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anyamaris · 2 months ago

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Secrets of the Heart

Pairing: Guardian!Baekhyun x Guardian!F!Reader

Dark Academia Career: Mystical Guardians/Keepers of Ancient Knowledge

Summary: For ages, a secret society has kept the darkest, most dangerous mysteries hidden from the world to keep it safe. By training guardians who show the capability to fight and protect these ancient relics from falling into the wrong hands, two compatible students are placed in hidden vaults after extensive training. You've longed for this your entire life, but then you find yourself trapped with the one man you never wanted to see again.

Word Count: 4827

Genre/Trope: Dark Academia/Non Idol AU, smut/angst, magical au

Warnings: Adult language, magical references, reader is a grump, Baek is Baek 💕oral (f. receiving), implied rough school years, overarching ideas of dark, dangerous secrets in the vault.

Tags- @lapydiaries @ksmutsociety @cafekitsune for the amazing dividers!

Thank you @pars-ley @yoonguurt and @frenchkisstheabyss for beta reading and helping me get this done!

A HUGE thank you to @potatomountain for the gorgeous banner, you're amazing!

A/N: This is for the @ksmutsociety Dark Academia event The Velvet Vault. This is part one, so I hope you all enjoy and I want to thank all the other participants for all the fun we had together working on these! I can't wait to read them! Check out other authors here!

It has taken you days to decipher the clues, but you’ve finally arrived at your destination.

Your heart almost leaps from your chest in excitement as you walk through the unassuming doors before you.

The tension in your shoulders seems to abate the tiniest bit as you take in the vast interior of the actual vault.

From the outside, it only appears as a maintenance door in an otherwise abandoned area.

Yet here, beneath the acres of wilderness in the middle of nowhere, lies a wealth of knowledge and secrets that only few in this world will ever even be aware of.

You think back on the letter you’d received for your posting weeks ago.

“Guardian 1485, you’ve been assigned to your post. Consider this your final test, and thank you for your service.”

From the outside, such a letter would give nothing away, but everything you needed to find your way lay in the inconspicuous note.

Using everything you’ve learned during your time at the academy, you’d left the populated world to inhabit this subterranean utopia.

It didn’t need to be said that failing would result in the very treasures of wisdom you’re now raking your eager eyes over to be locked away from your gaze forever.

You’d descended the timeworn stairs for what felt like ages, until you found yourself before the ancient doors that symbolized the culmination of your hard earned efforts.

The vast open room before you looms stories high, shelves of books appearing to disappear into the reaches above you, rolling ladders positioned here and there to take you up to the next little balcony to access small areas.

Makes sense now why I went down so many stairs, you think to yourself as you take in your new home.

Home…you think, your eyes fluttering closed at the comforting thought.

Hitching the strap of the duffle bag higher on your shoulder, you smile softly to yourself as you slowly turn around in a circle once more, enjoying the beautiful view of what is likely just the surface of what hides down here.

A large table sits amidst the open space in the middle of the cavernous room, as well as small alcoves here and there to perch and work.

Sconces adorn the dark paneled walls, allowing you to appreciate how vast the massive room actually is.

Before long, you find yourself wandering away from the library area, noticing the small halls branching off in three directions from the large room.

The first hall seems to lead to kitchen and dining areas, so you head towards the middle hallway.

You pause briefly before you head down that way, eyes drawn to the third hallway.

A shiver runs down your spine as your thoughts run wild about what lies that way, as there's a scrawling script carved into the threshold.

Both excitement and apprehension mix as you decide to settle in first, before getting swept away by your curiosity.

I wonder if my partner has arrived, you think to yourself as you finally set your feet on the path to your new lodgings.

An open framed doorway shows off a common area, filled with comfy looking couches, a few small tables as well as some bookshelves that appear to have board games, and much more modern books for leisure reading.

A small television adorns the far wall and you smile as you notice there are even a few gaming consoles on the shelf beneath.

You can only assume that your unknown companion is either already further down in a room, or hasn’t arrived yet.

Turning to continue down the hall, you take in a dining room, what appears to be a small storage area, then two doors opposite one another at the end of the hall.

As you head towards them, a soft humming fills the silence, and you realize you’re not alone.

Ah, they must be here already, you think to yourself as you notice the door on the left is open a crack.

The melodic voice draws you in, and you can’t stop yourself from taking a peek through the gap to seek out the owner.

Wide shoulders grace your sight, short dark hair skimming the collar of a black shirt.

The figure looks to be unpacking his own personal duffle as he sings, and you feel yourself enraptured by his lovely song.

You know that the assignments are random, so this man could be from any of the academies around the world.

Hopefully he’s-

Your thoughts die in your mind as the figure turns, and you notice you’ve pushed the door open further without even realizing it.

It wasn’t the abrupt end of the melody that has your entire being sinking into the depths of despair opening up beneath you.

No, it was the man that the glorious ballad belonged to that has you begging to be swallowed whole by the void.

The dark brown eyes dance merrily, completely freezing your tongue as a voice you know all too well shatters your dreams.

“It’s you! What a surprise!”

It’s as if your very soul slowly seeps out of your body, as his voice knocks you right back to the life you’d left behind at the academy.

Of all the people, of all the Guardians you could have possibly been assigned with….

His big goofy grin breaks you from your frozen trance as he approaches you, looking as if this isn’t the worst thing to ever happen.

Finally managing a weak semblance of a smile, you just let out a soft breath.

“Yeah…great.” you all but groan.

The one person you thought you’d finally been rid of.

Byun Baekhyun.

Weeks have passed and you’ve done your best to settle into this new, fascinating environment.

This was everything you’ve longed for, worth every agonizing minute spent in the harsh preparation you were subjected to at the academy.

Solitude, tranquility, exhilaration.

All things you feel as you inhale the ancient parchment of the script before you.

Diligently translating the forbidden text, you find yourself lost in reverie, pondering what type of person belonged to the hand that had penned this.

The chime of the large lock startles you from your focus, drawing your gaze from the yellowed pages before you.

Arching your back as you look up, your jaw crack open in a large yawn.

Midnight already? You think, rolling your shoulders as you rub your eyes with a fist.

It was sunlight before you’d sat down with this set of tomes, but clearly the day had gotten away from you.

Smiling to yourself, you gently place the silk ribbon between the pages, closing the heavy tome before standing to allow your blood to flow a bit better to your legs.

“It’s like we’re right back at the academy.” A cheerful voice breaks the silence, and it takes everything within you to not groan out loud in annoyance.

Baekhyun just grins at you, perching in one of the narrow alcoves with his legs extended, a laptop resting on his thighs.

“Not quite.” You mutter, turning to ignore the man as you ponder when the last time you ate was.

“Did you want to eat?” Baekhyun’s voice seems to pluck the very thoughts from your mind, raising your irritation even more.

“Fine.” You grumble, not even turning to look his way as you head towards the kitchen hall.

Even though it’s been weeks since you’d walked through those doors, you’d barely spoken a handful of words at the man.

He acts as if we’re friendly, as if he’s completely clueless that it’s better not to interact with one another.

“Did you want to try the-” He starts.

Finally feeling your frustration build, you snap at him,“Will you please just stop?”

Your voice is soft, yet cold, not even turning to address him.

The air stills around you as a moment drags by as a small twinge of guilt teases at your heart.

There’s nothing to feel bad about, you think.

“Alright.”

His voice is hushed, almost sad and you can’t help but feel as if you’ve kicked a puppy.

Goddamn it, you think, why’d it have to be him?

Taking a breath, you shake your head, back still to him.

“I’m just hungry and tired. I’ll cook something.”

“Awesome!”

There it is, that god's awful cheeriness that seems to come so easily to him.

Weariness washes over you, making you sigh as you head to the kitchen, hearing him bouncing along behind you.

The large restaurant style kitchen is a dream, you think as you head to the large walk in cooler to see what you can find to throw together.

Gathering ingredients, you do your best to ignore the man who is now kicking his feet from the tall stool he’s sat on, watching you curiously from the island in the middle of the room.

At least he seems to get that I don’t want to hear his annoying voice, you think as you start cooking.

It was a long way from the big dining hall you’d eaten in at the school.

Your thoughts drift back to all the times you’d longed to be invited into the groups of kids who were talking and laughing with one another; bantering about the rankings, coordinating meetups, discussing classes.

It’s not that you’d necessarily chosen to eat alone, solitary and quiet as you watched on, but it’s also not as if anyone had even made an attempt to-

That’s not true, a small part of your brain reminds you.

The twinkling eyes of the man watching you cook just brings back all the frustration you felt as you recall that very look from across the dining hall.

He was always smiling, laughing, bright and bubbly.

Uncaring.

Must be nice to not have to work for anything, to not have to prove yourself…

Old resentment churns in your gut, as you try to put it all out of your head.

It doesn't matter now, and you’re stuck here with him no matter how you feel.

The least you could do was attempt to coexist.

He finally breaks the silence between you, his voice heard easily over the noises of the pan on the stove.

“You don’t talk much.” he observes, “I was always curious about that. At the academy students used to say you don’t like people, but I always thought-” he rambles, as you tap the metal spatula, clanking it loudly against the pan,, clearing your throat, you feel your old instinct to run away creep in.

“You always thought what?” You ask softly, your shoulders tense as you wait for him to say the worries in your mind.

He pauses before continuing, slowing down and seeming a bit more subdued by your sudden gesture.

“...that you just really liked to study and focus.”

Blinking at the odd words you hadn’t expected to hear, you finally glance over your shoulder at the man staring back at you.

His big dopey grin only confuses you more, as it always has, as you release a soft breath.

He didn’t say the words in your head, the words you always heard whispered amidst your “peers” at the academy.

“Why doesn’t she speak to anyone?”

“I heard her gift was strange, I’m surprised she got in here…”

“I’ve never even heard of her family.”

“Family? I heard she’s an orphan, she doesn’t even have a surname-”

They didn’t even have the decency to laugh at you or giggle at your expense as they said these things.

It was the horrible pity behind those condescending eyes, the whispers of doubt as they seemed to avoid you.

Well…all but the strange man currently tilting his head at you.

“I did. I still do.” You tell him, unable to break his gaze as he beams at you.

Shaking off his weird conversation and unwelcome memories, you turn back to check the food.

“Ah, well that’s good! I mean, I don’t know how you don’t lose your mind after hours of that, but if you like it…” He shrugs.

“It’s my task, as you know.” You state simply, turning back to the food, then grabbing some plates to serve it to him, then your own.

“Of course. I just figured…we could get to know one another more” he says, looking at you with hopeful eyes.

“Ask anything you want about my work here, I’m happy to answer.” you tell him, taking a seat, making sure there’s one between you.

His hopeful smile falters as he slowly nods, turning to eat his meal.

“Ah…well…okay, we can talk about work,” he says.

Shaking your head, you dig into your own meal, not understanding why he’s going so far, even here, to pity you.

You just didn’t know how to tell him he didn’t have to bother.

You both eat your meal, mostly in silence, not quite sure what he wants from you.

Things have been quiet in the common area and you can’t help but find it almost stifling.

Who knew you’d end up craving a break to the monotony, when usually you relish in it?

Despite your resistance to his attempts to get to know you, you find yourself searching Baekhyun out as you glance up from your vial.

More and more as time passes, you find your gaze straying from whatever it was you were doing to seek him out.

It was just curiosity, seeing as he’s the only one around.

It definitely isn’t interest in him, as much as the distracting man tries to get to know you.

You’ve been employing some of the chemistry from your transmutation book for a few hours now, but you can’t seem to focus enough to get it right.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, you try to stop yourself from wondering what he’s doing.

Maybe I’ll go check my plants, you think, gently placing the glass vessel back in its rack.

You stand and make your way down the long hallway, idly pondering what lies behind some of the locked doors.

As you brush your fingers across each door frame, you can feel the shimmering tension of strong magic protecting the secrets within.

Suppressing a shiver, you finally reach the glass doors that lead into the underground garden where the herbs grow.

A smile already plays across your lips as you slip inside, breathing in the fragrance of the thriving plants.

How they did so well down here was a mystery-

Your thoughts are cut off as you hear the familiar soft melody of singing, eyes immediately seeking the only other being that resides here.

A gentle white light illuminates an area off to the right, down a pathway overhung with branches from the trees.

Furrowing your brow, you slowly approach the crouched figure of Baekhyun.

White light glows from his outstretched hands as he seems to almost caress the plants growing in front of him.

Your breath catches as you watch the tiny sprouts react, seeming to almost lean towards his open palms, stretching to bask in the light.

Taking in a rare moment to observe, you can’t help but admire the way his dark hair falls over his brow, the muscles in his broad shoulders flexing as he gently sings to the growth.

Without even looking at you, his song trails off and he speaks softly.

“This particular patch was infected with a blight,” he informs you, “I’ll likely change the setup a bit so they aren’t getting affected by the fungi nearby…”

Blinking yourself out of the little trance his voice has put you in, you just swallow and nod, feeling silly as it’s not like he can see you.

“Okay,” you whisper, finding yourself drawn forward to crouch beside him and watch the process.

Within the academy, it was forbidden to share any personal powers amongst your fellow students; it was ingrained in you from the start that the most important thing was keeping your posts safe.

That included never knowing what others were capable of, until you were placed.

You had wondered why you weren’t told who your partner was, and weren’t informed about his powers.

Everything is a test, you think wryly, sighing.

As always, it was for you to find out on your own, as he was likely not informed about yours.

“How…?” You ask him, still whispering as if speaking in any tone louder than a whisper will break the spell he seems to be holding over the plants.

Your eyes are locked on him as he finally looks away from his work, his eyes caramel in the glow of his magic as they meet yours.

A gentle smile plays on his lips, and he studies your face for a moment before responding.

“Photosynthesis...it’s a lucky side effect of my gift.”

“I had no idea that you were the reason they were thriving.” You feel the strange warmth of something in the pit of your stomach as you watch him return to tending the fragile herbs.

Minutes tick by, and what should feel awkward as you watch him only feels calming and comfortable.

You’re unsure how much you like this unexpected feeling.

The oppressive darkness cradling you in its grasp is suddenly broken by a sliver of white, cutting through the comforting cloud.

Groggily, you open your eyes to see a shadowy figure in your now open doorway.

Before reacting on impulse, you take stock of everything around you like you were trained.

You are lying in your bed, deep within the vault.

Counting the beats of your heart, calming your breathing, you watch as the figure slowly steps forward.

“Baekhyun?” You whisper softly, hoping desperately that it’s the only other person that resides here with you.

The figure doesn’t utter a word, but a soft white glow begins to emit from his palms, then almost forms a soft aura around him as he slowly approaches your bed.

Sitting up, you furrow your brow in confusion.

Certainly, something has happened, he wouldn’t come into your room otherwise.

“Say it again.” he hums, finally reaching your bed.

Yet instead of stopping and waiting for a response, he’s climbing onto the mattress with you, one knee at a time as he slowly crawls his way up to you.

“What-say what…Baekhyun, what are you-?” you manage, before his lips are on yours.

He takes advantage of your open mouth when you gasp in surprise, his tongue searching for yours.

The fugitive muscle ignores the logic of your mind as it meets his eagerly, as do your arms as they wrap around his neck.

A soft whimper leaves your throat as the man pushes you back onto the bed, dragging the covers off of you before settling his weight between your wantonly parted legs.

“Shh…” he hums as he breaks the kiss, his lips skimming along your jawbone to nip over to your ear, “I can’t stop myself, I want you…”

Warmth pools between your legs as you feel the stiff bulge grind against your core.

“Baekhyun-” you whine out as he tears at the flimsy nightgown, his hands kneading and grasping your breasts, your sides, touching everywhere as the tiny buttons give or fly off to gods knows where.

“Yes, my name…keep saying it…” his voice has dropped to a lower tone, his heavy breathing causing your hips to lift.

Mind swirling with desire, you can’t help the way your body reacts to his touch.

As much as the academy prepared you for, this was not one of the things you had ever expected to encounter.

You didn’t have the will to stop him.

This was exactly what you wanted.

The realization has your eyes flying open, looking down at the handsome man as he parts your gown, exposing your naked body to him.

Even his eyes seem to glow with that heavenly light as he looks up at you, letting his gaze rake slowly down your body.

“I may not be able to get you to talk to me, so I’ll make you scream instead…” He rasps out, then your legs are over his shoulders as he slips his hands under your ass, lifting your cunt to his face like you’re his feast.

Whatever words you could have responded with are lost as his lips wrap around your sensitive clit, tongue flicking gently in a circle as he stares up at you.

The glow surrounding him allows you a full view of what he’s doing and it causes your eyes to roll back in your head.

Reaching down to grasp tendrils of his hair, you use your other hand to grab at the pillow under your head; unable to stop your hips from bucking up towards him, and encouraging his wicked mouth.

Shadows flicker along the edges of his light as you feel the need to touch him, to return the same pleasure but he only doubles down, burying his face into you.

His tongue slips down to tease at your entrance as his nose nudges your delicate bud, and you should feel shame at the pooling moisture he’s gathering and swallowing up.

Yet his eyes are brazen, silently pleading with you to let go and scream for him.

So you do.

Your thighs tighten around his head and his eyes blaze with heat like you’ve never seen, white hot and burning as he moans into you.

It doesn’t take much to make you lose complete control.

Just one finger replacing his tongue, his teeth nipping gently at your throbbing clit before he’s sucking and licking you into insanity.

Thrusting deep within you, his impossibly long finger curls and you’re crying his name for all the slumbering creatures beneath the earth to hear.

Hips lifting, thrusting into his face, his palm cups your ass as he helps you ride your way through your orgasm.

“Baekhyun, fuck I-”

His glowing eyes flicker, your head swimming as confusion overcomes you.

“Hey…hey-” you hear, and startled, you feel yourself gasping for air as you sit up.

“Hey, you were screaming for me? Is everything okay?”

Blinking, looking around, you realize that you're still in your bed.

But looking down, your nightgown is still intact, buttons perfectly placed.

Covers are drawn over you, and Baekhyun hovers near the door, looking confused and concerned.

“Was it a nightmare?” He asks tentatively.

Trying to calm yourself, you merely nod, taking in a deep breath.

“Yeah…” you answer, covering your face with your hand at the memory…and the soaked panties you’re currently concealing beneath the blanket.

“Yeah…nightmare…I’m fine.” you tell him hollowly, and he just nods, pausing a moment before he’s turning to close the door behind him.

“Fuck…” you say, flopping back on your pillow, cheeks heating with the memory of the “nightmare.”

What the fuck is wrong with you?

The following days, you swear Baekhyun senses something is off.

What the hell possessed you to dream of him in that way?

Why the fuck are you upset, it was only a dream??

You find yourself going over the same line for the 15th time, still unable to comprehend it and you just lean back in your chair to run your hand over your face.

Before, you’d have heard something from Baekhyun like, “Is something wrong?” or “Is everything okay?”

But now…

You glance over, catching him looking away right as you do, going back to whatever it was he was documenting.

He’s been especially withdrawn, not his usual exuberant self since the garden…since the night you woke up screaming his name.

Feeling the heat travel up your neck at the thought, you clear your throat and rub the spot as if that will help it disappear.

Who knew you’d be missing his normal annoying banter.

“I can’t focus…I…maybe I should eat…” you say out loud, eyes darting to him as he sits in his little alcove.

His eyes meet yours, seeming to search for something, but you have no idea what.

“Come if you want...I’ll likely make more than I can manage anyhow.” You toss out, turning to walk towards the kitchens.

Not sure why, but your heart sinks as silence meets you, but then seems to bob right back as you hear his feet hit the tiles and he slowly follows behind you.

It’s just a meal, you think, chastising yourself as you go about pulling out ingredients.

You can feel his eyes on you as you set about preparing your meal, and you glance over to study him.

“I’m sorry again about waking you the other evening.” You say, flinching at how your voice shakes.

He merely shrugs, settling his elbow on the counter and placing his hand on his palm as he studies you.

“Nothing to be sorry about. It happens.”

Frowning, you just turn back around to pay attention to the food and not burn anything.

“When we were at the academy, you used to do this late at night.” He finally breaks the silence.

Turning to give him an odd look, you try to think about all the late nights you ended up in the kitchens there.

“How…how do you know that?” You ask him softly, swallowing at how his cheeks redden and his gaze drops, suddenly finding the counter interesting.

“I used to have nightmares too…sometimes I still do.” He whispers, fingernail tracing the patterns in the glossy marble.

“Occasionally, I would wander to clear my mind. One night…I came across you in the kitchen cooking and humming.”

A smile teases at his lips, his eyes unfocused as if remembering, “I got curious and looked inside to see who was up so late. I’d…never seen you smile before. No matter how many times I tried to talk to you…but that night…” he shrugs again, his eyes flicking up to meet yours before looking away again.

Raising an eyebrow, you can only wait for him to continue, oddly fascinated to be told he’d been spying on you.

It doesn’t feel invasive like it should, no…it just has you wondering what he thought, what he saw…what he felt.

“I smiled?” You ask him gently, encouraging him.

He looks up at you, eyes flicking back and forth as they study you, his corners of his lips lifting slowly.

“Yes…you were beau-” he starts, but then his eyes widen, standing abruptly as he points behind you.

“Oh shit!” you exclaim, turning as you finally register the smoke pouring from the dry, burning food in the pan.

“Hold on, don’t panic-” he says, yet before his words get through to you, you’re grabbing the metal handle with your bare hand.

The clatter of the pan hitting the burner echoes through the room as you gasp, your hand throbbing with searing pain.

“Oh god, fuck, I’m stupid-”

“Wait, don’t move.” He hums, calmly turning off the burner before turning to grasp your wounded hand.

“It’s so fucking cliche, burning my hand, I’m an idiot-” you find yourself rambling.

“Shh…” he whispers, turning your palm up in his hands, studying the long angry burn on your skin.

Swallowing heavily, you can only nod, heart beating quickly at his proximity, at his gentle touch as he leans down to softly blow on your injury.

The soft glow that surrounds both of your hands is warm, then cool as you feel relief.

Startled, you watch the welt that was forming slowly fade until only unblemished skin remains.

“You…you can heal?” You ask him, stunned into stuttering your words.

His eyes are still on your palm, his thumb gently tracing the memory of the now healed burn before he nods.

“Please be more careful.” He asks, glancing up at you as his fingers linger on your skin.

Blushing, you just nod back at him, your brain racing with confusion.

“How cliche of me, grabbing a pan without a mitt, of course I’d do something like that. I don’t normally burn food, you know. Now I’m going to have to-” you rant, pulling your hand from his as you attempt to turn around and clean up the now ruined food.

“You are beautiful when you smile. I wish I could see it more.” He blurts out, freezing you in your tracks.

Eyes wide, you turn slowly to stare at him in disbelief.

It’s his turn to go beet red, fumbling for his own words as he seems to realize he said that out loud.

“I mean, you’re beautiful anyhow but I like when you seem happy…fuck…I just don’t want you to hate me like you do and I don’t know how to make you more comfortable…”

Dumbfounded at the outpouring of confusing words, you can’t manage to get a syllable out before he’s rushing from the room.

“I’m not hungry, I’m fine, I’ve got things to do-” the door swings shut before he finishes, leaving you standing dazed and staring off after him.

You’re not sure what is going on here, but things just got that much more confusing.

#ksmutsociety #lapydiariesnet #thevelvetvault #byun baekhyun #Baekhyun smut #Exo Baekhyun smut #Baekhyun fanfic #Dark Academia fic

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cheerycherrycandy-resurrected · 2 months ago

Text

Hunter's Moon (Medieval AU pt. 2)

Chapter 3

Aether, Rain and Dew enjoy the party. Swiss and Mountain finally talk.

'Bout time this pair of idiots talked...

Thanks for sticking with this (and letting me use a thin plot to throw backstory at you)! 🖤

Rating: T Content: more nasty family clans (but aeth's this time) Words: 4827

@ashthewaterghoul @bloodfin @cosmicseafoam @everybodyshusband @jazz-bazz @karmicbias @kentuckyfriedsatan @midnight-moth @nefariousghoul @papaslittlesunshine @zombiequeen777 @0-miles-away <333

Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3

Read below, or on AO3!

Across the festival, Aether was watching on with mild concern. He was used to his pack's antics and their oftentimes odd behaviour, but whatever was going on between Swiss and Mountain seemed strange even by their standards. They seemed to be putting an incredible amount of effort into ignoring each other, Mountain avoiding even attending the party until the last possible moment, which was especially noticeable given how attached they had been for a while now. The culmination of that attachment had been clear for all to see last night, which made their distant behaviour today even more strange.

The contrast between the Mountain of last night compared to the Mountain that Aether had first met many years ago made him chuckle in bemusement. They couldn't be more different, really. The Mountain of several years ago had been a similarly lone wolf to himself; roaming the wilderness with only himself and the trees for company. Aether had thought for a long time that they were kindred spirits, both content to live without a mate. Mountain had even seemed happier to exist alone than Aether was – the earth ghoul hadn't even sought a pack bond at first, whereas Aether missed and longed for the company and closeness of one. Recently though, Mountain seemed to have found another path that brought him joy and Aether couldn't be happier for his oldest friend.

Never would Aether have imagined the quiet earth ghoul finding his match in the oftentimes brash and loud multi ghoul, but he couldn't deny that in spite of that they seemed like a perfect match: two contrasting peas sharing a single pod. It was this mix of contrast and complement that brought Aether concern right now however – they were clearly feuding over something, and he could only hope they were able to sort things out between them. He had no doubt that Swiss would try to – ever the problem solver, he tended to address his issues head on. Of greater concern however was Mountain.

The earth ghoul had been so wary of him when they first met; almost closer to a wild animal than a ghoul from his time in the wilderness. During the first few weeks of their tentative alliance, gaining Mountain’s trust had felt like trying to coax a wild deer to eat from his hand. Actually, that was something Aether had done once, just to see if he could, and after a bit of quintessence it had been simple. He couldn't exactly quintosis Mountain into liking him though – that would hardly be the right footing to start building trust on. He had been skittish for so many months that Aether had been half-convinced that one morning he would wake to find Mountain had completely disappeared. He never had however, always staying true to his promise to keep watch over their camp.

Aether didn't know what had happened between Mountain and Swiss, but he hoped that the earth ghoul felt a similar loyalty to Swiss and his pack still and wasn't going to try to flee this problem either. It seemed not, thankfully, as he saw Mountain plunging through the throngs of people in the direction Swiss had gone, shortly after their first performance.

Aether was shaken from his thoughts by the nervous chattering of a few humans emerging from the long, lantern-lit path that led down to the road. More people than they could have ever expected had braved the mysterious Abbey at the top of the hill, all curious and intrigued by its strange inhabitants and their enigmatic figurehead.

As one of the ghouls with the most experience around humans and the most reassuring presence amongst them, Copia had specifically asked him to be there to greet those who were brave enough to attend. If we want to recruit a few, we must be gracious to the many, he had said. So far, Aether considered he was doing a good job. Humans had no way of telling if they were in the presence of quintessence, so he had made sure all those he greeted got a good dose when passing him. With a winning smile and a handshake buzzing with the telltale purple sparks that only he and his kind could see, the newest arrivals began to mingle with the crowd of ghouls and their fellow villagers.

Aether looked up to see Copia watching him, shooting him a smile and a double thumbs up. For the leader of such an old and magical church, the man could be so unserious, Aether thought. It really was a funny turn of events that he was here on greeting duty, and such a contrast from the life he had been raised in far away in the rocky eastern lands. Like Mountain, he had also been raised in a clan he had later broken ties with. Unlike Mountain's though, his did not preach honour through self-sufficiency and respect for nature. His tribe were war mongers, believing it was their hell-born right to destroy all they came across and repopulate the Earth with their own. Aether had never liked their values, even having been grown up surrounded by them.

As he had reached the age where he was expected to participate in their atrocities, he had started to wonder how any ghoul could go along with this so calmly. Surely, he couldn't be the only one to think that their behaviour was barbaric? He held closely to the idea that maybe everyone around him was simply faking their enthusiasm for the grotesque violence, that this was all some sort of performance designed to instil fear in their enemies. He would lie awake at night praying that all his peers were in on the ruse too and he had just missed the explanation. Alternatively, maybe they were all as horrified by everything as he was and were also only going along with it for their safety.

Unfortunately though, time and time again he had been proven wrong as more and more ghouls he had considered friends committed atrocities for the tribe. Seeing the violence taking place in front of him made him feel sick to his core. Although he had so far managed to escape any such ritual brutalism by his own hands, the tribe's secondary goal soon began to be forced upon him: finding a mate and siring as many kits as he could. The tribe's goal of dominating the Earth seemed unstoppable and Aether could see no escape as, one by one, all the ghouls he thought had shown him a hopeful spark of individuality soon also fell to the cruelty of the clan.

Similar to Mountain, his clan also had a rite of passage all ghouls needed to complete, else they would be exiled from the tribe and given the same treatment as the rest of their enemies. It was a simple test of his strength and will, or so the elders who came to see him had said. All he needed to do was bring back the horns of an enemy ghoul he had slain in battle. Aether could see no way out that would not sacrifice all his principles or his life so, similarly to Mountain, he had agreed to his pack’s demands and left. He would figure out what to do later.

After a rocky start, Aether had eventually found his feet in the wild lands around him. He moved west, finding the lush green fields and woods provided better sustenance and protection than his clan’s natural habitat ever could. Along his way he had met many travellers, ghoul and human alike, who he would try and persuade to turn back to save them from the fate that surely awaited them. Most had listened, but the faces of those who had not still haunted him.

Adapting in order to survive had been difficult, but Aether enjoyed learning new things. His clan's pillaging and raiding had brought back all kinds of information and knowledge from the civilisations they sought to destroy, most of which they had derided as scholarly nonsense but from which Aether had gained a basic understanding of the natural world he now found himself in. He had enough knowledge about animals and plants to know which could feed or heal him versus which would do him harm. Besides, Aether was a fast learner and the enjoyment he found in applying the things he had read about made him optimistic for his new future alone.

He missed having a clan around him though: their friendship and camaraderie, however surface level it had been, had kept the loneliness at bay. He had never desired a mate or kits, neither for himself nor to please his clan, but he realised now that the company of other ghouls was something he dearly missed.

He had heard Mountain in the woods before he saw him, sensing his energy approaching his small camp. There was something innocent about it that kept him at ease – although clearly a ghoul he felt only curiosity in their heart, not a trace of violence. They must not be a quintessence ghoul: something his kind learned early on was how to protect their minds and intentions from each other. Aether had been shocked to see the towering figure of the earth ghoul emerge tentatively from the trees. Replete with monstrous, antler-like horns which only added to the deer-like mannerisms Aether would later liken his to, he would cut a terrifying figure to those who couldn't sense the peacefulness deep within.

The ghoul had stared at Aether in shock, as though he couldn’t quite remember how he had ended up face to face with another ghoul. He looked like he was debating if he should flee or ready himself to pounce in retaliation to an attack from Aether that would never come. Greeting him as he had the other ghouls and humans he had met during his travels, Aether had offered him a seat at his fire and some food. An act of pacifism and hospitality so contrasting to the way he had been raised it still felt almost rebellious, even now.

Now however it was second nature to greet all as though they were future friends. This had served him well in fighting the initial scepticism of the humans he and Mountain had met, especially when they were trying to find their feet in the village they would eventually call home. He hadn’t had the smoothest start amongst the villagers there, not able to let his actions speak for him as Mountain had when masquerading as a strong but silent farmhand looking for work. His charming smiles and friendly words had certainly eased his way however, soothing the subconscious alarm bells all humans were hardwired to feel in his presence until his miraculous healing potions and talismans laced with quintessence could bolster his reputation.

His impeccable social graces served him well again now as a pair of young women, so alike they had to be sisters or even twins, emerged. They were clearly nervous, so with a shimmer of quintessence Aether dialled up his million-watt smile. He greeted them as if their presence was personally appreciated by him and all the church, before they disappeared into the crowd laughing; Aether’s mission complete. He had to wonder if any of his old clan would recognise him anymore with how fundamentally different he was now.

Elsewhere in the mass of ghouls and humans were Rain and Dew, both thoroughly enjoying their evening. Mist had done her best to fill them in on their packmates’ drama but neither ghoul was too worried; surely it was just a misunderstanding, and they would patch things up in no time. Dew especially couldn't see any way in which the two clearly smitten ghouls wouldn't sort out their differences. After all, hadn't he and Rain managed to? Mist had rolled her eyes and wandered off, muttering about the Dewdrop she knew being far more pessimistic than that.

Somehow, despite still being as attached at the hip as ever, Rain and Dew were now managing to have entirely separate conversations. Their tails behind them were twined together, uncaring of any humans around, as Dew slowly rubbed the spade of his over Rain’s in a comforting motion. Rain was, as happened fairly often, being fawned over by a collection of older water ghouls and ghoulettes acting somewhat like doting grandparents. Their comments that the colour was coming back to his gills nicely, and wasn’t Dew a lucky ghoul to have him had made both of the pair blush.

While Rain embraced the attention, preening subtly, Dew had awkwardly cast his gaze to the ground. An out presented itself in the form of Ifrit, one of the few fire ghouls he got on well with, sneaking past them towards the drinks table while looking furtively over his shoulder. Dew smirked as he reached out a hand to grasp him on the shoulder, watching him leap into the air like a cat doused with water.

Ifrit was a young ghoul, Dew assumed similar in age to himself, and one of the newest at the Abbey. Despite that, he already seemed to have gained himself quite a reputation; he was a prankster, frequently getting into trouble, and also a notorious, silver-tongued flirt. Dew cackled as he watched the other fire ghoul scrape himself off the metaphorical ceiling and calm down when he realised it was only Dew.

“Whose tail did you tread on this time?” Dew asked, grinning at the thought. Ifrit's eyes shot side to side warily, only making Dew's smile grow wider. It had to be someone important, or scary. This was going to be good; he thought.

“M-mountain!” Ifrit hissed, as though the earth ghoul was listening in.

“What?!” Dew burst out laughing at the thought of his pack's gentle giant scaring Ifrit quite this much. Sure, he could hold a grudge with the best of them, Dew ought to know that best of all, but he had never seen the earth ghoul do anything that could warrant this kind of reaction. Still, Ifrit kept glancing over his shoulder, clearly terrified.

“What did you do to him? Mount wouldn't hurt a fly!”

This did nothing to mollify Ifrit who shook his head furiously.

“He's so pissed at me Dew! You should've seen him, I thought he was gonna kill me!”

Dew continued laughing, the thought of Mountain scaring the normally over-confident fire ghoul was beyond hilarious to him.

“Why would he want to hurt you? What, did you scorch one of his saplings or something?”

“Worse! I made a move on his mate!” Ifrit winced at the memory. “Only I didn't know it was his mate until he got all possessive and terrifying!”

Dew positively howled, bent double.

“It’s not funny,” Ifrit whined, “have you seen his face all day? He looks like he’s been plotting my destruction!”

Still gasping for breath amid paroxysms of laughter, Dew patted Ifrit reassuringly on the arm.

“Firstly Iff, why in Hell did you go after Swiss of all ghouls? He's been lovesick over Mount since before we even got here!”

“I didn't know that! I've just seen him around, and thought he was cute, y'know?”

Dew rolled his eyes, still snickering; Ifrit was just as susceptible to Swiss' innate charms as everyone else, it seemed.

“You don't need to worry about Mountain though. He’s not mad at you, he and Swiss are just having a bit of a misunderstanding right now that they need to work through.”

With that said, Dew reached up on his tiptoes to look for Mountain's head above the crowd. Even without his massive antlers on full display, his auburn hair should still be visible well above the tops of the heads of the rest of those gathered. There was no sign of him in the large clearing however, which Dew hoped meant he was off talking with Swiss.

“It doesn't look like he's around now anyway,” Dew shrugged, "so forget about him and go have fun! Go schmooze with some humans, they'll give you the time of day, I'm sure!”

With an exaggerated wink, Dew waved a relieved-looking Ifrit off towards the drinks table where he immediately found a small cluster of guests to entertain with his charming looks and winning smiles.

Rain, whose own company had also wandered off, had been listening in amusement and now leaned his chin on Dew's shoulder, wrapping his arms around his middle.

“Poor ghoul,” he giggled in Dew's ear, “you're never going to let him forget that are you.”

“Nope!” Dew grinned, popping the ‘p’ sound with satisfaction and spinning around in Rain's arms to face him. “I bet Mount will be so embarrassed about scaring him too, I can't wait to annoy him about it once he's sorted out his mess with Swiss!”

“You're such a menace.” Rain smiled and shook his head fondly at this new side of his favourite ghoul that was slowly emerging as he grew more comfortable and confident.

“You love it though.” Dew smirked, but Rain knew by now that such a throwaway comment was still silently begging for his reassurance.

“I do. I love it. I love you.”

Dew pressed closer to him, staring up and clearly waiting for the kiss that always followed those words. Rain was struck for what felt like the thousandth time how beautiful his eyes looked, even more so tonight as they reflected the myriad complimentary autumn colours around them. Who was he to deny Dew anything he wanted?

“Love you too.” Dew murmured, words half-garbled by the meeting of their lips.

~~~~~~~

With a final squeeze of his hand from Sunny for good luck, Swiss made a beeline for where he could see Mountain’s head bobbing through the crowd. He had left the stage in a hurry, not wanting to have their conversation in front of a watching audience, and needing a moment to compose himself and get his breath back. Copia had held Mountain back only briefly, but it was long enough that the crowd had closed between them. Swiss dove headfirst through the throngs of guests and ghouls back towards where he had been, single minded in his focus.

Mountain was doing the same, chasing after Swiss before he could disappear completely with little care for the disgruntled faces he pushed past. As such, neither ghoul immediately registered that the other was in front of them until they collided with each other, hard. Winded, Swiss lost his footing and was only saved by a pair of large hands catching hold of his shoulders and keeping him upright. Green eyes stared down at him, full of a thousand conflicting emotions, but mostly radiating concern. Still slightly stunned by the impact, they began talking over each other.

“Ah! Sorry, I wasn't looking.”

“Are you alright?”

“Mountain? I was looking for you!”

“We need to talk, I'm so sorry.”

Their words could barely be heard over the sound of the crowds around them Swiss realised with a nervous chuckle, watching Mountain's lips move but hearing next to no sound come out. He pointed at the earth ghoul, then off to the side of the clearing, motioning that they should go somewhere quieter. Mountain nodded, looking so relieved to be given an out from the overwhelming crush and noise surrounding them that he wasn't even considering the awkwardness they had felt earlier. It broke the tension between them, the pair smiling shyly at each other as Swiss turned to lead their way out of the clearing, Mountain sticking to him like glue.

Breaking out of the crowd, Swiss kept walking. He could feel Mountain's presence following behind him, so he kept going until the noise of the festival was just a low hum in the distance. Finally recognising his surroundings, he realised he had led them to the small garden they had explored in their earliest days here. It felt as magical as it had then; a safe haven with only the plants around to eavesdrop. Swiss led Mountain over to one of the benches nestled deep amongst the shrubs.

The pair sat in silence for a short while, both knowing there were things that needed to be said, but neither wanting to interrupt the other. Swiss could tell that there were words trying to escape Mountain, could see his bitten lip and the way he kept trying to take a breath to speak, before the words got stuck in his throat as Swiss opened his own mouth, before also pausing.

“You go first,” Swiss eventually spoke softly, “I'll listen, I promise.”

Mountain's mind went blank as he found himself suddenly put on the spot but tried to remember that it was just Swiss in front of him; the ghoul he loved most in the world. That thought finally inspired him to fight to get his words out and overcome everything that had been holding him back as it raced around his mind all day.

“I... I'm not too sure where to start,” even looking down at his feet, Mountain could feel Swiss’ warm gaze on him, full of gentle encouragement, “I've got a lot to apologise for today I think.”

True to his word, Swiss continued to listen quietly to Mountain's low, soft voice, overflowing with remorse and nerves.

“I'll start at the beginning, I guess. I need to explain so you know all of this is my fault, not yours.”

He took a deep breath and dared to raise his eyes to meet Swiss'. As green met gold, he felt a rush of love that gave him all the confidence he needed to continue.

“I'm sorry about last night. For kissing you without knowing if that was something you wanted too. I know it isn't an excuse, but with all the free drinks I don't think either of us was thinking clearly and I'm sorry I didn't wait to ask you properly first.”

Swiss’ mind raced at the notable omission: Mountain hadn't said he regretted the kiss, only that he regretted not asking first. He dug his claws into this little shred of hope and smiled encouragingly at Mountain so he would continue talking. It worked; now that Mountain had started he found the words came easier, all the thoughts that had been whirling around his head all day coming pouring out.

“Then this morning. I’m sorry for leaving you and for running away. I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see me or not, but I figured you'd want me out of your space when you woke up. I wanted to come and find you, I promise I wanted to apologise properly, but then I saw the ghoulettes with you and you looked so sad.”

Swiss winced; he was sure the venom radiating off of Mist in particular hadn't emboldened Mountain either.

“I thought you would have been angry at me, but seeing you upset made me think maybe I should have stayed this morning after all. So I'm sorry that I left, unless you wanted me to? I've been so confused all day, not knowing exactly where I messed up, only that I did, and that's why I've been avoiding you which I'm also sorry for!”

Mountain's final words burst out so fast he was almost breathless, and Swiss was barely certain he had caught them all. If he had been confused about Mountain's actions, it seemed the earth ghoul had been equally conflicted, if not more so. He had thought so much about doing the right thing, he had only managed to escalate their problems further. He started thinking about what on Earth he could possibly say, when Mountain continued speaking again, determined to leave nothing unsaid that could cause them any more confusion.

“I should have come to find you earlier, I'm truly sorry for that. Giving you space didn't mean ignoring you the whole day even if that seemed easier. I understand if you do want space after this, but you should know that I don't want it. It felt horrible being apart all day! I want my favourite ghoul back, however you'll let me. Whatever it takes.”

Seeing Mountain's shoulders finally slump as he released all the tension he had been holding on to, it was clear he was done. Swiss didn't think he'd ever heard him speak so passionately or for so long at once before.

“I don't want space either,” he replied quietly, smiling almost shyly as he spoke, “I missed you today. I want to put this whole big misunderstanding behind us – try and forget the last twenty-four hours.”

He paused.

“Well, maybe not completely forget them...”

Mountain looked at him quizzically, head tilted and brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of what Swiss meant by that exactly.

Swiss's smile widened; maybe Mountain really was just that dense about these things. The time for subtlety had long since passed he realised, and hints would no longer suffice. He shuffled closer, his eyes never leaving Mountain's, determined to get an answer to the last big unanswered question in his mind.

“Did you want last night?”

Mountain took a while to answer, looking like he was choosing his words extremely carefully.

“Only if you did too.”

He looked so hopeful, Swiss thought. Like his whole world was floating, suspended around his head while he waited to see if it would fall to the ground and shatter into a million pieces or not. Swiss wasn't going to be the one to let it fall though.

“I don't regret anything about last night,” he smiled as reassuringly as he could, “aside from all the confusion that damned free beer caused! What say we start off where we should have done last night?”

Mountain still looked nervous. Swiss understood and he lamented his poor choice of words: Mountain's emotions had been thrown around like a young tree in a storm all day, and he could see how his words could be easily misconstrued. Now was not the time to leave him guessing about anything, especially not for the sake of some imagined allure or air of mystery. Even if Swiss himself found direct words difficult sometimes, he had to try.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” He wriggled back on the bench until he was up on his knees, ignoring their protests. His whole body now facing the earth ghoul, he could meet his finally eyes properly while remaining far enough away that he could keep him in focus.

“I like you, Mountain. A lot. I would like to court you as a mate. Would you want that too?”

Mountain’s eyes blazed brightly back with love, both at Swiss’ words and at his understanding of the earth ghoul, making sure the words he wanted to hear so badly were said in a way he couldn’t possibly misunderstand. They had had enough of guesswork. While some of their packmates may have managed to telepathically traverse the gap between sworn enemies and future mates, that didn’t mean they had to. Mountain nodded shyly.

“I’d like that. I want to court you too. I want to be yours, and you to be mine.”

They continued staring at each other for a second, letting their words properly sink in, until finally a euphoric giggle escaped Swiss’ lips. At last, they could say for sure that they were on the same page. Swiss threw himself back onto the bench to sit properly beside Mountain again, sitting as close to the earth ghoul as he could while still maintaining a respectful modicum of space between them. Swiss gently bumped shoulders with Mountain, a simple gesture between the closest of friends. That was first and foremost what they would always be; all romance aside.

“I hated today,” Swiss said quietly, “let’s never do that again.”

Mountain nudged him back reassuringly.

“Me too. I promise.”

As they continued to sit in a blissfully comfortable quiet, the noise from the party lowly drifted over to them, a low rumble of conversation punctuated by shrill peals of laughter. Swiss leapt to his feet in a panic.

“SHIT, we forgot about the festival Mount! It must be nearly time to perform again!”

Mountain looked up at him in horror, having also completely lost track of the time. Even though Copia would likely be delighted that they had made up, letting him down on his big night would be unforgivable, and not the way to repay him for his patience. Swiss grabbed his hand, as he had done so many times recently when leading him somewhere, to pull him to his feet and back towards the party.

Suddenly Swiss hesitated and his grip went slack, as though he was unsure if such a gesture was okay still. Mountain squeezed his hand reassuringly and let the multi ghoul continue to tug him forward, the pair giggling hysterically as they tore through the gardens towards the festivities.

#what you've done you cannot undo #hunters moon #medieval au #historical au #cw alcohol #angst with a happy ending #misunderstandings #backstory #swissalps #swiss ghoul #mountain ghoul #swiss x mountain #ghost fanfiction #the band ghost #nameless ghouls #ghost #ghost bc #em writes

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