Prompt: Ghost

TW/CW: Do I need to put a warning for Wubbaboos?, barely proofread and I appreciate spellchecks!

Word Count: 527

A/N: Yeeees more Herta Space Station characters. I really love the vibe of the Space Station and I am praying it gets more content outside of Simulated Universe updates sometime soon. Like maybe there could be an event where you follow Robin around on her tour after Penacony and you can see her perform on the HSS? Also no one can fucking agree on how old Arlan is if you look it up. I was getting results as young as 14 and as old as 22. If I had to pick an age, I'd peg him as about 19 just from the voice and the height, but who fucking knows, dude, I think Hoyo would sooner die than give characters canon ages (aside from Gallagher)

Likes and Reblogs appreciated and Requests are Open! Read this story on Ao3 here!

<- Previous Ficlet | Collection Post | Next Ficlet ->

The dividers in this post were made by @/gamerbot-22 (me!) ☆

© All rights reserved by miHoYo

The responsibilities of a Herta Space Station Staff Member got really weird, really fast. Everyone has their own horror stories of the first unforgivably strange thing they had to do to keep one of Herta's prized artifacts from going haywire in one way or another.

That all being said, playing volleyball with Wubbaboos technically wasn't the weirdest thing Arlan ever had to do on the Station, but it did feel that way once the activity broke out into the hallways.

"Woo~! Woooo~!"

The Astral Spirits' voices echoed playfully off the walls, almost harmonizing with themselves as Arlan gently swatted them up into the air like deflating balloons. He'd been at this for at least a system hour now, with no signs of stopping. The report wasn't kidding when it said Wubbaboos got more childish in groups...

"Tough workday, Brother Arlan?"

He didn't bother to look at the heckling researcher. He was too busy trying to make sure all three of his charges were staying airborne. "Just making sure that they don't take their energy out on your chemical samples."

"Yeah?" Arlan could hear the sneering. "'Cuz to me it looks like you're just playing around instead of doing your job."

"You're welcome to that opinion," he sighed. He nudged a cooing spirit up a little higher than before, earning an ethereal squeal of delight. "But I guarantee you wouldn't be happy if they played in your lab. All by themselves. With no one to stop them."

The researcher had either left or was ignoring him. Either way, Arlan took the silence as a victory, and continued his gentle Wubbaboo juggling all the way to the Station's Bridge. There, a more friendly voice was there to greet him.

"Taking the Wubbaboos for a walk?" Asta chimed. Arlan could hear her heels clicking as she turned around.

"In a sense," he smiled back, still too focused to actually look at her for longer than a second.

"Woo! Woo woo~!" One of the Wubbaboos wiggled in the air, spinning like a beach ball as it attempted to land closer to Asta.

"Hey, get back over here--" Arlan shifted to catch the wandering spirit only to see Asta cradle the creature over her palms.

"Aw, do you want some more friends to play with?" She smiled so big her eyes shut, her face as radiant as the stars outside the big glass windows. "I can play around for a little while, why not?"

Arlan swatted the second and third ghost higher into the air to buy some time. "You really don't have to, Miss Asta, I know you must be busy--"

"Oh, I don't mind! I've been working all day long, I could use the brain break." She ushered the smiling Wubbaboo up into the air to join its friends. The trio cooed and cried, staying up there just long enough for Asta and Arlan to meet eyes and smile. "Besides. They'll get tired faster if it's the two of us, won't they?"

The security officer felt his ears go a little hot when she smiled at him. "Yeah. Let's take them to the Mess Hall next?"

"Sounds like a plan!"