#ghost ff

Kevin hates ghouls with a passion.

Not because he's afraid of them, no, on the contrary, you can't have less respect for them than Kevin. He just thinks they're annoying little beasts, like particularly vicious chihuahuas from hell. Dewdrop, Phantom and Rain especially get on his nerves. Phantom because he's always clinging to Kevin like a leech. Dewdrop because he's a little gremlin who just causes chaos that Kevin then has to clean up. And Rain isn't that bad but he isn't good at speaking human language that Kevin usually doesn't understand what the water ghoul is stammering anyway. Well, Kevin could speak ghoulish if he wanted to, but in the end these pests would annoy him even more.

The worst is when he has to fix something in the ghoul wing.

For example, the other day, when he just wanted to clean the clogged drain in the kitchen sink, he was surrounded by ghouls within a few minutes. They reminded him of a bunch of starving cats, the way they stalked around him and cast curious glances over his shoulder.

Phantom was immediately glued to him again, practically tugging at Kevin's hair and clothes. Then Aether, who kept his distance but intermittently gave advice that Kevin hadn't asked for. "You should unscrew the drain pipe first" and "Are you sure you've mixed the cleaning concentrate sufficiently? Otherwise it could damage the pipes."

Kevin wanted to hit Aether in the face. But instead he contented himself with glaring at the sink while he worked.

At one point he accidentally hit Rain's forehead with his knee because Rain was squeezing himself on the floor between him and the bucket that Kevin had used to catch all the muck from the drainpipe. With an annoyed look, Kevin noticed that the water ghoul had started collecting small pieces that had landed in the drainpipe from the bucket.

"Stop that! You're just making everything dirty," he growled as Rain pulled his hands back and placed a marble, dripping with dirt, on the ground.

Rain just babbled incomprehensible things as he began to dig in the muck again.

"Why do you forbid Rain that?", whispered Phantom and came so close to Kevin that he felt the ghoul's warm breath brushing over his ear.

Kevin sighed with the burden of a man who would rather tend a sack full of fleas than a handful of ghouls.

Why couldn't the clergy have chosen other demons? There were many species that were less unruly than ghouls. Kevin even had the feeling that chaos ghouls not only enjoyed themselves, but that they actually drew their energy from it. He had once expressed this thought to Sister Imperator, but she had just laughed at him and said that he just had to learn to assert himself. That could only come from someone who didn't have to deal with these plagues on a daily basis.

Annoyed, Kevin stuck the spiral into the drain to push out the last bit of snot, while at the same time swatting away Rain's fingers that had appeared on the edge of the sink.

Since Copia had risen to the top of the ministry and had a bit more say, Kevin was no longer even allowed to sprinkle holy water on the ghouls to keep them away. After all, that would hurt the ghouls, the youngest Emeritus brother had explained his decision. Simply ridiculous. When Kevin had started working for the clergy, ghouls had just been treated like ghouls. But since Copia had shown up here, Kevin had to treat these creatures as if they had more feelings than lust, hunger and thirst.

Finally, the resistance in the drain was released and with a slap, a pile of mud landed in the bucket.

"Is that...sand?" asked Aether, astonished. Kevin shrugged his shoulders in resignation. "How do I know what kind of crap you always pour down the drain?!" He pulled the spiral back and knelt under the sink to screw the pipe back on.

Phantom also knelt down next to him and grabbed one of Kevin's long strands of hair to chew on.

"I'm clearly not being paid well enough for this," the brown haired growled, shooing back first Phantom and then Rain, whose hand had already disappeared back into the bucket.

Under the curious gaze of the ghouls, Kevin screwed the pipe back on, sat up with his aching back and picked up the bucket.

"It would be nice if you could just stop breaking or clogging anything for more than three days," Kevin grumbled, looking sternly at Aether. The quintessence ghoul had spent the last few minutes watching with his hands on his hips and a critical expression. "I'm doing my best, but you know what they're like." Kevin only snorted in response. He watched as Aether disappeared into the living room before he too turned to leave. The ghoul was talking to Kevin as if they were eye to eye. Kevin shook his head.

Ghouls.

He was about to close the door behind him when Rain slithered through and tugged at his sleeve. His big blue eyes bored into his.

"What?" Kevin asked slightly suprised. Rain's mouth opened and closed a few times without any words coming out. Then, finally, when Kevin's already extremely thin thread of patience was about to snap, Rain managed to say a word.

"Encore."

He had always thought that Rain simply didn't speak human language, but apparently the ghoul was just stupid. In a good-natured tone, as if he was talking to someone particularly retarded, Kevin replied. "I know you did a great job on the ghovie. We're all very proud of you. But I," he pointed to himself, "have to go now," he pointed to the door.

Rain tilted his head, confused. He's probably doing this so that the few brain cells he has will slip into the same corner, Kevin thought spitefully.

The water ghoul tugged at his sleeve again, this time more frantically. "encore, encore, encore Dew."

Confused, Kevin turned around and froze.

Dewdrop stood at the sink and calmly poured a thick liquid into it. Kevin now also noticed the penetrating smell of ammonia. The damned ghoul poured wall paint into the sink. Kevin blinked. The man was too stunned to even utter a word.

“Come on, just admit it!”, you heard Rain giggling, as he nudged Sodo`s shoulder,”You love her.” Rain nodded his head into your direction, causing you to smile. Before Sodo could say anything in return, you got up from your place in front of him and sat down between the fire Goul and Rain. Both of them looked at you perplexed, as you laid an arm each around their shoulders, pulling them closer. “Be nice to each other, will you?”, You smiled politely, probably a bit too politely, making it obvious that their conversation about Sodo`s and your relationship ended here.

“Why are you guys still up?”, Cirrus mumbled, as she suddenly entered the common area at the end of the bus, where Rain, Sodo, Swiss and you were currently sitting. The others had already departed to their bunks a while ago, trying to catch a little bit of sleep, before the annoying rattling of the bus would keep them awake, while you were on the road.

“Just talking a bit”, Swiss snickered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Cirrus only sighed at his answer.”You guys should get some sleep, we have a ritual tomorrow!” “She is not wrong.”, Sodo intervened. He slowly got up, grabbing your hand in the process,”Come on, let's go to sleep.”

You said goodnight to Rain and Swiss, as the two of them decided to stay up a bit more, before following Cirrus upstairs, to the bunks. Fortunately, Sodo`s and your bunk were at the end of the row, away from the few already snoring Ghouls and Ghoulettes. Cirrus mumbled a sleepy goodnight, as she got in her bunk across from Cumulus. You and Sodo quietly made your way to the last two beds that were across from each other.

“Careful”, you murmured, as Sodo almost tripped over his own feet, trying to get out of his T-Shirt. “I'm fine”, he mumbled reassuringly, as he had finally changed into his night attire that was lying under his pillow just a few minutes prior. You quickly tried to change as fast as him, but also tripped, as you tried to get out of your T-Shirt. Luckily, Sodo was there to catch you. His hands wrapped around your waist, as you stumbled into his chest, the narrow space of the bus, not making anything easier. “Got you.”, the fire ghoul whispered in your ear, making a shiver run down your spine. “Thanks”, you mumbled, trying to step out of his grasp, but you felt Sodo´s slender fingers tighten around your waist. Your breath hitched, as you felt his lips on neck, leaving gentle kisses behind. His hands slowly made their way upwards, as he pulled you closer to his bunk. “Why don't you sleep in my bed tonight?”, he breathed against your neck, making your hairs stand up straight. “It's way too narrow”, you whined, finally escaping his grasp and turning around to look at the Ghoul. “We'll make it fit.”, he grinned, grabbing your hands,”Come on, do it for me.”

You were about to deny his request once more, as you felt the bus roaring alive and only a few seconds later, it slowly started driving.

You were once more thrown into the arms of your beloved, as he caught you from tripping over, as the Bus started. “I think that was a sign”, Sodo grinned looking down at you. His glowing eyes inspected your face carefully. You only groaned in annoyance, slightly hitting his chest:”Fine, but if you wake up with a backache, then don't complain, alright?” “I won´t.I promise”, he laughed, before ushering you to lay down. As you sprawled out on the bed, it quickly became clear that two people would never fit next to each other. So, Sodo did the only logical thing to him, before you could stop him. 

He slumped down on top of you.

You groaned slightly at his weight, but as he adjusted himself, slotting his legs between yours and resting his head in the crook of your neck, it quickly became more comfortable. 

“Dear satan, how does Mountain fit in these.”, you muttered under your breath, as you reached for the blanket, in order to cover the two of you. Sodo only chuckled at your comment.

“Good night, my love”, he finally mumbled into your skin, his breath tickling your neck. You snuggled closer to him, your arms wrapping around his torso:”Sleep well, my firefly.” You felt Sodo smile, as he heard the nickname that you used for him. And soon after, you felt his breath become steadier, his arms falling loosely around you. It didn't take you long to fall into a peaceful slumber too, as you were accompanied by the soft rhythm of Sodo´s heartbeat.

Against all you exceptions, you were the one who had a backache send from hell on the following day. How good that you didn't have a long and exhausting day in front of you. Oh wait, that was exactly the case. So, not long before the ritual began, you were huddled up next to Sodo on a sofa in the backstage area, while everyone was preparing for the ritual. “Does it still hurt?”, you heard Sodo whispering into your ear, as he gently brushed your hair aside. “It's alright now.”, you hummed truthfully, looking up at the fire ghoul. He granted you a soft smile. Something that was reserved for you and only you. You smiled back at him with delight and leaned up to kiss his temple, before you were interrupted by one of your fellow Ghoul´s.

“Come on, Lovebirds. It's time to get ready”

You turned around, as you heard Mountain's deep voice behind you. Sodo only groaned and slowly got to his feet:”Don´t worry big guy, we got it covered.” The smaller Ghoul looked back down at you and held out his hand to you. You looked back and forth between Mountain and Sodo for a second, before finally grabbing Sodo´s hand. He pulled you up with ease.

“See you in a bit.”, you smiled at Mountain before heading towards your dressing rooms. 

It didn't take long before Sodo and you reunited in the hallway, both of you now in your full stage gear, your faces hidden and a human form taken. “Ready?”, you asked Sodo before you made your way to get your instruments and step out onto the stage. “Oh, I´m always ready, my love.”, he grinned, the motion barely visible under his balaclava. He quickly took your hand, before sprinting into the direction of the stage, with you in tow.

It didn't take you long to get into the mood to tease around with Sodo again and before you knew it, the Ghoul was on his knees in front of you, strumming on his guitar with everything he had in him. You heard the yells and screams of the fans, but your eyes were fixed on Sodo´s face. You could make out that stupid grin he wore under his mask. It made you weak in the knees, so you did what came to your mind first. You joined Sodo on the floor.

Before the fire Ghoul knew what was happening, you were kneeling in front of him, your guitars almost touching. You grinned back at Sodo, before getting up again after a minute or so, as you felt your lower back starting to ache again. The next time Sodo asked, if you could sleep together in the bus, you really had to say no or you wouldn't survive this tour.

You only grinned, as you slowly walked to the other side of the stage. Sodo reached his hand out to you, but you only blew him a kiss. He jumped up a little, pretending to catch it. He looked at you satisfied, before turning back around, already on his way to annoy Rain. The poor water Ghoul didn't get a single break so far. 

As you crossed Swiss´ little podest, you quickly waved at the multi-Ghoul. He gave you a heartwarming grin and excitedly waved back at you. You couldn't help but laugh at his goofiness, before you turned back around, looking at the crowd. A few people right in front of you were waving right at you, as if they wanted to tell you something. You gave them a curious look and pointed a finger at your chest, as if to ask if they meant you. The fans nodded vigorously, so you stepped closer, careful not to fall over the edge. You leaned forward and finally saw what they were fiddling with. It was a pride flag. 

You quickly pointed at the flag and then at yourself, asking if they wanted you to take it. A choir of “yes” flew back at you, so with a smile you leaned forward even more, trying to grab the flag, which you now saw was a trans-flag.

 If it wasn't for the security guard, who caught the flag, it would´ve fallen to the ground. But he quickly grabbed it and handed it to you. You thanked him with a small nod, before stepping back onto the stage again. 

Luckily, you still had a few more minutes before the next song would start, so as Papa was showing off his German skills on the other side of the stage, you proudly lifted up the flag with a huge grin forming under your mask. 

You heard the happy screams of the fans who handed it to you, as you waved at them. But unfortunately, you knew that you couldn't keep holding it up, for the rest of the ritual. You needed both your hands to play. 

After a few moments of considering, you realized that Papa had almost finished his little speech and was about to announce the next track. so, without further ado, you turned on your heel and walked over to Swiss. His head turned towards you, as he saw you approaching. He quickly realized what you wanted to do, so as you held the flag up to him in an asking manor, he nodded happily and immediately reached out for the flag. You stood on your toes, so that he could reach it and as he caught it, he lifted it into the air, just like you had done it only minutes prior. You laughed at the happy Ghoul and waved at him a last time before turning back around, as the next song started.

As you almost ran into cirrus, you knew it was time for mummy dust. The Ghoulette grabbed your shoulders gently to stop you from running into her. A grin laced her lips, as you could hear her mouth the word,”Careful!”, into your ear. You only nodded back at her before she made her way to the middle of the stage.

It didn't take long before you were joined by Rain and Sodo. The three of you were keeping a low profile while Cirrus performed on the keytar. Everytime you heard her play it, you were amazed by her. The Ghoulette was very talented and you hoped to be as experienced as her one day. 

As your gaze was longing on Cirrus, you felt someone bump your side. you quickly looked up and saw that it was Sodo who had nudged you. As soon as he caught your attention, he leaned closer to your ear. “You´re almost making me jealous, when you stare at her like that, my love”, he mumbled. You felt your cheeks redden, thankful for the mask that hid it. You didn't even have time to reply, as he was already waltzing off again. Your gaze was longing on the fire Ghoul and it stayed on him until the song ended. 

The teasing would never come to an end, you thought to yourself. But after all, you didn't even want that. That was the exact reason why you loved this band so much, and you hoped that it would stay like that for the rest of the tour.

Rain nervously tugged at his bow tie. Maybe a suit was a bit over the top for today, but he wanted everything to be perfect. He glanced at the clock again.

Finally 5 p.m.

Rain quickly lit the candle on the cake. The other ghouls should be coming any minute.

He turned slightly on his chair to keep an eye on the kitchen door.

Still no one.

Five minutes had passed by now. Strange. At least Aether and Sunshine were usually always on time. Rain stood up and pushed a fork straight.

There was still no sound from the hallway. Where were the others? The clock now showed fifteen past and the candle had already burned down quite a bit. Rain paced around the table, casting nervous glances at the clock and the door. His packmates knew, right?! He had personally handed them the selfmade invitation cards with the time and date. Swiss had even checked his imaginary schedule in an exaggeratedly silly way before agreeing to the event, just to make Rain giggle.

Rain chewed on his lower lip. Should he check where they were? But what if they showed up at the exact moment he wasn't in the kitchen?

Undecided, he glanced at the clock again. The ghouls were officially half an hour late. Slowly, doubts began to arise in his mind. Would they even come?

Rain went over in his mind what he had written on the invitation card. But even with the best will in the world, he couldn't think of anything he had left unexplained. On the contrary, Rain had written down all sorts of information in his neat handwriting. 

He had really thought of everything. He had even taken Aurora's lactose intolerance, Swiss nut allergy and Dewdrop's aversion to chocolate into account when baking the cake.

He paced back and forth. Where were they? They knew how important today was, didn't they? His blue eyes began to water.

With a sigh, Rain sat down in his seat and stared at the cake. The candle had almost burned out by now. He watched resignedly as the white wax ran down, dripped over the plastic holder and slowly mixed with the blue icing of the cake. The flame began to flicker as it finally reached the plastic and then went out. A slightly smoky smell filled the kitchen.

"Happy birthday to me.", mumbled Rain depressed. 

The water ghoul stared blankly at the table in front of him while hot tears ran down his face. He hadn't talked about anything else for weeks.

In the pit or among ghouls in general, birthdays were not celebrated. No one knew the exact day they were born anyway. It simply didn't matter.

But Rain was thrilled when he saw a birthday celebration on television. He had pestered all the siblings of sin with questions about it until he felt he understood this human custom. And then he had enthusiastically told his pack members all about it. Since he didn't know exactly when he was born, Rain decided to simply choose the day of his summoning. Beforehand, he had Copia explain to him how long a year was and when his birthday would be.

All things that were of no importance to the average ghoul, but for Rain it was extremely important.

But not even Copia had appeared. How could a human forget such an important custom?! Did he not care about Rain that much? Or did Rain's birthday count for less just because he was a ghoul?

With a sob, Rain got up to go back to his room. He had waited in the kitchen for two hours, but no one had shown up.

His packmates had simply forgotten his first birthday outside the pit.

Dewdrop, Phantom and Rain especially get on his nerves. Phantom because he's always clinging to Kevin like a leech. Dewdrop because he's a nasty little gremlin who just causes chaos that Kevin then has to clean up. And Rain isn't actually that bad but he isn't good at speaking human language that Kevin usually doesn't understand what the water ghoul is stammering anyway. Not that he would care anyway.

Well, Kevin could speak ghoulish if he wanted to, but in the end these pests would annoy him even more.

The worst is when he has to fix something in the ghoul wing. For example, the other day, when he just wanted to clean the clogged drain in the kitchen sink, he was surrounded by ghouls within a few minutes. They reminded him of a bunch of starving cats, the way they stalked around him and cast curious glances over his shoulder. Phantom was immediately glued to him again, practically tugging at Kevin's hair and clothes.

Then Aether, who kept his distance but intermittently gave advice that Kevin hadn't asked for.

"You should unscrew the drain pipe first" and "are you sure you've mixed the cleaning concentrate sufficiently? Otherwise it could damage the pipes."

Kevin wanted to hit Aether in the face. But instead he contented himself with glaring at the sink while he worked.

At one point he accidentally hit Rain's forehead with his knee because Rain was squeezing himself on the floor between him and the bucket that Kevin had used to catch all the muck from the drainpipe. With an annoyed look, Kevin noticed that the water ghoul had started collecting small pieces that had landed in the drainpipe from the bucket.

"Stop that! You're just making everything dirty," he growled as Rain pulled his hands back and placed a marble, dripping with dirt, on the ground. Rain just babbled incomprehensible things as he began to dig in the muck again. "Why are u so rude to Rainy?" whispered Phantom and came so close to Kevin that he felt the ghoul's warm breath brushing over his ear.

Kevin sighed with the burden of a man who would rather tend a sack full of fleas than a handful of ghouls. Why couldn't the clergy have chosen other demons? There were many species that were less unruly than ghouls. Kevin even had the feeling that ghouls not only enjoyed the chaos, but that they actually drew their energy from it. He had once expressed this thought to sister Imperator, but she had just laughed at him and said that he just had to learn to assert himself. That could only come from someone who didn't have to deal with these plagues on a daily basis.

Annoyed, Kevin stuck the spiral into the drain to push out the last bit of dirt, while at the same time swatting away Rain's fingers that had appeared on the edge of the sink.

Since Copia had risen to the top of the ministry and had a bit more say, Kevin was no longer even allowed to sprinkle holy water on the ghouls to keep them away. After all, that would hurt the ghouls, the youngest Emeterius brother had explained his decision. Simply ridiculous. When Kevin had started working for the clergy, ghouls had just been treated like ghouls. But since Copia had shown up here, Kevin had to treat these creatures as if they had more feelings than lust, hunger and thirst.

Finally, the resistance in the drain was released and with a slap, a pile of mud landed in the bucket. "Is that...sand?" asked Aether, astonished. Kevin shrugged his shoulders in resignation. "How do I fucking know what kind of crap you always pour down the drain?!" He pulled the spiral back and knelt under the sink to screw the pipe back on. Phantom also knelt down next to him and grabbed one of Kevin's long strands of hair to chew on. "I'm clearly not being paid well enough for this," the brown haired growled, shooing back first Phantom and then Rain, whose hand had already disappeared back into the bucket. Under the curious gaze of the ghouls, Kevin screwed the pipe back on, sat up with his aching back and picked up the bucket. "Would be nice if you could just stop breaking or clogging anything for more than three days," Kevin grumbled, looking sternly at Aether. The quint had spent the last few minutes watching with his hands on his hips and a critical expression. "I'm doing my best, but you know what they're like." Kevin only snorted in response. He watched as Aether disappeared into the living room before he turned to leave. The ghoul was talking to Kevin as if they were eye to eye. Kevin shook his head. Ghouls.

He was about to close the door behind him when Rain slithered through and tugged at his sleeve. His big blue eyes bored into his. "What?" Kevin asked slightly suprised.

Rain's mouth opened and closed a few times without any words coming out. Then, finally, when Kevin's already extremely thin thread of patience was about to snap, Rain managed to say a word. "Encore."

He had always thought that Rain simply didn't speak human language, but apparently the ghoul was just dumb. In a good-natured tone, as if he was talking to someone particularly retarded, Kevin replied. "I know you did a great job on the film. We're all very proud of you. But I," he pointed to himself, "have to go now," he pointed to the door. Rain tilted his head, confused.

He's probably doing this so that the few brain cells he has will slip into the same corner, Kevin thought spitefully.

The water ghoul tugged at his sleeve again, this time more frantically. "Encore! Encore! Encore! Dew!" Confused, Kevin turned around and froze. Dewdrop stood at the sink and calmly poured a thick liquid into it. Kevin now also noticed the penetrating smell of ammonia.

This fucking little shit poured wall paint into the sink.

Rain, for example, grew up in the Victorian era. His family was very wealthy thanks to their involvement in the construction of the railway. Accordingly, Rain was sent to a prestigious private school, where he was one of the best students. With five older sisters and two older brothers, Rain was the youngest child.

Rain has always been very sickly. Whether that was due to the poisonous substances such as mercury, arsenic or radium which were contained in many things at that time or because he suffered from extreme nightmares since early childhood.

His parents took him to the best doctors, but nothing seemed to help. Neither the medicine nor the most bizarre treatments like leech, phosphor or vomiting helped. Rain remained sickly and hardly slept a night without nightmares.

In any case, it was the nightmares that ultimately caused Rain to end up in the mental asylum.

For a delicate soul like Rain, this was the worst thing that could have been done to him. Locked up in a huge building with grey and cold stone walls, surrounded by an iron fence whose spikes rose sharply and threateningly into the sky and threatened to cut anyone who dared to climb over. Whenever Rain had the chance, he wandered along the iron fence in the garden. How small his world had suddenly become. Before, he had been able to go wherever he wanted - now he had to ask permission if he wanted to use the toilet.

His treatments took place in the mornings. He was usually led into a small, stuffy room with barred windows that barely let in any light, so thick was the layer of dirt on the glass. But it wasn't just the window that was dirty - the metal instruments that the doctor used on Rain also looked as if they had definitely not been cleaned since they had last been used.

Numerous diagnoses were made, from physical causes to mental causes. Finally, it was said that Rain had hysteria - a mental illness that is actually mostly attributed to women. This is due to Rain's gentle disposition, his family explained when the doctor announced it. Rain himself said nothing about it, he just wanted to get out. The sometimes painful treatments only seemed to worsen his condition. His dark circles under his eyes became darker, his nightmares worse and Rain became more and more desperate.

Ironically, Rain drowned when he tried to escape the cruel treatment in the asylum and stumbled into the small duck pond, completely dazed by the pills he had been given.

The icy water was like a sharp slice of reality penetrating Rain's foggy brain. His lungs burned as the water forced its way in. His whole body screamed for oxygen, his vision turned black. So that was the end of him. Drowned in a pond, pumped full of medication laced with mercury. So many unfulfilled dreams that went down with Rain. His heartbeat got weaker and his attempts to stay above water became more and more difficult.

Rain's pale body was floating lifelessly when suddenly a strong, burning hot hand grabbed him by the upper arm and pulled him out of the water with a jerk. The heart in Rain's chest had stopped beating, but something seemed to be keeping him alive. Something, or rather someone...