The List

I watched the other students move away from me a bit, and the professor who taught Ancient Greek Philosophy repeatedly glanced at me with visible disappointment on her face. I wasn't surprised at all, I was sure that there was an unfriendly cool atmosphere around me. Even though I tried to smile, the fury was easy to see in my eyes. My right hand tightened on the pen and my left hand on the piece of paper where I should be taking notes, but I couldn't focus, because of the two Greek philosophers arguing over my head. They were old ghosts, so their aura was quite strong. These two fools were loud, and I couldn't yell at them or shut them up so that no one would notice me.

"Tell them I didn't mean it!" the theoretically younger of them shouted in my ear, but they both looked pretty old.

I didn't want to remind them that my hearing was quite good and they didn't have to yell if they wanted something from me. Apart from the fact that they shouldn't bother me at all, since I wasn't officially at work. Sometimes I wished that when we were born out of automatons, we could understand ghosts as a package, no matter what language they speak. In the spirit world, everything seems to explain itself. We, as media, were like receivers with an additional translator plug. Why would I get along with the two of them who spoke ancient Greek, which I studied in college, but there would be no option for me not to talk freely in a dead language? The language barrier would be a massive obstacle in our work, but... Well, not a problem anyway.

"Why am I even one of the characters there?" One was indignant.

"Because I respected you so," the other muttered.

"And did I agree?"

"How were you supposed to agree, when you were dead." The one whose work was being discussed rolled his eyes. "You, do your part and tell me I didn't mean that. I used a different form there for a purpose!" He asked me bitterly.

I shot him a furious look and pleaded silently for the time to pass faster and for the classes to be over. I could still feel the eyes of the other students and the professor on me, who did not look delighted as I walked toward her after she had already announced the end of the class. The ghosts kept nagging me to hurry up, and I wanted to get rid of them for a while.

"Professor, I just wanted to ask if maybe the form used here is atypical." I indicated a specific verb in the text under discussion. "That might be significant?"

"What do you mean?" The curious woman asked suddenly.

I had to choose my words carefully, so as not to look smart and not to be asked questions like "what's the reason for this conclusion", and simultaneously to make annoying spirits calm. The younger philosopher kept shouting at me about what I should say, and he got nervous when I skipped most of it. The professor thought for a moment about what I said and announced with a smile that she would take a look at it. I was glad that she had not commented on my behavior during the classes, I said goodbye to her and quickly left the room. The ghosts too busy arguing with each other didn't notice that I was gone.

I came home tired and my only dream was to start some goofy series or just lie and stare at the ceiling. As soon as I entered, I heard Tristan cursing in the kitchen. I watched him fight with the coffee machine for a moment, he noticed me after a while and sadly approached me for a kiss.

"I just wanted you to have your coffee when you got back. I thought it was enough to press a button and it would do itself."

He waved his hands and tried to make sounds similar to those coming from the coffee machine. The strange hisses and snorts he made forced me to laugh and definitely cheered me up. A moment later, however, I was spoiled again by the sight of those two from the university. Tristan followed my gaze and took a defensive posture. He noticed immediately that my expression changed, he didn't even have time to ask who they were and what they were doing there.

"You must provide further comments on my work!" The first shouted as they surrounded me.

"I've thought about some things too, and you need to inform the right people about it!" added the second.

"I must do nothing!" I replied finally, venting the anger at them, which already had some time to collect. "I am not at work, you are in my place of residence. You break NWLORBGAM. If I come back and you are still here, I will blacklist you.

"And him not?" They both pouted, pointing at Tristan.

"No, he's my boyfriend," I said and slammed the door.

I changed into a tracksuit and hoped the threat would work. The blacklist meant that no medium was obliged to help ghosts who were signed on for a minimum of a year, but if someone was a very bad ghost, it could extend to a hundred years. But I heard a weird rumor and was right back to find the beaten Tristan. I knelt beside him, I knew he would be okay.

"The old men had quite a lot of strength," he said, pretending to be okay.

"I would put them on the list and the problem would be solved, you didn't have to fight them, especially since they were outnumbered." I smiled fondly at him. His behavior touched me.

"I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if you didn't get rid of them!" He said proudly and began to pretend that he was severely injured and that he needed my care.