::
"Really?" The surprise on Andrew's face was getting more amusing the longer Danny watched him. "This is Creative Writing and yet you haven't been given a single assignment on ghosts? In this town?" Well, when he phrased it like that, it did sound a little ridiculous.
"We didn't really get assignments in this class before you took it over," Mikey had his hand half raised, sounding rather put out about the matter. "We just were given prompts and told to write something for it. He didn't even grade them."
The look of disgust on Andrew's face was amazing, and it was possible Danny sneaked a quick picture before sending it off to Randy. "Yes, well, that ends now. Our newest assignment is going to be a short piece on a ghost of your choosing. I want 700 words this time around. First person narrative about how they've made an impact on your life- No, you may not use third person. While the omniscient narrator is all well and good, sometimes being able to think from a first person point of view can help you understand what you characters are thinking and feeling."
As he spoke, Andrew wrote the assignment out on the board quickly and neatly, pausing to doodle a little cartoon ghost next to the prompt. Danny used the word doodle rather lightly, as the ghost looked rather odd and lopsided. "Sir?" Beside him, Sam was raising her hand, grinning unrepentantly. "You can't draw for shit."
"Yes, well, my brother was always better at this sort of thing." Oh, yeah. Danny had forgotten that Randy sketched and drew a lot. Hm. Danny would have to find some of his sketchbooks, later. "Now, as I was saying, the impact they made on your life can be roughly anything. It can be about you realizing how ghosts are real, whether in a positive light, or a negative one. Admiring one, fearing one, being curious of one. Anything goes as long as it made an impact."
Danny couldn't stop his grin if he tried, and he really did this time. It was just… Andrew getting wrapped up in his teaching and looking so passionate was… It was wonderful. Seeing him so happy and free. "The piece itself can be done in prose, poetry, even as a spoken word if you wish. If you choose the latter, I will accept a minimum of 400 words, but only if you perform it for the class." Chancing a glance at Sam, Danny saw her already writing down ideas with a sharp smile. Spoken word, then.
"Before you ask, I don't count as one of the subjects, so don't bother trying. I'm also saying right now that Phantom doesn't count as a subject either." Beside him, Sam growled and ripped up her paper, balling it and throwing it over her shoulder. Danny noticed Andrew did his best to not laugh, especially since other students had similar reactions. "You honestly think I would make it that easy on you? Take note that every assignment I give to you will be harder than the last. I advise you to adjust quickly to it. Any questions?"
"What if we've never interacted with a ghost, though?" In Amity Park? Danny didn't believe that for a moment.
"Two and a half years ago you had a school counselor by the name of Penelope Spectra. I was told she often made students feel drained and empty after meetings. That was due to her being a ghost. Her powers rely on keeping her young by feeding on the despair and bringing up the worst emotions and memories in a person. Everyone in this school has interacted with her based on the files, so you all have a ghost to base it off of right there. Although it doesn't have to be a ghost you've interacted with personally, just one you've seen on the news or in town.
"If you have any questions on ghosts in general, you can feel free to ask me, or even the Fentons, if that would make you more comfortable. I believe they have business and lab hours in the evenings from four to seven." Pft. Technically they did, but only very rarely did anyone show up to ask about ghosts. "And do try to keep your subject true to their beliefs. For example, Johnny 13 isn't going to go around singing and playing the guitar, and Ember McLain isn't going to be flying around and screaming about being a great hunter."
The mental image of that had Danny smothering his face in his hands, trying to stay quiet. He couldn't believe- Well, he could but- Just the very idea. Oh, man, now he was picturing Ember in a robot suit and Johnny wearing Ember's crop top. Fumbling for his phone again, he quickly typed out a message. 'Okay but Ember in a robo suit and Johnny in a crop top.'
It took another minute before a response came through, Danny able to perfectly picture Randy's amused but confused voice. 'What the hell are you all studying today? Andy did not just say to picture Johnny in a crop top.'
'In a roundabout way he sort of did I guess? And we're about to do an assignment on ghosts 700 words and how they made an impact on our life first person.'
'Not taking it easy on you guys, is he?' Danny snorted to himself at that, shaking his head. Andrew was a sweet and loving mate, but he was completely brutal when it came to education. 'Know who you're gonna do yet?'
'Not sure. He banned himself and Phantom to make it harder on us. Sam was pretty pissed about the second one. Might do him just to spite him.'
'Or. Or or or. I'm just saying here. You could do me. Randy. The most wonderful caring bestest big brother to ever grace either of the worlds.'
'And so humble too!' It wouldn't be a bad idea, really. Andrew hadn't said no to writing about his brother, after all. And while ghosts had made a huge impact on his life, Andrew and Randy had certainly made some of the biggest. Well, at least, positively they had. 'I'll think about it. Now bribe me.'
'I'll cook dinner.' Eh. Randy could do better than that, surely. 'Brownies.'
'I'm listening. Closely.' Because Randy's brownies were as good as Andrew's cookies and Danny would probably sell part of his soul to get Randy to make them more. 'Extra chocolate?'
'Is there any other way?' There wasn't. 'How has Andy not caught you texting, yet? He gets pissy when you do this during your tutoring sessions.' Good question. Glancing up, Danny saw half the class was staring at him, and Andrew was- Ow. Okay. It wasn't an annoyed or amused look so much as one that was disappointed.
'Just checked. Busted. Also. Andy? He used The Look.'
'Good luck in that case, petit mec. I'll make extra brownies to try and win him over.'
"Ready to pay attention to the lesson now, Mr. Fenton?" Oh, that was low. That was low and Andrew knew that. If that was how he wanted to play it, though, then fine. Danny could be just as low.
"S-Sorry, Mr. Riter." Putting his phone away, Danny looked down to his desk, trying to let his expression crumple naturally. A peek through his bangs showed Andrew was already breaking. "It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't." It was easy to see there wasn't any heat in the words, most of the class noticing as well as they snickered to themselves. "As I said, this is due at the end of the week, so don't leave it to the last minute like I know some of you will be tempted to do." Andrew looked to the clock, nose wrinkling for a second. "Feel free to attempt escape now, and if a teacher sees you, remember, they can't chase you out of the school for legal reasons. Mr. Fenton, you stay behind. I want to talk to you about your cell phone usage during my class."
Danny wouldn't be surprised if he had an offended and outraged expression on his face, but in his defense, that was just low. Of course, it could be he was blushing in embarrassment. "Ouch. Ruthless, isn't he," Sam grinned, gathering her own things and following after the other students that were fleeing en masse. "Have fun with 'Mr. Riter', Danny!"
As soon as the door shut, Danny turned his betrayed gaze to Andrew, "This is why the whole school thinks you're fucking me into your desk everyday, you know." Ah, a flustered Andrew. Balance restored.
"I believe a good deal of the blame could be placed upon you and your flirting, mon cher." Standing up, Danny opened his mouth to complain only to blink as he saw Andrew flicking through his phone. "Hey! That's against school rules!"
"Not against tutor rules," Andrew taunted, scrolling through his chat with Randy. "Ah, Beaumont Brownies. Now that's a reason I can forgive when it comes to being distracted."
"Beaumont?" Danny frowned, watching Andrew type something out on his phone. "Who the heck is Beaumont?"
"It's Randy's last name before he was taken by the Sect of the Crow," Andrew easily kept Danny's phone out of reach, still typing on it. "Randall Nicolas Beaumont."
"That's so pretentious." Digging for the coolness inside of him, Danny let his transformation wash over him before flying at Andrew. It was a little upsetting how easily he was caught and twirled, a kiss being placed to his cheek. "Beaumont, seriously?"
"He was from an aristocratic family, I believe, before the Sect took him as a punishment to the Beaumonts. Sylvia, our mother, informally adopted him in and he took on the last name Riter to honor that." Huh. Danny's thoughts were broken by his phone buzzing, Andrew giving a snort as he typed up a reply.
"Wha- Hey! That's my phone, you know." Squirming in the hold, Danny tried to see what it said, upset at how easily he was failing. "Andy."
"Danny," Andrew parroted, kissing him on the cheek again and typing a few more things before handing him his phone. A dozen messages were deleted, Danny huffing as he curled around his phone.
"Crazy assassins." Beaumont, huh. It suited him. Randy Riter sounded all well and good, but Randall Beaumont sounded...nice. "I hope you know Sam is going to be out for blood over you saying Phantom was banned."
"Her writing is good - very good, actually - but she tends to get too caught up in her chosen topics. Phantom would have been too easy for her to use, especially since I'll be the one grading it so she can use you by extension. This will force her to think outside the box. Plus, I don't want to read dozens of papers about how my students are 'so totally in love' with you. It's disconcerting."
"Or you're just jealous," Danny kissed at Andrew's own cheek. Pulling back and ready to launch into a very lengthy list on just why Andrew shouldn't be jealous, a wisp of blue air curled out of his mouth with a gasp. "Oh, come on! Does the truce just not matter, anymore.!"
"It's most likely Johnny and Kitty here to bother you," Andrew laughed, letting Danny go at last and flicking his hand towards his papers and books. Purple energy wrapped around them before neatly stacking together. "You deal with them if you wish, I need to go talk to your principal. I think she's trying to cut my already minimal pay."
"More ruthless than a Riter, she is." Kissing Andrew's cheek again, Danny easily phased through the ceiling before looking around towards the front of the school. He didn't hear Johnny's motorcycle, and that thing was loud even without the ghost hearing. Maybe it was Wulf? He sometimes visited after school.
"Still so quick to hunt a ghost. You really are just like your parents, aren't you, Danny dear?" Sickly sweet words that stuck to his skin like sap and cut into his bones like knives.
"Let's see… Smart, ambitious, colorful, and caring about my family? Yeah, guess I am like them, huh? So glad you noticed." Anger coursed through him like waves, energy swirling into Danny's hands as he turned around. "I thought I told you to stay away from the school, Spectra."
"Easy there, darling." Spectra's laugh was light and airy, a hand going to her mouth as she sat on the edge of the roof. "I was just curious about how your new substitute teacher was doing. I suppose he would be good at training multiple people at once- Oh, I'm sorry. 'Teaching'."
"What are you on about now, Spectra." Maybe he could just freeze her and stick her in the Far Frozen. Frostbite would gladly keep her contained for a while. Maybe a few centuries?
"That's what they were required to do when they reached a certain age." Spectra's voice had taken on the tone of a lecture, the woman crossing her legs and looking like she was comfortably seated in a chair, instead of on the edge of a roof. "After they proved themselves, they were tasked to train others. I'm sure he's mentioned it before."
It didn't take much imagination for Danny to figure out who 'he' was, and he could already feel the growl ripping its way out of his throat. "Spectra, you have three seconds-"
"The Sanctum, Danny, the Sanctum. Surely he must have mentioned it? You think it was just him and that 'brother' of his who were killers? They were raised among countless others, they trained countless others." Spectra dodged the attack he aimed at her far too easily for his liking. "You shouldn't be asking how many people he's killed, Danny. What you should be asking is how many killers he's raised. The Priest of Death left such a legacy, after all."
Spectra vanished in a swirl of shadows, Danny's next attack missing by just a moment. "He's not like that anymore! And why should I believe anything you say anyways!" There was no response, and Danny couldn't stop her words from swirling around his head.
The Sanctum, huh…
::
"Hey Andy, hey Randy, yeah, I just wanted to ask you what the Sanctum is? I mean, apparently it's where you learned to kill and trained others to kill? Obviously that's not true, right? Yeah, totally. Great job, Fenton, might as well as just go bury myself in a snow drift for a couple decades."
He didn't want to dig into their past like this but he was curious, and damn Spectra for making him realize that. Picking at their past and opening wounds they had been trying to heal for twenty years… Danny didn't want that but he really didn't know much about their past. He knew all the stories. The stories of the Priest of Death and his White Fang. The rooftop terrors of France that stalked the shadows. Killers and liars and… And…
And idiots who were covered in brownie and cookie batter. "Did… Did you two get into a food fight, or...?"
"I wouldn't say it was a fight," Randy was blushing. Blushing. "More of a small altercation that ended in the possible result of food debris landing upon our persons."
"It was a food fight." Andrew scooped up a lump of cookie dough, smashing it on Randy's head and grinning at his squawk of outrage. "I won."
"Did… Did you two swap bodies?" Because what even. "Or am I just seeing your true nature, again?"
"It was a draw." Randy completely ignored the question, trying to scrub the cookie dough out of his hair. "We just noticed you were quiet, so we were trying to figure out the best way to cheer you up."
"He thought brownies would work better, and I graciously offered to make cookies as well." 'Rooftop terrors of France'. And here they were covered in batter and trying to place the blame on each other.
"Graciously," Danny flew over with a snort of laughter, tilting Andrew's head up before licking at a spot of brownie batter of his cheek. The blush was delightful, as was Randy's poorly concealed snort of laughter. "Delicious. Now, explain to me how this all happened and why Vidya isn't kicking your ass."
Spectra was right. Danny didn't know about their pasts like he should have. He didn't know just how many they had killed, how many others they had worked with, or even what 'the Sanctum' was. But… He also didn't need to know. Right now what mattered was that they weren't the Priest of Death and White Fang, but dorks trying to make him feel better.
He didn't need to know… Right?