Why Are You As An Adult Open-mouth Coughing All Over The Place

I mean the veil is on a separate layer so I might as well show this to u guys…mountain’s little Romeo

Does baby Dew ever get his languages mixed up at all? I love that he knows them all but I just wonder if when he's little he can't really get them out right?

Very quick short little thing!

Cw: sick baby Dew

Dew had fussed all night, warm with a fever and uncomfy. Mountain had stayed up with him, pacing the halls or rocking in a rocking chair, swaddling him or leaving him in just his thin jammies…

But nothing worked.

His little cheeks were red and he was obviously exhausted but he couldn't sleep.

He kisses the top of his head as the sun rises, waiting for anyone to come take the baby so he can shut his eyes for a little while. Swiss answers the group chat first, letting Mountain know he's on his way.

“Swiss is coming, honeybee.”

“Duele…” More tears gather in his eyes. (Hurts)

Mountain cocks his head. “I don't know what that means, I'm sorry.”

Dew sniffles, rubbing his eyes and pressing his ear closer to Mountain's chest, whimpering and sniffling.

Swiss knocks once before quietly entering the room, eyes soft when he spots Mountain still standing and swaying with the baby.

Dew reaches his arms out and snuggles up under his neck as soon as Swiss takes him.

“He's still warm and hasn't slept.” Mountain squeezes the back of his neck, groaning at the tension.

Swiss kisses him quickly. “Get some sleep, Mount.”

Swiss carries Dew down the hall to his room, humming as he walks. Dew squirms against him, clearly uncomfortable and Swiss wishes he could read his mind.

He gets his record player going, hoping the music will help him settle a bit but his little face is still twisted and red, dry tears on his cheeks.

“Fa male. Brutto…” His voice is weak, exhausted and the words are jumbled and slurred, still mostly babbling but Swiss knows he's trying to say something. (Hurts bad)

“What was that, amor?”

But he doesn't repeat it, his lower lip wobbles and he cries again, twisting his head and pressing tight against Swiss' chest. He sighs and bounces him gently, hating that he can't just help him.

He keeps him close, singing and bouncing him until Phantom runs into his room with their jacket on.

“Are y-you ready?”

“Oh bug I'm sorry, I forgot!” He had promised the little quint they'd go on a walk on a rainy day so they could splash in puddles.

“Oh…s’ok…”

“No, give me just a second. I promised I just forgot. Dew doesn't feel well so I was just a little distracted. Let me text Rain real quick ok?”

Swiss lays the baby on the bed, keeping his hand pressed against his little chest. Phantom climbs up beside him, frowning at Dew's sad eyes.

“D-don’t be s-sad Dew!”

Dew sniffles. “Ant…”

The little quint cocks their head, trying to focus on why Dew's upset but it's hard to control their magic when their little.

“Ok mi amor, Rain's going to look after you for a bit.”

“Mor.”

“Yeah, he's on his way.” He smiles and kisses his forehead.

Phantom manages to pull a tiny smile from the baby before Rain shows up. Dew's little fingers are curled around two of Phantom's, holding onto them while they talk just to distract him from his discomfort.

He turns as soon as he realizes Rain is there, sleepily reaching out. His eyes are red and puffy and Rain scoops him up quickly, holding him close and rubbing his back.

“He's still fussy.” Swiss lets him know as he adjusts the baby in his arms.

He presses his warm little face against Rain's cool neck. “Mor…tut weh.” (Hurts)

Rain glances at Swiss who just shrugs. “He's been saying stuff but it's nothing I can recognize.”

He nods and kisses the top of Dew's head, saying goodbye to Swiss and Phantom. He shushes the baby softly when he whimpers as they are walking, humming until he settles a bit.

Rain rocks him in the chair for a while, hoping the gentle motions will ease him into sleep. He's quiet for a bit before he cries again, big tears rolling down his cheeks as he presses his ear tight against Rain's chest, his little fingers clawing at Rain's shirt.

He pulls out his phone and texts Aether, getting an almost immediate response to bring Dew down to him.

“We are going to go see Aether, amour.”

Dew sniffles, blinking his big sad eyes up at Rain. “Daidí…”

“Yeah baby, we're going to go see him.” He promises as he stands from the chair, patting Dew's back as they leave the room to go to the infirmary.

Aether is waiting by the door when they make it down and Dew reaches for him as soon as he sees him.

“Daidí.”

Aether holds him tight. “Dia duit mo ghrá.” (Hi my love)

Dew fusses again. “Gortaítear…” (hurts)

“What hurts?”

Rain flinches just slightly. “He was trying to tell us that…” He shakes his head and rests his hand on the baby's back. “I'm so sorry, Mon amour, I didn't know what you were saying.”

Aether touches his shoulder. “It's ok, Rain.”

They get Dew in one of the rooms and Aether lets his magic work, seeking out the pain to soothe it, finding an ear infection. He keeps the pain down and eases back the fever.

His eyes brighten as soon as the pain fades. Rain relaxes when Dew claps his hands.

“That's better, hm?” Aether smiles, wiping Dews face with his sleeve, brushing the remaining tears away.

He points at his ear. “Ow…bad ow!”

“I know, I'm sorry. But it'll be better now.”

Rain sits beside them in the bed, shaking his head fondly. “You've got too many languages in that little head of yours.”

Dew just giggles, clapping his hands again. They chat for a while, letting Dew relax with Aether until sleep finally starts to catch up to him. He rubs his eyes, snuggling closer into Aether.

“I've got to get back to work, firefly.” He kisses his forehead. “If he starts fussing again, text me, I'll come up to see him.”

“Thanks Aeth.” Rain leans against him for a moment before picking Dew up carefully, smiling when his sleepy eyes find his for a second before closing again.

He carries him back to his room and settles on the bed with Dew up on his chest now soundly sleeping. He texts the group to let them know, sending a picture of the sleeping baby along with it before he lays his hands on Dew's back and shuts his eyes, focusing on the rumbly little purr in Dew's chest.

New hc just dropped: Kevin summons all the ghouls

Here's my two cents on that whole issue about Per. I've been a Ghost Fan for roughly 2 years now. Some things may be new to me and stuff but let me just say a few things about the whole controversy concerning Per Eriksson. First of all, all these twitter threads dragging Per through the mud are unreasonable. I feel like all of you wish to interpret more into something that is not really a problem. Let me remind you that he has been rarely active on social media up until recently, from what I have grasped. I also think that in the past few months there has been a huge increase in forcing people to state their stance on certain topics, mainly political topics. I am aware of the fact that it is important to raise awareness to the pain of defenceless and vulnerable people, even better so if you are a public person. BUT. From my point of view, Per seems to be somewhat of a "shy" and maybe also a cautious person (hence why he is not that active on social media), even though it may be not the appropriate terms to describe him. Him not actively stating he is against a war does not mean he does not care about what's going on. Please realise that there are people indeed who do not want to mix their music and band stuff with political issues. Per is not a politician to owe you a statement regarding anything. If he wants to speak out, he is gonna do it but do not force him to do that. I feel like people want to interpret things that are actually unsaid as something worse than death. I also get that there a controversies surrounding his girlfriend. I've heard about the allegations against her and I do hope Per knows what is best for him. People tend to forget he is a grown man who is capable of deciding for himself. And we should all respect his decisions ,at least, if we cannot respect the privacy of his.

I haven't watched the whole live stream only a few snippets, but from what I've seen is that Per seems to be a soft spoken, friendly being who wouldn't hit a fly with the newspapers.

Again, it's just my take on this whole situation. I am neither defending someone nor do i pass a harsh judgement upon someone I actually do not know.

Enjoy the music and stay friendly.

Light a Candle or Curse the Darkness

Part One

In the end, what would be your choice? The summer tour of 2005 does not go as planned.

Warnings: This is not Porn. It is probably not Crack. Hell, it is not even close to an over-the-counter, off brand Ibuprofen. And it ain’t all sunshine and kittens. Oh, yeah, language.

Disclaimer: This is so far out in the AU field that you can’t see it with a telescope. I have never met any member of Duran Duran and I don’t speak English. Well, that would be English English. So, if it seems a little Americanized that is why.

~~*~~

June 21st.

A Day that will never be forgotten.

In less than twenty-four hours life on Earth, as it was known, forever was changed. They had come, without warning, from the far reaches of space. I know, it sounds like a cheesy opening line from a bad Sci-Fi novel or something from Star Trek or one of those movies that the kids had liked to watch. Oh, how I wish it had been a Star Trek episode. Or even one of those Hollywood movies where the hero always saves the day before the total annihilation of the planet. Maybe then Captain Kirk and his merry band could have saved the day. Hell, I would have even settled for Will Smith. But, tragically, no one came to our rescue. The sheer power and technology of these creatures ended whatever defensive measures the nations might have used before there was even a chance. In an instant, every single major city in the world was wiped from the map. Rome. New York. Los Angles. Paris. Moscow. Washington. Beijing. Tokyo. London. All of them. There were no negotiations, no chance of surrender. Millions of souls gone in seconds.

Sometimes I think they were the lucky ones.

Don’t get me wrong, it took several weeks for them to completely dominate the planet, and there was a resistance movement. But in the end, nothing that was done to repel the invaders worked.

June 21st.

The day I and, others ceased to be. Ceased to be individuals. Ceased to be free. That day was the day that whoever had survived their initial attack would forever be known by only a barcode and a number. Me? My number was 7609. Ironic, is it not?

You want to run but there’s no space at all… La la la late bar…

Not some of the most brilliant of our lyrics but still…

Ah, my mind wanders. If I am going to tell this tale, then let me attempt to start somewhere near the beginning…

~~**~~

The first day of summer was spent like so many others, touring. You see, we were in a band, musicians, and we were on a crazy schedule of two months on and two months off. This just happened to be our time on the road and for once we were all traveling together. Everyone’s families and significant others had returned several days before to wherever it was, they had called home, and the feeling of nostalgia had hit us hard. And hard hit was we: someone had the brilliant idea of traveling to the next city, like in the old days, by bus. A tour bus, for God’s sake. A damn tour bus. I don’t know if I should feel thankful about that or not. If we had traveled by airplane, as was the norm, we…I…would most likely not be here now.

Maybe if we had been in an airplane when they had come, we would have escaped the Hell that was to follow. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. That is all there seems to be now days. That, and ‘what if’?

I don’t even really remember where we were when it happened. I think Andy had called it, ‘Somewhere in the Middle of Bloody Fuckin’ Nowhere.’ Andy. He always had a mouth on him. I can’t even begin to remember how many times when we were younger that mouth of his almost got us into trouble or almost cost us a gig. Right now, I would give anything to hear one of the many flamboyant curses that had always seemed to slip so effortlessly from between his lips.

Almost everyone had been sleeping when the bus suddenly stopped. I am pretty sure that several people hit the floor at the sudden stop. Bumps and bruises all around. Later we had learned that they had used what was basically a short-termed EMP pulse in the opening salvo of the attack. Not too terribly high tech for them, but still effective.

I won’t bore you with the details that followed. Won’t bore you with how we saw to any injuries we might have had after we picked ourselves up from the floor of that damned bus. I won’t tell you of the confusion that was present on so many of the faces of the other stranded travelers. I won’t tell you how we decided to leave the interstate. The details of how we wandered the countryside with some of the others from the road, lost, looking for help, are not so important now. I will not tell of how we wandered for a few days before being picked up by them. Okay, so we got lost. We were a pop group not a bunch of bloody Boy Scouts.

Why do you ask that I bore you with such details? Time. Plain and simple, time. I seem to have run out of it; something is happening. They have been moving troops and equipment off the planet; all the while, methodically clearing the barracks, block by block. Guess whose is next.

There are other things that need to be told in this telling.

Jesus.

Where do I start?

I would tell you their name if I could spell it, hell, I can’t even pronounce it. Even after all this time.

Like a nightmare come true, they came from the sky. Imagine our surprise. No one thought to run, so dumbstruck we were. There really was nowhere to run to. We stood there with our mouths open, as we caught the first sight of proof that we were not alone in the universe.

That's how I feel

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Aether and Rain are disgustingly affectionate but they don't make it anyone else's problem. Because Rain would rather die than have others know they're like this.

Under the cut: Stupid couple baby talk the morning after a heat. Rain's graphic memories but it isn't mixed with the baby talk. Not intended to be age regression. Just them being doofuses.

Rain wakes up with a deep, content peace and knows his heat is over.

Aether had played his role as stud well. He’d wrestled Rain into submission without any of his damn quintessence powers, forcing him to submit with sheer strength alone. Didn't even let up so Rain could strip naked, only pierced the fabric of his shorts with a claw and tore a neat line down the seam, exposing his hole, already dripping for Aether's cock.  He’d pinned Rain's knees between his own, had Rain’s hands trapped in one of his own while the other scraped his claws across Rain's scalp. Palm tight to his skull before his fingers curled and Aether dragged Rain into a severe arch with his grip on his hair as he bullied his way inside, giving Rain the whole slide of his cock at once. Rain had sobbed, genuinely sobbed when the blunt head pushed up against the entrance to his brood chamber, sensitive and desperate to take in all the cum Aether had waiting for Rain in the heavy balls that slapped his thighs with every brutal thrust.

The rest of his memories were static, only flashes surfacing if Rain concentrates; he’d begged until his voice was hoarse, Aether grinding his face into the pillow to get him to shut up so he could focus. A firm grip on his hips that surely left bruises.  Orgasm after orgasm until he was jelly underneath the cruel beast still driving his hips mercilessly into Rain. Finally being let go so he could wiggle away, gasping and panting only for Aether to drag him back on his cock so he could cum inside with a deep, possessive snarl. 

All that seems so distant now, with Aether next to him deep in slumber. Still large, still a force to be reckoned with but his expression is peaceful and he's drooling on Rain's silk pillowcase. He studies the other ghoul, counting the faint freckles on his nose and forehead. The wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, eyes that had seemed to paralyze Rain with their intensity as he struggled. Out of curiosity, he reaches back and thumbs an eyelid up to expose the white and a half-moon of iris where it's rolled up in Aether's skull. He lets the delicate skin slide back into place, satisfied and deeply amused.

It's the kiss that wakes him, like Sleeping Beauty, when Rain presses his cool lips to Aether's forehead. He snuffles and closes his mouth, blinking open his bleary and unfocused eyes as Rain watches him.

“Want to get breakfast?” Rain asks. He has no idea what time it is but he doesn't want to be alone yet, this last phase of his heat still stubbornly clinging to him.

“Wanna stay here…” Aether slurs, words blending together in his exhaustion. “Wi’ m’Rainy baby…"

“Big guy still shweepy?” Rain can't help himself. Something about Aether being so cheesy like this does things that kill all his braincells and turns him into some cooing idiot.

“So shweepy…” Aether sighs, burrowing into the pillow. “...shweepiest big guy ever.”

“Aww…” Rain murmurs and throws an arm over Aether's shoulder, scratching the back of his neck as he plants a kiss on the tip of his nose. “My poor big guy.”

Aether starts to rumble in pleasure as Rain scratches him, leg shaking under the blanket like a dog’s. Rain moves to kiss him on the mouth and Aether pants into it, groaning in delight and pulling Rain in close.

“My big guy like that?” Rain asks, when Aether turns away from the kiss to breath.  He pets softly over the nape of his neck, brushes his lips over Aether's cheek. “Huh? My big guys like his scratches?”

“Yeah,” Aether says with a chuckle as he stretches. “Yeah, your big guy likes his scratches.”

“Oh, big stretch.” Rain says in the same dopey tone as Aether groans and moves, popping several joints as he does. “Big stretch.”

“Big stretch.” Aether echoes, and flops back down. “Fuck, babe. ‘m starving. You want snackies?”

“Always down for snackies.” Rain replies.  “Little snackies? Big snackies?”

“Big snackies for your big guy.”

“Biiig snackies for my biiig guy.”

If any of the others overheard the both of them talking like this, Rain thinks he would kill them. And then himself. He’d never stop though. Not when it makes Aether smile like that, at their own ridiculousness. Aether squeezes him in one last bear hug before reluctantly sitting up, sheets falling away from his body. Rain bites back the next bit of idiocy to come out of his mouth but doesn't resist grabbing at Aether's now exposed belly and tickling him. Aether yelps and slaps his hand away, tries to roll off the bed but only tangles himself in the sheets and goes down just about as hard as Rain did last night.

“Oh fuck!” Rain pushes himself up, trying to catch a glimpse of Aether on the floor. “You good?”

Aether groans.

“Owie…” he says quietly. “Rainy, baby… need kissies to make my head feel better.”

Rain pauses, then smiles despite himself.

“Kissies are on their way, big guy.” He says, and can't hide the chuckle when he hears a tired and subdued sounding yay in response.

________

“Waffles?” Rain guesses as he guides his poor, bruised quintessence ghoul down the hallway to the kitchen. Aether’s got a cooling gel eyemask clamped to his head in lieu of an actual icepack. Rain’s going to make it up to him. “Bacon? Pop tarts?”

“All of it.” Aether mutters, cracking an eye open to peek at Rain. “Please, Rainy?”

“Alright, alright.” he says fondly. “Whatever my big guy wants.”

He guides Aether (now limping for some reason, like he can't bear to do anything without Rain helping him, like Rain doesn't have a twang in his hips from Aether's dick) to the breakfast nook and gets him settled. Aether slumps over exaggeratedly, bemoaning his fate.

“You want some juice?” Rain asks. “Coffee?”

“Orange juice.” Aether whimpers, sounding truly pathetic. You’d think he was on his death bed. Rain kisses his temple and fetches the cup of juice without any complaints, even giving Aether an extra long straw to sip from in case he was simply too weary to lift up his thick skull.

“Belgian waffles, all the fixings?”

“Yes please.”

Contrary to popular belief, Rain can do things for himself. It's just that it's so much easier to get someone else to do it for him. But still, he's selfish. He doesn't want to share Aether with anyone yet, still feeling possessive in the lingering haze of his heat. He gets the box of pre-made out, adds the liquids and the eggs and finagles the waffle iron out of its cupboard cave, where it lives underneath Mountain’s favorite wok. He knows Aether's watching him, so he puts an extra sway in his hips and hums a little tune while he gets everything going.

“You're so pretty.” Aether says, propping his head on his elbow. Watching Rain pour the batter in and close the lid. “Why’re you so pretty, Rainy baby?”

“Sweet talker.” Rain says. “My big guy want sprinkles and frosting?”

“Big guy would love sprinkles and frosting, baby.”

The timer dings and Rain goes through the motions again until he's got a healthy stack of waffles for both of them. He sets the plate in front of Aether, nabs the frosting and sprinkles from their spots and sits down just as Swiss comes sidling in.

“Hey man.” Aether says in his normal voice and Rain bites his lower lip to hide his laugh. “Sup?”

“S’good, s’good,” Swiss says, opening the fridge to rummage through it. “Princess want waffles?”

Aether shoots Rain a glance. Rain’s too busy laughing, tears stinging his eyes as he hides his face in his hands.

“Yeah dude.” Aether said. “What Princess wants, Princess gets. You know how he is.”

“My man.” Swiss says, coming up with a monster energy drink. He passes by their table to give Aether a fistbump. “Rain, go easy on this guy, yeah? He's a softie, y’know. Needs someone to take care of him too.”

“I had no idea.” Rain says, struggling to keep his voice steady. He clears his throat. “Thanks Swiss.”

“No problem! Practice at noon, kay?” he gives them a salute and cracks the tab of his drink, licking up the foam as it spills out.

“Yup.”

“Uh-huh."

They wait until he leaves. Aether looks at Rain. Rain looks at Aether.

“Does my big guy like his waffles?” He whispers.

“Fuck yeah.” Aether says, picking up a fork and a knife to tear into his breakfast.  “Your big guy likes his waffles, Rainy baby.”

They don't even make it five seconds before bursting into laughter.

Ficlet requests, well don't mind if I do. Could you possibly gift us any thoughts on Aether and Mountain's first kiss?

oh. oh. im in my big boy feels, abs. how could you do this. ohhhh noooo. it would be so sweet i just know it. i can think of about ten different ways it could happen, but they all turn out so mushy and soft and UGH. them. they are so special to me. AND to each other.

things get a little rough from time to time for mount after the first few months topside, but leave it to aether to know just how to help <3

Mountain grunts in frustration, sending two halves of another broken stick tumbling down the riser steps. 

Fuck, he mutters, his infernal tongue slipping out. He scrubs his face with his sore hands, cursing the Dark One for fating him to play instruments. He can’t get these fills right; his simple rhythms are starting to falter, too, with the exhaustion of playing the same songs over and over and over.

He’s tired. Overwhelmed. Calluses newly formed on the palms of his hands screaming at him to stop. Zephyr had assured him—multiple times—he’s doing just fine, holding his own. But right now it sure doesn’t feel like it.

A boisterous chuckle sounds from behind the door before it opens, Aether stepping into the practice room. Mountain’s face burns with the desire to resist his perception, to go unnoticed.To sulk in private. 

“Oh! Hey, Mount; didn’t realize . . .” He takes stock of the broken drumsticks littered in front of his kit and the droop in the earth ghoul’s shoulders. “Hey,” he says softer, walking across the space. His grin turns to a concerned frown. “Everything okay?”

Mountain avoids his eyes. He makes a noncommittal noise, raising his shoulders in an unconvincing shrug. Stubborn. He knows he is. It’s not like Aether has ever given him any trouble; quite the opposite. He’s kind, jovial, gets along with everyone. Doesn’t prod Mountain to interact with the rest of the pact when he senses his need for alone time. 

He’s thankful for that in the whirlwind of the past few months. He is. Unfortunately, Mountain would rather crawl into a hole lest he burst into angry tears in front of his packmate. 

“Mount?” Aether’s voice is so gentle. He steps carefully up to his level, still keeping respectful distance. He fiddles with the rings on one hand, face equally hopeful and worried. 

“I can leave, if you wanna practice,” Mountain mumbles, avoiding the question. 

“You don’t have to do that. But. Wanna make sure you’re okay first.”

Mountain takes a shaky breath. Fighting against the shyness that threatens to make him go mute. “Just . . .” He nudges the edge of his kick pedal with his socked foot. “Hard time.”

Aether hums and nods. “Sound good though. Promise.” There’s that smile again, genuine and wide. 

A sad grin tugs at Mountain’s mouth as he nods a silent thanks. There’s a pause. A moment where the earth ghoul doesn’t know if he should say something or clumsily go back to his confidence-shattering practice session. Aether visibly brightens before he can do either.

“I’ve got something that might help, if you’d like.”

Mountain laughs pitifully. “Yeah?”

He nods, already bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Nothing crazy, I swear.” Aether’s already bounding down the steps by the end of his sentence. He walks backwards towards the door, hand outstretched to point towards Mountain. “Just stay there! I’ll be right back.” He turns and leaves the room just as quickly as he came, shutting the door behind him. Mountain can hear the thudding of his eager footsteps echo down the hall, fading away as he disappears back into the abbey. 

Mountain smiles softly to himself. Always helping, that quintessence ghoul. He pulls another drumstick from the caddy and flicks it back and forth between his hands, too curious of Aether’s plans to go back to practicing. 

He only has to wait at most ten minutes before the door’s opening again, albeit much more slowly and more creaky than before. Aether’s back emerges before the rest of him, and when he turns around, he’s brandishing two tall mugs, steam billowing out of the holes in the lidded tops.

“I’m back!” he says cheerily, as if it weren’t obvious. “Something to soothe the infernal soul.” The quintessence ghoul returns to his spot as before and holds out the mug to Mountain. A waft of orange, cinnamon, and vanilla hits his nostrils, piquing his interest and perking his droopy ears. 

“Ah, thought you might like that,” Aether lilts, handing him the mug. “Careful though, still hot.”

Mountain trills at the warmth of the mug and the warmth of the scent rising from it. The mug is thick, shielding most of the heat away from his hands while still allowing some of it to warm the ceramic evenly. He closes his eyes, sighing heavily as it starts to soothe his aching palms. 

“Rest a little bit. You deserve it.” Aether pats his shoulder. “I’m gonna tune up. Let me know if there’s anything we can work on together.”

The sound of him turning on his heel to relocate to his respective station snaps Mountain out of his momentary zen. His hand shoots out to grab Aether by the forearm, pulling him back towards himself.

“Wait,” Mountain says hastily. Aether looks at him expectantly, glancing briefly at the place his hand wraps around his arm. The earth ghoul stares back, wide-eyed and searching for something he can’t name. His heart beats once, twice, three times. And just as Aether’s about to open his mouth and breathe what, before he even really realizes what he’s doing, Mountain rises up just far enough off his stool and closes the distance between them, giving him the quickest, chastest of kisses. 

Mountain freezes just inches from Aether’s face, a classic deer in the headlights. Aether stares back, mouth slightly parted and quirked up on one side. 

“Uh.” His face heats up in embarrassment. “Thanks,” he mumbles. 

Aether just looks at him with that silly grin, eyes sparkling and the faintest lavender blush of his own coloring his cheeks. Then he clears his throat, shakes his head almost imperceptibly. 

“You’re welcome, Mount,” he says softly, a boyish smile creeping up on his handsome features.

Mountain sits back down, hand slipping off of his arm, and he wishes the pit would open up and swallow him whole right here in the middle of the practice hall.

“Hey. C’mere.” Aether grabs his free hand gently, tugging him to stand again. “How ‘bout a real one?” He grabs Mountain’s mug and sets them both on the small table the earth ghoul has behind his kit. Then, ever so carefully—oh Lucifer—Aether cradles both sides of his face in his hands and pulls Mountain in.

His eyes flutter shut at the touch of his lips, warm despite Aether’s alignment with the void. He turns his head slightly and their mouths slot together, and Mountain can’t help the quiet, happy sigh that escapes him. The quintessence ghoul smiles against his lips and hums too. Thumbs brushing along the ridges of his freckled cheekbones. 

It’s sweet and slow, close-lipped—mouths pulling apart with soft sounds just to meet again in a languid and tender little dance. Innocent, really. But that doesn’t stop Mountain’s chest from blooming with butterflies, insides going pleasantly fuzzy. Doesn’t stop his tail from thumping against the worn carpet. His hands open and close at his sides, unconsciously resisting the urge to touch. 

He thinks if he does, he won’t be able to stop. 

Mercifully, Aether pulls away before he can turn into a mushy, weak-kneed puddle. When he opens his eyes again, the quint ghoul is looking up at him with the fondest expression, hands still cupping the sides of his face. 

“Was that okay?” Aether asks. 

Mountain blinks. “Um.” He pulls away and wipes his kiss-swollen lips with the back of his hand. “I don’t . . . think I want to practice anymore,” he mutters, slightly dazed. 

Aether stares at him, a brief flash of anxiety crossing his features. It’s replaced with relief, however, after no more than two seconds of awkward silence, laughter bursting unbidden from deep in his chest when he understands what Mountain means. The beautiful sound of it reverberates off the practice room walls and makes a home in the earth ghoul’s mind as one of the best sounds he’s heard thus far in his topside life.

their combined powers were too great. he never stood a chance. rip king.