#PANIC AETHER PANIC!

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

What You've Done, You Cannot Undo (Medieval AU)

Chapter 13

Rain and the others are exhausted, but the ghouls have finally reached the Abbey. Will his recovery continue to go smoothly? Also: the ghouls meet the ghoulettes.

Longer chapter this week, because I couldn't find a better split! Please don't hate me for this one...

Rating: M Content: hospitals, sickness, quintosis for medical reasons, panic attacks, nightmares Words: 7576

Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3

Hi tag gang! @everybodyshusband @rainsbasspick @revengeghoulette

Read below, or on AO3!

Dew took a deep breath and raised his hand to the bell pull. As his fingers hung poised to curl around it, the large doors suddenly swung inwards.

“Dewdrop!” Shrieked a high voice, echoing Dew’s arrival the week before. “I saw you coming, I’m so happy you came back!”

She threw her arms around him in a hug, almost suffocating him with her mass of white hair. Looking up, she spotted the four ghouls stood awkwardly behind Dew watching the reunion.

“This must be your pack!” She exclaimed in delight, releasing him. “I hope you’ve been taking care of our Dewy.”

Dewy hid his head in his hands in exaggerated embarrassment.

“Everyone, this is Cumulus. She's more like a hurricane than a ghoul, but don't let her scare you.”

“Pshhh, come in, come in,” grabbing Dew by the hand she pulled him through the open doors, beckoning the others to follow, “Riri’s rounding up the others, we can do introductions then!”

“Lus wait,” Dew pulled back, hesitant, “we’ve had a hard journey, and I think half my pack are about to fall asleep standing up. Could it wait until the morning?”

She stopped in her tracks, looking back at them all.

“Why didn’t I see that?” She looked appalled that she had overlooked this. “Of course you’re tired after that long journey.”

Dew didn’t like to see her look so crestfallen, but with his packmates already being anxious about the new environment, he couldn’t foist several exuberant ghoulettes on them all at once.

“Give your horse to Bell, then let’s get you some supper.”

Dew looked behind him to check the pack were following and led them behind Cumulus into the courtyard. Sidling up on unnaturally silent hooved feet, Cowbell materialised next to them to take her reins.

Turning to look at Rain, Dew reached up a hand to help him down. He seemed to struggle to swing his leg over the saddle, and as his feet eventually landed on the ground, his knees buckled beneath him.

"Rain!” he gasped, struggling to support him as he went limp in a dead faint. Swiss was beside him in a second, helping take the weight of his tall body before he could collapse to the ground.

“What's wrong with him?” Fretted Aether, also swooping in to press his fingers to his temples and bring him round with his quintessence.

“I don't know, he's in a bad way again like before!” Dew cried in a panic. “We need to get him to the infirmary; they'll know what to do.”

“He was fine this morning, better than he's been all week, how has he gone downhill so fast?” said Mountain worriedly, taking Rain's weight from Dew and Swiss and scooping him up in his arms as though he weighed little more than the rucksack still on his back. Rain's eyelids flickered open as the quintessence took hold, but his eyes remained unfocussed and glassy.

Watching in alarm, Cumulus quickly ushered the ghouls into the building and towards the infirmary wing. Dew chased alongside Mountain as he strode down the corridor, his eyes never leaving Rain for a second. They burst through the doors, alarming a young quintessence ghoul stood on the other side of them. He swiftly regained his composure and directed Mountain to an empty bed he could lay Rain on, calling out for backup from the other ghouls stood around.

“What happened to him?” he asked, leaping into action without even questioning who this gaggle of unfamiliar ghouls were.

“We don't know, he was sleepy this afternoon and then fainted out of nowhere!” Dew said, frantic. “He's been weak, but he seemed to be getting better!”

“He looks like he's taken quite a beating,” hummed an older ghoulette, “but these are healing bruises not fresh.”

“Two weeks ago,” interjected Swiss, “he was attacked two weeks ago, then locked in a human jail for a week and beaten again. He's been on the mend but started getting tired again in the last few hours.”

The ghouls nodded, looking confused as they pressed fingers to him checking his vitals, both those of his vessel and his soul.

“His heart rate is slow, but not especially slow for a water ghoul.”

“His energy feels very weak, like it's been strained.”

“He'd dreadfully malnourished,” the ghoulette looked up at the panicked travellers, “you said he was locked up for a week?” She was answered by an assortment of nods. “If you hadn't said, I'd have thought it was closer to a month. One week of imprisonment, no matter how poor the conditions, shouldn't have sapped him of this much strength.”

“Will he be okay?” Dew could hear his voice come out uncomfortably high, a note of hysteria modulating his words.

“He should be, but I’d like to keep a close eye on him,” The senior ghoulette looked at them sagely, “we need to make sure there's no underlying problem making him weaker.”

She turned to look at Aether, “You’re quintessence.”

He bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. “Aether.”

“Astra. Have you noticed any change in his energy over the last few weeks? Anything that could indicate this was brewing?”

“His elemental connection only fully clicked two weeks ago,” Aether explained, “he could wield water powers before but never that strongly. They came in rather unexpectedly and a bit too strong, that’s what landed him in trouble with the humans we lived alongside.”

Well that was putting it mildly, thought Dew.

“Is there anything else that could have affected him?”

They all thought for a moment. In the lead-up to Rain’s catastrophic actions, everything had seemed normal.

“Your Calamus leaf potions couldn’t have done this?” Asked Swiss, clutching at straws.

“They should have strengthened his magic, not weakened it,” Aether mused, “they’ve never had any adverse effects before.”

“Oh!” Burst out a much younger ghoulette with cropped, indigo hair. “Are you the ghouls who wrote that incredible book Copia keeps raving about? I'd never heard of Calamus until I read that!”

Aether and Mountain stared at her, open mouthed, before turning their gaze on Dew.

“Would you happen to know anything about that, Dewdrop?” growled Mountain. Dew had the grace to look sheepish at that, but tried to defend himself regardless,

“I had to! You don’t understand how it works here, I had to bring something with a large value of knowledge so they’d help us!”

“I don’t care; you should’ve asked us, and explained yourself! You don’t just steal.”

“If I’d asked,” snarled Dew, “you wouldn’t have let me come here and then Rain would be–”

“Enough,” Aether bellowed directly into their minds. The pair clutched at their heads in pain. “We will talk about this later,” he continued, out loud now, “Dew, you will explain yourself. For now though, Rain is our priority.”

“Yes Aether.” Dew muttered, chastised. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have stolen it without asking, but I promise I had a reason. You’ll get it back, I swear.”

With a harumph, Aether turned back to the quintessence ghouls as though nothing had happened.

“Rain’s recovery hasn’t been linear. From what I understand, after his power came in he was beaten unconscious. A few hours later he was conscious but unresponsive, but by the next day with some food and medicinal herbs he seemed to be doing better?”

Swiss nodded in assent.

“He wasn’t talking but he was communicating,” the multi ghoul added, “he had his magic still then, I saw it.”

Astra nodded, frantically scribbling notes.

“Then he was attacked again, and totally unresponsive for days. He only started reacting and talking again a few days after we pulled him out of there.”

“He was doing so well this morning though,” said Dew, stood clutching Rain's hand after grabbing it instinctively once he was on the bed, “his magic was the strongest it's ever been!”

“He was exhausted by midday though,” pointed out Aether, “I thought he was just sleepy.”

Dew shook his head thoughtfully. “He's been sleeping really well, since that awful nightmare a few days ago.” Leaning over the water ghoul, he saw his eyes flicker sightly in recognition, but remain unfocused and unseeing. His normally bright blue irises were so pale they were almost grey.

“What's wrong, Rainy?” He whispered, so low only Rain could have heard him. “How do I help you get better?”

The four ghouls continued watching their sick packmate in concern as the quintessence ghouls began bustling around, making sure he was comfortable and making various notes on him.

“You should get some rest,” Astra advised them, laying a reassuring hand on Dew's shoulder, “we can take care of your mate from here. You all look exhausted yourselves, and you'll be no help if you pass out on my floor. I'm sure we'll have him right-as-rain in no time!”

Dew was too stunned by her assumption that they were mates to notice her terrible joke.

“We're not– I'm not –” by the time he had finished spluttering indignantly, face cherry-red, she had already walked off with a serene smile.

Cumulus materialised next to them.

“I can take you to our wing, where Dew's old room is, for tonight? There're some spare rooms made up already in case you came. I can bring you some food and make sure you're not overwhelmed with new faces if you'd like?”

Dew was so relieved by the suggestion of quiet that he could have hugged her, regardless of the suffocation risk her hair posed. He looked at his pack for confirmation, getting a mixture of nods and shrugs, before accepting her offer.

“Thanks Lus, that sounds perfect.”

With a final concerned look back at Rain's prone form on the bed, they solemnly followed Cumulus down the corridor and up a small flight of stone stairs.

“We're very close to the infirmary here,” she remarked, leading them through a large door into a corridor unlike the rest of the building so far. The walls were covered with small pictures and decorations, the doors each engraved with elemental symbols, names, and more. It felt homely.

“The room at the end is our common room, there's snacks and water in there so feel free to explore, but I can't promise it will be empty. This is mine and Cirrus’ room if you need me,” she gestured to a door, painted sky-blue with small engravings of clouds lining the panelling, “and this is Dew's room.” The door was plainer, impersonal, with no real sign that Dew had ever lived behind it.

Entering, they found their saddlebags in a neat pile in the corner of the room. The bag containing Swiss’ beat-up guitar was carefully laid on its side next to them, presumably by a careful Cowbell. No one had been in the mood for it during their trip, and none of them felt so now either. They were all still wearing their own knapsacks, Dew realised as he suddenly felt the weight of the straps pressing heavily on his shoulders. He tossed his into a corner, the others following suit. In the centre of the room was Dew's large bed, a towering pile of blankets for a proper nest stacked high on top. A fire roared in the grate, making the room pleasantly warm.

“I can show you to the spare rooms?” Cumulus hovered in the doorway. That was a force of habit, Dew thought: he had always been wary of others entering his space uninvited. The other ghouls looked uneasy at the suggestion, and Swiss spoke for them all,

“I think we'd prefer to stay together for now, with one of our own sick.”

His competing visions all agreed on one thing: regardless of where they started the night, their sleeping positions would all converge into one pile. Camping together over the last week they had gotten used to each other's proximity and being apart right now, especially with Rain being unwell, felt scary. Besides, the bed was easily bigger than the combined bedrolls they had been sleeping on for the past two weeks.

Cumulus nodded. “I'll run to the kitchens and find you some supper.” Spinning on her heel, she darted away. She was an enthusiastic host, Dew thought, and clearly felt awkward given the strange situation they had found themselves in.

The pack kicked off their shoes and silently slumped to the floor, loath to make the clean bed dirty with their dusty traveling clothes.

“He'll be alright,” Swiss said after a while, “with all those quintessence ghouls looking after him, they're bound to work out what's wrong.”

The mood was sober, all of them trying not to think about what could happen if they didn't figure it out.

“Right Dew, tell us what the situation is with the book,” sighed Aether, “then we can put it behind us.”

Dew looked guiltily into his lap where he was sat with his legs crossed as he explained the situation.

“I mentioned it before, but the way things work here help isn't completely free. They don't ask for payment in gold though, it's in knowledge or time.” The others nodded, remembering vaguely.

“Well, when I was leaving to come and ask if they had any ideas about rescuing Rain, I wasn't sure they'd help for free. It's been a long time since I left, and I did so without telling anyone. I wasn't even here that long, but I got close with the ghoulettes very fast, only to abandon everyone.”

The similarity to his flight northward a few weeks prior wasn't lost on any of them.

“So I grabbed your encyclopaedia before I left, thinking that if they demanded payment, I would have something to give them and could get back to Rain sooner. Then I left it here for them to transcribe, because I figured we were likely to all come back here, but I knew you might not want to stay for long enough to pay it back. Now our debts are cleared, and they can help Rain and we're free to leave as soon as he's better and I'm sorry I didn't ask first but I didn't have time to explain all this, I'm sorry!”

Dew was rambling now; he could tell as he caught his breath. He looked imploringly at his packmates, hoping they would at least understand, if not forgive him. Aether's face softened.

“Oh Dew,” he gave him a small and encouraging smile, “I'm not mad at you, I can see why you took it. You should have told us though! If not at the time, you could have mentioned it sooner, okay?”

Hanging his head, Dew nodded.

“We forgive you, right Mount?”

“Yeah, I get it,” he grumbled, “we'll get it back soon, right?”

“I’ll ask Mist when we see her, she's the head ghoul in the library here, she'll know.” promised Dew.

“Great!” Swiss chirped with forced cheerfulness, glad that conversation was over. The alternative of worrying about Rain was still worse though. “We're all good now, right? No more secrets?”

Dew thought for a second. His whole life was full of secrets, but he thought that was the last of the ones he owed his pack.

“That's everything.” he confirmed.

With that, there was a knock on the door,

“Room service!” came the musical voice from the other side.

“Come in!” Answered Dew, scrambling to his feet.

Cumulus opened the door, and pushed a small cart laden with trays of food through.

“I didn’t know what you wanted, so I grabbed a bit of everything!”

Their mouths watered at the smell; a jumbled mix of cooked meats, melted cheese, a thousand competing spices, and “fresh bread!” Swiss cried in delight.

“I won’t keep you waiting,” laughed Cumulus, seeing the wide eyes of the hungry ghouls, “Riri sends her love, she was wondering if you’d be up for some introductions tomorrow?”

Dew glanced back at the others and saw no objections.

“That sounds good, I’d like to visit Rain first though. See how he’s doing.”

“Of course!” She smiled, her warm breezy smile bringing Dew the same comfort it had all those years ago. “Good night, boys!”

A chorus of “g’night” came from the others, and Cumulus fluttered her perfectly manicured claws in a wave before disappearing back down the hall to the common room.

Dew pushed the cart to the middle of the room, and began unloading covered trays onto the floor between them. They could eat one more meal like this, before returning to the land of tables and chairs. No one spoke as they filled their plates, the only sounds for a while were the quiet moas of appreciation they made, sinking their fangs into proper, varied food. By coincidence, there was not a fish in sight, and none of them were able to feel too sorry about that.

Once they had taken the edge of their hunger, conversation began to flow again. Chiefly of interest were the myriad new faces they had either met, or were soon to meet.

“Cumulus seems nice,” started Swiss, ripping the meat of a steak from the bone as juices ran down his chin, “a lot, but nice.”

“She is,” Dew smiled, “she’s a total sweetheart, but I’m certain she’d delight in tearing any of us limb from limb if we hurt her, or her mate Cirrus.”

“Another air ghoulette?” asked Aether through a mouthful of potato.

“Same clan even. They arrived here together, apparently. Cirrus was the first ghoulette I met, she took me in when I was starving on their doorstep.” Dew paused to shovel more bread into his mouth. “I’m sure you can trade stories of my general incompetence at looking after myself.”

That got a snicker from Aether and Mountain, to Dew’s delight.

“We’re you really that bad?” Swiss asked incredulously.

“Rain with almost no magic was better at surviving in the woods than me,” Dew rolled his eyes good-humouredly at his ineptitude, “at least he could catch his own food. I could start a fire and make myself sick by eating the wrong plants.”

There was another lull while Dew set about stripping every morsel of flesh from a chicken leg; the warm spices nourishing his soul as much as his stomach.

“The ghoul we briefly met earlier, who took our horse to the stables, was Cowbell. No one really knows what element they are, and they don’t talk much, but they've been here forever and they’re loyal to a fault. I like them.”

“You mentioned another multi ghoul before?” Swiss had never met any ghouls of his kind outside of his birth clan before. Multi ghouls were rare and unique, their clans few and far between. The thought of meeting another filled him with excitement.

“Yeah, she’s joined since I left,” Dew smiled at the brief memory of her, a whirlwind of positive energy, “you’ll like her, I’m sure. She’s probably going to become Mist’s mate sooner or later.”

“The librarian?” asked Mountain.

Dew nodded. “You can ask her how the transcription is going tomorrow.”

“And the human?” Aether was curious to meet the mysterious man, who seemed vastly outnumbered in this house of ghouls.

“Papa Emeritus the Fourth, Copia, he’s in charge officially,” Dew confirmed, “he mostly leaves the ghouls to their own devices providing they pull their weight, and he manages the few humans who work and worship here. He’s a busy man, but he’ll want to see you, he always makes time for us ghouls.”

“It’s going to be a busy day for us too,” Aether yawned widely. The food was almost gone, and their exhaustion was starting to hit, “time for bed soon?”

A rumble of harmonising purrs declared that a good idea.

With the plates and trays stashed on the trolley and rolled back into the corridor, the ghouls took turns washing the grime of the road from their bodies. The magically heated water was blissful, but none of them wanted to waste too much time in the bathroom when a plush nest awaited them. There would be ample time to bathe properly tomorrow. Drying off with cloud-soft towels, they grabbed – rather tight for most of them – shirts and underwear from the pile Dew had found still in the dresser and crawled onto the soft mattress. It seemed his room had remained untouched since he left. That was strange given the short time he had lived here; had Cumulus always seen him returning one day?

Dew was the last to leave the bathroom, having changed inside into a shirt and a pair of sleep trousers that could only fit him. He emerged to find Aether and Swiss beckoning him to squeeze in-between them, trapping him in the centre of his old nest. Mountain was behind Swiss, the multi ghoul wearing him like a backpack as they pretended they weren’t clearly cuddling in the flickering firelight.

Before long, he could hear their relaxed snores echoing around the room. Despite his own tiredness, Dew could not sleep. He was worried about Rain: worried about the sudden deterioration of his health; worried that the quintessence ghouls might not work out what had caused it; worried that he may have another nightmare all alone in the infirmary. Aether’s arms felt too firm around his shoulders; Swiss’ too warm. Rain should be here, Rain should be the one he was cuddled with. Even after only a few nights in each other’s arms, Dew felt addicted. What if Rain felt the same? What if he wasn’t able to sleep – he needed to sleep to get better! What if he had another nightmare and Dew wasn’t there to comfort him.

Mind made up, Dew wriggled free of the heavy arms around him and padded for the door. He opened it as quietly as he could, ears pricked for any stray ghoulettes wandering the halls. Judging from the quiet murmur of noise and the light coming from under the common room door, they were still up and talking. On socked feet, he tiptoed out of the dormitory wing and down to the infirmary.

‘I’m coming, Rain.’

Dew rounded the final corner of the stone corridor, slinking into the welcoming, dim glow of the infirmary. Almost everyone was asleep, but the large ghoul stationed at the desk on night duty shot him a smile. Dew thought he recognised him from his time before. He tried to return the greeting, but feared it came out as more of a grimace.

Sneaking behind the curtain around Rain’s bed, Dew was at first hopeful that he was sleeping. He was lying quiet and still, but on closer inspection Dew saw that his eyes were open, staring at the ceiling. Only his extra set of cat-like inner eyelids were closed, keeping his eyes moist but giving him a creepy blank gaze.

The curtain drew back again.

“He’s tired, but not sleeping.” Said the ghoul, entering and pressing two fingers to Rain’s forehead to check on him. He made a note on a chart at the foot of Rain’s bed. “We still don’t know what’s wrong, if anything he seems to be getting less and less responsive.”

Omega, that was his name remembered Dew, pressed a damp flannel to Rain’s dry and chapped lips. He returned it to a bowl on the table beside the bed.

“He shouldn’t get too dehydrated, it’s not good for water ghouls, but he isn’t lucid enough to drink.” Omega explained. “I’ll be popping in periodically to check on him, but feel free to stay as long as you want.”

Dew nodded, hovering awkwardly with the tall ghoul still watching him. Once the curtain closed and he drifted off to his next patient, Dew was able to take a proper look at Rain. His normally pale skin was translucent, almost waxy, and his usually shiny hair fell in limp tendrils around his face. He picked up the flannel, wringing out the excess water and did as Omega had done, carefully wetting Rain’s lips. They twitched slightly, grateful for the hydration, but still Rain made no move to either respond, or drift any closer towards sleep.

With no one around to see, Dew did what his instincts had been screaming at him to do since he was in the ghoul pile in his bedroom: he carefully scrambled up into Rain’s bed, slotting himself behind the icy water ghoul and propping him up against his chest. Dew wrapped his arms around him to begin warming him up, combing his fingers through the ends of Rain’s hair and teasing out the tangles. The water ghoul stirred, leaning softly into his touch, and Dew took that as a signal to continue. He glamoured his claws away and reached up to rake his blunt nails across his scalp and through his hair. Rain's eyes slipped closed and he sank further into his embrace, until Dew had to shift his position to keep supporting the weight of him.

Once his hair was smooth again, although still dry and dull, Dew began braiding it with nimble fingers as Cirrus had once done for him. He revelled in the silky feel of the dark strands passing through his hands; Rain's hair was so pretty, even in its current state. Dew hoped Rain would let him play with it again when he was better, so he could experience the ebony waves in their full beauty. All too soon, Dew had finished weaving Rain's dark strands into two perfect braids that curled from his temples to behind his ears. He hoped it would be enough to protect it from tangling further against the cotton of the infirmary pillowcases.

Dew helped Rain settle back down into the bed, manoeuvring his long limbs into a comfortable sleeping position. He was no quintessence ghoul, but he seemed calmer now and Dew hoped that he would be able to get some much-needed rest. With Rain back under the blankets, Dew wriggled down until he could press his warm nose in-between Rain's shoulder blades and hold him tightly. He waited until Rain's breathing slowed as he fell soundly asleep, before allowing himself to follow.

That was where the others found him the next morning. Swiss had woken first, the sunlight streaming through a crack in the curtains hitting him square in the face. He twisted his head away from it, and let himself luxuriate in the warmth he had awoken to a little longer. Ghoul piles like this were sacred affairs; shared between only the closest of packs. He could probably count on one hand the number he’d had with his pack, never the most affectionate ghouls even at the best of times. They had mostly been on cold winter nights, when no amount of coaxing could make the fire burn hot enough and Dew’s intrinsic warmth was their only respite.

Their piles had never been this close before, however. Swiss found himself almost entirely trapped in the cage of Mountain’s arms, the earth ghoul clinging to him like a lifeline. They were so close, Swiss could feel his heartbeat thudding against his back.  It had been so long since he’d woken up like this; so long since he’d been held. He wished he could freeze the moment and stay here forever, safe in Mountain’s arms, in this limbo where he could dream that the giant ghoul was his.

Dew had seemed so certain Mountain felt the same way about him, yet Swiss couldn’t help but think that was too good to be true. He’d never heard Mountain express any desire to find a mate, but then again, Swiss hadn’t exactly talked about such things either. It wasn’t until the traumatic events of the last few weeks that he’d realised his own feelings even. Lying here feeling loved and wanted, Swiss was scared that by voicing his desires, they could risk losing what friendship they did have.

After his conversation with Dew, Swiss had given in to the temptation to see if any of his visions would outline a change in their relationship: be it good or bad. He hadn’t seen anything however; the Void stubbornly refusing to offer him even a hint. Swiss had wondered if he was subconsciously blocking it out again like he had done with Dew during the week he was away, too afraid of a negative outcome. Maybe he’d skirt around the topic and see what Mountain’s reaction was, rather than jumping straight into the big question? This was all a matter for later-Swiss however. For now, he was content to lay where he was and simply imagine.

Eventually, Swiss had to come back to reality. The warm breath on the back of his neck stuttered as Mountain woke, releasing him to stretch strong arms above his head, warm and bare legs pressing against his own. Swiss tried to avoid thinking about that, given their proximity. He feigned sleep for a bit longer, to see what Mountain’s reaction to him world be. To his delight, the earth ghoul recaptured him and snuffled his face into the back of Swiss’ hair.

“You awake, Snapdragon?” he murmured quietly. Swiss pretended to wake, stretching out before pressing back against Mountain’s chest.

“Mm-hmm,” he hummed back, as nonchalantly as he could manage, “g’ mornin’.”

Swiss grinned to himself as Mountain showed no signs of releasing him. Even when Aether yawned and muttered his own sleepy good mornings, the earth ghoul kept him in his grip. He was so comfy, and the bed was warm but not too warm… wait.

“Where’s Dew?” asked Swiss, opening his eyes fully to check for signs of the fire ghoul. He made no move to leave the nest however.

“Wha–” Aether struggled upright, looking around, “he was here last night?”

“He’ll be with Rain,” Mountain spoke as thought it was obvious, his voice muffled by Swiss’s pile of dreadlocks that he refused to move his face from, “they’ll be fine.”

“Should we go and find him?” Aether stumbled out of bed, bare legs almost buckling as he stood up too fast.

The answering groans from the comfortable ghouls still under the blankets rumbled in perfect harmony.

Eventually, the fully-dressed ghouls slumped sleepily into the infirmary, once Aether had successfully guilt-tripped Swiss and Mountain into getting out of bed. They found Dew as he had fallen asleep last night; curled protectively around Rain. A tall quintessence ghoul, clearly on his way out after a shift, nodded at them in greeting as he passed.

Approaching the bed, they saw Rain looking even rougher than he had the night before. They shared a concerned glance, and as they did Dew finally noticed them.

“He’s really cold,” whispered Dew as though to explain their position, while making no move to change it, “but he’s sleeping, which is apparently a good sign.” He didn’t look so sure.

The ghouls kept their silent vigil by Rain's bedside until Cumulus came looking for them.

“I thought I’d find you here,” she smiled warmly, “we’re in the Den having breakfast, if you’d like to join us and make some introductions? Mist is already back in the library with Copia but we can go and bother them afterwards!”

The pack exchanged glances, and Aether spoke for them all,

“That sounds nice. It’s not like we can help Rain by just sitting here.”

“Great!” Cumulus chirped, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Cirrus and Sunny can’t wait to meet you!”

Dew was reluctant to leave Rain, but knew he had to be there too. Carefully, he released Rain and wriggled free of the bed.

“I still need to get dressed.” He muttered, but followed them back to the dormitories with only one glance back to check Rain was still asleep. Dew hated the thought of leaving him alone in a strange new place; he would be terrified to wake up in such a situation and he imagined Rain would feel the same, so he hoped they could be back before Rain awoke.

Cumulus almost skipped down the hallway ahead of them, the pack travelling with more trepidation. She flung open the door to the common room in their wing, and the ghouls almost didn’t notice the two ghoulettes inside past the loud contents of the room. The walls were the same grey stone as the hallway, only it was barely visible behind the swathes of colourful fabric that had been draped across them. The furniture was a mismatch of colours and fabrics, yet all looked delightfully soft. Trinkets covered every available surface, reminding Dew of Rain’s bedroom back at their farmhouse, with all its pretty rocks and shells. The room lead towards two large windows on the back wall, inset with a myriad colours of stained glass that cast rainbows  around the room. One was half-open, leading to a balcony beyond. It screamed home, often a faraway concept to ghouls not living with their birth clans.

Swiss was immediately enraptured; a joyful energy radiated from every corner of the room, fed by the love and thought that went into every part of its contents. He dreamed of living somewhere like this, somewhere he could make his own and fill with happiness and devotion. Their attention landed finally on the two ghoulettes, half-buried in their respective seats. They waved at the newcomers; one restrained and cautious in her actions, the other fizzing with exuberance. On a coffee table in front of them rested mugs of hot tea and piles of more baked goods than they could possibly manage to eat.

Cumulus flopped down into the loveseat next to the ash blonde ghoulette, who reached an arm out around her.

“Welcome back Dew,” she smiled warmly, “and welcome to your pack, too!”

“Hi Cir.” Dew offered her a small smile, before curling into the corner of the old and battered sofa and gesturing for his pack to find seats of their own. Swiss sank into the centre of the sofa, with Mountain beside him while Aether perched on the edge of a deceptively soft armchair that threatened to swallow him whole.

“This is Cirrus,” he figured he should do the introductions, “she’s the first ghoulette I met here.”

“Sunshine,” Dew gestured to the redheaded ghoulette sat cross-legged in a hideous orange velvet rocking chair, “is who you can thank for the plan to get Rain out.”

Sunshine mimed taking a bow, setting the chair oscillating back and forth wildly.

“Everyone, these are my packmates,” Dew looked at them; the ragtag band still slightly dishevelled from their journey, and looking awkwardly out of place in the ghoulettes’ colourful sitting room. He couldn’t have been prouder to call them his pack, “Aether, Mountain and Swiss.”

Conversation flowed slowly but smoothly, as the still-ravenous ghouls devoured the mountain of food in front of them. If they had thought Cumulus was a lot to handle, Sunshine was even more outgoing. Aether found himself warming quickly to Cirrus; two kind and steady personalities drawn together. Dew watched in wonder as his packmates seamlessly interacted with the ghoulettes; even Mountain seemed interested in Sunshine and her work at the Abbey, adapting the greenhouse to grow plants from warmer climates.

“Do you want to meet Mist and Copia too?” asked Cirrus, during a lull in the conversation. After a brief pause for Swiss to snaffle the last fruit bun, they followed her and the other ghoulettes down yet more stone hallways all the way to the other end of the Abbey.

“Dew’s probably told you, but the library is one of the most important rooms here after the Chapel,” Cirrus explained as they walked, “we have the largest collection of books detailing His work here on Earth and in the pit, as well as all manner of literature on the natural world.”

“That’s why Mist is so busy right now,” Sunshine interjected, “she’s leading the transcription of that book the two of you wrote. I haven’t seen Copia so excited by anything in years!”

Aether and Mountain exchanged glances that could only be read as ‘who is this guy?’

Turning another corner, Cirrus stopped in front of a pair of ornately carved oak doors.

“The library.”

She threw open the doors, revealing a large, high-ceilinged room lined with shelves upon shelves of books. In the centre were a cluster of desks, and cosy armchairs seemed to have been dotted wherever there was space. Long and narrow windows tossed columns of morning light across the room, supplemented by many candles that burned with an enchanted, heatless flame. Sat at the desks were half a dozen ghouls, all studiously scribbling on sheets of linen paper. None of them looked up at the disturbance, too engrossed in their work.

Sunshine wriggled past the ghouls blocking the door and skipped over to a ghoulette with cropped white hair, throwing her arms around her from behind while her quill was raised in contemplation.

“Hello Baby,” she cooed in her ear, “we brought you some guests.”

Even from the door, Dew could see the indigo blush reach the tips of Mist's ears. It was funny, he thought, seeing the normally unflappable ghoulette taken down like this. When she looked to the door, Dew wiggled his fingers in a small wave.

“Dew!” she cried, leaping to her feet and accidentally dislodging Sunshine, “I heard you’d come back!”

She swept to the door and pulled Dew, not a tall ghoul by anyone's standards, down to her height in a bone-crushing hug.

“With your pack, too,” she eyed them appraisingly, “your water ghoul is in the infirmary I heard. I’m not surprised, given what those humans put him through.”

Dew nodded, and chose not to explore why hearing Rain described as his water ghoul made his stomach feel strange and fluttery.

“Now,” Mist continued, pointing an accusatory finger at the others, “which of you is responsible for this absolute monster of a text we’ve been holed up in here copying for the last week?”

Swiss immediately pointed towards Mountain and Aether, intimidated by the small but fierce ghoulette. She turned her gaze on them; having to crane her neck to properly look Mountain in the eye.

“Who did the drawings?”

Mountain raised a cautious hand.

“Beautiful,” she stated, “ours aren’t half as good.”

She swivelled to face Aether.

“You.” Narrowing her eyes, she seemed almost ready to square up for a fight. “You wrote the text.”

Aether looked like he wanted to run away. He didn’t see what he could’ve done wrong.

“Why in Satan’s name is your handwriting so damn small!” Mist practically growled at him, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. “It’s incredible work, but we can barely read it without a magnifying glass!”

Lost for words, Aether stumbled back slightly and looked to Dew for backup. Luckily, he was saved from Mist’s exaggerated wrath by Copia emerging from the far doors that led to his office.

“Good morning, dear ghouls!” he called, swishing towards them in his long cassock. “Dewdrop, I am delighted to have you back with us, I trust your young packmate is here safely too, no?”

“Hello Papa,” Dew bowed his head politely, “he is sick in the infirmary, but yes Rain is here. The plan worked perfectly.”

“Ah, I am sorry to hear he is unwell,” the warmth in his eyes was genuine, all the ghouls could see that, “but this must be the rest of your pack!”

The others watched him cautiously, wary of the human stood before them. Swiss was the first to step forward, extending a hand in the human greeting he was most familiar with. Copia clasped it graciously, shaking it twice before raising it and dipping his head to press his lips to Swiss’ dry and cracked knuckles.

“It is a pleasure to meet you…” he paused, waiting for Swiss to supply a name.

“Swiss.” If he was amused by the strange man’s behaviour, he didn’t show it. “Multi ghoul.”

“Then it is a pleasure to meet you, Swiss.” He turned to face the more wary Aether and Mountain,

“You must be the pair responsible for this incredible anthology of regional fauna we are all hard at work on!” He lifted his arms, as though praising them, like the dark Priest they figured he was. “My goodness, it has been many a moon since I saw a work this spectacular, this comprehensive.”

He looked like he was about to embrace them, before thinking better of it and instead going in for more handshakes and kisses.

 “Aether,” the quintessence ghoul spoke clearly and professionally, “we thank you for your hospitality.”

"Mountain.” Quieter, hesitant, he accepted the deferent greeting of the Abbey's leader.

“You must meet some of our Earth ghouls! Your knowledge of the southern environment especially will be of tremendous interest to them.”

“How many ghouls live here?” asked Aether, curious.

“It fluctuates, but several dozen ghouls at least call this place home. A few of my own kind too, although we are in the minority.”

“You say the number of ghouls changes,” Mountain spoke with caution in his tone, “does this mean if we chose to stay, we would be free to leave again as we choose?”

“Of course, of course! I would never want to hold any ghoul against their will.” Copia seemed appalled by the suggestion.

“And what payment would you expect if we do stay?”

“For now, nothing. The knowledge in your book that Dewdrop brought to us is more than valuable enough for you to stay here while your youngest recovers. However, if you choose to remain here long term you would be expected to help out in some small way, in the infirmary or the gardens or wherever you feel best suited.”

Dew couldn't blame them for confirming what he had told them. He hoped it would build their trust in the leader to have him acknowledge how life worked here.

“Sunshine here for example,” he patted her on her curly head as she vibrated nearby like an excited puppy, “is helping our Earth ghouls build a tropical climate greenhouse. It is a rare treat, to have a multi ghoul in our midst.” Copia looked at Swiss with a marvelling smile as he spoke.

“Also, I hear you have much experience in dealing with humankind. I understand you may not want to, given recent events,” he winced on their behalf, “but it is one of my goals to spread His message even further with the help of ghouls, His most magnificent creations. That is also a possibility for you to assist me with, if you choose.”

The ghouls shared a glance – none of them especially enamoured with humanity right now.

“Anyway! Come, come. Let me show you how our work is going. We are almost done!”

Copia bustled back over towards the cluster of desks.

“Why did he greet us like we're royalty?” muttered Swiss in Dew's ear as they followed, loud enough for Mountain and Aether to hear, but no one else.

“It's just his way,” Dew murmured back, “he thinks ghouls are the physical manifestation of His Unholiness, and it means we can get away with murder here, sometimes literally.”

They stopped behind an earth ghoul at one of the desks, carefully inking a leafy plant. It was a near-perfect copy of Mountain's own drawing but the lines lacked the organic fluidity and familiarity of the shape Mountain had so easily rendered. Two more ghouls had the book itself open between them, squinting at the tiny text, roughly scribbling it down onto separate sheets for yet other ghouls, Mist included, to write up neatly onto pages to be bound later.

“As you see, we have a very efficient system to ensure we can return original texts that fall into our hands to their rightful owners as soon as possible.” Copia explained. “I am creating the cover to bind it, imbuing it with prayers for longevity in the hope that it may last many generations beyond me.”

As Aether leaned forward over the vacant seat to see the page Mist had been working on, the library doors burst open again with a slam. The young quintessence ghoul they had seen the day before came running in, panting with exertion.

“It's Rain,” he gasped.

Dew took off running without waiting to hear more. Pushing past the quintessence ghoul, he paid no heed to if his packmates were following him or not. He tore along the corridor, the footfalls echoing in his ears blending with the pounding of his heartbeat. In front of the doors to the infirmary he skidded to a stop before throwing himself through them.

Rain was sat hunched over in bed, shaking and hyperventilating with eyes as wide as saucers. The acrid scent of panic filled the air as Dew raced to his side, recognising the signs of another nightmare instantly.

“Rain!” he cried, ignoring the hands that tried to stop him clambering onto the bed to hold the water ghoul. “Please wake up, none of it's real!”

Around him, the ghouls called instructions, Dew ignoring them all in favour of rocking Rain back and forth as his gasps turned into sobs when he woke. He pressed Rain's head to his chest, smothering him in comforting touches. Hands pulled at Dew, dragging him away from Rain so one of the attending ghouls could press their fingers to Rain's forehead, sedating him with a burst of quintosis.

[miasmaghoul]

Mushy May - Day 4

Prompt: First Kiss

Rating: Teen Pairing: Aether/Rain Contains: hurt/comfort, anxiety, a panic attack, first-time glamouring, Rain having a Bad Time and Aether making it better Word Count: ~3k (lmao what am I doing)

Summary: Rain feels like he's drowning. Aether helps him surface.

“It’s a lot to get used to,” Dew had told him a week ago, holding out a pile of black fabric, “you gotta practice while you can.”

He’d offered to help. To teach Rain how to breathe properly with his gills glamoured, how to cope with the added restriction of their stage costumes. Rain, prideful thing that he is, had refused. Of course he had. Had shrugged off Dew’s words and waved away the offer of help. He was certain he could manage on his own - he hardly planned on using his full glamour anyway, so what was the point in practicing? Besides, if Dew could do it then so could he. Dewdrop had given him a withering look, followed by a scoff.

“Whatever, wet boy. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Rain had dismissed him with an exaggerated eye roll, returning to the very important task of filing his claws, and had promptly forgotten about the whole affair.

Until now. 

Because now, huddled in a damp corner of their venue’s shower room, Rain finds himself thinking the unthinkable: 

I should have listened to Dewdrop.

Everything feels too close, too tight. This form, this woefully human shape he’s been forced to take, brings with it an unexpected, crushing pressure. The uniform doesn’t help - it’s all skin tight, the fabric scratching at every inch of him. He feels flayed open, pink and raw; it’s visceral and wholly unsettling, but the vanishing of his gills is far and away the worst part. 

Rain paws at his own chest, tugging the knot of his tie in an effort to relieve some of the pressure. His mask and balaclava sit across the room, tossed away the moment he’d managed to get his shaky fingers to cooperate. It’s only been a few minutes since he stumbled his way in here, drawn by the presence of water and the oddly comforting scent of mildew, but Rain feels like he’s been suffering for years.

He can’t stop trembling, clutching his knees to his chest and fighting the razors in his throat. Clawing with his stupid, blunt, human nails at the places his gills should be - the sides of his neck, the ridges of his ribs. Trying to force them open again through his shirt, to rip away the binding magic trapping him in this sorry state. Gasping. Choking. Suffocating.

Satanas, he’s fucking drowning.

He’s drowning and it’s his own damn fault.

It shouldn’t be this bad. Nothing should be this bad. But from the moment Copia had said that incantation, had bound all of the ghouls to these horribly restrictive forms for the night, Rain hasn’t been able to catch his breath. Dew’s words swim though his head in a vague whisper of regret, one that Rain tries in vain to shake off. It only makes him dizzier.

There’s a call from somewhere outside the attached dressing room - twenty minutes til soundcheck - and it does nothing to help the tightness in Rain’s chest. His lungs ache, his throat burns, and his heart feels like it’s about to crash right through his ribcage. The edges of his vision are darkening already, and he can’t tell if it’s from the hot tears gathered in his lashes or a lack of air. Maybe both.

He’s going to die here. He knows he is. Tucked into a tight ball in some dingy shower, alone and terrified, on the night of his first ritual. The others will find nothing but a pile of damp clothes and the stink of sulfur, their water ghoul having discorporated and vanished back to the Pit. There’s no way around it. 

Rain hugs his knees and whimpers, feeling the knife between his ribs dig in deeper. He’s panting now - shallow, desperate hiccups of air. They’re all he can manage as the walls close in on him. The crushing weight of his own foolishness slams against his skull - he swears he can hear it, a hollow echo. Like distant footsteps on cold stone. Rain’s eyes slip shut, the tears begin to fall, and all he can do is wait for his lungs to give out.

“Rain?”

He jolts at the voice - a distant, low rumble that he doesn’t recognize. Do ghouls have a grim reaper? A being sent to collect their infernal essence and return it home? Is that who’s calling his name? Rain doesn’t know, and he doesn’t answer. He can’t. His voice went with his ability to breathe.

“Rain, where are you?”

It’s like he’s underwater. The voice is so foreign, lilting and accented in a way he can’t place. But it’s…soothing, somehow. Familiar, like a comfortable piece of clothing. He wants to lift his head but finds it immovable. Filled with cement. Those echoing footsteps in his head grow louder with each passing moment, and as his consciousness fades Rain swears he feels himself being lifted.

The next thing he feels is…warmth. It’s so warm. He’s so warm.

“Rain?” A warbling echo at the edge of his mind. “Can you hear me?”

There’s a weight on his chest, but it’s…different than it was before he felt the world slip away. Steady pressure, gentle, running the length of his sternum. It’s wonderfully grounding, puts him so at ease that he nearly forgets why he was so -

Rain’s eyes fly open and he sucks in air like a man starved, great gulps of the stuff that make his throat ache all over again. He thrashes, arches against the pressure on his chest and finds it doesn’t give. Rather, it holds him steady, keeps him pinned to - is he on a couch?

“Hey, hey, it’s alright.” It’s that voice again, the one he somehow both did and didn’t know. “You’re okay Rain, I’ve got you.”

Whoever it is, he finds it easy to believe them. Rain blinks as he catches his breath, clears the wet haze from his eyes. He doesn’t know what he expects to see, but it certainly isn’t a water-stained ceiling. At length he manages to turn his still-heavy head to the side. When he does, he’s met with a silver mask...and a pair of familiar lavender eyes. 

“Ae…Aether?” The name comes out raspy and worn, like Rain had been screaming. The other ghoul nods, and Rain realizes that the pressure on his chest is Aether’s hand. His shirt is unbuttoned, and that large, callused palm feels heavenly against his clammy skin. “What…how…”

“The Cardinal sent me to get you for soundcheck,” he explains, eyes scanning Rain’s face. The accent is fascinating, but now that Rain knows who he’s hearing he can pick out the familiar timbre of Aether’s usual voice. “Found you in the bathroom, pale as anything.”

“Couldn’t breathe,” Rain manages after a few moments, clearing his throat with a wince. “Couldn’t…without my gills, I -”

“I figured as much,” Aether murmurs. Rain gives the other ghoul a quizzical look, and Aether cracks the tiniest smile. “This happened to Dew too, the first time. Didn’t he tell you?” Rain stares at him, wide-eyed.

“What did?”

“The panic,” Aether says gently. “You had a panic attack, Rain.”

Rain blinks at him. 

A…a panic attack? No, that wasn’t right. That couldn’t be right.

“No,” he murmurs, brow furrowed. “No it - it was the binding spell. It…it took my gills and I-”

“It did, yes,” Aether confirms, canting his head. “But you’re breathing fine without them now, aren’t you?” 

Rain blinks again, finally taking full stock of himself. Of the rise and fall of his ribcage and the now-steady thud of his heart, and finds that he can’t argue. His chest still aches, but it feels more like muscle strain and less like breathlessness. It feels like the almost pleasant burn that follows his lengthy swims in the abbey’s lake, or one of his more energetic romps with Swiss. Rain brings a hand to his throat, just to be sure, and Aether laughs through his nose.

“See?” Aether pats his chest, a reassuring gesture. “Just fine without them.”

Silence blankets them, and it gives Rain time to think. He hasn’t spent a whole lot of time with the ghoul before him in the months since his summoning. Not for lack of wanting - he likes Aether, (very much, if he were to be honest), but with the hectic nature of pre-tour life there hadn’t been much of a chance to…connect. A few shared meals, a handful of fleeting touches in the common room - ones he revisited in the comfort of his own bed - and one very close call on the tour bus were all Rain had to show for his interest.  

So yes, he does like Aether. More importantly, though, he trusts Aether. The other ghoul had earned it with his calm demeanor, the way he carries himself, the way he treats others. They all rely on him, even the Cardinal. That’s probably why he’d been sent to fetch Rain in the first place - Copia knew he would actually do it, not just sneak off in an effort to shirk their duties. If it were any other ghoul, Rain would simply wave off the idea of what he’d just experienced being something as paltry, as…human, as a panic attack.  

But it isn’t another ghoul. It’s Aether. Aether, with his kind eyes and soft smile. Aether, with his broad body and gentle nature. Aether, who is currently rubbing slow circles into his warming skin. Rain realizes in a delayed sort of way that the ghoul’s other hand is in his hair, scratching lightly at the place where his horns should be. He wants to purr with it, but it comes out as a deep hum instead. Aether chuckles.

“I’ll take that as a sign that you’re feeling better,” he murmurs, and Rain can’t deny that he’s right. He rests a hand on top of the one on his chest and gives Aether a shy nod.

“Yeah,” he huffs, voice still strained, “some.”

“Good. Do you think you can sit up?” 

Rain isn’t sure he wants to. Aether’s hands feel so nice, his presence so calming, and Rain doesn’t want to lose either one. Voices in the hall bring him back a bit, though; right, he has a job to do here. He heaves out a harsh exhale and nods, giving Aether’s hand a squeeze. The other ghoul sits back on his heels and Rain sighs at the loss of his touch. He braces himself and forces his body upright, grunting with the effort of swinging his legs over the edge of the couch.

The pain hits him all at once. 

“Oh, my fucking head,” he groans, hunching and pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Shit.”

“Headache? Dew had a nasty one too.” Those large hands grip his wrists and give a coaxing tug. “You’re only going to make it worse doing that,” Aether chides. “Here, let me help.”

Rain isn’t sure how he can, given the fact that he’s pretty sure there’s an ice pick lodged in his brain, but he obliges. Allows Aether to bring his hands down and rest them on his own thighs. The other ghoul nudges his shoulder and Rain reluctantly raises his head, finding Aether knelt between his splayed legs. The sight sends a swoop of something entirely inappropriate through his belly, and Rain tries his best to ignore it. It’s hard to do when Aether cups his face with both hands, rough thumbs dragging over his cheekbones. The other ghoul gives him a smile and Rain swallows hard.

“Try to relax, alright? This might feel a bit…odd.”

Rain blinks owlishly, opens his mouth to speak, but the words die on his tongue as a wave of hot pressure fills his sinuses. It travels up behind his eyes, fills his ears and skull, wraps around his brainstem and trickles down his spinal cord. It only lasts a few seconds, and as the sensation fades Rain finds every bit of pain and lingering discomfort fading right along with it. He feels lighter than air, dizzy in a way that plasters a dazed look on his face. 

“There we are,” Aether coos, pulling his hands back. “How’s that? Better?”

“What was that?” Rain hardly recognizes the syrupy sound of his own slurred voice. Aether lets out a soft snort, resting his palms on Rain’s bony knees.

“Just a little something to take the edge off,” he says with a wiggle of his fingers. Rain finds himself entranced by the way Aether’s rings glint in the low light of the room. “I can’t do much beyond pain relief in this sorry state,” Aether gestures at his own glamoured body, “but that should at least be enough to get you through the ritual.”

Rain offers a slow nod, but he isn’t really focused on the words. His - well, everything, really, has gone fuzzy. Pleasantly warm and tingly, like he’d been wrapped in an electric blanket. He feels…safe, he thinks is the word for it. Anchored in a way he certainly wasn’t before Aether had rescued him from his breathless spiral. That seems like a distant memory now, a blip on the radar. All he can feel is a delightful buzz in the back of his head and the grounding weight of Aether’s hands on his knees.

“Rain? Are you still with me?” The ghoul blinks, refocusing on the masked face before him. He nods again, gaze bouncing between those stunning lavender eyes and plush lips. 

Those lips…

“Yeah,” he breathes, gripping his own thighs, “yeah, I…I’m…” 

He probably shouldn’t be staring at that unbearably pretty mouth. Shouldn’t be imagining how Aether’s chapped lips would feel on his. What he should do is say thank you. Tell Aether how appreciative he is of his help, of his care. He should say it and offer a handshake, or maybe a hug. Something small, but still affectionate. Something he won’t regret once the fuzziness in his brain fades. 

He doesn’t mean to lean in. Not really. He shouldn’t, no matter how much he wants to. No matter how much he’s wanted to for the past few months. 

But, well, he is leaning in. He’s leaning in and Aether isn’t pulling back. In fact, Rain’s pretty sure he’s tilting his head. Making space. Angling himself so his mask isn’t in the way and oh fuck he’s really going to do this.

When they kiss, Rain’s mind goes quiet.

It isn’t long. Isn’t deep or wet or messy. What it is, is wonderfully simple - a humble, chaste meeting of the lips. Short and sweet and somehow completely, utterly perfect. Rain pulls back just enough to let Aether see the enormous grin he can feel splitting his face, and to his delight the other ghoul returns it.

“I was wondering when we’d get around to that,” Aether says with amusement, squeezing Rain’s knees. Rain huffs out a laugh.

“Me too,” he admits, “maybe not quite like that, but I’m not going to complain.” 

“Neither am I.” Aether’s smile is devastating, wide and bright. “But as much as I’d like to carry on, I’m afraid we’ve got a job to do.”

Rain sighs, nodding - he’s held them all up long enough. He busies himself buttoning his shirt and tries not to mourn the loss of Aether’s hands when the other ghoul wanders over to one of the vanities on the far wall. He doesn’t have to mourn for long, though. Only for the time it takes for Aether to fetch his discarded tie, mask and balaclava. Rain eyes them with more than a little trepidation, his stomach giving a weak flip. His discomfort must be obvious - Aether lays a hand on his shoulder and holds him steady.

“It’s alright,” he promises, sitting at Rain’s side. “Let me help.”

Aether is so very gentle with him. So much so that it makes Rain blush. He talks through everything he does - knotting Rain’s tie, sliding on his balaclava, tucking back his hair. Aether checks in on him with every step, and Rain doesn’t think he has enough words for how grateful he feels. There’s still an edge of unease settling in his chest, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. 

Aether tells him about how things went with Dew the first time he’d had his gills glamoured. Tells Rain that he needs to have a talk with their newly minted fire ghoul about ways to cope so the panic doesn’t rear its ugly head again. Rain promises he will - his own pride isn’t worth the black hole in his chest.

“There we are,” Aether remarks with one final tuck of a particularly stubborn curl, “well done.” Rain could chirp at the praise, and at the way Aether’s hand lingers on his cheek. “Last step,” he adds after a moment, “and I think you should do this one.”

Aether holds up his mask, and Rain tries not to cringe at the very obvious scuff across its right cheek. From where he’d tossed it on the ground, he imagines. Hopefully it’ll buff out. He accepts the offering with a small nod and raises the mask to his face, stretching the straps to slip it over his head.

“Oh, hang on,” Aether says suddenly, and Rain looks over at him just in time to watch the other ghoul slide his own mask up with a thumb. “One more thing.”

Aether leans in and kisses him for real this time - lush and full, unyielding. Rain drops his mask in favor of grabbing hold of Aether’s square jaw, luxuriating in the feel of the other ghoul’s lips on his. It’s over far too soon, but the glimmer in Aether’s eye when he pulls away is full of promise. 

“For good luck,” he lilts, and Rain goes warm all over. Aether fixes his mask, Rain slips on his own, and together they stand. Aether gives Rain’s tie one final adjustment before nodding, giving his chest a pleased pat. “Now let’s get going before they send in the cavalry.” Rain nods, fiddling with the end of his tie.

“Thank you,” he says softly, the words long overdue. “For everything.” Aether hums and takes hold of Rain’s hand, thumbing over his knuckles.

“My pleasure,” he croons, and Rain would do anything to kiss him again. But for now, that will have to wait.

For now, the feel of Aether’s hand around his own is enough. 

[aelianated-star]

Religious trauma to Ghost pipeline (ft. Hot masked men)

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

today on is this my body being weird a heart attack or a panic attack

[littleghoulghost]

Little Ghoul and Swiss

Masterlist

Little Ghoul takes a while to warm up to Swiss. He’s big and open, larger than life. Little Ghoul hasn’t met anyone like that before, even during her time as a human child. He slowly tries to integrate himself into her life, bringing little snacks and soft blankets to Mountain’s room so she can make herself a nest. He nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees her peeking at him from under a blanket, her eyes glowing like a cat before she finally chirps at him. 

Swiss thought he’d managed to suppress his instincts before Little Ghoul came around, then she popped into their lives and suddenly everything felt like it was upside down. He found himself vocalizing outside of human speech, purring when content and chuffing at the other ghouls. Turns out ghoul behavior changes a lot when a kid is around. Ghouls rarely have young, so any cub is usually seen as a welcome addition to any pack.

Once he gains her trust he tries to get her to sing with him, it usually ends with him cuddling or rocking her in his arms and singing to her. It takes him much longer than he’d like to admit to realize that she’d completely forgotten how to speak. He thinks it’s just because she’s a ghoul. He refuses to admit that it may have been something from before that keeps speech from gracing her tongue.

[emile-hides]

Graphic Design is my passion

Anyway, sense Tumblr Feedback only allows you to submit one image at a time I figured instead of sending three separate "Here's why you should change the dashboard back" messages, I'd just post my collage of thoughts and tag @staff and @support so they can ignore me on the website itself

I haven't actively been using the site for 2 weeks now because the dashboard is inaccessible to me with how horribly cluttered it is.

I'm not even saying roll the whole thing back, all I'm asking for is a button that changes it back for individual users in the Dashboard settings, much like the basic color pallet of the website.

For further randomly rolled out experiments that are given to a handful of users at a time, maybe give those of us a little jarred by sudden change a chance to opt out. You'll be more likely to get accurate data from users actually trying your changes, as opposed to the current sea of complaints and angry comments from people who don't like new things forced upon them.

It's really not that hard to consider your user base's opinions before going forward with large scale changes.

[oakskull]

so ive been playing Hades

¡Here comes Tisiphone with a steel chair!

[thatvampireblog]

Here's day 4 (Shaky) if the Ghost Writer's Discord's Whump Month as hosted by @cirrus-ghoulette!!! It's time to pick on the new guy, I think.

[spectral-cervid]

Every day I say thank you to butch lesbians :)

[simon-lefripon-draws]

GHOSTOBER DAY 6!!

Here’s my shittly filmed tiktok!

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

What You've Done, You Cannot Undo (Medieval AU)

Chapter 11 + 12

The journey comes to an end. Out of trouble and on good terms at last, Rain and Dewdrop can finally begin to build a friendship. But other lingering feelings might derail that…

Y'all the words don't stop writing themselves, double update this week because I wrote enough for two chapters, but don't want to drag out a camping trip for more than 3 updates!

Rating: M Content: short description of a panic attack, nightmares, mild gore, mild violence, mention of vomiting, possible dubcon if you squint (in a dream) Words: 9161

Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3

Hi tag gang! @everybodyshusband @rainsbasspick @revengeghoulette

Read below, or on AO3! some entertaining lines from the plan in the end notes this week

Chapter 11

The memory of the warmth in Dew’s wiry, but deceptively strong, embrace stuck with Rain until they went to bed that night. Dew had squeezed him so tightly Rain was afraid he would crush him. He made no move to escape however, and instead clung to him as a drowning man would cling to the last piece of floating flotsam in a shipwreck.

Rain was still coming to terms with how the conversation had just unfolded: never in his wildest imagination had he thought Dew would apologise. He had needed to; his antagonistic behaviour of late had become beyond unreasonable, but Rain had assumed any apology would be insincere and forced out of him by a packmate, possibly at knifepoint.

The shock of Dew both taking accountability and begging for forgiveness had left Rain frozen in place, too many thoughts fighting to break the surface for any to succeed. In the end, his outward appearance had been that of a frozen lake on a calm day: glassy smooth from above, but churning below the surface with invisible turmoil. Dew's scorching embrace had been what he needed to thaw the icy shell around his heart, and he let himself melt against the shorter ghoul who stumbled to keep his balance.

Dew got himself ready for bed in a daze. The relief at having finally cleared the air with both Mountain and Rain was only outweighed at the elation of realising that, after almost two weeks of near-constant worry, his pack really were going to be alright. Drowning in Rain's arms, he was finally able to feel his tangible presence. Rain was here. He was safe. Dew felt like his mind was a runaway train that had been tearing downhill in the pursuit of safety for so long, that he hadn't stopped until now to look and see Rain really stood there in front of him. He squeezed him so tightly, his unglamoured gills popped open.

Dew shivered, although not unpleasantly, at the lingering coolness of Rain's arms ghosting over his skin. The tall water ghoul was stronger than he looked, especially given his current weakened state. Dew decided to file that type of thought far, far away in his mind for now.

That night they finally drifted off to sleep without straining to stay separated. Rain’s long tail, set free at night for comfort, thumped contentedly on the ground between them. If it happened to brush against Dew’s leg with every twitch, neither ghoul mentioned it.

~~~~~~~

Men were chasing him, beating him and kicking at him as he ran. They screamed abuse, calling him ‘murderer’, ‘monster’, ‘demon’. Rain tore forward until his legs burned and his lungs screamed at him to just give up and collapse. His pulse roared in his ears, racing to the beat of a frenetic marching band. Other voices that sounded like those of his packmates howled that he was worthless, a disgrace to them and to his kind. Above the cacophony rose a shriek of cruel laughter; his ghoulette sweetheart.

Rain whipped his head around, trying to make sense of the blur of too-bright colours surrounding his vision as he continued hurtling onwards. The abstract shapes rearranged themselves into the dead faces of those at the farm: the two boys who worked the land, the girl with the painfully familiar ebony hair. Her empty, sunken eye sockets stared at Rain accusingly.

As Rain was distracted by her once again, the ground took it opportunity to race to meet him. His knees hit first, the crushing pain only registering briefly before his jaw hit next, and he felt his front teeth shatter on the hard stone. Blood streaming from his mouth and nose, Rain struggled to lift his head amidst the hail of pain raining down upon him from clubs and boots alike. The faces of those he had killed morphed in front of him, transforming into those of his pack; the decomposing faces of the ghouls he loved.

“No!” he rasped out, but his voice caught in his throat.

The partially defleshed skulls laughed at his pathetic attempt to talk and began to speak, mocking him.

“You doomed us to this!” one with crumbling, decaying antlers rasped. Mountain.

“Stupid, cowardly ghoul.” Snarled another, the only feature identifying it as Swiss was the single gold tooth still glimmering deep within the gaping maw of its mouth.

“This is all your fault.” Aether.

The worst came from the monster resembling Dewdrop. It stalked towards Rain, where the men of the village had left him battered and broken on the floor, begging for the sweet release of unconsciousness. Looming over him, Rain smelled the stench of death and decay on its breath. Its skeletal arms reached out to encircle him, squeezing him. Rain shuddered at the macabre hug, as the limbs tightened around him even more like a boa constrictor with their prey.

“You killed us,” it whispered in Rain’s ear, “we were all so happy until you came along. Now look at us.”

Rain clenched his eyes shut, but the image of the dead humans and his zombified packmates was seared into his retinas. The animated corpse of Dewdrop leaned in closer, until Rain’s nose was all but inside the cavity in its skull where its own nose should have been. The edges of Rain’s vision began to turn dark, flickering with static.

“Useless little water freak.” It whispered, before pressing what was left of its lips against Rain’s. Sucking out the last of his consciousness, the world went black.

~~~~~~~

Rain woke with a start, his whole body spasming from the shock as he gasped, open-mouthed, for air. His heart felt as though it was trying to leap out his chest, only held in by the crushing weight of whatever was stopping his lungs from fully filling with air. Panic gripped every inch of his body, and Rain clawed at his chest as he hyperventilated, hunched over, but still couldn’t get the oxygen he needed.

Beside him Dew, always a light sleeper, awoke with a jolt. The smell of Rain’s hysterical fear assaulted his nostrils, and he could hear his harsh breathing. Dew recognised the tell-tale signs of panic immediately.

“Rain,” Dew bolted upright, “what’s wrong?”

Rain wheezed at him wordlessly, his eyes frantic. In his state, he half expected Dew to snap at him again for waking him, despite yesterday’s apology.

Dew instinctually reached out to grab Rain’s hand that was as cold as ice. With his other, Dew rubbed soothing, rhythmic passes on Rain’s back to encourage him to breath slower.

“C’mon Rain, breath with me,” he begged, “you’re okay now. Deep, slow breaths.”

Rain’s terrified scent was the same as the same as the one Dew had tracked to his jail cell that first afternoon, and the memory of it made him almost retch. He shuffled in closer to the whimpering water ghoul, pulling his larger frame in against his warm chest. Seeing Rain like this, he shivered at the thought of everything he had failed to protect the younger ghoul from over the past weeks; all his suffering he hadn’t been able to prevent.

“It was just a dream, you’re safe here. We’re all safe.” Dew whispered, gently rocking him side to side as Rain’s lurching breaths slowly subsided.

“I’m sorry.” Rain gasped out between lungfuls. Hiccupping sobs threatened to send him back into full body shudders.

“Nothing to be sorry for.” Hummed Dew.

The pair sat together in near silence until Rain’s breathing was mostly stable and his tears had dried.

“Let’s get you warm,” Dew helped him back under the covers, still never letting go of his hand, and tucked Rain protectively into his chest, “try and get some more sleep.”

Dew held him close, as much for his own comfort as for Rain’s. He tried to stay awake, instincts screaming at him to protect the ghoul from harm as he drifted back to sleep in his arms, but his own exhaustion won out eventually.

When the pair woke again a few hours later they were totally entangled, a intimately braided pile of limbs and tails. In the cold exposure of the morning light they couldn’t hide their positions. Awkwardly untangling themselves, they silently packed their stuff to move on. Both snuck concerned glances at the other when they thought they wouldn’t be noticed: Dew out of concern for Rain’s wellbeing after his attack during the night, Rain out of fear that he had collapsed the fragile truce they had just built. The day continued as it had started, with both ghouls seeking to avoid each other from embarrassment.

As the ghouls were preparing to leave their camp, Mountain pulled Dew aside.

“Is Rain alright?”

Dew cast a gaze his way. The water ghoul was reinstalled atop the horse. His breathing was still slightly laboured, his lungs exhausted after their intense trial during the night. He looked rough.

“He had a nightmare.”

Mountain nodded sagely. Neither one of them needed to specify what it was about: anything from the catalogue of Rain’s recent traumas would be similarly horrific to relive. After a sober moment, Mountain changed the subject,

“We need water soon,” he spoke slightly louder, so the rest of the pack could hear the plan, “you know where you found the river again Dew, do you want to lead the way?”

If there had been any doubt in Dew’s mind about the sincerity of Mountain’s apology the day before, it crumbled in the wake of his actions; the earth ghoul effectively announcing his trust in Dewdrop to the whole pack. He proudly took his place at the front of the group, and they began their slow march further north behind him.

Mountain used this opportunity to have the final difficult conversation he had been putting off; this one with Rain. He had no idea if Rain attributed any of the recent strife to him, either through his implicit pressure to go to the farm that morning or his less than stellar actions since. Selfishly though, Mountain wanted another taste of the freeing feeling he got from clearing the air between him and Dew.

He sidled up beside the horse, where Rain was sitting staring straight ahead, a faraway look in his eyes.

“How’re you doing, Rainy?”

The water ghoul startled slightly, jolted from his thoughts.

“Alright,” he shrugged, “I'm glad you and Dew made up.”

“Me too,” hummed Mountain, before taking advantage of the perfect opening to segue into why he needed to talk to Rain in the first place. “I want to tell you I'm sorry, too.”

Rain, who had only been half focussing on the earth ghoul plodding along beside him now fully pivoted in the saddle to look at him.

“What for?” he seemed genuinely confused.

“I pressured you into going that morning, into using your powers even though you weren’t ready.”

“Oh Mount,” Rain sighed, “none of that is your fault! You didn’t pressure me into going to the farm that day, I wanted to go.”

Mountain opened his mouth to object, but Rain kept talking over him.

“I’m a grown ghoul, I can make my own decisions. I thought I was capable, and I should’ve stopped when I realised I wasn’t.”

“I should’ve at least stopped Dew being so mean to you!”

Rain snorted wearily: as if it was that simple.

“You tried, you couldn’t do any more than that. Dew’s got his own issues we still need to work through, but I should’ve been the  one to stand up to him sooner.”

Mountain stared at him in confusion. Only yesterday the pair had been silently feuding, yet today they seemed almost amicable. He had even thought he spotted them cuddling when he awoke that morning, but had written it off as the imaginations of his own barely-conscious mind. He wondered what had sparked this sudden, positive change.

“Things are gonna be okay Mount, I promise.” Rain looked at the earth ghoul in mild concern. He had gone very still, his face scrunched up in confusion. Rain knew he had a habit of beating himself up over things beyond his control, and it saddened him that he hadn’t been able to stop it sooner. At a loss for what to do, and unable to simply give Mountain a hug from his horseback position, he reached out and patted him gently on his head.

Exhausted, Mountain wrote the odd interaction off as the result of his tired insanity. Rain didn’t seem angry with him, and he felt better now the words that had scared him were out in the open. He dropped back in pace until he was walking in step with Swiss – that felt easier. Aether resumed his post from previous days next to Rain, while Dew happily ploughed on ahead. Mountain and Swiss quietly chatted as they walked, Swiss carrying the conversation but frequently interrupting himself to ask Mountain to name the various flora they passed.

The environment around them was beginning to change: leafy trees gave way to evergreens, the sandy soil beneath their feet was becoming harder and chalkier, and the sounds of the fauna were foreign. The air temperature was dropping too; no longer a balmy summer heat but more temperate and breezy. For the hiking ghouls this was a relief – they were no longer sweating with every step the took under the beating sun. Rain however was becoming uncomfortably cold. None of them had brought more than a few extra layers with them, and the airy linen shirt of Swiss’s he wore held little warmth.

“You’re cold.” Stated Aether, sensing Rain’s discomfort. Rain wanted to deny it, but the shiver that overtook his body when he went to shake his head belied his insistence that he was fine.

Pausing for a moment, Aether dug around in his pack before producing his neatly rolled up blanket. He tossed an end of it up and over Rain's shoulders, allowing him to arrange it around himself without even needing to dismount.

“Let me know if you need more, okay?” He said, softly.

Rain nodded, already snuggling down into the slightly scratchy but warm fabric that smelled comfortingly of his packmate. All bundled up, the water ghoul quickly regained some warmth. A short while later, he and Aether were back to their companionable silence, lost in their respective thoughts.

Rain's mind kept returning to his dream. Not just to the vivid physical and verbal attacks of a hundred nameless villagers, or the dead and decaying faces of his victims. Not even just to the reanimated corpses that resembled Mountain, Swiss and Aether. These were all things his subconscious had conjured to torture him with previously in his own personal horror show. Rain was no stranger to nightmares, both before recent events and since. Most of his attempts at sleep in jail had been disturbed by some kind of night terror, reminding him of what he had done, how he had uprooted and destroyed the lives of many in their sleepy village. In the end, Rain had stopped trying to sleep at all. He had been doing well on this journey so far, still having unpleasant dreams but free of ones of this intensity, until now.

The mutilated face of his childhood beloved affected him less than he thought it would, especially given how her resemblance to the farmer's daughter had sparked his catastrophic loss of control almost two weeks prior. She had come to him in a nightmare that morning too; could witnessing the death of her lookalike have finally robbed her of the power to hurt him further? Her presence in Rain's personal nighttime horror shows had been a constant for as long as he had been away from his home clan, the one constant in his life until he met the pack.

Perhaps she had simply been replaced in his mental playbill by someone else. As hard as he tried, Rain could not get the creature with Dew's face out of his mind. How it stared at him, single-minded in its focus as it stalked towards him. Despite its horrifying nature, skin almost melting off its face, Rain found himself recalling the press of its lips on his, remembering how they felt as it drained his soul.

Hot. They were so hot, Rain felt as though they would burn him if he didn’t pull away. He couldn’t though, not with the iron grip the monster had on him. Rain hadn’t even tried. The world of his nightmare had faded to black as he let the creature with fraying blond hair and a rotting face consume him, before waking in a panic.

Rain shook his head to dislodge the memory, horrified at himself. Was he really that desperate? So lonely the thought of any lips on his own could invade his dreams and even his waking thoughts? The abomination from his dream was neither ghoul or human in appearance, and bore only a passing memory of a resemblance to his packmate, so why was he still thinking about it? Especially given how terrified he had been when he woke afterwards.

In trying not to think about the horrors of his nightmare, Rain’s thoughts drifted to Dew himself. His arms had been so warm when they were wrapped around him, both the night before and again when he was comforting him in the middle of the night. Dew had held him so tightly, grounding him and making him feel truly safe, but the dream had twisted that into danger and fear. Rain’s mind wandered to what the real Dew’s lips might feel like. He imagined they would be warm, still scorching against his own, but not hot enough to burn.

Huffing out a sigh, Rain threw his gaze outwards to his surroundings in search of a distraction from his thoughts. Dew wouldn’t appreciate him having them; despite their recent truce and his freely given comfort last night, Rain still didn’t think the fire ghoul liked him much. His eyes settled on the short figure in front of him, walking along with a spring in his step Rain had never seen before. Dew’s enthusiastic acceptance of his task at leading them today made him feel strangely fuzzy inside: it was an adorable sight really, seeing the normally grouchy ghoul so fervent in his task.

Rain resigned himself to his fate. Daydreaming about Dewdrop was still better than dwelling on his nightmare, or letting any other memories of the time between arriving at the farm and being swept from the gallows resurface. Besides, Dew was technically his husband after all, so surely no one could blame him for any impure thoughts he may be having.

While Rain continued stewing in his own mind, the pack made good progress. Before long, Dew was directing them to stop for a break. They were almost back at the river, he promised, just a few more hours and they would have a constant supply of fresh water for the rest of the journey and not need to carry it around with them anymore.

Aether helped Rain scramble down from the saddle. He was feeling much warmer now, and not just from the blanket.

“I’m going to walk for a bit.” He answered several inquisitive glances as he repacked the blanket with a slight struggle.

Dew had been feeling great all morning. The liberating effect of a clear conscience had finally lightened the load he felt pressing down on him, and Mountain unambiguously demonstrating his trust in him by asking him to lead the way had left Dew feeling like he was walking on air. Watching Rain walking around, chatting happily with a tired and half-listening Aether, Dew would never have suspected the water ghoul had been in such a state he previous night. He didn’t know exactly what his nightmare had been about, but his own imagination could surely fill in the gaps if he wanted it to. Judging by his behaviour now though, Dew was hopeful that it was not continuing to affect him in his waking hours.

The path re-joined the river in the late afternoon, to everyone’s relief. It was wider here than when they saw it before, stretching vast and deep between the two shores. Dew turned around to proudly point it out to the others, only to see a grey blur shoot past him and cannonball into the water with an almighty splash.

“Rain!” spluttered Dew, giving chase, “your clothes!”

The water ghoul resurfaced, fully clothed and soaking wet.

“You’ll dry them.” He replied cheekily, smirking before dipping back under the water. Dew stared wordlessly at the ripples left behind until he suddenly had to dodge the bundle of sodden shirt and trousers thrown at his head by Rain, who had resurfaced again closer to shore.

He was still stood there, holding the wet bundle of clothes, when the others caught up with him.

“Where’s Rain?” Asked Aether. Dew gestured widely at the river. “Of course.” The quintessence ghoul sighed, before sinking down to the floor where he stood, glad of a break.

Dew stared at the soggy fabric a while longer before shaking it out to begin drying it off. As a fire ghoul he was a naturally warm-blooded creature, but the feeling of hot blood flowing beneath his cheeks was strange to him. He didn’t know why he was blushing: they’d both bathed in their underwear together countless times since Rain arrived, several times just this trip even. Here he was though, flustered by Rain effectively undressing for him.

It wasn’t that he thought Rain was unattractive – far from it – but he had always managed to suppress those thoughts before. Now they were on more even terms, they seemed to be coming back with a vengeance. Dew knew he had seriously misjudged Rain before, and he desperately wanted to make amends, but these new and distracting thoughts were really complicating things in his head.

Like earlier, when Rain had been reaching up to bundle Aether’s blanket into a saddlebag. His flowing sleeves had fallen to his elbows, revealing pale arms crisscrossed with an intricate lattice of blue veins, flexors tensing beneath his skin as he struggled. Dew had been struck with the thought that those arms had been tight around him the night before. It tugged deep in his stomach, making him feel almost queasy, and he was equal parts disappointed and relieved when Rain’s sleeves fell back to his wrists.

Strange fascination with his arms aside, Dew told himself that his physical appreciation for Rain was actually perfectly understandable: he was an undeniably handsome ghoul. He had long suspected it was only his youth and naivety that had stopped their older packmates from trying something on with Rain by now. The pang of jealousy that lanced through him at the thought of one of the others claiming Rain as their mate was trumped only by his envy of Rain himself. He was effortlessly attractive but didn’t seem to realise or even care, meanwhile Dew could only compare himself unfavourably to the statuesque water ghoul, feeling more at odds with his own body each time.

Ugh, what was he thinking? Dew huffed in frustration at himself, and started folding Rain’s newly warm and dry clothes. Rain deserved better than him, the miserable fire ghoul who almost let him die at the hands of mere humans. He deserved a water ghoul as beautiful as he was, one who could give him everything he wanted and more. Dew wasn’t even worthy of thinking such thoughts about him, especially given how they were only arguing a day ago. He let out a dry laugh to himself; they were married, supposedly, and Dew couldn’t help but wonder if subjecting Rain to that was his greatest crime of all.

Yet as he watched Rain finally be relaxed enough to properly enjoy himself in the water, splashing around like a puppy and waving at Dew begging for his attention, he realised: the water ghoul was supremely, unavoidably cute.

Dew avoided addressing his thoughts further by staring at the fire all evening. Once Rain, plus a few fish, had been extracted from the river, the pack had settled down for a quick dinner and an early night. Everyone was exhausted, and it was starting to show in the unusual quiet that descended upon the tired ghouls. The greatest excitement had come when Swiss proudly added the assortment of herbs he had gathered under Mountain’s direction throughout the day to the cooking pot.

It was a companionable silence that enveloped the camp that night, thought Aether. The strenuous journey was affecting him more than the others, but the time for rest would come later once they had a roof above their heads. Dew had assured him they were nearing the Abbey now, and their journey would be at an end in a few more days. For now, he was content to watch the blooming relationships of his packmates. He’d had his eye on Swiss and Mountain for a while now, watching the pair dance around each other like planets, destined to collide. Dewdrop and Rain were a new development however, and one he hadn’t been expecting. When Rain had first showed up, Aether had hoped that the two young ghouls would find companionship in each other. However, the immediate animosity between them had swiftly dashed his hopes. Now, watching the pair both pretend they weren’t sneaking glances at the other across the fire all evening, he wondered if there was a chance for them yet.

That night was cold. Their northward journey had also taken them gradually uphill, and alongside the decrease in temperature, the wind had also picked up. At least it wasn't raining, thought Dew as he stoked the fire that night, all five ghouls huddled around it to absorb all the warmth they could. Rain was suffering the worst: the wind whipped through his hair, lifting it up only for cold rivulets to tickle the back of his neck, making him shiver.

As they crawled under blankets that night, Rain was still cold. Unlike earlier in their journey when he would have suffered in silence, praying Dew's warmth would eventually seep over to him, Rain was much more comfortably in voicing his discomfort. Selfishly, a part of him was glad of an excuse to try to snuggle into Dew's warm arms again.

“Dew it's cold,” he griped, aware of how whiny he sounded, but not caring, “warm me up please?”

“Oh, stop being such a princess!” Dew huffed a laugh at Rain's behaviour before reaching out and pulling him close, against his better judgement. Under the cover of darkness, his own actions felt less scary, the implications smaller. The water ghoul wriggled happily as he got what he wanted and settled down to sleep, warm at last.

Dew tried not to think too hard about how easy it felt, holding Rain like this, or about the low purr rumbling from his chest as he fell asleep. This didn't have to mean anything; it probably didn't mean anything to Rain. He was just helping his packmate, Dew argued. He chose to ignore the overwhelming feeling of comfort he found in their position, and before he could torture himself by ruminating on the implications of that further, he was also asleep and quietly purring himself.

Chapter 12

The next morning when the pair inevitably woke even more entwined than the previous day, they both acted as though it was a perfectly normal situation. Feeling emboldened by Dew initiating the hug, Rain made no move to release him. He had slept through the night, mercifully unbothered by night terrors, and didn't want to do anything which might scare Dew off or make him reluctant to repeat this the next night.

Dew was normally the earliest riser among the pack, but that morning he blinked into consciousness to find long, cool fingers gently combing absentmindedly through his hair. The only other ghoul he had let play with his hair was Cirrus, and he melted into the familiar, relaxing sensation. He hadn't felt this cared for in a while so he closed his eyes again, content to stay in this quiet space halfway between waking and sleep for a bit longer. They could afford to; they were so close to the Abbey now that Dew could feel his skin prickling with nerves about introducing the two groups of ghouls he called family to each other. He twitched slightly as he tried to free his arm from where it was going numb, but Rain’s own tightening around him in response, accompanied by a tiny growl, made him quickly abandon that quest.

It was a slow start to the morning, once they eventually crawled out of the blankets and each other's arms, and back into reality. Mountain and Aether seemed particularly affected by the collective exhaustion. Now that they were settling into a routine and any lingering adrenaline had long dissipated, the swiftness of their journey was beginning to take its toll. All of them felt they were simply going through the motions, eating their dwindling rations and packing up their camp on autopilot.

Swiss, although also tired, seemed to be faring slightly better. Dew could tell however that his struggles laid elsewhere: he spent the morning trying to get Mountain's attention like a lost puppy, getting shot down every time. The old Dew would have branded him pathetic, he thought to himself. Now though, Dew could see the fear lurking around the edges of Swiss’ every move, the multi ghoul clearly scared by Mountain's robotic behaviour.

Rain noticed Dew watching them in concern as they walked. Any semblance of leadership seemed to have vanished, the two oldest ghouls single-mindedly barrelling towards their destination with little heed for the other ghouls, and horse, behind them. He bumped shoulders with Dew to get his attention,

“You're worried about them.” he stated, following Dew's eyeline to where Swiss was almost jogging to keep up with Mountain's long strides, chattering in his ear with little to no response.

“They're going to exhaust themselves,” Dew shook his head, worry clouding his eyes, “I should stop them, we're almost there but we won't make it if we keep going at this pace!”

He made to catch up with them, but Rain paused him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Not your fault though, remember?”

“Not my fault, not yours either.” Dew smiled up at Rain. If the water ghoul recognised Dew was about to spiral, then it was likely he was too.

“C'mon then, let's go slow them down!” Rain grabbed Dew's hand, pulling him forwards.

Swiss watched as Rain and Dew appeared from behind, hand in hand, skilfully manoeuvring themselves to the front of the pack and declaring it was their turn to navigate. He couldn't help but be impressed at how efficiently the pair put the brakes on the pack; as soon as they were adequately blocking the path, they slowed their pace forcing the others to follow suit. Finally, Swiss could catch his breath. With their progress slowed he fell into step with Mountain, lending him his silent support, rather than chasing him from a few paces behind.

Jealousy gnawed in his stomach at how quickly their two youngest packmates had gone from being constantly at each other's throats, to each other's closest ally. He had always been on good terms with Mountain, yet no matter how much he longed for more, their relationship was developing at a glacial pace. These last few weeks of endless stress and change had somehow sparked some of the greatest developments between them in months, and Swiss hoped that once they were settled and safe that would continue.

From their position at the front of the pack, Rain and Dew settled into their own rhythm. Dew had eventually let go of Rain's hand under the guise of reaching into his pack for his waterskin, both having held on for so long that letting go would have been awkward. They walked and talked, sticking to safe topics like their surroundings and Dew's journey a week earlier, before lapsing into comfortable quiet. After a while though, it became clear that there were still things unsaid that neither could avoid forever.

“What did you mean you were angry at me for things that weren't my fault?” asked Rain, finally. Dew paused. He had been expecting the question, at some point, but not Rain’s directness.

“You want the abridged version, or…?”

Rain gestured widely at their surroundings,

“Do you have somewhere else to be?”

Dew chuckled, and began talking.

He started at the beginning; describing his parents’ tumultuous relationship, how his mother’s youthful rebellion had backfired with his birth. A kit born of spite, into a house filled with hatred; he had been doomed from the start. Dew explained that his father had stuck around for long enough to be disappointed, before abandoning him and thus initiating his mothers descent into resentful neglect.

“So that’s why you smelled like water!” Rain exclaimed. Dew was confused: he had no connection to the water portion of his elemental makeup. As far as he was concerned he was simply a fire ghoul; that was just how elemental inheritance worked. Ghouls with connections to multiple elements existed, take Swiss for example, but they were so unique they were effectively their own species.

“Only faintly,” Rain elaborated, watching the cogs slowly grind in Dew’s head, “you still smell like fire, but more like a driftwood bonfire. When you’re angry you smell like burnt seaweed.”

Huh, that was news to Dew. He supposed he had never really known many water ghouls before to point it out to him, and Mist would have been too discrete to unless asked.

“It’s why I brought you fish, that day when I was first here,” continued Rain. Dew winced at the memory of his own reaction – he had been appallingly rude over what had been a polite gift, “It’s a gesture of respect between water ghouls, and I thought you might be a multi ghoul like Swiss or something. He doesn’t smell much like water at all though.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Dew felt awful – Rain had been trying to be friendly with him since the beginning, and he had been nothing but cruel in his response.

Rain shrugged, and Dew figured that was the most acceptance he could expect to get. The silence between them grew slightly strained, until Dew worked out that Rain expected him to keep talking.

“I was angry at you, because I was jealous,” Dew realised just how true that really was as he spoke it, “you arrived, and you were the perfect water ghoul. I thought maybe if I’d been born like you my father might have stuck around, and the my mother wouldn’t have become so resentful to everyone.” Dew stared at his feet as he spoke, not wanting to meet Rain’s eyes. “I saw you as everything I’m not, and I hated you for it.”

Reaching out a hand for Dew’s, Rain seemed at a loss for words. That was understandable, thought Dew. What could he expect him to say? The water ghoul ran his thumb over the back of Dew’s knuckles as he chose his next words carefully.

“You can’t blame yourself for something you couldn’t control Dew,” he said finally, “but I guess I understand why you don’t like me now.”

“Didn’t like.” Dew corrected him immediately.

“Didn’t like.” Rain confirmed, smiling.

“I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you though, you didn’t ask to be thrown into my issues.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” nodded Rain, “but you know that already.”

An awkward quiet fell again. Rain was acting with a maturity in stark contrast to his frequent kit-like playfulness, and it made Dew feel young and ignorant. He knew better than to expect any sort of immediate forgiveness though; and Rain’s understanding was he best he could hope for right now.

“I’m not perfect either, though.” Rain added eventually. “I can catch fish, but other than that I’m a pretty useless water ghoul.”

Dew stared at him in shock.

“You have got to be joking.”

Rain was the most perfect example of a water ghoul he could have pictured – from his strong tail and delicate gills, to the grace with which he carried himself, Rain was Lucifer’s finest specimen from head to toe. Dew stopped himself dwelling on his physical appearance – there was a time and a place, and now was neither. Thinking instead about Rain’s newly developing magic, it was clear judging from the destruction he had unleashed by accident that he would be tremendously powerful given time to hone his skills.

“If I was a good water ghoul, my first love wouldn’t have left me for the first fire ghoul she came across.” Rain shrugged.

Dew wasn’t sure which part of that shocking revelation to deal with first. Luckily, Rain saved him the trouble.

“We were childhood sweethearts. Everyone thought we’d settle down and raise a brood of kits ourselves.” He sighed wistfully. “Until on the day I wanted to ask her to be my mate, she brought home the most awful, loud fire ghoul you could imagine.”

Dew wrinkled his nose at the idea – he’d met his fair share of uncouth, brash fire ghouls in his time. Rain’s delicate, sensitive mannerisms were as different from them as night from day.

“I was obviously such a bad prospect for her that even someone outside our species was preferable.” Bitterness tainted Rain’s words, and Dew so badly wanted to hurt these ghouls that caused the sweet water ghoul such enduring pain.

“I was scared of you at first too, I thought you would be like him.” Rain admitted. “It’s why I didn’t stand up for myself when I should’ve done, why I tried too hard to make you like me. I thought all fire ghouls were as intimidating as he was and I was frightened you’d be the same.”

“Sorry,” Dew apologised again, “I was probably as nasty as you were expecting.”

“I could tell you didn’t mean it after a while, not always.” Rain looked at him with an evil glint in his eyes. “You’re really not as scary as you think, Dewdrop.”

Dew gasped in mock-offence.

“Besides, you didn’t make the whole pack laugh at me with you like he did.”

Now that Dew could relate to. There was another lull in the conversation, both digesting the wealth of new information they had learned about the other. One last tiny thing stuck in Dew’s mind: Rain’s assertion that his only skill was catching fish.

“Some humans make their whole careers out of fishing, you know. It’s a very respectable livelihood.”

Rain snorted a laugh at the comment, shattering any tension that still lingered.

“Thanks, Dew.”

The pair continued walking and talking as the morning turned into afternoon, and afternoon became evening. Rain was keep to learn as much about Dew’s past as he could, prompting him to continue taking.

Dew explained how he stumbled across the Abbey, and the ghoulettes there had cared for him as one of their own. Dew was careful to gloss over some parts of his initial time at the Abbey, as well as his real reason for leaving. He’d tell Rain eventually, he was sure, but he had made himself more vulnerable in the last few hours than in his whole time ever knowing Rain, so that was a story for another day.

Dew was able to dodge the topic entirely, as the clearing he planned for them to camp at came into dim view in the fading light. He swiftly finished his recollection of joining the pack, skipping over most of his difficulties with survival in the woods, and jumping to Mountain and Aether taking him in. Dew didn’t need to tell Rain all of the embarrassing parts at once, and he was sure either one of the others would delight in telling the tale from their point of view as his heroic saviours.

Their rations were running dangerously low. They had tossed all they had into a pot, too tired to make anything more extravagant. Rain could have caught more fish, but by this point the thought turned their stomachs. Dew had promised that they should make it by tomorrow night, and everyone was hoping his prediction would remain true. The miserable soup simmered gently, as the ghouls watched sleepily, transfixed by the flames.

Dew rifled through his pack, looking for anything edible. Nothing presented itself, but as he groped around the very bottom his fingers brushed against something two items, cold and smooth. One was his birth amulet, that could stay put for now, but the other was the pebble he'd saved from Rain's bedroom. He pulled it out, and it sat heavy in his palm, firelight dancing across the pale surface and illuminating the tiny fossils within. He turned to Rain, presenting it to him like the precious object he supposed it was.

“I forgot, I saved this from the house before we left. It seemed important to you.”

Rain's eyes widened as they landed on the stone, before filling with tears. Dew panicked; he hadn't meant to make Rain cry.

“I'm sorry, I didn't think it would make you upset, I thought you would want to keep it–”

Before Dew could finish apologising, he found himself with a lapful of water ghoul. Rain sobbed wetly into his shoulder, arms thrown haphazardly around him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he choked out between gasps for breath, overcome with emotion and delight at what Dew had thought was a tiny gesture. Dew held him while he recovered his composure, although he made no move to leave the fire ghoul's warm lap.

“I never thought I'd see it again,” sniffed Rain, eventually, “I know it's just a rock, but...” he trailed off, but Dew knew what he meant; he understood sentimentality.

“Where is it from?”

Rain hiccupped another sob before answering,

“I found it in a deep cave, not far from the cliffs my family lived by. I was preparing my mating gifts at the time.” Rain paused, “Wait, how much do you know about water ghoul traditions?”

“Nothing really.” Admitted Dew. He had only ever grown up surrounded by fire ghouls and their very minimalistic traditions.

“We prepare gifts for our prospective mate, before we ask them,” explained Rain, “we catch fish, weave kelp blankets for a nest, and we collect trinkets. Traditionally a water ghoul or ghoulette with multiple prospective mates would choose the one who presented them with the best gifts. There's no real competition like that anymore, but we still give an offering to show our dedication to them.”

Dew nodded his understanding. He'd noticed Rain tended to collect pretty objects he came across; it must be a water ghoul trait.

“I found that rock the very day I planned to ask my sweetheart to officially be my mate, and knew I had to give it to her.” Rain sighed sadly. “Of course, that was before she brought that fire brute right to the spot where I planned on asking her. I found the rock still in my pocket that night and couldn't bear to throw it away.”

“I don't know why I've kept it so long. My life back then wasn't great, and it reminds me of what was the worst day of my life until–” he winced; the new holder of the title ‘worst day of Rain's life’ was clear.

Dew felt he understood the attachment – he had kept hold of the engraved metal pendant he was gifted at his birth for all these years, even though he was long-departed from the unhappy life it represented. Sometimes a reminder of the worst parts of life put every small hardship or minute achievement into better perspective.

Clutching the stone to his chest, Rain admired how its polished surface reflected the contrasting colours of the light of the fire and the full moon. From his perch atop Dew's thighs, Rain thought that the pebble now had an additional meaning: Dew had noticed he kept it close and thought to save it, even before they were friends.

The three other ghouls snuck glances their way, pretending they weren't watching the small spectacle in a mixture of concern and intrigue.

Rain had eventually had to move once their supper was ready, but he stayed glued next to Dewdrop all evening. As Dew fell asleep that night, staring at Rain's face bathed in the pale moonlight, laid only centimetres from his own, he realised they had barely been apart all day. More surprising still; he felt good about it, relaxed, dare he even say happy? Despite the gloomy exhaustion of the others, he felt lighter than air. Had he really been blind to the sweet and funny water ghoul this whole time?

Again, Dew was uncharacteristically the last to wake. It was as though his body was finally allowing him to relax after years of constant tension. For the third night in a row he had gone to sleep cuddled close to Rain, and at this point he was too relaxed to care what his packmates might think. For once, his face looked his young age; free of worry and wrinkles. He knew they needed to get up and get moving if they wanted to reach the Abbey today, but it surely it wouldn't hurt if he rested his eyes for just a moment longer...

Rain was wide awake. He felt full of energy, stronger than he had in a long time, and he could even feel that new buzzing sensation beneath his skin again. It didn't feel dangerous like before when he was threatened, now it felt powerful but controllable. He carefully wriggled free of Dewdrop's iron grip, sitting up and stretching his arms above his head until his shoulders popped.  Looking down at Dew, he was struck by just how youthful his face looked, unburdened with the woes of his pack in his sleep. He snuffled slightly as Rain crawled out from under the blanket but otherwise stayed sleeping.

The others were in varying stakes of alertness; Mountain was already scouting around the edges of their camp for the blackberries that grew there, while Swiss was watching him from under his blanket. Rain padded down towards the river, feeling especially drawn to it this morning. He crouched down by its shores, splashing some onto his face and shivering at the icy temperature. The thrumming in his veins intensified, and almost instinctually he reached out a hand, hovering it over the river's surface. He felt the vibrations concentrate in his palm and then, so suddenly he could have imagined it, a jet of water leapt from the river to curl around his hand. Rain gasped, and the water fell back as though frightened.

Hardly believing it, he stretched his hand out again, focussing on his fingertips this time. A thinner stream jumped up, forming an unbreakable ribbon of water that moved when he did. Rain swirled his index finger in a circle and the sparkling droplets followed him, spinning themselves into a small tornado. He giggled in glee and the fine spray celebrated in a glittering shower of their own with him. Finally. His connection with his element had always been shaky but by some miracle, it at last seemed to have clicked.

He spun around to tell the others and found Aether watching him proudly.

“I knew you'd get there eventually Tadpole!” he grinned a lopsided smile at Rain.

Bounding back over to the rest of the pack, Rain found Dewdrop still sound asleep. That wouldn't do – he had exciting news! Rain poked his shoulder to try and wake him, receiving only a grunt in response. He poked him again; nothing. Next, Rain concentrated a tiny bit of the buzzing from his veins into his fingertip, touching it to the fleshy part of his shoulder once again and allowing a small spark to transfer. The screech Dew let out was neither elegant nor restrained.

“Ouch!” he was instantly awake, leaping from the blanket like a cat doused with water. “What was that for?”

Maybe it wasn't as small a spark as Rain had intended. He smiled angelically.

“Good morning, Dew!” he chirped. Dew looked at him, confusion clear in his still sleepy eyes.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked at last, once it was clear that the slightly guilty, but still beaming, water ghoul was the culprit.

“Oh, you haven't seen Rain's new trick?” cackled Swiss, out of bed now and failing at holding in his laughter.

“New trick?” Dew asked weakly, as his heart rate returned to normal. Swiss and Rain's cat-like grins were ominous.

“Rainy can tell you all about it!” drawled Swiss.

“Let me wake up a bit first!” begged Dew, stumbling down to the water's edge with Rain dogging his heels the whole way.

Whatever he had been expecting, Rain's newfound electric eel abilities were far more interesting. He had stared in wonder as Rain showed him, watching blue sparks flash down his arms and instantly stun a fish with a single touch.

“And you just woke up able to do this?”

“In the cell. I woke up down there, feeling this weird buzzing and when I concentrated, I could do this!” Rain pointed his index fingers at each other, and a spark arced between them. “I can control water better too now, not just feed the plants – look!” He made a series of jets of water spring from the river, twirling around each other in a beautiful, magical dance.

Dew was astonished; he'd never heard of powers developing so quickly before. He wondered if there was some catalyst for water ghouls that he was unaware of. He didn't wonder for long though, as Rain jolted him from his thoughts with a well-aimed spurt of water to his forehead.

Before long, the pair had to return to the most pressing task at hand – the final day of their journey. Despite his rude awakening, Dew seemed in a better mood than ever. All the ghouls seemed perkier in fact; the end was in sight, and they were spurred on by Dew's promises of warm beds and hot food. Mountain and Aether were storming ahead, finding new strength as the miles ticked down. Rain had valiantly tried to keep up with them but, even with his burst of energy today, he was soon out of breath and forced to resume his position on horseback. He seemed to have burnt himself out with his earlier exertion, as he was almost falling asleep in the saddle. Dew worried they were heading for a tremendous crash once they reached the Abbey and their exhaustion caught up with them, but at least they would be in the safest possible place for that to happen.

Talking with Rain, already a tall ghoul, when he was on horseback was almost impossible without shouting so Dew brought up the rear of the group with Swiss. The multi ghoul had been having consistently foggy visions ever since they left the village behind; a blur of trees and leaves and rivers that swam in and out of his mind like passing birds. This morning alone however, he had already experienced three sudden premonitions, a loud and demanding jumble of unfamiliar faces and voices. Dew was getting nervous, and hoped the invasive thoughts would not sour him to the Abbey’s residents when they finally met.

To distract him, Dew used this opportunity to ask him about Mountain. He would have tried to be subtle about it, but even when he was trying he was about as subtle as a brick through a window, so he didn't bother.

“What's going on with you and Mount?”

The tips of Swiss’ ears went pink.

“Nothing, yet,” he squinted at Dew, “why, what has he said?”

Dew guffawed, were they both so oblivious to each other's attentions?

“Nothing, but the way you're both acting its clear there's something up. Did something happen while I was away that I don't know about?”

Swiss shook his head.

“Sure, whatever you say,” Dew smirked, “but pay attention next time – he's been sat at your feet every time he's had to keep watch, that's pretty smitten behaviour if you ask me.”

“As if you can talk, cuddlebug.” Swiss shot back. It was Dew's turn to blush now. Foolishly, he'd been hoping none of them had noticed him and Rain's current sleeping arrangement. He spluttered indignantly while Swiss snickered.

“Seriously though,” Dew paused his teasing for a moment, “we were worried about you yesterday when he was racing off ahead with Aether, like they're doing now. You looked scared.”

“S’okay.” Swiss shrugged.

“I've seen them like this before you joined the pack, they get in their old travelling mindset where survival comes first. Don't take it to heart alright?”

Swiss nodded slowly.

“But you think he likes me back?”

Dew nearly bent double with his laughter; they were like a pair of kits with a crush.

“Talk to him, Spark! He's as dense as rocks with this sort of thing. You remember what Aether said the other day; it took months before he even acknowledged they were friends.”

Golden eyes glimmering with poorly concealed hope, Swiss tugged Dew into his side in a one-armed hug as they walked. Dew stumbled to keep his balance, laughing all the while.

“I'm blaming you if this all goes tits-up, Spitfire.”

“I wouldn't expect anything less.”

The pack kept moving, feeling exhaustion licking at them but persevering, nonetheless. The air around them changed, beginning to crackle with magic. The sun was falling fast, the growing darkness and their lengthening shadows only adding to the eerie feeling.

“Just a few more miles.” Dew promised to himself as much as the others, as he panted to keep up with the longer-legged ghouls in their final charge forward. Rain was clearly flagging now, and it was concerning him more than he wanted to let on. 

As the last of the sun was grazing the horizon, the main path curved off to the east while the smaller way ahead lead into dense trees. Rising above them was the Abbey steeple, twisted iron beckoning them in. The ghouls exchanged a final glance of anticipation.

“Go on Dew, you lead the way.” Aether smiled encouragingly. Dew steeled himself and started down the path. The trees sapped the remaining light, and the birdsong went quiet. The only sound now was the reassuring footfalls of his pack close behind him.

Emerging from the trees, the deep brown oak doors stood in front of them as tall and intimidating as ever. The brass bell glinted in the fading light as Dew reached out a shaking hand for the bell pull.

[millipededragon-art]

The Siblings of Light and Dark Aether

In dragon folklore it is said that these two powerful beings, connected since before the beginning of time, were cut in the middle, the energy that escaped their severed bodies giving dragonkind their elements.

The sibling of Darkness would become frightened and angry after being severed, thrashing around in a blind rage, while the sibling of Light was calm but determined, trying to soothe and protect their other half.

While the two had been cut in half, seperated physically, their love for eachother is what kept them together and keep the universe in balance.

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

*remembers that Aether initially panicked at the very thought of being near his Sun and Moon before Glamrock Freddy made sure they wouldn’t kill him*

What if… after getting adopted, Aether had a nightmare about being in the crate, and then woke up to see Moon trying to help him with it and had a panic attack?

Moon would bundle the poor thing up in a weighted blanket and make Lunar come help, since Lunar is small and clearly not Moon and it’ll help him calm down from his panic attack and then they can fully help with the nightmare and get him back to sleep safely cuddled by Moon while Aether is holding tiny Lunar like a cuddle toy (he’s squishing poor Lunar, but Lunar doesn’t mind)

[aelianated-star]

“In my villain era” but it’s just me trying to set reasonable boundaries and then crying about it later 💪🏼

Also listening to phantomime and the new Hozier song(s) on repeat!!! These silly little guys fuel me

[the-gayest-sky-kid]

im gonna be honest i hate the new p3r opening cutscene. like a lot

[warlordfelwinter]

as terrifying as that entire sequence is for fiver, i'm thinking about how scary it must have been for g'raha too. like to start with, getting the tempered under control and realizing fiver's just Gone and no one saw him leave. then the relief of seeing him again which almost instantly crystallizes into fear again bc That's Not Fiver and then even knowing it isn't fiver in there, how terrifying must it have been to see the man he loves try to attack him and alisaie, or hear the words "upon this world i'll feast and death shall follow in my wake" come out of fiver's mouth with fiver's voice (assuming only fiver could briefly see himself as zenos there). or the moment of realization of seeing some desperate, frantic, wounded imperial tackle him, shouting at zenos to get away from them and knowing that's fiver. just the whole thing. and then fiver's first question when he wakes up in his own body being "is everyone all right" which absolutely translates to "did i hurt anyone" cause he may not have been in control but they still would have been his hands. i just.