Danny's family all arrive home for a late dinner, his parents have some kid of goo on them and Jazz has just made sure she finished making her brothers and her own before they could get near it.
"So, Danny boy!" His father starts off in his loud voice, "How's the first day of school?!"
Jazz looks at him with a slightly horrified if not completely scandalized look, but Danny kicks her leg under the table before she can start.
"Honey, his first day of this year was last week." His mother chimes in.
The topic of their evening sat quietly with a small sink in mood, it wasn't unusual for them to forget where he was in school but it wasn't any less painful.
Jazz opens her mouth and once again receives a kick, "OW!"
Both of their parents turn around at her sudden shout and she looks ready to burn a hole in Danny's leg as he speaks, "Actually, I've been in school for 2 weeks. Today is Thursday."
Both of his parents look a little lost before his father laughs, "Boy does time fly! Jazzy how's finding housing?"
His wife once more pipes in, "At the moment she is saving up money to move in with a friend remember? We talked about this on Monday."
Danny feels a small lump in his throat, it's not unusual for his parents to remember almost everything Jazz has told them, she was their starkid after all.
"Yes, I'm looking online with my friend and corresponding with her for the move! At the moment we might have to stay on campus if we can find any places and if that's a no go she has some connections that might get us something cheaper." Jazz speaks in between bites, trying to be as polite as possible.
Danny doesn't participate, he is happy for his sister sure, but he doesn't want her to leave. Despite their differences they started getting along well over the last few years. He doesn't really blame his parents for paying more attention to her, she was everything they wanted in a child. They mention it a lot;
"You're so smart Jazz, you could go anywhere you want! So why settle for such a small place?" His mother asks.
Smart.
His father smiles too, "Yeah, you could get great scholarships at much bigger places! Get better paying jobs in the future that way!"
Has potential.
"I'm surprised you haven't been on any dates either, you could get such a wonderful young man, you wouldn't even need to wear make-up." His mother.
Pretty.
His dad jerks back a little, "Wow, slow down now! She doesn't need to date till she is out of school! Then she might want to wait a while!"
Jazz smiles, "Oh dad, I know you want me to wait but I'm entering into adulthood, and you know how much I would love children. But for now I want to focus on my studies as a psychiatrist as well as combat and world studies, I'm planning on broadening out my field."
She would make a great mom.
Shaking his head a little, Danny excuses himself from the table quietly, he receives reflexive 'good night Danny' from both of his parents and Jazz's concerned, 'night.'
He walks to the stairs before looking over his shoulder to make sure none of them will see him float up to his room, honestly why walk when you can fly?
He flops onto his bad and thinks about the things he saw in the ghost zone the night before.
Walker had made a perimeter around the ghost zone, the whole section. To top it off he had to leave before he could ask Skulker any questions because a tight curfew was introduced: visitors gone by the time the zone darkened. Why would they create such a tight security routine?
Sitting up he pulls out his phone and calls Kitty, she's more likely to answer her phone.
"Hello?" Her voice comes through softly.
He grins despite himself, "Hey, Kitty! It's Danny."
Her voice picks up, "Oh hey, Danny! What's up?"
He leans back on his pillows, "Nothing really. Heard anything new about the zone edge?"
He hears some rustling noises before she speaks again, "Yeah, I did actually. Apparently Walker is trying to keep it under wraps with a huge perimeter around the zone. Tons of ghosts are starting to fight over territory because of it! I didn't even know he had that many guys."
He laughs at her exasperated tone, "Haha, yeah! I had to help Ember move house because of Walker last night. Have you heard from her?"
He hears a soft rustle and can imagine her shaking her head, "No, it's been a while since she came by. Haven't gotten a text either, but I listened to her new album so I know she is doing ok."
"Yeah, I listened to it too. It's pretty good isn't it?"
"It really is! Hey, you doing ok kid?"
He shifts in his spot a little at her question, "Yeah, I'm good. Why do you ask?"
She hesitates before speaking slowly, "You don't usually call me first unless you're not feeling good. Johnny's been playing games on his phone and didn't yell out that you had called. Did something happen?"
"I-" he looks down at his shirt and starts playing with a frey in the material, "Yeah, something happened."
She stays silent, waiting for him to continue, he sighs, "It's just my parents that's all."
"Danny." She sounds concerned and he hates how he makes her worry.
"They just… they don't notice my life. Like ever. They hunt me down half the time and the other half, it's like I don't exist." He leans forward and hugs his legs.
"Have you ever thought about telling them?" She asks it softly, like she is afraid of scaring him.
"I thought about it but what part of 'When I get my hands on that ghost kid, I'm going to rip him apart molecule by molecule' makes it sound like they would listen?"
She giggles a little at his impression of his dad but sobers up almost instantly, "But would they actually do that?"
He stays silent, deciding not to answer that question.
"Danny, if they would actually hurt you for something like this you need to leave. Have they ever actually hurt you?" Her concern is almost bordering panic now.
"No! No. They haven't hurt me… yet." He lists his head as he tries to think, "At least not that I can remember…"
She stays painfully silent on the other side of the phone, he can faintly pick up Johnny in the background asking her if something is wrong.
Finally she says, "If they ever hurt you, I WILL haunt them."
He smiles sadly at her comment, "They would have to catch me first."
Kitty takes in a sharp breath when Johnny pipes up, "Not that hard to do kid. It only takes once."
He winces at those words. Tons of ghosts and guys in white had caught him, they just couldn't keep a hold of him but they had a point. He had been lucky all those times, being able to get out either with Leo or his own powers and brain. He had caught plenty of ghosts himself and knew it only took once.
Kitty responds again, "If you ever need somewhere to go, our home is open to you. You've done a ton to help us and it's the least we could do for you."
Danny smiles, these people who he had beat up and trapped so many times before they came to an understanding. People he had hurt were being so nice to him, caring for some kid they hardly knew.
"Thanks guys. I'll try to remember that."
"Your welcome kid!" Comes through the speaker, a ring of both of their voices speaking at the same time.
"Shadow says he hopes you come by soon." Johnny adds in.
"I'll try. Hard with the new curfew." He pulls a face.
"True." One of them mutters, but he can't tell which one, "Anyway, You're always welcome to call us kid. Do you want to keep talking or are you ready to try sleeping?"
The halfa looks at his clock, the display showing that it's 12:50 AM.
"I think I'll try sleep. Long day tomorrow. Thank you guys."
Kitty speaks with a smile in her voice, "No problem. Sleep well Danny. You deserve it."
He smiles, "Thanks. You too. Bye."
With her parting words he hangs up the phone. His life really had changed in the last few years. If you had asked him at the age of 10 what he wanted to do or where he thought he was going to get, his answer would have been space. Now? He would probably keep his plans a secret and just live on with his life half in the ghost zone.
