Notes: This originally started out as just a oneshot to outline some of the VladDanny interaction that took place while Danny was pregnant. It ended up turning into something from Vlad's POV at some point in the distant future.
Cuddling
When Danny's health had first begun to decline, the baby's had as well. Vlad had felt it, both emanating from Danny and communicated from the baby itself. It had been shocking at first, and he'd been on edge for the longest time before he'd realized that itching in the back of mind was actually his child and mate's conditions. That in itself had sparked a strange sort of instinct in him, which he hadn't been quite sure he was comfortable with at the time.
Still, the man hadn't been able to bring himself to talk about it with the pregnant teen. "It" being, of course, what they both knew they'd eventually have to do but were so very comfortable ignoring at that moment, which was sharing their energy in a physical way.
Danny had passed out at the dinner table, and naturally this had evoked a wave of concern from his parents. To make things worse, Jazz had been visiting for spring break, and she'd been quick to catch on to exactly what was wrong. Danny couldn't believe she'd remembered every detail of what he'd told her about ghost pregnancies, really.
In other words, the whole ordeal had ended in Danny getting yelled at by Maddie, and Jack eventually dragging Vlad up to Danny's room and locking them inside with a ghost shield surrounding the perimeter. Danny loved his family, really, but sometimes he just wanted to sic Klemper on them. Vlad's suggestion during such times was to use Behemoth, the former guardian of the Skeleton Key.
Vlad had been the first to initiate anything, obviously concerned about Danny, who was looking very pale at the time even for being in his ghost form. It took a good amount of talking, arguing, and clawing to get to where they needed to be, but they'd both eventually (and reluctantly) ended up on Danny's bed, gingerly touching as if the other were an active land mine.
The two half-ghosts had never known anything so awkward. At first they'd felt nothing - apparently simply touching each other wouldn't do the trick. And so Vlad had ventured to touch Danny's stomach.
The reaction was instant. Danny had gasped and sighed in relief when he'd felt the energy from Vlad's hot core coursing through him - and, of course, feeding the baby. Vlad was the most surprised of all, however, because that was the very first time he really felt their child. When Danny had told him he was pregnant, he had been too shocked to think much about it, but when he'd finally been able to focus on the sensations and the feelings he'd truly been blown away.
There were no words for it. And upon having actually felt it for himself, he could understand why the thought of terminating the pregnancy had never crossed the other hybrid's mind. It was truly out of the question.
The whole ordeal had ended rather abruptly with Maddie slamming the door open, yielding an ecto-gun and threatening Vlad to, "Get away from my baby!" Apparently Danny had been a little too vocal in his relief when getting energy for the first time from the other ghost. It had been the first of many humiliating incidents for the pregnant teen when he'd realized he'd actually been moaning - and quite loudly, at that.
Then, there were other times when Vlad literally had to force Danny into not-cuddling (they'd both refused to call it "cuddling," even though it was what they were essentially doing). The boy was stubborn, and he'd go as far as forsaking his own health for as long as he could in order to avoid the older hybrid. It'd be especially difficult when he'd get into periods of resentment towards Vlad early on in the pregnancy.
Danny was the very definition of a resentful attitude when he'd first moved in with Vlad mid-March. Move-in day had one of those awkward days, as it went.
"Ow! Will you stop that?"
"You're doing it wrong, Vlad!"
"No, I'm not."
"You're too close!"
"I'm supposed to be close, you nitwit!"
"Not this close, you fruit loop!"
"Well, how else do you suggest I give you energy, hm? Because this isn't exactly pleasant for me either, Daniel."
"You're not the one who has to freakin' cuddle and get groped by the evil half-ghost in his forties! What do you have to complain about?"
"Oh, I am not 'groping' as you so eloquently put it. But I am the one who has to put up with the immature, stubborn, temperamental eighteen year old who - OUCH! STOP THAT!"
"Well then, stop talking crap about me! And don't touch me there!"
"Alright, that's it! I give up! You can make your own energy if I'm so terrible at this, you little rat!"
"FINE!"
A long silence had transpired between them in which Vlad had floated over to the other side of the room and busied himself with typing away on his laptop, while Danny simply lay there in a huff. Eventually, the absence of much needed energy had become conspicuous, especially after the very recent and pleasant exchange was still fresh in his mind. Danny hadn't last long.
"...Vlad?"
"What?" Vlad had snapped.
"...Can you come back here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I was under the impression that I'm incompetent at sharing my energy."
"Oh, come on! Can you just... c'mon, just come back to bed. Please?" Danny hadn't even been able to bring himself to care about his terrible choice of words at the time.
"...Fine."
And that was how it had been for about a month.
April was when the incident with the baby turning human had occurred. Vlad couldn't explain it, but he'd immediately known that something was wrong - and he'd also immediately known that Danny and his child were the ones in trouble. It had been a fear that gripped his very core, a pain that felt very much his own even though he'd been doing nothing to cause it. No sooner had he felt that strange intuition in the back of his mind that he had teleported to Casper High, quickly seeking out Danny's ectoplasmic signature. He'd found the teen bent over in agony, whimpering and gripping his middle as if it would lessen the pain.
They'd both known, then. The child was very obviously a hybrid. Vlad, however, was the first to catch on to the fact, having had the clearer head of the two at that moment. Despite everything, the man hadn't been able to keep in his excitement at the prospect of the child being just the same as he and Danny.
As he'd thought fast and decided what the best course of action would be, he'd tried to distract Danny from the pain by talking about their half-ghost child. Vlad had morphed slowly from his ghost form and back in a repetitive motion, his whole body pressed tightly against Danny who he'd instructed to lay back on the bed. Smoothing the white hair with soft movements, trying to keep Danny as relaxed as possible under the circumstances, the baby had eventually reverted back to its ghost form. They'd both stayed like that for a while, before Danny had recovered and realized the compromising position they were in. That part had been rather unpleasant, coming from the temperamental teen.
Up until that point, it had all built up to Vlad realizing that something strange was happening between him and Danny. The lingering touches when they weren't exchanging energy, the thoughts of the teen that constantly invaded his thoughts - whenever they weren't occupied by those of his son, that is. In other words, all the small things that had had Vlad on edge up until his discovery of their mate status.
In hindsight, Vlad thought he could more or less pinpoint the incident responsible for the embarrassingly obvious display on the roof where he'd first manifested the signs of mating, right after they'd picked out the baby's name.
It had been the night before. Vlad had been up late working on some paperwork. Just as he'd been passing Danny's room, however, he could've sworn he'd heard distressed sounds coming from inside the bedroom. Tensing, he'd noticed the uncomfortable feeling that Danny and Dan were in trouble, were both afraid. And so, quietly as he could, he'd opened the door to find the boy in the midst of a nightmare.
Frowning, he'd sat down on the bed and gently shaken the white-haired ghost.
"Daniel, wake up," he'd whispered, only for Danny to immediately shoot up in bed in a state of wide-eyed panic.
"No! No, no, please! Just take it out!" Danny had cried.
"Take what out, Daniel?"
"Please, I have to save them, Vlad!"
"Save who? Daniel, look, you were having a nightmare -"
"I swear I won't be him, I swear! You just have to help me!"
"Daniel, shh, calm down! You're scaring the baby!"
And scaring me, Vlad had thought to himself as he'd watched the boy clutch the sheets in a vice grip, shaking from head to toe. Both his and Dan's fear was stabbing at him like knives. At that moment, Vlad would have done anything for the other half-ghost, if only to see him calm and content once again.
"I'm not the one scaring it!"Danny had responded hysterically. "It's -" he'd cut himself off, shaking his head and burying his face in his hands. Vlad had held the boy flush against him until he'd gotten a hold of himself, Danny gripping him as if his life depended on it the whole time. Danny, of course, had distracted from the whole incident with sarcastic remarks and annoyed looks aimed at the billionaire until the man had finally left.
Vlad had never asked about that dream. He'd drawn his own conclusions after hearing every detail of the alternate future, and after years of waking up to his shaking and distraught mate after yet another nightmare, particularly after the whole incident with Walker and Dan.
And then, of course, there was the single energy-exchange session he and Danny had shared which he regarded with such fondness. It had been in August, right after he'd accepted the whole "soulmate" situation.
It had started off with the usual argument, but had eventually descended into a most comfortable silence. Dan was particularly happy that day, for some reason, which in turn had put both parents in a wonderful mood. Danny had accepted his subtle touches and caresses as he lay his head on the man's chest, only occasionally giving him a half-hearted glare. Danny was sleeping through most of the day at that point, only waking up when he needed to eat or get energy from Vlad.
Vlad had tried it, just as Danny had been dozing off. He'd done what instinct had told him and touched that part inside his ghost side's core where he could feel that strange allure for his mate. He'd felt his eyes change to a bright magenta, he'd felt the pleasant sensations as he released waves of spectral energy aimed specifically towards attracting and pleasing his mate.
The half-asleep ghost had stirred, making a noise of contentment. He'd suddenly looked up at Vlad with half-lidded, brilliantly red eyes. Something had stirred inside Vlad as he'd stared into those scarlet pools, and he'd clutched the younger ghost protectively to him - only to have him respond by burying himself into the billionaire's neck with a sleepy whine.
It would all be a lost cause without their ghost sides. They probably would never have interacted past the college reunion so many years ago were it not for their ghostly kinship. But none of that mattered. Vlad had known then, after first willingly calling Danny's ghost side to him, that he'd unfortunately landed himself in something he couldn't possibly escape. And still, he hadn't been nearly as upset as he should've been.
The last memory was something Vlad often brought up when he'd angered Danny a bit beyond what was apparently okay to do. After all, they'd been through so many conflicting emotions throughout their rocky relationship, but in the end it all came down to the fact that they were the only ones for each other.
And it might've only been because of Dan that they were together, but still Vlad loved Danny to death. Who would he possibly be without the other man? Would he even be able to exist without him?
In the end, it was the little things that mattered most. In the end, nothing much mattered but his soulmate.
