Misery Loves Company [Andar]

[Shakune]

To Shakune, Korbin's plan seemed to hardly warrant the label. Not that she had any better ideas, of course. She barely knew Bridie Salt, and yet Shakune guessed that telling the ghost that her children were in danger was not the correct path to take. But something he had did flare up an idea in the back of Shakune's mind. Perhaps she could placate the ghost if she asked about her children...

But Shakune never had a choice to ask Bridie about her beloved offspring. Instead, Korbin offered the ghost an explanation that even made Shakune gasp in surprise.

Bridie stood blinking at the male. "A... head injury?" She repeated slowly, her brown furrowed and lips pouted. Beside him, Shakune wiped her face with both hands, releasing a slow, regrettable groan. There was a growing chance that she would not be going to sleep tonight.

A tense moment passed whilst the ghost chewed over Korbin's suggestion. Shakune's black eyes darted from Bridie to Korbin and back again desperately as she waited for one of them to speak. She was about to break out in fake laughter and tell Bridie it was all a joke, when the ghost finally responded:

"Why would you say that?" She asked sharply. The cloudy air around her began to rotate and twirl around her in growing eddies. She gestured briefly to her swollen stomach. "Given my current state, sir, I would suggest I am not lost in time." With that, the ghost folded her arms and raised a demanding eyebrow to Andar. Shakune, who had assumed Bridie was as demure and timid as her appearance, found herself with a twisted newfound respect for the dead woman. "Do you believe what he's saying, Shakune?"

The courier gulped. Though Andar's plan had not gone as well as she had hoped, it was the only idea they had between them. The best they could achieve would be to get Bridie back into the safety of Shakune's home, where nobody else would see her out and about. "I think we should continue on our way home, Bridie. To my home. We can talk more there." She glanced briefly to Andar for a sign of a sign of his approval

[Andar]

The whole ghost gone mental theme had seemed an appropriate measure to take at the time. But upon seeing Bridie's reaction, he was beginning to have his doubts. Still, to his way of thinking, he'd much rather be crazy than dead. And though the news would certainly provoke feelings of profound anxiety in even the most steadfast of individuals, there was no way around deceiving Bridie about the plethora of things that simply would not line up from her current spectral perspective without resorting to a drastic explanation. His companion of ghostly detective work issued a plaintive note to sum up the fundamentally awesome nature of his idea. Korbin snuck in a look Shakune's way that said, "Hey, I tried to alleviate the confusion. This was really the best I could come up with!" Followed rather quickly with a raised brow look that invited (begged) better suggestions, particularly now with the ghostly lady seeming a bit perturbed at being labeled a loon.

The difficult part of it was how exactly to go about convincing a spirit that it was bonkers without inciting feelings most detrimental to their longevity. He wasn't entirely sure what that whole business was with the cloudy and decidedly chilly weather pattern enveloping Bridie was all about, but it didn't seem too encouraging. Korbin smiled weakly, backing away ever so slowly. "Head Injury? Definitely not. Mental illness is what we're looking at here. Entirely treatable. Quite common really. Nothing to worry yourself over," he said with great emphasis on remaining as reassuring and positive as he could. His back-pedalling was halted with an abrupt bumping into his employer that nearly caused him to jump out of his boots. Seriously, apparition work was not wonderfully kind to his nerves!

"Right. Certainly. Well your current state-- congratulations by the way-- is quite natural and will not be influenced with this very treatable disease. Did I say disease? More like a common cold really, everyone's coming down with it these days," he said with a not so well timed chuckle. It was then Bridie decided to get a second opinion on her so called mental disorder. None other than his employer. Well that certainly took the burden off his shoulders for the time being, which he was rather relieved about. Disentangling himself from the dark-eyed woman, he too turned toward her and echoed the ghost with a couldn't resist, "Yeah Shakune, you do believe what I'm saying don't you?" he put in with a telling look that said, "You Better!"

It was a rather pleasant change to see his companion weather Bridie's stare for a while since this was after all, her problem, and he only the good thief Samaritan doing his due diligence to lend aid to vagrant souls in need. Much to her credit, Shakune did the only reasonabe thing she could do given the situation at hand.....she delayed. Her searching eyes found approval and relief in equal measures upon the Kelvic rogue's face. "Why, that's a splendid idea! Let's be away from this deary place and get to a place more comfortable," he said and proffered his arm in gentlemanly fashion to Shakune as they set off to travel to Shakune's residence. "Right this way madam. Do keep a lively pace, the streets are afoul with ruffians this time of night." Not to mention pregnant ghosts. But he didn't think it terribly helpful to mention that just then. He wondered if Shakune had some notion as to what they were supposed to do with Bridie once they got to her house. Because he had absolutely no clue himself. As the saying went: hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and failing that, run like hell!

His motto in a nutshell.