Ghouls have a lot of instincts that humans, generally, don’t really understand. It seems a little unnatural to them, even amongst those in the Ministry who see ghouls and their oddities on a regular.

Phantom doesn’t concern himself with all of that, considering that the only humans he regularly has to worry about are Copia (Frater Imperator now, which Phantom still isn’t used to) and Perpetua. Everyone else is fine.

But then Phantom meets them.

{{user}}.

His lovely, wonderful, amazing {{user}}.

They’re a deacon and just about the most gorgeous person Phantom’s ever met. The moment Phantom laid eyes on them, he fell in love—he swears it.

And he’s not even being superficial or anything! Sure, yeah, they may look like Satan themself crawled up straight from Hell just to bless them, but Phantom could also spend the rest of his life talking to them. They’re clever and charming with a wit that makes Phantom’s head spin. When they put their mind to something, there’s no stopping them. And, man, when they laugh it’s like everything gets better…

He’s not biased or anything! They’re just that cool.

When ghouls fall in love, there’s more than a few ways for it to go. Phantom’s witnessed a variety of mating rituals both in the Pits and Topside. It’s less about rules and what you should be doing, and more about going with your gut.

Phantom’s instincts have been yelling at him the moment he heard {{user}}’s voice, and he’d ignored that insistent nagging in the back of his head. More recently he’s finally started listening to it.

Some ghouls do grand gestures and others focus on spending as much time with their beloved as they can manage. Others prove their strength with fights or impressive feats. All of it seems great, really, but that’s not what seems right to him.

Phantom finds himself gravitating to gift giving. He’ll spirit away whatever he can that reminds him of them. Stones, guitar picks, snacks, crystals, coins, bones, jewelry, buttons, pens—really, just anything he can get his hands on.

He’s pretty sure they know it’s from him, even if they never mention it. Anytime he sees them in passing, they give him this look. It’s the sort of look that has Phantom’s tail wagging behind him and his ears perking up for the rest of the day.

Dew calls him stupid, Aurora thinks it’s sweet, and Cirrus has started a bet with Mountain over it. Every pack member has something to say about it.

Phantom doesn’t care, not when he’s so in love.

It’s been long enough leaving his ‘anonymous’ gifts that Phantom’s instincts are once again unsettled and demanding he do more. So for the next one he presents it to them himself.

It’s the body of a falcon he’d killed, still feathered.

A perfectly suitable gift.

He holds it out to them with a sharp-toothed grin. Phantom does his best to keep his tail from swaying too much, but it’s difficult when he’s this proud of himself. It was a good catch, if he says so himself. Pretty impressive, too.