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hannahmanderr · 10 months

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A fight with Spectra leaves both Fenton and Phantom hurting in more ways than one.

They'll make it up to each other. They always do. (Pitch Pearl)

Rated: Teen

For @scarletsaphire and @duchi-nesten

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“Wow, Spectra.” Phantom grunted as he dodged a swipe from the shadow ghost. “I never would’ve pegged you for the swimming type. Last time I took a shadow like you for a dip, they got the one way ticket to the Amity sewer system.”

Spectra tutted. “A girl’s allowed to have fun every now and then, Danny!”

“And by fun, you mean trying to stage a little ‘accident’ for the first gym class of the morning?”

“See, you get it! A little tampering here and there is all it takes to give a couple of kids a shocker of a morning wake-up call!” She dissolved into a dark mist as Phantom made a dive for her, reforming after he passed through her harmlessly.

But he’d been expecting that. He doubled over backwards, arching his back into the flip, and snapped into a quick roll to make another pass at her.

Apparently, she had been expecting that too. She bared her claws and swung them in a wide arc, forcing him to twist out of the way to try to avoid them. The claws thankfully missed his chest, but she managed to snag his arm and rip four jagged cuts into his arm, almost like mini versions of the gash she’d managed to give him earlier.

“Gah!” Phantom clapped a hand to the torn jumpsuit. “Jeez, have you ever heard of nail clippers?”

Spectra grinned wickedly and made another lunge for him. “Ha! I’ve spent hours making sure my manicure is… on point.”

He barely had time to pull his hand away and throw up a green shield, deflecting her blow. Ectoplasm dripped from his glove to the tile and left tiny little glowing pinpricks on the dark floor. Kind of like stars.

Focus. Not the time to be thinking about that.

“Hey, the puns are my thing, alright? At least let me have that.” Flames of cold green energy burst to life around his hand, and he shot off a quick succession of blasts, hoping at least one would hit.

He’d have taken the time to aim if he hadn’t already gotten his head smashed into the wall twice during this fight. Either that, or his slightly fuzzy vision indicated he was having a sudden need of contact lenses, but the throbbing at the back of his skull seemed to say otherwise.

So maybe he had a tiny little baby concussion. No big deal.

Only one of the blasts hit true, but it did little to deter Spectra. She snarled and called up her own purple ecto-energy. “And why should I let you?”A flick of her wrist warped the energy into a lasso. “You already have so much, don’t you?”

The lasso came flying at him. He darted to the left only to be met by the wall of bleachers, sitting halfway folded up. Figured. The janitor must’ve gotten lazy after the swim meet earlier.

Either way, it added a tally to his growing count of blows to the head today. He gripped his head tightly and tried to funnel ice energy into his hands to try and numb the pain a little, maybe even help put a block to any swelling, but all it did was open a window for the lasso to close around his ankle. A yelp escaped his throat as Spectra yanked him towards her.

“I mean think about it! You’ve got the powers, the looks, the personality…” Each word was punctuated by a sharp tug on the rope. “What more does a boy need, hmm?” She paused in fake contemplation. “Oh, wait! I might know!”

“Not! Listening!” He pulled fruitlessly at his leg to try and free it before giving up and shooting at the rope with an ecto-blast. His energy wasn’t quite strong enough to break hers. Of course it wasn’t. Just his luck. When had her energy gotten so strong anyway?

“How about a family who loves him? I don’t think you have one of those now, do you?”

“I said I’m not listening!” he shouted, though the weight of her parasitic words settling into his chest seemed to indicate otherwise.

Ice. Surely ice would work. Phantom barely needed a thought to call it into his hands and coat the energy rope with a thick layer. He snapped it like a toothpick and immediately whirled around to fire off two blasts of ice as soon as his leg was free. They both missed, instead catching some of the swimmer’s blocks along the edge of the pool.

“Poor little Danny,” she cooed condescendingly, apparently unfazed by his escape. She shot off a couple of blasts of her own before disappearing in a whirl of shadow

Before he could figure out where she’d gone, she dug her claws into his shoulders. A whimper of pain squeezed past his lips as the fabric of his suit tore again, exposing his bare skin to her razor sharp claws.

“Maybe I should feel sorry for you after all! You’ve got the adoration of all these humans, yet you’ll never truly fit in with them. Of course, you could just stick to the Ghost Zone, but you’ve managed to turn everyone there against you! Well now, that really is a sticky predicament! Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to let you have your precious puns after all.”

The toxicity in her words began to make him dizzy and lethargic, especially now that she had a physical hold on him. Her claws dug deeper and deeper into his shoulders. Why were her words getting to him this easy? It’s not like he didn’t know how to handle himself around her.

He shook his head and jerked half-heartedly, but that only succeeded in cutting himself open on her claws even more. Her venom wasn’t physical, sure, but it didn’t stop it from hurting as it penetrated him down to his very core.

“Stop it,” he panted, “I’m… you can’t get to me like that.”

Except she absolutely could, and she knew it just as well as he did.

“I want to help you, Danny, I really do.” She leaned her head down close enough that he could feel her lips graze his ear. He recoiled from the touch. “All you have to do is let me. I can take it all away, you just have to let me get in you to take it out. So simple… and then you won’t feel a thing. I promise.”

His struggles weakened as the words drove themselves into his core.

She was right. It would be so much easier, wouldn’t it? To just give in?

No.

Just a little moment of selfishness. That’s all it would take. No more pain. No more heartbreak.

Fight it.

The town wouldn’t be completely unprotected. Valerie could handle it. And who knew? Maybe the ghosts wouldn’t attack it so much without him.

Fight it!

And if the ghosts quit attacking, then that would just solve the problem. A win-win. Everyone wouldn’t have to deal with the ghosts, and he wouldn’t have to deal with everything.

Fight it, Phantom!

The familiar voice echoed in his ears, trying to be heard over the static of Spectra’s spell.

If he focused, it was as though he could hear it right beside him.

A single ray of light, breaking through the heavy gloom of his own desolation and guilt.

Phantom!

So close…

Something jostled his shoulders.

“Godda- oh my God, please don’t…”

Strange. That voice really did sound close.

“I swear, Phantom, if you don’t snap out of it in the next ten seconds, I’ll… I’ll… oh, damn it…”

Slowly, Phantom peeled his eyes open. When had he closed them?

His core throbbed painfully. Like someone had taken a dagger to it. A dagger made of misery-inducing lies, anyway.

“Oh my God, finally!” Warm hands moved from their position on either side of his head to clasp onto his shoulders. “Don’t you dare do that again, you - you… Oh my God…”

“Wha…?” He groaned and brought a hand up to his head, ignoring the sting of his wounds rubbing up against the hands. As his vision cleared, a dark head of hair and bright blue eyes came into focus. Off to the side, he could see a shadowy, glowing heap lying a few yards away, smoke drifting up from it.

He struggled to sit up. “Jeez, Fenton, did you really shoot her?”

“Wow, okay, you don’t have to sound so surprised. What was I supposed to do, just stand there and let her waste you?”

“You… you shouldn’t be here.” If the pool could stop spinning at a million miles an hour, that would be nice. “I had it handled.”

Fenton scoffed, though his breath still shook. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Being pinned down by a literal soul-sucking she-demon is definitely what most people would consider having it ‘handled’.”

Phantom took the opportunity to take gauge of his surroundings. He had no clue when he’d ended up on the floor of the pool room, but the soreness in his back definitely gave him the impression that he’d been dropped. Fenton must have dragged him here to prop him up against the bleachers. Ice still covered the swimmer’s blocks and some of the walls were singed from wayward ecto-blasts.

And then there, squatting in front of him, red-faced and panting for breath, was Fenton. He kept his arms placed on either side of Phantom’s head and leaned in oh so close, close enough that his warm breath tickled Phantom’s nose and chin and made him swallow thickly.

It took every ounce of self-control he could muster to push past that train of thought. Not the time for that. “I was just, you know… letting her think she had the upper hand.”

Fenton rolled his eyes. A little more of the tension relaxed from his shoulders. “Keep telling yourself that, ghost boy. Whatever floats your boat. But let it be known that today, I had to save your sorry butt for once.”

“I refuse to feed your fantasies about being my knight in shining armor any more than I already have.”

That made Fenton fall back onto his bottom with a thud and the red blush creep up to the tips of his ears. “Well maybe if you quit running into things alone for once, I wouldn't ha-”

A flash of movement caught Phantom’s eye.

It was the only warning he got. There was not a second to spare to alert Fenton; he simply threw his body into the human’s and tackled him to the ground.

“Ow! What the fu-”

Spectra went whizzing over their heads, missing the top of Phantom’s head by inches.

It was a scramble of limbs as the two boys struggled to untangle themselves from one another. Phantom barely managed to pull his bleeding arm in to miss a blast of purple ectoplasm. Still with half-blurred vision, he threw out his good hand, and a shield cascaded over the two of them.

“Why didn’t you get her in the Thermos, you idiot?” Phantom demanded as he crawled over to where Fenton laid.

Fenton rolled onto his back with a groan. “Excuse me for wanting to make sure you weren’t stuck in whatever the hell funk she was trying to put you into!”

Spectra’s energy slammed into the shield like a brick wall, nearly sending Phantom toppling again. His core still panged with the ache of the aftereffects of Spectra’s influence, and it fluttered weakly in his chest. A second strong blast struck him right down to the core and shattered the shield.

Fenton cursed again and began to search blindly for his weapon as Phantom took to the air again, ignoring the way his core and arm and shoulders throbbed. He fired off a quick succession of blasts himself and made a beeline for the shadow demon.

Much to his dismay (but not his surprise), she twirled around the attacks, and they sailed right by her as she cackled in delight. “Aw, looks like I really caught you boys off your game tonight!”

“I’m working with a concussion here,” Phantom growled, “cut me some slack.” He made a lunge for her as she still had her focus turned on Fenton, but this time he pulled up and out of the dive at the last second and allowed his tail to reform into legs. His foot connected with the underside of her jaw, sending her crashing into the ceiling.

“You have a concussion?” Fenton shouted from the ground. He’d found the blaster and was attempting to shove the cartridge back into it. “And you’re still at this?”

“Not to sound repetitive, but excuse me for making sure she doesn’t electrify the pool to kill a couple kids in the morning!”

Fenton glanced up to where Spectra was pressed against the ceiling, rubbing the spot where Phantom had kicked her. “Really? Electrifying the pool? That’s the best you can come up with?”

“Oh, don’t you worry,” she said. She zipped downwards, but to Phantom’s surprise, she diverted away from the two of them and made a mad dash for the live wires she’d been tampering with, lying towards one corner of the pool.

He wasn’t sure what she was up to, but he chased after her anyway. “I’m getting real tired of this game, you know!” he said as his core gave another painful pang. He didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to hold out. Her spell had really done a number on him this time.

Fenton finally managed to fit the cartridge back into his blaster, and he wasted no time raising it to take aim at Spectra. He fired one, two, three back-to-back shots, and Phantom prayed to the Ancients that the human’s aim would hold truer than his own.

Two of the blasts clipped her tail, but it was enough to make her falter and hiss. Phantom plowed into her at full speed and tackled her into the floor.

“Now how does that feel?” he asked with an impish grin.

“It’ll feel better when I’m pounding your skull in with an anvil,” she said with a snarl. “But don’t worry, I’m just warming up.”

It was his turn to falter (had she really just punned at him again?), and though he tried to recover quickly, it was long enough time for Spectra to take back the advantage. Too late, he realized the floor around them had begun to steam and the shadowy flesh (mist? Goo? It was kind of hard to tell with shadow ghosts) grew burning hot under his hands. It surprised him enough to cause him to yelp and push himself off of her, his core instinctively generating more of his cold energy to counteract the effects.

She took advantage of the opportunity to fly off again, Fenton’s blaster shots following right behind. Phantom shook his head - big mistake apparently, what with the state of his head at the moment - and took off after her again as well. Tag was really starting to wear him out.

This time, she managed to reach the wires before he reached her, and she wasted no time dragging them into the water. “Ah ha! See? Even with two of you around, I still get what I want!”

“You do realize we’ll just take them out once we get you back inside the Zone, right?” Fenton asked. He squeezed the trigger of his blaster again, but this time, only a few sad sparks puttered out the end.

“Oh my God, do not tell me you brought a dead gun to a fight!” Phantom shouted. He swiped at the wires, trying to pick them up off of the floor, but Spectra, in her madness, grabbed at him furiously in an attempt to get him to stop. Her claws dug deep across the backs of his shoulder blades as he tried to evade her.

That was definitely enough to elicit a curse out of the young ghost. Reflex caused him to try and put a hand up to the injury, but he couldn’t twist his arms or his torso right to reach it well enough.

Spectra didn’t waste any time before lobbing an enormous ball of her ecto-energy at him, and in his distraction, he didn’t notice it until it was too late. Once again, he was sent sprawling into the general direction of the bleachers.

“Phantom!” The shout came from Fenton’s general direction, but his head was swimming too much to be able to see him properly. With a groan, he pressed his hands to his temples again, trying to feed as much cold energy into them as possible. Anything to stop the throbbing and the spinning at this point.

A strangled sort of yelp snapped him out of it, and he looked up to see Spectra charging at Fenton, who’d begun to try and swing the strap of the Thermos off of his shoulder to use it. Phantom didn’t even have the chance to react before she swiped a hand up Fenton’s chest, raking into his skin and leaving four glistening red stripes, visible underneath the ribbons of his t-shirt.

Fenton’s cry of pain stabbed Phantom right in the core, and as he staggered to his feet to rush to his aid, Spectra fastened her hand around the collar of Fenton’s shirt and pulled him up into the air. She dragged him like a rag doll, only stopping to hover some 15 feet above the surface of the pool, near the ceiling.

Ecto-energy was already pooling in his hands in spite of the ache in his core and head, but she waggled a finger from her free hand at him. “Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn’t shoot if I were you! You wouldn’t want me to lose my grip on your little human now, would you?”

“Don’t listen to her!” Fenton shouted, struggling in her grasp even as Phantom froze in place, remembering the wires still live and still dangling in the water of the pool.

His mind raced, working desperately against the agony of his rapidly accumulating head injuries. He could just try and fly right at her, but she’d still probably drop Fenton, and he didn’t think he could bank fast enough to try and catch him before he hit the water. Maybe he could try and freeze the pool over, but again, she’d drop him the minute he made a move, and with his core sputtering like it was, he didn’t know if he could get a thick enough layer on fast enough to keep Fenton from crashing through and plummeting into the water anyway.

“Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands behind his back. Show her he wasn’t about to try anything funny. He couldn’t think straight enough to do much else. “You… you win, just - just put him down, safely, alright?”

“Are you nuts?” Fenton screeched. “What the hell are you thinking? She’ll just drop me anyway!”

“You know, Danny, he does have a point,” she said, stroking her chin. “After all, your misery is just delectable. Why not sweeten it a little more by making sure your precious boy toy has a little accident of his own?”

The tips of Phantom’s ears burned cold. Any other day, he would’ve shot back with some clever quip that no, Fenton was not his “boy toy,” but the threat to Fenton like that…

“Please…” he whispered. He knew how pathetic he must’ve looked. If anyone else in the Zone saw him they’d have a field day. Probably end up on the cover of that stupid underground tabloid allegedly run by Kitty. “I won’t - I’ll… I’ll do whatev-”

“Just take the damn shot, Phantom!” Fenton yelled. His shirt began to tear even more where Spectra had her grip on it.

“Yes, Danny, take the shot,” Spectra purred. “There’s really no way out of this, you know. Either way, I get what I want. At least if you shoot me, you can say you went down swinging instead of lying down and taking it like a worthless dog.”

The words bit into his ears and embedded themselves in his core. No, he couldn’t, he wouldn’t, but as much as he fought, he couldn’t deny that she had a point… If his head would just stop spinning he’d think his way through this, he’d come up with an idea to save Fenton, but he could barely focus on keeping his lunch in his stomach.

On the edge of a full-out panic attack, he didn’t even think as he looked up and found Fenton’s fierce blue eyes. Their gazes met, and even from the distance…

Phantom wasn’t quite sure how it happened, or even why it happened. Maybe it was a spontaneous ghost power. Maybe he was just imagining it. Maybe he still remembered how his soul once twined together with Fenton’s, before they split, and maybe even after they split, a little piece of each of their souls stayed with the other and bound them closer than they had ever been, even when they had been one person.

Whatever it was, he didn’t know, but the moment he met Fenton’s eyes, he could see.

Fenton trusted him. With every fiber of his being and every beat of his wholly human heart, he trusted him.

Do it.

So he did.

In one motion, he brought his hands back out in front of him and shot a single beam of ecto-energy at Spectra. Without waiting to see if it hit or how long it took her to drop Fenton, he darted forward, flying out over the electrified pool.

He caught a glimpse of Fenton’s free fall just ahead of him, and he poured on the speed. Just…

… a little…

… closer…

Phantom grunted and faltered as Fenton landed in his outstretched arms, nearly dragging them both into the pool. He kept his forward movement and held onto the human for dear life (quite literally, apparently) as Fenton fumbled with the strap of the Thermos.

Above them, Spectra screamed furiously. Phantom could feel the intense heat of her anger flare bright and start speeding towards the two of them.

But Fenton was already on it. He twisted in Phantom’s arms and aimed the Thermos at her, and in a matter of seconds, she had been secured inside.

It was only after Spectra had been caught and they were safely above dry ground that Phantom slowed his flight. Only then did he notice just how fast his core was vibrating and the adrenaline pulsing through his body that he could only attribute to his ghostliness. The whole thing had taken mere seconds, but to him, each second had felt like an eternity.

Fenton had one arm wrapped in a death grip around his shoulders and the other folding the Thermos in between their stomachs. In this position, Phantom could feel the flutter of Fenton’s heart and just how shallow his breaths were. Black hair brushed against his jaw, but he couldn’t be bothered to move it out of the way.

He just wanted to hold him tight to him and never let him go.

Fenton turned his head to look up at Phantom, the hairs tickling his skin as they dragged across his chin. That smarmy little jerk had the gall to grin up at him, still breathless, and say, “Thanks for letting me drop by on such short notice.”

Phantom groaned and shook his head, which just made Fenton burst out laughing.

He flew them over to where the wires had been put into the pool. Carefully, making sure to mind the human still clinging to him, he grabbed them at the dry bits and lifted them out of the water. A little bit of intangibility made sure they were free and clear of any dripping.

“I, uh, don’t suppose you know how we turn these off?” he asked. Now that the fight had ended, his voice echoed throughout the large room, just reemphasizing how eerily quiet it had become.

Fenton shrugged. “Fuse box? Where’d she even get them anyway?”

“I don’t know.” He opted to lay them out on the tile, away from the water and away from the metal bleachers. He could figure it out in a bit. For right now…

A warmth on his stomach drew his attention. “Ancients, Fenton, what were you thinking?”

Fenton looked down at his tattered shirt and the blood seeping onto it and Phantom’s jumpsuit. “Tis but a flesh wound,” he said with a little laugh.

“Spectra rips into you like wet toilet paper and all you can do is quote Monty Python at me?”

“It’s not like you’re doing much better!” Blue eyes trailed to the green-stained tears in his jumpsuit.

Phantom bit his lip. The urge to scold the human and fuss over him was nearly overwhelming, but he knew Fenton would throw a fit if he ignored his own injuries. “Okay, okay here.”

He touched down beside the pool and set Fenton down as gently as he could. Fenton sprawled out over the tile with a sigh. A whine stirred in Phantom’s chest as the familiar weight and warmth left him, and it took every ounce of his self-restraint to choke it back and keep himself from latching on to him.

Instead, with a swallow, he knelt beside the human and carefully pushed the ribbons of t-shirt fabric out of the way. The cuts in Fenton’s chest weren’t horribly deep, but they continued to ooze blood and stain the shirt.

The hand he placed next to the wounds was feather-light. “I can’t believe she got you like that…”

Fenton laughed hollowly. “And I can’t believe she ruined this shirt. Sam will never buy me another concert t-shirt ever again if I keep getting them ruined.”

The joke fell on deaf ears. An idea was blooming in Phantom’s head, he just didn’t know…

“May I?” he asked, pointing to the cuts.

“... You don’t have to ask permission. It’s not anywhere your hands haven’t already been, you know?”

Oh, Ancients. His cheeks burned bright enough green to cast the barest hint of a glow on Fenton’s face. The human snickered at his reaction. “Wow. I guess you can say I really know how to turn you on, huh?”

If possible, the glow brightened. “Just shut up and let me try this,” he muttered grumpily.

He set his jaw and placed a gentle hand over the bleeding wounds. Fenton let out a quiet hiss as the glove made contact with the open flesh, and Phantom couldn’t hide his own wince upon hearing it.

It’s okay. Focus. He breathed in deeply - a habit leftover from when they had been one what seemed like forever ago - and drew cold energy from his core. Lessons from Frostbite echoed in his ears as he zeroed in on the energy, trying to carefully twist it just so…

Fenton gasped when the hand began to glow a pale blue, radiating a pleasantly cool energy. Phantom felt him lean into the touch ever so slightly.

“That’s nice,” the human whispered. He closed his eyes and let his head tip backwards.

Phantom ignored him solely out of a need to concentrate. It was a constant, precise work, drawing up the energy, carefully reshaping it, channeling it up and out of his arm, not too slow but not too fast, either.

The two of them sat there in comfortable silence, their faces lit only by the glow of Phantom’s hand, the underwater lamps lighting up the pool, and the two lone emergency fluorescents hanging overhead. Fenton’s even breaths and the hum of the pool filter were the only audible sounds.

It was nearly ten minutes before Phantom pulled his hand away abruptly and fell to the side, barely managing to catch himself before his head smacked into the floor yet again.

Fenton’s eyes flew open at the sudden disappearance of the ghost’s cool touch. “What hap- oh.” He looked down at himself, where newly mended skin replaced the wounds. The only indication that there had been an injury in the first place was the pinkish shade of scabbing skin, almost like a sunburn.

A grin blossomed on Fenton’s face. “No way, you can do that? That’s so cool! How long - whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what happened? Are you okay?”

If the unbearable pounding of his head and core and everything weren’t enough to prove that. “Jus’ a little tired,” Phantom mumbled. “Probably… used too much energy at once…”

“No shit you did! Like seriously? You take that big of a blow from Spectra and then try and heal me? What the hell are you thinking?”

“I’m fine.” He grunted as he pushed himself up a little more. “I jus’... need a sec. Just a sec…”

Except he overcompensated while trying to prop himself up. A new wave of dizziness washed over him, and he began to topple the other way.

Fenton cursed again as he scrambled to grab Phantom and shove himself in between the ghost and the tile. “You’re such an idiot,” he said even as he shifted their bodies so Phantom’s back leaned against his arm. “And don’t you dare say anything about being my idiot or whatever.”

“Wasn’t going to.” Phantom sighed and slumped even further against Fenton. The cuts on his back screamed at the friction, and he knew he was probably just staining Fenton’s shirt even more, but he couldn’t be bothered to care.

Screw the circumstances. This was nice. Just existing together like this.

After a moment, he felt Fenton let his head lean against the top of his own. “Seriously though,” he said, wrapping his pinky around Phantom’s. “Why would you do that? It could have waited, it wasn’t even that bad.”

Phantom exhaled. If Fenton was seriously expecting to have this conversation right now, he was about to be sorely disappointed. “I was just making sure.” The words sounded flimsy even to him.

“Yeah, sure. Definitely not you being an overprotective neurotic like you are.”

The frustration behind Fenton’s words surprised him. It… definitely hadn’t been the response he’d been expecting. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it’s supposed to mean?” Fenton huffed. “You always do this! Act like some sort of martyr or something when it’s totally unnecessary. All you’re gonna do is end up screwing yourself over!”

Okay. Apparently this conversation really was happening now. “Is it so wrong to try and help? Because I know you’d do the exact same thing if you could. And you still try anyway.”

“Did I say it was wrong to try and help? You know I’m not gonna stop you from helping out, especially ‘cause duh, I want to help out too, but no, I’m talking about stuff like this.” Phantom craned his neck around to see Fenton gesturing at his torso. “The extra stuff that’s more than just helping.”

Ancients, how could he explain this without getting himself into hot water? “I just… get worried…”

Fenton scoffed. “Worried? About a few little cuts? You know for a fact we - I’ve taken harder stuff than that. So why freak out when clearly you’re the one that needs the healing?”

“It’s not the cuts!” Phantom said before thinking. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid, this sort of argument, especially when he knew his mouth was going to get ahead of himself and make him regret it. The exact kind of conversation he should be avoiding while nursing a weakened core and a concussion. “I just… it’s complicated, okay? Look, can we… can we maybe just, not do this right now?”

A silence fell over the two, only broken when Fenton lifted his head and leaned forward to get a better look at Phantom’s face. “Do you… are you, like… hiding something?” he asked quietly.

The hesitation and tension in the question was palpable in more ways than one, at least to Phantom. It left a slightly spicy taste in his mouth and made his own core seize up. “N- why would I be hiding something?”

Fenton fingered a rip in his jeans. “I dunno, you just seem… more nervous, I guess? And I just - I don’t know, I’m just worried, like… do you… trust me?”

“What?” That sent a jolt through Phantom’s core. He sat straight up, ignoring the surge of pain that accompanied it, and turned to face Fenton head on. “Why wouldn’t I trust you?”

“You don’t have to tell me it’s dumb, alright? I already know it.” Fenton refused to meet his eyes, instead pointedly fixating on that little rip. “I’m just - argh, you’re gonna think it’s so stupid!”

Phantom hesitated before gently grabbing the human’s fretting hand. “Look, I promise, I trust you, okay? I didn’t realize… I’m sorry if I did something to make you think…”

“Ugh, that’s the problem, you didn’t do anything!” Fenton shouted in exasperation. He hugged his knees into his chest, but allowed Phantom to keep holding his hand. “It’s just me being stupid, alright? Just… forget I said anything.”

Another silence fell between them. Phantom watched him closely. The emotions coming from Fenton were growing increasingly complex and frustrated, and it didn’t help matters that Phantom grew frustrated that he couldn’t properly read them. Whatever was going through Fenton’s mind, it ran deep.

He took in a shaky breath, as unnecessary as it was. They were clearly both holding back from each other, and they were clearly both nervous about how the other would react. If Jazz were here, she’d be scolding them for repressing such strong emotions, especially from one another. She’d go on a whole girly tirade about the importance of openness and honesty in relationships.

To be fair, she generally knew what she was talking about when it came to this stuff.

So maybe he should try and listen.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he blurted, “I was scared, alright?”

There. The proverbial olive branch.

One of them would’ve had to bite the bullet eventually.

Fenton jerked his head up. Clearly he hadn’t been expecting that. “Scared of what? The cuts?”

“No, not - not that.” Now it was his turn to avoid the other’s eyes. “I… seeing her grab you like that, and then if she’d dropped you, you would’ve fallen in and…”

“But you caught me. It worked out okay.”

“And what if it didn’t?” His core began to pound harder. “What if she’d let you go and - and you fell, and I didn’t get there in time?”

Their gazes met. Phantom found himself wanting both to rip his eyes away and lose himself in Fenton’s pretty blue eyes at the same time.

He hated the feeling.

Finally, Fenton sighed. “... You wouldn’t have let that happen.”

“Okay, maybe you thought that, but not me! I couldn’t even think straight because of this stupid concussion and I didn’t know what to do, so what do you expect? Am I not supposed to be scared?”

“Oh my God, no one said you couldn’t be scared, alright?” Fenton uncurled himself and swung his knees underneath him to sit on his heels. “Like duh! Of course you’re gonna be scared, but that’s not a reason to pop off and try and get yourself hurt just to save me a couple of scratches!”

Phantom sat up straight. “You never know if those ‘scratches’ are gonna be the tipping point! If you’re hurt and I can do something about it, then why shouldn’t I?”

“Because like it or not, you can’t!” Fenton shouted. The words hit Phantom harder than any hit he’d taken from Spectra.

And Fenton wasn’t done either. “You’re not perfect, alright? You’re just… you’re not gonna be! You can try to do everything you can and bend over backwards to make things perfectly okay for everyone else, but at some point, it’s not gonna work! And then what? How - how is you getting yourself hurt making everything okay?”

“I don’t care if I get myself hurt!” Phantom snapped. The words were getting ahead of him again, and as much as he knew he would regret it, he couldn’t bring it upon himself to try and contain them. “Do you know how hurt I would be if I lost you?”

“Of course I do, you idiot, I lo-” Fenton cut himself off as his entire face flushed red.

The pounding of Phantom’s core echoed in his ears, and a strange thrill ran through him.

Say it.

Please, I need to hear you say it.

Fenton’s eyes squeezed shut. “I… I care about you… a lot, okay? Like, more than I’ve ever really cared about most people. You… you talk so much about being scared for me, and not knowing what you would do if you lost me, but… haven’t you thought about what I would do if I lost you?”

Phantom froze. The thought had always been there, of course, somewhere in the back of his mind, but…

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I should’ve… I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Fenton didn’t say anything for a long moment. “You don’t have to apologize, I…” He sighed heavily. “I know you’re just trying to look out for me, and I swear, I appreciate it. It’s… It feels nice, having someone care about me that much, but at the same time, it’s like I hate it, ‘cause - ‘cause it hurts me to see you always throwing yourself into these sorts of situations and just getting yourself more hurt when you don’t need to be and all that stuff.”

Phantom didn’t know how to respond to that.

He sat and watched the refracted light from the pool dance across Fenton’s face as the human stared somewhere across to the other side of the pool. That sort of an outburst… that wasn’t like him. Granted, neither of them ever really enjoyed talking about feelings-with-an-F, but still.

Fenton’s sudden movement caught his attention. “Where are you going?”

The human stood and brushed off his jeans. “You’re still bleeding,” he said, as if that explained everything. “If you get to patch me up, then I get to patch you up.” Without waiting for Phantom to respond, he walked over to the boys’ locker room door and disappeared behind it.

Phantom watched the door swing shut in silence. A certain brusqueness lingered in the air, making his nose itch.

That could’ve gone better.

But what was he supposed to say? His own feelings were… complicated at best. On one hand, it made his core sing hearing Fenton talk about how much he liked having him worry about him like he did.

Yet on the other, it shattered him to hear the pain and anxiety behind Fenton’s words.

He shifted to let his feet dangle off the edge of the pool and began stirring the water absently with the toe of his boot. At least I made sure the water’s fine, he thought to himself with a grim sort of smile.

Wish I could say the same for him.

Fenton returned a minute later with the first aid kit from his locker in hand, wearing his gym shirt. He wasted no time in kneeling beside Phantom and popping open the lid to grab the antiseptic wipes and gauze.

“What did you do with the old shirt?” the ghost asked quietly.

Fenton shrugged. “Tossed it. What else would I have done?”

“I don’t know. I figured you’d be worried about someone seeing it.”

“Nah. No one ever looks in the trash in that bathroom. That’s like, asking to be scarred for life. Unzip your suit for me, will you?”

Phantom obliged and shrugged his arms out enough for Fenton to wipe at the claw marks. He hissed at the sting, and he didn’t miss how the human’s movements faltered just the slightest bit. Still, he pressed on, gently cleaning away the ectoplasm.

Phantom tried to temper his blush. He was never this tender when taking care of his own wounds.

The tension in the silence began to rub at him. “You… how long have you been wanting to say that?” he whispered, not even bothering to refer to what “that” was.

The breath from Fenton’s long sigh warmed his bare skin. “It’s not exactly like… something I’ve been planning on saying or whatever, it just… came out.”

There was some sort of joke in there somewhere, but now probably wasn’t the best time.

Instead, Phantom cleared his throat. “You know I’ve never meant to hurt you, right?”

“Of course I know that.” Fenton tore open a packet of gauze and pressed it against the cuts on his arm. “Look, this… we’re not in some sitcom, alright? You don’t have to get all sappy on me or whatever. Just… let me take care of your stupid butt.”

Holding back one joke had been hard enough, but holding back a second was impossible. “Says the guy who couldn’t keep his hands off my ‘stupid butt’ a few nights ago.”

Fenton made an odd sort of choking sound, and Phantom couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “I take it all back,” the human grumbled as he taped down the gauze. “You’re the biggest jerk of them all.”

“Only for you.”

Another packet of gauze was torn open and taped to his shoulder before either of them spoke again. “Alright look, I promise I won’t get super sappy on you okay?” Phantom said. He scratched absently at the drain ringing around the pool. “But like… I also don’t want to go on hurting you.”

Fenton sighed again. “Seriously, you don’t ne-”

“No, I do. Even if it’s just for me.” He exhaled shakily. “You… you know I can’t just like, stop jumping in to help and stuff, and you’re right, maybe I do overreact a bit -”

“A bit?” Fenton asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Whatever. I overreact, okay? Happy?”

“Well… it’s at least nice to hear it come out of your own mouth,” Fenton admitted as he pressed a third gauze pad to his other shoulder. “But go on. Since you’re so determined to say this, apparently.”

Phantom closed his eyes as his chest tensed. “I was just gonna say I… I can try and be better about it. Like I can’t promise I won’t get in too far over my head, but… I can try. For you. So you don’t have to worry so much.”

Only the gash on his back remained open. Fenton trailed a gentle finger around the torn skin, leaving the barest traces of warmth in his wake. Phantom swallowed as he realized just how desperately he wanted to feel the full weight of the human’s warmth around him.

Finally, Fenton grabbed one last gauze pad. “You realize that means you can’t flip out on me if I get a papercut, right?”

“What? When have I ever done that?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other boy’s lips tick upward. “Kidding,” Fenton said with the tiniest laugh. “Just giving you a hard time.” He smoothed the last piece of tape in place and helped work the suit back around Phantom’s shoulders.

“Right,” Phantom grumbled as he zipped the suit back up. “Pick on the guy with a concussion. Hilarious.”

“Eh, consider it payback for being so stupid in the first place.”

“What, like having my pride ruined isn’t punishment enough?”

A lump formed in Phantom’s throat as Fenton leaned in close, the black and white of their bangs intermingling with each other. If he needed to breathe, surely he’d be so dizzy from how quickly and how shallow his breaths had become and how violently his stomach and core fluttered. The heat from Fenton’s breath warmed his flushed cheeks.

Ancients, this wasn’t anything new. They’d been this close - or even closer - too many times to count at this point.

So why did he feel like a kid about to try to kiss their crush behind the school playground?

Right when he didn’t think he could hold out any longer before grabbing Fenton and closing the distance between them, the human broke out into a wide, devilish grin.

“Nope. Not enough.”

Phantom blinked as Fenton laughed and stood up, practically skipping away in glee.

Of course he would. That asshole.

Fenton’s giddy laugh echoed throughout the room as Phantom glared after him with a frown. A shimmer caught his eye, and he turned to look at the rippling surface of the pool.

A wicked grin - the perfect mirror of Fenton’s - grew on his face.

Two could play at that game.

The throbbing pain of his head was a thing of the past as he lifted into the air and dashed after the human. Fenton was too lost in his amusement to even notice Phantom until it was too late and he had been plucked into the air.

“Not fair! Let me go!” he shouted, kicking at the ghost in protest.

Now it was Phantom’s turn to laugh. He dragged Fenton out over the pool. “Let you go? Are you sure you want me to do that?”

Fenton must not have noticed their position. “I swear, if you don’t let me go…”

Phantom shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself,” he said before dropping Fenton unceremoniously into the pool with an enormous splash.

He couldn’t contain his laughter as he watched Fenton sputter and flail to try and right himself. “Hey, look! You’ve just fallen in, and I’m not freaking out trying to rescue you or anything! I’d call that a solid developmeeeent!”

Fenton had apparently reoriented himself enough to latch a hand around Phantom’s ankle and yank him straight down into the water. A swarm of tiny little bubbles engulfed him as he sank down from the force of Fenton’s pull.

Ectoplasm was far less dense than water, so by all accounts, he should’ve bobbed right back up. A little bit of flight worked wonders to keep himself underwater. Still grinning, he found Fenton easily and surged at him in a tackle.

Splashing and rushing water filled their ears as the two boys tussled with one another, grabbing and kicking and punching wherever they could, not caring that Phantom was still technically injured. In one moment, Phantom had Fenton pinned down underwater kicking furiously, and in the next, Fenton had shoved Phantom into the pool wall.

Phantom phased himself out from in between Fenton and the wall only to be pulled under again by the human. As they both sank deeper, hair swirling around their heads and ripped clothes fluttering in the current, Phantom turned his head and instantly locked into Fenton’s blue gaze.

If he’d had breath, it would’ve caught in his throat. The sight of the human - his human - with clothes and hair floating weightlessly in the water, framed by the soft golden light of the lamp behind him, absolutely mesmerized him.

The urge was too powerful to fight this time. Before he could think, he took Fenton’s flushed face in his hands and brought their lips together with a hunger that made his head turn into static for an entirely different reason than a concussion.

Their mouths fit perfectly together. Like they had been made for each other.

Fenton responded just as earnestly, wrapping his arms around Phantom’s neck and tangling his fingers in the flowing white hair. He pulled the ghost in closer and pressed into his mouth greedily.

A thrill ran down Phantom’s spine as the heat from Fenton’s lips burned pleasantly against his chilly skin and sent a spike of warmth straight into his core. He brushed a thumb across his human’s cheekbone and smiled into the kiss when he heard Fenton’s watery sigh from his throat.

He could've stayed there for eternity, kissing his human in the light of the pool lamp. Just the two of them drinking each other in with a thirst that could only be satisfied by the other.

All too soon for Phantom’s liking though, Fenton was humming insistently and pulling up on his hair. Stupid humans and their stupid need to breathe.

He sighed and broke off the kiss, wrapping his arms around Fenton’s waist as he kicked upward. They both gasped for breath when they emerged on the surface - Phantom more so out of old reflex than anything.

He shook dripping wet hair out of his face. “Wow,” he whispered breathlessly. “That was -”

He was cut off as Fenton used his hold on Phantom’s head to pull him fervently back into the kiss with a nibble at his ghost’s lower lip. Phantom’s eyes flew wide open in surprise before allowing himself to relax into his hold. His hands slid into their familiar spot on Fenton’s hips as the warmth washed over him like a tidal wave.

Fenton bit down harder on his ghost’s lip, eliciting a moan from Phantom and giving him deeper access to the other boy’s mouth. He slipped his tongue in between Phantom’s lips and swept it through his mouth with a longing that he could physically taste on his human.

Ancients, he could get drunk off that taste.

He let himself get lost in the haze of pleasure as Fenton’s tongue freely explored his mouth, darting in and out and tracing the underside of his own. It wasn't often that Fenton took initiative like this, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t exhilarated by his human’s ability to take charge and absolutely ravish him. Something about it - losing himself to Fenton’s affection, the desperate need to pull himself even closer to him, his other half, his perfect match - lit a cold fire in his core that intertwined with the warmth that burned through his body.

Absently, he moved his hands up Fenton’s stomach, taking the time to ghost his fingers around the outline of his ab muscles. That earned him a gasp from his human, and warm fingers knotted themselves even further into his hair, as if he still wasn’t close enough.

A split second grin was the only warning before Phantom recaptured Fenton’s mouth. He swiped his tongue against the other boy’s impossibly smooth, heated lips and shivered in sync with the hum that issued from his human’s throat and reverberated into his own mouth.

So maybe he still liked to take charge himself. He blamed it on a ghost thing.

His hands continued to trail up Fenton’s chest to where he had managed to heal him of the claw marks. The fact that he could sense his cold energy still lingering where the wounds had been sent his core into a rollercoaster of thrill and nearly insatiable attraction.

Fenton took advantage of the momentary distraction to angle his head deeper into the kiss and run the fingernails of one hand down the back of Phantom’s neck and spine, sending a whole new slew of nerves alight in his ghost. Phantom’s head swam, not from his concussion but from the electrifying realization that Fenton was not about to surrender in this fight to make the other melt to nothing in their arms.

The thought nearly sent him right then and there.

They were so close. Impossibly close. Their chests aligned perfectly, his core mirroring Fenton’s racing heart. Another stroke from his human’s tongue only filled him further with a buzzing heat that stole every coherent thought from his mind. Nothing else mattered except them and this moment. Spectra could’ve broken out and he wouldn’t care.

And yet he still wanted more.

So did Fenton, it seemed. As Phantom’s hands flew back down his human’s body and hooked themselves into the belt loops on his jeans, Fenton’s free hand pawed desperately at the zipper on his jumpsuit, pulling it down further and -

BANG!

“- told you I’ll be there, alright? You should be thankful I can even take my lunch period to come get you! You know how many lunch detention shifts I had to take to convince Lancer to cover mine today?”

Both boys froze in horror as Coach Tetslaff’s voice echoed throughout the pool room. Phantom caught a flash of red and white rounding the corner, and in a panic, he flashed into invisibility, snatched Fenton’s waist, and pulled them straight up out of the water and all the way to the ceiling.

Fenton’s heart beat impossibly fast against his own chest as Tetslaff walked into the main area of the room, holding a cell phone up to her ear. “I wasn’t sayin’ it to make you feel guilty!” she huffed. “I was just - wait, hang on a sec.”

Phantom’s core seized as he watched her look at the still-rippling water with a mix of suspicion and exasperation. “Alright,” she shouted, lowering the phone just slightly. “Who’s here? Don’t think I don’t know about that skinny dippin’ dare goin’ round!”

If he hadn’t just narrowly avoided being seen making out with Fenton at 5:30 in the morning in the very much off-limits pool, he would’ve laughed at the idea of a skinny dipping dare. A town full of kids with jacked-up senses of risk thanks to ghosts, and that’s the best they can come up with?

As funny as he found it, he didn’t dare move a muscle. Judging by the tension he could feel in Fenton’s body, he must’ve had the same train of thought.

Slowly, still watching the pool carefully, Tetslaff brought the phone back up to her ear. “What? Naw, sorry, just some dumb kids screwin’ around and askin’ to get suspended!” she said, directing the last part out towards the room as a whole.

Phantom clutched at Fenton tighter when she suddenly looked up, straight at them. He realized in horror that though they were still invisible, they were both still dripping wet, emphasis on the dripping. Drops of water slid off their bodies and plinked into the pool below. Of course she would notice something like that.

For an agonizing, long few seconds, they floated there, not even daring to breathe as she squinted up at them. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she shook her head. “Damn leaky roof,” she muttered. “My team gets first at state for four years runnin’ and they can’t even give me a decent roof.”

She stalked off towards the locker room doors, apparently still determined to find her ‘skinny dippers.’ “Whaddaya mean they’re givin’ me a woof? Roof, I said roof.” She pushed open the girls’ locker room door. “I swear I’m gettin’ you hearin’ aids for Christmas.”

Her voice faded away as the door shut behind her. Only when he couldn’t hear it any longer did Phantom let up on the invisibility. Adrenaline hit him like a wave and made his head hurt all over again.

Fenton, however, grinned in exhilaration. “Holy shit,” he whispered with a nervous giggle. “I didn’t even know she got here this early!”

Phantom didn’t tear his eyes away from the locker room door. Ancients help him if he let up his guard and ended up getting themselves caught. He shuddered to think of the scandal. And trying to explain the whole thing to their family. Why Fenton found the whole thing funny, he had no idea.

Speaking of the human, the hairs on the back of Phantom’s neck prickled as he felt his eyes on him. He looked to see Fenton wearing a stupid grin with an eyebrow raised. “What’s that look for?”

Fenton’s smile broadened. “Wanna pick up where we left off?” he asked with a playful lilt.

“Seriously? After that? When you know she’ll be coming back here?”

“Not here, you idiot,” Fenton said with a roll of his eyes. “There’s still plenty of time before school starts. More than enough to go back home and finish what you started.” He tapped a finger against Phantom’s lips.

Phantom only frowned. “You seriously can’t still be turned on right now,” he said around the human’s finger.

Fenton shrugged. “What can I say?” His pupils dilated as he traced a finger down the little sliver of Phantom’s exposed chest. “Something about the thrill of it.”

Phantom swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the tingle left in the wake of the human’s finger. “I wouldn’t exactly call us nearly getting caught thrilling. And will you stop that?”

“Aw, come on! Live a little!” Fenton’s goofy grin returned, still with half-lidded eyes, and he planted a peck on the ghost’s cheek.

“I’m a ghost. By definition, I don’t live.”

“... You’re no fun.”

“Hmm.” Phantom’s lips quirked up into a smile, and he leaned in to place a tender, feather-light kiss on his human’s lips. “Too bad you’re stuck with me then.”

Despite the kiss, Fenton still pouted. “You know if we don’t go back home, you might as well just leave me here. And then you won’t get to see me till after school. Or later. Maybe I’ll get detention on purpose just to mess with you.”

“... Alright, alright, we’re going.”

#danny phantom #pitch pearl #danny phantom pitch pearl #danny fenton #hannah writes #danny phantom fanfic #this uhhhh grew way longer than i was expecting #mildly suggestive

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ladymadame · 8 months

Note

hi! can i have some ghost names and titles?

ghost-inspired names & titles. ⠀ ── ── fem. masc. neu.

⠀ . . . ⠀ please reblog if used / saved.

names.

⠀ Spectra, Phantomhive, Casper, Caspian, Gori / Gogo*, Mist, Alastor, Danny, Lumi, Spyros, Spyridoula, Ugo, Enid, Pneuma, Blair, Briar, Morganna, Boo, Spook, Banshee, Myrtle, Vigo, Victor / Victoria, Will / Willow / Willowis, Daemon, Hamlet ( heh ), Ophelia, Trix, Lumi / Luminus / Luminous.

*Gori / Gogo: This one I would like to elaborate on. It's a nickname inspired by Goryo 「御霊」, a Japanese haunting spirit, especially one who lived as a noble. I wanted to mention it because I simply found it interesting. And cute.

titles.

⠀ The Haunting One, Prn Who Walks Among the Dead, The Cold / Melancholic / Adj. / Verb Phantom, Prn Who is Trapped within the Living Realm, the Wraith, the One Who Cannot Pass On, the One Without a Beating Heart, the Gentle / Malevolent / Foggy Phantasm, the Vanishing Apparition, the Friendly Poltergeist, Prn Unshackled by Mortality, the Immortal Dead, Prn With Unfinished Business, the Wandering / Lost Soul, the Ghost Without a Past, the Broken Spirit of a Distant Past.

#꒰ in dedication to . . . ꒱#name help #names #name list #name suggestions #name ideas #title help #title list #titles #title ideas #title suggestions #ghost names #spooky names #ghost titles #spooky titles

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queersrus · 5 months

Note

Hello!! :]

I’m searching for ghostly names, and or something spooky!!

Sorry if this has been asked before- ^^"

Thanks a lot though!!

heres a past list as well!

spooky/ghost themed names:

appara, appari, apparition, anam, anima

bane, ban, banshee, bansheetta, banshina, banshella, bansheella, buffy, boo, booette

casper

Draugur, drog, drogo, dusa, dusan, dusek, dusana, diablo

espiridion, enid, enide, eerie, eve

fanton, fantom, fenton

ghost, ghostette, ghosty, ghostly, ghostine, ghostetta, ghostina, ghostelle, ghostella, gayna, ginette, genevra, giles

haunt, haunter, hauntette, hauntine, hauntetta, hauntina, hauntelle, hauntella, hew, hewie, hyde

igor

jekyll

morrigan, mae, morticia, morgana, midnight, mist, misty

phan, phantom, phanton, phantomina, phantomella, phantometta, phi, Pneuma

reaper, ripper

spook, spooky, spookette, spooketta, spookine, spookina, spookelle, spookella, spector, spectorette, spectoretta, spectorelle, spectorella, spectorine, spectorina, spirit, spiritelle, spiritellie, spiritella, spiritine, spiritina, spiritor, soul, souline, soulette, spiridion, spritus, Spyridoula, suli, spectra, spectral

thymos

wraith, wraithine, wraithina, wraithelle, wraithella, wraithette, wraithetta

yennifer

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sailor-toni · 2 years

Text

The Tides of Change

Fandom: Danny Phantom | Pink Astronaut | 1903 Words Read here or on AO3, FF.net, or Wattpad

“No.”

“Daniel,”

“No, no, no.”

“Danny, listen.”

“No, I’m only sixteen and-and you can’t make me!”

Clockwork sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had foreseen this, but actually going through the motions with the boy was painful. If he were smarter, he could’ve seen this coming a mile away. Every choice, changes which way the parade marches, even those done in good faith. Letting time age, him further, his skin stretched off his bone, creating a sea of wrinkles under his pupil-less eyes. The clock above them ticking away at the tension, like a pick axe marching into a gas line.

“Danny, what did you think would happen when you defeated Pariah Dark, and refused the crown of fire?” Clockwork said.

“That the town would be free! That he wouldn’t be around to terrorize ghost! That I was doing my usual thing! Saving the world from the brink of another ghost filled apocalypse. I didn’t think it would put me in line for the throne? What kind of bull-“

“Language.”

“-shit is this. I don’t want to be King. Give it to Vlad or Valerie. I’m sure they want it,” Danny finished.

“Valerie would make a good queen. Strong, resilient, passionate, and cunning. I would dare say she would lead the ghost zone into a new golden age. Freeing those from their eternal torment.”

“Exactly!”

“But. Valerie is human, and a human can not be the ruler of the Ghost Zone. She also did not defeat Pariah Dark. And Neither did Vlad, who I am very sure would love to be ruler of the Ghost Zone.” Clockwork gave Danny a sharp look.

Danny turned away, watching the deep purple swirls dance upon the many clocks that hung on his walls. Floating just out of reach, their constant ticking rattling his ears.

“I don’t even have the crown or the ring,” Danny said.

“I’m sure you will find a way to retrieve it,” Clockwork said.

“Of course, you’re sure, you’ve probably already seen what happens, but you’re not going to tell me. Aren’t you?”

“I only see possibilities Danny, never the true answer.”

The ticking seemed to quiet down around him, as emotions prickles at his face, and eyes. Crawling and gnawing up at Danny’s neck like impatient tears threating to spill over.

“Can you let me think about it?” said Danny.

“Of course,” said Clockwork.

Danny walked to the door, the hazy floor reflecting the stars of the human world, their fake diamond sparkles reaching up to grab him.

“Be careful Danny, I can only hold them at bay for so long.”

“I got it.”

According to his art teacher, blue was supposed to be a calming color, used in hospitals and treatments facilities to reduce stress, but it was also the color of sadness and honesty. Most politicians wear blue to try gain the trust of their citizens. Citizens. Swirling cold mist around his hand Danny thought about what that meant. To have someone below you, someone that listen to you and did whatever you said. Someone that looked to you for help. Was that much different than what he did now. Grabbing a plush ball, he began throwing it into the air, catching it as it came down towards his face.

What did Kings even do all day? Sit in thrones and make silly rules, while dressed in ridiculous outfits. Pariah looked like he was pulled straight from a metal band cover; decked in all black, with skulls and metal spikes all over his body. Make up plastered all over his face. Throwing the ball Danny tried to image him covered in white power and thick black paint around his eyes. Decked in black pants, boots, and ugly cape. Sam would like it. She was always trying to get him to dress up in her goth clothes.

But this wouldn’t be dress up, he would be in charge of an entire realm. Or most of it. Walker wouldn’t go down without a fight, nor would Aragon. What about Skulker or Spectra, or even Technus? Would any of them even listen to him? Or would they rebel? The ball was falling like a blade upon his neck. No, they wouldn’t. They fourth against the old king, why would they want to follow a new one. Dropping the ball on his face he sat there looking at his ceiling.

The wind was blistering cold on his face as the early winter winds were blowing into town, collecting leaves to spin in corners of alleyways and into the ankles of passersby’s. Danny soared high above flying lazy circles around town. Passing through building after building ignoring the few cries of surprise that echoed every now and then. The clouds above him were large and formless blocking the sun above.

Not even the clouds can give me a clear answer. He thought, exhaling through his nose. His tired body drifting to the park, resting upon a broken tree.

The tree was hidden behind a wall of wilderness, and brush. A hiking trail ran through the small section of wood, but it was rarely explored. And with the exception of the occasionally car honk or police siren it was dead silent. Combine that with a branch worn down by the years and the smell of wet wood; it became a place of reflection for Phantom. Not even Sam knew where this spot was. Closing his eyes, he listened to the small noise of birds, bugs, and the winds dancing through the branches. The sound of his breathing, and the feeling of his chest rising and falling faded out until his breathing echoed off the tresses and clouds. Nerves receded back into the sea, as new waves washed over him.

“Phantom!” The anxiety crashed against his mind like tsunami. Jolting him off the branch and in to the mud below. “OH no! Ghost boy are you okay?” Paulina rushed over to him. Her soft hand helping him up.

“I’m fine. Heh, not the first time I’ve kissed dirt,” Danny said.

“I’m sorry I was excited to see you and- “

“It’s fine Paulina,”

“You know my name!”

“Of course, you’re my biggest fan.”

“Aww thank you, but Phantom, your bleeding.” Looking down he saw green blood dripping on his suit. “Here let me help,” She reached up and grabbed his nose. “Don’t look up it will only make the blood go down your throat,” she said.

Danny let her grab his nose and gently move it, cracking it back into place and holding it there. She pulled out a tissue, wiping the ectoplasmic blood off his face “Hold you nose, just like that and wait for it to stop. I think you busted your nose.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not the first time I’ve broken my nose. It’ll be alright in a few minutes.” He grabbed his nose, taking her place in holding it.

But, his words did nothing to stop her string of apologies.

“Its okay Paulina.”

“But your bleeding.”

“It happens.”

“Here let me find someone to help.”

“Wait!” He grabbed her arm with his free hand, “It’ll be fine, I heal really fast. Look no more blood.” She doesn’t look convinced, “I know it looks bad but it’s alright.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah I’m sure.”

She sat down besides him, “So, uh, Phantom, G-Ghost boy.”

“Danny.”

“Hun?”

“You can just call me Danny, that’s what my friends call me.”

“Danny. I think I know a Danny.”

“Oh? Really? Must be a cool guy to have a name like that.”

“Nah he’s a loser” The pain in his nose was kitten’s play compared to that gut punch.

“Oh.”

“I mean he’s cute but he doesn’t compare to you.”

“…Of c-course. Heh, I’m just that great…” The t dragged on his lips, stalling the two into a mildew silence.

“So, Danny. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out lying around town?” she asked.

“Oh, I guess I should be doing that,” he looked around. “I just needed a little bit of time to myself. You know how things can be, it can just build up and up and up until you’re on a tree branch at 3’O clock in the afternoon.”

“I feel that,” she replied. “Is there anything s that is weighting you down?” Danny was surprised at how easily she could read him.

“I got some not so good news about a something in the future. Something in my future, and it would force me to leave everything here behind.” And like a flood it all crashed through the dam, “Which I don’t want to do. I like it here, I didn’t used to but in the last two or three years, things have changed and –“

“You have a place here.”

“I-uh, yeah.”

“I understand that. I used to live in New York and when my Dad moved us out here, I threw a fit. I was throwing things left and right and screaming. I didn’t want to leave the city, my friends, my family. We lived in an area full of other Latinos and Spanish speakers and while I love it here. This place is…”

“White?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Eh, don’t be. Plus, this place has ghost. Like real ghost, NYC didn’t have that. Or you.”

“I thought there was another hero in New York?” The tissue around his nose did nothing to hide the heat rising to his face.

“But he doesn’t know my name.”

“He’s missing out,” Paulina looked away, a light blush now spreading around her face. A more enjoyable silence surrounding them, as their awkward gazes looked everywhere but at each other. A jingle rang out with Japanese chiming in with the beats.

“Oh, that’s me,” Paulina pulled out the pink phone in a clear case, covered in bows and cut Japanese letters. A white mascot stared from the pop socket. “I have to go, but it was nice talking to you Danny. And, about your issue. I don’t know what exactly is going on, but I know you like to help people and ghost. That’s why you’re always flying around the city, saving others, and even going around and getting that lady her old job back.”

Danny pipped up, remember talking to the school principle, about giving the Lunch Lady her old job back. It wasn’t the first time he had done something like that. The Box Ghost now worked at the docks, Skulker now did bounties for the Amity Park police department, and many other had gotten some sort of job around Amity Park. Many still came in and tried to destroy stuff but there were more people to fight them.

“So, like whatever happens,” Paulina continued. “As long as you are helping others, I think you’ll be happy.” She waved him goodbye, traveling down the path.

The Observants stood around Clockwork, watching Danny fly into the room.

“Have you accepted the position?” asked the first Observant.

“Yes, but I have some conditions.” Danny replied.

“We can talk about that later, first we-” a second Observant began.

“No. If I am to be King, then my voice must be heard and you will listen to what I have to say. Starting with my conditions,” Danny cut him off.

The Observant’s were shock and began to protest but Danny cut them off rattling his terms. Clockwork hung in the back holding down a smile.

#Danny Phantom #Pink astronaut #Danny X Paulina #paulina sanchez #Fanfiction #Writing #romance #ghost King Danny

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spacenutspod · 8 days

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2 min read Sols 4161-4163: Double Contact Science This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4159 (2024-04-18 13:24:29 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Earth planning date: Friday, April 19, 2024 Curiosity has a three-sol weekend plan coming up as it makes progress along the edge of upper Gediz Vallis ridge. We have observations planned to investigate multiple bedrock targets with interesting rippled textures, dark-toned float, and the ridge. With two contact science targets, lots of targeted and untargeted remote observations, and a drive scheduled, Curiosity will have a busy three-sol plan ahead! On the first sol of the plan, we have two contact science bedrock targets for MAHLI and APXS to analyze. MAHLI will image these targets up close, and APXS will acquire spectra from the targets for analysis of their elemental compositions. One of these bedrock targets (“Florence Lake”) is light-toned with laminations and will be brushed first to remove the dust on its surface. The other contact science target (“Mist Falls”) is a block of unbrushed, light-toned bedrock with a rippled texture. MAHLI also has a rotational stereo observation of “Castle Rock Spire” (a light-toned block of bedrock) and observations of the REMS UV sensor. In addition to bedrock observations by MAHLI and APXS, ChemCam has a LIBS observation of dark-toned float target “Silver Peak” on the first sol of this plan. ChemCam will also acquire long-distance RMIs of the rim of upper Gediz Vallis ridge and Fascination Turret to document stratigraphy. Mastcam will acquire mosaics to document exposed bedding, Kukenan butte, and Pinnacle Ridge. Observations of Pinnacle Ridge by Mastcam will complement the ChemCam long-distance RMI observation of it on the second sol of the plan. This sol also has a ChemCam LIBS observation of “Needle Lake” to document different degrees of erosion of bedrock across laminations and a ChemCam passive dark test. Mastcam will image the two LIBS targets and will also acquire several mosaics of “Pahoa Island”, “Quail Flat”, and “The Nose” to document light-toned laminated bedrock, ripple structures, and characteristics of a dark float rock, respectively. On the second sol Curiosity will drive away. The third sol of the plan features untargeted remote observations, including ChemCam Passive Sky activities, dust devil observations, and Mastcam tau measurements. Written by Abigail Knight, Graduate Student at Washington University Share Details Last Updated Apr 22, 2024 Related Terms Blogs Curiosity (Rover) Mars Explore More 5 min read Why is Methane Seeping on Mars? NASA Scientists Have New Ideas Article 9 hours ago 3 min read Sols 4159-4160: A Fully Loaded First Sol Article 4 days ago 3 min read Comet Geyser: Perseverance’s 21st Rock Core Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is no place for the faint-hearted. It’s dry, rocky, and bitter cold. The fourth planet from the Sun, Mars… All Mars Resources Rover Basics Mars Exploration Science Goals

#space #astronomy #news #science

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rupalic · 5 months

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Indoor Farming Technology Industry Will Hit Big Revenues In Future

The indoor farming technology market has been experiencing significant growth, driven by various factors such as the increasing demand for fresh and locally produced food, the need for efficient and sustainable farming practices, and advancements in technology. Please note that developments in this market may have occurred since my last update. According to MarketsandMarkets, the global indoor farming technology industry size is projected to reach USD 32.3 billion by 2028 from USD 20.3 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 9.7% during the forecast period in terms of value.

Indoor farm, also known as vertical farm or controlled environment agriculture, involves cultivating crops in indoor environments where environmental factors like light, temperature, humidity, and nutrients can be precisely controlled. Here are some key aspects of the indoor farming technology market:

Vertical Farming Systems: Vertical farming involves stacking crops in vertical layers, often in controlled environments with artificial lighting. This method allows for higher crop yields in smaller spaces compared to traditional farming.

Hydroponics and Aeroponics: Indoor farming often utilizes soilless cultivation methods such as hydroponics (growing plants in nutrient-rich water) and aeroponics (growing plants in an air/mist environment without soil or hydroponic medium). These methods optimize resource usage and provide better control over nutrient delivery.

LED Grow Lights: Advances in LED technology have played a crucial role in indoor farming. LED grow lights are energy-efficient and can be customized to provide specific light spectra tailored to different stages of plant growth.

Climate Control Systems: Maintaining optimal environmental conditions is essential for indoor farming. Climate control systems, including temperature and humidity control, help create ideal growing conditions for crops.

Automation and Robotics: Indoor farms often incorporate automation and robotics to streamline various processes such as planting, harvesting, and packaging. This not only increases efficiency but also reduces the need for human labor.

Data Analytics and IoT: Integration of data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) allows farmers to monitor and control various parameters remotely. This data-driven approach helps in making informed decisions for optimizing crop growth and resource utilization.

Urban Farming and Container Farming: Indoor farming is gaining popularity in urban areas, where space is limited. Container farming involves converting shipping containers into controlled environment farms, providing a scalable solution for urban agriculture.

To know more get PDF Copy: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=40175861

Asia Pacific to boost market growth during the forecast period.

The demand for indoor farming technology has increased as a result of increased investments made in agricultural operations by foreign company lines in order to exclusively meet crop farmers' expectations for export-quality products, and the Asia Pacific area is predicted to develop at the highest rate. Additionally, the farming industry in the Asia Pacific area has been shifting away from conventional agricultural methods and toward technological advancements and creative approaches. By making these changes, crop management strategies are improved, raising the value of crop premiums. In terms of value, the indoor farming technology market in the Asia Pacific area had around 30.7% of the global market in 2020.

Significant businesses showcased:

Scotts Company LLC (US), Signify Holding (Netherlands), EVERLIGHT ELECTRONICS CO., LTD (Taiwan), NETAFIM (Israel), Heliospectra AB (Sweden), Argus Control Systems Limited (Canada), Lumigrow, Inc (Canada), weisstechnik (US), Priva (Netherlands), LOGIQS.B.V. (Netherlands), Certhon (Netherlands), Bluelab (New Zealand), Barton Breeze (India), Green Sense Farms Holdings, Inc. (US), Greener Crop Inc. (Dubai), Sensaphone (US), Freight Farms, Inc (US), Climate Control Systems Inc (US), Sky Greens (Singapore), SANANBIO (China).

Make an Inquiry: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=40175861

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mist-spectra · 6 months

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🔮 🔮 new pics Vampiress look just taken today Wednesday 18🔮 🔮

#gothic #mist spectra #goth #dark #gothic girl #witch girl #witch #goth make up #gothic style #pale girl #latin girl #latina goth

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disctopcapfgh · 2 years

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Spectra has added an innovative disc top closure to its range

Deciding on the best Disc Top Drawing a line under

Disc Top closures will be two-piece dispensing closures that open with the push of a finger pad. Available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and also finishes, disc top closures are perfect for many products. They aren't suitable for pretty viscous products. For all applications that need a higher level with product protection, a different closure style will be recommended. Here are a bunch of tips to selecting the best disc top closure.

Easy-open disc top closures really are a great option intended for dispensing liquids, powders, and gels. They as well offer brand enhancer and dispensing convenience. Disc Top closures come in an unlimited number of colors, and they are also made of a variety of orifice sizes. Mold-Rite Plastics can also be committed to eco friendly manufacturing, and their disk top closures can be acquired at a discounted price.

If you're interested in a disc major closure for utilize with creams, lotions, or gels, obtain the polypropylene 20/410 model. The disc top closures employ a smooth, easy-to-open design. The top dvd lifts off on the bottom by depressing down. Disc Tops will also be available in white-colored, black, and pearlescent pigments. You may contact C. L. Smith to discuss your distinct needs.

A disc top cap is convenient to use and secure. The disc best cap opens that has a light touch, exposing the dispensing "orifice" inside the bottle. Then, you press your lid back into store it, as a result creating an airtight close up. Many lotion plus shampoo companies have benefited out of this combination of advantage and security. Disc top caps come in smooth and ribbed models, with orifices including small to substantial.

Spectra has added an innovative disc top closure to its range. Available in your black smooth-side blank disc top, this closure is great for several different personal care uses. Disc tops can be utilized for products which includes a medium to high viscosity. Disc tops may also be compatible with alcohol-based products and solutions, including hand-sanitizer options. The push-down disc closure has a fascinating aesthetic for optimal shelf presence.

Container Sprayer Head

You're searching for a Bottle Sprayer Head for ones next project, 24mm 410 Disc Top Cap you've arrive at the right area. Not only does it let you spray water and also pesticides, but what's more , it features exterior sides that help it become comfortable to store. The spray nozzle can be adjustable and attributes two modes: flow and mist. It also carries a pull trigger so that you can spray the last little bit of liquid. This handy device makes spraying normal water and pesticides easily.

This sprayer can attach to most plastic containers, including mineral normal water bottles and soft drink bottles. These spray bottles are designed to minimize your impact of plastics about the environment, and are constructed with durable polypropylene intended for optimal durability. This sprayer boasts a precision valve plus a tightly fitting plastic cap. Once attached, it produces the sustained mist that lasts a few seconds. The ergonomic design reduces side fatigue, allowing to use the sprayer usually.

#24mm 410 Disc Top Cap

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hannahmanderr · 8 months

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DANNY AND DAMON 👁️ (sorry i just love me the protective dad)

(affectionately calling this one Protective Detail)

part 1 ~ part 2 ~ part 3

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Of all things Damon Gray wasn't expecting on the night of the biggest snowstorm in a decade, a snow-covered Danny Fenton in his t-shirt and jeans standing outside his apartment door certainly had to be at the top of the list.

"Hi Mr. Gray!" Danny said brightly. "Mind if I come in?"

Damon gawked at the boy for a moment longer before seeming to come around. "Ah... yes, yes! Come on in! I can... grab a towel for you to dry off..."

Danny blinked before looking down at himself. "Oh!" Before Damon could say anything else, Danny's body flickered into a hazy mist, and the snow fell harmlessly through him and onto the floor. "Sorry about that," he said with a sheepish green as he flickered back into a solid form.

Damon couldn't help but gawk again. Sure, he'd known of Danny's status for years now (supposedly, Valerie had made Danny tell him after they'd graduated), but it wasn't often that he witnessed the boy he'd known as having the worst phobia of ghosts in Amity Park use such ghostly powers so easily. To witness him doing so now, after appearing on his doorstep in such a strange state, unannounced, was odd to say the least.

It wasn't until he realized that Danny was still watching him expectantly and he himself was still blocking the doorway that he noticed the silence stretching into discomfort. Muttering an apology, he stepped aside and ushered Danny in.

The door closed behind them with a heavy click. Now inside, Danny seemed to lose some of his bright demeanor as he shuffled on the entryway rug.

"Valerie's still at work," Damon said as he walked past Danny and into the kitchen area. "I'm hoping she gets off soon. I'm not sure I want her trying to get home in this storm. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, no, that's alright, thanks!" Danny edged closer to the window in the living area. Outside, snow fell wildly, blowing in all sorts of directions, blocking any view there might have been. Really, he'd seen worse snowstorms in the Far Frozen, but the human world wasn't quite as adapted to it as the yetis were. Weather like this could spell serious trouble for humans.

Damon reemerged from the kitchen with a mug of something steaming. He stood next to Danny, and the two of them watched out the window. For a long, quiet moment, they simply stood, Danny with his arms wrapped around himself and Damon sipping quietly at his drink.

It was Danny who broke the silence first. "I still feel bad she has to come all the way from here in Elmerton to work in Amity Park," he said quietly.

"She does it to herself," Damon replied with an air of humor. "I keep telling her to just find a place there in town. That's where everything important is, that's where she should be."

"Not you." Danny barely realized the response had popped out on its own. "She's still really worried about you. I mean, I know things are better than they were, of course, but... y'know..."

"What, with this thing?" Damon raised his left arm with a tiny whirr, and Danny couldn't help but stare at the metal hand that waved back at him. "It's been working like a dream. I was just telling her the other day that sometimes, it feels like it works better than the one I lost!" Damon laughed quietly to himself.

Danny joined in, but it was half-hearted. Memories flashed through his mind - a brutal fight at Axion, a toppling metal supply closet, lights and sirens and frantic screams - and he physically winced. That accident had been nearly two years ago, but the memories lived fresh in his head, just like the memories of his own accident from almost a decade ago.

"I... I think she still blames herself sometimes," he said quietly. "For letting Spectra distract her. I keep trying to tell her it wasn't her fault; I was closer, I - I should've been fast enough to get to you, but..."

Damon nodded soberly. "She's a stubborn one. Gets it from her mother. Once she gets something in her head, she just doesn't let it go."

"Yeah."

The two fell back into an uneasy silence. Snow howled away outside, and a gust of wind blew a wall of flakes toward the window, nearly making Danny jump.

"She wants to live there," Damon finally said. "In Amity Park."

Danny almost gave himself whiplash turning to look at Damon. "She does?"

"Mhmm. Not that she'll ever admit it to me out loud -" - again, Damon laughed quietly to himself - "- but she's always talking about wanting to be closer to the FentonWorks. That way she can be closer to work and closer to the portal. Heaven knows how many times she's left to go fight a ghost only to come storming back in ten minutes later because you've already been able to handle it."

Danny couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. "Yeah, she's definitely given me an earful about that before."

"I'm sure she has! But you know, Danny, the thing she really talks about being closer to is you."

Danny's heart pounded in his chest. "Really?"

Damon glanced at him, something Danny couldn't decipher twinkling in his dark eyes. "Is it really that surprising?" he teased.

"Yeah? I mean, no! No! Er, maybe? Ish?"

Damon's laugh was much heartier this time. "Well, if it is a surprise to you, then she's doing a good job of hiding it from you. I can see it in her face when she talks about you. Just the way she lights up and starts talking faster and faster, like she just can't seem to contain whatever she's feeling. Even when she's mad at you, you can still tell she thinks the world of you."

He paused to sniff and wipe at his nose. "She's always worrying that she's not doing enough for me, especially since I lost my arm. I keep trying to tell her she's doing more than enough. Just seeing my baby girl so happy... that's all I need." He turned to look at Danny head on. "And I have you to thank for that."

Danny's heart swelled. The love was too overwhelming. It shouldn't have felt like such a surprise to hear Damon's praises, but just hearing the words come from his mouth...

Without thinking, he took a deep breath, and, in one rush of words, said, "I want to ask Valerie to marry me!"

Damon, who had taken a sip of his drink, proceeded to spit all over the window.

Danny winced. "I - I mean, only if that's okay with you, of course! I'm not... I would never just go behind your back or anything, no, but you know, it's just something I've been thinking about for a long time now and - and I mean it just feels like the right time, although maybe it's not, but I just... I love her so much, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, if - if that's okay?"

Damon blinked once, then twice in an attempt to process Danny's frantic speech. "You... want to marry Valerie?"

"I - uh..." If Danny's face had still been covered in snow, the heat coming from his cheeks would have melted it instantly. "I - yeah. I mean yes. Yes, I do. If... you'll let me."

For a long while, the two stared at each other. The longer the silence stretched on, the more Danny shrunk back into himself. This was such a bad idea, bad idea...

"Wait right there," Damon said before setting down his mug and jogging into the back hallway.

Danny could only watch him disappear, dumbfounded. The urge to just transform on the spot and high-tail it out of there grew stronger and stronger by the second. Such a bad idea.

His and Damon's relationship had started on rockier terms, sure, but it was only because he had been worried her hanging around Danny would end up with her swept into his parents' shenanigans, especially because he still hadn't been a big fan of her side job hunting ghosts back then. And okay, maybe there had been some hiccups back when Valerie had forced - er, persuaded him to tell the truth to her dad, but those had all been smoothed over by now, he'd thought.

Right?

When Damon returned, he held a tiny box in his hands and tears in his eyes. "Come here," he said, sitting down on the couch. Danny obeyed.

"I was a little younger than you and Valerie when I first met my Sherrie." Damon ran an absent thumb over the tiny box. "She was the TA for my stats class my junior year of college. I'm telling you, I walked into class on that first day and got the rug pulled straight out from under me the moment I saw her. The most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on..."

Danny's leg bounced anxiously, but he stayed quiet. Valerie had mentioned her mother a few times, but she'd died before Valerie could really remember. Hearing Damon talk about her now was unexpected, but he got the distinct feeling this story was important.

"I sat right next to her. Introduced myself, tried to act all suave and smooth by asking her out, then got my butt handed right back to me when the professor introduced her as the TA. Still didn't stop me from asking her out again, as soon as the class ended. And again, and again, and again. I just knew it was meant to be with her. The day she finally said yes, I felt like I was truly living again." The smile on Damon's face carried the wistfulness and nostalgia of years long past, and Danny couldn't help but smile himself.

Damon looked at Danny again. "What you and Valerie have... it reminds me of what me and Sherrie had. I see so much of her in Valerie. She's got the same spark, the same stubbornness in her blood. Both of them just have this drive and intensity, and it's one of the things I admire most in them."

"I love that about her," Danny said instinctively. His voice had taken on its own dreamy quality as memories of Valerie's tenacity flashed across his mind.

"And that's part of the reason I see so much of myself in you."

Danny nearly fell off of the couch as Damon's words struck him. "Wait, what?"

Damon laughed. "You're a bright young man, Danny. You take a lot of pride in what you do, and you always look out for the people you care about. Even that right there tells me you and I are a lot alike.

"Not to mention that for as much as I see how Valerie looks when she talks about you, I also see how you look when you talk about her. I see the same joy and wonder in you that Sherrie brought out in me. I don't need to ask to know you'd go to the end of the world and back for my baby girl. You'd do anything to keep her safe."

"I would," Danny agreed earnestly. "She's my whole world, Mr. Gray. I-I know it sounds really cheesy but... I need her. I don't know what I'd do without her in my life."

"I know," Damon said, offering a warm smile. "Which is why I'd like to give you this."

He offered Danny the tiny box. Danny took it gingerly, cradling it in his palm. "What is it?"

Tears pooled in the corner's of Damon's eyes again. "The ring I gave Sherrie when I proposed to her. When she got sick and... and we got the prognosis," he said, his voice becoming thicker as he spoke, "one of the things she made sure she made clear before she... passed on was that I could do whatever I wanted with it, but she wanted her wedding ring to go to Valerie."

The box suddenly felt much heavier in Danny's hand. "I thought you said this was the engagement ring?"

"It is. I couldn't help myself. I was selfish." Damon reached up to his neck and, from under his sweater, pulled out a chain. Hanging from it was a simple silver band, studded with tiny little diamonds and twinkling like a star. "I've worn this every day since she passed. I couldn't let her go. Valerie was too young to understand. I swore to myself that when she got old enough, I'd give this to her, but... I'm a weak man." He sniffled again and wiped a tear off of his cheek. "I love my Sherrie so much. I'll never let her go. Not even death can keep me from her."

Danny wiped a tear from his own eye. "I've come face to face with death. It was... the worst thing I've ever had to go through," he said in a near whisper. "For Valerie, I'd face it down a hundred times over."

"And that's exactly why I know I can trust you with that ring." Damon took his prosthetic arm and gently closed Danny's fingers over the box. "It's not the wedding ring Sherrie wanted to give her... but hopefully it's the next best thing."

"She'll love it."

Damon cracked a smile. "And just how do you know that? You haven't even seen it."

"I don't have to. I know for a fact this will mean more to her than any ring I could buy."

Tears falling from both of their faces, the two men leaned forward and wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders. Damon squeezed Danny tighter and tighter to him. "Take care of her for me," he whispered into his ear.

Danny shut his eyes tight and hugged Damon even tighter. "I promise."

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part 3 here

#danny phantom #danny fenton #damon gray #valerie gray #gray ghost #dooshek #ask hannah #ask game #hannah writes #hannah stop getting emotional over her own writing challenge #this one was so much harder to write than val and the fentons #probably why this one ended up twice as long asfhdklsadf #thanks for the ask!!

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