I woke up from a flu-induced fever dream and my first instinct was to start writing a multi-chapter dp fic. Enjoy!
Double Trouble AU: Separation Together
Chapter 1/3: The Ghost
It had been a few days, almost a week, since their accident and things were going… Well, they were going as well as anyone could hope for in this kind of odd situation. Fenton was recovering, however slowly that may be, and Phantom was… Coping. Well, trying to.
Phantom had spent hours over the few days trying to master invisibility, thanks to a rather close call with their parents while Fenton was at the hospital. They had yet to spot their son’s ghost lingering around, but he wasn’t enthusiastic to find out what would happen if they did.
Unlike his human Phantom didn’t really need to recover after their accident. Something he felt awful for every time he saw Fenton spasm in his off-white hospital bed, or traced the Lichtenberg scarring with his eyes. The most Phantom received from their little tussle with the ghost portal was occasional dull tingling and paresthesia, both of which seemed to become less and less frequent as Fenton recovered.
However, this did give him plenty of time to adjust to his new form and circumstances. It was hard to believe he was really dead, even with that not-really-a-conversation he and Fenton had before the human fell to unconsciousness. It was a strange experience, being able to communicate so clearly without words, but it was also so very comforting.
Phantom knew he was dead, but that didn’t make it easy. He had been alive only a short time ago, there had been no Fenton or Phantom, just Danny. And yes, technically he is still alive, but that’s Fenton, and Fenton is Danny but Phantom isn’t Fenton.
He tried a few times, selfishly, to overshadow Fenton. He had hoped that if he could just get back to his body maybe he could just be Danny again, maybe he didn’t have to deal with the problem, didn’t have to truly accept that he was dead. And it worked. It wasn’t really overshadowing he thinks, it wasn’t smothering another consciousness or shoving someone into a mental box. Phantom isn’t sure how he knows that’s what overshadowing is like, perhaps just another instinct that comes alongside becoming a ghost.
It wasn’t overshadowing, but he felt whole. It was comfortable. He could feel his human lungs expand and shrink with each breath, could feel his human heart beat alongside the buzz of his ghost core. He was Danny again. But he was also Fenton and Phantom.
The ghost could feel the human not-really-talk to him like this.
Worry. Inquiring. Reassurance.
It was only feeling, but just like before when their Blue and Green eyes met, the ghost knew exactly what the human was trying to say. Are you ok? Did something happen? Don’t worry, you’re safe here, I’ll keep you safe.
He couldn’t help it. Like a flood the ghost let all his worry and guilt and frustration pour out. He let the human see it all, feel everything and all his turmoil.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
He had been so selfish to try to take their life from the human. He didn’t want the human to be just a body. They had agreed! He expected anger, betrayal, rejection. It would be justified, he would accept if his human wanted him gone after all.
But instead…
Comfort. Acceptance. Reassurance. Stay?
If it weren’t for their currently shared bodies state he thinks they might’ve started to cry. His human didn’t hate him, he still wanted him, wanted to be whole if that’s what the ghost needed.
No. He thinks he’d rather be together separately, but for now. For just a few minutes. He thinks he’ll stay whole with his human for now.
His human must not-really-hear him because it feels like he’s gently pulled behind a wall. It’s not oppressive, doesn’t feel like being trapped — he knows he could leave if he wanted to — but instead it feels like arms wrapping around him and just holding him. Protecting him.
Stay. Rest. Protection.
He can rest here for a while. His human will keep him safe until he can bear to be on his own again.
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