The Art of Conversation
By Lacey52

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

A note: A couple of people mentioned the way Danny and Sam act. There's an explanation for that. I always have explanations…or at least I try to.

Danny and Sam have grown up the exact same way they did in the show, with the exception of them becoming friends. I believe that this would alter their personalities at least a small bit, thus forcing them to act the way they do.

Sam is more withdrawn and not as active in her protesting as she is in cannon because she doesn't have her two best friends to back her up. In the show she knows they care for her and are her friends no matter what. Here, she doesn't have that support and it shows in how quite she can be. She's still self-reliant and sarcastic...she just keeps it to herself a bit more.

Danny also doesn't have the same support system. Growing up with just Tucker as a best friend has probably influenced him in other ways, and I think that he might have had to mature a bit more than in cannon because he doesn't have a 'Sam' to act maturely for him. He's also a bit more outgoing because he's had to be…plus the fact that they're older by a year than in cannon.

Anywho, enough rambling, on with the weird story my sleep deprived brain thought up…

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

Chapter Two: Interview

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

Sam knew that something about that day was going to be different, and while she never minded 'different', this had that feel of really different. It might have had something to do with the boxes floating past her window and the cries of "Beware!" that she woke up to that morning.

Or maybe it was the weather forecast that she watched as she ate breakfast that morning, where the day called for a twenty five percent chance of showers and heavy ghost saturation for most of the morning and that this would continue on into the afternoon.

She had lived in Amity all her life, and with that fact came her reaction. Total apathy. Ghosts were such a common occurrence that the only thing that she worried about was the 'heavy saturation' part. That meant that the large portion of her day would consist of keeping away from the mindless running crowds of hysterical people, also known as the people who over-reacted to everything.

Getting bruised, bumped, and trampled by huge mindless crowds wasn't in Sam's plans for the day. Unfortunately, going to school was and those things were consistent with a trip down the hallway anyways. With a frown, Sam grabbed up her back pack and headed off towards Casper High, checking to make sure that no lingering boxes were about to bother her. Quickly stepping off, she thanked God for small favors and made it halfway to school before that feeling of the day being different kicked in again. In a big way.

"Well, crap," Sam backed up a step, desperately trying to keep her cool, "Seafood was definitely not in the forecast today…"

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

"Crap."

Tucker knew that word. As a matter of fact he knew it so well that he immediately reached into his backpack and pulled out a thermos and his PDA, ready to enter whatever information was needed to research the latest threat.

Turning to his best friend, he watched a second wisp of blue smoke making it's way from Danny's mouth as the young man sighed heavily. A group of flying shrimp were already heading away from them, followed by fish, a turtle, and what appeared to be half a lobster with the garnish still attached to its claw.

"Talk about fast food," Tucker tilted his head as he watched all the dead creatures whiz by.

"I think I can handle this one Tuck," Danny took the thermos from his best friend's hand, "Just take some notes for me if I miss first period or anything."

"Whatever," the other boy shrugged and started on his way, "I wasn't really in the mood to smell like fish anyways."

"Better than Foley, By Tucker Foley!" Danny retorted over his shoulder with a smile as he quickly ran to an alley way to change. Transformation done, the halfa was hot on the heels of the ghostly sea creatures, "Never thought I'd have to fight the same stuff that I ate for dinner last night…wonder if it's from the same restaurant that Mom and Dad took us out to…"

He had nearly caught up with the lobster, which was trailing behind for obvious reasons, when the fish in the group that he was chasing swung themselves around a sharp corner to the next street. Mumbled words in a feminine sounding voice had him knocking the half-lobster out of the way and rounding the corner himself.

Imagine his surprise at finding one, Sam Manson, trying to reason with the dead animals.

"Look, whatever you're upset about, you should just let it go," she had managed to get herself into a corner, and now was desperately trying to talk her way out of it before the sea life, er…dead sea life anyways, decided to take their revenge on human kind, "I mean, sure, you were eaten by somebody, but didn't all of you eat something at one point or other?"

As the fish took a dive at her, Sam realized that trying to communicate with the dead was a bad enough idea, but trying to talk reason into dead animals was probably the stupidest thing she had ever tried. Turning so that her backpack would take the brunt of whatever attack the ghost fish were launching, she prepared herself as best she could.

A shock of cold, and the feeling of being far too light found Sam floating above the place she had been standing with the fish flopping around on the ground trying to right themselves. The straps of her backpack dug into her arm pits, and as she realized her position and discomfort, Sam looked up into glowing green eyes.

Lowering her back down to the ground, Danny released her backpack and floated back a foot or so from her quickly, not sure how she was going to react. A fish smashing into the side of his head and slapping it's tail across his face brought him back to the situation at hand before he could worry too much more.

"Just stay there and don't move," Danny knocked the fish away and nodded to where Sam was standing, "Or run away screaming…I get that a lot too. Whatever makes you feel better."

Sam did as she was told and stayed still, rubbing her arms to chase away the ghostly chill that had invaded her senses, 'What was that? What did that ghost do to me to make me feel like that…it was down right creepy…in a very cool way…'

As the fish and Danny exchanged a few small hits, the rest of the wayward sea creature ghosts came back to assist their companions. The turtle bit, the half lobster pinched, and the shrimp were just flat out annoying as they managed to push the Fenton Thermos from his hand.

"Stupid shrimp," Danny complained as he blasted the turtle back away from him, "Hey, never thought I'd get to say that…"

"Why's that?" Sam asked dryly as she watched the young ghost literally fry the shrimp with a blast from his palms. She moved quickly while everything was happening around her to retrieve the thermos she had seen him loose, "And do you need this?"

"Yes," Danny moved over to her quickly, grabbing the thermos and uncapping it as all the ghosts rushed them at the same time, "Say goodbye!"

A bright flash from the thermos and the creatures were sucked in, leaving Sam and the ghost boy alone and a bit uncomfortable with one another. Shuffling from foot to foot, Sam wasn't exactly sure how to go about thanking the ghost from saving her from other ghosts. Here was the infamous 'Inviso-Bil', saving her life and acting like a normal, goofy teenage boy.

'He must have been my age when he died,' Sam realized as she looked him over quietly as he did the same to her, 'How sad…I wonder what happened to him.'

"It's 'cause I'm small," Danny cut off her thoughts as he finished screwing the lid back onto the Fenton Thermos and took one last look around them.

"What's 'cause you're small?" she asked in confusion, not following his line of thought, 'Maybe ghosts have different thought patterns or something. That would be interesting.'

"You asked me about why I was happy about calling something else a shrimp," Danny shrugged, "Because I'm small…I get called that all the time."

"You mean, you still get called that, even though you're dead?" Sam inquired, a frown marring her brow, "And I know you've done a lot to protect this city…other ghosts can't possibly be that stupid."

"It ain't ghosts," Danny mumbled as he rolled his eyes, "So…I guess I had better get going…"

"Oh, uh, well thanks for saving me from smelling like fish all day," Sam grinned slightly, causing the boy to pause, "And if you don't mind me asking…"

"What's up?" he turned more fully to look at her, curious as to what she was going to ask, 'Probably how I died or something morbid like that. She's nice, but she's a Goth…being morbid is probably just her thing.'

"It doesn't hurt the ghosts when they get sucked into the thermos does it?"

Danny had to stand for a moment as he processed her question, honestly shocked that she hadn't asked him something else. Most people would have asked about his death or his clothes or something like that…if they even stuck around that long. This Sam Manson, she was something else…

"Uh, no," the halfa shook his head, "It's just really, really cramped."

"How would you know that?"

"Because I've been in it before," Danny snorted, then rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "My sister sucked me into it three times."

"You have a sister?" Sam tilted her head, now thinking on what might have happened and why she never saw his so-called sister, 'Was there some accident that killed them both…or is she still alive and she got a thermos and accidentally trapped him…this doesn't make a lot of sense.'

"Yeah, I have a sister," Danny unfolded his arms as he realized his mistake, cursing himself for making such a stupid mistake. He'd definitely have to be more careful around her, "Why are we playing twenty questions?"

"I was thinking more like 'Spanish Inquisition' because you weren't expecting it," Sam smirked, but noticed that it was lost on the boy before her, "Okay, so you either don't know about Monty Python, or you died before their time…"

"I've heard of 'em," Danny shot back in his own defense, then frowned as he realized how late it was getting, "Can I go?"

"Was that sarcasm I heard?" her eyebrow raised in a challenging gesture, "And besides that, like the little school girl could really keep a ghost somewhere against his will…"

"I'm trying to be polite," he floated a little higher in the air, 'That and school's about to start…'

"So, I guess that means half of the rumors are true," Sam smiled as she started to walk off, thoroughly pleased with how she had handled herself and the ghost boy in the situation.

"Which half?"

His sudden appearance before her did nothing for her heart, but Sam kept herself as composed as she could after stumbling back a few steps. Shock white hair and flashing green eyes were definitely something she wasn't used to, "Uh, the good half I guess. I mean you saved me, and even though you're kinda' bratty…"

"I am not!"

"See?" Sam smiled as the floating teen beside her pouted, "But seriously, you aren't all evil and scary like some people think. So...thanks again…for saving me from smelling like fish."

"No problem," Danny was floored, few people would have ever said anything like that to his face. Mostly it was just 'Ghost!' or 'AH!' or 'Quick, let's catch it!'. Sure, most of the town had started to see him as some sort of hero, but there were still just as many who found him untrustworthy, 'At least I've got one more person on my side…'

"Well, schools about to start," Sam made to move off again, pausing only to send a small smile to the ghost, "See ya' around."

"Yeah, see ya'," Danny gave a half wave, then found himself surprised by her once again as she marched back up to him, "Uh, forget something?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded seriously, "Your name isn't seriously 'Inviso-Bil' is it? Because that has to be the lamest name I've ever heard."

Laughing despite himself, Danny looked off to the side for a second and shook his head in disbelief, "No, my name's…well, they call me Phantom. I've always hated that other name."

"Good," Sam sighed in relief, "I guess since I know your name, you should know mine. I'm Sam Manson."

"Uh, nice to meet you," Danny took the offered hand and shook, "Sorry my hand's cold."

"Not like you can help it," Sam looked him up and down, "I mean, no blood will do that to a person."

"Yeah…"

And then the bell sounded from the school yard, which was still two blocks away from them, and both turned in shock at the sound.

"Got to go!" and they were both hurrying off in their own directions, trying to beat the tardy bell and not gain a detention for the day, though only one knew they were both off to the same place.

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

"Why do I smell fish?" Sam turned her head as she watched Danny Fenton enter the vice principal's room and take a seat two desks over from her. She had been tardy for the day, for obvious reasons, and apparently Fenton had managed to do something similar.

"Had a little run in with some flying shrimp this morning," Danny said smoothly as he wrinkled his nose, praying that she would just accept what he was saying and not question him, "Then all of a sudden they left me alone and took off towards the school. I was like, four blocks away when I realized the bell had rang."

"Oh," Sam wrinkled her nose in sympathy, knowing her fate could have been far worse had not the resident Phantom shown up to save her, "Sorry to hear that."

"Me too," Danny sighed as he sank further into his seat, watching a few other students shuffle in much like he had and then wrinkle their nose as Sam had done, "You here 'cause you were late, too?"

"Oh, yeah," Sam nodded, "Got a little side tracked this morning…"

'Playing 'Spanish Inquisition',' Danny supplied in his mind with a mental chuckle, 'I just hope the next time I ever run into her as Phantom she doesn't want to play again…'

"Salutations, delinquents. Today I believe you are all here because you were truant for part of your first class, am I correct?" Lancer walked in with a pile of books and didn't even bother to let the students answer him before moving on, "Open your notebooks, take out a pen, and begin writing an essay on why truancy should have harsher punishments in the school system. I want at least two pages by the end of the hour."

Paper was shuffled, pens were clicked or uncapped, and everyone was off and writing, with the sole exception of Lancer who was circulating around the room to prevent plagiarism. Or at least he was circling until he came upon Danny, "Old Man and the Sea! Why does it smell like fish in here?"

"That would be me," Danny sighed resignedly as he raised his hand, "I met a fish ghost this morning and he didn't exactly like me."

Gagging on the odor from standing so close to the boy, Lancer nodded his head and managed to choke out, "I'll be back in a few minutes, please behave," before he bolted out the door, heading no doubt for the nearest bathroom.

With the teacher gone, the students took a second to relax.

"Nice going," Sam smirked then went back to writing her essay.

"Guess the smell came in handy," Danny lifted his shirt to his nose and took a whiff, "Maybe I should wear this to Lancer's class more often…"

Sam just shook her head at the antics of the strange boy beside her, 'Boys…alive or dead, they're just as immature…'

Yep, today had most definitely fit her description of 'different' from that morning, but by no means was that a bad thing in her eyes. It just meant that her life was probably about to get more interesting...and she never minded that...not in the least.