The next mission for Team Ghost Office is what we’re started referring to as the battery. The portable power source, so that Kasey and Will don’t have to spend forever tethered to Ketterbridge. She wants to explore, see the world like she had always planned. We haven’t had a chance to ask Will about this yet, but we assume that after two hundred years of living in one tiny town, he’s probably ready to try something new.

But we won’t be diving into battery building right away. Kasey wants time to get to know Will, and Will needs time to adjust to seeing himself, much less having other people see him.

Soon enough we’ll be back in the Ghost Office, kicking off new plans. For now, we’re taking at least a week to chill, catch up on our regular work, and hang out with friends. To rest, and relax.

Raj helps us out with that by calling to say that his client with the pool is out of town again.

“Put in the new heating system myself,” he tells me over the phone, and then, when a muffled voice protests in the background - “Fine, fine, Noah and I put it in together!”

“You’d be dead in that pool if I hadn’t been there to stop you from electrocuting yourself, man!”

“So anyways,” Raj says, brushing right past that, “You guys want to come? We’re gonna go buy some beer-”

“Don’t let Noah pick it out,” I cut in.

“-and I can grab something for Aiden, too,” Raj finishes.

“Can’t wait to return to the site of Noah’s former glory,” Aiden says, leaning over my shoulder to speak into the phone. I put the call on speaker. “You gonna try again with the pool noodles, dude?”

“No.” I can tell by the volume of Noah’s voice that Raj has put his phone on speaker, too. “I think that pool just isn’t big enough for what I was trying to do. As an artist, I need a proper canvas-”

“Would love to hear Ripley’s take on that particular statement,” Aiden laughs.

“I need a bigger pool!” Noah insists. “I actually had a great idea for expanding the pool, and it would take like, no time at all, but Raj doesn’t know where to get dynamite. What sort of handyman is he, honestly?”

“Yeah, bro, let me run down to Ace Hardware and ask if they sell dynamite so I can blow up a swimming pool that doesn’t belong to me, and which is full of water, by the way-”

“Noah, I don’t think the size of the pool is the problem,” I interrupt, suppressing a laugh. “You didn’t even make it to the pool, last time.”

“Okay,” Noah groans. “You know what? Why don’t you all bite my-”

“See you tomorrow!” Raj says cheerfully, and hangs up.

~~~~

It’s a chilly day, bright with pale sunshine. Blustering clouds drift overhead, occasionally letting out bursts of light rain. Perfect weather to swim in, when the water is nice and warm.

Even Ripley, who normally doesn’t want to swim with us, is eyeing the water like he’s sorely tempted.

“You can come in, you know,” I tell him, folding my elbows on the edge of the pool. He’s sitting with his legs in the water, fidgeting with one green strand of hair.

“Don’t want to get my shirt wet,” he explains. “Probably be too cold, after. When I get out.”

Noah, who is floating nearby, overhears and paddles over.

“Wear mine, Ripples,” he says. “I don’t care if it gets wet. You can change back into yours, after. And we brought a towel for you if you want it. No pressure, obviously, but it’s there.”

Ripley twists his lips to the side, considering, then shakes his head no.

“Alright, no problem.” Noah hauls himself up out of the water. “You want to go inside for a bit? It’s cold out here.”

Ripley gets up and follows him into the house. Raj climbs out, too, shaking droplets from his dark curls.

“Want another, Jamie?” he calls, holding up his empty bottle.

“Yes, please!”

He gives me a thumbs-up, then heads into the house after Noah and Ripley.

I turn in the water and find Aiden getting into the oversized hot tub. I swim over and climb out to join him, shivering in the brief dash from the pool.

“I feel bad,” I tell him, sinking into the water by his side. “It’s cold out of the water, and Ripley doesn’t want to swim. Maybe we should have done something else?”

Aiden is testing out the buttons around the edge of the hot tub, but he answers over his shoulder.

“Well, he did wear his board shorts, even though he knew it would be cold out. Maybe he’s thinking about it. Maybe this’ll give him a little push.”

“Mkay, but I don’t want him to get in because he’s cold,” I answer, as the bubbles turn on. Aiden settles back, and I drift over to sit with him. “If he gets in, it should be like - because he’s comfortable enough.”

Aiden is wearing his snapback, and he turns it to sit forward on his head.

“I can-” he begins, then stops as Raj arrives at the jacuzzi.

“You sure you don’t want anything, Aiden?” Raj hands me my beer, then climbs in with us, settling his elbows on the edge of the hot tub. “Between you, M, and Ripples, I’m getting pretty good at non-alcoholic masterpieces.”

Aiden laughs, folding an arm around my shoulder. “Thanks, but I’m okay. Maybe later.”

Raj nods, then hesitates, pulling at the label on his beer.

“Hope you don’t mind me asking, but is everything okay with your aunt, Aiden?”

Aiden pauses, surprised by the question. Honestly, I am, too. We exchange a puzzled glance before Aiden turns back to Raj.

“What? Yeah, she’s fine. Why?”

“Well - Noah said that the day you were over at my house, when I was upstairs with M, you showed up in the kitchen looking really upset, and then you and Jamie tore off without saying anything. We know your aunt is a little older, so we were worried.”

“Oh.” Aiden blinks, then smiles warmly at Raj. “Aw. Thanks for checking, man, but no, she’s totally fine. Believe me, I wouldn’t be sitting here chilling right now if anything was wrong with my aunt.”

Raj shoots him a relieved smile.

“Oh, good. Thank god.” He takes a sip of his beer, then runs a hand over his mouth. “You two are close, right? You said that she’s like a - third parent, to you?”

“Yeah, um.” Aiden takes a moment to think over his wording. “Things weren’t always - peaceful, between my parents, and after my dad left, my mom wasn’t what you’d call peaceful, either. I would stay with my aunt when things were bad, and at some point I just - started keeping a bag packed, ready for when I’d go to her house. She set up a room for me, and she bought some stuff for me to keep there. When I moved in for good, it felt like I’d already been living there for a while, and it was already my room. Made it a little easier.” He shrugs awkwardly, then clears his throat. “Anyways, yes. She is my third parent. Even before I moved in, it helped to know that she was always around, when I needed her.”

Raj is staring at Aiden, clearly taken aback by all this information. I’m startled, too. Not so much by what Aiden said, but by the fact that he shared it with minimal prompting.

I tip my head against his shoulder, my heart glowing.

My Companion Plant. He’s getting so good at this. I wonder if he realizes.

“Shit, Aiden!” Raj sputters, his eyes wide. “I’m sorry, man, I had no idea - I didn’t mean to bring up sore memories.”

“Oh, don’t be sorry.” Aiden smiles at him. “Seriously, it’s chill. Why do you ask, though?”

“I - guess I-” Raj twists his bottle in his hand, speaking haltingly. “I’ve - just been thinking, like - thinking about-”

Noah steps out of the house, and Raj breaks off, taking a hasty sip of his beer.

“Hot tub full of dudes,” Noah observes, when he stops at the edge of the jacuzzi.

“Sounds like something I probably shame-Googled in my early teenage years,” I mutter, and Noah lets out a snort of laughter.

“May as well commit to it, I guess.” He hops up over the side, then drops into the hot tub. “Move your foot, Raj.”

I glance at the house, then back at Noah. “Where’s Ripley?”

“Bathroom,” Noah yawns. “What were you guys talking about?”

I open my mouth to answer, but before I can say anything, Raj jumps back in with:

“I was just about to tell them the story of yesterday’s disastrous karaoke session.”

Aiden covertly catches my eye, and I give him the tiniest possible shrug, equally thrown by the sharp change of subject.

“Oh, man, you guys should have been there,” Noah says, grinning widely. “You missed out on a good time.”

“Right,” Raj laughs. “Assuming that your idea of a good time is watching Noah do a rendition of If You Like Piña Coladas that would make even a tone-deaf person weep real tears.”

“Tears of joy,” Noah agrees, nodding solemnly.

“No,” Raj says firmly. “Not tears of joy. But speaking of reasons to be joyful, turns out Aiden’s aunt is fine.”

“Oh, yeah?” Noah’s grey eyes flit to Aiden. “Glad to hear it. We were kind of worried, after you - so wait, why’d you go running off like that?”

Aiden glances down at me, and I give him a nod. This is clearly a good time to test out our new strategy for keeping what we’re doing a secret.

After Roger absorbed the fact that we’re trying to catch a ghost without so much as a pause, Aiden and I hit on a realization. When we tell people that we’re on a ghost hunt, they think that we’re joking, or they think that we’re eccentric. They don’t assume that we’re actual ghost hunters who recently caught a very real ghost. The story can cover Aiden’s Guardian responsibilities, too, when someone wants an explanation for our weird behavior. Like right now.

“We’re on a ghost hunt,” Aiden tells Noah. “Sometimes you get called away at odd hours.”

Noah stares at him, then bursts out laughing.

“A ghost hunt? You fucking nerds. Is that why Jamie has a ouija board at his place?”

“Yes, even though I don’t want it there,” I groan.

“Well, we’ve all got our hobbies,” Raj chuckles. “I’ll be sure to call you two if a client of mine needs their haunted house cleansed.”

“You’ve got my number,” Aiden says, and Raj laughs.

Ripley steps out of the house, and I blink in surprise. He’s exchanged his t-shirt for Noah’s, which, unfortunately, says WATT’S ELECTRICIANS: LET US REMOVE YOUR SHORTS in bold letters across the front.

“I feel like a cretin in this shirt,” Ripley informs us, stopping by the jacuzzi.

“It means shorts like electrical shorts, bro,” Noah says innocently.

Ripley raises a critical eyebrow. “Oh, does it?”

Noah laughs, then moves over to make room for him. Ripley sits down on the edge of the jacuzzi and puts his feet in the water.

“You don’t want your jacket, Ripples?” Raj asks. “Aren’t you cold?”

“Actually, I-” Ripley pauses, frowning. “No, I’m not that cold. Did it get warmer out here?”

“I don’t think so?” Noah lifts a hand from the water to sample the air, then quickly plunges it back beneath the surface, shivering. “No, definitely not.”

I turn to see Aiden lounging back on his elbows, his snapback pulled forward over his face, his head lolling back. It looks like he’s just relaxing, but when he pushes his hat up again, I catch a split-second glimpse of the white-blue flash fading from his eyes.

“Thank you, Heliomancer,” I whisper, as Noah and Raj chatter away with Ripley. “Not too hot, though, okay? He told me he doesn’t like that. Just do enough to keep him comfy.”

“Gotcha,” Aiden says softly. “I’ll keep him on medium.”

I fix him with an affectionate smile, squeezing his fingers beneath the water.

“Well, I feel nice and warm,” Ripley is saying. “Don’t know why.”

Aiden turns his hat backwards again. “Think you’re just feeling the effects of the hot tub, man.”

Ripley’s eyes narrow.

“Is this a T thing?” he murmurs, to himself. He looks up at us, then shrugs helplessly. “Just - testosterone is weird. Sometimes the randomest stuff happens, since I started.”

“Like what?” Noah asks, and Ripley hesitates.

“Like - I mean - I don’t even know what’s going on with this.”

He holds out his arm, palm down, and we all lean closer to see. It takes me a minute to spot it, but he has one single arm hair that’s at least three times longer than all the others. I didn’t notice it before, because it’s a very light blonde, like all the rest of Ripley’s hair.

“They told me that my arm hair was going to grow, on T,” Ripley says, when we all look up at him for an explanation. “I didn’t realize they meant literally one arm hair.”

“Oh, my god.” Noah breaks into a grin. “You’ve got a rogue! A Ripley rogue. A rogue Ripple.”

Ripley laughs, lowering his arm.

“I thought about cutting it, but honestly, I’m kind of curious about how long it might get.” He bites down on a smile. “I got one in my eyebrow, too, of all places. That one I did cut off. It wasn’t what you’d call my best look.”

We all laugh, and Ripley grins. He nibbles his lip for a moment, then slips into the jacuzzi and sits down, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“So, Melanie didn’t want to come?” he asks, before anyone can say anything.

“Nah.” Raj moves over, giving Ripley some space. “She wanted a day to herself. What were her exact words, Noah?”

Noah squints, thinking back.

“I believe she said, Raj, if you really think I can get up and go anywhere right now with this baby weighing me down, you must have had a forty for breakfast.”

“Yep, that was it.” Raj nods, taking a sip of his beer. “She’s very ready to not be pregnant anymore. She just wants the baby here, you know? It could happen any day now, but nothing yet, not even a false alarm.”

“Well, you’re from Hawai'i, Raj,” Aiden points out. “Maybe the baby is on island time.”

Raj laughs, but it fades out fast, and he bites down on his thumbnail.

“I’m starting to get so damn nervous about doing this whole dad thing.”

“Hey, man, don’t sweat." Noah pokes his shoulder. "It’s not like you have to do it alone, right?”

“What?” Raj’s eyes cut over to him quickly. “What do you mean?”

Noah tips his head to the side, confused. “I - mean that you’ve got Melanie…?”

“Oh.” Raj blinks, then glances away, pushing his curls out of his face. “Yeah, of course. And I’ve been getting fathering advice texted to me by Kent pretty much daily, ever since we exchanged numbers.”

“Yeah, I know you have, because I’m getting those, too.” Noah clicks his tongue at Raj. “Still don’t get why you added me to that group chat, dude.”

“Oh, man,” Aiden chuckles. “Kent even lays down lectures via text? He truly missed his calling as a college professor.”

Aiden and Noah start comparing their favorite pieces of Kent advice, but my eyes keep flicking back to Raj. I’ve noticed that his feelings tend to show sharply on his face; a byproduct of his angular cast of features. It’s easy to see that he’s only sort of listening. He’s rolling with the conversation, but he’s half out of it.

The minute Noah looks over at him, he can tell, too.

“Time for me to hook up the aux cable,” he announces, climbing out of the hot tub. “Raj, what do we say?”

Raj groans, rolling his eyes. “Fat beats only.”

Noah bends over and puts his hands in Raj’s hair.

“Fat. Beats. Only!” he repeats loudly, pushing Raj’s head around with each word. Raj laughs, his distracted frown melting away.

Raj knows all of Noah’s cheat codes, the foolproof ways to make him smile and laugh.

Watching them now, I’m realizing that clearly, Noah knows all of Raj’s cheat codes, too.