Woo-hoo got a chapter that's over 3,000 done within a week since the last update which is amazing, especially considering how time-consuming my work and school have been. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! A bit more fluff between Tadashi and Danny is never a bad thing, plus some roommate fun with Wasabi and Danny!

~CWA

(P.S. Please review!)


CHAPTER FOURTEEN


Danny Fenton

I tap the pencil against the desk with a bored expression. It's been about an hour or two since Tadashi left, so that makes it about seven o'clock maybe. I don't even have the energy to look at the clock. As much as I hate to admit it, it kinda kills me that he hasn't returned when he said that he'd be back. With a sigh, I lean back in my chair as I make a face. Wasabi is going somewhere tonight- a date, I think actually, with some girl named Jade? I don't really remember since I was so zoned out and he kinda left in a hurry before I could get more details. I do know that I will interrogate him later when I have the energy to; right now, I don't even have the energy to drag myself to the cafe or the cafeteria for diner or a snack.

The door suddenly opens with a bang causing me to jump with a small yelp. I glare toward whomever entered. Tadashi. He has a cheeky grin on his face as he bursts through the door with the bags of food that read Lucky Cat Cafe in his arms. I can't even bring myself to be mad that he took so long since he brought food, but he has this look on his face that's really smug as if he's some sort of hero or saint or champion. Well. He's my hero that's for sure because I am starving. Sort of anyway because I can't exactly eat normal food. That still doesn't stop me from giving him an over dramatic sigh as I put my hand to my forehead,

"Tadashi, my hero! My savior! How chivalrous~"

He flushes a bit, grumbling under his breath as he brings the food over to the desk. I waste no time in trying to tear into the bags, but he swats my hands away as he pulls out a few paper plates from a bag and prepares both of our plates himself. He won't even let me help. He just swats me away and mumbles to just let him do it. A part of me is almost insulted as if he doesn't trust me. Pft. I don't blame him actually I can be a little shit. So I just pout at him as he rolls his eyes at me,

"If you're going to overly dramatic about me bringing food over for us to share, I'm just not going to do it."

I don't even have the chance to give him a witty reply as he shoves a plate into my hands. Oh it looks so good. Smells even better. I close my eyes and just inhale the scent. God it smells so delicious. I open my eyes and glance at him. Unluckily, he's paying pretty close attention to me and he's sitting on my bed. It'd be hard to sneak some ectoplasm onto the food without him knowing. Inwardly, I wince and take a large bite of the food…. If I die of food poisoning, then it was meant to be because this food is delicious and totally worth it.

"Hmmm," I moan slightly, "this is delicious. Aunt Cass really made this?"

Tadashi flushes at my words and avoids eye contact a bit as he glances toward his plate,

"I… I uh made it actually. Kind of why it took me so long. But I'm glad to hear you like it."

He made this? I'm actually kind of humbled that he went through so much trouble to make this food for us. Not to mention how nice it was for him to do this and it couldn't have been easy. I swallow down a domestic marriage-related joke that's threatening to come up and instead settle for just teasingly nudging him with a smirk.

"Wow, a genius in the lab and the kitchen? Is there anything you can't do?"

"There's things I can't do," Tadashi tries to be humble as he shakes his head, brushing off my nudge, "I can't do a lot of stuff. I can't sew. Or sing for that matter. Or play any sort of musical instrument or anything else relating to the arts…."

For a second, I just sit there and stop eating enough to listen to him. Which works for me because as good as it is, it's probably saving me from a lot more food poisoning. But the way he just sits there, babbling as he lists things he can't do, things from sewing to singing to playing instruments to painting to drawing to writing good poems to writing good essays. The list goes on and on and on. Not being able to wake up when his alarm first goes off and has to set to three times to wake up on time. Not being able to rollar skate. I

It's clear to me that I accidentally hit a sore spot, which is to be expected I suppose. He's still human. All humans have insecurities and uncertainties. Tadashi, it seems, apparently likes to down play himself in order to not be 'perfect.' Something that people have made multiple comments about, even I've heard a few people make passing comments about Tadashi being perfect. It takes a toll on him.

I can understand that. To a degree anyway. As Phantom, everyone believed me to be the hero, the perfect savior, especially during the Battle. It's so much pressure to live up to expectations.

It's not until he mentions that he's not able to be a proper good brother do I finally speak up. With an understanding expression, I place a hand on my shoulder causing him to stop and look up at me with almost teary eyes.

"Tadashi," I speak softly, "I was kidding, okay? You're not a perfect person, I know that, but you're a damn good one for sure. And a good brother too. So just… stay humble, but don't just downplay yourself either okay? You be humble and still be proud of what you can do. Got it?"

He exhales with a small shuddering breath, but nods his head a bit. Smiling, I lean back in my seat.

"Now, how about we continue our discussion from earlier?"


We actually end up not spending the whole the time on the topic of ghosts. In fact, it doesn't take long for us to go from ghosts to Hiro to family to movies to watch to other various things. We're still munching on the food that he apparently cooked as we speak. Granted, I haven't ate that much of it save my stomach as much pain as I possible can save it from.

"So Danny," Tadashi speaks up as he looks over to me, "Any plans for Winter Break? It starts next week, I think."

I hum a bit as I think it over. To be honest, I haven't really thought about Winter Break. A part of me wants to go see Jazz and Ellie, but at the same time, I don't think I'll be able to go fly over to them because I can't exactly afford a ticket for myself. I could get Jazz to pay for it, but I don't want to just ask her for something like that. The other part of me still dreads Christmas and how close it is to the holiday. I frown a bit and grumble under my breath,

"Don't know."

Tadashi's face softens a bit as he looks at me for just a moment before a big grin stretches across his face. His eyes are still gleaming in what looks almost like pity as he clamps me on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Danny! I'm sure Aunt Cass would love for you to come by and celebrate with us! The more the merrier on the holidays, right?"

I manage to give him a half-hearted thankful smile, but it doesn't really reach my eyes. When I don't really give him a joyful reaction, he tries again as he continues to grin,

"Think about it Danny- the weather's getting colder so we'll likely have snow by Christmas which means a huge snowball fight."

That gets a reaction from me. My eyes lit up mischievously as I grin. The idea of a snowball fight between myself, Tadashi and Hiro instantly makes me feel a lot better. Maybe even the gang would join us. Maybe it'd be just me against all of them and I'd win even without my powers because I'm Danny Motherfucking Snowball Champion Fenton. I've held the title of Snowball Champion since I was a kid when I've had fights against Sam and Tucker and I don't plan on losing my title now…. Granted, even if I could win without powers, I'd still probably use them because hey, teachers have always told me to use my resources and my resources happen to be some pretty neat ice powers with an ice core to match.

"Oh Tadashi," I wrap my arm around his shoulders bringing him close to me, "If only you knew the horrors you've just suggested. My snowball fights can be very brutal."

Tadashi gulps slightly as he sees the gleam in my eyes. He's second guessing himself as he grins a bit pleadingly with me,

"Uh I never said we have to go against each other, right? We can always team up, right Danny? Against the others?"

I just continue to grin, holding him close as I already begin plotting my plan of attack.

"Of course, Dashi… Of course."

I can see the relief flood as his face as I finally let him go, laughing a bit at the whole scenario.


Tadashi ends up staying until past midnight. Time just seems to pass when we're having fun and to be honest, a lot of it is a blur. I remember laughing, making jokes, talking about ghosts, and a lot of other fun stuff. Aside from remembering him talking about being concerned about Hiro's bot fighting, most of the details is a bit lost to me as I lay down on my bed with a hand draped across my stomach. It feels like my insides are being torn apart and it's making me absolutely sick. I've drank a few vials of ectoplasm and taken multiple medications, which have all helped, but it's still pretty bad. Though I suspect it will pass eventually later today or maybe even tomorrow.

With a small groan, I move my head to look toward the clock. It's already almost six in the morning, which means that I have stayed up all night due to the food poisoning. Guess that also explains why I feel so tired. But it doesn't explain why Wasabi still isn't home. I'd be worried if it wasn't Wasabi. I know that if he's out this late (or early?) then he's not up to something or in jail. If anything, he's probably out this late because he's stuck at a broken red light. Pft. I can see it now. A half-asleep Wasabi at the wheel in front of a semi-permanent red light until a cop knocks on his window to inform him that the light is broken.

I would laugh if not for my stomach pain. I can't help but groan when I hear my phone go off from its place on the nightstand. Shifting, I let out a few more groans of sheer pain before I answer it.

"What do you want, Jazz?"

"Wow, is that any way to greet your sister?"

I groan a bit and shift more on the bed,

"At six o'clock in the morning after a night of food poisoning? Yes."

"Food poisoning…? Danny what did you do?"

I hear the exasperation in her voice and I snort knowing that she's torn between being absolutely done with my shit and being concerned. That sums up our sibling relationship pretty well I think.

"Ate some… well… a lot… of food without lacing it with at least a little bit of ectoplasm and my insides are burning but it was so worth it because it tasted so good."

I can hear her opening and closing her mouth as if she's not sure what to say as she realizes that she should expect this from me by now.

"You know what, I don't think I want to know..."

I shift on my bed with a slightly pained, but amused expression on my face as I sit up.

"So I take it you didn't call just to hear about my food poisoning? What's on your mind, Jazzy? You rarely ever call this early in the morning."

She doesn't answer me at first and I'm met with an uncomfortable silence that causes a shifting in my gut. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. It may be the poisoning, but I feel like I'm going to throw up. I don't like this feeling. Because if something really is wrong, I feel like I won't be able to get there in time.

I wince a bit and shift in my place. Now that's a horrible thought. Nothing unsettles me more than thinking that something may happen to Jazz and Ellie while I'm not there or something will happen before I can get there to help.

God maybe coming here was a bad idea. Regret and worry washes over me as I begin to doubt my decision to even come here. I gulp thickly as my heart starts to beat rapidly.

"...Ellie's growing, Danny," Jazz finally speaks up, "I mean, she''s just…. She's growing up too fast."

She sniffles a bit and my expression drops when I realize that this whole call is just because she's getting overly emotional about her niece aka my daughter growing up. Granted, the idea of Ellie growing up so fast makes me a bit teary eyed myself. It pains me a bit to realize that she's growing up when I'm not over there to teach her everything and be with her as she grows.

It's like a knife has just been stabbed straight through my core as I sniffle a bit. It's not long before Jazz and I are both crying messes over the phone, sobbing about Ellie and getting old and watching her grow up.

"-And her birthday is in February," I sob, "that's only in like two months! God, Jazz what am I going to do! She's growing up!"

I continue to sob and cry with my sister for another full five minutes before I get myself together. I'm still sniffling after we say our goodbyes and there's still a gaping hole in my chest that my little girl is growing up so fast.

However, as the door to the room opens, I quickly shove down all the tears and wipe at my eyes just before Wasabi walks into the room. Due to the lights being off and the curtains shut, I doubt he can even see that I'm awake as he tip-toes across the room quietly, his eyes darting around. If not for my ghost powers, I doubt that I would be able to see him as clearly as I do.

Nothing makes me feel better quicker than messing with people. A small mischievous smirk makes its way onto my face as I sneak my way to the light switch by the door, easily dodging him without him ever suspecting me. Just as he is about to make it safely to his bed, I switch on the lights with the most intimidating expression I can make and my arms are crossed squarely across my chest.

"And just what do you think you're doing coming back so late," I mockingly scold him.

Wasabi lets out a girlish scream as he turns around, his face pale and his eyes are wide with absolute fright. He clutches his chest with his hand as he stares at me. For a moment, we just stare at each in absolute silence before I crack a smirk and casually waltz to him.

"So… I take it the date went well, huh~"

My teasing comment causes him to flush as he stammers over an explanation. Seeing him struggle causes me to laugh a bit, clutching my gut to ease any pain that comes along with the laughing. I take a seat on my bed to just take a small breather between my laughing fits. I've never seen Wasabi so flustered before. It's clear that my assumption of him just being late because of something going wrong is incorrect. From his stammering explanations, which I can barely even make sense of, it's pretty obvious that he just ended up spending the entire night with this Jade girl.

"Chill, Wasabi," I try to ease his fears and wave my hand nonchalantly, "I'm just teasing you. But you really do have to tell me about this girl. Did you really end up spending the whole night with her?"

My eyes are twinkling with amusement as Wasabi turns bright red as he plops down on his own bed that's parallel to my own. He buries his face into his hands and mumbles a bit before he speaks up.

"I didn't spend the whole night with her- not in the way you're thinking," he waves a finger at me accusingly, "Because I know you and your mind is nasty."

I shrug with a wide grin on my face, not agreeing or disagreeing with him as he continues,

"We went to diner and a movie," he explains, "And Jade's an art student so she took me to her studio to show me some of the stuff she's working on. We just ended up losing track of time and fell asleep in her studio while watching some musical on her laptop. Nothing major, I swear."

I hum a bit. From the sounds of it, they get along pretty well. I went through an artist phase myself and know that studios can get really messy really quickly so I can just imagine Wasabi's reaction when he went to her studio. Probably had a heart attack. But still, they must have some sort of chemistry to just stay at her studio and watch movies on her laptop. The romantic in me sighs at the thought. It sounds like a very dreamy, romantic way to spend a date.

"So… Is this girl nice," I continue, "You haven't really talked about her that much."

Wasabi winces slightly, scratching at his head sheepishly,

"Yeah. I know. I met her during my first year here and we've only been dating for a few weeks so I don't know if it's really official or not. Because she's an art student, the gang hasn't really had the chance to meet her either. I promise if things go well on our next date, I'll bring her by the lab for you and everyone to meet her. She's very sweet. A bit messy," he winces at that word, "But sweet."

I smile a bit as I hear the admiration in his words, even if he doesn't like the fact that she's messy, I can hear the emotion in his words that speak volumes. He really cares about her. And I'm happy for him. Even if I haven't met her yet, she's earned brownie points in my book for just making him happy. I stand from the bed and head toward the door, planning on going to the communal showers, but I stop briefly to just pat Wasabi on the shoulder.

"I can't wait to meet her."