Bonjour, mes chers! Some news and updates for you all and 4.5k words to make up for such a long absence! First of all, in regards to the story itself, I've done some calculations, and, well... The story is probably 35-40% of the way done as of this chapter. Things are going to start picking up pace, though, because we have quite a bit of plot to get through - not to worry though, mes chers, you'll still have your cute OT3 moments, don't you fret. I predict another 150-200k for this story before it reaches it's end so we have quite a bit longer together. Hopefully you won't get bored of me until then.

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Warnings for: some references to sexual situations - nothing is explicit but be on guard for a lot of this chapter if anything sexual makes you go 'Mm, better not'.

Chapter Forty

::

"You look like a puppy." Glancing over to where Andrew was very obviously trying not to laugh, Danny looked down to himself to see he was leaning over the back of the couch and very eagerly looking over to where he had heard Vidya's doors open. "An over excited and eager puppy who can't wait for his master to get home."

"Ooh, that sounds fun." Licking his lips, Danny had to fight the urge to laugh at Andrew's expression. "Then again, it is Randy who wears that collar of his…"

"That's because Andy gave it to me." Shooting up, Danny beamed at seeing Randy standing in front of- Holy shit he looked like hell. "I look that bad then, huh?"

"You look like you lost a fight with a sandstorm." Darting into the air, Danny flew around Randy in sharp little circles, inspecting him for any open wounds. God knew Randy never seemed to notice his own wounds when he got home from a job. And he thought Danny was bad with this stuff! "Wait, Andy got you that?"

"When he was younger than you," Randy smirked, looking over to where Andrew was honest to god blushing. And here Danny thought the day couldn't have gotten any better.

"Your whole persona was about being a feral wolf, of course I thought a collar would suit you!" Withholding a laugh, Danny wrapped himself around Randy's shoulders, nuzzling at his cheek.

"Mhm. So you put a collar on a feral wolf?" As the blush got worse, Danny really did laugh. "That was the whole thing about you guys though, right? The Priest of Death taming the wicked White Fang?"

"Brats, the both of you." Andrew shut his laptop with an angry little snap before standing up and walking over to them, Danny laughing again as Andrew cupped Randy's cheeks and pulled him into a not-so-innocent kiss before parting with a sly little grin. "Welcome home."

"You killed him." Randy's entire face was lit up with white, the man stunned into pure silence before he was grinning and gripping Andrew by the front of his shirt, pulling him back into a kiss that was very not-so-innocent. Danny let go with a wide grin and sat down on the back of the couch, happily watching the two.

"I'm glad to be home," Randy's voice was a near purr, the man smirking and letting Andrew go with a last kiss to the corner of his lips. "I'll start on dinner after my shower."

"Have fun," Danny laughed, enjoying Andrew's flustered face far too much. "Did we learn something about playing with fire?"

"Would it be wrong of me to follow him into the shower?" Andrew leaned against the back of the couch beside him, sighing as dramatically as Danny usually did. "Is it just me or does this all feel…"

"Incredibly natural?" It wasn't just Andrew, that was for sure. "Like I said, we've been dating for months now."

"We have, haven't we?" Squirming as he was wrapped up in a sudden hug, Danny tilted his head back to see Andrew smiling down at him with a warm, pleased smile. "It's only going to get better, isn't it?"

"Definitely." Wiggling around a bit more, Danny tackled Andrew back onto the couch, jarring them both before Danny was pulling him into a sweet kiss. "Much, much better."

Distracted as they were, they didn't realize how long it had been until Vidya was plucking away in their heads, a nervous little tune that contained a few notes of what sounded like near glee. Andrew was the first to speak, Danny holding back a smile at seeing the man automatically look up to the ceiling. "He… He lost his contacts in the sink?"

"I'm gonna be honest, I'm not even-" Danny shot up, ignoring the yelp Andrew gave since Danny had been lying on top of him. "Does that mean he's wearing glasses right now?!" Danny barely waited for Vidya's confirmation before he was zooming into the air and flying down the halls with as much speed as he could gather, following after Randy's signature before he was barging into the bathroom.

Randy didn't even look startled at the noise, merely glaring at the mirror and oh… Oh, god… "If I hear one laugh from you then I'm locking you away in the dungeons at Liz." Glasses. Randy was- Glasses- His hair. "Stop staring."

"You can't blame him." Oh, Andrew was here, that was nice. Danny was a bit more distracted by the fact that Randy's hair without any product in it was actually made of curls. "I think this is the first time he's seen your hair before you style it."

"There's a reason I style it, you know." Wait… Wait, wait, wait. Floating in front of Randy in what had probably been a show of teleportation, Danny cupped Randy's cheeks and stared at him. "You're starting to concern me, you know."

"Let me get this straight." Pft, 'straight'. Aha- Focus, Danny. This was important dammit. "You can do complex equations and calculations in your head, you wear dorky plastic glasses, and you have hair that curls." The second Randy tried to pull away, Danny tightened his hold and pulled him close. "And you never told me?"

"He's the son of scientists, Randy, you really should have expected this." When Randy opened his mouth to argue, Danny was pressing forward in a swift, aggressive kiss, lips twitching into a grin as their glasses knocked together for a second. Sucking on the man's bottom lip for a moment, Danny gave it a sharper nip than he probably should have before he suddenly found himself pressed against the wall, Randy kissing back with a lot more enthusiasm.

Distracted as he was, it took a moment for Danny to notice one of his hands was grabbed from where he had thrown his arms around Randy's neck. Cracking an eye open just a slit, he saw Andrew give a gleeful grin as he nudged and pulled at Danny's hand so it was curled in some of Randy's curls. Danny was all too happy to play along, giving a light tug to the soft locks before shuddering at the moan that tore out of Randy's throat as they parted.

"Oh, hell yes." Not allowing Randy to even try to get away, Danny gave another sharp tug to the man's hair as he jerked Randy back down. He was so thanking Andrew later.

::

"I wouldn't touch that one if I were you." Randy didn't even have to look up to know that Andrew was in front of him. The man's footsteps were more familiar than his own, at this point. "What do you notice?"

"They're perfectly sculpted to your guns and made to withstand large amounts of ectoplasmic energy." Ah, for as much as Andrew loved teaching he loved playing the student just as much. "You still handcraft all your bullets?"

"Of course. The average ones never fit my guns quite right, you know that." Inspecting the latest bullet he had crafted, Randy looked up to see Andrew was kneeling in front of him, eyes sharply taking in all the details on the tray of bullets already made. "What else do you notice?"

"They're glowing." Andrew squinted at one of them, Randy trying not to laugh as the man's nose scrunched up in thought. Even with time and death there were some things that would just never change, he supposed. "Did you soak these in one of those concoctions of yours?"

"Says the mad alchemist." Dropping the newest bullet into the case, Randy tapped at one with the tip of his gloved fingers. "What ghostly plant glows red, Andy?"

"Blood blossoms." The words were little more than a whisper of breath, Andrew's eyes widening as his grin grew. "You made more blood blossom bullets."

"Tricky, but doable." Peeling his gloves off, Randy tossed them aside and shut the case tightly, tucking it away to the side. "With everything that's been going on lately, I figured it couldn't hurt to have a little reassurance."

"Do you have bullets soaked in things other than blood blossoms, then? You used to soak some of them in poisons, didn't you? Hell, you made my poisons!"

"That's because you didn't have as much patience back then," Randy grinned, cupping Andrew's chin and pulling him forward in a light kiss that just barely allowed their lips to catch on each other's. "Although, it could be argued that you still don't have any now."

"I think that would be Danny who doesn't have any patience," Andrew grumbled, looking very upset that Randy had dared to pull away. It was adorable. "You didn't answer my question."

"Yes, I soak them in ghostly plants other than blood blossoms, although blood blossoms are the ones I make the most of." Digging around, Randy grabbed one of his bullets and tossed it to Andrew, laughing as the man scrambled with it before managing to get a hold of it. So dangerous and crafty with his knives but so clumsy with everything else. "What do you notice about that one?"

"Hand carved, twisted edges-" Andrew paused, narrowing his eyes and rolling it around before looking to Randy with utter confusion. "Is this hollow?"

"It is, actually." Catching it as it was tossed back, Randy held it between his thumb and forefinger, allowing his energy to pour into it before he made the energy solid. "Packs a little bit of an extra punch."

Fitting it into a cartridge, Randy quickly loaded his gun before glancing around the corner of the garden he was, finding a rock that would do quite nicely. Aiming his gun for only a second, Randy fired and grinned as a hole the size of his head was punched through the rock. Hm, he'd have to replace that rock, probably.

"Crafting a few hollow bullets allows me to put solid ectoplasm of my own inside and give it the effect of a miniature bomb depending on how I use and fire the energy. The moment I disconnect it, though, I only have thirty seven seconds before it explodes without any further prompting, the firing of the gun spending that time up to a fifth of a second. Good for close range shots, but anything further away and it would explode in midair before it managed to reach the target."

As he spoke, Randy easily disassembled his gun and went through general check up, cleansing and pulling out the energy of his that he could feel lingering. "I have to be careful to clean by guns between these bullets and other ones, though. Too many kinds of energy mixing in the guns could have some very negative consequences and-"

Randy didn't even get to finish before he grunted as his back hit the ground and lips were pressed up against his own. It was less the kiss that had him shuddering and more the wave of emotions that he could almost feel coming off of Andrew. Really, Randy was all too happy to relax into the kiss and pull Andrew even closer. The feeling of fingers hooking into the front of his collar had him pulling back with a sharp whine, whole body arching and leaning into the pull.

"You have no idea." Ooh, that wasn't sweet little Andy that was talking anymore. Another harsh tug to the collar had him choking back more noises, Randy cracking his eyes open - when had he closed them? - to see that Andrew was licking his lips, a bright red taking over the color of his eyes. "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to do something like this when I saw you so in your element."

"I think I can guess now." Randy's voice was little more than panting breaths connected together, skin feeling like it was on fire everywhere that Andrew touched him. "Seeing me do gun maintenance turns you on that much?"

"Mm." Andrew licked his lips in a very obscene manner, Randy's attention caught on the sharp teeth before he felt a fluttering little kiss pressed against his neck, muscles tensing. He knew what was coming. "Seeing you so focused and intent with none of those little tricks you use to hide yourself… How could I not be utterly captivated?"

Oh. Ooh, Randy was so in over his head with these two. Feeling the teeth just barely grazing across the weakest point of his neck, Randy shook on the ground and harshly bit his lip. He supposed he wasn't going to be finishing his gun maintenance today. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to really mind all that much.

::

"Remember how we said everything feels really natural?" Pausing in his typing, Andrew glanced up to where Danny was sitting on the armrest, looking down at him. "Like, with all three of us?"

"Yes?" Andrew didn't have a good feeling about this. Maybe he could ignore the conversation… No, no, that would be immature of him. Then again, Danny was always encouraging him to 'act his age'. Mm… He'd keep it in mind for later. "Does it no longer-"

"No, no, it all still feels really natural. Like, disturbingly natural. Like, so natural that I have a problem to deal with that I didn't expect to have to deal with or know how to deal with." Narrowing his eyes, Andrew looked up again to see that Danny was blushing and had his hands fisted in the ends of his shirt and- Ah. "It's a big problem."

"You want him to ruthlessly fuck you and you have no idea how to accomplish it?" Seeing the blush get worse, Andrew closed his laptop and set it aside before opening his arms. Danny was burrowing his way into Andrew's lap at once, low whine slipping out of him. Poor thing. Andrew felt his pain. "There there, mon cher. I understand where you're coming from."

"You too, huh?" Mm. It was possible that there were still a few things that hadn't quite been resolved between the three of them. "Do you think he's just embarrassed, that we're actually embarrassed, or that he thinks that's moving too fast, or maybe that it's just an us thing and not a together thing, or-"

"How much thought have you put into this?" Covering the teen's mouth before he could answer again, Andrew shook his head. He needed to learn from his mistakes when it came to figuring out how Danny's mind worked. "Nevermind, I'm sure you have a dozen more reasons ready to list. Have you tried discussing this with Randy?" Not that Andrew had, but, well… Danny was the more headstrong of the two of them. He also bounced back much quicker.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't even get two words out before I died of embarrassment!" ...What? Was he- Looking down at Danny to see if he was honestly serious- He was. Danny was honestly-

"Do I need to remind you that you pinned me down with ghostly ice and fucked me in an empty classroom after riling me up to hell and back. And this was all while my students were taking a test on Valentine's Day." Oh, now he blushed. Where was this sense of shame before? "Danny."

"I might've been a bit jealous at the time…" Jeal- Oh. Ooh. The chocolates and letters… Hm. Danny had been acting rather strange at the time, now that he thought about it with a clear head. It almost reminded Andrew of how a ghost would act when their obsession was threatened- Wait. Did that mean- "The point is that I need to know because I don't want to push him into anything, you know? I mean- I mean! When was the last time he was even with somebody!"

"That… That is a good question, mon cher." He honestly wasn't sure, now that he took the time to think about it. Hm. Oh well, it wasn't like it was all that important. "Does it matter?"

"Yes- No- Only that I don't want to push him if it's been a while, I guess? I don't- Why are you making me doubt myself?"

"It's something I am very good at." Patting at Danny's head, Andrew watched the teen bury his way against him to try and hide his blush. It was adorable. "I believe this will be another one of those things that will happen in time."

"Please stop sounding like Clockwork." Laughing at that, Andrew bundled Danny close before standing up, not at all surprised when Danny adjusted to wrap around him. His poor little halfa… Andrew could feel how tense the teen was as he clung to him and could hear the pounding of his heart and core both. Even the general chill of his skin was being chased out by the warmth and heat that creeped upon him. Really, was Andrew ever supposed to resist? "Where are we going?"

"Well, being the loving and caring mate I am, I thought that perhaps I could distract your attentions elsewhere for the time being." It only took a second for the words to click, Andrew knowing right when they did by how Danny shifted against him. Honestly, such a little brat.

"Oh? And just how are you going to distract me, Andy?" Shameless little brat. Andrew was half certain his embarrassment before had been just an act to try and get more answers out of him. He was so proud.

"Mm, I think I'll make it a surprise. You like surprises, don't you, mon cher?"

"Oh, very much."

"Lovely."

::

"You know, I have a feeling that your glaring is really you trying to communicate with me and ask me what I'm doing. I'm good at understanding glares. Lot of practice and all that." There was a moment where Danny was pretty sure Randy would laugh if he could before Danny suddenly found his hands grabbed, Randy squirming away so Danny was no longer holding his mouth open.

"I'm really curious for the explanation that explains why I suddenly had your fingers shoved in my mouth when I was doing nothing but innocently reading." Did he have an explanation? Danny was pretty sure he didn't have one of those. He had better just act cute.

"Did you not like it?" Tilting his head, Danny let his bangs flutter over his eyes for a few moments before- A sharp poke to his side had him letting out a wild, startled laugh. "Hey!"

"Don't be cute so you don't have to answer the question. Seriously, why? Is this a new kink of yours I have to worry about?"

"Please." Scoffing, Danny shifted so he was straddling Randy's thighs, enjoying the slight widening of the man's eyes. "You don't even know my kinks."

"Oh?" Shit. Shit, Danny could already hear- "Est-ce vrai, mon douce?" Shit. Okay, granted Danny was kind of obvious, but it was hardly his fault when it came out of nowhere and he wasn't expecting it and- His thoughts disappeared as Randy jerked him forward so their hips were tightly pressed against each other, a hand slipping under his shirt to press down hard at the lower part of his spine in such a way that had Danny arching sharply, a moan slipping out of him before he could stop it.

Slapping the hand that wasn't trapped over his face to try and hide some of the blush, Danny glared down at Randy. The man's smirk could only be called sinful. "That was mean."

"Somehow, I think you'll forgive me." Damn him for being right. "Come on, Danny. Why were so curious about my mouth, hm?"

"Curiosity for the sake of curiosity?" There was a little hum from Randy, the man shifting his position and causing Danny to quickly bite his cheek and focus on as many sad thing as he could before he embarrassed himself. "Ah- Okay, okay! Fangs! I was curious if you have fangs!"

"Really? That's all?" Randy blinked, stopping his cruel motions and finally letting Danny's other hand free. "You could have just asked."

"Yeah, but… The other way was more fun." Taking the tug to his hair with grace, Danny poked at Randy's cheek with a little grin. "Since you insist, though, will you show me your teeth."

"Why are you so caught up on whether or not I have fangs? You have fangs and Andy might as well as have goddamn shark teeth." Randy opened his mouth anyways as soon as he finished talking, Danny gleefully cupping his cheeks and tilting his head up so he could get a better view. It was hard to find something better than what he saw, though.

Randy had his head tilted back and just barely to the side, one eye closed and the other slit open to show the deep blue that had first captured Danny's notice. His mouth was wide open and gave Danny some not so clean thoughts. He was at least able to distract himself by seeing that Randy did indeed have fangs. Both his canines - like Danny's - were sharper and tapered into a point that no doubt made it easy to pierce skin. That would be something to keep in mind. Interesting enough, though, his bottom canines looked the same.

"Huh…" Tilting Randy's head a bit more, Danny leaned a little closer. "I only have the two fangs." Randy's molars were a little sharper, too. In fact, a lot of his teeth were. "You know, your teeth kind of remind me of dog teeth." Or wolf teeth.

"A lot of physical appearance traits can change when we become ghosts." Oh, now Danny really knew what books meant when they said a character had a 'sharp' smile. "You don't seem to mind."

"I've been dealing with Andrew and his 'shark teeth', as you put it, for years. Why do you think I always wear the scarf?" Danny blinked as Randy's look changed to something… It was darker. The way the man licked his lips had Danny shuddering, but it sure as hell wasn't from anything like fear. "Randy?"

"You have, haven't you?" Jesus. Randy's voice could be called nothing but a purr, the man pulling Danny tight against him as he leaned forward, nosing at the skin that was only just hidden by the scarf that was quickly being pushed out of the way. "Then… I guess you wouldn't mind if I gave you a few more reasons to wear this pretty scarf of yours."

"Oh hell yes." That was all the agreement Randy needed before he was cupping the back of Danny's neck and pulling him in close, Danny not even trying to hide his whine as he felt the breathing right against the pulse of his neck. Goddamn Riters and their need to draw everything out and make him want-

Oh, fuck. There was no gentle kissing or even teasing like Andrew would sometimes do. It was just a sharp, harsh bite that sunk through his skin and had him arching and bucking his hips against Randy as the sensation rocked through him. He was used to Andrew's teeth well enough but these felt so different and Randy's fangs were a hell of a lot sharper and longer than his own and it felt so good-

"Ooh, you like that, don't you." Shuddering from where the teeth had left his skin with a wet noise, Danny whimpered as Randy's tongue lapped at the spot with small flicks. Andrew had said that things would come naturally but fuck it was so hard to remember that when everything felt like this. "I'll have to keep that in mind."

He was so in over his head but damn if he wasn't going to enjoy this moment for all it was worth. Besides, he had been arounds ghosts for years and been with Andrew almost just as long. He knew how this worked. Shifting his hips against Randy's with a sharp press, Danny tilted his neck to where the scarf slipped away to reveal the spot that hadn't been bitten. "Randy." Ghosts were possessive and they just loved letting people know what was theirs. There was no way Danny wasn't using that to his advantage. "Make them know I belong to you, too."

Oh? Danny had never seen Randy's eyes go red. He would have to keep that in mind. For now, though, he was very much going to enjoy his sweet wolf.

::

"Oh? Here I thought I had been teaching high school students. It seems I've been in a primary school all this time, instead." In all honesty, Andrew was a little flattered that his students were so upset about the fact that he would no longer be teaching French. "You've known for months that Mrs. Flores was going to get back from her maternity leave in March."

"Yeah, but- But back then we hadn't even known she was pregnant." Withholding a laugh, Andrew shook his head as he began writing the day's lesson on the board. He was a bit proud that a few students were complaining in French.

"You look like a proud parent." Hearing the quiet, barely whispered comment, Andrew glanced back to see Danny was watching him with nothing but fondness. He was really going to miss teaching Danny when he finally graduated from this school. At least he got him for some of his senior year classes.

"Of course. They're learning quickly, don't you think? Besides, I think I deserve to feel pride after how much I've taught you. You could pass for a native if you wanted."

"Yeah, one from the eighties." Alright, so maybe a few things Andrew and Randy had taught him were a little outdated, but Randy's at least was up to modern par! Hm. Maybe Andrew should travel to France for a few weeks and catch up on things… Ooh, maybe he could take Danny- The teen's spring break was coming up, soon. Right. Andrew would need to remember to pass the idea by Randy soon. "Stop overthinking, my angel, you've stopped writing."

"Oh." Andrew blinked before shaking his thoughts back into their proper place and finishing up the lesson. Capping the marker and turning back to the class, Andrew almost laughed as he saw how disappointed they all looked. "How about a deal, then? I'm sure you'll spread this around the school for me, too."

"What kind of a deal?" Bless Tucker for looking so suspicious. Danny's friends knew him so well, at this point. He should probably make a note to screw with them later.

"For those of you who took this class you'll get extra credit in Creative Writing whenever you manage to work grammatically correct French into your work. It has to be productive to the story, though! No throwing it in there just to get the extra points."

"Extra credit?" Honestly. Those two words might as well have been the equivalent of Andrew opening a bag of food in front of some hungry strays. "Seriously?"

"Yes, 'seriously'. That is not today, however. Today we have a lesson to get through and tomorrow you'll greet Mrs. Flores with fake smiles and be polite. Understood?"

"Oui." At the classwide response, Andrew had to fight to not laugh or shudder. He still wasn't sure on how he felt about classwide responses. "Good. Now, books out and eyes forward. I'm going to make you all at least be able to carry a basic conversation before the day is out."

The school year may have begun drawing to an end, but that didn't mean that Andrew couldn't enjoy the time that was left while he could. He was happy with his job, he was getting stronger for whatever threats came their way, and he had his two mates- Mates…

That sounded rather nice.