By some miracle, Jack managed to drag himself out of bed before nine. He eyed the bed linens sitting next to the couch as he riffled through his clothing. He should just get over it, throw them in the laundry room, and stop pretending. It was his second morning of waking up in Kieran's bed, having crawled into it some time past midnight. He was already looking forward to tomorrow morning and being half awake for a kiss on the forehead.

He finished getting ready as he mulled over the fact that he was properly moving in. His normal anxiety and panic was lined with a warm feeling of belonging that only made it worse. Thankfully, his shopping bag of Christmas presents held a different sort of anxiety to distract him.

He poked around the apartment for a few more minutes, hoping to find a stash of wrapping paper, but he came up empty. He resorted to wrapping Tara's gifts in discarded printer paper. They weren't pretty, but he'd made the effort to draw some Christmas trees and Santa heads with a red Sharpie on the paper.

He tossed the pair of gifts into the shopping bag that held the rest of his presents, and went about grabbing everything he needed to survive the outside world. As he headed down the haunted murder stairs, he couldn't keep his eyes from darting over every corner and step.

No signs of Lindsey nor Thomas. No unexpected drafts. No whispers. He should be safe.

In the shop, he found Kieran mounting an old wooden rotary phone on the wall behind the register. He shivered as a soft breeze brushed his ear and braced himself.

"He thinks he's being mean, but I can put the receiver on top," Lindsey said from beside Jack. "Unless that's the plan? There's a table under it, but that's more awkward. On top makes it look like they're on hold."

He looked over to find a dark shadow standing next to him and quickly looked away. It was too early to be staring at strange apparitions his eyes could barely focus on. "What happens if he sells it? Do you get a princess phone?" he asked. A pastel princess phone would fit Lindsey's style perfectly. Or a nice, chunky cordless.

"I dunno. I just know I get to answer. All of it," she said, her wide grin evident in her voice. "The land line's what he's gonna give Colette to give everyone else. Augie called yesterday, so he had me update the website with it, too."

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Jack would have offered to do it, and maybe fix a few other things while he was at it, but he couldn't really bring himself to steal the little joys in Lindsey's afterlife. "Have fun with your phone?"

"Thanks! I will. Gonna go flip the sign and welcome the day. Catch ya' later," she said as she dissipated.

Jack hurried to Kieran's side just in time to see the sour look directed at the phone's receiver. "Not working?"

"Worse. A perfectly clear dial tone." Kieran replaced the receiver with an annoyed sigh. "This is Lindsey's phone. If, by chance, you feel obligated to answer it, you work here, and your name is not Jack."

"Okay? Why am I Crappy Kyle again?" Jack didn't think it would be an issue. He had no compulsion to answer ringing phones that weren't his own. He didn't have Missy's experience of being bogged down by customers while the phone rang. He eyed the phone with a wariness he saved for the mice living in his apartment's laundry room. He would avoid the phone for now and not nurture any need to answer it. He had enough things to cringe away from; he didn't need to add other people's phones to the list.

"I've been welcomed back into the fold," Kieran said with a bitter smile. He leaned back against the counter, glaring at the phone. "The fewer reasons others have to contact me, the better."

That caught Jack's attention. He was already something of a reason for others to intrude on Kieran's life. Somehow, Kieran was under the impression it would get worse. "I'd be a reason?" he quietly asked.

Kieran nodded and grimaced as the chimes on the door rang. "Few will try anything."

"Like Museum Snake Guy? Like, they're gonna think I'm some sorta weird little freak and feel sorry for me?"

"I think he feels sorry for everyone and their decisions. He's much older than I, so he possibly sees us as small children mucking about in the creek and getting sick for it when warned not to." Kieran shook his head and lightly touched Jack's shoulder.

"Right. As long as no one's coming for me and my neck?"

"Doubtful. Even with Colette's acceptance, my reputation should still be enough of a deterrent."

Jack let out a soft sigh of relief. "That's good. Well, in a good for me way, and a… Good? Just good." He gave Kieran a shrug in response to the amused look he received. "I'm gonna go meet up with Tara and give her her present. And bum some wrapping paper off her. And maybe actually wrapping things."

"Have fun, sweet thing," Kieran said. He kissed Jack lightly and dipped back in for a quick and thorough kiss. "I'll see you later. I may close up shop early, so you might want to try the back first."

Jack nodded through his blush and headed on his way.

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]