Afterlivin' ('series')

Eddie Dunkel shifted his weight from one foot to another and watched his new mistress lean against the doorframe and grin at him. It was becoming increasingly annoying. And uncomfortable.

"Umm, can I come in? It’s just a tad bit wet out here," he inquired, gazing out at the pouring rain that was almost constant in Afterville. Shamm immediately snapped out of her reverie.

"Oy, where the heck did my manners get to? By all means, get yourself in here!" She said with a surprisingly graceful and formal bow.

She turned away to lead him down the front hall toward the living room, and as soon as she did, the smile turned into a sickened grimace. This wasn’t what she had expected at all.

When they reached it, Shamm, unsure what to do next, played it cool and flopped down on an armchair, lazily dangling her legs over the arm of it. Then, smirking at him, raised an expectant eyebrow and waited. He had some explaining to do. Like why the heck he was there, for one. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing anymore...

Apparently, Eddie had gained some confidence, because he smirked right back at the geist and took the other chair for himself.

"I guess you’re wondering what I’m doing in your....house," he began rather rudely, looking around Shamm’s mansion. She frowned, not really at his abrupt impudence, but because it was getting more difficult to look this creature in the face. So Shamm sat upright and tried desperately not to.

"Well, it’d be kind of weird not to so, yes,"

Eddie leaned forward slightly, which wasn’t really helping Shamm’s issue very much.

"Alright, according to what the Afterworld council has told me, I’m just supposed to, um, learn from the best? I think is what they said.

"Is that so?" she asked, slightly bored, and suddenly becoming a little too interested in a loose stitch in the chair, and was trying very hard to rip it out. He watched her for a moment and chuckled softly.

"Forgive me if you don’t exactly strike me as ‘the best’,"

Shamm paused from her task, only briefly, to shoot an annoyed glance at him. Then returning to her work, she answered,

"Perhaps that’s only because you don’t have a clue what ‘the best’ is,"

Eddie stared at the woman for a moment, not really because of what she just said, but because she was now on her feet yanking at the
darn thread with all her might.

"Perhaps, then, you could clue me in a bit," he said, watching her with worried eyes and trying not to laugh at the same time.

"AHA!!!"

The ghost proudly held up the string that had given her so much trouble and grinned at it triumphantly. Then quickly regained her composure and sat gracefully down in the chair, finally listening to the conversation.

"Perhaps you should tell me why you’re here first, and no wisecracks smartipants!" She told him, pouring herself a cup of tea, that had materialized in her hand. She didn’t know why. She hated tea. But maybe it would make her seem more sophisticated, especially after that little spiel with the chair.

Well, the council says that they want me to learn from you..." he hesitated, knowing she wouldn’t care for the rest, "...because they want us to eventually be..." now he was scared, in the brief minutes he’d been in her presence, this was the first time she’d looked so intense and serious. In fact, she was glaring at him.

"...partners,"

Relief swept over the ghost’s pale face.

"Oh, thank GOD! I thought you were gonna say something else!" She laughed.

Relief flooded over him too.

"Nah, I’m not too good with innuendo,"he grinned, wanting to lighten the mood even more. She was lovely when she was happy, he could tell already.

The woman lowered her eyelids and smiled at him in a mock lustful manner.

"Well I am," she cooed.

Eddie started to sweat. (If ghosts can sweat. He wasn’t good with flirtatious behavior, joking or not, he wasn’t comfortable with it. But living with Shammelia Exxor Rox should change that)

Purposefully swaying her hips, Shamm walked toward him and intertwined her arm in his.

"So, your office or mine, partner?"