Sammy: Daniel… Danny: Oh no, 'Daniel' in b-flat. Danny: You're disappointed.
Danny: Someone hurt my beloved Jay. Zack: And what did you do about it? Danny: I ruined their business, then went back in time and terrorized them with spiders and baby crocodiles with lightsabers. Zack: Baby what with what? Danny: Then I set an army of angry middle-aged housewives on him. Zack: ... Zack: You know what, never mind, I don't even want to know.
With so many loop Danny is bound to forget his love for Jay.
That's where the beauty in all of this lies.
Whenever he forgets he just falls in love again. He may not be in a relationship with Jay for a couple of loops, but ultimately his heart never stops yearning for him. Danny always comes back, and Jay is always there for him, waiting with his arms open like he always does.
It can appear suffocating from an outsider's perspective, but he's never quite wanted anyone like he does the silent blonde. He's had relationships with others, and he's hooked up with almost everybody in his circle at one point or another, but it isn't the same. If anything, it only makes him crave deeper to return to those warm arms, to place his face in Jay's neck and hover over the skin of his neck, never sure if he wants to sink his teeth into the appetizing curve or cover it with sweet kisses.
He knows his love in a way that brings him a sense of stability and tranquility which the loops have robbed him of. He knows the sound of his heart even without placing his ear to the boy's chest. He has counted and kissed and loved each and every single beauty mark on his milky skin, and he could tell you where each and every one of them lies with his eyes closed. He knows how the constellations on his skin are his greatest insecurity, but he loves each and every star more than the sun itself.
Daniel doesn't always remember his love, but he never forgets how their bodies fit together like a puzzle as if each piece had been solely created for the other. He may not recall all the nights they have spent together under the moonlight, all the kisses they shared, and all the perils they've faced side by side but his heart never wavers in its demands. He allows himself to fall deeper and deeper, but never allows the darkness to taint such a precious bond. Not this one! Never this one!
He always falls for him. Sometimes he acts goofy in his love, making grand gestures that turn out unbearably corny because he knows they make Jay smile. Other times they just share the sort of quiet love that has them waking up in each other's arms in the morning, that has Danny simply waiting for his beloved to arise so he could pepper him with kisses and cuddle with him the entire day. Then, they love with passion and share their bed each sleepless night, and the time looper tries to etch into his memory each centimeter of his sweetheart. He never can preserve these memories, he simply isn't built like that, but he tries, oh, how he tries to never forget...His Jay never faults him for it...even though he wished he would sometimes.
No matter what shape their affection takes, be it a slowly smoldering coal or a passionate and wild flame they always somehow end up in each other's embrace, even if only by accident. And they always fall for each other, no matter how many eons have passed since they first did so. If Daniel weren't so selfish he would perhaps let go of him, but the truth is he is greedy...so...so...greedy...
Zack: Well, Mira and I finally did it! The rest of the squad: *gasps, shocked expressions, etc.* Zack: That's right... We kissed!
Zack: So are you two dating now? Danny & Jay: Yes. Zack: Why? Danny: I happen to find Jay very appealing. Zack: Yeah, I can understand that. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with Jay.
Danny: Valentine’s day is just a consumerist holiday that holds no real value other than drive people insane buying heart-shaped chocolates for their significant others and pos- Jay: I wrote you a poem. Danny, already crying: You did?
When Daniel first met Jay he thought he was an angel. Too many time loops to count later, he still thought he was an angel.
Jay was always kind, even when he barely knew him. He was loyal, smart, rich, and beautiful and he could fight! What was there not to love in him?!
Daniel doesn't remember when he first fell in love with the blonde. The hundreds of years that had passed already made things a bit blurry. But he remembered that no matter what time loop he was in Jay had never left his side. And no matter what loop he was in Daniel had never stopped seeking him out and falling in love with the quiet boy all over again.
"Would you stop that!" A painful blow to the ribs brought him out of his daydreaming.
He shot the perpetrator a confused and indignant look, at which Zack only snorted derisively.
"Don't even try to play dumb with me! You were ogling at him again!"
Not knowing how to respond (Because had hadn't been ogling at him, thank you very much, he had been staring admiringly at him from afar!), his gaze once again wandered to the quiet blond. Initially, it had been only to check if he had heard them, but his eyes remained pinned on his fair face. The light fell on him at such an angle that it made it seem as if his skin had turned into pure glittering snow. His hair shifted slightly with the breeze in such a hypnotizing way that the boy couldn't take his eyes off of him even if he wanted to.
Another elbow to his already hurting ribs brought him back to reality.
"Stop it already! It's seriously starting to creep me out!"
It was Daniel's turn to snort. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
"Oh please, as if you don't do the same with Mira."
The bell rang and he got up, leaving a spluttering Zack behind before the boy could get a grip and start throwing threats and glares at him.
"Hey, Jay, wait up! Let's eat lunch together, we don't need to go to the cafeteria if you don't want to." He ran after his beloved with a big smile which the blonde reciprocated.
"I swear, one day those two are going to give me diabetes with how sweet they are!" Mira told her friend playfully before her gaze landed on the boxer and she gave him a friendly wave.
Zack promptly melted into a puddle of goo on the floor, much to everyone else's amusement.
Vasco: Who thinks I can fit 15 marshmallows in my mouth? Zack: You're a hazard to society Danny: And a coward. DO TWENTY.
He spoke in a quiet breathy tone ,his words almost inaudible over the low buzzing of the crowds below: ”I’m going to come back and kill you ,even if I have to crawl back up from the pits of Hell!”
Two shots rang out into the night and a body plummeted onto the concrete streets below landing with a thud. A chorus of hysteric screams ensued.
Daniel strutted down the corridors like he owned the place. He was a man on a mission. A hunter. His pray? The cryptid dressed in cheetah print prowling around James Lee's old school ready to melt out of the shadows and mow his ass like grass.
His ghost detector beeped twice when he turned it left.
"Huh?"
Daniel pulled down his anti-bullshit protection glasses. He was all geared up in pink hello kitty pajamas, ready to fight against the cheetah-print abomination and thus end the urban legend's grip on the common people. That and he really wanted to kick Gun's ass while being literally half his size just for shits and giggles.
He needed a change of mood after he had begun the loop strapped to a table and bald while being interrogated by Jinyeong. When the doctor had asked about his deepest darkest secret he had looked him dead in the face and uttered ominously "I'm supposed to get a senior discount when I go shopping" before promptly passing out. It was technically true, though, by the look on the man's face, he probably thought something had gone wrong with the serum. With how he had been ranting about squirrels even before he got the serum Jinyeong might actually assume he had lost his mind.
Brushing away all other thoughts Daniel reached into his backpack and pulled out a thick book the size of his head with "How to catch a cryptid" written in bold red letters on the cover. He flipped it open at a page he had marked with a cute squirrel sticky note that had unfortunately gotten crumpled in his backpack and began reading aloud.
"To catch a cheetah print abomination in the wild you must first know what it is. A cheetah print abomination is the Mothman's cousin and shares with this its distinctive mating cry and other negligible physical traits such as height comparable to Slenderman and an outward appearance that makes people tremble at the sight of it." Daniel hummed as if he had been given great knowledge and flipped the page, continuing to read aloud.
"The cheetah print abomination is easily spotted by its abysmal fashion sense and atypical behavior, such as being turned on by physical combat and physical injuries caused during fights (for reference check page 67, paragraph 9 "What to do in the event of a wild Jonngun attack, tips and escape methods by prof. Daniel "the Taller" Park)."
Daniel ignored the sound of creaking floorboards and continued reading before he suddenly stopped and let out an exclamation of glee.
"Oh look, they even have a photo!"
He raised his book in the air and put the grainy picture of a black baby cow parallel to the man staring at him. He made a big show of analyzing the picture and let out appropriate sounds of understanding and awe while comparing it to the live specimen. Finally, Gun had enough of the perceived mockery and ripped the book out of the boy's hands, took one look at the page Danny was currently reading and at the picture, and promptly tossed it out of an open window.
"No wait, that was my only copy!" He bemoaned while looking at the darkness behind the window dejectedly. "You know you're going to have to pay me back for that, right?'
The man's expression twisted into a sneer and he reached for the boy, intent on getting rid of this disrespectful bug. His attempt was promptly met with a wet shoe to the chin and then another when he tried to kick the little gremlin away. He looked disgustedly at the little puddle forming beneath the second shoe before looking up at the boy.
"It's holy water." Daniel shrugged pulling out a pair of flip-flops which he used in place of his thrown sneakers, "Need to be prepared, you know."
A laugh bubbled up in Gun's throat at the sheer absurdity of the situation. He was getting mocked by a child in hello kitty pajamas who thought he was a cryptid and had turned his holy water-soaked sneakers into projectiles against him. He stared down at the still-smoking cigarette in between his fingers and pondered upon his life choices for a few awkward minutes while the gremlin stared at him with a mix between curiosity and wariness like he was some sort of weird creature he had just encountered.
"I need something stronger than this." He announced, snuffing the cigarette beneath his shoe and turning around.
As he walked out of the school he heard the genuine voice of the little hello kitty-clad menace echoing down the halls.
"You know, smoking and drinking can be really bad not only for your health but also for your interpersonal relationships!"
Gun walked faster.
Danny: Three words. Say them and I'm yours. Jay: Three words. Danny: Danny: Marry me.