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It was unusual to see Phantom quiet and alone. Oftentimes, he was trailed behind by Sam and Tucker or even that dang dog of his, wreaking havoc in his path. He was eerily quiet when she approached the spot he laid on the rooftop.
"Danny Phantom," the Red Huntress sneered, "what schemes are you involved in this time?" She kept one hand ready on her ectoblaster in case said ghost tried something.
At first he didn't even move to respond, laying motionless like a corpse on the ground. The closer she got to Phantom, the closer she got to a realization.
He was sleeping.
"You're kidding me. You are actually kidding me." Amity Park’s most well known ghost, taking a nap in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. She stared down at the white haired ghost who seemed far too comfortable here. Honestly, she thought to herself, how easy would it be for her to just ambush him? Usually she'd see him nearer to Fenton Works or the school, but he's a bit further away from all that this time.
She lowered her guard ever so slightly, hand no longer gripping the blaster. She didn't realize he needed sleep. Or that he even could sleep.
Valerie sat down on the roof, letting herself relax a bit. It was better here than going back home to work on homework at the very least. And she could keep an eye on that Phantom Menace, making sure he doesn’t get up to something bad.
She glanced down at her phone, briefly scrolling through social media, ending up just staring at her background of her and Danny on one of their dates. Time to time, she'd glance down at Phantom, watching the very slow rise and fall of his chest. Did he need to breathe? Or was it just part of his human mimicry? Either way it was drastically slower than hers.
The longer she stared at him, the more he reminded Valerie of her Danny. Both had subtle freckles, although Phantom's were glowing green and vaguely star shaped. Their hairstyles were practically identical even with the color difference. The amount of Fenton tech the ghost owned was also a little strange. There was also the subtle green scar running up his neck, almost like Danny's lichtenberg scar. She always did want to ask Danny about that, but it never seemed like the right time to mention it.
Her thoughts were pulled to a halt when Phantom's seemed to twitch in his sleep before sitting up and stretching. He rubbed his eyes, glancing around before settling on Valerie who had subconsciously reached for her blaster again.
"What are you doing here?" Phantom asked warily, subtly pushing himself back away from Valerie. His voice had its usual ghostly echo, reminding her that this is in fact not Danny Fenton.
"I could ask you the same," she glared.
Phantom sighed, stretching again, keeping an eye on Valerie while she did the same. "I fell asleep, I guess. I wanted to stargaze." The ghost stared up at the sky, a sad look on his face. "It's kinda sad."
"What is?" Valerie felt her skin crawl, slowly letting her hand relax to her side again. It was unusual having a conversation with Phantom. He's more conversational than she initially thought. Guess there’s more than just subpar oneliners.
"The light pollution. I have to go so far away from Amity to see even the brightest of constellations. And even then you don't get the full view," his voice grew quieter and the natural ghostly echo seemed to lessen ever so slightly. "Have you ever truly seen the stars?"
Valerie was taken aback by the question. Was he like this normally? When they weren’t fighting?
Was he really as bad as she thought? This gave some new insight on the ghost.
She shook her head. "I guess I haven't."
Phantom sighed softly. "I figured. They're beautiful. Maybe we could see them together." Valerie watched as a pale green blush spread across his face. "No- wait, that's silly," he laughed rubbing the back of his neck and looking away, "we're enemies."
"You blush green?" How has she never noticed that before?
"Ectoplasm instead of blood will do that."
"I see." It feels like she's seeing Phantom in a new light. A strangely more human side of him. "I'd like to see them at some point if a ghost like you says they're beautiful."
"Next week?"
Her eyes widened. "Huh?"
"Next week we see the stars?"
She could feel her face heat up behind the cover of the helmet. "Yeah. Yeah okay."
Phantom pushed himself up, stretching his arms high above his head. "Great chat then! Can't wait!" He gave her a cheeky wink before quickly vanishing from her sight.
Valerie stood there in shock for a moment, her face feeling like it was on fire.
What had she gotten herself into?