Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

Kindred Spirits	By : RedelliaValentinos Category: +1 through F > Danny Phantom Views: 206 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, I don't own any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from writing this story, I write this purely for the enjoyment of writing. It's just me and a keyboard and my wild brain.

Chapter List
- 22
- 23
- 24
With some gentle prompting and resistance to further demands for answers, Vlad managed to force Danny to push his questions aside in favor of better dietary habits. Within a few days, Danny's weight was back to where it was before Vlad's little crisis, and a few days more saw proper gain. Per the instructions of the Far Frozen's chieftain, some form of raw meat was included at almost every meal. Even if it made Jasmine uncomfortable.
Of course, Danny hadn't forgotten, and still wanted to pry for an explanation. But as the days slowly dragged on, he found that even hinting at the subject caused Vlad to shut him down. Eventually, he just stopped asking. But he didn't forget.
They focused on something else, instead. They monitored his cold abilities. Vlad watched for bursts of frost and noted over time that each one was becoming smaller than the last. Midday and evening flights into the atmosphere began to yield less and less of a release of pure ecto-energy. By the time the month of May was threatening to draw to a close, emotional shifts only came with frosted fingertips. Danny actually had to choose to cover a floor or chair. It meant accidental exposure was far less likely. And Vlad could finally breath a sigh of relief when regarding his furniture.
Danny settles in a little more. The older halfa keeps an eye on the calendar.
On the last Friday of the month, Danny senses something is amiss. He gets up on his own...okay, Maddie helped. She sat on his chest and yowled at him until he acknowledged her. But he got up and wandered out to the kitchen looking for sustenance. He hasn't woken up hungry and actually desiring food in weeks. When he gets there, just rubbing the dirt out of his eyes, his sister is at the stove and Vlad is on the phone with a folder in front of him, and numerous papers are scattered about the surface of the island. When they see him, Jasmine freezes and Vlad jumps a little. In a hurry, he presses the phone between his ear and his shoulder and snatches the papers up. He shoves them unceremoniously into the folder and quickly bolts out of the kitchen.
"Jazz?" He asks suspiciously.
Jasmine goes physically rigid and focuses on the pan in front of her; she barely flips the pancake in time. It's a tad darker than she likes, but it's not burnt.
Danny looks out in the direction Vlad ran off to and then back at her.
"What's going on?"
"Um...well..." She's weighing her words carefully.
Danny folds his arms and glares.
"Well, you've been...out of...school...for several months, for obvious reasons, but..."
Danny's brain short circuits. "No."
"Danny, yo-"
"-No, no," he holds up his hands to stop her, "I don't wanna hear it!"
"Danny-"
"No! I'm not doing it!"
Jasmine turns the flame off and turns to him. "Would you like to repeat the grade and do another year as a freshman?"
Danny physically deflates. "...no."
She places a plate on the island and encourages him to sit. "I'd give you the whole 'We wouldn't do this if we didn't love you' speech, but-" In an instant, she knows she's made a mistake when she sees his eyes.
Danny has always conveyed his emotions through his eyes very well, his glares and twitches as legible and obvious as maxed out font. Bright green with anger, with years of public humiliation by the school system and its students and staff, a toxic scowl dripping with poison. Jasmine clamps her mouth shut. He doesn't need the speech. He's heard it dozens of times and it's never done anything to placate him. If anything, it's always seemed to rile him further, especially on the occasions it was delivered by their parents. Most children just buckle under the speech to shut their parents up and then realize the meaning later in life. But for Danny, it never worked. She suspects it's because they've never truly paid attention to him or his needs. They've never once asked for his side of a story. Never once offered an icepack or a shoulder to cry on. He's always had to deal with whatever the problem was and suffer the consequences that followed by himself. Alone.
She wants to say, 'but for some reason, that never works with you.' Now, she can't. Because of the sudden epiphany, she knows why. A lifetime, however short, filled over the brim with condescension and correction, and not an ounce of support. In this application, the speech would be genuine. But thinking back over the years, examining incident after incident and every resulting behavior, it's been pointlessly and rather heartlessly abused.
Her heart skips around in her chest as she quietly serves him his breakfast and starts washing the dishes. Behind her, a fork jabs at the plate a little too hard.
She figures he's glaring in her general direction and not at her. She can feel the anger emanating from him, but it's not directed at her, specifically.
He's halfway through his plate, taking his time and chewing more than necessary so that he can beat something into submission without risk of punishment when Vlad returns. He's clutching the folder, its contents neatened and organized and the phone in his hand and Jasmine turns around to face him. She shakes her head vigorously, waving him off and pointedly mouthing 'Not now!' before he can say anything.
He sighs and ignores the negative aura pouring off of his ward. He goes to the island and places the folder down within the boy's line of sight. 'Casper High Summer Program' reads in thick, black lettering. Danny's eyes drift to it and he reads and rereads and re-rereads. They're still glowing in that sickly ectoplasmic green when Vlad clears his throat.
Danny jabs his fork particularly hard into another piece of pancake in response.
"It's for your own good."
Jasmine quickly sets the dishes in the dish drainer and leaves.
"Uh-huh." He puts the piece in his mouth.
"It was this or repeat the grade."
"Uh-huh." Another bite.
"And, I'm aware of the environment."
"So?" He's nearly through his plate.
"So, I actually have a few options for you."
"What?" he grates out in a threatening tone.
"You can attend the program in-house an-"
"-No."
"I can go back to Amity with you and you can attend, and I'll be there in the school with you to-"
"-No."
"I can go back to Amity with you and I deliver your lessons myself, outside of the school, and some of your teachers help me when I find it necessary."
"..."
"Does that scenario seem more amenable to you?"
Danny chews and swallows. "That depends."
Vlad bites back the growl tickling his throat. "On?"
"On whatever the fuck 'amenable' means."
The blatant disregard for his company is a shock, the use of the language itself more so. And there's a bar of hand soap sitting on the edge of the sink that's looking very, very tempting. He huffs in annoyance instead of grabbing it. He might lose his fingers if he tried. And he'll grant the boy a mulligan on this matter as he's literally taking the bulk of his summer away.
"Well, it's the only scenario that puts you through summer school without putting you in the school, in view of the public. And it will catch you up and ensure that you don't repeat the grade."
Danny continues eating, though Vlad does note that the fork hits the plate with less malice. He takes the gentler stabbing as a good sign.
"Its the thirtieth. At this point, your core is shielded enough that you won't freeze anything when you experience intense or even slight emotion. School is out. This program begins in three days. I have already enrolled you. I'd rather you have your tantrums for a few months instead of the next four years."
Danny finishes his breakfast and pushes his plate forward and pulls his legs up onto his chair, close to his chest, and folds his arms. In a display that says he's not necessarily accepting of the situation, but he isn't fighting it. And that's fine, the older halfa decides. He doesn't have to like it.
So long as he doesn't hear another 'no,' he'll take the lack of response as a victory. "I'll have Jasmine pack her things, then. We'll leave tomorrow morning."
He leaves the kitchen, leaves Danny sitting in his chair scowling.
Jasmine meets him in the foyer. "How'd he take it?"
Vlad heaves a sigh of relief. "Rather well, I think."
Glass shatters from the direction of the kitchen and the man winces.
"All things considered."
- 22
- 23
- 24
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Kindred Spirits