Chapter 21
Kwan stared at the man sitting across the table from him. They kept their hands under the table, so that no one would notice the handcuffs. "This has to be one of the most embarrassing experiences of my life," he mumbled low enough for only Johnny to hear. He would have preferred to stay away from his house while attached to the other man, but he didn't want to make his family worry.
"Trust me. I don't like this anymore than you," Johnny grumbled, looking around the dining room.
The woman next to Kwan poked him. She said something that Johnny couldn't understand while pointing at him. Kwan shook his head, replying back in another language.
"What did she just say?" Johnny asked, frowning at the jock. All night, he kept having to ask Kwan what was being said because he didn't understand the language they were speaking.
Kwan looked down at the remainder of his dessert as a faint blush tinged his cheeks. "It's nothing," he mumbled. He turned to look down the table and spoke again in that foreign language. Receiving a nod from the man, Kwan stood and picked up his dishes.
Johnny did the same when Kwan glared at him. They carefully made sure no one saw the handcuffs as they walked toward the kitchen. "What is with your family?" he asked, watching as Kwan rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.
"What are you talking about?" Kwan asked, not sure if he should be offended by that comment.
"I mean, there are twenty people in there all chatting in some weird language. How do you deal with that?"
Kwan shrugged as he dried his hands. "I guess you get used to it after eighteen years," he said and walked out of the kitchen with Johnny following him. "Just be glad I got us out of there before they broke out the Mah Jong." He led the way upstairs to his bedroom. "So how are you going to fix this?" He shoved his hand with the cuff on it in the man's face as he shut the door behind them.
"It's going to take some time," Johnny grumbled. He still couldn't figure out what he had been thinking using the handcuffs that he couldn't phase through.
"You have to get this thing off soon. My aunt is already-" Kwan stopped, frowning at the man.
"Is already what?" Johnny prodded as he took a step closer.
Kwan stepped back, bumping into the wall. "Nothing," he snapped. "Just get this thing off."
Johnny smirked at that reaction and tugged on the chain, causing Kwan to stumble forward into him. "Only if you help me."
"What?" Kwan shouted and shoved the man. "You're crazy. I'm not helping you."
Johnny shrugged. "Fine with me. I don't have anything important to do anyway, being a ghost and all." He walked over to the bed, tugging Kwan along with him. When he dropped onto the bed, Johnny pulled the jock down on top of him. He tried not to laugh at the blushing scowl on the other man's face.
"You can't really want to stay chained to me like this," Kwan muttered, narrowing his eyes at the man.
Johnny shrugged. He reached up, placing his arms behind his head. The action yanked Kwan forward until their faces were inches apart. "It's not like you're bad company," Johnny pointed out, enjoying the show of confusion and panic playing across the jock's face. It was oddly true. Kwan was fairly strong and a good partner in a fight. He reached up with his free hand, running his thumb under Kwan's eye. "So unusual."
Kwan started to speak when the door suddenly opened. Both of them looked over to see an older woman standing in the doorway. She stuttered out something quickly, bobbing her head before she slammed the door shut again.
"Wait, no!" Kwan shouted, trying to climb off the bed, but Johnny dragged him back down. "Let go!"
"What do they keep saying when they point at me?" Johnny demanded, gripping Kwan's arm painfully.
Kwan winced and pried his arm free. "They think you're my boyfriend," he muttered, not looking at the other man. "Other than Dash, I haven't brought another guy home, so when you came along, they immediately assumed we had to be a couple." He was now regretting the fact that his entire family knew about his interest in other guys.
Johnny sat up and leaned close to Kwan. "Hm, so that's why you've been blushing like crazy all night," he said, sounding amused. "Too bad I like Danny instead." He patted Kwan on the shoulder before flopping over again.
Growling, Kwan yanked the man off the bed. "He's never going to fall for you," he snapped as he grabbed the front of Johnny's shirt. "You're a complete jerk. No one in their right mind would fall for you."
Johnny slammed the jock up against the wall. "I'll get him to love me. He'll realize one day that no one else can love him."
"God, you make me sick," Kwan muttered as his nose wrinkled in disgust. Every time Johnny spoke of his so-called feelings toward Danny, he made Kwan remember Dash's ex Aaron. "You're so full of yourself. I can tell you right now, that's a big turn off." He shoved Johnny away and stomped over to his bed. "If you want to get someone to like you, maybe you should learn not to act so damn aggressively and possessively. He's not an object to be owned." He crawled under the covers and threw them over his head.
Johnny stared at the lump, trying to sort out everything that happened. Every time he tried to talk to the jock, they ended in a shouting match. This plan failed badly, he thought as he lay on the bed. He wanted to go and check on Danny, but he couldn't do that while chained to the jock. Glancing at the sleeping lump, a part of him pointed out that he could probably just bring the jock along. No, if I do that, he'll probably wake up and start yelling at me again. Johnny blinked at the ceiling. Why exactly do I care about that?
A few seconds later, the time ran out on the device that allowed him to maintain a human body. Rings of light traveled over his body, leaving behind the ghost called Skulker. He lay there for a moment, debating his options. The jock was already sound asleep. Skulker maneuvered the other man onto his back. Carrying the man was awkward, but he somehow managed to make it work. He flew through the ceiling and left the house.
After several minutes of flying, Skulker felt the man shift positions. Then Kwan's arms tightened around him. He sighed, knowing the jock had woken up.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kwan shouted, clinging to ghost in his panic.
From the previous time, Skulker had discovered the man's fear of flying. "I just want to check up on Danny," he mumbled. He flew faster through the night, and Kwan hung on tighter, burying his face into the ghost's back. He knew it was mean to force the man to do something he obviously hated, but Skulker didn't think he could rest that night without speaking to Danny.
Arriving at Fenton Works, Skulker easily phased through the wall into Danny's bedroom. As soon as he touched down, Kwan slide to the floor in a shaking mass with an arm hugged around his body. He couldn't quite get his other arm around his body while it was handcuffed to the ghost. Danny stared at them before he turned a glare on Skulker, making sure not to meet the ghost's gaze. His eyes flashed green in his fury.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Danny demanded as he knelt next to the jock.
"You wouldn't expect him to have such a severe fear of flying, but apparently he does," Skulker answered, shrugging. "Danny-"
"Skulker, shut up," Danny growled, keep his gaze on the jock. He helped Kwan to his feet, unhappy to feel how cold his friend was. "Let's get something warm in you." He led the way out of his bedroom with an arm around the shivering jock. Skulker followed after, grumbling all the way to the kitchen.
"Hey, your parents are ghost nuts, right?" Kwan said as they entered the kitchen.
"Great," Danny muttered, sighing. He grabbed a pot and started filling it with water. "That's going to haunt me for the rest of my life."
"No, I was thinking maybe they can help get these stupid cuffs off." Kwan waved his arm with the handcuff.
"I guess they could." Danny put the pot on the stove to boil when a thought hit him. He spun around and stared at Skulker's feet. Not human, he realized. "You know he's a ghost? And you're not freaking out?"
Kwan sighed, dragging Skulker with him over to the table to take a sit. "Amity Park is filled with ghosts," he said and shrugged. "Being scared of ghosts kind of fizzles out after a while."
"Yet the whole fly thing scares you," Skulker pointed out, speaking into the jock's ear. He chuckled when Kwan jumped.
"So I'm not good with heights," Kwan grumbled, glaring at the ghost as he rubbed his ear.
Danny left the two men to bicker at each other as he walked down into the laboratory. He wasn't surprised to find his parents busy working on some new invention. "Mom, dad," he said, calling their attentions to him. "I need your help with something."
"A new invention?" Jack asked, his eyes lighting up with hope.
"Not exactly." Danny climbed the stairs again with his parents following after him. When he heard a shout and a crash, he raced up the stairs. Bursting through into the kitchen, he halted upon finding the two men wrestling each other. "Hey!" he shouted, rushing over to pull them apart. "What is wrong with you two?"
"You did that on purpose!" Kwan shouted, glaring at the ghost who had broken down in a fit of laughter. He moved to punch Skulker, but Danny stepped between them, grabbing Kwan's arm.
"So this would be the problem," Maddie said, frowning at the teenagers. Jack was already examining the handcuffs keeping Kwan and Skulker stuck together. "We should be able to get these open in no time. Danny, clean up the mess."
Danny sighed as his parents dragged off Kwan and Skulker to work on the handcuffs. Crouching down, he picked up the pieces of the broken coffee mug. He dumped the pieces into the trash and mopped up the spilled tea.
As Danny put the mop away, Kwan walked back into the kitchen. "Oh, thank god," he muttered, rubbing his wrist. "I thought I was going to be stuck to that ghost forever."
"And here I thought you two were getting along so well," Danny teased, grinning at his friend.
With a light flush on his cheeks, Kwan gave the shorter man a playful punch to the arm. "Yeah, if he weren't so obsessed with you." He shook his head and reached into the cupboard for another coffee mug.
"Keyword being obsessed," Danny said, sighing. "I wish he would just move on. I don't like him like that."
"Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like he's going to give up," Kwan muttered as he frowned down at the coffee mug with a sad look in his eyes. "Why is he so obsessed with you?"
"Uh, well," Danny mumbled, rubbing his neck as he looked away. "Hey, why don't you just spend the night? It's already pretty late."
"That's not a bad idea," Kwan said, forcing a smile. "I'll just give my parents a call and let them know."
Danny left the kitchen, grabbing something in the air as he walked out the door. "You can turn visible," he muttered. Familiar rings of light passed over the ghost walking behind him, revealing Skulker in the human guise of Johnny Radcliffe. Danny shook his head and pulled the ghost out the front door. He took a seat on the steps, and Skulker hesitated before joining him. "You need to give up on me."
"Why is it so hard to believe that I actually love you?" Skulker demanded, feeling rather annoyed.
"Because, Skulker, for four years, you've hunted me down as prey," Danny explained. "Then you suddenly do an one eighty and claim to love me. But that's not what you feel for me. To you, I'm just an object to be won. That's not love." He sighed, glancing over at the ghost careful not to meet Skulker's gaze. "Why don't you give Kwan a try? And don't even think of denying the fact that you kept staring at him in the kitchen just a few minutes ago."
"That's because he speaks in that weird language," Skulker argued grumpily. "The only reason I was even with that blockhead is because I was trying to get him to help me figure out a way to get you to like me."
"I'm already in love with someone else, Skulker. You can't change that. Not even with a wish."
Skulker sighed, running a hand through his hair. "One kiss," he mumbled. "Give me one kiss. If you feel nothing, I'll give up."
"Is that a promise?" Danny frowned and eyed the ghost with suspicion. When Skulker nodded, Danny leaned back on his good arm. "Fine. One kiss." He closed his eyes to ensure that the wish wouldn't take effect.
Skulker gently cupped his cheek. Cold lips brushed over his lips before sealing them in a kiss. It was nice, but Danny felt nothing from it.
A sudden flash caught their attention. Danny jerked away from the kiss and glanced around, but he saw nothing out of the usual. "What was that?" He climbed to his feet, still scanning the neighborhood.
"I don't know," Skulker answered. He took the half ghost's hand and dragged him back inside. "So nothing at all then?"
"Sorry," Danny replied, almost sorry for the ghost. Then he grinned. "But there's always Kwan."
"Yeah, I'm sure that will go well." Skulker rolled his eyes, following Danny toward the kitchen. "Desiree made it back to the Ghost Zone safely."
"That's good to hear." Relief settled over Danny upon hearing that news. Paulina had pestered him at school about where Desiree went, and he worried that she had been captured. He took a seat at the kitchen table next to Kwan, who had made a cup of tea for all three of them.