"You sure you have time for this? We can reschedule if you want to," Danny frowned and angled the laptop screen. Vlad's office chair came into view along with part of his desk, which was covered in paperwork. The older man was somewhere out of frame, making himself a much-needed espresso.
"Nonsense, this way I can get my work done and help you at the same time." Vlad's voice floated through the speakers as he sat back down, espresso cup in hand.
"I don't understand how you can just drink those things. They don't even taste good," Danny said and made a face.
"That's because you have no palate," Vlad countered.
"No, I'm just not pretentious," Danny smirked. "I don't need animal poop-processed coffee that's been imported from some fancy place in the Arabian desert."
"Coffee doesn't come from the desert."
"You're literally drinking turds, fruitloop ."
"And this isn't processed from any animal, you uncultured plebeian, " Vlad snapped, unable to suppress his annoyance.
"Am I getting to you?" Danny laughed, tickled pink by the older man's indignation.
"Hardly." Vlad muttered sarcastically. "Now turn to page three hundred and ninety-four."
In all fairness, being tutored by Vlad was actually quite enjoyable. Danny knew himself well enough to know that he wasn't the brightest when it came to subjects like history, but Vlad was patient and took it all in stride. They were going over the Cold War, one of Vlad's favorite historical events, and Danny was impressed with Vlad's breadth of knowledge in this area. It was quite a shame the man didn't go into teaching; he was actually quite engaging to listen to.
They were going over the contributions of JFK when Danny suddenly felt a chill down his spine and exhaled a puff of cold air.
There was a ghost near.
Danny slammed his book shut. " Gonna need to bail on our study session, Vlad, there's a ghost nearby," he said, getting out of his chair.
"Park your butt down, young man. You're not going anywhere," Vlad said.
"...Huh?"
"Your history exam is tomorrow," Vlad continued. "I'm assuming you want to pass?"
Danny stood there, frozen but unwilling to obey. "You know I could just ignore you, right? You're literally just a bunch of pixels on my laptop screen," he said, frowning.
Vlad smiled toothily, his fangs popping out as a threat. "Try your luck, little badger. See what happens."
Despite his rebellious streak, Danny shuddered. Vlad wasn't the best at keeping promises, but he always made good on his threats. It wasn't something that Danny wanted to even think about; he still had some ghastly bruises from the last time they fought.
"Well, I'm not gonna just do nothing, fruitloop. So you better have a game plan," Danny retorted.
Vlad looked like the cat that just swallowed the canary. "You should have more faith in me, little badger. I would never leave you hanging. Take a look outside," he said.
Danny didn't need to be told twice. He ran to his bedroom window and pressed his nose against the glass, only to drop his jaw in shock at what went on outside.
Maddie and Jack Fenton were up in a hot rage, brandishing shiny new weapons at the lunch lady ghost. His mom was screaming bloody murder with a long-range cannon blaster hoisted on her shoulder, and his dad was shamelessly ogling at her (ew) with hearts in his eyes while running around with no sense of direction.
"You gave my parents new tech?" Danny gawked as his dad swung at the ghost with something that looked like electric ghost-proof netting. "Dude, are you trying to get me killed?"
"Nonsense, none of my weapons are actually designed to maim-"
"There's electric currents coming off of that thing!"
"-well, if I don't raise the stakes then how will I keep you on your toes?" Vlad said, looking pleased with himself.
Danny just stared at him through the screen, speechless. "Dude, you are seriously one crazed fruitloop," he said.
"Don't call me that."
"Mr. Fenton, well done," Lancer smiled as he handed Danny his graded test. "I expect more performances of this caliber from you in the future."
Danny unfolded his test eagerly to look at his grade. A red 95% stared back at him, and he refrained himself from freaking out right there and then. Wait until Vlad sees this. Ha! Not so dumb now, are we?
He pulled his phone out to text his weird tutor/nemesis as class was dismissed, only to freeze mid-finger stroke on the touchscreen. Why was he so excited to show Vlad? Sure, he was thankful, but there was no explanation for him to start acting like some eager-to-please puppy dog.
Danny blushed and aggressively shoved the test away into his messenger bag.
"Actually, this is not that difficult," Danny mused as he did another calculus practice problem. "I think I'm getting the hang of limits of a function."
"Surprising how much you can achieve by just being patient with yourself, isn't it?" Vlad smiled, pouring over Danny's finished work. "You got almost every question right on this one, little badger."
Danny felt a streak of perfectionism run through him. "What did I get wrong?" He asked.
"I think the concept of finding the area under the curve is still something that alludes you," Vlad answered.
"Damn," Danny sighed. "Integrals aren't my strong suit."
"Language," Vlad admonished. "There's still time until your next test. We'll get it right."
"Thanks, fruitloop ."
"Don't call me that."
"If you didn't know exactly what's in it, why would you pour isopropanol directly into it?!"
"It's not like it's rocket science, fruitloop. It's just goopy ghost DNA!"
"That's not the point, Daniel! The constitution is different from humans, even if it is DNA. You could have compromised its-"
"Oh whatever, I purified it. See?"
"..."
"Well?"
"Yes, well done. Through sheer dumb luck!"
"Pfft. Fruitloop."
"Don't call me that!"
"Hey, Vlad?" Danny said as he walked towards the other man, inspecting something in his hand. "Why do you have The Phantom Tollbooth?"
Vlad whipped around and eyed the small worn paperback in Danny's hands. It was dusty from its long residence in the older man's library, its book spine bent and flexible from years of eager page-turning.
"I'd forgotten about that," Vlad muttered and reached for it, his fingers brushing dust away from the cover.
"You seemed to love it a lot, if the dog-eared pages are anything to go by," Danny smiled. "I didn't know you were a huge softie."
"Tread carefully, young man, or I'll be forced to make you regret your words," Vlad said. "Although I admit it has been a while. I remember reading this all the time in my youth."
"Oh? You snuck out of bed often to read by the candlelight?" Danny teased.
"Ha ha, Daniel, how amusing," Vlad said dryly. "Your endless jokes about my age have lost its flavor by now, don't you think?"
"Not as long as it keeps bothering you," Danny said cheekily, flopping down on the couch.
Vlad scoffed and flipped through the book casually. "This is actually where I got my idea," he said, nostalgia evident in his voice.
Danny leaned forward with interest. "The idea for what?"
"For a portal into another realm."
"Don't tell me you tried to build your own tollbooth into the Lands Beyond when you were little, Vlad, because that's just sad," Danny said jokingly.
Vlad stared at him silently.
"Oh my god, you didn't."
"A man's imagination can often be the only company he really needs," Vlad said defensively. "Excuse me for exercising mine."
"Yeah, that's what antisocial people say when they can't make friends," Danny said in a deadpan tone.
Vlad's eye twitched in agitation. "Oh? I'm sure you must have spent countless hours with your friends being productive then, " he snapped.
"Well, yeah," Danny said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We competed to see who can stuff the most marshmallows in our mouths. Tucker got to thirty-five before he choked and-"
"Spare me the details."
The young man grinned. "I'm just saying, Vlad, there must have been someone that you just did silly stuff with growing up," he prodded, leaning his chin on his hand.
"Silly? No," Vlad mused. "Not if you count being the unwilling guinea pig of Jack's numerous failed experiments as silly."
Danny threw him an incredulous look. "Why would you ever put yourself in that situation? My dad's experiments are horrendously volatile."
"You don't have to tell me," Vlad recalled and scrunched up his nose. "Aside from the ghost powers, I had my hair accidentally bleached quite a few times from his experiments. Pretty sure I almost got blinded once..."
"Jeez, fruitloop, now I'm beginning to realize why you're like this," Danny said. "Maybe it's all the chemical poisoning in your brain."
"I believe that is the pot calling the kettle black." Vlad said dryly. "Especially considering we suffered the same fate from your parent's experiments, little badger."
"Touché," Danny conceded. "But you still didn't answer my question. I mean, you didn't meet mom and dad until college, so wasn't there anyone else you were close to?"
"I really don't know what to tell you, Daniel," Vlad confessed. "I had a very quiet childhood where I had nothing but time to do whatever I wanted. I chose to spend that time perusing books and tinkering with chemistry sets, which eventually turned into a passion for the paranormal."
Daniel looked dubious. "Don't know about you, but that kinda sounds lonely, Vlad," he said.
Vlad shrugged. "Perhaps, but to everyone else I was just another oddity who preferred the company of his own over-active imagination," he said.
"And now you're just an oddity who prefers the company of dead people and your weird half-ghost-slash-nemesis-slash-tutee," Danny grinned and glanced at his watch. Damn, time to go.
"I guess life just deals very strange cards sometimes," Vlad said in agreement .
"You would know, you dealt the cards this time," Danny laughed and got out of his seat. "It's okay, fruitloop, I'll make sure to bother you so much that you'll get sick of me someday," he said.
"Is that a challenge?" Vlad laughed. "I am nothing if not patient, little badger."
Danny's lips twitched into a smile as he shouldered his backpack. With a flash of light, he transformed into Phantom and floated towards the ceiling.
He paused and turned around. "So the idea behind the ghost portal and the actual ghost zone..."
"Yes, Daniel," Vlad smiled and waved the little paperback in his hand. "The Lands Beyond."
Danny stared at the man, not sure if he should be impressed by his genius or amused by the fact that he got the idea from a children's book. "You're a clever man, fruitloop," Danny shook his head before disappearing in a rush of wind.
"Don't call me that!"