A/N: Hi everyone! This is a little fic I decided to write after seeing a writing prompt about ghosts. It's definitely going to be more light-hearted than Post-Apocalypse Punk, though it IS a ghost AU so there will be touches of angst. :P

To clear up any potential confusion, this is set in an alternate universe, and in this AU Fareeha and Satya live largely "normal" lives (aka Satya is not bending reality and Fareeha's day job isn't flying around with a rocket launcher). Also in this universe Hana lived much closer to our present time, because I feel like her slang and style fits more in the mid-2010s than in the 2070s and I wanted to make use of that, lol.

If you like it please don't hesitate to leave even a short review! It really helps inspire me to keep writing.

It was a beautiful little retreat – a simple but elegant old house by a lake, surrounded by nothing but peaceful quietness. Neither of them could believe how affordable it had been, and with seemingly no suspicious problems like leaking pipes, mice, or mold. The only explanation Satya could think of for the low price was the fact that it was a long way from any other houses or buildings, which meant trips into town would be full-day outings. Satya hardly minded. It was nice to be inaccessible sometimes.

The first thing she and Fareeha did after moving their things inside was christen the couch. With a contented sigh Fareeha flopped down onto its worn cushions. Satya crawled on top of her and smiled down at her lover. "This is so much better than the apartment," Fareeha said as she returned Satya's smile. She reached up and stroked Satya's cheek with her calloused but tender fingers.

Satya leaned down and kissed her forehead. "No more loud music from the neighbors."

"No more 2AM door slamming from that couple across the hall."

"No more of that old woman on the first floor asking us when she is going to meet our husbands."

They both got a laugh out of that.

"So I guess we should start unpacking stuff other than just the couch," Fareeha said as she cast a glance around at all the boxes stacked up in the living room around them.

"I suppose you're right." Satya planted a light kiss on Fareeha's lips. "But…perhaps we have just a few more minutes?"

That was all the encouragement Fareeha needed. She wrapped her arms around Satya's waist and pulled her down, the two of them giggling as they kissed some more.

The house had two floors, but each individual room was very small. It felt as though it had been built perhaps only for a single occupant.

The bedroom was located upstairs, at the end of a lengthy hallway. It was painted a neutral white and had some plain blue curtains covering generic-looking windows. As Satya investigated the room she discovered a few paint flaws beneath one windowsill. The white paint there didn't entirely cover the previous color – which turned out to be a bizarre neon pink. Bright pink walls? She made a face. How garish. No wonder someone had tried to cover it up.

Other than a few fixable imperfections the room seemed ready to move into. A tiny giggle bubbled up in her throat as the reality continued to sink in. This is our house. Our home. We actually own a house together now. She covered her mouth with one hand and made a tiny squealing sound. "This is our house," she said aloud, reveling in the sound of it.

Suddenly the recessed lighting overhead flickered. Startled out of her reverie, Satya glanced up at the now-dimmed lights in the ceiling. Faulty wiring? Great. She knew the perfect little house had to be hiding some flaws.

Before she could call downstairs to Fareeha about it, the lights returned to their normal brightness. How odd. I suppose we will have to have an electrician take a look at that if it continues.

The sound of footsteps a minute later alerted her to Fareeha climbing the stairs to join her, a box under each arm. "Hey, so everything looks fine, right?" she asked Satya. "No bug infestations? No human remains in the closet?"

Satya chuckled. "Fear not. I cleared them out."

"Oh, good. I have a lot of stuff to pack in there."

As Fareeha headed for the bedroom closet, Satya cleared her throat. "In seriousness, however, the lighting did dim at one point. That should probably be noted."

"Okay. Noted." She opened the closet door, glanced about inside of it, then set the two boxes down inside of it. "Everything on the first floor seems fine, except there's one room that kind of has a weird smell. It's not too strong, though. I think we'll be able to get rid of it with one of those air freshener sprays."

Satya wrinkled her nose. "What does it smell like?"

"Kinda like something, uh, died in there. Like I said though it's not real strong, so it was probably a long time ago. Maybe an animal got in and couldn't find its way back out."

"Or perhaps it was the previous inhabitant."

"Jeez, Satya, lighten up a l–"

The lights flickered again, a deep thrumming sound resonating through the tiny room from the changing electricity levels. Satya and Fareeha exchanged a look.

"Hey, you, uh…" Fareeha hesitated. "You don't believe in ghosts right?"

"Um, yes. I do."

Fareeha stared straight ahead. "Me too."

With a whirr the power cut out completely, leaving them in the pitch dark. Fareeha grabbed Satya and clung to her. "Oh God, we bought a haunted house! Now we're gonna die like a white family in a horror movie!"

"Fareeha, don't be ridiculous." Satya held tightly to her lover's arm. "…Neither of us is white."

"I know, but still–"

The lights powered back on.

Both women sighed with relief. Then, after exchanging a look, they both chuckled a bit.

"I did not know you were afraid of ghosts." Satya patted Fareeha's hand. "Here I thought you weren't afraid of anything."

"I'm not." Fareeha's voice was still shaking a little. "I was – I was scared for you. Didn't want you to be in danger."

Satya fixed her with a small, smug smile. "Oh, of course, dear. Thank you for looking out for me."

"Don't thank me, Ma'am. I'm just doing my job."

Satya nudged her aside. "I am sure the problem here is just faulty wiring. We were foolish to work ourselves up like that."

"Heh, yeah." Fareeha massaged the back of her neck. "So c'mon, help me unpack these boxes. Then I'll look into finding a local electrician or something."

A tiny smile graced Satya's face as she unpacked the mini hologram projectors that held so many of their precious memories together. On a whim she pressed the power button on one of the projectors. An image sprang into being, depicting their first day in their new apartment three years ago. Fareeha was a sweaty mess from lugging boxes upstairs the whole morning, but her exposed muscles were shining, a sight Satya was still a bit weak for. In the picture Satya was holding the camera out in front of them, smiling widely. One of Fareeha's arms was draped around Satya's waist, the other holding her sweaty hair back from her face.

She rested her chin on her palms and sighed contentedly. Such a perfect human being.

Satya had always been so focused on her work life that she had come to accept she would never have time for romance. Never had she expected the newest security guard at work to be such a charming woman – and so willing to adapt to Satya's workaholic lifestyle. Now here they were, four and a half years later, moving into a house together. What Satya had believed she would never achieve was now sitting directly in her lap. And it was just as sweet as she had always imagined.

She set the hologram down on a tiny end table. Soon we will have a multitude of new house memories as well.

They managed to get unpacked enough by dinnertime to eat in the cute little dining room. Unfortunately their small appliances were still lost in a sea of boxes, so they ended up keeping it simple and just slicing up some fruit and vegetables Satya had scavenged from their apartment as they were leaving it for the final time.

"So…" Fareeha said at one point. Her tone implied everything she was about to say. Satya shook her head, simply waiting for her to finish. "We're all on our own out here. Nobody to possibly overhear us with, uh, anything…"

Satya folded her arms. "Not a problem for me."

Fareeha's face flushed. "Well not all of us have cute, quiet little moans."

Satya smirked. "I can only imagine how happy that elderly couple downstairs will be that they no longer have to contend with your screaming."

"Excuse me? Screaming?"

"What term would you prefer? Howling?"

Fareeha balked. "Well it's your fault! Stop being so hot!"

Satya batted her lashes playfully. Fareeha brushed her off with faux offense.

They spent the rest of the meal, and then the evening, hanging out together. The knowledge that they were alone, no nosy neighbors listening in, helped Satya to relax more than she'd allowed herself to in ages. The car ride and move had also tired them out, leaving them with little energy to do anything productive after moving in. Shortly after dinner they decided to retire early to their new bedroom and enjoy their newfound freedom of no neighbors to overhear Fareeha's corny, yet oddly endearing, theatrics.

That night

A cold breeze drifted over Satya's exposed skin, spawning goosebumps across her flesh. Without opening her eyes she reached over and grabbed for the blanket Fareeha had presumably stolen. When she could not immediately grab hold of it she grumbled, rousing her girlfriend.

"May I have some blanket?" she whispered, failing to tamp down the note of irritation in her voice.

"I thought you had it." Fareeha's voice was groggy, her speech a bit slurred.

Reaching over to the nightstand Satya turned on their small bedside lamp and sat up. The blanket was nowhere to be seen.

Fareeha rubbed her eyes. "Where did it go…?"

Satya pointed to the far corner of the room. "Er…"

The blanket was over there – tied in a bow around one of their yet-unpacked clothing boxes.

Fareeha paled. "Did…you…do…that…?"

"Actually, that was me."

They both whipped around at the sound of a high-pitched, slightly-distorted voice. Fareeha shrieked and leaped off the bed. Satya simply froze, unable to even muster a scream.

Sitting cross-legged between their pillows was a teenage girl with long brown hair, neon pink triangles painted on her cheeks, and brown eyes that glowed in the bedroom's dim light.

The girl smiled sweetly. "You like my house?"

She was clearly no ordinary teenager. She radiated a freezing aura, as if her very presence was actively sucking the warmth from the room. Her clothing was bizarrely dated – a tight-fitting pink t-shirt, bright pink socks, and torn jeans that looked straight out of the 2010s. And at certain angles the light from their nightstand lamp seemed to pass right through her body, putting an uncanny, surreal bit of distance between her and the plane of existence occupied by everything else in the room.

Fareeha grabbed Satya and pulled her away, putting herself between Satya and the girl. Despite her bold position, however, Satya could feel the hand around her wrist shaking. And the grip was just a little too tight.

"Who are you?" Fareeha tried to demand.

The girl tossed her hair. "Who am I? Who are you?"

Fareeha swallowed. "Okay, look, I don't know who you are, but we own this house now. If you were using it as some sort of hangout while it was abandoned…"

Satya leaned around her and tried to catch her eye. Does she not see what is going on here…?

The girl burst out laughing, tangling her socked feet in their freshly-made sheets. "Wow," she choked out between laughs, "you're dumb!"

Fareeha gritted her teeth, but before she could respond the girl vanished. "What the hell is going on?!" Fareeha spun in a circle, trying to direct her question but finding no target to direct it at. "What are you?!"

The doorway ignited with a blinding light. Satya and Fareeha stumbled backward, clinging to each other as the light formed into a humanoid shape – then sprouted giant, insectoid legs from its back. The light soon gave way to reveal a monstrous woman with long, dreadlocked hair and six brown legs sprouting from her back.

She reached out for them with all of her hideous limbs. "I AM…THE QUEEN OF BLADES!"

Before Satya could even react Fareeha leapt at the monstrosity, tackling her to the ground. "Aghh!" The creature shrank back into the form of a petite teenage girl. Instead of looking menacing, however, she squirmed with laughter in Fareeha's arms.

"What the hell is going on?" Fareeha growled.

The girl slipped effortlessly out of her grip. She turned and faced away from the two of them. "She tackled me! This might be more of a challenge than the past few fleshies who moved in here!"

"Are you…a spirit?" Satya tried to keep her tone neutral, even though inside she was quaking.

The girl sprawled out across their bed. "What do you think?"

Satya approached her cautiously. She reached out and touched the tips of her fingers to the girl's arm. A shocking cold arced through her body, and her fingers submerged into the girl's flesh, as if she were dipping them into ice water.

"Whoa! Personal space, lady." The girl shimmied away from her, planting her rear end directly on Satya's pillow. "But to answer your question, yes, I am." She grinned. "I see you're the smart one."

Fareeha situated herself between Satya and the girl once again. "O-okay, fine," she stammered, "you're a ghost. This still isn't your house–"

The girl reached out to Fareeha and laid a hand on her cheek. Fareeha shuddered. Without saying a word the girl's form melted away into a shapeless mass of light again – but this time it sank into Fareeha's chest. Fareeha jerked backward. She squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her chest. Satya was at her side immediately. "Fareeha!"

After taking a few deep breaths, Fareeha slowly turned to Satya. Her eyes opened to reveal a total blankness – no irises, no pupils, and two trails of purple light drifting from the glowing whites of her eyes. She climbed up on the bed and threw her arms out. "Hana is the real owner of this house. I'm just a big dumb lug who tries to tackle ghosts into doorframes."

"How dare you!" Satya seized Fareeha by the wrist. "Release her at once, you – you pestering poltergeist!"

Fareeha winked and blew her a kiss. "Sorry, my viewers voted last time that they wanted to see more possession during my next livestream. I'm just giving my fans what they want!"

It took all Satya had not to start freaking out. Drawing in a deep breath, she collected herself to think semi-rationally. All right, I am quite clearly dealing with a child here…perhaps if I indulge her a bit she will lose interest in harassing us.

"Livestream?" she repeated.

Fareeha nodded. "I'm streaming right now! I'm easily the most popular haunter in the universe, and in a bunch of others, too!" Hana burst out of Fareeha's body and reformed into her human shape, leaving Fareeha groaning and rubbing her head. "See?"

The ghost girl ran a hand down the wall behind their bed, splitting it open with a seam of brilliant light. With both hands she grabbed hold of the seam and tore it open. A hellish red light spilled into the room. Several creatures of a jet black gelatinous substance stretched long, snaking tendrils out toward the opened portal. "WE LOVE YOU DVA!" came a distorted gurgle from one of the monstrosities.

The girl grinned and formed a peace sign. "I love you guys, too! Thanks for the interdimensional support!"

"So you are a ghost…somehow broadcasting your antics to other supernatural entities across this and other universes?" Satya ran a hand through her hair. "This is…a lot to process."

The girl closed the rift and strutted across the room. "Honestly, I'm surprised you've never heard of me. Hana Song? World famous eSports pro gamer? Professional livestreamer? Beloved international icon?" She turned on her heel and touched her fingertips to her chest. "I'm a huge deal."

"What happened to you?" Satya asked.

Hana blinked. "What do you – oh, you mean like…" She shrugged. "Why are you meatbags always so curious about how we died? It's not that big a deal, honestly." She hesitated a moment before adding, "But if you have to know, I was going for the world record for longest non-stop livestream. One-hundred and twenty straight hours. I beat it of course, but I wanted to make sure my record never got beaten. So I kept going."

"How did it…kill you?"

"I guess I developed a pretty nasty blood clot in one of my legs from not moving around enough. Just past the 132-hour mark I started to feel really tired. I figured I was close to falling asleep." She examined her fingernails. "I got up to grab an energy drink and I guess that shook the clot loose into my blood stream. I collapsed in the next room." She laughed a little. "Who'd expect a nineteen-year-old to die of a heart attack, right?"

"No one helped you?"

"Jeez, you're nosy." Hana folded her arms across her chest. "Lucky for you I'm all about oversharing. I was really rich from all my corporate sponsorships. Everybody wanted my cute face on their merchandise. I bought this house so my creepier fans would stop showing up at my parents' house. I figured nobody would ever find me here – and hey, I was right!"

Satya frowned. "That is…horrible. I am sorry such a tragic fate befell you, especially at such a young age."

"Hm? I don't want your pity, fleshie. I'm happier now than ever before. As a ghost I can stream forever!" She twirled in mid-air and rose up a few meters, her legs dissolving into a single translucent wisp beneath her. "My adoring fans will never go anywhere. They love watching me chase living people out of my house. I've been doing it for – wait, what year is it now?"

"2076."

Hana paused. "Wow. It's been almost sixty years."

"Sixty years?" No wonder her clothing looked so dated.

"That's right. I'm older than both you noobs!"

Fareeha was apparently refusing to engage in the conversation. Her hackles were clearly up, for she was watching the girl like a hawk. Perhaps Satya, too, should have been so wary – but for some reason she could not bring herself to be intimidated by the girl. She had always believed in spirits, and most sources of information she had ever consumed about them seemed to agree on a common cause of lingering spiritual energy – the inability of the deceased to move on from their time in the living world. It only made sense that the spirit of a nineteen-year-old who died suddenly and traumatically would struggle with letting go of the living world. And, judging by her behavior, she was very clearly struggling to let go of her living pastimes.

"So you have occupied this house for many decades," Satya said. "And you feel we are intruding by being here."

"Oh, you are intruding." Hana leaned back on the bed and drew their covers up over her legs. "But you'll leave soon. No one ever wants to put up with me for more than a few days."

"It would seem that is your intention."

"Well yeah, obviously. That's what ghosts do."

Satya folded her arms. "And yet you appear to crave attention. Would it not benefit you more to keep living humans around as a constant source of it?"

Hana made a face. "Don't flatter yourselves. I don't need fleshie attention. I have millions of fans in the spirit world."

"Very well, then." Satya pulled the blankets away from her. "But I will have you know that we invested a good deal of our life savings into this house. We shall not go quietly."

Hana's eyes glowed brighter. The glow spread to the pink whiskers on her cheeks, which lit up as if they had tiny lightbulbs inside of them. "Yeah, that's what I want to hear! A challenge!" She turned away to address an apparent unseen audience. "I think this is gonna be my best stream yet!"

Fareeha cocked an eyebrow at Satya. Satya shrugged and ran a nervous hand through her hair.

It was hardly how they expected to be spending their first night in their new home, but they were both far too stubborn to just give in. No bratty little teenage ghost would be chasing them out of their brand new love nest.