Phantom loved space, Damian quickly learned. He could ramble for hours about stars and galaxies, becoming so enchanted with his own stories his hair would become long and flowing, shining with twinkling stars.
He learned about this love for the stars the first time they met in civilian clothes. Phantom, Danny he was told, wore a hoodie that said 'Remember Laika' with the dogs face on it. He wore ripped jeans and boots, smiling widly as they walked around the astrology section of Gotham Natural History Museum. Damian wore sunglasses and a simple jacket, following Dannys lead.
They talked about everything and nothing. No talk of the afterlife, no mentioning of rouges and vigilante justice, just them and the stars. Not even a reporter appeared, and Damian felt calm and comfortable. "Oh, this is my favorite section!" Danny took his hand and pulled him into the planetarium. "I think they're showing the Aurora Borealis! The bright green ones!" Damian allowed himself to be pulled into the nearly empty dark room and sat with Danny buzzing next to him.
"Oh, I haven’t seen the Aurora in forever!" He whispered excitedly. "Last time I saw it was with Ellie in Alaska!" Damian smiled softly. "Who's Ellie?" Danny beamed. "My clone cousin-sister-daughter-ect. She travles a lot." A clone? That was news. But he would ignore it for now, as he saw the worker start the show. Danny giggled happily as the lights came on, showing a snowy landscape and a rich blue sky slowly being filled with green.
The aurora melted in, twisting back and forth, following a path in the sky only it could see. It glowed bright green, with a hint of yellow at the edges before it melted into the blue sky. Damian glanced at Danny. He looked overjoyed, his face filled with warmth and his hair turning into stars. It reminded him of the part in Sailor Moon's transformation where she became bright pink, only instead of pink stars it was the real night sky.
Damian found himself watching Danny more than the Aurora, trying to memorize each star in his hair, every nebula he could see. Danny didn't seem to notice, too absorbed in the show. "I love space," he said softly, his smile warm. "I mean, is there anything as beautiful?" Damian smiled as well, still trying to take in his hair. "I can think of something." Danny laughed, looking at him. "What?" Damian didn't respond, just kept smiling at him. Danny laughed again and looked away, his face flushing.
They left after the show ended, walking to the gift shop. Danny left to the bathrooms and Damian was left alone. Or, so he thought. About a minute after Danny turned the corner he was being pulled in the opposite direction and into a small storage closet. He pulled a knife from his pocket, but stopped. "Drake," he snapped at him, "What is your problem? I almost stabbed you publicly."
Drake glared at him. "Whats my problem?! Whats yours? Why are you on a date with my stalker?!" Damian nearly choked. "Its not a date! And Danny hasn't stalked you in over four months!" Drake grit his teeth. "I. Noticed." Damian rolled his eyes. "And you're on first name basis now?" Damian glared at him. "We are friends. Nothing more. You're being ridiculous, acting jealous that your stalker is no longer stalking you."
"I don't think friends call each other more beautiful than space." Drake snapped, and once Damian processed his words he shot back, "Have you been following us?! Why? Why would you want a stalker!" "Stop saying that!" Drake growled at him, "I don’t want a stalker, I'm just—you don't understand!" Damian pushed past him. "And neither does anyone else. Stop being childish."
"You didn't want Dannys attention, loathed his presence even! But now that we're getting along, suddenly its a problem? You want his attention again, like a spoiled child throwing away a toy and then crying when someone else gets it." Drake opened and closed his mouth. "Leave. Us. Alone. We are enjoying ourselves, and I won't let you ruin it. You had your chance." Damian walked out of the closet, closed it, and then grabbed a post from a que and jammed it under the doorknob.
He quickly left to the gift shop, and thankfully Danny was not back yet. He waited about two minutes before he appeared around the corner, absolutely beaming. "I just saw the fluffiest cat!" He exclaimed, then showed him a picture of a giant fluffy cat sitting on someones shoulders. Damian felt himself smiled. "They said her names Onion and shes a Maine Coon! Aw, I've always wanted a cat."
They went into the gift shop and got a bag of Sour Patch Kids, then left. They walked until they came to an old apartment building, a place where Danny usually was as Phantom. They climbed the fire escapes then settled on the roof, talking and laughing. "I think you'd enjoy Path of Exile, especially the new game! Its stupid hard, and—okay, so each class has their own spell tree, but their all connected! You can go from the Witch tree to the Sorceress one, maxing out your spell damage!"
Damian chuckled. "You'll have to show me how to play; I'm not very good with technology, but I'd like to play this game with you." Danny beamed. "Awesome! I can show you more games. DOOM, Call of Duty, Bloodborne, Shadow of The Colossus, Elden Ring, Dark Souls—or we could start with some chill games! Like Mario Kart or Animal Crossing."
They talked more about video games; how Danny loved Minecrafts long speech ending but was saddened by the Ender Dragon lore, how Damian had played online Uno with Jon during quarantine, how Danny couldn't play Resident Evil Village without crying. "Why?" Damian asked. Danny looked embarrassed. "Well, like halfway through the game you find out your infant daughter had been dismembered and put into jars—and, well, that always makes me think of Ellie."
"That sounds like a very reasonable thing to cry about. Why does it remind you of your clone...cousin, you said?" Danny smiled. "We say cousin or sister 'cause its less weird, but she's my daughter at heart. I found her when she was just created," his smiled became sad and wistful, "and I promised myself I would take care of her. I mean, Halfas had to stick togeather, right? And she was so tiny, she looked like a mushy potato, I couldn't just abandon her. I left for, like, twenty minutes to get a car seat, came back—" his smile vanished, and he glared at the ground. "And fuckin' Vlad had aged her up to twelve. In twenty minutes! I mean, how did he do that so quickly?"
"One moment she was a baby–my baby–and then next she was almost the same age as me, suddenly aware of everything around her." Damian took a moment to think. He didn’t know how to comfort someone, much less someone who'd gone though such a wild experience of gaining then losing then gaining a daughter. "...Does she look like you?" Danny blinked, then smiled. "Honestly she looks more like my dad. He would have loved her if he didn’t hate ghosts." They were silent for a moment, then Damian asked, "Do you think she would enjoy Gotham? I would like to meet her, if thats alright."
Danny thought, then smiled, this time at him. "I don’t know! Her obsession is traveling, and her secondary is freedom, so she can't stay in one place for more than a month. But I don’t think shes been here! If I call her today, she can make it in time for the wake!" Dannys face lit up, and Damian smiled at him. "Why only a month?" Danny pulled out his phone and began texting. "Oh, if we don't give fuel to our obsessions we'll get sick and might even get the True Death. Since hers is traveling, staying moving is important."
Damian nodded, then stopped. "Wait," Damian said softly, "Have you been fueling your obsession?" Danny stopped, looked at him, then quickly averted his eyes. "Danny." Danny sighed then smiled weakly. "Uh, well, since I'm only half ghost I can go longer without fuel! So I'm fine!" "How long?" Damian asked sternly. Danny looked away again. "Please tell me your obsession so I can provide you with proper ghostly enrichment."
Danny laughed, and smiled at him again. This time his expression was softer. "Its, uh, space. Stars. My secondary..." he sighed. Looked at the bag of Sour Patch Kids as if it'd wronged him. "My parents were big fans of the supervillan styles. They replaced all the buttons on the stove and microwave with big, bright colorful ones that did the exact same thing. All their ray guns were huge for no reason, every little invention had to have a stupid name, they had to laugh evily about everything. They..."
Danny stopped for a moment, took a breath. "The portal acted the same. They said it would take them to the 'Ghost Zone', so they could catch ghosts right from the source. 'We'll catch those spectral freaks,'" Danny mimed an older voice, "'we'll rip them apart, molecule by molecule!' That, uh, was their favorite saying. And they were right. The portal would punch a hole in the universe, right into the afterlife. But they thought it was broken, or it didn't work."
"They always made the buttons huge and bright red with giant glowing letters. I don’t know why they made the 'on' button so small, why they made it the same color as the wall." Danny chuckled coldly. "But I guess thats why they forgot about it." Damian felt his heart sink. Danny popped a blue candy into his mouth, chewed, then continued. "I wanted to show my friends the portal. I was told to weld some panels over the wiring, and I thought it'd be the perfect time. It looked cool. Sam wanted a picture of me standing inside, wearing my poor excuse of a hazmat suit."
Oh no. Damian could feel the dread building in his chest. "So, I went in. I wanted to look cool. But I triped on a wire. And my hand hit the on button." Danny looked at him, his eyes glowing bright Laz—ectoplasm green. "And a portal to the afterlife opened right on top of me. And I died. But was brought back. Then died again. And was brought back. Over and over and over again, until there was no difference between my body and my soul. Until the ectoplasm had reconstructed, destroyed, and reconstructed my DNA."
"I heard Sam and Tucker screaming," he said softly, the roots of his hair turning white. "I thought they were hurt. I didn’t want them to get hurt, I—" Danny took a deep breath, exhailing a blue mist. "I wanted to protect them. No–I needed to protect them. I needed to keep them safe, I needed to stop their pain. I needed to protect." Damian moved before he could stop himself. He took Dannys hand.
"Your incredible...incredibly empathetic, I mean," he said, squeezing his hand. Danny looked at him, his eyes bright green and his hair turning pure white. "I can't imagine how painful that must've felt—dying endlessly. But through that pain, you thought of others. That's...incredible. Your incredible." He said more firmly this time. Danny continued to just, look at him. His eyes wide and filled with unshed tears, his eyelashes and eyebrows turning white.
He chuckled softly, turning to wipe his eyes. "T-Thank you. That...means a lot." He laughed this time, turning to him with wet cheeks and a bright smile. "Sorry I got all sappy. We were having fun." Damian smiled at him. "There will be more times for fun. Has Ellie responded?" He looked, sniffling. Damian didnt let go of his hand. "Uh, not yet. She's probably busy." He nodded, then they sat in silence for a while.
He left shortly after, not letting go of his hand until they went their separate ways. On the walk home he ordered Lego NASA sets, books by astronauts about space and life in the ISS, several sticker books, a star shaped keychain that had some glitter substance in it that looked like space, t-shirts and space sneakers. Anything he thought Danny would like.
He found his father and Grayson in the Batcave, going over some paperwork. "I have important information," he told them. Grayson looked up and gave him a sly smile. "Hey Dami! How was your date with Phantom? Or should I say....Danny?" Father choked. Damian felt his face burn. Damn Drake. "It was not a date, we just went to the Natural History Museum. But after we talked."
"Dannys parents are the ones who built the gateway. They were some sort of minor supervillans, making weapons and planning on dissecting the residents of the Infinite Realms. Danny said their favorite phrase was, 'we'll rip them apart, molecule by molecule'. I believe we can safely deduce that they were also the ones behind the ectoplasmic battery experiments." Any teasing attitude vanished. Father cleared his throat.
"I've also deduced that a ghosts first obsession is something they cared about or loved in life, while the second is connected to their thoughts during death." Grayson nodded. "It sounded that way. Did Danny mention his?" Damian bit the inside of his cheek. After a moment, he replied "Yes. But it's private." Graysons smirk came back. "And the other ghosts weren't?" Damian glared at him. "Some ghosts are fine with others knowing their obsessions, some aren't. It was deeply connected to his death and incredibly emotional for him. That is all I will say."
Father nodded. "We completely understand. This new information is incrediblly important, Damian. Thank you for sharing this with us." Damian felt himself smile softly. Father smiled too, before smirking slightly. "And I don’t suppose the dozens of space related items you ordered have anything to do with Danny's obsession?" Damian felt the blush come back. Grayson 'aww'ed.
Damian glared at Grayson before replying. "...yes. Only because Danny shared that a ghost needs to fuel their obsessions or, as he said it, 'face the True Death', which I assume means they'll die for a second and final time. When I asked if he'd been fueling his obsession, he refused to answer, which was all I needed to know. I will be buying more when I better know his preferences, and you cannot stop me."
When his orders arrived he arranged them on his bed starting by size, then by color. When he remembered that wouldn’t work since everything was multicolored, he reorganized them by items. Damian stared at the items, pondering what to give to Danny first. Should he give them to him all at once? Or maybe start small?
If he gave everything to him all at once then his obsession would only be fufilled for a short time. He should separate the gifts, giving him one every time they met. But how would he carry them on patrol? The key chain and small plushies were fine, the sticker books he could manage, but the shirts and shoes? How would he give the LEGO sets to him?
Damian mulled it over during dinner, and the next three days. He hadn’t spotted Danny, but carried around the keychain and a sticker book just in case. And he was right to do so when on the fourth day he spotted him crossing the street. Damian sped up to catch him, nearly getting hit by a car, stopping just a few feet behind him. "Danny!" He called, and Danny turned. He looked...tired, oddly. No where near as upbeat as he usually was.
"Hey Damian! How've you been?" He said cheerfully. It wasn't forced, just tired. "Good. I've, uh, got something for you." Damian looked through his bag and found the keychain and book. "Since you love space so much, I got these for you. Theres more," he said before he could stop himself, "but their rather big." Dannys face went blank as he took the keychain and book. He turned it back and forth, watching the blue and silver glitter swirl with the purple water.
He flipped through the book, turning it to see the holographic stars and planets. Damian wasn't scared, just nervous. Just nervous. Why would he be scared? Danny looked up at him, and Damian felt panic surge when he saw the tears in his eyes. "Like I said theres more! Uh, theres three LEGO sets, ones the ISS station, ones for the seventeen rovers, the other is the Apollo 11 shuttle. I got you several shirts I believe will fit you, some platform shoes I hope will fit—"
Danny leaped forward and pulled him into a hug. Damian felt his heart skip a beat. Right in the middle of the sidewalk, Danny squeezed him and whispered, "Thank you...I," he laughed, and Damian felt his shoulder get slightly wet. He didn’t care. "I...can't remember the last time I got a present. Thank you. Thank you." Damian hesitantly wrapped his arms around Danny and hugged him back.
"Your welcome. I...I want you to be happy. Am I, uh, doing this correctly? Hugging?" Danny laughed and pulled away, keeping his hands on his shoulders. Already he looked several times better. He hadn’t realized how pale he was, how unkept his hair had been. But there was color returning to his face, his eye bags were disappearing, and somehow his hair was smoothing itself out.
He hadn’t been tired. He'd been feeling the affects of not fueling his obsession. "Are you free? Would you like to go out, do something? Anything you want. My treat." Danny giggled, and his eye bags were nearly gone. Damian felt relieved. "I'd love to! I, uh, well, do you want to come to my house? Its nothing much, but I can show you Path of Exile!" Damian smiled. "I'd love to. Lead the way."
Danny beamed, and togeather they walked to his apartment. It was only six blocks, but Damian felt it was horribly short. They talked about movies and games, books and TV shows, school and, of course, space. "I, uh, got you over a dozen gifts after our last conversation. I thought about giving all of them to you at once, but decided against it. As I said, their rather large." Danny blushed and giggled, holding the sticker book close to his chest. The keychain had been attached to a belt loop, and Damian felt proud at the sight of his expression.
"Well, now I have to get you something! What would you like? Anything! I can get some awesome stuff from the Realms!" Damian smiled back at him. "If you want to get me a gift, I'll let you decide what it is. I believe anything you get me will be incredible. Where have you been these past few days? I tried to find you during the night shift but couldn't." Danny quickly looked away. "Oh, just got a cold!"
Damian gave him a look. "You did look tired, but the moment I gave you items related to space you became better. That wouldn't have anything to do with your obsession, would it?" Danny laughed nervously. "...Maybe?" Damian sighed but kept smiling. "Well, I will continue to provide you with anything you wish. Please do not resist." Danny giggled again, and Damian walked into the street and almost got hit by another car. Dannys apartment was just another block, on the edge of the university district and Robinson Park.
"I can’t remember the last time I had someone over," Danny hummed, putting a holographic planet sticker on a his phone case. "Any food in mind?" Damian shrugged. "I can order us something if we get hungry. Any preferences?" Danny didn't, and so they walked and talked. "Wait, so you guys don't know the extent of the Lazarus contamination?" Danny asked softly, glancing around. "We are aware of the Pits existence under Arkham. Is there more we're not aware of?"
Danny nodded. "The pit isn't just under Arkham; theres water pipes that run through it. The waters have melted the metal, and are leaking into Gothams water supply. Thats why people here are not only insane, but durable. Have you ever wondered how Batman can break almost every bone in a goons body, and that goon will be back in less than a month? Its the water. Even if its filtered, the people who've been living here for generations have passed down their altered DNA. Kind of like you."
"I've never realized..." Damian hummed. Danny made a good point; with the amount of bodily harm they caused every night, how were the goons healing so quickly? How were they healing so quickly? "Do you think my father is also effected like this?" Danny shrugged. "It depends on how many generations his familys been living here." Damian bit his lip. The Waynes lived on the land that would become Gotham before the city was even built.
"They’ve been here since the seventeenth century." Danny winced. "Oh, then he's mega contaminated. Actually, for him it might not even count as contamination anymore; its just the way his DNA is now." Its just the way Damians DNA is now. "So basically, I'm double contaminated." Danny nodded, then lit up. "Wait! Wait wait wait! I have an idea." Danny looked around, then pulled him to an ally between a convenience store and a candle shop.
"This is gonna feel kinda weird, ok? Im testing how much ectoplasm you have." Damian nodded. He couldn’t really focus on what he was saying, just how close they were. Would the people walking by think they were making out? Danny placed his hands on his chest, a soft green glow coming from his palms. Damian felt a burst of cold air enter his chest and shivered.
The cold traveled up his chest to his head, spreading down his arms and legs. The cold wasn't uncomfortable, just...cold. Danny hummed, moving his hands in a circle. "You..." Danny cut himself off, pressing his hands into his chest. Damian felt a popping sensation in the center of his chest. It moved out from under his ribs, through his skin, and Damian tensed as a dark orb left his chest.
"What is that?" He whispered. The orb was almost completely black, with a green ring around it. There also seemed to be a dark green center, almost invisible. "Its your core! You have a shadow core!" Danny whispered excitedly. Damian didn't share the sentiment. "A shadow core? What does that mean?" Danny kept his hand on his chest, looking at the core with pure joy.
"A core is a ghosts everything! All our internal organs and brain in one! It pumps ecto throughout our bodies. Cores have elements. Some are connected to how someone died, like Embers fire core, but mostly their random. Mine is ice!" A pale blue orb exited Dannys chest, white stars falling down and glittery streams circling it. "You, like most Gothamites, have a shadow core! That means you can see my real apartment!"
Danny looked overjoyed. "That means your—well, your probably not a halfa, but your something close! Like Red hood! Like me!" Damian took a deep breath. He had a shadow core, like most Gothamites. He was a Gothamite. Damian felt himself smile. "Like you," he said softly, and Danny beamed. He leaped up and hugged him, wrapping his arms around his neck. Damian felt his face flush, especially as the cold of his ice core touched his own.
"C'mon! Lets go see my real apartment!" Danny pushed their cores back in their chests, then pulled him down the road. Damians face stayed hot as Danny gripped his hand. They stopped in front of a run down building, then Danny pulled him to the side. "This is gonna feel weird, so just hold on. Since you have enough ectoplasm, this should work." Damian nodded, then felt the same cold air run up his arm. Danny gripped his hand, then pulled him through the wall.
Damian stumbled after him, holding his breath until they exited on the other side. Damian exhailed and looked around. It looked to be a reception area, only everything was off color. The walls were pale blue with odd green swirls, a few white couches against the walls with bright red cactuses next to them. There was a blue counter with two computers visable, a girl with a gas mask standing behind. She was on her phone, but looked up at them.
Damian felt his heart sink. He knew that mask. It was the same mask Scarecrow goons wore when spreading Fear Gas. Either she'd been a goon, or had died due to the effects of the gas. She has bright yellow pigtails that seemed to be made out of smoke, and her mask had an orange smily face. "Hi Mustard!" Danny said happily, pulling him to the hallway left of the counter. "Hi Phantom! Whos that~?" She giggled and Danny blushed.
"Hes a friend! Bye!" Damian waved at her, and as the passed he saw she had ropes around her legs in the shape of leg warmers. Odd. Down the hallway, which had odd holes in the walls that small blobs flew through, there was an elevator and a hole in the wall. The elevator was bright ectoplasm green, and Damian glanced down the hole. Pitch black.
"Whats this?" Danny looked over and pulled him back. "Oh, thats for ghosts that want to fly to their floor without fazing through other peoples rooms. We'll take the elevator." The elevator buttons were different shapes. Triangles, squares, diamonds, snowflakes, flames, one was an axe. Danny pressed the one shaped like a star. There was a rumble, then the doors opened and three ghosts came out. They were all completely black, like actual shadows. The only parts visable were their eyes, mouths, and random spots of color.
One had some sort of helmet similar to an astronauts, but as they moved Damian realized it was a plastic bag. The second had pool balls for his eyes, and the last one had a green bubbling liquid coming from their mouth. They moved past them as if they weren't even there, and Danny pulled him into the elevator. Inside the elevator there were five panels of buttons, and Danny pushed a crescent moon button on the panel above the door.
"There are quite a lot of floors here," he mused, and Danny giggled. "Yup! Theres a lotta dead people in Gotham! This isn't even a big building; the biggest is in Crime Ally!" Not surprising. "What do the different buttons mean?" The door opened and Danny pulled him out. The hallways here moved with starlight, stars flickering and planets slowly turning. "Oh, there are sections dedicated to obsessions! I'm not the only one who loves space! Look at this!"
Danny skipped down the hallway, Damian following as he looked around. All the doors were black, no handles, not even detailing. He couldn’t tell if they were made of wood or metal. "All the stars, the planets, the asteroids! Oh! Did I tell you that every three months one of the stars goes supernova? It's incredible to watch!" Danny was beaming, and Damian noticed his hair turning white.
"How often are you here?" Danny stopped in front of another door, tapping it in a smooth rhythm. It slowly swung open, and Danny replied. "Oh, not often. Even though I like to sleep, I usually don't. I get caught up in a project and just forget!" He chuckled, pulling him inside. Inside the walls were dark blue, a kitchen in front of the entrance with a dining table and island. To the right was a living room with couch, arm chair, tv and gaming systems. There was a door on the right of the living room, and no windows.
"Sorry if its dusty," Danny whiped his hand on the coat hanger. "Like I said, haven't been in a while. But I love it! Its so nice to have my own space!" Danny pulled him towards the couch, grabbing the remote and turning on the tv. "Okay, what do you want to try first?" Danny grabbed two controllers, and Damian smiled at him. "Lets try this 'Path of Exile'." Danny grinned.
They spent the next five hours playing games. They talked and laughed, Danny teaching him game mechanics and Damian following along as best he could. He found he was good at breaking games, much to Dannys amusement. He'd somehow get himself stuck in walls, in the floor, jump through the ceiling. Damian found it embarrassing, but Dannys laughter always made it worth it. Eventually, after getting tired of games, they decided to go out to eat.
Damian knew of a wonderful sushi restaurant, and Danny grinned. "It may be high end, but I'll be paying." Danny shook his head. "We can split! I've got so much gold I don’t need. The conversion rate for Realms gold to cash is insane." Danny led him up the stairs left of the living room. Up the stairs was a small circular area filled with wardrobes, shoe racks, a small table filled with jewelery, a vanity, and a closet. "This is basically my closet. My bed kinda takes up all the space upstairs," Danny motioned to the ladder in front of the stairs.
Danny let him look at his bedroom while he changed. Damian climbed the ladder, opening the wooden door and going up. There was a small area to stand, but everything else was taken up by the bed. It was circular and fit the entire room, white bedsheets and star blankets. There were some star and moon shaped pillows, but Damian was more focused on the glass ceiling.
It was a glass dome, with swirling stars and planets. There were hundreds of nebulas, dark purples and blues, bursts of pinks and oranges and reds, swirls of glittery galaxies with small planets visable. Like the hallway everything moved, slowly turning or floating past. It was incredible. Damian spent a few minutes just watching everything float past. 'If Danny lives here, that means he'd have constant fuel for his obsession,' Damian thought.
'If thats the case, then what caused him to look so sick earlier? Has he been absent for that long?' Damian heard a knock on the door, and climbed back down. Danny was wearing a dark blue turtleneck with sholder holes. On it was a golden zodiac wheel, small stars going around the wheel and down his arms. He wore simple black pants with a golden belt, the keychain attached to his hip. His shoes looked to be dark blue as well. Around his neck was an opal star necklace, and he had four moon and star hair clips pinning his hair back beautifully. He wore simple moon and star chain earrings, and....was that blue eyeshadow? Eyeliner? Lipgloss??
A part of him desperately hoped it was. It had to be, right? His lips weren't naturally that shiny. Damian could admit, in the safety of his own mind, that he had found himself admiring Dannys face often, so he knew for a fact that not only were his lips not shiny but they were a lighter shade of pink. Now they were a darker shade. Not red, but a more darker pink. "....Damian?" Damian blinked. Danny looked slightly worried. "Uh, is it too much? You said it was kinda high end so I just put on something fancy but also chill. Ha ha, is, uh, this...not chill enough? I can change if you want!" Damian felt a surge of panic.
"No! Please, do not change! You look incredible, I was, uh..." Damian felt himself blush. "I...simply got distracted admiring you. You look wonderful. I actually believe I should go and change, if thats alright. I want to put the same amount of effort into this outting as you already have." Danny blushed and laughed. He smiled at him, and Damian realized he had glitter on his cheeks, at the corner of his eyes. It was framing his face and making his glow.
"Thank you!" He giggled again, and Damian almost asked if the lipgloss was flavored. 'Thats not how I want to find out,' he thought, looking at Dannys lips again. "I don’t mind if you change. Do you want me to port us to Wayne Manor? Since it's like, thirty miles away? Oh! And where is the restaurant?" "The Silk Roll is in the Diamond District, so a walk to anywhere would be far too long. Your portals work both ways?" Danny nodded. "Yep! Can even make them see-through. Lets go!"
Danny swiped his hand down, and after a ripping sound a green vortex opened next to him. Danny grabbed the edges and shook the portal until all the green faded, letting Damian see inside his room. He stepped through, a chill running down his spine for only a moment. He turned and offered Danny a hand, helping him through. He noticed that he’d put on nail polish as well, black with gold stars and moons. How'd he do that in such a short amount of time?
"Wait for just a moment, please—Oh! And while you're here, now would be a good time to collect the Lego sets." Damian pulled out the boxes, then went into his closet. What to wear for...a date to a high-end sushi restaurant in the Diamond District? Danny was dressed casually but fashionably modern, should he match that? Or wear something he looked good in? He definitely wanted to look good. The though of Danny admiring him the way he did...
He looked good in a suit, and that would fit the dress requirement. He had a new one that Brown said was 'a god-tier fit'. It was a green suit jacket with a black vest. With a white button up, dark green tie, black dress pants and shoes, he looked himself in the mirror and felt confident. He looked good. His hair was slicked back as usual, and the suit fit incredibly well. He took a deep breath, calmed his nerves, and stepped out of the closet.
Danny was sitting on his bed, talking with Grayson. Damian felt his soul leave his body. Grayson turned and saw him, his smile widening. Danny looked too, and his face immediately flushed. "Hey Dami!" Damians face burned. "Grayson, what are you doing here?" He hissed. Graysons smile somehow grew. "Well, I heard some ghostly noises so I came to see what was up. You taking Danny on a date?" He was teasing him, trying to make him embarrassed. Damian wanted to deny it, but Danny suddenly looked so hopeful, so excited.
"Yes, what of it?" Damian snapped at him, "Have you been harassing my date?" Graysons eyes widened, but Danny lit up. His hair filled with stars, he clasped his hands and looked at him with more joy than Damian had ever seen. "Nope! Just wanted to know what the noise was! Have a good date you too! Be safe!" Grayson left quickly, and Damian knew that look would give him problems later. But he'd also looked happy. Why? Well, it didn't really matter.
"You look....very handsome." Danny said softly, and Damian felt himself blush. "The green really suits you." Damian smiled. "Suits." Danny giggled, and stood to make another portal. After he shook it out, Damian saw it led to an ally across from a jewlery store. From the stree sign, it was about a block away from The Silk Roll. Damian stepped through then helped Danny through again. But instead of stepping away, Damian held his breath and offered Danny his arm.
Danny blinked, then lit up and looped his arm through his, giggling and leaning up against him. Danny looked up at him, literally shining under the florescent lights. Damians face felt as if it was about to melt off, but in a good way. They walked out of the ally and down the street, passing pedestrians without a care.
"The Silk Roll has a wonderful vegetarian and vegan menu," Damian explained as they walked, "And not only that but their one of the best sushi restaurants on the east coast! They make all their tofu and soy sauce in house, and every day they get a fresh shipment of scallops from Maine. They also have a new menu every week, and their normal menus are separated not into courses but taste! The spicy menu is my personal favorite, second being the savory."
Danny smiled at him. "So they serve more than sushi? Do you go here often? If its so popular, will it be hard to get a table?" Damian smiled at him as they waited at a crosswalk. Across the street he could see the white fluorescent lights spelling out 'The Silk Roll'. "They serve many Asian meals. I've been around six times now, mostly with my family. Their will be no wait; we own a table here. It was my great grandfathers favorite, and he wanted all his descendents to experience it. He donated over a million dollars to the Silk Road Company."
The light turned and they kept walking. "Of course, he insisted we still pay. Said that even with the million, it would be bad for buisness in the long run if things ever went south." Thankfully there wasn't a line outside, and they waited behind other customers. Damian tried to ignore the stares; he'd completely forgotten that he'd be recognized. Danny squeezed his arm, and Damian smiled at him.
"Welcome! Reservation?" The hostess was smiling widely, probably because the Waynes always tipped well. "Good evening. Back table twelve." She nodded, then led them into The Silk Roll. There was quite chatter as they followed the hostess. The dark walls were lit up by soft yellow lamps, the wood tile floor creaking under them. She led them up metal stairs to the second floor, past the white bar and up another flight of stairs to the third floor.
The balcony seating was, thankfully, completely empty. It wasn't too cold or warm, and the sky was as clear as the smog would allow it. The hostess lead them to the table overlooking the Diamond District, gave them menus and headed off. The lights hung on the balcony hit Dannys face at just the right angle, making him glow.
"This is pretty!" Danny said, looking around and out over the city. "It is. I'm glad you enjoy it." He smiled at him, flipping open the menu. "This city is beautiful if you know where to look. Sometimes I forget about all the darkness covering it." Danny smiled back. "I do too. When I was younger and heard about all the stuff that happens here, I was terrified. All the stories of the creeps and freaks kept me up at night." He laughed, and Damian fixated on the corners of his mouth.
"All that seems silly now that I'm one of the freaks." Damian chuckled. "A rather gorgeous one." Danny giggled and blushed again. "Where were you really these past few days?" Danny blushed again. "Ah, well...I've, uh, kinda been....stalking you? Like, following you around, watching you sleep..." Damian felt his face flush. "Do I look ugly asleep?" He blurted out. Danny laughed.
"No, you look angelic! Super peaceful, your breathings even, and sometimes you'd roll over next to me!" Danny covered his face with his hands, blushing madly. "Your heart beats at 41 beats per minute, and when your dreaming it goes up to 45. Sometimes Alfred the cat will jump up and snuggle under your chin! Its so cute!" Damian smiled. "Is the entrance to your apartment always in that wall? I'd love to watch you sleep, if you'd allow me." Danny beamed from under his hands.
"Oh, yes, it never moves! You'll need a key though, otherwise Mustard and Chlorine will boot you out." Chlorine, probably another ghost who died to Fear Gas. Damian was about to ask about the ways Danny had been following him, both to know where to look and so he could replicate them, but he could hear the waitress walking up the stairs. Danny did too, glancing at the stairs and smiling at him.
They ordered quickly, two waters, a sweet tea for Danny and an earl grey tea for him, mushroom gyoza, and two rolls of sushi, the Firecracker and Lotus Dragon. When she left, Danny made a small portal and reached inside, feeling around before pulling out a key. It was the size of his palm and simple, white with an eight point star cut out of the top, the edges lined with swirling designs. The bottom almost looked broken if not for the clean edges. "Here! This unlocks my apartment. It's the fifteenth door on the left."
Star button, crescent moon button on the panel above the door, fifteenth door on the left. Damian smiled. "I'll treasure it. There was no doorknob that I saw, where should I use it?" "Oh, just push it into the place a doorknob would be, twist, and it'll open!" Danny looked incredibly happy, kicking his feet and drawing circles into the table. Damian felt relaxed. "I can’t wait. We should set up a schedule, however; I don’t want you becoming as sick as you'd looked earlier."
Danny tilted his head. "Schedule?" Damian felt his face grow hot again. "Well, how about you watch me three days of the week, I'll watch you the other three—" "And the last day we sleep together!" Danny exclaimed, his hair lighting up with stars. Damians face grew hotter, his blush creeping down his neck. "If that's what you want, then yes, we can sleep together." Danny giggled, kicking his feet. Damian reached his leg out and rested it against Dannys. Dannys face flushed, the pink tint of his cheeks making the glitter stand out.
