it’s not like they get along anyway

“You have to leave.”

“You’re not my boss.”

“Leave. Immediately. I don’t need to see you here.”

“I said,” the poltergeist drifted her eyes away from her phone, just by a bit. She didn’t turn her head. “you’re not my boss.”

“It doesn’t matter, I can fill a report, you, you- you…!”

“What? Can’t even call me a bad word?”, she stuck her tongue.

“You let them escape! They kept killing people! Innocent people! How can you sit there when it’s your responsibility? What kind of officer are you? I’m- I’m nauseous just by knowing I’m sharing a workspace with you!”

Penta has seen Dymka upset, but never this upset.

“Hey, calm down. It’s not my responsibility.”

“It IS.” after a quick deep breath, she continued; “Penta, do you know what happens to people when they get murdered?” Dymka pointed at her, still upset, the air feeling warmer than usual around her. Humid, dense.

“They… Die?” she raised an eyebrow, bypassing Dymka’s anger.

“YES and the person who kills them claims their soul. That means they don’t have any chances for a second opportunity, because their soul isn’t able to reach the pool from which they can be reanimated and-”

“Ok, ok, it’s bad, but there are murders happening everywhere. You can’t stop all of them, and it’s not like that kid is killing, like, 10 people per second.”

Dymka had to facepalm and get herself together again. She hasn’t been this angry in years.

“Why let the numbers rise faster, anyway? What’s your problem? You know you’ve been here for a year and you royally messed up this one job, you could easily have taken away your status, you could go back to being dead.”

“Oh my god, Dymka, you really need to sit down and relax.” Penta said, but she was looking at her phone again. “If I die again then big deal, woo hoo! I doubt you’re capable of doing that.”

“Is that a challenge? Are you really trying to get yourself banned or something? Being so reckless… They must’ve made a mistake by reanimating you, I can’t believe it.”

“Gods don’t make mistakes, darling.” at this point, Penta wanted to cut off the conversation. She was relaxed on the outside, but Dymka was getting on her nerves.

Or rather, on the feelings she’s been avoiding.

“Well, maybe you turned yourself into one.”

“You know what?” she stood up, slamming her hands on the desk. “You really, really need to mind your own business. You don’t know that kid’s story, you don’t know anyone’s story and you just keep talking so much shit and I’m tired, you know? I’m tired of you trying to control what I do or don’t do!”

“I’m not trying to control-”

“You are! Oh my god, holy shit! You are! I don’t know how people can stand being by your side for more than 5 seconds, you’re irritating!” at this point she was already getting close to Dymka, pointing at her, upset enough that she forgot about her phone on the table.

“That’s not true, you’re the one who has issues, otherwise you would own up to your actions. You think I became a ghost yesterday? I’ve been like this for nine years, you don’t come here to tell me what to do!”

“Oh, now I don’t tell you what to do? What a pretty double-standard you got there!” Penta raised her hands, with a sarcastic ‘don’t mess with her’ attitude. “Just answer me this; why do you waste your time yelling at me when you could be out there saving the 100 people who will die in the next minute?”

“You know what? You’re right, your skull is too thick, I have to go do a better job.” she obviously didn’t want to give up, but the topic upset her too much, she needed to cool down.

After a long breath, Dymka scoffed and head to the door. “I guess you will never realize you’re letting everyone down.” she told Penta, not looking at her.

Of course Penta wanted to keep arguing with her, but at the same time, she felt… Weird. Empty, almost. So she let Dymka go, it’s not like they get along anyway.

At the best of times, the phone she forgot about suddenly lighted up with a notification. She checked it, and it was that kid. The kid that made Dymka so mad, the kid that has murdered people. The kid that was her responsibility.

They wanted to hang out like always. Penta agreed with extra enthusiasm, out of spite.