A/N: Chapter contains smoking.

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Annie kissed Kali's cheek before he headed out the door, followed closely by Aether until Annie, to his confusion, stopped him with a smile. She pushed his mask up and gave his cheek a kiss as well, giggling when his pale skin turned a nice light pink with a blush as he gave her a lop-sided smile. He told them he'd see them soon, closing the door behind him as he rushed down to the dens to take his own shower and change.


"Well, now I am feeling left out, amore," Copia whispered as his arms wrapped around her. She laughed and patted at his arm gently, turning her head to kiss his cheek before pulling away.

"There. Now you got one, too. Come, you need to shower, and I need to change."

The Cardinal laughs softly as he starts to undo his coat, working through the buttons while walking into the bedroom. "Tell me about the coven, amore. Of this high priestess you brought back."

"There isn't too much to tell." Annie follows him into the bedroom, going to the dresser to rummage for a new outfit. "There's maybe about thirty or so. Men, women, and children. They seem peaceful. The only magic against us that I felt was when we first arrived when they didn't know who I was and when a man shoved me away from his daughter."

"Che cosa?" Copia's hands stopped midway from undoing his pants as he looked at her. "A man did what now?"

Annie looks over her shoulder at him, fighting a blush seeing him in just his pants. His incredibly tight and revealing pants that hug his thighs like a second skin, showing his outline, which, she notices while blushing even deeper, is somewhat hard.

"Uh, yeah," she managed after swallowing and quickly turning away. "She fell and gouged her knee. I went to her aid, and when he finally got to us, he freaked out. I don't blame him. If I saw a stranger with my child when they were hurt, I would probably freak out too."

Copia sighs and continues with his pants after kicking off his shoes. His clothes piled haphazardly on the bed he walks into the bathroom and Annie has to force herself not to stare after him. They didn't have time to do anything, even as the pull fluttered and whined with longing. They had to get ready. Rhea and Imperator were waiting for them.

"Are you going to wear black or red again, hun?" Annie calls loud enough for him to hear from over his shower.

"I am thinking the red, amore. That is the color of my station," he calls back.


Annie nods and sets out a clean red cassock along with his comfortable black suit pants and shirt on the bed along with the accessories that go with it and a pair of shiny oxfords. His clothes from the ritual placed in the hamper, she focuses on her outfit. She was torn between a soft lilac dress and one of a beautiful rosewood with vermilion accents. She chose the latter and had it up over her hips, about to slide her arms into the designated holes when a hot, wet and firm body pressed against her back, arms around her bare middle. The touch made her shiver and she held back a groan as she rested her head against his shoulder, feeling lips against the scar on her right shoulder.

"Mia Bella Dea," Copia whispers with a sigh. "How I long to cuddle and just take a nap with you."

"I'm sorry," Annie replies in her own whisper, gently worrying at her lip. "Hopefully this won't take too long and we can come back and relax."

He places another soft kiss to the side of her neck before pulling away and going to the bed where his clothes are laid ready. Annie keeps her eyes turned away as he towels himself dry and it's not until his pants are on that she allows herself to look, situating her dress best she could until he had a moment to help her lace up the back. His socks, pants and shirt on he motions for her to turn around as he steps back over, making quick work of the lacing on the back while she holds her hair out of the way. With that done he slips on his shoes and pulls the cassock over his head. It was Annie's turn to step over, fingers securing the long line of buttons while he pulled on his gloves. Buttons finished Annie stepped back and he wrapped the fascia around his waist, tying it off as he walked back into the bathroom to apply his pants and slick back his hair

"Do you need your biretta?" She asks, ducking down to peer into her vanity mirror to tame and smooth her own hair back down. "Or the pellegrina?"

"I think that would be a little much, no?"

Annie shrugs in response, hearing him walk back over. She grabs her discarded belt and takes her large hunting knife off it, replacing it with another wider satchel before securing it around her, one side angled closer to her waist and the other curved just below her hip.  Giving herself a once over she faces him with a smile.

"Your ensemble here is always too much,” she says, looking him over as he makes sure his cassock is smoothed out. “So many layers to get through.”

Copia laughs and nods, peeking into her mirror behind her to make sure his hair was indeed still behaving. “Si, lots of layers. At least it is comfortable, and I am efficient in removing them quickly, if needed. Are you ready, amore?”

Annie smiles with a blush at his words before she kisses his cheek, heading to the main door with him following close behind.

____________________________________

Imperator sat behind her desk, wearily eying the dark blonde woman with sharp gray eyes who sat opposite with a look of indifference mixed with the barest hint of curiosity on her face.

“Forgive the Cardinal’s tardiness,” Imperator says with a pleasant smile. “He just returned from one of his missions and needed to freshen up before joining us. Can I offer you something to drink? Tea, or water perhaps?”

“Tea would be appreciated. Thank you, Sister Imperator.”

Imperator picked up her phone and dialed, waiting only a moment before requesting a tray of tea and snacks be brought to her office. Placing it back in its cradle she turned once more to the woman opposite her.

“I hope your accommodations are to your liking?”

“They are. Thank you for such hospitality on such short notice.”

“It is no trouble. Always happy to have guests.” Imperator sat back slightly in her chair, a small smile gracing her face. “Father Jakobi told me that you are a High Priestess? How long have you had that position?”

Rhea laughs softly, mirth shining in her eyes. “Is that your way to ask my age?”

“Of course not! I was merely curious. Truthfully we do not-”

Imperators reply was cut off by a brisk knock at the door and she turned to see it open. Annie ducked in the room first, followed closely by Copia and Aether who closed the door behind them before stepping off to the side, standing against the wall with his hands lightly clasped behind his back.

Annie raises and crosses her arms over her chest, fists to shoulders as she bows slightly. "Merrily met, M'lady. This is Cardinal Copia. The ghoul accompanying us is Aether."

“Mi dispiace for my tardiness," Copia says with a smile, stepping closer to where Rhea sat. He fisted his hand over his chest and gave a slight bow in her direction. "I hope you ladies have not been waiting long?"

Rhea nods politely at Annie before turning to the Cardinal, her face barely betraying her mild shock seeing his white eye.  Extending her hand towards him, her smile softens. "We have not been waiting long. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Copia takes her hand intending to place a kiss to the back of it but instead winces slightly when her grip tightens and he feels an icy warmth tingle across his palm. Confused, he turns from her to glance at Annie but she seems frozen in place, mid movement, not even breathing. Looking around both Aether and Imperator appear frozen as well.

"What..?"

"A moment in time, Copia," he hears Rhea's voice within his head. "You are not what you seem, are you?"

"I… I don't-"

"You are more than simply blessed by our Dark Lord. His essence runs deeper than that. It is intriguing." Copia looks at her, feeling the warm tingle spread up his arm as her grip once more tightens. "Yet… whatever is within you is still locked away. You've barely begun to tap into what you are, what powers you possess."

Copia swallows thickly and finally manages to force a question past his dry feeling lips. "What are you talking about? What is locked away?"

"Your true self. One you must find to face your destiny, Vincenzo, Son of Hellfire."

Son of Hellfire. He'd heard that before. Annie had called him that as well. But…what did it mean?

Before he could ask any more questions the icy hot tingling sensation faded and Rhea took her hand back. The others in the room began to move, the High Priestess turning to Imperator with a smile on her face as though nothing had happened.

"Hun?" Annie whispers softly as she steps closer, her hand resting on his arm. He slowly turned to her, seeing worry in her eyes. "Is everything okay? You're really pale."

"Ah, si," he chuckles nervously, reaching over to gently pat her hand. "Just…just a long day, amore. Nothing to worry about."

How he wanted to kiss her then, the pull within rearing its feral head with the need to claim her, but he pushed that aside, turning back to the conversation instead. He tried to focus, he really did, but Rhea's Words echoed through his mind in a haunting whisper.

____________________________________

Over an hour and two cups of tea later, everyone sat content with what they had agreed upon. Copia was shocked. He had thought she wouldn't, but Imperator gave in to the request to allow the coven to reside in the woods for the foreseeable future. Next to him Annie was smiling widely from the edge of her seat, happy that things had worked out. Now they were simply discussing the minor details, restrictions and limitations for both coven and congregation, and on how the relocation would work. Imperator had offered several ghouls to phaze the members of the coven but Rhea had refused with a soft laugh.

"We have a spell we use. It’s intricate and can be dangerous if not done properly, but it teleports everyone and everything within our protected circle similar to how your ghouls travel. I simply need to go to the area we would relocate to and perform my half of the rite," she had explained. The only question was when it would take place. Copia had another ritual in two days, Annie would be finding the second coven, so it would either happen tomorrow, or in three days.


After some deliberation it was decided that Rhea would return to her coven in the morning to prepare them for the move and on friday a ghoul would phaze her to where they would relocate so she could perform the teleportation ritual. Imperator, though she had agreed, was still worried about them being there. Worried to the point that Rhea cast a blood oath.

"With this blood I bind my words," she said as she pulled a pin free from her hair. At least, that's what Annie thought it was before noticing it was a short, slim, and very sharp looking knife of some kind that she used to slice across her palm.  Blood beaded from the wound and rose into the air, taking on a slight glow as it spun and stretched into an inverted pentagram. "Neither me nor mine shall cause willful harm or destruction to any that reside on these grounds as part of the Ministry, be they members, ghouls or guests."

A gust of wind flared briefly as the blood pentagram ignited into a bright flame that caused the others to wince before it faded to nothing, the oath felt within them all. It eased Imperator and she gave a nod and smile with her thanks for the assurance.


A ghoul Annie did not recognize knocked on the door after a brief call from Imperator to escort Rhea back to her room. Farewells bid, she left, and the remaining trio waited at Imperators request where they discussed the plans for the following two days. There truly was not much to say, as nothing had changed. Tomorrow would be a day of relaxation and practice, and on Thursday Copia and Annie would part ways in the morning, him to where the ritual was to take place and Annie with her group of ghouls to find the next coven. Hopes were high that it would go just as well as today but they all knew that they had to be ready for anything.


"No more offers of shelter, Annie," Imperator told her in a stern tone. "Friendship we would be open to, but no others are welcome to stay."




Bidding Imperator a good night, Copia lets Annie exit the office first before following, Aether walking close behind once he closes the door. The trio walked in the halls, quiet. Annie held Copia’s hand and reached back to grab Aethers arm, linking hers with his and forcing him to walk next to her. The ghoul glanced over her head towards Copia, eyebrow raised behind his mask and the Cardinal simply shrugged with a small smile of his own. Back at their rooms, Annie invited Aether to stay for dinner but he politely declined, feeling exhaustion begin to set in himself, and if he was as tired as he was, he knew Copia would be even more so since he does more on stage.

“Another night, love. I’ll look forward to it. See you both tomorrow.”

The couple watched him walk down the hall, Copia’s eyes lingering on his ass before he unlocks the door and lets Annie in, closing and relocking the door behind him.





Aether walks down the halls, taking the several staircases to the lower levels where the ghouls' dens were located. Once he was walking down the last familiar hall he pulled off his mask and balaclava with a sigh, his steps slowing as he neared his room. It was getting late and he heard the others gathered in the main room, so instead of simply stripping and flopping onto his large plush bed he changed out of his uniform into some comfortable sleep shorts that fell to just above his knee and a stretched and faded band tee. He smiled at the fond memory of it, being one that he had stolen back from Copia who claimed it as his own for the longest time. Barefoot, he finally let his glamour drop as he padded out of his room and towards the common area, the commotion growing louder.

“No, but that’s..Ugh!” Dew grumbled, perched on the back of one of the sofas, Swiss sitting between his parted legs as the gremlin kneaded and rubbed at his shoulders. “Y’all’s just don’t get it.”

“Of course we don’t,” Seth laughed softly. “We aren’t you! You’re special in that head of yours. I don’t think anyone understands you half the time.”

“Oy!” Swiss sat up and cracked an eye open to look at the human. He shivered and winced lightly as Dew worked on an extra tense knot along his spine. “Mate. Right here. I think I understand him plenty. Hells, earlier I held his trap shut so he wouldn’t break the tender moment Copia and Annie had after the ritual knowing he was busting to say something snarky.”

Cirrus giggled and shook her head, a smile wide on her face. “Yeah, how’s your hand after that?”

“Better, thanks,” Swiss laughs, relaxing back against Dew who laughs softly and licks at his lips.

“You’re lucky…” Dew trailed off, but Swiss knew what he meant at the end. “Could’ve bitten right through it but I didn’t.”

“Only because you know it’s the hand I use to smack that ass of yours. And you know how much you love it when I do. One hand tangled in your hair, the other making your ass nice and red for me before I-” The grip on his shoulders grew incredibly tight and hot and he broke off with a laugh, leaning his head back to look up at the blond, seeing his face darken with a blush even as he clenched his jaw in irritation. “Aww, so adorable when you’re flustered like that.”

Dew growled and leaned back enough to shift his legs, using his feet to kick Swiss off the couch so he landed with an oof on the hard floor where he devolved into harder laughter joined by the others. Even Aether laughed from where he leaned in the doorway, looking out at his pack, all of them happy and relaxed and without their glamour.

Swiss on the floor with his tail twitching lazily as he laughs, Dew still on the back of the couch with his arms crossed over his bare chest as he grumbles. Cumulus was curled up in one of the arm chairs, a wide smile on her face that was framed by her wild wavy white-blonde hair. Cirrus was alone on the love seat, her wings folded comfortably close to her back. Rain was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of Seth who occupied one of the other arm chairs, his head leaned back as the man ran his fingers through Rains long hair, untangling it from around his horns. Mysti and Ace were sitting at the counter, both sipping on some tea as they watched the others.


“Make way!” Aether heard from behind and he turned, barely moving out of the way as Kali bounded past with Sunshine giggling and clinging to his back, one arm raised in the air holding a baggie of something he couldn’t make out and he shook his head before following them into the room.

“Nice of you to join us, Starman!” Swiss calls, hefting himself back up on the couch between Dews legs. “How’d the meeting go?”

“Quite boring, actually. That Priestess seems interesting, though. Definitely powerful.” Aether lowers himself to the free spot on the end of the couch, crossing one leg over the other. “Might even rival our witch in power. Certainly on experience.”

“Imperator agreed to them staying, then?” Kali asks as Sunny climbs off his back with a kiss to his cheek.

“Yeah. Gonna be moving on friday.”

“Enough boring chit-chat,” the fire ghoulette said with a groan. “We’re here to relax and party!”

“Sunbeam, those two things contradict each other. How can we both relax and party, hmm?” Cirrus asks her with a giggle. Sunshine’s smile widens and her eyes shine as she holds up her baggie for all to see.

“I..is that..?” Dew asks, leaning over to get a better look. “Oh, that better be what I think it is!”

“My secret stash of Mountys Cloud Dancer, already pre rolled for our enjoyment? You bet your fiery ass it is!”

“Oh, I could kiss you!” The gremlin shouts, throwing his arms in the air before leaning backwards to flip off the couch, landing on his feet as he skips over. Sunshine turns and holds it out of his reach, pushing back against his chest.

“Down, boy!” She laughs. “Enough to share but we’ve gotta do just that. Share. So go wait your turn before I take mine to tie you up and leave you helpless.”

Swiss bites at his lip to hold in a laugh but unable to keep all sound muted as he lets out a choked snicker. He loved when others teased his gremlin too because his reactions were way more unpredictable, and they didn’t disappoint this time. Dew’s tail curled and twitched as his shoulders rolled, his back flushing as he sputtered and growled before lunging for the baggie again. Sunshine simply tossed it blindly over his head where it landed on Rain’s lap after bouncing off his head.

“Quick, toss it!” Sunny yells over and the confused water ghoul looks up in time to see a streak of blonde rushing at him before he yelps and quickly tossed the bag in a random direction before bracing himself for the hit that never came. Peeking out between his arms he saw Dew slide and change direction in chase as Cirrus tossed it over his head again, finally landing in Aether’s lap. The broad ghoul didn’t so much as twitch a muscle, eyes trained on Dew as he skid to a stop with a groan knowing better than to try and take it from him.

“C’mon Aeth…” Dew nearly whines. “Open it up and pass it out, man. Haven't had that good shit in weeks!”

“Not my problem, Droplet,” Aether said with a smirk. Dew blushed even brighter at the use of that nickname from the broad ghoul and he turned away, hiding his face with his hair. He stammered, looking for something to say before giving up with a groan, jumping back onto the couch to take his place behind Swiss.

“Poor baby,” Swiss coos, leaning back to look up at Dew. “You’ll get some, don’t worry.”


Aether smiles and tosses the baggie back to Sunshine who opens it and hands one to Kali, telling him to share it with Seth. She hands one to Aether and one to Swiss, tossing one to Ace and Mysti before taking the final, going over to sit across Cirrus’ lap.

“Speak now before you’re blasted into orbit,” Sunshine says with a giggle, nuzzling Cirrus’ cheek with her own, looking around the room. No one says anything, most laughing softly at her words. “Alright then. Time to party!”

Sunshine sparks a flame on her fingertip as she holds the joint between her lips, inhaling while she lights the end. She moans softly as she exhales after a moment, passing the joint to Cirrus. Dew reaches around Swiss, igniting his own flame for the multi-ghoul to light up before offering his fire to Aether who does the same. He’s about to extinguish it when Ace leans over, their joint between their lips and Dew rolls his eyes before helping them light up as well. Kali, situated next to Rain and Seth and trying to not be nervous in the close proximity, lights up their joint, taking a deep inhale before passing it to Seth. Rain shifts so he’s turned more, face tilted up to watch the man. Kali watches them as he slowly exhales, his breath catching when Seth leans over and shotguns the hit into Rain’s mouth, their lips almost touching. He had assumed that when Sunshine told him to share with Seth that it was because Rain didn’t partake, so now he was curious why Rain didn’t just take the hit himself.

“Fuck yeah,” Dew nearly moans as he slowly exhales a thick cloud of smoke, visibly relaxing with a lazy smile on his face. Swiss laughs and takes the joint back, shaking his head.

“So has anyone actually asked Mount when he’d grow more?” Swiss asks after a few minutes, his eyes slightly unfocused as he turns to face the ghoul next to him.

“Nah. He’s been busy with Lilit,” Aether says, taking a long deep drag. He holds it for several seconds, passing to Cumulus who had perched herself on the arm rest next to him. “Gotta keep an eye on her.”

“You’ve been going to see her daily. What’s going on with her? She gonna be better soon?” Mysti asks from her spot after coughing after too big of a hit. Ace laughs softly and rubs her back, taking the joint from her.

“Yeah. Shouldn’t be long now. Doing better day by day. Everything’s going well, finally not spending so much energy on the k-”

“On making sure she gets better!” Rain quickly cuts off Aether, knowing how loose his tongue could get under the influence, and this strain was one of the strongest ones Mountain ever produced. “That hex was certainly something! Even I felt a bit drained after it.”

Kali looked over at the ghoul next to him, his brow raised in question as Seth passed back the joint. ‘That was a bit odd,’ he thought before turning his attention to the man as he leaned over to Rain to share his hit.

“I’m at my limit, Rainy,” Seth slurred lightly as he swayed. “You good if I stop?”

Rain pouts lightly but nods, having shotgunned all his hits from seth. “Yeah, it’s fine Karlek. You don’t have to overdo it just for me.”

“What are you talking about? I’ll share the joint with you, too,” Kali says before taking another hit, holding the joint out to the water ghoul.

“I… can’t take my own hits,” Rain sighs lightly. “Haven’t been able to since I woke up from the coma. Burns too much. Lungs never healed quite right after…”

Kali feels a stab to his chest.

“I.. I’m sorry,” he whispers, lowering the joint. Rain gave him a soft smile and reached over, placing a webbed hand on his knee.

“It’s okay. I’ve forgiven you, remember?”

“Doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven myself.”

Rain looks up at Seth, getting the man's attention as he quickly signs something Kali doesn’t catch, but he does see Seth nod with a smile. Rain pulls him down to give him a soft kiss and whisper against his lips before scooting closer to Kali.

“Shotgun me,” Rain says. Kali nearly chokes on his drag, coughing out a thick cloud of smoke as he thumps his fist into his chest, wincing at the burn in his throat from it.

“W-what?”

“You heard me. Shotgun with me.”

Kali looks from him to the man sitting in the chair, a lazy smile on his face. He watches as Seth slowly looks over, eyes blinking as he tries to focus before he gives a wink and thumbs up.

Kali hesitates, swallowing thickly at the thought. It would be too intimate, no? Being so close to Rain’s lips like that. They knew they still held feelings for each other, and the weed wasn’t doing anything to help his control. He couldn’t… but he wanted to. And Rain told him to, so it should be okay, right? Just two friends, sharing a hit. That’s all. Right?


He’s drawn from his thoughts as Rain lets out a muffled gasp, arm flailing and otherwise blocked by a curtain of copper and gold as Dew shares his hit with Rain. By sealing their mouths together in a scalding kiss that ends with the gremlin pulling back with a laugh.

“Now that’s a way to do it!”

“Thawas hot,” Swiss slurred from his spot between giggles as he fell back against the cushion behind him. “Where’s mine?”

“Dammit, Dew,” Rain hisses, shoving a laughing Dew away before wiping at his mouth.  Dew simply laughs harder and stumbles back over to Swiss, oping to flop onto the ghouls lap instead of crawling back onto his spot.

“Got your hit, though. Don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Dew laughs again, taking another drag before pulling Swiss’ mouth to his to repeat the action with him. Swiss moans into his mouth, arms wrapping tightly around Dews waist.

Kali looks away and shakes his head, taking a small hit, trying to ignore the others as they devolve into random half conversations and giggles as they finish their joints. Mysti and Ace have moved towards the others, only making it as far as the coffee table before becoming giggly piles of limbs, Mysti with her head on Ace’s lap as they stare at the ceiling. Cirrus and Sunshine were in their own world, giggling between kisses and incoherent sentences that made them giggle louder. Cumulus had slid off the arm rest and now straddled Aether, her head on his shoulder as they finished off their joint, wide smiles on their faces. Behind him, Seth occasionally gave his own giggles, moving his hand around and smiling like it was the funniest thing to watch. To him, it probably was. Mountain didn’t call this strain ‘Cloud Dancer’ for nothing.

“You gonna give me another hit, or not?” Rain asks as he scoots closer, drawing Kali from his thoughts. He laughed softly and relit the end of the joint as it had gone out while he was distracted.

“You…sure it’s okay?”

“Yeah. It’s okay.”

Kali watched him while he took a deep drag, holding it as he leaned closer. Rain met him in the middle and Kali fought off a blush as he felt Rain’s breath against his face. Blinking away intrusive thoughts he slowly exhales into Rain's mouth. It was when he took his next breath that his inward grip had to tighten on his control and resolve, picking up Rain's scent of ocean waves and the petchor of a spring rain. It was strong and went to his head, both of them, making him groan softly.

"This is dangerous," he whispers, pulling back slowly.

"I know," Rain whispers back, unmoving as he watches Kali take another drag for himself.

“What did Aether mean? Before you cut him off? You know something, don’t you?” Kali keeps his voice low, even though he knew no one would be focused on them, too far gone as their highs clouded their minds. He takes another drag and leans over to shotgun with Rain once more.

“Lilit’s recovering energy is all.”

Kali shoots him a look. “I’m not dumb. You don’t spend energy to save energy and get better after something so taxing. So, what’s going on?”

“Don’t worry about it. She’s doing alright, that's all we need to know,” Rain sighs, giving a pleading look for him to drop it.

“Fine.” Kali pouts and rubs at his eye, blinking back focus as it starts hitting him now. He’d always had a higher tolerance, no matter the strain, so it took a bit longer for him to get there. “Couple more hits left. Want each to be shared?”

“If you don’t mind.” Rain flashes him a soft lazy smile. He’s swaying ever so slightly but his eyes are still bright. Kali nods and takes another hit, leaning over to share it with Rain. He doesn’t pull as far back for the next, swaying himself now and he didn’t trust his guage of distance.

He takes the final hit of the joint before setting the roach on the cold stone floor next to him. He holds it an extra second, leaning over again to exhale into Rain’s mouth and the world spins violently on him to where he loses his balance, flailing slightly as he brings his hands to Rain’s chest to brace himself but not before their lips connect. The whole world seems to stop then, only for a second, then it’s heated and turned on its head. He’s floating and falling all at the same time, a desperate moan escaping his throat and he moves on instinct, pressing closer to the water ghoul as his eyes slide closed, lips moving against Rains. He tasted the same, cool and sweet. He never thought he’d taste it again.

Rain hesitated a moment, also in shock at the accidental kiss that was quick to deepen, but it’s quickly pushed aside as he melts into it. Seth knew of his conflicted feelings towards his former mate, supported him and encouraged him to do what he felt was right, and this felt right. It felt wrong. It felt like home yet it was also a stranger. And, he realized with a moan, he wanted more.


As soon as it started, it was over. Kali pulled away quickly with a moment of clarity, his eyes wide and watery, full of conflict as he stared at Rain. Before the water ghoul could say anything Kali was scrambling to his feet, stumbling over the mass of Mysti and Ace in his rush out of the room. Rain felt his heart give a painful flutter as he lifted his fingers to his lips, feeling the lingering tingle in them.

“S’okay,” Seth mumbled from behind him as he slid from his chair with a giggle once he was on the floor. “Love strickery. You’ll figure sssmthin out. I susport you, no matter wha-appens.”

Rain lays back, resting his head on Seth’s lap with a sigh, closing his eyes as the world around him twists and swirls.

“Sossoft,” Seth giggles again, running his fingers through Rain’s hair. “Love you, Rainy.”

“You’re high,” Rain laugh, the soft sound bubbling into light giggles. He feels like he’s riding a boat in a storm, the floor below him rocking the more he relaxes. “But I love you too.”

“Yay!” Seth raises his free arm, leaning his head back against the chair he previously occupied with a groan. “Faaak, Im am high. Whos gotssum munchers?”