Dead! Membrane x Necromancer! NB! Reader (Fluff)

(Y/N)'s POV

God, this class was a chore. Well, all of them were. But the journalism class at the college I went to, specifically. I was only taking this class because a friend wanted me to.

We had to interview someone we looked up to. And write a report based on the information we learned. It was supposed to be a way to show what we already know.

I asked if we could do someone who was dead, and she allowed it. On the condition we show proof we were with them. How funny. If it weren't a challenge.

That's right. I was determined to do my report on someone dead. Who? Why, the most influential man of all time—Professor Membrane.

But there was an obvious problem. How do you actually interview a dead person and get proof you were with them?

To me the answer was obvious. Necromancy.

I went to the local occult store. I'd never believed in this shit, but it was my best bet. Plus, if all else fails: photoshop.

The girl at the counter was hella cute. Who knew all the cuties worked at the occult stores? The girl and I talked, and I found out her name was Penelope. We then flirted for a bit, and I somehow secured a date.

But first I needed to raise the dead. Priorities, people.

I got a dagger, candles, and a book.

I looked in the book for the right ritual, and found out I needed the fresh blood of an animal on the knife. I'm an animal, right? Technically I am. While I didn't like the idea of cutting myself, it was going to be worth it.

Soon, I went over to the burial site. It was the only one on the hill. The trek up left me tired. But it was time to do this.

I was prepared. But not ready.

I slit the back of my arm with the ritual knife and pressed it to the raised ground. Once a good amount of blood was soaked into the dirt, I tried to bandage the cut up. I didn't do a good job, but it was enough to stop the bleeding.

Funny enough, if you just say what you want to happen in Latin, hold any occult book and a bloody dagger, and get some gold colored candles, it will happen.

Because sure enough when I began chanting, it began to storm. And that was NOT in today's forecast. I continued with my unholy chant.

"Unum, quod fuerit abiit

resurget post longa

quod tempus habet, diminutae

revertetur, et morari"

The rain one by one put out the candles. Spooky. But expected.

The ground shifted. Almost like it was being disturbed from underneath. Bingo. I peered over the candles and looked closer at the burial site.

Suddenly a laser shot up from the ground. I stumbled backwards. A gloved hand rose from the earth. My eyes widened and I smiled.

I did it. I raised the dead. I'm. Amazing.

As I cheered and hollered, the hand clawed at the ground, trying to pull the body up. Another hand sprouted from the opening in the dirt. It pushed apart the ground until there was a wide hole.

The sound of an engine sputtering to life was heard, and as I looked up, I saw him. He was floating above the grave. I forgot he was buried with his rocket shoes.

"Dónde soy?" He was talking. Oh my god. He was actually talking. "¿Quien es usted?"

"Holy shit, you're actually conscious," I blurted out.

"¡Ey! ¡Lenguaje! ¿Y por qué no estaría?"

I stared at him. "Do you not...speak English?" I put my hand on my chin. "Coulda sworn you did..."

"Oh, inglés." He cleared his throat. "Is this better?"

"Much. Thank you, Professor." I took out my notepad. "Can I interview you?"

He raised an eyebrow and put a gloved hand to his chin. "I don't see why not... what do you want to know, amigx?"

"Well, let's start with some standard stuff," I said, pulling out the tripod and video camera. "You don't mind if I record this, right?"

"By all means, go ahead."

I hit the record button and introduced myself and my interviewee.

I pulled out the notepad that I filled with questions and a pencil to write down his answers.

"First thing's first, do remember how you died?"

"Well..." he said, putting a gloved hand on his chin, "the last thing I remember was trying to give a speech when I felt this TERRIBLE pain in my jaw! I don't know what happened to me, but it's... more difficult to talk now..."

I scribbled down shorthand of his words until my eyes widened—he didn't know. "Do you...wish to know, sir?"

"No, thank you. If I knew I'd be thinking about it for much longer than I'd be comfortable with."

"Understandable, now onto the actual interview." We talked for a while, going back and forth. I flipped through the pages until my questions came to an end.

I put away the interview materials and went to turn off the camera. Once I did, I turned to speak to him. "Look. I, uh... need some advice."

"Is this for the interview?"

"Nonononono—the camera is off, the pencil is down, notepad in my pocket—it's not for the interview."

"Pues, ¿qué quieres?" Membrane asked.

"Dude, I don't speak Spanish."

"Ah, my apologies. I wasn't thinking. I asked what you wanted."

Oh.

"Well, uh, I need advice." He looked to me expectantly. He made circles with his hand indicating to continue. "I'm uh... god, this is kinda awkward. I just raised you from the dead and I'm about to ask you this."

"What is it, amigx?"

"How do you go on a date with a pretty girl?" I blurted out.

"¿Qué?"

"Okay, I know enough Spanish to know what that means. So, I was getting the stuff to, you know, bring you back from the dead. And I may have been flirting with the cashier and I got a date with her that I am terrified of because I've never been on a-"

"Cálmate. It's just a date."

"BUT SHE'S REALLY PRETTY!" I exclaimed.

"I don't doubt that, but you need to calm down. Panicking will solve nothing, amigx." He placed his hands on my shoulders. "Breathe."

I followed his advice and did the best I could to steady my breathing. Once it was more level, he let go of me.

"Now, while I don't have any personal experience with this-"

"You what?" I said. Did I hear him right?

"I said that I didn't have any firsthand experience, now if I may-"

"Waitwaitwaitwait, you mean to tell me...that you've never been on a date before?"

"Well, it wasn't necessarily a priority for me..." Membrane said quietly, "but I think I know how to help."

I cocked my head. "What did you have in mind?"

———————————————————

An hour later, I showed up in tux. Because who doesn't look good in a tux? Was I overdressed? Yes. Did I care? No.

We were having a picnic in a mausoleum nearby Membrane's grave. Close enough so the doohickey that he gave me—whatever it was—was within range of him so it could work.

He'd asked me to bring him a necklace, a cheap mic, and two Bluetooth headsets. What he did, I have no clue, but he gave me a necklace with a mic "charm" and a earpiece that wrapped around my ear.

It allowed me to transmit audio to him from my location to him, and, in addition, it allowed him to relay audio to me.

"So Penelope-"

"Please, call me Pen." She smiled. Cute.

"So, uh, Pen...I may have been using the items I bought," I stammered.

Pen laughed. "What'd you do? Raise the dead? Hahahaha..." She kept laughing until she realized my red face. "Wait..." she paused, "Did you really do that?"

"M-maybe?" I said, voice getting higher.

"YO. THAT IS SO COOL!" She was beaming. Membrane was not happy with me confessing this.

But I didn't care.

I smiled. "Would you...want to see him?" I asked Pen. I could hear his panicked voice in my ear, but I ignored him.

"oh my god, really? You'd let me do that?"

"Well... if he's okay with it..." I got up off of the ground. "Let me go ask."

I started sprinting over to his grave. By the time I got there I was completely out of breath.

He pulled down his collar. "What are you thinking?!" he hissed.

"I'M SORRY! But it just popped out and I kinda have to show her you now." I scratched the back of my head, "Can I?"

He let out a long sigh before nodding and pulling his collar back up. "Fine. But you better at least stay friends, or else..."

I bounced up and down, clapping my hands. "Thank you so much, Membrane!"

I ran back down the hill and went to Pen and bent down to catch my breath.

"He...hah... said you—god damn, I'm out of breath—could see him."

"You...okay?" Pen asked me.

I looked up and smiled. "NOPE!" I jumped back onto my feet. "Let's do this!"

I took her hand and practically dragged her towards his grave. We got closer to the hill, when she paused. I stumbled, but caught myself.

"Why'd you stop, Pen?"

"Did you...?" she trailed off.

"Did I what?" I cocked my head to the side.

She shook me by my shoulders. "DID YOU RAISE PROFESSOR MEMBRANE FROM THE DEAD?!"

"Well, I had to interview SOMEONE-" She bust out laughing and started jogging forward again. I followed after her with a smile.

When we got to the top of the hill, he was "calmly" waiting for us. But I could just barely make out the sweat rolling down his face.

He extended a gloved hand to Pen who just stared at him in awe. "Oh my god. You're asking me to shake your hand—(Y/N), he's asking me to shake his hand."

"Shake his hand, Pen. He doesn't bite," I paused, "as far as I know." He blushed and started sputtering while Pen just laughed.

She shook his hand and he seemed to recompose himself. "Hello there, Pen! My name is Professor Membrane. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Pen smiled. "It's been a dream of mine to meet you in person. When I learned you had died, I never thought I'd get the chance to."

"Well today's your lucky day." He was smiling. "(Y/N)?" he asked me.

"Yes, sir?"

"How long does this ritual allow me to be conscious? I have theories I need to pass on."

"Only a few more hours... at dawn you'll go back to...you know... being dead."

A lightbulb went off in my head. If I was going to be a scientist, I could elaborate on his theories and test them. I could be revolutionary. But I needed his permission.

"Sir, if I may, would you allow me to test your theories? And if so, I don't know if I'd be able to properly credit you, so in the case I can't, would you mind?"

He thought for a minute, before shrugging his shoulders. "If it's in the name of science, I don't see why not. But are you up for the challenge, amigx?"

I nod my head, and Pen smiles at me.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

And for the next hour and forty-five minutes, I copied his words down by hand while Pen got the information out of him.

It was then that the sky started to turn orange.

"Quick! Back into the ground! We can't push you in." I said.

Pen chuckled at the last part. "Yeah! Your arms are too heavy!"

"¡Oye! Yo sé, yo sé. Soy yendo." He hopped into the hole in the earth. "It was a pleasure meeting you two kids. I believe you'll both go on to do great things."

He crossed his arms over his chest and fell backwards into the ground. "See you on the other side, amigx."

"See you on the other side, Professor." I gave him a small "see ya" hand motion. Pen and I spent the rest of the day chatting and getting to know each other while I worked on my project.

I turned in my report and got a 100. Hell yeah.

I got another date with Pen. Hell fucking yeah.

I've started to compile his works and research. Slowly, it started to make more and more sense. I completed the class and went on to pursue my career in science.

Maybe I'll go on to do great things after all.

2140 words

Translations:

- amigx — friend (x is to be un-gendered)

- yo sé — I know

- yendo — going