The rest of the evening passed without much hassle, and Vlad was quite sure that he wasnt going to be seeing one of his plates again. He retired to his study for some light reading, and just a few minutes later, the Ghostwriter joined him. "About ready to kill the little brat yet?" he asked, smirking. Vlad gave Andrew a deadpan look.
"No, I am not," he replied stiffly. "About ready to smack his head right off his shoulders, but not quite ready to kill him. Yet."
"Give it another day or two." The 'Writer sat down on the edge of Vlad's desk. "You'll change your tune, then."
"Lord, dont tempt me!" Vlad replied back. "I'm trying to stay on decent terms with Daniel, and possibly find out what's wrong with him these days. Daniel has NEVER been this violent before, nor this short-tempered. He spends most of his time brooding, if not trying to punch something..."
"Puberty?" Ghostwriter asked, shrugging.
"No...that isnt it," Vlad said penievely, his book forgotten. "In any case, if it WAS puberty, these alpha-male mood swings should've toned down by last year, when his voice changed, and they wouldnt even have been THAT violent, considering how mild-mannered Daniel is..."
"...Except around Christmas..."
"Andrew..."
"Whatever. What are you going to do about his 'ghost fighting' hobby now that he's here?"
"He wont be ghost fighting. He's grounded," Vlad replied, opening his book back up.
"Oh."
Vlad blinked and looked up at the 'Writer. "...What do you mean, 'oh'?" he asked.
"I just meant that if he's grounded, then why did I see him out flying away from here five minutes ago?"
"DAMN IT!" Vlad transformed into Plasmius and teleported out of his home, leaving a bemused Ghostwriter behind, who was practically cackling evilly at the thought of the boy getting into trouble.
Danny finally made it to Fenton Works and slipped in through the wall to his room, and laid back on his bed. There was no way in Heaven, Earth, or Hell that he'd be sleeping in the same house as Vlad. God only knew what experiments Vlad would perform on him...hell, the fruit loop might even let the Ghostwriter or even Skulker kill him in his sleep. So yeah, no. He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes, willing his transformation back into human form forth.
Not two minutes later, his ghost sense went off, and a split second later, he was yanked up by his collar into the air. Danny let out a yelp and looked up to see two glowing eyes glaring down at him. "If I had any less self-control," Plasmius hissed, "I would throttle you for this stunt." Danny glared back at him and was about to transform when Plasmius quickly snapped what looked like a black and silver bracelet around his wrist, and Danny found that he couldnt transform, go intangible, or anything.
"The hell did you do?" he snapped, struggling to get out of the elder halfa's grip.
"Consider yourself grounded from your ghost powers until your parents return," Plasmius replied dryly, turning them both invisible and flying back toward his townhouse. He ignored Danny's shouts and curses all the way back, and deposited the boy in his designated room and stood over him, crossing his arms authoriatively. "If you be a good boy, though, I MIGHT take it off after a week."
Danny just glared harder at Plasmius, and even with the bracelet damming his powers, his eyes still flashed green briefly. "Fuck you and your stupid bracelet!" he snapped back. The other halfa's hands twitched from the strong desire to misuse them.
"Fine then, Daniel. Be that way. Now get to bed, you have school tomorrow." He turned and phased out of the room, leaving the infuriated teenager to shout out profanities and throw things around, no doubt ruining a few hundred thousand dollar's-worth of expensive decor, and went straight to his room before transforming back to human form and undressing for bed. "That blasted boy is going to be the other half of my death of me..."
"Well I certainly wouldnt complain," the Ghostwriter said, appearing from invisibility and reclining on the end of the bed. "But if you DO need someone to 'take care of' him..."
"Andrew..."
"Alright, I'm just saying...it's an option..." The 'Writer took off his scarf and walked up behind Vlad to put his arms around the halfa's waist and kiss the man's neck. "You're never in a good mood when it comes to dealing with the brat..."
"Well, that's why I have you, now, isnt it?" Vlad replied with a smirk.
Back in his own (demolished) room, Danny sat brooding on the bay seat, glaring out the window and half-debating jumping out of it. Yeah, it was on the third story, but he could make it...with the offset of having a broken leg or two, but whatever got him away from this place...
Oh, who was he kidding?
Danny leaned his head against the window and stared numbly into the night. He really didnt want to be here, and had a feeling that he wouldnt be sleeping at all tonight, just to make sure no one tried to kill him in his sleep. Which meant that school was going to be a double-bitch tomorrow. He briefly debated not going, but he had a feeling that if Vlad wasnt going to be watching him, one or more of his ghost cronies might.
Triple-bitch.
Danny made himself comfortable on the bay seat (he had overturned the king-sized bed in his previous rage) and tucked his hands into his hoodie pockets, keeping his senses sharp for anything devious that Vlad might have planned for him.
*snerk* If only he knew...