#that's difficult

Well, the pain of having his ethereal body dissolved away after falling in a lake was still just as bad, if not worse, than being eaten away at in a grimy little alcove, but at least Cole was prepared this time when he came to in the temple.

Even better, Yang didn’t show up to taunt him. Cole made his way out, pausing just outside the temple. He glanced back in, a little confused. His only reply was a small breeze.

Cole supposed he should be relieved to have not encountered Yang, but something about the emptiness of the temple sent a chill down his spine.

Cole shook his head. He didn’t have time for this.

And he had no intention of coming back here, either.

+=+=+=+=+

(“Back so soon?” Yang taunted, calmly stirring sugar into his tea. Cole grumbled as he sat up, saying nothing. This was the third time he’d respawned here.

He left quickly, barely sparing Yang a backwards glance.)

+=+=+=+=+

(Cole was seething. Barely two days had passed and he was back here again.

Yang sighed as he sipped his tea, “Are you really that clumsy, or did you need something?”

Cole fixed Yang with a glare. “I don’t have time for this.” He said, leaving in a huff.

FSM, he hoped he wouldn’t be coming back here again.)

+=+=+=+=+

Of course, as the cruel, merciless fates would have it, what Cole wanted and what actually happened were two very different things.

Really, he should have seen this one coming. Barely a week after falling into the lake and he gets caught outside in a storm.

He and Jay were huddled under a bus stop, trying to wait out the downpour, but it wasn’t a secure shelter—and they knew it. Water dripped in through a crack in the roof, which sagged under the weight of the water pooling atop it. It wasn’t even fully intact, a haphazardly-taped down tarp covering a large portion of it. The glass sidings of their makeshift shelter were shattered on one side, cracked nearly everywhere else. Cole wasn’t even aware that bus stops could fall into such a state of disrepair. It was a wonder the whole thing wasn’t being blown away by the wind.

But it was the only shelter they could get to in time, and now, with the elements pounding them from nearly all sides, they were stuck here.

Well, Cole was stuck here. Jay wouldn’t be dissolved if he confronted the downpour.

“I’m so sorry.” Jay apologized, for the umpteenth time. “I should have been paying more attention.”

“You’re fine.” Cole said dismissively, trying not to get caught off guard by a sudden shift in the wind.

“Zane said it would probably rain today, but did I listen?” Jay was rambling now, and Cole was only half-listening. “No. I insisted on going through with this outing anyway. And now here we are, lost in the wrong part of town, huddling under a ghetto bus stop waiting for the rain to pass, cold and miserable, and any moment this whole shelter could collapse and then—” He paused, turning to look at Cole in horror.

“...and then that’d be it for you.” Jay said softly, as if it was only sinking in just now. “And… oh my master, Cole, you’d be—you’d be gone! And it’d be my fault!” Jay was on the verge of tears now.

“Jay—” Cole began, about to explain that no, he wouldn’t be gone for good, that things would be fine—

But then the roof collapsed, soaking them both.

Cole couldn’t even hear Jay’s scream of horror before everything went black.

+=+=+=+=+

Cole groaned as he came back into awareness, the sound of rain pounding against the temple being the first thing he noticed. Glancing towards the window only confirmed his fears; rain was coming down in sheets around the temple.

Which meant he was stuck here.

With Yang.

While Jay and the others were probably freaking out, thinking he was gone for good.

“Fuck.” Cole said sharply, not feeling that much better for it.

“Language.” Yang scolded from somewhere behind Cole. Cole whipped around, being met with the image of Yang floating there in annoyance, arms crossed. “I will not have swearing in this temple, young man.”

Well, maybe Cole did feel a little better for saying it.

“Oh?” Cole grinned, “And what the fuck’s stopping me?”

Yang pinched the bridge of his nose. Cole reveled in joy at the sight.

Yang fixed Cole with a glare, “You are being extremely petty right now.”

Now it was Cole’s turn to be angry. “Yeah, no shit. I’m stuck here with your soggy ass while my best friend is alone in the middle of a storm thinking he killed me.”

“Tell it to someone who actually cares.” Yang sneered.

Cole bristled. “Yeah, fuck you too, old man.”

“Watch your language, boy, or so help me I will silence you myself.”

“Yeah, sure.” Cole taunted, “You and what army?”

Yang simply raised an eyebrow, fixing Cole with a flat stare as the house began to shift and shake around them. Cole stumbled, falling flat on his backside.

“Oh.” That’s right, Yang was the master of this temple. “Right.” Cole shrunk in on himself. Probably not the best idea to piss off the guy who could remodel the building at will.

Yang glanced back at the window; the downpour was still going strong. He waved his hand, and a table and chairs appeared, complete with a tea set.

“Well,” he began, making his way over to the table and pouring himself a cup of tea. “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, might I be able to offer you some tea?”

Cole gave Yang a look. “Why?”

Yang returned said look. “Why not? Shouldn’t a host offer their guests refreshments?”

Cole supposed he couldn’t really argue with that. Still, he was wary as he made his way to the table, cautiously taking a seat. A cup appeared in front of him, and the teapot was quick to fill it. Cole grabbed the cup cautiously, surprised to find it felt warm in his hands.

Cole gave the cup in his hands a suspicious look. “How do I know this isn’t poisoned?”

“It’s not.” Yang said. “Even if I knew how to poison a ghost, it would be pointless seeing as you’d just reform here anyway.”

Cole still couldn’t shake the suspicion he had. “And it’s not drugged either?”

Yang met Cole’s paranoid gaze with a flat stare. “Please. Keeping you here would be far more trouble than it’s worth.” He took a sip from his own tea. “Besides, you come here often enough that I don’t need to.”

Those were admittedly good points. “Alright.” Cole said, taking a sip.

It wasn’t extraordinary by any means, just regular tea. But still, the fact that Cole could taste it caught him off guard. Given that there was a tea for everything, Cole should've guessed that there’d be a tea for ghosts.

“How is it?”

Cole set the now empty cup on the table. “It’s okay.” He refused to admit that the very fact he could actually taste it nearly brought him to tears.

Yang huffed, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “teenagers”, but did not contest Cole’s lackluster review.

Thunder crashed outside. Cole wondered if this temple had a deck of cards somewhere. A game of solitaire should help pass the time.