A World Unseen: After Ifs
Introduction: I have quite a few ideas of things that happen after the end of A World Unseen, or things that could have happened if events had gone differently in the story.
Warnings: Homosexual relationships. Violence. Foul language. Mentions of rape and death. Supernatural AU. General warnings for anything that might end up happening in these stories.
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is a product of Nickelodeon. All characters in this story are imaginary.
A Mind More Powerful
Summary: When a mentor is found for the young telepath, Dash still feels hesitant to learn more about his powers.
Characters: Dash x Danny, and Nocturne
Originally Written: July 2013
"I still don't know about this," Dash mumbled, staring up at the sign above the door with a certain amount of hesitation.
"Why? Lancer assured us that he was an excellent telepath," Danny said, but he frowned at the blond man. Taking hold of Dash's hand, Danny gave it a quick, comforting squeeze. "If you really don't want to go through with this, then you shouldn't force yourself. But remember, I'm here to support you. You've been helping me deal with and move on from what happened to me. I want to be able to help you with this."
A small smile tugged at Dash's mouth as he turned his gaze onto Danny. He appreciated that the man was showing his support, but he still couldn't shake the lingering nervousness when it came to discovering more about his powers as a telepath. His experiences in the past soured his opinion of the gift he was born with, and he wasn't certain that he really wanted to learn all that much about it beyond being able to completely shut out other people's thoughts. He still considered it too much of an invasion of privacy by delving into other people's mind. Even simply getting a hint of a thought broadcasting from their minds made him disgusted with himself.
Dash took hold of the handle and yanked open the door. If he could learn control over his power, he might actually be able to do something to help Michael, and that was the most encouraging thought to him at the moment. He was scared of what would happen if he managed to return Michael to normal. But it was a guilt that constantly ate him up inside, and he did want to return Michael's life to him, return him to his parents who continued to hurt over the fact that their son remained in the mental ward of the hospital with no hope of recovery.
They entered the store, and Dash was immediately hit with that smell of worn paper and leather, that dusty scent of a place where time was forgotten, and the silence seemed to stretch on forever. It was like stepping into another world or into the past with the old look of the store with the delicately carved wooden bookshelves. The store was empty, save for the man sitting at the front desk. He looked out of time with his funky hair style, the purple locks twisted out the sides like some kind of horns. Compared to the atmosphere of the bookstore, the man stuck out like a sore thumb with his punk appearance and the tattoos running up his arms and the hoop pierced through his lower lip. The look of the man made Dash even less certain about seeking him out as a mentor.
"Do you want me to go up with you? Or," Danny said awkwardly, glancing about the bookstore, "should I just wander around and let you talk with him?"
Dash hesitated in his response. Even without the ability to read minds, he could see that Danny worried about him but didn't want to be a bother by hovering around unwanted. "This might not take long," he mumbled, throwing a doubtful glance at the man who was supposed to teach him in the ways of telepathy. "I wouldn't wander away too far."
Danny nodded before he headed off to browse through the books on the shelves. This seemed like the perfect place for the man to look for a gift for his sister. After they got the chance to hang out, Dash quickly discovered that Jazz was a bit of a bookworm and enjoyed reading more than just psychology books. But she definitely had a love for those old books, the ones bound in leather or hard covers with pages that had to be turned with care because they were so old.
Taking a breath, Dash approached the man at the front desk. His mouth pursed when the man merely flipped the page in his magazine as he leaned his head on one hand. The man paid no attention at all to the person standing before him, and Dash had to wonder how the man even kept a job when he didn't seem to care at all about his customers.
"It's not that I don't care," the man spoke, making Dash jolt in surprise. His voice was laced thickly with boredom for basically everything. "I just thought I'd give you the chance to speak first. And," he lifted his head, meeting Dash's gaze with eyes that held an eerily red hue, "I happen to own this establishment."
"I guess since you've been reading my mind, you know why I'm here." Dash narrowed his eyes, not pleased with the man already for peeking into his mind.
"I didn't need to read your mind to know the reason." The man closed the magazine and pushed it aside as he sat up a bit straighter. "The witch contacted me recently to tell me that there was a young telepath in need of being taught to use his powers." He folded his arms over the top of the counter and leaned forward. "And if you attempted to, you would quickly find it impossible to peek into my mind. I can teach you how to guard your mind from other telepaths."
"Great," Dash muttered dryly, deciding already that he probably wasn't going to like this man. "But that's not what I care about right now."
"Oh, I know exactly what you care about right now." He smirked slyly as his gaze traveled toward something behind the blond man. Dash twisted around to follow the man's gaze, and his blue eyes landed on Danny, who had pulled a book from the shelf and was leafing through it slowly. "Despite his hesitancy," the man whispered into Dash's ear, and the blond man forced himself not to jump, "he thinks about you a lot."
"We are a couple," Dash growled, snapping his head around to pin a glare on the man, who continued to smirk.
"The mind can be a very powerful thing, you know." The man kept his gaze on Dash for a moment before it slid back to Danny. "With our ability, we can read what people are thinking. We can dive deeper into their minds to uncover their darkest secrets. We can even implant thoughts in other people's minds."
When he heard a clumsy fumble of noise behind him, Dash turned his head as the book Danny held dropped from his hands to thump upon the floor. The raven haired man mumbled a quiet, "Sorry," as he bent down to pick up the book. His face had turned a bright shade of red, reaching even to the tips of his ears. Dash spun around quickly, snatching hold of the front of the man's shirt and yanking him forward.
"I don't know what game you're playing, but you do anything like that to him again, and I won't hesitate to hurt you," Dash threatened with a deadly look in his eyes. Danny had suffered enough in his life with the rape and being killed then brought back to life. He didn't need some telepath messing with mind on top of all that.
The man's mouth pursed as his eerie eyes stared into Dash's eyes, like he was searching for something. "I see." His mouth pulled downward. "That's unfortunate. There's a lot that you can do with your powers. But," he sighed as he extracted his shirt from Dash's hold, "if you're so keen on limiting yourself out of some sense of nobility-"
"It's called being a decent person," Dash snapped, glowering at him. "You clearly don't like having the privacy of your mind invaded either since you shield yourself from other telepaths. I'm willing to learn what you have to teach me, but that doesn't mean I have to like anything about this power."
"Yes, yes. You mostly want to help your little friend Michael. I can read it in your mind as clear as the words in a magazine." His voice was back to sounding bored. After smoothing out any wrinkles in his clothes, he lifted his head with a wicked gleam in his eyes and a smirk stretched wide upon his face. "Now then. You may call me Nocturne."
Author's Note: If there are any particular afterwards/what ifs about characters from A World Unseen that people would like to see, feel free to mention it in a review or something. XD;; I don't exactly have an order for these.
