Like it usually happened when you had too much to drink, Ian woke up with a dry throat just a few hours after heading to bed, but as he opened his eyes all thoughts about getting water left his mind-- his ceiling was squirming red. One fuzzball wasn't frightening, but dozens, all stuck to his ceiling, were terrifying.
He drew a breath and looked away, only for his eyes to stop at his fish tank. Something was in it - taking up half the fish tank with fish swimming through there was a horror movie version of a mermaid. The face alone would be cute, but you couldn't offset the morbidness of a translucent body with a see-through skeleton with that alone. It had a glowing heart in its chest and a blown-up version of the ring he had lost in the hip area... It was munching on one of the fuzzballs.
Their eyes met...
Her's were predatory, snake-like, silver with slit pupils.
Shit!
Ian pressed his back to the wall.
"Human," it said with some happiness in its voice, letting go of the now lifeless fuzz, almost like finding new prey.
Ian scrambled to put on whatever clothes he could get to, reaching a record speed, then took ahold of the closest fuzzball, the glasses, and ran out before that creature could come out--
Shit. Shit. Shit. His mind was spinning as he ran. The fuzzball slipped out of his hand to crawl inside his jacket. Ian panicked for a moment, but since the creature seemed to do so out of fear, he let it be and continued running, his feet taking him up the stairs of the building on Corn street no.56.
The fuzzball shivered as he approached the door. Ah, it too could feel that presence-- Ian lifted up his glasses to his head and rang the bell.
He could hear a faint sound of Mandy's voice in the room and mentally prepared himself to soon see the ghastly figure. She poked her head out from the door and her eyes met Ian's.
"Umm, August is still sleeping... would you like to come in for tea?" the ghost asked.
"Sorry," Ian said.
He felt the fuzzball squirm and crawl out while Mandy floated her head back in and opened the door.
Ian stepped in, whispering. "You wouldn't know what this is?" he glanced down at the fuzzball.
Mandy shook her head. "I'm as clueless as you are," she replied in a whisper.
"I'm Chilli!" A bright voice came from the bunny. It could talk?! More importantly, Ian grabbed at the fuzzball to hush it but stopped part-way spotting August.
August was disheveled, wearing a very oversized shirt and pajama shorts. His bedhead formed two cat ears on his head. Ian's cheeks turned redish and he looked away. Ian had never been attracted to men, but looking at that pale skin and beautiful face was dangerous-- he would start doubting his orientation at this rate.
Ian heard a yawn, then an unamused question: "Don't tell me you came because a dustbun freaked you out?"
At least it looked like August both knew what it was and... it didn't seem dangerous from the way he phrased the question. "... it's not the only one. My ceiling is squirming in them," Ian said, his face paling as he recalled. "And there's this cat-eared water thing in my aquarium that ate one of them..."
"Witten, huh..." August tilted his head, his shirt sliding without care to reveal more of his collarbone.
Ian regretted turning his eyes back to August. While it was good that he couldn't stay pale and frightened, now he was starting to feel things he should never feel for another male and even the ghost seemed flustered--
"What's in its stomach?" August asked, but he did cast a fishy look at the two of them.
That! Right. "My ring. It ate my ring! I couldn't find it at all, but it had it," Ian said, his eyes elsewhere again.
"It didn't eat the ring, it got born because you dropped that precious ring in the aquarium and forgot it there," Ian heard an annoyed-sounding reply.
Eh?! What... Holy shit-- in that short moment.
"Hungry! Gimme chili!" The red fuzzball jumped off of Ian, starting to float downwards.
Ian caught the fuzzball by reflex.
"Does it eat chili?" Mandy asked.
"It says so," Ian could hear August's voice, then the voice seemed to turn more distant. Ian guessed that August was moving deeper in the apartment. "So annoying..." August added somewhere further in and Ian hoped that was not because August noticed their looks... It would be awful if August got the wrong idea about his orientation.
Mandy floated to the kitchen to find some chili, while Ian stood in the corridor, still thinking on when the ring fell in. "So that's when," Ian mumbled, recalling.
Ian placed the fuzzball on his shoulder and went in. Different from the first time when he came as a policeman, the room looked lived-in. "How do I get my ring back?" Ian asked.
"Murder witten, take the ring," August replied and headed in the bathroom with a small pile of clothes on his arm.
The wording made Ian silent.
Mandy meanwhile returned and held a dried chili out to the dustbun. "Thank you!" the bunny said with cheer and bit on the chili, starting to slowly munch it down.
Mandy smiled seeing the bunny munching. "Tea, coffee?" Mandy offered to Ian.
"... ah, thank you, coffee with milk would be nice," he said. "If there's no milk, then tea would be better."
Mandy's smile seemed to widen a bit hearing about his preference. If Ian didn't already know she was the decent sort, he would suspect something bad would follow.
"Feel free to take a seat," Mandy pointed at one of the chairs by the table and Ian took her up on the offer.
Meanwhile, Mandy used telekinesis to fill up a pot with water.
It was... crazy to see supernatural ability used this practice rather than to have things float and break. Ian couldn't help but stare.
"Ian have you had breakfast already?" She asked.
"Ah, no," Ian replied, not quite thinking.
As she opened the fridge, she asked. "Why didn't you go to the guild?"
"Ah--" Ian made a questioning expression at himself. "I didn't think of that," he honestly admitted. "And I live in the building across the street." The windows were on the other side, though.
Mandy seemed surprised to learn that. "Any allergies?" she asked.
"None," Ian replied. Finally realizing he would be eating food the ghost made... would that even work out? Could ghosts eat?
Mandy took out eggs, stuff for salad, and bread and started using telekinesis to cut things up, she used her own hands to whisk the eggs, though.
Ian glanced over at the dusbun, who was happily eating chili, then turned his eyes to watch the ghost work. How was she even doing that? So many things at the same time without even looking. She even made coffee on top of that. And Ian couldn't find fault with any step of the process - the scent of omelet that soon followed was also nice.
A mug of coffee with milk floated steadily in front of where he was and by the time August came out from the bathroom, now neatly dressed, food settled on the table as well - omelet with toast, cheese, and salad.
"Thank you," Ian said, picking up his coffee. Ghosts were scary, but they could also be amazingly practical, it turned out.
For some reason, August took Mandy's hand before eating. It didn't pass through, but rather than asking about it, he had a bite. "Oh, it's delicious," he said.
"Thank you," Mandy smiled. But other than those words, no conversation happened till they finished eating.
"Is there a reason for holding hands?" Ian asked only as Mandy was floating the empty plates to the sink and no longer held August's hand.
"Ghosts can borrow senses from the living by touching them," August replied.
Ah... so that's why. Made sense then. His eyes moved over to the red bunny who had just finished eating the chili. "So, dustbuns..."
"I hope you didn't vacuum them or anything," August said.
"No, of course not." Ian frowned at the idea. "I doubt they appeared only yesterday and I don't know why they are on my ceiling. Removing them without understanding doesn't feel right," he had been terrified, no doubt, but messing with something like that was foolish.
August looked impressed, positively so, then added: "Dustbuns protect houses and bring blessings. As long as they are there no astral can come in and assault you in your sleep."
Ian looked relieved. Ah, so there being an army of them wouldn't be a problem. He looked towards the fuzz on the table. "Do I need to feed them?"
"If your ceiling really is squirming, then you have been doing that already," August said mildly amused. "Just how much chili do you eat?"
Ian made a troubled smile looking sideways. So that's what they ate...? "That does explain why my bundles ran out as quickly."
Mandy showed an incredulous expression, but since she didn't say anything, Ian didn't feel the need to linger on it. He liked spicy food. A lot. That's all there was to it.
August poked the dustbun. "You can change shape, can't you?"
"Chilli can," the dustbun replied and its face and ears sunk in the fuzz, then a doll-sized humanoid girl-like form emerged from within with the same red ears and a big fuzzy tail, she had long red curly hair, red eyes, and an Arabian dancer like outfit.
Huh? That was surprising.
"You are the first one, aren't you?" August asked.
The now girl-shaped dustbun nodded.
"How big is the one in the Aquarium?" August asked next.
Chilli frowned. "Bigger than me," she said.
"Can it talk?" August asked next.
Chilli nodded. "It lures the small ones in with a song," she said with a bitter expression.
"Mandy, can you give her another chili?" August asked then picked up his coffee to finish it.
"Sure," Mandy agreed and passed another dried chili to the bunny girl. Just like in her fuzzball form, though, the girl bit on the chili rather than taking it with her hands. Of course, with a happy 'thank you,' like before.
Ian looked at August with question marks in his eyes. He couldn't help but feel curious even if he wouldn't be able to formulate a question if he had to make one. 'What do I do?' might be it... But August had already replied with - murder and take the ring...
August sighed, looking at Ian. "If it's a metal ring, then you have two choices - drain the water and wait so witten grows weak, then break the ring, then it will die and you can take the ring for repairs, or - you can make the witten into your familiar. Since it is your ring, you will have a high affinity with it."
"And what if I leave it alone?" Ian asked, just in case. He didn't mean to, but just in case it was kind of like Mandy - a good-natured one.
"Since you have a dustbun breeding grounds on your ceiling," August rolled his eyes, before continuing. "It will grow till a nymph state and then your house will probably flood during a storm, so it can escape to a bigger water space."
Ian's lips twitched. Escape... if it escaped then the ring would be lost and that was something he couldn't let happen. Even worse - a flood would destroy the living spaces of his neighbors.
"If you don't care too much for the ring, though, you can also release it in the sea," August said. "Someone will destroy your ring eventually when the witten grows and starts causing tsunamis or something."
Tsunamis? Holy-- okay, perhaps the idea of a good-natured scary thing was far-fetched. At least, the type of danger August mentioned did not have anything to do with it attacking him.
"Kill her," Chilli took the pepper in her hands to free her mouth. "She's bad." Chili frowned as she said that. She resumed munching on the pepper right after making her point, though.
"Your choice," August shrugged looking at Ian and got up.
Ian felt conflicted. He picked up his own coffee to finish it as well.
"By the way, do you want to join Mandy in a library visit?" August asked, his expression blank.
Mandy cast a suspicious look toward August.
Ian cast a curious look at Mandy, not being certain what her look meant.
"Ah, to read about astral beings," she said, noticing Ian's look. "Like dustbuns and wittens, I guess," she added.
"That would be great," Ian said, getting up. The look Mandy cast at August was a bit suspicious, but he couldn't tell what it was about at all. It was a good thing for him no matter how he looked at it. That meant he could actually read up more about the Witten to better decide what to do. Looked like August was giving him all the help he needed. "...I don't even know how to thank you," he added, looking at August with sincerity.
August looked shocked at the 'thank you'.
Ah, figures, given Ian's own previous conduct. Words like 'thank you' wouldn't feel sincere. "I pretty much blackmailed you, yet you..." He felt touched.
August opened his mouth, then closed it. Then sighed. "If you feel that way then bother Kenneth or guild next time when something happens," August said, annoyance settling in to replace his blank expression.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," Ian apologized.
August let out a breath and went to pack up his laptop and suitcase.
Mandy looked relieved as she cleaned up.
Ian went to put on his shoes, not forgetting to take Chilli with him. Even though he had carelessly grabbed her before, this time, he put out his hand, inviting her to climb on it, which the dustbun did. Rather than stopping on the hand, the girl kept climbing and found a place in a pocket on his chest.
As Mandy joined Ian by the door, Chilli looked up. "Ghost, what is the beautiful one?"
Mandy got confused by the wording. "Beautiful one?"
"She means August?" Ian checked, it felt somewhat better if even a dustbun stated it like that. Then his orientation-breaking attraction might just be something beyond gender.
"Well, he does look handsome," Mandy agreed for some reason looking reassured as well.
August had heard Mandy's words, even if he had missed the previous ones. "Glad to hear," He looked to be in a good mood as he got his coat and shoes.
Huh? Ian felt there was something off with August being happy about someone stating the obvious about him, wouldn't he have heard it about a million times by now. Or was it a happy thing because it was Mandy saying it?
"I smell my kin on you," Chilli said to August.
"My body houses three of your kin," August replied, as he turned to walk out. This time Ian moved to exit first, only Mandy staying behind to close the doors.
"...Organs with a will of their own?" Mandy mumbled as she passed through the now-closed doors.
Ian was surprised at the first line, but what Mandy said made him furrow his brows as he walked downstairs. Organs with their own will?
"Yes, there's a dustbun type that feeds on blood," August explained. "Most guild members keep some on them in case of an emergency. They can replace your blood or an organ if things go south."
And August having three of them meant that this exorcist work thing he was doing was dangerous. Even policemen seldom had missing organs and they were shot at from time to time. Despite looking frail and hiding behind Mandy August might have far more guts than that appearance might indicate.
"Ah, okay," Chilli accepted the explanation with no change in expression. "They give happy waves," Chilli added.
Ian looked conflicted for a moment, waves? Organs waving? His expression eased a bit - No way. There was no meaning to dwell on it. "Regular humans can't use them?" He asked.
"No," August said. "It takes some aether to bind them and normies don't have enough for forming the agreement."
Ian nodded as he headed out on the street, not looking all that disappointed. He had expected a reply along those lines. Rather than walking ahead, though, he stopped, aiming to follow August as he didn't know if the library would be in the same place as the guild or elsewhere.
"Are they like familiars?" Mandy asked.
"No, contract workers," August said, turning to head in the opposite direction from the guild. "Familiars die with their owner. The dustbuns in me feed on my blood and aether and when this body dies they will come out stronger than before."
The line about familiars made the two become thoughtful. For different reasons for each. And Chilli used the chance to ask again.
"What are you?" she asked August, peering at him with innocent, curious eyes.
"What will you give me in exchange for an answer?" August asked.
Hmm, August had said 'half-ghost' to him, but asked for payment from Chilli? That was curious.
Chilli thought about it. "A child and dancing skill for a day," Chilli made an offer.
Dancing skill and a child? Ian felt like something was terribly wrong with that offer.
"Not interested," August said.
"Aw, shucks," Chilli said pursing her lips, but she didn't seem too down about it.
"Is it a secret?" Ian asked, just to check.
"Just common sense on this side," August replied. "Your identity gives away your strengths and weaknesses. Unless it's obvious like with Mandy or Chilli, you better hide what you can."
Ian nodded. Well, it is true he wouldn't be able to tell that August was a half-ghost just from looking at him and there was no difference in the way August looked through the glasses and without them, differently to Grisham, bunny-eared bar staff, or many other people he had spotted in the guild before.
Ian's glasses were still on his head, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to see Mandy or Chilli, so he did spot some odd things with his peripherals, but following Mandy's advice, he forcefully avoided looking toward those. In that sense, he matched up with Mandy who did the same thing.
Seeing the direction they were walking in, Mandy asked: "Public library?" It wouldn't be, would it?
"Same building," August confirmed and the group stopped their conversation for a while, as they entered busier parts of the town. Ian put on his glasses as well not to meet eyes with something he shouldn't.