Alright, so people liked the first chapter. Glad to know I have people in-character this time. Now to see if people mind what I put into this one! It's slightly different from the other version in general content, which you'll see for yourself.
If this one passes the test, I'm putting the other one as complete and saying it's been cancelled. ~ Zone

Chapter Two: Getting To Know You

Dash stepped outside and looked around for Danny, but didn't find him anywhere. "Well, he can avoid me somehow, he can avoid a wild animal." He muttered, walking into the woods. He gripped the hilt of his sheathed knife, the sheathe tied to a belt-loop on his jeans, and scanned the area for any sign of life as he walked.

There, in that bush! He crouched down quietly, waiting patiently for it to move again. What would come out? Maybe a rabbit? Rabbit stew was pretty good, and they did have one pot and pan for such things. There was also a stream not too far away, he could smell the fresh water from here and if he listened closely he could hear the sounds of water running over rocks. He'd have to get closer to see how far away it was, but he guessed he was about a mile from the cabin right now.

The bush moved again and he saw the small creature hop out. Pulling out his knife, he lunged quickly and caught it with his hand, his other hand raising the knife.

.

"Phew, this place is full of stray ghosts! Either that or they're all working for Vlad." Danny closed the Fenton Thermos, sighing. "Now, where did I leave that basket…" He went invisible and intangible, flying through the trees until he located his logbook and basket. "Ah, here they are!" He landed and changed back into Fenton, putting the thermos back in the basket of berries and herbs. Then he picked it up and continued reaching into the bushes, studying them closely.

After it was most of the way full, he decided that was enough and made his way back. The sky was darker, which made telling one tree from another difficult. Luckily, he could switch on his ghost-vision and find his way through.

"EEEEEE—" He froze when he heard some kind of animal's dying scream and went invisible, creeping over with his basket and thermos.

Dash was knelt over some kind of small animal, other dead animals lying next to him. His hands were covered in red blood, and it made Danny feel sick to see it. He quickly retreated back to the cabin invisible, hoping to have recovered from this sick feeling before Dash got there.

Hopefully Sam wasn't with a meat-eater. He suddenly understood why she never ate meat. Oh God, that scream…

.

"Fenton!" Danny bolted off his bed in surprise when he heard Dash call him. "Are you in there?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm in here!" Danny replied.

"Bring out that pan and a water bottle. There's one in my bag. It's too late to go to the stream and wash my hands."

"Sure." Danny went to Dash's bag, getting out the water bottle, then went to grab the pan. Then he went to the door and opened it, holding out both items. "Here."

"I'll need some help washing my hands. Grab a rag, would ya?" Dash asked, facing away from Danny.

The stench of animal blood was in Danny's nose, but he forced himself to do as he was told and brought out the rag with the other two items.

He couldn't see any sign of animal; the poor things had already been skinned and butchered. He wondered briefly what Skulker planned to do with his body after he skinned him for his pelt – eat it?

"You have to soak the rag, Fenturd." Dash said, rolling his eyes. "Can't you at least help me wash my hands? Or are you too pathetic for that?"

"I can do it." Danny mumbled, soaking the rag in water and reluctantly taking one of Dash's wrists to start to scrub blood off his hand. The bigger male stared at him silently as he cleaned, Danny not saying a word or even looking away from those large hands until they were clean. Then he moved back a few paces. "I don't know if I can eat those, though…"

"Fenton, did you know that the Native Americans thank animals for their meat and pelt, because it feeds and clothes them?" Dash asked. "And they even use the bones for things, because to do any less would be disrespectful to the animal. No point in killing them if you aren't going to use every bit." He picked up the cut pieces and put them in the pan. "There's a wood pile behind the cabin. Go pick up about six pieces of wood and bring them in for the stove." He got up and went inside, leaving Danny outside with the blood-stained rag and water bottle.

Danny swallowed nervously and got up, Dash's words ringing in his ears. He hadn't expected him to say such a thing, thinking if he hunted it was just for sport, but he was talking like he just killed for food and clothing. How often had he done trips like this?

Dash killed… Those two words together were just unnerving. Danny went behind the cabin and gathered the wood, carrying it in as ordered. Dash had pulled out flint and tinder and was waiting for Danny to put the wood into the woodstove. When he saw him he nodded and pointed to the open stove, his orders clear. Danny put the wood inside and then retreated outside to grab the water-bottle and rag, gingerly carrying the rag with two fingers.

Dash glanced at it. "We'll wash that tomorrow in the stream." He said, blowing on the fire to give it just enough breeze to get it going but not put it out. "Just put it under the table for now."

Danny nodded, kneeling to put the rag under the table. "So, uh…you go hunting a lot?"

"My dad takes me on survival trips during the winter." Dash replied. "From the start of winter break to Christmas, then we head back to Amity Park to celebrate with mom and the rest of the family."

"Survival trips?" Danny blinked.

"Yeah, y'know. Live off the land, kill to eat. We have a cabin we go to all the time that's been in the family for generations." Dash looked at him, the fire casting an odd shadow on his face. "I'm guessing you don't do that stuff with your family?"

"Uh, no…" Danny shook his head. "My family…they hunt ghosts, not animals. Ghosts are pretty much all they care about. We've had a few good camping trips, but mostly it's…" He glanced away.

Dash stared at him silently, then closed the door of the woodstove before he got up and started to cook the meat, using a metal prod that he must've packed with him to shift the meat around. "Funny. I always thought things were peachy-keen with your family. Y'know, with your parents always being home and all. My parents are always busy."

Danny nodded, sitting on one of the chairs. "…So, you can cook?"

"Let me guess, you can't?" Dash rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Fentina, what CAN you do?"

"I can gather berries and hold my own kind of decently against a wild boar, maybe?" Danny shrugged. "Me and the wild…don't really mix. I know how to fight off a thug if he tries to mug me, but I can't really battle a beast." He glanced away. "Or a jock."

Dash sighed heavily. "You better hope whatever wife you have in the future can do everything you can't."

"Wait, I can do some things." Danny frowned.

"And that is?" Dash asked, focusing on keeping the meat from burning.

"I can cook if I have instructions, I can do basic chores, and I can sew." Danny said.

"You can sew?" Dash glanced at him.

"Yeah. And I know basic first-aid. I kind of taught myself from the internet, after I came home from a g—grapple with a big dog with a pretty bad leg wound." Danny nodded. "He ripped my clothes, too. So I kind of trial-and-errored myself into sewing to fix it without letting my parents or sister know."

Dash glanced back at the pan, using the prod to flip some of the meat over. "Why would you want to hide it from them?" He asked.

"My parents hardly notice anyway, and my sister would be all busy-body and insist on me never being alone again." Danny huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I didn't want that. Besides, isn't it better that I learn to take care of myself?"

"Maybe. But don't take for granted what you have." Dash said. "One day, you might wake up and they'll be gone."

A tearing pain hit Danny's heart then and a flash of red eyes appeared in his head, accompanied by a cruel laugh. "You're right…" He whispered. "I can't…I have to treasure them now, because anything could happen. I can't…I can't lose them…" He curled up, wrapping his arms around himself tightly.

Dash glanced over and noticed he was in a fetal position but chose to ignore him in favor of the meat. He would deal with his cabin-mate's annoying angst after he was sure tonight's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast wasn't going to burn.

"Hey, Fenton." Dash spoke up after leaving Danny in his silence for a bit longer. "Grab the cooler from my bag, would you?"

"Cooler?" Danny got up and went to Dash's bag, pulling out a small cooler that was tucked under an extra jacket. "This one?" He held it up.

"Only one I have." Dash said impatiently. Danny winced at his tone and walked over with it, opening it up for the jock. Dash used the prod to stab and carry some of the meat and put it into the cooler. "That's for tomorrow's breakfast. All we have to do is warm it up later." He closed it and then lifted the pan off the wood-stove, carrying it to the table.

Danny set down the cooler and grabbed a couple plates, setting them on the table. Then he went to his own pack and got out his water bottle, carrying it to the table to sit across from Dash's.

"Hmph. Apparently you also know how to set the table." Dash said tauntingly, going to his pack and pulling out a spatula.

"You're really prepared. Coolers and spatulas weren't on the pack-list." Danny blinked.

"No, but they're on the common-sense list." Dash rolled his eyes, using the spatula to serve the meat. Danny grabbed the basket and set it on the table, putting berries on each plate. "What kind of berries are these?"

"Blackberries, blueberries and boysenberries." Danny said, nodding. "They're all really good."

"I've had 'em." Dash nodded, sitting down and opening his bottle of water. "Eat, Fenton."

"Uhm, silverware?" Danny blinked.

"Do you need it?" Dash raised an eyebrow. "There's no sauce or anything, and it's clean."

Danny looked at the mea on his plate and picked it up, taking a bite. "Mm…it's good. What is it?"

"Mole." Dash said, biting into his own hunk of meat.

'Well, now I know what mole tastes like…' Danny thought as he continued to eat.

They continued their meal in silence, until Dash spoke up without warning and asked, "So, what's in the thermos?"

"Huh?!" Danny looked up at him. "What?!"

"The thermos." Dash pointed to the green and white thermos resting on Danny's bed. "What's it full of? Soup?"

"Uh, no." Danny shook his head. "Ghosts. It's a tool for capturing ghosts. My parents had me take it along in case I ran into any ghosts out here." He explained. "It's actually really useful."

"Hm. What happens when they're in there?" Dash asked.

"Oh, they're just all smooshed and compacted until I manage to sneak past my parents to send them back into the Ghost Zone before they can put them on a lab table." Danny rubbed the back of his head. "I, uh…don't really like hurting ghosts."

"Oh." Dash nodded. "So, that means you're not carrying on the family business?"

"Not in the way they want me to." Danny said firmly. "Why did you ask, though?"

"Well, for one thing, you always have it on you. For another, I've seen Phantom carrying the exact same thing." Dash raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah. Uhm…Phantom and I are kind of in cahoots. Hehe…don't tell my parents." Danny said nervously.

Dash smirked. "Tell your parents? Why would I tell them anything about Phantom? He's awesome!"

Danny glanced away, quietly eating his food again. Dash didn't seem to be done, though.

"It's just so great how he does all this stuff to protect us, even though he's a ghost and really doesn't have to! He's an awesome role-model, and a great fighter!" Dash sighed. "If only I could fight side-by-side with him…that would be just perfect."

Danny looked at his empty plate and decided against asking for another, drinking his water as he got up from the chair. "Well, I'm sure he's glad to have a fan or two out there. The less people trying to shoot him, the better." He said, walking over and sitting on the edge of his bed.

"You're not eating any more?" Dash asked.

"I'm not that hungry." Danny said, shaking his head.

Dash shrugged. "This is why you're so scrawny, Fenton." He put another one on his plate and started to eat it. "If you ate more, you'd actually be stronger!"

"I'll keep that in mind." Danny mumbled, picking up the Fenton Thermos and looking at it. He would have to leave these guys in there all summer, what was the longest he'd left a ghost in the Thermos before?

Months. Years, if he didn't break out before then…

Man, why did Dash have to remind him about that…

He noticed the sound of the cooler being opened and shut and then the rustle of clothing, looking over to see Dash taking off his shirt. "Wha! Dash, why are you shirtless?"

"Because I don't sleep in my jeans, Fentina." Dash rolled his eyes. The closed wood-stove didn't give much light, but what it did was just enough for Danny to see the jock stripping down to change into some pajamas. He quickly looked away, feeling all kinds of awkward around his half-naked bully.

"You should change, too." He glanced over to see Dash had finished dressing and was moving his pack off his bed to climb under the covers, facing the wall. "Don't worry; I'm not going to gawk at your scrawny little body." He assured him.

"Promise?" Danny asked, slowly climbing off his bed and pulling his pajamas out of the dresser.

Well, he wasn't going to until he spoke so urgently. Dash glanced over as the smaller teen started to undress, his eyes widening a bit when he saw scars on Danny's back that he knew weren't from anything he'd done. They were very faint, as if he'd gotten those years ago, but they were there. And he knew that those weren't there the last time he got a peek at his bare back by chance three years ago. That was before he'd started wearing a t-shirt when he went to the water park.

Tempting as it was to ask about it, he decided that they weren't that close and honestly it didn't have anything to do with their grades.

Oh damn, their grades. He sat up and grabbed his notebook without turning to where Danny was, starting on his first entry in the log.

Danny noticed what he was doing and sighed, nodding. He had to fill out his log, too. He finished changing and grabbed his own notebook, writing into the log what they'd eaten, what they both did (minus the ghost fights) and how he thought that their relationship was progressing – seriously, why did Tetslaff need to know that?

They'd gotten to know each other a little, and Dash had only hit him once. Washing blood off Dash's hands was unsettling but also a strange trust exercise.

Dash finished writing and lay down while Danny was still writing, his thoughts on the scars on Danny's back. He'd been pretty wary of the hunting knife, had he been getting into trouble? Maybe it wasn't a dog, but a gang that he had a "grapple" with? It made sense; he had started with the "gh" sound before clearly covering it up.

What did he care if Fenton got into gang fights? It didn't affect his grade now, and this was only a temporary thing!

Still, it ticked him off to think of some other jerk laying their hands on his classmate. Dash never did anything too painful, but if those thugs were using knives on him…

Guh, too much to think about just before bed. Gotta clear his mind…

Dash is trying not to care, but it's kind of hard to not care when you've seen all those scars. And his reaction. Seriously, Danny is skittish.
I kind of like the blood-washing scene, it was very peaceful. And now Dash knows that Danny is "kinda' in cahoots" with Phantom!
And now Danny knows what mole tastes like. There's also rabbit in that pile, somewhere.
Yay for wood-stoves! ~ Zone