Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. —Kurt Vonnegut

It was one of the many quotes in papyrus lettering, printed in black and white on size 8.5x11 printer paper and taped up around Tome Tomb's walls, and it was Vivi's least favorite. Not Vonnegut's fault. It was a perfectly serviceable quote to decorate a bookstore with, and often conjured to Vivi's mind a nebulous vision of what heaven or nirvana might look like. But it just wasn't true.

"Nothing was beautiful and everything hurt," she muttered for the millionth time. That was the reality of things. That was your feet on the ground right here and now. That was real life. The Vonnegut quote felt like a mockery each and every time she looked at it.

Vivi paged through the inventory shipment for the day, checking off the latest batch of manga Chloe had ordered for the shop. Her co-worker was allowed to order ten titles a month for the International Corner—Otaku Corner, if it were honestly titled—but it looked like she'd gone over the limit again. Duet, their boss, would lecture. Chloe would apologize and skip off to re-organize her corner again. Another overage would probably happen in a couple months. Chloe never got in real trouble, over this or anything else. It rankled Vivi a little, but until she could figure out what relational tie Duet and Chloe had, she wasn't going to risk griping.

Besides. There was a far more important can of worms to bust open.

She glanced at her watch. Almost lunch. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she opened up a new text to Arthur.

Hey Artie—Pausing, she considered how to best get a "yes" to her request. Arthur had been kinda dodgy about one-on-one meetings for a while. There was one surefire way, but… Wrinkling her nose, she continued typing. Wanna do lunch? Surf's Up Surprise, my treat. She shut her eyes, jamming her thumb down on the send button. "For the greater good," she muttered. Pizza with oysters was a sacrilege against gastronomy, but if she could finally get him to sit down and talk...

A few minutes later, her phone chirped, delivering Arthur's enthusiastic response. Right on time for Chloe to waltz in. "Is that my shipment?" she sang, spreading her arms wide. "I swear to Miyazaki, if they back-ordered my copies of the new Card Captor Sakura issues again, I don't care how good a discount they give, I will find another supplier!"

Vivi rolled her eyes, mouthing along with Chloe's diatribe as she passed. "They think just because we're a small bookstore, they can jerk us around. Well they've got another think coming! There's a million suppliers out there, and I will have my manga or they can kiss our business goodbye!"

Vivi made it out the door without and crouched to untie Mystery's leash from the parking sign. "Hey, buddy. We're gonna have lunch with Arthur. Well, I'm gonna have lunch. I'll save you some."

Mystery immediately stuck his tongue out, making gagging noises.

"Not Arthur's pizza, dummy." She laughed, ruffling the top of his head. "I wouldn't do that to you. You can have some of my Slaughterhouse Pie."

That stubby tail wagged so fast it was a blur.

Vivi drummed her fingers on the table, keeping an eye on her watch. Allowing for travel, Arthur should be here about the same time as their pizzas came out to the dining area. She tried to remember a cheesy joke about watches, and who'd said it to her.

"Why do we call it a 'watch' when we're always looking… no." She frowned. "We should call it a 'look' because… nghhh." She couldn't remember whose voice had told her that one, either. Probably not Mystery. Could have been Arthur, but could have easily been assigned to the blank spot in her mind, the one where she was supposed to have memories of a certain ghost's mortal existence.

Her fingers drummed harder. She scowled at the smiley-faced security sign on the far wall. For a moment, her least favorite quote overlaid the words, "Smile! You're on camera."

Just a few months had passed since everything went topsy turvy. Months? Hah. It was more like one month that had refused to end since showing up. Some nightmarish, longest month that kicked off when she entered a roadside haunted mansion in hopes of roadside assistance and, instead, found a murderous skeleton who only held back from killing Arthur because she threw herself between them. The skeleton who had shown up later and taken advantage of her chaotic battle with a bloodthirsty yokai to drag Arthur off and do… who knows what? Vivi sure didn't know. Arthur wouldn't tell her what had happened in the back of that spectral truck. He always changed the subject, or got a spaced-out look. Pushing him for an answer always got her the I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it stonewall.

And suddenly they were all living together. This was the guy Arthur had combed the state for, insistent that he was out there somewhere, in need of their help. This skeletal ghost had been her boyfriend, Arthur claimed, the guy who loved her more than anything when he was alive.

She took a deep breath, deliberately spreading her fingers flat on the surface of the table. The lacquered plank wood surface slid smoothly under her palms.

"One Slaughterhouse Pie and one Surf's Up Surprise."

Vivi pulled her hands back to her lap as the server laid two medium pizzas on the table. The server raised an eyebrow. "For the guy with the metal arm?" he gestured at the oyster pizza.

Vivi wrinkled her nose. "I hear he single-handedly keeps this monstrosity on the menu."

The server grinned. "Pretty much. Here. He usually wants this, too." He produced a bottle of oyster sauce and set it next to the pizza. Vivi made a face, and the server chuckled. "Yeah, same. Good luck." He flashed a thumbs-up and headed for the back.

She raised an eyebrow. Good luck… with the ungodly smell of the pizza? The conversation? Did he think this was a date?

"Oh, hey!" A familiar voice rang out from the front with a good deal more zeal than usual. "Would you look at that! I'm not hallucinating, that is Vivi, sitting in front of a plate of the best pizza to ever exist!"

Vivi rolled her eyes, lifting a slice of the Slaughterhouse Pie. "Yeah, this."

"That, m'dear lady, is mere common fare." Arthur slid into the booth across from Vivi and scooped up a slice of Surf's Up with a flourish. "Kings and Kingsmen dine on the ocean's finest."

It was the brightest smile she'd seen on him in a year. Half a dozen different emotions converged on her. She forced a smile. "Wow. Who spiked your coffee with Redbull?"

He rolled his eyes, drenching his pizza with oyster sauce. "And who spit in your drink? Do I have to have a caffeine cocktail to joke around?" He bit into the slice of pizza, grunting around the mouthful.

Vivi's teeth sank into her lip over the word yes. She had to be the world's most ungrateful person to resent the main reason the rings around Arthur's eyes had lessened and his sense of humor had returned.

It took Arthur two slices to slow down long enough to wipe his mouth on a napkin and ask, "What's the occasion? Did we get a case?"

Vivi just stared at him, setting her long-held slice back down on the plate. He sounded almost… eager.

"Vee? Earth to Vivi?" He put his pizza down, waving a hand in front of her face.

Nothing was beautiful.

Try to keep it calm. Calm and reasonable. She folded her hands to keep them still. "We… we need to talk. About Lewis."

Arthur slurped some cheese strings up. "What about him?"

"You know it's bad policy to encourage ghosts to stick around."

Arthur laughed, but there was an edge to it. "Bad policy? Vee, this is Lewis we're talking about."

"Yeah. Right. Lew-is. Mind telling me exactly why that changes anything?"

Arthur's smile froze. The little crinkles at the corners of his eyes vanished. Vivi looked down at the pizza, forcing herself to continue. "Why is it all okay out of nowhere, Arthur? What were you thinking, inviting him to stick around like that?"

His eyes narrowed. "Isn't it a little late to be having this talk?"

Yes. "Not at all. Seems to me like this is the first time we've had in ages. I mean, was I supposed to bring it up in the mediation session, in front of the ghost that nearly killed you twice? Or privately, afterward? Except you wouldn't let private talks happen. I had to bribe you today to get you alone. Why won't you sit down and talk to me anymore? Before all this, it was always just the two of us and we could talk about anything."

Some bouncy 80's ditty played over the speaker system. Trays clanged in the back. Arthur's prosthetic rattled. Vivi kept her eyes down.

"It. Wasn't." Arthur's words came around short, quick breaths. "Wasn't. Just. The two. Of us."

Vivi ground her teeth.

"And we couldn't. Talk about. Everything. You…" his voice trailed off.

"Yeah. You said that in the mediation. I blanked out anytime you tried to talk to me about what happened in the cave," she said, flatly. "And whose fault was that, Arthur? Not yours, and not mine. So, great, I gather that Lewis got his dying wish, so I remember nothing about his death. Except it stole a lot more than that from me. So I lost him completely and couldn't absorb anything anyone said about him, and now I'm expected to wholeheartedly trust this guy I don't remember at all? Accept him back into my life like everything is hunky-dory and he didn't try to commit murder?" She lifted her head and leaned forward. "Like he didn't try to murder my best friend?"

Now it was Arthur's eyes that were anchored to the table. His entire upper body sagged over the soggy pizza. "He didn't know," he whispered. "He just thought—"

"Arthur. You were, supposedly, his best friend." She leaned back and folded her arms. "Anyone with half a brain would double check their facts before roasting alive someone they claim to care about. Case in point, he couldn't have really cared. Not about you, and not about me, and I'm not okay with the fact that he's living with us, no matter who I may have thought he was in the past. If I was romantically involved… obviously he conned us both."

"That's not true!" Arthur's outburst caught the attention of nearby patrons, who glanced over. He cringed, lowering his voice. "That's not true. He couldn't con anyone. He wasn't that kind of guy. He was over the moon for you, Vee, and he wouldn't hurt—"

"A fly? Say it again, Kingsmen. I dare you." She jabbed his chest with her index finger. "Unless you're going to tell me that fire he threw around wasn't real, or that he dragged you into his truck just to give you a stern talking-to in private."

Arthur looked down at the finger for a few seconds, then lifted his gaze. His expression was drawn and his face pale. "I don't appreciate this ambush."

She withdrew the pointer finger and refolded her arms. "Like I said. You don't really talk to me alone anymore. What was I supposed to do?"

"What were you supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?" Arthur snapped, taking Vivi by surprise. "I'm trying to build trust with Lewis again. It was…" he dropped his voice again, eyes darting to nearby patrons. He pointed to his prosthetic. "It was me, okay? It was me, and not me, but me! And he thought the reason I did it was because I was trying to get with you, so you tell me! What does it look like if I exclude him and have a bunch of private talks with you? I figured today was okay specifically because I've kept it to a minimum—"

"I don't give a salmon's yard clippings what that kelp smoker thinks of my relationships with other living humans, romantic or non! They're my relationships!"

"That's because you don't remember him, so you don't care what he thinks or feels!" Arthur wiped his hands on a napkin and stood. "I do both. And I'm really done with this conversation. Lost my appetite."

"Wait! Artie!" Groaning, she dug into her purse and dropped cash on the table, then darted after him.

And everything hurt.

She caught him just outside the front door, grabbing his arm. "Artie—"

He turned on her with a hard stare. "Do you know what I'm going to find when I get back to that house?" he asked. "I'm going to find a plate of really good home cooked food on the table. I'm going to find the bathroom is clean, and that my room isn't buried in ten piles of smelly clothes. I'm probably not even going to see Lewis except out of the corner of my eye. Because the guy I shoved off a cliff seems to be intent on spending his afterlife apologizing to me." He shook her off. "And to you. You, at least, deserve that kind of apology for catching splash damage off his attacks. There's nothing Lewis did to me that wasn't justified. I'm going back to the shop. Don't follow me. And stop putting ward charms on my door."

" 'Thanks for signing on for the house with me, Vivi. Thanks for living there so Lewis can't crisp me with impunity, Vivi. Thanks for always being ready to FedEx that flaming skull to Tartarus if he threatened me again, Vivi." Vivi kicked a rock, sending it skittering down the sidewalk a good several feet. "Thanks for caring whether I live or die and noticing how I'm being stupid about that lately, Vivi.' "

Her eyes prickled. " 'Maybe I'll listen to you for once, since you listened to me and let me drag you all over the state looking for someone you didn't even remember, Vivi. Oh, does it still scare you that you have gaps in your brain? I'm so sorry, maybe we can figure out what to do about that together, Vivi. Maybe my tree-friend knows what to do, why don't I finally introduce you to her?' Any of the above, Arthur. Seriously. Any of them." She swiped an arm across her nose. "Jerk."

Her other hand clutched the leash, but Mystery hadn't made a sound since she left the pizza shop with the boxed-up leftovers. Hadn't even begged for the portion she'd promised. Smart dog. Somebody knows how to read the room.

Work could stuff itself. Duet could lecture her when she came in tomorrow, she had something to get off her chest. The pavement passed under her feet concrete block after concrete block, until her feet hit the gravel path, and then the front porch of their house.

The keys jangled and clanked loudly as she tried to fit the right one in the lock. Before she had the chance, the door swung open, soundless. Glancing up, she saw a little pink Deadbeat peeking around from the doorknob. Gritting her teeth, she swept past it. At her feet, Mystery whined, tugging at the leash, but she dropped it and stormed into the kitchen.

There he was. All that remained of Lewis Pepper stared at her, gripping a large plastic mixing bowl in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other, frozen mid-scoop.

Vivi dug her fingers into the palms of her hands. "Right. So. Thought I should make something clear, since apparently I'm late expressing my dissatisfaction with this situation and I haven't been clear enough. I don't think you should be here." She jerked her chin up, levelling her coldest glare at him. "I think that if you really used to work with us, then you know the rules about ghosts hanging around. They're to be encouraged to wrap up their business and move on. And if things were different, I'd be walking you through that process myself." A brittle smile stretched across her face. "But instead, Arthur decided to bring you home and encourage you to stay. So. I thought I'd let you know that I'm just waiting for you to pull something."

Lewis very slowly set the bowl down on the counter. Vivi continued. "Anything. Really. I want an excuse, because I want you gone, and if you lay a hand on him—if you even mildly threaten him—I will obliterate you. And no, I don't care what our group policy used to be. I will exorcise you, and I will feel no guilt over your pain."

Lewis didn't meet her eyes. He kept his skull tilted downward and his hands folded behind his back, hovering an inch or two off the floor. Vivi inhaled, readying to finish her diatribe, when she caught a whiff.

A spicy scent hung in the air. Peppers and garlic. Carmelizing onions. A warm, yeasty smell like freshly rolled tortillas. It smelled like security. Like home. Like diving into a snug embrace and—

The prickling behind her eyelids intensified. Her lungs compressed, wringing a squeak from her, right before pain bloomed at the base of her skull, rolling a sheet of white across her vision as her knees buckled…

She blinked, staring out the window. She lay curled up in the window-seat by the front, a blanket pulled up over her. There was a note taped to the window. She plucked it free and pulled it closer.

Dinner will be late. Need to make something else. I think smell triggered the memory block. Didn't think that through. I'm sorry. I'll do better. —Lewis

What… had he been making? Now she had to look out for food smells? The paper crumpled in her grip. It happened from time to time over things she couldn't predict, but… couldn't it just…

She pulled her knees closer to her chest, staring at the front lawn. Mystery passed by on a circuit around the house. He was rather intent on his own paws and didn't look up at her. Someone had removed his leash. Someone had carried her to the window-seat and put a blanket over her. Someone had tried to make dinner, just like Arthur said.

Someone had also tried to commit homicide.

Vivi shut her eyes and allowed a few tears to leak out. What in the far flung phalanxes was she going to do about this someone?