The dead man pointed and sure enough one was under the register with the napkins and several unmarked cardboard boxes.
The TV cord groaned and snapped. Another bulb overhead burst. The flames started to crawl up the walls and thunder roared overhead but not a single drop of rain streaked the windows. The nicotine stains on the walls and ceilings dripped in the growing heat.
Before Ginko's hand could reach the extinguisher, the register hummed into life and dinged. The card swipe pad beeped and the screen lit up with scrambled numbers. Suddenly they all counted down to a line of flashing zeros.
The zeros quickly replaced themselves with letters.
His gaze locked on the display for a few seconds. Then he scowled and grabbed the fire extinguisher. "Not planning on it," he muttered, almost too quietly to be heard.
Ginko stepped out from behind the bar again and aimed the fire extinguisher at the source of the blaze, quietly hoping that it was the kind with the foam so that it could maybe. You know. Actually stop the socket from just sparking everything up all over again.
Even if that were the case, though, he had his doubts about how much good it would do. The flames were spreading too fast for one guy with a fire extinguisher to do a lot of good.
Maurice could only watch in a panic as the living man tried to put out the flames with a spray of powder. Ghost or not, it obscured his vision and he coughed and waved his hand out of habit.
"CUT IT OUT! He's tryin' to help you!" Maurice barked at the other spirit but he felt like a very tiny dog trying to antagonize a dog that couldn't even see him unless it looked down. A stuffed coyote sailed through the air towards Ginko and through Maurice. "Quit!"
The bar was turning into a mess and the mechanic knew that if Ginko didn't get lost and soon, he could have a court case on his hands. And it would be all Maurice's fault. He couldn't spend the rest of his ghostly days knowing that!
"I think it's a lost cause!" He rattled the doors but wasn't strong enough to dramatically fling them open so that Ginko knew he meant business. "I'd pay you back the hours if I could!"
Thunder roared and then a sound like a gunshot amped up ten fold ripped through the entire bar. Maurice covered his ears. Lightning had struck the side of the building and peeled the siding back.
The coyote smacked into the side of Ginko's helmeted head, and he let out a startled yell as he dropped the fire extinguisher. He was really glad that Maurice had suggested that helmet.
He didn't protest when the ghost suggested he give it up; it didn't take more than a glance around to realize that he was absolutely right, and Ginko had no intention of burning up in here... or being accused of being responsible.
"Alright. Yeah." He jolted at the crack of thunder, then headed for the door, only pausing to glance at Maurice again before he pushed his way outside. "...Sorry."
Maurice hung there in the midst of the crawling flames with a weary expression. He almost looked ashamed--ashamed of endangering Ginko, of wasting his time, of bringing destruction to the place he'd taken care of for years.
"You did what you could, man..."
Outside, the air popped and buzzed. Wind filled the parking lot with dust and bits of grass and a tiny localized thunderstorm swirled overhead. An explosive crack sounded as another tongue of lightning stabbed at the ground. A sprawling vein-like pattern appeared in the dead singed grass.
Ginko winced at the crack of thunder, but slowed down a little once he was outside the bar. He pulled the helmet off his head, leaving his hair sticking up even more than usual. With a sigh, he wiped off the outside surface as thoroughly as he could with the sleeve of his coat before shoving the door open again long enough to toss the helmet back inside. Didn't want to end up leaving any fingerprints if Ernie did decide to blame it on the strange man asking about ghosts.
He waited until he was a little further away to get out his phone and dial 911. "Hello, I need the fire department...? Yes, it looks like a lightning strike has started a fire here, at, uh..."
Even as he gave the address, he kept watching the area warily, and walking gradually further away from the burning bar.
Like a snarling, injured animal, the storm raged on. Bolts stabbed at the surrounding pines and the direct tv dish atop the bar. Luckily, this seemingly random act of nature provided a solid alibi for Ginko and by the time orange flames crowned the building, sirens could be heard above the thunder.
Brave men and women leaped from the truck and at least one of them stopped to stare at the place before going to work-- as if she knew something.
Maurice, meanwhile, hid himself away in the pines out back--the one place besides the bar interior he could go. The mechanic watched the flames through the trees and hoped that the disturbed spirit didn't have quite as long a leash as he had. He faux-sat on a sawed off stump with his chin in his hands.
By the time the firefighters actually arrived, Ginko was long gone.
The idea of abandoning the whole situation didn't sit too well with him - but he figured he should probably wait a while before he risked coming back here.
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no subject
The dead man pointed and sure enough one was under the register with the napkins and several unmarked cardboard boxes.
The TV cord groaned and snapped. Another bulb overhead burst. The flames started to crawl up the walls and thunder roared overhead but not a single drop of rain streaked the windows. The nicotine stains on the walls and ceilings dripped in the growing heat.
Before Ginko's hand could reach the extinguisher, the register hummed into life and dinged. The card swipe pad beeped and the screen lit up with scrambled numbers. Suddenly they all counted down to a line of flashing zeros.
The zeros quickly replaced themselves with letters.
FRY
no subject
Ginko stepped out from behind the bar again and aimed the fire extinguisher at the source of the blaze, quietly hoping that it was the kind with the foam so that it could maybe. You know. Actually stop the socket from just sparking everything up all over again.
Even if that were the case, though, he had his doubts about how much good it would do. The flames were spreading too fast for one guy with a fire extinguisher to do a lot of good.
no subject
"CUT IT OUT! He's tryin' to help you!" Maurice barked at the other spirit but he felt like a very tiny dog trying to antagonize a dog that couldn't even see him unless it looked down. A stuffed coyote sailed through the air towards Ginko and through Maurice. "Quit!"
The bar was turning into a mess and the mechanic knew that if Ginko didn't get lost and soon, he could have a court case on his hands. And it would be all Maurice's fault. He couldn't spend the rest of his ghostly days knowing that!
"I think it's a lost cause!" He rattled the doors but wasn't strong enough to dramatically fling them open so that Ginko knew he meant business. "I'd pay you back the hours if I could!"
Thunder roared and then a sound like a gunshot amped up ten fold ripped through the entire bar. Maurice covered his ears. Lightning had struck the side of the building and peeled the siding back.
no subject
He didn't protest when the ghost suggested he give it up; it didn't take more than a glance around to realize that he was absolutely right, and Ginko had no intention of burning up in here... or being accused of being responsible.
"Alright. Yeah." He jolted at the crack of thunder, then headed for the door, only pausing to glance at Maurice again before he pushed his way outside. "...Sorry."
no subject
"You did what you could, man..."
Outside, the air popped and buzzed. Wind filled the parking lot with dust and bits of grass and a tiny localized thunderstorm swirled overhead. An explosive crack sounded as another tongue of lightning stabbed at the ground. A sprawling vein-like pattern appeared in the dead singed grass.
no subject
He waited until he was a little further away to get out his phone and dial 911. "Hello, I need the fire department...? Yes, it looks like a lightning strike has started a fire here, at, uh..."
Even as he gave the address, he kept watching the area warily, and walking gradually further away from the burning bar.
no subject
Brave men and women leaped from the truck and at least one of them stopped to stare at the place before going to work-- as if she knew something.
Maurice, meanwhile, hid himself away in the pines out back--the one place besides the bar interior he could go. The mechanic watched the flames through the trees and hoped that the disturbed spirit didn't have quite as long a leash as he had. He faux-sat on a sawed off stump with his chin in his hands.
no subject
The idea of abandoning the whole situation didn't sit too well with him - but he figured he should probably wait a while before he risked coming back here.