Latest Posts by starswhispere - Page 2

Just concepts. I was trying to write a scene and was getting caught on the logistics of it

Y'all, i have a very important question

What does "going ghost" do for Danny other than change his body from human to ghost?

Cause it's shown many times that he doesn't need to be in ghost form to use his ghost powers. Does it give him the super strength or something? Like what does it do?

Okay so it's like an energy level thing? More powerful and easier to use in one form vs the other?

Y'all, i have a very important question

What does "going ghost" do for Danny other than change his body from human to ghost?

Cause it's shown many times that he doesn't need to be in ghost form to use his ghost powers. Does it give him the super strength or something? Like what does it do?

Right and that could make sense. But I just mean, like he doesn't have to be in ghost form to use his ghost powers. So is it just him choosing to appear in one form over the other cause it helps him mentally? Or does his ghost form give him other advantages?

Y'all, i have a very important question

What does "going ghost" do for Danny other than change his body from human to ghost?

Cause it's shown many times that he doesn't need to be in ghost form to use his ghost powers. Does it give him the super strength or something? Like what does it do?

Y'all, i have a very important question

What does "going ghost" do for Danny other than change his body from human to ghost?

Cause it's shown many times that he doesn't need to be in ghost form to use his ghost powers. Does it give him the super strength or something? Like what does it do?

Oh boy, as soon as i kick this depressive episode in the teeth, this next chapter is going to be kicking.

In the meantime, enjoy this digital watercolor I did of Mel from Arcane. Shes so pretty I had to 😍

Should I be writing?

Yes, I should.

Why did I just fail my second consecutive hour of temple run 2?

Cause you're not minding your business.

Yall were not quick with this one so I yapped at a friend for three hours and he gave me something better

Quick,

I need a non awkward way to tell your mom that your best friend has moved into boyfriend status.

Quick,

I need a non awkward way to tell your mom that your best friend has moved into boyfriend status.

I've never had such a hard time writing about queers making out in my life.

guys I'm starting to really like dandash I'm actually so cooked

Chapters: 8/? Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Dash Baxter/Danny Fenton Characters: Danny Fenton, Dash Baxter, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Paulina Sanchez, Kwan (Danny Phantom), Valerie Gray, Pookie (Danny Phantom) Additional Tags: Aged-Up Character(s), on the way to college, mentions of child abuse, Mentions of homophobia, Redemption Arcs, Bisexual Danny Fenton, everyone becoming good friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Second Chances, lots of classical literature references, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst, Lots of Crying, Some hurt/comfort, almost everyone has shitty parents, More tags to come as I think of them, Suicidal Thoughts, This is heavily inspired by marichat, stealing lots of headcanons from tumblr, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, not entirely canon compliant, I stole the pieces I like and combined them with fanon to get what I wanted, this was supposed to be a slow burn, Dialogue Heavy, some spooky shit will be snuck in here, Mutual Pining, Dissection, Bad Parents Jack and Maddie Fenton, lots of astrology references, Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), horror aspects will be in here, but also cute fluff, Asexual Character, Mentions or pevious eating disorders Summary:

It's the end of senior year and Dash and Danny are having the worst time of their lives. Dash's father finds out he's queer and tries to kill him. That lands him in prison with divorce papers. Dash goes to therapy to cope and learn how to change his behaviors while taking some time off from school. He now needs to learn how to navigate the world and figure himself out. Danny fears he'll never figure out what he wants for his future beyond being the hero of Amity Park forever and he's running out of time to figure it out as he watches everyone he knows move on without him. Plus there are always the people hunting him down that he has to worry about on top of that.

The ghost zone was nothing like he had expected it to be. He'd thought maybe it was a mirror reflection of their world or some spooky alternate-dimension graveyard, maybe some sort of Area 51 situation. It was way brighter than that; a void of black with glowing currents of swirling green light. There were doors floating in the air- he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating them. The ground his feet landed on wasn't quite solid, more like a firm jello and he was a little worried it might open and swallow him whole. It was a rock path that twisted away into the darkness, occasionally branching off to floating islands.

Danny yanked him forward, his grip nearing painful as he dragged him up the path. He stumbled after him, his mind racing with about a million questions he was almost too hesitant to ask. Danny was walking fast, his movements stiff; he didn't want to ask anything stupid and irritate him when he was already on edge.

A pit of guilt tumbles around in Dash's stomach. It was true that he had almost no idea what he was doing when fighting ghosts- he'd had a little bit of practice the few times he'd teamed up with Danny in their earlier years of high school, but he'd been so focused on not dying that he hadn't learned much- and he was probably going to be a weak spot for Danny. But if that was what was keeping Danny focused on not throwing himself into direct danger, then so be it.

The silence and Danny's tense aura grew unbearable after only a few minutes. He took a breath and gently tugged Danny's hand to get his attention. "What are the doors for?"

Danny glanced back, stopping in his tracks. One look at Dash and he knew he needed to calm down; he looked like Valerie had her first time in the ghost zone, terrified (unlike Val, he had an underlying sense of awe shining in his eyes). He was still clinging to his backpack and Danny's hand like his life depended on it.

Danny closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. Dash was right; his anger made him abandon caution and put the people he cared about in danger. He couldn't count the many times Sam and Tucker had made that same argument with him. And here he was scaring Dash more than he needed to. It wasn't very hero-like of him. He opened his eyes to see Dash looking more visibly relaxed.

"I didn't know you could be so scary," Dash breathed, more curiosity in his voice than fear.

Panic crawled up his spine. "Scary? I thought you said I wasn't scary." Scary was treacherously close to evil; scary pushed people away. Scary was dangerous. That was the last thing he wanted.

Dash nodded a strange look on his face. "You don't feel scary. You still look scary. But whatever happened back there changed something. That was probably the most terror I've ever felt from a ghost. I mean-" Dash let the air whoosh from his lungs, a half smile on his lips- "You didn't look even remotely human for a minute and it- are you okay?"

It was hard to breathe past the lump in his throat; the ground under him was freezing, ice forming over the gaps in the rocks. Memories of his future self and his serpent tongue clawed their way through his mind. "Um, I, that's-" He let go of Dash's hand, his throat dry and tongue heavy. He gripped his hair, tugging, desperate to get his panic under control. "That's not good. I'm supposed to be human. Human is what keeps-" He choked on the rest of his sentence.

Dash reached out, gripping his shoulders and rooting him to the spot. The timbre of his voice was comforting; Danny wanted to drown in it, drown so far that his anxieties couldn't catch him. "It wasn't a bad thing, Danny. I'm glad you showed up when you did. I'm glad to have scary on my side."

Danny shook his head, denial coursing through his veins. He liked being scary and that was far worse than simply being scary. That kind of rush was something he couldn't give into, no matter what reassurances Dash could give; he knew where it led. "Yeah," he huffed. "Til it's not on your side."

Dash's hands trailed up the sides of his neck, leaving calming shivers in their wake, and came to rest on his cheeks, forcing him to look him in the eyes. Dash's eyes were so confident and… and something that Danny thought might be familiar but he couldn't place it. "Not gonna happen. With how worried you are about this, there's no way you'd let it happen. Scary isn't inherently evil. Sometimes it's hot- cool, sometimes it's cool."

Danny chuckled at Dash's slip-up, resting his forehead against his and matching his breathing until he was calm again. Maybe he was right; as long as he was checking himself and only channeling his powers in the right ways, he could stow some worry away. He rested his hands over Dash's and forced a small smile onto his face. "You think me being scary is hot?"

Dash wanted to kiss him.

He wanted to kiss him so badly.

His thoughts should have been elsewhere, like helping Danny through his panic or maybe watching for ghosts in the ghost zone. But some dumb part of him thought maybe he could kiss that stupid idea of him turning evil out of his pretty little head. He wanted to kiss him until he understood just how good he was.

But, if he was being genuinely honest with himself, he just wanted to kiss him. Plain and simple. He'd been thinking about it nonstop the last few days, the feel of Danny's lips on his; oh, how he wanted it to be real this time, for Danny to kiss him because he wanted to, because he liked him, and not because it was his only option for survival. He wanted Danny to want him; to want him despite their history, despite him being ace, despite everything. He'd never wanted anything more in his entire life. And he couldn't help thinking that if they were in a romance movie right now instead of a horror one, they'd be kissing already. And maybe, if he wasn't ace, this was the part of the horror movie where they snuck off and got killed because fooling around was more important than surviving. He kind of understood those characters right now, being in love was something worth dying for.

His eyes fell to Danny's lips- his fangs peeking out from under his grin- and resisted the urge to pull him down right then. Briefly, he thinks a younger him would have been pissed at Danny being taller, but now, well, he didn't mind having to stand on his tiptoes. "Would that be so wro-"

"Look at these two lovebirds~!" A woman's voice cooed.

Danny shoved him behind him so fast he swore he got whiplash. Danny glared at the approaching ghosts. They were riding a motorcycle and Dash was sure he recognized them; he just couldn't remember their names.

"What do you two want?" Danny spat.

"Woah, touchy!" The man, who looked more than just a little scraggly, whistled as he pulled up next to them. "What's got your undies in a twist, kid?"

"You," Danny hissed under his breath.

"Oh, you're just embarrassed to be caught making goo-goo eyes at your boyfriend in the middle of the zone." The woman teased, leaning against the man's back.

"This is hardly the middle of the zone, Kitty. What are you two up to so close to the portal?" Danny crossed his arms like a disapproving parent.

Dash remembered; Johnny and Kitty were two ghosts who'd caused a lot of trouble near the beginning of the ghost attacks. Paulina held a particular distaste for Kitty. He hadn't seen them lately, or maybe he just hadn't seen them causing trouble.

"Us?" Johnny feigned ignorance, placing a hand against his chest. "We're not up to anything, just out for a drive. Ya know, seeing the sights, stretching our legs, the like."

Dash fidgeted; these ghosts didn't give off a scary aura, but they still made him uneasy, especially the shadow twisting under their bike. He really wished Danny hadn't let go of his hand; without it, he felt like he would go toppling over the side of the path and fall eternally into the void around them. He took a small step closer to Danny, hoping the ghosts wouldn't sense his fear.

"Do you actually expect me to believe that?" Danny snorted.

Johnny rolled his eyes and slumped against the handlebars; the shadow under him seemed to mimic his exasperation. "Oh, come on, Your Highness, we were just gonna drive around the canyon a little and come right back. No trouble-making, honest."

Danny's shoulders lost some of their stiffness. "If I hear you caused even an ounce of trouble-"

"We'll be good, we promise." Kitty held her right hand up like she was swearing an oath in court.

Danny sighed. "Fine, I'll be back in two hours, you had better be back before me or-"

"Or you'll kick my ass, yeah, yeah." Johnny grinned, revving his motorcycle. "See ya later, kid!" He popped a wheelie and sped off toward the portal, Kitty waving goodbye over his shoulder.

Dash let the tension fall from his shoulders. "I thought you kept ghosts out of the human world?"

Danny shook his head and continued down the path. "Ghosts get restless and restless ghosts cause trouble. They just want to feel alive again. And those two have chilled out enough in the last few years that I trust them not to cause issues. I just hope my parents don't catch them."

Dash refrained from reaching for his hand, twisting his fingers in the straps of his backpack instead. He cleared his throat, not liking the deafening silence around them. "So, about those doors?"

Danny turned, slowing his pace to walk next to him again. "Every ghost has one, it's like their own personal afterlife, a world just for them. Most of the ghosts in the zone are content with their 'rooms' and never feel the need to leave. That's why it's so empty out here."

Dash nodded. "So, when I die, I'll get my own little door?" He thought that was kind of nice, knowing what happens after. It didn't seem as scary.

"Yup."

"Do you have a door?"

Danny liked Dash's questions. They were always genuine, no hint of disgust or distrust in them. Right now they were keeping him from going on a panic-induced rampage at Vlad's house. It also meant that Dash wasn't panicking himself. He was glad; he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle Dash's panic on top of all his whirling emotions and trying to talk his ghost half off the ledge of protective murder.

"I'm not sure. Probably, I've just never looked. I'm not really dead yet and I like it better out here. I could always ask, I guess." They were walking past one of the jungle islands. Danny kept his eyes peeled for Skulker.

"Ask who?"

"Clockwork. He's basically the god of time, he knows everything there is to know about the zone." Danny took a deep breath despite not needing it in this form. "He's also the reason I'm not evil right now."

Dash raised an eyebrow at him. "The god of time casually cherry-picked your future? And you can just ask him whatever question you want? Just like that?"

Danny smiled wryly. "Yeah, it's a long story. I can tell you all about it once we're sure Vlad isn't-"

"Danny!" Youngblood's voice shouted from the island ahead of them. He was dressed in his pirate outfit, the ship a few feet behind him. Ember, also in her pirate fit, was playing a sea shanty on the ship behind him. "Are you here to play pirates with us?"

Dash grinned at him. "You play pirates with the ghost kid?"

Danny's face burned; he resisted the urge to cover his cheeks when he noticed Dash looking at him. "Not always, sometimes it's astronauts." He turned away to shout ahead. "Not right now. I'm on a mission."

Youngblood perked up. "Like a super secret spy mission? Can I come?"

Danny shook his head. "Not this time."

"Ugh," the kid whined, throwing his pirate sword down. "Why does your stupid human boyfriend get to go and I don't?"

Dash slyly glanced at him and Danny suddenly wished the ghosts didn't like to tease him as much as they did. He'd rather explode than have to explain to Dash why they keep referring to him as his boyfriend. "Because we're going to Plasmius' place."

Youngblood's face fell, eyebrows pinching. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Hey, Dipstick!" Ember greeted, interrupting them. "Frostbite's been looking for ya."

Danny cringed at the nickname. "Thanks, we'll stop by on our way back."

She popped a bubble of gum- where she'd gotten gum, he had no idea. "Back from where?"

"He's taking his stupid, weak, fleshy boyfriend to Plasmius'." Youngblood huffed.

"Hey!" Danny snapped.

Ember eyed Dash. "Weak?"

Dash blushed but said nothing; he frowned at Youngblood.

"Do you have a death wish?" Ember continued.

"No. He's in Amity Park, we're just making sure he's not about to destroy the world again." He shuffled his feet, eyeing the path. He should just walk away.

"Like when he released Vortex to try and woo your mom away from her anniversary trip?" Ember sneered.

"Yeah, exactly that."

"Will you and your boyfriend play pirates when you come back?" Youngblood asked, picking his sword back up.

Danny stubbornly avoided Dash's eyes. "We'll see. Ember, would it kill you to stop spreading rumors?" He regretted not flying through here. Yes, he needed his arms free to protect Dash, but they could have been at the portal by now which was probably not only safer but also would have saved him a lot of embarrassment.

"Aw," Youngblood huffed. "We'll see always means no!" He skulked off to the ship, hacking a few branches down on his way.

Ember shrugged, a teasing grin on her face. "It might. Who said they were rumors though?"

Danny swallowed his nerves, staring her down. "You know they are."

A challenge flared in her eyes as she glanced at Dash, who stiffened from the sudden attention. "Are they?" She sauntered over to Dash, slowly, giving Danny time to admit that she was right. She reached a practiced hand out, trailing a single, taunting finger down his bicep. He flinched at the contact.

"Weak my ass." She slurred, her voice sultry on purpose. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Danny crossed his arms, frowning, refusing to take her bait no matter how much it made his skin itch. Dash's eyes flicked to his, pleading.

"Um, I volunteered at one of your concerts a few years back." He took a step away from her. She circled him like a vulture, her hands all over him, the feather on her hat brushing his chin.

His blood boiled, urging him to step in and protect. He flashed his eyes at her. Just because he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of being right, didn't mean he couldn't give her a warning. Dash squirmed, trying to pry her hands off.

"Would you volunteer to do other things with these muscles?" She squeezed his arm.

Dash's face twisted up in disgust. "Um, I'm not-"

Danny stormed over, the comment enough to tip him over the edge, and wormed his way between them, aggressively removing her hands. "Okay, okay, back off!"

Ember's grin stretched across her face, triumph oozing from her fangs. "Rumors are always based in truth."

"Wouldn't your boyfriend be upset if I told him you were flirting with humans?" Danny grumbled.

Ember shrugged, already turning her back and waving. "Later, Dipstick."

Danny flipped her off, grabbed Dash's hand, and yanked him down the path. He was looking forward to taking his anger and embarrassment out on Vlad's house.

"She's pleasant," Dash mumbled. "Hey, why do all these ghosts think I'm your boyfriend?"

"Because they love to tease me, call me names, whatever they can to bother me 'cause they think it's funny. Sorry that she targeted you." Danny could see the branch off to Vlad's house up ahead.

"Names like Your Highness?" Dash bumped his shoulder playfully.

Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Johnny just knows I hate the title. But he's not the only one who teases me like that. You should hear how Technus talks to me. It's so much worse in his accent."

"The title? Like an actual title?" Dash blinked at him. "You're like a ghost king?"

Apprehension coiled tight in his muscles. He hated when people found out about this part; Tucker still hadn't let it go. "No, um, after defeating Pariah Dark I should have been crowned by right of succession or whatever. But, I didn't want that responsibility and the ghosts here have been governing themselves just fine while he was asleep. I refused the coronation and left Clockwork and the Observants in charge like they've been. But, I'm still technically the heir to the throne. They call me in to make a few decisions from time to time, but there's not much else I do."

Dash tugged his hand, a small, playful smile on his face. "Forgive me, I had no idea I was in the presence of a prince." He bowed low, dramatically, maintaining eye contact. He guided Danny's hand to his lips. "Apologies, Your Highness."

Danny's heart nearly leaped out of his chest. The air left his lungs in a whoosh as Dash pressed a kiss to the back of his knuckles. He was hallucinating, that had to be it. No way a few comments and weird behavior from some ghosts had made Dash this brave.

A nervous giggle bubbled up his throat, his entire body suddenly feeling very warm, and he jokingly shoved Dash's shoulder, untangling their fingers and cradling his hand to his chest. "Oh my god, you're worse than them! I shouldn't have told you shit!"

Dash chuckled, a pretty red painting his face. "Old habits die hard, I guess."

Danny rolled his eyes and started walking down the path again- like the faster he walked the faster he could leave these fluttery feelings behind. "C'mon, Val's going to kill me if we waste any more time."

He turned around, making sure Dash was actually following him.

A satisfied, glowing smile curled onto Dash's lips. "Don't worry, I'm right behind you."

The air in Vlad's house was still, quiet and stale. There was a single security light illuminating the lab; the machines casting long, twisting shadows across the tiled floor. The tools on the table glinted ominously in the dim light; Danny gave them a wide berth as he crept into the room, alert for danger in any form it might take. He couldn't hear much beyond the hum of electricity and Dash's breathing.

He motioned for Dash to stay near the portal as he checked behind every piece of equipment he could find.

Nothing.

He floated over to the stairwell, listening for any sign of life in the main part of the house. Only the creaking of a settling house answered him. Once he was sure it was safe, he waved Dash over to the computer. "Okay, I'll see if there are any weird experiments lying around, you check the computer. If you see anything strange or dangerous in any way, let me know immediately. Be careful."

"You too," Dash whispered back as he eased into the dusty computer chair.

Danny examined the array of experiments and tools lining the table; it almost mirrored his parents' lab and he had to wonder if Vlad came up with these on his own or if he'd stolen the blueprints from his dad. They had all worked together once, so as much as he hated to admit it, some of these were probably his own inventions. Some of the tools were crusted in a thick green substance; he kept his distance, not wanting to know if it was ectoplasm or Fenton Venom.

"Happen to know his password?" Dash whispered.

Danny groaned. "Uh, try Maddie Fenton or ILoveMaddieFenton. Anything along those lines."

Clacking noises rose from the keyboard, followed closely by a snort from Dash. "I cannot believe that worked."

"Unfortunately, I can."

They froze as a dull thump echoed from upstairs.

"What was that?" Dash hissed, standing from the chair.

Danny put a finger to his lips, creeping back over to the stairwell. Again, a dull thump, like someone closing a door.

"Stay here."

"What?" Dash jerked his head. "No, what if-"

"Dash, I'm not arguing with you. Stay here, stay hidden."

"But-"

Danny flashed his eyes at him, feeling the slightest twinge of guilt. Dash flinched, taking a step back. He narrowed his eyes and huffed at him before plopping back in the chair. He was pouting. Danny shook his head and tiptoed up the stairs, eyes and ears peeled.

The library was just as impressive as ever, almost as impressive as the cobwebs now decorating some of the shelves and corners. The computer in here was covered in a dusty, dust cover, untouched. Even the statues on the mantle had a thick layer of dust; Vlad hadn't been home in some time, odd for a man who valued his material possessions as much as he did.

The only light in here came from the moonlight shining in through the windows. He stepped into the room, raising his hand to illuminate the space. The only shadows he saw were from the bookshelves.

A small wisp of cold breath fell from his lips and he had only a moment to duck before a blast of ice slammed into the wall behind him, the shards clattering to the ground in a small symphony.

He turned invisible, getting rid of the light, and hid behind a bookshelf. His heart hammered against his ribs, he glanced at the stairs. Thankfully, it looked like Dash had listened to him and not followed him up.

Silence encompassed the room.

He couldn't tell where the blast had come from; whoever had shot it was invisible. He slunk along the shelf, peeking between the books, searching for any sign of movement. The smell of ozone and snow lingered in the air as the temperature continued to drop. Whoever they were, they were powerful; he could practically taste the electricity crackling in the air. It popped along his skin, tempting him to react with his own. But he couldn't give his position away until he was safely out of reach of the lab.

He crawled up the side of the shelf, pressing low against the lintel. He slithered over the bookcases, twisting his way through the darkness as a faint glimmer shone from the doorway across the room. The itch to pounce burned under his skin. He stilled, his ghostly tail coiling around a nearby pillar. The light bobbed, an angler fish waiting just beyond. He could play this game, send a duplicate to attack, draw them out, and-

A loud thump rang, followed by a quiet curse, at the top of the stairs.

Danny whipped his head around to see Dash leaning against the wall, holding his foot. Panic pierced his heart, his veins running cold; a spark of green ignited where the light had been.

He launched forward, his claws gouging the wood of the cases as he scrambled over them in his desperate attempt to reach Dash before the shot did.

Just this once, let him be faster than light.

He crashed into him, knocking him to the ground not even a second before the ball of electricity hit where he'd been standing. He rolled off Dash, kneeling on his knee, snarling in the direction the attack had come from. His arm was raised with a glowing attack of his own on his palm. Dash groaned in pain behind him, adding fuel to his panic and rage. He was a mere moment away from destroying everything in his path when a familiar voice echoed out of the darkness.

"Danny?"

Dash groaned, gripping his arm where the blast had grazed him. It burned, it burned like hell, every muscle in his body felt like it'd been squeezed and stabbed by a hundred needles.

God, he was an idiot. Fuck, he should have stayed in the lab. He pinched his eyes shut, rolling onto his side, and clutching his arm to his chest. Jesus, it really fucking burned. He drew in shuddering breaths, praying for the tingling to go away.

He heard Danny sigh, the tension in the room easing. He blinked his eyes open to see a figure materialize in the light; he had to do a double-take. It was a woman, she was tall, her hair was snow white, and she had glowing green eyes- she looked exactly like Danny. Well, exactly like Danny if he'd had more feminine features, like higher cheekbones and a softer jawline.

What he noticed most was the logo on her chest; it matched Danny's perfectly.

"Oh, thank fuck," Danny muttered. "Dani, I thought-"

"Yeah, me too." She glanced nervously at Dash's curled form. "Is he okay? Did I hit him?"

Danny spun around, yanking Dash up into a sitting position. It made him dizzy. "Oh, shit, are you okay? Let me see. What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"Danny, not helping." Dash let go of his arm to push Danny back. The wound was blistering red and bubbling. It was hard to breathe with the pain in his chest.

"Jesus, that smell," Danny, shaking, ignored his hand, tenderly grabbing his arm and inspecting the wound. "What part of stay hidden did you not understand?"

Dash hissed at the contact. "I got worried. I heard something shatter and you didn't come back. I thought-"

"For a reason, Dash!" Danny's voice was pitchy, tears rolling down his face. "How many times have I told you not to worry about me? God, it's like you don't trust me to protect you!"

A cold pit fell into his stomach, tears pricking his own eyes. "I do trust you! I just-" Just what? What was he thinking every time he jumped in front of a ghost for Danny? Was it him trying to be a hero? Was he trying to make up for what he'd done in the past? No, no it wasn't that; at least not entirely. "I just didn't want to be left behind. I'm not useless you know."

Danny sighed, relaxing his grip. "You are too smart to be this much of an idiot. Where's your first aid bag?"

He nodded back toward the stairs, butterflies brushing his insides at the statement. His muscles were finally starting to relax again. "By the computer."

"Okay," Danny slid an arm around his waist, effortlessly pulling him to his feet. A wave of nausea swept over him and he hooked his non-injured arm around Danny's shoulder, leaning into his strong grip. "Let's get you patched up."

Dani leaned around to look at his injury, worrying her lip. "How bad is it?"

Dash examined it as they slowly made their way downstairs. At surface level, it was barely a second-degree burn. The real issue was the shock that had run through his body. "Not too bad. I just, uh, need to make sure I'm not having a heart attack."

"Fuck, my bad dude." Dani shoved some papers off one of the tables so he could sit down. "I didn't mean to electrocute my cousin's boyfriend."

Danny ignored the comment, already digging through Dash's backpack. "What is this?"

"Vinegar."

"When would we ever need vinegar?!" Danny tossed it onto a nearby table and rummaged through more pockets.

"Hey! I have that organized!" Dash grabbed Danny's wrist and forced him to let go of whatever he was holding. "Look at me, hey, you're panicking. Slow breaths, okay, I'm not dying. It's just mild electric shock."

Danny blinked at him, a few more tears escaping his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and did as Dash suggested, breathing slowly. His hand flexed under his grip, like he was remembering something painful.

"Okay, I'll talk you through this, alright?"

He nodded.

Dash glanced at Dani. She had righted the vinegar bottle on the table and was twisting her hands in her hoodie. "First, please hand me some Tylenol, I can't superman this shit like you can. It's in the small front pocket."

Danny nodded, unzipping the pocket and grabbing the pills. He found the water bottles in the second zipper area and unscrewed one, handing both it and the pills to Dash.

He didn't think he'd downed medication so fast in his entire life.

The air was practically buzzing with Danny's nerves, it was like they were drowning in his panic. "Danny, I can't think with you worrying over there."

Danny shook his head like he was trying to clear something from his eyes. "How am I not supposed to worry? You were literally convulsing on the ground- I- fuck."

Dani put a hand on his shoulder. "I can take over if this is too much for you."

He shook his head again. "No, no, I've got it." He took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders. "What next?"

"Now you need to put some medical gloves on, because unlike you, bacteria will harm me."

Danny nodded, fishing a box of gloves out of the big pocket. A Sharpie fell out and clattered across the table. "What in the world would you need a Sharpie for?" He pulled his Phantom gloves off and switched them for the ones in the box. (Dash didn't know he could do that).

Dash rolled his eyes. "Stop questioning my medical bag. There's a jug of distilled water in the biggest pocket, if you could use your ice powers to cool it down, we need to slowly run cool water over the burn to, well, cool it off." He was slightly entranced by the mist and ice forming in Danny's palms, as he did just that. "And for the record, I'm just a big baby. I was just trying to shake the burn off. I wasn't convulsing."

"You just suffered an electric shock," Dani blinked at him, concern plastered on her face. "I shot you with a huge amount of amps man. You weren't being a baby."

Dash hissed, digging his nails into the table as Danny gently poured the water on his burn. "It barely grazed me. Very mild electric shock. It's not even a third-degree burn."

Danny's hands were shaking, making the water swish from side to side. A moment from Tucker's slideshow passed through his mind; Danny had been electrocuted inside the portal. He must be having flashbacks.

"Hey," he whispered, "are you okay?"

"Me?" Danny's voice warbled. "You're the one who just got himself shot. I should be asking if you're okay."

"I'm fine." Surprisingly, he was. Everything besides the burn had faded into a dull ache, the pins and needles almost completely gone. "You're shaking."

He reached his uninjured arm out and rested his hand on Danny's arm. Danny shook his head, pouring the last of the water over the burn. "I didn't think I'd make it in time. I thought-" He inhaled deeply through his nose. "Okay, what next."

Dash squeezed his arm with what he hoped was reassurance. "There's a bottle of saline in the medium pocket, we need to clean the area before we put ointment on it. There's some gauze in there to use."

Danny nodded, turning back to the bag to find the items. Dani plopped down in the computer chair. "What are you two doing here anyway?" She fiddled with some papers on the desk.

"You didn't get my text?" Danny asked, uncapping the saline.

"You texted me?" She pulled her phone out and frowned at the screen. "Val's all by herself at the Colorado house?"

Danny poured the saline over the burn and gently dabbed the excess away with the gauze, focusing intensely on his movements. "I tried to tell her not to go. I just wanted to warn her that he was around in case she bumped into him. But I guess all my friends are trying to get themselves killed tonight."

Dash flinched, a pit of guilt opening in his chest. Later, when things weren't so tense, he might ask Danny to teach him some ghost-hunting basics- just enough that he could hold his own like Sam, Tucker, and Valerie. That way he wouldn't be such a burden on him. "There's burn ointment in the small pocket, red tube."

Danny nodded, returning the saline to where it belonged.

"Okay, but if he's in Amity Park, why are you two here? In Wisconsin?" Dani twirled in the chair, kicking her feet out and watching them narrowly avoid the desk.

"I wanted to see if he had any evil plans lying around. He said my dad invited him to visit, but I haven't heard anything about it from either of my parents." Danny grabbed new gauze and burn cream. "Usually my mom tells me so I can avoid him. So, I thought I'd see what I could find while he was away. What about you?"

Dani turned to the computer, clicking the email icon. "Same thing, scouring for evil plans. Pandora sent me. Said he was skulking around her place a few days ago and wanted to know what he was up to."

"Did he take anything?" Danny applied the burn cream to the gauze and then gently- like he was afraid to touch him- pressed it over the wound, going back for bandages to secure it.

"No, just being his usual creepy, suspicious self." She opened an email and cringed. "Your mom ever answer his creepy poetry?"

"Uh, I didn't know she was getting creepy poetry." Danny wrapped the bandages around his arm, firm but not tight. And he said Dash was the professional. He wished he'd look him in the eyes.

"How creepy is it?" Dash asked, hoping to dispel some of the building tension.

Dani glanced over at him. "Disgustingly creepy. I'm Dani, with an 'i', by the way, Danny's cousin. Nice to meet you." She held out a hand.

Dash shook it with his uninjured arm. "Dash."

She grinned, raising her eyebrow. "Oh, as in Baxter?"

"You know about me?" He swallowed his nerves, glancing at Danny.

She shrugged. "I didn't know you'd moved into boyfriend status. Last Danny told me he'd been-"

"Aren't you looking for evil plots over there?" Danny sniped, face glowing green. Dash was enamored with the way he blushed in Phantom form; he wanted to tease him all the time just to see it. It made his freckles look like tiny stars in a small galaxy.

She huffed, spinning back around to the computer. "Not my fault you don't update me on these things."

"Oh, and where have you been the last few weeks? You haven't answered a single text, it's not like I could have told you anything even if something was happening." Danny finished securing the bandage and started putting everything back where Dash had had it.

"I didn't have signal. I was rock hunting on Saturn." She opened an email and skimmed through it.

"You were on Saturn?" Dash squeaked. "How's that possible?"

"Ghosts are dead big guy." She laughed. "You don't need to worry about the effects of space on a dead body."

Dash glanced at Danny for confirmation. He shrugged. "It's true. I've been in space a few times."

"Let me guess," Dash sighed, "it's a long story."

Danny had the decency to look apologetic.

"Hey, check these out," Dani called, highlighting an email. "He's writing to the G.I.W. about something called 'Fenton Venom'. Know anything about that?"

"Yeah," Danny answered, moving to look over her shoulder. "Pandora didn't give you an antidote for it?"

"Oh, she might have. I kind of stopped paying attention after 'go kick Vlad's ass'." She clicked the forward button, typing in her and Danny's emails. She went to the outbound box and deleted the history of it.

"What's he saying about it?" Danny rolled his eyes. His phone chimed and he opened it.

"He's trying to sell it to them. It didn't say what he'd get back in that email, but there's a whole chain to look through." Dani clicked back out of everything, leaving the computer the way she'd found it.

"What in the world could he get by working with the G.I.W?"

Dani shrugged. "Who knows? It's not like he's ever been the most sane person. It might be some crackpot plan that he won't follow through on."

"Let's hope so," Danny said, typing a response on his phone. "Valerie just got to Colorado,"

"I'll go give her some backup." Dani hopped out of the chair.

"I should go with-"

Dani shook her head. "I think you should get you and your 'friend' home to rest. We can handle it."

"But-"

"We can handle it, Danny. But call me later? I do want to tell you about Saturn." She smiled at him.

Danny forced the air from his lungs, debating on arguing with her. He glanced at Dash, then at the stairs. "Yeah, okay. If anything happens, you'll let me know?"

Dani rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Yes, Dad, I'll let you know when the big kids start doing drugs and you need to come pick me up."

"I just worry, I mean, it's Vlad-"

"I know." Dani sighed. "But we can kick ass too, okay? You're not the only one who needs to worry about him."

"Okay, I'll text you guys in an hour to make sure you're okay." Danny offered Dash a hand.

He took it and pushed himself off the table, letting go to grab his backpack.

"Make it two." Dani grinned. "Now let's get out of this creepy place."

Somehow, the ghost zone was not as creepy as Vlad's house; Dash found it a much better place to be in. He fought the urge to slip his hand into Danny's; he wasn't scared, he just liked holding his hand. He followed Danny back up the path, his feet already used to the unstable rock ground. Danny was quiet like his mind was elsewhere. Dash cleared his throat. "Didn't you want to visit someone on the way back?"

Danny stopped and looked at an island not far in the distance. He shook his head. "No, I can come back later. It's best just to get you home. I shouldn't have brought you in the first place."

Dash crossed his arms, squaring his shoulders. "Well, that's not fair. Sam and Tucker get to come here all the time. And don't give me that crap about them having more experience." He added as Danny opened his mouth to argue. "They didn't have experience at one point. How am I supposed to learn if you leave me behind all the time?"

Danny's eyes fell to the bandage on his arm. "You don't have to get experience. You don't have to get involved."

Dash scoffed. "I'm already involved. I want to be involved. I'm here to help, so let me help." He gently wrapped his hand around the bandage, hiding it. "Danny, please. I'll be okay."

Danny ran his fingers through his hair, biting his lip (things Dash had wanted to do all week). "Okay, yeah, you're right. But we're taking the shortcut. No more risks tonight."

"What shortcut-" He was cut off as Danny picked him up, cradling him against his chest, and took off flying. It was crazy to him how second nature wrapping his arms around Danny's shoulders had become. Maybe he could get used to being a princess- it wasn't a bad gig.

Danny was quiet again. Dash didn't like when Danny was quiet. "Are you okay?"

Danny shook his head. "Not really. This is probably going to give me nightmares for weeks."

Dash sighed, awkwardly patting his back where his hand rested. "I'm sorry. I just thought you might need help."

"You have helped in the past." Danny sighed, his words almost lost in the wind. "You're right. I should trust you more. I'm sorry." He set them down on an island full of snow and ice. He seemed to relax when the temperature seeped into his bones. Dash reluctantly pulled his arms back to his side when his feet were on the ground- god, he regretted not switching his sandals out for real shoes.

"Don't be," Dash muttered. "We've both learned some things today."

"Yeah," Danny shook his head, seemingly shaking any sad emotions off as well. He looked back up at Dash, a small forced grin on his face. "Do you wanna see something cool?"

Dash's heart skipped a beat, memories flashing back to the beach. He shoved his feelings down and nodded. "Hell yeah."

Danny grabbed his hand and led him into the snowy desert. He had to admit, he liked how easy this was for them now, how easily their hands found each other, how well they fit together. Paulina was right; he could hear her in the back of his mind, screaming at him to just say it. His therapist would tell him to be brave, to trust his intuition. Dash was many things, brave was rarely one of them. But, he wanted to be. God, he wanted to be brave.

"Through here," Danny said, pulling him from his thoughts. He led the way under a bunch of frozen, hanging vines, letting go of his hand to hold them out of the way for him.

Dash ducked under and gasped as he stepped into a small, snow-covered grove. It was beautiful; a frozen waterfall fell into what had once been a crystal-clear lake but was now a pool of ice. The trees hiding the grove were weeping willows, their branches hanging down like crystal wind chimes, clinking together when they moved. The green light of the zone bounced off the glittery snow and gave the whole place an ethereal, spooky glow.

"Pretty, right?" Danny smiled. "It's my favorite place in the whole zone."

Dash shrugged his backpack off, dropping it on the ground by the entrance. "Yeah, it's beautiful. Are those-?" Dash waited til Danny turned to look at what he was pointing at before kneeling down and gathering some snow in his hands.

"Ghost squirrels? Yeah. I have no idea why they have three eyes. I think they're-" There was a sharp smack as the snowball hit Danny in the face. He spluttered, wiping the snow from his brow with the most offended look.

Dash couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up his throat. He'd never seen such a look of betrayal on Danny's face. His mirth was short-lived as Danny retaliated with a snowball of his own. It hit Dash's chin, the excess snow falling down his shirt. He yelped as Danny cackled at him. He dove for the ground, making another one. "Oh, it is on, Fenton!"

"You started it!" Danny laughed, ducking behind a nearby tree.

Dash crept around the other side, snowball at the ready. He pounced behind the tree, snowball raised, but Danny wasn't there. He took a chance and threw the snowball where his footprints ended, unsurprised when it fell unobstructed to the ground.

A tree branch moved above him, the glob of snow it carried falling on him. He shrieked shaking it off. A laugh echoed above him, bouncing off the icicles, sounding like a hymn in a church. Dash grinned. "That's cheating! Get out here where I can see you!"

"It's not cheating! I'm using my natural abilities." Danny giggled from somewhere nearby. Dash turned, trying to track him down. "Boo!"

Dash whipped around, shoving a snowball where he thought Danny's face was. Danny turned visible, shaking his head to clear the snow from his eyes.

"Ha! Gotcha!" He took his chance to run while Danny was distracted, ducking behind a different tree; he grabbed a low-hanging branch and pulled himself up, his arm aching a little where the injury was. Two could play this game. He gathered the snow on the branch into a small pile and waited.

A snowball smacked into the trunk where he would have been hiding. Danny appeared below him, a confused tilt to his head. Dash dropped the snow on him, barely keeping his laughter from giving him away. Danny stared up at him, his mouth hanging open, eyes wide in shock, snow dusting his eyelashes.

Dash shrugged smugly. "Natural abilities."

Danny quirked an eyebrow at him, a teasing smile replacing the shocked look. He leaned against the tree, arms crossed. "Right, I forget you're actually ripped. What other natural abilities do you have?"

Fuck, he had to be flirting with him, right? A comfortable heat made its home on his face and in his chest. What did that even mean? How did he flirt back?

The tree under him disappeared and he screamed as he suddenly found himself falling the small distance to the ground. The thick layers of snow cushioned his fall. He propped himself up on his elbows, playfully glaring at Danny who was laughing by his feet. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of the sound of Danny's laugh.

"Not many I guess."

He wanted to frame this moment, Danny laughing against the backdrop of the frozen, glowing trees; he was beautiful, even if he was making fun of him. He pushed himself up, grabbed onto Danny's belt, and yanked him down, wrestling him into the snow. Danny yelped and pushed back, the two of them rolling around, trying to win whatever contest they'd started.

Danny managed to get his hands on Dash's shoulders and effortlessly pushed him back, pinning his hands to his sides. The thought occurred to him that Danny could throw him across this clearing without batting an eye; and it should not have been as attractive as it was.

"Not fair," He huffed, leaning his head back into the snow to catch his breath. He did his best to ignore how close they were, not wanting to get his hopes up a third time. "You've got crazy ghost strength."

Danny's smile was blinding as he leaned down, so close they were bumping noses. "Maybe you're just out of practice."

"Maybe you're just cheating." If Dash's hands had been free, he would have reached up and tugged Danny down to him and kissed him right then because he couldn't take it anymore; his thoughts a single sentence on repeat.

Please, kiss me.

Danny's eyes drifted down to his lips.

Dash's insides squirmed, nerves lighting on fire.

"Dash," Danny breathed, "there's something I want to tell you."

Dash's air escaped from his lungs, it was hard to breathe past the emotions in his throat. "Yeah?"

Danny's hands flexed where they were pinning his arms down. "There's- there's a reason I was freaking out so bad about you getting hurt. And I- it's because I-"

"Great one! I finally found you!" A voice Dash hadn't heard before boomed.

Danny lept away from him, turning invisible in the process. (Dash found Danny turning invisible when he was embarrassed to be the most endearing thing he'd learned about him and his ghost half). Dash sat up, heart beating out of his chest as he gazed up at a huge, furry beast. It stood about eight feet tall, covered in fur, giant fangs peeking out of its maw. He froze, too paralyzed to scream.

The beast laughed. "At least I thought I did."

Danny reappeared in front of Dash, face glowing bright green. He coughed, rubbing his neck. "Heyyyyy, Frostbite. I didn't, uh, I didn't know you'd be out here."

The ground was much colder without Danny near; his fingers were tingling near numb. Danny turned and offered him a hand. Carefully, slowly, without taking his eyes off the creature, he took it and got to his feet. He stood behind Danny, cowering only a little. This creature, though massive and intimidating, clearly meant no harm. He tried to shove the fear coursing through his veins back where it came from.

"The fiery one told you I was looking for you, yes? I sensed you nearby, however, I was unaware you had a partner with you." The beast raised an eyebrow at Danny.

Danny cleared his throat. "Um, Dash, this is Frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen. Frostbite, this is Dash, my…friend." He averted his eyes, hesitating.

Dash's heart nearly stopped as Danny stumbled over what to call him. They had been seconds away from changing that, hadn't they?

"Um, Ember said you were looking for me?"

Frostbite nodded. "Yes. However, it looks like your partner could use a fire. And a feast! We have one awaiting at home." The yeti reached an open hand down, waiting for something.

Danny grabbed Dash's hand, flashing him a reassuring smile, and pulled him over to the hand. They climbed on, Dash only slightly hesitating at the sight of the yeti's sharp claws glinting in the light. He clung to Danny's side as they were lifted and sat on his shoulder.

He could check getting a ride from a Yeti off his bucket list.

Danny had felt bad about not giving Dash a warning about the Yeti's culture. He hadn't wanted to leave Danny's side but they'd dragged him off, bundled him up in furs, and gave him the best seat in front of the fire faster than Danny could keep up. When they'd placed as many plates of food in front of him as their table could manage, he looked like he was about to throw up. His eyes begged Danny for help.

Danny leaned over, subconsciously resting a hand on his thigh, and whispered in his ear. "It's okay, Sam and Tucker have eaten here many times. It's perfectly safe."

Dash scoffed back. "I would not call a lot of things Tucker eats 'perfectly safe'."

Danny hadn't meant to put his hand on Dash's thigh.

Did he move it?

Would that send the wrong message?

He was trying to flirt with him.

He left it there.

He hadn't meant to be so touchy all day either; but he was comfortable with Dash, and a little in love, he couldn't help it. He'd been silently cursing Frostbite for showing up when he had. That had been the perfect moment to tell Dash he liked him, to kiss him- assuming Dash liked him back. It sure seemed like he did.

He had been flirting earlier right?

Oh, god, what if he'd been misreading everything all day? What if he was just teasing him?

Dash nudged him.

He snapped his attention back to the table to see Frostbite staring at him. "Oh, sorry, what was that?"

The yeti gave him a good-natured smile. "I asked if you'd seen Pandora lately."

"No," Danny shook his head, taking a bite of the stew in front of him. "But I just saw Dani, she told me Plasmius was lurking over there?"

Frostbite nodded solemnly. "Yes, he was around here too. He took the infi-map."

"Again?" Danny huffed. "I swear I'm going to kick his ass."

"No need to worry, Great One. It always ends up back where it belongs. I simply thought I should let you know he has it. I hear you're keeping a close eye on him again."

"News travels fast," he sighed, "He was threatening someone important to me. I want to know what he's up to and why." He involuntarily squeezed Dash's thigh- he swore he heard Dash whimper the tiniest bit. He removed his hand, hoping his claws hadn't done any damage.

Frostbite stood from the table. "I understand. I'll talk with the Observants and see if we can set up a watch here in the zone for him. If the map brings him back anytime soon, we shall do our best to capture him."

Danny leaned back out of the way of a smaller yeti who was clearing their plates. "Be careful, he has poison on him that can do some serious damage. You have antidotes from Pandora, right?"

Despite himself, Dash yawned, quickly covering his mouth so they couldn't see. Danny gave him a pitying look. It must be around eight a.m. by now.

"You do not need to worry about us, Great One. Although I do appreciate it." Frostbite gave Dash a playful glance. "I do believe it is getting late in your world. We should get you back."

Dash stood and started removing the furs they'd stuffed him into. Frostbite shook his head and yanked them back over him. "These are yours to keep, little one. Consider them a gift."

Dash blinked up at the yeti. "Oh, thank you. That's very kind."

"Thank you for keeping our savior company."

They said their goodbyes and once outside the cave, Danny scooped Dash back up and started flying back to the portal. "Sorry to keep you out so late."

Dash shook his head, his hair tickling Danny's chin. "I insisted. What's the infi-map?"

"It's a map of the entire ghost zone. It can take you anywhere you want to go here. But it's extremely dangerous and Vlad is always fucking shit up with it. It used to just be an annoyance, but he's gotten increasingly violent and murder-y in the past years. I'm worried he's going to get someone killed." Danny was ready for bed. Now that there wasn't anger or panic running through his veins, he was just plain exhausted. He could sleep for a whole week. But, he needed to get Dash home and text Dani and Valerie to make sure they were okay.

"Extremely powerful ghost artifact, got it," Dash muttered.

"You can fall asleep." Danny hummed. "I'll get you home safe."

"You don't have to take me home." Dash was drifting, his eyes having a hard time staying open.

Danny shook his head. "If my parents found out I let a boy sleep over without telling them, they'd ground me for life. They already think I'm the world's worst influence."

Dash chuckled. "I meant I could walk home."

"Oh," Danny's face burned. He fixed his eyes on the portal that was getting closer. "Yeah, no chance of that. Vlad could still be out there and you reek of ghost zone. Not to mention you're tired. Just get some sleep, I'll make sure you get home safe."

"Okay," Dash sighed. "I trust you." He relaxed into Danny's hold, falling asleep within moments.

Danny knew he'd have to come back to the zone early tomorrow. They'd forgotten Dash's medical bag back at the grove, and he'd have to check in with Johnny and Kitty.  But for now, he just needed to get Dash home safely and then get some sleep himself. He turned them invisible- so his parents wouldn't see them in case they were in the lab- and flew through the portal.

He made sure to tuck Dash in and feed Pookie a treat before he left.

Danny: U guys alr?

DanI: No, Dad, actually I think they have alcohol here N I'm scared

Danny: :(

Val: We're fine, worrywort. We didn't find anything unusual.

Val: How's Dash? ;)

Danny: Traitor

DanI: Oh, come on! U're so in love that it's nauseating. Y haven't U told him?

Val: Girl, you haven't had to listen to him talk about 'how kind he's become' or sit there and watch him stare into his eyes instead of doing homework. That's nauseating.

Danny: I almost told him. Frostbite interrupted me :(

DanI: U let a yeti stop U? How R we rel8d????

Val: If I have to sit through this any longer I won't survive. Tell him tomorrow istg

DanI: Tell him now coward

Danny: He's asleep. Like we all should B. Glad ur ok. Review those weird emails l8r?

Val: Yeah, we need to talk about that. Night

DanI: We should talk about Saturn first. U would not believe what I found, dawg.

Danny: Cringe. I'll call you 2morrow

DanI: I know U R but what am I?

Danny: If I'm cringe, ur cringe. Kinda the point

Val: Go the fuck to sleep

DanI: Night, Val <3

Danny: Night Val <3

Y'all, she's finally written. I just need to edit it and chapter 8 will be up

Boop

Boop!

I just finished “of all the stories in the stars ours has yet to be told” and—I am in LOVE. Your characterizations of them are?? So sweet??? Agh. Danny’s feeling over dash wanting to hear him infodump are gonna make me either melt through the floor or evaporate into the ceiling. I just. AGH. Them <33

also I just came off a big hadestown kick, so the Orpheus and Eurydice parallels are doing things to me waugh

(and also also—tall Danny as a headcanon will never not be my favorite thing. You mentioned it was inspired by the fic/fancomic fusion that made him taller than dash (the name escapes me—although it shouldn’t because that series is also amazing—and it’s what brought me to your fic too iirc) —BUT! Yeah. Love love love love <3)

AWWWWWW thank you! I'm so glad you like it!

Hadestown is so fucking good oh my god. I used a quote from the musical as my senior quote lol. Originally I planned on doing Perseus and Andromeda parallels but when I got to the star gazing scene I second-guessed it and asked my coworkers and they voted for Orpheus and Eurydice, so I changed the outline and events and went with this instead. I like it more.

I was inspired by @tatumsdrawing comic. Their comic came across my dashboard and I was like "Oh, I loved that show as a kid, let me give this a little looksy" and I was immediately dragged straight down here and had so many ideas pop into my head. And now I own the series on DVD, it was my Halloween costume, and I have a list of other fics I plan to write. Their comic is actually so good and means a lot to me because I've been trying to get back into writing for a while now and it wasn't until I saw their art that I was able to. So, yes, sometimes I steal their headcanons, like Danny being taller lol. (Literally cannot wait for part ten, I might die of excitement)

But I'm so glad you liked it! I'm so so so close to being done with chapter 8. I wanted it to be done a few days ago but life keeps kicking my ass. I'm working on it rn though so hopefully I can get that posted soon!

Thank you so much! <3 <3 <3

I tried to make it shorter but somehow only made it longer. oops. enjoy! 

first off gonna point out things that you have done well: (which is a lot!)

Flush out infected wounds!

Being careful not to flush onto healthy skin!!! love love LOVE this detail!

If there is no way to position Danny to where the flush will trickle onto healthy skin have gauze catch the flush as it exits the wound

If not shot with venom stopping the bleed in the field is more important than flushing in the field because you can’t guarantee contamination during transport considering they are using their cars and not an ambulance

I know some of this doesnt apply cuz ghost healing powers but I just have many thoughts and want to give everything to you so you can have a big field to let your creative writing run wild 🖤

love that dash finds a container to collect the flush instead of just letting it run off onto the ground

dash remembering to restock his first aid kit!!!!!! ugh this is such a good detail

Bandaging gauze onto wounds instead of taping 🖤

Pressure!

This might seem like common knowledge but honestly it's not. sometimes people focus on absorption of blood which is no good. If there is blood to absorb, the pressure wrap needs to be taken off and redone

Dash could have shoved his jacket (or shirt. yes the one hes wearing. dirty shirt is better than bleeding out. can deal with infection later. in danny’s case, regular infection will be no problem) into danny’s wound for better pressure

the detail of describing dannys distress as he was losing blood is 👌

not everyone knows it gets hard to breath when you lose blood cuz blood is the thing that carries oxygen around your body

good for you

this is really cool

keeping danny horizontal as they transport him into the house 👏👏👏

dash grabbing a new rag and not the one sam dropped on the ground 👏👏👏 

ideally they would be using sterile gauze though. even if not sterile gauze. regular gauze would be better than a rag cuz it doesnt leave lint behind

i dont know if you realized how well you wrote dash managing multiple people thru a crisis and remembering to check in on patient. like. fuck off (affectionate). so. good.

securing gauze with tape for the abdomen wound cuz wrapping pressure bandage around abdomen (1) would use too much material and (2) would make it hard to breathe/be very uncomfortable 👏👏

Wound care flow (since the rest of this is absolutely scatterbrained and I could not organize it better):

If need to stop bleeding apply tourniquet and pack wound with whatever gauze available

Place tourniquet 2 inches above wound. pull as tight as you can. then turn windlass until bleeding stops and not a turn more. you can cause serious damage to tissue if too tight. this is going to HURT

Combat gauze first (cuz it has clot activators)

Then compressed gauze on top (if wound is big enough. If wound small, combat gauze might be enough)

In order from most expensive to least expensive: combat gauze, compressed gauze, rolled gauze.

Ideally have all three but sometimes only have rolled or compressed gauze

With a high schoolers budget i’d imagine dash cannot afford combat gauze

Once wound is packed slowly loosen tourniquet to see if wound has been properly packed

If a tourniquet is on too long it will start to create damage (sorry I don’t know that time frame but a quick google says maybe 3 hours? Will report back when I do my bleeding control class

I say this cuz it would be interesting to see if you want to play with the venom

Like say bleeding is controlled but dash doesn’t have flush on hand or his stock was compromised in the fight. He gets bleeding under control but the venom starts to spread faster once the tourniquet is released. 

Get out of the field if possible

Clean with diluted antiseptic and gauze (details on antiseptics later in note)

You want to clean before flushing because you don’t want to push anything that's on the surface into the wound

For venom sake dash might do like the worlds quickest clean, flush, then go back and do a better clean

Create a diluted antiseptic solution but adding antiseptic to saline/whatever flush is available (for chlorhexidine sky blue color or 30mLs per gallon, for iodine tea color or 15mLs per gallon - the mLs are gross estimates I never actually measure it out tbh I go by color) then soak gauze in it. So like have a bowl of gauze and pour the diluted antiseptic over it. You don't want a puddle but just enough to have wet gauze

The goal with cleaning is spreading the antiseptic around not rubbing it in

Scrubbing hard is counterproductive

Gentle wipes are best (but not like super soft just like no elbow grease if that makes sense)

Only need like 3-5 pass overs, this does not have to take a long time

Remove any small debris at the same time

Leave big debris in if danny infected with venom cuz this will help stop bleeding

Leave it in until in a spot where the venom can be flushed out but need to take it out before flushing cuz who knows if the debris is trapping some venom

Take it out if no venom cuz then he can start healing

Flush

Use saline not distilled water (more on this later)

Wipe the exterior with flush soaked gauze (especially if cleaned again after flush)

Dry with dry gauze

Apply ointment (optional)

Bandage

Make sure wound is completely dry before bandaging

(unless its giant then it can get a wet to dry bandage but with danny’s ghost healing that wont be something I need to get into)

If a small wound and no ointment applied, best to keep open because wounds need exposure to air to heal and like to stay dry (bacteria loves wet environments)

If large wound that needs to scab over definitely bandage

If cannot keep clean while healing then definitely bandage but take breaks in between bandages so the wound can have some air time and dry out

All gauze mentioned unless otherwise stated is nonwoven gauze (more on gauze in ifak notes)

danny’s big abdomen wound:

why do the antibiotics only work if the venom isnt active?

you do want the flush to go inside the wound. (responding to dash telling sam to not get the water inside dannys abdomen wound) because they are using distilled water and not sterile saline i can see your thought process but thats where the venom is. that is where you need to flush. and his ghost healing powers can take care of any infection introduced by flushing a wound with non-sterile flush. 

why dunk the rags into a bowl of the distilled water? you’d want to pour the flush directly on to the wound and then clean with gauze soaked in diluted antiseptic. you dont want to dunk something that was already in the wound back into your cleaning or rinsing agent cuz then the whole thing becomes contaminated.

for this scene i would have put danny in the bathtub and just start pouring flush onto all his wounds. the pressure of the flush matters so pouring a lot quickly so it hits tissue harder is important. syringes work well for this cuz you can control pressure better based on how hard you push the plunger (but be careful cuz too much pressure causes tissue damage). but in this case he needs so much flush so quickly i would skip the syringes and just start pouring from the jugs. just like from a little bit of a height away from the wound (like a foot-ish) so that gravity can help in adding pressure.

why antibiotics straight onto the wound? sam can give them intravenously (IV). (most antibiotics need to be diluted and given over 20-30 minutes but you can ignore this fact tbh thats getting a little too technical…maybe…ill let you decide on that one). i was picturing the antibiotics being an oral administration. would be cool if team phantom was able to manufacture both IV and an oral version. for this wound danny would benefit from iv, during crisis, and maybe like one dose orally the next day to help with healing/take care of anything lingering. but for less serious wounds (like if his leg was the only thing hit then a few oral doses (basically until healed) would do the trick once the venom was flushed out. oral doses only work if patient is conscious enough to take them)

Antibiotics straight onto the wound would work just not very well. since the venom spreads so fast it probably became systemic (so like in his bloodstream) a few seconds after he started bleeding

I only added this cuz you already established Sam is able to hit a vein. But drawing blood is different (easier) than administering something into a vein. 

Just want to give you all the info, do whatever you want with all of it 🖤

overall notes:

sterile saline. not distilled water.

if ‘saline’ is said instead of ‘sterile saline’ pretend like ‘sterile’ was said. sterile is always implied when talking about saline. 

distilled water is okay if saline is not available

like in huge disaster situations where supplies are spread thin. say like when amity park was pulled into the ghost zone or a large scale ghost attack

or if budget is an issue (i’d imagine it is for a few high schoolers, sam excluded)

1 gallon (3,785mL) of distilled water for $1-2.80

100mL of saline is about $1 (so 37x more expensive)

distilled water is made by collecting and cooling the steam from tap water. So it is free from sediment (including salt) but it is not sterile 

if using distilled water (for cost or availability reasons) put antiseptic (see ifak notes for details on antiseptics) in it first but only right before using. dont pre make it. if no classic antiseptics available, use vinegar (diluted out with the distilled water). id imagine vinegar burns (unsure) but less than alcohol. 

Sterile saline is better than sterile water because something about salt really helps clean blood

Saline is just sterile salt water (0.9% salt)

sterile water is different from distilled water. 

idk what it is about salt clearing off blood so easily, but when it comes to cleaning blood off my patients fur I always go for saline instead of peroxide because I think it cleans better and the reaction between peroxide and blood releases heat (exothermic if you want to throw that word in cuz you know. team phantom is full of nerds) and peroxide leaves a brown stain. 

alcohol burns like hell as an antiseptic

Has a short contact time of 30s-1m but evaporates faster than that if too thin of layer is applied

contact time is the time an antiseptic needs to sit for it to be effective

Can dry out skin too much if used too frequently

chlorhex or iodine are better (see ifak notes for more info on antiseptics)

dont rice injuries - this is the instructor of my bleeding control class

You don’t have this in your fic but just in case

There’s no proof that elevation helps stop bleeding

Another thing you don’t have but just in case

Let me know if you want to know about CPR but won’t give you details unless you ask

pls don’t put CPR in your fic. I could not handle it 😭😭

also CPR is not as effective as movies make it seem

things that should be in dashs ifak aka the backpack he grabs in chapter 7:

ifak is an individual first aid kit (gotta teach you all the cool medical lingo too)

Tourniquet

if you are going for details a CAT tourniquet ONLY

can be helpful if dash runs out of flush, his stock gets contaminated, or punctured (from being too close to ghost fight) then can use tourniquet to stop venom from spreading

improvised tourniquets are no good 

99% fail rate

can elaborate more if you want but this note is already long

gauze

no tampons

there are so many different types of gauze!

combat gauze (clotting)

compressed gauze

rolled gauze

woven gauze

nonwoven gauze

Antiseptic

Chlorhex (solution)

Must be diluted

2 minute contact time

chlorhex burns a lil but not nearly as much as alcohol

its a good antiseptic cuz it binds to the skin

There are two different types

chlorhex solution (no soap) for open wounds

scrub (soap version) for cleaning skin that is about to be poked

Not entirely necessary for blood draws (alcohol will do)

More for surgery prep, intravenous catheters, stabbing into chest to release air, or giving something in a vein

always follow up with a wipe of saline cuz it can damage skin if contact time is too long. iodine does not need this.

Will damage eyes so no good for head/face wounds

Iodine

Must be diluted

1 minute contact time (but starts working after 30 seconds)

Doesnt burn

Does stain skin brown/yellow (goes away with time)

Use for all head/face wounds bc will not damage eyes

Vinegar

Must be diluted

Only use as an absolutely last resource

But would use before alcohol for deep large wounds to minimize pain

Scissors

gloves! (i dont think dash ever puts on gloves?)

Non latex ideally cuz people are commonly allergic

regular bandaids

bandage tape

compression wrap (not ace bandage but similar. ace bandages get tighter over time so they aren’t recommended for wound care cuz too tight = not great blood flow)

regular water bottles (for drinking)

Sharpie

For labeling

Most important one i can think of is labeling the time when a tourniquet is applied

cold pack

ibu/tylenol

chest seals

in case dannys chest ever gets injured (not me wanting dash to cut dannys shirt off)

These are expensive

The goal with an ifak is to not over pack and to pack efficiently so things can be easily accessed. So think about what can fit into dash’s bag and what he can physically carry and still be agile/not fatigue for long journeys

live reactions / overall thoughts:

love that both dash and danny use pretty to describe each other

dash commenting on how dirty schools are and worrying his dog will get sick from school germs 🖤

calling bacteria little creatures 🖤🖤🖤

sam making sure the sink was properly rinsed so danny wouldnt get hurt 🖤

dash bouncing on his toes!! 😭🖤

dash and danny being domestic and cooking together 😭🖤

“the cold water felt nice on the inside of his lungs” god i need this

your scene of danny freeing emma also reminds me of a scene in face my demons, i wont hide

when Danny’s dad first went “whats on your face”, I thought he had ectoplasm on his face, and they were about to go apeshit on him for releasing their ghost

danny closing his book to give dash his full attention on phone call 😭😭😭😭🖤

danny getting butterflies over dash listening to his space rants 🥰🥰🖤🖤🖤

loosing my SHIT! danny putting reggie in his place!! Not only was it absolutely ADORABLE but I feel like Danny appreciated this on so many levels. Not everyone wants to know the creepy facts of a special interest and having someone remember them and seek them out for a separate convo they arent a part of is VERY SPECIAL. kinda similar feeling about my job. i love it but sometimes i forget my audience and get looks like

(continued from last bullet)

I appreciate this scene. so. much. 

i’m very excited to tell you about wound care cuz i don’t get to talk about it outside of work a lot. I’m not gonna get into the nitty gritty of details of what a wound looks like (unless you want me to!) 

I also love teaching so please ask as many questions as you want.

dash being proud of danny putting reggie in his place with space facts 🥰🥰🥰🥰🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

lmao danny still thinking he MIGHT be in trouble when he was basically just

Before, during, and after his call with dash. buddy. you ARE in trouble.

janice wanting dash to date danny so she can have a space buddy 😭😭😭🖤

dashs grandma 😭😭🖤🖤

was this

to say there is a lack of love between jack and maddie? like a reference to your overall theme of orpheus and eurydice

DANNY COMMENTING ON THE WARMTH OF DASHS HANDS AS HES DYING 😭😭😭 fuck me up

"warm strong hands pushed him back down into the soft covers" 🖤🖤🖤🖤

(me realizing why i love your dash so much. hes a gentle ace medic. hes me. or at least who i am trying to be. though i would not be described as strong. i love him)

lol dash saying “do you see the hours my mom works” is very accurate. nurse hours suck even if during the day. 12 hour shifts drain you and take a while to get used to. but that means taking 1 week off you get 11 days off (work 3 days a week)

would LOVE to see a scene where danny is healing and dash is taking care of him and he tries to kiss dash (not their first intentional kiss) and dash stops him going “careful. we need to keep your heart rate down or your wound will reopen” AHAHHD SJFBSHABD i would simply DIE. (phantom #2 lol) dash could also say something like “easy there ghost boy” like this scene in the amazing spiderman. i would just

I mean I already am tbh

Take or leave anything you want! This was fun to put together and I enjoy talking to you about your fic 🖤🖤

Things I Did Well:

Yay! 💚💚💚Thank you! It bugs me a lot when I watch movies or shows or whatnot and they just wash the super-poisoning stuff over healthy skin, like wouldn’t it just cause more issues instead of helping????? 

Honestly thank god for ghost powers cause I don’t know enough about how to fix things without them

Containing biohazards saves lives

Always restock your first aid kit. I go hiking a lot and this has literally bit me in the ass a few times when I’ve forgotten to do it lol

I have POTS so the hard to breathe thing and I are very good friends, blood circulation issues are my greatest enemy. Keeping people laying down to maintain good circulation (that’s also not rushing blood straight to the wound) is also something I’m familiar with as I personally end up on the ground to regulate heart rate and breathing all the time. 

Clean utensils every time!!!!!! 👏👏Honestly, lint didn’t even cross my mind as being an issue, I will think of this moving forward.

Dash is really putting those therapy skills to use 💪💪💪💚

Wound Care:

I thought about using tourniquets but I wasn’t sure if 1) I could write them well enough 2) if Dash’s first aid kits would have stuff for it or if he would even know how to so something that extensive. His mom taught him a lot of basics but I wasn’t sure if that was considered a basic. 

But as time goes on and he gets more used to be Danny’s go to nurse, I’m sure he’s going to educate himself more on how to do more advanced things so this is super helpful to know. 

I did not know there were so many different kinds of gauze; I have learned something today.✍️ I’ll probably do more research into what makes most sense for Dash to be carrying around

I read the word Iodine and had so many flashbacks to my childhood, that smell is permanently ingrained into my nostrils. Tbh I really should have thought about antiseptics more but I figured Danny heals well enough that they probably weren’t the most important thing to worry about after getting the poison off and stopping the blood. I definitely should think more about them though

Big Wound:

 I did have notes on this somewhere and I cannot find them. It had something to do with his human biology cause for full ghosts the antibiotics work just fine. I also just kind of wanted to avoid having a miracle drug that could fix everything without having to put the actual work into it. So that was kind of my way of insinuating that fixing the wound is still important. I will refigure this out. TBH the venom wasn’t supposed to make so many reappearances and have a plot, I kind of patch worked it together as I solidified more headcanons and put this story together. It was supposed to be short and it it not lol

I can see how I wrote this weird now. My thought process was with so much bleeding the vast majority of the venom would have been pushed out with the blood and their main focus was to clean around it and get the edge off and where the blood touched but they didn’t want the water running uncontrolled and pushing the venom back into the wound or getting it on the healthy skin around it. Definitely did not convey aunty of that in the writing though my bad. 

I’ll be honest, didn’t think about how antibiotics actually worked on that lol I just figured a liquid would be the easiest thing for them to make and understand. I’m sure Sam could administer a needle medication if she needed to, but with her freaking out I’m not sure she’d be the best at it.

Overall

I never thought of looking for Saline outside of a hospital TBH. I literally have contact solution in my house and was like “Where would someone obtain saline????” I’m a silly goose.🪿 I mainly went with distilled water because they’re more likely to have a lot of it and with so many wounds I figured they’d need a lot of liquid to wash something off. I will do some saline research though and see what the price and availability of stuff were back then

I wasn’t planning on CPR, I don’t really care for those scenes in movies and I don’t know enough about it to even know what kind of injury Danny could get that would require it

Ifak Backpack

Honestly, bless this information. Would you mind if I used this to sneak a joke in? I was reading this and at some items, I was like “when would they even need that?” and I have a scene where Danny goes through the bag and I think this could make for some great comic relief if that’s alright?

And no, homeboy did not use gloves, first time because he’s a ghost it didn’t occur to him and the second time, there was no time and he was trying to understand how the ghost powers worked to see what he needed to do. He would definitely use gloves if it wasn’t Danny getting hurt though 

I appreciate you telling me what everything is for. Just had a hilarious moment of “Wait, why a sharpie?” *reads next bullet point “Oh! Duh! 🤦🏼‍♀️Glad that was here to tell me” I was about to ask a coworker and look really silly lol 

Live reaction etc:

They’re both hopeless romantics what can i say💚🧡

Schools are disgusting. 🤢

Oooooh I now have something to read!!!

I didn’t mean to make Danny’s dad so aggressive about it, but I just really don’t like Jack and I think it maybe shows. I thought about the ectoplasm that got on him but considering stuff goes away when he transforms I figure ghost powers would have gotten rid of it

Dash is very proud of his creepy space obsessed (future) boyfriend. I’m a horror nerd so I’ll casually talk about things like cannibalism or you know dissection and people do the same thing. “Well, I was gonna eat and now I can’t stop thinking about cannibals. So thanks” like oops my bad, forget that bothers people

If you want to get into gritty details please do. I’m about to have burn wounds show up, like mild electric burns and google only gives me extremes so if you would like to explain I’m all ears👂👂

Those gifs made me chuckle, that’s exactly how he was lmao

I don’t necessarily think there is a lack of love, just the Jack is overall very oblivious about the people around him while Maddie isn’t. I don’t think Jack thinks too hard about how his actions and words affect other people. If anybody matches each other’s freaks it’s Jack and Maddie. Honestly they probably would be decently good people if they weren’t parents. It’s how they treat their kids (both, both kids) that give me major ick and think they aren’t the best people

Homie just likes being warm considering he isn’t lol

( we love to see it. Dash is doing his best to be gentle now too. Though he’s mostly strong cause he’s a gym bro who plays sports. We love our gentle ace medics 💚🖤🩶🤍💜)

I freaking love spiderman oh my gosh! I might have to write a short story for this lmao

Honestly, this made my day, thank you so much for this! I giggled and kicked my feet a lot lol Thanks for taking the time to write this 🥰🥰😊🤭🤗🥹🙈

I'll never forgive you for the emotions you put me through

The hardest part about writing is admitting to yourself that something isn't working and being willing to start over or even just reread what you've done and then try again after.

Guys, this chapter is kicking my ass. Plot is hard, I just want to go back to character dynamics and letting them be gay. Action and plot is harrdddd

Oops, my hand slipped.

Dash fit perfectly against him, all their edges and curves fitting together like a broken jigsaw. He'd never taken time to notice or appreciate that before.

He did now, as he wrapped his arms around his neck and hooked his legs over his hips; he prayed the janitor would forgive them for knocking their cleaning supplies to the ground.

Dash's hands were warm, gentle, and strong as they trailed over his skin and pressed into his hips. He groaned under their touch, encouraging them on.

He wasn't sure when he'd taken his gloves off; he only knew they weren't there when he tangled his fingers in the small curls of Dash's hair, ruining his gelled back style, and he could feel the product on his fingertips.

If someone were to ask him how he got here, breathing and humming into Dash Baxter's mouth as Phantom in one of the many janitor closets on campus, he wouldn't be able to explain it. He really shouldn't know his way around Dash's lips the way he did. It had happened once, on accident, and then it had kept happening.

He'd heard Dash scream from the library and had charged in to help. He could still remember when Dash had apologized to him Senior Year; he'd been crying. They hadn't been super close or anything at the time, but Danny would have considered them friends.

Dash had been standing his ground bravely, hurling books at the ghost while he made his way toward the circulation desk to hide. It had given Danny enough time to change unnoticed and take down the ghost, a simple raccoon mascot looking thing.

He had sat down on the table to catch his breath and Dash had asked him a question and the next thing Danny knew, they had been talking until the early hours of the morning, surrounded by sacrificed books.

Dash had been really fun to talk too and there was a small part of him that liked getting to know him. And he guessed he liked the attention, answering questions Dash could only ask him. It had been some time after the first rays of sun began peaking over the mountains that Danny had noticed it, the glow in Dash's cheeks, the look in his eyes, the tiny giggles in his voice.

Dash had a crush on Phantom.

He hadn't even realized when he'd leaned over and kissed him, his sleep-deprived brain failing to communicate the plan to him. Plan or not, he'd learned that Dash wore flavored chapstick-pomegranate that day, he remembered- and that he was a really good kisser.

The next time he'd fought a ghost on campus, Dash had foolishly dived in to help and had almost ended up dropped from one of the school's balconies. Danny had nearly lost his mind, and he supposed ending a safety tirade with a makeout session wasn't exactly a good idea- rewarding bad behavior and all that. But he was weak. And that's what college was for right? Kissing people without a reason?

That's when Dash had approached him- Danny Fenton- and asked him to teach him about ghost hunting. He was determined not to be a burden to Phantom the next time they met. It was brave and endearing so Danny not only tutored Dash on ghost knowledge, but he also offered to train him on hand to hand combat. And, boy, had that been a mistake.

Between Dash intently listening to him, being geuninely inquisitive, and losing one too many sparring matches, he'd found a reason.

He liked Dash. He liked him and it wasn't fair because Dash liked the version of him that couldn't take him on dates, or hold his hand while they studied, or kiss him goodbye for class, or cuddle during movie nights.

And the worst part? Danny had done this to himself. Of course he had.

Once Dash and Phantom had agreed on a no strings attached thing, boundaries firmly in place, he'd begun seeking him out even when there weren't ghosts attacking simply because he was having withdrawals and Fenton couldn't worm his tongue between Dash's teeth.

This being one of those times. He'd fought a ghost several hours earlier but had to wait around for Dash to get out of his evening class. It'd been near torture.

He used his grip in Dash's hair to drag him closer, relishing in the noise it pulled from him. Dash pressed against him til his back hit the wall and they were flush together. God, it wasn't fair how good he was at this.

Kissing Dash was addicting. There was no pressure for him to say or do the right thing, to perform, or be any kind of expert, or to go any further than he wanted. They could simply exist together, get to know each other like this, slow and without any sexual pressure. Danny loved the simplicity of it.

Dash had come out to him as asexual twice. The first time as Phantom when they were setting boundaries for this whole kissing situation. The second was when Dash had felt like Fenton and he were good enough friends that he wanted to tell him about the situation (not that it was with Phantom- some guy on campus, he'd said) and had to explain- to tell someone how kind and patient he was and how he'd been so scared it wouldn't work out and thankful when it had.

Danny had never been more jealous of himself than he had in that moment. He, as Fenton, could be kind and patient with Dash too, Hell, he'd beat his own record of kindness if it meant Dash would kiss him like this as Fenton.

Dash pulled away from him, heaving air into his lungs. Danny whined, chasing after him. "Don't stop."

Dash giggled, turning his head to the side so Danny's lips hit his cheek instead. "Unlike you, some of us still need to breathe."

"Boo, lame." Danny switched tactics, trailing his lips over Dash's jaw, pausing occasionally to nip at the skin as he made his way back toward his ear and neck.

Dash leaned into the touch, breathy moans dripping from his lips. "Being lame doesn't seem to be stopping you."

It'd take a lot to stop me now.

Danny hummed, ignoring him in favor of rolling his flesh between his teeth and soothing the spot with his tongue.

"You know," Dash breathed, "my friends are starting to… ask about these? Paulina is the worst but you should hear Danny. I think… it's the highlight of his day to tease me. I probably… deserve it for everything I put him through in the beginning of high school."

Danny wasn't sure how to feel about Dash constantly talking about his other personas to him all the time; it was getting hard for him to tell which one he had the crush on. Danny really didn't like the false hope fluttering in his chest. "Are you sure he's teasing you for revenge and not something else?"

He moved his lips lower, repeating the process over Dash's collarbone. Dash sunk his fingers deeper into the flesh of Danny's hips; he grinned, proud of himself for that.

"What, hmm, what do you mean?"

Danny pulled Dash's head around, kissing over to the other side of his neck to leave marks there. He did enjoy teasing Dash about the hickeys he left; Dash didn't try to hide them and that made Danny giddy.

"Maybe he's jealous."

Dash snorted. "Fat chance of that. It's a miracle he even considers being friends with me."

Danny uncurled his fingers from Dash's hair, letting them trail over his shoulders, easing the tension from the muscles. He couldn't help the flame of curiosity burning in his chest. "Would you want him to be jealous."

Dash hesitated, his hands moving to settle on Danny's thighs, tearing a gasp from him and leaving a trail of fire in their wake. "Maybe."

Danny pressed his lips to Dash's cheek, lingering and murmuring against his skin. "I won't be offended."

Dash turned, catching his lips again, and had that been the end of the conversation, Danny wouldn't have complained. He was high off the answer he'd already received.

Maybe.

Dash's tongue in his mouth was distracting and it's not like he wanted to think about anything past that anyway. His chapstick was strawberry today, he'd never worn that before.

"I think I would." Dash muttered against his lips. "Is that wrong?"

Danny hummed, brain fuzzy. "Why would it be?"

Dash chuckled. "I'm kissing you and you're telling me that if I wished it were Danny Fenton sitting on this janky shelf, you wouldn't be offended. A lot of people would consider me in the wrong for thinking of someone else. And you're saying it as if it's something I can even entertain."

Danny stole another lingering kiss before answering him- he couldn't help it; Dash's lips were like drops of rain and he was thirsty. "Why couldn't you? What's stopping you from wrapping your head around the idea of Dash Fenton?"

Dash groaned, quietting him with his lips, his teeth nipping. Danny was unapologetic about the noise that got out of him. He anchored himself, digging his fingers into Dash's biceps; god he was so fit. He'd trace every muscle if he could.

"He'd never look at me that way. I wouldn't deserve it if he did. I barely deserve what's happening right now."

Danny kissed him, long and gentle, letting every soft feeling he felt for Dash trail across the nerves of his mouth, real and tangible. "I think we have very different definitions of what you deserve. I was there, remember? I saw how all of you treated each other six years ago. I think he picked on you just as much as you picked on him."

Danny wished Dash would move his hands, touch him more, make him feel real… more alive.

Dash shook his head, their noses bumping. "Self-defense doesn't count as picking on someone."

"Oh, he did more than defend himself. He pranked you unprovoked many times." Danny mumbled, low, a chuckle building in his throat at old memories. "I think you should tell him, you never know-"

Dash pressed their lips together, coaxing Danny's open and titling his head for a better angle. Danny moaned, completely ready to never speak again in favor of being kissed like this.

Dash's hands trailed up his sides, making him shiver. He brushed them over his chest and up his neck, caressing his cheeks. He really hoped this closet was sound proof; and that the janitor wouldn't need it any time soon.

"What about you?" Dash whispered, pulling away to breathe again. "If Danny does… like me back, where does that leave you and our… arrangement?"

Danny whined at the loss of contact and blinked his eyes open to see Dash staring at him, genuine concern shining in his deep blue eyes. Danny wished he could see his freckles in this light. "I'm a ghost, Dash. I'm sure I'll be okay without… this. You should be with someone like you, you know, alive."

Me, I'm alive. Fenton is alive.

Dash hummed. "I'll think about it. Things with you are easy."

And they're not with me? I can be easy.

"Fighting ghosts to seduce me is easy?" Danny couldn't help but joke when he was nervous, and there wasn't a nerve in him that wasn't jittery and on fire.

Dash laughed, pulling Danny into his lips again. "No, I'm just not as scared to lose you."

Fuck.

Danny surged forward, kissing Dash with every untamed emotions coursing through him. His lips pressing harder and more desperate than before; his hands moving back to tangle in his hair, pulling him closer.

He was in trouble.

He liked Dash.

He liked him so much. And if he didn't say anything to him, to Fenton, after this, then he would. Danny would tell him how he felt. Hell, he'd tell him he was Phantom if that's what it took. Whatever it took to tell him he deserved these feelings and they weren't going anywhere. He'd do it.

A light flooded the room. He blinked his eyes open, scary mode activated as they narrowed in annoyance at whoever was barging in.

It was Sam and Tucker.

Fuck, he'd completely forgotten to check in with them after the ghost fight earlier. He pulled away from Dash, laughing nervously. "Sorry, occupied?"

Dash whipped his neck around to stare; how he didn't break it was a mystery. "Um, its not what it looks like?"

Sam's jaw was nearly on the floor and Tucker wasn't even trying to contain his laughter.

"Danny's making out with-"

Sam elbowed him, cutting him off. "Getting cozy with Danny Phantom, Dash?"

Dash sighed. "It's exactly what it looks like."

Danny gently untangled his limbs from Dash's frame and stood, leaning down to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Then he marched over and shoved Sam and Tucker back into the hallway, ushering them down the hall.

Tucker cackled the whole way. "I can't believe we just caught you with Dash's tongue down your throat!"

Danny shoved him. "Quiet! He can still hear you!"

Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "Care to explain the jock you had between your legs?"

Danny hid his face in his hands. "You guys suck." He wanted to launch himself into the sun. "Can we just get out of here before he finds out?"

"Walk of shame! Walk of Shame!" Tucker guffawed.

The only thing stopping him from locking himself in his room for the rest of the semester was the hope beating in his chest.

Dash liked him.

And for now, that was enough to let him handle his friends teasing and questions.

I'm so obsessed with canon Mr. Lancer. He's a gamer. He dresses in drag. He's fat with lots of body hair. He has a vanity plate of his own last name. He was Casper High's first male cheerleader. He's committed tax fraud

Guys....

I'm halfway through writing chapter 8 and a sudden oneshot idea hit me over the head. It will not leave my brain. I might have to pause to write this. Hopefully I can get through this chapter first and then knock this one out.

Just finished hamlet & had to share THIS

Yall learning all those space facts for my fic has turned me into a space kid. Call me educated

I wanted to make a text meme about a scenario I just wrote because I think it's funny

Dash giggling and pulling the Debby Ryan Face: You're kind of scary 😉

Danny crying and on the verge of a panic attack: I'm scary?🥺

Dash: Oh, shit I meant in like a hot way I'm sorry

Danny still crying: You think I'm hot?

God, if only I could stop thinking about queers kissing long enough to write about queers kissing I'd be so productive

The hardest part about starting a new chapter is deciding what events are important to start with and whose perspective to put it in. And sometimes the perspective determines what events are important but then I'm like "am I picking favorite characters cause I use this perspective a lot" but then I'm like so much of who we are is determined by how people see us and chose to love us anyway but then it's also how we see ourselves and trying to compact both views from the same event into a paragraph that flows is really hard

Danny was warm.

And cozy.

And only slightly sore.

Whatever pillow he was on was nice and soft. He pulled the pillow closer, snuggling into its warmth, hoping to sink back into a peaceful slumber. Until said pillow moved. Confused, he blinked his eyes open; seeing nothing but a wall of fabric at first, rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. He moved his hands, gently trailing over the fabric, feeling something solid and firm underneath; really firm. He pulled away enough to see where the fabric ended; at Dash's neck and face.

Panic flooded his veins.

He turned intangible to escape Dash's arms and rolled off the bed, turning tangible again just before he phased through the floor, making a tiny, tiny thump against the floorboards. His heart hammered against his chest, blood pounding in his ears. The room was spinning. He didn't remember falling asleep. The last thing he remembered was talking to Dash about his dad and then… nothing.

He squeezed his eyes shut trying to remember. He'd been holding Dash's hand to comfort him; had he fallen asleep like that? Had he trapped Dash there with him? Oh god, that's so embarrassing. Danny covered his face with his hands. How in the world was he going to live this down? What had he said? How was Dash going to react when he woke up?

Carefully, he sat up and peeked over the edge of the bed. Dash had shifted into a different position, having lost the support of Danny's body being there, but he was still asleep.

Danny quietly breathed a sigh of relief and sat with his back to the bed. As he calmed his racing heart, he started to notice the state his body was in. His muscles were sore and achy, not as bad as they had been yesterday. He needed food and water, but he didn't want to just disappear after Dash had spent a whole day taking care of him. He deserved better than that, no matter how awkward or hungry Danny was.

He pulled his shirt (Dash's sweater) up to check on the wound, peeling the bandages off to reveal nothing but smooth, tender skin underneath. He looked around Dash's room for a trashcan, finding one under his desk and disposing of the bandages in the safest way he could. Then, curiosity got the better of him and he investigated Dash's room. It had changed quite a bit since the last time he'd been in here; considering the last time was a few years ago and Technus had pretty much destroyed the place, it made sense.

There was a wall of different sports trophies by his desk, spanning their four years of high school and quite a few middle school ones as well. A lava lamp on his desk illuminated them, making them glint and shine. The rest of his desk was covered in notebooks, college flyers, and a few of the books they'd had to read for Lancer's class.

There was a huge stereo against the wall by his door; just like the one Sam had. Although, it was hard for him to imagine Dash blasting angsty rock music loud enough to shake his walls the way Sam did. He looked through some of the CDs sitting next to it and found some of the usual teen stuff: Dumpty Humpty, a few of Ember's albums, Big Time Rush, One Direction, Twenty-one Pilots, Fallout Boy. But he also found a surprising amount of classical music. He wondered if Dash used it to study or if he simply just enjoyed it.

A memory tickled Danny's brain and he crept over to the closet, thankful for his ghostly quiet footsteps. He slowly pulled the door open so it wouldn't creak and peeked inside. He chuckled when he saw the collection of teddy bears still sitting there. He'd have to ask Dash about them when he woke up.

His phone rang from the table next to Dash's bed, loud and startling. He scrambled to answer it before it woke Dash up.

"Hello?" He walked to the other side of the room, leaning against Dash's desk and keeping his voice low.

"Danny," It was his mom, her voice heavy with worry, "are you okay?"

He'd almost forgotten their fight in the alley. It all came rushing back to him now and he picked at the edge of his shirt, trying to keep his tone even. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"It's just," she sniffled, was she crying? "You haven't been home since the ghost attack yesterday." Her voice was shaking.

Danny fought the rush of guilt that swept over him. "Didn't think you guys would even notice."

She sighed. "I know we get caught up in our work sometimes-"

Danny snorted.

"-but that doesn't mean we love you any less. I'm, I'm sorry about yesterday. I was only worried you would get hurt because you were blatantly ignoring danger. I didn't- I wasn't trying to- I didn't mean to come across as unsupportive."

A mix of emotions hit him, making him want to self-combust. He was angry. He was guilty. He was sad. He was betrayed. How could she say that when she'd been the one causing danger? How dare she be worried when she never pays attention to him; his mom was worried about him. Enough to check on him. He sighed, chewing his lip as tears pricked at his eyes. "Listen, Mom, I- I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be rude. You just scared me-"

"You were just responding to our tone." She interrupted. "Oh, what was it Jazz's textbooks call it? Matching energy? Something like that. Anyway, I'm sorry I was too worried about catching Phantom and not worried about you."

Danny's heart sank. He took a deep breath. "And dad?"

The silence hung in the air for a minute. "He's sorry too."

"Why doesn't he tell me that?" Danny wasn't sure if he should be worried for his dad or angry with him. He'd made a bunch of out-of-character comments lately and he wasn't sure if that was his dad changing his opinions or if it was just work stress.

"He's been in the lab since we got back. I'll tell him to call you."

Danny snorted again. "Don't bother. If he wants to call me he has my number."

"Your father is trying, Danny, he really is. It's just that he's been working late and you know how he is, he's never been great at the whole bonding thing."

"Sure," He sniped. He took a few deep breaths. The last thing he needed to do was get angry and go on a rampage in Dash's room. He wanted to keep Dash as far away from his anger as he could; it was never pretty and he might think differently about him if he saw.

He could hear his mom still sniffling, though she tried to force some teasing into her tone. "You and the Baxter boy were being safe, right?"

Danny groaned, resisting the urge to hang up the phone and avoid the conversation. "That's not what was about to happen, I promise. We were just…" He hesitated. It had been his best option at the time, but he hadn't thought about how he would explain this to his parents later.

"It's okay, Danny, I remember being your age. One time your father and I-"

"Ew, gross, Mom, I'm hanging up."

"Wait-" She chirped. "Just tell me if you like him! Give me the goss, you kids still say that right?"

"No." Danny panicked, biting his lips. He used to be really close with his mom, but over the years he'd learned to keep her at a distance. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it had started even before the portal incident. Maybe it was because bigger kids didn't need as much attention. Maybe it was because Jazz was more likely to help him with homework and bullies at school. Maybe it was because he liked space more than ghosts. Maybe it was because she only remembered he existed when it was convenient for her to be a parent and not when he needed her; not when he wanted her to chaperon a field trip; not when he wanted her to come to his eighth-grade play; not when he'd died and just wanted his mom to hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay; not when his grades started slipping because he was trying to balance being a hero- who she hated- and being just a regular kid; not when he'd won an astronomy award his sophomore year; always when she decided she wanted to worm her way into his life- like when she wanted to know if he liked a boy or not.

He sighed. "I guess you'll know if he ever comes over for dinner."

He could hear her sharp intake of breath as she tried to keep the hurt down. She didn't respond right away. "Well, you're sure you're safe?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you." He wasn't actually sorry, but he knew it was what she wanted to hear.

"Are you coming home soon? I'm sorry if I made it feel unsafe to be here."

He had to resist the urge to laugh at the irony. "Yeah, I'll see you later."

"Okay, I love you."

He hesitated. "Love you too." He hung up, running his hands through his hair to try and shake the lingering emotions off. He felt like he was simultaneously on fire and sitting in a bucket of ice at the same time. If he could even begin to explain how he felt about his parents shooting him and then being worried that he's presumably not speaking to them over a boy to a therapist, he would. He shook his head, clearing the last of his thoughts, and turned around to finish exploring Dash's room, only to find said person awake.

"Sorry," Dash muttered looking away like he'd just witnessed a crime. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

Danny shrugged. "It's not like it was confidential. Sorry for waking you."

"That's okay." Dash swung his feet over the edge of his bed and stretched, his shirt riding up. Danny immediately looked away, closely studying a sports poster on the wall. "How are you feeling? Physically, I mean. Looks like that phone call took a lot out of you emotionally."

Danny fiddled with his phone, before shoving it in his pocket. "Yeah. Uh, I'm feeling better. It's healed now, just a bit sore is all."

Dash walked over. "Mind if I check?"

"What?" Danny chuckled, nerves crackling. "You don't trust me?"

Dash frowned at him, looking torn. "Trust you with my life? Yeah, absolutely. Trust you with yours? Not so much."

Danny didn't have a response to that so he just lifted the shirt to show Dash where the wound had been. "See? All good."

Dash took a step forward, gently prodding the area, looking for signs of lingering internal damage. "Okay, I believe you."

Danny dropped his shirt, face warm and butterflies attacking his throat. Dash was close enough that if Danny just leaned down he could kiss him. "What do you mean you don't trust me with my life?" He gripped the edges of the shirt tight between his hands to keep them from reaching out.

Dash sighed, dropping his eyes to the floor as he carefully constructed his response. "When I thought you were just Phantom, seeing you throw yourself into danger with no hesitation didn't really bother me. It was scary to watch you get hurt and I wanted to help where I could, but Phantom's just a ghost, right? Already dead. There's no reason to assume you couldn't take those hits. It was a little more nerve-wracking the first time you got hit by the Fenton Venom and I saw my- the town's hero was actually capable of being seriously hurt. But, still not, not as worried as I would have been if, well if it had been you."

Dash looked back up, eyes pleading with Danny to understand what he was saying. Danny liked his eyes, they were always so expressive.

"But it was you. And you're not dead, at least not entirely, and you can get hurt, bad. And that makes me worried. It's awesome that you save people, hell, you've saved my ass more times than I can count, but you're selfless to a fault. Even as Fenton you're willing to just throw yourself in front of a car for a kid you've never met. Every time you do that, I'm worried I'm going to lose my friend, someone I care about. What even happens if you die again? Do you just disappear? I-" Dash swallowed, eyes falling away from Danny's again. "I don't want that to happen to you."

Danny wanted to kiss him. His heart was hammering, a strange, addicting mixture of joy and melancholy flittering around in his chest. He knew Dash had changed, heavily encouraged it even. But he had never thought that the kid who had tormented him- called him names, made his social life hell, and even on a few occasions hit him- would ever care so deeply about his well-being; or tend to his injuries with such gentle hands and tell him that because he was there everything was going to be okay.

His head was all fuzzy, making it hard to think. "Dash, I-"

A shout from downstairs interrupted him. "Dash, if you're awake I've made breakfast!" It was his mom.

Dash snapped out of whatever trance he was in and backed away, giving Danny room to breathe. He shook his head, wiping a stray tear from his face. "You're probably starving. Do you want to come down for breakfast?"

Danny was dizzy, seasick. All he wanted was to kiss Dash senseless right then and there, but he wasn't sure if that was because of his developing crush or just because he felt overwhelmed by the feeling of being cared for. He cleared his throat. "Oh, uh, that's okay. I wouldn't want to impose. You've already done so-"

"Danny," Dash's tone didn't leave room for arguments. It sent a shiver down his spine. "I don't mind. It's not a burden to take care of you."

Jesus. Danny shook his head. "What about your mom? I wouldn't want to bother her."

Dash stared at him for a long moment, thoughts churning behind his eyes; Danny was going to drown in them if he didn't blink anytime soon. Dash burst into laughter, shattering the stillness of the moment. He'd never seen Dash laugh, really laugh, before. His face turned red from the lack of oxygen and he had to lean on his desk for support as he struggled to get air in between laughs. He gripped his side as it started to ache from the force of his laughter. It was enthralling.

"What?" Danny wheezed; he was going to melt from how warm he was.

"Sorry," Dash huffed out. "It's just that I'm an idiot" He took a few more breaths to get his laughter under control. "How did I not notice you and Phantom were the same person when you use the same excuses for everything."

Danny hunched in on himself, trying to hide the embarrassment. "I do not."

"You used not wanting to bother my parents as an excuse to not sit and eat cake with me like, two months ago."

"It's true though, your mom is nice and I don't want to take advantage of that." He squeaked.

"Danny, my mom adores you. She's upset you're not in her kitchen more often." Dash turned to open his door. "So, it's settled. You're eating breakfast with us."

"Wait," Danny stepped forward, placing a hand on the door to keep Dash from opening it. "Uh, do you have my clothes anywhere? Your mom might have questions if she sees me wearing yours."

Dash gave Danny a long, slow look up and down, making his nerves catch fire; he felt himself turn invisible from the embarrassment. It's a wonder he hadn't done that in front of him before. To Dash's credit, he barely batted an eye, choosing to fiddle with the doorknob instead. "Your, uh, your clothes did not make it. We couldn't get all the blood out."

"Oh. Uh, okay." Danny chewed his lip thinking of other options, willing himself to reappear.

Dash cleared his throat. "Should we, like, pretend."

"Pretend they're my clothes?" Danny furrowed his brows in confusion.

Dash shook his head, rocking on his feet and avoiding eye contact. "Your parents already think something's happening between us. Would it be easier for you to pretend if there was?"

Danny's heart stopped, his lungs losing the ability to breathe. He wheezed, "Like pretend to date?"

Dash huffed, throwing his hands up and running his fingers through his hair, making it stick up in a few directions. "I don't know! It was just a suggestion. You didn't exactly tell your mom we weren't involved. So, how are you going to explain… yesterday?"

Danny pressed his hands over his eyes, wanting to disappear again. "I don't know? I just kind of thought they'd be used to it by now."

"Used to what by now?" Dash squeaked.

"Sam invented the fake-out make-out thing like five years ago. I thought they'd just be used to me being a whore with my friends and not question it!"

"How often do you kiss Sam and Tucker?" Dash was trying not to laugh now; Danny's misery must have been hilarious from his point of view.

"I don't know, a lot? Does it matter?" He tugged at his sweater, desperate to give his hands something to do to shake off the shame he was starting to feel.

Dash was laughing again; that genuine and deep laugh he's had only just a few moments before. And Danny's last shred of denial crumbled away.  

He liked Dash.

He really did. He liked his laugh, he liked how kind he'd become; how brave and selfless. Even with all his self-doubt he knew what he stood for and believed in. He gently touched his side, warmth spreading through his chest as he remembered how caring Dash had been. It took every ounce of strength he had not to push Dash against the wall and swallow his laughter; to kiss him in a way that took everything Danny felt for him and embedded it in his soul so he'd never forget it; to touch him in a way that made Dash feel just as overwhelmed with the emotion as he did. He dug his fingernails into his palm to calm himself down, to shove the feelings back where they came from.

Dash straightened, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Okay, so we can just make something up if my mom asks. What are you gonna tell your parents?"

"Uh," Danny blinked, clearing his thoughts, "I don't know. I'll figure it out. Sorry for dragging you into all this."

Dash smiled at him before opening the door. "I'm not. I'm glad you trusted me. Maybe I'm not such a lost cause after all, right?"

Danny returned his smile as his stomach churned and tied itself into knots. "You never were." He cleared his throat. "And I'll pay you back for breakfast, I promise."

Dash snorted, leading the way down the hall. "Not on your afterlife."

The park was chilly, covered in a light fog. Dash stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched Pookie sniff a bush. He was too anxious to sleep. He hadn't seen Danny in a few days and except for a few stray texts, he hadn't heard much from him.

He had to wonder if he was avoiding him; and he wasn't sure if it was the kiss (fake-out make-out), or him suggesting they should pretend to date, or if it was just that Danny was still embarrassed with the whole situation.

He sighed, shaking his nerves and the night's chill from his body. He was still trying to wrap his head around the idea of Danny and Phantom being the same person. It should have been obvious to him: Phantom had Danny's humor and Danny had Phantom's courage, they made the same jokes and had the same laugh, it should have been obvious.

Apparently, Dash had a type.

But now he felt more at a loss than ever. It was clear to him that Danny just saw him as a friend; at most, he only found him generally attractive. Memories from the lake and the night they'd gone star gazing played in his mind. Danny had almost kissed him twice but had decided against it each time, pulling away like he was too close to a fire- and maybe he was; Dash had been capable of destroying relationships he cared about before, who's to say he wouldn't do it again? And it was clear he'd been rejected by both his crushes- well, one crush twice.

And he was avoiding him, in both forms.

He kicked at the dirt on the path, startling Pookie. He whispered apologies and continued down the path, letting his hand trail over the soft leaves of the bushes. The park was unusually still and eerily quiet. The only animal he could hear was the occasional owl hooting and Pookie sniffing around the ground. He didn't even see the ghost squirrels out.

Something was very, very wrong about the park if neither the living nor the dead were out. A gentle breeze grazed his skin, but he suspected it was the uneasy feeling of being watched that made him shiver. A cold pit fell into his stomach as he looked around, not seeing very far through the fog. He'd had enough moping and fresh air; it'd be safer staring at his ceiling right now.

He turned, crunching the dirt underneath his sandals, and gently tugged Pookie back the way they'd come. Thank god his house wasn't too far from the park.

He'd be fine.

In the distance, hovering just beyond the edge of the fog, he saw a tall figure materialize as it slowly walked his way. He tensed, something about the figure unnerved him; he kept his eyes glued firmly ahead. They'd pass each other by, maybe do a bro nod, and go their separate ways with no issues and very little interaction. Who'd want to talk to strangers at two am anyway?

Serial Killers.

Dash felt himself speed up; until Pookie started growling at the figure. He stopped, eyeing the figure as it got closer. He was tall, not taller than Dash, Danny was definitely taller, but he still held an imposing height. He was wearing a well-tailored suit; his greying hair was tied in a slick-backed ponytail.

A cold shiver of dread rolled down Dash's spine, not unlike the aura of fear he felt when ghosts were attacking. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen this man somewhere before. He tugged Pookie's leash, pulling the barking dog closer to him; he was barking like he had at Danny. Dash's heart beat erratically; cold claws of terror dragged across his skin, making his hair stand on end. He couldn't breathe around the knot in his throat. Whoever this man was, he wasn't human.

"Good evening," the man spoke, coming to a stop right in front of him, his voice smooth, cold, and calculating.

Dash didn't respond, didn't dare take his eyes off the man lest he attack the second he looked away. He knew there was no hiding now and there was no way he'd outrun something that wasn't human.

"What's a young man like you doing out this late?"

Dash frowned. "I could ask you the same thing." He flinched at the man's answering laugh.

"You flatter me." He grinned, something evil oozing across his lips. His hands were behind his back, his posture pristine, perfect. "The name's Vlad Masters. May I ask yours?"

Dash took an instinctive step back; Vlad watching the move with a knowing eye. Dash knew that name; it had been in Tucker's slide show. He bent down, keeping his eyes on the man, and picked up Pookie, cradling the growling dog to his chest. Every fiber in his being was telling him to run, to get away from him. He took a deep breath, shoving the fear down. "Something tells me you already know."

Vlad hummed, pulling his hands around to the front to adjust his cuffs. He tilted his head, a predator about to ensnare his prey. "Very perceptive, Dash Baxter."

Dash took another step back, choking on his lungs. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Ah, perhaps not. I just have a few…" his eyes glinted in the light, "…questions about our mutual acquaintance, Daniel Fenton."

Dash inhaled sharply, eyes momentarily darting away from Vlad. He shifted Pookie in his arms, trying to get the dog to calm down but it was hard to do when he was shaking just as much. "What do you want with Danny?"

"Ah," Vlad leered at him, drawing out his syllables, "more than an acquaintance for you?"

From what he knew, Vlad was like Danny, half-ghost. Who knew what powers he had? Dash couldn't make a run for it, no way he'd make it. Even if he could run and hide, he wouldn't be able to keep Pookie quiet. "I don't know what you mean."

Vlad cackled under his breath, walking around Dash's side, circling like a vulture. "An acquaintance wouldn't know about Phantom, would they?"

"I didn't say anything about Phantom." Dash was trapped in a pit with a very hungry beast, with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no way to fight back. He turned to follow Vlad's movements, keeping the man where he could see him.

"You didn't have to. But it would do well not to waste our time playing dumb, Mr. Baxter." He sneered. "I only want information."

Dash swallowed his nerves, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. "What kind of information?"

"Yeah, Vlad," Danny, in Phantom form, dropped down between them, pushing Dash a few feet back. "what information?"

Dash sighed in relief as that familiar feeling of safety radiated from Danny and washed over him, releasing the grip Vlad's aura had on him. He stepped closer to him, unashamed of the way he was cowering. Pookie stopped barking, opting for a soft growling instead.

"Daniel," Vlad smoothed, taking an irritated deep breath and pausing his steps, "how nice of you to join us. I see you've grown taller."

"Cut the bullshit," Danny growled, glaring down at the man. "What do you think you're doing?"

Dash knew that tone in Danny's voice, had been on the receiving end of it a few times; he was pissed. And Dash, in that moment, was almost afraid of Danny too; his aura of safety weakening as his anger grew. It felt like his heart was freezing over just standing next to him.

"I'm simply making conversation, Daniel, nothing for you to worry about." Vlad took a step closer to them. Danny held his ground.

"There's always something to worry about with you. Get tired of your lonely bachelor pad in Wisconsin?" Danny's words were teasing, but they didn't mask the hatred underneath.

Vlad tsked and took another step. "Maybe I'm here visiting some friends. I hear Jack misses me."

Danny reached behind him to grab Dash's wrist and pulled them a step to the side; he had claws and they were digging into his skin. "I don't care what my dad says, you're not welcome in my town, you know that."

"Why Daniel," Vlad's teasing also carried an underlying threat, "your feathers are ruffled. Have I overstepped with this boy?" His leer slid back to Dash.

Dash was thankful for Danny's grip on his wrist, even if he was sure he'd have bruises later; he might have taken his chances with running without it. Danny's words were careful, almost practiced, like the two of them had done this dance many times before. He glanced at Danny. He was grinding his teeth, lips curled in a half snarl; how had he never noticed that Phantom had fangs? His eyes flashed at Vlad's words.

"Stay away from my people. Stay away from my town. I won't ask again." He took a threatening step forward, dragging Dash with him. Crackling and popping noises filled the air as bits of electricity flicked off Danny's form.

"Ah, the scary eyes. You know those don't work on me." Vlad flashed his own glowing red eyes; Dash recoiled a bit. "Speaking of your people, tell me, how's Valerie doing these days?"

Danny raised his free arm and shot an electric-charged energy blast at Vlad who easily dodged. It slammed into a lamppost across the park; the light bulb hissed and shattered.

"You're too predictable, Daniel. You've got to control your obsession if you want to have a chance at-" Another blast from Danny hit him square in the chest, charring his skin and stealing the breath from his lungs.

Dash squeezed his eyes shut, terror flooding his veins, hating that the safest place to be was right next to the fight. Pookie whimpered in his arm. He pressed closer to Danny, willing him to calm down.

"And you've got to get your monologing under control, Vlady." Danny hissed, hand still glowing and crackling, another shot ready to go. "Now get out of here!"

Vlad rubbed the spot on his chest. His suit had burnt away where he'd been hit, but the skin underneath was already healed. "Do you know how much this suit cost?"

"Do you know how much I don't care?" Danny sneered, a twisted joke on his tongue. "Suit yourself to the door or this will be a brief fight."

How in the fuck was Danny making puns in this situation?

Vlad let another small grin cover his face. "I'm going to be in town for a few days. Your father invited me over for breakfast." Vlad straightened the collar of his shirt and pivoted on his heel, continuing down the path into the park. "Ta-ta, Daniel, see you tomorrow."

Danny growled, releasing Dash's hand, and took a few steps forward like he was going to chase after him, then decided against it and paced where he was, like a lion trapped in a cage. He was muttering to himself, anger boiling over.

Dash took a step after him just as Danny opened his mouth and screamed. Dash shrunk in on himself, almost dropping Pookie in his haste to cover his ears. Danny's wail was piercing, blood-curdling; the hatred in it enough to make him want to sprint as far as he could in the other direction. It nearly flattened the trees closest to them. Pookie buried his face in Dash's jacket.

Danny's chest was heaving and his jaw hung open, looking like he wanted to scream again as he whirled around, glaring in Dash's direction. His eyes were glowing, nothing but anger in them and his fangs were on full display, his features only looking vaguely human. For the first time in a long time, Dash found himself afraid of Phantom.

"What did he say to you?" Danny's voice was venom.

Dash released a shaky breath. "Uh, I, not a lot. He just asked what I was doing out here and if I knew you."

"What are you doing out here?" Danny was still pacing, flexing his hands, the sight of his claws sending phantom pain to Dash's arm.

"I couldn't sleep." His voice was small and he desperately wished he wasn't out here.

Danny ran his hands through his hair, nearly ripping pieces out. The grass underneath him was freezing over; electricity still popping and spitting off him, like grease in a hot pan. "I fucking hate him."

Dash chose not to speak, fear still squeezing his lungs, his heart was lodged in his throat. He watched Danny pace and mutter for about five minutes before he started to calm down and begin resembling his friend again.

He huffed, walking over to Dash a lot more calm now. "Are you okay?"

Dash nodded. "Fine."

Danny gently reached out to Pookie in his arms, petting him. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you two."

Dash snorted. "Could have fooled me."

Danny flinched. He retracted his arm, letting it hang by his side. "We should get you home."

Dash nodded, but didn't turn to go; it felt too much like turning his back on a dark room. Danny noticed and took the lead, forcing himself to walk slowly and survey the area, just in case Vlad was still hanging around. Dash followed a few steps behind.

Danny reached into one of the pockets on his belt and pulled out his phone. He typed in a number and held it to his ear, tapping his finger against it impatiently. "Hey, Val, where are you right now?"

Dash couldn't hear Valerie on the other end. He forced himself to not stare at the concrete as they walked, his eyes bouncing between the buildings around them and Danny.

"Okay, listen, I have some bad news. I just ran into Vlad at- yes, in Amity Park- No, he was bothering Dash- listen, he's going to be in town for a few days-"

Dash wished he had the context necessary to follow their conversation. All he knew about Vlad was that he was really creepy and stalked Danny's family relentlessly and that he groomed Valerie during their freshman and sophomore years to be a ghost hunter and kept her family in poverty by buying her dad's company.

"Please, don't do anything crazy. Val, I'm just trying to warn you so you're not blindsided if you run into him. I don't need you to jump back into the fray. You can leave the creepy old guy to me- 'cause you got away from him! Yes, I'm going to message her now." Danny stopped, holding an arm in front of Dash, his eyes scanning an alleyway. "Colorado is closer if you really want to, but please don't let him get to you. I'll head to the Wisconsin house as soon as I get Dash home. Okay, be safe. See you later."

He hung up, dropping his hand, and typing a quick text.

Dash cleared his throat, shifting Pookie around in his arms- he was getting heavy. "You're going to Wisconsin right now?"

Danny turned to him, his nerves pulled tight with anxiety. "It's where Vlad lives. I'm going to see if he's hiding any secret plans around. He has a log cabin in Colorado that Valerie's going to check."

"Who else is going with you?" They came to a stop outside his house.

Danny bit his lip, looking away from him.

Dash huffed. "Okay, I know you like to be all mysterious and cool as Phantom, but-"

"I'm not trying to be mysterious, Dash. It's just none of your business."

Dash breathed, using some exercises his therapist had taught him; it wouldn't do them any good if both of them were losing their tempers. "Then can you at least tell me what that was all about?"

Danny sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and hunching in on himself. "I don't know."

Dash snorted. "Fine, keep your secrets."

Danny frowned. "I actually don't know. Vlad is more than a little insane, he's practically evil incarnate. He's been causing issues for a long time, both here and in the ghost zone. I didn't even know he was here."

"Then how did you know to come save me?"

Danny blushed, it was bright green instead of the red Dash was used to seeing. "I didn't. I was just passing by and saw what was happening. Look, it takes me like an hour and a half to get to Wisconsin, I need to get going. Are you going to be okay?"

The words were tumbling from his mouth before he could stop them. "Take me with you."

"What?"

Dash squared his shoulders, standing his ground. "Take me with you."

Danny exhaled in disbelief, fiddling with the Fenton Thermos on his belt. "Dash, I'm walking straight into my arch-nemesis's lair. He's almost as powerful as I am, it's going to be extremely dangerous if he was lying about sticking around. I can't just bring you-"

"Why not?" Dash swallowed against his nerves. "I can handle it."

Danny was tapping his feet against the ground, frustration building. "Vlad is lethal. You could get killed, Dash. It's not safe."

"And what about you? It's not safe for you either."

"I'm already dead, you're not. There's a lot more at risk for you."

"You said he probably has Fenton Venom, right? That means there's a lot at risk for you too." Dash hated being on this side of Danny's stubbornness. Usually, he loved it when Danny stuck to what he knew to be right, no matter what anyone threw at him; hell it was the reason they were friends in the first place. But, it was really annoying when he was the one trying to convince him otherwise.

"I do this all the time, it's part of the whole superhero thing. If it makes you feel any better, besides the Ancients I'm one of the most powerful ghosts in the ghost zone, I can handle myself."

Dash blinked, he had no idea Danny was that powerful; he didn't exactly know what he meant by that statement but it clearly carried a lot of weight. "Valerie is human, you're letting her go." He argued, stupidly.

Danny huffed, throwing his hands in the air. "She's been doing this as long as I have. She has experience, you don't."

"Well, I can't get any if you don't take me. I thought I was the team medic now. What if you need me?"

"I won't."

Okay, ouch. Dash reeled back. The hurt must have shown on his face because Danny winced and stared at the ground. Dash wasn't sure why he was so set on going with him. But he felt like Danny shouldn't be alone with how angry he was. He knew from experience that anger makes people lose focus. And losing focus as a superhero could be deadly. He took a deep breath. "Look, I was on every sports team Casper High had. I'm fast, reasonably strong, and can keep myself out of trouble. Let me go with you. Let me have your back."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and turned away, pacing and running his hands through his hair again. His breaths were loud like he was running a marathon. He was muttering, cursing under his breath. Dash pet Pookie to relieve some of his nerves.

Finally, Danny huffed and turned to Dash with defeated eyes. "Fine."

Dash's heart jumped. He had not expected to win that debate.

"But I can't fly both of us all the way to Wisconsin. You'll get hypothermia. We'll have to go through the Ghost Zone." Danny raised an eyebrow at him. "Can you handle that?"

Dash felt the unease creep back into his veins. He shoved it down. "Yeah. Yeah, I can handle it. Let me put Pookie inside and I'll be right back. Don't you dare leave without me." He waited til Danny nodded before rushing inside his house. He took Pookie's leash off, poured food in his bowl, grabbed the emergency backpack he'd packed after the last time, and sprinted back out of the house, just barely remembering to lock the door behind him.

He thought for sure Danny would have taken off the second his back was turned, so he was surprised to see him still there. "Oh, good, you actually waited."

Danny rubbed his arm, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry. I know you're just trying to help. Vlad just… he scares me. You're not the first friend he's targeted. I just don't want you getting hurt."

Dash wanted to march right up to Danny and pull him into a tight hug. He settled for putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He scares me too. That's why I don't want you going alone. You have a team for a reason, right?"

Danny smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess I do." He reached out and scooped Dash, who yelped in surprise, into his arms. Danny picked him up like he weighed nothing- Dash tried to not let that thought linger. Danny floated off the ground, making Dash cling to him for dear life, and started flying toward Fenton Works.

"Hey, what did you mean by the whole 'my people, my town,' thing?" Dash asked to distract himself from the heat crawling onto his face.

Danny was quiet for a minute, so long that Dash thought he hadn't heard him over the wind. "You know how people who lived here when the town was pulled into the ghost zone get the 'Amity Park Jitters'?"

"Yeah."

"So, well, there's a lot of things wrong with me. Those jitters are really bad for me. Since I technically died here, my ghost half is really fond of the place and doesn't like leaving. When people die and become ghosts, some of them develop these obsessions. That's why a lot of the ghosts that attack here are usually after the same thing every time. For Skulker, he's obsessed with hunting and collecting; for Desiree, it's granting others' wishes because hers wasn't, et cetera. Mine is protection, protecting the things important to me. So, my family, my friends, my town… when people threaten those things, my ghost half doesn't take it too kindly."

"So, that's what the whole rage episode was about? And why Vlad said you needed to get control of it?" Dash made the mistake of looking down. He clung tighter to Danny and buried his face in his shoulder. He was nauseous.

Danny's voice was small. "Yeah."

"Well, at least you have a better way of taking your anger out, on trees and not people." He felt a small amount of residual guilt hit his chest.

"I used to. Mostly on the ghosts that were attacking. Sometimes on you. I'm not really proud of that."

A memory flashed across Dash's mind from the day Danny had asked him to join their study group. "Those pranks you mentioned?"

"Yeah," Danny squeaked, turning them intangible, and flew through the wall into his room. "Sorry."

Dash shrugged as Danny set him down. "I probably deserved it."

Danny shook his head. "Yeah, but bad things happen when you use your powers for bad reasons. It corrupts your soul, just look at Vlad."

Dash frowned. "Is that why you were saying not all the ghosts were evil? Cause only the corrupted ones are?"

Danny nodded. Dash took a moment to look around his room, he'd never been in here before; Danny's house sure, but not his room, at least, not when he could see the whole thing at the correct size. There were textbooks and books on astronomy littered all around the room, some had notebooks next to them with Danny's pretty scrawl covering them. There were model spaceships on his bookcases and glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to his ceiling. His computer desk was littered with stray papers; Dash smiled at the doodles of rockets he saw on one of them.

"Okay, I'm going to make us invisible so we can sneak downstairs. We'll have to be really quiet, I don't know where my parents are and we can't have them catch us. Once we're in the ghost zone you'll have to stick close by, I can't carry you. Not every ghost is friendly and I might have to fight some off. Vlad's portal is close by, but it will take us about twenty minutes to get there on foot."

Dash couldn't ignore the prickles of unease in his spine anymore. He chuckled to relieve some of the pressure. "Is this going to be like an Orpheus and Eurydice thing?"

That pretty green glow was back on Danny's cheeks. "Kind of. Except I'll be able to look back, and keep you safe." He held out a hand. "If you're sure about coming with, we need to get going."

Dash didn't hesitate to take his hand. He felt a little tingly when Danny turned them invisible. He couldn't see Danny and when he looked down, couldn't see himself. Danny gave his hand a little tug and Dash followed.

They moved slowly, Dash navigating by the pull of Danny's hand alone. Danny phased them through the door so it wouldn't creak. The lights were all off and he couldn't hear the Fentons anywhere.

Dash only tripped once at the bottom of the stairs. Danny caught him, the two of them freezing to listen for footsteps. When nothing happened, they continued on to the lab.

It was just like he expected it to be, scary; big imposing machines lined the cold gray walls and the tables were covered in tools and half-assembled experiments. Once Danny was sure his parents weren't in there, he turned them visible. Dash blinked, stumbling once he could see his limbs again.

"Ready?" Danny whispered, standing in front of the portal. The glow from the machine illuminated his hair, his silhouette glowing eerily like some kind of terrifying angel.

Dash swallowed, wishing he could take a picture, and nodded. He gripped the straps of his backpack and followed Danny into the portal.

Sometimes I read things from an author and I'm like "wow you're characters are really disturbed and horny how'd you think of that?" Cause like as an ace person, I don't have those thoughts often at all. But then I'll be editing (rewriting) a chapter and the characters thoughts just hit me like a truck and I'm like "oh okay, so when were you going to tell me you were also a freak?"

I have decided to break chapter 7 up into two parts because it's so massive that it's easier for me to write separately. So I've got the first draft of the first half down, I just have to get the second draft, edit it, and then it will be ready to go!

Fucked around and drew a scene from my last chapter cause I'm having brain fog with writing. Got all the way done with it and realized Dash is wearing his jacket in this scene. I did not have the energy to fix it.