/His name is TYSON. I keep telling you that!/ Bohai the ghost told her as she leaned down and checked to make sure her bike was in working condition. He floated above her, sounding scornful, watching her. /What are you doing?/ he demanded to know.
Luli didn't immediately respond as she was busy checking the bike chain. All good. Everything seemed to be in working order, then! With triumph, she leaned down again to life up her small dog, Zel, and placed him gently in the basket she'd installed on her bike just for him a few years back. Once Zel was in place, Luli swung her leg over and planted her butt on the bike seat.
/What are you doing??/ Bohai demanded to know again. Luli blinked, as if just hearing him for the first time.
"What?" she asked and as Bohai began to ask again, she interrupted because she heard him... It just took her a second to absorb it. "Oh, I'm looking for your friend."
/On bicycle?! Are you stupid or something?!/
"Why?" she said, mouth turning down quizzically as she pushed the bike forward with her foot and began pedaling toward the path that led out of town. "Isn't he in Hazleton?"
Before Bohai could answer, however, Luli found herself running somebody over with her bike. Eyes widened as she realized what she'd done.
"Oh... oh my..." She blinked. "Are you okay?"
"OOMPH!"
Tyson was bowled head over heels by some punk on a bike riding out of nowhere, and landed with a low grunt of pain on his ass in the grass. He sat there, dazed, for several moments.
"Oww..." He lifted a hand from the damp earth to rub at his lower back, which was throbbing with a dull pain that shot from his tailbone right to the base of his neck. He looked up at the girl on the bike who'd literally ridden up to and over him and gave her a once-over. Did he look okay? He didn't feel okay.
But Tyson being Tyson, he wasn't going to make a fuss. Coolly he struggled to his feet. "I'm fine," he said with some effort to remain level-headed. Maybe she didn't see him coming up the path. It was broad daylight and he was hardly a small man, but he'd always heard that the inhabitants of Hazleton were less than 'all there.'
Besides, she looked young, and he wasn't going to blow a gasket at a stranger. "I'm fine," he repeated, more firmly this time, and tried to get around her. "Be careful out there..." That was mostly for other unsuspecting travelers than for her, though. After giving her a wary look, he moved on.
Hazleton was known as a hotbed for the supernatural. Tyson didn't know what he was expecting or hoping to find here, but... well, it was worth a visit anyway and if there was the slightest chance at finding Bohai again--even in the after-life--he thought it was worth a try.
"...you too!" she said, by way of telling him to be careful, too. After all, he just appeared out of nowhere! She could have sworn she was fine to go! (Of course, she did tend to just... go without regard to her surroundings. Besides, she was arguing with a ghost, which distracted her. It would distract anyone!
Picking her bike back up, she could hear the ghost shouting at her, begging her to look, demanding that she go, go, go!
"I am," she said, starting to feel a little grumpy. Being pushed around by ghosts all the time was not her idea of a good time. She started to fling her leg back over the bike but halfway through the action, she dropped the bike and then slumped over it, dropping down to her knees as the icy cold finger of channel energy took over.
"...h-hey... no..."
But before she could properly fight him off, Bohai had taken over. Not used to commanding a human body after so long, he jerkily got to his feet and turned back to see TYSON walking away from him, as if he hadn't even felt his presence.
"TYSON!" he called out, but his voice game out in a girly tone that didn't belong to him. And when he tried to run after him, he couldn't quite get his footing and he tripped on his own feet... or her feet, rather.
There was a lot of movement behind him, a lot of commotion, and when Tyson glanced over his shoulder—expecting to see the girl on the bike making her way out of town—he saw her lurching towards him like a newborn foal. It looked like she'd forgotten how to walk, and before he could do anything or say anything, she'd just... faceplanted.
"...hey, are you okay?"
At first he didn't want to go back over to her, because he was here on a mission and he wanted to reach one of the establishments downtown before it closed to visitors for the day. But even Tyson, aloof as he was, wasn't totally heartless. It didn't take much time out of his day to walk back and try to help her up.
"Are you okay? Did you call me?" He heard the TYSON being yelled and this girl was the only person in the vicinity. "How'd you know my name?" Maybe she was a fan; his art wasn't known world-wide but he had quite a following. Perhaps she had seen one of his pieces or read a magazine article about him.
Tyson... Tyson was right in front of him... He looked as tall and aloof and handsome as ever but there was something missing in him. The way he looked at him. It broke Bohai's heart. How could he look at him like that? It was him! Couldn't he tell it was him?
Oh, right. He was... He looked down at the knees of a girl as he picked himself up. A short girl, at that. It was hard to believe that this was him in any capacity. But... but... but he had to!
Back on his feet, he made the unfamiliar body move toward him, toward Tyson. He looked so confused. And when he made it to him, Bohai reached out... and up, annoyingly--to cradle Tyson's face in his hands.
"It's me. Bohai. Don't you see me?"
There was something... off about the girl. Once she was on her feet, Tyson let go of her, fully intending to move on with his life, but she lurched towards him again and reached up to touch his face. At first, he was too stunned to do anything but stare at her. How rude—did she touch people like they were her lovers without permission all the time?
But then he stared at her for a whole different reason as an all-too-familiar name slipped out. Even the mention of Bohai ripped new wounds into his heart. Sucking in a swift, sharp breath, he pulled back.
"How do you know—"
Her words didn't make sense. She wasn't Bohai. Obviously. And if this was a joke, it wasn't funny at all. Tyson's expression darkened. He took another step back, away from her and her cruel prank. "I don't know what you're talking about. Leave me alone." It was too much to expect him to put up with someone whose sense of humor was derived from the pain of loss in others.
It was him, there was no mistaking that. But... whatever made him visible, whatever made him here, in the physical... it wasn't connecting. It wasn't right. It wasn't... him. But it was. It was definitely him. Just... why couldn't he find somebody that looked just like himself? Why couldn't he find somebody even remotely like himself, instead of this ditzy girl who ignored his pleas and... this BODY! DAMN IT!
Balling up his fists and tightening his jaw, Bohai could feel his face flushing with heat, his heart beating faster. That look. That look on Ty's face broke his heart, shattered it into pieces but it still kept right on beating.
"No!" Bohai tried to reach for him, grasping at air and then going for him again to grab onto his arm in an attempt to keep him from leaving.
"Don't leave me... please..."
"Stop it!"
His voice was sharp, jagged, and his laser-gaze bore holes into the annoying girl. Tyson jerked his arm away as though her touch burned him. He sought to free himself physically from her presence, not knowing why... why she thought this was in any way amusing. What was she getting out of this?
Wasn't it enough, having to watch Bohai wither before his eyes? To see that magnificent beauty wasting away to nothingness, for the world to be awash in colors and then suddenly drained until all of it was bleak, gray, dark and meaningless? Wasn't it hard enough to have to live when Bohai was gone, and knowing that...
Knowing that the world was empty, that there was truly nothing left...
Tyson's hands curled by his sides. He would never strike a girl, no matter how much she deserved it. "Leave me. Alone." The words were harsh even to his ears—emotional in a way that Tyson, always entombed in ice, never allowed the world to witness.
"Ty... please..."
Why wasn't he hearing him? Desperation filled his voice and his eyes. Or her eyes. That was the problem, wasn't it? Oh... oh, that was the problem! Bohai was nothing but a girl in the eyes of his lover and... and all he saw was her! How could he possibly see anything else? Frustrated, Bohai pulled at her hair and in the back of his mind, he could hear her protesting, pushing to get control back.
But he was here and he couldn't let him just go! What if he never saw him again?! Bohai tried again to grasp onto him, eyes on him, willing him to see him, to hear him as he was and not this girl. Hoping he could see through her and into his soul, that nebulous, fragile wisp of a soul that belonged nowhere now.
"Remember when I planned that big celebration for your birthday, the big surprise party? And right before I was about to open the door, you said you hated those things, you hated surprises? And I panicked and you went to unlock the door and I lied and I told you we couldn't go inside and you gave me that LOOK and asked me why and I lied and blurted out something stupid about bugs? Oh please, Ty, I know you remember!"
"NO TY! BUGS ARE—IN OUR BED! THEY'VE INFESTED OUR HOUSE!"
Tyson stopped with his hand outstretched, the key extended and ready to unlock the front door of his home. He stared in disbelief at Bohai. "Bugs. Are in our bed?" He repeated incredulously as his brows lifted. All this week Bohai had been acting squirrely. He was secretive, jumpy, nervous and anxious and Tyson didn't know why he was so worked up.
"I'm pretty sure there are no bugs in the house, Bo," he continued slowly, as the key inched towards the door.
Tyson stared at the girl as a torrent of words came from her. Did she even breathe once during that whole speech? He laughed, but it was a confused and almost hysterical noise—not an amused sound.
"How—were you there?" Was she at the party? When he finally got Bohai out of the way—actually had to manhandle him to physically stop him from obstructing Tyson—and the door opened, and everyone shouted in his face... Was she one of them? He didn't remember her. There were lots of people there, sure, but he would have remembered this girl being there...
He finally stopped trying to get away from her. "How did you know... about the bugs?"
"Because, Ty! I was the one who said it!" he said, words still spilling out of the girl's mouth in a rush, in a torrent. He didn't have time. The girl could kick him out at any moment--he could feel her starting to--and he didn't have much time. Tightening his hold on Ty, he leaned closer.
"I didn't know what else to say, I didn't want to let you in after you said you hated surprise parties, when I knew there was a surprise party on the other side of the door... But you... you were always stubborn and too smart. You saw right through me..."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair--only to find it much longer than he was used to. Annoyed, he untangled his hand from the long, wavy hair and tossed it over his shoulder just to get it out of the way.
"Don't you recognize me at all, Ty? It's me... Bo."
"What? No..."
Tyson stared at her. He stared and stared and stared at her, trying to make sense of what she was saying, trying not to give in to the impossible idea that this girl who spoke like Bohai could be him. He was dead. Bohai was dead. Tyson laid him to rest himself, he shed so many bitter tears over his grave...
But she said things that only Bohai could have known. Yet she wasn't him. She wasn't Bohai, she didn't look like him and Tyson couldn't believe that somehow his beloved muse, his life partner, could have been reborn in so short a time.
"You're. Bo?" He spoke jerkily as he reached out to touch her arm, as though he didn't believe that she was real. "No. Bohai is..." Tyson choked on the word. "Dead."
"One more bite. Come on, just one more bite, for me?"
Tyson brought the spoon up to Bohai's pale lips, smiling through the pain in his heart. Mango pudding was Bohai's favorite and Tyson had made this himself. His hand sported a painful burn mark but that was nothing on what his cracked heart was going through at the moment.
"One more bite and then I'll stop pestering you." He leaned in to kiss Bohai's cheek. It was cold, like ice. Tyson nudged the spoon closer to his lover's lips and held his breath as they opened. Once the spoon was taken away, Tyson's lips replaced it, nuzzling up against Bohai's in a soft, lingering kiss.
"I love you, ai xin," he whispered Bohai's pet name, holding back the swell of emotion inside. Tyson's hand cupped Bohai's cheek. Their foreheads touched. Bohai was his heart. His love. He could never lose him. Never, never. Without Bohai there was no Tyson.
Dead.
The word made Bohai swallow hard. Or the body he inhabited at the moment. It was so strange. Everything about this was so... strange. He remembered the life draining out of him. He remembered... dying. He tried so hard to hang on for as long as possible, not just for himself but for Ty. It turned out being stubborn didn't matter, not when death came for you.
Death came but it wasn't swift. Bohai felt it, every part of him dying, every part of him as it stopped functioning. But he tried. He really tried. Even now, he stared at Ty, not believing his luck. But his eyes--or rather, her eyes--filled with tears as he remembered how desperately he hung on and how hard Ty worked to keep him alive. Nothing could save him, not even the power of healing potions, not even the abilities of psychic. Not even love. Not even love could save him. Them.
"I..."
It was strange, being in this foreign body. Everything felt so wrong. He was so short. So small. Fragile. Before, when he was in his prime, he was a tall man, strong. They could look each other straight in the eyes. Now he was looking up and his hands felt so small when they reached up to cup Ty's face in them. So strange--it was no wonder that Ty didn't believe it was happening.
"I love you, ai xin," he said, repeating the last words he heard Ty say to him before he found himself in the body of a ghost.
"B-Bo?" He could hardly get the word out—the sound caught in the back of his throat, choking him. It felt as if the world stopped for a moment and in that single terrifying moment, Tyson dared to hope.
Hope was why he was here. Weary and battered, with no more reason to maintain his own existence, Tyson had hoped that he could find Bohai here. Through the power of mediums, he thought that there could be a chance—a last chance. This was supposed to be his final attempt, before he...
He wanted to be with Bohai so badly that the desire overrode all else. Even if it meant being laid to rest beside him, at least they would be together then, for all of eternity. It meant an end to the suffering, an end to feeling as though he was hollow, a shell of the man he used to be.
The world blurred and the back of his sinuses were on fire. Tyson blinked to clear his eyes and felt the tickle of his tears sliding down his face, but he was too focused on the girl before him. She couldn't know those exact words. There was no way for anyone to know that those were the last words Tyson ever whispered to his lover before he succumbed to the illness that ravaged his once-strong body.
"Boh—" He couldn't even finish saying his name. Tyson fell onto him—somehow trapped or reborn in the body of a girl—and let out a noise like a wounded animal. He didn't even feel shame as his sobs shook his body, with the joy and relief and terrible, consuming sadness of having lost Bohai, and unexpectedly finding him again.
Oh, he felt so weak, so feeble. He wrapped his arms around his once lover and he held him close and tight, hardly daring to breathe. It was a miracle in itself that he could breathe at all, that he found this girl, that she was close to Ty. He knew that she was, sensed it, as spirits could. He knew that he was close but he had no idea he would be this close. Yet here here was, in his arms again.
Once, Bohai was strong, robust, healthy. Athletic. He could leap over fences and sprint, he could tumble down grassy knolls and he could race up behind Ty and leap onto his back, despite being about as tall as he was. And then... something inside started to change. The world became blurrier. Things he once found easy to do were difficult. At first, he joked about it, laughing off the fact that he couldn't hit the same speeds he once hit. When he dropped the pickle jar instead of opening the lid, he blamed working out too hard, that he had sore muscles.
But it only got worse. And worse still, until he shriveled away, rapidly losing weight, losing his senses. He was so sick that he couldn't keep anything down. Doctors gave numbers. Grim numbers. Months to live. Weeks to live. Days to live. Minutes.
Despite the body not being his, he felt warmth tracking down his cheeks, his emotion so strong that it enfolded the channeler, too.
"I love you so much, Ty," he whispered, and he said it over and over and over again, afraid he might never get to say it again. Even now, his heart rattled painfully in his chest, so tight that he could scarcely breathe. The hands that weren't his found their way to Ty's hair, to smooth it, to take his wet cheeks in his hands. He just... he just wanted to look at him, to drink him in, so absorbed in his task that he forgot that Ty wasn't looking at him.
"I tried so hard... I tried so hard to stay for you but I... I..."
He was nothing now. A ghost in another body. Was this closure? What happened once he had it? Would he disappear for good?
He was ashamed to say that this was perhaps the first and only time he broke down like a baby in public. Tyson and emotional didn't belong in the same sentence together. Even when Bohai passed away, he went through the motions of burying him stone-faced. He didn't speak to a single person for nearly a month as he grieved, and the people around him who knew him left him alone to work through his emotions.
But this wasn't something he could 'work through' and come out on the other end feeling okay. The only thing that Tyson realized was that life was not worth living without Bohai. It was too much to have found his soul mate, then to have him ripped forcibly out of his life--and somehow 'be okay' with it. He wasn't okay with it and so, if this last-ditch effort hadn't panned out... Tyson was fully prepared to join Bohai, wherever he may be. It was better than living an entire lifetime without him.
He gazed down at Bohai--or the girl whose body Bohai inhabited--as hands came up to cup his face. The motion was familiar but everything else was so strange, knowing that behind that girl's face was his Bohai. "I know," he managed to whisper as he pulled Bohai back in close, lowering his head into the crook of the girl's neck. It was... foreign. He was used to holding a body as tall as he was, as strong and athletic. Now it felt like there was so little to hold, like the last few days of Bohai's short life when he began to waste away. Just... a tiny sliver of Bohai to grasp onto with desperate hands...
"...don't go..." His voice was a tremulous, barely-audible whisper. Words he wanted to say to Bohai in his last days, but couldn't because he knew that he had to be strong for both of them. Tyson held him tight, tight, tight... "Please don't go."
"I won't."
He wouldn't. He wouldn't go anywhere. There were no plans to go anywhere. If he could stay at Ty's side for the rest of time, or for the rest of Ty's time before they could be truly reunited, then that was what he planned to do! He clung to Tyson, almost in disbelief. He... he could feel him, so familiar. He could smell him, the familiar scent of his shampoo, his skin. The familiar body, the shape, the voice. His heart ached for Tyson; how foreign it must feel now to be holding somebody else.
But he swore, it was him. It was him inside.
"I love you. Forever." And beyond time. Always. He wanted to say more; there was so much more to share, to talk about. They had so much time to explain things. Bohai had so much to tell Tyson! But he could feel something in the back of his mind pushing and his heart beat faster as he realized what was happening.
"No... no... no..." he murmured, trying to push the girl back. This was his time! His time!
He could live with this—with her. Tyson was so relieved to have Bohai back that he didn't care if the body was different, as long as they could be together. Happiness wasn't dependent on appearances; Tyson fell in love with Bohai's free spirit, with his sense of humor, with the way that he made Tyson's life more complete in every single way. They were light and dark, yin and yang, two parts of a whole.
"I love you too," he mirrored, holding Bohai close. Part of him was afraid that Bohai would disappear again. Or, worse, that he would wake up to an empty bed and empty apartment, with all the echoes of their laughter haunting his nights and days. His fingers clenched around the girl's coat and he shut his eyes tight and prayed. Tyson prayed with everything he had to keep him, but...
"Bo? What is it?" He pulled back as Bohai began to mutter, alarm written in every line of his face. Tyson shook his head, frantic again. No no no... no he couldn't lose Bohai again! Not again! Clinging to his lover in desperation, Tyson breathed in sharply and erratically. "No please. Please stay. Please please don't go Bo. Don't go!"
"I... I... I'm trying," he said, furrowing the girl's brow as he concentrated on staying in the body. But he was still weak in spirit and the girl had a lot more experience dealing with belligerent spirits. After a moment, she successfully pushed him away and immediately, she tried to move away from the man called Tyson. Bohai, meanwhile, was left helplessly standing over them, watching as his beloved Tyson tried to hold onto him.
//No! NO! TY! Can you hear me?!// he called in vain. Luli shook her head, both as a response and also to shake off the remnants of Bohai's heavy, desperate emotions. That kind of emotion took a toll on her; she couldn't hold onto a spirit that long when they were feeling things so strongly. It ended up confusing her and that always ended with her pulling away. She had to; part of her was afraid she could lose her whole identity to a spirit that was stubborn and dedicated enough.
"I'm--I'm really sorry!" Luli said. "But I... I can't let him stay any longer."
Just like that...
Just like that, in the blink of an eye, Bohai was gone. Tyson knew it because he knew Bohai's manner, his demeanor, even the way he held himself and once Bohai was gone, and the girl had come back, everything was different. He didn't let the girl go, though, despite her attempt to twist out of his grasp. He held on to her by the upper arms, gripping her tightly.
"No! Bring him back!" Wild-eyed and with that ugly desperation welling up inside, Tyson shook her as though he might somehow dislodge her and allow Bohai to slip back in. "Bring Bohai back! Bring him back, you have to bring him back! Bohai! Bohai!"
They were both so mad at her!
No... Mad wasn't the word. They were both desperate. And sad. They were both really sad. And they wanted to be together but... but how was Luli supposed to help with that? She couldn't just be Bohai forever! She had her own life and she couldn't throw it all away to let that guy take over her body. Besides... she didn't think she could just give up her body like that. What would happen to her spirit?! It scared her and she tried in vain to get away from the man who held onto her, demanding that she bring back his lover.
"I--I can't!"
Which was maybe a little bit of a lie. He was still there, hovering close by, also demanding to use her body just a little longer. Pleading with her. But she... she couldn't!
"I can't!" she said again, trying to steady herself because the shaking was giving her an awful headache and truthfully making her feel a little sick. "Let go of me!"
"Is he still here?!" Tyson wasn't letting go. He wasn't letting go of her, if she was his last chance at being able to reunite with Bohai! Although he stopped shaking her around, he kept a hold of her and searched her desperately, trying to find any last hint that Bohai was inside. This was beyond his ability to understand but he knew that for a brief moment, Bohai had been there.
It didn't matter at all how that was possible. Tyson wasn't a superstitious person normally; he didn't believe in things like ghosts and goblins. Psychics were hacks that gullible people turned to and he used to laugh about it but... Now he was on the other side. Now he was the desperate one, searching for even the tiniest shred of hope.
"What happened to him? Where is he?!" Tyson looked up as though he could see something up in the air. Was Bohai nearby? Was he trying to get back into this girl's body, to talk to him again, to touch him and hold him and tell him that he loved him?
"Y-yes!"
She looked around, just as the man--Tyson--did. Could he see him? Tilting her head, she regarded the wild look in his eyes and how he never settled right onto Bohai, despite him standing perfectly still beside her. No, no, he couldn't see him. Disappointment shuddered through her and she could tell that it was partly a remnant of Bohai, too. He was disappointed. He was upset at not being able to be seen and experienced by his lover. Ex-lover. Hm. What did a person call that?
Luli gently brushed the air where Bohai stood, even if she could have pointed anywhere and the poor man would have believed her. Luli had never used her abilities to laugh at somebody, although she had seen her family cheat people... She wasn't really on board with that, either.
"He's still here. He's been following me for a while, looking for you. But listen, listen!" Before he went around asking her to let him in again, she had to be clear and put her foot down. "I can't keep channeling him for you. I mean... I can channel him for you... sometimes. But not... it's not something that's meant to happen for um... extended periods of time? It's tiring and it wears out the body!"
She reached up and grasped at her hair, self conscious. "My mother said it made her go grey early!"
"He's still here?"
Tyson's heart settled down a little, from a frantic drumbeat to a dull thump. He looked to the place where the girl indicated and then let go of her so that he too could touch the air where Bohai was. Did he touch him? Any part of him? Was Bohai standing right there?
She said he'd been following him... Bohai had been with him. For how long? What had he seen? Had he been there while Tyson grieved? Was he always there, beside him, while he traveled across the country, searching for someone—anyone—who could help him reconnect with his lover? Did he know how close Tyson had been to... joining him?
"Bohai?" Tyson stepped closer to the spot where Bohai was, only half listening to the girl now. She could channel him... sometimes. That was better than nothing, but it wasn't nearly enough for Tyson. He needed Bohai forever. They were supposed to be together for all their lives—this one, the next, the one after that...
"You can channel him again? He's not going away?" Finally he looked back at the girl, as though only just noticing her. Tyson reached down and took her hand, this time with a far less aggressive grip. He just wanted to hold on to her—to hold on to his chances at seeing Bohai again. "When? When can I talk to him again?"
The sound that came out of Bohai as his lover reached for him and his hand moved right through him... It almost didn't sound human. Like an animal, a hurt animal. It made Luli's heart wrench for him. This was the trouble with channeling spirits. It was impossible for her not to feel for them, especially once they'd made the bond of sharing a body. Luli lowered her head and listened to Tyson move closer to the ghost.
//Ty... I'm here! I'm right here! Just keep looking and you'll--I know you'll see me!//
Luli raised her hands up to her face. It was horrific. Why did they have to be separated? Even knowing she could help soothe it for a little while, in the end... one of them was dead and the other was alive. And the worst part was, even if Tyson tried to join him in the afterlife, there was no guarantee that he would. That was the worst part. They could be apart forever.
"Um, well," Luli said, lowering her hands, only to have Tyson take one of them. More gently this time, at least. "I just... I need to eat a lot to get my energy back up. And a good night's rest. I can try after that...?"
"All right." He held on to her hand and started walking towards the center of town, where there was sure to be restaurants and hotels--food and rest, she said. And then he could have Bohai back again. That seemed fair and although Tyson was already impatient, looking forward to speaking with his departed lover, he knew that he shouldn't push the girl too hard. If something happened to her, he might never speak to Bohai again...
"What's your name? Is there anything you want to eat in particular?" The wind picked up behind them, as though pushing them towards town. He tried to shield her as he walked; she was now the most precious thing in the world to him and he was going to make damn well sure nothing happened to her. Not even a cold, not so much as a sniffle.
Oh! He was being so gentlemanly! Luli didn't think she was one that easily swooned but... he was a handsome, tall man and he looked just like a prince from a fairy tale! She wanted to smack herself on both cheeks to wake herself up from her weird dream. Besides... he wasn't just being nice to be nice. He had that past lover of his literally lingering behind them as they walked through the sudden storm that came out of nowhere.
"I'm Zhou Luli. You can just call me Luli!" And since he didn't really introduce himself, she gently poked him over the heart. "And you're Tyson, I know that much."
From his boyfriend, the one that was still lingering and watching their every move. It made things a little uncomfortable but it wasn't like it was new; Luli had been stalked by ghosts since she was a baby. Lucky for her, she had come from a family that knew what she was seeing and talking to. Otherwise, life could have been a lot rougher!
"Have you tried the Panda Panda Palace?" she asked eagerly. "The cooks there are old friends of my mom and they're really, really good! Wonton soup sounds perfect right now that it's raining. What do you think?"
"Luli..." He repeated her name softly under his breath to commit it to memory. Now he had a name and if he ever got separated from her, he knew who to look for. Good. As for his own name, well, obviously it was Tyson, and he half-smiled at the poke to the chest. Right where it felt the most hollow. "Yes, I'm Tyson. Liu." His name probably meant nothing to her—not unless she was an avid art fan—but hers meant everything to him.
As they walked, Tyson kept looking around, trying to see Bohai. Was he here? There? Was he beside Tyson? Briefly he reached out into the space beside his free hand, as though to reach for another hand, and then slowly he pulled it back. He couldn't touch Bohai, not unless he was in Luli's body, but... still. It still felt better to know that Bohai was there, beside him, watching over him.
"Hm? Panda Panda Palace? Is that anything like Panda Express?" He didn't know about these small-town Asian restaurants but he wasn't the one eating. The last thing he felt like doing was stuff his face. His thoughts were too preoccupied by Bohai and by what just happened with Luli. Tyson's hand around hers tightened slightly as he fought his way against the wind, which had picked up considerably.
"It sounds fine. I'll buy you anything you want. But I don't know where it is, so you'll have to lead the way." He pulled her closer as fat droplets began to fall. "Should we run for it?"
"A little. But less fast food and more hometown food!"
It was located in the part of town they called Little Asia because of the pocket of Asians that had taken up residence within. It was a cool place to Luli, who enjoyed perusing the pretty shops and the various places to eat. Luli smiled as the hand that held hers tightened slightly and she swung their hands together.
"Okay! Ready? Run!"
She laughed a little as she led Tyson to the little restaurant with its lanterns and window painting of little roly-poly pandas. It was a cute little place but of course, the food was the real reason to eat there. They entered as quickly as possible but they were still pretty soaked from the savage storm that came out of nowhere outside. Meanwhile, the inside of the restaurant was bustling and warm. It seemed several others had taken refuge inside as well.
"Where do you want to sit?" Luli asked. Then: "Bohai says he wants to sit there."
She pointed to a table near a window. "He says he likes sitting by the windows?"
Dashing through the rain against the wind robbed Tyson of nearly all his breath; it felt a little like that first moment he met Bohai, with all the air escaping out of his lungs. That seemed like a lifetime ago, though. So much had happened between that fateful moment and now, as he tried to outrun a storm with Luli laughing by his side. Tyson didn't laugh; adrenaline ran through him but not exhilaration, because all of his laughter and all of his joy went with Bohai.
Inside the restaurant, he was enveloped in warmth and the familiar scents of Asian food. Diners chattered amongst themselves, adding to the busy atmosphere and contributing to the noise level. Tyson preferred to eat in quiet surroundings, but beggars couldn't exactly be choosers here. He was about to head off towards an empty table when Luli pointed to one by the window and Tyson stopped short.
"...he did. He... does." Bohai was here, he had to remember that. Bohai was with him. Tyson strode boldly over to the table by the window and pulled out a chair for Luli first, before seating himself. A kindly middle-aged waitress came over to hand them steaming cups of green tea and pushed menus before them. Tyson barely looked at his; he studied the empty seat beside him with faraway eyes, wondering if Bohai was there now, sitting beside him...
"Order anything you want," he said absently to Luli as he finally tore his gaze away from the chair. But under the table, he rested a hand on the edge of the seat.
Bohai always loved sitting by the windows because it gave him something to talk about with Tyson. He could spend hours in a nice little cafe if they were by the window, where conversation turned organically from events in their lives to the things they observed outside the windows. Plus, he loved birds and he liked to watch them if there were trees close by. When he was a kid, he used to feed them, too, until he learned that was bad for the birds.
Luli sat down with a "Thank you," after Tyson politely pulled a chair out for her. Should she say any of what she just learned from Bohai? He was still with them, invisible to the one that mattered, but he had a lot to say to Luli, about window seats, about birds, about how he wished that she would just please let him borrow her body.
"Really? Anything I want?" Her eyes were like stars then. She knew just what she wanted to order; she wasn't kidding when she said it took a lot of food to get her energy back. Hopefully he wouldn't regret buying her the food but some part of her thought she should just take him up on it. After all, he did want her to channel his lover again, and she couldn't do it very long if she tried to be polite and eat like a prim girl.
When she looked up, she saw that Tyson was looking at the chair beside him. Was he aware that Bohai was there? Could he feel him? Maybe he had a little bit of the psychic ability in him, then! But he wasn't looking right at him, not the way Bohai was, who was watching Tyson like he had a lot to say to him. Luli felt the guilt eating at her again, even though she had every right to eject him from her body.
"He must care about you a lot," she said carefully. "To stick around this stubbornly."
Bohai loved windows and he loved window seats, which meant that Tyson was forced to love the seat next to the window seat, both in cafes and on airplanes, on trains, on buses—any mode of transportation that had a window seat was off limits to him. He didn't mind much because he usually slept if they were traveling somewhere, and in cafes he liked to sit and listen. Tyson was a great listener, but a terrible conversationalist.
So he left the seat beside him free, the one right beside the rain-soaked window. It was really coming down out there; he could barely make out the shapes of cars and other buildings. People were running to get out of the deluge but luckily they had escaped it just in time. He nodded and managed a slight smile at Luli's enthusiasm—or disbelief—at his offer. "Yes. Whatever you want." Money was no object to Tyson, not anymore. Not when Bohai wasn't here to enjoy what money could offer them—trips abroad, good food and wine, creature comforts.
As he waved a waitress over to take Luli's order, he looked at the seat next to him again. Bohai had to be there. He wouldn't sit beside Luli, after all, not when Tyson was here. That knowledge was a small grain of comfort, at least. "He loves me." His reply was simple but that didn't take away from the truth of it. Bohai promised to be with him forever... but neither of them knew how brief forever could be. Tyson blinked hard for a moment just as their waitress returned to take their orders, looking expectantly at Luli first.
Since she had been given the okay, Luli ordered all of her favorite things. There were egg rolls and the wonton soup and dumplings and of course, rice and some orange chicken and a couple of other things. Oh! And she added an iced tea to the list. Once her order had been taken, she clapped her hands together and looked over them at Tyson.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
There were no words for how hungry she got after channeling somebody's spirit. Even now, her stomach was rumbling, as if impatient for all that food she saw.
Bohai looked distressed and he was trying to touch Tyson. Biting her lip and looking downward at the table, Luli traced shapes on the old tabletop. It wasn't as if she didn't feel bad for the people who came to her for help. When people died suddenly or with too many hopes still left, they were anchored to this world. It was a kind of torture. Instead of passing on, like they should have, they were stuck here in a world where few could see or interact with them.
And even worse, when they were attached to a person. Because... well, one day Tyson would die and then what would become of Bohai? Luli knew; he would rot. His spirit would twist into something terrible. Into what they called a demon, a spirit gone bad. We should help him move on, she almost said but when she looked back up, she had a feeling that it wasn't the right time to say so. Tyson was in a bad place, too. He needed to reach an understanding before he could fully appreciate what she meant. Right now, he was still too sad, too hurt. He needed Bohai around, even if he was just a spirit that he couldn't even see or hear.
"He only wants to be with you," she said, because it was the simple way of conveying the way the ghost was looking at his lover. "That's why he's still here."
"I'll have another glass of tea, please," Tyson said when it came time for him to order, feeling even less hungry than he did when he first met Luli. His appetite wasn't there. He'd been growing thinner and thinner since Bohai passed away and people had grown concerned about him, but Tyson simply lost interest in the world around him. He didn't care for or about food, drink or entertainment. Life was dull and empty for him without Bohai.
The waitress didn't seem that concerned about the imbalance of their orders but Tyson suspected she thought Luli had ordered for both of them. She certainly seemed to have ordered half the menu. Tyson didn't mind; he offered to pay and told her she could have anything she wanted. Money was not an issue, not even for a disproportionately large meal for one person.
"Yes." Tyson kept looking at the empty chair, at the space where Bohai was. His hand on the seat curled in as though he could hold Bohai's hand but all he got was a fistful of air. "I know that's why he's here." Bohai promised to never leave him. He was keeping that promise, that was all. Tyson's smile barely curved his lips as he leaned closer to the empty chair, gazing at the space where Bohai's face might have been.
"I won't make you wait long, Bo..."
"Wh-what? No!"
Luli actually shot out of her chair, standing up and staring at Tyson in horror. It didn't help that he only had half the story. But when Tyson said he wouldn't make him wait, Bohai looked at him with adoration and he-he-he wanted him to do it! Luli swept her hands in an X in front of her.
"No, no! Don't!"
A waitress came over, concerned. "Is everything all right?"
Blushing, Luli quickly dropped back into her seat. "Of course! Everything's fine. Fine."
When the waitress finally left, Luli breathed in, hand on her chest. Jeez, her heart was beating way too fast, scared, as if Tyson was about to drop dead right in front of her. Leaning forward, she lowered her voice in case people were listening. It certainly felt like there were a lot of eyes on her now.
"You can't do that. Killing yourself won't work! There's no guarantee you'll come back a ghost and even if you do, the longer a spirit stays tethered to this world, the more warped they become! Trust me, you don't want that, either of you!"
She looked over at Bohai with a severe expression too.
Realistically Tyson knew that Luli couldn't stay with them forever. Realistically he knew that she had her own life to live, and that it was cruel and wrong to keep her around solely for the purpose of channeling Bohai. And... she wasn't Bohai. Even if Bohai's spirit entered her, he was merely borrowing her body. Their time together would always be cut short; they could never return to the way they were.
This temporary balm on his broken heart was a welcomed relief but it wasn't a cure. The only cure was to join Bohai. To be with him in eternity, the way they were meant to be. Tyson knew Bohai agreed because if their positions were reversed, he would want the same. But he didn't expect Luli to have such a violent reaction to his words--words not even meant for her, but for Bohai sitting beside him. Tyson looked up at her in astonishment. He was about to pull her back down when the waitress came over, and Luli reassured her and sent her away.
He listened to her whispers but his mind was already made up. Tyson didn't say anything for a while. He looked at the empty seat, at the place where Bohai used to be. He tried to imagine himself in a year without Bohai and there was just... nothing. Nothing came up. Nothing.
"If I go, he'll go with me," he said to Luli at last. "There wouldn't be anyone tethering him to this world then."
They were both so, ugh! Why were men so dumb? They were going to screw up big time if they thought they would just be ghosts together. Plus, Luli didn't want the man to kill himself just to be with his lover! It must hurt, now, but if he only let time pass, it would hurt a little less with each day. He just... he just had to keep living. For himself! For Bohai!
Only, Bohai was all too happy to hear that his lover wanted to join him. Wisely, Luli didn't share this with Tyson. But Bohai was over the moon about it. His eyes shone with unshed tears and he reached for the arm that he couldn't touch, that his hand went right through, hand sliding to a hand he also couldn't touch.
She didn't know what to say in the face of that, though. If Tyson killed himself... If he killed himself to be with somebody who was already passed, who was tethered to the world in a different way... Sometimes when somebody killed themselves, they stayed behind because the world was cruel; most people who killed themselves couldn't stand this reality anymore and wanted to escape it. Tyson wouldn't want to be here; he just wanted to be with Bohai.
"You shouldn't be thinking about killing yourself. You should be..." She glanced at Bohai, who seemed not to like her much. "You should be thinking of how to help him move onto the next life so that when you do die, you'll be together. Because if you kill yourself and he's still here and you're not, he's going to be stuck here."
"...I see."
Tyson knew nothing about how the afterlife worked, or about ghosts and their reasons for lingering. He thought simply, perhaps naively, that Bohai was only here because he was here. And if he died then couldn't they both move on? Couldn't they be together in the next life? In the afterlife? But Luli was suggesting that he could go and Bohai could be stuck here, in which case what else could keep Bohai here?
He would have to ask Bohai in person when he next took over the girl's body. Arguing with her was pointless; Tyson didn't want to upset her further or drive her away. She might run off on him, afraid to let him come into contact with Bohai in case he tried to go through with his plans. So he smiled reassuringly at her and nodded slowly.
"All right. We'll help him move on first. You should eat, don't let your food go cold."
He turned to the chair again and smiled softly at the air. At Bohai. Tyson knew that Bohai would understand what he was doing by placating Luli. Bohai could practically read his mind the second day they got together--that was how strong their bond was. And Bohai would know that Tyson would do anything--anything--to be with him.