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coffeeghoulie · 12 days

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date night

a gift for @askingforthesun <3

The first time Aether has Swiss and Dew over to his apartment is the first time Swiss meets Lady. Both of them are nervous messes.

Takes place in the hockey au, but you don't have to have read that to read this; Swiss, Aether, and Dew are teammates on the Ghouls, and have just fallen into a relationship with each other. Takes place not long after Five Minutes for Fighting. 2.6k of fluff.

divider by @ghuleh-recs <3

Aether's nervous. He doesn't know why. It's them.

He steps up to Swiss and Dew as they're changing out of their practice jerseys and stripping out of their gear, the locker room filled with chatter from their other teammates.

Swiss sees him first, flashing him with that bright, warm grin. "Hey, Cap. What's up?"

Dew turns, unweaving the braid Aether had put in his hair a few hours ago. Aether feels his heart swell, swallowing back his nerves. His palms sweat like a fifteen year old boy asking his crush to prom. He's never felt like this in his life.

"Would the two of you like to have dinner tonight?" Aether keeps his voice as level as he can. "There's a Vietnamese place near mine that I think you'd like, get some carry out and watch a movie or something?"

They've been dating for a while, but they've never actually been to his apartment before. Even Dew, who used to live with him before they were called up to the major leagues, hasn't been. They've been going out to eat, sneaking into each other's hotel rooms while they're out on away games, but nothing as domestic as coming over yet.

Swiss seems to read past the facade, something warm in his brown eyes. He reaches for Aether's forearm, fingers just barely brushing over the sleeve of his button up. "I can't speak for Dewey, but I'd love to."

Aether's posture relaxes the moment Swiss touches him. He nods, his lips crooking up in a smile as he turns to Dew.

“Aether,” Dew grins, toothy and something bright in his eyes. "I will never say no to an opportunity to see my little girl."

Aether laughs, any last remnants of nerves crumbling to dust. Swiss's brow furrows, looking from Aether to Dew and back again.

"Oh, he means my cat," Aether laughs, rolling his eyes fondly at Dew. "Oh, you've never met Lady, that's right."

Swiss's expression relaxes, and he turns to throw a wad of tape into the trash can. "I've never really been a cat guy," he says, voice a little cautious. "But I'm sure she's nice. I mean, the two of you like her."

"Oh, she's the best," Dew says, zipping up his bag and standing from the bench. He turns to Aether. "She still play fetch with hair ties?"

Aether huffs a soft laugh. "Don't have any hair ties in the apartment anymore unless my sister's visiting. She loves that cat, but she's a little less fond of fetch."

"Little buzzkill," Dew says, knocking his shoulder against Aether's. "Anyways. I'm pretty certain you told me where you were when you moved out here. Let us run our bags home and we can meet you there?"

Dew glances to Swiss and back to Aether, the locker room emptying rapidly around them. Swiss nods, putting his helmet back in its bag. "That sounds great to me. Aeth?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Aether meets them there, the nerves returning. He hides the tremble in his hands by shoving them into his pockets. Swiss grins easy as he steps up to him, glancing around before kissing his cheek. Dew's changed into a leather jacket over a worn out band tee and tight black skinny jeans, Swiss into a cream button up and dark slacks, hands in his pockets.

Swiss waves, and the two of them follow Aether into the apartment building. They don't need words, Aether thinks. This is a normal thing that partners do. He takes them up the elevator and down the hall to his door.

The keys rattle as Aether turns them in the knob. He knows they're right behind him, almost hovering. He doesn't know why he's nervous. He loves both of them, trusts both of them, for fuck's sake, he's lived with Dew before.

He takes a sharp breath in as he opens the door and steps in. The first thing Aether hears is a quiet "mrrp" and a thud, and he smiles as Lady skids around the corner, having woken up from her nap on the couch. Her claws tap on the vinyl, tail curled forward in a relaxed arc.

Dew gasps in delight at the sight of her, but Aether doesn't turn. "Hi, sweetheart," Aether coos, and she meows brightly as she weaves through his legs, rubbing herself against his pant legs with her amber eyes squeezed shut. He'll lament cleaning red cat hair from his pants later, but he's used to the woes of cat ownership after so long. Lady purrs happily, blinking.

It's then she seems to notice the two men Aether's brought home with him. Her ears and whiskers flick forward, tail flicking at the tip.

Aether turns, eyes flicking from Lady to his partners, watching all three of them carefully. Dew grins, almost as toothy as Swiss's, and he drops to a crouch.

Lady chirps and rubs her cheek against Dew's outstretched hand. "Aw, she remembers me," he says, scooping up all nine pounds of cat into his arms easily. Lady purrs loudly, rubbing her chin against Dew's jaw as he stands back up.

Swiss watches, and Aether can almost see the slight apprehension past the facade of his smile. It's the one he uses for the press circuits after bad games, where he's exhausted and just wants it to be over with. "You good?" Aether asks softly, hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah," Swiss says, leaning his head towards him. "Grew up with two Dobermans. Blitz and Bubbles. Was never really around any cats. Nothing against Lady, she's such a pretty girl."

Aether beams. "Yeah, she's a gorgeous little thing. You should have seen her when she was little. She really grew into those ears."

Swiss snorts, glancing over as Dew coos over Lady. "She warms up real quick to strangers, huh?"

Aether makes a face, and Swiss isn't quite sure what to make of it. "Not normally. She, uh, Lady knows Dew already. I got her two months before Dew got called up to play for the Ghouls."

Swiss snaps his fingers before pointing at him. "That's right, he did say something about the two of you living together."

"I did," Dew looks up from where he's buried his face in fur. "We should probably get out of the entranceway," he says, sputtering as Lady shoves the top of her head against his chin and he gets a mouthful of cat hair for it. The three of them laugh, and Aether rubs the back of his neck.

"Yeah, living room's this way," he says, leading them around the corner Lady appeared from into his living room.

There's a black L-shaped couch tucked into the corner, a large window looking out over the city, an ottoman that doesn't quite match on a rug. The opposite wall has a decent sized tv mounted over the mantle, various knick knacks and trinkets set underneath. A framed family picture sits on an end table by the couch, and Swiss sees faces that look vaguely familiar behind the glare of the glass, but he's too busy watching Dew coo over Lady to really worry about that.

He's in someone else's home. Even though Aether was the last to join the three of them, Aether and Dew have known each other longer. He stands at the threshold of the living room, watching.

Aether sees him floundering and reaches for him. "You want to say hello to her?" He asks, voice as gentle as it ever is, and it feels good as it brushes over Swiss's fraying nerves.

"Yeah," he breathes, meeting Dew's eye as he steps towards him and his armful of purring cat. He puts her down onto the armrest of the couch, and she meows up at him in betrayal.

Dew laughs softly at her. He leans in to Swiss conspiratorially, a mischievous look in his eye. "She likes scratches under her chin," he says, like he's disclosing state secrets. Swiss smiles, easy and genuine, knocking his shoulder against his.

"Let her sniff," Aether says, holding out his hand in example, fingers curled gently into a fist. "Just like a dog."

Swiss nods, mimicking the way Aether holds his hand. He offers Lady his fist, feeling hot little puffs of breath as she smells him, her whiskers held forward curiously. Swiss realizes he's holding his breath.

After a moment, she must deem him acceptable, shoving her head forward to rub against his knuckles. "Aww," Dew coos, stepping around them to find the Vietnamese place's takeout menu on the end table. "Little princess likes you."

Swiss watches enraptured as Lady starts to purr while she rubs against him. He flips his hand slowly, scratching blunt nails into the soft white fur under her chin. Her purring grows exponentially louder.

Aether grins as Dew leans into his side, a play pout on his face. "Aeth," he whines, batting lashes up at him. "Could we please get an order of bánh cam with dinner?"

He rolls his eyes, but he's smiling, and Swiss feels how warm it is even from the slight distance. "Fine, we can get bánh cam. Also, you don't need that, you've been eating there for long enough I know your order."

Dew sighs dramatically, offering the menu to Swiss, but he's too busy petting Lady. She's purring far loudly than he'd imagined a little cat could. He turns, a boyish smile on his face. "I, uh, I trust your judgment, I'm happy to try anything, really."

"Alright, so how does splitting an order pho and spring rolls sound?" Aether offers, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. "Dew's getting an extra spicy salmon bánh mì, as he does every time he eats here. So adventurous."

"So what?" Dew teases, knocking his shoulder into Aether's. "I know what I like. Nothing wrong with that."

Swiss laughs, moving to sit down on the couch. He runs his fingers through the long russet fur, darker along the line of Lady's spine. He's only half paying attention. "Yeah, Aeth, that sounds great."

He doesn't see it, so entranced with Lady, but Aether and Dew share a look over his head. "Alright," Aether says, setting his hand on Swiss's shoulder for just a moment. "Dew, I think I'll need two pairs of hands to bring everything back, you want to come with?"

"Oh, I'd love to." Dew perks up, and Swiss looks up with a glint of worry in his eyes.

Aether, perceptive as he always is, catches it, his grip on Swiss's shoulder tightening for just a moment. "I was going to ask if you wanted to pick a movie while went and picked up dinner. Remote's on the end table, bathroom's right down the hall."

"Oh," Swiss says, feeling something odd in his chest at the implications. Of being trusted with this place, with Lady, someone that's so dearly important to the two of them. "I- I will. Thank you."

Aether's brow furrows, and Dew pauses from where he's zipping up his jacket. He feels pinned to the couch by their gazes. "For what?" Aether asks softly.

Swiss swallows. His hand stills on Lady's back, and she meows, upset he's stopped petting her. "For, uh, man this is stupid, for letting me into all of this. After everything," he says, taking a second to remember all of the scrapes him and Dew had gotten into, the one where Aether had thrown him to the ice to protect his teammate.

He's been part of the Ghouls now for months. Been seeing Dew outside of the hookups for just as long. But this is still new, wobbly legged and fresh. One wrong move and-

There's a hand in his hair, just as tender as the one he'd been petting Lady with. Swiss looks up, shoulders slumping as he sees Aether looking down at him fondly. "We both love you, Swiss," Aether says. "And that besides, you are a dear and trusted teammate."

"And," Dew cuts in. "You and I both knew what we were getting into back then. Except for that one little misunderstanding, but we got that all cleared up. Aeth said it, we love you."

Swiss smiles, leaning into Aether's hand. Takes a deep breath. Continues to pet Lady, who arcs up into his touch. "Love you too. Thank you. I'll- uh, I'll find something to watch while we eat."

"It should be around twenty minutes. Miss princess will keep you company," Aether leans down and kisses his cheek. He beams up at him as Aether and Dew step towards the front door. Lady chirps, hopping down to try and follow them. "No, Lady-baby, you can't come with. Hang out with Swiss."

"See you in a bit," Swiss says, settling into the couch cushion.

"See you in a bit," Dew echoes, and they're both off to get dinner. Swiss swallows as the door latches, suddenly alone.

Lady waits at the door, meowing forlornly for several moments before padding back into the living room. Her tail, fluffy and soft, flicks back and forth as she trots back to the couch.

"Hey, pretty lady," Swiss coos. She meows, rubbing against his legs. He leans down to pet her, and she runs her tail through his fingers, before doubling back to rub her face against his hand.

"Oh, you're such a sweet girl," he hums, only startling a little bit when she hops up onto the couch next to him. "Oh, hi."

She's purring up a storm, much louder than he'd imagined a cat could. Lady stares up at him, pupils wide, leaving her irises a thin ring of amber. "They'll be back," he says, looking back at her. "They're getting dinner."

She meows, sharp and loud, before stepping up onto Swiss's thigh. He lets out a little 'oof' as she climbs up into his lap. For such a little cat, all of her weight on four concentrated little points is still a little more than he was expecting. She meows again, stretching up to butt the top of her head against his chin.

"Hi," he laughs, scratching under her chin. She purrs happily before turning in a circle and laying down right in Swiss's lap.

His eyes go wide, a soft little gasp escaping him. "Oh, Lady," he whispers, staring down in his lap in disbelief as she makes herself comfortable. She purrs even louder.

Swiss can't move. Can't lean over to grab the remote, because what if she moves? What if he jostles her and she darts off and hides and he never sees her again? He knows he said that he'd pick something to watch, but they can't blame him, can they?

He stares down at her, hand under her chest as she purrs, eyes shut and tail tucked around her body, a tiny red ball of cat. He stares and stares and stares until he hears keys turn in the apartment door.

The smell of savory and spicy food fills the air as Aether and Dew step back into the apartment, each carrying a big brown paper bag. "You pick something ou-" Aether starts to ask, cutting himself off as he takes in the position Swiss is in. He sets down his bag of food on the counter and walks over to the couch. "Oh, we're never getting rid of you."

"Hmm?" Swiss says, soft, still trying not to disturb the cat in his lap.

"She really likes you," Dew says, pulling a small baguette wrapped in wax paper out of the paper bag he'd carried. "Lady's real skittish with new people. She's known you for what, an hour at best? You can't leave now. Ever."

Swiss looks up at Aether, glancing over to Dew. He beams. "You'd have to make me."

#initially lady was one throwaway line because i needed aether to talk about something other than hockey in fmff #but now she's my favorite thing in the entire world #(she's a red somali cat shes so pretty and everyone loves her)#look she didn't get sexiled or taken to the vet this time hooray #dot's writing #hockey au #the band ghost #the band ghost fanfiction #swiss ghoul #dewdrop ghoul #aether ghoul #happy early birthday mal <3

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