"Not at all," Lee said solemnly. Even if the spirits had become less violent when they found out the reason she and the rest of the foreigners were there, they had not been at all interested in actually doing anything for the school.

Tarin, however, seemed to be getting more and more distracted. Not 'the spirit was back and he was listening' distracted. Rather, his eyes were moving around the shop to look at things Lee couldn't see.

Then he was wondering why it was taking so long for the spirit to get back. And immediately getting another spirit to go figure that out.

Lee was frowning slightly at the entire situation. But this spirit was apparently back quickly, as Tarin told her the reason for the delay. Not that she was thinking it was much of a delay with the way that he had described how long it might take.

"Are you ok?" Lee ended up asking softly as she looked at Tarin. "You're really not used to having them around, are you?'"

Lee didn’t expand on what exactly it was that the spirits in Columbia had wanted to do and Tarin just nodded when Lee said that they had not at all been interested in handing out school supplies.

Tarin hadn’t really ever thought they were, and didn’t really want to know what those spirits had been sent to do. It likely wasn’t a pleasant story considering the other things that Lee had shared about Columbia and those weren’t the kinds of thoughts she needed to have rolling around in his head.

The spirits in the room were still doing their noisey, ceaseless milling about, and a few of them were trying to reach out and mentally link with him and Tarin just shook his head and locked his mind down even harder to keep them out. Things had progressed much more quickly when Michael had been here, most likely because the informant sprit had been eager to spill his knowledge.

”Are you okay?” Lee asked and Tarin nodded slowly, shutting his eyes for a moment before opening them again and looking over at Lee as she also noted how unused he was to having the spirits in close proximity.

”I’m okay, it’s just hard to focus.” he said, ”There’s a lot to see and hear, and I know that I’m the only one who can see and hear it, so then I get self-conscious and that just makes everything worse.”

Tarin shook his head, ”I was just thinking I need to do this more often so it’s easier just in case anything happens and I have to function like this longer term.” he said, leaning back with a sigh, ”It’s just so much easier to not.”

Lee sat and listened as Tarin explained the difficulty that he was having because there was now so much going on in the shop that she was unable to see or hear.

"It would be a lot easier to not deal with it at all," Lee agreed as she gave Tarin's hand a squeeze.

"But don't worry about feeling self-conscious about that around me," Lee continued with a small smile, her tone turning more teasing as she continued. "I know that if you're looking at or talking to something I can't see that it's a spirit. Either that, or you're ignoring me."

Lee reached her other hand out to hold the one of Tarin's. "That might be a good idea, actually," Lee agreed with Tarin's thought about doing this more often, so he could get used to the noise. "Maybe you could start trying it at home or in the park?" Lee suggested. "They've always been…less crowded."

Lee understood, and Tarin gave her a grateful little smile when she said so. The self-consciousness hadn’t really been a problem today, but it was something that made things harder when he couldn’t shut the spirits out.

As Lee took his other hand, the one that had been tapping, Tarin turned his focus to her instead of what was going on in the rest of the shop. She was definitely a far more pleasant thing to focus on than the dead and Tarin couldn’t help but smile just a little bit.

It seemed like Lee actually liked this idea of his that involved practice and Tarin nodded with her agreement until she suggested that he try at home or in the park. At that he frowned a bit and shook his head.

”Not at home, I don’t want any of this there.” he said, nodding back at the rest of the shop. Home was home. It had been bad enough when Tarin had lived here and had known that no matter what he did the spirits were close by. No, if he could keep the apartment completely spirit free, that was vastly preferable.

And the park…Tarin took a breath, and gave Lee a bit of a uneasy look, ”I’m not sure the park is a good idea either...” he said softly.

Glancing around the shop again, Tarin shrugged. ”I can just practice here.”

Lee nodded when Tarin immediately ruled out practicing this at home. "Of course," she told him. And it made perfect sense; Tarin had the ability for the apartment to be completely spirit free, not simply low spirit activity.

And god, Lee hadn't even thought of that when she suggested the park. "I'm sorry," she said, her eyes dropping to their hands for a moment before looking up at Tarin again. There had always been memories in the park before, flashbacks, but never any mention of seeing the womens' spirits. So that possibility hadn't even crossed Lee's mind.

But this wasn't something that Lee could say from experience wouldn't be an issue. It was quite possible that all of those women had become spirits.

"I didn't even think…I'm sorry," Lee said again in a whisper.

Then Tarin was saying he could just practice here, in the shop. Where there always were, and always had been, a lot of spirits. Not all of them content in their afterlife to just ask for help. Some of them willing and able to try and take what they had wanted.

"I can be here with you when you practice."

It seemed to make sense to Lee when Tarin said that he didn’t think he wanted to practice letting the spirits in at home. It was nice to have a place where the spirits just never were…at least while he was there. Tarin didn’t mention that to Lee though, she seemed at least a little uncomfortable with spirits at the best of times. Bringing up the fact that they might be around the apartment whenever he was gone didn’t feel like the right call.

Lee had caught Tarin’s drift with the look and his comments about the park and he found himself a bit relieved. At least he didn’t have to explain his misgivings. Tarin shook his head when Lee apologized, ”You don’t need to be sorry…” he said, voice still soft. ”I just…don’t want to know.” Not that the park was far away from where they were sitting right now, neither was the wooded alcove tucked off the path…

Tarin shuddered a bit and changed his line of thought, he needed to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted.

When Lee offered to be there when he practiced, Tarin looked at her in mild surprise, ”I can’t imagine that would be much fun…” he said, ”It’s not like I do anything different…there just more noise for me…” he explained.

As he spoke, Tarin felt, rather than saw a change in the demeanor of the room. The spirits that had gathered were actually shifting, moving and a lot of them were…leaving?

Looking around at the departing spirits, Tarin let out a little ”Huh, of surprise. It all made sense a moment later though because the informant spirit made its way through the back of the shop, slowly leading another spirit in his wake.

”I told you he was a mess…” the spirit said, and Tarin had to agree. He’d seen spirits that were completely insane, spirits that were a weeping mess, spirits that seemed stuck in the horror of their last minutes, but he’d never seen anything quite like this.

This spirit was just…not all there. At first glance it didn’t seem to have anything particularly wrong with it, but the more that Tarin studied the newcomer, the more he noticed that something just felt off about it as it stood docilely…emanating a…wrongness.

”Yeah…” he said, dropping one of Lee’s hands and turning towards the spirits. ”You said this happened when it got too close to the woman?” Tarin asked,

”Yeah, he pushed in wanting to know more. This one was always wanting someone to help them. You know the type.” Tarin did. ”Pushed through into that wibbly wobbly magic and ended up like this.”

Tarin looked at Lee, ”Definitely something I haven’t seen before…tell me when you’re ready for me to try linking up.”

Tarin said that she didn't need to be sorry, and she just nodded. And that he didn't want to know. Lee could certainly understand that. She didn't particularly want to know that either.

At least she wasn't able to see any of them unless Tarin intentionally made them visible.

Tarin was surprised that she'd offer to be here with him when he practiced allowing the spirits closer. "I know," Lee told him, her voice soft but sure. "But it's also not exactly going to be fun for you, either, and if I can make it even a tiny bit better or easier for you, I'd like to..."

Lee's words drifted off as she saw Tarin looking toward the back of the shop. Tarin continued looking for a few moments before he spoke. And again this time Lee couldn't see who he was talking to, so Lee just looked at Tarin as she held his hand.

It was always weird, hearing only one side of a conversation like this, with the other 'person' not even existing as far as every one of Lee's senses were currently concerned. But she was as familiar and used to the situation, well, as much as it was likely possible to be.

When Tarin looked at her, Lee nodded. "I'm ready," said, placing her free hand on the back of the one she was already holding. Lee then started to focus on her siphoning, hoping to be able to feel anything wrong as quickly as possible.

This was it…

Tarin looked at Lee for another moment as she reached out with her other hand to grasp his hand with both of hers instead of one. This seemed like a really bad idea now that they were sitting here, but they’d come this far. Tarin also knew that he and Lee had planned for as many contingencies as they could think of before they’d even decided that they were going to do this.

If there was a way to safely do this…this was it.

Lee said that she was ready and Tarin took a deep breath and nodded before turning back to the spirits.

”He doesn’t talk anymore?” Tarin said and the informant spirit shook his head, ”Not a word since. This is actually a bit better than he was though…” Tarin nodded. Spirits didn’t interact much usually, but they’d always been aware of each other.

”Here we go…” he said, then reached out with his mind towards the ailing spirit.

At first there was…nothing. Not a thing and Tarin frowned more deeply, pushing a little bit harder, looking a little bit closer. Then he realized…

It was like the spirit was…split? Trying once more to reach out and connect, Tarin touched his consciousness to both parts of the spirit’s essence and the link snapped into place.

Chaos. It was utter chaos, like being in two places at once. The images, the feelings, the images again, then the feelings, both at once, double at once. Tarin gasped a bit and his hand tightened on Lee’s as he tried to wrap his mind around or decipher what he was seeing. It hurt to try to focus everything together though and the images just simply wouldn’t clear…but he doubled down and tried anyway.

Maybe if he could see…could connect the thoughts together…maybe if it were more solid.

The spirit was visible now…sort of…it glimmered in and out of focus, in one place and then the next as he sent energy down the bond to try and bring it together and the effort made Tarin’s jaw clench as that clarity just continued to slip away.

His head was starting to pound now, and Tarin wavered a bit where he sat. Maybe just another minute…

"Here we go…”

Lee kept her eyes on Tarin's face as he looked toward where this spirit must be standing. Her hands clasped his one hand feeling his energy, trying to sense any change in what she was siphoning.

If things went anywhere close to well or good, Lee knew that she wouldn't see or feel any real change in Tarin.

That thought was quickly thrown out the window as she saw a frown on Tarin's face.

And not long after that, he gasped and squeezed her hand. "Tarin?" Lee asked softly. This was not going smoothly. But that didn't mean he was in trouble. It could just be harder than he was expecting. Or that what he was seeing was worse, though Lee wasn't sure how something could be worse than all the images of death and dying Tarin would have seen through his life. Lee didn't want to know what would be worse.

But nothing seemed to be different about the energy she was feeling from Tarin. She was still siphoning the same amount. It was steady. And Lee didn't feel any increase in energy in front of her, or a dramatic decrease.

Then Lee saw something flicker out of the corner of her eye. Turning, Lee saw a spirit standing there. Kind of visible. And not in the normal 'kind of visible' spirit way where you saw it but could also see through it. It was blurry, even when it was there. But then the next moment it was gone.

That…was not normal. Tarin would either be giving the spirit enough energy to be visible, or he wouldn't. It wouldn't be flickering like this if it was within Tarin's control.

Lee was turning her eyes back to Tarin, to ask if he was alright, when she saw him looking unsteady in his chair. "Tarin, stop," she said, her voice louder than it had been previously. Firm. "Can you break it?"

Tarin didn’t even hear the first time that Lee said his name. This was unlike anything he’d come across before, and he was convinced that if he could just push a little bit harder he could somehow bridge the gap between the two pieces and things would get clearer…

Nothing was working though and as Tarin pushed harder and harder, a sheen of sweat started to break out across his forehead as he mentally grasped at the frayed edges of the spirit’s being. Tarin didn’t know that he was starting to sway in the chair and it wasn’t until Lee spoke again that he realized just how much his head was starting to hurt.

”Tarin stop.” Lee’s voice cut through the images and the feelings and the disjointed connection and he blinked for what felt like the first time in ages.

”Can you break it?”

Break it? Could he break the connection with the spirit? Did he want to break the connection with the spirit, or did he want to finish what he’d started and pull those frayed edges back together…see what the spirit was seeing?

This…this was why Lee was there…Tarin could remember, and suddenly he realized how unsteady he was in the chair, how hard it was getting to stay upright, how hard his head was starting to swim.

Tarin broke the connection with the spirit, gasping as the mental link snapped back. He was dizzy and the room was still spinning a bit and he leaned forward to rest his head on the table, still grasping Lee’s hands with his, which was now shaking.

”I”m okay….” he breathed, ”Just need a minute.”

Tarin didn't answer when she told him to stop. He blinked finally, but still didn't answer when she asked if he was able to break the link with the spirit.

And he also wasn't breaking the link.

Lee upped her siphoning a bit as she scooted to the edge of her chair. Letting go with one hand, Lee raised it to Tarin's face, fingers on his jaw to gently turn his face to hers. "Break the link or I will," Lee told Tarin as she debated the fastest, most effective way to do that. Probably a combination of their ideas; Tarin had said to hit him, but if he didn't have energy or couldn't go through the link, couldn't maintain it.

Lee dramatically increased her siphoning as her hand moved away from Tarin's face. She hated the idea of doing this, but she'd promised to stop this if he couldn't break the link himself.

Her hand was already moving, closing the distance to slap Tarin (she couldn't punch him. Not when it was him) when the white faded from his eyes and she could see the green in them again.

Lee was just barely able to stop herself from connecting the slap, and a moment later she cut her spinning back to practically nothing.

"Oh thank god," Lee whispered as she slouched back in her chair. "What happened?"

As Tarin leaned forward and rested his head on the table he heard Lee ask what happened. He’d tell her, he really would, just as soon as the room stopped spinning.

It took a minute, maybe longer and when Tarin sat up again, he was still dizzy even if the room had stopped moving of its own accord.

Running a still shaking hand over his face and through his hair, Tarin took a deep breath and let it out, blinking hard and shaking his head a little as if he could shake off the pounding behind his eyes.

”I don’t know…” he breathed, looking over the spirit who was still standing benignly, dully, next to the other spirit who was just kind of staring.

”Spread the word for everyone to stay away.” Tarin said, and the spirit, who hadn’t been worth much of anything to anyone in life just nodded and turned, tugging the broken spirit with him as he made his way out of the shop.

”It was like…it was like it was split. I couldn’t figure out what it was seeing, or sending, or feeling.”

The adrenaline was starting to fade now and Tarin realized just how bad that could have gone, ”I kept trying to bring everything together and it wouldn’t work, but it was like I couldn’t look away, the spirit wasn’t doing anything…I don’t think it could.”

Tarin paused again and looked at Lee, eyes slightly wide, ”I’m really glad I asked you to help.”

Tarin didn't answer right away. Normally that might have worried Lee, but she knew that Tarin wasn't still linked with the spirit. His eyes had gone back to being green before he laid his head on the table. And with the effort he had been using, and the current sounds of his breathing, Lee thought it was quite possible he couldn't answer yet.

Eventually, Tarin straightened up. And while he still didn't look great, he started explaining. Not that he had much in terms of answers, but it was something, right?

And that something was scary.

The spirit had been split by this ancient Egyptian mystic? As in, split into pieces?

"I'm glad you did too," Lee said, shaking her head. She didn't even want to think about what might have happened otherwise.

"You mean, like that spirit wasn't in one piece?" Lee questioned. "I know you've never seen it, but how is that even possible?"

Lee squeezed Tarin's hand slightly. She may have been holding it still just as much to comfort herself as him. "It's not like there's much that can permanently, or even long-term, affect a spirit. Even when you think you've destroyed it…."

Maybe split was the wrong word. Maybe that wasn’t what it had been at all. Tarin didn’t know…

”I don’t know if pieces is the right word…but it was in more than one place at the same time, and everything was jumbled and blurry…” he said, rambling a bit as he tried to explain something he couldn’t even wrap his head around.

”Like seeing double, but I couldn’t get it in focus to see what was happening…I thought if I tried harder….”

Tarin stopped again, ”It hurt. he said.

Lee spoke then about how spirits seemed indestructible and Tarin nodded a bit dumbly, ”Maybe it will get better?” he said, staring for a moment at the direction that the spirits had gone.

In fact, Tarin looked around the shop. There wasn’t a single spirit there at the moment, and he definitely hadn’t put his barriers back up.

”Thank you…” Tarin said again to Lee, taking another deep breath and letting it out slowly as he raised their still clasped hands and kissed the back of Lee’s.

He didn't know if the spirit was in multiple pieces, but it was in multiple places at once. A deep crease formed between Lee's brows as she tried to make sense of what Tarin had told her.

Lee frowned when Tarin said that it hurt.

"Have you ever come across that before?" Lee asked. She knew that headaches were common because of the mental strain sometimes, but this sounded like a lot more.

"It's possible it might get better?" Lee said uncertainly. Though if that spirit had come back after she had drained so much energy from it that it had disappeared rather than leave…

"Did you need anything?" Lee asked, smiling as she watched Tarin kiss the back of her hand. "Painkiller? Water? Ice pack?"

Lee gave Tarin a small smile, then leaned forward to give him a soft kiss. "Anytime. Because even when things are…not great, it's easier together."