#dooshek

"Okay, look." Danny sucked in a long breath. "I've thought about this long and hard, right? And you know, I really don't think I want to do this, soooo, now that I've come to that decision, we can just call this good, yeah?"

Sam scoffed. "Fat chance, Fenton. You're doing this whether you like it or not. Quit being such a baby."

"You just gotta relax!" Tucker said, clapping a hand on Danny's shoulder. "It's really not as bad as it seems."

"You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding. This is, like, more dangerous than fighting Plasmius, the Ghost King, and - I don't know, Clockwork all at the same time!"

"Why would you be fighting Clockwork?"

"You do remember he tried to kill him the first time we met him?" Sam asked apathetically. "I'm getting tired of this. You've got one more chance before I come up there and manhandle you into doing this, ghost boy."

Danny balked, turning paler than normal. "You guys don't get it! I'm just -" He snapped his mouth shut as he realized he'd been about to spill something he very much did not want to spill.

Unfortunately for him, Tucker and Sam knew him too well. They stuck him each with their own look of suspicion. "You're just what?" Tucker asked.

But Danny didn't answer. Instead, he slouched in on himself, folding into a position Jazz would surely give him an earful of a lecture on the importance of good posture if she saw him like this. "It's nothing," he grumbled. "You two would just laugh."

Though he didn't see it, Tucker and Sam exchanged a look. Sam's face softened from utter irritation to mild disdain as she saw the pitiful puppy-dog face Tucker was giving her. Seriously? she asked with her eyes.

Yes, seriously! He needs this.

I don't want to coddle him!

It's not coddling, it's called supporting our boyfriend in his time of need.

Sam let loose a loud sigh. "We're not gonna laugh at you, Danny. If it really means that much to you."

Danny cast them a sidelong look. "Right. Because you sound so genuine about it."

"C'mon, you know she means it," Tucker prodded gently. "She's just being her sassy Sam self."

"Hey!"

"If there's something on your mind," he continued, ignoring Sam's protest, "we want to hear it. That's what we're here for."

"There's a reason we love you, dork," she said, a smile finally crossing her face as she punched Danny lightly in the arm.

Danny couldn't help but crack a tiny grin of his own. "You promise you won't laugh?"

"Mmm, within reason."

He sighed and somehow slouched into his seat further. "I'm... scared, alright? I'm scared of this."

Sam laughed.

Immediately, Danny whirled around to face her, eyes blazing. "You promised!"

"Sorry, sorry!" she said between giggles. "Okay, sorry. For real. But seriously, what's there to be scared of? It can't be any scarier than flying, and you do that all the time."

"It's way scarier than flying! At least when I'm flying I have control! How am I supposed to have control over this?"

"That's the point of practicing," Tucker said. "So that way you do have control. Like I said, it's really not that bad once you get the hang of it."

"You won't know till you try," Sam taunted in a sing-song voice.

Danny's eyes flickered back and forth between his partners. Tucker wore his heart on his sleeve often enough for him to know he meant his words. Sam preferred to hide behind a mask of indifference and righteous indignation, but she couldn't hide her true feelings from him after so many years.

"Fine," he grumbled, sitting up. "I'll try. And I'm sure I'll regret it."

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Ten minutes later, the three sat with pale faces and clenched fists.

"How. Did you manage. To do that?" Sam whispered in bewilderment.

Danny's hands refused to let go of their hold. "I tried to tell you!"

Tucker shook visibly. "I thought you were exaggerating when you said you drive worse than your dad!"

"How could I possibly exaggerate that?"

Sam's poor little Impala sat perfectly nestled at an angle, straddled between two of the dumpsters behind the Nasty Burger. The little blob ghost clan who had claimed the dumpsters as their home had come out to investigate the commotion and were currently cuddling up to the three shell-shocked teens, chirping in an effort to calm them down.

"I want to know how you always forget you literally have the power to turn intangible!" Sam punctuated her statement with another punch to Danny's arm, this one harder than the last.

"Well, excuse me! I'd like to see you try to remember that sort of thing when you're in the heat of the moment!"

"I really can't believe that somehow, Danny Fenton is a worse driver than his dad," Tucker whistled, unfazed by the argument happening to his side.

~ 41. kisses to shut them up

Danny used Spontaneously Kiss The Girl Trying To Hunt You Down. It was surprisingly effective!

~ 47. feather-light kisses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Phantom had barely finished phasing through the wall before he started to speak. "Fenton, Fenton!" he gasped, despite his lack of a need for breath. "You'll never believe it! The Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady! Did you know they're -"

He cut himself short at the sight of Fenton, illuminated only by his desk lamp, slumped over at his desk and fast asleep with his open history textbook as a pillow. In spite of the little pool of drool forming over a portrait of James Madison, Phantom's core stuttered at the sight.

How was it that even in the middle of his sleep, Fenton still managed to render him speechless?

Although Fenton had most certainly been awake when he'd left. Had he really been out that long?

Apparently so, if the alarm clock was accurate. 1:28 stared back at him accusingly, as if to try and rub it in that he'd abandoned Fenton for nearly four hours, whether intentional or not. Guilt hit him like a brick wall.

He floated over to the human without a sound. Although he reached out to shake Fenton awake and try to persuade him to sleep on his bed rather than his desk, he stopped himself just short for the second time in as many minutes. His eyes came to rest on the face he could only describe as the epitome of peace and beauty.

How could he disturb a sight as breathtaking as this?

But he hated to see his human sleeping in such an uncomfortable position...

Silently, Phantom maneuvered himself into a position crouched next to Fenton. A little bit of intangibility and a whole lot of patience was thankfully all he needed to lift Fenton out of his chair. Of course, this left him with an entirely new problem.

Floating there, holding his sleeping human against his chest like this, was enthralling. Something about Fenton's steady, slow pulse, the way his bangs fluttered with each gentle breath, how he unconsciously curled himself into a position to fit perfectly in Phantom's arms...

The ghost swallowed. Focus. Get him to bed.

Except he found himself wanting to devote his focus to Fenton. Devote his core and being to Fenton. Hold him there forever and keep him safe and in his arms and eternally close to him.

Fenton shifted. With a long, deep breath, he twisted himself deeper into Phantom's arms, burying his face into the ghost's chest. Warm breath bloomed from Fenton's mouth and onto Phantom's chest, right above his core.

He swallowed again. Why did this feel more impossible than any ghost battle he'd ever been in?

Gritting his teeth, he reluctantly drifted towards the bed. Lowering Fenton down took very ounce of willpower he could possibly muster. It will be worth it when he is safe and comfortable, he tried to reassure himself.

And sure enough, the sight of Fenton's head laid on the pillow, black hair splayed out against the blue sheets, was worth it.

In spite of the pang in his core, Phantom smiled. Perhaps this is what those romance novels Jazz loved to read were talking about when they spoke of true love.

With a sigh he did not need, he moved to turn the desk light off only for a pale hand to reach out and grab his.

"Don' go," Fenton mumbled into the pillow, eyes still closed. Phantom stayed there, frozen in midair, praying that he hadn't woken up the human.

But how else would he know where to find Phantom?

Fenton's arm slowly curled back in towards his body, and Phantom, still petrified, allowed himself to be pulled along. His knees hit the bed. He sank into the mattress, eyes still locked on the human's face.

A blue eye cracked open ever so slightly. "Don' leave me," he gurgled again. Phantom found himself being guided to lay down next to Fenton. The bed was only a twin size, forcing him to press right up against the human.

"I'll just make you cold," Phantom whispered, his voice barely audible.

The eye closed. "Blanket."

Right. Of course. The one they were laying on. Phantom easily phased it through the both of them and draped it over their bodies. Really, he didn't need it, but something about the idea of sharing it with Fenton...

Their hands were still clasped together. Phantom used his free one to gently brush a few stray hairs from Fenton's face. Fenton's breath had already evened out again.

Beautiful. Stunning. Enchanting.

Ever so carefully, not wanting to wake the human up again, he leaned in and ghosted his lips across Fenton's. "Sweet dreams, love."

~ 41. kisses to shut them up (aka the challenge to write the shortest smooch drabble) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey. Hey, Valerie. Valerie.”

“... yes, Danny?”

“What do sweet potatoes wear to bed?”

Valerie’s hand clenched around the ice pack in her hand. Deep breaths, Gray. You love him. You don’t want to strangle him. “I don’t know, Danny,” she said with a sigh.

“They wear yammies! Yammies! That’s hilarious!” He proceeded to demonstrate this by quite literally rolling around, laughing like a hyena. Only in midair, not on the floor.

The ice pack exploded.

Two. Hours.

Two whole hours of nonstop, terrible puns. All thanks to the concussion Skulker had so kindly given him.

She’d have his metal hide by the end of all this.

“Oh! Oh! Valerie! Guess what?”

“No, we’re done with this.” She pulled him back down onto the couch, albeit with a little more force than intended. Annoyed as she was, she didn’t want to hurt him.

“But I want you to guess what one plant said to the other?”

Where did she leave her stupid phase-proof rope again? She could’ve sworn she’d brought it into the living room with her. “I don’t know, Danny.”

“It said, ‘Girl, you got me growing!’ Ha!” Danny devolved into another fit of laughter.

She loved the sound of his laughter, she really did. And to see him so easily entertained was… somewhat endearing. But did it have to come at the risk of her sanity?

“Waitwaitwait!” He stopped suddenly, eyes impossibly wide. “I got another one! What did - mmph!”

One benefit to being a girl: knowing exactly how to shut her guy up.

What better way than a kiss?

Satisfied, she pulled back. “Now, are you gonna lay down and behave?”

~ 45. sleepy kisses

tHIS ONE EXISTS IG HKLFDHSFD anyway uhhhhh how does Dash's hair work and also i could've picked better colors but OH WELL LET'S PAY ATTENTION TO THE GOLDEN TWINKIE PROPAGANDA bc i will singlehandedly change this ship name to Golden Twinkie do not test me

i like to think this is in college. they're both the kind of guys you see on campus in the dead of winter wearing just their t-shirts but honestly they're the only ones allowed to do that

Danny drools in his sleep. For some reason, Dash finds it endearing.

"Pretty pleeeaaase? I'll do whatever you want!"

Valerie all but slammed her locker shut. "Nathan. You've been asking me the same question for the past three years. What gives you any idea that my answer is going to change now?"

She hated to embarrass him, especially in front of so many people giggling at his latest failed attempt, but she had long since lost what little patience she might've had for these shenanigans. Frankly, she had half a mind to report him to Lancer for harassment, at this point.

She closed her eyes and pressed her back up against the locker. "Look," she said, trying desperately to reign in her temper, "I'm... flattered, alright? But no means no. End of story."

"Why not?" The bouquet of flowers hung limply at his side. "Everyone knows you still don't have a date!"

In typical high school fashion, a chorus of "ooh"s rose up from the crowd. Valerie's face burned. Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, she didn't know. Probably both.

She straightened up and took a step towards Nathan, who immediately cowered away. "I swear, Davies," she growled, "if you don't back off, I'll -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" A body pushed itself in between her and Nathan, holding placating hands up to her.

She blinked in surprise. "Danny?"

Whispers erupted from the onlookers. Danny glanced at them nervously, but didn't change his stance. "J-just... let's take a second, okay?"

She couldn't deny that much of her anger evaporated the moment her eyes landed on Danny, but before she could say anything, he'd turned to Nathan.

"I think there, uh, might be some misunderstanding about the best way to ask a girl out," he said with a shy grin.

"What would you know about that, Fenton?" someone hollered from within the crowd. A bout of giggling circled the hallway.

Valerie's fire reignited. She turned to the direction of the voice (who had sounded suspiciously like Brady Ibarra) and made to give them a piece of her mind, but a cool hand caught hers.

She nearly snapped at Danny too, for stopping her, but the grin on his face melted her heart (and didn't it always?). Not enough to keep her from glaring at him, but it just made his grin widen that much more.

"It's easy," he said, and she couldn't tell if he was talking to her, Nathan, or the hecklers.

"Valerie..." He shifted his hand so that his fingers tucked under hers, and her heart skipped a beat. "Do you wanna go to senior prom with me?"

A couple of freshmen at the front of the group squealed, and for a moment, Valerie was too stunned to react. Three years after she'd called things off, and he suddenly comes out of nowhere asking her to prom?

But she couldn't find it within herself to be angry. They had managed to stay close despite the breakup, and there had been plenty of times over the years that she'd regretted ever making that decision.

And so she grinned right back at Danny. "See?" she said, looking past his shoulder at Nathan, who stood there with his mouth wide open. "That's more like it."

Then, to Danny, she looked him right in the eye and squeezed his hand under hers. "You're on, Fenton."

They were both smiling like idiots and standing there with red hot blushes, but she couldn't really find it within herself to care, not even when Nathan sprinted away, choking back cries of despair.

With no more drama to be privy to, the crowd quickly dispersed, though Valerie was certain she heard more than one comment about some sort of bet. No doubt Tucker was behind it. She'd be more than happy to straighten him out later.

With his free hand, Danny fidgeted with his hair. "Sorry about that," he said sheepishly. "I just heard Nathan giving you a hard time again, and everyone was watching, and I know he wouldn't leave you alone..."

"It's okay," she laughed. "I had it handled, you know. I'm not some damsel in distress."

His eyes widened to comical margins, and before she could blink, he had yanked his hand back from hers in embarrassment. "Sorry! Sorry, I - er, I never thought, you know - wasn't trying toooo you know what, I'm just gonna, uh, go now."

He turned to leave, and now it was Valerie's turn to catch his hand. "And just where do you think you're going? We've got a date to plan."

"Huh?" The poor boy looked genuinely confused for a moment before his eyes widened even more, if that was even possible. "Oh! N-no, I didn't - I wasn't really trying t-to ask, I mean, I wouldn't - not -"

Valerie's face fell a bit. "So, you don't want to go to prom with me?"

"No! I - I mean yes! I mean - ughhhh, I didn't mean for that to be how I asked you, I had something else so much better planned and -" He shut his mouth tight and his whole face turned cherry red as his own words hit him.

She couldn't help it. She laughed out loud. "You really are something, Danny."

He peeked up at her from behind his bangs. "Something good I hope?" he asked timidly.

She responded by intertwining her fingers with his and stepping closer. "Obviously." Her smile was teasing, but it still elicited a smile of his own.

He sagged with relief. "I still can't believe I screwed that up, I had this whole plan and everything," he said through breathless, disbelieving laughs.

"Don't worry, you can make it up to me. I still want to see this big plan of yours, and I want to see if you can pull it off without tripping over your own pants."

That sent him into another round of sputtering, and she started giggling again as she led him down the hallway.

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(affectionately calling this Duly Deputized Hunting)

part 1 ~ part 2 ~ part 3

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"So!" Jack clapped his hands together, nearly making Valerie jump from the sound. "I bet Danny told you all about the Fenton EctoScrambler, huh? Did you want a demonstration? I mean yeah, we're not using actual ghosts as test subjects anymore of course, but we can still -"

"That's okay!" Valerie said, throwing her hands up with a kind smile. "I already heard about it from Danny." That was a lie, but hopefully neither Fenton parent would pick up on her fidgety fingers and bouncing leg.

She would lose whatever nerve she'd gathered before coming here if she got sidetracked now.

Maddie, thank God, could see the somewhat unrestrained panic in her eyes. She laid a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder. "Honey, let's not overwhelm her. I'm sure I heard Danny say something about demonstrating it to her later this week." Valerie relaxed and met Maddie's eyes. A knowing twinkle glimmered behind the older woman's irises, a twinkle that carried the experience of taming her husband's energetic zeal. "You said you had something to ask us on the phone?"

And just like that, Valerie's heart rate skyrocketed again. She picked at the edge of her sweater, desperately wishing she had something to tinker with. "Yeah. I mean, yes. Only if that's okay, of course." She nearly smacked her forehead. Way to play it cool, Gray.

"Of course!" Jack said with a hearty laugh. "Why wouldn't it be okay? You're practically family! Danny's brought you 'round often enough, you should know that by now." He shot an exaggerated wink to Valerie as Maddie gasped "Jack!" and nudged him in the arm.