Chapter Text
Jason didn’t hurt. Somehow, that seemed wrong, but he didn’t feel like wondering why.
He didn’t know where he was, either, but couldn’t quite make himself worry about that. The air was cool and clean, the surface under him padded without being squishy, and when he turned his face further into the crinkly pillow under his head it smelled like a snow day. The noises at the edge of his awareness went quiet, then came back louder. Jason groaned, and pressed his face further into the pillow. He didn’t hurt, but he was exhausted. “Five more minutes.” he grumbled, and a large, warm hand pushed his hair out of his face.
“You need sustenance, young one.” an unfamiliar voice said, accent heavy but not indecipherable. “You will feel better for it.”
“Yeah, trust me.” another voice, and Jason squinted his eyes open. All he could make out was shades of white and blue, though, which wasn’t helpful. “Yeti food is kinda weird, but it’s way better for us than straight ecto infusions.”
“Yeti?” he mumbled, and the hand on his head slid down to cup the back of his neck. It wasn’t just warm, it was furry. And those were claws resting against his jugular. The hand lifted, and Jason whined as he was pulled into sitting upright. His whole body felt heavy, boneless, why did he have to sit up for this?
“I am Frostbite.” said the definitely-not-human owner of the hand holding him up.
“You’re big.” he mumbled, and Frostbite laughed.
“And you are still recovering.” Frostbite lifted a mug in his other hand, and Jason’s eyes widened. The world was still out of focus, but even so he could tell that the hand holding the mug was not the same as the one supporting him. It was blue and shiny, not quite clear, with white bits inside it.
“Whoa, ice hand.” he mumbled.
“Yeah, ain’t it cool?” the other voice asked, and Jason managed to turn his head to see... oh, that was weird. The boy was in focus when nothing else was, with a black-and-white suit, bright green eyes, and white hair that was literally defying gravity. Absently, he started to hum that song, and the kid looked at Frostbite. “He’s okay, right?”
Frostbite hummed, and warm ceramic nudged Jason’s cheek. He turned his head, and smelled... soup? Jason opened his mouth, and Frostbite tipped the mug to let him drink some broth. It tasted good, though not as good as... something. He couldn’t remember when, or where, but he knew he’d had better soup. By the time the mug was half empty, he no longer felt so much like a sack of wet cement, and when he lifted his hands Frostbite let him hold the mug himself. The rest of the world was sharper now, as well, and his head felt clearer.
“Better?” Frostbite asked, holding out a hand for the empty mug.
“Much.” Jason nodded.
“I’m glad you’re okay!” the boy blurted, suddenly there at his side. Jason yelped, and the boy pulled back slightly, eyes wide.
“Great one, please.” Frostbite sighed. “This young one is still recovering.”
“Jason.” he said, getting both their attentions. “My name is Jason.”
“I’m Danny.” Danny smiled. “But most folks here call me Phantom.”
“Are you a ghost?” Jason asked, leaning forwards slightly. Magic was real, after all, and aliens. If yeti were real too, then why not ghosts?
“Half of one.” Danny shrugged, and Jason’s eyes felt like they’d fall out of their sockets as rings of white spread from Danny’s middle over his head and feet, leaving behind a boy who looked... not that different from him, actually. “Just like you!”
“The Great One is what is known as a halfa.” Frostbite explained, resting his furry hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Half ghost, half living. You are, if not entirely the same, very similar. He found you floating just inside a portal to the Infinite Realms we unliving call home, and brought you to me for treatment.”
“I’m... dead?” Jason looked down at his hands, taking stock of himself. “I don’t feel dead.”
“You were in poor shape, when the Great One brought you to me.” Frostbite took a seat on a stool next to what Jason now realized was a medical bed of some kind. “You have been resting for several days now.”
“Yeah, the portal whoever it was tossed you into was rancid.” Danny made a face. “I’m gonna have to go find it and like, clean that shit up or something. Maybe see if I can get rid of it entirely, standing portals are dangerous to everyone on both sides.”
“Already, you exceed Pariah Dark.” Frostbite said, approval audible in his tone. Danny groaned, head hanging back, and with another set of light rings was white-haired and floaty again.
“If Jason is better now, does that mean he’s free to go?”
“Hmm.” Frostbite looked him over. Jason suddenly wished he had a mug still, or a blanket. “Return tomorrow, Great One. I wish to ensure young Jason is as healthy as he can be, before you go running into trouble with him.”
“I wasn’t gonna-” Danny protested, only to shut up at a look from Frostbite. “It wouldn’t’ve been on purpose.” he muttered, scuffing his heel against the floor.
“Tomorrow.” Frostbite said firmly. “And then only to your Lair or your Haunt.”
“What about to meet Clockwork?”
“Clockwork already has you to fuss over, Great One.” Frostbite ruffled Danny’s hair. “Introductions can wait.”
“Fine, fine.” Danny grumbled, ducking out from under Frostbite’s hand and darting over to grab one of Jason’s in both his own. “We’ll go get burgers tomorrow, alright?”
“Burgers sound great.” Jason nodded, and something in his chest he couldn’t name eased a fraction at the way Danny beamed. A minute later the boy was out the door, and Jason found himself alone with a yeti and far too many questions.
“Now, Jason.” Frostbite pulled out a clipboard. It was so normal it almost looked out of place. “I have some questions for you. You do not have to answer if you are not comfortable, but the more you share, the better I can help you.”
“Are you a doctor?” Jason asked, and Frostbite nodded. “How come ghosts need doctors? If you’re already dead, and all.”
“Yeti are not quite ghosts.” Frostbite smiled, indulgent. Only, it wasn’t smiling with his mouth. Jason wasn’t actually sure how he knew the yeti was smiling. “But even ghosts can be injured, or poisoned, or fall ill. As a halfa, you are doubly vulnerable, as you are both mortal and dead. Your mind, at least, seems to be functioning as it should.”
“Huh.” Jason sat back, drawing his knees up to his chest. Only then did he notice that he was wearing unfamiliar clothing, soft loose-legged grey pants and a tunic of slightly scratchy material the same blue as Frostbite’s mantle.
“Are you ready to answer questions now?” Frostbite asked, and at Jason’s nod his lifted his clipboard. “You’ve already given your name, Jason. Could you spell that for me?”
Jason did, and Frostbite wrote it down with a pen made of ice. That was cool, though he would never say it aloud in as many words. Too easy for his brother to twist it into a pun.
“Now, this is a rather personal question, and you do not have to answer in more detail than you are comfortable with.” Frostbite looked at him until he nodded, then looked back at his clipboard. “What do you remember of how you died?”
Jason opened his mouth, then closed it, for the first time feeling the chill of the room. “Nothing.” he whispered. “I don’t- I can’t remember.” his favourite food, his hometown, his family, his own birthday- everything before waking in this room was one big blank.
It was cold comfort that Frostbite looked almost as freaked out about that as Jason felt.