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countless-dreamsss · 5 years ago

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Quarantined with Him.

Summary: With COVID-19 hitting all parts of the country, Team Flash has decided that it’s safest that they stick together, and live

Warnings: Slight profanity.

Primary pairs: WestAllen, Harrisco, Jecile

Canon/Head: Headcanon

Insight: So initially this was meant to be a fanfic written by a prompt that @catvampcrazines really wanted to see, which was Harrisco being sleep deprived and goofy AF. Tumblr, being the shitshow that it is won't even let me post the entire first part that I have now, so this is going to have a lot more parts than I intended it to. I do apologize for taking so long with writing this, but when covid-19 hit, it gave me the perfect timing and the perfect excuse to get all of Team Flash together to experience Harrisco's weirdness. Anyways, enjoy!

The members of Team Flash were dispersed throughout the Cortex at S.T.A.R Labs when Joe had entered the room. Iris and Cisco sat at the monitors while Harry hovered behind them, clicking on his pen anxiously as they watched Barry run through the streets of Central City. Caitlin sat at the desk just outside of the medical bay, going over some new material put put by a few of her friends from medical school. “Turn on the news,” Joe said, worry written all over his face. Everyone turned their attention towards the new presence, puzzled at his expression. “Dad, is something wrong?” Iris asked, turning her chair in his direction. “You guys haven’t heard?” Joe asked, his eyes looked to each person. “Central City is closing off all borders because of this whole virus thing.” “Again with this virus?” Harry groaned. He had been back on Earth-1 since December, when the first case was made public. Every time he heard the name of the virus it always seemed like bad news. “Got it,” Cisco called out. He hit a button on his keyboard, and just like that live-footage from Central City News was projected onto the main monitor. “Fast breaking developments in the Coronavirus emergency in the U.S. and around the world. The number of cases soaring just today. More than 700 thousand nation-wide. To decrease the risk of infection, Mayor Van Buren has just announced that Central City is now officially under lockdown. Starting today, no one is allowed to leave or enter the city…” “Well, it seems like your Earth is no longer safe to stay on,” Harry crossed his arms against his chest. “I guess I should be heading home soon.” Cisco immediately looked up to Harry. “Do you have to make comments like that?” Though his tone was rather crabby, his eyes screamed ‘don’t leave me’. Harry’s icy orbs met Cisco’s gaze. The older male clicked his tongue, knowing he had struck worry into the other. “Oh, come on now,” he placed a hand on the meta’s shoulder, his thumb gently tracing the seam of Cisco's sleeve. "You always do this," Cisco moved his shoulder away from Harry's hand. "I—" “Has Earth-2 seen anything like this?” Caitlin intervened in the small quarrel between the couple. Harry shook his head, “No, and again, my Earth is very much ahead of yours. I’m sure if anything like this was to even appear on my Earth, it would’ve been taken care of like,” he snapped his fingers, purposely right next to Cisco’s ear just to have his eyes on him again. “Either way,” Joe started, “This isn’t looking good at all. Are you guys sure it’s safe to have Barry still running out there?” he asked. “I could always make him a respirator to go with his suit,” Cisco said. “...along with temporarily closing down non-essential businesses, Mayor Buren has also announced a curfew at 9’oclock p.m. for all citizens of Central City. Yes, Flash, this includes you.” “Problem solved,” Iris looked back to Joe. “Criminals don’t care about curfews,” Joe replied. “I’m just trying to make sure you guys stay safe,” he looked to everyone in the room. “Last thing we need is any one of us getting this thing.” “We’ll be fine, Dad,” Iris grabbed Joe’s hand, squeezing it gently as if she could transfer all of his negative feelings to her. “I’ll talk to Barry once he comes back, and then we can all decide what happens then.” “If worst comes to worst, we just all stay here.” Caitlin pointed out. “We’re here everyday as it is.” “Yeah,” Iris agreed. “I can always do my work in the lounge while Team Flash is doing its thing.” “That could actually work,” Cisco said, gliding his tongue over his lips after taking a sip of his coffee. “We still have a few empty rooms that we could just set up some beds in,” “I’m the one that actually lives here, do I get a say in this?” Harry asked. “No.” Everyone responded. Harry rolled his eyes at their response. “Fine, but don’t go touching my rum,” he looked to Caitlin. “What? I never—” “Not you, I’m talking about Frost. Last time I was here, she drank all my whiskey without telling me,” he said. “Was it the honey flavored one?” Cisco asked. “Yes,” Harry hissed. “Ooh,” Cisco sucked his teeth. “Bad call, Frosty,” he said to Caitlin. “Guys—” Barry interrupted through the comms, “are you guys really discussing staying at S.T.A.R. Labs right after Iris said you guys would wait for me to come back?” “Decision has been made, Barry. Suck it up,” Cisco called out. “Since when?” Harry said, looking down at the younger male. “Just now. I did it,” Cisco affirmed “What? You have something to say?” Cisco asked, ready to retaliate any nonsense that could possibly come out of Harry's mouth. “Whatever the hell y’all do, just let me know, okay?” Joe said.“I’m gonna go make some calls, see if I can get a hold of Cecile. See you later, baby,” Joe leaned down, giving Iris a kiss on the cheek. “Stay safe,” he said to the rest, giving Harry a pat on the shoulder before exiting. Taking it upon himself to decide that Team Flash would be staying at S.T.A.R Labs, Cisco and Iris had also taken the time and thought of how things would run during the entire situation. He pulled over the drawing board and assigned everyone a certain task to do during the days of the week. “...and because we can’t live off of just coffee and candy, this coming Saturday, Barry and I will go out for a grocery run,” he said looking at all of them. “Sounds like a plan,” Barry nodded before leaning his head down and resting his chin on his wife’s shoulder. “What about me?” Harry asked, his arms held snug against his torso. “I’m not assigned anything.” “You can’t even leave the building, Harry. What makes you think I’d put you up here?” Cisco asked, playing with the marker cap. “Well, I live here,” Harry shrugged. “Something is better than nothing.” “Fine, fine,” Cisco turned back to the board and wrote ‘mi cama.’ Harry’s cheeks burned with a shade of red once reading his task. “Stupid,” he muttered under his breath, looking to the ground to hide his smirk. “Oh God, Cisco,” Iris laughed when she read the addition. “Take that down.” “Fine, but I give you props for being the only one to read it,” he chuckled, erasing what he had just written down and changing Harry’s duty to ‘trash.’ “There, you’re on trash duty.” Barry laughed, “Doodie.” “You gave me trash?” Harry asked, approaching the board. “You’re really giving me trash?” “Are you 12?” Cisco asked Barry, rolling his eyes before he turned to Harry. “You said give to you something, so I gave you something that you can actually do. You’re doing trash.” “You’re trash.” Harry spat, looking down at him. “No, you’re trash.” Cisco tapped the tip of the marker against Harry’s chest with each word spoken. “You wish I was trash,” Harry snatched the marker from Cisco’s hand. “Har—” “Anyways,” Caitlin interrupted, “How about we go get something cooked up right now?” “Yes please,” Barry said, “I’m starving,” he grabbed Iris’ hand then started to pull her towards the exit. “What should we make?” Cisco asked. “You guys decide,” Iris said, “Barry and I are gonna go set up our room.” “Liars,” Harry called out as they walked out. “I could really go for some of your lasagna right now, Cisco,” Caitlin said. “You’ve made her lasagna?” Harry asked. “After all the times I’ve asked you to co—” “Settle down, long legs” Cisco patted Harry's chest. “You guys want to help me make it?” he asked. Caitlin shook her head as she too walked towards the exit, “I’m going to work on my room as well,” she told them, “make it a little more snug,” then disappeared into the hallway. “What about you?” Cisco looked at Harry. “Do you want me to?” Harry asked. Cisco gestured for the other to tag along. “Come on,”

Surprisingly, Harry had completed everything requested of him without any opposition. When given the chance, he would use that time to get Cisco’s attention and ask him if he was doing whatever he was told to correctly, correctly meaning Cisco’s definition of correctly. The elder grabbed a half cut onion to mince when his sight became fixated on Cisco. Harry’s thumb and forefinger wrapped around the blade while he made parallel cuts through the vegetable, moving the knife downward and backward motion as his free hand held the onion in place. Spell-bound by a simple glance at the younger, who had no idea he was being watched, Harry had forgotten to return his attention back to the task in front of him. The meta took hold of his soft curls and waves, tying them back into a relatively messy bun. Once his hair was tied back, Harry saw Cisco advance towards him. “Woah,” Cisco grabbed Harry’s wrist in haste, his grip significantly strong. “What are you doing?” Fear filled his eyes as they gazed at Harry’s hand, the blade had just barely broken through his skin. “I—” Harry was brought back to reality. How was Harry supposed to tell Cisco that his attention was on him the entire time? “I know what I’m doing,” Harry lied with a scoff. “Do you?” Cisco snatched the knife out of his hands. “You could’ve hurt yourself,” he placed the knife down, and seized the hand that was almost assaulted, examining the now very light cut on Harry’s knuckles. A rather satisfying sensation overcame Harry when feeling Cisco’s soft, warm touch. “I’m fine, Cisco,” Harry responded. He tore his hand from Cisco’s hold. “I’m fine.” “Are you?” his eyes studied Harry’s face, searching for signs to disprove Harry’s statement before quickly gazing around to make sure they were alone. “Yes,” he nodded, holding Cisco’s hand to his chest. “I’m fine. Promise.” Harry assured him. Still worried, Cisco quickly decided to swap tasks. “I’ll finish up here,” he grabbed the knife, “can you work on the ricotta cheese mix?” “Cisco, I said I’m fine.” “And I said that I’ll finish up here.” “Fine,” he exhaled an agitated sigh. He knew that even if he protested against Cisco, he would simply end up doing what was asked of him anyways.

Once the food was prepared, Caitlin and Iris had set up the coffee table as Barry and Cisco made the drinks. Harry, now being treated as safety priority number one by his beloved partner, sat impatiently upon the round couch while being accompanied by Joe, Cecile, and Baby Jenna, who was sitting in the S.T.A.R Labs baby-chair made by Cisco. Cisco finally pulled out the steaming dish of saucy red noodles out of the oven. A warm heat kissing his cheek while the heavenly fragrance of juicy seasoned tomatoes combined with spicy ground meat fill the air. “That smells fantastic,” Barry eyed the dish. He could feel his mouth begin to water. “I’m telling you, man, no one knows how to make lasagna better than yours truly,” Cisco smiled. “You guys were going to start without me?” A male voice called out. Ralph had been absent at S.T.A.R Labs throughout the entire day, but he wasn’t going to miss his first Team Flash sleepover. “Of course not,” Caitlin smiled, holding up his plate. Ralph gave her a smile, throwing his jacket over his shoulder as he made his way through the room. “Oh my God, the baby,” Ralph cooed as he approached Jenna. “Ah—” Cecile picked up her daughter before Ralph could touch her. “What?” Ralph’s smile turned into a pout as he looked between the parents. “I just wanted to—” “Did you not just come from outside?” Joe asked. “I mean— I j-just,” Ralph stammered, hearing Joe’s fatherly voice coming out. “Ah, wash your hands first.” Cecile said. Ralph gave a disappointing sigh, “I’m not infected.” “Yes, but she’s still very young,” Caitlin commented. “There’s nothing wrong about staying cautious,” she said. Ralph pouted as he held his hands up then stretched them over to the sink. He washed halfway up his arms thoroughly, scrubbing his skin down with soap for a good 20 seconds. He dried his arms then returned his arms to their normal length. “May I?” Ralph’s arms eager to hold Jenna. Cecile nodded, “You may.” “Finally,” he smiled, taking hold of the giggling child from its mother’s arms.

Sighs and moans of pleasure filled the air as each person took a bite from their plates. Cisco’s lips were pulled to a grin, satisfied with the feedback, but Harry was the only one who hadn’t tried it yet. The couple briefly exchanged looks. Harry knew what Cisco was waiting for. He wanted Harry to try it. Harry gave a sly grin as he nudged Cisco gently with his elbow then dove his fork into the layers of delicate pasta. He quickly raised his fork into his mouth, fireworks exploded in his mouth while eating the moist layers. The spices of the sauce complimented the meat perfectly, providing a savory taste rather than a fiery one, and the warmth of the cheese over his tongue just added to the experience. Harry smiled as he took another bite, giving Cisco the answer he was looking for. “This,” Joe pointed to his plate, “is really freaking good. My compliments to the chef.” He winked at Cisco, whose body was filling up with content and joy. He was glad he was able to provide something other than just suits and tech. “It wasn’t just me,” Cisco’s eyes scanned everyone. “Harry helped too. “I did,” The older male nodded, “but it was your recipe, making you responsible for this.” “I told y’all,” Cisco chuckled. “No one makes lasagna better than Papi Ramon.” Laughter filled the room. “Papi?” Harry chuckled, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Just let me have it, okay? Just this once.” Cisco requested. “Anyways,” Cecile spoke, “so when was somebody going to tell me about you two?” She pointed her fork back and forth between Cisco and Harry, which led to their ears and cheeks burning to a shade of red and Harry slightly choking on his food. “How’d it start?” “Uhm—” Cisco handed Harry his drink and patted his back. “If you don’t tell them, I will,” Iris said, taking a sip of her wine. “It’s cute,” Caitlin said softly. “It is,” Ralph nodded before feeding Baby Jenna a spoonful of lightly salted carrots. “Dish it!” Cecile incited. Harry placed his plate down. He kept his eyes down at his hands, trying to avoid Cecile’s gaze. “I mean I don’t really think there’s much to—” “Uh-uh-uh,” Cecile shook her head. “I want to know. I want to know everything up until the first kiss,” she demanded. The red shade on Harry’s cheeks grew darker. Hearing this, everyone leaned forward so they wouldn’t miss a second of it. “Well,” Cisco twirled his fork into his lasagna. “There’s not much to tell,” Harry cleared his throat. “It was a little after saving Jesse that we started talking,” Cisco looked at Harry, who was nodding along as he spoke. “After Jesse and I had left the first time, Ramon and I kept in touch,” Harry took a sip of his drink. “Just to get him to come over, sometimes I would ask him to help me with some experiments.” “So who asked who?” Joe asked, wiping his lips with a napkin. “Neither of us,” Harry responded, leaning closer towards Cisco. “No?” Cecile questioned. “No,” Harry confirmed. “It was just one of those things where we just knew,” Cisco lightly shrugged with a soft smile. “And the kiss?” Cecile asked. The two males glanced down at the white tiles beneath their feet. Harry shook his head. “You tell it,” Cisco said. “Why me?” Harry questioned. “You have total recall,” Cisco gave Harry a mocking grin. “Fuck me,” Harry whispered under his breath before being flicked in the head by Cisco. “What the—” “Baby,” Cisco pointed to Jenna with his fork. “Watch your language.” Harry gave the parents an apologetic look then proceeded with what he was going to say. “I’ll tell it,” he cleared his throat. “We were over in Cisco’s workshop. The both of us had stayed really late working on the earmuffs for Jesse and I. Cisco had gone out to go get us some ice cream. I had the butter pecan,” he looked over to Cisco, “and you had some sort of brownie sundae, right?” Cisco nodded. “It was a brownie fudge sundae with coffee ice cream,” “The one that comes with the dinosaur shaped brownie?” Barry asked. “Are you judging my dino brownie?” Cisco asked. “Damn,” Iris pouted. “Now I want brownies.” Everyone laughed before Harry continued his anecdote. “Anyways,” the scientist ran his tongue over his lips, “so Ramon was sitting across from me and I had noticed that there was chocolate fudge on his lip. I told him, and yeah…” Harry trailed off. “Uh-uh” Iris shook her head. “That’s not a first kiss story.” “What?” Harry scoffed. “I just—” “You have to describe what happens from Point A to Point B,” Ralph spoke. “Point B being the kiss.” “Fine.” Harry groaned, his face was red as Barry’s suit now. “Go back to the part with the fudge,” Barry teased. Harry’s teeth gently took hold of his bottom lip as he tried to find the right words. “Okay, so the fudge,” he chuckled. “I had grabbed a napkin, and held it out for him, but his attention was completely elsewhere,” he turned to Cisco, “I don’t know what the heck you were doing, but I was waving it and everything, and he just never looked up, so I leaned forward and used my thumb to wipe it off. Being, y’know so close,” he used his hand to gesture how close he was to Cisco’s face, “I saw the chance and I took it,” Harry clapped his hands in accomplishment of telling the story without running away. He sipped his drink once more before returning his unfinished plate into his hands. All the women awed at the stories. “Now that’s a cute first kiss story,” Cecile smiled before finishing her meal. “I think that’s the cutest first kiss story here,” Caitlin said looking around, Iris nodded in agreement. “What?” Barry asked. “You don’t think our first kiss-” “Barry, you erased that timeline.” Cisco butted in. The speedster wanted to keep his mouth shut, but still managed to say “I still think ours was the cutest,” he muttered. “If you say so,” Iris said, patting Barry’s shoulder.

For the first time in years, S.T.A.R Labs had a peaceful night. There weren’t any metas to chase tonight, no one randomly breaking into S.T.A.R. Labs. It was just chatter and joy. Joe and Cecile had decided to retire for the day, taking Baby Jenna along with them, leaving Harry as the designated meta-babysitter. He leaned back against the couch, his arm placed upon the backrest, which left a cavity to his torso which was soon filled by Cisco's body. He invited the pressure and warmth the younger's body provided. Harry looked at Cisco’s cards then back to the deck when Barry put down his card. "Uno dare #5" Cisco read aloud then leaned forward to read the dare card, “flip the table...” “Finally,” a wide grin plastered itself along the speedster’s face. He quickly grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it over. “Good job, Allen,” Harry said looking at the mess. “Now clean it up,” Barry rolled his eyes, but did as told. His golden lightning zoomed around until everything was put back into place. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay,” Barry stretched. “Same,” Iris stood up and made her way over to Barry. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna go too." Caitlin added. "What? You're all just gonna leave?" Cisco asked. The three exchanged looks before nodding. "Yeah," they said in unison. "Add me to that too," Ralph took off his jacket. "Ope, there's another one." Harry commented before sitting up straight. "Y'all are no fun." Cisco pouted. "We'll play tomorrow," Barry said, wrapping his arm around Iris. Cisco held his pout as he watched them exit. Harry tapped the meta's shoulder. "You coming to bed?" he asked, lifting himself up from the couch. "I'll be there in a bit," Cisco responded. "I have something I want to work on," he said. "Oh?" Harry raised a brow. "Mind if I join?" "I don't mind at all," Cisco smiled.

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genericghouligan-blog · 6 years ago

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“The Haunting of Howland House”

Gen, 1558 words, demon Shane, some violence

In Shane’s defense, he’s pretty sure he would be a skeptic if he were human.

In Shane’s defense, he’s pretty sure he would be a skeptic if he were human. Actually, he still is a skeptic. Half of the crap Ryan says to him is just absolute nonsense. Especially when it comes to the paranormal.

And it’s not like he’s omniscient. He is skeptical of everything he can’t confirm empirically, even though admittedly, as a demon, he has a few extra senses and several extra centuries to gather empirical data about the existence of certain things. So it’s not an act.

“For the last time. Ryan. There’s no such thing as demons,” Shane says.

Okay, so it is kind of an act.

But the fact is, the demons Ryan is so scared of? The ghosts that he describes? They don’t match up with what Shane’s seen.

And for the record? The fans aren’t on to him. He didn’t start the rumors and jokes, but he also didn’t let them simmer away and disappear. It’s like that one post he saw, screencapped from Tumblr on some other social media site, or maybe sent to him by a friend, about how Bruce Wayne being Batman is a joke Bruce helped encourage.

The fans aren’t on to him, but they know, but they don’t really know. Some of them might even truly suspect. But there’s an infinite capacity to ignore the truth that isn’t actually unique to humans.

“Get out of here,” he tells the ghost, who is sitting at the piano, unaware of the gaping hole in the side of her head, marring her once-pretty face. “Don’t you know you’re dead, you stupid human?”

She keeps playing, gazing at sheet music that isn’t there, her fingers moving slowly, but not inexpertly, across the ivory keys. She stops almost through the piece and starts back over.

It’s when the song is just picking up a little from the first soft notes of the piece that Ryan comes flying down the hallway, and bursts out - “did you hear that?”

Shane turns away from the piano.

“Hear what?”

“Music!” Ryan says.

“Oh,” says Shane, “I was playing a little tune. I turned off my mic. Sorry, buddy, I didn’t think you’d be able to hear.”

Ryan sighs. “You asshole, you scared the crap out of me!” Then, “I didn’t know you could play.”

“Oh, I mean, who doesn’t know a little piano?” He says.

“Now you have to play something, or the viewers will be pissed.”

Shane scoffs. They’re on YouTube, the viewers are always pissed. Above all things uniquely human, all things demons could never in a million years come close to, it’s the raw viciousness of a YouTube comment section. No amount of primordial, ethically neutral chaos beings could ever sow as much mayhem as a single internet troll.

“You owe me for giving me a heart attack. Besides, it’ll prove you actually have some talents. And,” he declares, “if you don’t play something I’ll say it was a ghost and you’re just lying cos you don’t want to admit you heard it.”

The woman’s spirit isn’t playing right now, hasn’t been since Ryan came running in. She’s standing by the window, the one that the stray bullet had struck her through.

Shane doesn’t know how to play the piano. Not really. But he’d watched her play the notes over and over.

He sits down, grumbling under his breath about only doing this for the Boogaras who’d be embarrassed by Ryan’s underhanded tactics, and poises his hands over the keys.

“I don’t even know what song I was playing,” Shane says, “it was just sort of automatic.”

“Now I’m starting to think you played creepy piano music on your phone, you big faker,” Ryan goads him on.

“I was playing,” he insists. Draws on Maggie’s memories, the faint imprint of her soul and the lingering buzzing of energy where her fingers had touched the keys.

And he plays.

Maggie’s spirit becomes more opaque, but blurred around the edges, like smudged chalk, the longer he plays.

“This doesn’t sound like a bit of piano,” Ryan says.

Shane doesn’t stop playing, can’t stop playing, because he thinks he gets it now. “Shouldn’t have challenged me if you didn’t want to see something awesome, baby!” He says.

Ryan edges closer. “Dude, where did you learn to play piano?”

“Music is just math,” he says.

“And you said you didn’t remember the piece.”

“I don’t remember what it’s called, and yeah, I was on autopilot before. Now you’ve summoned up the demon of musical talent.”

“Yeah, yeah. You can stop showing off.”

“Nah,” says Shane, “I’ve got to finish the piece.”

“How long is it? We don’t have all night.”

“Oh, but we have time for like fifteen minutes with your stupid spirit box,” Shane says. “It’s a few minutes.”

Maggie’s got color to her now, even though she looks like ink on paper that got wet. Like someone has dragged the satuaration from 0 and back towards normal.

She sits beside him on the bench, movements jerky, like film skipping a frame.

Ryan is quiet.

He approaches the end, and when he hits the first note she never reached, longer and lower than the previous, she stands - steps to the window - brushes aside the curtains to look outside -

She looks like a living person, briefly, so briefly, out of the corner of Shane’s eye.

And then the bullet flies through her skull as he hits the last note, and this time her ghost bleeds, instead of wandering with an exit wound unnoticed.

She bleeds. The note lingers. Maggie falls. Down. Down, through the floorboards, her spirit finally going through the motions her body had.

Finally understanding.

Shane springs up from the piano bench. Hams it up for Ryan, bowing and crowing over having untold hidden talents.

“Hidden talent at being a real dick,” says Ryan.

The banter makes it easier to ignore the sudden emptiness of the house.

One of Ryan’s Post Mortem picks suggests Shane was possessed by a ghost, explaining his sudden piano talent. The fan even points out that the piece - John Field’s Nocturne No. 5 - would have been a contemporary one for Maggie Howland.

It’s tagged #TheTruthIsOutThere and #Boogara.

Shane throws up his hands. “I show any talent and suddenly I’m clearly possessed by a ghost?”

“It does make more sense than you actually having talent,” Ryan says, and Shane mugs an affronted look.

“But actually, I’m gonna have to agree with you here - ”

“Shaniacs, note the date and time, Ryan ‘Deliberately Contrary’ Bergara - ”

“I’m deliberately contrary? Me? You invented deliberately contrary, you contrary asshole.”

“You were about to agree with me, don’t stop on my account.”

“No, I’m not gonna say it now.”

“If you don’t say it I’m going to assume that you were going to say 'you’re right, Shane, ghosts are bullshit’.”

“I wasn’t - all right, fine, I’ll say what I was going to say.”

“All right, let’s hear it.”

“You sure? You ready for this?”

“Let’s hear it, come on, Bergara, we don’t have all day!”

Ryan shoots him a sly glance. “All right, but remember you specifically asked for this.”

“Stop dicking around and say what it is.”

“I was going to say, you’re right, it probably isn’t ghost possession because - ”

“Because ghosts aren’t real?”

“No, shut up, it’s because ghosts can’t possess someone who’s already possessed by a demon.”

“I - ” he laughs, “is that how it works?”

“What do you mean, is that how it works? How is a ghost going to possess someone already occupied by a demon?”

“I just figured it was a clown car situation.”

Ryan wheezes. The fans are gonna love this.

“A clown - no, it’s not a clown car situation!”

“So they can share real estate in a house, bunch of demons and ghosts chilling out, but in people - ”

“People aren’t houses - it’s single occupancy!”

“Single occupancy,” Shane repeats.

“I hate you,” Ryan mutters, then raises his voice, “The point is - Shane really does know how to play piano.”

“I do! I do. Not to brag, but. I can hammer out a tune or two.”

“So far I’ve seen you play exactly one tune.”

“I said one or two.”

“Not exactly staggering me with those hidden skills, buddy.”

So, the fans aren’t onto him, but it is common knowledge.

Humanity’s relationship with truth will never cease to fascinate him.

That’s the whole catch with these ghosts, isn’t it? They just can’t wrap their heads around their own mortality. Sometimes it’s just so sudden and senseless, like Maggie Howland and a stray bullet.

He’s - maybe immortal? - so this is one of those human things that he’s stuck watching from the outside. How life can just be snatched away in an instant, leaving a decaying body and an echo of their last moments born of the refusal to accept reality.

And the fans dance with the truth, or a version of it - he doesn’t know Satan, he doesn’t have wings or horns or a tail, unless he’s making the effort - but can’t quite accept it, until it’s just a joke.

And Ryan can chase the truth, and believe so wholeheartedly in things that do sort-of exist, without ever really reaching an understanding.

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