Chapter Thirty-Three: Distraction
The next morning, they had breakfast in the diner together and then Vlad left Dan to his own devices as he went to the Fenton's place. Dan sighed softly as he walked down the street, thinking of his newfound resolve. Could he really do it? Did he actually HAVE that kind of resolve? Was making Jack Fenton pay really worth destroying himself?
Yes. Yes, it was. Danny was dead because of Jack, and with Danny gone Dan felt like a piece of him was gone, like he would always be lonely.
"Hey, you." He looked up when he heard Valerie speaking and stopped when he saw her standing in front of him. "Were you planning to slam into me again?"
"No, sorry." He shrugged. "What're you doing today?"
"Trying to get along, I guess." She sighed. "Was thinking of going to see a movie, wanna come?"
He blinked. "You sure? Yesterday you seemed like you didn't want my company."
"You were being all weird and chivalrous and most guys only do that if they want in a girl's pants." She looked to the side, her cheeks tinged pink.
He blinked and then laughed, shaking his head. "No, no. Not me."
"Well, how was I s'pposed to know?" She looked back at him, blushing further at his laughter. "It's not funny, stop laughing!"
Dan chuckled and then nodded. "Sorry. So, where were you off to before I nearly bumped into you again?"
"I was gonna check out that new movie at the theater. I have two tickets, but…" She glanced away. "I was…hoping Danny would be better." She wrapped her arms around herself, sadness reflecting in her eyes.
He frowned a bit, looking thoughtful, then smiled a bit. "Well…I'm not Danny, but…I could go with you. Don't want to waste the second ticket, and I have no real plans. My godfather is going to be all day at the Fenton household, and we split up there."
Valerie looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess it's better than seeing if Tucker doesn't already have a ticket. Okay." She nodded, smiling a bit.
Dan reached out and gently moved one of her arms from around herself. "I'm sure, from what I have heard, Danny wouldn't want to see you so depressed." She blushed as he moved his hand down to hers and took it. "It'll be a nice distraction from reality. I'll spend the day with you, while your mind prepares for life without him."
"I thought I already was prepared…" She sighed softly. "Sam must be taking it harder, why not go distract her?"
"She's not the one standing here alone with two tickets to a movie she was hoping to attend with a fallen friend." Dan replied.
"I…" She suddenly looked up sharply as they saw a ghost fly overhead. "Hold that thought." She pulled her hand away and ran after him, pulling out some kind of weapon. Dan followed, curious as to how she intended to fight without the armor.
He didn't see her at first, but she ran out of an alleyway in her armor, flying off on her hover-board. He distinctly heard the Box Ghost yelling "BEWARE!" before gunshots were fired, and then he was yelling more things, asking why she was the only one he'd seen and why wasn't Phantom coming out?
'I'm right here.' He thought, watching with mild amusement. 'Aww, they miss me that much? Maybe I'll pay a visit to the Ghost Zone sometime, if Vlad thinks it's a good idea.'
The battle was over quickly. The Box Ghost was a weakling, and he fled after getting his butt beat, heading back to whatever portal he escaped from. Valerie flew back down to the alleyway and he waited for her to come out, all changed. "Done?" He asked, smiling a bit.
"Yeah." She brushed her hair back with her hand, then looked at him. "Is all you wear black suits?"
"No, it's just all I packed." He shrugged. "We DID come for a funeral, after all. And I lost most of my own possessions in the fire that took my parents and my own clothes were damaged." He glanced to the side with downcast eyes, like it was painful to talk about. "So, all I have is Danny's clothes besides. Vlad thought I best I not wear his clothes here."
"I'm sorry…" She gently took his hand and he turned his head to her. "I didn't realize…you did say you were with your godfather, but I just assumed…sorry."
He shook his head. "No, it's…a permanent stay."
She held his hand tighter and started to pull him along. "Well, then we should hurry and distract you—both of us! The movie's in two hours, but we can do stuff before then. What do you wanna do?"
He shrugged, smiling. "Lead on, Valerie. Your city."
She smiled and nodded. "Then, let's start by getting you some new clothes. Black suits all the time are going to get depressing fast. And that cloak…"
He chuckled a bit. "I'm not removing the cloak, if you were about to ask. It's all I have left of my family, so keeping it on helps me grieve."
"Well, talk to Mr. Masters about dyeing it a different color, at least." She grinned. "Maybe bleach it white?"
"Not this material, we don't bleach it." He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm gloomy Dan with his gloomy black cape." He stuck his tongue out at her.
She laughed and pulled him along to the mall. "Well, let's at least find you some clothes that will complement without being gloomy!"
"Good thing black goes with everything." He smirked, following her in.
They arrived in the mall and she led him past the mobs of people to a clothing store. There, she looked him over and pulled off his head before nodding and going to pick out clothes for him. He chuckled softly and watched her, his hands slipping into his pockets. 'She seems to be enjoying herself.' He thought.
She came back with a few folded items. "Alright, put these on. If they're not to your taste then we'll find something else."
He took the clothes and nodded, going into the dressing room. Valerie waited patiently and looked over when she heard the curtain open again. "Well?"
He was dressed in a black tank-top and white jeans, a black t-shirt underneath the tank-top tucked into his jeans. On his shoes were white converse and black socks, and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Black and white?"
"They go with everything." She shrugged. "And it's not a suit."
He chuckled a bit. "I guess not." He picked up his folded suit and walked out. "Okay, I'll wear it out and see how badly my godfather freaks out when he sees me in this."
"Oh, you wanna see him REALLY freak out?" She grinned mischievously. "C'mon, let's pay for this and then we'll take you to accessorize."
"'Accessorize'?" He asked, and then she was grabbing his hand and pulling him along to the cashier to pay.
The female cashier gave him an approving look and he could swear she licked her lips before pushing a button that made the price cheaper. "There you are, handsome." She winked. "You can come back and shop here any day."
"Are you usually this blatant when guys are with other girls?" Valerie huffed as she shoved the suit in a bag. "Do you have scissors to cut off his tags? He's going to wear them out."
"Well, normally the girls aren't paying for their boyfriends, so I assumed you had something more paternal." The cashier shrugged, handing over a pair of scissors.
Valerie took them and cut his price tags off, then handed them back. "Well, he came into town in a black suit and nothing else, so I'm buying him some new clothes." She finished paying and took his hand. "Let's go, Dan."
"Byeeeeee~!" The cashier giggled, waving as they went.
"Flimsy…flippy…hardly better than a high schooler…gotta be 25…" Valerie grumbled as she pulled Dan along behind her.
"Are you mad?" Dan asked, feeling just a tad amused about her acting so irritated about a simple flirt.
"I just…it was inappropriate, okay?" Valerie looked at him. "Anyways, we're going here next." She pulled him into Hot Topic, Dan letting her pull him along without trouble.
Once inside, she started looking at ear-cuffs and rings, while he went to the elbow-length sleeveless gloves. He found some white ones and looked them over thoughtfully.
"Dan?" He heard Sam's surprised voice and looked up. Sam was looking at something on another rack.
"Hello, Sam." He nodded, looking back at his gloves.
"You're still in town?" Sam asked.
"Should I not be?" He asked, deciding he was going to bring it to Valerie for her approval. "My godfather has some further business with the Fenton household, so I'm out here distracting myself."
"In Hot Topic?" Sam asked, clearly shocked.
"Dan, over here!" Valerie called, gesturing to him. Dan gave a polite nod to Sam and walked over to Valerie. "How about these?"
"What's with all the skulls?" Dan chuckled.
"Well, if you really wanna scare someone like Mr. Masters, you gotta wear skulls and stuff." Valerie grinned. "Here, let's hold this ear-cuff up." She held it up to his ear.
Sam walked over to them. "Valerie? Are you…accessorizing Dan?"
"Yeah, actually. Hey, you can help!" Valerie grinned. "What do you think? Too much?"
Sam took the package and looked at it thoughtfully. It was oddly fitting that Phantom would be wearing skull ear-cuffs and she glanced up to see Valerie slipping a ring that was comprised of tiny skulls and one big one on his left middle finger. "What's with all the skulls?"
"That's what I asked." Dan shrugged.
"He wants to freak out Mr. Masters." Valerie shrugged.
"Well, he'll be freaked." Sam handed back the ear-cuff. "Don't get the dangling part caught on anything."
Valerie grinned and looked at Dan. "Let's go pay, then. Anything strike your fancy?"
He held up the sleeveless gloves. "Just these."
Sam couldn't believe it. Phantom—Dan—was hanging out with Valerie and dressing like some kind of punk. And what was with the red hair? Though, it did hide his identity well enough. And where was his glow? She grabbed another ring, with a green gem, and handed it to them. "Put this on, too. Opposite hand."
"Okay." Dan took the green ring and put it on his right middle finger. "Looks nice."
"It'll all look great once we're done paying for it." Valerie grinned. "Let's go pay, Dan." She pulled him along, leaving Sam looking a bit dumbfounded.
"Are those two on a date?" She mumbled to herself, following at a distance after paying for her own things.
She had to catch up from Hot Topic, but found them sitting on a bench by the mall fountain, Dan opened the gloves and handed Valerie the rings while he pulled them on, adjusting them around his arm before he took the rings back and put them on. Then Valerie opened the ear-cuff and tilted Dan's head to the side a bit, so she could put it on his ear. After putting the two cuff-links on his left ear, she shifted the dangling skull so it would rest where an earring would put it.
Aside from the cloak, you could hardly tell it was the same person as at the funeral. He had a playful smile that it hurt Sam to see, even though she'd seen it many times before, and he was in his usual white and black colors. If his hair was white, Valerie would no doubt realize who he was. Sam looked at her own purchase, a skull necklace, and walked over to them. "Hey, Dan!"
"Hm?" He looked over at her.
"You know, you'll probably wear it more often than me. Skulls are kinda' mainstream." She held out the neck, the black skull staring Dan in the face. "Wear this, too."
He took the necklace and fiddled with the fastening a bit before sighing. "Would you help?"
"Yeah." Sam smiled and unfastened it, moving closer to fasten it behind his neck. With the cloak in the way she couldn't do it from behind, so he was practically breathing down her neck as she leaned over him to fasten it. Then she drew away, her face a bit red. "It looks good."
"It does." Valerie agreed, smiling at the black skull resting on his chest.
Dan nodded. "Thanks, Sam."
Sam nodded. "So, uh…I'm not…intruding or anything, am I? I mean, you two aren't…"
"No, we're just distracting each other." Dan replied with a smile.
"We're going to a movie in an hour." Valerie pulled out her tickets from her purse. "What're you doing?"
Sam chuckled a bit. "Going to the same movie with Tucker. We thought we'd watch it for Danny, then talk to his grave and tell him how it was."
"That's morbid." Dan remarked.
"Well, it helps." Sam wrapped her arms around herself, looking away. In that state, she looked and felt so vulnerable…
"If it helps, then do it." Dan reached out and gently took her wrist, pulling her hand away from gripping her waist. "Don't close yourself in."
Valerie had mixed feelings about this. Dan was a sweet guy, but she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous seeing him holding Sam's wrist like that. Especially since Danny had confessed to Sam just before he died, with Valerie in the room to witness. It just didn't seem fair, she wanted Dan to be sweet to just her…
"Valerie?" Dan asked. She looked up to find that Sam had walked off. "You okay?" Dan asked, his bright-green eyes staring into her own forest-green ones. He actually looked concerned, and she felt silly for getting jealous when they weren't actually dating.
"Y-Yeah. Sorry." She stood up. "So! Where d'you wanna go now?"
He shrugged. "I dunno. Where do you want to go?"
Valerie took his hand and pulled him along, Dan quickly grabbing his bag before they left it behind. "C'mon, then! We'll kill some time at the arcade in the theater!"
"That works." He shrugged.