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Swiss was booking it down the ministry halls at an alarming speed. His reason for hurrying was an angry Dewdrop following at a similar pace no more than ten feet behind him. Apparently, attempting to cook a marshmallow with a fire ghoul’s tail while they are already quite pissed is not a good way to cool their temper. Who would’ve thought?
Too focused on his grand escape from the small, but furious, ghoul pursuing him, he forgot to turn his attention to the corner he was rounding. As he skidded on the church’s freshly waxed floors, resembling a cartoon character, he made the decision to look ahead of him all too late. He barely had time to register what was happening as he crashed into one of the three figures in front of him like a bowling ball that had hit a strike. The two of them slid down the hall for a few seconds before finally coming to a halt a few feet away from the others.
It was then that Swiss heard the sound of yelling and turned around just in time to watch Dew slide on the same slippery floors. However, the fire ghoul was less agile than usual due to his fury and he declined to turn the corner; instead slamming directly into the wall with a loud thud.
As he watched the seething fire ghoul recover from the impact, Swiss gave one of his infamous belly laughs. “Holy shit, did you see that? He just had a mother-son reunion with that wall!”
Still laughing, he turned around to look at whoever he had accidentally tackled, expecting to see one of his familiar packmates under him. Instead, he was shocked to find that Aether and Mountain were standing behind him and the figure under him was a ghoul he had never seen before.
It was at that moment that Swiss became acutely aware of the fact that he was straddling the hips of someone he had never met before. He also became aware that this stranger's nose was profusely bleeding. Swiss was shocked, to say the least. However, looking down at the disheveled and slightly bloodied figure, he couldn't help but be enamored by their features. Their big brown doe eyes that complimented their dark curly medium-length hair, their long eyelashes and defined nose – Swiss was hypnotized.
“Umm… can I get a tissue?”
Swiss blinked and snapped out of his daze. The usually clever, quick-on-his-feet ghoul was surprised to feel a blush creep across his face as he realized he had been staring at (and on top of) this ghoul for long enough to make it weird.
“Oh yeah, of course,” Swiss said laughing awkwardly as he stood up, brushed himself off, and offered a hand to the other ghoul. The ghoul took it and also began brushing their clothes off. Well, as effectively as one can while attempting to stop blood from pouring out of their nose.
“Just, uh, follow me and we’ll get you to a bathroom,” Swiss spoke warmly and smiled at the slightly shaken ghoul.
As they began to walk away, Swiss heard Mountain holler, “You’re aware that Sister Imperator’s gonna have your ass for tackling our new bandmate, right?”
“Boy, do I know,” Swiss murmured, quiet enough that only the ghoul next to him could hear. That got a soft chuckle out of them, however, which made Swiss’s heart do a small dance that he chose to ignore.
“New bandmate…” Swiss mumbled, processing, and then he facepalmed, “shit, that was today, wasn’t it. Sorry I didn’t welcome you or anything, I was a bit preoccupied.” he said glancing back behind him.
The other ghoul laughed once again; a light, warm laugh, yet one that rang in Swiss’s ears. “You’re fine, I can see you were a little busy.”
Their voice was soft, yet smooth and decisive, like they were carefully thinking about each word before they said it. Usually, a time like this would be when Swiss would think of something clever and entertaining to say. But strangely enough, for the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure why, but he had this feeling like anything that he could say wouldn’t be enough for the ghoul beside him; like no amount of small talk would be worthy of entering their ears. So instead, they walked in silence; the sound of their boots on the marble flooring echoing off of the ministry walls.
Swiss was surprised to find that this silence didn't feel awkward or uneasy like silence usually did for him. Rather, it felt comfortable.
They continued to linger in the easy stillness until they finally made it to the bathroom. Swiss immediately walked over to the paper towel dispenser and grabbed way more paper towels than needed for a single nosebleed. He then walked back over to the other ghoul and held out the handful to them.
“Thank you,” they muttered as well as they could while taking them and holding them to their nose.
“I think you’re supposed to pinch your nose and tilt your head forward with this kind of stuff,” Swiss advised.
“Like this?”
“Kind of. Here,” Swiss began to reach over to help tilt their head but hesitated. “Am I ok to touch you?” he asked.
The ghoul nodded and Swiss gently placed his hands on their head and began adjusting it so that it was in the correct position. He also moved their hand slightly, while he was at it, to make sure they were pinching the right place.
“Well, this is embarrassing,” the ghoul said, chuckling lightly.
“Yeah, well, not as embarrassing as tackling your new bandmate on his first day,” Swiss muttered while removing his hands from the other ghoul's head, “I guess I’m not one for first impressions, am I?”
“Yeah, maybe not. It could have been worse though, sister imperator could’ve been the one around that corner.”
“Oh God, you met her already?”
“That woman strikes a fear into me that I did not know existed.”
“Right? I feel like she’s plotting new ways to punish me every time we make eye contact. One time she made me clean Nihil’s toilet for a whole week and I’m pretty sure I ended that week with more trauma than I started it with.”
The other ghoul laughed hard at that until they remembered that their nose was still bleeding in which they attempted to reduce the laugh to giggles.
After a while of talking, the amount of blood pouring from the poor ghoul's nose subsided until eventually, it came to a complete stop. They cleaned themself up a bit and straightened their clothes before thanking Swiss for his help.
“It’s no problem, seriously, it’s the least I could do for causing it in the first place.” the larger ghoul responded.
The ghoul smiled and began reaching for the bathroom door handle. Right before they left, they stopped and turned to face Swiss.
“I’m so sorry, I just realized, I never caught your name. What was it?”
“Oh, it’s Swiss. Yours?”
“I’m Rain.”
The ghoul smiled warmly at Swiss one last time before exiting the bathroom, leaving Swiss alone and spellbound.