Alright, so let’s tackle you both together since this is a crash course.”

We stand in the recreational room of the foster home. Nana had the wing of the house redesigned specifically for indoor instructional courses. Aixen and I stand in the open space with Nana standing by the dry-erase wall with a marker.

“Aixen, what’s the number one rule we tell every ghost in this house?”

“I’m the only ghost!”

I look down at Frankie, who decided to join us for the day. “You’re just sitting here with barbecue sauce on your titties, huh Frankie?”

“Vaim.”

I jolt, “No peeking in the bathroom?”

Aixen stifles a laugh, which actually comes out as a snort.

“I hate you.”

Nana inhales deeply and begins to write on the wall, “Number one rule we have always said about ghosts in this house is, no possessions.”

“Easy for you to say, it wasn’t even my fault. It just happened. It was when Vaim did his thing for the old woman-“

Nana arches a brow.

“Ms. Coralis.”

“I mean Ms. Coralis. And when she started crying, I tried to rub her back, but instead, I fell right into her.”

“You tried to pat her back? You don’t go solidified to work with Vaim. She wouldn’t have seen you.”

Aixen crosses his arms offended, “Contrary to popular belief, I am very empathetic.”

The corner of Nana’s lips twitches, and so does mine.

“We think that feeling comfort from a specter soothes the customer even though they can’t see them, and they are unaware of it.”

“You’re not tricking anyone into thinking Aixen is their lost one, are you?”

“No, no, it’s more like a therapy dog.”

Aixen turns to me, “Ouch?”

I shrug, “It’s not an insult.”

“How is it not, you just compared me to a do-“

“Okay! Stop bickering. Aixen, since you are telling me you have no control over it, your task for the next week is to control it. Vaim, for you we are going back to the hard task.”

I inhale and sigh deeply. Please don’t say it.

“We are working on losing your connection with Aixen and gaining your own independent sight for this realm.”

“Do we have to,” Aixen whines.

“Yes, you both know exactly why.”

Aixen and I turn to each other, a silent gaze being exchanged. We’ve done it so much that I don’t even remember what it meant originally. I just feel it. Neither of us likes the unvoiced idea.

Aixen is the first one to break the gaze, “Which of us first?”

“You.”

“And how am I supposed to do something I did by accident?”

“That’s for you to find out and recreate. What were you feeling, what were you thinking?”

Aixen sighs, “Alright then.” He looks towards me and takes a step closer. Nana makes a sound of disapproval.

“That would be counterproductive with what Vaim is supposed to work on today. She puts the marker down and walks over to us. “As there are no other test subjects, you will possess me.”

“How do you know I won’t just use Influence on you so that you think I possessed you.”

“You won’t, I trust you.”

I sense a thought coming in, “Should I fake it?”

“If it gets us out of training for the day, yeah.”

Aixen doesn’t move and just stares at Nana.

“Whenever you’re ready,” the woman smiles.

He steps towards her, his eyes never moving away from hers. A chill crawls up my spine as his skin grows paler. Nana’s own skin seems to follow suit as her lips part ever so slightly. She moves closer, tilting her head as if to look deeper into his eyes.

“Nana, I have pose-“

Nana’s hand lands right on Aixen’s forehead with a stinging smack, “Mind your manners! Do you really think I’d let you two get away from training today? I raised you, Vaim. And I didn’t have to raise you to know you, Aixen. No one is going to skip. Now Aixen, possession. Instead of testing out what you are already so good at, do yourself a favor and improve on what you lack.”

The male rubs his forehead with a frown. The sudden feeling of dejection washes over me, but it’s not my own. Nana seems to have no need for the bond. Her sternness falls, and a gentle smile takes over.

“Don’t look so glum. Tell me, what did you feel the first time it happened? Close your eyes and try to mimic it.”

He does. “I was just standing behind the customer as I usually do. When the experience was over, I tried to comfort them as usual. I felt more empathy than I normally do. She was kind and trusted us.” His body starts becoming translucent. The light coming from the windows shines through him, his body becoming like mist. Some rays of light are blocked by his presence, and others are not.

Nana and I don’t say anything. The room grows cold.

“I went to soothe her, and just as my hand hovered over her back, there was a pull.” He vanishes, but I can still hear his voice. “It felt like holding two magnets near each other but not letting them touch. And then-”

“I slipped in.” The words came from Nana’s direction. The thread I always feel towards Aixen shifts towards the woman.

I smile, “Guess you really can possess now.”

Aixen flips Nana’s hair with a wave of his hand, “Well of course I can. I’m the best ghost around town.”

I roll my eyes. “The one thing you don’t have going is the voice. You still sound like you.”

His eyes widen, “You’re right. Let’s see.”

I take out my phone to record him as evidence for Nana. Aixen starts coughing and making different vocal sounds. His tone starts changing until he finally does sound like Nana.

“Vaim, have you ever considered cleaning your room?”

I stop recording. “Haha. You’re the one always messing up my room.”

“Oh, you think I’m still Aixen.”

I smirk, “You know I can feel our thread going to Nana right now, right?”

Instead of a frown, I get a smile and an aww, “Goes to show how strong our love is.”

At that, I can’t keep a harsh demeanor, and laugh, “Shut up, Aixen.”

He smiles, “So what if we go around and do prank someone.”

I bite my lower lip, tempted, “Nah, that would be abusive to Nana.”

“Come on. She’s the one who wanted us to possess her.”

I chuckle at seeing Nana’s body wine like a child, “I don’t think you can pull it off with the way you are acting.”

“Please,” he drawls, “Just one prank. It’ll be fun.”

I scratch the back of my head, imagining Sam’s face at getting in trouble over something. It’d be payback for his own pranks.

“Fine, but just one, and only because last time Sam shifted into Nana and made us do his chores.”

Aixen- Nana, smirks with a hand at her hip, “Deal.”