Love And Other Myths [bxb]

Holliday Trip

Devon's plan of forgetting about the hospital was going surprisingly well.

Sometimes he still relived the full body shivers he got or he would see a big spider and think of that night. But it wasn't every waking thought so Devon was doing ok.

Then, four months later, he decided he needed to go back. He felt better about the second trip because he could just leave. He wasn't obligated to stay like last time.

So, Devon bought a plane ticket rather than a three hour car ride, packed his things for a few days, and messaged his coworkers he would be gone.

The regret started eating at him the second the plane landed. He got a cab to the horrible building and lone behold, it was still a shithole.

But Deven knew what to expect. He knew his way around the first two floors and knew what it looked like inside. That didn't mean he didn't hesitate on every step to the door.

When he got close enough to the door, he felt that familiar drop in temperature. But that was to be expected, so he brought a lifetime supply of blankets, hoodies, and fluffy socks.

He also brought an air mattress, he wasn't sleeping outside again. He also noticed that many of his things were missing when he got home.

He's pretty sure he was robbed by a dozen or so ghosts. It did, however, make him smile when he noticed the few quarters he had were missing.

Devon may or may not have brought extra shiny coins for Leo who seemed wildly uninterested in friendship with him.

So he went up the stairs, watching to make sure he didn't hit any cobwebs, which made him feel kinda silly. But it wasn't his place to ruin.

Devon noticed quickly the large mass of cold air that followed him. These ghosts really had nothing better to do, huh?

When he reached Leo's room, he entered. Almost all the chill left once the door closed but an obvious cold was still left. Leo.

"Hey, Leo." Devon greeted. That was probably one of his lowest points, he thought. Saying hi to a supposed 'ghost' who had talked to him.

Devon only heard a grumble from the bed as a response. So he turned to the bed and walked closer.

One of the first things he noticed was a pillow. There was a pillow on Leo's bed now that wasn't there last time.

"Did you take this from one of my friends?" Devon pointed to the pillow.

"What's it to you?" Leo growled, grabbing the pillow and, what deven assumed, sat it in his lap.

"Right, sorry." Devon cleared his throat awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" Leo said with a suspicious tone, Deven imagined he had his eyes narrowed.

"I- uh- just came to stay for a few days."

"Why?" Now Leo just sounded confused.

"Ya know . . . to see you." It was even more embarrassing to say that out loud, Devon flinching at his own words.

"Why?" Leo was back to sounding suspicious.

"I just wanted to check in." Devon said with a bit more confidence. Leo just grumbled again.

"Fine."

"Fine, what?"

"Fine, you can stay a few days, then you leave." Leo mumbled lowly. Devon's face broke into a grin as he smiled where he assumed Leo was sitting.

"Oh, I have one request too." Devon said, pulling something out of his bag.

"What's that?" Leo asked, sounding overall unhappy.

"A hoodie, ya know, so I can see where you are," Devon smiled.

The hoodie was snatched harshly as the ghost tugged it over his head. Devon loved it. It showed off that the ghost was short and frail.

Plus the hoodie was his own merch, so maybe he was biased.

It was a bit creepy seeing a floating hoodie sitting on a decaying bed.

"Um- I can't really see you but are you dirty?" Devon asked cautiously. He didn't want his stuff to get dirty if the ghost touched it.

"Oh, just squeaky clean," Leo mocked, "I'm dead, you imbecile!" He snapped and Devon flinched. But he also had to hold back a laugh when the hoodle sleeves went in the air.

"I brought cleaning wipes and a broom. So I could fix up your room a little during my stay. . . so I don't catch anything." Devon said the last bit quieter but he knew Leo still heard.

"Whatever, just don't touch my stuff." Leo grumbled and laid back on his bed. Devon gagged a bit at the sight.

Leo seemed to have no issues with the bed. But the caked mud, bugs, and. . . is that blood? The mattress was nasty.

"A lot needs to be done," Devon commented quietly.

"Everything is fine, you humans are just neat freaks." Leo lazily waved an arm in the air.

"There's a family of roaches by your feet." Devon argued.

"There's more than one." Leo laughed and Devon held back another gag.

Devon certainly wasn't the cleanliness of twenty something year old guys, but this place was far worse than any cum sock.

So Devin started by sweeping the floor, evicting many, many different insects. Then he used the wet clothes to get the absurd amount of mud off the floor.

"This mattress can't be saved." Devon declared.

"The mattress doesn't need saving." Leo argued.

"Are you wearing shoes?" Devon didn't want to have to scrape all that mud off the floor for this ghost to track more in.

"Yes, I'm dead, not uncivilized." Leo growled out.

"How come I can't see what you're wearing?"

"Because it's what I died in."

The air stilled and Devon fell silent. He's been wearing the same thing for hundreds of years.

"Is it in good shape?" Devon asked hopefully.

"It's been four centuries, what do you think?" Leo snapped back.

"You can wear some of my clothes." Devon offered with a smile.

"No," Leo immediately rejected the idea.

"Why?" Devon said as his smile dropped to a small frown.

"It's not normal to wear human clothes." Leo said it like it was obvious.

"We'll work on that."