*AN: Honestly kinda disappointed in Vlad for not letting Daniel know he had a nickname. Like, I get that he's formal and all, but the poor teen is going around as Daniel instead of Danny. It's just wrong. Anyways, thanks for being patient so far and bearing with me as I sputter out what plot I can, I'm trying to make it less forced even though my instinct is to skip right to the good stuff. Some oc content in here, probably going to be a recurring character, not entirely sure yet.

~•Five Days Later•~

"Daniel, would you stop wandering off and pay attention?" Vlad scolded lightly, alerting Daniel.

"Ah- sorry Dad." Daniel floated back where he'd been checking out a forest-looking region that was floating a bit away. He loved exploring the ghost zone, but that meant he had to fight the temptation to wander constantly.

Vlad sighed, rolling his eyes. "I didn't know honing unique powers that only two on the world hold was a boring matter to you." He crossed his arms.

"It's not boring," Daniel droned. "It's just, you know, nothing you haven't been talking about for days now."

"You were the one who was so anxious to learn about this that you wandered in here alone." Vlad made a beckoning motion and Daniel abandoned the curious rock to return to Vlad. "You have a long way to go until you reach your potential."

"I know, I know." Daniel waved his hand. "You must be rutheless," he mocked Vlad's voice, "hold nothing back. And to do this, you have to start taking this seriously." He laughed as he returned to his normal tone. "Did I miss anything?"

Vlad scoffed. "You need to focus, Daniel. My guidance is not to be made fun of." He sighed, clearly tired. "Try the blast again."

"I've been blasting things for days now. I think I know how it works."

"Stop talking back." Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's all about the way you do it. I can tell you're holding back. You're scared you're going to do it wrong, sacrificing power for precision. If we don't get rid of this habit on the simpler skills, you're going to struggle with the more difficult. Try the blast again."

"Fine, fine!"

~••~

"Well, you're improving. Just slowly." Vlad told Daniel lightly when they were both on the same side of the portal. "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong."

Daniel chose not to comment on this. He deliberately forcused on changing back to human. The clothes he'd been wearing this morning returned as they always did--a pure white suit with a black tie, short black hair slicked straight back. Daniel felt so stiff, but it seemed to make Vlad happy, so he went with it. Probably what he'd worn before his memory loss.

Vlad had gradually stopped being overly protective of him over the past few days. Daniel had a suspicion that he'd been more disappointed than he let on about Daniel's lost memory. But it seemed that all the casual conversation, academic and ghostly training, and daily life in general made Vlad realize that he was the same old Daniel. Vlad had been more comfortable and started giving Daniel more freedom (after the basement incident he'd been under near constant watch. It turns out Daniel was going to get access to the basement if he'd just waited, but now it was only if supervised directly by Vlad.) The forefront of this for the last few days was ghost training.

Daniel did appreciate learning about the world and the ghost zone simultaneously, but at times he just wanted to wander and mess around outside the mansion. A part of him even wondered what public school would look like! But that was out of the question. Vlad had a way to go before he was that comfortable with Daniel. For now he'd have to settle with getting the mail, answering the door, or talking to the staff for social interaction outside of Vlad.

When the two were finished in the basement, Daniel wandered back up, knowing full well that Vlad was going to be working on personal projects for a while yet. Daniel had some free time now that his training was done for the time being. He was still pissed about the whole session earlier that day, though. Daniel had a sneaking suspicion that Vlad was impatient because he wasn't at the level he'd been before he lost his memories. The notion was starting to annoy him.

Fortunately, there was no better way to get out his frustrations than flying. Well, using ghost powers to take out his anger was better, but flying was a close second. Daniel closed his eyes, becoming his ghost form and flying into the air. The mansion's roof was high and the hallways were spacious. Daniel had been given permission to fly about as he wished so long as he didn't break anything and wasn't seen by outsiders. The same overprotective rule as before. He knew he could get used to it in time, but at the time it just made Daniel feel trapped. What better way to avoid that feeling than zooming about the spacious halls as a ghost?

His white hair, which became rather fluffy every time he was a ghost, billowed in the wind as Daniel flew through the mansion aimlessly. He paused when he floated near the hallway mostly reserved for staff. They all had their own rooms in the residence. There were about twenty in all, but every one was hand picked by Vlad and more than efficient at their jobs. Daniel found that whenever he got lonely, most staff would be glad to converse with him if they weren't preoccupied with work. There were exceptions, of course, but those people were there for other reasons, namely their skill and determination.

"Good evening, Sir!" A cook waved pleasantly at his approach. One thing that Daniel couldn't talk any of them out of was calling him Sir or Mr. Masters. Oh well, not much he could do about that, as annoying as it was.

"Hey, Felix," Daniel landed, smiling at the young adult. Felix was a cook, one who could always be seen with an optimistic glow to him. Daniel hadn't known him for more than a few days, but it was always nice to bump into him. "How was your date yesterday?"

Felix flushed. "You remember that?" He rubbed the back of his hand against his forehead. "Sir, I'm sure I should have told you about that in the first place. With your... um... head injury and all that, I'm sure you have enough on your plate."

"Well, there's no use keeping it from me now, you already blabbed about it for an hour yesterday!" Daniel crossed his arms.

"Alright, alright." Felix held his hands out in surrender, then let them drop. "I think we're really connecting. They, erm..." Felix's blush nearly touched his freckled ears. "They actually kissed me at my door."

Daniel laughed, the news lighting him up. "That's amazing!" Daniel gave Felix a light punch on the shoulder.

"Yeah, it is..." Felix cleared his throat. "What about you? If I recall correctly, you had a three hour ghost training session with Lord Masters today."

Daniel grunted. "Potatoes and gravy." [For anyone who wasn't familiar with Vlad's infectious swearing system, potatoes and gravy can be roughly translated to bullshit.] "Father tutors me, but I'm not sure that what he wants is the right way. I mean, every thing I do is met with disapproving looks, criticism, sometimes shouting. He's... really getting impatient."

Felix placed his hand on Daniel's arm, those hopeful and honest eyes lowered. "Daniel... I know that Lord Masters can be confusing, but you have to know he cares." He blinked and pulled his arm away, probably realizing that it wasn't exactly professional. He went on slowly, deliberately. "You don't know everything about him and why he's like this, but you have to know it's not your fault."

"Yeah. I know he cares about me, and he's looking out for me." Daniel sighed, rocking once on the balls of his feet and back. "I think he just really wants me to be like I was before I had the whole accident, and I don't know how to be that. I don't want to let him down."

Felix closed his eyes, pursing his lips. "I'm sorry, Sir." He picked at his pointer finger's nail with his other hand, flicking it up and down when he looked back at Daniel. "If Lord Masters acts... strangely, even if it seems provoked by your actions, it's not something you need to concern yourself with. It's not your fault."

Daniel sighed. "What does that-"

••Ding Dong!••

"Don't worry!" Daniel offered Felix a smile, genuine excitement spiking his heart. "I can get it. Thanks for the chat!"

Daniel flew off as Felix waved. He landed in the great hall somewhere out of the way and switched back to formal, polite, human Daniel. Answering the door was one of his favorite things to do, even if it was just solicitors or Amazon deliveries. It meant seeing someone new--well, unless Vlad specifically requested the same employee. Actually, now that he thought about it, Daniel always saw the same Amazon employee... he put the thought away for him to forget about and focused on the door now.

"Masters residence, this is the one and only fan favorite of the house, what can I-" Daniel paused in the middle of his normally eccentric bit and stared at the person at the door. His jaw went slack, and he muttered out the rest of his schpiel with much less conviction. "-do... for... you."

It was him. Standing on the other side of the door was Daniel, wearing a bland white and red t-shirt and oversized jeans and looking about as surprised as he felt. His hair was poofy like Daniel's was as a ghost, but notably the more human black color, and his eyes were a grey-blue that Daniel saw all the time in the mirror. Down to the very details, this was Daniel. An imposter, more like, probably the one from the ghost zone earlier that week!

Daniel shut the door. What in the world was that? He peeked it open again and looked through the crack, just making sure he wasn't crazy. It was really him. The two made eye-contact through the crack of the grand door.

"Okay," Daniel--the real Daniel--opened the door fully, giving the other him a scrutinizing look. "Who in the name of the Dairy King are you?"

*AN: Yeah, it was a good idea to do a timeskip. With the comfortable sense and light exposition, I felt like Daniel was ready for whatever it is that comes next.

Anyways, as always you readers are appreciated, and it's great being able to share my little brain child with yall. Feel free to like and comment whatever your hearts desire and I'll get back to u when I can. Thanks again for taking the time out of your day and reading. Have a wonderful day and I'll see yall next chapter!