#Danny/dash

[tsubaki94]

Happy Holiday Truce @crunchyplastic I'm your gifter and love the Prompt Swaggerbishie having a lot of fun with the dynamic. I do realize Dash has the same clothes on in all of these while Danny changes clothes, so I decided that Dash owns only black shirts for reasons.

[zillychu]

chapter 9 of YWLMA had Danny crawling on Dash's lap, @ectoplasmranch told me so (a lie) and also that my reading comprehension is flawless (untrue)

Dash's POV under the cut!

[siltyriver]

Ride AND Die AU

(Danny Phantom DanDash Prompt #1)

AU in which Dash has been part of the squad since third grade and goes into the portal with Danny (as a show of solidarity against Tucker and Sam’s annoying nagging) and they both come out half-dead. There are now TWO ghost boys running around Amity Park.

With a heaping load of angst: Danny for letting Dash go with him into one of his parents’ malfunctioning contraptions and Dash for accidentally tripping Danny and making the damned thing turn on in the first place and of course Sam and Tuck for egging them on and resulting in their two best friends dying and not to even mention the fact that Danny’s parents now want to hunt them both for sport and disect them in the name of science

But also a healthy load of fun and fluff: the boys learning how to use their powers together, increasingly absurd excuses to get out of classes/events to go fight ghosts, and a super fun and convenient mind and/or physical link caused by the two being in such close proximity during the accident (they were totally hugging, but who can blame them, really)

Sam: Guys I think the term is ‘Ride OR Die’ not ‘Ride AND Die’

Dash: Well maybe we’re just more serious about this friendship than you are, Manson

Danny: Yeah, Sam, we’re deadly serious. Get on our level

Tucker: I feel like two dead friends is enough actually

Dash: You’re right, two’s a party but three’s a crowd

Sam: What’s four, then?

Danny: A funeral procession

[starswhisperwritershear]

Listen...

Rarely ever have I found a ship where there are at least three different main dynamics between the characters and I love all of them. Like, depending on the order of events that people put Danny and Dash through there are many ways they interact.

Situation 1: Dash apologizes and Danny being a good person accepts it and they become friends and then whoopsies, a crush. Love it.

Situation 2: Dash doesn't apologize but tries to be friends anyway and Danny has a lot of anger about that that ends up in a huge angst chapter where they talk it out. Adore it.

Situation 3: Dash gets close to Danny as Phantom first and in turn starts being kinder to Danny and then whoopsies now there are complicated crushes. Give me more of it.

I have read so many fics that follow one of these three patterns (And a few others that don't but I've read so many I can't remember the others rn) and I eat that shit up every time. They're all so good for so many reasons and I think people are really sleeping on these dynamics.

[rosewhite3]

I feel like the situation where Dash starts dating Phantom and then finds out he’s really Fenton is interesting, but personally I’d like to see more of Danny and Dash dating and then Dash finds out and tries to support him. Or he doesn’t find out for a while and just cooks with unending anger because someone is beating his bf up after he swore never to let anyone do that again. Idk. I just think it’s something that should be explored more

[cielcreations]

Front Seat (Danny Phantom

Characters are aged up to be 18+! Also, no ghosts AU!

I remember past me when I first used Tumblr liked this post and was like "Hey, this is a good idea for a short story."

And now, like 5yrs later, I actually made a short story. Enjoy!

Dash Baxter did not like Danny Fenton. That much was obvious.

He tolerated the annoying bug for the most part because of his sister. Jazz Fenton helped him with work and made it easier for him to somewhat maintain his minimum GPA to stay on the football team. Granted, Dash's definition of "tolerance" was shoving Fenton into lockers or pushing him out of the way. It could be worse. He gives some other nerds swirlies or slam their faces into food, so Fenton should feel somewhat grateful!

One day, when it was snowing and cold, Dash's practice ended early and he needed to get something from his locker. So, after he changed and got dressed, he grabbed his textbooks from his locker and headed out the front doors of the school. As he stepped outside, he saw a none other than Fenton, reading a random book, slouching over as he did.

"What're you doing here, nerd?" Dash asked, not really caring but still curious.

Fenton looked over his shoulder, scoffed and went back to his book.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me!"

"Do you actually care?"

"Just answer, idiot."

The raven groaned, rolled his eyes, and sighed, "Jazz is tutoring some freshmen and I don't have a ride cause parents are busy with ghost work."

"What about that weird goth freak and tech geek?"

"That 'goth freak' and 'tech geek' have names." Fenton hissed, "Sam can't take me home, her parents are weird and don't like my parents and, therein, me, and Tucker is too far away from me. It'd be too out of his way and I don't wanna inconvenience him."

Dash hesitated before walking past him. He noticed Fenton was only wearing a jacket and pants, nothing to help him with the biting cold. Dash wore a scarf, a large winter coat over his long sleeved shirt, his letterman jacket, two pairs of pants, and two pairs of socks. How could Fenton stand this cold? He went to walk away, turned to face the raven, and took another step away. Am I really going to do this?

Dash looked over his shoulder one more time before he groaned dramatically, "Alright, come on."

"What?" Fenton asked.

"Come on, I'll take you home."

"Are you high? No, you don't smoke." The raven shook his head, correcting himself, "Are you drunk?"

"NO!" Dash hissed, groaning, "Listen, if you freeze to death, I am not going to be the last one to have seen you! If Jazz found out I saw you and left you to die in the cold, she'd kill me! And I am not spending my afterlife with you, Fenton!"

"I'm not going to freeze to death, idiot, I'm fine!"

"You barely have anything on!"

"So what?! I'm fine!"

"Nope, nuh uh, come with me, now!"

"Fuck you, I'm not-"

"If you let me drive you home and not make a peep, I'll stop messing with you for a day!"

Fenton's eyes widened before he narrowed, "Seriously? You're willing to do that just to get me to let you drive me home? You got something in your car I should be concerned about?"

"NO! JUST- UUUGH!" Dash pinched his temples, "Listen, recently, during tutoring session, your sister has mentioned how worried she is with you. She said she's afraid you're going to get hypo.... hyper...? The shit when you're too cold!"

"Hypothermia?"

"YES! She's worried 'bout that!" The blonde sighed, "She really cares about you and if she finds out I left you out here when it's freezing, she'd make me pay for it. I get not trusting me, but can you at least do it for her?"

Fenton seemed to hesitate before he sighed. He shut his book and stood up, "Fine. But I get bragging rights and get to say I won a bet if anyone sees and asks."

"Ugh, whatever. Just come on."

The two began walking to the blonde's car. Dash unlocked the doors and got in the driver's seat, Fenton getting in the passenger's seat. He sat, looking out the window, hugging his bag to his check, uncomfortable and awkward. Dash turned the car on, turning the heat up and pressing his seat warmer.

"You want yours on?" Dash asked, pointing to the seat warmer button.

Fenton looked at the button and shook his head, looking out the window again, "No."

Dash shrugged and looked over his shoulder. He reversed out of the parking lot, beginning to drive away. The ride was silent for the most part, awkward, on both sides. They stopped at a red light, silent, the only noise being from outside. The blonde was trying to think of something to say, trying to figure out if he should even say something. Suddenly, Fenton leaned over and turned on the radio.

"Hey, don't-"

"Hey, it's Ember's new song!" Fenton exclaimed, excitedly turning the music up a bit, "Don't ruin it!"

Dash looked at the raven out of the corner of his eye, confused, "You... like Ember?"

"Uh, who doesn't?" Fenton rolled his eyes, "You may think I'm a nerd or whatever, but nerds have taste too!"

Dash snorted a laugh, focusing on the road and beginning to move once the light was green, "Well, how was I suppose to know? We don't exactly talk."

"And who's fault is that?"

The blonde was silent, knowing he was right. The raven nodded his head along to the music, mouthing the lyrics, Dash watching out of the corner of his eye. He was... kind of impressed. The other wasn't as lame as he originally thought. Then again, liking Ember McLain is not necessarily anything to write home about. Like Fenton said, who doesn't like her songs? I guess it's weird coming from him. Dash thought, pulling up to the building with the large neon glowing signs and metal space ship looking thing.

Suddenly, green smoke started coming out from the top of the building.

"Ughhhh..." Fenton pinched his temples.

"Uhhhh, is your place... safe?"

"It is. My parents are too stupid for any of their shit to work." Fenton groaned, grabbing his stuff, "Thanks for the ride."

"Uh, yeah, no problem." Dash stared at the green smoke, "Uh, you sure your place is not on fire or something?"

"Dash, did you forget my parents are the crazy ghost fanatics?" The raven opened the passenger door, waving his hand at the smoke, "This is what they do. It's stupid, crazy, and annoying, but to the few who believe in fairy tales, it makes money."

The blonde snickered, "I guess that's what matters?"

Fenton shrugged, stepping out, "Thanks again." He shut the passenger door and walked to front door of his home.

He opened the door and immediately stepped out of the way, just in time for Mr. and Mrs. Fenton to run out of the building and going to the alley next to their home, holding what looked to be junk. The raven groaned and walked inside, slamming the door behind him. 

Dash felt... weird. Bad, maybe? He can't imagine living with those types of parents.

Dash shook his head, beginning to drive away. He wasn't going to worry about Danny.

Fenton. He wasn't going to worry about Fenton.

***

For the next couple of weeks, the same thing had happened. Dash's practice was cut off early due to weather, he would "forget" his textbooks, and he would find Dan- Fenton sitting at the front, either reading a book, copying some notes, studying for a test, or just on his phone. Dash would offer him a ride and the other would agree. At first, it was reluctant, but over the next few days turned to weeks, he would put up less of a fight, to the point when Dash came out of the building, he would stand up and look at him.

The rides turned from Dash taking Fenton home, to Dash driving to the nearby fast food joint, offering to buy Danny some food. They would hang out, eating in his car, sometimes going inside to do some studying together. Over time, Dash noticed how Danny didn't prepare much for the cold, which made him a bit worried. Danny always said he was fine, but the blonde didn't always believe him.

One day, when he walked out, he shoved a small letterman jacket in Danny's direction, "For you."

"Huh?"

"Listen, you don't have a winter's coat and you're probably freezing your ass off. Just take it. It was from my freshman year, so it's too small. It'll just collect dust in my closet anyways."

Danny blinked and took it. He put the letterman on and hummed, hugging himself a bit, "It's... pretty warm."

"I know, why do you think I wear it all the time." Dash snickered, "Come on, we're going to the movies."

"Movies?" Danny was quick to follow him to the car, "Why?"

"Cause I wanna see that new horror movie that just came out and Paulina, Star, and Kwan are too chicken and I know you will enjoy it!"

"Hell yeah!" The raven exclaimed, "I'll pay for-"

"Nope, on me. I'm inviting you out."

They got in their seats, the raven looking at the blonde, smiling, "You don't have to."

"If I'm taking you, it's only right I pay." Dash began to reverse.

Danny chuckled, "You know, Dash, you're not a bad guy!"

The blonde chuckled, "You're not so bad yourself, Danny."

The raven widened his eyes.

"What?"

"I think that's the first time you've called me by my first name."

Dash blushed a bit and shrugged, "Well, uh, I figured I should."

The ride was silent to the movies, mainly because both we feeling a bit embarrassed and awkward again. Once they got to the movie theater, they hopped out, going to the ticket stand. Dash bought their tickets, a bag of popcorn, and their drinks before they went into the theater room. They sat down and whispered to one another as the ads played, laughing quietly and joking with one another. Once the movie began playing, they shut up and began watching. As it began, Dash thought Danny would get scared, but the other was fine. If anything, he got more excited and loved it. Danny leaned into the blonde, who wrapped his arm around the raven without even thinking.

Once the movie ended, the two stood up, hand in hand, walking out of the theaters, talking excitedly about the movie and how impressed they were with it. They got back to Dash's car and continued laughing, joking, and overall having a nice time as the blonde drove to Danny's home. By the time they got there, the sun had set. Dash walked Danny to the front door, the raven taking out his keys and unlocking the door. He peaked inside, seeing all the lights were off.

"Will you get in trouble?" Dash asked, "Like, do you have a curfew or something?"

"Probably, but where's the fun in that?" Danny snickered, looking at him, "What about you?"

"Meh, my mom's chill."

"Well, good." The raven faced him, smiling, "Thank you, Dash, for the nice time. I-I had a lot of fun."

"Me too. I-I like sending time with you." The blonde responded.

The two stood there for a second, silent. Danny took a step forward and stood on his toes to lean up and kiss Dash's cheek. The blonde grabbed his chin before he could pull away, leaning down and kissing his lips. It was a short kiss, nothing dramatic or otherworldly, but it didn't have to be. They stepped back and smiled at each other.

"Good, I wasn't reading that wrong, then." The raven chuckled.

Dash chuckled awkwardly, "No, you, weren't." He hesitated and stepped back, "So, um, see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, Dash."

From then on, everything seemed to change.

***

"Party time! Party time!" Paulina and Star cheered, both dressed in cute short party dresses.

Kwan laughed, wearing a nice button up and pants, holding the door opened for everyone, "Dash! Leo! Come on or we're leaving you!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, who's driving?" Dash teased, tossing a football towards him, also in a nice shirt, blazer, and jeans.

Kwan easily caught it with a laugh.

Leo, a new student at Casper High, easily integrated into the popular clique. He was a great football player, a bit of a class clown, smart, funny, and attractive. They easily accepted him both on the team and part of the friend group.

"I can drive you Kwan, if need be!" Leo chuckled, wearing a shirt with joggers, going for more casual than nice.

"Yeah, with what car?"

"Yours still, I'll just steal your keys!" 

The group laughed and got to Dash's car, the blonde unlocking just the driver's side and getting in. He jokingly made them wait before unlocking the car, allowing everyone to pile in the back.

However, Leo opened the passenger door.

"Nah, nah, nah." Dash immediately stopped him, pointing to the back, "Backseat."

Leo laughed but Dash just pointed to the back again. The man stared, "Wait, seriously?"

"We're picking up someone else. You get in the back."

"Wait, why can't they sit in the back?

"Oh, riiiight!" Kwan exclaimed, "Leo, get in the back, you'll see."

"But-"

"Just trust us!" Paulina giggled, "Come on!"

Leo begrudgingly got in the back, thankful Dash's car could at least fit all four of them in the back. The group continued talking and laughing as Dash pulled out of the school parking lot, making his way to wherever they were going. No one told Leo what was going on, so he just waited to see what was going on.

They pulled in front of a large building with a glowing neon sign reading Fenton Works. Leo remembered hearing about the Fentons, how Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were crazy about ghosts and their kids did everything in their power to not be embarrassed by them. He heard their daughter was going to college and their son also went to their school. Danny Fenton, the kid who sat with a weird goth chick and tech geek.

"What're we doing here?" Leo asked.

No one responded, rolling down the windows. Dash blasted the music and honked the horn, Paulina, Kwan, and Star cheering. After a few seconds, Danny Fenton emerged from the home, wearing a shirt with the NASA logo, a letterman jacket, and some skinny jeans. He was clearly holding back laughter as he approached the car, the four cheering.

"DANNY! DANNY! DANNY! DANNY!" Kwan, Paulina, Star, and Dash chanted, the raven blushing, covering his face in embarrassment.

"Shut up!" Danny hissed playfully as he hopped in the front seat, "God, you all are embarrassing."

Dash rolled the windows up and turned the music down as Kwan spoke first, "How you doing man, you ready for the party?!"

"Hell yeah I am!"

The group cheered, but Leo stared at Danny in confusion.

"Oh, is Sam gonna be there? I have to return her mirror!" Star explained.

"She and Tuck are carpooling with Valerie."

"Perfect, I need to give Val her headband back!" Paulina explained.

"Oh, Danny, this is Leo." Dash pointed to the seat behind him, Danny turning to face him, "Newbie. Probably heard it around."

The raven smiled, "Oh, nice to meet you. Sorry about them, you were probably confused."

"It's cool, I'm more confused why you get front seat."

Dash glared out his review mirror, Danny chuckled, and the other three jokingly 'ooooh'ed.

"Oh, you are new." He looked at Kwan, Paulina, and Star, who smiled innocently, "And you three didn't tell. Nice play." Finally, the raven looked at Dash, "Dashy~ Can I have a kiss~?"

Dash blushed and nodded softly, leaning over and kissing his lips.

Leo widened his eyes as the other three cheered. Once they pulled away, the blonde quickly focused on driving, embarrassed.

Danny then looked at Leo, winking, "See, I always get front seat. Perks of being the quarterback's boyfriend!"

Leo blushed in embarrassment, looking away as the car erupted into laughter, the group beginning to joke and talk once again.

[lavendarlily]

hi - I wrote an anonymous fic a while ago and now it's getting a rewrite

beta'd by bestie @hannahmanderr 💛

[the-sprog]

Here's my holiday truce gift for @constellaj !!! I hope you like it :)

I worried a lot about the length XD it came out a lot longer than I expected!

Dash runs, ducking behind a big enough piece of rubble that got detached from the City Hall when the ghost threw Phantom at it.

He's breathing heavily, catching his breath and catching at his weapon. He takes a look over his hiding place. Red Huntress is physically holding the ghost to the ground –how she can do it and why the ghost isn't phasing through her or the ground itself he doesn't know– while Phantom is nowhere to be found.

The Fenton's aren't on the scene, and neither are the Guys In White luckily –for anyone but him. He's been looking for a functional specific piece of gun for a while now.

"What are you doing?" He hears someone say behind him. Dash turns around. He feels his cheeks heat up as he finds himself face to face with who he would probably consider his favorite person in the whole world.

Phantom stands there, floating a few inches off the ground, with his arms crossed and stern expression printed on his face. Dash had never noticed before now how short the boy-ghost truly is, since the only reason why their eyes are the same level is because of the floating.

"Phantom-!" His enthusiasm is cut short as the ghost in front of him doesn’t let him get another word in.

"Where did you get that weapon?" Phantom asks. His voice carries anger in it, Dash realizes. His brows are furrowed and his jaw seems slightly clenched. "Did you steal equipment from the Fentons?"

"What? No!"

"Where did you get that stuff, then?"

Dash pulls on the safety on the ecto-gun he held carefully in his hand. He usually wouldn't bother, seeing as ecto-based weapons were usually regarded as safe for humans —he tested that theory on himself before bringing the gun to school with him—, but he didn't want to risk hurting Phantom.

He nervously adjusts the baseball cap hiding his hair as well as the tight domino mask glued to his eyes —thank Paulina and her emergency make up pouch— before he decides to respond, "The -ehm- the GWI tend to leave stuff behind, especially of it gets busted by a ghost," he clears his throat before continuing, "so I've been picking them up and –well, turns out this shit is not as complicated as it seems."

For a small moment, Dash could swear Phantom seems impressed by his admission, but as quickly as it came, the look is gone from Phantom's face. "You've been doing that?"

Dash nods. "Yeah. My pop's always making me help him work on his cars so…" he trails off. "I know my way around soldering irons and cables and stuff."

Phantom hummed, but his expression didn’t change. "And you think that's good enough that you can put your life on the line like it's nothing? Like you know what you're doing?"

Dash crosses his arms and squirms under Phantom's scrutinizing gaze.

"As tempting as it is, you shouldn’t steal from the GIW." His eyes trail towards Dash’s ecto-gun. "And you definitely shouldn’t be fighting ghosts with a modified ecto-gun."

"I'm not the only one!"

Phantom sighs and his hands drop to his side. "Red has armor. Heck, even the Fentons have some kind of protection on them!" He takes a breath, calming himself after the involuntary outburst. His face changes, and for a moment Dash truly sees how tired, perhaps even a bit dejected, the other kid is. "I'm already dead, Dash." Their eyes don't meet. Any awe and wonder Dash may have felt when he was first approached were gone.

Dash's eyes widen upon hearing his name. "How did you...?" He doesn't even finish his question that Phantom scoffs.

"If you want to hide behind a cap and a mask, maybe don't wear your letterman jacket," Phantom tells him with a smirk and an eye roll.

Dash looks at his sleeves and curses under his breath. "I'll remember next time," he says.

That sentence seems to bring Phantom back to the core of the issue. "There won't be a 'next time'."

"What? But I can help!"

"You’re going to end up hurting someone, Dash." Panthom’s patience is starting to wear thin, Dash can tell. He’s fidgeting with his gloves and looking around, like he would rather be anywhere else than here talking to Dash.

"I just want to be a hero," Dash pauses and watches Phantom’s eyes widen. "Like you," Dash finishes, blushing slightly.

Phantom scoffs. "You? A hero?"

The color drains from Dash’s face. Unsure how to respond he lets out a weak, "What?"

"I hang around Casper every once in a while. You’re a bully, Dash, and nothing more than a bully." Phantom’s face hardens. "You torment kids weaker than you and for what? Feeling superior to them?" Dash stays quiet. He doesn’t know how to respond- doesn’t know if he even should respond. "I won’t say you’re just as bad as the ghost I fight. But, Dash, you sure as hell aren’t a good person, let alone a hero."

Dash swallows around a lump that has taken residence in his throat. Was this truly how his hero saw him? How can he defend himself? How can he explain that it isn’t as bad as Phantom’s making it sound?

…is it as bad as Phantom’s making it sound?

"I’ll be taking that ecto-gun now." Phantom stretches his hand towards him in silent demand, but Dash doesn’t move. If he gives the gun the conversation will be over and who knows when he’ll have a chance of redeeming himself!

Phantom sighs. "I’m asking as a courtesy. I could just phase it out of you, dude. Have your existential crisis later, please."

Dash lets go of a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding and silently reaches for his gun. He briefly entertains the thought of pointing it towards Phantom and making a run for it, but he pushes it away. That would make him just like one of the actual villains Phantom has to deal with, be it ghosts or overeager ghost hunters.

Phantom's words haunt him when he goes to school the following day. Dash can't stop thinking about what the ghost told him.

"So..." He gets pulled out of his musing by Kwan resting his elbow on his shoulder. "How did it go out there? I bet Phantom was hella impressed by your bravery and general hotness."

Dash doesn’t respond. He sighs, a dejected expression having long since taken residence on his face.

Kwan’s smile falls. "Hey, man. What’s up?"

Dash closes his locker and leans against it, looking directly at his friend’s face. "Phantom caught me with an ecto-gun and he was not happy about me going into danger with no protection. He took it from me."

"But that’s not what’s bothering you, is it?"

"He told me I can’t be a hero." Dash pauses. "Because I’m not even a good person in the first place."

Kwan’s eyes widen in surprise. "What? Why?"

Dash rubs his neck. He doesn’t know when the habit started, but he knows it’s something Phantom had also been caught doing numerous times. "He said he sees how I act in school and doesn’t like how I treat other students."

Kwan groans. "Who knew Phantom was a killjoy?"

"I don’t know, man." Dash tries not to look towards Daniel Fenton, but his eyes wonder as he thinks about Phantom’s words once again. "Maybe he has a point?" If Phantom had talked about one of his… victims –he thinks is probably the most appropriate name for his classmates– in particular, Fenton would have a medal for ‘Most Tormented Kid In Casper High’ so who knows what the ghost would’ve told him. "I did some thinking and –well what fun would he be ruining? The one we have at the expenses of other people?" He crosses his arms. "It wouldn’t make us much different from Youngblood."

Kwan rolls his eyes at Dash’s claims. "C’mon, man. You know it’s not the same! We don’t have superpowers."

"Yeah. But we sure as hell have more muscles than all the geek squad combined."

"Y-yeah, but… well-"

"It's harder to excuse when I put it like that, isn't it?" Kwan doesn't respond and this time Dash doesn't even try to stop himself from darting a look towards Danny. "Maybe it's time we grew up."

And thus begins Dash's However-many-steps-it-takes plan to… become a better person, he supposes.

He thinks about it for a long time, and ultimately decides to not include apologizing to the kids whose lives he made like hell to the list. If he were them, he wouldn't believe himself based on words alone. He'd assume it was all part of a prank or some sort of scheme. A change in attitude and behavior would actually show he wants to do better, and it would be more convincing than simply words.

So, he decides to start by working on his temper. Dash is aware of the fact he's quick to anger in a way that none of the other football players on his team are.

He considers asking Danny's sister for advice.

She's a psychology major in some big name college, right? Yeah, he thinks he remembers something like that. He should still have her number from when she used to tutor him, from before she moved to college.

Dash thinks about it during the rest of the day, writing in his phone’s note ideas on how to redeem himself in Phantom’s eyes. It makes him wonder if wanting to be better to win someone’s affection defeats the purpose of being a better person…

He adds that to the list.

A high-pitched shriek startles him out of thinking about it, almost making him drop his phone.

"You talked to my ghost boy?" Dash turns around and, sure enough, Paulina is uncomfortably close to him. "Did he talk about me? Why didn’t you say anything?! I’m sure he talked about how much he loves me, didn’t he?" she said.

"Uhm," Dash stutters and takes a few steps back. "Not really, no."

Someone next to them chuckles.

"What do you want, Manson?" Paulina crosses her arms and glares at the goth chick, one of Danny’s friends. He never really did pay attention to her, so her name escapes him. He knows her and Paulina used to be forced to hang out when they were kids, and that she used to be a possible A-Lister recruit.

"To know how someone can be so delusional." the girl- Manson, Paulina said– is evidently having a great time antagonizing his friend –ex-girlfriend?... Ex-beard?– with a smirk on her face and leaning on her locker. "There’s no way you still think you have a chance with him," she pauses, watching Paulina fume. "He probably doesn’t even know you exist."

"Sam-" her friends look as uncomfortable as Dash feels witnessing the exchange. Danny has a hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her away to go to their next class. At this pace it’s likely they’ll all be late.

Lancer won’t care, but still.

Tucker is looking towards Dash, never making eye contact for more than a millisecond, clearly waiting for his reaction.

"You’re one to talk, Marilyn Morose," suddenly, Paulina starts responding to the taunt, "making goo-goo eyes at Star whenever she’s close." She’s smiling, apparently satisfied with herself. Sam is bright red in her cheeks. Dash has eyes, so he knows it’s not Star that Sam is looking at, but he doesn’t say.

"Hey," he decides to intervene, deeming this a situation that fits with his goal. "Not cool, Polly."

"But she started it!" Came the response.

"Yes. And you’re not a child. Be the bigger person or whatever." He doesn’t wait to see anyone’s reaction. He just takes Paulina’s arm and pulls her towards their class, but she pulls away from his grip and starts yelling at him.

"What’s your deal?"

Dash sighs. "Just… Some things Phantom said. Put stuff into perspective, is all,"

Paulina plays with a strand of her hair. "He told you to do that?" She asks, contemplative.

"In a way."

She looks him up and down, face scrunched up, before it clears up and she hums, "Alright then. I forgive you."

And that was it? Damn that was easy.

As Dash turns around, he catched a glimpse of Danny’s eyes examining his face and looking at him up and down, but he tries to ignore the anger that comes from the other boy staring at him and judging him. He takes a big breath and clenches his fists and grits his teeth, and he follows after Paulina heading towards Lancer’s English class.

The morning’s encounter sets the example for the rest of the month.

Someone attacks –verbally or physically– another student;

Dash stands up for them;

Dash loses a few friends;

Paulina and Kwan back him up by saying Phantom agrees with Dash;

And then the cycle repeats.

Dash also continues going out with modified ecto-weapons –he understands the danger. He knows what he’s doing when he’s fixing them! Kinda– and a new costume. Over the month he learned more and more about what he needs. He’s pretty sure his dad has some suspicion about his ghost hunting activities, but as long as his dad doesn’t try to stop him that’s good enough for him.

Now the suit is more reminiscent of Red Huntress’, although it’s clearly more homemade. But it has more protection –his hands are wrapped with boxing ropes, he has knee guards, toe-steel boots, and he’s in the process of making an ecto-proof kevlar undershirt, but the materials for that are hard to come by and his sewing skills need some work.

"So you did get better at the secret identity thing."

Dash turns to the beginning of the ally he’s been sitting in to catch his breath. He’d been trying to catch the Box Ghost all evening, but he’s yet to come across a containment device and getting the ghost in a net is surprisingly hard.

Phantom stands –well, floats actually– next to him.

Dash feels his cheeks heat up. He hadn’t been planning on going face to face with Phantom any time soon, going as far as trying to patrol on hours when Phantom doesn’t. He’s unnecessarily nervous, but nervous nonetheless.

"How did you know this time?" Dash thought he did so well. He switched his jacket for a non-descriptive black hoodie with the hood glued to the baseball cap, his eyes are behind a domino mask, and his nose and mouth are covered by a homemade additional mask that Paulina helped him design. It is pastel pink, but so is his cap, so it matches.

Phantom scoffs. "You’re the only dumbass who goes around with old GIW weapons."

Dash looks at his arsenal, then back to Phantom, and a laugh escapes him. "Yeah, I guess you’re right." He pulls at his mask revealing the lower half of his face. "Are you here to take my stuff again?" He asks, as he holds out one of his ecto-weapons to him.

Phantom shakes his head. "No."

"Oh?"

"I’m here to make you an offer."

Dash waits, but Phantom doesn’t elaborate. "Go on?"

Phantom takes a breath. "I need you to promise I can trust you and you won’t say anything about this to anyone."

Dash eagerly nods. "Yes, of course." He gets up, getting on a more even level as the ghost.

Phantom takes a deep breath –a breath? How’s he breathing? Is it a reflex? A muscle memory of his life?– and holds out a hand.

"Want to be part of my team and help me fight ghosts officially?"

"Yes! Of course," Dash immediately responds, "you’re awesome, why would I not want to?" He takes the offered hand, and immediately feels the air kicked from his lungs.

"Sorry." Phantom doesn’t actually sound sorry. Dash thinks he seems sort of amused, actually, but based on previous conversations it’s a fair bit or revenge for how much of a jerk Dash has acted over the years. "Should’ve probably warned about holding your breath when turning intangible. I forget," he admits as he rubs the back of his neck.

Dash definitely got the habit from him, and the confirmation only makes him blush more.

"Reminds me to warn you about invisibility. Your eyes will mess up colors while you’re invisible."

Dash nods and readies himself for the change. It makes him feel slightly nauseous to see so many purples, blues, and greens in the familiar Amity Park scenery.

They don’t fly off, though Dash assumes Phantom is still floating, but they do pass through several buildings.

They don’t talk again –which makes the journey slightly awkward– until Phantom phases them through the ground and Dash makes a strangled cry. Phantom chuckles at that.

Once they’re in front of an underground door, Phantom lets go of both invisibility and intangibility, and then phases through the door on his own, leaving Dash to inspect the door, and then opening it from the inside.

"Ta-da!" Phantom says while doing jazz-hands.

Dash gets pulled inside the room by an additional set of hands that definitely didn’t belong to Phantom, phasing right through him, and finds himself pinned to the wall by a tiny figure.

"Sam," the ghost-boy admonishes, "Play nice."

"His reflexes are terrible," she comments, letting him go. "Are you sure about this?"

Phantom shrugs. "He’s the one that modified that ecto-gun I brought back a few weeks ago."

Sam turns quickly to stare down at him. "You said it was you- the Fentons who got to GIW garbage before us!"

"Yeah, well… I lied."

"You! Ugh!" She grunts and then storms off towards a staircase on the other side of the room. Dash is sure that if she had walked through a door, she would’ve slammed it closed. But the sound of her boots hitting the ground with each one of her steps does convey the same feeling as if she had done just that.

"Dude…" Tucker speaks up from wherever he appeared while Dash wasn’t paying attention. "Why?"

"This explains so much but also nothing at all." Dash’s exclamation gets ignored.

"Oh, heyyy… Dash is here." Well, sorta. There are still no explanations given, so Dash doesn’t think it counts. He slowly waves a hand at Tucker.

"We needed an engineer, Dash is a pretty decent one!" Phantom explains.

"I’m a pretty good engineer!"

"Tuck, you’re good with tech. You’re our tech guy. You don’t know how to fix the speeder and it’s been 3 months now since the last time we’ve been able to use it."

"That’s irrelevant." Tucker crosses his arms.

"No, it is not." Phantom lands on the ground and calls out to him "Dash Baxter," Phantom says, looking towards Dash, "Welcome to Team Phantom!" And he smiles, showing a bit of fangs that have no business making Dash’s cheeks color in red.

"Thank you, it’s an honor!"

"You should already be familiar with the other members of the Team." Phantom gestures to the staircase behind him, "You saw Sam earlier, that’s Tucker."

"Hi."

"Then there’s the Fenton kids." He counts on his fingers, "Red Huntress –leaving it up to her to reveal her identity to you or not–" Dash nods. "And then the ghosts: Frostbite, Specter, Pandora, Clockwork-"

"When it suits their fancy," Tucker interjects, not even looking up from whatever he’s doing on his PDA. Why does he even still have that? Can’t he get a smartphone, like a normal person?

"-right." Phantom nods, "We have some files you’ll need to look at about all the various ghosts and people, and their affiliation to us. Got it?"

"Absolutely, anything for you!" Good way to put your foot in your mouth, Dash. He blushes, as does Phantom, his pink cheeks getting even pinker and brighter coloured.

Tucker clears his throat. "Phantom’s going to teach you how to use the weapons you’re fixing, I’ll fill you in on a bunch of stuff, Sam will teach you to use the thermos, and if you need to talk to someone… go to Jazz."

"Tucker!"

"What? I’m not going to- psychoanalyze him! That’s Jazz’s job!"

"So…" Dash tries to prevent another argument. "The Fenton kids?"

"Where do you think we get all this stuff?"

"Yeah," Phantom says. "We really needed another way to get weapons. Danny is not great at sneaking around."

"Oh, this is great."

Dash turns to see the Red Huntress leaning against the wall next to the stairs, while Sam enters the room from behind her. She goes straight towards Phantoma and punches his arm.

"Red?" Phantom doesn’t phase her out, accepting the punch that Dash doesn’t believe could ever hurt the ghost. "What are you doing here? We were supposed to meet tomorrow," he says, as if nothing else was happening in the meantime.

"A little birdy told me about someone’s character development."

"Whose character development?"

"Yours, Dash."

"Oooh. Yeah, makes sense." Dash nods.

"Well, then," Sam interjects, "since you’re here earlier for no sensible reason, why don’t we go ahead and start Dash’s training right now?" She smirks, her hand resting on an ecto-gun left on the table in front of her.

It’s not the same that Phantom took from Dash in the past, it doesn’t look like a GIW weapon at all. It’s more gray than white, for starters, and there are green and blue accents in the design. There are soldering marks and paint splotches, the color in some of the details doesn’t even look very uniform.

"Heck yeah!" Dash pumps his fist in the air, excited to actually do something.

And also, possibly, maybe, to spend some time standing really close to Phantom, his body behind Dash, his hands over his and helping him hold the weapons correctly, his face so close he can feel his breath on his neck- Oh gosh, he’s definitely red in his cheeks again.

Tucker flips a switch and a section of the floor opens up, while something raises up from the opening.

Suddenly, there are training dummies in front of Dash. They’re scorched and cut and overall ruined. But still usable.

Except one that has a hole in its stomach. That one’s probably not that useful.

"We’ll start with the one of the guns you have with you," Phantom says and gestures with his hand towards his hip, "I like your outfit change, by the way," he adds, "Did you make it yourself?"

"You should see me without it?" Dash can’t help but try to show off, stretching one of his arms in front of him, making the fabric adhere more to his body and accentuating his muscles. He immediately cringes internally at his own attempt at flirting, but it’s too late for him to backtrack so he commits to it and smiles at Phantom’s direction.

Gosh he wants to steal Tucker’s PDA and look up ‘How to flirt like a normal person’. Maybe WikiHow has some advice he can look at. Anything would probably be better than whatever he’s trying to do at the moment.

"Uhm… I like the outfit. I’m a bit confused about the pastel pink, though," Phantom admits.

Dash shrugs and pulls out one of his weapons. "I like pink, and I think it looks good on me. Don’t you?"

"Sure…?"

"I know I love it on you, especially when it colors your cheeks." Dash tries to look smug, even as his own cheeks start gaining pigment.

There’s a beat of silence and then, "Are you flirting with me?" Phantom asks him, voice breaking in the second half of the question.

"Is it working?"

Phantom blushes again.

"See? You’re so cute when you blush," Dash can’t stop himself from saying, smiling smugly with the knowledge he was the one to fluster the hero.

"I- I have to- I’ll just-" Phantom points towards the staircase before flying towards it and disappearing at the top.

No one else in the room says anything for a while. Dash fidgets with the ecto-gun in his hands until the silence gets too unbearable for him and he clears his throat.

"Was I that bad?" He asks, a bit jokingly, just to break the tension that built up in the atmosphere.

"I’m sorry?" Tucker is the first one to respond to him. "I feel like my entire worldview just crumbled."

"What about Paulina?" Sam asks.

Dash shrugs. "She was my beard, I was her skirt. We broke up when we came out in…" he thinks about it for a second, "July after Freshman year, I believe?"

"That was so long ago, how did we not know?" Sam said, almost masking Tucker’s confused "What does that even mean? I’ll just google it."

"We don’t make a big deal out of it."

"Well, at least you and Danny can bond over something." Red walks in Dash’s direction and pulls out an ecto-gun of her own. "Well, since spooky bailed on you, I’ll help you work on your aim a bit."

"Sure." Dash grips his weapon in front of him and desperately attempts to ignore the fact that Sam and Tucker are going to wherever Phantom ran to.

They meet up three times each week, Dash's training sessions with Phantom don't get any less awkward, even though Dash does minimize the amount of flirting attempts. He doesn't stop altogether, he's not strong enough to resist the temptation completely –and Phantom’s just so cute when he blushes! Being able to fluster the town's resident superhero is one hell of a power trip.

"Your hands look heavy- want me to hold them?" Dash says one day.

"I guess you'll just have to kiss it better," he says the next.

And he continues like that until one day–

"I do like my men like I like my coffee. Very strong and able to keep me awake all night."

That… that was something Dash didn't prepare himself for, as is evident by the color that spreads up his ears and down his neck.

The smirk Phantom throws his way after saying it –while he hides his own red cheeks behind the ghost-themed mug he’s drinking from.

Dash does his best to ignore the confused looks Tucker and Sam send each other, too preoccupied by trying to regain his footing and not dropping his weapon.

From that day, Dash starts learning more and more about Phantom. It's like he passed an invisible barrier and now the ghost feels more comfortable letting him in.

He learns that Phantom loves video games, though he doesn't play often and mostly uses Danny's accounts and devices.

He learns that he loves food –hates toast, though. With a passion– and would give a limb for some good Nasty Burger fries drenched in sauce.

He learns he's a huge Astronomy nerd. Phantom Loves to stargaze.

He learns he used to dream of becoming an astronaut. Dash forces himself not to pay attention to the solitary tear that falls on Phantom's cheek and is quickly swept away.

He wishes he was the one to do it. But he's not sure any kind of comfort would be appreciated in such a situation.

Dash wants to kiss him.

It’s something he’s been thinking about increasingly often.

"They’re glaring at me again," Dash says bitterly, putting all his focus on fixing Tucker’s FentonPhone that got damaged during that day’s fight. He’s getting more frustrated as time goes on, between not being able to figure out which of the wires he’s crossing incorrectly and feeling Tucker and Sam’s eyes on the back of his head.

Red Huntress scoffs. "You’re not winning them over that easy."

"Dash shrugs. "Phantom seems to like me enough."

"That boy is both too trusting and too paranoid somehow. Don’t know how he does it."

"So…" he pauses what he’s doing to look her in the eyes –in the… visor mostly. "What do you suggest?"

"I’m not helping you pick up Phantom."

"What!"

"You don’t seem to need my help with that."

Dash blushes. "No, c’mon Red! I meant about the other two!"

She shrugs. "Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything you can do other than… Being nice. Just like you’ve been doing now."

Dash hums. "It doesn't seem to be working though."

"These things take time, Dash." Phantom’s voice comes from behind him. The ghost rests his arms on Dash’s head, even though Dash can tell he’s also floating. He would be too short otherwise.

Dash, despite himself, smiles when he hears Phantom’s echo-y voice.

"They’re just being difficult," says Red.

"Unlike someone else," was the barely audible retort from Tucker followed by hasty apologies.

"Hey." Phantom taps Dash’s shoulder, once again gaining his attention. "Want to patrol with me tonight?"

Dash’s eyes widen. "Really?"

He can feel Phantom nodding on his head. "Yeah. you’ve been doing well with learning about weapons. I can put you on thermos duty so you can practice without subjecting me to that thing."

"It’s going to be awesome!"

Phantom giggles at his enthusiasm, and Dash knows if he spares a look towards the previously mentioned two in the room he’ll see judgment in their eyes.

But he doesn’t let that spoil his mood. He starts packing his backpack, having quickly learned throughout his training that it was always a good idea to have one with him. It isn’t reinforced yet, they don’t have the materials to do it for all of them, but they’re working on it.

Phantom's waiting for him on the staircase. They're yet to let him come and go from what he refuses to call anything other than a hideout. He's always accompanied by the ghost boy and they never leave by foot. He doesn't know what the regular-person entrance of the place is.

As Dash expected, Phantom grabs his arm and shoots up towards the ceiling. During the course of his training Dash also learned to get used to the change of colors and the longing for air.

And patrol begins.

Dash has never patrolled before, getting into the midst of things only in defense, as a response to an attack. He's surprised to discover just how many ghosts get out and about, not even causing trouble, during the wee hours of the night.

But of course 'playfully-mischievous-at-worse' is not the only type of ghost lurking in the shadows.

Phantom appears to know pretty much everyone they come across, be it friend or foe.

There's the biker –who Dash thinks looks weirdly families, and not based on the files he was handed when he joined– and his girlfriend who not even Phantom seems to be sure where they stand.

"Relax, peepsqueak," Johnny says. Dash did study those files, he feels is important to point out. "Zone's a bit stuffy today. Not a lot of privacy."

"We're not causing trouble, so why don't you introduce us to your new recruit?" Kitty –the girlfriend– smiles towards Dash. "He's cute."

"Hey, watch it," both Phantom and Johnny say to her.

She shrugs. "I'm just saying."

Dash steps forward, tired of being passive in a conversation that concerns him. "I'm flattered, but I have eyes on someone else," he says, looking in Phantom's direction. As soon as they make eye contact Dash winks causing Phantom to giggle.

The ghost boy coughs and schools his expression again.

Kitty's eyes widen. "No way." She smiles. "Ember is never letting you live this down, kid."

"I told you two to stop gossiping about my life!"

"There's not much more to do in the Zone," Johnny adds.

Dash lets them bicker for a bit, ready to intervene if it devolved into a fight. Phantom doesn't have the chance to let go like this that often, and seeing the smile tugging at his lips that the ghost boy is not really that desperately trying to suppress… well, it creates butterflies in Dash's stomach.

They move on with a parting warning from the biker.

"Careful. We're not the only ones aware of blondie here."

They're on edge.

The Box Ghost makes himself known and Dash panics. He doesn't even let him finish his usual monologue that he has the thermos pointing in his direction and sucking him in.

"He's not so useless after all."

Both Dash and Phantom turn towards the new voice entering the alley.

"What are you doing here?" Phantom's eyes dart from Dash to Plasmius, never leaving one unchecked for more than a few seconds.

Plasmius smiles. "I just thought I'd come to greet the new kid, Daniel," he says. Phantom flinches at hearing his name. "We should get to know each other. After all, we're bound to meet again." Plasmius pulls out a gun, one that Dash has never seen before, with more purples and pinks in its design.

Why would a ghost need a gun?

Phantom starts charging his ecto-blasts.

Dash grips the thermos.

"Does he know? Or is he the only one in the dark?" Plasmius taunts. "Afraid he won't like you anymore?"

Plasmius shoots towards Dash with no hesitation.

Dash lifts his arms to shield his face from the upcoming blast.

Phantom cries out in pain.

Plasmius clicks his tongue. "So predictable." He starts floating towards Phantom, his eyes focused on the boy.

"It doesn't do you well to keep secrets, my boy."

Phantom grunts and a flicker of light starts emitting from his body at random intervals.

Dash doesn't let him get too close. He lifts the thermos and is fast enough to surprise the ghost, sucking him into the containment device.

Dash crouches next to Phantom. "Oh my God-"

"I can't-" Phantom groans again. There are tears streaming from his eyes. Dash is starting to panic, so before he succumbs to it, he forces himself to pull out a medikit from his bag.

"What- what do I-" he starts to say, but gets interrupted.

"This isn't- FUCK- this isn't how I wanted to tell you," Phantom says.

The light keeps pulsing until it forms a ring around his midsection.

The ring splits, traveling opposite sides –up and down Phantom's body.

Until Phantom is not who's laying in front of Dash anymore.

"What the fuck," he manages to say, once out of his stupor.

"I-" Danny gulps. "I'm sorry."

Dash sighs. "C'mon." He grabs his arms and starts pulling up. "Let's get you against the wall."

Danny hums in agreement.

Once situated, Dash plops down next to him.

"So," he says.

"So." Danny mirrors.

"Are you… hurt?"

Danny shakes his head. "No, mostly tired. A bit disoriented."

"Cool, cool."

They sit in silence for a bit.

"Are you going to ask?" Until Danny breaks it.

"Huh?"

"How it's possible. How- how I… died." Danny fidgets with his fingers, looking anywhere but towards Dash.

"Oh. Uhm… I don't really care."

"Oh."

"I mean- if you wanna talk about-"

"No, no. It's just… refreshing. People are usually curious."

"I'm- honestly I'm mostly confused."

Danny nods. "Yeah I don't… I don't fully understand it either."

"I really like Phantom," Dash admits. He's surprised by how quiet his voice is.

"Yeah- I-" Danny keeps avoiding making eye contact with him. "You must to be so disappointed to discover this-" he gestures to himself. "-is really who you were flirting with."

"I don't know."

"What?"

"Well, I realized- after these weeks. I don't… really know you. Any of you."

"Huh."

"And I really like Phantom."

"You said that, yeah. So?"

"So…" Dash trails off. "I'd like to get to know Fenton, too." Dash smiles and turns towards Danny. "But I doubt they're much different."

Danny doesn't seem reassured. "But what if you don't like Fenton?"

"Do you like me?"

Danny snorts, color spreading to his cheeks and ears. It's a little weird, Dash thinks, to see the familiar sight but feel like it's for the first time all over again. "I've been told I have a think for nice people that can deadlift me, and… well, you did become cool to hang out with lately."

Dash draps one arm across Danny's shoulders, bringing him closer to him, so much so that Danny's laying on Dash's side. "Then you're worrying too much. We'll cross that bridge if we get to it."

Danny snorts and Dash doesn't even have to look down to know the red has spread further on his face –not that Dash's own hasn't started to resemble a tomato. But his mask is doing a good job protecting his dignity, as well as his identity.

"I do have a question though."

"Mmh?"

"Can I kiss you?" Dash asks before he loses his cool.

"What?"

"I mean- you don't have to. I've just… been thinking about it a lot," Dash says, lamely, "so I'd really like to kiss-"

Danny pulls down his mask and kisses him.

His lips are soft. For some reason, Dash wasn't expecting that.

The kiss is chaste, quick, but it shuts him up for a good minute, making Danny laugh and making him blush even more.

"You were taking too long."

Dash gives him a friendly shove when Danny starts laughing again and gets another kiss for his efforts.

'Yeah,' he thinks, 'I don't think I'll find it hard to like Fenton, too.'

[lixxen]

I love tragic gay people.

Especially when it doesn't make any sense.

[spookberry]

this came to me in a vision

[tsubaki94]

Happy Truce and Happy New Year @skittlespoxxum 

 I'm your Truce Gifter this year.

Your promotes were all inspiring and I wanted to write something this year making them all even better. I'm so sad that I couldn't weave in Danielle somehow but the others I got to some degree. I'm a sucker for Danny/Dash pairing and was delighted to make something where they could be a couple. It might not be clear in this fic but Dash is the leader in a relationship, able to both take command in any situation but caring for his partner and their need to function. Danny is very much the cuddly type, needing lots of comfort and affirmation.

The chapters will be going up continuously today as I'm giving them a final dead thought but I wanted to make sure you got this gift before 2024.

Now onward to a New Year. ^^

[tired-all-the-time22]

Failed phantom smooch ft. Letting the besties know

[siltyriver]

Get In Loser, We’re Going Ghost Hunting

(Danny Phantom DanDash Prompt #2)

Mean Girls AU in which Danny and Jazz have been homeschooled and/or taken online classes so their parents could travel the country (and sometimes abroad) to further their studies in the paranormal/clean energy (ectoplasm) but Maddie gets offered a position at a prestigious university or lab and they finally settle down enough to go to public school.

Danny is NOT Phantom (…yet?) as his parents never got around to actually building the portal (that would require a stable place of living, and their priorities shifted to ectoplasmic energy more so than ecto-entities) so he’s just plain old Danny Fenton, son of the weirdo ghost hunting scientists.

He is rightfully pretty nervous but finds himself making quick friends with Sam and Tucker who take him under their wing for the first couple of days until he gets invited to sit with the ‘A-Listers’ at lunch (Wes stops him in the middle of the cafeteria to grill him about his parents’ work and research and Dash or Paulina tell him to leave Danny alone, cue the ‘why don’t we know you?’ plastic spiel) and thus springs a revenge plot for Sam and Tucker who have both been wronged by one or multiple of the group.

They make Danny their inside man, passing along the stuff that is talked about and trying to bring the downfall of Paulina Sanchez and Dash Baxter.

But, the more time he spends with the group the more he finds himself just having fun and genuinely enjoying himself (minus the reality checks when one of them ends up bullying someone and no one in the group sticks up for the victim and get uncomfortable when Danny does so — but surprisingly Dash never bullies anyone past a few stinging words and Danny finds himself curious as to why, and maybe there’s angst later if Dash does get physical with someone that pissed him off and Danny realizes he’s not the type of guy he thought he was and Dash has to face the consequences or smth… maybe…)

He finds that Dash and Paulina aren’t actually a couple, they just pretend so that they can stay in the hierarchy of ‘power couple’ that gives them like ultimate status in the school. They’re not in love, they aren’t dating, they’re just really close friends (Paulina is in fact in love with Sam who she spread rumors about being gay in a twisted way to protect herself. Gotta love that internalized homophobia and denial.)

Which then opens the floodgates of Realization and he finds himself getting flustered around Dash, wanting to spend time with him and creating his own schemes to put the two of them together whenever he can. He knows it’s a disaster waiting to happen and he knows that it’s just going to be painful for him, but he can’t stop it from happening, especially not when Dash seems to be flirting back sometimes ???

Yada yada, maybe there’s a burn book, maybe not, maybe someone gets hit by a bus, maybe not, idk I just work here, man

(The school-wide therapy session would be hilarious and it wouldn’t just be the girls in this version which opens even more funny possibilities, but who knows?)

It obviously ends with prom and the couples getting together, finally, so woo hoo that’s a win for love and a wrap

—

(… alternate version where Danny IS Phantom and is also dealing with ghost shenanigans the entire time and trying to maintain his secret identity on top of the new battle of high school drama. enter Wes Weston who is suspicious and keeps trying to get people on board with the conspiracy lmao)

(also bonus points if Jazz actually graduated early so she doesn’t attend school with Danny and is just there for the therapy session ‘why can’t everyone just get along?’ ‘she doesn’t even go here!’ scene lol)

[starswhisperwritershear]

Fucked around and drew a scene from my last chapter cause I'm having brain fog with writing. Got all the way done with it and realized Dash is wearing his jacket in this scene. I did not have the energy to fix it.

[seronefada]

"Were very sorry sir. The children thought your people were from the government."

A small DP/DC promp

Casper high is on a field trip in Gotham.

Danny is in the team with Tucker, Kwan and Dash as most of the time.

They have a picture hunt around Gotham.

After a while they notice strange people in white following them. White jackets, black ties.

As Amity park kids the of course thought, these were GIW agents they don't know.

Everybody knows Danny is having to much ecto in his system. They sometimes see his eyes change color. No surprise if you think of the Fenton Parents lap safety.

So as the people get closer and one of them grabs Danny's arm. Dash hits him before they can speak.

They got in a big fight.

Penguin gets called cause his Goons are fighting a school class.

Things calm down quick as Oswald came. The Teacher told them to stop.

As he was talking to Mr. Lancer the Teacher said:" The children are very sorry. They thought your Henchpeople were part of the Government."

Penguins Goons are also very sorry:" We thought it was a Wayne kid."

Penguin has also some Questions in his head like: why would high school kids get into a fist fight with the Government?

And why did the Teacher think that was a reasonable explanation?