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Post by beastly on Oct 30, 2023 22:27:34 GMT -6
Jonny's gaze fell on the little red creature. The imp was dressed in a dolls t-shirt, or maybe it was a small baby's, and had a little golden necklace sticking out slightly with what the ghost thought was writing. Vincent and the doctor had apparently gone to some trouble to indulge what he wanted. So, they must've cared a lot about the little fella. Jonny wasn't one for pets really. It seemed maybe like Cinnamon was more than that. They were treating the little devil like a child almost, taking him out to go collect candy with children. Huh.
"It's got a charm," the ghost said with a nod at a cute cut out of a vintage looking pumpkin, " It's, uh, bats?"
" Halloween bats," Cinnamon interjected, looking from the ghost to Malakhi, "They fly!"
"Right." Vincent reached over and pet behind Cinnamon's large ears.
Jonny watched the interaction with a look of mild puzzlement before answering Malakhi. There was a beat as he thought about his answer. He didn't really want to go into the 'how' he was here. Or why.
"I'm here now, staying," he considered Vincent, a smile spreading on his face again, "He's from Chicago, Carolina and David moved out there when his ma was born, right, Vince?"
"My Grandparents came from New York," Vincent clarified for Malakhi and gave a nod, the ghost seemed pleased that he had the correct version of events, then kept talking.
"Most of the family's still in New York City, see, some of 'em followed Carolina. I'm from New York, that's what you're hearing."
He looked at the imp, who had skittered over to stare up at him.
"Sooo. Is Cinnamon your child... Familiar...Pet...?"
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Post by jarahamee on Oct 31, 2023 2:56:14 GMT -6
Malakhi mapped the locations of the family in his brain, his gaze moving towards the ceiling.
Ah, Ellis Island, New York. The family had immigrated this way a hundred years ago or more. This was how many people immigrated through the United States at that time. Then, from New York, seventy years ago, they then spread themselves throughout the country. Moving to Chicago where Vincent had come from. Then Vincent had come here, to be with him.
The New York ghost had come to Wathais, and now was here as a resident. That meant that he might become a relative that they would have to consider long-term when they made arrangements. Even if that relative did happen to already be dead.
“You are a resident here. I know you are a ghost, but is there somewhere you are…staying?”
He squeezed Vincent’s hand idly, then returned to the present as the ghost asked him a question about Cinnamon. What exactly was Cinnamon to him? He supposed the little imp was all of those things in some ways, but nothing really matched exactly what he was.
Malakhi’s eyes traveled back to Mr. Angello.
“Cinnamon is my familiar, but we consider him a member of the family. He has the intellectual ability of a five year old child, and helps me perform my magic. He also has a new Ring of Transformation which will allow him to become a proper child if necessary.”
He reached out idly to pet Cinnamon’s head.
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Post by beastly on Nov 4, 2023 17:52:23 GMT -6
"I'm not haunting any buildings, if that's what you're asking, doc," Jonny held out a hand to Cinnamon, as if letting the little creature sniff him like a dog or cat, "I don't sleep or eat, see. Walk all night."
Jonny didn't care for animals, but according to Malakhi this was also his child. He didn't quite see it, he very clearly looked like a cat. He could see the light demonic and fae energy radiating off of him, so he wasn't stupid like a regular cat. Jonny resolved to pretend like this was a regular human child to humor the two.
Cinnamon looked at the ghost's hand, and gave him a high five, which made the ghost smile in surprise.
Vincent squeezed Malakhi's hand back, trying to drum up small talk.
"I he's wonderful."
"I see."
"Have you been here long?"
"A few months? I'm not good at time. Sorry it took me a while to find you, pal."
Perhaps if he'd been around sooner, he could've prevented whatever attack had happened.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 4, 2023 19:27:26 GMT -6
Malakhi shook his head. That wasn’t exactly what he was asking. Didn’t ghosts usually center around something? A place, or maybe a person? Maybe the person was Vincent now, but who was it before? And why was it Vincent now?
“No, it was not that. I don’t know a lot about ghosts, but I assumed they usually are centered around… a person, or object or place. I don’t know if that qualifies as a home, but it is the closest I could imagine. So…you…are a homeless ghost?”
Were all ghosts homeless if that was the case? He imagined not the ones that chose to haunt houses. That would make it their houses, wouldn’t it? Or did they just choose what they wanted to haunt?
He rose from the couch to get a pad of paper and pencil, temporarily abandoning his partner to the whims of their new ghost guest.
Dr. Dziban returned and placed the paper in front of Cinnamon, pressing the pencil into the imp’s little hand. He smiled slightly, and nodded at the blank sheet in front of them.
“Now, show your uncle what you can do, little fellow.”
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Post by beastly on Nov 4, 2023 22:46:56 GMT -6
Jonny stared at Malakhi, then folded his arms and leaned back, floating about an inch off the couch. The truth wouldn't do, so he'd need to come up with something quick. The gears spun in his head, producing an answer. 'Homeless Ghost' sounded... Bad. He didn't like that idea, it made him sadder than he needed to be. His dead heart ached for a place he wasn't. So. He'd lie!
"You're not wrong, but I'm a wandering ghost, I don't have any of that. I go where I want. I like to keep an eye on the family."
The ghost tapped his head conspiratorially.
"Ghost stuff."
Vincent blinked at Malakhi as he stood up, leaving him with his slightly floating uncle. He forced an awkward smile.
"You work with your, eh," Jonny pulled out his lighter, flipping the lid open and closed, "Partner, right?"
"Yes, uncle."
"Swell."
When Malakhi returned with paper, the imp practically lit up. He had an UNCLE now. And he could show the floaty uncle man that he was a really good artist, and very cool. He was the best at art, like Malakhi.
"Okay! Uncle, I'm creative."
The little imp took the pencil and made a show of drawing REALLY big circles. Then, he added dots for eyes, and more lines for smiles. NOW. The IMPORTANT PART. HAIR. Cinnamon stuck his tongue out in concentration, adding wiggly lines for Malakhi, and short straight lines for Vincent. He got ears, of course, and his horns...
The imp glanced up at Jonny, then back at his paper and scribbled really fast. When he held it up, he had drawn the four of them.
"I'm artistlick."
The ghost couldn't help the smile on his face as he observed the scribbling. Okay. Okay, the imp was kind of like a kid.
"Is that us?"
"Yeah! You love it? It's the best?"
"Yeah, nifty, kid."
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 5, 2023 0:24:19 GMT -6
Malakhi smiled subtly, an actual, genuine smile as he watched the three of them interacting. While he would never consider himself an expert in social spheres, he was beginning to expand his skills and better understand their complexity.
So, Mr. Angello just needed to see that Cinnamon was more like a child to understand why they valued him. That was easy enough to demonstrate. In fact, he had done a good job already, or at least Malakhi thought so.
He picked up the drawing and turned it carefully.
“I think that’s a new one for the fridge. We’ll have to retire some of the others.”
Dr. Dziban then walked over to the kitchen and switched out the drawing, placing a magnet over the new one. A ghost, his imp, and Vincent. What a strange little family they were.
He spent a moment looking for his sketchbook, then returned to the couch. He supposed if Mr. Angello was going to help them, he could show him his sketches of this “Kail” creature, and perhaps, sketch Mr. Angello for his collection.
Malakhi sat cross-legged next to Vincent, and opened the large book, flipping to one of the last few pages, before turning it over to show the ghost.
Within was a compilation of sketches, rendered in loving, yet horrible detail, depicting the emaciated youth in both his strange quadruped form, and his humanoid one. His body appeared withered with long, blackened fingers and hollow, cruel stare.
“This, this was our attacker. There are some proper photos taken too. He was careless and was on camera around our building’s security system.”
He then flipped the page a few times, and came to a set of blank ones.
“If you permit, I can draw you,”
Dr. Dziban offered to Jonny. If Jonny spent more than a moment examining the living-room, he would see various drawings of Cinnamon and Vincent framed about the house.
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Post by beastly on Nov 7, 2023 20:04:38 GMT -6
"We put my art on the fridge, and then the old arts goes away." Cinnamon scampered to climb onto the ghost's knee, chattering about his art, and how he was the best artist ever and very creative and smart. He would occasionally ask Vincent to verify he was telling the truth, and Vincent would, regardless of if what Cinnamon was saying was true or not. Jonny found it mildly charming, and very carefully gave the little creature on the head. The behavior matched up with a child's, it was just like when his nephews or nieces would talk to him about their interests, when they were young enough not to be concerned about the ghost of their uncle visiting them. When Malakhi returned to show the man Jonny was to keep an eye out for and kill, the ghost's eyes narrowed. He didn't recognize the creature's species, he made some guesses though. Potentially something undead. You could absolutely kill something undead, you just had to figure out how to do that. There was always a weakness. He stared at the monster, then glanced back up at Malakhi. "You draw well. ...Scrawny bastard, ain't he?" Jonny rubbed his chin, looking back at the picture of the monster and then up at Malakhi. "Draw me? You'd wanna?" The ghost adjusted his tie, preening a little despite knowing he'd looked the same way for years. Handsome, if increasingly outdated. Malakhi had quite a bit of skill, and he liked the idea of being drawn. ...He reflected, and the number of drawings of Vincent scattered around the house now made sense.
"Yes."
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 8, 2023 0:57:15 GMT -6
Malakhi’s gaze drifted up from his book to bore into Jonny’s, straight-faced. He crossed one leg over the other, and leaned back into the sofa, folding the sketchbook in his lap closed for a moment.
“I draw my own medical illustrations and diagrams for my books.”
He looked down at the sketchbook, thumbing to a blank page, briefly flipping through some drawings that were clearly disembodied anatomical structures from work, and some that were clearly Vincent, drawn with a loving hand. A few would have verged on being scandalous, but Malakhi did not pause on them, or act with any kind of embarrassment.
“Thin, but strong. He has the stolen life force of many within him. I could feel it.”
Malakhi refrained from saying he felt it when he went to feed on the horrid creature, giving him a taste of his own medicine.
Instead, he carefully turned the page to a blank one, settling with his pencil in hand;
“Alright.”
He drafted a very basic sketch of the ghost and his features, rendering the barest outline of his physical body first, then sketching the clothing over it. Within a few minutes, he had a decent, if sketchy, resemblance down.
“If it is to your liking, I can finish detailing it later.”
The surgeon then placed a hand on Vincent’s arm before addressing the ghost,
“I… assume you would like to catch up with your nephew. Are there other times you may want to come and speak? I understand it has been a long time, and a lot has happened.”
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Post by beastly on Nov 16, 2023 21:37:04 GMT -6
Jonny peered over at the book as Malakhi flipped through it. That was talent- Vincent had found himself a doctor and an artist. He glanced over at a picture of Vincent and Cinnamon in the corner. They had a home together, this wasn't like one of his nieces and some boyfriend he needed to scare. He'd started the conversation with the guy trying to frighten him, but clearly that wasn't needed here. They almost seemed married.
"Bullet or two in the head is a good place to start," Jonny suggested as casually as one would speak about fixing a leaky sink, reaching over and petting the imp.
Vincent picked at his sleeve.
Jonny watched with interest as Malakhi drew, curious. It was him! It looked very good. A little skritchy, but detailing probably meant it was gonna get less skritchy.
"You did a fine job. I like it."
Vincent glanced between the two of them. He'd have to tell Malakhi that he'd never actually met the ghost when he was alive. Meeting the ghost another time after he'd had time to prepare seemed... like a good idea to Vincent.
Jonny nodded in agreement with Malakhi.
"Yes. Was this a bad time? I can come around in the evening, just can't stay late, see."
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 17, 2023 3:52:15 GMT -6
“Thank you,” Malakhi replied, continuing to work. He firmed up lines and erased the guides under what he had, moving with a speed that one would expect from a professional.
Malakhi did not flinch when the ghost mentioned bullets to the head, though, perhaps unconsciously, his eyes searched for signs of either holes or exit wounds. Whether he found them or not, his mouth firmed into a harder line, and he closed the sketchbook carefully with apparent satisfaction, folding his arms on top of it.
He glanced at Vincent, and realized his partner’s discomfort had increased. He probably would not be able to manage much more of a conversation today, but perhaps talking to his therapist and arranging his thoughts before the next meeting might help.
The surgeon inclined his head.
“Not a bad time, but… we were about to make dinner and get ready for the evening. You are welcome to stay for our dinner if you would like, but we are usually…busy after that.”
While his voice did not change in tone or inflection, Malakhi was not sure if he wanted to explain their evening rituals to Vincent’s uncle.
“I think with some planning… we can make a meeting more comfortable. Perhaps… a few days from now? Around the same time? I know you cannot eat, but you are welcome to sit with us.”
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Post by beastly on Nov 20, 2023 21:08:30 GMT -6
The ghost stared at Vincent for a moment, studying his nephew's scarred face, Vincent glancing away, before shrugging. Even he wasn't so dense he couldn't pick up on Vincent's nerves. Poor kid, Jonny did remember now that he'd seemed to be a shy little thing as a child.
"Yeah, I have to go do ghost things soon, anyway," Jonny lied, " I can come back in a few days, same time."
The ghost stood, standing an inch off the ground.
Vincent visibly relaxed, and found his voice.
"Thank you, um. Uncle Jonny," He stood up as if to walk the spirit to the door, "It, er. I-it's nice to see family."
"Absolutely, Vince," the ghost gave Vincent a pat on the back and looked back at Cinnamon and Malakhi. Strange magical people in his nephew's life. He'd have to ask how Vincent found himself involved in the world beyond the surface. It was weird, but he liked that one of his nephews wasn't absolutely terrified to be talking to a ghost.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 20, 2023 21:25:03 GMT -6
"Then it is a date, as they say." Malakhi said simply, walking the ghost to the door as if he had been any ordinary relative, and not a malignant spirit from beyond the grave, picking up his cane from the side of the couch and using it to help him rise.
He glanced back at Vincent briefly, noting his obvious anxiety. The surprise visit was a lot to foist on him, and he was a man of ritual after all. This had set back dinner, and probably cut into their time a little, but it was nothing that either of them couldn't handle. He'd just do some of his work later.
The surgeon did not hesitate as he ushered the ghost outside, keeping careful time with the lonely and talkative spirit.
Before too long, 'Uncle Jonny' was gone to do...ghost stuff, whatever that meant.
Malakhi stood in the empty doorway, rotating the cane in his hand as he closed the door behind them. Their little family would have to make accommodations. They had nothing but time. FIN
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