MUSHY MAY 2024

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𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚 14: 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌

pairing(s): mountain/cumulus words: 829

special shoutout to @belle--ofthebrawl for the original inspo for this prompt. cause we all want snackies from a big schweepy guy <3

✿

“Luluuu . . .” Mountain’s congested voice carries weakly down the hallway. The bed creaks as he no doubt flops over to the other side of the mattress where she once was, his whine of disappointment sounding soon after. The air ghoulette shakes her head, pushing the door open. 

“What’s wrong, sunflower?” she coos, placing the steaming mug of honey green tea onto the nightstand. 

Mountain’s face scrunches up into a frown, eyes squeezing shut. His cheeks bare imprints of his pillow, and when he lifts his head up she can see his upper lip is shiny with mucus, and the corner of his mouth coated in drool. His ear flicks at the disheveled hair falling over it.

“You lef’ me,” he mumbles. “Woke up and you weren’ cuddlin’ me.” Clearly, he’s still highly feverish, if his combination mumbling/whining is anything to go by.

Cumulus just smiles. She thinks it’s cute, Mountain complaining like a human man with a cold. He’d never be so whiny otherwise.

“I went to get you more tea, baby,” she soothes, whipping up a cool breeze to waft over his forehead. He hums and plops his chin down onto the pillows. Cumulus huffs a laugh and sits down beside him. “You were snoring up a storm, didn’t think you’d wake up before I got back.” 

“Hmpf.” Mountain tosses the blanket over his head and turns around dramatically, pretending to shut her off. 

“I bring you tea, and this is the thanks I get?” she says, mock offended. 

There’s a pause. The earth ghoul peeks his head around his shoulder, side-eyeing her and the mug. “ . . . wha’ kind?”

Cumulus smiles softly. Leans in a little like she’s telling a secret. “Green tea with honey. A lemon slice. Don’t tell anyone, but I also put a dash of honeysuckle syrup in it, because I know my baby loves it.”

Mountain trills, ears perking up. “Gimme,” he demands, shuffling to sit up against the approximately five different pillows he’d stashed for optimal sleeping. He holds his hands out and scrunches them in the air. Cumulus hands the mug to him carefully to make sure he doesn’t drop it.

“Aethe warmed the water for me, so if it’s too hot, I’m innocent,” she chirps.

Mountain’s mouth turns down and his eyebrows turn up in the middle. “Aww,” he says appreciatively. He smiles down at the steaming liquid. “Aef . . .” 

“You know he always has to help.” 

Mountain hums in agreement. He takes an experimental sip, groaning when the hot tea slides easily down his throat. He takes a big gulp and closes his eyes after, sighing heavily and smiling at the ceiling. “Yummy,” he compliments. “‘S nice. Warm.” 

“I’m glad, baby,” she lilts, running her nails through his hair. It earns her a happy rumble, Mountain’s tail pitching up the blankets where it’s buried under the many layers. They share a pleasant, quiet moment: Mountain sipping on his tea and Cumulus scritching in all his favorite places. 

The peace of it is nearly broken, however, when Mountain’s eyes start to droop, and he nearly tips the mug over into his lap when his grip starts to go as lax as his jaw. 

“Oh!—hun, you’re gonna—” the air ghoulette saves the mug just before it slips from his fingers, hardly spilling a drop. 

Mountain snorts and jolts his head upright. “Huh?” 

“Didn’t want you to spill,” she says, setting the mug back onto the nightstand. “Sleepy boy.”

He blinks slowly, eyes lingering shut for just long enough that Cumulus is momentarily convinced he’s fallen right back asleep sitting up. “You made me seepy,” he accuses. Leaving out the ‘l’ like a kit unable to pronounce it any other way. 

Cumulus cuddles up, tucking him back into the blankets and pulling him to her chest. “Maybe seepy pup needs his rest then,” she says softly, scritching around his horns this time. He grumbles, but goes down easily. “There you go, baby,” she smiles. The grumble turns into a purr soon enough anyway, so it’s safe to say it was all token protest. 

Mountain mumbles something, twisting his body so he faces her instead. He looks up at her expectantly, despite the fact he aimed all of his words directly into her belly. 

“Yeees?” 

There’s that pout again, fever-addled brain continuing to render him as hopelessly cute. “Kissy, Lus,” he says, as if she heard him perfectly clear the first time. He wriggles his face closer to hers. 

“You’re sick. Nooo kissy on the lips.” She boops him on the nose with her finger. “You may have an air kiss, and I’ll make it feel just like the real thing.”

Mountain grumbles again, squinting at her.

“Sicky equals no kissy. I promise you as many kisses as you want when you’re better, okay, baby?”

The earth ghoul flops onto his back with a sigh. The end of it catches in his throat, though, and he’s sent into a coughing fit, squashing any further complaints. 

𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 ✿

Comments

Humans can be twats and Omega is there to comfort Aether. (Fatphobic stuff mentioned)

Character: Aether, Omega Word count: 833

It was too late to be awake. The moon threw its light through the window, making the kitchen glow in the dark, and Aether didn’t bother to turn the light on. He was wearing boxers and - unlike him - an oversized sweater.

The quint rummaged through the cabinet filled with snacks and finally settled on a half-full bag of chips. He was hungry, his stomach grumbling for hours now, and it had got more and more unbearable with every passing minute. So he finally got up and decided to get himself something to eat. Aether regretted not eating lunch and barely anything at dinner, and he let out a satisfied groan as he ate the first chip while sitting down at the table.

He looked up when he heard steps and blinked against the light as it was turned on. In the doorway stood Omega, eyes tired and still in his day's clothing; he was coming straight out of the infirmary.

“Hey,” the older said, walking over to the fridge and getting himself a bottle of juice. “Why are you still awake?”

Aether shrugged weakly; he wasn’t exactly in the mood for a conversation. Omega leaned against the kitchen counter, watching the other’s back with a serious expression. He could smell the distress clearly.

“Do you want me to make you something proper to eat?” the taller asked then. Of course, he had noticed how Aether hadn’t really eaten today. “There’s still some dinner left.”

Aether tensed a bit, swallowing what was in his mouth, his gaze unfocused on the table.

“Nah, I’m fine,” he answered, hoping to not sound as restrained as he felt.

He heard Omega shuffle and then felt a big hand on his shoulder. Aether tensed, still not turning around.

“Can you stand up for a second?”

The question was not exactly unexpected, but Aether still let out a sigh. Why couldn’t Omega just leave him alone? He stood up nonetheless, hands pulling at the hem of his sweater.

“Come here.”

Aether walked over, biting the inside of his cheek. Suddenly, he was pulled in by the waist and lifted, ending up on the counter, Omega between his legs, hands on his sides, holding the love handles there.

“So, what’s wrong, hmm?”

The younger quint looked down and suppressed the urge to move, uncomfortable with the touch. But Omega understood nonetheless and put his hands on the counter.

“Aeth?” The voice was quiet but empathetic; maybe even a bit worried. It was unusual for Aether to be like this.

“I…,” he shrugged. “I know I’m fat, but I- It’s- Why are people so mean?”

He looked at Omega now, still unable to hold eye contact. Aether knew that not everyone liked Ghost, that there would always be hate towards any band, but the comments he had found were simply rude; and maybe true, he had no idea anymore.

Omega tilted his head to the side, watching the other’s face closely. The hurt he saw went straight to his heart. He knew about comments like that, knew exactly what Aether meant and how much they could hurt. But he also knew that they weren’t true, that people who commented such stuff were pathetic humans, deeply unsatisfied with their own lives.

“So that’s why you haven’t really eaten today?” he asked, understanding. It earned him a nod.

“There’s nothing wrong with fat, Aeth, you know that,” Omega stated then, his hands going to the love handles again. “But I know that comments can hurt really much.”

The older petted his own tummy with a smirk, hoping to lift Aether’s mood a bit.

“I know that having more on the ribs can be hard, Aeth. I know how mean humans are, but there are also nice humans, right?”

The younger looked him in the eyes now, tears swimming in his. He was tired and hungry and even a bit overwhelmed. The tears came naturally, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

Omega put both hands on Aether’s cheeks now, pulling him close and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“You are beautiful,” he muttered. “We love you, Aeth. We wouldn’t want you any different.”

He pinched the other’s belly.

“Look at that cute belly and be proud of it, yeah? Remember how thin you were when Terzo summoned you… It just shows that you are happy and healthy and loved here.”

Omega gave him a smile, and he couldn’t resist the urge to smile back a bit. The tear that slipped down his cheek was wiped off by the other’s thumb. The younger quint pulled Omega close, arms wrapping around his waist, face shoved into his chest.

“Now come, you eat something that will actually feed you up, and then we’ll go to my room and get some sleep. And I’ve got a free day tomorrow, so how about I show you how much I love that belly of yours then, big boy?”

At that point, the grin on Aether’s face grew larger. ____________

It's time to say that as a fat person, the stuff i got to hear since i was like 10 years old is simply the dumbest shit ever and hurts really much. And those comments were the reason for my second panic attack ever and made by idiotic humans that deserve to be punched in the face.

gonna tag you here @miss-multi45 and my favourite rat @aweisz because they wanted Aether/Omega

Here's a gif I haven't seen yet. For Reasons.

A little Rulti sweetness and fluff for anyone that needs it 💙

Morning Delight

A breeze blows through the window and causes Swiss to wake with a small stir, tickling his cheek and filling the room with the crisp autumn smell of turning leaves and incoming frost. He sighs softly and burrows himself further into the blankets and furs, enjoying the contrasting feel of the warmth of his bed with the fresh morning air.

Swiss rolls onto his side and nuzzles into the body of the ghoul curled up next to him. The clean, fresh scent of morning dew and water lillies fills his nose as Swiss draws Rain closer to him and buries his nose into the water ghoul's neck, breathing in deeply the scent of his mate.

Rain lets out a soft noise and presses back against Swiss' chest as he stretches out before snuggling back down into the Multi ghoul's arms and drifting off again.

Swiss marvels at the ghoul in his embrace. He gently lifts a claw to brush the silky blue-black curls out of Rain's face and gazes at him with all the love in time and space. Rain's eyes are closed, his lids a dusky shade, his eyes moving underneath and Swiss imagines he's probably dreaming of swimming through beautiful coral reefs, or the kelp forests at the bottom of the abbey lake.

Rain's skin is milky, almost creamy with a dusting of pink on the apples of his cheeks. A smattering of freckles bridges his delicate nose and travels up his temples, across his shoulders and chest. Each one shining and iridescent like scales from the most beautiful fish.

His lips, plump and full, are slightly parted as he breathes softly, the gills on his slender neck fluttering ever so slightly, warm and safe in Swiss' arms. Swiss can't believe that a being so divine, so painfully beautiful, so ethereal and perfect could ever choose to be his. How did he ever get so, so lucky?

Swiss runs his hand softly up and down Rain's body, feeling the soft touch of his skin. He skates his hand over Rain's ribs and over the swell of his hip and ass before wrapping his arms back around the water ghoul, planting soft kisses on Rain's neck and along the underside of Rain's jaw. Rain's scent, muted slightly by calm sleep, fills his nose as he nuzzles his mate's cheek.

Swiss rolls his hips slowly into the water ghoul's round ass, drawing him back against his body before exploring Rain's chest and stomach with his large hands. Swiss feels his dick stir and begins to harden as he grinds gently into the softness of his mate's sleeping form.

Rain stirs, breathing out a sigh as he slowly comes to. Swiss leans over to press a kiss to his temple and Rain wraps his tail around the massive hand resting on his sternum.

"Good morning, Sea Star," Swiss whispers, tickling Rain's cheek with butterfly kisses as he squeezes the water ghoul gently into his solid chest, still rolling his hips into Rain's ass. He leans over and gently rubs his horn that can reach against Rain's, bumping them together.

Rain hums a contented sigh and pushes back into Swiss' strong frame, moving his ass back into Swiss' groin in time with his mate. His lithe hands come up to rest on top of the larger ones on his chest and stomach as Swiss emits a soft groan with the increased pressure on his cock. This is his favorite way to wake up in the morning, and he knows that Swiss is well aware.

"Mmm....g'morning my spark.." Rain murmurs, turning his head back to catch Swiss' lips in a slow, sensual kiss.

Swiss cups Rain's face in his hand and leans into the kiss. It's soft, intimate, their tongues licking into each other's mouths as they move together tenderly.

Rain shifts to face Swiss on his back, wrapping his arms around the Multi ghoul's neck as Swiss leans over him, deepening the kiss and grinding against Rain's hip. He moans quietly, pulling Swiss more firmly against his body.

"What're you thinking?" Swiss mumbles against Rain's lips.

Rain takes Swiss' hand off his face, guiding it down his body, between his legs where his cock is quickly hardening, already leaking small pearls of precum.

"Want you to touch me," Rain sighs as Swiss closes his hand around his length and begins to slowly stroke up and down.

Swiss rubs his thumb over the tip, collecting the beads of pre and swirling it around. Rain moans quietly and rolls his hips up into his mate's hand and Swiss gets the message, slicking up Rain's cock and squeezing gently with just the right amount of pressure. He grinds against Rain's hip in time with his hand, speeding up at the sound of Rain's moans and gasps climbing in pitch.

Rain's mind starts going soft and fuzzy at the feel of the Multi ghoul's massive hand around his cock. He pulls Swiss down and kisses up and down Swiss' throat, sucking small marks into the skin, watching the bruises bloom like flowers on soft velvet through heavy lidded eyes.

Swiss' hand closes more firmly around his cock and his eyebrows cant up, his eyes fluttering shut, gasping out a soft "Ahh.. " at the warm, wet feeling.

"Love, need to feel you...please.." Rain breathes out, his hips moving of their own accord into Swiss' hand, feeling the beginnings of heat pooling in his gut.

"As you wish, my Rainbow,"

Swiss rolls over on top of his mate, stretching out along the length of Rain's lanky body, settling between his long legs. Rain wraps his legs around Swiss' waist and draws him in, both ghouls moaning and gasping together into each other's mouths as Swiss slowly sinks into him with ease, his hole still relaxed and slick from the previous night's activities.

Swiss runs his hands up Rain's body. Caressing over hips, along his ribs, skating up his arms. He gathers Rain's hands in his own and holds them above Rain's head, lacing their fingers together and pressing close as he starts to move, slow and deep.

Rain whimpers and breathes out a high sigh, feeling Swiss in his entirety. The Multi ghoul filling him and reverently laying his claim on his heart and his soul as he moves above Rain in tender worship of his mate.

Rain slips a hand up to cup Swiss' cheek, gazing at Swiss through heavy lidded eyes at his ghoul's rugged, scruffy face, his brows knitting up in pleasure at the feeling of his mate's body so tight, so warm, so wet around him.

"I love you, my spark," Rain moans softly, rolling his hips in time with Swiss' to grind his cock against the muscled plain of Swiss' stomach.

Swiss cries out as Rain's body clenches around him. Rain gazes up at him like he hung the moon. Swiss gazes back down at his beautiful water ghoul as he moves inside of him. How was he possibly deemed worthy to be in the presence of a creature so graceful, so....so alluring and captivating, let alone worship at his physical altar this way?

"So beautiful, so good for me, Water Lilly. Satanas, how was I blessed enough to have such a perfect ghoul as mine?" Swiss whispers prayerfully in Rain's ear, sending a shudder through Rain's body as he clenches down harder on Swiss's cock and cums between their hot, sweaty torsos.

Swiss gasps out a cry and meets his end as well, cumming deep inside the water ghoul's body, his cock kicking out the vestiges of his orgasm before collapsing down on top of Rain.

Rain runs his claws gently through Swiss' damp curls, pressing kisses to his forehead and murmuring soft words of love and praise in his ear.

The two laying basking in each other arms, exchanging soft touches and gentle kisses. Swiss slips out slowly, rolling onto his back and gathering his mate into his arms and against his chest, thoroughly spent.

It's a good thing they don't have anywhere to be today.

Con Clavi Con Dio

a rose by any other name

this dewther story for mushy may is brought to you by these ritual gifs:

prompt: flowers (from @forlorn-crows) rating: teen pairing: aether/dew word count: ~1500

read on AO3 or below

-----------------------------

It happened occasionally, once every few rituals. After the band finished performing, when Copia and the ghouls were walking around the stage to interact with the audience, a fan would toss a bouquet of roses up towards them. Then, as everyone linked up their arms across the stage to take their bows, Copia would go down the line and hand each of the ghouls a flower.

The first time that it happened, it took Dew by surprise. Unsure how to react, he took the rose from Copia and put the stem in between his teeth, because—well, that’s just what his brain decided on in the moment. It made the flower snap in half, so after the ghouls made their way off stage and back to the dressing rooms, Dew tossed it into the trash can.

“You destroyed your rose immediately?” Aether slipped in between the other ghouls to stand next to Dew, shaking his head. “This is why we can’t have nice things,” he teased.

“It’s not a big deal,” Dew muttered, somehow feeling like he was disappointing Aether.

“Well, you need to have one,” Aether said as if it was obvious. He handed his own rose to Dew, and then quickly walked off before he could protest.

Dew brought the flower up to his face and sniffed it cautiously. He didn’t really know what to expect, since no one had ever given him one before. It smelled…nice. Tilting his head, he tucked the interaction with Aether in the back of his mind, so that he could revisit it later. For no particular reason.

The next time that Copia received a bouquet, there weren’t enough roses to go around. All of the other ghouls got one, but by the time he reached Dew on the far end of the line, he ran out. Instead, Dew received a pat on the head and a kiss on the cheek from Copia—which was a pretty decent alternative, all things considered.

Once again, Aether noticed. “Here, take my rose,” he said after they got off stage, pushing it into Dew’s hands. “It’s even red this time!” he beamed, and looked at Dew expectantly.

Dew didn’t know why that was significant, but something about Aether’s excited expression told him not to ask about it. In his confusion, he didn’t remember to say thank you until Aether was walking away, so Dew ended up calling it out to his retreating back.

It kept happening after that. Even when Dew managed to hold on to his flowers after rituals, Aether gave his to Dew, without fail. He couldn’t figure it out—maybe Aether didn’t like them, so he wanted to get rid of them? At any rate, Dew began looking forward to receiving them. The attention was nice—especially when it came from Aether, a small part of Dew was willing to acknowledge.

Dew tried to save all of the roses, surreptitiously tossing them into his bag before leaving the venue. He didn’t know why kept trying, really, because the petals obviously ended up breaking off and getting crushed.

One afternoon, Dew was hiding at the back of the tour bus, cleaning up the mess of broken flowers. He jumped when he heard someone approaching, and shifted his body over to hide what he was doing.

It turned out to be Rain, and ever the perceptive ghoul, he saw anyway. “You want to preserve them?” he asked, looking at Dew curiously.

“No—well, yes,” Dew gave what he hoped was a casual shrug. “They look nice,” he added, in a halfhearted attempt to explain himself.

“If you press the flowers flat in between the pages of a book, it’ll work better,” Rain told him.

“Oh, okay. I might try that, I guess,” Dew said noncommittally. “Wait, how do you even know that?”

“Sometimes Swiss gives me flowers,” he explained, which made sense. He could be unexpectedly sweet like that, especially to Rain. “Anyways, come outside when you’re done. All of us are leaving soon to get food,” Rain said, and then turned to leave.

As soon as Dew was sure that Rain was gone, he rifled through his belongings until he found a tattered book that he had bought eons ago, under the misguided thought that he would get bored enough on tour to read it. (That wasn’t true, of course. Scrolling endlessly through social media was so much easier.)

Carefully, Dew picked out one of the still intact petals and slid it inside the book. When he checked back a couple of days later, it had worked, just as Rain said. So after that, Dew made sure to do the same to the other roses he got from Aether. From time to time, Dew cracked open the book to admire his collection. Which was a totally normal thing to do, he told himself.

Finally, things came to a head one night when the ghouls were out at a bar, a few blocks away from the hotel where they were staying. Their (perhaps ill-advised) plan was to get drunk and burn off the pent-up energy they had before the next night’s ritual.

Dew was staked out at a small table in the corner, brooding over a bottle of cheap beer. He was usually more social, living up to his reputation of being loud and boisterous. But tonight, he was preoccupied with watching what Aether was doing.

Every so often, Dew flicked his eyes toward the end of the bar, where Aether was shoulder to shoulder with the stranger next to him, deep in conversation. Dew found himself annoyed. Why was Aether making friends with random people, when he could be doing something better? Like talking with Dew, for example.

“Hey,” Rain suddenly appeared and sat down next to Dew, who gave him a dejected wave. “Why aren’t you over with the group? You’re missing out—we’re all making fun of Swiss for doing something dumb.”

“I’m just not feeling it tonight,” Dew shrugged, but Rain wasn’t having any of it. He tracked Dew’s gaze over to the bar and heaved a dramatic sigh.

“Stop moping around and staring at Aether. Just go up to him, if you want him that bad,” Rain rolled his eyes.

“I’m that obvious, huh,” Dew muttered into his drink.

“If you proposition him, he’ll say yes,” Rain said encouragingly.

“Gross, don’t say it like that,” Dew said, even as he perked up. “How can you be so sure?”

“Hey, I just said it in a way that you’d actually understand. Since Aether’s hints keep flying over your head,” Rain said. “Do you really not get why he gives you flowers?”

“I don’t know, because he doesn’t want them?” Dew guessed.

“No,” Rain said patiently, as if explaining something to a small child. “It’s because he wants you to have them.”

Oh.

Oh.

“I have to go,” Dew said, standing up abruptly. Rain just laughed and pushed him toward the bar.

Once Dew was up there, he squeezed into the tight space between Aether’s seat and the wall. “Hey Aeth,” he announced his presence.

“Hi—oh, it’s you,” Aether said when he turned around. His face lit up with a wide smile, one that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. It was so obvious, now. How had Dew not seen it before?

Now that Aether was looking at him, Dew wasn’t actually sure what to do—he hadn’t planned this far ahead.

“You should come talk to me, instead of wasting your time with them,” he said bluntly, motioning at the person on the other side of Aether. Maybe he should have tried to be nicer, but Aether should know by now that wasn’t exactly his strong suit.

Aether cocked his head. “And why should I do that?” he asked in an amused tone.

“Because you give me flowers,” Dew said, hearing how out of context the words sounded as soon as they came out of his mouth.

But Aether understood. “So, you finally figured out what I’ve been trying to tell you?” he asked, hopeful.

“Yeah. Well, Rain did,” Dew said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in his general direction. “I didn’t realize it meant that you…like me, or something,” he trailed off at the end, afraid of voicing it out loud.

“Gifting flowers is a customary way of demonstrating affection,” Aether pointed out, teasing. “It’s called romance—maybe you’ve heard of it?”

Dew blushed slightly. Affection?

“Sure, but that’s not really my style," he tried to play it off. “Usually I just…see that someone is interested and jump them.”

Aether hummed. “So why didn’t you do that this time?”

“I was nervous,” Dew admitted reluctantly. “I thought you might not want that.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” Aether said, and reached over to hold Dew’s hand tightly.

Dew grinned at that, and once he started, he couldn’t seem to stop. “Want to go back to the hotel? Then you can show me how wrong I am,” he said.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Aether laughed. He quickly stood up and started tugging Dew across the bar to leave. 

On their way out, Rain caught Dew’s eye and winked at him. Dew shot him the finger, still smiling, and followed Aether out the door.

𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆

just a lil something i tortured @divine-misfortune with last night after he shared this post with me and said "Now hear me out Zeph/aeth and or omega bc they won’t slow down fr a damn second "

and thus i started a doc lovingly called "zephyr/omega go to sleep ya old man"

1263 words of omega misusing quintessence in order to (lovingly i swear) force zephyr to get some rest. yes zephyr will be mad at him later. yes omega is being a lil bit of a bastard. yes i am indulging in my (our) hypnokink, just go with it.

“You’re a stubborn old thing, you know that?”

Zephyr rolls their eyes before side-eyeing the quintessence ghoul, making a face. “Care to elaborate?”

“Been spending a lot of time with those new ghoulettes. When was the last time you slept?” Omega puts a hand on the back of the leather armchair Zephyr is currently seated in, where they were, up until now, engrossed in a text about ancient languages. 

They bite their tongue against the urge to correct him on Cirrus and Cumulus’ names. “I slept last night, there’s no need for your concern.”

“Oh, last night, hm? So that wasn’t the organ I was hearing in the wee hours of the morning?”

“You are as old as this building, Omega, surely you’re aware of the noises that aged pipes make when all else is silent.” 

He tuts. “Far too melodic for old plumbing, Zeph.”

Zephyr grumbles and makes to return back to their book without replying. Omega chuckles, and suddenly his hands are resting on their shoulders, thumbs heavy over the strained tendons on the back of their neck. 

“Why don’t you let me help?”

The air ghoul grumbles again. Slots their small stack of notes along the book’s binding as a makeshift bookmark and snaps the thing shut. They place it onto the table and stare at the fire in the hearth.  

“And why should I let you?” they say to the fading embers. 

Omega hums. “Because you need your rest, you cranky ghoul.”

“I am plenty rested.”

“These knots in your shoulders say otherwise.”

Zephyr closes their eyes and sighs like an exasperated teacher. “And you claim that I am the stubborn one?”

“Come on,” Omega goads them. Telltale magick crackling to life beneath his fingertips. “Doesn’t have to be much.”

Before Zephyr can so much as think about scurrying away with their book, warm quintessence seeps into their bones, the tension held there unraveling from the inside out. Their eyelids flutter, shoulders slumping. Some undignified noise bubbles up from their throat, and they can barely catch their chin from hitting their chest as their head lolls forward. 

“You . . .” They try to protest, tongue too heavy in their mouth to form its usual elegant timbre. Their hands can’t even grip the arms of the chair anymore, cementing them into place and thwarting any chance they had of escaping Omega’s nagging. 

Said quintessence ghoul shushes him, self-satisfied and certainly not even close to genuinely comforting. “There you go. See? Knew you were tired.”

“Hn . . .’m not—”

“You are, look at that sleepy face.” Omega brushes a few strands of hair back behind their horns, their head leaning into his touch without their permission. Zephyr’s eyes are drooping, rolling with the effort of trying to keep them open. Maybe they are more tired than they thought, he didn’t give them that much magick, did he?

Omega coos at them, running his thumb along the base of their horn. “Just close your eyes,” he whispers. 

Zephyr just groans, something close to uh uh, but it doesn’t sound very disagreeing. They’re falling asleep sitting up, and his warm hand against the side of their face does nothing but drag them closer to unconsciousness. Suddenly, they don’t want to get away from him. Magick swirls all syrupy in their veins, and, really, it’s getting harder and harder to have any opinions on the situation. 

Behind them, Omega shakes his head and loops around to the front of the chair, still cradling their head as he kneels between their parted legs. The hands at their sides, having slid off the arms of the chair, twitch towards him. Zephyr watches Omega’s other hand as it comes to hold the other side of their face, eyes slow and delayed as they track its movement. 

“You’d do well to listen to me, you tired old hen,” Omega chides them. He wiggles their head a little, not unlike a chiropractor looking for sore spots. Ensuring they’re close to limp and loose. 

Zephyr just lets him. Has no choice, really. They’d call him a plethora of names later—bastard, unwelcome imp, meddling hypnotist spawn—but the thought of remembering to do so slides away like rain on glass. 

He must sense the fleeting thought behind Zephyr’s glassy eyes, because he adjusts their head again, tightening his grip almost imperceptibly. 

“None of that; you’re being so good, aren’t you? I’m only helping, aren’t I? Little bit of magick to get rid of all those pesky cobwebs between your ears. I know, you’re so tired underneath all those stubborn thoughts. Just takes a nice, kind ghoul like me to help you relax, doesn’t it?” On and on he drones, the words going in one ear and out the other, washing away their own internal monologue and replacing it with his own. They are tired, and an afternoon nap isn’t so terrible, they aren’t really busy. And Omega’s helping them. 

Definitely not using his magick in some smug, actually selfish way, rendering the normally uptight ghoul completely powerless in less than a second. No, it’s completely selfless—a show of his care and concern for Zephyr’s wellbeing. Absolutely not a vehicle to win any kind of argument, not at all. 

Their breathing is slowing now, neck nearly limp in Omega’s hands. Sinking deeper into the fuzzy embrace of sleep. 

“That’s it,” he lilts. “You’re gonna feel so much better, and I won’t even say ‘I told you so.’ How does that sound?” 

Zephyr responds with a long exhale through parted lips, left thigh twitching randomly as the pleasant numbness settles in. 

Omega smirks. “Good.” With one last push of quintessence, he tilts their head just so and watches as their eyes unfocus and fall shut, jaw dropping open with the softest noise as they drift asleep in his hands. The quiet snores follow just seconds later, Omega’s hands the only thing keeping them upright. 

He waits until he’s sure they’re asleep, warming his back against the dying flames while Zephyr slumps in their chair. Only then does he pull back the tendrils of his magick, letting it seep down towards the floorboards as slow as molasses so as not to accidentally rouse them. Thankfully, the library is empty this time of day. Nothing to interrupt the air ghoul’s much needed sleep. 

They’re lax and peaceful now, but Omega’s sure he’ll hear about it when they wake. He laughs to himself at the plethora of elegant insults that come to mind. For now, he takes satisfaction in the way Zephyr’s head lolls back against the chair with the gentlest press of his pointer finger, drool making its way out of the corner of their mouth already. 

“Cute,” the quintessence ghoul comments, smoothing out the wrinkles in his button-down. And then, as a wicked afterthought, he presses the pad of his finger to the middle of their forehead again, sneaking in a cheeky suggestion of a dream wrapped in plumes of balsam and petrichor. Snickering to himself when Zephyr whines quietly and their tail kinks up at the end. “Enjoy,” he whispers, making his exit. 

Omega knows he won’t get any thanks for that—a pity, really, considering it was quite a nice little fantasy—nor will he get any thanks for helping (forcing) Zephyr to get some rest. At the very least, he’ll get a very disgruntled and haughty air ghoul glaring at him for the remainder of the day. 

Omega’s fine with being berated for misuse of magick if it means the poor thing won’t be sleep deprived. Until then, he files away Zephyr’s reaction to it for later.

Why is the best feeling in the world taking your bra off when you get home after work?