[open] a day in the life of a ghost

[theforgottenboy]

Who: Cole & you
What: A somewhat belated catch-all for August
Where: Various
When: August-ish, mainly after the most recent imprints
Content Warnings: Not actual drowning but like, a close call


prompts below
image source here

Comments

[theforgottenboy]

[It's a confirmation of what he already suspected, which is better than assuming.]

That's good. I'm glad that you help people. You don't have to help me like this, though. I'm not a person.

[As he trudges through the sand to see what Ren is doing, there is a sudden clang of metal against stone- and his hat comes popping out of the mountain where he did, floating briefly before it starts to sink.]

-Oh, my hat...!

[He immediately wades right back into the water with no regard for how soaked and fully clothed he already is, one hand clutching at the blazer to keep it from dipping into the water as he fishes his hat out with the other.]

[forethinking]

That doesn't matter to me.

(As far as he is concerned, even non-people need help and he has a couple name to support his argument. Not that he is going to. Instead, he focuses on the mission - finding the hat. Cole is never without it, so it must be important...

Oh, there it is. When Cole finds it, Ren nods, even if there were several different ways of reaching that hat but to just go into the water again. Well, problem solved. Now he only has to get Cole to a less open location to avoid the wind.)

There we go. Let's find some place less windy.

[theforgottenboy]

[It doesn't? Well, maybe that's not a surprise. Solas doesn't mind he's not a person, and Varric talks to him like he's a person. And the people here come from different worlds, so maybe he just doesn't really know what he is. Not that he's great at defining that himself.]

[He trudges back out of the water in his fresh soaked shoes and attempts to shake some of the water off of his hat.]

I don't think the wind here cares where you are.

[Not that he won't follow Ren if he leads him somewhere else. He wants to ask him more questions.]

[forethinking]

(Ren understood what Cole is, from the moment he first explained it. He just really doesn't care.

Cole has a point. The wind won't settle, but at least, finding a place to sit away from the water is good enough. Ren takes the first steps, hoping Cole to follow.)

You have a point.

[theforgottenboy]

[Cole follows along easily, putting his hat back on after a minute or so despite the damp. It's probably fine.]

[Akechi gets mad at him when he asks him personal questions, but Ren hasn't indicated that, so far. Rather than focus on how soggy he is and the way his boots squelch when he walks, he focuses on Ren instead.]

I've been meaning to ask. You mentioned a velvet room, before. What is that?

[forethinking]

(... Mhm?

Oh, yeah. Ren did mention it to Cole when he first attempted to check whether it was a Metaverse situation.)

Does it matter?

(He remembers also mentioning that it wasn't important. Why now?)

[theforgottenboy]

[He did say that at the time, which he thought was strange.]

Why did you ask if it doesn't matter?

[forethinking]

I was just checking if it was something you've known. Since the answer was 'no', it doesn't matter.

(Unlike Akechi, he's not aggressively dismissive - he just doesn't want to give too much information about himself, instead of being completely averted to it.)

[theforgottenboy]

Could you tell me about it, even if you don't think it matters?

[Maybe it really doesn't matter, but also, maybe knowing more about Ren matters to him!!]

[forethinking]

I can't. I'm sorry, Cole.

(Unfortunately to Cole, there are many things that Ren prefers not to disclose. The fact he was held prisoner in a jail in another dimension of his reality and manipulated while holding the very fate of humanity in his hands was very up on the list.

Still, he has no intention of snapping at Cole for asking. Ren has been asking a good amount of questions around, it's only fair he takes it well when information is requested from him. And he's not Akechi, after all! (: )

[theforgottenboy]

Why not?

[He's honestly curious. It doesn't sound like something that strange or impossible to describe, even if a room made out of velvet does sound kind of fanciful. And Ren likes to help people too. He's usually fine answering his questions, until he's the subject of them. So...]

You say it doesn't matter, but if you can't talk about it, then I don't think not mattering is the real reason.

[forethinking]

It's complicated.

(Ren says, softly with a raise of his shoulders.)

I am not saying I will never tell you, but right now is not the time.

[theforgottenboy]

...

[It's a better answer, he thinks. More honest, even if it's still a refusal to answer his original question. For a moment he considers pressing further- he still wants to know why it's complicated, why can't he tell him now- but he decides against it. It would be easier if he could just hear his mind, but that's different than forcing him to give an answer he doesn't want to explain- by his standards, at least.]

All right. I hope you'll tell me, eventually. I want to know more about you.

[He's also someone who helps people, after all. And maybe he could learn more about Akechi that way too.]

[forethinking]

(There are things Ren is simply not willing to share, but that doesn't mean he's dismissive about everything. Cole is not the first nor the last to be interested in what Ren thinks or is, but he is the only one who can force it out of him, should powers return.

It's concerning.)

Eventually.

[theforgottenboy]

[Too bad for Ren he's wishing he could still just read his mind. It would make it easier to help him.]

And- if there is any way I can help you, you can tell me.