Okay, the claws were new. They just popped out into his life and he just noticed them when he closed the door of his locker. Danny slumped, temple on the door of his tiny locker. What was he supposed to say now? He owned claws and they looked wicked sharp. What's next, flaming hair?
Tucker greeted him, "Morning, my guy! How was last night?"
Danny opened his mouth, contemplated, before closing them. Elsa had kept his secret. He will keep hers. Whatever they were, she deserved her privacy being respected just as she had respected his. So instead, he grinned, flashing his fangs, and said, "I just had the best sleep of my life!"
Tucker blinked, sucking on the straw of his tumbler, smelling of coffee, "Really? Must be a quiet night,"
Danny shrugged, "Yeah...then again, I have been having loads of quiet nights lately," Which was true. He did exchange punches with the likes of Skulker and Ember now and then. Then there where the Tragic Lovers, Johnny 13 and Kitty. They liked dating on this side of the veil so Danny often had to chase them around once they grew bored of boring old dating routine and started 'spicing' things up, ghost style. He had no problem with them dating in Amity Park, but their habit of adding some excitement to their dates caused him to be less understanding of them. Then there's the Box Ghost.
Tucker hummed, "I have not had time to play Doomed these days. Also, their updates have been slowing down,"
Danny shrugged, "Maybe they are finally moving on to a different game? I mean, Doomed is old," It had been around forever, for as far back as Danny can remember.
Tucker slumped, "Maybe. Man, has it really been that long?"
Once upon a time, they would have made a bigger noise about it. But life moved on and their interest shifted to other things. With graduation just around the corner, they were busier looking up college pamphlets and brushing up on things that they would be using as a college hermit. They do sometimes play Doomed when they find time, but most of the time they were just too busy to even procrastinate.
Danny smelled winter blossoms before he saw her as Elsa closed the locker the school had assigned her to. She looked up to see him watching her. She lowered her gaze and gave him a tiny nod of recognition before continuing her day. The paranoid part of him, the part that had been built from betrayals, settled down. She was sincere when she told him that she understood his need for secrets but he cannot help the anxiety born out of necessity to survive.
As they head for class, she walked ahead and he followed along the scent of winter blossoms that trailed along her. Almost tracking. He noticed that her hair was really so pale that they almost looked white under the fluorescent lights of the school.
He flinched when Tucker pushed his arm with a whisper, "Danny? Dude, your eyes are glowing,"
Danny drew in deep breathes like he just woke up, "Really? Sorry. Don't know what came over me,"
Sam joined them, "Ugh! My parents wanted me to make nice with these couples and their annoyingly good looking son. What era are we living in, even?! I'm not open for 'courting'," She spat out the word like they were acid in her mouth.
Tucker snorted, "I cannot imagine anyone 'courting' you!"
Danny ignored the way her amethysts sought his. He cannot fold. His decision had been made. It would not do anything good for either of them. Tightening his hold on the books in his arms, he pushed into the classroom. His eyes found Elsa putting all the necessary items on her desk. Somehow, she kept her eyes down instead of looking up. He frowned slightly at that before shaking his head.
Why did it matter that she wasn't looking at him?
They hardly knew each other. In fact, last night was like an acid trip for Danny, even if it was real. He didn't even know why he even wanted to leave a trace of him behind in the form of an ice rose.
Kindred.
He blinked and dug into his ears, settling down just as Mr Lancer walked into the classroom, "Alright! Group project!" He slapped the documents on the table, "I'll be pairing you lot in twos! This will be very important for your marks to graduate!" There were many disgruntled noises from the student, "Hush! I don't want to see you either after graduation so you better graduate! And no switching partners!" He opened his document, "I want you lot to pick a topic, any topic, and write an extensive research to present at the end of semester. Consider this as a warm up to the things you will have to do for your chosen college career,"
Danny sighed, hoping to team up with someone that can understand why he cannot stick around all the time. He have an unofficial job to attend to. He can team up with Tucker but luck wasn't that kind with him. Sam? He quietly groan as he covered his head with his arms. Too awkward. That matter might be brought up and he wasn't sure he can hold back this time. Valerie? Oh, who was he kidding. She'll shoot him, tie him up, and package deliver him to the Ghost Investigation Ward. Dash? Hell, no. Either he ended up being forced to carry the project alone or Dash finally intercept the brain cell shared between all the jocks and discovered who he was. Dash might bully his human side before puberty kicked in, but he was the biggest fanboy for Phantom that Danny had ever had the misfortune to meet. Paulina? She might actually kill him all the way so that she can do that voodoo thing she had been heard talking with her satellites to tie Phantom to her like some ghost husband.
"...Danny Fenton and Elsa Glød..."
Danny raised his head at that, surprised. He looked around to see if he was hearing right but found Elsa looking at him. She nodded more clearly this time at catching his attention. Danny can't stop the smile from forming on his lips at the idea of working with his kindred Elsa. She returned her attention forward to listen to the teacher, the little baby hair on her neck and around her ears catching his attention. His core fluttering.
Tucker coughed, "Danny...Danny! Your eyes are twitching!"
Danny blinked and rubbed his eyes, "Oh? Uh...got something in my eyes,"
Why were they glowing again?
After class ended, Sam asked, "Is she a ghost?"
Danny looked at her, "What?"
She scowled, "Elsa with the surname-that-no-one-can-pronounce. Is she a ghost? You are hyper focused on her,"
Danny shook his head, "No. And I'm not staring at her,"
She quirked a brow at him, "Oh, really?"
Tucker quickly made his presence known before their tension escalate, "Anyone's hungry? Because I am," He patted his belly, "I have been crunching and the pudginess finally go away," He grinned as he lifted his shift slightly, showing off the result of his crunching; a six pack. He wiggled his brow, "The charisma of Too Fine Tuck had just jumped up. Ladies, line up to get some,"
Sam lightly punched his abdomen, causing his to curl as if she had dealt him a devastating blow, "You already showed it off last week, nerd!" Her purple painted lips curled up in amusement.
Danny rolled his eyes before coughing out cold mist, "Any who...gotta go,"
He slipped away from his friends. He had abstained from calling on them too often as most ghosts were easily handled by him these days. Also, they might be ghost snacks. As he invisibly floated around the school quietly, he found Elsa behind a tree. The thing was, that was where he sensed the ghosts. Worried, he rushed forward only to see her freezing little blobs of ghosts that were crowding her.
One hissed and lunged at her only for her to poke them, which instantly froze them.
He reappeared, "Whoa..."
Elsa flinched as she jumped away to see Danny as Phantom floating nearby, "F-Phantom?"
Danny stared at the frozen ghosts on the ground, "You...you have power too?"
Elsa sighed, a conflicted look in her eyes, "Somewhat..."
Danny looked at her, "This is awesome!" He then shyly asked, "Did you like the ice rose I left you?"
Elsa looked down but he can catch a tiny smile on her lips, "I had never seen such a beautiful ice sculpture before. It looked like it was made of diamond. Thank you,"
He gathered the frozen ghosts and absentmindedly crunched on them, "Tasted like those freeze dried candy... with jelly insides..." He then paused before looking at her, shocked that he would do something like that in front of a girl he barely knew, "Uh! I, uh...they are like little ghost snacks! I don't...I'm not a cannibal!"
Elsa simply nod, "I see...so ghosts do eat,"
Danny blinked, "You...you're not...disgusted?"
She huffed, looking at him with that offended expression like he just insulted her intelligence, "Phantom, you just said that they are ghost snacks. In another word, this is normal for you. Why should I feel disgusted? Humans eat disgusting things all the time. Why anyone would drink coffee made from elephant's waste, I have no idea. But you eating what is normal for ghost is not as outlandish as that,"
Danny gawked before nodding, "Looking at things...that way is certainly...sensible," He looked at the frozen ghost globs in his hand before scarfing them, enjoying the crunch, "It's like you frosted them up instead of freezing them completely. This is new..." He chuckled at her, "I like it. I should have you freeze them more often for me. For some reason, your frost tastes like sugar,"
Elsa looked at the little blob in her hand. They were the size of a jelly bean. Then before he could stop her, she put them in her mouth and crunched down. Danny quickly flew closer to her in shock and concern, "What the-?! Why would you do that?!"
She gagged, the first real expression on her face was disgust. But instead of spitting out, she swallowed them. She gasped before looking at him, stating, "It does not taste like frozen candy,"
Danny stared at her before laughing, "Of course not! You're not...you're not a ghost. Ectoplasm would taste disgusting for you,"
She moved her mouth, he can hear her rubbing her tongue against the roof of her mouth to trying and rub off the worse of the taste. Danny looked around, transforming back into Fenton, and grabbed her hand, "Come on. Let's get you some water to wash it down. Maybe a juice? Something sweet usually erase the taste better than just water. There should be a vending machine around this corner,"
It did not take him long to spot the vending machine. After a moment, he scowled at the stuck chocolate drink. Shaking the machine did nothing. So in the end, he looked around, spreading his senses for potential witness, and simply reached in through the glass to grab it. Turning to Elsa, he shrugged at the look she was giving him, "What? I already paid for it,"
Elsa sighed, "I could have paid myself,"
Danny handed her to drink after shaking and cracking the can open, "Just take it as my treat and leave it at that,"
She stared at the offered sweet drink before accepting it, "Thank you,"
She turned around and headed for the picnic table where he can see a lunch box and tumble were waiting for her. She sat down before she started drinking.
Danny watched as she drank, pausing for a moment to swish the chocolate in her mouth, the tight expression softening as the weird ectoplasmic taste left her for sweet chocolate, before swallowing them. She then continued to drink. After a while, she put the empty can down on the table, "Thank you, Fenton,"
Danny shrugged, sitting across from her, "Just call me Danny. Everyone have been calling you Elsa since your surname is...hard to pronounce without calling you a 'glob' or something. Only right that you call me by my given name, you know?" He looked at her lunch box, "Did you make these too?"
Elsa shook her head, "Sadly, no. My chef refused to let me learn how to cook," She opened the box to reveal something hearty, "She also refused to let me eat anything from the cafeteria,"
Danny blinked, "You have a chef?"
She nodded, "Provided by my father,"
Danny hummed, "You...really are different from the rest of Casper High," He quickly caught onto the tiny sign of discomfort from her slight tightening on the brows, "Not that it means you're wrong or anything. Different doesn't always mean wrong. I mean, just look at me. The government decided I'm wrong so I shouldn't exist...but I think I have the right to exist," He smiled, remembering her quiet disagreement from last night, "So what if you have a chef? You have the money to hire one. Why should you stop yourself from enjoying good food? If anything, someone with skills got employed and paid good money,"
Elsa sighed, the tenseness in her frame dissipated, "You do not have to comfort me, Danny. But thank you," She pulled out another, smaller box from the bag, "Would you like some cookies?"
Danny gulped back the flood in his mouth, "You're spoiling me with good food, Elsa," But he accepted the cookies either way. After a few bites, he asked, "Do you always eat here?"
She nodded, "Yes...I am...not good with crowds,"
Danny hummed, bobbing his head, "Alright. I'll keep this place quiet for you,"
Elsa blinked, "You don't have to do that,"
Danny shrugged, "But I want to," He smiled, "You need a place to decompress too, right?"
Elsa studied his cheeky grin, taking in the deadly sharpness of his fangs, before nodding, "Thank you...it seems to be something that I say a lot around you,"
Danny laughed before gasping, "Oh yeah! We are partners...for the project, I mean! What do you want to write about? I'm game just about anything," He then frowned, "Although...I have to warn you, I won't be a very good work partner because...well...it's quieter theses days but...stuff still happens, you know,"
Elsa nodded, "Understandable. I will pick up your weight whenever you need it,"
His core simply purred at her suggestion but he shook his head, "No. You don't have to do that. I will do my part. I just...might not show up now and then. Or I might be late for stuff. But I will do my part. You don't have to worry about that,"
Elsa stared at him for a moment before nodding, "Very well. I will take your...part-time job without schedule into consideration as we work together,"
Danny chortled, "Part-time job without schedule is correct! I don't even get paid!"
She hummed, "I hope my cookies will soothe some of that neglect,"
Danny blinked at her, "Did you just make a joke?"
She sniffs, "I am still a person, Danny,"
He nodded, "True, that," He then added, "Sorry, it's just you are...always so distant...and composed that some people swore that you have a heart made of ice,"
Elsa hums, finishing the last meatball with jam and sauce, "I see,"
Danny put his chin on the heel of his palm as he looked at her, "You're not cold. You're just...you have a secret you're keeping safe. I get now why it is so easy for you to recognize me," He popped another frozen ghost into his mouth, "But it isn't this, it is?"
Elsa straightened her spine, her white face paler as she leveled at a look at him. A look that he knew well. He made that expression often when he didn't want to talk about something. He shook his head, "You don't have to say anything. I'm not prying. I just...like how you trusted me to never hurt you, I want you to know that I will keep your secret safe. I don't have to know about it. You never pried about me. So I won't do that to you,"
Elsa's frost kissed blush returned to her face as she nodded, "...thank you...I...I am aware that it is unfair that I know such an important secret about you and yet you know nothing of me,"
Danny waved his hand, "We are not trading, Elsa. You don't have to say anything,"
The school bell rang to signal the end of lunch break. He stood up and looked at her, "Okay...this is where things get awkward. We never really interact with each other before. So...do you want to pretend we don't know each other or...?"
Elsa huffed at him, "Don't be stupid. For what reason are we hiding?"
Danny blinked before nodding, "True. We are not committing a crime or something," He nervously chuckled, "I mean...what's wrong with walking with a new friend, right?" He looked at her, "Do...do you want...to be friends?" He looked away, "Am I even doing this right? How do people make friends again?"
Zelda hummed, "How indeed," She then looked down, a quirk that Danny quickly picked as her trying to hide a smile that she cannot stop, "I...would like to be friends. I am sure that you can tell...that I never had a friend before...well, besides my little sister,"
Danny studied her before offering a hand to her, catching her by surprise. He grinned, "Hi. Name's Danny Fenton. Sometimes go by Phantom. I have a medical condition that allows me to die on command. Nice to meet you!" He laughed at his very honest introduction, somehow feeling freedom in that alone.
Elsa caught on and accepted his handshake, "Greetings. My name is Elsa Glød. I come from the North. I have a mutation that allows me to turn things into ice with a touch. It is indeed a pleasure to meet you,"
Danny smiled at her, not knowing that he's glowing slightly from their honest but playful introduction. He reluctantly let her hand go, the coolness of her touch wonderful in his hand, and pulled away, "Come on. Let's show the school our new friendship!"
As they walked inside, eyes followed the sight in confusion. Danny ignored them and noticed that Elsa was busy looking up topics for their project on her phone. He wondered if she wore her gloves to not accidentally turn things into ice. His own gloved hands shoved into his pockets, he wondered if she noticed his icy touch. Her hand had felt like the hand of someone who had been in the cold for a long while. There was warmth underneath the chill. Not like his. His hand felt cold like the corpse. There was a great difference between being in the cold for too long and frozen dead.
Ever since his icy core formed, his temperature started dropping like crazy. Then again, it did explain why the fruitloop was always too hot to the touch. He never liked shaking hand with the Mayor, even in human forms. He barely tolerated him whenever he dropped by to creep on his mom under the pretense of being his dad's BFFFF5Ever. Because apparently 5 is longer than 4, whatever that meant.
Returning to class, he found Tucker and Sam staring at him. Tucker quickly asked, "Dude! Where were you? Also, why are you with Elsa?"
Danny shrugged, "Oh. We just met and I thought I should introduce myself since we are partners for our project and all. We just got carried away with discussion,"
Sam frowned, "I get that...but why are walking in with her?"
Danny huffed, "Why won't I walk in with her? It isn't like we are up to no good. Besides," He smiled, "We are friends now,"
Sam scowled at him, "You? With Elsa? Friends?"
Danny pulled a face, "Yeah? I mean, she's willing to be friends,"
Sam grumbled, "Danny, don't be dumb. There is a reason why you had not been making friends since 14," She meant his secret.
Tucker added, "Yeah. What if she caught on?"
Danny rolled his eyes, "She's not dumb,"
His friends shared a look before asking, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Danny sighed, "She already know about my condition and she could care less,"
"WHAT?!"