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Danny hated going to the beach. He also hated going to the pond, the pool, the waterpark, or any other associated wet location where he might be expected (by societal conventions, at least) to remove his shirt. He had hated this since his childhood, and he especially hated it now that he had a lifetime’s worth of scars to cover up.
(There wasn’t anything to be done about the ones on his legs, and he usually fell back on his tried-and-true “Oh, just a little clumsy haha!”)
(That anyone believed him was nothing short of a miracle.)
But hey, if anyone could sneak an Asleep Danny Fenton (he was making up for the last month of ghost fighting, so sue him) out of the house and into the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle (which had several built-in beds), and have been driving like a maniac for the past, ehhhh an hour and a half or so (based on the “Wisconsin Dells, 50 miles” sign that flew past his window), it was Jack Fenton.
“Yo, what the fuck is-”
“Dann-o! You’re awake!” Jack interrupted the back half of Danny’s sentence. “You sleep like the dead, son, I was getting worried.”
“Dad, what the hell are we doing in the middle of Wisconsin?” Danny rolled out of bed, still wobbly with sleep, and struggled to the front seats.
“Meeting Vladdie, of course! We’re going to the Dells for a little guy time. You know, fishing and canoeing and that sort of thing.”
“Dad, you hate the outdoors.”
“I know, but I feel like we never get to spend quality time together anymore. And I like fishing well enough. It’ll be a fun weekend for us!” Jack’s enthusiasm was enough for the both of them, Danny decided. And anyways, it wasn’t like fishing or canoeing required him to be shirtless.
“Ok dad. But next time, just let me know beforehand.”
-
As it turned out, Jack had a whole itinerary for the three of them. And yes, it included swimming- well. Noodling. And not the pool noodle kind.
“Jack, why on earth would you suggest this? What part of trying to catch bottomfeeders with our bare hands in weather so hot it could cook an egg sounds like it would be a good day out?” Vlad shouted from the shore of the pond.
“ Thank you.” Danny muttered, hugging his arms, ankle-deep and eyeing the waving watergrass with trepidation.
“C’mon boys, the water’s great!” Jack fastened a lime-green mask over his face before diving under the water, and before long a small, inflatable snorkel bobber shaped like his head surfaced, marking his location.
“ Ugh, ” They said together, before giving the other a glare.
Danny squatted into the water—which was admittedly a pleasantly cool temperature—and stared at the multitudes of small fish swimming around the shallows. He ignored the rapid gathering of liquid on his spine, probably his core making an ice sheet against the oppressive heat. The fish scattered when a dark shadow loomed over the water, and Danny scowled.
“What do you want, Vlad?”
“Just wondering what has you so enthralled, Little Badger. And keeping the sun off of you, apparently.” Vlad leaned to the side, almost experimentally, and Danny’s back was exposed to the sun again. He shifted back, and the shadow washed over his back like a cool shower. “I thought so.”
“What?”
“Really, Daniel, a black shirt on a day this hot? You’ll fry your core if you aren’t careful, or worse, your idiot father will see the actual steam rising from your back and he’ll discover that you’re a ghost.”
“I’m fine. Leave me alone.”
“You’re hurting yourself, Daniel. Take your shirt off.”
“Why, got a thing for younger guys? Or are you not interested in having your ‘ideal son’ damaged?”
“Daniel-”
“It’s staying on.”
“Fine, overload your core!” Vlad spat. His shadow vanished from Danny’s sight and there was a rustling from the shore. “Don’t come crying to me when you realize I was right.”
“Like I’d come to you for help anyways!” Danny reared back, scattering the fish once more and sending a paper-thin sheet of ice over the water that cracked and melted near immediately as he stood. He twisted around, the world twisted with him, and he had about half a second to process the fact that he’d never really seen Vlad shirtless before. This allowed for one and a half thoughts-
Holy fuck his boobs are bigger than mine .
and
What are those marks-?
-before Danny dropped back into the water, unconscious.
-
The sun hadn’t changed position much when Danny woke again, though it was difficult to tell from the shadow cast by the absolutely massive tree he was laying under. The ground beneath his shoulders was sandy as well, so he couldn’t be too far from the pond either.
Ugh, sand would be a bitch to get out of his binder, even with intangibility.
…
His binder-
He sat up with a start, arms folding over his chest in reflex. A warm figure next to him startled at the sudden motion. He pawed around for his shirt, but the moment his fingers touched the fabric, it was snatched away with an exasperated,
“Absolutely not, Little Badger.”
Danny growled, and flickered invisible. “Fuck you, Vlad.”
“Fuck me? You overloaded your core and nearly drowned in three inches of water, you should be thanking me.”
“Fuck you for taking my shirt!” A hint of wetness entered Danny’s shouting, and he peered around to make sure his dad was still searching for catfish, and that no other civilians had come within earshot. “Give it back, asshole.”
“Why, so you can fling yourself back into the shallows again? How stupid do you think I am , Daniel?”
Danny snorted, “Do you want the full rant, or just the sparknotes?”
“Daniel,” Vlad’s voice took on an uncharacteristic solemnity, and he stared at the pond’s surface. Danny felt his bristling die down at the sudden change, and he started to fade back into visibility. Still guarded, of course, but not like before. And Vlad—the bastard—had the gall to smile at him, warm and genuine.
“Daniel, I will admit to knowing about this… problem of yours. For as long as Jack has known, at least.”
“But he said that you had spoken for twenty years before the reunion.”
“Spoken, no. That didn’t stop him from keeping me updated via the mail about every little aspect of his and his family’s lives.” Vlad’s brow furrowed. “I know who you were, Daniel. However-” He held up a hand, forestalling any protest, “-That person is more dead than you and I will ever be.”
“So you… aren’t,” Danny swallowed, “You aren’t going to spread this around?”
Vlad looked almost offended at that, and Danny watched his shirt nearly go flying into the pond when he started waving an angry hand around. “That would be beyond my level of maliciousness, dear boy. Not to mention, absolute hypocrisy on my part.”
“Why would that be hypocrisy?”
“Surely you saw, Badger,” Vlad turned more fully towards him, free hand pressed to one of his pecs to pull the flesh up and back. There beneath it, beneath both of them, was a thin stripe of pale skin, smooth and shiny. “We’re more alike than you realize.”