fourlittleocto

[fourlittleocto]

hi hi :3 i dont plan on writing anymore little stuff after this, but last night i was in a middle mood and wanted to write about it

1.1k, middle aurora takes care of little phantom alone for the first time. CW for fighting like siblings, kicking that leads to aurora getting a little hurt, almost panic attacks but it ends happy

"Ok, I'll be right back. You're sure you'll be ok?" Mountain rumbles. He's crouching down so he's face to face with Aurora on the couch. She can't manage to look him fully in the eyes as she nods, but he doesn't seem to notice in his rush.

He nods back and kisses her on the forehead before following Aether out of the den.

She stares down at her hands, playing with her candi and making the beads clack together. She kicks her feet a little. When she decides to look over at Phantom, they're staring at her with wide eyes.

"So," she starts, but she has no idea what to say next. The adults had never left her alone with them before. She was old enough. She could take care of herself just fine, she's allowed in the kitchen with minimal supervision. She's got the basics covered. But she's never had to start a conversation with any of the littler ones. She usually leaves that up to whoever's in charge and all she has to do is laugh when they say stupid stuff.

And Phantom just keeps staring at her. It's not making it any easier, and they're supposed to be the chatty one.

"Wanna tell me about dinosaurs?" She tries. Phantoms face twists up.

"Rain likes d-dinosaurs," They say, helpfully. Aurora almost rolls her eyes but she stops herself. Cirrus had told her that it's disrespectful, and that the littles didn't even know what it meant.

"What do you like, then?" She tries again. Phantom rolls their eyes, much more dramatic than Aurora's ever done. She is going to have a stern word with Cirrus when she's allowed to leave. "Fine, then we can just sit here."

"Fine," Phantom squeaks back, and the ten seconds that follow are the most intense staring contest She's ever been part of, until Phantom signs and starts twisting themself off the couch. "You're s-so bor-oring."

Aurora's off the couch and grabbing Phantom by the waist before they can fully hit the floor. She's miscalculated slightly, they're much heavier then they look, and when she drops them awkwardly back on the couch she plays it off like it was on purpose. Just a silly game. Phantom shrieks.

"Stop it!" She clamps her hands over her ears. Phantom's too smart for their own good. They keep yelling as they slip off the couch and sprint down the hall of bedrooms.

"Ughhhh! Phantom!" She takes off after them even though she really doesn't want to, but Mountain will be so peeved if she loses them.

They're faster than she expected, too, but they still have tiny legs, so she manages to catch up to them as they try to slip into Mountain's room. She grabs them by their waist, tight, so that even as Phantom flails and screams she can grit against it and get them all the way to her nest before dropping them. They almost disappear entirely between all her fluffy pillows. She throws a blanket over their head as they try to struggle out of it, slowing them down and giving her enough time to close her door. She knows she's not allowed to lock it, so she doesn't, but that won't stop her from blaming the adults for their rule if Phantom manages to get out again.

"R-R-Rora!" They giggle as they finally get the blanket off of their head. Their hair is a mess, and their tail whips behind them in a challenge. Aurora takes another blanket from the chair in the corner of her room and throws it over them again. She can't help but laugh as they laugh louder, struggling once again. Seeing their arms and legs flail through the fabric is pretty funny too.

But then they start to struggle a little too much, the flailing becomes a little too wild and their laugh turns to a growl that turns Aurora's stomach. She tries to help and pull the blanket off, but they're moving too much.

"Phantom, it's ok, you gotta calm down!" She tries to soothe. She can't help as she starts to panic a little too. Phantom kicks her in the wrist. She yelps and pulls back and tries not to cry, because crying won't help and she's supposed to be the big one here.

She grabs her wrist and tries to do the breathing thing that Aether taught her. It's hard, and she knows her breaths should be deeper but she can't, she has to but she can't. She pushes her candi off to grab fully at her wrist.

It all clacks as it bounces off the ground, and then it's quiet, except for Phantom trying to breath with her. Their breathing is also shallow and a little mistimed, but if they can do it, so can she.

She tries again, and this time it helps to calm her down. Her wrist still aches but it's better. Phantom's still a little breathless when they squeak "H-h-help me?" from under the blanket.

Without them flailing she gets them out of it quickly. They both stare, wide eyed. Aurora hopes they won't tattle on her. She sticks her pinky out, not really sure what else to do.

"Truce?" She asks.

"Truce," They agree and shake pinkies with her. She looks around her room to figure out what to do next. Her eyes catch on the butterfly clips by her mirror.

"Can I fix your hair? It looks awful." Phantom's eyes also drift to the hair clips.

"Only if I c-can do your h-h-h-hair."

Aurora grimaces. She tries to tell Phantom no with a look, but they just stare back and it turns into another staring contest. This one they're a lot more dedicated to. Aurora has to blink first, and when she opens her eyes Phantoms grinning like they've already decided they won. She groans.

"You can't tell Mountain what happened." She thinks that's only fair. And they did kinda win, even if it was in kind of a stupid way, so they probably get to do her hair fair and square.

"Deal."

Aurora grabs her brush and a small bag with hair ties, clips, a comb, and some other random stuff and sits behind them in the nest. They work together to rearrange the pillows until it's comfortable, and the moment the brush touches Phantom's hair they won't shut up about video games. It's a little too loud, but it's hard to feel annoyed because they wind their tail around hers and sit the most still she's ever seen them, letting her finish without needing to interrupt them too many times.

Mountain finds them sometime later, yelling her name with a screwed up worried expression that goes away as soon as he sees Phantom's hands raking through her hair and the absurd amount of butterfly clips in theirs.

[fourlittleocto]

Hi 👋 I'm not sure if this is going to make sense, but could I request a fic where one of the littles, possibly Mountain, thinks that he's in trouble/did something bad but actually did the right thing, with lots of reassurance from Dew and Rain?? Could really use a hug from Rain right now

I hope this is ok!

Cw: Mountain's worried hes in trouble, food

Mountain wakes first even on the bus. This morning he wakes up small and hungry, his belly rumbling loudly as he carefully rolls out of his bunk.

He grabs the granola and sits on one of the chairs with his legs folded. He munches for a while before he hears a tiny giggle and clapping. He realizes Dew must be awake but someone should be there to take care of him soon. He closes the box and puts it neatly back, ready to climb back into his bunk with a book until everyone is awake.

“Burg!”

He pauses and peeks into Dew's bunk, finding him sitting up with a big smile and bedhead. He smiles back at him and looks around, realizing everyone else is still asleep. He thinks he should wake someone up but everyone is so tired and Dew's not upset…

He slides into the bunk and the baby claps. “Burg!”

“Shh, you've got to stay quiet, everyone is sleeping.” He whispers softly, offering a soother to Dew.

“Shh.” Dew copies him but he quiets down so he must have understood enough.

Mountain ducks out for a second, grabbing his bunny and some books before rejoining the baby who sat patiently waiting for him to come back, holding Ella on his lap.

He doesn't have his glasses so he makes up stories to go along with the pictures and Dew seems to enjoy it. Giggling before shushing himself. Mountain giggles a little, watching the baby remember to keep quiet.

They read the books until Dew's funny growls and mountain worries for a moment that he's going to cry but he points at his tummy and growls.

“Ok,I can get something. What do you want?”

“Gurt!” He'd become obsessed with yogurt this tour and Mountain smiles, yogurt is easy he can do this.

“Ok. Stay here. I'm not allowed to carry you but I'll be right back.”

“Tay! Burg back!”

He hands Dew a book before he climbs out and heads to the mini fridge. He finds the yogurt and one of Dew's little spoons and a cloth to try to keep him clean. He can do this he repeats to himself. Dew's happy, he just wants to eat. He hopes he'll not be as messy as he usually is.

Dew claps when he gets back, eyeing the yogurt in his hand. “Mine!”

“Ok, but I need to help you.”

“Me do.”

“Not today. You can't make a mess.”

Dew growls and Mountain ignores him, scooping a little bite of the pink yogurt onto his spoon. Dew quickly devours it with a little mmm in the back of his throat and Mountain uses the cloth to wipe his face.

So far so good.

Hs tries to grab the spoon a few times and Mountain let's him sometimes so he won't be upset but he keeps the cloth under him in case any falls.

They manage the whole yogurt without a huge mess, only two drops had fallen onto one of Dew's small blankets.

He needs to be changed and dressed but Mountain isn't sure he can do that part by himself. He's seen it enough times to know how but Dew wiggles and squirms around so much even the big ghouls have trouble wrangling him sometimes.

Mountain giggles to himself thinking about it, he's like an alligator!

He hears footsteps only a second before the curtain is pulled open and he freezes when he sees Rain. He should have woken someone up! He shouldn't have fed him alone! He should have-

Rain smiles, slightly confused. “Good morning. What's going on in here?”

“Mor!” Dew cheers. “Burg gurt!”

“Mountain got your yogurt?”

His eyes fill with tears and he curls up with his knees tight up under his chin.

“Hey, what's wrong petit fleur?”

“I'm sorry! I shouldn't have fed him alone I should have woken someone up!”

Dew wines and scoots closer to Mountain. Rain reaches in, reaching for mountains hand.

“Can you take my hand?”

He hesitates but does eventually and Rain gently pulls him from the bunk, pulling him up into his arms and hugging him tight while mountain sniffles.

“It's ok, amour. You didn't do anything wrong, I'm not upset at you.”

“He wasn't crying! I promise he was ok just hungry it was only yogurt!”

Rain rubs his back. “That's fine. It's only small things we really worry about because it's a choking hazard. Yogurt is pretty safe.”

“I fed him slow and waited till he swallowed it to give him any more…”

“That's very good, Mountain. You did good.”

“You're not mad at me?”

He smiles and kisses his forehead. “I'm not mad at all.”

“S’just everyone is so tired I thought I could let you sleep unless he really needed something.”

“That's very kind of you, Mon amour.” He looks at Dew. “Did you have fun with Mountain?”

“Burg mine.”

“I'll take that as a yes.”

Mountain giggles a little and Rain hugs him harder. “You ok?”

“Yeah. Can you keep hugging me for a minute?”

“As long as you need.”

He holds him there a while longer until mountain feels comfortable enough to be let go. He sits beside Dew and the baby flops on him, hugging him as best as he can.

“Thank you.” He smiles, touching Dew's fuzzy little head.

“Ok, time to get changed and ready for the day.”

Dew growls. “No tanks!”

Mountain laughs as Rain shakes his head. “Sorry love, you need to get dressed.”

Mountain watches rain struggle but eventually Dew is cleaned up and dressed, clapping as though he wasn't basically just wrestled into his outfit.

“Burg dress!”

“I'll get dressed too. Don't worry.” He giggles.

He climbs out of the bunk and Rain grabs his hand to stop him. “I'm proud of you. You did a really good job.”

“Thank you Rain.”

He grabs his clothes and gets dressed. He knew he could do it.

[fourlittleocto]

# foxlife.tv

# foxes # redfox

# wildlife

# beautifulanimals

# foxesofinstagram

27A24

[fourlittleocto]

they are swimming around ur blog

[fourlittleocto]

Thinking about Dew with asthma. Specifically, little Dew with asthma.

Dew playing quietly on the playmat in the common room, content to line up all his toy cars while his plush dragon, Dio, watches on. Swiss is also watching.

Every so often, Dew coughs or clears his throat. Swiss can't figure out if he's just got a tickly cough, or if it's something more. Either something viral, or an asthma attack.

He asks softly "Dew, buddy? Are you okay?"

Dew gives him a toddler cough in return.

"Alrighty, then. You tell me if you start to feel worse."

It's a few more minutes, Dew rearranging his cars by height, occasionally watching the TV. Swiss put on Bluey for him, but Swiss is watching it more than he is.

And then Swiss hears the wheeze.

Just a little crackle in Dew's throat at first. But Swiss' head snaps up nonetheless.

"Dewy? How are we feeling?"

"U-Uhm... 'Eezy..."

"Wheezy, bud?"

"Yeah."

"Do you need your inhaler?"

Swiss already knows the answer. Little Dew does not like his inhaler. But his choices right now are, 1) use the inhaler, or 2) don't use the inhaler and end up in the infirmary.

Swiss reaches under the coffee table and grabs Dew's spacer kit. It's never far from reach when Dew's little. He won't take his inhaler without a spacer when he's little.

He moves onto his knees on the floor, kneeling by Dew. Dew whines at the sight of Swiss setting up his inhaler, but his wheezes are becoming more frequent and his chest is burning a little.

The spacer is clear, with teddy bears printed over it, and a mask on one end.

Swiss wraps his arm around Dew and brings him into his lap. Thankfully, Dew doesn't protest, apart from a little wheezy huff.

"Gonna be a brave little guy for me, huh?" Swiss asks as he clicks the inhaler into place. Dew shakes his head, burying his face against Swiss' chest. "Yeah, I know. You don't like it. But we've gotta do it, buddy. You'll feel super yucky if we don't give you your puffs now."

Dew turns his head from one way to the other, like a baby refusing a bottle as Swiss holds the mask up. Eventually, however, the tight feeling in his chest wins and he lets Swiss hold the mask over his mouth and gives him the first puff.

"Nice slow breaths, bubby. Yeah, that's it, you're doing great. In and out. In and out. Good job..."

Dew looks up at him with big eyes, taking shaky breaths. After a little while, Swiss gives him another puff of his inhaler, his thumb gently rubbing Dew's cheek.

Dew's breathing slows eventually, and then he cuddles into Swiss, tired out after his little eezy episode.

[fourlittleocto]

a little bunny looking at the stars in case you're having a bad day.

　　 　　˚ 　　　 . ✧

✧. ★ ˚

★ ☄︎

˚ ✧ ˚　

*. ⋆

༘ * 🔭🐇

[fourlittleocto]

Imagine phantom dramatically gasping and covering their mouth every time dew says a curse word 😭

-🪷

Lol yes!

They know baby Dew isn't allowed to say those words and they gasp and cover their mouth, running to tell whoever is in charge that "Dew said the naughty words..."

The cg just sighing and looking down at Dew playing on the floor. "Are you being naughty?"

And he just smiles, sweet as pie. "Me no."

[fourlittleocto]

Here’s yet another list of miscellaneous children’s media to enjoy while you’re regressed or dreaming:

𐐪𐑂 Wow Wow Wubbzy

𐐪𐑂 I Spy

𐐪𐑂 Fifi and the Flowertots

𐐪𐑂 Bananas and Pyjamas (1992)

𐐪𐑂 Maisy Mouse

𐐪𐑂 Mofy

𐐪𐑂 Sherlock Hound

𐐪𐑂 Magic Adventures of Mumfie

𐐪𐑂 Toot and Puddle

𐐪𐑂 The World of Strawberry Shortcake (Miscellaneous Specials) (1980)

𐐪𐑂 Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures

𐐪𐑂 Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure

𐐪𐑂 The Last Unicorn

𐐪𐑂 One Stormy Night (English Sub)

𐐪𐑂 Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! (English Sub)

𐐪𐑂 Ico, The Brave Little Horse (English Sub)

𐐪𐑂 Cinnamoroll the Movie (English Sub)

𐐪𐑂 Lamb Chop’s Play Along

𐐪𐑂 The Doodlebops

𐐪𐑂 Jack’s Big Music Show

𐐪𐑂 Between the Lions

𐐪𐑂 The Big Comfy Couch

𐐪𐑂 Bunnytown

𐐪𐑂 Fraggle Rock

𐐪𐑂 Wilbur

𐐪𐑂 Oobi

𐐪𐑂 It’s a Big Big World

𐐪𐑂 Pinky Dinky Do

𐐪𐑂 Polly Pocket

𐐪𐑂 Popples

𐐪𐑂 Pecola

𐐪𐑂 Boo!

𐐪𐑂 Rainbow Brite (1984)

𐐪𐑂 Moondreamers

𐐪𐑂 Muppet Babies (1984)

𐐪𐑂 Happy Monster Band

𐐪𐑂 Maya the Bee (1975)

𐐪𐑂 Count Duckula

𐐪𐑂 Sylvanian Families (1987)

𐐪𐑂 The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin

𐐪𐑂 A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

𐐪𐑂 Madeline (1989)

𐐪𐑂 Postman Pat

𐐪𐑂 Rescue Heroes

Previous lists: x x x

[fourlittleocto]

Sometimes, if Phantom stares at Cumulus for long enough, he can accidentally make himself go little.

[fourlittleocto]

Sometimes phantom doesn't listen when people tell him no, if he doesn't see what he's doing is wrong he won't understand why people are telling him no!

Example: phantom has some markers and he's happily drawing and coloring (both on his hands and paper lol) and he wants to draw on something else, so he goes over to rora and draws a line on her arm

"No phantom, markers are for paper!!"

He keeps trying to draw and eventually she gets mountain and he's just kind of left with the marker until mountain comes in and kneels down to his height

"Why were you drawing on rora?"

"I-i wanted t-to..um..make her arms pretty!"

"Did she want you to do that?"

phantom looks down and doesn't respond

"Look at me bug, did she want you to?"

"N-no.."

"Ok, when someone tells you no, listen to them"

"O-ok.."

Mountain kisses his forehead and leaves him to his coloring

Sorry for the ramble!!! I couldn't get this idea out my head

-🪷

No is always a hard lesson. Swiss reminds them of the time they didn't want baby Dew to touch their face and how upset they were when he didn't listen to them saying no.

They are getting better but sometimes when they are really excited about something it's a bit harder.

[fourlittleocto]

Does dew prefer those short sleeved onesies that don't cover the legs because he gets to hot in the full body ones?

-🪷

Tiny Dew likes to be bundled up. Long pants, long sleeves, blankies ..all of it lol. It just feels safe for him.

When he's on the move he likes pants because he's crawling and they cover his knees but he likes short sleeves so he doesn't get tangled up in them. (They learned that one the hard way when Dew was crawling after Mountain and his sleeves caught up under his hands and it made him bump his chin against the floor and his fangs cut his lip. He cried and chewed on his sleeves for a while, angry at them.)

[fourlittleocto]

Cw to be safe: fireworks, panic about fireworks, phantom goes little

Imagine Phantom's first new year, fireworks go off and the others forget to warn him. When the first one goes off, and he immediately drops, he goes little in a panic. His ears pin back, tail tightly winds itself around the closest ghouls arm. When the other ghoul (whoever you fancy) looks down at him, he just looks terrified, absolutely petrified. He's covering his ears, hands forming tight fists. He doesn't know what to do with himself, large tears in his eyes ready to fall 😭

I had to scribble a little something for this in honor of the new year.

Cw: fireworks, Phantom is sacred, little mountain, Swiss swears once, crying, lots of comfort of course

They're all in the den, excitement as they get ready to ring in the new year together.

So far Mountain is the only one dropped, he knows what's coming and it always makes him nervous. He likes to be involved and he likes to watch the fireworks but the noise is always hard. Dew has him off in a quiet corner by the window so he'll be able to watch the sky and he's already got his headphones on to block out the noise.

Rains with them, a glass of wine in one hand, his other wrapped around Dew's mindlessly playing with the ring he'd given him, he leans heavily against him, occasionally kissing his shoulder while Mountain reads quietly pressed against Dews other side with his bunny held up to his chest.

The girls are all folded around each other, giggling with Aurora about something on her phone. Occasionally her eyes flicker toward the window, excitedly waiting for the fireworks.

Swiss is on the couch with Phantom, his arm tossed around his shoulders. They are both relaxed, Swiss' fingers drawing mindless shapes along Phantom's arm just under the short sleeve of his shirt.

"Excited?" Swiss asks against his hair, kissing between his horns.

"I think so." He laughs, shifting closer. "Fireworks sound exciting."

"They are. I think you'll like it."

It's a little longer before everyone starts to move closer to the windows and Dew makes sure Mountain's headphones are secure.

He gives a thumbs up and mountain giggles, nodding a little and returning the gesture.

They all cheer when the clock hits midnight, Rain and Dew turning to kiss eachother quickly before Rain kisses the top of Mountain's head and Dew kisses his cheek. Cumulus and Cirrus each take one of Aurora's cheeks, and Swiss kisses Phantom's temple.

"Happy new year."

He smiles. "Happy new year, Swiss."

It's great, it's fun and comfortable....until it isn't. He's not ready for the fireworks to be so loud!

It scares him into dropping immediately, shaking when another one booms and lights up the sky.

"Aren't they-" Swiss glances over finding big tear filled eyes and a shaking little ghoul. "Shit."

He moves to pull them close, his hands coming to cover their ears. Phantom cries into his chest, heart racing where he's pressed against Swiss.

"I'm sorry love bug. I wasn't thinking."

"L-loud...Swiss..." Their words tremble and their fingers shake, curling in Swiss' shirt.

"I know." He picks them up, being sure to pull them so one hand stays over their ear and the other stays pressed to his chest. "Let's go get your headphones."

He feels a little poke against his hip and he looks over, finding Mountain with his headphones in his hands.

"They can use mine so they don't miss any..."

"Mount, you don't have to give yours up."

"S'ok." He presses them into Swiss' hand, wandering back off quickly to stand between Dew and Rain, both of them covering his ears. He watches Dew bend to whisper to him but he can't hear what he's saying.

He slips them over Phantom's ears, rubbing their back softly until they settle.

They lift their head off of Swiss' shoulder, turning to look out the window, the flashing colors lighting up their eyes.

Swiss taps their hand, copying what Dew had done earlier with Mountain and giving a thumbs up. Phantom nods, their hands holding onto the headphones while they watch the fireworks in Swiss' arms.

He keeps glancing over at Mountain but he seems ok and Swiss is so proud of him, so thankful for him.

When the fireworks end, Phantom shoves the headphones off, eyes bright, buzzing with excitement.

"T-they were p-pretty!"

Swiss smiles. "Yeah?"

"Yeah! They h-had all the c-colors!"

"I need to talk to Mountain really quick and then we can talk all about it ok?"

"Ok!" They sprint off as soon as Swiss sets them down. "Rora!"

He laughs quietly to himself as he makes his way to Mountain. He's curled up in Dew's lap, his thumb in his mouth and his bunny held up to his cheek. He's definitely dropped lower than he was before.

Swiss kneels, a gentle hand on the little ghouls knee. "You were very brave to help Phantom like that, conejito. Thank you."

His big green eyes land on Swiss' but he doesn't say anything and he briefly wonders if he's too far down to know what he's saying.

He pulls his thumb from his mouth just enough to speak. "Welcome..."

It's the tiniest he's ever heard him sound and he melts. Swiss moves to kiss his forehead gently.

"I love you, conejito."

Mountain is already closing his eyes, turning to press closer to Dew's chest. He kisses Dew and Rain quickly before wandering off in search of his excited little bug running between everyone, chatting about the fireworks.

He sneaks up on them, grabbing their sides and squeezing making them giggle while he lifts them up in the air.

"S-Swiss!"

"Ready to tell me all about the fireworks while we get ready for bed?"

"But...m'not s-sleepy."

"No? I am. Maybe you could tell *me* about the fireworks as a bedtime story?"

Phantom agrees and Swiss is able to get them cleaned up and in jammies, watching them try to fight off yawns.

He smiles while he watches their eyes get heavier, the way their words start to slur together and pretty quickly they fall asleep mid sentence.

Swiss tucks him in and kisses the top of his head making sure all their lights are flicked on before he leaves their room.

"Happy new year, bug."

[fourlittleocto]

kitys !!

[fourlittleocto]

I LOVE YOU AND YOUR WRITINGS SM RAAAH

eeeee thank you <33

i'm in kinda a rut right now but i hope ill be able to write again soon, i have more little ghoul stories i want to share

[fourlittleocto]

I had to share before I lost my thought because it's so cute!

Baby Dew getting lost in a fit of giggles, big Rain is holding him and Mountain is in the kitchen and he can see them from where he's standing, it's not very often that dew has super good days like this where he's in such a genuine good baby mood so his heart is full and he's got big alligator tears rolling down his face while he chuckles, Dew is just full on belly laughing and it's the best sound in the whole world, he just woke up in a good giggly mood and who's gonna complain about that?

I saw this and I had to scribble something down about this because it's just so cute and I got into my feels about Dew healing.

Thank you love 🩷🩷

Its a rare sound. He's used to giggles, tiny little outward expressions of Dew's newfound joy. It's Mountain's favorite sound just after him saying "Berg" and "Liebe".

But this....this is something else and it freezes him in his tracks where he works on getting dinner prepped.

He's laughing. Fully laughing. Belly laughs that go so long he's silent until he gasps and just keeps going.

Mountain looks out into the den. Dew's on Rain's lap, facing him with his hands held in Rain's. The water ghoul pulls dews little hands up and pretends to chew on them, growling playfully as he does.

He watches how Rain plays with him but his eyes are shiny too and Mountain swipes at his own eyes feeling a little less ridiculous.

Dew squeals and laughs again, so loud, so full of happiness Mountain feels his breath hitch in his throat and he scurries back to the kitchen before the tears start to fall.

He laughs at himself a little, shaking his head but it's ok. He's not ashamed of feeling so overwhelmed by Dew healing, by him finally experiencing joy and trust and love so easily. He's not ashamed to admit he'd spent years fearing Dew would always stay trapped in darkness, scared and broken.

But now he's here laughing. And not just that, hes talking, he found his voice and he gets to use it, to be heard and acknowledged. Hes able to move, to crawl and explore the world that used to be so scary to him. He gets to move and crawl after the people he loves so dearly, following like a little shadow until he demands to be picked up and cradled.

Mountain had always hoped that this moment would come but part of him never thought they'd get here. Dew had been so hurt, so deeply wounded. But he came through it, stronger than any of them would have thought possible and Mountain doesn't have words for how proud he is of Dew.

He continues listening to him laugh and he could listen for hours and by the way Rain keeps it going he's in the same boat, willing to keep doing the same thing over and over because Dew liked it.

Swiss comes in through the back door, pausing to wrap his arms around Mountain's waist from behind.

"What's going on in there? Who's laughing?"

Mountain shakes his head. "Dewdrop."

Swiss moves to peek into the den and Mountain watches it sink in, he watches him match the expression he must have had when he saw it.

Rain gives Dew a break, letting him catch his breath but he's still giggly.

Swiss ducks back into the kitchen, turning to face Mountain.

"He really is getting better..."

Mountain catches the little shake in his voice and he hugs him, pulls him tight and kisses the top of his head.

"He is."

"I guess I was still scared to believe it? Like thinking about it would jinx it or something."

"I know. But look at him, look how much lighter he is just these past few months." Mountain smiles. "I think it's ok to believe it now, Spark."

Dew starts laughing again, just as loud as before and Swiss smiles.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

[fourlittleocto]

(idk whether you hc Mountain to have antlers or not) but i just thought of Mountain reading a christmas picture book to little Dew and Dew pointing at one of the reindeer and saying "berg!" because it has antlers like Mountain hdhffhdh 🫂🫂🫂

Yes!!! I do! Omega calls him little deer in Italian because of his antlers!

But Mountain has Dew beside him. He's got his bottle and he's leaning against Mountain's side while they look at a Christmas book. Dew points at things and Mountain gives him the names for them.

He doesn't like Santa, he just says ew and makes Mountain turn the page. He likes the trees and the pictures of the lights.

When they get to a page with Santa's reindeer Dew shifts to look closer at the pages.

"Reindeer. Rentier."

Dew stares at the book then turns to look at Mountain then back to the book.

"Do you like them? They are pretty co-"

Dew wiggles and manages to get onto his knees on Mountain's lap, his hands flying up to grab at Mountains horns....antlers.

"Berg!"

He can't help but laugh, the little ghoul is so excited. He turns around and pokes the page again.

"Berg!"

"Well, there certainly are worse things to be called. I'm happy to be a reindeer."

[fourlittleocto]

Hello, Tiny! Today I'm having many thoughts about Dew in long term care in the infirmary, and about him sometimes being regressed during that time. - @cirrus-ghoulette

Hi!!

I wasn't sure where I was going with this when I started writing but I hope it's ok!

Cw: dews asthma, pneumonia, one brief mention of vomiting but not graphic, nightmare, cg Aether, baby Dew words!

Dews no stranger to the infirmary. His asthma had made him a frequent visitor, ear infections were fairly common, he'd been there for a slew of little injuries... he knew those walls well.

But the thing he hates most with his weakened lungs is something that thankfully happens less now with the fire coursing through him but it still happens.

Pneumonia. It leaves him weak and fragile and Aether forces him down to a sterile room and gets him settled for the long haul. He hates it. He hates being vulnerable to stupid illnesses. He's a demon for goodness sake, laid low by some stupid bug that got into his stupid lungs and made itself right at home behind his ribs.

He reads a lot, he sleeps, plays on his phone, sleeps, Aether comes to hook him up to the oxygen and keep him company and he sleeps. He tries to stay present, tries to stay in his mind and deal with it but sometimes it just hurts and he gets scared, that deep rooted fear of ever being weak so deeply ingrained in him and he slips.

He coughs so hard it rattles his chest and he cries, weakly calling out for Aether.

"Aef..." He sniffles rubbing at his tear filled, sleepy eyes.

He's there in a blink, pulling the curtain back with a soft smile. "Hi baby."

He coughs again, tears on his cheeks when it ends. "Aef ow."

"Im sorry firefly." He wraps him in a blanket and gets his oxygen mask on. Dew squirms and tries to push it away but he eventually relents and relaxes in Aether's arms. He walks him around, keeping him up high for his lungs.

He keeps him entertained, patting his back and soothing him through coughing fits as best as he can until he falls asleep.

The worst is when the nightmares plague him and he wakes breathless and pale and Aether and Omega are frantic around him. Aether has to slip into his mind and rip him out. It never ends well. Dew gets sick over the side of the bed, soaked in sweat and shaking.

"Dew-"

"M'fine Aeth just go. Just... go for a bit..."

He understands but it's never easier. He kisses the top of his head.

"I love you."

He keeps an eye on him but gives him the space he needs until he hears that little voice calling out for him again.

"Tá mé anseo grá." (I'm here love)

He holds his arms up to be picked up and Aether smiles, happy to lift the little ghoul and cradle him tight to his chest. He can hear the fluid in his lungs and he grabs for the mask again, getting comfortable on the bed with Dew propped up against his chest.

He holds him and hums while Dew plays with Aether's necklace, blinking slowly as he breathes in the treatment.

"You're being so brave, firefly. I'm so proud of you."

He gets him fed and cleaned up, in new jammies and tucks him close to his side, grabbing a book to read while Dew starts to drift off.

Omega peeks his head in. "Are you staying in here tonight?"

Dew whimpers, clinging onto him as tight as his little hands can manage.

"It's ok. I'm not going anywhere." He kisses between his horns, pulling him closer to his chest.

"Make sure you rest too, Aether."

"I will." He smiles at the look Omega shoots in his direction. "I promise."

He cracks the book open and reads aloud quietly with Dew up against his chest, his wheezing little breaths slowing down as he starts to fall asleep.

He jumps as he drifts, grabbing Aether's arm. "No..."

"I'm right here. I'm not leaving."

He points at the curtain. "No."

Aether laughs and pulls the blanket up a little more. "Im staying put."

Dew watches Aether's face for a moment before he taps the book and lays his head back down.

He reads and Dew gets heavier against him as sleep starts to take him, Aether pauses his reading.

"Daidí no..." He wiggles, sleepily reaching for the book.

It takes Aether a minute to pull himself out of his stunned state, the realization of what Dew had said, the importance of it, the weight of it.

"S-" He clears his throat. "Sorry firefly, I'll keep reading."

And he does until the little ghoul is sound asleep. Aether watches his face. Its always hard to see him here like this, no matter how often it happens it never gets easier to see him so sick and Aether knows it'll be a while until he's able to leave.

He knows he'll be big and be a royal pain because he's bored, tossing and turning and raising hell because he can't just wander around. He knows he will have more nightmares that require him to intervene, he knows he'll be tiny and helpless like this, trusting him and Omega to keep him safe.

And they will, they always have and they always would. He pulls him closer and shuts his eyes, Dews steady little heart beating against him calming the fear that sits just below the surface.

"Codladh go maith leanbh." (Sleep well baby)