Hey dudes and dudets,
Gosh it's been so long since I've updated this story. I'm so sorry for leaving you all off on such a cliffy!
-DP-
Danny stared at Clockwork. His face was beat red and he felt like he needed to cut off his ears. It was bad enough that he had to be given the Talk by his parents before. It was even worst getting it from a Ghost that he had only met a few times in his life, regardless of the fact it was only over how his ghost half would, well,…. work.
"Right." Danny said as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Swinging his feet loosely over the side of the bedded experiment table. "Now that the more uh….. Informational details about well…you know….Are done, you said you wanted to explain what the fangs were for."
Clockwork cleared his throat and fiddled with his time staff, something he did whenever he felt….well….uncomfortable. After all, this was the first time in his existence that he'd ever had to explain this type of thing to another ghost. He was just glad that the overly unpleasant part was over.
"That's right," clockwork said as he continued to tinker with his staff, his eyes carefully avoiding Danny. "I did and thankfully this will be a whole heck of a lot less awkward."
Danny raised an eyebrow at clockworks choice of words; they didn't seem like something he thought that the time ghost would ever say.
"Um…. Ok?" He said with a wince as he massaged his temples, his headache was starting to become unbearable.
"Now fangs are only seen on the dominate ghost partner. They are used to 'mark' the other partner." Clockwork explained, hoping that Danny understood, but then again…
"Ok?" Danny replied as he gave the master of time an unsure glance. "So I'm a dominant ghost, so I would have to mark my future girlfriends? Isn't that a bit over the top? Why would I have to do that in the first place! It's horrible, girls are human beings—or ghost's—not objects!"
Clockwork shook his head. "You're misunderstanding me Danny. First off, the term 'dominant ghost' doesn't simply mean that the ghost is a male. Female ghost can be the dominant ones in a relationship as well; it just depends on which ghost has the stronger power level. Second off, if you were to 'mark' your partner you wouldn't own him or her, you would just have a better and more permit connection with them. You'd be able to tell when each other's in danger, you'd be able to share each other's thoughts telepathically, and even supply extra power to each other when needed. And finally Danny you wouldn't mark your partner unless you fell deeply in love with them, in a way, 'marking' a partner for a ghost is sort of like getting married. The only difference is that once it's done there is no divorcing or changing your mind. It's a very big decision that cannot be taken lightly. Do you understand?"
Danny paled and shook his head yes.
A silence passed between them and Danny seemed overly interested in his boots.
"Clockwork?"
"Yes Daniel?"
"How… How do you know if you've found your partner?" Danny asked softly.
"Well…I—," clockwork stumbled over his words. He wasn't entirely sure how to answer Danny considering partnership was nothing he had to worry about since he had to swear off finding a mate due to his Jobs strict rules and regulations. Apparently the observant council felt that if clockwork was to settle down and have a family then he would be too distracted to properly care for the time stream. Sure he had seen other ghosts find their proper partners and such, but he never knew how it felt. So because he had a problem finding the answer he decided to quote some dead anonymous poet. Who, no doubt, knew more about love than he possibly could.
"Nobody tells you the meaning of the sparkle in her eyes, the warmth of her hand and the missing of the togetherness, so why would I tell you how to find the girl that will spark all these attributes. That's a journey you'll have to discover on your own, because like beauty, Love is in the eyes of the beholder."
Danny stared up at clockwork with a contemplating expression as he mulled clockworks indirect piece of advice over.
Clockwork knew that Danny hated his indirect metaphorical riddles—that to the young halfa made little to no sense—but it was how clockwork answered qestions that he didn't fully understand himself. He would just quote some random dead person on what they would have to say about the subject and then leave the advice seeker to figure out what the meaning meant. So when that ghost or human— or halfa in Danny's case— found their own answer to it, it had so much more meaning then anything he could possibly offer up as advice.
"But— I," Danny began, pausing to try and figure out how to best word his question.
-DP-
Jazz watched as he mother hurriedly typed away on her lap top entering the security pass codes to the cameras in the lab.
"Mom!" Jazz yelped "What are you doing? They asked to have a moment alone for a reason!"
Maddie shook her head.
"I don't trust that ghost—Clockwork— he just…Gives off this vibe that I don't like. I want to make sure that Danny's ok." She said with a serious tone.
Jazz did a double take.
"Did you just call him Danny?"
Maddie blinked.
"Well that is his name, why?"
"I just, you've always called him Phantom or ghost, never Danny. You said that you didn't want to get too close to him in case he started acting like the other ghosts." Jazz said in shock.
Maddie shook her head. She knew her daughter was right; she shouldn't be calling him by his first name. But as of lately she felt like she couldn't help it, there was just something about the ghost that made her maternal instincts kick in, and she knew that was dangerous.
The computer beeped and let her know that it had successfully tapped into the lab's cameras and ultimately pulled her from her thoughts.
The screen flickered to the live camera feed and showed Danny sitting on the experiment table and the other ghost was sitting on the counter across from him. Clockwork seemed to be fiddling with his staff; an uncomfortable expression was set on his face and Danny seemed to be…well, he was either upset or offended, Maddie couldn't really tell which.
"So I'm a dominant ghost, so I would have to mark my future girlfriends? Isn't that a bit over the top? Why would I have to do that in the first place! It's horrible, girls are human beings—or ghost's—not objects!" Danny defended, his eyes glowing a brighter shade of neon green.
"You're misunderstanding me Danny. First off, the term 'dominant ghost' doesn't simply mean that the ghost is a male. Female ghost can be the dominant ones in a relationship as well; it just depends on which ghost has the stronger power level. Second off, if you were to 'mark' your partner you wouldn't own him or her, you would just have a better and more permit connection with them. You'd be able to tell when each other's in danger, you'd be able to share each other's thoughts telepathically, and even supply extra power to each other when needed. And finally Danny you wouldn't mark your partner unless you fell deeply in love with them, in a way, 'marking' a partner for a ghost is sort of like getting married. The only difference is that once it's done there is no divorcing or changing your mind. It's a very big decision that cannot be taken lightly. Do you understand?" clockwork explained in a monotone voice.
Maddie raised her eyebrows.
"Mom, why are they talking about him getting married and what's marking?" Jazz asked, trying to mask her horror.
"Well, soon after a ghost completes Incandescence it will normally pick a … well for the lack of a better word a 'Soul Mate'." Maddie explained. "But that doesn't make a lot of sense, well actually none of this dose…."
"What do you mean by that?" Jazz asked
"Well, Phantom has only been a ghost for about a year now right? So he's still really young, He shouldn't be going through Incandescence until he's at least been a ghost for four years. Not to mention he's only 15, I don't think he's entirely ready to start a family or get a wife." She explained.
Jazz paled. The idea that her little brother might have a 'wife and kids' by the end of the coming month scared her; A thousand worst scenarios started running threw her head. She had no idea what she was going to do.
"Clockwork?"
"Yes Daniel?"
"How… How do you know if you've found your partner?" Danny asked softly.
"Well…I—," clockwork seemed too stumble over his words for a short moment before continuing. "Nobody tells you the meaning of the sparkle in her eyes, the warmth of her hand and the missing of the togetherness, so why would I tell you how to find the girl that will spark all these attributes. That's a journey you'll have to discover on your own, because like beauty, Love is in the eyes of the beholder."
"But— I," Danny began before pausing; he seemed to be thinking what he wanted to say over. "What if I can't find a partner…."
Phantom looked like he was trying to blink back tears.
"Oh, Daniel I have no doubt that you'll find a partner." Clockwork said as got down from the counter and pulled the young ghost into a hug, allowing Danny's head to rest on his shoulder.
"You think so?" Danny asked softly.
"I know so, after all I am the master of time."
Danny sighed in relief "Sorry, it's just—."
"You're afraid; you don't want to be alone for the rest of your existence. You're afraid that no one will like you because of your hybrid status." Clockwork stated.
Phantom shook his head. "Yeah, I don't ever want to be alone."
Maddie blinked.
"Hybrid status, Phantoms a hybrid?"
-DP-
Well what did you guys think? Read and review for me please!
Oh and clockwork dose realize that Maddie's watching, he said what he said for a reson.