Flufftober Day 12 Caught Unawares
Ghost was simply passing through town, minding his own business and ignoring the general populace around him. He wore earbuds often to avoid conversation unless absolutely necessary, but most folks avoided him anyway. Kinda hard to approach a big fella with all black clothes with his hood up and wearing a mask with skull imagery on it. He especially didn't want to be spoken to today, even having put his phone on do not disturb. This day was one of the hardest ones now, his nephew Joey's birthday. Kiddo would've been double digits by now. As he continued walking aimlessly, something managed to catch his attention. He paused to get a better look, and realized he was seeing a dinosaur stuffie. He figured Joey would've loved it dearly. Hell, the kid loved Build-a-Bear almost as much as he did dinosaurs. The more Ghost observed it, the more drawn to the plush he felt. He really wanted to avoid talking to any clerks, but he just couldn't leave without that damn thing.
He walked inside after a moment to gather courage for this latest battlefield. Passing that threshold into the Build-a-Bear store. Patrons around him ushering their children away from him. Ghost was used to it, so it didn't bother him. If anything it was a blessing, less kids asking about his cool mask. He found the plush easily enough, unstuffed as he expected it to be. He knew what gruelling process there'd be to get it stuffed. He just hoped the clerks wouldn't pry too much. Unfortunately that was the thing with clerks in any store like this, they had to interrogate you. Bosses made em do it so they'd always know what you'd want or how to get you to want something more. Ghost had never worked retail in his life, thank fuck, but he knew the game either way.
He made his way over to the clerk slowly, finding himself in line behind someone. A short woman with a rather strange get up. She kind of resembled one of those Pinterest aesthetic girls. Cottagecore clothing that looked like it'd fit right in on some kind of blog. Too conservative for TikTok I think. Not the right body type for Onlyfans either. Besides, her clothes are extremely niche, got those witch vibes. Kind of reminds me of...her. Ghost thought back to that woman, the witch he'd met recently. The medium who somehow helped him talk to little Joey again, let him know that they were all watching him. That they still loved him, didn't blame him for anything. His eyes stung, but he held it back, hated breaking down in public. So he focused on the woman in front of him again. She had a cat stuffie, black as night and quite stereotypical looking given her aesthetic.
The older female clerk at the stuffing station then showed her that tray of hearts, "Here ya go, choose wisely now.", rehearsed words Ghost scoffed at internally.
"Oh I called ahead earlier today, had a little heart of my own to bring.", the woman said before producing a stone carved heart, pink, "Was told I could place this one in, so long as that's still ok."
Fucking called it, Ghost thought to himself, Accent's off too. Not from 'ere. American, southern soundin' like that prick Graves. Not quite the same though, can't quite nail it down.
The clerk looked a bit uneasily at the heart in the witch’s hands but did reply, "Oh yeah, heard my boss mention it this morning. Bit odd but not my place to judge. Though I'd recommend a bag for it, don't want it to get damaged right?"
"Yeah no kidding, brought a nice velvet bag along for it. Figure it might be good extra cushioning you know?", the witch stated happily whilst getting said bag out, a cheap looking drawstring one at that.
Fucking hell.
"That should be fine yeah. Feel free to go ahead and prepare that heart. Get it nice and ready."
Remember the script did you? Typical.
The witch then held the heart to her chest as if she were another child. Stayed like that for a few moments before bringing the stone to her lips. She breathed words onto it, before placing it into the bag at last. The clerk took it gladly before placing it inside the plush and stuffing it up. Ghost have a quiet snort at the awkward positioning of the hole. Already thinking of another shitty joke to throw at Soap later when he next saw him. The clerk in the meantime sewed up the cat, not bothering to ask about the strange ritual of sorts this witch was clearly performing. It was his turn now, and Ghost gulped as he removed one of his earbuds in preparation.
"Ooooh you're a big bloke aren't you?", the clerk suddenly asked awkwardly.
Yeah you're not done with weird yet lady. "Workout.", Ghost told her simply.
"Can tell. Not everyday I see someone like you in here. You a Father?"
"No." Ma'am will you fuck off with this?
"Oh ok...", she said a bit nervously before simply showing him the tray like she'd done for the witch, "Here you are sir."
Ghost then observed the hearts for a while. Joey's favorite colors were green and blue, which made this a tad more difficult than he thought. He grumbled internally at the mild karma he was getting for being a critic over the heart ceremony before now. Suddenly, he found it, the perfect one. He could almost swear Joey was cheering about it in the back of his mind. A heart that clearly was supposed to be for a mermaid or other, but hey it had scales like a dinosaur. It was both green and blue too. He took it up and went to hand it to the clerk alongside the dino stuffie. The old bat then gently patted his hand.
"Hey come on now, surely you got something to give? A word, wish, memory? We don't judge here.", she told him in a sickeningly sweet tone.
Ghost froze for a moment, suddenly made a touch shy. Yet, when he thought more of it, he realized Joey would want him to go through with it, silly as it seemed. Hard as it was going to be for him. So he lifted the heart to his chest and softly spoke to the piece of fabric, "For you Joey, I hope you're having a good birthday. Still miss you, little nipper."
He then heard a sniffle from somewhere, and saw a random mother with her kid behind him. She looked like she was going to start crying. His gaze then snapped to the clerk, who held her own sorrowful look. Swiftly, he handed the heart to her and she stuffed the plush from there. Once it was sewn up, Ghost hurried away towards the little outfit wall.
He went to shove his earbud back in, then heard a familiar voice behind him, "Hey Si, you good?"
Wheeling around, he spotted Soap and immediately began to calm down. He always could feel safer with certain feelings around his favorite Scottish fuck, "Johnny...yeah. Just...got anxious."
"Interesting stuff there. Didnae take you for the type.", Soap told him trying not to chuckle.
Ghost groaned quietly before telling him, "Not for me. I'll explain later."
Suddenly, that witch from before came over to them. She was carrying her own stuffie alongside a plush broom for the cat. As well as a knight armor outfit, which struck him as odd. She then spoke up, suddenly seeming a bit nervous herself, "Hey uhm...this is probably going to sound very weird, but I felt him on this one. Just figured you'd wanna know.", the girl then handed him the knight clothes.
The bloody hell is she giving me these for? And wait...she said him. Said she felt him...she mean Joey? Don't tell me I found another one of these psychics again.
While Ghost was pondering this, Soap couldn't help himself. Daft idiot was always a bit too curious for his own good when off duty, "Ey wee lassie, yer heid's full of mince. Care to explain?"
The woman looked confused at the saying, which caused Ghost to instinctively tell Soap, "English, MacTavish."
"I'm still making more sense than her the noo.", Soap retorted before ultimately caving before restating his question, "Explain what ye meant lass. Ye can't just say stuff like yon and expect it to be forgotten the next minute."
Ghost then added on whilst getting closer to her. Soap wasn't kidding, she really was quite small. Had to be around five foot almost, "What'd you mean when you said you felt him?", he had to be certain at this point. Weirded out as he was, Soap had made certain this wasn't going to be left alone.
She mouthed a little, "Shit.", before glancing around herself and telling them, "Look, I don't entirely feel safe explaining fully here. If you want to know more, maybe we can grab a coffee or something to eat or..."
Ghost raised an eyebrow whilst Soap simply patted her back, "Hey easy lass. We dinnae want to hurt ye. Ye just said weird shit, so we had tae know. Ye been here before or are you just new?"
The witch relaxed a little as she replied, "Came here to meet a mentor of mine. Her familiar passed away recently, so I discussed bringing her a gift. She knows I'm here today, told me to text her when I'm on my way over."
"Familiar?", Soap asked confused before his face suddenly shifted as he had a eureka moment, "Ye witches?"
"Yeah.", the lass told them in a drawn out way, rubbing her neck and looking a bit nervous again.
Ghost nodded and tried his best to sound less intimidating, "Can you look me in the eye and tell me that this outfit is the right one for this stuffie?", he didn't entirely succeed.
Nevertheless the witch did comply with the request and after a moment of silence answered him, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he likes it."
"You hearing Joey say this?", Ghost suddenly asked softly, throwing a now shocked Soap off.
"Uh Simon-", he began to say before the witch spoke up again.
"I am and...I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't mean to cause any grief I just-"
Ghost then interrupted her in turn, "It's fine. I'm...actually glad to know he's here.", his tone was somber now.
Soap and the witch stayed back a ways whilst Ghost went to dress the dino up. Soap could tell he needed to be to himself for a bit, and that their new friend was feeling pretty bad herself too. So he started chatting her up a bit more normally. Trying to get her onto a less dour subject. Taking great care not to reveal anything about Joey or his death, as it wasn't his place. Eventually he figured out the lass was named Faye, that she'd come from Oklahoma, and was there to escape a bad home life. Though she didn't elaborate on that much and Soap didn't pry. Ghost came back not too long after that conversation ended, having since paid for the plush and given it a name certificate for the hell of it. He figured Joey would want to name it anyway. The unlikely trio then began to make the trek to the nearest cafe, with Ghost being caught up to speed on the way. Once there they ordered food and began to wait on it alongside Faye's mentor.
After she finished texting her mentor, she looked at Ghost curiously, "I take it you've met people like me before? Seeing as you knew what questions to ask in the store. Like if I was hearing...Joey, right?"
"Yeah I've met one like you. Sweet bird, got another meeting set up pretty soon now that I'm off duty again. She told me Joey was the most active...so I knew it had to be him."
"That's good at least. Most folks get creeped out by spirits being around them, so I don't always mention it. Wasn't going to say anything to you two either at first, but Joey insisted I do. He really wanted to help out, and loves the dino."
Soap was admittedly as spooked like most people. That said, it was bringing comfort for Ghost, so he'd grin and bear it. Besides, his Ma did always tell him that facing fears and understanding them helps make them go away, "So...is it like in movies? You can see them and all that?"
"Not entirely. It's a little hard to explain I'll admit, but I'll try my best. Basically my mentor can see spirits, have them interact via objects around her, hear them speak to her or speak for them, and can readily use her body as a channel." Faye explained excitedly before looking the tiniest bit down, "Me, I'm nowhere near that level. I can hear spirits and sense them around me, sometimes feel them physically too. Beyond that, I have to meditate in order to actually see them. Never seen objects move but I have had lights flicker around me before."
"Remind me to keep you away from those weegee...whatever you call em."
"Ouija boards? Yeah, even I don't play around with those. Too much room for error or for things to go wrong in general. Some doors are best left closed.", Faye quickly replied.
Ghost huffed a bit at that, "Older brother scared me with one once way back when. Was about ye big at the time, snuck into his room to find it. Used to mess with it when he was bored. Well he caught me with it and started messing with the breakers to scare me."
Soap snorted, "Oh that's evil."
"Straight up mean. You ever get him back?", Faye questioned whilst snickering herself.
"Never thought to no, pretty sure he's probably trying to think up new tactics now though.", Ghost told her before glancing around a bit, "Hear that Tommy? I'm on to you."
The trio then shared a laugh before their fourth person came around at last. Ghost's eyes widened at seeing her. Short curled ginger hair, bright eyes, the same outfit he'd met her in. Faye's mentor, was the exact same woman who had helped him. The same witch and medium who had given him his family back in a way. She smiled warmly at recognizing Ghost, and sat down across from him, next to Faye as well.
"Hello Simon.", she said with the same kindness he knew her for, "Glad to be seeing you again, you look well."
