#Danny Fenton being creepy

[ikiprian]

Mr. Fenton is a competent teacher. Almost too competent.

If Mr. Daniel Fenton had any more than a BS (with a minor in education), Tim would’ve flagged his profile as a potential Rogue. That’s the way of most charismatic academics, at least in Gotham. (Got a PhD? Instant watchlist.) Instead, he’s Gotham Academy’s newest celebrity, as a young, passionate, out-of-towner substitute while the chemistry teacher’s on maternity leave.

Tim gets the hype. Fenton seems to genuinely love teaching, and is invested in the welfare of the student body. He hands out bananas during exam week, hosts a “study habits seminar” each month to coach effective learning strategies, and the third time Tim falls asleep in his class, he even pulls Tim aside to ask if he’s doing okay. With all the late work he accepts and the protein bars he sneaks Tim, he’s every teen vigilante’s dream teacher. He could’ve been Tim’s favorite.

In fact, Mr. Fenton was Tim’s favorite. Up until Tim walks into Mr. Fenton’s chemistry classroom for a forgotten textbook, an hour after the final bell.

On the board where tallied scores for today’s review game had been kept, “THE CHEMISTRY BEHIND DR. CRANE’S FEAR GAS: ANXIOGENICS, NERI’S, & YOU,” is now scrawled. A detailed diagram of the human endocrine system projects in front of a small crowd of adoring and attentive students.

Fenton is wrist-deep in the skull cavity of an anatomical model. A short tug, and out pops the brain.

It’s plastic. It’s fake.

Tim identifies the nearest emergency exit.

Fenton turns to the door, and in the dark classroom with the projector illuminating half his face, his eyes almost seem to flash red. “What’s up, Tim?” he asks. His friendly grin is too big for his face. “I didn’t know you wanted to join the Just Science League!”

[OR: Danny’s a science teacher at Tim’s school. Gotham’s a pretty wild place, even for someone who grew up a superhero in a ghost-infested town, so he takes it upon himself to start a club teaching kids how to manage themselves in the event of a crisis. These Gothamites are pretty hardy, but a little extra training never hurt anybody! And he suspects one of his students might be a teen vigilante, like he’d been, back in the day. As a senior super, it's Danny’s duty look out for him! Surely, this is the subtlest and most appropriate way to give the kid pointers.]

[Tim immediately assumes supervillain.]

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Mmm, Damian becomes best friends with Sam Manson and may or may not have a slight crush on her.

Damian becomes very concerned however when he's introduced to his friends besties via videocall. Everything was normal at first until Danny left the room and come back looking angry with his eyes glowing a Lazarus green.

Damian (and unbeknownst to him his siblings) have begun to investigate Daniel Fenton and the city of Amity Park

Plot twist: the GZ portal is semi-sentient and doing it's absolute best to impede thier investigation

[starry-bi-sky]

Clone^2 - graveyard shift

The dinging of the door alerts Sarah of someone walking in, and she barely glances up from her phone to see who it is. It's past midnight and somehow her coworker John managed to convince her to take over his graveyard shift at their convenience store. He owes her one, because she's been standing here for an hour and nobody's come in.

Not a surprise to her - nobody likes to stay out past sundown in Amity Park, even after nearly three years of ghosts appearing all over the place.

But still, it happens sometimes. So she doesn't look up. The dinging bell just lets her know that it's not a ghost, and that's really all she can ask for. The last time she worked late and a ghost came in, she was cleaning the shelves from some weird goo for an hour.

However, the lack of footsteps in the store after a few seconds worries her enough that she forces her head to lift. And a frown weaves its way onto her face when she sees no one at the door, nor anyone in the closet aisles.

...Shit, was there really a ghost here? Can they ring door when they come in? Normally she sees them just phase right through. And normally they glow, bright and jarring that leaves a migraine building behind Sarah's eyes.

Her eyes quickly scan the shelves again, looking for anything out of place -- anyone with too many heads, or too many teeth, or snakes for hair. She's pretty sure a coworker saw that once when they were working graveyard.

But she still sees no one. Apprehension raises the hair on the back of her neck, and she straightens up from her lean against the counter. Fuuuck. Was this one of those... marshmallow ghosts? An animal ghost?

Sarah really does not want to have to fight off a three-eyed raccoon looking-thing with eagle feet. She's heard the horror stories. And there was no way to contact the Phantom or the Red Huntress to come pick it up -- and she wasn't gonna try her luck with the Drs. Fentons.

Her fingers itch for the broom hanging on the wall behind her. It probably won't do much against a mutant raccoon-ghost-monster, but it'll make her feel better.

There's a rustle and crinkle in the candy aisle, and Sarah's hands are curled around the broom before she could blink. Her heart beating in her chest. She walks out from the counter, the bristled end raised like a bat in the air as she creeps apprehensively towards the noise.

There's nothing there when she peers around the side, and the aisle shelves are tall enough that she can't see over them.

She raises the broom higher. Sarah was in softball. She could take out a raccoon-eagle-hybrid.. thing.... easily. She just... needs to pretend its a golf ball. Except golf isn't softball so that's a terrible comparison.

Oh god she was gonna get her face ripped off, wasn't she.

John so owes her one. So much.

Creeping down the aisle, she keeps her ears perked for any new sounds. But all she can really hear is the soft pop music playing on the store speakers -- chosen by yours truly from her own personal playlist -- and the hum of the freezers. Ugh. This was not good for her paranoia. Like, at all.

Sarah's down at the end of the aisle when she feels a quick set of taps on her shoulder. Her nerves are already shot, so she shrieks and whirls around on her foot, swinging the broom blindly.

Only to be met with sudden and blunt resistance. Blinking rapidly, Sarah stares up and sees a black gloved hand gripping the broom handle tightly, small white bandages peeking over the side around five fingers. Following the hand down connects it with an arm, and then a chest, and suddenly she's staring at a black hoodie and black jacket.

When she tilts her head up, Sarah comes face to face with the bone-white mask and the terrifying, unearthly green eyes of their local vigilante, the Phantom.

...Holy fuck. It was the Phantom.

He was taller than she initially thought. Was her jaw on the ground? Probably. It was flapping like a fish out of water. "I- uh, you-- buh--"

Slowly, the Phantom raised his free hand and wrapped it around the handle of the broom. Sarah watches, wide eyed still and stammering as he firmly plucked the broom out of her hands and turned to lean it against the shelves.

Something about him doing that must've kicked her brain back into gear, because the first thing that comes out of her mouth is; "Your eyes are really green."

And she was going to lock herself in the freezer in the back for that one. She feels her face grow hot with embarrassment, and the Phantom only looks at her blankly. Her eyes shift nervously. "Well, it's true."

It was! The green eyes of the Phantom was his most defining feature other than that unsettling mask he wore. Especially considering they were the same color as some of the ghosts. It was one of the many, many creepy things about the guy.

Looking at it gave her the same, faint headache as when she stared at a ghost for too long. So Sarah drops her gaze a little to avoid it.

The Phantom remains silent, but he raises his hands and signs something to her that she doesn't understand. Fuck, that's right. He didn't speak - and Sarah doesn't know any ASL.

Sarah cringes. "Sorry, I don't know ASL."

She can feel his burning green eyes boring into her, and he remains as silent as the grave as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a phone in a plain black case. She watches him turn it on -- or at least she assumes he does, there's a privacy protector covering the screen -- and type something into.

He holds it up to her face when he's done, and she squints at the screen. In the notes app, a small text reads; 'We're ready to pay.'

..Oh. This wasn't Sarah's night. Embarrassment flashes hot through her and she forces out a laugh in order to try and quell it, Phantom shoves the phone back into his pocket. "Oh! Oh, right! I'm sorry, I'll uh- get up to the front--" She stops in her tracks.

Wait. Did that message say 'we?'

She smiles nervously, tilting her head up at the Phantom as her brows thread together. "Um," she swallows dryly, "we?" Didn't... didn't the Phantom work alone?

As if startled, the Phantom jerks. And for the first time since he showed up, he blinks and turns around. Which personally, doesn't bode that well as the Phantom swivels his head from side to side like he's looking for someone.

Sarah thinks, after the Phantom stalks up to the end of the aisle and looks around, she hears him sigh. And when he walks back, he snatches the broom with an elegant twist and knocks it against the shelves.

Thud, thud, thud!

There's very, very quiet shuffling that Sarah would have missed if she hadn't been looking for it, and then silence for a few seconds, before suddenly there's a small child pushing past her side and over to the Phantom.

And in the process, scaring the shit out of Sarah.

She squeaks and jumps, nearly tripping over her own feet as the child makes a spot next to the Phantom's side. "Where did you come from?!" She says, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

The child says nothing, just stares at her through a creepy bone-white mask reminiscent of the Phantom's. Although unlike the Phantom, he was wearing some... kind of... dark red ninja outfit?

Sarah really wasn't quite sure. It was partially covered by a jacket that clearly belonged to the Phantom and with the sleeves rolled up multiple times to his elbows. The jacket alone nearly obscured the sword attached to his hip.

...Why the hell did the child have a sword.

She looks between Phantom and the child, at a loss for words. Why-- why did the Phantom have a kid with him, why was the kid wearing a mask like his.

"You have a child with you." Sarah says bluntly, her voice flat. It betrays how shocked she feels. The Phantom doesn't say anything, as she should have expected, but he does nod shortly.

The child bristles slightly, but says nothing. Part of his mouth was uncovered, and she watched it twist downward into a scowl at her. Unlike the Phantom, his eyes were not green. She couldn't see his eyes at all, actually. They were shadowed by the mask.

There's the sound of paper thwipping, and like a magician pulling out a card, the Phantom holds out a note card to her. He stares, expectantly, and Sarah reluctantly takes it.

Written in neat writing and bold sharpie are the words; "This is Wraith."

...And that's it. Sarah glances up at Phantom. Then at the supposed 'Wraith'. Then back at Phantom. "You're bringing a child with you to ghost hunt?" She asks, and okay, maybe she's not able to hide all of the judgement leaking into her voice. "And you gave him a sword?"

The Phantom stares at her blankly, or well, probably blankly. All of his expressions are unreadable with the mask he wears. But the kid, Wraith, bristles again like a stray cat. His scowl deepens, he puffs up, and he opens his mouth like he's about to say something.

...Only for the Phantom to immediately snap his hand out and cover his mouth. Wraith makes an angry sound, and Phantom drags the boy into his side, seemingly nonplussed as he twists his wrist and pulls another note card out of nowhere.

"He is perfectly capable of handling himself." The card reads, and then continues; "I would not have been able to stop him anyways. Wraith would have followed me regardless."

Did he have these prepared?

Best not to question it, Sarah decides. The Phantom has always been strange. So she just nods mutely and stuffs the two notecards into her back pocket. "Okay," she says, and moves around the Phantom. "I'll check you out up front."

[bluerosefox]

In a Single Night

I see a bunch of 'Brucie punching Vlad at a Gala because he was being a creep towards a forced to attend Danny' and bring forth Selina about to skin a creepy man with her claws after she sneaks into his fancy party hes having to steal a cat relic he has (also steals his cat as well) and finds a recently recaptured Dani (Ellie) whose forced to play the 'perfect' daughter role for the night.

Or we can have Tim overhear Vlad threatening Danny saying "Do as I say Daniel, we wouldn't want your tiny failure of a clone to destabilize do we?" And that, that sends Tim on a warpath against Vlad Masters. (Clone Rights!!!! -Tim says)

[wildestheart4ever]

My sister and fellow phan is not hung-ho about Danny possessing any type of ghostly creepiness/horror

I guess she’s firmly keeping him in the dc super hero type of disposition.

Which seems like a waste of potential.

Makes me wonder what she would think if she saw the current state of affairs in the fandom.

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC WRITING PROMPT #17

(I had this idea when I learned that there are some people who give out their phone numbers for people to give to someone who is harassing them/giving creepy vibes/or just plain not interested.

Btw, if you wanna add a ship between Danny and any of the mentioned captured vigilantes, go right on ahead! If you're not a fan of ships, that's fine too. Later!)

✦

Who You Gonna Call?

After the Anti-Ecto Acts were dismantled and the townwide internet/communications blackout is dismantled, Danny's social media for his alter ego blows up. He won't lie either, he loves the mostly positive attention whereas before he'd only been met with fear and hatred.

It isn't until he makes a post where he jokingly mentions the Fenton patented Anti-Creep Stick™ (yes it actually works on ghosts) that he gets loads of comments on how many wish it would work on human creeps giving unwanted attention (it actually does because it's literally just a baseball bat covered in anti-ghost paint, but meh) or really just have Danny himself scare away the creeps because of the whole "being a ghost" thing. Naturally, this sets off Danny's protection obsession and he decides to do something about it.

With a little help from Technus, Danny learns to manipulate and travel through phone connections and then releases a separate phone number for people to use/give away if they're stuck in an uncomfortable situation.

Here's the funny part tho.

Red Hood somehow uses the number kinda as a joke to, well, sic Phantom on the Joker while him, Nightwing, and Red Robin are tied up for another one of the clown's schemes. It works a little too well though. Turns out the Joker is wanted in the Infinite Realms for continued interference on peaceful relations between said Realms and the Living World, i.e. - terrorism. It's then discovered that Joker is in fact considered liminal by ghost standards and therefore falls under Danny, the Ghost King's, jurisdiction.

So basically, Jason calls Phantom's Anti-Creep number as a joke, Phantom actually shows up via phone connection, and all three of them wind up witnessing firsthand the Joker being dragged into a glowing green, concerningly Pit-like portal, bound in chains + kicking and screaming. Phantom even stops long enough to untie them, shake hands with a shocked Red Hood, thanks him for his help, and then leaves like it never happened.

Now. How the hell are they going to explain this to Batman?

✦

This idea has probably already been thought of before but I haven't seen it. If someone has, please direct me to it. 👀

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPXDC ~ Dead on main ~ Signs of Death

~~~Eye of Death~~~

Jason liked to think that Danny has cat's eyes. And by that Jay doesn't mean mixture of a predatory look and a cute purr of his boyfriend's core that comes with non-human being thing. Just cats have slit-shaped eyes. Danny have them too. And Todd is so into it.

Jason:

I don’t understand why he takes his eyes off me when I call him Kitty or try to catch his eye. He’s a dog lover but I didn’t think he hated cats. They’re cheeky and charming, just like him. Danny’s not embarrassed by his fangs or his white hair. So..why?

Later Sam explains to Jason that after the portal incident Danny did not immediately learn to live a half-life and for the first few days dropped dead several times.  And because she tested it using Ripault sign, the shape of his pupils ended up looking like cat's one in his phantom form.

P.S.Ripault sign - a sign of death consisting of a permanent change in the shape of the pupil produced by unilateral pressure on the eyeball.  So, a pupil  of a dead person acquires an oval shape, and in a healthy living person such a reaction is not observed. This is associated with the inevitable post-mortem drop in blood pressure and the lack of activity of the central nervous system, which manifests itself in the absence of ocular muscle tone.

Tacker adds that Danny also died with his eyes open, so in his Phantom form he barely blinks. It seems pretty creepy too everyone, well, except Jason. Thanks to Tim he used to have blank stare near him.

~~~~~~ the Lazarus heart ~~~~~~~

Team Phantom also tells him that when Danny's too focused on phantom's task (save, protect, escape) his systems just stop keeping Fenton's body alive.

No blinking and fixed pupils are the first signs Jason has learned to watch for. After that, breathing stops. Only a few times he recorded a complete cardiac arrest. After the battle with Pariah Dark, Danny passed out on the couch and lay without a heartbeat, so the blood clotted exactly where it had collected under gravity. Those cadaveric spots appeared in several places really frightened Jason. 

So during the fight his boyfriend's ghost side stops monitoring functions of his human body at all. And it doesn't help that cardiostimulation for Phantom is pointless. He died from exposure to electricity, so the generation of a signal to work the cells is now under full control of the core.

Jason fights with Danny for a long time, convincing him that he should take better care of his health. As a compromise, they decide to put several sensors on them to monitor some parameters around the clock. Jason curses that it was his idea when Batman enters their apartment at night, smashing the window. It turns out that death is still following Jason. His heart was the one that played the funeral march on the cardiogram and froze, and he didn’t even notice it.

The old man managed to break several of his ribs while doing CPR but Jason only came to life when Danny pulled the hyperventilating bat away from his body and let ectoplasm take its course.

P.S. Lazarus syndrome, also known as autoresuscitation after failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, is the spontaneous return of a normal cardiac rhythm after failed attempts at resuscitation. 

[laxxarian]

Dani is trying to convince Bruce that she already has a family but the man was unconvinced.

Being Batman, he patrols at night together with Robin and from time to time, he'd see Dani sleeping at abandoned buildings or under a bridge of some kind.

Each time he sees the girl sleeping here and there, he'd wake the little girl and convince her to at least seek shelter maybe at someone's certain house but that got Dani giving flashbacks of Vlad and his creepy way of talking.

Vlad changed and all but still creepy.

Now Dani is deciding to go back to Amity Park cuz she already has seen the parts of Gotham but before she leaves, she bids farewell to Bruce at first. Going to his mansion and all, saying goodbye and to his kids.

Saying that she's going to Amity Park to be with her family but Bruce wasn't convinced, why? Because in their data, Amity Park doesn't exist.

This whole thing is suspicious so he plans to follow the girl as she goes back home as Batman.

Dani also waited around where Batman usually patrols at night to say goodbye cuz why not? She didn't want to let the guy get worried seeing as how the man would keep trying to help her.

She didn't want him thinking that she might be dead, well, she is, but they don't know that.

So after the goodbyes and all that. Dani waits for a bus, why? She wants to experience using a public transport and because of that, Batman gets to follow the girl easily but little did he know, Dani could actually hear and see perfectly fine because of her ghost powers that Batman was following her. A bit creeped out but she understands.

The bus stopped at nowhere but home was close, Dani just needed to walk, usually she flies but a bat was following her.

Dani contacted Danny to get her and also informed him that a certain dude just won't go away.

And then blah blah blah, Batman was caught by Danny.

Danny: why are you following us?

Batman: !?

Dani: don't worry, Danny, he's a superhero too

Danny: *looks up and down* ....I see...

Batman now gets to see Amity Park and now that he knows where it is and confirmed the girl's safety. He left.

Then researched about Amity Park back at his mancave but bats themed.

Batman found out that the GIW were keeping the place a secret, not that they were doing illegal but to protect the ghosts from any other people.

After the GIW found out about Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom, they started to open their eyes and sees how good can ghosts be and is actively helping Danny now.

But Batman doesn't know such real reason and theorized they were trying to keep a meta human a secret so they could get Phantom without anyone knowing about it.

So, Batman called the young justice team to go out and investigate.

Strange things that the team found out was that Amity Parkers doesn't care about what's going on the outside of their homes and that's mostly due to ghosts and the only hero their is also a ghost. Not wanting for anymore villains, they all decided not to attract anymore people from getting here and give the Parkers more trouble.

What they also found out was that the residents may be clueless and blind at some times, they were all fascinatingly fast learners when it comes to fighting and also fleeing.

The team also gets to meet Phantom, a cheerful guy and Dani (human form) who was talking casually with him.

[clockwayswrites]

Like Betta Fish Do Part 23

Jason had a gun in his hand before he even registered that he was awake. A window closed in the living room. Gun trained on the door, Jason pulled up the security feed on his phone. The only reason he wasn’t out the door and shooting was because even his silent alarms weren’t going off. That pointed to this being an annoying sibling.

Sure enough, the camera showed Dick crossing the room. He stopped to blow a kiss at the hidden camera, the fucker, and then went to disable the alarms at the front door. Jason shoved the gun back under the bed frame and buried his face in his pillow. If his siblings were going to invade without warning, they could wait until he was actually ready to get up.

Jason got fifteen more minutes of sleep and a shower in before he was ready to brave his family.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Tim said with a pointed sip of his coffee.

He was sitting on the couch, Cass perched on the arm next to him. Dick had the other half of the couch, with an angry Damian tucked next to him, while Duke took the arm chair.

“If you wanted punctual, you should have texted,” Jason said. “There better still be coffee in the pot.”

This seemed like a coffee sort of day.

“There is, and we brought donuts,” Dick chirped. “I made sure the horde left a cake and a raspberry cream for you.”

“You are slightly forgiven for whatever the fuck is going on here,” Jason said. Of course someone had taken his favorite mug already. He settled for the one with the Shakespeare quote and added more than a splash of cream to the coffee before he went to face his siblings.

Tim motioned to the table.

The aforementioned box of donuts was there as well as a pile of tabloid papers. Jason raised his eyes at them. Huh.

“Well?” Tim asked.

“News moves fast?” Jason said with an unaffected shrug. At least seemingly unaffected. His heart was going a mile a minute it felt like. He hadn’t wanted them to know yet. He wanted more time.

But he was the one who had gone to pick Danny up. He had known that this could happen. Fuck, he should have thought about this more, he wasn’t ready. Jason picked up the top one. They were just a little side picture for that publication, but the one under it they were main page.

It wasn’t a half bad picture. Danny’s face was obscured, shot from the back as he leaned in to kiss Jason. Danny’s hands on the edge of his leather jacket were clear though, as was how nicely he fit in between Jason’s legs.

Maybe he’d keep that one.

Not that he’d tell Tim that, because, “You’re fucking creepy, Replacement. Why’d you buy all these?”

“I’m keeping track of the family! It’s what I do. Someone has to stay on top of it all.”

“Creepy,” Cass echoed, but soothed her word by pressing a kiss to the top of Tim’s head.

Tim pouted. “How long has this been going on?”

“Well see, I first realized that I liked boys when—”

“How long have you been dating Daniel Nightingale,” Tim interrupted, clearly having no mood for sarcasm today. “Or should I say Daniel Fenton.”

Huh.

“I’ve been dating Danny for about a month and a half now,” Jason said casually as he very purposefully picked a donut from the box.

“And you didn’t tell anyone?”

“I told Dick.” Jason motioned to his oldest sibling before taking a large bite of the donut. “He’s even met him twice.”

Tim sighed like he had the world on his shoulders. “I meant anyone who could actually hand PR, not make it worse.”

“I will take that as both an insult and a compliment,” Dick said. “And don’t talk with your mouth full, you’ll choke.”

Jason rolled his eyes. Like Dick didn’t all the time. He very purposefully swallowed. “We’ve only been on two real dates.”

“There are photos, Jason,” Tim said like that was a big deal.

Jason shrugged. “And that means you had to bring an entourage?”

“This is a family matter,” Tim said with a sniff. “…and they insisted.”

“I did not. I was just shoved in a car,” Duke said. He honest to god raised his hand to say that.

“Richard made me,” Damian grumbled (snootily, but it was still a grumble).

“Mhum,” Jason said and sipped his coffee. “I think we’re missing at least two family members and several side members.”

“Please, Alfred would just be trying to figure out the guy’s favorite food—”

“Anything that doesn’t try to bite back.”

Tim actually paused. “That’s concernedly specific.”

“That’s Danny for you.”

Dick covered a laugh. “Yeah, sorta is. That’s a weird fish you have, little wing.”

Various other siblings mouthed ‘fish’ in confusion. Cass just grinned. That was either a very good sign or a very bad sign.

“And Bruce? Why didn’t you just do this tomorrow at the manor?” Jason asked.

“Bruce needs time to be prepped,” Tim said with a wave of his hand, “Or he’d osculate between relentless questions and staring at you with big watery eyes of joy. It’s best if I give him a dossier first, ideally one that has an answer about this name change. The less he has to be concerned about the better.”

Jason exchanged a look with Dick. Well that certainly wasn’t happening in full. That coffee wasn’t sitting so well anymore. “I blame you, Dick, for the way Tim turned out. I was busy being dead and dubiously brainwashed.”

“Oh no, he came to us like this, I don’t take any of the blame,” Dick said.

Tim was pouting again. “I’m just trying to protect the family! Why is that so bad?”

“Caring creepy,” Cass said with a little nod.

“Yes! I mean no, I’m not being creepy! It’s publicly accessible information… mostly.”

“Tim,” Dick started, “have you been—”

A knock at the door cut the question off and everyone’s head turned to the noise. They were like a pack of meerkats, Jason thought, as he headed that way. Pack? Herd? Jason glanced at the video feed and lamented the timing of it all.

Which really was very Danny; the fish had the worst timing.

Jason opened the door with a sigh.

“Hey! Hold this, breakfast burritos,” Danny said, shoving a plastic bag Jason’s direction before he started working on untangling his scarf. “Picked them up from that little corner place you showed me a few weekends ago. Don’t worry, remembered the extra house hot sauce.”

The scarf seemed to have basically tied it self in a knot and Danny frowned down at at it. He shoved his coffee cup at Jason too as is words turned into an odd mix of absent minded and rushed. “But thought that would be nice. There was something I was going to… Oh! So I was reading this article, which is actually a little old, but it’s so cool! And about trilobites! Which you know, now I have to read it, right? So they actually had no idea how trilobites had sex cause, you know, ancient dead bugs, but then they found this pair that was killed and fossilized while mating. Which like, one, what a way to go, and two, what are the odds! And it turns out it’s not far off from horseshoe— ah-ha! Take that scarf!”

Danny pulled the length of red fabric off, looked up to the living room full of wide eyed siblings, and froze.

“Danny?”

“You have people over?” Danny squeaked.

“Against my will,” Jason said. “My siblings invaded.”

Dick waved.

“Siblings, right, I’m just going to…” Danny took a step to the left, effectively hiding himself behind Jason’s back.

Jason felt Danny’s head impact against him and had to hold back a laugh, but knew he had no hope of stopping the smile that spread across his face. Jason ignored whatever Tim’s soft little ‘huh’ was about. “You okay back there?”

“Am I okay— why didn’t you stop me?” Danny asked, his morose words muffled by Jason’s shirt. “I was just going on!”

“Mhum, about trilobite sex.”

Danny whacked Jason’s arm hard for that, and this time Jason couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“Adorable,” Cass cooed.

“Come on, this just means that they know that you’re a huge nerd already. It’s not like you were going to be able to hide that from anyone for long,” Jason said.

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t. Come on, stop being a prickly puffer fish,” Jason said, shifting slightly to figure out the best way to reveal Danny. “You can’t hide behind me forever.”

“No I’m just going to sink through the floor out of embarrassment.”

Jason was afraid that Danny might actually go through with that so he gentled his tone. “Come on, fish, It’s fine. Tim is a complete nerd. And Damian, for all his bite, is an art nerd.”

Damian bared his teeth. “I will stab you.”

“There’s the bark,” Jason said, unconcerned. “Duke is a dork and you’ve met Dick. Cass is actually cool, but she already said you’re adorable so you might just have to put up with being hugged a lot from her. Besides, they’ve already seen you and they’re my family, there’s no getting out of this long term.”

It had gotten so quiet in the apartment Jason swore he could hear Danny’s heart thudding, or was that his core?

Eventually, Danny loosened his death grip on Jason’s shirt, took a deep breath, and stepped out to stand beside Jason.

“There you are,” Jason said and dropped a kiss to the crown of Danny’s head. “Everyone, Danny. Danny, that is Duke, Cass, Tim, Dick you know, and Damian. He really does bite so maybe don’t sit near him.”

Damian sniffed. “He is lying. I prefer bladed weapons and I was frisked before abducted to come here.”

“Um, hi? Please don’t attack me, I’m still being trained with a xiphos, I’m not going to be a challenge for you with a sword,” Danny said. He sat dutifully in the chair that Jason has brought over from the kitchen table and set near the other living room furniture.

“You’ve trained in the blade?” Damian asked, actually looking interested.

“Training,” Danny reiterated. He accepted his coffee back from Jason with a slightly strained smile and clung to it like a lifeline. “But yeah, I’ve had some lessons. Mostly it’s been a dory though, outside of hand to hand. My teacher prefers the spear. She, ah, likes the reach it gives her, not that she really needs any help in the reach department.”

“We should spar,” Damian decided with a little nod.

“No stabbing my boyfriend, demon brat,” Jason said as he pulled over a chair for himself. He broke off part of the cake donut and handed the rest to Danny who took it with a pleased noise.

“So, you prefer Danny?” Tim asked with an all too innocent expression. At Danny’s nod he added, “And is it Nightingale or Fenton?”

Danny stiffened. “Well, considering I legally changed my name the day I turned eighteen, I think it can be pretty clear I prefer Nightingale.”

“But Fenton…”

“Is my parent’s last name, yes. Look, I’ll be blunt,” Danny started. There was that resigned note to his words that Jason had come to hate. He slipped his hand into Danny’s, rubbing his thumb along the lines of the back of Danny’s hand. “My parents love my sister and I, I know that they do. But that love isn’t enough to see us past their work. They’re… obsessive, to be polite. We were always last. So once we decided to move on, it wasn’t too hard to actually do so. My sister changed her name when she turned eighteen and I did the same when it was my turn. I moved out as soon as it went through. I don’t hate them, I don’t feel strongly enough about them to hate them anymore.”

Tim winced at the words. The neglect clearly hit one of Tim’s own sore spots, but Jason couldn’t muster up any sympathy for him. It severed Tim right for starting this whole conversation.

“Was that… a fight?” Dick asked. He always put such a weight in names.

Danny just snorted, softly. “It took them three months to even notice I’d moved. So no, not really. I still don’t know if they’ve caught on to the name change. We don’t really talk.”

“How did you end up in Gotham?” Duke asked, eager to change the conversation.

“Oh. Well, I’d been doing gen-ed through an online community college. I was getting done with them so applied to some scholarships. I’m actually here on a Wayne Inventors’ Scholarship, which is, ah, a little awkward now,” Danny said with a little wave at all of them, “all things considered.”

“It took him a really long time to put together who I was,” Jason said. “I thought he knew, but nope.”

“Look,” Danny said defensively. “I actively try to avoid the lives of the rich and famous after my Godfather.”

Jason raised a brow and made a mimicking motion to the room. “Yeah, how’s that working out for you?”

“Badly. I’m clearly cursed.”

----- AN: And then Danny proceeded to be beat soundly in Mario Kart/Party. He did hold his own in Smash though.

I am very sleepy, but have some fish! Stay delightful, darlings.

[amaramizuki666]

Dp x DC crossover

So Danny moves to Gotham for college and ends up in almost all the same classes tim is in. Danny also cant catch a brake from ghost issues while in Gotham.

__________________

Tim stared at the boy in the seat in front of him. Daniel 'Danny' Fenton, majoring in criminal justice, and astrophysics. He was 5'5, had black hair, blue eyes, and was covered in freckles.

The reason tim was so interested in the guy was (no not because he had a crush. SHUT UP JASON!) Danny always looked like he'd drop dead at any moment. His eye bags where worse than Tim's own, and his skin was deathly pale. Tim swore sometimes he saw Danny's lips turn blue.

And danny constantly falling asleep in class certainly didnt help his worrys. The reason tim was stareing at danny now was because tim noticed a bruise around Danny's wrist in the shape of a hand. Was someone hurting Danny? Tim wasnt sure but he was going to find out.

The bell rung and danny left the room, tim waiting a few moments before following him. Was tim stalking his classmate? Mabey. But not like in a creepy way hes just worried.

It's totally not creepy at all to follow your unsuspecting classmate who you have only had a handful of conversations with into a dimly lit, empty library. Right?

Tim waited only a few moments to follow danny through the dubble doors of the library sticking low and to the shadows (which clinged to him to help conceal him). He looked around for a moment till he spotted danny in one of the darker corners, facing away from him.

He got closer and noticed glowing blobs of light , green, Lazarus green light floated around danny. "You know I thought when I moved here I could stop the whole sleepless nights thing, but nope instead I'm dealing with even more ghost shit." Tim heard danny rant quietly and watched one of the blobs come out of his sleeve wrapping its tail? Around his brused wrist.

"At least I have you guys" Danny's voice carried a gentiles, one tim hasnt heard from the boy. (Tim oh so wished danny would use that voice with him. NO NOT BECAUSE HE FELL HARDER THAN THAT TIME DAMIAN CUT HIS CORD SHUT UP JASON!).

Tim felt like he was intruding, even though his brain begged for him to dig into danny and learn all he can about him and what the hell was happening, he also didnt want to disturb this moment of peice.

Tim took a step back ready to retreat for the moment. When he stepped on a stray pencil. A creak, a loud echo of the pencil snapping beneath his boot its sent through the library.

Danny's head snaps to tim so fast hes worried the boy gave himself whiplash. Tim froze and so did danny. The stared at eachother studying one another.

Tim's breath caught in his throat. Danny's eyes where glowing a Lazarus green, his ears where pointed, and his freckles glowed like stars. Danny looked beautiful.

Danny had a awkward smile on his lips "um hi I can explain?" Danny says an anxiety filled laugh following after. "Please do" tim says.

He wont press danny for answers, he is already anxious enough, tim isnt Bruce. But he will listen to any information danny is willing to give. Which ends up being a lot. Apparently danny has a trauma dumping issue, but that's fine tim has dated worse. He did date stephanie after all.

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

Danny is missing Project

Final senior semester Mr. Lancer has his class make a story that is told through any other medium but writing.

Danny, Tucker, Sam and Dash create an unreality/arg YouTube account under Dash’s name.

They start off with Dash recording blog like post of his life as a senior in a small town called amity park (minus all the ghost fights) for a final project.

Then the real project starts with a video titled “going through my freshmen yearbook”

Where he shares fond memories he has with everyone in his class. Until he stops and pauses at the photo of Danny before chuckling awkwardly and mentioning that he doesn’t actually remember this guy and stating that he’ll see if there’s a story he’s not remembering before moving on.

The video’s start taking a turn as he starts updating his confusion on Danny Fenton as he’s been asking around and everyone has adamantly responded that there has never been a kid in that town by that name.

The thing is that Dash has physical proof that Danny grew up with him and the others.

Dash keeps delving deeper and deeper bringing out old keepsakes like old recitals and photographs and places that showed proof of this mysterious Danny.

Eventually he makes a playlist simply titled ‘Danny is missing’.

The longer he post the more he realizes that Danny wasn’t just a person in town but seemingly very important in Dash’s life.

He starts sneakily recording conversations he has with other people when he brings up Danny.

Dash gets more paranoid and starts shutting himself in and focusing all of his energy into finding out who is Danny.

Starts theorizing when Danny went missing.

And of course in the background or darkness of the videos Danny’s doing his thing and fucking with the recording or just being creepy in general.

Eventually the story plays out as so:

Dash and Danny were childhood friends who used to play in forest that connected to the back of their properties.

Eventually they had a falling out due to Danny becoming friends with Tucker, who unlike Dash had both of his parent’s approval to hang out with the local ghost hunter’s kid.

Dash became Danny’s bully through their younger years before they reconciled and became friends again and eventually they fell in love.

Dash’s dad, who Dash thought was just a deadbeat, is a bigot, who eventually found out about the boys and proceeded to brutally beat both of them Bloody.

Danny succumbed to his injuries and Dash’s father was arrested.

It is revealed that Dash has retrograde amnesia due to the incident, all his memories that he has were post incident and everyone in town decided it was best for Dash not to know the real reason he was in the hospital and focus on recovering.

Afterwards, no one knew how to break the news to him so they just kept up the charade, there was never a Danny Fenton, so there was no need for Dash to go through any misplaced guilt or grief for someone he couldn’t even remember.

Everyone got so caught up in the lie that no one really took the time to actually grieve themselves. Going as far as Burring Danny in an unmarked grave under one of the trees in the forest.

The series ends on the implications that closure is important and that sometimes the things you do to protect someone can do more harm than good.

Dash’s character ends the series with his last update where he talks about going to a city near by and checking himself into medical facility for his own well being.

To say that Mr. Lancer was impressed is an understatement.

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny slowly lowered himself down onto Luther's newest death machine thanks to his bat themed grappling hook. Making special care not to let his heart beat or his lungs take in breath lest Superman hear him and intervene, he used his intangibility to sink into the machine itself to steal its parts.

Yeah, so a full white outfit wasn't the best choice for stealth, but it was better than dressing like a traffic light. Plus the black gloves and boots made him feel nostalgic. It had been only seven months since the accident that took his life, so much has happened since then.

Biting his lip as he smiled as he began gathering up parts and wires with his intangibility and placing them into his bag. Lastly he grabbed the power source, which-surprise, surprise, is kryptonite.

After he grabbed what he wanted he quickly stuck a note on the maintenance panel of the machine for when someone opened it and discovered it now had a large hollow space, then simply sank down through the floor and flew to freedom.

Danny sighed once he was clear. Or, at least he thought he was.

"Young man." Crud. Danny turned around to see big blue floating behind him in all his red underwear glory. Great. "I believe you have something that doesn't belong to you." The Kryptonian said, looking pointedly at the large chunk of kryptonite Danny held under his arm.

Instead of an excuse, Danny got an idea. "Uh, hello? Recognize the mask?" He said, gesturing to his face.

Superman narrowed his eyes, staring at his face for a few very long seconds and just as Danny was about to cut his losses and book it out of there, a look of recognition graced the heros face. Sweet. "Thats Nightwings mask."

"Yeah. Just smaller."

Superman nodded, then asked, "Why aren't you wearing a bat symbol? I wouldn't have thought you were a thief if I knew you were working with Batman." Danny had to fight to keep his face neutral.

"I haven't decided what symbol I want on my suit yet." And that was true. Danny wasn't sure he wanted any symbol at all. The mark of the bat would mean that he belonged in the batclan, and Danny was a lone ghost. A wandering spirit if you will. He didn't belong anywhere.

Some small part of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Jazz said that might be one of the reasons he's been behaving so poorly lately, but he brushed it off. Superman just nodded sagely. Danny doubted he actually knew how Danny felt and was just nodding along to appear sympathetic. Adults lie, and they lie often. Danny kinda hated them for it.

"Well, I'm kinda on a deadline, so I should get going. Crime to fight, goth furry to annoy, you know how it is." Danny said, waving the arm that wasn't carrying the kryptonite around in the air before using it to readjust the bags strap on his shoulder.

"Alright," superdude smiled warmly, "Tell Batman I said hi." Danny grinned back at him as he jogged away, "Will do!"

That went better than expected. Thank you, Nightwing~! The boy thought to himself as he ran off into a secluded area and turned invisible and flying away.

Just imagining Supermans face if- no- when Batman finally breaks and tells the Justice League about the little menace thats been stealing all his and his sidekicks stuff for the last few weeks nearly sends Danny into hysterics.

Danny still has Robins sword mounted above the fireplace in his favorite safe house in Costa del Sol. Red Hoods "favorite" motorcycle was in its garage and Red Robins wrist computer and chest harness thing were mounded in a glass case next to the first thing he stole from them:

Batmans utility belt.

Sure, its a pain to remove all the tracking stuff from them, but man is he proud of those accomplishments.

Still. Its better to leave Metropolis after he got caught by Superman. Its only a mater of time before someone finds out about the old switcheroo he pulled at the last museum robbery and that combined with the bodies of those creepy rich guys he had killed (human trafficer buyers) well, surely Batman has noticed he had been gone for a while and would pick up on the matching M.O. in Metropolis.

Time to bounce.

[dclovesdanny]

Dcxdp fanfic recs w/ specific tropes

Also, all of these are on AO3 unless specified otherwise.

First off: Deaged Ellie\Teen Dad Danny

Since this got first place, here are three fics for this trope

My first submission for this is How To Become a Step-dad in 5 Easy Steps by CallMeStrega. It’s dead on main, with a ton of misunderstandings and pining Jason. Ellie is 6 in this fic, and it is so adorable

My second recommendation for this trope is Issues Regarding One Daniel Jonas by SIRDUCK_07. It has some dead serious, but that hasn’t shown up much in the fic yet. It delves more into how creepy Vlad is, and has twins Ellie and Dan.

My third submission is Brothers Ever After by Music_Feeds_My_Soul. It is somewhat centered around Damian and Danny being twins, but Danny being ‘pregnant’ with Ellie is a huge part of it, and it is a really good fic.

Next trope: Dimension Travel

My first recommendation for this one is Ghostly Delivery by WeirdNCrazy. It is very funny, and goes through Danny meeting all the main heroes, not just the Batfam.

My second recommendation for this trope is Danny's Accidentally Super-Inducing Adoption Chaos Filled Extravaganza! By Conartist170. Two of the tags are ‘This fic is not to be taken seriously’ and ‘Take everything with several ounces of salt’ which describes its vibes perfectly.

Next trope: Dead on Main

My first recommendation for fics of this ship is When You Accidentally Kill A Clown by SchlalensitzBucket. It’s only visible to those with AO3 accounts, but it is 100% worth it, with tons of shenanigans and shipping.

My next recommendation is Arctic Siren by Magpie_Crow. It is so cute and Danny is both androgynous and flirty as hell. Plus, something really cool happens in chapter one, leading to a smitten Jason.

Next up: Undead Dad Jason

My first rec for this type of fic is The Boy King and the Dark Knights by smallgaything. It is not only funny, but it hits you in the feels while incorporating several different tropes. Also, it’s one of the first Dcxdp fics I ever read, so it has a special place in my heart.

My second rec is Don’t Leave Me in the Dark by Astra_Nova_Kat. It has Good parents Fentons and Undead Dad, which isn’t really common, but works so well in this fic. It also has a bunch of misunderstandings, which everyone knows I adore.

And that’s all (for now). Let me know in the comments if you want more!

[luxaofhesperides]

For ghost lights prompts: eldritch/creepy/weird Danny + shy/flustered Duke + hand holding

Your ghostlights fics are giving me so much joy RN I cannot express how much, if this prompt doesn't spark a brain worm for it I get it but I'm excited to read all the others you may wind up posting

There’s a new kid at West Robinson High School. 

This normally wouldn’t be a big deal. They get plenty of new students, being an average high school; not prestigious like Gotham Academy, but not terrible like some of the schools in the lower South Side. New kids are hardly anything to make note of, but something about this student has everyone paying attention to him.

It’s not charisma. The guy doesn’t talk to anyone. It’s not attractiveness, because no one really knows what he looks like under the tattered hoodie he wears all the time. It’s not curiosity, not really, because the student body moves around him like he’s dangerous, not like they want to pry all his secrets out into the open. 

It doesn’t help that Duke sees things around him. 

He considers briefly telling someone about it, but then remembers having to argue for returning to West Robinson High School instead of being put in Gotham Academy and decides that Bruce can continue to mind his own business. It’s not like this new kid has done anything bad (yet) and Duke can handle investigating this on his own.

So he watches, catching glimpses of the new kid—Danny Fenton—in hallways during passing period, hiding away at lunch, disappearing into the streets as soon as the school day is over. They even share a class together, French Language and Culture, but Danny is always in the back corner, ignored and made invisible by everyone else. 

Well. That’s not quite true. 

There are shadowy figures that surround Danny and they never leave him alone. Even when he’s got his arms folded on his desk, head down, looking as if he’s asleep, these figures pull at the hood covering his head or reach semi-transparent hands down to pet his hair. And Danny reacts to them, lightly batting their hands away or turning his head away from them.

Duke has no idea what they are. Ghosts are his best guess, but he can’t confirm it. As far as he knows, ghosts are magic and can only be seen by magic users, which Duke very much is not. They do lead to cold spots, keeping the temperatures noticeably colder around Danny, and make the shadows darker, which only makes other students more nervous about being near Danny. 

Through his week of observing Danny, beyond the ghostly figures and visible unease he causes in everyone, what Duke learns is that Danny is lonely. 

No one talks to him. People barely look at him. Teachers avoid calling on him when they can. 

And Danny accepts it. He fades into the background, keeps out of the way, shrinks in on himself. 

No one else sees it. No one else wants to see him.

It’s breaking Duke’s heart, just a little bit.

He’s lucky that he’s not an outcast at school. With his meta gene awakening and his free hours taken up by Bats and fighting crime, it’s hard to have much of a social life, but he still has a few friends during the school hours he can hang out with. Danny doesn’t have anyone, and the more Duke sees how isolated he is, the more upset he becomes.

Which brings him to step two of his investigation: befriend Danny.

So what if he has some ulterior motives! He also just wants to give this guy someone to hang out with! What little glimpses of Danny’s face he’s able to get show him a tired teenager, worn down the way Alley kids are when they’re at the end of their rope and have nothing left to give.

Duke’s first attempts at befriending Danny fail so fast it’s almost funny. It’s as if Danny knows when someone is seeking him out, because every time Duke goes to where he is, Danny up and disappears, hurrying away and vanishing in the crowded hallways, or in the alley a few buildings past the school, or into the fucking restroom, which is always empty when Duke goes in after him. Trying to use his powers to see where Danny goes next doesn’t help either; all he sees is some glowing figure resembling Danny walk through walls, which is either due to Danny being a meta or from Duke’s powers deciding to be unhelpful.

He’s about to resort to Tim level stalking to finally have a conversation with Danny when his French teacher blessedly (and unknowingly) aids him on his mission.

“Find a partner, everyone!” she instructs with a clap of her hands near the end of class. “This is a translation project, and you’ll be doing them in pairs to check each other’s work and decide how to best interpret something into English. If you don’t have a partner in the next minute, tell me and I’ll assign you someone.”

The class is a flurry of movement just as the last word leaves her mouth, friends turning to each other or running across the room to make sure they’re partnered up before anyone else can butt in. 

No one looks at Danny. Which means Duke can just skirt along the wall of the classroom until he’s next to Danny, gently knocking on his desk to get his attention.

Danny looks up, and Duke sees a flash of blue before Danny averts his gaze, tilting his head down again. “Yeah?” he says, and his voice is much softer than what Duke imagined. He expected something hoarse and rough, a little deep, intimidating. Instead, it’s gentle and quiet and smooth. 

It’s a nice voice. It’s a shame that no one else has really heard it.

“Wanna be partners?” he asks, as if he’s offering a choice. They both know no one else is going to ask Danny, and if he wants to avoid talking to the teacher, then he has to work with Duke.

Danny sighs. “Sure.” 

And then he puts his head back down on the desk. 

Duke backs off. This is the best he’s going to get right now. Now that he’s got an excuse to spend time with Danny, he can take his time breaking down his walls and getting to know him. He watches as a figure from the usual group that hangs around Danny breaks away and gently brushes a hand against Danny’s arm. Then they turn to Duke and reach for him.

He moves without thinking, stepping out of the way. The shadowy figure fades back, almost invisible even to his eyes, and Danny’s turned his head to lay his piercing gaze on Duke.

…There’s no way that blew his cover, right? 

He didn’t just reveal one of his meta abilities from taking a single step to the side. No way. 

But Danny’s eyes are a deep blue that seem almost endless as he keeps his attention on Duke. It feels as if he’s staring into Duke, seeing more than what he wants to reveal. 

“Alright, looks like everyone’s found a partner! As you head out, be sure to grab a practice packet from my desk to work on some translation. There are due the next time we meet, and I will be handing out your individual passages once these have all been turned in.” Their teacher sets a large stack of papers onto the corner of her desk, then gets to work erasing the whiteboard just as the bell rings. 

Students grab their bags and rush to take one of the packets before heading out to their final class of the day. Duke stays behind with Danny, waiting for most of the class to leave before swinging his backpack onto his shoulder and grabbing a packet for both of them.

He hands one to Danny, who takes it with some hesitancy and a quiet, “Thanks.”

He leaves before Duke does, and though it’s only a second between his leaving and Duke stepping out the door, Danny’s already vanished from sight.

As soon as school ends, Duke heads for the Hatch, hoping a quick evening patrol will help clear his mind. It’s a quiet evening, though, so he’s left with his thoughts more often than not, staring out over the city long enough that Oracle asks him if he’s alright.

Against his better judgment, he says, “I’ve been looking into something, but I’m not finding much. Can you do some research on Danny Fenton?”

Oracle is already typing before he finishes asking. “What am I looking for?”

“Anything. He’s… strange. I don’t know if he’s a meta or just lightly haunted. But there’s something up with him.”

“Do we need to be keeping a closer eye on him?”

Duke considers. None of them ask Oracle to look into specific people unless they’re dangerous. But danger is not the sense Duke gets from Danny. It’s more like he’s hiding, shying away from the world, constantly on edge. “No. If anything, he might be in danger. Something happened to him, because no one ends up like that by living an average life.”

“I’ll let you know what I find. Turn in for the night, it’s quiet out and you’re too distracted to patrol properly.”

“You got it, O.” He salutes the nearest camera, knowing she’ll see it, and makes his way back to the Hatch to change back into civies and get started on his homework.

When he next goes into his French classroom, all the desk has been rearranged so they’re all in pairs, side by side. Already, patterns are filling up the desks, so Duke heads for the back and sits down where Danny usually hides away. He’s not here yet, which is making Duke realize that he’s never actually seen Danny walk into the classroom and head to his seat.

Did he just never pay attention? Has Danny always just slipped in unnoticed until attendance was taken? How did Duke miss that?

There’s movement in the desk next to him. Duke goes to say that he’s waiting for his partner, so please sit somewhere else, when he realizes that it’s Danny who managed to sneak in yet again.

“Hey,” he says after a moment, hoping his surprise is hidden.

There’s a pause, and then Danny returns, “Hey, Duke.”

That’s all they have time for before class is starting and their teacher goes around to collect homework. She then hands out new packets, each one a different section of L’Ecume des Jours, and gives them the rest of class to begin working on translating it. 

Duke is already dreading it as he flips through the three pages they were given to translate, stapled to each other beneath the two page instructions of how to format the final translation, how to document their previous translation drafts, and what to include in the reflection essay. 

There’s no way he can get all of this done in a week. 

On the other hand, it gives him a week to learn more about Danny. He needs to make the most of it.

“This is a lot,” he comments, hoping to prod Danny into conversation.

Danny shrugs.

“Can we work on this together after school today? Or do you have plans?”

“We can work on it today,” Danny says, voice barely louder than a whisper. He’s already scanning the pages, underlining certain words and phrases. 

Duke hurries to get to work as well, trying to parse out meaning from the text through single words scattered on the page. 

Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie, vous? 

J’apprends des choses, dit Colin. Et j’aime Chloé. 

Duke nods to himself. He definitely doesn’t know French. Well, he knows qu’est-ce que. He knows vous. He know j’apprends and j’aime Chloé. Also dit Colin. Fairly simple, but with the missing pieces to the rest of those sentences, he really doesn’t know what’s going on beyond the fact that it’s a conversation and Colin loves Chloé.

When he glances at Danny’s desk, he’s shocked to see that his partner is already translating the first few lines into something that reads like normal English.

“Oh, wow,” he says, leaning over to get a better look, “You’re definitely better at this than I am.”

“I just like languages,” Danny replies, turning his paper so Duke can read it more easily.

“Have you been hiding your French skills this entire time? I could have definitely used your help before this.”

Danny goes still for a moment, eyes flicking towards his right where a shadowy figure has placed a hand on his shoulder. Then he turns to fully face Duke and says, “Better late than never. What do you need help with?”

“Everything.”

His immediate answer makes Danny smile, and he begins talking in that soft, soothing voice of his. He talks about not trying to translate everything into English immediately, but to understand the French and take it in as a whole language itself. He talks about getting the idea of the text first, the feeling of it, before trying to fit it into English. He talks about splitting up the text into sections to make it easier.

And then he reads the text, entirely in French, and Duke did not have a thing for voices or multilingualism before this, but he sure does now.

“Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie, vous?” Danny reads, reaching the end of the first page. The syllables come to his easily, his French smooth and steady. “J’apprends des choses, dit Colin.” His eyes dart up, off the page, and fix Duke in place. “Et j’aime Chloé.”

Duke has never been happier that he doesn’t blush so visibly with his dark skin because he feels downright romanced. It’s a mix of the French, of Danny’s addictive voice, of their closeness, of how intimate this dark corner of the room feels, tucked away from the rest of the class.

“We can work on the other pages after we finish translating this one,” Danny says, leaning back at bit. 

Duke nods, swallowing to chase away the dryness of his throat. “Sounds like a plan!” 

They work in silence for the rest of the class period, and once the bell rings, Danny says, “I’ll wait for you by the bus stop down the street,” before he slips out of reach and disappears into the throng of students heading to their last class. 

He’s beginning to think that he’s in way over his head. Duke can handle being in the middle of all the action, risking his life, fighting for others. He can handle staring down rogues and criminals and Gnomon. He can’t handle feelings and romance and other such things. Those are much scarier than a criminal shooting at him. At least with the criminal, he knows what to do and doesn’t just freeze up like he did with Danny.

The school day ends faster than he’s prepared for. As promised, Danny waits for him by the bus stop down the street, where other students are also waiting. 

They don’t wait for a bus, though. Danny just meets his eyes and begins walking away, leaving Duke to follow after him, matching his pace so they can walk side by side.

The shadows in the alleyway seem to reach towards them as they walk down it. Something about it doesn’t feel right, so Duke tries to quietly use his powers and force them back. 

He only has time to think, Oh, that was a bad idea, before Danny is shoving him against the wall, getting them both out of the way as a shadow solidifies and lashes out at them. He’s kept in place by strong hands on his chest, and Danny’s eyes are glowing lightly as he hisses at the shadows, making them rear back and settle down once more. 

As if given permission to reveal themselves, more shadowy figures and strange movements in the shadows emerge, surrounding them. 

“Danny, I don’t mean to alarm you, but—”

“I know,” Danny says. “I thought you might be able to see them too. Which is not good.”

“Sorry, man, it’s not like I can turn it off.”

“It’s fine. Just be more careful. They like me because I’m like them, but you just register as a threat. Either that, or prey.”

“Great,” Duke replies weakly, “Those are my favorite things to be. Are we… are we safe to move?”

Slowly, Danny steps back, no longer pressed right against Duke. Nothing moves to attack him, but it might be due to the glare fixed on Danny’s face, eyes still glowing.

“They’ll leave me alone, so…” He reaches a hand out, looking away. The hoodie isn’t able to hide the way his cheeks go red. “Don’t let go and we’ll be fine.”

“I hope this isn’t to lead me to my doom,” Duke jokes nervously as he accepts Danny’s hand, holding it tightly. 

Danny wiggles his fingers, making him loosen his grip, and then their fingers are lacing together. Duke stares down at their hands, wide eyed, and hopes he doesn’t look as flustered as he feels. 

“Not to your doom,” Danny reassures. “Just a coffee shop I thought you’d like.”

“Well, then, lead the way!”

“Allons-y,” Danny replies. 

Stealing glances at him as they walk, ghostly figure and shadow shrinking away from them, all Duke can think is that he doesn’t need to worry about Danny being evil. His immediate instinct to protect Duke has proved that. He’ll keep the investigation going, though, to make sure Danny is safe from others that could hurt him. 

Strange and unsettling as he may be, Danny’s also a smart, kind person who deserves more.

Duke is determined to make sure he gets it.

And if he gets a crush along the way, that’s his business and his business only. 

It looks like Step Two: Befriend Danny is finally complete. He’ll figure out the other steps later. For now, he has an evening of French in a coffee shop to look forward to.

[redflagshipwriter]

TAG MASTERLIST

These are the current WIPs, with links back to the AO3 version if it's posted there.

EDIT: now includes link to tumblr masterposts! You can navigate by clicking the desired tag at the bottom of this post or by going to the masterpost.

DCU:

Nest Swap

Baby Tim wakes up in Red Robin's apartment. He has a fantastic time about it. The bats are going to have to drag him out kicking and screaming.

masterpost tag is #red nest swap

DCU/Danny Phantom:

Halfa Cass (all badass)

Cass drags Captain Marvel over to check out a creepy empty town. They find the Fenton portal. They turn the power back on to the lab while they're investigating it. They really shouldn't have.

Tumblr tag is #red halfa cass

Mama Bat

(the one where Cass adopts Danny)

masterpost

Tumblr tag is #red mama bat

The next three are on a shared masterpost- 2 Jason/Danny stories, one Damian/Danny story. Masterpost is here.

Check yes to go on a date with a dead guy.

Some villain sacrificed Batman to an unknown entity in another dimension, and the guy sent him right back with a "no thank you" pinned to his outfit. This is the funniest thing the bat boys and girls have ever seen. The robins have been sacrificing each other to the Ghost Zone for funsies ever since. One day, Jason gets sent back with a note saying that actually, Danny is interested in him, and they've actually all been relentlessly proposing to him with this bride sacrifice ritual. Oops.

Tumblr tag is #red check yes

Hot Ghouls in your Area

Jason is a little too cocky going in to shut down a cult and he winds up being human trafficked to the Ghost Zone as the ghost king's paramour. Danny doesn't have time for this, he actually wants to graduate college. They need a divorce, stat.

Tumblr tag is #red hot ghouls

DCU:

Full title: Hi, it's Tim (just Tim)

Tim gets rescued by Kon- he didn't need it, by the way. But Kon immediately has a crush on him. A crush on plain boring civilian Tim Drake. Well. If Kon is interested in Tim, surely he'd be willing to date Robin.

Tumblr tag is #red just Tim

Masterpost is here.

DCU/Spiderman:

Full title: Reassembly

Inspired by Dark Matter, Peter Parker wakes up post-snap in what the audience might recognize as uhhh an unholy experiment using Lazarus water. He escapes the facility and tries to get his feet under him in a whole new world that doesn't have a place for him.

Tumblr tag is #red reassembly

Masterpost is here.

[completelyandtotalyuneventful]

I love it when phanfics make Danny just like,,, really fucking creepy.

Everyone’s just like “yes this is Danny Fenton our schools local cryptid. He has unnaturally sharp teeth and once turned his head 180 degrees. Sometimes he forgets to breath and doesn’t have a pulse. Whenever you’re around him there’s always a faint noise of static. He interferes with almost all technology and isnt allowed in the computer lab anymore. Whenever you take a picture of him the photo always comes out distorted and his eyes turn bright green. His body is unnaturally cold, and being around him causes the temperature to drop by at least 15 degrees. He also sometimes makes things frost up. Some students think he can teleport as he always disappears and reappears all around the school. He drinks ectoplasm. Whenever he has to pee there’s a ghost attack.”

I need more fics where Danny went from scrawny nerd boy to “this kid is triggering that fear you get when you see something that LOOKS human but is just Wrong in a way you cant explain” and his classmates just decide it doesnt matter because their school gets attacked by ghosts every day so the Fenton kid who has a portal to hell in his basement isnt that important. Most of the time Danny and his weird existence get brought up in brief humor filled conversations, before the subject is dropped entirely.

But sometimes, when a school day is relatively quiet, someone will have an interaction with him that will leave them with this quiet sense of terror, a feeling that Something Is Not Right With This Guy. Sometimes people wonder what happened in that lab accident those months ago that caused Danny to become so fucked up. Sometimes you lock eyes with Fenton and realize his smile is Too Sharp and his skin is Too Pale and his pupils are oddly catlike and are his ears pointed?

But then the next day Danny trips over air and then starts rambling on about NASA, and then the lunch lady starts attacking people again so everyone has bigger things to worry about, and they all just kind of become apathetic to Fentons perpetual oddness until the next time it comes into focus.

TLDR; Danny Fenton is just an absolute creature who triggers a primal survival instinct in his peers but he’s also a complete dork so they just dont care