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Mountain sits calmly as Aether stands announcing to the entire pack that he will no longer be touring. From his position leaned against the back of the couch, he can see that nobody looks completely surprised, suspicions and rumors already having traveled through the grapevine for weeks.
Still, everyone expresses sentiments of how much they will miss his presence on tour, and promises to find time to spend alone with the quintessence ghoul before they head out.
Mountain plays his part in the moment, but deep down he is pissed. That particular sentiment however can wait for a less public occasion he decides, and he slinks off back to the greenhouse instead.
He spends the remainder of the day trapped in his own mind, planning to talk to the quintessence ghoul later that night when the two of them can speak privately in Aether’s room.
Dinner seems to last forever. Mountain casts occasional glances towards Aether while talking to Cirrus and Cumulus about something the two ghoulettes seem very excited about, but he doesn’t quite understand. Either way it’s a nice distraction, and the joy on their faces when he indulges their interests is always rewarding on its own.
Each time he looks over at Aether he can’t help but notice the deafening silence coming from Dewdrop next to him. Aether does his best to engage the fire ghoul in conversation, or at the very least entwine their tails but to no avail. At least Mountain knows that Dew is currently pissed enough that he will have the quintessence ghoul to himself tonight.
Eventually, all the other ghouls settle into their various plans for the night and Mountain is free to make his way to Aether’s room.
He takes one final deep breath before knocking firmly on the door with the special knock the two had developed. He hears a cheerful “Come on in Mount” from Aether and opens the door with more force than necessary, stepping through the entryway before closing it again with a loud click and making sure to engage the lock.
Aether’s face is open and joyful at first, however Mountain watches the way it falls once the other ghoul takes in the aggravated handling of the door and the earth ghoul’s sour expression. Worry begins to knit on Aether’s brow as Mountain lets the previously masked smell of his irritation, like rotten wood and sulfur, permeate into the air within the small room.
“We need to talk, Aether” Mountain states plainly, moving to sit on the end of Aether’s bed not waiting for any further invitation.
He vaguely is aware of the way the bottoms of his pants flake mud onto the bedspread but can’t be bothered to care.
“Listen, I know Dew has to be upset but I told him in advance so he would have extra time to process it all.” Aether starts defensively, guiltily avoiding eye contact with the angry ghoul. There is genuine remorse on his face, however it only serves to make Mountain even more irritated.
“This isn’t about him, Aeth.” he retorts, voice steely.
Aether glances up at him in shock and the two simply stare at each other for a long moment. Mountain sees the violet shade of the quintessence ghoul’s eyes darken slightly as he fully realizes why Mountain is actually here.
“ I- Oh… Mountain I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that-”
“That’s exactly the problem, you never fucking do!” Mountain interrupts, momentarily losing his hard fought composure. He sees the soft buds of butterfly weed fall from where they have manifested throughout his hair.
He forces himself to take a deep breath as he takes in the way Aether is sat across from him in stunned silence, allowing him the space to speak his mind.
“I get it, you and Dew are close. You are both there together at the front of the stage on tour while I’m stuck in the back. You were there to directly heal him and pump him full of quintessence after his transition, meanwhile I could only support him emotionally and keep sentinel.”
Mountain can see the way that Aether wants to interrupt and tell him he is important to the both of them too but holds up a finger to stop him.
“You two have been through so much together, but both seem to forget that I was there for all of it as well. Dew will still have Rain up front with him, he will have Cirrus to bitch with on the bus, me to climb into bed with whenever the nightmares feel too real and only somebody who was there will calm him down. Dew will be more than fine.”
Mountain holds that same finger up again and forces himself to breathe as he scrunches his eyes closed so tight momentarily it takes a second for everything to come back into focus when he opens them again. The tears beginning to well up in his eyes likely do not help that fact, but Mountain is set to ignore them as long as he can.
“The issue is with us, Aether. In fact, fuck here I said it wasn’t about Dew and yet I still am here fretting about him. Once again I shove my own feelings aside for you two’s various bullshit. He is so much stronger than either of us give him credit for, meanwhile I feel like I’m crumbling to dust.” Mountain half shouts before leaning forward to bury his head in his hands.
He feels Aether reach out to grab his leg, squeezing comfortingly and letting out a deep sigh.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you ahead of time.” Aether finally mutters out, voice lightly laced with shame and the barest hint of embarrassment that nobody but Mountain or Dew would likely pick up on.
“You didn’t tell me at all really. I found out from Rain . I’ve been waiting for the entire last week to see if you would tell me yourself and only finding out when you told everyone as if we all didn’t know already felt disrespectful.” Mountain spits out, not quite done being angry yet.
Aether shoots him a mournful look. “I don’t know what you want from me, Evergreen”
Mountain fully breaks down at the use of the pet name only him and Dew use, tears falling rapidly as his body is wracked with sobs.
“I don’t want anything from you, I’m just fucking hurt . I am sick and tired of feeling like an afterthought.” he manages to choke out before shifting to collapse fully into Aether’s already open arms.
The quintessence ghoul pulls him into a crushing hug, leaving him feeling so small and delicate in his strong grip. The two sit there like that for a while, the only sound sneaking through past Mountain’s wailing the occasional tick from the clock across the room.
After several minutes Mountain’s breathing finally levels out and Aether slightly loosens his grip for the first time in order to unhook his chin from the earth ghoul’s shoulder and look him in the eye. “I love you so much, Evergreen, just as much as I love Dew. Please know this.” he whispers, trying not to break the first moment of calm since Mountain walked in.
Mountain shrugs off Aether’s arms and retreats back to his original spot across from him, brushing the small flecks of dirt he left behind earlier off the bed.
“It doesn’t feel like it sometimes. I realistically know that you, as well as Dew and the rest of the pack love me, but I feel like you never say it first Aether. It’s like you only ever say it back to me.” Mountain admits, picking out the small purple hyacinths spread throughout his hair now.
He catches a glimpse of Aether’s face and it's clear he recognizes the sudden interest in the flowers for the avoidance tactic it is but lets it slide.
Once all the flowers are gone he looks back up at the quintessence ghoul and finds him staring, waiting patiently for Mountain to be ready to continue. There is a spark in his eye that Mountain knows means he has thought up an idea he is proud of.
Aether invites Mountain to stay the remainder of the night with him, giving the two of them a chance to simply exist in one another's close company, but also hints that he will make plans for tomorrow.
The two of them agree that after chores tomorrow, Aether would meet Mountain at the main greenhouse and whisk him away to plan out a night for just the two of them.
Mountain feels a small amount of the negativity he had been carrying around all week chip and crumble away at the suggestion.
“I’m still hurt, however I’ll gladly take the olive branch you are extending, Starlight” he concedes.
Mountain watches as Aether’s posture straightens momentarily with excitement as he picks the small crop of olives that manifested at the base of Mountain’s horns out and places them on the nightstand with a light chuckle.
The two spend the remainder of the evening curled up chatting, not a singular care about anything outside of those four walls. The issue at hand could never be resolved so simply, but both would agree that it is an enjoyable start.