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I hated being short. Phantom was a lot taller than me, and honestly I hated it. To alleviate that some (and also to probably make sure that I didn't get lost), Phantom was currently carrying me on his shoulders. The Ferris wheel had freaked me out when we got stuck at the top, and Phantom had spent at least ten minutes trying to get me to calm down afterwards. While I wouldn't admit it now, I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I was terrified of heights that I couldn't get down from.
"Rose, do you want cotton candy?" Phantom asked, twisting his head to look at me. I dug my claws into his hair, holding on.
"Not particularly... but I'd be willing to share a bit with you." Phantom smiled wide and looked forward, dodging around people to get to the cotton candy stand. Brooding at how easy it was for him to get me to agree to anything he wanted, I refused to get down from his shoulders until he told me he couldn't get the treat unless I got down.
So I brooded over that for a little bit, thumping down onto a bench and pouting while I waited. I couldn't have very much sugar anyway, since neither Phantom nor I were really sure if it was safe for my wolf side to have a lot of sugar and neither of us were really willing to test that. Anyone who passed me looked a little offset by my facial expression, but for some reason a baby giggled and smiled at me. And I couldn't help smiling back, the tiny little baby way too cute to be allowed at the carnival.
"So I've been replaced with a baby, have I?" Phantom chuckled as he settled down next to me. I turned to him, raising one disbelieving eyebrow.
"No. The baby giggled at me so I smiled back." I reached over to take a bit of cotton candy, but Phantom held it out of my reach. I pouted and sighed, "Danny, come on."
"What do we say?" He was having fun with teasing me for being short.
"Please?" I made sure to stop pouting when I whined at him just to crumble his defenses. He grinned widely and took a bit of the blue sugar in his fingers and held it out to me. Without skipping a beat, I leaned forward and took it from his hand with my mouth, making sure to nip him.
"Ow!" he whined, holding his nipped hand closer to him.
"Maybe you shouldn't be a jerk, then," I responded lightly. He didn't try that again.
-linebreak-
Again on Phantom's shoulders (mostly because I was tired and didn't want to walk anymore), I watched for whatever it was that he'd wanted me to look for. Except my eyesight was still terrible so I didn't really understand what he wanted from me.
He's forgetful, Rose murmured at me, curling up at the forefront of my mind. His presence was sort of comfortable, like a warm pillow. It's natural for him to do that, don't worry. 'You act like you know my mate better than I do,' I thought back to the voice, not quite paying attention. Maybe I do. After all, we're sort of the same person.
I didn't respond to him after that. Mostly because I felt myself losing my energy from holding this human form so close to the full moon. I tapped Phantom's cheek, tapping more insistently when he didn't respond.
"Rose? ...You okay?" He took notice of how tired I looked. He himself seemed okay, but I could see exhaustion beginning to cloud his eyes.
"Tired," I mumbled. "Can't hold much longer... Full moon," I offered when he gave me an odd look. His eyes widened in realization and he nodded.
"Alright. I guess it's time to go home then, huh?" Phantom reached up and grabbed one of my hands, pulling it down from the soft bed of his hair and for he most part I didn't try to pull away. His hand was warm against mine.
Before I could respond, I felt him turn around and begin walking for the exit. Before anyone could notice, he turned us invisible and intangible and slid through the fencing. The rings of light appeared around my waist, ready to change me back, but I forced the rings to disappear even as my core protested, disliking the fact that I was still suppressing it in this human form. I felt something collide with my back, making me yelp in surprise.
"You okay, Shadow?" Phantom asked, pulling me forward to check on me and slipping back into my name since we were alone. I squirmed out of his grasp and searched for the thing that had hit me, finding something metal that hadn't been on the ground before.
"...Some sort of boomerang?" I muttered, checking it all over. Who would make a metal boomerang anyway? As a sort of test, I threw it. It flew away from and then came back towards me. I readied myself to catch it, but it flashed past me and hit Phantom right in the head.
"A boomerang that's keyed into my ecto-signature?" Phantom snapped, picking up the thing and glaring at it. If he could shoot ectorays out of his eyes, he definitely would have destroyed the contraption.
"We should keep it," I told him, gently easing it out of his death grip. His fingers had made only the smallest of dents in the metal, though I was somewhat sure that the stupid contraption had left a dent in his head. On the metal thing, there was a large F. What did it stand for? And how was it even keyed into an ecto-signature anyway?
"...Yeah. That'd probably be best," Phantom finally sighed, looking at the thing apprehensively.
"Are you okay? It smacked right into your head..."
"I'll be okay. Just an ache." Phantom grinned and picked me up bridal-style, transforming back into the white-haired boy I knew. His sudden transformation surprised me and my own rings sprang forward, transforming me back into my black-haired self.
No need to be afraid, Rose mumbled to me, slowly retreating into my subconscious. The rings can't hurt you. Try practicing that transformation more often, okay? It makes me feel... a little better... to know that you're using my appearance. Just don't rob any banks with it.