Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed bac
Summary: Engaged to be married, Danny and Sam sort through some old photos for the wedding slideshow. D/S TransDanny and TransSam
Rating: T for boob mention
Inspiration: Phic Phight
Pairings: Danny/Sam
Warnings: Some mild sad
Other Notes: For Axoltheaxolotlqueen, who requested "Trans!Danny fluff" and also Tucker is genderfluid in this bc I said so. Also x2: this is lowkey for trans visibility day, but UhhhHH couldn't post it yesterday on the actual day since it's for phic phight lol
"God, you looked like such a dork," Sam teased him. Danny turned to see what his fiancée was referencing.
It was a photo of them, on their first official date, to homecoming their freshman year. He was still pretty lanky and scrawny then, his hair still at an odd, shaggy length but still gelled for the occasion. The suit fit him a tad awkwardly, but he still remembered the excitement of wearing one for the first time. God, he was so proud then, but now it was just embarrassing to see.
Sam on the other hand, seemed to never have that awkward phase, and she didn't have a hint of it then. In a dark purple and black dress, heels, she stood taller than him with long hair that was curled. She looked stunning, makeup already perfected.
The photo in question was picked out and set aside on the table Sam sat at in their apartment. Four boxes of photos, open and being sorted through for photos to be sent to Tucker, so he could put the powerpoint together.
"Hey, I was like, thirteen," he defended himself, and he reached over to try to take it out of the pile, but Sam slapped his hand.
"No!" she scowled. "I want that for the wedding slideshow Tucker's making."
"You can't pick anything where I look less dorky?" he complained. Sam grinned, shifting through more photos.
"Oh, is that a challenge?" she asked. Danny narrowed his eyes at her.
"Don't you dare," he threatened. Sam's grin only widened, and she looked faster before pulling a photo out. Danny leaned across the dining room table for her, only for her to lean back into the couch and holding the photo out of reach. "SAM!"
"Come on, it's funny!" she replied.
She turned to show him the photo, of Danny waving around his binder in one hand, a margarita in the other. It was the backstory that made it funny to her. Danny, drunk as a skunk, was forced to take his binder off by his girlfriend. If he didn't then, he would never do it later and risk getting hurt. He spent the remaining hour he was allowed to roam free showing it to people, saying that his tits were freed from prison but that they were scheduled to be executed soon.
"Sam, your grandma's gonna be at the wedding, you really want her to see?" he protested. Sam snorted.
"Ida's seen it, she thinks it's funny," Sam gave a wicked smile.
"SAM!"
"Oh, Danny," Sam cooed, changing the subject. She pulled another photo from the pile out to show him. "This is one of my favorite pictures, we have to include this."
Danny glanced at it, and his heart instantly melted. He slipped into the seat across from her to take the photo, staring at it. By random chance, their surgeries were on the same day. Sam having breast implants, and Danny having his top surgery. It started a joke that Danny was giving his tits to her, or that Sam was stealing Danny's for herself, and the hospital had allowed for the two to share a room. It was against policy of course, but it hadn't stopped Sam from sneaking out of her bed to slip into Danny's. The couple were cuddled the best they could and napped from an exhausting day when Tucker had taken the photo for them.
"Mine too," he replied softly. "Tucker was the best." The techno geek, the couple could never thank their best friend enough for it, spend nearly two weeks taking care of the two and helping them out. "Okay, but if we have that, we need to also have like, the one of Tucker helping me."
Sam burst into giggles as she watched Danny look for it, eventually producing the image. Ida had taken it, finding the situation hilarious. Danny was nervous as hell about proposing to Sam. And Tucker, man they were such a bro, had volunteered to let Danny practice on them. Tucker had dramatic tears, hands on their cheeks in a fake scream of joy with Danny on one knee, trying to keep from rolling his eyes as he practiced the big question.
"Absolutely," she agreed with a sigh. "We have a lot of time we can fill, especially since we're not doing baby photos."
Ugh, absolutely not. There was no way Danny was going to show the extensive list of guests photos of him as little baby [redacted] Fenton, in a dress or skirts. Nor was Sam interested in having photos be shown of baby [redacted] Manson in a dorky sailor suit, as per rich person family tradition.
"We can do our graduation photos, like college," Danny suggested.
"Oh, absolutely. I looked so great in that, I finally had actual hips," Sam agreed immediately.
"Same, my beard was finally growing in," Danny nodded. He finally found it, and he took it out the photos for them to both look at.
Danny and Tucker had graduated together, their diplomas held in computer science, Danny, with a full beard, in mechanical engineering. Sam still stood with them, but in a dark purple dress and her famous black bat purse. Sam had graduated a year after them due to her double major in business and animal science, both of which she held proudly in her photo with Tucker and Danny in nice suits, on either side of her. By Sam's graduation, Danny had finally given in and shaved, staying clean shaven ever since. Nobody told him having a beard was going to be so much work. Who knew you still had to trim and shave certain areas lest you began looking like a crazed mountain man? Maybe one day he'll try again, but for his wedding, he was going to be facial hair free.
"Can you believe it's just two months away?" Danny asked, mostly wondering aloud to himself.
"No," Sam confessed. Her attention was on a photo she had found. Danny immediately knew based on her expression that it was a childhood photo. "...Honestly I'm still surprised sometimes that I made it this far."
He gave a nod of understanding, his throat tightening. They were the lucky ones. They had families that loved and supported them from the start. But even then there was always that horrible gnawing feeling, that loathing of the time you lost. The crippling self doubt after the mandatory therapy and evaluations of doctors. There were times he was surprised he made it this far too.
"...Yeah," was all he could think to say.
His hand moved across the table, and Sam's had immediately met him halfway. Their fingers interlaced, and they remained silent, mourning briefly the lives they could have had if things were different. Of course, they were happy now. But sometimes…
He cleared his throat with a small cough. Things were the way they were. The past didn't matter. He was here now, presenting as he wished, and he had built a life worth living. It was still more than the hundreds of thousands of people could ever imagine having.
"But I'm glad I'm here with you now," Danny told her. She looked to him with a warm smile, and he knew she had the same thoughts as him. The circumstances were not ideal, but both of them had made the best of it.
"I love you," she spoke softly before lightly tapping her thumb against his hand. "I think I'm gonna make some pasta. Want some?"
"I would love some pasta, Mrs. Fenton."
The term made her visibly brighten more, and with a quick peck, she got up to make lunch.