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coffeeghoulie · 1 year

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Mushy May Day 30: Love Letters

AKA the fic I let get extra self-indulgent because it’s my birthday present to myself lmao. Geode is a little earth ghoul oc I’ve had rotating in my head for about a month and a half, and I figured I’d write something about them for today. I’d like to draw them at some point, when I’m actually in the mood to draw.

Mushy May put together by @forlorn-crows

Pairing: Swiss/Geode (OC)

Rating: Teen

Words: 2178

Contains: Dew stirring shit and a panic attack

***

Geode is a quiet ghoul, which makes sense, given that they work the library desk, where it’s expected the patrons are quiet as well.

It’s a slow day, and on slow days, when Sister Imperator or the other upper clergy members aren’t around, Geode journals. Their journal is their prized possession, a book of high quality paper bound in soft, red leather. They have a collection of nice fountain pens in their bag, but the one they’ve selected today is filled with purple ink.

Geode plays with the end of their braid as they write. Their hair fades from dark grey at the roots to a snow white, always braided back between their horns, where they get their name. A set of curling ram’s horns, but one broken from an incident not long after they were summoned, revealing purple crystal growth on the hollow inside.

They write about anything that filters through their mind, but today their mind goes to Swiss, because for some reason they can’t keep him out of their mind. He was there when they were summoned almost a year ago. He had been the first fellow ghoul they had met Up Top, had given them the tour of the abbey.

Geode still doesn’t know why a band ghoul was tasked with showing them of all people around, seeing as they have nothing to do with the Ghost Project, besides hanging out with the ghoulettes every once in a while. It doesn’t stop them from replaying the memory of Swiss taking their hand as the two of them walked down the hallways, of how kind his eyes were as he looked at them, helping them to their feet in the summoning circle.

They write down everything they want to say to him, that they’re too shy(? Nervous? Embarrassed? They don’t know) to say to his face. He’s never going to read it. How could he? It’s their journal, for Satanas’ sake.

The bell at the top of the door chimes, and Geode jolts up from their journal. It’s just Sunny and Dew, a pair that normally makes Geode worry about the books, but the way that Sunny is grinning as she approaches their desk makes that worry disintegrate.

“Morning, Geo!” Sunny chimes, “Mountain wanted me to check out a book for him, but I have no clue where the botany section is. He wrote down the title and the author for me.”

She passes Geode a note, written in Mountain’s scrawling handwriting. Fortunately, they have plenty of experience decoding people’s handwriting, and they know exactly which book he wants.

They come out from behind the desk, leaving their journal open so that the wet ink doesn’t smudge. “I’ll show you where you want to be looking, follow me.”

Geode leads Sunny back to the botany section while Dew hangs behind at the front desk, and with two sets of eyes, they find the book Mountain wants rather quickly. They return up front, and Geode checks it out. “Okay, so this’ll be due in two weeks, please make sure Mountain knows because otherwise we both know this will end up in the greenhouse and we’ll never see it again,” Geode laughs, handing Sunny the thick tome.

“Thanks for the help, Geo. Do you want to hang out with me and the girls tonight?”

“Oh, absolutely. Once I get off of my shift. Same common room as last time?”

Sunny nods, grinning. “See you then!”

The two of them leave, and Geode turns back to where they think they’ve left their journal.

It’s not there.

Geode’s not incredibly worried, however. Their sense of object permanence is iffy at best. They’ve lost their glasses wearing them. Not wearing them on top of their head and forgetting about them, like Aether’s prone to do with his reading glasses, but wearing them on their face. They’ve probably just put the journal away and forgotten. It will turn back up. The things they lose always do.

After their shift ends, the sun having just set, Geode makes their way to the band ghouls’ common room. Sunshine, Cirrus, and Cumulus are all there already, chatting on two of the loveseats.

“Oh, hey, Geo!” Sunny calls, waving them over. “Mountain says thank you for the help. He promises it’s not going to the greenhouse this time.”

Geode laughs, sitting down on the loveseat next to Cumulus, easing their way into the ghoulettes’ conversation.

After a while, the door to the common room opens. It isn’t sudden, or slammed open, but Geode’s head still snaps up to see who it is. They immediately regret this as they make eye contact with Swiss, grey meeting gold. Their heart starts rattling at their ribcage as they look away frantically, before their eyes land on what Swiss’s holding: a red, leatherbound notebook. Their journal. Where they were writing a fucking love letter to-

“Oh, fuck,” they whisper. “Oh, shit.”

Cumulus turns to face them. “What’s wrong, Gee?”

Geode swallows hard, quickly tying off the braid they were putting into her hair. “Lus, Sunny, Cir, I know I promised we were going to hang out, I’ll make it up to you, but I’ve gotta get some fresh air.”

“Alright,” Cumulus says, patting their arm. “Feel better, okay?”

Geode nods, getting up from the loveseat. Swiss walks towards them. Dew is right behind him. Geode tries to be nonchalant as they turn around and leave through the other door, latching it behind them.

It’s no use to make a scene inside of the abbey, so Geode keeps walking, picking up the pace. They hear the door open behind them and don’t dare turn around. They know the smell of their anxiety is turning acrid, leaving an obvious trail. Hopefully, once they get outside, the breeze will throw off the scent.

There’s a set of footsteps following after them, and even though it sets Geode’s heart on fire, knowing they’re being followed, at least it’s only one set. They reach the door to the gardens, and spare a look behind them. Swiss is rounding the last corner, and he catches sight of them, his face lighting up with an expression they’re too far away to place. Geode’s eyes go wide and they shove the garden door open.

They’re not the most athletic ghoul, but they break into a sprint as soon as the cool night air hits them, darting through the lilac bushes, no clear destination in mind. Swiss is taller than them by a long shot. If they want to lose him, they have to go.

They hear the door behind them slam open, and a yelp leaves their mouth involuntarily. They break out of the gardens, paws skittering across the mulched path down to the lake. The full moon shines brightly down, reflecting off of the still surface of the water.

The old gazebo is their best bet. Geode could be brave and try to make it into the woods, but the treeline starts on the other side of the lake. With the full moon and the long sprint, Swiss could probably see them from a mile away.

Geode scrambles up the steps of the gazebo, pressing their back against one of the posts and sliding until they’re on the ground, drawing their knees to their chest. They press one hand over their mouth, trying desperately to slow their breathing, and the other grips onto their broken horn, the sharp edges digging into their palm. Their tail lashes behind them.

“Geo?” Swiss’s voice echoes out over the lake. “Geode! Where are you?”

Geode whines, pressing their hand tighter against their mouth. His voice gets closer, footsteps crunching on the mulch. They pause, and then resume at a much quicker pace, getting louder with every second.

Swiss walks up the gazebo steps, sitting down right next to Geode, his feet resting on the second step. Geode can’t bring themselves to look over at him as the scent of cloves and honey fills their nose.

“Hey. I was just trying to give you this.” Swiss says softly, pulling their journal out of his sweatshirt pocket and handing it to them. “Dew took it while you were helping Sunny. Trying to start shit for no reason. I’ll get him to apologize, promise.”

Geode tries their best not to rip it out of his hands, and clutches onto the notebook. “Thanks,” they say, feeling a lump starting to rise up their throat.

Swiss takes a deep breath through his nose, his eyes narrowing. “Geo, can I see your hand?”

“Huh?” They whisper.

“Let me see your hand, Geo,” Swiss says, reaching out with one of his own.

Geode lets go of the notebook, placing their hand in his hesitantly.

“Oh, Geo, you’re bleeding,” Swiss says, running a finger along a cut that they didn’t notice they had. Their horn’s broken edges had dug into their palm, and they didn’t even notice that it had broken the skin. “May I?”

“Huh?” Geode asks. With him holding their hand, their brain’s misfiring.

“Can I use what quintessence I’ve got to heal that cut?” Swiss tries again.

They swallow hard and nod. Swiss’s brow furrows as he focuses, running his finger gently along the cut. Geode shudders as the static of his quintessence jumps up their arm, running up and down their spine. The cut stitches itself back together, and Geode expects Swiss to let go of their hand. He doesn’t. He traces his thumb back and forth across their palm, like they’re something fragile, delicate.

Geode’s eyes start to water. They’re so tired, and they can’t stifle the sob that escapes them in time.

“Geo, babydoll, are you okay?” Swiss asks.

They laugh wetly, even as the nickname sends a shock up their spine. “No. I’m really not.”

“What’s wrong?” he asks, and Geode’s surprised to hear genuine concern and confusion in his voice. “You smell afraid. Are you scared of me?” His voice goes small, and he starts to pull away from them.

Geode shakes their head frantically, not willing to lose the contact. “Not scared of you. Satanas, you make me incredibly nervous, but I’m not scared of you.”

“Oh, sweetheart, then what’s wrong?”

“You know what’s wrong, Swiss,” they whisper. “You read what I wrote about you.”

“Huh?” He leans back, resting some of his weight on the hand not still holding Geode’s. “I didn’t read anything. Dew wanted me to read it, but it’s your journal, Geo. I wasn’t going to.”

“Oh, fuck,” they laugh. “Oh, you’re fucking kidding me.”

“What?”

Geode sighs, running their hand over their braid. “You know what, I might as well just show you. Damage’s already done.” They reluctantly take their hand out of Swiss’s to flip open their journal to where they left off. They hand it back to Swiss. “Read this for me?”

Swiss nods, starting to read quietly out loud as Geode buries their burning face into their thighs. “Swiss, I don’t think I’ll ever be brave enough to give you this letter. You were the first ghoul I met Up Top, after my summoning. You were so kind, and sweet to me, a stranger. I think I fell in love with you then, the first time I saw you, that afternoon you spent to show me around this place.

I’m not really part of your pack, I’m just the ghoul the clergy summoned to run the library. I exist on the fringes of your periphery. But you? You shine like the sun and the moon and I am just the dull exterior. You sing like an unholy angel, and I’d love more than anything to be yours. I’ve loved you quietly, from a distance, this last year that I’ve spent Up Top. You’ve bewitched me, heart and soul.

If I’ve overstepped, if I’ve crossed the line, please disregard all of this. Forget you ever read it.

Yours, if you’ll have me, Geode.”

There’s a long silence as Swiss finishes reading the letter. Geode digs their claws into their shins, trying desperately not to cry. They fail.

“Hey, Geo,” Swiss whispers, setting a hand on their knee, smoothing his thumb back and forth. “Can you look at me, sweetheart?”

Geode swallows hard. Raises their head. Swiss’s brow furrows as they make eye contact, and he hums, moving his hand up to cup their cheek, wiping a stray tear away with his thumb. “Oh, don’t cry, babydoll, it’s okay.”

“I didn’t want it to go like this,” they whisper. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, gem,” he says. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I should have said something earlier. I thought you were afraid of me, so I tried to give you space. I would have you, Geode, however you want me to.”

Geode barks out a laugh, leaning into Swiss’s hand. “Father Below, I’m such an idiot.”

“We both were,” Swiss smiles, his eyes crinkling. “You wanna go back inside?”

They shake their head. “Not right now. I want to sit out here with you for a bit.”

“Then we shall.”

#mushy may #my writing #swiss ghoul #original ghoul character #swiss/oc #happy birthday to me lmao #the band ghost fanfiction #the band ghost

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