Chapter 29
"So how was your fun night with Danny?" A grin played across Kwan's face when he asked that question. There was something suggestive in that grin that made his friend frown.
"It was fine," Dash answered as he picked up one of the small shoes from the shelf to look it over. "We played space pirates until the boys were too tired to stay awake, and that was pretty much the night." That wasn't all that happened last night, but he didn't think it wise to spill the beans to Kwan about Fenton's breakdown, even if he did share a lot other stuff with his friend. The frown remained on his face as he placed the shoe back on its display. "What did you do after leaving? Hit the bars again?" He lifted a curious brow at his friend.
"I don't go to bars every weekend," Kwan argued as his teasing grin fell into a grumpy frown. "I was thinking, maybe, I should probably just stop going altogether."
"Because you like someone?" This time, Dash was the one wearing the teasing grin as he nudged Kwan in the ribs with his elbow.
"Wow, Dash," Kwan responded in a dull tone. "Are we back in high school?"
"That wasn't a denial." Dash smirked as he continued looking at the selection of children's sized shoes, missing the roll of aqua green eyes.
"Daddy, they feel weird," Xander said, coming up to his father to tug at the blond man's pant leg.
"That's just because you're not used to wearing cleats," Dash explained as he crouch down in front of his son. He pressed at the front end of the cleats with his thumb to check where his son's toes were. There was a bit of room, but it wasn't so much that they would be uncomfortably loose on him. "You just need to get used to them because you need to wear cleats if you're going to play soccer." They still had months before the summer soccer camp started, but Dash decided it would probably be good to get the cleats ahead of time. He also planned to pick up a soccer ball so that they could practice kicking it around some before the camp started.
"Soccer, huh?" Kwan asked as Dash untied the laces so that Xander could remove the cleats. "I'm surprised he didn't want to take up football like his daddy."
"But Lex likes soccer," Xander said, frowning up at the other man.
"And really, as long as he's having fun with a friend, the sport doesn't matter." Dash placed the cleats into their box and handed Xander his own shoes to put on again.
"Yeah, I get that." Kwan nodded. "I never would have stuck with football if I weren't playing with you." He gave his friend nudge in the leg with his foot.
"Those were great times." Dash smiled fondly as he recalled their time playing football together. If Xander ended up with memories like that from playing soccer with Lex, it would be worth letting him try out the sport. Placing the top back on the box, Dash stood with the box in hand. "So we'll pay for these. Then we can hit the toy store." He chuckled when Xander released a happy cheer. "But remember. You can choose one toy." He held up one finger, and the reminder gained him a frown from his son, but Xander nodded his understanding.
Dash led the way to the checkout counter to pay for the cleats. The cashier, a man of average height with brown hair that stuck up at odd angles, rang it up and bagged the box for him. After thanking the man, Dash took the bag, and they left the shoe store. Xander grabbed hold of Dash and Kwan's hands, and the men lifted him up in the air, producing laughter as the boy kicked his feet. They did that whole way to the toy store, lifting Xander up every few steps. When they reached the store, Xander let go of their hands to race off to look at the toys.
"So if you didn't go hang out in a bar last night," Dash started as they slowly followed after Xander, "what did you do?"
"Well," Kwan frowned as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I was just going to grab a quick meal from the grocery store. You know, something I could just shove into the microwave. But, well, I was leaving and ended up running into Danny's cousins."
"Oh?" Dash wasn't sure whether to tease Kwan about bumping into the man he was starting to like or still be angry at Dan for trying to pry into part of Kwan's past that still haunted his friend. But without a little nudging, Kwan would continuously push the man away and make excuses to avoid realizing his own feelings. "Did you two enjoy a night together?"
Kwan shot him a glare. "Both of Danny's cousins were there," he corrected. "Dan made us lasagna, and Danny really does make great ice cream."
"But?" Dash prompted, frowning when he noticed that furrowing of the brow that usually meant his friend was chewing on a puzzle to which he couldn't figure out the answer.
"Okay. I know this is going to sound crazy. But have you noticed how much Danny, Dan, and Elle all look like each other?"
"Can't say I have," Dash admitted, trying to figure out where Kwan's train of thought was heading. "But they are cousins. Shouldn't they look like each other?"
"Not so much that they could almost be triplets," Kwan argued, his mouth pursing. "And you're giving me that look like I'm crazy."
"I'm just having a hard time trying to understand where exactly you're going with this." The only explanation Dash could think of was that Kwan was still digging for an excuse to avoid getting into a real relationship with a man. "Xander, you're not getting that horn." He gave his son a stern look even as Xander tried his pleading puppy dog eyes. With a pout, Xander put the blue plastic horn back on the shelf. "What does it matter how closely they look like each other? Are you trying to say they have a reason to be lying about being cousins?"
"I," Kwan frowned, "don't know." He scratched at his head, like he was trying to figure out an explanation to that question. "But - Okay. What about this? When I was at Danny's house, they showed me a photo album that was full of pictures with Danny as a child."
"You were at Fenton's house?" Dash lifted an eyebrow in surprise.
"Well, yeah. We went over there after Dan decided to make the lasagna. But that's not the point." Kwan sighed tiredly at the interruption. "What I was trying to get at is that there were no photos of Elle or Dan anywhere in there. If they're such close cousins, as they appear to be now, why aren't there any pictures of young Danny hanging out with his cousins?"
"Maybe they're just not in that photo album," Dash offered, though he could feel an inkling of doubt after listening to his friend. Why wouldn't Fenton keep pictures of his cousins in the photo album?
"I've been telling myself to stop thinking on it ever since I got home last night, but," Kwan raked a hand through his raven locks, "it just seems too suspicious. I mean, maybe I am making too big a deal out of nothing. But what if it does means something? What if there's some big secret they're all hiding? And isn't it weird that their names are so similar? Danny, Dan, and Elle which could be short for Danielle?"
"Have you thought of perhaps asking him why there were no pictures of him? Or about the names?" Dash shook his head when Xander held up a toy that look like it had a million tiny parts that needed to be assembled. With a pout, Xander returned it to the shelf before hurrying off again to look for another toy to catch his eyes. Dash had to admit the whole name thing had slipped right past him. He really hadn't thought all that much about how strange it was that cousins had basically the same name and looked so closely alike. Now that Kwan pointed it out though, Dash couldn't deny how suspicious it all seemed. Then adding that to how they all seemed to magically pop up at Fenton's house whenever they liked, he really began to wonder what was going on with Fenton. Perhaps there was something they were all hiding.
"I figured he probably wouldn't tell me the truth."
"Kwan, seriously, just talk to him about it. Because right now, you're sounding kind of paranoid. If you start trying to tell me you think his identity is a fraud, I-" Dash shook his head, not sure what he would do. "Talk to him before you drive yourself crazy with these thoughts." And before you start making me go all paranoid too, he added to himself.
"Watch where you're going, daddy's boy!"
Dash groaned when he recognized the voice of the second grade bully Jeremy. When they rounded the corner, he saw Jeremy standing over Xander, who sat on the floor.
"What are you going to do now?" Jeremy taunted. "Cry?" He pretended to have his lower lip quiver while making rubbing motions at his eyes. "Or go run to your daddy because you got a little boo-boo?"
"I'm not scared of you," Xander argued, though Dash could see a slight shaking in his son. "And you shouldn't tease me! I - I'll sic my ghost dog on you! Then you'll be sorry!"
"Ghost dog?" Jeremy burst out laughing. "I think that stupid Invisi-Will or whatever you love so much has finally gone to your head." He made a circling motion with one finger at the side of his head.
"He's real!" Xander argued.
"What's going on here?" Dash stepped in, glaring down at Jeremy, who took one look at him and Kwan and made the smart decision to run away. He crouched down beside his son and didn't miss the flicker of fear in Xander's bright blue eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah," Xander mumbled, climbing to his feet. "Jeremy pushed me down." His head was bowed, raven hair spilling down to hide his eyes as Xander played with the hem of his shirt. "You-" he started hesitantly. "You didn't hear that, right?"
"About the ghost dog?" Dash frowned, mulling over that part of the conversation he overheard. Watching the old clips of Phantom from his high school days was like watching quick scenes from a superhero series, and Dash doubted his son paid too much attention to the whole ghost aspect, which was good because Dash didn't want his son having nightmares about ghosts.
Xander nodded, still keeping his head down and his hands tightly curled around the fabric of his shirt.
"Xander, ghosts-"
"He's real!" Xander argued as his head snapped up and determination sparkled in his eyes. "I saw him! He was a cute little green puppy with red eyes," he pointed at his own eyes, "and a purple tongue." He pinched his tongue between his forefinger and thumb. "And he could walk through things. It was so cool!"
Dash eyed his son with some wariness. "When did you see a ghost dog?"
"At school!" Xander answered promptly with a grin. Something seemed to occur him immediately after he replied, and panic flashed in his eyes. "I wasn't supposed to say anything. I promised Lex! It was our secret!"
"Lex showed you the ghost dog?"
"Cujo just sort of," Xander shrugged, "showed up. You're not going to tell, are you? Pwease!" He clapped his hands together as he begged. "I promised not to tell about Cujo." Tears started building up in his eyes. "I don't want Lex to hate me."
"I won't say anything." Dash pulled Xander into his arms as his son cried. He rubbed his hand up and down Xander's back, comforting him. It didn't surprise him that Lex knew something about ghosts with grandparents who were ghost hunters. Fenton probably told his son to keep everything he knew about ghosts quiet so that his son didn't have to grow with that same stigma that Fenton did with his parents being the town crazies. Dash knew the man received a lot of teasing because of all the ghost talk his parents blathered on about, since a lot of that teasing came from himself. But even if Dash said nothing, there was still Jeremy to rat out that Xander said something about the ghost dog. "You aren't scared of the ghost? Now that you know they're real?"
"Cujo is a nice puppy," Xander answered between sobs and hiccups. "He was our secret puppy. And now I've ruined it! Lex is going to hate me!"
"Xander, I'm sure Lex isn't going to hate you," Kwan said comfortingly as he crouched down to join them. "I'm sure he'll understand that it was an accident. You're his friend, and he really likes you."
"How about after we buy you a soccer ball, we go visit Lex and his father?" Dash suggested as he stood, holding Xander in his arms. "You can talk to Lex about what happen. And you," he looked toward Kwan, "can talk to Dan."
"You know, I think I had something to do today." Kwan laughed nervously.
"No," Dash said firmly, narrowing dark blue eyes at his friend, "you're coming along. I won't listen to any of your excuses." He led the way over to where the store kept the sports balls. After checking on a few of them, he found one that didn't seem quite as flat as the other balls. Once he paid for the soccer ball, they left the mall. Xander was still sniffling and wiping at his teary eyes as Dash buckled him into the backseat of the car. Kwan wore a grumpy expression as he sat in the passenger's seat. With a sigh, Dash started the car, thinking of what a fun ride this was going to be with a teary child and a grumpy friend. At least it wouldn't be too long a ride to Fenton's house.
Hoytti: I know. XD But I was thinking: did they really like her music or was it just part of the brainwashing? XD;;;
Clockwork's Apprentice: That's okay! =) Danny being a dad is totally adorable. X) Skulker, on the other hand, is just like "I don't know what to do with this wiggly thing!" XD;;
jeanette9a: XD I haven't seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in years.
Ani-DP-TT-PJ-H-Ben10 Fan: Danny's, like, the baby whisper~ XD Like, uh oh, Danny. Now that Skulker's seen your amazing abilities to make a baby stop crying, he's going to come by whenever he doesn't know what to do with his baby. XD
Snowleopard0: XD That could be funny. Sorry about the bombshell! D:
kairi8912: Thanks! X)
PhantomD: Isn't he adorable? XD
Just Will: Ah~ Silly ffnet! D: They probably could have done a lot more with explaining things if they weren't limited to the half hour time frame, and the rare one hour movie. Or if they had done, like, To be continued arcs. But it was a show directed at kids, so... *shrugs* Though having things left unexplained does give us the opportunity to draw our own conclusions to draw from when writing. And I think Kwan just added to Dash's ponderings over Danny and his son. XD;; Oops. Haha, that's true. Maybe Danny will start doing that now. We didn't get to see a lot of the Ghost Zone, and it's a pretty big place, but I remember seeing someone do fanart of Danny showing Sam flowers in the Ghost Zone, and I thought "why can't there be things like ghost berries or ghost peanuts?" There's probably some vegetation native to the Ghost Zone. =) I haven't quite decided on Lex's abilities, but I don't want him to just be some mini Danny, which is also why when he gets old enough to settle on an outfit for his ghost form, it won't be black and white. =) But yeah, Lex probably won't have the Wail or ice powers. It's a mystery! 8D *shot* Skulker seriously learned nothing about children in Life Lessons. XD Yup, it's about time Danny really started being serious about training Lex. And yeah, but Skulker can be a jerk.
Tsuki Silverbane: Aren't genetics fun? XD
Akuma no Bara: I had a theory like that about Jazz and Sam. XD;; Though if Lex and Xander had been switched, explaining why Lex has ghost powers instead of Xander would be hard.
midnight: Yay funny! I always worry that I can't pull off funny. XD;; I like those sentences too. =)
YoDog41: Yay! 8D Slowly, but slow is okay. =)
NikaStarlight: Flying sounds like it would be so much fun. 8D
maltese: Yes! =D Haha. *pats Skulker* Just wait until your child is a little older. XD
