#me 🤝 swiss ghoul: shoulder pain

[coffeeghoulie]

Mushy May Day 3: Massage

Swiss's shoulder flares up after his fall. Mountain takes care of him.

Shoutout to @forlorn-crows for putting this all together <3

(pspspspsps @hypnoneghoul i offer swissalps)

Divider by @ghuleh-recs <3

Swiss does his best to hide, keep his smiley front up in front of his pack, but Mountain's always been good at seeing right through him. Has been since Swiss first crawled out of the summoning portal, bruised and beaten to shit, refusing to admit that it was because he had forced himself, a multi-ghoul, through a portal meant for a fire ghoul.

Mountain knows what Swiss looks like when he's in pain, and he looks like it now. His smile is a little too wide, edges just a little too close to a grimace. He's favoring his left arm, wincing as he stretches up with Aeon's hand in his for bows.

He follows the multi-ghoul offstage and tries to subtly corral him to the side. Swiss's entire body is tense, and he turns to look up at Mountain.

"I know what you're gonna say, maple. 'M fine," he says, his glamour slipping, too many teeth in his mouth, each too sharp.

Mountain sighs, shakes his head. "Edelweiss. You can't lie to me."

If it were unglamoured, Mountain knows that Swiss's tail would be lashing back and forth. They stare at each other, locked at a standstill, Swiss's posture tense and radiating pain, Mountain straightening to his full height. Mountain wants to get out of his sweat soaked uniform, wants to help his mate, and if he has to pull pack rank to get Swiss to accept help, then so be it.

He doesn't have to. After a moment of intense eye contact, Swiss's posture buckles and he takes a shaky breath. "Hurts, Mount," he says, almost under his breath, but Mountain can hear it clear as day.

"Do you want me to get Aeon?" he asks, reaching for Swiss's arm.

He shrugs, wincing as he pulls his left shoulder up. "No, don't bring them into this."

Mountain nods reluctantly, resting one of his big hands over Swiss's shoulderblade, feels the heat radiating off of it. "Shit, Swiss," he hums. "You're rooming with me tonight. We'll see if we can't get you feeling better, edelweiss."

Swiss nods, letting his head fall forward until the plastic helmet is pressed to Mountain's shoulder. "Thank you," he breathes.

Mountain kisses the crown of his head, and they filter off to the green room.

It's a bit of a blur from there until they're settled in a hotel room that looks the same as all the other hotel rooms Mountain's ever been in. He sets his and Swiss's bags down (he had refused to let the multi-ghoul carry his own, worried he'd just aggravate his shoulder more) on one of the queen beds and gestures to the ensuite bathroom.

"Take as long a shower as you need," he says, helping Swiss pull his hoodie off over his head. "As hot as you can handle, see if the heat can't get your shoulder to relax a bit."

Swiss hums, swaying on his feet. "Hot shower sounds good. Might just put me to sleep, if my shoulder knocks it off."

"And if you get relaxed enough to sleep, I'll count that as a win." Mountain punctuates his sentence with a kiss to Swiss's temple, the barest brush of lips on still-sweaty skin.

Swiss nods, grabbing a pair of sweats before disappearing into the bathroom. "Will you come if I call you?" he asks, voice muffled by the door.

"It isn't even a question," Mountain says, busying himself with digging through his bag. The shower kicks on, and not long after that, he can see steam spilling out from under the crack in the door, a loud groan of relief as Swiss steps under the spray.

Mountain hums triumphantly as he finds what he's looking for, a little oval tin that he sets on the nightstand between the beds. He pulls the covers back on one of the beds, sits on the edge and waits for Swiss to either call for him or come out of the shower.

It turns out to be the latter, Swiss stepping out of the bathroom, braids tied back, his travel clothes in hand. They're quickly tossed on the spare bed, and his eyes lock on Mountain. "Shower helped some. How'd you want me?"

Mountain scoots back and pats the mattress between his spread thighs. "Have a seat."

"You make it sound so ominous," Swiss laughs half heartedly, sitting between Mountain's legs. Mountain reaches around him for the tin, opening it and taking out the lotion bar. He rubs it between his hands, his body heat melting the oils.

"I won't let anything happen, you know that," Mountain says. "Left side, right?"

Swiss sighs. "Yep. There."

Mountain leans forward, presses a kiss to the back of Swiss's neck. "It's alright. I've got you." He curls his hands gently over both of Swiss's shoulders, gently digging his thumbs in on either side of his spine. The multi-ghoul groans as he rubs little circles, head drooping a little. "There we go."

He moves his hands down after a while, knows that Swiss's shoulder flares up fairly regularly after his spill a few autumns ago. He knows where it hurts. He gently targets the area, rubbing the lotion bar into Swiss's skin, feels the muscles starting to relax under his touch.

"Fuck," Swiss groans, head drooping until his chin touches his chest.

"Yeah, baby?" Mountain asks, laughing warmly. "Feelin' good?"

Swiss nods weakly, long eyelashes pressed against his dark cheeks. "A lot better."

"That's good to hear, edelweiss." He leans forward, still rubbing Swiss's back and shoulders, to press a kiss behind his ear. It flicks, bapping Mountain on the nose.

They sit in silence, Mountain coaxing each muscle in Swiss's shoulders to ease up on the tension, to relax, and Swiss gets more and more boneless with every passing moment.

Mountain reaches around to prop Swiss up and keep him from collapsing forward off of the bed. "Hey, edelweiss, sweetheart, are you feeling good enough to lay down?"

Swiss nods, a little dopey. "Yeah," he yawns, stumbling a little as they both stand. Mountain helps him lay down onto his front, face smooshed into the pillows. "Thank you, maple."

"Anything for you, love. I don't like seeing you hurt."

"I know," he says, voice slurring as all of the post-show exhaustion seems to hit him like a bus. "I don't like you seeing me hurt."

Mountain chuckles, running a hand up and down the slight protrusion of Swiss's spine. "Oh, I know. You haven't since the day I met you."

Swiss laughs, an exhale of breath, eyes half lidded. "You can go shower, if you want. I'm fine like this."

"I know, but I'm not going anywhere, edelweiss. I showered at the venue." He lays down, still moving his hand up and down, up and down.

Swiss turns his head, a golden eye peeking out. "Thank you, Mounty. Love you," he says, but it's barely more than a whisper, sleep starting to take him.

"I love you too." Mountain reaches over him and turns out the light.