Chapter 6: The Attic

Anise attempts to talk to and befriend the ghost living in the attic.

The schedule was pinned up in the kitchen for everyone to write on. It was much easier to do this than going up to everyone and asking them. Besides, some people were still out of the house. It honestly made me happy to see almost everyone rush to the calendar after dinner was over.

My plate was taken up by Zamuel and I waited at my seat, sipping my tea. It took awhile for everyone to get done adding their prefered times and date, but once it was done the schedule appeared full. I noticed that Endrian and Danton didn't have anything written down. It made sense why Endian wouldn't add anything to it was of now considering that he was out of the house still. However, I wasn't sure where Danton could be.

Now that I think about it, he wasn't present during dinner either.

I told myself that I wasn't going to pressure anyone or approach anyone about this, but I was curious to what Danton thought. He was the only one that didn't seem to express much interest or personal opinions since we have met. I could even argue that we haven't even really met yet. He was cut off by Cassi before he could finish everything he wanted to say.

I drank the rest of my tea and went into the kitchen to find Zam beginning to wash dishes. "Excuse me, Zam? You wouldn't happen to know where Danton is, would you?"

"Ghothel spends most of zir time in the library or up in the attic, zir personal bedroom." He answered, putting a rinsed plate into the dishwasher. I nodded and began to head towards the top floor and towards the attic first, remembering the neutral pronouns. It was shame that I couldn't learn Danton's preferred pronouns from zirself, but at least I know now.

I didn't quite understand why Danton would decide to reside in the attic. There were plenty of regular bedrooms all over the mansion. I couldn't remember what was in the attic either let alone how long it's been since it's been cleaned. Perhaps Danton cleaned everything zirself? But, ze was a ghost. Thinking about the subject confused me a little too much, so I simply went to the top floor and opened a door that led to more stairs that would lead to the attic.

The door that led to the main floor of the attic was a dreary purple. The pain was chipping off and the wood of the door itself was rough. I was afraid to touch it in case I got a splinter. Still, I braved through it and knocked on the door. Perhaps I should make fixing this door my next craft project. Maybe even use some of my magic on it.

I didn't hear any movement or indication that someone was inside for a good minute. I gave one more knock and waited a little bit more for a response. Just as I was about to turn and head to the library next, the door creaked open. I saw a lock of white hair and slowly saw one half of Danton as ze peered from behind the door. Ze looked nervous. It was infectious.

"H-Hello, Danton. U-Um, could we talk? About the schedule?" I greeted, stumbling over my words just a smidge. Ze didn't reply verbally. Instead, ze just held the door open a little more for me to enter zir room.

Unlike the state of the door and the hall leading to the attic, zir room was magnificently clean and warm. Fairy lights, blankets and pillows everywhere, pressed flowers, and scattered books were present in the room. It looked more like the inside of an elaborate pillowfort than a regular bedroom or attic. I was impressed. Inspired even.

Danton took a seat on a pillow lying on the floor and gestured for me to sit on a pillow across from zir. I sat down, still looking around the comforting room a bit. Despite how warm the atmosphere was, there was a lingering awkwardness. Part of it may have been from Danton not speaking a word to me since I arrived. A part of me though that ze may have been the introverted and shy type, but I suppose I should've prepared for it more.

I cleared my throat and focused my eyes on zir visible lilac eye. "You weren't present during dinner so you may not know this but I created a schedule for everyone to mark their desired date times on. There's still room for you to put something down for this month if you wish."

"I know." Ze softly spoke, now looking away towards the books on the floor. I didn't quite know how to respond to that. Ze already knew that there was a schedule up apparently but didn't bother to come and write anything down.

"O-Oh! I see. D-Did you not plan on participating?" I hesitantly asked. It's not like it would hurt my feelings if ze said that ze wasn't interested in well. . . dating me. I would be hesitant to date a complete stranger too. And I am.

"I. . ." Ze began, but soon trailed off. Zir face was contorted with nervousness. Ze rubbed the back of zir neck, trying figure out how to proceed with the conversation.

I attempted to laugh and shrug. "I-It doesn't hurt my feelings that you don't want to date me. I get it. Dating a complete stranger is weird. It even freaks me out a little if I'm being honest."

"Th-That's not it. . ." Ze spoke up, a faint redness growing over zir white, semi-transparent cheeks. Now I really didn't know how to respond. I didn't understand the reason why ze didn't seem to be interested in filling out a space in the schedule.

I waited a bit to see if ze would explain the situation further. Ze simply continued to stare at the books on the floor. The space between us felt even more awkward now. This ghost wasn't giving me much to work with here.

It suddenly clicked. Why couldn't I realize this before? I cleared my throat and picked up the conversation again. "Danton? Is it possible that you aren't able to touch things within this plane?"

Ze suddenly became wide-eyed as I caught on to what may be part of the problem. Ze seemed to get flustered as ze tried to explain the problem. "I-I can pick up s-some objects. Low energy o-objects. T-Touching living beings is. . . harder. It takes m-much more energy. I'm sorry. Very sorry."

I didn't know a ton about ghosts but I knew some information. Records show that ghosts were able to interact with some things within the realm of the living but it took some amount of energy to do so. Inanimate objects are much easier to interact with than it is to interact with humans or even animals. Danton probably didn't need to do things like eat or drink either. That didn't leave zir with many date options.

"I-It's okay! Really! We don't have to do anything that most people do on dates. It's not like I'm going on dates with a bunch of regular people too, so I have to adapt anyways. E-Even if you weren't a ghost, I would not expect you to do anything you weren't comfortable with." I replied, the air clearing up as the problem was revealed.

"I-I would hate to waste your time. . . " Ze confessed. For some reason, my eyes followed zir line of sight over to the books. My eyes caught a few words before I realized that it was a romance novel. In fact, I now saw that most of the books within the room were romance novels. Ze must think that the standards in romance novels had to apply to reality.

I decided that trying to reassure zir wasn't going to work well. Instead, I took a different route to get to know zir and try to get zir to open up. "What is this book about? It looks to be really good."

Danton seemed to somewhat relax as I switched topics. Ze picked up the book I was looking at and closed it, setting it down with the front cover up in front of me. "It's about a prince that falls in love with a maid, but he's betrothed to another woman. So, the man meets the woman he really loves in secret. There are moments were it seems like they will get caught by the guards or by the prince's parents. However, so far they seem to be okay. I haven't finished it yet though."

This was the first time I heard Danton speak without being cut off, stuttering, or trailing off. It was actually nice to hear zir voice so clearly and confidently. Zir voice was still soft and smooth like silk. Zir voice reminded me of feathers stuffed inside a comfy pillow. Ze still sounded a smidge shy, however I was feeling more comfortable as ze spoke.

"I see. I hope you finish the novel very soon then. What about this one?" I pointed to another book to keep the conversation going. I felt like we were really making progress in getting zir to open up. Perhaps with a little more talking, zir would come to feel confident enough to fill a space on the schedule.

"That one is about a woman that goes to Paris and falls in love with a painter. She goes to buy her paintings everyday until she has no more money left to go back home. Eventually, the painter offers to let the woman stay at her studio where she gains inspiration and uses the woman as a muse and eventually the painter falls in love with her model." Ze explained, a light smile forming on zir face.

"That sounds lovely, Danton. I would love to borrow one of your books sometime. Perhaps we could read together sometime?" I suggested, not really thinking about just what I asked. It wasn't until a few seconds after I said it and a few seconds of silence that I began to blush. I. . . Did I just kinda asked Danton out on a date?

Danton seemed to also take my suggestion as a proposal for a reading date. Zir transparent cheeks turned a harsh shade of red. The heat I felt on my own cheeks was an indication that my face was probably just as red as zirs. I attempted to salvage the situation, throwing my hands up in defense and shaking my head. "I-It doesn't have to be a d-date! W-We can just r-read as f-friends!"

"Y-Yeah! I-I mean. . . I-I guess I d-don't mind if it was a d-date now. . ." Danton now confessed, cheeks only growing brighter and redder.

While it made me happy that I managed to get zir to become more comfortable with me and the idea of going on dates with me, it also made me incredibly flattered and embarrassed. My heart was beginning to race and I subconsciously stared at zir face.

Ze may be a little transparent, had white skin, and zir bangs only revealed one lilac eye, zir was actually kinda cute. Zir appeared to be mostly androgynous but leaned on the more masculine side. Zir lashes were pretty long and the shape of zir eyes gentle, but zir jawline was prominent and ze was only an inch or two taller than me. Danton was really cute now that I really paid attention to zir.

As soon as I realized that I was staring, I shook my head slightly to force myself out of my trance and blushed harder, now matching how bright Danton's cheeks were. "G-Great! Th-Then, I will add a s-spot on the schedule for our r-reading date. Th-Thank you for accepting my offer!"

"R-Right. . . I-I'll see you on before and o-on our d-date then, A-Anise." Ze responded. I took that as my cue to get up and head towards the door. I gave zir one last nod and nervous smile before exiting the attic and quietly closing the door behind me. A huge sigh left my lips as the awkward weight lifted off of my shoulders.

Perhaps I shouldn't pay attention to how good-looking everyone was from now on. It would just make acting natural on the dates even harder. I hope that reading wouldn't be totally impossible when my date with Danton comes.