Keith hated his life. To be specific, he hated his job. His unpaid job assigned to him by Allura.

Allura was his sister. At least the closest to a sister Keith would ever get. Since, you see, Keith was the only one who even knew of her existence. She had existed ten thousand years ago, according to herself, and Keith didn't have an actual sister.

His problems were brought to Keith by the fact that he was seeing ghosts.
He was a medium. And the only medium whom he knew of. At least the only one alive. That was the thing Allura and him had in common. The being medium thing, not the being alive thing, Allura was definitely dead.

She had said it was his fate and duty to help ghosts move on to the after life and she'd been bugging him about it ever since they met.

Exactly that is, why Keith hated his life.
Keith Kogane was a high school student. He wanted to apply to some random college. He may even have wanted to become a history teacher, but he never actually wanted to talk to the dead. He wanted a normal childhood, he wanted to be a normal teenager, with normal problems, normal friends and perhaps even a relationship.

The latter was something he was admittedly scared of but who wasn't at his age? Not only because of his sexuality, but also because most people would be a bit thrown off by the fact that he saw dead people.
How could he ever tell a partner that he felt uncomfortable cuddling or kissing with that creepy dead stalker guy watching them? Basically, privacy was nonexistent to him. A life of his own? Impossible.

However, he didn't have to think about that anyway, since the whole school thought of him as a freak. And that even without knowing that he was gay. Think about it. In a city so homophobic, he had to fear violence, being gay wasn't his biggest problem.

It all started when Keith had been six years old. As he had met his very first ghost. She had followed him around for five month's until someone had decided to talk to him about it.

That had been long before he could distinguish between the living and the dead. And talking to literal air and calling it "Mom", was bound to freak people out.

He had then been forced to spend the whole summer at a medical facility which tried to "cure" his hallucinations. At some point he pretended that his ghosts had left. Which, obviously, they never had. Never did. Much to his annoyance. Although it had came as a shock to him at first, he got used to his constant companyAt some point, he had helped his mother to pass on. Shortly after, Allura had stumbled into his life.

But now it was public knowledge that he had seen ghosts and even years later, in different towns, at different foster homes, people had heard the rumors.

That is why Keith was not surprised that the popular kids were messing with him constantly. 

One of them being Lance McClain. In truth, Keith barely knew the guy. He was not exactly nice, but he wasn't the worst either. It was just that he seemed to always be around when it happened and did nothing to stop them. Lance seemed to be the guy to pick on you only to start a conversation. He never really insulted him other than his hair style or his awesome grades and honestly, those sounded more like compliments than insults. Although with Keith's kind of history, he was reluctant to believe that Lance's attempts to talk to him were genuine. 

His girlfriend, Nyma was worse. She insulted him as a cripple, a brain dead idiot or a depressed emo with mother issues. And maybe the fact that she was his girlfriend in the first place did play a part in Keith's antagonising feelings towards the boy.

Needless to say Keith liked to avoid Lance and his friend group. He had talked to Hunk, Lance's best friend, here and there. But Hunk was an exception for everyone. Hunk was probably the most friendly person Keith had ever met in his entire life, but Keith was not a very social person. With him being a medium the irony was not lost on him.

Keith's best friend was probably Pidge Gunderson, alias Katie Holt, the head of the IT club. And they only ever talked about school related stuff. Or, in some cases about the ghost issue, when Allura had convinced him to help again. And that ghost had the gist down to detail when it came to convincing Keith to do literally anything.

Pidge always raised an eyebrow, since she doubted the existence of the supernatural, but didn't neglect the possibility of their existence altogether. She usually helped him with his researches. She even admitted how impressed she was, whenever he seemed to know something spectacular about the descended that even the descended sometimes hadn't known. She just thought he was smart.

Those talks about Keith's weird habit were secret between him and Pidge, which made Pidge his only companion in the fight against the supernatural. Except for one particular friend, but he was an old man and as such was more like an uncle to him rather than a friend.

How we even got to this subject? Well, Keith was the type of person who watched people in his free time. And as creepy as it sounds, he was currently fixated on Lance McClain. "You know, isn't it kind of weird? He's unusually quiet.", Keith said. Pidge and him were sitting under their favorite tree. The school yard may be a big place, but this tree was perfect for watching people. It was a huge tree, with a wide and mighty crown that offered cool shadow in the summer.

It also happened to be a bit out of reach from the center of the school yard. It was amazingly easy to avoid people here. The popular kids always preferred the weird mountain of tires that was closer to the giant school building. Which is where Lance was normally at and mostly out of sight. Today however, something was different. The boy looked like he was ready to run off at any given moment. 

"You mean Lance?", Pidge merely looked up from her laptop, eyeing him with slight confusion. "You know, I know he picks on you sometimes, but you really shouldn't focus on him so much. If you keep doing that, it makes bullying you more fun to him." Keith wouldn't exactly call what Lance did bullying, more like assisted bullying. 

"Yeah, you're right. Still. He's all alone, look.", Keith answered with a nod in direction of the front gates. That in itself was reason enough for Pidge to follow his gaze.

Similar to Keith, she usually enjoyed silence and to observe. That and good gossip, which was probably the reason why she even talked to him. Keith knew stuff about people. She may not believe in his talents but she trusted his information because it happened to be true most of the time. "You're right, he does seem lonely. Where is Hunk? Wait, Nyma and Rolo are also gone?"

"You think we should talk to him?"

Pidge laughed at his suggestion and shook her head. She had had some quarrel with Lance herself, though the nature of that was a mystery to Keith. "Oh come on. I bet he'd only laugh at us, I'm not giving him any pity. If he managed to annoy Hunk enough to leave him behind, he probably deserves it." Again, Hunk was the best person alive.

"Maybe Hunk is just busy at the IT-club?"

"He's not. I mean, he was a couple weeks ago, but he isn't now. At least I haven't seen him in a while. A real shame, if you ask me." She didn't need to explain why. Hunk was brilliant. He once built a self cleaning trash can. I mean, it malfunctioned, but you should have seen Iversion's face. You've never seen a smile drop that fast. It was hilarious.

"I didn't know Iversion could smile.", Keith said, knowing precisely what she was currently envisioning.

"Me neither."

Keith smiled at her, before he turned back to look at the reason for his irritation.

Lance was standing right beside the entrance, looking around school, never settling on anything or anyone. He had his hands in his pockets, his signature grin missing. He was weirdly calm. For a guy usually so jumpy, that sure said something. His bag hang loosely at his side, and he was looking ahead tiredly.

"Say, Pidge. You are a girl. Why do you think all these girls seem to have a thing for someone like him?" Well, Keith. You had to ask, didn't you? Then again, he didn't know anyone who could ever deny that Lance was, to some degree, attractive. Not that Keith liked him. It was simply frustrating to be insulted by someone who you got tongue tied around.

Pidge looked up from her laptop. "Why?", she grins as she nudges his shoulder. "Do I smell jealousy there?" Keith opened his mouth to argue, but Pidge was faster than the embarrassment that spread inside him. "No need to worry. Despite what you may believe, even more girls seem to have a thing for pitiful emo boys like you. I mean, not that I get it, but I'm sure if you asked out some chick, she'd totally cling to you." She paused. "Don't ask me though."

Keith laughed awkwardly. "That's not what I was getting at. I – well whatever." Man this was getting weird. He'd just wanted to know why people were so drawn to Lance. Since Keith wasn't!

"Fine, fine, no need to get your panties in a twist. I think it's probably because he's so chatty and talk active and weirdly good with people? I don't know. You see ghosts, he charms people, everyone has a thing, I guess.", Pidge sighed once more and closed her laptop. Now that Keith thought about it, Pidge had never, not once, shown interest in anyone. Perhaps he was making HER uncomfortable.

"Well, you're the expert.", Keith grinned back. Keith hadn't even told Pidge that he was gay, but perhaps she already knew. She was smart like that. And if Keith could pick up on her lack of interest, then she'd certainly noted his embarrassing crushes on the worst kind of guys imaginable. Admittedly, Keith had bad taste.

Pidge snorted at that. "Yeah sure."

"KEITH"

Keith jumped and Pidge practically fell over.

"Jesus, Keith, what the hell."

"Urgh, I'm so sorry, Pidge.", he turned to the side and hissed. "Allura what the actual fuck?"

In his peripheral vision, he could see Pidge raising her eyebrow, as she watched him talk to nothing in particular. With nothing in particular she meant a certain, very much particular point right in the middle of thin air that she herself had trouble focussing on. Keith knew how this looked but Pidge was used to it by now.

"It's not my fault you ignored me all day. This is the only way you EVER answer to my calls." Allura was a beautiful woman with white hair, soft brown skin and a British accent. Currently she had her arms crossed and was pouting at him. In Keith's vision she was almost translucent, if you looked closely. Translucent meaning, she looked like a normal human being. But the light invaded her whole body, spreading to the outlines of her skin and clothes and causing them to glow a yellowish light. It was stunning, really. Like a jewel or moving water in the middle of sun light.

"Who died this time?", he asked, almost jokingly. Only that she only ever consulted him when someone had actually died, so this was more cynical than funny. 

"A married couple. I don't know where they are from, but apparently they had a huge fight. They are still arguing and it is sooo annoying, I tell you. I'm ninety percent sure they killed each other, but you have to help them anyway."

"Can you, please, only once, give me the weekend of?", Keith begged.

"Only if nobody dies. And we both know that never happens. You are the only person capable of helping them, so please, do your job!"

"It's not a job if you don't pay me!", Keith hissed back, wary of his surroundings. The last thing he needed right now was attention to him talking to himself. Most people didn't know he still saw them. And he didn't need to look even more like a freak. Even Shiro thought that Keith was done with this nonsense and Shiro was his brother! He didn't need people jumping back on the story. "And didn't I tell you not to bug me about these things in school?" Every day, that is.

Allura rolled her eyes. "If I listened to you, you'd never help anyone."

"Seriously, give me at least one ghost who does not need my help with their murder or whatever. I don't care. I don't want to see corpses all the time. Or go to random peoples funerals on my free day. It's depressing!"

"I've told you many times now! The circumstances of their death's has nothing to do with me! Those people don't stay here because they want to. They stay for a reason. It is your job to find out why and convince them to move on."

Keith frowned. He'd never get his free time, would he? He was too tired to keep up the argument anyway. "Fine! Alright. I'll do it. But after school. I can't skip another of Iversion's classes. He'll kill me!"

"Thank you!", Allura spit back. A second later she disappeared. Like she did all the time. Not that Keith was not used to that already.

"Soo...", Pidge finally spoke up, when the silence kept getting too long to not be awkward. "I'm taking it, movie night isn't happening?"

Keith sighed. "Depends. Apparently I have another case of domestic violence to take care of. If I solve it after school today, I may have enough time tomorrow."

"Have you ever had a case, where a ghost just appeared, said cheerio and your job was done?", Pidge asked.

"I wish.", Keith sighed. "It seems those people move on without me."

"I hope it's not a poltergeist."

"I doubt that. Allura said something like, only people with the purest of hearts may interfere with the living world. Something about love being able to move people's hearts or some shit. I've only ever met one poltergeist and she needed like, a hundred years to get the hang of it. But I have to admit, she really was nice." Keith murred under his breath.

"That was the one who wanted to sell her house right?"

"No, you mean the woman who needed to know whether her son was still alive. I was referring to the woman who wanted to feed her dog because there was nobody else to do it."

"Oh. Didn't you adopt that dog?"

"Why, yes, I did.", Keith smiled at her.

-----------------------

Keith loved reading. He loved books. Especially new ones. And drawing and new sketchbooks. Well, he loved the smell of paper. Honestly, who didn't?

And, he loved to forget about reality here and there. He could get lost in every kind of story. Even, or rather especially in ghost stories. Ironically so. Allura had complained about that fact a lot, but Keith couldn't help it. He could relate to these stories. And without being forced into personal business of actual dead people, he managed to enjoy them.

It was one of his favorite past times to just sit there, read and pet Kosmo. Kosmo was a husky with dark purple shimmering fur. Since he needed a lot of attention and needed to take at least one long run a day, Keith sometimes let him run next to his motorcycle, while he was driving to run errands. May it be because he was a loyal dog, but Kosmo seemed to enjoy his life at the Takashi household.

Today however, Keith didn't have the time to even think about any of this. Despite it being Friday. His favorite day of the week. Usually. Not today though, since he had another job waiting.

So, when he came home from school, he made himself a sandwich, while Allura stood next to him, tapping her arm in anticipation. And obviously Kosmo running around him, waiting for him to get him outside.

Keith sighed. He still had not figured out whether or not Kosmo could see or notice ghosts. Sometimes he seemed to just know there was someone present in the room. Other times he just lay low and ignored everything around him.

Talking to animals. That was a skill Keith would love to possess. But no. It had to have been something that resembled a mental affliction!

"You're going out again?", Keith looked up, his mouth full. He was standing in the kitchen of the small shack him and his foster brother Takashi Shirogane shared.
Shiro always encouraged Keith's tendency to disappear once in a while to solve ghost cases. Not because he believed him, which he didn't. He didn't even know what purpose Keith was leaving the house for. He just liked that Keith actually went out of his way to meet people. For a socially awkward person, Keith sure went out a lot. Well, mostly to funerals and relatives of recently decended people, but still. Everyone had hobbies.

"So do you!?", Keith retorted, not feeling up to answering the question, but he noticed the coat hanging loose from Shiro's prosthetic arm. Said prosthetic a sad reminder of the "accident" he was in a couple of years ago.

"I wanna talk to Adam." 

Keith nodded in understanding. Adam was Shiro's fiancé. His secret fiancé so to speak. Most people were not exactly accepting of gay people around here. And people already talked about Shiro behind his back. He was a 25 year old man, living with an "innocent psychically ill teenage boy" in a small apartment all by themselves, without any neighbors for about half a mile. What would they say, if they found out Shiro was gay? Not to mention if anyone found out that Keith was too?

Another reason why Keith had decided to never come out. Not even to his brother, although Shiro may already suspect it. Having good gaydar and common sense and all that. Keith would just die alone, or as alone as one could be with the constant attention of the dead. He might even prefer it that way. Honestly, he was not too worried about his future. Things would work themselves out. They usually did.

On top of that Shiro had been in a car accident about two years prior. He may have lost his right arm, but he claimed the PTSD and insomnia were worse by far.

Keith believed him. He heard his screams almost every night. In the other car had been two people. One man and his daughter. The daughter was, to Keith's knowledge still in a coma. Shiro visited her and her family from time to time. The father had died that day. Shiro's relationship with Adam had suffered ever since and though they were still fiancés, Keith just knew it wouldn't last for much longer. The secrecy, the guilt, the constant pain and the fights- they were bad signs. Shiro went through a lot for someone his age. Keith didn't want to add anything to his plate, so he remained quiet.

"Just, be careful when driving, alright?", Keith said. "Call me if you get there."

"Yes, mom. Don't worry, I'll manage.", Shiro laughed and ruffled his brothers hair.

"Just saying. I'll keep my phone on. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."

"That should be my line.", Shiro shook his head. He didn't show it, but he loved how Keith cared and doted on him. And he needed to accept that even a grown man like him needed help sometimes. Keith did his best to be there for the few people who actually decided to stick with him. Shiro grabbed his keys and waved goodbye. Keith waved back. "See you Sunday."

The apartment was empty after that. Well, not quite of course.

"You sure are a good brother.", Allura suddenly spoke up. 

"Oh shut up.", Keith threw his knife at her.

Allura didn't even bother to dodge. It missed her by a hairline, not that it would have mattered if it hadn't. "You know, if I was alive, I'd totally sew you for attempted murder at least once a week." She shook her head, if only to hide the fond smile she'd otherwise direct his way.

"Oh come on, I missed!", Keith complained, but also smiled.

"Yeah, but that does not change the fact that you love to throw knifes at me. I'm starting to feel like you don't like me or something."

"Ha ha. Come on, let's go.", Keith rolled his eyes.

He left the apartment through the front door, just as Shiro carefully started his car and drove of.
Keith went to the small garage that belonged to Shiro and him, put on his helmet and shoved his motorcycle closer to the road.

Only moments later, he kickstarted his bike and drove off in the opposite direction his brother went. "Allura, where exactly are we going?," he asked, simply following her orders.

"Downtown. They lived near the Galra pub. You know that place, right?", came from behind, were Allura sat princess style on his bike. As a ghost, she never had to worry about helmets or any kind of security measures. That didn't stop her from reminding him of them, though.

Actually, Keith had lied to Pidge before, there was another poltergeist whom he knew of.
Allura. But if he told Pidge that, she would demand her to prove her existence, so she could believe him. However, Allura had made very clear that she never interacted with human lives. Keith would have to convince her somehow and he didn't want to think about the price.

"Don't remind me. I tell you, if I run into Lotor on my way there, I'll kill you."

"Yeah, that may be a problem. As I take it, he's their son."

Keith nearly hit the breaks in shock. "Oh for god's sake."

----------------------------------------

Lotor, as Allura explained, was the new owner of the Galra pub. Where its name came from? Nobody really knew. How Keith knew about him and the pub? Well, it so happened that Lotor was the reason for Keith's gay awakening. Not that Lotor knew, but he used to be the kind of guy whom Keith would have opened up to eventually.

He had been the only one, at least for a very long time, who had not been a dick to Keith. But as soon as Keith started to trust him with the ghosts he "used to see", it did not take long for the school, previously unaware of the craziness he called his life, to suddenly know all about it. Keith was just glad that he hadn't told Lotor that he still saw them, otherwise it could all have turned out worse. That's actually how he came to know Pidge but that was a different story. 

Lotor had eventually left him alone in school, since he didn't want to be seen with a freak. Needless to say, Keith didn't want to ever see him again. Today was just his luck. Perhaps he should have taken Kosmo along. For mental support.

When Keith drove onto the pub's parking lot, he could see a police car standing close by.
It was Coran's car, if Keith wasn't mistaken. Coran was probably the only good police officer in the whole precinct. And it so happened that Keith knew him pretty well. He was, by the way, the only other friend Keith had and the one that was previously mentioned to be like a relative to Keith. When they'd first met, Coran had been wary of him, his sudden appearances, his inside knowledge of the descended and stuff, freaking him out. But eventually, he had begun listening to Keith's story. And as surprising as it was, Coran seemed to believe him. And still left him alone with questions Keith so desperately dreaded. Keith had told Coran that he could only talk to a few ghosts. Only those who stayed long enough to solve some of their lives' problems. So he would not be called anytime a murder was happening and Coran understood that Keith could not always be of help. Keith would usually be called by Allura. And then he could approach Coran, not the other way around. Coran was very kind and understanding and had accepted his conditions. Needless to say, the fact that it was his car Keith saw today was a huge relief to him.

Keith took of his helmet, turned of his bike and walked passed the car to enter the small building. Even from the entrance he could make out noises and eventually, words.

"I told you, I have no idea what happened. They fought a lot. I'm not surprised, honestly. She was a liar and my father a drunkard. I did not exactly like them, but I would never kill them!"

Right, Lotor. Shit. Of course they would question him. It was, however, a little satisfying to hear him so panicked and half annoyed, and also terrified. Keith knew him well enough to recognise the emotions in his voice.

"I believe you. We've had a couple of noise complains these past few weeks. I don't suspect you. This is basic protocol. May I ask where you were, when it happened?", Coran's soothing voice answered.

"I was asleep while they were supposed to run business. I thought some of our customers were in a fight again or something. Stuff like that happens at least twice a week or so. Didn't think it was them."

Keith sighed, as he let his hand rest on the door knob. He took a deep breath before he entered. And was met by a sudden, intense and mad kind of glare.

He was struck with sudden silence. "What the hell are YOU doing here?"

Good question. Maybe Allura could answer that, but then again, Coran was here and he was usually in charge. There was nothing Keith had to hide in this situation. He wasn't here for Lotor, he was hear to do his horrible unpaid job. The sooner he was done with it, the better. "Well... to your information, my spirit guardian informed me of your parents death. I'm here to release their ghosts.", Keith said. His voice an ironic mix of sarcasm and honesty. Coran was used to his antics and with him around, Keith was not afraid to utter his opinion. Or the truth, that is.

Lotor just stared at him for one brief moment. Ready to break out laughing at the ridiculous joke.
He looked at Coran who seemed unfazed by his sudden appearance, then back at Keith who only had a cold glare for him. The seriousness of his gaze prevented the laugh to ever come out. Confusion took it's place.

Coran simply welcomed him. "Hello, Keith, my boy. I was wondering if you'd come. What have you found out? Have you already talked to them? Do you know why they fought?", Coran cheerily welcomed him. Invading his privacy far more than necessary, putting his hands on his shoulder. Like a father who was just reunited with the son he had not seen in weeks. 

Keith glanced at Lotor sheepishly, whose eyes widened in disbelieve. You'd think he just lost all his faith in humanity. "Ehm, no. I haven't talked to them yet. Allura just informed me about them an hour ago or so. I would assume they are still here."

"No, seriously now, how do you know my parents died?", Lotor spat out, ignoring the serious, almost professional conversation.

"Do you want to see the crime scene?" Keith really loved that Coran had accepted him as a medium. Reactions like Lotor's were pretty funny. They eased his mind and soothed the feeling of needing to hide his ability in school. But he had to keep a straight face, otherwise he might risk Coran to believe that he was not honest with him and had come only to make fun of Lotor.

The fact that Coran was still ignoring Lotor was pretty amusing though. The internal crisis that Lotor displayed was almost enough for Keith to think it was worth coming here. Almost.

What must it be like for Lotor, being stuck with the guy he betrayed and a crazy police officer, investigating the death of his parents, who themselves were stupid enough to kill each other.
Monday's were crazy. (It was Friday.)

As Keith nodded towards Coran, the officer lead him to what seemed like a living room, where random police officers were collecting and photographing potential evidence. Everything was taped off and Keith put his hands in his pockets to not accidentally touch anything. Lotor followed close behind. Disbelieve and anger still visible in his usually stoic expression.
It remained until they reached the police tape when Coran pulled him aside. "Please wait here. This is nothing for children."

"What the- this guy is even younger than I am!", Lotor spat back, clearly distraught.

"Yes, but this is not his first crime scene, not his first corpse and he has proven to know how to behave around here. Also he usually sees things that we simply can't."

Lotor wanted to hiss back, but apparently could hold back enough to stop a retort. Coran was still a superior officer. He better not risk getting him on his bad side. Perhaps this day would not be so awful after all, Keith thought, suppressing the grin that was still creeping up his face. Gosh, he should be more empathetic. This guy had just lost his parents!

He followed Coran past the police tape until they went into another room close by. The wooden door led to a public bar. Who even lived in the same house they sold their alcohol in? That was a definite miscalculation of Lotor's parents, Keith decided. The blood forced Keith out of his daydreaming state. The satisfaction on his little amusement around Lotor disappeared, leaving a seriousness that finally fitted their current sitation.

The corpses had not been removed yet.
A tall man was lying somewhere on the steps of the stairs that led to rooms Keith would never willingly step into. A giant kitchen knife was stuck inside the man's skull. Only meters from him lay his wife. Her head cut open as she apparently fell down the stairs and hit her head. That much Keith could tell, despite the discomfort that grew in his stomach at the sight.

Weirder, however, was probably the fact that Keith could see these people twice. Keith saw their corpses on the ground and their translucent counterparts sitting at the bar table. "Coran, they are right over there.", he nodded in their direction. Coran gave him a firm look of understanding.

Keith moved past the police officers. Through the room that was designed with all different kinds of dark, red wood. Splintered glass lay everywhere on the ground. Liquids of different shades of red darkened the surface, similar to the blood on the stairs. And the smell of alcohol and cigarettes corrupted his lungs like the first signs of a cold. Some of the officers had familiar faces. He already met him once or twice and they were used to his presence. Or at least not surprised. Other faces raised their heads at him in suspicion, only to be reminded by Coran to do their job. One of them was trying to get to his feet, likely to shout at Keith, but one of the other officers held him back. They knew better than to disobey Coran's orders.

The couple sat a few seats apart. They were arguing. Only that now, as he approached them, Keith could actually hear them talk.

"Geez, I can't believe it took dying for you to finally sober up. And you're still as insufferable.", the woman spat at the tall man.

"And even in death, you can't leave me alone."

"Oh shut up. As if your death was my fault!"

"How is you stabbing me with a kitchen knife not your fault?"

"You threw me down the bloody stairs!"

Keith sighed. "They totally killed each other, Coran. They just admitted it.", he shook his head, what a stupid case. On the bright side, this meant he could go home early.

"Yeah, I figured as much, but I need the exact circumstances, if possible."

"Fine, I'll talk to them. But if Kinkade or Curtis call me a weirdo again, you'll have to send them outside!"

"Alright, alright. Were is the couple?, I'll go stand on the other side and pretend like I'm talking to you."

"Thank you.", Keith smiled gently at him. Coran truly was a good man. More an uncle than a friend, but still, somehow, a friend.

Keith pointed at the couple, sighed and waited until Coran had placed himself on the opposite side, to make the conversation that was about to unfold, seem "natural".

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs.. I'm sorry, I don't know your names?", he spoke up. The ghosts turned to him, glanced at each other in question.

"Is he talking to us?" 

"I don't think so? He's alive, I hardly believe he can see us, you idiot. Look at these useless police officers! We're right here and they still can't put one and one together!" The woman growled.

"Actually, I can. My name is Keith Kogane, I'm a medium."

They exchanged glances again.

"Wait a second. I know you! You and my son used to be friends, right? You're that weird kid who claimed he could see -", the woman's eyes widened. 

"Ghosts?", Keith was tired.

"He's that mental kid? Don't talk to him. He's delirious.", the man said, crossing his arms.

Keith glared at him. "Are you serious? I am currently talking to you. You are literally dead. You could at least pretend like you're sorry for misjudging me!"

The woman rolled her eyes. "I apologize for my idiotic husband. He's stupid as hell. To answer your question, his name is Zarkon. It's not his real name, but he is edgy like that. You'd think he'd at least leave his son spared from those antics."

"Now he's my son!", the man hissed. "Coming from the woman who claims to be his mother, when she's really not!" Whatever that was supposed to mean.

"Excuse you! How many times do I have to tell you, I was the one pregnant with him. Surely I'd remember that? While you were off doing drugs or what not!"

Keith groaned. Great. Really great. Now he was in the middle of their family drama.

"Can you please tell me, why the both of you are still here?", Keith practically begged.

"What do you mean?", the woman asked, confused, but still angry.

"I mean, why didn't you move on to the after life? Every ghost usually has a reason for staying on earth. Since both of you are here, I'm taking it, you haven't settled everything in your lives'.", Keith explained as calmly as he could, paraphrasing what Allura once told him.

"Well... If you listened, I assure you, my husband is simply an idiot who doesn't know when to give up. Which is the reason we still live in this awful establishment. He doesn't want to let go of it. I, for one, am only here, because my own son is foolish enough to believe his father that I were not his mother."

The woman sounded annoyed. But Keith recognized the story somehow. Back when he was still friends with Lotor, he had told him there was this weird woman in his house who claimed to be his mother. His fathers "spouse" or something. Her name was Honerva. Lotor used to say that she raised him but they weren't blood related. Great. Because if this is the reason the both of them were still here, he'd have to talk to Lotor. He sighed. "Don't worry, I'll talk to your son. One more thing. What exactly did you fight about before you died?", Keith asked. He didn't like these ghosts, but at least they were compliant in answering his questions. That was not always a given.

"This witch wanted to sell the pub, obviously. And I'm telling you, if someone were to take the only thing you care about from you, you'd become a murderer too.", Zarkon spit out and Keith jumped back a little at the force of his words. Soon after, the woman started shouting at her husband again.

"Seriously? The only thing you care about is this pub? What about me? What about Lotor?"

Keith was glad ghosts were rarely able to interfere with real life, otherwise he was sure the pub would have been destroyed by the sheer force of madness in their eyes.

He sighed and waved at Coran to move closer again, so he could tell him what happened.
He looked over at Lotor, who was still standing where they had left him. Yeah, not looking forward to that.

----------------------

"Sorry mom, I won't sell the pub. It is my home after all. Filled with all the good memories of my childhood. You two however, you need to move on to the next life now.", Lotor awkwardly stared ahead of him. Fake pain obviously displayed in his gestures. He seemed obviously annoyed. But apparently the simple fact that Keith knew that Honerva wanted to sell the pub was enough to convince Lotor to play along. Maybe it was a secret Lotor had somehow found out about, but nobody else had? Perhaps he just wanted to get this over with. Not that it hadn't needed a lot of coaxing him into it and promising that Keith wasn't filming him.

Coran and Keith waited expectantly for him to finish this problem. This was also part of their deal. Keith helped with the circumstances of the death's, while Coran convinced the relatives to talk to the nothingness in front of them until Keith was happy with the outcome. The method may be unorthodox and didn't always work perfectly, but it made both their jobs a lot easier.

Keith waited for Lotor to finish his awkward monologue. Opposing to Keith's conversations with the dead, the ones of the relatives were mostly one sided. No surprise there. They could neither see nor hear the dead. But Keith loved that he was the only one who didn't actually talk to himself. Despite popular belief.

"See, I told you my son is never gonna sell it!", Zarkon grinned at his wife.

"And I told you, he's OUR son."

"Fine, fine. Done already? Can you move on now, please?", Keith rolled his eyes.

"Yes yes, fine. Where is that witch?", Honerva sighed.

The witch was probably Allura. Keith was convinced that Allura always tried to get ghosts to the other side by herself first before she came for him to help. One of the reasons he actually helped her out. She didn't ask for help because she was bored but she had no other option. She was standing right beside Keith now, waiting for him to do finish. For some reason, even some of the ghosts couldn't see her. Keith didn't know why, but she explained it was a certain skill she developed over the past ten thousand years. She always had the annoying tendency to appear whenever she was called.

"I'm here, follow me. I'll show you the way.", she suddenly spoke up, a gentle smile on her face.
It only took a few moments of farewell that the couple followed her. A faint light appeared wherever they disappeared but Keith was already used to it. He didn't even bother looking after them.

"Are they gone now?", Lotor fidgeted in his spot. Clearly embarrassed that he did exactly what he had humored Keith about all those years ago. Perhaps he even believed that Keith did this only to get revenge. Keith WISHED.

"Yeah, I think so.", Keith replied, barely looking at him, while Lotor sighed in relief in clear ignorance of the lies he just told his dead parents.

"Good, because I hate that freaky woman and I need to find someone to sell the house to."

Despite everything, Keith just ignored the man. His job was done now. He said his farewells to Coran and left soon after. Alone this time. Allura was gone. For a while, Keith hoped. He already dreaded the day she would return yet again. He couldn't have known it would be so soon.