last year, I dreamt up a ghost oc for the BBC Ghosts fandom. which was great, except I couldn't figure out what was sadder/funnier: if my oc was a high school student in their final year, or a first year uni student. both had potential to be very sad but also to add a new dynamic to the Ghosts gang and hopefully be somewhat amusing. so, I started writing some scenes for both of them.
turns out, even I couldn't decide which worked better. so I thought 'what the hell' and kept writing for both.
anyways, since it's Selfish Fic Summer, and this is a super indulgent concept, I thought I'd share some drabbles of my ocs which you can read here. I've called the drabble collection 'Spiriting Gently', after one of Ariel's lines in The Tempest.
I'll try to keep adding to it throughout the next few months, but fair warning: I make no promises lol
other warnings: mentions of death (I mean, they are ghosts, so it's kind of unavoidable)
Fic title: Spiriting Gently | AO3 link- Part 1: Rosie - Cold Open
Warnings: implied death (they are ghosts, after all lol)
A girl wanders up to Button House, gazing up at the huge manor in awe. In the window, Fanny is gazing out at the grounds.
"Who is that?" she says, watching the girl walk across the grass. "Such impudence. Off the lawn! Off the lawn! Alison!"
Alison joins them at the window. "What's wrong now?" she sees the girl in her school uniform, "Oh my god-"
Outside, the girl is ambling up the driveway, still staring up at the house.
"Hello?" She raises her hand to knock on the door, "Anyone h-"
Before she can attempt to knock, the door is opened by Alison, who is a little out of breath from sprinting downstairs to let her in.
"Hi, hello, are you alright? You look a little..." Alison trails off, taking in the dirt-streaked, scuffed up state of the girl's uniform. "Uh, lost."
The girl looks down and notices the state of her clothing. "Oh. Um, yeah. Yeah. I think I am. Could I maybe use your phone? Please? I think I lost mine..."
"Oh my god, yes, of course! Come in!" Alison ushers her inside. "Would you like some water or tea?"
The girl sits down in the armchair next to the phone with a sigh, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Um, no thanks, I'm good."
"Who is that?" Kitty asks.
"Poor mite," Pat says, "She looks dead tired."
"That make sense," Robin pipes up, "Because she-"
"Who'd you let in?" Mike asks as he looks around the room.
The girl regathers her senses and is about to pick up the phone.
"This school kid-" Alison glances at the girl apologetically, "Sorry, I didn't get your name-" she turns back to Mike, who is still scanning the room, "But she's just using our phone, I think her battery died-"
Robin lets out a sharp bark of laughter. Mike stops looking around and focuses on Alison.
"Ally, there's no one by the phone." he says slowly.
Cut to the girl, whose hand goes through the phone.
"Tried to tell you." Robin shrugs.
The girl gapes at the phone. Then at her hand. Then, very slowly:
Warnings: implied death (they are ghosts, after all)
The young woman notices him before he notices her. He's wearing what appears to be a military uniform, but the young woman is still too disoriented to figure out why that's unusual. She sits up and brushes herself off as she watches him go by.
"Hey! Hello? Excuse me, sir!"
He doesn't appear to hear and continues on his run. She swears under her breath and gets up with a groan, examining her ripped tights and muddy jacket sleeves. With a sigh, she jogs after the man.
At Button House, the Captain is making his way back up the driveway. As Alison opens the door to let him in, she notices the young woman following him.
"Two minutes thirty, Cap." she says without looking at her stopwatch. "Morning!"
"Oh, good morning!" the young woman replies, "I'm so sorry to bother you, but would you happen to have a first aid kit? I kind of scratched myself up a bit. Tripped over on my run, I think..."
"Yeah, of course!" Alison notices the gash along the woman's shins and muddied jacket. "Gosh, that looks pretty bad. Please, come in and sit down."
"No, no, I wouldn't want to impose-"
"Please, I insist! At least take the weight off for a bit while I find our first aid kit."
"That's really very kind of you, thank you."
"No problem! Besides, we've got plenty of space," Alison says, ushering her in, "Take a seat wherever and I'll go grab that kit." Alison leaves the room and the woman hears her shout, "Mike! Where's the First Aid Kit?"
The ghosts all turn to look at the woman as she enters the room.
"Hello, who's this?" Julian says, standing up. Fortunately, his bottom half is hidden behind the couch.
She appears to nod in his direction and takes a seat by the window, avoiding all the ghosts' curious stares.
"Did she just... ?" Thomas asks, glancing between her and Julian, who looks just as confused.
The Captain is deep in conversation with Pat about Alison's lax timekeeping abilities and walks past her.
"Oh, excellent pace out there, by the way." she says as he passes.
The Captain makes a noncommittal noise as he continues on. But Pat has stopped and is gaping at her. He looks at the Captain, who spins on his heel to face her.
"I'm sorry," he says, "I'm afraid I must have misheard you. What did you say?"
The woman's eyes dart between Pat and the Captain.
"You set a good pace out there... sir?"
The two ghosts gawk at her. They slowly turn to each other. Then, the room explodes with noise as the ghosts move to congregate around her. To her credit, the woman maintains a polite but perplexed expression, though she appears to shrink a little further into her armchair.
"Sorry about the wait," Alison says, as she re-enters the room. "My husband's just gone to get the kit."
The ghosts all turn to her, talking over each other, with the general message being:
"She can see us!" Pat exclaims.
"No worries. Thank you for letting me in to your lovely home." the young woman says loudly, taking advantage of the ghosts being distracted to sit up.
"Of course, it's no trouble!" Alison says just as loudly, struggling to keep an appropriately neutral expression in the face of the ghosts clamouring around her.
The young woman smiles wryly. "You certainly keep some interesting company." She inclines her head at the ghosts.
"How rude!" Fanny declares as the rest of the ghosts complain alongside her.
Alison gapes at the woman. "Wait. You can see them?"
"They're kind of hard to miss." she chuckles.
"Oh my god," Alison breathes, "Oh my god! Oh my- oh, I'm Alison, by the way."
"Ariel."
Mike enters the room with the first aid kit.
"What did you need the kit for?" he asks as he makes his way over to Alison.
"It's not for me," Alison says, gesturing towards Ariel, "It's for Ariel."
Ariel gives a little wave. Mike looks around, confused.
