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Silly little thing based on a screenshot from @hypnoneghoul
Rating: M
Pairing: Mountain/Dew
Words: 648
Ao3
Dew is standing in the kitchen in the den fiddling with the grucifix zipper on his hoodie while he scrolls TikTok. There is a tray of dirty dishes he just carried down from his room on the counter in front of him and he really is going to wash them and put them away. It’s just, phone, you know? There are a few clips from their last tour circulating with various ridiculous captions and a surprising amount of edits. The thirsty ones are silly and most often way off the mark, but there are also several videos of people talking (and crying) about how their music and the rituals they perform are helping people. Papa and the ghouls are helping humans accept themselves and get through hard shit to have better lives. A guy with red teary eyes and a huge smile nestled in a thick beautiful beard tells the camera that when he feels low and needs to remember the beauty in the world he watches a clip of Dewdrop’s Respite On The Spitafields solo and it never ceases to make him cry with happiness. Dew quickly double taps the screen and comments three black hearts as the left corner of his mouth tugs upward and he can feel Lucifer’s approval in the warmth that floods his bones.
He cocks his hip and glances at the dishes before going back to his scrolling. He has his VPN set to Poland today and the ads have been something else. A new one fills his screen and he giggles as he takes a screenshot. He doesn’t particularly like the drink Mountain Dew but it is one of his absolute favourite brand names and the ads have been giving him endless joy. Siblings and ghouls alike will send him a picture anytime they see a bottle somewhere, and Phantom has been making him custom memes. Dew swipes over to his text conversation with Mountain and snickers as he sends him the screenshot. The big guy is gonna love this one. Mountain may seem like a mature and serious ghoul, but he is just as much of a little shit as Dew is.
Dew is dragging his tongue over a fang, letting the sharp tip of it catch right in the middle of the slit of the fork as he scrolls through the endless Mountain Dew memes in their chat. He barely manages to avoid biting himself as a huge hand wraps around his throat and another palms his entire crotch as he is pulled flush against a warm, soft body. Electricity dances down his spine and makes his gut clench as Mountain’s hot breath tickles his ear.
“Hmm, you want me to feel you, boy?”
Mountain strokes his thumb down the length of Dew’s neck, feeling his pulse increase with each stroke. He flexes slightly so the claw digs into soft flesh, dimpling the skin just so. Dew swallows thickly against Mountain’s palm only for the hand to squeeze a tiny bit tighter.
Mountain curls his fingers towards Dew’s taint, cupping his rapidly hardening dick and balls through his soft lounge trousers. He rolls the balls between his fingers, feeling them move under the skin.
Dew’s lifts his tail and snakes it around Mountain’s middle. Mountain’s own tail comes up to coil around it and keep it in place as he shifts a thick thigh between Dew’s legs.
“You want me to touch you? Feel you all over? Grope you a little in the kitchen for anyone to see?”
Dew whines and tries to simultaneously push into the hands wrapped around his throat and his genitals, while grinding his ass back and down on Mountain’s thigh. He gets a throaty chuckle and a wet tongue flicking his ear lobe in return.
“Yeah, you want your big, strong boyfriend to feel you up a little. Feel the Dew. Isn’t that cute?”
Ended up combining days 3 and 4 into one fic. Based loosely on that time Dew (presumably) injured his arm during the Prequelle era. As always, thank you @forlorn-crows for organizing this and to @ghuleh-recs for the dividers!
Day 3 & 4 - Massage & Wound Tending/First Aid (Aether/Dew), cw for Dew's shoulder injury. Hurt/comfort, fluff, 1518 words
Aether notices it right away. The way Dew seems to be favoring one arm. The way he furrows his brow and rolls his shoulder seemingly every five minutes. How he makes soft little grunts and sighs of discontent at night when he’s trying to settle into his bunk above Aether’s on the bus.
When he broaches the subject, Dew denies anything is wrong. His shoulder is just a little sore is all. Maybe he slept funny, he says, brushing off Aether’s concerns.
But Aether knows the truth, and is pretty sure the whole pack knows what’s up actually. It’s Dew’s new guitar. The Fantomen. For as beautiful as it looks and as powerful as it sounds, the son of a bitch is heavy. Even for Aether it can be unwieldy at times.
Of course Dew hasn’t let it affect his playing. He never would. He’s far too proud, and rightfully so. Dew’s the best player Aether has ever seen anywhere in his life. And his playing continues to be immaculate, so Aether doesn’t want to push. Instead he watches Dew power through their set each night for weeks.
Until Dew’s shoulder gives out completely in the middle of a ritual.
A missed note, glaringly obvious. Rare to be due to Dew’s mistake and not because of some equipment malfunction (or Aether’s own mistake throwing Dew off, something he can admit has happened more than once). Aether whips his head towards the fire ghoul, knowing immediately that something is seriously wrong. Copia and the other ghouls are watching him now too.
Dew curls in on himself for just a split second before catching himself and resuming his perfect playing. But Aether knows the damage has been done when Dew purposefully ignores the rest of his stage cues and instead shuffles unsteadily towards the back of the stage as he finishes out the song.
Thank Satan they’re at an intermission. Time for Copia to change out of his white suit and into the red cassock. Instead of taking his usual water break, Aether books it towards Dew, who he finds leaning against the wall just past the curtain.
Aether knows it's bad because Dew has his mask off. His face is pale and he’s sweating bullets, cradling his arm against his body as he struggles to even out his breathing. But before he can do anything there’s chaos. Copia and the crew are scrambling to do what they can to keep the show going. Aether is being ushered back to stage before he can get a word in.
In the end Dew insists he can finish out the show from backstage, perched on a stool where he can rest the weight of the Fantomen on his lap. He even comes back onstage for final bows, cradling his bad arm gingerly, and Aether finds himself trailing behind him protectively instead of his usual routine of throwing out guitar picks and interacting with the audience.
Finally, the curtain goes down and they’re free to go. Thankfully it’s a hotel night and then they’re off for two days before they travel to the next city. A small victory.
As soon as they’re in the room, Aether is looking Dew over while Copia watches on worriedly. Dew keeps grumbling that ghouls heal fast, so he’ll be fine, but Aether can see otherwise. The shoulder is swollen, angry red and inflamed. Dew’s definitely pulled something, maybe even a tear, and then he continued to irritate it night after night until it gave out. Aether feels guilty that he didn’t notice it was this bad before, that he wasn’t more insistent. He could have used some of his quintessence to keep it from going this far… He shakes the thought away for the time being.
“Alright,” Aether sighs and turns to Copia. “The bad news is, as of right now his shoulder’s fucked,” he says point blank. No point in sugar-coating any of this now. Copia pales and he hears Dew swallow nervously and shift from where he’s sitting on the bed behind him.
“Good news is, I can fix him up in the next two days.” He turns to Dew to see a wave of relief wash across his otherwise stoic face. “But he’s gonna have to take it easy for a while after that. And that much healing takes a lot of quintessence, a ton of energy. If we push it any farther than that, you’re gonna end up out two guitarists.”
Copia agrees and they make arrangements for Aether and Dew to stay in his suite while Copia takes one of the regular rooms. The cardinal bids them goodnight and lets them know he’ll get them anything they need to be comfortable for the next few days while Aether works on Dew’s arm.
As soon as he leaves, Aether turns to Dew. He wants more than anything to scoop the little ghoul up in his arms and shower him in kisses, but he knows better than to jostle his bad arm. At any rate, Dew hates to be fussed over.
“How do you feel?” Aether chances, popping the cap of his water bottle and handing it to Dew along with a couple painkillers.
Dew snorts, avoiding Aether’s eyes. “Like absolute dogshit,” he answers, blunt as always, before swallowing the pills and chugging half of Aether’s water.
“Alright then,” he motions to the compression shirt Dew still has on. “Let’s get this thing off of you so I can work on getting some of the swelling down.”
It isn’t easy, but they work together to hold Dew’s tender shoulder steady while Aether slowly peels the fabric from Dew’s body. Dew winces as he finally pulls his arm out of the sleeve, and Aether presses an apologetic little kiss to Dew’s temple.
The kiss seems to break some of the tension, and Dew’s body sags. He looks up at Aether with a sad little frown on his face. He looks guilty. “Sorry, Aeth…” he starts. “I know I should have said something before it got this bad…” he trails off.”
Aether shakes his head, tells Dew not to worry, that he’ll have him fixed up in no time. Jokes that thanks to his bum shoulder, they get to lounge around in Copia’s suite for two days in a king sized bed and in the jacuzzi tub. Says that if they play their cards right, Copia will probably even let them call for room service to their hearts’ content. The mention of room service seems to lighten Dew’s mood even further.
Meanwhile, Aether works Dew’s shoulder, pressing feather light touches to sensitive flesh while he focuses his energy on delivering enough quintessence to calm the inflammation. Once he’s satisfied with their progress, Aether pulls away to go draw a hot bath. Before he can go Dew reaches out, grabs his hand and pulls Aether back to him.
“Thanks for taking care of me,” Dew says softly, looking up at Aether. He holds Dew’s gaze, contemplating, before leaning in and kissing him on the lips, carding his fingers through Dew’s hair until they’re both humming contentedly against each other.
Later, Aether sits beside the tub while Dew soaks, periodically working another round of quintessence into Dew’s shoulder as the little ghoul dozes off, finally beginning to relax as the pain goes down thanks to Aether’s ministrations.
Aether helps Dew out of the tub and wraps him in a fluffy bathrobe from the closet. Between the quintessence, the painkillers, and the hot bath, Dew is ready to crash. Aether guides him on wobbly legs to the bed, helping him lay face down into the pillows. From his prone position, Dew wriggles his shoulder.
“Feels better now,” Dew slurs, eyelids fluttering closed. “Can move it now n’everything.” He moves his shoulder in another little circle to demonstrate.
Aether chuckles. He loves to see Dew like this, blissed out and sleepy, he just wishes it were under different circumstances. Aether feels exhaustion pulling on him as well, between the crash of adrenaline after Dew’s injury and the copious amounts of quintessence he pumped into the little fire ghoul, his body is feeling beat. He’ll need rest soon, too.
But first, he climbs onto the bed and straddles Dew’s hips, careful not to press down too hard or to knock into his arm.
“Backrub?” Dew asks, eyes still closed and face pressed into the pillows.
“Backrub,” Aether confirms, leaning in to run his palms up Dew’s back, letting another dose of quintessence bleed from his fingertips into the fire ghoul’s soft skin, paying special attention to his injured shoulder. He massages Dew’s back until the little ghoul is half asleep and purring into the sheets.
Two days later, and they’re back on the road, en route to the next venue, Dew feeling better and set to shred once again, under the caveat that he doesn’t overdo it just yet. Aether has appointed himself Dew’s own personal masseuse. Now, after every ritual, Dew gets a nice, long, quintessence-infused shoulder rub.
Dew is happy to let Aether fuss over him, just this once.
This has quickly became a favorite
[Who were you before him? Time skip again. Not suitable for younger audiences. Previous Part here.] Below the cut.
"This is Brisket." Dew says, holding up quite possibly the least intimidating dog to grace the face of the Earth, "He's a Chiweenie."
"A... A Chiweenie?" Mountain stares at the little creature, currently giving him the most wet eyed look in return, "This is your new Hellhound?"
"Hey, he may not look like much, but he's fierce!"
Brisket yawns and gets his tongue stuck outside of his mouth.
"I took you for more of a big breed dog kind of guy." Mountain says, watching the puppy drop his head into the palm of Dew's hand.
"Nah, I mean, I love all kinds of dogs, but living in a dorm with a St. Bernard sounds like a nightmare. It's also easier to travel."
"Is Brisket going on the road with us for tour then?" Mountain asks, "He could probably fit in your carry on..."
"Maybe next tour, for now, I mean, look at this guy." He rocks his arm slightly and the puppy's ears flop side to side, "He wouldn't make it through the opening act."
Mountain laughs, "So, what prompted this?"
He gestures at Brisket, and then at Dew's new, shorter haircut.
"Companionship." Dew says, holding up Brisket, "And not having anyone around to stop me."
"Hm, well, it suits you." Mountain says, picking up Brisket's head in his hands to squish his tiny face around a little.
"The puppy or the hair?"
"I mean, Brisket... I can't believe you named him that... is quite handsome in his own right, but I meant your hair." Mountain clarifies, "Not that your old style didn't, too, this one's just, I dunno, refreshing? Is that a word people use to describe hair?"
Dew snorts.
"Why Brisket though?"
"He smells like beef." the ghoul motions for Mountain to sniff the dog.
"Like in a good way or a bad-" Mountain sniffs Brisket again, "-Why does he smell like he rolled around in a barbecue??"
"Legend has it he was born in the behind some kind of bar and grille that served some pretty good steak..."
It has been three months since Aether left.
Three.
A whole quarter of a year, and Dew's starting to feel a little more grounded.
It helps when he has two new ghouls to coach through the motions of being "human" -Actually, Brisket was his own sort of reward to himself for not completely messing that up.- between teaching Aeon how to use a fork and getting Aurora to wear underwear, Dew hasn't had time to think of much else.
He still has his moments where he wakes up in his new room and gets confused, where he reaches over to the right side of the bed only to be met with the cold bedspread, but once he discovered he could spread out across the mattress unimpeded by another body, he'd more or less stopped.
It's the little things, he supposes, taking solace in the creature comforts he had forgotten after having to share his space and find compromises to make his other half happy...
Sure, it sucks not being able to roll over in the morning and get sleepy cuddles, but now he can fit a little bed on the other half for Brisket to sleep in, and that more than makes up for that.
Aether liked dogs, too, but he'd never let one sleep in their bed, claiming it would "spoil" them.
Well, too bad, Aether, Brisket is going to be as spoiled as a prince of Hell.
That being said, though, Dew does miss having another ghoul in his bed, and while there had been offers...
"It just doesn't feel right." he tells Cumulus one afternoon, "Feels like I'm cheating even though... ya know."
"You and Aether were together for four years," she says, "it's okay to need time."
"I know, but I'm not... I'm not sure when it's okay to... start all of that again."
"Having sex?"
"Kind of, but, I mean more like..." he lowers his voice, "...dating."
"Ohhh..." Cumulus pats his arm, "I'd say don't rush into all of that. You know what they say about rebound relationships..."
"Actually I... I don't." Dew whispers, "Aether was the only person I've ever dated."
"How'd you two wind up together anyway?" Cumulus asks, "Not to be rude, I mean, you two are, like, polar opposites."
"Not completely." Dew starts counting on his fingers, "We had a couple key things in common; We liked dogs, beer, music, obviously, and..."
The tips of Dew's ears go red.
"And?"
"There's this thing he could do with his tongue that he taught me how to do-"
.
.
.
Cirrus is... frustrated.
Cumulus has been avoiding her.
Not really, it's just...
"Cir, I love you, but you're being a little... suffocating lately." the smaller ghoulette had confessed, "I won't go anywhere just because we're not cuddling every second of the day, you know?"
Cirrus presses her face into her pillow and screams.
She can't help it.
Lately, it feels like if she isn't physically connected to Cumulus, it feels like they're drifting apart.
It's Dew's fault honestly.
Ever since Aether left him, he's been leaning on Cumulus for emotional support, even though he's not the only person hurt by...
By...
Cirrus rolls over in her bed, squeezing her pillow to her chest.
The night before Aether broke up with Dew...
"...Fuck, Cir..."
"Mn... Aeth... You feel so good..."
They aren't exclusive.
None of them are exclusive.
But something about it had felt...
Forbidden.
Good.
And now that she has time to reflect on it, it felt a lot like a goodbye, too.
"Does Dew know you're here?"
"He does, he doesn't care."
"Typical Dew."
"Yeah."
Dew knew, so there was... there was no guilt there.
Cumulus had known, too, but...
"Why are you apologizing? We all mess around."
...Why had she wanted her to be angry?
"...What's wrong with me?"
.
.
.
Swiss will admit, sometimes he makes poor decisions in the heat of the moment that result in... unfortunate circumstances...
"Your dick looks like a fucking glowstick." Dew gapes, beside him, Rain is positively shaking trying to contain his laughter, "Jack it off too hard and accidentally crack it or something?"
"You know the guard you set me up with a while back?" Swiss asks, tucking himself back into his pants, "Yeah, uh, turns out no matter where you stick it, this happens."
"I-It's like you dunked your junk in a vat of highlighter ink..." Rain cackles, "Does it come off?"
"Takes, like, two to three days for the... the glow to fade."
"So if you decided to jack off with the lights off, would your cum also glow? Like is it soaked in that far? Or is it like a weird sunburn?" Dew asks.
"..."
"Swiss?"
"...I need to go test something."
And, honest to Satan's balls, that was what Swiss was intent on doing when in his haste to get back to his dorm, he bumped into a sibling of sin walking through the corridors with-
"Aether?"