaphore all evening.

And Sam deserved an Oscar.

Glancing up to Jason, she let the Party Smile slip more into a real, shy one, quickly looking away like she didn’t want to be caught looking.

“Yeah, okay. Sounds good,” she said quietly, her grip tightening just a little.

If Danny hadn’t known she’d never been shy in a relationship in her life he could have easily bought into this Bridgerton bullshit. As it was, he and Tuck exchanged grins, wishing for popcorn.

Jeremy took his wife by the arm before she could dissolve into delighted tittering, inclining his head to the group.

“I’m sure we’ll see you after dinner then. Have fun,” he told Sam, and for just a moment he sounded so sincerely proud that Sam’s grip tightened in Jason’s.

Then they were gone and she groaned melodramatically, dropping said hand and glaring at Tucker and Danny.

“Not a word,” she snapped, eyes narrowed. Both boys immediately raised their hands in abject surrender.

“Whatever would we even say?” Tuck asked innocently. Beside him Tim snickered.

“That your parents clearly read even more period romances than Jason?” He offered, and Sam’s eyes narrowed at him instead.

Then she huffed, folding her arms and dragging Jason’s hand into the crook of her elbow.

“Yeah, yeah. Get me to the table. At least I don’t have to listen to them gushing for an hour,” she grumbled, actual sadness flicking across her eyes.

Jason slipped his hand free and before she could protest, wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“C’mon, let me tell you about all the times Timmy’s fallen asleep at gala dinners,” he said innocently, shooting a wicked grin at his younger brother as he turned them away to keep walking.

Tim’s smile dropped immediately as they begun to walk, hurrying around so he could glare at Jason and walk backwards.

“Don’t you fucking dare Jason. I still have pictures of the Discowing incident,” he threatened, and unfortunately for him only made Jason grin broader.

“You did, until Babs owed me a favour,” he teased back and Tim’s eyes narrowed, hands jumping to his phone.

“Fuck off she did not, she wouldn’t,” he grumbled as he fell behind, Dick landing a companionable hand on the back of his neck to steer him along with them.

“Discowing incident?” Tucker asked, hurrying up on Jason’s other side.

Jason glanced back over his shoulder, smirking at Dick and Tim.

“Family game night. The loser has to suffer some humiliation, and when I lost they got me one of Nightwing’s old costumes to wear for photos. The one with the v-neck,” he added for explanation.

Coming up on Sam’s other side, his hand in the small of her back, Danny damn near tripped over his feet. He’d have fallen if Sam hadn’t caught him, a smug smirk now on her face.

At least she was feeling better.

Behind them, Dick rolled his eyes while Tucker went searching on his PDA.

“Hey, I still say that was a cool suit. More interesting than all the black spandex the rest of the bat brigade mainline,” he protested, making all three of his brothers scoff.

“Then why did he stop wearing it?” Steph asked, materialising from nowhere to toss an arm around Dick’s shoulders, just as Danny asked,

“Isn’t Nightwing’s current costume mostly black?”

Even Cass giggled, which Danny had already decided was an accomplishment. Dick gave a few half hearted defences while the others needled him, and Tucker made a triumphant noise and passed his PDA to Sam.

She angled it so Danny could see and he had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

“He fought crime in that?!” He exclaimed through his fingers, and Sam raised a pointed brow at him.

“Batman’s underwear are on the outside and this is the line?” She asked sarcastically, then turned and grinned up at Jason. “So when are you introducing me to my new best friend Babs?”

They’d reached a large oval table now… right in the front and center of the room. Right. Wayne table, Jason’s gala.

They were gonna have an audience.

Jason chuckled and grinned down at Sam, moving to pull out a chair for her just off center.

“Absolutely fucking never unless you swear to forget all you’ve heard,” he promised as the rest of his siblings minus Cass rushed around for the other side of the table.

Sam snorted a laugh, taking the seat and letting him tuck her in.

“Look at what I am fucking wearing. Give me the disco suit and I’ll wear that with pride,” she pointed out, gesturing to the mass of bows.

Dick won the race, by diving into the seat Tim had just pulled out and locking his legs underneath it. He leaned immediately across the table and grinned at Sam.

“Are you busy tomorrow?” He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Steph dropped down to sit beside him.

“We could go later tonight?” She offered, and both laughed when Jason flicked a napkin at them, taking his own seat.

“You’re both the fucking worst, and Babs has shit on you too,” he reminded them, with no real effect.

Danny took a seat Sam’s other side, Tucker winding up beside Danny on the curve. That left Tim with a seat almost half opposite Tucker, on the other side of the round.

Further from the main action, but honestly, he took it with good grace. Better than Damian, who despite having the seat on Dick’s other side, near the middle of the table, was still sulking.

Maybe because he’d had to wait for a new chair to be brought? Cass had the other new chair, at Jason’s other side.

No one seemed worried that they’d left the table unbalanced, mostly down at one end.

A couple of attendants had already hurried over with three extra chairs, disappearing again for place settings as the Waynes passed cutlery around.

Danny figured this was what throwing the party (and having more money than your average country) did for you. People didn’t make a fuss when plans changed.

The hall was still pretty loud, people finding their seats and getting comfortable. Across the table Dick leaned forward, grinning broadly at Sam and Danny.

“So, we know about Sam and her folks. What about you, Danny? Do you have any family nearby?” He asked, ignoring a warning look from Jason.

Danny appreciated it, but he didn’t really mind. Odds on, he’d be getting to know Jason’s family better at some point. They seemed pretty close.

“Nah, my sister’s studying psychology in Star City and both parents are still in Illinois. We sort of spread out.” Not least so both he and Jazz could have some time away from home.

Time to pretend to be normal. And somewhere nobody knew the name Fenton.

Dick nodded cheerfully, but Danny didn’t miss how both Damian and Steph’s eyes had narrowed. They were gonna remember what he said for later.

Fun. Maybe he should be doing some interrogating back.

Dick had already moved on though, still with that charming smile.

“Can’t say I know much about that, the furthest I got from home was Bludhaven,” he said companionably, tugging Damian in for a hug. “Can’t let the little ones do without their biggest brother.”

Damian squirmed viciously, sputtering protests, and Steph laughed and pulled Dick into a headlock.

“Jason’s bigger,” she teased, and Danny couldn’t help glancing over from the corner of his eye.

Jason was a lot bigger. In just about every direction. To be fair, Jason was bigger than some cars.

Dick squirmed free with surprising flexibility, releasing Damian who huffed and corrected his outfit immediately. Danny figured it was as good a time as any to do some sleuthing back.

“Bludhaven, huh? What do you do there?”

“I’m a cop,” Dick answered with an easy shrug. “I guess I got in the habit of wrangling these little bastards.”

Sam snorted a laugh beside him and Danny hid a grin in his hands. He was probably gonna regret that.

“You grew up in Gotham and became a cop?” She asked, heavy with derision. Beside Danny Tucker snickered, leaning over to whisper to Tim.

“And you thought you had it bad before.” Which, yeah. ACAB was Sam’s other favourite mantra after Eat The Rich.

Dick shrugged again, not losing his cheerful grin yet and spread his hands.

“That’s kinda why I did it. There were always so many corrupt cops, I wanted there to be at least someone that people could count on,” he explained like it might save him.

Sam stifled most of the second laugh.

“Oh, sorry, I thought you said you became a cop, not a firefighter. Is he a snitch too?” She asked Steph, who looked like Christmas had either come a little late or extremely early.

“Not to Bruce, but he did threaten to arrest me for parking near a fire route,” she said with a wicked grin.

Decidedly pouting now, Dick threw both hands into the air.

“I was kidding! I didn’t actually arrest her!” He argued as the rest of the table booed. Even Damian.

“Just another corrupt cop,” Sam sighed, shaking her head. Dick opened and closed his mouth a few times, then frowned.

“Wait so I’m a snitch if I do arrest people and corrupt if I don’t? How am I supposed to win?” He complained, the pout still mostly playful.

Sam stared him dead in the eye, devoid of mercy.

“Not be a cop.”

Dick groaned dramatically and Steph laughed, reaching over to pinch his cheeks.

“Hey, we told you when you joined,” she pointed out cheerfully and Dick sighed.

“Well, yeah, but the system’s not gonna change if no one ever does anything, is it?”

Tucker and Danny exchanged looks. Grins. And were slightly surprised when Jason beat Sam to the punch.

“Corrupt systems don’t change from the inside, Dickie,” he said with a smirk. Dick pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“Hey, you can’t talk. He likes Red Hood,” he explained as an aside to the Amity Parkers as if it might help his case.

Jason spread his hands, grinning.

“Hey, I came from the Alley, I’m allowed to appreciate a guy cleaning it up. Which the cops never even tried,” he added smugly. Dick huffed.

“Red Hood killed people.”

“So do the police,” Sam pointed out with a smirk of her own and Dick deflated.

“Red Hood stopped,” Jason joined in, jumping on the moment of weakness. “I bet his bodycount is less than Bludhaven PD’s.”

Steph and Tim both snickered at that, although Danny wasn’t quite sure why. It seemed a little more innuendo ridden than just enjoying Dick’s suffering.

And Jason’s cheeks definitely pinked. But he ignored them. Yeah, Danny had some follow up questions for later.

From Jason’s other side, Cass signed something that Danny couldn’t quite catch from this angle, but Steph nodded quickly.

“Yeah, good point Cass. She wants to know what you guys think about vigilantes,” she explained, looking expectantly at Sam.

Who frowned for a moment, then shrugged.

“At least they’re getting something done. But someone needs to look into Batman hoarding children,” she said dryly, and most of the table snickered.

“I think most of them follow him,” Tim pointed out in an effort to be fair. Steph and Jason both made faces at him and he flipped them both off.

“But do you have a favourite of Gotham’s vigilantes?” asked Dick, leaping onto the subject change with both feet.

Danny cast a quick glance at Jason, but he looked about as entertained as the rest of the table. It must have been something they talked about a lot.

Or the rest of the Waynes were the rest of the bats. But Danny didn’t want to assume… unless it would be funny.

Without the key of Jason’s old Robin connection, Sam and Tucker probably wouldn’t get there.

Sam was pursing her lips, probably thinking about her options. She’d know more of them than him or Tucker, but Danny figured he knew most of the big players.

“Black Bat,” she finally decided, leaning back in her seat, “but Batwoman definitely fucks.”

This was met with general agreement, Danny frowning for a moment. He’d not had many bat sightings since moving to Gotham, but…

“She definitely says fuck,” he agreed with a snicker. Sam punched his shoulder.

“You can’t talk. Who’s your favourite, new town boy?”

Rubbing his arm and feigning great injury, Danny stuck his tongue out at her. Thought for a moment longer.

“Signal’s pretty great,” he decided, tipping his chair back for a moment to frown at the ceiling, “I passed by the mall after a rogue attack one time and he was teaching the kids to do flips.”

“After the rogue was in custody?” Steph asked, but she was still grinning. Danny shrugged.

“I dunno, I don’t talk to cops.”

Dick let out another wounded groan and Sam snickered, then leaned forward to look at Tucker.

“How about you?”

Tucker hesitated for a moment, clearly torn. Then he visibly drew in his courage and looked around the table expectantly.

“Have you guys heard of the Oracle?” He asked, voice heavy with anticipation. The surrounding Gothamites stilled, watching him expectantly.

Sam rolled her eyes.

“If you’re not wearing spandex are you even a vigilante?” She asked dryly. Tucker flipped her off.

“Hey, Oracle’s done more for this city than any of the bats! More for the whole world!”

“It’s a legend in the hacker community,” Danny “explained”, keeping an eye on Dick and Steph as the two opposite him. And less obviously hacker connected.

If they were the bats and Oracle existed, they’d know.

“They’re a master hacker that can break any system, any time, and gathers all the evidence to put people like Roman Sionis behind bars,” Tucker said, taking over the explanation.

With his usual dramatic aplomb, planting both hands flat on the table and leaning forward impressively, his voice low and conspiratorial.

“No one knows who they are or anything about them. You just find their tracks sometimes, especially when there’s a really big rogue attack or someone gets busted too soon.”

“Sounds kinda like a rumour,” Dick offered with a small shrug, glancing at Tim. “How about you, Tim? Have you heard of an Oracle?”

Tim hesitated for a moment, just long enough for Steph to snicker.

“Guess if there is one they don’t bother with Bludhaven PD,” she said smugly, dodging when Dick swung half heartedly at her. “Police brutality!”

Dick groaned whole heartedly as the others laughed, sinking back into his seat.

“But seriously, why doesn’t anyone like Nightwing?” He grumbled, arms folded as he pouted at his siblings. “He was on the scene before it was cool.”

‘Before he had to be cool,’ Cass signed, shuffling a little further around the curve of the oval so the rest of the table could see her.

Dick’s head snapped up when Steph and Sam laughed harder, pouting at his sister.

“Hey! Not fair when I’m not looking!”

‘Pay attention then,’ she signed back, her expression all sweet and studied innocence.

At the other end of the table Tucker decided to take a little pity on the guy.

“Nightwing’s okay. I liked that suit,” he said with a shrug and a grin. Dick straightened in his seat, grinning over at him.

“Finally, a man of distinction and taste!”

“Cops don’t get opinions,” Sam smirked, leaning forward to grin at Tucker, “so what’s your excuse?”

Tucker stuck his nose in the air, pointedly looking away from her.

“We’re not all goth, Sam. Some of us have heard of colours.”

“Spoiler wears purple,” Tim put in helpfully, pulling up a picture to show him. Tucker leaned in for a moment, then nodded.

“Yeah that’s pretty cool too. Capes are in,” he added, shooting a meaningful look at Danny. Who rolled his eyes, both hands in the air.

“And when they come in for those of us not wearing identity obscuring masks, I’ll wear one,” he replied dryly. Tucker pshawed at him, waving a hand.

“You’re in Gotham, how weird would it be?” He asked off handedly. Danny sighed and then looked pointedly around the rest of the table.

“Weird?” Steph offered, shrugging.

“Pretty fuckin’ weird,” Jason agreed and Danny folded his arms and grinned at Tucker.

“I’m not breaking my win streak by letting some rogue mistake me for a bat. You wear a cape while you’re here,” he said, sticking out his tongue.

Whatever Tucker was about to say was lost when Dick sat up sharply, face bright with renewed enthusiasm.

“Wait, Danny, does that mean you haven’t been in a rogue attack before?” He asked eagerly, which was just a little too fucking weird.

Even weirder, the rest of the Gothamites looked equally excited. Even Damian managed a smug anticipation around his piercing stare.

Danny felt kind of like he was in a freak show display case.

“Uh… yeah? But I bet loads of people in Gotham haven’t and it’s only been a year…” his excuses were immediately batted away as Steph clasped her hands in front of her.

“Oh that means tonight is gonna be your first! That’s so exciting!” She squealed happily.

Danny and Tucker gave her weird looks, but to their surprise it was Sam who answered, sighing and leaning back in her seat.

“At least one rogue always attacks a gala,” she explained, waving a hand around them, “it’s all of Gotham’s wealthiest in one place. It’s why we don’t come here much,” she added, eyes narrowing in frustration.

Beside her Jason frowned down at her. Probably trying to work out the frustration.

“Because they don’t think it’s safe? One of the bats always deals with it,” he added when Tucker and Danny still looked confused.

Sam snorted and shook her head.

“Because they think I’ll start something during the attack,” she huffed, folding her arms and glaring at Tucker and Danny. Daring them to comment.

Tucker, unafraid of death with Danny between them, snickered.

“You’ll finish something during the attack,” he corrected, ignoring the sudden concerned looks from the Gothamites.

Sam’s eyes narrowed further but she let the comment stand. Steph leaned forward a little, looking nervous for the first time.

“It’s usually better not to get involved?” She offered, sounding almost apologetic. “The rogues can be pretty dangerous and you don’t want to call attention to yourself.”

“I doubt that would be an issue,” Damian snapped, eyes narrowed as he trained that glare on Sam instead of Danny.

She stared him down, then nodded sharply.

“He gets it. Anyway, you don’t have to worry, I got the lecture half a dozen times when we flew in. “No punching assholes, or any criminals”,” she mimicked her mom’s perky tones, heavily sarcastic air quotes stretched alongside.

Stifling a grin, Danny suddenly noticed something.

“Hey wait, I didn’t get the no punching speech?”

“Maybe they’re hoping you die in the rogue attack,” Tucker snickered, shooting Jason a sly grin.

——————

Whole thing is on AO3 under Danny Fenton: Dead and Loving It, link is in the first chapter under the tag!

#dp x dc #wip wednesday #danny fenton dead and loving it #finally sam get im #dead on main ship

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