theattic | PSL: You don't have to go home

"You got it." Maurice nodded. He didn't want to make anyone think the tall white-haired guy with the patch was even weirder.

Wait.

Where was his patch? Maurice tilted his head curiously as he followed Ginko in.

The little bagel place was small but clean and the few people at the booths were chatting happily with one another, laughing and shoving. Several of them were younger now that the new school had been built. It was clear the place was built more around take-away meals but there was still plenty of room across from the big glass case full of toppings and breads for bagels.

"Looks a lot cleaner than I remember...but I bet it still smells the same!"

Ginko took out his phone as they walked in, looking around. "It smells pretty great, I can tell you that much." Man he was hungry. Which, to be fair, was basically always the case.

He went to stand in line for however long was needed, muttering a quick goodbye into his phone for the sake of any observers when it was his turn to order. He went ahead and followed Maurice's suggestion for what to get.

It was Todd himself who passed the wrapped pizza hybrid over the counter to Ginko. It was a little on the pricey side, but once the medium bit into it, he'd see why.

Meanwhile, Maurice hovered near a window and watched the way it fogged up from his presence. There were people here. There was electricity. There was enough activity for him to sap energy and not cause any trouble. The ghost stretched his arms high above his head and bowed his back as if he still had bones to pop. This was nice.

Maybe after fixing Ginko's car he would haunt this place next. Pizza never went out of style.

"Wha'dya think?"

Once he had his food and had paid, Ginko sat down at an empty table and pulled out his phone again, once again giving a quick greeting for consistency's sake.

"It's great - I can see why you recommended this." Ginko glanced at Maurice with a slight smile, taking another bite before speaking up again. "What about you? You seem to like this place."

Maurice pretend-sat next to him but turned in his seat to watch the happy people.

"I love it. Look at that guy! That guy's just been at work for twelve hours and now he's getting a bagel. He's so happy. It's really giving me a buzz."

"Good to hear." Looking around, he could see why Maurice was so excited about the prospect of staying there. People seemed to be happy here. Energized. A pretty ideal location for a benevolent ghost.

"If you want, I could go ahead and try to find somewhere to put the marble before I leave."

"Oh--uh? Already? I don't. You know. Maybe...a ghost isn't the best for a restaurant? I mean, what if I make the debit machine go out or make somebody fall asleep in their tuna salad and then drown by sitting too close?"

"It's alright if you don't want to decide for sure just yet," Ginko added quickly. "It was just an idea, since you seem to like it here so much. And, to be fair, you did make haunting the bar work for a while, right?"

"Oh. Uuuuh, yeah I guess I did. I wouldn't have to watch so many people get to their cars here." He glanced out the window. "But I still gotta help fix your car. Unfinished business is a big thing for ghosts. Right?"

"...Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Truth be told, Ginko had kind of forgotten about that. He hadn't really been thinking in terms of expecting to get paid for this job, so, even though they'd already discussed it, it hadn't taken long for the car thing to slip his mind.

"Alright, then. I'll finish this and if you want we can keep driving around before heading to the parking lot."

The ghost relaxed and sank back into his seat--or at least looked like he was. Maurice had gotten pretty good at pretending to be part of the physical world.

"Sure! It's a nice town...oh man I wanna know what Mr. Foss did with my trailer."

Ginko nodded, finishing off the last of the pizza bagel and crumplig up the wrapper. It hadn't lasted long, but then, food that Ginko got hold of rarely did.

"Where should we go to find that out?"

"We'll have to leave town but it's the only thing between here and the trailer parks so it won't be that hard to find."

Maurice paused in his explanation when a car drifted by the window. Oh, man, he'd never seen a make like that! Must have been new.

"I used to help 'em out on the farm in place of half my rent. He was a good guy. His wife made this amazing garlic bread...I hope they're still alive. They were real old."

Maurice, they were in their sixties.

"Well, let's go find out, then."

Ginko stood up and went to throw away the wrapper before heading out the door, gesturing for Maurice to follow with only a slight nod that bystanders wouldn't be likely to notice. Again, it wasn't all that necessary, given the marble in his pocket, but it felt right.

Once they were back in the car, he looked to the ghost for guidance again. "Which way is it from here?"

Maurice pointed the way. His directions took them back up to the empty lot where Fred's once stood and beyond. The buildings on either side of them disappeared and soon there was nothing but corn, open grass, and fences on either side of them.

Then, like a shining crate adrift in a sea of stalks, a tiny trailer right off the long highway came into view. There was a big brown truck parked outside it. The yard was no longer full of junk. It even had some grass. Music echoed from inside.

"Guess I ought not be too surprised..." Maurice couldn't keep himself from sounding sad. "I bet that's Mr. Foss's kid back from the war."

Ginko slowed down, scanning the scene in front of them. He cast a glance at Maurice. "...You want to go check, or...?"

He was sure he could think of some excuse to go up there.

He finally turned back to Ginko.

"Nah...now that I'm here, I thought I'd feel something different. It doesn't feel like home anymore. Not like the bar did--not that I blame you!" He quickly held up his hands and his shape fluctuated like television static. "It's not your fault! It's--this is all a little weird. Being able to leavin' after so long. I'm still kinda half afraid I'm about to wake up."

It was probably a good thing that Maurice was so quick to reassure Ginko; whether he showed it or not, he felt a small pinch of guilt at the mention of the bar.

But he just kind of... nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. Well, if you'd rather, we can go ahead and keep moving."

Maurice's eyes moved beyond his driver and back to the trailer. He wondered if the Foss family missed him. Or if Foss's cows missed him. He always scratched their ears when he helped feed them even if they were horrible and smelly.

"Yeah...let's go."

Ginko nodded, staying silent as he maneuvered the car around. It was only several seconds later that he spoke up again.

"...Sorry that didn't work out."

"S'alright...can't expect the world to stop for you, y'know?"

He leaned further back in the seat, passing through it slightly.

"Guess all that's left t'do now is check and see what's wrong with your car." He reached out to move a stray penny that sat in the middle console. He managed to make it vibrate and scoot but he wasn't sure if he could hold a wrench yet or not.

"Guess not."

He supposed it would be more jarring for Maurice; he more or less expected places to be different by the time he came back to them. Maurice didn't have the particular kind of experience to let him anticipate that.

"Yeah..." He glanced over for a moment to watch Maurice trying to move the penny around. "You think that might be a problem?"

His brows pinched as he tried harder to make the coin move.

"Just might be...hopefully whatever's wrong will be easy enough that I can just tell you how to fix it. Sometimes one little thing out of place can seem like a big deal but it's really not. Tighten this or replace that..."

"That'd be nice." He grimaced as the engine shuddered, made an unpleasant grinding sound, then settled down again. "'Cuz it sure seems like a big deal. Or maybe several."

Maurice sat up straighter when the engine whirred. He reached out to pat the dash and managed to make a little contact.

"Easy girl, we'll get a look atcha in a minute. 'Course I don't mind sticking around if it's something that's going to take a while."

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