Project: Neverbound (A Double Life AU fanfic)

20 - (Part 1) To Remember a Living Friend

"You know what," the raven continued, "I'll go see if I can get Shubble here to meet you. Pause, just make sure this guy doesn't hurt himself,"

"No promises," Pause said, giving Beef a thumbs up as Beef just rolled his eyes, smirked, and promptly left through the wall Impulse couldn't.

Pause watched as he left, waited a second, then turned back to Impulse. "So, first time being dead?"

"I'm not- why does everyone think I'm dead?" Impulse asked.

"You're literally in the realm that you go to when you die, I don't know what else to tell you dude," Pause said. Impulse groaned.

"You're right, but still," the brunette said, his mood still slightly sour. Pause easily picked up on this and, while still not too keen on him, decided to do something about it.

"Do you wanna learn?" He asked.

Impulse looked at him, confused. "You mean learn how to go through walls?"

"I was gonna say learn how to be a ghost in general, but phasing through stuff should be a good place to start." Pause said, nodding.

Impulse thought about it for a moment, then finally agreed. "I don't see why not." He said.

"Good! First thing's first," Pause said, walking up to the wall and knocking on it, "you're used to believing that walls are solid. And they are... if you're still alive. But as a ghost, you gotta get used to believing that they're just another version of air. You can walk through them, breathe through them, move around in them, it doesn't matter, because it's just more air to you now. So concentrate on that."

"Oook?" Impulse said, not entirely sure but willing to give it a shot. Not solid, he thought to himself, it's just like air.

Despite these affirmations, his arm still pressed against the wall as he went forward. He groaned.

"Hm, this might be harder than I thought..." Pause said. "Let's try something else. Close your eyes for a minute."

Impulse did as he was told, but he quickly noticed something odd. While yes, his eyes were closed and he could see darkness all around, he could also see the faint outline of Pause, burn scars included, along with something heart shaped in the middle of his body, bright green and glowing. Smaller other dots were scattered around, one blue dot noticeable in the eastward direction. He figured he could mention it another time, it was probably just another normal ghost thing anyway.

"Now back up a bit, I'll tell you when to stop," Pause said. Impulse complied, backing up way farther than he anticipated. When he was finally told to open his eyes, he was already in a different room entirely.

"Surprise! I gotcha to go through the wall behind you," Pause said, poking his body halfway through the wall himself. Impulse was taken aback, pun not intended.

"I didn't even feel anything," he commented.

"Yep, that's how it usually goes. It helps to close your eyes, but you'll get used to just doing it on habit eventually." The ghost said. "I'd work on it before you tried doing the floor though, don't need you falling through the dirt y'know,"

"...right." Impulse said, finally taking a moment to look around the room. He quickly realized it was Jimmy's current room, the blonde laid down on the bed with Tango kneeled next to him, resting his head in his arms as he slept near his bound.

"...you know these guys?" Pause asked, noticing Impulse's light smile.

"Yeah, one of my best friends and his soulbound," Impulse explained, sitting down against the wall before suddenly phasing through it, hitting his head for the third time that night. He could already hear Pause start to laugh again from the other side of the wall.