#ifrit and zephyr are banished to the pit

[justrandomghoul]

Swiss x Dewdrop: I Would Never, Ever Hurt You

The post that started it all

Angst, hurt/comfort

I made some changes to the original idea, but the idea somewhat stayed the same.

Dewdrop is struggling with the changes of his new element and packmates.

Dewdrop hid at his sanctuary, the ministry's roof, where he could be alone and not be bothered by anyone. He had been going there almost every night ever since his elemental transition. Mountain and Aether had been treating him as if he were a ghost that they couldn't see haunting the halls of the place they once called home. It no longer felt like home since their packmates were banished to the pits and the loss of their Papa.

He felt like he had no other choice: either accept the transition or have his mates be banished...or worse. Dewdrop couldn't bring himself to finish that thought. Despite his sacrifice and weeks of agony, his mates treated him with such coldness. After he recovered, he went into the greenhouse to talk to Mountain and help out like he used to as a water ghoul. Mountain screamed at him to get out and that Dewdrop would set the place ablaze. Dewdrop burst into tears and quickly fled the greenhouse, seeking refuge in his room for the remainder of the day.

Aether also behaved differently; he wouldn't raise his voice at Dewdrop, but he acted as if Dewdrop had died and that Aether was in mourning despite Dewdrop standing next to him. As they did the dishes, he told Dewdrop that he wished Dewdrop hadn't made it and that the fire ghoul was just the shell of the one he used to love. It devastated Dewdrop. He was alive and right next to his mate, but his mate refused to believe that his mate was right there. Aether would watch the fire ghoul with such sadness and devastation that it would make a vengeful spirit weep.

The Cardinal showed kindness to the newly transitioned fire ghoul. He had been taking care of him like his packmates should. The Cardinal saw to it that Dewdrop was well-fed and that his room was kept at a cold temperature to prevent Dewdrop from overheating himself. He also insisted that Dewdrop called him 'Copia' and not by his title since "they are going to work together after all". After Dewdrop finally confided in Copia about the treatment he had been receiving from his mates, Copia berated Mountain and Aether for the treatment of their packmate, who went through weeks of agony for them.

Then the Summoning took place. Sister Imperator ordered the Cardinal to summon a new water ghoul and two air ghouls. Dewdrop watched as they summoned a water ghoul. When the water ghoul appeared, it made Dewdrop ache. The water ghoul was perfect, not a single imperfection on him. He introduced himself as 'Rain' to his future packmates. Dewdrop didn't hate Rain, but the ghoul before him unknowingly triggered a sadness of who he used to be. He used to be beautiful, and now everything he used to be was burned away. Then the air ghouletts were summoned. They were mated and protective of each other. The way they refused to leave each other's embrace made Dewdrop smile; it was sweet in a weird way to watch. They introduced each other as 'Cirius' and 'Cumulus'.

But then something unexpected happened. Out of nowhere, the portal opened again and revealed a multi-ghoul. He trailed not far behind the ghouletts, essentially hitching a ride. A multi-ghoul was extremely rare to encounter, and summoning one was even more so. Dewdrop froze as the multi-ghoul turned his gaze to him, his warm brown eyes reflecting what made Dewdrop feel vulnerable, but didn't feel threatened. The multi-ghoul introduced himself as 'Swiss' and was welcomed with open arms.

After the new arrivals settled in, Dewdrop observed from the sidelines as they interacted with Mountain and Aether, leaving the fire ghoul to himself. He got the hint that he wasn't welcome and left the den feeling dejected. Every day, Dewdrop saw how everyone interacted with one another as if they had been packmates for a long time. They treated Dewdrop as if he wasn't there or that they forgot about him. It caught the attention of Swiss. He saw how lonely the fire ghoul was and how the pack treated him. It made him furious, and from that point on, he swore to himself that he would protect Dewdrop and make sure that he felt loved.

It started as something small, such as helping Dewdrop when he was left to do the dishes. Dewdrop was silent as he cleaned a plate; his long hair hid his face. Swiss wordlessly grabbed a towel and started drying the dishes that Dewdrop had cleaned. Dewdrop turned and looked up at Swiss in surprise. Swiss turned and looked at Dewdrop before smiling at him and continued drying the dish. Dewdrop was silently thankful for his help, but didn't understand why Swiss bothered.

Since then, Swiss began to assist Dewdrop whenever possible. He wordlessly helped the smaller ghoul carry equipment, helped him with his daily tasks that would take the fire ghoul too long to complete, and included him with whatever leisurely thing the pack was doing after a long day of practice and chores. Mountain and Aether continued to distance themselves from Dewdrop, even going as far as protecting Rain from him, despite Dewdrop having no ill feelings towards the water ghoul. After weeks of neglect from Mountain and Aether, Dewdrop gave up and decided to protect his heart from being broken again.

He was so tired of being ignored and sometimes being yelled at by those who used to love him, which is why he took refuge at his sanctuary, a place where no one could hurt him. Feeling utterly defeated, Dewdrop lowered his head and hugged his knees to his chest. The ghosts of his pack plagued his broken mind and heart. He longed for Ifrit's fearless nature and tender heart, yearned for Zephyr's gentle voice and embraces, and most of all, he missed the love Mountain and Aether used to have for him. What he did for them, he did out of love, but they were too overwhelmed by grief and anger to see that.

Dewdrop was about to allow himself to cry when he felt someone behind him, causing him to gasp and turn his head to the presence. He turned and saw Swiss standing hesitantly in front of the window Dewdrop climbed through.

Swiss smiled as he spoke apologetically, "I apologize for disturbing you. I had no idea you were here. I heard that we can see the stars more clearly this time of the year, and I wanted to see them for myself." He hesitated before speaking up again. "Would it be alright if I joined you?"

Dewdrop smiled half-heartedly and patted at a spot next to him. "I wouldn't mind at all."

Swiss grinned and sat down next to the fire ghoul, barely touching him. Dewdrop avoided the multi-ghoul's gaze by looking down at the weather-worn tiles. He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't want to be close to Swiss.

Swiss must've felt Dewdrop's uneasiness, because he politely looked away to look up at the stars. He spoke in wonder, "It's so beautiful up here. You could get lost just by trying to find a single constellation." He turned to look at Dewdrop who refused to look up. "I could get lost finding you."

Dewdrop turned to look at Swiss. His expression betrayed the confusion and vulnerability he felt.

Swiss looked back at Dewdrop before continuing, "You're as bright and beautiful as the North Star."

Dewdrop blushed and looked away. "You have no idea what you're talking about." He insisted.

Swiss dared himself before moving a bit closer to him without touching him. He smiled as he spoke, "I may be new, but I've been around and I know beauty when I see it."

Dewdrop felt tempted to stand up and leave, but couldn't bring himself to, as he felt the multi-ghoul's genuineness and decided to hear him out. He barely spoke above a whisper as he spoke, "If you saw who I used to be, you wouldn't be saying that."

Swiss frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Dewdrop couldn't meet his gaze and decided to look at Swiss's shoes to avoid his eyes as he spoke. "I'm not who I used to be. I used to be beautiful...like Rain." He shakily took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not a fire-born. I used to be a water ghoul. I used to be beautiful. They decided that I wasn't good enough and that I had to meet their expectations. They took away our pack and I sacrificed myself to keep Mountain and Aether safe."

He wiped a tear away before continuing, "I gave up myself to save them and in return, they act like I died...they act like I'm not here." He sounded defeated. "They would rather mourn who I used to be rather than to accept what I've become."

Swiss hesitated before gently placing his hand on top of the smaller ghoul's. Dewdrop couldn't bring himself to pull away; he missed the gentle comfort. When Swiss saw that Dewdrop didn't reject him, he gently ran his thumb across Dewdrop's knuckles to comfort him. "You changed elements? I-I didn't think that was possible. How...did it..."

Dewdrop sounded pained as he spoke. "It was painful. I felt like I was dying and I guess a part of me did. I had no choice, I had to do it to save them. We had already lost so much and I couldn't bear to lose anyone else. I did what I had to do...and I guess they resent me for it."

Swiss was too horrified to say anything. He had a feeling that something happened that caused a shift in the pack dynamic, but he had no idea of the pain the fire ghoul went through to protect the pack. He wanted to throw punches at Mountain and Aether. How dare they treat their pack member like that after all he did for them to keep them safe? How dare they add more pain? Swiss anchored himself to not lose himself in his anger.

Dewdrop touched his neck where his gills used to be. The black lines that now adorn his neck. Swiss's eyes watered as he saw the scars he never noticed before. He wanted to kiss them away. Dewdrop saw that Swiss was looking at the scars. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"I know, it's not a pretty sight to see."

Swiss slowly raised his hand, checking to see if Dewdrop would pull away. When Dewdrop gave no indication that he objected to his touch, Swiss gently tucked Dewdrop's hair away from his face behind his ear and caressed his cheek, feeling the warmth radiating from the ghoul. He couldn't bring himself to speak above a whisper, as if he feared that if he spoke any louder, Dewdrop would vanish. "You're beautiful."

Dewdrop's expression turned into shock. He couldn't bring himself to speak.

Swiss took his silence as permission to continue. "You're as beautiful as the morning sun."

He couldn't bring himself to speak above a whisper. "Like the sun, I burn everything around me."

Swiss slowly leaned closer. "Like the sun, you shine."

Dewdrop slowly leaned in, mirroring Swiss. "Like the sun, I'm painful to look at."

Swiss leaned closer, their lips barely touching. "Like the sun, I embrace your warmth."

Dewdrop closed the remaining distance between them. A soft gasp escaped from his lips as they kissed. Swiss wrapped his arms protectively around Dewdrop, wanting nothing more than to protect his sun. Dewdrop gently cupped Swiss's face in his hands. The gentle touches felt like small suns. After a few heartbeats, they gently pulled away from their kiss to look into each other's eyes. Swiss's brown eyes started adoringly into Dewdrop's ruby reds.

He spoke softly into his ear. "My sun and stars."

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

Cling to the Light

The greatly delayed acespec ghouls fic I've been teasing for like 3 months, I'd say Enjoy but this became like 80% angst so nothing new then

Mountain and Zephyr had always known they were different from the other ghouls in the Pit so when they found each other, they clung on tight. Mountain's struggles when Zephyr is banished back to the pit, and with the new feelings he is experiencing for his pack.

Rating: M to be safe, vague allusions to sex but nothing explicit or nswf Content: grey-ace/demi mountain, asexual zephyr, dysphoria/self doubt, heats/ruts, they/them zephyr, discussion of sexual repulsion and associated dysphoria, ghouls in the Pit having unhealthy relationships with sex, character sent back to pits, Angst, hurt/comfort Words: 4782

Read below or on AO3!

Mountain and Zephyr had each always known there was something different about them. Growing up in the Pit, they had been anomalies, leading solitary lives, struggling to find connection with other ghouls. In a landscape where battles were fought, allegiances won, and futures decided with sex, they had both felt that the world they had been created in wasn’t for them. When they had seen the opportunity to claw their way topside, it had been an escape to a different life, a reset.

Life on the surface was better, granted. Here they had a purpose and safety, but more importantly they had met each other. Zephyr; slight, fragile, and shy Air ghoul that they were had initially been frightened of the solemn and hulking Earth ghoul. But they had soon come to realise quite how much they had in common with each other after many evenings of retiring to bed early once activities between the other new ghouls had begun getting heated.

Ghouls naturally seek comfort and warmth in each other, and as Mountain and Zephyr became closer, they appeared to Dewdrop, Ifrit and Aether to be developing their own relationship. Monogamous ghouls weren’t unheard of in the Pit, they were certainly a lot more common than solitary ghouls. But whatever relationship the others thought was developing behind closed doors, the reality was far tamer, and yet just as exciting for the pair.

For Mountain and Zephyr, sitting together in the den then going their separate ways each evening had slowly morphed into them staying up late reading together in the comfortable silence of Zephyr’s room, and later Mountain spending the night. In truth, it had taken a long time for either of them to feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed, let alone cuddle together as they now did each night.

Zephyr was entirely repulsed by most sexual activity. They always had been, and yet the physiology of their ghoulish body still put them through the inescapable agony of heats. These times were the worst, as in addition to the physical pain they felt a strong sense of dysphoria coupled with the lingering terror from the Pits of their scent being detected and them being hunted as a conquest.

Mountain was the only ghoul they would allow to help them through it, because he understood in a way the rest of the pack could not relate to as much as they tried. For the others, heats were still painful if ignored, but were free of the emotional pain that accompanied Zephyr’s. Mountain understood, and sought to make sure Zeph always knew that no matter how their body and mind may be betraying them by behaving differently to normal, their feelings were still valid and nothing they did during these times would change anything between them. He brought them tea to try and calm their fraught nerves, and to supress the urges of the heat they hated so much.

For Mountain, he wasn’t actively repulsed by sex in the same was Zephyr was, more just apathetic. Helping Zephyr through their heats the same way a healer would assist someone through a sickness in the infirmary. Together they had figured out what Zeph felt most comfortable with, striking a balance of what their body and mind could handle.

After Mountain’s first rut topside, he would no longer let Zeph be involved. They had offered to help him through it, but even through the haze of hormones he could tell how uncomfortable it was making them, and he had fled to his bathroom to take refuge. After a few more hours of misery, he had sheepishly emerged to ask Aether for help. Now, he knows that any of his other packmates would be more than willing to help him out, and let him direct what he needs and can tolerate.

As Mountain and Zephyr’s own connection had grown, they had eventually both become more comfortable with the other ghouls in their pack. One night after a movie in the lounge, Dewdrop, in his characteristically to-the-point manner, had asked them outright why neither had ever been interested in a physical relationship with their other packmates. After explaining their own feelings as best they could, the pack had embraced this knowledge with open arms and grown even closer as a result.

Things had been a little awkward for them as a newly summoned pack from the Pit: Dew, Aether and Ifrit had never interacted with ghouls who weren’t all over each other all the time, but they had soon come to understand each other. In the Pit, both Mountain and Zephyr had felt like anomalies, but their new pack had worked hard to rectify that feeling. After a while, the three guitarists were able to playfully tease them when they would retire to bed early to drink tea and read together. They would frequently refer to them as the pack’s old married couple, safe in the knowledge that Mountain and Zephyr knew it came only from a place of love.

A year of touring the world had also helped the pack to bond. Many a post-ritual night on the bus had ended in a pile of sleepy ghouls cuddled together in the back of the bus, all too tired to fight over bunks.

Since returning, Mountain had occasionally found himself wanting to sleep with his packmates outside of his ruts. The first time he had these feelings, he had been confused. What did it mean for his special platonic bond with Zephyr?

Zeph had, of course, been wholly supportive. They would do anything to support the pack who had given them everything they could never have dreamed of having in the pit. Even if they would never feel the same way about their packmates that they felt for each other, they found other ways to show them how much they were loved.

After many moons with his pack, Mountain had reached a point where he felt comfortable initiating sex with Ifrit, Aether or Dew, and they with him. He knew that this was how they shared their love for each other, and he was overjoyed to be finally comfortable enough in his own skin around them to be able to show them how much he loved them, in their language. Mountain sometimes still felt put on the spot midway through these encounters, but his pack had become strongly attuned to his tells for when he was uncomfortable and wanted to stop, and when he genuinely wanted to continue but wasn’t taking his own pleasure from it. In these circumstances, Mountain had emphatically explained, he just wanted to make them feel good without the pressure on himself to finish.

He had described it once to Ifrit as “like brushing your teeth or something”, in an attempt to describe it as something neither overtly positive or negative, and Ifrit had almost fallen over laughing. Mountain knew better than to be offended, even when the next day Ifrit had winked at him across the dinner table and asked if he wanted to brush his teeth after eating.

The others tried to understand as best they could, even if they didn't fully get it. The same went for Zephyr. Nowadays, they knew that Mountain was never offended to be asked, and likewise they knew to never be offended to be turned down and offered an alternative pack bonding activity.

The five packmates had found so many other ways to show their love besides intimacy, sharing interests, sweet words, even just existing in proximity to each other. Zeph had introduced everyone to ceramic painting one cold winter's afternoon when they were craving closeness from their pack. Mountain had painted a vase with flowers representing all his pack, and it was unironically Aether's favourite thing in the whole world.

The pack's close bond had been shattered when Zephyr and Ifrit were sent back to the Pit. Zephyr had been deemed too old, not befitting of the Clergy's desired image of young and active ghouls. Ifrit had ruffled too many feathers, and been removed for being too outspoken in the days after Terzo was ripped offstage. The three remaining ghouls had spent their next few days glued to each others sides, their evenings spent huddled together in the den, terrified of another knock at the door and a summons for one of them.

On yet another evening like this, Mountain has his head tucked into the space between Aether’s shoulder and neck, his legs resting across Aether’s with Dew curled up tightly in both their laps, finally sleeping. Overwhelmed by fear, sadness and a desire to be as close to what was left of his pack as possible, he had pressed his lips to Aeth’s collar bone. He had needed to feel the connection to his pack, as the pain of bonds cut loose ate away at him inside and left a hollow, empty feeling. Aether had frozen, the gentle hand rubbing soothing circles into Mountain’s back pausing in its movement.

“Hey, Sapling, we don’t have to do anything, you know we love you without any of that.”

“No, I want to.” Mountain shook his head vehemently, and entwined his tail with Aether’s like a boa constrictor. “Need to feel you. Need to know you’re still here.”

Aether turned his head to place a gentle kiss to Mountain’s forehead, humming softly. As he pulled back, Mountain tilted his head up to meet swirling violet eyes. Aether’s love and loss for his pack seemed to be radiating from them behind a film of unshed tears matching Mountain’s own, sucking Mountain into their depths as though to hold him next to his very psyche. In this moment, Mountain couldn’t ever recall feeling such a strong physical pull to his packmates before and slowly leaned in towards Aether, letting him surround all his senses.

Time seemed to slow, as Mountain pressed his rough lips to Aether’s own chapped and bitten ones. It wasn’t like the many romance novels he’d read; there were no sparks. Instead, Mountain felt something far stronger and deeper, a connection more than mere physical contact. In that moment, it felt as though their souls were intertwining, twisting together as their tails did beside them. He felt the tears in his eyes finally spill over and run down his cheeks, but the hot bitterness from before was replaced with a host of new emotions he struggled to name, all condensing to one he was familiar with though: love.

As Mountain moved to deepen the kiss, he let out a breathy noise that he almost couldn’t believe came from him. He could sense Aether’s hesitation, so he pulled back to catch his eyes once more, matching tear-tracks staining his lavender-tinted cheeks.

“I love you, my Moonlight.”

“Oh Sapling…” Aether seemed just as affected as he was, pulling the arm around Mountain tighter, trying not to jostle the sleeping ghoul in their laps. This time, Aether leaned in first, moving at a glacial pace. Mountain closed his eyes, and let himself drown in the sea of emotions once more.

The pair continued to kiss as though the world around them was ending, which wasn’t too far from the truth, until Dewdrop slowly woke from his fitful sleep and smiled to himself at his packmates. He let out a sleepy chirp, and nuzzled his head deep into the warm bodies of his packmates. Mountain broke the kiss to smile down at him and move his arm to pull him securely against his body. Pressed against Aether, with Dewdrop’s comforting weight in his lap, Mountain felt more peaceful than he had since the last Ritual.

Mountain ran the tips of his fingers up Dew’s spine, counting every vertebrae as though to check he was all still there. He tangled his hand in the hair at the nape of Dewdrop’s neck and gently scratched glamoured claws along his scalp the way he knew Dew liked. The little ghoul started up a low purr in response, which must’ve been contagious as Mountain and Aether soon also began to purr in sync. Before long, the evening turned into night and the fire burned low in the hearth, but none of the three ghouls seemed to notice as they fell asleep in a pile of sleepy kisses, soft touches and sweet words.

This was just the first of many nights the trio of ghouls spent curled into each other in front of the fire or in one of their nests, the constant need to touch and know the others were there becoming more desperate over time. Mountain didn’t fully understand where this newfound desire had come from. It felt to him as though his close bond with his packmates was overflowing, that he had to let it out or it would burn him up inside.

After a few weeks, it had become clear that no one else was at imminent risk of being returned to the pit. One of the more respected Cardinals, who had long shown interest in the activities of the Ghost project, had taken over as figurehead and he appeared to have ambitious plans. Aether, Mountain and Dewdrop had already had a few rehearsals with him, trying out new songs, so it seemed their positions were safe for now.

Cardinal Copia had big plans, bigger than Terzo, even. He had announced his intentions early on to introduce live backing vocals, multiple sets of keyboards, and to hold even larger Rituals. Mountain had been sceptical, there had never been this many ghouls in the project, and what did this mean for a pack dynamic? Aether and Dew had been more keen, although Mountain suspected this was in part due to Dew’s switch to lead guitar – he was half fire ghoul after all – and the Cardinal encouraging their playful bickering, suggesting they bring their regular antics to live performances, too.

In the end, it turned out Copia was equally worried that too many new ghouls would fail to integrate into the pack if summoned simultaneously. It would seem that he had had many conversations with the previous Papas about ghoul pack dynamics, and he was keen to ensure his ghouls were as happy topside as they could be. He had even made a point of apologising for the Clergy’s actions regarding Ifrit and Zephyr, and he had seemed sincere. Plans were therefore made to stagger the summoning of new ghouls.

First, a new water ghoul was summoned. They had all agreed that a new bass player was their priority for rehearsals. The night of the next full moon, with torrential rain pounding against the windows of the Abbey, they had gathered in the summoning chambers. Cardinal Copia had spoken the required spells and incantations and a slender, cobalt-skinned water ghoul had clawed their way out of the pits. Even hunched naked on the floor, his eyes darting around in suspicion and sharp fangs bared, the ghoul had exuded a lissom gracefulness.

He was beautiful, Mountain had to admit. This was apparent to all of them, but none more so that to Dewdrop. He had immediately been fascinated by the pretty new water ghoul, the pair spending hours together down at the lake each day. A week into being topside, he was well on his way to integrating into the little pack, bonding with Aether and Mountain too. Mountain had invited him to the greenhouse one afternoon and, beneath his initially prickly exterior, the water ghoul seemed to be a sweet and somewhat shy ghoul. Mountain could however attest to overhearing much evidence to the contrary from Dewdrop’s room late at night.

Seeing how quickly and closely the two had bonded had sparked something within Mountain that felt partly like jealousy, partly still grief from losing Zephyr and Ifrit, but also something like… guilt? He understood for the first time just how much Dewdrop and Aether had lost, losing Ifrit. Mountain found himself feeling conflicted every whenever he spent time with Rain, and pulling away from physical contact with Dew and Aether again.

It didn’t take long for Aether to notice something was up, his quintessence deeply attuned to the emotions of his packmates. One evening, when Mountain had excused himself immediately after dinner, Aether had hunted him down to Zephyr’s old room to find out exactly what was bothering him.

“Mount? Can I come in?” Aether knocked gently. He was met with a non-committal grunt, so let himself in. He found Mountain curled up in one of Zeph’s old hoodies, knees tucked up inside it.

“Oh Sweetheart…” he moved to the bed to scoop Mountain into his arms. “It’s ok to still miss them, you know.”  

Mountain nodded silently, letting Aether rock him gently from side to side. After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke,

“Was it even real?”

“Was what real, Sapling?”

“Everything! With Zeph… I never had the kind of relationship with them that I do now with you and Dew, but you did with Ifrit. I miss Zeph so much every day that it feels like I’m drowning, but how can I even understand how much more you and Dew must miss Ifrit when you had a real relationship with him?”

“Mountain, listen to me.” Aether tried his best to keep his voice even, even as Mountain’s words made his heart break for the ghoul.

“What you had was real, as real as any relationship I’ve ever seen. You and Zeph were two halves of a whole, you had a deeper relationship than any I could ever hope to understand. Whatever relationship you have now with me and Dew doesn’t devalue what you had with Zeph in any way. It’s different but it’s not any more special.”

Mountain sniffed, burying his face tighter into Aether’s side,

“I miss them so much, Aeth.”

“I know, Sapling.”

The pair stayed curled around each other until Mount was all cried out, and fell asleep the same way.

Next on Copia’s list of summons had been a new air ghoul. This was the summoning they were the most worried about – unlike Rain this ghoul would be a direct replacement of one of the original pack. They had discussed summoning an air ghoul last, however the ritual to summon a multi-element ghoul was by far the most complex and took the longest to prepare, so it had made more sense to summon them last instead.

The first surprise of the summoning was the appearance of a ghoulette. Only once before had the Ghost project had a ghoulette amongst their ranks: they were notoriously resistant to being summoned against their will. The second surprise had been the second ghoulette clinging to the first, a veritable stowaway. It was quickly revealed that the ghoulettes were Mates in the pit and, having heard of the topside activities of the Ministry, had made it their goal to be summoned.

Aether had initially taken the lead on welcoming the ghoulettes, sensing Mountain’s hesitation. It was impossible to ignore the similarities between the new ghoulettes and Zephyr, from their icy blonde hair to the graceful way they held themselves. However, it had soon become apparent that while they were visually similar, the ghoulettes were both very different from Zephyr and each other in personality, and Mountain had made more of an effort to bond with them. This, along with the inherent independence of the ghoulettes and Rain’s fast bond with Dew had been a blessing for Aether, it didn’t take much to see just how tired he was from his self-imposed role in charge of integrating the new pack.

Cirrus, the taller of the two ghoulettes, was outwardly the most confident. She had broken through Mountain’s barriers almost immediately, dragging him out on walks to explore the grounds of the Abbey and asking a million questions about the nature around them. While reluctant at first, Mountain quickly recognized a kindred spirit in their respect for the topside world around them. He found her presence deeply calming, and Mountain grew to consider his afternoons incomplete without them sharing tea in his greenhouse, sometimes with Rain joining them as well.

Mountain had taken longer to bond with Cumulus. While she had appeared to be the shyer of the two at first, once she realised Copia wasn’t about to send her or Cirrus back to the pit she had opened up and become more confident. Mountain was a little intimidated by the short ghoulette: she spoke a million words a minute, and was filled with an enthusiasm for the mundane that Mountain often didn’t feel up to reciprocating. The benefit of this however was her ability to pull Aether out of his shell. Mountain had no idea how she had managed it, but Cumulus’ infectious optimism was able to relax the increasingly shy and withdrawn Aether in a way no other packmate had succeeded in. Mountain had first-hand caught her, and later also Cirrus, slinking into his room late at night to help with just that.

However as the weeks passed and the newly summoned ghouls bonded more and became closer with his original packmates, Mountain found himself feeling more alone once more. He missed Zephyr’s simple comfort more now than ever, and their quiet evenings together just existing in the same space. It hurt to see the others enjoying the same closeness he so deeply mourned. It was especially clear between Dewdrop and Rain where the two seemed to orbit around each other, each on their own path but guided by tremendous forces beyond their comprehension. This time when Mountain began to withdraw again, it was Dewdrop who sought him out.

Mountain was working in the Abbey gardens, when he heard light footsteps padding his way. Looking up, he saw blond hair blowing in the breeze and Dew picking his way through the maze of flowerbeds towards him, clutching a thermos and two mugs.

“Hey Sprout.” He plopped to the ground, cross-legged next to where Mountain knelt, looking at him with his head tilted expectantly. Mountain, sensing this was more than just a casual chat, put down his trowel and also folded his long limbs into a more comfortable position. He accepted the steaming mug from Dew, inhaling the comforting scent.

“Nice to see you out here Droplet, what’s up?”

“Why are you hiding from me and Aeth?” Dewdrop was blunt and to the point, as ever. Mountain sighed into his tea as Dew tilted his head to the side, questioning.

“I’m not avoiding you-” he started, going silent again at the cut the crap look on Dew’s face. “I’m not trying to avoid you?” he suggested instead.

“You don’t even join us all for dinner anymore! Aeth’s been really struggling, and he doesn’t need to worry about you too.”

Mountain hung his head. He knew Aether had been finding the changes difficult, but he thought he’d been feeling better, he didn’t think he had been adding to his stress.

“I’m so sorry Dewbug, I’ve been trying to protect you all from me being so down all the time, and I’ve just made things worse.”

“Oh Sprout, you know you can always talk to us right?” Dew crawled towards him on his knees to wrap him in a hug. “I know how much you miss Zephyr.” Mountain leant his head down on top of Dew’s, comforted by the heat radiating from the smaller ghoul.

“How do you do it, Dew? How have you let Rain in so quickly, when Zeph and Ifrit’s rooms still smell like them and their voices still echo through the den?”

“I don’t think I ever had a choice, Mount. It’s like I was pulled to Rain by a siren’s call, like the second I saw him there in the summoning circle this door opened in my heart to let him in. I never had to think about it, it was so easy.”

“As easy as breathing, right?” sighed Mountain, pulling his arms tighter around Dew, neither noticing or caring as the damp of the grass soaked through their jeans. “That was Zeph…”

“I miss Iffie every day, but it’s not like the hole he left in my heart has gone away or healed, more that it’s grown space for another.” Dew fiddled absently with one of the rings in his ear. “The more acute pain might be healing, but there will always be a hole.”

Mountain hummed in agreement, gently rocking the pair back and forth but careful not to spill the remainders of their cooling tea.

“I am happy for you, you know” Mountain ventured after a while. “You and Rain. It’s like your souls have linked already, you’re good for each other.”

“Like you and Zeph.” Dew looked up at Mountain with wide and sincere eyes, “I saw it. You were soulmates. No one’s expecting you to ever be okay about it.”

Mountain made another noncommittal noise of affirmation. “I’m am sorry for acting so jealous though, just because I miss what you have.”

Dew shrugged, “Don’t sweat it Mount, I’d have been far worse if our positions were flipped.” He chuckled drily, before silence stretched between them again.

Mountain drained the rest of his tea and refilled it from the thermos. “Tell me about Rain, Dew? Tell me how he makes you feel, why you love him?”

“Who said anything about love?” Dew’s cheeks gained a slight coral tint, which he shook his hair to disguise.

Mountain levelled him with a look, eliciting a small giggle from Dew before he began talking.

“Well…”

That evening, once the sun had set and Mountain and Dew had finally traipsed back inside to find dry clothes and warm food, Mountain had set out to locate Aether and forcibly extract him from whatever task he was overworking himself with. He had found him in Copia’s office, going over the paperwork for the summoning request for the final new ghoul. Mountain had nodded politely at the Cardinal, grabbed Aether by the hand, and silently pulled him from the room, his tail coming up to bat the pen from his hand.

Mountain led him back to the den, tugging him through the corridors, not letting go until they reached the door to Mountain’s room. He looked back at Aether, unspoken question clear in his eyes. Aether nodded, and Mountain held the door open for Aether to enter. Mountain moved to sit in the pile of furs of his nest, and beckoned Aether to join him. He pulled Aether into his chest, gently knocking their horns together and entwining their tails.

“What’s all this about, Grasshopper?” Aether was the first to break the silence.

“You work too hard Aeth, you need a break. I’m sorry I’ve been so checked out, I promise I’ll be here for you and the pack from now on.”

“I’m fine, I just–”

Mountain cut him off with a small, chaste kiss. Aether looked up, violet eyes meeting green, and Mountain offered him a small smile in return.

“Enough, my dear Evening Primrose. We’re pack, even if I haven’t acted like it recently. But that means we share our burdens, and you’ve been carrying them all. Let me take care of you, now.”

As Mountain drifted off to sleep that night, with a purring Aether still wrapped in his arms, he felt at peace for the first time in months. He had pack who loved him, and he had purpose in loving them. The rest could follow.

With the summoning of the new ghouls, Mountain hadn’t felt the physical pull to them that he did to his existing packmates. Even now, that still grew and fluctuated day by day. However, he had come to realise that the biggest difference between these new summonings and his own was that there was no longer a feeling of wrongness. He understood that he didn’t feel that attraction right now, he possibly never would, but now he could explain things in time.

This time, he knew how deeply he was loved, and how deeply he could love, even if it wasn’t in the way that was initially expected of him. And now he understood that no new love could ever replace or invalidate his bond with Zephyr; each of his relationships with his packmates are as different as the ghouls themselves are. He will never forget Zephyr, the wounds of their banishment may never fully heal. However his love for them will always remain a fundamental truth, regardless of their separate futures or if their paths ever cross again.

And if he starts to feel something for the handsome new multighoul… well, he knows that if he leans into those feelings, his heart can only grow bigger.

[mancer-in-the-abbey]

Listening to Steam Powered Giraffe as I am wont to do when I need a break from Ghost and Honeybee came on and now I can’t stop thinking about Dew and his relationship with the previous era.

Dew was alone for the majority of his life in the pit- not for any particularly tragic reasons, at least in his opinion. That’s just how his particular variant of water ghoul works: Young ghoul pups stay with their mothers till they’re old enough to hunt for themselves and eventually they just kind of… swim off on their own, likely never seeing their parent again unless by chance.

All this to say, Dew was never a particularly social person before coming topside. Being surrounded by so many people when he was first summoned was a hell of a culture shock to him, almost immediately putting him in fight or flight.

It helped that, in my mind, Dew wasn’t immediately summoned into the Ghost project and instead spent his first year as your run of the mill nameless ghoul. Being put on kitchen duty allowed him to watch how the human staff interacted and bonded. Over time, he was even accepted as one of their own, taught to do more than wash dishes and only speak when spoken to.

Yet, even with that, Dew found himself to be… missing something. His new life on the surface had awakened an ache like the pressure of the deep sea- this longing he hadn’t even known was there till he’d gotten the barest hint of fulfillment. It gnawed at him, day in and day out, but no matter what he did, what avenue he went down, he couldn’t find anything to quell the feeling.

And then, after the loss of almost all their instrumentalists, the Ghost project opened auditions.

It was a tense time in the abbey; no one was sure where the project was heading in the aftermath of the banishments and Terzo’s place in the ministry was coming under question. Dew, however, saw an opportunity for something better, something that just might give him the thing that soothed the ache quickly becoming unbearable to him.

And somehow, by a miracle of Satan himself if one were to ask Dew, he was picked to play bass.

And the ache was, indeed, quelled by his time with the band, but not by the fame or attention it brought like Dew thought it would.

No, the relief came in the form of his fellow musicians, both those summoned and those that passed the auditions with him.

The Meliora ghouls were, for all intents and purposes, Dew’s first real family: Aether opened him to a vulnerability he’d never thought possible, even with himself; Zephyr taught him everything there was to know about the abbey, its secrets, and how to make it home; Mountain was a solid figure in his life, a tree to take shelter under when things became uncertain; Mist, though she was no longer a part of the band, was Dew’s mentor in both bass playing and how to be a water ghoul on the surface; Omega, likewise, was as close to a father figure as he ever had.

And then there was Ifrit. Ifrit, the fiery hearth that warmed him in body and soul. Ifrit, his heat and passion natural foil to all of Dew’s cold and disinterest. Ifrit, who knew exactly when to push Dew out of his comfort zone and when to reel back.

The two were instrumental to each other’s growth, with Ifrit the one to go head first into everything and Dewdrop being the one to slow down and think. Separately, sure, they were their own people, but together they made one better whole, bolstering each other’s strengths and balancing each other’s flaws.

And then, one day, it was all taken away.

One day, Terzo was dragged off stage without warning. One day, Imperator decided he would be of more use as a fire ghoul than water. One day, he was walked into the ritual chamber as a water ghoul for the last time, his pack waiting outside the room- not allowed in for fear of interference.

One day he woke up in the medical wing, burning all over, boiling hot from the inside out, and only found Aether and Mountain at his bedside, the both of them wearing looks that told him all he needed to know of the fates of the others.

(Just before the ritual, Ifrit had pulled him in a hug tight enough to press carbon into diamonds, hiding his worry with a smile. “It’ll be alright,” he promised, “when it’s all over and you feel better, I’ll teach you everything I know about being a fire ghoul. It’ll be fun, you’ll see!”)

(What he wouldn’t give to hold him close, him and all his family together, one last time. What he wouldn’t give to be that little water ghoul again, surrounded by love and joy he’d never known before.)

Nowadays, Dew does alright for himself. He runs much hotter than he ever had before, is a bit quicker to temper than he used to be, but his new pack doesn’t seem to mind- and lords below, does he love his new pack with everything he has.

But still, every year on the anniversary of his first pack’s death, he distanced himself from the rest. He grabs a spare blanket and Ifrit’s old acoustic guitar, walks out to the woods outside the ministry, keeps walking till he finds a clearing he and Ifrit shared with one another, a private place for the both of them to get away when things ever got too much.

Dew stops in the middle of the small glade, spreads the blanket out on the wild grass, sits down, takes out the guitar, and plucks out a tune his wildfire used to play him.

“Hello, goodbye, Twas nice to know you, how I find myself without you, that I’ll never know.”

“I let myself go.”

[flameyriver]

Some Dewdrop Headcannons:

- when Dewdrop was only a kit, he was founded by Bay on the topside by a bin

- he was a feisty little kit when he was brought into the Ministry (he bit & scratched Bay a lot)

- the former ghouls + Alpha, Omega, Mist, Ifrit and Zephyr were the first ghouls to ever form a familia bond with him

- he sees Zeta, Delta, Beta, Gamma, Alpha and Omega as his parents and all the other ghouls as his siblings

- he was very hurt when he learnt that his original pack were being replaced and banished somewhere (not the Pit)

- Ifrit and Mist along with Waterfall & Alpha taught Dewdrop how to play the Bass and Electric Guitar (the Electric Guitar was later on)

- he originally hated his new band mates but grew to love them later on

- was forced to change from being a water ghoul to a fire ghoul. It was an extremely painful experience and he still gets pains every so often

- can visit his original pack nowadays

- normally sees them three times a week

- is classed as a hybrid ghoul now

- is still the youngest ghoul

- he also grew to have a ton of issues throughout the years. Mostly due to what happened to him as a kit and when he was a bit older. Plus the bond of his first pack being messed up when his pack mates were banished

[coffeeghoulie]

Mushy May Day 13: Comfort After a Nightmare

Thanks once again to @forlorn-crows for arranging Mushy May and the prompts!

Pairing: Aether/Swiss, implied polyghouls

Words:1035

Rating: Gen

Contains: Referenced past character death

...

Aether never realizes it’s a dream. It always feels just as real as the day after Terzo was deposed. Sister Imperator standing at the front of the chapel. Him and Mountain held in place and made to watch. Alpha and Ifrit killed. Dew set on fire to take their place. Zephyr and Mist banished back to the Pit. And Omega’s… just gone. 

But in these dreams, it’s never them. Maybe it was them for the first month. But after that?

There are three faceless Siblings on each side of him, fingers digging into his arms and chest. He tries to rip himself free but his feet are glued to the tile. “Let me fucking go!” He growls at Imperator, flashing his fangs, but there’s no response. 

The chapel doors open, and Aether’s heart drops to his feet as his pack is herded in. The girls cling to each other. There’s confusion written across Rain’s face, resigned horror on Dew’s. Mountain leads the pack, and Swiss peers over his shoulder. 

The doors close with finality, and Aether grimaces. He knows what comes next. 

Clergy members split his pack, grabbing each ghoul and pulling them to Imperator one by one. Cumulus screams as she’s ripped from Cirrus and Sunshine, and Aether tries to lunge for her. It’s no use, he can’t move, and she’s banished with a flash of smoke as he screams her name. Rain’s next. He looks to Aether with wide, frightened eyes, and Aether is powerless to do anything as Rain too is banished. 

The clergy starts dragging Swiss to the front of the chapel, and he tries to fight back. He claws at one member, snapping his teeth at them. It’s no use.

“Aeth!” Swiss calls out, voice panicked, eyes snapping to him. 

Aether struggles fruitlessly against the clergy members holding him back. “Swiss!”  he calls out, trying to reach for his multi ghoul.

“Aeth, Aether, you’ve got to wake up.”

Huh?

“Aether, baby, please wake up,” Swiss pleads, his eyes wet. “I don’t want to do this but you’re scaring me.”

Suddenly there’s fingers pressed gently on his temples, and a jolt of magick floods his mind. His eyes snap open and he gasps, nearly choking on his own breath. 

Swiss moves his hands from Aether’s temples. “You were really starting to worry me, sweetheart,” he says. He grunts as Aether grabs him, one hand pressed between his shoulder blades and the other buried in the curls at the nape of his neck, and pulls him into his chest. 

“He’s okay,” Aether whispers, mostly to himself. “He’s here, they’re safe, it’s okay.” He stares up at the ceiling of his bedroom and swallows hard. 

“Are you okay?” Swiss asks, voice slightly muffled. He reaches up and cups Aether’s cheek.

Aether nods, trying his best to ignore the tears springing up in the corners of his eyes.

“Baby, you were calling out for us and you weren’t waking up,” Swiss says, smoothing his thumb back and forth. “I had to pump some quintessence in you to get you awake. Sorry for that.”

“It’s alright,” Aether says. “Bad dream. Thank you.”

“Oh, sweetheart. Can I ask? What…” He trails off, unable to ask the question on the tip of his tongue.

Aether swallows. Takes a deep breath. “Did Mountain or Dew ever tell you about what happened to our old pack? The band before you, Rain, and the girls were summoned?”

Swiss thinks for a moment, and the silence is deafening. “Not… in great detail. I know they’re not… here anymore. I never asked for more details.”

“Some of them were banished, some of them were killed. Mountain and I were forced to watch. Dew nearly didn’t make it after the transition. It was happening again in my dream, but to all of you.”

“Oh,” Swiss breathes. “Do you want to go check on them? See that they’re all okay?”

Aether blinks. Normally after these dreams, he lies awake for the rest of the night, unable to move. “That… sounds nice.”

“Okay, then, big boy, let me up and we’ll go check on them.”

Aether groans as he stands, stretching as Swiss pulls on a pair of shorts. Swiss leads the way through the hall, down to the ghoulettes’ room. The door is unlocked, and Swiss pushes the door in carefully so the hinges don’t squeak. 

Aether leans into the doorway, suppressing a sob as he sees Cirrus, Cumulus and Sunshine, their limbs tangled together in their nest, each of their chests rising and falling in their sleep. They’re alright. They’re here. 

Swiss shuts the door, resting a hand in between Aether’s shoulder blades, rubbing up and down. “Rain, Mounty and Dew went out to the greenhouse together before bed. They might not be in any one of their rooms, Aeth, so don’t freak out on me if they’re not there, okay? We’ll check out there if they’re not in their rooms.”

Aether nods, and they open the door to Rain’s room. It’s the biggest of the three, and Aether’s whole frame relaxes as he realizes they’re all there. Mountain, sprawled out on his back, Dew tucked up against his right side, Rain against his left, Mountain’s arms around them both. All three of them sound asleep. 

“See,” Swiss whispers in his ear. “We’re all here.”

Aether freezes as Mountain’s eyes flick open. Bright green meets violet, and Aether feels his face heat, like a kit caught with their paw in the cookie jar. 

“Everythin’ alright?” Mountain says, sleep heavy on his tongue. “You two okay?”

“Bad dream,” Aether says. “Making sure everyone’s still here.”

“Oh, nova,” Mountain whispers, careful not to disturb the ghouls tucked into his arms. “I know. We’re safe. Go get some sleep, okay?”

Aether nods, and lets Swiss lead him back to his room. 

But instead of letting him get into bed first, Swiss insists on laying down on his back. He pats his chest. “I think, if you lay your head down, if you hear my heart beating, I don’t think that dream will come back tonight.”

“Thank you, Swiss,” Aether says. He lays down, and lets the steady rhythm of Swiss’ heart lull him back to sleep.

[bug-ghouls-corner]

i had this idea of how Dew made his nest, so a ficlet for everyone under the cut :3

it got too long lol

Ghouls nests were important, used to help hold together the pack through a single person. they tended to be the oldest, or most protective ghouls out of the group.

Zephyr had the nest last, the entire pack built it from hand together as a bonding activity once they had their first tour. almost every night it was filled to the brim with purring ghouls as they would sleep and relish in each others company. With Terzo's death, and with Zephyr and Ifrit's banishment back to the pits they didn't have a nest.

Mountain, Aether and Dew managed to make do with what remained, creating temporary nests on the couch in the common room, and styling their beds to seem as one. it wasn't the same.

As Copia took charge and summoned new ghouls, it felt like a proper pack again. the Ghoulettes were asked if they wanted a nest, they all said no when asked to the rests surprise. The closeness between all of them holding no deniability for a wanted nest. All the ghouls still went and managed with sharing rooms and beds.

just with no nest.

Until one night, a night where Aether was up well past midnight reading he head a frantic tapping at his bedroom door. While he went up to answer it it opened by itself, Dew looked in at him, with his hair in a messy braid indicating he was sleeping earlier, but was seemingly interrupted. As Dew and Aether locked eye-contact, he inhaled and ran into Aether's arms.

"Aeth, I need help please help I-" Dew rambled on, anxiety scenting the air with the sharp tone of gasoline.

"hold on Dewbug, slow down, what's happening?" Aether interrupted, wrapping his arms around Dew and hugging tightly. As Dew looked up his eyes were glossy, Aether didn't know if it was because of emotions or exhaustion.

"Aeth, I- no it's dumb" Dew began talking down, but Aether gave him a stern glance and held his tighter.

"Aether I just- I want a nest," Dew stopped, as if saying it out loud convinced him also, " I want to make a nest." he smushed his face back into Aether's chest. Aether didn't know what to say, he was honestly surprised at this revelation. he let Dew guide him to the bed and lay down, though as Dew's breaths evened out Aether stayed awake, planning.

-

The next day, at sunrise Aether rushed to tell Mountain. As he told Mountain his plan, Aether had to stop him from crooning back to Dew, both moving to convince the rest of the pack to join in.

the plan went through in a landslide, even Copia managed to agree to it, though he didn't understand the initial meaning behind it it quickly became a plan of importance.

And Dew didn't know a thing.

around a week or so later the plan was almost complete, the nest almost complete in it's bare frame. all that simply mattered at that point was to reveal the surprise, Rain managed to drag Dewdrop out of the music room to the lake for a picnic. Mountain and Aether quickly moved to slip the wooden configuration into Dew's room, setting it by the foot of his bed.

The entire pack waited for hours with baited breath until Dewdrop returned.

The light giggling of Rain filtered through the door as it slowly opened, Dew peered in while entering, slightly taken aback at seeing his entire pack looking back at him.

"uh- hi?" he questioned, fully opening the door and swooping in as he made a beeline for his room. Rain joined them in the group as they watched his door be left slightly ajar, and listened as the movement stopped.

he found it then.

Dew exited his room again, the rest of them scrambling to appear as if they were busy. He stumbled into the doorway to the common room with a far-away look on his face, zeroing onto Aether with his face stuck in a book.

"Aeth" Dew ventured, cocking his hip to the side, " your book is upside down." he pointed out, still with the vague look in his eyes.

Aether looked down and confirmed, yes, it was the wrong way.

"huh, didn't notice..." he excused, looking up at Dew and locking in eye-contact. Dewdrop stood there for a second longer before launching himself at Aether, trapping him in a giant bear hug.

"thank you" Dew mumbled into Aether's chest, it was muffled, and quiet, but enough to be heard. The rest of the pack moved alongside as well, trapping Aether at the bottom of a giant group hug.

that night they all put together the nest, with Dew guiding everyone on what to place and where. and they ended the night piled into it, purring together

[comp-lady]

A Timeline of Ghouls

I figured I might as well post my timeline for all the ghouls in teh band that I am using for Empire and any related fics. I spent a lot of time putting it together. There are some spoilers for future events and backstory in An Empire From The Ashes Of Old. So proceed with whatever caution you wish.

We start with the OG ghouls. Omega (Q), Alpha (F), Chain (W), Sand (E), and Gust (A). When it was announced that the Ghost Project would be pulled out of dormancy and the band reformed with Primo at the helm he was tasked with selecting ghouls to be the musicians on tour.

Primo put a lot of consideration into which ghouls would come with him on tour as part of the band. All were picked from already summoned ghouls at the Abbey. Ones that Primo had worked with relatively closely. For the 2 years he was Papa and frontman (as I headcanon that Primo was Papa for a long time before Ghost started back up) things were fine. The ghouls have always been colleagues to him. He treated them as well as he could within the restraints of the church's rules.

Secondo's tenure is when the problems started to pop up.

See elemental ghouls need to have access to their element. To immerse themselves. For some this is more volatile and requires more frequent access than others. Namely water ghouls.

Secondo inherited the ghouls his brother picked. He picked Special, when it became apparent that they would need someone to talk to the press. He certainly didn't want to do it, and the other ghouls often had rehearsals to worry about.

The thing is Sister Imperator does not like ghouls, and she doesn't not like Secondo.

Sand doesn't get enough access to the earth. For months there's just miles and miles of asphalt. He discorporated, the magic holding him on earth and in this plane of existence weakening until he is pulled back to the pit. He is replaced by a ghoul named Pebble, who worked in the gardens with Primo.

Chain dehydrates. He can't get enough time submerged in water. This outright kills him.

Another water ghouls is summoned to take his place. They also dehydrate and die. Another water ghoul is summoned to take their place.

Within the road crew for the band they are also seeing a high turnover of ghouls. Ghouls die or discorporate, some act up and are banished, more summoned to take their place.

Come Terzo's tenure we now have Omega, Alpha, Gust, Pebble, Special, and the 3rd water ghoul.

Imperator still does not like ghouls and she hates Terzo.

There is a lot of unrest for the ghouls both in the band and the road crew. Imperator is doing her best behind the scenes to see to it that Terzo fails abysmally.

Almost immediately the 3rd water ghouls dehydrates, they discorporate themself before they actually die, a 4th is summoned to replace them.

This lasts for a short while.

Eventually Omega is pulled from the band and back to the abbey when it's clear he is "too close" to Terzo. Imperator wished to outright banish Omega but Primo stepped in, insisting that Omega take his place in the Abbey's infirmary again instead. The 4th water ghouls is put through a fraught element change to become the new quintessence ghoul. Mist is summoned to be the new bass player. Meanwhile Pebble discorporates, a new earth ghoul is summoned to replace him.

The ghouls are, rightfully, getting pissed off at the treatment they are getting. No matter how Terzo tries to advocate for them Sister Imperator doesn't care. Gust and Alpha raise hell over the disrespect and get banished for their efforts. Zephyr (ChAir) and Ifrit are pulled in from the Abbey to replace them, as all the previous new summonings has put a severe strain on the Abbey's coffers.

Then the Quintessence ghoul discorporates, Sister Imperator's shoddy elemental change putting too much strain on their body. The Earth ghoul lashes out in retaliation and is banished for it. This happens mid-tour, and Terzo is flown back to the Abbey and given Aether and Mountain to replace the pair of them.

Things are fine for a short while.

Then Mist dehydrates, she also chooses to discorporate instead of wait for death to eventually come. Again this happens mid-tour and Terzo is brought back to the Abbey. Imperator leads him into the dungeons and presents him with a cell. Inside is a young water ghoul, that has been locked up for a long while and is practically feral.

This is Dewdrop

Terzo is extremely upset at the idea that Imperator has just…. had a ghoul locked up for no reason??? He takes Dewdrop back with him, and in the week and a half that they have until their next show the other ghouls sweep the little water ghoul under their collective wing. Their pack is small, and broken, but it's theirs dammit.

They concentrate on making sure that Dew learns at least the songs for the next setlist. So he can play them faithfully. Thankfully our boy is, in fact, quite smart and clever despite outward appearances. He picks up the bass sections quickly and Ifrit scoops him close to make sure that he learns the guitar parts. For a while everything seems to be going fine. Imperator isn't interfering and they all have a chance to bond.

Then Terzo is pulled offstage.

At the abbey things are very tense. No one is sure what's going to to happen and it turns out a lot has been happening at the abbey while they were touring. Omega was banished but Imperator won't say why, Ifrit and Zephyr both get reassigned to different abbeys within the country completely with no explanation on why.

Terzo says fuck this shithole.

He keeps Mountain, Aether, and Dew close at hand at all times after that. He starts setting money aside bit by bit so they can all make an escape. Meanwhile he takes it upon himself to summon other ghouls, to flesh out the pack. Specifying that he is looking to strengthen the pack in his summoning circles. The first is a test, to see if he even is capable, in the process he gets Cirrus and Cumulus. A pair of bonded ghoulettes, protectors of their packs back in the pit. Once they're settled he summons another ghoul, he doesn't care what element they are but they must be a companion for Dewdrop. Rain is summoned, and he and Dew are immediately bound together at the hip. Once Rain is settled he feels the urge to summon again to round out the pack and fill an empty space they all felt on an instinctual level, so he does. Swiss joining their pack. The first Multi ghoul in the band.

Terzo might have summoned more ghouls, no one can be sure.

The potential was stolen. When Imperator took Dewdrop in the middle of the night, forcing him into an elemental change to fire. Once the ritual was done she kept him from his pack, insisting he must do one last job for her or be banished. Dew, in pain and delirious and afraid, accepts.

She has him be the one to sedate Terzo before having one of her assigned ghouls drop him at Aether's feet in the infirmary.

And obviously for a while this is the lineup for the band. Cirrus, Aether, Mountain, Cumulus, Swiss, Rain and Dewdrop.

Copia will eventually follow Terzo's example and take it upon himself to summon a ghoul. One that will fit well into their pack. And that ghoulette will be Sunshine, the second multi ghoul.

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

It's Mountain March!

A new post for an old(er) fic, since I went to reblog it and it's vanished from my page?!? istg this website...

Cling to the Light (acespec ghouls <3)

Mountain and Zephyr had always known they were different from the other ghouls in the Pit so when they found each other, they clung on tight. Mountain's struggles when Zephyr is banished back to the pit, and with the new feelings he is experiencing for his pack.

Rating: M to be safe, vague allusions to sex but nothing explicit or nswf Content: grey-ace/demi mountain, asexual zephyr, dysphoria/self doubt, heats/ruts, they/them zephyr, discussion of sexual repulsion and associated dysphoria, ghouls in the Pit having unhealthy relationships with sex, character being sent back to pits, Angst, hurt/comfort Words: 4782

In hindsight, I think my writing has got better over the last few months. This fic even improved towards the end imo! But I'm still proud of this, and what it represents for me personally <3

Read below or on AO3!

Mountain and Zephyr had each always known there was something different about them. Growing up in the Pit, they had been anomalies, leading solitary lives, struggling to find connection with other ghouls. In a landscape where battles were fought, allegiances won, and futures decided with sex, they had both felt that the world they had been created in wasn’t for them. When they had seen the opportunity to claw their way topside, it had been an escape to a different life, a reset.

Life on the surface was better, granted. Here they had a purpose and safety, but more importantly they had met each other. Zephyr; slight, fragile, and shy Air ghoul that they were had initially been frightened of the solemn and hulking Earth ghoul. But they had soon come to realise quite how much they had in common with each other after many evenings of retiring to bed early once activities between the other new ghouls had begun getting heated.

Ghouls naturally seek comfort and warmth in each other, and as Mountain and Zephyr became closer, they appeared to Dewdrop, Ifrit and Aether to be developing their own relationship. Monogamous ghouls weren’t unheard of in the Pit, they were certainly a lot more common than solitary ghouls. But whatever relationship the others thought was developing behind closed doors, the reality was far tamer, and yet just as exciting for the pair.

For Mountain and Zephyr, sitting together in the den then going their separate ways each evening had slowly morphed into them staying up late reading together in the comfortable silence of Zephyr’s room, and later Mountain spending the night. In truth, it had taken a long time for either of them to feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed, let alone cuddle together as they now did each night.

Zephyr was entirely repulsed by most sexual activity. They always had been, and yet the physiology of their ghoulish body still put them through the inescapable agony of heats. These times were the worst, as in addition to the physical pain they felt a strong sense of dysphoria coupled with the lingering terror from the Pits of their scent being detected and them being hunted as a conquest.

Mountain was the only ghoul they would allow to help them through it, because he understood in a way the rest of the pack could not relate to as much as they tried. For the others, heats were still painful if ignored, but were free of the emotional pain that accompanied Zephyr’s. Mountain understood, and sought to make sure Zeph always knew that no matter how their body and mind may be betraying them by behaving differently to normal, their feelings were still valid and nothing they did during these times would change anything between them. He brought them tea to try and calm their fraught nerves, and to supress the urges of the heat they hated so much.

For Mountain, he wasn’t actively repulsed by sex in the same was Zephyr was, more just apathetic. Helping Zephyr through their heats the same way a healer would assist someone through a sickness in the infirmary. Together they had figured out what Zeph felt most comfortable with, striking a balance of what their body and mind could handle.

After Mountain’s first rut topside, he would no longer let Zeph be involved. They had offered to help him through it, but even through the haze of hormones he could tell how uncomfortable it was making them, and he had fled to his bathroom to take refuge. After a few more hours of misery, he had sheepishly emerged to ask Aether for help. Now, he knows that any of his other packmates would be more than willing to help him out, and let him direct what he needs and can tolerate.

As Mountain and Zephyr’s own connection had grown, they had eventually both become more comfortable with the other ghouls in their pack. One night after a movie in the lounge, Dewdrop, in his characteristically to-the-point manner, had asked them outright why neither had ever been interested in a physical relationship with their other packmates. After explaining their own feelings as best they could, the pack had embraced this knowledge with open arms and grown even closer as a result.

Things had been a little awkward for them as a newly summoned pack from the Pit: Dew, Aether and Ifrit had never interacted with ghouls who weren’t all over each other all the time, but they had soon come to understand each other. In the Pit, both Mountain and Zephyr had felt like anomalies, but their new pack had worked hard to rectify that feeling. After a while, the three guitarists were able to playfully tease them when they would retire to bed early to drink tea and read together. They would frequently refer to them as the pack’s old married couple, safe in the knowledge that Mountain and Zephyr knew it came only from a place of love.

A year of touring the world had also helped the pack to bond. Many a post-ritual night on the bus had ended in a pile of sleepy ghouls cuddled together in the back of the bus, all too tired to fight over bunks.

Since returning, Mountain had occasionally found himself wanting to sleep with his packmates outside of his ruts. The first time he had these feelings, he had been confused. What did it mean for his special platonic bond with Zephyr?

Zeph had, of course, been wholly supportive. They would do anything to support the pack who had given them everything they could never have dreamed of having in the pit. Even if they would never feel the same way about their packmates that they felt for each other, they found other ways to show them how much they were loved.

After many moons with his pack, Mountain had reached a point where he felt comfortable initiating sex with Ifrit, Aether or Dew, and they with him. He knew that this was how they shared their love for each other, and he was overjoyed to be finally comfortable enough in his own skin around them to be able to show them how much he loved them, in their language. Mountain sometimes still felt put on the spot midway through these encounters, but his pack had become strongly attuned to his tells for when he was uncomfortable and wanted to stop, and when he genuinely wanted to continue but wasn’t taking his own pleasure from it. In these circumstances, Mountain had emphatically explained, he just wanted to make them feel good without the pressure on himself to finish.

He had described it once to Ifrit as “like brushing your teeth or something”, in an attempt to describe it as something neither overtly positive or negative, and Ifrit had almost fallen over laughing. Mountain knew better than to be offended, even when the next day Ifrit had winked at him across the dinner table and asked if he wanted to brush his teeth after eating.

The others tried to understand as best they could, even if they didn't fully get it. The same went for Zephyr. Nowadays, they knew that Mountain was never offended to be asked, and likewise they knew to never be offended to be turned down and offered an alternative pack bonding activity.

The five packmates had found so many other ways to show their love besides intimacy, sharing interests, sweet words, even just existing in proximity to each other. Zeph had introduced everyone to ceramic painting one cold winter's afternoon when they were craving closeness from their pack. Mountain had painted a vase with flowers representing all his pack, and it was unironically Aether's favourite thing in the whole world.

The pack's close bond had been shattered when Zephyr and Ifrit were sent back to the Pit. Zephyr had been deemed too old, not befitting of the Clergy's desired image of young and active ghouls. Ifrit had ruffled too many feathers, and been removed for being too outspoken in the days after Terzo was ripped offstage. The three remaining ghouls had spent their next few days glued to each others sides, their evenings spent huddled together in the den, terrified of another knock at the door and a summons for one of them.

On yet another evening like this, Mountain has his head tucked into the space between Aether’s shoulder and neck, his legs resting across Aether’s with Dew curled up tightly in both their laps, finally sleeping. Overwhelmed by fear, sadness and a desire to be as close to what was left of his pack as possible, he had pressed his lips to Aeth’s collar bone. He had needed to feel the connection to his pack, as the pain of bonds cut loose ate away at him inside and left a hollow, empty feeling. Aether had frozen, the gentle hand rubbing soothing circles into Mountain’s back pausing in its movement.

“Hey, Sapling, we don’t have to do anything, you know we love you without any of that.”

“No, I want to.” Mountain shook his head vehemently, and entwined his tail with Aether’s like a boa constrictor. “Need to feel you. Need to know you’re still here.”

Aether turned his head to place a gentle kiss to Mountain’s forehead, humming softly. As he pulled back, Mountain tilted his head up to meet swirling violet eyes. Aether’s love and loss for his pack seemed to be radiating from them behind a film of unshed tears matching Mountain’s own, sucking Mountain into their depths as though to hold him next to his very psyche. In this moment, Mountain couldn’t ever recall feeling such a strong physical pull to his packmates before and slowly leaned in towards Aether, letting him surround all his senses.

Time seemed to slow, as Mountain pressed his rough lips to Aether’s own chapped and bitten ones. It wasn’t like the many romance novels he’d read; there were no sparks. Instead, Mountain felt something far stronger and deeper, a connection more than mere physical contact. In that moment, it felt as though their souls were intertwining, twisting together as their tails did beside them. He felt the tears in his eyes finally spill over and run down his cheeks, but the hot bitterness from before was replaced with a host of new emotions he struggled to name, all condensing to one he was familiar with though: love.

As Mountain moved to deepen the kiss, he let out a breathy noise that he almost couldn’t believe came from him. He could sense Aether’s hesitation, so he pulled back to catch his eyes once more, matching tear-tracks staining his lavender-tinted cheeks.

“I love you, my Moonlight.”

“Oh Sapling…” Aether seemed just as affected as he was, pulling the arm around Mountain tighter, trying not to jostle the sleeping ghoul in their laps. This time, Aether leaned in first, moving at a glacial pace. Mountain closed his eyes, and let himself drown in the sea of emotions once more.

The pair continued to kiss as though the world around them was ending, which wasn’t too far from the truth, until Dewdrop slowly woke from his fitful sleep and smiled to himself at his packmates. He let out a sleepy chirp, and nuzzled his head deep into the warm bodies of his packmates. Mountain broke the kiss to smile down at him and move his arm to pull him securely against his body. Pressed against Aether, with Dewdrop’s comforting weight in his lap, Mountain felt more peaceful than he had since the last Ritual.

Mountain ran the tips of his fingers up Dew’s spine, counting every vertebrae as though to check he was all still there. He tangled his hand in the hair at the nape of Dewdrop’s neck and gently scratched glamoured claws along his scalp the way he knew Dew liked. The little ghoul started up a low purr in response, which must’ve been contagious as Mountain and Aether soon also began to purr in sync. Before long, the evening turned into night and the fire burned low in the hearth, but none of the three ghouls seemed to notice as they fell asleep in a pile of sleepy kisses, soft touches and sweet words.

This was just the first of many nights the trio of ghouls spent curled into each other in front of the fire or in one of their nests, the constant need to touch and know the others were there becoming more desperate over time. Mountain didn’t fully understand where this newfound desire had come from. It felt to him as though his close bond with his packmates was overflowing, that he had to let it out or it would burn him up inside.

After a few weeks, it had become clear that no one else was at imminent risk of being returned to the pit. One of the more respected Cardinals, who had long shown interest in the activities of the Ghost project, had taken over as figurehead and he appeared to have ambitious plans. Aether, Mountain and Dewdrop had already had a few rehearsals with him, trying out new songs, so it seemed their positions were safe for now.

Cardinal Copia had big plans, bigger than Terzo, even. He had announced his intentions early on to introduce live backing vocals, multiple sets of keyboards, and to hold even larger Rituals. Mountain had been sceptical, there had never been this many ghouls in the project, and what did this mean for a pack dynamic? Aether and Dew had been more keen, although Mountain suspected this was in part due to Dew’s switch to lead guitar – he was half fire ghoul after all – and the Cardinal encouraging their playful bickering, suggesting they bring their regular antics to live performances, too.

In the end, it turned out Copia was equally worried that too many new ghouls would fail to integrate into the pack if summoned simultaneously. It would seem that he had had many conversations with the previous Papas about ghoul pack dynamics, and he was keen to ensure his ghouls were as happy topside as they could be. He had even made a point of apologising for the Clergy’s actions regarding Ifrit and Zephyr, and he had seemed sincere. Plans were therefore made to stagger the summoning of new ghouls.

First, a new water ghoul was summoned. They had all agreed that a new bass player was their priority for rehearsals. The night of the next full moon, with torrential rain pounding against the windows of the Abbey, they had gathered in the summoning chambers. Cardinal Copia had spoken the required spells and incantations and a slender, cobalt-skinned water ghoul had clawed their way out of the pits. Even hunched naked on the floor, his eyes darting around in suspicion and sharp fangs bared, the ghoul had exuded a lissom gracefulness.

He was beautiful, Mountain had to admit. This was apparent to all of them, but none more so that to Dewdrop. He had immediately been fascinated by the pretty new water ghoul, the pair spending hours together down at the lake each day. A week into being topside, he was well on his way to integrating into the little pack, bonding with Aether and Mountain too. Mountain had invited him to the greenhouse one afternoon and, beneath his initially prickly exterior, the water ghoul seemed to be a sweet and somewhat shy ghoul. Mountain could however attest to overhearing much evidence to the contrary from Dewdrop’s room late at night.

Seeing how quickly and closely the two had bonded had sparked something within Mountain that felt partly like jealousy, partly still grief from losing Zephyr and Ifrit, but also something like… guilt? He understood for the first time just how much Dewdrop and Aether had lost, losing Ifrit. Mountain found himself feeling conflicted every whenever he spent time with Rain, and pulling away from physical contact with Dew and Aether again.

It didn’t take long for Aether to notice something was up, his quintessence deeply attuned to the emotions of his packmates. One evening, when Mountain had excused himself immediately after dinner, Aether had hunted him down to Zephyr’s old room to find out exactly what was bothering him.

“Mount? Can I come in?” Aether knocked gently. He was met with a non-committal grunt, so let himself in. He found Mountain curled up in one of Zeph’s old hoodies, knees tucked up inside it.

“Oh Sweetheart…” he moved to the bed to scoop Mountain into his arms. “It’s ok to still miss them, you know.”  

Mountain nodded silently, letting Aether rock him gently from side to side. After a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke,

“Was it even real?”

“Was what real, Sapling?”

“Everything! With Zeph… I never had the kind of relationship with them that I do now with you and Dew, but you did with Ifrit. I miss Zeph so much every day that it feels like I’m drowning, but how can I even understand how much more you and Dew must miss Ifrit when you had a real relationship with him?”

“Mountain, listen to me.” Aether tried his best to keep his voice even, even as Mountain’s words made his heart break for the ghoul.

“What you had was real, as real as any relationship I’ve ever seen. You and Zeph were two halves of a whole, you had a deeper relationship than any I could ever hope to understand. Whatever relationship you have now with me and Dew doesn’t devalue what you had with Zeph in any way. It’s different but it’s not any more special.”

Mountain sniffed, burying his face tighter into Aether’s side,

“I miss them so much, Aeth.”

“I know, Sapling.”

The pair stayed curled around each other until Mount was all cried out, and fell asleep the same way.

Next on Copia’s list of summons had been a new air ghoul. This was the summoning they were the most worried about – unlike Rain this ghoul would be a direct replacement of one of the original pack. They had discussed summoning an air ghoul last, however the ritual to summon a multi-element ghoul was by far the most complex and took the longest to prepare, so it had made more sense to summon them last instead.

The first surprise of the summoning was the appearance of a ghoulette. Only once before had the Ghost project had a ghoulette amongst their ranks: they were notoriously resistant to being summoned against their will. The second surprise had been the second ghoulette clinging to the first, a veritable stowaway. It was quickly revealed that the ghoulettes were Mates in the pit and, having heard of the topside activities of the Ministry, had made it their goal to be summoned.

Aether had initially taken the lead on welcoming the ghoulettes, sensing Mountain’s hesitation. It was impossible to ignore the similarities between the new ghoulettes and Zephyr, from their icy blonde hair to the graceful way they held themselves. However, it had soon become apparent that while they were visually similar, the ghoulettes were both very different from Zephyr and each other in personality, and Mountain had made more of an effort to bond with them. This, along with the inherent independence of the ghoulettes and Rain’s fast bond with Dew had been a blessing for Aether, it didn’t take much to see just how tired he was from his self-imposed role in charge of integrating the new pack.

Cirrus, the taller of the two ghoulettes, was outwardly the most confident. She had broken through Mountain’s barriers almost immediately, dragging him out on walks to explore the grounds of the Abbey and asking a million questions about the nature around them. While reluctant at first, Mountain quickly recognized a kindred spirit in their respect for the topside world around them. He found her presence deeply calming, and Mountain grew to consider his afternoons incomplete without them sharing tea in his greenhouse, sometimes with Rain joining them as well.

Mountain had taken longer to bond with Cumulus. While she had appeared to be the shyer of the two at first, once she realised Copia wasn’t about to send her or Cirrus back to the pit she had opened up and become more confident. Mountain was a little intimidated by the short ghoulette: she spoke a million words a minute, and was filled with an enthusiasm for the mundane that Mountain often didn’t feel up to reciprocating. The benefit of this however was her ability to pull Aether out of his shell. Mountain had no idea how she had managed it, but Cumulus’ infectious optimism was able to relax the increasingly shy and withdrawn Aether in a way no other packmate had succeeded in. Mountain had first-hand caught her, and later also Cirrus, slinking into his room late at night to help with just that.

However as the weeks passed and the newly summoned ghouls bonded more and became closer with his original packmates, Mountain found himself feeling more alone once more. He missed Zephyr’s simple comfort more now than ever, and their quiet evenings together just existing in the same space. It hurt to see the others enjoying the same closeness he so deeply mourned. It was especially clear between Dewdrop and Rain where the two seemed to orbit around each other, each on their own path but guided by tremendous forces beyond their comprehension. This time when Mountain began to withdraw again, it was Dewdrop who sought him out.

Mountain was working in the Abbey gardens, when he heard light footsteps padding his way. Looking up, he saw blond hair blowing in the breeze and Dew picking his way through the maze of flowerbeds towards him, clutching a thermos and two mugs.

“Hey Sprout.” He plopped to the ground, cross-legged next to where Mountain knelt, looking at him with his head tilted expectantly. Mountain, sensing this was more than just a casual chat, put down his trowel and also folded his long limbs into a more comfortable position. He accepted the steaming mug from Dew, inhaling the comforting scent.

“Nice to see you out here Droplet, what’s up?”

“Why are you hiding from me and Aeth?” Dewdrop was blunt and to the point, as ever. Mountain sighed into his tea as Dew tilted his head to the side, questioning.

“I’m not avoiding you-” he started, going silent again at the cut the crap look on Dew’s face. “I’m not trying to avoid you?” he suggested instead.

“You don’t even join us all for dinner anymore! Aeth’s been really struggling, and he doesn’t need to worry about you too.”

Mountain hung his head. He knew Aether had been finding the changes difficult, but he thought he’d been feeling better, he didn’t think he had been adding to his stress.

“I’m so sorry Dewbug, I’ve been trying to protect you all from me being so down all the time, and I’ve just made things worse.”

“Oh Sprout, you know you can always talk to us right?” Dew crawled towards him on his knees to wrap him in a hug. “I know how much you miss Zephyr.” Mountain leant his head down on top of Dew’s, comforted by the heat radiating from the smaller ghoul.

“How do you do it, Dew? How have you let Rain in so quickly, when Zeph and Ifrit’s rooms still smell like them and their voices still echo through the den?”

“I don’t think I ever had a choice, Mount. It’s like I was pulled to Rain by a siren’s call, like the second I saw him there in the summoning circle this door opened in my heart to let him in. I never had to think about it, it was so easy.”

“As easy as breathing, right?” sighed Mountain, pulling his arms tighter around Dew, neither noticing or caring as the damp of the grass soaked through their jeans. “That was Zeph…”

“I miss Iffie every day, but it’s not like the hole he left in my heart has gone away or healed, more that it’s grown space for another.” Dew fiddled absently with one of the rings in his ear. “The more acute pain might be healing, but there will always be a hole.”

Mountain hummed in agreement, gently rocking the pair back and forth but careful not to spill the remainders of their cooling tea.

“I am happy for you, you know” Mountain ventured after a while. “You and Rain. It’s like your souls have linked already, you’re good for each other.”

“Like you and Zeph.” Dew looked up at Mountain with wide and sincere eyes, “I saw it. You were soulmates. No one’s expecting you to ever be okay about it.”

Mountain made another noncommittal noise of affirmation. “I’m am sorry for acting so jealous though, just because I miss what you have.”

Dew shrugged, “Don’t sweat it Mount, I’d have been far worse if our positions were flipped.” He chuckled drily, before silence stretched between them again.

Mountain drained the rest of his tea and refilled it from the thermos. “Tell me about Rain, Dew? Tell me how he makes you feel, why you love him?”

“Who said anything about love?” Dew’s cheeks gained a slight coral tint, which he shook his hair to disguise.

Mountain levelled him with a look, eliciting a small giggle from Dew before he began talking.

“Well…”

That evening, once the sun had set and Mountain and Dew had finally traipsed back inside to find dry clothes and warm food, Mountain had set out to locate Aether and forcibly extract him from whatever task he was overworking himself with. He had found him in Copia’s office, going over the paperwork for the summoning request for the final new ghoul. Mountain had nodded politely at the Cardinal, grabbed Aether by the hand, and silently pulled him from the room, his tail coming up to bat the pen from his hand.

Mountain led him back to the den, tugging him through the corridors, not letting go until they reached the door to Mountain’s room. He looked back at Aether, unspoken question clear in his eyes. Aether nodded, and Mountain held the door open for Aether to enter. Mountain moved to sit in the pile of furs of his nest, and beckoned Aether to join him. He pulled Aether into his chest, gently knocking their horns together and entwining their tails.

“What’s all this about, Grasshopper?” Aether was the first to break the silence.

“You work too hard Aeth, you need a break. I’m sorry I’ve been so checked out, I promise I’ll be here for you and the pack from now on.”

“I’m fine, I just–”

Mountain cut him off with a small, chaste kiss. Aether looked up, violet eyes meeting green, and Mountain offered him a small smile in return.

“Enough, my dear Evening Primrose. We’re pack, even if I haven’t acted like it recently. But that means we share our burdens, and you’ve been carrying them all. Let me take care of you, now.”

As Mountain drifted off to sleep that night, with a purring Aether still wrapped in his arms, he felt at peace for the first time in months. He had pack who loved him, and he had purpose in loving them. The rest could follow.

With the summoning of the new ghouls, Mountain hadn’t felt the physical pull to them that he did to his existing packmates. Even now, that still grew and fluctuated day by day. However, he had come to realise that the biggest difference between these new summonings and his own was that there was no longer a feeling of wrongness. He understood that he didn’t feel that attraction right now, he possibly never would, but now he could explain things in time.

This time, he knew how deeply he was loved, and how deeply he could love, even if it wasn’t in the way that was initially expected of him. And now he understood that no new love could ever replace or invalidate his bond with Zephyr; each of his relationships with his packmates are as different as the ghouls themselves are. He will never forget Zephyr, the wounds of their banishment may never fully heal. However his love for them will always remain a fundamental truth, regardless of their separate futures or if their paths ever cross again.

And if he starts to feel something for the handsome new multighoul… well, he knows that if he leans into those feelings, his heart can only grow bigger.