Phic Phight - Gossiping Revelations
For: @multiversal-pudding @sheepheadfred
Paulina has always been the observant type, thatâs how her fashion is perfect, her skin is (near) flawless, her friendships finely chosen, and how she knows every little bit of gossip she needs too. Itâs finally time her listening skills help her with Phantom.
Paulina has always considered herself to be a scholar of three subjects: good lip gloss, hallway politics, and gossip. The first two come naturally to her, while the third requires a little bit more discipline. You have to know when to look bored while listening. And to master the slow blink that said I am absolutely not paying attention while your ears vacuumed up every word in a ten-foot area. Then, of course, you have to understand that if you carry three shopping bags and a pink iced drink, people assume nothing is going on behind your ears and eyes. People underestimate Paulina constantly, and that's exactly the way she likes it.
So when she was browsing earrings at Amity Mall on a thursday afternoon and heard the phrase âhalf aâ said like it was one word and about a person, she nearly dropped a rhinestone hoop into a potted ficus. 'Half a' what?
The voice came from the service corridor beside the food court. Low, urgent, male, ââŠIâm telling you, if the town finds out Phantom's is half human, a... what was it? A 'halfa' as the ghosts call it, thereâll be panic".
And Paulina had frozen behind a kiosk selling scented phone cases. Phantom? Her darling, wonderful Phantom? Defender of Amity Park? Her glowing-eyed ghost prince? Subject of at least six fan edits Paulina had saved for 'research purposes'?
Half human?
Another voice hisses back, "keep your voice down, you fool. We know he has genetic relations to someone here, someone human, but that's all we knowâ, scoffing, "since this messed up town's hospital won't let us access any further files".
'Genetic relations to someone'... To someone 'from here'. Someone from Amity. Someone human. Paulina slowly lowers her sunglasses despite being indoors.
No.
No no no.
This was not gossip. This was god-grade gossip. Ancient treasure gossip. Nuclear gossip.
She peeks around the corner. There's two men in white suits -G.I.W. agents, clearly, ugh- standing near a door marked AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. One's holding a metallic briefcase, and the other has the haunted expression of someone trying to figure out how to trap someone untouchable.
Briefcase Guy huffs, ââŠthe human genetics must be how the creature can stay in our world for so long, especially without losing any power".
âI know that", responds Haunted Guy, âIâm worried whether or not finding this genetic relation will help us and our cause, or hinder it".
Briefcase Guy waves the other off, "of course it will help us, what person would want to be related to some half-ghost abomination? All we have to do is find them and threaten to tell the press what monstrosity they helped create. Besides, who cares if we upset the feelings of some freak that decided to bang an ectoplasmic manifestation".
Paulina gasps softly, those awful men were planning to try and hurt her wonderful Phantom again! She obviously can't and won't stand for that! But how? Telling him, speaking to her lovely man, would obviously be an option... but how much good what that even do? No, she needs to know the very thing these jerky G.I.W. agents want to, she needs to know Phantom's human parent. Oh mi god, she can barely believe he has human family! So cool! She bets they're really cute or beautiful or handsome -gender depending- Oh, but that's not the point right now, she has to figure this out. Both because she has to get ahead of the gossip, but also to protect her man.
The men turn, and she snaps upright and pretends to inspect a keychain rack with the intensity of a fashion designer. After a tense moment, the door shuts behind them, and Paulina relaxes a fraction. She stands motionless for three full seconds, then she spins on her heel and speed-walks to the bathroom.
Wait! If Phantom is half-human, and has a human parent, then that means she totally could have babies with him! Oh, this is the best mall trip evar.
By four pm, Paulina has convened an emergency summit at Glamour Bean Café with her two best friends, Star and Lindsey. After all, she needed reinforcements for gossip this juicy, especially if she's gonna protect her man!
Star starts fanning herself, shrieking, âheâs WHAT?".
Paulina grins meanly to herself, enjoying the shock she's causing, âhalf human", leaning back dramatically, "meaning somewhere in this city there is either an unknowing ghosts lover or the weirdest PTA parent alive".
Lindsey stares, âhow do you know this isnât fake?â.
âBecause when do those G.I.W. men ever actually whisper secretively about anything? They only whisper like that for three reasons", counting on her manicured fingers, âaffairs, the Fenton's getting on over on them, or ghost stuff they need to keep quietâ.
Lindsey hums and nods, âthatâs⊠weirdly solid logic".
Star grabs Paulina's wrist, âdo you think he went to high school here?â.
Paulian's eyes widen, âoh mi God".
The table goes entirely silent, then all three scream at once. They! They might be going to the same school that Phantom went to or currently goes to!
The next morning, Paulina arrives at school wearing determination and heels with no practical purpose but just the right amount of sparkle to not clash with her skirt. She surveys the student body, looking for anyone who might seem even slightly ghostly. Slightly like Phantom.
If Phantom was half human, then maybe he had relatives. Maybe he had lived here. Maybe he was younger than people thought. Maybe he was someone in town.
MaybeâŠ
A student.
She marches to the yearbook archives. The librarian eyeing her, âneed help?â.
Paulina nodding quickly, âYes, I need records of every transfer student who seemed emotionally unavailable and constantly dead tiredâ.
The man blinks at her, âthat is⊠not a searchable categoryâ.
âThen we do this manuallyâ.
By lunch, Paulinaâs suspect list included:
Erik, a pale boy who always wore hoodies in summer
The Rowan twins who never blinked enough
Jessie the soccer captain with suspicious cheekbones
Jeremy Pell, because no one could naturally have that jawline
Her chemistry partner Noah Mercer, who once crushed a calculator by accident
Danny, the school freak
She pauses, Danny Fenton⊠quiet yet very witty (witty like Phantom maybe), weirdly strong (ghost strength?), kinda glowy in fluorescent light (very ghostly), sleeps in lots of classes (sleep deprived from ghost fights?), and Dash has claimed to have seen his eyes flash green before (extremely ghostly)⊠Danny also had once said âyour living snacks are mediocreâ after trying some soya fried rice (implying eating dead/ghost food).
Paulina slowly lowers her fork, now that she thinks about it⊠didnât she see him literally walk through a trash can!??
No.
No way.
Scanning the room and finding that messy mop of black hair⊠ink black, yeah definitely too dark to be normal, right? Right. And across the cafeteria, Danny looks up; like he knows someoneâs staring specifically at him.
Their eyes meet and he immediately looks very concerned. Interesting⊠yes it could be purely that sheâs the one staring at him, rather than the other way around.
After school, Paulina corners him near the bike racks. âHiya, Dannyâ, tone sweet as can be.
Danny blinks and rears back, âPaulina?â.
Paulina tilts her head, âso, quick questionâ.
He narrows his eyes and leans even further back away from her, ââŠwhy are you smiling like that?â.
âAre you half ghost by any chance?â. Sometimes it really was best to be blunt and straightforward, to give people as little wiggle room as possible.
He drops his backpack, stands in silence for a while, then sputtering a little, âI- what, um, Iâm sorry?â.
âDonât play coy with me, Danny. You once caught a falling vending machineâ.
âIt was tiltingâ.
âYou know three dead languagesâ.
âMy parents literally study all things dead, languages includedâ.
âYou donât ever seem to sweatâ.
âI moisturizeâ.
Paulina leans in, sheâd have a hard time believing Danny wore matching socks, nonetheless actually moisturized⊠âyou called the anti-gravity park a return to normalcyâ.
Dannyâs face manages to drain of colour, becoming even paler than he always is, âI like a good joke?â.
She quirks an eyebrow at him, âIâve seen you walk through a trash canâ.
For one heartbeat, something flickers behind his pupils, spooky green light. Sure it could be written off as just the ectoplasm thatâs in him from the contamination but⊠sheâs betting that itâs ectoplasm from him being half ghost, not some contamination. Heck! That contamination story was probably just a cover up.
He screws his face up, glances around, mutters, âfuck I thought no one saw that shitâ, shakes his head and looks back to her, âcan we talk somewhere private?â.
Oh she absolutely has caught him. She smirks at him, putting her hands on her hips, âI knew itâ.
He rubs his forehead and sighs very loudly, âafter all these years, damnit, fuck my lifeâ. She only giggles at him in response as she grabs his wrist and begins dragging the dumb boy off. Next question, is he related to Phantom or is he Phantom.
They sit down on the bleachers, the sky slowly turning a shade of violet. Danny stares out at the field for a long time, âso what do you think youâve figured out?â.
She smirks a daintily a little, âthat youâre half ghostâ. When all he does is quirks an eyebrow at her, she rolls her eyes and adds on, âso either youâre Phantom. Or youâre, like, Phantomâs sibling or cousin or something but more human-lookingâ.
He scrunches his eyebrows, âand why do you think Phantomâs involved either way?â.
She flips her hair and huffs, âbecause heâs half human, and ârelatedâ to someone in town. Add in that youâre definitely half human, either youâre him or related to him and the Fentonâs only adopted you because you look human and he doesnâtâ.
â⊠Iâm not adoptedâ.
She shrugs, he could just not know, itâs not like Danny looked anything like the rest of the Fentonâs, âyou look nothing like them. But say youâre not, then one of them fucked a ghost, probably unknowingly. Absolutely scandalousâ. That actually makes him choke and start laughing. She taps her chin and looks up to the sky, âand maybe theyâre so against Phantom because theyâre ashamed of the twins they created, especially the one that looks like a ghostâ. He bends over wheezing even more. Is she trying to get him to slip and say something he wouldnât normally? Yes, yes she is.
He wheezes some more, wiping a tear from his eyes, âAncients, I could never even imagine them with anyone other than each other, Jesus fucking Chris-â, then blinks very harshly, snaps up straight enough to make her jump a little, and stares at her flat and serious, âwhy do you think Phantomâs half humanâ.
That⊠feels almost like heâs threatening her, which she can understand. The G.I.W. make it super obvious that any info about Phantom that isnât already public becoming public could be, like, super dangerous. And normally she might hold something juicy over someoneâs head, she wouldnât risk Phantomâs safety like that. Whether Dannyâs Phantom or just a sibling. Twirling her hair a little awkwardly, pouting, âover heard some of those G.I.W. jerks saying he wasâ, tilting her head and making a point to seem less sure, âsomething something halfa? And related to someone it town?â, huffing and sticking her nose up in the air, âthey donât know who so obviously I had to figure that out first. Get ahead of the drama, you knowâ, smiling and looking down at her hands, shifting a little, âand⊠Iâd rather them not know, since theyâre so mean to himâ. One thing about gossip, if youâre in the know and youâre good, you can manipulate the truth. Hide certain parts, make other parts worse, fudge the truth.
Danny⊠actually growls at her making her jump a little again, before he flops backwards, back smacking into the bleacher seats behind them, and thunking his head down on it, âugh. This day just keeps getting worse. Fuck meâ.
She blushes a little, gotta shoot her shot right? âI mean, if you are Phantom, I wouldnât be opposedâ; and at least she gets him to start laughing again. Him being freaky and serious isnât super useful to her.
He rubs a hand down his face, sighing loudly, âwell⊠at least they donât know the who, I guessâ, pushing himself to sit back up. Putting his elbows on his knees, watching the empty field, â⊠Phantom doesnât have any siblingsâ.
Paulina absolutely squeals immediately, she knew it! He totally is Phantom! They all go to school with Phantom! He even thinks sheâs cute! Phantom thinks sheâs cute! Lunging at him, throwing her arms around his neck, and squealing a little more, âI knew it!â, knocking them both sideways. He just lays there glaring at her so she puts her elbows on either side of his chest, and places her chin in her palms. Grinning down at him, âso, youâre Phantomâ.
âYeahâ.
âYouâre Fentonâ.
âYupâ.
Her smirking at him, âyou failed gym twiceâ.
He blinks and huffs a little laugh, ââŠthat did happen, twiceâ.
She snorts cutely and sits back up, âthat is the most shocking partâ. Really how does someone that can pick up a bus fail gym??
Danny blushing a little, still laying on the bleachers, âI donât like sports, and I donât care enough about gym to put in any actual effortâ.
She shakes her head at him, âridiculousâ, fiddling with her hair again, âsoâŠâ.
He sighs and pushes himself up onto his hands, leaning back, âthe answerâs no, Paulina. Iâm really not interested nowadaysâ, frowning, âand as much as Iâm not a fan of someone Iâm not even friends with finding out, the G.I.W. is more of a concernâ.
She shrugs a little, damn, well, she did rather expect that. Canât blame a girl for trying. âWell, we could be, friends that isâ.
He rolls his eyes, âyeah Iâm not super into a âfriendshipâ based on your weird crush on half of me or hero worshipâ, pointing at her, âand for your information, neither of my parents âfucked a ghostâ, hilarious mental image thoughâ, looking back out to the field, âthough, I suppose I donât really have to worry about the G.I.W. since Iâve made sure theyâll never suspect Danny Fentonâ, frowning slightly, âstill thoughâ, shaking his head and eyeing her, âand I guess youâve gotten questions and if I donât let you ask them youâre just gonna pester me, so?â.
Huh, sounds like heâs already got the G.I.W. handled, weird to see competence from Danny Fenton of all people. And she can so totally see Phantom in him now. The jawline, muscles hidden under loose clothing, the hairstyle obviously. âWhy do you protect everyone? Itâs not like anyone treated you well at firstâ, huffing, âeven if I always loved it. So coolâ; so hot.
He blinks, ânot what I expected but, because I could? Because Amityâs my home?â, rubbing his neck and look back to the field, âbecause itâs instinctual, to fightâ.
Paulina would never stick her neck out for a bunch of ungrateful jerks, hmpf. Crossing her arms, âwell if you ask me, none of these dumb people deserved helpâ.
He rolls his eyes mutter, âself absorbed as ever, I seeâ.
She shakes her head, really, this town so did not deserve him. She did for sure! The rest of these losers? Definitely not. âAt least being territorial, or the instinct whatever, makes more sense. I hate it when people step on my turf tooâ; like when Dale gets a little too into how the cheerleaders were doing their choreography, or when Delhia snagged a rarer fashion drop than her. Absolutely awful and unacceptable. Frowning a little, because that will have a better affect than seeming vapid, âand if the town knew about this âhalfâ thing, someone would try to stop you or hurt you, and youâd get pestered so muchâ.
He snorts, âoh like how youâre pestering me now?â. She only rolls her eyes at that, there was no way she wasnât going to chase a good story. Not a chance. Rolling his eyes, âthose men⊠my parents, they arenât kidding about the things they want to do to me. Iâm not stupid enough to take genuinely dumb chancesâ, smirking a little, âunless it would be really really funnyâ.
Paulinaâs more than aware that those agents and the Fentonâs wanted to do a bunch of really nasty gross painful things to Phantom⊠to Danny she supposes. Stupid jerks. No parent would hurt their own kid though, nope not a chance. Parents love and protect their darling kids; way have kids otherwise. So silly. Even if Dannyâs were kinda crazy. The G.I.W. though⊠yeah no, acab. âWellâ, smiling slightly, âyour secret is safe with meâ. He quirks an eyebrow at her so she rolls her eyes, âjust because I have the gossip, doesnât mean Iâm gonna go spreading itâ, her smiling even more and putting a finger up to her lips, âsome secrets are more useful kept close to the chestâ.
He blinks, âreally?â, shaking his head, âI mean, Iâm not too surprised, but stillâ.
âObviouslyâ. She absolutely notices him seems to relax slightly, her adding on, âin exchange, you owe me so many detailsâ.
ââŠDetails?â.
Pointing at his face, âghost gossip, ghost boyâ, ticking off on her fingers, âsuit fabric. Hair routine. Can you survive in space? Are there hot single ghosts? Why do you always do flying poses; is that instinctive or rehearsed? What are ghost royals like? Can you get drunk? Do ghosts think youâre cute too? Does the Box Ghost really have a kid? Is Plasmius dating the mayor?â.
Danny screws up his face before bursting out into laughter, bending forwards and holding his stomach. âYouâre are unbelievable. Vlad!-â.
She rolls her eyes, âI prefer iconicâ; going basically entirely ignored.
Danny wheezing, â-Vlad! Dating- Ancients!â, wiping tears from his eyes, muttering, âhe would so be self absorbed enough to do that, oh my Ancientsâ.
Paulina stills and turns her head slowly to stare at him. âself absorbed enoughâ to date Plasmius? That doesnât⊠oh! Oh mi god! Danny and Vlad have an obvious rivalry, and so does Phantom and Vlad! Did the man know about Danny/Phantom? Definitely seems highly likely. And Phantom also clearly has a more personal rivalry with Plasmius too! Would that mean that⊠if you ignore the echo they do sound similar. Oh mi god. Is Vlad a half ghost too! Is he Plasmius?!?!? And heâs Dannyâs uncle right? Does this just run in the family? âOh mi god just how many half ghosts are in your family!â.
Danny coughs extremely hard, choking a little, âI- what?â, then going a little wide eyed, âfuckâ, putting his head in his hands, âheâs so gonna try to beat my ass and Iâm gonna feel obligated to let him, Iâm a moronâ, rubbing his hands down his face and looking at her, âforget I said anything weird about Vlad? Who is not actually related to me, by the way?â.
She blinks at him disbelievingly, âso itâs just by chance youâre both half ghosts? Iâm not that stupid, Dannyâ, and rolls her eyes.
Danny blinks very harshly, âplease donât tell him you know? Or how you do? I donât want to deal with that?â, dropping his head down and groaning, before looking back to her, âmy⊠parents are not very, uh, safe, with their techâ.
Paulina tilts her head, âI donât really get it?â.
He glares a bit, âhalf ghost means half dead, and my parents arenât very careful with their very dangerous and very temperamental tech. Figure that out yourselfâ.
She absolutely cringes at that, even she knew not to ask ghosts about the whole âhowâ crap; and as much as she loves some good gossip, that kind of gossip was super not the fun kind or the kind sheâd go spreading around. Talk about a way to make so many enemies. Looking away from him and twirling her hair some, âyeah no, Iâm so not gonna push on that one, your parents are, like, super duper recklessâ. It was obvious anyways that what heâs saying is that both he and Vlad had some kind of accident with Fenton tech⊠ouch.
He huffs very bitterly, âtell me about itâ.
She just nods, not really sure what else to say now. Also, though, not a chance is she going to confront the mayor or try to get something out of him for her secrecy. She could tell from a mile away that man was dangerous. Even if all of Dannyâs spats with him makes the guy seem like more of a joke. Looking up at the sky⊠the first stars were starting to appear. One of them even winks, or maybe that was just Paulina deciding the universe has excellent taste in drama. âItâs going to be a beautiful night outâ.
Danny hums curiously before looking up too, âyeah, yeah it is. Mercury is supposed to be visible tonightâ. What a nerd. âAnd the answer is yes, yes I can breathe on spaceâ.
She absolutely smirks at that, âsweetâ.
âYupâ.
End.
Prompts: Someone hears Phantom/Danny being referred to as a âHalfaâ and certainly comes to some? Interesting conclusions? (yes this is in reference to that one comic with Val asking which of Phantomâs parents screwed a ghost- it doesnât have to be that directly though!) What would happen if someone from school found out the truth? How would they handle it? Would they try to keep the status quo or try to help in some way? Whether those in the know are aware, an answer will show itself one way or another.
