#swissraindrop

Rain doesn’t get angry often.

Irritated, annoyed, inconvenienced, sure. He feels that a lot. But rarely does he ever feel the heat of rage bubbling up.

Unfortunately, today it seems he’ll have to deal with it.

They’re all tired, three shows in a row with no breaks and minimal sleep, he finds himself half asleep on his feet just before the show. It’s not until they kick into Kaisarion that he really feels the infectious energy of the crowd, and even then he’s still so damn tired.

It all crashes down again when he swaps to his white bass and the cursed instrument doesn’t want to work with him. For the majority of Rats he’s useless, until he finally tells a crew member to just get his other bass, the black one he’s only supposed to use during songs like Kaisarion and Mummy Dust.

It throws him off for the rest of the show.

Swiss, Phantom, and Aurora do all they can to cheer him up, make it a little more fun, but nothing seems to work. He’s in a mood and he’s stuck there.

Dew has no idea until they finally step off stage, before the encore, and Rain folds to sit on an empty crate.

He’s too lost in his own thoughts to notice the fire ghoul staring at him, fluffy brows furrowed behind the voids of his goggles. Rain just wants to leave, hopes Papa cancels the encore and lets them relax at the hotel. But he knows that won’t happen.

So, the lights come back on, he grabs his bass, and before Dew gets the chance to ask what’s wrong, they’re being filed back on stage for the final three songs.

He still plays well, though he’s sure the others can feel his lack of energy. Phantom tries to play around with him during Kiss The Go-Goat, Rain manages to get a few cheers by pointing at himself during those few lines of the song about want. Besides that? Everything is moving in slow motion. Dance Macabre consists of him standing on Mountain’s steps, stock still as he plays.

It’s all very minimal effort.

By the time they finally get to bows, his shoulders are sore and his hands ache, he’s half asleep on his feet, pissed off, and all he wants is to curl up in that nice hotel bed and sleep.

It’s all a blur, now.

“Hey,” he hears, and lifts his head as he sits immobile on the green room’s filthy couch, “Rainy?”

“Hm?”

Dew looks so sad. It makes Rain sad.

“Are you tired?” Dew asks, unlacing his mates helmet from the back. Rain only nods.

He lets Dew strip him of his uniform, occasionally interrupting his rhythm to kiss his hand or wrist appreciatively. The words won’t come out and he knows Dew will understand. It’s much more of a relief than he thought it’d be to just take off his uniform. He’s used to the weight, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still heavy and inconvenient. All the complicated buckles and laces and the stupid boots, it would have been a nightmare to take it off himself.

Again, he kisses Dew’s hand.

“Phantom,” Dew mumbles, thoroughly exhausted himself and not willing to show it, “can I have a change of clothes for Rain?”

He doesn’t elaborate why he can’t get up himself. Doesn’t say his knees ache to high heaven, nor does he mention the burning sensation every time he lifts his arms. He’s lucky his mask is still hiding his face.

In seconds there’s a pile of clothes in his lap. Rain’s favorite sweatpants, clean boxers, a nice, soft sleep shirt, so he won’t have to change when they get to the hotel.

“Thanks.”

Rain, to his credit, redresses himself on his own. His cheeks already burn with shame for letting Dew strip him down, even if he appreciated it the help.

Dew pulls down his balaclava to kiss his water ghoul’s forehead, before backing away to get his own clothes.

On the bus to the hotel, Rain is nothing but dead weight. Dew is smushed between him and Swiss, his hands tangled together in the multi ghoul’s larger ones, but at least he’s purring.

Not five minutes later and they’ve arrived.

Dew nudges Rain awake until he growls, then snaps back to attention and mumbles the softest apology.

“All together, tonight?”

Dew nods into Swiss’ arm. He seems to be bursting with energy still; Dew blames that one person in the crowd that kept bossing him around, but mostly he blames the fact that Swiss fucking loved it.

The fire ghoul ignores the burning churn of jealousy in his stomach and instead directs his focus to Rain as they exit the bus. He’s propped himself up on Dew’s shoulder, stuck to him like cling-wrap.

Swiss manages to guide them to their room, and the second the door opens, his mates are both tumbling into bed. If they started snoring the moment they hit the pillow, it wouldn’t surprise him, but they don’t.

Rain tucks his face into the junction of Dew’s neck and hugs him like a stuffed animal, whining softly against his skin. It’s all Dew can do not to start crying. He pets Rain’s hair, presses the lightest kisses to his face and head. It seems to help with Rain’s shaking.

“Dew, baby,” Swiss chimes, still standing by the entrance looking through his travel bag. Out of any of them, he’s the most prepared for things like this. “Do either of you need anything?”

Politely, Rain growls into Dew’s neck and forces out a mess of words that sound awfully like, “Get over here.”

Who is Swiss to say no to that?

He kicks his shoes off and tosses himself into the king sized bed, pulling his mates close.

Dew immediately begins to pepper kisses all over his face, neck, and chest, but the second Rain’s head settles on his chest, he’s out like a light. Dew doesn’t stop playing with his hair, even as he falls deeper into sleep.

“His bass stopped working at the beginning of the show,” Swiss explains, because Dew had been all the way on the other side of the stage, “he was panicking in front of Cir and I. Think that’s what got him all moody.”

“Explains a lot,” Dew shoves his hand under Swiss’ shirt and rests it on his tummy, squishing every so often. “How aren’t you exhausted?”

Swiss shrugs. Which explains nothing.

“Go to sleep, lovebug, we have all day to ourselves tomorrow.”

Dew nearly sobs openly when Swiss places a gentle hand on the fire ghoul’s cheek, swiping at the tears gathering on his lashes. The gesture is sweet and tender, and it’s exactly what Dew needs. “Just feel like… shit,” he admits. “Dunno why though.” He sniffles, lifting one of his own hands up from where he had been squeezing the pillow and covering Swiss’ hand with his own. The multi ghoul’s skin is warm. Comforting. “Probably a lotta things…”

Swiss strokes his thumb over Dew’s cheek gently. The action grounds the fire ghoul more than he’d like to admit. “That’s fine too, doll. If you’re upset, then you’re upset, yeah? You don’t always have to know why.”

Dew nods, unable to find words to reply with, but still wanting Swiss to know he appreciates his reassurance.

They stay like that for a while; Swiss’ fingers dragging softly over Dew’s cheeks as he sits up on the mattress, the fire ghoul holding onto the pillow and Swiss’ fingers as if they’re lifelines while he lies under the covers, both ghouls breathing the other in.

Swiss breaks the silence first. “D’you want me to go get Rainy? I know they’re better at the comforting you stuff than I am.” There’s no jealousy in Swiss’ tone, not bitterness. Just plain, simple honesty.

Dew considers for a moment before nodding. He wants to be able to curl up against the water ghoul and soak in their cool, comforting temperature. …But he also doesn’t want Swiss to leave, and the way the multi ghoul phrased his suggestion made it sound like he’s planning on doing just that. Then again, he’s been comforted by Rain without Swiss by their side more times than he can count, and he’s been fine, so maybe it won’t matter if the multi ghoul leaves for a while. “D’you mind?”

“No, baby, not at all. I’ll go get ‘em. They’ll be here soon, ‘kay?” The second Swiss pulls his hand away and stands up, Dew can’t help but whine involuntarily, already missing the multi ghoul’s touch.

“Wait. Please,” he mumbles quietly. “Will you… Stay? With me?”

Swiss’ face breaks into a delighted smile. “‘Course I’ll stay, Dewy. Might just take a little longer for Rain to find their way to us. That okay?”

Dew sniffles, but he feels himself smile a little at Swiss’ pleased grin. “Yeah,” he nods. “Yeah, that’s okay.” He gestures for the multi ghoul to climb into the bed with him and snuggles against his chest. He’s warm, and it’s lovely, Dew thinks. Even if he’s still not feeling great, at least he’s feeling better, and once Rain gets there, hopefully he’ll start feeling a bit more like himself again.

It’s not long before there’s a second knock on Dew’s door, but this time, it’s Swiss who calls for the knocker to come in. Before the door even opens, Dew knows it’s Rain; they have a specific knock pattern that Dew memorised long ago, and he’s sure Swiss has done the same. They open the door and peek their head around with a hand covering their eyes, smirking.

“Are you both decent?” They tease, probably knowing full well that their partners are doing nothing but cuddling innocently.

“Just come and cuddle us, viridis,” Dew mumbles quietly, his voice muffled in the hollow of Swiss’ chest, impatient to feel Rain’s comforting presence now that the water ghoul is almost within arm’s reach.

There must still be something in Dew’s voice that gives him away—or maybe they just simply know him too well—because Rain’s smirk falters and they drop their hand from their eyes, looking at the fire ghoul in concern. “Sundew, are you okay, my darling?”

Swiss beckons Rain over with his free hand, lifting the covers on Dew’s side of the bed. The water ghoul easily slips under the blanket and slots themselves into their mini, impromptu ghoul pile, their cool skin proving a perfect balance to Swiss and Dew’s combined warmth, just as the fire ghoul had hoped. Once Rain has settled themselves into the pile comfortably, Dew chooses to move his head out of Swiss’ chest to the pillow above so he can face Rain properly, and both other ghouls wrap their arms around him tightly. As Dew organises himself into a comfortable position, he feels Swiss shift, leaning over him to mutter something in Rain’s ear that he can’t quite make out—presumably something in answer to the question the water ghoul posed to Dew that the fire ghoul never quite got around to answering.

Once Swiss finishes speaking, Rain wraps their arms around Dew tighter and leans forward, pressing a gentle kiss to the fire ghoul’s forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t come and find you earlier, sundew,” they whisper softly against his ear. They pull away from his ear, but not as far as Dew was expecting, only enough to pass their eyelashes softly over his cheek, making the fire ghoul huff out a laugh of surprise at the tickle of it.

“‘S okay,” Dew murmurs back. It’s louder than he means to with Rain still fluttering their eyes across his cheek. “Swiss helped.” The multi ghoul gives a squeeze around Dew’s middle at the mention of his name. The corner of Dew’s mouth twitches up, and he leans gratefully into the multi ghoul’s hold.

Rain chases Dew’s face with their own after he leans away and ghosts their eyelashes over his lips. Dew has to resist the urge to stick his tongue out and lick them. Instead, he giggles in a way that is decidedly un-Dew-like—he resents (not really, but a ghoul’s got to keep up appearances) the implication that Swiss and Rain would probably say the opposite; that he always sounds like that when he laughs—and pulls back to ask Rain what in Hell’s name they’re doing.

“Kissing you,” they reply simply, as if that explains everything.

Even Swiss chuckles at that. “Baby…” He’s clearly very amused by this whole situation. “You kiss people with your lips. You know that.”

“These, my loves,” they start, and Dew will forever staunchly admit that the affection meant for both him and Swiss at the same time does nothing to give him the warm fuzzies, despite it absolutely doing just that, “are butterfly kisses.” Rain continues ghosting their lashes all over Dew’s face as they speak, making the fire ghoul squirm and laugh under their touch. “Mountain showed me. They’re supposed to feel like butterflies flitting across your face. Close your eyes, sundew. Can you feel it?”

Dew blinks at their words, doing his best to communicate his confusion, but closes his eyes without complaint, smiling as he indulges in his partner’s wishes. He’s surprised to find that, once his eyes are closed and he relaxes himself as well as he can, it really does feel like butterfly wings brushing up against his cheeks, lips and nose. It’s strangely calming, and almost grounding, in a way, despite the softness of the barely-there touch. Slowly, as their touch continues, Dew finds the horrible uncomfortable-ness from earlier melting away under the brush of Rain’s eyelashes and Swiss’ gentle hold.

It’s not a conscious action, but after some time passes, Dew realises he’s been purring. Swiss is massaging over Dew’s front and shoulders, tracing his fingers lightly over the faded scars adorning the fire ghoul’s chest from where his arms are wrapped around the fire ghoul, and one of Rain’s hands strokes at Dew’s cheek while the other cards through his hair. His partners’ touch is so tragically comforting that he can’t help but let his eyes slowly slip closed, allowing himself to drift in and out of consciousness, tangled in the warm-cool embrace of both his partners.

He thinks he trills out a sleepy “thank you, love you” and he thinks he hears two equally sleepy replies, but he’s so tired that he truly doesn’t know. All he knows is that, while he still doesn’t feel great, nor does he know the reason for his misery, he’s in Swiss and Rain’s arms, and for now, that means he’s safe, he’s warm, and he’s happy.

~

oh, and very quickly !

dew calls rain viridis which is a shortening of chromis viridis (blue-green damselfish), a species of fish that looks like this: