HOME | DD

Description
The Suave and the Awkward

Pairing(s): Pitch Pearl (FentonxPhantom) and Gray Ghost (DannyxValerie)
Genre: Romance/Drama
Rating: T

Chapter 5
Greener Grass

---

"To fall in love is easy, even to remain in it is not difficult; our human loneliness is cause enough. But it is a hard quest worth making to find a comrade through whose steady presence one becomes steadily the person one desires to be." ~ Anna Louise Strong

---

Every molecule in Fenton's legs screamed at him to run away, but the human forced himself to ignore it and to keep walking towards his girlfriend. He could see her standing beneath The Work's awning, lit from behind by the restaurant's lights, and although she wore casual clothes, he couldn't help thinking she was beautiful.

Aside from a new orange headband, Valerie's hairstyle remained the same; free and wavy. The dark curls fell in waves over her bare shoulders and brushed against the yellow material of her off-the-shoulder sweater. She wore white jeans that hugged her hips, and on each wrist she sported large yellow bracelets…but no ghost detector watch.

In comparison, Fenton felt like a bumbling idiot who had just thrown on the closest clothing at hand…which, essentially, he had. Unlike Valerie, he wore the same clothes he usually wore. Loose fitting jeans, worn sneakers, and his favorite white and red t-shirt. However, the shirt had a high collar that failed to scream he was on a date, but he didn't have a choice. Not with Phantom's hickey broadcasting its presence to the world.

Valerie looked up at that moment, and Fenton's insides froze. Adrenaline fed his instincts, prompting the blue-eyed boy to dive behind a group of trash cans half a block away from the restaurant. His back banged against the hollow drums, causing a clatter that echoed down the street.

Fenton slammed his palm against his forehead. Fenton, you idiot! Hiding behind trash cans? Who does that? If Valerie—

"Danny?" Valerie called, and then he heard her shoes clap against the wet pavement as she approached his hiding place.

Fenton flinched, his heart beating faster. Slowly, he crawled out from behind the trash cans and climbed to his feet, his gaze firmly locked on the ground. "I, um…dropped something…" Glancing up at Valerie, he saw his girlfriend frown. He flushed and dropped his gaze again.

A second later, he heard Valerie snort. "If you say so, Fenton," she said, amused.

He rubbed the back of his neck smiling sheepishly as his blush spread. Valerie stared at him expectantly, and Fenton realized he was supposed to say something. He opened his mouth to do so, but no words came out.

They descended into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the sound of Fenton's rapid heartbeat. After a moment, Valerie gestured at the restaurant. "Should we…go in?"

Still blushing like an idiot, Fenton nodded and walked towards her. He had only taken a few steps forward when his shoe skidded across a few pebbles on the sidewalk, and the boy yelled as he fell backwards. A grunt escaped his throat upon impact with the concrete, but it was the humiliation eating at his gut that left him groaning.

Valerie rushed forward and grabbed his hand, helping him back to his feet. "Are you all right?" she asked, scanning for injuries.

He nodded silently, staring down at their interlocked hands. The secret huntress smiled at that and used her hold to lead him to the doors. To Fenton, it felt like he was walking into a death trap. This wasn't at all like the last few times they dated. All his romantic abilities were locked inside a boy, fighting ghosts. How was he going to survive this alone?

They stepped inside, and the first thing Fenton noticed was how uncomfortably warm the building was. He could barely breathe, it was so stifling. Valerie didn't seem to notice, however, and continued leading him to their destination. They passed many tables occupied by other couples, but some were empty, and Fenton didn't understand why Valerie didn't sit at those. A table was a table, right?

It wasn't until they were at the back of the restaurant that Valerie seemed satisfied. A single light had gone out, scaring away the other customers, but the dim lighting and seclusion created an intimate atmosphere, an effect that caused Fenton's heart rate to accelerate. Valerie slid into the booth, casting a smile at Fenton that reminded him of Phantom.

He swallowed, wishing he could trade places with his ghost half. Compared to this nightmare, Phantom had it easy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Defeating two loathsome, soul-sucking ghosts was turning out to be far from easy.

Scales scraped against Phantom's jumpsuit as Bertrand constricted his snake-body tighter around the ghost boy, painfully binding Phantom's arms to his chest. The boy wheezed and thanked his dead lungs for not needing oxygen. That would have made this imprisonment deadly as well as uncomfortable.

Once more, he tried to activate his intangibility and slip out of Bertrand's grasp, but the glow around the other ghost intensified, somehow negating the power. Phantom groaned and allowed the back of his head to fall against the pavement. Why had he allowed Fenton to win that argument? Going on a date with Valerie was preferable over this by far.

Bertrand's wedge-shaped head slithered over the boy's shoulder, coming up to hiss against his ear, "Aww…is the little ghostie all tuckered out? We've only just started..."

Phantom jerked his head away, grimacing at the feel of the snake's tongue tickling his ear. In the right context, he was sure such a feather light touch could be quite pleasurable, but in this instance it was just creepy. Perhaps if Fenton was willing, he could…

Ah, but they were no longer practicing.

Spectra floated over to the pair, her spectral black tail rippling as flame-like waves coursed through her shade form. "He's not tired at all, Bertrand," she said. "He just wishes he was somewhere else. Isn't that right, Danny?"

Phantom glared at her, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"He does seem awfully distracted," Bertrand mused. He spread his mouth wide in the viper's imitation of a grin. "Why, defeating him has never been easier!"

"You haven't defeated me yet," Phantom corrected. "This is nothing more than a temporary inconvenience."

Coils squeezed, prompting a pained gasp from the trapped ghost boy. "Does that feel temporary?" the other ghost hissed.

"Where would you rather be, Danny?" Spectra questioned.

He forced unnecessary air into his compressed lungs before he answered. "Away from you two, for starters."

"Now, that's not very nice. We just want to help. Maybe we could even…negotiate."

Phantom frowned, the word ringing in his ears. "Negotiate?"

She combed her fingers through his white hair, humming. "A hunk like you on a Saturday night, why, you must have had plans. Especially since you now have a girlfriend. What's her name again? Valerie?"

Phantom hadn't meant to, and he berated himself the second he did it, but he jerked against Bertrand's hold like he'd been stung.

"I believe you hit the bull's-eye, Spectra," Bertrand said, grinning that viper's grin again.

The she-ghost clapped her hands together in delight. "Ooh, let me guess! You two had a date planned, but you had to cancel because we showed up. Is that it?"

Phantom sealed his lips together, determined not to give anything else away.

"She must have been devastated. How many times before this have you canceled on her? Just think of all that misery you must cause her!"

"You're not a very good boyfriend, are you?" Bertrand asked, earning a glare from his prisoner.

"He has a point, Danny," Spectra said and drifted a little closer to Phantom's face. "If you keep this up, she might find someone else. Someone better."

The boy stared at her, trying to ignore the way his core throbbed at the thought. It was ridiculous, of course, but his mind presented him with the image of his human half and Valerie on their date. Laughing, kissing…Phantom's chest tightened, and not because of the snake.

"And she should too," the snake added.

"Oh, yes she should," Spectra agreed. "She deserves better than a boy who chooses ghost hunting over her."

"No." Phantom shook his head, his white hair tangling as it rubbed against the pavement. "No that is not…I didn't…" Fenton had been the one who wanted this, not Phantom. Fenton didn't deserve her.

Spectra placed her hands on his shoulders, their green glow spreading to Phantom. She bent down to whisper in his ear, "But it doesn't have to be that way, Danny. It's not too late. You can still have your heroine. All you have to do is forget you ever saw us."

Phantom's eyes darted between her and Bertrand. He…could forget about them. He had a duty to the city, but he would gladly ignore it for Valerie, at least for one night. She deserved better than this. He could just leave now, go on their date…

The green glow fizzled out of existence.

"What are you waiting for?" he heard Bertrand demand.

"I can't reach it," Spectra hissed. "I can sense it, I just can't grab it."

"Why not?"

"If I knew why, it wouldn't be an issue, now would it?" Spectra's fingers dug into his shoulders, and Phantom barely suppressed a pained hiss. "It doesn't make sense. I can feed of any human, even half human freaks like him!"

As the two ghosts continued to argue above him, Phantom blinked, the haze over his eyes clearing. Even if he ignored his duty, he would be unable to join Valerie on a date. For one, he was Danny Phantom, her most hated enemy. Two, Fenton was dating her, so she already had her Danny.

Not to mention the date was probably making the awkward boy feel as helpless as Phantom felt right now. Even if he wanted to, Fenton couldn't steal Valerie away from him because he lacked nearly all romantic ability…and while Phantom was busy entertaining Spectra's little mind games, Fenton could at this very moment be ruining their date.

Green eyes blazed with supernatural blue light as Phantom willed his ice powers to build inside him. Being cold creatures themselves, Spectra and Bertrand failed to notice the drop in Phantom's temperature at first. It was when frost condensed on Bertrand's scales that the shape-changer faltered midsentence. He looked down at his captive, his reptilian eyes widening upon noticing the blue hue Phantom's skin had taken on.

Phantom slammed open the floodgates of his pores. A cold aura from his core exploded outward in all directions, a cloud of icy air that froze everything in its path, most notably the two ghosts in contact with its point of origin. Spectra and Bertrand yelled and tried to recoil from the ghost boy, but were too slow and froze solid in moments. Everything within a five yard radius gained a coating of ice, leaving the panting green-eyed boy as the only colorful object in the vicinity.

Said boy turned transparent and floated out of Bertrand's hold. He landed on the frozen ground with the ease of an ice skater, smirking at the immobile ghosts. "A temporary inconvenience," he said as he slipped the Fenton Thermos off his back. "What did I tell you?" He uncapped the device and sucked the two ghosts inside. For a moment, he stared at the sealed Thermos, wondering if the specters were able to thaw or if they would need assistance.

He dismissed the thought a second later and leaped into the sky. Laughing, he looped in a long circle, his ghost tail streaking across the sky behind him.

The release of so much ice energy left him feeling warmer than he had in a long time. He could actually feel the cold bite of the wind as it blew through his hair. Fenton always shivered in his presence, and Phantom wondered now if his touch would elicit the same reaction. And he wondered how comfortable it would be to hold the living boy in his arms now that their temperatures weren't so at odds.

Lights from the different businesses bathed the city with light pollution, and the astronomer in Phantom grimaced even as the city resident in him delighted in the warm and familiar glow. He rolled onto his back and then fell into a steep dive, allowing gravity to propel him towards the ground at dizzying speeds. Eyes closed, the boy relished in the false adrenaline racing through his dead veins as the air surged past him, blasting against his exposed skin and pulling at his hair.

A distant honk cut through the airstream, causing green eyes to fly open. Phantom pulled up from his dive, narrowly avoiding the pavement by a couple inches. Bright lights cast from vehicles blinded him, and he barrel rolled to the right, dodging around the automobile. He dove to the left a second later in order to avoid becoming a window ornament for a car.

He flew back into the sky, paused a moment to stare down at the world below him. Pedestrians on the sidewalks noticed his presence in the sky and pointed up at him, speaking excitedly to each other. A soft smile crossed the ghost boy's lips, the knowledge that he had protected these people filling him with pride.

The chop-chop-chop of whirring helicopter fans canceled a portion of that pride, and Phantom grimaced as he activated his invisibility. He flew into the thrall of the city again, his green eyes searching for a similarly colored neon sign. Instead, his gaze landed on a different sign, and with a wry twist of his lips, the ghost dove for the building.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fenton fiddled with the hem of his shirt, forcing himself to maintain eye-contact as Valerie spoke, but even though his eyes remained on hers—for the most part—and he nodded and made small comments here and there, his attention wasn't on what Valerie was saying.

His mind was unfocused, wondering in every direction, all of which inevitably led to his ghost half. How Phantom was fairing in his battle, if he'd captured the ghosts yet, what he would do once he captured them, and—most importantly—how the other boy would act in this situation. The last thought would lead Fenton into actually paying attention to Valerie's words…for a few minutes. Long enough to make appropriate comments to what she was saying.

It wasn't that he found her boring—on the contrary, Valerie was the most exciting girl he knew; who else could fight ghosts on a sled that flew as fast as Phantom?—but her choice in topic lacked interest for Fenton. His thoughts were on ghosts tonight, not the mundane experiences fast food workers endure. It wouldn't be a problem if she knew he knew her secret, but he didn't dare cross that bridge. Phantom was the one with finesse and smooth talking, not Fenton.

His gaze drifted to the glass of water before him, staring unseeingly through the clear liquid. He was out of his depth here…Valerie was talking, but even he knew this wasn't the way a date was supposed to go. He should try to contribute to the conversation…but every time he tried he stumbled over his words and whispered at a volume barely audible to Valerie.

"-says it would be better for business, but what do you think? ...Danny? Danny!"

Fenton started, his eyes jumping back to Valerie's face. "Huh?"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "I said, what do you think?"

The boy blinked a couple times, his face blank. "Um…about what?"

Valerie crossed her arms over her chest, frowning darkly, and Fenton gulped, recognizing that face as one she used while hunting Phantom. "If you think I'm so boring, why don't you say something instead of just sitting there?"

Fenton slouched against the back of the booth, almost sinking beneath the table. Her words offered a chance to choose a more interesting topic…but her tone was angry, a clear note of warning laced within the words. Not good. How would Phantom get out of this mess? He never would have fallen into it in the first place…but regardless, how would he fix it?

"Apologize and say you got lost in thought while imagining your parents' reactions."

Fenton's whole body literally jumped. His heart leapt into his throat, his stomach twisted, and his knees and hands banged against the table. The resulting table-quake caused the glass of water to capsize and spill its contents all over the table…and onto Fenton's lap. He jerked in his seat, yelping as the icy water seeped against his skin.

Valerie reacted quickly, throwing table napkins on the spill, trying to contain the mess. "We could use some help over here!" she shouted at the waiters. In an equally hard although quieter voice, she said, "I got this, Fenton. Go dry yourself off."

Fenton nodded. He scooted out of the booth and collided with a malleable wall that grunted upon impact. Scowling, the human seized his ghost's wrist and dragged him to the men's room. A waiter rushing in the opposite direction dodged around Fenton, but collided with the invisible boy behind him and fell backwards with a shocked gasp. Heads turned, and Fenton ducked his flaming face, his hand tightening around the wrist he held.

He ran to the bathroom, slamming the door open. He used his hold on the ghost to throw Phantom against the cubicles, shaking the thin walls and earning a disembodied groan from the spirit. But the act failed to dispel the betrayed anger inside him, even when the white-haired boy flickered back into visibility, revealing his pained grimace.

Fenton's hands clenched at his sides, the desire to punch that familiar face stronger than he ever remembered it being. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, his tone just above a growl.

"That was unnecessary," the other boy said, rubbing the back of his sore head.

"Answer the question!"

Green eyes opened and glared back into opposing blue. "Trying to repair the damage you caused," the ghost said, using the same tone, although the echo in his voice made his sound more intimidating. "You said you could handle this."

"But I was handling it, Phantom!" Fenton insisted, his voice cracking. "I was doing just fine until you got here! There was no reason for you to get involved!"

"'Fine'?" Phantom snorted. "That was not fine. That was a not a date. That was a one-sided conversation."

Fenton flinched. Phantom's tone, dry and with little emotion, was as painful as if the ghost had accused him of failing. A second later, blue eyes regained their glare as Fenton bristled. "It just started! I was…I'm still getting used to this."

"If you continue as you are, the date will be a complete failure."

And here he thought the other tone was painful…"Well, what the hell do you want from me?" he demanded of the ghost. "I'm the half of our personality that lost his pants every time he talked to Paulina! The only reason I haven't done so now with Valerie is because I don't have your stupid powers! So I'm sorry if I fail to measure up to your idea of a perfect date, but this is the best I can do!"

"And as it turns out, your best isn't good enough. That is why I intervened."

"Oh, so you can make it worse?" Fenton pointed to his soaked jeans. "Thanks to you, it looks like I just pissed myself!"

"That was your fault for being so easily startled!"

"What?" Fenton shouted, incredulous. His hands made clawing motions like they were strangling the air. "You—"

The ghost shook his head, breathing deep to calm himself. "This is pointless. We need to move on to plan B."

If this were a cartoon, steam would be pouring out of Fenton's ears. "We don't have a plan B," he spat. "And whatever happened to Spectra?"

"This," Phantom said, "is plan B." The word had barely passed his lips when the ghost suddenly shot forward like a bullet, diving beneath the human's flesh. A gasp was the only sound Fenton managed before he felt the other's presence spread throughout his body, poisoning his veins and invading his conscious thoughts. He doubled over and wrapped his arms around his middle, gagging. A green glow enveloped his body as he tried to shove the alien presence out of him.

"Just let it happen," Phantom ordered. His words brushed against Fenton's thoughts like a siren's call, almost warping them to do just that.

"Get the fuck out of me," Fenton growled in return.

Instead of obeying, Phantom dug further inside him and shoved Fenton's mind aside, grasping for control with icy claws. The human cried out and fell to his knees. The resulting pain from his kneecaps helped reconnect him with his body, and he pulled his lips back in a silent snarl as he repelled Phantom's presence to the outskirts of his awareness.

"This is—"

"No! Get out!"

A loud bang echoed off the walls, and the boys froze as a man rushed into the bathroom, running past Fenton's glowing form to the urinals. Phantom was the first to react, spreading his invisibility over Fenton's body. He wasn't sure which of them ordered the action, but Fenton dropped lower to the floor and peered under the cubicles. Both sighed in relief when they didn't see anyone else in the restroom.

"We should have checked we were alone when we first entered," Phantom said, silent to all but Fenton.

It was your fault, the other boy thought to himself, biting his lip to keep from saying it aloud. If he hadn't…

"We share the blame, Fenton. It was both our faults."

The human blinked, muscles tensing. Did you hear my…That's it! Out! Get out now!

"This is our best option for our date with Valerie!"

I don't care! Get out of me!

"You're being irrational!"

And you're being an ass!

A sigh inside your mind feels a lot like wind blowing past your ears. "Stop swearing. It is rude and unattractive."

Fenton's teeth dug into his lips, fury burning his eyes. The man finished relieving himself and moved on to washing his hands. Fenton shifted on his knees, pressed his fingertips against his stomach. He'd get one chance at this. Once this guy leaves, I want you out.

The ghost snorted, causing Fenton's eye to twitch. "You can 'want' me out as much as you like, Fenton, but that does not mean I'm leaving."

Fenton growled low in his throat. We'll see about that.

The guy shook water droplets off his hands and then swiped a paper towel of the electric dispenser.

"We shall."

Once done drying his hands, the man tossed the damp wad into the wastebasket. Fenton was so tense he was practically vibrating, and when the man was just a few feet from the door, he acted. Intimate knowledge of their powers allowed him to access Phantom's intangibility without the ghost's permission, and he thrust his hands into his own stomach, snagging his ghost's essence. Startled, Phantom gasped and was almost pulled from his human. At the last second, he concentrated his overshadowing powers, for all intents and purposes clamping around Fenton.

Breath exploded from the boy's lungs, and he squeezed his eyes closed. He waited a moment, breathing hard as he gathered his strength, and then he heaved with all his might. His shout and Phantom's surprised exclamation as he was ripped away from his human half bounced off the walls, probably loud enough for the other diners to hear. Fenton tossed the ghost aside and wrapped his arms around his middle, groaning as nausea overcame him.

"Why must you always be so difficult?" Phantom demanded as he landed on his feet beside him. The other half of Danny looked up at him, lips pulled back in a snarl. "I am only trying to—"

Fenton surged to his feet and slammed his fist against Phantom's jaw. The ghost grunted and staggered backwards until he collided with the cubicle walls. He raised his hand to his lips. The bright green color of his blood stood out against the white glove, and Phantom lifted incredulous eyes to the boy before him. "You hit me…"

Air burst from Fenton's mouth, a cross between a chocked laugh and a disbelieving huff. "No shit! I mean, you just—" A second huff of air, this one boarding on hysterical. "I can't belief you just did that!"

Phantom took a half step forward, but halted his advance when Fenton tensed and held his fist out.

"No," he said, "no, you do not come near me. Don't you dare come near me."

The ghost stared at him, his mouth open like he wanted to say something. "Fenton, I…" his voice trailed off. His green eyes closed, and when he reopened them, they were filled with concern. "Are you all right?"

Fenton laughed. "All right? How can anything about tonight be all right? I'm talking to myself for crying out loud! Hell, I kissed myself earlier!"

"Fenton—"

"And then he tries to overshadow me!" Another near hysterical laugh. "Do you realize how invasive that is? You could hear my thoughts!"

"But we are the same—"

Fenton sliced his hand through the air between them. "The hell we are! How can you stand there and claim to be me after all you've done tonight? After…after you kissed me like that. After you tried to overshadow me like I'm some sort of…of puppet?"

"I was only trying to—"

"—make tonight the perfect night for Valerie." Fenton rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like that makes it all better. You're so damned determined to make this one date as perfect as can be you're willing to ignore everything else in your way. Yourself, your morals, your duty to the city…Everything!"

The ghost shook his head. "I would have captured Spectra and Bertrand after the date."

"Oh, and you think Spectra would have waited for you? If we hadn't done this, if I hadn't forced you to go after them, Spectra would have fed off every person she came across. Kids, teenagers, someone on the brink of suicide…" Fenton crossed his arms and glared down at his shoes, ending in a whisper, "But who cares, right? Your date with Valerie matters more to you than the life of a stranger…"

Phantom made a sound like was about to say something, but it caught in his throat, resulting in silence. Fenton could feel the other's green eyes on him, and it made him hug his arms closer against his chest, feeling exposed under the ghost's mystified stare. He opened his mouth to say something—anything to break the silence—but could think of nothing else to say, and shut it a second later.

After a long, tense moment, Phantom sighed. "I…I apologize. For overshadowing you, I mean. I overstepped my bounds."

Fenton glanced at him, but the ghost's eyes weren't on him. They were staring off the side, the light in them dimmed. Shaking his head, Fenton took a step toward the door. "I…I need to go…Valerie's probably wondering what's taking me so long."

He turned around, but froze when he felt a cool hand grab his shoulder. He tensed as the cold spread through his body, turning him intangible. The sound of water dripping onto the floor filled the restroom, and when it stopped, Fenton glanced over his shoulder at Phantom, one eyebrow raised.

The ghost boy forced a smile on his lips. "I doubt you want to walk out there with a wet crotch."

A second of thought later, Fenton flushed, sputtering. Phantom's smile softened, became real, and despite the resentment he still felt towards the other boy, Fenton felt a stabbing pressure in his chest ease.

The boy looked away, frowning. He brushed Phantom's hand off his shoulder and quickly fled the restroom.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phantom's hand slowly lowered as the door boomed shut. He twisted the hand around, staring at his palm as if searching for the source of the tingling warmth he felt there. Perhaps it was because Fenton had been pleasantly warm this time. Like the soft kiss of sunlight rather than the burning heat of hot metal.

Phantom clenched the hand into a fist. Sighing, he closed his eyes and ran his other hand through his hair. That...had not gone as planned. Nothing about tonight had. He was inclined towards laying the blame at Fenton's feet...but he was partially at fault too. They were both responsible for the way tonight had turned out, but he had escalated their problems by ignoring Fenton's opinions...treating him like a puppet...a tool... All this time...had he truly been treating Fenton as lesser?

The ghost groaned and fell back against the cubicle walls. He touched two fingers to his busted lip, tracing the sore area. Fenton had hit him. It was hard to believe. Like a shock to his core, and felt just as paralyzing too. It had shocked him out of his anger, sharpened his focus, and now he had a choice to make.

Either aid Fenton in charming Valerie—because no matter how he tried to hide it, Phantom knew the awkward boy was so far out of his depth he could barely breathe.

Or give Fenton what he wanted. A chance to prove himself.