Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Uhm, Swiss?”

Swiss wonders how long Rain has been here for, whispering his name, competing with Swiss’ engrossment in the TV, and tugging on his sleeve. Swiss turns his head to answer, but something in Rain’s voice makes him do a double take, and he lets his eyes rake over the water ghoul in front of him before he replies. He takes in the way Rain is standing—slightly hunched over, looking timid and shy, almost as if he’s nervous—and he eyes the plushie that the water ghoul is clutching in his hand, like he’s holding its hand. Ah, Swiss knows what’s going on here. It’s one of those days; where the stress and overwhelm becomes too much for Rain, enough that he can’t stop his brain from doing this; shutting certain parts down until all he knows how to do is act like a kit again.

“Yeah, baby?” Swiss always feels something inside himself shift whenever he sees Rain like this; as if some part of him is biologically wired to help the water ghoul when he can’t help but feel like this.

Instead of using his words, Rain instead elects to climb onto the couch—with a lack of coordination that Swiss finds tragically endearing—and cuddle up to the multi ghoul, wedging himself into his side and pressing his face against Swiss’ shoulder, whining quietly.

Swiss chuckles softly. “Are words a bit much for your brain to handle right now, Rainy?”

Rain nods and buries his face even deeper against Swiss’ chest and shoulder, wrapping his arms around Swiss to the best of his ability, still holding on tightly to his plushie as he does so.

“Oh, baby boy…” Swiss reaches an arm around Rain and starts stroking at his hair gently, happily noting that the water ghoul starts purring at his touch, “Are you feelin’ little, baby? You want me to take care of you for a bit?”

Rain makes a small hum of affirmation. “Cuddles…” His voice reaches Swiss’ ears slightly muffled thanks to the fabric of his shirt against Rain’s mouth, but he understands the water ghoul well enough.

“You want cuddles, little one?” Swiss moves his other hand to tip Rain’s chin up until the water ghoul is looking at him properly. “How about we go back to my room and cuddle there, hmm? I think I still have some of your colouring books in there from last time.”

The way Rain’s eyes light up is one that never fails to make Swiss’ heart threaten to explode under the immense affection he holds for the ghoul in front of him. Rain nods his head enthusiastically and trills happily, tapping his fingers against Swiss’ side in his excitement.

“Yeah, baby. You remember the dinosaur ones?”

Rain nods enthusiastically. “Mhmm! With the tri– tricer– tricer’tops?” His eyebrows scrunch up as he struggles to pronounce the word correctly—his words tend to get jumbled up when he’s like this; it’s something the water ghoul gets painfully embarrassed by once he’s back to his usual state, but something that Swiss can’t get enough of.

He’s sure his heart is physically melting out of his body. “Yes, Rainy, with the triceratops pictures, well done! Now, c’mon, we’ll get up and walk to my room now. Then you can colour in to your heart’s content.”

Swiss carefully extricates himself from the clingy water ghoul and stands, holding his hands out for Rain to grab a hold of so he can pull him up. Rain doesn’t grab a hold of his hands, and instead looks at him as if he’s being ridiculous.

“Dinosaur,” he says, pointing to his plushie as a means of explanation. Oh, he doesn’t want to stop holding his toy in order to grab Swiss’ hands.

“How ‘bout you give me one hand, Rainy. The one that’s not holding your stuffy. I can still pull you up with one hand.”

Rain gapes at him and holds out his hand. “You can?” Swiss answers Rain’s question by pulling him up from the couch with ease. “Woah…” Swiss is sure there will never be a day where he isn’t overcome with emotions thanks to how sweet Rain is when he’s like this; all childhood innocence and smiles.

(Well, he’s full of smiles today. There are some days when Rain’s regression doesn’t take well, and Swiss is left with a distressed, scared kit-like Rain on his hands. Not that it matters, Swiss simply can’t help but adore every single facet of Rain. His adoration extends beyond when the water ghoul is so deep in his own mind that he can’t even form gesture or sign language—let alone words—and his anxiety reaches a fever pitch that has Swiss holding him as close as the water ghoul will allow, trying every means possible to calm him down, usually to no avail.)

Swiss keeps holding Rain’s hand as they walk together in the direction of his bedroom. Rain’s grip is loose, but Swiss can tell that the water ghoul is holding on for dear life; almost as if his muscles aren’t quite as strong as usual.

When they reach the room and Swiss has to let go of Rain’s hand to open the door, the water ghoul pouts. “I’m sorry, Rainy, but I need to open the door… Your colouring books are in here, and we need those, remember?”

Rain nods reluctantly and allows Swiss to let go and open the door, trailing after him like a lost puppy, grasping his plushie tightly to his chest.

Swiss turns his back for a few moments to grab a small collection of items—a colouring book, coloured pencils, another one of Rain’s dinosaur plushies that he left in Swiss’ room a while ago, and a fluffy dinosaur blanket that Rain doesn’t know Swiss has—and when he turns back around, he find Rain sitting patiently on his bed; cross-legged and talking quietly to his plushie. Swiss thinks he catches a snippet of some kind of conversation— “Swissy is so nice, isn’t he, Mr Dino?”— and his heart cracks open from the overflowing volume of intense love he has for the little ghoul in front of him.

“Well done for waiting so patiently, Rainy, I’m very proud of you! And look what I’ve got for you, baby. Some little activities, another plushie, and a nice, fluffy blanket to keep you safe and cosy.” Swiss smiles down at Rain as he speaks, taking in the water ghoul’s body language, gauging his emotions to the best of his ability. Rain seems content—excited, even—and Swiss hopes it stays that way, for Rain’s sake; emotions hit him harder when he’s regressed, and Swiss hates seeing just how strongly negative emotions can affect the little ghoul.

“Dinos!” Rain exclaims, pointing at the blanket and clapping his hands in excitement.

“Yeah, Rainy, dinos! Do you want it now?”

Rain nods. “Uh huh! Please.”

“Such good manners, raindrop, well done! Here just let me…” Swiss places the other things down on his bed and wraps the blanket around Rain. “There you go! Do you want the other plushie with you as well?”

“Yes please!” Swiss hands him the second dinosaur stuffed animal with a gentle smile and a kiss on the forehead, and Rain almost immediately starts playing with it, making different silly voices for each dinosaur as they talk to each other.

“Rainy, I’m very happy that you’re having so much fun, but I have a few more questions for you, okay? Can you manage to concentrate on me for a little bit longer?”

Rain nods hesitantly.

“Thank you, baby, well done. My first question is: do you need anything else? That could mean a drink, a little snack, some different pens, or anything else you can think of, raindrop.”

“Mmm, I don’ think so.”

“Okay, you tell me if that changes, though. The last question is: do you still want to do the colouring? Because if you do, we’ll need to get you out of that blanket so you can use your arms.”

Rain shakes his head. “I’m… ti-red, I think.”

“You’re tired? Of course, you’ve had a big day so far, little one!” Swiss ruffles Rain’s hair affectionately. “How about you have a little nap now, and we’ll figure out the rest of the day when you wake up. Does that sound good, baby boy?”

“Mhmm. ‘M sleepy, Swissy.”

Swiss isn’t sure that he hasn’t become a pile of goop on the floor, the victim of an attack of cuteness by a certain water ghoul. “I know you are, baby. Let’s lie down and sleep for a bit. Yeah, that’s it! Well done, raindrop. I’ll adjust your blanket and plushies for you, you just focus on getting comfortable.” Swiss watches on as Rain wiggles himself down until he’s laying down on Swiss’ sheets, wrapped in his new dinosaur blanket.

He tries to reach for his plushies and makes a panicked noise of alarm when he can’t reach them.

“Hey, shh, Rainy, sweetheart, it’s alright. I’ll get them, see? Look, here they are! I’m going to tuck them in right here, so you can snuggle up with them. How’s that? Better?”

“Better.”

“I’m glad, Rainy. Now you just focus on how warm and cosy you are, okay? I’ll keep you nice and safe while you fall asleep. You don’t have to worry about a single thing. I’ve got you, little one.” Swiss watches Rain snuggle deeper into the blanket, wrapping his arms tightly around his plushies, making soft trills of contentment as he does so. He reaches out and starts stroking Rain’s hair again; the angle is much easier than when they were in the common room, and he’s pleased to recognise the deep rumble in Rain’s chest, the telltale sign he’s about to start purring soon.

He leans down and presses gentle kisses to the tip of Rain’s nose to make the water ghoul giggle, still carding a hand through the water ghoul’s hair, whispering soft words of reassurance the whole time. It feels like barely any time has passed before Rain’s hold on his toys goes slack, and he starts snoring softly. The water ghoul looks so peaceful when he sleeps, and Swiss can’t resist leaning down yet again to press a feather-light kiss to Rain’s forehead. He wishes he could stay here forever and protect Rain while he sleeps—not that he needs protecting from anything, but it’s the thought that counts—but he can hear Aether calling his name, and he doesn’t want anyone to walk into his room and disturb Rain.

He allows himself one last kiss, on Rain’s hand this time—and one of the heads of both of the water ghoul’s toys for good measure; he can’t let them feel left out, can he? —before standing up properly and walking as silently as possible to his door. At the last second he turns to take one last look at the precious dinosaur-blanket-wrapped water ghoul on his bed and feels his heart crack open one more time, repairing itself just as instantaneously.

“Sweet dreams, Rainy.”

Chapter Text

Rain emerges from his bedroom in the early morning, rubbing his eyes clumsily with hands that feel too big as he tries to shield himself against the light streaming in from the common room windows.

Swiss raises his head from the book he’s reading from and grins at Rain’s blurry outline—these new glasses work wonders for reading, not for much else. “Hey, baby. You’re up early.” He has his suspicions as to the direction this conversation will be taken, and they’re proven the moment Rain opens his mouth.

“Early,” Rain parrots as a complaint, scrunching his eyebrows in annoyance. He stumbles over to where Swiss is sitting—making sure his plushie is still clutched securely in his hands—and plonks himself along the couch, resting his head on the multi ghoul’s thigh.

Swiss’ hand moves to Rain’s head automatically, stroking his hair and scratching at his scalp. “You woke up too early, huh, Rainy?”

Rain nods, pouting. “Wanna go back to sleep,” he frowns, curling in on himself and hugging his stuffed toy close to his chest.

Swiss leans over Rain, placing his book down on the back of the couch. “You wanna try sleeping like this, little one? We can get you a blanket and everything, if you want.” Swiss’ fingers are still carding through Rain’s hair, and the gentle, circular rhythm is making the water ghoul sleepy; it’s nice.

“Just you. please?” Rain requests, looking up at Swiss from his position at the multi ghoul’s thigh with such baby puppy dog eyes that Swiss  is certain he would be sent back to the ninth circle if he denied Rain his request. “I have my, uhm– my…” He trails off, unsure of the word; he only ever has a few when he’s like this, and more often than not, his pronunciation is a little off as well.

“Your what, baby?” Swiss prompts gently. He knows Rain’s lost the word for now, but if he can get another descriptor out of the water ghoul he might be able to help Rain find it again.

Rain holds up his plushie—it’s a stegosaurus Cumulus gifted him a couple of months ago; when Rain is regressed, Swiss would be hard pressed to find him without the air ghoulette’s gift somewhere on his person or in a bag nearby. “This!”

“Ooh, that's a tricky word, baby. Well done for trying, little one!” Swiss leans down to press a quick kiss to Rain’s forehead. “There’s a few words we could use, ‘kay?” Swiss holds Rain’s hands in his own, dragging the water ghoul’s hands over the plush plates along the dinosaur’s spine. “We could call it a plushie or a stuffie, because it's a plush, stuffed toy. See?” Swiss guides Rain’s hands and encourages him to squeeze the dinosaur, feeling the softness of the toy. “Oh, plush means soft and squishy , Rainy,” Swiss explains patiently at Rain’s confused look. “Do those words make more sense to your little brain?”

Rain nods along happily. At any other time, Swiss’ words would seem infuriatingly patronising, but right now, it’s exactly what Rain wants—what he needs— and he loves it. Swiss is his safe place when he’s like this; wherever the multi ghoul is can be deemed safe, if only thanks to his comforting aura and general ability to make Rain feel at home.

“What’s…” Rain wonders. “What’s th’other word?”

“The other word? Well, it’s also in the shape of a dinosaur.” Swiss grins as he sees Rain’s eyes light up. “You know all about those, little tadpole, I know you do. But do you know what kind of dinosaur this is?”

Rain shakes his head sadly, and swipes at the tears brimming in his eyes. “I– I don’t know a’ th’moment. ‘M sorry, Swissy…”

“Hey, hey, no apologies, baby,” Swiss consoles. “We’re here to have fun, yeah? You don’t have to remember everything right now, okay? It’s okay, Rainy.”

There’s a shaky few breaths, followed by a big sniffle, and when Swiss looks down again, Rain is wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “It– it’s… ‘s okay,” Rain repeats, over and over again until his voice starts to sound stronger, more sure of his little self, Swiss thinks.

The multi ghoul keeps stroking his fingers through Rain’s hair and whispering soft and comforting words to him until he calms down enough for Swiss to begin talking again. “You ready now, little one? Yeah? Okay, well, we could also call it a stegosaurus. Mhmm, it is a funny word, isn’t it!”

Rain repeats the dinosaur’s name, trying to wrap his tongue around the words. He mispronounces it horribly, and Swiss can’t help but feel overjoyed at how adorable Rain can get when he’s little. But as much as he loves chatting with Rain…

“How ‘bout we get you off to sleep, baby? You still look a little tired…”

“Can we… lazy morning?” Rain suggests, his eyes big and hopeful. “I wanna couch w’you, Swissy…”

Swiss chuckles, unable to contain the happiness he’s experiencing at being able to witness Rain like this—and in a relatively good mood, too. “You wanna keep sitting on the couch with me for a bit? Yeah, Rainy, we can do that.”

Rain hums happily and nuzzles his face further against Swiss’ thigh, wrapping his arms around the multi ghoul’s waist to the best of his ability.

Swiss just sighs good-naturedly and wraps his own arms around Rain. “Go on, baby. You go to sleep, I might– Uuah.” He interrupted his own sentence with a wide yawn. “I might fall asleep with you, actually. We can start our own little mini cuddle pile, and cuddle the day away. How’s that sound, hmm?”

“Mmm, sounds… sounds, uhm…”

“Take your time, Rainy,” Swiss assured him. “We’ve got all the time in the world, baby.”

“It sounds… perfect!” The water ghoul giggled and clapped his hands together, excited that he’d managed to remember a larger word.

Swiss gasps and shakes Rain gently in excitement. “Rainy! That was such a good word, well done, tadpole!” Now, c’mon. Off to sleep for a bit, yeah? We’ll have a bit of a lazy morning for a while.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Rain looked up from where he was sitting on the floor with the band’s newest ghoul playing blocks to see Swiss standing in the doorway, grinning down at both of them, a plushie clutched tightly in his fist.

Rain had walked into the common room wanting to find someone to sit and cuddle with for a while, but he had found the youngest ghoul sitting cross-legged on the floor building a tower of blocks and chatting to himself quietly instead. The water ghoul had toddled over and plonked himself down on the floor next to his friend, asking if he could join. The quintessence ghoul hadn’t said anything, but he’d nodded at Rain, patted the ground next to him, and held out a block for Rain to take, babbling something about needing more builders to finish the tower on time. They’d been playing for about an hour or two, chatting away at each other as they built a tower together—the tower of blocks had been so big that the little ghouls had needed to stand up to put the blocks on top. Luckily for the furniture around them, the tower had fallen over before the two of them had needed to start standing on couches, so they were back to sitting on the floor again, their small tower between them.

When Swiss came to the doorway, Rain was confused. Something felt different about the multi ghoul, but he didn’t know what it was. He tilted his head in Swiss’ direction and trilled in confusion, wanting to know what was different but not having the words to ask. Luckily, Swiss knew what Rain meant.

“No, no! ‘M not big right now, ‘m sorry, Rainy,” he said, his smile going away slightly as he spoke. It looked like he was sad that he couldn’t take care of Rain and the new ghoul like he normally would if he found them being little with no one to look after them, but Rain didn’t want Swiss to be sad. He wanted him to be happy! “I– I wanted to know if– if maybe I could play blocks too?” Swiss looked so scared to ask, and Rain didn't like that.

At the suggestion of a third playmate, the new ghoul trilled happily and clapped his hands together, accidentally knocking over the newest tower of blocks in his excitement. “Ah, noo!” He cried out. “Swissy, help us! Tower again!” He gasped. He didn’t have many words, so he worried that Rain and Swiss wouldn’t be able to understand him, but the other two gasped as well, very excited that the three of them would be able to build a tower together.

Rain nodded quickly and pulled at Swiss’ arm, dragging him down to the bricks. “Yeah, Swissy, you need help us!”

Swiss sat down, his mouth dropped open in surprise that the other ghouls wanted his help so much, and began putting blocks on top of each other to help them build their tower. Each time a new block went on and the tower didn’t fall, they all clapped and cheered excitedly.

As the three of them built, they came up with a story about the tower, which they were all very proud of, and when Cumulus walked into the common room, they all started talking at the same time, wanting to tell her their story. She sat down on the couch and leaned forward, taking a good look at their tower of blocks, praising them for how well-built and sturdy it was. The three ghouls melted under her words and began purring even louder than they had been when they were building together.

“Do– Do you wanna hear th’story ‘bout our tower, Lussy?” Rain asked, sitting at her feet and looking up at her lovingly. “We really, really, really wan’ to tell you!”

Cumulus laughed happily. “Of course you can tell me, little ones! C’mon, come up here and snuggle with me. Get cosy while you tell me the story.”

“We can’t!” Swiss said. “We need to move an’ show you things when we tell you!”

“But, t’ank ‘ou,” the new ghoul added quietly with a yawn. He regressed even smaller than Rain did, so he got tired the fastest out of all of them. Before he knew what was happening, Cumulus was scooping him up in a hug and holding him tight to her body. He made a tiny, quiet noise of surprise when she dragged him into her lap, but once he was settled, he felt so comfy and so warm that he didn’t want to leave. He could tell Cumulus things about the blocks while he was sitting in her lap if he needed to, but the warmth of her body heat was just so nice that his brain was getting a bit soupy.

The chatter of the three ghouls around him made him fall asleep very quickly, still snuggled up on Cumulus’ lap; his hands around her waist and his head buried in her chest, purring softly. He fell asleep so fast that Swiss and Rain didn’t even get up to the bit of the story he was supposed to tell before they looked over and found the quintessence ghoul sleeping peacefully in Cumulus’ comforting hold.

Chapter Text

“Quinty?” Swiss hollers, pulling back the curtains of each of the bunks as he walks his way down the bus, heedless of the indignant groans he receives from his packmates. “Quinty, you in here?”

Quinty isn’t the real name of their newest quintessence ghoul, but when the poor thing had first been summoned, they’d had such trouble keeping up with everyone’s names that they’d instead called the pack by their elements. The rest of the pack had chosen to do the same thing to them in some kind of gentle mockery—all in good faith, of course—and even now the quintessence ghoul knows and uses all their names, their little nickname has stuck fast. Swiss can bet it won’t be long before the pack forgets their real name in favour of their given one.

There’s no response when Swiss calls out for them a third time, and the multi ghoul is beginning to get worried. It’s a rest day, so there’s no real need for Swiss to find them, but he finds himself growing fond of the new summon and their company, and things can get lonely on the road for Swiss, even constantly surrounded by his packmates as he is. Even on their darker days, Swiss cannot seem to stop himself from finding contentment in their company, and with every conversation they have, Swiss finds his affections for the younger ghoul growing tenfold.

He finally locates the quintessence ghoul once he pulls back the curtain of the last bunk—his own—but the sight in front of his eyes is not what he’s expecting at all.

The quintessence ghoul stares up at Swiss with big, round eyes filled with adoration and something else that Swiss can’t quite place—fear, maybe, but that doesn’t seem right… the two of them are on good terms, he thought—as they suck their thumb with a mouth that looks too slack.

“Quinty? You– You okay, buddy?” Swiss tries to reach a hand out to touch them, but they let out a hurt whine and shrink away before his hand can even make it halfway towards them. “No touch? That’s fine…” Swiss trails off, not because he’s disappointed, but because he has no idea what to do. He’s never seen the quintessence ghoul act like this, and he feels way out of his depth in how to deal with it. He doesn’t even know what it is that’s causing them to act like this, if they’ve simply gone non-verbal and touch averse, too anxious to deal with touch, or something else entirely. All Swiss knows, really, is that he’s found himself with one very distressed ghoul on his hands, and he has no idea how he should go about comforting them. He’d have some idea of how to help them if they were able to communicate in any way—after all, the two of them have found themselves in similar situations to this before—but by the look of it, it would be impossible to garner so much of a whisper in Swiss’ mind from the ghoul in front of him, and so, the multi ghoul finds himself at a loss.

“I– I’ll be right back, Quinty, okay?” He stutters out, mind already racing as begins to think about which of their packmates the quintessence ghoul would be most comfortable with like this. “You just stay there, buddy. We’ll get you some help, yeah?”

They just stare up at him with their big, round eyes and nod their head mindlessly, which Swiss hopes is a yes, rather than some kind of subconscious action their body is imposing upon them.

Swiss closes the privacy curtain and turns on his heel, racing to the common area in search of Rain. They’ll know what to do, he’s sure of it.

They look up at him with a smile that quickly slides off their face as Swiss runs into the sitting area. “Swiss! I was wondering where you’d– Is everything– Is everything alright, my darling?”

“It’s– It’s Quinty.” Rain shuts their book and gives Swiss their full attention, waiting for him to continue. “Something– Something’s wrong, I think. Help?”

Rain jumps up and instructs Swiss to lead them to the quintessence ghoul. As he pulls back the curtain for them to see, the water ghoul does the last thing Swiss expects them to do; they coo.

“Awh, nothing’s wrong with them, Swiss,” they reassure him, crouching down to the quintessence ghoul’s level. “They’re just feeling a little, uh, little , is all.” They laugh at their own unintended wordplay.

Swiss blinks. “You mean… regression? Like you?”

Rain chuckles softly at a particularly curious blink that makes the little ghoul’s entire face scrunch up in earnest, reaching a finger out to bap at their nose before turning their attention back to Swiss. “Yeah. Except Quinty looks like they’re a lot smaller than I ever am.” They turn back to the ghoul in front of them, directing their words at them now, despite the fact they won’t be able to fully understand. “You’re teeny tiny, aren’t you, sweet thing?”

The little ghoul looks up at Rain and blinks slowly, their mouth going slack around their thumb as they take in the new scents surrounding them. They let out a noise; half squawk, half whine. Swiss finds it hard to decipher, and clearly, so does Rain. The water ghoul, however, takes it in their stride as always and doubles down on giving their attention and affection to the babbling ghoul; cooing at them and tapping their wandering hands and feet lightly with their fingers.

“Yes, you are, little one, you’re so small. Awh, look at you, my sweet darling…” Swiss watches on in awe as Rain continues talkings and manages to rid that strange look—Swiss is now sure it was some kind of worry or fear, as he’d first thought—from the quintessence ghoul’s eyes, having them giggling and curling in on themselves delightedly in barely any time at all. Soon, Rain is turning to him and speaking, and Swiss has to make a conscious effort to stop directing heart eyes at the two ghouls in front of him and tune back in to what Rain’s saying. “Would you mind waiting here with them while I fetch a few things from the commons? They’ll be fine on their own I just… We shouldn’t leave them alone like this.”

Before Swiss even registers their words, he finds himself nodding. “Yeah. Yeah, ‘s fine, Rainy. I don’t mind.”

Rain stands and presses a chaste kiss to Swiss’ lips. “Thank you, darling. I’ll be right back.”

Swiss watches them walk back down the bus towards the common area before turning his attention back to the little ghoul in his bunk. Their eyes are unfocussed and shine with tears as they stare after Rain. When the water ghoul disappears entirely, they begin to twist and flap their arms where they’re lying, letting out a series of hurt puppy noises that Swiss swears he can physically feel.

“Oh, no, bud, it’s okay, it’s okay,” he does his best to reassure. “Rainy will be back soon, okay?” He leans in close, twisting his grin into something softly conspiratorial. “Between you and me, little one, I think they’re gettin’ somethin’ for you.”

The quintessence ghoul stops their jolting and whining and looks up at Swiss slack-jawed. Swiss knows they’re not able to speak like this, but everything in their body language is screaming: “Really? Something for– For me?”

“Yeah, little one. Just for you. Somethin’ real special, too, I bet.” He tentatively reaches his hand out again, just as he had seen Rain do, and is overjoyed when the little ghoul doesn’t flinch away this time.

They grip onto two of his fingers, and Swiss has never been more thankful—for the sake of his packmate—that his glamour doesn’t fit quite right and makes his hands just that bit too large for the rest of his body, if only for the fact that the quintessence ghoul’s fingers just barely manage to overlap each other, and it’s clear that it’s helping them stay in their regressed headspace. Their grip is surprisingly strong, and Swiss catches himself hoping that Rain brings back something else for them to hold; it’s not as if Swiss doesn’t love the idea of curling up with the little ghoul and falling asleep side by side, but dammit, he has things to do today.

Thankfully, Rain returns soon enough cradling a few toys in their arms, the majority of which, Swiss is surprised to note, he doesn’t recognise. “These yours, Rainy? I haven’t seen ‘em before.” He yoinks an octopus plushie out of their arms, it’s squishy. “Awh, cute.”

The little ghoul must see the octopus, because they immediately let go of Swiss’ fingers and make their best attempt at grabby hands in the toy’s direction, whining softly. Rain takes the octopus back and deposits it into their arms, telling the little ghoul its name. They gasp out softly as they feel the softness of the toy for themselves and immediately hug it close to their chest. 

“Yeah, they’re mine.” Rain’s voice is hushed so as not to disturb the little ghoul from their excitement. “Mount got them for me a while ago but I never really reach for them when I’m small. Besides, this one’s been rambling on about octopi ever since they were summoned. It seems only right to let them have these.” The water ghoul shrugs and turns away to dig back through the pile of toys, but Swiss catches their arm before they can turn too far.

“You’re lovely,” he says, genuinely delighted in the soft blush that settles over their cheeks as his words sink in.

“...Thank you, Swiss.”

Their moment is interrupted by the quintessence ghoul doing their best to sit up and point at one of the toys still hidden in Rain’s arms, babbling incoherently in excitement. It’s a rattle shaped like an octopus. The head of the rattle is hidden inside the soft, plush head of the octopus, and its arms disguise the handle. Rain shakes the toy for them and the arms splay out, twisting in the air. The little ghoul seems to be entranced by the motion of it, and even more desperate to grab a hold of it for themselves. The water ghoul holds it out to them, both they and Swiss chuckling as their packmate does their best to get a strong enough grip on it. Eventually they manage it and swing the rattle around, giggling to themselves at the noises it makes with every movement.

Now that the little ghoul seems relatively content, Swiss and Rain are able to sit back and watch them play with the rattle, lost in their own thoughts. Swiss wraps an arm around Rain’s shoulder and lets the water ghoul lean into him. “Thank you for your help, Rainy,” he whispers softly, not wanting to disrupt the little ghoul’s playing. “Couldn’t have made ‘em happy without you.”

Rain just hums quietly and leans further into Swiss’ side, both of them content to watch their mate play with their toys until they grow too tired to sit upright.

Chapter Text

“Are you comfortable, my little epoch?” The air ghoul’s voice rumbles in the quiet library. The only other sound to be heard is the crackling of the fire in the hearth and the broken, contented purrs of the little ghoul in their lap.

Aeon nods and buries its face even deeper into Zephyr’s chest, curled up in the air ghoul’s lap in a ball so tight that it’s a wonder its limbs haven’t begun to cramp up yet. It paws at Zephyr’s thigh as well as it is able to through the thick blanket covering them both and looks up at them with wide eyes. Its hand is barely able to reach the book resting there thanks to its strange position.

Zephyr smiles down at Aeon, loosening their hold around it to bring a finger up and boop its nose, making it giggle and purr even more loudly. “Is it storytime, small one? Would you wish for me to read aloud?”

Their questioning is met with a soft “Uh huh…” from the quintessence ghoul in their lap, and Zephyr can’t help but allow a purr of their own to kick up in their throat.

“You know,” they begin, picking up the book and rearranging Aeon in their lap as they do so, “this is not typically my favoured reading material.”

It’s true. At this time of year it’s more often than not that the old air ghoul can be found in the armchair with a book in front of the library’s warmest fire, doing their best to let the heat seep into their cold-stiffened and aching joints. Although, they tend to favour a lengthy Jane Austen, or perhaps an old, untranslated version of the Bible—the Christian one that is; the absurdity of the whole thing never fails to make them chuckle—over anything else, the colourful picture story book that was pushed into their claws by the eager, slightly sticky hands of the quintessence ghoul in their lap is most certainly outside of their regular sphere of interest. Alas, they couldn’t say no to it if they tried.

“Jus’ read da sdory, Dada.” By the sound of its voice, Zephyr can tell that Aeon won’t be awake for much of the sdory they’re about to read to it, but they sigh quietly and deign to prop the book up on their lap in such a way that if the little ghoul turns its head, it should be able to look at the pictures while Zephyr reads aloud.

Before they begin though, there’s one point they’d like to raise with the sleepy creature on their lap. “I didn’t know I was your Dada, epoch,” they muse, smiling down at Aeon gently.

It hums softly, rubbing its cheek against the fabric of Zephyr’s tunic, its purring kicking up a notch in volume as it does. “An’ my Mama.”

Sathanas. Zephyr doesn’t think they’re going to be able to handle much more of the adorable pile of ghoul in their lap without becoming uncharacteristically emotional. “ And your Mama?”

“Mhmm.” It nods its head sleepily. “You gedda be bofe.”

“I get to be both? I must be very lucky.” The only response Zephyr gets from Aeon is another little nod of its head and a loose gesture towards the book. They chuckle softly. “Alright, my epoch. You want your storytime, I understand. Are you comfortable enough for your Dada-Mama to begin reading it for you?”

Another nod—and a small giggle at the phrase Dada-Mama.

“Perfect.” Zephyr readjusts Aeon’s position in their lap once again, holding the little ghoul close to them in a way that allows them to hold the book up with one hand and card gentle fingers through its hair with the other. It seems as if Aeon is content enough to leave its face under the blanket and buried in Zephyr’s chest rather than look at the pictures in the book, and when Zephyr looks down they can see it chewing on a fold in the fabric of their tunic, its loud and broken purring having never once ceased throughout the whole ordeal.

The air ghoul presses a chaste kiss to Aeon’s head, ensuring their own purr is audible to its blanket-enveloped ears, and begins to read.

Chapter Text

“Sun Sun, ‘m cold,” Rain whined, doing their best to paw at the ghoulette’s shirt from where they were curled up against her side, trying to get her attention.

Sunshine turned her attention away from the book she’d be reading aloud to them, looking down at Rain. “You’re cold, sweetness?”

Rain nodded up at her with big, wide eyes.

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” She reached a hand down to stroke at his hair as she spoke. “How about I go grab another blanket for you, little minnow?”

Rain melted into her side at the affection, but shook their head. “Nuh uh. Blankets are no fun, Sun Sun!”

She chuckled at the earnestness in their voice. “That’s true, sweetness. Some blankets can be very boring.”

Rain nodded their agreement and scrunched up their face, no doubt thinking about all the boring, beige, standard-issue blankets littered around every room in the Ministry.

“What do you want to do to warm up then, minnow, if you don’t want another blanket?” She asked, still carding a hand through the water ghoul’s hair. Their purring kicked up in volume with every pass of her fingers against their scalp.

“We can… We can… Uhm…” Their eyebrows scrunched together as they did their best to think of something that would help them warm up. “Oh! Sun Sun!”

She waited for them to continue, but it soon became apparent they were waiting for her to join the discussion. She was tempted to leave them waiting for a moment longer—so cute they were when they bounced themselves in their anticipation—but one look at their excited face made the decision for her; they were so excited about their idea, she couldn’t keep them waiting any longer. “Yes, Rain?”

“We can have a bath!” They sat up as they spoke, clapping their hands together in excitement. “Can play with bath toys, an’ you keep water warm!”

Sunny gasped. “That’s a great idea! Such a clever brain you’ve got in there, little minnow.” She took their face in her hands and pressed a kiss to their forehead, making Rain giggle.

“T’ank you, Sun Sun.” They giggled as Sunshine tapped their nose with her finger, crossing their eyes in a futile attempt to watch it happen. “Can we do bath now?”

She smiled, amused by their impatience. “Of course we can take your bath now.” She stood from the bed and held out her hand towards them. “Will you be okay walking, minnow? It’s not far, but it might be a bit hard if your legs are all wobbly.”

Rain shook their head. “‘M okay, Sun Sun. I am bit wob-elly , but I think I can do it.”

Sunshine sucked in a breath of air when Rain stood on shaky legs and had to reach her hand out to steady them, but once the two of them started making their way towards the bathroom, Rain seemed to gain more control over their legs. She walked with him slowly regardless, not wanting to risk them crashing to the ground and hurting themselves, especially not when they were like this.

As soon as they reached the bathroom, Sunshine busied herself in getting the water running and collected the basket of bath toys kept in the bottom drawer of the bathroom cupboard. She told Rain to take his pick of any of the toys, smiling as she heard splash after splash of toys being thrown into the bath. She didn’t bother waiting for the water to heat itself up, and instead chose to stick her hands in the bath and concentrate on bringing her warmth into her hands, heating the water with the small spark of fire she possessed.

“Once you’ve picked out your toys you can hop in, minnow,” she told them. “And since you’re still wearing your swimmers from earlier, you don’t have to get out of your clothes if you don’t want to.”

Rain dug around in the basket for a moment more before lifting their head up and grinning at Sunshine, holding out their hand to show her the last toy they had picked out, shivering slightly now they no longer had the blanket over them. “Gonna get in bath now. It is cold here.” They accepted the helping hand that Sunshine offered them and clambered awkwardly into the bath, chirping happily as the warm water made contact with their skin. “Nice an’ warm,” they sighed through the purr building in their chest. “No cold now.”

“Oh, I’m so glad, sweetheart.” Sunshine smiled as she took her hands out of the water, taking in the sight of the water ghoul in front of her. They’d started picking up and playing with their toys, making new, silly voices for each one as they made their toys talk with one another. Watching the water ghoul play was so entrancing that it felt like almost no time at all before Rain was pawing at her arm and complaining about the water getting cold. “Has it been that long already?”

Rain nodded and continued bapping her sleeve. “P’ease make water hot again, Sun Sun? ‘M getting cold,” they pouted, drawing their shoulders up in discomfort.

Sunshine smoothed her hands over their shoulders before sticking them back in the water with a gentle smile. “Relax, platy, I’ll take care of you.”

Rain tilted their head in confusion at the new affection. “Why you call me play-tea now?” They asked, curiously. “I thinked you call me minnow?”

“I do call you minnow, Rain,” she started, swirling her hands through the water to heat it up. Rain splashed his hands in and out of the bathwater, flicking water over her arm and watching gleefully as the droplets rain back down into the bath. “But, the platyfish is a little creature Mountain told me about today.” She laughed softly at the way Rain’s ears twitched up at the mention of Mountain, even as they continued to splash at Sunshine’s hand. “You like Mountain, don’t you, little one?”

“Uh huh. He says I am ‘llowed to play with the fishies in the pond!” They held up one of their fish toys for Sunshine to see. “Look! Fishy, like in pond!” They held it up in front of their face and bobbed it up and down in their air, making bubble noises and doing their best to make it look as if the toy was swimming through the air.

(It reminds Sunshine of earlier in the day, when Rain had clambered into Mountain’s koi pond and paddled amongst the fish, shouting excitedly at Sunshine about how cool the fish were. They’d occasionally crouched down and dipped their head under the surface—Sunshine thanked whoever had helped Rain into their clothes this morning for choosing to put them in swim trunks—while Mountain had stood next to the pond and talked with the fish, resurfacing to excitedly tell the earth ghoul about the lives of the fish in his pond. Rain had quickly grown tired of talking with the fish, and instead settled on sitting in the pond and watching them, meaning Mountain could stand away from the pond and keep Sunshine company for a while. It wasn’t as if Rain was in any real danger sticking their head underwater—they were a water ghoul after all, they had gills—but the rest of the ghouls preferred to supervise them regardless, just in case they regressed further and forgot how to use them. Once he was sure Rain was safe, Mountain had moved back to stand next to Sunshine, the two of them fawning over just how cute Rain was, as well as vowing to convince Copia to buy a small fish tank for the water ghoul’s room. Sunshine could already picture the little ghoul sitting in front of the tank for hours on end, entranced by the movement of their fish and gesturing for one of the ghouls to take a look whenever the fish did anything Rain deemed to be particularly exciting.)

“Well, Mountain told me about this very special fish who can live in cold water and warm water! They reminded me of you, little one. Because right now, you’re splashing around in the warm water just like that fish.”

“An’ that is why you call me ‘platy’?”

“Exactly! You’re very clever, Rain. That big brain of yours must be working itself tired!”

“Yeah… ‘m all s’eepy…” Their sentence trails off at the end as they go quiet, their eyes slipping closed with every other word they speak.

“Well,” she began. “How about you lie back and close your eyes for a bit while I wash your hair?”

Rain hummed, considering. “Can– Can I play toys too? If– If I want?”

“Oh, of course you can, sweetness!” She reassured them. “You just seemed to be a little sleepy, so I thought you might want to close your eyes for a bit, but if you want to play with your toys instead, then of course you can.”

Rain hummed again and made absolutely no move to play with their toys again; clearly they were more tired than they were letting on. “Maybe… Maybe I s’eep when you wash hair? Play toys is good, but I am s’eepy…”

Sunshine reached out to card a hand through Rain’s hair. “Hey, it’s okay, minnow. I’ll keep you nice and safe if you fall asleep, okay?” They leaned into her touch and closed their eyes. “Sound... nice,” they whispered, already sounding as if they were nearing sleep. “You– You are safe to be with, Sun Sun. Gonna... Gonna keep me safe... an’ cosy…”

Chapter Text

“Rain? What’s going on in there, love?” Mountain knocks on the door sounding worried and Rain can’t help the sad, longing whine that escapes their throat at the sound of his voice.

"I– I don' feel good... Hurts. " As Rain speaks, the world seems to start spinning all over again, despite the fact that they’re now sitting on the cool bathroom floor. They slowly realise that maybe they’re the one doing the spinning. They wouldn't be surprised, their limbs feel a lot shakier than usual and their head feels all… fuzzy.

The earth ghoul opens the door slowly and his face immediately scrunches up in worry as he walks in to find Rain swaying where they sit, leaning against the sink with a plushie held limply to their chest with arms that feel too wobbly. He runs to the little ghoul’s side and crouches down beside them, brushing his fingers softly against their—concerningly warm—cheek. "It hurts? What's hurting, my darling?"

"I's here." They point to their stomach and almost immediately let out a hurt whine and hug the plushie closer to their stomach as another wave of nausea overwhelms them. "Tummy hurts an' feel sick." They manage to force the words out past the dizzying sensation as Mountain tilts his head in confusion at their original, vague answer.

"Oh, Rainy, poor love." Mountain pulls them into a loose hug, leaving plenty of room for the little ghoul to breathe—or to escape his hold, if that’s what they need—and Rain wraps their arms around Mountain as tightly as they can manage in return, sniffling and burying their head in the earth ghoul's shoulder. "Do we need to get your plushie out of the way in case anything comes up? We don’t want them getting dirty, do we, hmm?” His arms are already reaching out to take the plushie from their arms but Rain pulls back and shakes their head quickly.

"Already come’d up…” They sniffle as they speak; partly from the memory of only a few minutes before that makes their stomach churn the more they think about it, and partly from fear that Mountain really will take their plushie away if they get sick again. “But I don' feel good. I thinked was gonna feel gooder, but I don't!" They don’t realise they’ve started crying until Mountain pulls their head away and swipes a tear off their face with gentle fingers, pressing a soft kiss to their wet cheeks afterwards for good measure. The realisation that they’re crying only makes them sob harder as they bat their hands weakly at Mountain’s chest, their breaths coming out short and disjointed from their panic. “I– I don’ wanna be sick, Mounty! I don’ wanna feel bader!”

“Hey, hey, no, love, it’s okay,” the earth ghoul soothes, stroking their head and running his fingers through their hair as gently and calmly as he can. “You’re okay,” he whispers against Rain’s hair. “You’re gonna be okay, tadpole.”

Rain pulls back and looks up at Mountain through their tear-blurred vision. “Promise?” Their voice wobbles with unshed tears.

They’re not sure if they can believe Mountain when he says they’re going to be okay, but they do their best to nod and wipe their tears away as the earth ghoul reassures them. “Yes. Yes, you’re going to feel better soon, my darling. I promise.”

“O– Okay. I buh-leeve you, Mounty.” They surge forward to hug the earth ghoul, burying their face in his chest once again. They smile as Mountain laughs, the vibrations in his chest rumbling against Rain’s cheek, helping them regulate their breathing as they begin to calm down. They still feel sick, and a little bit like crying again, but they’re relatively content to be held in Mountain’s arms for as long as he’ll let them. If they’re really lucky, maybe he’ll even let Rain fall asleep in his lap and carry them back to bed, tucking them in with a kiss on their forehead and a whispered “Sleep well, little one. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Chapter Text

It starts with a thud. The quiet noise of a certain fire ghoul falling onto the soft, wet grass, followed almost immediately by quiet sobs that Dewdrop is clearly doing his best to stifle. Mountain hears him first, the glass of the greenhouse thankfully allowing sound to pass through.

The earth ghoul's ear twitches in the direction of the distressed noises and he makes the decision to set down his trowel and investigate. He brushes the dirt from his hands onto his gardening apron, making sure to take it off and hang it up on its proper hook before walking out of the greenhouse and setting his eyes on Dewdrop.

The little ghoul is sitting on the ground, one leg drawn up close to his body, the other laying out straight in front of him, the ankle already beginning to swell. He's crying, which isn't always out of character for the fire ghoul depending on the situations he finds himself in, but the little hiccups he's letting out after every sob that escapes him can only mean one thing.

"Little one?" Dewdrop looks up when Mountain speaks, tears tracking down his cheeks. "Oh, my darling, are you hurt?" Mountain rushes over to Dewdrop and reaches a hand out, swiping his thumbs over the little ghoul's cheeks to rid his face of tears. It's a pointless effort (his tear ducts immediate work to replace any tears Mountain brushes away) but the way Dewdrop leans into Mountain's touch and closes his eyes signals to the earth ghoul that the little ghoul seems to appreciate the gesture.

"I- I wanted to say hi at you, so I runned," he tries to explain through his sobs. "But I falled over and ankle hurt..."

"Oh, love," Mountain sighs, pulling Dewdrop into a hug, careful to not jolt his injured ankle. "Should we take you up to the infirmary? Get you all fixed up?"

Dewdrop shakes his head emphatically through his hiccups. "No! Wanna Swissy cuddle," he pouts, wrapping his arms around himself to emphasise his point.

"You want to see Swiss?"

"Uh huh. Wanna Mountain and Swissy cuddle."

Mountain can't help the way his face splits into a genuine smile at Dewdrop's admission of wanting to be wrapped up in his hugs. "Well, sundew," (Dewdrop chirps happily at the nickname despite the fat tears still rolling down his cheeks) "how about I carry you back to the commons and we can wait for Swiss to meet us on the couch for cuddles, hmm?"

"Yeah!" The fire ghoul nods excitedly and claps his hands at Mountain's suggestion. The earth ghoul lifts him up as carefully as he can, purposefully avoiding contact with Dewdrop's sore ankle and slowly makes his way up the hill towards the ghouls' commons.

The walk isn't a long one, but with a squirming ghoul on his back with an ankle that shouldn't be moved about too much, the journey ends up taking almost double the time Mountain usually walks it in. The earth ghoul is mostly quiet, occasionally encouraging Dewdrop in his nonsensical babbling to ensure the little ghoul stays distracted from his pain, but he mostly stays quiet, content to focus on keeping Dewdrop's leg and ankle straight as he holds him.

"Mounty," Dewdrop starts, the earth ghoul immediately tuning back in. "Wossa ' commons'? You sayed 'commons' wossat mean?"

"You want to know what 'commons' means, love?" Mountain clarifies.

"Uh huh."

"It's a fast way to say 'common room'," he explains. "You know the room with the couches outside all of our bedrooms?" He elaborates once Dewdrop is silent for just a bit too long for him to have properly understood what Mountain originally meant.

"Ohh, the big room?"

"Yes, that's right, little one!" Mountain encourages. "The big room."

Dewdrop hums. "I like the big room. 'S warm. And Swissy gonna be there too!"

"Yes, he will." Mountain sends an anti-prayer to whatever lower power is listening that for Dewdrop's sake, Swiss will already be in the common room when he and the little ghoul arrive.

As luck would have it— or maybe that prayer really did work after all— Swiss is laying sideways over one of the armchairs, legs dangling over the one of the arms of the chair, his back resting against the other. "Hey, uh, Mount? I think you have a limpet stuck to your back," he teases, grinning.

"Swissy, 'm not a limpet!" Dewdrop protests as indignantly as he can manage. "Imma ghoul."

The multi ghoul smiles at Dewdrop's voice. "Oh, of course! How could I forget!" He rolls off of the armchair landing purposefully onto the floor with a loud thump, making Dewdrop giggle, the fire ghoul's entire body vibrating against Mountain's own.

"Swissy you're silly!" He laughs. "Mounty can you let me down p'ease? I wanna Swissy-Mounty cuddle now."

Mountain lowers Dewdrop onto one of the couches slowly, careful not to let anything bump his sore ankle before seating himself at Dewdrop's side and letting the little ghoul curl into his side. Dewdrop reaches an arm out and makes grabby hands in Swiss' general direction, encouraging him to join the mini ghoul pile.

The multi ghoul gladly approaches, but stops short once he catches sight of Dewdrop's ankle. "What happened, Dewy?"

Dewdrop glances down at his ankle and Mountain has to rub his back softly as the fire ghoul begins to tear up all over again. " Falled over..." he mumbles quietly.

"Awh, baby, you poor thing." Swiss kneels on the floor in front of the little ghoul and cradles his face in his hands. "D'you want me to try and make it feel a bit better now, or do you want to wait for Aether to help you later?"

"Mmm, I dunno..." Dewdrop has begun to twist his shirt in his hands as he does his best to answer Swiss' question. "Maybe... Aefer?"

"Good choice, love," Mountain mutters into Dewdrop's hair.

Swiss nods in agreement. "I'm sure it still hurts a lot, but Aeth'll patch you up in no time, little guy. Plus," he adds, whispering conspiratorially, "if you're really well-behaved when he fixes your ankle, he might have a couple stickers to spare for you, hmm? How does that sound, baby?"

"Stickers?" Dewdrop asks, mouth agape in surprise. "Want stickers!"

"Well then it's a very good thing you're such a good, well-behaved boy, isn't it, love?" Mountain strokes Dewdrop's hair as he speaks, sharing a soft smile with Swiss as the little ghoul begins purring and wriggling further into his hold. He inclines his head to Dewdrop's other side, glad when Swiss takes the hint to move from the couch to wrap his arms around the little ghoul. Dewdrop's purring kicks up a notch as Swiss joins him and Mountain on the couch, loudly reverberating against the two ghouls he's sandwiched between.

It may have started with the thud of Dewdrop falling over and injuring himself, but it ends with a happy fire ghoul purring, sandwiched in between two of his loving packmates, their arms wrapped tightly around him as they calm him down.

Chapter Text

“Aeth?” Mountain pokes his head into the common room, searching for his packmate. “Honeysuckle, are you in here?”

A quiet chirp from the direction of the couch answers him. It’s a sound that tugs on Mountain’s heartstrings—Aether sounds worried; scared, even—but the earth ghoul barely hears it over the sound of the television in the background.

One quick glance at the screen shows that it’s a horror movie; some cheap flick with bucket loads of fake blood and unrealistic gore. It’s the type of movie that the pack would usually watch together and laugh at its ridiculousness, but… Aether isn’t laughing.

The quintessence ghoul is curled up on the couch with a cushion in between his arms like he usually is, but there’s something else in his body language and facial expression that leads Mountain to believe that there’s something else at play here. Aether is chewing at his lip and worrying the tasseled edges of the cushion with trembling fingers, and when Mountain moves closer to him, he can see tears threatening to spill over Aether’s eyelashes.

The earth ghoul rushes to crouch down in front of him and shut the television off, but Aether’s distressed expression does not go away. “My darling…” Mountain begins, holding his hand out to silently ask Aether if he can touch him. When the quintessence ghoul nods slowly, Mountain smiles his praise and rests his hand on Aether’s knee, drawing slow circles on the fabric of his sweatpants. “Love, are you okay?”

“‘M fine.” Aether nods his head and tries to smile up at Mountain, but it doesn’t reach his eyes, and he still looks so scared.

As Aether flinches at the sound of screams on the television behind Mountain, his eyes still fixated on the screen, the earth ghoul connects the dots. “Oh, my sweet, are you scared?”

Aether shakes his head adamantly despite the fact he’s still cowering from the sound of fake blood splashing out onto tiled floors, and Mountain has yet another realisation.

The quintessence ghoul never regresses as young as Dewdrop or Rain. He tends to gravitate to the headspace of a child rather than a toddler or infant like those two. Whenever he does find himself slipping into his own version of that smaller headspace, the other ghouls tend to have more difficulty in recognising it. Mountain is all too aware of that fact; he’s been on both sides of the equation. Because of this, now that he’s crouched in front of Aether, the gears are ticking over in his head and he’s very slowly realising the situation the quintessence ghoul has found himself in.

Still, it’s only courteous to ask. “C’mon, talk to me, Aeth. What’s going on, honeysuckle?” As the earth ghoul speaks, Aether flinches at yet another gory scene on the television behind him. “Should we turn the movie off while we talk?”

“‘M not scared by the movie.” It’s not what Mountain was asking and he doesn’t think he’s ever been less convinced of the honesty of an answer, but he lets the little ghoul have his victory.

“Oh, of course not,” he says gently. “You’re being very brave, my honeysuckle. But, you know… I think the movie might be a bit too scary for me, so do you mind if I turn it off, please?” It’s not entirely a lie. Mountain’s never been afraid to admit that this movie has just a shade too much cheap gore, even for him. Usually, Aether is all too happy to admit the same, but in this headspace, Mountain has noticed a pattern of little ghoul wanting to prove that he’s just as brave and strong as his non-regressed counterpart. 

Aether nods and Mountain pretends not to notice the small huff of relief the quintessence ghoul lets out as he switches the television off, instead moving to sit next to and drape an arm around him. Instantly, Aether is curling up against his side, seeking out a comforting presence to take his mind off of the movie.

Mountain wraps his arm more tightly around Aether, drawing small circles on the little ghoul’s bicep with his thumb. “Are you okay, bub?”

Very slowly, Aether shakes his head, sniffling a little now that he’s buried far enough into Mountain’s side that his face can’t be seen.

The earth ghoul leans down to press a kiss to the top of his head. “That’s alright, honeysuckle, you’re allowed to be upset, remember?” He waits for Aether’s answering nod and teary hiccup before continuing. “Do you want to talk about it?” He punctuates his statement by squeezing Aether even more tightly, wrangling a small giggle out of the quintessence ghoul.

After his small fit of giggles is over and he’s able to focus well enough to consider Mountain’s question, Aether shakes his head. “Just… just hugs. Please, Mounty.”

“‘Course, bub. C’mon, snuggle up.” He helps Aether move even further into his hold and drags a blanket over the both of them. “I’ll keep you nice and safe, honeysuckle. We can talk later, okay?”

Aether nods again, and as he snuggles into Mountain’s warm body, a purr begins rumbling deep in his chest. The earth ghoul smiles and presses another kiss to Aether’s head, pleased again when the purr picks up its volume.

Later, they’ll talk about why Aether was watching that movie and perhaps about why he felt like he needed to put on an unbothered facade, but for now, they’ll stay cuddled up on the couch together for the rest of the afternoon. Happy, safe, and in each other’s company.

Chapter Text

Something feels… off. In the beginning, Aeon didn’t know exactly what, but with every bump in the road, and with every corner the bus turns, he thinks he’s starting to get an idea.

It had begun once the ritual had ended, the regular queasy excitement building in his stomach during bows, only to disappear again once he’d gone backstage. But unlike every other time, once he’d settled himself onto the bus, after about an hour or so of travelling, the feeling came back. He’s usually asleep by this time, so worn out by the performance and subsequent excitement that he can’t help but drift off, but today something’s keeping him awake. Something in his stomach feels wrong, and as time goes on, the feeling grows and grows, spreading up through his throat and into his mouth. 

As soon as he’d started feeling like this, he had retreated to his bunk, not wanting to annoy the pack with the weird feeling in his stomach, but the longer he stays awake, the more he wishes he’d stayed with them. If he tries to get up and wander over to them now, he thinks the gross feeling will spread even more and something bad will happen. He’s just not sure what.

He curls his arms more tightly around his favourite plushie, burrows further down into the blanket he’s wrapped around himself and whines softly. He’s annoyed at himself for not being able to figure out what’s happening to him; his head is getting progressively fuzzier as he feels worse and worse, and although he’s sure the brain fog is a familiar feeling, he doesn’t know what’s causing it. The bus hits a particularly large dip in the road and Aeon feels even worse than before. He has to swallow the funny burning liquid that appears in his mouth when the bus jolts.

He must be making some kind of noise in his discomfort because almost immediately, Swiss is pulling back the curtains surrounding Aeon’s bunk and kneeling beside him. “Hey, baby bat. What’s going on?”

“I– I don’ know,” he whines, but as soon as the words leave his mouth. “...Ough, ‘m liddle…?”

Swiss laughs softly. “You didn’t know, baby?”

Aeon shakes his head slowly and hugs his plushie closer to him; maybe if he holds them close enough, they’ll help him feel less weird.

“Hey, that’s okay. I know it’s hard to tell sometimes,” the multi ghoul reassures him. He reaches a hand out as he’s speaking and strokes Aeon’s hair off of his face. Swiss’ hands are cold against his forehead, it’s nice. “Do you know why you feel all little, bat?”

Aeon shakes his head again, and immediately lets out a whine. His stomach feels like it’s mixing everything up inside it and bubbling it up into his throat. He tries to move further down into his blanket cocoon, but while the weight of the blanket is comforting, it’s so hot laying underneath it and Aeon feels like he might just explode if he gets any warmer.

Swiss stops stroking Aeon’s hair and instead rests his hand on the little quintessence ghoul’s forehead. “Oh, baby, are you sick? Is that what this is?”

Swiss’ words seem to click everything into place. His foggy head and his overheating body, as well as his queasy stomach and that funny burning liquid that came up his throat when the bus jolted all make sense now. “F– fink so…” And, oh, he must really be small if he’s talking like that. He hadn’t even realised.

Swiss frowns down at him sympathetically, and leans down to press a kiss to his overheated forehead. “Where do you feel sick, bug?” When Aeon doesn’t answer because the bus has hit a really bumpy stretch of road and he’s sure that if he opens his mouth, something very bad will come out, Swiss tries again. “Is it your tummy, baby? Right here?” He pokes Aeon’s stomach very gently and Aeon gives him a small nod.

He can’t manage anything other than a tiny nod at the moment, he really doesn’t feel good. He rubs his plushie’s ear between his fingers to calm himself down; it’s a trick that Rain taught him to focus himself when everything feels like too much, and he’s happy that it seems to be working a little bit now as well.

“Okay.” Swiss smiles down at him gently. “Thank you for telling me, baby bat. You’re being so super duper brave right now, you know that?”

Aeon manages a tiny smile in return, still holding his plushie’s ear in his fingers. “I– I’m a… A b– brave ghoul!”

“Yes, you are, baby!” Swiss grins widely and gives Aeon a kiss on the cheek, nuzzling his nose into his face gently. Aeon smiles a bit wider, even when Swiss pulls back. “Now, bubba, I have a question for you, okay?” Aeon nods and Swiss continues. “I’m going to get you some things that will hopefully make you feel a bit better, but I need to know if you want me to stay with you and get someone else to get the things for you, or if you’re gonna be okay if I leave for a bit. What do you think, bug?”

Aeon tilts his head and considers his options. He doesn’t really want to be left alone, but he knows Swiss will be back before he can even register he’s gone. “Secon’ one. You t– tan go, Swissy.”

“Alright, baby. I’ll be back real soon, okay? You just stay here with your plushie, they’ll keep you nice and safe.” With a quick kiss to Aeon’s forehead Swiss is gone, but true to his word, he’s back almost before Aeon notices he’s gone, his arms full of things.

“Okie dokie, little bat.” Swiss tips the contents of his arms onto the floor beside Aeon’s bunk. “You ready to see what I have?”

Aeon nods, bringing his plushie up to his mouth to chew its ear as he tries to peer over the side of his bed from where he’s lying down.

“First things first…” Swiss begins, organising his big heap into smaller piles. “Let’s get you sat up, baby.”

Swiss helps him up into a sitting position, holding him up and letting him rest when his stomach overwhelms him every few seconds, and before he knows it, Aeon is sat up against some pillows a sick bag and a water bottle next to him, with a sippy cup clutched in his hands and a cold wash cloth pressed to his forehead by Swiss’ big hands.

“You feel any better now, bug?”

Aeon nods happily, taking a small sip from his cup— his favourite apple juice with some of Mountain’s special medicine mixed into it to make him feel all better, Swiss had told him. “Good an’ bedder, Swissy,” he smiles.

“Awh, I’m so glad, baby bat,” he says. “You need anything else?”

“Mmm,” Aeon considers. “Jus’ cuddles, p’ease?”

Swiss grins and assures him that of course he can have some cuddles as he climbs onto Aeon’s bunk and wraps his spare arm around him while keeping the other against Aeon’s forehead with the cloth. “This good?”

Aeon hums and nods. “Uh huh, ‘s good.” His stomach still doesn’t feel normal, but the medicine is slowly helping to calm it down. Maybe he won’t even need the sick bag; Swiss had said he only brought it just in case anyway, that hopefully Aeon wouldn’t need it once he’d had some medicine, and he’s right.

Swiss rests his head against Aeon’s and the little quintessence ghoul can feel him smiling against his scalp. “If you’re feeling better later on, bug, Dew said he was gonna make your favourite for dinner.”

Aeon’s mouth drops open. Dew never makes Aeon’s favourite.

“He’s going to bring it in in about half an hour, okay?” Swiss lowers his voice conspiratorially before continuing. “He even said he’d use your favourite bat bowl and fork, and maybe he’ll even give you some more special apple juice…”

Aeon didn’t think his mouth could get any wider, but somehow it does, and he has to look up at Swiss to make sure he’s telling the truth.

The multi ghoul chuckles at his shock. “It’s true, baby, I promise,” he assures him. “But that’s not for a while yet, little bat, and someone looks like they’re about to collapse from exhaustion. Being sick is very tiring, hmm?”

Aeon hadn’t even noticed his eyelids drooping, so caught up his excitement, but now that Swiss has pointed it out, the little quintessence ghoul can’t think about anything except his tired eyes and sore head. He nods slowly.

“How about we have a quick little nap then, bug? If we sleep for too long, Dew will be happy to heat your dinner back up, okay?”

Aeon nods again. “Uh huh,” he slurs. “Am s’eepy, Swissy…”

Swiss kisses the top of his head. “Such a sleepy little bubba, aren’t you, bug.” It’s not really a question, but Aeon nods anyway. “C’mon, little bat, snuggle up with me. And when you wake up, we can try and feed you some dinner, ‘kay?”

Swiss gives him another quick kiss—on his cheek this time—and Aeon nods his agreement. That sounds nice, and Swiss is so comfortable to snuggle with that Aeon can’t help his eyes from falling completely closed as the beginnings of a purr rumbles up from deep in Swiss’ chest.

He’s not sure if ends up falling asleep or not, but soon enough, his eyes crack open at the sound of Dew sliding the partition between the bunk area and the rest of the bus open and his soft footfalls as he makes his way over to Aeon’s bed.

“Hi, starlight,” he smiles. “How’s your tummy doing now?”

“Good!” He exclaims without thinking, but as he takes the time to think about how he’s feeling, he realises it’s true, he feels a lot better than he did earlier.

“Well, that’s very good to hear,” Dew begins, “because I’ve brought you something…” He shows Aeon the contents of the bowl in his hands— the little quintessence ghoul’s favourite bat bowl and fork as promised— and Aeon lets out a shriek of happiness at the sight of his favourite meal so loud that it jolts Swiss awake.

Dew laughs loudly at Swiss’ sleepy confusion as the fire ghoul climbs over the bed onto Aeon’s other side. Once Swiss registers what’s happening and that Aeon has another caregiver here to look after him, he flops back asleep, wrapping a protective arm around Aeon’s waist. Dew helps Aeon sit back up against the pillows behind him and helps him drink a sip of water from the bottle beside him to help wake him up enough to stomach his dinner. “Want me to help feed you, bubba?”

Aeon nods, hugging both his plushie and the water bottle tightly against his chest. “Am hung’y, Dewy.”

“Oh, I can imagine, starlight. You haven’t eaten anything since lunch!” As he speaks, Dew mixes the contents of the bowl around, cooling the warm food down enough for Aeon to tolerate without too many troubles. “C’mon, open up for me, bubba. Yeah, that’s it.” He smiles down at Aeon as he chews his food happily, giggling in delight when it doesn’t upset his stomach. “Not too hot?”

“No, ‘s good! Super yummy, t’ank you, Dewy,” he rocks back and forth happily as he swirls the taste of his comfort food around in his mouth, doing his best not to jostle the sleeping multi ghoul next to him.

“You’re welcome, Ae,” Dew smiles. “We’ll get you fed and then the three of us can go to sleep, okay?”

“Yeah, okay!”

“Perfect. Ready for your next bite?” Dew scoops another mouthful onto Aeon’s bat fork. “Open up, starlight.”

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“Mounty, are you ready to go?” Rain calls, knocking gently on the little earth ghoul’s door.

The door bursts open to reveal a smiling Mountain clad in his favourite coat and gumboots on the other side. “Uh huh,” he grins. “I wanna go climb the trees ‘n’ see the fairies!”

Rain smiles and reaches down to ruffle his hair, already beginning to feel just as excited as Mountain clearly is. “Alright, kiddo,” he says. “Let’s go!”

On their way out the door, the two ghouls are stopped by Swiss who holds out a picnic basket for Rain to take. “Don’t forget your snacks,” he reminds them both. Rain takes the basket gratefully and gives the multi ghoul a peck on the cheek. Mountain makes a face and sticks his tongue out in disgust, causing the two ghouls in front of him to chuckle.

“Sorry, Mounty,” Rain laughs. “Do you wanna head off now?”

“Yeah!” Mountain replies, but he stops for a moment, looking back and forth between Swiss and Rain for a moment, hesitating.

“Go on,” Rain encourages, gesturing for Mountain to go to Swiss if he wants.

The little earth ghoul grins and turns to Swiss, eagerly motioning him to lean down. “Did– Did you pack our biscuits?” Mountain asks, whispering quietly.

“The fairy ones?” Swiss checks.

“Yeah! The ones w– we decorated with– with Aeon yesterday!”

The multi ghoul grins and nods. “Of course I packed them, kiddo. They’re right on top, they’ll be the first thing you see when you open up the basket with Rain later on, okay?”

“Okay!” Mountain exclaims happily. “Thank you, Swissy!” The little earth ghoul spins around and races to the end of the corridor where Rain had gone to wait for him. He giggles at the squeak his gumboots make against the wooden flooring under his feet. He grabs Rain’s spare hand—the one that’s not holding onto the picnic basket—and swings their joined hands happily between them, humming to himself with a big smile on his face in anticipation of the afternoon they’re about to spend together.

It doesn’t take the two of them long to get to their special spot in the woods. The only thing holding them up is when Mountain tugs against Rain’s hand to lead them both slightly off the path to go look at the flowers, tree roots and rocks scattered along the path. Rain lets him have his fun, gently redirecting the little earth ghoul back to the path only when he’s announced that the area is so far fairy-less.

Mountain continues to chat about fairies to Rain as he sets up the picnic basket, as well as the blanket he’s been carrying down with them. “Did you know that th– the fairies like to– to be left presents?” Mountain asks, shyly, twisting his fingers together as he stands and watches Rain setting up their spot.

Rain smiles and nods. “I did know that, Mounty. I don’t know what presents they like though… Could you tell me about that?” He turns his attention back to the picnic basket, taking out their cups and plates, but Mountain knows Rain is still paying attention to what he has to say.

“Uh huh!” Mountain nods eagerly, rocking back and forth in his gumboots excitedly. “When– When I come out here w– with Swiss, We bring, um… We bring them sweets and– and fairy biscuits!”

“Fairy biscuits?!” Rain exclaims in shock, exaggerated just the right amount to make Mountain giggle at how silly he looks. “What are those?” As he asks, he pats the blanket next to him, signalling to Mountain that he can come and sit down now.

Mountain plops himself down cross legged and grins, overjoyed to have been given a further excuse to talk about his interest. “They’re biscuits shaped like f– fairies, Rainy!” He laughs in delight as Rain chuckles at how silly he’s been not to realise. “I– I think Sw– Swissy packed some in the basket,” he says eagerly. “Check! Check!”

Rain nods and turns around to root through the basket. “Hmm… I can’t see any fairy biscuits, Mounty,” he says, scratching his head in a way that makes Mountain know he’s just being silly.

Mountain plays along with a huge smile on his face, gasping as he gets up on his knees to get a proper look into the basket. “Look, there!” He shouts, pointing into the basket. “R– Right on top, just like Sw– Swissy said!”

“Ah! How silly of me,” Rain laughs, winking at Mountain and making him collapse into giggles again. He pulls out the container with the biscuits in them and begins to set them out on one of the plates in front of them. They both realise very quickly that not all of them will fit. Rain scratches his head. “You’re the expert on all things fairy, kiddo. What do I do with the extras that don’t fit?”

“We get to give them to the fairies!” Mountain shouts excitedly. “And– And we get to m– make a fairy ring! Come on, come on!” He stands up, jumping up and down and he urges Rain to stand up and follow him to the edge of the clearing they’ve set themselves up in. He points to the flowers pushing up through the soil. “We’ve got to– to pick lots of flowers, Rainy! B– But careful, because we have to be super, super gentle with– with them!”

Rain nods earnestly and waits for Mountain to pick the first one, making sure to follow the little earth ghoul’s lead in the activity. As Rain watches him to make sure he’ll be doing it right come his turn, Mountain feels a warm bubble in his chest. He feels important, like an extra-special expert. He tells Rain exactly this, hugging him tightly. Rain feels as if his heart is swelling with happiness from just how safe and loved the little earth ghoul clearly feels. Then, just as quickly as the hug was initiated, Mountain is pulling away, chattering away to himself about flowers and fairies all over again. Rain smiles, following along, holding each and every flower that the little earth ghoul hands to him.

Once Mountain says that enough flowers have been collected and picked, he leads Rain over to the other side of the clearing where a ring of stones has already been set up (“I came here with– with Swissy the other day,” Mountain explains). Rain follows Mountain’s example in placing the flowers in and around the stone circle, still more than happy to let the little ghoul lead the activity.

“This is wh– what the fairies are gonna see,” Mountain explains. “So we– we gotta make it all pretty f– for them!”

“Ahh, I see,” Rain nods, dutifully arranging the picked buds neatly, making sure he gets Mountain’s approval after placing each one.

“And– And now,” Mountain starts, “we gotta go get the biscuits and sw– sweets and put them in the middle.” He runs off immediately before Rain can even blink, returning just as quickly with the leftover biscuits in one hand and some of their other treats in the other. “You put these in– in the middle and I can go f– find some leafs and rocks!”

Rain smiles to himself as Mountain runs off in search of leaves, rocks and other assorted nature-y items. It’s nice to see the little earth ghoul so in his element here, literally and figuratively. Rain isn’t entirely sure where this fascination of fairies came from, perhaps from a bedtime story one night or a folklore documentary, but he loves the little ghoul’s enthusiasm for sharing his love and knowledge with the rest of the pack. As Rain places the biscuits in the centre of the stone ring, Rain reflects on just how far Mountain has come with all of this. He used to be incredibly shy when little, and of course sometimes he still is, but he’s come so far from the nervous little one who used to hide in the cupboards because he was too scared of being judged for the way he decompresses. Rain considers himself very privileged to be allowed to share this time with Mountain and very honoured that the little earth ghoul has chosen him as someone to share his interest with.

In what feels like no time at all, Mountain is back, his arms filled with sticks, rocks and leaves just as he promised. Rain helps take them from him, laughing out loud as the little earth ghoul sheepishly digs out more findings from his coat pockets. They’ll be finding bits of dirt in there for weeks, Rain’s sure.

The construction of the fairy circle goes fairly quickly from that point; flowers, leaves and rocks all arranged to Mountain’s liking and approval, and something warm and fuzzy lights up in Rain’s chest at every enthusiastic thumbs up the little earth ghoul sends his way. Before they know it, the fairy circle is complete and the two ghouls are back on their picnic rug, chatting aimlessly to each other as they enjoy their own helping of fairy biscuits, sweets and homemade juice.

“Now w– we wait,” Mountain had said a few minutes previously. “And we can’t look a– at the circle or they w– won’t come!”

Rain had nodded solemnly and pinky promised to look in the opposite direction, just in case. He’ll admit that he’s sceptical as to exactly how real this stunt is. He doubts that Mountain would do anything for no reason, even when dropped down small, but he also doubts as to whether or not fairies are real. Although with the mysterious summoning rituals the Clergy keep doing…

“Rainy!” Mountain shouts suddenly, jolting the water ghoul out of his thoughts. The little earth ghoul is peering over Rain’s shoulder and pointing excitedly at the fairy circle. “Rainy look! They came! The fairies came!” Mountain jumps up and runs over to the fairy circle as fast as his legs will carry him. “Rainy c– come and see, come and see!”

Rain, more than confused but still very excited —he can’t help it, the little earth ghoul’s excitement is contagious— jogs over to the circle and takes it all in. The fairy biscuits are gone, as are the other assorted sweets, leaves and rocks that they offered. All that remains in the circle is a smattering of biscuit crumbs and two gemstones that they definitely didn’t leave there. The one that Mountain picks up—jumping up and down in excitement as he does so—is a deep, forest green that perfectly matches the little earth ghoul’s eyes. The gemstone left in the circle however is… breathtaking to say the least. It matches the deep blue and white swirls of Rain’s horns perfectly and shimmers in the afternoon light as Rain picks it up and turns it over in his hand.

“Are– Aren’t they pretty, Rain?” Mountain asks, still bouncing, voice still raised from all the excitement.

“They’re lovely, little sapling,” Rain exclaims right back, squatting down to Mountain’s level and grinning, pushing his confusion aside for the moment. “Where do you think the fairies got them from?”

“They– They have a collection!” Mountain informs him. “Swissy says that– that they only give gems to– to really special ghouls. I– I think the fairies li– like you, Rainy!”

Rain grins, straightening up just enough to be able to ruffle the little earth ghoul’s hair. As he does so, he catches a glint of something through the trees. Peering through the branches, he catches a glimpse of something sparkling brilliant white and pale blue. Raising his eyes slightly allows him to spot Cumulus sitting comfortably in the branches of one of the trees a small way away from the clearing. She winks at him and puts a finger over her mouth in a shushing gesture, a half-eaten fairy biscuit in her hand.

Ah. That explains it. Rain’s confusion melts away and his grin morphs into a soft smile.

He turns his attention back to Mountain and presses a kiss to the top of the little earth ghoul’s head. “You know what, Mounty? I think they do…”