I know I shouldn't care about follower numbers but it's pretty discouraging seeing a sudden drop in them after posting something for what feels like the first in forever so instead I'm going to just talk about one of the rps I've been doing instead of sharing any images. Basically the idea I wanted to explore was what if Vlad actually DID have a sister and better yet, a niece so he could actually become an uncle and not pretend to be one around Danny and Jazz? And from that idea, Paige Masters was born!
Full Name: Paige Bree Masters
Nickname(s): Pip
Age: 15
Birthday: May 17th
Species: Human
Nationality: American
Current Residence: Vlad Masters’ Wisconsin Mansion
Legal Guardian: Vlad Masters
Mother: Celine Masters (deceased)
Father: Unknown / absent before birth
Backstory: Paige is the newly discovered niece of Vlad Masters, introduced shortly before the beginning of Season 3 in place of Danny's prank that backfired and made him decide to become the Mayor of Amity Park to spite him. Following the death of Vlad’s younger sister, Celine, from late-stage cancer, Paige is abruptly relocated to Vlad’s care after years of having little to no contact with the Masters side of her family.
Her existence becomes the primary divergence point that reshapes Vlad’s Season 3 trajectory. And unlike many people who become tangled in Vlad’s orbit, Paige is not drawn to power, spectacle, or emotional manipulation. She is observant, emotionally intelligent, and unusually skilled at reading the atmosphere of a room before speaking. Her presence does not magically “fix” Vlad, but it quietly interrupts the emotional isolation that allowed many of his worst tendencies to spiral unchecked.
Paige strongly resembles the Masters side of the family, particularly around the eyes and facial structure, making the biological connection to Vlad immediately believable once noticed. She has long wavy dark gray hair, fair skin, and muted blue eyes. Her outfit consists of a blue shirt, black leggings, gothic black jacket, and a couple different silver necklaces. Basically I went for a soft goth appearance.
And unlike Vlad’s unhealthy obsessions surrounding the Fentons, Paige is an actual blood relative — the daughter of the younger sister he lost contact with years ago. Her arrival forces Vlad into a kind of emotional responsibility he cannot romanticize, idealize, or manipulate into a fantasy narrative.
Paige is biologically human. But she also happens to possesses a rare and poorly understood form of supernatural sensitivity connected to meaning, symbolism, emotional resonance, and subconscious interpretation. Basically this means she instinctively understands the meaning behind unfamiliar words, symbols, writing systems, and conceptual communication without formally learning the language itself...
To cope this this sensitivity Paige spends a lot of time drawing or jotting down notes without really knowing how she came up with the ideas/concepts which later turn out to be real. Her mother had the same ability but more in an emotional/empathetic sense which is what made her hobby of tarot card reading so insanely accurate because she wasn't predicting the future, but rather displaying a deep understanding of the person she was doing a reading for.
~
Celine Masters and Vlad were not estranged early in life. Vlad became increasingly absorbed in his scientific ambitions, career trajectory, and later paranormal obsession. Celine, meanwhile, moved toward a quieter, more grounded life focused on stability and eventually motherhood. The separation begins forming when Celine becomes pregnant (Paige enters the picture) and he life shifts toward single motherhood.
Vlad’s life on the other hand becomes increasingly unstable, secretive, and later ghost-influenced. Celine tries to maintain contact, but Vlad becomes harder to reach emotionally, his priorities become erratic and compartmentalized, and he avoids personal vulnerability in favor of “control-based thinking.”
Celine eventually stops pushing. Not out of anger — but out of exhaustion and life demand. She is raising Paige largely on her own, and Vlad is no longer reliably present enough to depend on. So by the time Celine’s health begins declining contact is already minimal, emotional distance has already been normalized, and Vlad is not present in a meaningful caregiving way. And unfortunately, that means Vlad does NOT fully realize how far the distance has grown until it’s too late to fix it.
Everything else from the show from seasons 1-2 is completely canon with the background layer that he had a younger sister. Aka Celine Masters. Its unclear what happened to their parents but the two siblings drifted apart after Vlad went to collage and was accidentally turned half ghost which meant he either refused to accept visitors or the hospital didn't allow anyone near him since his condition appeared radioactive.
As for Celine, she got pregnant with Paige around the same time and her boyfriend/husband up and left them before she was born so Celine raised their daughter alone and never really got the chance to tell her about her uncle Vlad. Then she was diagnosed with late stage cancer and Paige became her primary caregiver at a young age until her mother eventually passed away. That's when CPS searches for any remaining next of kin left in Paige's family since her father is nowhere to be found and the only living relative Vlad and Paige have left now is each other.
One of my favorite scenes so far in my rp with these two is Vlad and Paige bonding over the perfect grilled cheese since both of them appreciate good cooking. They also had a lot of fun nerding out about the scientific concepts from Doctor Who.
If there's one thing I love in fiction it's parental love, but if there's something I find more interesting is parental instinct in avian characters, and i don't know why, i just do.
for example: ahit
Dr Groves judging the jewelry your lover gifted you, especially if there's jewels involved. Scrutinising each scratch and fingerprint on the crystal, taking into account the size, the more gaudy the gift the more desperate it is in his eyes.
The Conductor fixing you up before a shot, even though you've already spent plenty of time prepping yourself by the mirror. Going over your outfit, dusting dust of your shoulders, making sure not a hair/feather/whatever is out of place before releasing you.
: Count Duckula
Despite the fire puting a hypnotic spell on the pyromaniac. Don Diego keeps you close as it creeps closer, shielding you with his cape, puting it between you and the hungry flames.
Aunt Lucrecia and Uncle Vlad asking you about your stay overseas over a wine glass of blood, the vampire equivalent of “so, met any cute girls/boys” topic but morbid.
Rory taking in, you, a discarded fledgling under his wing, showing you the ropes of vampirism and in general how to maintain a castle.
Being reincarnated alongside Duckula, re-establishing your relationship as family, meeting each other all over again, and again and again.
Guillame Bill inviting you to poker night at his chalet, offering you to taste of his charcuterie board adorn with cheese he made himself, unless you're lactose intolerant.
: Ducktales
Donald showing up to ceremonies when he finds out no one is coming with you.
Scrooge guiding you with a hand on the nape of your neck through a sea of facades, the power hungry "echelons of society” behaving like sharks catching the faintest with of blood in their waters. And you're reeking of insecurity and potential to widen their place in the wedge they made for themselves in the eye of the populous. But as the clever fisherman says, there's always a bigger catch, and he's looming behind you, with a thinly valid facade of his own.
REAL!! Birdies being just soooo sweet to someone they cherish deeply is (chef's kiss) and especially in such a specific way. Fluffy feathers... I feel like some could follow some kind of built-in nesting protocol, especially the birdies that are for cold weather (Grooves, bc penguin... even if the studio itself might be warm lmao). All the blankets, just for you ✨️
Title: Hellfire and Ectoblasts
Fandom: Danny Phantom x Lucifer
Summary: The devil works hard, but Vladimir Masters works harder. When Vladimir Master dabbles in dealing favors to others to get his way - much easier than constantly possessing everyone - Lucifer Morningstar has a few choice words for the business tycoon.
Rating: T for cursing (multiple uses of the F word, mentions of drug abuse)
Final Word Count: 5005
Ft. Uncle/Redeemed Vlad AU
Read on A03
Read on FF
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Los Angeles is new territory, despite all the places Vladimir Masters has traveled. He has drunk martinis in the sands of Bahamas, made deals in Cancun, and has a passport larger than most politicians. He has even traveled further into the Ghost Zone than most of the fully ghosts there.
Yet the city of angels has always eluded him, or rather he eluded it. It never quite appealed to him, with the oddities and gaudy casinos. It felt almost beneath him and it has, honestly, never been on his priority list - at least, not until now.
Business is business and Vlad Masters will always go where business is; even if it is in a city like Los Angeles. Even if it is with an admittedly annoying sixteen year old teenager for a long extended amount of time.
Honestly, what was he thinking when he wanted Daniel as a son? He should have gone after Jasmine, he begrudges. At least she knew when to be quiet.
“Are we there yet?”
Vlad feels his eyebrow twitch, a vein throbbing in his neck. Daniel Fenton has the nerve to look at him with large innocent, doe eyes as if that is not the hundredth time he has asked that question in the past hour.
His somewhat nephew had jumped on the chance to go to LA with him; he would have been more suspicious of Daniel’s intention if not for the fact that the space shuttle endeavor will be within one quick bus ride from their hotel. As challenging, and even powerful, as Daniel can be - he is very much an open book that has been quite easy to read.
Danny opens his mouth, as if to ask that infuriating question again, but is stopped short by a small ecto blast. The ectoplasm effectively sticks against his mouth and despite the way he claws it, it refuses to budge. He settles for crossing his arms in a huff with a narrow glare. He idly considers it for a moment before a middle finger raises in contempt.
“Curse at me all you want, Daniel, but I refuse to listen to that infernal question the entire trip.”
Danny’s body language makes it clear that he is mocking him. Vlad waits until his fit is over before removing the ecto blast. Danny, huffing about being cut-off, leans back into the seat of the private jet. When he glances out the window, catching glimpses of clouds, he can not help but think wistfully how much better it would be to be flying Airline Danny. Jets, private or otherwise, are too confining now that he knows what it feels like to touch clouds.
He bets that the skies of Los Angeles is beautiful up close. He absently wonders if he gets far away enough to the nearby desert if he will be able to get a good view of the stars. The Orion constellation, not to mention a few planets like Venus and even Saturn, should be more visible here than it would be in Amity Park. He wonders if he flies high enough if he can get a good picture with a smartphone.
“Why are you going to LA anyway? Don’t you have enough money that you don’t need to be blowing it at casinos? Or is that the whole point?”
He barely even spares Vlad a glance through the corner of his eyes, arms crossed lazily against his chest as his cheek presses against the cool glass of the window. While being with Vlad is not the worst thing in the world - at least not anymore - he can not help but wish he would’ve been able to bring Sam and Tucker along. He imagines that they would be thrilled to go somewhere that’s not the Nasty Burger. At the very least, they would be better conversationalists.
Well, I guess it’s at least fun to mess with him, Danny thinks wistfully, a more devious smile on his face. If anything, it is a great way to pass the time. Messing with Vlad has always been a treasure, but now with little repercussions, at least nothing that compares to the way he used to threaten to kill his dad, it is like the entire world is his oyster.
“You can never have enough money, young badger.”
Danny coughs something into his elbow that sounds suspiciously like ‘ eat the rich’. His eyes watch Vlad carefully with feign innocence, as if he never said anything at all. His elbow hides the large shit-eating grin threatening to break on his face.
Vlad makes a point to ignore the comment, continuing easily, “Since our - my -”
He struggles to find the right word, fumbling a bit with a strained look on his face. Mentions of the past have always been hard to bring up when he is, honestly, doing his best to move forward from it. He feels strained at the mere mention of how he behaved beforehand, somewhat even embarrassed by the things he tried to pull. He cannot be thankful enough that the Fentons, including even Daniel, have even given him this second chance. The young badger’s trust is not an easy thing to earn.
“ Your redemption arc,” Danny offers somewhat helpfully.
While not fond of the term, Vlad has to admit that he cannot think of a better phrase.
“-Yes.”
He accepts the term Danny offers with clenched teeth, “-and as such, possession has become quite unfavorable . I have taken up doing business the old-fashioned way.”
Danny turns to face him. His innocently blinking eyes do not fool anyone with the gleam of mischief shining brightly in them.
“-Legal suits and proper paperwork?”
Vlad snaps at him suddenly, a vein throbbing in his forehead as he regrets taking off the ecto-gag.
“Oh will you - stop that?”
The outburst sends Danny reeling into a laughing fit, clenching his sides tightly.
__________________________________
Danny’s smartass comments cost him; though, in his opinion, it was absolutely worth it. To his dismay, Vlad drags him along through the city of angels instead of leaving him at the hotel. He claimed he needed to meet a new potential business partner. He gave an entire speech of how it would be good for him to learn how the business world works, but Danny can only recall maybe the first few sentences of said speech. Vlad even went as far as stuffing Danny into the most uncomfortable expensive clothes that he could find. Honestly, couldn’t the man at least get comfy expensive clothes? Gucci makes sweat suits. He makes a mental note to send some links to Gucci sweat suits to Vlad later.
Comfy or not, he still would have preferred to have just headed straight to the space shuttle endeavor. At least then, he would be in ghost form most of the time anyway. It would have been a ten - maybe fifteen - minute flight himself from their hotel room; he even promised Vlad that he would stay invisible the whole time and not touch anything he was not supposed to. A promise that was hard to give since oh man did he want to touch the shuttle just to say he touched something that was in space. He even begged his uncle. Slipped in a few mentions of how his mom would be so happy if he was able to go and get pictures.
He almost got him too, but alas, his efforts were in vain. Instead, he is stuck in a limo. It is not a bad thing in and of itself, but even a luxurious car feels suffocating when you want to be somewhere else.
He eyes the protesters lining up on certain streets. Sam would have loved it here. He keeps track of all of the ‘trendy’ vegan cafes he spots along the way for future reference; he even spots a few goth-centric stores. He snaps a few pictures, sending them over their group chat. He follows them up with pictures of pictures of every BBQ stand he finds for Tucker’s sake.
Sam: Still with the ex-villain?
Danny snorts, scooting away from Vlad as much as he could before snapping a picture of his unsuspecting ex-arch nemesis. Vlad visibly sighs, the exhaustion showing on his face as he does not even bother to look at Danny anymore.
Tucker: Someone looks like he’s having a great time
Danny: He’s with me, of course he’s having a great time. I’m a joy to be around. An absolute blast.
Tucker: Isn’t every party you’ve gone to nowadays a bit - dead?
Danny audibly groans at the bad attempt at puns, sending a quick message of how puns are his thing; it’s his whole shtick. But like all group chats do, the conversation grows dead pretty fast.
He is already growing bored again after having sent all the memes he could find ( and how dare they not laugh react at them) . He settles for rolling the window up and down obsessively, occasionally even sticking his head through it. When that adrenaline rush is short-lived, he ends up leaning against the door while obnoxiously clicking the window button repeatedly until Vlad is forced to ask the limo driver to put on the child lock. He considers the idea of just phasing his head through the window, but as weird as LA is, he thinks even that would be a stretch.
He could just phase away entirely. After all, the limo is not ghost proof. Vlad even got rid of most of his more outrageous contraptions and traps so he knows that the seat will not suddenly grow restraints if he tries to get up from it. He wonders if the oddity shop that they passed is still open? He did promise everyone souvenirs and the weirder the better (as is the whole point with souvenirs).
But he also promised his mom that he would get along.
Besides, Vlad said he would pay for lunch when they are done and they passed the most delicious looking burger place.
After what feels like forever, watching all the places he wants to go but can’t right now like a sad puppy begging for the window to be let down, the limo finally pulls up in front of a nightclub. LUX. Danny raises a brow. He may not be the smartest out of his family, but dead languages are his specialty. He glances to Vlad, wondering if he should be more concerned about his pseudo-uncle doing business here. Any nightclub named after light that looks this shady can not be good.
He is also pretty sure that he just saw a drug deal around the corner and some of the people in line already look under the influence of something .
“Am I even allowed here,” Danny questions, pausing a moment to count on his fingers, as they exit the limo. “I’m only like - sixteen? I am a literal child. ”
Vlad continues walking as if he does not hear Danny’s voice grating on behind him. Somehow, the teenager has a voice that seems to stick out like a sore thumb against the boom of the music coming out from the club’s doors.
“You are not a child, Daniel,” Vlad finally acknowledges.
“Uh the law would disagree, sir,” Danny waves a finger after him, “I am a minor.”
The sun is already starting to set, which means the club is steadily filling up; a majority of people are still out in long lines outside of the club’s door. He glances at them briefly, if in a bit of curiosity at the club wear. He blushes wildly at some of the more out-there club wear and focuses quickly on the fact that Vlad is steadily getting ahead of him.
“We are not here for drinking, Daniel,” Vlad’s voice comes out a bit exasperated as he fixes his tie. He eyes the people in line with a bit of disdain, but otherwise ignores them.
Vlad continues on past the lines, not acknowledging the way that some of them call after him. He keeps his hands in his pockets as he gets closer to the crowd; Danny realizes that it likely has something to do with the high possibility of getting pick-pocketed. After all, Vlad does not exactly blend in, but neither does Danny in the suit that Vlad forced him in.
Danny is close in tow as they head straight for the bouncer at the door.
If Vlad was not so used to the way that Maddie could ( has and absolutely will) beat him, he would have been more surprised at the woman at the club’s door. The choice being a bit abnormal in the job. Her intimidating presence is enough to make most of the more pushy people at the front second-guess themselves. A few of the people who dare to test the boundary of the velvet rope quickly change their mind as she just glances at them. Danny’s first thought is how much Sam would like the bouncer. The entire leather outfit is just something that feels like she would like, compared with how tough the woman seems to be. If the woman didn’t scare him so much, he would have tried to take a picture.
His second thought, however, is how off she feels. The closer he gets to her, the more his core vibrates deeply in his chest. As if it is trying to transform and get him out of there, like an animal’s instincts to a predator. Run. RUN. RUN. He digs his heels into the ground and refuses to listen to his gut. He refuses to let his gut determine what he thinks about someone, or how he acts on them. He learned the hard way to control that impulse.
Besides, she does not seem that dangerous - he thinks? He glances to the knives strapped to her thigh and the mean look in her eyes. Mostly. But his ghost sense has never gone off. That means that possession is off the table - so is her being a ghost. But he has never felt his core vibrate this way, in such a paralyzing instinctual fear. The only thing that comes close is when he faced Pariah.
Danny is sure that Vlad notices it too, he is way too smart not to. Vlad’s expressionless face does not give a single thing away, staring straight on even as the woman looks him over closely, a sneer on her face. Something about the way she bares her teeth feels more like a threat, as if she is prepared to rip your throat out herself at any given moment. The worst part is that it feels like that is something she is very much capable of doing. She gets startlingly close to Vlad’s face, sniffing him. He refuses to flinch and let this woman know how much she intimidates him.
He seems to pass whatever test she was giving him. Finally she just snorts, taking the card that he offers her. Danny only catches a glimpse of the red and gold lining against black with some sort of name written on it. He barely sees the flash of some sort of horned symbol on the edge. Just who is Vlad doing business with anyway?
Whatever the card is, it works. She backs off, crossing her arms against her chest as she moves out of the way of the door to let them through. The glare she gives some of the people at the front of the line scares them out of even thinking about shoving their way in through the open door.
Danny sticks close to Vlad’s side this time, feeling the urge to get as far away as he can from the woman. He is not sure if she will stop him. He would love to get out of this situation with Vlad, but he would hate that it meant staying anywhere near the woman. The wild beating of his core is getting worse and it feels like he can’t breath.
He is unsure if he can handle being around her much longer with his core acting up like this. He feels like he is this close to a heart attack.
“You smell weird, but whatever. He’s inside.”
He smells weird, Danny wonders how she can smell anything especially when all he can smell is all the people around them not wearing deodorant. He tries his best to brush it off as some sort of intimidating tactic. But when Danny passes by the woman, she leans forward, visibly sniffing him as well.
“Sorry it’s my - uh - aftershave,” Danny’s panicked lie confuses even him as he just waves at the woman as he enters the club, finally taking a deep breath in as the door shuts behind him.
Still thoroughly weirded out by whatever that was, something that does not improve when he’s suddenly surrounded by drunks and loud blaring music, he sticks abnormally close to Vlad. The people surrounding them are too drunk to notice when he phases through the elbows that are just too close to him or the shoulders that almost bump into him. Vlad looks back at him briefly, a ghost of a smile on his face, before he turns attention to the crowd.
“Whatcha looking for? The bar? Drugs? A confessional?” Danny asks as they finally reach a section that gives them some elbow room. He brushes off imaginary dirt, and not so imaginary something , off of his shoulders.
“My business partner,” Vlad answers curtly, eyes still scanning the crowd. He knows what he’s looking for, despite not having met the man before.
When Lucifer Morningstar reached out to him, insisting that they meet in person to discuss business, Vlad almost brushed him off. However, a combination of the man’s obsession with the devil and the fact that Lucifer Morningstar’s very identity doesn’t go back any further than a few years intrigued him. How does a man who legally has only been around for a few years get so ahead in the business world? More importantly, who is he really?
“What does he look like, maybe I can help.” Danny offers, looking over the crowd as if he would suddenly be able to who they are looking for.
“It is our first business meeting, I’m afraid, but if he looks anything like his photos, you can’t miss him.”
That gets Danny’s attention. He swerves suddenly on Vlad, jutting his hands out to form a T, his fingers press against his palm, “Whoa, time out! You brought me to a business meeting with someone you never met before? How do you even know the guy’s like, I don’t know, a ghost hunter?”
“You're a paranoid teenager, young badger.” Vlad’s voice is dry with a lack of amusement, “I’ll have you know that I reach all my partners quite well. Lucifer Morningstar is nothing more than a lunatic, however he is quite popular with our mutual partners.”
“ Lucifer,” Danny harshly whispers, his voice only half-way kidding, “Don’t tell me you actually made a deal with the devil?”
Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise him if Vlad did - if such a thing is really possible - but it would put a strain on their now alliance. Vlad’s about to retort, likely something along the lines of you’re being ridiculous Daniel, but he gets cut off prematurely by another voice.
“Well not yet, but let’s see if that changes today, shall we?”
A particularly British voice gets their attention as a man in a well fitted suit, looking vastly more comfortable in it than Danny is, struts their way. Despite looking like every other business man he’s seen, the man doesn’t feel like the usual stuffy suit type. He feels dangerously charismatic, with an easy smile on his face and a magnetic pull that makes it difficult to turn their attention away from him. He has a few beautiful women, and at least one man, at his side. He whispers something that Danny wishes he didn’t hear, to each of them before they regretfully leave his side.
“You must be Vladimir Masters.” The tone of voice is not a compliment, coming off more mocking, “Look at you, a bit older than I expected, but ultimately age is never an issue. Provided you’re at least an adult.”
The sultry look that the apparent Lucifer Morningstar has as he looks Vlad up and down appreciatively reminds Danny too much of how Vlad used to look at his mom. He starts to feel sick to his stomach, gagging exaggeratingly in the background as he tries his best to ignore the way his core has returned to vibrating, thumping hard against his chest.
Whatever the woman at the door was, Lucifer Morningstar must be at least the same thing - or something close to it - to make his core react the same way. He should be more concerned over it, but he glances toward Vlad. He looks stony as ever, the only sign of discomfort being a vein beginning to throb on his neck. Ah, so he does notice.
He doesn’t seem surprised either. Danny wonders if this is some sort of test again, to see what he will do and how he will react. Especially in front of an unknown factor. Shit. Danny curses when he realizes that’s why Vlad brought him along in the first place and then curses again - more directed at Vlad himself this time - for Vlad being as cryptic and vague as Clockwork.
I just wanted to see the endeavor, Danny bemoans as the man ushers Vlad (and by extension, Danny) to a clear booth. Taking Vlad’s lead, Danny acts more confident this time around, trying his best to act like every inch of his being isn’t screaming to run.
“Drinks,” Lucifer offers, seeming comfortable in the booth with his arms stretched out wide against the edge of the seat across from Danny and Vlad. While Vlad accepts the offer, ordering a simple old fashion, Danny speaks up with a cheeky grin.
“I’ll have a coke on the rocks,” Danny orders, showing a lot of teeth in his grin as he gives finger guns, of all things. After a pause, he adds on, “Not shaken nor stirred, please.”
Vlad’s exasperated sigh is barely audible as he breathes out through his nose. At the very least, he should be glad that Danny is acting normal - as awkward and tiring as normal is.
“I must admit Mr. Morningstar, I was a bit surprised to receive your invitation,” Vlad speaks easily. He politely sips at his drink, but otherwise leaves it untouched, more focused on the conversation. He tries to not let his eye twitch when he hears Danny suck up his coke through a straw.
Lucifer looks at Danny in amusement, seemingly unoffended by the teenager’s manners (a small blessing). Unlike Vlad, Lucifer doesn’t shy away from his own drink, downing it easily. He orders a few more at one of the ladies passing by, followed by flirtatious compliments that make her giggle and once again, makes Danny wish that he couldn’t hear what was being said.
“Well how could I not invite a man such as yourself, Vladimir,” Lucifer’s voice is exaggerated, almost strained, “Or is it Vlad? Vladdy?”
Vlad does twitch at that and Lucifer grins, “Vladdy it is. Better than douchebag, I suppose.”
Danny snorts at the sudden word, laughing hard enough that he barely stops the coke from pouring out of his nose. He takes in a deep breath, wiping at his face with a cocktail napkin as his nose burns from the soda.
“I prefer to use the term fruit loop,” Danny speaks up helpfully.
Lucifer seems delighted at this information, his eyes lighting up in glee as Vlad visibly sinks into the seat.
“ Fruit loop,” Lucifer repeats gleefully, “Lacks a bit in curse words for my liking but fruit loop it is!”
“You can always say fucking fruit loop,” Danny offers as if he is still being helpful, the grin on his face more genuine, “Or fruit by the fucking loop?”
Lucifer’s laugh is infectious, his eyes gleaming as Danny joins him in laughter at Vlad’s expense. For a moment, the two continue back and forth before Vlad is forced to intervene; the vein is his neck is more noticeably throbbing at this point.
“Mr. Morningstar,” Vlad cuts in, his voice stern, “What exactly was the point of the invitation, if I may? I hope it wasn’t to just call me outrageous names.”
Lucifer nonchalantly waves off Vlad’s growing ire, “Oh no, I invited you over for much more than just that. Favors, you will find, are my specialty. One could say it’s my whole business. I grant favors and I do not take kindly to others who sneak up on my business and steal it away.”
There’s a flash of something in Lucifer’s eyes. Something dangerous. As brief as it is, it’s enough to make Danny’s core hum against his chest, his hand grips his knee tightly. His eyes flicker to Vlad and as much as the older man is trying to hide it, Danny can tell that he’s just as suddenly bothered by whatever that was.
“It’s the point of the matter, you know,” Lucifer continues, “Steal my business, shame on me, steal my shtick, shame on you.”
He downs another glass and grabs something off a platter as someone passes by. It looks suspiciously like a joint. He lights it up without a second thought; Danny tries his best to act like he doesn’t know what it is as Vlad eyes him through the corner of his eyes.
“Word is that you, Vladimir Masters, have been sneaking around granting favors to a chosen few. I don’t know how you grant said favors, I don’t particularly care. But I do wish you would stop.”
The dangerous aura that’s thick in the air is heavy, but the realization that Vlad has still been up to shady business is heavier. Danny slumps into the seat, leaning forward with a heavy sigh.
“So you have been up to shady shit,” Danny mumbles under his breath as he absently stirs the straw in what has to be his third glass of coke.
“If you don’t stop,” Lucifer continues, “I’m afraid I’ll have to make you stop. If Mazikeen does not get to you first.”
He gestures his thumb toward the woman that was outside the door; she hovers nearby as if she knows exactly what they’re talking about. The grin on her face is malicious, bordering on feral as she twirls a knife across her knuckles without breaking eye contact. That woman is intimidating, Danny swallows thickly, but grins wildly at Lucifer.
“Oh he’ll stop,” Danny reassures the man before Vlad can even get a word in. There’s an edge to his words; a very clear message underlying his words. “Otherwise I’ll make him stop myself.”
A flash of ectoplasmic green swirls across his eyes. Vlad, not quite intimidated by a sixteen year old still going through puberty, simply mumbles under his breath, oh stop with the ‘scary’ eyes, Daniel, honestly. Lucifer catches the moment, eying them both with interest as he relaxes into the chair. He makes a motion with his hand and suddenly the woman - Mazikeen - isn’t there anymore; Danny isn’t sure where she went, if he should be worried about it, or if it was a sign of good faith.
“ You are a very interesting child,” Lucifer says, “At first I thought you two may have been one of mine, but that’s not really the case is it?”
Danny isn’t sure what one of mine really means; he doesn’t really want to know either. The way Lucifer says it feels off, as if he’s not concerned by it or that they would have been in worse trouble if they had in fact been one of his (whatever that means). Vlad recovers fast, eying Lucifer with narrowed eyes.
“Just what is it that you’re inferring, Mr. Morningstar?”
“Why, that you’re not human, of course!”
He says it as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, a large grin stretched on his face as he finishes off the suspicious joint, making a point to blow the smoke away from them. It may have been a trick of the light, or even just a magic trick, but Danny swears that the smoke formed some sort of devilish face. Complete with the horns and all.
Danny’s grin falters as he watches Lucifer closely.
F-uck-ing typical. At this rate, he will never get to see the endeavor or any other of California’s space museums. Why can’t he have just one normal road trip for once? No circus ringleader, no reality altering devices, no ghosts, and no ghost hunters. He just wants to get a selfie with a space shuttle, order as much hotel food as he can off of Vlad’s card, and then crash. Maybe even go to the Griffith Observatory. Fly to the Hollywood sign. Sneak into a Disney park and take a selfie on top of Cinderella’s castle. Just a normal trip (with a few added advantages to being a half-ghost boy). Now, he has to instead worry about some devil-obsessed (but definitely weird and maybe not human at all) club owner finding out his secret.
This is exactly what Danny told Vlad; meeting someone you don’t know is just a risk. At the very least, Lucifer doesn’t look like a ghost hunter. He definitely doesn’t fit the M.O. of a Guys In White agent. There could be other agencies out there though, other people who want to hunt them down. Who knows, maybe whatever this guy really is likes to eat ghosts or hunt them for sport. This is exactly what he was concerned about. Now, his secret, and Vlad’s secret too he supposes, could be blown all because Vlad had to go make a shady business deal.
Danny turns to Vlad, not even bothering to whisper as his voice cuts through the loud music.
