A Small Town Greeting
Day six Ectoberhaunt: Witching Hour vs Twilight
AO3
Crossover between Danny Phantom and my OC series “The Town of Witch Hour”
Danny walked into the cluttered little antique shop, it was small but tightly packed and Danny actually struggled to find his way to the checkout desk, the only place that seemed to have a living person.
Said living person was a middle aged Chinese man with badly bleached hair, a dozen piercings and only partially groomed stubble, kicked back with his ratty sneakers on the corner of the counter reading a magazine Danny had never seen before that said things like “Haunting Hoodlums! Children at the Museum After Dark and Why They Aren’t What You Think“ and “Twelve Teenagers Still Missing in Wake of ‘Witch’s House’ Discovery“ on the cover.
He looked up at Danny’s approach just once before going back to his magazine. “Read the sign kid.” He pointed at the wall behind him where someone with terrible handwriting had clearly written a list of rules on a hanging dry erase board:
No Haunting the Antiques or with the Antiques until you take them home No Cursing the Antiques before you buy them. No Possessing the Antiques!!!! I WILL be Watching!! If you Break something You’re Buying it And you’re also dealing with whatever happens next it's not my problem The Porcelain Doll in a Japanese Kimono is NOT for Sale Stop FUCKING asking. I’m NOT Japanese if you say “Konichiwa” to me I’ll kill you I know I look like famous Billionaire Lee Mai-Shou I don’t need to keep hearing about him I’m cooler than him and I have better style
“Loitering okay?” Danny asked, reading through the oddly specific list.
The man nodded, “it’s a small town, I’d never get any company if I kicked out all the window shoppers.”
“Huh.”
“But,” the man slapped the spine of his magazine on the corner of the counter, and looked straight at him. His eyes were a dark hazel that flashed gold in the light, “you leave out that door walking just the way you came in. No hiding in any mirrors or possessing any paintings. It's hard enough to sell old shit in a town like this. I don’t need more on my record.”
Danny kinda just stilled. Was this his usual spiel? Or did he recognize something off about Danny already? It would be frustrating if he had, but it would also be completely par for the course in this damn town so far.
He decided it didn’t really matter though, because even if he’d already been outed the guy wasn’t actively pointing an ecto-weapon at him and seemed to be overall pretty chill. “I’m looking for something specific-”
“We don’t have specific things,” the man interrupted, “we have random things. Its an Antique Store think fancy garage sale. If you’re looking for specific things try Amazon.”
“The specific thing is an Antique though.”
“Have you tried Ebay?”
“It’s in this town.”
The man paused at that before sighing. “Of course it is. ‘Specific’ things don’t ever fucking leave.”
There was, probably, a good amount to unpack there but Danny decided it wasn’t any more his business than being half dead was this guy’s business. “It’s a lamp, it holds part of the night sky?” he tried asking.
The man clicked his tongue, “Bad luck kid. Sold that to an estate on the Meadow Hills south east of town.”
Danny lit up, a little too literally. He quickly readjusted before it was actually noticeable. “You actually had it? That’s great! Do you remember who you sold it to?”
“Don’t have their name.”
“... You remember the lamp but not who bought it?”
The man finally put his magazine fully down and sat up properly. “I know who bought it, I don’t have their name. It's not something they're willing to give away, at least not for a lamp. I’d also recommend not going there yourself, they’re fond of young boys.”
Danny rolled his eyes. He was making the rich people in town sound like some kind of Seelie Court. “I’ll take your work for that,” he lied, fully planning on some ghost-grade breaking and entering. He headed for the door, hearing the soft chime of the bell as he pulled it open.
“Oh, one more thing,” he said, turning around, “Why’s this town called Witch Hour anyways?”
