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#hey danny think you can do anything about that generator? and hes like sure thing fam and then freezes it

deadsetobsessions · 2 months

Text

Gothic mushroom shaped candles. Danny picked one up, grinning. Sam would have love these on her alters. Very Sam, very Gotham.

It a bit bittersweet, now that he could think of her without being paralyzed by crushing grief. Her and Tucker both. Danny turned, keeping an eye on Tim as he glared into the case of used cameras.

Danny walked over and tried not to feel guilty about practically mooching off of a child. Even if the money he was using was actually the Drakes’.

“Like anything you see?”

Tim shook his head. Danny pondered over what little he knew of photography- all of which he learned from documentaries that were more focused on nature.

“I think there might be a camera store a couple of blocks down. We could get the ones that takes photos of animals, like the really big ones that takes photos of wildlife?”

“I guess. I mean, I don’t need it since we can…” Tim glanced around suspiciously. Danny willed his mouth to not smile at Tim’s antics. “Fly close,” the kid finished in a whisper.

“Okay, but what about when I’m not there?”

Tim hunched up on himself and Danny despaired inwardly. Uh oh, what did he say now?”

“Are you going somewhere?” Tim quietly asked, sounding hurt and upset.

“No,” Danny soothed, patting Tim on the head. I mean, what if I’m busy with stuff but you want to go take pictures without me?”

“You said to go get you whenever I wanna go out to take pictures.”

“Okay, yeah, I- well, we might as well get you a quality camera, right? To take really really good pictures of the… local wildlife. Like… the birds and the bats, and all that.” Danny winked exaggeratedly.

Tim blinked and giggled when he got the joke. “Okay, as long as you’re staying!”

Danny grinned, fangs and all. “Of course.”

——

At the end of their shopping spree, generously provided and sponsored by the Drake family and their heavy black card, Danny got a phone and Tim got a wild life camera that was a whopping $4,000 but was compact enough to not look absolutely ridiculous.

“It’s heavy!” Tim whined, as he grinned like a loon.

“It’s quality,” Danny plopped the shopping bags on the island in one of the giant kitchens Drake manor had. “I’ll make dinner. You figure out those settings and you can tell me about it when we eat.”

“Okay!” Tim hummed excited, quick fingers and laser focus already aimed at his new device.

Danny picked up his new phone and dialed a number he knew by heart. As it rung, Danny held it up to his ear and began prepping the ingredients. At least

“Hello?” His sister’s cautious voice came through the phone. Danny’s shoulders relaxed.

“Heya, Jazz.” He could see Tim’s ears all but perk up in order to eavesdrop. His mouth quirked up in amusement and Danny turned away. He probably shouldn’t be encouraging that kind of behavior… but it was funny.

“Danny! Are you okay? I- I heard that they chased after you and I was worried sick! Are you safe? Any injuries? Do I need to pick you up?”

“I’m good. Promise. Not bleeding out or dying. It’s actually pretty nice right now,” Danny paused before turning back a little more so he could watch Tim’s reaction peripherally. “Hey, listen, can I adopt a little brother?”

He watched Tim sit up straighter eyed flickering up to him and back down again, a secretly pleased look on his face as he figured out that Danny was in fact talking about him.

“Danny, what the hell?” Jazz huffed, audibly relieved to know that Danny wasn’t on his merry way to becoming a full on ghost. “Who, why, and what kind of trouble did you get into now?”

“Hey, this was me getting out of trouble. Those people don’t even know where I escaped to. Tim helped me out a lot,” Danny said in the tone that meant ‘and there’s more to it but I can’t tell you right now.’

“His name’s Tim?”

“Yeah, you wanna say hi?”

Tim looked terrified as he heard Danny’s side of the conversation. Danny could relate.

“Alright. But you’re explaining everything later, got it?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Danny turned to Tim, abandoning the peas he was shelling and rinsing off his hand to hold the phone.

“Tim, my sister, Jazz, wants to say hi. Are you cool with that?”

“Uhm! Yeah! Yeah, sure.” Tim, honest to ancients, squeaked. Danny’s enhanced hearing could pick up Jazz’s already melting heart. He taped a button.

“Jazz, you’re on speaker.”

“Hey, Tim. I’m Jazz. Thanks for taking care of my little brother!”

“Uh, hi, Jazz! I’m Timothy Drake! And, uh, you’re welcome! Anytime!”

Tim glanced at Danny for reassurance, relaxing a bit when the halfa threw him a double thumbs up.

Jazz went quiet.

“Jazz, you good?” Danny asked.

“We’re adopting him. Danny, you better make sure knows about everyone. Hi, Tim, I’m Jazz, your new big sister.”

“Uh- I have parents.”

“That can be fixed,” Jazz casually brushed off. Tim looked like a deer in headlights, so Danny took his sister off speaker and went back to cooking. He made sure to smile at Tim.

“Don’t worry, we won’t adopt you if you don’t want to. But it wasn’t a joke, we’re very serious.”

“I’ll think about it?”

Danny shrugged. “Good enough for me.”

“So, where are you?” Jazz asked him, rustling coming through on the phone.

“Gotham.”

“You are so fucking lucky I love you, dumbass. I’ll be there tomorrow at noon.”

“Playing hooky, are you?”

“Fuck off, little brother, before I show Tim your toddler pictures.”

“Thanks, Jazz.”

“Bye, Danny. Don’t get killed again when I’m not there, got it?”

“Sure, sure.”

Danny smiled and returned to his agenda of stuffing as many vegetables into one meal as he can. At least the food isn’t trying to tear out his face.

——

Robin hasn’t heard the eerie giggles around lately, but he’s been practicing his own. It’s weird though, because there’s always a glint of something in the corner of his eyes.

“Robin, muggers.”

“On it, B. Shall we, Batgirl?”

“Let’s go, Boy Wonder.”

#Jazz Fenton #jazz fenton casually suggesting murder #danny phantom #batman #tim drake #dc x dp #dcxdp #bamf danny phantom #Danny phantom and the weird experience of being the youngest and the oldest sibling #squatter! Danny Fenton #danny: well I don’t wanna go home so I’ll just stay here #this was in my drafts for so long lmfao #inspired by that one post where Tim had to have those expensive and giant wildlife cameras #but I think they’d get the compact one #dick Grayson #barbara gordon #Robin #batgirl

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dcxdpdabbles · 4 months

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Nice how about to give you one of my old DC DP crossover prompts

Danny is a big fanfic writer for Batman, most of the time doing Tim joins the bat family early and Alternate attack on Titan's Tower. After his accident he decides to write a Jason Todd is a halfa straight out of the grave fic. Just to get his emotions out there and to vent and it gets incredibly popular.

As Time evolves the fic itself evolves from a vent fic to a under the table way to reanalyze his ghost fights and do better by transplanting his ghosts into the fic for Jason to fight. This happens generally okay until Penelope Spectra of unlike the other ghosts she was known by the rest of the world and was actually tracked by Reddit. Making the fans realize hey this is actual going on maybe not by Jason Todd but someone is using this to reanalyze their fights under the veneer of being fiction.

Danny starts to get famous for his fanfictions when he introduces the idea of halfas for the second Robin. He's not sure what happened to the second Robbin, but there are rumors he didn't die; he just retired, and the fans all accept that as the truth.

At first, Danny writes the second Robin struggling with his double life, as alive and dead, forced to hide his existence from Batman as a secret helper at night. He uses the second Robin to freely speak about his struggles with his powers in the early days, using fiction to cover his venting.

He even gave Robin a secret identity- with a disclosure that it was all made up and he did not know anything about the Bats because fans can be crazy- with the name Noir.

He made Noir a loser in school- consistently bullied, his grades were low without Batman's help, and he even had Noir live on the streets for a while before getting flung into the Ghost Zone.

Danny didn't realize it, but his writing made Noir a loveable character to his fans, who all loved "how flawed but kind-hearted" Noir, the halfa Robin. One of Danny's best commenters always claimed that Danny captured the second Robin's character.

He quickly develops Noir into someone who grows comfortable in his role after defeating the old Ghost King and getting discovered by Batman. He made the series with Noir, focusing more on the threats of the other ghosts that came to challenge the Ghost King.

Each ghost was based on his own rouges- all fighting the same way but with different names. Danny switched his main focus from Noir being confused by his powers to Noir getting stronger and stronger through all his fights.

Instead of venting on what life had done to him, Danny used his fanfiction to analyze his fights. He often wrote about what he could have done better, only after writing the actual scene and using that in a fight later on.

He even threw in there some questions that Noir started having about boys- which in high sight he should have known Jazz would have quickly picked up on because she took him to Pride "just to experience new things, Danny!"

He confirmed Noir was bi two updates later and sat back with a smirk when all the comments started rolling in.

Noir's Double Life was his pride and joy. He thought people had to search for his fic, and no one besides his sister would ever read it. Then he made the mistake of writing in a new ghost- Penny Spectra- using her exact powers, thinking no one would recognize her.

What he forgot was that back before Danny kicked her ass into the ghost zone, was that she was a well-known school counselor. A miracle worker, they called her.

Because she always found the teenagers about to fall apart and "saved" them. She had made her way clear across the country, bringing to light issues parents and guardians had no idea their children were going through and getting them the help they needed.

Mr. Lancer had been proud of getting her to come to the school for good reason.

Most adults also didn't know that teenagers talk to each other or, like Danny, post online to vent. Her past victims- for they were victims as some had not been able to pull themselves from the darkness she plunged them into- had started a riddle trend about her.

People began to piece together that whenever she went young people became more and more depressed. They had no proof of course, so she became an urban legend, a demon that appeared as a woman in schools.

Like when a celebrity is turned into a meme for being a secret serial killer, no one takes it seriously, but they think about it in the back of their minds.

Danny just wrote about her with a far too honest retelling of what she had done and how he had found out she was a ghost. He hadn't realized that one of his readers would be one of the original responders for the old Reddit thread about the fact he was a past victim.

That same reader would later link his work for the thread- especially the chapter where she appeared- and everyone would agree that the real Penelope Spectra was a ghost.

And that would be read by Tim Drake, a young member of Riddit who always took mysteries to heart and knew what was real and what wasn't.

This sane Tim Drake would later present Jason to the fanfiction in an effort to tease him about someone adoring him so much they wrote a fic about it and Jason would surprise him with claiming to have already been following the story. \

Their bickering would grab the attention of Bruce, Zatanna, and Constantine, who were in the room next door talking about protection against the dead.

John will be alarmed to see how accurate the fanfiction writer's description of ghosts and King Phantom is, then even more alarmed to find that the writer knows about halfas.

Two days after he posted the newest chapter, Danny is hunted down by Batman to find the human with an insane amount of knowledge about the Infinite Realms and his second son's condition.

Danny would be busy trying to decide if he should give in to the idea of giving Noir a ship and who it should be with while his friendlier ghosts beta-read his work.

"Honestly, I'm a little flatter about how hot you made me sound. Noir definitely has a crush on James the ghost biker." Johnny says flouting to read over Danny's shoulder.

Kitty nods eagerly from where she is lounging on the couch. "I agree, James and Noir are meant to be Danny!"

#dcxdpdabbles #dc x dp crossover #Danny's Online persona #Danny is a fanfic writter #and epople find out he not making shit up #His ghost rouges sometimes show up with notes #Jason died but didn't go crazy on Tim #so they argue like normal brotthers

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rabbitblackx · 1 year

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Alright so can I have headcannons for Ghostface, Jason, Michael(Rz or 78) and Freddy when their s/o calls them a baby girl? Like one day their s/o just says “ Hey baby girl” Thank you so much

Yeah sure thing! And ur welcome xx :)

Slashers when Reader calls them ‘baby girl’

Includes: Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Ghost Face (Danny Johnson)

Michael Myers

You were watching tv one day when you decided to grab a little snack. You pulled yourself off the couch and trudged over to the kitchen

Lo and behold, there stood Michael. You didn’t even hear him come in! He was getting good at that. Michael stood like a statue by the counter, where one of your snacks sat

“Oh, hey, baby girl.” You deadpanned

You gave him a small smile before snatching the snack and walking back to the living room

What

That was all? No kiss or anything? How dare you? Also, huh? Baby girl? No, he was a man

Michael’s head cocked to the side, before he slowly followed after you. You were a weirdo like him. That was why he spared liked you. He shouldn’t of been surprised that you called him such a thing

Michael didn’t think anymore of it. He simply sat down on the couch next to you, and watched you watch tv

Jason Voorhees

You walked out of your cabin to find Jason setting a trap by some bushes. There were some unwanted teens nearby that were causing a ruckus, so he was just doing what needed to be done. You approached the crouched man, squinting your eyes from the sun and shielding them with a hand

“Hey, baby girl.” You greeted casually

Jason stood from the set trap and whirled around to look at you. You could see his wide eyes from behind his mask

“Whatcha doing?” You asked, gazing about the woodsy scenery instead of him

He was very confused that you called him that. Sure, his mother had called him baby boy before, but never—girl. It was weird to him

Over the next few days, Jason would continuously try to act big and strong around you. He was almost worried that you saw him as a softie or something (which was definitely, one hundred percent, not the case)…🫣

Jason made sure you were watching when he chopped down that huge tree, and carried its thick logs with just one arm. See? Look how strong he was! He was no baby girl!

Though I don’t think he would mind if you called him baby boy instead…

Freddy Krueger

After drifting off to sleep, you found yourself in a reddish boiler room you knew all too well. You rounded a corner to be met with your burned boyfriend, none other than Freddy Krueger

You placed a hand on the wall while the other rested on your hip. You two were always messing about and playful with each other

“Hey there, baby girl.” You grinned, rising your eyebrows jokingly

Freddy wheezed out a chuckle that echoed throughout the boiler room. He strode over to you with a toothy smile on his own scarred face

“Hey there, sweetcheeks.” He flirted back

Sorta like Michael, Freddy didn’t think much of it in the end. It was just how you were with each other. You flirted, joked and were downright goofy

Freddy wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close while in his little dream world. He smirked before pressing his chapped lips onto yours

He didn’t mind at all being your baby girl

Ghost Face (Danny Johnson)

You were on trial with your fellow survivors like normal. Luckily for you, the killer was none other than your spooky boyfriend. You saw him earlier, but lost track after he got caught up in a chase with your poor friend. You were just repairing a generator by yourself when you saw a white blur peeking behind a tree in your peripheral. You quickly realised it to be the Ghost Face’s forever screaming mask

“Hey, baby girl!” You called out with a playful smile

The Ghost Face couldn’t help but chuckle behind said mask. You were from a newer time than Danny here. You had gone on about other random, strange things from the future before. He had no idea, but thought maybe this pet name was an inside joke from the 2020s or something

“Hey, handsome.” Danny played along

You let out a loud laugh before rising to your feet. The Ghost Face slinked away from the tree to stalk over to you. You giggled together as you wrapped your arms around each other.

Though he still didn’t really understand it, it soon became a reoccurring pet name you called him. Danny didn’t mind. It was different. You were different. Fun too. He couldn’t ever think of a scenario where he would hurt you. He liked you too much

You literally made Danny into a baby girl🫠

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hiraethhh-h · 2 years

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danny (ghostface), evan (the trapper), and pyramid head with a skittish gn!reader (HCs)

@sc-0ut asked: Can i request headcannons for ghostface, trapper and pyramid head with a survivor reader who gets scared easily, acts really panicky and runs really fast. just generally has no idea what shes doing

warnings: stalking, murder

danny “jed olsen” johnson - ghostface

danny will take advantage of your skittish nature. no ifs, ands, or buts.

you hear a bush rustling beside you and you bolt off in the other direction? danny’s smiling like a jack-ass behind his mask as he emerges from the said bush.

a twig snaps behind you and causes you to slip up on the wires (skillcheck)? danny’s trying his best not to laugh at you as you scramble backwards to avoid the sparks from the generator

danny is sure to snap a few photos in order to commemorate every single little scare

and oh boy does he tease the shit out of you

danny definitely nicknames you “little mouse” and “doe eyes”

he honestly contemplates making a little scrapbook of photos filled with you. in the end, danny (somehow) does it.

of course, since he does have limited resources, it’s pretty shitty. but hey! it’s better than nothing and it’s a masterpiece in danny’s eyes.

during a trial your heart practically leapt out of your chest when you saw a trail of dirtied polaroid photo photos of you leading into the killer shack

you hesitantly followed the trail, shakily picking up each photo

you nearly fainted when you saw the little scrap book open on the floor

your name was in bright, bold letters on the page, another gallery of polaroids on display

before you could snag the book, a deep chuckle came from behind you, causing you to freeze

“whaddya think of my cute little project for ya?”

evan macmillan - the trapper

honestly, evan could care less about your skittish nature. you’re just another survivor to him.

the amount of times he’s seen you accidentally run into his traps almost makes him feel bad. almost.

sometimes evan’ll even be halfway across the map setting up more traps and he hears the sound of one snapping shut followed by your scream

all he does is let out a deep sigh and head in your direction

unlike danny, evan doesn’t really care to take advantage of your careless and scared personality

sure, sometimes he’ll corral you into a nearby trap if evan feels that he’s wasting too much time on a chase, but that’s the most he’ll do

i like to think he runs on a “kill or be killed” mentality because as one of the killers who has been there the longest, evan knows the Entity is anything but kind

when you step in a trap as he chases you off a gen, evan lets out a deep sigh before heading over to pick you up

“seriously?” is what he murmurs as he slings you over his shoulder.

pyramid head - the executioner

upon first seeing you, his immediate thought is that you’re guilty because you reek of it like everyone else. why else would you be afraid of every little thing?

during trials you both have together, you can bet your ass pyramid head has his sights set on you

honestly, it’s better on him because due to your scatterbrain, you always seem to run into his punishment of the damned. it just makes hooking/killing you all the easier.

as time goes on, pyramid head notices that you’re just… generally afraid and genuinely have no idea what you’re doing

he doesn’t really care, seeing as in this realm, if you refuse to learn, you learn the hard way.

pyramid head honestly treats you as he would anyone he deems guilty.

he is the judge, jury, and executioner after all.

#dead by daylight #dead by daylight x reader #dead by daylight ghostface #ghostface x reader #danny jed olsen johnson #dbd ghostface x reader #ghostface dbd #dead by daylight pyramid head x reader #dead by daylight pyramid head #dbd evan macmillan #evan macmillan x reader #evan macmillan #pyramid head x you #pyramid head x reader #dbd x you #dbd x reader #dead by daylight requests #dbd requests #bee's requests

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satans-helper · 3 months

Text

Smother the Flame in Your Heart - Part XII

Read previous parts here or read on Ao3

Pairing: Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka

Word Count: ~4300

Warnings: nothing besides mentions of binge drinking/vomiting

;)

---

The Montage was not a packed house for the sort of odd but tolerable-sounding indie-alt group that Sam had never heard of before and was sort of surprised Jake wanted to see, especially on his and Josh’s birthday. The whole thing seemed kind of lame, made even more lame because the venue floor was as sparse as it was–too much room to move around, killing some of the intimacy and general excitement of a real show. Also lame because, even with that, it was still too loud to have much of a real conversation, and Sam felt very out of the loop, because the noise barrier wasn’t seeming to stop Danny and Jake.

Why were they trying to talk to each other so badly anyway? Sam thought about this, brooding, as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, tapping against the floor with the rhythm of the music despite not wanting to. He tried to focus on the band, and although the music should have been loud enough to drown out every word shared between Jake and Danny, his ears were anxiously tuned into the pair on his right who were huddled close together, with Danny hunched down on his knees a bit to meet Jake’s words, to keep their ears level. There wasn’t anything odd or concerning about the conversation between them from the few words Sam could catch here and there–it was just them talking about the instruments and the sound and the stage set-up–but nonetheless it made him prickly.

“So what do you think?” Josh asked, pressing in close to Sam, who had just about entirely forgotten his other brother was there at all. Josh gave a brief jut of his nose and chin upwards, gesturing at the band: “I’m not so sure. Good bass though, right, Sammy? That guy might be the star.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. Now that Josh had turned his attention to it, the agreement was genuine. He tried to keep his ears on those drumming fingers and smooth riffs, the rhythm flowing through him enough to make him actually start tapping with the music, not just out of irritation.

Josh leaned in even more, squishing their arms together. “Are you okay?” The question was sufficiently loud enough for Sam to hear, but a quick glance to his right assured him that Jake and Danny hadn’t heard.

“Why?” Sam replied.

“You’ve been quiet all evening. Dare I say that you even seemed uncomfortable at dinner?”

Sam let out a small huff and laid his arm over Josh’s shoulder. “I’m good, Josh.” Josh hadn’t proven to be an issue at all–he liked Danny, of course, and Sam knew that Josh wanted to be better friends with him, but he’d never crossed a line. Sam didn’t think this twin had any inkling Danny was anything other than his totally human, not-supernatural-whatsoever, boyfriend. So he gave his brother a reassuring squeeze and added, “Yeah, I’m good. Just trying to figure out what the fuck this band even is.”

Josh laughed and reciprocated, hugging Sam back. “Yeah, me too. Like, they’re sort of like 2010s indie but without the cliche vocals–probably a good thing there–but also trying to replicate the rhythm and percussion of, I don’t know, Radiohead? Is that accurate? It’s odd.”

Sam laughed too. “Something like that. Jake likes this shit?”

“I don’t think so. I think he’s just missing going to shows. The venues here have been dry lately.”

“Yeah, all two of ‘em.”

“Exactly.”

Danny stood to his full height and leaned into Sam. “So what do you think?”

Sam traded Josh’s body for his boyfriend’s, roping both arms around Danny’s waist and holding him in place. “Josh just asked me that,” he said loudly. “I guess I can appreciate the bass but this really isn’t doing anything for me. It’s actually starting to sound abrasive.”

“Ouch. Don’t tell the band that.”

“Good thing I’m not a critic.”

“You might be someday,” Danny countered. “Hey, so, Jake says we’re going out after this. I guess they invited a few more people so–it could be a fun night after all?”

“I’m having fun now,” Sam assured him, though he wasn’t having enough fun and he wasn’t so sure extending the night would help. But what was he going to do, not spend time with his brothers on their birthday even when he wanted Danny all to himself?

Sam could see more than hear the chuckle from Danny. “There’s nothing a few drinks can’t solve.”

That ended up being true, thankfully. Mostly Danny was consciously thankful of the turnaround, because he’d seen the fire of jealousy grow in Sam’s eyes at the show earlier as Danny and Jake kept talking, getting close. Not too close, Danny made sure, but it seemed like every step toward him and every word exchange created those dangerous sparks in Sam, and the numerous shots and drinks at the bar after was shockingly placating. Sometimes it was a guessing game with Sam and alcohol, Danny had come to learn, with the occasional fiery fit burning through jovial laughs and a wonderful, warm good mood.

Sam was really just glad to get out of the concert. At the bar, other friends distracted the twins and he was able to keep Danny close. Hanging out at the counter for a bit, chasing those shots with good beer, turned into taking advantage of the small arcade area and Sam found himself having more fun than he expected. He should have expected it though because no matter the circumstance and no matter what was going on inside his own head, his boyfriend was fun. So much fun. Encouraging and easygoing, Danny was a great partner in games and also a great opponent–every time he won something against Sam, Sam was still rewarded with a kiss and even some murmured, dirty promises of what was to come. Danny was definitely wasted when he said those things, Sam realized, but he knew it didn’t make it any less true.

“You might be too drunk to follow through on that later on,” Sam said, feeling up for some teasing, in Danny’s ear after he was told in somewhat slurred detail how his boyfriend was going to fuck him into oblivion once they got back home. Home to Danny’s place, that is.

Danny scoffed and tucked his face into Sam’s hair, attempting to nibble at his ear. “I’m not that drunk. You think I can’t?”

It was also true that even when Danny got shitfaced, he could keep drinking for a while. Sometimes the whole night. Sam didn’t know how he did that, how his body allowed that–maybe the extra blood helped somehow, he thought jokingly.

“I have to see it to believe it,” Sam said, enjoying continuing to toy with Danny’s own hot blooded mood tonight.

“You’re gonna feel it,” Danny countered, successfully latching his teeth onto Sam’s ear, who laughed and groped at his ass. Danny laughed too, delighted at Sam getting even more handsy with him. Just as Sam’s hand gripped his ass harder, Danny heard Josh laughing from behind them.

“Whoa there! Are you two gonna get down and dirty right here?” Josh asked, all flushed cheeks and drunken giggles when Sam and Danny pulled apart enough to look at him. “In the arcade?”

“Pervert,” Sam quipped sharply.

“No,” Danny scoffed with his own drunk laugh.

“God, I’m just kidding,” Josh said, clapping Danny on the arm. “I know you wouldn’t.”

“Why not?” Danny asked while Sam replied with, “Is that a dare?”

“Pace yourselves, gentlemen.” Josh raised his eyebrows and tipped his head up at the pair pointedly. “We have an after-party at our house.”

“For your information, I can go all night,” Danny told Josh, who erupted into more giggles, face coming up to cover his mouth for a second while Sam looked at his boyfriend, lovesick and drunk and eternally amused.

“Daniel, you really are wasted,” Sam said once Josh was pulled away by someone and he and Danny were left at the Pac Man game that was still idle. Sam’s intentions of playing any more games were dwindling–he was tempted to get an uber for himself and Danny to get out and actually screw around in private.

“I’m good, Sammy,” Danny said. He was–he knew his limits. As long as they smoked the joint Sam had packed before the party, he’d be good to go all night for real. Screw going back to his apartment–he would fuck Sam in his own bed, no problem. Danny pulled Sam into another hug and eyed the jukebox behind him. “I do feel like I’m more drunk than you though. That might be a problem.”

It did end up being a problem. It wasn’t intentional, none of it was–but later on, when the night was thick and pitch black and cool air swept through the open windows of the Kiszka house, he found himself more drunk than he’d been in months and sitting alone outside in the wide expanse of that cool night air with Jake. Danny wasn’t even sure where Sam was–somewhere in the house, obviously, and last he’d checked, his boyfriend had been making Josh some strange cocktail that Danny was sure was diabolical. So he’d counted himself out of further risk of alcohol poisoning, stepping outside in the hopes of finding more weed. He’d found both out there on the back deck in the form of Jake lounging solo, smoke already streaming from his lips as he tipped his head back, a familiar glass bowl in one hand.

“You removed yourself from your own birthday party?” Danny questioned unseriously, uncapping the bottle of water Josh had handed him a few minutes ago. Jake turned around in his chair, shifting from facing the outskirts of the yard that were dark, the light on the back of the house stopping just a few feet further than the edge of the deck; Danny stepped forward, further into the light, and Jake smiled and laughed softly.

“Anyone is more than welcome to join me,” he said, leaning over to grab a spare chair and pull it closer to his own. “You wanna smoke?”

“Sure, man. Maybe more weed will help me even out.” Danny settled into the chair and sipped more water before he said, “People are filtering out now. I didn’t even notice how late it’d gotten.”

“Last I checked it was like one in the morning. But I’ve been zoning out here–what time is it now?”

“Uh, the clock on your stove said like, 1:45 right before I came out here.”

“Good. It's been a good birthday.” Jake passed the bowl and lighter over, then leaned back in his chair, arm laid over the back of it, to look right at Danny again. “Are you spending the night here?”

“Sam and I were gonna go back to my place–well, if I hadn’t drank so much. But at this rate–” Danny paused to take a hit, inhaling deeply and then coughing a bit before he finished: “At this rate, I don’t see a point in leaving. I can’t anyway. Not without an uber.”

Jake laughed a little. “So stay. Easy as that, man.” He took the bowl back and their smoke session rolled into motion; Danny felt it was a surefire way to bond with Jake, and he felt warm and comfortable in the chair, in the night air, even with the silence between them. He was drunk enough to not even register the silence as awkward in the slightest until Jake made it awkward by asking, “Tell me, Danny–what do I smell like to you?”

Danny heard him clearly, but all he could respond with was one wobbly word: “What?”

Jake chuckled, and from the flush of his cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, it was obvious he was stoned. But how much being under the influence was in turn influencing this conversation, Danny couldn’t be sure.

“You can tell me,” he went on, and then Danny could hear the alcohol in that husky voice, each word getting a little louder as Jake leaned in closer, their legs touching. “I’m really curious. You must have like, a heightened sense of smell or something, right?”

“Uh–” Danny stuttered, staring at the bowl that was paused, motionless, on Jake’s knee. “I guess? Only when it comes to–um. Well, unfortunately, only when it comes to people, I think.”

“So?” Jake bumped his knee that wasn’t acting as a miniature table against Danny’s. “I wanna know. You said Sam smells good but, man, let me tell ya–to me, he usually just smells like he needs to start wearing actual deodorant.”

Danny chuckled, nervous–but also excited. Too excited thanks to the alcohol and the weed running through his own system. But the conversation was, at the end of the day, harmless. Right?

“It’s hard to describe,” he began to tell Jake, looking over his shoulder briefly to catch a glimpse inside the house. But the kitchen windows revealed nothing–no one visible. He wondered what Sam was actually doing in the house, wherever he was, and if the harm that came from this conversation was the feelings that would stir within his beloved boyfriend. Nevertheless, Danny went on, trying to find the words to make it make sense for Jake: “He smells sweet. Not like sugar though, something more…complicated. Rich. He tastes–” He stopped himself, not sure Jake would want to hear the more intimate details.

Jake’s face was impossible to read–placid and cool, the visible high in his eyes diminished. “Interesting. What about Josh?”

His mouth going dry, Danny took a long drink of water while he thought about how to describe Jake’s twin. “Well,” he began, turning his attention behind himself again, but still the kitchen appeared to be empty. “Josh smells like, bright, I guess? Warm and summery. Sweet too, like a lot of people smell kind of sweet, but he smells more sugary than Sam.” He shifted in the chair. This was such a bizarre talk to be having, so strange to be putting sensations that were inherently esoteric into words.

Jake hummed, face in profile while he looked out into the darkness. He lifted the bowl to his lips as if he’d suddenly remembered its existence and brought the lighter to life again, taking a hit and passing it off to Danny once more. After a soft cough into his elbow, Jake looked at Danny and said, “So that leaves me.”

Danny nodded, inhaling the smoke from the ember still burning in the bowl. Whatever, he concluded, trying to get back to how drunk and careless he’d felt just a few minutes ago–why should this matter? They were going to tell Sam soon enough that Jake had figured it out. Danny just wanted to get a little closer to him in the meantime. Satiate Jake’s curiosities. Secure the friendship.

“Yup,” he agreed while exhaling. “That leaves you.”

Jake’s unnervingly tranquil face broke into a wide, toothy grin. “Yeah?”

“You smell…syrupy,” Danny answered, and Jake burst into a short, loud laugh. Danny laughed too, realizing how odd it sounded, but it was the best he could come up with. “Like, sweet, right? But darker somehow. Kind of earthy. I don’t know, dude. I bet you’d taste like maple syrup. Or maybe straight tree sap.”

“Really? Maple syrup?” Jake asked, trying to stifle a stream of giggles with his hand over his mouth.

Laughing more, Danny nodded and shrugged, reaching for his water again. “Yeah, man,” he concurred before he took another sip. “Maple syrup.”

“Well, fuck. One of these days you might have to try me and see if that’s, uh, accurate.”

Danny paused with the water bottle against his lips. He wasn’t so sure he’d heard Jake clearly then. But as he drank, he looked to the side to make eye contact with Jake, whose face had turned serious again, almost challenging. Danny swallowed, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and inhaled deeply, trying to have the night air soothe him. But amidst the smell of weed, springtime pollen drifting through the breeze and someone’s backyard bonfire in the distance, he could smell that earthy sweetness that emanated so clearly from Jake.

“Sam wouldn’t like that,” Danny said, looking over his shoulder for the third time. Still no Sam. Or Josh. He should get up soon, escape this dialogue and find his boyfriend.

“So you can only get your blood from one source?” Jake asked, the words gentle but the look on his face still challenging. Danny couldn’t tell if the intent was to rile him up, and if so, why?, or if Jake was really that curious.

“We have an agreement,” Danny told him.

Jake sighed softly, eyes never breaking away from Danny’s face until he shrugged and stuffed his lighter in his pants pocket. “I’m just saying–plenty of you to go around, big man,” he said, clapping Danny on the shoulder with another Cheshire grin. “Plenty of blood to go around, too.”

“Well, not really,” Danny countered, making himself stand up. “Blood isn’t exactly infinite.”

Jake’s grin softened, and as Danny towered over him still seated, he looked small and suddenly back to being somewhat innocent. “Shit. I’m sorry, Danny.” He huffed and sank back in the chair, looking away. “I’m just really drunk. And I do think you’re super interesting and cool and…maybe I’m just a little jealous that Sam gets to, like, experience an actual vampire.”

Danny sat back down, his own drunken mind kicking back into gear, making his heart more pliable. Jake never struck him as the sort of person who had even slightly malicious intentions and now Danny was reminded of the ultimate appeal he had to strengthen the friendship he was desperate for–just being a vampire. That’s all it took. He couldn’t blame Jake for being relentlessly curious. It was still a lot for Danny to remember each day that Sam and Jake even believed any of his life was real.

“I mean, I really appreciate how interesting you think I am,” Danny said, a drunken laugh bubbling in his throat as he repeated Jake’s compliment. He laid an arm over Jake’s shoulders and sighed. “But seriously, don’t be jealous. It’s all so fucked up. Sam’s the best though–I don’t wanna do anything to hurt him.”

“Yeah, no, of course not.” Jake leaned into Danny’s touch and his scent drifted even more strongly with the push of a breeze, ruffling through both of their hair, Jake’s long, dark strands tickling Danny’s knuckles.

Whatever Danny was going to say was lost and quickly forgotten when the sound of the sliding glass door opening behind them bounced against the wooden deck. His heart jumped into his throat, a hummingbird flight of nerves in his stomach, but when he took his arm back and turned around to face Sam, it was Josh who padded across the deck through the light.

“I’m not surprised to see you two all alone out here,” Josh said, slightly sing-songy, and Jake chuckled next to Danny as his twin stumbled, barefoot, as he made his way over. At first, Danny felt compelled to read–or hear–between the lines, but then he remembered just how much of a wallflower he and Jake could be. Josh circled around them, planting himself in front and immediately reaching for the bowl. “Lemme get some of that.”

“Where’s Sam?” Danny asked while Jake fished around for the lighter.

“Oh shit, I almost forgot,” Josh replied, nabbing the lighter and leaning back against the railing. “He’s upstairs discarding, I dunno, the last six or so shots he guzzled down.”

Danny’s eyebrow furrowed. “Josh–what?”

“He’s throwing up?” Jake asked, which prompted Danny to get to his feet again.

“Oh shit. Fuck,” he said, giving Josh’s shoulder a squeeze of thanks as he meandered over the deck, forgetting all about the weed and the weird conversation. Poor Sam was throwing up without anyone–without Danny–to hold his hair back or give him water or make sure he wasn’t wrecking his knees on the tile floor of the bathroom. So Danny breezed back through the empty kitchen, pausing just long enough to grab another bottle of water from the fridge for Sam; the rest of the house was empty too. A quick glance at his phone told him it was nearly three in the morning now. Being drunk and high certainly acted like a time warp sometimes, he thought as he ascended the stairs, ears tuning in for his boyfriend’s suffering.

At the top, he did hear a terrible wretching behind the closed door. Danny knocked softly before opening it, finding Sam just as he’d imagined–hunched over the toilet, limbs askew, hair a mess, cheeks wildly pink when he turned just enough for Danny to see his face.

“Oh no, Sammy,” Danny said, moving fast to grab a towel hanging from behind the door as he shut it. “Here.” He kneeled down beside Sam and nudged him a bit, trying to get the cushioning beneath Sam’s vulnerable knees.

“Ugh,” was all Sam said, all drawn out and gargled. He heaved heavily once, then swallowed hard enough for Danny to hear before he added, “Don’t look at me, Daniel.”

Danny snorted and pet his hair, making sure to get it out of his face. “I have to look at you. Fuck, Sammy, this is the worst.” Sam heaved again then dove for the toilet bowl; Danny did, in fact, look away as he emptied more alcohol from his stomach. “Just get it out. You’ll feel better.”

Coughing and wiping at his mouth and chin with his wrist, Sam leaned back against the wall. His eyes were wet with those awful, totally involuntary tears that came from throwing up as he looked at Danny and said, “I think it’s over.”

“Just sit for a minute,” Danny instructed gently, rubbing Sam’s bent knee. He set the bottle of water down next to him, feeling even more sobered up with his caretaker role. He didn’t mind–actually, Danny loved being so present and helpful much of the time, especially with Sam. He just wished Sam wasn’t in this predicament. “And drink some of this.”

Sam chuckled weakly as he twisted the cap off. “Partied a little too hard, I guess.”

“Yeah, jeez,” Danny agreed, scooching to sit back against the wall with him. “You ended the night with more shots? Josh said you had like, six.”

Sam shook his head while he drank. “No,” he said, exhaling hard and letting his head fall back. “Not six. I had like, two more shots and a few more beers. We were playing a game.”

“Ah. That’ll do it.” Danny rubbed Sam’s shoulder. “What game?”

“It was called, um…” Sam groaned and took another drink. “‘Most likely.’ Yeah. So whoever is the most likely to do something, according to the group, has to drink.”

“Oh, so like, most likely to date a vampire? That sort of thing?”

Sam chuckled again and rested his head on Danny’s shoulder. “Yeah, exactly. Where were you during all this shit?”

“Out back. I didn’t even realize I was out there for so long. Long enough for you to get beyond shitfaced, anyway,” Danny said, listening for noise beyond the confines of the bathroom, but Josh and Jake must have still been outside themselves. “Smoking weed with Jake,” he added to fill in the blanks.

“Abandoning me in my time of need to get high with my brother,” Sam said with a sigh. “How traitorous of you, Danny.”

He knew it was a joke, but that word made Danny’s heart sink. “I know. I’m the worst.”

“No, you’re not.” Sam rose on slightly wobbly legs and stepped to the sink, grabbing his toothbrush. “You can make up for all that shit now anyway by helping me get to bed.”

Danny did. He helped Sam to his bedroom, assisted getting his clothes off, leaving him in just his underwear. When Sam was nestled beneath the covers, Danny went back downstairs for more water and a bag of chips that were left on the kitchen counter, half-empty; outside, the twins were still sitting. With a lingering look, Danny could discern Jake packing yet another bowl and Josh tipping his head back to drink yet another beer. Party animals, Danny thought, and not that he wasn’t too, but now his mission was making sure Sam was all good. Or as good as someone in that state can be.

After stripping down to his own underwear, Danny got in bed beside Sam. The moment their bodies were slightly touching, Sam grabbed Danny’s arm and pulled him closer, pressing Danny’s front flush with his backside. He was actually already too hot from the ordeal of throwing up and the excess of booze still sitting in his gut and flooding his veins, but he still needed the weight and warmth of Danny around him.

He really hadn’t meant to get so drunk. He just got caught up in the game. And Danny hadn’t been there. What were he and Jake talking about this time? Sam wondered in the darkness, his eyes shut, his ears tuned into Danny’s barely audible, still-awake breaths. He tried not to let the mystery bother him. He tried not to weave through the theories of what Jake might know, if anything, and how. Thankfully, Danny nuzzling into the back of his head and keeping one hand over his heart lulled Sam into sleep faster than his thoughts could keep him up.

---

Tagging:

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#greta van fleet #gvf #danny wagner #danny gvf #sam kiszka #sam gvf #jake kiszka #jake gvf #josh kiszka #josh gvf #sam kiszka x danny wagner #gvf fanfiction #sanny #stfyh

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bambi-kinos · 1 month

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Hey, I am different nonny, just in case, and I really love your analysis, just wanted to bring up a slightly different opinion.

I don't think we can take everything Danny Laine said as a concrete truth. The reason I say this is because depending on who was closer to who in Paul & Linda relationship when they were scorned - the takes on their relationship greatly differed. I've seen tons of things about Linda being calculating and relentless, stalking Paul from 1967 until she got him. Linda controlling who had access to Paul in entertainment circles, especially the women near him. Linda hating Jane, to the point described in this quote "when Linda came on the scene she made sure that all his old pals that knew and liked Jane were excluded" from Barry Miles. JoJo Laine, Danny's ex-wife, also said Linda was jealous of Jane, hated Linda in general and even claimed that Linda tried to seduce Danny, while Linda hated her to bits in return.

Another thing that immediately comes to mind is an account from Dave Spinozza, who pretty much just wanted to get into Paul's pants, and he framed his firing like this: "we sort of had a falling out. I had a little bit of, actually not with him, I had a little falling out with Linda and it just didn’t work out". He fully blamed Linda for it, even though Paul was uncomfortable with him.

And of course, I am sure Paul had his domineering moments more than enough, arguing about Linda doing stuff he didn't like, but to me, it seems their relationship was on way more equal footing and Linda could hold her ground.

RIP to Denny Laine but he was a fuckboy and I imagine that a lot of the shit he said was out of spite. I absolutely believe that he would lie on purpose or that he misunderstood what was happening in front of him. Denny Laine is still one of the guys who almost murdered Paul and Linda by piloting an airplane while stoned:

Another, far more serious incident [on the 1976 Wings tour] caused Paul’s anger to explode. In flight, inebriated members of the band and entourage would sometimes enter the cockpit and hang out and chat with the laid-back Texan pilots charged with handling the tour plane. On one occasion, trumpeter Steve Howard, holder of a pilot’s license for smaller aircraft, was given a turn at the controls of the jet, acquitting himself admirably. Denny Laine, at the time perhaps worryingly reading a book entitled Anyone Can Fly, was also given a go in the pilot’s chair. After a few minutes, the real flight crew’s attentions having drifted, a call came through from air traffic control warning them that the plane was cruising several thousand feet below its agreed-upon altitude. According to Laine, “When you take anything off automatic pilot, it goes all over the place for a moment or two.” During another flight, one member of the miles-high party—reports differ as to the identity of the culprit—sent the plane into a dive, throwing everyone around the cabin. It was at this point that a furious McCartney discovered that, for some weeks, drunken members of his group had been taking turns flying the plane, with his wife and children on board. Never the most comfortable flier, Paul blew his top. From here on in, everyone in the touring party was banned from the cockpit. “Which is fair enough,” Howie Casey notes. “Even though I was pissed, I’d think, No, that’s silly.”

Man on the Run, Tom Doyle

To help relieve the tedium of the road, individual band members would often sneak off into the cockpit for a quick turn at the wheel, on one occasion sending the deluxe, specially equipped aircraft into a tailspin. McCartney, who had been playing cards with Linda and a couple of the road crew at the back of the aircraft, ended up in a very unhappy heap in the center aisle, screaming bloody blue murder at the highflying, spaced-out pranksters. Laine, who himself had a go, was piloting the plane on the basis of a book he was then reading called Anyone Can Fly, later the title of one of his most interesting solo albums. He comments: “When you take anything off automatic pilot it goes all over the place for a moment or two. At one point, Steve [the brass player] took the plane into a terrible dive, sending everybody at the back flying inside the plane. . . . Paul was very pissed off about that, yeah. Then he found out we'd all been flying for weeks. His bottle went, as they say.”

Blackbird: The Life and Times of Paul McCartney, Geoffrey Giuliano

(quotes from sounwise)

So whenever you read a quote from Denny where he whinges about Paul not ~letting him in~ after all those years in Wings, remember these quotes lmao.

I regard reports of Paul and Linda's marriage the same way I regard John and Yoko's marriage: the qualities that keep rising to the top are the ones that are true. Paul and Linda had a good marriage IMO, it's just that there's also signs that Paul's weirdness about money and his baggage meant that he could lose his temper and that he tried to push Linda around at times. I read Mccartney Legacy Vol 1 last year and that went into some detail about Paul's impatience with Linda's keyboarding skills. When Linda was trying to publish a book Paul is the who allegedly stopped it because he didn't like Linda having the spotlight. There's reports from the guy (surname Cox) who was co-writing a cookbook with Linda that there was tension around it and that he believed it was because Paul did not like Linda getting attention or that Paul was scared she wouldn't be there for him if she was doing something else.

If it was just Denny on his own saying this stuff I'd be more skeptical but he's not the only one.

When I say stuff like "Paul was difficult" or "Linda's marriage was fraught" that's what I'm thinking of. Paul is difficult to be married to (something he's admitted to with the embarrassed feet shuffling he does when he talks about his trad fetish) and Linda herself had a strong personality. It's natural for there to be conflict sometimes.

We also have lots of stories about what a solid couple Paul and Linda were and I think those were true too. Paul is a good father and he stuck it out with Linda when she was dying of cancer, something that can get men to split from a partnership. Like, it's obvious that they cared about each other and they liked being together. If Linda was planning to leave Paul then it was because she wanted to do something else and not be "Paul's wife" forever.

There's always some push/pull in a relationship. Sometimes Linda had to make some sacrifices for Paul's sake. Paul made some sacrifices for Linda too, publicly being a wifeguy when it meant taking a knock to his image and making him an even riskier prospect for anyone wanting to sign him. It wasn't a one sided relationship and it wasn't abusive. It's just that there's a possibility that they ran out the clock on their relationship and Paul's baggage didn't make that relationship easy in the first place.

#talktalktalk #paul mccartney #linda eastman #typed this out on my phone in the brave browser so here we go #beatles meta #my meta

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twoidiotwriters1 · 2 months

Text

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day!! Here is Aphrodite -Danny Words: 2,443 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

XIV: Bonding With the Girls

Hazel's a sweetheart... but if Ara catches her again staring at her like she stole her favorite candy, they will have a problem.

"Well," Ara thinks grumpily, "if Nico had taken her to our camp, it'd be her dating Leo instead—I didn't even like him at first!"

She's not sure that's true, though. When Leo showed up she had no time for romance, but no matter what Ara would've fallen for him. Her fate was written in stone. So why is she feeling like she stole him from Hazel?

"Hey," she speaks quietly. "Just so you know... I don't want Nico to die."

Hazel sighs. "Percy told me what happened between you two. I understand."

"But I do trust him," Ara eyes her intently. "I'm sorry if I don't show it much. He... he was my friend, I wouldn't wish bad things on him. I'm sorry about Leo as well."

Hazel looks up like a deer in headlights. "What?" The girl gulps. "I mean, why are you sorry?"

"Well, I'm the General," Ara shrugs. "I should keep my army in line. Leo shouldn't bully Frank, I told him not to do it again."

Hazel's shoulders drop with relief. "Oh! Yeah... thanks."

"I want us to get along," Ara bumps her shoulder against hers, which causes Hazel to stumble sideways. "If there's anything else you'd like to talk about, I'm right here."

"Sure!" Hazel smiles, but it looks forced.

"You know, boys stress me out faster than anyone else," Ara tells the rest of the group. "Feels good to be working with you three today."

"But you made peace with Percy yesterday!" Annabeth exclaims.

Ara smiles. "Percy's my brother. I have to call him annoying no matter what."

Her friend chuckles. "Makes sense..."

Ara forgets she wasn't always Percy's sister, she met Annabeth first. But she doesn't feel like she belongs in camp as much as before, and when she's in New York, it doesn't feel right without Percy. Something's missing.

She was friends with Annabeth, now she is Percy's sister, but also the General... Neither here nor there, none of those to their full potential.

The girl stops and points forward. "Our lady in white."

"The ghost," Annabeth squints.

"That's not a ghost," Hazel tries to focus her gaze. "No kind of spirit glows that brightly."

Piper begins to cross the street without saying a word.

"Piper!"

"We'd better follow her," Hazel hurries.

By the time they reach her, Ara recognizes the woman. "Awesome," she groans.

Piper makes a face. "Do we have to?"

The ghostly apparition leaves them no choice as it floats towards them and forms fully. "I'm so glad you're here," Aphrodite beams. "War is coming. Bloodshed is inevitable. So there's really only one thing to do."

"Uh... and that is?"

"Why, have tea and chat, obviously. Come with me!"

The last time Ara had tea with her mother, she received the worst news ever, so to say she isn't looking forward to this is an understatement.

"Oh, my sweet girls," the goddess sighs. "I do love Charleston! The weddings I've attended in this gazebo—they bring tears to my eyes. And the elegant balls in the days of the Old South. Ah, they were lovely. Many of these mansions still have statues of me in their gardens, though they called me Venus."

"Which are you? Venus or Aphrodite?" Annabeth questions.

"Annabeth Chase, you've grown into quite a beautiful young lady. You really should do something with your hair, though. And, Hazel Levesque, your clothes—"

"My clothes?" Hazel examines herself.

"Mother! You're embarrassing us," Piper huffs.

"Well, I don't see why. Just because you don't appreciate my fashion tips, Piper, doesn't mean the others won't. I could do a quick makeover for Annabeth and Hazel, perhaps silk ball gowns like mine—"

"I'll get clothes for them later," Ara intervenes. "Can we please move on?"

Aphrodite cups her cheek. The lavender scent coming out of her soothes the young girl. "I like your eyeliner today, so creative!"

"I..." Ara blushes. "Makeup cheers me up."

If she'd known they'd be talking to Aphrodite, she would've put less effort into her looks. Blame it on the teenage urge to rebel against her mother.

"To answer your question, Annabeth, I am both Aphrodite and Venus. Unlike many of my fellow Olympians, I changed hardly at all from one age to the other. In fact, I like to think I haven't aged a bit! Love is love, after all, whether you're Greek or Roman. This civil war won't affect me as much as it will the others."

"We're not in a war yet, my lady," Hazel replies.

"Oh, dear Hazel. Such optimism, yet you have heartrending days ahead of you. Of course war is coming. Love and war always go together. They are the peaks of human emotion! Evil and good, beauty and ugliness. That's what I told Ara—and why she became the daughter of Olympus!"

She's never shared the reasons why she became a daughter of Olympus with anyone except Lily and Leo. Ara can feel Annabeth's eyes on her, so she gets back on track. "So could you, uh, elaborate on what those heartrending days may bring to us?"

"Well, Annabeth could give you some idea," the goddess replies. "I once promised to make her love life interesting. And didn't I?"

"Interesting, is a mild way of putting it," Annabeth replies tensely.

"Well, I can't take credit for all your troubles, but I do love twists and turns in a love story. Oh, all of you are such excellent stories—I mean, girls. You do me proud!" Aphrodite pats Ara's cheek. "You're so brave!"

"Mother, is there a reason you're here?" Piper insists.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean besides the tea? I often come here. I love the view, the food, the atmosphere—you can just smell the romance and heartbreak in the air, can't you? Centuries of it. Do you see that rooftop balcony? We had a party there the night the American Civil War began. The shelling of Fort Sumter."

"That's it! The island in the harbor," Annabeth snaps her fingers. "That's where the first fighting of the Civil War happened. The Confederates shelled the Union troops and took the fort."

"Oh, such a party! A string quartet, and all the men in their elegant new officers' uniforms. The women's dresses—you should've seen them! I danced with Ares—or was he Mars? I'm afraid I was a little giddy. And the beautiful bursts of light across the harbor, the roar of the cannons giving the men an excuse to put their arms around their frightened sweethearts!"

"You're talking about the beginning of the bloodiest war in U.S. history. Over six hundred thousand people died—more Americans than in World War One and World War Two combined—"

"And the refreshments! Ah, they were divine. General Beauregard himself made an appearance. He was such a scoundrel. He was on his second wife, then, but you should have seen the way he looked at Lisbeth Cooper—"

"Mother!" Piper scares a few pigeons away from the table by throwing them bread.

"Yes, sorry. To make the story short, I'm here to help you, girls. I doubt you'll be seeing Hera much. Your little quest has hardly made her welcome in the throne room. And the other gods are rather indisposed, as you know, torn between their Roman and Greek sides. Some more than others. I suppose you've told your friends about your falling-out with your mother?"

She's looking at Annabeth when she says this. Now is her friend's turn to blush.

"Falling-out?" Hazel frowns.

"An argument. It's nothing."

"Nothing! Well, I don't know about that. Athena was the most Greek of all goddesses. The patron of Athens, after all. When the Romans took over... oh, they adopted Athena after a fashion. She became Minerva, the goddess of crafts and cleverness. But the Romans had other war gods who were more to their taste, more reliably Roman—like Bellona—"

"Reyna's mom," Piper says.

"Yes, indeed. I had a lovely talk with Reyna a while back, right here in the park. And the Romans had Mars, of course. And later, there was Mithras—not even properly Greek or Roman, but the legionnaires were crazy about his cult. I always found him crass and terribly nouveau dieu, personally. At any rate, the Romans quite sidelined poor Athena. They took away most of her military importance. The Greeks never forgave the Romans for that insult. Neither did Athena."

"The Mark of Athena," Annabeth leans forward. "It leads to a statue, doesn't it? It leads to... to the statue."

"You are clever, like your mother," Aphrodite smiles. "Understand, though, your siblings, the children of Athena, have been searching for centuries. None has succeeded in recovering the statue. In the meantime, they've been keeping alive the Greek feud with the Romans. Every civil war... so much bloodshed and heartbreak... has been orchestrated largely by Athena's children."

"That's..." Annabeth pauses.

"Romantic?" Aphrodite sighs dreamily. "Yes, I supposed it is."

"But... The Mark of Athena, how does it work? Is it a series of clues, or a trail set by Athena—"

"Hmm. I couldn't say. I don't believe Athena created the Mark consciously. If she knew where her statue was, she'd simply tell you where to find it. No... I'd guess the Mark is more like a spiritual trail of bread crumbs. It's a connection between the statue and the children of the goddess. The statue wants to be found, you see, but it can only be freed by the most worthy."

"And for thousands of years, no one has managed."

"Hold on. What statue are we talking about?" Piper questions.

"Oh, I'm sure Annabeth can fill you in. At any rate, the clue you need is close by: a map of sorts, left by the children of Athena in 1861—a remembrance that will start you on your path, once you reach Rome. But as you said, Annabeth Chase, no one has ever succeeded in following the Mark of Athena to its end. There you will face your worst fear—the fear of every child of Athena. And even if you survive, how will you use your reward? For war or for peace?"

"This map," Annabeth holds onto the edge of her seat, "where is it?"

"Guys!" Hazel gasps.

Giant eagles are coming down to where they are. Aphrodite barely glances up before continuing her conversation. "Oh, the map is at Fort Sumter, of course. It looks like the Romans have arrived to cut you off. I'd get back to your ship in a hurry if I were you. Would you care for some tea cakes to go?"

"No, but thanks for the help, Lady Aphrodite," Ara gets up and bows.

Piper, Hazel, and Annabeth leave their seats in a hurry, but before Ara can also leave, Aphrodite speaks up. "Janus is looking for you."

The girl comes to a halt and turns to her mother in panic. "What?"

"Don't be rash," is all the goddess tells her before vanishing.

Three eagles deposit a trio of Roman demigods on the dock, one of them is Octavian.

"Surrender to Rome!" He squeals.

"Fat chance, Octavian," Hazel draws out her sword.

Ara stares at the boys like they're gum on her shoe. She doesn't want to fight them, but gods, Octavian is so annoying, she might have trouble not running through him with Almighty.

"Octavian," Piper walks forward with her hands up. "What happened at camp was a setup. We can explain—"

"Can't hear you! Wax in our ears—standard procedure when battling evil sirens. Now, throw down your weapons and turn around slowly so I can bind your hands."

"Did Nico bring this one back?" Ara asks with annoyance. "'Cause he sounds like a priest from the Dark Ages."

"Let me skewer him," Hazel says through gritted teeth. "Please."

"I think that would make us look bad," Ara turns to Annabeth. "Any ideas?"

Annabeth scans the scene in a fraction of a second, running through their options quicker than Ara can. Strategic thinking was Lily's thing back in camp, but before Lily, Ara had Annabeth.

"Tell them you surrender," Annabeth concludes.

With her hands up, Ara turns her back on Octavian. Someone seizes her wrists to tie them behind her back and snatches the compass from her.

"Well?" Octavian shouts to the rest of her group, making her skin crawl.

Annabeth throws her dagger into the water... where Percy mentioned he'd be. Octavian ducks behind Ara, using her as a shield. "What was that for? I didn't say toss it! That could've been evidence. Or spoils of war!"

Annabeth smiles and shrugs. Octavian does a terrible job binding Ara's hands and points his weapon at Piper and Hazel.

"You other two, put your weapons on the dock. No funny bus—"

When water bursts all around them, Ara tackles Octavian and falls over. She pushes her arms under her legs and picks up Almighty, holds it between her hands, and the blade materializes cutting through the ropes around her wrists like they're Play-Doh. She stands using the sword to support herself.

Percy's standing next to her, she didn't even hear him erupt from the water. "You okay?"

Ara tosses away the remains of the rope and turns her sword back into a compass. "He thought two guys were enough to fight us. I'm insulted."

"They were three."

"Octavian doesn't count."

Percy nods and looks at Annabeth, then raises one hand, holding her dagger. "You dropped this."

Annabeth runs up to him and hugs him, she's glowing scarlet. "I love you!"

Ara smiles. It's good, having Percy and Annabeth with her in times like this. They make her feel safe no matter what. "You two are adorable."

"Guys," Hazel urges them, though she's happy too. "We need to hurry."

"Get me out of here! I'll kill you!" Octavian shrieks from the water.

"Tempting," Percy responds.

"What?" Octavian shouts, holding onto one of his guards to float.

"He's got wax in his ears," Ara informs her brother.

"Go figure," Percy sighs, then turns to Octavian and screams. "Nothing!" He walks back to the ship. "Let's go, guys."

"Just so we're clear!" Ara screams. "We did try to surrender! My brother just likes dramatic entrances, it's a shame you got caught in it!" She blows a kiss. "Toodles!"

"We can't let them drown, can we?" Hazel asks as they climb on board.

"They won't, I've got the water circulating around their feet. As soon as we're out of range, I'll spit them ashore."

"Nice," Piper chuckles. "You Jacksons are great."

"Annabeth too," Ara elbows her.

Annabeth manages a smile before she starts to give orders. "Piper, get below. Use the sink in the galley for an Iris-message. Warn Jason to get back here. Hazel, go find Coach Hedge and tell him to get his furry hindquarters on deck."

"Right!"

"Ara, Percy—We need to get this ship to Fort Sumter."

"On it!" Ara pushes Percy forward. "Just like in the sea of monsters, Nemo! But this time, you'll be my assistant."

He smirks. "So I'll have more fun, then."

"Annabeth, let us know when you spot Jason or Octavian's group!"

"You got it!"

Ara and Percy work in unison, and the ship sails off to the Fort.

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @asnyox-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicks

#twoidiots writing #leo valdez x oc #doo #leo valdez fanfic #pjo fanfic #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus

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yonpote · 9 days

Note

I need to know why and how you were anti-phannie from 2014-2016

alright here we go i get to talk about THIS shit now.

i was generally anti-rpf at that point, and honestly? i think it was for fair enough reasons as some people were a bit too eager about showing (general) youtubers stories they wrote about them sucking and fucking their friends. i think i was also pretty high and mighty about being a somewhat oldhead phannie tbh, like ugh do these gaming-channel-only people even know about dan being super edgy and offensive 🙄 and lowkey it was a lot of subtly misogynistic "i'm not like other girls" type shit like i was sooo much better than yall cuz i hadn't watched that video (yet.)

i was generally not into these sorts of fandoms to begin with. i wasnt on the superwhopotterlock side, i was on the homestuck/dangan ronpa/anime of the month side of tumblr, if that gives you an idea of what i was like lol. around 2014-15 i was very much in a community that is kinda similar to what you might see on twitter now, where if you had any interests in media that portrayed anything problematic, that means you are in full support of that problematic thing. if dan howell said something racist in 2010, it doesn't matter that he wasn't being racist in 2015 he's still racist and liking him makes you a racist etc. and of course, rpf is included in problematic topics. if you ship real people, even if said people say they don't mind it, you are a sick pervert and you should be in the loony bin for being so depraved. and if you write or read any fiction that has immoral acts, it means you support those acts in real life too and you are trying to normalize abuse and SA (yknow as if whitecishetpatriarchy hasnt normalized that enough) and you're a danger to children and you deserve to rot in prison (yknow as if a queer person writing stories about queer people hasnt heard that one before)

now here's the real kicker. in 2015-2017 i ran a game grumps fan blog where i did talk about shipping the grumps. "wait how were you anti-rpf if-" well have you ever heard of this thing called Lying? or perhaps even, Cognitive Dissonance? i HAD to run a separate blog for this interest, because if my friends knew i consumed slashfic about arin and danny they would stop being friends with me and think im this evil horrible monster etc. genuinely that was where my brain was at, and is a little bit the reason i decided to this day, to make my phannie accounts completely separate from my main accounts.

nowadays, none of my non-phannie friends actually give a fuck and i do occasionally talk about dnp being silly gay white boys w them! at this point i dont post about em on main just out of respect like "hey im sure you dont actually want to hear about british yaoi constantly regardless of our level of friendship so i'll keep it over here okay?"

also, yeah i grew out of thinking consuming media with deplorable acts makes me deplorable. my favorite tv show is hannibal. i know its shocking, but i dont actually support serial killer cannibals. i will say, i dont fuck with "pro/anti" language with regards to what is considered "problematic" or having that be an identity marker. i think that people are free to write fiction as they please so long as its all properly tagged for people who dont enjoy that kind of content to avoid. but i also think there can be and often are problems in the way these stories are written, and yeah if all the romance stories you read growing up involve some sort of force or danger, that CAN normalize this sort of action as inherent to romance stories/real life romance. but i think thats an issue with like, society at large, and it's not on an individual fic writer to be educating teens who read their dead dove fic despite the explicit rating and tags.

TL;DR: BASICALLY. I WAS A DUMBASS KNOW-IT-ALL BUT DW I GOT BETTER.

#myrambles #sorry for party yapping

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deadbydangit · 10 months

Note

Hey! Just read a really good one from you! Made me go all mushy inside haha ☺️ is there any chance I could ask for Ghostface with a shy S/O who can clam up when teased too much? 💛 Feel free to ignore if you're flooded or anything lol

Absolutely. I'm going to add a few more characters if that's alright. Enjoy.

With a Reader who's shy SFW and NSFW (No NSFW for Hillbilly)

Ghostface, Trapper, Hillbilly

Ghostface

SFW

Get ready for teasing.

Lots of it.

He's the complete opposite of shy.

"What was that? I can't hear you. Speak up. I don't know what you want."

Don't like social situations?

That's too bad, because you're going everywhere with him.

He'll even throw parties if it means making you have to socialize.

Even if it makes you super uncomfortable.

Don't want to talk?

"Hey Kazan. S/O wants to talk to you."

He really just wants you to come out of your shell.

Danny doesn't expect you to be the most outgoing person in the world.

Just be a little braver.

If the teasing is too much, you'll have to tell him.

But he won't know when to quit.

He loves you, he just wants to see more of you

He knows underneath that shy exterior, lies something more

NSFW

You think he's a tease outside?

Try in the bredroom.

He's going to make you ask for what you want.

"Tell me baby? Otherwise, it's going to be all about me. Understand?"

He's naturally dominant in the bedroom, so you being shy is an advantage to him.

He is going to edge you on and on until you either tell him what you want or you end up in tears.

Even if you're crying, he'll still keep going.

Say what you want, cause that won't end if you don't.

"If you want to cum, say it. I won't let you otherwise."

If you get really upset, he'll stop.

At the end, he'll praise you.

"You did good. I'm proud of you for speaking up."

"See, you just tell me what you want, and it's all yours baby."

He loves your shy side though.

And he wouldn't want it any other way.

Trapper

You're shy?

Well, he isn't the most social person.

You being more quiet doesn't really bother him too much.

Evan actually prefers having a partner who isn't super talkative.

He would rather stay home then go to some party too.

However, he would like it if you asserted yourself more.

He doesn't really tease as much as Danny would.

He's definitely more aggressive in his approaches.

"Speak up."

"If you want something, tell me. Otherwise I can't help you."

"Stop acting like that. You aren't a child."

It's because he loves you.

He wants to make sure you'll be okay when he isn't around.

He'd be devastated if something happened to you.

NSFW

Like Danny, Evan is a bit of a tease.

"If you want something, you better say it."

He's much rougher.

He won't let you cum unless you ask.

He doesn't care if you're crying.

He's going to make you toughen up wether you like it or not.

But when you do say what you want? You'll be in heaven.

For your bravery, he's going to reward you to the fullest.

"See. See how good I can make you feel if you just ask."

He's going to have you do one more thing before he gives you his best.

"Scream my name. Come on. Scream it!"

Once you do, get ready, he's going to rock your world.

It may seem cruel, but that's just how he shows how much he cares about you

Hillbilly

Max is pretty shy too.

So it isn't much of a bother.

And, unlike the others, he wants to make sure you're comfortable.

He would never push you to do something you don't want.

Want to stay home?

That's okay.

He'd rather be with just you.

Don't want to talk to that person?

You don't have to.

He does wish you'd talk more to him though.

He wants to help you.

Talking in general is difficult for him.

Not because he doesn't want to, but because he physically can't.

Let's work on this together!

It's going to be hard, but he knows you can do it!

He believes in you.

If it means you have to start going to parties, then that's what you're going to do.

He's generally liked by all the killers, so they don't mind helping him out.

He'll start small. Rin and Sally are good about helping.

He loves you so much.

He'll do anything to help you.

#dbd imagines #dbd ask blog #dbd x reader #dbd killer #dbd ghostface #dbd trapper #dbd hillbilly

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space-station-collective · 10 months

Text

Intro to Us!

Hey there! We're the Space Station Collective! If you want a name to refer to us as a collective, you can use Solar!

We're an adult-bodied, trans, introject-heavy plural system!

This account will partially be used for us to look at system-related shit on Tumblr, but we will also likely be posting about our experiences as a system!

We do our best not to engage in syscourse on this blog, but we are supportive of and a safe space for ALL system origins!

Currently, our known headcount is in the 40s. We'll likely not make posts dedicated to introing ourselves, but below are a couple people you'll probably see frequently and some basic information (we will also be signing off posts with name and pronouns!)

Host (name anonymous as it's our bodily name) - he/they and, well, the host

Wil - he/him, secondary host and manager

Tommy - he/him, symptom holder

Danny - he/it/they, symptom holder and protective alter

Angel - he/it/any, negative habits holder (actively trying to find a better label)

Things we will probably have on this page: reposts of good information and probably memes, original posts with information we want to share (and also probably memes), generally unspecified posts about things we're experiencing related to being a system, and more! (I don't know what else, I just assume the others will come up with something that I don't expect). We run off of a queue with occasional extraneous posts, so at the moment we post at 6am, 12pm, and 6pm EST! We will occasionally post things outside of that, in addition to it, but that's generally our baseline! (How often the queue posts fluctuates, usually between 2 and 3 times a day, so check here if you ever want to know the current schedule!)

Please DNI:

Basic DNI criteria (Elaborated here)

If you plan to engage in system discourse here (includes fakeclaimers)

If you think it's okay to harass, bully, or otherwise target people for things they cannot control

If you're bringing discourse up that doesn't directly relate to a post

NSFW regression blogs

Any form of bigotry

With NSFW content, if a post is directly interacting with content from this blog, make sure there's nothing NSFW contained in the post

Tags:

#[name].html - organizational tags for everyone's posts, list of all headmate tags that have been used can be found here

#stationcoll info - posts or reblogs about serious information

#stationcoll reblog - any posts that we're reblogging

#stationshitposts - memes and buffoonery, either posted or reblogged

#spacestationcollective - basic tag to be used on anything that doesn't fall under those categories!

#not system related - things that, well, aren't related to system experiences (usually physical disability stuff)

#collective favourites - not really related to anyone besides us, but an organisational tag for posts of ours that we really enjoy for one reason or another and want a small archive of

Userboxes below cut! (all made by me&)

#spacestationcollective #pinned post #system #plurality #stationcoll info

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can-i-roll-for-it · 7 months

Text

Do I excite you Dear?: A hunchfucks oneshot

also posted on ao3: Do I excite you Dear? - Tina_ya_boi - Dimension 20 (Web Series) [Archive of Our Own]

Summary:

Everyone who knew Hunch Curio knew what he was like. He was a curious man, always trying to find out something new to excite him.

Well, Dan liked to think he was a pretty exciting guy, Hunch has told him so himself a few times, but Dan knew there is only so many new pleasures he could introduce to the detective before the novelty of it all wears off, and Dan figured following that, it won't be long before the novelty of their relationship wore off as well. Dan didn't want to live to see the day that happened.

It was usual for Dan and Hunch to end up being the last two people at Sugah at night. Hunch would come by after he was done with work for the day, the hours for that varied based on how interested in a case Hunch was. And how many cases he had in general.

Dan had no problems letting the man in, even if when he came by was after everyone else had left. (Unless Dan was sleeping, waking up to the sound of banging on your door is not fun).

Tonight was one of the nights where everyone was gone by the time Hunch came by.

Dan's employee had gone home by now, and Dan was just finishing up any thing he had to get done before closing up when he heard the door open. Dan grinned, he figured he knew who was there and he was proven right immediately when he glanced toward the door.

"Hunch my man!" Dan exclaimed, stepping out from behind the bar counter to greet the man that just walked in.

"Hey there Danny!" Hunch smiled widely as he closed the door behind him. He made his way over to Dan and threw his arms around him, Dan laughed and hugged him back. The two shared a quick kiss.

Hunch backed up and he just grinned. He looked around. "I am here very late." He nodded, very casually.

Dan nodded. "You often are." Dan hummed. He leaned over and kissed Hunch on the cheek. "Not that I ever mind."

Hunch chuckled as the two of them backed away from each other. "Good to know."

Dan watched Hunch move away, though he didn't go far really, he just moved slightly to the side and leaned against the bar counter. "Anything exciting happened here today?" Hunch asked, clearly hoping the answer was yes.

Dan clicked his tongue, and frowned. "Sorry to disappoint, Doll, it was a pretty usual day today." Maybe usual was not the right word. Sure a lot happened, a lot always happens here, but it wasn't anything Hunch wouldn't have heard of before.

"Damn." Hunch mumbled and pouted "That's too bad."

"Yeah." Dan responded simply. "Do you want a drink? We've cleaned up by now but I can still get you something."

Hunch thought for a second, before he shook his head. "No, I'm ok, don't worry about it."

Dan glanced at Hunch. He swallowed. Everyone who knew Hunch Curio knew what he was like. He was a curious man, always trying to find out something new to excite him.

Dan worried that may be starting though.

Dan stared at Hunch. He nodded slightly. "What do you want to do then?"

Hunch looked at Dan, he thought for a moment. He then laughed "Not sure, you usually tend to have some idea."

Dan did not have an idea, but he figured he'd have to think of something if he didn't want Hunch to leave. "Right right.." Dan thought for a second, before an idea suddenly came to him. "Do you wanna dance then?"

"You want to dance?" Hunch tilted his head to the side, before he smiled and his eyes lit up "I've never danced before!"

Dan nodded quickly. Dan loved to dance, and it can keep Hunch around. This was a great plan! Like all Dan's plans.

"Well I can teach you!" Dan said

"Really?" Hunch grinned, clearly excited.

Dan smiled, and he nodded, as he went over to Hunch and he grabbed his arms, pulling him away from the bar so they had the space to dance.Hunch happily complied as he was dragged away.

"What kind of dancing do you want to learn?" Dan asked as he pulled Hunch close to him.

Hunch thought for a moment. Absent-mindly dropping his arms over Dan's shoulders. "Well. I'd like to learn all dancing, but I don't think that's possible in one night." He laughed. "I'm just happy to learn something with you."

Dan chuckled. "Well. We can see what we can do."

With that they started to dance. It was nothing big, they started with just swaying slightly and maybe did a few twirls, but Dan figured it was a good starting point, and Hunch seemed thrilled the whole time.

Dan loved Hunch's smile, and getting to be the one who caused that smile felt pretty damn good. But the whole time there was a pit in his stomach that he couldn't ignore, because what happens when they are done dancing? When Hunch gets bored of that too?

Dan decided to do everything in his power to make sure Hunch is never bored of him.

It shouldn't be too hard to come up with new ideas for what to do.

There are only so many dances that Dan knows. He had to change things up pretty soon. Sitting at Sugah alone Dan asked "Ever looked at the stars Hunch?"

Hunch paused and looked at Dan. He hummed. "Not like, intensely. Why?"

"Well." Dan started "Things are going good for The Big Guy, the weather has been better, and the stars have been easier to see at night."

Dan said, then waited a second as he watched Hunch think over what he had just said, before Hunch gasped. "You're right! The stars have been more clear! So you wanna go look at the stars then?"

Dan nodded and grinned "Yes, exactly! What do you say Detective?"

"Awe, you know I'll do anything with you Danny!" Hunch said, though as he spoke he was clearly happy at the suggestion.

Dan stood up and hummed triumphantly.

"Let's go then!"

"Where exactly are we going?" Hunch tilted his head. Curious.

"You'll see." Dan grinned as he grabbed onto Hunch's arm and started pulling him along.

"You always like to keep me guessing don't you, Fucks?" Hunch laughed as he ran to keep up with Dan's pace.

'Hopefully. That's the goal' Dan thought as he and Hunch walked outside, Dan let go of Hunch's arm so he could lock up the door of Sugah before they left. "Well I know how much you like to guess." Dan laughed, he then started walking again "Come on it's not far."

Hunch nodded, catching up to Dan and instead grabbing on to hold his hand as they walked. Dan glanced at him, Dan held on to his hand tightly and they walked.

Dan had found a place to look at the stars a few nights ago. It wasn't that hard for Dan to find a semi empty area where the city light didn't shine too brightly, and the stars were vibrant in the sky, that was where he took Hunch tonight.

It was cliche and corny and Dan never thought he would ever bring himself to do something like this.

It's hard to mind that though when Hunch seemed so excited.

The stars in mentopolis were not accurate to the ones Elias saw at night. Everyone knew that much. The stars in mentopolis were ever changing. Some nights they may be slightly brighter than before, sometimes they shrine different colors. Sometimes there were constellations, sometimes there weren't. It was a gamble, and Dan figured Hunch would be into that.

It seemed like he was right. Dan watched as Hunch scanned the sky, taking in the sight of it all. "They're beautiful, Danny."

"I know, that's why I suggested this." Dan joked.

Hunch laughed and rolled his eyes. "Right right." Hunch threw an arm around Dan's shoulder and pulled him closer. Dan paused for a moment before he leaned into the touch. Hunch smiled and looked back up at the stars. "You see any constellations?"

Dan thought for a second, looking up at the stars. Before he pointed up at a collection of them "Those stars up there look like our old pet cat."

Hunch looked in the direction that Dan pointed "Oh yeah!" He bounced on his heels excitedly. He looked around. He pointed at a different collection of stars "Those kinda look like a pumpkin." He said, before he started to laugh at how difficult those answers were.

They spent the night like that. Essentially cloud watching with stars. Sometimes the stars shifted while they stood there, much to Hunch's amusement. Hunch never moved his arm from around Dan, and Dan was content with that.

Unfortunately after some time Dan found himself once again feeling nervous. Once again asking, what happens when Hunch gets bored of this.

Over the next few weeks Dan did all he could to bring Hunch to new places, something that would excite him.

There were things like cooking (Turns out curiosity's response to cooking is to put a bunch of things in a pot and see what happens, who knew), along with a collection of other things.

And it was fucking exhausting. Dan was good at making people happy. It was what he did best, and he loved doing that, especially when one of those people happens to be Hunch Curio, but constantly trying to think of new ideas is so tiring. Evan Dan has his limits.

But he had to keep going. He had to.

Tonight was different though. Tonight Hunch had called Dan and asked him to come up to his office at night. Said he had to talk to him about something

Dan had agreed of course, though walking over there now, at night, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on, and he worried. What if all he had done hadn't worked. What if even after all that it still wasn't good enough. These thoughts swarmed his head as he walked.

Hunch had given him a spare key awhile ago, long before they were partners. Mainly it was in case Hunch ever lost his actual key, he could just go to Dan who would have the back up. Still. By now it was just an agreement between them that Dan could come by whenever he wanted.

Dan opened the door and he made his way through a bit of a hallway before he got to Hunch's actual office, he took a deep breath and he opened the door and walked In and there Hunch was standing by his desk.

Hunch looked up when Dan walked up. "Danny!" He exclaimed.

Dan waved slightly "Hey Doll." Dan made his way across the room and stooped next to Hunch, leaning against the desk.

They were both silent for a moment. Before Dan decided to just ask "So what did you want to talk about?" He tried to keep his voice light hearted when he asked.

Hunch nodded quickly "Yeah! That! Well-" Hunch took a deep breath "It's just...are you ok?"

Dan paused. He blinked. "What?" That was basically the opposite of what he expected.

Hunch crossed his arms. "Come on, something has been going on with you," Hunch moved closer to Dan as he spoke "We've been going out so often the past few weeks, not that I mind hanging out with you Danny but there's gotta be something that made you act different right?" Hunch leaned closer to Dan. "Plus you look like shit Dan, you look tired."

"Well thanks." Dan said sarcastically. Fuck. Fuck shit. He wasn't as subtle as he thought he was.

"Come on Dan, what's going on?"

Dan paused, he looked at Hunch and just shrugged slightly. "Just don't want to see the day you get bored with me Detective." Dan tried to laugh casually, like it wasn't a big deal, like it was just obvious.

Hunch on the other hand looked horrified at this statement. "What are you talking about?"

"Awe come on!" Dan started "You like to be excited, and there's no shame in that, I knew what you were like when I fell for you, but-" he swallowed "I don't think I can be as exciting as you want me to be."

"Danny-"

"Don't get me wrong, I can be! In fact I think I am naturally quite fun."

"Dan-"

"But I believe I may have deceived you! I don't think I can do everything you may expect from me, but I'm trying my best here to make you happy and-"

"DAN!"

Dan stopped as Hunch grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him slightly. Dan blinked. He looked at Hunch. "..What?"

"Danny I'm not with you because I think you can show me exciting stuff. Sure I'm a curious guy! I'll try anything once, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't want to just be around you."

Dan stared forward and Hunch kept speaking, as he spoke he moved his hands from Dan's shoulders to cupping his face "I'm with you because I like you, and I'd like you whether we go out every night or just sit and talk. I don't want you pushing yourself to do stuff because you think it's what I want. I do want you to be happy too you know."

When he finished, Dan just stood there stunned. Dan didn't cry, not much. Pleasure and tears didn't really go hand in hand for him. He was crying now though.

Hunch frowned "I- sorry-" Hunch went to pull his hands away from Dan's face, but Dan in turn just reached up and pulled Hunch into a tight hug. Hunch frozen. Before he eventually hugged Dan back.

"You always do find ways to make me feel like a fool don't you, Detective?" Dan laughed quietly.

Hunch moved slightly so he could look Dan in the eye while still holding on to him, he brought a hand up to wipe some of the tears from his face. "I don't try to."

"That's what makes it worse." Dan laughed more through his tears, leaning into Hunch's hand. "You really do have such an effect on me."

"Maybe not a good one, if I had you thinking you had to strain yourself for me." Hunch frowned, Dan just shook his head.

"I do anything for you, you know."

"If that's the case." Hunch thought for a moment. "I think you should get some rest."

Dan groaned "That's so boring though." He moved his arms to drape them over Hunch's shoulders ``Will you stay with me if I do?"

"Course I will." Hunch nodded thoughtfully "And I don't think there's anything wrong with a little boring, not when it's you."

Hunch led Dan toward the couch in his office (which may not be the most comfortable thing for two people, but it was the best they had at the moment) and the two sat down, all while Hunch continued to hold on to Dan. As Dan leaned against him, and started to doze off, he smiled. For the first time in a while, not worrying about this going away.

#mentopolis #dimension 20 #hunch curio #dan fucks #daniel fucks #hunchfucks #my fics

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five-rivers · 2 years

Text

When You Wake part 2

For Dannymay Day 4: Videotape.

“Alright,” said Tucker, jumping off the stepladder. “One video camera installed and ready to catch your freaky sleep disappearing act.”

Danny sat on his bed, and rubbed the sole of his right foot. “Do you really think it’ll work? I mean, it’ll only show me getting up and leaving, not why or where I go or anything.”

Tucker shrugged. “I don’t know, but if we can get you getting up on tape at least we can be sure you aren’t being kidnapped by ghosts. I understand that’s a big concern.”

“Ugh,” said Danny, collapsing back onto his bed. “Don’t talk about that as if it’s an actual possibility. I get enough of it from my parents.” It would be good to ‘rule it out,’ though. Maybe then they’d be able to start looking for the real problem.

Tucker’s lips twisted. “Yeah, haha. Sorry.” He sat down on the bed next to Danny, who promptly threw a pillow at him. “Hey! Show some respect, I’m helping you out here.”

“I knowwww,” said Danny, rolling onto his front.

Tucker patted him on the back. “Man, you know what would be great? If we could stick, like, a camera to you, too.”

“Don’t those exist?”

“Not that I can afford,” said Tucker.

“Mom and Dad paid for this camera.”

“Yeah, well, I have no idea what they think is reasonably priced. But it’d be great to figure out your blackouts in general, not just the sleepwalking thing.”

“I wish.”

Tucker was quiet for a long moment. Then he sighed with a note of… relief?

Danny looked up, but Tucker wasn’t doing anything odd, just looking at Danny’s ceiling with a slight frown on his face. “Is your ceiling different, by the way?”

“Oh,” said Danny, brightening and sitting back up. “Yeah. I kind of revamped my constellations! I wanted to make them more realistic, you know?” He shrugged. “It’s a work in progress.” He was pretty proud of it, even if it wasn’t perfect. It reflected the night sky much better like this.

“It looks pretty elaborate. You’re not doing this instead of sleeping, are you?”

Danny winced. “At first, I guess, but that didn’t help any, I’d still black out, so…”

Tucker put an arm around his shoulders and gave him a quick squeeze. “You’ll get through this, man.”

“Thanks,” said Danny. “And I can just pop the tape out?”

“Yeah. Here, there’s a remote. Just turn it on before you go to bed, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Danny stumbled back into his room and glared at the camera, its red recording light staring at him.

He limped over to his nightstand to dig the camera remote out of the avalanche of volunteer opportunity brochures and hit the button to pop out the tape, then realized that he didn’t have the stepladder, so he was too short to actually pull it out. There was no way he was jumping for it tonight. Something had happened to his leg. It felt bruised all up and down its length, as if a giant had grabbed and squeezed it.

Which was just great. A mysterious injury was definitely a thing he needed on top of everything else. Maybe it wasn’t the first mysterious injury, but it definitely hurt. He hated this. He hated this so much.

“Dad?” he called. “Can you come get the tape? I want to see what happened!”

It was like unleashing a stampede. When Jack burst into the room, it evolved that he’d brought the entire TV and the VCR with him.

“Um,” said Danny, as Jack set the TV down in the center of the room with a clunk.

“So you don’t have to do the stairs, Danno! We noticed you were having some trouble on the way up!”

“Oh, thanks,” said Danny.

Maddie followed while Jack was trying to plug the TV in, and sat down next to Danny on the bed.

“Can I see your leg?” she asked.

With a wince, Danny pulled the leg of his pajama pants up. Maddie frowned, the expression pulling on lines that Danny could swear she hadn’t had earlier this year, before his accident.

“Those are some bruises,” said Maddie. “But I think they are just bruises. We have some cream.” She held up a small tube.

“Store bought?”

“Yes, it came with the first-aid kit.”

“No added ectoplasm?”

“Not this tube,” said Maddie, with the grace to look embarrassed.

“Okay, then,” said Danny, reaching for it. She didn’t give it to him, but unscrewed the cap herself and started applying it. “Mom,” he said, not really complaining, but still.

“You aren’t hurt anywhere else, are you?”

“I don’t think so,” said Danny. “I’m just tired.”

“Alright!” exclaimed Jack. “Let’s find out what ghost keeps taking Danny.”

Danny rolled his eyes very deliberately. “Come on, give me the VCR remote. It’ll be hours before anything happens. I turned it on at like, nine.”

“I can do it, I can do it!” said Jack, who did indeed fast forward… straight into the part where Danny was gone and his bed empty.

It took a bit of finingling to get it only a few minutes before Danny left.

He leaned forward. Even if this was going to be an underwhelming example of him wandering around like a zombie until he made it out the door, it was still something.

Danny watched his image on the screen breathe in and out, smoothly, dead asleep, apparently unaware of anything about to happen. But then he shuddered, a full-body tremor, and went completely still.

Then, slowly, he sat up, turned and…

“What,” Danny whispered, his hand creeping up to his eyes. “What is that?”

“I knew it!” shouted Jack. “You were overshadowed, Danny-boy! This is great! We can fix this!”

“What? No, no, that has to be… It has to be a– a– I don’t know, a weird red eye effect.”

He knew it wasn’t.

“Danny,” said Maddie, gripping his shoulders. “Calm down. Breathe.”

“Those aren’t–”

The Danny on the screen vanished into thin air.

The next thing Danny knew, he was in the park and the sun was up.

#danny phantom #dannymay #dannymay 2022 #dannymay 2022 day 4: videotape #when you wake

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spaceyflowerswriting · 2 years

Note

Heyyy can you write danny and reader kissing ? Thx bye bye

lots of love (daniel park x reader)

details: fluffy drabble, gender neutral reader written in 2nd pov, general canon au, you and daniel are dating

summary: daniel gets rewarded by his partner for the many nice things he's done for them.

a/n: thanks for the cute request :] <3

Daniel wasn't sure what was up with him today, but he wasn't going to question it when every single one of his acts of services expressed to you was met with your sweet smile. Honestly he was starting to convince himself that he'd just be like this for the rest of his life if it meant he could see you smile like that.

"Devoted to them for the rest of my life..." Like a doting husband.

He blushed at the thought. What was he thinking? You two were still highschoolers with uncertain futures in the making. He shouldn't be committing to such a heavy decision at his age. Still, the thought was nice.

A happy sigh passed his lips and you were quick to notice.

"Are you daydreaming again?"

"Sorry," he replied with a laugh, going back to sweeping the floor.

You smiled and went back to your own chore of tidying the classroom by sorting out some books. "You don't have to be sorry, I was just pointing it out. What were you daydreaming about, by the way?"

"Um..." He quietly cleared his throat, unable to stop the pink that was beginning to color in his cheeks. "Nothing much." In an attempt to avoid further questioning, he asked, "Do you want to take a break? We should go get a drink of water or something after our hard work."

The playful look you gave him made his heart race but he calmed when you went along with his suggestion.

He set his broom down and made a beeline for the door of the classroom. "Okay! I'll run and go get some water bottles for us--"

"Nuh-uh. You've done more than enough for me, today." You stepped towards the door, clearly intending to block it.

Daniel kept walking over anyway. "But--"

"Nope." Once you stood in front of the door, he stopped moving to pout. "Stay right where you are. I'm going to get the water bottles."

There was a momentary lighthearted staredown, although Daniel was only using his puppy eyes. That, combined with his pout, made for his ultimate charming tactic. Or at least that's what he hoped. Thankfully, it worked either way and he brightened up as soon as you huffed.

"Okay, fine, you can come along."

"Thank you!" He hurried to follow you out when you left the classroom.

"Seriously, though, you've done way too much for me today."

Daniel cheekily remarked with, "There's no limit, is there?"

You lightly elbowed him. "Yes, but I'm starting to feel guilty. I mean, you even gave me a shoulder massage earlier."

Maybe that was a little over the top, but oh well. He continued to tease, "Well, that's just because I'd do anything for you."

"Daniel, you are too much sometimes, you know that?"

"In a bad way or--" Before he could finish, you grabbed his collar and slightly pulled him down to your height to kiss him. He quickly melted into the kiss and his hands found themselves resting on your hips.

Usually he was unsure of where to place his hands whenever the two of you kissed, but at the moment it came naturally to him. Seemed like something really was up with him today. He could only hope it'd last so long it became a part of him.

After you pulled away, you leaned in to his ear and quietly said, "I'll give you more kisses later~"

His cheeks colored in pink the same way as before and a big grin formed on his face while you properly pulled away this time and continued to walk off. He trailed after you like the lovesick puppy he was.

bonus extra writing below that i thought was funny but scrapped lol (original plan for this drabble/oneshot was daniel being awkward about a first kiss)

"Be gentle... and fast. Be manly... but kind. Got it?"

"Zack, that sounds awfully familiar to something you've told Vasco before."

"Hey, if a piece of advice works, there's nothing wrong with repeating it. And it's not like you have any advice, Jace."

Jace's smile cracked. "Yeah... but still. Daniel asked how you kiss someone."

"And? My advice still applies?"

Daniel rubbed at his nape, glancing between his friends. "Uh, but Zack, how exactly do you kiss someone in a manly way?" He was only met with silence and Jace awkwardly looking away.

Eventually, Zack managed to mutter, "Well... you just..."

Jace sighed and lightly slapped Zack's arm, making the latter glare at him. "Stop making shit up, you're just going to confuse poor Daniel."

"I'm--!"

"Daniel, just talk to your partner about it. Learn together or something. That's the best advice I can offer."

"Ah, okay! Thanks, Jace." Daniel politely bowed his head at Jace and then nodded at his other friend. "You, too, Zack."

"Anytime, Daniel," replied Jace as Zack gave him a thumbs up and a, "Come back anytime for dating advice!"

#lookism x reader #daniel park x reader #daniel park #requests

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aikoiya · 1 month

Note

Hey it me your boi

While I seen Danny Phantom have crossover with shows with ghosts but I am wondering about what your thoughts about Danny Phantom crossover with JoJo bizarre adventure and the idea of Stand ( a manifestation of a fighting spirit that only stands user can see and fight) (also to make it simple that Danny don't have a stand).

Hey! How's it hangin'? Good to read from ya!

Anyway, it's actually interesting. Like, even though Stands are a manifestation of one's fighting spirit, I'm not sure if that'd qualify as being actual spirit-spirit. If it were, then I think they might be effective against, if not ghosts from the IR, then at least one's bound to earth. And even in the case of Stands not typically being effective against Danny, I think that certain ones would be. Obviously, anything able to actually affect the soul or mind like the d'Arby brothers. However, I'm not sure about things that would only affect the physical body.

In the case of it not being spiritual or mental in nature, especially in cases of things affecting the body, I can see a lot of Stands just not being very effective at all. Like, they might affect him, especially in human form, just not nearly as much as if Stands are portrayed in a spiritual nature. Especially if he goes intangible, which would probably reduce shit to zero.

And even if he can't affect the Stands themselves, he can still 100% affect the Stand Users.

Though, even in the case of mental stands like the devil baby & his clown reaper Stand, I can see Danny going either way. He could see it & other Stands just fine for some undiscernible reason.

However, depending on your hc of how Danny's sense works, you could make things interesting by having him be unable to see them, but have his sense be triggered by them.

Personally, in my hcs, he's descended from a Dhampir, which gives him a supernatural sense, which has sort of been enhanced by him becoming a ghost. However, that just my hc & you can do what you want with that information.

And in the case of them actually being spiritual, then you could feasibly argue that Danny is his own Stand.

Now, for things like Za Warudo, I think it could effect him, but would have diminishing returns much like with Jotaro. But rather than it being because he can control time too, it's more so because Za Warudo is more like knock-off time manipulation whereas Clockwork's is the grandmaster of time manipulation. Plus, the IR is just generally a place with time working weirdly, if at all & I think it's partially due to ectoplasm, which Danny has, in my hc, incorporated into every single cell in his body.

However! You wanna know what I do think would be very effective on Danny in different ways depending on how they're used?

Hamon. Because Hamon is based on IRL Qigong practices, which are spiritual in nature & likely use at least a bit of Reiki, which is super effective against ghosts & spirits.

Then again, that might just be my personal bias as someone who honestly enjoyed the first 3 books more than the ones that came after. I just generally liked how Hamon worked better & one of my favorite Stands is actually Purple Hermit because it feels like it synergizes well with Joseph's power & expands upon it in an interesting way.

Though, I actually do theorize that Giorno's Stand, Gold Experience, & possibly even Josuke's Stand, Crazy Diamond, to a degree, might be more effect on Danny because I theorize that their abilities might manifest a degree of Hamon that they could've inherited from their fathers.

Especially Giorno. It'd basically just make his Stand even more broke.

At the same time, I think that not just Danny's blood, but the ectoplasm of ghosts from the IR would be really freaking toxic af to both vampires & pillarmen, but in different ways.

Like, Danny's blood is like actual poison to them while pure ectoplasm from an IR ghost is like drinking acid. Only the ghosts of vampires or Vlad could consume it. Which, I hc Vlad as being half-Lugat, half-Ghost with a Strigoi ancestor. In my mind, he sort of revived himself with the force of his desire for something he pursued in life, which is how Lugats are created. No worries though, Lugats are actually considered living rather than part of the undead which is how they are still able to reproduce, thus bringing about Dhampirs.

But, yeah. Those are just my thoughts.

#danny phantom #dp #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba #dp x jjba

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oblivious-aro · 10 months

Text

Friends in Strange Places Ch. 5

What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14074558/1/Friends-in-Strange-Places

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Although no one was paying attention, Jazz continued her narration. Tucker and Sam sat in silence, avoiding eye contact with anyone, while Danny stared out the window.

"Hey!" Danny interrupted Jazz "I think I can see the lake!"

Jazz stopped talking and looked out the window.

"Yeah!" she said "And some of the houses. Wow, the architecture is just phenomenal!"

Tucker and Sam rushed over to look too (the lakeview was only on Danny and Jazz's side, and the Fenton parents had always been pretty lax about seatbelts).

"Finally!" Tucker pumped his fist "I am so ready to get out of this vehicle."

"There sure are a lot of trees. It's nice. Shady." Sam remarked. "Those houses are a bit much, though. Which one's Vlad's?"

"Vlad's house should be coming up right about..." Maddie scanned out the window "There!"

She pointed to a minty green house they were steadily approaching. It was decadent, but nowhere neat as large as all the other houses on the lakefront.

"Ope, there's the driveway, turn there Jack."

They turned and drove down Vlad's (very long) driveway, to find Vlad himself standing at end of it. Danny wondered if he'd been standing there long.

When Danny stepped out of the RV behind Sam and Tucker, the first thing he noticed (besides his wobbly car legs) was Vlad's outfit. He wasn't wearing his usual suit, but instead a yellow golf shirt with green stripes around the waist, sleeves, and collar tucked into khaki pants.

"Ah, The Fentons, and friends." Vlad nodded towards Sam and Tucker "Welcome to my summer villa." Vlad gestured to the beautiful structure behind him.

"Wow Vlad," Maddie said "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but this is much ritzier than the little cottage I was expecting."

"Did I say cottage on the phone? Ah, see my mother had taken to calling it 'The Cottage', and it seems at some point I picked up the habit."

"Yeah, that does sound like something Nedelya would do." Jack nodded. "I see you managed to sneak in the ol' Packer's colour scheme past her?"

"Ah, so you noticed."

"You betcha! I suppose the inside is littered with yellow trim?"

"Gold, to be precise."

"Classic Vladdie!" Jack slapped Vlad on the back, knocking the wind out of him.

"Classic Jack." Vlad wheezed.

"Alright, as much as I'd love to stand around chitchating," Maddie said "We'd better get the food we brought into a fridge."

"Oh Maddie, you're barely staying for two days, you didn't have to-"

"Oh, nonsense Vlad. You're being very generous by letting us all stay at your place, including Danny's friends. The least we can do is bring some groceries."

"Well, since you've already gone to the trouble, I suppose I'll show you the kitchen."

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

While Jack and Maddie started putting the groceries away, Vlad took the kids upstairs. He dropped Sam and Jazz off at their room, and then showed Danny and Tucker theirs.

"Feel free to explore wherever you'd like in the house." Vlad said "I'll be in the office, which is just in the next room over, finishing up some straightening if you need anything." Vlad gave a small wave as he left.

Danny and Tucker's room was identical to Sam and Jazz's. The floor was made of some kind of dark hardwood, and the walls were green with thins gold designs on it. There were two beds with solid wooden frames and green covers. Mounted on the wall between the beds, above a wooden nightstand, was a golden light fixture with a little chain hanging from it.

Tucker flopped onto one of the beds.

"Springy, yet firm with just enough give." Tucker folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "Very nice. And I must say, I'm a fan of all these decorative pillows."

"Seems like a bit much." Danny said "What on earth does one person need seven pillows for?"

"Sneak attack!"

Danny turned intangible as a pillow sailed through his face and hit the wall behind him.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

Danny turned tangible and stuck his tongue out at Tucker.

"Nothing you can do about it, Tuck."

Tucker crossed his arms poutily.

Danny tossed his backpack onto the other bed.

"I'm gonna go talk to Vlad real quick." he said.

"Alright, don't be too long though, cuz I definitely want to grab Sam and go house-exploring before dinner. Maybe we'll find a hidden passageway!"

"What about Jazz?" Danny asked.

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting about Jazz. It's been a while since we've really hung out with her."

"It really hasn't." Danny rolled his eyes as he left the room.

The door next to their guestroom (which Danny assumed was the office Vlad was talking about) was open, so Danny stepped inside.

The office had the same green walls as the guestrooms, just without the gold designs. A bookshelf with glass doors took up the entire left wall. Vlad stood at the back of the room by a plain empty wooden desk.

It didn't seem like this office was used for much.

"Are you and your friends finding everything all right?" Vlad asked.

"Yeah, we're all great." Danny closed the door behind him. "So, you're telling my parents this weekend, huh?"

"Indeed. Speaking of, how did things go with your sister? You did talk to her, right?"

"Jazz? Oh yeah, I did tell her. It turned out she already knew, actually."

"Really?" Vlad's eyes widened "And you had no idea?"

"Apparently she saw me go ghost a while back, but she wanted to wait until I was ready to tell her."

"Well," Vlad blinked, his expression unreadable "It sounds like things went well then."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad." Vlad smiled.

"Me too. I didn't tell her about you, though. I wanted to make sure you were okay with that first."

"I appreciate that." Vlad nodded. "You may tell her about me. It would probably be best to have her in the loop. Especially once your parents know about me."

"Yeah." Danny nodded "Are you gonna tell them tonight?"

Vlad didn't answer right away.

"No. I think I'll do it tomorrow. Later in the day. Probably after dinner."

"I think we'll be gone before then. Mom and Dad said we'd need to set out by 2:00 so we're not home too late."

"Ah yes, I suppose you do have school Monday, don't you? I'll tell them after lunch, then." Vlad sighed. "It truly is tragic how short the weekend is."

"Agreed. You, uh, nervous?"

"I'm...trying not to think about it too much until the moment arrives. I'm going to tell them, and that's that. There's nothing to be gained in dwelling on it."

"Yeah, I get that."

There was pause in the conversation.

Danny felt like he should say more. He knew what Vlad was going through better than anyone else possibly could, but the fact of the matter was that they didn't actually know each other that well. What encouraging words could Danny offer this person who was three decades older than him, and whom he hardly ever spoke to?

"You know," Vlad said "It brings me great joy, seeing you surrounded by people who know what happened to you and accept you. I wouldn't say I've had a bad life, far from it, but I'm glad you aren't going through what I went through alone."

Vlad sounded happy, but for some reason that made Danny feel worse for him than if he'd sounded sad.

"Well, for what it's worth, you're not alone anymore Vlad. Even if my parents don't accept you, you'll still have me and my friends. Not that they won't accept you, I know they totally will."

Vlad gave Danny a tired smile.

"I certainly hope so Little Badger."

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

"Ah there you are, Vlad!" Maddie smiled as Vlad entered to the kitchen. "Got the kids all situated?"

"Yes, they're all set." Vlad said "I'll show you and Jack your room after we get the food all taken care of."

"Sounds good. It's so nice that we're finally able to spend some real quality time together." Maddie commented, putting a head of lettuce in the fridge.

Vlad gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, V-man!" Jack wrapped an arm tightly around Vlad. "I can finally catch you up on all the stuff Maddie and I have been working on! You are gonna love the Fenton-combobulator!"

"If you two don't mind," Vlad wriggled out of Jack's grip "I would actually prefer it if we didn't talk about anything ghost-related this weekend."

Jack frowned.

"Well, okay Vladdie. But, why-"

"Jack." Maddie said warningly.

Not that she wasn't also curious...

It couldn't have been trauma from the accident, Vlad had been very enthusiastic about their inventions when Jack took him down to the lab.

Especially the portal. He'd gone right up to it without a trace of fear or hesitation.

But she didn't want to risk pushing the issue. They'd wanted to spend time with Vlad like this ever since the reunion, and now that it was finally happening, Maddie just wanted to enjoy it. Preferably without without any drama.

"Alright, alright." Jack held up his hands. "No ghosts. I got it. Gives me more time to razz you, anyway. Seems The Packers aren't making it to The Super Bowl this year. Again."

"The Super Bowl isn't everything, Jack."

"I suppose that's true, but it's when Maddie makes her special chicken wings, so it's the most important football event as far as I'm concerned! By far!"

"Jack, that's far from a unique opinion." Vlad pinched his nose. "Though I must say, I'm interested in seeing how The Patriots..."

Jack and Vlad soon started throwing around terms and numbers that went over Maddie's head, but listening to their conversation still made her smile.

This was the Vlad she remembered. This was her friend.

For a while she'd wondered if he was even still in there, but now she could see him; he'd just been hidden behind some stuffy mask ever since the college reunion. The mask had slipped briefly in the lab at Fenton Works and in Colorado at three in the morning, but now it felt like it was truly and fully off.

This was the Vlad she and Jack had stayed up late running through concepts for theoretical inventions with, had scrounged the library for old newspapers with any articles on ghost sightings, had split whatever the 'deal of the day' was at Tony's Pizza's at least three days a week with.

It turned out that Vlad was still there, he just ordered more expensive pizzas these days.

Speaking of pizza...

"We should probably start getting supper made." Maddie said "Danny's friend Sam's a vegetarian, so she brought her own bean-based burgers, and we brought some vegetables for salads."

"And potatoes!" Jack piped up.

"Yes Jack. You start the potatoes, I'll do the salad, and Vlad can start on the patties."

Vlad's smile faded as he eyed the packages of ground beef on the table.

"You...didn't happen to bring any premade ones, did you?"

"Of course not!" Jack laughed. "The ones you make are waaay better V-man! Don't worry, we got the garlic powder and all those other spices and stuff you need!"

"Is there a problem, Vlad?" Maddie frowned concernedly.

"Well, it's jus been a while since I've actually- wait," Vlad eyed the little plastic bags next to the beef "You still remember the spice mixture I used?"

"Of course, V-man!" Jack patted Vlad's shoulder. "I'd never forget the spices for your burgers. Best I've ever had!"

"We actually use your recipe for burger night at our house." Maddie said.

"They never turn out quite as good as yours, though." Jack patted Vlad's shoulder again. "I don't know what your secret is Vladdie!"

It was strange. The fact that Jack and Maddie still remembered something as mundane as his hamburger recipe after all these years warmed his heart, but it also made it ache longingly.

"Well, Vlad, if you're not up to it, I certainly don't mind-"

"You know what?" Vlad cut Maddie off, his earlier hesitation replaced with burning drive "I'm pretty sure I remember how to do it." The fact that his friends had held on to such a small detail moved Vlad. "They aren't actually particularly difficult to make, I just haven't had anyone to make them for in a while."

Vlad turned to some cupboards next to the fridge.

"I know there's cutting boards around here somewhere...Jack, check the drawer near the stove for the kniv- on second thought, you should look through the cupboards while I find the knives, since you're, uh...taller than me."

"You got it V-man!" Jack beamed.

Maddie smiled as she watched Vlad opened and shut a few drawers.

Yes, that was the Vlad she knew. The Vlad she'd been missing. She continued to smile as Vlad and Jack handed her a knife and a cutting board and she began slicing tomatoes.

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

"Those were way better than the burgers Mom and Dad make!" Danny said.

"Yeah." Jazz agreed. "They're a lot less charred."

"Can't really give an opinion on the burgers," Sam said "But I am half-considering trying to talk my parents into getting some of that artisanal root beer."

The kids were all standing on Vlad's back deck. Danny had corralled them all outside after supper cleanup, figuring Vlad would want some tiem to catch up with Jack and Maddie privately.

"You know," Tucker said "I like Vlad Masters. His burger's are worthy of my mother's cooking, and he's a technological genius, but there is something weirdly off about him. He's too polite."

"Being poite's a bad thing?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what I mean, Danny. He's polite in a...weird way."

"Oh please," Sam said "He's putting on a front. I'd recognize the 'polite rich person' persona anywhere."

"Not to mention the fact that he's been living alone in a football themed castle for the last twenty years." Jazz said. "It'd be weirder if he wasn't a little off."

"It is strange that he suddenly invited your family out here after months of silence." Sam narrowed her eyes "It's kind of sketchy, actually."

"I actually might know something about that." Danny said.

The other three all turned to look at him.

"Vlad told me he was planned on telling Mom and Dad...something important this weekend."

"Is he going to tell them he's half-ghost!?" Jazz asked, her eyes widening.

Danny's heart skipped a beat.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, sorry. Do Sam and Tucker not know? I assumed they did, since Vlad invited them out here too."

"No, they know." Danny said. "The question is how do you know?"

"Wait," Tucker said "You didn't tell her about Vlad?"

"I was just about to! I had to get his permission first, and he's not around a lot."

"I mean, considering he sets off all the same ghost devices you do," Jazz started to count on her fingers "He was also the victim of a ghost portal accident, and the fact he's been avoiding Mom and Dad ever since said accident, it wasn't that hard to piece together."

"So, does that mean he's telling them right now?" Tucker asked.

"No. He said he planned on doing it tomorrow. I figured he wants to wait a bit and take the opportunity to spend some time with them before he tells them. You know, break the ice before he drops the bombshell on them."

"And spend one last weekend with them on the off chance they never want to see him again." Jazz added.

It took her a few seconds to realize that everyone was staring at her with horrified expressions.

"Not that that'll happen!" she backtracked "Sure, Mom and Dad will be pretty shocked and probably have a million questions, but they will accept him. I just mean that it might be hard for Vlad to have faith in them right now, you know, all things considered."

"Hey wait," Sam turned to Danny "Once your parents know that half-ghosts are a thing, doesn't that open up the possibility of your parents figuring you out?"

"I was also kind of worried about that." Danny said "But Vlad said he'd throw them off the scent when he talks about the details of his accident. Also, considering all the stuff they've missed in the past, do you really think my parents'll put two and two together on this one?"

"Yeah, probably not." Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all said at the same time.

"And you know, if things do go well, I...actually kind of might want to tell Mom and Dad too."

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all gave Danny a sympathetic look, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, I think we should give them some time at the house. Let them catch up or whatever it is adults do." Danny said quickly.

"Yeah, sure thing." Tucker nodded. "But what on earth are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

No one answered him right away.

"Wanna go sit on the dock?" Danny shrugged.

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

Tucker sighed as he sat down, letting his feet hang over the edge.

It was a very simple wooden dock that had been painted white. A large boulder that with house's address number carved into it was resting in a little garden by the walkway from the house. The walkway split into two separate paths at the dock that Jazz said ran along the whole edge of the lake.

The view of the lake from the dock was spectacular, but Tucker wasn't appreciating that right now.

"No wi-fi, no video games, no ghosts, what are we even supposed to do?"

"Have you tried relaxing?" Sam asked dryly "Maybe enjoying this gorgeous view of nature?"

"I feel you." Jazz plopped down beside Tucker. "I left all my textbooks at home. They made my suitcase too heavy. But now I don't know what to do with myself."

"Oh for Pete's sake," Sam shook her head. Listening to these two was making her depressed "We could...uh..." Sam looked around, her eyes falling on the lake water "Go swimming?"

Sam squatted down and stuck her hand in the lake. She immediately pulled it out and shot up to her feet.

"Never mind." Sam shook the water off of her hand "That's way too cold for swimming."

"It'd probably be perfect in summer." Jazz said, lazily draping her own hand in the water.

Sam leaned against a mailbox.

"Yeah, Probably." she sighed. "Hey wait, why is there a mailbox on the dock?"

"For the mail jumpers." Jazz said.

"The what?" Tucker sat up slightly.

"There's a boat tour that goes around to deliver and pick up mail on the docks. The mail jumpers jump onto the dock, put the mail in the box, then jump back on while the boat's still moving."

"That sounds incredibly impractical." Sam said.

"And really cool!" Tucker added.

"It's really more of a tradition thing nowadays. They only do it in the summer for tourists."

"This place seems like it's only fun in the summer." Tucker grumbled, slouching again.

Danny rejoined the group, holding up the hem of his shirt.

"Whatcha got there?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Rocks." Danny squatted down and dumped the rocks noisily onto the dock. He picked one up, wound his arm back, and tossed it at the lake. It skipped four times.

"Woah!" Sam and Tucker said.

"Pssht." Jazz rolled her eyes. "Only four skips? Is that really all you got?" Jazz picked up a rock.

"It's not my fault. These rocks are terrible for skipping. Unfortunately, they were the best I could find."

"Blame the worker, not the tools." Jazz tossed the rock she was holding. It skipped three times before sinking. "Oh, wow, these rocks are terrible."

"How'd you do that?" Tucker picked up a rock and threw it. It lamely sunk into the lake with a splash.

"You just throw it kind of like a frisbee." Danny said, skipping another stone. It skipped three times.

"I don't know how to throw a frisbee. You know this." Tucker glared at Danny

"You're a terrible teacher, Danny." Jazz laughed.

"Says you!"

"Yeah, says me," Jazz stood up "The current rock skipping record holder."

"I broke your records ages ago!"

"Uh-huh, sure Danny, you totally broke my record when no one else happened to be around."

"I totally did! I found the perfect rock and got sixteen skips!"

"Allegedly."

"Oh yeah? Give me ten minutes with one of them," Danny jerked his thumb at Sam and Tucker "And I'll make them a better rock skipper than you!"

"Oh please," Jazz rolled her eyes "You think you're the better teacher? I'm the one who taught you how to skip rocks, remember?"

"Ha! Jokes on you! I was never listening to a word you said and figured it out on my own!"

"This argument doesn't even make any sense." Tucker said "And I've told you two how I feel about being offered up to disprove your petty-"

"I call Danny!" Sam raised her hand.

"I- wha, hey!"

"It's settled then." Jazz grabbed Tucker by the shoulders. "Whoever's student can do the most skips with a single rock is the winner."

"Fine by me." Danny crossed his arms and smiled cockily.

"We're going to go down by the shore so you two can't steal my skipping secrets."

"Like we're going to need them!" Danny called as Jazz dragged the befuddled Tucker to the other dock.

"Okay," Danny turned to Sam once Jazz and Tucker were out of earshot "So you just wind your arm back at waist level, then launch it. Try to give it a spin and keep it parallel to the water. Flatter rocks work best, but these were the best I could find."

"Okay, so, like this?" Sam threw a rock. It sunk without skipping.

"Eh, you've almost got it. Just do it like fifty more times and it'll probably click."

"This is what you call teaching?"

"It's how I learned. And by watching Jazz. She's actually a much better shower than teller."

Danny threw a rock and it skipped three times.

"Ugh. Seriously, these rocks are awful for skipping. I can usually get way more."

"Great. I'm sure this will be a productive lesson."

Sam threw another one. It also sank. She scowled but picked up another rock, determined to get at least one skip.

Danny and Sam practiced stone skipping for a while, only pausing when they ran out of rocks to get more. Danny's usually skipped between three and five times (at one point he did manage to get seven), and Sam did manage to get a skip here and there, but most of her rocks just sank.

After watching the seventh rock in a row sink, Sam decided she needed a little break. She watched Danny wind up a stone.

"Hey, Danny..." Sam said "Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure."

"How old were you when you got your first crush?"

"Oh, uh..." Danny fumbled the rock he'd been about to throw. He hadn't been expecting her to ask that "I think I was, like, seven. You remember how I always picked Phoebe Phast in Turbo Racer Two as my racer?"

"Wait, you had a crush on Phoebe?"

"Well, I didn't really understand what it was at the time, but looking back, yeah it was totally a crush. Kind of explained why she was the only girl I ever picked as my character in a video game."

"Okay, so seven years old? Wow, that's younger than I expected. Okay, have you had any other crushes, besides for Paulina?" Sam almost managed to not roll her eyes at the mention of that name.

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I mean, I don't think there were any other super noteworthy ones. Mostly celebrities and the same popular girls everyone else was crushing on in middle school. I kinda like Penelope Ryan, but she moved away before I could tell her. I probably wouldn't have asked her out anyway. I hated the idea of asking anyone out at the time, looking the way I did. Turns out undiagnosed dysphoria really amps up the whole pre-teen self-consciousness."

Danny laughed. Sam didn't.

"But...why?"

"Why what?"

"I don't get it. I mean, Penny was cool, I guess, but Paulina's a jerk, and Phoebe Phast isn't even real. I just can't figure out what you see in them."

"They're hot?"

"That's it? That's all you need? But that doesn't make any sense!"

"You don't have to be so judgy. It's not like I can pick who I like."

"I'm not being judgy! It's just...you make it seem like falling in love is so simple. Like, you don't put any consideration into it at all, like it just happens!"

Danny had no idea why Sam was freaking out so much, or why she was nitpicking his old crushes, but it was really annoying him.

"You sound like Tucker." Sam said "You're not making any sense."

"Sam, you're the one not making any sense." Danny snapped "I don't know what you're trying to get at, but Tucker and I are the normal ones. You're the one who's being weird!"

Danny's stomach dropped.

Sam didn't say anything. Her expression was a cross between being really deep in thought and really angry.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"It's fine Danny."

"No, really, I didn't mean-"

"Drop it."

Danny realized that Sam was looking over his shoulder. He turned and saw that Jazz and Tucker were coming back.

Jazz looked very grumpy.

"Uh, what's up?" Danny asked. He snuck another glance at Sam. Her expression was still unreadable.

"You win." Jazz crossed her arms.

"What?"

"I said you win!" Jazz threw her arms in the air. Tucker seemed to be avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"That bad?" Danny asked him.

"It bounced back." Tucker muttered.

"What?"

"It bounced back!" Tucker repeated louder.

"What do you mean?"

"He threw the rock," Jazz said "And I didn't see it skip, so I thought it sunk, but then it came sailing back out of the water right between our heads. So, for our own safety, we are forfeiting the competition."

"Woo hoo." Sam cheered dryly "We win."

She threw another rock into the lake. It sunk without skipping.

"Hey Sam," Tucker said "Are you okay?"

Sam threw another rock. It bounced once before sinking.

"I am now." she said with a small smile "With that, I've officially beaten you properly."

Tucker scowled and crossed his arms. Jazz patted his back sympathetically.

No one noticed the green tentacle emerge from the water. It patted along the shore where Jazz and Tucker had just been before slinking back into the lake.

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

The adults chatted idly as they finished the supper cleanup. Once everything was put away, they moved their conversation to the deck with coffee that Vlad had brewed with a French press. He claimed it 'brought out a richer earthier flavour'. Jack and Maddie had no idea what he was talking about.

There was a slight breeze that rustled the leaves as the sun began to dip below the horizon. It was a beginning to get a little chilly, but the warm coffee helped.

"You know," Jack said "I never thought I'd say this, but taking a break from ghosts has been sort of nice in a way."

"I know." Maddie said. "When was the last time we took a break Jack?"

"Hmm, let's see..." Jack scratched his chin. "I think the last time was my last fishing trip with Danny, and that was...huh, I think that was before we got the portal working."

"It's been that long?" Maddie frowned.

"You two are certainly in good company." Vlad said "I don't think I've taken a proper vacation in years!"

"You may not research ghosts anymore Vlad," Maddie elbowed Vlad in the arm "But it's good to see you've still kept your bad habits from working in the least supported branch of the sciences."

They all laughed, followed by a brief moment of comfortable silence.

"I've been meaning to ask, Vlad," Maddie said "How's your mother?"

"Oh...she...passed away. A little while ago."

"Oh." Maddie covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Vlad."

"Yeah, sorry to hear that V-man." Jack put a sympathetic hand on Vlad's shoulder. "Nedelya Masters was a wonderful person. Sweet, but with such a practical wit..." Jack sighed.

"How long has it been Vlad?" Maddie asked gently.

"About..." Vlad scrunched up his face "Five years at this point. She died in her sleep. Heart attack, the doctors said she went quickly. We didn't really have a full funeral, just a small ceremony."

"Oh Vlad," Maddie placed her hand on his "I'm so sorry we weren't there."

"It's alright, you didn't know."

"But I wish we had." Maddie's eyebrows were creased. "Tell me you had at least had someone with you?"

Vlad did have a support system, but he didn't think that Maddie meant his therapist and a committee of ghost vultures.

"Er...of course I did." Vlad attempted to give Maddie a reassuring smile.

Maddie sighed.

"We should have been there for you," her grip on Vlad's hand tightened "Five years ago...you should have told us, we could have-"

Maddie stopped talking. She let go of Vlad's hand, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"You could have called us, Vladdie." Jack said softly "I know we hadn't spoken in a while, but we would have been there for you."

"I..."

Vlad wanted to say it was alright, it wasn't their fault, but he knew that that wasn't what they wanted to hear.

Jack looked between Vlad and Maddie. After a few seconds, he stood up and clapped a hand to both of their backs.

"Hey now," he smiled "I know that's pretty sad news, but this is supposed to be a happy visit. Old friends catching up, right? Here, I'll go make some more coffee and-"

Vlad and Maddie shot out of their seats.

"NO!" They shouted, simultaneously grabbing Jack's arms.

"Jack I love you, but Vlad's appliances are too expensive for your track record!" Maddie said.

"Remember what happened last time!" Vlad said

Jack held up his hands in surrender and sheepishly returned to his seat.

"The last time?" Maddie raised an eyebrow.

"Ah right, you weren't there for that." Vlad said. "Did we really never tell you that story?"

"No, you didn't." Maddie sat back down, staring at Vlad with intrigue in her eyes.

"Well," Vlad laughed and rubbed his face "You remember that week we told you you weren't allowed to come to our dorm room, and we wouldn't tell you why? Well, you see, Jack and I had just gotten a French press, and when we were trying it out for the first time, Jack decided to-"

"Hey, hey, wait a minute Vladdie! You forgot an important part! See Madds, when we went out to get the coffee press..."

Once Jack and Vlad finally managed to get through that story, it reminded Maddie of something that had happened with her roommate, which led to the trio swapping old college stories until it got too dark to be outside.

All things considered, it was a very nice evening.

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

Sam spat into the sink and set her toothbrush in the bottom half of its holder to dry.

She walked over to the bathroom door and paused with her hand on the knob.

"It's fine." Sam said to herself "It's just Jazz. Sure, you haven't really talked to her much since Danny became half-ghost, or before then really, but she's just Danny's sister. And it's just one night. How awkward can it be?"

Sam opened the door.

Jazz was sitting in the bed on the left side of the room, her blanket resting over her legs as she read a book.

Sam felt relieved. Reading meant no talking, and no talking meant no awkwardness.

Sam silently got under the covers of her own bed.

"Do you want to talk about what happened in the RV earlier?"

So much for no talking.

"What do you mean?"

"About your no-crush situation?"

So much for no awkwardness.

"What's there to talk about? I've never had any crushes, that's kind of the end of it."

"But how do you feel about that? You seemed a little defensive earlier."

"I wasn't defensive, I was just annoyed everyone was making such a big deal out of it. I haven't had a crush, who cares? Not me. I'm perfectly happy."

"Well I'm glad to hear that." Jazz looked up from her book "Although, just so you know, although it is perfectly normal for the rates of development in the adolescent psyche to vary from person to person, it's also normal to feel apprehensive about not reaching certain milestones at the same time as your peers."

"I'm not 'apprehensive'." Sam rolled her eyes. "It'll happen when it happens. I don't see the point in wasting my time with shallow high school romances that statistically don't last. Like, seriously, what's the appeal in hanging out with some guy not talking in a theatre? Or worse, trying to make romantic conversation at The Nasty Burger because most teenagers don't have the money for a real restaurant? I can just do that with friends, and it's way less awkward. What's the point in going through those motions?"

"While that's a perfectly valid perspective," Jazz said "There is value in the experimental relationships teenagers often have. It's true, those relationships often don't last, but they're a great opportunity for young minds to learn about things that'll be important for future more serious relationships, like personal preferences and boundaries. The negative impact of mistakes in the long term is also reduced in that time period, due to the lower-stakes nature of a high school romance compared to an adult one. I mean, the emotional reactions can still be quite volatile, but the lessons learned can help to form the foundation for dating knowledge later in life."

"That all sounds terrible. You're making me tired just thinking about it." Sam pulled the covers over her head, hoping to drown out Jazz's voice, but she just kept talking.

"I find it fascinating. You can learn so much about people from what they're like in a romantic relationship. Of course, like you said, it's fine if some people want to wait, or are aromantic. But I wouldn't dismiss-"

"Wait, aromantic?" Sam reemerged from the blankets "What's that?"

"It's when a person doesn't experience any romantic attraction."

"Like, at all?"

"I believe there are some nuances, but basically yes."

"That's a thing? I've never heard of that."

"Yeah, I don't think most people have. I did a lot of research into various LGBT+ identities when Danny came out, and I found some aromantic people online who talked about their experiences."

"Okay," Sam sat up straight "So you're saying it's possible for a person to never fall in love? Or get any crushes? Like, ever?"

"Yeah, turns out lots of people just don't."

"But, how do they know they won't ever?" Sam didn't know why her heart was beating so furiously "How can you tell it won't just happen later?"

"You know," Jazz scratched her chin "I don't really know. Maybe it's like how gay and straight people know they aren't bi. I suppose if we know you can know you can't possibly be attracted to some genders, then by the same principle you can know you won't be attracted to any of them!"

Jazz sounded like she'd just made an enlightening discovery. Sam just blinked at her in confusion.

"What I'm saying is there isn't really a way to tell. You've just got to figure it out for yourself."

"But how do you do that?"

"You seem to have a lot of questions about aromanticism. Is there maybe a reason for that?"

Sam suddenly felt...not fearful, more like she'd been caught doing something private.

"No."

But why did she feel like that? She was just asking questions, she wasn't even doing anything?

"Do you have any other questions?"

"No."

But Sam did have questions. So many questions. Questions she didn't even know how to ask.

"Hey, um, Jazz," she said "Are you...are you straight? Or something else?"

"I'd...like to keep that information to myself."

"Right, sorry." Sam's eyes snapped down to her bed sheets "I was being stupid. I shouldn't have asked."

"I'm not offended, Sam." Jazz smiled kindly "It's alright to ask questions, just as long as you respect the answer."

Jazz's words helped diminish Sam's embarrassment, but she wanted to change the subject.

Her eyes fell on Jazz's book.

"Hey wait a minute, I thought you said you didn't bring any of your textbooks."

"Huh? Oh, this isn't a textbook, it a book on the history of the Green Bay Packers."

"Oh?"

"I found it in the nightstand."

Sam opened the drawer and saw a small stack of books. They all seemed to be about the same football team.

"Wow," she said "Half-ghost and a massive dork. Vlad and Danny must get along great."

"Danny doesn't like football, but they probably would have lot's to talk about if Vlad ever bothered to visit."

Sam noticed a hint of venom in Jazz's voice.

"Maybe that'll all change after this weekend." Sam said.

"Hopefully, but..." Jazz pursed her lips "I didn't want to say too much in front of Danny, but do me a favour and try to be prepared for the worst."

"Wait, you think your parents aren't going to accept Vlad?"

"No, I do. Mom and Dad can be kind of tunnel visioned, but they're far from heartless. And they can be a lot more open-minded than they seem. I mean, they responded very positively to Danny being trans, despite having no idea what that even was until he told them, which I'll admit did surprise me. It's just...be ready just in case. Either way, be there for Danny for me. I know he really values your relationship. As friends, of course." Jazz added quickly "Having you and Tucker there really means a lot to him.

"Yeah, alright Jazz. You good if I turn the light out now?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Jazz set her book on the nightstand and yawned. "We should probably be well rested for tomorrow. No matter how it goes down it's going to be an ordeal."

"Yup." Sam reached for the wall light, but paused with the decorative chain in her hand "Hey Jazz?"

"Yeah?" Jazz had pulled the blankets up to her chin and didn't even bother opening her eyes to answer Sam.

"Having you there means a lot to Danny too. It means a lot to all of us."

Sam caught a glimpse of Jazz's eyes flickering open before she pulled the chain, obscuring her view in total blackness. She did not want to see Jazz's reaction.

Ugh!

Sam had felt like she should say something, but now she was regretting those last words. Could she have been any more cheesy?

Jazz didn't need reassurance, she was smart, she already knew how important she was to Danny. What was reassurance of something so obvious from Sam of all people worth?

Sam's spiraling was interrupted by a quiet voice in the dark:

"Thanks Sam."

The doubtful thoughts in Sam's head quieted. She silently smiled back at Jazz.

Sam laid awake for a while, thinking about what Jazz had said.

Everything she'd said.

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

Danny had just gotten out of the bathroom. He sat down on his bed and was about to turn off the light off when Tucker spoke.

"Hey, Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"If I ask you something, do you promise not to laugh?"

"Are you going to ask me what I saw in Phoebe Phast when I was seven?"

"What?"

"Uh, nothing. Go ahead, Tuck. I won't laugh, I promise."

"So you...you only like girls, right?"

Oh. This was about what happened in the RV.

"Um, yeah."

"So like no guys ever? Not even once in a while? Like, when they're really hot?"

"Nope." Danny shook his head "Not even once."

Danny waited for Tucker to continue, but a minute passed and Tucker still hadn't said anything.

For as long as he could remember, Danny and his friends had always come to each other whenever something was up. And by something, they meant anything, good, bad, big, or small.

This was especially true for Tucker, who'd always worn his heart on his sleeve, ever since Danny first met him in preschool.

His silence right now was incredibly concerning.

"Do you..." Danny didn't want to be invasive, but he felt like he at least try to get Tucker to talk about whatever was going on in his head "...maybe...not only like girls?"

Danny cringed. He hoped that didn't sound as awkward to Tucker as it did to him.

"I mean, like, yeah it's pretty much only girls," Tucker shrugged "But, like, occasionally there's someone, like some guy celebrities, and it's like, come on! You know?"

"Uh-"

"Sometimes there's just a guy who just checks all the right boxes, and I mean, how could anyone not be into that? Like, there's a reason Choi's as popular as he is! He's such a cool guy and his smile just makes the world brighter!"

"Oh, um-"

"But it, like, hardly ever happens. It's at least ninety-nine percent girls. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with liking guys, but like it hardly ever happens, so it doesn't really mean anything, right?"

Well, at least he was talking now.

Danny looked at Tucker's pleading eyes. He wasn't really sure what Tucker wanted to hear, but he thought it was pretty obvious what was going on.

"You know Tuck, it kind of sounds to me like you might be bi."

Tucker's expression made Danny wonder if that had been the right thing to say.

"I mean..." Tucker spoke slowly "Probably not? I only get crushes on guys really rarely. And I mean, like, really rarely. I'm not trying to be defensive about it, I swear, I just don't think I like enough guys to qualify for...bi."

The last word came out very quietly.

"I'm...not really sure if that's how that works." Danny said.

"And how would you know?!" Tucker snapped.

"I, uh..." Danny blinked, taken aback by the sudden hostility.

Tucker let out a strained sigh and turned away from Danny.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you."

"It's okay, Tuck."

"I know you're trying to help. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Hey, seriously, it's okay. Don't beat yourself up over this Tuck, I get it."

"Really? Cuz I don't." Tucker took off his glasses and rubbed his face "I'm just...really confused right now. I seriously thought every guy got crushes on guys sometimes."

"I mean, I can tell when guys are, like, attractive, I guess." Danny said. "Usually I just feel jealous, if anything, though."

"Yeah, there's guys I want to be, but it's definitely different from guys I like. Huh, that's...kind of weird to say out loud." Tucker sat up and looked back at Danny. "I mean, I guess it's not really a big deal, it's just...for some reason, learning that this isn't actually something most guys do, it almost feels like...like I'm a different person than I thought I was all my life. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but I 'm not really sure how else to describe it..."

"No, that kind of makes sense. I kind of saw myself in a new light when I first realized I was trans."

"For real?" Tucker's eyes lit up "Was it kind of like you thought you knew where you were going one minute, and then you suddenly realized you had no idea?"

"Well...it was kind of the opposite, actually." Danny felt bad for crushing Tucker's hope, but he felt like he should be honest. "Once I found out what 'trans' was, everything kind of clicked into place. It was like...like I'd been trying to put a puzzle together my whole life, and someone had finally given me the box the puzzle came in so I could see the picture. It was a bit rough, but I finally had a map of where I was going."

Danny smiled at the memory, but then one look at Tucker's face brought him back to the present.

Between the conversation with Sam at the dock and now, Danny was being very unhelpful. He just couldn't seem to figure out what to say to make his friends feel better.

Was he a bad friend? He wasn't trying to be.

Truthfully, Danny didn't really understand why Tucker was so upset. Learning more about who he was had been enlightening for Danny. It brought him peace and made everything feel like it made so much more sense.

For Tucker, it seemed to be doing the opposite. If anything, he seemed to feel closer to how Danny felt before he figured out he was trans.

Maybe Tucker needed to hear something more like what Danny had wanted to hear back then.

"Although, it was pretty hard before someone gave me that map. I definitely felt totally lost before that. But I did learn something very important from feeling that lost for so long."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"You won't be lost forever, even if it feels that way right now. You might not figure it out soon, but you will figure it out eventually. And I mean, it's not like there's any rush."

Tucker didn't say anything right away. He set his glasses down on the nightstand.

"How are you being so calm about all of this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this...whatever this is, it kind of changes everything, doesn't it?"

"Not really?" Danny shrugged.

"Really?" Tucker raised a skeptical eyebrow. "The fact that I maybe like guys sometimes doesn't change the way you see me at all?"

"Um, no? Why would it?"

"The tone you and Jazz had in the RV suggested otherwise."

"Oh yeah, right."

Tucker did kind of have a point there.

"We were just surprised, that's all. Just reacting to new information."

Tucker didn't look convinced.

"Well, did it change the way you saw me after I told you I was a guy two years ago?" Danny challenged.

"What? No! No way," Tucker said quickly "Not even-"

Danny raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, it was a bit of an adjustment." Tucker relented "But once we got the hang of using the right pronouns and stuff, everything went back to feeling normal pretty quickly. I mean, I guess it was a slightly different normal, but it still felt as normal as the normal before did. Huh, you know, I never really thought about it much."

"There, see? And it's an even easier adjustment on my end. You're not even getting a hair cut."

"I hardly have any hair to cut."

"There's still some that can be cut..."

"Stay away from my hair!" Tucker yanked his beanie off the nightstand and covered his head with it.

Danny laughed. Tucker laughed a bit too, but then his smile shifted into a thoughtful expression.

"Do I...have to call myself bi?" he asked.

"I mean, it's up to you what you want to call yourself."

"I'm not sure I want to call myself anything right now, honestly. I...don't really know what I feel like. Or what I can really count as."

"That's okay, Tuck." Danny smiled "You can just figure it out later, or whatever. There really is no rush."

"Yeah."

Tucker let out a yawn.

"Man, having an identity crisis really wears you out."

"I can attest to that." Danny nodded solemnly.

"It feels illegal to be tired when you've spent half the day sitting in a car." Tucker took off his beanie and set it next to his glasses.

"I mean, we skipped a bunch rocks too."

"Danny, we regularly fight ghosts with enough power to level a city block. Throwing a few rocks cannot be that draining."

"Hey, rock skipping is a sport which requires a lot of precision and focus to-"

"I'm going to throw a pillow at you if you don't stop talking."

"Considering how well you threw that rock earlier, I'm not worried."

"Hey!"

Tucker glared at Danny for a few seconds, then the two of them burst out laughing.

"Aw man," Tucker shook his head "You know, I'm actually feeling a lot better now. I don't know what I was so worked up over."

"I figured talking would make you feel better. I mean, you're usually pretty gung-ho on sharing your feelings. You were honestly starting to scare me with how quiet you were being."

"Sorry." Tucker scrunched his eyebrows thoughtfully "I guess I just wasn't really sure how to explain what was going on. What Jazz said in the RV really blindsided me. I was just so sure about myself, and then suddenly I wasn't. But I think things are starting to settle in my brain, so I'm back to normal"

"Glad to hear it , Tuck."

Danny grabbed the chain for the light.

"Welp, I'm turning off the light now. I'm all worn out from being a supportive best friend."

"Which I appreciate. Just let me-"

Danny pulled the chain.

"Hey!" Tucker's voice called in the darkness. "What happened to 'supportive best friend'?"

"Shh! Sleepy time."

Danny heard a thwump that he assumed was a pillow hitting the wall a meter away from his head.

"Your aim suuuuucks." Danny whispered.

"Someone help!" Tucker said dramatically "I'm being haunted a ghost that's dissing my aim!"

"Whoooo!" Danny made his eyes glow green.

"Gah!" Tucker's startled cry made Danny laugh. "Jeez dude, don't do that! It's seriously creepy when it's this dark!"

Danny blinked his eyes back to normal and snuggled into his blankets.

Conversations from earlier started playing in his head as he began to drift off.

"...No. I think I'll do it tomorrow. Later in the day. Probably after dinner."

"...Geneva Lake was home to members of the Potawatomi tribe, who originally called the lake 'Kishwauketoe', meaning 'clear water'..."

'...I'm all worn out from being a supportive best friend.'

'...Tucker and I are the normal ones, you're the one who's being weird!'

Oh right, that. Danny felt his stomach shift guiltily.

He really hadn't meant what he'd said, but he'd still said it. Some 'supportive best friend' he was.

He really needed to talk to Sam tomorrow and apologize.

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

Danny eyes fluttered open. It was almost completely dark. He instinctively searched for his clock on the nightstand, but didn't see the glowing green numbers anywhere.

He sat up in a panic, but then he remembered where he was.

Vlad's house. Right.

Danny squinted at the analogue clock above the doorframe. It was about a quarter after eight.

It was morning, but still pretty early.

Danny tried to lie down and fall back asleep, but he just couldn't. He gave up after turning over for the seventh time.

Great. He'd barely gotten to sleep in any more than he did on a school day. Why couldn't Vlad have put windows in his guest room? Waking up panicking in the dark was not how Danny liked to start the day.

Danny floated out of bed so his footsteps wouldn't wake up Tucker. One of them might as well get to sleep in.

He stayed in the air as he intangibly pulled his clothes out of his backpack and got dressed for the day, only landing on the floor when he was out of the room and at the stairs.

As Danny got closer the the kitchen he heard a sizzling sound. He found Jazz standing at the stove in the kitchen.

The last step creaked when Danny stepped on it, causing Jazz to turn around.

"Huh," she said "Didn't expect to see you this early."

"Good morning to you too, Jazz. I tried to sleep in, but then I woke up and forgot where I was." Danny sniffed the air "Is that bacon?"

"Yup. I'm starting on some pancakes too. There's also cereal in the cupboard and fruit in the fridge. Mom and Dad packed a lot of food for a two-day trip."

"Feel like that one might have been more Dad than Mom. What are you doing up so early anyway?"

"I always get up at seven, Danny."

"Seriously? Even on weekends?"

"Yup."

"That sound awful."

"I actually find it calming starting everyday with a fixed routine. Of course, without my school work I didn't really have anything to do once I got up, so I figured I might as well start on breakfast."

Danny yawned and opened the fridge. He saw a big orange bowl filled with yellow liquid.

"What's in the bowl?"

"Scrambled eggs. I'm waiting for everyone to get up before I cook them."

"Oh. That's a lot of eggs."

"I'm feeding a lot of people this morning."

Danny pulled a carton of milk out of the fridge.

"Hey, you know what you should-"

"I am not doing that." Jazz's entire face wrinkled. "You can pour some of the eggs into a separate bowl if you want milk in them. The rest of us would like our breakfast edible."

"Mom likes them with milk too." Danny shut the fridge.

"So that's where you get your weirdness from."

Danny stuck his tongue out at Jazz and pulled open one of Vlad's cupboards.

"Wow," he said "Vlad's dishes are all like, in stacks. And you can see them all. It's so...so..."

"Organized? Convenient?" Jazz began to turn over the bacon in the pan "I know. Isn't it great? And nothing even tried to eat me while I was cooking."

"I'm actually a little scared to touch anything. For different reasons than normal. I feel like I'm gonna get in trouble.

"Don't worry," Vlad said "You won't."

Danny jumped. When had Vlad gotten here? He was pretty sure he hadn't heard the bottom step creak.

"Good morning Daniel, Jazz. Ah, I see you've started breakfast. How thoughtful of you."

"It's not a problem. I was up."

"Still, you didn't have to. It's quite appreci-"

"Good morning!" Jack interrupted brightly from the stairs. Maddie wasn't far behind him.

"Ooh, Jazz, you made breakfast, how nice of you." she smiled as she entered the kitchen. "Did you want any help? I could start on some eggs, or something."

"That's alright, Mom. I've already got some mixed in the fridge. Everything's already- Oh my gosh Danny! Do that over the sink! What is wrong with you?!"

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

Sam and Tucker slept a little longer, but were soon drawn downstairs by the sounds of conversation and the smell of food.

After breakfast was eaten and cleaned up, the kids went out to sit on the dock and practice rock skipping while the adults had tea out on the deck.

Well, Sam was practicing at least. Tucker was too scared to try again after what happened yesterday, and Jazz seemed to have finally decided to try relaxing on her vacation. She sat against the mailbox and lazily observing Sam's rocks skipping and sinking.

Danny was currently collecting more rocks for Sam. He stopped and looked back at the deck. From down here he could barely see the adults.

He wondered what they were talking about. He wondered if Vlad was going to tell them soon.

Danny shook his head and carried his latest selection back to the group.

Sam was now consistently getting two skips with her throws. She was concentrating deeply, and the others watched her silently.

The silence was broken by Danny dumping his shirtful of rocks onto the dock.

"Well," Jazz checked her watch "This is nice, but I'd like to walk some of the shore path before we leave. There are some very interesting houses belonging to some very influential people, and I'd like to take the opportunity to see at least some of that architecture in person."

She stood up and started down the left side of the path.

"Hey Jazz, wait up!" Tucker called as he started to follow her. He stopped and looked back at Sam and Danny. "Aren't you two coming?"

"Nah, I want to work on my rock skipping some more." Sam said "Besides, if I wanted to see some stuffy rich person's house I could've just stayed home."

"Suit yourself, but Jazz said there's one mansion with an actual pool on the roof."

"You know you won't be able to see that from the ground, right?" Sam said as she tossed another rock.

"Killjoy. You coming Danny?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"What? Well what if I told you we might get to see some of the Wrigley Company's estate?"

"The what?" Sam and Danny asked.

"You know, Wrigley's! They the company behind pretty much every noteworthy gum ever!"

"That sounds...really neat Tuck," Danny said "But listening to Jazz's lectures is not how I want to spend my vacation."

"Man, Jazz's lecture's aren't that bad. She actually says a lot of really interesting things sometimes. Whatever, it's your loss man. You two enjoy your rocks."

Tucker left them to catch up with Jazz on the path.

"Okay, I like gum as much as the next guy," Danny said once Tucker was out of sight "But looking at the house of the guy who makes it just doesn't sound fun at all. It's not like they're giving out free gum there."

"You're both geeks, but Tucker's definitely the bigger geek."

"We're both geeks? Isn't that kind of the pot calling the other pot black?"

"Okay one, black's my favourite colour, so that's a compliment. Two, the expression is 'pot calling the kettle black', Danny."

"What? But kettles aren't black, they're, like, shiny!"

Sam threw a stone. It skipped three times.

"Ha! New record." she grinned.

"Nice. Hey, uh, Sam," Danny rubbed the back of his neck "I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to say you're 'not normal'."

"Oh please Danny." Sam waved her hand. "You know I don't care about being 'normal'."

"Heh, I guess not." Danny smiled. He threw a stone. It skipped six times.

"Show off."

Danny beamed smugly.

"I, um, did talk to Jazz about that last night." Sam said "About the 'no crush' thing."

"Oh yeah? Did you get a lecture on 'the varying rates of development in the adolescent psyche'?"

"Yes. Yes I did. But she also mentioned something that kind of maybe made sense."

"Oh yeah? What was it?"

"Do you know what 'aromantic' means?"

"Eh...kinda? It's when you don't like romance, right?"

"It's not really about whether you like romance or not. Jazz said being aromantic means you don't really get crushes or fall in love or whatever. Like, ever."

"Oh. So, do you think you might be aromantic?"

"I don't know." Sam said. "Maybe."

"That's cool." Danny smiled.

"It is?"

"Yeah, you found a word to describe yourself. Doesn't that feel good?"

"I don't know, it's weird. Usually I do like figuring this kind of stuff out about myself, but I'm not really sure if it's quite right, even though it does feel kind of right."

"If it feels right, then how come you're not sure it is?" Danny asked.

Sam shrugged and threw a rock.

"I don't know," she said as the rock skipped once "I guess I just thought I had myself all figured out. I thought I had romance all figured out. I mean, I thought I was lightyears ahead of those girls in my class who were always fawning over those dumb boy bands who didn't even make any good music. I thought they were just shallow. I never considered the possibility that they were feeling something I wasn't capable of."

"Maybe you should stop assuming every girl with mainstream interests is being disingenuous."

Sam glared angrily at Danny.

"Right, not the time." he said quickly "Please continue."

"It's not that I don't like the idea of being aromantic, I just never realized that it was even an option until now. I mean, I never did really like any of that traditional romance stuff, but I figured I'd just do it right when the time came. And now it seems like I actually might not do it at all. It never even crossed my mind that this might be an option, and like, I'm actually fine with that, but for some reason I'm having kind of a hard time wrapping my mind around it."

"Maybe you just need some time to get used to the idea. Romantic interest as a concept is generally presented as a ubiquitous concept by our society."

Sam blinked twice then narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, there's no way you came up with that on your own. You lifted that from Jazz, didn't you?"

"Hey! I know big words too!"

"Sure you do, Danny."

Sam smirked at the pouting Danny as she threw another rock. It skipped twice.

"Maybe I should have expected this."

"How come?"

"Well, there's the fact that I've never had a crush before, and thought that everyone else was exaggerating when they talked about romantic feelings," Sam started to count on her fingers "I always thought romance stories were stupid, and it was always vaguely disappointing when characters I liked on TV started dating someone. Marriage always seemed like a terrible idea, and I sometimes felt this sense of satisfaction deep down when I heard that someone was getting divorced. Oh, and every classic dating scenario ever looks awkward and terrible to me. Like, I literally want to claw my eyes out when they do that awkward first date thing in movies. Even if it's going well, it's just so...so...ugh! Also, straight, gay, and bi never felt like quite the right labels for me, like they never really felt like they fit. There was also this one time, where my cousin and I were..."

Sam stopped talking when she realized how Danny was gaping at her.

"So you're telling me," Danny said "You thought all of that, and you're only just now considering you might be aromantic?"

"I thought everyone thought like that!" Sam threw up her arms "Like, this is how we all feel deep down, right?"

A grin began to spread across Sam's face.

"Well Sam," Danny said, grinning as well "I can assure you, that is absolutely not how most people feel deep down."

"Well that's obvious in hindsight!"

"Honestly, I feel like that's pretty obvious before hindsight."

"What? Danny, that's not how-"

Sam burst out laughing before she could finish her sentence.

"How did I not know?" Sam continued to laugh "Oh my gosh, it was so obvious. How did I not know until now?"

Danny couldn't help but laugh a little too. He didn't really get what was so funny, but he was glad Sam was happy.

The laughed for a little while longer and then just sat in silence, listening to the lapping of the lake.

"I think that's why I was so weird yesterday." Sam said. "I was just genuinely confused. I think I get it now, though."

The smile suddenly vanished from Sam's face and she slapped her forehead "Oh my gosh!"

"What?"

"I haven't asked you how you're doing at all!"

"Me?"

"Vlad's gonna tell your parents he's half-ghost sometime today, and I've just been going on about my problems."

"Sam it's fine. I wanted to listen to you. And honestly, I was glad for the distraction."

"Well, glad I could help, I guess. But how are you doing?"

"I mean," Danny let out a long breath "Nervous, I guess, but not as nervous as I thought I'd be? It almost kind of feels like it's not even really gonna happen, if that makes sense."

"That kind of sounds like you're in denial."

"What? No! Well, maybe a little. It's just not really how I thought things would go down, you know? I kind of figured if anyone was gonna tell my parents about half-ghosts, it'd be me since, you know, we thought I was the only person who was half-ghost in existence. It's just so bizarre that it's someone else. Like, I know Vlad telling them will affect me, but it also kind of doesn't, if that makes sense."

Danny threw a rock. It skipped four times.

"Everything's just so complicated and weird."

"I've found that anything that involves ghosts ends up making our lives complicated and weird. Especially yours."

"Yup."

There was another comfortable silence. Danny threw another rock and stood up.

"I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick."

"Bring me one of Vlad's fancy root beers when you come back."

"You got it."

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

"I'm going to miss these outdoor conversations." Maddie sighed contently. "Oh Vlad, I forgot! Jack and I brought an album of the kids' baby photos we meant to show you."

Maddie set her empty cup on the table.

"There's some really cute ones of Danny in kindergarten, too. But, we'd better decide what to do for lunch. Sadly, we'll have to leave right after to get Sam and Tucker home at a decent time, Sam's parent were very insistent on that. I think we should get all of our stuff packed up and then have lunch at a restaurant, so we can just eat and go. Where do you recommend Vlad?"

"Hm?" Vlad hadn't been paying full attention to what Maddie was saying "Oh, yes, restaurants. There's...a lot of those around here. Perhaps a pizzeria? There are some very nice places that stone fire them. I'm sure the children would enjoy that, and it would cover Daniel's friend's dietary restrictions."

"Sounds great V-man!" Jack beamed and wrapped an arm around Vlad's shoulder. "So which one's the best around here?"

"Y-yes, of course, um..." Vlad had eaten at every restaurant in this town, multiple times, and yet he was struggling to recall even a single pizzeria's name.

Jack and Maddie frowned.

"What's up with you today V-man?"

"Um, whatever do you mean Jack?" Vlad smile unconvincingly.

"The Vladdie I know knows his eats, and he never," Jack jabbed his index finger at Vlad's chest for emphasis "Ever hesitates with his opinions on food. It's one of the traits I most respect about you."

"You do seem rather distracted, Vlad." Maddie said.

Vlad sighed.

"I was going to wait a little longer, but I suppose there's no point in putting it off." As much as he suddenly wanted to. "I have something that I wanted to tell you two. It's...about the accident."

"The accident?" Maddie repeated "As in the college proto-portal malfunction?"

"That's the one."

Jack and Maddie's eyes widened. Vlad pretended not to notice.

"Come, we should go to the living room to talk."

Jack and Maddie followed Vlad back into the house.

Danny stepped out from under the deck when he heard the soft thud of the door sliding shut.

If Sam was right about him being in denial earlier, he certainly wasn't now.

Now he was definitely feeling anxious.

Danny rushed back down to the dock.

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

"Sam!" Danny cried once he'd passed the address rock. His heart was pounding, but not from the running "Sam! It's happening! Vlad's-"

Danny stopped talking when he realized Sam wasn't on the dock.

"Sam?"

That's weird, Danny thought as he continued towards the lake, looking left and right. Sam was literally just here, and I was only gone for like five seconds. Where could she have-

Danny shivered as a puff of mist escaped his mouth.

Oh no.

"Sam!" he yelled, now slightly panicking "Sam! Where are you!"

"Danny?"

Danny whipped his head around and saw Jazz and Tucker standing a little ways off on the shore path.

"What's going on?" Tucker asked.

"Sam's missing!" Danny shouted as he ran over to them "And my ghost sense just went off!"

"Oh no." Tucker said.

"We have to tell Vlad!" Jazz started towards the house "He can-"

"Jazz no!" Danny grabbed her arm "Vlad's with Mom and Dad right now!"

"Yeah, he's been with them all weekend." Jazz tried to jerk her arm out out Danny's grasp "Danny, Vlad knows this area a lot better than we do. He'd be way more efficient at searching. I can get him away from Mom and Dad, and then we can tell him about the gho-"

"He's telling them that he's half-ghost right now!"

Jazz froze.

"Really?" Tucker's eyes widened "Oh, wow."

"Yeah," Danny continued "And if Mom and Dad hears there a malicious ghost on the loose that kidnapped Sam, and they pull out all the ghost weapons we all know they have stashed in the RV, and Vlad's just told them he's a ghost..."

"Yeah, that would probably not end up being a great situation." Tucker said.

"Besides, Sam's been captured by ghosts before, she knows how to handle herself."

"That's...not really comforting, Danny."

"It's fine, all of us have. Many times."

"Okay, how about you stop talking and we just focus on finding Sam."

"Alright." Danny let go of Jazz's arm "We can search faster if we split up. I'll start in the woods around Vlad's house. Those trees are pretty dense, there's plenty of places the ghost could be hiding in there."

"I'll go along the shore path for a bit." Jazz said "Maybe it took Sam the opposite way Tucker and I were walking."

"And I'll stay by the dock." Tucker said. "In case they come back to the scene of the crime."

The three of them nodded and set off in their respective directions.

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

He wasn't stalling. They should be sitting down when he told them. Somewhere comfortable. It just made sense.

Jack and Maddie were next to each other in the loveseat in Vlad's living room. He sat in an armchair facing them.

Nobody said anything right away. The ticking of the clock was thunderous.

Vlad wasn't stalling. He was just figuring out where to start.

Which was rather difficult, considering the magnitude of what he was about to reveal to Jack and Maddie.

"Is...everything alright, Vlad?" Maddie tentatively asked.

Vlad realized he'd been quiet for too long. It hadn't been because he was stalling, though, he was just planning what he was going to say. Carefully. It was a delicate matter.

"Yes, I'm alright Maddie. I'm..." Vlad adjusted his position in the armchair "I'm just not really sure how to...it's just that..." Vlad cleared his throat and took a breath "Regarding our last conversation, I realized that you were right. I have been distant. The reason for that is that I've been hiding something."

"Hiding? From...us?" Jack's sounded confused, like he'd never even considered the concept of Vlad not sharing something with them.

Vlad immediately felt guilty.

"I should have told you two a long time ago. I just...I wasn't sure how you would take it."

Jack and Maddie didn't say anything. Their expressions were neutral, but they were both leaning towards Vlad ever so slightly.

"After I was blasted by the proto-portal, there were some...side effects I didn't tell you about at the time."

"You mean the ecto-acne?" Jack asked. "I thought that faded. Our studies indicated that the acne was only acting as a temporary defense mechanism against the impure-"

"No, no, not the acne. That did fade after a month or so. This was...something else."

"Vlad, what are you talking about? What happened?" Maddie asked. Her voice was controlled, but there was a undertone of panic in it, like a parent who suspected their child might have ingested a toxic substance.

The words caught in Vlad's throat. He couldn't just say it, right? That'd be ludicrous. They wouldn't be able to process an idea as strange as a ghost-human hybrid if he just blurted it out.

Maybe he could start with the basics. Talk science. They were all scientists here. If Vlad could break the concept down for them, maybe they'd understand.

"It would seem that the portal's transmutative properties made the energy I was exposed to extremely volatile. So volatile that it actually restructured my DNA. In fact, it would seem that there was an ectoplasmic fusion on a molecular level."

Jack and Maddie raised their eyebrows, not really sure where Vlad was going with this.

"Yes..." Jack said. "And that's what caused the ecto-acne. Your body was purging the impurity. Although, I seriously doubt you were affected on quite that level."

"Well you'd be wrong about that. I've done numerous tests. The ectoplasm bonded with me and rearranged my cellular makeup, resulting in some...permanent side effects."

"What kind of side effects Vlad?" Maddie asked. She sounded slightly calmer, but much more confused.

Vlad was struck with the realization that he couldn't stall saying it any longer. His stomach lurched and it almost felt like someone else was saying his next words:

"The accident made me part-ghost."

The room was filled with silence.

Vlad felt like he was floating. Not in a happy carefree way, or like real floating that he actually did as a ghost, but more like an astronaut in a movie when the tether is cut off from the space ship.

Seconds felt like hours as Vlad analyzed every miniscule movement in Jack and Maddie's faces. He had to keep reigning himself in from the horrible conclusions his brain kept jumping to.

He'd gone over this with his therapist; be prepared for the worst, but acknowledge it's not the only possible outcome. Give them a chance. Don't make assumptions, don't jump to conclusions, don't push them away before they've at least had a chance to accept you.

Turns out that was easier said than done. The waiting was agony, and it was becoming harder and harder to keep the images of everything falling apart in his mind at bay.

Vlad desperately wanted to go back to the ship, go back to when he'd first had this idea of telling Jack and Maddie so he could stop himself, but that was impossible. All he could do was float there and wait for whatever was going to happen next.

He nearly jumped out of his chair when Maddie finally spoke.

"What...do you mean by that, Vlad?"

"I mean the accident turned me into a ghost."

Another silent pause. Jack and Maddie seemed to be waiting for him to elaborate, but what else could Vlad say? The concept was ludicrous, but it also really was that simple.

"Vlad," Maddie scrunched her eyebrow "That isn't possible. You're very clearly still human."

Vlad felt a surge of annoyance.

"Why would I be telling you this if it wasn't-"

Vlad forced himself to stop and breathe. It wasn't her fault she wasn't getting this right away. He might have reacted the same way twenty years ago.

"Let's hear him out Madds." Jack was calmer than Vlad had expected. Maybe he'd picked up on Vlad's obvious agitation. "Vladdie, what did you mean when you said you 'are a ghost'. You look pretty alive to me, man."

"It means that my DNA is partially ectoplasmic, I have ghostly abilities, and I even have a ghost form. So, to put it plainly, the proto-portal altered my genetic structure into that of a human-ghost hybrid."

There was yet another moment of silence.

"Vlad," Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose "If your trying to come up with some cockamamie story about why you've been away all these years, " her voice was steadily rising "I don't-"

"Hey, hey slow down Madds." Jack placed a hand on Maddie's shoulder. "Vladdie, what's all this about 'ghost DNA'? There's no possible genetic makeup that could be classified as both human and ghost. Your body should have purged all the impure ectoplasm by now."

Vlad sighed and rubbed his temple.

He could just show them. Maybe turn invisible or summon some ecto energy to his his hand. Or just simply transform.

No, a part of his brain said firmly. Seeing their friend using ghost powers would be too startling. They would freak out. True, they didn't have weapons to pull on him, but once they saw him doing ghostly things, they might not believe it was him anymore.

How could they?

No, Vlad had to get them to understand his ghostliness before showing them. It was his best shot at acceptance.

But how? He tried explaining things in detail, and he tried putting them as simply as he could, but Jack and Maddie still weren't getting it.

"I-"

Vlad was interrupted by a loud crash.

"What in the name of bratwurst was that?"

"It came from outside." Jack said.

The three of them shot to their feet and rushed out the front door of the house. It didn't take long to find the source of the noise.

"Maple smoked salmon!" Vlad cried.

In the middle of the lake, a giant green squid towered above them. Multiple red eyes darted around the lake while over a dozen tentacle towered out of the water

Three of those tentacles were wrapped around Sam, Tucker, and Jazz.

"Ghost!" Jack and Maddie yelled at the same time.

"And it has the kids!" Jack added, his tone urgent.

All of the squids eyes turned to the three new arrivals. They blinked simultaneously and then the squid began to thrash around, its captives screaming as they were flailed about in the grasp of the tentacles.

"We have to get to the RV and get-"

"We don't have time for that." Vlad cut Maddie off and took a step forward.

"But, Vlad-"

"Don't worry Maddie," Vlad turned to glare at the giant squid.

All of the fear and hesitation Vlad had been feeling vanished, suddenly replaced by a burning fury. This ghost had not only endangered the kids, but it had stolen Vlad's chance to explain things to Jack and Maddie, to make them properly understand.

This wasn't how he wanted to spend his potentially last moments with his friends.

"I can save the children. And...this is what I mean by ghost DNA."

Jack and Maddie jumped back as a black ring appeared around Vlad's waist. They stared dumbfounded as the ring split and changed their best friend into his terrifying ghost form.

Without looking back, Vlad shot off into the air and flew straight for the giant squid.

The ghost stopped flailing when it noticed Vlad coming. At least five tentacles shot towards him. Vlad expertly wove around them.

He didn't fool around. The second he was the right position, Vlad summoned a glob of pink ecto energy to his hand and waved his arm, sending out a razor sharp crescent that sliced right through the tentacle that was holding Sam.

Sam screamed as she fell through the air, but Vlad swooped down and caught her, carefully depositing her back on the dock before flying right back to the squid.

Sam's arrival on the dock snapped Maddie out of her stupor.

"Jack, run to the RV," she said "Get whatever you can to fight this ghost

Jack nodded and ran off to the other side of the house. Maddie started towards the dock.

The squid let out a roar of pain and rage, but its sliced-off tentacle quickly grew back.

The ghost was now lunging at Vlad more aggressively. Vlad duplicated and fused back together in rapid succession to confuse it.

After almost a minute of dodging, Vlad finally managed to get in a good enough position to slice the tentacle holding Tucker, but at the last second the squid moved the tentacle holding Jazz upwards, causing Vlad's blast to slice off both tentacles.

Jazz and Tucker screamed as they fell through the air.

There was a moment of panic on Vlad's face, but he quickly gathered himself and split into two, one Vlad swooping to catch Tucker and the other Jazz.

Just as Maddie arrived, the two Vlads set Jazz and Tucker down onto the dock before fusing back together. Vlad quickly wiped his forehead with his arm, steeled himself and flew back to the squid, launching ecto blasts at it.

"Kids," Maddie said "I know things are crazy right now, but we need to stay calm, and you need to listen. That ghost that saved you from the bigger ghost is actually Vlad!"

"Wait, that's Vlad?" Jazz asked, her head whipping around to the fighting ghosts. Tucker and Sam looked at each other with wide eyes. Maddie figured they were too in shock to say anything.

"It's a long story." Maddie said. "Wait! Was Danny with you?"

"No," Tucker answered "We haven't-"

A giant green ecto blast sailed past the group towards the squid. Everyone snapped their heads around to see Jack with a Fenton Bazooka propped up on his shoulder.

"Vladdie!" he called "Stay high so I don't hit you! My aim is not always the best!"

Vlad continued to shoot ecto blasts at the ghost. He gave no indication that he'd heard Jack, but he continued to fly near the top of the squid as Jack kept firing at the tentacles, keeping them away from Vlad. The throng of tentacles was thick enough that barely any of Jack's shots missed.

Jack and Vlad kept up their assault. Now that the captives had been saved, Vlad didn't have to hold back. He unleash a furious onslaught of ecto attacks at the squid's body, while Jack's kept the tentacles at bay with his bazooka. The ghost tried desperately to bat away the blasts, but just ended up with singed tentacle tips.

The squid slowly retreated further and further from the shore, but Jack and Vlad would not let up. Eventually, it let out a final roar before plunging below the water.

Vlad hovered above the lake for a few seconds, confirming that the ghost wasn't returning before heading back to the others.

"Are you children alright?" Vlad asked as he landed on the dock and morphed back into his human form.

"No broken bones." Sam reported, shivering and rubbing her bare arms.

"Yeah, d-don't worry," Tucker's added through chattering teeth "Th-this is only l-like, the eighth most t-traumatizing thing that's happened to us."

"Um, I would very much like to hear about those seven other-" Jazz stopped mid sentence and looked up at Vlad. She seemed to study him for a few seconds before her face was overtaken by a too-big smile.

"Well, thank you so much for saving us, Mr Masters." she said quickly "It is very cool and surprising for all of us to learn that you are half-ghost, but you saved our lives, so you're clearly not evil, so I'm going to take these two," she grabbed Sam and Tucker by their shoulders "And get them dried off and give them a mental checkup regarding the very wet and very horrifying ordeal we all just went through. Sound good? Okay great, see you later!"

Jazz began dragging Sam and Tucker towards the house before either of them could respond to what she'd just said.

Vlad smiled. What a strange child.

"Wow..."

Vlad's smile dropped at the sound of Maddie's astonished voice. He turned to find her and Jack staring at him. Maddie pulled back her hood.

"That was...so you...you really do have...ghost powers."

"Erm...yes?" Vlad could almost feel their gaze burning his skin. He shifted his feet uncomfortably.

"You mean," Jack did some quick math "For the last twenty years you've...and you didn't tell us?"

"But why Vlad? We were your friends!"

"You were ghost hunters. Capturing and dissecting ghosts was all you- all we ever talked about. I couldn't be sure how you'd react."

"Couldn't be sure how we'd..." Jack trailed off, rolling Vlad's sentence in his mind.

Vlad tensed when he saw The Fenton Bazooka shift on Jack's shoulder. Jack followed Vlad's fearful gaze and, after realizing what he was looking at, threw The Bazooka aside. It landed a good distance away with a small crash.

Maddie's eyes widened in horror.

"Vlad," her voice was barely above a whisper "You didn't think we'd..."

"You two were my dearest friends. I didn't want to risk you hating me." Vlad's voice was steady, but his heart was pounding, and his armpits were tingling.

Jack and Maddie knew. After twenty years of telling himself he'd never tell them, they finally knew.

Vlad honestly wasn't sure what was going to happen now.

"Vladdie, that's insane!" Jack threw out his arms "We'd never hate you, you're our friend!"

"Like I said, Jack, I couldn't be sure."

Maddie approached Vlad and placed her hand on his arm.

"Oh Vlad," she said, her eyes shining "It doesn't matter how ghostly you are. You're our best friend, we'd never..." Vlad felt Maddie's grip on him tighten. Not aggressively, but desperately. "Vlad we'll always love you. I'm so sorry we didn't make that clear enough to you."

Vlad let out a startled gasp as Maddie pounced, wrapping him in a hug.

"I..I..." Vlad tried to say something, but he couldn't find any words. His mind was completely blank. It was like he was frozen.

Suddenly he and Maddie were both crushed by Jack's massive arms.

"It's okay, Vladdie." Jack let out a sniffle "We're here for you now."

That was when his brain started to thaw.

Vlad had never allowed himself to even imagine this outcome. He had no idea what the future held now that Jack and Maddie knew.

The uncertainty terrified him.

But they didn't hate him. They didn't call him an imposter or a monster, they didn't want to capture and dissect him like he'd long feared.

Vlad could feel tears threatening to form in his eyes.

For the longest time those fears had driven so many of the decisions Vlad had made. Fears he'd been carrying around for over two decades crumble inside of him, tension drained from his muscles.

For the first time in years, Vlad let himself go.

He neck relaxed and he let his head fall somewhere between Jack's chest and Maddie's shoulder.

The tears began to flow down his face.

He was with his best friends. He was safe.

He could finally fall apart, because he knew his friends were there to support him, every part of him.

Behind the address rock they'd hidden behind, Sam, Jazz, and Tucker couldn't tear their eyes away from the emotional scene.

"They...they accept him." Jazz said, her voice a mixture between surprise and relief.

"Yeah..." Sam breathed.

"Hey, you found Sam!"

The trio all turned to see Danny approaching their hiding spot.

"Sam, we were looking everywhere for you! Where did you-" Danny stopped talking when he saw his parents hugging Vlad on the dock.

"...Um, did I miss something? And why are you all wet?"

"Mom and Dad know now." Jazz said.

"Oh."

Danny's eyes widened

"Oh!"

He looked over at the hugging adults.

"And they...it's..."

"Yeah." Jazz smiled softly.

"Wow." Danny breathed. He couldn't stop staring at the dock.

Sam and Tucker came over and each put a hand on Danny's shoulder.

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

After all the ghost fighting, hugging, and getting Sam, Jazz, and Tucker all dried off, they ran out of time to go out for lunch. Maddie told the kids they'd just make some sandwich's with the leftover groceries in the RV. Vlad grilled two of Sam's veggie burgers and wrapped them in aluminum foil, so she'd have something better to eat than a lettuce sandwich, while everyone packed up their stuff.

With all the hurried getting ready to leave, there wasn't a lot of time for Jack and Maddie to talk with Vlad about what had happened, but Danny heard Vlad say he wanted to 'get back together as soon as possible' when they were getting in the car.

It wasn't long before they were saying bye to Vlad and heading down the road back to Amity Park.

Danny looked at Vlad out the back window until he disappeared from view. He was pretty sure Vlad was looking back at him.

"So kids," Jack turned in the passenger seat after they'd been driving for a few minutes "I suppose you're all a little confused about what just happened."

No one in the back dared to speak.

"Maddie and I barely understand it ourselves, but it seems when Vlad got blasted by our flawed proto-portal back in college, it caused a mutation that seems to have given him ghost powers."

Jack didn't notice three pairs of eyes flash to Danny.

"Now, you don't have to worry. The ectoplasm in his DNA doesn't seem to pose any threat to his physical well-being, nor has it turned him into a terrifying monster. He's just..." Jack scrunched up his face and waved his and in the air.

"A scientific anomaly?" supplied Maddie.

"Yes, an anomaly! That's all."

"That being said," Maddie said "He would like us to keep it a secret. There's no telling what the media would do if they discovered a man of his prominence had ectoplasmic DNA. Understood, kids?"

"Yup." The four of them replied mechanically.

"They must still be in shock." Maddie said to Jack. He nodded.

"Don't worry kids," Jack turned back to them "This may be a...startling development, especially since we didn't even know this sort of thing could happen to a human before this morning. I mean, a human with the abilities of a ghost, that's just-"

"Jack."

"Right, right, sorry Madds. This is just very...oh man, imagine how it must have been for Vlad all those years, figuring his abilities out all on his own. He must've-"

"The important thing is," Maddie cut in "Even though we...certainly didn't expect this, Vlad's still the same person, even with ghost powers, and we're going to support him by showing him this information doesn't change our relationship with him."

"Yeah...we can do that." Danny said quietly, his eyes never leaving his parents.

Danny felt Jazz grab his hand. He didn't squeeze back, but he didn't let go either.

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

Outside of Jack and Maddie occasionally discussing directions, no one said much during the drive home, neither party feeling free to talk openly.

At some point Tucker and Sam dug out their Game Boys and started having Pokémon battles, while Jazz watched Danny play Pac-Man.

At some point they stopped at a diner. After they were seated, a server with a slightly shaky voice took their drink order. Her hand trembled slightly as she wrote and she apologized a lot.

"Was it just me, or does she seem a little nervous?" Maddie asked after the server had left to get their drinks.

"It's probably because we're such a big group." Jazz said "And she sounded like she might still be new."

"Oh, the poor thing." Maddie said "We should leave her a nice tip, Jack."

"Oh absolutely, Maddie." Jack nodded "Remember kids, customer service is one of the most grueling jobs in this country, and the Number One Fenton Rule, besides 'always be prepared for a ghost attack', is always treat people..."

Nervous server, observant Jazz, ranting Dad. All in all, this was a pretty normal restaurant outing for Danny.

Too normal.

They'd just had one of the least normal weekends of their lives, but you wouldn't have been able to tell from the outside. Jack Fenton continued to ramble on, as if his best friend hadn't just revealed to him that he'd been avoiding him for the last twenty years because he was freaking half-ghost!

It made Danny want to scream.

But instead he just sat there eating his chicken BLT and peanut butter milkshake, like everything was normal.

It was a relief when they finally got back to the RV and could go back to their video games.

Eventually, Sam and Tucker were dropped off at their respective houses. They both grabbed their luggage and said things like 'goodbye' and 'thanks for taking us', as if it had just been a normal weekend getaway.

Danny almost sighed with relief when they finally pulled up to Fenton Works. He really needed some time to by himself to think.

"Alright, you kids take your stuff upstairs while your father and I sort out the leftover food. " Maddie instructed once everyone was inside the house.

"Yeah, sure." Danny replied.

Both parents turned to the kitchen and Jazz started hauling her suitcase up the stairs.

"Hey Mom, Dad?" Danny said, causing everyone to snap their heads towards him "H-how are you guys doing?" Danny rubbed the back of his neck "Like, with the whole Vlad-ghost thing? That's gotta be a little weird for you guys, since he's your best friend and all."

Jack and Maddie flashed each other a look before smiling at Danny.

"You don't need to worry, son. We're all good."

"What about you, sweetie?" His mom came over and stroked his hair "I know this ghost stuff might be a little confusing for you and your friends. Did they seem alright with everything when they left?"

"Uh, yup! We're all good." Danny hoped he sounded casual "So it doesn't bother you that Vlad's half-ghost? Even though you two are ghost hunters?"

"Oh don't be silly Danny, he's still the same old Vlad, anyone can see that. What kind of friends would we be if we abandoned him just because he can fly through things now?"

Danny smiled at that, but tiny doubts still lingered.

"So you don't think he's some kind of mutant monster now, or that he's been taken over by an evil ghost, or that he's just some weird imitation of what he once was?"

Jazz's heart broke a little listening to Danny's list.

"Woah, slow your roll there, son." Jack came over and put a hand on Danny's shoulder "There isn't a smidgeon of doubt that the Vladdie we were talking to all weekend was our pal from college. It may seem far-fetched, and perhaps even a little scary for a human to have the same abilities as a ghost, but speaking as ghost professionals, Vlad seems perfectly alright and, although it might take us all some time to process this new development, we're gonna figure it out and in the meantime show Vlad all the support we can so he knows we don't see him any differently because of this. Just like your mother said."

Danny felt like a muscle he'd been unknowingly clenching for months finally relaxed.

"That's right Jack." Maddie gave Danny's hair one last ruffle "That being said, it is a school night, so you kids better unpack and get your homework done."

"I already did all my homework before we left." Jazz said. Danny remained silent.

"That's my Jazzerincess!" Jack beamed "But you still gotta unpack. You too Danny."

Jack gave him a friendly pat on the back that almost knocked him over.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

Danny paused on the first step.

"Mom, Dad?"

"Yes Danny?"

"I love you guys."

Jack and Maddie looked at each other. It had been a while since they'd heard either of their kids say that unprompted. They smiled at Danny.

"We love you too, son." Jack said.

Danny smiled back before following Jazz up the stairs.

When he opened his bedroom door, Danny's body immediately felt lighter. Staying at Vlad's lavish vacation house had been fun, but it was nice to be surrounded by the familiar model rockets and glow-in-the-dark star stickers again.

"So, how are you feeling?" Jazz stood in Danny's doorframe, suitcase still in hand.

"About what?"

Jazz set her suitcase down and crossed her arms.

"Come on Danny."

Danny sighed.

"A lot, I guess." Danny ran a hand through his hair "But also, weirdly calm? And scared? Not like...worried something bad will happen scared, but like...it's hard to describe."

"I'd imagine."

"I'm not going to tell them tonight, probably not even tomorrow."

"There's no rush."

"I know, I just..." Danny took a breath. They'd all been through a lot this weekend, especially Danny, and there was a lot going on in his head, he just didn't have the energy to put those feeling into words right now.

"Look Jazz, I'm really tired and I've got a lot of unpacking to do, so can we save the psychoanalysis for tomorrow?"

"This isn't 'psychoanalysis'." Jazz rolled her eyes affectionately "But, sure. I'll be in my room if you do decide you want to talk."

"Alright Jazz." Danny's rolled his eyes in a less affectionate way. He swung his backpack onto his bed. "I...do appreciate that."

Jazz smiled as she wheeled her suitcase to her room.

Danny waited a few seconds to make sure she was really gone, and then turned invisible and phased his head through the floor into the kitchen.

"...least the kids seem to be taking it well." Danny heard his mom say. She was standing next to the stove stirring two mugs.

"Mmm." His dad replied absently. He was sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought

Maddie carried the two mugs to the table and sat down next to Jack.

"I suppose this explains why Vlad's been so...dodgy for the past two decades." she said.

"A human with ghost powers..." Jack stared into his tea mug.

"It shouldn't be possible." Maddie said.

"I mean, it apparently happened to Vlad, so..."

"I know, Jack. But do you know what this means for our research? The fact that a human body is even capable of sustaining a partial ectoplasmic structure whilst remaining human? This raises so many questions! I mean, the very implications that-" Maddie rubbed her forehead "I still can't believe he didn't tell us."

"He was scared, Madds."

"Jack, I would've gone straight to you two if I'd started developing ghost powers."

"I know Madds, I would've too." Jack took a big slurp of his tea. "I suppose that's Vlad."

"What do you mean, Jack?"

"I mean, he's definitely the most careful of us three, but he's also always been a little paranoid."

"You think so?"

"I might've seen it a little more, since we shared a room, but he was always like 'Jack, you're ignoring safety protocols!', 'Jack, that violates the laws of nature!', 'Stop tampering with the fabric of reality Jack!' You know, stuff like that."

"I suppose you're right." Maddie gave a little laugh. Personally, Danny was with Vlad on this one.

"Poor Vladdie." Jack shook his head sadly "He always seemed to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders."

"He spent all those years alone," All of the humour drained from Maddie's face "Genuinely afraid of us...oh Jack I feel so awful just thinking about it!" Maddie buried her face in her hands.

Jack rushed out of his chair and wrapped his arms around Maddie.

"I know Maddie." he stared blankly at the wall while Maddie let out a few quiet sobs "Me too."

Maddie gave one last sniffle and looked up at Jack.

"I'm fine now, honey." she said, wiping her eyes with her hand. "I'm don't know what came over me, I'm sor-"

"Shh, shh, You don't have to apologize, Babycakes." Jack patted Maddie's back softly. She leaned against his chest and rubbed his arm. "Oh, Vlad..." Jack said quietly

Danny felt a little bad for watching this private moment, but he had to know their unfiltered feelings about Vlad.

Their thoughts pretty clear at this point though, so Danny remerged into his room and resolidified.

"How's that unpacking going?"

Jazz was sitting crisscross at the base of Danny's doorframe, an open book in her hand.

"Hey! What are you doing in my room!"

"I'm not technically in your room." Jazz closed her book and stood up. "So what are Mom and Dad saying?"

"I mean, I'd say they're taking Vlad being half-ghost pretty well. It's just..."

"What?"

"I don't know, they were kind of talking about why Vlad didn't tell them earlier, and Dad said something about Vlad being paranoid..."

"Wait," Jazz narrowed her eyes "It sounds like you're saying they're pinning this all on Vlad and not considering how all their talk of destroying ghosts could've even possibly played into his 'paranoia'."

"Ugh, those two! How can such world renowned geniuses be so oblivious?" Jazz trailed off and shook her head exasperatedly.

"Maybe they just need some time? You know, to like, process it or whatever?" Danny shrugged "This whole situation is kind of a lot, and they did seem to feel pretty bad about Vlad not trusting them."

Danny decided not to mention Mom crying.

Jazz sighed.

"I suppose. Well, at least they accept him. All things considered, I would say their reaction was pretty positive." she relented.

"Yes, and I'm very happy and relieved with how thing's have turned out." Danny walked closer to Jazz "Now get out of my room!"

With that, Danny slammed the door shut, leaving Jazz standing in the hallway.

"Teenagers." she huffed to herself as she headed back to her room.

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

Danny climbed up the steps to school. He was pulled from his thoughts when someone bumped into him hard enough to nearly knock him over.

"Hey!" Danny yelped as he regained his balance.

"Sorry Danny, didn't see you there." a familiar voice said.

"Oh, hey Valerie." With everything that had happened, Danny had forgotten to check in with her. "Sorry, I meant to call you last night. So how did everything, uh..."

Danny took in Valerie's appearance. Her eyes were glazed over, her hair seemed flatter than usual, and she'd completely forgotten to put on her eye makeup (Danny didn't remember what it was called).

"You good? You look a little..." Danny searched for the politest way to say it "...tired."

"Huh? Nah, I'm great. Some ghost couple showed up on a motorcycle, and they had an evil shadow that let out all the pets in the pet store."

"You mean Johnny and Kitty?"

"Yeah, and then after I rounded up all the pets, the stupid shadow had made its way to the zoo!"

"Ugh, that creepy shadow is always so annoying!"

"And if that wasn't enough, the freaking Box Ghost literally showed up eleven times! All while I was trying to round up various animals! Eleven times in two days Danny! I counted!"

"Okay, that's a bit much, even for him."

"But it's all good." Valerie's voice calmed down "I handled it. All the ghosts are back in their world, and all the animals are back in their cages. Probably."

"Okay, good good, nicely done." Danny nodded. "Glad you made it through all that. You sure you should be in school today, though? You seem pretty out of it."

"What? Naah! I'm great. I am sooo great! I aaam the champion!" Valerie started to sing "And IIII'll keep on fiiiiighting, till the-"

Her song was cut off by a ghost phasing out of the ground between her and Danny.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

"Not you again!" Valerie's unfocused smile turned into an unfocused scowl "This is the twelfth time in three days! Why can't your stupid butt just stay in the stupid Ghost Zone for five stupid seconds!"

Valerie took a swing at the ghost, but completely missed. Her body got caught in the momentum of her punch, causing her to fall over.

Danny and The Box Ghost cringed in sympathy as she hit the stairs.

"Hey, you okay Val-"

Danny was interrupted by a loud snore.

"You know what? You take a rest, you deserve it." Danny reached into Valerie's backpack and retrieved The Fenton Thermos. "I'll handle this one." Danny glared at The Box Ghost.

"BEWARE!" he shouted before zooming away.

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

Danny transformed and flew after him.

Valerie continued to snore on the stairs.

We finally made it! The Fenton parents know about Vlad!

But this story's far from over...

What's gonna happen next? Who knows? Not me!

Don't worry! I do have a few ideas. I'll probably do the thing where I upload a short bit and then a long bit later. Just seems to be what works.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review and let me know what you think :)

#Danny Phantom #dp #danny phantom fanfic #dp fanfic #fisp #my writing #my fanfic #writitng #fanfic

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