A filing cabinet and a stack of document boxes caught Jack's attention as he followed Kieran through the shop's backdoor. One box had been labeled "1910 - 1920: Jewelry", giving Jack an idea of how he was going to be spending his spare time. It wasn't exactly free time if he was getting paid to catalog random crap, but the prospect of rifling through old photos of Kieran would not be a hardship.

He spotted a box containing a new scanner sitting atop the filing cabinet. "Ooh, nice brand," he said, pointing with the corner of the box he held.

Kieran looked over and nodded. "It was suggested that it might be helpful."

Freezing cold enveloped Jack's right arm, and he pulled away. "Hi. I think."

"Jack will be staying with us for a while," Kieran said as he set Jack's backpack beside the stairway leading to the upstairs apartment.

The temperature dipped further then immediately went back to normal.

"You should head upstairs, I'll get the rest of your bags." Kieran headed back out, pausing to frown at the floor near the threshold. He looked around the surrounding area and sighed in resignation. He clenched his fist as he pushed open the door and quickly snatched his hand away from the knob.

"Okay?" Was there a surprise waiting? Jack hoped it wasn't something over the top. Then again, Kieran hadn't been planning on Jack staying over, but who knew what he could get up to with a whole day to himself.

He ascended the stairs and entered Kieran's apartment, hoping that Kieran hadn't invested in a fold-out couch. What greeted him was an organized mess. Chairs were stacked on the dining room table, paintings hung upside down, cupboards and drawers were open, and the television was stuck in a loop of an overly gory scene from a horror flick.

He quickly pulled his eyes away from the television, his stare landing on the kitchen and a pillow fort made of couch cushions. He'd killed a guy, and Kieran had dismembered the corpse in the apartment he now stood in. Why did he think this was a good idea?

Jack kept his eyes on the kitchen and flinched as a scream queen performed her job to the best of her ability. For a moment, he thought he could smell bleach.

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The television shut off, and a soft whisper drifted through the air. "Sorry."

"I guess this is how you yell at people?" he asked as he hesitantly moved further into the apartment. He could do this. It was only temporary.

"It's his fault you left," Lindsey petulantly replied.

Jack would have considered it his own fault for not being able to deal with anything. He still didn't want to, but his new journaling habit was making the prospect easier to accept. "It was a lot of things. Vampire and ghost stuff was just… I dunno," he said as he set his box on the coffee table. "I can adjust to that, but… How much do you know about me getting, uh, kidnapped?"

"That Kieran found you, and then you broke up with him. You've been avoiding him for over a month! You didn't even bother to sneak by the alley to check in with me."

He did feel a little guilty over not visiting Lindsey, but it wasn't exactly easy for him to sneak by, say "hi", and duck out. "Sorry… I have a lot on my mind. Besides, there's a camera back there. My track record with vampires is so not good. And getting kidnapped didn't exactly help matters," he tried to explain. "And then finding out Augie fucking used me… Lotsa vampire issues."

"Vampires!" Lindsey stressed, seeping another bout of coldness into the air beside Jack. "Not ghosts! We can't do anything beyond maybe chucking a brick at your dense skull!"

Jack looked around the apartment with an incredulous frown. "This looks like more than a brick…"

"I just wanted my friend back, and you grouped me in with that depressed jerk!"

"I didn't—"

"Lindsey! Leave him be."

Jack cringed and gripped his elbows at the sudden reprimand. He turned to face Kieran, relieved to see an apologetic grimace directed at him. No one was mad at him. He was fine. He busied himself with poking his finger through a buttonhole on his coat.

"I'm not—!" Lindsey let out a frustrated growl. "I just want things to go back the way they were. I don't want you scared of me."

"It's not just you. Lotsa things scare me." Jack shivered as his breath came out in a small puff of fog. He watched Kieran go about placing his bags by the couch, politely ignoring the pair as he turned back to head down the stairs. "They're just in a weird order."

"I don't wanna be treated like I'm dead. I'm alive enough."

Jack scoffed and waved in the direction of Lindsey's voice. "I can't even see you right now, so I'm gonna have to argue against that."

"See? Like that! Treat me like normal. You don't gotta tiptoe around things."

Jack opened his mouth, ready to continue his argument. His thoughts tripped over the contradiction. How was he supposed to not tiptoe around Lindsey being dead, but treat her like she wasn't? "I'll try?"

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