The Bertie Mansion

VII

Will entered the room and nodded to the ghost before turning to his brother. "I got Mom to get changed and into bed, and brought her the tea. We'll see how she is in the morning."

"Thanks, Will," Jeremy said in appreciation, using his proper nickname to show his sincerity. "I'll check in on her later."

"Who's this?" his brother said, changing the subject and gesturing to the ghost.

Jeremy grinned and wrapped an arm around his new friend. His shirt sleeve prevented his arm from going into the ghost's back, but he was careful to stop his hand to make it appear as if the spirit was solid. "Willy, this is Rob."

"Hi, Will," Rob said, rolling his eyes. He glanced at Jeremy to give him a disapproving look. As was custom, Will was holding out his hand to shake. Rob met him in the middle for said handshake and watched as their hands failed to connect. Will shrugged and smiled.

"Figures," he said. "You do realize your hand is going through his shoulder, right?"

Jeremy removed his arm from around the ghost and stuck his tongue out at his brother, who just rolled his eyes and continued.

"Jerry's lost friends through his generally repulsive personality, so I considered that perhaps you just didn't want him to touch you either."

"Jerry?" Rob asked, too intrigued. "I wouldn't say his personality is repulsive, but he did threaten to call the ghost exterminators. I'm not sure if I can forgive that."

Will nodded solemnly. "See? And Jerry hates that name－"

"I really do. Please stop." Jeremy was pouting.

"－but if he simply stopped saying Willy, then I'd stop saying Jerry. I invented it for when he gets on my nerves," he finished. "I only use it in extreme circumstances."

"That's good to know. Natural Jerry repellent." Rob mused this over and mockingly scratched his chin.

Jeremy frowned. "I thought you liked me."

"I never said I did or didn't," Rob vaguely replied, too amused for his own good.

"Yeah, and another thing," Will provided, on a roll, "If he asks you to marry him, say no. He only likes you because of his violent tendencies. He has an obsession with military-type people. Don't feed it."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're all sensitive and can't take a joke or teasing!" Jeremy complained, punching his brother on the arm. "You think I'm crazy, don't you? I know peace is good. I like peace! But I might be one of the only people left willing to fight for it."

Will hit him in return. "No one thinks you're crazy, just a little out of control. In this day and age, Jeremy, we don't go out of our way to initiate a fight. We haven't had a war since the Great one, so the strategy is working. You know what happened last time things got out of hand with you, the government literally came knocking at our door!"

Rob was entertained with their dynamic, though now felt it best to give them both a piece of advice. "War isn't fun, I should know. But sometimes it's the only way. There will be that one person, eventually, who wants nothing more than to rule the world, and will stop at nothing to get their way.

"At that point in time, you can't shy away and give them land, hoping their hunger will abandon them. From what I've seen of the outside world, you are all too willing to sacrifice for things to remain as they are, peaceful. But when this person comes, and there always will be one, you have to smack them down quickly before they gain power. Otherwise the only two options are giving in and sacrificing whatever this person wants sacrificed, or a full-scale war which is worse than the one that would have resulted from immediate action."

Rob looked between the two of them to see if the message had been understood. Seeing confusion on Will's face, he continued and tried to phrase it differently. "You're right, peace is good, except for whatever reason, a time will come when you may have to fight. The world will never be perfect, and Jeremy is correct to have some fire when it comes to defending the peace."

"That's not what they teach in schools," was all Will could muster. He fumbled for words momentarily. "How do you know all this?"

"I was on the front lines, fighting for my country. I gained a little bit of wisdom during that time, like how to be observant." Rob shrugged and nodded in the direction of the clock. "Isn't it normally around your bedtime?"

Jeremy crossed his arms. "I'm an adult. I can stay up as late as I want to stay up."

"I'm telling Mom, then," Will said with a smirk. "She'll love to hear you spent the night up with your new boyfriend, and how can you defend yourself while yawning? Memories tell me she was pretty upset when you stayed at Caleb's all night without telling her that one time."

"How many times do I have to say that he's just a friend and we suddenly planned a sleepover?" Jeremy blurted out, trying to clear his name.

Will yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "I don't care. I want to know my pillow more right about now. You coming up?"

Rain had begun pattering against the house and its windows, a nightly feature in this part of the country. Jeremy was so accustomed to it now he couldn't fall asleep without the clouds playing that lullaby on the roof. Tiredness overcame him like a wave.

"I suppose I'll be off too," he said. He was suppressing a nasty yawn. "I want to pop in on Mom first."

"I'll go with you," Rob offered, but it was quickly shut down.

"You're the reason she's up there drugged out. Sorry big fella, not tonight. Maybe when she's feeling better," said Will.

Rob raised one grayish eyebrow. "Such as myself? I thought I was very tame."

"You have heart-stopping good looks, ya handsome man," Jeremy replied, a grin and finger guns accompanying his words. There was no harm in it because Rob was hung up on his grandfather.

The ghost watched his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. He was oddly silent.

Will punched his brother, causing Jeremy to yelp in outrage. "That's what you get for being an idiot. I'm doing it in Rob's honor since he can't do it himself. I know he'd do it if he could."

"Actually, thank you, Jeremy," Rob said after a moment. "That means a lot to me. More than you could ever know."

"You're welcome. See, Willy? I know people," Jeremy said with a smug expression. Rob smiled and started on his way to the dining room.

"I'll find something else to do while you sleep," the ghost said as he stalked out of view. Then he poked his head back in. "Although, for the record, you looked so good it killed me and I had to be brought back to life."

His head popped out again momentarily but came back. He nervously fingered at the door frame. "That's how you do it, yeah?"

"Yeah," Jeremy replied. He turned away and moved in the direction of the stairs to hide his growing flush. Placing a hand on his cheek he could feel unnatural warmth and he cursed to himself. He could never take compliments well, even when Caleb gave them.

Ghosts that could live eternally were not supposed to be charming or fun to talk to. They were for haunting purposes only. Boy did he like this ghost, though.