My Favorite Part Of Any Kelly Clarkson Song Is When I Almost Blackout From Oxygen Deprivation While Trying

I have this urge to sit him down and brush out that hair

Cos we don't get enough Per on ghumblr

Your beauty never ever scared me

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66th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony

About the Recording Academy / GRAMMYs: Recording Academy is the world's leading society of musical professionals and is dedicated to celebra

Grammy Awards are approaching fast, so here's a kind reminder that metal & rock awards will be, as usual, handed out during the Premiere Ceremony, not the main event. You can watch it on YouTube linked above or live.grammy.com. YouTube should show you the starting time based on your timezone, if you open the vid in the app.

Before the show, the Grammy's website will also have a multicam stream of the red carpet arrivals, so you can keep an eye out on our favourite Swede, in case he attends.

Aether and Rain are disgustingly affectionate but they don't make it anyone else's problem. Because Rain would rather die than have others know they're like this.

Under the cut: Stupid couple baby talk the morning after a heat. Rain's graphic memories but it isn't mixed with the baby talk. Not intended to be age regression. Just them being doofuses.

Rain wakes up with a deep, content peace and knows his heat is over.

Aether had played his role as stud well. He’d wrestled Rain into submission without any of his damn quintessence powers, forcing him to submit with sheer strength alone. Didn't even let up so Rain could strip naked, only pierced the fabric of his shorts with a claw and tore a neat line down the seam, exposing his hole, already dripping for Aether's cock.  He’d pinned Rain's knees between his own, had Rain’s hands trapped in one of his own while the other scraped his claws across Rain's scalp. Palm tight to his skull before his fingers curled and Aether dragged Rain into a severe arch with his grip on his hair as he bullied his way inside, giving Rain the whole slide of his cock at once. Rain had sobbed, genuinely sobbed when the blunt head pushed up against the entrance to his brood chamber, sensitive and desperate to take in all the cum Aether had waiting for Rain in the heavy balls that slapped his thighs with every brutal thrust.

The rest of his memories were static, only flashes surfacing if Rain concentrates; he’d begged until his voice was hoarse, Aether grinding his face into the pillow to get him to shut up so he could focus. A firm grip on his hips that surely left bruises.  Orgasm after orgasm until he was jelly underneath the cruel beast still driving his hips mercilessly into Rain. Finally being let go so he could wiggle away, gasping and panting only for Aether to drag him back on his cock so he could cum inside with a deep, possessive snarl. 

All that seems so distant now, with Aether next to him deep in slumber. Still large, still a force to be reckoned with but his expression is peaceful and he's drooling on Rain's silk pillowcase. He studies the other ghoul, counting the faint freckles on his nose and forehead. The wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, eyes that had seemed to paralyze Rain with their intensity as he struggled. Out of curiosity, he reaches back and thumbs an eyelid up to expose the white and a half-moon of iris where it's rolled up in Aether's skull. He lets the delicate skin slide back into place, satisfied and deeply amused.

It's the kiss that wakes him, like Sleeping Beauty, when Rain presses his cool lips to Aether's forehead. He snuffles and closes his mouth, blinking open his bleary and unfocused eyes as Rain watches him.

“Want to get breakfast?” Rain asks. He has no idea what time it is but he doesn't want to be alone yet, this last phase of his heat still stubbornly clinging to him.

“Wanna stay here…” Aether slurs, words blending together in his exhaustion. “Wi’ m’Rainy baby…"

“Big guy still shweepy?” Rain can't help himself. Something about Aether being so cheesy like this does things that kill all his braincells and turns him into some cooing idiot.

“So shweepy…” Aether sighs, burrowing into the pillow. “...shweepiest big guy ever.”

“Aww…” Rain murmurs and throws an arm over Aether's shoulder, scratching the back of his neck as he plants a kiss on the tip of his nose. “My poor big guy.”

Aether starts to rumble in pleasure as Rain scratches him, leg shaking under the blanket like a dog’s. Rain moves to kiss him on the mouth and Aether pants into it, groaning in delight and pulling Rain in close.

“My big guy like that?” Rain asks, when Aether turns away from the kiss to breath.  He pets softly over the nape of his neck, brushes his lips over Aether's cheek. “Huh? My big guys like his scratches?”

“Yeah,” Aether says with a chuckle as he stretches. “Yeah, your big guy likes his scratches.”

“Oh, big stretch.” Rain says in the same dopey tone as Aether groans and moves, popping several joints as he does. “Big stretch.”

“Big stretch.” Aether echoes, and flops back down. “Fuck, babe. ‘m starving. You want snackies?”

“Always down for snackies.” Rain replies.  “Little snackies? Big snackies?”

“Big snackies for your big guy.”

“Biiig snackies for my biiig guy.”

If any of the others overheard the both of them talking like this, Rain thinks he would kill them. And then himself. He’d never stop though. Not when it makes Aether smile like that, at their own ridiculousness. Aether squeezes him in one last bear hug before reluctantly sitting up, sheets falling away from his body. Rain bites back the next bit of idiocy to come out of his mouth but doesn't resist grabbing at Aether's now exposed belly and tickling him. Aether yelps and slaps his hand away, tries to roll off the bed but only tangles himself in the sheets and goes down just about as hard as Rain did last night.

“Oh fuck!” Rain pushes himself up, trying to catch a glimpse of Aether on the floor. “You good?”

Aether groans.

“Owie…” he says quietly. “Rainy, baby… need kissies to make my head feel better.”

Rain pauses, then smiles despite himself.

“Kissies are on their way, big guy.” He says, and can't hide the chuckle when he hears a tired and subdued sounding yay in response.

________

“Waffles?” Rain guesses as he guides his poor, bruised quintessence ghoul down the hallway to the kitchen. Aether’s got a cooling gel eyemask clamped to his head in lieu of an actual icepack. Rain’s going to make it up to him. “Bacon? Pop tarts?”

“All of it.” Aether mutters, cracking an eye open to peek at Rain. “Please, Rainy?”

“Alright, alright.” he says fondly. “Whatever my big guy wants.”

He guides Aether (now limping for some reason, like he can't bear to do anything without Rain helping him, like Rain doesn't have a twang in his hips from Aether's dick) to the breakfast nook and gets him settled. Aether slumps over exaggeratedly, bemoaning his fate.

“You want some juice?” Rain asks. “Coffee?”

“Orange juice.” Aether whimpers, sounding truly pathetic. You’d think he was on his death bed. Rain kisses his temple and fetches the cup of juice without any complaints, even giving Aether an extra long straw to sip from in case he was simply too weary to lift up his thick skull.

“Belgian waffles, all the fixings?”

“Yes please.”

Contrary to popular belief, Rain can do things for himself. It's just that it's so much easier to get someone else to do it for him. But still, he's selfish. He doesn't want to share Aether with anyone yet, still feeling possessive in the lingering haze of his heat. He gets the box of pre-made out, adds the liquids and the eggs and finagles the waffle iron out of its cupboard cave, where it lives underneath Mountain’s favorite wok. He knows Aether's watching him, so he puts an extra sway in his hips and hums a little tune while he gets everything going.

“You're so pretty.” Aether says, propping his head on his elbow. Watching Rain pour the batter in and close the lid. “Why’re you so pretty, Rainy baby?”

“Sweet talker.” Rain says. “My big guy want sprinkles and frosting?”

“Big guy would love sprinkles and frosting, baby.”

The timer dings and Rain goes through the motions again until he's got a healthy stack of waffles for both of them. He sets the plate in front of Aether, nabs the frosting and sprinkles from their spots and sits down just as Swiss comes sidling in.

“Hey man.” Aether says in his normal voice and Rain bites his lower lip to hide his laugh. “Sup?”

“S’good, s’good,” Swiss says, opening the fridge to rummage through it. “Princess want waffles?”

Aether shoots Rain a glance. Rain’s too busy laughing, tears stinging his eyes as he hides his face in his hands.

“Yeah dude.” Aether said. “What Princess wants, Princess gets. You know how he is.”

“My man.” Swiss says, coming up with a monster energy drink. He passes by their table to give Aether a fistbump. “Rain, go easy on this guy, yeah? He's a softie, y’know. Needs someone to take care of him too.”

“I had no idea.” Rain says, struggling to keep his voice steady. He clears his throat. “Thanks Swiss.”

“No problem! Practice at noon, kay?” he gives them a salute and cracks the tab of his drink, licking up the foam as it spills out.

“Yup.”

“Uh-huh."

They wait until he leaves. Aether looks at Rain. Rain looks at Aether.

“Does my big guy like his waffles?” He whispers.

“Fuck yeah.” Aether says, picking up a fork and a knife to tear into his breakfast.  “Your big guy likes his waffles, Rainy baby.”

They don't even make it five seconds before bursting into laughter.

A Lack of Engagement Pt. 8: Save The Date

[Previous Part: Here. The final installment in the ALOE series. I am first and foremost a delighter in chaos. This is what happens when you let me write while ill.] Below the cut.

While the groundskeeper drags the lake closest to the docks for any signs of the giant dick that started this whole mess, Rain and Dew spend their afternoon digging holes and carefully planting the blueberry bushes Bea had entrusted to them.

It's a tedious job, especially since neither of them knows how best to approach the situation; Whether it's better to dig all the holes first, or simply dig them one at a time, but either way the task is distracting enough for the two of them to spend most of it working in near silence.

Rain digs the holes and Dew sets the plants into the ground, carefully covering the roots, his nails slowly becoming encrusted in soil.

They wind up making a loose circle, spacing the bushes out with room to grow, and by the time they finish and take a moment to stand back and admire their hard work, Bea's approaching them once more.

"Hm, good job." she nods approvingly, placing her hands on her hips, "I appreciate the help."

Rain smiles, then looks past the woman towards the docks, "How did the search go...?"

Bea scratches her fingers through the short hair on top of her head, glancing back over at the water herself.

"Well, there's definitely something in the water over there," she says, "but that's the thing; There's a LOT of things in the water by the docks."

She gestures for them to follow her, and they all find themselves standing on the edge of the dock, staring out over the water.

"The water here is relatively clear, so you can see the bottom pretty easily." she explains, "I didn't have to search long to find an abnormality, but..."

She points to several odd shapes in the silt below, "It's kind of a mess down there."

Rain frowns, the groundskeeper is right, there's all kind of debris in the water by the docks, and none of it really looks like what they're searching for.

"You said the statue you were looking for was made of metal, so I thought I could just sink a magnet on a line and see what it stuck to, but, then again, there's so much garbage down there... and I think y'all said the blasted thing was made of bronze, yeah?" She asks, and the pair nods, "Yeah, see, you can't use a magnet to find bronze, because the shit's not magnetic, well, not unless it has nickel mixed in-"

Bea cuts her rambling short and shakes her head.

"Anyway, point is, short of diving in there and having a look around, I can't really go in there and shift things around much more. Taking a net to the lighter debris is one thing, but I can't be hauling up anything heavy and potentially waterlogged manually." she sighs, "Personally, I'd have the Creature From The Black Lagoon over there-" she gestures loosely at Rain, "-take a dive and see if anything fits the bill."

"We appreciate the help either way, Bea." Rain says, "Sorry to take up so much of your time."

Bea shrugs, "Ehn, it's whatever. Besides, if I had known earlier how messy this area was, I'd have probably come out here sooner and organized a group to help sort out all of this..."

She places her hands on her hips.

"I'm going to talk to Copia about getting some machinery in so we can remove some of the larger bits from the water, but it'll probably take a while for that to happen, so..."

Rain hums.

"We'll figure something out in the meantime, go have your fun with Mountain already." he does a light shooing motion, "Just shout if he actually tries to kill you."

"Aw, so kind of you to think I'd have the time to scream if he really wanted me dead." Bea places a hand on her chest, "But yeah, I better get going, or he'll be upset... I did promise I'd let him make dinner afterwards..."

As Bea leaves with a bit of a skip to her step, Dew can't help but turn to look at Rain and mouth a simple, "What the fuck?"

.

.

.

"So a plan B is in order." Rain announces after surfacing for the fifth time, "I've found two car fenders, a large rock that looks like a penis, but was definitely a rock, and, like, three shopping carts at this point."

Dew kicks his feet in the water, "We have to order a giant purple dildo and send it to Limbo via express shipping?"

Rain pulls himself up onto the dock, "We have to order a giant purple dildo and send it to Limbo via express shipping."

"Man..." Dew flops backwards, sighing, "I was kind of hoping we'd find the dick, I kind of wanted to see that ridiculous thing again..."

"I mean, yeah, it was pretty funny to look at." Rain agrees, laying down next to him, "...Dew?"

"Yeah, Rainy?"

"Why do you think that dick showed up here in the first place?" he asks, turning his head to face Dew, who is already looking at him when he glances over, "Like, the sudden rumors, it just appearing and disappearing and all of that... It just feels... odd, you know?"

"Mn." the other ghoul thinks for a moment, "Well, strange things happen here all the time, it's just the nature of things, I suppose... I don't want to dismiss it's... oddness, but, I guess I've bore witness to a lot of weird shit over the years so this didn't really register high on the list."

"But it is weird, right?" Rain wonders aloud, "Touching that statue, winding up in that other... dimension? World? Whatever that was... and then traveling to Limbo, getting out of there so easily because we could bargain with the Toll Man... Hell, even Bea being willing to help us search the lake... it all feels too convenient to be real."

Dew reaches over and trails his fingers down Rain's side making him twitch slightly before letting out a yelp as Dew pinches his sensitive skin.

"Ow! Hey-"

"Well, we can rule out the idea that this isn't real or a dream." he chirps innocently, "But I get what you mean. It's like someone is guiding us somehow, and I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that."

"Who do you think it is?" Rain asks, "Guiding us?"

"Honestly? It could be anyone." Dew says, sitting up again, "You said you heard the rumors about the dick from eavesdropping on the siblings, right?"

Rain nods.

"Well, the siblings all study the arcane arts, at least the ones living here in the abbey do. It wouldn't be hard for a couple of them to concoct some weird multi-dimensional, teleporting penis... no matter how fucking weird that sounds now that I'm saying it." he turns to look at the abbey in the distance, "Point is, whoever made it probably just wanted to test out the statue on some poor saps curious enough the try it out... Or ministry actually shelled out cash for a giant metal dick statue, but that doesn't feel like a Copia purchase to be honest."

"Definitely more of Terzo purchase," Rain chimes in, "or Ome-"

"Omega!" Dew gasps, "Why didn't I think to ask him before??"

"Huh?"

"Omega manages the arts department! It's... kind of a holdover position from when Terzo was still around and they'd do 'still life nights' that were just an excuse to fuck each other covered in paint, but he's basically in charge of deciding what pieces go on display and which ones get vetoed or shipped elsewhere for viewing." Dew explains, "He'd know if the dick is still in the collection if it's not in the lake!"

"...Can we go back to the having sex covered in paint part?"

"Rainy."

"What?" Rain pouts, "I'm a connoisseur of the arts myself... Also was that one of the instances where you and them..."

He brings two of his fingers together, then, after some thought, tries the same motion but with three instead.

"...I will admit that Terzo did occasionally school me on my... brushstrokes."

Rain whistles and Dew kicks him in the side lightly.

"C'mon, ya perv, let's go see Omega."

.

.

.

"...A giant metal dick?" Omega's mouth hangs open as he processes what Dew has said, "No... I don't think we have one of those. We do have a rather large, um, Georgia O'Keefe style statue that has a similar story to it, but it involved rubbing the clit and some people had a bit of a hard time finding the right spot to-Anyway. No, no large metal dicks."

"Aw, fiddlesticks." Dew snaps his fingers, "...Any idea where we can find the pussy statue by any chance?"

Omega eyes him wearily.

"No dice, huh?"

The older ghoul nods.

"Circling back," Omega says, waving his hand about dismissively, "you said you two held hands in front of this dick statue, rubbed it, wound up in another universe where you were married, then traveled through Limbo, came back here, had the groundskeeper -who is currently getting railed by Mountain, a detail I didn't need to know- search the lake and came up empty... which lead you to here, am I correct?"

Rain and Dew nod.

"Yeah, that's basically everything."

Omega leans back in his office chair, bringing his hands up in a prayerlike gesture.

"Boys, have you been eating out of Lucifer's cabbage patch...?"

"Lucifer's... Are you asking if we're high??" Dew balks, "Omega, it's a Monday! I'd at least wait until Tuesday-"

"Professionally, no..."

Rain clears his throat, "We're being serious, Omega. We experienced something really weird, and now we're kind of... It lead to some... emotions. So we just... we want to confirm that it, ya know, actually happened, and also we kind of sort of promised a ten foot tall demon in Limbo that we'd send him back something he could ride, and the giant metal dick that started all of this seemed like the obvious choice."

"Ten foot tall demon in Limbo..." Omega looks between Rain and Dew, "...Dewcifer Maurice Drop, if you're telling the truth, did you-"

"Fuck the Toll Man again? No, not this time."

Rain throws his hands in the air, "He knows about that, but you never told me-"

Omega holds up his hand, "As a medical professional and a man of science, I needed to know how-"

Dew slaps his hands down on the desk.

"He can shrink down!"

"OHHHH!"

As the sun finally begins to dip below the horizon, Dew, still reeling from their conversation with Omega, lets out a sigh as he and Rain fall onto the couch in the ghouls' common room.

"Well... we're back at square one." he says, letting his body sag into the cushions, "...Can you get me my laptop?"

"Gonna order the dildo for the Toll Man?" Rain asks, "You sure you don't want to wait and see if the metal dick doesn't show up somewhere?"

"Nah, let's just... We're the only people that seem to know that thing exists. I'm tired, and I have a giftcard that expires soon, so... Two birds, one stone. Laptop, please." he shrugs, "Oh, and my reading glasses!"

"Aye, aye, Captain." Rain salutes him and Dew rolls his eyes, smiling softly as the other walks away.

As soon as Rain returns, Dew opens up his laptop and clicks on a pinned link below his search bar.

"...You just have this site on quick access?" Rain's eyes grow wide as he takes in a barrage of colorful sex toys in some... unconventional shapes and sizes, "On your unlocked laptop no less?"

"If anyone opens my laptop without my permission and the worst they see is a bunch of penises than I think it's fine." Dew says, pushing up his reading glasses as he scrolls through their options, "This isn't even my main computer... Anyway, let me know if you see anything you want."

"...You're gonna buy me a dildo?"

"Or a vibe or one of those stroker things, whatever your perverted heart desires, I'm feeling strangely generous."

After a bit of searching, and spending way too long customizing not one, but two absurdly large sex toys, Dew carefully inputs the details on the gift card and confirms his purchases...

...Just in time for Swiss to walk in dragging a certain metal dick in what is effectively the ghouls' front door.

"You guys will NOT believe what I found-"

Rain and Dew exchanges looks.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Tale from the Green Room

Ever wonder what Copia has to say during the pre-Ritual Ghoul meeting? Yeah? Me too!

I feel it goes a little something like this…

The Green Room was noisy and smoky as Papa walked through the door. The Ghouls stopped their conversations as the leader of the Satanic Church cleared his throat to gain their attention.

“All right, my children, we will go on stage soon and here is what I want for tonight. Rain and Dew, I need you two to choke each other at some point. I don’t care when or who goes first, I just want to see hands around your throats at some point.”  

“Sure thing, boss!”, both Ghouls answered.

“Phantom, sweet Phantom. I’m going to need you on your best cat-like behavior. Seems the fangirls go crazy for cats. Oh, and do the bendy thing with Rain.”

Phantom raised his fingers in a mock salute as he continued his preparations for the upcoming Ritual.

“Cumulus, Cirrus, and Princess Aurora, my lovelies. Please just be your awesome self. You ladies know what you need to do.”

The Ghoulettes did not bother to answer as they knew they were awesome.

“Mountain, you are perfect in every way. I just need you to be ready to lead us into the night with your rhythms.”

The gentle giant flushed at his Papa’s praise and continued to fidget with the drumsticks in his hands.

“And last but not least, Swiss, my multi-Ghoul, during Watcher in the Sky, I need you to…”

The most powerful ghoul!! ;3

MAJESTY, live. Send tweet.

Tying The Knot

[Get your head out of the gutter, this one is actually a wholesome one. RainDrop.] Below the cut.

The day he met Dew, the ghoul had been a stiff breeze away from crumbling away, shaking like a leaf as he tried to remain on his feet.

He'd learn much later the reason; That he'd fought tooth and nail to keep his packmate from tearing him apart in a rage, and that the shiver, that terrible, persistent tremble of his body, was it trying to stay upright.

At the time, Rain had not seen the hand splayed across his back -a sister of sin steadying him-, had not seen the way Terzo had eyed him from across the room, the last remnant of his old pack, barely holding onto life, but alive.

More than anything, the thing Rain noticed about Dew was that he was alive.

Were it not for the raspy hiss of his breathing, it would have been easy to liken him to a corpse.

It had bothered him for so long, the idea that Dew had been forced out of bed to witness not only his summoning, but that of the others, who poured out of the pit, half feral and lost, snapping at anyone who got close, but he hadn't been.

This had been an indulgence.

Dew wanted to see them.

And when coal black eyes gazed upon them all; Rain could feel him staring through them, through him.

It was then that Rain knew Dew was a creature born of spite, of persistence...

He remembers his first approach.

Unfazed by the chatter of teeth or swipe of claws.

With his fingers dipped in a mixture of ash and blood, he aided in anointing them all, and, now, when he sees Dew in his robes during one of Copia's sermons, it's all he can think of.

Dew stands now at the head of the chapel, back to him, long white hair tied back into a careful braid, the one Rain remembers practicing late at night.

It's done in a style from the pit, the kind you have to learn from an elder, impossible to find on youtube, even if similar patterns exist.

His hands twitch, wanting to drag through the strands and tug it loose, to undo all his hard work in a single pull, because if he knew how seeing him like this would make him feel, he'd never had tied those knots in the first place.

Each cross is a promise, woven to remind the wearer they are loved.

Rain watches the little ribbon he tied to secure the braid in place peek out; A bright, joyous red that contrasts heavily against Dew's pale hair.

Bolder than he thought it would be, and now Rain can feel eyes on him from among the pews.

His packmates know they didn't tie that ribbon, and all of them know such an intricate braid could not be done by Dew's hands alone, no matter how skilled he may be with his fingers.

Rain swallows, mouth suddenly dry.

It's...

It's a little too obvious what he's saying with all of this.

He's embarrassed, yes, but more than that...

He's nervous that Dew won't understand the meaning of this gesture.

Dew may be a ghoul like the rest of them, but, much like Swiss -who was born and raised on the surface- he has no memories of the pit.

The soul inhabiting his vessel is a mix.

An even blend of demon and man, but his consciousness solely belongs to the entity that lived topside.

He doesn't understand their culture.

Let alone the niche courting habits of an oceanic subspecies of water ghoul like Rain's.

At best, Dew thinks it's just a cool hairstyle.

At worst, he thinks it's lame or weird, or-

"Rain." a shockingly gentle voice calls to him, and when he looks up...

Dew looks down at him, standing above his seated form, his expression softer than he's seen it in a long time.

"You look terribly sad for a man who's just proposed."

Rain stutters, covering his face with his hands, looking as if he's about to burst.

"...You knew?"

"I guessed based on how much you were sweating while tying my hair back." he replies teasingly, "And Mist told me, ages ago. Not about you doing this, but about the practice in general."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh."

Rain tucks his head between his knees.

"Are you okay??"

"...Gimme a year to recover before you tell me yes or no, I don't think my heart can take it."

Dew grins.

"If I say 'yes' will you die on the spot, or-"

"Can y'all be mushy somewhere else, it's putting me off Papa's sermon about pre-martial sex." Cirrus groans, "Congrats, but also, fuck off!"

"Boo! Boo, Cirrus! Ruining our moment..." Dew sticks his tongue out

"...The sermon was about sex? Was he for or against it??" Aeon frets, "I wasn't listening!"

Everyone turns to the other ghoul, frowning.

"W-What??"

"Do we look like Christians to you-"