kaisou | Open Log

WHO: Danny Fenton and Friends
WHERE: Danny's House
WHEN: April 17
WHAT: Danny's been avoiding his friends since the dungeon. They figure it out.
WARNINGS: Grumpy teenagers avoiding their problems and making bad decisions, Paranoia

More than a week after his rescue from his personal nightmare dungeon, and Danny still wasn't handling it well. Don't get him wrong. It helped a lot, knowing how far his friends would go for him. That none of them would abandon him like his nightmares had feared.

And he'd tried to go back to life as normal, he really had. But he'd quickly realized that being outside on his own didn't feel safe any more. That was twice in two months he'd been taken and trapped somewhere. And now every time he was outside on his own, all he could think about was.... what if this was the day it happened again?

And well, at least at home he had his parents and his dog? Even if he couldn't really talk to them about what happened. But it was something. It was a little better.

He doesn't think about his friends figuring out that something was wrong. If he was a little less stressed maybe he would have. Because of course they would notice. He wasn't even going out at night to set up his telescope or go flying, and he wasn't doing a good job at all at hiding his nervousness the times he'd gone out to go to school or walk his dog.

Tonight was another night of staying home and anxiously attempting to ignore the beeping on his phone from the Libra app. He glances up as he hears a knock at the door.

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Danny sighs.

"Wearing gloves helps. But... it isn't a curse or anything. Its because of what I am now. So I think I just have to learn how to live with it."

Maybe he should count himself lucky that there wasn't anything like that for his ghost half, like what he'd glimpsed in his past self's memories. His past self had had to live in a world that had weapons specifically made to hurt ghosts. He didn't have to deal with that here. So maybe it was an even trade?

Luz nodded. She knew enough about Fae lore to understand this wasn't something he could even fight against. It was just how things were going to be.

"That still stinks though. I wonder if there's a way to make you special gloves that look like hands. At least then, it won't make your parents wonder why you're wearing gloves in the house."

"I told them it was a project for school. Same reason I have them for why I started eating with wood forks and knives instead of the ones they use."

He honestly wasn't sure what excuse to use once the school year wrapped up.

"But you can't keep that up forever, can you? Eventually they're going to wonder why you're still doing it."

Would he just say he got used to it? Would that work?

"I'll just have to come up with another reason if they ask. I just have to make it one more year. I can handle it, I think.""

"One more year?"

That stuck out.

"What happens after a year?"

"College," he says simply. "Next year is my senior year."

He'd already been planning on finding a roommate and living in an apartment near the college since before this all happened. But with the iron problem and the talking to his parents problem, it just seemed like it could fix a lot of problems. He could live somewhere that didn't have rooms that were dangerous to him to walk through, and his parents wouldn't have as much to worry about if they couldn't see his... issues every day.

"Huh," Luz said. "Wow. I did not realize how old you are. Technically, you've got to be at least three years on me."

Not that this meant a whole lot when it came to actual adult experiences like trauma and actual adulting?

"Are you just never gonna tell them, then?"

"Its because I haven't gotten my growth spurt yet, isn't it."

Danny hadn't quite realized yet that he had barely aged at all over the last few months. He was going to be short for a very, very long time.

"Maybe? I don't know. I mean, how do you even start that conversation?"

"Your guess is as good as mine! Then again, I haven't really gotten a...spurt? Myself. Still kinda gangly."

Not that Luz minded this, but she did wonder if she'd ever get out of that stage where she felt like she was all limbs.

"In all fairness, if they're paying attention? They'll probably initiate it with you first. The real question is this: how much are you willing to let them know about?"

"Honestly? If I can just have that conversation never I'd really rather go with that." He sighs. "But... probably just the stuff that isn't as worrying."

Like how he'd been half dead for almost a year. Or that those week they thought he'd been visiting friends he'd actually been kidnapped by the Fae or stranded in the spirit realm.

"So you'd only just tell us," Luz said, sighing. "Not that I'm against you telling ANYONE. You should! But your parents, you live with them. I'm sure they still want to have some kind of a relationship with you. But in the end, I guess that's up to you."

Luz wasn't a fool: she knew that some kids couldn't tell their parents some pretty important things about them without upending their whole living situation.

The problem here was that even without Danny telling them anything, his family life was already upended. The real question was if his parents would try to support him or just be horrified and not want to talk about it.

Danny sighs heavily.

"I know. And I don't want to never talk to them again or anything. Its just so awkward knowing that there's so much of what I am now that they'll never be able to believe. I think... maybe it will be better if I'm a little further away and don't have to lie all the time."

Luz listened then took a breath and looked at Danny.

"I get what you're saying, and I don't envy your choice. But remember that whatever the Fae have done, they shouldn't get to decide how you have a relationship with your folks. Only you can do that."

"Its not just everything with the Fae," he says with a faint frown. He sighs and lets his shoulders drop. "But I get what you're saying. I just... I feel like I don't know what's right any more. And I don't want to make it any worse."

Maybe it was dumb. He just knew, that if it came down to it he'd rather be a disappointment to his parents than have them worry about everything that was actually happening. Because maybe they'd take it well, but maybe they wouldn't. And what if he told them everything, and they thought he was just making it up? It could make everything so much worse. (And he remembered, he'd seen something of what his past life had dealt with. At least he didn't have to worry about his own parents seeing his ghost self as an enemy. Did he really have the right to complain?)

"There's more?"

It was hard to deal with all of this, and really, Danny shouldn't have to. He was a good person who was still trying to sort through his magic, why should he have to deal with the prospect of his parents being upset with something he still couldn't control yet?

"Well, if you're not ready now, I get it. You might even want to wait until you have better control of what you can do. But if it gets too much, I think you might want to think about talking to them. The last thing you want is to shoulder so much that it breaks you."

"There's always more," Danny says glumly. "At least that's the way things seem to be going this year."

Get used to one major change, and get blindsided by the next one in line.

"Don't I know it."

Danny wasn't the only one who got blindsided these past few months, and though she was recovering, the process was slow and painful. Sometimes even waking up, she had to remind herself she wouldn't see her sweet potato smiling back at her.

"Want to talk about it?"

Danny was touched by the offer, but he shakes his head slowly.

"I don't want to bore you with all of my problems."

There was a point where friends had to get tired of dealing with it, right?

Bore her with..?

"Danny, what the heck are you talking about? You're my friend! If you have problems, don't you think I'd want to know, and try to help you?"

Seriously, he did know how friendship worked, right?

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