AN: I'm going to be gone for two days and unable to update, so you guys get another one today! Hope you like it as much as the last! Warning, I'm bringing in an OC. I'll try make certain she's not a Mary Sue. Remember, reviews make me smile!
Disclaimer: No matter how much I wis- ...want to, I don't own Danny Phantom.
Recap: Danny went to the GZ to look for his book. It was accidentally reshelved by Inkling, Ghostwriter's partially unwanted assistant. The two also made a deal on who could find out Ghostwriter's real name first, so that'll be a thing in the future.
For the next two weeks, Danny went to the library after school to both help look for the book, and to try to study. He was in the last month of his Junior year at Casper High, and finals were hitting him from every side. The only way he was able to keep up was by studying at the Ghost Zone library. Back when he had come to get his book, he went back to the Human World and asked his team if ghosts attacked. Needless to say, he was surprised when they admitted that while he had been gone, no ghosts attacked. They discussed theories, and the best they came up with was that they only came because they wanted to fight him, so when he wasn't there, neither were they.
This gave Danny more enthusiasm to go to the Ghost Zone. He wasn't sure why none of his enemies attacked him in the library, but he wasn't complaining. Ghost Writer walked through the halls, patrolling and making sure every ghost treated his books with care. He came upon a sight that was becoming more and more familiar to him as each day passed. Danny Phantom was sitting alone in a small corner of the library, concentrating heavily on what he was reading, and taking notes on it. He never failed to cover his table with books and notes, leaving hardly any room for anything else.
The writer shook his head disapprovingly. He was all for studying, but this was just unhealthy. He flew back to his kitchen, and opened the fridge. He frowned at seeing the mess, but rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. He flew back to where the boy was still diligently working, and tossed it to him.
Feeling the displacement of air before hearing it or seeing the object, his hand came up to the side of his head to grab whatever had been thrown at him. As soon as he caught it, he noted the odd texture. Bringing it into his line of view, he frowned. What the heck was it? It was almost lemon shaped, but it was longer. It was pink with bumps on it, and purple leaves kinda like a pineapple's.
Ghost Writer, meanwhile, couldn't help but be amazed. The boy had incredibly quick reflexes, even for a ghost. He schooled his expression into one of indifference, however, when the teen looked his way, puzzled expression on his face. "What the heck is this?"
He smirked, "It's a fruit from the Ghost Zone, and while it may not fill you up, you - and your mind - need it."
Danny rolled his eyes, "I'm not even hungry." Then, because he not only jinxed himself, but also had the worst luck in the world, his stomach growled in discontent.
The ghost chuckled, "I think your stomach would disagree, Phantom."
The ghost began to walk away, and Danny called to him, "Wait, you never told me what this is!"
Without pausing, he replied, "You have a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips, Phantom, use it. Also, don't talk too loudly. You're in a library."
As he leisurely began another lap around the library, he heard Phantom mutter, "Shut up, stupid writing noise."
This caused him to stop. Bretaroj actually 'spoke' to the halfa? Spoke being a relative term, seeing as the only sounds the lair made were that of a quill writing on parchment. He rarely spoke to any ghosts besides himself. Maybe he had taken an interest in him. After all, the other half ghost never came, so Bretaroj had little knowledge of them. Yes, that definitely made sense. Nodding his affirmation, he flew off.
Danny grumbled. Of course, instead of just telling him, the dumb book ghost was making him look up what the thing was, adding even more reading to what he was already doing. Still, he was curious. Sighing, he floated out of his seat. He anxiously glanced at his work, not wanting to leave it alone in case anyone messed with it. He heard the quill writing slowly and softly, as though reassuring him. He exhaled. If anything happened, the quill noise would probably tell him.
He flew around slowly, tossing the strange fruit up and then catching it, looking at each section. He found a tall double sided bookcase holding information on just the Ghost Zone. On the shelves themselves, there were smaller labels, each a subheading. He found two shelves labeled 'Flora and fauna.' "Well, I have no clue what fauna is, but I know Flora means flowers."
He looked through the shelves, and picked out the first book he saw that might help, "Edible Ghost Zone Delicacies." He took it back to his table, and found the section on fruit. He flipped through it in no particular order, looking for the picture to match the fruit he held. One he saw that interested him were little dark red-orange cube shapes on vines, similar to grapes. Monicules are grape-like cube berries with a distinct bitter taste with three seeds to each berry. Growing on small bushes, they are only found in very warm climates, making them rare.
He didn't read much into detail, but they sounded pretty cool. He looked some more and found one that almost reminded him of an orange jester's hat. Strophari, very similar to peaches, though they are known for their sourness. Enough to make even the toughest of ghosts pucker, the juice is often used to flavor dishes. Growing on small trees, it is a common fruit, due to each fruit having two pits, one on each side.
He searched again, and finally found a fruit that, while not exactly the same, matched up pretty closely. He read the short description for it. Amanita is a pink, almost lemon shaped, bumpy fruit. It grows on very tall trees in water, and has a very sweet flavor, though produces little juice. Each bump contains a seed. Well, that was nice to know.
Putting the book back in its place, he flew back to his spot. He let out a sigh of relief that nothing had been touched, let alone moved. He sat with the Amanita cupped in his hands. Making sure it was no where near any of the papers or books, he put his thumb on one of the bumps, and began to use his thumbnail under the glove to scrape it off. Having succeeded, he grinned, and began scratching off all the seeds of the fruit.
Ten minutes later, he was left with the fruit, which hardly had any skin on it now, and a pile of seeds. "Sweet, huh?" Grinning, he bit into it, surprised at the crunch it had. His smile grew, and he quickly finished the Amanita, being left with just the leaves. He found a trash can near the front door. Flying back to his workplace, he sighed. Maybe all this studying was bad for him. He needed a break. He looked down at his watch, and groaned. It was 6 pm. He had been there for four hours on a Saturday. He hadn't even looked for his book at all. That just proved he needed a break more than he thought. He gathered up what was his into his backpack, and put the library books back where he found them.
Taking a quick look around the library, he found the writer reshelving some books. He floated behind him quietly, then quite suddenly told him, "Thanks. For the Amanita."
His unexpected voice caused a slight jump in the ghost, but other than that, he didn't show his surprise. "Ah, so you did look it up. I'm guessing you have a bit of a sweet tooth." It was phrased like a statement, like he already knew.
Danny scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah, it's kinda hard to deal with. How'd you know?"
"Not many ghosts can handle eating one whole Amanita. Too sweet for their tastes. I, thankfully, am not one of them," He chuckled.
The teen nodded, "Yeah, well, thanks. Again. I gotta go. You're not all that bad."
This brought a wicked smirk to Ghost Writer's face. "Now, now, Phantom. Never underestimate an author. And when you come back tomorrow, if you don't bring a snack, I will force you to sit down and have one." Seeing he was about to protest, he shook his head, "You've come in here enough times that I know you never bring anything to eat. Fix it."
Groaning, Danny left. It was a nice thought and everything, but food from his house was kinda out of the question. Unless, of course, he wanted to fight his food before he ate it. Still, Ghost Writer was almost treating Danny like... a friend. Almost. He still didn't have much trust for him. Not only was he a ghost, he trapped him in that Christmas poem. Who knew what else he could do?
Interrupting his thoughts, his phone went off. Digging it out of his pocket, he answered the call, "Yello?"
"Yo, dude, where are you? Your dad said you were up here studying." Tucker's voice came through.
"Technically only half a lie. I was studying, just not in my room. I'm in the Ghost Zone, I'll be there in a couple minutes." Hanging up, he focused on where he was going. The halfa remained true to his word, and in moments he was floating into his room.
Seeing Sam and Tucker lounging on the only two chairs, he flopped onto his bed, changing back into his human form. "You've been going to the Ghost Zone a lot, lately." Sam rose her eyebrow at him.
He shrugged, "Better place to study. Better books, more quiet, that kind of thing."
Tucker smirked, "Is studying all you do?"
Danny looked at him, his brows furrowed, "No, actually. Remember how how I left my book there? We've been looking for it. Besides that, I don't know what you mean."
His friends sighed. The half ghost could be so clueless, sometimes.