Isocyanatess

Aether deserves to crumble, to fall apart under the pressure, and to be pulled into Dew's warm embrace and allowed to experience every ugly emotion he's dutifully swallowed down for years.

okay but saying “i wish i had known you sooner” — like the love in my heart is growing so big and fast for you that i wish i had the opportunity to have you way earlier by my side, because i want to love you longer than i can do now. my love for you reaches my past and makes a place for you.

aeon doesn't know what a nightmare/night terror is until he witnesses someone in his pack waking up screaming crying from one, and it freaked him out so badly that every night that they're all sleeping together he'll just be sitting in their heads, watching out for the bad dreams so he can push them away, the quintessence travelling in a steady flow through everyones minds - but everyone can smell him doing it and tell him he doesn't have to because it wears him out so much but he's too upset by the idea of bad memories coming for people in their sleep that he refuses to stop so when they have sleepovers the den will stink of aeons magic until someone else uses their element

Papaaa phantom and rain are flirting on stage again 😪

So @crimsonclergy made this post and I started scribbling thoughts immediately because it was just too sweet and my brain wouldn't let me rest about it!

Cw: just the slightest touch of angst, it's not heavy but Dew's sappy and a feeling pops up but it's ok. Boys being soft, I used Phantom because that was the name in the og post 😊

Phantom leads Dew down the hall toward his room with big bright eyes and excitement buzzing off of him. It's flattering, for him to be so excited to finally get Dew in his room, to get him into his bed.

Dew had kept his distance, certain wounds only now scarring over. He was still hesitant but he couldn't deny that pull to Phantom, his sweet smile, his soft voice, everything about him screamed I promise I'm safe, I promise you're safe with me.

So here he is. Hand in hand with the quint, and finding himself mirroring his excitement.

He's not entirely sure what he expects when Phantom opens the door. Being shoved against it maybe, stripped and touched and pinned to the mattress. It's welcome, more than welcome really....

He's certainly not expecting for Phantom to squeeze his fingers when he shuts the door, he's not prepared for the soft lighting in his room or the nest of blankets on the middle of his bed. He's not prepared for Phantom to toe off his shoes and stop there, gently nudging Dew to do the same.

"Phantom..."

"S'ok. Promise, trust me. Just a little."

And he wants to say he does, he wants to tell him he doesn't have to do all this, it's really not necessary but then Phantom turns those big mismatched eyes on him and he can't say anything at all.

He guides Dew to the bed and he sits with tension settling in the base of his spine, a weird sense of the unknown making him itch just under the skin. This isn't how it usually is, sure he's had softer nights with gentle hands and lips on his, but this feels... different.

Phantom joins beside him, shoulders all the way down pressed close and Dew doesn't quite understand yet.

"Just relax Dew." He's smiling, he can hear it without having to look over. He feels Phantom move to turn the lamp off and he thinks it's time, that now maybe it'll make sense in a way he understands.

But he hears another click and the ceiling lights up with thousands of artificial stars. They spin and swirl and Dew just stares dumbfounded.

"What-" There's so much he wants to say, to ask but he can't get the words to come out. He's used to other bodies on top of him, kissing, touching, marking, but somehow this feels like more.

"Well I wanted to do this for real but it's been so slushy and gross out. Figured this was the next best thing..." He shrugs, the length of his arm dragging over Dew's.

He turns his head and when Phantom does the same their noses touch. The brightness in Phantom's eyes rivals the actual stars outside when he smiles, a soft blush on his cheeks as Dew let's his words sink in.

"It's not...it's just..." Phantom sighs. "I just wanted to have something like this...with you."

"Thank you." He lays his hand on Phantom's cheek, brushing over the little starburst splotches on his skin, bumping their noses again. "Thank you."

He scoots down just to lay his head against Phantom's chest, the quints arm wrapping around him and holding him tight. Dew smiles a little when he realizes Phantom's heart is beating just a little faster than normal.

They lay in silence for a bit before Phantom lifts his hand and points out a constellation.

"Do you know that one?"

And he does, he knows them all and his chest aches, a dull pulse like a bruise when he remembers that all too familiar voice teaching him all about them. He shoves it back, tucks it away safely in the back of his mind. It doesn't hurt as badly anymore but he doesn't need it right now.

He doesn't need that echo of a voice when he's got Phantom right here, going out of his way just to give Dew something special, when he's got his heart beating right under his ear and his arms around him like it's important, like he's important.

Dew pulls in a deep breath to steady himself, to quiet his mind. The snow covered apple scent of Phantom sinking into his veins carrying peace right along with it.

He shakes his head. "No, I never could tell them apart."

"Oh. Well I could teach you. If you want...I could show you." He speaks so softly but he can feel how earnest he is and Dew realizes with a shock through his system just how much he already loves him.

He didn't think he could, he didn't think he had enough space for him too without losing someone else. But he manages. Phantom makes space without stealing it and Dew loves him.

His throat is tight when he finally speaks. "Yeah Phantom, tell me about them. I'd like that."

Phantom doesn't comment on the shake in Dew's voice or the way his shirt gets just a little damp by Dew's eyes, but he holds him tighter as he points out the stars he knows so well, happy to finally share them with Dewdrop.

Please please tell us about your thoughts about everyday-life ghouls! I‘d love to hear about it /g

I think, when he's slept alone, Dew wakes up before everyone else. He gets up. Stumbles to their little kitchen. In my mind the kitchen and the "common room" are attached to each other, either through an open door way, or just one bit room that's split between several uses. Either way, Dew stumbles in. Shirtless. Sweatpants slung low on his hips. Hair down, in his face. He's barely awake. He makes a pot of coffee. He puts the kettle on for tea. He starts taking stuff out to make breakfast. Dew will get through his first cup of coffee--and half of breakfast prep before Mountain shows up. Dew's already made his tea, it's steeping on the counter when Mountain walks in, a pillow crease across his cheek. Looking bleary-eyed but here, awake. He and Dew will exist together in silence for a while. Dew drinks another cup of coffee. They work together toward breakfast. It's different every day, but Mountain can discern pretty easily from what's laid out where Dew was going with it. They work well together in silence. Dew brews another pot of coffee as Mountain puts a tray of bacon in the oven. He pours the leftovers from the first pot (brewed stronger than the second) into their communal jar of iced coffee in the fridge. The others start to emerge just as breakfast is ready. The bacon comes out and Cirrus and Aeon show up almost at the same time. Sunshine comes next, then Swiss and Aurora. Rain and Aether are always last. Sleeping in until the last possible second. Sometimes they both have their tea (Rain) and coffee (Aether) brought to them in bed. But usually they show up toward the end of breakfast. Just as Cirrus and Cumulus are getting ready for their morning walk around the lake (sometimes others join them, sometimes they don't). Mountain eats with the bulk of the ghouls and departs with them too, heading to the greenhouse to get an early start. Dew eats when Rain and Aether eat. Once everything is done and cooked and everyone else is fed. It's quiet in the kitchen by then, everyone else already getting a start on their day. Rain and Aether help Dew clean up. And then one, or both, of them will try to persuade Dew to go back to bed for a nap. Sometimes he does. Sometimes he refuses--goes and does something productive. But more often then not they compromise and end up on the couch a few feet away. Snuggled up together, napping, under the guise of watching TV.

I am so invested in your posts about Mountain and his pack of moms.

Does Mountain turn into a big kit whenever he visits them? Like a college kid who goes back home to his family during holidays.

- @ghouletteanon

(I did exactly two Google searches and these are the names for the previous drummers I found. I went with Terra over Gamma for obvious elemental reasons. I think there's three total? My inbox and DMs are open to any and all earth ghoul stans who know more than I do.)

Nothing terrible under the cut except the horror of knowing your parental figures have sex.

He knows Pebble's aware as soon as he sets foot into the deeper woods. The trees and mycelium networks are her eyes and ears, leaves rustling with wind-carried words to wherever she is. Not a single twig in this forest snaps without her knowing about it, which would give anyone else an incredible headache but Pebble seems to like it just fine.

And sure enough, he doesn't get but a yard or so before she's there. Sitting on an ancient log like she's been there the whole time waiting for him to pass by, even though he knew he'd been alone just moments ago.

She's all criss-crossed up from her arms to her legs, still as a statue as she watches him approach with his picnic basket. He doesn't say anything; he knows this routine well enough by now. Pebble can get odd, when left to her own devices for too long. The others are usually good at bringing her back to herself though.

Food helps too. Not the food she can scavenge from the forest like berries and mushrooms and prey animals eaten raw. Food that's been altered, baked, cooked. He lifts the cloth of the picnic basket and lets the warm smell of fresh bread waft out. Her nostrils flair and she stands up, quick as a wink. With one quick nod, she's off; darting through the undergrowth like a fox. It's on him to keep up, but he knows she'll come back for him if he lays behind too far. She'll get impatient but she'll always come back.

The path is different every time he visits. Some trick of Terra's to keep strangers out if they aren't guided in but he doesn't mind. He knows how much they value privacy and the time it takes to get to the destination is never too long. The undergrowth thins out, the trees grow further and further apart until they're in Ivy's garden with Ivy herself bending over to tug up a bundle of root vegetables. Pebble licks her fingertips as she walks over, delivering a loud and resounding smack to Ivy's rear end that Mountain glances away to avoid seeing barely in the nick of time.

"Pebble!" Ivy shouts, shooting up straight and cuffing the small menace in return. "Just once, a hello would be nice to hear instead of-"

"Hello." Mountain calls, walking between the rows to her with a wave. She turns around again and her happiness is so infectious that nearby plants immediately start flowering in response. Pebble takes the opportunity to dart into the little home that's been carved into the earth, set into the base of gentle slope covered in soft green grass.

"Mountain!" She cries, dropping her harvest into the dirt and leaping over the plants to catch him up in a bear hug. "Oh, I was just thinking about you! Terra was saying you were all back from tour, so of course we've been expecting you but honestly not so soon and-"

"Let that boy breathe." Comes a deeper voice from the doorway of the little home. Mountain straightens up automatically, brushing a few fly aways out of her face as Terra easily lopes over with her cane. She stops a few feet away, looks over him with a critical eye and he's acutely aware of every wrinkle and stain in his clothes, the way his right boot's come untied and how the flannel he has on now was definitely hers once upon a time.

"Suppose we'll have to take you as you are then." Terra says, a telling twinkle in her eye though her face remains firm. "What'd you bring us this time?"

"Harvest bread." He says, finally handing over the picnic basket. "Gooseberry and raspberry jam. Two kinds of cheese. Wine and whiskey and weed."

"Good stuff." Ivy says in approval.

"We'll see." Terra says. Then, "Pebble, don't you dare."

Pebble slinks out from behind Terra, hands raised in innocence even as her tail whips back. It's caught just in time by Terra's own tail, wrangled into submission as Mountain pretends to be thoroughly engrossed by his feet. He's not a prude, far from it but it just feels awkward to watch the ones who helped him with his first moments Topside be...like that.

"Welcome back." Terra says fondly after Pebble yanks her tail away and stomps off to set the table. Ivy picks up her vegetables again and goes to put her gardening tools away. "Tell us where you've been this whole time."

"All over." Mountain begins. And, like he always does, hits his head on the doorframe on the way in.

Some things never change.

Yesterday I bought a pack of markers.

Since then every free moment I've spent doodling away.

I think this is joy. I'm happy.

I love the ghouls interacting with the nuns around the ministry.

- Ifrit keeping watch over the sisters working in the cathedral yard. It's a snowy day and he looks almost like a statue in the overcast.

- Swiss trying to wake up the nuns in the morning with a hand over his eyes to respect the ones who don't want to be seen without their headdresses. He trips and bumps into things and it makes them laugh.

- Sodo, being the lightest, climbs into the rafters every morning to light the candles. Skitters around making sure every chandelier is lit. When he hangs, upside down, to tell the head nun that he's done, she smiles and kisses his forehead.

- Cumulus lifts any of the ladies up on her shoulders when they can't reach something because she is strong and lovely.

- Rain leads evening prayers before bed and offers quiet comfort to any distraught sisters, giving them a steady shoulder to lean on.

- Phantom walks the cathedral perimeter or around the roof at night to keep an eye on things. He needs the least sleep and the quiet is nice to him.

- Just ghouls loving their convent so much and treating the sisters so sweetly.

Are they really busy or did they just block me😝