(no subject)

There are things that Ray is very, very, very good at, to a degree that would astound people if they only knew. Thinking is one of them. Not thinking is another. Not in the sense that Buddhist monks pursue, or in the sense of being an emotionally careless person; the first would make his Jedi credentials a lot stronger and the second just isn't a part of his fundamental makeup. No, Ray's gift for not thinking is of a different sort. It's the ability to stand less than a hundred yards from the rising-site of Great Cthulhu himself and be as normal as he ever was a few hours later. It's the ability to sleep soundly and without nightmares despite being made briefly aware of the unbelievably vast and sweeping vistas of reality and his own frightful position therein. Compared to that, a little thing like adapting to being OH MY GOD HOME HOME HOME IT'S THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AGAIN HOORAY hardly even requires conscious choice. He'll think about it later and deal with it then.

And he'll start by talking it over with Winston, because he trusts the man to a degree that even Egon can't reach, and by talking it over with Ecto, because she's his daughter and she of all people needs to know. That's where it'll start, when it's time to start.

For now, however, he's Not Thinking About That. He's back in the city and all is well. There aren't any active calls today- there's a creeping discoloration in Jackson Heights and a couple of Class Twos in Staten Island, but those're scheduled for later in the week. Today they've all got a little time free. Peter's spending it with the accountant, going over the end-of-quarter financials. Egon and Janine are off at a lecture at NJIT- more power to her, considering that it's part of the Conference on Applied and Computational Mathematics. Winston's got family business to deal with, so that leaves-

"Ecto?" says Ray with a smile as he makes his way down the stairs. "HOw's it going, kiddo?"

"Fine, Daddy," says the hearse. "I'm kinda bored, though. Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. You name it."

"Can you take Francis and go to the Museum of Natural History for me?"

Ray blinks. "I don't see why not," he says. "Why Francis, though?"

"Francis has wireless communication capability and I can set up a streaming audio and video feed from his sensors," says Ecto. "'n there's a couple of exhibits I really wanna see, but I kinda can't get in the door."

"Oh. Right," says Ray. "Sure, I can do that. Do you need to be parked anywhere nearby?"

"Nah. Francis gets really good signal." There's a faint smugness to Ecto's tone that has Ray wondering if he should ask questions. "Just bring him along with you, okay?"

"Sure," Ray says. "Which exhibits were you interested in?"

"The giant stibnite crystal from Wuning, the special exhibition on exoplanets, and Red in Tooth and Claw: A History of Predatory Mammals."

"Not enough data available online, huh?"

"Not without a doctorate and an email address ending in .edu," says Ecto, sounding particularly sulky.

Ray doesn't do very well at suppressing his laugh. "Sorry, kiddo," he says. "All right. I'll go."

"Thank you, Daddy."