#idk if non-chronological storytelling is my thing but i got this image in my head and couldnt give it up :)

[omegasmileyface]

Another prompt: the "Danny drinks from the wrong thermos" post (: -Lemonade

@ectolemonades (post in question) :)

ao3 link cuz i like doubleposting

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"Hey, Phantom!"

Danny looked down to see a shouting teen. He was in the middle of a battle, but the ghost chimera he had been fighting was currently recovering from a nasty hit, so he was willing to break for a little conversation. In his humble opinion, it would have been a pretty bad protector-protected relationship if he never talked with Amity Parkers.

"Did you bedazzle your thermos?"

"Wh—" Danny's attention turned to the glowing Fenton Thermos in his hand. It was covered in little holographic stickers of planets and video game characters and rockets. His eyes widened. "Oh, man, thanks for pointing it out! I didn't even realize this... wasn't mine!" He laughed lightly and not at all nervously as he reached into the tiny pocket dimension he had almost perfected and pulled out his typical, undecorated silver-and-green capsule.

Just about time, too, the chimera stood up right as he had the thermos primed to suck it in. With the threat gone, Danny touched down to try to clean up some debris.

The teen from before approached him. "So what was up with the little colorful thermos?"

Danny laughed, a little more genuinely this time. "I guess I just picked this up earlier and thought it was one of mine. Suppose I can't be the only one in town to use Fenton products, huh? I'm gonna have to remember where I found this." Of course, the Thermos was one of his own, decorated out of necessity. He rushedly tucked it into the same pocket dimension to keep the kid from looking too closely. The cover story he'd come up with should mean the recognizability of the stickers wouldn't matter, but better safe than sorry.

"Maybe you should start personalizing your equipment! It was cute. Anyway, good job out there, man!"

As Danny beamed, he imagined decorating the thermoses he used as Phantom. The thought went away just as soon as his brain wandered back to the reason there were stickers on the other in the first place.

The previous winter...

"If there's any upside to how this school refuses to turn the thermostat above 60°, it's the excuse to drink hot chocolate." Sam picked up a travel mug and sat back from her reading to drink.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were more of a coffee person," Tucker said, without looking up from his own.

Danny gasped. "Thanks for the reminder! I brought this new tea today, it's this coconut Thai stuff? I didn't think it would go well with lunch today so I totally forgot about it until now." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a standard-size Fenton Thermos.

Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, pretty sure that's a ghost hunting thermos, dude."

"Well, duh. We have a dozen prototypes and altered models just sitting around our house, I'm not gonna buy a thermos when I can use a perfectly fine one for free. The metal is still airtight, easily cleaned, and insulating. The attributes that make a good container for reduced-form ectoplasm are the same attributes that make a good drink holder."

"Honestly, Tucker," Sam cut in, "he's been drinking from those since the snow came—" (Danny interrupted with something about "hot chocolate season". They both ignored him) "did you think he was just sippin' ghosts?"

Tucker's expression was that of someone who would have been concerned if he wasn't used to just about anything. "I didn't even notice. Still though, that can't be good. Do you have any in other colors, or something else to make sure you don't accidentally mix them up? Here, even, you can have these to denote 'food, not foes' if you want." He dropped a handful of Nintendo stickers onto their desk.

"Relax, Tuck, I think I can tell the difference between an energized, contaminated, active thermos and a metal cylinder full of hot liquid." Danny leaned back and opened the container.

Unless "coconut Thai" is some kind of Fenton family code for "just the straight-up Box Ghost", the stickers would probably be necessary.