Chapter Text
Casper High is peaceful this morning. Quiet, absent of the heavy footfalls of noisy teenagers that have somewhere to be. The sky is blue, the birds are singing, and it is the last day of summer vacation. There's a stagnant sort of peace.
Casper High has no idea what will arrive on its doorstep tomorrow.
*-*-*-*-*-*
"You have your notebooks, and the pencil case I packed for you?"
"Yeah, Jazz."
"And your lunch?"
Daniel Fenton shakes the vaguely glowing thermos in his hand. Against the oddly technical material of the canister, it's almost impossible to tell that his nails are more like claws.
There's nothing to hide the sharpness of his teeth from his smirk, though.
"Fangs!" Jasmine Fenton, more commonly known as Jazz, scolds as she shoulders her own bag.
"I really don't see why it's such a big deal, Jazz. I bet tons of people have fangs!"
Ever since Danny mentioned wanting to start school, she's done her best to teach her brother how to act human, but most of it hasn't stuck. Growing up with their borderline mad scientist parents as role models hasn't given the half-ghost many opportunities to learn what humans are typically like. And being treated as much as a lab rat as he was a child did nothing to curb the inhuman tendencies.
Being a half-human, half-ghost created in the Fentonworks basement laboratory as part of their research means he's been encouraged to embrace his ghostly side his entire existence. Being kept inside the entire past fourteen years without ever going further than the yard means the human side has fallen to the wayside. Jazz has tried to consider it from the view of developmental psychology but honestly doesn't know if being part ghost has changed the inner workings of Danny's brain.
She doesn't want to change him, she loves her brother as he is, but she's afraid for him. The whispers from townsfolk label Jazz the "normal" Fenton, the anomaly in her lack of strangeness. They're going to take one look at her baby brother and immediately lump him together in the category of "strange" with their parents. People will whisper, or taunt, or look at him but always with a sharp edge. He's never known animosity; he's never known anything outside of this home.
Danny is strong, she knows that. But he doesn't have defenses built up for this. They could very well eat him alive, figuratively speaking.
Jazz is just doing her best to help that not happen. And if that means instructing Danny to make himself smaller, to mold himself into something more palatable, she'll do it, even if she hates herself for it.
"They don't," she sighs, adjusting her bag strap. "They really don't. Just be careful, we don't want people suspecting anything."
He nods his head along to her words but he's already looking away.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Jazz insists on escorting Danny to the front office herself. How else is she going to spin the tale of why her fourteen year old brother is only just now starting school? Knowing Danny, he would forget the cover story completely and just shrug, bringing the family one step closer to a social worker visit they can't afford.
"Good morning!" Jazz greets, approaching the front desk with Danny in tow. "This is my younger brother Danny, he should be signed up and ready to start today."
When the inevitable questions come, Jazz does her best to deflect them. Danny's always been sickly, she lies, and he's only recently been well enough to start school. With his corpse-like paleness, it's an easy sell. They make it out with his schedule and only a few odd looks.
Except more odd looks come as they walk through the halls. It's because he's a new student, she tries to rationalize, but she can't quite convince herself.
Danny's not even being that ghostly right now. His fangs are hidden, his eyes are blue, and there's no glowing. Feet planted firmly on the ground, there's nothing overtly inhuman about him.
Jazz can hear the whispers, though. Enhanced hearing due to life-long exposure to ectoplasm, thanks to her parents' lack of proper lab safety procedures. Some say that he seems weird. Some call him a loser . She almost growls at that before remembering the need to hide her own ghostliness.
Kids can be cruel when people are different, especially when that extends to their appearance. At some point, Danny will let his guard down and something will shine through that others won't understand. They'll be confused. They might be scared. They'll probably spread rumors about it.
Jazz will do everything in her power to shield her brother from that, but there's only so much she can do.
Danny has always been the more powerful one of the two. Hopefully that will be enough.
*-*-*-*-*-*
The siblings meet at Danny's locker at the end of the day. There's a slump in Danny's shoulders, a pallor to his skin that wasn't there when Jazz last saw him at lunch. No fangs, no claws, no glowing. Danny looks like a normal teenager.
Danny looks defeated .
"How was your first day, Danny?" Jazz asks, trying to keep her tone bright. She's long since learned that Danny's more likely to talk about his problems if she isn't fretting over him. This approach worked when he was afraid to tell anyone about his baby teeth falling out and being replaced by fangs, and it'll work now. "I remember mine was pretty rough. Despite having a map, I couldn't find a thing, and I accidentally broke into someone else's locker."
He chuckles at that, just a soft little huff. It's enough to drag some of the tension out of his shoulders, and in turn it drags some of the tension out of hers.
"It wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, but it's fine. I've still got time, right?" There's a lilt to the question, hope and desperation and a wordless plea.
"Four whole years of it," she assures him. "Today's only the first day. What were you hoping for?"
Danny closes his locker and the siblings walk down the hall. There are a few kids milling about, but most of them have left for the bus or extracurriculars. It doesn't seem like anyone notices when the overhead lights dim then flare.
Danny clutches his bag strap tighter, digging into it with claws. Jazz chooses not to mention it. "Friends, mostly. I finally have a chance to be around people, but none of them want to be around me."
Jazz almost coos at him. She buries the sound deep in her throat so it won't come out. "Like you said, you've got time. You just need to put yourself out there and give things time. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend." She bumps his shoulder.
He bumps her back. "Thanks Jazz." Sharp fangs peek out from his smile and Jazz chooses not to mention that, either.
She loves her baby brother. She loves every fang and claw and flickering light. She loves him even when he's a menace that borrows her books without asking or steals her snacks. Jazz would do anything for Danny.
Even if that means sitting by and watching without a word. At this point, that's all can do for him: offer silent support, a listening ear, and advice when he asks for it.