Starter for @talkdeath !
At one point, Uriel would have laughed at the prospect that wandering ghosts were a real thing and that they were more common than one would think. He’d always been raised, despite his southern religious beliefs, that ghosts were not real, they were simply a ploy for better marketing around Halloween. Those were his fathers words, of course, and he had believed him for the entire twenty-some odd years of his life.
It wasn’t until Uriel had become one of these things he thought were myths prior that he had been forced to come to the cruel reality of what life- and unlife- was truly about. So many spirits, so many vacant souls, dead and forced to wander until the end of times. For the most part, Uriel tried to ignore the others unless it was absolutely necessary. They were trapped on earth less they can redeem themselves somehow in this odd afterlife and ascend to the heavens above. That’s what he believed, anyways. There had to be a way out of this. Right?
What a lonely existence. Yet here he was among them. He had died barely a month ago, he remembered that much clear as day though the details around it were sketchy and unclear. Until he had a more solid recollection, Uriel could merely roam the streets of the city, hoping something could help him out. One evening, he happened to pass by some apartment complex, he was sure he’d circled this way about five times now much to the ghosts annoyance, before something had caught his eye in a windowsill somewhere above him.
Looking up, he spotted two cats lounging in the fading light of the sun on one of the apartments upper floors. Uriel smiled fondly at them, a memory surfacing of when his own cat had done the same, wagging her striped tail to and fro as she chattered at any bird that dared come close enough. Longing for the soft feeling of fur beneath his palms again, Uriel had the overwhelming desire to pet them.
A perk of being a ghost was he was invisible to humans, their ignorance towards the veil of the spirit world shielding him so he was left unbothered to do this mission. With ease, he had managed to slip into the apartment building, his incorporeal form allowing him to easily pass through doors and walls. Through rows and floors of apartments, he had finally come to the door of what he suspected was the one housing the cats. Uriel had been correct as passing through the door, he was met with not just the two- but a number of cats!
He let out the faintest of squeals as he gazed at the felines before sitting where there was a good nestle of cats. He was disappointed at finding that he could not physically pet them, his hands going straight through their bodies. He frowned at the realization though as an idea popped into his head, he could at least pretend. Hovering his hand just above the nearest cats head, barely just above the point where he would begin to phase through the animal, he made a motion as if he were rubbing between its ears.
Uriel wondered if perhaps the cat somehow felt the contact, or merely coincidence, as it had closed its eyes and began to purr, making his heart swell in joy; if he even still had one. With a wide grin, he reached out with his other hand to “pet” another. In this moment, everything felt alright again.
