Yoga
I've recently taken up yoga and this amusing little idea came to my head during one of my sessions.
No warnings except for my penchant for describing things in a bit too much detail and more commas than you can shake a stick at heh.
Danny Phantom kicked open the front door of Vlad's illustrious manor looking like an angry cat that got caught in the rain. His boots squelched as he purposefully stomped mud and water all over the marble floors and carpets rather than float. Sure it was a little vindictive but at the moment he was just a bit beyond pissy considering the circumstances.
After pinpointing Vlad's distinct energy signal, Danny found himself in front of a pair of double doors with flowers carved into the wood and crystal knobs actually encasing two beautiful white roses. He gently turned the knob, unable to bring himself to damage the door like he did the entrance, and was met with a curtain of wooden beads and the fresh, warm scent of clean pottery dirt and aromatic flora.
With the curtain pushed aside he couldn't help but be amazed at the sight of a giant greenhouse and conservatory. There seemed to be hundreds of butterflies flying about lazily from flower to flower, a soft buzzing nearby alerted him to happy honey bees collecting pollen, and as he walked in further a pond with giant lily pads, swimming black and white koi, happy looking frogs, cute little turtles, and an elegant gold and black marble fountain bubbling gently had made him stop and stare in wonder.
"You know I really wish my lessons on manners would stick in that thick skull of yours." Came a drawling voice, surprising Danny and nearly making him fall into the fountain's water.
He whipped around and blinked, seeing Vlad in a tight white tank top, matching baggy almost pajama pants, his hair pulled into a higher ponytail than usual at the back of the head rather than at the base, a bracelet made of what Danny believed was quartz shaped like tiny skulls around his left wrist, and his feet were bare. He stood on a black rubber looking mat on one foot, his other braced flat against the side of the standing foot's knee, and hands together like a prayer. One indigo eye was open, staring right at Danny with an amused smirk on his face.
"Vlad?" Danny blinked in confusion.
"Yes? Are you really so surprised to find me here after seeking me out? This is my home after all and you're disturbing my daily meditation period." Vlad said with a sarcastic bite before opening both eyes and taking in the boy's squishy appearance, "Also I really don't appreciate that you tracked in so much mud and water for my servants to clean up."
Danny flushed, having forgot that it wasn't like Vlad would clean his own house when he could just hire others to do it for him. He scratched the back of his neck before remembering just exactly WHY he was covered in more mud and algae than the Creature of the Black Lagoon. His angry face came back and Vlad looked even more amused when Danny started giving him the "scary eyes".
"Well I wouldn't BE like this if you hadn't sent Skulker after me while our science class was on a field trip to Gillman Swamp!" He accused.
"Hm… I don't recall ever sending one of my minions out, but that's an excellent attempt at averting the blame to me." Vlad hummed lazily, swapping legs from one pose to the other in a fluid motion.
"SKULKER ADMITTED IT WAS YOU!" Danny shouted.
"For one so young you seem far more stressed than you should be. Perhaps you should try a daily yoga regiment like I."
"I wouldn't be so stressed if I didn't have to deal with fighting your stupid ghost pals all the time while juggling school, friends, and avoiding my parents catching me every goddamn day! When the hell do you think I would have time to do this yogi crap?!" He flung up his hands in disgust, going back to brushing of crumbled bits of drying mud off of himself.
"It's called 'Yoga', Daniel. I think you could afford a half hour of your day to de-stress yourself. I happen to be able to do it while juggling my Mayoral duties, my many companies, wooing your mother, and my plans for world domination after all."
"Congratulations." Danny said dryly.
"No need for sarcasm, Daniel."
"There's always room for sarcasm, it's like Jell-O." He sat down on the ponds brick wall and crossed his legs, just watching Vlad, his anger from earlier just melting into minor annoyance now that most of the mud was off. Vlad merely rolled his eyes and spread his feet across the mat, leaning down over one leg and laying his palm flat on the ground while the other went high in the air. He stayed like that for a good solid 2 minutes before swapping sides.
"You look stupid, you know that right?" Danny said, back in human form and peeling off strips of mud from his jeans.
"Says the teen covered in mud," He scoffed and shook his head, "There's a shower and extra clothes through that door there." He stood up and pointed, "I want you to wash up and meet me back in here in 15 minutes. You're going to de-stress yourself before I end up boxing your ears."
"Pssh, whatever, Fruitloop." Danny rolled his eyes and went to the showers while Vlad called for two or three servants to come clean up the mess Danny left behind.
As he entered the completely tiled room he took a look around, eyebrows raised slightly at how much it lacked the obnoxiously ostentatious Vlad's decorating habits usually had. Against the left wall was a row of 5 gold shower heads with crystal knobs matching that of the door to the conservatory only instead of white roses it was one red and one blue flower under each head for hot and cold. There was a large Jacuzzi tucked in the back corner for soaking, a small hallway with a swinging door at the end that Danny peered through that led to a personal gymnasium as big as the one at Danny's school, another door that led to a sauna room, and against the right wall were plain white metal lockers with a wooden bench before it.
Danny stripped off his dirty clothes and wrinkled his nose at the smell before setting them on the bench. After spotting a rack of shampoo, conditioner, and soaps with plain white towels and washcloths stacked neatly beneath them he grabbed one of each and got to work. Being a superhero and a teenage boy, it gave him the gift of being able to shower quick and fast without lacking in the proper protocols for hygiene. But as he lathered up with the lightly floral scented soaps his eyes kept drifting along the tiled walls trying to find a pattern. Most of the tiles were plain white, but every so often there was an accent tile of a random flower or fern, hand painted looking too.
"Daniel! Did you drown in there? I said 15 minutes or were you distracted by the knobs too much to realize the time." Vlad's voice suddenly called out, making the teenager jump and nearly have a heart attack.
Danny stuck his tongue out at the entryway with his face burning brightly, "I'll be out in a minute Vlad! Jeez!"
"Clothes are in the first locker, the maids will take care of your filthy ones so just leave them there."
With that Danny was left alone to dry off and he opened up the locker. There was a stack of tank tops on the top shelf and the same pajama looking pants beneath it. He quickly pulled on a black set, ignoring that he had to go commando for now, and tied the pants as tight as they could go so they didn't fall down causing him to embarrass himself.
He stepped out with still damp hair and blinked when he saw Vlad had unrolled another mat out next to his, "Oh hell no. I'm not doing this junk with you here to laugh at me!" Danny protested.
Vlad just rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to laugh at you Daniel. We're going to be doing some light posing, nothing too advanced." He sat down on his mat, legs crossed and wrists lightly on his knees.
At first Danny didn't budge and wondered how long Vlad might stay like that before he gave up and plopped down on his own mat.
Vlad snorted and began several breathing exercises with Danny and for the next half hour Danny found himself completely relaxed for once, stretching out sore muscles and cracking his back in the most wonderful ways while his brain shut down, focusing on just the poses rather than if this was a nefarious trick of Vlad's or other such nonsense however true it may end up being.
By the time they were finished a maid came in with two water bottles and a bowl of fresh fruit and light toast as a snack. "Master Daniel's clothing has just been put in the dryer." The maid informed with a curtsey. Vlad nodded and waved her away with a small smile at Danny.
"So… how was it, Daniel? Not as bad as you thought?" He teased, drinking from his red bottle.
Danny snatched the green one and glared though there was no heat behind it, "It was okay. Still felt stupid with my butt in the air all the time." He ignored Vlad's amused chuckle and scratched his head while inspecting his water for any knock-out drugs or hypnosis, "But… I feel really good now. I'm not gonna be your dumb apprentice or anything but you think I could… I dunno come here whenever I got spare time and… do yoga here?" He took a drink of water wincing at asking his arch-enemy a favor but Vlad looked giddier than a girl being asked out to the prom.
When Danny looked like he was going to have second thoughts, Vlad cleared his throat, "Of course Daniel. And you are free to use any of the other gymnasium equipment as well. I do my light work outs every afternoon at around 4 pm. On Saturdays I do a heavier routine in my gym from 6 to 9 pm that you are free to come and join me for as well."
Danny frowned, "I'm not sure I can do all that…"
"Of course you can. I'll help you balance out a schedule." Vlad said flippantly and handed Danny a piece of toast with honey, peanut butter, and sliced bananas on it.
"Great…" Danny muttered and took the snack, eyes lighting up at the delicious flavors. They spent the next half hour discussing ways to lighten Danny's workload. The time went by so fast that Danny was surprised when a maid came in with his cleaned clothes and shoes folded neatly on top.
Vlad rolled up the spare mat and smiled, handing it to Danny, "I'll see you tomorrow then, Daniel?"
Danny took the clothes and mat and shrugged, "We'll see." He asked the maid for the time and grimaced when she said it was almost dinnertime. Vlad looked nearly ready to offer dinner here, but held his tongue when Danny turned into Phantom, ghost persona clean now that his human half was. "Crud I gotta go! Uh..." He turned to Vlad and grinned, "See ya around I suppose."
With a hop he was floating in the air and he headed to the glass walls, "Later, Fruitloop!" He teased with a wave before speeding off just as the streetlights were starting to turn on.
Vlad sighed and shook his head, a small smirk reaching his lips as he tucked a towel around his shoulders and walked to the bathroom to use the sauna. He flicked out his phone and dialed a familiar number. "Skulker, I'll have to thank you for today..." He chuckled and disappeared into the tiled room.
I'm not sure if I should leave this as a one shot or continue. But if you wish for me to continue feel free to drop ideas down in the comments!