Phantom was glad that Danny realised not to talk about his scars. He wouldn’t know what to do if he started asking questions.
But even if he didn’t bring it up, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t be reminded of it again.
It happened about a month later. Phantom was in Danny’s room, playing video games with the boy. They were both having so much fun, they didn’t realise when it started to get late, or when it started raining.
The sudden rumbling of thunder snapped Phantom to attention, quickly followed by a bright flash he saw from the corner of his eye. Phantom hadn’t realised how tense he was or how heavy his breathing had become until he heard the sound of something scraping. Jolted to awareness, he watched Danny close his second curtain and pull out some spare blankets from his cupboard. When he noticed Phantom was watching him, he gave him a sad smile.
“Want to build a blanket fort?”
“Umm…” Phantom flicked anxious eyes between the covered window, Danny and the door. “I should… see if your parents are done in the lab. Go back to the Ghost Zone.” He knew that wasn’t the case, no matter how much he hoped. The Fentons were in the process of installing new ghost proof blast doors over the portal, as well as a DNA lock so only the family could open them. It was going to be a long process and Phantom knew from what he’d overheard that they would be no where near done at this point in time.
Danny knew that too, because he frowned at the ghost. “They won’t be done for a long time yet. Come on, we can build the fort over the bed and watch movies on my laptop.”
Phantom would’ve argued further, he didn’t want to be here when there was a storm, but he realised what Danny was trying to do. The closed curtains and blanket fort would keep the lightning well out of his sight, and the movies were a distraction for his mind and senses.
Even now, Danny was still respecting his wishes not to talk about it, but he recognised Phantom’s fear for what it was and was trying to help him through it. Phantom felt the gratitude for his only friend increase.
He gave Danny a shaky smile, “Yeah, okay.”
They moved some of the furniture around, turning Danny’s room into a mess purely for the sake of building a giant fort around the bed. It was messy, considering they were trying to build it quickly and Phantom froze in terror whenever he heard or saw flashes from the storm. Danny said nothing during those times, only slowing his movements so as not to startle the ghost, and sometimes placing a comforting hand on his shoulder until he relaxed again. Phantom appreciated it.
Eventually they had a simple fort built, blankets held up by the dresser, table and chairs and weighted with whatever they could find. It was a small fit inside, encompassing the bed but low enough over their heads that they brushed the blankets if they sat up straight. But it was cosy and relaxing.
The two boys curled up on the bed surrounded by more blankets and pillows, the only light coming from the laptop in front of them. With the thicker blankets on the sides facing the windows, any flashes of lightning were impossible to see, calming Phantom even further.
Danny gave his gaming headphones to Phantom and the earbuds to himself, using an adapter to plug both in. With the added blocking of sound the headphones gave him, along with the raised volume of the movie, the sounds of the storm were muted enough for Phantom to block it out.
It took until halfway through the first movie for him to relax enough to lean into his friend. He accepted the arm that wrapped around him and they both became comfortable against the pile of pillows and cushions Danny stole from the living room.
“Thank you.” He murmured to Danny. The squeeze on his shoulder was enough to know he was heard.
