I'M GOING GHOST!

     “ Heh... “ Danny’s eyes flicked to the side, and it almost seemed as if his eyes flashed green for a moment. “ Yeah, they exist. I should hope so, considering I am one. “ 

      No point in hiding his identity anymore- Everyone at the Order who knew him already knew of his secret identity. Besides, this wasn’t his home dimension. There was no GIW here, nor parents who would dissect him if given the excuse to. Here, everyone was as weird as him, so he may as well tell the truth. Besides, considering the entrance Danny had made earlier, Kris must already know that something was up. 

       “ Long story, “ Danny replied, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He could answer the question in a lot of different ways- Should he talk about how he first met Erwick, or how he actually became an official member here? He decided to go with the former, because the latter story was pretty dark for a casual conversation. Besides... It was still hard to even think about that particular week. 

        “ I found Erwick, Elric’s brother, stranded in the Ghost Zone, so I helped him out. Well, he helped me out too. Wait... You probably don’t know what the Ghost Zone is, do you? “

        Every answer he could give just lead to more questions. 

     Initially Kris perked up a bit– but at that question, their smile wavered, head lowering with… A hint of guilt? One finger idly traced circles on the kid’s knee as they contemplated how to answer, or if they even should.

     “…” A quirk of a melancholy smile curved half of their mouth again. You can trust the people here, they recalled that one lady in blue saying… Perhaps you might even make some new friends, after all most of the people here are not so different from you. Maybe… It’d be okay to be honest, just this once, even if they didn’t really know this guy that well. It wasn’t like Kris was going to just totally spill their guts, but it couldn’t hurt to be at least a bit less defensive and guarded, right..? And anyway, Danny would find out more one way or another as it was. It would be better just to get that over with, before someone else did it instead.

     “… Hard to explain, but…” Under their bangs, those crimson eyes seemed to flash slightly, though there was nothing malicious in them. If anything, the teen just seemed… Sad. “I was lost, and he… Saved me from myself.” The kid’s solemn look faded quickly however, replaced with that friendly, joking expression once more. “But..! Yeah… Kinda prickly. He was… Pretty mad at first. Ha ha…” Somewhat embarrassed, the kid rubbed the back of their head. “But we worked it out, so everything’s okay now.”

     Danny nodded quietly, deciding not to pry more as to what that cryptic statement meant. He knew what it was like to be trapped in a dark place, and he wasn’t going to make someone else relive that by talking about it when they didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, he decided to focus on a happier subject. 

     After helping up the other teen, Kris straightened and stuffed their hands in their pant pockets, seeming to be in fairly high spirits. They offered a cheerful nod of agreement to the question; for better or worse, the kid clearly had taken a liking to Danny. Who knew… Maybe the mystery of his ghost half was even a contributing factor. At the very least, they didn’t seem too quick to question that bizarre change in appearance. Kris had their own share of skeletons in the closet, after all.

     “Just joined the other day,” they elaborated with a shrug, “Elric found me. You know him?” Elric bringing back anyone to the Order had to be a shock in and of itself, let alone someone as quiet and reserved as Kris. If anything was an indicator that there was more to the child than met the eye, it had to be that.

     … Especially considering they seemed to think pretty highly of him, judging by that bright tone. Not many people took a shining to the hot-tempered alchemist, after all.

     “ Elric? “ 

     That was a surprise. Danny and Elric were close now, but it had taken months and a couple of fistfights before the two had first started to get along. Kris, on the other hand, seemed like they’d befriended the alchemist already. Just what had they done to get on Elric’s good side so quickly? 

     That answer seemed to catch the kid a bit… They blinked a few times, apparently trying to decide if the other teen was serious or joking– or maybe just if that joke was, in fact, actually funny. Then suddenly they grinned brightly, letting out a soft, odd sort of giggle in response. Apparently Danny’s pun had been accepted.

     With that, the kid hopped off the couch and strode over, bending slightly to offer a hand up. “… Kris,” they answered in kind, head tilting slightly with that curious grin still in place. “You okay?” It seemed they were at least going to give Danny a chance, anyway; that was more than they usually did. Though, in all honesty… If it weren’t for being directly addressed, Kris probably wouldn’t have even budged.

     Plus… As far as Kris was concerned, nobody with a good sense of humor could be all bad, right? Maybe they couldn’t get a clear read on Danny’s stats, but he seemed to be friendly enough. And he didn’t give Kris that odd, unsettling feeling so many of the other Order members did, either, so that was a plus too.

     “ Thanks, “ said Danny, accepting the hand and standing up. “ Yeah, it’s all good. Blacking out on the floor is kind of my thing. “ 

     It suddenly occurred to him that Kris must have seen him in ghost form- he’d been in that form right before he’d passed out. Should he give some sort of explanation? Probably. He would if Kris asked about it, at least, since he wasn’t really sure how to bring it up on his own. Hey, did you just see me, like, being dead? Yeah, don’t worry about it.

        “ Ngh... ” 

        Blacking out had caused the ghost boy to shift back to human form, but fortunately, he managed to wake up only a couple of minutes later- A new personal record. He yawned a bit, then stretched his arms, before noticing he wasn’t alone. There was another teen perched on the couch right near him- good thing he’d missed that target, then- and they were watching him intently. 

        “ Oh, uh, hello. “ Danny gave a sheepish grin, and a little wave, still sitting on the floor. He didn’t recognize the kid- Were they new here? One way or another, he hadn’t spotted them here before, so hopefully they weren’t too concerned by his sudden appearance and subsequent passing out. 

        “ I’m Danny, sorry for... dropping in on you like this. “ 

        Cue one proud older brother. Danny ruffles Francis’ hair, a big smile on his face. 

        “ Thanks! Man, I can’t believe everyone remembered except me. “