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You stepped through the door of your quarters at the ministry slamming the door behind you. Today was, put simply, rough. Everything that could have gone wrong in your duties did go wrong. Delays in deliveries, multiple siblings of sin being laid up in bed due to a bug that was going around which meant you had to pick up the slack.
Letting out a frustrated sigh you leaned against the door and slid down willing the tears you felt gathering to not fall, pressing the heel of your hands into your eyes.
You take a few deep breaths to collect yourself before you change into more comfortable clothes and sit on the couch and wait for Aether to get done with his practise session.
You flick through the channels on the TV and settle on a cheesy old sitcom abundant with overacting and a bad laugh track. You make it through a few episodes and then hear the sound of Aether laughing behind the door as he bids whoever is with him goodbye. You quickly go to wipe your eyes and hope he can’t tell you’ve been crying before he walks through the doorway.
“Welcome home” you said, attempting to sound cheery.
His face and demeanor changed as soon as his eyes met yours. He notices the defeated look in your eyes as well as the puffiness underneath them and the slight red tinge on your nose.
“Oh dear. Are you okay?” He asks, setting his guitar case down and coming to sit next to you.
“Oh don't worry about me, I'll be fine. How was practise?”
“Practise was the same as always.” He says regarding you with a concerned look. “Being fine and Will be fine are two different things, love. What’s happened?”
You hesitate and bite your lip to hide how it's beginning to quiver. Aether notices this and gently grabs your chin to pull your face closer.
You take in a calming breath only for it to betray you, coming out in a shuddering gasp.
You feel your heart start to race and you know the charade is up as the pricks of tears at your eyes and feel your brow furrow.
The ghoul wraps one arm around your shoulders and pulls you to his chest.
“Hey, hey. Sshh. It’s okay. I’m here” He softly coos in your ear as he holds you tight and gently rocks you back and forth.
“I'm sorry. I know you must be tired from practise. I’m sure Dew and Swiss were up to their normal shenanigans.” you mumble openly sobbing into his chest now.
“Ah, nothing me and Rain can't handle.”
He moves to hold you in front of him, his hands on your shoulders. “Hey hey, look at me?”
You avoid his eyeline, eyes keeping locked on your hands in your lap.
“Darling please look at me?” He says his hand gently cupping your cheek.
You lean into the touch and slowly meet his eyes. His glamour is slowly fading away. His horns growing, skin turning ashen and eyes turning that deep purple that you always get lost in.
“I’m a ghoul, remember?” He says, offering a small smile. “Takes a lot more than a couple hours of guitar practise to make me tired.” He tilts his head to his eyes are more level to yours giving your cheek a small squeeze before pulling you back into his chest.
“So, do you wanna talk about what’s got you so upset? Do I need to beat someone to a pulp? You know I love some good violence.” He says with a light chuckle.
“I don't know. Today was just…” you take a breath and try to find the words to describe just how this day has been and what it was that affected you so much. The only word you can find is
“Overwhelming. Just..a lot. Everything was just So Much. All day. I felt like i was just gonna float away into the abyss.”
“That's understandable.” Aether replies, pulling you back into his chest. “What would make you feel better right now? Anything I can do?” He asks, rubbing his hand in slow circles on your back.
You close your eyes and ponder for a moment, relishing the feeling of your face against his broad chest. You push yourself into him further and you figure out exactly what would make you feel better.
“I think I need to be crushed.” You say.
Aether chuckles at this and you enjoy the rapid rise and fall of his chest with your face still firmly pressed against it.
“One weighted blanket ghoul coming right up, my darling.” He gently moves to stand up and picks you up to carry you to the bed you share.
He lays you down gently on the bed, placing a soft lingering kiss to your forehead before he begins to take off his practise gear.
“Just gonna put on something more comfortable, okay?”
You nod silently and he goes to search the wardrobe for his softest tee shirt.
“So was it a particular event or person that brought this on?” He asks as he rummages through the wardrobe.
You sigh, contemplating. He knows you sometimes have trouble determining if something or someone specifically brought on a meltdown. He was always ready to ask you the right questions to help you figure it out so you could address it or find solutions to avoid it or be prepared for it in future.
“I’m not 100% sure? I can't think of any one thing that could have triggered a meltdown like this. I think it was just a culmination of a bunch of little things that added up to one big reaction.”
Aether was sitting on the side of the bed facing you now. Having changed into his most comfortable and softest tee shirt and sweatpants combo. “I can understand that, love. Do you wanna talk about it more? List out the things that led up to it?”
“I think I would simply like to commence with the crushing please.” You say chuckling.
“Can do, my darling.” He says and promptly moves on top of you holding himself up with his forearms and slotting one leg between yours. He places a kiss on your forehead then on your nose then your lips.
“You let me know if I need to ease up okay? You’ve still gotta breathe.”
You chuckle and wrap your arms around his neck. “I’ll let you know.” You say pulling him in for another kiss as he lowers all of his weight on you little by little.
You close your eyes and focus on the pressure of his chest against yours and the warmth of his face burying into your neck. He turns his head to kiss your cheek.
“This alright? Still breathing?” He asks softly.
“Yea.” you chuckle, turning your head to catch his lips in a kiss. His lips are warm as they move against yours and you can't help but smile. Aether breaks away from the kiss to bury his face in the crook of your neck once more and relaxes even further. The pressure is delightful and takes your mind away from the troubles of the day. You start to feel breathing become more and more difficult and before you can say anything he props himself up on his forearms again.
“About time for an oxygen break?” He says, punctuating the question with a shower of kisses all over your face.
“Yes,” you answer through giggles.
Aether sighs and his eyes meet yours, the look on his face is one of pure adoration.
“There’s that smile,” he says.
“Anything else I can do to help, my darling?” he asks.
“Hmm. Tell me about your day while you continue being my personal weighted blanket.” You answer, pulling him back down to your level.
He laughs and gives you another soft kiss before lowering himself completely onto you.
“Anything for you, lovely.”
He proceeds to tell you about the latest updates in the prank war going on between Swiss and Dew. How he’s got a bet going with Rain, Mountain and Cirrus on how long it will go on before Papa or Sister get caught in the crossfire and get a proper telling off. At some point he rolls you two over so you're slotted against his chest with his arms around you.
You don’t remember falling asleep. You just know that you wake up to the feeling of Aether crawling back into bed.
“What time is it?” You ask groggily.
“Half midnight I think?” he answers. “Sorry, I didn't wanna wake you but I had to go get a quick snack. Go back to sleep, lovely. I’m right here.” He slides up behind you and wraps his arm round you, pulling you close and burying his face in your hair.