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Mushy May Day 10: Quiet Nights

A quiet night in the band ghoul den.

Much thanks to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together, and to @ghuleh-recs for the divider.

After dinner leftovers are put away, dishes done and dried and back in their cupboards, Aether pulls his readers out of his breast pocket and heads to the common room. Rain and Cumulus are already there, having helped Mountain cook dinner.

The common room is typically quiet, these nights. Most of the others break off into pairs or just head back to their rooms alone, but the three of them lounge out in the common room for a little while longer. Mountain and Dew slip past Aether as he makes his way, and all three of them pause in the hall.

"I'll join you two in an hour or so. You don't have to wait up for me," Aether hums, pulling Mountain down for a soft kiss, and the earth ghoul goes easily. When they break, he turns to give Dew the same loving treatment.

"We'll keep the nest warm for you, starshine," Dew says, pressing himself against Aether's side for a moment like a particularly affectionate orange cat. Aether smiles and ruffles his hair, much to Dew's faux-chagrin.

"Have fun, nova," Mountain says, patting Aether's shoulder. Aether reaches up and squeezes his hand, and he heads to the common room as his mates head off towards bed.

He finds the common room as it usually is this time of night, ceiling lights turned off, a few lamps casting warm, gold light over the room. Cumulus settles cross-legged in her favorite arm chair, her thick glasses resting on her nose as she squints at a pattern, trying to make sense of the stitch abbreviations. There's a hook tucked behind her ear, a skein of yarn in her lap. Sunny's sprawled out on her stomach on the floor, her well-loved Gameboy in hand, the volume turned down way low.

Rain's on the loveseat, tucked into the corner, a well-worn paperback from the Abbey library open in his hands. Aether takes a seat on the other side of the loveseat, reaching over to the drawer in the side table for his crossword book and a pencil.

As soon as he's settled, Rain shifts until he rests his head on one of Aether's thighs, his knees hooked over the arm of the loveseat. It's a practiced motion, and when Aether feels the weight of him against him, something deep inside of him relaxes. He flips open his crossword book to the first unanswered page, about three quarters of the way through. It will be another week or so before he needs to get a new one.

He puts his readers on, reading over the clues as he starts to work. His other hand goes down, raking blunt claws through Rain's hair. He gets a glance at the spine of his novel, recognizing the cover as something Mountain was reading a few days earlier.

They exist together quietly, the only noises the scratch of pencil on paper, soft video game music playing, Cumulus quietly counting as she keeps track of stitches.

Aeon sticks their head in, noise-canceling headphones covering their ears and a Rubix cube in their hand. "Hey, guys?" All four of the other ghouls turn to look, and Aether glances at them over his readers.

"Yeah, pup?"

"Sorry, could I join you guys?" They scuff their shoe against the floor, trying not to shy away from the unadulterated attention of the others.

"Of course," Cumulus says, waving them over. They take a seat on the floor, back against the front of Cumulus's chair. Aeon leans their head back against Cumulus's shin, playing with the toy, the colors flashing underneath their lithe fingers.

Aether settles back into the couch, working on his crossword, slyly watching Sunny's gameplay. There's no obligation to talk, no masks that need to be held up physical or mental, it's just five ghouls existing together, and it's something that Aether cherishes.

It takes him longer than it normally does to finish his puzzle. That's just because every so often, he tucks his pencil behind his ear, making sure not to catch it on his piercings, and just takes it in. This is what they've worked for. Sure, spreading the word of the Unholy Father is rewarding in its own way, but this is something else, something almost more rewarding than the work, and Aether intends to enjoy every minute of it that he can.

Once he's done, he cards his fingers through Rain's hair one more time before putting his book and pencil away. Rain chirps quietly, shifting reluctantly so Aether can stand. "Good night, angelfish," he whispers, trying not to break the peaceful silence.

Rain squeezes his hand, fighting not to yawn himself as he gets comfortable in the spot Aether's vacated.

He steps, surprisingly quietly for a ghoul of his size, over Sunny, tapping her shoulder with the spade of his tail. She hums in response, focused on her game but still wishing him good night.

Aeon gets their hair ruffled, careful not to dislodge their headphones, and he bends down to press a kiss to Cumulus's forehead. She presses up into it like a cat pleased to receive affection, even though there's no shortage of love in this pack.

Aether spares one last glance back at them before he heads up the hallway to his room, the exhaustion of the end of the day beginning to creep in on him. There's a crack of light underneath his door, and he sighs as he steps into his shared bedroom.

"I told you two you didn't have to-" He starts, cutting himself off as he takes in the sight of his mates in their nest, fast asleep even though the nightstand lamp is on. They're both on their sides, Dew curled around Mountain's back, something that almost looks humorous given their size difference.

Aether smiles, big and warm, and he pulls out his phone, even though he has hundreds of pictures just like this. He knows his mates have pictures of him like this too, and it doesn't stop him from snapping a few before setting his phone and readers down on the nightstand. He changes into a pair of sweats, tossing his day clothes in the hamper before crawling into bed behind Dew.

Mountain shifts but doesn't wake when Aether slings a big arm around his and Dew's waist, but Dew huffs a breath, craning his neck to look back at him.

"Hey, starshine," Dew whispers, voice slow and sleepy. Aether leans in and kisses his cheek.

"Hi, baby. Sorry to wake you."

Dew hums and nuzzles back against him, knocking their horns together. "S'all good," he hums. "Glad I get to say good night, though."

"Me too." Aether gives him another kiss on the cheek, reaching over him and Mountain to pull the cord on the lamp. "Good night, love."

Seriously, look at those hands

This picture of Swiss is everything.

If you see this you’re legally obligated to reblog and tag with the book you’re currently reading

Waiting for the doors to open

Can’t wait for the ghost tags to be filled with hands <3

If I can live comfortably then why work?

I'm curious. what job would you do if money was no object (you just automatically had an income you could live comfortably on)? including work like volunteering, studying etc. please share in the tags :)

I really wanted to do something involving all the papas and on a whim decided it was scenery painting time featuring their respective color themes! This was really fun to work on but a LOT of work, I hope you guys all enjoy them! :)

ID in ALT text; Photo ref credits under the cut!

Photos Referenced:

"The Devil's Eclipse right above a church" by Peter Wienerroither

"Iceland Church" by Remo Daut

"Val Gardena Dolomites, Italy" via anonymous uploader to Peakpx (unfortunately, the uploader seems to have sold rights to a domain and I could not find their name)

"Villa Monastero, Italy" by sae_snaps on instagram

When you really need to get off the couch but your elderly cat is sleeping