It was early the next morning when Danny woke up; the younger halfa laid in bed for a few minutes more before getting up and grabbing a set of clothes from his suitcase and heading for the adjacent bathroom. He hadnt washed his hair in nearly three days, and it was most definitely showing. He stayed under the searing hot shower (his ice powers prevented any real burn injuries) for the longest time before finally stepping out and getting dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a black hoodie, not even bothering to towel-dry his hair before quietly walking downstairs to the dining room.
The table was already set, and Vlad and the Ghostwriter were already seated. The 'Writer was reading a book (Stephen King's 'Christine') and Vlad was doing the crosswords in the newspaper. Both looked up when Danny walked into the room. "Daniel, how are you feeling?" Vlad asked softly, putting the pen down. Danny sat down at the seat across from Vlad.
"...Alright, I guess," he replied, brushing his damp locks out of his face. He reached out and put some breakfast items on his plate, his eye surruptitiously catching the title of the 'Writer's book almost longingly before going back to his dishware. All three of them sat in silence for awhile.
"...Daniel, I took the day off to explain a few things for you," Vlad began, getting the boy's attention. "You asked me yesterday what you thought was wrong with you...and I know. We can talk after breakfast, if you like."
Danny's fork froze halfway up towards his mouth as he lifted his head to look at Vlad. "...You know...?" he quiried incredulously. Vlad nodded. "...What is it? What's wrong with me?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Daniel!" Vlad assured. "What's going on with you is...normal." He reached over and smacked the Ghostwriter's arm when the novelist snorted from behind his book. "For you and I, at very least."
"...You went through it too?" Danny asked, his voice more calm than Vlad had ever heard it when Danny spoke to him. Vlad nodded, smiling gently at the, dare he say it, pleasant conversation he was having. Danny suddenly dropped his fork. "...Oh shit, does this mean I'm turning into YOU?"
Andrew nearly dropped the book, he was laughing so hard. Vlad faught to keep a passive expression on his face, and tried his damnedest not to be offended. He took a calming swig of coffee and glared daggars at his lover, who took his book back up and buried his face behind it. "...No, Daniel," Vlad finally said. "Finish your breakfast, and we'll talk then, alright?"
"..." Danny didnt answer, but did continue eating. While he was distracted with his food, Vlad scowled and kicked the Ghostwriter's leg under the table, feeling grim satisfaction when the 'Writer barely witheld a yelp of pain.
Explaining things to Daniel was much more awkward than simply talking about it to the 'Writer, come to find. As he was explaining things to Danny and answering the boy's questions, he absently wondered if it was this awkward for Jack when it came to explaining puberty to the boy.
...Who the hell was he kidding? Jack couldnt even program a VCR back in college or keep a goldfish alive for longer than a week. It was no wonder why Maddie never let Danny have that puppy. Jazmine was probably the one to tell these things to Danny, anyway.
But he digressed.
He told Danny everything that he might need to know, and reassured the boy that he was not 'turning evil'. It was just the ghost hormones causing excessively violent behavior and emotions, and it would ebb away in another year or two.
"...So that's why I've also started...changing again," he said, looking down at his hands. Vlad arched a brow.
"How do you mean?" he asked. "'Again'?"
"I mean...you know? Why I've grown so much recently...why I'm so filled out..." He sighed, running a hand through his long hair.
"...'Filled out'?" Vlad repeated, confused. He honestly couldnt confirm THAT bit; Danny had recently changed out of the HAZMAT suit for ghost fighting, and now wore baggy black cargo pants and a pure white hoodie with leather fingerless gloves he had probably procured from his Goth girlfriend. So naturally, he was shocked when Danny stood up and unzipped his hoodie and took it off.
And where the HELL did the boy get THAT figure from? Danny wasnt kidding; he HAD filled out. Vlad wasnt aware that he was staring until he realized that Danny had put his black hoodie back on and had sat back down. Pushing completely inappropriate thoughts out of his head and reminding himself that he had a lover in the next room, Vlad cleared his throat, shifting his gaze elsewhere.
"...And my voice, too," Danny continued, seemingly oblivious to Vlad's discomfort. Vlad brought his attention back to Danny's plight, not understanding once more. Danny's voice had already settled into a comfortable, normal bass for a seventeen-year-old.
"...I havent really heard anything different with your...wait..." Yes, he HAD heard different; back when he had his last real confrontation with Danny (and when he got his nose broken), Danny had driven his fist into the elder halfa's face, then growled out a warning and some threats in a very...baritone voice that was completely unlike Danny, but seemed to suit his darker personna nonetheless. For lack of a better word, it was downright creepy. "...Ah. Yes, that too...though I think that THAT may be a side-effect of human puberty as well. My voice didnt change at all."
Danny nodded, nibbling on the end of his thumb pensievly. "Makes sense," he murmured. He looked a little hesitant for a few moments, and Vlad realized that Danny was on the verge of asking another question, but unsure if he really wanted to ask it. "...Um...could it also explain why..." His cheeks tinged pink slighly though the locks of hair that Vlad suddenly realized Danny never brushed out of his face.
"...Why what, Daniel?" Vlad pressed.
"...Why I'm...liking...you know...ghosts? ...More than humans?"
Ah. No wonder he was so anxious about it; he'd been seeing that Goth girl (what was her name? Serina? Salina? Sam...Samantha, that was it!) since he was fifteen, and now he was suddenly more attracted to girls of the ghost persuasion.
"Exactly," Vlad replied. "The very thing happened to me."
"Then WHY are you still after my mother?" Danny demanded, his voice taking a hard edge to it. Vlad winced slightly; he had to play this one gently.
"...I want your mother because I love her," Vlad replied. He paused for a moment. "...I love her...but I have no...er..." He flushed slighly; why was this topic so suddenly awkward?" "...No sexual feelings toward her."
"...Reserving those for the Ghostwriter, eh?" Danny asked, a tone of bitter amusement in his voice. Vlad frowned.
"I find intelligence extremely attractive, and Andrew is, quite frankly, the most sanely intelligent ghost this side of the Zone," he replied. "I may not love him, but I care for Andrew deeply; degrading our relationship to mere 'hook-ups' is insulting to myself, and to Andrew. Kindly pay him SOME form of respect."
"...So, he's a friend with benefits?" Danny reiterated. Vlad sighed and ran a hand down his face; that was a...nice term for it, he supposed.
"Yes, Daniel. Andrew is a 'friend with benefits'."
"...Pretty good benefits, from what I was hearing two nights ago..."
"DANIEL!" Vlad shouted, his face red. "For goodness sake, have some decorum!"
"...I'm taking a wild guess here, and saying that you've been called a prude more than once in your life."
Vlad put his face in his hands; he had gone from having the ghostly-puberty talk with Danny to edging around his sex life. He had a feeling that Andrew was laughing at him from somewhere in the house, the nosy imp. And yes; the 'Writer HAD called him a 'prude' more than once.
"...Any other questions, Daniel?" he managed to ask without completely snapping on the boy. Danny thought for a moment.
"...Am I at risk for killing someone?" he asked seriously, making Vlad's head snap up in attention. Vlad stared at the boy for a few moments, then sighed and put his face back in his hands.
"...Yes," he finally said. "You are. I...myself am guilty of such a sin." He sighed and tucked his hands under his chin and stared dimly into space. "...I've overshadowed people for my wealth...I've kidnapped, stolen, and crossed many ethical boundaries, but it's that one death that I regret out of everything else." He shifted his midnight blue eyes to Danny's own sky-blue ones. "...I dont want you to have that on your conscience, Daniel. I want to HELP you, so that will never happen."
Danny seemed to have gone a little paler at Vlad's confession, but he nodded. "...I dont want that," he said softly. "...I...would have done worse to Dash in the cafeteria if Kwan and Sam hadnt pulled me away." It was his turn to bury his face in his hands. "...And...Mr. Lancer just made me SO MAD! After EVERYTHING Dash ever did to me for the past two and a half years, he pushes all that aside and gets on MY ass for defending myself, or getting even! He didnt even ask me what MADE me go postal on Dash!"
"...What DID happen, Daniel?" Vlad asked. "I only know what you did. What did this Dash boy do?" Danny lifted his head up from his hands and Vlad swore he saw a brief flash of red in the boy's eyes.
"...Bastard tripped me in the cafeteria in front of everyone," he replied darkly, in that 'creepy' voice Vlad recognized. "He likes to make fun of me, or try to 'get me' with a crowd around because the fucktard is too chickenshit to take me on one-on-one..." He took a deep breath and let it out to calm himself down. "...So yeah, he tripped me, said, 'oops, sorry, Fentina, didnt see you there!', laughed, and threw his dirty napkin on me. Next thing I know, my foot's stamping on his face, then I'm down on my knees wailing on him with my fist before Kwan and Sam pull me away from him." He let out a sigh, running a shaking hand through his hair.
"...So that was HIS blood on your hoodie?" Vlad asked. Danny nodded.
"Wiped my hand on it while I was in Lancer's office when he called you," he replied. He paused. "...Can you do me a favor and burn that hoodie?"
"...I can just get the stain out, if you want, Daniel..."
"No, I want it gone," Danny insisted. Vlad sighed and made a mental note to incinerate the hoodie later.
"...Well, being who I am, I cannot really condem your actions, Daniel," Vlad said. "But I do think that this suspension time will be good for you. I can help you control yourself during your second puberty, and I'll even have your schoolwork brought home so you can keep up with the other students." At Danny's groan at the thought of schoolwork, Vlad grinned. "Oh, dont fret, Daniel. I'm quite sure that Andrew will be more than willing to tutor you in whatever you need help with..."
The sound of a book dropping accompanied by a barely-audible indignant cry made Vlad smirk; that would teach the eavesdropper a lesson on listening in, he thought evilly.
Ooookay, just as an added bonus, this is what I figured Danny would look like: http:/ / www. blackfireraven. com / sh2. jpg
Yeah, erase the spaces, and all that junk.