Life's tough, the little hamster sighed.
"Yeah—he's been following us around. He says someone on set took his stuff, and he won't leave until it's found."
Caleb Ross spoke with a mix of nervousness and something like pity as he handed Ollie Blake a cookie. The whole situation had him buzzing; he couldn't help but worry about what would happen if Ollie had to handle every little thing for Emberfall on his own from now on.
"Isn't there any way to hurry and find the stuff and send him off? He can't just tail you forever. It's a good thing about that last wire-rigging accident that you were the one who got bumped—you can protect yourself. If someone else got hurt it wouldn't just slow things down, it could be life-threatening."
You couldn't entirely blame Caleb for spiraling into worst-case thinking. Whenever anything vaguely supernatural gets involved, brains tend to leap to grim places.
The tiny hamster wiggled his fluffy head—so round his neck disappeared into fur—and squeaked, "There's nothing to do. He doesn't even know what he lost. Can't tell who took it. The only thing he knows for sure is it happened somewhere on set."
"It's fine (munch-munch), I already warned him. Short term there won't be any problems (munch-munch), but you should still tell upper management and have them send a (munch-munch) taoist to handle it."
"A taoist? That won't pull you in with him, will it?"
Caleb had worked with Ollie for nearly three years. Apart from accidentally discovering Ollie's little secret, he'd never really been exposed to the supernatural. Like a lot of regular people, he thought of taoists as ghost-catchers.
"I'd volunteer..." Ollie muttered under his breath. He didn't want to keep working. He didn't want to have to try. If a taoist would just come take him away, that would be ideal.
If he'd known this was how things would turn out, he wouldn't have gone to Starline for a couple handfuls of caramel sunflower seeds all those years ago.
Caleb had told him: go from unknown to big star, make enough money to live off snacks forever. Ollie believed him, signed a five-year contract, and resolved to do nothing but coast for the next five years.
He never expected to make almost enough money in under three years—but those contracts are five years, and you can't leave until they're done.
Just as Ollie was daydreaming about a sweet retirement, two fingers pinched his fluffy tail and lifted him up by it. He struggled instinctively, then froze under Caleb's inspecting gaze.
"What did you just say?"
Ollie hastily rubbed his little face, his button eyes wide and innocent. "N—nothing, Caleb. You misheard. I wasn't saying I'm some kind of bad spirit. Why would a taoist want to take me?"
Good heavens! Hamsters are good spirits!
"You'd better be." Caleb cupped the gray hamster in his hand. The poor little guy was swallowed by a human fist, only his head and two useless little paws peeking out. "I booked you on a variety show. You're a one-episode guest—flying guest, in industry terms. You'll only need to do one episode. Coincidentally, Shen gave you tomorrow off, so I also added two extra days. Get a decent night's sleep tonight; I'll pick you up at six in the morning."
Ollie: "..."
Ollie: "!!!"
Six a.m.!!! Miracle tonic!!!
"Why not—can't I rest one day? Caleb, you can't do this to me... waaaaaah—"
Caleb ignored the tearful hamster. From a locker he produced a neat little running wheel with an electronic counter on the side. Ollie was mid-pretend-cry, trying to use his cuteness to soften the big boss, and didn't notice. By the time he realized, he was locked inside the wheel.
Ollie felt like the sky had fallen. He collapsed inside, motionless as if dead—his silent protest against the manager's tyranny.
"There's a twenty-minute drive to the office," Caleb said. "I set it for a thousand laps. If you don't finish before we get to the lot, tomorrow I'll sign you up for hamster-supplies commercials."
Ollie: "..."
He'd go out that night to pretend to be a ghost and get arrested by a taoist on purpose!
This life was unbearable!
No matter how miserable, life goes on. Ollie ran until his spirit felt like it would fly out of him, and barely finished before the car pulled into the studio's underground parking.
Caleb hopped out first. Ollie padded down wearing a new white T-shirt, following close.
"I've got a last-minute meeting. You okay? You sure you don't want Maddie to bring some cold medicine?"
Ollie shook his head. He was a spirit—sort of!
Not a big demon, granted, but he wasn't going to catch a cold because he chilled his paws in water for a bit.
"All right. Go hang out in my office. The meeting'll be quick—I'll walk you home after."
Caleb's office was warm and cozy, not the slick, elite office you'd expect. Creamy tones, a fluffy rug in the corner, piles of plush toys of all sizes.
When Ollie turned back into a hamster-shaped version of himself, the crappy dye job in his fur faded away, thanks to his spirit-sense. Heavy-eyed, he found the pile of dolls and flopped into it like a ghost finding a grave. The springy toys fell over him and buried his skinny body. He wriggled his head once; now you could only see his body sticking out.
Maybe because of the filming, he was asleep in no time, curled into a ridiculous but utterly comfortable pose. He mumbled and nibbled in his sleep, as if dreaming of an endless buffet.
"Caleb? Hey, Caleb? You here? I need you to look over a contract for me."
A young man knocked politely three times and pushed the door open. First thing he saw was Ollie, lying like a tiny corpse.
The man looked like he'd seen a ghost.
Julian North froze, hand tightening around his phone. He debated for a moment, then gave in to the human curiosity and took a cautious step forward.
Ollie sniffed something familiar and shot upright so fast he startled Julian, who jumped back.
"!!"
"Sorry! I just woke up a little groggy. You okay?" Ollie scrambled out of the plush pile and helped the stumbling Julian to his feet. The young man's face was a little pale—still carrying the residue of being very sick. Ollie could smell it clearly.
"Sorry, sorry. Do you need me to call a doctor?"
"But—oh, you smell so nice. That scent is so familiar, like a friend I haven't seen in years."
Julian took a sip of the hot water Ollie handed him, and after two gulps the tightness in his chest eased.
"No, it's fine. Maybe it's cologne. Your friend likes the same cologne I use."
Hearing that, Ollie felt a little let down. So the other guy wasn't the person Ollie had hoped.
Julian gave the little guest a once-over. The kid looked maybe eighteen or nineteen, hair still grayish-white. Julian guessed who he was pretty fast.
"You're Ollie Blake, right? Caleb mentioned you. In a way I'm your senior—I've been on break for almost a year."
Julian's manner was gentle. There was a sadness about him, and the hint of recent illness made him look fragile even sitting down. Ollie couldn't take his eyes off him.
"Yes! Are you—Byron Gray? I love you so much!"
How was Caleb's original pitch to Ollie so convincing? Part of it was that shortly after Ollie stumbled into this world he'd binged every period drama streaming service could offer, and one show had been everywhere: Julian's big costume political drama, The Minister's Shadow.
Julian had played the show's tragic villain, Byron Gray—an intellectually brilliant but doomed schemer. At the time Julian and Byron had felt inseparable to audiences. Now, beyond that unforgettable face, Ollie couldn't find any trace of Byron in Julian.
"Thanks," Ollie said, head tilted, eyes like stars. People rarely resisted that look. Julian reached out and ruffled the hamster's head.
"Caleb booked me for a variety show too. Are you the flying guest? I'm a regular this season—we can go together tomorrow."
He pulled a candy from his pocket as he spoke. Ollie's eyes lit up.
Julian had a soft spot for this new talent under Caleb's management—honest, transparent people were rare in showbiz. Even after three years in the business, Ollie still had a kind of innocent clarity about him. It was refreshing.
Caleb came back from his meeting, his brain still running through a checklist for the variety show. He walked in and discovered the hamster might be going home with someone else.
"Really? Julian, you're amazing. I love your cooking. I wish I could learn to cook like you—then I wouldn't have to order takeout in the middle of the night..."
"When exactly have you been sneaking takeout?" Caleb asked.
Ollie: "!!!"
Why today of all days did everything go wrong?
"I'm done with this! I'm changing managers!"
"No, no, no, Caleb—you heard me wrong, I was just giving an example, hahahaha..."
Caleb didn't answer, just stared at Ollie. Under the manager's hawk-eye, Ollie grew sheepish. He silently slunk across the sofa and hid behind Julian.
Julian couldn't help but smile and cleared the air. "He's still a kid—if he eats a bit it's fine. Besides, he looks like he's managing his body well. If it doesn't affect his work, let him eat."
Caleb was aware of Julian's situation and didn't argue, only giving a half-snort. "Wait until you treat him to a meal and see what happens."
Ollie was about to protest, but he cowered in the corner under the manager's authority and listened as the two grown-ups talked shop.
"The show's got a small problem," Caleb said. "The production just told me two guests who were originally scheduled can't make it. They're replacing them with Mason Yu and Shane Keane."
Caleb spread his hands. The program's intentions were obvious.
"Mason and Shane? They were always rivals for resources with you before you took your break, and Shane—he did that thing to you when you first debuted. It didn't blow up at the time, but everyone knows the two of them don't get along."