Work Text:
Swish, swish, swish.
The dry weather of October made sweeping the paths of the cemetery quick and effortless, leaves neatly piling on either side of the stones. It was easy to say that this was Kwan’s favorite time of the year.
Kwan had been working at Wunder’s Cemetery since the summer of the previous year, and while he doubted its legality, he appreciated the gig. Aman, the cemetery’s owner, had been having a hard time finding anyone willing to work at a cemetery, and Kwan had been desperate to find a job that paid better than the local sandwich shop. After a brief interview, Kwan was hired on the spot. He had been assured that, despite various rumours, the cemetery was not haunted, not insanely dangerous, and that he would not be consumed by the ‘creatures of the pond.’ Kwan was curious as to where that last rumour had originated from.
Despite all these reassurances, however, Kwan was still rather spooked when he found a boy, lying unconscious on an unclaimed plot. The boy looked like he had crawled out of the grave beside him; his skin was a pale, unhealthy pallor and he was unnaturally still. As Kwan looked closer, he realised that the boy wasn’t breathing.
Dropping his broom, Kwan rushed over and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, gently shaking him back and forth.
“Hey, you, err..” Kwan fumbled, not knowing what to call him. Sir? But that feels to formal, he’s probably my age. Boy? Ew, weird creep vibes. Kwan just decided to avoid having to call him by anything. “Are you okay?”
When the boy didn’t respond, Kwan shook him again.
“Hey! You’re really worrying me, can you let me know that you’re, um, alive?”
To Kwan’s relief, the boy moved—though at first he thought it was just a trick of the light—and sluggishly brought a hand to his eyes, rubbing them as he sat up.
“Jeez, you guys know I can’t die, why couldn’t you just let me slee…” the boy trailed off as he opened his eyes, seeing Kwan, who, presumably, was not who he expected. “Who’re you?” he yelped, scrambling back and kicking Kwan’s jaw in the process.
“Agh-” Kwan held his suddenly throbbing jaw and jumped up, hoping to avoid any further injury. “What the heck, dude.”
The boy’s eyes widened cartoonishly and he gasped as though he had committed an act of unspeakable horror. “Oh Ancients I am so, so sorry, I swear I didn’t mean to kick you- I was just- I… thought you were someone else,” he finished lamely, looking for all the world like a kitten left out in the rain.
“Well, I don’t envy them,” Kwan chuckled, sitting back down. “What did they do to you?”
“Put milk before cereal,” the boy responded immediately.
After a brief moment of consideration, Kwan nodded in agreement.
After a moment of silence, the boy stiffened. His body was drawn with tension and he looked as though he would fly off if Kwan so much as moved. Metaphorically, anyway. People can’t fly.
After nearly a full minute of awkward, tense stillness with almost no movement from the boy in front of him, Kwan decided that he couldn’t take it anymore. “Well, I’m sorry for bothering you, I’ll be around the cemetery, cleaning, if you ever need me or want to chat.” He turned on his heel, ready to leave, only to stop as he heard a voice call out.
“W-wait!” Kwan turned partially, twisting his head around to look back at the boy. “You can stay. I, uh, I got a bit surprised by you, is all… The people who usually come by here can’t see me, so I wasn’t expecting anyone to, like, talk to me, you know?” the boy (who Kwan really needed to find a better name for) explained.
“Why can’t they see you? Are you a spooky ghost, invisible to mere mortals?” Kwan teased, wiggling his fingers in a playfully spooky manner.
“Uh, actually… maybe?” the boy winced, shrugging his shoulders.
“You’re kidding.” Kwan really, really hoped he was kidding.
“Not really.”
Kwan looked at the boy, looked at the ground, then at him again. “You’re a ghost?” he squeaked, rather mouse-like. Without waiting for a response Kwan leaned back and lay down, putting a hand over his eyes.
“I’m sorry?” the boy offered hesitantly.
Kwan gave an incoherent sigh in response. Bracing himself, he sat up and leaned back on his hands. “Y’re fine…”
“So!” Kwan abruptly began, unable to bear the awkward tension. “What’s your name?”
“Huh?”
“Well, I’ve got to call you something.”
“I guess, yeah… I’m Danny. What should I call you?”
“Kwan. Wait, should I have told you that? Is this, like, fae rules?” Kwan’s face was as white as a ghost’s (ha!) and he could feel himself getting lightheaded.
“What? No, no, the fair folk are entirely different from ghosts, though we’re usually chill with them.”
“Chill?!”
“We’re getting off topic!” Danny interjected tiredly. “Let’s get back to what you were doing in a graveyard at…” he paused, looking absently at his wrist before turning back to Kwan. “Some time very late at night.”
“I have a job here, what were you doing here?”
“I’m a ghost, dude. It comes with the territory.”
With Danny’s quite literally deadpan stare boring holes into Kwan’s skull, he had to admit that the question was pretty stupid.
“You mentioned that you come here every evening for your job, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Do… Do you mind if I hang out with you? During your shift?”
Kwan didn’t know whether to be excited or terrified; one one hand, a super cool ghost boy wanted to be friends with him! On the other, a super powerful ghost boy wanted to be friends with him.
“Sure!”
What’s the worst that could happen?