Do you have that one restaurant that you’ve claimed as your personal treasure?

Where they don’t even hand you a menu when you walk in, and just start cooking your order?

Where the concept of having a bad meal is so improbable in your mind that you cannot even begin to process it?

For me, that’s Mickey’s Diner, just a few blocks away from my apartment. It is my special treasure, open twenty-four hours a day.

When I need service with a smile and my arteries clogged with love, it’s my one stop shop. It gets a bit crowded due to its small size and the decor is kitschy, but hey, I like kitsch and usually don’t hate people.

It’s my go-to stop when I’m entertaining visitors from the supernatural realms.

Apparently.

“So you just killed him? No hesitation?” Lee says as we walk in the front door.

“Uhh… Yeah, I totally fragged him! That’s how I won that round of the first-person shooter game. I totally owned him. With a… plasma rifle and stuff.”

I pull him into one of the booths and, pulling him close, whisper in his ear, “Maybe talking about me killing people isn’t such a great idea?”

He smiles, looking bemused. “What do you think they’re gonna do to you?”

“Like… Arrest me?”

He shakes his head. “Not a problem. You’re not on their level anymore, Jenn. You have the power to shape the world around you how you want.”

“What do you mean?”

“So, let’s say someone did know you killed our man Brody,” he says.

“Which, by the way, was super lame,” Brody adds from inside me.

“You’d have a number of options. You could erase their memory; you could send them off to another dimension; you could… Well, you probably wouldn’t want to annihilate people in most situations, but it’d certainly be an option.”

“Sorry for the wait, y’all!”

Oh, thank God. Betty, my knight in greasy apron, walks up to our table, pen and pad ready to take our order. I don’t think she’s much older than me chronologically, but she feels like she’s been at this diner for as long as humanity has required sustenance.

“Why, Jenn! You’ve brought a friend in this fine mornin’!” she says.

“Call him a… colleague,” I say.

“Potential business associate,” Lee says.

“That’s the word.”

“Well, whatever the word is, what can I get y’all?” Betty says.

“You know my usual,” I say. “Plus an extra biscuit or two, please. I need a little something.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Betty says. “Oh, were you involved with all that business? I heard about it on the radio.”

I tense up and shoot a glance at Lee. He still doesn’t look too concerned.

“You were workin’ at that big tech company that had all those layoffs, right, Jenn?”

…Well, that was a freebie.

“Y-yeah, I was part of that,” I say.

“Damn shame. I’m sure you’ll find something new soon, though! Maybe with this fine gentleman! Speakin’ of you, sir, what can I get started for you?”

“A stack of pancakes and some coffee, please,” he says.

“You want some coffee too, right, Jenn?”

“Please,” I say.

“Alright. Nothin’ on the side with those pancakes, sir?”

“Based on the stories Jenn’s told me, the pancakes and some syrup will be more than enough,” he says with a sly smile.

“Well, alright,” she says. “I’ll go get that started for y’all and get you your coffee. Sit tight, OK?”

“Of course,” I say.

As Betty walks away, I turn back to Lee. “You’re pretty slick,” I say.

“After a few centuries, you learn a few tricks,” he says.

“The pancakes are pretty friggin’ great, though.”

“Glad to hear it,” he says.

“So, you said last night that most souls slip away before you can catch them,” I say.

“That’s right,” Lee says.

“So how come Brody’s didn’t?”

Lee frowns. “That’s a good question. You usually have to make arrangements beforehand. Maybe he just couldn’t bear the thought of being away from you.”

“Oh, come on,” I say, wincing.

“It’s a real phenomenon,” Lee says. “Souls that can’t bear to leave something here behind stick around for as long as they can. Of course, if the other party can’t see them, then they eventually get pulled away. So hey, maybe it’s true love. Or maybe he really needs to finish watching a TV show. Something’s keeping him here.”

“And we’re gonna give him his body back after we eat?” I ask.

“That’s the plan.”

“Can’t wait,” he says.

You and me both, bub.

“I can still read your thoughts, you know,” he says.

“Oh my God,” I say, pressing the back of my head against the booth and lifting my eyes skyward. “This is unbearable.”

“Well, technically, it’s not, since you’re still bearing it, so…”

STOP. Or I will figure out how to send your soul to the deepest reaches of darkness, never to return, dudebro.

…That’s better.

I go through my texts. “How’s ur head?” from Steph (she’s too good to me, y’all); about a half-dozen worried “Are you feeling OK???” messages from Mom; a text from…

Oh, Lord.

A text from Arthur.

Of course a text from Arthur.

“Hey! Just wanted to check in. Can’t believe they let you go! If you pick up any leads, let me know, huh? ;)”

It wasn’t enough for him to hover by my desk every time he got a break. Now he has to continue his legacy by texting me, only adding to my pain and woe.

It’d be one thing if he’d just ask me out, but he does the non-committal not-flirting-but-totally-flirting thing with me.

I don’t have time for this. I shoot back a “K” and hope that settles it, at least for the moment.

“Here y’are, y’all,” Betty says, setting down two mugs and a pot of coffee, along with a two tiny, adorable cups of cream.

“Bless you, Betty,” I say, watching her pour my first cup and hand it to me. “May your life be long and prosperous.”

“Same to you, Jenn,” she says, smiling as she serves up Lee’s first round. “And here’s yours, sir.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” he says, taking the cup.

“Y’all’s orders are almost done, so sit tight for a spell and enjoy.”

“Thank you,” I say, pouring the cream into the coffee and watching it swirl, hypnotized by the emerging amorphous forms.

Of course, my brain is too distracted to focus on even swirling creamer for too long.

“Honestly, I’m surprised how OK with this whole situation you are,” Lee says, adding an amount of sugar to his mug that I would call irresponsible if he were attached to his current form as much as most of us are.

“Excuse me?” I say before taking a sip. So good.

“Well, you know, the fact that you’re now… different. Radically different from everyone around you. You’re adapting quite quickly to the idea.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“I suppose not,” he says.

“When you grow up bi in the middle of Nebraska, you get used to it,” I say.

He nods. “The thing is, you’re not, uh… how do I say it? You’re not revelling in it,” he says. “You’re not pondering the various dastardly schemes you could pull off with the power, or the altruistic ones, either. Not out loud, at least. That’s weird.”

“There are some things that I’m sure these powers could never do,” I say as I hear Betty’s footsteps approaching. “…This is one of those things.”

Betty walks up and sets down a beautiful platter, almost overflowing with hashbrowns, three slices of bacon, two scrambled eggs, and a basket full of biscuits with a lake-sized bowl of sausage gravy.

After she sets all that down, she places a humble stack of three pancakes with a pat of butter on top in front of Lee.

“Breakfast is served,” she says with a genuine smile. “Syrup’s over there if you need it, sir.”

“Thank you kindly,” Lee says with a smile, pretending not to be immensely jealous of your plate.

“Oh, Betty,” I say, looking up at her and taking her hand. “Betty, you’re a beautiful person, inside and out. You know that, right?”

Betty laughs. “Same to you, Jenn! Your ticket’s on me today.”

“What? No way! But I…”

“No ifs, ands, or buts,” she says. “Once you’re back in a decent job, you can pay me back if you feel like it. Holler if you need anything!”

With that, she walks away.

A perfect human being walks among us, and her name is Betty.

“See?” I say. “Can these powers or whatever make someone as nice as her?”

“Probably not,” Lee says. “We tend to be more in the exacting-justice business. Not sure covering someone else’s bill would fly.”

“And that’s why us mortals are great,” I say, unwrapping my silverware from the rolled-up napkin and getting ready to dig in.

“…Could I please have a taste of your gravy?” Lee asks. “It looks divine.”

I look up at him. He looks so damn earnest.

“You’re not just gonna take it with your powers?”

“Maybe I could learn a thing or two from you mortals,” he says.

I hand him a biscuit. “I ordered the extra one for you. Dig in.”

“Ugh, just bang each other already,” Brody says.

I close my eyes, using all of my strength to keep myself from asking Lee how to blast him to the farthest realms of reality, focusing instead on my food.

Lee wasn't kidding; I normally tear through this breakfast as it is, and today I power through it with a speed that makes me wonder how much money there is in competitive eating.

For his part, Lee is staring at me, a combination of shock and admiration on his face.

“Biscuits and gravy are my surest evidence of God’s existence,” I say, mopping up the last few sausage morsels with a fraction of a biscuit.

“You don’t fool around with breakfast, do you?” Lee says, smiling as he makes sure that all of the fragments of his breakfast are gone. “I mean, I can’t blame you. Those were some damn good pancakes.”

“Breakfast is not a time for fooling around,” I say, licking the stray bits of foodstuffs off my fingers. “It’s a holy time.”

“…Holy?”

“That’s why you can have breakfast for dinner, but not dinner for breakfast,” I say. “There are a few exceptions, of course. Pizza, once sanctified by the refrigerator, is an acceptable choice. A caesar salad is not now, nor will it ever be, breakfast.”

“You’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this.”

“I have flowcharts,” I say, now grabbing my wallet out of my purse. “My job was pretty dang tedious.”

Lee nods. “Well. Speaking of jobs. Ready to go accomplish ours?”

“Oh, yeah, we need to give what’s-his-name his body back,” I say, dropping three ones

on the table and rising out of the booth. She might be covering my bill, but there’s no way on God’s green earth that I’m not gonna tip.

“Brody,” he says. “My name’s Brody.”

“I think it was Hank?”

“That’s not even close,” he says.

“Maybe Russell?” Lee says, following me. Spotting Betty, he adds, “Thanks again, Betty!”

“Yes, thank you, Betty! For real!” I say.

“Don’t even mention it, y’all! Take care of yourselves out there!”

Good advice, I think to myself, walking outside with an immortal being on my left side and an attempted molester inside me.

The outside air, while lacking that delightful Mickey’s aroma, is fresh and clean. I’m finally un-hungover enough to enjoy the sunshine, and it feels marvelous. As an added bonus, there’s hardly anybody on the sidewalk since most people are already at work, so I feel like I have more room to breathe.

“You have sunny late-summer days like this where you’re from, Lee?” I ask as I head back to my place. “That kind of weather where everything feels OK?”

“Well, since where I’m from is here, the answer is yes,” he says.

“You’re from regular ol’ Earth?”

“I was mortal once,” he says. “As far as we know, every soul was.”

“Any chance we knew each other once upon a time?” I ask.

“Unlikely,” Lee says, “unless you were around before the invention of gunpowder.”

“…You’re that old?” I say.

“I moisturize,” he says.

“It’s not that; I mean, obviously you can change your appearance and stuff, but you seem so…”

“Cool?”

“Obnoxiously modern.”

“Same difference. Unlike a lot of souls, I tend to stay well-versed with the affairs of mortals such as yourself. I’m not fully versed in the latest trends, but I can fake it. I know that Mac versus PC is still kind of a thing, though now it’s… Mac versus Droid?”

“Close enough,” I say. “So, when do we get to training?”

“After we get Ebenezer back into his body.”

“That’s so obviously wrong,” Brody says.

“Couldn’t you just teach me how to shut him up and leave him in there?” I ask.

A look of surprise flashes across Lee’s face. “That’s rather diabolical coming from you.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want the guy that tried to grope me alive again,” I say.

“…I mean, that’s not an opinion that’s totally without merit, but…”

Before he can continue, he’s interrupted by a brilliant pillar of blue light shoots out of the sky and hits the ground in front of me, along with a solid thud of something hidden by the light’s brilliance.

“What the…” I say.

“Oh, no,” Lee says.