Mushy May Day 10: Quiet Nights

Mushy May: Sex into making love

I'll be real this one got away from me but oh do I love these two...also Ifrit has a big fat praise kink and you cannot change my mind

Pairing: Zephrit

Word Count: 2250

They always fall into each other so easily. A wink from Ifrit at breakfast. A lingering touch from Zephyr when they share lunch. Uncontrollable hands and tails at dinner. They touch and they taste and they tease each other all day until one of them finally breaks. Tonight it was Zephyr who fell like a tree in a windstorm. They can’t be blamed. Not when Ifrit had been whispering absolute filth into their feathered ear while cuddled up in the common room for movie night. They lost it when he nuzzled into the feathers on their neck, hands squeezing their inner thighs. Zephyr excused both of them, feigning a migraine as reason for their exit. 

The moment the two were back in their shared room Zephyr took their long white hair out of the bun it had been in all day. They shook their head, running a talon through the strands to scratch at their scalp. Ifrit watched, leaning against the door with his arms crossed and a grin on his face. 

“Want me to braid it for you birdie? Since your head just hurts so much” Ifrit pushes off the door, closing the distance between them. 

“I want you on your knees” Zephyr doesn’t look up at him, eyes closed while they fiddle with a knotted strand. 

Ifrit chuckles as they move to sit on the edge of the bed. He raises an eyebrow when their legs spread, looking at him expectantly. 

“Oh come on birdie you know that’s not how this works” Ifrit looms over them. 

“Really now” they tilt their head in question “then why don’t you tell me how it works love.” 

He leans in, caging them with his arms “you lay there and take it. Until you’re begging.” 

Zephyr snorts a laugh “I’m sorry love it’s impossible to take you serious” they faux wipe a tear from their eye “now be a good boy and get on your knees for me.” 

“Or what?” 

The temperature of the room drastically lowers as the scent of citrus becomes overwhelming. Ifrit doesn’t have time to backpedal before he feels immense pressure all around him. He falls to the floor with a hard thud that’s sure to leave bruises in the morning. Zephyr looks down at him with disgust, yellow eyes glowing and hair flowing in an imperceptible breeze. 

“Wasn’t so hard” they pat his cheek before maneuvering around to quickly pull their clothes off. 

Ifrit’s eyes rake over their body, that suave persona leaving the moment he sees those soft down feathers between their legs. He wants to bury his face in them, dip a bit lower to taste. He tries to scoot forward when they sit back down, but the pressure is still heavy around him. Zephyr huffs a laugh when they see that look in his eyes. 

“Hells you’re so easy. It’s cute, really” they spread their legs further putting their half hard cock on display “come on. Make good use of that mouth.” 

The pressure lessens just enough for Ifrit to move in. He runs his nose down that happy trail of feathers, purring at the softness. He travels further down where feather turns to skin. He breathes in deeply, mouthing at the base of their cock. Zephyr shudders and tugs his horn. He gets the hint, dropping his mouth and letting his tongue loll out. 

They slowly feed it to him, inch by inch until their cock is all the way down his throat. It’s quiet except for the heavy breaths Ifrit exhales through his nose. Zephyr pets his cheek, cooing about how sweet he looks before fucking into his mouth. Ifrit gags and they give him a moment to breathe. Ifrit looks up at them through wet lashes and they fist his hair, groaning in response. Ifrit huffs a laugh. 

“And you say I’m easy.”

Zephyr doesn’t get the chance to respond. Ifrit suckles at the head of their cock before taking them right back down his throat. They have to fight to keep the noise that threatens to rise down in their chest. Their hips twitch forward with every pass of Ifrit’s tongue against the underside of their cock every time he bobs his head. Up and down. Up and down. The wet click of his throat each time the tip presses in is maddening. Zephyr can’t stand how much of an effect he has on them. They wrap a hand around his horn, pulling him off of their dick with an obscene pop. He stares up at them, half lidded eyes and drool running down his chin. They pull him into a sloppy kiss, tongue immediately slipping into his mouth. Ifrit moans into their mouth, tilting his head up to chase their taste. 

“I need you. Right now” Zephyr pants into the space between them. 

“How do you want me?” 

“Fuck on your back love. I need to ride you.” 

Ifrit presses back in, capturing them in a quick equally messy kiss before pulling back. Ifrit stands slowly and Zephyr snaps their fingers, releasing all of the pressure around him. Ifrit nearly falls over with the sudden change, but Zephyr darts a hand out to catch him. He just laughs, shakes his head, and crawls into the bed. He lays against the pillows, stretching himself out and wrapping a hand around his cock. He lazily strokes himself from root to tip, watching Zephyr settle between his legs. 

They slide up to straddle his hips, letting the head of his cock catch against their ass. Ifrit’s eyes flutter at the feeling. 

“Eyes open now. You know better than that” Zephyr coos. 

He does know better, but fuck it’s so hard to look at them when they sink onto his cock. It’s too much for him to watch the mask slip, watch the way their face softens in pleasure all because of him. He’s cum like that before, practically untouched and so sensitive, all because of that look in their eyes. Even so, he’ll always give his birdie what they want. 

He forces his eyes open and Zephyr grins. They hoist themselves up on shaking legs, reaching back to wrap a hand around his cock. They squeeze, a warning for Ifrit to keep himself under control, before slowly settling themselves so that the tip of his dick brushes against their hole. They steady themselves with a hand to his chest, taking a deep breath before they start to sink down. Ifrit’s chest heaves, a shuddering groan filling the air when he slips inside. 

Zephyr takes a moment to breathe when they’re fully seat, willing themselves to focus more on the full feeling of Ifrit instead of the ache in their knees. Ifrit’s legs come up on instinct, muscular thighs supporting their back as they slowly sit up and sink back down. He fights to not fuck up into them. It’s so hard for him to focus on anything with that tight hole clenching around his cock with every downward stroke. 

Zephyr can see that fight in his eyes and they make it so much worse. Their hands roam and squeeze at his chest. Sharp talons circle a pierced nipple and Zephyr’s stomach swoops at the pleading look at Ifrit’s face, silently begging them to not do it. They watch his face intently when they pinch his nipple between thumb and forefinger. Ifrit loses the fight, hips arching off the bed to drill his cock deeper into them. 

“Fuck Frit just like that keep doing that” they fall forward, wrapping their arms around his shoulders and burying their face in his neck. 

He digs his claws into the mattress, arms encircling them to hold them close. He ruts up into them with the same force. 

“Feels so good birdie shit” he presses a kiss between their horns before his head falls back against the pillows with a moan. 

Zephyr pants heavily against his neck, taking in the spicy sweet scent of him. Their eyes are screwed shut, focusing on the feeling of that dick piercing dragging deliciously against their prostate. 

It doesn’t last long though. Maybe their legs had been bunched up for too long. Maybe it was the awkward angle they were laying in. Maybe it was something else entirely, something they didn’t even realize was wrong. Whatever it was, something in their body popped and a flare of pain zapped through them. They yelp, hissing through their teeth. Ifrit stops immediately. 

“Zeph what’s wrong?” 

For a moment Zephyr curses him for always being so perceptive, knowing what each of their little noises mean. But then those warm hands are rubbing their back and asking them what’s wrong again in a softer tone. They couldn’t be more grateful for him. 

“Something popped.” 

“Is it like that time your back popped and you—“

“No” they shout, interrupting him before they have to relive that particular memory “no this hurts.” 

He cranes his neck to be able to look at them, gently rubbing the back of their neck until they lift their head to meet his gaze. They could be sick from those sweet orange eyes. 

“Do you need to stop?” He asked softly. 

“No. No, I want to keep going.”

“If you’re positive.” 

“Yeah just…lay me down. I think it's somewhere in my legs.” 

Ifrit gives them a chaste kiss before pulling them off of him as gently as he can. Zephyr shudders at the loss. Ifrit lays them down, reaching behind them to grab one of their many pillows. He carefully lifts their hips which earns him a hiss from Zephyr before placing the pillow down. Once they’re completely settled against all of the soft bedding, Ifirt slots himself between their legs. He lets his fire bleed to his hands, gently rubbing them across their hips and down their thighs. 

Zephyr groans just from the relief, earning an affectionate chuckle from Ifrit. He pulls his knees together, pulling them slightly onto his lap. He rubs soothing little circles into their hips as he pushes back into them. He starts slow, testing the waters by pulling all the way out and sinking right back down. He keeps the languid pace until Zephyr pulls him in by the back of his neck. 

“Faster” they demand “harder.” 

“Whatever you want birdie” he pants. 

He thrusts into them with a snap of his hips. It’s nowhere close to the pace he had before, but it’s steady enough to have soft sighs and grunts spilling from Zephyr’s mouth. They keep their arms wrapped around his shoulders. Ifrit thinks they’re beautiful like this. When that pinch of pain between their brows is gone and they look so relaxed. He watches their face screw up in pleasure every time he buries his cock into them. 

“Fuck you’re gorgeous.” 

Ifrit groans when they clench down hard on him in response. He pulls back just enough to get a good look at them and his stomach swoops. They’re looking up at him with those piercing yellow eyes, half lidded and clearly studying him. Their white hair is fanned out around them like wisps of cloud on a bright blue day. When Ifrit bumps against that delicious spot inside of them the feathers on their neck ruffle. Fuck they’re so beautiful. He can’t fucking stand it. He bends back down to capture them in a kiss, hips grinding against their ass. 

“Fuck I fucking love you” he groans into their mouth. 

Zephyr’s grip tightens, making sure he stays close “I love you too. My wildfire. My light. My Ifrit.” 

They nip his bottom lip and he loses it. He thrusts into them one more time before spilling deep inside of them. He grinds his hips, fucking his cum as deep as it’ll go. 

“You’re so good to me” Zephyr coos, petting through sweaty red hair. 

Ifrit only takes a moment to catch his breath before snaking his hand in between their bodies to wrap around Zephyr’s cock. He feels it kick in his hand at the contact and he knows how close they are. He strokes them, squeezing around the head with each pass of his fist. He kisses along their jaw, a litany of adoration following each press of lips to skin. It doesn’t take much more until they’re cumming hard, dripping down Ifrit’s fingers as he pulls every last drop from them. 

He lets go of their cock and he feels the shuddering stop. He brings his hand up, waiting until Zephyr opens their eyes again so they can watch as he sucks their cum off of each finger. 

“You’re going to be the death of me, you know that?” 

Ifrit chuckles and noses against their temple “and I’ll be right behind you all the way back to Hell.”

“Oh how sweet my murderer is going to stalk me in the afterlife” they roll their eyes, but the smile never leaves their lips “will I ever be rid of you?” 

“Never” he rolls over, pulling them in to lay against his chest. 

Zephyr buries their face against his sweaty skin to hide the deep blue blush on their face “Good.” 

They lay like that together until they fall asleep. Ifrit keeps his temperature up for them even as he lies unconscious. Even deep within his dreams, Ifrit will take care of Zephyr. He’d never let them go a day in pain if he could help it. He would always fall into Zephyr, all they had to do was say the word. 

The last 30 days have been expensive between this and Ghost tickets!

Pressing Matters

Marge the Cleaning Lady tells the others what she saw.

(Part of the Light a Candle 'verse)

It was too crowded, too noisy, and too smoky for his taste. He couldn’t even remember why he agreed to this in the first place, especially since there were more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. Oh, right, band obligations and all that. The ever-present fans. Granted, it is not nearly as crazy as it was back in the heyday, but still, the ever-pressing crush of the devoted was enough to wear thin on the patience of even the most unflappable. Sometimes he would like to just be able to walk into a bar and order a pint and be able to enjoy it in peace. ‘Yeah right,’ he thought to himself, ‘those days are long gone.’

Scanning the room as he raised the glass to his lips, he only half listened to the conversation droning on around him. There. There she was. She pushed a long strand of chestnut hair behind her ear as she leaned in to better hear the conversation of the person with her. Whatever they were talking about must have been amusing for a smile lit up her features. Taking another drink, he continued to watch the woman.

Emma had the distinct feeling of being watched, even in the crowded room. She finished up her conversation with the keyboard player and moved off. She could still feel his eyes on her as she made her way to the bar. She leaned back against the bar, sipping on the glass of wine she had ordered. He was still watching her. His dark brown eyes never left her face even as he raised his glass to his lips. The ring on his finger caught her attention and a wicked smile broke across her face.

Roger had just raised his glass to his lips when the woman across the room said something to him.

“I’m not wearing any underclothes,” silently she mouthed to him from across the room.

Emma knew actually what she was doing. She knew that years behind the drum kit had allowed him to read her lips and to ‘hear’ her as if she was standing next to him. She raised an eyebrow and waited for his response.

Roger choked on the drink he just took.

“Hey, man! You alright?” John asked as he pounded Roger on the back in an attempt to help his friend.

“I’d be better if you would stop beating on me,” he replied. “Excuse me. I have something to attend to.”

“Yeah, sure man. Whatever.” The words were said to Roger’s retreating back. John just shook his head and turned back to the conversation at hand.

He met her halfway across the room.

“You are a very naughty girl.”

“Do you really care?” She asked as she leaned in, her lips against his ear. “How long do you think it would be before they noticed we were missing?” She whispered before he felt the pointed tip of her tongue delicately tracing the outline of his ear.

Roger pulled back and searched her face. He was surprised at this turn of events for Emma was not one really big on public displays.

“Well, how long?” She asked again.

He looked at her, a smile crossing his face.

“Long enough,” he replied, taking her hand and leading her from the bar. He didn’t even acknowledge Simon when the other man tried to gain their attention.

“Wonder where they are in a rush to.”

“Simon leave them be. They are still newlywed. You remember what that was like, don’t you?”

“Oh, yeah baby,” Simon answered his wife, his eyes glazing over at the thought.

**~~**

The taxi ride back to the hotel was the longest one in Roger’s life. It was all he could do to keep from throwing her down on the seat and having his way with her. ‘Be a hell of a show for the cab driver,’ he thought as his hand slowly inched its way up her leg. He was determined to see if what she had said at the bar was true or not. He leaned in and she felt his feathery kisses along her collarbone.

“Stop,” she moaned as his calloused fingers blazed a trail toward her center. “Roger, stop.” She gasped as she felt his warm tongue on her neck.

“Why?”

“We do have an audience,” she said breathlessly, motioning towards the cab driver.

“What?”

“Cab driver.”

Roger’s head popped up from where he had been tracing his initials on the soft skin of her neck. “Damn, forgot about him for a moment.”

Roger caught the gaze of the cabbie in the rearview mirror. It was clear by the smirk on the driver’s face that he had not missed much of what had been going on in the back seat of his ride.

The couple was saved from any further embarrassment as they finally reached their destination. Roger thrust a handful of bills at the cabbie, not caring that he had just paid the man what equaled to several fares. The driver counted the money as the couple raced up the steps to the hotel and shook his head as they disappeared through the revolving doors.

“Ah, to be in love,” he said as he put the yellow car into drive and merged back into the oncoming traffic.

**~~**

Marge had worked for the hotel for well over forty years and had thought she had seen it all. That was until she rounded the corner on the sixteenth floor. There, against the doorway to one of the rooms was a couple so tightly pressed together that one could not tell who was who. The man looked old enough to know better and the woman looked young enough not to care. As she cleared her throat, the man dropped the woman’s leg he had been holding against him. The woman only squeaked out “Roger!” as she hid her flaming face against the lapel of the man’s jacket, and he had the audacity to grin at Marge as he reached around his companion and unlocked the door. The door shut with a quiet click, blocking the two lovers from further prying eyes.

“Why, I’ve never seen such,” the housekeeper recounted to her friends around the break room table. “And to top it off…as I passed that room, there was a thump against the door and I could hear giggles coming from the other side of that door. Shameless, I tell you.”

Marge’s co-workers could only gossip over their coffee and cigarettes. At least this job was never boring…

Mushy May '24 Day 15: Painting on each other

WC: 340

Relationship: Dewdrop/Rain

Read under the cut or on AO3.

What is now their little custom had started out very differently; with Rain idly running his cold fingertips over Dewdrop’s bare back one night—both of them as relaxed as a ghoul can be.

The water ghoul traced invisible shapes on his mate’s warm skin, pressing a claw to it now and then to watch it redden. Rain didn’t know why he loved doing that so much, but he did, and Dewdrop loved indulging him.

“What’s that?” Rain asked him once, and it evolved into a guessing game that would end with an ‘I love you’ written on Dewdrop’s back and finished off with a kiss to the nape of his neck every single time.

Years later, it’s barely the same.

Rain hums as he dips the tip of a thin brush into a little vial filled with black paint. He looks over his canvas—planning. The fire ghoul lays under him half asleep, waiting for the gentle touches of his mate’s brush on his skin to lull him into it fully.

Rain goes with his gut. He puts his brush down just under the back of Dewdrop’s ear and watches it twitch before sliding down over his neck, shoulder blades, spine, lover back—leaving a simple, but beautiful swirl in his wake. He pauses next to the base of the fire ghoul’s tail, nearly wrapping the paint around it.

He goes back up and makes the long line branch out into more swirls until Dewdrop looks as if he’s been covered by vines. Rain picks up color, then, and makes it all look real as his mate sleeps.

The water ghoul loves seeing his art on something else he considers an artwork, loves having Dewdrop all to himself, loves having his trust and permission for marking him. Whether it’s just paint or bite and claw marks or cum or whatever else the water ghoul would want to cover him in.

He always tells Rain that he must settle on a design—he wants it tattooed, carved into his skin forever.

This is the scariest thing I've seen today

Smth about copia literally being the metaphor for death on a pale white horse who brings hell with him is so funny. Like have you seen this dude

Let's not forget how they scream that everyone is a pedophile.

We need to talk about christians playing the victim and crying wolf when they see marginalized people who portray themselves as satan, satanic, or demonic.

I see videos on tiktok of christians going on paranoid rants about satan infiltrating society and the entertainment industry "being evil" when its clearly a reaction of marginalized queer people and poc who are using their spotlight to make christians uncomfortable for their bigotry.

"They're letting the evil one take over their lives! Satan has taken them over!"

No, actually, you did this. It's your fault as a christian. No, seriously. You made them feel evil for just existing. In the idea of your ignorant beliefs, your "god" made them perfect - as we all are - and you saw someone different from yourself and went "thats satan." You ruined their self-image as a community of poisonous bigots. You made them suicidal and depressed and institutionalized them for being different until it literally became illegal to do so.

And if you participate in christianity, you're part of the problem, and yes, you deserve to feel bad about the way these people get treated. If you don't want to feel bad anymore, reform your beliefs and take a good hard look at what your religion does to people it doesn't approve of. If you don't want to do that, just be mad and scared - we don't care.

God forbid you accept the fact that, yes, it was you who did this to them and not "satan." God forbid they accept the way you treat them instead of killing themselves like millions of others have. God forbid you have to share the earth with those you tred on.

God is not real and neither is satan and if you demonize your fellow man it takes away from every human being's personal responsibility to treat every other living creature on this planet as an equal and instead it lets you slap a label on whoever and whatever you dont like so you can decide who deserves to die without feeling bad about it.

People you dislike aren't satanic. They just shrugged and put on the costume YOU forced onto them from birth.

Is it scary? Yes. Is that the point? Also yes. Be afraid.

Boo, bitch.

This is totally me

Be proud of the dumb, little thing you wrote, just because you wanted to write a dumb, little thing. Your writing doesn't need to be serious and award-winning for you to be proud of it.

A rough day

(mean, insulting, Kevin hates the ghouls)

Kevin hates the ghouls.

Not because he's afraid of them, no, on the contrary, you can't have less respect for them than Kevin. He just thinks they're annoying little beasts, like particularly vicious chihuahuas from hell.

Dewdrop, Phantom and Rain especially get on his nerves. Phantom because he's always clinging to Kevin like a leech. Dewdrop because he's a nasty little gremlin who just causes chaos that Kevin then has to clean up. And Rain isn't actually that bad but he isn't good at speaking human language that Kevin usually doesn't understand what the water ghoul is stammering anyway. Not that he would care anyway.

Well, Kevin could speak ghoulish if he wanted to, but in the end these pests would annoy him even more.

The worst is when he has to fix something in the ghoul wing. For example, the other day, when he just wanted to clean the clogged drain in the kitchen sink, he was surrounded by ghouls within a few minutes. They reminded him of a bunch of starving cats, the way they stalked around him and cast curious glances over his shoulder. Phantom was immediately glued to him again, practically tugging at Kevin's hair and clothes.

Then Aether, who kept his distance but intermittently gave advice that Kevin hadn't asked for.

"You should unscrew the drain pipe first" and "are you sure you've mixed the cleaning concentrate sufficiently? Otherwise it could damage the pipes."

Kevin wanted to hit Aether in the face. But instead he contented himself with glaring at the sink while he worked.

At one point he accidentally hit Rain's forehead with his knee because Rain was squeezing himself on the floor between him and the bucket that Kevin had used to catch all the muck from the drainpipe. With an annoyed look, Kevin noticed that the water ghoul had started collecting small pieces that had landed in the drainpipe from the bucket.

"Stop that! You're just making everything dirty," he growled as Rain pulled his hands back and placed a marble, dripping with dirt, on the ground. Rain just babbled incomprehensible things as he began to dig in the muck again. "Why are u so rude to Rainy?" whispered Phantom and came so close to Kevin that he felt the ghoul's warm breath brushing over his ear.

Kevin sighed with the burden of a man who would rather tend a sack full of fleas than a handful of ghouls. Why couldn't the clergy have chosen other demons? There were many species that were less unruly than ghouls. Kevin even had the feeling that ghouls not only enjoyed the chaos, but that they actually drew their energy from it. He had once expressed this thought to sister Imperator, but she had just laughed at him and said that he just had to learn to assert himself. That could only come from someone who didn't have to deal with these plagues on a daily basis.

Annoyed, Kevin stuck the spiral into the drain to push out the last bit of dirt, while at the same time swatting away Rain's fingers that had appeared on the edge of the sink.

Since Copia had risen to the top of the ministry and had a bit more say, Kevin was no longer even allowed to sprinkle holy water on the ghouls to keep them away. After all, that would hurt the ghouls, the youngest Emeterius brother had explained his decision. Simply ridiculous. When Kevin had started working for the clergy, ghouls had just been treated like ghouls. But since Copia had shown up here, Kevin had to treat these creatures as if they had more feelings than lust, hunger and thirst.

Finally, the resistance in the drain was released and with a slap, a pile of mud landed in the bucket. "Is that...sand?" asked Aether, astonished. Kevin shrugged his shoulders in resignation. "How do I fucking know what kind of crap you always pour down the drain?!" He pulled the spiral back and knelt under the sink to screw the pipe back on. Phantom also knelt down next to him and grabbed one of Kevin's long strands of hair to chew on. "I'm clearly not being paid well enough for this," the brown haired growled, shooing back first Phantom and then Rain, whose hand had already disappeared back into the bucket. Under the curious gaze of the ghouls, Kevin screwed the pipe back on, sat up with his aching back and picked up the bucket. "Would be nice if you could just stop breaking or clogging anything for more than three days," Kevin grumbled, looking sternly at Aether. The quint had spent the last few minutes watching with his hands on his hips and a critical expression. "I'm doing my best, but you know what they're like." Kevin only snorted in response. He watched as Aether disappeared into the living room before he turned to leave. The ghoul was talking to Kevin as if they were eye to eye. Kevin shook his head. Ghouls.

He was about to close the door behind him when Rain slithered through and tugged at his sleeve. His big blue eyes bored into his. "What?" Kevin asked slightly suprised.

Rain's mouth opened and closed a few times without any words coming out. Then, finally, when Kevin's already extremely thin thread of patience was about to snap, Rain managed to say a word. "Encore."

He had always thought that Rain simply didn't speak human language, but apparently the ghoul was just dumb. In a good-natured tone, as if he was talking to someone particularly retarded, Kevin replied. "I know you did a great job on the film. We're all very proud of you. But I," he pointed to himself, "have to go now," he pointed to the door. Rain tilted his head, confused.

He's probably doing this so that the few brain cells he has will slip into the same corner, Kevin thought spitefully.

The water ghoul tugged at his sleeve again, this time more frantically. "Encore! Encore! Encore! Dew!" Confused, Kevin turned around and froze. Dewdrop stood at the sink and calmly poured a thick liquid into it. Kevin now also noticed the penetrating smell of ammonia.

This fucking little shit poured wall paint into the sink.

Kevin just stared at him. The man was too stunned to even utter a word. He definitely needed a bottle of whiskey tonight. Better yet, two. And brandy. A lot of it.

Mushy May Day 10- quiet nights

Aethers overwhelmed in the infirmary. Omega and delta calm him down.

Thanks to @forlorn-crows for the prompts this month!

Aethers eyes stung.

He stared at the speckled white countertop while delta whizzed past him once again to check someone’s beeping iv. His head felt fuzzy, his vision felt far away. A pressure behind his eyes he could only hope wasn’t any real tears, just exhaustion. The sterility of the air made his stomach turn, an absent thought granted to wonder when the last time he ate was.

“Hey, are you doing alright?”

A large hand rested on aethers back. Omegas voice was comforting, almost too much so. Enough that the pressure behind aethers eyes only deepened as he attempted to blink away whatever tears were forming. It shouldn’t be overwhelming, just the knowledge that omega recognized his emotions and cared, but aether can barely speak beyond the handful of napkins that felt wadded in his throat to express that he was ok.

The silence was enough for omega. He remembers his first couple months topside. Always either touring, practicing, or attempting to tend to any sick or wounded siblings. A constant rotation of activity and need. Delta also barely held it together as well when he was first thrown into the rotation of being a quint, mostly being sent down to help in the morgue. Hes always been better with them anyways.

But staff was short, and something was going around the abbey. It was just a couple minutes past midnight before they all had even gotten the chance to breathe. Aether felt as if he was holding constant pressure on a wound. Enough attention and force to hold the blood in, until it eventually stopped. The moment to calm down leaving it to bleed freely.

The beeping from down the hall stopped. Silence fell over the wing as static rushed to fill the space in aethers head.

“Just take a second aether, sit down” omega pulled out a chair and lightly pushed on his shoulder to get him to sit. Aether played with his hands nervously in his lap. He feels like he had forgotten something, like there was a mistake he missed, like there had to be something else to do.

Delta soon walked back to take his own seat in the nurses station, giving omega a concerned look over aether state.

“Jellyfish, can you grab aether some water?” Omega said quietly over his shoulder “and maybe one of the expired granola bars”

“I’m fine omega” aether finally spoke, looking up at the older ghoul. “Just a long night, I can handle it”

“It’s ok if you can’t”

Omega pulled up another chair into their little triangle when delta handed him the small snacks. It was a nice peaceful moment between them, omega wondered how many times they’d been able to sit together without it being band or work related.

“You haven’t drank any water in 5 hours. You’re upset because you’re dehydrated and hungry” delta mentioned matter of factly. Aether had to snort at the bluntness, taking a small swig of his water.

“Again, I’ll be ok. I’ll get used to it, a lot happened tonight but it’s fine” the granola bar made him cringe. The spoiled plastic taste on his tongue making him take another larger drink of water. He would have to tell papa later they needed a better supply of food back here, though he’s sure the others have mentioned it.

“Even delta still can’t handle it aeth, that’s why we banish him to the morgue. So we definitely don’t expect you to be ok with everything so soon” omega joked, sending a lighthearted smile to delta.

“I thought they sent delta to the morgue because he made the siblings uncomfortable?”

“They did” delta said

They couldn’t help but all giggle with each other, half a joke and half a truth, but delta never minded.

“You’re doing great, kid, just know that. I’m proud to have you here with us. Besides, the siblings love you”

“They do?” Aether asked

“Yeah, one earlier said that she wanted you to take her temperature with your-“

“Delta” omega warned

When you have a AO3 notification from earlier today that you didn't read because, you know, work (boo) and now you can't read the next installment of one of your favorite fics on AO3.