#so i made Dewdrop sad

[sphylor]

cw: blood

Today's practice had turned out way more stressful than Dew had expected. Papa was caught up in some ministry business so the ghouls were left to go through songs and choreography by themselves. Dew was a little bit thrown off by this news but it was fine. They had done loads of ghoul only practices before and done everything they needed to do. But there was an air of what Dew could only describe as silliness hanging over the other ghouls today and it was making it hard to get damn near anything done. 

“-and then I told him that I didn't even work there!” Swiss exclaimed as Phantom and Cirrus doubled over with laughter.

“So you had this poor guy follow you around the whole store trying to get your attention?” Cumulus giggled as she wiped a tear from her eye.

“I don't even know why he did it!” 

There was another eruption of laughter and Dew eyed the instruments that his bandmates had abandoned to go listen to Swiss’ story. He looked round at the other ghouls and saw the same level of disinterest in practicing. Rain had sat down on the edge of Mountain's platform and pulled out his phone and headphones while the earth ghoul absentmindedly drummed out a beat and stared out the window. Aurora had even linked her phone to one of the speakers and was playing some new hit pop song. Everything was so loud and disorganised. Dew tried to get anyone's attention, but between the laughter and the music and the sound of Mountain's drums no one could hear him. Or they were all just ignoring him. 

“Guys can we get on with the fucking practice? We start touring in a month and we still have so many things to go over.” Dew raised his voice and everyone went quiet. Aurora turned off the music and everyone got back into position. Dew felt guilt start to grow in his gut at all the sheepish looks on his bandmates faces. But he shook his head and looked at the setlist they needed to practice for the first show. “Okay let's just start from the top because Papa isn't here.”

They got through the first few songs without a hitch but when they got to the first solo in Faith, one of Dew's hands decided to cramp and completely fuck up the whole thing. Dew stifled his cry of pain and everyone stopped to see what happened. 

“I'm fine. Let's just start again.”

Dew tried again but his fingers weren't cooperating. He kept fumbling the notes as his hand continued to ache even after the cramping stopped. He was getting increasingly frustrated with himself. Everytime he messed up the solo he went back to the start and tried it again. He didn't even notice when the other's stopped playing when he started to do that. He also didn't notice his glamour slipping and, with what seemed to be a deafening twang, Dew's claws sliced straight through several strings.

The sound of his only blood rushing through his head was the only thing he could hear as he stared down at the guitar. One of the strings must have caught his hand as it snapped and Dew watched the blood drip down his wrist, staining his sleeve. 

Phantom rushed over and tried to take his hand. “Dew, you're bleeding! Let me fix that for y-”

A deep, guttural growl cut the quint off as Dew snatched his hand back and threw his pick to the floor. He would have thrown his whole guitar to the floor too if he didn't know how much it would cost to replace it. So he just shoved it on its stand and stormed out of the room.

As he marched down the corridors he could feel the hot tears start to stream down his face. He was such a fucking idiot. Phantom didn't deserve that. None of them deserved the brunt of his temper. The guilt made his stomach churn and he wanted to scream. He wrenched the door to his room open and slammed it shut behind him, before launching himself into bed. Grabbing the nearest pillow, he screamed into it until his throat was raw and his head hurt. 

After that, he realised that the feeling of his clothes sticking to his sweaty skin was just too much and he practically ripped them off his body, throwing them across the room and not caring where they landed. Then he remembered the cut on his hand and saw how much blood he had got all over his bed. It was everywhere. All the thrashing about he had done had caused the wound to keep reopening and bleeding all over his sheets and blankets and pillows. Dew practically jumped away from the bed and just stood there, too overwhelmed by everything to do anything. The tears started again and Dew just didn't know what to do. He fell to the ground and sobbed. 

[midnightorchids]

Shades of cerise and vermillion paint the sky as the autumn dewdrops coat the grass under your feet. The weather is foggy this morning and there’s a soft chill in the air. It nips at your cheeks and the tips of your nose.

It’s quite peaceful, this time of day usually is.

You stroll through the empty neighbourhood, Jason’s rough hands intertwined with your own. You take turns sipping the steaming jasmine green tea in your thermos, the perfect treat for such a morning. The subtle floral flavour has your tastebuds humming in delight.

“We’re going to be so late for class, remind me why we decided to talk today,” Jason asks groggily, still tired. You don’t answer right away, instead taking a minute to admire his exhausted face. His eyes are sunken in, he’s been working a lot more these days, picking up more shifts at the gym, training more clients. He’s tired and the stress of university classes was not helping the case.

However, despite his fatigue state, Jason still managed to look attractive to you.

You look into his eyes for a brief moment, only to be met by a mischief that danced in his eyes. He grins sheepishly and gently swings your intertwined hands back and forth, patiently waiting for a response. You look down and smile at his antics.

“It’s so pretty out this morning, I wanted to take it in before sitting in that god awful lecture hall,” you reply, taking another sip of the tea. “Here, drink,” you say bringing the thermos close to Jason, he lowers his body to take a quick sip.

“I thought you liked that class,” he asks again, this time confused. His eyes scan your face for an answer, his eyebrows are furrowed and there’s a small pout on his face.

“No Jay, you like that class and I like you, so I suck it up,” you answer, staring at the honey and crimson leaves falling from the oak trees. The air smells earthy, sweet almost and you sigh, pleasantly.

“Wow babe, you’re such a saint,” he says smiling. You let go of his hand and playfully scoff at the statement.

A gentle breeze brushes through your hair, it's cold and has you moving closer into Jason. His hands rake around your waist and you take another sip of the tea to feel some warmth again. You then pass the thermos to Jason, which he takes almost immediately.

“Should we skip,” you exclaim, suddenly excited.

He doesn’t let you finish your thought and replies “don’t even think about it,” and you pout. He bends down and quickly pecks your lips, “You’ll be fine, it's only an hour anyways.” You nod your head in response, he’s right, you made him wake up so early, skipping class wouldn’t be fair.

You're almost near the university, you can see glimpses of the tan brick buildings behind the sea of trees, turning back now would be quite useless.

”I’ll buy you lunch after and we can watch that movie you wanted to watch last,” Jason says ruffling your hair.

“But you said it was sad, what if you cry,” and he grins in response.

“For you, I do anything,” he intertwines your fingers again and smiles softly. You don’t respond, you bite your bottom lip to hold back a smile and you clutch his hand a little tighter.

Jason looks down at you, his heart full, you don’t say it, but he knows you would do the same for him.

[ravenssilver]

part three of my unintentional, untitled aeon series

part one part two

now, 981 words of aeon being tired

Aeon was in the kitchen early one morning, his lilac eyes clouded with exhaustion.

He sipped some coffee. He had made it the way he had seen Mountain make it for Dew. He wasn’t sure if it liked it. It tasted burnt.

Though, since it was the same kind Dew liked, he had poured the lions share of the brew into another mug and set it by the coffeemaker with a little note for the fire ghoul.

Aeon sighed and set the mug down on the kitchen island, slouching in on himself as he slightly spun the barstool back and forth, lost in his thoughts as always.

He was starting to regret taking away Swiss’ exhaustion. He felt it weighing him down like a cloud that was just barely too gray above him. Of course, Aeon didn’t regret taking away Swiss’ exhaustion. He just wished it didn’t have to be so… well, exhausting, to hold onto someone else’s fatigue.

Aeon looked down into his coffee mug, sending a little bolt of quintessence into it, making the liquid ripple.

“Tommy?”

Aeon jolted in surprise and looked over his shoulder, seeing Aurora with some sort of string wrapped around her lower fang, wedged between the enlarged tooth and her lateral incisor.

“Hey… what’re you doing up so early?” Aeon asked, his voice soft as he held his hand out to Aurora. Aurora shuffled closer and took Aeon’s hand in hers, standing between his knees as he remained sat on the barstool.

“I was flossing, I think it’s called, and the string got wrapped around my fang. Lus and Cir are sleeping.. Can you help?” She asked, a bit awkward due to how little she had spoken to the ghoul who was summoned at the same time as her.

Aeon’s eyes saddened as he realized he was a last resort, even to his fellow summon buddy.

“Yeah..” he sighed with a nod, not even bothering to make some sort of halfhearted joke to lighten the mood.

He wasn’t even wanted by the ghoulette who he shared the most important day of his eternal life with.

Aeon gingerly grabbed the floss string and began unwrapping Aurora’s enlarged canine. His eyes were dull, the multi-ghoulette not being able to read anything off of Phantom.

“There.. better?” Aeon asked, sounding just as dull as he looked as he tossed the string of floss into the trash can. “Yeah. Thanks. Uh… yeah, bye.” Aurora mumbled before turning on her heel and walking out of the kitchen.

Aeon followed her with his eyes before turning back to the kitchen island. He stared at the marble for a moment before he dropped his head down, sighing shakily as tears welled in his eyes from both the pain in his heart and the pain from his horns slamming against the marble.

His shoulders shook as silent sobs left him, his posture becoming even more curled in as his heart started to crack under the pressure, threatening to shatter into a million of cracked pieces.

Hours later, Dew walked into the kitchen, finding Aeon dead asleep at the island, his back curved in an uncomfortable looking way.

Rain walked in behind Dewdrop, his eyebrows furrowing when he saw Aeon.

“Is he okay?” Rain asked softly, looking at Dew. The fire ghoul stared at Aeon for a moment before he shrugged, walking over to the coffee pot and brushing off the mug that was already there. Just Aeon leaving a mess.

“Seems fine to me.” He stated, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that was practically screaming that something was wrong.

“Oh, don’t lie to yourself,” Rain huffed, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the counter. “Something’s been wrong since he was summoned. Why hasn’t he come to us..?” Rain frowned, looking at Aeon with sad eyes.

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to,” Dew shrugged, his ear flicking as his coffee began to brew. “It would be easier on all of us if he kept himself out of everything.” He grumbled, looking at Rain, only to see the water ghoul staring at the little quint.

“C’mon, Rain, he’s grown. He’d say something if something is really wrong.” Dew rolled his eyes, his tail flicking. “I really don’t see why you’ve suddenly gotten all worried.”

“He’s struggling, Dew.” Rain stated. “It’s so obvious. Did you hear what Swiss was telling Mount the other day? How desperate he was to do what Aeth’ used to-“

“Stop.”

Rain’s eyes widened and he looked at Dew, surprised by the sudden anger in his voice.

“He’s not Aether. He never will be.” Dew spat, glaring at Rain. “I know.” Rain nodded, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I never said-“

“Well everyone seems to think that he can live up to was Aether was! Why am I the only one that sees that he’s nothing?” Dew snarled, Rain’s eyes widening before they narrowed.

“Dew, stop.”

“No, Rain! He won’t ever be what you all think he is!”

“Dew.”

“He’s just some replacement. Something to take up space until we can get someone good enough to be the pack Quintessence.”

“Dewdrop!”

“He’s a runt. It’s all he ever will be.”

The fire ghoul growled, turning to look at Rain, only to see a bleary eyed Aeon looking back at him, Rain standing off to the side with wide eyes.

A single tear rolled down Aeon’s face, his breathing shaky as all signs of hope or happiness quickly dissolved into despair.

Aeon snuffled and took a deep breath in before he nodded his head to the white mug that was by the coffee pot that had just started to pour Dew’s coffee.

“I made you some already.” Aeon said blandly, his voice shaky and so quiet Dew barely even heard him.

And then he was gone, leaving Dew caught off guard with a very angry Rain.

[serene-sun]

𝔐𝔲𝔰𝔥𝔶 𝔐𝔞𝔶 𝔇𝔞𝔶 24: “𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔭”

Pairing: Aether/mountain

Sum: earth ghouls are very emotional after being summoned

MUSHY MAY BY @forlorn-crows !!!

“He’s crying again,” ifrit says

“Yeah,” Aether sighs as he moves the curtain out of his view of the window again, “He wont come inside either, even when it’s raining.”

“Well, he must come in at some point to eat, just have to wait him out.” Dewdrop says as he also looks out the window.

The newly summoned earth ghoul had been crying under the weeping willow tree for more than two days now. Earth ghouls were known to be extremely personal and protective over friends and family. Just like quintessence ghouls, they held deep bonds with things they loved. So it was a point to time they called “the weeping willow phase” of when the earth ghoul mourned the loss of both their habitat and their people.

It could be hard for them to find a new beloved, so this period would last until they bonded with their new pack mates.

“He doesn’t have to eat, remember?” Ifrit nods as he unfolds his arms, “Earth ghouls are so stubborn, they always find a way to outgrow their issues but still get so emotional.” He says as he puts a hand on aethers back, motioning that he was leaving.

After Ifrit left, Dewdrop looked up to Aether, “What are we going to do? It was easy to bond with Ivy because he didn’t like all of the ants getting on him so he stayed inside. But I’m afraid our new friend will run off.”

“I know…” Aether sighed again as his vision relaxed into the golden red sky that caressed the ministry as the sun started to fall into the mountains.

“I’m not the best at….talking….but you-“ Dewdrop thought, “I mean you were kind of made for talking to others.” The water ghoul smiled awkwardly, they weren’t the best at talking one on one as most of them were either shy or anxious if not both.

“I’ll talk to him, just tell Papa that we’re still trying before he gives up on us.” Aether chuckled at the end, he rubbed the base of his horn in frustration on the situation.

Terzo was a great leader, but he was known to grow impatient rather quickly.

“It’s getting a little chilly out here, why don’t you come inside?” Aether said softly as he walked up to the earth ghoul.

With a flinch, the whimpering ghoul peaked a teary eye out of his tucked arms from his knees. He looked at aether, not with fear, with sadness as another cry strung out of his sore throat.

A gently breeze hushed the sounds of the ministry as the long strand of vine and leaf from the willow tree blew like hair in the gentle summer breeze, Aether kneeled down beside him.

“I know it’s difficult, but you must continue.” Aether said with a frown as he placed a hand on the ghouls shoulder.

The earth ghoul was large, tall as a matter of fact and long eyelashes that collected his tears of his puffy eyes. The ghouls hair was dark, a sort of brown that shifted green highlight in the flittering light of the setting sun. Skin, a neutral green with darker pigmented spots as his veins showed through his pale skin like small vines that blended in with the moss that spread across his finger tips and around his joints. His ears pointed, many chips and cuts that covered him like a story book. His eyes were a piercingly soft purple like a cluster of amethyst. The earth ghoul curled up into a ball more as he rubbed his nose, a tear falling down the apple of his cheek.

Aether sat beside him against the hunk of the tree, “if you come inside, I will get you better clothes and you wont have to get all wet from the rain like you did last night.”

The ghoul couldn’t deny that sounded wonderful, but he couldn’t get the images of his life in the pit out of his memory. But something urged him to let a hand slowly fall from his own embrace and trail down into the dirt to pick one of the flower bulbs. He held it in his hand gently, brining it up beside Aethers face as it suddenly bloomed a white blossom that swirled with life as it paralleled the quintessential ghouls white iris.

Aether was amazed a little, his heart fluttered and ached for the sadness dripping from the ghouls aura, soiling the soil and atmosphere.

“It’s beautiful, we have plenty of plants in the greenhouse.” Aether strikes a conversation, “But tell me, why must you stay attached to this fair tree?”

He lays the flower back on the ground, the bloom quickly fading as his touch leaves the plant.

“Salix Babylonica,” the ghoul finally speaks a soft but deep whisper as he rubs a tear from his porcelain face, “Mountain is covered with them this time of year.”

“Your right, they are,” Aether smiles as he looks up the tree and it’s branches draped with green, “Mountains, like you, are very strong and steady.”

The earth ghoul shakes his head, “I was I was like a mountain, sturdy and responsibility, beautiful and peaceful.” He traces a root in the ground with his finger, “But im not, im emotional and unwise.”

“I simply doubt that, if anything i think you are more a mountain than any other earth ghoul I’ve met.” Aether says, placing his hand on the ghouls

Earth looks up at Aether, “I’m not sad to loose my life in the pit, I never knew anyone there who was nice.” He admits solemnly.

The quintessence ghoul looks at him with pity, he knew the pit was rough even fore ghouls, “Then why must you weep?”

“I’m sad because I don’t have anything to loose, and now I must live in a world where there is more life to remind me of how lonely and out of place I am.” He says, letting down his guard now that aether was that close to him.

Earth ghouls were usually very short and small, smaller than water ghouls. He was abandoned from his pack due to them thinking he was a water ghoul for his height and quick growing hair.

“That doesn’t matter now, if I had room to say amongst all of the people here than id say you fit perfectly among these misfits we call ourselves.” Aether laughed softly as he stood up, “Come, I think you would enjoy some fresher clothes.”

Earth stood up with a soft smile, “If you say so, but…I don’t even have a name..how will i belong?”

“I think I found one,” Aether says as he takes his hand and walks with him on the brick path to the ghoul quarters.

“I think Mountain is a great name,”

[ourfatherwhoartinhell]

Ghostober - Day 2 [Phantom]

“Could you be happy here with me?” - 2k

CW: For some reason I used both Aeon and Phantom, sorry if that bothers you. Lil angsty, not proofread either (and it's late, oops)

⊹ Ghostober Masterlist ⊹

He wasn’t sure why today of all days he was feeling so sad. Phantom was normally bounding about and thrilled to bits if someone even said hi to him. He wasn’t summoned all that long ago and he was still figuring out the ropes. His pack was super helpful too. Swiss and Dewdrop opted to help him out the most, although he wasn’t quite sure why Mountain and Rain always looked so displeased.

He had just finished his first few shows with the band. They were all back at the Abbey for a couple days while they packed up, gathering all the things they’ll need before heading overseas for the North American leg of the tour. Aeon was super excited to see all the new people and explore new places and cultures. Ever since his summoning day he was like a sponge, soaking in every bit of information he could - both good and bad. 

Aether helped a lot with teaching Phantom the guitar before he was moved to full time work in the infirmary - a skill they were both surprised the young ghoul picked up extremely quick. Aether didn’t think they had made it to the end of the week before Phantom had mastered half the setlist, much to the excitement of Copia. 

Aeon was proving to be a very worthy summon, and an even more worthy replacement for the band. You never knew what kind of ghoul you were going to get out of a ritual. Sure you had a faint idea, since ghouls were drawn to the personality of those summoning them, but they could be quiet and shy like Rain, helpful and kind like Cumulus, or a huge pain in the ass like Swiss. On the best of days, it was a coin toss. 

On the day Copia called upon a Quintessence ghoul, he was just happy that he got a full quint. Unlike when Terzo tried to summon a replacement for Omega and ended up with Delta instead, who was half water, half quint. However, there were other factors at play that day of course.

Phantom had been in the den packing up his things, trying to make a mental note of what the others had said to bring. Everyone else was bounding about, laughing and playing like leaving the country wasn’t super scary. Of course it was no big deal to them, they had done this whole thing before. They were also quite a bit older than he was. He looked out to the common area and saw Swiss hanging upside down on the couch, messing with Aurora while Mountain made some muffins and Cirrus had Dew in a headlock - most likely for good reason.

Even Aurora was chilled out and relaxed. They were summoned together so she felt like a little sister to him, yet she fit into the pack dynamic so much faster than he did. Sometimes he wondered if he did fit in.

His thoughts were interrupted by Copia suddenly appearing at his side, nudging his shoulder, causing him to jump. When did he get here?

“What’s wrong, little one? The others have said you’ve not been yourself lately.” Copia says quietly, not wanting to embarrass the small quint.

Phantom just put on his normal goofy grin and wagged his tail. “Oh nothing! Nope! All good here, Papa. Just excited!”

Copia had been around enough ghouls to know when they were lying (although Alpha was always his weakness. That guy was way too good at hiding his true feelings; he almost felt bad for him, but that was his brother’s problem). Copia just wrapped an arm around the young ghouls shoulders and pulled him in for a supportive side hug.

“You have every right to be nervous. It is a long way from home, sì?”

Aeon hadn’t expected Copia to see through his facade, or at least not so quickly. He thought it was pretty good, it worked every time on the pack. “I was excited,” he admitted, his expression faltering as he looked at the ground, kicking his feet together. “I don’t know why it seems so scary now.”

Copia just nodded knowingly, guiding the quint to a quieter part of the den where they could talk in private.

“You can talk to me. Anything that I can do to help, you know I will do. Within reason of course.” Copia cracked a smile, hoping it would help him feel more comfortable to say what was on his mind. The last thing he wanted was his ghouls thinking they would be reprimanded for speaking about what’s bothering them. He made that vow the moment he stepped forward to take over the Ghost project.

“I know it’s only been a little while since being here, but Aurora has settled in so quickly and I feel like I’m falling behind.” He admitted quietly. “It feels like everyone is happy that she’s here, but I’m just some kit they can just push around because I don’t know anything. I want to learn, I want to know, Papa! I try to learn but the surface is so confusing.”

Copia runs a comforting hand along his back. “You are doing so well. I am so proud. I know they are proud too.” He motions towards where the rest of his pack were busy goofing around down the hall. “Aether was so proud of you too. He told me that you were his first choice for a replacement and that you would excel, and you have.”

“But I’m not him,” Aeon interjects. “I see it on stage, Papa. Dew always looks over to where Aeth used to be and sees me instead. I don’t think he’ll ever be able to get over that and I don’t know what to do. No matter how hard I try, how great I play, or how much I practice. He’ll never be happy.”

Copia just sighs. He knew exactly what Phantom was talking about. He had a long week of conversations with Dewdrop about the very same thing before the young quint was summoned. He had tried to get Dew to come to terms with the reasoning behind his actions, but he was having none of it. Eventually they had agreed that Dew would be amicable and act professionally towards Aeon, but that he never had to be his friend. For the meantime, that was acceptable for Copia. At least it would stop any fights or arguments while they kicked off the tour. 

However, he was realizing that the agreement may need amending now.

“Have you tried talking to Dewdrop about it? I can’t say I’ve noticed too much while on stage, but I don’t like getting involved in pack politics. I learnt long ago that it’s much better if we let you sort it out amongst yourselves, but I can step in if I must.”

Phantom just shook his head. “No I haven’t.”

“Would you like me to be there while you talk to him?” Copia offers. “I won’t step in, but I think it would be good for you two to get it off your chests before we leave tomorrow.”

Phantom twiddles his fingers in contemplation, his ear twitching as he tries to hear what’s going on down the hall. He liked to say he was an optimist, but somehow all he could think of is how this could go so wrong and ruin everything.

But Papa is here, he wouldn’t let anything happen. Would he? 

“I’m going to go get him, take a breath little one,” he affectionately ruffled the quint’s hair between the horns before he stood, almost certain that was his favourite spot. Copia would always see Cirrus and Mountain do it to him before rituals backstage, and Phantom’s tail happily starting to sway confirmed his suspicion. “I’ll be back.”

There weren't enough minutes between the time Copia left and came back with Dewdrop, who was already looking like he was being forced to the principal's office, to prepare little Aeon for the heavy conversation they were about to have. As soon as his violet eyes met Dew’s angry orange ones, he immediately wanted to cower and run away. There really was no other feeling like the one you get when your pack leader looks like he wants to tear you to pieces.

But he wasn’t going to run. He would do it for Papa. No more avoiding it.

On the other hand, he wanted to do it for himself too. To prove to Dew that he was worthy of this spot and he was worthy of being part of the pack in his own way.

The fire ghoul refused to sit, which was fine. As long as he didn’t walk out, that’s all Copia wanted. He had told Dew to just hear the kid out. 

“Okay, what? Speak.” Dew said sharply, arms crossed as he glared at Phantom.

“I know that you hate me–”

“Oh good–”

“Dewdrop.” Copia interrupted sternly, earning him a solid eye roll. “You can continue.”

Phantom took a shaky breath but squared his shoulders. “I know you miss Aether, I know you hate that I took his spot. I hate that I did too, but that was out of my control. I’m still learning how to be helpful up here. I’m still learning where I fit in… if I fit in anywhere.” He trailed off, trying not to cry in front of Dew or Papa. “What can I do to make this easier for you?”

Dewdrop would be lying if he said he expected that from the little bat. He wasn’t exactly sure what Copia had forced him into but this was certainly not what he was thinking. Maybe he had been a little blinded by his rage and took it too far. He was the pack leader now, it was his job to make sure everyone was looked after. And clearly he had failed.

He huffed before he answered, a little bit of smoke dancing under his nose, not wanting either of them to see that he was conflicted. “Just stop trying to be him. You will never be him. Just… be you.”

Phantom hung onto every word. He was ready to do whatever it took to make this right. “Do you think you could ever…. Be happy here? With me?”

Dew’s head tilted, contemplating what to say - something he wasn’t used to doing. “I suppose… if you started finding your own thing instead of stealing Aether’s - which you do horribly by the way- I could consider it.” He grumbled. “You have 2 months to figure it out before we get ba–”

Dew couldn’t finish his sentence before Phantom was engulfing him in the biggest hug he could muster, not even caring that the other could burn him pretty badly and stop him from coming on tour.

While Phantom had Dew in his embrace, subconsciously his Quintessence (which was unstable on the best of days) allowed Dew to see exactly how he felt. He could see every glare, every snide comment, every purposeful nudge on stage from Aeon’s point of view. Along with the heavy sense of guilt he carried that followed each and every interaction they had.

Had he really been that hard on the little guy?

“Well, I hope this means much more friendly interactions in the future, yes?” Copia smiled as Dew shoved him off, struggling to hide the small smile that forced its way through.

“You’re lucky he’s cute.” Dew mumbled, giving Copia the dirtiest look before ruffling the quint's hair as a sign of approval. In all honesty, he knew Phantom was coming long before Copia did. He had spoken to Aether about it weeks before. His only instruction he had was to look after him no matter what.

‘He’s young, he’s going to be lost and confused. Look after him for me.’

Dew would never admit it, but after talking with Aether, it was hard not to imagine Aeon like the son they never got to have.

[miasmaghoul]

From the prompt list

Dew/Aether #26

From this list.

#26 - as an apology

-----

"You're serious?"

Aether nods, but he can't look up. The disbelief in Dew's voice is something he expected, but it feels so much worse that he'd anticipated.

"Yes," he breathes, fiddling with a bracelet. "I told Papa this morning." Aether swallows, mouth dry. "I would have told you sooner, but -"

"Why?"

Aether sighs, scrubs at his face with both hands. The scent of antibacterial soap floods his nose, skin made dry from endless washing during his infirmary shift. He stares at the little ghoul's boots, black leather stark against the white tile floors. Maybe it was a mistake to do this here. Maybe he should have waited until tonight, until they were tangled up in bed and Dew was blissed out and half asleep. Maybe he'd sound less betrayed.

Somehow, Aether doubts it.

"I told you," he sighs, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I'm tired, Dew. Too tired to keep up with the rest of you." Aether rubs the back of his neck. "You remember the last leg, right? How many times did Papa talk to me about my mistakes? How many times did you have to pick up my slack?"

"Aeth -"

Aether holds up a hand, and Dewdrop pauses. Aether can feel his scowl, eyes burning into the top of his head. He still can't make himself look up.

"How many nights did you have to spend massaging my hands, just so I could play the next day?"Aether cracks his knuckles, wincing at their stiffness. "Besides, they need me here." He gestures vaguely at the empty infirmary lobby. "Now that Omega's gone, I'm the only full-time healer we've got."

He huffs out a harsh exhale, pinches the bridge of his nose. This was so much easier in his head. He watched the little ghoul cross his legs, scuffing the toe of his boot against the floor.

"I just...I can't do it anymore, Dew. I don't have the energy."

He falls silent after that, shoulders hunched and hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks, and waits. Waits for Dew to yell, to grab his coat and throttle him, to punch a wall - anything to express the rage he swears he can feel pouring from that slight body.

"I understand," Dew says instead, and somehow that's the thing that makes Aether look at him.

Dewdrop's expression reads cool, but his shoulders sit tense. The tip of his tail flicks through the air, obvious agitation, but it seems to be unconscious. There's something hard in his copper eyes, and Aether swallows hard.

"You...you what?"

"I get it," Dew says with a shrug, rolling his neck. "I was around when Zeph went through this, remember?"

That's...a fair point. Zephyr may have only joined them on stage for a few months, but Aether remembers very clearly all the evenings spent helping with their pain and exhaustion. He sighs, nods.

"Yeah, I do. But this isn't the same -"

"You could've told me, y'know," Dew interrupts, softer. "Before now, I mean. Before you told Papa."

"I almost did," Aether admits. Dew's casual demeanor has him off balance - he expected to have his coat singed by now. "But I was worried -"

"I wouldn't have told anyone," he interrupts, voice soft, and Aether stutters to a halt. Watches the little ghoul wring his hands. "Wouldn't have done that to you."

Aether blinks. Twice. That thought hadn't even occurred to him, not for a second. His hesitence came only from the risk of upsetting Dew, not from some fear of having his retirement revealed before he was ready. He cants his head and peers at Dewdrop, brow furrowed, and finds something new in his eyes. A watery glimmer of something so obviously sad, so fearful, that it makes Aether's heart ache.

"Oh, Dew..."

In half a breath they're caught up in each other, Aether holding the little ghoul to his chest in a crushing embrac, one hand on the back of his ash blond head and the other arm curled tight around him. Dew's hands fist into his shirt and he plants his feet between Aether's, huffing against his chest, and for a few moments they stay like that. Holding one another in silence while Aether collects his words and tries to figure out what he could possibly say to assure the one he loves more than any other that he'd never question his trust. To apologize for even making him think otherwise.

Then Dew pulls away just enough to look up at him with those gorgeous eyes, the gentlest smile curving his lips, and Aether has his answer.

The kiss is soft, gentle. No urgency, no tongue, just the perfect meeting of their mouths. Dew's warm hands come up to cup Aether's cheeks and Aether sighs through his nose, muscles he didn't know he'd tensed going lax. It feels like an age before they part, and Aether knows he doesn't have to say it, but -

"I'm sorry, firefly," he whispers, rubbing Dew's back and nosing at his temple. "I didn't mean -"

"I know," Dew assures him, stroking his face, eyes searching his own. "I...I know."

Dew kisses him again, and Aether decides any other words can wait until his hands stop shaking.

[skele-bunny]

Flops into your ask box like a wet dog

May I please have pet play ghouls:((

-🐾(you know who I am)

Yes u may I'm feeding it to you like a cracker.......

Bunny!!! Phantom!!! And!!! Rain!!!!!

Rain doesn't like being a pet often as he enjoys having dominance, but sometimes will indulge. He and Phantom are both bunnies, and if they're pet mode with each other, they're definitely found cuddled. Swiss loooooves targeting them, and Rain gets SUPER huffy when the "dumb dog" comes over and tries riling them up. Phantom, though? He's neutral on it! He'll play if he's in the mood, or let himself be humped unlike Rain who grumbles about it. There was ONE time they were both in the pet mind and actively wanted Swiss, Rain linking him and Phantom's tail to present for Swiss who just about lost his mind cause his doggy brain didn't know where to start.

Puppy Aether!! RRAAAA!!! Dew isn't the pet a lot, as he really enjoys owning Aether. Nice jock strap and harness, a hood as well. Pretty mittens :3. Aether is SO willing to please and will happily do anything Dew asks. Trick? He can do that!! Fetch? Not a problem!! Fuck? His favorite activity after all! He'll sleep a lot, though, usually always at Dewdrop's feet and he's soooo huffy when he's woken up by a foot nudge. He's not really disciplined or trained past basic things, as Dew doesn't see the point at Aether is very compliant and listens well. The type of MF to pull Aether's leash and direct him to mount while Dew spreads his folds for him.

Also, puppy/fawn Mountain!! Rain is his handler. When he's puppy, a lot of human furniture is involved. Rain resting his feet on him, putting plates and cups on his back (yes, even hot), using him as a chair or cushion. EXTREMELY well behaved and trained. There's been times where he's made to voyeur Rain getting fucked and all he'll do is pant. Won't whine, won't yip, or be sad despite how red and leaking his cock is. Just watch. Because if he's good, he gets to be next! Has a custom made cage that's in Rain's room, and he sleeps in there even out of pet space sometimes. Now, Fawn? Sweetest thing ever. Rain isn't rough with fawn, let's him curl up and nuzzle at him before laying. Gets super shy and whiny, and doesn't have a lot of training as he's too nervous to get in trouble. Likes being hand fed!!! One time Rain jerked Fawn off in front of the others and surprised them by noises even he didn't know he could make :3

Also bc I want to:

Fox Phil!!!! DAMNIT. Loves stealing Alpha's stuff and hiding away with it. Has a little den-fort that he hides in and likes nipping ankles before giggling and running away. Gets nicknamed vixen a lot bc if he wants Alpha, oh he'll get him. Can't really be trained but picks up social cues enough to know if he needs to hide from punishment or if what he's doing is allowed. Loooves rubbing his cock against Alpha's leg and purring, or flashing his hole with the pretty plug in :3

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[itsyagurlchip]

٠ ˚ ※ ๋࣭  ᯓ⚝ ⋆ .˚✰Funky Thoughts٠ ˚ ※ ๋࣭  ᯓ⚝ ⋆ .˚✰

✰⋆⁺warnings: cussing(!) polyamory(!) heavy angst(!) fluff/comfort(!) gn but masc reader(!) reader is tism and sheep coded (!) panic attack(!) uncontrollable suffocation(!) naked but not sexually (!)

✰⋆⁺Shhh not a vent. I just needed something sad. not a vent..i made a playlist for this btw! Again, for those who haven't read my other oneshot, Lovebug is Fizzaroli and Dizzy is Asmodeus. I wanted to give you guys a taste of what it's like to have hair like mines!! I hope you all enjoy<33

✰⋆⁺ Sometimes you don't feel the best. And that's okay, because your favorite two demons are on the way!

'Maybe you should've just kept your mouth shut.'

I thought to myself.

'They're lucky I'm not mentally unstable. I would've torn their fucking faces off.'

I cried silently as I ripped my suit off, throwing it harshly against the pink carpet. I bleated in anger. or was it sadness? Pure animosity for those ignorant, selfish, egotistical, unprofessional little shits started to cloud my mind.

pressure, pressure, pressure.

I swiped away my tears and stomped to the luxurious bathroom. My hooves made hostile clacks across the tile of the flooring, my puffy tail twitching in agitation.

pressure pressure pressure

I grabbed my essentials, a face towel and a body towel, as well as a few candles. I grab the lighter, but my hands are too shaky to use it. I slam it to the ground as the fluid pours against the smashed glass.

pressure pressure pressure

I looked at myself in the giant mirror. How tired my cheekbones looked, the way my fur desperately begged to be taken care of. But worst of all, was my eyes.

I looked so tired. So hopeless, so broken. Why are you letting them do this to you? You don't have to take this? It's not the only job, you deserve better.

That mask was cracking.

snap!

Something inside of me broke. I just couldn't look away from those sad eyes. Next thing i new, I was sobbing. hard.

I couldn't even conceal my noises, because if i did, I would simply be suffocating myself. My head was pounding, my tears falling faster (pretty sure they made a small puddle, how pathetic).

All the while, I still couldn't look away from those things. Those damned pupils. That thing looking at me in the mirror wasn't me. No, it couldn't be. It was too pitiful. Too weak.

My breathing quickened, my body wasn't listening to my thoughts. As of my brain disconnected from reality, I started to shake. Why cant i breathe?

My head was spinning, all of my hidden problems were choking me straight at the throat. Consciously, i knew I was fine. Yet, my body couldn't help but react in such a way to something as small as thoughts.

Disgusting. How miserable. You cant even hold yourself together. How would Dizzy and Lovebug react?

And as soon as I thought that, I heard the door burst open. A smooth voice to still my shaking, cooling metal to chill my burning skin. I still couldn't breath, and streams were still pooling my eyes.

Now i was being rocked slowly, scratchy humming as well as sniffles in between was bringing me to reality.

Just as my eyes were about to roll to the back of my head, my lungs finally registered my plead to breath. I took in as much air in as i could, sputtering and coughing ever so then.

I was able to see through those dreadful dewdrops, I could finally see the two people who give their love to me. After blinking a few times, I could feel that the tears had reached my skin, and were rapidly drying.

"Are you okay now buggabear?" Asmodeus whispered softly, as if his voice would disturb the silence I've created. Too bad his voice is more of a subduing melody. His eyelights looked down upon me in concern, as well as empathy.

I could only nod sheepishly, which is ironic...

Fizzaroli had his arms fully coiled around my fluff, from chest to waist. His eyes were slightly red, with his head stuffed into my neck.

"Don't scare me like that again!" He glared tearfully. "I couldn't tell if you were gasping for air or choking yourself out." He pouted, despite knowing it was out of your control. I chuckled in self depreciation.

I had only now noticed that Dizzy was in his smaller form, carefully floating his hands over my face. I meekly nodded again, and the softness of him and his love reached my cheeks.

"Oh Froggie..." Dizzy sighed, looking down at Fizzy, picked up the two of us. He looked over towards the tub and the broken lighter- or what used to be of it. Now it was tiny shards covered in chemicals, threatening to stab us if we dared placed our feet upon them.

I seemed to remember that i didn't have any clothes on previous as Asmodeus observed the knocked over candles around the tub rim.

"Would you still like to take a bath? Or is that too much for right now?" He asked, shuffling to balance and step over the shards.

"yes... yes please." I replied. I didn't wanna use my voice much. Lovebug unwrapped himself from me, and sat at the end of the tub. He turned the knobs, mixing and spilling in liquid soap for perfect satisfaction.

The bubbles floated upwards in heart shapes, popping when they reached the warm air above.

"Would you like us to stay?" Asmodeus asked.

As I consented, he lowered me into the tub. My wool instantly started soaking up water, bringing it down a few levels.

Soon enough after untensing a bit, Dizzy took my shoulders from behind and massaged them deeply. I couldn't help but relax and let out a few 'mehs' in delight. His fingers ran through the locs and strands of it all, untangling them to some extent.

Looking over, my heavy soaked wool making it hard to move, I looked over at Lovebug, who had a bottle of coconut and shea butter scented soap.

"Y-you guys do know you really don't have to do this for m-me, right?"I spoke, turning back to the bath wall. I then shiver as i fell a plop of thick liquid being moisturized into my head.

"Of course!/We want to though" They both say at the same time, turning to each other then laughing. The continue to scratch at my scalp and push deeply into my shoulders, forcing my tense muscles to ease up immediately.

"We want to take care of you, especially because you're stressed right now." Asdmodeus starts. "But also being our partner means being an extension of ourselves, we have to tend to ourselves after all?"

"Plus, buggabear, you'll get all stinky and sad- we dont wanna leave you like that!" Fizzaroli jested, poking at the top of your head with gloves. "What kind of partners would we be if we didn't do the the bare minimum of taking care of you?" He finished.

I smiled at my partners' words, chuckling at the 'stinky and sad' part.

Having someone to care for me meant a lot for my healing soul. No one ever, not even in the land of living, has someone ever taken care of me like this. Not even myself.

With such love, such delicacy in a way that didn't make you feel small. These two were the change you really really needed.

You were glad you had some form of escape from those funky thoughts.

(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و tags: @kittykittyanon @radicallxser @oleander-nin @towomatos @thealphagirl @ziipzeepzop-eez @amorvincitomnia-14 @spongejuice. if you would like to be added, check my blog. if you would like to be added, check my blog.

[sashi-ya]

donquixote rosinante x gn! reader tw: none. au: cora is still alive, living at dressrosa with doffy. wc: 505

DEWDROPS. Whenever there was pain, whenever there was sadness running through the fields of Dressrosa always made you smile. But the sunflowers were hidden tonight, and the sun hadn’t give those beautiful sunshine lovers enough to be in full bloom. You sit in between them, whose desperate attempts for energy forced to rely on the others. Faced one to the other, each of them having a couple to share what was left of vitality. And while there, you feel as if you would never have your other sunflower. Living in the castle made you sad. Serving Doffy, even more. It was that or becoming a forgotten rag doll… somehow, the rag doll alternative didn’t seem so bad anymore.  Some little tears pooled in your eyes, and a big sigh coming from your mouth, moved the green -now tinted in blueish and silver moonlight- leaves. It made a drop of dew touch your leg; it’s cold, but it caught your attention… always flashed by the beauty of wild big yellow flowers, you never noticed the silent little drops of water on top of their leaves. You come closer, touching one of those with extreme caution. You don’t want for the little droplets to slide off the leave. And for some reason, you smile. Those were interesting to look at, especially at the way they reflected the moon and your face despite being that tiny… “Are your leaves crying, dear sunflower?”. A sudden face appeared on the reflection; blonde, beautiful, silent. You jumped, as you weren’t expecting someone else to be right behind you. “Oi, oi. Are you ok?” he asks, grabbing you as you fall back in your desperate attempt to stand up. Your eyes, as wide as a sunflower, open in big surprise. “You- you can speak?” you gasp, noticing the man you thought to be a mute -or all of you, for that matter- happened to be talking to you. Rosinante covered his lipstick drawn lips with his hands. He realized he had committed a silly mistake. But had he really? Always silent, to you, Doffy’s brother has always been like the dew drops. A beauty worth reflecting a whole sky, but always so unnoticed. “Don’t tell Doffy, yeah?” he pleads, sitting right by your side. “But why are you so sad?”. You smile, softly. Of course you wouldn’t tell him. “I – I won’t tell him. I’m… I don’t like this life” you murmur, unsure. Should you tell this man, that’s Doffy’s brother and a prince of the castle you live and work in, the true?. “I don’t like this life either, would you mind if I share the feeling tonight sitting by your side?” he asks, with a smile as bright as the sun itself. Somehow, the warmth of it suddenly made you feel reenergized. You smile back, nodding. In silence, you thought that maybe you had found the sunflower you were hoping for, this night and the following ones. Even if he would reflect, in the dark, all of what you are… ~

[gravehags]

our little remedy

Pairing: Aether x f!Reader x Mountain

Rating: Explicit

18+ ONLY MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Tags: threesome, PinV sex, anal sex, weed smoking, ghouls being tender as always, Cumulus and Dew cameos

Words: 2,416

Summary: Two ghouls at once was unprecedented for you. But you love a challenge.

a/n: PART 5 BABY HORNY HOURS ARE NOW the way i would let aether and mountain absolutely destroy me...whew

~~~

“Mm…’Lus…I have kitchen duties.”

The ghoulette smiles against your lips and pushes you further into the doorframe. Clearly she pays your concern no mind as she slides her hand into your hair, claws scratching lightly at your scalp. 

“Not finished with you yet, my love,” she purrs, hand sliding down to cup your ass. A low wolf whistle comes from the hallway and the two of you part, brows furrowed. Dewdrop is leaning against the door opposite Cumulus’, wearing the biggest shit-eating grin you’ve ever seen. Cumulus lets out a little growl that makes your breath hitch.

“We’re busy, fuck off,” she snarls at him, gripping your hips and frowning.

“Oh I know,” he says slyly, “heard you both loud and clear last night. And you didn’t invite me?” His lips slide into a faux-pout and Cumulus looks like she’s going to launch at him. 

“Dew, fuck off,” you say simply in an effort to de-escalate the situation, “and mind your business. ‘Lus, I have to go.” She looks so damn sad, tail flicking lowly behind her. Squeezing her hands you lean over and give her two kisses on her cheek and one achingly sweet one on her plush lips. Dew at least has the decency to look away as you give her a meaningful stare. She sighs and relinquishes your hands.

“If you must,” she says, giving Dew a sideways dirty look.

“Bye, love,” you murmur. “Goodbye, Dewdrop,” you say, brushing his shoulder affectionately as you pass.

You hurry down the hall to make sure you don’t witness any ghoul-on-ghoul violence. It’s still too early in the day for that.

—

A week passes, filled with duties both tedious and enjoyable, and you find yourself heading to the common room on your floor. You’ve earned the ire of your fellow siblings after the invasion of ghouls in the space but quite frankly you couldn’t care less. You walk in and immediately register a conversation.

“I don’t think she can handle it.”

Mountain is sitting on the couch, joint in hand speaking to Aether, who sits in a chair opposite with his feet propped up on an ottoman. You loudly deposit your bag in a chair and sidle over to them.

“Who can’t handle what?” It’s not like you to be this nosy but you and the ghouls had become close over the past few months and they seemed to prefer bluntness. Plopping yourself on the couch next to Mountain, you give them both a look. Mountain takes a deep drag from his joint and passes it to you.

“Can’t handle us,” he says simply, exhaling smoke.

You don’t have to ask for clarification - you’ve picked up on what he means.

“Took Cumulus’ strap,” you say, not without a little pride. Aether grins wickedly and winks at you.

“We heard,” he chuckles, watching you take a hit. “Been thinking about those sweet noises you made that night for days now.”

You cough a little on your exhale, making Mountain smile.Your cheeks are burning from the way they both look at you.

“Do you want it?” Mountain queries, accepting the joint back from you. “Both of us?”

Lust simmers low in your stomach as the weed pulls through your system.

“Yeah,” you breathe, biting your lip. Aether’s eyes fly to where your teeth tug on flesh and you see his fists clench. Mountain stands, positively towering over you and you crane your neck to look up at him. Aether follows suit, looming, and you turn your gaze to him.

Oh absolutely, you think.

As if reading your mind, Aether extends a hand and pulls you off the couch.

“Yours?” he asks Mountain as the three of you walk towards the door.

“Yeah. Bed’s bigger.”

–

Once again you find yourself in the ghoul den, standing at the threshold of Mountain’s room. He’s right - his bed is massive. The room is decorated with crawling vines and beautiful blooms and idly you wonder how he cares for them in such a dark space. Aether slides his hands around your waist from behind you as Mountain closes the door, making you jump a little.

“Easy,” he purrs, leaning forward to inhale deep at the crown of your head. When you turn in his arms to face him he’s gazing down at you with a soft expression, even with his pupils blown. Suddenly gripped with desire you slide your palm along his jaw and raise yourself on tiptoes to capture his lips. You whimper against him as he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue against yours. As he devours you, he guides you backwards towards the bed, where Mountain is sitting. Upon your approach he stands and you slip from Aether’s grasp to enter his. He’s too tall for you to reach so you grab the front of his shirt, pulling him down to your level. When he slides a hand down to bring your hips against him, you moan at the feeling of his hardened cock resting against you. 

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Aether asks from behind you as he strips himself. You want to turn to look at him but Mountain grips your chin in his hand, forcing you to look up.

“She’s perfect,” he murmurs. Your flush continues to spread across your body and you’re filled with such emotion not only for the both of them, but for all the ghouls. They’ve been so kind to you, so loving - more so than anyone else you’ve met during your time at the abbey. Mountain must see the tears welling in your eyes because he sits, bringing you back to eye level with him.

“You’re perfect,” he repeats, and Aether echoes him before wrapping his arms around you once more. You’re finally distracted from emotion by the feeling of Aether’s lips on your neck as his hands slip the buttons of your habit loose. Mountain helps his effort, sliding the garment down and off your body until you stand before the both of them in your bra and panties.

“C’mon, Mountain,” Aether says, lips on your shoulder.

“Your turn,” you smile at him as he begins to remove his shirt and pants. As he is occupied with that task, you feel Aether unhook your bra and a shiver runs through you as his large hands slip down your body to remove your underwear. When you’re finally nude, you turn to face him and gasp. He’s gorgeous - big, strong, dusted with hair and his cock juts out proudly. He’s nowhere near as long as Swiss but he’s thick - so thick your body aches at the thought of being filled by him.

“You like it?” he asks, bringing a hand down to idly stroke himself.

“Mmhmm,” you respond, stepping towards him and sliding a hand into the hair on his chest. He purrs contentedly as he moves his hand to your breast, teasing your nipple into hardness. You lean into his touch, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of him fondling you when you realize Mountain has gone untouched. You turn to face him and your jaw hangs open. He’s already reclined on the bed, slowly stroking his (unbelievably big, you think) cock.

“Don’t stop on my account,” he says with a grin as the two of you make your way towards him.

“Didn’t want you to feel neglected,” you say as you kneel on the duvet. Slowly, you climb over him and swing your leg to straddle him. Leaning forward, you kiss him slowly, letting his cock drag between the two of you as you work your mouth over his. When you shift forward to drag him through your folds, you hear Aether moan behind you. You turn to beckon him and he kneels onto the bed behind you, mouthing at your shoulder blade. With every roll of your hips Mountain’s gaze darkens, and he grips you hard.

“Gonna fill you up,” he growls, making a surge of wetness slide out of you. “Both of us.”

Unable to handle the teasing drag of his cock against your clit any longer, you sit precariously up on your knees and take him in hand. You can barely wrap your fist around him and you feel a swoop of anxiety. Mountain seems to sense your nervousness and slides his hands to your waist, gazing up at you. When you position yourself above him, you take a deep breath before slowly lowering yourself on him. The stretch is divine, and you hear yourself whimper as you continue to ease him inside you. You finally take him to the base, and Mountain’s eyes roll back in his head. You’re content to sit there for a moment, simply enjoying the feeling of being full, when you feel Aether behind you sliding his hands up to your breasts.

“Look at you take him,” he breathes, pinching your hardened nipples. “How does it feel?”

Gently, you roll your hips a little and moan at the sensation.

“Good,” you say, head falling back against Aether’s shoulder as you repeat the motion, “so good.”

You lift yourself up enough almost for the entirety of Mountain to slip out of you and then bring yourself down. His hips jerk upwards to hit that beautiful spot inside of you. Slowly, you begin to ride him and he grips your hips, claws digging into you.

“Fuck, that’s it,” Mountain growls, thrusting up into you with every roll of your hips, “just like that.”

Aether continues to play with your tits, breath hot in your ear as you arch backwards against him. When he pulls away for a moment to grab something on the dresser behind him, you whine at the loss. He returns, murmuring sweet nothings in your ear as his hand drifts down your body to rest on your ass. He spreads you open and you lean forward, arching your back. Gently, he brushes his thumb over your asshole and you buck backwards into his touch. You’ve stopped riding Mountain, too distracted by Aether, but Mountain continues to fuck into you at a steady pace. You hear a small pop from behind you and when Aether’s fingers return to brush over your hole, they’re warm and slick. Biting your lip you let him gently probe a finger into you and he coos in your ear.

“Feel good?” he asks, teasing your hole open until he’s knuckle deep.

Too full to think, you nod your head dumbly, pushing your hips back on his hand so his finger is completely inside of you.

“Good girl,” he purrs, making your cunt clench around Mountain, “can you take another?”

Mountain thrusts up particularly hard, causing you to cry out.

“Yes! Please, Aether,”

Slowly, Aether adds a second finger and you moan brokenly. He eases into you, lightly scissoring his fingers and the stretch makes your clit throb. Aether continues like this for several minutes as Mountain steadily thrusts into you. But it’s just not enough.

“Need you,” you whine over your shoulder. “Need your cock, Aether.”

When Aether slides his fingers out of you you let out a pathetic noise, only to have your cunt clench at the sound of Aether slicking his cock up behind you. When he presses the head against your hole, you arch your back into his touch. With a leisurely pace he slides into you and your jaw hangs open as he stretches you. 

“So tight,” Aether hisses. “Isn’t she?”

Mountain grins from beneath you as your eyes roll back. The feeling of both of them inside of you, making you feel so full, practically makes you drool. When Aether begins fucking your ass at an unhurried pace, Mountain joins in. You can barely bring yourself to move, let alone think, as your body hunches over in pleasure. 

“Fuck, love,” Aether groans, as his pace begins to pick up. Mountain matches his speed, making you throw your head back and moan again and again. It’s somehow both too much and not enough as you work their cocks, drinking in the desperate and hungry noises they make.

“Mountain,” you pant as your breasts bounce, slick with sweat. “Aether!”

“Fuck I’m gonna cum,” Mountain says breathlessly. “Don’t stop fucking her.”

Aether’s lips are on your shoulder as he obeys the other ghoul’s command. Mountain’s thrusts become frantic as you continue to ride him, despite the burn in your thighs. When he cums, it’s with a shout and you moan at the feeling of his seed pulsing into you and spilling out. You don’t stop after he’s finished and softening inside you, determined to chase your own high. Aether’s own thrusts are becoming haphazard and he reaches around you to cup your mound, fingers sliding through Mountain’s cum to rub your clit.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Aether pants, “cum on our cocks.”

You whine, desperate to reach your peak and feel Aether finish. All of a sudden, your orgasm hits you like a freight train and you’re crying out over and over as you clench Mountain’s softening cock and Aether’s hard one. It’s exactly what Aether needs to hear because all of a sudden he lets out a broken moan and cums into your hole in drawn out spurts. A moment passes, the only sound in the room being the collective panting of the three of you. When Aether slips himself out, you let out another, far smaller moan at the feeling of his seed sliding out of you and down your cunt to where you’re still joined with Mountain. Gently, Aether urges you off Mountain and picking you up, lays you down on the duvet. You barely register Aether leaving and heading towards the bathroom but when he returns and slips a warm, damp rag between your thighs you make a sweet sound of thanks. Mountain shifts himself over to make room for both you and Aether and you sigh contentedly.

“Well done,” Aether says in your ear.

“Thanks,” you say breathlessly, running your hand over Mountain’s chest. Both ghouls are purring and the sound sets you immediately at ease. Suddenly, you think of something that makes you laugh out loud. Both of them cock their heads at you quizzically and you rub your eyes.

“Dew,” you say, grinning, “Dew said he wanted to watch me take both your cocks. He’s going to be so disappointed he missed it.”

Aether loudly snorts and Mountain rolls his eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Aether grins against your shoulder. “There’s always next time.”

They don’t stop teasing you about your blush for a while.

[ghostshipernr1]

In my opinion, ghouls are a kind of hybrids of different animals, they retain their features, such as wings, tail, horns, as well as some behaviors: purring, chirping.

it looks like this:

Swiss - Tasmanian devil

He definitely inherited his wild and chaotic nature from this animal. He has strong fangs and sharp claws. It's hard to deal with during the day, but at night? Good luck. At night, hes hunting instincts are active thanks to its extraordinary sense of smell and well-adapted eyesight.

Cirrus - raven

At first glance, it's easy to guess what animal she's related to by looking at the large pair of black wings on her back. If you don't even guess? Just wear something shiny, like a silver ring or necklace, and you'll be able to see her looking at you all day long. It's very likely that at some point she won't be able to take it anymore and when you look the other way she will try to steal it from you. (Most often with positive results) (Seriously, how does she even do that?)

Mountain - St. Bernard

Personally, I believe that every earth ghoul is in some way related to a specific breed of dog. Just like his dog side, he is reflected in features such as loyalty, friendliness and great patience. Everyone wonders how he always seems so calm and collected even when Swiss, Phantom and Dew are bothering him and guess what? Even he doesn't know that.

Although everyone knows one thing, if you ever hurt someone in his pack, there is no place to hide. And when he finds you? Well, no one knows because no one has lived to tell about it yet.

Yup he's a really good boy

Rain - otter

A fluffy ball in the middle of the lake, that's how you can describe our water ghoul. But don't let appearances fool you, sometimes it can be a real nuisance, like when he accidentally lost his favorite stone and didn't want to leave the lake area until he got it back (after an hour and a half search involving at least 20 people, it turned out that the stone was still was in his pocket) (oopsie:3).

Once Dew played him a documentary about Giant River Otters and he had to sleep with him for a week because he had nightmares (not nice Dew)

Phantom - bat

As anyone would expect, our little gothic boy is most closely associated with bats. For this reason, it is impossible to miss a large pair of (as he calls it) "vampire" wings on his back.

Every year, the ministry holds a Halloween competition for the best costume. Every year since his call, his elaborate costumes have won at least the podium.

Aurora - opossum

I know, I know, what does Aurora opossum sound like? Would such a sweet little ghoulette be an ugly half-rat from the trash? Now go to Cumulus or Mountain and say the exact same words and see what happens.

Immediately after visiting earth, Aurora had problems with self-esteem, which was not helped by her bald rat tail and gray, nondescript fur. The rest of the ghoulettes noticed this immediately and decided to change it. For a good week, none of them left Cirrus's room until Sunshine called an urgent meeting in the living room where, together with the rest, they presented the new face of Aurora. The previously bald tail is now covered in colorful ribbons, just like her beautifull hair, small claws covered with red nail polish, all the makeup well matched to her complexion and finally a beautiful dress that Mountain couldn't take his eyes off. The first moment Aurora noticed the proud and happy faces of her companions, she immediately ran to the mirror and immediately cried, but this time they were not tears of sadness, but tears of happiness.

Since then, everyone has made her realize how beautiful she is at every step (and she believes it every time).

Dewdrop - rabbit

Really a rabbit? Damn rabbit? From the beginning of its life, Dewdrop has been asking himself this question. After all, how could this big scary ghoul be related to something so... Cute? No wonder, after all, it's hard to take someone seriously with big fluffy ears that just beg to be pet. But don't make Swiss' mistake and don't underestimate him, after all, he is still a fiery ghoul and that element of heat still makes itself felt. (Poor Swiss, after calling Dew a snowflake, he has been knocked out for 10 minutes because he got hit in his balls so hard). Despite his fluffy white fur and cute little tail, Dew knows how to defend himself well - after all, it's not for nothing that nature gave him damn strong legs and even stronger teeth. However, this does not change the fact that, just like Aurora, he still has many problems with self-esteem (If they could, they would gladly switch animals). What Dew doesn't like the most in the world are the sweet looks people gave him when he tries to walk down the hall as if nothing happened and, even worse, when they try to touch him. (But don't worry, Aether knows how to deal with them).

It took him a long time to get used to his own appearance, and even now, when he notices many advantages in himself (for example, teasing Aether in his favorite shorts that perfectly fit his god gift ass), he still has a lot of doubts. But don't worry, on such days there will always be a ghouls ready to prove him that he is perfect the way he is.

Aether - grizzly bear

Try to guess who in the ministry gives the best hugs?

Any ideas?

NO?

Then I will answer you of course its Aether!!!

The mix of his thick brown fur and soft belly gives us the perfect material for afternoon naps. Aether is the type of person who, when he sees someone having a bad day, immediately brews a good cup of tea, turns on a comfortable movie and engages the person in a long cuddle session. Despite his comfortable nature and generally good view of the world, as soon as someone tries to harm his herd, in less than a second this sweet cuddly Teddy bear can turn into a bloodthirsty beast and nothing can stop him. Sometimes when he sees members of his family arguing and it escalates to possible harm to each other, he has to react. He personally hates himself for this because his greatest fear is that in the eyes of ghouls he loves, he will become a monster.

Cumulus - snow owl

For the first month that Rain and the ghoulett met, he could only describe her as absolutely terrifying. Don't get him wrong Cumulus is like a sister to him but... the way despite her huge snow-white wings, she is able to sneak up on him and scare him is absolutely terrifying.

Once, when he went to the kitchen at 2 a.m. to get a glass of water, he noticed her standing by the fridge. He called her and she turned her head 180 degrees and asked what was going on. He ran out of the kitchen in terror and couldn't sleep that night. The next day he discover flowers on his desk and a card with an apology (where did she get the flowers at 2 a.m.?). Fortunately, after a year of living together, Rain know that there is nothing to be afraid of and Lulu is one of the nicest people he knows.

In appearance, apart from the previously described wings, Cumulus has pearly snow skin, white fluff surrounding its neck and ankles, and large white curly hair resembling a cloud. Despite her elegant appearance, Cumulus isn't afraid to get down and dirty and is more than willing to do some spontaneous mud wrestling with Mountain or roll around in the gurney with Swiss. (Poor Cirrus who then has to take care of her tangled feathers)

Sunshine - pony

She loves racing. And when I say she loves it, I don't mean racing once im a while. NO. Every day, she, Dew and Swiss (aka the fastest ghouls in the Ministry) have to compete with each other every time. No matters of its of who takes the bathroom faster, who takes someone else's seat, who gives Copia the documents from his desk faster. She just loves it.

She, Dew and Swiss are a real danger.

Besides, she's a really good girl, really...

While the rest of the ghouls have paws or claws, she is the only one with hooves, poor Cirrus has a really hard time cleaning them from dirt, grass and mud.

When we talk about the sunshine, one fact cannot be omitted... She has a beautiful blonde ponytail and every day she devotes at least an hour to its care so that she can wave it proudly.

I hope you liked it, if you want a story about one of the ghouls, don't be afraid to ask :3

[themratts]

A Surprise For Papa

[A mysterious 'gift' arrives at the ministry, addressed to Copia, and he's not quite sure what to make of it ]

Rating: Teens and Up

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three • Blankets (word count: 1.8k)

——🍼

“Have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

There was never a lack of whispering amongst the congregation when something was afoot. The hollow corridors of sibling dormitory wings and darkened corners were regular breeding grounds for rumors and gossip. And once the very first seeds had been planted, it took only hours for the forests of speculation and scandal to grow. For an Emeritus to be subject, that wasn’t anything new. But this particular tale was anything but what was to be expected.

“Well,” A sister leaned against the wall, glancing to the side and then returning to her friends, “... a little birdie told me… someone saw Papa with a baby.”

“What?”

“A baby!?”

“A baby.”

“Whatever do you mean?” They pressed forward. And the Sister continued to water the sapling,

“He was seen holding a baby, carrying it. That’s what I was told.”

“What are you trying to say?” Her friend crossed her arms, “That doesn’t mean it’s his baby. Why, I’d hand my baby to Papa in a heartbeat too.”

“I know… but it feels odd, doesn’t it?” They looked between each other and shrugged. “Why would he be carrying it?”

“Carrying it… as in taking it somewhere?”

“Toward his room, they said.”

“Well now. That sounds like a stretch.”

“He better not have had a baby with someone,” the third Sister, who’d remained mostly quiet, now crossed her arms and frowned, “That’s not fair.”

“Let's not jump to conclusions. If he was to have a baby… surely we would hear about it.”

“Well point, Sister.”

“So we wait and see?”

The other two nodded in agreement. A hush came about the group, an unsettling uncertainty when they glanced between each other. It was a hard thing to believe- but just because he was holding an infant, doesn’t make it his own.

“Tell us…” The nun finally placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. And she asked, “...who exactly saw him?”

——

Copia had been awoken three times that night, to the repetitive and loud newborn wailing and crying. Each time, with a sad groan he’d lift the poor thing and cradle her, rock her until she’d eventually cry herself out back to sleep. On the third time, he warmed another bottle for her just in case. That seemed to do a decent trick.

It wasn’t until just past seven AM that he got up for real. He changed his clothes- a looser shirt and more comfortable pants- and attended to his face and hair. Reentering his living room, the baby lay against the pillow, quiet and examining the world around her. He couldn’t help but smile. Truly, she was adorable.

“Hm,” He sat down on the couch, beside the little bundle, “you will need some clothes, won’t you, principessa? And… a crib. And… toys,” He leaned back against the couch then, exhaling. It was starting to sink in, just how much he’d have to do, how little he truly had prepared, even with the necessities brought to him already. Copia glanced toward the baby. His heart was sore for her. Head shaking, “...you are really here to put me to the test, aren’t you?”

Of course she couldn’t respond. But she did look up at her Papa, and smile. Copia felt himself melt. And he reached for her tiny little hand- palm hardly bigger than his fingertip.

“That is alright..” He said, softly to her. “Challenge accepted. I…” Papa’s head swiveled to the other side of the room. “...need to make a phone call.”

And a phone call, he made. Within the hour, there was a knock on his door. A ghoul, dragging a very large box which he then pushed through the doorway, grunting.

“Dewdrop, thank you.” Copia greeted, holding the door open. “..thank you,”

“Yeah, yeah.” He managed to get the box into the middle of the room. On the front, there was a large picture of a baby crib.

Papa glanced at the sight of which up and down. “Oh,” he frowned, “you know, I , ehm… I meant… to just bring a crib from the nursery. You know, one that was.. already put together.”

Dew put his hands on his hips, annoyed, “I just dragged this thing all the way here, do you fuckin’ want it or not?”

“Yes yes yes,” Copia waved his hands, stepping forward to pull the box closer to him, “it’s fine, it is fine. It’s- yes. It’s fine.”

“It better be.”

“Will you, uhm,” Copia bent down in front of the box, positioned on his knees. His fingers wiggled into the tape holding it together, “Will you watch her while I try and get this together?”

“Sure.” The ghoul shrugged, and padded his way across the room. He approached the couch, gazing curiously down at the infant. And when he sat beside her, her big eyes widened and he smiled. Dew snickered, “She’s way too cute to be yours.”

“Ha-ha.”

He swept his tail up, gently tickling her nose with the tip. The baby burst into giggles and Copia glanced back. His chest warmed… a relief. At least ghouls were good with babies.

Now able to focus on the task at hand, Papa sat back and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. He ripped the box open , greeted with the parts of the crib and the instruction manual to go with them. This, he was not looking forward to. But if he was to be a dad… he was going to have to figure it out. He groaned and let it fall to the floor before standing, “I need a screwdriver and nails..”

Those alone took a decent amount of time to locate. But once he had everything he needed, he cleared out the area to begin the crib construction. All while Dewdrop sat back and watched, keeping an extra eye on the baby.

As Copia was screwing a leg into the base, eyes narrowed and focused, the ghoul struck a conversation.

“You should really name her, you know.”

Copia grunted. He sat back to check his work before clearing his throat and replying, “I’ve been thinking of that, actually.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I think I am going to call her…” he turned around, feeling soft as his eyes settled on the precious bundle, “… Benedetta.”

“Benedetta?”

“Yes.”

“Hm,” the ghoul wiggled a claw at the baby, who grabbed weakly at him, “Cute.”

“Thank you.” With a sigh, he straightened up and resumed where he left off. He hadn’t even been at it very long, but his knees were already sore and hands tired from wrenching the screws. Too old for this, he thought. But every moment was worth it. Every moment for his baby.

“It’s so weird,” Dew continued talking, “You. A father.”

“Mmhm. That has been established, yes.”

“I didn’t even think you fucked.”

Copia halted , letting out an unamused sigh. “Can you not do this right now?”

“Do what? Heh.”

“Quit being an asshole.” He pulled the leg to make sure it was on right. It was.

“I’m not being an asshole. I’m just saying.”

“Well, stop saying.”

“Who did you even sleep with on tour?”

“Dew, I am not in the mood.”

“I just find it hard to believe you fucked that much on tour that you cant even narrow down who the mother could be.”

Dewdrop could only see the back of Copia’s head, the way it was shaking, but he knew those red ears well. He snickered , and wiggled the fingers that Benedetta was currently playing with.

“Listen,” Papa finally replied, “it is none of your damn business, alright?”

“Sure. But it’s a little hard to be secretive went you went and had a fuckin’ baby.”

“Yeah, well, whatever…”

His fingers flipped through the instruction manual. An impatience swirled in his chest, the longer Dew continued to be a distraction. Shortly after , luckily, the ghoul went silent.

Well over an hour, it took, for Copia to get the entire crib together. During that time he’d moved to sit on his rear end instead, while Dew meanwhile looked after his bambina, including keeping her entertained and rocking her when she got fussy. She seemed to like Dewdrop, the fluff of his fur especially and playing with his pointy tail. He made for a good babysitter.

With a grunt, Copia removed himself from the floor and stood back, admiring his work. His knees ached, light coat of sweat on his back, despite how hardly tedious the labor was. His hands settled on his hips, stepping to the side to show Dew.

“How’s it look, eh?”

He walked forward, Benedetta in his arms. “Not bad,” he nodded. “Will it hold?”

“It better, after all that.” He reached forward. Gently, Copia shook the crib, a test in stability. It wobbled a little bit, but wasn’t unsound. “I think it is fine…”

“Ya’ got bedding for her?”

He moved, stuffing the crib bed with the same blankets she’d slept on atop the couch. Not exactly ideal, but, it was all he had. “.. that will do for now.”

“For now. You should probably look into some proper stuff for her.”

“Yes..” Copia raked a stressed hand through his hair. He sighed, a deep, tired exhale. “Ahh. Satana… I have… I have so much to do, don’t I?”

Dew offered him a light smile. His free hand extended, patting Copia on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine, man.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, “you’ll figure it out. Maybe pick up one of those baby books from the library or something,”

Copia huffed laughter at the suggestion, although it wasn’t a bad idea. “Sure, thank you.”

“Here.”

Dewdrop leaned forward, holding Benedetta to her Papa. She fussed, at least until she was safely in Copia’s arms. Swaddled up nicely, Copia smiled and lifted her until he could kiss her tiny forehead. And when he looked down at her, it was like all the worry in his body dissipated.

“Bambina… I promise I will do my best with you.” He held her against him, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Copia warmed, “Your Papa will keep you safe. Forever,”

“You still think you’re gonna do a DNA test?” Dew asked, which Copia had nearly forgotten about. He glanced to the side.

“I suppose I should.”

“Probably for the best.”

“But even if- somehow- she is not mine .. biologically. I don’t know if that will change much,” he rubbed her tiny back, “…what am I going to do? Put her somewhere else? Give her away? It is already too late for that I think.”

“I mean, you only had her one night.”

“I know, but…” carefully, Copia bent over the crib. He lowered the baby, until she lay, now fast asleep amongst the soft blankets. So calm. So peaceful. So happy. There was a tug on Copia’s heartstrings. He couldn’t help it, “She is mine now, either way.”

Dew laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah,” once more, he placed a rough pat on Copia’s back. “Yeah, she is.”

[rayd3nnn]

Hello! (If your ok and comfortable with this)

Could you write something angsty with like phantom and one of the ghouls of your choice doing the deed and like they are degrading him and he gets in his head and thinks it's real and is no longer enjoying himself but doesn't want to Safeword because he's scared of angering/disappointing the other? But they eventually find out? Maybe some comfort at the end? It can be any ghoul, but I would probably recommend either dew or Swiss. :)

Abso-fucking-lutely. Thank you so, so, so, so much for your ask! @madilizon

Trigger warnings: smut (not the entire fic.), angst, usage of safeword (later on), comfort, degradation, slight choking, please let me know if I missed any!

Characters: Dewdrop, Phantom, mentions of Swiss (one or two)

Pairing: Dewdrop/Phantom.

Below the cut if you will <3

Purple.

Loud moans and grunts could be heard from within Dewdrop’s bedroom. Phantom lying on his stomach, doggy style with his face shoved into the pillows as Dewdrop rails into his ass mercilessly. Tears of pleasure streamed down Phantom’s beautiful face as he gripped onto the sheets and his claws dug holes into them accidentally. “Fuck!” Phantom yelped as Dewdrop’s hand made harsh impact on his ass. “You like that? Hm?” Dewdrop asked, in a teasing voice as his hand wrapped around Phantoms neck, pulling his head upwards so his moans and cries could be heard louder.

“Yea that’s it, let them hear you. Let them hear you moan for me like the whore you are.” Dewdrop grunted as his thrusts grew more intense, his hand going to grip onto Phantom’s hair and tug on it, lifting his head even further up as he applies slight pressure to his neck, not enough to hurt him. But just enough to cause slight pressure to his throat. “Yea, take it, take it like the slut you are. Swiss was right about you and your pretty little hole.” Dew said as he landed yet another harsh slap to Phantoms ass, Phantom yelped in pleasure, he loved being degraded during intercourse. Except his loud moans and cries suddenly turned into silent grunts and small breathy moans as thoughts had started to swirl around in his mind.

“Did you hear him? They all talk about how much of a whore you are.”

“Disgusting. Letting anyone rail you like that?”

“Not even Swiss is that bad…yikes.”

“Your just a sex toy for them. A whore, slut.”

Phantoms thoughts got to him as his tears were no longer tears of pleasure, but tears of sadness and overwhelmed emotions. He wasn’t enjoying himself anymore like he was merely moments ago. His hard dick turned soft, rubbing against the mattress. He wanted to call the safeword, stop the scene and just take a breath, calm himself down and talk to Dew about toning down the degradation just a little bit. But he didn’t wanna upset Dew, didn’t wanna mess up what they had and make him hate him again. So he stayed silent, letting Dew enjoy himself. He laid there as his thoughts swirled, tears still streaming down his face before he felt Dewdrops thrusts slow down and come to a sudden and abrupt stop. He felt a rough hand softly caress the arch in his back, and a tap to his cheek. “Hey, hey bat. Are you okay?” He heard Dew ask, his ears flicking as he looked up. Phantom looked at Dew and noticed the genuine concern in his usually mad face.

“Phantom, do you need to stop? Did you forget the safeword?” Dewdrop asked, softly caressing the Quintessence Ghoul’s back.

“…purple” Phantom said softly, sniffling. Dew heard clearly and immediately pulled out of Phantom. “Bug, what happened did I hurt you?” He asked as he put his pants and boxers back on, his tail wrapping around his leg as he sat on the bed. Phantom shook his head. “N-no I just…my thoughts got to me when you were- degrading me and I just…I don’t know.” Phantom tried to explain, Dewdrop understanding. There were times even Dew felt the degradation was too much for him during sex. “Hey, no no it’s okay bug, I understand. There are times when Swiss degrades me and it gets too much.” He starts, before asking. “Do you want help putting your clothes back on bat?”. Phantom nodded his head softly before muttering a small “..please?” Dew nodded and grabbed Phantoms pants and boxers, softly putting them on him and sitting back down.

“Do you want cuddles?” He asked, looking down at the Quintessence Ghoul. Phantom could only muster up a quick nod, Dew immediately laid down and wrapped the slightly taller ghoul into his arms, radiating small heat waves as a comforting touch. “Can you promise me something bug?” He asked. Phantom let out a chirp in response. “I need you to call the safeword if anyone makes you uncomfortable or if anything gets too much during sex. No matter who it is okay?” Dew said as he played with Phantoms hair, phantoms tail wrapping around Dew’s thigh and tail. He nodded. “Okay…” he said sleepily.

“Tired Quint?” He asked. Phantom nodded in response. “It’s alright, go to sleep. We can talk about this more tomorrow, alright?” Dew said, Phantom once more, slightly nodding in response before his breathing relaxed. Indicating he’d fallen asleep. “Goodnight Bug..” Dew whispered, kissing his forehead before falling asleep himself.

[sonder-paradise]

hello! i've been sticking around for a while so i thought it'd be good if i sent a request!! i was thinking of the reader comforting kaeya, childe, xiao and itto (or any character of your choice) when they're sad? you don't have to do this request, of course! thank you in advance!

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 — 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭

◊ ft. kaeya, childe, xiao, itto, gn!reader

◊ genre. comfort, reader pulls an asian mom and gives xiao sliced fruits /hj

— 𝐊𝐚𝐞𝐲𝐚 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡

he finds comfort in your smile and the way your words reach him in the stillness. in moments like this, when he can't seem to comprehend his own mind or the regrets that he carries, kaeya seeks you out.

in spite of himself, you're the person that takes care of him and makes him feel like things are normal again. you whisper about the intricacies of his mind and relieve him that things will be alright.

even when he thinks he's doing a wonderful job covering up his anxieties, you swoop in with an attentive gaze and that's all it takes to get him into your arms.

"kaeya, what's wrong?" you murmur, brushing back his pretty blue hair and tucking it sweetly behind his ear.

and all he can do is stare at you because how did you know? caramel rays of sunlight seep into the office and he grasps onto your sleeve like a little child. he never realized just how readable he was before you came along.

— 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞

he feigns ignorance on the days his mind wounds him. he pretends like the world is not caving in on itself and pushes on through the evenings. but he can't stop himself from quieting.

the ecstatic words that usually tumble from his lips when he greets you are lost when he finally gets to hold you in his arms. without another second spared, he's latched onto you, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

you smell like lemongrass and fresh dewdrops from the mountains of liyue. he wonders briefly what you've been doing there. then he feels your fingers card through his hair and the thoughts shut down.

"you're doing good, ajax. do you wanna talk about it?" the words are all he needs to cling to you for the rest of the night.

you bring him serenity and a type of adoration that has the poor man squeezing you in his embrace as if the world were to rip you away from him.

— 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨

irritation crackles through him and pierces his thoughts without another word. he's wounded and drained by the grief and sorrow he must abide by. you carry that burden alongside him.

xiao doesn't ask for anything. he doesn't speak, nor request anything of you. he basks in a radiant silence that has you worried out of your mind. but then again, he's never had someone like you to bring him this level of comfort.

he finds comfort in the food you bring him when times grow trying, when the weight becomes a little too heavy, or his heart aches for people he can no longer reach.

"i made your favorite," you whisper, offering the plate of almond tofu to the adeptus.

and in an instant, his eyes soften. no longer are they molded from the crackling irritation of the day but of gentle pieces of fondness and care.

— 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢 𝐈𝐭𝐭𝐨

a tad too enthusiastic is itto's tell. he replaces the hurt and the upset with the energetic and the giving. but when the giving is said and done, what else could be left?

you can tell he's bothered. he makes it clear once you notice the tell. so you whisk him away from the tragedies that plague his mind. drag him away from the confusions and the worries.

he can't help but be relieved by your words. you remark of his courage and his confidence and his brilliant smile. when his falters, you replace it for him and give him the chance to just be himself.

"feeling a little better now?" he nods because you know the smile he now wears is real and raw. itto likes running his thumb over your knuckles, kissing the back of it.

he can't describe the effervescence of your love. you know all the right words to relieve him and even then he thanks you for the kindness and the understanding. for he's not used to seeing this side of people.

Taglist: @xo-cuteplosion-xo @planetxiao @nonsense-corner @ireallylikehamsters @eccedentesiast-sapphic @rebeccka @the-lost-anime-dad @lettucecabbage-kun @irethepotato @kageyama-i-want-tobiors @ajaxstar @plinkuro @shizunxie @kiraisastay @lilias-spouse @straymoon96 @coquettemaiden @leweird @seyvrn-sands @uchihaeirin @lemontum @disa-star @rocambolescomargot @fpyura @maehemthemisfit

Wanna join my taglist? Comment under this post!!

[ourfatherwhoartinhell]

Perfectly Misaligned (Dewdrop Blurb)

Prompt: "I guess it goes to show, does it not? That we've no idea what we've got… until we lose it" Word count: 504 Warnings: None that I can think of?

Dewdrop is struggling with his new element. It's stopping him from doing things he wants to / used to.

A/N: Prompt given to me by @sister-nyx - I'm sorry it's so short! I hope it still meets your expectations! Also sorry it took so long to get to! If there's spelling or grammar mistakes, just ignore them. I did not proof read this.

Dewdrop never really knew how deeply his element change had scarred him. Yes there were the physical scars, and the obvious change in personality from Water to Fire. However, through the first tour, he took it in stride. He loved the new boost of confidence almost as much as he loved annoying Copia and Aether on stage.

The first tour as a new fire ghoul was bliss.

The second tour was when things really started to unravel. He tried to join Rain in the hotel pool, and ended up almost drowning. When he tried to share a bath with Swiss, he ended up almost boiling the poor multi-ghoul alive. Turning the bathtub into a giant bubbling ghoul soup. Laying out in a storm one day gave him hypothermia so bad that Aether had to put him on bedrest for a week - apart from playing shows.

At first, Dew thought that it was just because he wasn’t used to his new element yet. Unable to fully control it. He knew these things didn’t bother Ifrit or Alpha the same way, he had seen them get caught in the rain or sharing a bath with Zephyr and Omega.

What he didn’t know was that when his element shifted, it meant that he was more intolerant to water. Aether, not having dealt with a ghoul switching elements before, also had no idea.

When they got back from the last tour, Aether had found him sitting by the lake behind the Abbey, skipping burning stones over the water's surface.

“Whatcha doin, little spark?”

Dew barely acknowledged him, skipping another stone into the lake.

Aether already knew he was sulking before he got close, a gift of his quintessence. Dew was sitting there, emitting waves of sadness that extended for miles.

“Anything you want to talk about?”

Dew groaned in frustration as the next rock made a ‘plunk!’ and sank straight to the bottom. “No.”

“It’s about your element isn’t it?”

“....maybe.” Dew sighed and finally turned to look at Aether. “I thought it was just because I can’t really control it very well, but I can’t do anything I used to love anymore. It’s like I’m allergic to myself.”

Aether smiled fondly at the little ghoul and knocked shoulders with him before taking the stone from his hand and skipping one along the lake.

“I might not know exactly why these things are happening, but I can tell you it’s not an allergy.”

Dew hung his head as his tiny body began to shake, a burning tear slipping from his eye. “I guess it just goes to show, that we don’t know what we’ve got… until we’ve lost it.”

Aether looked sympathetically at the smaller ghoul before wrapping his arms around him comfortingly. 

“You may have lost that part of you, but you’ve gained a lot of new parts too. You may not be the ghoul you were before, but trust me. The ghoul you are right now is still you. Maybe a little misaligned, but perfectly misaligned.”

[not-a-space-alien]

Tinytopia Chapter 9: Bloodthirst (Part 1)

Story Masterpost

On AO3

Thanks to my beta/sensitivity reader @appelsiinilight and my bonus beta reader for the next two chapters, @whumpsday!

In this chapter: Thistle indulges in getting cozy, but finds the house disturbed by yet another new arrival.

With respect to @whumpsday, the og of hungry vampire sadbois, and @entomolog-t, the og of tiny vampires.

***

There were now enough pixies for a pixie pile.

Thistle was ecstatic.  He’d grown up sleeping in a pixie pile, and he’d missed it, longed for it, ached for it ever since his separation from his family.

Sleeping on top of Moon was nice enough, but he wasn’t a pixie.  And with Marigold here, there were two pixies.  Not enough for a pile.

But Jax had a pixie incarnation now.  There were three pixies, which met the minimum number needed to be a proper pile.

Moon would be included, of course, even if he wasn’t a pixie.  The pile would simply go on top of him.

Thistle made sure everyone had a nice, soft pair of pajamas.  Enough thick, fuzzy socks.  Enough blankets and soft pads to sleep on.  Hot, sweet drinks to sip in the evening before falling asleep.

Oh, yeah.  This was going to be perfect.

Thistle cleared enough space in his wooden castle–for once, he was worried he might not have enough room in there for something.  He arranged everything just right, plumping pillows and layering blankets and smoothing out sheets.  He wove small animals out of plant fiber–such toys weren’t out of place in pixie nests, quite similar to humans’ stuffed animals.  They didn’t usually make them bears or cats or dogs, though–pixies had a completely different array of animals that were culturally important.  

Thistle remembered his Mother’s Mother’s hive having a nest of ants in the bottom of the structure, tended to like a herd–he couldn’t remember if they’d done anything besides occasionally eating the larvae.  It’d been such a long time ago that all he remembered was that they tasted quite good.  Before Thistle had left, Mother had been in the process of trying to make space in their tree for clusters of honeydew-producing aphids.  She’d also told Thistle that some hives knew how to rear moths or spiders for their silk, which Thistle had always longed to see, but she’d said moths were more complicated than aphids and spiders had a safety risk.

There had been that one time his older brother Oak had brought home a disfigured moth which would have died without help–its wing had gotten caught in its cocoon while trying to emerge, and now it was wrinkly, tiny, and useless for flying.  Mother let Oak keep the moth as a pet, even though it had no practical use.  It was fuzzy, nice to hold, and pretty to look at.  Oak had named it Cattail.

He lovingly traced the memories as he wove, imagining himself making a toy for Dewdrop.  Aunt Winter’s new baby, Dewdrop.  He wanted to meet Dewdrop so badly.  Thistle was really the only one in the hive good enough with his hands to make toys without using magic.  He would have been making all the toys for Dewdrop.  Had someone else been making them?  Was Dewdrop wanting for toys?

He suddenly realized he’d begun crying when a tear dripped down onto the moth doll he’d been making.  He slowly wiped his eyes on the back of his hand, then sniffled and straightened himself up.

There was no need to be sad.  He was going to have a pixie pile again.  Dewdrop was fine, and so was he.

He arranged a moth doll and an aphid doll so they were nicely on top of the covers, then stood back to examine his work.  I should sell those on Etsy, too.  Everyone would go wild for them.  He started writing the listing title mentally.  Miniature insect bug arthropod crochet doll lifelike fidget toy Micro realistic choose SET or INDIVIDUAL made to order.  He could sell one for $20 or a set of three for $50.  Yeah.  That would be good.

He walked out and pushed Marigold’s wheelchair to the entrance of his wooden house.  “Are you ready for bed, Marigold?”

He nodded.

Pixie-Jax flitted on the roof of the house, jumping down onto the ground.  “I am too!”

“Shh,” Thistle said.  “Speak quietly.  We’re supposed to be calming down now.”

Jax nodded, looking very serious in his oversized pajamas that swallowed his hands.

Moon arrived five minutes after the agreed upon time, as always.  He had an eye mask on his forehead and an extra pillow under his arm.  “I stayed up late so that I could be tired precisely for this slumber gathering,” Moon declared.  “Let us commence.”

“Okay,” Thistle said, trying not to get excited.  He was supposed to be calming down.  “Moon, you go in first, and then we’ll all get on top of you.”

Moon ducked to go into Thistle’s house.  “Good Heavens!  It’s a proper cornucopia of comfort in here.”

Thistle poked his head in and watched as Moon arranged himself, pulling the covers back.  Moon held his arms up.  “I’m ready for dogpiling, boys.  Have at me.”

“Okay, Jax next.”

Jax dashed into the wooden structure and snuggled up under Moon’s arm.  “Like this?”

“Yes, perfect.  Okay, now Marigold.”

Thistle lent Marigold a hand to stand up out of the wheelchair.  He supported him by the elbow to help him inside.  Marigold’s face twinged with pain as he went down into a kneeling position.

“You all right?”

“Yes–just a moment.”

He shifted to a position that apparently lessened his pain, then gingerly lay down under Moon’s other arm, head on the crook of his elbow.

That just left Thistle.  He crouched down and situated himself on top of Moon, so Moon’s chest fluff was his pillow.  “Everybody comfy?”

There was a round of assenting sounds.

Thistle reached down and pulled the blanket up, swathing them all, and turned off the light.  “Good night, everybody.”

“Thistle my boy, would you pull down my eye mask?  My hands are quite full.”

Thistle reached up and pulled the mask over Moon’s eyes.

“Perfect, thank you.”

“Good night.”

“Good night, Thistle.”

“Good night, Jax.”

“Good night, Thistle.”

“Good night, Marigold.”

No response.

“Marigold?”

“Good night, Thistle.”

“Good night, Marigold.”

“Good night, Jax.”

“Good night, Moon.”

“Is this really quite necessary?”

“You’re supposed to say good night.”

“...Good night, Jax.”

“Marigold?”

No response.

“Marigold, you didn’t say good night to anyone.”

“Good night Thistle, Jax, and Moon.  There.”

“Good night, Marigold.”

“Good night, Marigold.”

“Moon?  You didn’t say good night back to Marigold.”

“Good night, Marigold.  Are you quite satisfied now?  Have we somehow missed a possible permutation here?”

Thistle snuggled closer to Moon, and Jax copied his motion.  “No,” Thistle said contentedly.  “I think that’s everyone.  Thanks.  Good night.  I love you all.”

“I love you, Thistle.”

“I love you, Moon-”

“We are not doing all that again.  I would like to go to sleep sometime in the next twenty-four hours.”

Thistle tugged on the sleeve of Moon's silken pajamas.  “Just once?  Just one, Moon?  Please?”

Moon sighed.  “I love you, Thistle.”

Thistle happily flicked his ears and settled in.  It seemed like Marigold had already fallen asleep.

They dozed like that.  Thistle could hardly get sleepy with how happy he was.  It was so warm and fuzzy, and a soft glow of magic welled up inside him.  He just lay there enjoying it.

It was a while later, after he’d finally managed to fall asleep, that he woke up.  He wasn’t sure why.  But-

Oh.

Oooh.

Marcy’s necklace.

It was sitting on the table–Marcy had left it there today.  It was glowing.  It’d been soft white all night–but now it was bright yellow.

Yellow.  Yellow.  What had yellow meant?

Thistle disentangled himself from the pile and snuck over to the door, peeking his head out.  He didn’t see anybody.

“Hello?” he whispered.  “Is somebody there?”

There came a sound, then–a sort of tittering, accompanied by light flapping.  He turned his attention upwards and saw some small fuzzy creature way, way high up near the ceiling.  It frantically dashed into the room and smacked into the wall, then tumbled down.  When it finally stopped its erratic movements, Thistle saw it was a bat with tawny red fur.

No, not a bat–the real creature emerged from the form of the bat as soon as it touched the ground.  It was a fuzzy humanoid with protruding fangs and triangular ears.

The fish tank flipped open.  “Yo, Thistle!” Jewel shouted.  “Are you gonna wake anyone else up and tell them there’s a fucking vampire in the house or do I need to do it?”

“A vampire?” Thistle squeaked.  

“Gotta be.  I mean, just look at him.  Right?”

The new arrival flipped himself upright from where he’d fallen on the ground, still on all fours, ears pinned back against his head nervously.

“Thistle?” said Moon’s sleepy voice, and his head appeared out the door, eyes still half-closed.  “What are you shouting about?”  His eyes widened as he saw something was up.  “Oh?”

“It’s a vampire,” Thistle said.  He looked over.  “Right?’

“Well yes but, I’m not–I don’t want to hurt you,” the creature said.  His ears were still flat and his voice trembled, as though not entirely sure he would be believed.

Oh, he was speaking Pixish.  The language a predator would typically speak if their primary prey was Pixies.

“I’ll go get Marcy,” Thistle said.  He looked behind him and saw Marigold stirring in the bed, with Jax not far behind.  “...I’ll stay here with Marigold.  Moon, you go get Marcy?”

“Am I your messenger?”

“...Yes?”

“...All right.”  Moon drew himself out of the house and spread his wings, then took off upstairs.

The new arrival watched him with wide eyes.  Clearly he’d never seen one of Moon’s kind before.

“Thistle, who’s that?” Jax whispered.

“Just stay inside.  I’ll handle this.”  He gave a nervous wave to the creature.  “Hi.  I’m Thistle.”

“I’m Auburn,” he said.  Pixish actually had more words to describe colors than English, with Pixie’s sensitive eyes able to see more with minute differences. He wasn't sure if vampires could see the same way, but the word he gave as his name, Kasabrua, the closest translation of which was Auburn, actually referred to the very specific shade of red in the coat of a fox’s fur.  That was exactly the color his fur was, so it was fitting–it was basically the equivalent of calling him “Foxy” or “Vixen,” although Thistle knew those two words had…. connotations in English that they wouldn’t have in Pixish.

“Hi, Auburn.  It’s nice to meet you.  My friend Marcy is coming downstairs.  She’s a human.  Is that okay?”

Auburn hugged the wall, like he was afraid Thistle was going to attack him.  “Yes.  Yes, please, I’d like to meet her.”

Thistle and Auburn kept tense eye contact with each other as Moon came back down, followed by Marcy, still in her pajamas.  “Oh my gosh, hi!” she said with restrained enthusiasm.  She knelt down beside Thistle, who fluttered onto her lap.

Auburn kept his eyes on Marcy, body tense.  He was clearly terrified, but he made no motion to leave.

“He speaks Pixish,” Thistle said. 

“Hi,” Marcy said gently.  “I’m Marcy.”

“I’m Auburn.  You’re really big.”  He swallowed.  “Sorry, um… I'm not supposed to be seen, and I’ve never met a human before.  So, so it’s a little scary.”

“She is pretty big,” Thistle said.  “But she’s nice.  Do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself?

“Well, um…  I heard that all kinds of creatures live here together in peace, even predators.  So, so I’m interested in.  That.”  He flattened himself against the ground, as though to disappear.  “If that’s okay.”

“Of course that’s okay,” Marcy said.  “Where did you hear it?  Who?”

“A, um.  A tree creature told me.  A dryad.”

Marcy and Thistle looked at each other.

“Could it be the same dryad that told Jax?”  Thistle poked his head into the house.  “Jax?”

Jax crawled forward, just peeking out.  “The dryad that told me was a big tree.”

Auburn shook his head.  “The dryad that told me was a holly bush.”

Okay, they were definitely going to have to coerce Trilloras to come out and answer questions.  They’d already tried every combination of begging, coaxing, and threatening they could think of to get her to come out, yet her sapling remained totally inert.  They were starting to think that maybe she was asleep or unconscious and couldn’t hear them.

“It sounds like they’re different dryads,” Marcy said.  “But that’s okay.  We don’t have to talk about them.  Let’s talk about you.”

Auburn nodded nervously.  “Right, right.  Um.  I just want to live in peace.  So, so if this is a place where I can do that.  Then I want to stay here.  If that’s okay.”

“Sure!” Thistle said brightly, absolutely delighted.  “Sure, we’ll figure out a way you can live here.”

Auburn drew forward slightly.  “Real, really?  Um, mostly I was worried about…where I would hunt.  Um, since–if–it seems like everyone here–”

“We can figure that out,” Thistle said.  “We have a trick.”

“Can we talk about it in the morning?” Moon said.  “I’m not ready to be awake yet.”

“Right!” Auburn squeaked.  “Sorry, sorry for interrupting.  Um, you can, you can go back to sleep.”

Marcy looked from Auburn to Thistle, then sat on the couch.  “I’ll stay down here.”

“Okay,” Auburn said bashfully.  “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  It’s just to watch things.  You’re probably not tired because it’s night, huh?”

“I’m… tired.  I could sleep.”  He sounded dejected.

“Okay.  Um.  How do you sleep?”

“On the ceiling.”  He looked morosely up at the ceiling.  “But there aren’t any footholds.”

Marcy tapped her chin.  “Oh!  Hold on, I know.”  She went into the next room and retrieved Colin’s pullup bar, mounting it in the doorway.  “There, like that?”

Auburn clung to the wall with his creepy little hands, shimmying up it until he was far enough to push off and jump into the air.  His arms transformed into wings as he flapped them, and he propelled himself up to take hold of the bar.

He hooked his feet around it and hung upside-down, ensconcing himself in his wings like a blanket.  “This, this is wonderful.  Thank you.  I can stay up here?”

“Yeah,” Thistle said.  “That’s okay.”

“Thank you.”

Auburn seemed peaceful enough, but Thistle was still glad that Marcy was nearby.

Despite being too tired to function, he wasn’t sure if he would sleep much with a vampire hanging over the room.

***

The pixie pile did manage to get a decent amount of rest in the end.  Thistle woke up feeling recharged and energetic–ready for a day full of art.  Because that would be step one to welcome a new resident: it was his responsibility to befriend Auburn so he wouldn’t have to hunt.  Now that he’d already done it with Severa and knew it was possible, it didn’t seem so daunting.  If anything, it was exciting.

True, Auburn was scary.  He was almost as tall as Moon.  His fangs poked out of his mouth.  He clearly was a lot stronger than Thistle.  He slept overhead, hanging menacingly.  And he drank blood–probably, they hadn’t seen that yet.  He’d probably attacked and maybe even killed people.  But he was already here peacefully and seemed willing to do what they asked.  This couldn’t be harder than Severa, surely.

Auburn was still in the same place hanging from the pullup bar in the morning–true to his word, he was fast asleep and looked exhausted when everyone else was stirring.  Teddy and Colin came down, and more introductions were had.  Teddy very valiantly hid her disquiet at seeing Auburn, while Colin was concerned about rabies.  Marcy reassured them it was safe and that she would handle it, although privately she was also a little bit worried about rabies.

Thistle made the rounds to gather a group for a painting session.  Marigold, Jax, and Severa were on board without needing any cajoling.  Moon declared he was going to try it, since he was warming up to Thistle’s silly projects.  Jewel said he didn’t want to do anything involving paint, since it got all over his skin and felt bad in the water, even if it was nontoxic.  Violet couldn’t be coerced to come out even though Petunia definitely would have enjoyed it, but whatever.

“Art is a great way to bond,” Thistle said, laying out his paints.  He had Marcy lay out some canvases for them to paint.  “It’s a great activity to do together, and you can talk while you do it.  This will be a great way to get to know each other.”

“I admit I thought it quite useless at first,” Severa admitted.  “But I am starting to enjoy it more.”

“It’s growing on me, too,” Moon said.

Auburn knelt next to the paints, touching one of the tubes.  “Great!  Um, so, what, what do I do?”

“You, um…”  At this point Thistle noticed that Auburn’s hand was shaking.  “Hey, are you okay?”

Auburn drew his hand back, then gave a pained smile.  “Oh, sorry.  Um, I haven’t, um, I’m pretty hungry, that’s all.”

Thistle felt like he’d been smacked in the face.  That was why Auburn was tired enough to go to sleep last night?  He simply hadn’t eaten and therefore had no energy?  He’d been sitting there hungry enough to start trembling and didn’t say anything?

“Hey, we can’t have fun and bond on an empty stomach,” Thistle said gently.  “Come on, let’s take care of that first.”

“I don’t want to be a burden,” Auburn said quickly.  “I’m sorry.  You don’t have to worry about me.”

“We want to, though.  We wouldn’t tell you to stay here and then make you starve.”  Oh whoops, Thistle had said that and then remembered that Auburn would presumably have to drink someone’s blood.  Thistle certainly wasn’t eager to volunteer himself for that.

Fortunately, Severa spoke first.  “I will help you.  You drink blood, yes?  I have plenty of blood, and my magic is strong.”

Auburn practically wilted with relief.  “Thank you.  Thank you so much.”

Severa reached down and pried one of the scales on her abdomen back, exposing vulnerable, soft flesh.  Auburn crept near.  “It’s really okay?”

“Yes.”

Auburn leaned over, shaking, and gently made a soft cut with his fangs, then clamped his mouth over the wound, taking small sips.

Severa put her hand on his head.  A tear leaked from his eye.

After a moment, he drew back, wiping his face.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  Severa pushed the scale back down, wincing but not complaining.

“There,” Thistle said.  “Everyone is okay and feels good.  Right?”

Severa and Auburn both nodded.

“Good.  Now let’s get painting.”

Thistle guided Auburn, Severa, Moon, Marigold, and Jax through laying out their canvas and starting to apply the paint to it.  Marcy participated too, sitting on the floor with a proportional paper.

“So,” Thistle said conversationally as they worked.  “Auburn, can you tell us a bit more about yourself?  What made you decide to seek us out?  Why did the dryad tell you to come here?  If you know.”

“Oh, um.”  Auburn had red paint all over his hands and was putting paw prints all over his canvas.  “Well, my family kicked me out of my colony.  So, so I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.”

“That’s horrible!” Jax cried.  “I can’t imagine if Thistle kicked me out!  Why would they?”

Auburn’s ears drooped, and the motions of his hands became slow and unenthusiastic.

“Jax, he might be sensitive about it,”  Thistle chided.  “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, Auburn.”

“No, it’s okay.”  He dipped his hands in yellow and started making yellow pawprints.  “Well, I’m, um, I’m a Worthless, so when things got tight, I was the first to go.”

The exact word he used was Struntajo, which meant roughly worthless, but he said it like it was supposed to mean something more.  Thistle had never heard anyone use it that way.

“What’s that mean?” Jax said, once again failing to understand what a sensitive topic is.

“We can talk about it later if you want,” Thistle offered, wincing.

“No, it’s okay.  I didn’t realize you’d have no way to know what that is, I guess.”  He clasped his paint-laden hands together.  “Um, when prey is plentiful, vampires will sometimes have an extra pup in their litters that’s small and weak.  If there’s enough to go around, the runt gets enough food to grow up strong.  But, but if there isn’t, then the runt is there to take the hit when they have to make sacrifices if things get worse.”

“Sacrifices?” Severa said.

Auburn shuffled his feet.  “Leave it to die, usually.”

“That’s horrible,” Severa said, utterly horrified.  “They have an extra baby on purpose for the sake of having something to sacrifice if their gamble doesn’t pay off?”

“I mean, it makes sense if you think about it.  At least, I mean.  My siblings all contributed more to the colony than I did.  So, so when resources started getting scarce, it’s better that they could cut me off rather than someone who actually helped.  You know?  As soon as I became an adult they made it clear I had to leave if I didn’t contribute more. It wasn't a surprise or anything.”

Severa clenched the paintbrush she was using so hard that it snapped in half.  “That is a horrible way to think about it.  I could never dream of even considering sending someone I’d raised from a little baby out to die just because they weren’t useful enough.”

Auburn shrunk away from the anger in her voice.  “Er, well, if there isn’t enough to go around…”

“Then you get more, or you yourself go hungry.  That’s what being a mother means, not this- this perversion where children are seen as an investment you expect returns on in the future.”

Auburn rubbed the back of his neck.  “Well, well I’m not a parent, so I guess I wouldn’t know.”

“You’re right,” Severa snipped.  “You wouldn’t know.”

“I’m sorry,” Thistle said, trying to rein the conversation back in.  “That sounds very difficult.  So that’s why you were looking for somewhere else to go?”

Auburn nodded.  “I’m bad at hunting.  I’m small, weak, not a strong flier, and not good at magic.  My family got tired of helping me, so I haven’t been back to the colony.…  I’ve been.”  Tears welled up in his eyes again.  “I’ve been just barely hanging on.  You’re the first ones who have been nice to me.”

“I’m sorry,” Marigold said.  “I’m surprised to find myself sympathizing with a predator at all, but I truly can’t imagine what I would do if my family were like that.”

Thistle was intimidated to think about Auburn being a runt, considering how very large he still was.  Thistle very bravely stood near him.  “Do you want a hug?”

Auburn nodded miserably.

Thistle wrapped his arms around Auburn’s midsection, and Auburn’s arms came around him gently.

“Ooh, you’re soft,” Thistle said into his fur.

Auburn chuckled.  “Glad there’s something good about me, at least.”

“I am not jealous,” Moon announced mechanically.  “I am also soft, and it’s fine that there are multiple soft people in the house that Thistle likes to touch.  It does not reflect on my worth as an individual.”

Thistle sighed and looked over his shoulder.  “Good job, Moon.”

Moon gave him a thumbs up.

***

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