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It was the seventh time in the last 5 minutes Dew had checked his phone - no, eighth. Or was it the ninth? He had lost count, the only difference each time being the clock on his lock screen occasionally going up a minute. He was perched on the side of the hotel bed, legs curled to his chest and resting his chin on a knee, continuously checking his phone for notifications.
Aether was supposed to call him 20 minutes ago - so where the fuck was he? It was never like him to be late, especially without sending a text first.
The fire ghoul hugged his knees to his chest a little tighter, once more clicking the power button on his phone, eyes rampantly searching the screen as it lit up for a notification. His wallpaper was burnt into his irises at this point - a photo of him and Aether back home, warmly cuddled in each others arms. It wasn’t like Dew to have something so ‘sappy’ on display, but Aether had insisted that he change it to the photo before they left. It was the night before the Ghouls were due to go out on tour, the first one where Dew would have to leave Aether behind. Dew had fought Copia every step of the way to let Aether come with them, but it was ultimately the quintessence ghoul’s decision to stay behind.
“The abbey needs me here, Firelily,” Aether had whispered to him softly, one hand cupping his cheek and the other tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “They’re swamped with work and everyone’s getting fucked over, so me and Sunny gotta stay behind and help. I promise the new kid won’t bite, and I’ll be here waiting for you to return, I promise.”
But tears had welled up in Dew’s eyes despite every futile attempt to smother them. “But what if you’re not here?” His words came out broken, a wobble in his voice he couldn’t hide.
“I will be, I promise. I’ll call you every single night, I’ll send you texts and photos, I’ll show you all the boring shit I have to do just so you know that I’m still here.” Aether had sounded so confident, so sure. So promising. Dew wrapped his arms around Aether and cried, and kept crying until his body gave out and he couldn’t manage more than a few gasps and muffled sobs, and Aether had held him delicately in his arms all throughout it. And that’s when he’d asked to take the photo, a keepsake and memory that he was still there. Dew had wiped the tears from his eyes and took a few steadying breaths before Aether took his phone and took the photo of the two of them cuddled together, and had set it to Dew’s wallpaper. Naturally, Dew protested it, but didn’t have the heart to change it back.
So here Dew sat, staring at his screen desperately waiting for Aether to respond. It had been radio silence all day, each passing minute a roaring sea of growing anxiety ripping through him. A million thoughts raced through him all at once - what if he had been thrown back into the pit? What if they didn’t need him anymore? What if he’d never hear from Aether again? All of it bubbling up until he threw his phone across the bed and fell back, stifling a sob as his hands flew to his hair and grasped tightly at the roots. For once, he was glad he was alone in a hotel room so he wouldn’t have to deal with his pack mates trying to smother him in reassurance. Everything just felt off, the hotel felt too small, too lonely as he stared at the ceiling. It was too quiet despite being in the city, it was just himself and his racing mind. Dew let out an angry groan before sitting up and reaching for his phone again.
And still, no notifications.
Unlocking it, he swiped across until he opened his texts with Aether, scanning his eyes over his last messages.
“I’m back in the hotel, I’ve got my own room tonight.”
“Show was pretty alright, still missing u though”
“Miss u a lot, starshine”
Dew stared blankly at the words, no response to any of them. Not even the good morning text he had sent hours ago. Nothing. He typed another quick message; “hope you’re okay, im getting worried,” before locking his phone and being taunted once more with that gods damned lock screen.
After Aether had set it, Dew had laughed over how awful he looked - his eyes were puffy and red from crying and if you looked carefully enough, you could see the wet stain from his tears in Aether’s shirt, but Aether had assured him it looked fine and that he didn’t care. “If anything, you can just joke about being really stoned if someone asks why your eyes are so red,” Aether had joked, earning a scoff from Dew. Aether ruffled Dew’s hair with his hand to tease him, Dew retaliating with an empty threat to bite it off.
“You wouldn’t,” Aether sketched a brow mockingly, a smirk ghosting over his face.
“I would,” Dew retorted, rearing as if to lunge at the quintessence ghoul. Aether caught on, and quickly moved to flip Dew onto his back and pin his hands by his head, a smug grin plastered on his face as Dew tried to fight him off, both of them laughing as Dew tried and failed.
“I’d love to see you try now,” Aether teased as Dew tried to wriggle free, but Aether held firm.
Dew paused for a moment before groaning, “fine. You win, prick.” Aether grinned ear to ear at Dew’s admission of defeat, Dew rolling his eyes sarcastically, “can you let me go now?”
“I honestly thought you’d put up more of a fight.” Aether let go of Dew’s wrists and sat back on the bed, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
The fire ghoul shook his head, “you didn’t, don’t worry.” He climbed back over to Aether, perching himself in his lap and hooking his legs around his waist carefully. He pressed his cheek to Aether’s chest and exhaled softly. “Please don’t stay behind tomorrow. Come with us,” Dew mumbled softly, his eyes fluttering closed as he swallowed down inevitability.
“You know I have to stay behind, firefly,” Aether said quietly, his hands moving to Dew’s back, thumb rubbing soothing circles against him. “They need me, I can’t just turn my back on the Ministry.” Dew didn’t respond, instead just pressed himself against Aether a little tighter.
He fought back tears as memories flowed through him as he stared down at his lock screen. It had been 30 minutes now since Aether was meant to call, and still not single word. Dew blinked away the tears that threatened to fall as he turned his phone off again and placed it upright on the nightstand next to the shitty hotel bed. Maybe he should’ve taken up one of his pack mates offers to room with them.
He yanked the covers from the bed (why did they even need to make the bed so tightly, anyway?), and climbed under the blanket, curling up into a ball as he stared blankly at his phone, just waiting for it to light up with a message. Yet still, nothing came through. It wouldn’t be so bad if he had texted back at least once today, but it was the utter silence that gnawed at Dew’s soul. He couldn’t drown out the worries that screamed at him from all corners of his mind, couldn’t swallow down the feeling that something horrible had happened. After everything that had happened with Terzo, it was only right to worry that Imperator had pulled some shit. She would never touch Copia - but his ghouls? That was a different story. No one knew what shit she’d pull.
He reached for his phone once more, clumsily grabbing it from the nightstand and putting in his passcode before the whole screen illuminated.
With Aether’s contact.
Dew launched upright in the bed, scrambling to accept the call.
“Hey firef-“
“Don’t ever fucking pull that shit again,” Dew cut him off accidentally, his voice partially raised and laced with hurt. “I thought you were fucking dead or something,” Dew admitted, panic in his voice. “I have’t heard from you all day, and I just - I was just really worried.”
“I’m alive, Dewbug, I’m here now,” Aether assured him. “I’m here, and I’m so sorry I didn’t text you. I woke up with a dead phone and got slammed in the infirmary and I didn’t get a chance to go and talk to you until someone switched out with me ten minutes ago - fuck I’m so sorry Dew for worrying you.”
Dew exhaled through his nose and rubbed at his temples with his hands. “No I’m sorry for freaking out. It’s stupid, don’t worry about it.” He put his phone down on the pillow next to his head and switched it to speaker mode. “I just … I started spiralling over stupid shit thinking Imperator had pulled something and got worried.”
“It’s not stupid, it’s okay to worry about shit, y’know?” Aether offered, his words soft as he spoke them, even through the metallic sound of the phone’s speakers. “Talk to me, tell me what’s on your mind.”
Dew didn’t even know where to start, yet calm washed over him as he rambled to Aether, subtle reassurance that he’d still be there when he got back from tour. Definite assurance he was still alive and waiting for him. “I miss you a lot, starshine.”
“I miss you too, firelily.”