#And i have 'ghosted' said lecturer for half a year now

[phantomtwitch]

Sooo I wrote a Part 2 for the Everyone Knows AU part of angstfest. (Anything to avoid editing my IB fic right now, apparently)

Part One of this fic is here if you missed it!

Danny sits in the passenger seat of Jazz’s car, leaning his head against the window as his Mom drives them in silence, her hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. His Dad and sister are back at FentonWorks, since his parents insisted it would be best if Danny and his Mom went alone, and it’s been hours since he’s seen any real signs of civilization. The further they travel from home the worse he feels, some nagging sense of discomfort and uneasiness that won’t relent, even as he knows this is to help him. 

For over a year and a half, he’s been experiencing fainting spells and blackouts every time there’s a ghost attack. He’s lucky his friends have managed to keep it hidden from his peers at school, since he knows Dash’s bullying would only increase if he knew Danny was so terrified of the ghosts that he fainted every time one appeared. They tried to keep it from his parents, too, with his sister Jazz’s help, even as Danny couldn’t understand why. But every time he thought about telling them in the past, his jaw would lock up and the words would die before he could utter even a single syllable. 

Yet now they know. He remembers waking up in the lab, not sure how he made it there, his parents sobbing as Jazz hovered in the corner, arms crossed over her chest as she watched the three of them warily. They said something to him, explained something even as they lectured Jazz, too, about keeping this a secret, but the words slipped from his fingers within minutes, and whatever confession they made was lost to him. But he can remember the fear in their eyes, the way they trembled and shook, and the odd sense that they were afraid of him rather than for him. He can remember asking if he should go to a doctor and the way they paled, adamantly refusing to bring him to anyone for weeks. It’s only now that they’ve finally agreed to bring him to see some specialist way out in Wisconsin. 

It used to be that whenever this happened, something would push back in his own subconscious eventually, reassuring him that it was fine, that he was fine, that there was nothing to worry about. It would smother him like a comforter in the middle of a snowstorm, warm and inviting and soft even as it felt entirely too heavy and like he really ought to be outside helping to dig out from the blizzard instead of hiding inside beneath his covers, but he still let it, the embrace too kind and safe for him to push back against. But this time he could not forget, not when his parents flinched every time he entered a room, not when they seemed so afraid even after so many weeks. Danny wishes he knew what he did wrong, what they fear about him, why they seem to almost hate him at times. It hurts, the ache so intense that there are moments when he swears something within him is fracturing and slowly crumbling to pieces, and he hopes this specialist can help repair whatever’s been broken. 

When they finally arrive, though, it’s not at a doctor’s office but a massive mansion. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow. 

“I’m sure,” she insists as she unbuckles her seatbelt while Danny steps out of the car. Despite the bright colors and decor, something in him uncurls in his gut like a snake, rearing back and ready to strike, and Danny shivers as he fights back against the odd sensation. 

The man who greets them is tall with silver hair pulled back into an elegant ponytail tied with a red silk ribbon that probably costs more than Danny’s entire wardrobe. He’s wearing a dark black suit and red tie, and the way he smiles reminds Danny of a crocodile or a shark. It’s as if he’s slime given form and Danny shudders.

“Hello, Vlad,” says Mom. 

“My dearest Maddie,” he says, kissing his mother on both cheeks. “How lovely to see you after so long. And what a pleasure to meet you, young Daniel. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.” He offers him his hand and Danny shakes it, barely resisting the urge to pull away immediately since the man’s grip is too hot, like fire burns beneath his fingertips. A small, absurd part of him wonders if he’s the devil, if his parents are planning to make some terrible deal (or admit to having done so long ago given his issues), but he pushes his fears down. 

“Thanks, I guess, but I don’t know anything about you,” replies Danny, and the man flinches briefly before recovering. “My Mom said you could help me with my fainting spells and blackouts, though.”

“Ah, yes. Your ‘fainting spells,’” he says bemusedly, as if in quotes, and that defensive, roiling in his gut returns, more pronounced than before. 

“Vlad,” says Mom sternly. “Please. Can you help him?”

“That depends entirely on what you mean by help, but I’ll see what I can do,” he says with a small smirk, and Danny bristles even as his Mom seems satisfied with the response. “Follow me.” 

The two of them walk through the massive mansion. It’s decked out in Packers paraphernalia, which seems completely at odds with the perfectly poised man in front of him. “You’re a cheesehead?” says Danny. 

“Indeed. I’ve tried to buy the Packers several times, too, but to no avail,” he says, teeth gritted, and Danny suspects the man isn’t told ‘no’ very often. He worries what that means for him and his potential treatment. 

“What kind of specialist are you?” he asks. 

“I am technically a business owner, but I’ve done extensive research into unique types of ecto entities,” he says, watching Danny out of the corner of his eye. “Entities like yourself.”

“I’m not–I’m human,” he objects, and he can feel that buzzing, that comfortable embrace pulling on him, and he tries to resist it but finds himself unwilling to do so for long, and by the time he’s aware once more he’s standing on the stairs to a basement lab, unable to remember what Vlad’s specialty is, what else they talked about or how they even made it here. 

“What did you say you specialized in?” he asks, and Vlad pauses on the stairs in front of them, turning to him with a frown. 

“See?” says Mom. “I told you already, Vlad, he can’t remember for more than a minute or two.”

“Remember what?” asks Danny irritably. 

“That I’m a specialist who can help you with your blackouts and medical issues,” says Vlad, and Danny frowns. That’s frustratingly non-specific, even as it’s almost certainly, technically true. 

“So like a neurologist?” he presses. 

“Something like that,” he says, and Danny scowls as he follows him the rest of the way into the lab, not sure why they won’t tell him the truth, not sure why he can’t remember if they already did. 

The lab itself is incredibly high-tech. There’s no repurposed household items like there are in his parents’ lab, and everything is carefully organized, labeled, and tucked away. In one corner sits a massive portal, and Danny’s eyes widen as he takes in the green swirling within it, recognizing it for what it is. “You’re an ecto scientist?” he says, turning to the man as he puts on a lab coat. 

“Indeed, though I specialize in many other areas, too,” he says. “Maddie, dear, why don’t you have a seat over there while I examine young Daniel?” 

His Mom pauses, eyeing Vlad warily for a moment before finally relenting and taking a seat at one of the empty lab benches. “And you, child, come here,” he insists, beckoning to him like Danny’s an obedient puppy, and Danny glares as he takes a seat on the bed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I need to do a quick scan. Please lay back.”

“What kind of scan?” He won’t simply do what this man asks, not without knowing more first. Not when even his Mom looks nervous. 

“Think of it like an MRI or x-ray. I promise, it’s harmless,” he says, flashing his teeth in a way that’s meant to be reassuring but is far too predatory, and Danny shivers as he looks at his Mom. She gives a small smile that’s not half as reassuring as he hoped even as she nods for him to do as Vlad says, and Danny sighs as he lays down on the bed, letting his hands rest on his stomach, his fingers twisting around in his shirt as he ignores the pounding of his heart and the sweat on his palms. 

‘I’ll be fine,’ he thinks stubbornly to himself, and he feels that odd sense of warmth, of a hug from something within his chest and relaxes as Vlad wheels over some strange scanner. It moves slowly over him, hovering for a long time near where his heart and lungs are before progressing, and then Vlad sits down at a computer for a few minutes as he reviews the results, humming thoughtfully as Danny’s Mom walks over and peers over his shoulder. 

“Is that . . .?” she asks, pointing to something on the screen. 

“Yes. But see this? There’s disconnection here,” he says, pointing to it and moving his finger, and Danny angles his head to try and see what they’re looking at but he can’t, the screen angled away from him too much. He starts to sit up when his Mom looks at him and shakes her head, and with a sigh he lays back down, drumming his fingers on his stomach impatiently. Clearly they’ve found something, and he feels like he has a right to know what. “The pathways didn’t form properly, and if they aren’t repaired, he’s not going to survive for much longer. You can already see the damage to his internal organs.” 

Danny swallows, his blood running cold. He’s going to die? He didn’t–he can’t be–

“Can you fix it?” she asks, interrupting his thoughts. 

“I think so, but it may be a bit traumatic,” Vlad says, “and with the disconnection having lasted so long, I’m not certain how cooperative he’ll be when it comes to the required treatment. Still, the memory issues are more severe than they ought to be even in this case. I have my suspicions about the cause, but I’ll need to provoke him to confirm it.”

“What?” Danny’s heart is beating rapidly and he’s sitting up now, staring at them with wide eyes, unable to hold back his terror even as he can begin to feel that tug at him, that warmth, but he won’t give into it this time. He can’t. He needs to know. 

“I would explain it, child, but you won’t remember,” sighs Vlad as he stands up. “Do you trust your mother?”

“I–what?” he sputters. Aside from it sounding like he’s probably dying, Danny’s still not sure what’s happening here, even as Vlad and his mom do seem to understand, and he desperately wants them to explain it to him, to tell him the truth, for someone to be honest with him just once.

“I would prefer your consent, of course, but you literally cannot give it due to your condition,” he explains, which makes absolutely no sense to Danny. “I’m asking if you trust your mother so she can at least grant it on your behalf.”

His mouth opens automatically to say that of course he trusts her, but then he pauses, the words dying on his tongue. Does he trust her? She’s brought him here with little to no explanation, and like with his sister and his friends, Danny knows nothing about why or what’s happening to him besides the blackouts. They all claim they’ve told him about it before–even this Vlad guy seems to suggest as much–but he hates that he can’t remember, hates that he has nothing to fall back on to confirm that they all have his best interest at heart beyond his own gut feeling. And his instincts right now are diametrically opposed, screaming at each other to reassure Vlad that he trusts her even as another part insists that he can’t, that he shouldn’t, that she’ll hurt him and he needs to be kept safe and he can feel that part forcibly pushing down on his ability to say yes, to let them know they can do the treatment, that they need to move forward and–

Danny blinks, struggling to remember what he was thinking about, what question he was supposed to answer. “I–sorry–can you . . . what did you say?” he whispers, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, and Vlad tilts his head to the side. 

“Interesting,” he hums. “But it does provide more proof for what I suspect is occurring. Maddie, dear, do I have your permission?”

“But he–”

“I’m not sure he can,” interrupts Vlad as Danny stares at them cluelessly, not sure what they’re talking about again. He’s lost some more time, he’s sure, but he doesn’t know why. He doesn’t think he fainted or fully blacked out, yet the last thing he can remember is laying down on the table before Vlad prepared to start the scan, and he shivers, rubbing his arms. 

She turns to look at him, and then walks over, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, hon,” she says and then she gives him a hug, squeezing him tightly, but he can feel her trembling even as she tries to reassure him. “I promise, okay?”

“I–okay,” he manages, the word choking its way past, and then she walks back to Vlad. 

“Maddie, my dear, you’ll need to stay here, please,” he insists, and Mom nods as Vlad comes over with something Danny recognizes. It’s a portable ghost shield, although the design is different from the one his parents use, and Vlad presses a finger against a sensor, activating around them as Danny’s heart beats faster now and the thing in his gut rears back, ready to strike as Vlad’s eyes flash impossibly red and a set of black rings appear around his waist, and–

Danny’s body drops to the table as Phantom emerges, hissing and shrieking at the intruder and ghost before him, tackling him with his claws as his brain screams at him to protect, protect, protect! The ghost puts up a shield, eyeing him lazily as he speaks, his words full of fire and ash even as they sound human, too, smothered beneath the surface of the water. “Enough, child,” he insists, using human words, but he can see the ripples in his aura, the subtle shifts that indicate his intentions, and he pauses with his claws outstretched, ectoblast building between the black tips. “So you are sentient enough, at least, to understand. Can you speak?” 

He hisses, echoes and static and chirps as his aura flares in response, letting him know that he sees the threat but that he’s unafraid, that he will protect Danny and his mother from the ghost in front of him. There are no real words, not in the way there is with human speech simply because there doesn’t need to be, his intentions and meaning clear enough for any ghost to understand. 

“Ah. I thought not, based on what we saw in the scans,” he muses. Black rings appear around his waist and he shifts, the dark haired ghost with bluish skin and fire in his hands and eyes vanishing beneath a human facade. “I promise I intend no harm.”

The words mean less to Phantom now than they would’ve if Vlad spoke them before transforming. Vlad’s aura is muted this way, his intentions less clear even as Phantom can taste the ash on his tongue as the man speaks, the echo of Vlad’s otherness apparent to him, and Phantom floats forward, tilting his head around as he puts a clawed hand on Vlad’s chest to better feel the pulsing of his core beneath his flesh. 

“Vlad, are you–” begins Mom, her words sounding distant and submerged beneath waves. It’s always so hard for him to hear and understand the humans that speak to him, even as he tries since he doesn’t want to hurt them. He needs to protect them. He needs to keep them safe. 

“I’m quite fine,” he insists, even as Phantom hisses a warning at him. “Are you done posturing? I’m here to help you, Daniel. Or do you prefer Phantom?”  Phantom’s aura flares, spiking and sending a mixture of signals. “You are not helping him.” His claws extend, pushing intangibly through his skin, grasping his core, but Vlad remains calm despite the clear threat. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. You are disconnected from yourself this way. You leave behind your body each time, and eventually, no matter how much your friends and family intervene, you will not be able to return to it.”

He turns his head more, floating upside down, his tail spiraling behind him as he considers the words. Vlad’s core is too tightly grasped between his fingers for him to hide his intentions, and there’s truth there, at least as far as Vlad sees it, and Phantom sends a questioning chirp. “You are meant to be a single entity,” he says. “But your core is not fully connected to your biological systems. It’s created a barrier between you and Daniel, an artificial wall that should not exist, and it’s harming both of you.”

Phantom hisses reflexively, showing his sharp teeth as he lets one of his claws dig into Vlad’s core, and the man winces but otherwise hides his distress at the intrusion. “You can’t keep denying it and hiding the truth from your human half. I know you’re trying to protect him. I know you’re trying to help. But it’s hurting him. He’s confused and upset and scared. You’re leaving his body behind whenever you respond to the intruders in your haunt, as you’ve done here. You risk him being discovered, being captured by the GIW or other ghost hunters who, unlike your parents, would not be willing to try to help you. They would experiment on him, dissect him, and ultimately destroy both of you.” 

“And it’s hurting him physically, too,” says Vlad. “My scans are showing damage to his internal organs and structures. If this continues for much longer, your human half will not survive. It cannot.”

He relaxes his hand, the words coming out in a whisper of echoes and static, of uneasiness and fear. 

Vlad responds quietly in kind, sending an oddly comforting response from a man whose core burns with impossible anger and resentment at the world. “I know you’re worried about how he’ll manage knowing the truth of who he is. But you cannot hide it from him forever, not without destroying him and yourself. Please, child. Allow me to help you be whole again,” he says. 

He withdraws his hand, sending out a questioning burst of noise, of inquiry. Because he doesn’t want Danny to die. He doesn’t want to die. 

“The integration was prevented due to the interference of your family and friends,” he explains, and his Mom flinches. “Our transformation is not meant to have artificial triggers. The use of the AED to resuscitate you, to fill your core with electricity so it can artificially force the ectoplasm within your body to bring you back, has prevented it from fully bonding to your own systems and sending the spark from within itself to revive your human half upon your transformation. You must re-enter Daniel and trigger the change yourself. You must use the energy from your own core, your own essence.”

A soft, pleading whine. 

“You can,” insists Vlad. “More than that, you must.”

He moves from the man, floating over to himself, to his other half, to the part that he misses and aches for every time he leaves to take care of the ghostly threats that intrude on his haunt. Reaching out, Phantom places his hand on Danny’s chest, feeling the absence of breath, the missing life that should be there, and the gentle hum of a fragment of his own core pulsing within, that keeps him whole and alive despite the loss of his spirit even if humans can’t sense it. 

And with a terrified shiver, he pushes himself inside, letting him flow into the body, to not merely overshadow and reattach but become one again as he tries to seek the spark from within his core, tries to connect his spirit and body in full. He’s not sure he can, not without the external boost, and he can feel himself holding back, his worry over how Danny will handle the truth about knowing what he is, knowing that his parents almost certainly hate him and fear him, that his friends will never accept him–

“--focus,” says Vlad, and then he feels someone gripping Danny’s hand and he opens Danny’s eyes, expecting the half-ghost, but it’s not Vlad. 

It’s his Mom.

“Please, son,” she whispers, tears burning in her eyes. “Please.” 

And he mumbles something in response, his aura flickering as he speaks in a language she can’t understand, and he feels her grip Danny’s hand–their hand, his hand–more tightly, trying to reassure him, to let him know he’s okay, he’s safe, that they love him and care about him as he–

–Danny blinks, gasping as he sits up, clutching at his chest. It hurts, like ice and lightning and fire pouring through his veins and he wants to scream even as it feels right, as a bright light passes over him and he shifts, feeling oddly weightless and absent for a moment before they pass over him again and he shifts once more, back to being heavy and human and present. It’s painful and terrifying yet oh so right, and somehow, that makes it worse. 

And he sits for a moment, hand still clutching his chest even as his mother hasn’t let go of his other hand, as his world crashes around him, as he remembers who they are, who he is, what he is. As his memories he’s kept from himself in an effort to protect his human half crash back, slamming into him impossibly hard, moments spent in ghost fights and then burrowing himself inside his own helpless corpse as his friends were forced to endure the burden of caring for him and protecting him, and Danny lets out a keening wail that’s neither human nor ghostly in its sound but some odd blend of the two. 

“I’m a monster,” he whispers, sobbing as his shoulders shake, and his Mom shifts, moving to hold him tightly to herself. 

“Oh, hon,” she says, but no words follow, no gentle affirmations that she loves him, no denials about him being the horrifying creature he knows they’ve seen him as, that they’ve hunted and shot at and threatened to experiment on and–

“It’ll be okay,” she says, interrupting his spiraling thoughts as she strokes his hair. “We’ll figure it out, Danny. I promise.”

Maybe someday he’ll believe her.

[sheeple]

Miracles don't exist | 10: The greatest nightmare

Genre(s): Riddle!reader / Slytherin!reader / kinda slowburn / little happy moments Fandom(s): Harry Potter Pairing(s): Theodore Nott x Reader / Harry Potter x Riddle!reader Summary: Being the Dark Lord's daughter and raised under the strict supervision of the Malfoy's is no easy life. Especially if you start crushing on your father's arch-nemesis, Harry Potter. And that while being engaged to one of his follower’s sons. Warning(s): Moldy Voldy is back bitches, now the real shite show begins. A/n: So I'm gonna take a couple weeks off before posting year 5, just to give myself some time to further develop the story and so I don't get burned out lol. Next chapter will be posted 2nd of July [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist] [Playlist]

You're hesitant to knock on the headmaster's door. But the door swings open before your knuckles can make contact with the door.

Professor Dumbledore sits behind his desk, half-moon glasses down his nose. "Ah, Miss Black. For what do I owe the pleasure?" The Headmaster rises as you enter the office. He motions for you to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk, and you obey.

"Liquorish snap?" Dumbledore holds a bowl with black droplets for you to take, but you politely decline.

"No thank you, Sir. I've uhm... I've come to suspect something is happening, Sir." With a motion from Dumbledore, you continue; "I've this weird feeling. It's dark and festering inside me, down to my bones. And when I saw Professor Karkaroff's Dark Mark and heard him speak about it burning, it confirmed my suspicions. The Dark Lord is returning, Professor."

Dumbledore drops his back against the back of his chair, his hands clasping the armrests. "Are you one hundred per cent sure? Do you know when he will return?"

You frown and look down at your hands. "I do not, Sir. But I am terrified. Terrified of what will happen once he does return. What will happen to me?"

Dumbledore hums, stroking his beard. "I am afraid I do not have an answer, Miss Black. The only thing I can tell you is that Hogwarts is always your home."

You sigh. Great, so nothing can be done at all. And it's not like you can stay at Hogwarts during the summer.

Having told what you needed to tell and getting nowhere, you stand up from the chair. "Thank you for your time, Professor. I'll have to go, otherwise, I'll be late for History of Magic."

"Of course, have a nice day, Miss Black." Dumbledore waves you out of his office, a hand massaging his forehead.

You slip just in time into the History classroom and take your usual spot, which is next to Blaise. He gives you a glance and a nod before turning his attention back towards Professor Binns. It's the only class you have with just Blaise.

Today you're learning about the Goblin Rebellion of 1890, which was led by Ranrok. It was said a Fifth-year student with the help of a professor defeated the rebellion.

As Professor Binns' ghost drones on about the ways Ranrok and Rookwood helped each other, Blaise leans over. "How are you and Theodore doing?"

It makes you turn your head towards the taller boy. "Okay? I guess? Why are you asking?"

"Well... the two of you seem awfully close since Christmas break, I only assumed you and him made it official."

You frown. Did you and Theodore grow closer? You guess... but it's not that much different than before the break. Sure, he hangs around more and you actually enjoy his company now, rather than before. But that's because you're friends.

"We're just friends, Theo and I." 

"Theo?", Blaise licks his lips and looks at you incredulously, "yeah- just friends. Sure. Theodore jinxes anyone else to hell and back if they dare to call him by anything other than his name."

You glance at the Professor — who keeps droning out his lecture, unbothered by the many sleeping students. "That can't be true. You are all just too wimpy to do it. And besides, Theodore isn't that intimidating."

A laugh escapes Blaise, which makes Professor Binns stop briefly in his story before continuing. "You've never been on the receiving end of his hard stare. He has always been soft for you." 

You roll your eyes. "We haven't spoken to each other before this year."

"He's always been too intimidated to approach you. Your family's reputation proceeds you."

You glare at him. Of course, your family is the problem. They are always the problem. 

Blaise flicks your wrist with his fingers. "Hey now, don't give me that look. You should be happy anyone told you."

"Why are you even telling me? Aren't you also in the race to win my hand or whatever?" You fold your arms over each other and slump down in your seat.

Now it is Blaise that rolls his eyes. "Originally. That was until she found out your lot still supports You Know Who."

He refers to his mother, obviously. Miss Zabini is truly a beautiful witch, but something about her is off. At least, that was the one time she was introduced to you. Maybe it was the party filled with Death Eaters.

"I don't blame her", you mutter. You wouldn't want your son to marry into a family of crazy blood supremacists.

The remainder of the class is spent in silence. Blaise has nothing to say and your thoughts are running wild. If what Blaise says is true and Theodore has been quote-unquote 'interested' in you for quite some time... Why? What made him? If you never interacted, what pulled him to you?

You only notice that class is over by Blaise getting up and packing his bag. You snap out of your thoughts and collect your ink and quill, stuffing it in your book bag.

"You're coming to the stands with us?", asks Blaise as he points over his shoulder towards the general direction of the final task. 

You shake your head. "I'm going to the library and finish an essay I have yet to finish. I'll come later."

Blaise nods wordlessly and turns around, loosening his tie and stuffing it in his bag. 

You don't actually need to finish an essay, you just need to have some alone time. And you're glad you took it, because once you reach the tribunes of the final task, people are talking loudly, cheering, and there is a band playing. You spot Draco and his friends and go to stand with them.

Looking around, you see Gjol and his friends standing with Durmstrang and the both of you wave to each other. You also spot Hermione and give her a small smile.

"You've just missed the send-off", says Theodore as he makes room for you to stand next to him. 

You hum. "So we're supposed to just stand and wait here?"

Theodore nods. You let out a huff and go sit on the edge of the tribune behind you. That earns a laugh from the dark-haired boy and he goes to sit next to you. "You've just got here, why are you already sitting down?"

"I am not going to stand for who knows how long waiting for someone to show up with the cup to end the stupid thing."

Theodore chooses to stay silent and the two of you sit next to each other, listening and participating in the conversations around you.

The first thing that happens is a red spark rising up from somewhere in the maze and Fleur gets pulled from the competition. Next to getting dragged out of the maze is Victor, who looks weird. 

Finally, it is between Harry and Cedric. There are no red sparks or anything coming out of the maze, so they're probably lost somewhere.

Suddenly, a cold-like grip travels up your spine and grabs your throat, making you gasp. You reach for Draco's arm. At first, he looks at you annoyed but when he sees the panicked look on your face, his own quickly morphs into that of concern.

"Are you okay?" Draco crouches down so he's at eye level

You shake your head, blood drained from your face and eyes wide. Without knowing exactly what the feeling is, you know what it means. "I felt it..."

"Felt what?", inquires Draco, grabbing your shoulders to stop your shaking.

"He's back."

At that moment, appears Harry with Cedric out of nothing. The elder boy lies limp on the ground. Harry's bent over Cedric, his shoulders shocking. And he says the words you've been dreading your whole life.

"He's back! He's back! Voldemort is back!"

Taglist (bold means I couldn’t tag you): @the0doreslover @lqndkxlmqma @st4rrry @choppedpartymuffinwinner @ledtassoo @literallyobessed @lestat-whore​ @vanishingcherry @harrysnovia @pietrobae @ireallywannasleep127

[curiouser--and--curiouser]

Could I get an Obi-Wan fic where he finally reveals his feelings for the reader after years of keeping it in? And they both just melt into each other because they can both finally show how they feel

The Red Tie Around Your Hearts

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Reader

Summary: You go missing on a dangerous mission and Obi-Wan, who is in love with you, goes crazy with worry.

Fluff, angst, obi-wan having a crisis, love declarations, gender-neutral pronouns.

Warnings: swearing, near death experience.

Word Count: 2.5k words

A/N: Requested by @alaina-b, hope you like it hon, sorry it took so long! I've had one of the longest months of my life travelling here there and everywhere, so hopefully some half-decent ideas have formed in the mean time!

Obi-Wan was losing his fucking mind.

You were missing and it was all his fault. Well, not really, but it certainly felt that way to him.

Why didn’t I go with them? Why did I not protect them?

Obi-Wan paced around the briefing room, the artificial lights invading his senses. They were suffocating him; the whole journey from the hangar to here was suffocating. The creaking metal of the walls and the too-white lights pushed into his mind with every step, reminding him painfully that he was so far from the ground. He was in the vastness of space alone. Without you.

You were a guiding light in his life – always steadfast, always the same. Always that same wonderful person he fell in love with all those years ago.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on when he started loving you. Maybe he always has. You had been best friends since you were padawans. Two young Jedi hungry to learn, desperate to succeed. You were inseparable; you would sneak off every night for some secret meeting of just the two of you. Every shiny, naïve, joyous idea that came into your young heads you said and did and enjoyed. You explored the world around you, eyes wide and gleaming, and no warning lecture from any Jedi Master who caught you could deter this duo. A common thread linked you, a red tie around your hearts. You felt every pull and every tug, every single movement the other took like some kind of precognition. Thoughts and feelings flowed between the two of you without words, a single look into the other’s eyes saying more than the most eloquent bard with pen and paper.

So when the red cord around Obi-Wan’s heart started to get a little tighter every time he saw your beautiful smile, he was naturally fucking terrified.

Attachment was forbidden, feeling something more towards you was forbidden. But the jolt of that string around his heart felt more natural, more real, more true than any of the empty words the Jedi taught him.

He was so confused, so unsure. He tried pulling away from you, but that goddamn cord around your hearts dragged you with him no matter where he hid. You set alight the kinds of emotions he never thought he would feel, but it went against his entire way of life. And yours too. Why would he jeopardise your future in the Jedi Order for his silly little crush? It was your home too and he wasn’t about to cast you out onto the streets. Loving you from afar was far preferable to you risking your jobs for an attempt at a relationship, or even worse, you rejecting him altogether. You were his best friend and he didn’t want to lose you.

But now he was about to.

Why didn’t he take the mission? Why did he let you go? You were adamant to go, this was your operation and you were the commanding officer, so it was your mission to face alone. It was dangerous, sure, but nothing to challenge your expertise. Just a simple grab and go mission. Fly down onto the Separatist ship, grab the stolen holocron, fly back. Easy. What wasn’t easy was getting past the prying eyes of the enemy. But again, nothing to challenge you – you had done it a million times, slipping past battle droids like a ghost. However, this time, there were too many. Fleets of droids were parked in front of your destination – they knew you were coming. Theories of betrayers and weak links in the Republic whizzed through your mind, but you didn’t focus on them. You pushed on – through the ships, through the droids, through the pained shouts of Obi-Wan telling you to just come back. “It’s not that important,” he would shout, but you knew he was wrong. The holocron held vital information pertaining to the Jedi Order and you were not about to leave it in dangerous hands. You swore to protect the Order, and you were sure as hell going to protect it now.

Obi-Wan could only watch from the starflighter as you sped off into the fray, swerving and dodging between the blaster fire, praying to whatever gods were looking down upon you that you would be returned safe to him. And it seemed like they were actually listening to him as you shot down more and more droids, aided by the Republic gunship’s cover fire. As your ship disappeared inside the target cruiser, your comm link stayed open and the painful tie around Obi-Wan’s heart loosened slightly. You were winning and you were going to come home safe to him. You narrated your surroundings to Obi-Wan, the commanders and clones at work between deep breaths as you snuck behind the backs of your foes, swiftly cutting down any droids in your way. Rustles of your hurried searching echoed through the loudspeaker of the control room, until you let out a single breath of relief.

“It’s here.”

Then it all went wrong.

Your comm link fizzled out with a sharp ring and every person in the room waited in silence for you to reconnect. All eyes focused on the loudspeaker before a deafening explosion sounded out. Obi-Wan felt his soul leave his body and the red string around his heart knot shut. He ran to the massive windows at the front of the starship only to see blinding fire. An orange glow bathed the entire control room as the Separatist cruiser you boarded exploded into flames. Gasping for air, Obi-Wan’s eyes flickered to every corner of space in front of him, desperately searching for anything to signal your escape. Yet he found nothing.

No, no, no, no, no. Please gods no. Not you. Not now.

His feet moved before his brain could register it. Obi-Wan was sprinting out of the control room to board any available ship in the hangar. He even ordered a squad of clones out of their ship with an uncharacteristic shout and took off in it to search for you. He’d apologise to them later. You were more important to him.

Shouts of objection by the other commanders flooded through his comms to the point where Obi-Wan turned it off with a slam of his fist. He flew around the wreckages of droid ships with a speed bordering on hyperspace, but found nothing. No sight of you. No sight of your ship.

Gods, no. Fuck, where are you?

He flew faster still, his steering getting faster and jerky, checking every nook and cranny of the charred shell of the target cruiser from which the explosion emanated. At this point he was barely using his eyes, only the tug of the cord connecting you both, trying to pull and follow it to its end where he would find you. The cord wasn’t cut, he could still feel the faintest connection between you both… he just couldn’t find you.

Please, no. Y/N don’t leave me.

Suddenly, blaster fire skimmed off the roof of Obi-Wan’s ship. The Separatists had found him. It took every single bit of strength in his mind and body to drag himself away from his search and retreat back to the Republic ship. The red cord got longer, you felt far away, almost out of sight.

So now here he stood, on the verge of a breakdown in the middle of a briefing room with nearly all hope lost. Various commanders and clones tried to discuss their next moves in the mission, but he paid attention to none of it. He couldn’t focus on anything other than the pain and worry radiating throughout his entire body. Tears brimmed in his eyes, threatening to fall as his heart got heavier and heavier in his chest. The only words that got through was an admiral’s strong suggestion to retreat. Anger flared in Obi-Wan’s eyes as he spun around ready to fight anyone who would even consider leaving you lost in the coldness of space. He argued back and forth with a cutting intensity, but deep down he knew the admiral was right. The first mission of the Jedi was to protect and Obi-Wan had to protect his soldiers. But he couldn’t abandon you. That fucking red string was getting thinner, only a couple of fraying threads remained. The slightest tug could break it and you would be lost forever.

“General Kenobi, we must flee now. The Separatists are still out there.”

“I am aware of that Admiral, but we need to stay and fight.”

“Sir, we can’t. We are low on fuel and our shields are failing. I know General L/N is important to you, but we must leave now.” Of course they all knew, it was impossible to miss the fact the two of you were attached at the hip, the way you would talk about each other. They knew there was probably something going on between the two of you, but respected you both enough to leave you to it. Thus, they also knew that Obi-Wan was only acting out of pain. He was an excellent Jedi and a compassion commander to all his clones; he was not usually like this. It was clear the route of his anger the potential loss of you. But that didn’t make the anger go away. The fire in his eyes got darker as he stepped forward to the admiral.

“Now listen here. That is no concern of yours.”

“I mean no offense, General, but you must be realistic.”

“I am. I am being realistic and we need to stay.”

“L/N is gone, or else they will find a way themself-“

“No! They are not gone, they are still here.”

“Sir, please-“

“I won’t leave them!”

Suddenly, the blast doors opened and Obi-Wan swore he was dreaming. There you stood right in front of him. Singed and battered, your robes covered in soot and a small amount of blood dripping down the side of your face. You can’t be real, Obi-Wan thought, they are gone, they are dead. This had to be an apparition, some trick his grief playing on him. But you walked through the doors just like you, and looked just like you, and smiled at him just like you. Your eyes bored into his and made his heart clutch in his chest. It was you. You were okay.

Wordlessly, you dragged your eyes away from Obi-Wan, glanced around at the room full of officers. Your gaze fell upon the Admiral you had heard through the walls in deep debate with your fellow Jedi. Your hand burrowed on your pocket for a second until you withdrew a glowing blue palm-sized cube; the holocron. A gasp rang through the room at your victorious mission and you tossed the holocron to the Admiral who only just to caught it in his own hands. You gave him a light knowing smile and nodded your head towards the door. Understanding flashed across his face instantly as he began to quietly usher out the rest of the officers with a smile of his own.

Soon, only you and Obi-Wan remained. The tension in the air was palpable. You just stood gazing at each other, barely believing they were stood here with each other again. Neither of you know who moved first, but soon you were both running full tilt at the other and colliding. Hard. Arms went flying everywhere as you pulled each other into a bruising hug, pushing all their shared pain, anger and relief into it. Nothing else mattered now. Only the two of you. Both your pairs of legs buckled underneath you as you lowered down onto your knees, continuing the hug. After what felt like hours, Obi-Wan pulled away, staring down into your tired eyes. A tear ran down his face as he cupped your face with his large calloused hands. His thumbs brush along your cheeks, wiping away your own tears. He was so fucking relieved. The flurry of emotions inside of him blurred his mind of all common sense, only following what felt good. And you felt so damn good. Without another thought, his moved his head down and captured your lips with his. You were caught off guard, lost in the feeling of finally being back in his arms. Back home. Your eyes fluttered shut and your lips moved in tandem with his. You melted into each other grabbing at anything at all, losing yourselves in the feeling. All of a sudden, Obi-Wan pulled away, leaving you breathless and seeing stars.

“I love you, Y/N” he admitted, staring deep into your gorgeous eyes. “Darling, I’ve loved you for so long. I’m sorry if you don’t feel the same, but I wanted - needed - you to know.” A beaming smile rose on your face, stretching all the way to your ears. You reached up and pushed back a loose strand of hair, threading your hand into his hair as his eyes closed with a sigh.

“I love you too, Obi-Wan,” you replied as his eyes instantly shot open at your words. His smile matched yours as he hugged you again, this time fully encased in joy. You laughed lightly at his antics as you gripped onto him like a lifeline, your exhaustion from the mission starting to get the better of you. Eventually, Obi-Wan pulled away again, but looking more sorrowful this time, more tears falling.

“I was so scared, darling,” he rambled breathlessly. “Fuck, I was terrified I’d lost you. I went out, I couldn’t find you, I looked everywhere, I thought you were dead, you should be dead, fuck, what happened, how are you here-“

Immediately, you brought your hands to cup his face, noticing his panic and trying to calm him down. You stroked along his cheekbones lightly, bringing him back down to you. “Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m okay,” you whispered to him lightly. “The holocron was booby trapped, they knew we would try and retrieve it. Some kind of self-destruct thing I think. Try and blow us up with it. But it’s okay, I got out, I got to my ship just in time and hid until it was safe. I’m here. I’m okay. I’m safe.”

Your words soothed Obi-Wan as you brought him down from his panic attack. He encircled you with his arms, pulling you onto his lap so your bodies were as close as physically possible.

“Please, never leave me again,” he whispered, barely audible over the thrum of the ship around you.

“I will never leave you,” you replied, more truthful in your words than ever before. “I’m yours.”

Your lips melded together again, saying everything that had been unspoken for years. Gods, the years have been long, skirting around your feelings for each other. But now you could be freely in love.

The red tie around your hearts was repairing, untangled and unfrayed. It was strongest when you were together. The ribbon looped in a beautiful bow and your hearts beat as one, never to part again.

[x-0ophelia0-x]

Ezra x Jacen’s Nany Reader

Hear me out….. there’s NO WAY in the galaxy that Hera leaves Jacen with only Chopper, I repeat CHOPPER as supervision… that droid has committed war crimes on a daily basis as a form of entertainment, simply because he could.

Sabine has been to busy being a part-time jedi apprentice, and looking for a way to bring her idiot best friend/brother Ezra back home to their Mama Hera..

Kallus is simply too busy as a stay-at-home dad raising his horde of Lesat cubs, while his hubby Zeb is busy working as a part-time recruit trainer for the New Republic..

So.. what’s a VERY pregnant Hera to do when she comes across a young girl, who happens to be the same age as the Son she had just lost, in the streets of a still recovering planet after the fall of the Empire? Watching as the girl gently tends to the sick and injured that others seemed to ignore.. all while this child is clearly malnourished and weak herself.

Surprise bitch, you just got adopted by the coolest Mama in the Galaxy..

Aside from helping Hera around the Ghost with chores, making sure the ship’s baby ready, and studying (because Hera wants to help her new kid after clearly observing her passion for medicine) she eventually becomes Jacen’s teacher and basically the family’s personal Doctor.. (and I mean the WHOLE family.. Zeb tried to avoid his annual check-up once.. wasn’t happy that Kallus ratted him out and basically tricked him into Reader’s office)

The main draw back that Reader seams to have in her personal life though??? Her severe case of “Resting Bitch Face” nobody seems to show any interest in her, and only her adopted family seems to not be bothered by it.. she even tries to do things to make her face less intimidating.. constantly being aware of her facial expressions and doing her best to keep her eyebrows slightly raised and a slight half smile on her lips…

Then Ezra comes back… and you bet your ass as soon as the crying, hugging, lecturing and overall emotional reunion is done.. Hera is dragging Ezra by the ears to get a FULL check-up by the most trustworthy doctor she knows.. and Jacen is happily tagging along, holding his “big brothers” sleeves while waiting for him to meet one of his favorite people.. the outcome is… somewhat unexpected.. Ezra trying to be charming and calling Reader’s “serious face” cute..

And Reader being genuinely flustered by Ezra’s awkward attempt at flirting…

Jacen.. is getting ideas, and Chopper is going to help him because CHAOS WILL RAIN!!!

……. and he’s got years worth of pranks to pull on Ezra.. might as well start now.. 😉

a gremlins Nany.

pairing: Jacen‘s Nany!Readee x Ezra Bridger

warnings: none

word count: 2,1 k

summary: You’re Heras most trusted person. Not only did you take care of her beloved son Jacen, no. You were and still are his Nany and best friend. And not only that, after Ezra’s return, Hera ofc trusts you with his check ups. And Jacen and Chopper have a lot of fun about this.

authors note: It’s not proofread, pls bare with me! 😭 I‘m sick and I gave my best to make it as good as possible :´D I hope this makes sense, I‘m not really familiar with medical stuff, especially when it comes to Star Wars 💀

anywayyyy

enjoyyyy <333

imagine this being Ezra waiting for his routine checkups, thank you xd

As she walked through the streets she didn’t fail to notice a young girl, helping the people in need.

Her way with the injured and sick was more then just gentle.

Despite her own visible weaknesses portrayed by a weak body.

After each treatment she only left them to treat the next one if they reassured her that they’re fine.

„Thank you so much y/n, wouldn’t know what I’d done if it wasn’t for your help“

Said an elderly woman, truly a heartbreaking scene even if this girl was a complete stranger to her.

was.

It didn’t take her long to approach the girl, she waited for her to finish the treatment on another injured citizen before she started to talk, startling the girl on front of her.

„Hey there..“

The girl turned around and met her eyes with the stranger, her gaze was shocked at first but soon turned into one of adoration as she looked at the pregnant woman in front of her.

„H-Hey..!“

„I‘ve been here for a little while and couldn’t help but notice your way of helping your people… could I ask you a question?“

The girl looked up to the green Twi‘lek while nodding a yes.

She didn’t know how to form the question since it was a rather personal one and let’s be honest.. they didn’t talk yet.

However, this planet belonged to the ones with the highest death rates, seeing the poor girl alone here, weakened and injured.. where were her parents?

„Do you have a family here?“

As if she saw it coming the girl nodded a no, a sad expression laying bare on her face.

The Twi‘leks heart ached for her. 

She just lost one child, seeing another one, assuming at the same age as him.. it was too much to just stand by and do nothing to help.

„Would you like to become part of my crew?“

y/n looked up at her, not fully believing her ears yet.

„Are you serious..?“

„Yes“

And just like that a huge smile appeared on her face.

„Of course I’d love to!“

The woman returned y/n‘s smile and offered her her hand.

„Name‘s Hera“

„Name‘s y/n“

-

A few months passed by from the moment where you firstly walked into the Ghost.

The ship wasn’t the biggest but oh force, you’ve never felt more at peace then when you got to enter your cabin.

The ship was cozy and it even had a medbay!

Hera then decided to inform you about the other crew members and their activities. 

That’s also the reason why it was so empty.. however.

Soon you were able to meet everyone, except one boy who Hera told you was missing.

Sabine grew the closest to you (after Hera and chopper ofc).

Even if her timetable was loaded with Jedi training stuff, you two always managed to spend some time together.

Zeb worked at a part time recruit trainer for the New Republic while Kallus stayed at home, making sure that their horde of Lesat cubs wouldn’t destroy everything.

Chopper is Chopper. 

There’s nothing more to that since we all know how he is.

There’s no way that Hera would’ve trust him enough with her still unborn child.

Soooo.. with Kanan gone and Ezra missing, there’s only one person left who she’d trust enough with her baby.

You.

You were studying medicine, something you wouldn’t be able to do without Heras help.

She became something like a mother role for you and ohhh my goodness where our excited for the day the baby would be born.

She didn’t have to ask you, couldn’t even since you started to turn the ship into a baby safe place.. at least the most possible version of this since it’s a spacecraft after all .

Hera was moved to tears, seeing how much effort you put everyday to ensure her baby’s safety while everything that Chopper did was to mess with your stuff.

Yeah you were the right choice, no doubt in that.

„Hey, could I ask you to do me a favor? But before I tell you what it is, just know that whatever you’ll answer is allri-„

„Yes I want!“

„What?“

The woman was too stunned to speak.

„But you don’t know what I’m going to ask you..?“

„If I want to take care of your baby right?? Please tell me that this was your question???“

There was a spark of excitement on your voice that made Hers heart to flutter.

She didn’t know if it were her hormones or her (for now) clouded judgement but she immediately hugged you, fighting back some tears.

„Thank you..!“

-

Some years passed by and thanks to Heras help, you were able to actually get an official status as doctor.

That wasn’t your only ‚job‘ tho. You were also a part time nanny for Jason from the moment on he was born. 

Being the most trusted person available on the ghost pushed your ego, making you think that you can perform both of your ‚jobs‘ at the very same time.

It did make some things harder for you, but it was her baby after all, he was worth it.

People who knew about your story would say that you’re literally shining in comparison to your state from when before Hera found you.

Others at the other hand were kind of scared off by your resting Bitch face, not showing any interest towards you.

Your new family didn’t seem bothered at all by it, not even Jacen, but you still gave it your best to improve your facial expressions.. they never faded tho.. .

So when the day arrived where the boy called Ezra returned, Hera instantly had an assignment for you.

She and basically everyone of the ghost crew used to tell you stories about him, how he made the ultimate sacrifice to safe his crew and Lothal.

Ten years had passed since then, since his disappearance and since you’ve been as good as adopted by Hera.

The days after the big news.. we’ll it’s safe to say that you never saw her this emotional in your entire ten years.

Not even when she was pregnant with Jacen, and this is a statement. 

You weren’t there when he arrived since you had some patients waiting for their treatments, but you soon found out about the happy news when Hera called you through your comm link.

And not long after you heard her knocking on your door, dragging an middle aged man by his ears, while Jacen tagged along, holding him by his sleeves.

She asked you if you could take a look at him, a very good one since he’s been absent for like.. I don’t know… 10 years?

Yeah, sounds reasonable. 

„Please do a FULL check-up. You’re my most trusted doctor on this galaxy.“

„Of corse Hera, well then Ezra.. Please take a seat.“

He freed himself from Heras and Jacens Grasp and went to sit on the special chair. 

Ezra seemed to be excited about the technical stuff that surrounded him.. you’d be too if you’ve been stranded in the middle of nowhere for a decade so.. .

„We’ll wait outside, just tell us when we should come“

Said Hera and with that she and Jacen left the room, leaving you and Ezra alone.

„Okay then.. how are you feeling? Are you injured? Sick?“

Knowing how Important he is to Hera you tried to somehow neutralize your „special“ expression.

And he seemed to notice this, you barely knew him and he already started to change his attitude around you.

„No, I‘m totally fine“

He had a grin on his face while you raised your eyebrow at his answer.

„I still need to take a look at you so-“

He already started to take his shirt off, I mean he didn’t have to, just you her push it slightly upwards but you weren’t complaining. 

Nope.

Not at all.

But you had to keep yourself professional.

„Why did you take your shirt off?“

„For the check-up..? If I’m not wrong that’s what patients to for the lung part?“

„Ah- Yeah sorry. Yes, ehm, thank you“

You checked his heartbeat, his lungs and everything you could do at the moment.

There was one thing that concerned you.

Not his health since it was in a good state.

But the way how he made you feel.

You tried to keep a straight, neutral, friendly face while looking him up, but he made it impossible for you.

„You’re cute“

„What?“

Your movements froze for a short while, this kind of comment was unusual.

„You’re cute. You know.. the way how you try to keep your face straight“

„You’re serious?“

„Yep. Why shouldn’t I be?“

He was charming, handsome, kind, you only knew him for a very short time. Like for real. But there was something positive around him.

And it flustered you.

„Thank you“

„Just telling the truth“

-

Unbeknownst to you two, a very curious Jacen was leaning right against the door, squeezing his ear as close as he could and boy did he smile when he heard Ezra talking to his best friend.

„Jacen, you know that it’s rude to-“

„He told her that she’s cute“

He whispered, loud enough so that Hera understood him.

And her face lit up.

„He what??“

„Shhh.. come here and listen“

This private moment, at least to your knowing, made you happy.

There was finally someone who immediately found interest in you, someone who wasn’t blinded by your facial expressions or your attempt at looking natural.

Weeks passed by and he turned out to continue to be as charming as he was the day you met him.

His genuine, true, loving self made you fall im love with him and the same goes for him with you.

Hera was happy to see how both of your presences affected each other for the better and Jacen was sure that he was destined to play your matchmaker. 

And chopper didn’t let this chance go by.

Jacen wanted to help his best friend and his big brother and Chopper had years worth of pranks to pull on Ezra. 

Chaos will rain

And even if Ezra had warned you that he sensed that something would happen, nothing could ever prepare you for what was to come.

It was a peaceful day at your office.

Your last patients for today waited in the waiting room and Ezra was one of them.

Hera didn’t leave him any other choice then to go and get frequent check ups from you just in case that he really didn’t catch anything on Perridea.

His frequent check ups became known to Jacen and Chopper and they saw the perfect opportunity in this to pull their first prank on you two.

Jacen hid behind the shelf with a music box while Chopper disguised himself as something fitting to his surroundings.

They knew that you’d welcome him into your office with a hug, your relationship witch him had gotten better and better and Jacen didn’t fail to notice this.

Knowing this was the base for this prank.

As Ezra neared himself to open the door to your room, opening the door and greeting you, Choppers mini metallic arm reached out and electro shocked his leg, making him loose his balance and fall straight into your eyes.

The pose you found yourselves right now was more then unexpected as his fall took you by surprise. 

Jacen then didn’t waste any more time and played on the ‚play‘ button of the music box, playing some semantic song which seemed to be popular. 

Chopper then took a photo, beeped some things and left the room with a grinning Jacen as fast as he could.

Your patients where beyond confused at the scene and went to your office to check if everything was alright. 

As you saw them looking you two up and down… your face became the deepest shade of red known to humanity.

Ezra’s too.

This ‚incident‘ may have helped you two to get closer but you were still shy about it.

Jacen and Chopper however had other plans and lets just say that this was just the beginning.

[nerdthatsiriuslylovesteaxx]

Helpless part 3 peeps

It was almost five and Nico had embarrassingly spent the whole day thinking about Will Solace, he was stubborn and got on his nerve but he was cute in a way. Nico headed to the infirmary where Will Solace stood there waiting for him,

"Hey Nico." Wil called out brightly,

"Hello Solace." Nico said coldly, this Apollo kid could not know anything. Will did the routine of lecturing him about how he needs to eat more, his severe vitiam D deficiencies, iron deficiencies and about twenty more that could never remember.

"Okay so, I'm giving you some vitamins. Take this one with breakfast and the blue one before you sleep, also I looked through the tests you did. You have PTSD and depression, I would recommend therapy but then you would send an army of skeletons after me, pass out and potentially die and I really don't want you to die. I think we have reached a level of kind of friendship and would not like you to die right now, take one of these a day first thing in the morning with water before you eat anything." Will said walking around the room picking up three different containers and placing them on a table in front of Nico.

"Solace I'm fine. I'm not taking them." Nico spoke bluntly,

"Yes you are, doctors orders. I will be telling your sister to make sure you take them and after she leaves I'll make sure you do." Will respond firmly,

"Solace you aren't my father, I don't need you checking in on me. I won't take them, I am fine." Nico said avoiding eye contact as the blonde boy towered over him.

"Nico di Angelo, it is my job to make sure you are healthy. I do not care whether you like it or not, you need to take the medication. I don't care if I have to shove it down your throat, I can't have you dying on me di Angelo so take the fucking pills. Please for the love of Apollo or I guess Hades just take it, I don't care how much you say you're okay, you are not. Do you know how many times I have considered putting you in the infirmary on an IV because you looked like you wouldn't last another day? Have you even eaten today Nico? It may seem shocking to you but I actually care about you, I don't want you to drop dead." Will finishes, his usual gentle voice lost replaced with a shaking yet harsh one."Shit, Nico I'm really sorry I just, I'm really concerned about you. Please just take the pills, doctors orders." Will replies in his usual gentleness.

"Okay I'll take them, I swear I'm trying to eat more it's just I forget I need to. Spending years with ghosts and then trapped in that jar I always forget I'm meant to eat." Nico whispered, he was actually trying to eat, but it just makes him feel sick.

"It's at dinner I'll sit with you and Hazel at the Hades table." said Will.

"I thought you weren't allowed to do that?" Nico wondered.

"For medical purposes, I am." Will added simply, Nico didn't argue after that. Seeing Will speaking in that harsh voice, it made him seem more real. He didn't want to admit it but after that he wanted him even more.

***

They walked to the Hades table,

"Oh hey, Will Solace right? I thought you were an Apollo kids, why are you sitting at Hades?" Hazel asked,

"Medical reasons; you're Hazel I presuming?" Will responded, after that they started talking. They got on quite well. With Will there Nico felt more pressured to eat, even then he barley finished half a plate. "It's getting better, just try to eat a bit more each day. I'll see you at campfire, yeah Nico?" Will said before walking away.

"So that's loverboy?" Hazel grinned as Nico tried to hide his blushing,

"Shut up Hazel, there's no chance he likes me." Nico responded softly, looking down. "Especially after today, I'll see you at campfire Haze." He finished before leaving. 

***

"Gods Will, just tell him." Annabeth sighed,

"There's no chance he likes me back. I quite literally yelled at him today because he wasn't taking his medication."

"Will, please if Nico di Angelo was going to get scared by yelling he would not have survived Tartarus."

"I know but what if he's straight?" What if he was homophobic.....he was from the 30s...Nico probably didn't know he was bi since he was never at camp constantly. Will didn't say anything to Annabeth but the thought was in the back of his mind. Annabeth thought quickly, she didn't want to out Nico but also he didn't want Will to think he had no chance, he'd been pining over Nico for so long it was kind of hopeless.

"You won't know until you talk to him Will."

"I swear he hates me, he won't even say we're friends."

"Will, Nico does not hate you. If he did he would have made that very clear."

"But-"

"I promise he doesn't hate you Will, trust me."

"Okay Annabeth I trust you, but I still think there is no chance Nico di Angelo, the living embodiment of darkness will ever fall for the son of Appollo." With that Will walked off to the infirmary, just as Percy and Jason came running in.

"Hey Wise Girl." Percy said while kissing her,

"Hi Seaweed brain." Annabeth replied as she messed up his hair,

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I did want to tell you two something." Jason said, "Nico came out to the rest of the group today as well as Reyna. "

"Wait really? Gods I'm so proud of him." Annabeth said, she felt a strange amount of protectiveness over the son of Hades. He'd gone through so much and she was so proud of him for telling everyone.

"I'm guessing I'm still not his type? Wait there's no one I need to drown right? Because I gladly will drown anyone if required,"

"Thankfully no, but I did also offere to strike anyone with lighting if required." Jason responded as he and Percy high fived. Piper walked towards them after leaving a group of Aphrodite kids, she had a look in her eyes which Annabeth could only assume meant she was planning something.

"Guys so you know how Nico likes Will-"

"Wait what?" Annabeth said shocked.

"Nico said you and Percy already knew?" Piper said extremely confused,

"So his type is blondes? " Percy asked,

"Well um..anyways what's the chance that they get together? I need to hear your predictions, Aphrodite kid tradition except they don't know this time so I thought I would ask you guys."

"80%" Percy and Jason said in unison before Annabeth just smiled and said,

"100" and walking off.

"Anyways bye you two, I should probably go and help plan that date for Clarisse and Chris. I told Clarisse we would have it planned by campfire." She said kissing Jason and walking back to where her siblings were.

"Bro I bet I can beat you in a sword fight right now." Jason said,

"Not a chance, your on. No prep time allowed."

"Let's go then."

Percy and Jason both ran off to the forest likely going to do something extremely stupid and probably electrocute a few people but honestly no one cares as their fights were some of the most exciting things to watch.

***

________

xx hope you like it

[raaorqtpbpdy]

Father-Son Bonding (3)

With Maddie and Jazz off attending a women in STEM conference over the weekend, Jack decides to take Danny out for the best father-son bonding activity there is—ghost hunting! They're going to catch that elusive Danny Phantom or die trying! Metaphorically, of course. Jack would never let his son die hunting ghosts, or at least... that's what he thinks.

Written for the prompts:

Jack and Danny spend quality time together hunting that damn ghost boy! Danny is being such a help! Bonus points for if they're both enjoying the endeavor. [from @pricklenettle], Jack Fenton finds out. [from @underforeversgrace], and Jack is excited to hunt ghosts alongside his ghost-powered son, and Danny is enjoying the time with his dad way more than he thought he would. Maddie, however, is deeply troubled by all the ways her son could get hurt, and her overprotectiveness causes a heaviness to fall over the Fenton family home. [from @astatia-ghast]

Read on AO3

Chapter 3: Maddie Fenton Doesn't Know the Half of it (Ch.1; Ch.2)

[Warning for bigotry and unintentional bad parenting]

Maddie Fenton was not happy. First, she and her daughter had been kicked out—politely asked to leave the women in STEM conference because apparently, the small-minded people running the event didn't consider ecto-science "real science", and her talk of ghosts was disrupting the other attendees and the speakers. And now she was watching her husband coming home after obviously having taken their fourteen-year-old son out on a ghost hunt.

She watched the GAV slow as it approached the house. She'd never seen her husband drive that slowly before, and she knew that he knew he was in the dog house after this.

She had made herself absolutely clear on this matter that their children were not to be allowed on ghost hunts until they were eighteen. It was simply too dangerous, especially for Danny, who'd had a fragile constitution and heart problems ever since his accident. And Jack had gone behind her back, taking advantage of her absence to go against her direct wishes.

Rather than going to the garage, Jack pulled the GAV to a stop on the street, obviously realizing that his punishment would be worse if he tried to delay it. It was common for Jack to not know or realize when he did something wrong. He often broke rules only because he forgot they existed. But Maddie had never and would never let him forget this one. So, for once, he knew what he had done.

And he was gonna get it for this.

—

"Stay cool, Danny," Jack said as he pulled the GAV to a stop on the street. "Maybe she doesn't know we went on a ghost hunt."

Danny took one look at his mother's face and shook his head. "I think she knows."

Jack grimaced and tilted his head. Danny made a compelling point. Still, if they played it cool, maybe they could get away with minimal damage.

"Just, smile and act happy to see her," Jack said. "No matter how terrifying she may be right now."

Danny nodded, his brows furrowed in determination.

They both plastered on smiles as they climbed out of the vehicle. Jack greeted his wife with open arms.

"Maddie! You're back early! It's good to see you!"

"We missed you mom!" Danny added, laying it on thick.

It had no effect.

"Don't you dare try to butter me up!" Maddie snapped, holding out a hand to stop them in their tracks. "You took Danny on a ghost hunt?! You know how I feel about that!"

"No, we weren't ghost hunting, we were just—"

"Is lying really the route you you want to go, Jack?" Maddie cut him off sternly. "Because that will only make your punishment so much worse."

"I'm... sorry?" Jack tried instead.

"Is that a question?" Maddie asked. Evidently that hadn't helped his case in the slightest. She didn't wait for him to respond before barrelling forward with her lecture. "Just because we agreed that it would be best to train them for the possibility of fighting ghosts, to protect themselves if they were ever attacked, does not mean I want them going out to pursue those dangerous monsters!"

Jack saw Danny flinch in his periphery and wondered if that was how he had sounded just a few days ago. If Danny had heard his parents calling ghost monsters and thought they must think he was a monster too. If so, it was no wonder he had been so hesitant to reveal himself.

"Now, Maddie, I think you're overselling the danger a bit," Jack tried. "Danny is strong and competent, just like his mother. He can handle it. And I was there the whole time to protect him."

"And I think you're not taking the danger seriously enough," Maddie shot back. "Ghosts are vile, evil, and deadly. They have no regard for human mortality and care only about their own obsessions. Anyone can handle themselves against a ghost until they can't. And I for one don't want to find out at what point our children can't handle themselves.

"And you? Protect him?" She scoffed, crossing her arms. "Don't make me laugh. Half the time when we go out ghost hunting, I have to be the one protecting you! Don't give yourself more credit than you've earned!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Danny piped up. "Dad did a great job protecting me!"

"Quiet Danny," Maddie snapped. "Don't think you're in the clear. You knew the rule just as well as your father did—no ghost hunting until you're at least eighteen—and you went along with it anyway!"

"Now, Maddie, there's no need to yell at him, it was my idea," Jack tried, but his wife had more than enough ire for the both of them.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not done with you yet!" She glared at him, uncrossing her arms only so she could go back to gesticulating, wildly and aggressively. "You know that ghosts don't hold back just because an opponent is young or inexperienced. Danny could have died!"

At that, Jack glanced at his son, and saw Danny meeting his gaze with a similar look on his face, halfway knowing and halfway sympathetic. Danny was already dead, after all.

Maddie kept going. Yelling and pacing and wagging her finger as she practically bit their heads off right there on the front porch of Fenton Works where all the neighbors could see—not that any of them dared to watch. Maddie could be downright terrifying when she was like this, and no one was spared her vitriol if they dared to make their presence known. That was why Jazz just stood there, absolutely silent, not even daring to go inside the house lest that movement attract her mother's attention and put her in the line of fire.

Time wasn't exactly Jack's best area, but it felt like hours that his wife yelled at them before she finally finished lecturing and started doling out punishments.

"Jack, you are going to fix every single broken or busted thing in the lab. You're going to clean every weapon in the armory—thoroughly. You're going to upgrade the security on the Fenton Portal, and you are going to scrub every surface in the basement until it sparkles!"

"Even the floor?" Jack asked.

"Floor, walls, even the ceiling Jack," Maddie said. "And that's not all! You're also going to fix the lawnmower, the vacuum cleaner, the garbage disposal, and the refrigerator so it stops randomly making that weird groaning noise. All the household repairs you've been saying you planned to do for years, and until every single one of them is done, you'll be sleeping on the couch."

Danny opened his mouth as if to defend his father, but he quickly snapped it shut, probably not wanting to make his own punishment any worse than it was already going to be. Jack could hardly blame him for that.

"And Danny!" She turned on him, hands on her hips. "Until your father has fully completed his own punishment, you're grounded. You are to come directly home after school, you are not allowed to invite your friends over, and no video games! Am I understood?"

"Understood," both Jack and Danny acknowledged dourly.

It seemed a little harsh to Jack, but he knew better than to challenge his wife's decision now, or she'd only make it worse. After a few days, a week at most, she would ease up a bit. At least let him sleep on the bed, if only to reduce the risk of him destroying the couch with his tossing and turning.

"Good!" she said. "Now, I've had a long, and trying day, so I'm going to go upstairs and take a long, soothing bath to relax. You'd better be getting started on your punishment by the time I'm done."

"Yes, Maddie," Jack said.

With that, Maddie finally went into the house, leaving her husband and children on the porch, all three of them waiting a few minutes to make sure she was actually in the back before they entered themselves.

"I'm sorry," Jazz said, her shoulders slumped and voice quiet. "I totally forgot about Dad's tradition of taking us ghost hunting when Mom's away. If I'd remembered, I could have called you and warned you to deactivate the ghost hunting equipment on the GAV before you got home."

"Yeah, that would have helped," Danny griped.

Jack put a hand on his small shoulder to stop him from being mean to his sister. "It's not Jazz's fault," he said. "It was just unlucky timing."

"Still, you and I fought ghosts when Mom and Danny were at that mother-son science symposium thing, too," Jazz pointed out. "I should have done something."

"That's not your responsibility, Jazzy," Jack assured. "Don't worry. I'll blase through those household repairs in no time, and tinkering in the lab? That's hardly a punishment. You'll be un-grounded soon enough. Come on, Danny, help me put away all this stuff?"

He was hoping to talk to Danny in private for a few minutes, without Jazz there.

"Sure, Dad."

The two of them got in the GAV, and jazz went into the house as Jack brought the vehicle around to park in the garage.

"Danny... about the whole Phantom thing... and your mother..."

"You don't think I should tell her, right?" Danny guessed.

"Hrn, it's just... after hearing all the things she said today... and she's not as willing to change her views as I am," Jack said, not really sure what he saying, or particularly wanting to say it, but wanting to make sure his son was safe. "Maddie... all her theories and observations about ghosts. She made them herself. They're all based on her own studies and research and she's sure she's drawn all the right conclusions.

"Me, I'm just an engineer," he continued. "I was willing to believe whatever she told me when it came to ghost biology and psychology, because those are her fields—at least I was until... well, until I had a first-hand source to contradict her. I'm not sure she'll be so quick to accept those contradictions when she was the one who came up with those theories, fist-hand source or not."

Danny looked down at his hands in his lap for a long moment, not saying anything. And for that moment, Jack was sure his words must have upset his son.

"If you disagree, Danny, it's your secret to tell, but—"

"I don't disagree," he said. Then he went silent again.

Although he was determined to wait for his son to collect his thoughts, Jack quickly became antsy in the silence, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I was so happy after I told you, and you took it so well," Danny said. "It made me think that maybe mom would react the same way, and maybe it would be safe to tell her. And then we got home today, and I had to listen to her talk about ghosts and it was... it was even worse than usual. It was just... disheartening, I guess, to realize the reality after getting my hopes up like that. But I agree that telling mom right now wouldn't be a good idea."

"But that doesn't mean you can't ever tell her!" Jack added, trying not to let his son's hopes be completely dashed. "No matter how staunchly she's convinced of her views right now, I'll change her mind. I'll warm her up to the idea that not all ghosts are evil, and that they don't have to be destroyed. And I'll release the ghosts we trap through the Fenton Portal and make sure she doesn't hurt you while you're out as Phantom."

"You promise?" Danny asked, his voice so small.

"I promise," Jack said. "It's my job to keep you safe, and that's what I'm gonna do. You can count on me."

"Alright, then I will," Danny agreed, a small smile making its way onto his face. "We should get started putting all this stuff away. There's a lot of work to do if we want our punishments to be lifted."

—

Things were different after that. Knowing Danny's secret changed more than just Jack's personal opinions of ghosts. Suddenly, he was hyper-aware of his wife's anti-ghost rhetoric. All the awful things she said like they were objective facts. He'd never thought much of it before, but now, every time, it made him think of their son and his chest ached with sympathy.

That wasn't all, though. Ever since she got back and learned that he'd taken Danny ghost hunting, she was even more protective of her son than before. She kept close watch on him, and that prevented him from sneaking out as Phantom to protect the town from ghosts.

Thankfully, he had Jazz and Jack both helping him out—and Jack was still surprised that Jazz had found out about Danny before him—but even so he struggled.

Just as Jack anticipated, he was allowed back into the bedroom after only a week, though she still expected him to finish all the chores and repairs she'd given him. But things didn't go back to normal.

There was something oppressive hanging over the household now.

Jack had to change her mind about ghosts sooner rather than later if he wanted their family to go back to the way it was. It was his only hope. But even still, he wondered if things would ever be like they were before.

Somehow... he was starting to doubt it.

[phantomskeep]

Putting the “Fun” Back in “Funeral”: Chapter Two

AO3 Link | Chapter One --- Chapter Three

Chapter Two:  A King, a Clock, a Bird, and a Bat All Walk Into a Bar…

Well after the last echoes of the haunting song had faded from the Zone, Danny could be found in his newly acquired throne room with Clockwork - who was radiating so much pride it almost physically hurt. The older ghost was turned towards Danny, gently bobbing up and down in front of the large chair he insisted Danny sat on. Between finishing the coronation and now, hours had long since passed. This time was spent dancing amongst his people, accepting handshakes left and right, brushing his aura of happiness-I love you all-you are under my protection against the many ghosts around him. While Danny’s inner introvert was cringing at the social interaction, the man could not say he would have traded it for anything in the world. It was downright magical to be surrounded by such pure, unfiltered joy for hours on end. Danny was sure he could have spent the rest of his half-life happily mingling with the many spooks who resided in the Ghost Zone. However, when Pandora’s strong hand rested against his bicep and her soothing voice whispered that Clockwork was waiting for him inside the Keep, Danny reluctantly had to leave.

While the ghost may have been the Master of Time, the young king had learned over the past few years that it did not make him the Master of Patience.

So Danny had hurriedly entered his ugly new haunt and found himself ushered to sit on the throne that was now his. Much like the rest of the castle, Danny considered the throne to be quite an eyesore. It wasn’t gaudy enough to be made of bones, or skulls, or whatever typical “Throne of the Dead King” Danny was expecting it to be. Rather, the dark wooden chair was adorned with an ectoplasm green cushion. Carvings of the royal artifacts were ingrained in the backing of the wooden throne, and the armrests were plain squares. It wasn’t something that was overly horrible to look at, but it simply didn’t suit Danny’s tastes.

While Danny was pondering the new furniture of his humble abode, Clockwork floated in front of the young king. The time-themed ghost cleared his throat to get the other’s attention.

“King Phantom,” he started, ignoring Danny’s protesting noises. “I wanted to officially welcome you into the era of Phantom’s Reign.”

A small smile graced Danny’s lips as he bowed his head to acknowledge his mentor. “Thank you, Clockwork. I know I can count on you to help my era to be one of peace and prosperity.” The young man leaned back on his throne, wanting to splay out like a lazy cat. “Is there something you wanted to talk about? I was actually enjoying socializing, for once.”

Danny’s mentor let out a small chuckle, his forms changing as he spoke. “But of course, my King. I merely wanted to inquire what you would do next?”

“... What do you mean, Clockwork?” Danny’s hesitantly confused voice echoed eerily across the grand room, as he cautiously rose from his slouch.

“Are you finally going to tell your friends and family?”

The King of the Infinite Realms snapped to attention, eyes boring holes into his mentor. Muscles were tensed, faux-breathing completely stilled, as Danny forced out his response. “Tell them what, exactly.”

“That you are not only the King of the Realms, but also a member of it.” Clockwork’s voice took on more of his lecturing-tone as he spoke. “Danny, you have been dead for seven years. Is it not time your parents knew?”

The young man rose from his seat, starting to pace the large room. His star-laden cloak hissed against the dark cobblestone as Danny’s frustrated body warred between ‘fight’ and ‘flight’. It was when he stalled beneath a worn tapestry depicting a battle between Pariah Dark and an unknown ghost that Danny spoke.

“It’s not their burden to know,” he said, trying to will wisdom into his still-young voice. “My parents, if they didn’t try to rip me apart ‘molecule by molecule’, they would be destroyed if they realized their greatest achievement killed their greatest failure.” Danny’s hands shook as he spoke and he tried to steady them by gripping the sill of one of the many windows along the grand hall he was in. The young man cast his eyes upwards, distantly taking in the faux-stars made of stained glass, before resting his heavy gaze on the thousands of souls still celebrating his crowning.

“Everyone else,” he sighed, voice barely a whisper, “they all have their own lives. My friends don’t need my fucked-up half-life ruining theirs.”

Clockwork’s aura of disapproval grew closer to Danny, but he didn’t dare look at his mentor. He’s heard this oncoming lecture so many times the young king was sure he would be able to quote it. Nonetheless, when Clockwork opened an arm out to his apprentice, Danny gratefully leaned into the older ghost’s embrace.

“You know what I am going to tell you,” Clockwork murmured. “So I won’t. But I can tell you, my King, that the option to not explain to your inner circle is a good one. For the timeline, for you, for your reign.”

Danny just about cried when he felt Clockwork’s hand brushing gently against his hair. It had been so long since he last felt safe in his own father’s embrace - his old memories and fears were simply too much for him to ever be comfortable again. It’s why Danny rejected the idea of him telling his parents of his other half so harshly. Even the thought of the people who raised him (even if it really was more Jazz than them) refusing to have a relationship with Danny hurt. Danny loved his family and friends more than anything else. He loved them so much that he was willing to rip himself apart in order to not drown in the pain-sorrow-grief that haunted his every waking moment. The thought of Danny losing them again? Even if it was through them rejecting all of him?

The young king wasn’t sure anything could survive that level of grief. 

“What should I do, then?” Danny asked weakly, wanting to bury himself in his pseudo-father’s embrace and hide himself from the world.

An echoing sigh hummed against Danny. A familiar aura of you are loved-nothing will hurt you-I will guide you soothed the trembling anxiety-grief-not again pouring off of Danny’s shaken form. “There are two options that would be best,” Clockwork began. “The first is you travel back to your home dimension and explain everything to the humans you hold so dearly. Or,” the old ghost continued before Danny could voice his protests. “There is another dimension that has been feeding off of the Realms. Artifacts of our powers have fallen through, the dead have risen, and there have been reported leaks of ectoplasm bleeding into their reality. I was going to suggest you send another ghost to clean up these issues, but I also believe you can benefit from a… sabbatical, of sorts, into this dimension.”

This information whirled around Danny’s head. The years of kingly training helped the king to mentally organize everything and sort through it all. It was not a fast process, by any means, but Danny had gotten quicker at picking up the important bits over the years. However, one thing stood out to him the most.

“What about Amity Park and my friends? My family?”

The older ghost squeezed Danny firmly against his side when the halfa tried to pull away from his mentor. “Amity Park will be the same when you return, though maybe a week or two later in the timeline. But if you decide to take up the hunting of artifacts I can alter when you go back into your original dimension with ease.”

“That won’t hurt the timeline?” Danny asked, incredulous. “The Observants were on my ass the last time you altered everything for me!”

Clockwork’s laugh startled Danny enough that he fazed out of the blue ghost’s hug. The young man stared at the now-child in front of him, mouth gaping.

While Clockwork was easily something of a father-figure to Danny, the halfa also had been trying to get the ghost to laugh as much as possible for the past five years. From his best puns, to funny situations, and even on one memorable occasion, a drunken rant about the benefits to petting ducks in the park, Danny had only gotten a fond chuckle out of the Master of Time.

A sarcastic reference to the Observants trying to murder Danny should not have made Clockwork laugh.

Danny eyed the other with obvious suspicion. “What’s funny about that?”

The older’s form aged up as his chuckles died down. “You simply reminded me of when the Observants came to me about this very issue.” Clockwork loosened the grip on his staff and used it to lazily gesture towards Danny’s throne. “They came to me months ago, warning me of how our timeline was going down the most horrible path. Danny Phantom, a half-dead ghost child with too much power taking the throne? It was something out of a nightmare for them.”

When Danny’s eyes flitted nervously downwards, his body unconsciously curling in a defensive motion, Clockwork used his staff to gently lift his king’s head. Pupilless red eyes met burning green, and a comforting expression graced the middle-aged ghost’s face. “My King, they were very wrong. This is the best possible timeline - one with such a powerful king who wishes only for peace? Whose Obsession isn’t one of power, or rage, or a burning greed, but of protection? Danny, this is the best timeline, the best era - and it is because of you. The Observants are correct with many of their findings, but they can make mistakes like any other being. Their power resides in control.” Here Clockwork paused, a mirthful feeling brushing against Danny’s calming one. “This is something I know you are very aware of. They fear the lack of control they will have during this timeline. It was their goal to gain control of the throne through you, but I’ve made sure the Observants failed every time.” 

Danny’s eyes widened, a small gasp escaping his lips. Tears welled in his expressive eyes as he tackled his mentor into a monkey-gripped hug. The older ghost chuckled, easily returning the embrace. His form shifted, aging quickly as he ran time-wrinkled hands along the young king’s back.

“I had suggested a boarding school, of sorts.” Clockwork whispered into his apprentice’s hair. “A chance for you to go and stretch your proverbial wings. This other dimension has an old friend of mine who has offered to continue with your teachings, and the Earth there has many different protectors you can learn from. Of course, there are still duties you will need to attend to.” The old ghost broke from Danny’s clinging hug, looking the twenty-one year old king in his eyes. “It will be dangerous. There are many different forces who now have their eyes on you, my King. But know that if you choose to go this route, you will always be able to access the Infinite Realms and the dimensions attached to her.”

Danny discreetly wiped his eyes, nodding in agreement with Clockwork. A burning determination danced in his eyes as Danny’s gaze steadfastly stared into his most trusted advisor’s. “I need to explain things to my family, at least a little bit. Tell them I’m going on a mission for you at the very least - but I’ll be back. I’ll go to this other dimension and do what I can to be a better king for my people.”

The Master of Time nodded his head, his reaching aura’s booming with pride. “My dear child, just saying that makes you a much better ruler than those before you.”

ρ(￣ﾍ￣ ﾒ)

Clockwork watched as Danny Phantom flew off into the great green abyss of the Infinite Realms. The old ghost was left alone in the Ghost King’s Keep, watching as Pariah Dark’s influence on the castle slowly faded. Dark reds bled into cooler tones, the brickwork shifting from harsh lines to smoother, more comforting cuts. Time passed as the Master of Time watched. The sounds of celebration had yet to slow down after the many hours ticked away. Clockwork knew that if Danny’s coronation was anything like Pariah Dark’s, the denizens of the Realms would party for weeks on end.

However, instead of joining in the festivities like the others on the Council of Ancients, the time ghost had another important meeting to attend. Clockwork allowed the quick passage of time to overcome his form, aging him down like an ancient phoenix recently reborn from its own ashes. His young body turned to face the newest ghost king’s throne as a maelstrom of blue energy rapidly criss-crossed around his form. Wild winds whipped Clockwork’s pale purple cloak as a dark clock’s hand appeared behind him, sweeping in a large clockwise motion to reveal a swirling blue and teal portal. The sound of an old grandfather clock being struck echoed hauntingly across the empty room of Phantom’s Keep as the hands reached the metaphorical twelfth numeral. When the clock-hands began their descent backwards in time, the Master of Time was swept under them, disappearing into the portal of his own creation. The hands again struck the midnight position with the last thrum of a dull, heavy, monotonous clang - once again leaving the now-empty room with the wistful cry of an old clock.

On a different world - one full of heroes, aliens, and otherworldly forces fighting vicious battles for justice -, a smog-filled city held within the dark heart of an old ghost was just starting to awaken. When Clockwork’s portal faded from view, time snapped back into place. Loud honking filled his ears as the Master of Time floated above a striking clock tower, his back turned to the ever-moving bay that lapped at the shores of such an inspiring city. A low voice caught Clockwork’s attention, but he did not turn to face the ghost.

“Perfect timing as always, Clockwork.” The voice was lofty, easily gliding over syllables with an ease born of hundreds of years.

The purple-cloaked ghost tilted his head in a small greeting, his words spilling past smiling lips. “As always, Lady Gotham, it is my pleasure to be welcomed into your haunt.”

Lady Gotham’s sentient spirit was a dark amalgamation of vapors pouring off a vaguely-tangible, constantly shifting body made of pure black. The spirit’s form twisted herself to be seen on the edges of Clockwork’s vision. The Master of Time allowed himself to miss the olden days for a brief moment, back when Gotham’s form was more solid. Those days were long gone, however, and Clockwork moved himself past the thoughts of an old mind.

“My friend, you know you are always welcomed into my city,” Gotham spoke, though no mouth formed. Her eyes, red and pupiless like his own, stretched across where her face currently was. “It is not like I am able to visit your own lair, after all.”

Clockwork’s head shifted to the side, and he thought carefully before he spoke. “With King Phantom officially on the throne, Pariah Dark’s banishments are no longer being upheld. You are more than welcome into the Realms, my Lady.”

A low snarl echoed across the clock tower the two ecto-entities graced. In the sun’s first rays of light Clockwork was subjected to see his old friend’s form writhe in her fury.

“Never,” she growled, “not until all of his influence is gone.”

Clockwork nodded in agreement. “I will let you know when that is.” He promised, pausing again. “The coronation was a sight to see,” the old ghost broached the topic carefully. “I had not seen the people so happy since…”

Clockwork let his voice trail off, now looking at Gotham’s form.

“… I felt it,” she spoke. “And so did one of my own.” Her eyes cast over the brightening city, to the northeast where even now Clockwork could barely feel the smallest of souls touched by the Infinite Realms resting. “It was wonderful.”

“That it was.”

The city spirit floated contently for a brief period before breaking the comfortable silence between the two old ghosts. “I take it our young king has agreed to your offer?”

The Master of Time smiled at the thought of his young ward. “But of course. He does seem to love procrastinating on some of the oddest things.”

Gotham’s laugh echoed across the pink-blue skies rolling over the normally gray city. “Well, knowing the last royal I spent my time around, it may just be a trait of the Realms’ Rulers.” She paused, taking a moment to let grief wash her beautiful city in a brief moment of hiding the rising sun behind a low-hanging cloud. “But that is all the more reason to send him my way.”

“Of course,” Clockwork agreed. “Hopefully young Danny can learn many new skills while he stays in your care, my friend. I worry about his ties to his human half… He did not even tell his living friends and family about the coronation.”

Lady Gotham shook her form, wisps of rolling fog and thunder floating off her form. “That simply will not do. He will learn well, under my teachings. This dimension is not an easy one to survive in - but I promise you, Master of Time, that he will thrive here.” 

The older ghost smiled at his friend, speaking with a confidence only the seeing-eye of the Ghost Realm could muster. “I know he will.” He cast his red gaze out over the city Gotham had come to call home. “It had changed since I was last here,” he murmured. Clockwork could recall when he first entered this dimension - though by the time he arrived, decades had already passed for his friend. Gotham had been a small city then, easily growing under the influence of the town’s ghostly namesake. Since then, it seemed to have bloomed under Lady Gotham’s steady care, turning into a gothic city worthy of its name and its protector.

“That it has.” Gotham easily agreed, red eyes blinking. She slowly turned to face Clockwork, speaking in a careful tone. “Our newest king…” She began, hesitant. “Is he anything like her?”

Clockwork nodded, a sad look upon his ancient face. “In the best ways, my Lady.” He placed a comforting arm on her ever-changing form. “Will you be okay with this?”

A dark, foggy head nodded. “But of course.” A sheepish feeling brushed the edges of Clockwork’s consciousness. “I have had my people preparing for his stay, after all. I am very eager to meet the Realm’s Chosen - even more so after such a wonderful coronation.”

“Ah, yes,” Clockwork began, eyes drifting to where he could feel the smallest spark of a young ghost residing just within reach of Gotham’s grasp. “Is your ward doing well, after such a shock?”

Gotham’s tingling laugh echoed across the various buildings. Her laugh sounded like a train’s track nearing its final destination after a long journey. Relief, excitement, and a vague sense of world-weary exhaustion all rolled into an amalgamation of who she had chosen to become after so many decades away from the Realms. “My little knight is just fine,” she eased away from her laughter, a particular fondness overtaking her being. “He has dealt with so much more than a night of unexpected peace. I dare say it will be good for him.”

An ancient feeling of relief brushed against Gotham’s abashed form.

“I am glad to hear that.” Clockwork met Gotham’s eyes with a cunning smile. “The timestream has many plans for your knight, my Lady. He and our King will become quite the force to be reckoned with.”

“I have a feeling,” Gotham started, protectiveness riling her up. “That they will have a need to become such a power, what with everything you’ve been hinting at for nearly half a decade.”

Reassurance collided against Gotham like a tidal wave, making her form waver for just a split second. A particularly bad car accident occurred on the west side of the island in retaliation amidst Gotham’s wavering focus.

She turned with a snarl, looking to physically tell Clockwork off for his little games. “Do not do that again, Clockwork.” Gotham threatened, body becoming spiked in her anger much like a startled cat. “I am not as strong as I once was. It would do you well to remember that.”

“My apologies, Lady Gotham,” Clockwork started. He brushed the smallest hint of please forgive me-I am sorry against her bristling fury. “I forgot. It will not happen again.”

“It would do you well not to.”

Clockwork paused, glancing at one of the many clocks adorning his forearms. “I merely meant to let you know nothing unsavory will happen to your knight, nor the Crowned Head. Nothing that is not meant to be.” He looked at Lady Gotham’s glowering form. “I must be getting back to the Realms. Our king is almost ready to begin his time here, and I must guide him for a little bit longer before he comes into your capable care.”

Gotham snorted, an amused noise that helped to ease the tension between the two ancient powers. “But of course. Go, Master of Time. See to it that I am able to meet my new ward soon.”

“As you wish, my Lady.” Clockwork said, bending the upper half of his body in a motion of respect towards the younger ghost. With a dramatic wash of teal, Gotham was left alone.

It was there, on the roof of part of her knight’s many lairs that were scattered throughout her city, that Gotham let herself feel hope. For the first time since she had been banished from the Infinite Realms, Lady Gotham would finally be able to fulfill her final promise to her beloved Queen.

＼（Ｔ∇Ｔ ）／

Jason’s day was no longer going pretty okay. His head throbbed between the foreign feelings spreading throughout his broad chest, only to be soothed by the cool air circulating around the teal-eyed man. His hands gripped soft sheets, breathing deliberately even. The echoing noises around Jason helped his groggy mind understand that he was not alone in the room. Slowly, he lifted his heavy eyelids and cast his gaze throughout the medical room he found himself in. It was when Jason’s eyes landed on the hunched over form of one Dick Grayson - still in his Nightwing uniform, barring his domino mask - that the undead young man relaxed.

From where Jason laid, he could see that Dick was not fully asleep. Dick’s breathing was nowhere near shallow enough for the older man to be off in dreamland. However, Jason heavily suspected his brother was dozing and would wake with the most uncomfortable crick in his neck.

It was then that Jason took stock of his memories, and himself, a bit more thoroughly. A fuzzy feeling lingered on the edges of his vision, and Jason was sure that if he tried to move any of his limbs their response would be slow. His memories were overridden by this same inconvenience - meaning that until anything was confirmed by his overly-paranoid family, Jason needed to assume he was drugged. Judging by Dick’s dirtied uniform, Jason could then conclude he was drugged while on a mission of some sort.

But the self-proclaimed zombie, for the life of him, could not remember anything past reading the the thirteenth canto of Dante’s Inferno. Jason could vaguely recall being pulled from Dante and Virgil’s grand adventure for something that was important - at least for the standards of the various bats and birds encroaching his precious time.

However, Jason’s thought process is interrupted by an undignified snort coming from the corner where Dick had previously been slumped over. The younger of the two raised an eyebrow in a practiced motion, eyeing the unmasked Nightwing as he startled himself awake. But, despite his less-than-graceful awakening, Dick Grayson was still a Bat. There were no flailing limbs, or graceless falling out of comfortable chairs. Instead, Dick’s head simply snapped up and his eyes immediately locked with Jason’s own.

“You’re awake!” The original Robin exclaimed, hurriedly standing and moving towards Jason’s bedside. “How are you feeling, Jay?”

Jason’s only response was to slowly hike his eyebrow higher. To himself, he would admit that he was a bit scared of what embarrassing confessions would slip past his drug-induced loose lips. Out loud, however, he would forever deny any such claims.

Dick paused, taking in his wayward brother’s appearance and sassy eyebrow. “Yeah, okay, that’s fair.” Bracing one of his muscular hips on Jason’s bed, the older man leaned down into the crime lord’s space. “You doing okay, though?”

Thinking heavily about his words, Jason carefully replied. “Everthin’ feels weir’.” The man grimaced at himself, working his jaw against the sudden stiffness he felt from speaking. “Th’ fuck happene’?”

A worried frown graced Dick’s usually smiling face, arms moving to cross at his chest. Jason’s brain struggled to try and read the body language presented to him, but it was a difficult task when his two working braincells decided to give their undivided attention to his slurring speech.

“We’re not too sure, Little Wing,” frustration painted Dick’s voice. “We were doing that drug bust when you suddenly went down. It was like you were drunk, out of the blue.”

“Did’ja check m’ cam footage?”

“That’s just it!” Dick exclaimed, uncrossing his arms to gesture with his hands. “There was nothing!”

Before Jason could continue to clumsily question Dick, the thick wooden door to the medical room opened. Tim’s head popped into Jason’s view, a determined frown on his face.

“Jason’s awake?” He asked, his sharp gaze met Jason’s own hazy one, responding to himself before the other occupants of the room could reply. “Okay, great. Blood panel was just finished, I’m gonna go grab the others to update them.”

And just like that, Tim’s form disappeared from view. An exasperated silence filled the air between Jason and Dick, both men locking eyes with similar looks on their faces.

“He’s on his third day without sleep,” Dick said as explanation.

Jason rolled his eyes, a small smirk overtaking his expression. “I couldn’ tell.” Sitting up was a Herculean task, but one Jason accomplished before Dick could stop him. Jason’s legs were very much deadweight, so he didn’t even attempt to try and stand. However, while Jason had gotten much more comfortable being around his family without blowing up on them (sometimes literally), the thought of lying flat on his back while they crowded him made his skin crawl. Unlike previous encounters with such a situation, though, Jason noticed a distinct lack of hazy green rage clouding his mind. Instead, all he could feel was an unearthly touch of content sitting heavily on his broad chest. Despite that, his head still felt heavier than it should, causing his vision to sway dangerously as Jason steadied himself.

Dick, the absolute mother hen, squawked in protest when his little brother started shifting himself around the bed. He anxiously hovered his hands around Jason, not getting close enough to spook his trigger-happy sibling, but still within the vicinity to help.

“You do know there’s a button to push the bed up, Jay.” Dick says in a strangled voice.

“An’ I have abs tha’ do the same exac’ th’ng.” Jason huffed, working said muscles to try and stay upright without leaning on anything. His attempts were proven futile, however, when Dick simply pressed one of the buttons on Bruce’s unnecessarily high-tech beds. “Fuckin’ fancy-ass rich bastar’s.”

A strangled chuckle left Dick as he heavily sat down near Jason’s feet, black and blue fingers lightly putting pressure around his ankle. “Amen to that.”

Jason couldn’t help but grin at his brother, still out of it enough to not be fully in control of his movements. It was like he kept swaying in and out of command of his own body. While he was actively using one brain cell to internally rage at the coddling Jason was currently receiving, his body just kept on floating up into the clouds without his say. To say the black-haired man did not like the state he was in would be an understatement.

This is why he avoided pain medicine, damn it.

Neither of the older men were able to continue their conversation, as they were interrupted with Tim opening the door again. However, this time he fully walked into the room. Behind him, a small army of Birds and Bats hovered, but only the big Bat himself followed his middle son into the room. 

Bruce, for all Jason was still on unstable ground with the man, was visibly stressed and tired. Dark bags rested under his sharp blue eyes, contrasting the man’s slowly forming wrinkles. None of this stopped him from confidently striding forward from behind Tim, only hesitating a little before standing on Jason’s left side - naturally falling into place between the door and his children.

It was Tim who had most of Jason’s attention, the younger man scrolling on the tablet that was often attached to his hands when not near a computer. He had said something earlier about blood panels - Jason took a quick glance at the crook of his arm, only being able to look at the forming bruise for a second before having to shift his gaze away - and the second eldest of way too many siblings was very interested in that information.

“Jason,” Bruce’s soothing voice rolled over the mentioned man in a way that had Jason fighting himself to not relax. He would not react in any way besides anger, no siree. Jason was still pissed off at Bruce and getting drugged on the field is not going to be the cause of them fixing their many problems. He had a plan and he was going to stick to it, damnit. “How are you feeling?”

Rolling his extra-heavy head onto his left shoulder, Jason gave his not-father the sassiest look he had. “L’ke I’v b’n drugge’ l’ke a b’tch,” purposefully slurring his words, Jason got the satisfaction of watching Bruce’s eyebrows pinch together and his frown deepen. A small swell of satisfaction nestled itself next to the growing ball of comfort deep within Jason.

A squeeze to his ankle was a silent warning from Dick to play nice, and for that he leveled a glare onto his older brother.

Tim passing his tablet to Bruce was the only indication any of them got before he steamrolled into an explanation. “So, we did a couple of blood tests. Nothing worrying came up on the toxicology report, so we can rule out poison, drugs, as well as anything from Ivy. However,” the most recent ex-Robin continued to talk with an increased volume when it looked like Dick was going to interrupt Tim’s TedTalk, “another blood panel showed the reason why Jason’s loopy.” Here, the little shit let a wide grin overtake his previously neutral expression. Jason tensed up more, preparing himself for the worst. “You’re basically high on your body’s own serotonin and dopamines.”

A silence permeated the room as all occupants stared at Tim in various forms of disbelief.

“What you’re saying,” Dick hesitantly spoke up, his grip becoming just a little tighter. “Is that Jason wasn’t drugged?”

Tim huffed, putting his hands up. “I don’t believe so, no. From what the reports showed Jason just got a sudden rush of happy hormones - enough to knock anyone down. His body just suddenly decided to make up for the past couple of years.” Tim’s smirk grew when he said this, and Jason realized with the agony of a man about to face his own death that he was never going to live this down.

“F’ck,” Jason mumbled. “Wh’n will i’ wear off?”

“Probably in a couple of hours, but we need to get you prepared for a crash.”

“What do you mean?” Bruce spoke now, eyes finally leaving the tablet screen to look at the computer-genius.

Tim rolled his eyes, his smug face finally going back into the same “report mode” anyone who worked with Bruce eventually developed. “He’s basically high right now, yeah? Jason had a foreign amount of hormones rush into his system. His body is producing all of them without being used to it - meaning nutrients are being eaten up and not getting replaced fast enough. There’s like an eighty-seven percent chance Jason’s gonna drop and continue to try to sleep it off.” A small baby scowl graced Tim’s face, “It’s on the report.”

Bruce raised one of his hands and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Right, right - can you go get Alfred and ask him to bring any needed equipment up to Jason’s room?”

“Wai’-” Jason protested, trying to jerk his body up. “‘M no’ goin’ up in’a tha manor.” He snarled a bit when Dick’s hands came up to placetate him, reaching for his familiar rage only to come up empty. “Take m’ t’ my apartmen’!”

“Absolutely not.” Bruce’s voice cut through any protests Jason voiced. “We still don’t know for sure if this wasn’t an attempt to drug the Red Hood. Until we know for sure why your body decided to produce these hormones you are staying in the manor.”

“No.” The word practically dripped malice, the teasing atmosphere Dick tried to cultivate snapping like an old rope under too much tension.

“You will be staying in the manor so we can monitor your condition.” Bruce said stubbornly, moving closer to Jason. “That is an order. One that will be followed.”

“Dick c’n monitor me ‘n my apartmen’ jus’ fine.” Jason protested, working extra carefully to keep his words from slurring. The fuzzy feeling was fading, but not nearly fast enough in the man’s personal tastes. Whatever happened, though - whether he really was drugged or if this was just an unexpected hormone uptick like Tim thought - he was not staying in the Wayne Manor.

“Jason-”

Said man harshly cut off Bruce, an ugly snarl on his face. “No. I am no’ stayin’ here. E’pecially after las’ time.”

“Bruce,” Dick cut in now, “I’ll keep an eye on Jason at his place. All he’s gonna be doing is sleeping.”

Bruce let out a low rumble of frustration. “We don’t know if this was intentional, or what caused this. Jason needs to be monitored.”

“An’ he will be. Wi’h Dickface.” Jason said, angry with Bruce talking about him like he wasn’t sitting right there.

“It’ll be fine.” Dick assured, hand never leaving Jason’s ankle. “I’ll take anything he might need back with us, I’ll keep an eye on him, and we won’t have any more incidents.”

“Besides,” Tim cut in, tired of not getting to say his piece. “None of the bodycam footage showed Jason getting hit by anything. We couldn’t find any puncture wounds, and his helmet filters out anything airborne and not approved.”

“Lis’en ta your lil’ birdie.” Jason said, aiming an unsteady glare at Bruce. The fight was slowly draining out of him, warm feelings rushing in to take the place of familiar anger. Jason was tired. He just wanted to curl up on his bed in his apartment, not anywhere near the manor.

Bruce glared at each of his children, causing Jason to gear up for another argument. However, before any altercation could occur, a familiar alarm rang throughout the Batcave. The noise startled the resting bats if the beating wings and panicked calls could be attested.

In a flash, Batman was out the door of Jason’s hospital room with Red Robin on his heels. Nightwing moved to follow, before being stopped by Jason growling out a demand. “Help me ou’ ‘here, Dick.”

“What? No, you need to stay in bed-”

“Either you help me, or I do i’ on my own.” The Red Hood was already starting to manually swing his legs over the bed, desperately trying to get his world to stop spinning.

Dick made some protesting noises, rapidly looking between the still-open door and Jason. He appeared to have made up his mind when the black-haired man made a frustrated grunt akin to Bruce’s own before hurrying to Jason’s side. With practiced ease, he hefted some of Jason’s own weight as he assisted his little brother into the cave proper.

The two swiftly joined the rest of their family by the Batcomputer. Red flashing lights filled the many screens in front of them, a bright “Urgent!” symbol accompanying it, casting the various Birds and Bats in a haunting glow. Red Hood and Nightwing fell in line between Orphan and Spoiler, hovering like the rest of them as Bruce rapidly read the report being printed off. Jason managed to get a glimpse of the Justice League Dark insignia before Red Robin blocked his view, the younger working to shut off the blaring alarm.

When the annoying noise was finally quieted and the Batprinter stopped printing, Spoiler eventually broke the tense silence that filled the Batcave.

“What’s it say, Bruce?” She asked, hip cocked to the side and head tilted. 

A grunt left the older man as he passed the still-warm report to the teenager. Batman turned and sat in the Batcomputer’s chair, rapidly pulling up various reports and logs, face carefully neutral.

With an annoyed grunt, Spoiler rapidly read the report before finally giving the waiting vigilantes her conclusion of the report. “Basically Justice League Dark is reporting a rapid uptick of spectral activity across. Be prepared to see ghosts, ghouls, revenants, demons - anything related to death magic.” She critically eyed the report before snapping her head up to meet Jason’s unmasked eyes.

“Wha’?” He snapped, shuffling to try to not lean as much on his smaller brother.

“Dude, what if that’s the reason you passed out?” She asked, excitedly explaining her theory. “You died, you came back and no one knows how. You call yourself a zombie - what if the death magic uptick caused you to pass out?”

Red Robin hummed, stepping closer to Spoiler in order to snatch the report out of his ex’s hand. “It’s possible, but we would need a magic user to come here and run some tests on Hood to be able to confirm. We don’t have a way to test for magic that specifically.”

Nightwing huffed, shifting his carried weight a little bit. “We can deal with all that later - I’m getting Hood back to his place so I can help him prepare for his crash later.”

Bruce’s head snapped back to glare at Dick. “No.”

“Yes.” Jason growled. “I’m leavin’. Suck i’ up, ol’ man.” He then bodily moved Dick towards the locker room, using his older brother as a human crutch. “‘M changin’ an’ I’m leavin’. An’ I’m kidnappin’ Dickface.”

By the time Jason and Dick had gotten their civilian selves into one of Bruce’s fancy cars, it seemed that their mutual guardian had given up on trying to keep Jason in the manor. The car keys and tupperware of Alfred-approved meals said man had given them on their way out of the cave said that much.

Either way, as Jason’s aching head rested against soothing glass, he let the gentle rumbling of the car and Dick’s chattering lull him into a peaceful doze - all helped by the content feeling growing in his chest at the thought of his older brother helping keep him safe. 

［(－－)］zzz

Thank you so much for reading, and bit thanks to my wonderful beta Aerois! I couldn’t have done this without them!!! Chapter three will be out in a couple of weeks :)

Taglist: (If you want to be added or taken off just let me know!) @vixen-uchiha @apointlessbox @mentalcarebear @asphyxia778 @horribly-lost-and-gay @may-rbi @blacksea21090 @kyrianclawraith @fisticuffsatapplebees @stargazing-bookwyrm @ fisticuffsatapplebees

[theguardiansseries]

From the Beginning - Chapter 3: Danny Is Just Trying Really Hard To Survive His First Day At School (Dani Is Just Swearing At All The Static)

A/N: Sorry this is a little late (but still uploaded when I said I would! Rejoice!), I got caught up re-reading the chapter because I was enjoying reading it that much. (That's gotta be good, right?) So hopefully you all enjoy it just as much!

–

Rating: Teen Audiences

Summary:

Dani Fenton (who is sometimes starting to go by Danny Fenton) is a fifteen-year-old almost sophmore who was just going about her normal life when she figured out she sort of liked being seen as a boy. Oh, then he (he had definitely been a he at the time) got shocked by a machine his parents built to view into another world that they believed contained a world of ‘ecotplasmic entities.’

Danny really isn’t sure how to tell them that they were right and that he was in the machine when it turned on and that maybe he isn’t so human anymore. (He might also not be a girl anymore, but that one was a little more difficult to explain than the fact that he ((she?)) might be half-ghost.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54944266/chapters/139747483

Chapters: <<First>> <Prev || Next>

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Chapter Three: Danny Is Just Trying Really Hard To Survive His First Day At School (Dani Is Just Swearing At All The Static)

Danny Fenton nervously rubbed sweaty palms against her (his!) new favorite pair of jeans while inside his chest his heart was playing double dutch with how much jumping and stuttering it was doing. It would have been easy to blame it on first day back jitters and even easier to say his skipping heart was due to some lingering effects from the Portal, but, no. No, his panicked heart was all due to one person and one person alone. 

“-can’t believe you talked me into letting you return to school. You still had a fever! Granted it was a low one, but 99.2 is still a fever!” Jazz, being annoyingly cautious of stop signs as always as she drove the two of them to Danny’s high school, hadn’t yet said a word about Danny’s new look. 

Oh, sure, there had been a conversation or two sort of close to the topic a few weeks back, but that had been when he (she?) was wearing a dress and still looked like just Danielle. But now, altogether with his hair fully tucked up under his hat and the layered very obvious guy clothes and the fact he was trying something new and trying to lower his voice even though it was way harder than it should be- Well.

It wasn’t like Danny was expecting Jazz to lose it and go all Karen on him, but he had at least expected a comment about the fact that he was wearing the outfit Sam had first picked out for him back when he decided to try being Danny instead of Dani. With the way it all turned out he definitely looked more like he than anything else — and Jazz hadn’t said a word-! Well, no, she had said way too much in such a short time, but it had just been about… stuff.

“-know that you’re looking forward to finally being out of the house after everything, but school can wait! Teachers can be pretty understanding when it comes to things like this- Don’t give me that look. I had all the same teachers you did-”

“Petricoff,” Danny cut in, viciously pleased to both be distracted from his worries and see Jazz pause, close her mouth, and then gain a look. It was the same look she usually had when she wanted to say something bad about their parents but then remembered it was about their parents.

“Alright,” Jazz said after a minute. “Maybe not all of your teachers are understanding, but Petricoff doesn’t count and you know it. She’s some evil, demonic creature from the pits of hell.”

Not bothering to fight back a laugh, Danny couldn’t help but push it with a smug, “Never gonna forgive her for that C, huh?”

Danny half-expected some lecture about forgiveness and not holding things against people, but instead he was blessed with a wonderful, “Never. She’ll be in her grave and I’ll be sure to graffiti her tombstone every halloween. Now, did you get everything for your first day back? Backpack?”

Looking down at his backpack, which was on the floorboard, Danny looked back to Jazz, who was glaring at some old guy without a helmet passing them on a motorcycle. At least she was consistent in her hatred of motorcycles. “No. I threw it out my window to try and attract the attention of some aliens.” 

“Notebooks and pencils?” After the first day of freshman year? Danny was pretty sure he had a notebook and pencil for each class — including lunch. 

“Nope. I used them all to build a boat. I plan to use it to escape down the river tonight and sail all the way to Atlantis.” It was disappointing that Jazz no longer even looked at him. 

“Lunch money?” 

“Donated it to an organization that has a goal to punch every first grader in the face.” 

“Phone and phone charger?”

“Gave ‘em to Tucker so he could make a supercomputer out of them. I’m pretty sure he’s just a few pieces away from taking over the White House.” 

“Tell him the real power is through the Senate and to strike there first. Pain medication?”

“Took it all this morning at the same time so I can finally enter into a coma like I always dreamed of.” 

“And should I be calling you Dani or another name now?” 

Words dying in the back of his throat, Danny felt like his heart, which had traitorously calmed down in the familiar back-and-forth between him and Jazz, was going to explode. He was pretty sure it was beating faster than possible, Danny barely able to suck in a breath because how was he supposed to respond to that? 

He had no response. He had nothing planned, his mind had gone absolutely blank, and there was no Sam or Tucker around to distract Jazz or defend him and he had no idea what he should be doing. They were pulling up towards the school so Danny could always bail and jump out of the car and run. That seemed like a good, solid option. 

He was just about to try when he felt the car roll to a stop behind a few others, Jazz’s hand settling on his shoulder and it was fifty-fifty whether she would freak out or start being over accepting and- “I see you’re trying out a new outfit today.”

“Wait, what?” Was she being subtle? Jazz wasn’t subtle. She was as subtle as a brick wall. Was it a trick? It was probably a trick. “I mean, uh, yeah- No? Um… Sam helped me pick it out.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” Jazz laughed, a hand resting on his shoulder and giving a light squeeze and okay, that was… a good sign? “You look good…?” The last word trailed off and sounded like she was trying to ask a question- Oh. Oh! 

“Danny.” She wasn’t freaking out. “Still Danny, just with a y, now. And another n.” She wasn’t going off into some spiel about accepting every part of himself like she would have even a couple years ago, either. “At least it, uh, sometimes is. I think.” She was just… smiling at him. 

“Well, Danny.” And there was emphasis there. There was emphasis to show that it was more than just… her. (It showed it was him, too.) “I think you look very nice for your first day back at school.” 

Letting the silence stretch and half-aware that they were probably going to get honked at soon because they were just sitting there, Danny finally bit his lip and risked a quiet, “Really?”

“The only thing I ask is to keep me updated so I know whether I should be gushing about my smart baby sister or my smart baby brother.”

“You’re the worst,” Danny managed, refusing to admit he was choked up and absolutely ruined by such simple acceptance. Danny had been expecting some dramatic scene or a fight or to try and find the words to explain what the whole thing was about and instead it was just… It was Jazz smiling and accepting him. Just like that.

He really shouldn’t have expected anything else considering this was the sister who, after being told that Danny planned to become an astronaut, went out and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of instruction booklets and flight simulators. Still, it took way more than it should have to resist the urge to start crying and school hadn’t even started yet. 

“The absolute worst,” Danny repeated, grabbing his bag and tumbling out of the car as he tried to steady himself because he had been ready for some kind of fight and instead he got that. Jesus, it was like the universe knew it gave him pretty useless parents so it made it up to him with Jazz. “Why can’t you insult me like a normal older sister!”

“Have a great day at school, sweetie!” Jazz called out to him through the open passenger window, grin smug and ugh. He loved her. “Be sure to make new friends!” 

“Hey, now, what’s wrong with his old friends!” Ah, and here came Tucker to make the situation even worse. Danny didn’t even flinch at the familiar arm over his shoulders, Tucker beaming at Jazz and breaking up whatever had been left of The Moment. 

“Like I said, make some new friends!” Jazz called as she started to pull out from the lineup of cars dropping off kids, Danny just barely biting down a laugh at Tucker’s over-the-top offense.

“See if I get her any obligatory Christmas gift,” Tucker huffed, squeezing Danny’s shoulder and giving him one of those quick, questioning looks even as he grinned. “Ready for our first day of sophomore year?”

“As long as we make sure to find Sam so she can scare off the jocks for us.” Right. Right! His first official day as Danny Fenton. What could go wrong? 

⁂

“You know, when you think about it, there’s probably enough jaded students to start an all out war against her.” Sam’s bracing, amused tone was the only thing keeping Danny from shoving himself face-first into a locker out of a mix of rage and shame. “Like- Here. Hey! Mikey! What do you think about Petricoff!”

Mikey, one of the self-proclaimed ‘nerds’ in their year, startled from where he was walking next to them in the hallway on his own way to lunch like the rest of them. Danny, somehow, managed to feel even more shame and embarrassment, “Sam. Don’t just-”

“She’s a total asshole,” Mikey answered, which, okay, he hadn’t expected that. “See you guys at lunch.” With that he was speed walking away, which, fair. Sam had just shouted him down in the middle of the hallway and Sam could be… Sam. 

“See? Total asshole and all the students hate her,” Sam beamed, linking her arm with Danny’s before her grin fell into something a bit more serious. “I promise, no one else in class looked like they agreed with her.” Well. At least there was that. Danny had been too busy trying not to look at anything or anyone when Petricoff had started frowning when he corrected his name on the call-sheet from Danielle to Danny (or Dani, depending on the day).

“Pretty sure some of them were glaring at her,” Tucker chimed in, bumping his and Danny’s shoulders together. “Plus, hey, she was the only teacher who had a problem with the whole name thing, right? We can deal with one homophobic teacher!”

“It’d be transphobic since this is a gender issue,” Sam cut in, frowning and slowing down in the hallway. “At least I think. Technically it’s about gender fluidity, but still…”

“Guys, it’s not that big of a deal. I mean, my name still is Danielle, and she’s a teacher. Pretty sure she gets final say.” While Danny hadn’t expected to have to go through his first day telling most of his teachers that he would prefer to go by Danny (Dani, technically), it hadn’t been that awful. Most of them just nodded, made a note of it, and then had kept going with roll. Petricoff, though… 

Danielle, apparently, was what was on the attendance sheet and so in her class her name would be Danielle. After all, Dani sounded like such a boy’s name, and she didn’t want that, right? 

God, the only thing that had kept Danny from sinking through the floor was Sam’s hand snapping out to hold onto his tight enough to hurt and Tucker’s chair squeaking like he had actually been about to get up and start a fight. 

“Not every adult can be as cool as Jazz about the matter and, besides, there’s more important things to worry about, like the fact I’m starving.” Which wasn’t a lie. Danny was pretty sure he could eat at least three servings of a Thanksgiving dinner he was so hungry. 

“That is the fifth time you’ve complained about being hungry and lunch has only just started.” Sam shook her head as she steered them along towards the cafeteria lunch line, other kids already sitting down and digging in. “Did you even eat this morning?” 

“Bold of you to assume Jazz would let me leave the house without eating as long as she’s still at the house and not the dorms,” Danny snorted, digging out his lunch money, and, yeah. Jazz had been paranoid so he could probably double up on some things. “Think there’s a limit on how much cafeteria food I can- Shit!”

“Got it!” Tucker caught the dropped tray — and the food already on it — before it could hit the floor, handing it back to Danny with a frown, “You okay? That’s like the sixth or seventh time you’ve dropped something today.” 

“I…” As much as Danny wanted to snap and say he was fine, that… had definitely happened more than it should have. 

It was Sam to set a hand on his shoulder, giving a light squeeze, “Hey, it’s okay. Just let us know when you need help or if you need to go home early.”

“Yeah, man, I know you wanted to see the first day through, but you’re still recovering,” Tucker said, Danny pretending not to see the look of fear in his eyes. “It was… It was pretty bad, Danny. When you came out of there-” 

painpainpainpain it hurt it hurt why did it hurt so fucking badly 

cant breathe cant breathe cant breath make it stop make it stop makeitstop

why does it hurt so much-

“I’m fine.” Absolutely refusing to look down at his hands which he knew were shaking, Danny grit his teeth and kept moving down the line, shoving his stupid memories down as far as they could go. “I’m just a little shaky. It’s nothing some food won’t fix.” 

Even as he said it he knew it was a lie. He hadn’t felt his hands shaking constantly like the doctors feared they would, but he knew what side-effects could be caused by getting electrocuted. He was lucky he could walk without his body suddenly going limp and numb from all that energy rushing through him-

“Oh, look, hey,” Sam’s voice, louder than it should be, had both him and Tucker following the direction she was pointing. “I told you guys the school board approved my petition to add vegetarian options to the menu!” It was an olive branch and distraction in one and Danny happily took it for what it was. 

“Oh, yeah, you were saying something about that a few days ago.” Danny shoved a few fries in his mouth as Sam loaded up on her salads and fruit cups, Tucker making a face at it. “Is it here for a trial period or…?”

“Nope! Year-round,” Sam grinned, her happiness making Danny feel a little less raw around the edges as they finally got up to the cashier. “Hey, I got it,” Sam said, digging for her wallet before Danny could pay. “And it’s important to make sure kids have the choice to eat healthy and follow their beliefs.” 

Glancing at Tucker and half-expecting the blood feud of carnivore versus herbivore like in middle school, and most of their freshman year, Danny was pleasantly surprised Tucker did nothing more than roll his eyes. “What? No fight about meat being better?” 

“She’s got a point about the whole belief thing,” Tucker sighed, dramatically. “And the health thing. Just because my body can handle five double cheeseburgers in a row doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone. Plus, Sam’s paying. I’m not gonna start shit until after I’ve eaten.” Ah, there was the jerk best friend he knew and loved. 

Focused on completely decimating his fries, Danny absently listened to his friends talk until they were settled in their own little corner at a table. It was while Danny’s mouth was full that his friends looked at him and ah… The battle was about to start. 

“Focus up, Danny, it’s time to go to war.” Sam was looking way too serious as she pulled out a notebook and pen that Danny had no doubt was for nothing except dramatic effect. “We need a battle plan if we’re going to survive the year.” 

“I thought our battle plan was to just keep to ourselves and avoid pissing anyone off,” Tucker countered, shaking out some of his fries onto Danny’s own tray. Danny made a note to let him win the next game they played because his best friends were literally angels — fallen angels, yeah, but still angels. “Unless you changed that plan and we’re going to war against the A Listers, now.”

“Oh, god, tell me that stupid name didn’t stick.” Sam looked horrified while Danny smothered his laughter into his food. While ‘A Listers’ was a little on the nose when it came to identifying all of the ‘popular’ kids, it was great to use just to hear Sam complain about what an awful name it was. “Okay, Tucker, you’re literally wired into the internet. Have the generals remained the same?”

Tucker took a moment to just stare at Sam, finally shaking his head, “Okay, you know I love you, but you’re getting into the war strategy way too much. How late were you up playing last night?” The guilty look was answer enough and made it even more hilarious considering Sam had been looking ‘menacing’ while talking about ‘battle plans.’ 

Swallowing the last of his burger in a few quick bites, Danny gave Sam a light nudge against her foot with his own under the table, “No worries, Sammy, we all get caught up in all-night gaming marathons, sometimes. Seriously, though, come back down to high school. We need you to survive.” 

“And to answer your question, yeah, everyone came back for the year as far as social media has told me,” Tucker chimed in, counting off on his fingers. “Paulina, Dash, Kawn, Star, and Valerie all accounted for.” 

“Good, we should tell Paulina about the name thing, Danny. Gossip monger that she is, she'll have it out to the rest of the school before- Holy shit, are you already done?” Jumping at Sam’s words, Danny glanced down to his empty tray, which, yeah, okay, so he had been a bit hungry. “Your tray was filled.”

“Guess I was just hungry.” He still was, honestly, but like hell was he going to say it when Tucker and Sam were already giving him those looks again. The looks that showed they were worried and ready to call Jazz to take him home early because now he was fragile and hurt and-  “Okay, what’s our ‘battle plan’ for the rest of the day, then?”

He was maybe a little out of sorts, but he was fine, or at least, he was recovering. Besides, being a little hungrier than normal and a little more clumsy didn’t mean anything bad. It just meant he was a little off his game, so, really.

He was fine. 

Even if, after all she ate, she was still hungry- He. She. Ugh, Dani didn’t even care anymore whether it was he or she or even it because she just wanted to go home and get something to eat before crashing in bed. God, she’d never even be able to admit it but coming back for the first day had been a horrible choice. 

She was starving, she was clumsy to where everything she held kept dropping it felt like, and now her skin was all tight. Her skin felt like it did after a bad sunburn or a too hot shower, all tight and overheated and like it was all just about to crack. 

It was her last class of the day which was of course her stupid English class which meant of course she had Lancer and, of course, he was the one teacher who cared. That meant he kept looking at her as if checking to see if she had finally kicked the bucket or not.

She was honestly ready to either jump out of the window or stand up and scream if it would make the stupid day end early. Maybe she could distract herself by eating the notebook paper in front of her. It probably wouldn’t taste good, but- 

Static. Static electricity. 

Static electricity felt like it punched her in the chest before spreading out to every inch of her, skin tingling like her entire body had fallen asleep and was now just waking up. The only reason she didn’t call it burning or lightning was because it didn’t technically hurt but also what the hell. 

It was like the feeling of when she had been really little and had been watching an old VHS tape before the movie had ended. She had been left with a static filled television and the feeling of dragging her fingers through the static that prickled up from the television in the remaining quiet. It was like that except everywhere. 

It reminded her of the Portal way too much. All the static spreading across her skin and making it feel like a storm was about to break reminded her of the Portal way too much. The only thing that kept her from going into a full-on breakdown was the feeling of her pencil bumping into her fingers and almost rolling off her desk, sending her scrambling to catch it and right, right. 

Right. She was fine. She wasn’t in the Portal. She was in her English class and she was supposed to be taking notes about what books they were going to read that year and she was okay. She was… Actually. She was okay — or better, at least. 

Apparently a flashback to the worst moment in her life was enough to distract her because she no longer felt starving or even hungry, just bored as was usual in Lancer’s classes. She… He. That was right. 

He still had to finish his first day of school.

⁂

Holding her breath as she sat down carefully on the middle step, Dani didn’t let herself breathe until she heard the soft, frustrated voices of her parents from where they were sitting at the kitchen table. While Dani couldn’t see into the kitchen from where she had sat herself, she could hear them well enough, and even see the harsh kitchen light that filled the hallway and ruined the soft darkness that had been there. “-just don’t understand. None of these readings make sense. We shouldn’t be seeing such a sharp increase so soon.”

Her mom definitely sounded frustrated. It was a tone Dani was used to overhearing when it came to discussing whatever they were working on in the lab, but it had been a while since Dani had heard the tone sound angry, too. Her dad didn’t sound much better, mumbling something that was just too soft for Dani to catch.

“-checked them against the previous readings. I even made sure to check them against our projected readings. The numbers aren’t lying, Jack, it’s just… far more powerful than we planned for.” The two were definitely trying to keep their voices down, but they weren’t trying to be quiet. 

“You think we should try shutting it down? It’s been running since Danielle’s accident.” It was nice to hear the concern in her dad’s voice, but Dani was more focused on how the accident had happened just a little under a month ago. That meant the Portal had been active for almost four full weeks. That was… a long time to have something so dangerous and experimental up and running. Even Dani knew that. “The numbers have only been climbing.”

It was quiet except for the sound of rustling papers before his mom gave a sharp, frustrated sigh, “No, I don’t think we should try shutting it down, it just- There’s so much we don’t understand, yet. It’s making me as angry as it is excited.” 

And that was definitely her dad laughing, the sound nervous and excited both, “Hey, we always planned on it being powerful. We just didn’t plan on it becoming self-sustaining.” Okay, whoa, hang on, the Portal had become what? “Mads, this could change a lot.” 

“It could, but please remember, dear, that we’re not scientists looking for a cure to the world’s energy problems,” her mom said, anger and frustration seemingly gone as her laughter filled up the hallway. It made everything in the hallway seem less empty for a few moments. “We have all of this set up for a reason.” 

“Hey, nothin’ wrong with dreaming about winning the Nobel Peace Prize here and there, right?” Her dad may have been joking but, well… Self-sustaining energy. That was a pretty big deal. If it was running off of nothing but itself and ‘ectoplasm’ instead of the generators and power though, then that was a huge deal. “I know, I know, we’ve barely even scratched the surface. It’s… All our old research is holding up though, Mads.”

“I know.” Voice soft and excited, she reminded Dani of Jazz in a way she couldn’t quite name before she focused on the quiet words. “Jack… Isn’t this exciting? Our life’s work — we’ve almost done it.” 

There was another laugh before their voices dropped off, the sound of rustling pages and long strings of words and numbers filling up the space instead. Dani took the opportunity for what it was, careful and quiet as she snuck her way back upstairs and into her room. 

Moving to collapse on her bed, Dani stared up at her glow-in-the-dark stars once again. This time she made sure to stick her tongue out, “Judge me all you want, but I’d like to see you try to get information out of them.” 

Her parents had always been strict about their lab work and keeping them out of it so they didn’t get hurt, but after the Accident? Dani was lucky if she could even mention the lab without her parents sharing looks and Jazz swooping in to usher her back to her room and seriously. There was an entire world — or at least close enough to an entire world — in their basement. How was anyone not supposed to get excited over that! Even her parents were crazy excited! Granted it was for different reasons, but still! 

The Portal was up and running. The Portal was working. Just down a few flights of stairs was a portal into what was an entire new world and-

“Jesus-!” Body flinching and arching away from what once again felt like so much static shock tearing through the air, Dani swore even louder as she slipped off her bed and landed on her hardwood floor in just the right way to hit both her elbows. 

It was a tense moment of mentally screaming every swear she knew as Dani waited for either Jazz or her parents to start yelling at her or panic-worrying. When neither happened, Dani eased herself off the floor with a soft grunt, wincing and rubbing at her elbows.

“Jesus, universe, if you wanted to teach me a lesson about eavesdropping then there are easier ways to do it without triggering me,” Dani muttered more to herself than the universe at large, tugging herself up and back into the bed cautiously. There were no more shocks from the blankets or anything else, but jeez. 

It had felt almost like it had in her English class earlier, a sensation of static jolting through her heart and then spreading out through the rest of her body. If the Portal really was still active and self-sustaining and putting off a ton of crazy energy, it might at least explain the crazy static shock everywhere. 

Right. She had school tomorrow and her parents kept the lab locked up tight. There was no time or way to do anything about the super-secret-awesome portal that led into another world. 

Then again… no one ever said she couldn’t daydream about it just a little.

—

If you enjoyed this story then check out my Writing Commissions either here on Tumblr or at my personal Website.

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[crazycatgirl420]

Reincarnation as Danielle Fenton-Masters

(Danny Phantom Self Insert Fanfic)

Danielle Jasmine Masters. Honestly, as if having my reincarnation half-assed with my memories of my last life intact wasn't bad enough, I was tossed into the newly created body of a fictional character.

Not fictional anymore though, I supposed, if this was to be my new reality. I stared up at 'Vlad Masters', the wannabe super villain of this series, and I supposed he was technically my life-giver now.

"Hey," I said, interrupting his monologue lecture. "Do I call you mother or father?"

Vlad's face did a few meme-able expressions as he processed my question. Wish I had a camera. I waited, letting the lonely mad scientist find an answer.

I came to life in a lab, likely Vlad's basement lab in Wisconsin, unless he'd already moved to a mansion in Amity Park? It's been so long since I actually watched the show, and the Phandom online ended up being much more entertaining anyway. Oh! What if this universe was a crossover universe? There were so many of those, and the 'Ghost Zone' was also known as the Infinite Realms for a reason right?

I would have to figure out what to call my species. I'm pretty sure 'Halfa' was a phandom term, and even if it wasn't, I don't think it actually fits what I am. I'm not a ghost or spirit, this body hasn't died. I might qualify as a being from the realms, but I was created on Earth. Ah wait, hybrid? Human-Plasmic hybrid. Kinda sounds like demon hybrid from folklore stories, or maybe a car...but it sounds more honest to my situation than what 'halfa' does.

"...Father" Vlad said. "You may address me as Father,"

"How's my health Father?" I asked, glancing at the piles of failed Danny Fenton clone goop. "How long do you think I have?"

Vlad seemed to freeze, actually being acknowledged as my parent, my father,brought some light to his eyes. Green ectoplasmic light. Then it faded, and he looked horrified. He scooped me up in a panic and rushed me to a more medically inclined part of the lab.

Several tests later, and I learned I was unstable. Vlad would need Danny, or his dna, to make me stable. Lots of science words I didn't listen to and was unlikely to learn, but Vlad sent me on a quest to meet Danny. Technically it was a mission to kill Danny, but like...I wasn't going to do that. Vlad would regret if I actually succeeded anyway so what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

I had seen my own reflection in the mirror during the health tests. I looked way younger than Dani from the show had looked, I looked like I could pass as a small four-year-old actually. How exactly Vlad thought I was going to get to Amity Park when I didn't look like I was even potty trained yet I had no idea, but I'd bring him back a parenting book or two. Did this universe have a 'Parenting for Dummies' ?

Now...how to get to Amity Part from...wherever this is. Oh look! Vlad has a personal driver.

"Scuse me Ma'am?" I said, gently pulling on her pant leg. "Could you take me to Aunt Maddie's house in Amity Park?"

Of course Vlad's employees knew who Maddie Fenton was. Hopefully Danny Fenton was as good natured as he was in the show. lots of things were already so different, if this was an evil Danny universe things would suck.

[balletwatchespokemon]

Indigo League Episode 20

It's ghost time! This is another episode not focused on Ash, with Brock being the central character of this episode (with a side of James). Ghosts are fun in pokemon because usually they're pokemon, sometimes they're humans, and sometimes they're pokemon who are dead humans. This episode we get the first two examples, and it's a fun episode! Not my favorite, but not bad at all.

Poor Brock is despairing over his total lack of rizz, having made no romantic connection over the summer at all. I love it when the show talks about the passage of time considering Ash's total lack of aging in the next twenty plus years.

Meowth is not thrilled about being surrounded by all this water. I love it when he does cat stuff.

Misty is impressively strong to be pulling both of the boys no problem.

I love this bit where James is half hanging over this fence and then Jesse drops him when she gets distracted by planning some crime. James's scream from his Japanese voice actor is great.

The pokemon center here has an eleven o'clock curfew at which point these metal gates come down over the doors. Seems mildly alarming and something we have never seen at any other pokemon centers. Very strange.

Get ghost attacked readers!!!

We get it James, you're pretty.

Poor Jesse. She's part of a set, don't separate them.

For some reason Brock is giving Johnny Bravo vibes here to me.

Look how cute Pikachu's little celebration is here!

They say "However" twice in a row here and I now know that Tadashi from Big Hero 6 is named However.

Love it when Pikachu does something small and silly. He's just so cute.

I love Jesse lecturing a ghost on how to act right around guys.

Gas Mask. Need I say more.

Pokeani was doing pokemon fusions before it was cool.

Look how scared they are! Poor dears.

Ooo, the New Testament is in pokeani too. I don't think the writers thought of the implications though.

Team Rocket is playing end song 4 here at the festival long before it's used as an end song for the show.

These are some interesting memorial candles. I don't recognize the top two pokemon, and who is mourning the currently completely extinct pokemon Omanyte? Very strange.

I wonder who Ash is remembering here, we don't get any closer to his lantern so I guess we'll never know.

And here we have a fourth option for ghosts in Pokemon, Pokemon pretending to be human ghosts.

Misty is so cute here! I love her little ponytail she normally has but it's nice to switch things up every now and then.

I didn't notice this the first time (I usually watch these two times for my inital thoughts and then anything I missed the second time) but the pink spots on Misty's kimono are Goldeen outlines!

Like I said I like this episode, but I think the end is my favorite part of it , look how cute they are dancing together in their kimonos! Brock is too busy being emo to go dancing right now though.

Next episode on Monday, get ready to cry over Butterfree! (Though we've really not seen a whole lot of him.)

[astrokatsuki]

SAY MY NAME feat. Gojo Satoru

SUMMARY You wanted to be like those Pinterest couples and spend time with your boyfriend. Your boyfriend is Satoru so you know that wasn't happening.

WARNING Tooth-rotting fluff, suggestive?? Just kissing lol, food, burnt cookies, choking on said cookies, gojo Satoru, not proofread.

WORD FROM ARTIST I think this is so cute omg, if it’s not like this I don't want it. Gojo’s an idiot ngl. Every title to my work is named after a song btw. 0.6k+

SAY MY NAME

“You’re going to burn them.”

“Don’t jinx me!” Satoru whines, checking if the cookies are done.

That’s the third time in 5 minutes.

You half-heartedly roll your eyes from your place on top of the kitchen counter.

Fall is what you look forward to every year. The pumpkin patches, the apple cider, the cookies.

You know, the Pillsbury ones with the ghost or pumpkin printed on.

Which is why you bought six packs of them.

“Besides, even if I do burn them, which I’m not going to might I add” He brags turning to face you, his blindfold lying on the couch in the other room.

You’ve never felt as at ease as you do right now. Gojo has always been the strongest, never letting his gaze soften or his guard down. The fact he does both when he’s with you makes a bashful grin tug at your cheeks.

“We still have a billion more packs.” Walking up to you, Satoru sets his hands your waist, peering up at you with his bright blue eyes.

Eyes so blue you could swim in and happily get lost in forever. You wrap your arms around him playing with the white baby hairs on the nape of his neck. The sound of the TV in the living room filling your shared apartment.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice be a doll the lecture!”

“BEETLEJUICE the musical” playing as background noise with the volume turned all the way down.

It’s obvious you put this movie on.

The white haired idiot forms a smug grin, “You look comfortable, don’t you.” He eyes the warm fleece you’re wearing up and down.

The fleece that you stole from him.

“I’m so warm.” Your voice lowers, as you lean down closer to more warmth– his warmth.

He’s looks so good right now and the domesticity of it all is catching up to you.

“Yeah?” His gaze drops to your lips, as you absentmindedly lick them. His eyes heavy in desire.

“Mhm.” Your nod, lips brushing his as you bringing him into a soft kiss. Your hand steady on his neck, as his hands tighten on your waist.

You love him, and he love you. You’re sure of it– he’s sure of it. You both could get used to doing things like this. It seems like you both are already used to it anyway.

Before the kiss can go any further a loud shrill startles you making your head shoot up and bump into the overhead cabinet behind you.

The cookies are done.

Before anything else, a hand immediately covers the back of your head rubbing it so gently, your heart tingles.

“Careful.” Satoru glares while picking you up to take you off the counter top. Your sock covered feet softly hit the ground of the hardwood floor.

Following closely behind your boyfriend, you shut off the timer as he opens the oven.

You frown glaring at the blue eyed man beside you. He picks one up inspecting it.

He burnt the cookies like you said he would.

“Satoruuuu,” You whine pushing him lightly.

“I really wanted those cookies.” He stares at you, biting back a laugh.

“I’m sure they’re fine, they can’t be that bad.” Blowing one off as much as Satoru could, he takes a bite.

Quickly his grin turns into a frown. He immediately starts coughing, the burnt cookie attacking him. Satoru drops the cookie, rushing to the nearest water source.

Your laughter bubbles over as you kneel over. He’s so stupid, but so cute.

Hearing you laugh makes his heart feel all fuzzy, warmer than anything that fleece could make you feel. He would choke on a burnt cookie a million times over if it meant he could hear you laugh again.

You rub his back soothingly as he gulps water from the sink. You shrug, starting to speak, “At least I bought extra.”

“I’ll make-“

“You’re not making anything, ever.”

© astrokatsuki 2023

[darthfrodophantom]

Secret Identities Take Work (and I’m Tired)

Summary: Danny misses curfew (again) and gets lectured by his parents (again) and needs to come up with lies and excuses to feed his parents (again). But his motivation to keep up the same routine night after night wanes, and Danny begins to wonder if a secret identity really is worth all the work.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40383243

The young ghost hero shot through the sky with breakneck speed, weaving through the streets with long-practiced ease. He found the familiar alley close to his house and touched down roughly. He looked towards the town’s clocktower and he groaned. Five after ten…which meant five minutes after curfew. He immediately lost all sense of urgency as he rested against the brick wall. Five minutes versus ten minutes didn’t make much of a difference to his parents – late was late after all – which meant he no longer had a reason to rush through the door on the off-chance he would make it home in time.

Well, since he had the time now, he decided to give himself a once over to ensure he looked presentable for the lecture that was no doubt about to come. The cut on his torso was thankfully starting to clot, but the deep gash on his arm still bled freely. He double-checked that the coast was clear before he transformed back into the form of a normal, inconspicuous teenager. Well, not so inconspicuous now, as the blood from both injuries seeped into his white shirt. So much for hoping the loose-fitting tee would hide the incriminating evidence.

He sighed as he wracked his brain for a solution when suddenly one struck him like lightning. He snapped his fingers before he turned invisible and raced into his house. He phased through the door and ran up to his bedroom, and on his way up he definitely noticed his parents on the couch staring fixedly at the door. Oh yeah, he was in for a lecture when he walked in that door…

He dashed into his bedroom and quickly and quietly wrapped his arm up in a makeshift bandage before throwing on a dark zip-up hoodie from a concert he and Sam went to last year. It wasn’t perfect, and more observant parents would question him wearing a hoodie on a warm spring night, but it would last long enough to withstand the lecture.

Well, time to face the music and just get this over with. With a labored sigh he flew back down to the alley and slowly walked to the front door. Man, he was so sick of this whole song-and-dance: fight ghosts all night, land in the alley, make sure he was presentable, give half-baked excuses to his parents about missing curfew, listen to the ensuing lecture, go to bed, and then repeat it all over again the next night. It was exhausting and occupied more of his time than he could spare.

He turned the doorknob and walked inside. He had enough sense to wear a sheepish look on his face as he regarded his parents who stood from their previous positions on the couch.

“Daniel Fenton, do you know what time it is?” his mother asked harshly.

“…Not before ten?” he answered with a wince.

“No. It’s not,” Maddie said shortly. “Do you have any answer for why you were so late?”

Danny could hear the same weariness in her voice that he himself felt, and while some nights he felt like bantering and going toe-to-toe with them…tonight he just wanted it over with. “None that you’ll like, so why don’t you just lecture me, punish me, and let me go to bed?” Danny suggested tiredly, hoping it would just end the argument right there. Unfortunately it seemed to just incite his mother further.

“So you’re not even going to try anymore?” she asked dangerously as she placed her hands on her hips. He could see his father shaking his head beside her. “Danny what’s going on with you? Why can’t you just tell us the truth? It’s a lie every other night and now you’re not even going to try to explain?”

Danny sighed heavily. “Well how about this, I’ll try another lie again tomorrow, but I’m just really tired today and I just want to go to bed,” he pleaded.

“No, Danny, that’s not what we’re asking for you you know it. If you’re really that tired of feeding us lies and excuses then just tell us the truth and we wouldn’t have to do this anymore!” she practically begged. “You think you’re the only one that’s tired? We’re tired of this too! We don’t like having to do this either. We’d much rather spend our nights asking you about your life or girlfriends or things that normal parents are supposed to be talking about, but instead we have to go through this every night!”

“Actually I’m pretty sure it’s a rite of passage for teenagers to break curfew, so this kinda is what normal parents are supposed to do,” Danny tried to leverage, but it only made his mother’s jaw clench even harder. Well that wasn’t the desired effect. He closed his eyes to rally his strength for a moment before looking at his parents with weary eyes. “Look, if I could tell you, don’t you think I would? I know that would make all this stop, but I just can’t.”

Maddie threw her hands up in the air paced around the room, breathing deep to try to calm herself down as Jack leveled a surprisingly serious gaze at his son. “Why not Danny? If you’re getting into trouble or there’s gangs or drugs or a girlfriend or boyfriend or anything like that we can help you,” he tried to emphasize. “We won’t even get that mad at you; we just want to know so we can stop worrying!”

“Can’t you just take my word for it that I’m not in trouble? I’ve told you time and time again that I’m not doing drugs and I’m not in a gang or doing anything dangerous, so you don’t need to worry!” Granted he was doing something dangerous, but it wasn’t the kind of dangerous stuff they no doubt had in mind. “I mean look at me, I’m healthy, so I can’t be getting into anything bad, right?”

Maddie stopped pacing to glare at her son. “Yes Danny, let’s look at you,” his mother mentioned slowly, and Danny winced as he realized he’d walked into a trap. “Your grades are slipping, you’re never home, and you shirk all your chores. You can’t seem to tell the truth about anything anymore and seem capable of lying to us without feeling guilty, which means you obviously don’t have any respect for us.”

Danny tried to interrupt after that, but his mother continued to plow through his growing list of faults. “You don’t seem to care about anything anymore other than whatever you rush off to do at night. You’re twitchy and jumpy and always seem to be on alert. And what’s worse is on top of all that you don’t even talk to us anymore! We come in the room and you rush right out! These lectures are the most time we get to spend talking to you all day, and they mainly consist of us yelling at you!

“So yes, let’s take a look at you Danny,” she challenged. “Let’s take a good long look and then tell me again that there’s nothing wrong, because you are not the same Danny you were before the accident.”

Danny remained silent, not really knowing how to refute her, or even if he should, because she was absolutely right about all of it. He wasn’t the same as he was before the accident, and he never would be either, not that his parents would understand the reasons why. Was there any point in giving them false hope that he could go back to that innocent and naive Danny that they hoped to see when they looked at him? He wasn’t even sure he could pretend to be that Danny anymore, after everything he’d seen and done.

“Well?” Maddie pushed, her voice sharp and impatient, like a predator about ready to pounce on its prey. “Do you have anything to say?”

Instead of being intimidated like he used to be when he was a child, he summed up all the defiance he could muster tonight to look his mom squarely in the eyes. “You’re right; I’m not the same Danny I was before the accident. It made me realize things about my life, and no, I’m not going to share what those are. Now, can I go to bed?”

Maddie looked taken aback by Danny’s brazen attitude. Sure his responses differed from night to night, but tonight there was just something different in his attitude. He’d been stubbornly defiant before, but tonight…it was almost like his defiance stemmed from some sort of apathetic break inside himself. He didn’t care to argue anymore…and so he wasn’t going to argue, and that was final.

Maddie spent so much time puzzling her son’s attitude that Danny just took her silence as permission and thudded up the stairs, leaving his still silent parents behind. As soon as he made it upstairs, he slammed the door and leaned against the back of it, breathing out a sigh he didn’t know he had been holding. He didn’t know where that came from…but he knew he’d be paying for it later. He was absolutely grounded and would probably get his game stations taken away, probably until he talked to them, but that was standard punishment anymore and he was used to it. But most importantly, it was over with for now, and that’s what mattered.

He threw himself on the bed in exhaustion. He felt terrible after what happened downstairs. He knew the lectures and the arguments came from a place of caring and love. They were concerned about him and were trying to help him, but they just couldn’t. After all, they would never understand…and there was no way he could make them.

He saw their relationship slipping, just like his mom saw it. He’d seen her flipping through albums of his childhood or caressing pictures of his youth, wondering and lamenting why their relationship wasn’t the same as it had been when those pictures were taken. They didn’t go on day trips anymore – how was he supposed to explain leaving for a ghost attack and coming back injured? They didn’t talk anymore – he couldn’t tell her half of what was going on in his life to begin with, and everything that came out of his mouth was a lie. They weren’t physically affectionate anymore – what if she pressed on an injury and he couldn’t explain why he had it?

Their interactions were limited to lies and excuses on his end, and discipline and rants on theirs.

It would be so much easier if only they knew—

He sat up in his bed. His lips parted and his tense eyebrows relaxed in sudden realization. If only they knew. Gone would be the lies, gone would be excuses, and gone would be this constant fear of exposure. Gone would be this act and gone would be this need to hide his double life.

He realized suddenly he was walking down the stairs. That was weird – he didn’t even remember standing up, let alone leaving his room. And yet his feet continued to carry him forward, as if they had come to some kind of conclusion while his tired brain tried desperately to catch up.

But if his parents knew, then gone would be all of his problems and the added stress they caused. But weren’t there reasons why he put all those stresses on himself in the first place? Weren’t there reasons why he kept up the lies for so long and stuck to his guns so strongly and never told them? Ah right, the fear. The fear that revealing himself as a half-ghost and as Phantom would fracture the household. The fear of being experimented on by his own parents in the name of science.

But deep down, he knew they wouldn’t knowingly experiment on him. Somehow he always knew that. They loved him, and they would be able to see past Phantom and see Danny instead. He stood a much better chance of being experimented on by keeping his secret and being caught by his parents than by letting them know. The more realistic fear was that being a ghost would fracture his relationship with his parents and make things awkward between them...except that was already the path they were heading down anyways. He could already feel them growing further and further apart and everyone in the house could feel it. Either path could potentially fracture their relationship. Granted telling them would be a quicker path to that inevitable end but…he just found that he was too tired to care anymore.

He was in the kitchen. When did he even reach the bottom of the stairs? Where were his feet taking him?

He was tired. He was tired of all of it. Whatever reasons he had to keep this secret, and he knew they were good because he wouldn’t have done it otherwise…right now they just didn’t seem to matter anymore. A wash of apathy came over him, brought on by the overwhelming desire to just end this charade, for better or for worse. He just wanted to make tonight the last night of their song and dance routine. Maybe he’d care afterwards, and he could panic to his friends and sister and worry about cleaning up this mess, but right now…he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

He was too exhausted and too wearied by this false double-life, and he didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

He was in the basement and his feet finally stopped walking. His parents were right in front of him, fussing over some invention. He didn’t even remember consciously making the decision to come down here.

“Mom, Dad,” he announced solemnly, and his parents startled because they hadn’t heard him approach. “You wanted the truth?” Was he really doing this? He didn’t remember coming to an actual consensus on whether he was telling them or not, but apparently his body or his heart or whatever was controlling his actions had come to some kind of decision and led him down here.

They turned to look at him, the basement silent as if it knew what was happening. Even the constant hum of the Ghost Portal seemed to deaden. He waited for their eye contact, to make sure they were actually looking. Before he could talk himself out of it, he triggered his transformation, and the deafening whoosh of the rings of light echoed through the basement, followed by his determined exhale and his parents’ shocked gasps.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

[nani-nonny]

I swear nonny am about to go to your house and enter just to ask you; WHY YOU MADE IT SO SHORT?!?!?!/HJ

Ngl, i was watching gameplay of video game call " ghost trick " until i got email notification about your " am blue " it took me half minute to realize it's; 1- from you. 2- it's " I'm blue " fic 💙💙💙💙.

I start reading and what else?! Mf Old timer strick again with LCD, am.so close to tackle that mf to STOP BULLYING HIM!! He had enough!/j

Like the cry bullied baby he is, LCD leaves immediately to his tent to cry leaving the big boys to talk.

Blue chewing the jerky reminded me of that one obnoxious kid who chew gum just so he doesn't focus on the lecture in classroom 🤣

When DMD asked old timer why he get called old timer i felt; 1- bruh moment because " old timer = old as fuck ". 2- What if LCD's turn came up?!? ( now idk what i must get worried about?! LCD get exposed to the rest of the leos or WDS's fic end & bishop... Nani you're torturing me).

So back to the name choosing and no lies or disrespect? I feel you took half of chapter describing what old timer feels whe he got asked the question 😂 it made me think " yo nani are you trying to skip or give little details in the fic?! Answer me! " 🤣

After 24 years, old timer finally answer with he's obviously older which wants me to pull the " you don't say " meme xD

Then here comes the age reveling where i get to know REUNION IS 61!! AFTER THAT IS DMD WITH 49 And WDS is 44 and i bet you money on it; LCD is the youngest!! I just know it!! (Which make it more funny because the middle kids are gonna bully the youngest for begin a killer)

Reunion's Audacity calling them " children " made me laugh, imagine his old ass whenever he regroup with them he say " okay kids/children... " or " kids that's enough " 🤣🤣

And then he turns to LCD's tent and called him out remind me of mom when she says " you're (name doing something) tomorrow " which DOESN'T help me sleep at all.

It would be funny if LCD wasn't sleep but after hearing Reunion's order he REALLY isn't getting any sleep LOL.

AND THEN THE BIG STUFF HAPPENS!! My dude slips and admits he didn't win the war on his first try and man oh man!! He cracked some gears into the two (who knows maybe 3 if LCD wasn't sleep).

And then dipped and left like a dad announcing he's going to get the milk.

Leaving DMD & WDS, am sure WDS WANTS to share about his ghost brothers but after knowing DMD lost everyone... Yeah he said nope to that, NANI YOU'RE TORTURING THEM!!!

Hahahaha! All I’m Blue chapters are about 1-2k words long heheh

Also, you have me on your notifs? :((( thank you /pos

Achilles(LCD) just makes it so easy for Old Timer (Reunion) to tease him. /j Old Timer’s totally not trying to see where Achilles’s limits are so that he knows where are the good places to step in a field of metaphorical landmines /hj

“Nani you’re torturing me” I’m not trying to :) /t

Old Timer is a sentimental old man whose therapist told him it was okay to take a moment to himself to think long and hard. And he’s trying not to spill too much about himself, so he has to take a moment to think or he’ll say too much, as seen at the end of the chapter :)

Yess!!! Age reveal! Old Timer is the oldest at 61, Barbarian (DMD) is 49 (I thought a lot about what his age is and nearly made him 53 because it made more sense for the DMD fic but he also greatly exaggerated his age in his fic so… *shrugs*), and Big Blue (WDS) is the youngest at 44 (he’s currently 1 or 2 years younger in his fic at the moment).

Old Timer’s original age was going to be 70, but I cut him some slack and reminded myself that he’s not that old, I’m unconsciously trying to make fun of him. But he does have some elder rights to call them children, they are almost 2 decades younger than him hahaha

And it would be funny if Achilles (LCD) was awake through it all *sweats and runs away*

And oh how the mighty have fallen! Old Timer slips up his words and spills more than he would have liked hahaha! He really kicked into high gear and left as quickly as he could, can’t risk spilling more beans!

“Nani you’re torturing them!!” Nuh uh /t

[oceanparkmall]

Mall Ghosts | Chapter 1

table of contents patreon wattpad

~ 2.2k words

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The year was 2002.

I had just turned eighteen. My parents bought the newest iPod for my birthday instead of the cell phone that I had specifically asked for. So I dyed my afro electric teal in protest, but they didn’t care. My kid brother joked that my hair finally matched my name – Aqua.

None of my friends really got to see my so-called rebellious transformation because I lived two cities over and I didn’t have a car to drive yet. 

I begged my mom to let me apply for a modeling gig at the shopping complex where half the senior class hung out, but she said that there was nothing wrong with the mall just off the highway near our house. Her argument was that it was closer to where we lived, on the way to her job, and just as good as the mall across town.

She was right up until the last point. 

Ocean Park Mall was the site where someone managed to rob an entire store. Whoever it was never got caught. Somehow they pulled it off without tripping any alarms. An entire department just completely cleared out. How does that even happen? 

The scandal was big enough to hit the local news. It was a miracle that the mall didn’t get shut down. Still, a whole bunch of businesses packed up and left. Only a handful were left standing. 

Nowadays, it seemed like the only things Ocean Park was good for was escaping the summer heat or grabbing a bite to eat in the 2.5 out of 5 stars food court. Every now and then Ocean Park would hold special events. Things like pop idol meet and greets, book signings, niche culture conventions, and that runway show that my mom signed me up for.

“Aqua Simone Moore,” Mom huffed as she drove me to Ocean Park for my first fitting, “wipe that gloom-and-doom look off your face. You always look so unsatisfied and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong with you.”

I didn’t answer. All I did was slump some more in my seat, which I knew she hated.

Mom narrowed her eyes at me – as if that would do anything – and finally sighed. 

“Aqua, you know your father and I try to give you and your brothers everything that we can.”

But nothing that I ask for, I thought to myself. Just because she and Dad substituted one thing for something else didn’t mean I had to like it. 

Not in a million years would I ever say this to her because that would get me in a world of trouble. Mom would go home and tell Dad and before I knew it, I would be listening to a thousand lectures about how I’m not grateful enough and how they don’t know how I got this way.

Nevermind that I made perfect grades, stayed out of trouble, and almost never asked to go anywhere cool – but who cares when I’m not grateful and looking content whenever they choose to give me alternatives to the things that actually mean a lot to me.

I could have explained to my mom for the umpteenth time why it was important for me to have a cell phone to start keeping up with my friends over the summer before we all went away to college the next year. Or that the reason that I needed to land gigs at Arrow Crest Mall was for similar reasons.

I wanted to be near my friends. I wanted to spend time with them before this part of our lives was all over and we were flung across the country to different campuses. It wasn’t too much to ask for, right?

Apparently it was. 

“Thanks, Mom,” I said when she dropped me off. I tried to put on my best I-promise-that-I’m-one-hundred-percent-grateful smile right before she drove off. 

From the outside, Ocean Park Mall looked like your average shopping complex. Not the kind of place where businesses came to get robbed. But the moment you walked inside, it became clear that Ocean Park was well on its way to becoming a dead mall.

I looked around and sighed.

The first thing I noticed was the outdated paint job from the eighties. My eyes scanned the giant palms that were thoughtfully arranged to give the space a comfortably populated feeling. I followed their trunks up to the vast atrium ceiling. I suspected that the pyramid design usually let in a lot of natural light, but today it was raining. It made the already lonely space feel more like an indoor graveyard.

I wandered over to one of the central fountains and took a seat on the ledge. The sound of rushing water did little to soothe my nerves.

If I had a cell phone right now, I could see if anyone was willing to meet up.

I grumbled the thought aloud, but the truth was, I wasn’t so sure if any of my friends would come all the way out here just to hang with me.

Judging from the conversations I had on my home landline last night, all of my friends had some excuse as to why they couldn’t make it this week.

Work.

Babysitting.

No gas money.

They all seemed pretty legit, but I probably could have gotten one of them to say yes if I pushed hard enough. 

But who wants to work that hard to convince their friends to want to go out their way? I felt like I was good enough to be worth the inconvenience. At least, I did before going into each of those conversations.

I wrapped my arms around my bare shoulders and did my best to not look as pitiful as I felt. After glancing around to make sure that no one was looking, I bowed my head and let my anxiety consume me.

There was a strong chance that I knew some of the kids that hung out at Ocean Park. Some of them probably even worked here. I used to attend the middle school in this area before my parents enrolled me in the charter school on the other side of town. 

I hadn’t kept in touch with anyone since I left. I wasn’t the only one from that feeder school who didn’t opt to go to the nearest high school. From what I gathered, transfer kids like me were considered stuck up. As if I had a choice in where my parents decided to send me to school. 

I prayed that no one recognized me. Maybe I would be lucky and no one from my old school would cross my path. 

But that was very hopeful thinking.

“Aqua?”

My head lifted automatically without even realizing that my worst fear had already come to pass. I hadn’t even been here for five minutes before someone recognized me. 

“Uh, yeah?” I said without thinking twice. The last thing I needed was someone thinking there was something wrong with me.

“Whoa, it really is you. Your hair was black in the headshots you sent, so I wasn’t sure.”

I stood up, realizing that I was talking to one of the designers. When it came to these small business boutiques, it was very important to get to know your designer as best as one could. This person had sort of shaggy, dirty blond hair with a natural redness to her cheeks and lips. When she smiled, I was hit with a wave of breath mints.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you wait,” I said, jutting out my hand to shake the designer’s. She was about four inches shorter than me. I wasn’t that tall for a model – only five feet, seven inches. 

“Nice to meet you…” I said, shaking her hand sincerely but not knowing how to address her.

“It’s Elliot!” She said brightly. Then craned her neck a bit and added, “Wow. You have really great bone structure. Your pictures are awesome, but they don’t do you justice.”

I gave her a genuine thank you and couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Everyone says that when they meet me.”

Elliot let go of my hand. “Well, it’s true! I’m excited to work with you. And don’t worry about being late. I’m totally early. You can come with me now if you don’t mind helping me open up?”

Most of the mall stores weren’t open yet and I wasn’t about to hang out in an empty food court, so I agreed to tag along. Plus, I already felt comfortable around Elliot. I was curious to learn more about her point of view as a designer. 

As it turned out, she hadn’t had her store up for very long. She said that she was just starting out in the business and renting out a space in Ocean Park was the best decision financially.

“I mean, I know this place is supposed to be haunted or whatever. But I just don’t have that many options, you know what I mean?”

I was doing just fine listening to her until she said the word haunted.

Elliot must have seen the look on my face because she snorted and said, “C’mon, Aqua. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the rumors? What with that store getting robbed and no one having a single clue who did it or how they even pulled it off? Everyone’s saying it was probably a ghost.”

Based on her tone, I’m guessing that no one actually believed this rumor. Not even her.

I did my best to laugh along with Elliot as I helped her unlock the padlock to the store and pull back the gates. While Elliot was lifting the metal curtain, I noticed someone coming around the corner.

This person wasn’t wearing shoes.

Or a shirt for that matter. Just a pair of dark denims.

I blinked, trying not to stare. But that was impossible.

A guy with dark shoulder-length hair walked past us. He was close enough to me that his shoulder swept some of my teal curls to the side. He seemed pretty damn confident for someone walking around shirtless inside a shopping mall, but there was a shadow hanging about him as well. As if he barely registered that he was walking so close to us.

“Morning, Sean,” Elliot said in a voice that suggested this wasn’t the first time this had happened. 

The six-foot dark cloud of a boy had already passed by us, but he stopped sort of abruptly and looked over his shoulder.

His eyes scanned us once, lingering on me just a hair longer. As if he was trying to figure out who the hell I was.

“Uh, yeah. Good morning.” His brows came together in the faintest degree of frustration. “Um…”

“Elliot!” The shop owner chimed, clearly finding Sean’s spaced-out reaction quite endearing. Then she clapped me on the back and said, “And this is Aqua. She’s going to be working my looks in the runway show next month.”

Sean blinked a couple of times. I wondered if he had even heard of a fashion show before. That’s how clueless he looked.

“Right.” Sean’s eyes had finally cleared in understanding. “See you then, I guess. Um… Elliot.”

Elliot snapped her fingers and shot Sean a wink. “Yeah you will!”

The muscles in Sean’s face eased a bit. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was something pretty close.

“And... Aqua.” 

I don’t know if he did this purposely, but Sean turned slightly at the waist when he said my name so that his chest was facing me.

“See you around.”

He almost made it sound like a question. 

I honestly can’t remember what I said. Probably just “yeah.” Nothing memorable, witty or cute, that was for sure.

When the guy had left, I asked, “Who was that and why did you make him talk to us?”

Elliot gave a heartfelt chuckle as she flicked on the lights to her shop.

“That was Sean Mori. Sorry, but I absolutely could not help myself. He’s hilarious and adorable and I had a sneaking suspicion that meeting you would get him to say something other than, ‘Uh hey.’”

For a second, Elliot embodied Sean’s particular flavor of spacey-hot-mess when she imitated him. Then the designer broke character and flashed me a sly grin. “Turns out I was right.”

I scoffed as I followed Elliot to the checkout counter and leaned on the corner while she set up the register.

“Please. He didn’t even smile. He was totally checked out with both of us.”

Elliot snickered and shook her head, but she didn’t try to prove me wrong. 

“What is up with that guy anyway?” I said, thinking back to Sean’s lean muscle definition. He wasn’t a Greek god or anything, but… I liked what I saw. “I mean, who were we talking to just now?” 

“Well, Aqua, if the rumors about this place are true,” Elliot closed the register and sighed, “then you just met our resident ghost buster.”

[bewitched-forest]

Formula for a Crime Scene - Ch 7

Circumstances leave Artemis Fowl and Danny Fenton living in Gotham to attend Gotham Academy with Damian Wayne. More circumstances lead to the three boys becoming unlikely friends, and eventually something more. Now the three must navigate a world of superheroes, fairies, and ghosts together.

The worldbuilding of this fic was co-written by my friend, @half-dead-ham, and myself! They will be posting their own Crime Scene fic that will have similar plotlines, as we made them together! So behave!

[Ao3 Link Here]

} ~ – ~ {  

Damian Wayne experiences his second day of the school year.

} ~ – ~ {  

Damian stalked into his first period, plopping down into his desk. He was still seething from dinner last night with Fowl. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Fenton pick up his head.

“You okay, dude?” asked Fenton.

Damian shot a glare towards him. “It doesn’t matter to you.”

“Well actually it does matter to me because I’m right next to you and I swear you could be on fire with how pissy you’re being,” Fenton sasses right back.

Damian whirled around to face Fenton, sending his best death glare. His eyes squint more when he sees Fenton not even flinch at it, just looking bored. “It would be in your best interest to keep to yourself, Fenton.”

Fenton raised his hands in surrender, shrugging. “Fine. Whatever. Be that way. I know when I’m talking to a brick wall,” Fenton said calmly as he turned away from Damian.

Damian crossed his arms as he went to glare at the board. As much as he would like to serve Fenton a well earned punch, to do so now would certainly get him in detention. And that would likely result in Father benching him for a week.

And with Fowl now living in the manor, he was in no position to be kept away from the BatComputer for the next couple of weeks.

The whole thing still boggled him. Dick gave him a lecture on how it was rude to research their guest, and Drake told him that Fowl had a point on him only being brought under suspicion because his family was unable to handle the business so he had to.

Damian would think being part of the Bat family would’ve led to his brothers standing to be more suspicious of strangers.

Damian huffed, shifting to pay attention to class as his teacher started. Throughout, he makes sure to correct the teacher on their falsehoods, which he just ignores. When class is over, he gets out quickly and heads to his next one.

Eventually, lunch comes around. He gets his tray before locating Jon. The two head out to the bleachers, sitting down to eat their lunch. Technically, they were supposed to stay inside for lunch, but Damian didn’t care.

“Have you made any friends yet?” asked Jon.

Damian squinted at him. “No. I don’t need to.”

“Come on Dami, More friends are fun! There’s this one kid in my Chem class who’s super funny.” Damian just raised an eyebrow at his friend, who ignored it as he continued. “The kid's name is Danny. He’s kinda weird but super funny. Apparently he’s new.”

Damian blinked. “Wait. Danny Fenton?”

Jon lit up, smiling at Damian. “Yeah! Do you know him?”

Damian scowled. “Fenton is the fool who stepped in with Harrison yesterday. Then he tried to talk to me in World History class this morning.”

“Huh. With his weird heartbeat I thought he would probably avoid stuff like that.”

“Weird heartbeat?”

“Yeah! Dad said some people have weird heartbeats cause of heart problems so those people tend to be extra careful to not make them worse.”

Damian hums, returning to his meal as he thinks.

“Hey, have you heard that there’s a junior who apparently moved up a grade?”

Damian raises an eyebrow at his friend. “What do you mean?”

“Yeah. Apparently there’s rumor that there’s this missing sophomore who got moved to be a junior. The guy hasn’t shown up the first two days so no one can say for sure but that’s the rumor,” said Jon before he took a bite of his sandwich.

Damian scoffed. “You ought to know better than to gossip Jon. It’s absurd the stories these ingrates twist for something to talk about.”

Jon just shrugged at Damian while he continued to eat. Damian focuses on his meal as well.

Eventually the bell rings, causing the two boys to head to their next classes. Damian gets through the rest of his classes uneventfully.

His luck would not persist after school however. Upon walking out of his final class, once he parts with Jon, he once again gets the feeling of being followed. He ducks into an empty classroom, setting his bag before turning to the door with a glare.

He watched as Harrison stalked in, a cocky grin on his face. Damian’s expression turned darker, glare amplifying.

“What do you want, Harrison?” demanded Damian as he crossed his arms.

“To get you back for last year, dickweed,” said Harrison, raising his clenched fists.

Damian rolled his eyes. “I highly doubt you learned how to fight any better since last year. Admit defeat, it’ll save you some pain.”

Harrison growled back at him. Just as he takes a step towards Damian, however, the door slammed open. Damian looked over, eyes narrowing when he saw Fenton.

Harrison turned around to face Danny, sneering at Fenton. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Fenton just blinked, failing to acknowledge the tension in the room. “I mean I’m just trying to get my water bottle. I left it here.”

Damian watched as he walked over to a desk, looking under and seeming to reach for something. Sure enough, when he comes up, he’s holding some sort of thermos. He promptly opens it, taking a swig before looking at the other two.

“Did I interrupt something?” he asks.

Harrison scoffs, storming out the room. Damian glares at Fenton.

“What did I tell you?” he snarls.

“Not to rescue you? I mean I didn’t. I just came for my water bottle. If I rescued you again, that was completely an accident,” Fenton says, shaking his bottle.

Damian sneers. “I did not need rescue, nor did you perform one.” Damian doesn’t wait for a reply, storming out of the building.

He makes it to the limo, getting in as he schools his expression. He notices Alfred glance at him through the mirror before pulling the car out of park and driving back to the manor. Damian shifts his glare ahead, preparing himself to deal with the threat living in his home.

} ~ – ~ {

Hey y’all! Know its been a hot minute since I posted the Formula chapters here on Tumblr. To be real with y’all, just didn’t have the motivation for it. I would really recommend following it on AO3 if ya could!

[sgrayonderii]

comedy of caesar

Sasusaku Month 2022, Day 9 Et tu?

To think Sakura would sink as low as him. University AU.

Companion piece/sequel to SSM22 D3: rent free

Sakura exits the auditorium calmly and naturally, arms protectively clutching her almost bursting bag, when she encounters Naruto who stands in front of her slack-jawed. 

He looks like he has seen a ghost, which is weird because they definitely had lunch at the cafeteria that afternoon. 

He looks upset. Heartbroken. 

Like he had just witnessed the biggest betrayal of the century.

“What are you doing here?” Naruto all but sobs. 

“Uh…there was a lecture series on cellular therapy?” And also there was always really good catering. Sakura tightens her grip on her bounty. 

“But…but…” 

Now Naruto really does look like he is about to cry. 

“Naruto, what happened? Are you okay?” She tries to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder without dropping all the free food in her purse. 

“I…I asked Sasuke…if he wanted to get ramen and drinks,” she could barely make out the words in between his tears, “and he said no because he was on a date!” 

—

If she had less confidence in their relationship, Sakura would have probably immediately been plunged into the pits of despair that their mutual friend was currently wallowing in. 

But Sakura and Sasuke had been going steady for the last year and a half. Or as Sasuke likes to point out, “we’ve been together for 2 years Sakura.” 

In that time, Sakura likes to believe that she has gotten a good handle on how her boyfriend (of a year and a half Sasuke-kun!) communicates. 

Sasuke is a man of few words but his blunt way of speaking and grunts have their own nuances. 

She knows that to him, efficiency and brevity are key and he doesn’t say more than he needs to. After all, he is a man who expresses himself with his actions. 

Perhaps that’s why she loves him so much.

And also why she is so annoyed she always has to pick up after him when his lack of communication gets him in trouble. 

After all, Sasuke had been under the impression that their anniversary was a full 6 months earlier than it actually is!

And despite Naruto’s claims that Sasuke was indeed doing something shady and salacious with an unknown party, Sakura had been receiving cat memes from the so-called adulter the entire time she was in the auditorium. 

When she gets back home, she of course finds Sasuke lying on her couch watching cat videos on his phone. 

Like where she thought he would be. 

“Welcome back,” He mumbles. She hears her phone chime, no doubt Sasuke sending her another cat video. “Do you need help?” 

Although he asks her, Sasuke is already taking her bag out of her hands and unpacking all the food she took from her lecture.

“Hey, we need to talk.”

Sasuke’s head snaps up. He knows that tone, it’s the one she uses when he has done something she doesn’t particularly like.

“About what.”  Is this because he didn’t go to that talk with her? Or because he sent her a funny cat meme every five minutes so that she couldn’t concentrate? Or?…

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura pauses trying to find the words. Sasuke tries not to allow the panic show in his face. “Did you tell Naruto that you were on a date tonight?” 

“Oh that.” 

“Yes that! You should have seen him! He was distraught!” 

Sasuke doesn’t seem too concerned. He is already reaching for the food. “Don’t mind him.”

“He thought you were cheating on me!” 

“He is an idiot.” 

Which in its own way, the tone of that last comment is very reassuring to Sakura. But she still has to at least make sure that Sasuke does not cause any other unsavory misunderstandings! 

She sighs, “You should just tell him you don’t want to hang out with him today. You are going to cause Naruto so much stress when he assumes stuff wrong.” 

Sasuke gives her a look. 

“I’m sure he would have understood if you just wanted to spend some time alone.” 

“Sakura,” his eyes are piercing, “he would have kept asking.”

She rolls her eyes, but Sakura still finds a comfortable spot on the couch to cuddle up next to him. 

“Plus the dumbass is much more scared of you than me.” 

—  

It is 8 pm on a Friday night before Sakura gets home. All she wants to do is shower and curl up in bed and watch true crime documentaries. 

She is about a 3rd of a way through her to-do list when her phone rings. 

Of course, it’s Ino. She glances at the time and knows that there is only one thing her best friend wants at this hour. 

“Girl! Let’s go!” Ino is likely already downtown if the pulsing club music wasn’t already a give away. “Let’s get DRUNK!”

No, how about Sakura take an 8 hour nap?

“Sorry Ino, I’m out with Sasuke right now. Maybe next time!” 

“What? UGH! Boo!” And with that Ino hangs up. 

Relieved, Sakura burrows under her covers. Sasuke, who had been in her bed since she got into the shower, curls up beside her. 

As Sakura reaches for her laptop, Sasuke rolls over to face her, propping himself up with one arm and asks “So you want to do it?” 

The way he smiles smugly at her antics and similar tactics makes Sakura want to mess with him a little. 

“Sex? Now?”

Sasuke’s ears immediately heat up. 

“What? No! I mean yes…I mean,” Sakura giggles at his flustered reaction as he continues, “do you want to go on these dates?” 

“I do.” the way Sasuke looks at her makes her warm, “but maybe later.” 

She wraps her arms around him and tucks her head underneath his chin. Sasuke responds with a peck on the forehead. “I like it here too.”

Author Note: A bit more of the University AU. Thanks for reading! :)