::
"Yes, yes, it's begun snowing." Really, high school students were so dramatic these days. Andrew had honestly thought there was a problem when he heard the loud groaning that broke out in his last class of the day. "It tends to do that in during this time of year. I would advise that you adjust to it. Quickly."
"But, sir, it's always snows the worst in Amity Park. Even the towns beside ours don't get it as bad!" Pausing in his writing for a moment, Andrew glanced to the student that had spoken and then to Danny. The teen had his gaze on the window and looked utterly captivated by the sight of the falling snow. Andrew was hard pressed to stop the silly grin he could feel forming on his face.
"That could be attributed to many things, and one of them could be the fact that this town is soaked in ambient ghost energy from the work of the Fentons and the ghosts that visit this place." There was also the fact Amity Park had a silly ice core halfa keeping watch. "Perhaps discuss it with one of the Fentons if it's bothering you that greatly. Now, returning to where we were."
At the spike of ghostly energy he felt at the edges of his awareness, Andrew sighed and continued to write on the board. The ghost didn't feel overly familiar, so he wasn't too worried about letting Danny go on his own. "Yes, Mr. Fenton-" Ugh, still far too weird calling Danny that. "-you can be excused."
"Sir?" Oh, he didn't even have to turn to know that was one of the 'A-Listers' speaking. Troublesome, the lot of them. "How do you know he raised his hand when your back was turned? You hearing can't be that good-"
"Yet it's good enough to tell me that you've texted on your phone four times in the last fifteen minutes." Ah, the fear of his students. A wonderful thing, truly. "Those had better be notes for you next assignment."
"Ye-Yes, sir." Ah, now Andrew remembered why Randy hadn't wanted him to be a teacher when they were younger. He thought the power would go to his head.
"Now, with us at the end of November the National Novel Writing Month challenge is coming to an end." At the panicked looks, he rolled his eyes and went back to his desk to grab a few handouts. "No, I don't expect you all to have finished novels, but I do want a short, five-hundred word essay of how many words you managed to write, how your writing might have improved, how you worked under a deadline, and things of such a similar nature. The sheets I'm handing out have questions I want you to keep in mind and try to answer if you can. MLA format, you need to start getting familiar with it. You'll thank me in college, believe me."
Hearing running footsteps, Andrew tilted his head slightly before heading back to the board, holding out the last paper as the door opened. Danny rolled his eyes as he took it, Andrew doing his best to not smile at the expression. "Take some time to think about it, it's not due until the end of next week."
At the sigh of relief that swept through the class, Andrew snorted and waved them off. "Alright, you're free. The bell's going to ring in a few minutes anyways-" Hm. High school students could move very fast at the promise of an early dismissal, apparently.
"You know, this is why you're everyone's favorite teacher," Danny pointed out, boosting himself up to sit on Andrew's desk and grinning at the flick to his forehead. "What? I'm not wrong!"
"Oui, oui, you're not wrong." Something he took great, vindictive joy in, to be honest. Flicking the door closed and locking it with his powers, Andrew ran a hand through Danny's hair and kissed his temple. "Who was it this time?"
"Just a message from Wulf that Walker is on the prowl again," Danny hummed, leaning into the touches as the tension drained out of him. "Nothing too bad, just a warning to be careful for a while."
"Mm, alright. Now, care to explain why the gentle snow from earlier has turned into a snowstorm?" Andrew watched as Danny blinked, paused, and then looked back towards the windows. He took the delighted grin as the fact that Danny hadn't known.
"Dude, at this rate we might get our first snow day sooner than ever! That's so-" Danny must have seen Andrew's rather displeased expression, because he immediately cleared his throat. "I mean, how unfortunate for our education."
"Oh, I'm sure." Tugging the teen into another kiss, it took a moment for Andrew to let the younger go. Hardly his fault his mate was so addicting. "You have some friends to meet up with, I believe?"
"I mean… I mean, I could be a few minutes late and I'd be fine." A sharp smirk was his only warning before Andrew felt himself jerked down by the lapels of his coat. "Now, where were we?"
"I believe you, a reckless and troublemaking student, was in the middle of seducing me, the young and well-meaning teacher." And alright, the horrible dialogue he had to swallow his pride to say was worth it for the beaming smile Danny gave him.
::
"Ah, Andrew!" Oh, dear. He had almost managed to escape, too. "A few of us are going out for drinks and we wanted to know if you wanted to come with." Damn Mrs. Petricoff and her crusade to make Andrew a part of the school- Or, more accurately, keep him from corrupting the students. Damn her and damn Danny for his 'act'.
"As, ah, riveting as that sounds Doloris, I really do need to be getting home, I'm afraid. Papers to grade, work to go through, lessons to plan. You know how it is." Was Andrew clutching his bag like one would a shield? Maybe. Was he going to set it down? Hell no.
"Oh, fiddle faddle." Wh- What? What was- That was not English. That was in no way a part of the English language. "Holidays are coming up soon, for us and the kids. We can spare a few days here and there."
"I… I suppose you're right." Think of an excuse, think of an excuse, think of an excuse- Maybe he could become a rampaging ghost. That might work.
"Mr. Riter!" Right. Danny appearing was going to make this either better or worse. Andrew was really hoping for the former. "Principal Ishiyama wanted to see you in her office real quick. Some new information about Mrs. Flores and her maternity leave, I think?"
"Ah, yes, thank you." Speaking quickly, before Petricoff could, Andrew gave a stunning smile. "It was a delight talking to you Doloris, but I'm afraid I need to go see what that's about. Maybe next time?" Just don't run, just don't run.
As soon as they were around the corner, Andrew was slumping in relief, Danny giving a loud laugh. "Dude, you looked so panicked! I thought you were about to throw her in a poem!"
"I might have to," Andrew muttered, peeking around the corner to make sure the hall was empty before taking on his teenage disguise. It took a fair bit of power but it at least made it easier to walk Danny home. "She seems to believe I'm morally corrupt."
"Really? I wonder how that happened," Danny smiled innocently, reaching up to kiss Andrew on the cheek sweetly.
"Mhm. Aren't you supposed to be going out with Sam and Tucker today," Andrew linked his arm with Danny's, returning the kiss to his cheek and smiling at the delighted grin it earned him.
"Last minute family plans, I think. We'll just have a sleepover tonight and I'll get to spend a few more hours with you. Now c'mon, Andy, the blizzard finally stopped and there's about three feet of snow over the city-"
"Three feet? Really?" That wasn't normal, not considering December hadn't even started. Maybe one or two feet after a bad storm, but three when there had been no snow on the ground?
"Amity Park, Andy, weird things happen. Now come on, I wanna make at least two snowmen and a snow angel- Think we can get Randy out here? He'd be awesome in a snowball fight. You both would be, actually- Hey, who would win in a snowball fight, you or him? I mean, you got the throwing knives experience and all that, but Randy has such wicked aim with all those math skills of his, and-"
Drawing Danny into a deep kiss to quiet him, Andrew had to bite back a laugh at how easily Danny fell into it. "While all those are wonderful ideas, mon cher, I have a better one."
"Really." Arching an eyebrow, Danny shook his head, a scoff in his words. "As if anything could be better-"
"Riter hot chocolate, Riter cookies, a warm fireplace, and a cozy bed with nothing around us but a few dozen blankets. And I do mean nothing."
"Home. Let's go home right now."
"Sounds wonderful."
::
"I wonder how much humanity you lose each time you change." How much humanity, huh? Out of everything that Spectra had said recently, those were the words that were starting to stick to him.
It had been a little less than a week since the first snowfall and already Amity Park was shaping up to look like the Far Frozen. The snow was constant and the temperatures dropping to hover around zero. And that was during the day. The worrying part, though… Danny hardly even felt the cold.
Right now, he was tucked away on his roof, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and had his bare feet resting on a pile of snow that had yet to be cleared away. His skin wasn't even blue and he felt like it was nothing more than a cool fall day at most. He… He hadn't even changed into Phantom yet.
He hadn't noticed at first, but the winters in Amity Park had been like this for a while. Comparing them now to how they had been, they had been getting worse and worse ever since he had gained his ice core. Was he… Was he causing all of this?
Near five feet of snow and winter was just starting. How much worse would it get with him here? Even in his human form… How much humanity had he lost, was Spectra's question. How human was he after all his time spent changing into something that was in myths and legends and stories.
That wasn't the right question to ask, though. Not for what was happening here. No, Danny knew what question he should be asking himself.
How much humanity did he have left.