#ghost!ray

         The supernatural has never been his dream job, but after he'd met Geoff one thing had led to another and he'd been wrapped up in all kinds of horror-movie-esque crap. As terrifying as it was he'd enjoyed himself and, well - here he is. Geoff had been kind enough to give him a job at his store for all things mysterious provided he didn't get too involved with what goes on. According to him, Gavin is ‘still an amateur’ and would end up 'getting himself killed' if he tried to go out into the field, so for the time being he's just the shopkeeper. It's a fun job, he'll admit, and he especially enjoys the secretive side to it. To regular people the shop's just a place to get random odds and ends, and there's something amusing about knowing what the place really sells when regular people do come in.

          Geoff usually makes Michael handle those customers, though, because he's kept in the dark, too. That's another reason the Brit isn't allowed to mess with the Ouija board: Michael. They're roommates, and apparently if Gavin starts messing about with this kind of stuff in his own home, it'll 'blow my cover' and 'cause a fuck load of trouble I don't want to deal with.'

         He rolls his eyes at Geoff's warnings, dragging his attention away from his thoughts and back to the matter at hand. Summoning a ghost. Gingerly, he places his fingers on the wooden planchette, wiggling it around for a few seconds before he eventually decides to speak, voice coming out in a soft whisper.

         "Uh... is anyone listening?"

         He does his best to stifle a squawk of surprise as a response is given: Yes.

         "Oh! That's great! I mean, uh, hello. What's your name?"

         R-A-Y.

         "...Ray. Okay. I'm Gavin."

         The planchette begins to move once again, and his brow furrows as he attempts to decipher the message letter by letter.

         W-H-A-T-A-R-E-Y-O-U-W-E-A-R-I-N-G.

         He frowns, opening and closing his mouth a few times as he attempts to process the message. For a brief moment, he wonders if he's translated wrong and considers asking the spirit to repeat itself, but he pushes the thought out of his mind when someone else’s laughter fills the room. It isn't sinister or creepy - it's a genuine laugh that he hears, and for a second he thinks that Michael's woken up. But it doesn't sound like Michael. It's the kind of disembodied voice type laughter that usually indicates the presence of a malevolent spirit. Except this particular spirit doesn't sound at all malevolent and well, Gavin isn't sure how to respond.

        He opens his mouth to say something. But whatever word he attempts to speak is immediately replaced by a loud squeak as he catches sight of an actual, physical ghost hovering above him and he scrambles to the other side of the room, leaving the Ouija board untouched. The ghost is grinning, doubled over laughing at his own joke. It takes Gavin a few moments to notice this, but once he does he can't help but relax and let out a soft chuckle of his own. The laugh is infectious, to say the least, and after the initial shock of seeing a ghost has died down, he has to admit that it had been a pretty funny joke. And besides, ghosts are hardly that scary. He’s met worse.

         "Bloody hell, you scared the shit out of me," he says, eyes alight with amusement.

         The ghost - Ray - looks down at him, grinning. "Sorry, dude. It was too funny to resist. You should've see the look on your face!"

         "Your flirting is terrible."

         "Yeah, no wonder. I died a virgin. But you can't blame a ghost for trying, right?"

         "I try to stay away from dating anything that's dead or not human, anyway."

         "Alright, well, no need to be racist about it." Ray laughs again and moves closer to Gavin, becoming more focused as he does so. If it weren't for the blue-ish tinge surrounding him and the fact that he's a little bit transparent, he could easily be mistaken for a live person. The purple hoodie and Pierce The Veil shirt detract from any ghostliness, anyway. Gavin had been expecting some old guy from the eighteenth century, but he's not gonna complain. A ghost with a sense of humour is far better than a ghost with some creepy prophecy or whatever.

         There's a beat of silence before Gavin speaks up again, deciding to voice his opinion. "Y'know, I expected something way creepier."

         "Well, excuse me if I'm not living up to your expectations. It's not like I have any experience with this kind of thing, I've only been dead a year."

         "I've only been living here for a year." His brow knits together for a moment, before he lets out a loud gasp of realisation. "Oh my god! No wonder we got this place so cheap! They didn't bloody tell us that someone died here."

         "Yeah, and they didn't even bother moving the body. I'm still under the floorboards. Talk about lazy."

         He isn't even attempting to stay quiet anymore, letting out a loud squeak as Ray relays the information. "What do you mean, they didn't move the body? That's -- holy shit! I can't believe--!" He's interrupted by loud banging coming from a few rooms away, accompanied by a loud yell of "GAVIN, SHUT THE FUCK UP."

         Ray's laughing again, and the Brit shoots him a cold glare, which only makes him laugh harder. "Hey, it's not my fault your boyfriend's such a light sleeper. Look, if it makes you feel any better, they did move my body. I did die in this room though. Oooh, spooky."

         "He isn't my boyfriend, he's my roommate. And no, that didn't make me feel any better, but you get points for trying." He stands up, running a hand through his hair as he does so. He debates saying goodbye to Ray and sending him back to... wherever it is he came from, but decides against it. He can't help but be slightly curious about the ghost's untimely demise, as morbid as that sounds. It's not everyday you get to ask the previous tenant of your house how they died. Actually asking the question poses a bit of a problem, though. If there's any kind of etiquette about it, Gavin doesn't know it.

         Apparently Ray knows what he's thinking, however, and his smile drops, expression changing to something more serious. "No way, dude. If you wanna know how I died, you've gotta, like, buy me dinner first. My lips are gonna remain tightly sealed no matter what."

         "Aw, what? Please? I kind of have a right to know, seein’ as I bloody sleep in this room."

         "Dude. Come on."

         An awkward silence falls over them for a few minutes, before Gavin clears his throat. "You wanna maybe play some video games or something? It's pretty much a well known fact that ghosts can control electronics, so..."

         Ray's face lights up at the suggestion and he immediately heads towards the door. "Dude, I'm a video game master. I'll tell you what, every time you beat me at Call of Duty I'll give you a hint about my death."