::
"So." Pulling himself up onto Andrew's desk, Danny absently watched as the man went through graded papers. Lunch breaks were for double-checking, he had discovered. "Guess what interesting rumors are going around now."
"What, no more rumors about how I'm 'fucking you into my desk' every day? How disappointing." Flicking Andrew's ear, Danny grinned at the mild glare he was given.
"Come on now, Andy. Popular rumors never go out of style. But, no. Right now it seems everyone is caught up on just how you died and how you became a ghost." Yep. The look he was given had definitely been worth the work of tracking down all the rumors. "My favorite is where you died in a schoolhouse in the 1920s while trying to stop a mafia-"
"Stop- Just… Just stop there." Andrew was pinching the bridge of his nose and it was making Danny fight to stop his laughter. "Sam came up with that one, didn't she?"
"Kwan, actually." This time Danny actually did break out in laughter at the look. "Hey, it's pretty good! A lot of them seem to revolve around that, and I think most people think your obsession is teaching."
"I'm surprised they know even that much about ghosts, especially after reading some of their Creative Writing assignments."
"I think Mom and Dad have been doing workshops down at the college. Said they saw a few of my classmates there from time to time, so that explains why the whole school knows now." Shifting uncomfortably for a moment, Danny finally just moved to sit in Andrew's lap instead.
"The mistaken belief about my obsession I can handle. It's understandable considering my behavior." Andrew hooked an arm around Danny's middle and pulled him further back, chin settling on top of his head. Danny couldn't find it in him to even pretend to be upset, instead relaxing against Andrew with a content breath. "What I'm trying to figure out is how that translates to a school teacher who died in the 1920s."
"School teacher that died in the 1920s due to the mafia, don't forget that part- Oh! There was another one where you died in France while valiantly throwing yourself in front of a bullet."
"Randy only shot me once, and I didn't die from that." At that, Danny frowned and looked up to Andrew, nudging him with his elbow. "It was a long day." Oh, Danny would definitely be digging into that story later. "Didn't I mention how I died in America?"
"Yeah, you did, in your first French class. I think they just latched onto the 'French' part of that and nothing else though."
"It wouldn't surprise me." Andrew tangled a hand in Danny's hair, Danny letting himself relax into the touch at once, tension draining out of him. "Thank you for the warning, mon cher."
"Mhm. What are mates for?" There were of course a few new rumors about Danny and Andrew and their illicit activities after school hours, but Danny would be saving those for himself. "Oh, yeah, I wanted to run a few ideas by you for the 'what we're thankful for' assignment. From a tutor standpoint."
"Alright." Setting down his pen, Andrew rolled his chair away from the desk a bit, giving them more room. He also shifted so both his arms were wrapped around Danny's waist. "What do you have so far?"
"You and Randy." At the look, Danny couldn't stop a quick laugh from escaping. "Hey, I'm being serious! Hear me out, at least?" Taking the heavy and overly dramatic sigh as a yes, Danny cleared his throat. "Okay, so. What I'm most grateful for is my wonderful mate and his brother. This is because- Stop giving me that look, I'm trying to be mature-"
"'Mature'." Andrew gave him a very telling look, Danny realizing that, yes, okay. Sitting in Andrew's lap and frequently making out with him during school hours probably wasn't all that mature.
"Your point is made, but I am being sort of serious here. Of all the people in my life, you two are definitely the ones I'm most grateful for." That wasn't even an exaggeration. Danny was grateful for everyone in his life, but Andrew and Randy had always been the ones to understand. "Before you two, I was always expected to be… To be the hero. I had to be the one to save and protect the entire town. School wasn't supposed to matter as much as the fights, and breaking my grounding was so I could keep helping. So I could keep being a Fenton.
"Before you two… I was expected to be the hero and nothing else. Nothing was more important than keeping the town safe, or protecting the citizens. And then you guys came." Leaning back, Danny rested his head against Andrew's shoulder as he smiled up at him. "You showed me it was alright to be a kid, to still be lost and confused rather than having it together all the time. You guys gave me a second chance. You helped me with my schoolwork, gave me the idea of the truce, convinced me to make peace with Vlad and tell my parents. You two have always been protecting me, and if it weren't for you two here…"
Spectra's words swirled around his head again, sharp like daggers and dripping poison. A creepy little kid with creepy little powers. Someone who wasn't fit for either world, tethered to the world of the after but couldn't see fit to survive in the world of the living. "If it weren't for you two, it'd be a lot worse.
"You two are the ones I'm most grateful for." Shifting to where he was straddling Andrew's lap, Danny wrapped him up in as tight a hug as he could. "You two have always, always done your best for me. Whether you're the Priest of Death and White Fang, Ghostwriter and the Mercenary, Andrew Claude Riter and Randall Nicolas Beaumont, or just my dorky Andy and Randy. You two are what is most precious to me, and who I would risk everything for. No matter what."
The silence that followed his impromptu declaration felt peaceful. Warm. As if everything that needed to be said had been- Holy shit was Andrew crying? "Andy? Hey, are you-"
"No!" Andrew was shaking, and it was clear to see that tears were starting to build up in his eyes. "Merely something in my eyes, is all." The man's tone was absolutely broken, and it had Danny smiling as he shifted to wipe the man's tears away.
"Oh?" Kissing at the places they had been, Danny let his hands slip down to cup Andrew's cheeks. "Are they all cluttered up with sentiment, then?"
"Completely," Andrew mumbled, tucking Danny close. "Randy's going to be even worse when I tell him everything you said."
"I'll be prepared for emergency cuddles, then."
::
"You're becoming as bad as Andy, you know." Dropping his backpack on the floor, Danny turned on his heel and dramatically collapsed across the couch. His head landed perfectly in Randy's lap, right over the book he had been reading.
"And you're becoming worse than me," Randy's grin was wide anyways as he ruffled Danny's hair, phasing his book out to instead set it aside. "No Vidya today?"
"Felt like visiting Liz," Danny let himself be pulled closer, smiling at the contact as he squirmed to settle down properly. "She's a sweetheart." There was silence in his head, but Danny felt like Liz would be cooing over him like Vidya if she could. Judging by Randy's expression, she probably was.
"My lair likes you two better than she ever will me, I swear." At the fingers that tangled through his hair and rubbed against his scalp, Danny felt his attention on the conversation disappear for a few seconds. Long enough for Randy to be giving him a strange look after a minute.
"Hm? What?" The laugh felt uncalled for, but Danny supposed he could see where he was coming from. "Run that by me again?"
"I said, you're pretty brave, coming in here after what Andrew told me about your upcoming Thanksgiving assignment." Brave? "You honestly think I'm going to be letting you go after hearing all that?" Oh, okay. Danny was now tightly wrapped up and pressed against Randy and oh- Oh. Okay. Kiss to his cheek. That- That was pretty nice, actually.
"Just speaking from the heart, and all that." Laughing as he was given another peck of a kiss, Danny let himself completely relax against Randy. "So, what are you doing here anyways? All locked away and reading."
"Not really sure I'm 'locked away'," Randy pushed Danny's glasses up for him, the delighted grin telling Danny that, yes. He had actually blushed from something like that. "Doing research for a new job I was hired to do."
"Client?" At the look on Randy's face, Danny groaned as loudly and dramatically as he could, letting his head fall back. "Vlad."
"He's not so bad anymore and you know it," Randy scolded, sounding as if he was trying not to laugh. "He actually wants me to look into the Guys-in-White situation."
"Oh." They really were getting more dangerous if Vlad was concerned, then. "Any news?"
"They're keeping a low profile, but I want to at least try and get in and see their systems. There might be something they found out that could mean bad news for us."
"The fact they're keeping a low profile is what's worrying me," Danny admitted, tucking his face against Randy's neck, trying not to shudder at the memories of his last run in with them. "They've never been afraid to be aggressive."
"Yeah… With each new enemy you deal with, it's like more crop up to take their place." Preaching to the choir. Most of the ghost had settled down, now, and Vlad and him were on good terms these days. Pariah was a threat of the past, and Dan was locked away in the Citadel. Yet still… The Guys-in-White, Spectra, and then who knew what else might have been out there.
"Tell me about it." Things were finally starting to settle down, but Danny couldn't help but feel that something was going to change, and when it did…
Things were never quiet for long in Amity Park.