"Something important?" asked Moira. She raised an expectant brow as she stared critically at Kieran's phone as he returned to the seat across from her.

"Yes, but nothing I can help with at present," Kieran admitted as he replied to Jack's texts. "Surprising, certainly." Had he known earlier that Thomas was still alive, he would have preemptively strangled the idiot. He should have kept in touch better.

"Hm. I suppose I have taken up quite a bit of your time," Moira said with an indignant sniff.

Kieran looked up with a smile. Fake or not, it would have to do. "Nonsense. It's been lovely catching up."

"You introduced that poor dead girl to me." Moira turned to face Lindsey and smiled. "Lindsey, you are a treasure and wonderful company. I would gladly whisk you away to be my travel companion, but this poor soul needs the socialization more than I do. He's dreadfully out of practice."

Lindsey beamed. "Aww! That's so sweet! Sometimes, I can answer the phone. If you ever wanna chat about stuff, I'm here. We could maybe even get a landline." She looked to Kieran and gave him a blinding grin. "For me. And my friends. It could be a real store phone. I can be the receptionist!"

Kieran frowned as he looked away from the pair of eager smiles. Getting the card reader Lindsey wanted was bad enough. It would require updating everything, and he didn't want to be a nuisance by asking Jack for help. And he certainly didn't want to think about how Lindsey would answer a landline, but the visual of the mouthpiece laying on a table with her happily bent over it was already there. How sad was it that a ghost had more friends than him?

"Very well."

"See? She's doing you wonders," Moira said, nodding. "You've not rolled your eyes once since I got here."

That, or he was lonely enough to endure the social torments of others.

---

It was early evening when Jack arrived, dropped off in front of the store. Kieran watched in concern as Jack slammed the door shut and waved for the car to move on. It was going to be yet another mess to clean up.

Jack turned with a scowl and marched up to the door, looking over his shoulder to motion once more. He opened the door and glared around the shop until his eyes fell upon Kieran. "So who is Thomas?"

Lindsey appeared beside Jack. "Thomas? As in ghost Thomas? Tommy ghost is still here? How?!" She looked to Kieran in confusion before her gaze unfocused. She shook her head and shrugged. "Seriously, how? I don't feel anything."

Kieran looked away from the expectant stares. "He's not here. At present. Not exactly. He is something of a medium. He could always see and sense ghosts. He also claimed astral projection as a talent later on."

"And?" Jack pressed.

Kieran sighed and grimaced as he looked away.

Jack crossed his arms with an exasperated huff. "Another ex?"

"Heavens, no. I'm his sire," Kieran said with an edge of disgust. Despite seeing Thomas naked a number of times, he couldn't imagine anything more intimate than friendship.

"Your son kidnapped me?"

"Confidant would be a more apt term," he said even though Jack's guess as to the relationship dynamic hadn't been far off. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lindsey slowly fade away. He wished he had the option to fade out of existence, but there was too much work involved to make sure it stuck.

"So your bosom buddy is playing anti-matchmaker?"

"I'll speak with him. Once I find him," Kieran promised. Without limiting Lindsey's coming and goings, he was unsure as to how he could protect his property from an invasive spirit. He hoped Lindsey would be more proactive with paying attention to who was lingering.

"You got a lot of speaking to do with a lot of people. You know that, right? You're gonna actually do that, right?" Jack said, his voice wavering with desperation. He glanced away and grabbed at his sleeves.

"Yes."

"Kieran, I— I'm trying, but I can't stay with you if you won't set up your own fucking boundaries, and I end up in the fucking crossfire. I don't wanna leave again, but…" Jack swallowed and looked up and away, shoulders hunching. "I will. For good. 'Cuz, y'know, Tommy-boy kinda threatened me if I got close to you or Augie. I don't know what he's capable of. I'm trusting you when you say you'll take care of it. So… Take care of it. Please. Now."

Kieran nodded. "I'll… Very well. I'm not certain how to reach Thomas, but I can at least get Augustin sorted."

He went to get his phone from behind the register. Moira, as talkative as she was, had been right with how distressing it was to be so easily accessible at all times. Writing a letter and waiting a few hours or weeks for a response would have given him time to process. It was bad enough that a man he was already mourning was alive and mostly well.