Apologies for the long wait, especially since this is the shortest chapter so far. Been having some computer problems. Anyway, this chapter isn't an exciting one, since I'm saving the big stuff for next chapter - um, I mean, I have no particular plans for next chapter, none, your information is incorrect. *sweats nervously*

"So, uh…" Danny began uncertainly, "What do you two, uh, like to do for fun?"

He was back in the kitchen, where he had been greeted by a friendly wave from Mabel and that omnipresent wary stare from Dipper that refused to waver as Danny got his supper – well, just a tube of yogurt, since meeting the new scientist had managed to stifle Danny's appetite. Now, he figured his choice was either to attempt to getting to know them, or go out of his way to ignore them until they left with their uncle. The latter option sounded more appealing, but the former made him seem less of a jerk, so he dove in.

"Well, plenty of stuff," Mabel answered. "I like knitting and scrapbooking and drawing and playing mini-golf." She ticked the activities off on her fingers. "And playing with animals and water balloon fights and sleepovers and karaoke and listening to music and watching movies and making cupcakes and swimming and dancing and sculpting and putting on plays and eating candy and – "

"And Dipper?" Danny asked, figuring that if he didn't cut Mabel off, she'd never stop.

Dipper shrugged and finally took a break from his staring to avert his eyes to the homework on the table, which looked to be completed. "Oh, you know," he said. "I, um, I read."

"Is that all?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, that's not all," Mabel laughed. "Let's see, you like puzzles and video games and exploring in the woods, and that ones Dungeons game, and your monster movies, and of course you're always up for the musical stylings of – "

"Yes, thank you Mabel," Dipper interrupted hastily.

Mabel rolled her eyes and shot Danny a grin before addressing Dipper again. "Hey, you weren't answering, someone had to. What's with you today, anyhow? You're all quiet."

"I am not."

"Yes you are. Why are you – "

"Mabel," Dipper snapped. "There's nothing 'with me'."

For an instant the twins were silent, but Danny saw a look pass between them, as if the two of them were having a quick telepathic conversation. It was a look he recognized as one that he and Jazz shared all the time, and along with the split second in which Dipper's eyes glanced his way, the meaning wasn't hard to decipher. I'll tell you about it later, when he's not around.

Danny fought to keep his own face neutral as he cleared his throat and said, "Well, you said video games, right? I've got a PS3 in my room, if, you know, you wanna do something. Got all the staples, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Fallout, ones like that."

Mabel nodded eagerly, and, after a moment's hesitation, Dipper slowly nodded as well, closing his textbook and sliding off the chair, hoisting his backpack onto his shoulder to take with him. Danny led the way up the stairs, half-listening to Mabel chatter all the way about her favorite Wii games, and ushered the twins inside. He had gotten a small TV that was situated on a stand in the corner of the room, an investment he had made after realizing that with the living room so close to the lab, it was hard to tell which crashes and explosions were from the games and indicated an approaching enemy, and which ones were just his parents a floor below.

Danny moved to pick out a game while Mabel flopped onto his bed, looking around the room. "I like your posters," she said, gesturing toward the walls. "You've gotta love space, especially stars. In my old room back in California, I had a bunch of those glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. Dipper tried them at one point, but apparently he can't sleep well with a bunch of green glowy stuff in the room. Although, Dipping Sauce, you get, what, like two hours of sleep a night? So I don't think the stars are what did it."

"She's exaggerating," Dipper told Danny. "A person couldn't survive on that little sleep."

"Well, then, maybe it's time for you to stop reading until five in the morning. That's right, I see you leave your light on."

"Look, it's not my fault if a book doesn't have a good stopping point! Besides, I don't do that much."

"You did it last night."

"What? No I didn't."

"Yeah-huh. I went to the bathroom at like three in the morning and you had your light on. So what were you doing if you weren't reading?"

"Okay, okay, fine, you caught me," Dipper sighed. He flopped down onto the bed next to his sister. "I'll do better."

Mabel patted Dipper on the head as if he were a puppy, and smiled up at Danny as Dipper batted her hand away. "He's lucky he's got me for a sister," she said. "It's good for his quality of life. Imagine him walking around without anyone reminding him to sleep and shower."

With a roll of his eyes, Dipper picked up Danny's pillow and whacked Mabel with it, and Danny couldn't hold back a little laugh. "Hey, count yourself fortunate, at least she doesn't try to pschoanalyze around the clock like my sister does."

"Who says she hasn't tried?" Dipper asked.

Mabel nodded solemnly. "Today, Doctor Mabel diagnosed him with a serious case of The Mondays. Could be terminal."

Danny grinned as he turned back to finish loading up the game. Mabel might be exhausting, but he could still admit that she at least seemed to have a sense of humor. It didn't seem that the same could be said for her brother, but it was still something. "All right, I've only got two controllers, so…"

"I'll sit out," Mabel offered. "I like watching anyway."

"Sounds good," Danny said, tossing Dipper the extra controller and settling down next to Mabel. He had selected one of his Call of Duty games, which he had been improving at lately, even if Tucker did still steamroller him when they played on opposing sides. It only took a few minutes to grasp Dipper's style of gameplay, namely, that he seemed to be taking pains to stay out of the line of fire and use as little ammunition as possible, a strategy that Danny really didn't think was in the spirit of the game. Mabel's 'watching', it turned out, was actually much more backseat driving, and the sound effects of the game were drowned out by her giving Dipper constant unsolicited advice and pointing out anything she wanted him to shoot. Dipper seemed to roll with it just fine, and Danny couldn't help but suspect that Mabel was just doing this to distract Danny into performing poorly. If so, it was working.

Despite Dipper's no-risk fighting style, he actually wasn't so bad to play with. He wasn't amazing, but he aimed well and didn't do anything too stupidly destructive. Not to mention that it was a nice change to have Dipper stare at the TV screen instead of Danny. If they just played video games, Danny thought, then maybe having to spend time with these two wouldn't be so bad.

Halfway through one round, however, Danny's concentration on the game was interrupted by a shiver and a puff of mist slipping past his lips. Dipper and Mabel turned to look at him, and he hoped that they only saw the shiver, as the foggy breath would be much harder to explain.

"You cold?" Mabel asked.

"Uh, no, I just got a, um, a stomach cramp," Danny said. "The yogurt I ate must have been expired. I, ah, I have to go to the bathroom. Take over for me, will you, Mabel?"

Mabel happily grabbed the controller and returned her attention to the game, but Dipper narrowed his eyes and watched Danny as he darted out of the bedroom and slammed the bathroom door shut.

"Stupid ghost," Danny muttered as he transformed into Phantom. Him running off like that surely couldn't be good for alleviating Dipper's apparent reservation around him, not to mention that he now had to transform with Ford in the house. He prayed that the scientist would stay down in the lab with his parents while he was in ghost form.

He floated up through the roof and above the house, scanning the area to see which ghost had set off his ghost sense. All seemed quiet.

"Come on, ghosty," Danny said under his breath. He went invisible and started flying along the nearby streets, keeping his eyes peeled. "Come on out. Let's get this over with."

Still there appeared to be no sign. Given the tendency of ghosts to enjoy making a scene when they paid a visit to Amity Park, a ghost being sneaky and subtle couldn't be good news. Danny let the inkling of his ghost sense guide him to the edge of the neighborhood, hoping to stop this ghost's mischief before it started.

At a corner that turned off the street into the next neighborhood over, he finally caught a glimpse. A dark, curling tendril that looked like the end of a ghost's tail slinked around the corner and out of sight, and Danny raced as fast as he good to follow it. When he reached the corner, though, the other ghost had already vanished from sight.

"Are you kidding me?" Danny whispered to himself, darting his head around fruitlessly in search of another peek at that tail, but even his ghost sense seemed to have lost the trail.

Part of Danny wanted to wait it out, see if perhaps the ghost would eventually make another appearance, but a more rational part knew that this ghost seemed to want to stay hidden. Besides, he'd already been 'in the bathroom' long enough that another minute more would definitely raise some suspicion.

With a sigh, Danny turned around and began the flight back home. Whichever ghost this was, he was going to have to wait for it to come back again later, if it ever did.