How In The Actual Fuck Did That Happen? Why?

Heya hun! So, one of my thoughts - bit angsty ish- But Dew fearing that even though he went from water to fire, they Clergy would want to switch him back to water if something happened to Rain. (Of course, it wouldn't happen - not with Copia to save the day.. But it always lingers in the back of Dew's mind. He hates that it does. He hates always fearing what Saltarian and Sister Imperator and the other high clergy members could do to him and his pack.

-🐊

Okay, so the timeline for this is kind of messy but I hope you like it. Some Raindrop hurt/comfort just for you. Dew gets stuck in his feelings but his pack is there to protect him always. RHRN spoilers kind of if you squint.

(Also first time writing smut in like 8 months lol)

WC 3007

Cw: Dew trying to use sex as a way to avoid his emotions, anxiety

Things That Change

The doors to the bus open and Dewdrop bursts through them, eyes roving the Abbey courtyard as Siblings and Abbey ghouls file through the various archways to meet the band. People surround the bus, but the noise of cheers and welcomes do nothing to drown out the buzzing in his mind. It’s been this way since the last show, since those last chords rang through the arena and the crowd erupted into screams.

He hasn’t done a good job of hiding it, he knows that the other ghouls have sensed his restlessness since they started their journey back home. He can’t help it; he’s tried to squish down that tightness in his chest, that sense of foreboding that’s settled in the back of his mind since Papa announced in Brisbane that that show was going to be his last. Papa is retiring. He's stepping down from the papacy. Change is coming. Even though Dew knows that Copia isn't Terzo, he knows that things are different now, his mind won't stop berating him. What happened before is going to happen again. Despite Dew’s best efforts, it’s continued to linger, refusing to be ignored. One by one the pack have all tried to ask him what’s going on, why his scent smells so weird. Each time he's just shrugged and said its nothing. He’s just anxious to get home. He can feel his heat coming, or something like that, he hates going through heat while on the road. Yeah, just his heat. That’s all. One by one they all acquiesce, leaving himself to his thoughts and his pacing. It’s just Dew being Dew. He’s intense sometimes, it’s just how he is, his fickle fire ghoul nature and all.

“Hey, you alright?” A voice behind Dew startles him, and he whirls around. Curly black hair and concerned blue eyes meet his amber ones as Rain emerges behind him, taking that last step from the bus stairs to the gravel below.

Dew huffs a breath and shakes his head, turning back to the crowd that’s encroaching on the bus. He reaches behind him, grabbing Rain’s hand and pulling him forward, “C’mon, want some alone time.”

“Hold on, we need to get–”

“We can get our stuff later! Just—please, need you.” Dew’s tail whips behind him and his scent flares that of campfire smoke as he looks back at Rain with exasperation in his eyes.

Rain nods, knowing better than to try and push when Dew gets this way.

Dew runs, dragging the water ghoul behind him, he makes his way up the stairs and through the grand entryway leaving the crowd behind. Doorways pass by in a blur as the two ghouls wind their way through the hallways. Dew isn’t even paying attention to where they are. He could find the Ghouls’ Wing in his sleep and right now his body is on autopilot, his brain just screaming go, go, go!

His door with the familiar elemental fire symbol carved into the frame finally comes into view around the corner. Dew grabs the handle, wrenches the door open and ushers Rain through, slamming it behind them. He whirls around, not even bothering to take in the familiarity of his room before grabbing Rain by the waist and crowding the water ghoul back against the door. He reaches up on his tiptoes, shoving his nose into Rain’s neck and inhaling deeply, letting the scent of storms and salt invade his senses. Lithe hands rest on his shoulders and he hears Rain gasp softly as Dew presses his hips into Rain’s and lets his hands travel from Rain’s waist to his chest, grabbing handfuls of fabric and fingering the buttons on his uniform vest. Dew growls low in his throat and presses his lips to Rain’s neck, feeling the water ghoul’s head fall back to thump against the door and his body respond to Dew's advances. He feels Rain’s tail wrapping tightly around his thigh and he moans when he feels the other shudder at the feeling of teeth and tongue teasing and playing with the gills on his graceful neck.

Long fingers weave their way through Dew's long golden hair and grip firmly, tipping his head back and away from the soft skin he is worrying a mark into. Rain looks down at him, eyes clouded and stormy, breaths coming in panting huffs. Dew surges up, capturing his ghoul’s lips in a kiss, urgency filling the space between them and Rain responds, their mouths open and tongues dancing.

“Want you,” Dew whispers against Rain’s lips, bringing his hips forward to grind against the taller ghoul, pressing him into the time-worn wood at his back.

“Uhuh,” Rain groans, quickly giving in and falling with the fire ghoul into Dew’s intensity as the scents of smoke and thunder over the sea mingle and fill the room in an intoxicating haze.

Their lips meet again, all tongues and teeth, licking into each other’s mouths and claiming one another. Rain captures Dew’s lower lip between his own, drawing it in and sucking on it gently, teasingly. Dew feels Rain’s cock filling out between them and he leans into the pressure, willing his own to respond in kind, to distract him from the thoughts that the promise of sex is fighting to keep at bay. Rain moans as he feels Dew’s cock begin to stir and press against his own and Dew shivers at the sound of his lover’s pleasure wrapping itself around his mind, drowning out the doubts,

“You feel so good,” Rain murmurs. He brings his hands down and Dew whines as claws grip the small globes of his ass, trying to draw him in impossibly closer, “What do you want, love?”

Dew’s mind swims, trying to stay in the moment. There’s pressure and pheromones, wandering hands and tongues, and it feels so good…

“Haven’t felt you like this since the night of that last show,” Rain brings his head down, inhaling deeply at Dew’s scent gland, now fully immersed in the moment.

Tonight will be my last show…

Dew screws his eyes shut, a whimper escaping his throat. No no no…he doesn’t want to think about this right now. Rain is here, there’s only Rain right now…

His scent sours and his hands falter, just for a moment. Dew chuffs and presses in closer, trying to shove the thoughts from his mind. His tail weaves its way between their bodies to graze against the bulge in Rain’s pants as he desperately prays to all the Lords below that the water ghoul didn’t notice his split second of hesitation. Unfortunately for him in this moment, Rain knows him and his soul better than anyone, and the pause is not missed. The hands on Dew's ass still, their touch becoming less possessive and more gentle.

“Hey, hey…what's up?” Rain peers down at him through the curls spilling across his face, cheeks flushed.

“Nothing, I'm fine,” Dew huffs and shakes his head, trying to press back into Rain’s chest but the water ghoul isn't having it.

He releases Dew's ass and raises his hands slowly, one resting on Dew's shoulder and the other cupping his cheek, “Love.”

“I said I'm fine, Rain. I just–I need you, please,” Dew rips Rain's hands away, trying to place them back on his ass.

But it's too late. The thoughts are there and they won't leave. Dew’s heart races and his breaths come in pants as memories of the past begin to swirl through his mind. A man in black and white face paint being dragged from the stage, a woman with sharp gray eyes and a severely tight bun, a reflection of another version of himself from another life bursting into flames.

“Love? Firefly, what's wrong?”

He hears Rain's voice trying to rise above the storm, concerned for his fire ghoul. Dew whines low in his throat and claps his hands over his ears pressed low against his head. His breathing comes in rapid gasps and he shakes his head again, golden hair falling into his watering eyes and covering his face. He hides behind it, shrinking away from Rain as he tries to reach towards the shaking fire ghoul before pushing him aside and ripping the door open.

“Dew, wait!”

He ignores Rain’s worried cries, stumbling through the doorway and sprinting down the hallway, disappearing around the corner and leaving only the acrid smell of char and gasoline in the air.

***

Mountain stands by his window, surveying the shelves of potted plants thriving happily in the sunlight filtering through the trees outside in the courtyard. Aether had done a good job of taking care of them while he had been away with the band on this last tour, and Mountain smiled at the memories of the weekly, sometimes daily, photos the quintessence ghoul had sent him over the last few months to prove that he was taking good, attentive care of his plant babies. He turns away from the windowsill, humming contentedly to himself as he pads back to his bed and the partially unpacked bags sitting among the various piles of clothing and personal items. Some of the ghouls often left their tour luggage sitting for days, or even weeks in Swiss’s and Cirrus’s cases, before they put it away, wanting to just sleep and decompress in private after spending so much time all crammed together. Mountain, however, detested messiness and disorder and preferred to unpack his luggage first thing, finding it easier to relax once everything was put away in its rightful place.

“Mountain? Can I come in please?”

His ear flicks towards the door as a quiet knock interrupts his flow of focus. He sighs, placing the shirt he was folding back onto the bed and padding towards the door. He twists the knob and opens the heavy oak door to reveal Rain standing in the hallway. To put it mildly, Rain looks like a mess. He’s sweaty, out of breath with his curls plastered to his forehead, shifting from one foot to the other and anxiously wringing his hands as he looks tearfully up at Mountain, sniffling quietly. Mountain blinks back down at him, more surprised than anything. Rain is graceful, composed, calculated. He’s never a mess.

“Hey Mount…can–can I come in?”

Mountain wraps an arm around Rain’s shoulders and brings him into his room, closing the door softly behind him, “Rainy, what’s the matter? Are you hurt?”

Rain trudges over to Mountain’s bed and plops down, a glum look on his face. Mountain kneels down in front of him, taking the water ghoul’s hands in his large paws and rubbing his thumbs soothingly over Rain’s knuckles. He waits, watching Rain’s face closely.

“It’s just…” Rain sighs, “It’s Dew.”

Mountain nods, waiting patiently for Rain to continue.

“You know how he’s been acting so weird since our last show? We were in his room, we were kissing. All of a sudden he just…freaked out. He ran away…I–I don’t know what I did wrong,” Rain sniffs, accepting the handkerchief Mountain pulled from his pocket and wiping his nose.

“I’ve been looking for him all over, and I can’t find him anywhere. He’s not in any of his usual spots.”

Mountain hums, squeezing Rain’s hand gently. He’s known Dew a long time, longer than any of the current touring ghouls. He and the fire ghoul have been through so much together. He’d watched Dew as the band progressed through this last tour, watched the small ghoul grow more antsy and anxious as the dates drew closer to that last Australian show. He’d known why Dew was behaving the way he was, but also knew better in the moment than to try and confront Dew on the issue. Mountain lets go of Rain’s hands to rise and seat himself next to the water ghoul on the bed.

“This isn’t because of anything you did or could have done, Rainbow. Dew has…really complicated feelings about being home. About Papa retiring.”

Rain peers at him through wet eyes, moving his hair out of his face to see Mountain better.

“This is about…Papa?”

Mountain nods, “Do you remember the stories me and Aeth told you, Swiss and the girls about the state of things here right before you were all summoned?”

Rain nods, sniffling again.

“We were all kind of…lost. Our previous Papa was dead, a bunch of our pack disappeared and never came back. Dew went through his…his ritual,” Mountain winced inwardly at the memories, “All of that started because Terzo was ‘retired’ by Sister and Saltarian at our final show of that tour we had been on.”

“But Copia isn’t dead. He retired of his own choice. If anything, he’s going to be around for a long time now that he’s Frater instead of Papa, and Sister is gone.” Rain says quietly, looking at his hands.

Mountain hums in agreement, “Yeah, but Dew has always held on to this fear that because he is the smallest, the weakest, of all of us, he is the most likely to be targeted for rituals such as the one that made him a fire ghoul. Rituals that in the past only happen during times of great change.”

Rain’s head snaps back up, “Dew isn’t weak!” he cries fiercely, tail snapping behind him.

“No, of course he’s not. But he sacrificed a lot before in order to help keep me and Aeth safe, and he’s terrified that failing those expectations that were placed on him after he changed will cause history to repeat itself. Except now it’s not just me and Aether. It’s Swiss and Phantom and the girls…and especially you.”

Mountain stands, pulling Rain up with him. He bends down and places a gentle kiss on the smaller ghoul’s forehead, “I think I know where he might be, go find him and talk to him about it. You can help him.”

***

Dew curls into himself on the mossy ground, drawing his knees against his chest and wrapping his tail around his arm as he hugs himself tightly. He’s so fucking stupid, freaking out in front of Rain like that. Nothing is gonna happen with the band being home. Everything is…fine. He groans in frustration, the doubt eclipsing his attempts at reasoning with himself. He can’t go through this again. If anything happened to any of his family, if anything happened to Rain…

He bangs his forehead softly against his knees. Stupid.

The sound of rustling leaves brings Dew’s head whipping up, nerves on high alert. He breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees Rain emerging from the tree branches draping the ground. That relief is quickly replaced by embarrassment and shame at the fact that he had run away from the most important ghoul of his life, that Rain is now seeing him like this. Small, vulnerable, weak.

Rain steps around the slippery, moss-covered stones on the ground, slowly approaching Dew. The cove where the fire ghoul has been hiding is just a small inlet of the Abbey lake protected and covered by a great Weeping Willow tree, acting as a curtain around the inlet and creating a quiet little cave of muted light and green foliage, the water gently lapping the lake’s edge from under the boundary of the tree’s graceful, drooping branches.

Dew scooches over to make room as Rain sinks to the ground next to him and crosses his long legs, leaning back on his hands. He waits for the water ghoul to speak, not trusting himself or his own voice at this particular moment. He places his forehead back to his knees and closes his eyes, listening to Rain’s slow intake of breath.

“You know, I’ve explored every inch of this lake, and I never knew that this was here,” Rain says musingly above Dew’s head.

“Yeah…I found this place…well…before.” Dew mutters into his knees.

Rain hums in acknowledgment, quietly taking in his surroundings.

Dew lifts his head, turning his face to the side to face Rain and resting his cheek on his kneecap, “M’sorry, Rainy…” he mumbles, miserably.

Rain scooches closer and lays his head gently on top of Dew’s. Dew breathes in the scent of petrichor and sea salt, his heart rate slowing with the comforting smell and the warm proximity of his ghoul.

“Oh, my love…it’s okay, there’s nothing to be sorry about.”

Dew sniffles, wiping his nose on his sleeve. The two ghouls sit in silence, watching the willow branches over the water sway with the breeze blowing in from the lake. Rain breaks the silence first.

“I couldn’t find you after you left, so I tried asking Mountain for help. He told me about…about what you’ve been going through with the end of tour.”

Dew stays silent. He hears Rain sigh, pressing in closer.

“Dew…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I had no idea that this has been bothering you. Why didn’t you say anything?

“Didn’t…sniff…didn’t wanna worry anyone. I know s’not real…”

He feels Rain lift his head and shift away. His heart drops for a moment, but breathes a small sigh as Rain wraps an arm around his thin shoulders and draws him in close. His throat aches with unshed tears and he shakes his head, unable to offer any more words.

“Dew, we’re going to be okay. This isn’t like last time. Even though Copia isn’t our Papa anymore, he would never let anything happen to us.”

“You were placed in an impossible position before I came here, before I knew you. You are the strongest, bravest ghoul I know, having gone through what you did, so willingly and selflessly, no less. You are valid for feeling afraid, I know that the past can be so hard to escape sometimes.”

Rain lifts Dew’s head up with a hand under his chin and gives him a soft peck on the nose.

“Nothing is going to happen to me, or any of the others. We’re going to be together for a long, long time. We are safe, and so are you.”

Tale from the Green Room

Ever wonder what Copia has to say during the pre-Ritual Ghoul meeting? Yeah? Me too!

I feel it goes a little something like this…

The Green Room was noisy and smoky as Papa walked through the door. The Ghouls stopped their conversations as the leader of the Satanic Church cleared his throat to gain their attention.

“All right, my children, we will go on stage soon and here is what I want for tonight. Rain and Dew, I need you two to choke each other at some point. I don’t care when or who goes first, I just want to see hands around your throats at some point.”  

“Sure thing, boss!”, both Ghouls answered.

“Phantom, sweet Phantom. I’m going to need you on your best cat-like behavior. Seems the fangirls go crazy for cats. Oh, and do the bendy thing with Rain.”

Phantom raised his fingers in a mock salute as he continued his preparations for the upcoming Ritual.

“Cumulus, Cirrus, and Princess Aurora, my lovelies. Please just be your awesome self. You ladies know what you need to do.”

The Ghoulettes did not bother to answer as they knew they were awesome.

“Mountain, you are perfect in every way. I just need you to be ready to lead us into the night with your rhythms.”

The gentle giant flushed at his Papa’s praise and continued to fidget with the drumsticks in his hands.

“And last but not least, Swiss, my multi-Ghoul, during Watcher in the Sky, I need you to…”

Mushy May Day 22: Reminiscing

Mountain wakes in the middle of the night and watches his mates sleep.

Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together, and to @ghuleh-recs for making the dividers <3

Another alternate prompt for today!

Mountain can't sleep. It's strange. He's normally the first of the three of them out, snoring gently before his partners have even closed their eyes. Normally sleeps through the night without fail. But despite being awake, he cherishes it, the room dark, barring the silver moonlight that slips through their curtains, just enough to see by.

He turns in Dew's arms, slowly, carefully, not to wake him. But if Dew can sleep through Aether's snoring, rattling in his chest like a chainsaw, Dew can sleep through anything. The fire ghoul's expression is peaceful, eyes gently closed and moving under lids, dreaming. The furrow between his brows is smoothed over, and Mountain can't help himself from brushing a strand of spun gold hair back behind the point of his ear.

It moves his hair off of his neck, and it's just barely bright enough to make out the silvery, parallel scars that line the sides of Dew's throat. Mountain exhales through his nose, unable to resist bringing his fingertip down, tracing featherlight over one of the long cauterized scars.

Dew's ear twitches, piercings jingling, and Mountain pulls his hand back. He stirs, but doesn't wake, mumbling something nonsensical. Mountain's lips quirk up, just staring fondly at his smaller mate. He remembers when those scars were fluttering teal fins, when the spun gold hair was silver.

It makes something pang deep in his heart, the remembering. When things were unimaginably bad, when the three of them clung to each other like fresh, new kits too scared to leave the nest. Scents changing, sea salt to campfire.Terrified, unsafe, paranoid of every shadow.

Things are better now, the band den full of pack again, ghouls that Mountain loves with everything he has. And he has Aether and Dew, peacefully asleep in their shared nest.

He smiles, moving to settle back down. There's a hand curling around his bicep, and he jolts, Aether's eyes glowing amethyst in the dim light as they meet Mountain's.

"Everything okay, nova?" Aether whispers, voice gruff with sleep. "I knew you woke up early for the greenhouse, but I didn't think it was this early yet." The joke is light in his tone, thumb smoothing over his freckled skin, right on his farmer's tan line.

Mountain snorts quietly, kicking into a rumbling purr. "I dunno why I'm up, sorry for waking you."

Aether shrugs with one arm, the other pillowed under Dew's head. "You didn't, not really, just sort of... felt your emotions. More intense than they usually are this late."

"I was just thinking," he says, eyes drifting down to their mate between them. The grip on his arm tightens, Aether's thumb still rubbing in an arc over his bicep.

"We're okay, we made it," Aether whispers, and Mountain nods.

"I know, this is real."

"We earned it, we earned our rest," he says, eyes half-lidded with sleep but still so kind and warm, the magick swirling in his irises like galaxies.

"If we earned our rest, can we please fucking sleep?" Dew mumbles groggily, shifting between them with an adorable pout on his lips.

"Sorry, firefly," Mountain whispers, leaning down to press a kiss on his mate's forehead, letting Dew pull him closer. Their legs tangle together, and Mountain can feel Dew's pulse where their chests are pressed together, remembers how feathery and frantic it was back then, just how much terror tinged their scents. It was so bad they had to get new sheets.

Dew's expression softens, wrapping his arms around Mountain's torso, squeezing him that much tighter. "You okay, junie?" His voice is soft, sweet, the way he speaks to them versus the way he speaks to the rest of the pack.

Mountain nods, a soft keen slipping past his lips as he ducks down again and nuzzles into the crown of Dew's head, avoiding the sharp point of his little obsidian horns. "I love you two," he whispers, eyes darting from Dew's to Aether's and back. "So much. I don't know what to do with it all, I love you so much."

He can see the way Aether's cheek dimples as he smiles fondly over Dew's shoulder, can feel the way Dew's grip around his middle tightens. "Love you too, junie," Dew whispers, breath infernally hot against the shell of Mountain's ear.

Aether's hand squeezes his bicep in three quick pulses. "Love you too, sweet thing. Don't know what I'd do without the two of you."

Dew cranes his neck, peering over his shoulder at him. "You won't have to find out, swear it on our Father Below," he declares, a stubbornness set in his shoulders, and Aether leans down and kisses him. He turns, leaning over Dew's narrow shoulders to kiss Mountain too, tasting the beeswax of his lipbalm.

"Alright," Dew huffs, pulling the two of them back down to the mattress. "I love you two dearly, but can we please sleep?"

"Anything for my darlings," Aether hums, wrapping his arms around the two of them, hauling them closer to him. "Good night."

Dew hums, satisfied, copper eyes shutting as he snuggles between them. Very quickly, Mountain's the only one still awake. He looks at his mates, feels their body heat burning warm. He settles into the nest, breathing in their oh-so familiar scents, and lets that carry him back to sleep.

Mushy May Day 3 & 4 - Massage & Wound Tending/First Aid (Aether/Dew)

Ended up combining days 3 and 4 into one fic. Based loosely on that time Dew (presumably) injured his arm during the Prequelle era. As always, thank you @forlorn-crows for organizing this and to @ghuleh-recs for the dividers!

Day 3 & 4 - Massage & Wound Tending/First Aid (Aether/Dew), cw for Dew's shoulder injury. Hurt/comfort, fluff, 1518 words

Aether notices it right away. The way Dew seems to be favoring one arm. The way he furrows his brow and rolls his shoulder seemingly every five minutes. How he makes soft little grunts and sighs of discontent at night when he’s trying to settle into his bunk above Aether’s on the bus. 

When he broaches the subject, Dew denies anything is wrong. His shoulder is just a little sore is all. Maybe he slept funny, he says, brushing off Aether’s concerns.

But Aether knows the truth, and is pretty sure the whole pack knows what’s up actually. It’s Dew’s new guitar. The Fantomen. For as beautiful as it looks and as powerful as it sounds, the son of a bitch is heavy. Even for Aether it can be unwieldy at times.

Of course Dew hasn’t let it affect his playing. He never would. He’s far too proud, and rightfully so. Dew’s the best player Aether has ever seen anywhere in his life. And his playing continues to be immaculate, so Aether doesn’t want to push. Instead he watches Dew power through their set each night for weeks.

Until Dew’s shoulder gives out completely in the middle of a ritual.

A missed note, glaringly obvious. Rare to be due to Dew’s mistake and not because of some equipment malfunction (or Aether’s own mistake throwing Dew off, something he can admit has happened more than once). Aether whips his head towards the fire ghoul, knowing immediately that something is seriously wrong. Copia and the other ghouls are watching him now too.

Dew curls in on himself for just a split second before catching himself and resuming his perfect playing. But Aether knows the damage has been done when Dew purposefully ignores the rest of his stage cues and instead shuffles unsteadily towards the back of the stage as he finishes out the song.

Thank Satan they’re at an intermission. Time for Copia to change out of his white suit and into the red cassock. Instead of taking his usual water break, Aether books it towards Dew, who he finds leaning against the wall just past the curtain.

Aether knows it's bad because Dew has his mask off. His face is pale and he’s sweating bullets, cradling his arm against his body as he struggles to even out his breathing. But before he can do anything there’s chaos. Copia and the crew are scrambling to do what they can to keep the show going. Aether is being ushered back to stage before he can get a word in. 

In the end Dew insists he can finish out the show from backstage, perched on a stool where he can rest the weight of the Fantomen on his lap. He even comes back onstage for final bows, cradling his bad arm gingerly, and Aether finds himself trailing behind him protectively instead of his usual routine of throwing out guitar picks and interacting with the audience. 

Finally, the curtain goes down and they’re free to go. Thankfully it’s a hotel night and then they’re off for two days before they travel to the next city. A small victory.

As soon as they’re in the room, Aether is looking Dew over while Copia watches on worriedly. Dew keeps grumbling that ghouls heal fast, so he’ll be fine, but Aether can see otherwise. The shoulder is swollen, angry red and inflamed. Dew’s definitely pulled something, maybe even a tear, and then he continued to irritate it night after night until it gave out. Aether feels guilty that he didn’t notice it was this bad before, that he wasn’t more insistent. He could have used some of his quintessence to keep it from going this far… He shakes the thought away for the time being.

“Alright,” Aether sighs and turns to Copia. “The bad news is, as of right now his shoulder’s fucked,” he says point blank. No point in sugar-coating any of this now. Copia pales and he hears Dew swallow nervously and shift from where he’s sitting on the bed behind him. 

“Good news is, I can fix him up in the next two days.” He turns to Dew to see a wave of relief wash across his otherwise stoic face. “But he’s gonna have to take it easy for a while after that. And that much healing takes a lot of quintessence, a ton of energy. If we push it any farther than that, you’re gonna end up out two guitarists.”

Copia agrees and they make arrangements for Aether and Dew to stay in his suite while Copia takes one of the regular rooms. The cardinal bids them goodnight and lets them know he’ll get them anything they need to be comfortable for the next few days while Aether works on Dew’s arm.

As soon as he leaves, Aether turns to Dew. He wants more than anything to scoop the little ghoul up in his arms and shower him in kisses, but he knows better than to jostle his bad arm. At any rate, Dew hates to be fussed over.

“How do you feel?” Aether chances, popping the cap of his water bottle and handing it to Dew along with a couple painkillers. 

Dew snorts, avoiding Aether’s eyes. “Like absolute dogshit,” he answers, blunt as always, before swallowing the pills and chugging half of Aether’s water.

“Alright then,” he motions to the compression shirt Dew still has on. “Let’s get this thing off of you so I can work on getting some of the swelling down.”

It isn’t easy, but they work together to hold Dew’s tender shoulder steady while Aether slowly peels the fabric from Dew’s body. Dew winces as he finally pulls his arm out of the sleeve, and Aether presses an apologetic little kiss to Dew’s temple.

The kiss seems to break some of the tension, and Dew’s body sags. He looks up at Aether with a sad little frown on his face. He looks guilty. “Sorry, Aeth…” he starts. “I know I should have said something before it got this bad…” he trails off.”

Aether shakes his head, tells Dew not to worry, that he’ll have him fixed up in no time. Jokes that thanks to his bum shoulder, they get to lounge around in Copia’s suite for two days in a king sized bed and in the jacuzzi tub. Says that if they play their cards right, Copia will probably even let them call for room service to their hearts’ content. The mention of room service seems to lighten Dew’s mood even further.

Meanwhile, Aether works Dew’s shoulder, pressing feather light touches to sensitive flesh while he focuses his energy on delivering enough quintessence to calm the inflammation. Once he’s satisfied with their progress, Aether pulls away to go draw a hot bath. Before he can go Dew reaches out, grabs his hand and pulls Aether back to him.

“Thanks for taking care of me,” Dew says softly, looking up at Aether. He holds Dew’s gaze, contemplating, before leaning in and kissing him on the lips, carding his fingers through Dew’s hair until they’re both humming contentedly against each other. 

Later, Aether sits beside the tub while Dew soaks, periodically working another round of quintessence into Dew’s shoulder as the little ghoul dozes off, finally beginning to relax as the pain goes down thanks to Aether’s ministrations.

Aether helps Dew out of the tub and wraps him in a fluffy bathrobe from the closet. Between the quintessence, the painkillers, and the hot bath, Dew is ready to crash. Aether guides him on wobbly legs to the bed, helping him lay face down into the pillows. From his prone position, Dew wriggles his shoulder.

“Feels better now,” Dew slurs, eyelids fluttering closed. “Can move it now n’everything.” He moves his shoulder in another little circle to demonstrate.

Aether chuckles. He loves to see Dew like this, blissed out and sleepy, he just wishes it were under different circumstances. Aether feels exhaustion pulling on him as well, between the crash of adrenaline after Dew’s injury and the copious amounts of quintessence he pumped into the little fire ghoul, his body is feeling beat. He’ll need rest soon, too.

But first, he climbs onto the bed and straddles Dew’s hips, careful not to press down too hard or to knock into his arm.

“Backrub?” Dew asks, eyes still closed and face pressed into the pillows.

“Backrub,” Aether confirms, leaning in to run his palms up Dew’s back, letting another dose of quintessence bleed from his fingertips into the fire ghoul’s soft skin, paying special attention to his injured shoulder. He massages Dew’s back until the little ghoul is half asleep and purring into the sheets.

Two days later, and they’re back on the road, en route to the next venue, Dew feeling better and set to shred once again, under the caveat that he doesn’t overdo it just yet. Aether has appointed himself Dew’s own personal masseuse. Now, after every ritual, Dew gets a nice, long, quintessence-infused shoulder rub.

Dew is happy to let Aether fuss over him, just this once.

Mushy May Day 14: "Shut Up, I'm Taking Care Of You"

Mountain makes Cumulus tea when she's coming down with a bug.

Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together, and thank you to @ghuleh-recs for making dividers for us <3

Another bonus prompt today!

It's early, sky starting to shift from black to blue, the promise of a new day. Mountain pads into the kitchen, having already been up for a while, still. There's a basket of vegetables fresh harvested from the greenhouse tucked under his arm. He heads to the sink, washing them before setting them aside to dry.

Mountain whips to face the door when he hears a hacking, wet cough behind him. He thought he was the only ghoul awake, sun just barely beginning to peek out from over the horizon, but he was wrong. As he turns, he finds Cumulus, hair tied back and deep circles under her eyes.

"Hey, hummingbird," he says cautiously, shutting off the sink. "What're you doing up so early?"

She shrugs with one shoulder, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. "Couldn't sleep." Her voice is stuffy, and she sounds miserable.

Mountain hums, taking the kettle off of its element and filling it with water. "You don't sound so good, Cue. I know you don't like tea that much, but it might make you feel better."

She mumbles something under her breath, coughing again, before sitting at the kitchen table, covering her face with her hands.

"What was that?" Mountain asks, not turning to face her as he sets the kettle to boil, digging through one of the cabinets for a specific jar of loose leaf tea, one of his own blends.

"Said you don't need to stop what you're doing to make tea, Mount. You know I prefer-" She freezes as Mountain peers over his shoulder, an emerald green eye meeting hers, eyebrow raised

"Maybe I wanted tea," he teases, grabbing mugs and the diffusers he likes to use. "No, but seriously, hummingbird, I love you. You sound like shit. Let me make you a cup."

"Mount-"

"Cumulus, shut up, I'm taking care of you," Mountain interjects, firmly but kindly. "Let me make you tea, it sounds like your throat hurts something awful."

"It does," Cumulus sighs, slumping exhausted into the kitchen chair. "I think it's why I couldn't sleep." She coughs with a wince. Mountain nods, reaching for one of the honey jars.

"I'd imagine," Mountain says, humming low in his throat in sympathy as he spoons the tea leaves and herbs into one of the diffusers. The kettle whistles, and Cumulus jolts in her chair, laughing weakly at herself for startling. Mountain takes it off of the element, pouring the boiling water into Cumulus's favorite mug and leaving it to steep.

"Now, I'm no Aether," he says, bringing the mug over to the kitchen table, setting it in front of her. "But I think breathing in the steam while it steeps might help some."

"Thank you, Mounty." Cumulus carefully takes the mug, the long sleeves of her sleep shirt pulled up over her hands as a makeshift potholder. She takes as deep a breath through her nose that her sinuses will allow, eyes flickering shut as she smells the ginger and peppermint of this particular blend.

He pours water into his own mug, his preferred green tea in his. He lets it steep, watching Cumulus fondly as she sticks her face closer to the steam. "Of course, hummingbird. Once that steeps, I'll put some honey in it. Know you like it sweet." He hipchecks her chair gently, boyishly grinning ear to ear.

"Mount," she whines, still stuffy but she's laughing, and that's all Mountain could ask for.

"Is the steam helping?" Mountain says, eyes glancing at the clock on the stove, keeping track of how long their teas have been steeping. He rummages through one of the drawers for a spoon, opening the jar of honey.

"Think so," Cumulus says. "Though it's fogging up my glasses something awful."

"Yeah, makes you look real dorky," he says, carefully taking the mug from her and pulling out the diffuser. He stirs in a large spoonful of honey and passes her the mug back.

"Mount." She laughs, blowing softly at the mug, and Mountain can feel the tingle in the base of his skull that means she's using her magick to cool it. Cumulus takes a long sip, shutting her eyes. "Thank you."

Mountain smiles a little wider as he takes a sip from his own mug. "Any time, hummingbird."

I have Ghost tickets for Kansas City, so yeah, I'm actually quite happy.

Prompt #1134

"Are you happy?"

"Fuck. I actually think I am."

if i may request raindrop for day 25? 👉👈

Mushy May '24 Day 25: Sharing a secret comfort item

WC: 540

Relationship: Rain/Dewdrop

Notes: Maybe not fitting the prompt perfectly but idccc, I love newly summoned fish and still water idiot being awkward <3

Read under the cut or on AO3.

Rain does not like it.

He was summoned around two days ago and he’s in misery for no explainable reason. He’s cold and his skin feels wrong and he is really so close to sneaking out through the window—if he’d manage to figure out how it works—finding the closest body of water and hiding in there unless someone would haul him out.

He doesn’t know what’s wrong and he doesn’t feel comfortable asking anyone for help. He’s just met them, he can’t.

So Rain huffs and wraps himself up in a blanket that neither warms him up enough, nor feels good against his oversensitive skin.

He whines and grumbles to himself, tossing and turning in something that’s supposed to be his new nest, but it’s nowhere close to being a cozy one made of rocks and seaweeds that he’s used to.

The water ghoul jumps when he hears a tapping sound on…the door, he thinks. He has no idea what the purpose is and it hurts his ears a little, but it soon stops and the door opens. One of the ghoul’s he knows is his pack now peeks his head in, a shy smile on his pretty face. “Hi!”

“Hello,” Rain answered quietly, hiding behind the covers.

“Dunno if you remember, I’m–” the other ghoul starts, coming fully into the room and shutting the door behind him.

“Dewdrop,” the water ghoul finishes for him. He does remember, Dewdrop caught his eye immediately. “You’re also a water ghoul.”

“That I am,” he confirms. He carries something in his arms, a big bundle. “Freshwater.”

“I like salt,” Rain blurts out. “I mean…I’m–uh, I’m saltwater.”

Dewdrop giggles, but the new ghoul doesn’t take offense. His laugh sounds nice. 

“Anyway, I brought you something. Sorry it took me a few days, I wanted to wash it first.” Rain perks up, cocking his head to the side as Dewdrop outstretches his arms to drop the bundle into the other’s lap. He looks down at it with slight confusion and Dewdrop clears his throat, “It’s a blanket. It’s different from what you have there, it’s…more water ghoul friendly. It's special, actually, made for water ghouls, I got it when I got summoned from an older one. It's bigger, softer, and warmer, I know how the normal stuff feels and I’m sorry you had to deal with it.”

“Huh,” Rain replies intelligently. He reaches a hand out to touch the bundle and it is, indeed, so soft he lets out a gasp when he feels it. His eyes light up—his entire face does—and he shuffles around trying to get comfortable. It’s a big blanket, though, and he’s very clumsy out of the water, so he gets…well, trapped, essentially.

“Oh, uhm…lemme–” Dewdrop comes closer and—rather awkwardly—helps Rain untangle himself from the blanket and get under it properly. He puts the other comforters that the new water ghoul got over him to add warmth and only when he pulls away he notices that Rain started purring. It sounds a bit weird, the ghoul obviously not used to doing it out of water, but Dewdrop quickly realizes he absolutely adores it.

When Rain thanks him and snuggles further into the blanket Dewdrop realizes he absolutely adores him.

Mushy may prompt list by the wonderful @forlorn-crows

Divider by the lovely @ghuleh-recs

(also if you haven't checked out @autumnblooms art, you should! Their Phantom/Aeon/bug is always the way I picture him in my head 🖤🖤🖤)

Day 15: painting on each other. Swiss/Aeon

Swiss sits back, glancing down at the bare expanse of Aeon's back. He's settled across the back of his thighs, the Quint stripped down to nothing, the warm spring sun peeking through the curtains, wanting a chance to taste the nighttime sky for himself.

Swiss dips his finger into the gold paint beside him, shifting his hips to reach the base of Aeon's neck, the little starburst mark that trickles down into galaxies. Swiss knows them all, has traced every single inch of him, had tasted each one.

He watches Aeon smile when he touches him, when he paints down along his spine, leaving the knobby path to the side, to trail over a light patch, to add color, his color, to Aeon's body.

Swiss bites his lip when he thinks about it, how he likes to believe Lucifer left spots blank on Aeon simply so Swiss could fill the space, so he could blend into him, to mark him as his, a claim so beautiful it belonged in a museum.

He traces his lightning, the electric storm that surges through his veins, decorates the midnight sky of Aeons back, bolts of lightning to bring out the starlight freckles. He weaves delicate trails like his smoke, little wisps to curl around and connect the constellations.

Aeon glances back over his shoulder, a little smirk pulling at his lips. "I'm chilly."

He knows he's not, knows he's burning hot but he's hungry for touch and Swiss would never deny a request from Aeon's lips. He presses forward, plants his chest against Aeon's back, the still wet paint smearing between them, two canvases making one masterpiece.

"Better?" He kisses his shoulder, tastes gold paint and lightning and starlight and Aeon.

He wiggles until Swiss let's him turn over, until they are chest to chest, neither caring about the paint on the sheets. It doesn't matter when Aeon can feel Swiss' heart against his, when he can feel each breath add a little more color to his skin. He glances down, looks along the line of the bodies pressed together, the way the paint looks on him versus how it looks on Swiss.

Colors, their colors, blended and beautiful, swirling together like the knots that weave their souls.

He smiles and kisses him, watches color flood Swiss cheeks, watches the gold of his eyes fill with fire.

"I am now."

Why be such a tease?

Papa Emeritus IV finally takes a Prime Mover.

As with all Prime Movers, they are to dress in a black habit, a wimple with two points to represent the devil's horns, and a black opaque veil.

His Prime Mover is seen everywhere with him, though by tradition, he is only affectionate with them in private. The most he does is hold their hand in public, or rest his hand on their back.

Little does the Clergy know that Copia's Prime Mover is actually a ghoul.

"Absolution" recorded live in Los Angeles was released along with the movie trailer. Pre-order full soundtrack here.