Dani To-Do List
- try this so-called "American football"
- eat Thanksgiving dinner!
- visit the Realms... on business this time
Thanksgiving day starts out with a breakfast of eggs and ham on toast, with orange juice served in a tall pitcher. Alfred elects not to serve them directly as he normally does, instead choosing to prep for dinner in the kitchen.
"So what do you guys usually do for Thanksgiving?" Dani asks as she smears her bread with orange jam. Jason is sitting beside her, grumbling a little at his continued presence in the Manor. Bruce had been adamant about keeping Jason close by for protection from the GIW, at least until he's fully healed (which he almost is, there's just some redness and scabbing that needs to clear up) but Dani's grateful for his presence. They'd only gotten through the first third of Pride and Prejudice, and Dani wants to see this Elizabeth Bennett whip Mr. Darcy into shape.
"Well, we help Alfred wherever he'll let us," Dick starts, "and then we eat dinner."
"That's it?" Dani wonders, tilting her head. "It's a holiday. It's supposed to be an all-day thing." She glances around, but none of the family members offer any other activity, giving half-hearted shrugs as they offer lackluster suggestions like board games or reading. "Well, what do you Americans usually do? What are the traditions?"
"Making the food we'll eat," Steph suggests, waving her fork around. "But most of us aren't allowed in the kitchen."
"I prefer the food edible," Alfred agrees, having entered with a full water pitcher to swap out the empty one. "There are many talents between the company seated here, and only one possesses that of preparing food without committing arson."
Bruce in particular looks sheepish at this pointed comment, and Dani giggles. As usual, Bruce's eyes slide over to her, the steely blue picking her apart. Uncomfortable, Dani looks away, focusing on Steph.
"What else?"
"There's the parade," Tim answers. "Gotham doesn't have one on Thanksgiving, but there's a big one in New York that people usually watch."
"Oh, and there's football," Dick adds, almost as an afterthought.
"Football?" Dani echoes. "Is that the one where most countries think of it as one sport and America insists it's another?"
"That's the one," Jason says. "Most countries refer to soccer as football, but we have a different sport under the same name."
Dani gets a brief explanation of both sports, and she's instantly on every other country's side. "Why would you call a sport where you mostly use your hand football over the one where you only use your feet?" she rants. "Soccer is a fine name for a sport, like call sports whatever, but really? America decided that they would use the name football for a totally different sport? Where you only kick the ball at one point in the game?"
The rest of the table looks vaguely amused at her rant, and Dani considers continuing it, but then she pauses. An idea strikes her.
"We're going to play," Dani decides. "We'll go outside and play the American football. We probably have enough people, right?" She levels them all with a serious look. "And I'm not taking no for an answer. This is my first Thanksgiving! I need the whole experience!"
And that's how they end up outside, Alfred agreeing with Dani and shooing the bunch of them into the backyard to "expend some of your youthful energy".
Dani, as the instigator of the game, decides she gets to pick her team. Dick explains team captains to her and insists they have another captain. Dani thanks him for volunteering and declares him the other captain.
Dick pouts. Apparently, he'd wanted to be on her team. Dani rolls her eyes at his antics, because she was never going to pick him to be on her team. She wants to win, after all. Dick is very offended by this and swears to crush her team to the ground.
As first pick, Dani immediately chooses Damian. He's a fighter, competitive to a fault, and his ego is more fragile than most. Picking him first is a tactical maneuver to keep him interested in playing. Given Damian's pleased and smug expression as he makes his way over to her, she knows she made the right choice.
Dick chooses Cass, which is a shame. Dani picks Jason, and loses Tim. Her final choice for her fourth and final member is between Steph and Bruce.
It's no question. "C'mon Steph," Dani picks, gesturing to her side.
"Aw, you're sticking me with Bruce?" Dick complains.
"Hey," Bruce says with a frown. "I'm Batman, that's got to count for something."
The entirety of the Batclan exchange glances and come to the same conclusion: "Nah."
"Become a father, they said. It'll be rewarding, they said." Bruce slouches over to Dick's team.
"Alright, ground rules!" Tim claps his hands to punctuate his announcement. "Ten minutes for strategy. No tackles, touch to tag out only. Fifteen minute quarters. Questions?"
"Dirty tricks?" Dani asks.
Tim considers this. "No injuring or breaking the rules. If you can bend them, go for it." Dani gives him a thumbs up, already considering her strategy. "Okay, ten minute meeting starts…" he taps the large digital sports clock they'd pulled out of the garage for their game and lets it start counting down. "Now!"
Both teams run off about ten meters, crouching into their own respective huddles.
"We're at a disadvantage," Steph starts immediately. "They've got Tim, who's the strategizer, and Dick, who is the most athletic. Then there's Cass, and she's going to be a huge problem."
Dani tilts her head, listening in on their huddle. "They think the biggest threat is going to be Damian," Dani says. "Jason's injured, and you and I haven't played before and don't really understand the rules." She nods to Steph.
The realization dawns on Jason first. "You can hear them."
Dani grins with all her teeth. "Obviously."
"So they're focusing on me," Damian reasons, nodding. "I presume I will be Cain's target?"
"Yep. Cass is the only one that can match your speed and agility, so she's going to distract you. Dick is going to act as bait while Tim and Bruce look for openings. The plan is to keep Tim in strategic positions so he can make a run for it. He's identified himself as their weakest member and is going to hang back from the action so the ball can be passed to him." Dani tilts her head. "Bruce is in charge of… defense?"
"Okay," Jason starts, nodding to himself. "We've got some advantages that they don't. Dani and I are stronger, so we can throw much further than they can. Are they considering that?"
"Not that I've heard."
"Okay. If Damian is considered our strongest member, we'll have to use him as bait." Jason turns his gaze to the younger boy. "Play aggressive, and put your all into it. You may be a strong team member, but Cass is also their ace in the hole. Taking you out isn't ideal, but it'll be much more devastating to them to lose Cass."
Damian doesn't necessarily look pleased at being a distraction, but he recognizes the merit of the plan and nods in agreement. "Are we assuming Todd is our quarterback and Brown is our runner?"
"Absolutely," Steph says. "I'm a good runner, and I can definitely outrun Tim. I can pretend to play defense, try and play it close to Tim, out of reach of the ball. Then you guys can throw it with your super strength."
"I can jump pretty high," Dani reveals. "If need-be, throw it straight up, and I'll go for it." She listens to the other team for a bit, then adds, "They are discussing the strength thing now. They're most worried I'm going to use it for throwing, so they're planning on keeping me away from the ball. That's too bad."
"No problem," Jason says easily. "You just said you can jump high. If they want to keep you away from the ball, they can. When there's an opening, we'll throw it high and you can grab it and throw it to Steph."
They hash out a few more details as the timer counts down, Dani listening closely to the other team for any traps they might encounter. When the timer goes off, they meet back at their middle point. "Flip a coin to decide who goes first?" Dani suggests.
Dick shakes his head with a grin. "You pick first, we snap first."
Dani shrugs in agreement and they fall into formation. As expected, Dick is the quarterback and Bruce snaps the ball. They count down, and once the ball leaves Bruce's hands, they're off. Jason and Damian barrel forward. As expected, Cass is quick to intercept Damian while Tim skirts around the scrimmage. Jason goes after Dick, bowling over Bruce on his way, and Dani rushes after him as support while Steph goes long.
Dick dances out of Jason's reach and makes it three meters before Dani dives out of the fray to tag him. They start the second down. Dick manages to get the ball over to Tim, who immediately starts sprinting to the goal, but his positioning isn't optimal since Steph knew to keep herself between him and the other side of the field. He closes about half the distance, but Steph takes him out in a flying side-tackle that sends them both reeling into the grass.
The "tag no tackle" rule ends somewhere around there.
Bruce is strong and talented, but he's not as fast as the others. He mainly plays to distract the defense. Cass and Damian are locked in an intense battle where the two of them try to dance out of each other's range, only to be dragged back in the second they make progress.
As agreed, Dani keeps her abilities predictable. She throws hard when she gets her hands on the ball, but she doesn't overextend herself in the first half. Since Damian's out, she's their ace.
By the time they hit half time, they're covered in grass stains and dirt, sweaty despite the cold air, and out of breath. Alfred – the godsend he is – kept track of their progress and brings out water for them while they discuss their points.
Dick's team is up by one touchdown, from when Tim had taken an opportunity to tackle Damian from Cass. With her freedom, Cass was immediately thrown the ball by Dick and sprinted across the field. Steph tried to take her out, but she was too far away and Cass easily evaded her by spinning out of her hands as she made a desperate dive for the other girl's legs.
Since they're fairly close in points, Dani continues to play it safe. The game gets closer, both in points and to the end, and the players become more ravenous for victory. Damian tried to make Tim eat dirt. Dani leapt onto Bruce's back like a raccoon. Dick flipped Jason over his shoulder and body slammed him into the ground, only to worry about his injuries enough that Jason managed to sneak the ball from behind Dick's back and close the final four meters to the end zone.
It's when they have one minute left on the clock, in their last huddle, that Jason finally turns to Dani. "They're up by two points," Jason says, wiping away a glob of mud that was starting to dry on his cheek. "It's time to use our ace. We'll hike, and With-an-i, run back towards their goal, get a running start, and I'll throw the ball up as high as I can. Steph, Damian, our goal once the ball is up is to tackle anyone who can get in With-an-i's way. Anyone. Everyone. This is the final stretch."
Dani nods seriously. Her own face is streaked with mud, and there are leaves in her hair from where she and Tim had chased the ball so far out of bounds (for some reason; they both knew it was out of play at that point) they ended up in the surrounding woods grappling for the ball in the frozen ground beneath the trees.
"Ready?" Dick calls.
They gather at the imaginary line that marks the down they're on. Steph adjusts the ball from where she's holding it between her legs, glancing over at her team. They count down, Steph spikes the ball, and Dani turns tail and runs.
She can feel the slight confusion dawn with blooming realization as the other team recognizes their strategy, but it's too late. Dani has already spun around and started sprinting the other way. Jason yeets the ball upwards and Dani leaps off the ground. She cuts away some of the gravity pulling her down, soaring in a graceful arc, and crashes into the ball with arms wide open. She hits the grass at a roll, stumbling to her feet and running the last ten meters to the goal.
Wind roaring in her ears, Dani lunges the final distance, both Cass and Tim hot on her heels, and just barely crosses the finish line before both pursuers launch themselves at her and take her down to the ground.
"Touchdown!" Dani shrieks, wiggling out of her opponents' grips as they struggle to disentangle themselves. As soon as they're free, Dani leaps up and throws her arms in the air, cheering. "I did it! I did it! We won!"
Steph runs over to start celebrating with Dani while Jason and Damian gloat over their victory, smug over their genuinely pleased smiles.
"Well played," Bruce congratulates, smiling at Dani. For the first time, Dani isn't offset by him, instead offering him a broad smile.
"I'd say that was cheating," Tim starts, already lifting his hands in defeat, "but I knew what I was getting into, not banning the superstrength and all."
Dani's suddenly struck with the thought that maybe Tim did that on purpose so he could see her use it…
Well played, indeed.
"Alright, let's go get cleaned up," Dick says, pulling his hair back from his forehead. "There's no way Alfred will let us at the table smelling like this."
"Wait!" Steph calls, running over to her bag on the sidelines. She digs around until she withdraws a Polaroid camera. "For the memories!"
Steph and Tim set up the camera while the rest of the family crowds in close. Dani gets to hold the ball in the center, proclaiming her victory proudly with her arms held high.
It's a nice photo. Dani tucks her copy into her back pocket for safekeeping.
The last hour before dinner was spent helping Alfred set the table while he made the finishing touches on his dishes. Dani didn't get to help until her hair was properly done. This was, apparently, a coveted assignment. Cass and Steph didn't realize that Dani's hair was free real estate and jumped into the competition, whereas Dick, Jason and Damian were already arguing over who got to do it. Tim didn't seem like he cared much, but he joined in because he's just Like That.
Alfred bans them from doing another competition so close to dinner. He makes them draw straws blindfolded to prevent any strategizing or cheating, and Steph is the winner, much to her delight.
As another girl, Steph has a bit more experience in doing hair, but she's never really done it on herself either. She manages a lopsided wreath around Dani's head, praising how soft her hair is the entire time, probably a bit louder than needed so everyone could seethe over her victory.
Dani doesn't really understand it, but it's funny anyway.
Steph drags out the process of her hair until just before dinner, leaving Dani with only a small task of setting down the napkins. To be extra, Dani folds them into ghosts. She'll have to learn how to fold bats now that she knows their identities. Maybe even the specific bats of their uniform? That would be a fun challenge. She could send the idea to the old lady that taught her origami when she was traveling through Japan.
Jason thought the ghosts were awesome. Dick gave her an unamused glare, undercut with concern. Living people just don't get it.
Then they all settle around the table, joined by Alfred despite his usual insistence on serving them rather than sitting with them. He sits next to Bruce, a warm smile on his face as he surveys the family in its entirety.
Some of the BatClan is missing: Barbara – whom Dani has yet to meet – with her father, Duke with his uncle, and a co-CEO Dani's also never met named Lucius, who's spending the holiday with his children's families. Dani's fine with that. She knew they had been invited, but didn't necessarily care if they came or not. They have potential to be fraid, given their close ties with her already established fraidmates, but they haven't been integrated into her inner circle just yet. So, with the exception of Bruce (who she's still not quite sure about yet), all those gathered are the most important people in the world to her.
To the surprise of everyone else at the table, almost all the Thanksgiving food is completely new to Dani. She always eats foreign and cultural food, so having her home country's cuisine is a novel experience.
In comparison to the chaos of the day, dinner is soft, warm. Dani stuffs her face with every dish, relishing in Alfred's stellar cooking abilities, and relaxes into the feeling of her core pulsing contentedly. No one fights unless it's friendly banter. There's no prying for answers to the questions they keep trying to ask her. There's no talk of business or worries. They share stories, some funny, some wholesome. Even Alfred drops some serious dad lore (as Steph calls it) and tells them about the time he got into a skydiving accident where he ended up lodged in a tree deep in an Ethiopian jungle, upside down with his shoes missing.
Dani's core is fully satisfied.
She's home.
Tim is the one to drop her off in the city when she decides to go, very very early the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving (she wanted to experience the American shopping frenzy that is Black Friday, and she was not disappointed, she almost lost an eye to a stiletto she was fighting some random lady for that she didn't even want, America is wild. But she did get a bunch of gifts with a shiny new credit card Bruce gifted her as a member of the family… but she only used it for their gifts and then put it away in her bedside drawer for contemplation on a deeper level later).
Apparently, all of her siblings had wanted to drive her because they wanted to see what it looked like when she crossed into the Realms, but Dani limited it to one so she could watch them fight over it. To decide, they played a card game called Five Crowns where the purpose is to group your cards into patterns to 'eliminate' their point values. The person with the least points at the end of all the rounds wins, and Dani learned that card games are impossible to win against Tim.
Sure, most games are difficult against a supergenius, but card games in particular. See, Tim denies it, but they all know he counts cards. With that ridiculously big brain of his, he kept track of the patterns each of the players were trying to match, every card that was discarded, and what cards were left in the deck by process of elimination.
Tim ended with twelve points, the next closest being Cass at forty-six. Dick, who was beside Tim, finished with a hundred fourteen because Tim is ruthless in games and made sure Dick never had the cards he needed. It was supposed to be a game of chance, right? It certainly didn't feel like it.
Anyway, Tim drove her to a secluded alleyway in the outskirts of Gotham while Dani sends out feelers with her ectoplasm to find Lady Gotham. When they park, Tim helps her with her duffel bag, stuffed with tech pieces she'll hopefully convince Technus to make ecto-compatible. Maybe she'll finally be able to get a phone. Being able to communicate with people does sound pretty nice, even if carrying it around will be a hassle.
"You have our numbers," Tim says again, reminding her for the bazillionth (third) time. "Even if you have to ask someone to text us for you, make sure that you get us an update, okay? Dick will worry."
"You all will worry," Dani says with an eye-roll. "And you will all worry regardless of how many times I text updates."
Tim quirks an eyebrow, leaning against the car hood with his arms crossed. "You said yourself the Realms are dangerous."
"For those who don't know what they're doing," Dani reiterates. "I'm going to be just fine. I'll text at least once, promise. But don't expect hourly updates or anything. It's not like a different dimension has great cell reception."
"I'd be more surprised if it did, honestly," Tim admits.
Dani feels the brush of Lady Gotham on her senses, a light question. "Can you help me get to the Realms?" Dani sends out. Her eyes glow with the communication as the city's ectoplasm merges with her own.
Tim jumps a little at her shining eyes but recovers fairly quickly with a light smile.
"I'll have to borrow some of your power," Lady Gotham replies, a hint of amusement in her tone. She had asked in the same tone last time too; Dani wonders what joke she's missing.
"Sure," Dani concedes. Regardless of Lady Gotham's mysterious amusement, Dani certainly doesn't mind if the city ghost uses her power. She's doing Dani a favor, after all.
She feels the pull from her gut, a sapping of the innate strength that fills up her body. The alleyway wall before them shifts, going from dark to pitch, a black so deep that it sucks in the light around it, like shadows that creep out to grab.
Dani tosses the duffel bag strap over her head and slips on her backpack. "Alright, I'll see y'all later!"
"What is that?" Tim asks, eyes warring between apprehension and curiosity.
"A portal," Dani answers. "Not all of them are as big and flashy as my brother's."
"Brother's?"
Dani glances back at him, eyes glowing, raising a finger to the smirk on her lips. Then, without further fanfare, she leaps into the portal, the energy washing over her like cool water.
"Thank you," Dani says in Esperanto when she fully materializes in the ghost version of Gotham. The city spirit doesn't materialize, but Dani can still feel her presence. "Do you know the way to the King's Keep?"
A hum of affirmation, a gentle tug in one direction. Dani grins, extending another pulse of gratitude.
The young ghost-girl lets down her hair from her ponytail, wanting to feel her travels in the whip of her hair behind her. The Realms keeps it floating as if adrift underwater, and Dani wants to feel like a mermaid right now.
The trip is calming. Dani enjoys the scenery that Wulf had pointed out to her months ago, and the way it has shifted since the last time she saw it. The Realms is ever-changing, and she likes how visible the shift is. Makes it harder to navigate, but Dani's talented.
She loves the Realms. It's cool like a cloudy morning, the light and sound and smells muted in a way Dani can't experience in the mortal realm. Maybe that's why ghosts have such strong senses? Because they are adapted to a quieter Realm?
It takes a few hours of flying before Dani sees the village surrounding the Keep in the distance. She passes a couple of guards who wave her through the moment they see her. She even gets some slight bows.
The Realms have really changed in the past year. This kind of thing — the formalities, the pomp and circumstance — was nonexistent several months ago. Dani wonders what's up with that.
Dani enters the castle through one of the windows near her rooms so she can drop off her stuff. There's no direct path into her rooms outside of the main door (some security thing, since the room can't be entered without her or her explicit permission), so she has to pass through the hallway.
"My Lady!"
Dani pauses in her flight, turning to look at a young-looking ghost dressed as a servant peeking out from one of the corners. "Um, hi?"
The girl squeaks. "Oh, I'm sorry." She sinks into a curtesy. "Welcome, your Highness. We weren't informed of your arrival. We will prepare immediately."
"I didn't send notice or anything," Dani says, a bit confused at the formal greeting. "And you don't have to address me like that. You can just call me Dani." The ghost girl looks terrified at the notion, so Dani sighs and moves on. "No need to prepare. I'm just dropping some stuff off before I go to the Far Frozen."
"Should I alert the King of your arrival?"
"Is he here?"
"No, my Lady. The King is in the mortal realm. But we can send a messenger."
Dani considers this. On one hand, she doesn't want to bother him when he's taking a break from his kingly duties. On the other hand, she's his younger sister, and she has to fulfill her quota of annoying him. "Sure, but it's not urgent. Just let him know to stop by."
The girl bobs her head in a nod. "Is there anything else I can do for you? Will you be dining?"
Hm, ectoplasmic food does sound kind of nice. "Sure," Dani says after a moment. "And… hm. Would you send a message to Technus too? I want his help with something. If he's going to be a brat about it, mention the double A batteries. He'll know what I mean."
"Oh, yes of course," the maid says. "I will send out a message immediately."
"No rush," Dani replies, waving her off with a bit of a nervous smile. This whole interaction made her feel a lot more important than she actually is. "Um, thank you. I'll see you later."
The maid dips into another curtesy, and Dani takes the chance to escape the awkward situation. At least last time she was here, Danny was here too, so the deference made a bit more sense. But Dani's here by herself. It's not like she's formally crowned or anything. Her princess title is nothing more than a technicality from being the younger sister of the current king.
Dani slips into her room and drops off her duffel bag. She goes into her map room and grabs a hand drawn Realms she's been marking points of interest on as she makes the journey to and from the Far Frozen. It's a fairly common trip, so the map is a little crowded, but Dani can't help herself. She finds new things to add every single trip!
She ends up adding a whole garden she'd somehow missed the last several trips. It's on the smaller side, but there's a charming fountain with koi fish and some stone benches. Dani wonders whose domain it is, and if they'll be willing to sit down with her and tell her the story behind it.
Dani tucks the map away when she reaches the Far Frozen sentinels. They greet her warmly despite the chilly atmosphere, waving her through after a short description of where Frostbite is and what he's doing.
Shivering a little through her sweatshirt, Dani flies through the yeti town of igloos and squat buildings made of ice and packed snow, following the familiar path to the training arena. Frostbite is there as promised, sparring with the rest of the Frozen Guard not currently on duty.
As Frostbite is one of the few figures Dani respects completely – along with Alfred – Dani sits on the bleachers to watch, forgoing her normal entrance of crashing in and joining the fray until she's paid attention.
Despite her unobtrusive entrance, Frostbite notices her after only a few minutes, calling the training to a halt so he can come up and talk to her.
"Hello, Little One," Frostbite greets, ruffling her hair with his unfrozen arm. Dani smiles up at him. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes," Dani assures him. "You can keep training."
As he always does when Dani appears during one of his activities, he shakes his head. "I can go back to it after I attend to you."
Dani knows better than to argue at this point. Frostbite's argument is always that it isn't urgent, and that with no real sense of time in the Realms, any activity can be resumed when she leaves. Still, she always feels a little bad coming in and disrupting their entire routine. Not bad enough to send messages ahead or anything, but still, she has some remorse.
Frostbite lifts her up and settles her on one of his broad shoulders. Dani tucks up her feet and leans onto his head, inhaling the familiar scent of ice and metal from the yeti's coarse fur. He waves off his squad, who understand immediately where he's going due to Dani's presence on his shoulder, and then treks back to his lab.
Dani doesn't particularly like labs, given she was not only born in one, but also died in one. Watched her brother be tortured in one. Felt like a villain in one. Suffered the manipulation of Vlad in one.
But, but, Dani can always suffer through the discomfort for one of the rooms in Frostbite's lab. The exam room designated as hers looks less like a lab after Dani had such an extreme reaction to waking up in one of the regen-tubes after she destabilized. Team Phantom had redecorated it into something resembling a doctor's office covered in maps and fidget toys. It was hard to be anxious when there was so much distracting her. The Far Frozen yetis are scholars, and their maps certainly reflect it.
Frostbite lifts her off his shoulder and sets her down on the raised cushions that serve as an examination table. There's no threat of contamination, so they just reuse the same cushion, only occasionally going through the trouble of washing it if Dani spills something on it. She settles in and offers a wide smile to her favorite doctor, who returns the smile with a mouth full of sharp teeth but gentle eyes.
After doing this three times before, Dani knows the drill. She stays still as Frostbite scans her with his instruments, looking away and squeezing a stress toy when he takes a small blood sample. Her participation is over quickly, and Frostbite punctuates its end with a proffered ice pop. Dani accepts it and immediately sticks it in her mouth. Mmm. Watermelon-lime flavored.
Frostbite starts running the usual diagnostics, claws tapping at the screens as he orders the tests. "Is there a specific reason you're here today?" Frostbite asks, looking up from his tablet. "Any aches or pains?"
Dani does a check, testing her body even though she already knows the answer. She shakes her head. "But I did use a lot of ectoplasm a few days ago in my human form, and I was worried. I also ran out of the emergency ecto I have on me."
"Of course," Frostbite says, tapping on his screen. "I'll have some taken out of storage. Three vials?"
"Um, let's do six, just in case," Dani suggests. "I didn't expect to use all three in one day, and if I run into the GIW again, or Jason's injured…"
Frostbite glances up at her. "The GIW? That is the… mortal organization the Great One is trying to shut down, is it not?"
Dani nods. "Ghost hunters, super aggressive. Attacked us out of nowhere."
"I had assumed the device the Great One made you would have protected you from detection."
Dani glances down at it, her opposite hand moving to fiddle with the buttons. "It worked, as far as I can tell. It was Jason that set them off."
"Jason?"
"My brother," Dani explains. "Fraidmate. He's… not quite like us, like me and Danny. But still partly dead. I want to bring him here so you can check him out, because his ectoplasm is all messed up, but I want to ask Danny if it's okay first."
Frostbite is quiet for a moment, processing the information. "A fraidmate," he muses. "I am pleased to hear you have established your own fraid. Is he the only member?"
"No. There's Dick and Damian and Tim and Cass and Steph and Alfred and maybe Bruce, along with Danny and Jazz."
The yeti smiles again, his teeth glinting in the light. "I'm very happy for you, Little One. Although I am concerned about Jason. It would be best if you could bring him here to see me so we can do a full check up, but if that isn't possible, an ectoplasm sample may work."
"I can see about getting that," Dani agrees. "He was in the Realms for a while and it seemed to help, and so did the pure ectoplasm he drank a few days ago to help burn away the synthetic stuff the government uses. But it's not clean, not really."
"Hm, that is puzzling," Frostbite murmurs, looking thoughtful. "I would prefer to see him before any of the Great One's concoctions are administered–" Dani figured he's referring to the Ecto-Dejecto " – but the ectoplasm should be fine. Use it sparingly, since too much with a faulty core can be difficult for the human cells to regulate."
Dani nods obediently.
They follow through with the rest of the checkup, Dani chatting about what she's been up to while Frostbite analyzes results and gathers her backup ectoplasm.
"You are perfectly healthy," Frostbite declares after thoroughly examining her and her test results. "Healthier than last time, even. You are producing ectoplasm as you should, and releasing it is healthy. Otherwise, it builds up and can get contaminated. That you used some in this fight was very good for your core."
Dani frowns into her lap. "I know I should, it's just…" She huffs, looking back up at him. "It scares me. Using my powers. You keep saying it's safe but…" She trails off, uncertain how to explain.
Frostbite sets his hand on her shoulder, covering it completely. "Little One, your body is healthy. Your mind is just struggling to remember that. Try to use your powers in little ways, and build your confidence back up. I would recommend shifting to your ghost form sometime within the next few months."
Dani shivers a little at the thought. It's not that she doesn't think she can, it's just hard to forget the feeling of losing herself, of melting and disintegrating and fading away. Her human body can never dissolve, not like her ghost form can. She's scared. This isn't building her confidence back up, because she'd never had the confidence to begin with.
"There is no rush," Frostbite promises. "You are young, resilient. But you cannot stay away from your other self forever. It is growing too. You must give it the same care you do your human form."
Dani groans, but nods. "I'll… do my best."
Frostbite nods. "Try to use your powers in small ways. At least once a day." Dani must still look uncertain, because Frostbite continues, "You are a powerful young ghost, and you are more resilient than you know. Trust in your core. It is healthy and strong, and it will tell you if it is in danger."
It had told her she was in danger before. Where her core was once a weak, fluttery feeling in her chest, it was now a rock, heavy and solid, full of power that constantly leaked into her veins and filled her with vitality. But it was difficult to forget. It was difficult to trust.
"I'll try," Dani promises in a quiet voice.
"That's all I ask." Frostbite leans back, looking at her with a critical eye. "Now, you mentioned the Christmas gifts for your fraid. How do you plan on finding such treasures?"
"I'll ask around," Dani says. "I may not have time to find them all, but I have to try my best. They deserve at least that much."
"You plan to search the Infinite Realms," Frostbite considers, looking thoughtful. "That is a daunting task."
"Yeah," Dani agrees. "Do you mind if I borrow one of these maps? I love mine, but they're not as detailed, and I'm a bit tight on time, even if it does move weird here."
"I have a better one for you," Frostbite says, giving her a enigmatic smile. "Come, let's see if it suits your needs."
And well, Dani's never one to turn down a map.
I actually worked on this ahead of time! Anyway, here are the typical notes:
- I don't know the first thing about football. All of my info (and my inspiration) came from the friends episode where they play football in the park before dinner. That's the energy I'm trying to capture here... minus the more adult stuff, like Phoebe flashing Chandler. But Rachel hopping on Joey's back? That's Dani on Bruce, 100%. The ball isn't even anywhere near them.
- Tim didn't know about Dani's hearing beyond it was sensitive, but he'll definitely find out about the enhanced senses later. He was, however, not putting his all into winning. Boy's soft, and he wanted Dani to win. Not that he threw the game, he just didn't put in nearly as many dastardly tricks as he normally would.
- The dinner itself isn't chaotic, just soft and warm. They play card games after. It's sweet. It can't all be chaos alllll the time
- Frostbite has a map for Dani? For a Dani with a traveling obsession? hmmmm I feel like there's something there...
Thank you guys for the continued support and encouragement. It means a lot to me, you have no idea. I'm glad you guys are enjoying, and I think you'll like the next chapter! (probably not Christmas, not quite, but it'll be in the next couple of chapters or so)