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“So, everything’s ready?” Cirrus asks as she settles down.
“Yes! Got the food, the movies, and the nail polish!” Cumulus happily announces beside her.
The ghoulettes are sitting in a nest made from a bunch of blankets, pillows, and cushions, placed in the middle of the taller demoness room and right in front of the TV. They are about to start their monthly sleepover.
“Good. Let’s just hope the guys don’t ruin it‒”
A loud explosion is heard from down the hall, followed by panicked screaming. Cirrus and Cumulus look at each other for a few tense, silent couple of seconds before sighing deeply and standing up from the floor.
As the two air ghoulettes exit the room, they can see smoke coming out of the common room through the gaps between the closed door and its frame. They don’t even have to theorize what could be going on since the door is suddenly opened by a screaming Swiss, who’s frantically calling for Rain. And with the portal opened, both keyboardists can take a peek inside the room, seeing orange flames dancing around inside.
With a second, yet more resigned sigh, the two ghoulettes make their way down the hall at the same time that a bewildered water ghoul yanks the door to his room open, peeking his unmasked head outside to see what the commotion is all about. The second he does that, Swiss runs up to him and starts dragging him toward the ablaze common room, blabbering about him needing to put out the fire.
“What in Satan’s name did the idiots do now?” Cirrus asks, complaining in an irritated whine.
“Whatever happened, I’m sure it’s Dewey’s fault,” Cumulus replies, sounding disappointed.
“You’re probably right.”
By the time they make it to the room still filled with smoke, Rain has already got rid of most of the fire, which source turned out to be the kitchen’s microwave.
Amidst all of that, they also find their fellow ghouls, arguing with each other, with Aether questioning Dewdrop.
“Do you seriously not know you’re not supposed to microwave metal?!”
“How fucking stupid do you think I am?! Of course, I know that!”
“Then why did you put metal in it?” Mountain inquires, deadpan yet pissed off.
“‘Cause the bowl only had a little bit of it! I thought that rule only applied to things made entirely out of metal.”
The bowl in question, filled with popcorn grains and covered with some plastic wrap, was a ceramic one that had a line of metallic paint trimming the rim of it. It was that same trimming that started sparking as the bowl got heated up, which Swiss doesn’t fail to point out.
“Dude, you literally saw the goddamn thing sparkin’.”
“So? I thought that was all it was gonna do, not make the fucking microwave explode!”
“You’re still an idiot,” Monty comments, looking down on the lead guitarist.
“Fuck you. Like you never messed up before,” Dew accuses, clawed right index finger pointing at the drummer.
“You the only one who always messes up this bad, man!”
“Whatever.”
Understanding the argument is a lost battle for him, Dewdrop decides to refrain from arguing further, choosing instead to shut up and cross his arms in front of his chest, looking very much like the toddler having a tantrum that he always says he isn’t.
At the same time, Rain, who had finished putting out the fire using his water-manipulation powers, has his eyes filled with unshed tears thanks to the sting produced by the smoke. He’s also containing the urge to cough, given his dry and scratchy throat. And on top of that, the chaos going on around him isn’t helping make him feel better. Quite the contrary, actually.
“Guys, can you stop? Your yelling is giving me a headache.”
“Yeah, and the smoke is definitely not helping either,” Aether agrees, brows furrowing in worry before he turns towards the ghoulettes still standing by the door. “Can you girls get rid of it?”
Even though smoke doesn’t usually bother demons much, especially fire types, it is one thing to be surrounded by it in Hell and another thing entirely when it happens on Earth. In actuality, they are way more susceptible to it on one plane than the other, and it’s also worse for some elemental types than for others, like water ghouls such as Rain. And since smoke is a kind of gas, the ones more qualified to handle it are air-type demons, in this case, Cumulus and Cirrus, thus why Aether is asking them to help out.
Too bad the keyboardists are fed up with their bullshit.
“You all make this mess and expect us to clean it for you?” An affronted Cirrus questions. “Hell no, we weren’t even here!”
“Yeah, fix it yourselves, guys,” Cumulus adds, joining her friend’s discontent. “You’re already ruining our girls’ night.”
The mention of the activity the ghoulettes were about to carry out is enough to make Dewdrop scoff, bringing him out of his self-imposed silence. The small demon had chosen to stay out of the conversation until then. Unfortunately for everybody, his scathing comment rubs the ghoulettes the wrong way.
“Girls’ night? C’mon, that stupid shit is not worth all of us getting intoxicated.”
Both air ghoulettes stare at the fire ghoul, incensed by his crass and blunt dismissal of their plans. Without saying a word, the two of them turn around and storm out of the common room, with Cumulus slamming the door behind herself. Thus, they leave the five ghouls inside the room still filled with smoke but with no flames left alive.
There’s a heavy silence present for a moment, all the demons staring at the closed door in shock given that Cumulus and Cirrus seldom get so angry at them. It is only when Rain starts to cough roughly that the stillness is broken again, followed by Swiss chiding Dewdrop.
“Way to go, Dew.”
“You should’ve been more tactful,” Aether adds, sounding worn out.
“The room was on fucking fire! What the hell is more important? Their silly sleepover?”
“The fire was your fault,” Mountain states the obvious, brooking no room for argument. “If you are going to demand help from others the very least you can do is not be an asshole to them.”
“Can we at least open up the windows and the door?” Rain begs before the discussion can continue. “I seriously have trouble breathing.”
The smallest ghoul groans in frustration at no one seeing his point, yet still complies with Rain’s request, opening all exits and grabbing a magazine in order to fan the smoke out the windows. Seeing that, the others start to imitate him, except for the bassist, who walks out toward the nearest garden, needing to breathe some fresh air.
That’s how everyone’s night ends up getting ruined since the commotion doesn’t take long to reach Imperator’s ears, especially since there are smoke detectors placed all over the Ministry’s grounds, given Dewdrop’s proclivity to start fires. However, the detector present in the ghoul dens is a silent one that was installed after the lead guitarist broke the third one placed in the common room, annoyed by the alarm’s sound.
Once Seestor makes it to the partially scorched common room, having dragged the Cardinal out of bed as well, she makes quick work of rounding up all the ghouls and ghoulettes, demanding explanations and ready to deal out punishments. The one to get the brunt of it is obviously Dewdrop, yet the others get scolded as well since they could have either prevented the incident from happening or helped out to fix the issue. Even the ghoulettes don’t go scathe-free, which makes them even madder at the fire ghoul.
After they all get scolded, Imperator and Copia return to their quarters, leaving the demons feeling either angry or upset. All of them at Dewdrop, of course.
“Everythin’ set up already?” Swiss asks as soon as he slips into the common room.
“Yup, we are good to go,” Aether answers, barely glancing at the multi ghoul before refocusing on his task: fluffing up a pillow. “Rain. You’re up, buddy.”
“Roger that.”
As the bassist gets up from the floor and dusts his pants, he exits the room without another word and walks down the hallway toward the stairs. Seeing his retreating image, Mountain offers him some encouraging words, despite his slightly sarcastic tone.
“Godspeed, Rainy.”
“Yeah, let’s get this over with,” an impatient Dew snorts as he places bowls on the coffee table.
The water ghoul leaves behind the common room that holds his fellow ghouls, who are organizing everything for what they have planned. His mission is to retrieve both air ghoulettes, who are probably spending some quality time together (and away from them) inside the chapel, taking advantage of the vacant organ.
After the fire ghoul managed to inadvertently ruin Cirrus and Cumulus’ girls’ night, he was sat down by the other band members and they explained to him how important it was for the ghoulettes to have time for themselves. Time they can use to do “girly things”, especially given that they live amongst five ghouls. Despite not fully grasping how crucial something like that is for the keyboardists, he got that his dismissal of the same was hurtful to them. Thus how they managed to guilt-trip rope him into helping out with the plan they were cooking.
It took some time to get everything ready, more than anything because they had to do it in secrecy. Yet, eventually, they managed to put together all that is needed for a typical sleepover, “girls’ edition” style. They got the ghoulettes’ favorite snacks and sweets, movies, and even got ahold of some makeup and games, to give the ladies plenty of options to enjoy their evening. And not only that, but they built a nest similar to the one Cumulus makes in her room, but they placed it in the middle of the common room, basically offering up the communal space to them.
The five musicians are hoping that the gesture, as well as their hard work putting everything together and the resources they spent gathering everything necessary, will be enough of an apology.
Because, even if it was Dew the one to make the microwave explode, they all felt somewhat responsible since they were getting ready to have a movie night of their own. Rain was in his room at the time of the explosion since he was looking for a blanket.
So, in the end, and given that they’re aware that because they outnumber the ghoulettes they don’t get to enjoy often activities that they like, the ghouls felt bad and wanted to make it up to them. Or, at least, they hope that it’ll be enough.
“Good evening, ladies,” Rain greets as he enters the chapel.
“Hi, Rainy,” Cumulus greets back, waving at him from the balcony that holds the organ. “What’s up?”
Behind the smaller ghoulette, Cirrus is seated in front of the instrument, having momentarily stopped playing since she’s choosing what to play next. But once she notices the exchange between her bandmates, she gets up and approaches the balustrade to look down at Rain.
“I came to take you back to the common room, there’s a surprise waiting for you there,” the bassist announces.
His even tone, his poker face behind the mask, and the calm swaying of his tail don’t give away any signs that hint at what the surprise might be. That’s why Cirrus is suspicious of the news despite Cumulus’ excitement. The taller demoness is about to question the water ghoul further, not convinced by his words, however, her best friend stops her before she can do so, begging her that they go along with Rain.
Cirrus sighs, defeated, aware that she won’t manage to change Cumulus’ mind and that letting her go alone isn’t the best option. So, she decides to join the other two and see for herself whether this “surprise” is something good or not.
With the ghoulettes agreeing to go back with the bassist, the three of them make their way out of the chapel and back to the ghoul dens. When they arrive, they are greeted by a lovely decorated common room that has a big nest as its centerpiece. There are fairy lights hanging from the walls and as many pillows and cushions as the ghouls could gather surrounding the layers of blankets atop the thick rug in the middle of the room, in front of the big TV.
The couch, the armchairs, and the beanbag have been pushed aside to make room for the nest, and the coffee table resides between the wall-mounted TV and the edge of the nest. Said table is full of bowls and plates filled with different foods while there’s a big makeup coffer the ghouls borrowed from the Sisters of Sin who are makeup artists. And on top of one of the armchairs, there are a few board and card games.
On the other side of the room, standing in a line in front of the kitchen island, arms behind their backs, the rest of the ghouls are patiently waiting. The only thing that gives away that their stoicism isn’t absolute is the anxious wagging of their tails.
“What is all of this?” A confused Cirrus asks.
“An apology, from all of us,” Aether reveals, stepping forward. “We know that you don’t get to do this kind of thing often, and last time it got ruined because of us. So, we wanted to make it up to you, girls.”
“You did all of this for us?”
Cumulus’ question is made with a mixture of awe and perplexity, finding it hard to believe to which extent the ghouls went just to apologize to them.
“Of course, we did,” Rain answers, still beside them. “You are part of the pack.”
As soon as the water ghoul finishes his sentence, Cumulus embraces him tightly, thanking him and the others for their generosity.
“Even Dewey helped out?” Cirrus inquires, crossing her arms and looking at the fire ghoul.
The questioning of the lead guitarist’s involvement in the secret project almost manages to make him snap in annoyance. Nevertheless, he succeeds in keeping his temper in check, letting out some tension by sighing deeply and allowing one of his pointy ears as well as his tail to twitch for a second. He also refrains from speaking, fearing to be betrayed by the bitchy prideful part of his brain that has an unfiltered connection to his forked tongue.
Mountain and Swiss remain silent as well, although they keep looking at Dew out of the corners of their eyes, making sure he doesn’t step out of line.
“Yeah, he helped too,” Aether confirms in Dew’s stead.
“Alright,” Cirrus concedes, shrugging relieved.
With Cumulus finally letting go of Rain, the ghoulettes waste no time in getting comfortable in the nest. But as the ghouls are about to exit the room and leave them to their own devices, the ladies share a look and stop them from leaving.
“Guys, wait,” Cirrus calls as the others are about to close the door behind their backs. “You wanna stay with us?”
“Oh, yes! You went through so much trouble putting everything together, it would be a shame if you didn’t get to enjoy it too.”
Even though Cumulus’ enthusiastic encouragement is meant to convince them to join them in their sleepover, the ghouls look back at them with reticence dancing in their eyes.
“C’mon, now, don’t be shy. You guys know we don’t bite unless asked nicely,” a smug Cirrus assures, winking at them.
Rain, Mountain, and Aether visibly gulp while Swiss’ lips pull up into a wicked smile. At the back of the group, Dewdrop can barely be heard groaning. Nevertheless, not even one of them has the courage or the heart to say “no” to the expectant ghoulettes.
So, they end up joining the slumber party.
Seven silver metal masks lie scattered on top of the couch cushions, long forgotten by their owners.
The ghouls and ghoulettes lie in the nest, all huddled together in a pile of intertwined limbs (including tails), idly watching Legally Blonde 2. Some of them are eating popcorn while others munch on different kinds of candy. Two of them are nearly asleep thanks to the ladies gently carding their clawed nails through their hair. Those two are Rain and Dewdrop, who are on the brink of dozing off.
The lead guitarist has his head resting atop Cumulus’ thighs while the bassist has his atop Cirrus’. At the same time, Aether, Swiss, and Mountain are passing around a big bowl that has been refilled with popcorn not long ago. Their slitted eyes are glued to the screen and the only sounds that can be heard besides those made by the movie are the ones produced by their chewing.
So far, the sleepover has been a success, even though most of them expected it to end up badly sooner than later. They spent the first few hours talking and going through a long “spa session”, with all of them getting face masks on while the ghoulettes worked on painting their nails. After they got their faces cleaned, they moved on to the makeup stage before finally arriving at the hairstyling part of the evening.
The ones to do everything were Cumulus and Cirrus, per their own request. Not only because the ghouls didn’t know much about any of it (besides putting black grease paint on their faces before going on stage), but also because the ladies really wanted to do it all themselves, assuring the others that it would be more fun for them that way. They took the opportunity to play with Rain’s and Dew’s long hair ‒praising the water ghoul’s wavy chocolate locks and the fire ghoul’s white/silver, pin-straight strands‒, giving each of them different hairstyles (mostly braids), and decorating them with little, colorful flowers that the bassist had gotten for the keyboardists.
Since Aether, Swiss, and Mountain don’t have hair long enough to do any of that, the ghoulettes styled their heads as best as possible. The quintessence ghoul ended up sporting a silver mohawk hairstyle and the earth ghoul had his dark blonde hair combed and gelled up in a 30s style. The multi ghoul chose to have his black hair peppered with a few shades of purple glitter since its short length made it difficult to style in any way.
Concerning their makeup looks, Aether asked for a David Bowie-inspired one, that left him with a colorfully bold lightning bolt that split his face and made his mercurial eyes pop up more than ever. Mountain wanted something more modest and discreet, so Cirrus decided to play with the contours of his face and gave him a vampire-like aesthetic look. And Swiss chose to have done something more dramatic, like Aether’s makeup. He ended up with a look inspired by the “Cats” musical.
When it came to their clawed nails, Mountain got painted on his little brown trees on a deep green background (that contrasted nicely with the vibrant green of his irises), Aether got a nebula-inspired combination of colors, and Swiss got each of his painted a different tone of purple, from lavender to black so as to resemble his mismatched black/purple eyes.
On their part, Rain asked for old-school mime artist type of makeup and B&W striped nails, his electric blue eyes being the only specks of color of his appearance, while Dew wanted a King Diamond-inspired makeup and black nails with flames drawn on them (to match his fiery gaze).
The makeup itself didn’t last long, since they all knew that it would start wearing off before the night ended. Thus, they took a bunch of pictures to commemorate the evening and then they got their faces cleaned before the ghoulettes treated them to a nice skincare routine of cleansing and moisturizing. The nail polish stayed, of course.
Cirrus and Cumulus did each other’s makeup and nails as well, with both choosing red-carped kind of dramatic and glamorous looks that made their golden and baby blue eyes pop up, respectively. They also painted their nails a bubblegum shade of pink, in honor of the movie they knew they would all be watching later. Cumulus’ burgundy hair was styled with angelic-like curls while Cirrus’ snow-white hair sported beach waves. They both had flowers woven into multiple strands as well.
While the “spa session” was taking place, they took the opportunity to get up to date on all the abbey’s gossip that they missed while they were on tour until a couple of weeks ago. After that, they were all feeling hungry and a little exhausted, so they decided to skip the games for the time being in favor of watching a movie while eating snacks.
By the time the film starts to reach its climax, everybody has fallen asleep already. The first to go were Rain and Dewdrop, followed not long after by the other three ghouls. The last two were the ghoulettes, who took a proud and happy look around the unconscious musicians before smiling at each other. It’s obvious that they exhausted themselves by putting everything together, so they deserve to sleep.
All in all, and despite the demons’ initial reluctance to participate, they ended up having a great time alongside the ghoulettes. So much so, that they all agreed to do it again in the future, with Cumulus even proposing that it could become a somewhat regular thing they could do once every few months. The ghouls also bowed to refrain from ruining the keyboardists’ girls’ night ever again.
The pack of demons slept in the nest that night, and was discovered by a worried Copia who had gone looking for them after not seeing them at breakfast. Finding them all asleep, cuddling together, filled him with two conflicting feelings.
On one hand, he was happy for them, especially because he had been concerned about the ongoing tension between the ghouls and the ghoulettes after the microwave explosion incident. But on the other hand, he felt a little hurt and sad as well, wishing he would have been invited to participate with them.
In the end, he could only hope that, if he brought it up discretely, he might get invited to the next one.