Definitely need more Cowbell
little bit of AlphaBell~
Mushy May Day 20: Gardening
Sunny, Rain, and Mountain plant strawberries in the Abbey garden.
Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together, and to @ghuleh-recs for making the dividers <3
"Will these do?"
Mountain looks up, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He knows he's left a smudge of dirt behind but can't bring himself to care. Rain's walking closer to the raised bed he's currently planting in, shirt rucked up to hold about three dozen stones. He's dripping wet, starting to dry off in the late spring sun, hair hanging in curtains around his face.
The angle is something Mountain doesn't get to see every day, the water ghoul actually looming over him on his knees.
"Lemme see, tadpole." Mountain shifts up on his knees as Rain gets close enough for him to examine the stones. They're all vaguely oblong, narrower at one end than the other, smoothed by years of the lake's waves lapping at them. "These are perfect," he says, glancing up at Rain until their eyes meet, emerald to aquamarine. "Sunny's got the paint. I've got about ten more of these to plant and then could I have you water for me?"
Rain smiles, revealing his serrated teeth. "Sure thing." He bends down to press a sweet kiss to the corner of Mountain's mouth, watching pleased as punch as a blush blooms over the earth ghoul's olive skin. "You've got a little," he gestures at Mountain's face.
"Come on, Rainy, you know better. A little dirt won't kill me," Mountain sighs, rolling his eyes as he smiles fondly at the water ghoul. "We're gardening, there's going to be some dirt."
Rain returns the fond smile, flicking the finned spade of his tail on the brim of Mountain's hat, something floppy to keep the sun out of his eyes. Rain, along with the rest of his packmates, finds it incredibly endearing. He turns, heading to where Sunny's sitting at one of Mountain's workbenches.
"I come bearing gifts, sunbeam," he says, dumping the rocks from the lake into a neat little pile in front of her. She glances up at him, a paintbrush tucked behind her pointed ear, curls bouncing softly as her head moves.
"Pretty," Sunny coos, though she's not looking at the rocks. Rain preens, patting the small of her back with his tail. She rolls her eyes playfully, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him down to sit next to her. She picks up a rock, examining the smooth, grey surface. "It's a shame we've got to paint them all red."
"You want strawberries come July?" Mountain asks. "We could just let the birds and critters get them, or we could put out the decoys."
"I know, string bean," Sunny laughs, taking the paintbrush from out behind her ear, shaking the little bottle of red craft paint she brought out and squeezing some onto a little plastic palette. She starts painting each rock, coating them in red, whistling something bright that carries through the gardens as she works.
Mountain barks a laugh at the nickname, turning back to his strawberry plants. He whispers in Ghoulish as he plants each one, encouraging words of earth magick and blessing. The lines of his knuckles and his fingernails are caked with soil.
Rain meanders back over. "I can start watering the one's you've done so far?" he asks, settling on his knees on the far side of the planter opposite Mountain.
He hums approvingly, examining another strawberry plant that they're repotting from the seedling containers. They're big enough now to go in the actual ground, let the roots expand down into the earth, leaves furling out to soak up the sun. There's twenty in total, the work meditative, especially as he catches glances of Rain, brow furrowed as he focuses, pulling moisture from the air and sinking it into the soil, nurturing and precise.
The three of them work quietly, soaking in their packmates' presence. The tip of Sunny's tongue peeks through her teeth as she focuses, making the stones look like strawberries, deterring the birds and fauna from nibbling on the plants when they eventually fruit. There's plenty of berry patches in the woods not a hundred feet from the gardens for them to forage from.
Sunny hums in satisfaction, setting aside her paintbrush and calling on her air and fire to dry the rocks, now painted to resemble perfectly ripe berries. She gathers them up just as Mountain finishes tamping down the soil around the last plant, scattering them around the garden bed.
Mountain groans as he stands, knees protesting and coveralls stained with grass and dirt. "We'll be eating good in no time," he hums, nudging his shoulder against Sunny's. "They'll be just as sweet as you."
Rain's head perks up from between two plants. "And what about me?"
Sunny and Mountain share a look, bursting into laughter.
I'd definitely read the shit out of this
would you ever be open to reader x dew having a ghoul kit?
jbtgbetmberlkbrstkcbdrkgbdjfbcg,dkrbgc,dkrbctkdrhj
I was waiting for someone to ask this because I clearly could not leave the ghoul kits/Dew being good with kids alone in my last fic lol but this is the million-dollar question!!
TL;DR—hard maybe! I personally love the idea of it but my interest kind of ends when the kid is actually born haha I feel it'd be a pretty hard pivot for the series if they had to raise a kid. But maybe a while down the road, if it seems like it makes sense for the story and people would be on board to read about it!
BUT now I've been spending all morning thinking HARD about this, so have some little drabbles/headcanons about what would happen if you got knocked up by Dew:
First off, how would you know it's even Dew's if you're sucking and fucking your way across the abbey? Easy—this can be explained away with my new best friend, GHOUL CREAMPIE LORE. I am unable to elaborate further at this time.
Dew would obviously be on board with doing whatever you want to do, but would also be unable to hide the fact that there's nothing in the world he wants more than having this baby. He'd have absolutely no chill.
Like, as soon as the doctor confirms that you're pregnant this mf would be decorating the nursery in his head. Everyone's already caught onto the fact that he secretly loves kids but this would just blow the hatch off him pretending like he doesn't.
This absolutely terrifies all of the ghouls and Copia.
Speaking of which—the ghouls would crack a few jokes about how nobody needs another Dew but they would all also be thrilled!! Who doesn't love a ghoul kit?! They all especially love that you'll be raising it somewhere that isn't the ghoul den, though! Aether and Cumulus have already offered to babysit as much as needed.
Dew's clinginess and possessiveness is now ramped up to eleven. Eleven million. You literally can't go anywhere without him hovering an inch away from you. Always has a hand or tail on you, glaring at anybody who looks at you, constantly rubbing your stomach even when you don't have anything to show for it yet. It's annoying af honestly. He follows you to the bathroom and sits on the floor to stare at you like a cat.
Copia is somehow worse! This man is losing his mind! Mostly with happiness, but everyone's favorite anxious little man of the cloth does not do well with change! He's constantly checking in on you, asking intrusive questions, asking if he can touch your stomach, giving you random little gifts for the baby. He and Dew will definitely butt heads over this and have a few little spats.
You know how cats can sense when you're not feeling well and will drape themselves over your body and purr? Yeah. You're just constantly in a big purring ghoul pile now, this is your life.
Turns out quintessence magic is great for morning sickness. Aether and Phantom are your new best friends. But don't worry, nothing weird is going on—Dew makes sure of that, as he sits with his face practically pressing against theirs, scowling, as they work their magic on you.
To that end, sexy times with the other ghouls came to an abrupt halt as soon as that pregnancy test came back, for both you and Dew. He's only got eyes for you and god help them if anyone else tries to have eyes for you too.
Mountain is extremely enthusiastic about giving you foot rubs. You love it. Dew regards him with extreme suspicion. You don't tell Dew that you can definitely feel his boner when your foot's in his lap, because getting good foot rubs is more important to you than not titillating Mountain's fetishes.
The kid would just be a carbon copy of Dew, except with more human eyes/features/skintone. Everyone will be visibly apprehensive when they see that you literally brought another Dew into the world.
Dew is gonna shock the shit out of everyone by being dad of the year. He won't get everything right and his approach will still be very Dew-like, but he clearly loves it. He's thriving. He's never seemed more in his element than when he's stalking around the abbey with the kit strapped to his chest. He LOVES the attention it gets him from the siblings.
When the kit gets a bit older Dew will become partial to walking them around on a leash. The kit will definitely be taller than Dew by like age 10. It will become unclear who exactly is walking who on the leash.
No because imagine Mountain either leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed… sleeves rolled
*deep breath* OR
Mountain leaning against the doorframe but his arms are above his head, him holding onto the frame making his muscles visibly show… he knows what effect it has on everyone so he tightens and relaxes his muscles just to see them get all flustered
*Im struggling over here*
Copia military jacket, that's it that's the post
their combined powers were too great. he never stood a chance. rip king.
You forgot something and Papa punishes you. Which Papa, you ask? That is for you to decide. Could be considered a little naughty if you give it the bombastic side eye long enough.
So silent did my love enter the room that I did not know they were there until I felt the leather blindfold slip over my eyes.
“Quiet,” was the only word said.
A gentle but firm touch on my elbow let me know that I was required to stand. Knowing what was expected of me, I put my hands before me, tongue darting over my lips as I felt the bonds tighten around my wrists.
“Too tight?”
Of course I did not answer and only shook my head in reply.
“Good. Come with me”
Obedient, I took a step forward, and immediately ran into the coffee table. I had to bite back a curse that tried to escape from my lips.
“Oh, darling. Did that hurt?”
I nodded.
“We will have to see to that later,” my love told me as they took my bound wrists and led me from the room. I followed along, secure in knowing that my love would not allow any other harm to come to me except for what was administered by their own hand. And that thought had my mind racing. What was on the agenda? Feathers? A spanking? Clamps? Other toys? And what had I done to deserve this? I tried to think what I had done or forgotten…
Forgotten?
Shit.
I know.
Earrings. My love had wanted me to wear those earrings and of course I forgot.
Double shit.
I am so gonna get it. The thought did not frighten me in the least; in fact the mere thought of ‘punishment’ had me almost breathless in anticipation. Lost in my thoughts of spankings and toys, I stumbled as we came to a stop, in what we liked to call, ‘Our Special Room’, which was really nothing more than our bed chamber.
“Stay there,” was the command given to me. For a moment I thought of moving just to test the boundaries that had yet to be set. All thoughts stilled in my mind as I felt the cool metal of a blade pressed against my cheek. I repressed a shiver as the coolness slid across my face and down my throat, with the tip coming to rest just inside my blouse.
“How fond are you of this?”
Of course, I did not answer. I’d yet to be given the leave to do so.
“You may answer.”
“It means nothing to me.”
“What a pity. I rather like this one on you,” my beloved said as they skimmed a finger across the front of my shirt. I shuddered as I felt the warmth of their skin seeping through the silk fabric. I ceased any movement as I felt the warmth be replaced by the coolness of metal.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Papa. Please remove this from me,” I gasped as the blade circled my nipple. For a moment the coldness was replaced by the warmth of my loves sweet mouth, causing the silky fabric to cling to my skin. Trembling with excitement, I held my breath as the blade sliced through the fabric. Goosebumps raced across exposed skin as I stood uncovered to his gaze.
He gently guided me to the bed and helped me to lay face down and with arms extended, hands grasping the bed post. The soft click of the padded hand cuffs had me squirming with excitement, knowing what was to come.
“Do you know why we are here?” he asked.
“The earrings I forgot to wear to the Ritual?”
A quick slap to my backside reminded me that I had not been given permission to speak.
“Yes, the earrings and if you continue to speak out of turn, I will have to do something about that.”
It was tempting to say something just to see what he would do, but I did not.
“Now, let’s begin,” and with that he brought his hand down across my backside.
~~**~~
The Nameless Ghoul stopped by Papa’s suite; his intention was to go over a few details of the upcoming Ritual with Papa. His hand was raised to knock on the door when his supernatural hearing caught the sound of two people engaged in their own version of a Ritual. He listened for a moment before smiling to himself. Whatever he needed to discuss could wait until some other time.
How in the actual fuck did that happen? Why?
Mushy May Day 16: Cooking A Special Recipe
Cumulus, Mountain, and Dew introduce Aeon to the joys of kahlua chocolate chip cookies.
Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together, and thank you to @ghuleh-recs for making the divider! <3
"Hey, junie, look what we got while we were out shopping!"
Mountain and Aeon both look up from the round of Mario Kart they're playing, Aeon cursing under their breath as their Toad crashes into a wall, the 'wrong way' sign flashing over his head.
Dew's stuck his head into the living room from the kitchen, holding up a brown glass bottle with a red and yellow label, shaking it. The full bottle sloshes, and Mountain perks up. "Oh shit, you got kahlua. I know what that means."
"Fuck yeah, you do," Dew crows, eyes wide.
Aeon's brow furrows. "It's ten in the morning on a Thursday, are we starting to drink this early?"
Mountain reaches over, rubbing Aeon's shoulder. "No, petunia, it's not for drinking, at least, not right now. We're making cookies."
"Oh, fuck yeah, cookies," Aeon pauses their game, spamming the button with such urgency that Mountain cackles, standing from the couch. "Is Cue helping?"
"It's her recipe," Dew says, leading the two other ghouls to the kitchen. There are grocery bags on the kitchen counter, things the Abbey can't grow or make themselves. Semi sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch pudding mix, the thick glass bottle of rum and coffee liqueur that Dew sets down with a clink.
Cumulus looks up from where she's sorting things in the fridge, hair tied back. "Boys," she greets the three of them. "You helping make cookies?"
"Unless that means you have too many cooks in the kitchen,'' Mountain says, reaching to grab the big bag of all-purpose flour from the top shelf of the cupboard. "Though I don't think Aeon's ever had your cookies before."
"You're in for a treat then, bunny. If it's too many people," she says, "I'll just kick Dew out."
"Hey!" he protests, but there's laughter in his voice; he knows she's teasing.
Aeon glances over at her as she pulls out the carton of eggs. "Can you get the cup and spoon measures out of the drawer by the sink?" Cumulus asks, moving to preset the oven. Aeon nods, scrambling to comply and moving out of Dew's way as he grabs bowls and a rubber spatula.
Mountain fetches baking powder ("Not soda, right, hummingbird?" "Yep, soda makes them flatter than I want them." "Like Dewey's ass?" "I can hear you!") and salt. He takes the measures from Aeon and shows them how to level the measuring cups of flour, dumping them into a bowl with the pudding mix. Aeon adds the spoons of baking powder and salt.
Dew takes care of the wet ingredients, both types of sugar and softened butter and vanilla and a healthy pour of kahlua. Cumulus takes the bottle when he's done, slyly pouring half a shot for all four of them.
"Add a little bit at a time," Mountain directs Aeon, taking the wet bowl from Dew. "I'll stir."
Aeon nods, biting their tongue in concentration, trying not to spill the dry ingredients. Bit by bit, the dough starts to form, and Cumulus adds the chocolate chips, all four of them trying to be slick and snatch a few while the other three aren't looking. Inevitably they catch each other stealing chunks of dough, cackling at the absurdity of trying to be sneaky.
Once the dough's ready, Cumulus goes to one of the cabinet drawers, pulling out an ice cream scoop . "Mount, there's a baking sheet with parchment paper on the counter, could you grab that for me?"
"'Course," he hums, already turning to grab it for her. Cumulus scoops the dough onto the baking sheet, evenly arranging them in rows. Once the sheet's full, she slides it into the oven.
"Alright, ten minutes on the clock," she hums, turning to gather the shotglasses and passing them out. "Cheers."
They down their shots before rinsing out the glasses and cleaning up the dirty dishes. Mountain keeps an eye on the stove clock as the kitchen fills with the scent of baked goods. "How long do you think it'll take for Swiss to come throw himself on top of these?" Mountain asks.
"I don't think hiding them on top of the fridge will work this time," Cumulus hums. "I mean. It'll keep Aurora and Dew from getting them at least."
"Wait." Dew's brow furrows, a look of distress falling over his features. "Is that where they went last time? I thought they were all gone."
"Oh, Dewey," Cumulus coos, laughing. "Oh, Dew, I'm so sorry."
"Cue!" He shouts, playing up his upset.
Mountain ruffles his hair, and the fire ghoul sputters, frantically trying to fix his hair. "Don't worry, firefly, we get first dibs."
Dew smiles smugly, settling back against the counter until the stove clock says it's been ten minutes. He gets up, turning to Aeon, leveling them with a serious look. "Please don't ever do what I'm about to do, I'm a fire ghoul, I don't need a hotpad. You will burn yourself if you try."
He opens the oven, pulling the tray out with his bare hands and taking the spatula from Cumulus, moving the finished cookies from the tray to a plate. They're round little things, golden brown and the chocolate chips gooey.
Cumulus waves her hand casually, using her wind to cool the cookies til they're just on the right side of warm. "Aeon, you get first pick. Enjoy."
She grins as Aeon picks one, tentatively taking a bite. The others all watch, grinning as their eyes go wide, a nearly pornographic moan slipping from their lips. "Holy fuck, Cue," they say with their mouth still full.
"Yeah?" she laughs, taking her own cookie. Dew and Mountain are quick to snatch one for themselves.
"That's really fucking good," they say, taking another big bite of cookie.
"They are," Dew says, biting off nearly half of his cookie. His eyes flutter shut. "Fuck. Just as good as I remember."
Mountain makes a similar noise to Aeon as he chews. "Yep. Uh-huh. We need to find a spot to hide these so they last for longer than an afternoon."
There's thudding footsteps, and Swiss skids on socked feet into the doorframe. "I smell kahlua cookies," he pants, eyes wide and a little crazed, a grin splitting his face.
Cumulus shares a look with Mountain and Dew, and all four of them burst into laughter.
Phantom and the others try to ease Mountain's stress by tidying his garden as a surprise but it doesn't go too well. Mush ensues.
Thanks goes out once again to @forlorn-crows for organising Mushy May, and also to @ghuleh-recs for making the pretty dividers 🖤🖤🖤
A procession of six ghouls and ghoulettes trudged through the gardens towards the Abbey's greenhouses. They were dressed in their work gear, laden with tools and snacks and sharing banter under the late afternoon sun.
Phantom hadn’t spent too much time out here since he’d been summoned a couple of months ago for one reason or another, but he was looking forward to doing something nice for his pack mate Mountain.
The big earth ghoul had been so kind to him since he’d arrived in this strange place. It was so very different from the Pit that he’d grown up in and it was taking the young quintessence ghoul a long time to become accustomed to his new life here at the Abbey. Everything seemed to be a learning curve and Phantom often felt like a kit again when faced with the barrage of new experiences and challenges.
The rest of the pack had been supportive, of course, but Mountain especially had been very patient and understanding when Phantom messed up... Which pretty much happened on a daily basis.
He’d overheard a conversation in the common room between Cirrus and Rain. They were worried about Mountain. He hadn’t been himself lately, but Phantom wasn’t sure why.
He’d felt it from him too though. There was an innate sadness and a world weariness to him that seemed to be growing worse as the days went on. Nobody seemed to be able to figure out what they could do to help him.
The idea had been Dew’s, surprisingly. They’d all noticed the way that Mountain had been stressing about all of the springtime work that he had to do in the garden so Dew had suggested that they surprise him by going to tidy up the flower beds. If the pack did a little weeding and some of the tedious but essential maintenance jobs, then Mountain would be free to do what he loved best; planting. The garden was his pride and joy and this would hopefully take some of the pressure off him and make him more relaxed.
Swiss had been tasked with keeping Mountain distracted for a couple of hours while the rest of them got to work.
The pack reached the garden that stretched out along the long side of Mountain’s greenhouse and they made an organised pile of the things they’d brought, placing them carefully onto the wooden bench where Mountain often liked to sit and watch the sun rise.
Phantom had joined him in this peaceful activity on a regular basis when he’d woken from the nightmares that plagued him, panicked and gasping for breath. He would come aware to the comfort of a large body curled around him, kind words in his ear and calloused but gentle palms stroking soothing circles around his back.
Mountain would hold him until his heart had calmed and then lead him out into the gardens. Their morning ritual never failed to clear the fuzz from Phantom’s head and they’d sit quietly for a while, side by side, watching in comfortable silence as the dawn broke.
“Okay, if we pair up then this will work better. Cirrus and Rain, Phantom and Aurora, me and Cumulus,” Dew said, pointing to them all. “Is everyone okay with that?”
They all made noises of agreement and went off to the areas Dew had allocated to them.
Aurora put on the gloves she’d brought and handed a pair to Phantom. She looked around at their patch of garden and sighed.
“I don’t know why they put the two of us together. I’m guessing you’re just as clueless about Earth plants as I am? How are we supposed to know what isn’t meant to be here? This bit has been a bit neglected, hasn’t it?”
She was right. There were larger plants that clearly belonged, but the soil was filled with a variety of smaller, leafy plants too that could just as easily have been rare flowers as weeds.
Phantom huffed a laugh, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the phone he’d been given by Papa.
“Secret weapon,” he said, holding it up. Aurora looked confused. “Google Lens. Rain showed it to me. You take a picture of something and then Google tells you what it is. That way, we’ll know what to keep and what to get rid of.”
She eyed the phone warily for a moment and Phantom grinned at her. He was confident that they’d be fine and his confidence must have rubbed off on Aurora because she shrugged, picked up a small trowel and knelt down in the dirt.
“Sounds good to me,” she said.
It didn’t take long to realise that the two of them made a great team. They used the phone plenty of times to check what they were dealing with and after a couple of hours they had cleared the area that Dew had given them to tidy.
The pile of weeds was bigger than Phantom had anticipated. It must have been a while since anyone had done anything in this part of the garden.
Dew wandered over to them carrying cups of juice.
“Refreshments,” he said as he handed them one each. He looked at the pile of weeds they’d gathered and raised his brows. “Wow, you two have been busy!”
Phantom grinned and he felt Aurora’s pride that the two newest members of the pack had done such a good job.
Cirrus came to join them but she took one look at the pile and cursed.
“Please tell me you guys didn’t just pull up any old thing without checking what it was?”
Phantom frowned.
“Well no, we used Google Lens to check them.”
Cirrus’ eyes widened.
“I don’t think Google Lens is very reliable, guys. Mountain has some hybrids and flowers that he’s spent years on and they probably couldn’t be identified with an app.”
Phantom’s stomach dropped and he heard Aurora whine beside him.
“I... We checked them! It said they were weeds!”
He could feel panic welling up, constricting his heart when he realised what they might have done. Mountain would be devastated when he saw it. He’d be so angry that all of his hard work had been ruined.
Cirrus crouched down and picked up some of the plants that had been pulled. Phantom watched in horror as the realisation dawned on her. She held up one of the green stems. It was broken in half.
“Sorry to say, but I think these are Mountain’s petunias.” She pointed to a bare patch of earth. “They should be there.”
Phantom’s heart picked up speed and the panic bubbled up further, twisting his guts and wringing them out.
Memories of his old life in the Pit threatened to overwhelm him. Something like this would not go unpunished there and Phantom found his instincts taking over as his rational thought processes began to fail.
He turned on his heel and ran.
___
The smell of blood broke him out of it and Phantom blinked, coming back to his senses. He was curled up in a recess of earth underneath a fallen log, arms wrapped around himself. Tremors wracked his body and a sting on his cheek made him remember falling and catching it, grazing the skin.
A twig snapped close by and Phantom’s head snapped up, wide eyes searching for the threat and landing on Mountain who was walking carefully towards him.
Phantom whimpered and cowered further back towards the bark of the trunk.
“Hey, bug,” Mountain said softly. “What’s all this about? The others said you ran off in a panic.”
Phantom shifted again, not daring to take his eyes off the other ghoul and trying to reach out with his quintessential self to read his emotions and give himself some kind of warning as to what his reaction was going to be.
“I... I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! We were trying to help out. It’s my fault, we should have asked the others. Please don’t be mad at Aurora.”
Mountain stopped a few feet away and put his hands on his hips. He tilted his head and frowned, kind eyes searching Phantom’s face. He sighed, coming to a realisation.
“I’m not angry, Phantom, not angry at any of you.”
Phantom concentrated on his emotions and sure enough, he didn’t sense any anger, only sadness and relief that he’d been found.
“You’re not?”
Mountain shook his head and smiled warmly.
“Of course not. It was an easy mistake to make. You weren’t to know. I’m sure we can replant some of them. Why don’t you come out and we can go back and give it a try?”
Phantom eyed him for a moment, feeling the last tendrils of panic letting go of his heart.
Mountain crouched down in front of him and held out his hand. Phantom inhaled a deep breath and took it. It was warm and it brought him comfort, chasing away any thoughts he’d had that Mountain would hurt him for doing something wrong.
The big ghoul pulled him to his feet and then let go of his hand. Phantom wrapped his arms around his torso tightly and looked up.
“We can plant them again?”
Mountain smiled and nodded.
“Sure thing, bug.” He slowly put an arm around Phantom’s shoulders and gently encouraged him to start walking. “Do you want me to teach you about the plants too? You can come and help me out in the greenhouses if you like? There’ll be plenty to do over the next few weeks and I could do with another pair of hands.”
Phantom grinned up at him, his heart swelling with relief and with joy that he could give Mountain something back after everything he'd done for him.
“I would absolutely love that,” he said as they headed back to the gardens.
Thanks for reading 🖤 check out my AO3 page for other Ghost band works 🖤