#i am keen on satan

[ohmysatan42]

Just another day when a random customer gives me unsolicited life advice and tells me world war 3 is imminent.

[rugessnome]

I am back on my nonsense*

*I caught most of Vengeance on Varos on plutoTV

[chapel-of-rizztual]

I am feeling very normal, thank you for asking.

Dew knew that going on stage in the condition that he was in was stupid, but really, what other choice did he have? He thought he’d have a longer, a couple more hours just long enough  to get the show over before the worst of his heat hit. Oh boy had he been wrong. 

He’d managed to make it all the way to watcher in the sky before the desperate need that was swirling in his lower belly became too much for him handle. His cock throbbed in the confinement of his stage pants, desperate for something, anything more then just Dew grinding pathetically into the back of his guitar.  He could feels Swiss’ eyes on him the entire show, but right now they were burning into him and in the blink of an eye he feels Swiss brushing up against behind him, his hand squeezing at his shoulder before moving  down and pawing at his hip. 

“Can smell you from all the way on the other side of the stage.” Swiss mouths along his shoulder. “The desperation is rolling off you in waves.” He rolls the outline of his hard cock into Dew’s ass and Dew have to stop himself from from sinking to his knees with a moan. 

Swiss wiggles his hand under Dew’s guitar and pressed his heel of his palm into his cock before he’s digging his hand into Dew’s pants and pulling his cock out. Right there on stage. In front of everyone. His cock kicks at the thought of it, at the thought of anyone, everyone, seeing him like this, hard and desperate to cum. 

Behind him he hears Swiss growl as he continues to grind into Dew’s ass.  “Satan, your such a whore. You like the idea of everyone seeing you like this that much? Huh?” 

He fists over Dew’s cock so hard and so fast Dew lets out a squeak of surprise, falling back into Swiss. He’s getting wet, the back of his thighs getting stickier and stickier with each stroke of Swiss hand over his cock. 

Swiss laughs evilly in his ear, his tongue coming out to taste the air.  “Can taste you already, how wet you are. Fuck, you’re lucky I don’t bend you over right here and bury my face between your ass and make you cum in my tongue.”  Dew moans, his head roll back making both their helmets clash together. 

“Bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Swiss continues. “Always such a show off you want to show the audience how pretty you sound when you cum? How easy you are for me?” 

Dew moans again, his hips rolling up into Swiss’ touch.  “Swiss-Swiss, please.” He pants out, suddenly feeling so breathless. 

“Lift up your guitar like you would that pretty skirt you have, show of your pretty little dick to everyone, let them get a peak.” Swiss bites at his shoulder, his fangs piercing though the fabric of his shirt, his teeth puncturing into his skin. 

Dew whimpers and squeezes his eyes closed, but does as he’s told and lifts his guitar up several times in time to the beat, flashing the audience. He knows they saw, he heard shocked gasps and screams coming from the first few rows. 

“That’s it, that’s my good girl.” 

Dew’s eyes fly open and he lets out a high pitched groan, his head rolling back again to rest on Swiss’ shoulder.  “I- Swiss, cum- gunna cum.” 

“Yeah? Gunna blow your load just from flashing the fans your pretty little clit?” Swiss bites at his shoulder again. 

Dew let’s out a high picked keen, feeling his legs start to shake. 

“”Yeah you are. Common baby, cum for me. Squirt all over the back of your guitar.” Swiss’ hand squeezes harshly at his hip and somehow he first over his cock even faster. “Make a mess for me, be a good girl.” 

Dew whine and and whites out for a brief second as he cum, he can hear it splatter against his guitar, the hand on his cock getting sloppier and sloppier. He comes back to earth when Swiss squeezes his hip again and lands a slightly too hard slap to his ass. 

“Good girl.”  And just as quickly as he was there he’s gone again, leaving Dew to pant and recover from his orgasm alone. 

He shakes his head trying to clear it, But it doesn’t really work. His cock twitches as he thinks about what just happened. He looks back at Swiss, who’s back in his platform now, only to find Swiss already starting right back him with a shiteating grin on his face, grinding against his mic stand and licking the remnants of cum off his hand. 

Dew’s cock kicks at the sighs and he whimpers as he grinds himself back into the back of his guitar, right into the mess he’d just made, smearing it around. It was still warm. It made his cock twitch again and he let out a pathetic sound. It was going to be a long show. 

[yourlocalshrimp318]

My mom is now part of the ineffable fandom.

We finished season 1 and, wahoo, she really liked it. She is very sad that Azi and Crowley didn’t kiss, but the end was cute. She said that.

When Crowley’s car catched fire, she was a little bit down because the car was so pretty, but also quite impressed by its performance. Also the Queen music was absolute peak, because mom is a huuuge Queen fan.

M. said (quite often) that Shadwell is a very disgusting man. He looks like he smells bad. I understand her tbh.

She looked at me in utter confusion when I loudly said „Wahoo“ when Crowley introduced the m25.

When we first saw death, her comment was: „omg is it Freddie Mercury? That’d be so funny!“ uhhh no mom. Not really.

„Please Adam, calm the fuck down. You are not that important!“ she said, really annoyed by Adam. No one should be such an ass to their friends.

Anathema is now certified very beautiful by my mother. She is right.

She noticed that the one soldier dude read „American Gods“ by Neil Gaiman and thought it was funny.

Newt is very funny and M. was very keen to find out why is car is called „Dick Turpin“

„Now why do these guys look so toasted?“ she asked, being utterly terrified by the weird looks of the horsemen. „And why is death so ugly?“ I don’t know mother. Maybe because he is Death??

During the last episode she didn’t say much. Sadly.

But Satan is a certified drama queen. By my mother.

She laughed as Michael entered: „haha he looks like David Bowie!“

„Gabriel is a dick, Aziraphale didn’t do anything??“

„Why can’t they just state their feelings?“

And lastly: „Blodie here such a British person!“ nuh-uh mom. Not exactly. But I do get you.

She was very relieved when she saw that the bookshop was there again. Absolutely relatable.

M. had good time, she is excited for season 2. She hopes for a happy ending. I am a little bit scared.

„Cute story. Looking forward to the rest“

Good night/day people!

[astrangetorpedo]

On New Year’s Eve, during a house party at her home in Richmond, Virginia, Lucy Dacus had her fortune told. She thought why not. On a personal level, 2017 had been a wretched year – a steady conveyor belt delivering the 22-year-old bad news.

“This girl, who I didn’t even know, came to the party and gave me this year-long reading,” she explains. “Month-by-month it was so specific. So far, it’s kind of lined up.”

In the past Dacus has been sceptical about the prophetic powers of the tarot card deck, and was taught that the pentacles (coins) were a symbol of Satan. “It’s hard to look to the future and see nothing, to know nothing,” she muses. “I still don’t know what’s going to happen, but having something to have your mind bounce off is nice. That’s why I like tarot. It gives you something to reflect on.”

It’s all part of a fresh way of thinking for Dacus, a new “mood of just trying to be open to new things.” For so many reasons the past year has been one Lucy Dacus is keen to put behind her. “I guess I could just list things,” she says laughing, but not joking. To begin, some of her close family suffered health problems, compounded by her own serious issues including a bout of appendicitis that forced her to have surgery. She was attempting to buy a house for the first time, a process that proved “trying”. Three of her tours got cancelled.

“It was a little bit miserable,” says Dacus, sitting in an east London cafe. “Towards the end of the year, I just had to laugh… Like, come on!”

Interwoven with these practical challenges she was having to navigate something much more troubling. “I got out of a relationship in 2016, which I was waking up from in 2017 – realising that it was abusive,” she begins. “Letting myself say that, it took many months to come out of the numbness… to stop being brainwashed. So, that’s all been a growth. It’s ended up being positive, but it is difficult wondering how I let that be a part of my life for so long.”

Deepening the ordeal, still, this year of personal upheaval was set to the backdrop of Trump’s first 12 months in office. A vociferous supporter of Bernie Sanders through the 2016 election campaign, Dacus is a passionate advocate for equal rights, attending marches and collecting donations for community organisations at her shows. To have Trump sat in the White House representing her country, she says, felt – feels – “horrible”. “It’s just absurd and I feel like I’m in an alternate universe,” she says. “It’s really hard maintaining hope.

“Coming to Europe I’m embarrassed to be an American sometimes, but then I just have to hope that people know that I am not part of Trump. I’ve thought about wearing shirts at the airport – just like ‘not my president’. In little ways I just want to assert that opinion.”

And then there were the disturbing revelations surrounding Harvey Weinstein (and subsequently many other men) revealed in Autumn 2017, that opened out into a global conversation around the abuse and harassment of women.

“It’s been nice coming out of that really terrible relationship during a time when women are speaking up more. It feels like I’m allowed to say these things now,” says Dacus, crediting the #MeToo movement. “All these horrible, heartbreaking stories of women being mistreated are at the forefront but the solace that people are doing what they need in order to find closure and help each other prevent that happening ever again. For one of the first times I’ve been noticing male friends of mine actually examining their past behaviours.”

While there are some early shoots of positivity, the truth is, the culmination of all of these factors left the songwriter dealing with anxiety for the first time. “2017 was a new state of mind for me – and not really in the best way.”

Lucy Dacus was raised in Richmond, Virginia, about two hours south of Washington D.C. on the east coast. It’s a place sometimes described as “the biggest small town left in America.” The family home was in the rural suburbs and she travelled into the city to go to high school. “It’s hard to tell you in one answer how my whole childhood was,” she says. “It’s a large variety of things. Overall, I’m coming out with my thumbs up.”

In her household music was always there. Her mother is a piano teacher, as was her grandmother. Picking up songwriting was never a big deal, like a second language that was spoken around the house. “That’s how music is – like, it’s just part of my life,” she recalls.

Yet the dream of being a professional artist seemed almost so unattainable that it was invisible. In her late teens, Dacus went to college to study film but dropped out, primarily because she’d end up saddled with huge debt. “That, paired with the feeling of being misunderstood in my programme,” she confirms. “I just didn’t have a lot of like minds in my classes.”

That prompted a move back to Virginia where she took a job in a photography lab developing kids’ cheesy school photos. She’d been writing songs in her spare time and gathered nine of the 30-or-so she had together when her friend Jacob Blizard (now her touring guitarist) asked her to record them for his school project. Her 2016 debut album, ‘No Burden’, was made in one day in Nashville. Blizard passed school, and that album received rave reviews. NPR called it “vulnerable”, while Pitchfork said it was an “uncommonly warm indie rock record”. As a result, 20 different record labels reportedly scrabbled to sign Dacus. She settled on Matador, and began to prepare for what should have been a joyful 2017.

The first time Dacus remembers assuming the role of historian she was seven or eight-years-old. She was writing in her journal – and she smiles now recalling her first entry. It complained about how the babysitter spent the whole evening on the phone to her boyfriend. “There’s a point where I realise I’m journaling and so I stop and go, ‘I should probably introduce myself… I’m Lucy’” she laughs, remembering it clearly. “It’s really cute.”

More than a dozen notebooks, and many years later, she still keeps a diary now. Sometimes she writes every day, other times, weeks go by and then she fills 20 pages. Occasionally she flicks open an old one to either “laugh or cringe” at her younger self.

‘Historian’, then, isn’t just the title of her latest album, but also the way she thinks of herself. A chronicler, of her own experiences, but also those around her. Those pages aren’t just a document of a growing maturity, but also a therapeutic habit that helps make sense of many life events, including that recent damaging relationship. “Seeing that it had been broken for the whole time but that I was just oblivious to it, [reading about] it helps to accept that things didn’t change,” she says. “I just saw it for what it was finally, and so perspective is good.”

Those handwritten journals are sacred, which is why, when her tenth one was stolen on tour a few years ago along with a bag of possessions, it was the notebook she replaced first.

The album itself is a recent history – a narrative burrowing through those myriad dark times. Dacus knew that she wanted it to form a complete story, and wrote the track list before some of the songs. “It’s an arc” she says, that begins in a “relatable place” with the only break-up song she’s ever written (‘Night Shift’) that subsequently delves “deeper into darkness.”

“Then the subject matter gets a little more intense,” she tells me, “– going through identity crises, or loss of home, or loss of faith, loss of a loved one, loss of your life. I feel like I’m pulling people into an uncomfortable space.” She pauses. “There’s then a change where hopefully I’m turning on a light and saying, ‘Yes, all of that exists, but it’s a foil to joy.’”

It is an extraordinary piece of work. Musically it’s a colossal step up, reminiscent of recent albums by Mitski (‘Puberty 2’), Angel Olsen (‘My Woman’) and labelmate Julien Baker (‘Turn out the Lights’). The subject matter is heavy, but it’s never a dreary listen. In fact, it’s charming, funny even – like a brave smile emerging through a curtain of tears. And Dacus has a gift for lyric writing; like the eloquent way she pays tribute to the humility shown by her dying grandmother on ‘Pillar of Truth’. From first to final note it’s evocative and powerful. “The first time I tasted somebody else’s spit I had a coughing fit,” goes the LP’s opening line in ‘Night Shift’. “If past you were to meet future me,” she sings on the final line of the closing title track, “would you be holding me now?”

It’s heartening to hear that the contents of Dacus’ NYE tarot reading were largely positive. The forecast noted that she should enjoy the proceeds of her hard work, but that “something horrible happens in the summer, then there’s kind of a rebirth, growing back into, like, life in an even more knowledgeable and peace-oriented way.” Dacus is about to leave, and picks up a bag of books she’s been keeping underneath the cafe table.

“It could be wrong,” she says. “I’m not superstitious. I’m taking it in. When that does happen I hope I can take my own advice – let it be what it is, and look past it eventually

(x) 3/14/18

[lancermylove]

Playing Don't Scream (HC)

Fandom: Obey Me

Pairing: No Pairing. Featuring demon brothers, Diavolo, and Simeon.

Warning: Spoilers from the game, mentions of horror elements in the game.

Prompt: Demon Brothers play 'Don't Scream'.

———————————————

Simeon isn't keen on playing a horror game but accepts the challenge.

The moment he sees the plane crash, he prays for the souls who were affected. When he sees the woman tied to the tree, he tries to find a way to help her but eventually realizes he can't do anything and is upset.

In the convenience store, he is highly disturbed by the bodies and the gore in the bathroom. And he prays for them.

When he hears the crying child, he tries to find them and hopes they are okay. And he prays for their safety.

Overall, Simeon doesn't scream as he is not the type to be loud, but he is highly disturbed by everything he sees.

You Screamed.

You Screamed.

Mammon tries his best to stay silent, but...

You Screamed.

He finds it hard to suppress his gasps and screams and fails countless times. In the end, he becomes frustrated and upset with himself for losing.

He only survives four minutes into the game. It's a good thing no one saw him playing the game.

A game with pixels will not scare him; even if he was stuck in the game for real, nothing would faze him. Lucifer fails to understand why you are asking him to play the game.

The game is a cakewalk for him. He stays quiet and can predict all the scares and tricks.

Overall, the game is very boring for him.

If he does fail, it is most likely because of the screams of his brothers arguing in the background.

"I am not scared. I am not scared."

Levi thinks the game will be very scary and is too mentally over-prepared. He predicts all the jump scares but is slightly startled by the sudden sounds.

To his surprise, he finishes the game without being scared. If he can, he will jump onto the developer's social media and give them suggestions. If only they had not mentally prepared him for the jump scares, the game would have actually scared him.

But he is very impressed by the graphics and environment.

Satan is too focused and observant to fall for the jump scares, and he knows this going into the game.

The game is too easy for him.

He is not startled or scared even once, but Satan will go out of his way to give the developers tips on how they can make their game scary. Too bad he can't add "take it for a demon who lives in hell" to his advice.

Like Levi, he is impressed with the graphics and the developers' attempts to make the game realistic.

He only plays the game as it is trending on social media, but horror games are not his thing.

Asmo thinks the game environment is beautiful until he comes across the convenience store and sees the bodies hanging from the ceiling. EW to the max.

But when he enters the bathroom, he quits the game immediately. To un-taint his eyes from the gore, he stares at himself in the mirror.

Asmo never finished the game.

Beel finds it hard to stay quiet during the game; he doesn't scream but gasps and makes enough noises to trigger the game over screen.

But the Avatar of Gluttony is determined to make it through to the end.

During the convenience store section, he takes his time to explore all the food items on the shelves. Once focused on the food, Beel starts to get hungry, and his determination to get food helps him get through the game.

There are still moments where he gets startled but doesn't make sounds.

Belphie struggles to stay alert as he is too sleepy and wants to nap. As a result, he is startled at times but stays quiet through most of the game.

He dozes off during some of the quiet moments, but the loud sounds are enough to wake him up.

If Belphie was fully awake, he wouldn't find the game scary, and the jump scare would not affect him.

The second he finishes the game, the Avatar of Sloth dozes off without a second thought.

Diavolo is hyped to play the game and plays it even before you ask him to.

The prince finds it difficult to stay silent and makes sounds considered to be screams. But whenever he fails, Diavolo laughs it off and tries again.

He takes his time exploring and admiring the environment; after all, the developers put a lot of effort into the game.

It takes him a few tries to complete the 18 minutes, but Diavolo has fun doing it.

He hopes the game gets a full release, and if it does, he will definitely play it.

----

Bonus:

Luke - wants to play the game because everyone else is, but no one allows him.

Barbatos - doesn't have time to play the game and gives a chilling smile as he asks you, "Would you like to experience true fear?"

Raphael - poker-faced through the entire game. "Was that supposed to be scary?"

Solomon - passes on playing the game as he knows it won't scare him. He has pacts with 72 demons, so you can't expect pixels to scare him.

Mephistopheles - "Do not involve a sophisticated demon such as myself in your childish endeavors."

Thirteen - "You expect the Grim Reaper to be scared of a horror game?" She laughs.

———————————————

➣  Obey Me Masterlist: [1][2]

➣ Main Masterlist

➣ Buy me a Ko-fi? ➣ Commission: Open ➣ HC/Scenario Requests: Open || Quick Ask Requests: Closed || GIF Requests: Open

[obsessive-ego]

Slumber party panic

Reader x musical Beetlejuice

Nsft

Reader has a vagina

Fic where a bunch of teens summon beetlejuice moments before the two of you are intimate

This has been in my drafts forever

...

It's been a long hard week, coworkers have been calling in sick back to back to back, leaving you to cover, so that ment longer shifts, and rougher days but such was retail, you tried not to let it get to you, and kept telling yourself the you'll treat yourself on payday.

Mentally you were fine, but it DID take a toll on you physically, you'd stumble home after a nine hour shift, being the only competent employee on that day, drop your bag, sit on the couch and just stare into space exhausted, leaving your coat on, for about an hour before you'd force yourself up and put something together to eat, at least that was how you'd spend time after work on the days you were alone.

On days beetlejuice 'graced you with his presence', the moment you stumble exhausted into your home the ghoul was already on you, with a summoned clone or two to help take away your coat and bag, and eagerly bringing you to the kitchen where a hot and ready meal was waiting for you, it was so sweet, and honestly the first time he did this for you, you cried, for a demon he was such a sweet boyfriend.

Which brings us to today, another week in the books, you had the next day off and were really looking forward to resting

"Ya know babes, it's been awhile since we made the sheets sing" beetlejuice pulled into his side as the two of you sat together on the couch ignoring the gameshow that had been providing background noise

"I know" you yawn

"So how bout I remind ya why you're with me to begin with?" He snorts out a laugh, pink hues beginning to pop in his hair

You chuckle "I'm not just dating you for your dick beej-"

"I know toots, you're hear for my rear too♡" he pushes nuzzling into you neck, a hand moving to your upper thigh, you give a soft laugh feeling the bubble of excitement begin to start up, but then you yawn again

"Am I boring you?" Beetlejuice chuckles, knowing damn well the week you've just survived

"Sorry Bee-" you start

"Forgetta bout it, why don't you let ol' mister beebleboose do all the work tonight? You deserve a treat for being such a big strong working breather, and come on babes, I gotta fulfill my end of the bargain, since I'm your trophy husband♡"

You give the ghoul a playful push, moving him off you "we're not married beej-"

Beetlejuice crawls up onto your lap, trapping you between him and the couch "not yet♡"

The idea of getting married to beetlejuice always gave you butterflies, you knew the drill with him, the dead marrying the living gave them another, or in Beetlejuice's case, his first shot at life.

"Well?" The demon snaps you out of your thoughts

"Well what?"

"Do you wanna be my pillow princess tonight?♡" he snickered knowing how you weren't too keen on the nickname

"I don't know beej, being called 'princess' isn't really a turn on-"

"Alright my pillow prince♡" he coos, pinching your cheek

You swat his hand away "I do miss being intimate with you-"

"Then its settled!" Beetlejuice scoops you up, his hair now magneta, buzzing with excitement "call me old fashioned toots, but as much as I love railing ya on the couch, I'd rather tonight we take it to the boudoir♡" The ghoul quickly carried you over his shoulder to your room, making sure to give your bum a pinch before dropping you on the bed.

"God slash satan I've been waiting all week for this" beetlejuice purrs, crawling up on the bed and leaning over you, his magenta hair buzzing and giving the room a romantic glow

"Me too" you sigh leaning up giving the demon a soft kiss, it's been a rough week, and to be honest you've been feeling guilty saying no to him every night, you wanted to as well, you just wanted sleep more.

Beetlejuice pushes you back down on the bed, breaking the kiss, not like him, normally you'd have to remind him you need air to live, but whatever

"You're wearing too much clothes, here, allow me♡" he chuckles before snapping his fingers, your clothes vanishing in thin air, aside from a simple pair of black panties.

The ghoul leans back taking a good look at your mostly naked form, even though he's seen you like this so many times, his lecherous stare always made you a tad shy.

"It's been too long" he groans loosing his tie

"It's only been a week" you try to sit up only to have the ghoul push you back down

"Time works different when you're dead, now close your eyes and give daddy some sugar" beetlejuice purrs leaning forward, his long striped tongue leading the way

You do as instructed, having no desire to be what some would call a brat, you close your eyes and lightly part your lips ready to start a much desired night of passion.

You waited for a second or two, yet nothing, you knew beetlejuice as an inpatient guy, especially when it came to being intimate, so you peak.

He was gone

"Beetlejuice?"

Nothing

"Beetlejuice?"

Still nothing

"Beetle-?" You stop half way, knowing he'd normally stop you before you got all three B words out, but he didn't come

Oh, he was messing with you

"Okay" you start breaking the B word chain, then it hits you, maybe he's gonna try that thing the two of you were talking about, awhile ago you mentioned to beetlejuice you thought the idea of being 'railed' or 'taken advantage of' by an invisible entity is incredibly hot and if he was up to it, you'd very much like to try it with him, and by God, the demon was foaming at the mouth, and practically vibrating with excitement when you asked him that.

As that thought crossed your mind you eagerly lay back down against the pillows, sliding your panties downs leaving them hanging on your ankle, and spreading your legs. You lay there beaming with excitement waiting for the shoe to drop, but as 5 minutes pass your feelings fade to disappointment

Maybe this is beej's way if telling you he didn't really want to have sex with you tonight, maybe when he asked you earlier he was hoping you'd turn him down again, your heart squeezed at the thought and the humiliation you put yourself through, laying there like an idiot, was he getting back at you for turning him down ever night this week?

"If you didn't want to have sex you should have said something you ass" you cry getting off the bed and beginning to find something more comfortable and cozy to go to sleep in.

"You can forget sharing the bed tonight too" You couldnt help but tear up, he made you look like a fool, waiting for him laying there naked for almost an hour, he's probably in this room laughing at you, enjoying his shitty revenge game.

You plug your phone in and crawl under the covers of your bed, already warm from you laying there like a dumbass, you wanted to cry until you couldnt breath, this had to be the meanest thing ANYONE, let alone your partner, have ever done to you, just as you turn over ready to cry yourself to sleep, your phone rings.

You grab your phone off the night stand, wipe your eyes and awnser a shaky "hello?" Assuming it was a coworker calling last minute to ruin your day off tomorrow.

"Hey, babes? Call me back asap!"

"Beetlejuice?" What did he mean call him back? Wasn't he here?

"Two more doll, hurry up!"

He sounded alittle upset

"Where are you?"

He groans "just call me back and I'll explain" you could hear young girls crying in the background "I'll just be a minute" he shouts away from the phone, but still is herd by you

"Beetlejuice, beetlejuice, beetlejuice" you get it over with tired of this back and forth, you hear the clunk of the phone he was holding hit the floor then the disconnect tone.

In a puff of green smoke he was back, the magneta in his hair now gone, replaced with an awful mix of purple and red, the pink that graced his suit moments before his disappearance? Now the same awful mix as his hair, though the colours quickly fade back to pink when he sees you

"BABES!" He lunges at you, the bed creaks when he makes contact with the mattress, the demon was quick to wrap his arms around you and nuzzle in, to which you push away

"What happened?" Your voice was stern and demanding, you wanted answers and wanted them now.

"Aw babes" beetlejuice starts rubbing the back of his neck "it was rough, apparently some kids at Lydia's school herd her summon me, so they did it too, ya know, a bloody Mary party game situation"

He was pulled away, he was pulled away against his will, he didn't snub you, god this made your gut turn, you were upset for nothing.

"Thank whoever I was still fully clothed when it happened huh babes?" The ghoul gives you a nudge "let me set the scene for ya toots" Beetlejuice crawls up against the headboard with you, slinging an arm over your shoulder and pulling you in

...

"Give daddy some sugar♡" was the last thing he said to you before being pulled from your bed.

Lips still puckered leaning forward, an unfamiliar scream breaks the mood

Opening his eyes, before him sat 3 teenage girls

The room was dimly light by a hand full of led candles

It took the ghoul merely a moment to adjust to the situation, adjusting his tie, and smoothing his hair back, no longer magneta, but now red, these little brats ruining the night he's been craving all week.

"I cant believe it worked"

"A real live ghost"

"This is so cool"

"What have we done?! He's totally gonna kill us"

The chatter amongst themselves as of this was all a silly game

Beetlejuice clears his throat to stop noise and gain the kids attention

"Alright-" he starts

"Okay mister ghost, we summoned you so you have to do as we say, just like you did for that creepy lydia girl" what beetlejuice could only assume was the ringleader in this pack of teens, stood up straight poking him in the chest, the ghoul cringes at the mention of Lydia, guess Babs was right, maybe the two of em should be more careful in public spaces, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna to spread it around he got caught and summoned. Beetlejuice pushes the thought of a lecture out of his mind, he had bigger fish to fry, meaning to get home and rail you, you must be worried sick, you poor vagina drying up in his absence.

"First off we want you to-" the kid's voice snapped him from his musing back to the current problem

"Alright kid, I'm gonna stop ya right there, this isn't a 3 wishes genie situation, I'm a demon, ya know, from hell, and you 3 pulled me away from some serious demon business, I should eat the lot of you for it"

As Beetlejuice ranted his form changed, becoming more monstrous, his teeth shapper, his claws more prominent, his eyes more snake like, all around more intimidating.

The teens huddle together in fear pleading for their safety and passing around the blame of who's idea to summon him was.

"But I won't" at those words the demon features fade and he returns to his default look, although still red "if you kids do something for me"

At this point the girls were sobbing, noses running, babbling unintelligible sounds, and clinging together for dear life

"Can I use your phone?"

...

"Wow" was all you could say

"I know, I know, I've been through alot tonight, I could really use some comfort, so how bout we~" he leans into you nuzzling his beard into you neck, you gasp at the sensation, feeling his tongue lick the stripe up your neck.

"Oh Bj♡" You let out a soft moan

"I know toots♡" he groans guiding you back to laying beneath him "now where were we?♡"

...

.....

Bonus

Lydia: hey so that girl who's been being mean to me hasn't done anything to me in awhile

Beej: ....haha weird....

Y/n: ...yeah weird

[xticklemeemox]

Phantom's Mask

(In advance, I am so sorry for how confusing this gets with what side of Phantom's face is always covered. To clarify, it is HIS right, so the right side of his face from his perspective. It will be described both ways, but I swear I was trying so hard to not make it confusing but I failed so this is to clarify. Polyghouls btw who love Copia. (The relationship between Copia and his ghouls is technically up for interpretation) also why can I never write in the same tense. Also I might change Phantom's backstory, I just don't like it too much???) Oh and I've never written poly for more than three people so... yeah. I hope I did the relationship justice. I tried to mention everyone but writing is hard. I'm so sorry if the ghouls aren't written right 😭 I tried sprinkling on my own hc's for appearances too)

Word count: 13,758

Masterlist

Link to AO3 version:

Fic under the cut

Phantom was the newest quintessence ghoul.

When Papa Emeritus the Fourth summoned him, Phantom's face was covered almost completely by dirty bandages, curls of black and white hair peeking out between the gaps on his head. His left eye, the only one visible, was stunning. The sclera was pitch black like all ghouls, with the iris being a mix of varying shades of purple with flecks of a violet shade that made the whole eye: sclera, pupil, and iris, look like one giant swirling galaxy. Copia had never seen an eye like that before on a ghoul, not even his dearest Aether's eyes, a similar purple color, had looked quite so... enthralling.

(Picture for reference because I can't quite explain what I see in my head. The violet is what Phantom's marking glow, and the galaxy behind him is literally what I picture his eyes as.)

As soon as realization struck, Phantom had scrambled back and to the edge of the summoning circle with a low, distressed keen when he realized he couldn't leave the circle. He trembled from the cold, growling weakly in an attempt to be threatening.

Copia ordered everyone else to leave, even his pack ghouls. Dewdrop protested, not willing to leave Copia alone with a potential threat, but to everyone's surprise, it was Swiss who pulled the short ghoul back towards the entrance of the summoning room, knocking the horns of their masks together with care, the chains attached to the piercings on his long ears chiming with the motion. In a gentle murmur, Swiss explained with knowing eyes that Papa could handle the situation and that they should trust him.

Copia was grateful, recognizing that Swiss saw what he sees too in this ghoul, a fear that won't go away by simply having the situation explained. It will take some time yet for their newest quintessence ghoul to trust them, but Copia is hoping this conversation will be a start, if he decides to stay.

When the door clicked shut behind Rain, who had an arm around the freshly summoned Aurora's shoulder, warm blanket wrapped closely around her, Copia sat on the clean stone floor, letting some moments pass in silence as the black summoning candles, placed in the shape of a pentagram, flickered with an eerie purple flame.

Phantom was sitting, knees to his chest, watching every rise and fall of Copia's own chest with a razor-sharp, fearful gaze. His tail was wrapped around his thigh, the tip twitching occasionally with his distress.

"I am Papa Emeritus the Fourth, the representative for our Lord Lucifer here on Earth, but to you, ghoul, I am Copia. This is the Ministry, the main branch of the Clergy of Satan. I have summoned you to replace my quintessance ghoul in the musical aspects we here at the Ministry require." Copia starts, keeping his voice low and as calming as he is able. "Do you have a name?"

Copia lets the ghoul take in every available feature he can, such as his welcoming expression and unguarded posture. The white iris of one of his eyes. After a moment, the ghoul shakes his head, the tip of his long, pointed ear, the only one still tipped at all, twitching as a bang sounds from outside the room. Papa ignores it, it was probably Dewdrop anyway.

Curiously, the ghouls skin seemed to be two different shades, mostly a light gray, and lavender purple in random splotches.

"Well, that's alright. One of us here can name you, or you can choose if you'd prefer. Most of our ghouls usually have names, but some, like Swiss, our only multighoul, had their names given to them by either other ghouls or one of the humans here."

As Copia continues speaking, explaining a bit about the other ghouls in his pack, the ghoul ever so slowly loosens up, tense muscles unwinding though his gaze never falters. His black tail, a long, thin thing with an end like a fluffy lavender cloud, shimmers with quintessance magic as it flicks back and forth in interest.

"Now, I can send you back if you wish it. I am not forcing you to stay here, like we used to do with older ghouls."

It was nothing more than a desperate whisper, but it was like shouting as the silence in the room afterwards was deafening. "No! Please, I'll stay."

"Yes, yes, of course. We will be happy to have you, truly. I hope you'll come to enjoy it here." Papa nods along easily with a kind smile that errs on the side of awkward. "We just have to perform the binding spell that will tie your presence here to my life force. When I die, I will see you down in Hell with our Lord. If both parties are willing, this can be removed if you wish it. It is not something I like to force upon you."

Copia didn't particularly like that aspect of the binding, fearing it was wrong to do to the ghouls, especially if they had nothing to do with the death of the other bonded. Sister Imperator insisted though, not long after he had summoned all of his ghouls.

She would never tell anyone this, be it in this life or any other, but she requires this binding spell for Copia's benefit. If anything were to happen to her dear boy, she wants his ghouls, his true family, to be with him always. It is the least she can do, when the man doesn't even know that he is her son, and she left him to rot as a lonely orphan.

"Let us share our blood as you repeat after me, yes?"

As the spell was performed, Papa Emeritus glowed with power. His white eye was like a beacon that lit up a path to what the ghoul hoped was a better future, and the ghoul was eager to follow.

Papa retrieves the still warm blanket that Dewdrop was keeping hot before he left, handing it over to the ghoul who takes it cautiously. As he wraps himself in it, his shivering lessens immediately and his visible eye goes half lidded at the welcome warmth.

"I can call one of the others in here to show you around-" Seeing the violet cracks that all ghouls share in the color of their elements light up along with the tensing of his muscles, Copia quickly changes his next words, "or I can take you directly to your room in the ghoul den and tell the others to leave you in peace?"

The ghoul nods, slowly standing, and as he waits for Copia to do the same, black claws nervously fidget with the fraying end of one of the bandages on his face. "I can see about getting you a custom mask, if you'd like. Its a requirement for the ghouls to stay in uniform except in the den, but if you'd like to wear one all the time, it is allowed as well."

Nodding, he agrees easily before hesitating. He gestures at his face, and Copia stares in confusion for a moment, trying to decipher what the ghoul is attempting to tell him with what feels like a game of charades. "Oh, you only want half a mask? That can be arranged, but might I ask why?"

Still glowing with quintessance magic, the ghoul unwinds enough of his bandages to show the bottom half of his face.

"I see. I apologize for asking, and will be sure to warn the others against doing so as well, though they're always respectful regardless. Let's get you clean bandages first, and if you'll allow it, I can help wrap them so they're not quite so... suffocating. My anxiety is skyrocketing just looking at you, dear ghoul."

✨

Anti-social is what the Brothers and Sisters of the Ministry called him. He never spoke, or stayed at events long enough to socialize. His quintessance magic was always swirling around him in little swirls and streaks that trailed after him as he performed his duties, hidden entirely by the regulation Prequelle era uniform that all ghouls were required to wear. It was the most practical choice for everyday duties, compared to older eras outfits.

When hallways got too crowded, he'd stick himself up against the wall and get out as quick as possible. Whenever any of the ghouls or humans yelled or showed any amount of distaste in his general direction, he'd disappear entirely and not be seen for hours.

For the first week topside, Phantom had no name. In fact, he was rarely seen by anyone, be they ghoul or human. He never spoke and always disappeared in the blink of an eye. The pack was giving him time to adjust, to come to terms with how different topside is from the Pits. Aurora adjusted well, is thriving even despite some minor setbacks (like a later incident over a month after her summoning when she killed one of Copia'a pet rats accidentally (it was on purpose but she didn't know the little thing was Copia's.) The funeral was so lovely.)

Dewdrop is the one who named him.

Though people only see him for his temper, Dewdrop is a very observant ghoul. The humans seem to forget that he used to be a water ghoul, and even though he was weaker than others of his kind, Dewdrop knew when to be patient and watch for an opportunity to kill and that skill remained even after his transformation, though its purpose has changed.

So he watched alongside Swiss and they noticed things, spoke with each other about the ghoul and his mannerisms. He was an unusual sort, but they understood something no one else seemed to.

Dewdrop didn't have anyone who understood. Swiss had Dewdrop. Phantom will have the both of them, if he'll allow it.

This ghoul had never had a pack. You could see it in the way he carried himself around others, the difference in interaction between ghoul and human.

He leaned towards any of the pack ghouls, longing in his lone eye but never quite able to bring himself to reach out or ask for the affection he clearly wanted. Every pack activity or commonality was met with a confused stare and a sense of unease that radiated off of him. He avoided humans like the plague. If any came around while he was in the room, the ghoul disappeared with a shimmer of quintessance within the blink of an eye, escaping from the situation silently as though he had never been there in the first place.

He's like a phantom, there one moment and gone the next.

So Dewdrop said so, one night as the ghouls were getting ready for bed in the common room of the band ghoul den. Cumulus was braiding his hair back, as she did every night. The newest ghoul was watching in the corner of the room in a pair of Dew's own pajamas, the cuff of the sleeves and pants far too short on the taller quintessance ghoul. Dew was the only one with a similar build and close enough in height, so the new ghoul was stuck borrowing his clothes much like Aurora was borrowing Sunshine's old things. The ghoulette wouldn't mind as she took her most favorite possessions with her when she and Aether were transfered to a different church.

Off to the side observing the pack from afar, the ghoul sat idly fiddling with the Meliora mask strapped to his belt. He had opted for just the bandages tonight, having just come from Papa's room where the man always helps him rewrap them after his duties are over and he is free to remove his mask. The pack understands that the ghoul trusts Papa, really, they do, but they can't help but wish he'd show them that same trust. Whatever he is afraid of, he doesn't need to be with them, they're his pack whether he realizes it or not. His right eye was covered, as it always was, alongside the entirety of the right half of his face, but the bandages made it so that most of his left side was covered too. No one could really tell what he looked like, and they were so curious but unwilling to pry and scare him off.

His available eye was trained on Cumulus' hands, or more accurately the hair her pale grey fingers ran through lovingly, the other only visible when his magic was at work and caused the iris to glow, otherwise hidden in the shadow of his Meliora mask. Dewdrops hair was stunning in a way he couldn't quite grasp, he's never seen anything like it. It was like looking at a living flame, ombre all the way down to his lower back. At his roots was a cobalt blue, a shade leftover from his days as a water ghoul, then a pale yellow that turned darker into an orangish red. His hair was one of the more unusual color combinations of all the ghouls.

Unlike most ghouls that had streaks of their elemental color in their hair, Dewdrops entire head was his element, and when he got angry, he lit up like a flame. Quite literally.

Cumulus and Dew were talking quietly as she worked with practiced ease, and Dewdrop idly watched his other packmates move about and get ready for a pile in the living room. One moment, the quintessance ghoul was off in a corner by himself, and when next Dew looked over, he was directly beside him. Close enough to touch, if either of them wished, and Dewdrop could see that wish in the galaxy of the other ghouls eye. This close, Dew could see that the bare amount of violet freckles on Phantom's cheeks were actually small little diamond star shapes.

"You're quite like a phantom you know, so silent and steady. I can never tell just how you get from place to place so silently, its impressive." Dewdrop comments, after a moment or two of the ghoul just watching Cumulus finish tying off his hair.

The ghouls eye lights up, markings glowing faintly. He nods eagerly, seemingly happy to be praised.

"Hm, how about Phantom then? For your name? You've not been given one yet, by yourself or any of us." Dew offers with a fanged smile, keeping his attention solely on the ghoul next to him, despite feeling the gaze of every member of his pack at his back.

He had nodded so enthusiastically Dew feared his head would fall off, as the humans say, purple whirls appearing and sparks of quintessance popping around him, the violet streaks in his black and white hair and the cracks along his body all lighting up. Phantom was literally glowing with happiness, and it was very, very cute.

His mouth was covered by the bandages he always wore, but everyone could see Phantom's wide, elated smile.

"Its a pleasure to meet you Phantom, I'm Dewdrop." With a large grin, more reminiscent of baring teeth, Dew reached out a hand, and with a fiery gaze, dared Phantom to reach back.

Phantom stared for a moment, smile never faltering even as he glanced at Dewdrops hand, before his gaze turned excited but so, so nervous. When Phantom's hand met Dewdrops's, the fire ghoul tightened his grip firmly, but still so gentle, "We're your pack, Phantom, whenever you're ready for us."

Phantom freezes, gaze focused on where his hand meets Dew's. He flexes his fingers, the black claws scraping carefully over Dewdrop's hand as Phantom tests out the feeling of another hand in his own, eye shuttering as the sensation overwhelms him.

Trying to keep his smile up as his temper skyrockets, Dewdrop reigns in the anger he feels being able to physically see how a gentle touch causes Phantom to nearly shut down. So many of his reactions to things are leading up to a conclusion Dewdrop is sure he's not going to like.

"Phantom! I love it! Oh I can't believe we finally have something to call you! This is exciting!" Aurora launches herself forward, tripping over the too-long hem of her pajama pantleg as she goes but catching herself with ease, continuing her path towards the quintessance ghoul.

She stops herself from colliding into him only barely, remembering how he hasn't truly let anyone touch him since he arrived. Aurora wants to though, she wants to hug him and talk with him, hold his hand and feel the magic under his skin mingle with hers, to get to know Phantom properly. They were summoned on the same day, Aurora first, and Phantom second. She saw how distressed he was when he arrived and was so confused as to why he felt that way.

Aurora was happy to be topside, excited to perform her duties as an air and quintessance hybrid and perform in the Ghost project. She was a multighoulette, like the ghoulette before her, though Aurora didn't quite understand why the humans called her that. It wasn't unheard of for some ghouls to have two elements, one from each of their parents usually. Cirrus and Cumulus had only shrugged, called the humans strange beings and left it at that. Swiss on the other hand, with a bit of every element, was highly unusual. Almost unheard of even. Aurora had never seen another ghoul like him, and his eyes were so, so pretty with the way they looked like a pale opal stone, and how they shined brighter with whatever color of magic he was using- oh, wait, she was talking to Phantom! Who finally got a name!

Phantom who had looked so scared when he first arrived, but now couldn't seem to stop smiling, even as he had jerked back instinctually away from her.

"Are you going to sleep with us here tonight?" Aurora chirps, swaying back and forth lightly on the balls of her feet with a grin that promised mischief, her tail following the motion.

Phantom's smile falters, and he quickly steps back away from both her and Dewdrop, almost falling over a bean bag that lay haphazardly in the middle of the room as the tiny feathers that make up Aurora's eyebrows raise.

He shakes his head profusely, putting on his mask, as Phantom hastily waves his hands as though he was referring to the entirety of himself. "Aurora darling, let's leave Phantom be. He'll join when he's ready to, and we'll be here with open arms." Rain steps in, putting an arm around her shoulder.

His tail and hers curl together, the feathered end of hers stroking gently over the lunate finned tip of his. With a nod of his head, gesturing for Phantom to go on and leave like the pack can tell he wishes to, Phantom is gone within a millisecond. "Good call on the name Dew, he is like a little phantom." Swiss comments, voice muffled from where he placed it back on Mountain's chest.

Both ghouls were laid on the giant bed already, almost naked as ghouls were known to prefer, both purring up a storm. "He's cute."

Their tails too were intertwined, much like their limbs. Swiss grins, wrapping himself around Mountain even further at his words. This is the first he's spoken in a couple days, and while understanding that the earth ghoul simply doesn't want to speak often, its always a joy to hear the pleasant rumble of his voice. Aurora jumps atop the two and Swiss wraps one arm around her as Rain curls up at Mountains side snuggling into the warmth the bigger ghoul provides. Dewdrop lays out at Rain's other side, burying his face into the water ghouls back and reaching a hand over to rest in Swiss' curls. Eveyone is careful of each others horns, mindful of the sharp points and different lengths and shapes, none of them feeling like glamouring them away at the moment.

Cirrus and Cumulus giggle off to the side, not yet ready for bed, a little too high strung and needy. "Anyone care to join us?" Cirrus offers, mouthing at Cumulus' neck with a hand in her curly grey strands.

Swiss moves to get up immediately at the offer, ever eager, and Aurora whines in disappointment. "I'll be back in a little while, don't worry. Have at Mountain, he's terribly comfortable."

Mountain grumbles, baring his teeth in jest even as his free arm wraps around Aurora and brings her closer, replacing Swiss' warmth with hers and beginning to slowly stroke along the curl of her horns. Aurora shudders and starts to purr, leaning into the touch as her eyes fall to half mast, arousal simmering low in her gut that she ignores for the time being in favor of Mountains affection.

✨

When Papa Emeritus IV gave Phantom his new mask, he lit up, glowing happily as his tail practically wagged like a dog. It was a half-Meliora era mask, custom made to fit his face shape, leave his long ears unglamored, and cover the right side of his face in its entirety.

In a single second, he was gone and a few moments later, he had returned without any of his bandages and the mask firmly in place. His black and white hair was in loose, messy curls, and for the first time everyone got a full, no, half look at his face. There was a large patch of lavender skin around his visible eye that splashed up into his hairline, little dots of the same lavender dotting around his forehead and jaw, but his skin was otherwise a pale grey a few shades lighter than Cumulus' and undertoned with a purple blush. When he smiled, sharp fangs peeked out from the side visible.

Phantom was so, so pretty. The beginnings of their pack bond with him had stirred then, sluggish and weak from the lack of contact required to form it properly.

The poor ghoul had panicked then, confused and alarmed at the sudden onslaught of other presences he was now keenly aware of, disappearing once more as the pack all turned to look at Copia as one, placing down their respective instruments. Practice hadn't even had the chance to start.

Papa sighs, the faintest bit of indignation traveling over the bond he shares with his pack.

"Give him time, my ghouls, he'll come around eventually."

"Maybe wait until practice is over next time, Papa." Dewdrop wraps himself around Copia, nudging his cheek against the man's, seeking affection.

Copia had begun to pet his hair, and seeing one pack member getting attention from their Papa caused all the ghouls to come over, which started an impromptu ghoul pile. Copia was exasperated. They really were supposed to be practicing. There was only a few months until tour and Aurora and Phantom needed practice. It doesn't help that Aether and Sunny weren't here to help them learn their parts.

✨

Rain had forgotten his phone in the practice room earlier in the day and didn't realize til nearly dinner since he was terribly busy with chores. Rain couldn't wait for the clergymen to get better, this illness floating around was becoming an annoyance. Everyone loved to stare at the band ghouls, like they were something to be gawked at in curiosity. Not to mention the whispering, that the ghouls with enhanced hearing could hear clear as day. Mountain always withdrew into himself even further and talked even less than usual. Dewdrop's hold on his temper loosened exponentially and Swiss' smiles lost their genuine edge. Cumulus and Cirrus stuck close to each other like glue, and wherever they went, Swiss wasn't far behind. Aurora seemed to do the best under the attention, eager to chat her way into an easygoing conversation if she noticed the other pack members struggling. Rain was grateful, since that role usually fell to Aether and Sunshine, the two most suited to dealing with humans. When they were sent away, no one else could really manage to do so despite Dew's best efforts, and so it fell to Rain who, like the ghoulettes, stuck to Mountains side eagerly. Rain was finding Phantom to be the most elusive of them all when it came to dealing with the clergymen and their whispers. He did his chores quickly and disappeared with a wink of quintessance, but Rain knew he still heard what the more rude members of the clergy say about him. That he must be ugly under his mask, that it was strange how the ghoul didn't even seem to socialize with his own pack-

Nearly to the practice room, Rain pauses, just barely sniffing the air before he catches a strong wiff of a peculiar smell.

Rain smelled blood.

It was coming strongly from the practice room, but Rain knew no one was allowed in except the ghouls, Papa, occasionally Sister Imperator, and a single Brother who cleans when needed. No one should be in there, Rain had seen everyone around mere moments before and no one was even close to this section of the abbey. Rain starts listing off those people in his head before he comes to a conclusion, the faing trickle of awareness of one of his pack bonds growing stronger as he nears.

Ah, its Phantom then. Its hard to pin the ghoul down unless he wants to be found, much like Mountain.

Opening the door, the smell gets stronger and Rain has to take a moment to compose himself. Fuck. That smelled good.

Rain pinches his nose briefly, careful of his paired nostril piercings and their connecting chain, trying desperately to get ahold of himself. He'll have to find one of the others after this, no doubt, to satisfy the craving for blood now rushing through his veins.

Phantom sits in one of the bean bags, in the act of wiping blood onto his uniform pants as it spills from his fingers slowly.

"You've been practicing too hard, you need to rest your fingers for a couple days." Phantom jumps, flinching back and strumming out a discordant note.

He rips the headphones off his head, accidentally taking his mp3 player with it, puts the guitar down, and stands all in one moment. The journal on his lap slips onto the floor, and Phantom eyes it nervously while keeping an eye on Rain. The usual markings are glowly faintly in his fear and surprise, but they fade as he realizes who it is. Watcher In The Sky leaks out faintly from the still playing mp3 device.

He moves to pick them up but grimaces as he remembers his bloody hands, half hidden by his mask before just staring at them forlornly. Rain moves forward, the smell of blood growing stronger as he takes notice of the multitude of cuts and dried blood on Phantom's hand and the sheen of it on the ground and his black Fantomen.

"I didn't mean to startle you, I'm sorry. You'll rust up your strings this way, and hurting yourself does more harm then good. You can't play properly if your hands are that injured. Let me fix them up for you. Is that okay?" Rain asks, picking up the journal.

He catches a glimpse of the handwriting and knows immediately it is Aethers. Longing fills him immediately, his heart heavy in his chest. Fuck he misses Aether. Its been hard to adjust without him or Sunny, but Papa assured the pack he did what he could, and they'd be able to see them soon if Saltarian allowed it. Rain hates the man, but he is grateful Saltarian begrudgingly agreed to let the ghouls stay for magical assistance even if he declared there was no more use for them in the band. They'd been transferred to a different branch, together thankfully, but the distance was heartbreaking for all involved.

The notebook is filled with notes on chords, explanations for the difficult sections and how his hands would need to be placed. Crude drawings of hands on a fret board were even included. It was opened up to a page for Watcher In The Sky, for when they'd need to slide their hands up the neck. Little smiley faces and encouraging notes were written on the sides, and Rain smiles. Aether always did love adding smiley faces to things, where possible.

Phantom had even added his own little mote, a simple 'This section makes me want to lean along with the guitar sound. Ask Rain or Dew?'

Closing the notebook and placing it back on the bean bag, Rain looks up to see Phantom watching him. He's less wary now, just curious. His hands are still bleeding, droplets slowly sliding down his fingers to the floor.

"May I?" Reaching out a hand, Rain waits with a patient smile.

Phantom takes it, reaching across the distance slowly and clearly ready to take his hand back should Rain's movements turn threatening. A thumb rubs across the slight bit of webbing on Rain's hands that make playing a little difficult, so curious about them and a chuckle falls from Rain's lips before he can stop it. Phantom's eye meets his own immediately, intensely focused as Rain's laughter naturally dies down.

Leading him over to the cabinet full of medical supplies, injuries common with magic being channeled for practice so often, Rain uses his other hand to dig around for what he's looking for. Phantom still holds his other hand, grip on the looser side, but firm, like he doesn't want to let go.

"These are Dew's," Rain begins explaining, feeling anxiety trickle down the bond when Phantom sees the nametag taped on the side of the small bin. "He burns his fingers on the strings when he gets too into a song and also doesn't know when enough practicing is enough for the day. He won't mind us using these, Papa keeps everything well stocked for us."

Worry still creases Phantom's visible eye, and he tilts his head to the side as if to ask 'Are you sure?'.

"Trust me, Dew won't be mad, I promise. He would also like your cuts taken care of." Rain slowly brings Phantom's hands closer to himself, sanitization wipes in hand as they sit facing each other on two bean bags.

He starts off with those, apologizing every time Phantom flinches from the pain. Moving on to antibiotic ointment, Rain lathers it thoroughly and carefully wraps gauze around his fingers. Using some tape over each finger pad, Rain finishes the first aid. Phantom has been watching him the whole time, the crack like markings by his temple and branching up from his neck over his jaw glowing a soft violet.

"All done. You shouldn't practice for at least a few days, or these won't heal and you'll be right back to square one with injured hands and an inability to play at all." Rain keeps a gentle hold on Phantom's hands, loose enough that the other ghoul could pull them back with ease if he wished.

Rain is just glad that the ghoul is letting himself be touched at all.

At Rain's words, Phantom shakes his head side to side. "Hm?"

Something close to a sigh of frustration spills from behind Phantom's lips and he grabs the notebook and pen beside him, one hand still holding Rain's. One handed, he opens the notebook to the back where there's only a few blank pages and begins to write. The letters are shaky and barely legible in English but he manages well enough.

'I need to practice.'

The word 'need' is underlined thickly and Rain tilts his head.

"A few days off won't hurt anything, your fingers need to rest and the Fantomen will still be here for use." Rain reassures, confused as to what the other ghoul is getting at.

'I HAVE to be good enough. I can't be sent back.'

Clarity hits him like a thunderstrike. "You won't be sent back! I promise. Papa wouldn't allow it, you're one of us. Aether and Sunny were just transferred to a different abbey, not sent back to the Pits."

Something settles in Phantom's eyes then, a sort of resignation. He scribbles out something quickly, shaking his head, black tears bubbling in his visible eye. He stands, the pen clattering to the floor as Phantom clutches the notebook to his chest, the words written facing Rain so he can read them.

'I can't be sent away. I love it here, I love the pack. Its here or erasure.'

Phantom takes his hand back from Rain's and the quintessance ghoul is left feeling cold. Colder than he's ever felt, before he learned what a kind, gentle touch could feel like. He ignores it, so used to doing so that he could pretend it was easy.

In an instant, he's gone, quintessance sparking in his wake as Phantom vanishes.

"Shit." Rain mutters, standing too after picking up the pen and placing it with the first aid kit.

Looking around the room, Rain's gaze falls on the bloody guitar. Phantom left without cleaning it. He really must've been upset for that to slip his mind. The entire time Phantom has been here, he's treated Aether's guitar like a precious artifact, something to be treasured.

While carefully cleaning the guitar and changing the strings with reverence, Rain lets his mind wander. Everyone was a little upset every time they approached Phantom and he eyed them carefully, like they'd hurt him if they got too close. Those looks have lessened with time, with every kind word or scarce gentle touch, but he'd retreat back into himself if pushed too far.

The mystery that was Phantom was unraveling slowly, but Rain was beginning to fear that if nothing was done soon, then the terrified longing that lives in Phantom's heart was going to consume him and he'll suffer for it.

✨

Phantom didn't speak for the first month he was topside. At that point the pack had assumed he couldn't, or simply didn't want to. At least, until the Swiss Incident™️.

Now, despite its title, Swiss Incidents happened often. Usually, it was nothing more serious than going a bit too far pranking a human, or causing damage by roughhousing (or fucking) a bit too close to a priceless artifact. This time though, well-

One of the Cardinals in the Ministry was holding Mass. His name was Eugene, and no one particularly liked him. You would think, as a Cardinal in the Church of Satan, he would have some sense of decorum, would take care to be respectful and not leer so fervently at the younger Brothers and Sisters. You would think he would treat his fellow man or ghoul with respect, but he was well known for being intentionally cruel, always managing to scrape by with a harsh reprimand, but never any worse. He was cautious around Papa Emeritus and Sister Imperator, but once, just once, his temper got the better of him and that was his mistake.

See, Phantom was helping the Brothers on cleanup duty, as was his delegated task for this Mass. It wasn't often the band ghouls were asked to help with such mundane activities. As chaotic and unpredictable as they are, things often end up more of a mess than they were before.

At home, the ghouls were allowed to be unglamored, but still in uniform. His ears were out, tail swaying gently at his side as he kept pushing the waves of his hair back away from his visible eye, diligently cleaning a table. Phantom wasn't wearing his bandages underneath so his black and white hair was allowed to fluff out around his head and brush his shoulders freely.

Phantom lifts up a vase gently with one arm while the other takes special care to wipe down the table thoroughly. His fingers are bandaged, and he tries to hold the vase securely.

"Be careful with that, ghoul. Its worth more than your life!" Eugene, that despicable Cardinal, yells from the other side of the room, beady gaze locked on the new ghoul.

Phantom startles, tail straightening in fright and then curling around and around his thigh as the vase crashes to the ground with a loud shattering sound.

"Fucking- Ghoul, what did I just tell you?!" The Cardinal's stomps can be heard easily, and Phantom hunches over, refusing to turn around.

He's projecting his distress clearly across the thin threads of his bond with the pack and it makes their own negative emotions crackle with further intensity as his quintessance magic works its wonders. It seems they were lucky Aether was such a level-headed ghoul who kept a tight reign on filtering his emotions through the bond.

Aether had other ghouls to teach him, to help him understand how dangerous his magic could be. Phantom had no one and Aether wasn't at the Ministry anymore.

By now, all attention is on the two as the Cardinal grows closer. A Brother leaves the room to find Papa Emeritus, fearing the situation could escalate. The pack ghouls, normally not all asked to attend Mass to help out afterwards, are all scattered throughout the room watching the scene with attentive eyes, tails swishing agitatedly. Eugene was not in luck, the ghouls were only around to witness this since so many Brothers and Sisters had come down with colds due to the chilly weather.

"Turn around, ghoul, and look at me!" Cardinal Eugene seethes, physically grabbing Phantom to turn the ghoul around, grip so strong it would bruise a human easily.

At this move, the ghouls begin pushing their way through the crowd to get to Phantom, trying to move the humans aside gently even in their agitated state, but this made them slower.

"Ghoul, repeat what I fucking told you, and tell me exactly what you just did! That was a priceless vase that has been here for hundreds of years! It is irreplaceable, unlike your sorry waste of space. I've said it again and again that you ghouls aren't disciplined properly and look at what happens! I should have you sent back to the Pits for this after a few weeks of solitary confinement like we used to do to misbehaving little shits like you!"

Phantom had never had the displeasure of being directly confronted by the Cardinal, so the man was angry when Phantom didn't respond to him, not knowing the ghoul had never spoken. He is shaking so terribly its visible to everyone close enough, claws digging into his arms to try and contain the uncontrollable movement. He wants nothing more than to escape, but this Cardinal said he could be sent back, not to mention the solitary confinement. There's no way his anxiety could handle even a day in something like that, let alone weeks. He'd send himself back to the Pits before a week had even been up. Phantom can't go back to the Pits, he can't, he can't he can't he can't-

Quintessance is pouring out of the ghoul as his anxiety runs wild. His eyes and the cracks along his body glow, as well as the streaks in his hair all the while his quintessance physically manifests around him in frantic little sparks that sizzle and pop.

A nearby Sister moves forward to inform the Cardinal that Phantom, like Mountain, doesn't speak and can't reply but the Cardinal seals his fate long before she has the chance.

Cardinal Eugene slaps Phantom harshly, and in the silence of the room it echoes. Fingers catch purposefully on the mask secured to Phantom's face. It clatters to the ground a couple feet away with a thud but no ones eyes are really on the mask, but the wearer as the Cardinal shakes his hand out and slaps him a second time, the myriad of rings adorning his fingers slamming into Phantom's cheekbone. He knows the first didn't do much, and wanted to make sure the punishment stuck.

No one speaks. All is quiet and all eyes are on Phantom's scars. The right side of his face, usually hidden by the mask is now bared for everyone to see. Three long marks like claws are ripped into his face. One goes from his cheek right beside his nose, seeming to glance over his eye and through his eyebrow before disappearing into his hairline.

Another brushes his chin, goes through his lip and then cheekbone where there is a gap before faint marks lead to the torn tip of his ear. The final scar is on his forehead and shoots up into his hairline, where some hair refuses to grow back. The hair there is white, as though when the injury tore through his skin, it also marked a white streak into its path to match his already mismatched hair.

Each scar is surrounded by harsh burns that turn the light purple-grey and lavender of his skin a pale pink, as though whoever made the injuries hand was on fire at the same time.

His right eye is now visible, the same shade as his other eye, but with a faintly milky sheen. Both eyes well up with the black tears common for ghouls, spilling over his cheeks as Phantom lets out a choked sob, hands reaching up to cover his face. This is the first noise they'd ever heard from the younger ghoul, and Dewdrops hair is aflame with his wrath in an instant, already moving to tear the Cardinal apart with his bare hands with vengeful glee.

His voice is faint, a near whisper as he manages to say, "'m sorry, sir."

Cardinal Eugene takes a moment to really get a look at the ghoul and then laughs out his final words, and Dewdrop never gets the chance to tear into him.

"Satan below, no wonder you hide your face! You're a sore sight on the-"

Cardinal Eugene gurgles, blood bubbling past his lips as his entire body is thrown with the full weight of Swiss on his back. With a sickening crack, Swiss tightens his fist around the Cardinals black hair and slams his head into the ground as he removes his other hand where it has plunged into the mans lungs from behind. With force, Swiss slams the Cardinals head into the floor once, twice more, before moving on as the marble cracks under the pressure. He tears into the Cardinals spine, severing it as claws dig into the back of his ribs, the flesh tearing with ease beneath the might of Swiss' fury.

First, there is relief at the Cardinal being away from him, finally. Then, Phantom sees Swiss, still mutilating the dead man, angry for him. Realization strikes through his heart, and his knees tremble with the emotions warring within him.

Slowly, Phantom's knees give out and he slides to the ground, staring blankly ahead, glazed eyes peeking through the gaps in his fingers but not seeing the crowd of onlookers or the body being torn apart in front of him. His vision is filled quickly with Aurora on her knees before him as she tries to pull his hands away from his face with such gentle care.

"No, no, don't look at me." He croaks through his sobbing, voice weak from disuse, shaking his head back and forth desperately.

"You don't need to hide from us Phantom." She whispers, giving up and simply holding his mask out to him.

He takes it quickly, fitting it back in place and holding it there with a white-knuckled hand. So suddenly that his brain simply short circuits, Aurora reaches around and pulls him to herself tightly, arms wrapped around his middle. With no small amount of effort, Aurora calls upon her faint quintessance magic, hoping it will help soothe Phantom at least a little.

"I've- I've not been hugged in- in so long." He whispers, voice breaking off as the strange mixture of despair and elation collide within him.

It was only seconds, but the moment felt like a lifetime as Cumulus and Rain stand off to the side, clearly wanting to join. Phantom's head drops to rest on Aurora's shoulder as he lets himself cry, trying desperately to hide himself from the gazes burning into him.

Cirrus and Mountain, ever the level headed of the bunch despite the snarling and snapping they do at the dead Cardinal, pull Swiss back, away from the corpse and the blood spreading out over the cracked marble floor.

Swiss thrashes, kicking his feet out as though he could close the distance now between himself and the Cardinal and manage to stomp his head in. Eyes glowing brightly and tail lashing back and forth, he still isn't satisfied with the damage done. As Phantom's sobs continue somewhere near him, Swiss knows he will never be satisfied, even if he could tear the man into pieces and stuff him through a shredder a million times over.

Dewdrop paces back and forth, just beside Phantom and Aurora, Rain watching him in concern, but knowing the other ghoul was too hot for him to touch right now. The fire ghoul was smoking, embers bursting to life and winking from existence sporadically as he hissed, claws stretching out and curling back in like he wishes he was the one ripping into the Cardinal. His small horns, bone white at the base that fade into a blood red at the tip, glow with the fire sizzling under his skin.

With a bang, the door to the room flies open and slams against the wall. Papa Emeritus the Fourth stalks in with his robes trailing behind him, white eye glowing brightly as he takes in the state of the room, followed by the Brother that went to retrieve him. His ghouls gathered around Phantom and the blood covering Swiss from the mouth down, and the cooling body of Cardinal Eugene. Papa was quick to stalk up to the scene, a murderous look in his usually kind eyes. Now slightly calmer, Swiss begins to stammer, the fight leaving him quickly at the sight of Copia. "Papa, I- I won't apologize for this. He deserved it! He touched- hurt Phantom."

Copia knows without a doubt that kind-hearted, fun-loving Swiss would never have done something like this unprovoked, ghoul or not. There had only been one incident similar to this, over Dewdrop years ago after his element change. He knows this Cardinal deserved it, knows it was only a matter of time before Copia was forced to deal with the man himself. Always so arrogant, so cruel to the ghouls, to his fellow clergymen, for no reason. It's a wonder the man could consider himself a follower of Satan being so disrespectful to other living beings.

"I know, my ghoul, it is alright. Calm yourself and fix your mask. Cirrus, darling, can you and Mountain clean this up? I'll deal with the fall out with Imperator and Saltarian. You can let Swiss go, I think he's calm enough now, si?" Copia gestures to the ghoul practically vibrating in Mountain and Cirrus' tight but not bruising grips, gaze focused on Phantom, and by extension, Aurora at his side.

As soon as they let Swiss go, he's off like a shot, fluttering about at Phantom's side, not sure what to do with his hands, the young ghoul still on the ground as Aurora keeps her tight hug around his middle. He's sobbing, taking in quiet, choking, painful breaths as he shakes and shakes.

"Can I hug you Phantom? Please?" When Phantom gives a shaky nod, looking at Swiss through watery eyes and reaching out with his available hand, Swiss is already reaching forth to wrap himself around both he and Aurora, uncaring of the blood covering himself.

"Come on, let's get you both back to the den. Papa will deal with everything, and this will never happen again, I swear it."

Easily pulling the two shorter ghouls up with him, Swiss snarls at a Sister who got too close, not caring of the pitying look upon her visage. Phantom doesn't need pity. Pity won't help him, or change whatever happened. Pity didn't move anyone to action when Swiss was a kit, packless and alone, and so, so hungry. Hungry for food, for a safe place to sleep, for love and affection.

Dewdrop and Rain are at their sides in an instant, Cumulus bringing up the rear, making an attempt at a protective barrier between the youngest ghouls and the rest of the clergy, all three ghouls tails lashing about agitatedly as everyone begins the walk back down to the ghoul den. Phantom's tail wraps around Swiss's thigh as they walk, the swirling mists of his magic at the end a tickle against Swiss' thigh.

As they go, Papa Emeritus watches fondly, anger still simmering just under his skin.

First, he addresses the cooling corpse at his feet.

"I, Papa Emeritus the Fourth, Copia Emeritus, head of the Clergy of Satan, request our unholy Lord Lucifer that he strip Cardinal Eugene Simmons of his title and remove the amenities that would be granted to him in Hell. I beseech you, our Lord, that my request be granted for this man has wronged me in a way I will never forgive."

Shocked gasps sound from around him, but Copia pays them no mind, focused on the power within him, and how it swells with glee at being accessed. Copia feels a surge of emotion, not his own nor his ghouls, one of acceptance and care and knows his Lord has answered. Warmth fills him, like a gentle flame, a breeze carrying it through his hair. With reverence, Copia kisses the grucifix clasped in his hand before letting it rest gently near his heart as the chain falls back into place.

The only constant in Copia's life has been his faith, and he prays with every ounce of his heart and soul. Perhaps that is why his Lord so readily hears him, accepts him, cares for him in a way he never heard about from his half-brothers.

He turns to address his Ministry next, those still gathered after Mass has ended.

"Hear this, and be certain everyone at the Ministry knows." He begins, white eye glowing with the power still writhing within him and teeth bared in a snarl reminiscent of the ghouls he's defending.

Clergymen and women back up, eyes wide. They have never seen their beloved Papa this angry before, the man always so kind and awkward, never truly upholding the imposing image of a Papa, unlike Primo or Secondo. "Let this be a lesson, do not ever strike one of my ghouls, or any of the others here. They all fall under my protection and if any one of you dares to harm them, I will send you to our Lord Lucifer for punishment at the hands of the very ghouls you wronged."

Everyone seems to forget that Copia was a nobody before Papacy. By luck he had been granted the position of Cardinal, through his faith in his Lord and the kindness people seem to take for weakness. Sister Imperator had noticed him, how the flame of their Lord seemed to glow within him, granted him the title of Cardinal, and stood behind him despite only being half of the Emeritus bloodline when she pushed for his ascent to Papa Emeritus IV.

He has been alone his entire life, right up until he attained the first of his beloved ghouls, Dewdrop and Mountain, who were his first true friends despite being summoned by Terzo. They were so wary of him at first, as they had every right to be after the death of the Emeritus brothers... after that dreadful photoshoot with Terzo's... fucking head.

When Copia had treated them the same as he treated the other humans, they were both so confused. Even Terzo had kept things distant between them all outside of stage antics, except for his relationship with Omega. Up until that point, every ghoul knew that they were thought of as mere servants, disposable beings meant for their magical abilities despite how much power they held in their hands alone. But when Copia came into power, he started lifting older regulations for the ghouls that were unnecessary or cruel, and Sister Imperator did nothing to stop him. At least, in this matter alone.

The ghouls mattered to someone topside, for once, but never dared bring up any further mistreatment to their dear Papa, who was already so stressed in his position. They were all born and raised in the Pits, and could handle a little rough treatement from some puny humans, if it meant the burden on Copia's shoulders could be lessened.

✨

Phantom could barely see out of his right eye. Packless as he was in the Pits, and from such a young age, he was lucky some scars and an injured eye was most of what he got out of it all. Nevermind the torn ear and the way his smile has never been the same.

He was smiling now though, a tiny little nervous thing that barely stirred the scarring of his lip, clinging to Swiss and not giving any signs of letting go. Swiss would never make him, would destroy the world if that was what the little ghoul wanted. Phantom was finally letting them hold him, love him as they wanted to, and Swiss was reveling in every millisecond the quintessance ghoul was allowing.

His mask was off, lain to the side. No one was going to force or ask it of him, but Phantom had done it all on his own. He had growled out a quiet curse as he just couldn't get comfortable laying on Swiss with it on. In utter frustration, Phantom had ripped the mask off, letting it clatter onto the floor beside the overly large mattress and buried his face back into the crook of Swiss' neck as he clumsily glamored his horns away for easier cuddling.

Noticing Phantom was still shaking like a leaf in the wind, Cumulus had grabbed him a blanket (or three) and laid them all over him. She knows his shaking likely isn't due to being cold, but it makes her feel better to know she tried to help anyway.

A stuttering rumble had started up not long after everyone joined Swiss, Phantom, and Aurora in the common room. It was his first ever ghoul pile, and Swiss hopes Papa will be able to join soon, if at all. Phantom adores the man, clearly, and trusts him more than he trusts them.

Almost as soon as it had started, Phantom's purr cuts off and tries to hide himself further, trying not to jostle Aurora, who had her cheek lain over his lower ribcage. "'m sorry. I know it doesn't sound right."

Answering before anyone else has the chance, Dewdrop is quick to reassure him. "Mine was like that too, at first, and so was Swiss'. Mountain's is more of a low rumble than a purr. It's alright, Phantom, you don't have to worry so much about what we'll think of you. Your purring will improve over time."

Leaning over Swiss, Dewdrop hesitates before placing a gentle kiss into Phantom's hair then settles back between Cirrus and Swiss. Mountain, full length stretched out over the bed, rubs Cumulus back with gentle strokes as the ghoulette lays atop him.

The earth and air ghouls had come back a few minutes prior, eager to check on Phantom, and Rain had went to find Copia when the man hadn't returned quick enough for their liking. He likely got stuck arguing with Saltarian again.

The door to the den opens, seven pairs of eyes zeroing in on the sound with glowing eyes. Rain enters, pulling along an exhausted Copia and everyone relaxes immediately. Rain strips down to his underwear, like everyone else save Phantom who remains in his uniform underclothes, and Copia follows with ease.

"How did it go?" Cirrus asks, moving to lay on her back so Rain can lay on her and lean into Dew at the same time.

From his newly acquired place snuggled into Mountains side, Copia's muffled answer is heard quite easily as Mountain frees an arm to wrap around the man.

"Saltarian was pissed, as expected. He never has liked how 'lenient' I am with the ghouls. Nihil wasn't pleased but didn't put up much of a fight when Sister Imperator let the situation go with nothing more than a reminder to keep you all in check better. Not surprising, considering she leaves you all to me anyway and doesn't care as long as you don't risk the safety of the Clergy."

Cumulus starts running a hand through the mans salt and pepper hair soothingly. Phantom sits up quickly, and the ghouls all shuffle positions so he can do so with ease. Swiss and Aurora follow, not eager to let him go and they drape themselves over or around him while trying not to stifle him too terribly. The red handprint on his face has long since healed, but the echoes of the pain still linger and a dark cloud seems to hover over him.

"I'm so sorry Papa. I- I should have listened to that Cardinal better. Not startled so easily. I caused you trouble- he just- I-" Phantom rambles, tears blurring up his good eye as the other ones vision barely changes.

"My ghoul, it is alright, truly. I should be the one apologizing, as Papa I should never have let Cardinal Eugene keep his position when I first started hearing the rumors of his previous actions against the clergymen and your fellow ghouls. I... To be honest with you all, even though I am Papa, I still get stuck in my mindset of my younger self. I had no power then, and it feels like I still lack it even now, and my insecurity led to inaction that led to you getting hurt."

Mountain sits up, Cumulus staying in his lap, and leans over onto Papa as much as he is able with another body restricting his movements. Long arms wrap around the smaller man, kicking up a deep rumbling purr that reverberates through his body and immediately makes Copia feel a little better. One set of clawed fingers stroke along his forearms lovingly, while Cumulus' wraps an arm around his middle to try and keep him close.

Every ghoul pile is such a mess of limbs and bodies overtop or around each other. Copia wouldn't trade it for the world.

"I don't blame you Papa! I could never. You've done nothing but help me here, and I've done nothing but cause trouble." Phantom exclaims, still so quiet as he does so.

"No, no, Phantom, you're no trouble at all and if you were, I'd welcome it happily. Its my fault. I'm the one who lost composure and killed the fucker." Swiss butts in, iridescent eyes glowing with the shadows of his past fury, "He laid hands on you, and I'd kill him again and anyone else without a thought if they try anything similar to you or the rest of our pack."

"Phantom..." Rain begins, turning his thoughts around in his mind to try and figure out how to put his next words as the finned tip of his tail that resembles that of a beta fish mixed with something a little more fantastical begins to sway in thought, "Swiss and Dewdrop understand you better than you think, but there's even things they can't figure out, or don't know how to help with. We... the pack, we want to help you, and love you, if you'll allow it. But we need to know how to do that. You'll have to trust us, at least a little bit with your heart. You don't need to be afraid anymore."

Phantom stares, tightening the blankets around himself as the tears in his eyes finally bubble over and slip down his cheeks. His shaking is back full force and he just wants to hide. He doesn't know what to do. He's never had a pack before, he doesn't know how to act, or if he is over or understepping boundaries.

"My sire did this to me." Phantom starts instead of answering Rain, voice cracking and breaking from emotion and disuse, "I'm fully quintessance, but both of my parents were fire. I look like the both of them, my dam had said. But my sire was convinced she'd slept with someone else without proper communication between them, despite them agreeing to be a mated duo. She was the best mother anyone could have asked for, and I didn't care if she really loved my father or not. He was always distant and cold after I was born."

Phantom has to take a breath, voice hoarse as Cirrus gets up to retrieve a bottle of water. "It was harder on my dam, who knew him before for obvious reasons. She always said he used to be so kind, but I could never quite manage to picture it. His anger and aggression couldn't have just appeared overnight. He hated me. I suppose the sight of me grew to be too much eventually, and he killed my mother for her supposed betrayal, then went after me. I was young then, and didn't really know what was going on."

"My magic before that point was weak, unstable. I couldn't control it and my sire always used it as a means to put me down. But then he did this to my face, and all the quintessance magic that had built up inside of me over the years now had a prime target. When I was finally able to open my eyes after the purple light flooded my vision, my sire was gone. Everything around me was gone for at least fifty feet. I passed out after that, and when I awoke I could feel my own magic healing the wounds... it was- it wasn't comfortable and the scars never left."

"No one in the village would help me. I was a scarred quintessance ghoul in a village of fire ghouls, with nothing but fire villages around for days. No matter how young I was, they were wary and so left me on my own. I've been alone ever since then, and other ghouls grew more wary the older I got. Quintessance ghouls, I hear, are the least likely of all ghouls to be packless due to the nature of our magic and how it connects us to others."

Phantom curls into the blankets when he finishes, sinking into the warmth of Swiss at his back. The ghouls press closer, the pile becoming a tighter fit but they all manage.

"You must have been so lonely." Aurora says first, everyone else still gathering their thoughts. "Your village failed you. Your father failed you. Kits are to always be protected, no matter the element, no matter their physical state!"

"Aurora darling, ghouls preach about protecting the kits, but if you're different, they can be as bad as humans. Dewdrop and Swiss were packless as well, for similar reasons." Cirrus says, reaching a hand over everyone towards the other ghoulette, who takes it as tears well in her eyes.

"But its not right!" Aurora exclaims, burying her face into Phantom's ribs.

"It isn't, and so I take care of my ghouls as best as I can. It makes no difference in Hell, but here, I'm trying to make things better for you all. No ghoul here is packless unless they choose so, regardless of their state of being."

After a few moments of silence, the ghouls simply basking in the closeness of each other and their beloved Papa, Phantom speaks up once more.

"I'm sorry I haven't spoken 'til now. I was scared and that fear made it- so hard to speak to you. Like my throat had closed up and no words would come out. You were all so different from what I'm used to... so kind, thoughtful, so accommodating to my silence, and you all look at me like- like I'm worth something. I wasn't sure if I could trust you all, but I wanted to, I really did. When Swiss- when Swiss killed that man for hurting me, it was like something finally clicked within me and I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I could really trust you."

"Its okay to be scared Phantom. Swiss was too, at first, but he hid his fear with smiles and jokes. I was an asshole to everyone around me, its a wonder Terzo let me stay at all." Dewdrop explains kindly.

"Mountain doesn't speak often, as you know, and if you ever want to be silent, you can. We won't hold it against you, and its perfectly fine to do. You'll just need to learn sign, Cirrus is the best of us at it, so she and Mounty can teach you." Copia says, reaching out to place a gentle hand on Phantom's ankle.

"Thank you, Papa. I appreciate everything you've done for me. Is it- Can- I don't want to talk anymore, for now." Phantom chokes out through a hiccuping sob.

"Of course, my beloved ghoul."

When that conversation dies down, the pack focusing on calming down and comforting Phantom, shaking with fresh sobs but happy, so happy, they move on to other things. Lighter topics, like Dewdrop sharing the latest gossip from loose lips uncaring of the presence of a ghoul and Mountain updating everyone on the state of his greenhouse plants in Primo's garden. Rain, ever the opportunist, shifts positions with Dewdrop and the fire ghoul, lost in his conversation with Cumulus about this new braiding style he'd seen one of the Brothers sporting and wanted to try, lets him.

Purrs rumble low in everyone's chests, except for Papa of course, and Phantom lets his stuttering one loose, knowing now, despite his continued anxiety, that they won't judge him for it.

"Wait a fucking second!" Dewdrop sits up suddenly as everyone settles down to sleep, heterochromatic eyes wide with indignation as his hair flames up gently, "Swiss did you take a fucking shower? You did not! Go on, you're getting blood all over the bed- Rain! Stop licking the blood off his arm, thats disgusting, you don't know if that Cardinal was vaccinated or not."

Swiss and Rain let out joint whines of despair, for differing reasons.

"But I'm hungry!"

"I don't wanna move~ It's so comfy here."

"Rain, princess, sweetheart, love of my life, you can just ask one of us. You know that! Swiss, shower, right now. You managed to get it past your fucking uniform. Were you working with your sleeves rolled up again? You know Sister Imperator will give you bathroom duty again if she sees you."

Rain manages to look properly chastised, leaning over to whisper in Cirrus' ear. Within seconds, his two rows of razor-sharp teeth are gently biting into the inside of her elbow, forked tongue catching any blood that spills past his lips. Swiss, on the other hand, still looks to be defiant with a sweet little smirk pulling at his lips, and Dewdrop's hair flames up in an instant just to be dramatic.

"Mounty, be a dear and go toss Swiss in the bath, will you?" With a simple bat of Dewdrop's pale eyelashes, Mountain is up and tossing Swiss over his shoulder, tail swishing excitedly behind him.

Copia lets out a full body laugh as everyone turns to watch the two go. Swiss, one arm propping his head up as it rests against Mountain's back, is grinning widely in triumph.

Ghoul got what he wanted, clearly, if the satisfied flicking of his fluffy tail is anything to go by, or the mischievous glint in his iridescent eyes.

"That shithead probably had that planned from the start, insatiable as he is." Dewdrop mutters before turning to Phantom, "Let's get you a change of clothes. You'll be permitted to go out shopping for your own things soon, but mine have done well enough so far despite the length issues."

Phantom nods with a small smile pulled wider by the scars on his cheek and lip, standing and bringing the blankets with him. He reaches for his mask and places it back on, eager for the comfort it still provides even if he knows the pack won't judge him.

He feels it then, a gentle caress on the door of his mind, its warm like Dew's hand as he carefully leads him down the hallway towards his room. Phantom, with a bit of struggle at the new sensation, opens that door, allowing that warm presence to speak to him.

'I'm sorry for what happened today.' Dewdrop's voice is gentle, more gentle than Phantom has ever heard it aloud.

'It wasn't your fault. You don't need to apologize. Besides, Swiss more than made up for it.' Phantom replies truthfully. 'I've never had someone defend me like that. No one in the Pits cared enough.'

'Any one of us would do just as Swiss did. He just happened to beat me to it, actually.' Dew admits easily, searching through his drawers for something that might fit Phantom.

He pulls out a plain black tee and hands it over before going to rummage through his closet. As Phantom changes into the new shirt and folds his uniform top as neatly as he can manage before placing his mask back on, Dewdrop lets out a small yip of excitement.

The fire ghoul turns around, the blue and red of his heterochromatic eyes alight with anticipation, and maybe a little bit of fear. He holds out something wrapped in a paper bag, held closed by black hairtie.

"For you, a present." Dewdrop says aloud, and slowly, as though the item will attack him, Phantom reaches out to take it, beginning a cautious endeavor to open it.

"I got it in town a few days ago. I don't even know if you'll like it, or if it will fit. You've not had the chance to really figure out your tastes. Not to mention how surprised I was when I saw Halloween items this time of year but I see you hanging around the bats in the rafters a lot so I figured-"

With a whoosh of air and a resounding thud, Dewdrop falls back into the doors of his closet as Phantom launches himself into his arms, taller than himself by a few inches. In one hand clutched tightly is a pair of grey pajama pants, smiling bats printed all over.

Dewdrop winces as his aching back flares up with more pain yet continues to smile as Phantom's neverending wave of 'thank you's' reverberate through his skull. The quintessance ghoul is radiating such intense feelings of happiness and gratefulness that Dew is surprised he doesn't burst with it at the seams.

"You're welcome. Now go on, try them on." Dew directs, happy to see the other ghoul so happy after so long of small, nervous smiles.

After being asked to turn around, Dew does so and waits for Phantom's permission to face him again. Excited as he is, Phantom begins ripping off his pants before Dewdrop fully turns around and the fire ghoul catches a glimpse of the others vitiligo markings down his legs.

A gentle tug at his sleeve has Dew turning to face Phantom again, and there's such a wide smile on the other ghouls face as quintessance sparks around him that Dew can't help but grin back.

The pajama pants are far too long. They were a few inches past Phantom's ankle and dragged on the floor heavily. That's not even to mention how tightly Phantom had to tie the strings around the waist, and the pj's were still too loose, riding low on his hips and threatening to slip off entirely. Dewdrop was worried he would get a pair too small, but now it seems the pajamas are far too large. They look more likely to fit Swiss properly.

"Fuck, they're too big. We can take them back to-"

With a growl, Phantom leaps away to the other side of the room. 'No! They're mine! You gave them to me so I'm keeping them.'

"I only meant we could exchange them for a pair that fits better." Dew explains, but Phantom is vehemently shaking his head in refusal.

'Mine.' The stars in Phantom's eyes are bright as his magic swirls in them like a galaxy, his star freckles glowing brightly.

Acquiescing for now, Dewdrop gets Phantom to calm down enough for his marks to stop glowing quite so bright, fading back into the translucent like veins that grow more prominent as they pass over his jaw. Moving closer again, Phantom hesitates before asking shyly to hold Dew's hand again.

"Of course. You don't have to ask everytime unless my hands are full or we're in the presence of higher ups excluding Papa." Dew reassures, offering his hand up but letting Phantom make the move to grab it.

When he does, there is a slow slide of contentment down the pack bond and Dew smiles, happy to see that Phantom's body craves affection and can accept it. It had been so difficult for Swiss when he'd first arrived, to long for touch so deeply but his own body rejected it with tingles of unpleasantness that had to be drowned so slowly. Now the multighoul couldn't get enough of physical touch, and Dew knows Phantom will be the same way.

Grinning sleepily, Phantom sways with the motion of his tail as his visible eye droops shut. "Let's get you to bed. You've had a difficult day."

Phantom leans heavily on Dew as they make their way back to the common room, head leaning on Dewdrops shoulder with his back hunched into what must be an uncomfortable position, letting go of his hand to wrap both arms around one of Dew's own instead. The curls of his black and white hair tickle Dewdrops neck as they make their way down the hall, brushing against the scarring left behind after his gills were melted shut.

They could hear Swiss and Mountain as they passed by the bathroom, and Dewdrop laughs at the curiosity on Phantom's face, wondering if he'll have the courage to ask. A breathy moan reaches their ears just as they fully pass the door and Phantom's visible cheek and the tip of his ears turn a deeper shade of purple.

Back in the common room, everyone else seems to have gotten comfy after changing into their sleepwear. For some, like Rain, that meant completely naked in order to stay as cool as possible, and Dewdrop needed to stay as warm as possible so he was fully clothed in his warmest pajamas. That's not even to mention how the fire ghoul will hoard the blankets and lay claim on Mountain's chest once he and Swiss come to bed.

Phantom, seeing how everyone is so familiar with each other, even Papa who is holding Cirrus to himself lovingly as he leans on Rain's shoulder, wonders how he is supposed to fit in. Did he already miss his chance to truly become part of the pack, since it took him so long to get over his fears-

Aurora jumps up from where Cumulus was fishtail braiding her watercolor rainbow hair back, bouncing on the bed with clumsy steps to reach Phantom and Dewdrop. She pauses just before Phantom, fanged smile wide and cheery and showing off her freshly done smiley piercing. There is hesitation in her lavender eyes as she wrings her blush pink hands.

"Are you going to sleep with us this time?"

Phantom nods without any doubt, wanting to truly experience the ghoul piles he has seen nearly every day since being summoned. Aurora launches herself at him with a laugh, holding him close as Phantom melts into her embrace. "I call dibs on first to cuddle Phantom in his first pile!" She exclaims, already falling backwards and pulling Phantom down with her.

Dewdrop manages to let go of the quintessance ghouls hand before he's dragged down too. His back could not handle that right now. Instead, he makes his way over to Rain and Papa as he says "Aurora darling, by all means you and Swiss already claimed that before I sent us all off to get ready for bed."

Aurora lets out an indignant squawk even as she gently runs her fingers through Phantom's loose curls and strokes over the scaled curves and nubs of his black and violet ombre horns. Said ghoul has started up a quiet, stuttering purr as his tail swishes back and forth by their feet contentedly. Sparks of quintessance tickle Aurora's hands and other bits of bare skin, the stars on his cheeks and dotting his horns glowing gently with his contentment. The others begin to settle around them, not caring that they've taken up one edge of the bed. Eventually, Swiss and Mountain make their way back to the common room, completely unglamored, and Mountain has to duck under the light fixture to avoid shattering the fragile glass with his antler-like horns and sheer height. Swiss takes one glance at Aurora holding Phantom close and grins, diving to Aurora's side and wrapping both of them in his arms and pulling them to his larger frame. He smells of sex and Mountain, yet still something entirely just him and Phantom revels in it. One action to protect him led to Phantom regarding Swiss as safe.

"Little bug, I'm glad to see you're wearing the pajamas Dew got you. He's been talking our ears off in his worry over whether you'd like them." Swiss comments, and Phantom eagerly sends down a wave of thankfulness towards Swiss' bond, towards that door in his mind that wafts the essence of the multighoul's soul.

Cumulus, finishing off the second of two thick braids of her own curly white hair, moves to begin brushing Dew's as Cirrus happily lays herself over Cumulus' back with a sleepy smirk. Copia is already snoring at the head of the bed, wrapped in at least two blankets that were lovingly tucked in. His makeup has been removed, and the man has changed into what is clearly one of Cumulu's shirts.

With ease, Mountain picks all three ghouls up and lays them up by Papa as though they weighed next to nothing. Phantom is so busy basking in the safesafesafe flooding his entire system that he doesn't even care.

Everyone begins to cluster up to cuddle and sleep, gravitating around Aurora and Phantom with extra blankets or pillows, like Dewdrop and the ghoulettes, or absolutely no cover at all like Rain, who is completely naked and content to simply use Papa for warmth as the one with the lowest temperature aside from himself.

"Would you like your mask off, Phantom? You don't have to remove it if you don't want, but I can't imagine its comfortable to sleep in." Cirrus asks, closest to the three still attached and the one brave enough to ask first as everyone begins to settle.

Phantom is hesitant but agrees, and Cirrus reaches over to gently remove it. Once its placed off to the side carefully, Cirrus carefully cups Phantom's scarred cheek in her well-manicured hands, gazing upon their quintessance ghoul with quiet adoration. "I'm proud of you for opening up to us, we all are."

Adding on as tears well up in Phantom's eyes again, "You're beautiful, and we're glad to have you."

'But I replaced Aether, I- I'm scarred and can't control my magic properly-' He sends down the bond, frantic, like he needs them to know his faults and expects rejection for it, wants to be rejected, like it will be safer for his heart even as it cracks in his chest.

"Aether is still here topside, and we'll see him soon I imagine. Saltarian can't keep him and Sunshine away from us forever. That's enough for now, the hope for that future. And you may have been summoned to take Aether's spot in the band, but we have never thought of you as a replacement. You're a welcome addition, you and Aurora. You're pack, whether you're in the band or not, just the same as with Aether and Sunshine. Your magic will grow easier to control in time, with practice, so don't worry so much about that."

"As for you being scarred, that truly means nothing to us. I'm sorry that you went through something so terrible that it managed to scar a ghoul but your scars do not make up your entire existence. You're far more than the marks left upon your skin, and they are not all we see when we look at you." Cirrus finishes, wiping Phantom's tears as they slip over his the bridge of his nose.

Swiss kisses his hair as Aurora pulls him closer. Dewdrop, with his hair finished, wraps a hand around his bicep as the others reach out to comfort the young ghoul in any way they can with physical contact. Papa continues snoring as Rain holds the man close in his blanket cocoon. Mountain, content to watch everyone fall asleep first, is a silent but steady presence. Cumulus has made herself comfortable on Cirrus' other side as she wants for the ghoulette to lay down.

'Thank you.' Phantom's elation floods the pack bond, infecting everyone with a happy buzz that settles them further.

Cirrus rubs a thumb over the scarring on his lip, smiling at the way it lifts the ghouls own grin into something a bit lopsided but so blindingly pretty, so full of light, it almost hurts to look at.

Phantom has never been so comfortable in his entire life, has never felt so safe in the company of others. He has a pack now, and they accept him as he is, scars and unstable magic and all.

[666writingcafe]

RAD TV (Part Two)

Mephistopheles: Welcome to a very special edition of RAD TV. We are reporting to you live from the auditorium as voting for the bloody moon contest wraps up.

Rogmen: It's a close race for first place with Lord Diavolo, Lucifer, and MC vying for that coveted top spot. In fact, it's so close that the call can't be made until the final vote gets tallied.

Mephistopheles: Speaking of which, I believe the last person has just cast their vote.

MC: *walks up to them* Hi guys.

Rogmen: MC! What a nice surprise.

Mephistopheles: I take it you're the last vote, then?

MC: I think so. The Little D's took away the ballot boxes as soon as I put my slip in.

Rogmen: Well, we might as well take the opportunity to interview you as we wait for the final results.

Mephistopheles: If that's alright with you, that is. I know you weren't too keen the last time.

MC: I don't mind chatting for a bit. *pauses* Lucifer's glaring at you.

Mephistopheles: I'm not surprised. We've never gotten along all that well.

Rogmen: I can think of a few reasons why.

Mephistopheles: We are not here to talk about my relationship with Lucifer.

MC: Excuse me for a moment. *walks out of the frame*

Rogmen: For those watching at home, Lucifer is currently standing behind the cameraman with his arms crossed, and MC's trying to calm him down.

Mephistopheles: *mumbles* I really wish he would let me do my job.

MC: *returns* Sorry about that. He's been a bit twitchy lately. I had to tell him that I was doing this interview voluntarily.

Rogmen: He does seem rather protective of you.

Mephistopheles: Moving on from that little hiccup...MC, how have you felt about participating in this contest?

MC: Can I be honest?

Rogmen: Certainly.

MC: This whole thing has been rather exhausting, and I can't wait for it to be over. That isn't to say that I'm not grateful for all of the support I've received, because I am; I'm just ready for everyone to start acting normal again.

Rogmen: Completely understandable. The fact that you've maintained a level head says a lot about your character.

Mephistopheles: I agree. Throughout this entire process, you've stayed true to yourself, and I think that has drawn a lot of people towards you. You don't feel the need to put on airs in order to impress someone; you just come as you are.

MC: I appreciate you saying that.

Mephistopheles: It's the truth.

Little D. No 5: Mephisy, Mephisy!

Rogmen: Now, you know he hates that nickname.

Little D. No 5: I have the final results!

Mephistopheles: Thank you, Number 5. *sighs* I swear, he's worse than Asmo.

MC: *chuckles*

Rogmen: Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?

Mephistopheles: I got it. *unfolds the piece of paper, glances at the top of it, and looks directly into the camera* Excuse us for a moment.

For those watching at home, a "We'll Be Right Back" screen pops up and stays for a couple minutes. When RAD TV resumes, MC is no longer with the news anchormen.

Rogmen: We apologize for the unexpected break. We had to make sure that the results were accurate before reporting on them.

Mephistopheles: Without further ado, here are the final results of this year's bloody moon contest. In last place is none other than Solomon himself.

Rogmen: I tried telling him that he shouldn't host that banquet, but he didn't listen.

Mephistopheles: *runs through spots 19 to 11*

Rogmen: *provides commentary for each person*

Mephistopheles: At number ten is Beelzebub.

Rogmen: I'm surprised he dropped.

Mephistopheles: He had an incident at Deja Vu.

Rogmen: I see. *glances at the paper* You finished ninth.

Mephistopheles: That's higher than last time. In eighth place is Belphegor. He offered to clean up after Beel's mess at Deja Vu.

Rogmen: *glances at the paper again* Lucky seven goes to Satan.

Mephistopheles: Let me announce the results.

Rogmen: Sorry.

Mephistopheles: At number six is Simeon.

Rogmen: That's really good for an angel. Then again, he doesn't really act like his fellow brethren, does he?

Mephistopheles: That is a conversation for another day. In fifth place is Leviathan, and Barbatos is number four.

Rogmen: Speaking of which, he's headed this way.

Barbatos: *appears in frame briefly to whisper in Mephistopheles' ear*

Mephistopheles: It appears as though they've finished setting up.

Rogmen: Excellent.

Mephistopheles: For those wondering what is going on, there is currently a three-way tie for first place. As per the rules, a tiebreaker vote must be conducted to determine the final winner. We will cut away to the scene of that vote...now.

The location on screen has changed from the auditorium to a conference room, where MC, Lucifer, and Lord Diavolo are seated with a piece of paper and a pen placed in front of each of them.

Barbatos: *off-screen* You may now write the name of the person you think deserves to win this year's bloody moon contest amongst the three of you. Whoever gets two votes automatically gets the title of the most honored and respected individual at this school.

MC: *scribbles quickly and hands their paper to someone off camera*

Lucifer: *hands his vote in second*

Diavolo: *contemplates for a bit before writing down a name, making him the last person*

The camera pans over to Barbatos, who's seated across from the three finalists.

Barbatos: *accepts the pieces of paper from the person that collected them* Thank you. We have one vote for Lucifer, one for Diavolo, and... *trails off as he looks at the last slip of paper and sighs* I can't trust the three of you, can I?

The camera moves down to reveal the three slips of paper, each with a different name on them. Those familiar with their handwriting can tell right away who voted for who.

Barbatos: In the event of a failed tiebreaker vote, the rules dictate that each person must participate in a talent-based performance. For the three of you, I think a good old-fashioned dance battle is in order.

[turtleybeachin]

How to Hide a Human

A story featuring my MC, Alinda (but please, just call me Lin!) and some Anti-Lucifer League shenanigans that result in soft, fluffy cuddle times with the aforementioned demon. Lin uses she/her and they/them pronouns.

PAIRING: Lucifer x Lin RATING: PG for brief mentions of drinking WORD COUNT: 2222 ✨ FEATURES: fluff, Team Make Lucifer Sit On YOUR Lap, general demon shenanigans

Humming under their breath, Lin tip-toed down the hallway in fuzzy sheep slippers with their phone, textbook, and tablet in their arms. She'd muted the D.D.D. (all the better to slink past demons with too keen of senses) but could hear the tell-tale buzzbuzz of the vibrations as Satan and Belphie continued to argue over them in the group chat.

The Anti-But-Not-That-Anti Lucifer League was up to its usual shenanigans, and she'd been willing to play along for damage control until they lost the plot. They didn't like her 'cover dinner in whipped cream' idea-- which she had to admit was fair, it punished everyone except Beel who would probably barely notice and-or think it was an improvement. And they didn't like her 'hide something of Lucifer's' idea because it was apparently "too juvenile", which she had to bite her tongue to not point out to them that this entire 'club' was childish and absurd.

But the tipping point had been when she became the prank-- specifically, her 'sudden and mysterious disappearance'. Which she had not been entirely against initially, but then it just turned into the usual squabble of "who gets to hide them" with both brothers arguing over why they were the better hiders. Tug-of-war got old quick when you were always the rope.

She gave the door in front of her two courtesy knocks before reaching for the knob. Familiar magic prickled the palm of their hand like static and poprocks, but it turned and the door silently swung open to permit entry. The fireplace was softly roaring within, comforting and cozy, and with a click the record player changed albums to an ominous fanfare of brass and strings. When the door fell shut behind her, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise as the curse reactivated to keep unwanted guests out.

Lucifer looked up from his desk, a brief glance of acknowledgement of their presence and their stack of homework materials. He was getting better at that; she'd complained that it felt dismissive when he didn't even look her way on entry. Sure, demon senses and all-knowingness and yadda yadda, she got that he knew it was her by her scent and knew why she was there by the-- actually, she didn't fully understand that, something about her soul maybe? Flickering emotions? He never gave a straight answer. But she insisted it was rude to just outwardly ignore her (which he'd responded to with an arched brow that implied this was a Her Problem) and that it made her doubt whether he wanted her company (which he'd responded to with a look of subtle surprise and then extra effort to ensure she knew just how much he always enjoyed her presence).

As they settled down in ‘their chair' with its soft thick blanket folded over the back and a pitcher of water on the coffee table nearby, their phone buzzbuzzbuzz ed angrily. They could feel the weight of Lucifer's gaze as they checked their D.D.D.

Satan : Lin? Where are you? I am outside your room to collect you for our prank. Belphegor: WE are outside your room to ask whose room you prefer for our prank. Beel's already getting snacks for us, by the way.

They twisted their lips and made a low sound of dismay. Belphie was the king of emotional low blows like that. He knew how they hated to disappoint his big, gentle, absolute angel of a twin. The musical backdrop transitioned to a lone violin wailing tenderly over an accompanying harp.

Lamb-chan: Uno Reverse.

The immediate pulsing "..."s at the bottom of the chat from both made her snort. She tossed her D.D.D. aside and poured a glass of water for herself, then a second that she stood and carried over to put on the convenient coaster on Lucifer's desk. He always prepared his space for her visit with the hope it would be needed.

"Which of my brothers are you terrorizing now?" he asked, a faint curl to the corner of his mouth. He'd said once that when they successfully pranked any of his siblings there was a specific 'flavor' of his sin that pulsed through them-- and thanks to their pact, through him.

"Your fan club," she replied with a grin as she rocked back on her heels, hands clasped behind her. The far-too-large sweatshirt she wore (one of many such shirts Beelzebub owned, emblazoned with his jersey number) slipped a bit to one side, and Lin wiggled her shoulders to try to adjust it halfheartedly.

Lucifer finished his current sentence before setting his pen down and looking up at her properly, smirk fully formed and brow arched. "Playing both sides again, are we?"

"I believe in enriching my demons regularly for optimal health." Their nose scrunched with the force of their smile as he responded with that warm, low, sincere chuckle that was becoming common in their presence.

Then their gaze dropped to his desk, the piles of paperwork neatly but overwhelmingly covering half the surface. The 'done' side was slightly ahead of the 'to-do' side. It was two hours to dinner, and Lucifer always worked late into the night on Saturdays when he wasn't being dragged out to a bar or club. Given that Leviathan was on meal duty and that Asmo, Mammon and Satan were planning to hit The Fall tonight, his current workload should be 'just about on schedule'.

Which meant she was safe to lean over his desk and hook her finger around the loosened knot of his tie and give him a playful tug. "Speaking of, you're past due for a drink and some cuddles, mister."

Trial and error had given her a pretty good sense for when she could get away with switching their roles around. Lucifer, on the surface, liked to be the one in control and giving orders; his Pride had his image to protect. But Lucifer , her beloved and her pact mate and her chosen family, appreciated letting someone else take control now and again and seeing what they'd do with it. And given the pink flushing his cheeks and the crinkling at the corner of his eyes, they were getting away with playing master for a bit.

"Is that so?" he drawled, even as he obligingly leaned forward and pushed himself from his chair. He huffed his amusement as Lin released her hold on him only to snap her fingers, already spinning from him to skip away with a beckoning gesture over her shoulder. "Feeling confident in ourselves today, I see."

Against the opposite wall from his desk was a plush red velvet chesterfield sofa, a matching piece to the chairs around the small coffee table. It had varied uses in its lifetime, from part time bed when Lucifer insisted he only needed a brief nap between projects to extra seating when he had his brothers working with him on something for the student council. Recently, its primary role was for quiet, cozy intimacy between one Avatar of Pride and one cheeky human pactmate.

Lin kicked off her slippers and curled her bare legs up under her on the couch as she watched Lucifer collect two glasses and one of his prized bottles of demonus. Beside her, the music was now rising and failing, swelling and tempting, strings and woodwinds flirting as brass and timpani resisted. "Mm, if I am, it's all your fault." Living (and having pacts) with the avatars of sin had been oddly therapeutic over time. They let themself buy nice, expensive things more. They stopped thinking so critically of their reflection. They slowed down. And with Pride himself praising them and humbling himself at their feet, they learned self-confidence and how to center themself in life's narrative.

His answering pride in her pride created a feedback loop that was a blooming, pleasant warmth in both their chests. He eyed her as he approached, the way she lifted her chin and met his eyes with a confident little half-grin. Once upon a time she’d avoided eye contact and kept her face down, and while she still would always be the first to look away, she no longer cowered from her demons.

"And what," he asked as he sat beside them, smoothly popping the cork to tonight's bottle and pouring them both a generous glass, "was today's enrichment?"

Lin accepted her glass and took a sip, watching him over the rim as he set the bottle on the end table beside his armrest. Drinking demonus with any non-human always made them feel a little bit like a child with sparkling grape juice on New Year's Eve again. Sure, it had the same tart and bittersweet taste on her tongue, and she got to hold a fancy glass too, but it didn't do anything. 

"Well, they were debating what prank to play on you this time," she began, twisting on the couch to face her body toward him and lean back against the armrest. "It was ultimately decided to use me as the prank, and that they should steal me away from you to get you all upset."

He huffed softly, rolling his eyes as he propped his elbow on the chair back to angle toward them in return, his glass of demonus held elegantly at his chest. His free hand dropped to her calf, half-extended toward him, to gently squeeze as though there was a chance she might still dive off the couch and run off to fulfill their mission. "The only 'upset' that would have caused would have been them complaining about their punishments after I retrieved you."

"Aw, you mean you wouldn't have been even a teensy bit upset without my nightly visit to keep you company here?" she wheedled, her laugh echoing into her glass as she held it to her lips. His narrowed eyes were non-answer enough as he lifted his glass to take his own drink (and, in Lin's expert opinion, to pointedly not protest too much). "Anyway," she drawled, mercifully shifting focus, "that just devolved into them fighting with each other over who got to hide me with them, and so I decided neither of them got to win this round. So I came here to spend the day with you, and texted them an uno reverse."  With a little wiggle where she sat, she managed to stretch her leg far enough to poke her fuzzy sock-covered toes against his thigh.

Lucifer watched their foot, then slid his gaze across and up to meet their eyes. His expression was one of soft warmth that still gave her butterflies every time she received it. Without even a glance to check, he twisted to set his glass down beside the bottle and held out his hand in expectation for theirs. She beamed at him as she let him take her glass.

With the sort of careful strength her demons were excellent at, he yanked her by the ankle to drag her down onto the seat. Lin shrieked with laughter as they twisted and wriggled to tug down their shirt that had bunched up beneath their back unpleasantly. Lucifer merely smirked at their cat-print shorts as he prowled over them, a move that radiated predatory seduction despite his little human's fearless smile. "Then I best enjoy your company while I can, as I suspect you've motivated those two idiots to truly plot against me now."

"Worth it though?" she asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it all the same.

"Absolutely."

Before he could make whatever move he had planned, though, they lifted their legs on either side of his slender waist and wrapped them around his lower back, tugging quick and hard to bring him down. He grunted as he dropped (carefully, gently) atop her, though she knew it was entirely for show. Lin lifted her arms around his shoulders and stroked her hands through his carefully arranged hair, his face pressed into her bosom.

As much as she loved letting him be the big, suave, strong demon in the relationship, she'd also learned how much he enjoyed being the metaphorical little guy from time to time. So sometimes she bought him a bouquet of roses, and sometimes she surprised him with dinner reservations, and sometimes she cuddled him to her chest and held him as best she could to try to impart the same feelings of love and safety and peace in him that he infused in her. (It was a little harder when they were a fraction of his height, width, or musculature, and lacking any wings or special demon limbs to wrap around him fully, but they did their best.)

Lucifer gave a halfhearted murmur of dissent even as he shifted his weight, adjusting to get more comfortable and winding his arms beneath the small of their back. One of their legs was still hooked over his hip, but the other slid down to curl over his. Behind them, the record player continued its song, a single oboe carrying the melody over delicate strings and brass. With a fire crackling nearby, one of the strongest beings in creation resting atop her, and her favorite symphonic suite playing, there was nowhere in all three realms Lin would rather be hiding away.

[nephilimsss]

𝗴𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 ! michael langdon masterlist

PAIRING ➨ michael langdon x ooc brides of dracula GENRE ➨ fiction SUMMARY ➨ shortly after the apocalypse happens, survivors go into hiding in outposts that are set up around the world. outpost 3, however, doesn't realize that three of the people that have taken up residence in their walls are vampires, feeding on the others whilst they are asleep. all they know is that they are finding bite marks on them, and have little to no recollection as to how they are getting them. when michael langdon makes his way into outpost 3, the vampires are keen on making him the fourth in the relationship. WARNINGS ➨ maybe some smut in later chapters, death, manipulation, vampires, blood, it's michael, so there might be a few satanic references, though i am not one myself, the end of the world. the title is taken from the song IYDKMGTHTKY (gimme that) by type o negative, but it's mostly due to the vibes of the song. it's dark, sexy, and it always reminds of michael and the brides of dracula from van helsing (2004). MAIN MASTERLIST

o.oi :: too bad, so sad !

[meliorao]

Sin & Sinuous

Chapter 1: New Encounter

Summary: A late night in the ministry after curfew let’s you meet & befriend the man your father consider his biggest threat…

Pairing: Cardinal Copia x (female) Reader

Warnings: Age gap (not really spoken about but mentioned), minor swearing, eventually will contain smut in future chapters, mentions of death, not proof-read! Will have more warnings in future chapters but as this is the first one, it won’t have a lot to worry about!

Words: ≈2k(?)

A/N: My first ever full length story! As it’s my first one (I post) I am asking to be nice as I’m a bit nervous lol! This story will be a kinda forbidden love / Romeo and Juliet-situation but it’s a bit different I suppose! Enjoy!

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Being the only child to one of the higher ups in ‘The United Clergy Of Ghost’ meant two things. One, you had a first-class ticket straight to enroll in the academy to become a prime member of the church from the day you were put on this Earth. Secondly, everyone knew your name and whom your parents were, living up to your name was more than stressful to you. All these expectations of what people assumed or wished from you were piling up and this meant a lot of jealousy as well where certain people in your class said you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and had no actual talent other than your name to be giving you the status you had. You heard the whispers, despite people trying to hide it behind your back, and fuck… it hurt.

As you were growing up in the clergy, you had witnessed papas come and go, the Emeritus family name passing from son after son. You didn’t know the people themselves, perhaps a given smile or look every once in a while in the corridors of the ministry, but other than that? You were probably only seen as nothing but a child of Satan just like everyone else, one of the many in the crowd. Just like ants in a stack, a number instead of a face.

One day the news started to spread though, a new man joining the higher ups of the ministry, the Cardinal you had been hearing of. Your father had spoken nothing but highly of the man, claiming he had the second most employee of the month awards, with your father being the number one. You had seen Cardinal a few times and perhaps given a smile in the corridor just like you had with the Emeritus-family, so you couldn’t exactly say much words of your impression of yhe Cardinal, except perhaps the fact that he had been quite strange in people’s eyes. Words spreading like hay fire that Cardinal Copia was a strange man and some people, including your own father, wasn’t too fond of the man. So they weren’t too pleased when he was chosen by Sister Imperator to join them in the council. You knew the council would choose a new heir to the Papa role somewhat soon, as Papa Terzo was getting slowly down from his reign and Papa Nihil was out of progeny from way back. This meant for the first time in a very… very long time, the ministry were to choose a new family, one from the Council. This was a role your father was more than keen to have, actually, he craved it.

A new era would start weather or not you wished for it, you didn’t wanna become the heir to the throne, and yet your father was one of the most spoken of candidates to the job, along with Cardinal Copia.

One night, when the moonlight shined through the windows of the ministry and you were in only your nightgown as you tippy toed onto the stone cold floor, praying to Satan that no one would see you in this state, knowing damn well it was way past your bedtime. Despite being an adult, the rules were strict and no one was to leave their rooms after 11pm on any given workday. You knew if just one ghoul happened to pass you, you would be caught and you would be in big trouble, however you had woken up and you just needed some sort of air, feeling like the walls in your bedroom was suffocating you.

As you rounded the corner on your way to the kitchen, perhaps to find a snack or something to drink, you heard a squeaking sounds which made you instantly, look up, and there he was… that Cardinal.

Your heart began to pound, as he looked at you in shock just as much as you looked at him… you also noticed what that sound was, in his leather covered hands was a small tiny mouse, who was eating a tiny square of cheese that the Cardinal was feeding the little creature.

“My apologise, Sorella, please don’t tell Sister Imperator that I… Wait, why are you up at this hour?” Cardinal spoke up, looking surprised at you. “Don’t you know there is a curfew?”

“I am aware of the curfew, Cardinal, but I won’t tell a soul if you don’t” you answered, looking down at the mouse in his hand. “May I ask who that little guy is?” You asked with a slight smile, slowly taking a step closer as you wished to see the little creature a bit better, however when you did, Cardinal took a step back himself, as if he were to protect the little mouse from you.

“Don’t worry, Cardinal, I won’t harm him, I just wanna look” you said quickly, scared that you were to upset the man. You knew his power in the ministry, being the one Sister Imperator herself wished to become the next heir, despite all that, and despite the fact that he was probably twice your age, he seemed so… scared, probably worried something would happen to his little friend as you both knew there was a strict ‘no animals allowed at the ministry ground’-rule that could end in being kicked out from the clergy all together, and yet, this man in front of you who were supposed to be one of the people who held the ministry closest, were risking their career within the church for a rat…

Copia looked at you with suspicious eyes, slowly raising a brow as he reached his arms out and showed you the mouse in his hands. The grey coated rat was happily munching the piece of cheese that Copia had given him, having no troubles in the world. There was only one thing though, the poor guy was missing half his tail, only having a stump here it should have continued.

“This is Pascal, I found him trapped in one of the traps in the janitors closet. “I couldn’t just leave him, I knew if I left him he would have a certain death by the morning when someone found him and I could never do that to him” the Cardinal said as he looked down at his new friend. “Sadly he lost his tail but I gave him some cheese I found in the kitchen”

“That’s so kind of you, Cardinal, Pascal seems adorable” you said gently as you slowly reached out and petted the tiny creatures head. You couldn’t help yourself but to smile gently, and Copia noticed that. Your smile was genuine, not faked like those half-hearted smiled he had received from the other clergy members ever since he became a part of the council, and that made him smile too.

Cardinal wouldn’t lie, he didn’t know exactly who you were, he knew just as everyone else that the man running against him to become the next papa had a child who should be in their 20s by now, but he couldn’t possibly know that was you. He had seen you every once in a while in the corridor but nothing much else than that, he didn’t even know your name.

Perhaps if he did, he wouldn’t have done what he did next.

“Sorella, Pascal seems to be liking you, if you want, do you wish to hold him?” He asked, smiling a bit awkwardly to you. You gave him a quick nod and smiled even bigger as Copia carefully handed you the rat. When you held the little guy in your hand, your eyes were big with a big smile on your lips from ear to ear at that point.

“Oh Cardinal! He is the cutest, I adore him already!” You said, looking up at Copia.

“I know, isn’t he? But please, keep him a secret, just between us two, if someone finds out he would be thrown out to die on the streets” he said with a begging tone, carefully taking the rat from your hands again, holding his new pet close to his chest where his upside down cross was hanging.

“I swear on Satan himself, your secret is safe with me, Cardinal” you said gently, brushing your hands on your pyjama pants after you no longer held the rat. “I won’t tell a soul”

“Thank you, Sorella, but I must ask, what’s your name?”

“Oh, it’s (y/n), a pleasure to finally speak to you, Cardinal” you said and held out your hand for him to shake, you saw how the Cardinal hesitated before slowly grabbing your hand, giving it a firm shake.

“A pleasure to meet you, (y/n), I hope this is one of our many little chats together for the future”

“Indeed”

[comingfromastatechampionasshole]

Making Yorkshire Parkin: When You Want to Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November (but you forgot)

I bought Lyle’s Golden Syrup on a whim in our international grocers months ago, nestled between the Marmite and jarred clotted cream. I didn’t know what golden syrup tasted like, I had no use for it, and no recipe I had ever read included it. Naturally, I bought it immediately. Walking by the racks of Japanese candy and multiple incidences of ramen noodles, I asked myself, “Is there a particular reason I’m buying this, or am I just pissed they don’t have Walker’s and don’t want to walk away empty-handed?” 

Months later, I end up watching a video on parkin. Uses golden syrup. In this moment, the stars align. 

How did I stumble on this? Well, I’m interested in historical food, and even more so historical baking, and November was coming up. Try the Guy Fawkes day cake, it proclaimed to me, and as I watched it, and it was described to me as an English gingerbread-style cake, i thought, “There’s nothing about that idea I don’t like! I can make parkin, it can’t be that hard. Not like i’m going to be able to buy it here to try it.” 

And hard is not the word for it. Let’s go on a journey. 

So the first thing is, that Yorkshire parkin isn’t the only parkin in town and so, as I glanced at recipes, i discovered that there were multiple theories of the business, and many of these theories involved insulting each others’ grandmothers. Lancashire parkin uses mainly golden syrup, resulting in a sweeter and softer-flavored cake, and I guess that’s why the only things a civilized human being knows about Lancashire is that it’s in the North of England, and it features in the Merrily Song from the Wind and the Willows. No, the more I read, the more I realized I wanted Yorkshire parkin, a dark, aggressive form of the cake that makes heavy use of black treacle and threatens to kick your teeth in. It’s no wonder that Yorkshire gets all the great wonders of the North, like Wuthering Heights, The Secret Garden, and that one pizza place I really liked. 

It turns out that Yorkshire parkin uses a very small amont of golden syrup, and so you may be saying to yourself at this point, “Doc are you unnecessarily complicating your life to say you literally opened this stupid plastic bottle of sugar syrup?” to which I say, ‘No one asked you, okay?” 

Black treacle is the first thing on this list, and this was actually the easy part. One of the ‘fun’ things about reading recipes from English to English (and sometimes even to English!) is that you have to make substitutions, and people’s attitude toward substitutions for ingredients run the gamut from questionable to hysteria. The good news is that this unites us all, and I am sure there will be several fine Brits yelling at me that unsulfured molasses is nothing like black treacle, in the same way that many Americans lost their mind at the mere suggestion that a digestive might be more or less equivalent to a graham cracker. I welcome your hatemail, Hail Satan , Lord of Spiders, just use unsulfured molasses and you’ll be fine. 

But then we have the problem of “medium oatmeal.” The Brits are running on a completely different system than we are with our paltry three or so styles of oatmeal: Rolled, steel cut (often called Irish oats), and instant. There are some outliers, but they are mostly the exclusive purview of places where one might buy free-range ostrich farts and consensually squeezed oranges. Meanwhile, on a rainy rock in the North, we have seventeen separate grades of oatmeal, some of which are only found on one specific moor where young maidens cry over it, keening into the wind (An expensive delicacy not unlike kopi luwak) Try as I might, I found it near impossible to get medium oatmeal, and so I took the most reasonable out possible: Buying steel cut oats and frantically googling photos of medium oatmeal until I had processed it down to the rough appearance. 

This is medium oatmeal. Probably. 

The assembly of it is stunningly old-fashioned, and I’m not making a joke when I say it seems basically unchanged from the 1700s: You mix the sugar and butter ingredients together in a sauce pan until the sugar melts, and then throw it into the dry mix, putting it together and then throwing in an egg as some desperate attempt to give so loft to what is going to be a doorstop or perhaps the blunt object that was originally used to kill Guy Fawkes, as well as a splash of milk, though what it hopes to contribute to the action I can’t possibly imagine. 

Having read over all this at 9:30 pm on the 5th of November, I ready myrself to assemble the parkin so I can leave it out for King James or whatever. Then I read the cook time on the cake: Seventy to Ninety Minutes. 

“Fuck this shit, I’m American,” I said, cracking open a beer and heading upstairs with my sixteen guns while eagles cried and sang “God Bless The USA” overhead. 

REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE SIXTH OF NOVEMBER, WHEN ALL THESE INGREDIENTS ARE STILL SITTING IN MY KITCHEN. 

So, I have followed the recipe. The cake is in the oven. What will it become? Stay tuned!

[morgayz]

current (original) wips

here i am ... finally, filling you guys in about some of my original wips! i plan on diving into each one a little more in separate posts, but until then, have this lolol <3 feel free to ask me about any of them at any time! i'd be more than happy to infodump. more to be added as ideas enter my brain ...

twist of fate - a famous folk musician and his greatest rival, a music journalist, cross paths over the course of several years ( 1960s, flowery as hell, effects of trauma, loneliness & isolation, just two men being way too good at their jobs!! )

moonlight mile - world war two medic teddy hatchett finds himself thrust into a winter battle after the death of his best friend. while he isn't keen on making friends, it looks like fate might have other plans for him ( 1940s, grief, aftermath of trauma, hurt/comfort, bad first impressions!!!, the misery of war )

their satanic majesties - alexander's last chance at becoming a detective starts and ends with the infamous local cult run by a charming yet mysterious man named samson. going undercover, however, proves to be more tumultuous for alexander than anyone could've anticipated ( 1990s?, aftermath of trauma, drug use, the wolf & the lamb, a lil bit of murder, codependent relationships )

[ladylimerence]

hi.

I’ve missed you SO much. i have been thinking of you all day. how I can’t wait to type my thoughts into you— and you sit and take it without breaking eye contact and that gets my train of thought whistling.

westerns have been playing as background simulation in my head today. little pieces of gun smoke, little pieces of Yull - (my cowboy lover)— lots of pieces of rawhide. no denying me my Clint Eastwood 🙂‍↕️✨—-

—- baby you wouldn’t believe it— I felt so stunning today. this morning I was fighting myself— I wanted to go back to sleep- like my energy was on autopilot and but I was present and in my body so i felt that tug. I said NO bitch- we want all the fucking dads at the pool to hide their boners this summer— GO TO THE FUCKING GYM.

— well lookie here— a gym full of —-? Of-_. Yep MEN. fuck my favorite— I’m about to fucking be the adrenaline in their work out. I am about to give these morherfuckers a god damn workout. Hahahaha. I couldn’t look— but I could because not one of them were looking directly at me— they were using their keen peripheral vision. all these wolves and this little lamb. i didn’t do anything sexual whatsoever. I didn’t give a fuck- I just wanted to get the fuck out——- end session— unaware man follows me out of the gym— to my fucking car—- he stood there acting like a little boy with heart eyes— his train of thought made no sense— it was awkward as fuck. 🙂‍↕️

my free spirited glowing, neglected ass just absorbed it because I believe everyone deserves love— remember feminine rage is for lovers—-

I went home and fucked myself in the shower so good— I thought of at an Italian restaurant- like mob style with a very high red pleather backing. and k brought my pocket pussy— with remote control——- but you don’t know — until I handed you the remote and whispered in you ear— bet you can make me cum before he takes our drink order ——- fuck it was so good and suddenly — again— I’m high on fucking life and my existence— and I feel like the most beautiful cunt.

I wore the most beautiful floral top— it was cropped with an olive green skirt that was perfectly bonded to my luxurious curves. —— ahhh I got just what I wanted today— just enough souls of men— you know the broken eldest daughter with daddy issues type bitch. I fed my inner beast today, she rewards me with blood filled cheeks. —- anyways still want to fuck the crossing guard— it will never happen but I like to use that sexual energy selfishly for my fantasies— I decided that I am going to introduce myself the next opportunity—

i had to fuck him today— i mean had to? I didn’t enjoy it and i laid there feeling like a kings sex slave — he needed to cum — use me — whatever— then i just carry on with my life so he will leave me the fuck alone. — i wish i felt those eyes from him— i can never feel him— our energy is not connected— and i have spent years— deeply- severely- utterly— devastated about this— i told him “let’s fuck in the name of Satan” simply because this was a “fuck” not my definition of “sex” — so sin it is catholic boy.

—— i am in my hands now. i am in the hands of the creator. i am in the hands of the devil. i am in the hands of the divine. i am in the hands of existence and i am dancing.

no hate today. just cunty little comebacks and alpha energy. —- I have to remember this — I have to remember how this feels— empowering- healthy— I mean I don’t know— i am just letting things happen— no disappointment that way— plus that is when i am most creative. —-

— ahh okay— my bed calls me— i can hear it— i need sleep— i need a good deep fuck— i need to fall asleep naked— i need to be fucking admired.

— I’m sad no one has ever experienced what dreams i could bring them because i am one loyal kitty— if you admire me i give back tenfold— if you fuck me i give back tenfold— if you love me— i will make an alter in my heart— it’s not the fucking hard for one who can handle it.

—-like knights in shining fucking armor—— but your favorite part about me is that I don’t want to be saved.

-x

[grimowled]

@onlywrath from x.

SO WHAT IF HE HAD AN APPETITE for strong, hulking goliaths covered in sweat and carnage? there was something about brute strength and rough edges that had his feathers flutter pleasantly, and he couldn't help letting his four eyes roam over the towering embodiment and ruler of wrath; a sentiment the collected and calculating owl prince was far removed from, which means he could safely admire it and its incarnation. his keen gaze reflected the pulsing glow of molten lava, flowing within the crevasses that lined the rock-hard sinews and trunks of satan's astoundingly huge frame.

"that I do."

his sincere admission was accompanied by a teasing titter, and his talons moved to cover his beak delicately in a show of fabricated bashfulness.

"oh, satan, you rascal-- that's not why I am here, of course, though the sight of you is always a pleasant one for sore eyes."

he shifted his heavy cloak to one side to find some relief from the blistering heat, suddenly regretting his choice of royal garb. visiting some parts of wrath was like walking around in an oven; thankfully where he was headed was far more bearable, being mostly farmland.

"I'm actually paying a visit to your ... charmingly scorched ring to preside over a festival - the harvest moon in fact. I'm sure you know of it? your denizens are quite fond of it, as am I. "