Ghostly

"You know, it really sucks that I can't touch you all the time," David said as he reclined in a chair, half in shade and half in the sun. Ariana hovered as if she were sitting on his lap.

"But you can see me almost all the time," Ariana said with laughter in her voice. "If you could touch me all the time, or rather, I could touch you, then I would be alive and I couldn't do my work."

"What exactly is your work?" David asked. He had gotten used to talking to her out loud, but only when he was sure there was no one around.

"Mostly to keep you safe," she said, "that's why I had to die. God knew that you would need me to help keep you safe. But thankfully, He didn't want to separate us."

"You said mostly," David said after a few moments, "what else do you do?"

"Well, you are by far the person that takes up most of my time. The other two don't need me so much. I also keep a general eye on your team, though each of them have their own guardian," she said.

"So when can you touch me?" David asked with a wink.

"When it won't endanger you, when it will keep you from harm, and when I think it is for your good," Ariana ticked them off on her fingers, her voice singsong as if reciting a list of rules.

"For my good," David laughed, the lost twinkle in his eye sparking to life, "wouldn't that be all the time."

"No," Ariana smiled, "I have to judge when it is for your good."

"Like when?" David asked.

"Like now," Ariana whispered and leaned in for a ghostly kiss.