I honestly could have made this a heck of a lot longer but someone suggested that I cut it short and really over seven thousand words is pretty long as is.
Hope was a funny thing. It tended to be like a strange tingling sensation that crawled from the chest and moved out to the rest of the body. If left alone it tended to simmer and die off, but if it was thought about too much it grew wild like a weed choking off all reasonable thought. As Dash pulled into view of the Fenton's driveway he tried to keep himself calm and all hope of what he had heard earlier that day in check until he could get inside.
After getting that text from Danny the rest of the day had just seemed to drag by at a snail's pace. So many things ran through Dash's imagination once he had gotten that text and he honestly wished he could have skipped practice to get there sooner. He could barely focus while they ran plays and several times Kwan kept giving him concerned looks through it all.
The moment they were dismissed he ran like his life was on the line to the locker room and changed. He didn't bother showering or getting clean because he did not want to waste another moment in getting to the Fenton household. Once he was parked he wasted no time in killing the ignition and running into the house, thankful that he was on such good terms with the Fentons now that he could forgo certain manners like knocking.
Unfortunately though the moment he opened the door he was greeted with a sight that even in Amity he was not used to seeing. Several ghosts were all sitting or floating around the living room area and he could even see a few in the kitchen. A few of them he recognized from fights Danny had had over the years, but there were others that he didn't; either way the moment they noticed him they all got tense and stared at him.
"You always just run into people's houses, kid?" A muscular looking blue ghost dressed like a lumber jack said floating by the stairway.
"Uhh… is Danny here?" Dash suddenly felt like an idiot and the looks on this ghost's face said that he wasn't the only one to think that.
"Oh? You one of his friends?" Looking to the side Dash saw a young female ghost dressed in a red jacket with green hair. She was cradling a baby ghost and that was certainly something new to Dash that he would have to ask about later.
"Uh… yeah, I'm uh…" Dash suddenly was unsure about what to say to these ghosts. He didn't know how they would react to him being gay and he didn't want to cause trouble if he could help it, "Uh, my name's Dash, and yeah I'm a friend of his. I came by to drop off his stuff and see what happened today. Where is he?"
"He's downstairs with Masters and Johnny getting treated. The Fentons told those of us that didn't require medical attention to stay up here but I guess you can go see him they should be about done by now."
The words 'medical attention' stood out like a beacon in Dash's mind and he could feel himself freeze up in fear over that. 'Getting treated' had so many meanings that his imagination went everywhere with it. He could be getting treated for something as simple as a few bumps and bruises to worse things that required stitches or even the removal of a body part. No matter what the issue was though it wasn't good and Dash barely managed a stutter of thanks to the woman before he headed towards the lab as fast as he could.
On his way to the lab he passed other ghosts. A blue ghost in overalls was hovering around the kitchen bringing things to a green woman who was dressed like a lunch lady while another sat at the table. If this hadn't been unusual then seeing the plant ghost Undergrowth inside the house certainly was. He was standing by the lady ghost who was cutting up some kind of vegetable when she reached over and plucked something from his shoulder.
"Thank you, Undergrowth. You're such a dear for helping me cook dinner for all these rascals."
"It is of no trouble to me, ma'am, I owe the boy greatly and helping in such a way is the very least I can do. Besides we all need to regain our strength and be prepared for what's to come and if I can help in that then I will."
"Oh such a dear, I'll be sure to get all the scraps together to make some compost for you later. But first may I trouble you for some more basil?"
"Of course," He held up his arm and grew something from it and only then noticed Dash standing in the kitchen staring, "Oh, the ghost boy's mate. He is downstairs if you are looking for him."
Dash cringed and felt his face heat up at being called Danny's 'mate' but didn't say anything to that. Instead he turned to the other ghosts who were now staring at him. The woman was looking at him curiously as was the one that was wearing overalls, but the last guy, who was wearing a suit that looked out of style, just looked him over and then rolled his eyes before sitting at the table looking bored.
"Uhh… Thanks, I'll just uh… go that way." Dash said feeling unsure about everything he was seeing and experiencing right now.
"Oh before you go, dearie," the lady spoke up again and Dash really felt like he was talking to someone's grandmother with the way she talked, "I'm making a nice vegetable soup for dinner and was going to follow that with a nice chicken parmesan with brown rice and I was thinking a fruit sorbet for dessert, will you be joining us and if so is there any preference you'd like in anything?"
"Uhh… I guess I like green beans and spinach and I like blueberries but I'm not sure what a 'sorbet' is…"
"It's like an ice cream, dear, but don't worry I'll be sure to fix up some of that for you, now you go along and see that poor boy I'm sure he'll be happy to hear you." She waved a spoon at him shooing him away and Dash honestly did not need to be told twice. He headed down the stairs and was all too happy to reach the bottom and saw that the lab was, of course, inhabited with a couple ghosts. Surprisingly one of them being Undergrowth which made Dash look back up the stairs and wonder if he was still up there, while the other one was a blond guy who had gauze wrapped around his torso.
"And of course after that I had to pretty much bash open the boxes to free the ghosts and then the Lunch Lady got those two guys to fly us back here and thus ends the tale." Danny's voice sounded exactly the same as it always did and that alone was enough to ease some of the tension Dash had been feeling all afternoon. The moment he finished looking him over though it felt like not only was all the tension back, but that it had brought with it a literal metric ton of anxiety that it felt the need to drop right on his shoulders.
Danny looked fine overall. Nothing looked broken and as he sat there on a table without his shirt Dash saw there were no bandages on his torso anywhere. He looked him over from his shoulders all the way down to his navel for any signs of injury but all Dash saw were some dark hairs that got lighter as they went further down into his pants.
'Snap out of it, Baxter!' Dash mentally slapped himself, 'Now's not the time to ogle your boyfriend! Focus!'
The sight of his naked flesh wasn't what had caused Dash to be filled with dread, no it was when he finally caught sight of his face that he felt his heart nearly stop. Dash didn't know much about eye injuries and he knew even less about how someone might go about treating one. That however did not mean that seeing bandages covering both of his eyes meant anything but not good.
"What happened?!" Dash jerked back in surprise at yelling that a bit louder than he had intended and surprising everyone else in the room apparently, except for Undergrowth which was, again, odd to him.
"Dash? That you?" Danny laughed happily and jumped off the table and started to walk while putting on his shirt, "Man, have I got a story to tell you. You're not even going to believe what happened but it was pretty funny and I think you'll get a kick out of a bit of it."
"That's great, Danny, but two things: 1. I'm over here," Dash called out to him as the guy was walking to and talking at the wall, "And 2. Are you even alright?! What happened?!"
"Huh?" Danny turned his head towards Dash again and started walking to him but Dash finally remembered that he had feet and took several quick steps towards him and put his hands on his shoulders and turned him towards him, "Oh! There you are. Heh, and yeah I'm fine it's just a small reaction to a ghost's attack but I should be fine by tomorrow. At least that's what Undergrowth and my parents are saying. The big guy there," Danny jerked his thumb back to a computer, "grew some plants and herbs that my parents helped make into an ointment to spread on my eyes to reduce the inflammation or something and after a few tests they said I should be fine by tomorrow. I just need to wear these bandages until the morning when they'll check to make sure I'm fine."
Dash had a feeling that Danny had meant to point at Undergrowth but that was not something to focus on right now, "But you'll be fine? You'll be able to see again?"
When Danny just kept smiling and nodded Dash felt relief flood through him like a tidal wave and he just wrapped his arms around him and squeezed him tightly, "Thank, God. I was honestly so worried about you all since lunch and seeing you like this just about made my heart stop."
"Heh, I've had worse," Danny said softly but returned the hug and for a moment Dash felt like everything was going to be fine until Danny opened his mouth again, "By the way are you wearing some kind of cologne or something? You smell real good."
That caused the jock to jerk in surprise and cringe. He had almost forgotten that he hadn't showered after practice and he was still slightly sweaty.
"Uh… no I just… I was so worried that I skipped my shower after practice and came right here after changing…"
"Oh… Oh!" Danny seemed to realize what he had just said and blushed at it while in the background the loud laughter of Mr. Fenton broke the awkward tension.
"Oh that takes me back to my senior year of football… Ah, Trevor and me sure had a lot of fun working up a sweat and then going at it. Worked out a lot of tension." And again Dash felt like dying a bit inside at once again hearing about what the Fenton Sr. had gotten into when he was their age.
"Uhg… Old people," the male ghost that had his body wrapped in gauze slowly stood up and cringed as he did so, "So this is the guy you've been seeing kid?"
"Yeah…" Danny pushed back from Dash a bit and turned to look at some vials crossing his arms and looking defensive, "What of it Johnny?"
"Nothin'," He shrugged and gave a look at Dash like he was sizing him up and Dash felt himself puff out his chest like there was about to be a fight between them.
"Alright, Dash easy." Danny placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a pat, "Johnny's a bit of a jerk but he's in no condition to fight and he wouldn't start trouble with me anymore anyway if he could."
"Ehh you've earned my respect, squirt, and I like ya so I've got no reason to fight ya anymore." The guy shrugged again and started to make his way up the stairs with Mrs. Fenton telling him to not use his powers and to take it easy. He just waved off her concern though right as he disappeared from sight.
"So… can we please inform the human here what exactly happened?" Dash waved his hand feeling overwhelmed again.
"Ehh, it's nothing bad I assure you," Danny smacked his chest with the back of his hand, "And I told you I'm fine! I might not be able to see at the moment but all my other sense are like super enhanced now! I'm like Dare Devil. That's probably why I could smell you so well, normally you don't smell that strong."
Dash cringed yet again but thought better of mentioning that he had also forgotten to use his deodorant that morning. Instead he turned to the sound of Mrs. Fenton laughing slightly.
"You're forgetting though that Dare Devil was actually blind and not just vision impaired like you are. He also had a sixth sense that he used to detect his surroundings; something that you do not have, and you really should be taking it easy and not getting yourself all worked up like this. I also wish you'd at least use a walking stick or something to help you get around but you've already said you won't."
"Ah, mom, come on I'm fine I don't need any assistance," Danny said speaking to that Ghost Portal Dash had seen a few times and taking pity on his boyfriend he put his hands on his shoulders and turned him to face his mother, "I can navigate the house easily. And even without my eyes I still know you're rolling yours, Vlad."
"Honestly, Danny, it's not a big deal to need help with this. You've been through a lot and all we're asking is that you take it easy. And speaking of you're going to need to call your coach as soon as you head upstairs to tell him you won't be able to make it to practice tomorrow."
"What?! Why?!" Danny asked incredulously and Dash couldn't believe he even had to ask.
"Danny you are injured. Your eyesight has been incredibly compromised and getting into a highly chlorinated public pool can do you no good. Honestly, it's just one practice; you don't have to worry about it. Even the best athletes get sick and have to skip a day of training."
"I know that it's just… UHG!" Danny groaned loudly, "I like swimming and I hate having to skip any practices. I want to be good and do well with it!"
"And missing one practice won't make you bad at it." Mrs. Fenton smiled at him though he couldn't see it, "But how's this… if it will help and if he can get his parents' permission Dash can stay the night tonight and in the morning if your eyes aren't swollen anymore we'll let you drive your bike to school. Alright?"
And if ever Dash had heard a bribe that was it. Danny thought about it for a moment more before glancing back at where he felt hands and nodded his head in agreement.
"Good," Mrs. Fenton smiled and clapped her hands together, "Now, Dash why don't you go shower and get ready for dinner. The Lunch Lady will likely have the food ready for us by the time you're done. Danny you go and rest on the couch and we'll be up in a little bit. We just need to talk to Vlad a bit… or well he'll type things up and we'll figure out things from what he says from there. Now run along you two."
"Yeah, yeah, fine…" Danny shook his head and Dash could just imagine him rolling his eyes as he tried to walk towards the steps only for Dash to lead the way.
Once he had set Danny on the couch he sat next to him and let him tell him about the adventure he had had. It sounded scary and it sent shivers down his spine to think about but Danny just talked about it like he was commenting on the weather.
"And from there Lunch Lady got these two ghosts I've never heard before and got us home. She said she wanted to make dinner for all of us and so now we're hosting a few injured and drained ghosts as well as Vlad."
"Speaking of injured ghosts, when I walked downstairs Undergrowth was in the kitchen so how was he able to get down there so fast and back up too?" He looked back at the kitchen and caught sight of the grassy ghost still standing by and supplying ingredients for their meal.
"Oh he can make duplicates of himself. Handy power he has and Vlad has a similar ability, though I think Undergrowth just is able to grow a part of himself in other places. Kind of like how bamboo and other plants will grow out from the mother plant to spread or something, I dunno."
"Well I don't understand it but that's handy I guess; being in two places at once." Dash shrugged.
"Yeah, I've been trying to learn how to do it myself for a while now, but so far I haven't had much luck. Can barely split myself, but I'm still plenty strong, so even if I don't learn how to do it it's no big deal." Danny shrugged and leaned against Dash yawning slightly.
"I should uh… probably go shower…" Dash mumbled feeling a bit insecure about how he smelled now.
"Well alright, I don't mind how you smell though if that's what you're worried about."
"Really?" That was certainly a new one for Dash.
"Ehh, you smell hot; like a man, strong, and like I said it's not bad to me, but to each their own right?" He shrugged and leaned against the arm of the couch so that Dash could stand.
"Y-yeah, I guess…" He blushed as he was met with the ghosts in the room glancing at him smugly from the corner of their eyes, "I'm gonna… shower, I still got stuff here?"
"Bottom drawer, you can borrow anything of mine that you need though."
"Thanks…" And with that Dash headed upstairs only to catch that one woman who had been playing with that kid talking to Danny.
"So… he's kinda cute."
"Yes, yes he is. He is also mine, Kitty, so hands off." There was laughter that followed that but Dash didn't stick around to hear anything else. He wanted a shower, he wanted to distress some, and he wanted to eat at some point and none of that was going to get done listening to his boyfriend talk to some ghost woman.
As soon as he reached the bathroom he peeled his shirt off and sighed. He felt weary from worry and all the worst case scenarios he had thought up all day. Putting his hands on the sink he leaned his forehead against the mirror and closed his eyes to try to calm down a bit. He felt tense still and troubled but he just had to tell himself that Danny was fine again.
'He's fine, he's strong, he's safe now and his parents said he'll be fine tomorrow. Nothing is wrong so why do you feel like this?' Dash thought and opened his eyes to stare at his own reflection before him, 'It's because you love him and you haven't had the balls to say it to him yet, Baxter, that's why. You're scared of losing him and you want to help him; be there for him. You've got to train harder if you're ever going to be any help to him. Now stop moping, get a hot shower, get clean, and plan out what to do about that after dinner.'
Nodding his head against the mirror to affirm his resolve Dash took a deep breath and then pushed himself back. The moment he did though he yelped and jumped in surprise at seeing that ghost from the lab leaning against the door in the mirror. Turning around to make sure he wasn't seeing things he saw that the guy really was there and was looking majorly unimpressed.
The guy wasn't too physically intimidating. Even without the gauze wrapped around him to point out his weakened state he was fairly thin and scrawny. He had shaggy dirty blond hair and was just bit taller than him. Dash also thought he looked maybe to be in his 20s but it was hard to tell. What was even harder to tell though was what he was doing in the bathroom with him.
"Uhh… can I help you, Mr…?"
"Name's Johnny, kid," he frowned up at Dash and standing there he felt more naked than he would have if he hadn't had his pants still on.
"Right… uh… Johnny…" Dash stammered feeling majorly uncomfortable with how this guy was staring at him like he was some disgusting piece of mold, "Is there something you need? Do you need to use the bathroom real quick?"
"You're not too bright are you?" He scoffed and then pushed himself off the door and walked over to him, "I just thought I should tell you a few things while I had you alone."
"What kind of 'things'?" Dash scoffed not liking this guy so much now at being insulted like that.
"Oh you know…" he reached out and felt the fabric of the shower curtain and continued to look around seemingly ignoring Dash for the most part, "Facts mainly. Things someone like you should know."
"What's that supposed to mean? And what do you mean by 'someone like me'?" Dash huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. He wouldn't admit to it latter either but he tried to flex a bit and look like he wasn't going to let himself be intimidated so easily.
"Chill, I don't mean like that. Could care less if you're into dudes. What I mean is: people who are dating people that I respect and generally like." He turned around and sat on the toilet seat and looked back at Dash like he was studying him.
"Oh… You're a friend of Danny's then?"
"Heh, we are now. We've grown close over the last few years. Kinda consider the squirt to be like a kid brother to me." He smiled and Dash relaxed a bit at that, feeling the hostility of the situation leave for the moment.
"That being said," the fond look on his face suddenly turned into something much colder and darker as he looked up at him, "You know how many ways there are for people to die? Take this bathroom for instance: you could be showering when you suddenly slip, fall and break your neck, hit your head and bleed out, or drown in a puddle." Dash gaped at how flippantly he had said that and wondered where the hell it had come from, "Or you fall out of the shower, bang your head against the mirror, crack it and all the glass could fall on you, cutting you to pieces. There's also the risk of electric shock, germs of all sorts, and various chemicals that can have any number of nasty side effects on you. Of course that's just in here; outside on the streets anything could happen. You could fall into traffic, be hit on the head by a random brick that fell from a building, or a gas explosion could send shrapnel flying out that would cut off your head. There's just so many ways for humans to die and I should know because I've met a lot of ghosts who had the bad luck of dying in a lot of gruesome ways…"
"W-w-what's your point?" Dash gulped, now feeling like he was eight and facing down a boogey man in his closet.
"The point is, kid, that like I said: I consider Danny to be like a kid brother to me… You… I don't know you," he stood up and poked a finger at his chest and Dash felt himself shiver at how cold it felt, "You might be a nice guy, you could be a decent guy. If that's the case, then great." He shrugged and then pushed Dash against the door hard enough to have the breath knocked form him, "BUT… If it turns out you ain't a nice guy and you do something really stupid… like break his heart… Well… There's all manner of bad luck that can befall a guy like you… So keep that in mind."
It suddenly occurred to Dash that he was getting 'the shovel talk' from a ghost. This also was somehow more terrifying than anything Danny's parents could have given him. That aside he felt himself straighten and stare Johnny right in the eye to try to convey his conviction.
"I… care about Danny a great deal. I don't want to hurt him and I promise you that I'll do whatever I can to not break his heart even if we have to break up."
"Hmm…" Johnny tilted his head and pursed his lips to the side for a moment before he nodded, "That's cool, dude, glad to hear it. Just wanted to make sure you knew what you were in for with him is all. Lots of people care about him and no one wants to see him get his heart broke."
"I don't intend to ever do that, but can I…" Dash jerked his head to the door and Johnny looked at it and back at Dash before he looked down a bit and jerked in surprise.
"Oh, right, sorry. Yeah I'll let you alone now. Hurry up though; Lunch Lady is a bit of a hard ball when it comes to meals. When she says 'dinner's ready' that means 'get your butts in here before I beat you over the head with a kielbasa'."
"I'll keep that in mind," Dash sighed as Johnny left the bathroom and finally took off the rest of his clothes so that he could shower.
Once he turned the water on Dash suddenly realized that in his rush to get here he had left his deodorant in his locker at the gym. For a moment he looked over to where Danny had a stick sitting out and thought about using it but felt odd about such an idea.
'Can two guys who are dating share deodorant? I mean it's not like wearing his underwear or something but…,' Lifting his arms Dash took a quick whiff and just decided to forget it, 'Danny doesn't mind and after a quick shower I'll smell fine for the night. I'll just go grab it from the locker room before class starts and I'll be good for the day.'
With that minor dilemma settled Dash got into the warm water and quickly let it wash away his sweat and worries. It was comforting somehow being in that shower, more so than his shower at home for some reason. Maybe it was because it was in Danny's house and he felt like he could just be himself here or maybe it was just because of the shower jets. He didn't really know why, all he really knew was that it was.
After the shower, and feeling much better, Dash walked into Danny's room and got out some of his stuff from the drawer that Danny had lent him. It was another weird sign about how close they had gotten in the last few months and just the simple act of pulling out his boxers from that drawer made him smile. The fact that they shared space and were together meant so much to him. This relationship they had going, Dash knew that it was quickly getting more serious than most relationships teens their age got into, but he didn't really care. He loved Danny, he wanted to be with Danny, and maybe even have sex together one day when they were ready for it. There was no other way to put it, and all it took was for him to pull his underwear out from the Danny's dresser drawer to realize it.
'I think I'll leave that part out of 'how I figured out I was in love with Danny for sure' if anyone ever asks me.' Dash thought humorously as he slid his garments up his legs before pulling on some shorts.
Once he pulled on one of Danny's shirts from his closet Dash quickly brushed his hair and headed downstairs where he heard Danny talking to someone.
"Yeah, I'm sorry to miss practice too, but my parents think it's best if I skip it this once," there was silence and Dash walked over to where Danny was sitting on the couch talking on his phone, "Yeah, I should be fine just a bit of ectoplasm in my eye, shouldn't be a problem. I'll see ya the next morning though, coach, bright and early. Goodnight."
"Called your coach to let him know you wouldn't make practice?" Dash sat next to him and pulled him into his side.
"Yeah, told him I got caught in that ghost attack and got some ectoplasm in my eye and my parents said I needed to skip practice to not aggravate anything. Thankfully he believed me and said my health was more important so at least there's that."
"That's good," Dash sighed contentedly with the warmth of Danny's body soaking into his, "Hey, I almost forgot. Kwan told me something interesting after you left today."
"Yeah? What did he tell you?"
"Well you know how the dance is going to be in the lunchroom?" When Danny nodded Dash gulped a bit feeling nervous, "Well just down the hall is the teacher's lounge. It's close enough to hear the music and everything but no one will be in there so… you know. We could go there and dance a bit if we wanted to."
"Why Dash Baxter…" Danny grinned up at him, "Are you trying to ask me to be your date to homecoming?"
"Well I wouldn't be trying if you just said 'yes'." Dash chuckled.
"Well when you put it like that…" Danny laughed and rubbed his head against Dash's shoulder, "I'd love to. That is of course assuming nothing else happens this week that prevents me from being able to go or do anything."
"Hmm… Speaking of happenings this week… I was wondering if… well if we could train some more. I'd like to get some combat practice in soon, learn some more about the weapons you guys have, and just… be ready in case anything actually happens."
"You're worried about what's coming aren't you?"
"I couldn't care less about what's coming; I just care about you, Danny… I want to be able to help you with whatever is coming and not just sit back and worry about you wondering if you're going to come back in one piece." And that was it really. There were no ulterior motives to it. All he wanted to do was watch Danny's back and fight with him. He didn't even care if he couldn't fight beside him; just so long as he could help was all that mattered to him.
"Dash…" Danny turned his head to face him, "If you want to train then we can, and don't worry. Between my parents, me, and some of the ghosts, we'll get you up to fighting shape in no time.
At the idea of the other ghosts helping train him Dash felt himself tense. He still remembered his training session with that ghost Skulker and then there was what Johnny had just said. Both instances caused him to stiffen up at their memory and he wondered if anyone would be horribly offended if he decided to not take their help in his training just yet.
"Don't worry," Danny smirked, "Skulker is still on thin ice with everyone here. He might be a good teacher for you one day but not until you get some experience under your belt."
"Uhh… that wasn't exactly the only thing I was thinking about… heh," at Danny's confused look, Dash explained things to him about Johnny and watched as dark eyebrows rose up. It was humorous to see the look on his face when he couldn't see his eyes, but somehow Dash could just imagine the eyes behind those stark white bandages.
"I can't believe he gave you the shovel talk…" Danny groaned and rubbed at his face.
"It was utterly terrifying and I don't even want to think about it." Dash sighed and pulled Danny closer to him.
"Still though, I'll have to talk to him later, but for now I think dinner is about done. Did you call your parents to tell them you'd be eating dinner and staying the night?"
"Not yet, but I'll do that now," leaning his head down, Dash placed a kiss on Danny's forehead before he stood up to go make a call to his parents. It didn't take much convincing on his part to get his mom on board. He just said that they had a project to do that would take a while and that the Fentons had offered to just let him stay the night and she said yes.
Dash felt a bit bad about lying to his mother, but this was important and he was still worried about Danny. He knew, intellectually, that his boyfriend would be fine, but he still felt like he should be nearby to at least support him. If nothing else just being able to be near made him feel better and he hoped that Danny would feel the same way.
With that handled Dash went back to the family room, laid down right next to Danny again, and pulled him into his chest. The smaller teen turned around and rubbed his face into the broad chest and sighed happily and that alone made Dash smile. He stroked Danny's hair back and played with the fuzz that grew on his neck enjoying the silence for the moment until he felt Danny rubbing his nose into his chest and taking deep breaths.
"I think not being able to see has improved my sense of smell or something."
"I thought that was like a myth or something?" Dash laughed and let his hands move down to Danny's back.
"Maybe, or I might just be paying more attention to smells while I can't see now," he took a deep whiff and smiled up at him, "You smell good though. Natural and clean."
"Oh that's good because I forgot my deodorant in the locker room and didn't want to use yours."
"Huh? You don't like my brand or something?" Danny tilted his head curiously.
"Uh… well no but…" Dash scratched at the top of his head and thought about it for a moment, "Is that ok? I mean can boyfriends share deodorant or would it be like sharing underwear or something?"
"Huh?" Danny laughed suddenly and covered his mouth while he apparently tried to control a sudden fit of laughter.
"What?" Dash huffed suddenly feeling slightly offended, "I'm new to this, Danny-boy. So cut me some slack here, alright?" He flicked the teen's nose and after another minute Danny managed to calm himself down.
"Sorry, sorry, really…" He cleared his throat and let out one last chuckle, "It's just… I don't think there's like any rule or etiquette that says you can't. I don't think there's anything unsanitary about it at least. Wearing my underwear now… well so long as it's clean I guess it wouldn't matter but ask first if you ever do, alright?"
"Sure, Danny, whatever you say," Dash couldn't help but chuckle with Danny prattling away on top of him.
Soon enough they were called into the kitchen for dinner, and Dash again had to wonder how weird his life was becoming. First befriending a guy he used to bully, next finding out said guy was a superhero he looked up to, then dating him, and if all that hadn't been mind-blowing enough now he was eating dinner with seven (eight if he counted Danny and Vlad both as a half) ghosts. In all honesty Dash thought that things couldn't likely get stranger, but he knew that kind of thinking just invited things to happen.
Dinner was actually a pretty tame affair considering the guests though. The Lunch Lady served up the meal to everyone with help from her husband and soon everyone was digging in. Dash had to help Danny maneuver the table a bit, but otherwise things were good. The soup was rich and the chicken was tender and everything tasted divine. It wasn't very often that Dash was able to eat something that tasted this good because his parents were often too busy to cook and he wasn't that good a chef himself so he savored every bite he took in between helping Danny eat his own.
"This stuff is great, Mrs. L. You really should consider opening up a place in the Ghost Zone for all of us inept cooks so we can get a bite." Johnny spoke with a mouthful of chicken still bulging in his cheeks. At some point he had finally managed to pull on a loose shirt and it looked like the guy had regained some color to his skin. He was still wincing every time he moved too fast, though, and that girlfriend of his kept glancing at him with wide eyed concern gleaming in her eyes when he did.
"Oh thank you, Johnny, but I'm happy enough being a mother and helping raise our daughter. Maybe one day when I have more time and little Box Lunch doesn't need as much attention, but for now I don't think I'd be able to do it."
Dash actually smiled at how this sort of thing had become normal for him. He was dating a guy with ghostly powers and allies after all, so these things were bound to happen. Hanging out and conversing with ghosts like he would anyone else was becoming typical for him. It occurred to him that from an outsider's perspective that this might be weird, but to him the only oddity here was that he had to keep helping Danny with his food.
He wasn't completely helpless, as he liked to complain, but Dash just shushed him and helped him eat. Cutting up some chicken at one point, helping Danny get his fork into the meat; it wasn't really all that bad or difficult but Dash was still more than happy to help. Seeing the blush on Danny's cheeks when he was fed was also a nice little bonus to see, but Dash kept that to himself.
Later that night after dinner had been dealt with, dessert had been enjoyed, and two of the ghosts had gone back into the Ghost Zone everyone started to settle in for the night. Dash brushed his teeth and once he was in Danny's room he pulled off his clothes and neatly folded them on the dresser to wear tomorrow. Once he was ready he sat on the bed in his boxers waiting for Danny to finish up in the bathroom. He didn't want to lay down just yet in case Danny needed help for anything, but it turned out he didn't have to worry as the other teen walked cautiously into his room.
It was a bit scary in Dash's mind to see Danny like this. Blind, almost defenseless, and, no matter what he said, unable to pinpoint anything by sound alone. If something bad were to happen someone would have to be right next to him in order to help him fight.
"Marco…" Danny called out with his arms waving around in front of him feeling for his bed.
"Polo," Dash huffed a laugh and waited as he made his way towards him. When he was finally close enough Dash grabbed his arm and pulled him into a rough embrace before wrestling down him into bed. He tickled Danny's ribs a bit and they both laughed before Dash just leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
From there they both stilled, trying to calm down. Dash brushed Danny's hair back from his forehead and although he knew Danny couldn't see it he smiled and thought about how lucky he was.
"So were you really serious about going to homecoming together, Dash?"
"Of course!" Dash laughed thinking that Danny should have known better, "After the game we socialize a bit, wait for the homecoming king and queen to be announced, and then we go down to the teacher's lounge and hang out for a bit and do some slow dancing in between going back out to the gym for snacks and whatever non-spiked punch they've got."
"Sounds fun," Danny sighed happily and Dash pulled back to go turn off the lights. When he got back Danny had shed his shirt and was getting his blankets straightened up around him.
In no time Dash was right next to him in his bed and pulling him close to cuddle. Danny had told him once that he really was just a big softie at heart; loving romance movies and cuddling under blankets, and Dash couldn't argue. He especially like to wrap his arms around Danny at night and drift off trying to imagine that he was good enough to keep his boyfriend safe.
Dash knew he wasn't strong, he knew he wasn't a good shot (yet), but if it meant keeping Danny safe he'd get stronger, he'd get better. There was little else that was more important to him these days than Danny's safety, and maybe that wasn't a good way of thinking but it suited him fine.
'I'll train harder, I'll get better,' he looked down at Danny's dark hair and smiled, 'I'm not going to sit behind you while you risk your life for all of ours. I'm going to help you however I can. Protecting your back, your sides, or whatever I don't care just so long as I can help.'
And with those thoughts taking root inside him Dash closed his eyes and placed a kiss atop Danny's head before he drifted off to sleep himself, ready for whatever the week might throw at him.
Up next: a quick week flies by, events and secrets are revealed, and these two adorable idiots give more people diabetes. See ya next time.
