giving team ghost a worrying rep

[hurtcomfort]

1: telekinetic temper tantrum (open!)
It wasn't fair. He had tried so hard, he had tried to be better, he had tried to be whole, listening to what Rhys said, trying to help, trying to stay Cole. But Rhys left, though it wasn't his fault, and Evangeline left, though it wasn't her fault, and Cole could feel himself becoming less and less every day.

He hated it. And, unknown to him, he's lashing out and reacting because of just how much he hates it.

Cole's sitting in the back of his alleyway drawn up into himself, hiding his face behind his knees as he unintentionally lashes out and reacts via telekinesis. Debris and small trash hang in the air in a way that's downright inhuman. A bin lid flies out of the alleyway at rapid speed, almost hitting some poor cyclist in the head. There's spooky ghost shit going on and there's been spooky ghost shit going on for the past fifteen minutes. Seems nobody's given Cole the Talk about how the supernatural should be kept a little secret.

2: haunted pet store (open!)
Cole has decided he likes rabbits. People keep asking him about things he likes, which is odd because he's never thought about it before. He told Desmond he likes rabbits, so it's official: he likes rabbits. And the pet store just a few blocks or so away from his haunt actually has rabbits and he feels solid enough to leave for a moment or two.

So there's a ghost, just sitting intangible on the floor of the pet shop, looking at some rabbits happily hopping around a little rabbit enclosure. It's nice to watch them hop around. Maybe this is why people had pets to begin with. Occasionally his attention drifts to the cats or the dogs, but inevitably it comes back to the bunnies.

He'll still help out occasionally, whispering in people's ears whether they'll hear him or not. "Don't worry. You left your keys in the car." "Take a different route home--someone said there was construction." "Adopt the black one. He's the loneliest." But, most of the time, Cole just watches the animals.

3: wildcard
it's a wildcard option! Cole can mostly be found hanging around his spooky alleyway because he's losing his powers without an anchor, but he can definitely be somewhere else if needed.

Comments

1

[cabins]

Time for a responsible adult to step in and it looks like Laura is the only person that description fits in the entire game.

What first gets her attention are the people around her whispering about some sort of weird wind-tunnel in the alley, that you should avoid it. Naturally, this gets her interested, and Laura can't help but peek around. Nothing she can see, but smell... That's different.

Making sure the road was clear enough, she moved carefully into the edges of the alley. She didn't have magic to protect herself anymore, but with any luck, she wouldn't need it.

"Hello?"

[hurtcomfort]

"Go away!"

Cole's manifested, a young man sitting in the corner, drawn up on himself, occasionally flickering in and out of view. She needed to leave. She needed to go. She couldn't help, she didn't feel like she could help like Rhys or Evangeline or Desmond felt, she felt like Girl.

Bits of debris linger in the air in front of Cole, just the sort of garbage one would find in an alleyway, especially if something got in the trash bin. Candy wrappers, old bus tickets, those and more just float thanks to Cole's telekinesis. That is, they float until a candy wrapper flies straight at Laura's face.

Not the most imposing of threats.

[cabins]

She can see the young man now- a ghost, no doubt about it now. And ghost though he may be, he was still a kid in need. Laura held out her hands in a gesture to show she had no weapons, and no intentions to harm him, and slowly stalked into the alley.

"I'm not trying to hurt you- I want to help you." The wrapper comes toward her, and actually manages to hit her forehead. She blinks, a little taken-aback by the attack. Still, better a wrapper than a two-by-four.

"My name is Laura. I believe I can help you."

[hurtcomfort]

There's a pause as Cole just looks up at Laura, expression still mostly hidden behind his hat and behind his blonde bangs, though a small frown is visible. She thinks she can help. She might not be able to help. The root of the problem digs deep, anchors are strong, anchors are important, he can't just let anybody tie him down further.

Yet, if people wanted to help, he should let them help. That's how it was with him, after all. Besides, there are little helps that Laura might be able to help with instead of the huge help.

"How?" he simply asks.

[cabins]

She has no intentions of offering to be an anchor. She wasn't the sort to just offer off the cuff- she considered herself more cautious than that.

"Focus on something. The sound of my voice." Her accent is undoubtedly American. She keeps creeping toward him. Apparently, the name of the game now was calm the ghost. Okay. She could do that.

[hurtcomfort]

Cole remains quiet. But, he's obviously listening to Laura's voice. A few of the floating items fall to the ground, the tense atmosphere around the two lessens, he looks at her and watches as she approaches. Cole's not moving and still remains in his spot, but at least he's listening.

[cabins]

"Alright-" she's got a feeling this just may work. "What's your name? So I know what to call you." Using people's names tended to help, she'd learned.

[hurtcomfort]

"My name's Cole," he says, a bit quietly but still audible. "It's nice to meet you?"

It's said in a tentative tone, like Cole isn't entirely sure what to say when meeting someone new. Because...well, he's not entirely sure. To no one's surprise, he hasn't met that many people since dying. Add in the fact that some memories of humanity have simply slipped away and it's just all confusion all the time up in here.

[cabins]

"Under better circumstances, I'm sure it would be," she says with a wry smile. "Cole, okay. Listen to the sound of my voice. Close your eyes. Close your eyes and imagine something- something that's calming to you. A waterfall, the ocean, whatever it is. Picture it."

[hurtcomfort]

He does so. Closing his eyes, Cole starts to imagine. It's nothing typically calming like a waterfall or the ocean, but it's just a feeling of peace. He imagines that feeling, that warm wonderful feeling when he talks with people, that feeling he had when he had an anchor.

The temperature starts to crawl back to normal. Litter and garbage that had been suspended in the air via Cole's powers fall to the ground with a small thud.

[cabins]

There we go...

It's not so cold anymore, Laura notices, when the trash falls to the floor. But that doesn't mean they're out of the woods yet.

"That's it," she urges him. "Take that image, that feeling you get. I want you to draw it inside yourself. Let it wash over you, like waves. Can you do that for me, Cole?"

[hurtcomfort]

Cole nods. Push that feeling into himself, stay calm, stay collected, washing like waves. It's a moment or two later when Cole finally looks Laura in the eyes for the first time since this mess started.

"Thank you."

He's calm now, all traces of his previous freak-out slowly starting to vanish from his demeanor. Slowly, the alleyway returns back to normal. "How did you know what to do?" he asks.

[cabins]

Laura only lets herself smile with satisfaction when Cole looks up at her.

"You're welcome." She keeps her voice calm. "To answer your question, I'm a teacher. I wasn't sure it would work, but I'm happy to see it did." She gestures at the spot next to the ghost. "Do you mind if I sit?"

Pet Store

[dredefulchilde]

Joscelin's never been one for pets, but occasionally he gets bored and wanders around, looking. Apparently he isn't the only one doing that this evening.

He hears a voice and turns to it. "Come on, then, ghost. Show yourself. I haven't got all day."

[hurtcomfort]

There's a pause. Nothing happens for a few minutes before Cole materializes, all at once, standing next to a display of dog food. At least he can still do that, still be seen.

He looks over at Joscelin with a far too nervous expression. There's another awkward pause before Cole tentatively says, "Hello?"

[dredefulchilde]

"Why haunt a pet store?" The little vampire smirks over at the ghost. "Seems like a rather boring place to be floating around, if you ask me. Are you stuck here or have you been dead long enough to change places?"

[hurtcomfort]

"I'm stuck in an alley." Joscelin's smirk makes him feel uncomfortable, like a small animal. Powerful? No. Predatory. "The store is nicer. Besides, I like to watch."

Watch people, watch animals, watch all the alive things as they go about their lives.

[dredefulchilde]

"Have you been dead terribly long?" Joscelin is idly curious. One dead person to another.

"Haunting an alley seems awfully dull."

[hurtcomfort]

"That's why I visit," said as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Because to nobody's surprise, haunting an alley really is dull.

Cole doesn't answer the first question, though, mostly because he's not entirely sure how long he's been dead in the first place. It's just memories blending into each other, long periods of being alone that Cole doesn't really know when they start and when they end.

[dredefulchilde]

"You're not a very entertaining ghost, you know that?" Joscelin sighs. "Can't even properly haunt the place."

[hurtcomfort]

"This isn't my place to haunt," Cole explains, with a little shrug. Why would he mess up someplace that wasn't his? Besides, if he haunted this place then everything would be upset, fear and fright, people panicking. He didn't want that.

Poor Joscelin is quickly learning that Cole's a shitty, shitty ghost.

"I'm visiting."

[dredefulchilde]

Joscelin turns to examine some gerbils spinning on their wheel, completely oblivious to the vampire and spirit making awkward small talk not ten feet from their cage. "How did you die?" He's addressing the gerbils.

[hurtcomfort]

"It was fast. Quick and quiet. I was scared, I didn't have any money, I tried to run." Cole's voice goes softer, quieter, a bit more distant as he describes his murder. He's not looking at Joscelin or at the rabbits: he's not really looking at anything.

"The blade slid between my ribs. He was scared as well. He ran. I bled."

[dredefulchilde]

"I'm sorry." No he's not, but the niceties must be observed. "I died of plague. Can't really remember it; I think I was delirious for the last few hours. I suppose you're stuck communing with rodents until you get revenge? How's that going for you?" Maybe it had been decades and the murderer was already dead. Too bad; so sad.

"Have you got a name, or shall I just keep calling you Ghost?"

[hurtcomfort]

"I'm sorry." And Cole definitely is. Dying of plague...at least Cole's death was quick. Bloody, bleeding, lying there alone and lonely, but something important was struck so he didn't have to linger for long.

At the question though, he lets out a little 'oh!', like that's something sensible Cole entirely forgot. "I'm Cole. Have you got a name?"