Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was nearing midnight, and Mountain was making adjustments to the layout of plants in his greenhouse to accommodate the two new additions to his pack. He had just finished freeing up the space when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. The earth ghoul wiped the dirt off of his hands onto his gardening apron, grabbing his phone to look. A slight, saddened sigh escaped him as he read the words on his screen, a text from Zephyr.

“its bad”

Mountain had received texts like these a few other times before, and had developed a system to respond to them. He shot quick texts to the rest of his old pack, Ifrit, Aether, and Dewdrop, before rising to his feet, swiftly discarding his apron, and making his way to Zephyr’s room. He was relieved to see that Ifrit had seen his message, meeting him at the door. The fire ghoul flashed that damned beautiful smile of his, pulling Mountain into an easy hug.

“Thanks for coming.” Mountain whispered, giving Ifrit a tight squeeze before pulling back.

“I’ll always be here for you two.” The shorter ghoul responded genuinely, kissing Mountain on his cheek before pushing the door open, letting the earth ghoul in first.

The sight in front of the two was heartbreaking, though it was nothing they hadn’t helped with before. Zephyr was curled in on themself, face resting on a heating pad. Their usually fluffy white hair was thrown messily around them, some sticking to their sweat-slicked forehead. Their tail was tucked tight between their legs, an act of submission. The two made their way to the air ghoul, a routine well-practiced.

Ifrit sat on the bed next to Zephyr, leaning against the wall. The two larger ghouls worked to carefully maneuver Zephyr into the fire ghoul’s lap, back leaning against his torso. Immediately, Ifrit started heating his skin up, making as much contact as he could with the air ghoul, taking the place of their measly heating pad. Zephyr melted into their touch, though it was clear that they were still in a great deal of discomfort. Ifrit’s tail wrapped around one of their legs, rubbing soft circles into the tender skin. 

The fire ghoul wrapped his arms carefully around Zephyr’s stomach, settling his head into the crook of their neck and kicking up a comfortable purr. He let his hands travel mindfully, rubbing warmth into the aching knuckles and palms of his air ghoul. Their tail, still puffed, began to slowly swish between their partners. Mountain stayed perched on the corner of the bed, watching them. Silent tears began to spill from Zephyr’s eyes, and they tried to lean into Ifrit’s shoulder to wipe them away without pulling their hands from his.

“What’s up, Dove?” Ifrit asked, lifting his head slightly to look at them.

“I’m just,” The air ghoul started, more tears threatening to fall, “I’m so tired. And my head hurts. And my face and my back and my arms,” they were rambling, tail flicking growing more anxious. “Everything hurts and I just want to sleep.”

Mountain took this as his cue, grabbing something from his pocket and crawling over to the two. Tenderly, his free hand reached out to cup Zephyr’s cheek. His thumb wiped at the newer tears before he connected their lips in a brief but loving kiss. He pulled back and sat on his knees, presenting the item that had been hidden in his pocket.

“Wanna get high?” The earth ghoul offered, holding up a blunt he had rolled for this moment. Zephyr chuckled, giving a little nod as their tears slowed.

Mountain adjusted to straddle the ghouls’ legs, still supporting most of his weight with his own legs to avoid hurting the air ghoul. Using smooth movements, he motioned the joint towards Ifrit. The fire ghoul smiled, bringing a finger up to light it. Instead of returning his hand to Zephyr’s, Ifrit dropped it to rub thoughtlessly at their thigh, massaging with a steady, warm hand. Mountain brought the weed gently to Zephyr’s lips, letting them get a nice suck in before taking a hit of his own.

Ifrit gratefully accepted when it was offered to him next. He took in a deep drag before turning and blowing the smoke into Zephyr’s face, teasing them. The air ghoul giggled, their body relaxing more into Ifrit with every second. The weed didn’t do much to reduce Zephyr’s malaise, but it raised their spirits greatly. They had stopped feeling so puny, so weak, and instead they felt worthy of the help they were receiving. The three sat for a while, nursing the blunt as long as they could.

Ifrit was a notoriously affectionate ghoul when he got high, and this time was no exception. The fire ghoul was purring loud , his hands subconsciously kneading at Zephyr’s stomach and thighs. He had stopped smoking before the other two, but he was surely feeling the effects the most. He began to rub his face on the air ghoul, peppering small kisses here and there along their neck and shoulder. His eyes had fluttered closed a while ago, basking in their partner and the fuzzy state of his own brain.

Mountain climbed off the two, standing and stretching slightly. He moved to snuff out the charred end of the joint before cracking the window open a touch, hopefully it would air out some of the smoke. He sat on the bed again, next to the two. His hand found one of Zephyr’s, holding it delicately.

“How are you feeling, Wallflower?” His tone was soft still, careful.

“Better,” The air ghoul started, leaning somehow farther back into Ifrit’s chest, “still not.. Good.”

“Do you want the rest of the pack?” Mountain offered. It had been a while since all five of them had been alone with each other, but the devotion and intimacy remained unchanged.

“Yeah, I think.” Zephyr nodded, smiling as a faint blush spread across their cheeks, “I think I’d like that a lot.”

Mountain promptly sent off a text to Aether and Dewdrop before tucking himself into Ifrit’s side, claiming his spot in the pile. His tail loosely wrapped itself around Zephyr and Ifrit’s legs, just barely holding on to them. He, too, began to purr, though it was considerably softer than the fire ghoul’s. He placed a simple kiss on Zephyr’s cheek and another to Ifrit’s shoulder as he settled in.

A few moments later, the door gently opened to reveal the two other members of their pack. Zephyr had remained close to Mountain and Ifrit, they had always been the closest with each other, but as the new band pack formed, they lost touch with Aether and Dewdrop. But here they were, just for them. The air ghoul couldn’t stop themself from smiling. 

Dewdrop was the first to join the pile. He climbed on the bed easily, knowing exactly where he wanted to be. He straddled Zephyr’s hips, knees just barely hitting the mattress from the combined height of Zephyr’s and Ifrit’s legs. He wiped away the hair stuck to Zephyr’s forehead, hand lingering for a second on their cheek before pulling away.

“I missed you.” The smaller ghoul said, his voice tiny.

“I missed you too, Droplet.” Zephyr said, matter-of-factly. The two sat for a moment, just looking at each other.

Dewdrop kissed them then, warm and sweet. It had been a long time since they had last kissed. Zephyr thought they could drown in it. The fire ghoul pulled away after a minute, face considerably more flushed than it had been. Nobody would acknowledge it, though. Dewdrop’s attention turned to Ifrit. The larger ghoul’s eyes were barely open, but his pupils were blown. Dew gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“I can’t believe you smoked all the weed without me.” The little ghoul teased, settling down against Zephyr’s chest.

Wordlessly, Ifrit adjusted his arms to fall onto Dew’s waist instead of Zephyr’s stomach. Zephyr mimicked the movement, wrapping their arms firmly around the small ghoul. Dew rested his head on the front of Zephyr’s shoulder, just under Ifrit’s chin. He worked his hand back onto the air ghoul’s face, holding their jaw gently as his hand heated up. Immediately, Zephyr leaned into the small ghoul’s palm, a relieved sigh escaping them. They resisted the urge to press a kiss to it. Another time. The tip of Dew’s tail began to flick protectively.

Once Dewdrop was comfortably in the pile, Aether took his place tucked next to Mountain. Unlike the fire ghouls, he didn’t need to be touching Zephyr for his powers to help. The quintessence ghoul wrapped himself loosely around Mountain, a hand resting on his stomach and his tail placed over his legs. He didn’t want to confine the taller ghoul, he just wanted another point of contact. Mountain wrapped an arm around Aether’s shoulders, pulling him closer and placing a soft kiss between his horns.

“Hi.” Mountain whispered, squeezing Aether’s shoulder.

“Hi.” Aether responded simply, letting his hand rub small circles into the earth ghoul’s stomach. “Ready?”

Mountain nodded before burying his nose in Aether’s hair, basking in his scent. The quintessence ghoul began to purr as the two worked their magic, Mountain producing a calming lavender smell and Aether pushing quintessence into the room to ease their pain and finally lull Zephyr into sleep. Even though it had been months since the pack last grouped together to help Zephyr, they fell back into their old routine without hesitation. They had reached everyone’s favorite stage of the process, the stage where all of them are pulled into a purring sleep on top of each other.

The magic worked like a charm, and soon Zephyr was snoring softly in the fire ghouls’ arms. When he decided Zephyr was asleep enough, Dewdrop repositioned himself. He leaned up to knock his small horns against Mountain’s antlers before tucking himself into Mountain’s free side. His tail found itself wrapped possessively around the earth ghoul’s ankle.

With the literal weight off their chest, Zephyr rolled slightly in their sleep. They turned so they were chest-to-chest with Ifrit, their head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Their legs were curled between Ifrit and Dewdrop. With the movement, both Ifrit and Mountain released their tails from Zephyr’s legs. Mountain’s tail wrapped gingerly around Aether’s waist, pulling him ever-so-closer. Ifrit’s tail followed Zephyr’s, both laid securely over Dewdrop’s small form.

None of them would even think to leave, especially with Aether’s magic slowly pulling them all under. The last thing Mountain remembered before falling asleep was a low purr emanating from Aether’s chest as the smaller fire ghoul grabbed his hand, both resting on Mountain’s stomach.

Just like old times.