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John Doe glances over to Spirit, who hums to themself quietly. They laze atop a small, puffy cloud of their own manifestation. Their head rests over their green, ghastly arms—lying on their stomach, and they appear to be dozing off. John slowly scoots towards them, trying to go unnoticed.
Unfortunately for him, Spirit quickly notices. They smile their usual charming smile, the mask they always wear around John. Unknowingly to him, of course. He assumes it can be nothing but genuine!
“John. What is it?”
He looks around, at a loss. He just wants to be around them, really.
“Uh. I don’t know,” he shrugs, already feeling Spirit’s nonchalant gaze piercing through him.
Spirit tilts their head, amused by John’s lack of an idea. Usually he can come up with something. They scratch their chin, wondering what they could do to play around with his brisk answer.
“Nothing? Just here to take up space?” They lightheartedly tease, “we’re technically in my home. I’d hope you have some sort of reason.”
“Ah, well. You know what I mean,” John sputters, rubbing the back of his neck.
Spirit slowly rises from their fluffy resting spot, crossing their legs as they turn to face John.
“Haha. Whatever you say.”
John chuckles awkwardly, wanting to laugh as well. It’s not funny, he just wants to appear engaged. Maybe it would impress Spirit.
Spirit leaps down from the cloud, clapping their hands for dramatic effect as it quickly disappears. It’s not like they “control” it with their hands, they just like to appear that way. They walk closer to John, arms crossed behind their back now.
“I’m sure we can find something to do,” they hum, voice suave and low.
“Oh…! Yeah!” John shrinks back a little, trying and failing to save face. He thinks it’s not, but his feelings are rather obvious when his holographic skin increasingly begins to flicker.
“It’s rather bleak here, really. A foggy place full of clouds and broken, old architecture,” They begin walking, but quickly choose to float instead. John eagerly follows them.
“It’s kind of nice, I think,” he gestures towards some shattered, ornate columns. “It looks cool.”
Spirit shrugs.
“I’ve been here for a while. The charm wears off,” they lean a little closer to John, “We’re burning daylight, now. Have you decided?”
“Oh, on what we’re doing? I don’t know, I guess we’re just hanging out, dude—“ John is snapped out of his sight fluster by Spirit’s quick reply.
“Don’t call me that.”
John freezes.
“Right.”
A momentary silence follows, mostly out of John’s guilt. He needs to be cool. This is not helping. He’s a tough guy! A hacker! A myth, even! Yeah.
The quiet drags on.
Spirit hums quietly to themself again, staring at the dull grey sky. An omnipresent blanket of clouds smother any amount of sunlight. They slowly descend the desolate cliff the ghost resides on top of, the occasional cold wind causing the edges of Spirit’s tattered cloak to blow around dramatically.
Spirit edges even closer to their acquaintance, smile widening. They’re practically hovering over John at this point.
“…How about now? Got anything?”
John stiffens at the newfound proximity. He tries to convince himself he doesn’t care, but it’s like Spirit knows just how to get to him. It’s something about them. Their voice, their gestures, their smile. It’s all hard-wired to drive him crazy. It’s not like he doesn’t think Spirit is great, it’s just they’re totally ruining his cool guy persona.
“Well?”
“Oh. Right. Uhh, well, we could… walk… around? Just hang out?” He mutters, a sudden warmness overwhelming his face.
Spirit laughs softly.
“Sure,” they coo. “We can just hang out.”
DUDE.
John immediately looks away. He cannot get caught like this. It happens every time. He can practically feel the chill from Spirit’s body over his shoulder.
“You’re kind of…” John bites his tongue, “um, you know.”
Spirit leans back.
“I must’ve forgotten. It’s my mistake,” they hum.
John waves an arm in front of his face.
“It’s… uh, well, it’s fine.”
John pulls his hands close to his body, crossing his arms. He straightens himself out, sighing. Okay. Crisis averted. He’s got this.
The two continue their walk in relative silence, passing by withered artifacts and through thick fog. It continuously grows colder as they walk, and John only clutches his arms tighter. The wind only picks up, too. John is convinced they’re entering some sort of storm. Do they even get storms here? In this… white wasteland? Small clouds of dust pass beneath them despite neither of them truly touching the ground.
This place looks endless.
“Maybe we’ll see Comm out here in these barren wastes,” Spirit mumbles.
“Comm?” John looks over.
“A friend of mine. He’s…” they gesture with their hand, “a bit eccentric. However you will describe it. You’d probably dislike him.”
“Huh. Really?” John perks up.
He pauses in thought.
“I don’t really like a lot of people anyway. It’s fine.”
Spirit chuckles.
“It’s only best we don’t cross paths, then.”
John nods.
“Comm is a weird name.”
“It’s not their real name. It’s just what I call him. He’s named himself ‘The C0mmunity,’ even though there’s only one of him. It’s some fantasy of his, I assume. To…” they look around, “…grow in popularity?”
“Oh.” John smiles.
Neither of them speak after. John tries his best to ignore the increasing feeling of awkwardness.
…
….
John gives Spirit a brief glance. Spirit pretends to not notice, still staring straight forward.
No way. They’re still so unbothered! Is he not cool enough?
Their walk continues onwards until John suddenly stops.
“Um.”
Spirit pauses, turning around to face John, who continues to speak.
“Uhmmm. Hey. Spirit.”
“Yes?” they blink.
John swallows. This is a terrible idea.
“You… do you think we’re close?”
Spirit draws closer with interest.
“Close?”
“Yeah,” John replies meekly, immediately regretting everything. His posture is stiff and nervous.
Spirit takes a stressful amount of time to answer.
“We’ve been around each other for a while, hm? It implies some sort of relationship.”
John grows increasingly happy, the answer giving him some hope.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Sure,” Spirit shrugs.
John buzzes with excitement. Spirit’s always so straightforward, he’s unsure what they’re implying. It could be any type of relationship. It’s likely nothing, but he’s too riled up to consider it.
“Like what?” He leans forward, one hand on his chin. He gives a big, giddy grin.
Spirit gets an idea.
“Well, in the end, everything is up to a certain interpretation,” they grin, closing the distance between them and John. “Does it matter?”
Their voice is a smooth caress to John’s worries.
John freezes up, face burning brightly. His form grows more abstract the more flustered he becomes. He smiles awkwardly, but his grin immediately drops into a small shocked frown once Spirit smiles.
A new smile he’s never seen before.
The prominent line down their face splits into a vertical, sharp grin.
John completely blanks.
Now entertained and quickly growing bored, Spirit shuts their mouth and swivels around, heading onwards.
“Well, then it’s time we get this walk over with.”
John finally collects himself a few seconds later, rubbing his face and doing a double take. A falling feeling of exhilaration attacks his body.
“…Yeah. Let’s… let’s go.”