Click-clack. Click-clack. Click-clack.

"D209, I'm glad you're finally back. I was just on my way to retrieve you. Now, I can save myself a trip."

D209 looked up from his desk. "Hello, D224. It's lovely to see you. I was about to go see you too. Here's the amulet back. You should have it checked."

D224 quickly tucked the faulty amulet in her pocket. "Yes. About that, I apologize that I mixed up the working one with the faulty one that came in for repair. I hope your stay on Earth wasn't too bad."

"No, it wasn't. I learned quite a bit from my visit."

"Like what?"

"Like there's a global pandemic called Covid-19 going on and humans haven't figured out how to fight it yet. That's why we're experiencing a surge of souls coming in at the moment. On the technology front, they're on these devices called mobile phones and tablets all day long. And they're obsessed with something called social media where people interact and share videos globally. Humans of all ages are constantly using them. But there are still no flying cars or cure to cancer yet."

"A pandemic, huh? Hmm, anything else interesting?"

D209 looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, "I experienced romantic love."

D224 gasped in shock and covered her mouth. How was that even possible?

D209 nodded. "It's very scary, and the side effects were gross and annoying. My human's palms were always sweaty."

"Tell me more." D224 leaned closer. Romantic love was just so mysterious and elusive to grim reapers.

D209 went on to explain that the human he possessed didn't go to sleep due to the faulty amulet, so he got to experience what romantic love felt like and how it scared the crap out of him. But he also shared how happy it made the human feel and how powerful the force of romantic love was.

~~~~~~

The lights were out, even the rainbow lava lamp was turned off, but he didn't need any light to see. He took another step closer to take a better look at the sleeping man who was snoring up a storm. He looked around and nothing much had changed. Sitting on top of the nightstand were those hideous glasses he thought for sure would be gone by now. Glancing at those spectacles again, he decided to check out the closet to see if everything had reverted back to the way it was before his presence.

Upon opening it, he was relieved to see the collection of clothes he'd bought during his visit still hanging inside. But he also noted that those ugly orange shoes weren't in the corner where he had hidden them, so they're probably outside by the doorway, meaning they were in use again. Sigh, old habits die hard. He ran his fingers over the beautiful Burberry trench jacket that he didn't get a chance to wear because it was too warm when he was here. Seeing that the tag was still attached, the human must haven't worn it yet either. Was it still too warm?

He's only been gone for a day, but on Earth, that's a month already. He gently closed the closet doors, trying to be as quiet as possible but the damn thing still squeaked obnoxiously loud.

"Who's there?" Asher palmed for his glasses and quickly put them on, and then switched on the lava lamp that provided bare minimal light.

"Hello, Asher," D209 said, turning around to face the human.

"D209! You're back!" Asher shouted and then immediately covered his mouth with his hand. He didn't know if Mike was home or not and he wouldn't want to alarm him if he was.

With his hand still covering his mouth, he nervously got out of bed and quickly walked over to the grim reaper. He had never actually seen the man, creature, or spirit, whatever you wanted to call it. When he was possessed, he only got a glimpse of him through the mirror once, but now he was here standing in his room. Asher shivered and he noticed there was a strange chill in the air as he got closer and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"Are you scared?" D209 asked, watching Asher inch forward in the most comically leery way.

"No! I'm not scared." Asher lied. Of course, he was scared. There was a freaking grim reaper, death himself standing in his room.

"I know you're scared. I can sense it."

"Well, you are a freaking grim reaper. Why is my room suddenly so cold? And where is all this fog coming from?" Asher looked around and they were surrounded by bluish foggy smoke curling around the room.

"Oh, I can get rid of that. It's just for dramatic effects." D209 snapped his fingers.

Pfff. Asher rolled his eyes. How ridiculous was this guy?

Once all the smoke disappeared, Asher tried to get a better look at the grim reaper. They were standing about four feet apart. Part of him still couldn't believe that there was such a thing but being possessed by one before had proved him wrong. D209 stood still with a little grin and cocked his head to a side, letting the other observe him all he wanted. He knew Asher had a curious mind.

"You can come closer. I won't bite."

Asher hesitantly took another step closer, "Dude, are your eyes red?"

"No, they're more like lava or flame." D209 blinked a few times and opened his eyes wider for the other to get a better look.

"That's so freaky. You look like a vampire."

"They have yellow eyes."

"What? They're real?" Asher's eyes went wide like saucers.

"Forget about them."

Asher circled around the grim reaper. He was quite a bit taller than him and dressed immaculately in a full black tuxedo.

"Do all grim reapers look like this? Where's your scythe?"

"No, I'm exceptionally handsome and we don't carry scythes," D209 said matter of factly.

"Can I touch you?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. I made myself vis..."

Ooph! D209 didn't expect Asher to launch himself at him with full force that almost knocked him over.

"Why did you leave without even saying goodbye? I kept thinking you were around somewhere for many days, and I kept talking to myself too," Asher said with his arms still wrapped around the grim reaper's neck.

D209 smiled at the kid. He kind of missed the kid too. "I didn't think you enjoyed my company that much. You know, with all that complaining and whining you did."

"Well, who enjoys being possessed and having their bank accounts emptied?" Asher released the grim reaper.

D209 straightened his suit, "Fair point I guess. I'm glad you kept all the clothes."

"Of course, I did. I'm not buying anything else for the next five years."

D209 laughed while shaking his head, certain that more faded clothes were in the making.

"But you're still wearing those hideous things." D209 pointed to the spectacles on Asher's face.

"Well, I can't wear contacts to sleep. Besides, Kaylee likes my glasses," Asher said proudly.

"So how are you two? Have you two experienced sexual coupling yet? Better known as, sex, intercourse, coitus, or in Mike's term 'home run.'" D209 was curious to know the progress Asher made since he's been gone.

"Hey! A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

D209 rolled his eyes, "I'll take that as a no then."

"We're taking it slow, okay? Anyway, did you come just to ask if we've had sex yet?" Asher crossed his arms.

"No, I came to erase your memories and implant new ones."

"What? Why?"

"Well, it's obvious you're not meant to know my existence. But don't worry. I'll mainly just remove myself from the equation and everything that has happened will stay."

"Oh, but I don't want to forget you." Asher looked down, "I don't know how to say this, but now when I feel nervous or unsure of what to do, I ask myself what would you do if you were me. I—I just..."

D209 smiled and found the kid endearing. He's never felt any type of connection or had any attachments with a human like this before. After all, it was the first time he'd ever spent so much time with a human.

"Listen, everything I was capable of was all you. You just need to trust and believe in yourself. You don't need me."

"That's not true. Look." Asher pointed to a Spanish for beginners book on his desk."

D209 couldn't help but laugh at the kid. "Aren't you glad I didn't speak more languages in front of others?"

"Yeah, thank God you didn't. But do you really have to erase my memories? I won't tell anyone, and it's not like anyone would believe me anyway. And you can visit me sometimes."

"Visit you?"

"Yeah, we can go eat a lot of good food. How about that sushi and mochi ice cream?" Asher wiggled his brows with a wide grin.

"Sushi? Mochi ice cream?" That does sound very tempting. He's been thinking about them since he left. "But I can only eat when I possess someone."

"Yeah, Mike's available."

"Deal."

They both laughed.