half human half ghost

He had never felt more useless in his life, a shadow of a shadow of a man. Anyone could take him on, he was no more than a normal mortal soul and for what? When he punched the wall in frustration, he didn’t care who saw him but as tears sprung to his eyes and a cry of pain escaped his throat, he cursed himself. Turning his back to the wall, he slid down it slowly, tears streaming down his face.

“What are you looking at?” He managed, shaking his head at how pathetically not biting those words sounded. He was a grown man for the gods’ sake. This was an embarrassment.

pheonix grabbed another macaroon from the package. he had found the taste good, not as sweet as he imagined but most fancy food tasted better than they seem. he chuckled though. “at least i know i have someone out there to look for me.” okay. so not that he was expecting to hear it but he wondered if talking about it had been odd for her. it sure made him uncomfortable to be thrown that information in his lap so quickly. “did you? that…” what would people say to that? would anyone who was good at conversation know either? “that sucks. how did… you.” his fists clenched. “okay. did you like fall in or something?” 

“Nope. We were driving into town.” Chihiro shook her head, already seeing the familiar behavior that anyone got when they heard about her disappearance. It wasn’t as bad as when she first arrived. All the stares, all the whispers. The police had tried to be helpful and reassuring but they didn’t leave her with much and she was forced to look out for herself really. “Three weeks later I woke up by the river with no one else around. I don’t really remember anything from then honestly- but it’s fine. I’m not-” She paused for a moment trying to figure out what to say, “I’m not bothered by it. So you don’t need to tip toe or anything. It just happened.” Chihiro gave a shrug, trying to lighten the mood, “That’s probably as worse as it gets.”

he seemed confused for just a moment looking at the more quiet girl. it was funny to hear her suggestions on what is interesting in town. “ex-convicts and people going missing?” he scoffed lightly. watching her indulge in the food and seeing she enjoyed it. pheonix took in the idea of going into a bar. maybe with past criminals they would all want to be left alone. he could get a drink and not have to worry about someone wanting to enjoy a cold one with him. “i might have to check these places out. who knows maybe i’ll go missing and you will be the last person to have seen me.” he doubted that very much. the river thing sounded more like a tall tale that people told children to keep away. “i don’t think i will go missing.” 

“Yeah,” Chihiro gave a nod, taking another bite of the treat. His comment made her tilt her head, “Most people don’t think they’ll go missing until they actually do. I’ll look for you if you do though. The police here kinda suck at finding people if I’m being honest.” There was a certain tone in her voice when she spoke about these things. As if it was purely factual which to her it was. Her parents were still missing- she went missing herself a couple years back. “I went missing a couple years back and had to make my way back to town on my own.” It wasn’t necessarily private knowledge or anything that she wanted to keep a secret. It came up sometimes in conversation. Like now. 

“trust me, sen. you are definitely more excited about these than i am. go ahead. i really don’t care who eats one first.” he said though he reached in and grabbed a random one; pistachio. “im not really a sweets person so im not going to eat all of these.” pheonix over spent, he didn’t need all the flavors. but to sit there and have to actually try and pick the best flavors would have just frustrated him. “yeah i guess it seems okay. i’l have to be the judge of that.” but home was home, he had to stop running and just face the facts that he was stuck there. “i shouldn’t need too much help. unless you want to tell me some places to avoid. or that don’t fucking suck.” he said. that would help him a lot when it avoided confrontation with too many people. 

Well... If he said so. There was a small part of her that could hear her mother lecturing her about how impolite it was to eat before the guest... but the guest didn’t want to eat the food at all, so it had to be okay. She took a bite, her face perking up keeping silent for a moment to think about what he had just asked. “The Snuggly Duckling, maybe? That’s a pub in town- a lot of ex convicts go there to hang out and drink so things get interesting. They don’t all seem the worst though.” There was certain a bunch of characters that frequented that place and a good number that intimidated her, but some of them were decently friendly when she passed by. Some would even offer her a drink or two. “The river is really pretty, but sometimes people go missing there.” Chihiro sent him a shrug and a look. It was his prerogative if he wanted to go there. She frequented it all the time, despite her personal history. She could have mentioned Underworld, but she didn’t want to risk getting fired so spilling company secrets so she chose to keep those to herself. 

Joy smiled at the girl when she turned around and Joy shook her head at the offer, she was not one to embarrass herself, it was one of those things she was  afraid of but would never admit out loud. Embarrassment. “Oh no thank you. I couldn’t make that shot even if I tried my hardest. I appreciate the offer though.” She said with a big smile. “I’m Joy by the way. I’m pretty new around here.”

“Oh! Welcome to Porthaven!” Chihiro gave a bright smile, “I hope you like it here. Porthaven’s pretty nice. I’ve lived here for ten years.” She took a moment to go grab the ball and tuck it away next to the basket. Gotta leave it for the next person. “I’m Sen,” She introduced herself with another name. Always another name. Her own was getting more and more unfamiliar.

“don’t you want to have one? you can have as much of them as you want.” he said tilting his head pushing the box of sweets toward the girl. he wasn’t one to indulge in sweets all as much as others. no, pheonix really only bought them because she had seemed to recommend them and he was feeling generous. even if he did dip a pretty penny into what he thought was just going to be a run for coffee. not that he really cared. if he could afford it, which he could, he might as well make someone’s day. or that was what he told himself he was going to start doing if he wanted to make sure what happened in his hometown didn’t happen here, so as long as he kept his temper in check he might be able to pass off as a decent human for once. “okay, sen. im pheonix.” he rose a brow. “im new here.” 

“You haven’t tried any before though right? So you should have the first bite. I can take one after.” Chihiro reasoned with him, but that didn’t stop her from plucking the blueberry macaron out of the box to set it infront of herself. She really was excited to eat these, but it was polite to let him have at it first since he did pay for all of them. “Oh! Welcome to town then- Porthaven’s pretty nice. I’ve lived here...” How many years? She knew how many years, “Ten years. So if you ever need to know where anything is I could help you.” Living here as long as she did, she knew the ins and outs of the city fairly well. At the very least, she could give Phoenix a starting place if he was curious about anything. Sometimes, she wondered why she’s stayed as long as she has, but knew rationally there wasn’t anywhere else she could go either. 

he watched the girl, her face only looking at the sweets. he figured she was much more interested in this whole thing than he was. but after not really knowing where to start he just shrugged. “we will be taking one of each.” he said making it easier. that way he didn’t need to make a huge choice. pheonix looked at the area where the girl had pointed and shifted his head. “go take a seat, catch it before someone else does, yeah?” he said pulling the leather wallet out from his back pocket and watching the server put together his order and handed him the little box all tied up and made to look fancy. he then went to sit down handing over the box and drink. “i didn’t know if you wanted coffee. but you don’t have to drink it.” he sat though, wanting more of the coffee than he did of the macaroons. “what is your name?” 

Chihiro nearly got whiplash at hearing him say he’d buy one of each. That wasn’t what he said the first time. She mentally hoped she had enough money in her pocket to cover the extras he bought. Biting the inside of her cheek, she went over to the table as instructed watching carefully from her spot to see if she could see the price total. She couldn’t. Shit. “Coffee is good,” Chihiro took the drink from him, opening the box up. The smell of the treats wafted over to her and she couldn’t help the smile on her face. “Sen,” Turning the box over to him, she gave out the name easily. It was getting easier to call herself that. “I’m Sen.”

Joy was walking around the park, just enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of kids playing and families having fun in the park, she missed that for herself, and if she hadn’t already been told she couldn’t play on the jungle gym by police, she probably would have tried again. She watched as someone shot a basketball towards the goal and it went in with ease, bringing a smile to her face. “Nice shot, cupcake! I wish I could shoot hoops like that.”

“Huh?” Chihiro looked over at the sudden encouragement. She hadn’t meant to make that shot. Not really, considering sports was never really her strong suit. Running she could do that. She had pretty sturdy legs, but anything that required coordination she tended to fall short on. “Thank you! Do you want to try?” 

“good, cause i’ve never had one so it will be a treat for the both of us.” he said looking around. it almost didn’t feel like him to be so accommodating but she was nice enough to give him an honest opinion and not give him crap about bothering her. as he walked inside and up to the glass case where he saw the little pasteries marked as macrons he tilted his head. “shit… i didn’t know they came in so many flavors.” he looked at the girl. “which is your favorite?” 

“That one,” Chihiro pointed to a yellow colored one with the label of lemon at the front of the row, “Blueberry is also really good.” And that was the extent of the flavors she had tried at this place. Chihiro really didn’t get a chance to try many, so she was always envious when she saw others walking out with them. “I think the chocolate one is really popular...” She spent a moment walking along the display and pointing out other flavors she recognized people eating; lime, vanilla, strawberry. “Those are ones I usually see people eating- if that makes it any easier?” Also pointing out a free table they could sit at- well he could sit at. Chihiro didn’t know if he wanted her to stick around. 

one positive opinion was good enough. how can someone really mess up a cup of coffee, right? his eyes squinted as he looked at the girl, “macarons, huh? that is one of those…. french things right? i might have to check that.” he said. phoenix was about to step forward but looked back at the girl and sighed heavily. he was not one to ever ask but… “were you going to go in and get something? cause i can… get you some coffee and one of those macarons?” 

She had not been about to go in and get something, but the prospect of trying a macaron was hard to ignore. It wasn’t a treat she got to indulge in a lot, unfortunately. Chihiro bit her lip before scurrying over to his side trying not to look sheepish. “That’d be really nice. It’s been a while since I had one.” 

a dark hood up and a slow pace as he looked around the streets of his new forever home? he didn’t know yet but it was where he’d made his stop. and for now it would have to work, people didn’t know him. but as he found himself just wanting a drink of all things phoenix looked up as he found the first place he could get a coffee. “lucky cat cafe?” he repeated the name letting it sit on his tongue. “well, isn’t that… cute. lets just hope for this place sake there isn’t any cat hair in the drinks.” he joked. then found himself catching eyes with someone and pointed at the cafe. “is this place any good?”

“Huh?” She mumbled foolishly, caught off guard by the sudden question. “Oh- yes!” Chihiro glanced over to the cafe having been there a couple times. It was a little out of the way for some of her other jobs, so she didn’t get a chance to go often but she always saw a good amount of people in and out of there. “Yeah, it’s really good. You should try their mac-” What was the word again? “Macarons?”

“oh! well, back in thailand, we have dragons that are made up of nine entities. they bring water and wisdom! and there’s this river up north where they’re said to bring ghostlights, or fireballs…” ever since finding out about her powers, bloom had wanted to visit - but it wasn’t safe. “quirky ghosts, i love that!” she exclaimed with a smile. “do you have any examples?”

“Whoa,” She breathed out, captivated by the lore just told to her, “Nine entities? So like nine dragons?” She childishly wondered if maybe they were friendly. Chihiro’s never met a dragon, only really read about them or saw whatever was on TV. “Dragons are the coolest creatures ever,” Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment, but she pushed through it, “Atleast that’s what I think... But... Hm.... There’s bakeneko! A shape-shifting cat. Makuragaeshi come to your bed at night just to flip your pillow. Sazae-oni which is a snail that turns into a woman-” Cutting herself off, Chihiro sent the other a grin, “There’s plenty more! But those are some kinds of yokai we have back in Japan. Not all of them are as silly, some area really scary.”

Why was it still speaking to him? He’d just threatened it! This was the part where the meek little human runs away, at least when he didn’t have other plans for it, it was a scene he’d played out countless times before. Just his luck that the human bumping into his was stupid as well as clumsy, “You can start by getting out of my way,” Not that there was anything else it could do for him. There was the occasional human the Fang could put to good use, but those were the ‘powerful’ and ‘important’, he seriously doubted there was anything this one could offer.

Biting her lip, Chihiro stepped to the side as he had asked. She didn’t want to push her luck, but she really did feel as if letting this go by unattended would come hurt her later on. Call it intuition or potential stupidity, but she always had a knack for knowing when someone was dangerous. Dangerous as in the threats they could make, they could back up. Vaguely, she wondered if maybe offering him a meal or a drink would lighten the mood. Or make things worse for her. “Anything else, Sir?”

bloom nodded excitedly, especially when she heard the word ‘dragons’. right up her alley! “no problem at all! i’m bloom, it’s great to meet you, sen.” she wondered if it was okay to bring up her connection to the great dragon - it was still difficult to find her way in porthaven, figuring out who was weirded out by her and who wasn’t. “i know about dragons! i’m sure we can find you something…” she mumbled, walking into the right section. “i love fantasy, actually! and ghost stories, they’re nice and spooky.”

“Oh? What do you know about dragons?” Chihiro seemed genuinely interested in what the other knew. She’s always had a fascination with dragons. For some reason she just always felt drawn to them. There was no creature that had more grace or commanded more respect. “Ghosts can be quirky! Japan has a lot of different tales about ghosts and spirits.” There was endless amount of stories that her home country had on the afterlife. 

“yeah, exactly! and the funniest part is that i don’t even remember packing that many mugs, and shampoo bottles, but they were just there making a mess and before i knew it, well… here we are.” the poor guy couldn’t help but rambling on sometimes, specially when unaware of what the next order in function would be, though, luckily sen calmed his nerves seeing he hadn’t taken as long as he thought. 

it was then a matter of seconds before varian too began following this adventure guide, nodding along while thinking out loud. “i had a feeling about that…” he said, turning and glaring all around from time to time to make sure he’d remember most of what there was to see in town, whether it was people, building details, or even the lights that had just begun showing up as the night settled before them. “you lead, i follow. i’m curious to see just about anything there is to see.” 

She took easily to showing him around the area. Pointing out shops and small eateries that she frequented and knew the owners well enough. Even quietly adding if he dropped her name when he went to buy food, he could get extras. Chihiro was well loved and well taken care of, and wanted to extend that to anyone else. Small shops don’t get enough credit. Pointing at a nondescript fence in the distance, “See that one? If you wiggle the left side of the chains it’ll actually swing open. If you go out there, you can reach the river pretty easily. It’s really nice and pretty if you haven’t had the chance to see it yet. But be careful, people can go missing sometimes or just wash up.”

“you know,” her eyes don’t leave the screen, smile threatening to form as her eyes lock onto the handsome (really, pretty average looking) protagonist “i think ferris is a really good friend. kinda crazy, but he’s got cameron’s best interest. he just doesn’t want him to live a granola life. he’s kinda just saving him from how boring things are gonna be later on. i wanna be that friend.” mabel finally turns to face the person, breaking into a grin and holding out her hand to shake “you looking for an adventure friend? i’m a good ferris.”

Admittedly, Chihiro had never seen this movie growing up. Which in itself was a little funny since her dad loved American movies so much. She knew this was considered an “American Classic”- maybe? She wasn’t too sure, but it was referenced a lot so it had to be popular. “Adventure friend? Sure.” The question was odd, but she found she didn’t mind it too much. Friends were always nice and she never had many to begin with. “I don’t know who I’d be though...”

this was the perfect situation to strike up a conversation and figure out what the girl was looking for exactly. not that it would help bloom much, since she didn’t know anything about japanese mythology. “oh, that’s okay! i’m pretty sure they don’t have an expiration date or have to be renewed!” at least, that’s what bloom thought, since there weren’t any dates on them. 

She let out a relieved sigh and smile. Chihiro didn’t mind redoing the paper work and thankfully she didn’t have any overdue books. But one less step was always a bonus. “I’m Sen by the way, thanks for all the help. I just wanted to find some books on dragons.” Maybe she should frequent the library more often, she was just worried she’d forget she borrowed books and then they’d be late. “Do you have any preferences toward reading?”