Title: Afterlife Employment
Genre: Crossover (Women of the Otherworld/Joan of Arcadia)
Spoilers/Warnings: Women of the Otherworld – No Humans Involved, Joan of Arcadia for the entire series.
Edward looked down at the earnest face of the boy in front of him. His son was only twelve, and his face was still rounded with a little bit of baby fat. It seemed unfair that Jared was already losing his innocence because of what would be only the first of the double blows of his heritage.
"So can I play with him?" Jared looked up at him, smiling a bright smile that Edward recognized from the fuzzy memories of his mother before her abilities began to take their toll.
He didn't spare a glance toward Jared's companion. The teenager standing next to them was giving them both a puzzled look, which made perfect sense when you realized that most people couldn't see or hear him. He looked only a year or two older than Jared, but that didn't mean much when it came to ghosts. "No, Jared. It wouldn't be appropriate. We-we need to talk." Edward stroked one hand through the boy's auburn hair. He turned to go, giving the confused spirit an almost imperceptible nod as he steered his son toward the car.
The necromancer continued to watch the teenaged ghost out of the corner of his eye as he circled the car and climbed into the driver's seat, which was how he saw the woman. He paused in the process of starting the engine as she approached the spirit and began to speak with him. After a brief conversation, she rested one small hand on the teenager's slim shoulder and they flickered out of existence.
Edward hoped he was imagining the questioning look she gave them both just before they disappeared.
888
"I've never met one of you guys before."
Edward had been at this long enough to not yelp and jump away when the voice addressed him, but he did turn to look at the female ghost.
It was the same one from before, and she was younger than he'd thought, early to mid-twenties at most. The expression on her face was more curious than anything else. "I mean, I've heard of necromancers before, but I've never really met one." Her gaze turned from him to the artwork in progress on the easel. "Are you an artist, too? That's pretty cool. I used to date an artist, back when I was alive. He was more into sculptures, though."
Edward cleared his throat. "Is there some reason you're here?" His father had always been a proponent of being polite but firm with beings that you didn't want around.
"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to bug you. I just wanted to say hi and apologize for Jimmy. He slipped through the cracks because he was a teenager, I think, but he's all right now." She waited expectantly for a response, and Edward couldn't help but fall back onto the manners his father had drilled into him.
"And Jimmy is?"
"The ghost from the other day." Her expression melted into something sad and compassionate. "He didn't know he was dead, poor kid. We try to find them as soon as we can, but sometimes the teenagers get overlooked."
"Oh?" Edward had a feeling that he was about to get a little more information on the workings of the afterlife, if he could just play this exactly right.
"It's easy with the kids. They shine like you wouldn't believe when they cross over, and they'll just walk right through the veil like they're running through a sprinkler. Teenagers get all complicated and angsty, but they're still not really adults. They don't know how to make the transition from this life to the next, but staying behind isn't something they can handle." She smiled sheepishly and turned away. "And I think I just told you more than you really need to know. Anyway, nice to meet you." And with that she was gone, just as suddenly as she had arrived.
The werewolf tucked the encounter way in his mind. It would be worthwhile to bring up next time he contacted Eve.