Well, boys,” Phil started as their van screeched to a halt “We’ve made it. 6 Tanglewood Drive.”
“We haven’t been here for a while,” Quackity noted as he messed with the DOTs projector pen, trying to figure out how to turn it on.
“Charlie and I haven’t been here for a while. You two haven’t been here at all.”
“We’ve helped you while you were,” Quackity muttered under his breath as he rolled his eyes. Finally, he found the button on the pen, and without hesitation, he clicked it on. It just so happened to be pointed directly into Wilbur’s eyes, blinding him momentarily before Quackity had the sense to turn it off.
Wilbur blinked harshly, nearly dropping his flashlight as he went to rub his eyes. “Um. Ow. ”
“Shit, I’m so sorry,” Quackity apologized, rushing to his partner to fuss over him. Charlie stopped snacking to immediately begin laughing at them while Phil heaved a tired sigh. Wilbur waved Quackity away, handing him his flashlight before picking up another one to take for himself.
“So, like, what’s the deal with you two?” Charlie asked after his laughing fit, shoving the last of his potato chips into his mouth as his eyes flitted between the two novice ghost hunters. “You two, like, a thing yet?”
“What? No!” Quackity exclaimed at the same time Wilbur began to shake his head furiously. Both of their cheeks reddened furiously, but Charlie threw his hands up in a placating gesture.
“Sorry! Sorry. I didn’t know it was like—like that. ” He tossed his empty bag onto the counter by the computer, and Quackity could see Phil visibly cringe at the trash.
Before he could say anything about it, though, there was a voice speaking over the van’s intercom; Baghera, by the sound of it. Usually, this would be Wilbur or Quackity’s job, but they were taking up a more hands-on role tonight. So Baghera was taking up the torch in their stead. She was there to debrief them, give them the initial reports from the family, and monitor their vitals while they were inside the house.
Quackity almost missed being on the other side of the screen, but Phil needed their knowledge on-site tonight. Whatever they were up against was apparently smart and hard to identify. He was sure that with Wilbur and Quackity with them, they wouldn’t have too much trouble. This was their area of expertise, after all.
“ Alright. We’ve arrived ,” she said, matter-of-factly, cutting straight to business. “ Remember to check the equipment and get set up before starting. ”
“Thank you, Baghera,” Phil replied into the mic that led back to their base like he hadn’t done this before a million times. “What’re the reports?”
“ Family has reported incidences of violence, so be careful in there. ”
Wilbur gasped dramatically. “Violence? One of us is going to die, for sure.” His tone was sarcastic and appropriately sardonic, but it made Quackity snicker anyway.
Phil only rolled his eyes once more before he looked at them. “Everybody has what they need? Flashlights? Radios? Charlie, do you have the camera?”
Charlie smiled, raised the photo camera, and snapped a picture of Phil’s serious expression. “Yep.”
Quackity kept to himself, checking over his equipment to make sure that everything was in working order. He didn’t want another embarrassing moment of shining a bright light into Wilbur’s eyes. God, he didn’t know what was wrong with him. Every time he was around his coworker, his palms got sweaty and his heart began to pound. He lost all of his common sense, and he could barely form words.
