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CHAPTER 16 - Mending Fences
Though Phantom told him nothing of what occured in the human world, Pariah Dark knew that in that insanely short amount of time, nothing had gone as planned. The boy had come back barely an hour past when he left, sobbing hysterically and looking for all the world as though the world was ending. Pariah Dark knew that it had to have been bad, if his fiance was actually allowing him to touch him.
They had stayed in the outside hall for lord only knew how long, and it was only when Phantom had stopped crying that Pariah Dark realized that his fiance had sobbed himself into unconsciousness. The Ghost King picked Phantom up and began walking toward the east wing, but changed his mind en route and went into the west wing, into his own rooms. Something was itching at his mind, something that made him think that this was a job for HIM to fix, not anyone else.
So he had settled his young fiance down on the sitting room's fur-covered long seat, and covered him up with more fur blankets. He wasnt going to risk letting Phantom out of his sight for a moment while the boy was hurting so much. After Phantom was settled in for sleep, Pariah Dark sat down in his chair and stared into the fire, his hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly.
Seeing his normally strong-willed and courageous fiance in such a state was infuriating. Something - or rather, someONE - had dared to make him cry. Had sent him into hysterics and made him come running back to the Dark Castle, into the arms of someone he supposedly had little to no comfort being around.
The Ghost King truly had a half-mind to go straight to that place the boy used to call 'home' and obliterating everyone in it, but he knew it would only cause more harm than good. He was trying to make peace with his fiance - to make him happy - and that was NOT going to help.
Pariah Dark sat in silence for what seemed like hours before he chanced a glance back at his sleeping fiance. The boy was curled up tightly as though to protect himself from whatever his dreams were plagueing him with, and Pariah Dark wished he could take it all away. He truly did. It only made him angrier, though, thinking of what he COULD do to take those things away...
Knowing the boy would be asleep for a few hours more, Pariah Dark sighed and stood up, taking his ever-present helmet off. He needed to do something to relax, or he would most certainly break Term 2, and with merciless fire, too.
Danny shifted around under the fur covers, coming out of a particularly depressing dream, and feeling oddly...safe. He felt safe and warm. Why was that? he subconsciously thought. His parents had freaked, he had freaked, and everything that should have gone alright went pear-shaped...and he felt safe. He opened his eyes and was met with the sight of a soft brown makeshift pillow from several rolled-up fur blankets. Fur? No one used fur around here, except for Skulker or Pariah Dark.
...Oh, right...he was back at the Dark Castle...but why fur? His room didnt have fur, except for the few trophies on the walls or the skin rug on the floor...
He sat up, feeling the heavy weight of several fur blankets fall off of him. He frowned and looked around, still a bit hazy and confused, before realizing where he was. He was in Pariah Dark's sitting room. He took another quick glance around to see where the Ghost King was, but Pariah Dark was nowhere in sight. Danny heaved a sigh and fell back on the fur pillow. He felt drained and completely tapped out, and it felt horrible. He was still tired, weak, hungry, thirsty, and in desperate need of a change of clothing...
A sound near the large double-doorway caught his attention, and he turned to see one of the large wooden double-doors open, and Pariah Dark step out.
...At least, he thought it was Pariah Dark; it was hard to tell without the three-hundred pounds of armor. Or the helmet. Or...anything else that embodied the term 'Pariah Dark' as it was widely known for. And Danny coulnt help but stare.
Without the helmet, Danny could see that Pariah Dark's hair really WAS dark green, and was just as wild wet as it was dry. The Egyptian-looking postiche was gone, and Danny saw that Pariah Dark had black facial hair at least a foot long when it wasnt tightly wrapped up. The Ghost King was wearing a loose black tunic over fitted black pants, and...that was it. The overall image was so...unkingly that it caught Danny completely off-guard.
Pariah Dark immediately turned to check on Danny, and paused when he saw his fiance already awake and staring at him. The incredulousness of the staring made Pariah Dark uncomfortably confused for a moment before realizing that Danny was looking at what he was wearing...or rather, what he wasnt wearing. This was the first time Danny had seen him out of his armor; the first time he had seen him so...un-kinglike.
...But wait...didnt Clockwork tell him that he should have done just that? Tone down the kingly garb, and let himself be comfortable around Danny. To RELAX.
...Well, if if being in his underclothes around his fiance wasnt 'relaxed', he didnt know what was.
He cleared his throat to break the silence and walked over to his fiance. "You are awake," he stated. Danny nodded silently, still staring. It was a bit disconcerning, to say the least, but Pariah Dark wisely chose not to comment on it. "Are you well?" Danny took a long moment to nod this time. "Are you hungry?" A headshake no. "Are you able to speak?" An embarrassed blush.
"...Yeah." Danny sat up, pushing the fur blankets away from him. More silence. "...Thanks."
"What for?" Pariah Dark asked, sitting down in his specified chair. Danny nibbled his lip and poked at the fur on the blankets.
"...I dont know," he admitted. "...But thanks." More silence. Pariah Dark hated those silences. They almost literally drove him mad. But he didnt want to drive Danny away, not when so much progress had been made. So he endured the silence for as long as he could manage before speaking.
"...What happened?"
Danny visibly tensed up, his hands clenching around the blankets. A flinching of the eyes let Pariah Dark see that his fiance was close to tears again. "...Do I have to talk about it?" Danny asked, his voice thick with emotion. Pariah Dark sighed.
"...You do not have to," he replied. "...But I truly wish to know."
Danny looked up, honest-to-god surprise on his face. "Why?" he asked, sounding a touch suspicious. Pariah Dark stared back, trying to find the right words to express how worried he was about Danny when the boy showed up crying his heart out; how angry he was at those humans for hurting him; how anxious he was for Danny to wake up and be okay...
...But really, how was a king supposed to put those feelings into actual words without sounding...weak?
Pariah Dark glanced at Danny again, seeing that the boy was waiting for an actual answer. What was he supposed to say? He didnt want to just...come out and SAY things...it was disconcerning and uncomfortable, to say the VERY least. But the look of suspicion was becoming more and more apparant with each passing second of silence from Pariah Dark's end.
Finally, Pariah Dark sighed and made a decision to put all of his cards on the table. If Clockwork wanted him to be open, honest, and trustworthy around his fiance, then damn it, the boy was going to get open, honest, and trustworthy answers.
"Because I was worried about you," he finally said, averting his gaze from Danny's. He clenched his hands tightly into the arms of the chair before relaxing his grip. "When I see my fiance barelling down the castle halls like the world is ending when he is supposed to be having a holiday with his friends and family, I cannot help but be worried. When I see him crying, I cannot help but be angry at whoever made him cry. When he can barely stand my touch and he seeks my comfort, I cannot help but wonder what made him want to."
The only sound was the crackling of the fire after Pariah Dark spoke. Finally, he heard Danny shift around before walking over to 'his' designated chair and sit down.
"...You sound like you actually care," Danny said, his voice having a layer of distrustful sarcasm. But Pariah Dark had been around Danny long enough to know that the sarcasm was a personal sheild against revealing his true emotions; much like Paraih Dark's own angry tone of voice. But Pariah Dark had already put his cards on the table, and he wasnt going to pull them back into his hand.
"...I do care, Phantom," he replied, his voice so soft Danny almost didnt hear it. "...I care. About you." He glanced over to see genuine shock on Danny's face. "...Is that so hard to believe?"
The look on Danny's face seemed to scream 'YES!', but Danny only blushed and looked away, rather than give a verbal answer. Pariah Dark really wasnt that surprised; afterall, he'd done very little to convince his fiance otherwise. Except for the necklace, he'd... He paused. Phantom wasnt wearing the necklace.
"Where is the necklace I gave you?" he suddenly asked. Danny looked confused for a moment before reaching up to touch where it should be, and finding that he felt nothing, looked down.
"...I dont know," he said, searching his pockets, just in case. "I mean, I was definately wearing it when I was talking to everyone...!"
"Then how did you get back?" Pariah Dark asked. Danny looked mystified for a moment before nodding to himself.
"...I made a portal," he said, sounding amazed at the very idea. He looked at his hand. "...I remember getting...really stressed." He shuddered. "...Ice was climbing up my arm, and I remember thinking that I REALLY wanted out...and I opened a portal."
Pariah Dark sat back in his seat, amazed. "...Creating portals is an even rarer ability than ice energy outside of the Far Frozen," he finally said. "...Only one out of three million ghosts can do it."
"...Wow," Danny replied. "...Dont I feel special." He looked up in surprise when Pariah Dark actually snorted with amusement. The Ghost King quickly schooled his features back into impassive.
"Where do you think you lost the necklace?" he asked, turning the subject back around. Danny shrugged, looking into the fire.
"I dont really know," he replied honestly. "...It kind of...went too fast for me to notice. I KNOW I had it on when I went through my parents' portal - which is totally destroyed, by the way, you'll be happy to know - and I didnt really think about the necklace...because I was kind of freaking out...and it didnt even cross my mind when I made the portal. It may have fallen off..." He chanced a glance over at Pariah Dark. "...I'm sorry I lost it..."
"It's fine," Pariah Dark dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I can commission another one to be made. All that matters is that you managed to make it home safely." He sighed when Danny gave him another incredulous look. "...I am being serious, Phantom. I am...happy that you are safe." More staring. "...Please stop staring at me like that."
Danny blinked and averted his eyes again. "...It's just weird to hear you say it," he replied after a moment. "...I'm not really used to the idea of you being...well..." He blushed, having a hard debate on whether or not to say what he wanted to say. He decided just say it. "...Nice. I'm not used to the idea of you being nice, or happy, or worried, or ANYTHING other than...well...mean and vindictive...and cruel."
Though outwardly impassive, Pariah Dark felt a twinge of...what was that? Embarassment? Remorse? He knew that he could be 'mean', vindictive, and downright cruel, let alone several other less-than-pleasant adjectives. But he knew that he could also be merciful, tolerable, and even nice, should the occasion call for it. He had been trying to prove it for the past few months, with very little success. And it was disheartening to see that even his fiance barely picked up on his mellowed nature.
"...I was not always cruel and vindictive," he said softly, catching Danny's attention. "...You know that cruelty is bred through experience, not birth." NOW the boy looked mildly interested, and Pariah Dark decided to take another of Clockwork's pieces of advice, and let his fiance in on his past.
"'Pariah Dark' was not a name I gave myself," he began, almost forcing himself to talk about a past he truly wished to leave buried behind him. "It was my birthname. My HUMAN birthname. A cruel name to bestow on a child. According to what people told me, I was a bane on my mother during her entire pregnancy. I apparantly caused her great pain and discomfort during the entire carrying, and greater-than-normal agony during birth. She died minutes after giving birth to me, and cursed me with my name: 'Pariah'.
"My name seemed to be a curse, as everyone from the lowest servant to my father, the king of our land, avoided me. I was alone during my youth, until my father's death when I was fifteen years. I became a young king, but an inexperienced ruler, since my father did not see fit to train me in my duties as his successor." He took a deep breath and let it out, looking a bit sad and tired.
"I had to learn to harden my spirit quickly, or others would 'walk all over me', as they say. I had to quickly learn to show pity and mercy slowly, and cruelty and mercilessness swiftly. I gave no second chances. I gave no leeway. I commanded immediate and solid respect, and those who did not give it, perished." He sighed again, looking into the fire.
"...The only tenderness and source of comfort in my life were the few wives and consorts I had. But even then, those comforts were brief. I have buried three wives and five consorts, all of them male. And I loved all of them, only to have another piece of my heart broken with each of their passings. Finally, after the death of my last consort, a brave, loyal, loving youth of only twenty, I resolved never to love again. That was when the darkest age of my life began...and carried on into my death. I became a tyrant. A murderous king. A true pariah on the land, just as my mother had cursed me to be the day I was born."
Pariah Dark went silent and took several minutes to gather the courage to glance at Danny, and was taken aback when he saw his young fiance almost choking on silent tears. He sat stiff in his chair in awkward discomfort, wondering just what caused that outburst, and what he should do about it. After a few minutes more, Danny began to calm down, and Pariah Dark picked up a cloth table napkin and handed it to Danny, who took it and quickly blotted his eyes dry, sniffling.
"...May I ask what caused you to cry?" he asked. Danny looked up, his expression clearly saying 'are you even kidding me?'.
"...How can I NOT cry?" Danny demanded, gesturing slightly with the napkin. "...Hell, after all YOU went through, how can YOU not cry?" Pariah Dark stared at him.
"...You were weeping...because of my life story..." he stated, it being a half-question. Danny gave him a 'duh' look and nodded. "...Why?" Danny groaned, putting his face in his hands.
"Because it was SAD!" he finally said, exasperated. "It's SAD that you went through all that! It must have been AWFUL, Pariah! NO one can blame you for being so miserable!"
Trying not to be offended, Pariah Dark took a moment to see exactly what his fiance was really saying. Danny felt SORRY for him? Pitied him? No, not really that...it was more of...understanding him. Empathizing. Sympathizing. Not pitying. Danny was sad for him...and understood why he was the way he was. Pariah Dark sighed and sat back in his chair, feeling a bit drained. The boy was far too empathetic for his own good, he thought.
...But was that really such a bad thing? While living, Pariah Dark had been feared by all, but only a select few - namely, his three wives and five consorts - had chosen to love him rather than fear him. And now Phantom was choosing to empathize rather than fear him. Just like his past loves.
"...Thank you...I suppose," Pariah Dark finally said. Danny nodded and glanced away into the fire, his emotions clearly highlighting on his face. Pariah Dark bit back a sigh of near-frustration. It was both a blessing and a burden to see such blatently free emotions over his fiance's face; on the one hand, he most always knew what Phantom was thinking. On the other - especially when those emotions happened to be fear, rage, angst, or apprehension - it was almost infuriating. But it could also be helpful. Clockwork had told him to learn to read Danny because it could be the difference between trust and acceptance or keeping a distance because of faux pas.
And truthfully, before that kiss fiasco (and admittedly, awhile afterwords), he hadnt really paid attention to the boy's expressions. And it had gotten him in trouble, or made him pass up on an opportunity to fix a wrong or get to know the boy better. He honestly wanted to get Phantom to trust him, to feel comfortable around him, without the fear of being hurt, mishandled, or frightened.
And looking at Danny right now, even in profile, he could see that his fiance was brimming with curiosity, but being too scared to ask anything for fear in incurring his wrath. ...Well that just would not do.
"If there is anything else about me you wish to know, I would be more than happy to tell you." THAT caught Danny's attention; when the boy looked up, Pariah Dark could see Danny's green eyes lighten up a little with more curiosity, wonder, and even a touch of happiness. It was surprising that his fiance wanted to know so much about him, and that let him know just how little he really knew about Danny in turn. "...In return for information," he said, noting an ever-so-slight tip of Danny's head in question, "...I wish to know more about YOU."
That had to be the first time Pariah Dark actually saw the boy smile at him.