Chapter Text
Conner Luther-Kent was NOT happy.
Lex Luthor—one of his genetic templates—had dragged him to yet another tedious charity event, this time in Gotham. The dim lighting, the clinking of expensive glasses, and the idle chatter of Gotham’s elite only made him more irritated. He had no interest in schmoozing with rich strangers or pretending he cared about whatever cause Lex was pretending to support this time. So instead, he stationed himself against a wall, arms crossed, glaring at nothing in particular.
That’s when he noticed them.
Across the gala, another teen stood against a different wall, mirroring his posture and looking just as thrilled to be here as he was. Their sharp glare was locked onto a man with gray hair, tied back in a low ponytail, radiating an intensity that made Conner mildly curious.
But it wasn’t just their expression that caught his attention.
The teen was… beautiful. Raven-black hair, artfully tousled like they’d just rolled out of bed but somehow made it work. They wore a crisp dress shirt, accentuated by a strikingly ornate corset that framed their slim figure. Conner noted that they seemed a little smaller than him, though the slight slouch made it hard to tell for sure.
Then, as if sensing his stare, the teen turned their head and locked eyes with him.
Their eyes were such an impossibly bright shade of blue, so intense that looking into them felt like gazing into a frozen star. The moment they met his deep blue ones, warmth crept up Conner’s neck. His face flushed slightly, and he quickly tried to convince himself it was just because the damn room was too hot. Not because some random, ridiculously attractive stranger had just looked at him.
The teen pushed off the wall with a practiced ease, their movements fluid, deliberate. As they made their way toward him, Conner found himself frozen, unable to look away.
By the time they reached him, Conner could barely breathe. And then—
“Hey.” Their voice was smooth, effortless—possibly the prettiest sound Conner had ever heard.
He swallowed and forced out a response. “Hey yourself.” His voice came out a little breathless, and he internally cringed. Fantastic. Real smooth.
The teen’s lips curled into a slightly crooked grin. “You look about as thrilled to be here as I am.”
Conner huffed, glancing toward Lex before muttering, “Yeah, well, I got dragged here by my ge—” He barely caught himself before saying genetic template aloud. “ My father. ”
The teen laughed. “Same. Except it’s my godfather for me.” They casually jerked a thumb toward the gray-haired man they’d been glaring at earlier. “Name’s Danny, by the way. He/him pronouns.” He extended a hand toward him with another grin.
Conner took it, his handshake firm but gentle. “Nice to meet you, Danny. I’m Conner. Same pronouns.”
Danny leaned back against the wall beside him, settling into the same uninterested stance Conner had been holding earlier. From there, conversation came easily.
Danny, as it turned out, was from Amity Park—a small city just above Wisconsin, as he explained with a casual wave of his hand. His godfather, Vlad, had a habit of dragging him to these sorts of events, always insisting on his attendance, while Danny’s parents encouraged it too. Conner found it a little weird, but Danny seemed mostly unfazed—except for the glaring at Vlad, of course.
Conner didn’t comment on it. It wasn’t his business. And honestly? He didn’t really care about the why.
He was just glad he wasn’t the only one here who hated these things.
~
Danny Fenton was NOT happy.
Vlad had dragged him halfway across the country for yet another charity event. Again.
Not that Danny didn’t appreciate Vlad—because he did. Over the past few years, they had finally patched things up, officially making amends about 2 years ago. And in a moment of trust, Danny had told him everything about his home life.
Ever since Danny had come out as gay on his 15th birthday, his parents had begun actively ignoring him. It wasn’t as if they had ever been the most attentive before, but at least they had acknowledged his existence. After coming out, even that faded. They simply acted as though he wasn’t there.
So, with nowhere else to really turn, he found himself spending more and more time at Vlad’s manor ever since they made up. At this point, he practically lived there.
Sure, he still went back home occasionally, but he didn’t want to.
Vlad gave him actual food—real meals that weren’t junk or, worse, something that had reanimated itself in the fridge because Danny’s parents had once again made the mistake of storing ectoplasm too close to regular food. Vlad was more responsible than them after all.
Vlad also paid attention to him. Even when he was busy, he still found time to talk, to check in, to simply see Danny in a way his own goddamn parents never had.
Of course, there was one downside: Vlad insisted on dragging him to these endless, mind-numbingly boring galas.
But, considering his parents didn’t care where he was (in fact, they seemed to prefer when he was far, far away), he didn’t exactly have an excuse to say no. Besides, skipping school was an added bonus.
That didn’t mean he had to like it, though. And it definitely didn’t mean he wouldn’t spend the entire night throwing glares at Vlad just for the fun of it.
Which is exactly what he was doing.
Here he was, standing against a wall at some charity gala in Gotham, arms crossed, dressed in a crisp white button-down with an elegantly adorned corset layered over it. It was a good look, if he did say so himself.
He smirked slightly at Vlad’s exasperated glances from across the room—clearly, the older man was not amused by Danny’s persistent scowling. That only made it funnier.
Then, suddenly, a feeling prickled at the back of his neck. Someone was watching him.
Danny shifted his gaze, following the sensation, until he locked eyes with a pair of stunning, deep blue irises.
Across the room, another teen stood leaning against the wall, posture stiff but expression unreadable. Their hair was jet black with a subtle blue sheen, shaved at the sides with soft curls tumbling over the top. The dim lighting of the gala made the contrast even sharper, drawing attention to the strong lines of their face.
They were wearing a dark blue three piece suit that fit perfectly over broad shoulders, the deep color making their already striking eyes stand out even more.
Danny was intrigued.
Pushing himself off the wall, he moved toward them with as much grace as he could manage. (Thank the Ancients he didn’t trip.)
As he walked, he kept their gaze locked, noting the way a faint blush was creeping up the teen’s face. Was it warm in here? Danny honestly couldn’t tell. Ever since his core had shifted into an ice core, temperature changes had stopped affecting him. He couldn’t get cold or hot anymore—one of the many quirks of his powers. At least he never had to worry about burns.
When he finally reached the other side of the room, he offered a simple, “Hey.”
The other teen’s response came in a deep, slightly breathless voice. “Hey yourself.”
The sound of it sent an unexpected shiver down Danny’s spine. Damn. That was a nice voice.
He plastered on a grin and threw out a casual joke to break the ice. “You look about as thrilled to be here as I am.”
Sure, skipping school was a plus, but these events were still tedious as hell.
The teen grimaced. “Yeah, well, I got dragged here by my ge—” He hesitated, quickly correcting himself. “My father.”
Danny raised a brow at the almost-slip. Interesting. But he didn’t press—at least, not yet. Right now, he just wanted to get to know this gorgeous, broad-shouldered stranger.
“Same,” Danny laughed, jerking his thumb in Vlad’s direction. “Except it’s my godfather for me.”
With a smirk, Danny extended his hand. “Name’s Danny, by the way. He/him pronouns.”
The teen took his hand in a firm but careful shake. “Nice to meet you, Danny. I’m Conner. Same pronouns.”
Danny leaned back against the wall beside Conner, settling in comfortably.
As they talked, he learned that Conner lived in Happy Harbor, even though his father—who Danny now understood to be Lex Luthor of all people—was based in Metropolis. Happy Harbor was closer to Boston, making it nearer to Gotham than Amity Park, but it was still a ways away.
Apparently, despite not living with him, Conner’s father insisted on dragging him to these events whenever he could. Which, honestly? Sounded way too familiar.
Danny hummed in understanding. He wasn’t exactly one to judge—Vlad was basically doing the same thing.
Jazz had once suggested that maybe Vlad did it to protect him from his parents.
Danny wasn’t sure.
But one thing he was sure of?
He was really, really glad he had decided to come to this one.
~
As the evening stretched on, Danny and Conner remained side by side, deep in conversation. What had started as casual small talk had slowly turned into something more engaging—discussions about places they’d been, the people who annoyed them, and mutual complaints about the sheer torture of being forced to attend these high-society events.
Neither of them particularly cared for the gala itself, but standing together, talking, made the experience much more bearable.
Eventually, the event began winding down, the crowd thinning as guests started taking their leave. As much as Danny had enjoyed Conner’s company, he knew Vlad would be looking for him soon.
Not wanting to lose touch, Danny reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
A beat of silence passed before he realized Conner was staring at it like it had personally offended him.
Danny looked up, raising a brow at the confused expression on the other teen’s face. Then, glancing down at the small, battered flip phone in his hand, he let out a short laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I know it’s ancient.” He flipped it open and started navigating to the contacts page before glancing at Conner again. “This is the only type of phone that doesn’t break in my hands.”
Conner blinked at him, still looking somewhat skeptical. Danny could practically see the assumption forming in his head—he probably thought Danny was just clumsy or careless with his devices.
Which, honestly? Fine by him.
The truth was way more complicated.
Newer tech and ectoplasm didn’t exactly mix well. The sheer amount of ecto-energy in Danny’s body tended to short-circuit modern electronics unless they’d been specially modified. Tucker or Technus could probably fix it, sure, but Danny wasn’t about to ask them to ghost-proof a phone just for him.
Besides, modern smartphones were too fragile anyway. A single ghost fight and they were toast. Flip phones, on the other hand? Practically indestructible.
But there was no way in hell he was going to explain all of that to Conner.
So he just smirked and let him believe whatever he wanted.
After a second, Conner shrugged, seemingly deciding not to question it further. He pulled out his own, much newer phone, and they exchanged numbers.
Just as they finished, a familiar voice called out from across the room.
“Daniel.”
Danny groaned, rolling his eyes before turning to see Vlad approaching with his usual unreadable expression. “Time to go?” he guessed, already knowing the answer.
“Our plane leaves in an hour,” Vlad confirmed, his gaze briefly flickering to Conner before settling back on Danny. “We should be on our way.”
Danny sighed dramatically but nodded, snapping his phone shut before slipping it back into his pocket.
Turning back to Conner, he gave him a small, almost reluctant smile. “Guess that’s my cue.”
Conner nodded, though he seemed hesitant. “Yeah… Guess so.”
There was a brief pause, like neither of them really wanted to end the conversation, but eventually, Danny gave him a casual two-fingered salute. “I’ll text you.”
Conner smirked slightly. “Looking forward to seeing what kind of texts someone with that phone sends.”
Danny snorted but didn’t argue. With one last grin, he turned and started making his way toward the exit, following after Vlad.
And as Conner watched him go, his gaze definitely lingered a little too long on the way Danny’s jeans fit as he walked out of the ballroom.
Yeah. He was definitely looking forward to that text.