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If The Sky Is Pink And White | Tangel

Date: Late April 2024 Featuring: @angel-milano Warnings: Discussion of death and neglect/abuse

Tanya tells Angel the truth, and Angel tells Tanya a truth of her own.

TANYA

Tanya had wrestled with this for a long time. Maybe it would be better not to tell Angel. Maybe she could find out from other people what had happened to Tanya after the fact, and that would be fine.

But Tanya knew the heart of every ghost story was the same: it was about taking care of unfinished business. And leaving Angel in the dark would mean leaving unfinished business. They hadn’t known each other for very long, but Tanya had very quickly grown attached to the other girl, and it just seemed wrong not to have closure. So she was doing this. Even if it was hard, and Tanya couldn’t really know how Angel would react.

They were hanging out, doing their usual loiter-about-town, when Tanya stopped in the park. “Angel, uh… can I talk to you about something? It’s, uh, kind of important.”

ANGEL

It had been awhile since Angel had gotten close to anyone like she had Tanya. Then again, it had been awhile since she stayed in any one place for so long. While it seemed like all leads on her father had dried up, she didn’t yet feel the need to fly the coop and start over somewhere else. Maybe because there were things worth staying for in Swynlake.

When they stopped at the park, Angel sat on a bench, letting her hair down and running her fingers through it. She glanced up when Tanya spoke before a smirk tugged across her face. “What, did someone die or something?” She joked. It wasn’t a very good joke, and probably in poor taste, but she wasn’t exactly the best at being a comforting shoulder to cry on. If it really was that bad, then Angel was not the person you wanted to go to.

TANYA

Tanya actually snorted at that. Which was not the right response. It wasn’t funny. Okay, it was a little funny. She just felt bad because Angel didn’t know why yet, and she didn’t want to freak her out.

“Sorry, uh- sorry. It’ll make sense in a moment,” Tanya said quickly, sobering again. “Uh, I think we should sit down. Sorry- I’m really not trying to scare you. I just…”

She sat down on a bench and turned to Angel. “I’m going to tell you something, and it’s probably going to sound kind of mad, and I just need you to… stick with me, okay? Don’t freak out. And… please don’t tell anyone.”

ANGEL

Angel smirked at Tanya's snort. Okay, so they were joking about something. Good. She wouldn't have to deal with the heavy stuff.

Or? It didn't take long for Tanya's mood to go down again, which really grabbed her attention. This was not the kind of vibe they usually went for. And there was nothing like "I'm not trying to scare you" to scare someone.

She didn't let herself show that, though. Instead, she put on a bit of a put off look and went to tie her hair back up in a messy bun. "Yeah, uh. Okay." With that, the two of them found a bench to sit on. Tanya continued to preface this whole thing in a way that made her stomach drop.

"Alright, can you just spit it out already? All this lead up is just making it worse." She didn't mean for it to come out so harsh but again, this was not her forte.

TANYA

“Sorry,” Tanya sighed, well aware that dragging this out was doing exactly that. She wanted this part of the conversation over with too. But it never seemed to get any easier, no matter how many times she did it with different people.

She took a deep breath and turned to face Angel. “So. Do you know what a revenant is?” she asked, trying to sound very calm and matter-of-fact but already bracing herself for whatever Angel’s reaction could be.

ANGEL

Angel wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it certainly hadn’t been that. Her brow furrowed in confusion as her eyes flickered away before looking back. “You mean, like, the movie…?” She asked, incredulously. She was almost positive that wasn’t what Tanya meant, but it was all she could think of.

TANYA

Now Tanya was confused. “What movie?”

True, Tanya had been around when the Leo DiCaprio project had hit theaters, but the twenty-two years between her death and her final year of Swynlake Secondary were honestly pretty blurry. Everything faded eventually— Tanya knew that if she stuck around Swynlake long enough, even her memories here would fade. That was part of the reason she knew it was time

She shook her head. “Never mind. I don’t know what happens in that movie, but revenants are basically a specific kind of ghost. There’s, like, complicated magic stuff that makes them difference, but the main thing is that they manifest really powerfully, so you usually can’t tell they’re even dead.”

She looked at Angel uncertainly, trying to get a sense of whether she was getting it yet.

ANGEL

"It was some movie with Leonardo DiCaprio," she said, though she honestly couldn't remember much more than that. She'd watched it with some guy whose couch she was crashing on, though they didn't "watch" the movie for long.

But it didn't matter. As Tanya began to explain about ghosts, Angel's eyes narrowed a bit, her brow knitting in confusion. "Okay...?"

It didn't take long for the pieces to start connecting. "Is that...what you are? Is that what you're saying?"

TANYA

People always had different reactions. Maybe that was why it never really got easier, telling people— you never knew exactly what they were going to say, or how they were going to feel about it. Just because someone was a good friend or a good person did not mean they handled supernatural shit well. So Tanya braced herself before she nodded and said, “Uh, yeah, basically.”

Angel’s expression was hard to read. So Tanya started rambling. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I don’t usually tell people, because it freaks them out- like, rightfully so- and sometimes they want to, like, try and banish me ‘cause they don’t think ghosts should stick around. Not that I got that vibe from you, but it’s like, you have to be careful who you tell. But, um, I kind of needed to tell you now, before…”

She gulped. Oops. She hadn’t meant to start that part of the conversation. But maybe it was better to rip the Band-Aid off. “Before I go.”

ANGEL

At first, Angel was sure this was some kind of joke. She was sure that Tanya was about to assign her some kind of supernatural creature to be for their next escapade, since the whole college shtick never really fully took off. But as she began to ramble with that worried expression on her face, Angel sat up a little straighter.

Wait, was she being serious?

Angel opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it. Then opened it again. Go?? The words caught in her throat, and she had to swallow them back down.

For a lengthy, tense moment, she said nothing, her expression still unreadable. Finally, she began to nod slowly. "...Okay. That's, ah...a lot. Do you like, have ghost powers and shit, then?" She decided proving this aspect of reality would be a good place to start, mostly so she wouldn't have to face the other end of it.

TANYA

For a moment, Tanya couldn’t be sure that Angel believed her. It was a pretty crazy thing to say. Tanya wouldn’t blame her if Angel didn’t believe her. But from that long pause, from that unreadable look on her face, Tanya was pretty sure she had gotten the point across.

“Um, no, not really. Other than the, uh, thing where I’m already dead, so I can’t die again,” Tanya said, hoping the bluntness of the statement would make it all seem a little less far-fetched. “You, uh, believe me, right? I know it’s a lot. Like you said. But I wouldn’t make this shit up.”

Tanya hoped so. There were ways to prove it, of course, all Tanya had to do was dig up some old news articles. But she really did want Angel to believe her.

ANGEL

Did Angel believe her? She had been told some pretty ridiculous lies in the process of being abandoned. She’d come up with some gnarly lies doing the same. This was definitely up there, though. But in this Magick-friendly town, it wasn’t even the weirdest thing she’d experienced so far.

“It’s pretty wild, not gonna lie,” she finally said, not confirming her belief nor denying it either. Still dancing around the true matter of the conversation, she instead asked, “So like. Hoooow? Did you die? And when?”

TANYA

That question actually momentarily stunned Tanya. People didn’t usually ask so directly. It was kind of an unspoken rule amongst the undead: you didn’t ask people how they died because the answer was usually pretty dark. But, then again, that was something Tanya had always liked about Angel. She was straightforward. And she wasn’t afraid of the dark.

She exhaled and laughed nervously. “Just going right for it, huh?” Tanya joked. She didn’t want Angel to think this was, like, a big deal. Even though it totally was. “Uh… yeah, so, basically, I used to be a sorcerer. Fire specialty, to be exact. And I was doing a spell on a roof, and I fucked it up, and, uh, yeah. Boom.” Her voice cracked, just a little bit, and she swallowed hard. “It was about twentyish years ago, give or take. Honestly, a lot of what happened between then and now is really fuzzy. I don’t really get to keep most of my memories in the afterlife for all that long. That’s part of why I think it’s probably time for me to, uh, move on. I don’t want to start forgetting things about Swynlake.”

It was just one part of it, but it was an important part of it. Tanya used to think it was a rare blessing of being dead, that she didn’t have to remember the worst parts of her afterlife. But being in Swynlake had changed her mind.

ANGEL

Angel's eyebrows and hackles raised when Tanya revealed that she'd been a sorcerer. It was instinctual at this point--logically, she knew that not all sorcerers were "like that", but it still was disconcerting every time she came face to face with one. Did she still have her powers all this time and Angel didn't know? Did Tanya always have this secret leg up on her that she could use at any moment--

It was when Tanya's voice cracked that she was drawn out of her paranoid spiral. It was the first time either of them had shared that kind of emotion, instead of smothering it under dozens of layers of sarcasm and irony. That was when Angel knew this was real. And none of that other shit mattered.

"...Shit. Wow. Uhm," her throat grew dry. She was running out of detours to take avoiding the inevitable. So, she skirted around the edge. "So like. "Moving on", what does that...mean?" She asked, though pretended to be too focused on braiding her hair to look at Tanya directly.

TANYA

Tanya noticed the alarmed look on Angel’s face, but it could have been for any number of reasons. She didn’t suspect it was because Angel thought she still had her powers or anything. She figured it was just because the story was, uh, kind of gruesome.Or maybe it was because she didn’t know about that ghostly memories thing.

Angel’s question, though… that was hard to explain. Tanya felt like she understood it, but she didn’t quite know how to make it translate for mortals. Because it wasn’t like dying. Tanya was already dead. It was… something else.

“It’s kind of like- well, the thing about ghosts is, like, they’re dead, right? But not in the same way most dead people are dead. Like, when most people are dead, they don’t become ghosts, they just go on to… well, whatever you believe happens after you die, I guess. Heaven, or purgatory, or reincarnation, or, like, nothing. But ghosts get stuck in between. So… I’m getting myself unstuck, sort of. Does that make any sense? It’s okay if it doesn’t.”

ANGEL

"No, I get it," Angel insisted. At least, she was pretty sure she did. It wasn't all that different from living. Once you decided it was time to move on, you just went. You didn't always know where you were going to end up until you were there. And no one knew where you end up when you die. It's not like anyone could come back to tell you.

But there was a difference, wasn't there? When you're alive and move to someplace new, it was your choice. Was this Tanya's choice? If so, why?

'Why are you leaving me?'

A twinge of disgust soured in the back of her throat as the thought crossed her mind. Fucking stupid. This happened every time. She got close to someone, and then they'd leave. But they didn't owe Angel to stay, just like she didn't owe the countless people she'd left first. They didn't even know each other all that long, and their friendship was built on an endless series of lies and falsehoods. It was nothing. This was nothing.

Then why was a lump forming in her throat?

She quickly swallowed it down and rolled her neck, letting some of her long hair fall into her face to hide her expression. "So uhm," her voice wavered just a twinge and she cleared her throat aggressively. "Do you just get to like, go whenever you want? How do you uh..."unstick"?"

TANYA

Tanya knew what Angel was doing. Avoiding meeting her eyes. Asking all these practical questions. She was trying not to freak out, like Tanya had asked her not to. But it was kind of a freaky thing. Tanya couldn’t really blame her for her reaction.

“Uh- basically, yeah, I guess. The whole reason I was stuck was because I was really scared of it, you know? Like… the unknown of it and all. I was holding onto this afterlife thing really tightly because it was the thing I knew. But I’m not that scared anymore. And I think whatever’s next, I think it’ll be worth it. I just want to take care of some stuff first, and then… yeah. I’ll go.”

She paused. Tanya didn’t actually know Angel that well. If they’d had more time together, maybe they would have been really good friends. But Tanya still considered her a friend, and she wanted to check in.

“Are you okay? I know this is, like, a lot.”

ANGEL

"Yeah, I'm fine," Angel said too quickly, too aggressively. She forced a jaded smile to keep her expression from betraying her. "I'm jealous, actually. Wish I could just fuck off like that."

She knew it was wrong the moment it left her mouth. It was just how she did things. Push people away at the last second so that no one could see her at her most vulnerable. But what good was it to do that with Tanya? She was moving the fuck on with her life--literally. She wasn't going to remember Angel as a cool girl or a bitch or anything. And she didn't have to tell her any of this. She could've just moved on and Angel wouldn't have known. Tanya was trying to do the right thing and she was repaying it by throwing it back in her face.

"Fuck-- I'm sorry," she blurted out. "I just-- yeah, it is a lot. And I don't know what I'm supposed to say. Like, congratulations? I'm happy for you?" That felt a little more right, so she leaned into it. "I am. That kind of sureity, like, knowing you're ready and being ready...I can't imagine what that feels like. I don't know fucking shit."

There was a heavy pause before she took a deep breath. "I appreciate you telling me. You don't owe me shit so the fact that you cared enough to say anything is...more than a lot of other people ever gave me. So...thanks." Building up as much courage as she could, she tilted her head and peeked at Tanya through a gap in her curtained hair, offering the barest smile.

TANYA

A year ago, that would have really pissed Tanya off. Jealous of a dead girl? No way she was. No way she understood how much it sucked. Mortals never appreciated what they had and all that-

And Tanya knew that would have pissed her off because Gem used to say shit like that. And they would fight about it. She wondered if Angel knew Gem. They had a lot in common, actually, Tanya thought.

Anyway, that wasn’t the point— the point was that a lot had changed since then. Tanya had accepted that this was the hand she’d been dealt, that this was how things had turned out for her and she couldn’t change the past. It didn’t make it fair, but being bitter and angry and only ever made things worse for her.

So now it just made her kind of sad. But in the same way that Tanya believed that Gem would come to appreciate what he had someday, that he would come to really love this life— so would Angel.

She had to appreciate, too, what Angel was saying. Because that part didn’t remind her of Gem, necessarily— it reminded Tanya of herself. How hard it was to express when you cared about people. When you considered them one of your friends. It had taken over a year of friendship with Mim even to admit that. So Tanya thought Angel was doing okay, all things considered.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. That’s why I asked. I know it’s a lot,” Tanya said, returning the smile. “And… look, for what it’s worth… the reason I’m doing this isn’t because I want to fuck off. It’s not because I don’t want to live. It’s because these past couple of years have taught me just how much I miss it, life. How much I love it. And I don’t know what happens next, but I feel like it’s my best shot at something like it. That’s not guaranteed, I mean, it’s like I said– nobody really knows what comes after this. But I really want to believe it’s something like life. Or maybe something even better. So… I actually really don’t know shit. But that’s okay. That’s… kind of the whole point, I guess.”

ANGEL

Well, she wasn't yelling at her, or telling her to fuck off, so maybe she didn't fuck things up--for once. Of course the first time would be with someone who was about to disappear forever.

She listened to what she had to say and nodded along. "Yeah, I...I think I get it." At least, as much as someone who had never experienced anything remotely similar could get it. At the very least, she "got" that Tanya sounded sure about this, sincerely. That kind of sincerity was something that Angel couldn't even fake.

A silence hung in the air for a bit before she spoke. "Hey, you want to know something wild? You're a ghost...I'm a werewolf."

TANYA

Tanya raised her eyebrows in kind of an amused way, as though maybe Angel was making a joke. But she wasn’t.

Well, shit.

Obviously, it didn’t matter. There had been a time when Tanya had been afraid of werewolves, but you kind of gained a new perspective on “scary” Magicks when you became one. It was actually kind of nice to know, now that Tanya thought about it. Obviously, their experiences were not the same, but they weren’t completely different, right? They’d both had secrets. Maybe that was part of the reason they’d been drawn to one another in the first place. Because on some level, they both kind of understood that.

She smiled. “Well, look at us, huh? Couple of Halloween asses,” she joked. Then Tanya got a bit more serious. “No, but, uh, that’s cool. I mean, I dunno if it’s cool, I know people feel differently about that stuff, but what I mean is, like, we’re cool. I won’t tell anyone or anything, don’t worry. Is it, uh, is it a new thing?”

ANGEL

"I know, right?" She snorted and smirked at the Halloween comment. That was probably the best way Tanya could've reacted. Then again, she didn't really have anything to be scared of, right? It's not like Angel could bite her and bring her back to life, right?

...

Right, no, that would be stupid. She didn't suggest it. She was grateful that Tanya took it so well. She wasn't really worried about her telling anyone because why would she? Even worsties wouldn't do that.

She shook her head. "No, I was born this way. My dad was a werewolf, but he left before I was born. And my mom, uh...couldn't handle it," she said carefully. "So I grew up in the foster care system. It fucking sucked, and eventually they just handed me over to a sorcerer who drugged me with wolfsbane for the entirety of my adolescent life. I ran away, and have been pretty much been hopping place to place since."

She didn't know why she was explaining this. She hadn't told anyone in so long. And the secrets kept spilling out, those she hadn't yet told anyone. "That's why I came to Swynlake. I heard my dad might be here. But I haven't found shit. I don't even know what I'd do if I found him. I feel like I might just kill him."

"I don't know what I'm still doing here," she admitted before it fell silent. In the quiet, her mind caught up with her mouth and she felt shame begin to rise. "Fuck. Sorry, didn't mean to trauma dump on you."

TANYA

It didn’t really feel like trauma-dumping to Tanya. Well, it was traumatic for sure, but it wasn’t like Angel was a stranger, and it wasn’t like Tanya hadn’t kind of teed her up for that. Mostly, Tanya was just kind of surprised that Angel was telling her all of this, considering how private she seemed about most things.

Maybe it was some kind of response to finding out Tanya was leaving or something. It wasn’t like Tanya could tell anyone after she was gone. Or maybe she felt like she could talk about it now that Tanya was being so honest. It was probably a combination of things, Tanya reflected.

“It’s okay. It helps to talk about it sometimes,” Tanya suggested. She paused and took a deep breath before answering. “I… that’s shit, Angel, I’m really sorry. I mean, you didn’t deserve all that. No one does, especially not when you’re a kid. And I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to kill him, honestly, for leaving you like that. But there’s gotta be other reasons to stick around here, right?”

ANGEL

Angel felt like kicking herself. Here Tanya was telling her that she didn't deserve it and all that comforting bullshit that felt completely alien to her. She didn't need comfort, she needed-- what? Revenge? Maybe. But the comfort made her feel weak, as if she hadn't been strong enough to endure it.

But she knew that isn't what Tanya meant. This was how normal humans spoke to each other, or at least were supposed to. She knew she meant well. So even though it made her skin crawl and her wolf pace around uncertainly, she just accepted it with a nod. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, though.

The last question caught her off guard. She glanced to Tanya, brow furrowing. "...Is there? I mean, you're not."

TANYA

Well, Tanya couldn’t deny that. She’d just told Angel she was leaving. But it was different, wasn’t it? It felt different. Because Tanya could have made a choice a long time ago to run from Swynlake when things started getting too real. The fact that she hadn’t felt important, even if the story was ending this way.

“...It’s not because I don’t want to be here,” Tanya said heavily, fiddling with her sweatshirt sleeve. “If it was, I would’ve done it a long time ago. I hated this place when I first got here. And I came really close to running off a few times, because people found out my secret or just because I started actually giving a fuck about people here and that scared me. But I stayed anyway, and… well, I’m actually really glad I did. I’m leaving now because I love the afterlife I created here, and I know that it’s time. I know that probably doesn’t make any sense, but… I dunno.”

She looked at Angel. “I can’t tell you what to do, Angel. You’ve got to figure that out for yourself. But I will say that my friends here— and yeah, it took me a long-ass time to admit they were my friends— they’re good people, and they’re not perfect, but they’re good, and I think you should talk to them after I’m gone. That’s all.”

Angel:

Angel looked up at Tanya as she spoke. Because in the end, she didn't get it. She was happy here and that meant it was time to leave? How did that work? Was it even possible for ghosts to go anywhere else or were you stuck in one place with the after-afterlife being your only escape?

But there were other things that she connected with deeply. The feeling of wanting to run away when you started to give a fuck about people--she'd done that more than a few times. Maybe that's part of why she was considering leaving now. Would this place just remind her of the first friend she'd made in how long?

Then Tanya mentioned her friends, and how she should talk to them after. Mim was the only one she had met, but there were others that she had mentioned before too. "How are...they handling all this?"

TANYA

Tanya shrugged. She didn’t know, honestly, how to assess anyone’s response— but she understood maybe it would be helpful to Angel to know.

“I mean, it’s complicated for everyone,” Tanya admitted. “I think it’s a little easier that some of them already knew I was a ghost. But there’s some people, like you, that I had to explain all of it at once. I wish I didn’t. I wish you had more time to process the ghost thing first.”

That was something she regretted, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now. There was no easy way to go about this, after all.

“But yeah, I guess there isn’t much of a right way to handle this. All I can really ask is that people support me. And… well, there’s one more thing I’m asking people. If that’s okay.”

ANGEL

Angel nodded small. Yeah, there were people out there who knew Tanya was a ghost. She couldn't help but wonder, would she have ever told her, if their friendship had lasted long enough? Then again, would Angel have revealed her secret?

In the end, there was no point dwelling on it. Instead she sighed but smirked. "It's fine. I'm sure I would've been really excited to come up with a storyline where Danielle kills Ta-bitch-a who then spends her afterlife haunting her." The least she could do was bring some levity to the situation. "You know, maybe I should pursue a career writing for the CW. Think I'd be good at it. I'll give you co-writing credit, obvi."

Her smarmy expression dropped a bit when Tanya asked for one more thing. "...What is it?"

TANYA

Tanya laughed. This was one of the things she liked about Angel. She was funny, and she knew the value of a well-placed joke when things got a little intense. Once again, Tanya wished she had more time with her. But she just had to hope that would work out for Angel, whether it was a joke or not, whatever she wanted to do.

“Uh, do you know what a zine is?” Tanya asked, then decided just to explain it anyway. A lot of people her age didn’t. “It’s basically, like, a homemade version of a magazine, but with less celebrities and more, like, cool shit. Like art, and music, and photos and collages and stuff. I used to be really into making them when I was alive, and I wanted to make one to leave here after I go. I’m asking all my friends and stuff to put something in it. Would… you wanna be a part of that?”

ANGEL

"Uh, yeah, I know what a zine is," she replied incredulously. It was basically her main form of entertainment while she was out on the streets. Most of the time they were free and always about the most niche topics you could find. But why would Tanya know that about her? There was so much they didn't know about each other--so much they didn't get the chance to. It brought an uncomfortable heaviness to her chest, but she quickly tried to move past it. She wasn't going to bring the mood down.

"Yeah, that sounds cool," she replied with a smile. "What's going to happen afterward? Are we all going to get one, or is it going to be a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants type situation?"

TANYA

That reference was lost on Tanya, so she gave Angel a brief quizzical look before she decided just to move on with it. Probably not important. They didn’t have a lot of time. And Tanya knew what Angel meant, anyway.

“Oh, I was just gonna keep it in the library at the Inn. Seems like a pretty fitting place to put a ghost zine,” she explained, still not fully used to Angel knowing about her, though it had quickly become surprisingly easy to talk about. “I figured that way people can go look at it whenever they want. And then it sort of belongs to everyone.”

ANGEL

Angel's expression dropped slightly at the mention of the Inn. "Right, yeah," she replied, a bit far off. Should she tell Tanya about her experience? She'd gone out of her way to offer her a job--maybe even the position she was leaving behind.

Well, why not. "So, about the Inn. I connected with the manager--at speed dating by the way, she's super cute but I don't think she was into me--anyway, we set up a time for an interview but when I went there...the place reeked of vampires. And lots of other Magicks too, but mostly vampires. So I didn't think I'd be a real "welcome" employee and I just...didn't show up. I hope that didn't make you look bad or anything--for referring me."

TANYA

Oh, right. Tanya had forgotten about the whole werewolf-vampire thing. Well, she did know about it, but it wasn’t the first thing she’d thought of when Angel told her she was a vampire. Tanya’s face fell.

“Oh, no, that’s okay- I really don’t care, Snow and I are friends, so she wouldn’t hold anything like that against me. But…” Tanya looked up at Angel again. “Would that make it hard for you to go look at the zine? If you don’t like being at the Inn? Sorry, I didn’t even think of that…”

ANGEL

Angel shrugged. "Nah, it'll be fine. I actually live next door to a vampire so I have to deal with the smell a lot. I just didn't want to have to smell it at home and at work, you know what I mean? But if it's just for a visit, then yeah. Honestly, I'd be more worried about offending the hoity toity vampire customers than me."

A silence fell over them, a natural end to the conversation. Angel wondered if there was more she should say, before it was too late. But what else was there to address?

Probably the weight that still continued to pull inside her, threatening to drag her down. She put everything she could into ignoring it. While Tanya was here, in front of her, she didn't want to let any more vulnerability slip out than there already was. For their final moments together, she'd remain the cool girl, the chill friend who was totally whatever about their friend dying.

After all, she would have all the time in the world to fall apart after she was gone.

Finally, she rolled her shoulders and stood up from the bench. "Come on, let's go to campus and grab a snack," she offered, their first meeting grounds to be the final resting place of their relationship. She held out a hand and grinned. "We gotta come up with the brilliantly tragic way that Tabitha goes out."

TANYA

Tanya grinned. She knew this couldn’t be easy for Angel. Even to other Magicks, ghost shit was hard. That was something Tanya had learned over these past few weeks— over these past twenty-five years, too, though that past was distant and hazy now. She could tell Angel was just being strong for her. And for once, that didn’t embarrass Tanya or make her feel bad. It just made her feel lucky to have such good friends.

She took Angel’s hand and followed her. “Space shuttle malfunction. She was going to be the first heiress on Mars,” Tanya decided. “Unless you can think of a better one!”

And they were back in the game, back in their familiar rhythm. And Tanya wouldn’t have it any other way. This was how Tanya wanted Angel to remember her: laughing, making fun of people, being a stupid kid, not an angsty ghost. Because reminders of that were everywhere. But this, this thing they had? Much more rare and special.

#tanya #if the sky is pink and white #emo!!!!

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