Work Text:
“Hey glowstick! Dim the lights, please.”
Danny’s head snapped up at Sam’s comment. Ah, right.
He, Sam, and Tucker were in Sam’s basement theater, about to start a movie. Tucker manned the popcorn machine, and Sam stood near the light switch- which she’d just turned off. The room was dark. Mostly.
“Sorry.” Danny replied from the couch. Between one breath and the next he turned from ghost form to human. His glow vanished, leaving the room in shadows lit only by the projector screen.
“Thank-you.” Sam left the switch to sit next to him, getting cozy with her purple blanket.
“Make way!” Tucker exclaimed, armed with the popcorn bowl. He plopped down between them and promptly laid his head in Sam’s lap, and his legs in Danny’s.
Sam huffed.
“You should change your name to Trucker, not Tucker. Forcing your way in like that.”
“I don’t hear any complaints.” A grinning Tucker shimmied, making himself comfortable between them.
“I literally just compla-”
“Shhh! The move is starting.” Tucker said and pressed start. Sam shook her head but smiled, and turned her attention to the movie.
Danny remained quiet, watching their interaction with a smile. He was content to be the third, for now. He automatically grabbed an extra blanket and threw it over Tucker’s legs, tucking it in around him.
“Thanks, man.” Said Tucker around a mouthful of popcorn.
Danny laughed.
“No prob.” He rested one hand on Tucker’s calf and the other in the popcorn bowl. The opening credits began and he settled in for the movie.
“Now that’s a girl’s locker room.” Tucker snickered at the scene.
Sam and Danny rolled their eyes.
“Girl’s locker rooms really aren’t as exciting as you think, Tuck.” Memories of covering his eyes and ducking into the bathroom stalls to change flashed in front of Danny’s eyes.
“How would you know?” Tucker retorted.
Danny didn’t deign that with a response, and turned his attention back to the movie.
“Oh.” Tucker laughed quietly, awkwardly, and then the scene changed and the moment was forgotten.
They got through the first half hour before Danny felt a tinge in his ribs. He ignored it for a while, but the pain was constant. He shifted in his seat but was unable to get comfortable. Until he could ignore it no longer.
“Bathroom break. Be right back.” Danny said in a hushed voice and stood, dumping Tucker’s legs out of his lap. Prompting a startled squawk.
“Want us to pause the movie?” Sam turned to see him standing. Tucker watched as well.
“Nah.” Danny waved them off.
“I’ll be back soon. Just fill me in when I get back.” Not wanting to interrupt further, Danny quickly made his exit. Just as he’d asked, the movie continued to play as he left.
The stairs felt like a special kind of hell as Danny ascended them. He pressed a hand against his chest and tried to ignore the sharp ache, just putting one foot in front of the other.
Muscle memory from years of sleepovers and movie nights led him towards the downstairs bathroom, and he shut himself inside. He locked the door, ensuring his privacy.
With that privacy, Danny sat on the toilet and shucked off his shirt- then rolled his binder up to his armpits.
He sighed with relief, as it finally felt like he could breathe. Binders and recently cracked ribs didn’t match well, it turned out. Super healing or no.
Danny rested his head in his hands, eyes closed so he didn’t have to look. He took a moment to just breathe- in, and out.
He should have taken a binder break earlier, really. He’d been wearing it for… thirteen hours, now? Eight if he didn’t count time in his ghost form. Which he didn’t, usually. Because that form didn’t need a binder. A blessing and a curse, all in one. His top surgery fund was abysmally small.
A few minutes passed, and Danny figured it was time to go back to the movie. He didn’t want to miss too much.
Danny pulled his binder back down and it was then that he realized the fatal flaw in his plan. His chest ached even more now, and the pain clogged his throat.
“Shit. ” He cursed quietly.
He’d come right to Sam’s after ghost hunting, and his backpack had been blasted to bits by Box Ghost. With it, his spare bra- the one he kept just in case this sort of thing happened.
Unable to stand the pain, Danny shucked the binder off onto the floor. He took a deep breath, enjoying the freedom but finding himself shivering.
He abhorred not wearing anything for his… chest. Being trans made him self-conscious enough, he didn't need it accentuated. But he also didn’t have a choice. Reluctantly, he picked his t-shirt back up off the floor and put it on. A glance down made him cringe.
Part of Danny thought maybe he could ask to borrow one of Sam’s bras. But another part shrunk away from the idea of saying the word out loud, and making his ‘issue’ known. Plus, Sam always wore the expensive, custom-fit kind. A far cry from the ten dollar two-packs he picked up at walmart. He didn’t even know if hers would fit.
With gritted teeth, Danny stuffed the binder in his pocket and washed his hands. He left the bathroom with his arms crossed in front of his chest; trying (and failing) to look casual. The last thing he needed right now was the run into Sam’s mom, so he hastened his steps.
Danny returned to the basement and found
the most important people in the world
his friends still laying on the couch.
Tucker had shifted in his absence, knees bent and legs tucked up. From his slow heartbeat and slower breaths, Danny could tell without even seeing his eyes that Tucker was asleep. His head still rested in Sam’s lap, and she had an idle hand in his hair.
“Everything good?” Sam asked in a hushed tone, noticing Danny’s entrance right away. He’d been gone for a while.
Danny’s reply was quick- he didn’t want her to worry. Or to look at him.
“Fine.” He sat back down on the couch, distanced by Tucker’s folded legs. Danny took his blanket and tucked it under either arm, tight around his chest. He kept his arms folded.
“Hm.” Sam frowned.
“Well, I saved you the last of the popcorn. Want it?” Sam wasn’t done yet, it seemed. Danny glanced over to see the bowl with just a handful or two left. He debated- he really wanted popcorn. But he also didn’t want to lift his arms to take the bowl from her.
“No thanks.” He said politely.
Sam dropped it, thankfully- attention turned back to the movie. He caught her sideways glance but pretended not to notice.
“Hey Danny?” Tucker asked.
“What?” Danny laid out the blanket on the top of the Ops Center. There was a meteor shower tonight, and they’d gone up there to watch it. Sam sat down on the blanket and began to dole out their orders from Nasty Burger.
“Why are you always in ghost form nowadays when we hang out?” Tucker sat down next to Sam.
Danny froze, teeth clenched. He forced out a breath.
“Yeah, I noticed that too.” Sam added, chewing on a fry.
“It’s been like a week since we’ve seen Fenton anywhere but school.”
Danny’s plan on just shrugging and saying ‘idk’ went out the window with that statement. And with Sam and Tucker’s stares.
They weren’t judgemental, of course. They’d never judge him, not about this. But Danny couldn’t help feeling that way. And it made him quiet.
The two must have noticed his discomfort with the question and he saw them exchange looks, silently communicating.
“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” Said Sam.
“Yeah- I was just curious. No pressure, man.” Tucker added.
A weight lifted from Danny’s chest. He took his seat on the blanket between them.
“Nah, it’s fine.” He scratched the back of his neck- a familiar gesture.
“It’s just more comfortable, I guess?”
Danny paused, debating how much he really wanted to say.
“...Helps with my dysphoria, and all that.” He said quietly.
“Ah, gotcha.” Tucker nodded immediately in understanding. For which Danny was immensely grateful.
Sam piped up as well with her own support.
“You look happier. Even if you also look, y’know, dead.”
“Thanks, Sam.” Danny said dryly.
“I do mean it though. You seem more comfortable” She bumped her shoulder against his.
Tucker piped up with a snicker.
“Yeah, you’re positively glowing .”
“
Tucker.
” They groaned in unison.