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The idea of a double date was scary. For Danny anyway. Sam thought it was fun.
Besides, she loved any chance to spoil her boyfriend. He was always so shy about asking for or receiving money from her, even though she was easily the richest one out of the four people she was treating to a dinner double date. Valerie was the one to suggest it, but Sam was paying. Dani couldn’t exactly pay for her girlfriend when she was too young to have a job aside from working for Danny’s parents on the side while going to school with him.
But the girl in question was actually the one to find a nice, little spot in Elmerton to dine at. Dani was nice enough to call ahead and make sure to ask for a booth, which they were currently sitting at. They even had a nice spot next to a window, which Danny and Dani had gotten on their respective sides.
They were all dressed up nice. Dani and Valerie in matching blue blouses and jeans, Sam in her usual outfit, but with her tank top replaced with a half-sheer dark green shirt. Danny had tried to dress up like them, but with his matching green button up too tight around his neck, it was clear he hadn’t started off the date with much experience in being fancy(ish).
They hadn’t even been there long, but Sam was, quite frankly, enjoying the awkward first date conversation.
Valerie was a pretty smooth talker, as was Dani. They had been together for a few months now, so spending time together made them closer than anyone else in their lives. They knew each other pretty well, and knew how to play off of each other to make some entertaining back and forth.
As for why Danny wasn’t a smooth talker to his girlfriend (who had been dating him for much longer than a few months), that was probably because Sam was the one who was more of a flirt. Gifts, compliments, generally being touchy—that was all her. Danny could barely handle a single you look cute without stuttering and looking close to phasing into the ground to avoid her flirty response of 'thank you, baby.'
That all being the case, Danielle’s little spot was a perfect spot for two out of the four of them to flirt with their partners. Val and Dani had been consistently flirting with each other, sometimes taking a break to talk with Sam or to tease Danny. Sam would do the same, but, well, Danny was too nervous to even talk, let alone let out his (rarely) flirty side.
Dani, with her tall soda cup and massive plate of fries, sharing with Valerie, who had a lemonade in front of her. They had never been shy about sharing everything. Tables, food, even drinks.
Sam, with her glass of water and half empty plate of salad. It was too plain to finish, and watching the two of them tease her boyfriend while he tried to stutter out anything cute to her in response was too amusing to pass up on a lackluster meal.
Poor Danny, with fidgeting, cold hands holding one of hers on the seat. He had barely touched his mozzarella sticks with how nervous he was doing anything romantic in public. No one was even watching them, but he must have thought otherwise. She couldn’t help but smile. He was cute. Incredibly so, actually. Slightly green face and ears, legs unable to sit still—everything she knew he hadn’t noticed, but that everyone at the table had.
“Hey, Danny?”
Valerie hadn’t had her turn teasing Danny as much as Dani, so Danny clearly hadn’t expected all eyes on him with the way he squeaked out, “Yeah?”
“I’ve always wondered something.” He nodded at her once, tight. “If Danielle is a clone of you…” Dani perked up from in between scarfing down the contents of their shared plate. “Why are you different genders?”
Sam had to try really hard to not snicker at the way Danny pressed his hands into his face and sunk until he was halfway under the table. If he wasn’t blushing before, he was now.
“Are you okay, Danny?” She had tried to sound like she wasn’t laughing at him, but she wasn’t subtle enough. It was only because she was still holding onto his hand that he hadn’t fallen under the table completely.
“Did I…” Valerie, slowly, worried. She probably thought their teasing went too far. “Say something wrong?”
Sam sighed, trading looks with them. “No, it’s-”
Danny was clearly not in the right not-embarrassed state to come up with any excuses, and Sam herself wasn’t a fan of lying to both girls considering Danielle also didn’t know with the way she was looking at her with a half-full mouth and still holding Valerie’s hand on the seat. Vlad clearly hadn’t informed her before or after siccing her on Danny. If he knew at all.
Besides, Danny had always given Sam the trust to tell anyone who earned it, and Valerie had without a doubt.
“Look, can you-” Sam gestured for Valerie to get closer. She lent forward, but not close enough. Sam pulled her in by her blouse and whispered, “Danny’s trans.”
“Oh.” She blinked, then, “Oh!”
Sam sat back down and nodded. “Yeah, oh.”
A clear look of we’re in public, don’t make a fuss. Valerie got it, but with her pursed lips it was clear she hadn’t been expecting it and wasn’t sure what to say. Sam knew she’d be totally fine with it, but boy did it make the date a little awkward.
“Val?” Dani, rightfully still confused, then turned to Sam and fake-pouted. “What, am I not good enough to share the secret?”
Danielle would be fine with this reveal, too. That was obvious from the first moment. The fact that Danny hadn’t told either of them yet was actually a bit surprising. A roll of her eyes at her insistent look, then Sam gave her the same treatment.
It took a second, and in that time wherein she was confused about just how that related to her coming out of the cloning tube a girl when Danny was a boy, Valerie took the opportunity to quietly say, “If it makes you feel better, I never would have guessed.”
At that, and at her realization, Dani immediately burst out laughing, slapping the table and giggling loudly, nearly choking on her food.
It must be incredibly funny to Dani that no one had ever made the connection even though they said they were identical twins at school. Or she was laughing because despite him being terrible at keeping secrets, this was the one thing everyone seemed to overlook. Or maybe Danielle was laughing at Vlad for not figuring it out either. He always claimed he was some genius prodigy, but apparently he was too dumb to connect some dots.
It was anyone's guess.
Danny himself was now one with the floor, and Sam wasn’t sure she’d ever get him up with all the ruckus his clone was making. He looked about four more seconds from phasing himself into the ground and towards the center of the Earth.
Sam slid down to his level, joining him halfway. Trying to comfort (and trying not to laugh at his admittedly pathetic state), “Doing alright, babe?”
He put his hands across his fully green face and, incredibly muffled, mumbled, “Just tell me when she stops laughing, and I’ll eat my mozzarella sticks.”
A look back up. Dani had not stopped, and, in fact, was having trouble breathing with how long she had been going on for. Even Valerie had gone from hesitant and worried to laughing, too. The diner was probably incredibly confused as well. Actually, Sam knew they were. Waitresses stopped serving, people had their forks halfway to their mouths and stared.
Danny would never live this down.
She pat his shoulder a few times. He merely whined when Danielle still kept laughing. “I’ll let you know."