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hello !! i tried to send a request on my fic blog but it wouldn’t let me LOL

ANYWAYS, i read ur Phantom angst w his past and starting from square 1 again and it was so heart breaking, as someone who’s had setbacks like that - i just love how you wrote everyone in that fic so much

i was wondering, and you can totally ignore this if it’s stupid, if you could write about Phantom finally coming out of that and getting better ? i’m a sucker for hurt comfort and wanna see Phantom happy and comfortable with his pack again :)

have a wonderful day/night !! 🦇

Fore sure!

You Came Back To Us. (CW) Phantom/Everyone

CW - Implications of past abuse, sa (but this is a fluff fic!)

Characters: Aether, Dewdrop, Phantom

Divider by @ wrathofrats

The quiet sound of talking bustled in the kitchen and dining room, the pack in their daily routine of getting things started. Mountain stayed at the helm directing Rain and Cirrus for what he needed to cook, Swiss helping to plate each item that was finished, Aether double checking each eating restriction and preference was correct, Dew starting the fixing of the table while just as equally quiet making sure the others made their beds and got the common room cleaned.

It was important to them that they kept their routine, not only setting the pace for that day but feeding ten ghouls was insanity and could quickly become exhausting if not separated equally. Usually, there'd be music playing and humming—but not as of recent. Their little bat who they purposely excluded from working in the mornings to sleep in was still too startled at loud noises.

It had been exactly two months since the 'reign of terror' Aurora called it, Phantom coming face-to-face with his tormentor for the last time. While it had a happy ending, the epilogue didn't. Countless nightmares, regression back to an old headspace, and just an empty look that showed of not only suffering but exhaustion. Phantom had given up completely, relying on his pack to take care of them since they no longer had the desire for anything—even living.

Of course they'd take care of him, they were their mate, their little bug they adored more than anything in this world. When Phantom first became Topside, it was always rocky for a good while, unsure how to approach this scared ghoul that cried and backed away if you dared to get near. Dew knew he didn't make it any better, but they had moved past that. It took so long for their bat to come around, showing their smile and personality, even making friendships with eventual relationships. The pack had worked so hard to influence it, once again with taking care of him.

Just because Phantom lost his progress, didn't mean they'd stop trying again. It was just a set back that with time and patience would be alright again. They'd all been there in some form of way with their own issues and addictions. So, it was important to continue on, show Phantom some normality of routine like before the reign; so that's what they did.

Sunshine had finished first, helping Aether grab each plate and set them down at respective seats. Her smile was contagious, joking under whispers which always got Aether to grab his chest as he laughed, fangs curling past his lips with joy. Aether grabbed a plate that held the design of 'Scream' and a small tumbler with 'Dracula', rolling his eyes at another terrible joke Sunshine made before he walked to a specific door. He used his foot to knock before adjusting the items and letting himself in.

Curled in the corner of his bed, Phantom stayed under the covers but his eyes open to follow Aether's movements. "Good morning cutie!" He had whispered to his successor.

Phantom stayed silent, chewing on his finger but eyes never once leaving Aether as he sat down the items and picked up the barely touched remains of dinner from last night and placed them in a container to the side.

"For your wonderfulness, you have a chicken biscuit with a jelly doughnut. Honestly, bug, I'm jealous of what you got!" Aether teased, sending a wink to the smaller quintessence. "Gonna have to tell our tree out there to make me one too."

The elder showed his palms before getting closer to Phantom, lightly running his magick through his frame, closing his eyes as he searched and felt around. "Your fever dropped, that's good... You hurting anywhere?"

He could feel Phantom rustle, shaking his head no in response. "Good, good."

As he went to move away, Phantom's hand quickly darted out to grab Aether's wrist, the two holding eye contact. "Yes, bug? What's the matter?"

It was silence, Phantom slowly closing his eyes again but his grip on Aether never faltered which made the older quint move to his knees on the floor, letting Phantom do whatever he needed to. He sent a smell of comforting pheromones and his purrs began, equally making Phantom purr in response. It was another minute before Aether felt his ear twitch, their mental link slowly connecting.

"I want a bath..."

"Okay, we can do a bath. Do you want me to get Swiss or Rory?" Aether simply hummed, not denying the smile that came over his face.

Phantom shook again subconsciously. "No, you."

So, with gentle hands, Aether peeled back the multitude of blankets that swallowed Phantom whole and gently went under his knees and back to lift them. Their head butted against his chest, claws slowly kneading on his shirt. They moved to the bathroom where he was carefully stripped, watching the tub get filled with bubbles. Their baby bat held deeper eye bags and his frame much smaller than they'd like, but he was alive. He leaned forwards against Aether who at first took his affection as a response to trauma, trying to move but that idea was replaced as Phantom kept purring and his hands went back to kneading.

Aether was positive Phantom fell asleep in the tub at least twice, once when his nails carefully raked through the different colored strands on Phantom's head, a second once his wash rag started moving in gentle circles. Aether kept whispering where he was moving even if Phantom was lost in their slumber to even hear it, the retired ghoul adjusting to get his lower half and underside so Phantom didn't have to move. He felt terrible waking the poor thing up to get dried off and in a new pair of clothes, heading back to his bed.

"There we go! One clean bat with yummy food waiting for his tummy, how about that!" Aether cooed, carefully laying him back down. A kiss was placed to Phantom's forehead, his purrs never stopping. "Do what you can today, alright? I may have also sneaked you chocolate milk instead of water this morning."

"Thank you."

Body language couldn't lie as the moment Phantom spoke, Aether's tail wagged like no other. He simply smiled with one more kiss before heading out, inhaling sharply and rubbing his misty eyes. The others were waiting patiently for Aether, looking at him with heightened curiosity.

"Sorry, tommy wanted a bath and... He spoke to me." Aether smiled wide again, watching his packs faces light up in return.

The sound of purrs and little chirps began to fill the room, Aether catching the sight of a few of their tails wagging just as much as his. He sat down next to Dewdrop, with once last glance towards the door, before bowing his head as it was Swiss' turn to lead them in prayer. With the pack joining together for a 'nema', only a single fork was picked up before the sound of a door opened.

Heads instantly turned with bodies, smiles returning as Phantom stood in his doorway with his plate and tumbler in hold. He eyed Aether who got the hint and walked over, crouching down to the bat's height and listening to their link. There was a moment of silence before Aether nodded and lifted Phantom with a carefulness as he held his items tightly. The pack assumed them to be returning back to the room, Phantom getting too overwhelmed—but to their surprise, Aether walked towards them. There was a quick rearrangement of Phantom's chair going between his and the pack leader's, Dew taking his items and welcoming him down.

"Hi there, itty bitty." Dew teased, offering his hand which Phantom took. "I'm happy to see your face."

Phantom's ear twitched before his own tiny smile joined, laying his head on Dew's chest. Dew opted out of breakfast to continue being a pillow for his mate, their tails interlinked but slowly helping Phantom sip his drink and even nibble the top part of his biscuit.

Dewdrop cocked his head as he noticed the straw being darker than normal. "Is this water?"

He eyed Aether who simply looked away. "Oh you're terrible!" He teased.

A giggle.

A giggle sounded and Dew looked down at Phantom, his cheeks a light purple and eyes scrunched as he smiled.

"Is that funny to you?" Dew questioned light-heartedly, scoffing as Phantom nodded with another laugh. "Oh you naughty bat, I can't believe you and Aether would conspire against me."

Swiss perked up, pointing his bacon at Dew while covering his mouth as he talked with food in. "Ohh, let the kid be! If I had to drink bathwater every day, I'd go crazy too!"

"Swiss, I'm positive if one of us offered our bathwater we just bathed in for you, you'd drink it like a dying man." Mountain snapped back, causing eruptions of laughter at the table, even Dew couldn't help himself.

"You guys are terrible to me!"

The fire ghoul warmed himself just a bit as he felt Phantom adjust closer, completely laying his body weight against Dew—closing his eyes and starting to knead once more. After the fact, they knew they'd retire Phantom back to his bed from using the bare energy they had, but for now, they enjoyed their tired company as Dew gently rubbed his back.

There was an unspoken agreement to continue talking at a lower tone, letting Phantom peacefully sleep for once but trying to continue their routine. Their bug twitched some before sighing in his sleep, hands gripping Dew's shirt so tightly while they let out a small trill. Dew moved his hand from Phantom's back to the dip behind his ear, slowly rubbing and watching as Phantom's shoulders released again and his purrs kicked up again.

It had been so long since the table was full and the last time anyone heard his mewl-purrs. Oh, how they all missed it so much. Dewdrop couldn't help himself as he gave Phantom's body a light squeeze, his own eyes becoming misty as he held his bat in his arms again like he had prayed and craved for.

Their collective wish had been granted.

I woke up with this in my head. Aether leaves, Dew and Mountain struggle in their own ways.

Cw: angst, hurt/comfort

He waits until it's silent, until everyone is locked away in their rooms and nothing fills the air except for his heavy, uneven breathing. He tiptoes silently, skips the spots that creak, the ones that would scream out in the silence, letting everyone know he's broken and bleeding out every single night.

He tries not to look at Dew's door as he passes. He aches for his closeness, for his understanding but he can't make himself knock to ask for it. Not when Dew still smells like grief and heartbreak, like a cauterized wound still smoking. It's still too soon, ripped open and still bleeding and Mountain refuses to add his pain to the pilar Dew's currently buried under.

He keeps his eyes down and holds his breath, praying he won't hear him crying because he knows he can't fix him, not this time.

And it's a cold steel blade, a frozen lake in his lungs because it had been them, for so long it was them. They kept each other together when the others left, willingly or ripped away by force, they still stood and had each other.

But it wasn't enough and the goodbye was unexpected and more painful than the others. He had listened to Dew beg, sobbing on his knees to try to make him stay and Mountain couldn't do anything but stand and shake and remind himself to breathe. In and out. In…..and out.

He stops at the end of the hall, glares at the closed door and wants to demand it tell him that it was a lie, just a sick joke. But it stays closed and cold and empty. He slides down to sit beside it, not daring to look inside. He can't face the barren space, the echoing lack of life between those walls.

Traces of Aether are still on the air here and he breathes them in and holds them in his lungs and hopes it's enough to keep him there, at least the memory, the quickly fading sound of his voice, his laugh…

He sobs with his head in his hands, silently breaking in the gloom of the empty hallway. He tugs his hair, his ears, trying to remind himself that he's still here despite it all, he still feels but fuck he wishes he didn't…

He creeps back to his room after he's drained, after the tears run out and his throat hurts from keeping himself quiet, there are teeth marks in his fist and maybe another piece of himself missing, left there on the floor outside of Aether's room helplessly trying to crawl under the door to find him.

Sleep doesn't come, it rarely does. He stares up into the blackness of his room until his eyes burn, trying to put a face to the shadows, trying to find little flickering lights of magic in the corners to tell himself Aether still cares, that he's still willing to offer the comfort he once had but there's nothing. Just black staring back at him.

Mountain slips outside just as the sun starts to rise, silently fleeing to the greenhouse because he's not ready to face any of them with puffy bloodshot eyes, not ready for them to know that he's broken. They need to be there for Dew, he can't take that focus away.

He works until he can't anymore, running from his thoughts until he's too tired and they catch him. He doesn't remember hitting his knees, doesn't remember dropping the watering can and soaking the earth around his knees, doesn't remember covering his face and screaming into his hands because why? Why do they always leave? Why can't he make them stay? Why?

It hurts more than there are words for, and his arms wrap around his middle like maybe he can hold himself together as he rocks back and forth, trying to remember to breathe but what's the point when each breath just tastes like loss, like lies.

He doesn't hear the door open and by the time he realizes he's not alone it's too late, he can't hide it now, too far gone to even attempt to compose himself.

“Mountain…”

Dew's voice is fractured, rough from lack of use and hardly even over a whisper but Mountain's heart jumps regardless. He doesn't turn his head, he can't, Dew will shatter if he sees just how much pain Mountain's in.

“Mountain.” And maybe it's the only word he remembers right now and maybe Mountain shouldn't feel some kind of comforted by hearing it, but he does. He still doesn't look but he can hear Dew moving to sit on the bench. “Come here.”

Dew doesn't rush him, just lets the words hang in the space between them until Mountain's able to make them make sense. He struggles with the choice, stay planted where he is, kneeling in the mud with tears still dripping down his cheeks…or turn and crawl towards something that feels like home, no matter how broken it may be.

He crawls toward home, feels each little stone in his palms as he goes and he doesn't look up, he can't and knows Dew has to understand. If anyone understands it has to be him.

Dew watches him all but drag himself across the floor and he wants to grab him, to pull and tug until he's close enough to hold but he won't, he'll wait and meet Mountain where he is. Tears well up when he's close enough to lay his head on Dew's lap, his long arms wrapped around his leg, shaking as he holds on as tight as he can.

Dew runs his fingers through his hair, blinking against the tears, hating himself for his selfishness, hating that he'd left Mountain all alone with nothing but his thoughts and fears.

“It's ok.” He hears himself say it, feels the shape of each word and wonders if he actually believes that.

Mountain doesn't. Not yet. “No it's not.”

And he doesn't argue because Mountain hurts and he's allowed to hurt, but he's still here and so is Dew. He rests his palm against Mountain's cheek, letting him feel the warmth, a reminder of a still beating heart, a reminder that he's not going anywhere, at least not without one hell of a fight.

“You're right, it's not ok.” He lifts Mountain's face gently to look at him, to lock eyes to seal his promise. “But it will be. We will be.”

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.

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.”

Copia feeling insecure about having a tummy/getting chubby as he gets older and he makes some self depreciating joke about it to Aether one day but he takes it seriously and has a conversation about it and it ends with Aether cuddling up on Copia’s stomach and telling him how much he love him and his body no matter what and the girls eventually decide to join the cuddle pile

God, this is so incredibly important to me.

---

More often than not, Copia doesn't bother looking at his reflection in the body length mirror that resides in his room.

Today is different.

He catches his reflection as he moves by. The frilly black shirt (his favorite) is always lose fiting on him. But a quick glance shows what he's been dreading.

There's extra pudge that sits on his hips. It clings to his ribs and Copia can't help the disgusted noise he makes. He's supposed to be Papa and yet here he is letting himself get fat and lazy. Well, he's never been the most fit, to be truthful. That more than likely plays a key role in it.

His eyes linger too long, and it finally ends with him frowning at his reflection.

Copia catches a glimpse of Aether in the mirror. He's stretching and then makes eye contact. "Little bird," it's a nickname he's had since his Cardinal days. If it were anyone else, Copia would complain. But it's Aether and he adores everything about the ghoul. That realization hits him like a ton of bricks. Aether is so perfect. He's big and beefy -- and Copia is...well Copia.

"About time for you to trade in your little bird for a new one, eh?" It slips out before he can stop it. He lets out a tired laugh, hand running through his hair.

"What?"

Aether is in -- shock? That can't be right.

"Si, you know." Copia waves his hand through the air. "Because I am not the young Cardinal you originally met."

"Copia --" He sees the ghoul struggling with his words. "What are you --"

"The Cardinal you originally knew did not have so much pudge in the ah -- belly area." He can't bring his eyes to meet Aether's.

"You think a little extra flab matters to me?" The ghoul is on him in an instant. A large hand cuping his face. The other pawing at the extra flesh on his stomach. He squeaks and makes to move away but Aether holds him fast. "I love every bit of you."

Finally, Copia meets his eyes and he can't help but feel horrible. There's so much love and adoration in those eyes that it makes him feel sick. Unworthy. "Ah si, but I have aged and well you have -- you have not. Surely that bothers you?"

"It bothers me that you think it should bother me." His voice is stern and Copia feels anxiety gnawing at his insides. He's about to fuck this up. "You're beautiful."

"Aether--"

A clawed hand snags his chin as he aims to look away. "I mean it. You're beautiful now and you were beautiful before your surgeries." He boops Copia's now much less pointy nose. "New button nose and all.'

Copia lets out a sigh and then caves as he falls into those large arms.

--

Aether purrs. His head is rested on Copia's tummy. The extra padding making him an excellent pillow. Poppy lies next to Papa, practically buried inside his red tracksuit coat with him. His arm losely wrapped around her. Salem lies curled up against his other side, smashed between he and Aether.

It's an incredibly domestic scene and Aether hopes -- prays, the love the three of them have for him seems into Copia's veins. Proving that he is perfect no matter what.

Would you expand on this? Pretty please 🥵🥺

Of course 👀 Sorry it took a bit to respond. Thoughts were thoughting and it kinda ran away with me into a slightly different direction and then I forgot to post before I fell asleep 😂

Context: This video.

Anyway, …incoherent spiciness of the cum play variety under the cut. 

Swiss knows the moment Aether looms over him on stage, jerking the fretboard of his guitar over him, what he really needs. What he has been missing. Why he’s lying here on the stage floor, letting himself writhe under the fleeting burn of the sparks hitting his body. The thought alone has him press the tail end of his Hagstrom into his hardening cock for a moment longer, imagination running wild, before he pulls himself to his feet like nothing happened, turning on his heels to see which side of the stage Aether went to.

 Mind made up. Plan already forming, knowing he has to act fast. Or Dewdrop gets him first.

He can’t let him have it. It’s his. 

He follows Aether with quick steps once he spots him, cuts into his path, and ushers him into the nearest empty room with a determined look that betrays his true intentions. Muttering under his breath that it wasn’t fair to tease him like this and then just walk away. That Aether should know. Ignoring the questioning noises Aether makes in response.

Swiss wastes no time to get on his knees and cup Aether’s full, heavy balls through the sweat-wet fabric of his stage pants, massaging them roughly. His mouth already dropping open at the feeling, a pleased shudder going through him. Anticipating the taste. The smell. How he’ll positively reek of Aether. He whines. 

„Aeth….“

A low, breathy chuckle comes from above him, Aether’s words reaching his ears in the same quality. “That’s how it is? Need me to match your outside with your filthy inside so bad?”

Swiss blinks, slow. His way of stopping himself from looking away. He won‘t get it if he looks away. He has to follow the rules. Then he nods.

“Please” he chokes out, unable to keep the desperation cursing through him out of his tone.  

Aether moves to brush a loc out of Swiss face, thinks about making him wait until they’re back at the hotel when Swiss turns his head just slightly and kisses Aether‘s palm so hopeful, so desperate, eyelashes already uncharacteristically damp and….He just widens his stance. He can’t. Not tonight. 

 „Take what you need, sweetheart”

And Swiss does. His hands fly to the fastenings of Aether’s pants, yanking him closer as he still holds Aether’s heated gaze. Doesn't even look away once when he finally gets them open and drags them down around his thighs, stretching his lips over the tip of that thick cock, tonguing the fat veins at the sides as he feels it fills out in his mouth. Encouraged by Aether’s groans, the hand cupping his cheek

Swiss whimpers when the taste hits, gets stronger with every drop of pre leaking steadily into his mouth. He holds him there, relishes in it, in the stretch, before he fumbles with the golden hooks of his vest,  lets it fall open, and haphazardly rips at the button tab of his dress shirt right after when it takes him too long to get them undone. Impatient and already too single-minded to care. 

He slowly lets Aether’s cock slip from his mouth, keeps jacking him, messy fingers rubbing and pressing into that sweet spot behind his balls while he inches forward until his knees find their place between Aether’s feet, close enough that any pre drips messily onto his belly. His thighs. Nothing shall be wasted.

And Swiss gets lost in the feeling, in the way Aether matches his hand’s rhythm, how he rocks forcefully down against his fingers. Intense. Generous. Giving him what he needs. What he craves. 

Feeling Aether’s balls draw up, he tips his head back and has Aether’s release spill over his chest. His hips jerk forward in abortive little thrusts as white ribbons decorate his warm brown skin. Instantly he frees one hand to smear it around, up to his collarbones and his throat. Gets it pooling on his fingertips to rub it behind his ears. Shiny stray droplets run down his belly, catching in his hair there before he reaches down to spread them with a happy sigh as well.

Aether can only watch as Swiss’ hands roam over his glistening body, eyes closed and mouth gaping, saliva spilling over the corners. Face blissfully slack, with sweet high-pitched sounds accompanying every move as he coats his skin with Aether, a sense of calm washing over him. 

Aether finally lowers himself down in front of Swiss with an elated laugh, his hand coming up to thumb a drop Swiss somehow missed over his nipple, dragging it all the way down until he reaches the waistband of Swiss pants and pops the button out of the hole.

 „Think I missed a spot.“

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.

Hyp! You said, so you shall receive! Ofcourse only if you want to do something with it but this lil shit has been rattling around my racoon brain for a bit. So, for you 🤲

Rain has the most delicate wrist’s. They’re not even the smallest in the pack, Aurora for example has teeny tiny, fingers overlap, kinda wrist’s.

No Rain’s are a contradiction of themselves, delicate and soft looking like precious porcelain but there’s strength in there too, there has to be because the bass is heavy.

His Ulna is very prominent and after he’s been playing for a few hours there’s a vein that curves around it, cradling the bone.

It’s also a terribly erogenous spot for him, Dew would know. He’s spent a hours staring, stroking his fingers over the delicate joints, imagining how he’d make Rain into a weepy little mess begging Dew to just do something, stop teasing.

Rains wrists drive Dew absolutely feral and Rain knows it.

Or something like that, idk. 🤷🏻‍♂️

this made my brain go empty for weeks but here i am and i bring food. loosely inspired by @miasmaghoul's fic on dewther watching the ghovie, hope u don't mind

does not contain any rhrn spoilers!!!

“Should’ve made you take the jacket off sooner,” Dewdrop whispers right into his ear with another slow stroke over delicate skin.

It’s stretched so thin over the bones of Rain’s wrist, keeping all the tendons and veins not hidden, but veiled nonetheless.

The water ghoul grits his teeth and digs his claws further into his own thigh. Well, not claws, considering he’s got them glamored—they’re surrounded by tens of unsuspecting humans, after all—but his blunt, perfectly trimmed nails. The same ones that are still flashing on the big screen right before them from time to time.

“I’d get to see those pretty wrists even more.”

Rain can do nothing but keep his head straight and his eyes glued to the screen. He should’ve known. He should’ve known his little mate would go absolutely feral seeing not just him in general in the cinema, but the close-ups of his hands. His wrists.

Why the delicate bones wrapped in fair skin were Dewdrop’s undoing, nobody’s ever learned, even though nobody could deny that every single part of Rain’s body is absolutely perfect. He carries the precisely carved out and yet so natural beauty of renaissance statues. For some reason, the fire ghoul’s favorite part of him is one of the unassuming ones and because of this his mate’s own body was conditioned to betray him every single time a reverent fingertip would be placed over that spot.

“Dew, you can’t–” Rain mutters when the music is loud enough to cover up his cracking voice. There’s nothing more he wants right now than for Dewdrop to go on and work him up and up until he tips over the edge, but they can't, they're in public. And the water ghoul knows he won’t be able to control himself if his mate carries on his teasing.

“Sure I can,” Dewdrop turns to smile at him and if Rain didn’t know better he’d call it genuine, sweet, innocent. The fire ghoul is all but that.

Dewdrop lets his glamor slip the tiniest bit, just enough for one of his nails to return to its natural state. He scrapes it over the middle one of Rain’s flexors, pressing it down just enough to leave a straight red line following the tendon. His skin is so delicate, it takes barely anything to leave a mark.

The thought makes the fire ghoul let out a growl.

Rain whines pathetically like a kicked puppy and throws his head back against the top of the cushioned cinema seat. Another clip focused solely on his own fretting hand flashes on the screen and the water ghoul wants to scream.

Instead he throws his free hand over his crotch, pressing down onto the steadily growing bulge to take some of the edge off. It doesn’t escape Dewdrop’s attention—just as the smell of the fire ghoul’s cunt in arousal doesn’t escape Rain’s.

He leans into his ear once again.

“It’s actually a wonder you’ve never tried putting your whole hand into me,” Dewdrop whispers, moving his claw up Rain’s forearm as he shakes in his seat. “We should try that later. Wanna see your wrist buried inside me while my slick is dripping down this pretty veiny forearm all the way to your elbow.”

The next noise the water ghoul lets out makes the entire auditorium turn their heads.

Idea: the ghouls all collectively deciding that Copia is too stressed and has been overworking himself, so they clear his schedule behind his back and force him to relax and take time for himself. Maybe with a cuddle pile at the end. :)

This is a perfect idea! Copia deserves some time off with his beloved ghouls and they will pamper the fuck out of him! He just needs a lot of convincing

Content: Weed use and some slightly spicy stuff in the end, but nothing too explicit :3 Also, some spoilers for Rite Here Rite Now

Word Count: 1856 (it turned out a lot longer than it should lol)

“Hey, Papa. Wake up. I need to show you something,” Mountain said, walking into Copia’s bedroom early one morning. 

Copia was barely awake, groaning as the ghoul opened the curtains, letting in the morning light. It was way too early.

“It’s so early, Mountain. Also, it’s Frater now. No need to call me…Papa. Let me sleep…,” he groaned, burying his face in the pillows. He didn’t want to be up. He had so much to do with his new role as head of the clergy and he wasn’t ready to face the day yet.

“You’re still Papa to us. Please, it’s important,” Mountain said, standing at the side of his bed and looming over him. Copia opened one eye, looking up at his ghoul before letting out a tired sigh.

“Just…un momento. Five minutes please,” he said, holding up four fingers. 

“Okay, Papa. I’ll wake you up soon,” Mountain said, stepping away from the bed with a knowing smile on his lips. Copia didn’t question it as he went back to sleep. 

Whatever the ghoul had planned could wait until later. He was going to have a long morning of paperwork once he had breakfast. No, he could just skip breakfast and get the work done early so he could make time for the many meetings in his schedule. 

Copia drifted in and out of consciousness until he was certain he had slept more than five minutes. He was getting a suspicious amount of sleep, but he was just so comfy and relaxed and he didn’t want to move. Too relaxed and comfortable…

“Cazzo! Mountain! How long has it been?” He exclaimed, opening his eyes and sitting upright in bed. 

The ghoul sat near the bed, scrolling away on his phone when Copia woke up. He simply smiled back at him, not looking concerned in the slightest.

“It’s been two hours, Papa. You needed the rest. Now, you get dressed in something comfortable and you can come with me,” the earth ghoul said, gesturing to his sweats that were laid out neatly next to him. 

Copia felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest with how fast it was beating. He had too many things to do and his ghoul let him sleep in of all days? This was outrageous.

“What’s the meaning of this, Mountain? Why haven't any clergy members come in asking for me?” He questioned, still not moving from the bed.

“Because you need a day off, Papa,” a voice said from next to him. 

Copia turned his head and let out an unmanly scream when he saw Swiss sitting next to him on the bed, grinning like an idiot. 

“Santa merda! When did you get here, Swiss?” He cried out, his hand going to his chest. The multi ghoul always had a habit of scaring him like that.

“I’ve been here this whole time, Papa. Gotta make sure you get some good sleep,” Swiss chimed, holding up two fingers. His eyes glowed a dark purple and Copia felt his comforting quintessence fill his mind.

He shook his head, his thoughts going to all the work he had to do now. His ghouls usually never were like this. What was going on?

“I gotta get to work,” he grumbled, getting up from the bed.

“No you’re not. We cleared your whole schedule for the day, Papa. You’re going to relax with all of us,” Swiss crowed.

Copia froze, looking from Swiss and then to Mountain who gave him a simple nod. This couldn’t be. He didn’t have time for a day off now. There was much to be done and so little time to do it. Was the rest of the ministry notified? That was all he really needed to know before accepting such an outrageous offer from his ghouls.

“Does…the rest of the clergy know that I will be taking the day off?” He asked.

“Of course! It took a lot of talking and some help from us quint users, but we managed to clear your schedule. Mountain also took care of your rats while you were asleep,” Swiss said.

Copia raised a brow at the mention of the quintessence being used on the clergy, but if they agreed to it, then it couldn’t be that bad. He sighed, looking over at his comfortable sweats. It had felt like an eternity since he last relaxed in those clothes. 

“I…guess…I will allow this once. What do you ghouls have planned?” He asked.

“Just get dressed and come with us, Papa,” Mountain said, his smile beaming.

Once Copia was dressed, his ghouls led him out of his room, through the church, and to the bath house. Copia had nearly forgotten the last time he went to the bathhouse. Most of the time, it was used by the siblings and the ghouls. 

Upon opening the bathhouse doors, excited voices filled the air when he saw his ghouls running to and fro with blankets and a huge assortment of sweet-smelling soaps and bath salts. The main bath was already ready, lavender steam rising into the air. 

The ghouls all froze when Copia stepped in, staring at him with wide eyes before they all smiled. Aurora was the first one to rush forward, giggling while holding a flower crown made from honeysuckle and lilies.

“You finally made it. Mountain said you slept in, but that gave us plenty of time to get everything ready. I made this for you, Papa,” the ghoulette chimed, standing on her tiptoes to place the flower crown on Copia’s head. He smiled and bowed his head for her, letting her place the sweet smelling crown on him.

“Thank you, mia cara. I appreciate it,” he said, turning his attention to the others who now surrounded him. Aurora chittered and rushed over to Swiss’s side who nodded at her before tousling her hair. 

“How long have you guys been planning this?” Copia questioned.

“I think it’s been over two weeks now. It was kinda hard with you being in charge and all, but we’ve seen how much you’ve been working and we wanted you to have a nice day off,” Cirrus explained, gesturing to the giant pool of water behind her. 

“So, you want me to bathe all day?” Copia chuckled. 

“Of course not, Papa. We have more planned for you once you’re done here,” Cumulus giggled.

“And are you going to tell me what you have planned?”

The ghouls chittered amongst themselves briefly before shaking their heads. Copia sighed, turning his attention to the bath. It looked incredibly inviting. It had felt like years since he took a relaxing bath like this. 

An idea soon came to him and he turned back to his ghouls who all stood at attention, eager to do whatever he pleased.

“Care to join your Papa?” He asked, taking his red hoodie off. 

“Of course! How else are we going to wash you, massage you, and take care of you?” Cirrus crowed as the rest of the pack began stripping off. 

Copia couldn’t help but stare at his magnificent ghouls, his cheeks growing warm. He grunted and tried to focus on undressing himself and once he had stripped, he stepped into the wonderfully warm bath. 

“Oh, that’s nice,” he murmured, easing into the bath and sitting down. His ghouls soon joined them. Rain was the first to get into the bath, the water ghoul completely submerging himself in a deeper part of the bath before swimming over to cuddle into his right side. 

“I picked out the best soaps just for you,” the water ghoul purred.

“And you made an excellent choice,” Copia cooed, brushing a thumb along the ghoul’s neck and lightly touching his gills. The water ghoul shivered under his touch and wrapped his cool arms around his middle. 

“And I picked out the bath salts, Papa,” Aurora chimed, sitting by his left and clinging to his arm. Copia turned his attention to the ghoulette who looked absolutely adorable holding his arm to her chest. 

“I have some snacks here for you. I’m sorry you missed out on breakfast, but we’ll be fixing something real good for you soon,” Cumulus cooed, bringing over a plate of pastries and fruits to him. Copia’s stomach grumbled at the sight of such a delicious treat.

“And I made sure the water was hot enough for all of us,” Dewdrop said, sitting by the edge of the pool and dipping his glowing hands into the water and making more steam. Copia sighed in content, relaxing into the bath more and thinking of how nice the fire ghoul’s hands would feel on his back. 

“You wanna get high now or later, Papa?” Swiss asked, wading over to sit next to Cumulus. Phantom was by his side, already taking a long drag off of a joint and looking like he was already on another planet. Copia sniffed the air and caught a whiff of the weed mixed in with the sweet smelling soaps. 

“Now,” he said.

Phantom nodded and lit the joint before handing it over to him.

“Grazie,” he said before taking a long drag of the joint. Copia’s eyes nearly rolled back in his head when the drug quickly took a hold of him. He hadn’t felt this good in such a long time. He leaned his head back and breathed out the smoke through his nose, watching it float around him before disappearing into the steam. 

“How do you feel, Papa? Good right?” Phantom asked.

“Amazing. Thank you all for…letting me have a day off,” he sighed, looking at each of his ghouls with a drunken smile. He was incredibly lucky to have such loyal ghouls there for him. 

“You know, since you’re in charge, you can take days off whenever you want and the ministry will listen. Just remember that, Papa. No one is gonna be mad at you,” Aurora said, pecking him on the cheek. She was right, but it was going to take a while to adjust to his new role. 

“And if anyone gives you shit, then we can eat them. Just give us the command,” Swiss purred, plucking a purple grape from Cumulus’s plate of snacks and squishing it between his claws before popping it into his mouth. 

“You’re absolutely right. I’m the big man now,” Copia said, spotting an apple slice and taking it.

“You sure are,” Rain crowed, his gaze going from the apple slice and then down. Copia noticed where he was looking and smirked as he took a bit of the apple. Knowing his ghouls, they wouldn’t be leaving him alone all day and night. He looked forward to all the attention they would be giving him. 

“Is there anything else you need, Papa?” Aurora asked, wrapping her tail around his soft thigh, a playful smile on her pretty lips as she leaned in and nuzzled his chest. Rain did the same, purring loudly. Copia swallowed the rest of his apple, suddenly aware of how close his ghouls were to him.

“Ehh, I can think of a few things,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

For the anon who requested something with Swiss and loss. I'm not sure this is exactly what you were hoping for but it's what decided to happen. I hope it's ok 🩷

Cw: newly summoned Swiss, mentions of him being alone, scared Swiss, mentions of Cirrus not being sure about him at first, Rain hurting, but comfort I promise!

When Swiss was first summoned, he was a force to be reckoned with. He was loud, over the top, brash. He only let the pack close on his terms and he never let them stay long.

Mountain noticed, the grounded earth ghoul quickly learning what it meant because he'd been afraid too. He remembered how unsure he'd been when he was summoned, how letting anyone close felt dangerous. He felt Swiss’ fear quickly because it mirrored his own.

The others didn't push, his anger was too similar to Rain's so they butt heads too often, Dew was good under pressure but it was still so close to his transition that he wasn't always up for trying to crack through the rock hard layers the multi ghoul had put up around himself. Cirrus didn't trust him right away, keeping her guard up, keeping Lus away from the short fused new ghoul. Aether was a gentle guide, he was the one who got Mountain to trust them but he was busy more often than not…

So Mountain stepped in.

He was met with resistance at first, a new summon still used to baring his teeth and snapping his jaws, but a little posturing didn't bother the giant, though he was a gentle soul he'd never been one to shy from a fight. He stood his ground with patience, speaking softly until he was sure Swiss actually heard him. He kept it simple at first, no commands, no questions.

“My rooms at the end of the hall. Sleep well.” And he left it at that, left the multi alone with his words and left his door unlocked.

He wasn't surprised when the new ghoul stayed away but he could feel him watching from a distance. He doesn't change his routine, he does his job, he engages with the pack, the only time he hides away from Swiss is when he has Dew, the baby shaking from nightmares and lost to his memories.

He knows Swiss had to have seen regression in the pits, at least to some extent, but he's protective of the baby and he doesn't like how quick to anger Swiss still is. But he finds him later when Dew is back to himself or sleeping soundly in Aether's arms. He knows he has questions but the multi won't ask, still keeping himself to himself.

“Did you eat dinner?”

“I'll eat when I want.”

Mountain bites his tongue at the petulant response, how he sounds like the moody teens he's heard through the Abbey and simply shrugs. “Ok.”

It doesn't take Swiss long to peek into the kitchen while Mountain grabs out the leftovers from the fridge, smiling at the little note Cumulus left on top.

He doesn't look up at the other ghoul, just moving as casually as he can. “Want me to heat some up for you? I'm already over here.”

“It's…” Swiss carefully moves closer to Mountain, eyes still nervously dancing around the kitchen. “It's not mine. Didn't do anything to earn it.”

Mountain turns to face him. “You're here. That's all you have to do.” He remembers when Aether had shown him the kitchen the first time and how overwhelming it had been. “Everything here is for all of us, you're included in that. Whatever you want, Swiss.”

“But…” His stomach growls and he glares down at his own body for snitching on his hunger.

Mountain laughs quietly. “Let me heat up some of you. You can eat here with me or you can go wherever you feel comfortable. Up to you.”

Swiss doesn't answer and mountain doesn't make him, he just heats the food up until both plates are ready. He hands one to Swiss and heads to the table to eat, not paying attention until the other ghoul finally sits beside him. He's tense as he eats but it's a start and Mountain smiles.

He starts getting closer to the earth ghoul, letting his walls down just a bit, seeking him out when something is clearly bothering him.

Something shifts after he sees Rain little, the little water ghoul peeking around Cirrus to look at Swiss. The multi ghoul smiles and waves, wiggling his fingers until the little ghoul steps out from behind Cirrus and wanders over to his art table.

He draws Swiss a picture, one with the pack excitedly welcoming the new summon, but later that night Rain cries in pain, tears seemingly endless as Aether soothes the ache as best as he can. Mountain sees the second something snaps and Swiss sprints away, slamming the door to his room hard enough that Dew jumps and has to take a few deep breaths to stay present for Rain.

Mountain follows after a few minutes, knocking gently and fully expecting Swiss to scream at him to leave. But he's greeted with silence and that's worse. He opens the door a crack and peeks in, finding the multi ghoul curled on his side on the bed, pulling his knees up as tight as he can, his hands pressed tight over his ears.

He quietly shuts the door and moves to the side that Swiss is facing, sighing at the pinched expression on his face.

“Swiss?”

He flinches and Mountain kneels, trying not to loom over him. He sets his hand on the bed but he doesn't touch him, just leaves it as an offering.

“What's wrong with him?” He doesn't say it like an accusation, Mountain can hear the genuine panic and the way his tone has shifted.

“It's just something that happens with him unfortunately. Some days he's ok, others aren't so great. Aether helps a lot, Dew does too.”

“Is-is he dying?”

“No! No of course he's not…why-” He swallows the rest of his words and moves to take his hand. “He's not going anywhere. None of us are.”

Swiss grabs his blanket and pulls it up over himself, hiding so Mountain can't see him. It doesn't take him long to put the pieces together.

“You don't have to hide, Spark.” He glances around, searching for any comfort item Swiss might have, frowning when he sees…nothing. Nothing that even speaks of the ghoul living in this room. “I'm just going to go grab something really quick, I'll be right back.”

Swiss doesn't respond and Mountain goes as fast as he can, returning to Swiss as quick as possible. He sits back on the floor beside the bed.

He sees two gold eyes peek out of the blanket and he smiles, turning the bunny in his hands for the little ghoul to see.

“This is Jürgen, Dew got him for me. He's pretty good at making me feel better.” He sets the bunny against the blanket, watching Swiss slowly pull him under the blanket to hold onto. “Do you want to talk about what you're thinking?”

He can hear him sniffle under the blanket and he moves carefully, sitting on the edge of the bed. Eventually Swiss' need for contact wins and he wiggles over, still fully under his blanket, and flops into Mountain's arms. The earth ghoul holds him, rocking just a bit.

“M’not like Rain…”

“That's ok. You don't have to be.”

Rain wails again down the hall and Swiss whimpers. “I…I've never had anything to lose…I didn't have anyone…”

It's like ice being poured over him and Mountain holds Swiss tighter. “You have us.”

“What if m’not good enough or…or I'm mean! I don't….” He peeks up at Mountain, big gold eyes full of tears. “I don't wanna be by myself again.”

“You won't be. That's not how it is with packs. We are with you, always. No matter what.”

“I wasn't nice when I got here!”

“You were scared. We get it, Spark. It takes time and everyone wanted to give you space to adjust. I wasn't very nice right away.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. Took Aether a while to get me to even come inside. But they did it, they took the time to do it because that's what packs do.”

He watches Swiss' fingers play with the bunny's ears under the blanket while he thinks about everything. “Rain's really going to be ok?”

“Yes.” His phone bings and he reads the text, smiling a bit. “Rain is requesting a movie night…which really just means he wants a ghoul pile.”

“What's that?”

“We all go into the den and just…cuddle really. It's just a way to be close to everyone. We don't have to if you're not ready.”

“But I'm…”

“You're you.”

“You'll stay with me?”

“I can carry you like this if you want.”

Swiss snorts a little, smiling despite himself. “I can walk…but…just…”

“I'll be right beside you, and you can hold onto Jürgen.”

He stands up from Mountain's lap, letting the blanket fall but he pulls his hoodie on and keeps the hood up. He takes Mountain's hand and hesitantly follows down to the den.

Mountain sits beside Dew who has Rain on his lap, helping keep him comfortable. Dew smiles over when he sees Swiss holding the bunny.

Swiss watches as everyone finds a spot, watches how they all manage to find a way to be in contact with everyone else. Aether delivers big bowls of popcorn and Swiss is hesitant to try it until Rain does, giggling when he takes a piece from Dew's hand with his tongue.

“Are you a lizard now?”

Swiss laughs as he watches, not noticing the way the others smile at his unguarded happiness.

Rain giggles again. “Swiss try! It sticks to your tongue!”

He glances at Mountain, waiting for him to nod, confirmation that it's ok and he does it. Rain beams at him, sticking another piece to his tongue again.

They settle as the movie plays and Rain falls asleep quickly. Swiss looks around again, he's still unsure, still scared of what it means to have people to care about…to have people that care about him in return.

“Ok spark?” Mountain whispers, squeezing his hand.

He catches Aether's eyes, relaxing a little as a warm feeling settles over him. He smiles and leans against Mountain's chest.

“Yeah…m’ok.”

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

SOUND THE DREAD ALARM!!! ☠️

Per’s first live. I could not watch the whole thing, but what I saw was pretty sweet. Got to see him cuddle his dog🤍

****DISCLAIMER****

I currently don’t care if Per is controversial in his dating practices. He seems like a decent guy in and of himself and it’s none of our business who he dates.

I’ve recently already been heartbroken to find out ONE of my heroes turns out to be a gaslighting jackass, and life has objectively SUCKED for me on a daily basis anyway, so yeah, please miss me with any Sodo controversy, right now. Thanks.

If you're comfortable doing so, maybe something that delves into Phantom/Aeons time in the pit and how his bad experiences there impact him now that he's topside

hey? hey anon? how did you know I've been wanting to talk about Aeon's parents for six months?

Contains child abuse and discussion of child abandonment, eye injury, and nightmares. Aeon uses they/them for themself, but their parents don't know that and use he/him for them.

(this does expand on lore I wrote for Eternal Heatstroke, but you don't need to read that to read this)

divider by @wrathofrats

"The kit's not getting any bigger, Oasis."

Aeon's left ear twitches at the sound of Caldera's voice, rough and crackling like her fire. They come to awareness, but don't dare open their eyes. They don't want their guardians to know they're awake yet, the sinking feeling in their gut telling them that they are not supposed to be witnessing this conversation. The ground is rough underneath their side, and the campfire crackles in flashes of orange even through their eyelids. The three of them have been settled here for a little over a week, about time to pack up and move through the older ghouls' territory, finding somewhere else to bed down.

"How many times have I told you that quint kits are called pups, Cal," Oasis sighs. There's the sound of a hand running over a face. Both of them have been doing that a lot more recently, and Aeon can't tell who it is without opening their eyes. The air is thick with sulfur and smoke, and it stings at their nose.

"Frankly, I don't fucking care what they're called," she says. "We've been raising him for Lucifer knows how long because we thought he'd be strong enough to help us defend our territory. And he's at the point he should have grown. He's still so small."

There's disdain in her voice, one of her paws tapping at the ground in irritation. Aeon's brow furrows. They're not small. They might be skinny, but they're a full head taller than Caldera is, just above eye level with Oasis. They do know that Cal's small for a fire ghoulette, has encountered other fire ghouls who've tried to claim what their guardians have staked as their own.

"Cal, you've gotta have patience-" Oasis tries to reason, but he's never been able to stop her. When Caldera sets her mind to something, Aeon knows she stops at nothing to get her way.

"How long have we been going hungry to keep him around?" she growls, and Aeon can almost hear the sparks from her tongue. "Years and years of our lives, I'm so fucking tired of waiting. The kit can hardly even use his magick and he's practically an adult."

"What do we even know about quintessence ghouls, Cal?" Oasis keeps trying to reason. "We can't teach him magick we don't even understand."

"I don't fucking care," Caldera snarls at her mate. "I'm done. Keeping him was your idea in the first place. You want to keep the kit around? That'll be on you then. But then I'm out."

There's a commotion, someone getting to their feet rapidly. "That's just fucking like you, Cal. You'd really give up on how long we've been mated over our son?"

Caldera laughs, loud enough that Aeon thinks they have a solid excuse to wake up. They keep feigning sleep though. "Our son? Oasis, are you insane? You were the one who thought a quintessence ghoul be a good investment for the pack."

Aeon's heart falls through their stomach, trying desperately to process what they're hearing. Investment. Oasis had always told them that he'd found them, small and abandoned, so young that their eyes hadn't even opened yet. That the two of them wanted a kit to take care of. They feel like the rug's been yanked out from under them.

They don't have much time to process it though, because Oasis sighs, tossing something back and forth between his hands. Aeon doesn't need to open their eyes to know it's a pebble, something that had caught his eye at some point. "Fine, Cal. But you tell him."

Aeon tenses as rapid footsteps approach their sleeping form, trying hard to not curl up into a ball preemptively. A hot hand grabs their shoulder, the threatening bite of sharp claws even through their threadbare shirt.

"Wake up," Caldera says, low and dangerous as she shakes their shoulder. Even though they had some warning, they still yelp, tail tucked between their legs. Their eyes go wide at the fury in Caldera's expression, her growl as she hauls them to their feet.

"Cal-" Aeon stammers, trying not to struggle against her grip. Knows it's easier to let her put them where she wants than to fight it.

"None of that, runt," she snaps, and both of their violet eyes go wide. She's never- They've never- "You're grown, now. It's time for you to find your own place."

"Right now?" Aeon says, tipping their head back and baring their throat, trying to appease her. All the while, Oasis stands by the fire, watching distantly. "Oasis, please tell her I can't."

"He's not going to help you, runt. We're both ready for you to go," Cal says. There's a fire in her yellow eyes, red and orange flickering in her irises.

They stammer, glancing back and forth between their guardians. "That's not true, I heard you talking-" Aeon freezes and cuts themself off as Caldera's expression morphs, grip curling tighter into the collar of Aeon's shirt, claws punching through the threadbare fabric. They can feel the keratin against their skin, and they swallow hard.

"Oh? So you were eavesdropping?"

"No- I couldn't help it!"

She growls, pulling hard and shoving them towards the campfire. They stumble, paw catching on the brimstone, and they fall hard, twisting onto their back to look up at her. "I'm not going to say it again," she snarls, looming above them. The firelight makes her features sharper, fangs shining. "Get the fuck out."

They slowly push themself up to standing. Aeon finds the courage in their gut to growl back at her, ears pinned back against their head, tail lashing behind them as they bare their fangs and get in her face. "I'm not fucking going anywhere, this is my pack too!"

Aeon knows it's a mistake the moment the words leave their mouth.

Caldera screams in frustration and rage. The last thing Aeon sees out of their left eye is her claws glinting dark in the firelight.

There's a shriek. Aeon wonders why their throat hurts until they realize it's them shrieking. The world spins, blinding hot pain radiating from their face and scalp, and they can feel their heartbeat in the marrow of their left horn. They can't see.

They can't see.

There's something hot and sticky running down their face, and they cup their hand over their eye, cringing at the wetness.

Caldera doesn't even flinch as Aeon's blood drips in rivulets from her claws. "You fucking heard me, you ungrateful brat. We've fed and taken care of you your entire life. You can pay us back by fucking leaving."

She lunges, and Aeon's feet act on instinct, scrambling away from her. They clutch their face, hearing the blood spatter, their shirt sticking to their chest, heavy and wet. Aeon's head spins, and Caldera's behind them, chasing, and Aeon's seen her hunt.

There's no chance of outrunning her, even as their legs scramble underneath them. They run, lungs aching and head spinning, and there's two pounding sets of footfalls behind them.

Aeon sobs, chest heaving with exertion. Their ankle twists in the brimstone, and they stumble into the ground. Blood and tears stream down their cheeks in equal measure. It's over. They're de-

There's a hand on their shoulder.

Aeon jolts awake with a yelp, scrambling backwards into the corner of the couch out from under a big piece of white fabric that was covering them. It takes a moment to recognize their surroundings, fluorescent lights, a big desk in the opposite corner, an empty office chair, slightly rotating like someone stood up in a hurry. A large shape backlit looms over them, making a strange, familiar sound.

Aeon snarls before the sound registers, their entire body slumping as Aether chuffs at them. "Hey, you're alright, pup, you're safe," he breathes, his big hand hovering over their shoulder, his silver bracelet glinting in the light. "You were dreaming."

They nod, reaching up to touch at the scars running through though their left eye and biting back a sob. Aether nods back, cautiously sitting next to the younger quintessence ghoul and pulling them close, chuffing all the while.

"My shift just ended," Aether whispers, shifting them until Aeon's practically in his lap. "Do you want to go back to the den?"

Aeon nods quietly. Aether gently wipes away a tear from the silvery track across their cheek with a big thumb. They've been shadowing him to learn about infirmary work, a few months away from actually working on their own. "You want a hug, pup?"

"Please," they whisper, shoving Aether's white coat off of their legs. They'd been using it as a blanket while they napped on the couch in his office. The bigger ghoul draws them in, chuffing and nosing at their hair.

Aeon settles, eventually, and they stand hand in hand. "Can we go home?" Aeon asks, and Aether smiles, flashing a gold capped fang at them.

"Of course, pup, let's go home to our pack."

hi moon, i hope you're doing well 💚 i have a ficlet request for you, if it takes your fancy at all

i was wondering if you might be able to write something about regressed aeon/phantom (feel free to use whichever name you prefer !!) being sick with a bad cold or the flu and getting taken care of by dew ? i've got the flu again and all i've been able to think about is dew doting on aeon and keeping them entertained when everything gets a bit too much with their sniffly nose and all their headaches and pains

if it doesn't take your interest though that's completely okay !! 💚

-👻 semi-anonymous mutual tag

I scribbled this quickly so I hope it's ok! I hope you feel better soon, friend 🩷

Cw: sick Phantom, one brief mention of vomit but not in detail, quintessence use, fever, Phantom briefly not understanding an expression and getting scared

Dew knocks twice before pushing into the room. "Phantom do you know where my-oh bug, what happened?"

His entire demeanor shifts when he spots a very upset little Quint crying in the middle of the bed, little fingers twisted in the blanket pooled on their lap.

Big fat tears slide down their red cheeks. "D-Dew...I t'rew up..."

Dew closes the space and holds the back of his hand up against Phantom's forehead. "You're on fire-"

Phantom gasps, eyes wide and the scent of fear fills the air and Dew mentally scolds himself.

"Not actually! It's just a silly saying, it just means you have a fever. I'm sorry I scared you." He kisses the top of their head. "Let me get this cleaned up and we can go see Aether ok?"

"I'm s-sorry...I d-didn't mean to..." They sniffle and bring their knees up to hide their face.

Dew sits carefully on the bed beside them, pulling them against him in a tight hug. "There is nothing to be sorry about. It happens, it's no big deal. The important thing is getting you feeling better."

Dew gets the mess cleaned up and helps Phantom into new jammies, opting for shorts and a t-shirt before wrapping them in a blanket and picking them up gently.

"O-oogie!"

"Oh, we definitely don't want to forget oogie boogie!" He grabs the big stuffy and gets it positioned against his chest so the little ghoul can cling to it and him all at once. "Let's go see if Aether can get you feeling a little better."

He carries them down to the infirmary, rubbing their back softly when they whimper in discomfort, promising they'd feel better soon.

It's not overly busy and Aether turns his attention their way as soon as they enter.

"What's going on?"

Phantom turns to face him, sad purple eyes turned his way. "M-my tummy hurts r-real bad and I h-have a fire!"

Dew can't help but smile a little, though he still feels bad for causing the little Quint any confusion.

Aether gasps. "Oh no! Well let's take care of that, hm? Is it ok for me to touch your forehead?"

They nod weakly and Dew tightens his hold, warming his body to help keep the little ghoul comfortable until Aether works his magic. He watches his hand brush slowly across their forehead and down their little face, feeling the magic that Dew knows so well.

Phantom relaxes in his hold, the tension leaving and having them boneless in Dews arms.

"I broke the fever, unfortunately the rest just needs to run its course but they won't be as uncomfortable now." Aether kisses between phantom's horns. "Get some rest, bat."

"C-can I rest w-with you, Dew?"

"Oczywiście dynia." (Of course, pumpkin) He carries them back to the den, humming while he walks. "Do you want some soup or anything before we go get comfy?"

"Crackers! A-and maybe the b-bubbles that make your t-tummy feel better?"

"That sounds like a good plan. I'm going to set you down for a second so I can get everything."

They nod with a pout, they understand but Dew is warm and comforting and they just want to be close right now. They watch Dew move quickly, grabbing the bunny crackers and the ginger ale, pouring it into Phantom's sippy cup. They squeeze oogie boogie when their tummy turns again.

"Doing ok, bug?"

"Hurts..."

Dew finishes quickly and lifts the little ghoul up again, holding them close to ease the aches in their body. He carries him to his room and he feels Phantom smile against his shoulder. He isn't sure why the littles all like his room so much but he's glad he's able to bring them comfort.

He sets Phantom on the bed. "Get comfy and I'll grab my laptop so we can watch a movie."

Phantom wiggles their way under the blankets, flopping back against the pillows that smell like Dew, holding their stuffy close when their tummy gets upset again.

Dew moves the trashcan to the side of the bed just in case and takes his place up next to Phantom, getting his computer started up while they nestle in as close as they can get to Dew.

"Nightmare or something else?"

"S-scooby please. I-I don't think I can s-sing with Jack right now..."

Dew kisses the top of their head, the sadness in their voice breaking his heart. "We will sing along together once you feel better."

"Will y-you do Sally's p-parts?"

Dew laughs quietly. "You know it, bug!"

Phantom picks Scooby Doo on Zombie island and slowly munches on crackers and sips their ginger ale with their head against Dew's chest. He runs his fingers through their hair and watches their eyes start to get heavy, fighting to stay awake.

"S-sleepy..." They mumble, words slurred from their exhaustion.

"You can sleep. I'm right here."

"But s-scooby..."

"We can watch it again when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart."

Phantom snuggles closer, finally letting their eyes close and their thumb moves up to their mouth.

"Dew?"

"Yeah love?"

"T-thank you for taking c-care of us all t-the time ."

He smiles and kisses their forehead. "That's what I'm here for, I'm happy to do it."

"I love y-you a whole bunch."

"I love you too, even more bunches."

Phantom giggles and nuzzles their face into the side of Dews neck, giving in to sleep, feeling safe and loved as they drift off to sleep the rest of the sick away.

ooooo husband requests back on??? count me in!!! if you'd find it in yourself, I'd love to see some sappy swissalps in your style, whatever comes to mind!!! and take your time :3

fuck yeah, husband requests back on !!!! sappy, morning routine swissalps coming right up <3

(divder by @wrathofrats)

Swiss stretches and groans as he wakes, rubbing his eyes to rid them of sleep and popping his back as well as he can against the soft mattress. A muffled whine at his side prompts the multi ghoul to turn his head to the right and he feels his expression melt into something that can only be described as unrestrained adoration at the sight of the sleepy earth ghoul lying next to him.

Swiss shifts himself over a little closer, melting against the warmth of Mountain's body heat and murmuring a soft "Mornin' sapling" against his shoulder, making sure to kiss the freckled skin afterwards for good measure.

The earth ghoul's only response is to whine tiredly and roll over to face the other direction, pulling the covers up to his ears and burrowing his face even deeper into his pillow. Swiss can't blame him for not wanting to wake up just yet, the two of them were up late last night, and as much as Swiss longs to stay in bed with his love for a while longer, the few sparks of fire element that run through his veins are calling out to him this morning, flickering to life alongside the dawn of this new day and urging him to get up, get moving.

He groans again as he hauls himself out of bed—softer this time, lest he wake his tired mate again—and pads over to the ensuite bathroom of their shared room. The multi ghoul splashes his face with water to help wake himself up, swishes a mouthful or two of water around in his mouth and gives his appearance a once-over in the mirror for good measure. Once satisfied with the general tousled-ness of his hair and his singlet top and boxers are deemed appropriate enough for this early hour (when any of the pack who do happen to be up and about will barely be awake enough to register his state of undress), Swiss makes his way out of the bathroom and into the ghouls' kitchen. He pauses only for a moment on his way out of the room, taking the time to smile down at his mate and press a gentle kiss to the earth ghoul's head—the only part of his body that's visible underneath all of his blankets.

As it usually is at this hour, the kitchen and the rest of the common areas lie empty, the rest of the pack choosing to stay curled up around each other for a while longer while Swiss sets about organising everything for breakfast. On a typical day, breakfast is a team effort between himself and Mountain and the system works a treat. While the earth ghoul gets his extra hour or so of sleep, Swiss connects his phone to the speaker resting on the bench and loses himself in the music as he busies himself with mixing up batter for pancakes, cutting up fruit for toppings and setting the table out with bread, condiments and all manner of cereals. He loves his pack and he's always been adamant that they all deserve options for their breakfast. Of course, the most important task, at least in Swiss' eyes, is setting the caffettiera onto the stove to get the morning's coffee brewing for all those who drink it.

Predictably, the smell of brewing coffee is enough to rouse both Mountain and Dewdrop from their respective slumbers. Dew is the first to appear and Swiss doesn't hesitate to pour out the fire ghoul's morning coffee and leaving it on the bench for him as the multi ghoul continues to cut up the pile of fruit in front of him. Dewdrop takes the cup and wordlessly nods his thanks before disappearing into the common room, no doubt curling himself under a blanket and settling down to enjoy the coffee, paired with his latest loan from the Abbey's library.

As predicted, Mountain appears next, just as Swiss is humming along to the song playing from the speaker and wiggling his body in time with the music. As he makes his way through the fruit, he feels the earth ghoul's strong arms wrap around his waist and a head rest against his shoulder.

"You look like you're having fun," Mountain muses, turning his head to press a kiss to Swiss' bare shoulder, a mirror of what the multi ghoul had done to him barely an hour before.

"Always," Swiss grins. "Coffee?"

"Please."

It takes Swiss less than a minute to make the earth ghoul's coffee. After all these years making everyone's drinks, he's gotten surprisingly quick, he's pretty sure Dew and Cumulus have a spreadsheet detailing his progress in the speed of his coffee making. He slides Mountain his drink and leans in to sneak a quick kiss before the earth ghoul takes a sip. Mountain deepens the kiss but it remains chaste, a lazy thing that has warmth spreading from the place they're connected all the way to the tips of his fingers.

"I didn't get a kiss with my coffee," Dew jokes, smirking as both ghouls spring apart in surprise from his sudden interjection as he enters the kitchen to rinse his mug out and deposit it next to the sink.

"Shut up, Dew," Swiss complains good-naturedly, shoving at the fire ghoul as he walks back past him and Mountain, still smirking even as he rounds the corner into the common room again.

"Don't listen to him," Mountain reassures. "I think we're cute." He leans forward slowly to capture Swiss in yet another soft, all-consuming kiss, his coffee and the multi ghoul's fruit entirely forgotten.

But just before their lips can touch, they're interrupted once again by none other than Dewdrop himself, although this time, he's shouting from his spot on the sofa rather than accosting them directly. "For Satan's sake, stop flirting in there, some of us are fucking starving!"

The two ghouls stare at each other for a second or two before bursting into laughter. Swiss shakes his head at his packmate's antics and moves away from Mountain to let the earth ghoul begin cooking the pancakes as he arranges the cold food to be set out on the table. As Swiss pulls away, Mountain's tail wraps around his own, squeezing lightly a few times, a declaration of his love for the multi ghoul that even Dewdrop can't interrupt.

Dewther tattoos and constellations 🤷🏻‍♀️

This was sitting in my drafts for 5000 years so I'm just chucking it out into the light of day.

Aether shakes his head with a small smile as he walks quietly down the hall towards Dew's room after finishing up in the infirmary. He's tired but not the bone deep heavy kind, something light and soft dancing against his eyelids, weighing them slowly. The promise of Dew's warm body and soft bed are the only thing keeping him fully awake.

He laughs quietly when he thinks back to Aeon's shocked but pleased expression when he finally caught a glimpse, how he'd snapped his fingers and grabbed hold of Aether's shirt, tugging it down a little further for a better look.

"I knew it! I knew you had one!"

"It wasn't really a secret." It was just usually hidden behind thick hair but that didn't matter, he knew it was there and more importantly, Dew knew it was there.

Aeon's big hazy purple eyes had studied it, head cocked just slightly. "Hydra?"

"I'll tell you about it another day." He pressed a kiss to his lips softly. "Have a good shift."

He tiptoes into the room and his breath catches the way it always does when he sees Dew asleep, curled up with his hair fanned out on the pillow, face pressed into one of Aether's discarded t-shirts as he sleeps without him.

He's soft like this, a sweetness Aether has never been able to find strong enough words for. Walls down and vulnerable, and Aether would dare anything to try to get through him to touch Dewdrop.

He lets the tips of his fingers kiss Dew's cheek, brushing back his hair with the whisper of a touch so he doesn't wake but some part of him still knowing Aether is there. His lips part over a tiny breath, turning a fraction into the touch.

It's a struggle to get his feet moving to the bathroom, needing to shower before he slots in beside Dew but he just wants to crawl up beside him, wrap him up in his arms and bury his face in his hair, breathing in the scent that he knows by heart.

The water is hot as he can stand it, groaning as it eases tension away and carries it down the drain. His fingers linger on his chest as he washes himself, pressing against where the ink had entered and left a permanent declaration that Dew always had been and always would he his.

He dries off quick, foregoing clothes, wanting nothing between himself and Dew, knowing that under the blanket Dew lays bare waiting for him.

He slips softly like fog under the covers, getting his arms around Dew when he moves instinctively closer in his sleep, a little star knowing its orbit without question. Aether smiles when his hand comes to rest on his chest, fingers pressed against the tattoo Aeon had been so excited to finally catch a glimpse of. Dew touches it like a pulse when he needs a reminder.

His mind drifts back once Dew's securely in his arms where he belongs, Aether's lips pressed against his hair. He remembers the night he was summoned like it was yesterday, a chilly rainy night but he'd looked up at the sky on his way to the chapel, mostly out of habit but he'd paused when he saw just how vivid Hydra was that night despite the rain.

It struck him odd until the little water ghoul was pulled into the circle, dripping wet and shaking, Aether's eyes the first he found.

It was like a tidal wave slamming into him and he knew in that moment that that little water ghoul was his.

Hed draped a blanket around him and lifted him to his feet, keeping his arms around him to keep him warm, safe, quietly staking a claim before he even fully realized it himself.

When he gave his name Aether's knees shook, he never knew a single word could feel like home but his name did.

He didn't hesitate to run to Omega later, to have him mark his skin with the stars that brought Dew to him, etched into his skin, promising forever before even ever really talking to him. Even if Dew didn't ever feel the same, Aether always would and that was enough.

Over time Dew did love him, fell into his arms and stayed, confessed feelings he didn't really understand right away but desperately wanted to share regardless. Aether marked a constellation behind Dews ear, the one he saw when he first told Aether he loved him.

When Dew gave up his water Aether stayed for each painful, breathless second, sobbing as Dew screamed himself mute, choking on flames and smoke and ash as the fire made a home in his veins, making a dessert where there had once been a softly flowing river.

He stayed and he waited, guts twisting and his heart too scared to beat as Dews stuttered and struggled behind his ribs. When they moved him to the recovery room Aether was sure this was it, this was goodbye, a tragically short lived forever.

His eyes had turned to the window, so dark it didn't feel like night, felt more like the caverns in the pit, endlessly inky, winding nightmares.

But then he saw it. Dew's stars were still there, brighter than they should be and he knew it wasn't over.

And his heart kept beating.

Aether blinks himself back into the present, feels Dews fingers on the tattoo and his steady breaths across his chest. He brushes his hair back to see the one he'd given Dew, Aquila tucked behind his ear, a secret just for them.

He kisses the top of his head, eyes turning to the window and glancing at the sky, smiling when Hydra once again fills the night, bright and beautiful.

Reminding him of forever.

A Lack of Engagement Pt. 4: To Have and to Hold

[Previous Entry: Here.] Below the cut.

Rain is sleeping on the couch.

More accurately, he's laying on it, very much awake and contemplating his life and the decisions that have lead him to this point.

But, physically, mentally, emotionally... He's sleeping on the couch.

Swiss taunts him about it.

Asks him how he managed to get in trouble with Dew this time.

Truth is, Rain put himself out here.

He'd given Dew the bed, knowing even if he could sleep anywhere, HE was the one that deserved to be ousted from their bedroom, even if it had been Rain's to begin with.

Dew's allowed to be upset.

Just as much as Rain's allowed to... do this.

Avoid the situation.

Avoid Dew.

Swiss tries to get him to open up about what happened during their date after getting his fill of tormenting him, but Rain rolls onto his side, facing the back of the cushions instead.

"That bad, huh?" Swiss remarks, sitting down by Rain's feet, "Dew not like your surprise?"

"...I'm just..." Rain sighs, looking over his shoulder at his friend, "I don't know why Dew... Swiss, why does Dew like me?"

"What?"

Rain sits up.

"What about me-" he pokes himself in the chest, "-made Dew fall for someone like me?"

"I... You expect me to know something like that?" Swiss asks, looking terribly confused, then sits back, thinking, "You two must have had a pretty serious fight if you're wondering about stuff like that..."

"...He doesn't want to talk to me." Rain confesses, drawing his knees up to his chest, "I said something hurtful and... Honestly, I don't think I can walk it back, even though I feel like... I don't know."

His mouth wobbles a bit.

"I dunno, I don't want to lose my best friend..." he sniffs, and Swiss pulls him into a hug.

"Aw, buddy, I'm sure Dew will forgive you, but just in case, what did you say so I can know if I need to be stopping Dew from hitting you or helping him?"

Rain stiffens.

"Uh..."

Swiss slides his arm up slightly, around his neck.

"Awfully quiet there, Raincloud."

"Uhhhhh..." Rain laughs nervously, "...I plead the fifth?"

Swiss pulls him into a headlock.

"Sorry, man, I know that's code for 'I fucked up and I know it', so I have to do it."

"Do wha-HAH!" Rain squirms trying to escape Swiss' hold as he gives him a noogie, "HEY!"

After a minute or so, Swiss releases him, and Rain holds his head in his hands, groaning.

"Go talk to your husband already." he says, patting the water ghoul on the shoulder, "Exiling yourself to the couch is just gonna cause more problems. C'mon, up, up!"

Swiss pulls him to his feet, brushing him off.

"Now march off to that bedroom, get into bed, and tell your husband you're sorry for being a major ass!"

"I'm going, I'm going-" Rain grumbles, wandering off down the hallway, pausing to look back at Swiss, who salutes him, then does an inverted cross on his chest and then a prayer gesture, "-You stop that!"

"Not on your life!"

Rain rolls his eyes and continues down the hallway.

Worst case scenario, he enters the bedroom and Dew kills him on the spot, best case scenario, he's asleep... lukewarm scenario, he's awake and not so murderous that he won't let Rain climb into bed.

Reaching his bedroom door, Rain pops it open just a crack to see if he can locate Dew, but finds the room dark, save for the glow of the power cable on his laptop, which he usually nudges a book in front of at night to keep it from shining in his face when he sleeps.

In the dull glow, he can make out the vaguest silhouette of something people shaped on the bed; Dew is tucked into the farthest corner of the mattress, his body curled around something, either fast asleep or close to it.

Stepping inside, Rain shuts the door behind him and makes his way over to the bed.

He lingers there, watching Dew shift in his sleep, he's wrapped around Rain's pillow, holding it close.

Rain feels guilty.

Without turning on the lights, Rain rummages through his dresser for his pajamas, and slides into the on suite to get changed, before climbing into the bed beside him.

He starts off on the very edge, not wanting to disturb his sleep, but at some point, after laying there for what feels like an eternity, Rain rolls over closer to where Dew is, and reaches out, tugging at his midsection and pulling him into the curve of his body.

Dew makes a little noise of discontent, but settles shortly thereafter.

Pressed against him like this, Rain feels... strangely soothed.

He breathes out and allows his eyes to drift shut, chin resting on top of Dew's head.

"'m sorry..." he mumbles.

"...I'm sorry, too."

Rain blinks.

"...You're awake?"

"Couldn't sleep... felt lonely."

Rain frowns.

"I'm... Dew, I'm sorry I said what I said earlier." he admits, "This is all just... a lot. Not you, but, going from friends to this... It all feels like it's going a bit too fast, like I don't have time to process what's happened, or how I feel about it all... and I know it's my fault."

"Kind of, yeah." Dew replies with a yawn.

"Yeah? Aren't you supposed to comfort me and say it's not my fault and that you forgive me?" Rain jokes, but when Dew begins to move in his hold, he thinks he's messed up again, "I-"

Dew rotates so that he's facing Rain, coming practically nose to nose with him due to how close they are.

"I can forgive you for getting us into this mess, but I'm not gonna say it's not your fault. Both of us tested the rumor, and you may have heard about it first, but I went along with it. Fuckin'... it takes two to tango." Dew says, "And, yeah, I'm upset about what you said, but, I dunno... laying here, thinking about things on my own, I'd rather have my heartbroken then lose my friend... even if it's my friend who's breaking my heart."

"You... really like me that much?" Rain asks, and Dew headbutts him slightly, "Ow..."

"I do, have for a long time now... Sorry if that's weird."

"It's not weird... I have..." Rain pinches his eyes shut, "I have feelings for you, but I know they're not the same. It's... Fuck, this is awkward."

"You don't have to force yourself to tell me..."

"No, it's... Dew, you make me feel..." he clears his throat, "...Physically speaking..."

"You don't feel attracted to me?" Dew offers, and Rain panics.

"No! No, I think you're fucking hot as Hell!" he shouts, and they can both hear the chorus of annoyed hisses through their door.

"Quiet down!" someone groans, "We don't wanna hear it!"

"Satanas, you two need to get a room in your fucking room..." someone else mutters, muffled by the walls around them.

"...So, you ARE attracted to me, just not... emotionally then?" Dew concludes, "...Okay."

"Okay?"

"I mean... I like you, and I'm pretty sure if we fucked right now it'd really mess me up, because feelings and shit, but... uh... good to know." he says, clicking his tongue, "...You would fuck me though, right?"

"In a heartbeat."

"...That's too slow."

.

.

.

Rain lies awake, a surprisingly chill Dewdrop snuggled into his chest, tail lazily slapping against the blankets now and then.

As long as it's stuff like this, being with Dew... it's manageable.

He can do this.

They already did this before they wound up in this situation, so it's not a big deal.

Except is absolutely is.

If Dew didn't have feelings for him, would they have gone further than this by now?

Was it a mercy that Dew loved him enough to keep them from ruining their friendship?

That Rain has the common sense and decency to realize faking it just to get into Dew's would be wrong, and that even the idea of trying something like that -no matter how much he wants to explore their bodies together- disgusts him beyond all belief?

Rain huffs.

He'd never do that to Dew.

Especially if Rain knows he needs it to mean something.

That if it's HIM, Dew wouldn't be able to get over the hurt of being used like that.

He's more worried about losing his friend than getting his dick wet quite frankly.

But...

Rain bites his lip.

...Someone really needs to tell his junk this is not happening.

Lying here pressed against Dew's body is making it hard to keep his body from reacting, the stimulation is... it's not a lot, but, come to think of it, Rain hadn't gotten laid in a while now, and that dry spell is really making asses of pillows, if that makes any sense at all.

He could seek out someone to sleep with, but, he's also not sure what their -the versions of themselves in this world or whatever it is- boundaries are in terms of cavorting outside of their relationship.

He's not sure if it would raise any red flags to his packmates if he approached one of them for sex, or if their bond was more like that of Cirrus and Cumulus, who explicitly stated the openness of their relationship -save for being emotionally exclusive- before beginning to date.

The uncertainty is enough to keep him cozy in their bed, but another part of him, a small, odd little facet of himself he didn't know existed, wants nothing else but to be with Dew, even if it's cuddling just like this.

Weird.

A Lack of Engagement Pt. 3: It Gets Worse

[Previous Chapter: Here. Morning regrets, and a search for dick... That's what we're working with here, expect no less.] Below the cut.

There's something uniquely mortifying about being caught jacking it, even if they are ghouls and they're all pretty open about their sexual escapades, this is a little different.

Rain can feel the building of his orgasm, much to his own horror, continue in spite of Dew standing in the doorway, staring!

He's just frozen there, eyeing Rain's dick with an expression he can't quite read, and then he opens his mouth and-

"Why is it blue...?"

-Rain gives a noise of distress, wanting to curl into himself and perish on the spot, but he can't stop himself from giving his cock one more tug, and somehow that's the one that does it.

He has to grip the counter to stop himself from toppling forward with the force of it, and Dew is definitely going to kill him for cumming in front of him like that!

Except he doesn't.

Dew doesn't make a move towards or away from him.

He lingers, and as Rain comes down from his high, he can see the other man's face growing pinker and pinker.

At some point, Dew holds his hands up, face beet red.

Rain tries to speak, but he's still reeling from his orgasm, and trying to breathe normally.

"Fuck..." he manages, "'m sorry..."

"...Your... Your..." Dew swallows, "I..."

They both stand there for a moment before Dew does something that makes Rain gape at him like a fish.

He shuts the door.

Closing them both inside the room.

Rain isn't sure what's about to happen, but the energy in the room has shifted in a strange way, and either Dew is really going to murder him or-

"...I mean, it's fine, right?" he says finally, "We're... married, so... We've probably..."

The kraken stirs.

"Dew, I don't-" Rain coughs, "-I don't think... Um... What're you doing?"

Dew has his thumbs hooked into his boxers.

"E-Eye for an eye, yeah?"

Rain wants to stop him, wants to grab his hands and stop him, but about partway through that thought, he dares a glance at Dew's crotch, and, well-

"...Oh my fucking god."

He's not sure what he expected to see Dew whip out, but this was not it.

It's about four inches long, flaccid, but wriggling with some interest as Dew takes it in hand.

"That's..."

A knock sounds on their bedroom door and Dew hastily packs himself away while Rain does similar, wiping his hands off on a nearby towel.

"Oi, lovebirds! You're gonna miss breakfast if you don't get your asses up!" Cirrus calls, then, after a pause, "...Don't hurry too fast though, Aether's teacing Aeon how to make pancakes, and I think I smell burning."

Rain and Dew share a look, considering.

Okay.

Okay, okay, okay...

"We're gonna pretend that didn't happen." Rain says finally, and Dew nods, "We've gotta... We've gotta focus up and figure out how to turn things back to normal and find the... giant metal penis."

Dew frowns, but nods his head regardless.

There it is again, that strange hesitance.

Rain wants to say something about it, but he also doesn't want to risk making Dew uncomfortable, although-

"I'm... I'm sorry you had to see my dick." Rain apologizes.

"No, no, I'm sorry I showed you mine!" Dew trills awkwardly, "Don't even... Like you said, let's pretend this all didn't happen."

"Right..."

Breakfast is... tense.

Tense, and burnt.

Aeon tried his best, but even with Aether's help, half the pancakes could be classified as briquettes, and Rain isn't sure if he can drown them in enough syrup to make them palatable.

Dew is struggling in his own way, trying to scoop up a wayward strawberry with his fork and failing miserably, until Rain jabs his fork into it and holds it up to his face.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" he asks the rest of the pack nonchalantly as Dew considers his angle of attack, popping the fruit into his mouth before going back to carving at one of his pancakes, which basically snaps under pressure from his knife.

"Ehn, there's a meeting going on with Copia and the rest of the clergy, something about changes to the hierarchy, but nothing that involves any of us at the moment." Aether explains, "Aside from our regular duties, our schedules are all fairly free for the next week or so until they get everything straightened out."

Rain hums and pokes at his breakfast.

"Maybe we could all watch a movie together??" Aurora suggests, the only ghoul actively crunching on the burnt pancakes, giving Aeon a thumbs up when he deposits more of his charcoal bits onto her plate, looking embarrassed, but proud, "Something scary!"

As others chime in with their assent, Dew nudges Rain under the table with his knee, prompting the water ghoul to give a little push back, the two bump each other back and forth for a bit before Rain notices their packmates looking back at them.

"What about you two?" Aurora asks, propping her head up on the back of her hands, "Unless you have other plans...?"

Dew opens his mouth, but finds himself at a loss for words, looking over at Rain, who thinks for a moment before shaking his head.

"We have a, uh," Rain rolls the word 'date' on his tongue, then eyes Dew.

"I don't want to ruin the surprise." he says finally, "He's been hounding me all morning about it, even broke into the bathroom to interrogate me about what I have planned!"

"I DID NO-" Dew balks, then remembers, flushing bright red, "...actually, yeah, I did..."

The table erupts into laughter, save for Rain, who silently thanks Dew for going along with what he said, because, well, it is the truth, albeit not all of it.

"Ohh~? Loverboy is finally making up for forgetting his hubby's birthday?" Swiss teases, pointing his fork at Rain, "Trying to win back those brownie points, huh?"

Rain blinks, sitting up straight.

"I did not forget Dew's birthday." he says, sounding very offended, "I took him t-"

He stops midsentence, slapping a hand over his mouth as he recalls how the two of them spent Dew's birthday this year.

It had been a special request from his friend that they not tell the others what they were getting up to that day, even if it wasn't anything outright embarrassing, Dew had been adamant that no one else know what their plans were for his birthday.

They'd gone to the aquarium, and had spent the entire day joking about which sea creatures they'd eat or had eaten, and at the end of the day, Rain had gifted Dew a marine biology textbook, since he'd been aching to learn more on a scientific level about the creatures they'd encountered.

Rain himself had purchased an octopus plush for himself, which was absurdly large and difficult to smuggle past the other ghouls to avoid suspicion, but worth it in the end, because it really did bring his room together...

"You took him where?" Swiss probes, watching Rain squirm under the attention.

He coughs into his fist and shrugs.

"Nothing." he says, "Just saying I didn't forget is all."

"Secrets, secrets are no fun, unless you sha-" Swiss starts to chant, but Dew shuts down the nonsense by scooting away from the table and standing up.

"Bathroom."

Rain blinks at him, "Oh, uh, alright-"

"You, too." he adds, grabbing him by the scruff.

"OOOOOOH~!" the other ghouls laugh, "Someone's in trouble~"

"...Shut up." Rain mumbles, letting himself be dragged away by the shorter man.

.

.

.

"So... *come* here often?" Dew jokes, and Rain almost chokes on his spit.

They're standing in Rain's on suite again, having decided, for whatever reason, that talking behind a door that literally does not work is better than standing directly in his -their- bedroom.

"Sorry, that was... Anyway, I wanted to discuss our game plan." he says after helping pat Rain on the back, "We have all week to work unimpeded looking for that statue, after that, it'll be difficult to find a spare moment where both of us can look for it together."

"Right... Even if we could look for it by ourselves, the magic only works if there's more than one person present... at least that's the theory we have going, yeah?" Rain concludes, and Dew nods, "That being said, so far, nothing seems out of place aside from, well, us."

"Us being a couple is a significant change, especially since, based on what I've seen on my phone, we've been together for a while now. Like, years." Dew says, slipping his phone out of his pants pocket, "...It'd be one thing if the statue bound us together with some stupid spell, but this is going too far..."

"I'm sorry." Rain apologizes, "I know being married to me is-"

"I mean, it's one thing to mess with our friends' heads and implant memories of a wedding that never happened, but, like, c'mon, let me remember this stuff, too!" Dew complains, startling Rain, who was not expecting this conclusion, "I kept looking through the pictures on my phone and I don't remember any of this, it's not fair, man!"

Rain tilts his head.

"You... want to remember... or, rather, you'd want the spell to make you think we've been married?" he tries, pursing his lips, "What?"

Dew freezes.

"I... Yeah... Maybe..." he rubs his arm, "It just feels... off... otherwise."

Rain feels an ache in his chest.

"Dew, do you... Are you saying..." he pulls back and sighs deeply, "Dew, you're my best friend. I love you, but I'm not in love with you."

"...Same... Same here." Dew replies, but he can't hide the brokenness in his voice, and Rain remembers then Dew's insistence on trying the statue again.

How he'd said they had to be serious.

...How the spell supposedly only worked if the pair before it were lovers.

But it had worked with them!

It had worked, and the statue had even called them out on it!

So...

Rain watches Dew wipe the corners of his eyes, trying to hide the hurt spilling from them.

...could it have worked because of something one-sided?

"I'm so sorry." Dew whispers, "I didn't... didn't want you finding out like this. Sorry, I... I'm sorry, this is how I feel."

"...I'm sorry, too."

.

.

.

The search for the statue is an awkward one.

Dew is still reeling from having his feelings exposed so easily, and Rain is in the midst of processing this new information, trying to figure out how he could have possibly lead the other on.

It's not that he doesn't find Dew attractive, or that they don't get along -they get along very well- and, sure, Rain did jack off to him this morn-

Rain feels a stirring inside of him again.

Goddammit, he thinks, is this part of the spell?

But...

As they browse the abbey's art collection for signs of one large dick, Rain finds himself thinking back on a lot of things.

This isn't the first time he's thought about Dew like that, but he's always managed to push those feelings down pretty well.

Somehow, it doesn't feel right that he's ONLY interested in Dew's body like that.

He likes Dew, he loves the guy, but... not romantically.

Does he very much want to fuck him though?

Yes.

And that's what has him shoving it all into the back of his mind.

Trying to at least.

It doesn't feel right that Dew LIKES him and that he just... he can't reciprocate it.

If he only wants Dew for his body, that's like a whole new level of leading him on.

Yeah, they're ghouls, they fuck around and move on, but things can get messy when feelings are involved.

Cirrus and Cumulus are a fine example of just that.

He cringes at the memories of their fights when they were together, how hard it had been for them to navigate the balance between the sexual freedom they both craved while being devoted to one another emotionally.

It was all a giant shitfest, until they stepped back and actually talked about what they wanted and realized they didn't click as well as they initially thought, and while they're happier than ever now... Rain can't put Dew through that.

But then again, who says monogamy is what the guy even wants?

They probably talked about all of this at some point, given their relationship status in this version of their reality, but it probably didn't happen over text, so fishing through his phone some more isn't going to help their situation.

He has to find that stupid fucking statue!

But...

Rain looks around the room, searching for Dew amongst the various artworks on display and comes up empty.

He feels a mild panic coming on when he sweeps his gaze over the room and, again, finds nothing.

"Dew??"

He looks left and right.

"Hey, hey, Dew, where are you??"

...He's gone.

Shit, shit, shit-

"I'm right next to you, you jerk." A familiar voice grumbles from beside him, and, upon looking down, Rain meets the disgruntled gaze of a very annoyed ghoul.

"Oh, shit, I-I didn't realize you were there-"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Let's just keep looking." Dew mutters, clearly unhappy, "Let's get this over with already."

"I..."

"...When we get back..." Dew says, "Don't talk to me."

"...For how long?" Rain frets.

"Forever if you want." he replies, hands in his pockets, "Since you're so tweaked out about shit, and this isn't something you get over in a day, or a week, or a year or whatever..."

"I can't just stop talking to you, you're my f-" Rain starts, but Dew cuts him off.

"Yeah, you're my friend, but you're already looking at me like I'm a freak because of how I feel, and I don't think I can come back from that, Rain." he places a hand on his chest, "Shit fucking hurts..."

"Dew..."

Tying The Knot

[Get your head out of the gutter, this one is actually a wholesome one. RainDrop.] Below the cut.

The day he met Dew, the ghoul had been a stiff breeze away from crumbling away, shaking like a leaf as he tried to remain on his feet.

He'd learn much later the reason; That he'd fought tooth and nail to keep his packmate from tearing him apart in a rage, and that the shiver, that terrible, persistent tremble of his body, was it trying to stay upright.

At the time, Rain had not seen the hand splayed across his back -a sister of sin steadying him-, had not seen the way Terzo had eyed him from across the room, the last remnant of his old pack, barely holding onto life, but alive.

More than anything, the thing Rain noticed about Dew was that he was alive.

Were it not for the raspy hiss of his breathing, it would have been easy to liken him to a corpse.

It had bothered him for so long, the idea that Dew had been forced out of bed to witness not only his summoning, but that of the others, who poured out of the pit, half feral and lost, snapping at anyone who got close, but he hadn't been.

This had been an indulgence.

Dew wanted to see them.

And when coal black eyes gazed upon them all; Rain could feel him staring through them, through him.

It was then that Rain knew Dew was a creature born of spite, of persistence...

He remembers his first approach.

Unfazed by the chatter of teeth or swipe of claws.

With his fingers dipped in a mixture of ash and blood, he aided in anointing them all, and, now, when he sees Dew in his robes during one of Copia's sermons, it's all he can think of.

Dew stands now at the head of the chapel, back to him, long white hair tied back into a careful braid, the one Rain remembers practicing late at night.

It's done in a style from the pit, the kind you have to learn from an elder, impossible to find on youtube, even if similar patterns exist.

His hands twitch, wanting to drag through the strands and tug it loose, to undo all his hard work in a single pull, because if he knew how seeing him like this would make him feel, he'd never had tied those knots in the first place.

Each cross is a promise, woven to remind the wearer they are loved.

Rain watches the little ribbon he tied to secure the braid in place peek out; A bright, joyous red that contrasts heavily against Dew's pale hair.

Bolder than he thought it would be, and now Rain can feel eyes on him from among the pews.

His packmates know they didn't tie that ribbon, and all of them know such an intricate braid could not be done by Dew's hands alone, no matter how skilled he may be with his fingers.

Rain swallows, mouth suddenly dry.

It's...

It's a little too obvious what he's saying with all of this.

He's embarrassed, yes, but more than that...

He's nervous that Dew won't understand the meaning of this gesture.

Dew may be a ghoul like the rest of them, but, much like Swiss -who was born and raised on the surface- he has no memories of the pit.

The soul inhabiting his vessel is a mix.

An even blend of demon and man, but his consciousness solely belongs to the entity that lived topside.

He doesn't understand their culture.

Let alone the niche courting habits of an oceanic subspecies of water ghoul like Rain's.

At best, Dew thinks it's just a cool hairstyle.

At worst, he thinks it's lame or weird, or-

"Rain." a shockingly gentle voice calls to him, and when he looks up...

Dew looks down at him, standing above his seated form, his expression softer than he's seen it in a long time.

"You look terribly sad for a man who's just proposed."

Rain stutters, covering his face with his hands, looking as if he's about to burst.

"...You knew?"

"I guessed based on how much you were sweating while tying my hair back." he replies teasingly, "And Mist told me, ages ago. Not about you doing this, but about the practice in general."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh."

Rain tucks his head between his knees.

"Are you okay??"

"...Gimme a year to recover before you tell me yes or no, I don't think my heart can take it."

Dew grins.

"If I say 'yes' will you die on the spot, or-"

"Can y'all be mushy somewhere else, it's putting me off Papa's sermon about pre-martial sex." Cirrus groans, "Congrats, but also, fuck off!"

"Boo! Boo, Cirrus! Ruining our moment..." Dew sticks his tongue out

"...The sermon was about sex? Was he for or against it??" Aeon frets, "I wasn't listening!"

Everyone turns to the other ghoul, frowning.

"W-What??"

"Do we look like Christians to you-"

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.

Cryptid Biology Season 2: Something Special

[Previous entry in this series: Here. The ghouls participate in a time honored tradition in celebration of the summer solstice... or Dew has an encounter with Special in the woods.] Below the cut.

Dew can feel his heart beating in his chest as he runs through the darkness, ducking and weaving to avoid branches and thorn bushes that appear just inches away from him before disappearing into the black surrounding him.

He curses, feeling his muscles scream at him to slow down, to stop, but if he does, he'll get caught.

Breathing heavily, Dew stumbles over a root, but manages to keep his footing... only to trip and fall over the next one, landing upon the ground with a heavy thud that would hurt a whole heck of a lot more if not for the bed of decaying leaves on the forest floor.

He groans and attempts to scramble to his feet, but when a boot against his back keeps him from rising right away, he relents, flopping back down with an angry huff.

"First you failed to outrun me during the Imbolc hunt, then you ran into me at the one for Ostara, and don't get me started on that pathetic attempt to hide from me during Beltane... and now here we are again." the ghoul above him chuckles, eyes glowing red, face just barely visible with Dew's lackluster night vision, "I think you're getting in my way on purpose, Tadpole."

"Stop calling me that, Special, you prick..." Dew grits out, "Maybe you're the one chasing after me, huh?"

Special hums and grinds his foot down.

"Mn, no, I don't think so." he says, crouching down, "I'm not much of a hunter, you see, I've always been more of a scavenger; I take what the others leave behind, so normally I'd wait and see who's left..."

He moves to press his knee into Dew's back, applying more pressure as he leans forward to whisper into his ear, "You're too much work, so for me to catch you, either nobody wanted you this time, or you're deliberately making it easy for me, because after our first encounter, you've been aching for more..."

Special brushes the hair from his neck and presses a kiss there, "...Haven't you?"

"Shut-" Dew starts to shout, but can't as Special's jaws lock onto his nape, it stings, both from the act itself, and from the toxin dribbling into his wounds from the ghoul's mouth, "Uh-huunh..."

"There's a good boy." Special coos, licking Dew's blood from his lips, swiping his tongue over his teeth for good measure, "Feels better than when a quint fucks your mind, doesn't it? I know it does... It's such an instant relief."

His hand comes down the massage the wound, grinning as the skin heals over from his touch, while also aiding in spreading the venom faster.

"There we go..." he says, finally lifting himself from Dew's body and flipping him over onto his back, "Well, look at you~"

Dew's whole body feels flush, and his breathing has yet to settle from his mad dash through the forest, so he has to look like a sweaty mess, but Special doesn't seem to agree, reaching down to cup his cheeks with his hands, shaking his head teasingly back and forth.

"Aren't you just the sweetest thing?" he grins, then pats his face lightly, "Hm, guess we should get this show on the road then, huh?"

Dew mumbles something and raises his arms slowly, wiggling his fingers, and Special blinks at him for a moment before snorting, "Oh, poor baby, can't take your shirt off yourself? You need me to do it for you?"

"Feeeel allll... wiggly..." Dew supplies unhelpfully, giggling as Special hooks his fingers under the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head in one fluid movement, "Umph!"

"The venom's making you a little silly, isn't it?" Special squishes Dew's face again as he wads up his shirt and tucks it under his head, "That's good, you always seem so uptight..."

He spreads his fingers over his chest, thumbs poised beneath his nipples, "You know..."

"Most people come to these hunts so they can do nasty, freaky things in the woods without consequence." he says, teasing the small bud, "But you, and pardon the joke, are something special, huh?"

"You just wanna be loved.... adored, taken care of..."

Dew mewls as Special descends to nibble at his neck again, fingers rolling his nipples around in soft, slow motions.

"Are they not treating you right, sweet thing? Hm?" Special asks, "Should I talk to that water ghoul you like so much and tell him he doesn't need to be rough?"

"I like... I like rough..." Dew replies meekly, eyes shutting, "S'okay..."

Special makes a disappointed little noise and pulls back.

"You know I don't like liars, Dewdrop." he chastises, "But if that's what you want-"

Dew's eyes widen as Special's hand begins to wrap around his neck.

"Do you want this?" he asks, applying pressure to his throat, "Or do you want me to treat you like you really want?"

Dew groans and kicks his legs slightly, squirming under his grasp.

"Want-"

"Yes?"

"...Don't wanna say it..."

Special pouts.

"But I want to hear it, c'mon, baby, when you're with me, what's your name, huh? How do I treat you?"

"Pri..."

"Yes~?"

"You're a prick." Dew cackles, and Special sits back, rolling his eyes.

"You may be easy to catch, but you're hard to break, I'll give you that." He sighs, "But I'll be damned again if I don't love picking you apart."

"Hehe~"

The multi-ghoul slides down and begins undoing Dew's pants, but the zipper refuses to open and he gives a frustrated noise.

"Just pull 'em off..." Dew says, struggling to move his legs around from under Special's body.

"I have a better idea-" The ghoul tugs Dew's pants down to about mid thigh and leaves them like that, the dense, folded over fabric restricting his movements, "-that's much better."

Dew wriggles, trying to slide them down further, but he can't get the leverage and gives a defeated hiss.

"I could just..." Special pushes his legs back towards his chest, "Yeah, I can work with this."

"H-Hey now-"

Special cranes his neck at him, "What? Suddenly you're embarr-Oh. Oh-ho-ho-ho~"

Dew's ears have flicked back, the tips almost as red as his face.

"What do you think? Should I take you like this, or perhaps I should lay you on your side? What is my princess thinking now, hm~?"

"Just-"

A stick snaps and Dew goes stone stiff, whereas Special lowers himself over his body, territorial, a growl emanating from his throat, wholly unexpected from such a usually jovial, prankster type like him.

What or whoever was approaching seems to get the hint and approaches no further, but the ghoul above him remains locked in his protective stance, glaring out into the darkness.

After a minute passes, Dew can finally hear the sound of retreating footsteps, and not even a second later, he feels something prodding at his entrance, causing him to tense and squeak.

"How annoying..." Special mutters, hastily working Dew open, not giving him any time to adjust, forcing a series of involuntary chatters and chirps to escape his mouth, "We'll have to rush things a bit now, I'm sorry."

"Who was-" Dew tries to lift himself up to look around, but Special pushes him back down, "Hey-"

Special clicks his tongue.

"Humans."

Dew furrows his brow.

"The siblings-"

"Not them." Special hisses, then tilts his head back, letting out an annoyed groan, "Dammit..."

"Then who? The gardener-"

"Outsiders."

Dew forces himself up onto his elbows, wobbling as Special helps him tug his pants back up.

"Careful now, don't want you falling down again..." Special chides, wrapping his arm around his waist as they stand, "...Fucking, of course, those bastards would sneak around on a night like this... I bet they're running back to the other side of the lake now."

"We should go after them-" Dew starts, but the second he tries to pull away from Special, his head starts swimming, "-Fuck, Phil, how much venom did you give me??"

"I wasn't expecting our little rendezvous to be interrupted by a pack of mortal morons, so I gave you a little more than last time..." he pinches his brow, "We'll have to inform the other-"

A loud cracking sound startles them both, making Dew stumble, but he is quickly captured by Special, who narrows his eyes in the direction of the noise.

"Do you think that was the trespassers or..."

A second, louder crack echoes through the woods followed by a chorus of human screams.

Dew cringes and Special begins to make a clicking sound, a common distress noise among ghouls, neither of them is sure what's going on at this point, and the lack of any other sound once a third crack sounds sounds has them both on edge, until...

"You better run, you fuckin' little shits! I have more where that came from!"

"...Bea, I think they got the point, put the bb gun down-"

...Ah.

Mountain heaves a heavy sigh, taking the gun from the gardener, who looks positively miffed, even in the lowlight cast by the lantern in the earth ghouls other hand.

"Give that back-" the hotheaded woman starts, but instead of giving her back the gun, Mountain scoops her up and jostles her around a bit before tossing her over his shoulder and lumbering back off into the forest, "YOU BITCH!"

Special and Dew watch the retreating pair in silence, looking at each other after the two are gone from sight again.

"...I'm getting too old for this..." They both sigh in unison.

"Still though, how did they get passed the barricades?" Dew wonders aloud and Special shrugs.

"They could have swam to this shore for all we know." he remarks, "It's happened before, so I expect the next budget meeting will involve putting something in place to prevent this from happening again..."

"We can't just magic some shit in place?" Dew questions, "Like with the woods along the main road?"

"People getting turned around in the woods is one thing, because they usually make their way back out, if we turn them around in the water, they could drown..." Special reasons, adjusting his grip on Dew, "...Not that they wouldn't deserve it with all the signs we have posted about these kinds of things. They've probably learned their lesson for now."

Dew hums.

"...So."

"So?"

"...Now that they're gone-"

"Yes?"

"...You know what I'm thinking?"

Special looks him up and down.

"...That we should track them down and eat their bones?"

Dew pinches the bridge of his nose.

"No, I-"

"-want to get railed within an inch of your life to make up for that frankly unnecessary distraction?"

"...You really are a prick."

"And you happen to like them very much, so it's a win-win situation for us all, isn't it?"

Sleepy extra cuddly Phantom with his first time sleeping in bed with either Dew or Swiss

CW: Swiss x Phantom cuddling, a mention of Swiss x Rain, polyghouls, and also a NS/FW mention

“Swiss.”

At first, it’s nothing more than a voice in his dream. Calling out, gentle but insistent. 

“Swiss. Wake up.” 

How kind. Whoever it is must be trying to keep him from sleeping through his alarms, again. It was becoming a more and more common occurrence. Copia looked at the end of his ropes most days. The grey hairs used to be a funny joke. Now there was simply too many to count. 

“Swiss!”

That next one is punctuated by a hearty nudge against his broad, bare shoulders. He can feel the mattress shift with it. 

“What?” Swiss asks. It comes out sounding far less like English than he hoped. 

“Can I sleep with you?” Now that the voice is saying more than just his name, it sounds more familiar to Swiss’ sleep addled brain. It still takes a moment. 

The newbie. Phantom. 

Weird. When the multi ghoul reaches his palm across the sheets to Rain’s spot on the bed it’s completely cold. He never came to bed. One of the others must have whisked him off elsewhere. Hopefully fucked into the best nights sleep he’s ever had. The thought makes Swiss purr. 

From behind him, Phantom lets out an unsure sound. “Is that… a yes?” 

“Is Copia busy?” Swiss mumbles. More out of curiosity than argument. 

The new guy shifts. The shirt he has on barely covers his shoulders, slipping down to one side. Its so threadbare. He can taste Aether’s scent on the roof of his mouth from there. “Papa… uh… I just wanted to ask you. I don’t know. If it’s weird I can-“ 

“Yeah, sure. C’mere.” Swiss says. It’s an easy decision. Phantom fits against him like a second skin in the day to day. Rehearsals are fun, hanging out afterwards is even better. Anything he throws at the new bug is met with unbridled enthusiasm. 

When Phantom finds his way into the bed, Swiss doesn’t hesitate to fit them together there too. He tugs the new summon right against him, back to chest. He can practically hear the shudder in the ghoul’s breath. There’s a spark to the air surrounding him. Quintessence, soft yet powerful. 

“Calm down. Go to bed.” Swiss whispers against the cloud of black hair that his nose is tucked into. His tail crawls up to wrap around Phantom’s leg overtop the pajama pants he wears. 

“Okay.” Phantom croaks out, voice catching. Swiss barely hears it, falling back into a deep pattern of snores.

The new ghoul loses track of time. Slowly but surely, he finds himself able to relax. The subtle sound of Mountain’s records playing through the walls mixes with Swiss’ snores, and soon Phantom has both eyes closed, taking in the mix of scents on the pillow with a purr rolling through his throat. Falling asleep slow and easy.

Ok first off (I hope I'm not to late) HAPPY BIRTHDAY <3

And second, I just read your latest fic where Phantom regresses for the first time AND I LOVE IT. Honestly, little ghouls have a special place in my heart and it always makes me so happy to see other share the thoughts I have especially when they're kinda similar to my own (like Tain being the older and Dew just being a tiny baby)

Anyway, I'd like to request (only of you want off course) Phantom meeting little Rain and Dew for the first time? Maybe he is still big at first but just seeing Rain playing with toys/stuffed animals and Dew being cradled in someone's elses arms and getting taken care of looks so appealing to him and Swiss coaxes him to maybe join if he wants and slowly he does and Rain and him start to play together and the day ends with Swiss tugging them all in (Dew at first of course). Also you can add pretty much everything else you want, like with what they play, or what Dew does!

Getting to this super late lol (thank you for the birthday wishes I appreciate it)

This idea was so sweet and this is what popped in my head. I needed something soft so this was a joy to write.

I hope it's ok love 🖤🖤🖤

Cw: regressed ghouls, shy phantom, tiny Dewdrop

He'd been in a floaty in between space all day. He hadn't slept well and he didn't feel great and really all he wanted to do was wander into Swiss' room and ask him for help.

But he didn't want to bother him. He didn't want to be too needy...

He hears...he's not sure what he hears in the den but he's curious enough to go find out.

Swiss is on the couch with Dewdrop on the floor between the lower half of his legs, like Swiss' legs are the only thing holding him up. Rain's stomping around with two dinosaurs in his hands, shrieking and making them knock over towers of blocks.

One of the blocks lands in Dewdrop's lap and he blinks at it.

Rain swoops over with the pterodactyl. "Dew's gonna get squished! We gotta save him!"

Dew giggles quietly when Rain uses the dinosaur to grab the block off his lap. Swiss smiles and runs his fingers through Dew's hair.

"Good thing we've got Raincloud huh, firefly? He saved the day!"

"I'll always save Dew!" He races around the room and Dew claps.

Swiss catches him from the corner of his eye. "Hey bug!"

Rain stops running and Dew pouts. Phantom shuffles his feet, fuzzy socks sliding on the wood of the floor.

"Come over here." Swiss pats the spot on the couch beside him.

Phantom launches himself against his side, hiding his face in his shoulder.

"Feeling shy?"

He nods, thumb weaseling up into his mouth. He loves Rain and Dew but they've never been together like this and now he feels like he's intruding.

"Want to just sit with me and watch for a little bit? You can join in and play whenever you're ready."

He snuggles in closer, watching Rain from behind his hair when the water ghoul starts running around again. He roars and shrieks and makes the dinosaurs fight and Phantom smiles.

Rain flops over beside Dew, breathing hard and hands a soft, crinkley star to Dew who promptly shoves it in his mouth, biting hard into the fabric.

"Do you know dinosaurs?" Rain peeks over Swiss' knee to look at Phantom.

He shakes his head, gnawing on his thumb. He doesn't really...

"You can teach him." Swiss ruffles Phantom's hair. "You know what he does know a lot about? Sharks!"

"I have sharks! Hold on!"

He sprints from the den and Swiss cringes into the couch.

"Walk Rain!"

Dew makes a grumbling little sound in the back of his throat and bites his toy harder.

"Maybe Dew's not a firefly, maybe he's a dinosaur!" Swiss smiles down at the little ghoul between his legs, nose scrunched up as he chews on the star.

"C-could be a dragon...."

"Very true, love bug! Dewdrop the dragon!"

Phantom giggles when Dew tilts his head back to look at them, the plush toy hanging out of his mouth.

Rain darts back into the room, arms full of sea creatures.

"Hang on! Mounty has the rest, I can't carry all of them."

The giant rounds the corner with the rest of Rain's toys and Swiss laughs at him.

"You're lucky there are little eyes and ears right now." He drops the toys onto the floor. "Hi bug."

He blushes, Swiss is the only one who has seen him like this and he's not sure what to do.

"S'ok you don't have to talk to me until you're ready."

Dew squirms and holds his arms up until Mountain scoops him up.

"Hello firefly."

Phantom bites his lip. "D-dragon.."

"Hmm? Sorry bug I didn't hear you." He kneels with Dew in his arms, closer to the little Quint but not touching. "Can you tell me again?"

He glances at Swiss who nods. "Dew...h-hes a d-dragon..."

Mountain's eyes go wide. "He is?"

Phantom slowly uncurls from Swiss' side. "Yeah. He ate a star!"

Rain bounces over. "Help me find treasure! Dragons need treasure!"

"Why?"

Rain shrugs. "I don't know...but in all the stories they have some..."

Mountain laughs. "I think Dew is getting tired. Why don't you show Phantom your sharks for now."

Rain takes his hand and pulls him from the couch, both of them laughing when they bump into eachother. Mountain takes the spot Phantom had been occupying, tucking Dew more comfortably in his arms.

Swiss drapes his arm along the back of the couch and runs his nails over Mountain's shoulder.

"Been busy today?"

"Yeah, Sister has me doing the walkway differently now. She saw it at another Abbey so now naturally ours has to look like that."

They chat while Rain and Phantom play whatever game they created and Dew falls asleep, fingers wrapped tight around Mountain's thumb.

"Bath time?"

Rain whines. "But-"

"Minnow." Mountain warns.

"Sorry..."

"If you both clean up you can take a bath in Lus' tub together, lots of room for both of you and a couple sharks."

They race to clean up the toys, only getting distracted a few times. Mountain had left to get the bath ready with Dew in his arms.

"Ok pick a few toys to bring with you." Swiss claps his hands together. He wraps his arms around their shoulders when they're ready and guides them down the hall to Lus' room.

"Hi Lus!" Rain yells as he sprints by, racing to the bathroom.

Phantom clings to Swiss, chewing on his lip.

Swiss tugs his lip from between his fangs. "You're gonna hurt yourself, would you like a soother?"

He peeks around the multi ghoul to watch Cumulus. She's in a chair with Dew wiggling in her lap, fussing softly.

She shushes him and runs her fingers through his hair, holding him tight to her chest until he settles.

"Oh...hi bug! I didn't see you there!"

He gives a tiny wave but doesn't move from Swiss' side.

Lus smiles. "Do think you can help me before your bath?"

He likes helping...he nods.

"Can you pick some jammies for Dew for me? I forgot to grab them and he's comfy now."

"I-I can help." He tugs Swiss' hand. "Where are they?"

"We'll run to Mountain's room real quick and grab some."

Swiss leads him down the hall and over to the dresser with Dew's clothes, the ones saved only for when he's this small.

Phantom pokes around, rubbing the fabric between his fingers, scrunching his nose with his tongue poked out. Fully focused on the task at hand.

"This one!" He waves the soft pajamas around so fast and races back to Lus' room before Swiss can even see what he picked.

"Wow you're fast!" Swiss hears Cumulus before he walks in and he smiles, she's got him out of his shell without even trying.

"Picked these ones! D-Dew ate a star and now h-hes a dragon and these have stars!"

Her eyes go wide and she gasps. "Oh my goodness! Don't tell Aether that he ate a star, he might get nervous."

Rain pokes his head out of the bathroom. "Dew wouldn't eat Aether! Come on Phantom! The tubs ready!"

Swiss ushers him in just as Rain sinks into the bubbles, already making his sharks fight each other.

Swiss helps him from his clothes and helps him over the lip of the tub so he can sink into the water beside Rain.

Swiss laughs when Rain tosses a squishy squid at Phantom and it splats against his chest .

They splash and play, giggling happily, creating games Swiss can't even keep up with. He lets them play longer than usual, well past bedtime.

Rain begs for Lus to wash their hair, claiming she's the best at it and Phantom simply takes his word for it, only shying away a little bit before relaxing under her careful fingers.

He gets them dried off and in their pj's. He can't resist them and their soft puppy eyes when Rain asks if Phantom can sleep in his room with him and Mountain laughs with his arms full of a sleep soft Dewdrop.

Rain kisses Dew's cheek and Mountain's and Phantom gives a little wave before Rain grabs his hand and sprints off down the hall.

Mountain kisses Swiss softly before taking Dew down to his room for the night, humming a lullaby as he walks, swaying the little ghoul gently.

"Ok pick a book and hop up into bed so I can get you tucked in."

They pick Puff the magic dragon and Swiss squishes them together and tucks them in, tickling them when they are trapped under the blanket.

Phantom falls asleep halfway through but Rain makes it to the end of the story despite his heavy eyes.

Swiss smiles and pushes his hair back. "You helped Phantom a lot today, duckling."

"I did?"

"Mhmm, I'm really proud of you."

He smiles wide and snuggles down into the blanket further. Swiss kisses the top of both of their heads before switching on the light projector, sea creatures dancing across the walls with a soft glow.

"Sleep well, I love you."

The only response he gets is soft even breathing from both little ghouls.

Im struggling so I projected onto Mountain (promise I'll give him a break soon)

Cw: this one is heavier than usual, major depressive disorder diagnosis, he feels like a burden, negative self talk, he mentions wanting to be gone, brief vomit mention, Dew gives him a bath, I promise he gets comfort, he's not alone, cg Dew, cg Rain

Mountain had yet to come to terms with the diagnosis, another heavy weight tied to his ankles that he has to drag around for the rest of his days. He already felt like a burden with his anxiety and now this.

He can still hear Omega in his head, his voice soft and professional but warm, talking to a pack mate not just some random person. He'd held Mountain's hand as they discussed it and treatments for it but Mountain hadn't been able to listen, Omega's voice fading into some distant whisper.

"We can talk when you're ready, ok? You can find me anytime, Mountain. I'm always here."

He had just nodded, tried to force a smile that looked at least a little convincing and thanked him. But his head was fuzzy and he moved on muscle memory alone to make it back to his room. He slept the rest of the day, vaguely remembering Dew gently shaking him awake to tell him dinner was ready but telling him he wasn't hungry, he just needed to sleep.

Dew had worried, sitting beside him for a bit with his fingers carding through his hair but sometimes Mountain really did just need sleep, it wasn't too far out of the ordinary. He kissed his cheek and left quietly, telling himself he'd talk to him in the morning before anyone else woke up.

Mountain had crept outside as soon as he woke up, immediately getting himself busy so no one would bother him. He didn't want to talk about it, he just wanted it to go away. If he didn't say the words then maybe it wouldn't be real, maybe if he didn't say it, it wouldn't have power...

Dew finds him but Mountain keeps it to himself, smiles and nods and tries to keep himself as normal as possible. He laughs even if he doesn't really want to, he lets Dew hold his hand, he lets him talk as much as he wants because at least then he can be quiet, he can bite his tongue to keep from spilling his secrets.

"I have to go help Rain, but I wanted to see you." He squeezes Mountains hand. "I love you. You know that right? Always."

He manages to nod. "Yeah. Love you too."

The problem is...it never goes away. It's a heavy hand pressing down on his chest until he feels like he's breathing under water and he's not sure he knows how to fight it, at least not alone but he's not going to talk about it, he's not going to add yet another issue that they have to deal with. He'll be fine.

It's a lie and he knows it, he feels it getting worse, feels the angry dark thoughts slipping in, the ones that make him scared to be alone because right now he's his own biggest enemy. But he still feels himself pulling away, finding more and more reasons to be alone.

He can see the concern and he swears he's alright, just tired, and he walks away and draws the curtains tight and curls in on himself as much as he can and cries until he falls asleep where even his dreams don't offer respite.

He dodges Omega, refuses to talk to him. He doesn't want to hear it anymore, he doesn't want to talk because it's not going to help, he doesn't want to need medication to function like he should be able to.

He has to wonder if he's being punished for something he can't remember doing, some horrible atrocity he's now got to pay for.

Dew watches him at dinner, eyes like a hawk as Mountain just flicks his food around, his fork barely making the journey up to his mouth.

"Mount?"

"Hm?"

"You can talk to me. About anything, no matter what."

It feels like a punch right to his chest because he's not so sure anymore. But he nods because it feels like that's what he's supposed to do.

"I know."

Rain touches his hand from his other side and just offers a smile and he wants to give one back, wants to maybe ask if they mean it. But he doesn't. He just stands and walks away, back to his room to hide in the dark where he belongs.

He loses interest, his plants wilting from his absence in the greenhouse, he has no energy for anything, no desire to talk or eat or see anything beyond the four walls of his room.

The first time he drops after, he's terrified. Big it's scary but he at least understands but little it just feels like an endless churning ocean and he doesn't stand a chance.

He bites his tail as hard as he can, sobbing and all alone in a bed that feels too big in a room that's way too dark. He can't even find his bunny and he just feels like maybe if he just vanished everything would be better.

If he wasn't here they wouldn't have to worry about him, they wouldn't be excused by his constant need to reassurance, they wouldn't get tired of him always being sad or scared...he'd just be gone and there'd be peace and quiet in his place.

Dew races into the room just as Mountain gets sick all over the bed, crying and shaking and trying to apologize through shallow breaths but everything hurts. His body and his brain...it just hurts.

Dew doesn't say anything but he's warm and safe and he carries Mountain to the bathroom, quickly getting a bath started while the little ghoul cries against his shoulder.

He eases him into the water and keeps one hand wrapped around Mountain's, silently letting him know he's there. The little ghoul jumps and turns his face toward the wall when he hears the bedroom door open.

"It's just Rain. He's not coming in right now, I promise."

Mountain whimpers, pulling his knees under his chin, still kind of wishing that the Earth would take him back. He's once again making them do too much, once again making them worry.

"Pebble." Dew touches his cheek gently. "Sie müssen mit mir reden. Was ist hier los?" (You need to talk to me. What's going on?)

He shakes his head and bites his lip, squeezing his eyes as hard as he can. He could just run away, run and run and run until he doesn't know where he is and no one knows where to look...

His tummy sinks and his heart races, scared to be out all by himself, all alone in a world he doesn't think he really belongs in.

Dew sighs and squeezes his hand before washing Mountain's hair. He gets him out and dressed in warm jammies and Dew smiles when he sees the nest Rain had made on the bed for him when he stripped off the dirty sheets, replacing them with soft ones from Dew and Rain, offering comfort to the little ghoul while still respecting his space.

Dew helps him up into the bed, smiling when Mountain immediately grabs his bunny and brings it up to his face.

The fire ghoul climbs up beside him and pulls him close to his chest, running his hands in soothing motions over Mountain's back.

"Ich bin hier. Egal, was dein Verstand dir sagt. Ich bin da." (I'm here. No matter what your mind is telling you. I'm here.)

He pulls one of the blankets up over Mountain's shoulders, pausing to brush away the slowly falling tears.

"Can Rain come say goodnight to you?"

He shuts his eyes and squeezes his bunny to keep from biting his hand. "Why?"

Dew winces at his rough little voice and holds him tighter. "Because he loves you."

His mind, the scary monster in the corners of his brain, yells for him to say no, screams at him to not bother. But he finds himself nodding anyway.

Rain is in the room and climbing up behind Mountain before he can even really process it. He kisses the top of the little ghouls head and runs his fingers through his hair.

"Tout va bien se passer, petite fleur." He whispers to him. "No matter what it is, we'll figure it out. We'll be here." (It's going to be ok, little flower.)

He doesn't dream when he finally falls asleep between them and he wakes big and still exhausted. He tries to shuffle out from between them but Dew grabs his wrist.

"We're talking."

"But-"

"No. We are talking, Mountain."

His breath shakes when he breathes out and the walls feel like they're going to close in.

"Doesn't matter..."

"It does. You matter."

The words trigger the tears and he hangs his head.

"Why do you care so much? I could just....I could just go and it'd be fine."

Dew has his arms around him before he even finishes speaking and Rain is slowly sitting up wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Nothing would be fine if you weren't here."

He can't get himself to believe that. Rain moves closer, taking one of Mountain's hands.

"Have you talked to Omega?"

He nods, chewing his lip and fighting the drop, he doesn't want to feel more helpless right now.

"Gave me a diagnosis. Said it's major depressive disorder..." He hates the way it sounds and he waits for them to get annoyed, to roll their eyes because he's got more issues for them to deal with.

"Ok. Did you guys set up a plan?" Rain looks focused and Mountain can imagine him with a notebook listening to everything Omega had said about it.

"I...I didn't want to talk about it...I just..."

Dew nods and squeezes his hand. "It's ok."

It's not, not really but at least now he's said it, at least now people know.

"Do you think you can go talk to him? You don't have to decide anything but maybe talking through the thoughts might help." Rain tilts his head to the side. "We're with you no matter what."

It takes a while but he finally agrees and makes his way to the infirmary. Omega smiles when he sees him.

"Can...can we talk?"

His eyes go soft and he seems to understand. "Of course. We'll go to my office. Aeth, I'm stepping out for a few."

Aether just gives a thumbs up and Omega leads the giant down to his office, shutting the door softly behind them.

Once he starts talking it all just tumbles out and Omega listens patiently, holding Mountain's hands when the tears start, when he starts talking about the fears and how he wishes sometimes that he just wasn't here.

"Can I tell you something? Only Aether and Terzo know this." He waits for Mountain to nod. "I have it too. I know that feeling and how horrible it is but I promise you, we can make it easier. You're not alone, Mountain. You don't have to deal with it by yourself. I'm not going to let that happen."

He lets the big Quint wrap him in a tight hug and he listens to his options, deciding with a sigh that he'll try medication. He feels himself dropping and asks for Dew and Rain to be brought in, giving Omega permission to tell them everything.

He's bundled in a blanket on Omega's lap when they finally make it down and Dew pulls him onto his arms, offering a soother while he listens to every single word Omega says. He was right, Rain is taking notes and he smiles a little behind his soother.

Dew carries him to his room once all their questions have been answered and Mountain grabs for Rain so he'll stay too.

"I'm so proud of you, pebble." He kisses his forehead.

"You were so brave." Rain adds, smiling and handing Mountain his bunny.

He's still tired and he's still scared and his mind is still so loud and dark but he thinks maybe, just maybe things won't be so hard with Dew and Rain behind him.

Come morning, yet still, one brother searched for the other in vain and all the while the thread of the spider stretched thinner and thinner.

Spider's Thread

(Pssst, hey- truth or dare)

Hihi! I was wondering of you could write something about the ghouls (big or small) trying new foods? i think it could be really cute.

This idea just wouldn't leave my head after I saw this! Hope it's ok!

Cw: food, and not a warning but Dews words for things

It's a joy they never thought they'd have, something so small and simple was hugely important and brought more happiness than they could ever put to words.

They never thought that beyond a bottle and occasional oatmeal that the baby would ever really eat, it wasn't something they gave much thought to. But he'd made leaps and bounds in his healing and now...

"Dat?"

Rain blinks away his thoughts and looks over to what Dew is pointing at on Rain's plate.

"That is a shrimp." He holds it up for Dew to look at closer. "Do you want to try?"

He looks like he'd rather go eat dirt. "No. Ew bug!"

"It does kind of look like a bug." He kisses the top of Dew's little head. "You don't have to try it. Would you like more green beans?"

"Bean beans p'ease!"

Rain happily goes to grab him more and watches how he studies them, playing with them before he finally starts chomping away. He never knew something so simple would make him so proud.

He's not the only one. Every single one of them is happy to be a part of his journey, showing him new things to try.

He's perched on Mountain's knee one day out in the sun while the giant eats some grapes and Rain watches him bite them in half, being sure to pull the skin off before offering the baby little pieces.

He doesn't seem to like the purple ones, blowing raspberries and shaking his head, but green seem to be fine. Rain smiles at Mountain's unending patience, how he just let's Dew squish and explore without a care in the world simply because Dew is happy and bright.

His little hand touches Mountain's lips and he holds up one of his grapes. "Dis?"

"Grapes. Weintrauben."

He's not interested in repeating either word but he continues snacking and Mountain smiles down at him, nothing but peace in his eyes.

Swiss wasn't sure if Dew would be willing to try any of his food, tending to make his pretty spicy but he beamed when Dew eyeballed his plate one night and pointed at his rice, something more mild than usual.

"Dat?"

"Arroz Al la Mexicana." He offers a little bit on his finger and Dew stares at it for a while. Swiss almost pulls his hand back but Dew chomps down before he can. "Eat the rice but leave my finger you little devil!"

Dew giggles and Swiss watches his face as he decides if he likes it or not and he nearly jumps up with an excited cheer when he asks for more.

It doesn't always go well, sometimes he's just not in the mood, cranky or tired, or just simply more in the mood to play with it instead.

Aether has him in his highchair one morning while he sips his coffee and makes Dew a plate of fruits that he knows he likes. He keeps a mental note of Dews favorites but apparently he has other plans.

He growls at the plate when Aether sets it down and he watches him squish each strawberry.

"No tall babies!"

Aether can't help but laugh. "You like strawberries!"

He flings a chunk at Aether, clearly unamused by such an accusation.

"No tall babies!" He settles once he's got them all off his plate and is left with his watermelon and blueberries, eating happily and babbling away.

He catches Mountain later to ask if he knows what suddenly changed Dews mind about the strawberries.

"Oh, there were a bunch of wasps near the bushes the other day when I took him down to pick some. He was pretty unhappy about it, guess he holds a grudge."

Aether shakes his head and updates his mental list that "tall babies" are now a no.

Phantom is on the couch with their snack bowl while they watch tv and have an afternoon snack, even the other littles aren't spared from Dew's curiosity and are happy to share.

Dew pulls himself to stand in front of the couch, pointing at the puffy Cheetos Phantom is currently eating.

"Me p'ease!"

Phantom giggles and climbs off the couch. "H-hold on!" They run to the kitchen where Swiss is getting dinner prepped. "C-can Dew have s-some of my Cheetos?"

Swiss laughs when the baby crawls in behind Phantom, eyebrows pinched as he looks up at the bowl.

"Yeah, just keep him in here with them ok?"

Phantom sits on the floor and hands Dew one of the puffy, cheesy snacks. They giggle when Dew blows a raspberry at it at first but eventually he decides he likes it enough to ask for another one.

"G-good?"

"Teese toes!"

Phantom laughs so hard Swiss almost worries they'll run out of air but Dew claps and Phantom hands him another one.

There are still things he refuses to eat. He hates peas and carrots, he doesn't like things that are too sweet like cakes or cookies, he hates eggs and won't even look at them if they are offered.

His favorite is still broccoli and if he had it his way he'd have it morning, noon, and night.

It quickly becomes their favorite part of dinner when Dew is dropped and in a good mood, trying out new recipes to see if he will try it and even better, if he'll like it.

They don't take it for granted no matter how small it may seem because it shows his healing and how far he'd come and they will happily cheer on every single step out of the dark that he takes.

Cryptid Biology Season 2: Shark Bait

[The previous entry in this series: Here. Rain decides to have a little fun with the abbey's gardener after she dares step into his lake smelling like a certain earth ghoul. Implied MountRain and some RainDrop. Going back to our roots and writing about tentacles.] Below the cut.

Rain is hovering just over the silt in the bottom of the lake, belly just barely touching the muck, when he catches a familiar, heady smell emanating from somewhere closer to the surface.

It's Mountain's musk; That distinct scent of evergreen trees mingled with the stench of sweat, but there's something softer, sweeter, diluting it.

He rises slowly, following the smell like a shark tracking a trail of blood in the water.

The ghoul breaches the surface slowly, making the smallest ripple on top of the water as his eyes adjust to the sunlight, blinking once, twice to retract the clear, secondary eye lids that protect his vision in the depths.

The air is thick with humidity, and the sun is harsh, hot on his head, but as his gaze settles on the shallows, he can't bring himself to care about the heat.

Waist deep in the water, the abbey's groundskeeper, Beatrix Milne -Bea-, is stood holding a mesh net, cleaning up debris and trash from the shoreline.

While the siblings, and the ghouls are careful to remove trash after lakeside parties, part of the greater lake extends towards a shore not on the abbey's property; Marked off by a series of buoys, despite efforts to keep the shared waters clean, careless individuals have left everything on the opposite side of the line a mess... leaving people like Bea to clean it up as the winds carry it across.

It's definitely one of the more frustrating parts of maintaining the land, one he's overheard the groundskeeper venting her frustrations about to Mountain when the two come back to the abbey in the afternoon in spring and summer, the cart attached to the UTV loaded up with debris to be sorted out into the compost or recycled later on.

He tries his best to keep the water clean himself, but there's only so much he can do alone, which is why he understands the pointed look of annoyance on Bea's face as she fills the net with half sunk beer cans and the occasional snack packaging.

Rain eases his way towards the shore, floating along even as the water gets shallower and shallower, and settles himself in the reeds nearby, watching the human work.

Bea and him have never really clicked, despite a shared interest in protecting the natural world, she's often too abrasive for him to want to approach her directly and strike up a conversation, but he can't blame her for being that way; He's seen how Mountain can get after spending all day out in the hot sun, isolated from others, sweaty and uncomfortable, body tense and sore...

However, looking at the groundskeeper now, she doesn't look too terribly bothered, just focused.

She's dressed more casually than he's seen her before -much, much more so-, wearing cut off jeans and a bikini top, her exposed skin shiny with a mix of sweat and sunblock...

Rain sniffs the air curiously.

It's just barely there.

Mountain's scent on her skin, not nearly strong enough for him to have smelled it from that deep in the water.

He hums, sinking down slightly when the groundskeeper looks out over the reeds, waving her hand as if swatting at an insect.

And that's when he notice, as his nose hits the water, he can smell it.

Trailing his gaze down the curves of her body from her face, he eyes the waistband of her shorts, just barely visible over the water, and lowers himself down further to get a better look.

Sure enough, the smell is coming from there.

"Oh, I see..." he thinks, taking in the sight of the rough fabric soaked through, and clinging to her skin.

Despite how often the two argue; Mountain has clearly marked his territory, or, perhaps, Bea had claimed hers.

Maybe both.

But regardless of who struck their flag where, coming into another ghoul's domain smelling so strongly of someone else has Rain feeling... slighted.

If she's going to play around -Clean, she is cleaning the lake- in his lake like this, she should at least ask his permission first, but she hasn't.

And that alone is enough for Rain to want to punish her.

Of course, the type of punishment depends on how she reacts to what he does next.

Cloaking himself slightly with his magic, Rain drops back beneath the waves, and glides himself past her legs, letting the fin of his tail slide against her thigh.

Her can almost her her gasp, feels her jump... but she doesn't flee.

Rain swims by her again, and before HE can react, he feels the tug of fingers in his hair.

He groans, air bubbling from his lungs as he's pulled above the water again.

"You know that doesn't work on me, right?"

He'd forgotten.

"Sister Imperator gave me 'Sight', so I wouldn't get tricked by the other creatures on the grounds like the last caretaker." she says, "Are you going to stop fooling around, or are you going to help me clean up?"

Rain pouts.

"You're one to talk." he murmurs, moving to stand, towering over the gardener, "Seems you and Mountain were 'fooling around' not long ago... You know it's rude, right? Entering my lake smelling like him."

Bea stares up at him, brows furrowed, squinting, both in annoyance and to keep the light out of her eyes.

He steps more into the path of the sun, casting his shadow over her.

"I was under the impression that you liked how Mountain smells." she says, turning away from him, tossing her net onto the shore, but not before tying a loose knot in it to prevent the debris from spilling out.

She's not going to clean it up twice in one day.

"Mountain told me you're always pressing yourself up against him, rubbing his scent all over you... Are you annoyed or just jealous that I smell like him, too?"

Rain grins.

"Jealous? Of you?" he laughs, then sighs, "Perhaps a little... Did you like it?"

He steps closer.

"Him shoving his cock inside of you?" he asks, watching the faintest hint of embarrassment color her cheeks, "I bet you begged and begged and begged for him to give you more."

"Me? Beg?" Bea tilts her head, and quirks her lips, "He was the one begging."

Rain presses forward again, and Bea meets him, skin to skin.

He can feel the soft pudge of her belly against him in the water.

Warm against his naturally cold flesh.

He traces his fingers along her arm, watching her shiver.

"...I could make you beg." he offers, "If you'd like to see what I do to make the 'mountain' shake..."

Bea squirms as he lowers himself into a kneeling position.

"If you want me," he says, poking his thumbs through the belt loops of her shorts, "you'll remove these. I don't much care of the look or taste of denim."

Wordlessly, and with an almost amusing amount of haste, Bea shimmies out of her bottoms allowing Rain access to her crotch.

With a whispered 'yes' from her lips -said far quieter than needed for where they are- Rain dives in, pressing his nose against her mound and inhaling deeply.

He can smell Mountain here; Though wiped clean, but a ghoul's scent is strong, and even if Rain bemoans not being able to lick if from her, he can still taste Mountain's release, perhaps there is some still deeper inside.

He continues to nose at her cunt for a time, separating out her smell from his, trying to appreciate her scent as well.

He giggles and feels her tremble above him.

"You smell like honey... Honey Bea... how cute~" he teases, dragging his tongue along her folds before she can begin to argue.

She reminds him a bit of Dew in that way.

He always shies away from endearments and praise during sex, but if Bea is anything like the feisty fire ghoul, then he knows if he keeps pushing, he'll get what he wants.

Rain kisses her 'lips' before probing deeper with his tongue, it's messy and the sounds it makes, though muted by the water, is obscene.

Having been on both ends of such encounters, Rain is very familiar with what to do to get himself and his partners off this way, but that's not his goal here.

He pulls away just when Bea's body is about to buckle, and pushes her backwards into the water, revealing in the way she yelps as overwarm skin meets the lake.

"You jerk-!" she shouts, but, again, she is cut off by Rain.

"Have you ever been with a water ghoul before?" he asks, fingers tracing the split along his crotch, teasing the scales there, catching her confused glare, "...You haven't, have you?"

The head of his tentacle begins to peek out from between the folds, a light blue, bleeding into purple at the tip as he begins to pet it.

"I think once you have..." he says, leaning forward, cradling her neck to keep her head above water as he lines himself up, watching the surprise flicker across her face as the tentacle begins to prod at her entrance.

"...You'll realize you're not the only one who can make someone beg."

Mushy May, day 9. Warming them up.

Rating: E

Pairing: Ifrit/Dewdrop

Words: 865

Summary: Dew knows true warmth for the first time, and he can't get enough. Neither can Ifrit. Or, Ifrit and Dew fuck for the first time post Dew's transition.

Thank you @forlorn-crows (the beloved) for doing this as always :)

Head dropping into the pillow, Ifrit knew he was inches away from unraveling and no amount of measured breathing would save him from that fact. 

He could have laughed at himself, should have cursed at himself, but all he managed was a shuddered sigh as the freshly made fire ghoul sank down the length of his cock. Slowly, with his skinny thighs trembling where they bracketed his hips. Dew was struggling just as much as he was. It was a familiar but impossible stretch, always was, but it was different this time. He was carving out a spot for Ifrit and Ifrit alone, giving himself and this elementally changed body to Ifrit. Dew had been set on it, on Ifrit being the first - on Ifrit always being his first. Having barged into his room, skin still steaming, smelling of incense and salt, he wasted no time. 

Ash certainly dirtied his sheets, still smeared on Dew's body and now on his own, but Ifrit couldn’t find the concern for linens within himself. Not when the embrace of Dew's walls were both molten and velvet, too snug around his poor cock to leave room for anything in his head. All he could focus on were the multiple, searing points of contact between them and the heat. 

He was used to the heat. A fire ghoul forged from an eternal flame within the endless pits of sulfur, Ifrit found home within hellfire but Dew was beyond it. Well past burning and Ifrit wanted to bear the scars of the blaze he was becoming. 

Literal sparks crackled around Dew's head like some strange halo when he abruptly forced himself down those last few torturous inches. Impatient as ever, a changing of element would never take that from him. It knocked the wind from both of them. 

His eyes nearly rolled up into his skull but he did all he could not to fold and admit to the coiling sensation in his belly. If he ignored the way his balls ached maybe he could hold out. 

Dew wasn't fairing much better, clearly. His mouth had fallen open in a silent cry, chin tucked to his chest, steadying himself against Ifrit's broad chest. The red in his cheeks practically glowed, a striking hue against pale cool-toned skin. He was burning up from the inside out, a flame trapped and flickering under his skin, and Ifrit didn't want to blink lest he miss a second of his lover or the fruit of this long awaited rebirth. The head of his cock was just as flushed. Angry and leaking profusely against Ifrit's stomach, a water ghoul trait his vessel stubbornly clung onto much to Dew's apparent chagrin.

Palms sliding up Dew's thighs, feeling the twitching muscle beneath the weight of his hands, it all felt too real. A day he'd been waiting for. Suspended in anticipation, counting down the seconds until Dew and him were alike at the deepest parts of their being. Made kindred flames at the behest of the morning star himself. 

Ifrit squeezed at his hips to bring Dew back to earth with him. They both deserved to exist wholly in this moment. His fingers nearly touched around his waist. 

“I'm here” Dew rasps. The first words he'd spoken since before he was whisked away by clergy members to a place Ifrit could not follow. The first words since he'd punctuated their temporary goodbye with a kiss too chaste to savor the meaning of. His voice was deeper or perhaps his vocal chords were stripped raw. 

“You're here.” Ifrit whispered, smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. It's big and a bit too goofy for the position they found themselves in but it makes Dew's heart flutter and his cock jump. They both notice the latter. “How does it feel?” 

Dew lifted his head, soot stained hair curtaining his face. Carefully placed shadows on his sharp features. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, not yet bruised but pinker than they'd ever been. Everything was new down to the very sensations. He struggled to find the words, clearly. Ifrit could see the tangled threads of thought behind those copper tinged eyes. 

“Hot.” The word practically dripped off his tongue, sighing out wisps of smoke as Ifrit tucked his hair behind his ear. He wanted to bottle it and save it. “Never felt this warm before,” his shoulders shook with a breathless laugh. “S'weird.” 

“Bad?” 

“Good, real good…Is it always like this?” 

“Oh firefly,” the pet name somehow makes Dew feel tighter around him and Ifrit was forced to admit defeat. He couldn't last like this. “You'll never feel cold again. Don't even need me to keep you warm anymore.” 

Something a little like panic, or even disappointment flickered in his eyes. “But - But you still will, right?” 

Ifrit pulled him down. Chest to chest where they could both feel the steady beating of their hearts falling in sync. The short lived tension in his body melts away. Evaporates like steam, unseen and forgotten immediately. He thinks Dew might have finally found a way to crawl under his skin and stay there with how he clung to him. 

“Always, droplet.” 

I had this idea the other day of Ifrit and Alpha and Baby Dew spending some quality fire ghoul time, either doing some fire ghoul traditions or just the three of them hanging out in general!

-🌺

Just a quick little thing! I hope this is ok 🩷🩷🩷

Cw: alcohol is mentioned a couple times in passing, just sipping it

If anyone were to ask Alpha what his favorite part of summer was, he'd grumble and say nothing, it's too hot and too sticky and the bugs are annoying.

But it's this.

He smiles to himself as he carries back an armful of fire wood to the spot that has long since been designated the bonfire spot. He can hear Ifrit and shortly after his voice he hears Dew's happy giggle.

He loves it, getting a fire set up for his pack, just him and the other fire ghouls getting it ready. It's somehow more special to him when Dew's little and excited, clapping and tossing little sticks into the circle happily babbling about fire, at least they assume that's what he's talking about.

When he breaks out of the trees he watches Dew's chubby little dirt covered hands point in his direction, alerting Ifrit that Alpha was back.

"I see him." He smiles and kneels to kiss the baby's head.

"Alf! Sticks!" He points at the circle, showing off his little twigs strewn about.

"Doing all the hard work for me?" He kneels beside the baby, stacking the wood the way he wants it while Dew continues to toss things.

"Fuoco!" (Fire)

Alpha wipes his hands on his pants and picks the baby up. "Faremo un grande e bellissimo fuoco." (We will make a big beautiful fire)

Ifrit smiles and wanders closer, taking Dew's little hand and pressing a kiss to it despite the dirt clinging to his skin.

"Are you excited for the fire? Sunteți entuziasmați de foc?" (It's the same question asked)

Dew wiggles to be set down and points at the fire pit again. Alpha glances around, the sun is finally starting to set and he's pretty sure he can hear a giggling gaggle of ghoulettes getting closer.

"Will you help me light it, Piccola fiamma?" (Little flame)

Dew's eyes are bright when Alpha takes his hand and a little flame flickers between his fingers. He guides their hands down to the kindling and Dew giggles with the flames catch. Ifrit cheers, telling Dew what a good job he'd done.

Cirrus and Cumulus are the first to arrive, wrapped together in a blanket with wine flushed cheeks and a basket of snacks Cumulus had been busy baking all day.

"Mamma!" Dew crawls as fast as he can over to Cumulus and she beams as she picks him up.

"Hi baby!"

His chubby little hand points at the fire. "Me!"

She gasps. "Did you make it all by yourself? You're so talented!"

"Alf me!"

"Oh, you let him help you? That's very kind, I'm sure Alpha was happy to help."

The rest of the pack trickles in slowly, Swiss has Phantom on his back even though the Quint isn't dropped and Aurora beside him holding his hand. Mountain and Aether follow behind with arms full of blankets for everyone to sit on. Rain and Omega are a bit behind them with another basket of snacks. Omega has his arm around Rain's shoulders, steadying him up the bumpy path so he doesn't trip.

Dew's the first to excitedly greet everyone and Ifrit moves closer to Alpha, the way he always does on nights like this. He doesn't say anything but he drapes his arm across ifrits shoulders and let's him scoot closer to his side.

He takes a quiet moment to just appreciate it, having them all here,scattered around the fire, talking and laughing, watching Dew play and babble to himself.

It's not something he talks about often, how deeply he loves them, words aren't always easy for him, but there's nothing he wouldn't do for them. He tightens his arm around Ifrits shoulder, drawing a content purr out of the younger fire ghoul.

This is his peace.

Alpha watches Swiss help Phantom and Aurora make smores, watches Aether lift Dew up onto his lap so the baby can gnaw on a marshmallow that Mountain is holding for him, unbothered by the copious amounts of drool. He watches the way Rain kicks his legs up over Omega's lap so the Quint and help keep him comfortable as they talk to Cumulus and Cirrus, sipping wine and giggling about their conversation.

"This is nice." Ifrits voice is soft, almost sleepy.

"It is." He takes a minute, glancing down at Ifrits head against his shoulder before he starts purring, rolling his eyes fondly at the happy chirp and Ifrit shuffling himself around until hes all but wrapped around the bigger fire ghoul. "Clingy."

"Yeah, I am."

He doesn't say anything but he ducks his head to press a kiss between ifrits horns.

"You-"

"Shush or I'll push you down the hill."

Ifrit snorts and shakes his head but keeps quiet about it. Alpha watches across the fire as Dew's eyes start to get heavy, the excitement starting to catch up to him. He shoves Mountain's hand away and squirms until Aether let's him slip to the ground, the Quint keeping a close eye on him.

He crawls over to Alpha, pausing and holding his little arms up.

"Alf up p'ease."

Ifrit moves just enough for him to bend to scoop the tiny ghoul up into his arms, the baby snuggling into his warmth immediately, his rumbly little purr joining Alpha and Ifrits.

Cirrus tosses a blanket to him and he drapes it over Dew's back as he starts to drift off.

"Alf mine."

He smiles a bit and glances around, taking in the easy contentment filling the space, the warm sense of belonging.

He is Dew's, he's all of theirs. Forever.

FUCK YEAH

thanks to @cirrus-ghoulette for organizing whumpmonth!! also i'm using @wrathofrats beautiful dividers!!

so i wrote this thing a while ago and decided to write some parts of it from someone else's point of view for today :)

Day Four: Scars

TW: blood, violence, scars, vomit

It was hard, harder than Dew thought.

And it might have looked so easy for him but still, it was really hard for him to hate Phantom.

Or at least, it was easy at first.

Dewdrop can see himself in the little quint, he knows that he's a runt just like him, he knows that they both never had packs in the pit, he knows the want, the yearning for a pack.

He knows that they can't give it to Phantom.

He keeps finding reasons to hate him, stupid ones really, he can't hate him for Aether's leaving for long, hasn't ever really.

And maybe it's just because he can still feel the soft skin under his claws, maybe it's because he can still smell Phantom's pain in the air, still can taste it on the tip of his tounge, still can feel his lips moving to form the words "Oh, sorry." that Dewdrop started to look for the new quint ghoul more.

He notices how Phantom doesn't heal himself, and it hurts Dew to think that maybe Phantom thinks that he deserve those scars on his face, but he gives him time.

He keeps watching from afar.

And maybe Dew ignored all those rumors about Phantom getting sent back for his own sake, because it was obvious that Phantom took them to heart, but it'll be okay, Dew knows that this too will pass.

He never got too close, but never took his eyes off of the quint.

Dewdrop was awake, he couldn't really sleep that night, something about not being able to see the stars.

He flinched when he heard Phantom vomiting, his face curling in worry when he smelled the blood.

It's okay though, Phantom will be okay.

Dewdrop never approached the other.

Maybe it's because he knew that Phantom will make it to the end of the tour, maybe it's because he secretly prayed to Satan for the quintessence ghoul.

Maybe that's why he felt that tingle in the back of his head, maybe that's why he knocked on Phantom's door relentlessly.

Maybe that's why he broke it down.

And maybe all what Dew ever saw in Phantom was the same passion to burn without dying that Ifrit saw in him when he was water.

And if Dew promises to the stars that danced on Phantom's floor before fading away to always have Phantom as a part of his pack, well.

It's not like Phantom knows that.

You idiot

Swiss loves the winter and Mountain is the reason.

Characters: Swiss, Mountain Word count: 446

Swiss loved winter; he just loved it. And the reason for that was a certain earth ghoul, who was currently snuggled up to him, snoring softly. The sun wasn’t up yet, and the multi was lucky that he could turn up his body heat, as it was freezing cold outside. Under the blanket, it was cosy, to say the least. Swiss had his tail wrapped around Mountain's waist, one leg tossed over Mountain's, clinging to him. Unfortunately, the tall ghoul was wearing a shirt, so Swiss couldn’t simply admire his soft skin. And the freckles on his shoulder were also nearly completely gone, which was kind of sad, Swiss thought so at least.

There was the best part of winter, though: Mountain's paunch. How his lover grew from slim to chubby every winter never failed to amaze Swiss. He loved that tummy, trailing his fingers over the ghoul's happy trail, pinching the soft skin. The way it wiggled when Swiss savoured him, how he could hold onto it, sinking his fingers into that bit of fat...

One of his hands found its way under the hem of the drummer's shirt, caressing his gut.

“What ya doin’?” the earth ghoul grunted softly without opening his eyes, his voice thick with sleep.

“Admiring you,” he answered with a grin.

Mountain snorted and cracked an eye open, watching the other.

“You idiot,” he mumbled quietly, but the smile on his lips spoke for itself.

Swiss squeezed the gut and chuckled at Mountain's reaction, who wiggled a bit. So the multi repeated the motion until the taller ghoul had enough and slipped his hands under the blanket, pulling the other's arms away and rolling them so he could press Swiss into the mattress.

Now it was Swiss's turn to laugh his lungs out, as Mountain knew exactly where to tickle him. And while his hands had Swiss's arms pinned away, his tail was free and attacked the multi's side, making him squirm and laugh.

“Stop! Mount-”

It was hard to form a sentence when you couldn’t really breathe, something Swiss knew from experience; and Mountain did too. He let the other suffer until the only thing coming from him were faint pleas to stop.

“So? Will you be a good boy now?” he asked with a grin, still holding the other's arms. And to his surprise, Swiss nodded, his cheeks completely flushed, chest rising fast.

What Mountain didn’t realize was that Swiss got what he wanted: the earth ghoul grounding him, showing how much winter affected his body and how soft he got. So even with the “torture” he had to go through, the multi counted it as a win. _______________

let me tag you here @icechippies