Through Heaven and Hell (Ghost x Toast)

Biannual #1 ~ The Meeting

May 30th, 1992

"Johnny! My dear boy, wake up, I have breakfast ready for you." Mrs. Casket said in a soft singsong voice, lightly shaking her adoptive son awake. "Mmm?" Ghost mumbled sleepily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "I made waffles." Mrs. Casket said kindly, kissing Ghost on the forehead. "Come downstairs when you're fully awake. But be quick, so they don't get cold."

Mrs. Casket swiftly left the room, leaving Ghost to wake up. He sat up straight, brushing a loose strand of hair out of his face. It was almost June, and his sixth birthday had just passed. He walked over to the mirror, assessing himself. His chocolate brown hair was as wild as ever, and his pale red eyes were tired. He pulled on a red shirt from his closet and walked down the large manor stairs. His mother stood there, wearing a salmon colored sleeping gown with a white apron over it. Her light, caramel brown hair was tied up neatly in a bun with a few strands of hair falling in her face, and she wore a soft smile. "Good morning my child." Mrs. Casket said warmly, holding a plate in her hands. She set the plate of freshly made waffles onto the table, and spread butter onto the waffles as Ghost sat down, an eager smile on his face. "Do you want syrup?" Annabelle asked, holding the container of syrup.

"Yes Mom." Ghost said eagerly, as she smiled and poured the syrup. She pushed the plate towards him, and he ate graciously. She laughed softly, walking back into the kitchen as Ghost ate.

"Oh, Johnny my child, I've head that there are some children around here that are around your age. How about you maybe go out, see if you can befriend them? It'll be a great thing to do, it's a terrible thing to be friendless." Annabelle informed Ghost as she walked back into the dining room.

"Uh, I can try." Ghost replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Annabelle clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! My Gregory always had trouble making friends, so I hope you have better luck than he ever did." She walked over and placed her hands on Ghost's shoulders. "I do think you are much more confident than he ever was though, not that his low confidence was a bad thing."

"Can you tell me more about Gregory?" Ghost asked, taking another bite of his waffles. "It's always so fun to hear stories of him."

"Oh well, my Gregory was a shy child, very shy. He always would talk to himself, as he had no one else to really talk to but me; all of the children his age bullied and mocked him, called him weird and such forth. It was horrible, but I do believe they may have been right in a way, as my Gregory was an odd child. I don't know what it was about him, and I loved him dearly, but I always sensed he wasn't quite right in the head." Annabelle explained. "I'm sure if he had been able to grow a bit more, I might've one day figured out what was wrong with him. Nevertheless, I loved him, as weird and quiet as he was. He was an odd child, but I loved that about him. I certainly wouldn't want a plain and ordinary child now would I?"

"I wouldn't." Ghost replied simply.

"Exactly! I loved that he was a strange child; it made him unique. He was always reserved, however. He didn't even speak to me that often, and he kept himself holed up in his room, playing with the toys I had bought for him."

"Toys? What kind of toys?" Ghost asked eagerly.

"All sorts of toys. When I was pregnant, I didn't know whether he would be a boy or a girl, so I bought him all sorts of toys, and he played with all of them."

Annabelle laughed and picked Ghost up, swinging him in her arms before placing him on the ground. "Now, my child," She started, patting his hair with her hand, "Go out and try to befriend someone. Just believe you can, and you will."

"Alright Mom, I'll go." Ghost said.

"Now remember, be kind. If a child does not want to share, do not force him to. And ask them what their interests are, try and bond over that. If they do not want to talk, then leave them alone. Not everyone will want to be your friend."

Ghost nodded. "Alright Mom."

"Good luck, my child." Annabelle called as Ghost stepped outside.

Ghost started to walk down the street, looking around the neighborhood. Most of the houses were reasonably big, but none as big as his mother's manor. In fact, all the other houses seemed small compared to hers. Annabelle had told Ghost that not everyone was rich, that money wasn't the easiest thing to come by, nor was it the most important. She had told him that few people had as much as they did, and that he needed to be kind to those who had close to nothing. Ghost walked gallantly along the street, holding himself up high, a smile on his face. He looked around; a few people were outside, and even some children ran about.

Ghost spotted a boy a few yards away, a boy around his age, throwing pebbles into the grass. Ghost walked up to him, watching him with curious interest. The boy threw a few more pebbles before turning around and spotting Ghost.

"Oh, uh, hello." The boy said timidly. He had an accent, one that Ghost had never heard before, but he could tell it was not American.

"Hello." Ghost said, taking a small step forward. "What's your name?"

"Johnny." The boy said.

"No way, that's my name!" Ghost cried playfully, trying to show that he meant no harm to the boy. The boy's face seemed to light up with playful delight.

"Really? Well, I'm Johnny Toast."

Ghost laughed again. "I'm Johnny Ghost!" He cried.

The boy smiled. "Our names are so similar!"

Ghost laughed. "You wanna be friends?"

The boy nodded. "Alright. I have no other friends besides my brother, anyways."

Ghost smiled and stepped forward. "Well I have no friends at all. I haven't really been here long."

"Do you live in that manor over there?" Toast asked, pointing to Ghost's home. He nodded. "Ah, I thought so. My mum told me a woman moved in there. I never knew she had a son."

"Well, technically, I'm not her real son; she took me in. I don't know who my parents are."

"Really? We have something in common then, I was taken in too. My parents died when I was 3."

"And how old are you now?"

"Seven, and I'll be eight in December."

"I just turned six a few days ago! Hey, you wanna play a game with me?" Ghost asked, picking up a pebble from the ground.

"Sure, I'd love to!" Toast replied, and Ghost smiled.

"Great! Let's go!"

December 30th, 2013

Ghost awoke. He rubbed his eyes slightly before realizing he was laying in Toast's arms. Ghost smiled and snuggled himself against Toast's sleeping form, closing his eyes as he smiled contentedly, and there he laid as sleep took him away.

Meant to upload this yesterday as yesterday was my headcanon birthday for Toast