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It's mind-boggling how Maddie can stand staying with that buffoon. Vlad has money, he has notoriety, he could pay for all the ghost related tech she could ever want. Fund her research til the end of time. Yet somehow that oaf charmed her into staying. What does he have that Vlad doesn't. He paces his study trying to come up with something that could give him an edge over Jack in Maddies eyes, anything at all. He'll try anything if it could-
That's it.
Something Maddie needs desperately in her life.
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Danny had just about had it with ghost attacks this week, first during gym class, then the history test the teachers could not stop emphasizing how important it is, then lunch, then when he was gonna hang out with Valerie then- well anyone would get it. He needs a break badly, and it almost seemed like he'd get one. No ghosts all day at school, nothing on the radar all afternoon, and he just needs to get through his evening rounds and it'd be a blissfully ghost free day. Exactly what he needed-
If his ghost sense didn't just go off. Ugh.
He calls up Sam and Tucker to let them know, to which they share his contempt.
"Really?! What is up with the ghosts this week? It's like someone over there announced if they show up enough they could fill out a punch-card for some free fro-yo." Tucker exclaims over the com. He can hear Sam sighing in the background.
"I know right? Unfortunately all they keep getting is an all you can eat buffet of my fists." Danny responds while he looks around for the nuisance of the night. It's definitely close if his ghost sense went off, and he's hoping it'll be a quick one and done like the Box Ghost so he can head home and go to bed. And do his homework too. Totally.
Danny spends a couple minutes phasing in and out of warehouses and shipping containers looking for the phantom suspect, before he hears a familiar laugh behind him. It's just so slightly off but he doesn't think too hard about it, whipping his head around to spot Plasmius hovering right above a building. Jetting over ready to confront him and get him to go away and bother some other poor overworked teenager, not that he actually thinks anyone else actually hangs out with Vlad for him to bother but-
Uhm. Woah.
"Speechless are we Daniel? I'll take it as a compliment to my newly acquired beauty." Vlad crosses his- uh- her legs and leans back in the air with a smug look on her (?) face. Call Danny crazy but he's sure Vlad wasn't a woman the last time he saw him. Did Danny get sucked into an alternate dimension again and not realize it? "I know it's a lot to take in, but I've had certain… revelations lately my dear boy. So I thought it was time for a change."
"Well uh- congrats on finding yourself or something Vlad? Do I still call you Vlad?" There's about a million things Danny feels like he could say to this, but his mind is nearly coming up blank. Her new form is a little… distracting. Like they're kinda big. Like really big. Danny may have peaked in the girls locker room once or twice but Jazz and Mom would kill him if just stared at a girls uh- chest- so openly. And Vlad's is really big. Dannys guesses it was big before too but it's different when it's a girls!
"Woah! Vlad got hot!" Danny hears Tucker exclaim before Sam punches him in the arm.
"Tucker!" They both yell at him simultaneously.
"Don't call my arch-nemesis hot dude! It's weird!" He turns around to gesture at Tucker. "Like seriously man!"
Sam whips her head to give him a look before turning her head to Tucker to glare at him "And it's totally disrespectful is what you should be saying. Have some respect for a woman for once Tucker, ugh."
"Whattt?" Tucker rubs his shoulder where Sam punched him. "Can't a guy appreciate a hot older lady in this day and age? I mean look at her- OW!" Sam cuts off Tucker with another punch to the shoulder. Both Sam and Danny sigh heavily before Danny turns his attention back to Vlads new assets- UH form!
"As surely flattering as this is to overhear, I'm afraid you're a bit too young for me- Sucker was it?" Vlad finally interrupts their back and forth before grinning at Danny. "Well my dear Daniel, I simply wanted to show off my new look before I go visit your mother tomorrow, sadly there's no one else who would be able to appreciate my new ghost form." She flies off before Danny can really process what to do. This has really thrown him for a loop.
"IT'S TUCKER DANG IT! AND CALL ME IF YOU EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND!" Tucker yells after her, making a calling motion next to his ear.
"Yeah cause I'm sure a genius billionaire woman with ghost powers that has a major thing for Dannys mom is just itching to go on a date with a 14 year old geek to a comic convention." Sam follows up Tuckers desperate yelling. "Just ignoring all the ethical concerns, pretty sure she's a little much for you Tucker."
"Hey, you gotta have patience to catch the fish in the sea you want. She'll realize what she's missing out on eventually." Tucker replies, shooting her some finger guns.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about how hot my parents old friend and my arch-nemesis is Tucker, it's totally weird man." Danny lands next to them and de-transforms. He groans loudly just thinking about it before he continues "And I'm gonna have to deal with her all day tomorrow and sit through another one of her failed attempts to woo my Mom into leaving Dad."
"Can I come?"
"TUCKER!"
…
Danny is already so done with this. Incredibly done, and from the look on her face Jazz is too. Though maybe for different reasons, he can't tell. She seemed surprised when Vlad showed up looking like. Well. A woman now. But her and Mom adjusted pretty quickly. Not that Dad didn't totally support his "Best Buddy" from college or anything but he does a lot more speaking without thinking than any of them do. Which Jazz keeps getting on his case about cause' coming out is a nerveracking experience, and Vlad is "finding herself" and we should address her correctly because she clearly came here to confide in friends who should support her properly. Or whatever it is she read in her psychology textbook.
Mom and Dad are clearly pretty excited and enthusiastic. All "We're so glad you still feel comfortable enough to tell us this!" Which Vlad smiled at all sappy of course and "Vladdie my man! This is incredible!" which made her smile tighten with clear contempt. That everyone but Danny couldn't see apparently.
Danny sits at the kitchen table leaning his head on his hand while he watches this all go down. He scowls at how much more touchy Vlad is with his Mom now, cause girls are just like that he guesses. All over each other all the time with no problems for personal space. Something that clearly makes Vlad very happy. Creep. She can change whatever she wants about herself but that doesn't stop her from trying to be a major homewrecker. A win for women everywhere, if it wasn't HIS Mom she was shooting for.
He looks up to see Vlad approaching him and sitting down at the table across from him, the rest of his family off to go do something else apparently. Vlad smiles at before she threads her fingers together and rests her hands on the table in front of her. Danny frowns back at her.
He bites out a "What do you want Vlad?"
"Now Daniel, what's with this hostility? I merely came over to chat with you a moment, and clear things up." She leans forward looking way more smug than Danny is comfortable with. " Just want to make sure you have the full picture dear boy."
"Thanks but no thanks, I've seen more than I ever wanted to see of the 'picture'" He makes air quotes and leans further back in his chair. The farther from Vlad the better.
Vlad waves her hand in dismissal of his statement "Nonsense, I just simply wanted to make sure you won't interfere too much. Your mother doesn't go out much and the women her age she does get to talk with aren't exactly very interested in her ghost talk." She starts to get this (gross) loving look in her eye as she thinks about his Mom "Would it not be good for her to have a female friend her age? There's some things Jack simply will never get, do you really want to deprive your dear mother from some time with someone who gets it?" I.E. Vlad, obviously.
She's not… exactly wrong, it's not like Mom really gets to talk to other parents, or even their neighbors. She's either fussing over Jazz and Danny, making sure Dad doesn't go too crazy, or getting way enthusiastic about ghosts herself. And unfortunately ghosts aren't really a hot topic with PTA Moms. He'd agree with her if Vlad wasn't obviously just doing this to get an in. He can't let Moms first lady friend in forever be Vlad Plasmius. Especially since she wants to be Moms girlfriend instead. Even if Mom looked really happy about Vlad coming out to her, and being more "open". Ugh.
He throws his head back in groan. He really doesn't like it but- "Look Mom would never fall for you in a million years. But if you're like actually a good friend to her there's nothing I can really do about that." Vlad smirks at what he's telling her "I'm not afraid of third wheeling and totally messing up any 'gal time' you try to have with her, got it?" He glares, punctuating his statement.
"Of course Daniel, you may find it hard to believe but I really do care about your mother. I have just as much of a desire for her to be happy as you do."
"I'll believe it when I see it Vlad." Danny moves to get up, he makes a motion to let Vlad know he's keeping his eye on her before exiting the kitchen.
He wonders if they're as big when she's human, cause he totally wasn't looking at them. At all. But if he was- (which he wasn't!) he hopes it wasn't obvious or Jazz might actually kill him.
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Finally, after enduring Jack's horrible attempts at supporting her and Jasmine reprimanding her father for his "unsupportive language" for her announcement to the Fentons, she gets some alone time with lovely, amazing, incredible Maddie. It's quite a balm to the building frustration she was feeling at just having to be in the same space as Jack, but as always it's worth it to see Maddie's face light up at her visit and ask how she's doing. She could listen to her wax poetic about ghosts for eternity if time allowed it, but alas she has a goal in mind today.
She takes Maddies hands in hers, a normal platonic move for two women (it makes Vlad giddy inside, to finally be allowed to be so affectionate with Maddie and not have to worry about objections from others about how "She's married" and "She's not interested in you"). "You have no idea how much it meant to me Maddie to be accepted so readily, I was quite hesitant to say it out loud but you (and Jack's) support is something that means the world to me."
Maddie returns the affection readily "Of course Vlad! It's the least we could do." She makes a face for a moment before continuing "I am sorry about all of Jacks slips though; you know how he is, I'm sure he'll get it eventually!"
Vlad tightens her smile "Oh posh- don't worry about it Maddie, I hardly think anything of it." Vlad thinks quite too much about it actually, but if she spent all her time thinking about the infinite ways Jack Fenton utterly frustrates her body and soul, she'd never have time to do anything else. "I did want to ask something of you though Maddie, if you'd hear me out." She tilts her head and scoots minutely closer, nothing Daniel could complain about as trying to steal his mother.
She smiles at her (a breathtaking smile) and replies "Oh anything Vlad, I'd be happy to help!"
"Thank you Maddie, you're too good to me." Vlad celebrates inside, it's so much easier now. She doesn't know why she didn't think of doing this years ago. Well she supposes years ago she didn't have billions of dollars at her disposal and ghost powers to make transitioning a far smoother process. The wonders being half-ghost will do for you she supposes, she had it far easier than most getting the ideal body in mind. "I was just wondering if you'd like to make get-togethers between us more.. frequent? Quality girl time if you will."
Maddie takes a moment to process it before leaning forward suddenly and wrapping Vlad in a tight hug "Oh that sounds wonderful Vlad! It'll be be so nice to spend more time with you again!" She'd think she was in heaven if she didn't know she was already half-dead. She wraps her arms around Maddie as well and savors the moment.
Of course Daniel couldn't let it be.
"MOM, it's getting late! We should let Vlad head back to- wherever she's staying, you don't wanna keep her do you?" Daniel leans over the couch to get between the 2 of them. Annoying.
Maddie ruffles Daniels hair and agrees "You don't wanna stay out too long after dark Vlad, you know ghosts are more active then."
"Of course Maddie, I'll get going then." She gets up from the couch, but turns towards Daniel before she moves to leave. "Could you be a gentleman and walk a lady to her car my dear Daniel?" He makes a frustrated face at her but pushes off the couch to walk with her, wordlessly agreeing to it.
They barely make it out the door and around the corner before he stops them both "Way too touchy with my Mom in there Plasmius." All she can do is smirk back as she replies.
"I wasn't the one who initiated the embrace boy, you'd have to take that up with your mother." He scowls at that. "But I will bid you farewell, I do have some matters I need to handle. I bid you adieu." She turns to her ghost form, and feels a sort of instant relief. She needs to look into a more supportive bra, though the benefit to being a ghost is that you're weightless.
She also needs to make sure to confront Daniel when his pesky little friends aren't around. She's not exactly eager to get bothered for her number by a 14 year old boy while she's trying to give an intimidating speech.
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Danny lets out a sigh of relief as Vlad flies off. "Good Riddance." Though he guesses the nightmare isn't over yet cause when he heads back inside he can hear Jazz talking about how great it is that Mom has a female friend that she can talk about girl things with and not ghosts and not spend all her time in the shadow of a man and blah blah blah.
It reminds him to starting fighting Vlad when Tucker isn't around though, he doesn't wanna have to listen to anymore of those comments about her boobs.