“Welcome Wagon” was the sort of job that just came naturally to someone like Gansey. He’d already been introducing himself to nearly everyone that showed up in Vallo, already stuck his nose into everything. The Department of Magic side of things was exciting and new and gave him something to be passionate about. But welcoming people was an easy transition to something he already knew well.
And it selfishly appeased his curiosity of knowing early when someone arrived. Gansey liked knowing things far more than he liked schmoozing with people.
It had been a busy week, people arriving lately at a much more rapid pace than what the DOA had previously been used to, before Gansey himself had even arrived. So there were lots of introductions, lots of teaching, lots of patience.
Gansey stood up, with the intention of taking his break, when something caught his attention and froze him in his spot. He was almost afraid to ask, thinking it might be a figment of his imagination, but Gansey still took a step forward, bravely. “-- Noah?”
Noah had arrived, very confused, in the middle of a city. He hadn’t known where he was, but he knew he wasn’t in the right place. He’d been going back to Gansey, back to seeing the younger version of one of his best friends. It would be the last time. He’d known...and he’d still gone. But then he’d shown up and when the other people showed up, he’d stood as still as possible, sure that he could get away with not being seen because he was a ghost and, really, it took a lot of energy to be seen. It was only after he’d tried to go through a wall - only succeeding in running smack dab into it and falling over - that he’d realized something was decidedly off.
Then the people there asked him to come with them to some building and they could see him. So he’d gone, but what he didn’t expect was to find Gansey. Even in this weird place, far away from home, he had found him.
He blinked a few times, the surprise of Gansey being able to see him taking over him again. Would he ever be not surprised? Noah wasn’t sure. “Um. Hi.” He fidgeted with his hair, trying to get it out of his eyes. “I..didn’t know you were here. I just showed up and there were people and then I ran into a wall and I think I bruised my forehead, which is weird.”
It had been a while for Gansey - for all of them really. When things were resolved, they just were, but Gansey still had dreams and flashbacks of Noah, and his heart felt it somehow. There was no real explanation, but so much of the leyline magic was a mystery as it was.
Noah was no exception.
Gansey didn’t want to spook him, this wasn’t like Monmouth where he could remind Noah not to hide under the pool table, or to come out from where he was hiding. He was in the open air here, and Gansey was just staring. Like an idiot.
He broke out of it and stepped forward again, slowly. “Hello. You ran into the wall? Are you okay? Is there-” God, he sounded ridiculous, but he couldn’t help it. “What can I do?”
Noah felt unusually awkward. He could remember how alive he felt with Blue, how he just was. How he felt more like the boy he was before. Now he was here and very confused and apparently visible to everyone around him and unable to go through walls...and did he have to pee? That was new.
Instead of voicing all of that, though, he just waited for Gansey to say something. “Yeah. I was trying to get away from the people, but then I couldn’t go through walls anymore.” He chewed on his lower lip, fingers coming up to press over his left cheekbone, but everything felt normal. Except for the weird fact that he could feel anything. Then he touched his forehead, wincing slightly. “I think something’s not quite right. Kind of like...like something I remember.” His nose scrunched up as he tried to think back to what it was, but the memory escaped him. “It’s not important, I guess.” He shrugged then. “Does this place not let…” Here his voice dropped. “Ghosts...go into some buildings?” He wasn’t sure.
Noah looked more normal than Gansey could remember seeing him, but he didn’t want to outright assume anything. Away from people, though, he could do that. Gansey reached forward and put a gentle hand on Noah’s shoulder (tentatively, as if he didn’t know what to expect without Blue around) and when it touched a very solid Noah, he let out a breath.
“I don’t know, outright.” Gansey worried at his bottom lip. “There’s a ghost here named Ben, I can introduce the two of you, but I don’t think he’s had any issues. You feel--”
Alive. Gansey wanted to breathe out the word, but he also didn’t want to jinx it. His throat swelled with feelings on the matter, at how much he wished he could have spared Noah death, and how thankful he was at the same time. “This place has it’s own brand of magic that none of us have quite figured out yet.”
Noah perked up at the idea of another ghost. He wouldn’t be alone! That would be really nice! It was nice, though, that Gansey seemed to be able to see him and touch his shoulder. It was like old times. The fact that he could actually feel the weight of his hand was a little unusual, but maybe that was just the fact that he was in a very magical place. “Okay! It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to! I mean, outside of you guys cause eventually you’ll want to sleep and stuff, right?”
There was an unusual gnawing sensation in his stomach that he couldn’t quite place, but he was just going to follow Gansey and figure it out. He’d also noticed that he’d been actively breathing, which was probably just normal, right? “Is it like back home? With the ley lines and everything? I feel a lot more solid and I didn’t even have to properly draw on anything. Or maybe I just didn’t realize I was!” Anything was possible, really. “Cause maybe it’s just like you have a lot of energy here, so I don’t even know!” And then he ran into the corner of a desk. “Ow.”
Gansey made a noise that was almost inhuman, as he watched his friend work through things in a very Noah-way. It was more uh-- lively than he was used to, and refreshing to see him not slouch or smudge across everything. Gansey lost track of his thoughts as he looked Noah over, piecing things together with hawkish eyes. A steady rise of his chest to denote breathing, his face flushing slightly as he talked. The fact that he just bumped into the desk.
All signs of life. Something Noah had been without for quite a while.
Gansey almost didn’t want to bring it up. Instead he cleared his throat and tried to follow along. “Ben seems nice, I think you’ll like him. We’re… not sure, on the magic. It doesn’t feel like ley line magic, to me? I- Noah?” He gently put a hand on his friend’s back, wanting to say so much about his death, their lives, about not wanting to waste it. But he couldn’t find the words for that topic. “Are you sure you aren’t … alive? Take a breath.”
Maybe it was a whole different magic, then. Noah wasn’t sure. Either way, he was doing his best to think through things and how to get around in a new place where he wasn’t really as able to get around the way he had. And he felt a little weird in general, different from the way he’d felt when he was back home. More like having Blue around. He wondered if Blue was there, but he didn’t ask. Mostly cause Gansey was staring at him in a very weird sort of way and he was caught up once more in the strangeness of being able to feel Gansey’s hand on his back.
Alive. The word felt so heavy. He’d been dead for so long, he didn’t know how to be a living boy, but what if this place just made it seem that way? He took in a breath like Gansey instructed him to, blinking a few times in confusion. Then he tried not breathing. He could not breathe as a ghost. It was very simple. Except for right now, he could feel in his chest and in his throat, like his body was fighting him, so he finally took a breath again.
He stared at Gansey, the confusion evident on his face. He analyzed everything as he tried to piece together the things that he’d been feeling even though he’d been brushing them off as weird outliers of a generally unusual existence. He looked around for a way to tell for sure, but he couldn’t even fathom how people knew if they were alive or not. It was like whatever knowledge he had to know was gone. “Um. I don’t- Gansey...how do I...what do I…” He felt his breathing pick up and closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing until it evened out again. “But I can’t be.”
Gansey knew the signs of an oncoming panic attack, and immediately went into action. He gently guided Noah to a nearby chair, and kept his hands on the blonde boy, trying to be as gentle as possible. Gansey knelt down in front of him and kept a steadying hand there, looking Noah straight in the face. “Deep breaths, count to ten.” He didn’t have any ice water on him to hand over, but hopefully a gentle guide through it would help regardless.
“The Barns just magically arrived about a week ago, so did the Pig. We don’t know how or why this world does things like this, but it’s--” Gansey shook his head, just as confused as Noah. It was hard to really tell him how when he just didn’t have any answers. “There is no part of me that isn’t thrilled about it, though. Adam and Ronan are here. We can help you through this, Noah.”
Noah allowed himself to be guided to the seat, sitting down and trying to focus only on the sound of Gansey’s voice while also going through everything that Gansey told him to do because he didn’t know what he was doing. It had been almost eight years now since he’d been alive. He’d gotten used to being dead, to knowing things, to the circular nature of time and knowledge. Now he was here and apparently alive.
Ronan and Adam were here. They were all here except Blue. He hadn’t heard him mention Blue. He sighed, hands reaching out to hold onto Gansey’s arms. “I don’t know how to be a living boy anymore. And I don’t think I even remember if there’s foods I like and I’m going to have to eat. And use the bathroom.” Here his nose scrunched up. “What if I can’t sleep? What if I’m not actually alive but just pretend alive?”
Gansey owed Noah everything. It seemed like such a small thing to agree to help him learn how to be a real, living person. His heart broke in a million different ways, hearing his friend worry about how to do just that. Nothing had quite shattered his resolve into finding a way home much like this, however, and he’d have to tackle that later.
“We’ll teach you. Look, Ronan can teach you how to punch things, Adam can show you some mechanics. I can help you with eating and cooking and all of that. And if you can’t sleep--” Gansey cut off and smiled at Noah, hoping to tease him into feeling a little better about all of this. “We’re a house full of insomniacs. You’ll be in good company.” He gestured to the half-empty office space. “We can get you a phone and bank account here, and the rest we can handle at The Barns. Okay?”
Noah nodded at Gansey’s words, but he wasn’t sure punching things was part of the things he needed to learn about being alive again. Or mechanics. He didn’t know what to learn to help him, but as long as he had Gansey, Ronan, and Adam, he would be okay.
“Okay,” he said quietly, like raising his voice any louder would break whatever magic he’d just found. The magic that kept him alive. Like the doubt in his mind and body would somehow make it disappear, make him less worthy of it...and he wanted to be worthy of being alive. Even if it was terrifying, he wanted to be worthy of it. “Does this…” He paused, looking up at Gansey. “Does this mean I can wear new clothes?”
Gansey barked out a laugh, since the question wasn’t something he’d even considered for Noah. The ghost-turned-human had lived with him before any of them had actually realized (let themselves realize) he was a ghost, and it had just been a natural thing to see him wear the same outfit on a daily basis. It was easy to believe what your brain wanted you to believe, despite all evidence being stacked against it.
“Yes, it does. We’ll take you shopping, then you can get a variety of opinions on your clothing and pick out your favorite colors.” He stood up again, but kept a hand on his friend, as if he was worried if he let go, Noah would disappear. His voice cracked, “I’m really glad you’re here, Noah.”
The laugh was enough to help pull Noah out of a more negative space in his brain. Just seeing Gansey smile. It was nice and he was glad that he could have given him a reason to laugh. He wasn’t any less scared of being alive, but if it stuck, if he stayed, then it...it could be nice, right? He could be happy. He could do almost anything. As long as it didn’t potentially get him killed again.
“Okay.” Noah stood after that moment, taking the time to lean into Gansey. Even if he didn’t have permission to invade his personal space, in that moment, he just needed to be that close. And Gansey hadn’t let go of him since he touched his shoulder, so he didn’t think that he’d mind too much. “Do they have Vans here? I don’t want to wear Converse.” Because of all the things that mattered in that moment, that was what he was thinking about. Or at least that was what he was letting himself think about.
Gansey hesitated for a second, before finally giving into the urge and wrapping his arms around Noah in a hug. He wasn’t raised to be a hugger - a dozen in as many years, probably - but that made a few in as many weeks as of late and he couldn’t find the energy to be mad at it. They all needed the comfort in their own way. Right now, it was giving Noah a full bodied hug, and resisting the urge to whisper thank you into his shoulder.
He laughed again, this time in an effort to cover up any potential tears, before finally leaning away. “I think we can track you down some Vans. If they’re here, we’ll find them for you.” Gansey let out a shaky breath and nodded at nothing in particular. “I am going to go get a few things for you, then we’ll go to the Barns. Stay here for a few minutes?”
Noah nodded at Gansey’s words, even if he was sad to put any amount of distance between himself and Gansey at the moment. He didn’t like how lonely and uncertain everything felt. But he’d stay here, fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket as he did. It felt weird, knowing that he’d never have to wear his Aglionby uniform again. He’d never have to draw on the energy around him to form. Unless he died again. He wondered if that was common here. Dying. Again.
He distracted himself from the thought by looking around at the building. He hoped they wouldn’t have to stay very long. He wanted to Ronan and Adam again. He considered that he could get his phone and then text, but Ronan hated phones. Adam would look, though. He was Adam. It was probably better to let them know in person.