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Danny flies higher, breaking through the thin layer of clouds that obscured the skies; the night is windy, and he has to change spots regularly to be able to see the stars. He's ventured into the fields surrounding Amity to escape the light pollution, and has spent perhaps more time stargazing than he should've on a school night; if he can trust his sense of time, it's been an hour or two. The night is crisp and still, the noise dimmed to the sounds of night life as he is rather away from the city.
A movement suddenly catches his eye; he flies closer, intrigued by the weird shape of a giant creature slowly crossing the field. The moon is only a sharp crescent, so despite Danny's night vision the starlight is barely enough for him to see properly; even with the shortened distance he can't make out the exact shape of it.
He's not quite sure what he's looking at; the thing appears to be an animal? He thinks? But the shape of it shudders and twists onto itself, legs branching and flowing and collapsing as it makes its way across the field. The more Danny looks at it, the more wrong he feels; he has seen a lot of weird shit in the Ghost Zone, but this one seems repulsive in a way he can't describe, almost making him nauseous. A strange sense of alarm creeps up his spine, foreboding and sharp, that he unsuccessfully tries to shake off. The best he can do is to push it down before it bleeds through the bond; the last thing he needs right now is to wake up Vlad and get an earful for breaking his curfew.
He floats, gripped by a fit of sudden panic when the thing raises its head(heads?) with its glowing eyes, and looks straight at Danny from across the field, pinning him in place with its stare.
Danny freezes, too afraid to move.
The thing charges at him with an unnatural agility for its size.
Danny turns tail and flees, feeling like he's breaking his own speed record.
He has a distinct sense he's being followed; he can't hear much over the howl of the air and his heart racing, and he's not losing speed by looking over his shoulder, but the feeling is still there. It's not even a question where he'd go; he can't lead that thing to his house. Despite all the weaponry inside, it is mostly ghost related, and that thing was not a ghost. Given its size, it wouldn't have a problem breaking in.
That leaves him with only one other option.
As he's flying over the suburbs, the bond flares up with a sudden pulse of worry that isn't his; Vlad has woken up.
When the manor becomes visible in the distance, Danny is met with Vlad's duplicate. He looks past Danny, assessing the direction he came from, then back at him, checking him for injuries.
“Go on inside, little badger,” he says, giving his shoulder a squeeze before darting away.
Phasing through the wall of Vlad's bedroom, Danny finds him sitting in bed and rubbing his eyes, barely conscious. His cheek still has the pillow lines imprinted into it, and half of his hair has escaped the night braid, hanging loosely over his shoulder.
Danny flies closer until he's floating right next to Vlad and curls up in the air, hugging his tail.
“Are your shields up?” he asks, worried. He has little doubt Vlad is strong enough to deal with whatever that thing was, but it would be better to avoid the whole fight altogether. “And why are you awake?”
“Of course I am awake, your adrenaline hit me like a freight train.” Vlad yawns with an audible click before continuing, “and yes, as always. What happened?”
“Saw something out in the fields, wasn't sure if it's following me so I couldn't go back home,” Danny stumbles over the last word a little because the Fentonworks feels less and less like home every day. His room at Vlad's mansion is gradually growing full of his things, and more often than not that's where he goes after hanging out with Sam and Tucker instead of home. His parents told him not to bother Vlad that much, and so far that has been their only reaction to the whole arrangement since the bond was formed.
“I'll take care of it, Badger, don't worry,” Vlad says with another yawn and flops back on the bed.
Danny watches him close his eyes, fingers twirling the end of his ghost tail mindlessly. Vlad probably expects him to go to his room, but he kinda really doesn't want to be alone right now.
He knows he's much too old for this. The last time someone held him to sleep was Jazz, when he was little. He'd had a nightmare and it didn't even occur to him to go look for his parents, since they were, most likely, in the lab and that's what most of his nightmares had always been about. He focuses on the bond, trying to telegraph his wish to be held.
Vlad reaches out to him, eyes still closed, and catches his hand that doesn't have the tail wrapped around it. Danny doesn't resist the tug, diving under the duvet until he's hidden from the world outside, surrounded by the scent of Vlad and the flowery detergent he uses. Warmth envelops him; Vlad is like a furnace, producing more than enough heat for the both of them. When he curls at his side, Vlad's core starts to rumble a low, soothing sound as his arms wrap around him. The unease finally lets up. He's safe.
His own core trills in response, slower and quieter than usual, still pretty shaken by the encounter. He doesn't even know why that thing got him so scared, but it's a huge relief he has someone to come to. The bond thrums between them, abuzz with emotions.
Vlad is quiet long enough that Danny thinks he's fallen asleep again, but then he gives a short hum.
“Daniel, that's a moose. Surely you've seen one before?”
Danny makes an indignant noise, squirming until he can see Vlad. “There are no moose in this state, Fruitloop. And its eyes glowed!”
“A ghost moose,” Vlad adds, voice vibrating lightly with the underlying purr. “They used to live there before all the forests had been cut down.”
Danny rests his head on Vlad's shoulder and frowns, still not convinced. He knows what he's seen, and that thing was not a normal animal, ghostly or otherwise.
“A lot of ghost animals have psionic abilities,” Vlad says. The silk of his pajamas shifts under Danny's cheek when the man turns on his side and pulls him closer, hand rubbing between his shoulder blades soothingly. Danny's core gives a low trill, stronger than before. “It's fascinating, really. Skulker says it's a protective mechanism developed specifically against humans. To avoid hunters.”
That does make sense, Danny supposes. If his encounters with Ember and Freakshow have taught him anything, it was the fact he's shit at mental control. “So it's still there?”
“Yes, it went into the forest when I last saw it.”
The bed behind him suddenly dips with weight, another arm curling around him. Vlad's duplicate settles behind him, pressed against his back and protecting him from the window side. That is enough for Danny to finally shift into his human form, clad in pajamas he'd put on before he got the idea to go stargazing. Exhaustion slams into him, both from the lack of sleep and the adrenaline ebbing away.
“I'm glad you've come to me, Badger,” the duplicate says, pulling the duvet higher, until Danny's almost fully covered again.
Danny hums in response, curling up tighter. He's also glad he has somewhere safe to come to, and pours that feeling into the bond instead of words. Judging by the purring growing stronger on both his sides, the sentiment is received.
Vlad presses a kiss to the crown of his head, arms tightening around him, and Danny lets the purring lull him to sleep.