Author: and here is me trying to get Daniel back in my head. These drabbles are from before he lands in canon time-line, when he's just recovering from the Nasty Burger and finding his way in his new life. So, a lot of backstory that won't make it into the main story because it isn't important. This is based on an LJ prompt community, 30_lies. Obviously I didn't bother to go in order.

Enjoy?

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to me like the Green Bay Packers belong to Vlad.

Lying is a Way of Living: Daniel Masters AU Drabbles

9. A Tangled Web

Daniel knew that he sat at the middle of a tangled web of lies, deceit, seduction, and fantasy, and was more than content to pull the strings. So many of his classmates blundered blindly into his construction, and it always gave him a sense of satisfaction to watch them succumb—willingly more often than not.

Daniel propped his chin on the back of his hands, his elbows resting on the desk before him, conscious of how closely he was watched. Every movement was analyzed, and none of the analyses came remotely close to the truth.

He looked over at the latest girl he was wooing and caught her eye. He gave her a small, secret smile, and she turned away from him, a blush deeper than the rouge on her cheeks staining her face.

It took all his self-control to keep himself from grinning.

22. Silence

Daniel had discovered that, often, silence was the best way to lie. Afterall, no-one could call him on something that he had never said.

3. Cover-up

"Daniel, you can't count on me to cover up for you constantly," Vlad admonished as Daniel stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Whatever," he murmured, his fingers kneading the expensive carpet he was sprawled upon.

"Daniel. Are you listening to me?"

Daniel's eyes drifted lazily to the man who stood over him and he nodded. "Sure. Yeah."

It was hard to hear Vlad over the cacophony that the carpet fibers were making in his ears.

He already knew he was worthless, he didn't need anything else to tell him that.

"What are you covering up for me?" Daniel asked, his voice thick and slurred, as if he was hearing himself through molasses.

He watched the muscles in Vlad's jaw work and could almost read the messages meant for him in the movement.

"You forgot to take your medicine, didn't you?"

"I did too take it," Daniel lied. He didn't like how it made him feel—he would be fine without it. If only the lights in the room would stop raining molecules of condemnation on him.

"Fine," Vlad snapped. "We're going back there, then."

"No!" Daniel cried, panic flooding his body and pushing through the painful buzz of the carpet against his shirt. "No, no! I won't! I won't!"

"Then you will take your medication?"

Daniel's body drained of energy, even though his heart beat loud and fast enough to drown out the rest of the whispers. "Yes. Yes, I'll take it. I'll take it."

"Promise?"

"I'll take it. Promise. Just don't…"

4. Being Watched

"You know, Vlad, I'm getting tired of being watched all the time," Daniel complained as he tangled his fingers in his hair, the essay due the next day evading him.

"I have to watch you," Vlad replied, although he sounded distracted.

Daniel looked around the screen of his laptop to see the man glowering at pieces of paper spread before him.

"Your lies catching up with you?"

Vlad's ice blue eyes darted to him quickly and a smirk slowly pulled up a corner of his mouth. "Other people's lies catching up with them."

Daniel shook his head, looked at the clock on his dashboard, and then at the blank page before him.

He put his fingers on the keyboard and decided that bullshitting the paper wouldn't hurt. Very few people could tell the difference between the truth and a lie anyway.

20. Masquerade

For Daniel, every day was a masquerade. Of course, his preparations were nowhere near as elaborate as the 4 am wakeup some of the girls subjected themselves to in order to look just right. Daniel wasn't sure if they were dressing up for others or for themselves, but he knew he wore his masks for himself.

18. Exposed

Daniel smirked faintly and leaned against the wall outside the principal's office.

It felt good to expose another person's lie. Oh, he knew that he had brought their lie to light with a lie of his own, but that didn't bother him. He would be seen as the poor sod's savior by helping to bail him out of what was a truly tricky situation.

That Daniel had set up entirely, but, still.

Daniel let out a long, slow breath and closed his eyes, content to wait for the right moment to drag the Authority into the weave of his carefully constructed lie.

26. Misunderstanding

"Surely this is just a misunderstanding," Walker protested, and Daniel's eyes narrowed.

"Don't lie to me, Warden," he said, venom dripping from his voice as he advanced on the ghost.

The pale specter backed up quickly until he hit the wall of his office, to discover that Daniel had set up a shield around it that would prevent him from escaping.

"Now," Daniel cooed as power gathered around his hands, "let's rectify this little misunderstanding, hm?"

11. Self-deceit

Daniel knew that he was lying to himself when he said he wasn't lonely. It hurt to be surrounded by so many people, yet unable to connect with any of them.

He also knew he was deceiving himself when he assured himself that the pain would eventually go away, but he had to believe it.

There was no other option.

12. Blind Trust

Daniel curled over himself as he dragged the blankets over his head and screamed in agony into the mattress.

Never again! He swore. Lies, lies, lies! All they do is tell me lies!

He felt hot tears of shame tracking down his face and his body heaved in disgust at himself.

"Everyone lies to me!" he sobbed into the sheets.

(liar)

(Sick)

(worthless)

(evil)

Daniel screamed again as he strove to suffocate the shame that coursed through him.

2. Secret

Daniel had many secrets. So many, in fact, that he was beginning to forget the minor ones, and the lies he had told others were slowly fading into truth. But the major ones, the ones that plagued him every day of his life…

Well, he'd lie his way to the edge of the universe and back, just to keep them from anyone.

Vlad, of course, had the most irritating way of finding the truth beneath all the lies he told, however.

6. Slander

"Slander is spoken—libel is in print. Either way, they're lies," Vlad said when Daniel pointed out a semi-exposé about him and his business. "Anyway, I wrote that exposé myself."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "What? Why?"

Vlad smirked. "Any publicity is good publicity."

"If you say so."

25. A Diplomatic Solution

Daniel was becoming very adept at finding the diplomatic solution to ruffled feathers, and it mostly involved building lies so elaborate and beautiful that people didn't feel like disassembling it.

This held true only for humans, of course. Diplomatic solutions among ghosts usually involved caving faces in until they saw his way.

27. Cheat

Daniel had a deep abiding hatred for anyone he caught cheating. He didn't usually go out of his way to ruin someone, but he could come up with the most convincing and plausible lies when he put his mind to dragging someone down.

28. Keeping Track

It actually wasn't terribly hard to keep track of all the lies he wove. Most of them stuck very close to the truth, afterall—it was a very good way of not getting caught in them. A slip-up could be written off as a malady of memory.

It was entertaining to keep track of other people's lies, since they told them so clumsily. The stories changed constantly, until even the liar couldn't determine what was the real lie that he or she had started with.

He was always there as a shoulder to cry on, someone to turn to when it all went south for the liar. It gave him incredibly good blackmail material, although he doubted he would ever use it. Their lives were too petty, too meaningless—they would be nothing more than trust fund children, their existences empty and devoid of meaning.

At least he had his ghost powers and was living with a man he hated. It kept life interesting.

7. Make-believe; Fantasy

Sometimes, when he woke up, Daniel would be disoriented enough to believe that his family's death had been nothing more than a nightmare, that his life with Vlad was an illusion, a fantasy.

It was only once he was staring up at a hatefully familiar ceiling that he could no longer convince himself that the event that shattered his life had been a lie. Jazz wouldn't pound on his door demanding he hurry and get up. His dad wouldn't come barging in, proudly displaying his newest anti-ghost technology. His mother wouldn't smother him with kisses as she defeated the latest ghost-infused breakfast.

It was then that he'd have to fend off the convictions of his worthlessness as he rolled out of bed onto the floor and crawled to his armoire to force himself to face the day.

17. Newspaper; History Book

"History books are written by the victors."

"So everything in them is a lie?"

"Well, I wouldn't go so far to say that, but they certainly don't tell the full story."

29. Flattery

It disgusted Daniel, how blatant the flattery was.

Don't they have any sense of tact? Daniel wondered as he stoically endured a sycophant gushing praise.

One of his fingers stroked the inside of his elbow, his only outward manifestation of annoyance. Of course, the young man—his peer, another student in his grade—would never interpret it as such. Daniel was much better at lying than he.

19. Rationalization

Daniel knew that he rationalized his behavior as "I do what I must in order to survive," but he also knew that there were other ways of behaving that didn't include lying with ever breath.

He had simply forgotten how to live that way, and no longer cared to.

13. Shadows

Daniel pressed his hands against his earphones, squishing them against his temples, trying to drown out the accusations that rang in his head.

No, no! I'm not—I'm not…

(Murderer)

(sick)

(monster)

Daniel bit back a scream of anguish, knowing that doing so would only cause Vlad to look in on him, and that was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to prove to the man he was okay. He needed to get out of the mansion, to get back to some semblance of life, no matter how much he hated the lies that everyone spouted in school.

If he didn't, the shadows that gnawed at his soul might prompt him to find an alternative way out, consequences be damned.

10. Lie Detector; Truth Serum

"Hey, frootloop."

"Yes, little badger?"

"Can you beat a lie detector?"

"Of course I can."

"Bullshit. Mythbusters proved you can't."

"The 'mythbusters' are humans, are they not?"

"So?"

"Am I fully human?"

"You say being half-ghost can fool the system?"

"Of course it can. It is something administered by humans, is it not? And humans are easily…influenced."

"…right."

14. Means to an End

There used to be a time when Daniel believed that humans were their own moral agents, individuals to be treated with respect and honor. That foolish concept had been thrashed out of him quickly enough. He knew what people saw him as anymore—a means to an end. A way to promote themselves in the eyes of others by being 'friends' with Vlad Masters' son. It was infuriating.

But two could play that game.

23. Exaggeration

"You know, if you weren't mostly-dead, I would think that you are exaggerating," Vlad drawled and Daniel gave him a weak glare.

"Go check for yourself, then, frootloop," Daniel croaked. His whole body was one solid ache, he knew he had lost far too much blood, and his mind was spinning worse than when he decided he didn't really need to take his medicine. "Go to his castle. You'll find his corpse on the stairs to his throne."

"And the Crown? The Ring?"

"Crown wasn't on him," Daniel whispered. It hurt to form every word, and he had to fight it to vocalize it. "I have the Ring."

Vlad hummed and idly stroked back some of Daniel's ectoplasm-mucked hair. "I'll go clean up your mess. Try not to die on me, hm?"

Daniel snorted in derision, then coughed.

"Don't move. I'll be back shortly."

Daniel wanted to snap something scathing back at Vlad, but exhaustion and the sum of his injuries dragged at him too much for him to even put together a semblance of syllables.

5. Half-truth

Half-truths were the best lies, since they were easier to remember, and usually far less complicated than flat-out lying. Vlad was a master at half-truths, but Daniel swore to catch up to him, if only to frustrate the man.

16. Cry Wolf

Daniel hated to admit it, but Vlad was right about a few things, the major one being that people are stupid.

It was so easy to convince his fellow students—even The Authority—that the truth that Daniel's classmate had discovered was just him crying wolf, trying to make people panic and lash out at him. Afterall, Daniel was an upstanding member of the student body; his grades were impeccable, his attendance was flawless, he had a very rich father, and could woo even those who hated him to his side.

Surely he had done nothing, and that his classmate was simply jealous.

Daniel had just enough maturity not to gloat.

24. Stolen

Daniel liked to delude himself now and then that his future had been stolen from him, rather than from him throwing it away. He had been a victim of circumstances, he hadn't created them. It wasn't his fault that the Nasty Sauce overheated. Mr. Lancer could have chosen to have the meeting with his parents anywhere else. Wasn't that how it was supposed to be, anyway? Reprimands were supposed to be personal things, not where everyone could overhear.

But Daniel knew that he had lost his future, had thrown it away, that it had all been his fault.

Afterall, he was told it continuously, and wouldn't others know the measure of his guilt more than he?

21. A Not So Honest Mistake

"I assure you, this is just an honest mistake," Daniel said smoothly, unruffled by the glare that was being leveled at him.

He wanted to say, 'What makes you think I'd care enough about someone like you to actually go out of my way to ruin your reputation?', but he had an image to maintain, and doing that would ruin a great deal of it.

Admittedly, he hadn't expected to have so much collateral damage from the fall from grace he had actually orchestrated, but it was simply another test of his skills.

1. Liar Paradox

"What if I told you that everything I tell you is a lie?" Daniel asked. He had to suppress a smirk at the sour look Vlad gave him.

"Don't try illogic on me, boy," the older half-ghost said. "I assure you that I can beat you at it."

Daniel's face finally pulled into the smirk that had been threatening. "Come, come, Vladdy."

Vlad shot him a glare over his newspaper. Daniel snickered and went back to playing a word game on his tablet.

8. Pinocchio

"Don't lie to me, Daniel."

"I'm not lying to you," Daniel replied as he parted the pillows he had covering his head enough for him to look out at his frustrated foster-father. "See? My nose is the right size."

Vlad rolled his eyes and phased the pillows off Daniel, who winced and shivered. "No! Don't take them away! They protect me from—"

"Daniel."

Daniel winced. "But, I don't like it."

"Your like or dislike of it is irrelevant. Do you want to regain your life?"

Daniel shuddered and curled up into a ball on the couch. "But they are out there, and I don't need anyone else in my head. I'm already too much, I'm bursting at the seams."

Vlad sighed and picked Daniel up, bridal-style.

Daniel didn't bother to complain and buried his head in the crook of Vlad's neck, shaking.

"I don't want them to find me."

"Daniel…"

30. Lie

Daniel wasn't sure when he began to not think anything about lying. He didn't know when it had simply become another form of conversation, a way of navigating the political and social morass. In the end, it didn't really matter. To survive he had to lie, and there were three very important lies he had to keep tabs on at all times, and all of them had to do with his past.

Which was a terrible thing, as being mysterious was a very good way to have people try to dig up anything and everything about you.

15. Lie-to-Children

"It just seems like such a silly concept."

"Well, do you think that 7th graders could truly understand quantum physics? Matrix Mechanics? Probability theory?"

"…no."

"There you have it, then. Classical Physics approximates reality well enough that, even though it is technically wrong, it still works and described the world in decent detail."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Of course it makes sense."

"Shut up."