#phantom angst

They can’t move on from that initial mourning period and wear the paints so much that they forget what they looked like without them.

Touching them up is such an engrained part of their routine that they’re baffled when the rest of the pack stop and move onto healing instead of grieving.

Danny was always a ghost. Just not in the sense that he was now. He was invisible. Always forgotten, or ignored, until he served a purpose.

Whether it was to help with an experiment, to let some anger out, or simply to have someone to listen to your problems.

Danny never felt seen.

Not until he found Phantom. He became Phantom.

He's world turned on it's head. A combination of never being seen and feeling like he was always under a microscope.

He wasn't sure which he prefered.

But he found a balance. Managed to walk the thin line between Fenton and Phantom. Never strayed that far after his first year.

He thought he had it all figured out. He's truly invisible half, and his half in the spot light.

Until the day the whole world was after him.

It happened so fast. In the span of two days, all eyes were on Fenton. Everyone knew. Nobody really cared about Phantom in that time. Everyone knew Fenton was Phantom.

Being on the run was taxing.

He was always in pain, always hungry, and never comfortable. Everywhere he went, someone would find him. Without fail.

His family turned on him. His friends couldn't help him. He wasn't going to let people get hurt or arrested because of him.

To the eyes of the government, he wasn't human. He wasn't alive.

All those 'enhanced human' laws didn't help him.

So the day he was met with the man in red and black. The mercenary everyone from the underground warned him about. He accepted his fate.

He knew Deadpool would be the one kill him, or capture him. The world wasn't picky on the reward.

Except he wasn't.

The man didn't kill him.

At first, Danny thought it was because of the way he folded the moment he was met with the armed killer.

The way he just dropped his head, and waited. He wasn't getting taken without a fight, but death was the better option. The less painful one.

It wasn't until Deadpool took him to a place nearby, fed him, and spoke to him. Actually spoke to him. Not just about him, or what he wanted from him.

Danny was being treated like a person again.

That was when he found out why the Merc was there in the first place. To help.

The rumors about the notorious Deadpool wasn't completely true. The man didn't just do anything for money. He has his own morals and rules.

Deadpool doesn't kill kids.

And for the first time, Danny didn't want to defend his age. He knows he looks younger than he is. He's always been the smallest in his family. In school.

He wasn't going to let his ego stop him from having a warm meal, and sleeping on a bed for the first time in a long while.

Warnings: Feelings of not being good enough, hurt/comfort.

Pairing: Phantom/Dewdrop.

Summary: Phantom keeps messing up his parts on stage. He’s afraid he’ll never be able to fill the huge shoes he’s been put in.

A/N: Apparently all I ever write is hurt/comfort fics lmao.

Feeling tears well up in his eyes, Phantom avoids Dew’s angry gaze. He messed up again, clumsy fingers fumbling over the strings, hitting the wrong notes. He was breathing shakily under his mask, staring out at the crowd. Phantom felt it as hot tears made their way down his cheeks; in that moment, he was thankful for the mask.

After the show, the ghouls all exited the stage, excitedly talking amongst themselves. Phantom was dragging his feet behind them, his cheeks felt wet from the tears. He could feel Dew’s gaze on him from across the hallway, but then he felt an arm being slung around his shoulder, and he looked up to see Swiss grinning through his mask.

“Great job, Phantom! You did so good!” Swiss smiled, looking down at the younger ghoul. Phantom mumbles a ‘Thanks, Swiss’, trying to make his voice sound even.

The others all headed to the dressing room, but Phantom just headed straight for the bus, going to his bunk. He sunk into it, pulling his mask off as he let his tears fall. Knowing that he had at least 20 minutes before the others came back, he just let it all out.

He felt awful; he was not doing Aether any justice- he was messing up every show so far. Phantom’s breathing was uneven and shaky as he cried, he was trembling, letting out little whimpers.

Upon hearing the door of the bus open, he pushed his face into his pillow, attempting to stifle his sobs. It wasn’t much use, he couldn’t stop himself. Phantom heard footsteps making their way to the bunk area and he held his breath, but accidentally lets out a small whimper.

“…Phantom? Is that you?”

It was Dew. His voice much softer than Phantom could have ever imagined; he breathed a shaky breath as a sob made it’s way out of his throat. Hearing the curtain being drawn, he didn’t move, keeping his face pressed tightly into the pillow as he tried to catch his breath.”

“Oh shit… Phantom, bug…” Dew sighed, seeing his new packmate cry made him feel a slight amount of guilt.

Phantom whimpered at the nickname as he slowly bought his head up, looking at Dew. Sighing, Dew crawled up into Phantom’s bunk, leaving a decent amount of space between them, shutting the curtain behind himself. The younger ghoul’s breathing was rapid and uneven as tears streamed down his cheeks.

“Okay, bug. I need you take a deep breath, alright? You’re freaking yourself out.” Dew said, his voice soft.

Phantom tried, but his breathing just got worse as he sobbed. Dew sighed again, gently reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder.

“Can I hug you, bug? Is that okay?” Dew asked, trying to calm him down. Once Phantom nodded, Dew pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around him. The younger ghoul pressed his face into Dew’s chest as he kept sobbing, his entire body trembling.

“Come on, Phantom. Breathe with me, okay?”

He kicked up a purr, making it so that Phantom could feel and hear his breathing rhythm. Eventually, Phantom’s breathing became more even and his crying slowed.”

“D-Dew, I’m sorry- s-sorry I’m not Aether.” He mumbled into Dew’s chest. The older ghoul tensed up at hearing Aether’s name, but then he sighed and brought his hand up to Phantom’s head as he gently ran his fingers through his hair.

“You’re your own person, bug. Stop trying to be someone else.” Dew muttered. He had said those words before, but this was the softest he had ever said it.

“I- I can’t do-” Phantom started, but Dew interrupted him as he kept stroking his hair.

“Yes, you can. I’m sorry I’ve been a dick to you, bug. That probably hasn’t helped, huh?”

The younger ghoul didn’t respond, just nuzzled further into him. Dew sighed, holding him closer as he continued to stroke his hair soothingly. He heard the bus door open as the other ghouls piled in, chatting loud amongst themselves. He heard Phantom whimper at the sound and tightened his grip on him, rubbing his back to soothe him.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just the other guys, alright? Keep taking deep breaths for me.” He reassured.

Phantom takes a few deep, shaky breaths as he clung onto Dew.

The curtain suddenly opened, and Swiss was standing there, a mix between a grin and a smirk on his face, just as he opened his mouth to speak, Dew glared at him, putting his finger to his lips.

“Swiss, don’t say a word.” He muttered. Swiss put his hands up in mock defence, closing the curtain again as he walked away. Dew felt it as Phantom pressed his face into his collarbone. Bringing his hand back up to his head to stoke his hair, Dew mumbled.

“Oh, Mad Christine!”

⚠️ Warnings: Self-harm, arguments, overall angst.

Pairing: Phantom/Rain, Phantom/Mountain, Mountain/Rain

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst.

A/N: Includes Poly!ghouls, Ghouls are not human (Have horns/tails, purr and growl.)

Summary:

Sodo really needs to learn to think before he speaks.

_

“Back off Phantom, just stop, okay?”

As Sodo spoke, the aggression was clear; venom was practically dripping from every word. His tail was flicking wildly behind him as he spoke. Phantom looked at him, his shoulders drooping slightly, as well as his tail.

“What do yo-”

“You know what I mean. You are nothing like Aether, and you never will be. You are fucking useless.”

Sodo’s insults cut right through Phantom, leaving him trembling. Sodo spat in his direction and stormed off, radiating heat.

Hot tears were stinging Phantom’s eyes, beginning to run down his cheeks. He choked down a sob, violently wiping at his eyes as he walked down the hallway. He ran into a bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind himself. Slowly sliding his back down the wall, he began fully sobbing, bringing his head to his knees.

Fucking Useless.

The words ran through Phantom’s brain on repeat; it wasn’t the first time he’d heard them and he doubted it would be the last. He shakily pulled his sleeve up, staring at the scars up his arm. He’d managed to stay clean for a whole month- the longest he’d managed so far.

Fucking Useless.

As the words echoed through his head, he pulled out a small lock-knife from his pocket, flicking it open. Tears were blurring his vision as he slowly put the knife to his skin, watching as the blood started to appear. Phantom’s tears dripped down to his arm, mixing with his blood. He was completely sobbing now, his shoulders shaking violently.

Knock knock.

“Phantom? Is that you in there?”

It was Rain.

Phantom panicked, eyes darting round the room.

“Y-yeah?” Phantom’s voice came out shaky, cracking slightly as he spoke; not at all like he wanted it to.

Rain’s voice grew more concerned as he knocked again.

“What’s wrong? Let me in, Phantom.”

Phantom frantically scrambled around, rolling his sleeve up and pocketing his knife. He wiped at his face in attempt to stop himself from crying.

“Uh- I-I’m fine, Rain.” His voice cracked on the last word as he let out a loud sob, doing his best to stifle it.

“I’m coming in.”

Phantom looked at the floor, noticing drops of blood on the floor. He quickly tried to wipe it away, but only smeared it more. It was too late; Rain was stood in the doorway, looking down at Phantom as he was sat on the floor, sobbing. His eyes flicked to the smeared blood on the floor and then Phantom’s blood-soaked sleeve.

“Phantom? Oh, honey…” Rain whispered, as he dropped to his knees in front of Phantom. He wrapped his arms around Phantom’s shoulders, pulling him close in a tight embrace. Phantom fell into Rain, burying his face in his chest. Phantom sobbed into Rain’s chest, his hands clinging on to his shirt.

“S-Sodo.. He…”

As he struggled to find the words, Rain put his hand up to Phantom’s head, gently running his hand through his hair.

“Shh, you’re okay. I’ve got you.”

Phantom nuzzled his face into Rain’s neck, his tears soaking through his shirt.

“Phantom, sweetheart, I need to look at your arm.” Rain said, his voice as sweet as can be.

Phantom shook his head, whining quietly as he continued crying. Rain sighed, rubbing his back soothingly.

“What if I get Mountain? He can check it over whilst I’ll keep holding you?”

Phantom shrugged, not saying anything in response. Rain sighed, then took his hand from Phantom’s hair and reached for his phone in his pocket to text Mountain.

Rain:

Mount, can you come to second floor bathroom? It’s Phantom.

Mountain:

Yep, on my way rn.

It only took a matter of minutes for Mountain to appear in the doorway, the tall ghoul looked down at the two huddled together on the floor.

“What happened?” He asked, bending down to be at the same level as he put his hand on Phantoms shoulder, rubbing it soothingly.

“I don’t know, he won’t talk. Can you just look at his arm? He’s bleeding and I don’t know w-what to do-” Rain rambled, clearly slightly panicked.

“Take a breath, Rain. We’ll figure it out, okay?” Mountain responded calmly as he sat down cross-legged on the floor, reaching his hand out to Phantom.

“Hey, let me take a look, Phantom. I’m not going to hurt you, okay?” Mountain soothed, slowly picking up his arm.

Phantom whimpered into Rain’s neck, who was still running his hand through his hair.

Once Phantom’s arm was taken care of, Mountain stood up, slowly taking him from Rain’s lap and picking him up into his arms. Rain stood up, looking at the two.

“I’m going to find Sodo, I’ll find out what happened.” Rain said, his voice seemingly void of emotion.

Mountain nodded at him, reaching out an arm to stroke his arm briefly.

“Alright, I’m gonna settle this one down, come find us later, yeah?” Mountain smiled sweetly, his voice reassuring.

Rain nodded and left; once he did so, Mountain carried Phantom all the way to his bedroom and laid down with him. Immediately, Phantom curled up against him, nuzzling into his chest. He didn’t want to speak, but Mountain understood that, he pulled Phantom close to him, running his hands soothing down his back.

“I’ve got you, bug. You can rest now. I’m not going anywhere.”

Phantom purred softly as he got comfortable in Mountain’s arms.

A/N: I wrote Sodo’s point of view as well, go check it out; https://www.tumblr.com/sodoshame/724291902308040704/if-im-alone-i-cannot-hate

All the emotions that ran through him, stopping his train of thought in it's place. The only thing he could think about was the pain.

Then it was empty. Hollow.

He was scared when he woke up, when he realized the changes that shifted into his body. Realized he was the very thing his parents hated.

But he wasn't scared, not really. He saw the terrified faces of his friends and he just seemed to feed off of it. Mimicking what he saw.

He didn't realize it at first. Not until he was alone and that empty feeling came back. That strange hollowing feeling deep inside him that told him something was wrong.

He couldn't feel anything. Nothing really evoked emotion from him.

His parents had to be right. Ghosts were hollow consciousness that mimicked what it was like to be alive.

He was dead.

He was dead.

He was a monster, a hollow shell of himself. He was broken after that night. How was he supposed to handle it?

He didn't tell anyone.

How could he? He kept pretending everything was okay. Stayed awake at night, staring at his ceiling, thinking but not feeling.

Jazz noticed. Of course out of everyone, she was the one to notice something else was off. She found out his secret, and she knew there was more.

And she didn't drop it.

She kept pushing and pushing, until Danny snapped. All but yelling at her. A faint feeling of anger was all he felt, but it wasn't enough he was still empty.

Then Jazz made him cry.

The relief that flooded him when the first tear drop fell was unreal. He wasn't sure if he was crying from sadness or the happiness.

It took her almost twenty minutes to break that barrier Danny created around his emotions.

He had died.

Even if it wasn't completely, he died. He was in shock. This whole time that he thought he was a monster, he's psyche was just trying to protect him.

Protect him from the realization that his life was over. It didn't matter if he still had a heartbeat at times. That he still need food, sleep, and oxygen.

He lost a part of him that night.

Jazz held him as he cried. Sobs and laughter mingling in something borderline manic.

And she stayed to hold his hand through the depression that filled him afterwards. She held her baby brother's hand while he tried to navigate all the emotions that flooded him.