Day Four: Scars

Fuck him and his magnificent back tattoo. And the open hair too. People died.....

Worry Me, Worry You

[Dew is sick Swiss has some feelings about it. Contains discussion of being sick both in the sense of being unwell as well as in the physical sense. A fair bit of angst with a mild resolution at the end.] Below the cut.

When Dew gets sick, It starts with a weakness in his fingers, an inability to grip things in his hand without it feeling... off.

His muscles and joints feel loose and wrong, so he clenches his fists tighter, strains and tires himself without realizing until he can't manage simple tasks anymore.

His hands shake, and his sight goes to static at the edges, save for a strange, drifting clear spot in his vision, that has a filminess to it like a soap bubble without the rainbow sheen.

The pain doesn't set in right away, but the inability to focus his vision, combined by the sudden loss of his fine motor tells him it's only a matter of time before it does.

So when his hand refuses to close around the pen he's been using to scribble down notes with, he knows something's wrong... and he needs to deal with it before someone sees him.

Dew wets his lips, grateful to have caught things in the early stages, before his stomach has a chance to turn, before he feels that familiar numbness in the back of his throat...

He drops the pen onto the desk and closes his eyes, trying to strategize how exactly he's going to make it from his desk to his on suite bathroom without jostling himself too much.

He only needs to make it ten feet.

Why does that seem so far away now?

With great difficulty, Dew stands on unsure feet for only a moment before feeling lightheaded and dizzy.

"Shit." he staggers uncoordinatedly in one spot before carefully lowering himself to the ground, knees pressing into the hardwood, and crawls to the bathroom instead.

He can barely reach the handle from the floor, but when he does, the door refuses to budge, and Dew bumps against it weakly with his shoulder, accidentally knocking his head and wincing.

He really needs to get this thing fucking fixed.

His head and the damned door.

Dew grunts awkwardly, smacking his hand uselessly against the flat surface.

It doesn't even make a sound when his hand slaps it, looks more like he's drunkenly petting it if anything.

Fuck.

His eyes water, clouding his already hazy vision as the pain starts to really set in.

It's like someone stabbing him repeatedly in the head with a metal fork, but lifting each time to scrape against the insides of his skull, and the only thing he can think to do is press his face to the floor and hope it's cold enough to soothe the persistent pulsing in his brain.

He tries to breathe normally, keep himself from clenching his jaw, but it's hard.

His body feels impossibly heavy.

He shivers.

Across the room, he can hear his phone buzzing.

Someone's calling him, but he just closes his eyes, trying to block out the noise.

It's not easy, and the grating sound of it rattling against the desktop feels like a knife in his ear, but, eventually, he's more focused on keeping his stomach settled and his head cooled that he's too out of it to realize his bedroom door is opening.

.

.

.

When Dew opens his eyes again, he's in his bed, bundled up in a sweatshirt too big to be his own, propped up on his side by a pillow wedged under his back, and a blanket covering him from the waist down, so his legs stay warm, but ensuring that his tender stomach stays relatively cooler.

A cold compress falls from his neck as he lifts his head, looking around the room tiredly.

He's dully aware of two things as he comes back to himself.

His mouth tastes like... peppermint.

Whoever put him here also brushed his teeth, and...

There's a distinct smell of artificial lemons in the air, like the floor cleaner they use specifically for the wood floors when there's been a spill so it doesn't leave a stain.

He tries not to think about what the person needed to clean up besides, ya know, him.

Dew sniffs again, but something about the action causes a fleck of spit to go down the wrong tube, and he lets out a little cough, which quickly turns into a groan as the muscles in his abdomen contract.

"Ah, you're awake."

Dew makes a small, befuddled noise in the back of his throat, followed by a weary chirp when he sees Rain walk into the room, smiling at him.

Dew drags himself up into a sitting position, and Rain is quick to rearrange his pillows to keep him upright.

"...Did you clean up my... the mess?" he croaks, his throat feels painfully dry, "Ow..."

"Mm-mm." Rain shakes his head, uncapping a water bottle and handing it to Dew.

"Nah, that was Swiss, he's the one who found you on the floor. Said he was coming to show you something stupid he bought and... yeah."

Dew tries to lift the bottle to drink, but his hands are too shaky and he spills a little down the front of his shirt, pouting.

Seeing his predicament, Rain steadies the bottle enough for Dew to drink a few good sips of water before taking it back and setting it on the nightstand beside the bed, "Better?"

"Mn..." he clicks his tongue, "I feel like... a rock... a rock made of shit."

"That's... I have no idea if feeling like a coprolite is better or worse than you felt before, but I'm going to assume that means you're feeling... relatively okay?"

"Ehn." Dew shrugs, "...my head doesn't hurt anymore, but my stomach's being a bitch..."

"Do you think you're going to throw up again?" Rain asks, worriedly eyeing the bathroom door.

"No... it's just sore now." he says, sinking back into the pillows, looking around the room curiously, "...Where'd Swiss go?"

"To take a shower." Rain says, glancing at the floor.

Ah.

"...'m sorry." Dew mumbles and Rain just smiles sadly and pets his hair.

"If you want to apologize to properly, you've gotta rest up and get better, okay?"

Dew nods, purring sleepily as Rain scratches around his horns.

"Any idea what made you sick?" Rain asks and Dew shrugs.

"Mn, migraine maybe... dunno..." he tugs at his shirt, "...Whose is this? Is this a unicorn riding a... riding a motorcyle, what?"

"It's Cirrus'."

Dew pinches his eyes shut and grumbles, "How many of you saw me all... gross and shit?"

There's a brief pause of consideration before Rain responds.

"Uh... When Swiss found you, he kind of shouted and..."

Dew covers his face with his hands.

"...Fuuuck..."

"We didn't know what was happening and-" Rain cuts himself off, watching tears dribble down Dew's chin, "Dew? Dew, does something hurt?"

"'m fuckin' embarrassed, what the fuck..." he whines, turning away from Rain and smushing his face into the pillow.

"Dew, it's-"

"'s'not okay..." Dew mumbles, "...I don't even remember what happened between being on the floor and now, and you all... that's fuckin' stupid."

"How's it stupid?"

"...I'm stupid. This is stupid-"

"Dew-"

"-My body's fucking stupid!" Dew cries, whipping around and throwing the pillows off his bed in a fit, flopping back down only to kick the sheets off as well, sniffling angrily when they refuse to untangle from around his legs.

"I'm a fuckin' demon! I'm supposed to be tougher than this!"

"Dew." Rain says a bit more firmly, grabbing his knees, forcing his legs to still, "Dew, I know it's upsetting, but we've got this, yeah? We're gonna take care of you."

"I don't want that..." Dew wipes his eyes with the sleeve of Cirrus' sweatshirt, "Don't want it..."

"Don't want us to take care of you or..." Rain tries, lowering his voice.

"Don't want..." Dew rolls onto his side again, "...I don't... I don't like..."

Rain tilts his head and waits.

"...I don't..." he can't finish the sentence.

He doesn't even know how he's supposed to articulate what he's feeling right now aside from sick.

His brain feels like pudding and all he can keep thinking about is how all of them...

...All of them...

"...Don't like it when you see me... see me like that..." he says finally, picking at the mattress, "Just leave me on the floor next time, pretend you didn't notice-"

The door creaks open and Swiss enters with his arms crossed.

"You... you know we can't do that, right?" he scoffs, holding his hand up when Dew opens his mouth to argue, "Sorry, baby boy, but I... we don't like seeing you suffer as much as you seem to want to hide it, so, like, no."

Dew hisses, but feels the fight leaving him when Rain sends him a sympathetic look and kneads his shoulder soothingly.

Swiss enters the room fully and shuts the door part way, leaving it ajar, before sitting down on the end of his bed, just out of kicking range in case Dew throws another tantrum.

"...This is fucking humiliating..." Dew huffs, staring daggers at his ceiling fan.

"Which part? Your sweet new sleep shirt curtesy of Cirrus, or the fact that we all love you so much we wouldn't let you lie on the floor in agony?"

Dew tilts his head down to look at the shirt again.

"...The latter."

He does have to admit he likes the design, but that's not the point.

"Well, too bad. We love ya, and you're going to have to get used to that." Swiss teases, "But, really, dude... We were really worried."

Rain nods.

"I would have been fine..." Dew whispers, "Not my first rodeo with this shit, so..."

"And you know that's more concerning, right?" Swiss points out, "Cause here's the thing; I don't care if you don't care about your own wellbeing, I mean, I fucking DO because you should care, but that's not even... What I'm trying to say is, if you're not doing well, you can tell us, you know that, yeah?"

Dew frowns, returning to glaring at his ceiling.

"Dew..." Swiss sighs, "I..."

He takes a deep breath and leans forward to hold his hand.

"Have any of us... ever made you feel like it isn't safe to talk about this stuff?" he asks.

"...No."

"But, do you... feel like it's not safe to talk about it?"

Dew doesn't answer right away, but when he does, his voice wobbles a bit.

"Yeahh..."

Rain returns to petting Dew's hair, "We've got you."

Swiss gives his hand a reassuring squeeze.

At some point, Dew falls back asleep.

His dreams are nightmarish and provide little to no respite.

.

.

.

When Dew wakes, Rain is gone, but Swiss is lounging on his bed beside him scrolling through his phone, and Dew angles his head to take a peek at his screen.

"...Is that a dog or a cat?" he asks, his words a bit slurred from the way he's squished.

Swiss startles and almost drops his phone, "Jesus!"

He places a hand on his chest.

"I thought you were asleep!"

"I was." Dew mumbles, "...And now I'm awake."

"Thank you for the rundown, Captain Obvious.... Geez... You're scaring me a lot today, you know that?" Swiss pinches Dew's cheek and gives it a pull.

"Aughh diiidnth meean tooahh..." Dew says, "...'m thorry."

Swiss lets go of his face and sets his phone off to the side.

"You really did though." he says, ruffling Dew's hair, "I got scared seeing you on the ground like that, I didn't know what to do, and if... if something..."

He shakes his head.

"Actually, let's talk about that later, when you're better... How're you feeling now that you've slept some more?"

Dew yawns, "Weirdly more tired..."

Swiss snorts, "Yeah?"

"Yeah..." Dew wriggles closer to Swiss, looping his arm around his midsection and bumping his head against his chest.

"Whatcha doin' there, bud?"

"Lay down." Dew nudges him, "Sleep."

"Well, since you asked so politely..."

Dew lets Swiss go in order for him to get settled, resting his head on the pillow beside his.

"I'm still upset with you." Swiss informs him, but still allows Dew to snuggle up against his side, "...Glad you're not dead though."

"You thought I died?"

Swiss hums.

"You weren't responding when I called your name or shook you, so... yeah... yeah, I did." he says, resting his chin on top of Dew's head, "Aeth came running, made sure that... that you weren't... ya know."

"...Ah..."

"I..." Swiss swallows, voice cracking, "...Everybody was scared, but then you woke up! And we got you to answer some questions, and then... then you..."

"What did I do?" Dew asks nervously.

"You, uh, you... it was like the meme... You were just standing there, like dumbfounded about it, and meanwhile I'm over here like, 'BRO'..."

"This clears up nothing."

"You ruined my crocs."

"Oh. Ohhh..."

"Yeah."

They sit in silence for a moment while Dew processes this new information.

"...In hindsight, that's... that's at least a little funny." he says, "...Who brushed my teeth?"

"Oh that was Aeth and Rainy, they had a hell of a time getting into your bathroom, so they took you to Cirrus' room and got you all cleaned up. That's where we got the shirt and the shorts."

Dew lifts the blankets and stares.

Pink with white polka dots... what kind of cursed wardrobe is Cirrus hiding in her bedroom?

"After that, Mount made some weird tea and made you drink it, which, like, I don't know what was in that stuff-"

"Peppermint and chamomile with a sprinkling of ginger and two ibuprofen on the side!" Mountain calls from the other side of the wall.

Swiss blinks, "Damn the walls in this place are thin..."

"Anyway, you drank, like, two cups of that and zonked out, and that's about it. Still embarrassed?"

"Little bit... Less now that I know what happened... that's the scariest part." Dew confesses, "...It's the idea that something happened and I don't remember, but other people do, combined with... I dunno, not being able to stop it from happening to begin with..."

"Well... maybe a trip to the doctor is in order to help with that last part." Swiss says, rubbing Dew's back, "...Hey?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, Dewboy."

"Love you, too."

"We all love each other, now go to bed already, some of us are trying to sleep!" Cirrus chimes in from across the hallway, sending a pillow through the open door.

"You're all ruining the moment!" Swiss complains.

"If everyone is awake right now, can someone get me a glass of water?" Sunny inquires.

"Didn't I already get you-"

Swiss gets up and closes the door.

"Bedtime?" he asks.

"Bedtime." Dew confirms, holding his arms out for Swiss to collapse back into.

I got tickets! I'm going to KC in August! I can't believe is spent that much for The Ascended VIP!

boyfriends

A Lack of Engagement Pt. 8: Save The Date

[Previous Part: Here. The final installment in the ALOE series. I am first and foremost a delighter in chaos. This is what happens when you let me write while ill.] Below the cut.

While the groundskeeper drags the lake closest to the docks for any signs of the giant dick that started this whole mess, Rain and Dew spend their afternoon digging holes and carefully planting the blueberry bushes Bea had entrusted to them.

It's a tedious job, especially since neither of them knows how best to approach the situation; Whether it's better to dig all the holes first, or simply dig them one at a time, but either way the task is distracting enough for the two of them to spend most of it working in near silence.

Rain digs the holes and Dew sets the plants into the ground, carefully covering the roots, his nails slowly becoming encrusted in soil.

They wind up making a loose circle, spacing the bushes out with room to grow, and by the time they finish and take a moment to stand back and admire their hard work, Bea's approaching them once more.

"Hm, good job." she nods approvingly, placing her hands on her hips, "I appreciate the help."

Rain smiles, then looks past the woman towards the docks, "How did the search go...?"

Bea scratches her fingers through the short hair on top of her head, glancing back over at the water herself.

"Well, there's definitely something in the water over there," she says, "but that's the thing; There's a LOT of things in the water by the docks."

She gestures for them to follow her, and they all find themselves standing on the edge of the dock, staring out over the water.

"The water here is relatively clear, so you can see the bottom pretty easily." she explains, "I didn't have to search long to find an abnormality, but..."

She points to several odd shapes in the silt below, "It's kind of a mess down there."

Rain frowns, the groundskeeper is right, there's all kind of debris in the water by the docks, and none of it really looks like what they're searching for.

"You said the statue you were looking for was made of metal, so I thought I could just sink a magnet on a line and see what it stuck to, but, then again, there's so much garbage down there... and I think y'all said the blasted thing was made of bronze, yeah?" She asks, and the pair nods, "Yeah, see, you can't use a magnet to find bronze, because the shit's not magnetic, well, not unless it has nickel mixed in-"

Bea cuts her rambling short and shakes her head.

"Anyway, point is, short of diving in there and having a look around, I can't really go in there and shift things around much more. Taking a net to the lighter debris is one thing, but I can't be hauling up anything heavy and potentially waterlogged manually." she sighs, "Personally, I'd have the Creature From The Black Lagoon over there-" she gestures loosely at Rain, "-take a dive and see if anything fits the bill."

"We appreciate the help either way, Bea." Rain says, "Sorry to take up so much of your time."

Bea shrugs, "Ehn, it's whatever. Besides, if I had known earlier how messy this area was, I'd have probably come out here sooner and organized a group to help sort out all of this..."

She places her hands on her hips.

"I'm going to talk to Copia about getting some machinery in so we can remove some of the larger bits from the water, but it'll probably take a while for that to happen, so..."

Rain hums.

"We'll figure something out in the meantime, go have your fun with Mountain already." he does a light shooing motion, "Just shout if he actually tries to kill you."

"Aw, so kind of you to think I'd have the time to scream if he really wanted me dead." Bea places a hand on her chest, "But yeah, I better get going, or he'll be upset... I did promise I'd let him make dinner afterwards..."

As Bea leaves with a bit of a skip to her step, Dew can't help but turn to look at Rain and mouth a simple, "What the fuck?"

.

.

.

"So a plan B is in order." Rain announces after surfacing for the fifth time, "I've found two car fenders, a large rock that looks like a penis, but was definitely a rock, and, like, three shopping carts at this point."

Dew kicks his feet in the water, "We have to order a giant purple dildo and send it to Limbo via express shipping?"

Rain pulls himself up onto the dock, "We have to order a giant purple dildo and send it to Limbo via express shipping."

"Man..." Dew flops backwards, sighing, "I was kind of hoping we'd find the dick, I kind of wanted to see that ridiculous thing again..."

"I mean, yeah, it was pretty funny to look at." Rain agrees, laying down next to him, "...Dew?"

"Yeah, Rainy?"

"Why do you think that dick showed up here in the first place?" he asks, turning his head to face Dew, who is already looking at him when he glances over, "Like, the sudden rumors, it just appearing and disappearing and all of that... It just feels... odd, you know?"

"Mn." the other ghoul thinks for a moment, "Well, strange things happen here all the time, it's just the nature of things, I suppose... I don't want to dismiss it's... oddness, but, I guess I've bore witness to a lot of weird shit over the years so this didn't really register high on the list."

"But it is weird, right?" Rain wonders aloud, "Touching that statue, winding up in that other... dimension? World? Whatever that was... and then traveling to Limbo, getting out of there so easily because we could bargain with the Toll Man... Hell, even Bea being willing to help us search the lake... it all feels too convenient to be real."

Dew reaches over and trails his fingers down Rain's side making him twitch slightly before letting out a yelp as Dew pinches his sensitive skin.

"Ow! Hey-"

"Well, we can rule out the idea that this isn't real or a dream." he chirps innocently, "But I get what you mean. It's like someone is guiding us somehow, and I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that."

"Who do you think it is?" Rain asks, "Guiding us?"

"Honestly? It could be anyone." Dew says, sitting up again, "You said you heard the rumors about the dick from eavesdropping on the siblings, right?"

Rain nods.

"Well, the siblings all study the arcane arts, at least the ones living here in the abbey do. It wouldn't be hard for a couple of them to concoct some weird multi-dimensional, teleporting penis... no matter how fucking weird that sounds now that I'm saying it." he turns to look at the abbey in the distance, "Point is, whoever made it probably just wanted to test out the statue on some poor saps curious enough the try it out... Or ministry actually shelled out cash for a giant metal dick statue, but that doesn't feel like a Copia purchase to be honest."

"Definitely more of Terzo purchase," Rain chimes in, "or Ome-"

"Omega!" Dew gasps, "Why didn't I think to ask him before??"

"Huh?"

"Omega manages the arts department! It's... kind of a holdover position from when Terzo was still around and they'd do 'still life nights' that were just an excuse to fuck each other covered in paint, but he's basically in charge of deciding what pieces go on display and which ones get vetoed or shipped elsewhere for viewing." Dew explains, "He'd know if the dick is still in the collection if it's not in the lake!"

"...Can we go back to the having sex covered in paint part?"

"Rainy."

"What?" Rain pouts, "I'm a connoisseur of the arts myself... Also was that one of the instances where you and them..."

He brings two of his fingers together, then, after some thought, tries the same motion but with three instead.

"...I will admit that Terzo did occasionally school me on my... brushstrokes."

Rain whistles and Dew kicks him in the side lightly.

"C'mon, ya perv, let's go see Omega."

.

.

.

"...A giant metal dick?" Omega's mouth hangs open as he processes what Dew has said, "No... I don't think we have one of those. We do have a rather large, um, Georgia O'Keefe style statue that has a similar story to it, but it involved rubbing the clit and some people had a bit of a hard time finding the right spot to-Anyway. No, no large metal dicks."

"Aw, fiddlesticks." Dew snaps his fingers, "...Any idea where we can find the pussy statue by any chance?"

Omega eyes him wearily.

"No dice, huh?"

The older ghoul nods.

"Circling back," Omega says, waving his hand about dismissively, "you said you two held hands in front of this dick statue, rubbed it, wound up in another universe where you were married, then traveled through Limbo, came back here, had the groundskeeper -who is currently getting railed by Mountain, a detail I didn't need to know- search the lake and came up empty... which lead you to here, am I correct?"

Rain and Dew nod.

"Yeah, that's basically everything."

Omega leans back in his office chair, bringing his hands up in a prayerlike gesture.

"Boys, have you been eating out of Lucifer's cabbage patch...?"

"Lucifer's... Are you asking if we're high??" Dew balks, "Omega, it's a Monday! I'd at least wait until Tuesday-"

"Professionally, no..."

Rain clears his throat, "We're being serious, Omega. We experienced something really weird, and now we're kind of... It lead to some... emotions. So we just... we want to confirm that it, ya know, actually happened, and also we kind of sort of promised a ten foot tall demon in Limbo that we'd send him back something he could ride, and the giant metal dick that started all of this seemed like the obvious choice."

"Ten foot tall demon in Limbo..." Omega looks between Rain and Dew, "...Dewcifer Maurice Drop, if you're telling the truth, did you-"

"Fuck the Toll Man again? No, not this time."

Rain throws his hands in the air, "He knows about that, but you never told me-"

Omega holds up his hand, "As a medical professional and a man of science, I needed to know how-"

Dew slaps his hands down on the desk.

"He can shrink down!"

"OHHHH!"

As the sun finally begins to dip below the horizon, Dew, still reeling from their conversation with Omega, lets out a sigh as he and Rain fall onto the couch in the ghouls' common room.

"Well... we're back at square one." he says, letting his body sag into the cushions, "...Can you get me my laptop?"

"Gonna order the dildo for the Toll Man?" Rain asks, "You sure you don't want to wait and see if the metal dick doesn't show up somewhere?"

"Nah, let's just... We're the only people that seem to know that thing exists. I'm tired, and I have a giftcard that expires soon, so... Two birds, one stone. Laptop, please." he shrugs, "Oh, and my reading glasses!"

"Aye, aye, Captain." Rain salutes him and Dew rolls his eyes, smiling softly as the other walks away.

As soon as Rain returns, Dew opens up his laptop and clicks on a pinned link below his search bar.

"...You just have this site on quick access?" Rain's eyes grow wide as he takes in a barrage of colorful sex toys in some... unconventional shapes and sizes, "On your unlocked laptop no less?"

"If anyone opens my laptop without my permission and the worst they see is a bunch of penises than I think it's fine." Dew says, pushing up his reading glasses as he scrolls through their options, "This isn't even my main computer... Anyway, let me know if you see anything you want."

"...You're gonna buy me a dildo?"

"Or a vibe or one of those stroker things, whatever your perverted heart desires, I'm feeling strangely generous."

After a bit of searching, and spending way too long customizing not one, but two absurdly large sex toys, Dew carefully inputs the details on the gift card and confirms his purchases...

...Just in time for Swiss to walk in dragging a certain metal dick in what is effectively the ghouls' front door.

"You guys will NOT believe what I found-"

Rain and Dew exchanges looks.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

They have been groomed. They are unserious.

They would rather be told how to feel than taught how to learn.

He has no right to be that way.

https://twitter.com/sodomizergirl/status/1682154072860680195

Returning the favor because GODDAMN ILL BE WATCHING THIS ON A LOOP

I just died 😳😵‍💫😵

Day three of @cirrus-ghoulette 's whump month: Homesick

Cw: drowning, suicide, manipulation, hallucination, lmk if i missed any

Dew doesn't know when he started feeling this way. He's been fire for years now, why is he suddenly yearning for the water again? The water, the cool darkness only water ghouls can survive in. Yeah, he's swam, yeah his gills are still semi functional, but it's not the same. It'll never be the same.

He wants to go back to the water, permanently. He knows it'll kill him, but he wants to do it anyway. No he doesn't. He doesn't want to die, but the water calls for him, like a siren calling for a sailor, luring them to their death. Maybe he could talk to Delta, see if Delta deals with the same thoughts he does.

But he doesn't. He doesn't want to bother Delta. Maybe these thoughts will stop.

They didn't. In fact, they got worse every time he saw a deep body of water. The water sings a secret song that only he can seem to hear. It's hypnotic. It infests his mind, takes over his thoughts.

He starts to envy Rain and Mist, how they swim so freely, submerge themselves fully, touch the bottom of the lake. He wants to take their abilities from them, use them to go to the bottom of the lake one last time, but he won't. He loves the water ghouls, he couldn't hurt them like that. But if he dies he's only truly hurting himself right?

That's how he ended up here. By the lake. At four in the morning. Too late for any sibling to be up, too early for any ghoul to be up. Besides the feral ones that act as guards around the ministry at night. They wouldn't pay any attention to him though.

He walks close to the edge of the lake. Should he really do this?

Yes. The water calls to him, Come back to me. Come back home, Droplet.

That's all it takes before he's walking into the water. The water reaches his ankles and the sharp sting of cold hits him, but he tredges on. The water touches his belly button, he's used to the temperature. The water's up to his chin, he has one more chance to go back to the ministry, his “home”, but the water calls again.

Droplet. Return. Embrace your natural element, be reborn as what you truly are.

That's a lie, it's all lies. He won't be reborn, he'll die. But he listens anyway. He takes the final step; he's fully submerged, from head to toe. He can breathe through his gills, but just barely. He continues walking. He breathes through his gills, the remnants of them fluttering as if they never broke in the first place.

As he goes deeper, it gets harder to breathe, the pressure from the water pressing on his lungs. Once he fully reaches the bottom of the lake he feels at peace, but also panicked. He can't breathe, he wants to swim back up, get out of the water, but it's holding him down.

You can't leave Droplet, you've just returned. We won't let you leave. The water hisses at him.

The lack of oxygen in his body makes him hallucinate, see spirits of the water around him, pushing him down to the floor of the lake, making him lay down.

Welcome home, Droplet. The spirits giggle as they hold him down.

As his vision gets blurry he starts to regret this. As much as he loved the water it wasn't his home. His home was the ministry, with his pack, teaching Phantom how to be a menace, sloppy makeout sessions with Swiss, baking in the kitchen with Aurora, having the sweetest sex with Cirrus, spending time with his pack, hell, even being scolded by Copia. He made the wrong choice.

Somehow, even while being underwater, he can feel tears run down his face. He wasn't ready to die, he didn't want to die. There was still so much to do. As he feels his consciousness slip away, he feels something grab his hand. His vision is too blurry for him to see so he lets the hand grab him.

He doesn't know how, but he's on the dirt of the banks of the lake and there's a faceless ghoul next to him.

“It's not your time.” The ghoul whispers before disappearing into the darkness.

If you have Ghost you have everything

The world needs more Terzo smoking weed !!! 🤠

1.1k words of terzo smoking weed AND being hot

“You are not leaving the party so soon, are you, sister?”

Your head swivels in the direction of the familiar voice only to be met with the new Cardinal, leaning against the stone wall with a joint hanging out of his mouth. He hasn’t been what you were expecting — the other Emeritus brothers were far more reserved yet driven while Terzo is… well, the exact opposite. Outgoing yet aloof. And devastatingly handsome. He seemed young despite only being three months younger than Secondo.

“Feeling a little too sleepy for the rave going on in there right now. Does that make me lame?” You're half joking but also half really asking and you manage to sound somewhat flirty.

“No. That’s exactly why I’m out here. To enjoy the fresh air and quiet of the night.” Terzo plucks the joint from his lips and offers it to you, giving you a sly grin. “Do you smoke?”

You hesitate for a moment but end up taking it from his fingers, brushing his gloves ever so slightly and bringing it to your lips and taking a drag. Coughs sputter from your lips but you manage to exhale deeply.

“Not often, as you can see.” You smile weakly as you hold it out for him though he catches your hand in his. A leather thumb runs over your knuckles, using his other hand to take the joint back. Your eyes meet, his white eye sparkling with such mischief that it sends a shiver down your spine.

“Well, thank you for joining me.” He bows his head and kisses the back of your hand. So formal for the sharing of a joint. You lean against the wall beside him, growing quiet as the weed starts to hit. After what feels like a half hour (actual time: 8 minutes) you wiggle your fingers and realize he’s been holding your hand the entire time. Bashful eyes dart over to him, his own gaze settled somewhere off into the distance.

The moonlight illuminates his side profile, a heavy brow giving way to weary eyes, a strong nose and plump lips all framed with slick black hair. You become oddly fascinated with his wrinkles, starting with the laugh lines near his eyes. At that point he looks at you, then does a double take to see that you’re staring.

“U-uh… “ Your eyes widen. “I’m… I’m very high, Cardinal.” A giggle bubbles up your throat and you cover your mouth with your hands, unable to fight back a smile.

“Molto bene.” Terzo squeezes your hand, tilting his head to get a better look of you. “Your giggles, they are cute.”

Oh, no.

You’ve heard of his flirtatious nature, to which you originally scoffed at. But now his charms are directed at you and you feel it, the allure that radiates from his entire being.

“What is your name?”

You babble your name to him, unable to look away from his mismatched gaze than shines against the black paint around his eyes. Terzo repeats it, rolling off his tongue with ease. He’s giving you his undivided attention and it’s almost overwhelming, leaning further into you so that you can feel his soft breath on your cheeks. It’s so hard to focus with him this close to you now.

"You look beautiful under this moonlight," Terzo whispers, his fingers gently drifting along your jaw. The intensity of his gaze and the softness of his touch leave you breathless. You can't help but blush from his compliment and a veeeeery awkward laugh slips from your lips. He breaks out in a wide smile, eyes crinkling and it’s over.

You don’t know who made the first move but you’re now clutching onto his cassock as you moan into his mouth. Smoke clings to his tongue. Terzo’s gloved hand moves to hold the back of your head, fingers weaving into your hair. You melt against him, no thoughts in your head except how soft his lips are. Sighs and quiet moans pass between your lips, joining together as he deepens the kiss. He takes it slow, his tongue savoring your taste, opening you up gradually to him until he’s devouring you.

“Let me walk you back to your room.” Low and seductive before he nibbles on your bottom lip. You nod and he whisks you away, his fingers lacing tightly with yours. You are so high but he’s keeping you from the point of no return with the way he somehow avoids walking in a straight line, distracting you with a comfortable goofiness. You wonder if his limbs are just made of spaghetti. The walk takes a turn when he backs you up against your door and leers over you, a wicked expression on his face. But he only kisses your forehead. Tease.

You turn the knob behind you and back yourself into the room, Terzo’s arms looped around you lazily as you guide him to your bed.

“Cozy ragazza.” He purrs into your ear, his fingers slipping underneath the hem of your shirt. The backs of your knees hit the edge of your bed and he takes advantage, guiding you onto your back as he peels your shirt off. Bare back hits the bed and his warm mouth is already kissing up your stomach. You sink into the mattress, lips parted and eyes falling shut, mewling from the heat of it all. Terzo’s mouth closes around one of your nipples, teeth and tongue working it inside his mouth, sucking as his other hand squeezes your side. A moan rumbles up your chest, body aching beneath him but your eyes grow heavy.

Your thoughts wander as you run your fingers through his soft locks, thinking about nothing in particular except for how good it feels to have his hands on you. Gentle touches, warming up your body but the combination leads you to become more and more relaxed.

Until your eyes close.

Your eyes blink open and you wipe the drool from your mouth with the back of your hand. Oh no. Oh no. You fell asleep. Limbs twitch into action but you’re stopped from jumping out of bed by a weight on your chest.

…

A black mop is lying on your breasts.

Terzo is fast asleep and snoring, his arms curled around your waist and holding you close to him. You exhale slowly and relax in his arms, worried thoughts expelled and your focus shifting back toward how tired you are. Eyes glance back down at him for one moment and just by watching his body rise and fall with each breath you are soothed to sleep once more.