#7min

He's still purring as the darkness surrounds you and you can hear his tail still moving, brushing against the wall and the other various items that hadn't been moved out of the way.

"You're... happy," you comment softly, hearing his rumbling purr still going. It's like an engine that just won't turn off.

"Of course I'm happy!" he chuckles, "I'm surrounded by friends, drinks, food. I get to be out of my uniform tonight. I can finally be free. I-" He pauses and you hear his tail go still. "I sound silly, don't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." He takes a moment before he lets out a breath. "People are allowed to visit four days out of the week. They take tours, they donate, they wanna join us. And we all have to act like we're human. We have to hide because the world just... can't know that we're capable of summoning ghouls. Literal demons. So we have to stay in uniform and keep our masks on because "Oh, those are the ones in the band! We do it to protect their privacy!"

"But it's bullshit! The reason why we stay in uniform and wear those masks is because we can't keep up our human appearance all morning and evening with no break!" He stops and you can hear the soft sound of his shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry. I just... get a little passionate about being able to be myself. Papa Terzo was so loved by everyone. He kinda... kicked off people wanting to hang around just to get his attention and as much as I love him... It kinda just messed everything up for us."

You feel bad for him. You had noticed that happen with the ghouls. From what you recall, only Papa Nihil's ghouls were able to hold up their human appearance for the longest, almost twenty hours if you remembered correctly. But even then, they had been summoned at the beginning of 1960 and they couldn't make it a full twenty-four hours.

"At least we have this week off, right?" you remind him, trying to lighten the mood. Ifrit perks up again and his purring restarts.

"Yeah. And I've already wasted time bitching about my problems." He shuffles closer to you, gently cupping your cheek. "Do you mind...?"

"Go ahead." Ifrit leans in, gently pressing his lips to yours. You can feel his heat, warmer than anyone you've ever touched. A shiver runs down your spine, the warmth feeling inviting as you rest your hands on his shoulders.

Ifrit's free arm snakes around your waist, pulling you flush against his body, his tail coiling around your legs. He seems to be enjoying you being so close to him and really, you enjoy it, too.

But the door opens and you're both pulled out of your romantic embrace, Ifrit letting out a soft whine.

"Just a few more minutes?" he pouts, reluctantly pulling away from you.

"You're more than welcome to continue elsewhere," the Sister tells him, "but you guys gotta get out of here so we can bring in the next couple."

Ifrit pouts more but leads you out and back into the party, keeping an arm around you. Without thinking about it, you stay with Ifrit longer, conversing with him and laughing at his jokes. He brings you around his pack but you find that he's paying more attention to you.

So with a smile, you lead him away from the party and out into the quiet hall. "You mind if I get to know the real Ifrit instead of the mask-wearing guitarist?"

Primo huffs but relents, slowly getting up from the couch with an encouraging pat on the back from Terzo. He takes his time walking over to you, the air of professionalism and confidence surrounding him. His hand reaches out to gently take yours, bringing it to his lips so he can kiss your knuckles.

"Shall we?" His voice is soft, as are his mismatched eyes. You give him a nod, holding onto his hand as he guides you into the storage room. The door closes and you're enveloped in darkness, standing before the old Papa.

"How have you been, piccolo?" he asks you. You haven't seen him in a while, especially since work has kicked up for the summer. Everyone was wanting to visit the ministry for a tour or to put in applications, and each Papa had to step in to help. Even Terzo was hiding in his office more than usual.

"I've been fine, Papa," you respond respectfully. You always tried to stay professional with him. He and Secondo weren't ones to approve of more casual behavior in their presence.

But Primo lets out a soft chuckle, his hand gently patting your shoulder. "You can relax, piccolo. It's a party, sὶ? For this night, you can associate with me as though we are equals."

You feel yourself relax. Equals. He was taking the night off as being a Papa.

"Yeah. You're right." A small smile graces your lips. You feel more comfortable now. "How have you been, Papa?"

"Oh, this heat," he groans. Through the darkness, you can practically see him rolling his eyes. "It's getting to me, you know. I can't even be out in the garden for more than a minute before I start feeling out of breath."

"Isn't that what your ghouls are for?"

"And have them screw something up?" He lets out a scoff. "I can't even trust my own earth ghoul. You know him, sὶ? Apache?"

You pause. Apache? "I don't see him often."

"Ah, sὶ. He's only active during the summer. He's a uh... a desert earth ghoul. When it's not hot out, he gets very tired and weak, so he just hibernates," Primo explains. While you can hear him trying to stay calm, you can also hear he irritation seeping through. "But even when he's active, he's useless with plants. All of the flowers I have planted in the greenhouse are typically found the forest and Apache has a habit of killing them.

"But it's not his fault," he sighs softly, "I understand that. He just... works differently from what I have."

Before you can ask more, the door opens and the light floods in, blinding you both.

"Time's up," the Sister announces, smiling at you both.

"Come, piccolo," Primo says, gesturing with his hand. "We will continue elsewhere."

You follow him out, ignoring the gaze of other partygoers. Primo leads you back to his office, gesturing for you to take a seat in front of his desk.

"Hej," His voice is calm but low as he stares you down. "You okay with this?"

You nod, surprised he's giving you an option to turn him down. You follow him into the storage room, the door being shut behind the two of you. To your surprise, E. stays by the wall, giving you space.

"Are you sure you're okay?" E. asks you, his accent thick.

"I'm fine. I promise," It's sweet that he's checking in on you. The silence felt awkward in the cramped space and you could hear the soft rustling of E.'s leather jacket as he adjusted himself in the dark room.

"Do you want to play?" Another wave of surprise washes over you.

"Ah... Do you?" You look in his general direction, hearing his jacket rustle again as he (you assume) shrugs.

"Better than standing in here doing nothing," he retorts. You had to agree with him. Standing in the dark was starting to get boring. So you mentally prepare yourself and nod.

"Yeah. Sure." You take a step forward, resting your hands on his chest. He's bigger than the other three. Maybe almost a foot taller than Mary but he had more weight to him. In fact, you remember DD making a joke that E. was the band's personal bodyguard.

His large hand rests on your hip as he leans down, pressing his chapped lips against yours. The coarse hair of his goatee tickles your skin but you don't mind it much. Instead, you press closer to him, enjoying the feel of his bigger body pressed against yours. You feel safe in his arms.

Even when the door opens, E. drags out the kiss as long as he can until he finally pulls back, the stoic expression still on his face.

"Hey, G.," You give him a smile, holding out your hand. He gently takes it in his own, following you into the storage room. When the door shuts, you let his hand fall from yours, giving him space.

"Have you ever played?" you ask him softly. You hear shuffling in front of you, probably trying to shut in on himself.

"Nej. I-I'm not really into parties," he explains, "When DD talked about this one, I thought it would be fun, but all I've done is sit in the corner with E.."

"That's okay. I'm glad you came at all," You knew G. was shy. He was always so polite and soft-spoken whenever you would hang out with the band or even help them set up for rehearsals. You knew he could be more social. You saw him joke around with the others and pull the occasional funny face for pictures. It was just crowds that would get to him.

"How is this game meant to be played?" G. asks you. You shrug a bit, knowing he couldn't see you.

"Well, there's not really much to it. Most people come in here to make out," You can practically sense his nerves rising so you quickly continue. "but it depends on whatever the people wanna do. Some people just talk."

There's silence but you're sure G. gives you a nod. He normally does that when you get through explaining something to him.

"Could... Could we try kissing?" The question is soft and hesitant, catching you off guard. If you had to guess, you'd assume G.'s never even held anyone's hand in a romantic manner. But maybe he was just trying to get out of his comfort zone?

"Yeah, if that's what you want." You hesitate before shuffling closer to him. You don't want to move too fast and risk scaring him. With a gentle touch, you cup his face and lean in. G. meets you halfway, pressing his lips against yours in a sweet and tender kiss.

G.'s hand reaches out for you, hesitating before it rests on your shoulder for a moment, then slides to the base of your neck. He follows your lead and before you know it, his free hand is also cupping your cheek, cradling your face so gently.

You don't push any further, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable. Still, your surprised when you feel his tongue graze across your bottom lip. You open up for him, surprised when you feel his tongue press against yours. Maybe he was more experienced than he let on.

The door opens, flooding the room with light and causing G. to gasp as he jerks back from you.

"I'm almost surprised to see you in regular clothes," you quip, giving him a small grin. He lets out a bark of a laugh, nodding as he links his arm with yours.

"Feels better, too," he tells you, leading you towards the storage room. "The dress shirt looks nice but it's to stuffy for my liking."

You can understand that. The bar liked their bartenders to look nice and had practically forced both DD and Mary to make adjustments to their appearance when working. But now, DD has his hair down and his favorite tank top on. When you two get into the storage room and the door shuts, you reach out, playfully squeezing his bicep.

"Skinny," you giggle, hearing him laugh as well.

"We're gonna go out after this," he tells you, "You should come with us. E. wants to check out that new restaurant that just opened up."

"The Italian one?"

"Ja. We looked at the menu," You can feel him shrug and you let your hand slip from his arm. "Nothing too special but none of us want to go home anytime soon."

"Why not?"

"We've all been working a lot so we haven't seen each other. I only get to see Mary because we work together. But E.'s job has been stressful and he just got back from tour with another band. G.'s been a bit of a shut-in recently because his panic attacks came back."

You remember him mentioning that the last time you visited the bar. Their sweet little bassist was normally there to pass the time while he either worked on music or tinkered with his camera. "How's he doing now?"

"Better. They're not as severe." You nod. It's good to know he's doing better. The silence doesn't last long as DD speaks again. "Have you ever played?"

"This? Not really. I've heard of it."

"Ah, so you're aware of what it typically entails?"

"Yeah."

DD moves forward and you can smell his cologne, the scent of stale booze and cigarettes still cutting through. "I don't think we have much time left but would you like to...?"

"Y-yeah. Sure." You nod your head once, even if he can't see it. DD's cute and the thought of his plush lips have always been in the back of your mind.

You both lean in and you feel his lips on yours. It's soft and sweet, DD's hand coming up to cup your cheek. You feel his thumb stroke your skin as you melt into his arms.

He eventually breaks away, continuing to stroke your cheek. "Good?"

"Perfect." The door opens and you can finally see his face, those soft, gray eyes staring at you lovingly.

"Shall we?" You hold his hand, following him to the storage closet. Mary's always been a flirt, especially to you. You wrote it off as harmless, friendly fun in the past but now that you're alone with them, in such a small, cramped room, you can't help but feel anxious. Your heart refused to slow down as the door shut, engulfing you both in darkness, and you felt the heat rise to your cheeks when Mary's breath wafted against your skin. He smells like the bar and cigarettes. That's not too surprising since you're sure their shift had just ended before they came to the party. What was surprising was the hint of cologne. It wasn't strong and you can only assume they put it on to try and mask the smell of alcohol. In fact, if you remembered correctly, this was the same cologne DD wore.

"Sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable?" Mary's soft voice cuts through the silence, pulling you out of your thoughts. You notice how he shuffles back, letting out a soft grunt when you hear the unmistakable sound of him bumping into the metal shelves.

"It's okay," The words tumble out of your mouth and while you would never verbally admit it, you miss them being so close to you. "I just... didn't think we would get paired."

"Is that a bad thing?" Mary's voice is playful but there's an underlying sound of hurt to it. Of course it's not a bad thing. You had liked him ever since you met him.

"Of course it's not. I was worried I would get paired with someone I didn't like," you explain. Even though it's dark in the storage room, you can practically see the grin that spreads across their face.

"Well, I've never played this before," he tells you, taking his time to explain, like he's worried about pushing any potential boundaries. "but I've heard what happens in here. Is that... something you'd be interested in?"

You hesitate, feeling your breath catch in your throat. You give a shy nod, only to stammer out a verbal response when you remember Mary can't see in the darkness. "Y-yeah. I am."

It takes a few seconds but you feel lithe fingers on you, a hand cupping your cheek as the other gently holds onto your shoulder as you're pulled in. Their plush and chapped lips brush against yours, almost hesitant, and you lean in further, kissing him fully. Their hands stay where they are and you move yours to gently cup their face as well, feeling the prickle of stubble beneath your touch.

The kiss isn't what most people would expect from a punk like Mary. It's not hungry or aggressive. There's no knocking of teeth or their tongue shoving past your lips to get inside your mouth. In fact, the kiss is slow and gentle, both of you taking this time to get used to each other. You're surprised with how sweet Mary is being. Even when his arm circles your waist and pulls you closer, he leaves some room between you two so you're not pressed against him. You take initiative and press your body against theirs, feeling the warmth of their body against yours.

When the door opens and light floods in, Mary is reluctant to pull away, their signature scowl cementing itself on his face.

Repugnant:

Mary Goore

DD Sars

G. Grotesque

E. Forcas

Ghost:

Papa Emeritus I

Papa Emeritus II

Papa Emeritus III

Papa Emeritus IV

Papa Nihil

Papa Nihil (Young)

Sister Imperator

Aether

Ares

Cirrus

Cumulus

Ifrit

Mountain

Neptune

Notus

Phantom

Rain

Silvanus

Sodo

Sunshine

Swiss

Note: If there's someone from Ghost (or even Repugnant) that isn't listed, feel free to request them!