The Ordinary Haunting

BONUS 21.5 New and the Different Distances

"...this conversation, it's really stupid."

Those are the only kinds of conversations you have, Tay Tawan.

"Why, because a ghost is trying to go up against an Adonis?"

What are they doing, entering a gladiator match? Be careful, Earth, that thick string bean is really a goddamn Thanos.

"Is this you learning vocabulary and sass from Joss and my sister, or is it that past a certain point you actually get a lot less nice?"

Yuck, he said the word 'sass' out loud. Time to cut in.

"New Thitipoom would never rely on a nice guy."

True, but what the fuck are you talking about now?

"New Thitipoom is starving." I looped Tay's camera bag over my forearm so that I could pack the last of my muddy clothes into the paper bag the store staff had given me. "Did you see that ramen place a few streets back? It looked like they had some Japanese custard there too."

Earth and Tay each rotated oddly stiffly on their spots and pinched their mouths at me like they'd eaten a bad lemon. Ugly. But cute. Ugly and cute. I was looking at two alpacas, basically. I squeezed the neverending water from the hair over my forehead and instinctively reached for Tay's shirt, before remembering that he'd insisted on full ghost mode that day. I redirected my hand to Earth's sleeve and patted it dry. They still seemed to be having trouble prying their mouths open so I gave them a pointed glance.

"No?"

"Ah." Earth blinked and the muscle in the corner of his mouth slackened. "Ramen. Yeah, I could go for ramen. Tay?"

"Mm." Even though he'd taken on a similar expression to Earth, Tay's face had to make the opposite transformation: instead of muscles dropping their grip, they had to pick themselves up again. His face was always firm and electrified when he was going on about whatever topic of the hour had caught his attention, but was mostly soft and dopey when something was hanging onto him inside. He rolled up a pair of blue and white pyjama pants and perched them in my arms, carefully avoiding the muddy bag beneath. He blew out his cheeks so that his jaw could set itself back in place. "In exchange for making me sit in front of ramen I can't eat."

That'd be right. Now I was his known junior, I had to pay for his stuff. I checked the price tag, groaned under my breath and returned to the counter. Taking my time. I felt bad for the clerk -- the guy was sweating right through his polo shirt. The store wasn't hot, so I figured he was the type to run warm. He rang up the pants way too hastily, dropping the scanner twice and sliding my credit card across the desk fast enough for it to clatter to the ground at my feet.

"Sorry, sir," he mumbled.

I raised an eyebrow as I straightened up from retrieving my card. "You okay?" I asked. His whole skeleton twitched.

"I-Is that a ghost over there?" He pointed behind me. I didn't need to, but I threw a look back just in case.

"Yup." I shook my hair out of my eyes as I took the bagged pants from him. "Problem?"

The clerk stuffed his trembling hands under the hem of his shirt. "It's so creepy--"

I snorted too hard out of my nose and a display of scrunchies nearby on the counter swung back and forth.

"You should meet him," I laughed. The clerk's eyes widened so far I could see the inside of their pink housing.

"N-No, thank you. It's unnatural, don't you think? Like, disgusting."