the dark is the season

The venue being just blocks from their hotel earns them a chilly post-show walk, made only slightly warmer by the residual adrenaline and proximity of over-warm bodies. Aether’s thighs ache, muscles tight from repeated lunging and thrusting and other jaunty, jumpy movements. He’s no limber ghoul, not like Rain with his long (albeit clumsy) legs; but, he’s still young by ghoul standards.

So he tells himself. This cold, however does nothing to soothe any lingering soreness.

The joint passed from Dew to Swiss to him thankfully does, though, easing the pain with each rotation. Some variety with a little kick to it, not the usual smooth blend they’re used to with Mountain’s. But that’s what you get when you have to buy local.

It’s not bad though. Hits the same in Aether’s lungs, which is hot and fast. It’s only a few puffs before his head is pleasantly fuzzy, his limbs minutely warmer. He’s always been a lightweight, even when it comes to the human-grown stuff. Thankfully, Dew is not, so he has someone solid to amble through the cold with.

“Mm,” said fire ghoul hums after taking another pull. “‘S pretty good shit.” Dew’s warm hand tightens in Aether’s inside his coat pocket. “Doin’ okay, big guy?” he asks, passing the dwindling joint to Swiss instead.

A noticeable shiver runs through his neck. “I’ll be better when I’ve got scalding hot water spraying against my shoulders, that’s for sure.” He gives a weak chuckle.

“Could be a shower and these hands,” Dew conspires with a grin, bumping against Aether.

Aether makes an appreciative mmm and smiles down at him. “Now, what’s a ghoul gonna say to that? No?”

“Yeah, he’s gonna work out all those knots, that’s for sure,” Swiss snickers, flicking the last of the joint’s burnt end into the grass.

“Maybe you should ask Sunny to work out yours, marshmallow,” Aether retorts. “I know one that could use some extra attention.” He turns his eyes down pointedly towards his crotch.

The multi ghoul tosses his head back and laughs, full-bellied. “And what’s a ghoul gonna say to that?” he parrots. “No?”

There’s a scurrying of feet from behind them, and then Sunshine is grabbing at Swiss’ waist through his coat, giggling when he yelps.

“You know, I got a few knots of my own, Swissy,” she play-growls.

Swiss grabs at her in return, searching for her ticklish spots. “Oh yeah, multi girl?”

“Maybe if you’re good, you can work ‘em out for me,” she says.

“And if I’m not?”

“Well, you’re not my actual roommate for the night, are ya? Rainy is.” With a bite to his jaw, she runs ahead of them, curls bouncing where they stick out of her beanie. Aether can only snort as Swiss trots after her.

As if on cue, Rain shoves between them, huddling against Dew. The frozen tip of his nose presses into the warm spot behind his ear. “‘M cooooold,” he whines.

“I know, starfish,” Dew replies, taking his gloved hands up to his mouth and huffing hot breath onto them. Rain trills. “But Sunny ‘n Swiss’ll keep you warm,” he presses a kiss to Rain’s fabric covered knuckles for good measure, “promise.”

Rain grumbles, kicking his booted foot and flinging fresh, powdery snow in front of their feet. Unseasonably cold and damp, venue staff had said, leading to a quick snowfall just as the last chords on his guitar faded.

“They just wanna fuck,” Rain pouts.

Dew gives him a look. “And you don’t?” Rain sniffs. “Just use your princess ways against them, they’ll be powerless to resist.”

“Hmpf,” he says indignantly. Like a true royal. “Fine.” And he takes off to catch up to the other two.

“We will be hearing him through the walls,” Mountain comments in front of them, watching Rain push his way in between the jestering pair.

“Absolutely,” Aether agrees. He shivers again, huddling back against Dew. His mate takes his hand into his coat again, forcing a burst of heat through Aether’s glove like a hand warmer.

“Here,” Dew half-whispers. He fishes out another, smaller joint, sticking it in his mouth and quickly lighting it with a pinch of his fingers. He takes a short drag and hands the rest to Aether. “Got another one that Swiss won’t hog,” he jokes.

Aether smiles and squeezes Dew’s hand in his pocket. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Only every twenty minutes,” the fire ghoul grins. He pushes at Aether’s lips with the end of the joint until he opens up. “There. Smoke. It’ll warm you up.”

Aether chuckles and takes a long drag. Delightful, smooth smoke coats his lungs and warms him up, just a touch.

Thankfully, the hotel comes into sight as they round the corner, but Aether’s grateful for the last minute warmth nonetheless.

After a short mix up with their room numbers (and a very tired Copia pinching the bridge of his nose trying not to lose it with the young receptionist), Aether finally gets to drop his duffel in the corner of a hotel room and slam himself face down on one of the beds.

“Urgh.” His grumble hardly muffles itself against the slippery duvet, exhaustion at its peak. The linens are chill against his exposed skin, far less inviting than they first looked. “Why’s it so cold,” he complains.

“Probably have the heat turned down,” Dew comments, setting down his own bags. There’s rustling, then booted footsteps walking across the room and back again. “Where the fuck is the—ah.”

Aether flips his head to watch Dew fiddle with the thermostat, some new tech thing with no buttons and a bright screen. But there’s also a dial—no, the entire thing is a dial? And the entire thing is actually one button? Aether shares the confusion as Dew attempts to move through the menus, cursing under his breath.

“‘S there, like,” Aether flings out an arm to wave it nonsensically in the direction of the table, “a guide or something?”

“Humans and their fuckin’ technology,” he hisses. “Makes me miss the abbey’s radiators sometimes.”

“'Least those are just a knob.”

“You’re a knob.”

Aether frowns. “Heyy.”

Dew just snorts. “Help me figure this out; you’re the one that’s cold, big guy.”

Aether grumbles a fine and peels himself off the bed, picking up the binder that he spots across the room. Predictably, there’s a list of room service options, TV channels, local to-do’s, and a user guide for the various appliances in the room—including the thermostat.

“Does this look right?” Dew points to the screen which is now a gradient orange with Heat and a temperature displayed. Aether holds up the page in the binder next to the screen, comparing to the picture.

“Says you can spin the thing and choose the temperature, and then you . . . yeah, that should work.”

“Fuckin’ farenheit,” Dew grumbles, poking the screen enough to depress it and trigger the forced air. “Think it’s good.” He cocks his head, watching the screen dim.

Aether watches him watch the thermostat.

After a few seconds, Dew’s ear flicks and he looks around with a scowl on his face. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Are we . . . supposed to?”

A beat. The fire ghoul narrows his eyes—considering, not scowling. His tongue curls over the front of his teeth and his eyes close fully, weed-addled brain visibly processing if a hotel’s heating system should make enough noise to indicate its functionality.

Eventually: “I don’t know,” he says solemnly.

Aether blows air through his lips, shoulders deflating a little. The weed is making it hard to care too much.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” he muses, closing the binder and tapping on the cover. “Need a hot shower. That should give it time to get its shit together, yeah?” He turns and tosses the thing back onto the table, nearly missing.

Dew hums an agreement, sliding up behind the taller ghoul and slipping his arms around his middle. “How ‘bout I make it hotter?” he lilts, floating his spidery fingers over Aether’s hips and teasing at the waistband of his pants. “Know you want these.”

Aether leans into his body, rumbling at the heat radiating off of him. “Lucifer, do I,” he groans. “Shoulders first though, love, they’re killing me.”

Dew tsks. Grabs at his belly. “You suuuure?” He brushes them up even higher, grabbing at his pecs. Always grabby when he’s high. “Don’ want something else first?”

Aether looks down at his hands groping over his sweatshirt, comically small from his point of view. He laughs. He can’t argue they feel nice there—too nice—but he needs heat on his back five minutes ago.

He mentions as much, and the other grumbles, but ultimately they make it to the shower without further delay.

Aether paws at the shower dial, cranking it all the way to the left until it stops. He holds his hand under the spray. “Is this as hot as it gets?” he grumbles, flipping his hand palm up.

“I’ll get it as hot as you want,” Dew assures. “C’mon, lemme put my hands all over you.” He holds them out in front of him and makes a squeezing motion, once again directed at Aether’s chest.

Aether removes his hand from the shower spray to swat at Dew's hands, water droplets flying everywhere.

“Stop tryn’a grab me, boobs man,” he jokes.

“That’s tits man to you.” Dew flips his hair dramatically over his shoulder, tail following suit and flicking behind him as he steps into the shower. Exposing the tiny curve of his ass. Aether gives it a smack, chuckling at the yip it earns him.

“Better watch it, or I’m grabbin’ everywhere but where you want,” Dew taunts, backing into the shower spray.

Any rebuttal Aether has dies on his tongue when he finally gets his body under hot water. He groans as it hits his face, not quite as hot as he wants it, but hot enough to feel as good as magic after their long day. He stands there in the spray, eyes closed, arms limp at his sides.

“Need a little more steam?” Dew asks.

“Mn,” Aether hums. A non-answer that makes Dew snort in amusement. The fire ghoul pushes the dampening hair off of Aether’s forehead, following the rivulets down the back of his head, the back of his neck, looping around back to his front as they run through the gap in his collarbone. His palms leave two trails of warmth, a blooming pleasantness that makes him reach out for Dew’s wrists to cement those hands to his body.

“Nooo,” the smaller ghoul lilts. “Soap. Lemme go.”

Aether just grumbles, frowning.

“Yes. Soap,” Dew reiterates. He flexes his fingers against his chest, digging his nails in until Aether relents and lets go of his wrists.

“Ow,” Aether says weakly. “D’ya bring the good stuff?”

“If by ‘good stuff’ you mean the soap Swiss bought from that market a few weeks ago and thought he lost but really I took the bar from his duffel bag—then yes, I brought the good stuff.”

Aether groans appreciatively. “Yes, put it on me.”

“Aye aye.”

Dew grabs the (deformed, quite frankly) bar of soap and unceremoniously plops it on Aether’s chest, lathering it in the spray. Its sweet scent mingles with the steam rising between them, honey and smokey vanilla, a stark and welcome contrast to the lingering sweat on their necks and the metallic bite of the string indents on their fingers.

“How’d you get grease paint on your tits?” Dew furrows his brow, scrubbing at a random spot on his chest.

Aether smirks. “Everyone but you wears grease paint, dewbug—how do you think?”

Dew stops scrubbing and glares up at him, deadpan. “You’d have a lot more if someone was makin’ out with your chest hair.”

“Hey—”

“You dropped the paint stick again, huh.”

Aether rolls his eyes. Caught. “Fiiine, I dropped it. No wandering kisses for me today.”

“Good. All for me.” Dew takes a soapy hand and gropes the side of his chest he was just scrubbing, momentarily plumping up the top of Aether’s pec. “Mm. These are gonna be all for me, too.”

“Boobs. Man.”

Dew just sticks his tongue out and continues to scrub. He glides the bar over the other side of Aether’s chest, under his arms and his tummy. Ignoring the giggles of ticklish protest as he lathers along his waist. He doesn’t linger there long, thankfully, and when he's done, he guides Aether to turn around, back to the spray.

Aether breathes in a glorious plume of steam, the water vapor caressing his throat and lungs with soothing moisture. The hot water on his back is even better, pelting his sore muscles with precise (and mercifully powerful) jets.

“Oh my fuuuck,” he groans, tipping his head back. Something pops in his neck and he groans again, and if someone was on the other side of the door, they’d probably think he just painted the shower wall in streaks of white.

“Well don’t make that noise,” Dew says, a bit strained. “My dick is gonna get distracted.”

Aether whines. Actually whines. “My shoulderrrss,” he complains to the ceiling. “Rub ‘em and I’ll pay so much attention to your stiffy after, I promise.”

“Uh huh.”

The fire ghoul scrubs the soap along the length of Aether’s spine, working in the suds. When he’s produced enough lather, he sets the bar on the built in ledge in the tile, fingers fumbling with a short, cursed fuck until it stays upright. Then, finally, Dew cranks up the heat in his palms and spreads the soap around. It’s cursory at first, broad motions aimed at actually cleaning this half of his torso and washing away the film of sweat. But another undignified noise escapes Aether’s lips when Dew—finally, finally—digs his fingers into his shoulders and starts massaging.

“There’s a lad, fuck,” he groans. “Gods, please never stop being good to me.”

“Wouldn't dream of it, big guy.” Aether can feel the smirk behind his back. He’s too high now to care about embarrassing, sappy begging. Too relaxed. In fact, the babbling is far from over, especially once Dew really starts to work on those long-set kinks and knots.

Well, one set of kinks and knots.

“You’ve go’ magic hands,” he slurs. He wiggles his shoulders as they start to get loose. “I mean it. I’ll give you the sloppiest blowjob for all this.” Dew presses his thumbs on either side of his neck and Aether nearly keens, hand shooting out to brace himself against the tile as his knees go wobbly. “Lucifer, fuck.”

“Aethe—”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll—”

Dew slips his arms around Aether’s body, pressing up against his back hot and insistent. “I want you,” he says, grabbing—always grabbing—at his stomach, his chest. “Want you right now.” He presses even closer, until his feet slot next to Aether’s, straddling one of his legs. Aether can feel his cock poke into the bottom of his asscheek, hard little head pressing into the meat of it.

“Right now?”

Dew groans. Face turning to the side so he can rest his cheek in between his shoulder blades. His hands slide further down, straight through his happy trail and into the hair that fluffs up around the base of his dick.

“Not all right now,” he mumbles, fingers pressing into the top of his sac, fluttering up along the vein on the underside of his shaft. Aether isn’t hard, but he’s quickly plumping up in interest under the warm pads of Dew’s fingers and his needy insistence.

The fire ghoul humps at his leg—the tiniest motion that no doubt catches Dew’s foreskin just right, if the noise he makes is anything to go by.

“Lemme just touch a little. Body’s so fuckin’ hot.”

“Hotter w’ you touchin’ it.”

Dew hums, hands still roaming. “Yeah, keep talking.”

“Ugh, hands feel so good on me.” Aether turns his head, peeking over his shoulder and looking down at Dew. The sight of the rosy head of his cock makes his mouth dry. “Shit, y’re so hard.”

“What’d you expect, moaning like a whore?” Dew’s hands wander back up to his chest, squeezing both nipples just to make Aether give him a gut-punched sound; one he can’t even think to catch before it spills from his lips. “Yeah, I’m fuckin’ hard.”

Aether groans again, head lolling back to rest on top of Dew’s, horns poking at the base of his skull. “Don’t wanna get out of the shower,” he admits. “‘S so warm ‘n nice.”

Dew grumbles impatiently. “You know what else is warm?” he rasps, flattening his hands out and kicking up the temperature of his palms. Then, he presses tight to Aether’s back, belly melting into his lower back. That heats up too, enticing. The pièce de résistance is the wriggle of his hips against his ass—even his cock is overly warm, calling to Aether like a fresh cup of tea ready to slide down his throat.

Aether sighs, thinking. Imagining. “No room for you t’ put it in my mouth,” he says eventually.

“Then let’s get out.”

“Uuggghh.”

“You said,” Dew insists. Manhandling one of Aether’s hands to reach back and grope his cock. “Already rubbed you; your turn to rub me.” He rocks into Aether’s palm, groaning. “C’mon, want your sloppy mouth on it.”

“Mmn—‘kay, okay,” Aether acquiesces, turning to face the smaller ghoul. “Only ‘cause you asked all dirty.”

The grin on his face mashes into Dew’s teeth when he pulls Aether’s face down to his. Mouths dumb against each other as their desire makes their coordination fumble. Lips part and tongues lash out to taste, but they only get so far as grasping at each others’ hair before the shower spray hits them both square over the nose and makes them splutter apart.

“C–ugh, fuck,” Dew coughs. He blindly reaches behind and yanks on the faucet handle, cutting off the water. He wipes the water from his face and throws his arm to the side in an impatient gesture.

“Yeah—yep.” Aether pulls back the shower curtain and stumbles out onto the too-small bath mat, yanking two equally too-small towels off the rack. He flings one at Dew before vigorously drying off his hair and body.

“I’ll get the bed warm for ya,” Dew chirps, popping out of the shower miraculously half-dry.

Damn fire ghouls.

He tosses his towel back at Aether, hitting him square in the middle with a thwack. Aether offers an ow of meek protest. The sound earns him a smirk tossed over Dew’s shoulder and a tantalizing sway of his hips and tail. “Don’t take too long.” He slips through the door and latches it behind him.

And then Aether’s left standing there alone, steam pluming around him as it escapes the confines of the shower curtain. He sighs, still reluctant to leave the damp warmth of the bathroom.

Vaguely, he hears a thump as Dew presumably flops onto one of the beds, followed by a muffled: “ . . . on, Aethe . . . Don’t . . . in there . . .” Half of his words are cut off by the bathroom fan, but they sound annoyed enough that the quint ghoul scrubs the rest of the moisture off his skin as quickly as ghoulishly possible. His hair will just have to stay damp, there’s no way around that. If he’s lucky, Dew’s hot hands in his hair will dry it off for him.

Aether sighs, already mourning the loss of the warm, steam-filled room, draping the towels across various metal bars until he’s forced to open the door and leave the bathroom.

A cold wall of air smacks him in the face—well, in the entire front of his body—instantly raising goosebumps all over. Aether hisses sharply, the pleasant haze of the shower and the high disappearing from his body in favor of the cold shock of temporary lucidity.

“Dew,” he gasps, trying in vain to cover up his body with only his arms. “What the fuck, I thought we turned the heat on?!”

“We . . . did?” It’s clearly meant to be an accusatory, defensive we did, but it comes out as more of a question. Aether was there, he saw Dew push the buttons (button?). But now, standing in cold, stale air, he’s not sure they were successful.

“Well, why’s it so fuckin’ cold still?”

Dew looks at him shivering just outside the bathroom doorway. He, of course, looks the picture of relaxed and not the least bit freezing. Not even his stiffy has flagged, still standing proud in his loose fist. He lets go of it and springs off the bed, plucking his sweatpants out of his bag and yanking the hotel robe off the hanger in the nearby closet. He yanks the other one off too and flings it in Aether’s direction.

“Hey—”

“‘M goin’ down to the front desk,” Dew frowns. He slips on a pair of socks and walks over to Aether. “Can you take care of this, I don’t wanna talk to her with a full on rager in my pants.”

Aether frowns, pausing the wrapping of his robe. “Right now? I mean, how close are—”

Dew smacks him in the pec. “Just magic it away you perv,” he says, grabbing the quint ghoul’s hand and pressing it to his own hip bone.

“. . . oh.”

It takes a second for Aether’s brain to catch up with him, his quintessence sluggish and dormant feeling. But it crackles to the surface eventually, flowing through his arm into Dew’s pelvis, relaxing his arousal there to make him presentable enough to be seen by a stranger—not that Dew really has qualms about strangers perceiving his dick, but. For the sake of dignity and cordialities, he’s thankful for Aether’s abilities.

“Okay, big guy, don’t turn my legs to jelly.” Dew pushes his hand away, shaking it off and making his way towards the door. He steals one of the key cards off the console table where they dropped them previously and puts it in his pocket. He waves his hand in a nonsensical gesture behind him. “Bed’s warm—don’t turn into a quint-sicle while I’m gone.”

And with a flash of white terrycloth, Dew’s out of the room and marching to the front desk, leaving Aether alone in the too-cold room.

Another wave of cold hits his feet. “Shitshitshit,” Aether mutters, bouncing on his toes as he makes his way to the bed Dew was occupying. Mercifully, there’s still some residual body heat lingering in the sheets as he burrows into them, tugging the blankets straight up to his chin.

The linens smell like Dew, too (underneath the sterile smell of laundry, at least). Aether turns his head into the pillow and tries his best to hone in on the bitter chai of the fire ghoul’s arousal. Dampened smoke and herby vapor. He slips his hand down to his cock as he wills it to fill back out again. Willing the quickly-fading warmth to stay, to tide him over until Dew gets back.

It’s futile, of course. The chill of the room seeps right through the duvet and the top sheet, getting his knuckles colder and colder by the second. He gives up, groaning as he half-heartedly hits the mattress and yanks his hand away. “Stupid,” he mutters. He sits up and scrubs at his face, considering grabbing his phone and complaining to the group chat about his woes.

It’s probably no more than ten minutes that he’s alone, curling in on himself to keep warm, trying to sink back into that pleasant haze that was so rudely yanked from him by the chill of the room, before Dew re-enters with something clunking behind him.

“What’d she—”

“Heat’s broken,” Dew interrupts. “Can’t switch rooms ‘cause they’re full up. So she dug this out of who knows where—” Dew stops walking and visibly takes a breath, shaking his head a little. He squeezes his eyes closed and holds out his hand, palm facing out as if to physically stop his negative thoughts. “Know what? It’s fine,” he says after a beat. He starts unwinding the kinked-up cord from the space heater. It’s old, not a forced air one like Rain sometimes has when the practice rooms get too drafty. No, it’s a beige radiator style with black dials to match its outdated aesthetic.

Great.

Aether shivers. “Dewww,” he whines. “My dick literally deflated, ‘s too cold.”

“Hold on,” Dew grumbles, searching for an outlet. “Where the fuck . . .” He wheels the thing over to the space between the two beds, plopping it down with a clank. He shoves the lamp over on the nightstand to reveal a single receptacle with one outlet and two USB ports. He mutters a thank fuck and shoves the plug into the outlet, whipping around and twisting the dial to HIGH. Within seconds, the heater starts to tick, heating elements kicking to life and warming the coils.

“There,” Dew sighs, already stripping off his makeshift outfit. “Scoot over. ‘Nd give me back my boner.”

Aether scowls at him, yet scoots over to make room for him all the same. “What about my boner?”

“Give me back mine—” Dew grabs his hand and puts it against his hip once again. “—And I’ll give you back yours.”

Aether snorts. “Pushy.” Grabby.

He tries his best to focus, he really does. But being high has its disadvantages in the field of precision. Aether pushes quintessence into Dew’s hip, guiding it to flow through his core and plump him back out. Instead of coming out as a wave of magic, though, it zaps through Dew’s body like a static shock, and the kick of his cock going flaccid to hard in one fell twitch has the fire ghoul doubling over and shoving his hand away.

“Ae-ether,” he wheezes, grabbing the base of his dick with a tight fist. Aether watches a bead of precum leak from the tip. “Fuckin’ watch it.” Dew’s flushed face is a mix of amusement and annoyance when he lifts his head again, ashen strands of hair falling out from behind his ears and framing his expression with far more softness than he’d like.

Aether smiles crookedly. “You’re so cute,” he laughs. He earns an eye roll and a smack for the comment. “He-ey,” he pouts.

“I was promised a sloppy mouth on my cock, big boy,” Dew lilts, scooting himself up to press against Aether’s chest, cock just barely grazing his chin. He keeps shuffling until Aether is forced down onto his back with Dew perched on his knees above him. “S’ open up.”

Dew cards his warm fingers through Aether’s still-damp hair, pulling on it until it earns him a hitched gasp. He smiles at that, lowering himself until his hips are hovering right over the quint ghoul’s mouth. Aether nearly goes cross-eyed looking at his cock, the shiny tip of it just an inch or two away from his lips.

He swallows. “Dew—”

“You said.” Petulant like a child who hasn’t gotten what they wanted. Dew grabs his dick and angles it so the head smears precum over Aether’s lips. “C’mon, lemme fuck it.”

Dutifully, Aether lolls out his tongue and does his best to look up at Dew’s face before he puts it in. The first taste of him has Aether groaning and curling his fingers into the sheets. Dew is hot and insistent, sliding himself as far as Aether can take him, bumping the back of his throat until he swallows around the head.

“Fuuuck yeah,” Dew rasps. “Gag on it, get it sloppy.”

His little hips start to piston, and Aether doesn’t really have a choice. Dew slides in and out of his mouth, lamenting about how good he feels, how perfect he fits, how fuckin’ tight his throat is. On and on until drool coats Aether’s chin and the corners of his mouth.

The quintessence ghoul’s face is flushed by the time Dew pulls out and gives him reprieve, panting and shaking above him.

“Dew,” Aether splutters. “You—” He cuts off with a groan when the fire ghoul’s hand grabs at his hair again.

“Got such a good mouth,” Dew huffs. He grabs himself at the base and squeezes out another bead of pre, whining when it drops onto Aether’s waiting tongue. “So fuckin’ good.”

He’s about to shove it back in when Aether grabs his ass with two big—very cold—hands, making him yelp and pull away with a frown.

“Hells, that’s cold!”

“Yeah, still am,” Aether grumbles, trying to frown back while licking his lips clean of pre and spit. “Was tryn'a tell you.”

“Oh.” Dew blinks. He looks over to the (very much on and working) space heater then back again to Aether.

“But you’re warm,” Aether says obviously, daring another squeeze, this time to Dew’s thighs. “Was thinking . . .” He trails off, gaze falling pointedly on the fire ghoul’s cock. “You could probably do a better job than that old thing.”

“Like . . .?”

“Yeah.” Aether scoots him down further, pushing on his thighs until he sits over his stomach, hands coming to rest on Aether’s chest. “You’w’re so grabby before, I thought . . .” He drifts off, eyes fluttering a little at the sensation of warm palms over his pecs. “Thought maybe you’d wanna fuck me, too.”

“Gods, Aethe,” Dew groans, cock visibly kicking at the suggestion. “Could’a said so.”

Aether pouts playfully. “Said you wanted me. Sooo bad.”

“I always want you,” Dew mumbles. His gaze zeros in on Aether’s chest again, fingers playing with his hair. “You want me t’ warm you up? Like that?” His fingers splay further out, brushing over stiff, sensitive nipples. Aether gasps, but Dew doesn’t let him answer. “Make you feel so nice. Get you so hot you’ll sweat.”

Aether nods, biting his lip. “Please, baby boy.”

Dew looks at him with a loving hunger that makes his stomach flip. “Well, let’s get you warmed up then.” He hops off the bigger ghoul with a grin, springing off the bed in the direction of the closet. Before Aether can comically mrrp? and question where he’s going, Dew rummages in his duffel bag, flips off the main light with his tail, and scurries back with his prize: a dirty t-shirt and a well-loved bottle of lube.

The fire ghoul clamors back on top of him, tossing the items next to his torso and flicking on one of the small reading lights attached to the headboard.

Which promptly shines directly into Aether’s eyes.

“Ow,” he complains, squinting. “Dew—”

Dew bats at the adjustable arm of the lamp so it points away from them, casting a faint, slightly blue-hued glow around the room. The fire ghoul holds his palms up, sweeping his forearms out to the side in a vague gesture. A pause. “Mood lighting,” he says simply.

Aether busts out laughing at the frank way he says it—a full belly chuckle that gets Dew giggling too. The laughter only dissolves when Aether pulls Dew close to him, threading his hands in his hair and pressing their foreheads together.

“You are. A wild man,” the quintessence ghoul sighs. His fingers dance along the nape of his neck, tangling in ashen strands. “My wild, wild baby boy.”

Dew hums and brushes their noses together. A mere tease of a kiss when their mouths are just centimeters away. “Yours,” he says easily. Then he nips at Aether’s lip, rumbling happily. Slowly grinding against the swell of his belly where warmth already is beginning to stir. “And you’re mine.”

Aether huffs something between a laugh and a groan. “Gonna have to show me.”

Dew surges forward and kisses him greedily. Mouths meeting and parting in quick, wet succession. Teeth and tongues fumbling against one another to have a fair turn. Dew pulls at the two sides of Aether's robe, shimmying so he can rid his body of the cheap, offending fabric.

Aether groans fully when his body melts flush against his, warm and strong. Small, nimble hands feeling him everywhere, directing his own limbs to conform to Dew’s wishes. He can’t really move them correctly anyways, the weed haze finally settling back into his brain in time with the way Dew’s heat seeps into his skin. It’s all feeling now. Touching and wanting.

It feels frantic, with how needy they are. But in reality, it’s like they’re moving through water, limbs heavy and dumb.

“Gonna take my time with you,” Dew mumbles against Aether’s lips. “Open you up. Make you want my cock so bad.”

Aether groans. “Already do.”

Dew hums happily and starts his descent, shoving his face into the crook of Aether’s neck and sucking hard, right on the sensitive skin between tendons.

“Mmpf, yeah, mark me,” he rumbles. “Tha’ makes me hot, fuck.”

“Know it does,” Dew near-growls. “Gonna make that fat cock so hard.” He bites down on the flesh sucked between his teeth, only hard enough to start a bruise. Blood bursting beneath the skin as he whines and cants his hips against Aether’s.

“Keep goin’,” Aether urges. “Down to—yeah.”

Dew’s already making his way down to Aether’s chest—he hardly needs reminders to appreciate it, clearly, because the top of his pec is in Dew’s mouth before Aether can even finish his sentence. He feels the wet heat of Dew’s cock against his own and bucks into it, groaning when Dew whines against his chest.

"Fuck, Aethe, I could just . . ." Dew shoves his face into Aether's sternum and pushes his pecs together, groaning into the cleavage his squished chest makes. "'M gonna fuck these again sometime," he promises.

Aether cranes his neck to see Dew lick a sloppy line up to his collarbone. He keens at its warmth, yet the sensation still sends a shiver right down to his dick. The nimble fingers fluttering over his nipples sure don't help, and in less than ten seconds his cock gets fatter and the back of his head is tingling, arousing frisson making his hair feel like it's standing on end.

"Go-ods," he gasps. "Want your fingers." Aether shifts his legs, spreading them further apart so Dew's lower half sinks between them. "Inside."

"These fingers always do it for you, huh?" Dew drags his teeth across Aether's skin. Plucking and pinching at his stiff nipples. "Always get 'em right where you want 'em."

"Mmpf, uh huh. Always."

Dew practically smushes his face with how hard he rubs it between his tits, growling when Aether's thighs twitch against his hips. "Fuuuck, will you tell me how bad you want it?" he asks. "Can feel it. But I wanna hear how bad you want these fingers—"

Dew grabs at his chest. Then the fat on his sides. Really kneading and digging in. But then he rolls his hips, hissing when their cocks drag against one another and their balls bump together. Dew rounds his back into it, making sure to really grind and make Aether feel how hot and hard he is. "—I wanna hear how bad you want this cock."

He grabs for the t-shirt and lube next to him on the bed, leaning back in for a sloppy, filthy kiss before he pulls away and shuffles down by Aether's legs. He spreads his knees and slides his hands against the back of Aether's thighs, pushing them up and apart just enough to expose his hole.

He can't stop it from clenching. Not with Dew's warm hands right there and—

"Please, say it," Dew croons, running a hand down his own chest. "It wants you. Don't you want it?" That hand goes down, down, down . . . unholy hell, Dew strokes at his own cock, smearing the precum all over, and Aether thinks he could pass out just watching how he touches his own body and how it moves just to please him. Stomach tensed, legs spread, hips swaying, and head slightly cocked as he watches Aether visually eat him up.

Suddenly his tongue is too big for his mouth. "I want it. Wan' you," he stumbles out. He wrings his hands in the sheets. "It's so cold, 'nd you're so warm—just want you to fuck me and fill me up with it and make me all toasty inside."

Dew smiles, equal parts pleased and mischievous. "Good."

He lubes up a finger and dips it between Aether's cheeks. Smearing it in and around his hole until it's slick and warm. Aether sucks on his bottom lip, nodding when Dew presses against the pucker.

And then Dew's finger is slipping inside. It's warm, heat radiating from the digit into his core. Aether gasps silently, letting his eyes fall shut as he takes in that slow little stretch. Each knob of Dew's longest finger until he's flush to the third knuckle. The fire ghoul twists his finger and lets out a low noise that makes Aether throb.

He pries his eyes back open and looks at the ghoul between his legs. He finds Dew looking back at him, eyes heavy and mouth parted just so. His eyebrows are drawn up in the middle, and he's watching him with some sort of pleasured awe.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" Aether asks.

Dew slowly pumps his finger in and out, eyes still fixed on his face. Dew bites his lip, fang poking out as he half-smiles, half-smirks. "You're just cute. Love when you get all lost cause of one little finger." He wiggles that one finger, and Aether's tail kinks up at the end. "Yeah. Like that."

The quint ghoul whines. "You callin' me easy?"

"I mean." Dew turns his hand palm up and crooks his finger, sending a flash of heat and pleasure into Aether's stomach.

"Fuck," Aether groans.

Dew snorts a laugh. "Uh huh."

"Tha's not fair. That was like. Horny weed or something."

"Hm. I think you just like when I fuck you." Dew moves his finger and starts to stretch him in earnest. "Like it when I get my hands on you. Fuckin' get you all boneless and begging and fuuull of me."

"Lucifer, 'course I do, baby boy," Aether admits. "You're just . . . so good to me."

"Aww." Dew shimmies himself forward until he can press their lips together. Just something quick, chaste. "I love it though," he mumbles against Aether's mouth. "Being good to you. Getting to do this to you."

Aether clenches around his finger. "Oh," he says shakily. He can feel how fat his cock is now, not even all the way hard, really, but still leaking into the crease of his hip. The little head of Dew's nudges his shaft, and he has to swallow back a mouthful of spit.

Dew pulls back, returning to his task. In and out, back and forth with that warm finger as he loosens Aether up for another. He echoes every involuntary noise Aether makes with a satisfied little hum, watching his cock twitch and his hole squeeze.

"How about another?" the fire ghoul asks, pushing down on his rim until Aether groans. Dew looks up at him with a soft smile, though, and it takes all of his remaining brain power not to pull him back down to suck it off his face. Instead, Aether reaches a hand out to cup his chin, thumb rubbing over his bottom lip. Catching on a chapped patch. Dew rubs at the soft spot inside and makes his eyes flutter.

“Fuck,” he mutters. "Yeah. Gimme another."

Dew's tongue darts out, poking at the tip of Aether's thumb. "Gimme yours," he says. And then his hot tongue is pulling Aether's thumb into his mouth and sucking, enveloping it in wet warmth that feels close to heaven on his tired joints.

“Oh, that feels good,” Aether groans, eyes rolling back. “Been so sore.”

"Mm?" Dew hums. Another finger prods at his hole, and slowly Dew works it inside next to the other, all the while sucking on Aether's thumb. The quint ghoul moans softly and wiggles his other fingers in front of Dew's face.

"These too, baby boy?" he asks, and Dew opens up for him as easy as anything. Aether slips his pointer and middle finger in his mouth instead, biting his lip at the relief that floods over the tendons. "Oh, yes."

Dew looks at him through his lashes and sucks, pumping the two fingers in his ass in and out along with the motion of his mouth. Rolling his tongue against Aether's fingers like he rolls the digits inside.

"Fuck!" Aether's hips flex as Dew finds his prostate, unable to keep still as the wave of pleasure moves through him.

"Mm-hm?" Dew encourages. He does it again and again, stretching and pressing until little beads of sweat start to form at Aether's hairline and his stomach can't stop shaking.

Aether groans, smacking a hand against the sheets. "You'll—stop that, you'll make me cu-um."

Dew just laughs, but eases up the petting all the same.

"'S not funny," the quint ghoul whines. "Don' wanna yet."

"I know," Dew says softly, nudging Aether's pointer and middle finger out of his mouth with his tongue in favor of his ring and pinky finger. He sucks on those too while he squirts more lube onto his fingers, scissoring them as wide as he can to prep him for another. The fire ghoul looks at him, smirking with his eyes as he teases his cock against the back of one of Aether's thighs. Cool pre smears against the skin, and Aether's cock spits out its own glob of the stuff.

Aether has to give himself a squeeze, easing some of the pressure. Gasping when Dew purposefully makes his cock jump up towards his stomach.

"Dew," he whines again. "Want it. Bad."

Dew moans sympathetically. Daring to reach out and give Aether's balls—hanging so fat and heavy already—a fondle and a tug.

"Motherfucker . . !" Aether swears his eyes roll back into another dimension, and he has to ground himself from the flash of sensation that turns his vision momentarily white. Clawing at his own hair with a loud, wounded noise.

Dew finally slips another finger inside and Aether keens again.

“Yeah,” he groans, voice husky as he lets Aether’s fingers slip from his mouth. Saliva tracking down his chin. “That’s it. Tell me how good it feels.” And he gets his fingers in deep, stealing the air from Aether’s lungs and spinning his brain in dizzy circles.

"Feels so fucking good, Dew, please," he begs. "Please. Want your cock instead. Want you to put it in and put your body on me and make me feel good. 'N warm." Aether tries in vain to press his hips up, wanting so badly for their cocks to touch, to feel how hot it's going to be inside of him. He doesn't even care if he's not prepped enough. He can take it. Wants Dew to make him take it. Show him just how hot he can—

"You're babbling," Dew interrupts, kissing his knee softly. "Gonna do all that. Promise."

Aether tosses his head back and forth against the pillow. Restless and fretful. Every little movement of Dew's fingers gets his gut tumbling, and if Dew doesn't get his cock in him in the next five minutes, Aether feels like he may actually combust—or just bust, in general. And probably get frostbite. Somehow.

"Aether," Dew laughs, pulling his fingers out and wiping them on his dirty t-shirt.

"I thought that was still in my heeaadd, I sweeaarr," he whines. "But I mean it."

"You're good?" Dew confirms. He takes a hold of the base of his cock and gives it a precursory stroke, tapping it on the seam of Aether's balls and then his hole. "You want it?"

Aether nods, groaning at the back of his throat as he watches Dew drag his dick around. It shouldn't be as sexy as it is, especially when it's sloppy and wholly uncoordinated, but Aether finds himself close to drooling over the feeling of him nudging the wet head against his slicked-up hole anyway.

Dew licks his lips. Aether copies him. "Gimme it," Aether says gruffly. Scooching his hips closer to Dew's and hiking his thighs up that much higher.

Dew rumbles, that mischievous smile stretching across his face again. He lines up, biting his lip when Aether's hole flutters around the tip. He squeezes himself from base to tip, milking out a fat squirt of precum that he smears around for good measure.

"Take it."

His cock presses in, only meeting a little resistance at the first push. But the warmth of him eases any discomfort the further he goes. Little by little until Dew's bony hips hit the back of Aether's thighs.

"Fuuuck, Aethe—" Dew sighs, wrapping his hands around Aether's pelvis and tugging, grinding deep and circling his hips. "You just eat me right up. Every time."

It's like Aether's slipped into a hot bath, warmth flooding his insides in instant relief. "Oh thank fuck," he sighs, grabbing Dew and pulling him to his chest and koala-ing his limbs around his deliciously toasty body. "Just. Before you move, just. One minute." He adjusts Dew's arms for him, forcing them to bracket his torso in more of that warmth.

Dew wriggles. "Lemme fuck you, Aethe."

"But. Warm." And he is; Dew's like the best heated blanket Aether's ever felt, literally heating him inside and out.

Dew sighs and drops his face into the crook of Aether's neck, the end of his breath turning into a raspberry blown against the quint ghoul's skin. "But I don't wanna cockwarm you. I wanna fuck you."

"Mm-hm." Aether's tail thumps a few happy beats against the bed, and a purr kicks up in his chest. He's comfy. Loose. And his brain is suddenly okay with the idea of staying like this all night.

Dew doesn't let him entertain the idea.

"C'monnn," Dew lilts, giving him a grind. A little hump to entice. "Thought you wanted this cock." He drags his teeth over his neck, up to Aether's earlobe where Dew gives him a nibble. "Hm? You know how good I can fuck you."

"Hhh-oh." A shiver runs through him. Cock throbbing between them.

Dew hums, feeling it. "Yeah?" He pushes his stomach into it. "It knows how good I can fuck you. Throbbin' so hard just saying it."

Aether puts his hands up in mock surrender, arms plopping down onto the bed. "You caught me," he says softly, licking his lips. "Arrest me, officer."

Dew snorts and pushes himself up onto his hands, but still bracketing Aether's torso. "Nooo," he trills. He wriggles his hips, back and forth until the friction of Dew's cock inside Aether's ass makes the quint ghoul clench. "I'm gonna fuck you. 'Til you're wet aaalll over."

Aether bites his lip and keens. "Get me wet, baby boy," he begs.

Dew thrusts, growling when Aether's balls squish against his pelvis. "Gonna fill you up," he continues, thrusting again. Harder this time, scooping upward to try and hit Aether's prostate. "So much." He's talkative when he's topping high, letting his mouth run free. He'll dissolve into explicit babbling—and plenty of grabbing—the closer he gets to cumming, but until then: "So much it'll drip outta you."

Aether lets his eyes slip closed, fingers twitching every time Dew bottoms out. "Fuck me," he whispers. "Fuck. Me."

Dew lets out a noise that's warbling and primal, that inhuman, basal need crawling out of his ribs and propelling him forward into a thrust so hard it nearly smacks Aether's skull into the headboard.

"Would fuck you every time if I could," Dew grunts, working up to his fastest pace. "'Cause this feels so fuckin' good."

"I'd let you," Aether groans. "Fuck, I'd let you."

"Yeah. Yeah."

Dew's hair falls in Aether's face as he hunches over to get that perfect angle, a look of concentration and almost-disbelief morphing his face into something Aether can't look away from. Things are moving fast, even though it seems like years since they came out of the shower. But now, his mind can't catch up to Dew's pistoning hips, so he has no choice but to let the pleasure bury him.

Heat starts to gather behind his knees, his body well and truly warmed from Dew's cock. "Oh, 'm gonna—fuck—gonna need another shower after this," he half laughs, half groans. "Makin' me sweat."

"Good," Dew grunts.

Aether's cock leaks against his stomach, pre smearing with each hard thrust. Arousal following heat. It's becoming hard to ignore, quite frankly, but he doesn't have the wherewithal to reach between them and play with it. He probably won't need to, not with Dew aiming to bend him like a pretzel every time he sticks his dick in and nudging his prostate with practiced accuracy.

"Oh shit," Aether swears, legs squeezing at Dew's torso. "I don't—y're gonna—" His arms lift from the mattress, unsure whether to pull him closer, pull at his cock, or pull at his own hair. He settles for pulling Dew in by the neck, mashing their mouths together in a sloppy kiss.

"Mmpf, you close?" Dew groans and puts even more heat behind his thrusts. "Gods, Aether, please be close."

Aether can't respond beyond a desperate, high-pitched whine, eyes squeezing shut as Dew rams that spot over and over and over. But he manages to nod, even when all the arousal finally catches up to him and makes his balls draw up between them.

Dew pants against Aether's tongue, moaning when his cock throbs between them. "Fuck. Fu-huh-uk." Dew nips at his top lip with a growl, brow furrowing hard enough that Aether can feel it. "Yeah. C'mon."

Aether shudders. "Shit, Dew," he grunts. "Don' even hav'to . . . oh my fuck—" His fingers tighten in Dew's hair as he bucks up into that building pressure, pleasure bowling him over despite the fact that his cock has hardly been touched at all.

If anyone could make Aether cum like this, it would be Dew.

It's only a few more thrusts before he loses it, stiffening and spilling hot between their bodies with a wheezing, stuttering groan.

Dew moans into Aether's mouth, caught between pained and surprised. "Oh. Oh no—"

His exclamations are lost to Aether, as the blood pounding in his ears makes it hard to focus on anything else. How could he, even if he wanted to? Dew's cock kneads pleasure out of him with each pass over his prostate, wringing from him more and more until his stomach is coated in his own spend.

"Fuck," Aether gasps when he can finally breathe properly. "Man, Dew, that wa—"

"Shhhutup," Dew hisses. His head is tucked to his chin, looking down at the mess Aether's made of himself, at the place his cock disappears into Aether's body. "You—fuck, y're. Can't. Stop." His words tumble from his mouth like he has no control over them, voice breaking as his thrusts get sloppier.

Dew's shoulders shake in a very distinct way, and Aether feels the source of his beautiful agony swell.

"Yes. Yesyesyes—" Dew's mouth drops fully when his knot catches just past Aether's rim, entire body going rigid as he cums. The noise he lets out is closer to a sob than anything else, and Aether can't tell which one of them is more surprised that Dew popped a knot over this.

"Oh, Dew," Aether gasps, holding onto the fire ghoul's biceps as that knot makes him feel tender in every sense of the word. He tries not to squirm against the overstimulation, but that tension only makes him clench harder, pulling another near-sob from Dew in turn.

Dew turns his head to one side, cheek pressing to his shoulder as his orgasm hits its peak, eyes rolling up into his head just like they always do.

"Mmpffuck," Dew keens, so light and pitched above his normal voice that he momentarily sounds like a different ghoul. It's brief, though, and soon his shoulders are drooping, eyes refocusing on the mess of a ghoul he's currently stuck—firmly—inside of.

Aether's mouth twitches into a momentary, lopsided grin. "Dew . . ."

Dew blinks, panting hard. He licks his lips.

Aether watches a bead of sweat seep from his hairline and run down his temple.

Dew looks at where they're stuck together, and suddenly he's laughing like he can't believe what's just happened—stupid, breathless, awkwardly endearing giggles that could warm Aether up all on their own.

"Fuck," Dew sighs, face going pink. "Ugghh." He all but flops onto Aether, nearly face-planting into his collarbone. He continues to grumble until the quintessence ghoul wraps his arms around him, keeping him close even though there's no other possible place for him to be at the moment.

"Y're so cute," Aether mumbles.

Dew takes a deep breath and blows it out tiredly and defeatedly.

"Aww, Dewey, don' be like that." Aether noses into his hair with a raspy purr. "It felt good, 's okay."

"Sttooooppp," Dew whines.

Aether huffs a laugh. "It's probably 'cause you love me," he sing-songs. "'Cause you looovve topping me."

"Yeah, but I don' have'ta knot you about it."

"I think maybe you do."

Dew nips him right above his nipple. "Shut up."

Aether just smiles and rubs his back, pressing his face further into his hair. He takes a big sniff, but the smell he's greeted with wrinkles his nose. Aether frowns. Instead of the expected damp fire ghoul smell mixed with shampoo undertones, all he gets is sweat, helmet, and pyro smoke. He takes another sniff, and—yes, there's not a even a hint of soap in that ashy-blonde hair.

"You smell," he says eloquently.

Dew snorts. "Gee, thanks, Aethe."

"No, no, I mean. . ." Aether reaches back into his mind, finding it unhelpfully empty. "Did you only wash my torso before y' started humping me?"

" . . . no," Dew mumbles unconvincingly.

"Also," Aether continues, arching so his stomach presses into Dew's, "Now I'm covered in cum. So—"

"Mm, full of it, too," Dew says a little dreamily, licking his lips like a contented dog lying down for a nap.

"So," Aether repeats more firmly, lucidity starting to return, "we need a shower. A real one this time."

Dew huffs.

"With soap. And shampoo. Probably conditioner."

Dew groans loudly into Aether's chest.

"Well not right this second."

"Exactly. 'M not going anywhere." Dew finally lifts his head and looks at Aether with droopy eyes. His pupils are big as ever, blown wide with post-coital fondness and satisfaction. "Can't go anywhere. So your soap," he emphasizes, sticking his tongue out, "will have to wait."

The quint ghoul brushes back a few strands of his flyaway hair. "Hm. How long d'you think it'll be?" Aether raises his eyebrows and tilts his head, purposefully bearing down on Dew's knot like he's estimating the time by the firmness of his cock.

"Aether—" the fire ghoul wheezes.

"Five minutes?" Another squeeze. "Ten?"

Dew's eyes flick to the back of his head before he can even pretend to scowl. "Satanas, you're gonna kill me."

Process as usual c: