A Rough Day

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66th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony

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Grammy Awards are approaching fast, so here's a kind reminder that metal & rock awards will be, as usual, handed out during the Premiere Ceremony, not the main event. You can watch it on YouTube linked above or live.grammy.com. YouTube should show you the starting time based on your timezone, if you open the vid in the app.

Before the show, the Grammy's website will also have a multicam stream of the red carpet arrivals, so you can keep an eye out on our favourite Swede, in case he attends.

Mushy May Day 9: Warming Them Up

Rain's always eager to get in the water as soon as he can, no matter how cold it is. Dew's there to warm him back up.

Thank you again to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together <3

Divider by @ghuleh-recs <3

Dew's comfortable in bed, the lamp on the nightstand casting his room in soft gold light as the sun dips behind the horizon. It's spring, at least according to the calendar, just barely warm enough for the snow and ice to melt, revealing the budding green of life underneath.

It's still too cold for Dew's taste, but he had watched from his window all afternoon as Rain eagerly took his first swim of the year in the lake outside the Abbey. He's on his way back, and Dew knows exactly where Rain will end up.

He sighs, marking his place in the book he borrowed from Aether and setting it on the nightstand. He takes his gold wire reading glasses off and folds them, placing them on top of the well-loved paperback. He loves Rain, it had been a rocky start but he does love him now, but he does not miss the urge to get in the water at the first sign of spring.

Soon enough, the door creaks open, and Rain sticks his head in. Dew can hear the way his serrated teeth chatter from ten feet away. "Hey, D-Dewey," Rain says, long, elegant fingers curled around the doorframe.

"I've got a Rainsicle, don't I," Dew sighs endearingly, waving Rain in. "Now do you see why I made you promise last summer not to drag me out first thing after the thaw, pearl?"

Rain nods shakily, stepping into the warmth of Dew's bedroom and latching the door behind him. His hair is still soaking wet, plastered to his skin in blue-black waves, dripping down the back of what looks like Swiss's hoodie. His skin is bluer-tinged than normal, cheeks a dusky violet. "Felt nice while I was in," he shrugs.

"I bet. Stay there so you only drip in one spot." Dew stretches as he gets up out of bed. He ducks into his ensuite bathroom, digging out one of his softest towels from his closet. "Oh, and take those wet clothes off!" He calls.

"You just want to get in my pants, don't you?" Rain cackles, but there's the splat of wet fabric against the stone floor a moment later.

"I don't want you getting my bed all wet, you ass!"

"Oh, I beg to fucking differ, just the other night you wanted me to-"

"Ah! Shut it!" Dew calls, and they both burst into laughter. Dew steps out from the bathroom, towel in arm, but he doesn't go straight to the water ghoul. He heads to his dresser, pulling out a pair of sweats, boxers and a well-worn t-shirt, tossing them on the bed. Only then does he turn to face Rain, who's standing naked in a small puddle of lake water, teeth still chattering. Dew kicks up his internal fire, shaking his head fondly as he holds out the towel. "C'mere, pearl."

Rain steps forward, sighing in relief as Dew wraps the towel around him. "Thank you, Dewey," he says, letting his eyes shut while Dew dries him off, careful of the sensitive gills that line his ribs and throat.

"Don't thank me," Dew hums, reaching up to running his fingers through Rain's waves. He kicks up his temperature even more, helping the water evaporate from his hair as he gently untangles it. "This is me making up for not coming out with you for a swim."

Rain leans into the hand running through his hair, a low purr vibrating in his chest. "You don't like the cold though. I know you'll come out with me once the water actually warms up."

"Yeah, give it a couple more weeks," Dew laughs. Once he's deemed Rain dry enough, he tosses the towel to soak up the puddle Rain had left on his floor before turning to grab the bundle of clothes he set on his bed. "Hands on my shoulders, pearl."

Rain obliges as Dew kneels at his feet, wrapping his cold fingers around Dew's knobby shoulders. Dew presses a kiss to the sharp line of Rain's hip as he helps him step into his boxers. Dew glances up, copper meeting cerulean, and he leans ever so slightly into one of Rain's arms, smiling fondly.

The sweats are quick to follow, and Rain sighs, long lashes fluttering shut as he starts warming up now that he's in dry clothes. Dew stands, kissing Rain's cheek as he moves to grab the t-shirt, but Rain beats him to it, shrugging it on.

He takes a deep breath, burying his aquiline nose in the sage green fabric. He glances up, a spark of mischief swimming in the blue of his irises. "Mount's been sleeping over lately?"

Dew scoffs, rolling his eyes playfully as he pulls back the covers on his bed. "Like Aeth hasn't been staying over with you?"

"Touche," Rain sighs, but he's smiling as Dew lays on his side, patting the open space in front of him. He climbs into bed, settling with his back flush against Dew's narrow chest. The fire ghoul pulls the covers up, making sure each blanket lays flat over them, fighting for a moment with the lining of his weighted blanket.

Dew can feel Rain's body shaking, less so than when he first stuck his head in, but he gives up on fighting with the weighted blanket to hook his arm around his waist. He nudges a skinny thigh between Rain's as he hauls him even closer.

"Thank you," Rain whispers, nuzzling into the pillows, getting as close to Dew as he physically can. Dew smiles, lips pressed to the cool skin on the back of the water ghoul's neck.

"Don't thank me, pearl," Dew hums, breathing in Rain's scent. He still smells like the lake, a little bit like ice, but under that he just smells like Rain, salt and tea tree. Dew's purr kicks up in his chest, rusty like an old motor, and he holds his Rain close.

"Love you, Dewey," Rain says, a wave of exhaustion hitting him now that he's warming up and comfortable.

Dew kisses the nape of his neck, nuzzling at still damp waves. "Love you too, pearl."

Ok first off (I hope I'm not to late) HAPPY BIRTHDAY <3

And second, I just read your latest fic where Phantom regresses for the first time AND I LOVE IT. Honestly, little ghouls have a special place in my heart and it always makes me so happy to see other share the thoughts I have especially when they're kinda similar to my own (like Tain being the older and Dew just being a tiny baby)

Anyway, I'd like to request (only of you want off course) Phantom meeting little Rain and Dew for the first time? Maybe he is still big at first but just seeing Rain playing with toys/stuffed animals and Dew being cradled in someone's elses arms and getting taken care of looks so appealing to him and Swiss coaxes him to maybe join if he wants and slowly he does and Rain and him start to play together and the day ends with Swiss tugging them all in (Dew at first of course). Also you can add pretty much everything else you want, like with what they play, or what Dew does!

Getting to this super late lol (thank you for the birthday wishes I appreciate it)

This idea was so sweet and this is what popped in my head. I needed something soft so this was a joy to write.

I hope it's ok love 🖤🖤🖤

Cw: regressed ghouls, shy phantom, tiny Dewdrop

He'd been in a floaty in between space all day. He hadn't slept well and he didn't feel great and really all he wanted to do was wander into Swiss' room and ask him for help.

But he didn't want to bother him. He didn't want to be too needy...

He hears...he's not sure what he hears in the den but he's curious enough to go find out.

Swiss is on the couch with Dewdrop on the floor between the lower half of his legs, like Swiss' legs are the only thing holding him up. Rain's stomping around with two dinosaurs in his hands, shrieking and making them knock over towers of blocks.

One of the blocks lands in Dewdrop's lap and he blinks at it.

Rain swoops over with the pterodactyl. "Dew's gonna get squished! We gotta save him!"

Dew giggles quietly when Rain uses the dinosaur to grab the block off his lap. Swiss smiles and runs his fingers through Dew's hair.

"Good thing we've got Raincloud huh, firefly? He saved the day!"

"I'll always save Dew!" He races around the room and Dew claps.

Swiss catches him from the corner of his eye. "Hey bug!"

Rain stops running and Dew pouts. Phantom shuffles his feet, fuzzy socks sliding on the wood of the floor.

"Come over here." Swiss pats the spot on the couch beside him.

Phantom launches himself against his side, hiding his face in his shoulder.

"Feeling shy?"

He nods, thumb weaseling up into his mouth. He loves Rain and Dew but they've never been together like this and now he feels like he's intruding.

"Want to just sit with me and watch for a little bit? You can join in and play whenever you're ready."

He snuggles in closer, watching Rain from behind his hair when the water ghoul starts running around again. He roars and shrieks and makes the dinosaurs fight and Phantom smiles.

Rain flops over beside Dew, breathing hard and hands a soft, crinkley star to Dew who promptly shoves it in his mouth, biting hard into the fabric.

"Do you know dinosaurs?" Rain peeks over Swiss' knee to look at Phantom.

He shakes his head, gnawing on his thumb. He doesn't really...

"You can teach him." Swiss ruffles Phantom's hair. "You know what he does know a lot about? Sharks!"

"I have sharks! Hold on!"

He sprints from the den and Swiss cringes into the couch.

"Walk Rain!"

Dew makes a grumbling little sound in the back of his throat and bites his toy harder.

"Maybe Dew's not a firefly, maybe he's a dinosaur!" Swiss smiles down at the little ghoul between his legs, nose scrunched up as he chews on the star.

"C-could be a dragon...."

"Very true, love bug! Dewdrop the dragon!"

Phantom giggles when Dew tilts his head back to look at them, the plush toy hanging out of his mouth.

Rain darts back into the room, arms full of sea creatures.

"Hang on! Mounty has the rest, I can't carry all of them."

The giant rounds the corner with the rest of Rain's toys and Swiss laughs at him.

"You're lucky there are little eyes and ears right now." He drops the toys onto the floor. "Hi bug."

He blushes, Swiss is the only one who has seen him like this and he's not sure what to do.

"S'ok you don't have to talk to me until you're ready."

Dew squirms and holds his arms up until Mountain scoops him up.

"Hello firefly."

Phantom bites his lip. "D-dragon.."

"Hmm? Sorry bug I didn't hear you." He kneels with Dew in his arms, closer to the little Quint but not touching. "Can you tell me again?"

He glances at Swiss who nods. "Dew...h-hes a d-dragon..."

Mountain's eyes go wide. "He is?"

Phantom slowly uncurls from Swiss' side. "Yeah. He ate a star!"

Rain bounces over. "Help me find treasure! Dragons need treasure!"

"Why?"

Rain shrugs. "I don't know...but in all the stories they have some..."

Mountain laughs. "I think Dew is getting tired. Why don't you show Phantom your sharks for now."

Rain takes his hand and pulls him from the couch, both of them laughing when they bump into eachother. Mountain takes the spot Phantom had been occupying, tucking Dew more comfortably in his arms.

Swiss drapes his arm along the back of the couch and runs his nails over Mountain's shoulder.

"Been busy today?"

"Yeah, Sister has me doing the walkway differently now. She saw it at another Abbey so now naturally ours has to look like that."

They chat while Rain and Phantom play whatever game they created and Dew falls asleep, fingers wrapped tight around Mountain's thumb.

"Bath time?"

Rain whines. "But-"

"Minnow." Mountain warns.

"Sorry..."

"If you both clean up you can take a bath in Lus' tub together, lots of room for both of you and a couple sharks."

They race to clean up the toys, only getting distracted a few times. Mountain had left to get the bath ready with Dew in his arms.

"Ok pick a few toys to bring with you." Swiss claps his hands together. He wraps his arms around their shoulders when they're ready and guides them down the hall to Lus' room.

"Hi Lus!" Rain yells as he sprints by, racing to the bathroom.

Phantom clings to Swiss, chewing on his lip.

Swiss tugs his lip from between his fangs. "You're gonna hurt yourself, would you like a soother?"

He peeks around the multi ghoul to watch Cumulus. She's in a chair with Dew wiggling in her lap, fussing softly.

She shushes him and runs her fingers through his hair, holding him tight to her chest until he settles.

"Oh...hi bug! I didn't see you there!"

He gives a tiny wave but doesn't move from Swiss' side.

Lus smiles. "Do think you can help me before your bath?"

He likes helping...he nods.

"Can you pick some jammies for Dew for me? I forgot to grab them and he's comfy now."

"I-I can help." He tugs Swiss' hand. "Where are they?"

"We'll run to Mountain's room real quick and grab some."

Swiss leads him down the hall and over to the dresser with Dew's clothes, the ones saved only for when he's this small.

Phantom pokes around, rubbing the fabric between his fingers, scrunching his nose with his tongue poked out. Fully focused on the task at hand.

"This one!" He waves the soft pajamas around so fast and races back to Lus' room before Swiss can even see what he picked.

"Wow you're fast!" Swiss hears Cumulus before he walks in and he smiles, she's got him out of his shell without even trying.

"Picked these ones! D-Dew ate a star and now h-hes a dragon and these have stars!"

Her eyes go wide and she gasps. "Oh my goodness! Don't tell Aether that he ate a star, he might get nervous."

Rain pokes his head out of the bathroom. "Dew wouldn't eat Aether! Come on Phantom! The tubs ready!"

Swiss ushers him in just as Rain sinks into the bubbles, already making his sharks fight each other.

Swiss helps him from his clothes and helps him over the lip of the tub so he can sink into the water beside Rain.

Swiss laughs when Rain tosses a squishy squid at Phantom and it splats against his chest .

They splash and play, giggling happily, creating games Swiss can't even keep up with. He lets them play longer than usual, well past bedtime.

Rain begs for Lus to wash their hair, claiming she's the best at it and Phantom simply takes his word for it, only shying away a little bit before relaxing under her careful fingers.

He gets them dried off and in their pj's. He can't resist them and their soft puppy eyes when Rain asks if Phantom can sleep in his room with him and Mountain laughs with his arms full of a sleep soft Dewdrop.

Rain kisses Dew's cheek and Mountain's and Phantom gives a little wave before Rain grabs his hand and sprints off down the hall.

Mountain kisses Swiss softly before taking Dew down to his room for the night, humming a lullaby as he walks, swaying the little ghoul gently.

"Ok pick a book and hop up into bed so I can get you tucked in."

They pick Puff the magic dragon and Swiss squishes them together and tucks them in, tickling them when they are trapped under the blanket.

Phantom falls asleep halfway through but Rain makes it to the end of the story despite his heavy eyes.

Swiss smiles and pushes his hair back. "You helped Phantom a lot today, duckling."

"I did?"

"Mhmm, I'm really proud of you."

He smiles wide and snuggles down into the blanket further. Swiss kisses the top of both of their heads before switching on the light projector, sea creatures dancing across the walls with a soft glow.

"Sleep well, I love you."

The only response he gets is soft even breathing from both little ghouls.

"Absolution" recorded live in Los Angeles was released along with the movie trailer. Pre-order full soundtrack here.

Reverie's Ghoul Kit Masterlist

Ghoul Kits:

Calida (Dewdrop/Step-Dad Aether): (CW) Basic Stuff. , More Step-Dad! , Over the Phone. , (CW) On DVD. , (CW) Daughter? , Gender Reveal. , Sister Imperator , Learning About Her Real Father. , On a Plane.

Starshine (Dewdrop/Aether): Another Baby.

Ember, Orion, Lily (Rain/Everyone): First Day of School. , General Pregnancy Talk.

Comet (Aether/Phantom): Finding Out. , On Tour. , First Steps.

Venus (Terzo/Omega): In a Perfect World.

Age Reg: Phantom - Baby's Day Out.

Kit Dewdrop: Little Fishy Writing.

Ghoul Kit Upbringing.

Sister & Mist.

The Ghildo is trending on X. Why do I find this so funny?

Taking a deep breath and counting backwards from ten

Light a Candle or Curse the Darkness

Part One

In the end, what would be your choice? The summer tour of 2005 does not go as planned.

Warnings: This is not Porn. It is probably not Crack. Hell, it is not even close to an over-the-counter, off brand Ibuprofen. And it ain’t all sunshine and kittens. Oh, yeah, language.

Disclaimer: This is so far out in the AU field that you can’t see it with a telescope. I have never met any member of Duran Duran and I don’t speak English. Well, that would be English English. So, if it seems a little Americanized that is why.

~~*~~

June 21st.

A Day that will never be forgotten.

In less than twenty-four hours life on Earth, as it was known, forever was changed. They had come, without warning, from the far reaches of space. I know, it sounds like a cheesy opening line from a bad Sci-Fi novel or something from Star Trek or one of those movies that the kids had liked to watch. Oh, how I wish it had been a Star Trek episode. Or even one of those Hollywood movies where the hero always saves the day before the total annihilation of the planet. Maybe then Captain Kirk and his merry band could have saved the day. Hell, I would have even settled for Will Smith. But, tragically, no one came to our rescue. The sheer power and technology of these creatures ended whatever defensive measures the nations might have used before there was even a chance. In an instant, every single major city in the world was wiped from the map. Rome. New York. Los Angles. Paris. Moscow. Washington. Beijing. Tokyo. London. All of them. There were no negotiations, no chance of surrender. Millions of souls gone in seconds.

Sometimes I think they were the lucky ones.

Don’t get me wrong, it took several weeks for them to completely dominate the planet, and there was a resistance movement. But in the end, nothing that was done to repel the invaders worked.

June 21st.

The day I and, others ceased to be. Ceased to be individuals. Ceased to be free. That day was the day that whoever had survived their initial attack would forever be known by only a barcode and a number. Me? My number was 7609. Ironic, is it not?

You want to run but there’s no space at all… La la la late bar…

Not some of the most brilliant of our lyrics but still…

Ah, my mind wanders. If I am going to tell this tale, then let me attempt to start somewhere near the beginning…

~~**~~

The first day of summer was spent like so many others, touring. You see, we were in a band, musicians, and we were on a crazy schedule of two months on and two months off. This just happened to be our time on the road and for once we were all traveling together. Everyone’s families and significant others had returned several days before to wherever it was, they had called home, and the feeling of nostalgia had hit us hard. And hard hit was we: someone had the brilliant idea of traveling to the next city, like in the old days, by bus. A tour bus, for God’s sake. A damn tour bus. I don’t know if I should feel thankful about that or not. If we had traveled by airplane, as was the norm, we…I…would most likely not be here now.

Maybe if we had been in an airplane when they had come, we would have escaped the Hell that was to follow. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. That is all there seems to be now days. That, and ‘what if’?

I don’t even really remember where we were when it happened. I think Andy had called it, ‘Somewhere in the Middle of Bloody Fuckin’ Nowhere.’ Andy. He always had a mouth on him. I can’t even begin to remember how many times when we were younger that mouth of his almost got us into trouble or almost cost us a gig. Right now, I would give anything to hear one of the many flamboyant curses that had always seemed to slip so effortlessly from between his lips.

Almost everyone had been sleeping when the bus suddenly stopped. I am pretty sure that several people hit the floor at the sudden stop. Bumps and bruises all around. Later we had learned that they had used what was basically a short-termed EMP pulse in the opening salvo of the attack. Not too terribly high tech for them, but still effective.

I won’t bore you with the details that followed. Won’t bore you with how we saw to any injuries we might have had after we picked ourselves up from the floor of that damned bus. I won’t tell you of the confusion that was present on so many of the faces of the other stranded travelers. I won’t tell you how we decided to leave the interstate. The details of how we wandered the countryside with some of the others from the road, lost, looking for help, are not so important now. I will not tell of how we wandered for a few days before being picked up by them. Okay, so we got lost. We were a pop group not a bunch of bloody Boy Scouts.

Why do you ask that I bore you with such details? Time. Plain and simple, time. I seem to have run out of it; something is happening. They have been moving troops and equipment off the planet; all the while, methodically clearing the barracks, block by block. Guess whose is next.

There are other things that need to be told in this telling.

Jesus.

Where do I start?

I would tell you their name if I could spell it, hell, I can’t even pronounce it. Even after all this time.

Like a nightmare come true, they came from the sky. Imagine our surprise. No one thought to run, so dumbstruck we were. There really was nowhere to run to. We stood there with our mouths open, as we caught the first sight of proof that we were not alone in the universe.

as the drummer, i think mountain deserves to have his cunt smacked.

Vore blue no matter what