Of all the fancy places to end up in, Danny wasn't expecting this.

"An auction?" He asked skeptically, grabbing his roll of red stickers.

"Yes, I've been looking forward to this actually." Vlad looked around at some of the paintings appreciatively. "There are some pieces here I've been trying to hunt down for months."

"Is this even a date or did you just wanted someone to go shopping with you?" Danny snickered.

"Two birds, one stone," Vlad smiled. "It could also do you good to broaden your horizons, you know. It never hurts to expand one's cultured tastes."

They walked around the place, taking in the sights. Danny was kind of impressed; the room looked like a pirate's prized loot, an eclectic collection of paintings, sculptures, and intricate metal work. There was an antique mask on display in one corner, designed to be in the shape of the morning sun. The gold wiring around the edges glistened under flattering lights. It was generating a lot of buzz among the contenders, who fought over it fiercely until it sold to the highest bidder. Seven thousand dollars, Danny heard the auctioneer call out. What a bunch of rich bastards.

"Shit, I'm way too underdressed for this," he mumbled, looking down at his worn biker jacket and thin hoodie. His jeans were torn and looked a bit sad compared to the suits and cocktail dresses migrating around the room. It didn't help that he was getting a few reproachful stares that made him feel like a homeless urchin.

"Just look like you belong, and no one will question you," Vlad advised helpfully. "It's all about perceived appearances, my boy. You could be a rising young maverick with new money and everyone will accept it at face value. Of course, it also helps that you're with me."

Danny rolled his eyes but straightened his back, trying to look a bit more confident.

"I didn't know you liked collecting this stuff," he said and watched Vlad inspect a sculpture of intertwining hands holding and climbing over each other in waves. He had to admit, it was a beautiful piece even if he didn't know much about art.

Vlad chuckled. "Translation, you didn't know I have hobbies and a life of my own."

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"I do have interests outside of you and your family, little badger."

"Could've fooled me."

"It's all about prioritizing your time efficiently." Vlad ruffled his hair and winked. It was infuriating.

"Whatever," Danny said. "What's so special about this thing you're looking at anyway? You've been staring at it for a while."

"It's a Lajoie."

"A La-what?"

"Post-modern art, Daniel," Vlad explained patiently. "Deconstruction and critique of perceived reality concocted by society. Lajoie often enjoyed making statement pieces to challenge prevailing social issues. This one in particular is just as relevant now as it was back then."

Danny looked at the sculpture thoughtfully. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued. "Well, what is this one saying?"

Vlad almost seemed excited. "Notice how some hands are intertwined while others seem to wrestle for dominance?"

"Yeah."

"Lajoie is trying to show how connected and even dependent we are with our peers. He enjoyed people-watching and spent a great deal of time here in America, and he always perceived the American belief of individualism to either be the biggest display of confidence or the biggest joke he's ever seen. Many of his more well-known pieces stemmed from his time here in the States."

Danny looked impressed. "Huh, so where is he actually from?"

"Hm. He claimed to be French, but he spent so much of his time everywhere that it was difficult to find accurate records to prove him right," Vlad answered. "But, perhaps his innate polarizing attitude towards Americans is plenty proof itself."

"Because the French hates us," Danny smirked.

Vlad laughed. "Oh, Daniel, the French hates everyone."

They walked around some more, but not before Vlad secured the Lajoie within his possession. Danny was actually having a pretty good time, pointing out things that caught his eye and looking to Vlad for explanations. It turns out that Vlad was somewhat of an art connoisseur, enthusiastically answering Danny's questions with interesting tidbits about the artists and their inspirations.

"You know, it's pretty cool you know all this, fruitloop," Danny said after a moment of silence.

"I have a lot to offer," Vlad shrugged. "It can't be schemes and plots all the time."

"I would prefer it if it's none of the time."

"Now you're just being unreasonable."

At some point, Danny split off from Vlad and the rest of the rich art groupies to wander around by himself. They were fawning over a metal sculpture that looked suspiciously like a penis, and Danny was genuinely concerned about their lack of awareness on the matter. Whatever. Rich people got really weird tastes.

Something familiar caught his eye, and Danny rushed over to examine it. The instrument was beautiful. Polished and well taken-care of. He reached out a hand to lightly touch it, only for it to be slapped away.

"Ow!"

"Be careful, young man, this treasure here is an antique. Break it and you buy it," the auctioneer said, turning his nose up at Danny.

Ugh. He was one of those. "I'm careful, I promise," Danny smiled and held his hands up jokingly. "See? Totally harmless."

The old man narrowed his eyes and sized Danny up. Yup, he could definitely smell the poor coming off of me, Danny thought to himself. Young maverick, my butt.

"Do you even know what this is?" The auctioneer asked with disdain.

Danny fought the urge to roll his eyes. "It's a sextant. Sailors used them to locate the stars so they don't get lost at sea. I'm poor compared to all of you, but I'm not stupid."

"Oh? Then I trust you to be smart enough to know that you shouldn't touch what you most likely can't afford," the man said.

"Seriously, you're judging me? That asshole over there just bought a painting for a quarter of a million dollars and said he was gonna hang it upside down in his bathroom," Danny said in disbelief. "What's his excuse?"

"Is everything alright here?" Vlad asked, his tone cool and levelled but definitely held a touch of authority. It took him only a second to read the situation before smiling deviously at the boy.

This was gonna be fun. "If you want it so badly, Daniel, you only need to ask," Vlad offered, reaching up to tug at a lock of Danny's hair playfully. The auctioneer balked at their closeness, his mouth falling open in shock.

Danny didn't know what was happening, but was unwilling to back down. "I don't need your power over me again, fruitloop. Haven't you taken enough?" He retorted. It was totally meant as an innocent jab, but sometimes Daniel really didn't help himself.

Vlad could practically hear the old guy choking on his own disbelief.

"Suit yourself, little badger. Then, surely you won't mind if I step in to place a bet."

Danny narrowed his eyes at the challenge. "Two-hundred," he said out loud. It was the minimum starting price, but he wasn't going down without a fight.

"Two-twenty."

"Two-sixty."

"Two-ninety."

"Too rich for my blood," Danny sighed in defeat. He liked the sextant just fine, but not enough for three-hundred macaroons.

The auctioneer wordlessly took the item away to be packed, gladly getting away from the strange vibe between the two.

"You were never going to buy it, were you? You just wanted to jack up the price," Vlad said, but his eyes assured Danny that he wasn't mad.

Danny gave a cheeky grin. "We'll never really know, will we?"

To be continued...