Chapter Text
Danny expected today to be fairly ordinary. Then again, this was him, and this was the Mystery Shack. He was chatting with Dipper, planning dinner for that night, when his ghost sense went off - for the first time in months, as the only ghosts in Gravity Falls were all the way at the Dusk 2 Dawn.
“What’s that?” The human asked, watching the cloud dissipate.
“Wait a minute. I know that signature…” The halfa’s face broke out in a broad grin, and he rushed outside, Dipper following after him. “Ellie!”
“Parens!” Danny scooped up a little girl - from thin air, was she invisible? - that looked remarkably like him, spinning her around a few times before putting her down, both laughing loudly. With unkempt raven hair, sparkling sapphire eyes, and a way-too-big blue sweatshirt, she looked like a 12 year old Danny might have looked, had he been a girl.
“What are you doing here? How did you even know where here is?"
“Aunt Jazz told me! And I wanted to meet the boyfriends you had talked so much about!”
“Uhhhhh….” The adventurer started, having a might bit of trouble processing all of this, “Danny…?”
“Oh!” The hybrid snapped to attention, maneuvering so the girl was in front of him, facing Dipper, with his hands on her shoulders, “Dipper, this is Danielle, my daughter.”
There was a beat of silence.
“... Is this a halfa thing?”
~Linebreak~
Danny had volunteered to make dinner, soup, leaving Dipper to get to know Danielle (read: milk information from).
“So wait, if Danny is your father, who’s your mother?”
“.. Danny…?” The pre-teen replied confusedly, “Look, everything you learned in biology class, forget that. For all intents and purposes, I’m Danny’s… Clone? Um, more like…” she trailed off, looking to the ceiling, “Okay, you know how I said forget everything you learned in Biology class? Don’t. It’s like asexual reproduction. Um, Danny?!” The half-ghost looked over from his cooking for a moment, “What’s the term you usually use when explaining this?”
“Budding?”
“Yeah, budding!” Danny turned the stovetop down, allowing the soup to simmer, sitting down next to Danielle. “There’s a reason I can him ‘Parens’, instead of ‘Dad.’”
“Parens means parent.” Dipper remembered, “Huh.”
“So there are three halfas that exist that we know of,” Danny started, waving his hands around in gestures to aid his explaination, “Me, Danielle, and Plasmius. Plasmius tried to clone me, but the… non-human genes, triggered the sample cell to create a new halfa - similar, yet different - as a sort of defense. Another effect of this is Ellie’s age. Her body can’t age naturally. We don’t know how exactly that works, but think it has something to do with her being ‘born’ a halfa, instead of becoming a halfa, like Plasmius or I.”
“I’ve been 12 for like 10 years now.” The girl added helpfully. “To be honest it kind of sucks. Remember when you were 12?” The adventurer almost visibly cringed, “Imagine being stuck in that body for the rest of your life.”
“Although,” Danny interjected, giving Danielle an affectionate noggie, “Over the years, as the age gap widened, our relationship grew from an almost brother-sister one to a more parent-child one. So it’s not all bad.”
“But you’re such an overbearing parent!” She cried, “I can take care of myself ya’know!”
“Danielle Jasmine Fenton-Idolon! Refraeno!” Ellie put her hands up, eyes wide, as Danny huffed. “I am going to feed you, you are going to spend the night, and there will be no whining. Do I make myself clear?” The girl nodded her head vigorously, and Danny took that as a sign that he could go back to his cooking.
“He can be terrifying when he wants to be.” Ellie said after a moment, still a little quiet in fear of retribution.
~Linebreak~
Ellie meeting Bill was... interesting, to say the least. Danielle’s nativity had grown into scepticism through the years (though she still kept her upbeat attitude, Danny was relieved), So while they got along…
“You’re telling me you already know all about me? No way.”
“I already knew all about your Parens when I met him. I know a lot about a lot of people. I’m in your wallet.”
There was a moment where it looked like Ellie wasn’t sure if the demon was duping her, or legitimately crazy. Bill was loving it, trying to hold in laughter.
“He means he’s the Eye of Providence.” The older halfa finally piped up, “That triangle with an eye on the back of dollar bills.”
“Dan~ny!” The blonde whined, but his boyfriend only laughed, and so he shoved another spoonful of soup into his mouth to hide his pout. “Why can’t you ever just let me have my fun…”
~Linebreak~
Danny smiled, tucking his daughter into his bed, flicking off the lamp before leaving to go sleep in Dippers room. His smile turned sad as he thought of how long it must have been since she had a full meal and warm bed. He knew she could take care of herself, but he still worried. He wouldn’t tie her down for that though, she never was able to see the world with Vlad, and he didn’t want to be that kind of parent.
“She’s asleep?” The human asked,
“Out like a light.” Danny responded, climbing under the covers next to him.
“We should probably go to sleep now…”
“Yeah,” The halfa gave Dipper a sweet kiss, and the adventurer rolled over to press his back against his boyfriend’s front, receiving arms around his torso for his efforts.
“‘Night.”
“Bonum nocte.”