14. Kushiel

Kushiel barely had time to worry over the fact that Cassius had put himself in danger for him, which was simply not acceptable.

He was mulling over how to let Cass know that he shouldn't ever put himself in danger, real or imagined, for Kushiel, when he walked into the house.

Only it wasn't empty. There was a curvy woman with curly brown hair and an old-fashioned dress standing in the hallway. He gasped, and Cass came charging in, gently taking Kushiel's shoulder and spinning him so they faced each other. Kushiel couldn't help the little shudder that went through him; the hallway wasn't that wide, and their bodies were so close to each other. Cass was looking at Kushiel carefully, and he reached a hand up to cup his face.

"Are you alright? Is something wrong?" Cass demanded.

"He looks perfectly fine, Cass. Really, must you grope him in the hallway while I'm here?" the woman huffed.

Cass just ignored her though, staring at Kushiel and waiting for an answer. Kushiel couldn't help turning to look at her, though, even though it very sadly made Cass's hand fall away from his face.

He watched her carefully as he leaned closer to Cass, whispering, "There's a strange woman in your hallway, Cassius."

"Hmph. Strange woman. I am certainly not a strange woman. I'm quite normal, thank you very much," she huffed. "He's the one who's strange."

Cass finally turned to look over at her, hissing, "Aunt Ro."

"This is Aunt Ro?" Kushiel asked, mystified.

Both Cass and Aunt Ro looked at him in shock then. "He can see me?" she exclaimed. "He shouldn't be able to see me! He's an angel!"

"You can see her?" Cass asked. "She isn't sure why that's possible, so I'm guessing she didn't do anything to make it happen."

"Well, I should certainly think I wouldn't do anything to be seen by an angel!" she sputtered, putting her hands on her hips. "They're the stuck up ones, after all. If I was gonna be seen by anyone it would at least be demons!"

Kushiel chuckled a little at that, because he didn't disagree with her. Also, he was kind of in shock that he could even see her, and a little nervous laughter eased the tension in him a bit.

Only Cass and Aunt Ro were really staring at him, both of them slightly open mouthed.

"Oh my goodness, can he hear me too?" Aunt Ro whispered dramatically.

Cass placed a hand on his arm, and Kushiel turned to look at him, answering the unspoken question that was in Cass's face.

"Yes, I can hear her too," he confirmed.

"Well that's inconvenient," muttered Aunt Ro. "Does this mean that all afterlifers can see me now? Is it just me? Or is it all ghosts? This will definitely put a hitch in things if upper management gets an eye on us. I am not cut out for paperwork, Cass. You had better fix this," she groused, then she turned and walked down the hallway and into the living room.

Kushiel started to follow her, but Cass gently held him back, causing Kushiel to look at him.

"Are you alright? Do you feel alright?" Cass asked.

"I feel fine. Confused, perhaps, but totally fine otherwise," Kushiel confirmed.

Cass let him go then and led the way into the living room, where Kushiel gave a start again, because Aunt Ro had changed. Her hair was in some type of updo and her dress was still old-fashioned, but it was fancier and had large blue flowers on it now.

"You look different," Kushiel stated.

"Well give this one a medal," she huffed.

"Aunt Ro, be nice," Cass chastised. "He can hear you. Mind your manners. I know you have them, because you certainly taught me how to behave."

She only huffed in response, but Kushiel figured if she disagreed she'd have said so. She didn't seem the type to hold her tongue if she thought she was right.

"Kushiel, take off your scarf," Cass ordered.

Ah. Yes, Kushiel supposed that made sense. He unwound it from around his neck and held it in his hands, and he still saw Aunt Ro. He handed it over to Cass, and suddenly the space where Aunt Ro had been was empty.

He looked at Cass and nodded, and Cass handed him back the scarf. As soon as he had it back in his hands, Aunt Ro was back, and she was apparently mid-tirade.

"...while you two are busy playing with outerwear!" she complained.

"Yes, it must be the scarf," Kushiel confirmed, looking over at Cass. "I can hear and see her again, and I could do neither without it."

"Hmph," she muttered.

Cass looked at Aunt Ro. "No panicking necessary. It's just Kushiel who can see you, and only with the scarf. Nice touch on the dahlias, by the way."

Kushiel looked at Cass in confusion, and he just laughed.

"Dahlias mean discovery. They also mean balance and being true, although that isn't what my message was," Aunt Ro conceded. She then asked, "Where did he get such a thing, anyway? If someone is out there giving talismans to afterlifers so they can see us… Well, we ought to do something about that."

"You mean I ought to do something about that," Cass grumped.

"Well I can't be seen by just any riff raff, Cassius. I'll not have some two-bit charlatan blowing my cover," she scoffed.

"I would love to see you tell Lilith that she's some ‘two bit charlatan,'" Cass laughed, adding, "Besides, this isn't some Mission Impossible thing—you don't have a cover, Aunt Ro."

"I do plenty of undercover work, young man," she defended. "But yes, I suppose if Lilith gave it to him then perhaps there is a reason, and I trust she isn't doing such things for just anyone."

Cass looked at Kushiel and whispered, "She knows better than to go up against Lilith. Even she isn't that dumb."

Kushiel wasn't sure why he whispered, because clearly Aunt Ro was standing right there and could still hear him. She just gave Cass a dirty look, though. It was interesting to see the two family members interact, and although they grumped at one another, Kushiel could clearly see that they cared deeply for each other. It was heartwarming. Kushiel thought that was what it must be like to be a part of a family, but he also thought he might need to get them back on track or else they'd tease each other all afternoon.

"This ought to make things easier in our search, I would think," Kushiel stated, bringing up the task they had ahead of them. "I won't be such a burden now that I can also see the spirits."

"K, you have never been a burden, and I can promise that you never will be," Cass insisted.

"K? Like ok?" Kushiel asked, getting stuck on that one word, because it was easier than focusing on the rest of his statement, which made that fluttery feeling come back.

Cass laughed. "No. K. Like the letter k. Short for Kushiel. I mean, I could go with Kush, but you don't strike me as a Kush. And using the last part of your name doesn't really work either. But the first initial works for a shortened version, no? I can stick with Kushiel if you don't like it."

"Ah, so we're at the nicknames stage, are we?" Aunt Ro asked, and Kushiel felt like he couldn't keep up with her, because where she had been glowering and seemed predisposed to strongly dislike him before, she was now smirking at him and looking rather pleased. She even sidled a little closer and winked at him, which made him look over to Cass for guidance.

"Aunt Ro, leave him alone," Cass grumbled. "We have work to do."

He gestured Kushiel over to the couch, and after Kushiel sat, Cass sat next to him. Their legs were almost touching, and Kushiel tried very hard not to be distracted by that fact.

"Hmm, perhaps the other meanings for dahlias are appropriate after all," she murmured, and Kushiel felt a bit like an unsuspecting worm who was about to be snatched by a bird. She was smiling at him, and it was… disconcerting. He had dealt with demons who were less frightening than her.

"Keep your machinations to yourself, Aunt," Cass scolded her. "Be useful and go get the other ghost."

Aunt Ro huffed at Cass, but she flounced off into the other room. Kushiel still felt clueless and confused, because he had no idea what plans Aunt Ro might have for him. He was distracted from asking when Cass cleared his throat and laid a hand on Kushiel's knee.

Kushiel needed to get himself under control. His reaction to Cass was not appropriate. The man was kind and sweet and treated everyone with respect, and Kushiel would not sully that with his baser… desires.

He was not worthy of someone such as Cass. He only needed to remember that to quell the fluttering inside him. He would protect Cass and find the lost souls; that was his job.

"You alright, K?" Cass asked, looking at Kushiel closely.

Luckily, Kushiel was saved from answering, because Aunt Ro came back in at that moment, although the pesky flutterings returned at Cass's use of the nickname. Kushiel had never had a nickname before. He was distracted quickly enough when he saw what Aunt Ro returned with, though.

It was… Well, Kushiel couldn't rightly say what it was. It was a shadow, like a figure seen in a totally dark room. It was low to the ground, like it was crawling. He could vaguely make out four limbs, a body, and a face, but any distinct features were completely missing.

The ghost came straight to him and crawled up next to him, and when it was resting against his side, he felt the lost soul that he knew.

Outrage flowed through Kushiel again. Someone had done this to all the souls on Erebus. This shadow had once been a complete soul; they had been able to speak and they had features, even though most souls in Erebus weren't clearly one gender and didn't have distinctive features. They retained a general human form, their ability to communicate, and essential facets of their personalities, but much else from their earthly forms was lost.

The souls didn't have names anymore on Erebus, but Kushiel often thought of them by nicknames. He had nicknamed this one Professor, because this soul had been one who had talked often and extensively with him, and they had struggled with the nature of good and evil. They had reveled in conversation and philosophizing, and Kushiel had felt they were close to being ready for reincarnation; their light had been growing brighter and brighter in recent months.

Now they were a hollowed out shell of what they had once been. Kushiel pushed his love and forgiveness into the ghost, and he felt a stab of pain inside himself at the action, but it didn't matter. He couldn't not help, and he continued to pour himself into the ghost despite the agony it caused.

Through the haze of pain, he heard Cass gasp and felt his hand grip Kushiel's leg even more tightly. Kushiel held onto that feeling, letting the peace that was Cass's soul ease his pain.

"Heavens," Aunt Ro gasped.

"You see it too?" Cass asked, but the voices sounded far away.

He felt hands pulling him away from the ghost, and though his vision was slightly dim, he thought Aunt Ro was taking the hand of the lost soul in her own and leading it away.

Then somehow Kushiel's head was laying in Cass's lap, because Kushiel was looking up into his face, which looked almost… loving.

And that was the last thought Kushiel had before darkness claimed him.