Work Text:
“Tech, this is boring.” Tommy groaned, sprawled on the couch with a book laid flat on his chest.
Techno only hummed, unresponsive as he continued to skim through the pages of a book with a leather green cover.
Tommy whined further, “Technooo.”
Techno spared him a glance before sighing, “Just finish your homework, Theseus.”
Tommy pouted, “I’ve been doing the same exercise for the past 5 hours!”
“We’ve only been studying for an hour, you’re bein’ dramatic.”
“Still!” Tommy sat up, flinging the book off his chest, “I wanna move to the next lesson.”
“If you don't master your foundations-”
“My entire building will collapse, mimimimi.” Tommy mocked, “I get it! But I’ve been analysing the same poem for days, I probably have it fully memorised by now!”
Techno raised a brow, “Really now?”
“I- well.” Tommy stammered, “You get what I mean!” He slumped.
Techno huffed, “Just finish your work, then we can move onto studying for your exams.”
“My exams are in three months.”
He shrugged, “A bit of advanced preparation never hurt anyone.” He pushed his glasses up and raised his book back to his face, an action Tommy now recognizes as a ‘this-conversation-is-over’ action.
Tommy glared at him for a few moments more, brain racking for a scheme of sorts that will convince Techno to let him do something fun without reprimand.
His scheming was cut short, head swerving as a voice came from the door.
“You aren’t giving Tech a hard time, are you Tommy?”
Tommy blink, a grin wide on h
Techno slightly waved, “He is, he’s giving me a horrible time.”
Tommy scowled, “Hey! I am not!”
Phil only fondly huffs at their antics, “Well, I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I stole your teacher for a bit, Toms?”
Tommy blinked, head tilting, “Well,” He bit his lip, technically that would help him in his quest to not dying of boredom, “I don’t mind!” He brightened up, “I don’t mind at all actually!”
“I’m feelin’ very appreciated here, Theseus.” Techno drawled out.
Tommy glared, Techno, who was clearly unaffected by the stare, huffed and got up. Phil gave them both a small smile, “We’ll be right back, alright?”
Tommy hummed, watching as the both of them disappeared into his dad’s office, he stared at it for a moment before his brows furrowed.
Tommy never knows what they're talking about, he knows that it has to be detective work, but nothing more. Whenever he'd ask Techno he'd be met with a small 'nothing' or even an outright denial.
At the memories Tommy huffed and crossed his arms, what a bitch.
———
Hours later, as Tommy heard familiar and heavy shuffling approach the room, his eyes widened and he scrambled to sit down in a way that implied he had been studying very hard, which isn't really a lie, he'd been studying! He was just taking a break.
Techno walked into the room, stopping at the door frame as he stared at Tommy with a blank face.
Tommy was sitting with uncharacteristically good posture, blanket sprawled over his lap and open book grappled in his hands along with papers scattered across the floor and table.
He cleared his throat, "I'm sure you can see Techno, but in case you don't, I've been studying very hard."
Techno sighed, "Tommy, the book's upside down."
Ah fuck.
He awkwardly put the book down.
"...I'm just that advanced, I don't know what to tell you, big man."
"Whatever runt." Techno shook his head, walking back to his chair next to the fireplace and picking his book back up.
Runt ?
Tommy's brows furrowed, "Why do you always call me that?"
Techno doesn't answer, in fact he hums as if he hadn't even heard a thing, Tommy glared, bitch.
As his glare didn't relent, Techno hesitated but stared at him with a raised brow, "What?"
He's playing dumb. Tommy glared further.
"What?"
He's very convincing, Tommy gave in and huffed, "What were you and dad talking about?"
"Ah…" Techno drawled out, "The usual…? boring work stuff?" He waved it off, and Tommy scowled, this man was so bad at lying but he had no way to prove it, "you wouldn't be interested, child."
"I am already interested! Why would I be asking you otherwise?" Tommy frowned.
Techno shrugged, "I don't know, why are you?"
"Cause I'm curious!"
"Curiously kills the cat-"
Tommy nearly rips all his hair out, of course it would be a literature reference, well, two can play that game!
Tommy crossed his arms, "And life brings it back!"
Techno purses his lips, and makes a face eerily close to smug, "So you do listen to my bedtime stories."
"It was a lecture, and it was against my will!" Tommy scowled.
"Uh huh."
Tommy wanted to yell but Techno cut him off.
"Speaking of it, isn't it your bedtime already?"
"I don't need a bedtime story!" Tommy glared, "And you aren't answering my question!"
Techno huffed, seeming determined to ignore him again .
"Stop ignoring me." He scowled, "You're like dad, right?"
"Well, yes, we are alike. In terms of species, language-"
"No!" Tommy cut him off, "I mean detective! You're a detective like dad, right?"
"Detective?" Techno huffs.
Tommy huffed, "Fine! Investigator. I'm just saying, a paranormal detective sounds way cooler."
"I disagree." Techno shook his head, "Like, that is a horrible name."
"Whatever! I want you to let me go with you on an investigation." He was more than ready.
Even though his father wouldn't let him actually go to one, he's prepared him for hell and back. Like, seriously . He had learnt how to use most of the tools when he was a seven year old.
He's been endlessly asking his dad to at least just let him watch , he doesn't even need to do anything, he just wants to witness it in action.
Techno shook his head, "Nah, no way."
"What?!" Tommy looked up in disbelief.
"It's too dangerous, Theseus."
"I won't even do anything!" Tommy pleaded, "I'll just stay by the side, I've been trained for this quite literally my entire life, Techno."
"You're sixteen." Techno huffed, "At best, you'll be able to go when you're eighteen."
"But-"
" Don 't push it, Theseus." Techno glared and Tommy grumbled but stood down.
"Whatever."
———
It was dead at night, the moon was well in the sky and Tommy was definitely supposed to be asleep right now. But…
Tommy scurried down the stairs, barefoot to make sure he didn't make too much noise, he didn't want to disturb anyone. And by anyone, he means the only other person in the house, his dad.
He's only here for a quick drink, he'd woken up restless in the middle of the night and he swore he tried to fall asleep for 5 consecutive hours but his mind wouldn't let him.
He's just thirsty, a quick drink will knock him out.
He grabbed a glass from the rack, and opened the fridge. He winced at the flood of light before he got the jug, shutting the fridge door and pouring himself a glass.
Right, after he finishes this glass he'll just go right back to bed, no traces left behind at all.
He gulps the rest of the water down, and as he places the glass in the sink and places the jug back into the fridge, he offhandedly stares at the clock.
It was exactly one am. He should really go back to sleep.
He huffs, and before he walks out of the kitchen, he turns the light off and quickly makes his way up the stairs.
The floorboards slightly groaned under his weight as he walked over to his bedroom door, and as his hand reached for the handle, a red light blinked open in the corner of the hallway.
His hand retracted, slightly hovering over the door as he looked over and squinted.
The halls were dark and there was only a faint light from outside, leaking in through the curtains, a spot of light hit where the light was coming from.
It was across his dad's room— his office .
Tommy winces, he's never really gone into his dad's office before, he vaguely remembers going in once or twice when he was younger but the memories were long blurred.
His dad was veh content with keeping him as far away from the paranormal as possible, which is ridiculous , he's more than capable of doing it himself.
He stands there for a moment, hesitating and thinking over his decisions, after all he only had two at this point. Ignore it and go to sleep, or…
The red light flickers on, and off again.
Curiosity got the best of him and Tommy couldn't stop himself from eventually walking towards the office door, careful to not make even a single sound.
He took a deep breath as he stood face to face with the door slightly cracked open.
The room had been completely dark earlier, and he hadn't heard any noise from his father, so he had no idea what lights were on.
A small flickering red light fit through the tiny cracks and hit and painted a spot of the floor with an obnoxious neon red.
Grasping the wall, he slightly bent and closed one eye, leaking through the crack.
He could barely see anything—
The red light was coming from the side of the room, built on a board and Tommy could faintly see a picture pinned above it.
His eyes widened in recognition, a responder.
His dad told him they'd leave a detector in places suspected to have activity in them and whenever there would be a significant change in wave levels it would send a signal to the responder, making it light up.
This- this was his chance.
He barely took one look behind him before quietly shuffling into the room.
He grabbed his phone from his pocket, turning it and the flash light on.
As he pointed the light on the board, he could barely contain his awe, dozens of possible cases, all kneaded and separated by pieces of multi-colored string and hung to the board.
The red light flickered again and Tommy directed his attention towards it, above it was a picture of what seemed to be an overgrown mansion of some sort surrounded by trees.
He needed a case file— more information.
Tommy pointed his flash to his father's desk, and huffed at the mess before quickly scanning through, making a mess in his wake, eventually, under a pile of papers was a yellow file with some bad handwriting on top.
He grabbed the file and immediately paid attention to the map .
Okay, so it wasn't too far, the problem was that he would probably be needing an uber.
———
"Good evening, sir." Tommy only gave the man on the wheel a stiff smile before shuffling in and shutting the door.
"My name is Ranboo, I'll be your driver for today-"
What kind of name is Ranboo?
He skims through the files and winces more than once at the words butchered by his dad's handwriting.
Wilbur Soot? Seems like a silly ghost, he's sure he'll be fine.
The driver sighed, "I don't know either."
Fuck, he should stop doing that, he cleared his throat, "Sorry, stressful night."
"Clearly." Ranboo lightly glanced at him, "School Work?"
Tommy blinked, "Well uh…it's for my-" job? "Future, my future."
Ranboo hummed, "Respect to that."
———
Tommy…still has absolutely no idea why he thought this would be a good idea.
He shivered, tightening his coat around him as he mumbled curses under his breath.
He had seen the file on his father's desk, read the address and the next thing he knew he was in front of an abandoned building.
Everything was dark and Tommy's crappy flashlight barely helped. His phone's battery was orange and he wasn't exactly looking forward to wasting all of his battery on light .
Just in case of emergencies of course. Tommy has full confidence in this, there's no way anything bad could happen.
Tommy nodded, "Yeah, this is stupid, It's probably nothing.." He mumbled to himself, hands hovering above the door handle.
He shook his head, he can't back out now!
He shoved his bag through the window, hands shaking, grabbing into the window and leaping through.
He winced as his hands touched something liquid, gross, gross , "Please be rainwater." What if it was rat piss? " Please be rainwater. "
As he was mumbling to himself, he shakily gathered composure stumbling up as he used the wall behind him as a crutch as chills ran though his spine.
Fuck, this place looks like it was taken right out of the haunting or something.
Hey, dying by demon isn't such a bad way to go. On paper at least. Would him dying by a demon be the equivalent of selling his soul?
Oh my god , was he selling his soul?
Webs were woven on every corner, moonlight leaking from damaged walls and casting onto the walls, revealing a dirty red tinted patterned carpet. So dirty it might just have a dozen undiscovered virused lingering between its… fur .
Tommy wanted to cry at the sound of his boots squelching above the carpet. Yeah , he was definitely throwing these out, even his socks. Shame, he really liked these socks, the shoes? Not so much, hard on his feet and he kept tripping on the laces-
A loud noise made Tommy jump out his skin and yelp in surprise, backing up into a wall, "The fuck?!"
His chest rose and fell in rapid pace as he grasped his phone like a lifeline.
Squirrels, his mind supplied, could be squirrels, or raccoons. He hopes it's just raccoons, he hates squirrels…and ghosts.
"That's mean."
Oh yeah, he said that out loud-
Muffled static filled his ears as the radio powered up in his bag, clear, croaky words echoing through the walls.
Tommy froze, eyes slowly and hesitantly glancing over to his backpack still under the window, right where he left it. There was a faint glow just below the zipper, right where he had left the radio he randomly found in his father's cabinets.
"W-what… ?" His dad was bad at electronics, but Techno was absolutely obsessed with keeping them in tip top shape so the chances of it just randomly turning on-
The volume heightened and shifted for a moment before a pitchy laugh hit his ear, "Hello there." The voice vibrated in his ear, he winced.
Tommy stumbled back, his yelp bordering a yell as he stumbled on his laces— damn shoes — and fell right on his butt, back pressed into what he's pretty sure is a filing cabinet.
"Ho-holy shit ."
———
William had seen many Interesting humans in his time haunting the old family home.
Many of which were civilians that he had happily messed with, and a selected few that were, what he'd learn to discover, paranormal investigators .
He hates that name by the way, it sounds inferior compared to something like…paranormal detectives, yeah, paranormal detective sounds way more pleasing than investigator.
Off topic. Back to the paranormal part, he indeed is paranormal.
And he's never been pleased with people interfering with his business. Which is why he'd rarely let them get away scott free.
Which is why he was in a bit of a bad mood, he'd found a foreign object buried in his yard, that had been done so swiftly he hadn't even been able to catch the culprit.
But, his negativity had been overturned by absolute curiosity as a hooded blonde had scurried over his gates with absolutely no self restraint.
Most of the humans he'd come across were unlike the one in front of him now, his head tilted curiously.
Usually, humans had this frown on their faces, and they held themselves in a way where William could think that they'd been carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.
But this startlingly bright human had none of that, other than the fear that shook in his bones, his eyes were full of something boisterous , and he walked with no care for the world around him.
Like, seriously. He stepped through a few of William's old plants. He'll let it pass though, he'd never truly taken a liking to that particular batch anyways.
Though, this annoyin g ringing static might make him reconsider.
"Holy shit ."
The human was sprawled on the floor and looking at his backpack like it had committed the most mind boggling thing ever.
William hums, now that he thinks about it…he stalks closer to the bag, and oh ! "So that's where the noise is coming from." A shame, if only he could turn it off, he clicked his tongue, trying to get closer to the bag before-
"What the fuck?! S-stop right there!"
William pauses, awkwardly staying still as his mind feels in the human's words. Eventually, he shifts his head to follow the human's gaze- a gaze that stares directly at him .
There's…what? That's impossible, there's no world where that would ever be feasible- "Can you… see me?"
The human looks both terrified and in disbelief, "Yes?! Obviously! What-" he huffs and puffs, "Are you a fucking ghost ?!"
"Well actually, I'm a phantom but-"
"You're a what?"
William grumbles, people move on from words far too quickly, "I'm a ghost… kind of ."
"Right, yes, no shit!" The human glares, "But- aren't- what's the deal with-?" He wildly flails his arms at William in a way that makes the phantom feel slightly insulted.
"With what ?"
"Aren't ghosts supposed to be-" He struggles, "You know! Ghosts?! Invisible?!"
William blinks, ah yes, that makes much more sense, after all, his fashion sense is gold in every century.
He hums, "Well…" based on his years of experiences with mankind and undead life, "I've got no clue."
The human looks less terrified and more confused, "I can see ghosts ?!"
William scoffs and crosses his arms, "Well, seeing as there's one in front of you right now, there's only one good answer."
Silence remains for a moment, "No way."
William rolls his eyes, humans and their odd relationship with clinging onto the most wrong solutions.
"I am literally right in front of you." He moderately leans closer, freezing as the human jumps and cries out.
"Woah! Get- get away from me!"
"You said you wanted proof."
The human's stare turns incredulous, "I don't need proof! I know!"
William blinked, "You're giving me mixed signals here man."
"It's a- a slang ? Figure of speech?"
William nods slightly, right, slang . His biggest enemy.
"Why- are you Wilbur Soot?" The human hesitates.
Wilbur Soot? Does he have a brother? What a ridiculous name, he's glad they stayed estranged-
Oh.
What the hell ?
"Seriously?" William squacks in offense, "Wilbur, Wilbur ? How do you take the elegance of William and drag it through a pigsty-farmlike land filled with cobwebs to turn it to Wilbur ?"
"...so it's William?"
" Obviously ."
"Hey! My dad just has incredibly horrible handwriting."
William stares in confusion, he's not sure what those two topics have to do with each other, "Your dad?" His face scrunches up. He doesn't remember anything about his father, he does remember faintly that he had a younger-
" Yes , my father." The human mumbled, "He's some- I don't know, ghost hunter or something."
"Hunter?" Ridiculous, William scoffed, "You mean paranormal investigator?"
The human's face scrunches up, "How- what-?" He shakes his head, "Whatever I'm not going to bother asking." He shakily tries to get up, clearly failing, "My dad is a paranormal-" he hoists himself up with a steady grip on the cabinet, "-Investigator."
"And you?" William's brows raise, having to hold himself back from leaning in curiosity.
The human clearly hesitates, wincing for a moment, "I- I don't know?"
William's brows furrowed, "...what do you mean 'you don't know'?" What an incredibly wrong answer, "You either are or aren't."
"Yeah well-" The human stammers, eventually giving in with a scoff as he falters, "It's complicated."
William only stares at him for a moment, what familiar antics this boy possesses.
"I'm supposed to be his heir but-" He shrugged, "I don't know."
William nodded, that he could sympathize with. He definitely has his own heir problems, although, those fade away after a few centuries, mostly due to the fact that wealth dwindles over a few years.
But that doesn't really answer his previous question, after all, his father could have been a saint and well— William's certainly not that.
"So. You aren't one of them?"
The boy stiffens for a moment before he huffs in defeat, "Okay, yes. I'm.." He winced, "I'm not."
William nods, "Well that confirms my suspicions."
"...suspicions?"
"You have to have a specific burden to be a paranormal investigator." At William's words, the boy nearly chokes.
"W-what?" He tries to clear his throat, "Burden?"
William hums, "Yes, burden ." He clears his throat, "You see, every paranormal investigator stands and walks in a way that suggests they carry a heavy weight." Always slouching and shifting as if there's constant anxiety tapping up their shoulders.
The boy helplessly tries to follow on.
"They're always frowning, always so gloomy and there's always a heavy weight in their eyes." He trails off, "And they almost always have face lines."
"Scars?"
William grimaces, "No! I know what scars look like, face lines are different."
"Face lines-?" The boy paused for a moment, "Are- do you mean wrinkles?"
"Oh. So that was what they were called."
He stays silent for a moment, awkwardly huffing and struggling to speak, "O-oh!" He grins, "So you're calling them old?"
"Old? Does being old come with it?" William's face scrunches up, he can't recall a lot, "Well, I'm not young and I certainly still have my charm."
A small cough that seemed awfully similar to a wheeze left the young man's mouth, "Well that's cause you're a ghost- people age that way." He tries covering his mouth to stifle what William thinks is…laughing.
"Dad would hate this.." The boy wheezes a bit.
"Your dad." That seems to catch the boy's attention, he clears his throat, "He is old then?"
The boy barks out a laugh, promptly shutting his mouth with his hand, he stiffly nods, "Y-yep!" He stammers as he tries to quiet out his snickers, "An absolute old man."
"Then what about you?" William tilts his head curiously, "What is your age?"
"S-sixteen." He slowly calms down and gives a tight smile, "I am sixteen."
"Ah." William supposes that it is quite a young age.
But even then, age surely isn't the only thing that makes the boy in front of him special. The light in his eyes doesn't seem to have an age limit and yet not everyone can have it.
With the way the light dances in his eyes and his curly blonde hair, the boisterous kid in front of him feels familiar.
Like…the sun .
William doesn't necessarily hate the sun, he's sure he was probably fond of it once , but phantoms and sunlight don't get along very well.
But even then, he can't say he hasn't missed the warmth.
His interest in the boy shifts once again, and he decides to push back their fun little game for later, cause he has this little hunch that tells him the boy in front of him is special.
Considering the boy can see him, he shouldn't rule out the fact that it means there may be more people who can , he can't rule out that the boy in front of him might not be that special but-
There is a faint smile on the boy's face, he seems yet to have calmed down from his fit of laughter from earlier, his shoulders are shaking but not…not from fear .
William has never seen anyone be so carefree around someone like himself.
"What's your name?"
The boy blinks, "What?" He pauses, "Why?"
William shrugs, "You interest me."
"No like-" he struggles, "Should I really give my name to a ghost ?"
"I'm not a siren." William huffs, "Nor am I of the fae."
He squints, "How am I supposed to trust you?"
"Have you ever seen a fully human siren? Or an unterritorial fae?"
"I-" he pauses, "Technically I've never seen any, but I haven't seen any of their kind either and I don't agree with labeling so-"
William's glare seems to shut him up.
Be clears his throat, "Fine! Tommy, I'm Tommy." He grumbles
Tommy .
William pauses at the name, "Tommy.." It's…oddly fitting. "Hello Tommy."
Just as Tommy was about to respond, a loud voice echoes through the room, making both of them snap their heads to look at-
A man with long pink tied up hair was standing in the door frame, glaring at Tommy as if he'd done the biggest disrespect one could ever do.
The same stiff posture as if they were ready to be jumped at any second and the same cold eyes that indicated that they've had to do it nce, and they've done it with no remorse.
An absolute classic example of a paranormal investigator.
"Theseus." Whatever William said about paranormal investigators seemed to be 100% accurate. He was right, just like he is with everything else, he gives himself a mental pat in the back.
William's face scrunches up, a Greek myth? What's that got to do with anyone here-
"T-techno?!"
William blinks and stares between the two of them.
Oh.