After a shower, Ein slipped under the blankets, ready to end the day. But he didn't even get to close his eyes before two hands propped onto his pillow, the annoying heir's face appearing inches away.
Reflexively, Ein rolled out of bed, grabbed the revolver from under his mattress, and pointed it straight at Adriel's face.
The ghost merely raised an eyebrow. "That's not gonna do anything, genius. I'm already dead."
Ein lowered the weapon slowly, watching the ghost casually sit on the edge of his bed, legs crossed, inspecting the room's dark, minimalist decoration.
"Pretty depressing place you've got here," Adriel commented, glancing around. "So, you live here all by yourself? No family, no friends, no partner?"
"What do you want?" Ein muttered, shoving the revolver back under the mattress.
"Since you killed me... I'm here to haunt you," Adriel grinned, sprawling across Ein's clean sheets and rolling around with glee.
"That's it." Ein yanked the duvet, and, to his surprise, the ghost fell to the ground with a thump.
"Ow! What'd you do that for?" Adriel stood, rubbing his hip.
"Leave," Ein said, marching over to the window and gesturing to the ledge. "Fly away or something."
Adriel rolled his eyes and swung his legs over the windowsill. "Fine, just don't push me! That'd be forced suicide." He hopped down three floors, landed effortlessly, then looked back up, his expression irritated but smug. He turned and began strolling away, whistling.
Ein slammed the window shut and muttered, "Finally," before crawling back into bed. But not five minutes later, he heard a faint, familiar voice drifting up from outside:
"...I'm just a bumblebee... mmm... hmm..."
Ein's eyes snapped open. No. He threw the duvet off, stormed to the window, and yanked it open.
Down below, Adriel was sitting on the curb, singing his obnoxious song.
"Hey!" Ein's voice echoed into the quiet street. "The hell are you doing?"
"Singing," Adriel replied coyly, picking at his nails.
"No shit," Ein muttered. "Why are you still here?"
Adriel only smirked, continuing his ridiculous hum.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, you dead prick!" Ein yelled, his voice carrying too loudly.
Across the street, an old woman's window flew open. "Psycho! Do you know what time it is?" she shouted. "Some of us are trying to sleep! Stop doing drugs!"
Ein jerked, looking up to see her glaring down, her expression as annoyed as he felt.
"I'm not on drugs, woman!" Ein snapped back.
"Then shut up and put your damn clothes on!" she hollered before slamming her window shut.
Ein glanced down in horror—he was in just his shorts, leaning far out the window. From the old lady's angle, it must've seemed like he was completely naked.
He looked back at Adriel, who was laughing hysterically, slapping the ground. "Oh, you should've seen the look on your face!" the ghost choked out between laughter.
"Get lost," Ein muttered, pulling his head back inside.
But Adriel was already waiting for him, smirking from the bed. "So, how long do you think you'll last before I completely grind your patience to dust?"
Ein rolled his eyes and yanked the duvet over himself, determined to ignore the ghost.
"Oh, don't be shy now," Adriel said, yanking at the blanket, "show off for your neighbors!"
Ein groaned, pulling the covers tighter. But the ghost just leaned closer, still humming. "Lift your blanket so I can see—"
Ein quickly whipped the duvet over Adriel's head, muffling his voice. "If you don't shut up, I swear I'll pour salt on you."
The muffled voice chuckled. "Ooooh, what a threat! Go ahead—pour salt, sprinkle holy water, exorcise me, get a monk—bring it all on!" The ghost laughed louder, getting a kick out of it.
"Whatever." Ein gave up and lay still, forcing himself to stay calm.
Adriel emerged from under the duvet, his hair wild, grinning like a victor. "Ha! If you give up so easily, you wouldn't even last a day in my shoes!"
"You have no shoes. You're dead," grumbled Ein, rolling over to the other side.
Adriel just laughed harder. He laughed and laughed, his chuckles echoing through the night.
✧ ✧ ✧
After dealing with the ghost into the early hours of the morning, Ein groggily woke up around five in the evening. He stumbled out of the bed and dragged his feet to the kitchen, his body aching from low-quality sleep.
No sight of the ghost. Good. It was just a hallucination caused by a lack of sleep.
"Exactly. Ghosts don't exist," mumbling to himself, Ein prepared the coffee machine and pressed the button.
The whirring and spluttering of the machine was almost meditative. He glanced out the window while the glass teapot was filling with a steady stream of coffee. Dark clouds had spread across the sky, masking all the blue. It was going to rain soon.
The coffee machine beeped. Ein poured a steaming cup and promptly spilled it when brown hair poked into view. "Shit—"
"Good morning, murderer!" Adriel greeted loudly, making Ein flinch the second time.
Ein shot him a glare and stepped away to rinse the hot coffee off his hand.
"So, my body has been taken to the morgue, but I can't touch it," the ghost announced. "I need you to steal it for me before they burn it to ashes."
Ein sighed deeply, closing the faucet. "And you think I'll do it for you?"
"Duh." Adriel tapped the counter like a teacher pointing at an obvious answer. "You killed me. Don't you feel at least a little indebted to grant me this little favor?"
They locked eyes, one deadpan, other pleading. "Please?"