Be Still, My Beating Heart
"What was that?!"
"Gil, it was just the wind," Thena smiled as Gil's frame leaned over hers. He was taller than her, and nearly twice as large with his muscles. But he always clung to her on hunts, as if she would be the fine - rail thin - line between him and a ghost confrontation. "Remember the loose shutter on the upper window we saw on the way in?"
"Right, right," he chuckled, his nerves so clear in his voice that Thena let him grip her shoulders as they walked. She always ended up allowing it, no matter how much she scolded him for it, or told him that ghosts weren't real.
She didn't completely disbelieve in them--she was here, wasn't she? But she wanted more evidence than a door closing slowly on its own or a few whispers that sounded like wind.
That was how Gil convinced her to go with him on these little ghost hunts, every time. And she didn't want him going and getting hurt going by himself, of course. He was a scaredy-cat, and a little clumsy when he got nervous.
Gil squeezed Thena's shoulders as the same shutter pounded on the window from the outside again. "Are we getting anything?"
"Not yet," she murmured, adjusting the frequency on their equipment. She wanted some results on the spectogram or the ovilus just as much as he did. "Try talking to them."
"Why me?" he squeaked at her.
"Because you're the ghost hunter," she laughed quietly, although it echoed through the rest of the silent house.
"You're a ghost hunter too," he shook his head at her insistence that she wasn't as integral a part of this as she was. As if he would be able to do them without her.
"I am not a ghost hunter," she denied, still walking normally down the corridor toward the supposed hot spot of the abandoned house. "I'm just your friend who gets roped into these goose chases."
"They're not all goose chases," he argued, straightening up to full height just to put his hands on his hips. "Remember last week in the abandoned school?"
"Ah, yes, the desk you said moved?"
"It did move!"
Thena laughed faintly, and smiled to herself as Gil did too. She usually managed to ease his nerves with some light conversation. "You always seem to find this 'undeniable evidence' when I'm not with you."
"Well, you just have to stop leaving me," he pouted, wrapping an arm around her shoulders from behind her.
Thena sucked in a breath so sharply it sounded like a gasp.
"What?--what is it?" Gil jumped, looking around him.
"N-Nothing, I'm sure it's nothing," she muttered, fiddling with the ovilus as an excuse. "Spirits?--you here? It's your old pal, Gil."
"Thena!"
"Do you have anything you want to tell him?" she asked the open air, keeping her eye on the screen for any words it might pick up. "If anyone's interested in a fine specimen of a modern man, now's your chance."
"Thena!" he hissed at her again, rustling her hair as he did.
"Talk to them, Gil," she urged, although she didn't slither out of his grasp, either.
"Uh," he gulped, if anything holding Thena even tighter as they came to a stop in front of the hallway window. "H-Hey...ghosts. Any, uh, anyone wanna...chat?"
Hi
"They say 'hi'," Thena informed him happily, holding up the screen of the device for him to see.
"Oh, please no," Gil groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and resting his head on her shoulder.
Talk
"They want to talk, Gil," Thena smiled, nudging her head against his. "Give the poor people what they want."
"W-Who's here with us?"
Handsome
Man
Thena adjusted the settings. Was a handsome man there with them? Or was some spirit talking about Gil?
Hot
Thena frowned at the screen. Was she going to have to ask the ghost if they had a thing for Gil? "I think they're interested in you."
"Oh, uh, no thank you," he puffed out a laugh, although he choked on the air and gulped. "I, uh-"
Love
"Someone quite likes you," Thena turned as best she could to raise her brows at him with a smirk.
"No one alive has ever taken an interest in me but I'm irresistible to ghosts?" Gil sighed, "you've gotta be kidding me."
"I don't know how true that is," Thena murmured to herself, although Gil didn't know which part of his statement she was talking about. She switched settings on the ovilus. "What else do you have to say about my handsome friend, here?"
Heart
"He does have a big heart," Thena confirmed. Gil went back to clinging to her.
Strong
"He is quite strong," Thena murmured. "His name is Gil, can you say that?"
Hot
That was the second one of those they'd gotten. "They're really quite taken with you."
"Maybe you're just cold," he reasoned without batting an eye at the ghostly flattery. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms over her light jacket.
Jealous
Thena pursed her lips at the stupid little device. She wasn't sure what this ghost was accusing her of, but she didn't appreciate it. "I don't know if we're really going to get much out of this one."
Love
"It sure is chatty, though," he noted as Thena shut off the equipment. He leaned away again. "Back downstairs? We can see if the SLS picked up anything while we were gone."
Thena just nodded, only shivering now that she was missing the warmth of GIl's arms around her. It was late. "Let's go. I can't wait to-ah!"
Gil jumped as Thena startled. He didn't know what happened, but she was jumping up into his embrace, scrambling and clambering to be closer. "What's wrong?"
A rat scurried by. Gil bristled at the sight of the little pest. But it was clear that was what had sent Thena off the ground and into his arms--quite literally. He held her waist, letting her loop her arms around the back of his neck and tuck her knees up. In an effort not to drop her, he somehow ended up carrying her bridal style.
"Don't worry, I've got you," he chuckled, carrying her down the hall and the stairs, his earlier fears forgotten. His heart was pounding, but for a much more pleasant reason.
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