Day 15
We are set to arrive on Fendaar in two cycles. As we are currently stuck on the SIIR Noxos, I have concluded that the passages of time that I am free of duties would be best spent continuing to observe the human. The human, on the other hand, seemed to have different plans in that matter, as it took me an unusually long amount of time to locate her.
As I eventually found her, she seemed to be working on one of the control panels in the main control room, so I may excuse her absence with duties she had to attend to. As she saw me, although, she seemed rather…excited (this is obviously mere speculation, as the study of the Terran so far has provided far too little evidence to prove such theories)?
As she rolled out from under the control board and sighted me, her face once again split into a wide opening revealing her horrifying amount of teeth.
"Hey! Dude!", she said, raising to her full height and stepping towards me, still baring her teeth, although I did not recoil, as I did not want to seem impolite. She raised her arms, each pointing into a different direction, away from their connection to the human's body.
"Human Quinn. How are you?"
"Me? I‘m fine, the whole 'wandering around in space' thing just made me throw up, I honestly don‘t know why they insisted on keeping me there for two whole days."
The ends of her fingers, studded with claw-like (rather short and rounded instead of sharp, perhaps they were not meant to function as claws at all, or perhaps the beings on Terra were far different from what I knew, and therefore a shape like this was far more useful to hunt) protuberances, scraped over the back of the connection between her head and her upper body. If I interpreted her facial expression correctly, she seemed to be thinking.
"Maybe I got a light concussion too, I’m not entirely sure. But it's improbable, because I’m fine now."
I decided to focus on one piece of information at a time. "Well, this "throwing up" can certainly not be a healthy nor normal process, otherwise, it would not seem so violently painful and involuntary, would it?"
"Well it‘s not…unnatural, it‘s just something that can happen. And about health, it‘s not unhealthy, it usually helps us to get rid of stuff that is bad for our bodies!", she eludicated, moving one of her arms in a rather random manner.
"The scientists have concluded that this fluid is highly acidic. If this 'stuff' is so harmful to you, wouldn‘t it just dissolve in this fluid before being able to cause any further harm?"
Quinn seemed to think about that.
"Well, just because it gets dissolved, doesn‘t mean it‘s gone, you know? It's still in our bodies, and we have to get rid of it somehow. And if it needs to be fast, we throw up. Honestly, I‘d definitely explain this further to you, but Biology‘s never really been my strongest subject, ya know what I mean?"
I did not, in fact, know what she meant, but I decided against questioning her further.
After a pause the Terran spoke up again: "So, this planet we're landing on..." "Fendaar.", I clarified. "Right. So, this planet that we‘re going to, it‘s a desert, right?" "That is correct." "So, is it a sand, an ice or, I guess you could also count rock desert? 'Cuz on my planet, we‘ve got all of those types."
"Fendaar‘s ecosystem is mostly made up out of sandlike landscapes with rather scarce vegetation and biodiversity. Most of the planets in system 36-54 have rather extreme temperature ranges, and Fendaar is no exception.", I eludicated.
"Alright, cool.", she spoke, rolling back under the underside of the control panel she had been working on previously. She seemed to be sitting, or rather lying, on a piece of metal with four small wheels attached to it, allowing her to move it around.
"Your planet.", I initiated.
"Yeah?", she responded, while continuing her work on the wiring.
"Am I assuming correctly that your planet has a far bigger biodiversity?"
"Oh, yeah.", there was a small spring in her voice, as if she had let out air in the middle of speaking. "Big biodiversity. We‘ve got deserts and rainforests, coral reefs and permafrost - although perhaps not for that long anymore - mountain ranges and all that stuff."
"Interesting.", I supplied, for lack of a better response. If Terra had such differences in temperature and landscapes, it was a logical conclusion that the humans had evolved to survive under such circumstances.
"Yeah."
It was unusually quiet for some time. That was, until Quinn rolled out from the underside of the control panels.
"Alright, I‘m done." She took a deep breath before opening her mouth once again. Then, all of a sudden, the muscles of her face started contracting as if she was plagued by an invisible pain. Her eyes squeezed shut and she let out horrifying noise, holding an arm angled in front of her nose and mouth. The noise itself was not particularly loud or long, but I recoiled either way, as a measure of safety. I could not be certain if this gesture was meant to harm me, after all.
Quinn‘s arm sank down again as her other hand rubbed at her nose. She huffed, a sound far less threatening than the one she had produced a moment ago. One of the hair patches above her visual organs raised itself, prompting the question to arise if human hair was controlled by muscles or if it had a mind of its own, although this was a question that could be further investigated later. One of the corners of her mouth raised, revealing the seemingly sharpest teeth in her mouth.
"I guess dust is an inter-galactic thing, huh?"
I did not respond. Her face muscles contracted, causing the skin above her visual organs to crease.
"Hey, you okay? You‘re looking a little spooked over there."
"Human, I do not wish to cause you discomfort, but, if I may ask, what was the purpose of the noise you just uttered?"
She did not respond for a moment, blinking with both of her eyes as she stared at me. It was quite unsettling, considering her previous explanation, that most humans preferred not being stared at.
"I…sneezed?" The creases in the skin above her eyes deepened.
My front pliers uttered another rattling sound. "What is this 'sneezing'? What purpose does it serve?" I admit, I was quite curious. Terrans seemed much more complex than I had previously assumed.
She paused, seemingly to think of an answer. "Well, it‘s like…if something is bothering us at or in out nose, like dust, for example, it‘s kind of the natural response to that. To keep things out of our bodies that don‘t belong there."
"Human bodies seem to require a lot of defense mechanisms.", I commented.
She raised and lowered the connection of her arms to her upper body, baring her teeth once again while raising herself to her full height, using one of her arms as support.
"Y’know, it’s surprisingly hard to explain something you’re so used to to someone who’s never heard of it. I guess I still have to work on the whole 'awareness that I‘m around aliens' thing. S‘ kind of surreal."
She patted off her clothing, as if to remove non-existent filth once again. I had noticed the past few cycles that most of her clothing seemed to consist of several, usually differently-coloured, pieces of fabric.
Her clothes usually covered her body from the connection between her arms and torso to the connection between her legs and, presumably, her feet. Her feet were usually also covered, although I could not determine the purpose it was supposed to serve in the environment we are currently in, although the theory that the conditions on Earth are vastly different compared to the ones on the SIIR Noxos is gaining more probability, based on the Terran's narrations.
The human seemed to evaluate a question she wanted to ask (this is, of course, a mere speculation based on previous observations: her face muscles were contracted to form a crease over her visual organs, which could so far most likely be interpreted as confusion, thoughtfulness or discomfort; her head was both slightly raised and tilted to one side at the same time, a gesture that was most likely supposed to convey an ongoing thought process).
Although, before she could utter a noise, V-7 informed us of a request from the Vitrichl to gather for a matter of importance.
The purpose of his summoning was to divide the crew into several smaller groups that were to be assigned with different tasks to fulfill once we sucessfully landed on Fendaar.
I was grouped with the Terran, which was unsurprising, as well as Tkzt, a member of the species that is widely known across the galaxies as Ctzas (it is to note that the Ctzas have not evolved any form of written language and communicate exclusively through clicking and chittering sounds. The written forms of, for example, names of this species, are written by other species to produce approximately the same sound as the Ctzas make when recited verbally).
Tkzt, as a member of the unit controlling supply chains and keeping a list of the stock of the SIIR Noxos, would make a helpful addition in our task of seeking out the nearest settlement in order to stock up on supplies.
After all matters of importance were settled, the crew dissipated, continuing their respective tasks. The Terran was ordered to stay and to assist the Vitrichl in another matter, which is the reason I did not cross paths with the human again for the rest of this cycle.
Despite this, I am positive that accompanying the human on an foreign planet will give me a further insight into the species' mannerisms and interaction manners with foreign species, which will prove to be helpful further on in studying the human.
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gray ghost- who said that
part 1 ~ part 2 ~ part 3
this part references my one-shot Glow. you don't need to have read it for this to make sense, but some... certain concepts will be used ;)
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The night was cold. One of the coldest in a while, if Danny's memory served him right.
He didn't mind. He was better suited for the cold anyway.
Plus, if he started shaking, he could blame it on the cold.
A fresh, untouched blanket of snow reflected the light of the full moon with millions of tiny sparkles. The breeze blew gently across his face, ruffling strands of white hair. Every breath he drew was full with the crisp promise of a long winter's night, as if time itself could be frozen just like the earth and rain and he was floating in that one eternal moment.
All in all, the perfect kind of night, made even more perfect by the young woman sitting beside him on her floating hoverboard.
Valerie's legs dangled off the edge of the board, kicking and stirring up loose powder below her feet. Her helmet sat beside her, and thus her hair flowed freely in the gentle wind. The moon's glow cast an angelic halo of light around her, illuminating her from above and making Danny's mouth run dry.
Oh Ancients, what am I thinking?
"How much longer did you want to stay out tonight?" Valerie asked, breaking the mesmerizing spell of the scene. "I was hoping to ask your parents something before heading home."
Danny's teeth scraped his bottom lip. "A bit longer?" He hated how it came out sounding like a question. Hated it. "It's just - you know, it's a really nice night out, I'm kind of enjoying the quiet for once." He snorted. "Makes me think Jazz had the right idea moving out and never coming back."
"Yeah, yeah, you love the cold, everyone knows it," Valerie drawled, looking at her watch. "Some of us are still warm-blooded, you know."
"If you're that cold, just put your helmet back on. Didn't Mom and Dad help you fix the ventilation problem with the heater?"
"Yeah, a few weeks ago." She flicked something off of her thigh. "I'd just rather not have it on right now."
Danny watched her carefully. Valerie had taken to letting her hair out the back of her helmet sometime during their senior year of high school, but lately, she'd been wearing it less and less often. His stomach apparently couldn't decide if he was alarmed by the idea or if he loved being able to see her face even better during patrols.
He shrugged. "Don't say I didn't tell you, then," he teased.
He could practically hear her eyes roll. "Believe me, I know I'll be hearing about it later." She checked her watch again. "You were in such a hurry earlier with the patrol, were you seriously rushing through it just so you could take your sweet time and dawdle in the cold?"
Danny's core froze, and he cursed the fact that his green ectoplasm so easily betrayed his blush in this form.
Okay, so maybe he had been pushing the patrol along earlier, and maybe they had been hanging out here, floating at the top of the hill overlooking Amity Park where the snow still remained untouched, for a lot longer than he'd originally intended. Could he really be blamed, though? Everything had to happen perfectly tonight. No tardiness allowed.
I swear, if they don't show up on time...
Valerie sighed and climbed back into a standing position on her board. "Come on, let's just go home. I seriously want to catch your parents before they head to bed."
"What? Whoa whoa, wait!" In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her. "I-I thought we were having a nice time! C'mon, just a little longer?"
"One, you sound like a toddler wanting to stay up past his bedtime. Two, we are having a nice night, but it's getting late, and I really need to get to your place. There will be other nice nights, you know?"
Danny's panic began to escalate. "Yeah, but - but not this one! What if I don't get another chance?"
He snapped his mouth shut as soon as Valerie's eyebrow arched at his words. "Chance for what?" she asked slowly.
Way to go, Fenton.
"Okay, okay, just..." He inhaled deeply and, behind his back, began to fish around in his Pocket (affectionately named by Tucker back when they'd first discovered the personal pocket dimension attached to Danny). "I was waiting for... something, but I can do it now, I mean it won't be the same at all, but if getting back home is a problem I can definitely do it now, I think, and -"
Valerie held up a hand. Though she frowned, humor danced in the moonlight reflecting off her eyes. "You're rambling again."
Danny squeaked as his face flushed green again. "Sorry! I'm just -" He cut himself off to inhale deeply again. "Okay. Okay. Backing up."
His fingers closed around a tiny box, and ever so carefully, he pulled it out of the Pocket. Breathe, Fenton.
"We've known each other for a long time," he began, and he immediately cringed. Ancients, could you have started off more stereotypical?
Valerie's eyebrow twitched, but she said nothing.
He ran his thumb over the fine texture of the box. "Okay, so when we first met, we definitely got off on the wrong foot. Running into you and ruining your shirt... then losing your dad his job... I mean it's no wonder you hated me for so long."
Her face softened. "What are you talking about? I thought we were past all that? Did something happen?"
"No, no! Nothing like that!" I should've taken Dad's notecards when he offered them! "It's just like, you know, ten years ago or however long it's been, when we were freshmen, no one would've pegged us as the kind of people to end up together."
"Yeah, although that was mostly because you had that thing for Manson, and she was making googly eyes at you every five seconds."
Danny's eyes felt like they were about to pop out of his head from how wide they opened. This time, he felt the cool rush of his blush reach to the tips of his ears and down past his collarbone.
Oh God, abort abort ABORT!
"It wasn't like that!" That is the exact opposite of aborting! "I - uh, we, it got worked out! And Sam got herself figured out and everything! She and Paulina celebrated the new year in Paris, last I heard..."
Valerie sighed again, but her eyes wrinkled in concern rather than frustration. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem... distracted."
"No! I mean, yes! Er, I'm not distracted, I'm just..." His grip on the box loosened just slightly. Change tactics, Fenton. "You're... really important to me, you know?"
A crooked smile spread across her face. "Well, I certainly hope so," she said, with a little laugh. "I feel like I'm kind of entitled to that."
Danny perked back up. Not all the way, but the spark of hope that this whole endeavor was still salvageable had reignited.
Somewhat.
"You are! You totally are! You deserve that from me!" His tail twitched anxiously. "You deserve... so much more from me."
Her smile disappeared. "What do you mean? You're not... what?"
His eyes widened again. "I'm not about to break up with you or anything! I'm -"
A familiar chill ran up his spine and into his throat, leaving in a wisp of fine, blue mist.
Any other night, he would've cursed the interruption, but tonight, especially with how poorly this was turning out, he sagged with relief. Finally! It's about time they showed up!
Maybe some part of this could actually be sal-
"AHA! SO, YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HIDE YOUR BOX FROM ME?"
The words that left Danny's mouth were a) very much not English and b) some that Mom would not hesitate to wash his mouth out with ecto-soap if she knew what they meant.
Valerie, to her credit, didn't even flinch. Years of both a softening attitude towards ghosts in general and an impressive patience for the Box Ghost's shenanigans had done wonders. "I have no idea what box you're talking about," she began slowly. A built up patience did not mean she wasn't above glaring daggers at him. "If you didn't notice, we're kind of in the middle of something here? And I think Danny was just about to explain himself before I drag him home and make him explain himself." She directed her last sentence to the ghost (no longer a) boy in question.
Danny grinned sheepishly and threw his hands up in front of him in surrender. "I was gonna explain, I swear!"
He realized far too late that that had possibly been the dumbest mistake he could make.
"Ah!" the Box Ghost cried gleefully. As he extended a glowing hand, Danny whipped around to find the box he'd inadvertently let go of, only to watch as the same glow that surrounded the Box Ghost's hand engulfed it.
"Hey!" He made a desperate dive to catch the box, but the Box Ghost's telekinesis was too fast. Before Danny could blink, the ghost had floated it into his hands and started cradling it lovingly.
"Oooh, you have A FINE TASTE IN BOXES, GHOST CHILD!" he said. "A premium black faux leather Kensington Jeweler's ring box? From... 1988? No, wait!" He held it right up underneath his nose and inhaled loudly. "1989! Eheehehehee, WHAT A FINE ADDITION TO MY COLLECTION!"
Danny saw green.
"Don't you dare!" he roared, launching himself at the Box Ghost. He was barely aware of Valerie shouting his name or the Box Ghost's panicked yelp.
He had to get that box back.
Somehow, Valerie beat him to the punch. Quite literally, in fact. He managed to pull up just short of colliding into her as she delivered a killer right hook to the Box Ghost's jaw. The ghost was flung backward, but somehow maintained his grip on the box. She didn't waste any time taking off after him again, stirring up a huge cloud of snow in her wake. Danny could only blink snow out of his eyes and watch her give chase to the now-fleeing Box Ghost.
Ancients, I love that woman.
He moved to fly after the two (how could he let her have all the fun?), but was stopped by yet another chill and burst of blue mist.
"Are you kidding me?" He threw up his hands in exasperation. "I swear, I ask you all to just leave me alone for one night, and you make it your personal mission to see who can tick me off the most!"
Green ectoplasm sparked to life around his fist, and he turned, ready to give whatever ghost had decided to ruin his night even more a piece of his mind.
Instead, he found himself pulling up short again as he came face to face with a large blob ghost.
Danny blinked, trying to refocus his eyes to see the ghost floating inches from his nose. "Bingus?"
The blob, who was indeed Bingus, let out a low purr and attached himself to Danny's face.
Danny began swatting at his face. "Pleh, pleh! C'mon, really? You got in my mouth!"
In response, Bingus simply purred louder.
By the time Danny managed to pry the blob off of his head, half a dozen more of Bingus' kin had bumped up against him and were attempting to cuddle their favorite resident half-ghost. Still more blob ghosts approached from the bottom of the hill, all chirping and twittering away.
"Finally!" Danny rubbed Jeff affectionately (in an attempt to keep him from attaching to his face as well). "You guys have no idea how happy I am to see you! Well, maybe you do, since you guys feed off of emotion, but still!"
In total, there had to have been at least two dozen blob ghosts. All of the members of the Nasty Clan had shown up, plus many of the blobs that lived in the FentonWorks. Some that lived in the park had decided to tag along as well. They wouldn't necessarily know what to do, Danny realized, but maybe the more the merrier?
A shout from the Box Ghost shook him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Valerie hot on his heels, her hair billowing behind her in the wind, green eyes alight with fury and reflecting the bright fuchsia of the gun charging up in her hand.
Danny's mouth ran dry. How was it that they'd been dating for years and still just the sight of her was enough to make his heart and core melt?
"I'm the luckiest guy on earth," he said to the horde of blob ghosts surrounding him.
"What?" Valerie shouted, glancing back at him. "What the heck are you doing? Aren't you gonna get in on this?"
He almost grinned back at her, almost told her it seemed like she had it well under control, but as the Box Ghost sped by him, he remembered just what had been stolen from him.
"Hang tight, guys," he told the blob ghosts, turning to glance at them quickly.
Rather, it appeared he told the empty air around him.
"What?" His head snapped back around in time to see a sight he didn't think he could ever forget.
Every single one of the blob ghosts had joined in the chase and had decided to completely swarm the poor Box Ghost. A cacophony of chitters and chirps filled the cold night air as one by one, they began to catch up to the Box Ghost and latch themselves onto him. Ketchup and Pepperoni, from the Nasty Clan, each glommed onto a shoulder. Jeff settled on the Box Ghost's right knee. Gibby, who had come from the FentonWorks, attached himself to his stomach. Tiny Pipp, who was too little to latch on enough to hinder the Box Ghost, had elected to fling herself repeatedly at his eyes.
"HEY! WHO DARES ATTACK THE ALL-POWERFUL BOX GHOST?" he shouted, trying to shoo Pipp away and very much failing as more and more blobs began to attach on and flatten themselves out. In a matter of less than a minute, they had successfully wrapped themselves into a sticky, tight cocoon around him, stopping him in midair.
Danny stifled a fit of giggles through his fingers. One look at Valerie, who had also apparently been stunned by the sight of the assault of the blobs, told him she was struggling to do the same. Seeing her try and fail to keep her laughter in only made his own laughter that much harder to keep in.
The Box Ghost had not quite given up. "I COMMAND YOU TO RELEASE ME!" he hollered. "NO ONE CAN CONTAIN A GHOST AS TERRIFYING AS ME!"
"Maybe you should've thought about that before trying to steal from me," Danny said through his giggles, drifting closer. Carefully, he turned his hand intangible and reached through the layer of blob ghosts to pluck the box out of the Box Ghost's hold. A quick peek inside calmed his racing core. Nothing inside appeared to be damaged.
"Um, excuse me? I'm the one who put the effort in to catch him." Valerie pulled up next to Danny, her arms crossed. "You don't get to act like you've done anything."
Danny grinned and bowed out of the way. "By all means, my lady. Have at it."
She rolled her eyes but smiled as she grabbed the thermos attached to her hip. "On the count of three, guys," she instructed the blob ghosts.
One flash of light later had the Box Ghost secured away and the blob ghosts now swarming both Valerie and Danny.
"Okay, take it easy now," she laughed. "There's a lot of stuff in this suit that could hurt you, you know that."
"How come they listen to you?" Danny whined. Bingus had again assumed his spot on Danny's head, and the half-ghost was once again struggling to pry him off, especially while trying to maintain his hold on the box this time around.
"Hmm. I guess they just like me better." She snickered at him and allowed Pepperoni to nuzzle up to her cheek. "Besides, I think they know you're still hiding something from me."
And just like that, Danny's core froze. "I, uh... What? I'm not hiding something, I mean not like hiding something, I swear I was gonna tell you! I was just waiting for the right time, and - and -"
"Danny."
Valerie had said his name hundreds, thousands of times before. She'd said it in the throes of battle, with an urgency and a fire that always had him springing into action. She'd said it on the nights when neither of them wanted to go home, not wanting to take their hands or their lips off the other, with the comforting weight of finding his home in her arms as she whispered in his ear. She'd said it during the moments he'd rather forget, when she spat it with vitriol or heaved it up in a sob or wrenched it from her heart in a fit of anguish. If she'd said his name a thousand times, he'd heard it in a thousand ways, each echoing endlessly in his heart.
This time, when his name fell from her lips, it carried with it a pull like none he'd heard before. One that tugged at the strings of his heart and core. One that wrapped around him and held him close and left him defenseless. One that soothed every fear, every anxiety, every doubt.
One that held the purest love, the kind that could not be contained by Earth or the Infinite Realms or the endless expanse of stars twinkling in the sky above them.
Wordlessly, he sank down until he knelt in the snow. He was only vaguely aware of Bingus and the other blobs slowly peeling themselves off his body, still hovering around him in anticipation.
The transformation came almost unwillingly, as simple as lifting a finger or winking an eye, and when the light cleared, Danny Fenton was left, kneeling in the moonlight and laying down every defense before the love of his life.
Valerie watched him, her face cautious and tempered by the knowing look in her eye. She too drifted down and, in one seamless movement, retracted her board and suit. She landed soundlessly, gracefully, and dropped to her knees.
For a moment, nothing but the gentle wind could be heard as they knelt there, in the snow, under the silvery light of the moon and stars and the soft green glow of the blob ghosts, each baring their fullest self to the other.
Danny ran his thumbs back and forth over the tiny box, unable to look up and meet Valerie's eyes. "I messed up," he whispered. "Things... weren't supposed to happen like this."
"Hey." Ever so tenderly, she laid her hands over his. "You didn't mess anything up. You can't control someone like the Box Ghost," she said with a nervous laugh.
"I don't just mean with... with this," he said, squeezing the box tightly. "Like... don't you remember the last time we were like this?" He gestured to themselves, sitting knee to knee, then to the blob ghosts watching in earnest.
"How could I not? That was our first kiss... when we first got together."
"Yeah, and I took you behind the dumpsters at the Nasty Burger. The dumpsters! I mean, what was I thinking? Trying to impress you there of all places?"
"You were introducing me to these guys!" Valerie took one of her hands to pet Pepsi, who had decided to assert a place for herself on Valerie's lap. "That's where they live! It's not like you were trying to take me on an actual date there."
"And then when I tried to ask you to prom," Danny continued. He'd heard Valerie, of course, but his anxieties were returning like a tidal wave, and he was powerless to stop them. "That was straight up a disaster! You were washing goop out of your hair for a week!"
"Yeah, but it all came out eventually, and -"
"Or the anniversary date I tried to plan last year? I told Walker that I was gonna take you to the Tamed Lake, and he even said it was okay, but no, he still had to ambush us and ruin the whole day for no other reason than to screw with us!"
"Danny, I -"
"And then this whole mess, I - I tried so hard to make it perfect, I managed to convince just about every ghost we know to just leave us alone for one night, except for the Box Ghost of all of them, the one ghost that always manages to squirm his way over here, and -"
"Danny."
"What?" he said, much more snappishly than he meant to. "I - oh."
Sitting in Valerie's free hand was another tiny ring box.
Danny's heart stuttered over the next few beats. His mouth opened and closed, trying to form something, anything, but no sound came out. And finally, finally, he looked up and met Valerie's eyes.
If he hadn't already been half dead, he was sure he would've died on the spot.
Memories of that night so many years ago flashed by as he stared into her eyes, mesmerized by the same tiny galaxies he'd been so taken by even back then. Glimmering lights from the moon and the stars and the blob ghosts around them danced and twirled in an endless display, even in spite of the tears beginning to pool in the corners of her eyes. Everything she could've said in that moment - and thousands of things she couldn't - sparkled right back at him.
"I had plans too, you know," she said quietly, the hint of a smile on her face. "Why did you think I wanted to get back to your place so quickly?"
"I... just figured you really, really wanted to talk to Mom and Dad." Danny's face burned red, but he resisted the urge to turn away.
Valerie laughed. "Sometimes you really are still clueless, Danny."
The corners of his lips twitched upward, but not enough to break into a full smile. "I just... I wanted to really make this special," he said. Tears began to build up in his own eyes. "I wanted to do something worthy of how just... perfect you are, just something so I could at least try to come close to showing you how much I love you and how it's nowhere near to the level you deserve."
"You're such a sap," she said with another laugh, even though her tears had begun to trickle down her cheeks. "You don't need to do anything flashy or grand or perfect to impress me or make me feel loved or whatever you've started to tell yourself. I love you for you. Not for what you can do for me. This..." She looked up and around at the night sky and the blob ghosts still watching them closely. "This is more than enough. This is already perfect. And you, you are... you're perfect too. You're perfect for me."
Danny sniffled, and a smile finally bloomed on his face. "And you call me a sap. You're the one calling this perfect while you're sitting in the snow getting all wet and cold."
Valerie shook her head as she too sniffled. "If that makes you feel better. Either way, you can't run from the truth."
He giggled, and silently, as if reading each other's mind, they both leaned forward until their foreheads rested against each other.
Danny closed his eyes and inhaled a lungful of the cold night air. Yes, if he thought about it, about where he was and who he was with and just how overwhelmingly he wanted to simply exist in her presence, forever and ever, he could see how this was perfect on its own.
"You know," he started, no louder than a whisper. They were so close now; he didn't want to break the spell. "I told the blobs to come for a reason."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. I taught them something I was gonna show you, you know, to go with the actual question." He opened his eyes. "Do you... want to see?"
Much to his surprise, she pulled away, leaving him stunned and blinking helplessly.
"Oh no," she scolded. "Don't even think about trying to sneak in first, Fenton. If you think I'm just gonna sit here all ready to ask you while you put on your little show so you can ask me first, then you are sorely mistaken."
"What?" He blinked again. "I wasn't - what? Whoa, whoa wait, who said you got to ask first?"
"Come on, did you really expect me to just sit back and let you do all the fun stuff? I've worked for this too, you know!"
"Okay, the key word there is 'too.' I've spent so long trying to work up the guts to finally do this, you can't do this to me!"
Valerie laughed again. "Well, if it's taken you this long... I might be willing to meet in the middle."
"What, like... ask at the same time?" Danny tilted his head. "Is that allowed?"
"Who cares?" She squeezed his hand. "We make the rules for ourselves. From now on, yeah? We can do it together."
The tears returned to his eyes. Coherent thoughts had all but left him, leaving little more than the overpowering love consuming him inside and out. "Yeah," he said, nodding eagerly. "Together. But first..."
With what little sensibility he had left, he tugged one of his hands free and raised it to his mouth to whistle. The sound was imperceptible to humans, but to other ghosts...
The effect was instantaneous. The blobs perked up and began to rush around, arranging themselves.
Valerie watched them in awe. "What are they doing?"
But Danny was too busy grinning wildly to answer. Instead, he focused in on the warmth in his heart, the overwhelming love, and, in one burst, released it out into the air. The blob ghosts, still finalizing their formation, ate the emotion up greedily, glowing brighter and brighter as they fed off of the sheer strength of Danny's love.
"There's a place in the Ghost Zone," he began to explain, excitement unbridled in his voice. "It's so far out there. Almost to the edge of what's known of the Realms. Very few ghosts have ever even heard of it, let alone seen it with their own eyes. There's not a lot of ectoplasm out there, so it can be dangerous for someone to go out there.
"But Clockwork told me about it one day, and I wanted to see it. I needed to see it. And so I went. Apparently, it's a lot easier for a half-ghost like me to travel that far away from the stable sources of ectoplasm. I guess it makes sense now, but you should've seen the look on Frostbite's face when I told him how far I'd gone. He was horrified. Made me sit down for a checkup right then and there.
"But Ancients, Val..." He sighed wistfully. "It was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. It was like... like being up in space without actually going there. Just this endless void filled with stars, as far as I could see. I could fly among them and just exist there, and in some ways it felt even more special than space because this... Well, tons of people have seen the stars in space, even if it's only been through pictures or telescopes. But me, I might be the only one in recent times to see those stars and really get to enjoy them. Just me..."
"You should've taken me," she said, still looking up at the blob ghosts, who had settled in a strange, sporadic array. "I don't need the ectoplasm, you know?"
Danny winced. "I don't know if there was any oxygen or anything out there is the thing. And I know your suit could've handled it, but not without a source of ectoplasm to draw on. I'm sorry, we probably could've figured something out, and maybe we still can, but for now..."
He swept his arm up and to the horde of blob ghosts. "One of the great things about being the first to discover something is you get to name things. And so many new stars, all the constellations... I've started mapping them. And this one, the one that they're making right now, it's the first one I ever mapped." He looked back at Valerie, and another wave of adoration cascaded over him. "I named it after you."
She jerked her head down to stare right at him. "Danny..." she whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks again. "You..."
"But these stars will never compare to the real thing," he continued. "I could have every star in the sky and the Realms and they would still pale in comparison to you. This constellation... It doesn't even begin to come close to how amazing you are and just how much you mean to me. You outshine them all, and every day I just wonder how on earth I got to be so lucky." He inhaled shakily. "Valerie Nicole Gray, I love you with every bit of my heart and core. However many stars I still have to find, I love you more than all of them. You're the only star that truly lights my sky."
Valerie shook her head again, unable to contain her tears or her smile. Danny didn't mind; he knew he looked the exact same way.
"And you, Daniel James Fenton," she finally said, her voice thick with emotion. "I love you with all my heart. I will go to the ends of the Earth and the Infinite Realms to find you and be with you. I won't let anything stand in our way. I'll catch any star for you, no matter what it takes. There is nothing you can do, no one you can be that will make me stop loving you."
Danny could've sworn Clockwork slowed down time to a crawl in that moment. Unable to tear his eyes away from his guiding star, his breathing ragged and heart racing, he slowly raised the box in his hand. Valerie mirrored him.
Without another word between them, their hearts and minds fully in sync, they opened the boxes.
Valerie gasped audibly and tears fell faster when she saw the ring in Danny's box. It truly was a pretty ring, he'd decided weeks ago when Damon first entrusted him with it. The band was a simple gold, set with an oval-shaped ruby. Tiny diamonds surrounded the ruby and formed a halo in the shape of a starburst, twinkling and making the ruby shine a red so stunning and vibrant. Pretty and so very fitting.
"He gave that to you?" she whispered. "I've always... God, Danny, you... I've always wanted to ask Daddy if I could keep it... just... it's beautiful..."
"Nowhere near as pretty as yours." The ring in Valerie's box was a thick, black metal band. Hollowed into the middle of the band was a cluster of blue and purple crystals, dotted with tiny specks of white crystal. The whole thing danced in the light, giving the illusion of a galaxy embedded right into the band.
"Would you believe me if I said Frostbite helped me make it?" she asked, trying and failing to hide a blush with her hair.
"You made this?" He didn't know if his heart could handle the nearly crushing surge of affection he felt in that moment.
She nodded vigorously. "I'll tell you all about it, but you have to put it on first."
His smile felt like it could split his face. "Is that really your way of asking?" he said, unable to resist the opportunity to tease.
"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes. Her own smile blinded him. "If you'd rather do it the boring way..."
Their eyes locked together. The blob ghosts stilled. Not a sound could be heard other than that of two frantically beating hearts, perfectly in sync with one another. The surrounding glow grew brighter and brighter as the love continued to spill over and into the air.
When they both took a breath, the earth took a breath with them.
And together, they spoke the words to change their lives.
"Will you marry me?"
Danny couldn't be sure exactly what happened next, let alone if he actually managed to say the word "yes" or not. He only knew of the flurry of nodding and crying and the everlasting embrace he found himself wrapped in.
He never wanted to let go.
He only moved when Valerie tapped at his hand and he raised his head from where he'd buried it into her shoulder. She wiggled her arms free enough to take the ring out of her box and, with a smile Danny would never forget for as long as he lived, carefully slid it onto his left ring finger. He beamed down at the ring she'd so lovingly crafted, fitting perfectly on his finger.
He was too overjoyed to be embarrassed as he fumbled with his ring box, taking that ring and slipping it onto her own ring finger. It stood out on her finger, a single star in the sky. Just like her.
He found himself locking eyes with Valerie again. For a moment, he knelt there, drinking in every bit of the moment, from the ambient glow of the blob ghosts to the moonlight shining off of her beautiful hair to the spark of pure love in her endless eyes to the smile that threatened to leave her face to the glimmer of the ring on her finger.
"Valerie," he whispered, unable to say anything more. My fiancee. My star. My only love.
God, I sound like one of Jazz's cheesy romance novels.
He didn't particularly care.
"Danny," she responded in kind. His name carried with it everything unsaid, everything she felt in that moment. Her love touched his heart, and he didn't know if there would ever be a feeling that could even come close to measuring up to the overwhelming emotion he felt when she spoke his name.
He surged forward and found his lips on hers and his arms around her. He'd kissed her hundreds of times before, but this time felt magical, as though the world had stopped around them and everything was simply right and nothing would ever hurt either of them ever again.
He felt invincible in her embrace.
He didn't know how long they stayed like that, just existing with one another, before a flash behind his eyelids caught his attention. Slowly, he peeled his eyes open, and when he saw the cause, he broke the kiss, grinning wildly.
"Val," he whispered against her lips. "Look."
She too opened her eyes, watching Danny in confusion before catching sight of what he had seen. He grinned even wider when she gasped.
All around them, the blob ghosts had begun to glow a bright, radiant gold.
"Just like that night," he said, the memories flashing through his mind.
"Just like that night," she echoed. She smiled, and Danny's heart melted. "Absolutely perfect."
She recaptured his lips in another kiss and his eyes fluttered shut.
Yes, he thought. Absolutely perfect.
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