Hey DP phans, starting on the 12th of December until the 23rd, there will be a cute holiday-themed prompt a day for you to fill in how ever you please!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Title: Back In Your Orbit
Summary: Lancer's new unit on Greek Literature, aka mythology, shouldn't be a problem for Danny. Even if the stories have connections to the constellations, and constellations are stars, and stars are in space, and, oh no.
Word Count: 639
Characters: Danny Fenton & Mr. Lancer's English class
Warnings: None!
Oh this makes a bit more sense if you've read Wes Weston and the Quest to Find Danny's Obsession first.
don't mind me slipping in under the wire for my own event it's fine. don't worry about it.
You can read below or on AO3!
Danny slipped into his seat in the back just before the bell rang and let out a soft sigh in relief. He did not need to get in trouble for being late again.
Mr. Lancer gave the room a quick once, nodded, and then stood up.
"Today we will be starting a new unit," the teacher started. "Over the next two weeks, we'll be going over classic Greek literature."
The obligatory groan at the word literature forced Lancer to pause his explanation.
The teacher sighed and took a moment to compose himself.
"I'd like to start by seeing what you know."
Another groan from the room.
"Would myths count?" Sam asked.
"Why yes actually!" Mr. Lancer beamed, "can you share an example with the class?"
"Well I know the western zodiac each has their own story, but my personal favorites are the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and the tale of Persephone."
Danny perked up when Sam mentioned the zodiac.
Danny knew the zodiac stories. He's the one who told them to her.
One night when they were stargazing in the park after a long ghost hunting patrol to unwind. He had only meant to tell her one or two as he pointed the constellations that could be seen that time of year, but he ended up getting a little carried away.
Which of course, thinking back on it now, was a little embarrassing.
He felt a buzz of energy as he thought about the stories.
Stories about the stars.
But then Sam mentioned that final myth. The name of the Goddess.
The name of his…
No!
The name didn't mean anything else.
It was just a name.
It didn't mean anything.
"Mr. Fenton, are you alright?"
Danny opened his eyes and found a very concerned-looking Mr. Lancer.
"I…" Danny hesitated, "sorry I was just thinking."
"If you think any harder you'll hurt yourself," Dash teased loud enough for everyone to hear.
Everyone chuckled at that.
Even Tucker.
Danny shot a quick judging glare at his best friend, who just shrugged.
Lancer went back to the front of the room to continue his lesson.
Danny would have preferred to have been ignored instead of being made the center of attention like that. Don't teachers know how embarrassing that is?
They were students once, weren't they? It can't have been that long ago that they forgot, right?
Danny slumped in his seat and tried not to linger on the embarrassment.
Then he felt something shift in his pocket and tap against the plastic desk chair.
Curious, he took a peek and noticed something dark and jagged poking out.
He didn't remember putting anything like that into his pocket. Or anything at all actually.
He reached for the mysterious object and before he had even fully touched it, he could feel the energy coming from it.
It felt so familiar. That pulsing of energy felt just like his ectoblasts.
But then he felt the object with his hands.
It was rough and the edges crumbled slightly as his fingers brushed up against it.
This was a rock.
There was a rock in his pocket.
But it wasn’t just a rock.
It was full of ghost energy.
His ghost energy.
“Persephone,” he whispered to himself.
He pulled his little planet out of his pocket and cradled it in his hands as carefully as he could.
Why had he been trying to avoid thinking of her again?
He loved his little planet. His precious Persephone.
Oh, but she was falling apart now.
Was it because she was no longer in orbit? Fixing that would probably help. It was the best way to have gravity after all.
He ended up being so absorbed in worrying about what he was holding that he completely forgot he was in class.
Star Thunder had her act together just fine, thank you. She was at school on time every morning, her friends were the most popular. She had plans every weekend. She got to go and enjoy herself on the weekends because she did all of her homework in a timely manner and even did extra to boost her grades. Sometimes, she even did a little something to use as bribes. Take-home quizzes, term papers, and art projects were all things she could use to sway favor and get some cash.
Unfortunately, this was a well known fact and brought Tucker Foley to her on what would have been a peaceful Tuesday morning.
"No way."
Star slammed her locker, glaring at the boy. "It's not my problem Fenton didn't do his work. He still has all next week to finish and it only takes like four hours."
"Come on, Star. The only time he got above a C last year was when you did his homework during the beauty pageant."
"That didn't exactly work out for me, did it?"
"He can't fail. I'll pay you."
"You're notoriously broke, Foley." though the idea that she was smarter than either of them made her smile. The look must have given the boy courage because he persisted.
"Yeah but I have stuff. What do you want?"
Pushy jerk. Her smile turned to a smirk.
"Dead Teacher collectors set"
"Done."
Star blinked at him. She said it sarcastically, the box set featuring all 11 Dead Teacher movies, extended director's cuts, behind the scenes footage, and documentary with that guy who now haunts the remakes was expensive and incredibly rare. They only made a thousand and each one was signed by the director.
"Why?"
"Because Danny's my best friend. He's going through some stuff and this was the only project he didn't at least start. I'll help him finish the others and combined we'll pull at least a C."
Star crossed her arms.
"You didn't do yours either?" she asked irritably. Star was very organized. When people didn't do their work or lost track of time, she had a hard time giving sympathy. Dash in particular was a repeat offender.
"I did... He's been doing a lot of this stuff by himself." He bites his lip as if he regretted saying even that lame tidbit. She brushed some of her hair behind her ear rustling the flower clip. Her voice was starting to lose the stiffness, the ice.
"Not stuff you can help with?"
Foley looked away.
"Not all of it. But I can help with this." He looked up again and determination caught her off guard. "Danny's my best friend. He does so much for me, this is the least I can do for him."
Star looked at him oddly.
Fenton was a flake. Everyone knew that. There weren't too many people who knew him personally and he fluctuated between trying way too hard to fit in and not caring what anyone thought. At least he used to.
Walking by Fenton Works, it wasn't hard to guess why Danny had been down recently. Well, down more than normal. The guy seemed sad a lot… having parents like that must be rough.
"Fine."
"What?"
"I said fine, dweeb. I'll make him a solid B+ paper but only because it's Christmas and I'm feeling like a gift to the world."
Foley smiled so wide. She wondered if she had ever seen him so happy.
"You are! You're a shining star! A true gift-"
"Don't push it, Foley."
"Got it. Thanks Star, you really are making a huge difference." the boy ran off and she rolled her eyes. He was so excited. She imagined his face when she turned over the paper and revealed she didn't even want the DVDS.